Themeless Saturday by Tom Pepper and C.C. Burnikel
Our regular bloggers here know that Tom Pepper was a great source of strength for C.C. during her recent trials. All of us should have such a friend when we really need one.
This wonderful picture shows constructors Andrea Carla Michaels, Tom Pepper and C.C. with kibitzer (and occasional constructor) Boomer.
Today she and Tom collaborate on this very challenging but doable puzzle. I really had to skate around the grid before the fun long fills revealed themselves. C.C. also told me that Tom is a golfer and got to play St. Andrews two years ago and there are two golfing clues today.
My final fill was at ROM_/ZEND_YA where the "A" was the only letter that made sense. I hope Tom and C.C. have another puzzle soon!
1. Wardrobe of one's dreams?: PAJAMA TOPS - 😀
11. "And then __!": SOME.
15. Honor won seven times by Nikki Giovanni: IMAGE AWARD - American poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator who has won the NACCP IMAGE AWARD seven times
16. Makeshift sled from a cafeteria: TRAY.
17. Information for the record: LINER NOTES - The tipoff was "record" in the clue
18. Competent: ABLE.
19. Radio host Shapiro who sings with Pink Martini: ARI.
20. Org. whose website has a "Travelers' Health" page: CDC - Go to their site and fill in any where you are going in the world in the box on the right hand side to get a report.
21. Tarnished: SULLIED.
23. Pique periods: FITS 😀
25. Navigation software once called FreeMap Israel: WAZE - I had no idea but it soon occurred to me that WAZE has been used as fill here.
28. Full-bodied: STOUT.
30. Flat rates?: RENTS - This flat in London RENTS for ₤1,600 pcm (per calendar month) which is $1,928/month
32. Before: AGO.
33. Field trip?: ERROR - A 65. Field worker?: REF would have to spot the ball where this runner was first touched
36. Prune: LOP.
37. Cholesterol-rich burger toppers: FRIED EGGS - 😧
40. Venue with programmes: BBC - London has flats and the British Broadcast Corporation has programmes
43. Cuarón Oscar winner about a domestic worker in 1970s Mexico: ROMA.
44. Hoodwinks: SNOWS - SCAMS gave way to SNOW jobs
47. 100%: ALL.
48. Best Driver and Best Jockey, e.g.: ESPYS - 2022 ESPY Winners
50. Flounder's best friend, in a Disney film: ARIEL - This cel from the 1989 feature cartoon shows ARIEL, Sebastian and Flounder and sold for $1,100. Ten years later Disney put a lot of animators out of work by using CGI instead of hand-drawn films.
54. Careful handling: TACT.
56. Danish shoe brand: ECCO - This ECCO MEN'S TRACK 25 MOC GTX SHOE will run you $240
59. Homes on the road, briefly: RVS.
61. Fell: HEW - Definitely a step above lopping
62. 25-Across et al.: APPS.
63. "Can you drive me?": I NEED A RIDE.
66. Little more than: MERE - Ralph Kramden, "It's not a lot of money, Alice!"
67. Heart-to-hearts: TETE-A-TETES - TÊTE-A-TÊTES should sometimes be discrete
68. Olympic archer?: EROS.
69. Holds one's ground: STANDS FAST - I can't use Rosa as an example too often!
Down:
1. Rice dishes: PILAFS - I thought the answer would be more exotic than this cwd staple
2. "Ya with me?": AM I RITE - The "ya" in the clue hinted at an informal fill
3. Cleaning agent: JANITOR.
4. Datum requested by winery websites: AGE.
5. Defunct Ford div.: MERC - The car racing Greased Lightning in Grease was a black 1949 MERCury Series 9CM
7. Garage type: TWO CAR - Every house being built in our neighborhood now has THREE CAR garages
8. __ of This Swirled: Ben & Jerry's flavor with cookie bits: OAT - 😀
10. California sch.: SDSU - South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD would have worked but it's a little further east
11. Buy time: STALL - "Uh, er, yeah, well, ya know..."
12. Revolutionary?: ORBITAL - I had a real V-8 moment when it came to me!
13. One source of toxic behavior: MALE EGO.
14. Systane dose: EYEDROP.
22. One of the oldest types of pasta: LASAGNA - LASAGNA is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, type of pasta, dating back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Romans baked this pasta in a dish called ‘lagana’
24. Crowd __: SURF.
26. Emmy-winning star of "Euphoria": ZENDAYA - ZENDAYA (Maree Stoermer Coleman)
29. Onslaught: TORRENT.
31. Elements added to a photo's metadata: TAGS.
34. Ocho __, Jamaica: RIOS - Even I know Ocho RIOS means eight rivers but I read that there are only four rivers that come to this beautiful city.
38. Like some hockey goals: EMPTY NET - A team that is trailing may take out its goalie to have six attackers but they risk this happening.
40. Darts, e.g.: BAR GAME - I was amazed when I found out that the highest score you can get in a game of Darts is 180 - all three of your darts in the triple 20 ring. Three bulls eyes gets you 150.
41. Goof: BLOOPER.
42. Many a golf instructor: CLUB PRO - Tyler Kingston at my club
45. Kansas setting of "Dennis the Menace": WICHITA - How Hank Ketcham chose this city
46. Leaves the country, in a way: SECEDES - and so it began
49. Listen to first, say: SCREEN - Caller ID can serve as a SCREEN for incoming phone calls
51. Like a winning golf score: LOWEST - In the 1997 Master's, Tiger was LOWEST by 12 strokes
53. Lets up: EASES.
55. Jack Pearson or Phil Dunphy: TV DAD - From This Is Us and Modern Family respectively
58. Small songbirds: TITS - Nope...
60. Exams no longer considered for admissions decisions at UC: SATS - Here you go
64. Itinerary info: ETA.
51 comments:
As might be expected from a C.C. offering, I found this puzzle tough but fair. Fortunately, I dredged “*waze” out of my memory, or I would have never gotten the lady whose name begins with a “Z.” Other than that, there was the usual and expected Saturday misdirection. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
MERC AANDW WAZE CDC ZENDAYA... no way I was going to FIR. Doesn't help that I also had TORmENT, and ROMA as clued was unknown to me.
Good morning!
Yay, d-o got 'er done on a Saturday. Wasn't familiar with Mug Root Beer or ZENDAYA, so _A_E resolving into WAZE took some time. That midsection was the last to fall. Thanx, Tom, C.C., and Husker.
FRIED EGGS: It's not the cholesterol you eat that's the problem, it's the fats.
ROUEN: That painting by Monet looks like recent photos of the Titanic.
Finally received my missing brokerage statement yesterday, and filed my taxes. Check -- one more chore off the do-do list.
Thank you, Tom Pepper and C.C., and thank you, Husker Gary.
Wow, that was a challenge ! Lots of reasonable guesses as letters perped in. In the NE alone, both ORBITAL and EYE DROPS were examples of that. Had TRAY, ABLE, ere and LOP, and felt ALTER was going to be correct. Ere became AGO when ORBITAL and EYE DROPS were entered.
First had stein for "Mug alternative" and out instead of OAT for "Ben and Jerry's". I guess that MUG is a regional brand of root beer. AMIRITE ? I'll have to walk through the soda pop aisle at the grocery store one of these days.
I've never had FRIED EGGS on a burger, mainly because I don't eat a lot of burgers, and I'm not big on FRIED EGGS either, excepting for over easy or medium every once in a while. The answer came easily enough.
No doubt this puzzle was toughened up by the cluing. No idea who Nikki Giovanni is, but I have heard of the IMAGE AWARD(s). Didn't know that WAZE was once called FreeMap Israel. Didn't know the star of "Euphoria", but recognized the name ZENDAYA as perps fed most of it.
In the end though, it came down to the intersection of "Ocho ___, Jamaica" and the Cuaron Oscar winner about a 1970's Mexico domestic worker. It was most likely going to be RIAS or RIOS. I guess RIAS. Bzzt. Changed it to RIOS and got the congrats message.
Thanks, HG.
FIW, missing my WAG at ZENDoYA x ROMo. Guess I've been a Cowboys fan too long. Erased ere for AGO, not (of This Swirled) for OAT, ucla for UCSD, and via for ETA.
I love WAZE. The built-in GPS in my 2013 Honda CRV is terrible. I would never have found Zoe's Florida vet had I not had WAZE on my phone. In addition, to find the nearest chain store (say Walmart), the Honda makes you pick a subcategory. Pick the wrong one (auto accessories, for example), and the nearest Walmart may be 1,000 miles away. I wish I had bought the Honda without the built-in GPS. They weave the radio/nav system into other parts of the car to the point that it is impractical to change it out.
When I moved to Atlanta I had to adapt to a TWO CAR garage since my previous homes had the three car variety. Then I retired and moved to Norfolk. My 109-year old house doesn't even have a driveway, let alone a garage. While my Toyota RAV4 was parked on the street, a thief stole my stand-alone GPS (but left the power cord), so I bought a phone mount and now use WAZE instead.
For those who don't follow hockey, it is routine for teams that are behind by a goal or two to pull their goalie with 2 or 3 minutes remaining in the game. As a fairly new fan I was surprised that there aren't more EMPTY NET goals. The situation is also the best chance for a goaltenders to score, and 12 netminders have done so over the life of the NHL.
Frank Chirkinian of CBS first used the score-to-par method of reporting golf. Before his innovation the announcers would say "His score is 26 through the seventh hole" but now they say "she's 2 under through seven." Chirkinian also started painting the edges of the holes white, making them easier to see on TV (and on the course, of course.)
FLN: TTP - If you expect ACK you also have to be ready for a NAK.
Thanks to Tom and CC for this fine puzzle that was nearly within my reach. My favorite was those little songbirds. And thanks to Gary for a fine review.
Good Morning:
This was as near a perfect Saturday puzzle as you can get, IMO. The difficulty level was challenging, yet doable, the cluing was outstanding, the grid was free of obscure, esoteric references, the pop culture was minimal and familiar, and there weren’t many three letter words. That’s not to say I didn’t stumble here and there, to wit, MOMA/Roma, Scams/Snows, and Stein/Mug. Fair perps solved my unknowns, as clued, Eye Drop, WAZE, ECCO, Ariel, Oat, Lasagna, Wichita, and SDSU. CC always manages a few casual phrases, today’s being I Need A Ride and Am I Rite. My favorite clues were those for Pajama Tops, Error, and Orbital.
Thanks, Tom and CC, for a truly enjoyable solve, hope to see more collaborations and thanks, HG, for the terrific expo and commentary. The visuals are always enjoyable, as are the photos of you and Joann and CC’s group.
Have a great day.
Jinx, when I bought my "new' car 3-1/2 years ago I decided not to get the ($1000) built-in GPS. Instead, I use a plug-in TomTom (appropriately named) with lifetime free map updates. In fact, I'm loading the latest map updates into the device as I'm writing this. I'm still happy with the stand-alone choice.
Jinx, thanks for that tidbit about golf score reporting. I'd only known of the current way they report a player's score, which is much easier to follow.
I read the Wikipedia article on Mug Root Beer. It was a west coast brand that was bought by Pepsico in 1986. The local Walmart carries it in-store. The local Target doesn't seem to carry it in-store or online.
Well Gary, my final fill was also the A at the intersection of ROM_/ZEND_YA, both were complete unknowns. The NW was the hardest to complete with CDC, WAZE, and ___CAR as the only gimmes. MERCury was a WAG. Nikki Giovanni was unknown and I was thinking Italian. OAT of this Swirled- I got the pun but don't buy their quirkily named overpriced ice cream. Blue Bell, Dryers, or house brand is good enough for me.
ECCO and Systane EYEDROP- only knew them from DW's purchases.
WAZE- owned by Google; I've tried to use it but prefer to use Google Maps. The problem with relying on either is they will send you through some idiotic route if it's 20 feet shorter. But I always print out a map when driving to an unfamiliar place.
Jinx & d-otto, Most new cars come with Android Auto and Apple Car Play- just plug in your phone.
AM I RITE- required perps and a long look to let it stay
WICHITA- didn't know it but guessed it after a couple of perps.
TV DAD- perps, as I've never watched either of those (or most) shows.
PUB before BAR GAME.
BUXOM before STOUT.
2nd LOWEST golf score- Phil Michelson was ELEVEN strokes lower than 3rd place in the 2016 British open and still couldn't win. "Shoots final-round 65, but finishes second by three shots to Henrik Stenson, who fired a final-round 63. Mickelson was 11 shots ahead of third-place J.B. Holmes."
Nice puzzle Tom and C.C. but it's time to go to Mardi Gras parades. Endymion today, Bacchus tomorrow, Orpheus Monday, and of course everything on Tuesday.
This puzzle took me 15:22 to finish.
I enjoy themeless puzzles, and this was no exception, but I had a difficult time parsing "AAN__" for awhile, especially when I wanted to enter "stein" for the "Mug alternative." Waze took a long time to see. I use Maps on my iPhone.
I was familiar with "Roma" (though haven't seen it), and somehow knew "Zendaya" was an actress (though I haven't seen "Euphoria" or anything else she's been in).
I don't like the "rite" in "Am I rite?", but I understand it. I wish it were "right".
Nice work, C.C.
FIR. But the crossing of proper names, Zendaya and Roma, is repugnant to me still. Took a WAG with an "a" instead of an "o", and got it right. But the rest of the puzzle was fun and enjoyable.
I was trying to figure out how to describe my take on today’s puzzle, and then I read the above comment by Irish Miss, who I could echo verbatim if I had her eloquence, I really enjoyed the challenge which took some thought and work but resulted in a FIR w/out help in 29:39. After the NW was last to fall I still had one blank square which I WAGed correctly the “A” in the ROMA/ZENDAYA crossing. I knew of WAZE but not how it originated. Also knew Ocho RIOS cuz that’s where I spent my honeymoon. FRIED EGG is a burger condiment? Also knew of Mug Root Beer but didn’t associate it with the clue till AANDW perped (although the company is really A&W with an ampersand). And yes I have one of their mini mugs in my cupboard. Learning moment for me today ~ that TITS are a songbird? Thank you Tom and C.C. for your fine collaboration!
HG ~ thank you for another terrific write-up, always a treat on Saturday’s!
FLN - C-Moe ~ I saw that you will be visiting my neck of the woods sometime later this year. Please keep me informed when you figure out when you will be making the trip, and if I can be of any assistance on things to do etc...
GAHHHH!!!!. One square again. Someone said "If it don't look right it probably isn't "
Bu REp for Field worker didn't seem that bad but STANDS pAST certainly did. I'm writing at 230 EST; I shoulda waited until after breakfast and taken one last look. Gahhhh
NW was last to fill. I had AANDW and it made no sense(until…)
RITE I suppose goes with "Ya with me?" Gary will explain IMAGE AWARD. The rest of the clueing bears the mark of fiendish cleverness, eh CC?
The EGGs being cholesterol carrier myth is still out there I see. If they were creamed maybe
Now I'm ready for Gary
WAZE is a combination of navigation and social media. It encourages "Smoke" warnings
I overlooked "div." implying abvrev for MERC
We fortunately just had the Azrecs recently
Re. No SAT; c. No Pol rule. My observation: College testing is a retake of the SAT if multiple choice
B-E, I finally realized those aren't OAT bits just B&E jargon. I'm enjoying $ollar Store ½ pints(coffee)
WC
Sorry about the typos. The second I paste I have to publish because of poor wifi
A Saturday treat today with C.C. and Tom's unexpected puzzle! I enjoyed their fine offering even as I slipped up and entered one wrong square for a FIW today. I missed the Y in ZENDAYA, leaving ESPnS. I did know ROMA, so that's something.
Even so, I felt good as the white squares filled and I understood the cleverly misleading clues, which sometimes slowed me down. The field trip clue was an example. And another was for the PAJAMA TOPS answer. Nice work, Husker Gary, explaining things for us. Hope you are healing well.
It's another holiday weekend. Enjoy!
Guys, it's not "Am I right?" It's one word...amirite?.
FIR but needed HG to parse A AND W for me. Whew! Toughie!
I began with a sea of blanks, a little S here and there, but little by little this puzzle started to fill like people drifting in to an open house party. I really like it when that happens. I get a sense of real accomplishment when I finish, as I did today. As others have said challenging but doable CW.
I have used WAZE before since my car GPS is too old and unwieldy. The female voice on WAZE warns us of police or car stalled by the side of the road, but between the sound of the motor and DH’s not quite perfect hearing, when she speaks he often thinks it’s me. It gets amusingly confusing.
Happy Saturday to all.
I usually cry uncle on Saturday. Today I looked up three clues and had one error, so I am happy and feel satisfied. At least I finished
I see Ben and Jerry's "Oat of This Swirled" has oatmeal cookie bits.
Many NJ stores have Mug root beer. Nice misdirection.
That burger looks inedible. Fried eggs and bacon are delish, not fried eggs with burgers and a mishmash of other things. It also looks very messy to eat.
I had SDSU, but wondered how a California school could be South Dakota State University. That one is also SDSU.
I have a new Garmin stand alone GPS with traffic data. The sound on my phone's GPS cuts in and out. Frustrating! I like other features of the Garmin better, too.
Alan is here for his usual weekend and is expecting to go out. So bye bye.
Thank you Tom and C.C. for a great Saturday morning puzzle. My only regret is that it wasn't horseshoes, which I lost for failing to nail one letter. But more on that later ...
And thanks for being our navigator Husker. I wish could have read your review before I lost my WAZE.
All of the cluing and fill was good, but here are a few favs:
1A PAJAMA TOPS. Clever clue, one of my last fills, and so cozy!
25A WAZE. GAH! I used WAZE a lot before it got folded into Google Maps. It was the first GPS APP that let you "see" down stream congestion before you got to it. But I got MUGGED by 6D and missed the W. Thought it might be some kinda (too) clever riff on Arts and Entertainment.
27A ALTER. Thanks for that Gary. I thought I was the only one.
37A FRIED EGGS. A heart attack on a bun!
52A ROUEN. Monet's Impressionist paintings weren't just an artistic statement, they were the way he actually saw things. When a doctor offered to remove his cataracts, he refused the operation, an act of courage memorialized in this touching poem by Lisel Mueller.
12D ORBITAL. It came around as soon as I ABLE to fill 18A.
13D MALE EGO. Hah! I resemble that remark!
24D SURF. AKA MOSHING.
26D ZENDAYA. She also stars in a film that we'll be SCREENING next Thursday.
49D SCREEN. CALLER ID isn't the solution to this problem. All day long we hear our phone's pitiful attempts to interpret callers' names. We seem to get an awful lot of calls from doctors, or maybe it's just because we live in MD. Anywho, this is really a cybersecurity problem ("Are you really who you say your are?") and the hackers always seem to be one step ahead of the latest spam suppression technologies. Maybe Anon -T will stop by and fill us in on the state of the art.
58D TITS. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Cheers,
Bill
Great puzzle. No goofy cluing. Everything was straight forward. My favorite clue was the "wardrobe of your dreams". Awesome. I wish all Saturday puzzles were like this one. GC
waseeley ~ wasn’t sure what I’d find when I clicked on your link to the many different “songbirds”, but the one I found most amusing is the “Great”.
This was a Saturday challenge but eventually doable- solved from NE swung around south and then finished the NW last.
I thought WAZE couldn't be right at first with the DW on the vertical until I figured out the A AND W. Pepsi's Mug is definitely down the rung in sales from A & W and also Coke's Barq's rootbeer - but I will take Mug over Barq's because Coke added caffeine to Barq's as well as to their Sunkist orange soda.
PAJAMA TOPS made me think of the movie poster for "The Pajama Game" with Doris Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pajama_Game_%28film%29
Seems like lots of restaurants will put a FRIED EGG on top of anything for an extra couple of bucks.
I grew up in Kansas but never knew that Dennis the Menace was from WICHITA. When I was growing up, my younger brother was definitely a Dennis which was emphasized as our across the street neighbors were a middle-aged couple- The Wilsons. He would go over there all the time to "help" Mr Wilson.
I knew she got the Emmy for "Euphoria" but I know ZENDAYA more from being Spiderman's girlfriend MJ in the last 3 movies with Tom Holland and also a trapeze artist in "The Greatest Showman" movie musical with Hugh Jackman playing PT Barnum and Zac Efron playing the circus manager.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO28Z5_Eyls
Thanks Tom & CC for an creative puzzle and for Gary's fun blog - hope you feel better each day.
It took a loooong time to complete this excellent puzzle. It was like reading a good book; take your time, enjoy, and delight in “getting” the misdirected clues (Wardrobe of one’s dreams - PAJAMA TOPS, etc.
Never heard of WAZE, ROMA, —RITE Instead of right, but somehow knew ZENDAYA, and ARIEL was the idol of a granddaughter who cried with joy when we met her at Disneyland.
It was nice to see the golf references LOWEST and CLUB PRO.
. Golf is a big news item with the tension between the PGA and the LIV.
LINER NOTES - wrote them for a Netherlands Metropole Orchestra CD.
FRIED EGGS on hamburgers - no,no! In Germany you can get a fried egg in the middle of a pizza - again NO!
Going to watch the 3rd round of the Genesis. I’m glad Tiger made the cut. Adam Scott is my favorite player.
Enjoyed the write-up!
Puzzling thoughts:
Almost exactly what Irish Miss said. This collaboration of Tom Pepper and C.C. was both doable and challenging. Great clues, too. Thanks to both for the fun puzzle; thanks to HG for the fun recap
I FIW with my one hiccup/Natick being the crossing of WAZE and ZENDAYA - I had WAVE and VENDAYA
YooperPhil - I have your email and will communicate through that medium. Our visit to the UP will likely be in July/August
waseeley - the link to the songbirds - TITS - was a hoot (OWL bet it was, Moe!) Actually, the one that cracked ME up was the long-tailed TIT. An IMAGE of the erstwhile cartoon from Playboy magazine came to mind ... [note, the IMAGE is not R-Rated]
Oops1. I should have written “—-watch the 3rd round of Genesis ON TV’. I’m not in California and couldn’t possibly walk the 18 hole golf course.
Phil @12:11 PM I'd expect to find nothing but birds. What could you have possibly been thing of? 😁
I used to agree with everyone else about the idea of putting a FRIED EGG on a burger. This year we went to a Glory Days Grill in Lakeland, where they have "burger Mondays", offering (nearly) any burger on the menu for $10. DW and I ordered a Glory Burger, which is kinda a "kitchen sink" delight with a FRIED EGG on top. I had meant to order it sans FRIED EGG, but forgot. Turns out it is pretty good! We started getting one every Monday, and continued that in their Winter Haven location when we were staying there. Unfortunately, there isn't a Glory Days in the Ocala/Silver Springs area, but they do have them from Florida to Maryland, except for SC.
BE - The problem with getting a new car (in addition to the price and availability) is that almost none of them can be flat-towed behind a motor home. The 2014s were the last CRV with that capability, and I have the same car except its 2013 badge. The RAV4s last had that ability in the 2001 model (which I have), but the same car for 2002 and subsequent years said they couldn't be towed that way. I took the hint, and don't tow it. Some Jeeps can be towed wheels down, but I don't like the ride or reliability of the models that can. So Waze it is.
C-Moe - I know a "mature" lady who used to say that she used to be a 34B. but now is a 38 Long.
I passed on the built in GPS back in 2016 on the new (then) BMW 340….it was either $1800 or $2000…the phone maps work fine. But can you imagine $2k for GPS???….I still have a Magellan in each car, seldom used thanks to the phone map apps.
I only buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and only the flavors with the very basic 5 or 6 ingredients. That pretty much leaves vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and coffee….nothing with “chips” or other mix-ins or other ingredients.
Cray-cray hard today! Mr. Pepper and our own C.C. have turned up the heat for Saturday. Not a PZL for amateurs.
I could suss out some of these, including the toughest. But A AND W had me going. Who knew there was such a thing as a "Mug" brand of root beer? I guess you must either live in the vicinity or at least be guessing that it's to contain R.B.
Looks like I was not the only one to fall for STEIN.
If I were asked to name a disgusting food combo, I would be hard pressed to come up with anything to beat FRIED EGGS on a hamburger.
Just sayin'
~ OMK
___________
DR: One diagonal, far side.
WHAMMO! Today's anagram is a full 15 of 15 letters! A true Jackpot!
Check it out.
I refer here to (A) an icepack, (B) rest, and (C) followed by heat.
What am I?
I am the answer to your sore wrist. Yep, you got it--!
"METACARPAL NEEDS"!
I think YooperPhil's praise of Irish Miss's eloquence perfectly describes my feelings about this puzzle. A puzzle should be solvable by reasoning, and this puzzle fills the bill. Excellent work, thank you Tom and C.C.
Hand up for putting in STEIN at first. I almost always get fooled by those -AND- answers. By the way, I recently checked the ingredients in bottled A&W root beer sold in supermarkets and discovered it has High Fructose Corn Syrup as the sweetener, which is an absolute no-no for me, and "natural and artificial flavors" make up the entirety of its flavor. It may taste good, but to me it's no longer really "root" beer. The only root beer I can find that has "real ingredients" such as sarsaparilla root, ground ginger, liquorice root, vanilla bean, and molasses is made by Bundaberg, an Australian brewer. (Note the Australian spelling of liquorice.) I haven't tasted it yet, but it's on my shopping list. I have, however, very much enjoyed their ginger beer, although Fever-Tree ginger beer is, IMO, the best.
Gary, you once again have written a terrific recap. Thank you.
I knew the name ZENDAYA from having seen her on Dancing with the Stars a few years ago.
I loved the clever cluing in this puzzle, and hope it is Tom's and C.C.'s cluing. However, I sense that Patti's fingerprints are all over clues such as:
"Honor won seven times by Nikki Giovanni"
"Radio host Shapiro who sings with Pink Martini"
"Cuarón Oscar winner about a domestic worker in 1970s Mexico"
"Flounder's best friend, in a Disney film"
"__ of This Swirled: Ben & Jerry's flavor with cookie bits"
"Emmy-winning star of "Euphoria""
but I may, of course, be wrong.
Good wishes to you all.
Hi All!
One lookup on a Saturday? Not bad for me.
Thanks Tom & C.C. for the puzzle - really good fill.
Thanks for the back-story on why Wichita, HG; excellent expo.
//When I was a kid, for an extra buck or two, they'd 'let' you keep the A&W mug your float came in. We had a few in the freezer.
WOs: I was sure California was going to be in 10d; blunder before BLOOPER, I had "out" of this Swirled ice cream (Hi TTP).
ESPs: ROMA, ROUEN, ECO
Lookup: ZENDAYA
Fav: Too hard to pick - JANITOR's clue was devious, as was A AND W and SECEDEDS.
BBC & RENTS were also fun and, of course, I love lasagna.
I knew WAZE's origin and, figuring Patti's WNBA at 35a looked up how to spell Zellweger. Apparently, I think the "L"s are silent :-)
Anyway, that's when I googled Euphoria Emmy.
Fun DR, OMK.
D-O: urite, one word.
TTP - the thought of an egg on a burger makes me ill. DW had it once and said it was actually pretty good but I can't get over "eggs are for breakfast (unless boiled - then Cobb salad or deviled)." I don't even like the idea of one in my Ramen.
Waseeley - I'm assuming that's your land-line(?). Ditch it! Even Pop got rid of his and uses just his iThing. And, there's a fantastic feature of the iPhone (I'm sure Android has this too) - "don't ring unless a) person is in my contacts b) I made an outbound call to that number."
//The problem with land-line spam is that, present day, calls are routed through multiple providers (keeps costs down) but the origin of the call is typically unknown. Jinx probably has a better explanation.
Back to chores.
Cheers, -T
Quite a few years ago, when we were vacationing in Santa Barbara, we had a pizza with a sunny-side-up fried egg in the middle. It was delicious. I wish I could remember the name of the place.
Saturday struggle. Thanks for the fun, Tom and C.C., and HuskerG.
I worked my way through this CW , but had to resort to Mr. Google in the north. I had no idea about the history of WAZE. But that gave me A AND W (yes we have Mug here), and I smiled at the misdirection.
Second Goggle visit was for the unknown poet and IMAGE AWARD which gave the Tada. (Hand up also for Out instead of OAT for that unknown ice cream.)
We had several potential number choices that didn’t work. Is that Systane dose One or Two drops? Oh, it’s an EYE drop! Technically Eye is Not a dose, but rather a route of administration. (Small nit as FYI to C.C.)
Then there was that garage. Most households now have TWO CARs not one, but both don’t always fit in the TWO CAR garage along with the tool bench, garden tools and mower, bikes etc.
My son is a goalie. He hates EMPTY NET goals!
This Canadian is so used to seeing programmes that it took perps to see the clue as British and give me BBC rather than ABC.
I was not misdirected by the British flat.
We had TOPS and LOP. MALE EGO crossing ALTER above AGO was interesting.
MERE clued as Pierre’s mother would have been excess French beside TÊTE-À-TÊTE.
Wishing you all a great day.
I was already strolling down memory lane while looking through old docs and records trying to find my DD-214 discharge papers, and then Parsan mentions fried eggs on pizza in Germany. Yes. I recall.
Just outside the front gate of Coleman Barracks in Sandhofen (Mannheim) was this eatery that sold among other things, was a pizza they called pizza mizza. When it came hot out of the oven, they would put dots of butter on it, and top it with a runny fried egg on top. It actually wasn't all that bad, despite the butter and egg.
Still haven't found my DD-214, but found a folder that has my original enlistment records, part of my army education record, my Iowa test scores from 7th and 8th grades (it was like two different people took those tests !), a class picture from 6th grade, and some forms from when I was granted reimbursement for a couple of college courses I took from the University of Maryland. Six credit hours I totally forgot about. They cost a whopping $35/credit hour back then, and the Army reimbursed me about 75% of that.
I'm thinking about applying for Social Security. Don't know why they want to know my service dates, unless it's to confirm the one-time $255 death benefit, or for confirming burial benefits at one of the national cemeteries... Gotta be for some reason like that, I would guess.
Also don't know whether they only want the Regular Army service dates for 3 years or if I should include my time in the inactive reserves since the commitment was 6 years total, with inactive reserve time before and after my regular army service dates. Do any of you other vets that signed up for social security recall what you entered ?
Back to digging through old folders.
TTP @4:10 PM When were you at Maryland? I did a stint there, a couple actually.
Thanks, Tom & C.C. for your challenging puzzle full of clever misdirection! FAV: the NW corner. Sussing JANITOR finally helped me see PAJAMATOPS then A AND W made sense. (Hand up for having an original A&W mug in my cupboard -- blame middle brother.)
In Hawaii, an egg on your hamburger is a Loco Moco. I only ordered one once, after finishing the Kawaii marathon. It hit the spot.
Thank you, H-Gary for your terrific write-up! I especially enjoyed the Dennis link. I'm with you & waseeley on ALTERing up to the last minute.
Fun Saturday toughie, many thanks, C.C. and Tom. And always enjoy your commentary, Gary, thanks for that too.
Hey, it would be fun waking up, wearing your PAJAMA TOPS and go to the kitchen and make yourself some FRIED EGGS for breakfast. Then start thinking about your lunch--maybe some PILAF or some LASAGA--sounds good, doesn't it? But hold off on the STOUT--you don't get that until supper. And since this is a weekend, you can tell a friend I NEED A RIDE and go play golf with a CLUB PRO, then afterwards go to a bar and GO BATTY playing a BAR GAME. And then at home in the afternoon do puzzles and make lots of ERRORS (not with EROS, surely) and have FITS making all those BLOOPERS. Not a bad weekend, in my opinion.
Have a good one, everybody.
I enjoyed the puzzle, always exciting to see a Tom and CC creation.
But being Saturday, I went in with the red letters on. So I can't really critique the puzzle as it was more of a red letter whack-a-mole vowels and alphabet runs...
(Actually, very few. So that made it fun.)
I just did not have the time, as our new fridge was delivered today, and I wanted to remove the circuit boards to see if I could find any burn marks, swollen capacitors, or sticking relays. Anon-T, I found the tech sheet under the right door hinge with all the trouble codes and test modes. It could have possibly been a sticking compressor start relay, but when I ran the test codes, the board would shut down and restart regardless of inputs, so it was useless. I'm thinking a bad relay, so I am going to pull them and test them individually, as I may be able to use them to fix my broken oven which has a bad control board that cannot be replaced as it is discontinued.
Anywho,
I only make omelets these days, as U.S. eggs are just not safe enough to eat runny. Which is a real shame, as I grew up on soft boiled eggs for lunch in Australia. still have my Beatrix Potter egg cup! Man! I miss those runny yolks, Ah memories...
And Tits!
you know I can't let that one go...
Anon-T,
(And/or any electrical engineers out there)
Maybe you can help me with a real puzzle!
The gas oven won't turn on because the igniter will not glow,
(The gas safety valve requires a specific amperage thru the igniter also...)
Input voltage to the control board is 120 volts, but the voltage measured at the igniter is only 60 volts!
(Igniter and gas safety valve require 120 volts to operate)
I cannot imagine what fault has occurred that cut the voltage in half?
But half voltage is definitely a clue to what is happening...
Any ideas?
I may be talking to the ether here,
But if anyone out there has ever taken apart an electronic device, and wondered how it worked, you might be interested in something I came across.
The 60 volt instead of 120 is bugging me with this oven fault, and even the oven repairman that installed a new igniter could not explain it. " it's just a bad board" he would say. But the board is discontinued and irreplaceable, so I have nothing to lose if I tinker with it.
60 volts.?
Why?
Here is a 40 minute dive into the workings of such things that may offer another clue...
40 minutes of fascinating electronics "splainin."
Do the puzzle creators really have to make things up out of thin air? There's no such thing as "A and W" root beer. But there is "A&W". What nonsense.
Bill, I took the Univ of Maryland courses while stationed in Germany.
Still haven't found my DD 214. I know I had out when I got my Veterans endorsement on my IL drivers license. Back to digging.
Dave, call an appliance repairman.
-T, all of the caller id information is carried via SS7. As originally designed, SS7 was purely for landline telcos. ISDN PRI allowed the end user (or the end user's IT department) to put whatever calling number ID they wanted. That made sense, since outgoing phone calls from call centers needed to show their callback number (usually an 800 number in those days) instead of the number of the meaningless actual number. But that opened the door for fraud. A scammer could set up his line to show the number from the local bank, and since the LIDB (line information data base - the service that provides the calling name associated with that number) showed the calling number to be the one assigned to the Jinx National Bank, that's what caller ID would show.
Then the FCC decided to expand Equal Access mandates to IP interfaces. That made fraud much cheaper and easier to accomplish. Here's how to fix it:
- Block the calling number of all incoming calls from IP networks, showing the number as "unavailable"
- Block the calling number of all international incoming calls, showing the number as "unavailable"
- Require ISDN PRI subscribers to maintain a listing of the calling number to be displayed for each station on the PRI, and submit the list to telco for approval and implementation.
Since telco landline and cell switches are considered "trusted", require any switch operator connecting to the SS7 network to comply with these requirements. Penalty should include blocking ALL incoming caller ID from any carrier who allows caller ID that doesn't comply with these requirements.
This won't happen, because the big bucks decision makers aren't affected by these scams. Their "people" answer the phones for them. Telcos don't want the burden - the landline companies live only by cost cutting, and the cell providers don't want to encourage ANY additional regulations.
CED - I echo TTP's advice. Don't mess around with natural gas unless you KNOW what you are doing.
I'm gonna bookmark that youtube to watch when I get back home to unlimited gigs.
Stop by a used car lot and buy a junker to use after you get to your vacation spot. When you leave, leave the junker.
1) I DID CALL an appliance repairman, he was totally stumped!
2) I'm not messing with the gas, just the electronics...
3) ITS A PUZZLE! I have to know what's causing it!
(Puzzles are an obsession of mine...)
Disclaimer:
I would have blown myself up 2 years ago when it broke, but we have a backup electric oven.
It's a Dacor, supposedly high end equipment, up there with Viking, at least, based on the price of the damn thing. But they went out of business, and the electronic control board is discontinued. "I could" send out the control board to a company called "fix my board," who would repair it and send it back, but there are extenuating circumstances. Unlike any cheap oven out there that has the electronics board screws to the back of the oven, this stupid thing has the control board above the oven, sandwiched underneath the stovetop. Because the 6 burner stovetop still works Dear Wife will not let me disassemble it to remove the board. So I have been taking it apart in my head for the past two years! It is driving me crazy!
The 1st thing I learned all about was how the gas control valve works. Since then it's been an entire electronics how to adventure.
TTP - Whoa! Can't find your DD214? When I out-processed I was told, "this is the most important document in your life; get a safe-deposit box." I didn't get the bank box, but I have a fire-proof safe in my study with DD214, birth certificates, SSN cards, the limited-time Bugs Bunny USPS stamps, some baseball cards, our passport.. :-)
You get curiouser and curiouser with each story, sumdaze. A marathon in HI?
Once I get an expo (mostly) right, I leave it alone. I've had too many things go sideways right before they were due. One time, night before a program was due, I thought I'd make it better, add efficiencies, format for read ability, etc. No idea what I did but it wouldn't even compile!!! I was up all night and barely got it in on time. Nope, leave well enough alone; if it ain't broke....
CED - any chance your new refrigerator and your stove are on the same circuit? 1/2 seems like something in parallel (but, it's been so long since I've played with anything other than DC. I wonder if you unplug the refrigerator and try lighting the gas (simplest 1st :-))
Jinx - Thanks for a more detailed explanation.
Cheers, -T
TTP, try va.gov. Vets ID is ssn plus mmddyyyy. A copy of dd214 sb readily available
My original 214 had a typo on ssn but correct ssn on main DB so copy was correct.
Copy of DD214 is routine
WC
Dash T, it's around here somewhere. I thought it was in the safe, but no. As for CED's issue, it's probably the igniter or control board, but I don't want to be held liable in case he electrocutes himself or blows his house up. :-)
Wilbur Charles, thanks for the tip. I'll try that if I don't find it tomorrow. Last time I had it was to take it over to the Veterans Service Officer at the county.
It's been fun trying to find it. I found my dog tags and dress brass that I thought were lost, and found a snack bag full of Deutschmarks. And an 1890 silver dollar and some silver coins and certificates. Found my grade school report cards from first through fourth grade. My mother had saved them, and my dad sent them when she passed, along with a bunch of other stuff she had saved. I'd set them aside and forgot about them. Found a bunch of odds and ends paperwork and receipts that puts timestamps on when I did things around here, like getting the driveway blacktopped, having the well pump replaced the first time, how much I paid for the cabinets and countertops when I remodeled the kitchen, and on and on, but no DD214.
Must be looking in the wrong place, but it's been fun reminiscing. Should have done this during the stay at home...
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