An alternate theme: CAPITAL "PUN"-ISHMENT
Puzzling thoughts:
First thought: There is no doubt that we live in a very polarized world. From politics, to religion, to gender pronouns, to "you name it", there is no grey; just black and white. As a person who is a crossword puzzle constructor, a crossword puzzle solver, and a crossword puzzle blogger, I try to view crossword puzzles as a means of enjoyment. In what I create; in what I solve; and in what I scribe (for this blog). Without taking anything away from the creativity that both Sara and Doug used to make this puzzle, the end result, for me, was more "punishment" than "gain". Maybe I was just having a "bad hair day". But my "dome" is void of hair, so literally, that was NOT the case today!! I had to use (44-down. Website that regularly features doodles:) GOOGLE several times to solve clues. Not that we shouldn't have to cheat every now and again ... but as my cartoon image implies, my lawyer had to buy me a lot more time to solve this puzzle. And since this is a community blog, I will leave the comments from you all to indicate if this was fair or not. But, the puzzle DID get solved, and I am happy to provide a few of my thoughts about the entries
The puzzle used a combination of US State Capitals along with an added name of a product "brand" to form four compound "phrases":
17-across. *Sailing-inspired sportswear brand based in Montana?: HELENAUTICA. HELENA is in the bottom five of the list of state capitals in terms of population, with less than 35,000 residents. I'm sure that some of you would guess incorrectly on a test that asks you to name the capital of Montana. NAUTICA is a global lifestyle brand, which offers a wide selection of apparel for men, women and kids as well as a large selection of home products. The last two letters of HELENA are the first two letters of NAUTICA
29-across. *Luxury watchmaker based in Washington?: OLYMPIAGET. OLYMPIA is another state capital with a small population (under 55,000) and is also a vague city when naming state capitals. PIAGET, since 1874, has been crafting luxury watches and luxury jewelry treasures by blending a jeweler's refinement with its watchmaking sophistication. They're quite pricey. In this combination, the last three letters of OLYMPIA are the first three letters of PIAGET
34-across. *Athleisure company based in Hawaii?: HONOLULULEMON. HONOLULU is the capital of our youngest US state, Hawaii. LULULEMON (a complete unknown to me) makes technical athletic clothes for yoga, running, working out, and most other sweaty pursuits. Here, Sara and Doug use the last four letters of HONOLULU along with the first four letters of LULULEMON to form this entry
And finally, 41-across. *High-fashion label based in Colorado?: DENVERSACE. This was my most "favorite" of the four entries if I had to choose one. DENVER is the state capital of Colorado, and is known as "the mile high city", as its elevation is over 5,200 feet above sea level. For anyone who's traveled there, the city and its surrounding area are generally "flat". The Rocky Mountains lie to its west, and create a stunning view. VERSACE is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. Here, the last three letters of DENVER are the first three letters of VERSACE.
Clever? Yes. And I noticed this (not sure if it was intentional or by accident): with each succeeding capital used, the population of each got larger. I suppose that if Sara/Doug had been able to find another state capital and brand pairing that used five letters (three letters was used twice) it might've scored a few more points with me, but that's just a nitpick. But in case they are lurking about and reading this blog, in 60-across I was able to find one with five letters
Doug Peterson is a well-known and well-respected constructor. I am not familiar with Sara's work as a whole, but I found this from a website with her name. It appears she's been published @ USA Today and WSJ ...
Here is the grid:
Across:
1. Hullabaloo: TODO. Part of what I found when I used "GOOGLE" to solve a few clues ...
5. Regional spinoff starring LL Cool J: NCIS LA.
11. Detergent brand: FAB. I have no idea if FAB is any good; their packaging is pretty hip
14. Take a turn: SPIN. A brief history of a few popular TV "SPINning" games
15. Led Zeppelin drummer John: BONHAM. Knew this straight away, as Led Zeppelin is the Chairman's #1 favorite rock band. John BONHAM is arguably one of the top rock drummers of all time. Sadly his death in 1980 also brought an end to Led Zeppelin as a recording group. Here is Chairman Moe's favorite LZ song, featuring great percussion by BONHAM. Enjoy!
16. Sheepish sort: EWE. Ha Ha
19. LG rival: RCA. A more revealing and accurate clue would've been "LG rival from 1983-1987". When was an RCA television last available for sale, new? 1987
20. Dazzled: IN AWE. [spoiler alert] no need to be "IN AWE" of Moe's blog today ...
21. Ballet move: PLIE. Or as our quipster Ray-O-Sunshine might describe: "What a barrister in Canada might recommend to his client? ......PLIE
22. __-Magnon: CRO.
23. Marks with a sale price, say: RETAGS. Or, maybe what a kid playing Marco Polo does when they're not sure?
25. Magnificent: SUBLIME. As opposed to SUB LULULEMON? I'm still irritated at that one!! ;^)
28. Long hoops shot: TREY. Here is a short video reel of some of Stephen Curry's awesome TREYs
32. Actress Edelstein: LISA. Courtesy of IMDb
33. T. rex and others: DINOS. I guess the abbr for Tyrannosaurus gave it away. My favorite DINO, growing up
39. Dwarf planet in the asteroid belt: CERES. Not PLUTO as I found out whilst doing the puzzle
40. Rolled up unannounced?: TP'ED. Pretty good clue ... a famous spot in Alabama where they like to "un-roll Tide"
44. Threads: GARB. I think GARB is like the word DEER; it's both singular and plural
48. L'Oréal rival: CLAIROL.
49. Synagogue instrument: SHOFAR. This:
51. Some NPR stations: FMS. Our local Phoenix AZ NPR station is KJZZ; 91.5 on your FM dial
52. Reid of "American Pie": TARA. IMBd's story
55. Blood line: AORTA.
56. Draft pick: ALE. "Draft" choices can also be answered using a reference to the NFL, NBA, et al. And for that reason, I originally chose "ONE" for this answer
59. Sling liquor, maybe: GIN, and its clecho, (47-down. Sling liquor, maybe:) BRANDY. As in the drink, Singapore Sling. Note, you have to be over 21 years of age to visit this website ...
60. Golden state: UTOPIA. California did not fit. But if you wanted to find another clue to fit today's puzzle theme, look no further than the capital of California ... Clue: "Yes to Fresh" candy brand based in the Golden State? SACRAMENTOS
61. Swedish soprano Jenny: LIND. Sure; I think of Jenny LIND most every day ...
62. Choose: OPT.
63. Past, present, and future: TENSES.
64. Provocative: EDGY.
Down:
1. Concert souvenir: T-SHIRT. From that 1973 Led Zeppelin MSG Concert, perhaps? Courtesty of [etsy dot com]
2. Top remover: OPENER. "HANDS" didn't fit ...
3. Grow wider: DILATE. Having had a recent eye exam, I had to have my eyes DILATEd in order for the doctor to get a better image of my retina, et al. The drops she used to do this are called: Tropicamide. It is used to DILATE (enlarge) the pupil so that the doctor can see into the back of your eye. It is used before eye examinations, such as cycloplegic refraction and examination of the fundus of the eye. And now you know
4. Words inside an arrow: ONE WAY. Or, part of a Debbie Harry song. Here she is, performing with the Muppet's band:
5. Sports org. with 30 franchises: NBA. MLB also fits this clue
6. Clever stroke: COUP. COUP definition
7. Like a global corp.: INT'L.
8. Branch of Islam: SHIISM. [wikipedia dot org says] "Shīʿa or Shia and Shīʿīsm/Shīʿīte or Shiism/Shiite are the forms used in English and other European languages for adherents, mosques, traditions, and things associated with the Shīʿa branch of Islam
9. Don, as a corset: LACE UP. Or, Don WITH a corset!! ;^) They are most certainly doing a LACE UP! Image courtesy of [the New Yorker]
10. Revealing Reddit session, for short: AMA. The acronym for "Ask Me Anything" has surpassed the same acronym for American Medical Association in crossword puzzles, but when you GOOGLE "AMA", the doctor's group comes first by a wide margin. You can literally ask me anything ...
11. "The Incredible Hulk" star: FERRIGNO. [wikipedia] Louis Jude Ferrigno Sr. is an American actor and retired professional bodybuilder who first played "The Incredible Hulk" in 1977. He won the role over Arnold Schwartzenegger for one. I think his last name is pronounced: "Fur-IG-no"
12. "You've gotta be kidding!": AW COME ON. My not so exact words I used about half way through today's puzzle
13. Emmy-winning Arthur: BEA. A "bone" clue for us older folks who watched her on an RCA TV, perhaps
18. Abbr. in blood types: NEG. "O" NEGative is the least rare of the negative blood types, but still accounts for only 7% of the blood types listed. Why is Rh negative blood so rare, you ask? For example, if someone's Rh factors are both positive, it is not possible for his or her child to have a negative blood type. Only people with at least one Rh-negative factors will have a negative blood type, which is why the occurrence of Rh-negative blood is less common than Rh-positive blood [carterbloodcare dot org]
22. Adjuster's case: CLAIM. As in an insurance adjuster
24. Terrarium foundation: SOIL.
26. __ one's time: BIDED.
27. Some CGI creations: ETS. "Fun Fake News Facts": CGI = Computer Generated Imagry. ETS = Extra Terrarium Snails
30. Joe Burrow's alma mater: Abbr.: LSU. For those unfamiliar, Joe Burrow was LSU's QB in the 2019 season where they went 15-0 and won a National Championship. Burrow now starts/stars as the QB for the Cincinnati Bengals
CSO to Big Easy and also me, as my daughter is an LSU grad. Their fight song: Geaux Tigers!!
31. Resort city on the Black Sea: YALTA. Fun Facts: YALTA, also spelled Jalta, city, Crimea, is in southern Ukraine. It faces the Black Sea on the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlement on the site dates from prehistoric times, but modern Yalta developed only in the early 19th century, becoming a town in 1838. Also at YALTA, the Big Three (US, England, and the Soviet Union) agreed that after Germany's unconditional surrender, it would be divided into four post-war occupation zones, controlled by U.S., British, French and Soviet military forces. The city of Berlin would also be divided into similar occupation zones. The meeting occurred in February, 1945; two months before Hitler died
32. Runner-up: LOSER. "SECOND" didn't fit; technically, any position (in a race, for example) behind the WINNER is a LOSER; whether they finish second (called the runner-up, typically) or last
34. Skateboarding leap: HEEL FLIP. I missed out on the skateboarding faze as a kid; not because I wasn't a kid then. I was not a surfer nor one who lived near the ocean or west coast
Another Fun Fact: Skateboarding was first invented in the 1950s in California. It's tricky to pin down the very first skateboard, but it was a sport created by surfers who wanted something to do when the waves were low. In the US it grew in popularity until it peaked around 1963, before a crash in the market in 1965. HEEL FLIPs came about in the mid-1980's. Here is a not so brief history of HEEL FLIPs if you're so interested
35. Fir ball: ORNAMENT. HaHa - not the feline variety
36. St. Kitts neighbor: NEVIS. [wikipedia] "Saint Kitts and NEVIS is a dual-island nation situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It's known for cloud-shrouded mountains and beaches. Many of its former sugar plantations are now inns or atmospheric ruins. The larger of the 2 islands, Saint Kitts, is dominated by the dormant Mount Liamuiga volcano, home to a crater lake, green vervet monkeys and rainforest crisscrossed with hiking trails"
37. Scanned bars, briefly: UPC.
38. Levi's alternative: LEES. Another more difficult way of cluing this entry would be to use the word LEES in its wine-meaning. As your resident sommelier I thought it appropriate to provide this other "definition"
39. Atlanta-based health agcy.: CDC. I think that if you were not aware of the CDC before the year 2020, you certainly were afterwards
42. Make the rounds?: ROTATE. Ha Ha
43. Apply carelessly: SLAP ON. Like aftershave for this first time, perhaps??
45. Ready to run, perhaps: AFRAID. Good clue
46. G, PG, or R: RATING.
50. Country singer Ketchum: HAL. More Fun "Fake News" Facts: His father, HANK, is the creator of the cartoon, "Dennis the Menace"
53. Material flaws: RIPS. Good clue
54. End in __: A TIE. My one and only (so far) crossword puzzle accepted by the LA Times had "ENDs IN A TIE" as the reveal. Hoping to be featured in a future LAT puzzle ...
56. Earlier: AGO.
57. Share: CUT. As in, what share of the contract or prize did you earn. What was your CUT? Think of a caddie in golf or an agent for a movie star
58. Small cells: AAS.
And once again another blog bites the dust! The benefit we bloggers have is lots of time to solve, lots of time to do our research, and lots of time to reflect back on each clue and word. You folks generally spend anywhere from 5 to 55 minutes on the day of the puzzle solving before coming here. Hoping that many or some of you found this puzzle a bit more fun than I, but as I was finishing the blog I felt better about it. Anyway, please comment below if YOU have any "puzzling thoughts"
As a fellow benighted male when it comes to fashion, I sympathize with the experience you had with this puzzle, C-Moe. However, perhaps because I grokked the gimmick from the first themed fill, it wasn’t quite as difficult for me, and I was able to complete the puzzle without using Google or any other “assists.” FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteYay, d-o got the theme. (When I can't sleep I don't count sheep -- I mentally go through the alphabetical list of state capitals.) I think HonoLULULEMON may have been the seed entry for this puzzle. I first heard of that brand here on the blog some time ago. Those dudes blow the SHOFAR so good, reminiscent of Joshua in that DeMille flick. I enjoyed this one, though it stretched out to 15 minutes. Thanx, Sara, Doug, and C-Moe.
CERES: The giveaway in the clue was "in the asteroid belt." Pluto is much further out.
FMs: I listen to the audio stream of our local NPR station. In fact, I'm listening to Morning Edition as I write this. I always liked Rachel Martin -- sorry to hear that she's quit the program. Getting up at 3AM was starting to wear on her.
LACE UP: Evokes the image of Lee Marvin as Kid Sheleen in Cat Ballou.
NEG: I'm A-Neg. The Navy got it wrong. My dog tags listed A-Pos. The blood bank never wants my whole blood, for some reason. They always want me to donate packed cells, or platelets, or plasma. That means sitting there for an hour or more, rather than just a few minutes.
Cuz your blood is more valuable than mine (A pos), cuz more rare. “Lucky” you? ;-)
DeleteI guess there were two Ls in Shelleen.
ReplyDeleteWow, this was one tough CW, but a real feeling of satisfaction when I managed to FIR. I was pretty far along in the fill before the theme finally hit me, and brought a smile to my face. Very, very clever. Also, the very clues, like “Sailing inspired sportswear brand based in Montana.” Montana is NOT a state normally associated with sailing! I did have several W/O, (SHIITE:SHIISM, for instance) so the page is a little messy, but I’ve done worse. Thanx SM&DP for the difficult but fun CW. Thanx too to CMoe for the outstanding write-up.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteI hate a messy grid! But my wite-out is in another room so I did the unthinkable: I wrote over! Overall, I found this puzzle clever if a bit of a stretch even though I like puns.
HONOLULULEMON is really clever, IMO. I'm familiar with the brand, LULU LEMON though it's more suitable for teenagers. CLAIROL is the more apt brand for me. Red, of course.
NEVIS if memory serves is where Alexandar Hamilton was born. Yes, I just looked it up to verify. His biography is really interesting. One of my goals is to read about each of the Founding Fathers.
Time to return to bed. I hope you all have a sensational day!
Natick at SHOFAR/HAL for me. But more importantly:
ReplyDeleteThis is a brand-themed puzzle, with another brand name (CLAIROL) holding the grid together. So why on earth is FAB in here, clued as a brand, and crossing TWO names to boot? (granted, one is common crosswordese, but still, FAT/TEA would've been infinitely better)
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI can’t blame a “bad hair day” for my negative feelings about the puzzle simply because every day has been a bad hair day since I went to a new hairdresser on Wednesday. Suffice it to say that it may be June before I need another haircut and definitely before I want to see the back of my head! On the positive side, I really liked the theme and the reveal which I thought were both very clever. But, I agree wholeheartedly with Moe’s opening comments, although I finished w/o help in about 23 minutes. I thought the cluing was a mixture of clever and too cute by half. To be fair, my unknowns, Bonham, Ceres, Heel Flip, and Hal, were resolved by perps and my stumbles, ERA/FAB, Duds/Garb, and Runs/Rips, were all quickly corrected. It was a challenging solve but less than a satisfying one.
Thanks, Sara and Doug, and thanks, Moe, for the honest and fair review. I enjoyed all of the facts and observations but I missed seeing some of your famous Moe-kus! 😉
Have a great day.
Irish Miss, as I've noted before in my recaps, I am usually motivated and/or inspired to add Moe-kus to puzzles I really like. Sorry that this one didn't make me feel inspired. Maybe in two weeks ... 😀
DeleteThumper. That is a negative. All the proper nouns so close together quickly lost my attention and urge to solve. The theme could have been more interesting with more perps and fewer names and brands.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks, I actually thought about using Thumper as my image at the beginning of the blog! But I took the higher road ... as I commented in the last paragraph, the puzzle seemed to grow on me as I had a lot of time to spend with it. Wished they had used SACRAMENTOS though ... 😀
DeleteI love SACRAMENTOS!
DeleteMade me LOL
OK, today I am in the FIW group with two wrong squares. However, I am not bitter because I did fill all squares when it looked unlikely for a while. So thanks for that, Sara and Doug.
ReplyDeleteMy bad guesses were at NCIS LA and NBA. I had music groups in mind, not TV shows so I guessed aCISLA and aBA. Have I recently mentioned how sports handicapped I am?
My other error was a tense mistake, double meaning intended! I put TPEs and BIDEs. I needed CMoe to remind me about TP rolling. Back in the day, we didn't use that term although we occasionally did it. By the time our kids were teens, I heard it and saw the result. Thanks CMoe for the extensive review. I hope the constructors read it.
D-Otto, hand up for A neg blood. During my second pregnancy, I was checked for possible problems since our first baby had A pos blood. Fortunately all was OK.
Kudos to those who FIR. And happy Friday to everyone. Where has this week gone!
DNF. I am not a shopper and knew nothing of the brands mentioned. Partnered with down clues that I couldn't suss out, this puzzle bested me.
ReplyDeleteTPED does not come close to "Rolled up unannounced." The act of "TP-ing," which I do frequently to the chagrin of my neighbors, requires unrolling. Really!
ReplyDeleteHands up for those who mad any CAPITAL GAINs in 2022. They were few to be had.
ReplyDeleteMr. Chairman, I was as lost as you until the V8 moment hit me at HONO-LULULEMON. And was I glad. AW COME ON, for OPENERs I knew Zepplin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page but not BONHAM, NCISLA, and was it SHIITE or SHISM? I struggled to FIR with a correct WAG at the cross of SHOFAR and HAL Ketchum- never heard of either.
I never go STOG or use any reference. I come to The Corner to check 'em out.
LSU- technicality. Joe Burrow already got his degree from OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY before he went to LSU, where he got his MASTERS while leading the Bayou Bengals to an undefeated season. He had two years of playing eligibility left and for some strange reason he sat on the bench at OSU.
LISA Edelstein, HEEL FLIP, TARA Reid, and FERRIGNO were other unknowns all filled by perps. BILL BIXBY wouldn't work.
ORNAMENT for 'Fir ball'- I perped it but I have no idea why it's an ornament.
Big Easy, fir (meaning a tree 🌲) adorned with balls (and other decorations at Christmas), e.g., is known as an ornament
DeleteFIW, missing the Natick FERRIGNa x HONOLULULEMaN. Never heard of LULEMON, or athleisure for that matter. Thanks to C-Moe I sorta remember seeing PIAGET billboards. Knew the other two themers.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was waiting on era/all when FAB elbowed its way in. Waited for ipa/ALE.
I used to work on UTOPIA Road in Phoenix. The product we were working on was something short of that. (I also thought of Cali first, then Colorado; "Golden" being the home of Coors.)
I think that one of the few drinks I didn't try back in my imbibing days was the Singapore Sling. Must be because no one offered to buy me one, or asked me to buy her one.
Thanks to Sara and Doug for the Friday-worthy challenge, And thanks to C-Moe for the explanations.
We fortunately had a map of St Kitts and NEVIS recently. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten the
ReplyDeleteisland's name
I had HELLFLIP before I groked the theme and DENVER V8'ed
This is the closest to a throwaway DNF I've had yet. Two 6ltr pop-cul in top center and totally perplexing theme clues.
CAPITAL GAINS got me going as I got rid of HELEN of Troy and NAUTICA was actually known(unlike the LEMON and PIAGET). I spotted VERSACE earlier and appended (Gained) DEN.
Kudos to folk who's brains are still intact and can quickly size up themes
FIR beyond hope. WAG for E?S and ?AL K. Btw, W(rite) O(ver)S are my MO. Apparently someone wrote a wiki on How To W/O 26 letters 26 ways
WC
First heard of LULULEMON in a story that their yoga pants were unintentionally transparent and "too thin"
ReplyDeleteI thought "Some" NPR was a weak clue - 95% of NPR stations are FM, AMs are much the exception.
Thanks for the hat tip to Auburn University. We hope to TP the corner tomorrow when we beat our crossstate rival, bama!
ReplyDeleteI was glad to see Jinx and Irish Miss today; I missed them yesterday. By the way, Jinx, it’s “Lulu Lemon” not “Lulemon” (not that you’ve had any reason to know that.) FYI!
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle took 12:42 for me to finish without the need to benD OVER.
ReplyDeleteI found the opening to today's review perfect ... for yesterday's slog fest. This one didn't seem nearly as bad, perhaps it was the state capitals that made it seem less like work (like yesterday's puzzle).
I didn't know today's actress (Lisa), and I'll never remember any answer to a clue that starts with "Swedish soprano". Never heard of Piaget. Maybe once heard of Fab. Wanted OSU before LSU (see above), and with the "n" in place, I originally entered "EricBana" instead of Ferrigno -- turns out Eric Bana was in a movie simply called, "Hulk" (ostensibly, he wasn't incredible).
Liked "ornament" for "fir ball," and the clue for "afraid."
"Rolled up unannounced?" was great. You throw the rolls UP into the trees. At least that's the way we did it when I was a kiddo.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-I loved the puzzle even with the true natick of S_OFAR/_AL. I never realized how many letters that were candidates. How ‘bout Holbrook, Linden, McCrae, Wallis, 9000?
-NCIS/BONHAM/COUP was worth the effort
-I knew LULU LEMON because a former student works at one in Omaha where she is a great model for their clothing.
-I watched a Philo Farnsworth documentary where David Sarnoff, the ruthless founder of RCA, made a big CAPITAL GAIN by suing Philo over and over until Farnsworth’s patents expired and Sarnoff used them.
-Leah Remini and Lou in an episode of The King Of Queens
-CLAIM – after a hail storm, American Family paid for our new roof. State Farm told my neighbor no.
-FDR, Mussolini and Hitler all died in April of 1945
-Before UPC’s we watched the checker’s entries closely
-RIPS in fabrics are no longer flaws
-Nice job, Moe!
Stared at a sea-of-white, Saturdayish disaster for a long time. So many unknown companies and people. Yikes ...but then I filled NAUTICA preceded by Montana's capital city HELENA, figured out the theme and we were off to the races to "End in" a FIR. I only know Lululemon from these puzzles ( another invaluable CW piece of information 😀)
ReplyDelete(Then there's the old joke about blowing the SHOFAR... I won't go there 🙊)..."Detergent brand", gotta be Era or All or not, it was the FABulous BEA "Arthur". "Magnificent" wunnerful? Didn't make a fuss just a big TODO. "Terrarium" foundation is Earth (Terra) or SOIL (terra) or dirt (terra)... Lou FERRIGNO, 71 (he pronounces it incorrectly Fur-IG-no, should be Fair-EEN-yo) deaf since a child with an accompanying speech impediment so "The Hulk" was a perfect fit)
I'm more familiar with Jean PIAGET the child development psychologist from Peds rotation.
The "Dwarf planet" apparently isn't called "Sneezy"...If BRANDY perps for one "sling liquor" the other must be GIN. (thanks, C.Moe, for splainin' that "sling" is a kyna cocktail.
Supporting women's causes....SHIISM
Carl Sagan's classic TV ___ about "billions and billions" of dwarf planets.....CERES
Slavic "little person" from OZ....MUNCHNICK (Sorry Sarah, couldn't help myself, 😄)
"We live in a very polarized world"...What the World Needs Now is another Burt Bacharach (RIP)
I really enjoyed this puzzle with its amusing theme of capitals with additions for brands. I think I had the downs first which gave me the seeds for NAUTICA. They also make home goods like bedsheets as well as clothes. Cute clues for ORNAMENT, AFRAID,ROTATE
ReplyDeleteBig fan of NCIS LA so that was a quick starter fill. LULU LEMON is not just for teens- lots of 20-30 somethings are fans- last Christmas a couple of niece/nephews had some of its clothes on their wish lists.
I at first wanted Mark Ruffalo for The Hulk from the Avengers movies - but that didn't fit so went with the TV show Hulk- Lou FERRIGNO, I wasn't sure I had spelled it right until perps confirmed
DH has a SHOFAR as well has a lamp from Israel that he pulls out at times for sermon illustrations if the text warrants - good for the kids (and adults) attention spans.
Thanks CM for the fun blog - and Sara & Doug for the amusing puzzle!
I thought, as I perused this puzzle, either abandon it, or consult Mr Google for the many proper names. I’ll admit, I’m terrible with names, mainly I never bother to learn them, so I went the Goggle route. I’m glad I did because the theme was fun and clever. I soon caught on to it.
ReplyDeleteC-Moe: like you I think this puzzle is better in retrospect
Irish Miss: I too had to go to a new hair dresser after moving here, and after that cut, I didn’t want to leave the house. It took some time before I could look in the mirror. I had been going to the same hair dresser for 30 years and he knew exactly what I wanted and needed. As DH said, no worries, hair grows out eventually.
.
My cousin, Angie, lives on UTOPIA street. I've been there on a couple of occasions and it's far, far north from where I live.
ReplyDeleteNow that I've slept some more and have studied the grid I see the cleverness of it. Kudos to the constructors!
There is no way I would know the drummer from Led Zeppelin. Thank you, perps. But HELENA BONHAM-Carter is in my wheelhouse.
CSO to my grand-nephew TREY. Yes, he is the third.
Did anyone else think cross of PIA?ET/FERRI?NO was unfair?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sara and Doug, and thank you, Chairman Moe.
I finished this one around 4:30 AM, checked and removed spam one more time, and fell back asleep. Until almost 9 AM !
I thought the theme was clever and completed this one unaided in just over 18 minutes. However, when filling in the missing letters to FERRIGNO, I typo'ed. So one wrong letter. Mox nix. In addition to "The Incredible Hulk", Lour FERRIGNO had a recurring role on "King of Queens" in the early episodes of that sitcom.
Yes, the theme answers start with state capitals but after getting the reveal, I first thought there was another layer besides the added letters of the state capitals.
NAUTICA, PIAGET, LULULEMON are company names. Publicly traded companies. You can buy stock shares, and conceivably have CAPITAL GAINs if you invested in them. However, VERSACE is the outlier. It is a company brand of Capri Holdings, Ltd. So the theme answers appear to simply be company names added to the last syllable(s) of the state capitals. Thus gains.
FAB (P&G) and CLAIROL (Coty) are product brand names. Mentos (Perfetti Van Melle) would be a product name.
After Moe mentioned it, I did find it interesting that the populations of the state capitals became larger as the theme progressed, but I think that was purely coincidental.
Hand up for being a big fan of Led Zeppelin. Never got to see them in concert.
I stripped many JENNY LIND beds and cribs back in the day. They sold very well in the 1970s, so my dad would buy them at auctions and we'd strip, refinish and sell them. Well, mom and dad did the refinishing. The Jenny Lind baby cribs sold better than the adult beds and were very popular for new moms and dads. I think the the only antique beds that sold quicker were the rope peds with the blanket roll(er) at the footboard. Pencil point four posters did well, as did canopy beds.
Big Easy, true on few. Ken Griffin's company made $4.2B in 2022. Far outside the norm. He's now worth an estimated $33B. I was going to make the same point about Joe Burrows.
Citadel is a hedge fund and Griffin shorted many stocks that went down in value.
DeleteMust be my day for typos, and time to clean my specs :>)
ReplyDeleteWay too many brand and proper names/nouns. Puzzle was clever but a real,slog for something that is supposed to start your day off with fun. I am always hiding a smirk at some of the solvers, one in particular that says they finish it in 12 minutes. You can’t even write it in that fast, let alone read it out. Chuckle, chuckle!
ReplyDeleteTTP, I thought Ken Griffin was an organist.
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ReplyDeleteD-O, I'm not sure that I have ever heard of that Ken Griffin, but I will play some of his songs and read further after I get back from the grocery stote. Need to get provisions for the big game.
Clever Friday toughie, Sara and Doug--very enjoyable, many thanks. And always appreciate your helpful commentary, Chairman Moe, thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteWell, as I did my first run-through this puzzle, I said "AW, COME ON!" to this toughie. But I was genuinely IN AWE of this COUP which was SUBLIME in many respects. Okay, maybe not a UTOPIA of a puzzle, but still fun with some pretty nice ORNAMENTS like the ones on that T-SHIRT. Well, I can't CLAIM I got any CAPITAL GAIN out of playing this but I'd give it a pretty high RATING. And now that it's done, I'm ready for some GIN and BRANDY--no, wait, it's only 10 am, and I can't afford to get EDGY this early in the day.
Anyway, have a good day, everybody.
Great one Misty , CAPITAL effort
ReplyDeleteChairman Moe ~ your intro to today’s blog reminded me of a proverb attributed to a philosopher dude named Titus Lucretius Carus back in the first century BC, (I’ll skip the Latin), but it translates to “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”, or to paraphrase further, what some people find pleasing, others find displeasing. I see that almost daily here in the comments section, some people seem utterly disgusted with the same puzzle that others think is clever and entertaining. We all have our own spheres of knowledge and retention which doesn’t always coincide with what’s in a particular grid, and then there’s the sometimes tricky clueing which adds another dimension. I may get frustrated sometimes with a FIW, but as HuskerG has quoted several times lately “it’s a game and not a test”, and in that respect, ya can’t win ‘em all. As you stated in your comment yesterday, we all need to broaden our horizons if we want to keep up with the ever evolving crossword world. With that said, your blog today was most excellent, and thank you for that! Nice catch about the increasing population size, the fact that the reveal is CAPITAL GAIN, makes me think that it wasn’t just a coincidence, I guess only the constructors know.
ReplyDeleteAs far as today’s CW, I managed a FIR w/o help in just under 23 minutes, liked the theme which when I got the reveal, I could fill in a lot of white spaces. Thank you Sara and Doug for the Friday challenge.
YooperPhil: We’ll said. That’s also what makes this blog so interesting.
ReplyDeleteA Muchnick/Peterson PZL, brought to us by Chairman Moe...
ReplyDeleteA toughie, for sure, mixing proper names with personal expressions. It required four cheats for me to finish.
My very first fill was LIND. My fave corner was the SE, the only sector where I didn't need to peek at answers. The fills were entirely mine.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, near side.
Its anagram (12 of 15) reveals one of the recordings made by the Chinese balloon on a recent traverse of U.S. airspace.
Aiming its lens in a southerly direction (CIA?) it took a...
"LANGLEY PHOTO"!
GRR spell check thinks it knows better than me and goes behind my back to correct my spelling, erroneously.
ReplyDeleteThat should be well said.
Tante Nique ~ I agree with you 💯, the eclectic group of regulars on here (and even the occasional annoying opinionated interlopers 😂) make this blog interesting and entertaining, excellent crew of bloggers and a highly knowledgeable host of commenters.
ReplyDeleteSpell check does the same to me, turns well into we’ll 🤷🏼♂️
Got rhe theme early and just sailed through. Hang up at SW, not knowing HEELFLIP and not “getting’ 35d - fir ball. Doh! Clever clue! I have ordered many LULULEMON outfits for my granddaughters.
ReplyDelete11d. FERRIGNO would be pronounced “FER-E-NYO” in Italy. No G.
DO@6:02 States -me too! Also capitols “Albany, Annapolis, Atlanta, Augusta, Austin etc.”
ATL-G@8:36 We we’re A Pos. And O Pos.; blood incompatibility; high bilirubin; 4 hrs from a total blood replacement on 2nd child; 3rd, no problem.
Jinx@9:45 Singapore Sling first drink I ever had. Now prefer Scotch.
Subgenius @ 9:56 ~ My absence yesterday was a result of a tug of war with Thumper and, guess what, Thumper won. 🤭 I appreciate your noticing, though!
ReplyDeleteTante Nique @ 10:59 ~ Your DH is 100 percent correct and that is exactly what I’m telling myself. 😝 I’m a firm believer in “This, too, shall pass!” 😇
YooperPhil @ 1:15 ~ I can only speak for myself but I agree with you, to a point, that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or whatever the correct phrase is. However, I believe that my criticisms/complaints are usually based on the preponderance of proper names/nouns with esoteric or obtuse clues and fill in so many puzzles; the unnecessary cluing of common, ordinary words using references to proper names or phrase, especially when the clue is six or seven words long, cluing a three letter word; and, a personal pet peeve, a preponderance of three letter words, particularly abbreviations, initialisms, and acronyms. If moderation and selectivity could replace preponderance, the solve would not only be more fair and balanced, but more satisfying, IMO. Whenever possible, I try to temper any criticism with positive comments but, on the rare occasion, I choose to defer to Thumper.
ReplyDeleteDesper-otto, I read about the organist Ken Griffin and played a couple of his songs. As the name struck a bell with you, I assume some of his songs must have been popular and were played on the radio. Perhaps you spun 'em when you were DJ'ing ?
Yooper, I agree with what you wrote. But there's also no doubt in my mind that we have a troll or possibly two that likes to be obstinate. "A troll is Internet slang for a person who intentionally tries to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments in an online social community."
Like the one that starts the comment with "No one in the history of the world ever said..." and other generalizations or statements that have no basis in fact, and can easily be repudiated with a simple google search. Or disagrees with a clue/answer just to disagree. "Carbonated beverages aren't pop. They are soda !" Hopefully the trolls are easy to spot and people will just ignore them. Replying to them is exactly what a troll wants.
I am not the sharpest tool in the Corner shed, but I FIR after taking a break, and without resorting to GOOGLE or asking DH for help with sports and TV shows. Getting it right and getting the theme are always satisfying to me! The block with NCISLA, BONHAM, AMA, and SHIISM was toughest for me, and last to fall.
ReplyDeleteDNF,
ReplyDeleteOr, an FIW because alphabet runs of three names somewhere around yalta/Lisa/LSU made me turn on the red letters when nothing made sense...
With the exception of Olympia, I filled in all the capitals, and perped the product names, so I was surprised to find out that the words were blended.
There's no sailing product company called "Utica?"
There's no athleisure company called "Lemon?"
There's no high fashion company called "Sace?"
(I really thought there might be...I mean with names like "Prada" why not?)
Piaget I had from perps, but had no idea I perped it as I have never heard of it...
Capital gains?
With my meager income, I would rather cancel my subscription.
I also appreciate this puzzle more in retrospect than while solving it. I had to look up the Led Zeppelin drummer, and his name revealed that 5d was NBA, not NFL. My nose wrinkled at seeing SHIISM, but it had to be. I liked the clever cluing and I hope my praise goes to the constructors for coming up with them. Clues such as Reid of "American Pie" are obviously Patti's. I actually remembered LULULEMON from previous puzzles, which unlocked the theme for me.
ReplyDeleteI think Mick Fleetwood is/was a terrific drummer.
Good wishes to you all.
I liked the clever theme and filling in the capitals really helped me fill the grid. Ultimately, I got stuck in both the SW & SE.
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining all the tricky clues, C-Moe. You have a winner with Sacramentos!
I've never been a fan of calling someone who won 2nd place a LOSER.
LULULEMON sells running shorts for $68. I am sure they are great shorts but that's pretty steep.
inanehiker. The other day you recommended "The Henna Artist". This morning I was in the pool locker room and 2 ladies were talking nearby. One said, "Yes, I wrote 'The Henna Artist'". It was Alka Joshi! I complimented her on her success. She told me that they are making a streaming series based on the book and that she is currently working on her 3rd book. Such a bizarre coincidence for me as that title wasn't even on my radar until you commented on it.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletesumdaze, wow ! Serendipitous to meet that author !
When I went out for the freshman track team in high school, Coach Carlson set up a pair of low hurdles in the high school gym. Many of us were asked to run them. Coach Carlson told everyone that I had the best technique going over the hurdles and then told everyone to watch me as I ran them again.
He started me in the very first track meet that season. Out of the seven or eight lanes of runners, I finished dead last. Great form, but not enough speed. Never ran the hurdles again. High jump, broad jump and the 2-mile became my events from that point on. Second place is not a loser :-). Last place is.
By the way, that first track meet was was at the high school in East Palestine, Ohio, where members of the community sheltered after the Norfolk Southern accident was last week. I know that area very well, having dated a girl from East Palestine, playing football there against the Bulldogs, going to our family doctor there, and also roller skating every winter Friday night just a mile or so north of there.
My stepson (like a bioson to me) calls 2nd place "first loser." Probably got it in his New Jersey high school days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind comment, Wilbur. I too thought of 'Helen of Troy' for a minute before I had to change it.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Thanks, Sarah & Doug, for an amusing theme. Anytime anyone can make me chuckle, I'll forgive some of the tough parts. Took me 36:48 minutes -- longer than yesterday by several minutes. I did growl a little in places, but knew LULU LEMON & FERRIGNO--somehow that name has always stuck in my head. I've already forgotten the many things I didn't know in the puzzle so I guess I didn't learn anything.
ReplyDeleteGreat expo, CMoe! Until I filled those theme parts, I didn't like the puzzle at all either.
Don't think they make those LULU LEMON things in my size.
Thank you Sara and Doug for a crunchier than most Friday puzzle. I couldn't work it straight through as we had the two youngest grandsons over to celebrate youngest's birthday, thus I was busy from 5 AM to 8PM, when I'm writing this (over a much needed glass of Bordeaux Moe!). We spent the day streaming Wild Kratts and Curious George,, driving downtown and spending most of the day at the National Aquarium, and then returning to celebrate with 6 cupcakes with a candle on each, ice cream, and gifts. In between I dabbled on the puzzle as opportunity arose. I think this was an advantage of sorts, because I was really stymied at the outset, but during the interludes my subconscious plugged away, and by dinner time I checked into the Corner and confirmed a FIR.
ReplyDeleteBut like MOE said, those who had better things to do with their time and tried to fill it in at one sitting were faced with lots of PUNishment, and I'm sure those who wanted to just "get it over with" had lots of reasons for discouragement.
But this was one of those puzzles with a helpful theme. It had "cryptic clues", puzzlets that after the first one was solved revealed a pattern that you could use to solve the remaining themers. I didn't really stop to think much about the theme (really just portmanteaus of various recognizable cities with recognizable products), but MOE's explanation of them was spot on. I call these Class 2 themes: they help you solve the rest of the puzzle, as opposed to Class 1 themes that you're not likely to spot until you hit the reveal (like a lot of the "embedded string" themes I've been blogging lately), and don't help you much to solve the puzzle.
My favorite was:
29A OLYMPIAGET. Didn't know the watch, but I did know the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget as I majored in pysch in college. Piaget specialized in child cognitive development, and the one meme that stuck in my head was the stage when a child realizes that if you show him something and that it suddenly "disappears", that it must be somewhere nearby, and will search for it until she/he finds it. A useful discovery that we all still use today whenever we drop something and it rolls under a couch or table.
Cheers,
Bill
OMK @1:45 PM Yes LIND was a gimme for me, and possibly Jayce as well.
ReplyDelete60A UTOPIA. The title of a book written by Sir (St) Thomas More. My youngest grandson, mentioned above has Thomas as his middle name, after the English saint beheaded by Henry VIII for refusing to endorse the King's divorces.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteI typically can lock into Doug's grove but not today. 1) I had lots TO DO 2) I had no clue on half of them even after reading it.
My ABO is B-POS so I must be. The theme (revealed) is cute but, not knowing the brands nor the names made it impossible.
BONHAM was my first "I know this!". C. Moe - John's son, Jason, backed Zep for a spell. Kid's been playing in bands since he was 15yrs.
I would get into a RUSH v. Zeppelin argument but "no religion," right? :-)
//Funny thing - Folks thought Working Man was Zep
Thanks for the grid Sara & Doug. It was only 1/2 filled b/f I put up the white flag and moved on with duties.
Thanks for the expo, C. Moe. Loved Blondie & The Muppets! ("What's normal about a band anyway" LOL!)
//I saw something the other day with Taylor Swift doing Blondie - I didn't realize it wasn't Debbie Harry for a bit.
AnthonyGM - to the chagrin or to the Charmin of your neighbors?
BigE - one of my stocks dropped their dividend from $1/yr to $0.15/yr in '20. I think it finally went back up to a quarter a quarter.
Bill-O: Yes, my NPR is 88.7FM. I've never found NPR on AM. //I do listen to the Crazy People Show (CoastToCoast) on AM at midnight to sleep.
Ray-O: Indeed. R.I.P. Burt Bacharach. When I saw the news yesterday, Rain Drops kept falling on my head.
I'm getting really sleepy so I'll read past 10am when I wake. In the meantime, a story:
One Halloween, it was cold. Real cold. And Mom made me wear a coat. There was no way I was going to cover up my drug-store Incredible Hulk costume. With the coat underneath the plastic, I was bigger than Lou FERRIGNO! [in my head]
Cheers, -T
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Sara and Doug, and CMoe.
ReplyDeleteI’m late to the Rave again -what you all aren’t raving about this CW! I haven’t had time to read you all yet (I just finished reading yesterday’s comments), so maybe you don’t all agree with CMoe.
Personally I liked this CW, even though it was Friday-difficult and had a few names I didn’t know.
I finished with several inkblots and one visit to 44D to remind me of SHIISM because I had Sunni in my head and it wouldn’t fit.
(Great suggestion re SACRAMENTOS.)
I had trouble as I started in the top, and changed to the Downs, then picked the low-hanging fruit, including the first themer HONOLULULEMON (great joke re 25A LIME). This Canadian knows LULULEMON, which is actually based out of Vancouver British Columbia.
I had Malta instead of YALTA, and I had trouble getting OLYMPIA to fit properly.
Awe changed to IN AWE.
Slid changed to Sped, changed to TPed with a huge guffaw.
Another guffaw at CMoe’s imitating Ray-o with PLIÉ. Good one eh?
Fav was the fir ball ORNAMENT.
I noted DILATE and ROTATE (which paired with SPIN).
We had ALE, GIN and BRANDY, which might not make the CDC happy.
No CLAIROL for me. I’m silver-fox grey naturally, and proud of it!
Wishing you all a good evening.
I didn't sleep :-(
ReplyDelete//One of our Jr. Analyst is prego to the point of birthing tomorrow and the other is ill. So, I'm on call *shrug emoji*
C, Eh!, DW keeps trying to cover up greys.
When I was a wee-lad, Pop told me, "If you're going to marry a girl, look at her mom. That's what she'll look like." MIL is a beautiful 'silver fox' as I'm sure you are. //At least all of yous is smart!
WEES re: LuLuLemon: There's not much left to the imagination...
Waseeley - It's always in the last place you look. Unless you keep looking after you find it :-)
//Eldest is doing Psych PhD at George Mason - think I was a bad dad and she wants to know why? :-)
We can talk off-blog about Child Development - my CS MS focused on AI. I watched, in real-time baby-Eldest doing things my LISP programs couldn't.
TTP - I was the fastest kid on the baseball team (2mi in <13min) so Coach said, "Do Track."
My first meet was Baton. I was last-leg. Our team was running third-place. I was handed the stick and I took off. Second-lane got his stick two seconds later...
And then passed me like I was standing still. That guy had legs to his neck!
Then and there, Track wasn't my sport :-)
I took another sleepy-pill (melatonin), maybe it will set in(?)
I'll just finish echoing... The Corner is a great space of really, truly, whip-smart, interesting folks. I wouldn't hang-out here if it wasn't.
Cheers, -T
Yep, -T, but hanging, right back at you!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteBill, I should have known that you would have known about the Swedish Nightingale. I learned about her while reading in one of my parent's reference books to find out about Jenny Lind beds.
Dash T, I wasn't fast, but I could run at a good pace for for long time, so the 2 mile event was a natural choice. Plus I don't think many others cared to run it. Never even placed in a meet in that event. A couple of years later in the Army, I had an unofficial personal best of 11:03 in the physical fitness test. So close to breaking 11 minutes.
TTP - not to brag but, in the Army, I broke 11min by 4sec on the 2mi.
ReplyDelete//I could also do 60+ situps and 40+ pushups. Neither are in my vocabulary any more :-)
Cheers! -T
ReplyDeleteThat's good, Dash T. Under 5m 30s per mile.
I couldn't do a lot of situps after I hurt my back in high school, but I think I managed around 30 in the timed physical training test in basic. Pushups on the other hand, was a different story. Even a couple years before I went in, I could do 40 military style pushups without stopping. After I signed up for Delayed Entry Plan, my goal was to get to 100 non-stop. That's where I learned how stop and rest, in the extended position with only my toes and palms touching the floor, or resting on one arm, kinda sideways, with the other arm behind my back.
Man, to be young again and in that kind of shape. What the heck happened along the way ?
LOL! We got old :-)
ReplyDeleteMy trainer is trying his best to get me moving with correct posture (my right shoulder has dropped substantially - probably from the weight of two laptops in my backpack). He (trainer) is good at focusing on motion. And he will hurt you but good if you have a knot (he calls it gunk) in a muscle by digging in deep.
I'm almost (after 5 cheats) finished with Saturday's puzzle(?!? me?). I'm still stuck on the names in the Carolinas.
Cheers, -T