google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, January 12, 2023 Amie Walker

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Jan 12, 2023

Thursday, January 12, 2023 Amie Walker

 

Today's SETTER (see also 33D) is Amie Walker who, by my count has been by the Corner at least 7 times (on her way to and from other places around the crucisverbisphere).  She was here last on December 5, 2022, blogged by sumdaze, who stepped in and took up the torch, admirably filling some big shoes, to lead us onward at the beginning of each week.

Today Amie brings us an important PSA regarding traffic safety so we'll immediately start with the reveal:

59A. Legal turn at some intersections, and a turn in each set of circles in this puzzle: RIGHT ON REDHere's some good advice if your state permits this (everywhere except New York City apparently).

It's also permitted to turn right in this puzzle wherever there are traffic circles indicating that it is safe to do so.  As we all know, traffic circles can be very confusing (especially if you're driving in England!) and ... uh ... perhaps this is best illustrated with the full grid, as the theme is spread out over multiple clues (and no peeps out of you know who):

If we begin at NW in each set of circles and turn RIGHT, we see 6 RED things (Across and Down):

WINE
LAVA
RUBY
RUST
BEET
ROSE

As I'm sure all Cornerites are familiar with these things, I'll spare you any further illumination of them and turn our attention to the rest of the clues:

Across:


1. Easily vandalized site: WIKI.  The term Wiki originates from the Hawaiian word for "fast".  One the reasons they are fast is that they are not centrally curated and pages are effectively read/write by anybody in the world.  As it turns out, not only can they be vandalized, but articles about controversial subjects can become WAR ZONES.  Some partisans actually resort to using BOTS to detect changes to an article, and then automatically replacing them with their version of orthodoxy on that subject.  I don't write Wiki pages, but I've heard war stories about some sites on subjects that are near and dear to me.

5. "Such a bummer": SO SAD.

10. Spanish greeting: HOLA.  One of the things I look forward to each day is a cheerful "Hola" from our friend Lucina.

14. City on the Chisholm Trail: ENIDEnid is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a character in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King (but then maybe not).  In 1991, the Oklahoma state legislature designated Enid the "purple martin capital of Oklahoma." Enid holds the nickname of "Queen Wheat City" and "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma and the United States for its immense grain storage capacity, and has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world.  Today the Chisholm Trail follows U.S. Highway 81through present-day towns Oklahoma towns of El Reno, Duncan, Chickasha, and Enid.  Here's a map of the original trail:
1873 Map of Chisholm Trail

15. Grayish brown: TAUPE.  Here's an internet classic about the perils of managing software developers called The Man in the TAUPE Blazer.  It was my first encounter with the term "Scrum Master".

16. Norwegian royal name: OLAV.  May also be spelled OLAF, so you have to wait for perps.  Olav V (born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.
King Olav of Norway, 1957

17. "Catch you on the flip side!": TA TA FOR NOW.  or CU LATER.

19. Brick that's painful to step on: LEGO.  My Son says that stepping on a MATCHBOX CAR in the dark can be equally painful.

20. Defrost: THAWMELT. See also clue 38A.

21. Go-between: LIAISON.

23. Silky fabric: RAYONApparently not a very green fiber.  Rayon is made from regenerated cellulose, generally derived from wood pulp. Rayon is usually made from eucalyptus trees, but any plant can be used (such as bamboo, soy, cotton, etc). To produce the fiber, the plant cellulose goes through a process involving a lot of chemicals, energy and water.
Rayon
25. Wears the crown: RULES.

27. Qty.: AMT.

28. Chicago's Northalsted and Manhattan's Chelsea, for two: GAYBORHOODS.  A portmanteau of GAY and NEIGHBORHOODS, e.g. Northalsted in Chicago and Chelsea in Manhattan.

34. Feudal worker: SERFMedieval serfs (aka villeins) were unfree labourers who worked the land of a landowner (or tenant) in return for physical and legal protection and the right to work a separate piece of land for their own basic needs. Serfs made up 75% of the medieval population but were not slaves as only their labour could be bought, not their person.  Serfdom persisted in some areas into the the mid-19th Century.
The Harvesters
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
36. "__ Haw": HEE.

37. Host: EMCEE.

38. Whodunit heroes: SLEUTHS.  Co-incidental to clue 20A, actor John THAW (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) played the imperious, mononymic Oxford detective, Inspector Morse, one of the best SLEUTHS outside the Marple Universe:

40. Examine in detail: DISSECT.

42. Inventive types?: LIARS.

43. Fellows: MEN.

44. Mario __: KART.  Mario is a pretty versatile guy.  Last week he was a painter and this week he's a go-kart racer:
Mario at the wheel
45. Leaves Thanksgiving dinner before pumpkin pie, maybe: EATS AND RUNS.  Or Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss (did she leave out the Oxford comma?).  A CSO to Yellowrocks.

49. Once called: NEE. Isn't it still called NEE?

50. Hilarious folks: RIOTS.  See next clue.

51. Bozo, in Canada: HOSER.  The term HOSER apparently had its origins on SCTV featuring such luminaries as Bob and Dave McKenzie.  I hope CanadianEh! stops by and tosses in her Toonie on this ...

53. Compendiums: DIGESTS.

57. Salmorejo, for one: SOUPSalmorejo is a cold tomato soup that is famous in the south of Spain. It's similar to gazpacho — but thicker and creamier.  Here's a recipe.

58. Social sci. major: ECON.

[Theme reveal]

64. Give a little: BEND.

65. Start of a take: ID SAY.  I thought this had something to do with making a movie, but it's really roughly equivalent to IMHO.

66. "O mio babbino __": Puccini aria: CARO. Italian Lesson #1: "Oh my dear Daddy" is the most famous aria in Giacomo Puccini's only comedy, Gianni Schicchi.  Schicchi was apparently an historical character, immortalized as one of the most notorious fraudsters of all time in Dante's Inferno (he ends up in Circle 7).  The opera's single act is a masterpiece of brevity, hilarity, mayhem, and wit. For anyone wishing to dip a toe into the wonderful art form of opera, I can't think of a better introduction.  Here's the complete 2020 production by the Pacific Opera Project with English subtitles (54 min)

And here's the divine Renée Fleming singing O mio babbino caro.   Schicchi has just sent his daughter Lauretta out on the balcony while he's busy swindling a bunch of Buoso Donati's greedy heirs out of their inheritance so that Lauretta can afford to get married:

67. Golfer's pocketful: TEES.

68. __ Nast: CONDECondé Nast is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast.   Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The company's media brands attract more than 72 million consumers in print, 394 million in digital and 454 million across social platforms. These include Vogue, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Glamour, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, Wired, and Bon Appétit, among many others.

69. "Their __ Were Watching God": EYESTheir Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance,and Hurston's best known work.  I've blogged Hurston at least two times before, but I didn't know that the novel had been made into a film starring Halle Berry:

Down:

1. Like fresh nail polish: WET.  Another CSO to Lucina.

2. Cookbook writer Garten: INA.

3. Persian snack?: KITTY TREAT.

4. State with a panhandle: IDAHOTexas fit, but didn't perp.  Oklahoma and Florida were too long.
 
The State of Idaho
5. Stash away: STOW.

6. Crew need: OAR.

7. Connecticut WNBA team: SUNThe Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 
8. Historic Harlem theater: APOLLOThe APOLLO opened its doors in 1914 and introduced the first Amateur Night contests in 1934 and has played a major role in the emergence of jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, and soul — all quintessentially American music genres. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., James Brown, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, and countless others began their road to stardom on the Apollo stage.

9. Like grass in the morning, compared to other times of day: DEWIER.

10. Hindu festival of colors: HOLI.  Behind the scenes at the HOLI festival from Series 1 Episode 3 of The Good Karma Hospital:
 

11. Estadio cries: OLES.

12. Italian body of water: LAGO.  Italian lesson #2 "Lake", e.g. MAR E LAGO ("Sea and Lake"), a Florida resort originally built as a winter home by heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Mar a Lago

13. Harper Collins romance imprint: AVONAvon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. Originally an American paperback book and comic book publisher, in the early 1970s it began publishing romance titles reaching and maintaining spots in bestseller lists. As of 2010, Avon is an imprint of HarperCollins.  AVON is also the name of a river in England with a very famous town called STRATFORD.  But then, you already knew that.

18. Viper tooth: FANG.  Nature's hypodermic needles.

22. Clambake leftovers: ASHES.

23. Fight, colloquially: RASSLE.

24. Bedelia of kid-lit: AMELIAAmelia Bedelia is the protagonist and title character of a series of American children's books that were written by Peggy Parish from 1963 until her death in 1988, and by her nephew, Herman, beginning in 1995. They have been illustrated by Wallace Tripp, Fritz Siebel, and the two current illustrators, Lynn Sweat and Lynne AvrilSounds to me like Amelia just might have the makings of a crossword puzzle constructor.
25. Some loaves: RYES.

26. Purple yam: UBEA favorite dessert vegetable of the Philippines, UBE means tuber in TagalogHere are 17 recipes you can make with it.
Ube Root
29. Spa sigh: AHH.

30. Trans-Siberian Railway city: OMSKOmsk is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is  the twelfth-largest city in Russia.  It is an essential transport node, serving as a train station for the Trans-Siberian Railway.

31. Juice brand with a wave in its logo: OCEAN SPRAY.  Cranberry juice.  I like Trader Joe's no sugar, organic brand.

32. Official order: DECREE.

33. Volleyball position: SETTER.   In addition to being the preferred Brit term for  a "crossword puzzle constructor", it is indeed a position in Volleyball.  One of my granddaughters is really into the game and we attended several meets last year.  It seems like a simple game, but I obviously had no idea what was really going on down on the court.  Here's the simplified explanation of what the SETTER and the other 5 positions do.
 
Match between Italy and Russia
35. Faux __: FURS.

39. Old autocrats: TSARS.

40. Roman god: DEUS.

41. Travel stop: INN.

43. "The A-Team" actor: MR T.

46. __ acid: NITRIC.  Nasty  stuff.

47. Peanut butter-flavored Girl Scout cookie: DO-SI-DO.
48. "Beat it!": SHOO.  "I promise this won't take much longer."

52. Cup fraction: OUNCE.

53. Financial liability: DEBT.

54. Drink similar to a Slurpee: ICEE.

55. Vanished: GONE.

56. Codas: ENDS.   This is the CODA proper (only the last minute or so) of the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony  and undoubtedly the most famous in music history ...

57. Eyelid issue: STYE.

60. "People Puzzler" channel: GSNPeople Puzzler is an American television game show hosted by Leah Remini and broadcast by Game Show Network.  It premiered on January 18, 2021. The show is inspired by the celebrity and pop-culture themed crosswords in People magazine (I think this may be where our new constructors are getting a lot of their stumpers).   The grand prize for winning the People Puzzler is $10,000.  Hmm ... the top ACPT solvers get only $5,000.  Maybe they're in the wrong game!

61. "You __ one job!": HAD.  Now a lot of people don't even have one.

62. Sonnet preposition: ERE.

63. Novelist John __ Passos: DOSJohn Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visiting Europe and southwest Asia, where he learned about literature, art, and architecture. During World War I, he was an ambulance driver for the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps in Paris and Italy, before joining the United States Army Medical Corps as a private.
John Dos Passos

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism. 

waseeley

 





41 comments:

  1. Good morning!

    And d-o crashes and burns once again. DOSITa gave me CaNDE Nast. Filling IT_AY and G_N called for a WAG. It turned out to be wrong, but that T was already wrong. Bzzzzzt. Thanx, Amie. Very erudite expo, Waseeley.

    Bill, that clip of Beethoven's Fifth reminded me of Dudley Moore's never-ending piano sonata.

    ReplyDelete
  2. “Wiki” for “easily vandalized site” was by no means my first choice, but I got to it. And by the time I got to “ruby” I was aware of the “redness “ of the theme. Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle. It didn’t seem overly difficult to me, and I FIRed, so I’m happy.

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  3. Well our forecasted rain had a temperature dip and big fat snowflakes are coming down and rapidly accumulating. School is called off - but not my work - so it will be a good catch up day as many people will likely cancel their appointments!

    Puzzle was a smooth solve- solved on-line as I have no idea where my paper has been tossed in the front yard or if it was even delivered! My family loved "AMELIA BEDELIA" books when the kids were grade school age. They struggle as to meanings which are not literal, so she feels like a comrade.

    We just learned of UBE in the past weeks for purple yam - I have a patient originally from the Philippines who often brings me UBE Hopias which are flaky pastries filled with purple yam filling - yummers as Susan would say!
    https://foodaciously.com/recipe/ube-hopia

    I think of RASSLE as a folksy, country term - not just colloquial

    Thanks Bill & Teri for the fun write-up and Amie for the puzzle

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  4. FIW. Had dewied, not dewier, and not familiar with the term gayborhood.

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  5. Took 8:11 for me to got to Mars (oh, wait, Mars red was another day's answer).

    Oh joy, more circles.

    Not my favorite puzzle, as it had too many foreign words (Deus, Caro, lago, Holi), proper names, and crossword crunch (Enid, dewier, etc.).

    Never heard of "gayborhoods" before.

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  6. FIW, missing my Natick LIAsSON x HOLs. If I could only spel. Erased ease for BEND, ana for INA, hassle for RASSLE, and citric for NITRIC.

    Brave people have worked so hard to overcome bigotry and prejudice. It bothers me that folks who followed have decided that segregation is fine. We shouldn't have "Straight Streets" (or straightborhoods), "Congressional White Caucus" or "White Prom". I think it damages society as a whole when minority groups do the same thing.

    Without looking it up, I would bet that the WNBA SUN is owned by the casino of the same name.

    My favorite example of "you HAD one job" was that TV commercial set on a lake. The husband forgot the sandwiches.

    Thanks to Arnie for the fun challenge. And thanks to Bill for the terrific write up, including the Man in the TAUPE Suit. Still don't get why he was the Scrum master. Traditional project management has finally decided that Agile/Scrum aren't the enemy, but natural evolution.

    FLN
    -T, Mr. Huelett (or maybe Mr. Packard) said something like "you cannot manage what you can't measure, and what gets measured gets done." That's why it is important to have specific, measurable requirements for projects (and operations, for that matter). Our software folks were loath to provide measurable chunks of development, and were squishy on estimating. We tried function point estimating, with limited success. During my tenure, we never did develop the ability to have units of software development that could be accurately be reported in 2 week intervals. Agile/scrum might be the answer, but I was retired from active practice before they became mainstream.

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  7. FIR morning after catching on that Persian referred to cats. Whew! I had some other changes, thanks to perps, so it was a good Thursday challenge: peon/SERF, SErvER/SETTER, and ares/zEUS/DEUS. Whew, again. Thanks Amie for the learning moments.

    Thanks waseeley (and Teri) for your extensive review which was helpful. I was familiar with HOSER from watching Britcoms. And I'D SAY gave me pause but seemed the best fit. I saw the RED references but didn't catch the RIGHT ON part of the theme until the reveal.

    Earlier posters provided some smiles and now I am ready to get on with the day. Have a good one!

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  8. Hi All!

    Amie - what a fun puzzle! Lots of words we don't oft see in a grid clued very well.

    Waseeley - I still have, what, maybe 1,000, more links to click in your expo. Love me some Beethoven & Bob & Doug #TakeOff,Eh?

    WOs: zEUS, DIScECT, LIAsiON (I can't spell in French either ;-))
    ESPs: OMSK, GSN, DOS, UBE
    Near-cheat: UBE - I looked for the recent puzzle (IIRC, fill was left-side mid-grid down in a recent puzzle) in my stack of papers but I couldn't find it b/f perps filled. Whew - I can claim a FIR!
    Fav: HEE HAW brings back memories of Grands.
    //The link is their version of Laugh-In's wall.

    If 28a mentioned MontROSE, Houston, I'd have caught the portmanteau earlier.
    //Montrose was also an early '70's band with Sammy Hagar (the RED Rocker) on guitar.

    WordPress sites are easily vandalized / hacked for fun (and profit!). WIKI[P] however fit.

    Jinx - I finally remembered! It was Bob Lewis of InfoWorld's heyday who wrote the book re: get what you manage in Keep the Joint Running. At least that's the 1st time I encountered the concept of watch what you measure or you're going to get just that ('cuz people are lazy / short on time).
    Anyway - software development (not something I do professionally) for me is "Wait for it, Wait for it, Wait --- AHA!" Then Code like mad and the next few weeks (if mgt gives you the time) looking for flaws in logic / improvements. //I have a neat piece of Python that I've not had time to better for the last 2 years.

    There's work....Gotta run. Play later.
    Cheers, -T

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  9. Buddy Holly made a memorable appearance at.
    The APOLLO

    We just had UBE but I still needed perps. As in "I'll have forgotten by tomorrow "

    Oops, poor editing on my part. I ended up with NoTRIC acid and RoOTS. FIW

    If there's NAE Beethoven there's NAE waseeley

    Appropriately stiff Thursday xword which I slogged through last night. I should have done once-over before going to write-up

    WC

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  10. Two sets of circles indicated the red theme. Clever reveal. 3/4 of this was quite easy. One bad cell. I didn't know G-N and I couldn't parse ID-AY. V-8 can moment. BTW, the V-8 is hardly ever mentioned these days.
    I laughed when I saw the Persian was a kitty.
    Amelia Bedelia was a favorite of my second graders. They found her literal reactions funny. When told to stamp the letters she literally stamped on them with her boots, for example. When playing baseball she was told to run home, so she ran into the house. My Alan ran home that way, too. When Grandma told Alan to say grace, he actually said "Grace." We called it praying.
    I learned HOLI from fiction. I like novels about the intersection of cultures.
    GAYBORHOOD reminds me of the ethnic enclaves immigrants form on arrival when they don't know the language or the customs. This is for survival and mutual help. Think Little Italy. An ethnic enclave also is more comfortable for those groups who are looked down on and discriminated against. I suspect that this is the reason for GAYBORHOODS.
    Many of America's mainstream citizens also in live single culture neighborhoods.
    Salmorejo, no idea, all good perps.
    CSO to me at do si do.

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  11. "You HAD one job" ..FIR..... and almost blew it.😏...

    Circles unravel red varieties (why not SARM? from yesterday? MARSRED)

    Until perp corrected I had appolo obviously wrong in the horizontal but looked OK in the vertical. Like HASSel. (No, even that's wrong, it's RASSLE) ...."Volleyball position", not globular? 🏐....They never show her feet 👣 so how do we know INA is a barefoot contessa? 😄

    CARO..."Oh My Dear Dad" from Gianni Schicchi, my favorite aria. (One act opera with a fun story)..although in Italian the final e is often dropped for poetic purposes (mare/mar) Mar-a -Lago is Spanish not Italian. Isn't "Salmorejo" the capital of Bosnia 😃

    I've heard Chicago's Halston area called Boystown so put GAYBOYSTOWN first but corrected when the perps wouldn't work

    Inkovers: melt/THAW, sluthes/slouths/SLEUTHS, Zeus/(wait, he's not Roman) DEUS, It wasn't scat cuz the SHOO fit instead..

    Magician's feat at a late evening performance....NITRIC
    Comic Skelton aces it....RIGHTONRED
    Commercial for a soap pad....SOSAD
    Harriet, NÉE Beecher, now ___..STOW

    Lotsa info Waz..thanks.

    What a week T G (tomorrow) I F.

    .

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  12. I'D SAY I was lucky to FIR today. I HAD no idea what to fill for I"D SAY and GSN until the RIGHT ON RED fill was in place. Whew! Network and show- GNS and People Puzzler- were unknown. Yellowrocks- that was my last fill.

    LAVA is RED until it cools; turns black in Hawaii.

    CARO, GAYBORHOOD, AMELIA, SOUP, HOLI,
    UBE- learned earlier this week
    AHH- incorrect spelling of AH but it seems to be okay for a crossword
    DOSIDO- any square dancers out there?

    SUN- only know it because my neighbor's daughter played for the team for a couple of years. Plays for the Las Vegas Aces now.

    Jinx- birds of a feather stick together; always have and always will, You cant legislate morality, language, speech or thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good Morning:

    This had just the right amount of resistance for a Thursday, despite the circles obviousness. Said circles, IMO, were used more to accentuate the colors, rather than to lessen the difficulty of the solve. The only color that seemed an outlier, to me, anyway, was Lava, but in the crossword world, exceptions abound. I tripped over Hes/Men and needed perps for Sun and Soup, as clued, and the totally unknown, GSN. It was fun to see and remember Ube from a recent appearance and I also enjoyed the Lego/Lago and Holi/Hola crossings.

    Thanks, Amie, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Bill and Teri, for a fun and fact-filled review. I especially enjoyed Reneé’s Aria and my learning moment was the Halle Berry film.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I bit of a slog, but I did manage to FIR in a bit under half an hour. DNK AVON, CARO, AMELIA, OMSK, or SALMOREJO. Never heard of “People Puzzler”, or the GSN channel, for that matter. I did get the theme (hurray for me!) early on, which helped. Why is TSAR spelled so many different ways? Anyway, thanx AW for the challenge. And thanx too to Bill for the terrific write-up.

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  15. I started at the bottom again and got the reveal quickly. When the shades of RED appeared, I felt comfortable and pleased. Then I ran into a problem with GAYBORHOOD since 1. I was not familiar with the term, and 2. I had DEWIEd to mess me up. I then hung on to Zeus far too long. So stumbled around for a while and didn’t finish.

    The puzzle however was really fun and clever.

    Not familiar with LAVA as a shade of red. Knew UBE from a few days ago. Yea! I will have to try that SOUP, salmorejo. I like creamy soups.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Addendum:
    ESPs: CARO, AMELIA. //there may be more earlier-unseen fill as I keep reading everyone - BigE made these pop.

    Ray-O: It has taken me years of puzzling to remember "One P - Two L" APOLLO. //I do puzzles to reenforce letter patterns #dyslexia

    The Girls celebrated HOLI (they did every holiday) when at Montessori. Eldest still does henna (Sunday fill). I didn't really get it until I saw the sitcom Outsourced. //American manager (who's overseeing Indian tech-center) 1st Holi.

    Speaking of Eldest, Youngest & I dropped her at the airport an hour ago. I'm going to miss that Kid. Hopefully she can come back this summer.

    Cheers, -T

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  17. Delightful Thursday puzzle, Amie--many thanks. And always enjoy your commentary, Bill and Teri,
    thanks for that too.

    SO SAD to start this puzzle with reference to a possible snow THAW that made the morning ground WET and DEWIER than usual and blasted some OCEAN SPRAY along the shore. Not great for a pet that might get its FURS WET and need some KITTY TREATS to comfort it. But no problem for the rest of us who can get an OUNCE of cereal and some SOUP for lunch, easy to DIGEST, and have us EAT and RUN and get our day off to a good start. I'D SAY it all ended pretty well.

    Have a great day, everybody.

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  18. Greetings! Clever theme, but did I like this puzzle.....? Thanks, Amie. You're not usually this hard on us, but I guess this is Thurs. fare. Thanks, waseeley, for the review.
    WIfI -. WIKI: Persian snack - good misdirection that I didn't catch, because I was still in Iran, and who knows what their treat is.
    The usual AaH -> AHH. I held off to see if it would be yEE Haw or HEE-haw.
    DNK Conn SUN, Mario KART, HOSER (Hi C-eh), Salmorejo (could you come up with a more obscure clue for SOUP?), CARO, AMELIA, UBE (had to Look up), SETTER (only the dog breed) and GSN. WHEW! Perps were working hard today.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hola!

    OLE! Aha! So you have been paying attention to my daily greeting. And thank you, Bill for the CSO at WET nails. Right now they are in good condition so no need to visit the Salon.

    LAGO is also Spanish for lake.

    Great clue for LIARS.

    My Natick was at GSN/I'D SAY. I had PAY since GSN means nothing to me.

    I'm always so disappointed when I don't see a newspaper in my carport. Today it was because my credit card expired. I called of course. Thankfully I can print the puzzle from other sites. Thank you, Washington Post.

    I liked the way the REDS made a RIGHT TURN. Here in AZ it is legal to make the turn on RED.

    I like to say OMSK.

    CSO TO Yellowrocks at DO SI DO. I'm sure she missed square dancing.

    IDAHO is one of the states I have not visited. I don't know if I'll get there. Besides Florida most of them are in the north central USA, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota and others. Ironically, I haven't been to my nearest neighbor, Utah and Oregon.

    I hope you are having a pleasant day, everyone! Adios for now.


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  20. I meant to say, she misses square dancing.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Finally, a puzzle that was fun to "Rassel" with. I say this as it gave me one heck of a hard time,
    (Wifi/Persian had me until the last letter)
    "But," every single clue/answer was fair, or perpable via heavy sussing. Even Spanish soup was an "aha" moment!

    The only thing I could possibly consider a nit, would be that dewier should have been clued,
    "What no ice makes Tinbeni's scotch!"
    (But that's just me...)

    Learning moment:
    Thank goodness V8 cans are not frying pans!
    (Panhandles are everywhere... not just the gulf!)


    Even the circles were enjoyable!

    another learning moment!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Musings
    -GAYBORHOODS joins last week’s ENGIES as modern words pertaining to sexual orientation
    -Son’s email to dad, “No mon, no fun, your son” Dad’s reply, “Too bad, SO SAD, your dad”
    -“Catch you on the flip side” is a holdover from CB radio days
    -Opera-like rock singer Jay Black (NEE David Blatt) still gettin’ it done at 62 with CARA Mia
    -My partner never has a pocketful of TEES. He searches high and low to find the one he just used.
    -Beethoven’s 5th came to unite classical music, Morse code and WWII
    -Some panhandle residents of Nebraska feel a closer kinship with Wyoming.
    -DEWIER early morning golf greens allow you to see the exact track of your missed putts
    -I first saw HOLI in Kate Chin Park and Brooke Husic’s puzzle on November 19, 2022.
    -Wrestling coaches I know bristle when you say RASSLE instead of wrestle
    -The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Show is a spectacle to behold! Uh, they don’t play OMSK.
    -YOU HAD ONE JOB – Get Lee Harvey Oswald from the city jail to the county jail

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  23. -T, re. "One P - Two L APOLLO." Unless it's Ono the skater

    We had HOLI recently too(on a Saturday?)

    RASSLE reminds me of the back seat of my 54 Chevy

    The ONE JOB – Make sure Lee Harvey Oswald doesn't get from the city jail to the county jail

    WC

    I see HOLI was November per HG

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  24. Gary, IMHO the best 'opera-like' rock singer was MEATLOAF. He was an opera singer.
    Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe was also an opera singer.

    But on those DEWIER greens you have to putt it harder but the balls usually go straighter on the wet greens.

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  25. BE @1:50 PM You're right about Rowe. In fact he performed in Baltimore. IIRC I used a video of his performance to illustrate a puzzle clue.

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  26. Musings 2
    -WC - I’ve heard that take on the transfer of Oswald too. I have seen "evidence" that at least ten different groups wanted to see Oswald dead.
    -BE - I chose Jay Black because CARA and NEE were in the puzzle. If I had to choose a opera voice singing rock, I’d go with Roy Orbison.
    --Roy co-wrote and sang this beautiful song that borrows heavily from my favorite aria Nessun Dorma

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  27. Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Amie, and waseeley and Teri.
    I saw the RIGHT ON RED theme, and correctly filled all but two personal-Natick squares.
    It is legal to turn ROR here in Ontario (unless there is a sign prohibiting it); in Quebec, it is OK everywhere but Montreal. Like New York City, the reason is probably to protect pedestrians and cyclists.

    This Canadian does not have the multitudes of Girl Scout cookies that you Americans can order. I can never remember DOSIDOS (but now that I can parse them like the square dancing term, maybe I will do better). And GSN is not a familiar channel for me. Thus, I’D SAY was not registering as something starting a camera shoot.

    But wait, there was a clue with the word CANADA!! Oh no, the answer is that stereotypical HOSER, a dated term that probably was only used by the Mackenzie brothers in their heyday, and not by the average Canadian. But I guess I will take a CSO wherever I can get one. That’s my Toonie’s worth.

    I noted LAGO crossing LEGO, MR T and TEES, HOLA crossing HOLI, BENDS crossing END.
    Hand up for Melt before THAW.
    I wanted Faux Pas, but FURS fit.
    Similarly, Mediator changed to LIAISON. (Did anyone spell LIAISON with the second I without perps?)

    Misdirection on that Persian snack. Doubly so for me because there is a doughnut-like treat sold only in Thunder Bay, Ontario called Persians. (Buy them at the Persian Man for the originals) They are delicious!
    PersianMan

    Time for supper. I’ll read you all later.
    Wishing you all a good evening.

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  28. LOL. Ray’o has done it again- changed us all to bold!

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  29. R-O is apparently a powerful person. LOL

    I forgot to mention DOS PASOS appearing here. I’m pleased. He’s a great, but forgotten writer. I read his USA trilogy in college and never forgot its originality and inventiveness.

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  30. T N. Bold is gone because I deleted my comment...sorry..I no longer have the button to check for errors before publishing. So italics and bold sometimes come thru.... Also comments are coming thru duplicated today

    It's getting to be a real pain.

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  31. One year when I visited my sister in Charlotte we attended the Tran-Syberian Orchestra concert. It was as awesome as you would expect. Gorgeous sound!

    Yes, Canadian Eh!, LIAISON gave me fits. That second i was unexpected and required wite-out for the S I had there.

    My friends and I are planning a trip to northern California next month and I hope the deluge is over by then.

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  32. I didn't like this puzzle nearly as much as yesterday's, but it wasn't all that bad.

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  33. Puzzling thoughts:

    Kudos to the team of Bill and Teri for the entertaining blog!

    The puzzle had its twists and turns, but I never had to engage in any "red" letters

    Ray-O-Sunshine: no worries about being "bold" (or even "italic") at times. You more than made up for your faux pas with your puns today! I am posting them again. Some of your best

    Magician's feat at a late evening performance....NITRIC
    Comic Skelton aces it...."RIGHT ON", RED!
    Commercial for a soap pad....SOS AD
    Harriet, NÉE Beecher, now ___..STOW

    GAYBORHOODS didn't look right but the portmanteau makes sense. When I lived in SE Florida and was in the wine business, one of my steady group of clients were wine bars located in Wilton Manors. I'm sure that both unclefred and Lemonade714 are familiar with this community

    See y'uns tomorrow ... it's been awhile since I solved the puzzle so I can't provide any [spoiler alert]

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  34. Ray - O @5:08 PM The first question we'd ask in IT when anybody reported a new problem was, who changed the code, and what was the change? Change often causes more problems then it solves.

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  35. From yesterday: When chasing down the pointer to the Chelsea neighborhood in NYC, I found another NOHO:

    NoHo Houston Street to Astor Place; the Bowery to Broadway

    all in New York city.

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  36. CEh! @ 4:33 PM The Persians sound a lot more tasty than "KITTY TREATS". We're planning a trip to Canada in the next few years. It sounds as if a detour to the Persian Man might be worth a detour.

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  37. Gary your Orbison link led to some great stuff:Legend… then another Crickets at the Aoollo clip

    Now I've got continuous play oldies(16 candles etc)

    WC

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  38. Thank you, Amie for your challenging puzzle. My FIR felt extra good today! The NE finally clicked with LEGO. FAV: Persian snack. "Start of a take" took some parsing.
    Thank you, waseeley, for your kind words at the top! I always enjoy your blogs but was especially glad you were at the helm today for 66A.
    = )
    Also loved the Bob & Dave flashback. My HS friends & I thought they were so funny!

    Hand up for loving AMELIA Bedelia! She took everything literally. I remember when she was asked to organize a bridal "shower". You can guess what antics ensued.

    Hello Irish Miss!

    When I worked as a LIAISON at the Australian Embassy in DC, the question I was asked most was, "Is it really OK to turn RIGHT ON RED? This seemed insane to the Aussies. (That and not having to stop at RR crossings.) I had to explain that they first had to stop and make sure it was safe to go!

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  39. sumdaze- Bob & Doug we’re the best. They had to come up with the GWN bit because of CBC law (I’d cite bet no internet)
    Oh, internet…. Lost connection at 2-something pm. ATT texted I’ll be down 10-12 hrs. I blame the backhoe down the street digging up the median. //I do know how to splice fiber if they need a hand :-)

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete

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