Constructor and (funny) comedian Dan Caprera is visiting us for the third time, the last on November 21, 2022,
reviewed by our beloved friend Boomer not long before he departed
Minnesota for a sunnier clime. Dan has also created three puzzles for
that other newspaper, this one edited by Jeff Chen. Today Dan has gotten himself into a bit of a sticky situation presenting us with a visual theme, consisting of 3 pairs of juxtaposed, stacked fill. To make the theme easier the see, the top of each
stack is equipped with "goggles", which I'm sure will raise the eyebrows of at
least one solver. The question is, without the reveal
CAN YOU SEE THEM NOW?
First themer pair:
16A. Rides in the sand: DUNE BUGGIES. A dune buggy
is a recreational motor vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires,
designed for use on sand dunes, beaches, off road or desert recreation.
Oh and incidentally DUNE is also the title of a SCI-FI novel by Frank Herbert, which was recently made into an amazing film, starring Timothée Chalamet and the mononymic actress Zendaya, who visited the Corner just this past Saturday ...
19A. Lagavulin, for one: SCOTCH. This clue sounded at first like an injectable antibiotic of some sort, but I guess the fill could be used for medicinal purposes. The Lagavulin distillery is a malt whisky distillery in the village of Lagavulin on the south of the island of Islay, Scotland. It distills spirits that will become Islay single malt Scotch whisky.
 |
| Lagavulin |
28A. Hypothetical regions of space-time: WHITE HOLES. Here physicist Ethan Siegel [Geek Alert!] explains how this might be possible [End Geek Alert]. Oh, and it just so happens that HOLES is also the title of a 1998 young adult novel written by Louis Sachar. The book centers on Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional boot camp in a desert in Texas, after being falsely accused of theft.
 |
| White hole artist's conception |
33A. Crawl on a news program: TICKER. Ticker tape
was the earliest, dedicated electrical financial communications medium,
transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines and was in
use from around 1870 through 1970. Prior to the use of punched cards
ticker tape [aka paper tape] was also used for outputting, saving, and inputting computer data. The fancy name for a news program crawl these days is a CHYRON.
 |
| Watching the ticker tape, 1918 |
44A. "Little Women" star: EMMA WATSON. Little Women, is a 2019 American coming-of-age period drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig. It is the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. And [is there a pattern here?] EMMA is also the name of the inimitable matchmaker in the eponymous Jane Austen story.
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Come to think of it RED might qualify as the bottom half a themer too.
If you haven't SEEN the relationship between the themer pairs yet, maybe you can HEAR them in Dan's reveal:
58A. Audible.com predecessor, and three literal occurrences in this puzzle: BOOKS ON TAPE.
The grid should help untangle all that tape:
Across:
1. Green producers?: ATMS. The cluing for this is going bankrupt. It won't be long before we'll be seeing "Eco producers?:" (see 15A).
5. Sun screen?: CLOUD.
10. "I Think You Should Leave" star Robinson: TIM. I Think You Should Leave is an American sketch comedy series created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, with Robinson also starring in most of the sketches. The first season premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2019, while the second season was released on July 6, 2021. I didn't find any of the sketches very funny and many had a hint of school boy vulgarity, but YMMV. You can find them on YouTube.
13. "Aw, crud": DRAT.
14. Sounding rough: HOARSE.
15. __ hotel: sustainable lodging: ECO. An ECO hotel, or a green hotel, is an environmentally sustainable hotel or accommodation that has made important environmental improvements to its structure in order to minimize its impact on the natural environment. The basic definition of an eco-friendly hotel is an environmentally responsible lodging that follows the practices of green living. But beware of green washing.
16. [Theme clue]
18. Mountain __: DEW. Before it was a soft drink it was distilled in hidden mountain valleys:
19. [Theme clue]
20. Formal orders: EDICTS.
22. Succinct: TERSE. I'm working on this, but it's a struggle.
23. "A League of Their __": OWN. A League of Their Own is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall, and Bill Pullman.
25. 2021 U.S. Open champ Jon: RAHM. Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994)[2] is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first achieving that rank after winning the Memorial Tournament in July 2020. In June 2021, Rahm became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open.
 |
| Jon Rahm |
 |
| Osso buco |
31. Some tandoori breads: NAANS. The bread of crosswords. They're not Italian, but I think they might go well with Osso buco.
[Theme clue]
34. Show stoppers?: ADS.
37. Progressive agent played by Stephanie Courtney: FLO. When comedienne Stephanie Courtney landed the part of FLO, she had no expectations that the Progressive Insurance commercial in 2008 would amount to anything long-lasting ... [long pause]. But as a cord cutter who never watches commercial television I've never actually seen one of her ads (see preceding clue). I have to admit though that she's a lot better looking [damning with faint praise] than that lizard who hawks that other insurance company:
 |
| Stephanie Courtney |
38. Feminine pronoun: SHE. We're having a special this month on feminine pronouns. This one is simply first person singular.
39. Fuel additive brand: STP.
40. Sneaky sort: WEASEL. A species indigenous to the city of Washington, D.C.
42. Paté holder: TOAST.
44. [Theme clue]
46. Insect that dates to the Jurassic era: WASP. I hate to be a gnat picker, but this clue should read Jurassic period (the 2nd in the Mesozoic Era) , and more importantly the WASP discovered by Dr. George Poinar, Jr. in 2016 is only Jurassic by association: Professor Emeritus of entomology at Oregon State University, Dr Poinar is famous for having consulted to author/film maker Michael Crichton on the Jurassic Park film series. As the Jurassic Period ended circa 140 mya, whereas the fossil Dr. Poinar discovered was approximately 100 million years old, thus dating it squarely in the middle of the Cretaceous period (the 3rd in the Mesozoic era):
 |
| Cretaceous Period Wasp |
51. __ flour: OAT.
52. Roughly: CIRCA.
53. Prayer beads: ROSARY. The ROSARY is usually associated with Catholicism, but prayer beads are used by many other religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. When praying the Rosary they are used for counting rote prayers (the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be), while meditating on 20 key events in the life of Christ, his Mother, and his followers. These events are collectively called Mysteries and are divided into the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries, recited on different days of the week. The Rosary has a long history and has often been represented in Christian art*, and even in music. Here is a musical meditation on the mystery of the Resurrection (the first of the 5 Glorious Mysteries) in Baroque composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Mystery Sonatas (6:25 min):
*The Luminous Mysteries were added to Rosary prayers by Pope John Paul II in 2002 and do not appear in art prior to this time.
56. Benny the Bull, for one: MASCOT. The MASCOT for the NBA Chicago Bulls:
 |
| Benny the Bull |
58. [Theme reveal]
61. "Big spider! Big spider!": EEK.
62. Think the world of: ESTEEM.
63. Biblical garden: EDEN.
64. Part of some sports drink names: ADE.
65. Dispensed, as cards: DEALT.
66. Pause in music: REST. Rests are intervals of silence in pieces of music, marked by symbols indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol and name corresponds with a particular note value, indicating how long the silence should last, generally as a multiplier of a measure or whole note:
1. Expands upon: ADDS TO.
2. Armistices: TRUCES. Hope and pray for a permanent one in Ukraine.
3. Estate homes: MANORS. We all know this one:
 |
| Highclere Castle |
 |
| Stetson hat |
6. Gaming annoyance: LAG.
7. Turn (toward): ORIENT. I've always been AWED by phototropism, the ability of plants to ORIENT themselves toward light. Be sure to click on the picture of the tomato seedlings in this link to see a brief time lapse video of phototropism in action.
8. Exploited: USED.
9. Member of the South Asian diaspora: DESI. DESI is a word used to describe the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, derived from Sanskrit देश (deśá), meaning "land, country". Deshi traces its origin specifically to the people of the countries India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
10. Internet addresses?: TED TALKS. Clever clue. A TED talk is a recorded public-speaking presentation that was originally given at the main TED (technology, entertainment and design) annual event or one of its many satellite events around the world. Here are the 25 most viewed TED Talks of all time.
11. Much of Greenland: ICE SHEET.
12. Cut the lawn: MOW.
14. "What the?": HUH.
17. Letters in early dates: BCE. BC and AD, BCE and CE: What’s the Difference?
21. Gator kin: CROC.
23. Words of disbelief: OH NO.
24. State whose motto is "Forward": Abbr.: WIS. Reflecting Wisconsin's continuous drive to be a national leader, the state adopted "Forward" as the official state motto in 1851. Here are some of the state's other symbols.
26. Car sticker abbr.: MSRP. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. If you can get it that low these days, consider yourself lucky.
28. Half a Northwest city: WALLA. Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two suburbs, the town of College Place and unincorporated Walla Walla East, is about 45,000.
 |
| Walla Walla, Washington |
30. Zooms, quaintly: HIES. There was a whole lotta HIEING going on during the pandemic.
32. Several: A FEW.
34. Wonder-struck: AWED.
35. Showed reluctance: DEMURRED.
36. "A Change Is Gonna Come" singer: SAM COOKE. You can count on it.
38. Flue buildup: SOOT.
41. Exams for college-bound srs.: SATS.
42. PreCheck org.: TSA. Transportation Safety Administration, the agency with wands.
43. Party game that can get awkward: TWISTER. Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Milton Bradley Company and Winning Moves Games USA. It is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground. The mat has four rows of six large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, green and blue. A spinner tells players where they have to place their hand or foot. The game promotes itself as "the game that ties you up in knots". Here's the original 1966 version. I bet that a set in mint condition would go for a pretty penny on eBay:
47. Place to play: ARCADE. Not just a place to play. When we were kids sometimes we'd take the No. 19 bus to downtown Hamilton in Baltimore to see movies at the Arcade Theatre.
 |
| The Arcade Theatre, circa 1980. |
49. Unmistakable: PATENT. I used to work in one half of this agency, headquartered in Alexandria, VA.
 |
| US Patent and Trade Office HQ (the architect needed a special PATENT in order to construct this building on a hill! 😀) |
52. Many a pop-top: CAN. This is for all of you Parrotheads ...
54. Reading while propped up by pillows, say: ABED. It's at the top of this list of ways that constructors can change nouns into adjectives.
55. Stood up: ROSE. Or a flower:
56. Tat that can be misread as WOW: MOM.
57. "Maude" star Arthur: BEA. My MOM's twin brother was named ARTHUR and his wife was my Aunt BEA.
59. "Kenan & __": late-'90s Nickelodeon show: KEL. And now for something completely different ...
60. Congeal, as glue: SET. Well, I think we're all SET!
Cheers,
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
56 comments:
It took me a minute to see the “tape” underneath the “books “ but I eventually did. But I want to talk about “Dune” briefly. Some say it is the greatest science fiction book ever written. As a certified Sci-Fi nerd in my youth, I would give that title to Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” but certainly “Dune” ranks a close second, IMHO. Oh, and don’t let me forget to add that I managed to FIR, so I’m happy. ‘Nuff said!
Good morning!
Got 'er done, and did notice that two of the three circled words were book titles. Never saw the tapes. Can't believe d-o failed to read the full reveal clue. Again. Learned a couple of things: Islay is not an island in the land of Pig Latin, and DESI is not a specific somebody. Thanx for the diversion Dan and Waseeley.
Yesterday's annual exam was a bust. Turns out I drove 46 miles only to learn that my last annual exam was 364 days ago -- it has to be at least 366 days or Medicare won't pay for it. Now it's scheduled for next week.
FIR. Seemed a bit soft for a Thursday CW. Got the theme before the reveal. The clue for Emma Watson was ironically redundant. I'm not sure I see the reveal's relevance. But what do I know.
Took 7:38 to finish, which is not a Legend.
I solved on-line, which means, it's Electrical.
I had no idea about "desi" or its clue ("member of the South Asian diaspora").
I wanted "black holes" before "white holes", and even wondered about an alternate spelling of wormholes.
Oh joy, circles.
Honestly, these circles didn't bother me because it's not a jumbled word. This was a very clever theme, however, I didn't notice it until I came here.
Good, challenging Thursday.
Hola!
CLOUD is my favorite fill today. Very clever. It's strange to be looking down from an airplane to see CLOUDs.
RAHM Emmanuel was a former U.S. attorney general.
When I was working I loved listening to BOOKS ON TAPE while driving. My favorite was East of EDEN.
I used to like Mountain DEW.
For a long time there was a WASP's nest on the eave of my roof. It gradually disappeared. I think it lacked a mate.
I knew about black HOLES but not WHITE ones.
I think I'll go back to bed now. Later I have to take my car for its scheduled inspection.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Enjoyed the creative theme, but I didn't get the tape underneath until I came here like D-O said. I could often just write - what D-O said and be done!
I love 2 of the 3 books - but HOLES- just no! I wouldn't let my kids read it in grade school- high school sure if they wanted to.
A few gimmes as I lived in Wisconsin for 9 years around the time of their 150th anniversary- so their motto was well known to me.
Thursday cluing for EMMA WATSON - who was more well known for being Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. I would put her as a co-star of Little Women as Saiorse Ronan was the star playing Jo March
Little bit of a slow down when 48D went from susses to stakes to SCOPES
Thanks Bill & Teri for the blog and Dan for the puzzle
I inked swivel/ORIENT and BRO/Bae .
I caught the BOOKS but completely overlooked the TAPE under them
Greenwashing's cousin was Milking Covid ie. Taking advantage of restrictions for profit
Flo's better looking than that emu, too
Actually, gnat was my first choice for jurassic insect
Speaking of Hermione… I see JK is protesting the designation "International Woman's Day". Define Woman she says. As Felix Frankfurter said "... but I know one when I see one "
WC
Didn't see the theme because the revealer was my final fill. The NW and SW felt very smooth, even with DUCT and SCOTCH being theme material which I didn't know while solving. Not a fan of RAHM MSRP STP. If I didn't have MSRP and STP etched into my mind from doing crosswords, that would've been a double Natick for sure.
Good Morning:
I read the reveal clue in its entirety but apparently it wasn’t understood in its entirety because I completely missed the tapes until reading the expo. I was all set to comment on how weak the theme was for a Thursday, just three book titles that happen to be available on tape. My sincere apologies to the constructor and my sincere compliments to him for a very clever and fun theme. Some of the cluing was playful and tricky but some required perps: Tim, Rahm, Mascot, Sam Cooke, Scotch, and Desi. SS had to bear the dreaded circles while I gave the side-eye to the numerous you-know-whats!
Thanks, Dan, for a pleasant solve and thanks, Bill, for the interesting and informative review and, most of all, for explaining the intricacies of the theme. Thanks to Teri, also.
DO @ 5:49 ~ Sorry for your first-hand experience with Red-tape! 🤭
Lucina @ 8:01 ~ Rahm Emmanuel was President Obama’s Chief of Staff and, later, Mayor of Chicago. 😉
Have a great day.
BTW, it is the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria
The circles were obvious but I missed noticing the BOOKS ON TAPE, and it took a trip to "The Corner" and Bill's 'splaining to read about HOLES, as I'd never heard of it or WHITE HOLES. Lagavulin SCOTCH is new to me and it was filled by perps, as was DESI, KEL, MASCOT, WISconsin, TIM, and BOOKS ON TAPE. Perps filled all the HOLES today.
John RAHM won the PGA tournament this past Sunday.
WEASEL- also indigenous to state capitals and city halls
John SCOPES lived in Shreveport, next door to a friend of mine back in 1966. He was a geologist for one of the oil companies in town.
Wilbur- couldn't agree more about the milking. CVS is still pushing it. Pop-up test centers that charged insurance cos. $200. Hospitals would test to get the extra $10,000 or $39,000.
The Progressive woman known as FLO,
The one we all love to hate so!
SHE's kind of cute,
If only she'd mute.
Freeze her in GREENLAND, she'd be an ICE floe!
The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas,
When he gets tired, him a lay-a!
To cover his feet
He has an ICE SHEET,
And blankets of snow, in lay-as!
Tough Thursday...First "certain" across fill was OWN!! ...FIR and I guess somewhere in the reveal is the explanation of the theme which my feeble brain still doesn't completely comprehend. 🙄
Inkovers: bug/LAG,
...Didn't know DESI (Not Lucy's first squeeze?) and RAHM.."Lagavulin"? huh? WEES: thought the "Space time" thing would be "Black Holes" but didn't perp. WHITEHOLES (any gray areas?). ICESHEET..I read somewhere: it got called Greenland even though it wasn't green and mostly ice to encourage settlers and the opposite of Iceland to discourage them.
Impossible that there coulda been White Anglo-Saxon Protestants around in the Jurassic period. There was no bland food then..😁
To this vulgar schoolboy "I Think You Should Leave Now" is insanely funny. Obviously not everyone's cuppa.
"Eco hotel", I agree, a thinly veiled scam to "conserve water" by not washing towels as a way to save laundry expenses. We stayed at a hotel in Rochester recently that charged for daily maid service for more often than once a week, using the same excuse.
Poor TED TALKS so much he gets____HOARSE.
Donations for Noah's ship.....ARCADE
Heart...TICKER
When ledgers are falling apart you need.... TAPEONBOOKS
From zero snow for days to a winter wonderland overnight. 🌨
Oh. Oh! OH! Thank you, Bill! FIR but did not understand the theme at all.
Thank goodness for the Blog!
My first run thru had me going "meh,"
But it was the circles that threw me off...
books on tape turned out to be quite clever!
(And circling the tapes too would have been annoying overkill...)
Wifi switch is installed, and I didn't electrocute myself! Plus the dang thingie basically programmed itself!
Now I have to figure out how to "re" program it, which is turning out a lot harder. I have the thing auto turning on at sunset daily, but I can only get it to turn off 3 hours later, as that is the only option. I want it on sunset to sunrise, but the app only discusses
"Trigger times" and "actions." So I went to the FAQ help, and there, as plain as day, was an option to turn on at sunset off at dawn listed under "schedule."
Unfort7nately, the app has lots and lots of features, but it DOES NOT include anything labeled "schedule."
I wish these things could be more user friendly...
Hmm,
I wonder if the manufacturer offers an instruction manual on tape?
Musings
-So, so clever! This visual learner needed Joe’s grid with explanation at the top as I wasn’t making the secondary theme at first.
-Kids eat junk food without gaining weight and guzzle Mt. DEW without losing sleep
-A League Of Their Own worked on a social, cultural and baseball level CIRCA 1940’s
-Stephanie (Flo) may not have the career she wanted but she makes $1M/yr. so…
-The insect trapped in the sap of Jurassic Park was a mosquito
-Germany surrendered after WWII unlike WWI where they only signed a TRUCE/cease fire
-STETSON Bennett was the QB for the national champion UGA Bulldogs
-DESI – DRAT, I thought I was going to have a puzzle without any learning! :-)
-This wonderful University Of Wisconsin tradition revs up the crowd and tests the structural integrity of the stadium
-My 100-yr-old MIL’s home plays a modified version of TWISTER with bean bags
-Nice job, Joe and Teri!
What a clever theme, too bad I missed it big time. Perhaps I should have spent more time dissecting the puzzle. Ah, now I see my problem, I filled in booms instead of BOOKS. Otherwise everything got filled in spite of a few unknowns. Inattention is my problem, distractions is my excuse.
I had never heard of the TWISTER game. Waseely gave us a great review as usual.
Good luck to the people who reside in the cold zones. I understand the weather there is merciless right now.
Anonymous @9:04 AM Thanks for that. I've corrected the caption. I was on a contract there for two years and did know that, but my fingers didn't remember it when I titled that picture. 😀
OKL @9:33 AM YETI's still seen from time to time. {A+,A+} 😁
Ray - O @ 9:45 AM As luck with have it, I'd just read an article on hypothetical "White Holes" by "Starts with a Bang" physicist Ethan Siegel, just a week or so back (I think it's the one I linked). W.A.S.P.s, LOL - God rest my dear old English MOM, but she made certain that the boiled vegetables were dead before she put them on the table. Spoiler alert - she has cameo in NEXT Thursday's review.
Good Morning! Nice Thursday challenge. Thanks, Dan. A good workout I had to revisit the empty squares a couple of times until it came together. Finished, but with two WOs: buG -> LAG and HOurS -> HOLES.
SE corner was the last to fill, but once I remembered TWISTER then went to WASP, the rest was quick.
ESP: DESI, and KEL
The sub-theme was a mystery until I read the posts. Very clever!
Thanks Bill and Teri for your recap. Lots of good info.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Dan, and waseeley and Teri.
I FIRed in good time and smiled broadly when I got the theme. But I had to work for it - I was not familiar with all the BOOKS (I hate Sci-Fi), and it took another minute to see the TAPEs that the BOOKS were ON. Great work Dan.
I really wanted "My man!" to be Bae (crossing BEA!) (Hi WC).
Trachea for that "air line" would have been great. DUCT was okay (in lungs or furnace?)
Another inkblot to change my "Pop-top" Tee to a CAN.
And now that I have learned Roti from recent CW solves, I had to decide between it and NAANS.
This Canadian had the W (from OWN) but needed perps to decide between Wyoming (WYO)or WISconsin (I forgot about West Virginia (W VA) and Washington (would be 4 letter WASH). Plus I don't know the accepted abbreviations for all the states (and apparently these are the old 1963 postal abbreviations - the new ones are only two letters). Ach, how is a foreigner supposed to know the abbreviations, let alone the motto!!!
And then we have WALLA WALLA! (I WAGged it)
I am less familiar with PATENT as clued than its adverb, Patently.
Once again, there was a plethora of names, mostly unknown. But perps saved the day.
I don't know my SCOTCH, but it perped for the "Lagayulin" clue.
Wishing you all a great day.
We got the snow/ice storm but did not lose power. There may be more freezing rain this afternoon.
IrishMiss
Thank you. I really should look up things instead of trying to recall from my now receding memory. I see that Rahm is now ambassador to Japan.
Thank u … I didn’t get the tape ref until I read this. Solved the puzzle but didn’t see the ref.
Mom was excellent when it came to Italian cooking. Her sauce was unbeatable. But her plain veal cutlet was like shoe leather and scalloped potatoes like a thin soup.
SubG: Stranger was great, but my vote is split between Glory Road and Time Enough For Love.
My middle school students read "Holes" every year. Stanley Yelnats is a palindrome. For the rest of the term, I'd introduce a new palindromic phrase each day. The kids loved it.
Today's Thursday puzzle was a smooth fill for a FIR. Thanks, Dan. Unfortunately I needed waseeley (and Teri) to explain the tape part of the theme, which I totally missed. These thorough reviews are so helpful! Thanks!
DESI had a new clue, leading to a learning moment. And we had interesting clues for ATMS and CLOUD. The few unknowns were well perped today, so no gnashing of teeth happened. All in all a good puzzle day. Enjoy, everyone!
FIR with no erasure.
Hand up for thinking of mildewed towels @ ECOhotel.
Yup, I wanted to add an "s" to worm to make it fit HOLES.
During my love affair with major league baseball, my pulse quickened every time I heard It’s A Beautiful Day For A Ball Game played on the radio. I knew that I would be hearing the silky voice of Vin Scully describing another Dodgers game, even thought it wasn't from WALLA WALLA Washington (or Kalamazoo, for that matter.)
IIRC, WEASEL was a semi-affectionate nickname Tom Clancy used for POTUS's Chief of Staff.
I tried to crowbar "cockroach" in as the insect from the Jurassic. Then I remembered that I was in Florida, but "palmetto bug" wouldn't fit either.
Continuing yesterday's pseudotheme, the unit of reluctance is the meter/Henry.
Yes, as I remember from my college freshman days, playing TWISTER could be awkward. Especially standing up at the end of the game. As an adult, Truth or Dare was its equal in the potential to become uncomfortable.
Another tale you can tell your grandkids over the campfire - When I was your age, pop tops were made to come off cans! Some people just threw the tops down, where unsuspecting others often got cuts by them. Other people put them in their beverages, and sometimes they would get swallowed and causing throat cuts. Bwhaha. We also had to get our driving directions from flat pieces of paper called maps, and had to write down all the turns we intended to make. Bwhaha.
Thanks to Dan for the fun Monday-on-Thursday puzzle, and to Bill 'n Teri for 'splainin it all.
Thanks, Dan, for your fun puzzle and Waseeley for your terrific tour!
I did see the theme. That helped me go back to the NW and fill SCOTCH. Lagavulin drew a blank.
DNF the Great Lakes. Remembering that there is an "A" in "HOARSE" would have helped a lot....
FAVs: Green producers & TED TALKS
OKL@9:33. A+ & A+
I've solved the clean sheets, fresh towels and cleaning problem by booking three separate nights and just moving to the new room. When you're in a hotel room you're using not there during the day and you could just check into the other room. It doesn't cost any .more
Puzzling thoughts:
Clever puzzle and reveal - which I did not suss out until reading waseeley's thorough recap
A few mistakes that were corrected before finishing, so I FIR
Still feel conflicted when solving these puzzles online; but I suppose it's my way of saving a few sheets of paper and some ink toner
[spoiler alert] - tomorrow's puzzle is not as difficult as today's, IMO
PTs 2:
A CSO to Malodorous Manatee for the SCOTCH reference to whisky
A CSO to myself for the SCOTCH reference to TAPE - I worked for 3M for 25 years and sold a whole lot of the sticky stuff - along with many other "SCOTCH" branded products
BTW, a Happy Birthday shout out to Old Man Keith - a little bird told me that he is celebrating an Interstate route number today!
Aside to WC - In case you missed it, Ocala's getting a Buc-ee's. The city OKed it yesterday. It will be opened as soon as they build the new I-75 exit between US-27 and FL326. Should open early 2025.
seesaw @12:48 PM Thanks for that, I shoulda' guessed. It did seem like an odd name.
I know it’s controversial, but I actually like the Flo Progressive Insurance ads. Who knew you had to dress all in white including a white apron in order to sell insurance. Wish I could say the same about the Liberty Mutual Insurance ads, but I hate every one of those.
I sure didn't catch on to the tapes under the books. Thank you, waseeley, for your excellent explanation.
Ah, beginning my 85th year today.
Funny, I really don't feel any older than 81 or 2 these days.
I dunno.
Maybe I'll be sensing the additional age-creep along with my customary after-dinner fatigue this evening...
Good, solid Thursday PZL from Mr. Caprera today. Enjoyed working it out, but sorry that there weren't any diagonals* to check out.
~ OMK
_____________
DR: 8X8=Zero Ds.
You remembered!
Whenever the 8th square in the 8th row is black, no diagonals can appear.
Thanks for the B'day shout-out, Chairman M! Much appreciated.
~ OMK
Working from NW, down to SW and over to SE, SCOTCH and DUCT stood out, with BOOKS ON TAPE only gotten because of down clues (audible,com?). I wondered if my paper had the circles on the wrong words. Stupid me! Only saw DUNE, HOLES, and EMMA when I finished.
Well, I didn’t finish. A Natick for me at 10a and 10d. Was it JIM/JED, KIM/KED, TIM/TED? Had to leave it blank.
Didn’t “get” the clue for SCOTCH (Glenfiddich, yes),DESI, and was it RHAM or RAHM?
I enjoyed this puzzle and your interesting waseeley!
Happy birthday, OMKeith! I hope you are having a great celebration. I didn't realize we are the same age.
Hi All!
Whoot! The tale of the tape: A pristine Thursday grid!
Thanks Dan for the puzzle. Cute theme but I needed the reveal for it to stick.
Thanks waseeley for the detailed expo; I've still more links to click later tonight.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: TIM, DESI, RAHM
Fav: TED TALKS' clue was clever
Twister always makes me think of Ghostbusters' Rick Moranis calling down the hall to Sigourney Weaver to come to his accounting-clients' party. "Well come if you want; later we'll play some Twister."
{B+, B}
Happy Birthday OMK!
Ha! I had a link to SAM COOK'S "Don't know much about history..." last Sunday.
@7:48 AKA SSolver - I saw what you did there, Electric Legend, you.
D-O: How? How?!? How did they miss that (and by two days)?
Inanehiker - thank you! Harry Potter is why the name EMMA WATSON was familiar (the Girls loved HP movies).
Lucina - wait? We sent one of our crassest potty-mouths to a country of traditional politeness?
It's said, due to an Arby's accident, Rahm lost his middle-finger and half his vocabulary ;-)
Off to the gym.
Cheers, -T
Yay ! We finally got internet, phone service, and cable TV back !
OMK. Happy birthday !!! 😁
Hey, the word “write-up” disappeared! “—interesting write-up”. I liked it waseeley.
Happy Birthday, OMK! You are a class act!
Happy birthday OMK!
don't light any candles, we don't won't it to burn down again...
And then there's this
the closest thing I could find to a diagonal cake...
Still catching up. Happy Birthday, OMk!
Glad you didn't electrocute yourself, Dave.
OMK @4:45 PM Happy Birthday Perfesser! 🎂🎁🧨 I always love your "slant" on things ...
-T @5:15 PM & SS earlier, didn't get the "Electric Legend" gag ...?
CED @6:13 PM GLOBular man! So the tower in Pizza is actually a CSO to OMK?
Happy birthday to OMK- glad you have a birth year buddy in Lucina- you both bring joy to the Corner
Happy Birthday, OMK, hope it was special! 🎂🎉🎁🎈🎊
waseeley - In keeping with the theme, SS put the book Legend (Marie Lu) over Electric (tape).
SS oft has a bit of puzzle meta in his posts; I thought I'd just let him know I pay attn and appreciate it.
Tonight at the gym, my trainer worked me like a rented mule; where's the preventative-aspirin?
Cheers, -T
Happy birthday OMK.🎉🍰85, 82, who’s counting.
-T @9:01 PM & SS Thanks for 'splainin & thanks for the clever meta comment. Like -T I always like your comments. And I was happy to see that you can occasionally bend the rules when it comes to ⭕'s.
Thanks to all who sent me HBD wishes! Much appreciated, guys!
A special thank you to CrossEyedDave for burning down the Globe for me, all over again...
~ OMK
Don't forget Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy among your faves.
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