Themeless Saturday by Rafael Musa
A stark difference from last Saturday's puzzle was that this puzzle has only 62 open squares (ones that don't touch any black squares) compared to last week's 109 in Doug Peterson's puzzle.
I managed a mini struggle in the NE trying to get 10 D to start with GETTING. In the SE, AMANDA, AHMAD, TRAN and Qurratulain were no help in the SE. As Bill Shakespeare wrote, All's Well That Ends Well.
1. Large file: RASP.
5. Bumpkin: RUBE - Al Capp's version
9. Well-connected co.?: ISP - Ours
12. Chap: FELLA.
13. Hebrew for "spring": AVIV. - AVIV (אביב, or Abib) is a Hebrew word that can be translated as "spring", symbolizing renewal, and tell (or tel) is an artificial mound created over centuries through the accumulation of successive layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. You're welcome.
14. Nodded discreetly, maybe: CUED - You could get that nod or a spoken CUE from a prompter's box.
16. Beset: UNDER SIEGE - Grant took control of the Mississippi River when he defeated the Confederates by putting Vicksburg UNDER SIEGE in 1863
18. Rihanna album with the hit single "Work": ANTI.
19. Book full of legends?: ROAD ATLAS - An anachronism?
20. Caper: ANTIC.
21. Australian member of the music supergroup LSD: SIA - She and her exotic headwear have made an appearance here before
22. Info needed to schedule a book tour, say: PUB DATE - A PUB(lication) DATE would seem to be useful info(rmation) for scheduling a book tour
24. "Welp": I SPOKE TOO SOON - I put in the correct fill but had never heard of this use of Welp. I'd always heard of it as referring to a young pup but...
30. Sweet-talk, say: WOO - College coaches win or lose next years' games this time of year as they WOO kids to come to their school.
31. Bit of hardware: T-NUT.
35. Racket: DIN.
36. Bake, as eggs: SHIRR - A word I learned here. Our poached eggs look very similar.
37. Vegetable with golden and Chioggia varieties: BEET.
38. Jupiter, to Saturn: SON - Yikes!
39. "Change Sings: A Children's Anthem" author Gorman: AMANDA.
40. Not taking a back seat: RIDING SHOTGUN - Did you think of the movie Stagecoach?
45. "LOL, I can't even": OMG.
46. Still on the market, in a way: UNLET - Rooms to LET, 50 cents, No phone, no pool no pets...
47. Accessory to pair with an eye patch, maybe: PIRATE HAT.
53. Bridges in Hollywood: BEAU.
54. Thread-weaving aid?: PLOT DEVICE - One PLOT DEVICE is called "A Macguffin" and this is a famous one.
55. Gives in to the munchies: EATS.
56. "The __ U Give": Angie Thomas novel: HATE.
57. Cristiano Ronaldo's jersey number: SEVEN - This framed, autographed jersey is only $1,600. My number 7 would be Mickey Mantle.
58. Finch family creator: LEE - Harper LEE famously created the family headed by this famous Finch. 😀
59. Couple: DYAD - I did not know this word but when it filled it made perfect sense.
60. __ leches cake: TRES - A light cake with TRES (3) types of milk (leches)
Down:
1. City near Tahoe: RENO.
2. "The West Wing" Emmy winner: ALDA - He played a conservative Republican
 |
| Jimmy Smits Martin Sheen. Alan Alda |
3. Vehicle often steered with the feet: SLED.
4. Hits the slopes with a chute: PARASKIS - or on the flats
5. Go off on: RAIL AT.
6. Layer between the sclera and the retina: UVEA - It has those very useful vowels.
8. Night before: EVE.
9. "Leave it to me!": I CAN DO THAT.
10. Going dark: SUN TANNING.
11. __ four: PETIT - Small cakes - PETIT (small) four (oven) - Fr.
12. Abundance for a Chewbacca cosplayer: FUR - $170 on Amazon
15. Some are fuzzy: DICE - They're a small part of this number but at 2:15. Kenicke brings 'em in and I love listening to this song.
17. Pens: STIES - Pig pens
20. Transfusion letters: ABO - I'm A positive
23. GI hangout: USO.
24. Foot that's part of a meter: IAMB - Our literary group can easily find the eight IAMBS in this line
25. Blueberrylike fruit: SLOE.
26. China's weaker counterpart: PAPER PLATE.
27. What a 26-Down is designed for: ONE TIME USE - also...
28. Due (to): OWING.
32. Qurratulain Hyder's language: URDU - The grand dame of URDU poetry I found out. #1 on m trip into the wilderness of my arts knowledge that filled in themselves
33. Kelly Marie who voices Raya in "Raya and the Last Dragon": TRAN - #2
35. "Hey, be serious!": DON'T PLAY.
36. Exhaustive analysis?: SMOG TEST - Exhaust is in the clue
38. Member of the fam: SIS.
39. Jazz pianist Jamal: AHMAD - #3
41. Bindi, e.g.: DOT - Cultural learning for me - Bindi: A decorative mark on the forehead, worn by Hindu women (and members of some other religious groups), traditionally believed to be venerating an energy center of the human body or representing “the third eye,” but also worn as an adornment or a sign of marriage. You're welcome.
42. In order: SORTED.
43. Lipstick container: TUBE.
44. Youngest Oscar winner: O'NEAL - A wonderful 1974 movie made with her dad
43. Lipstick container: TUBE.
44. Youngest Oscar winner: O'NEAL - A wonderful 1974 movie made with her dad
48. Bit: IOTA.
49. At all: EVER.
50. Queen's realm: HIVE - The Queen appears to have a BINDI. 😀
51. Helpful blackjack cards, maybe: ACES and 52. Helpful blackjack card, maybe: TEN - A TEN would not be helpful on any of these hands below.
54. High deg.: PHD.
55 comments:
Just like Gary, when I saw “welp” I thought of a young dog; however, I believe that’s actually spelled “whelp”. It took a fair number of perps to bring me to the correct fill. As to “Gorman”, anybody who doesn’t immediately think of “Amanda” must have been living under a rock in January ‘21. This puzzle didn’t seem as much of a slog to me as some Saturday cw’s have been, and I managed to FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Gotta love a themeless, revealless puzzle. There was some interesting (read that "obtuse") cluing in this one. I did remember AHMAD and AMANDA. TRAN and SIA, not so much. Still, it came together pretty fast and Wite-Out-free. I call that a win. Thanx, Rafael and Husker.
Thank you, Rafael, and thank you, Husker Gary
I thought I had a FIR, but I SPOKE TOO SOON. Had SyA instead of SIA. D'OH ! STyES v STIES caused that error, but as Gary said, we've had her name before, so I still should have caught it and seen that the homophone was wrong.
I skipped past "China's weaker counterpart" and then got the adjacent ONE TIME USE. Oh, PAPER PLATE !
Changed RIDING up front to RIDING SHOTGUN when nothing was working out. That broke a logjam.
UNDER SIEGE was Steven Seagal's best film, IMO.
Iris to UVEA and bolt to TNUT. Nest before HIVE. You oughta know ALANIS Morisette.
Large file for RASP threw me because a rasp has comparatively larger "teeth" than other types of files, but it is not necessarily large.
Didn't know either Qurratulain Hyder or Kelly Marie TRAN, but didn't have to because the perps filled them in. Also didn't know AHMAD. Filled the missing M in on that one as a guess.
Also did know of a MacGuffin. Learning a lot today !
Gary, I think your fingers may have forgotten to complete your thoughts at 54D. :-)
I managed to get down to 12 clues all in the NE before hitting the proverbial brick wall. Red strike throughs helped me finish. I actually use “welp” quite regularly, such as at 5:00 PM on a Friday when I typically say, “Welp, guess I’ll call it a week.”
Gary, you're not the only one to struggle in the NE. I kept thinking ATT instead of ISP, ANTI (and any album or song by Rihanna), SHIRR, AMANDA, and TRAN were complete unknowns. It took a few WAGs for PETIT four, URDU, and Fuzzy DICE to open it up. As for PUB DATE I think it needed a better clue. Getting AMANDA got unknown AHMAD for me.
I had to write over ACID to get the of SMOG TEST. I wasn't thinking of that type of 'exhaust-ive". Tricky clue. An ACID test to FIR today.
BIG SPOON- new one for me.
DOT for bindi- thanks for the explanation, unknown to me.
ALANIS- knew of her, just not how to spell it.
SIA- no idea the group LSD, but she fit the grid
BEET- a WAG
Subgenius- I don't live under a rock but I didn't know who AMANDA was. I guess it was her 'fifteen minutes of fame'.
FIR, but erased alicia for ALANIS (I knew better), coo for WOO, pouts for MOPES, unwed for UNLET, duad for DYAD, and hod for DOT.
I hear that Rihanna has a fairly significant performance tomorrow.
I thought that SIA was 1) Korean, and 2) male. Guess I'll remember when her stuff hits the oldies radio stations. My favorite supergroup was Cream (Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.)
So I guess this was a very easy themeless Saturday puzzle, since even I got it all. To me it was easier than Wednesday, Thursday or Friday offerings. YMMV. A lot. Thanks to Rafael for letting me play with the big kids. And thanks to Gary for the fun review.
Jinx, it's because I didn't know of Rihanna's significant upcoming performance that I missed one question on this week's NYT news quiz. Rats. I'd even purposely memorized the two teams playing, because I knew there'd be something Superb Owl on the quiz.
BE - Thanks for reminding me. The BIG SPOON in Gary's picture has his right hand in the wrong place. There is only one acceptable place for the SPOONers top hand to be. I wasn't going to mention it, but I decided that I should make a clean breast of it.
SHIRR and TRAN were unknown, but I struggled most in the SE. You see, I saw the superlative clue for TOPMOST and instinctively filled in ____EST. No clue about "Bindi", so that had to be a name, right? SENator? DEMocrat? REPublican? I eventually had to convince myself that __PMEST made no sense whereas PAPERPLATE/ONETIMEUSE made a lot of sense.
I meant SW. Apparently I'm also struggling with directions today.
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a BEAR...
Soooo many wrong today!
I don't understand the explanation of an open square. Someone please elucidate.
I managed to get this one in 15:44, with a lucky guess of the "r" in the crossing of "shirr" and "Tran".
I liked several clues (e.g., Lee, paper plate), but continue to grow annoyed at the amount of proper names (Ahmad, Tran, Alanis, Sia, Reno, Alda [whom I don't generally associate with The West Wing], Amanda, Anti, etc.) and foreign words (petit, tres, aviv, etc.).
Best Steven Seagal movie - isn't that an oxymoron?
FIR, despite the crossing of proper names, my puzzle no-no and pet peeve. Several unknowns that perps solved, and a few very clever clues. SE corner was the last to fall as I toyed between nth and PhD at 54D.
OwenKL @8:08 XWordInfo defines an open square as a cell that doesn't touch any black squares (not even diagonally) More open squares = generally harder puzzle.
I watch the game and the commercials. Halftime is time to eat. From what I remember those productions are overproduced shows. The last one I saw was when Janet Jackson had her boob exposed.
WHAT HAPPENED? The Feb. 11 puzzle in the Albany Times Union was a fill-in-the-blanks one beginning with 1a _ “Belgium port”. I couldn’t believe how smart I was and then it soon became apparent that something was wrong.
Irish Miss - Did you see the report of the local girl (Niskayuna), Elise Corbin age 17, who had her first New York Times puzzle published Feb.2 after many rejected submissions? It was about physics and dark matter. Very impressive!
This was easy-peasy compared to last Saturday. Or maybe I’m just getting smarter.
Gorgeous winter day in Vermont. 25 degrees, no wind and not a cloud in the sky!
Yeah, I'm a grammar snob. "Whelp" used to be just really lame usage, but now it's actually sanctioned!? Damn...
Another DNF Saturday today. Too many unknowns and not enough patience. Good for all of you who solved Rafael's challenging puzzle.
I soon started checking Husker Gary's helpful review for help to continue solving a bit and learned where all I went wrong and a new word: DYAD. An example of my problems was not seeing I had TEN and ACES reversed. Oh well, tomorrow is another day....
Good Morning:
This was a DNF because I couldn’t crack open the NE corner. Tried ITT and ATT but Cued, Anti, Dice, and Pub Date remained elusive. The rest of the puzzle was challenging in spots but perps helped a lot and I wish they had been as kind in the NE. Never heard or saw that spelling of Whelp, so had no idea of the meaning and the only Bindi I’m familiar with is Steve Irwin’s daughter, Bindi. The adjacent Paper Plate/One Time Use and Aces/Ten were neat. I guessed Bean before Beet and Final before Petit.
Thanks, Rafael, and thanks, HG, for your commentary and dazzling visuals. Always enjoy seeing Gregory Peck. He runs a close second to Cary Grant in my book.
Parsan @ 9:15 ~ Yes, I did read that article about Elise Corbin. I knew that the constructor was 17 from reading Jeff Chen’s blog of the puzzle, but I didn’t know she was from Niskayuna. Apparently, she’s been published in a few other venues as well as The Times. Good for her!
Which team is everyone rooting for on Sunday? I’ll go with the Chiefs. 🏈
Have a great day.
Seemed a little easier than most Saturday themeless as I FIR in 22:32, lots of unknowns but the perps were kind. Thank you Rafael (and I see you have the Daily Double, as your byline is also in USA Today, with Alanis in both puzzles.)
HG - I know I repeat myself sometimes, but you always have stellar reviews on Saturday, lots of learning moments!
FLN ~ Irish Miss…I always appreciate your critiques of the puzzles, you have a keen insight to the construction, and constructive criticism is not a bad thing, plus, the most important thing is you are always respectful, unlike some other commenters who can be downright mean.
I thought a SPOON nested not "cuddled" (oh THAT kyna SPOON 🤭)
"Thread weaving aid" shuttle wouldn't work...PLOT DEVICE. (An object that carries a story line or plot along is a ....McMuffin?) 🍔
Inkovers: unwed/UNLET
Oops...doing the puzzle on my phone at camp, didn't feel like going into town for the newpaper..but midway through accidentally tapped a red letter Icon and my mistakes lit up before I could perpcorrect 😖...so disqualified myself...packed it in...
Hey Rafael, you spell your name wrong..😁
DNF. That NE corner got me. In addition, I spelt AMHAD’s incorrectly even though I used to have one or two of his albums, that’s in LP form, so I missed the SHOTGUN.
I still don’t get Welp. I too got the PAPER PLATE after getting ONE TIME USE.
I apparently live under a rock also. I’ll try to surface when I can.
This has to be the most annoying Saturday puzzle I have ever done!
(I am being facetious here...)
I say this because I have to go out and buy a new fridge while it's on sale today. The old one is making weird noises, clicks, and lights flash on and off, but it still works.? So I turned on the red letters, and was set to hit reveal for every unknown name, just to get the Saturday stumper out of the way so I could make fun of it later...
And what happens? No red letters! This stupid puzzle tied me down and made me finish it! It's even interfering with my lunch schedule! More of a Wednesday/Thursday offering than a Saturday if you ask me...
Learning moment: bindi
I don't finish every sentence with an ellipsis,
"I have the bindies."
Welp was strange too, I kept thinking shells, as in whelk...
Thank you Rafael. I really liked your puzzle, but ran into a BIT of indecision in the NE and swiped the wrong way (okay I can bring myself to say FIW - I just did).
Thanks for the recap Gary. Informative and fun as always.
Some favs:
1A RASP. WTTPS.
9A ISP. My undoing, as I wanted a real "co.". So I perseverated between ATT & IBM, both of which were perpetually unperpable in this puzzle. Our ISP is FIOS, with fiber right up to the house (but coax into the house to the WIFI router.
13A AVIV. Today's Hebrew lesson.
24A I SPOKE TOO SOON. I often do. Better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid, than to open your mouth and prove it.
20A ALANIS. Here's the song that put her on the map. It sounded so radical in 1995, but has been tamed by all the rock that has passed by since then.
36A SHIRR. It simmered just below the surface and took a coupla' perps to serve it up.
38A SON. DNK he was his SON.
43A TOP MOST. Cute pic Gary.
57A SEVEN. More Hebrew - TO SEVEN in Hebrew is a cognate to swearing an OATH. It also connotes COMPLETENESS and PERFECTION, as God completed creation after six days and rested on the SEVENTH.
59A DYAD. DUAD -> DYAD. The traditional number of persons in a BIG SPOON.
Thanks
Bill
Jinx @ 7:35 AM LOL! I didn't think it was quite cuddly enough either.
Ray - O @11:01 AM I thought the same thing about the spelling of Signor Musa's name. As the ELDER of you two, you have naming rights. 😁
No one else tried PAPER TIGER for WEAKER CHINA?
10d - sunsetting became SUNTANNING when ANTIC appeared. Computer illiterate and must confess I don’t ever “get” clues like ISP. 24a - Welp—what? Had rising———-
- before RIDING SHOTGUN was obvious. DOT, learning something new.
Tante Nique@11:19. Still have AHMAL LP’s. Also like Peterson, Brubeck, and especially Evans. Are we the only jazz fans here?
DNF...the NW did me in. I liked a lot of the clever clues and aha! Moments, but I guess I'm more of a Monday-Tuesday puzzle guy!
Fun, if tough, Saturday puzzle--many thanks, Rafael. And always enjoy your helpful commentary, Gary, thanks for that too.
Well, lots of negativity in this puzzle at first. I started out saying I CAN DO THAT but pretty soon had to admit I SPOKE TOO SOON because I really felt UNDER SIEGE and MOPEd a bit with all that ANTI DIN to deal with, something I do sort of HATE to RAIL AT. But then I saw SUNTANNED, and that began to WOO me a bit. I mean, even in the winter you can have fun riding a SLED or going out to PARA SKI. And you can at least imagine how nice it might be to have a BEAU or some other sort of FELLA to WOO you, and invite you to go to his place and have some EATS, maybe some PETIT-FOURS with a NUT or two, and a BIG SPOON of ice cream on a PAPER PLATE. I'd give that TEN cheers!
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
Hola!
To anyone who found this puzzle easy, I salute and praise you. I must be getting old. Sigh.
Actually I did fill most of the grid but felt UNDER SIEGE in the eastern edge. I don't know Rhianna's music or have any idea who is TRAN, or AHMAD. And like Irish Miss, I only know of BINDI as Steve Irwin's daughter. Currently I'm reading a book that takes place in India but no one has mentioned dots on the forehead. It's more about the era when Pakistan was created and the unrest that preceded it.
Thread-weaving aid is a clever clue.
My eggs were poached before I got SHIRR.
SUNTANNING is a natural result of living here in the Southwest.
Canadian Eh will likely know ALANIS.
TNUT was preceded by tack.
Thank you, Rafael Muss, for this challenge in which I learned a few things and it's true, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Now to go back to organizing my papers for taxes.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Parsan@12:05. Yes I’ve been a Jazz fan forever, going as far back as when my French compatriot fell in love with Sidney Bichet.
I forgot to mention the plethora of O's in this puzzle. Just look at I SPOKE TOO SOON, TOPMOST, WOO, and SPOON.
GOOd catch Lucina.
Hi All!
DNF as is par (four?) for a my Saturday's. But I had fun playing with Rafael's puzzle.
HG - thank you for 2 cheats. Google gets credit for my other three. If my math is right, that's not SEVEN nor TEN.
Fun puzzle & informative expo. The morning is good.
I can't say I ACE'd it but it was a fun-ly-clued.
I must have looked at 59a for 10min... It's AMANDA(?) [Boston] //Love(ish) song - who's ready for 2/14? I have a poem 70% drafted.
Fav: RIDING SHOTGUN. Boy, if you call it 1st, you don't have to lean in to hear what's going on. //HG - I learned the oater origin just a few years ago. Makes sense for WellsFargo :-)
Welp, I thought that was a giant bruise from a fist-fight. I SPOKE, er, inked TOO...
@12:03 - I did think of that right after bone & porcelain.
Jinx - Cream was awesome! Ginger Baker is one of the drummer's drummer.
CED - It sounds like the board is going wonky. It will eventually affect the compressor. If you can remove the board, sniff (literally) around and find the burnt component, much cheaper than a new $2K (I remember when they were $700!) fridge.
D-O: Rihanna was even on WWDTM this morning :-) //does that count as a 6th cheat?
//They interviewed Geena Davis who road SHOT GUN in Thelma & Louise [that might have been a subliminal 7th cheat]
TTP - I like what you did there w/ You Oughta Know [TV-MA: Explicit Content]
Parson - I'm going to have to find Corbin's puzzle. Dark Matter is right up my ally.
LSD - it's the "Tune On, Tune in, Drop out" drug (so I'm told) or Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
Speaking of Chicago: Youngest is getting into Swing 'cuz she likes the horns. I introduced her to Chicago via 25 or 6 to 4. Youngest was plussed. The fat/blues-sound may be making a resurgence!
The only half-time show I actually watched was Rolling Stones in '16. Learning: Dancing keeps you young (Mick) and drugs pickle-preserve you (Keith). R.I.P. Charlie.
//It does amaze me how they change the grid-iron to stage and back to grid-iron in minutes. Lots of hands, I guess.
Lucina - why did you have to mention taxes? Oy! *adds find papers to to-do* Neat-O pickup on the O's.
Been up all night on call (somebody emailed their personal account again. [Oh, yeah. We have eyes :-)]) so I'm getting a nap b/f my chores.
Cheers, -T
Desperotto at 7:53,
You inspired me to try the NYTimes news quiz, which I usually skip. Lo and behold, 11 out of 11, since I did know about Rihanna.
Thanks, think I'll try it more often now.
Puzzling thoughts:
FWH
Glad that we don't count the red letters; mine were in the double digits today
Thanks HG for being the Saturday blogger - you tackle the hardest puzzle of the week and never complain
I'm planning on watching the Super Bowl game tomorrow; pretty dis-interested in who wins, though, as I've never been a fan of either the Eagles or Chiefs
Jinx in Norfolk @ 7:35 --> I agree; the BIG SPOON's right hand is out-of-place! 😀
Oh wow does time fly - that Stones link wasn't '16 but '06. My Bad.
Chairman & Jinx... If you knows how to SPOON right, 'tis your lucky night.
//scratch that from my 2/14 draft :-)
-T
This puzzle had several fun clues that made me smile when I eventually sussed them out.
FAVs: Queen's realm, China's weaker counterpart, Book full of legends.
OTOH, I thought I was dialed in to today's cluing when I entered "not TextING" for 10D. Needless to say, the NE didn't work out for me today.
Thank you for all the learning moments today, H-Gary! Those BEETs are gorgeous! I am O-Pos. I think that means I can donate to you (and all the other Pos types) but I can only receive from other O-Pos people.
In the '90s people often told me I looked like ALANIS Morisette.
Weak @12:03 PM That was weak Weak, really weak!
Parsan @12:05 PM I like what Jazz I've heard, but don't really know a lot about it. After all it's America's classical music.
Charlie @12:08 PM uncle fred used to say that, but he has persisted and is now one of our better solvers. It's a learnable skill.
Lucina @12:44 PM O, I nOticed that tOO, particularly cluster arOund the central NOrtheast.
-T @1:11 PM I'm a big Cream fan too!
My first fill was IAMB, but my best section turned out to be the NW corner where I could complete everything without a cheat.
Like Husker Gary I never knew of today's usage for "Welp." With an "h"--as in "whelp"--it can mean a puppy, yes, but also can be applied to just about any young mammal.
I have heard it used as a verb, "to whelp," as in "to give birth to...."
We learn a lot doing XWDs. With AVIV as the Hebrew for "spring," I wondered how it fit in the Israeli city's name.
A quick Google search revealed that the literal meaning of Tel Aviv is "Spring Hill." But the words resonate with historical significance as the title of Theodor Herzl's "The Old New Land."
~ OMK
_____________
DR: Yes, we have no diagonals; we have no diagonals today!
OMK @ 2:47. AVIV. Nice lateral thinking! Very interesting! I might actually remember the Spring definition now. Thanks!
Thank you. I will try not to be too, too proud.
I decided to eschew TAXing work and go shop at Walmart since I was out of laundry detergent. My granddaughter washes almost every day! For some unknown reason I have not been able to find my hair color! It's frustrating to think I may have to change color. Today I saw a woman with shocking pink hair but that is too extreme for me. And, oh horrors! I could go gray!
Gee only 9 names today, editor must be slipping.
Welp, this puzzle beat me up and took my lunch money. I am holding back from giving forth on the idea of a game vs. a test, and the concept of "make this a learning experience."
OMK @ at 2:47 PM WHELP - I knew there was a reference to this verb somewhere in Shakespeare and it finally surfaced - Julius Caesar Act 2 Scene II.
Lucina @3:53 PM Our love for you transcends your hair color! ❤
Lucina - There's a hacker I follow - SheHacksPurple. She has vibrant purple highlights and also puts out a fairly decent podcast. C, Eh! would be pleased to learn she's (hacksPurple) Canadian. Vancouver, IIRC. I say you go purple too :-)
Thanks for the link to Cream, waseeley. I'm afraid I'm going down the music rabbit-hole now. I won't finish until the Internet is out of (good) music.
//I got on a The Who kick last night and watch 3 minimentaries re: Keith Moon. Wank was crazy-brilliant.
Sumdaze - You're kinda right inre: ABO. You can get blood from any O. I'm B-Positive (my life outlook too) so you can't have some of mine. Sorry.
//I was an Army blood-bank phlebotomist / lab-tech during Desert Storm. Scroll down for the compatibility chart.
Tel Aviv == Spring Hill? That's going to settle in the little grey cells just fine.
Thanks OMK.
Cheers, -T
-T @6:45 PM The Internet will never run out of good music. When you're out of good rock I'll introduce you to a Universe that began in the 17th Century, with roots stretching back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 🎶🎶🎶
Tony- I remember a commercial from the 60's advertising LSD, which stook for Lone Star Draft, a Texas beer. And after the drug hit the news people were stealing Texas license plates which started with LSD, such as LSD-123, My LA plate from 20 years ago was LLP 226 but I never saw a LSD plate.
Chairman and Jinx- Big Spooner and Spoonee in the drawing are wearing clothes. Something wrong there. Very wrong.
Thanks, Gary, for explaining WELP as used in the puzzle. I headed down the puppy dog/ungrateful human child trail before a few of the perps led to the answer that the puzzle demanded.
Hi Y'all! Rafael and I don't live in the same world, methinks, but I slogged thru & filled it in 36:04. Thanks, Gary, for all your help.
Hand up for knowing only BINDI Irwin -- if I could have remembered her last name. I could see her face...
Before I did the puzzle, I had just been reading a James Grippando book where Abuela was making a TRES LECHE cake. Coincidence made me laugh. The only other time I ever heard of the cake was when my grocery order came and the shopper handed me a TRES LECHE cake which I hadn't ordered. She insisted I had ordered it. It looked delicious--just like Gary's picture--so I kept and enjoyed it.
Spent the day off and on having nosebleeds again. I'd get it stopped then have to get up and do something and off it would gush again. Very tiresome. Couldn't eat.
I'm trying to visualize myself with purple hair and as much as I love purple (I have a purple outfit for each day of the week including some shoes) it boggles the mind!
waseeley:
Thank you! I feel warm and soft all over.
You all enjoy the game tomorrow. I'm going to a movie.
BigE - Lone Star Draft is the water here in Texas. St. Arnolds (Houston craft'd) does it up right.
PK - Sweetie, have you seen a Dr about those nose bleads. If you can't eat, that's not good.
Lucina - If you actually do go Purple, I want to see a snap. Little Sis (she's youngest of 5) tries to shock us / get attn going silly.
Bindi? - I kept trying to ink Mehndi. The Girls still do it (Montessori celebrated every holy day) for fun. It's quite the scene when 4 white people walk into an Indian restaurant and the girls have batik on their hands.
waseeley - a) I was looking up something for an expo [not really a spoiler folks - you know my brain goes sideways] and found this heart pumper [Sir Elton]
b) you inspired a Baroque joke. You Gotta wait a week to be sorely disappointed :-)
With love & cheers, -T
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