Theme: THAT'S A NO NO
12. With 12-Down, mantra on embracing difficulty: NO PAIN.
12D. See 12-Across: NO GAIN.
22. With 22-Down, idiom meaning "easy peasy": NO MUSS.
22D. See 22-Across: NO FUSS.
30. With 30-Down, aphorism excusing misconduct that didn't cause damage: NO HARM.
30D. See 30-Across: NO FOUL.
44. With 44-Down, expression describing an absence without leave: NO CALL.
44D. See 44-Across: NO SHOW.
I love theme-heavy puzzles, and this one is pretty great. The the across and down companion clues have the same number, all six theme answers begin with NO and are six letters long. I don't remember seeing anything like this before. The chevron pattern formed the the theme answers is pretty groovy. The last phrase "No call no show," was not as familiar to me as the others. Wiki says it is an American term for absence from the workforce without notifying the employer. So the civilian version of AWOL.
Melissa here. This appears to be Parker Higgins's debut at the corner, although his puzzles have appeared in the NYT and other publications. Congratulations, Parker, we hope you drop in and share your inspiration for this one.
Across:
1. One-named "Baby Beluga" singer: RAFFI. He's still performing. My kids and now grandkids love him, as do I.
6. EMT skill: CPR.
9. Longtime ThinkPad maker: IBM.
13. Bun holder: HAIR TIE. Oooh, good one.
15. Incentives: MOTIVES.
16. "It's curtains for me!": I'M TOAST.
17. Río contents: AGUA. Non-Spanish speakers may have struggled with this one. Río is the Spanish (also Portuguese, Italian, and Maltese) word for "river," and agua is Spanish for "water."
18. __ roast: Sunday entrée: RUMP. Does anyone still have Sunday night family dinners? My former in-laws hosted spaghetti dinner every Sunday. A nice tradition.
20. Grace of "Will & Grace": ADLER. I know the show and actress, but would never have known the character's last name.
24. Party coolerful: ICE. "That's great, you probably never run out of ice your whole life."
25. Young'uns: KIDDOS. Curtain-climbers. Rugrats.
27. Lizzo genre: RAP. Nice to see her getting some love lately. Interesting factoid: Lizzo got her big break from singer Prince, who "co-signed" her music and even got to perform on his 2014 song, 'Boy Trouble.' "Prince was the first person to really make me feel validated as an artist when I heard that track," the singer told NPR.
28. Exams for srs.: SATS. Srs = seniors (as in high school).
29. Gobble (up): SNARF.
32. Simple camera setting: AUTO.
34. McFlurry cookies: OREOS.
36. Sleeping sickness carrier: TSETSE FLY. Nice to see both words.
40. __ bene: NOTA. Latin phrase meaning "note well."
42. Part of a schmear campaign?: LOX. Hee.
43. __ gin fizz: SLOE. From Wiki: Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and sloes. Sloes are the fruit (drupe) of Prunus spinosa, the blackthorn plant, a relative of the plum. I adore gin, but don't think I've ever had sloe gin. Gin vs. Sloe Gin - What's The Difference?
46. Baseball hats: CAPS. Here's another one for parents, remember this?
50. Jekyll's alter ego: HYDE. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The book was published in 1886, with over 120 stage and film versions alone, including a 1999 musical.
51. Unopened: NEW. Not necessarily. But okay.
52. Most aged: OLDEST.
54. Barnyard bird: HEN.
55. Floppy successors: CD ROMS. Haha. Many (most?) of us used floppy discs. I remember my daughter's confusion when I used the term "carriage return."
57. Members of a cabal, maybe: SCHEMERS. A cabal is a secret plot, or a small group of people who create such a plot.
59. __ projection: ASTRAL. The supposed act of leaving your body while sleeping. But is it real?
60. Acts like a helicopter parent: HOVERS.
61. Get beaten by: LOSE TO.
62. Worker's hourly pay: WAGE.
Down:
1. Domed building: ROTUNDA. Nitpick: I always thought the rotunda was the domed room, not the whole building. According to Capitol Hill Facts (scroll to bottom) it is a circular room in the center of the building beneath the Capitol dome. It is 96 feet in diameter and rises 180 feet from the floor to the canopy, with a volume of approximately 1.3 million cubic feet. So beautiful - an interior view to the rotunda of the US Capitol.
2. Samoan capital: APIA.
3. Best-liked, in texts: FAV.
4. 1980s Pontiacs: FIEROS. Oh yeah.
5. "Long story short ... ": IN SUM.
6. Nabisco brand: CHIPS AHOY.
7. Tennis pundit Shriver: PAM. Fourth cousin of Maria Shriver.
8. Poet Dove: RITA. She served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress From 1993 to 1995, and was the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
9. Home of Firenze: ITALIA. The Name of Florence – Firenze.
10. Halve: BISECT.
11. Scotland yards?: METRES. Metric. Nice clue.
14. __ and reel: ROD. Fishing.
15. Mardi Gras accessories: MASKS.
23. Practice boxing: SPAR.
26. "Dang!": DRAT.
28. Kiss: SMOOCH.
31. Silver State city: RENO.
33. __ Aviv: TEL.
35. "Don't move!": STAY HERE.
36. "No Scrubs" pop trio: TLC.
37. Real blankety-blank: SO AND SO.
38. Aces: EXPERTS. Noun not verb.
39. Takes interest, maybe: LENDS. GREAT clue.
41. Catkin trees: ALDERS.
45. Fresnel __: lighthouse installation: LENS.
47. Promised: SWORE.
49. Part of STEM, briefly: TECH. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a broad term used to group together several academic disciplines.
52. Home of the Munch Museum: OSLO.
53. Brand of sport sandals: TEVA. Never heard of these.
55. Baseball's "Iron Man" Ripken: CAL. Anyone notice this grid is light on sports?
56. Bath rug: MAT.
58. "The Princess Diaries" novelist Cabot: MEG.
Notes from C.C.:
Thank you so much for your sweet messages and memories of Boomer. They touched and comforted me greatly.
His obit is here.
46 comments:
Good Morning:
I really liked this puzzle’s theme, the tightness of the theme, and the left to right symmetry of the theme answers. Some of the cluing was very clever and the three letter word count was not only low, but most of them were actual words. I think my only w/o was Hair Net/Tie, but there were plenty of unknowns to slow down the solve, namely, Raffi, Adler, Munro, Teva, Meg, and, as clued, Astral, Lens, and TLC.
Thanks, Parker, for an enjoyable solve and congrats of the debut, and thanks, Melissa, for an informative and entertaining review. I got a kick out of your carriage return comment.
FLN
Lucina, I hope your car dilemma gets solved in a satisfactory way.
Have a great day.
With very sincere wishes of comfort and peace to CC and family. May the soul of Boomer rest in peace. I was drawn to this blog partly because I so very much enjoyed his sense of humor and his no nonsense way.
Arrived at my son’s home in MN last week with the Flu, gave it to my new grandson and my son UGH! I was 100% healthy when I left NY. And I had the flu shot! Be careful everyone, the cough is pretty bad.
As always, the puzzles and critiques are always so enjoyable. Thanks to all!
Like Melissa Bee, I was unfamiliar with “no call, no show “ but the perps made it clear. And there were a couple of possible Naticks but my WAGs proved successful, which is fortunate for me. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Immediately inked in CAPITOL at 1d...have I ever mentioned...? Also had to fix my Mardi Gras BEADS. That's what Wite-Out's for. Caught the theme early on. Here's another hand up for not recognizing NO CALL, NO SHOW. Otherwise the themers were very much "in the language." Nice debut, Parker. Enjoyed your expo, Melissa Bee.
I had a slow start in the NW - no wonder, seeing it had FIERO, ROTUNDA, and RAFFI. Mardi Gras made me think BEADS first, so I definitely had to come back later for that corner.
When I first saw "Nabisco brand" I was expecting the answer to be some kind of OREOs - and then OREOS shows up elsewhere in the grid. Neat coincidence.
I braved this one today in 7:13 because no guts, no glory.
I didn't know today's female author (Meg). I was surprised to see the character's last name of Grace as an answer. Adler and Alders in the same puzzle is, well, something. Rare to see "tsetsefly," usually it's just "tsetse."
Apparently I am in the minority, as I have heard of "no call, no show."
FIR, but erased emo for RAP, scarf for SNARF, and owl for HEN. DNK HAIR TIE, RAFFI (except that famous tennis player), ADLER, Lizzo, RITA (except for Coolidge), TLC, MURO and MEG (except Ryan).
My buddy had a FIERO. Great, futuristic car. Dent-proof plastic body panels, mid-engine, great fun to drive. Unfortunately, the FIERO had a tendency to catch on fire.
MASKS? The only Mardi Gras accessory accessories a guy needs is BEADS! (Women who would call the police if some idiot offered her $100 to show her boobs in a bar are often willing to whim 'em out if the same idiot offers her a $0.50 string of beads at Mardi Gras.)
I wear TEVAs as I type. Keene are my fallbacks.
The Fresnel LENS is an amazing device. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships."
Thanks to Parker for the fun Thursday-on-a-Wednesday puzzle. My favorites were "Scotland yards" and "takes interest, maybe." And thanks to melissa for the tour. I see we had similar thoughts on this one.
BTW - I've mentioned Mission BBQ here often. In the news today is that the corporation just donated a little over $1 million to the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation. The individual stores support their local communities, too. Think I'll go the one here today.
FIR in 22. Very nice, and very clever, CW. Fun. Thanx PH. Hand up for DNK NOCALL/NOSHOW. Only W/O MIRO:MURO. Did not know the Spanish word for “wall” and somehow (?) got NOMISS as my first WAG for 22A. When FUSS showed up, “I” became “U”. (Hmmm. There’s a wisecrack there, somewhere.) anyway, I enjoyed this CW. And of course I ALWAYS enjoy Melissa Bee’s write-ups. Thanx, MB. I don’t agree that most of the three letter fills are words: FAV, CPR, IBM, SAN, TEL, TLC, PAM, CAL. Not a complaint, they were all easily sussed. Just a comment.
FIR, but struggled with several unknowns. NW was the last to fall. Got the theme half way through and that helped greatly with the solve. Good midweek romp.
Hola!
Thank you, Peter Higgins and Melissa Bee! Nice puzzle and review.
IBM was a pure guess but most of the other fill made sense. Unusual to see the entire TSETSE FLY.
I had no idea that Grace ADLER was her name. But, then, it's been a long time since that show aired.
I have had ASTRAL experiences while asleep. I even felt the wind on my face. I can't explain it but I know it happens.
CSO to all the EXPERTS on this Blog. You know who you are.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
FIR today on Parker's fun debut puzzle. Come again soon! I like your style. Like others mentioned, the NW was puzzling and I didn't write in many answers until I got to the bottom and worked my way back up. I had CPR and ITALIA, but I thought I'M TOAST today.
The themers were helpful after I got the two lower ones. I too was unfamiliar with NO CALL but the perps made sense. My only WO involved the HAIR TIE and METRES crossing where I erred by trying an A, thinking the word had to do with some geographical feature of Scotland. Thanks, Melissa B for your spot on review.
Speaking of old tech (floppies), I remember working in the 1970's for a CPA when data was entered on punch cards to generate tax returns. I was still working there when he changed to a computer.
Anon @ 7:26 AM
"No guts, no glory," good one!
FLN
Lucina, I hope you resolve your car issue soon and your granddaughter is better. Hard to have this happen in the midst of the holidays.
Thanks for linking Boomer's obituary, C.C. and C Eh. Very touching. Good thoughts your way, C.C.
Musings
-Parker Higgins
-I really liked the gimmick and how it fit the grid! BEADS blew up one corner since I used ink.
-NO CALL/NO SHOW – My sub day started two hours late because the original sub did not show
-RIT_/_DLER – Patti’s naticks come down to using the letter that makes the most sense
-I tend to look for HIDDEN MOTIVES but sometimes, “A cigar is just a cigar”
-SAN Andreas fault – My earth science prof said, “What makes California beautiful also make California dangerous.”
-NEW- Previously used tech items are sold as “out of the box”
-Helicopter parents make life miserable for school coaches, musical directors, et al.
-I’m sure in this learned group, most know of a famous ROTUNDA with a hole at the very top
-Thanks for the obit, C.C.
UncleFred @ 7:39 ~ Cal and Pam are names, San and Tel are parts of names, and Fav is a shortened, common slang word, while IBM, CPR, and TLC are initialisms. In my mind, there is a distinct difference, that’s why I commented on it. 😉
CC, Boomer’s obituary was appreciated.
Please help. I had a note with CC's address on top of my laptop today because I was going to mail her a card this morning. After the cleaning lady came in, the note had disappeared. Could someone please mail the address to me? Thank you.
From Yesterday and Today
CanadianEh and CC Thank you for the obituary for Boomer. He certainly touched many people and will be missed by all.
AnonT Thank you for that crazy video with no CHERRY PICKER. I cannot even figure out what he was trying to do. If you cut off the top of a palm tree, you kill it. Ours was already dead. But that one looked very healthy.
Hahtoolah I meant to say thanks for that wonderful ELEPHANT in the room cartoon!
Well KIDDOS, a fun, delightful CW this morning. What a clever theme. What I’d didn’t know filled in easily with perps and wags, including the unknown NO CALL NO SHOW.
Very impressed with the theme packed in four times.
Hand up learning moment that ROTUNDA indeed means any building with a circular footprint.
Here was one of my first views of the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles.
Who knew that this is a ROTUNDA?
Yellowrocks,
Crossword Corner
c/o C.C. Burnikel
5503 - 84 1/2 Ave N.
Brooklyn Park
MN 55443
You can always find her address on the main blog page. There a link to it under "Donate" by clicking on the word "here" for those that choose to donate by mail.
Thank you Parker for a NO FUSS Wednesday FIR. It was a bit crunchy, but like they say "NO PAIN NO GAIN". I like the tacit theme, revealed only by the ACROSS/DOWN pattern, and once sussed was very helpful. And congrats on your LA Times debut. Please come often. We have the best bloggers in the business.
And one them did this excellent review. Thanks you Melissa for another fact and fun filled Wednesday.
A few FAVS:
15A MOTIVES. Teri and I watch a lot of mysteries. And the MOTIVES of the potential perps are always at the forefront of the investigation.
16A I'M TOAST. And the only one with MOTIVE, MEANS, and OPPORTUNITY says this at the end.
20A ADLER. We'll be seeing more of her RSN.
25A KIDDOS. We took two of the KIDDOS to visit a local TRAIN GARDEN, and they were able to located all but 3 out of 50 hidden cartoon characters scattered throughout the layout.
50A HYDE. In the end he couldn't HYDE his identity.
11D ROTUNDA. Great picture. It almost looked as if it was an aerial photography. IIRC the same architect designed the BASILICA in downtown Baltimore.
Gotta go. See y'all tomorrow
Cheers,
Bill
A DNF ☹... the NW!!.... Didn't know RAFFI, had BFF for FAV. DNK FIEROS..KIDD?? .
(KIDDOS doesn't refer to children, IMHO but a sassy/friendly term for adults)
Parsed the theme but never heard of NOCALL/NOSHOW plus thought it was "No point, no foul".
Inkovers: lamb/RUMP, scarf/SNARF
How is the Munich museum in OSLO??!!..wha? huh? Oh sorry, 🤭. Never heard any other word for "river" in Italian but "fiume" (hence Eng. flume) Fiume Arno.
"Shriver"? right next to another UNK, "poet Dove?", Cabot? ....."Firenze": I have a middle ages map (it's a copy!!!!) when it was spelled Fiorenza. (Also Italian for the girl's name "Florence"). Almost put aspens but believe we've seen ALDERS (catkins) in a not so recent puzzle. LENDS: "takes interest in" ??? Oh, usury.
MURO: It & Sp for "wall" (where you see a mural painted.)
Havent seen the "Samoan capital: pop for so long I'd forgotten. And our CW TSE TSE FLY hasn't been buzzing around for awhile either.
Had Debra (Messing) for "Grace" till the perps wouldn't work...made worse spelling METRES the 'mer'can way. (Curses!! Canada Eh). CHIPSAHOY? (I thought OREOS had an exclusive CW advertising contract.)
What my Grams did all day as young girls in the local cotton mills...SOANDSO.
What the Catkin told the Sapling "Repect your ____ "ALDERS.
Bolts or tresses....LOX
..Highly recommend the film "The Banshees of Inisherin" just released on Netflix..not a horror flick, a tight psychological drama set on an Irish island in the 1920's. Streamed it last night.
Loved the puzzle, and intrigued by the chevrons, which made it easier in "no" uncertain terms. My only nit would be that I keep being redirected to the NW corner...
Anon @ 5:32
(RosE?)
Oh no! That has got to be the worst case possible scenario!
HG,
That stone egg cairn behind Parker Higgins could not possibly be in Brooklyn...
I just had to track it down...
And finally,
18. __ roast: Sunday entrée: RUMP.
Gives me the perfect subtle method of segue to link one of my "fav" shows.
But unfortunately, the specific "rump" clip is in a clip video that makes no sense whatsoever. So I have to link The Entire Show, and ask that you fast forward to my intended clip.
Pls note, that it is "Harpers" locket, and not Parker, so my segue is on thin ice, (sorry Tinbeni,) but the Sunday rump roast is so hilarious that I must ask you to fast forward to the 23 minute mark to prove that "the show must go on."
(Apologies to OMK...)
I achieved FIR after a bit of a struggle, but I’m still not clear about what “No Call, No Show” means. Can someone give me an example of when/how you would use it?
The themers were clever and fun. I play Raffi’s songs on the piano for my grandchildren to sing along - really cute lyrics.
Thanks Parker for the not-to-tough puzzle, and thanks Melissa for the lovely tour.
Wendybird @ 11:22 - An example of a "no call, no show" would be if a server at McDonald's is scheduled to work a certain shift, but does not show up for work and does not call the manager to let him/her know they will not be coming. This can lead to the employee being disciplined or terminated, especially for repeat offenses.
Enjoyed the creative theme and it sped along the solve with the NO...NO set up.
Having just entered the grandparent game- I've gotten back into the RAFFI songs I sang with my kids. It's just a new era though as I just say, "Hey Google, play Baby Beluga by RAFFI" and it magically starts playing the song on some speakers that are somewhere or other in my kids' houses!
I'm used to ADLER being Irene of Sherlock Holmes fame or the ADLER planetarium in Chicago - but it came to me after realizing that DEBRA Messing wasn't going to work
Since it was a first fill - I also had beads before MASKS for the Mardi Gras attire.
Thanks Melissa for an entertaining write-up and Parker for the puzzle!
Continue prayers for CC and all the things that she will need to do this week - glad that they took care of a lot of that before to take some of the burden off this week!
Ray O @ 11:11 ~ I just tried to watch The Banshees and was informed by Netflix that it isn’t on their service. I’m confused.
Wendybird @ 11:22 ~ According to Mr. G., this is modern lingo describing an employee who doesn’t call in to report an absence and then just doesn’t show up.
I see Java Mama answered Wendybird’s question before I did and much better, too! 😉
I-M, I believe you have to use HBO-Max to stream the Banshees movie. It's not available on NetFlix.
Fun puzzle. Really like the "Scotland yard" clue. It was a very nice obit on Boomer. What a great guy.
I wasn't on Parker's wavelength in the NW -- RAFFI and MURO were unknowns. NE wasn't any easier, putting HAIR PIN instead of TIE and ADLER was an unknown. The British spelling of METRES instead of METERS helped. But once NO FUSS was in in place NO MUSS blew the puzzle wide open. But NO CALL-NO SHOW- I've never heard that expression. MEG and was the only other unknown solved by perps. RAP came by perps for the unknown Lizzo.
RUMP or PORK Roast- wait for a perp
CD ROMS- they were "read only", you could write and read of a floppy.
PAM Shriver was a great tennis player and she was the first to play with an oversized racquet.
CHIPS AHOY- best description I ever heard describing it was a "Flavored Poker Chip"
MASKS- prior to 2020 it was illegal to wear a mask in LA except during Mardi Gras. COVID19 made it a lot easier for criminals to hide their faces.
Jinx- I haven't been to the Quarter on Mardi Gras in 30 years. Too many drunks and way too crowded.
Melissa-"I love theme-heavy puzzles, and this one is pretty great." Not me. They make the puzzles too easy to fill. But maybe they could have added the old telegram from a broke college student to his dad. hE paid his last change begging for money:
NO MON, NO FUN, YOUR SON- to which his dad replied:
TOO BAD, SO SAD, YOUR DAD.
Picard, your link to the Capitol Records Building made me smile: a building designed to look like a stack of vinyl records with a needle on top! Cool for the time, very dated-looking now.
Hi folks! Parker the constructor here. Thanks to everybody for the nice notes, and if you didn't like the puzzle that's fine too :) In case anybody's interested, I wrote up some constructor's notes including the original submission, which did not yet have this grid's fun chevron pattern thing.
IM... my bad ...HBO max...
Sorry..
Hi All!
Wonderful LAT debut Parker! Congrats!
My only complaint is I FIW - TiVA shoes; pEG for MEG. Until I read the expo, I thought I learned some new Yiddish :-)
May I contact you off-line? - I'm interested in your puzzle-program (a CLI?) and EFF (I'm a donor) activities. My wallet is EFF's RFID blocker I got at Defcon :-)
Thanks for the entertaining post-game (and fixin' my grid) mb!
WOs: ADLEe, NO COme|NO SHOW(?), owl->HEN.
ESPs: Oy! FIW.
FAV: Should I say FAV? I liked CHIPSAHOY xing OREOs; OLDEST following NEW. SO AND SO was fresh and it was nice to see METRES spelled like the rest of the world does. #NotSoccer :-)
HG - didn't HBOMax hookup with NetFlix (or is that Amazon Prime - no time to look it up). Anyway, I need to review my AMEX re: all these streaming services. I feel I'm getting double-billed.
Picard - love that Capitol City Records building. Looks just like old turntables that drop the next record.
//speaking of which, Jinx had good suggestions for Bluesy-Jazz - anyone else?
CED - there's a Goes Wrong I haven't seen! Thx.
I'm writing this on my (company's) Lenovo ThinkPad. IBM sold 'em off to Hong Kong a few years back.
Maybe I'll come up with a fun link later (mb took 'em all!) but back to work - UK cutover in 15m.
Cheers, -T
Ray O @ 12:34 ~ 👿
Good afternoon! Busy day and so grabbing a few minutes to join in.
Well, I finished it, but I didn't much care for this theme.
NW was my last to finish; not a good way to start. Learned something new - WO ScARF to SNARF. To my ear, we always referred to is as "to scarf up" meaning to gobble when all along it is SNARF. I stand corrected!
DNK RAFFI, TLC as clued, or TEVA.
RUMP roast? Really? Not in my experience.
From 36A, the lower half of the CW went well, but not a fan of the double clue fills.
Thank you, Melissa for your recap and thanks Parker for your CW.
C.C. Lovely tribute to Boomer. Thank you for sharing, and I wish you comfort in this sad time.
I liked Parker's puzzle and its diagonal symmetry. You are "thinking outside of the box"!
FAVs: Scotland yards?; Takes interest, maybe; and SOANDSO.
Thanks for the tour, MelissaB. I liked your theme!
Thanks for posting up Boomer’s obituary.
While reading it, I felt like I knew him, he was so sharing of his life, a life well lived.
To CrossEyedDave, No, ANON @ 5:32 wasn't me. I would never be commenting at that hour of the day!! LOL! And no family in MN but was sorry to read they passed their illness to their family.
Neatly themed Higgins PZL, monitored by Melissa Bee...
Quite enjoyable--the balanced mantras were fun to uncover.
Only one minor drawback.*
~ OMK
____________
*DR A lack of diagonals.
I liked this puzzle. Especially liked the whole TSETSEFLY. 5-letter one-named singer = ADELE? Nope. Incentives wasn't REWARDS. It wasn't a HAIRNET holding that bun. And they didn't have BEEF roast on Sunday. Good wishes to you all.
I kept thing of rack-roast, Jayce.
UK almost done then nap before another (simple?) cutover at 9p. -T
Nice puzzle that was very doable. My comments are pretty much what others said.
Growing up, Sunday dinner sometimes was roast chicken, but mostly it was a Chuck roast that my mother would cook so long so that the meat came out hard and a little crunchy. I didn't know what it should taste like until I had one that my MIL fixed.
CC: I hope the week goes smoothly for you.
Once I sUSSed the theme it made the solve easier. Bad start in NW like others, it got easier as I moved south
At this point WEES
If you're going to Doug's funeral better get there early. I hope that church has a spillover area.
WC
oc4beach- ", but mostly it was a Chuck roast that my mother would cook so long so that the meat came out hard and a little crunchy"
I didn't know you grew up in my house. The roast at my house was like beef jerky. My mother's roast needed a hack saw to cut it.
DW's story at the hospital after eating battery acid from the porch next to the dog's dish: "But I thought it was mommy's steak."
MIL is still living that one down :-)
Cheers, -T
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Parker and melissa bee.
I loved the NO-NO theme (although not familiar with NO CALL NO SHOW) and grid.
I'm late to the party, but finished this with just a few inkblots.
My Spanish was good enough for AGUA, but MURO required perps.
I misread Schmear and thinking of Smear, I entered LIE. LOX perped and I smiled.
But it was that NE corner that is very messy. Like Jayce, I entered HAIRnet and held on to it for too long. Plus I had It's Over before IM TOAST perped. (I should have known that It's was in the clue and couldn't be in the answer.) To make things even messier, my cooler was full of Ale (well, isn't that what the ice is cooling?). But wait, I'm not done - I can never remember all those exams; I entered GRES. Wow, SATS finally perped.
I have seen SNARF here before, but I am familiar with Scarf. Regional use I think.
I figured out TLC from Scrubs in the clue (referring to nursing garb I assume).
And like many of you, my FAV was METRES. Great clue! (And of course I loved the British/Canadian spelling.
Wishing you all a good evening.
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