Puzzling thoughts:
One of the benefits of being a Crossword Corner blogger is having access to the puzzle well in advance of the publish date. It is also one of the disadvantages. As I begin creating my blog - a week after solving the puzzle - I am at a loss for what I "felt" after I solved it! Yes, I can go back and see how long it took me, (just under 17 minutes, which isn't "bad", as I am a terrible typist) and perhaps gauge the puzzle's difficulty/creativity/humor/et al ...
The puzzle has a "chain" of KEYS that are commonly found (and used) on a computer KEYboard. Samantha (one of today's co-collaborators) had her debut puzzle here at the LA Times last year. Since then, she has had a solo at Universal Crosswords. Katie Hale is Patti Varol's assistant editor. Together, they used the computer KEYS within the three entries to unlock today's theme:
53-across. Modern way into a building, and what each answer to 20-, 29-, and 43-Across needs to be to match its clue?: KEYLESS ENTRY.
Confused? Well let's see how they used no "physical KEY" to get this outcome
20-across. Portrait painter who specializes in primates?: ESCAPE ARTIST. First off, there are circles. I know that circles within a grid are frowned upon by some of our solvers. However, in order to make the clue fit, one must "remove" the computer KEY (in this entry, it's "ESC") from the common phrase. And et voila! ESCape Artist become APE ARTIST! A real "Houdini" if you ask me
29-across. Foot, essentially?: LEGAL TENDER. "86" the "ALT" key from this and you have "LEG ENDER"
43-across. Pilot's standard routine after leaving the gate?: RUNWAY MODEL. Delete the "DEL" key from this and you have RUNWAY M.O. (abbr. for modus operendi) This made the puzzle and its theme very (39-across. Quick with quips:)WITTY!
Here is the completed grid, and then off to the rest of the fill ... well done, ladies!
1. Eyebrow shapes: ARCS. Notice the ARCS
5. "Last four digits" ID: SSN.
8. Cold feet or cold shoulder: IDIOM. IDIOM, as defined in [dictionary dot com], "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light )"
13. Theater destination: SEAT. I like to sit in the balcony, toward the front
14. October birthstone: OPAL. Any October birthday celebrators among us?
16. Record holder?: LINER. I'm guessing this means the sleeve in which the record (LP) is contained within its package?
17. __ Alto: PALO. CA city
18. Camembert cousin: BRIE. I prefer Camembert to BRIE as it is a bit more ripe and stinky!
19. What a library does: LENDS. Margaret and I have been using our local library to borrow the seasons of Yellowstone. Great mini-series
23. Turnpike sign: NO U-TURN. Most of these turnpike signs are images now ... it's ONE WAY of looking at it, no?! ;^)
24. Tiny amount: SOU. A French word
25. CPR giver: EMT.
28. Aidy Bryant's former show, briefly: SNL. Aidy Bryant was not a person I was familiar with, but the perps helped
32. Battery fluid: ACID.
34. "The Princess Diaries" princess: MIA. Another example of using a more current "venue" to clue a proper name
35. "Toodles": CIAO.
36. Maze choices: PATHS.
38. Roller coaster feature: DIP. If roller coasters had only DIPs and not exaggerated FALLs, I might be a fan
40. Actress Falco: EDIE. Of "The Soprano's" fame
41. Novelist Wolitzer: MEG. See my response to 34-across
42. Peter of reggae: TOSH. Complete unknown, to me at least
46. Sentient hairball of 1960s TV: ITT. The Addams Family character
49. Bar barrel: KEG.
50. "Ew! Stop talking!": TMI.
51. Tea gadget: INFUSER.
55. "Later!": SEE YA.
58. Shiny fabric: LAME. Pronounced, "Lah MAY"
59. Piece of maguro: TORO. Learning "Moe-ment": TORO is the fatty part of the tuna, found in the belly of maguro which is the greasiest part of the abdomen. It has a soft texture and melts in your mouth. This is the more expensive part of maguro because it is rare and you can only get a small quantity. And that's no bull ...
60. Stable issue: FOALS. More wittisism, clue-wise
61. Significant periods: ERAS.
62. Mineral found in kale: IRON. Just because it contains IRON doesn't mean I am gonna eat it!!
63. En pointe: ON TOE. Ballet term
64. Wordle publisher, familiarly: NYT. My one "claim to fame" as a crossword puzzle constructor was using the entry "WORDLE" first among the published crossword puzzles. See 32-down ...
65. Strings for Orpheus: LYRE.
Down:
1. Quakers in a forest: ASPENS. Cute clue
2. Common sense: REASON.
3. Like a cold, ruthless villain: CALCULATING.
4. Short-tailed weasel: STOAT.
5. Came down, with "up": SOBERED. I was drunk with happiness when I solved this clue!
6. Leapt: SPRANG.
7. "Queen of Katwe" director Mira __: NAIR. I hear she waxes her eyebrows ...
8. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer!": I'LL SUE.
9. Try intermittent fasting, perhaps: DIET. Intermittent fasting never worked for me ... I am currently on a seafood DIET: I see food, and then I eat it ...
10. Suite spot?: INN. HaHa
11. Uni resource: OED. As in "UNIversity" library, perhaps? I'm guessing that is what it means. All University libraries have a copy of The Oxford English Dictionary
12. "The Marvelous __ Maisel": MRS.
15. Blab accidentally: LET SLIP.
21. Sheepdogs from Hungary: PULIS. Hands up for those of you who knew this?? I didn't. I wonder if it's related to 46-across? Here is a picture of one:
22. Letter before kappa: IOTA. Are there any fraternity or sorority members here? I recall that when pledging a fraternity I had to recite the Greek Alphabet five times, while holding a lit match ...
25. Handy feature in a shared document: EDIT HISTORY. This appears to be a first-time use for this entry
26. Substance: MEAT. A Friday clue for sure; although many of us "give up" MEAT on Fridays during lent ... just sayin'! ;^)
27. City tricked by a wooden horse: TROY.
30. Chum: AMIGO. Our "Spanish entry" du jour
31. Military police procedural: NCIS. Short for: Naval Criminal Investigative Service
33. __ toy: CHEW. My "Granddog" Guinness loves these, with or without the squeaker!
36. Company car, e.g.: PERK. I enjoyed this PERK for 35 years during my career as a sales rep/sales manager
37. Together, musically: ADUE. [wikipedia says] "A due [a dˈduːe] in Italian or à deux [a dø] in French is a musical direction meaning "for two". Most often seen in its abbreviated form a2, the marking signifies that on a staff that normally carries parts for two players, both players are to play the single part in unison"
38. Choreographer Agnes who wrote a biography of Martha Graham: DEMILLE. "Agnes" is a CSO to our own Irish Miss, as well as my maternal grandmother
39. Detective assisted by Archie Goodwin: WOLFE. Of Nero WOLFE fame
41. "Goodness gracious!": MY MY.
42. Most likely to snap, say: TENSEST. Did anyone "snap" or become "tense" whilst solving this puzzle?
44. Order to relax: AT EASE.
45. Perturb: DISMAY.
47. Babysitter's handful: TERROR.
48. "Have a taste!": TRY ONE.
52. No later than: UNTIL.
53. "The Last Jedi" villain Ren: KYLO.
54. Make: EARN.
55. Calif. hub: SFO. Airline "code" for San FranciscO
56. Countless lifetimes: EON.
57. Dine: EAT.
And there you have it! I hope I gave you enough "KEYS" to understanding this puzzle. Please enter any comments/thoughts below ...
45 comments:
I liked this puzzle. However, I have a caveat with the constructors. While the answers containing “alt” and “del” were fine, “esc” actually means “escape”! So the answer “escape artist” seems not quite as “witty” as the other two. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
I am very surprised that I managed to FIR, even though it took a LONG time to do so. Many DNKs: MAGURO, TORO, PULI, DEMILLE….. I did get the theme with the first theme clue (20A) which helped. Relied heavily on perps, and WAGs. Anyway, eventually got ‘er done. Thanx, SPN&KH for the entertainment. And thanx to to CMoe for the terrific write-up, especially the maguro/toro explanation.
Yes, I'm smack dab in the middle of October- a true Libre as Betsy asserts from the Vedic horoscope: 10/1-15 fall into previous month and 21 begins Scorpio.
Somebody needs to invent a UTURN Signal for cars
I inked in Coldblooded/CALCULATING making a mess
M.O. explains that clueing.
And a belated hbd to PK who apparently was on the cusp of Pisces/Aries. Nice cake from CED
WC (FIR after the Hawaiian disaster)
FIR, but erased buddy for AMIGO, oh my for MY MY, and sprung for SPRANG.
I remember SOU from contract law. "Consideration" in British law is said to be "as little as a SOU", but here it has to be meaningful.
UNI is what our northern neighbors call "college," Eh!
We just had TOSH, or I would never have remembered.
You never tell someone "I'LL SUE," just do it. And if you say that to a company, in most cases you have just cut off the possibility of resolution without litigation.
I wish they would spell it PERq, for "perquisite", or commonly known as "Rank Has It's Privileges," at least in the business world. Contrasted with "fringe benefits", which are normally available to everyone in the company.
Thanks to our Chairman for yet another fine tour.
Thank you, Samantha Podus Nowak and Katie Hale, and thank you Chairman Moe. Fun puzzle and review.
That center of the grid area almost got me with DEMILLE, MEG and MIA.
Moe, Hand Up for knowing PULI. They are in the Herding Group, so I see them almost every year watching Westminster. They look like they should come from the land of Rastafarians, what with all those dreadlocks :>) Then later we have Ska/Reggae musician Peter TOSH who was a devoted Rasta. In the genre, I favor ska/punk, a la Sublime.
My fave clue was "Came down, with up"
Maguro was a new term for bluefin tuna for me. I initially had T-RO and threw in the A for TaRO UNTIL EDIIT HISTORY forced the change. Maguro was the first word I looked for in the review.
SubG ?
Back later.
Good morning!
Well, these ladies managed to sneak NYT into the LAT. Do you suppose that maybe they submitted it elsewhere first? Methinks Jinx may have been looking over my shoulder with BUDDY, OH MY, and SPRUNG. Wite-Out, please. Thanx, Samantha, Katie, and C-Moe. (You photo of Itt looks like a whisk broom while that Puli resembles a dirty mop.)
DO - I expect the ITT photo if there is ever a ZZ TOP fill. That's a band that a lot of people have actually heard of, so probably not LAT-CW fodder.
Very creative puzzle, Samantha & Katie- I thought I would have to come to the blog to figure the theme out - but when I stepped back, the aha moment came to figure it out myself after I'd filled it in.
I think the 11D clue Uni resource for OED came not from Canada- but because the Oxford English Dictionary is from the UK and that is what they call college in their vernacular. Uni was shortened because OED was an abbreviation
Learning moment WEES said about maguro and the answer TORO (as clued, as Irish Miss would say)
Thanks CM for a fun blog!
Took 9:39 for me to set the TABle this morning.
I didn't know today's novelist (Meg), choreographer Agnes, or the Hungarian dogs. I was also stumped by maguro and toro.
I agree with SubG's criticism of the first of the three keys.
Also, my keyboard has an "End" on the F9 key, and there's an "end" in legal tender. But, I'm sure a lot of effort went into the puzzle.
Oh joy, circles ... and on a Friday!
Would a theme-less Friday be so bad? I say we give it a try.
FIR, but what a workout. Too many proper names for my liking, most of which I'd never heard of. Thank goodness for perps. And the crossing of Wolfe and Tosh, nasty crosswordese, perplexed me until edit history suddenly came to me. If an infuser were familiar to me I might have finished faster. I needed Nero Wolfe for help.
Although I didn't get the theme, I though it clever. FIR. I am glad we have themes. IMO they add interest to the puzzle.
Only TOSH, MEG, KYLO and MIA were ESP. PULI perped itself in and then I recognized it.
I knew Agnes de Mille, who was a famous choreographer for Broadway in shows such as Oklahoma, Carousel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, among others.
Aidy Bryant was on SNL until very recently.
Gimme for this sushi lover, Magura and toro. YUM.
As a summer theater usher, I enjoyed the perk of seeing all the plays for free.
As a waitress the perks included free meals, excluding pricey items.
Many shops give employees discounts.
As teachers we received pensions and health care.
Inanehiker, I agree about UNI and OED.
I managed to FIR but confused myself, noticing the computer keys in the circles but not catching the answers to the clues. I'd filled ESC-APE ARTIST by perps but hadn't read the clue. I thought RUNWAY MODEL might be something that pilots were trained for each airport. And LEGAL TENDER was used to 'foot' the bill. It took KEYLESS ENTRY to make me understand.
A neat construction but the puzzle had way too much A&E for my limited show business knowledge. I'd never heard of any of them but the perps were easy. TOSH, SNL, NAIR, MRS, MEG, WOLFE, KYLO were filled by perps. Add TORO, PULIS, and INFSUSER to the unknown list.
PERK- it was nice to have the S-Class Mercedes with gas and insurance paid by someone else. When I quit I bought a Mercury and now drive a Toyota.
Jinx- I had ZZ's Fandango album, most of which was recorded live in NOLA.
MY, MY, a relatively easy Friday puzzle from Samantha and Katie. Thanks for a FIR possibility today! After a minute, I saw what was happening with the theme too after reading the reveal. Clever!
Thanks, C Moe, for your review and helpful explanations, especially of maguro and TORO which were total unknowns to me. I guess I need to eat more sushi. Perps helped with names I didn't know like KYLO, MIA, and MEG. I especially liked the pictures of the dogs and STOAT, which looks cute but is actually aggressive.
I SPRaNG before SPRUNG too, and wrote in ExIT before perps changed it to EDIT. Otherwise, no adjustments were needed. I too remembered we recently had TOSH.
CIAO, everyone, have a good Friday!
Thank you Samantha and Katie for an easy Friday FIR, not something I say often. The KEY to this puzzle was the CIRCLES, which by the second themer had revealed the reveal.
And thank you MOE for your WITTY review. BTW I found this puzzle a lot easier than your Boston Herald puzzle yesterday.
A few favs:
20A APE ARTIST. My favorite APE ARTIST is Bart Walter of Westminster, MD.
28A SNL. "former show, briefly", 3 letters. What else could it be?
32A ACID. Timely clue as I'm about to shell out a lotta moolah to get a new 12 volt charger battery for my 2008 Camry Hybrid (not the lithium one, but the battery acid one). I don't wanna talk about it.
43 RUNWAY MO. A CSO to our reviewer. He's always trying to get away with something. For those of you, like me, who wondered about his use of "86" for DELing the ALT in 29A, I give you this non-etymology.
53A KEYLESS ENTRY. With the arrival of chatGPT, we can now dispense with KEYS and just tell our computers to do what we mean.
Cheers,
Bill
What a great puzzle, even a little easy for a Friday. Yes, there were some unknowns, like maguro TORO, thank you CMoe for the explanation, and MEG, NAIR, TOSH, and SNL as clued, but, perps helped. I too had oh MY, but I did know PULI, yea!
Happy Friday to all.
Hola!
Thanks to Samantha and Katie and CMoe for this Friday fling.
Aidy Bryant is one of those bubbly persons who is unforgettable from SNL.
I wanted ALF instead of ITT for the sentient hairball.
Agnes DEMILLE might not be a household name but Cecil is more familiar.
Maguro? I have no idea what that is but TORO to me is a bull.
I've learned of KYLO Ren from crosswords.
I wonder how TROY, the name of a city, became a man's name.
NAIR is a hair removal brand.
My great-grandson is sometimes a little TERROR but mostly he is quite lovable.
SFO is often my destination in the summer.
CIAO for now!
Although my Nissan Altima has a key, it is not used in the ignition. In fact, I never use the key, only the fob.
Good Morning:
The circles alerted me early to a “Key” related theme but the revealer was a surprisingly strong unifier. I liked several clues and fair perps solved the unknown Mia, Tosh, and Nair. Toro filled itself in, but the meaning needed Moe’s explanation. Like TTP, I’m familiar with Pulis because of Westminster. It was nice to see the full, unambiguous No U Turn vs the usual quandary of Uie, Uey, etc. I tried Tautest before Tensest but that was the only stumble. It’s always a treat to see Troy and, today, Agnes sneaked in, too. 🤗 Today, the circles were necessary, IMO. As far as themeless puzzles go, one a week on Saturday is enough for me, but I realize others may prefer more frequent offerings. That other paper has a Friday and Saturday themeless and, on rare occasions, a Sunday.
Thanks, Samantha and Katie, for a fun and challenging Friday and thanks, Moe, for guiding us along so smoothly. Enjoyed all th visuals, especially the Puli and “Guinness”.
I’m very happy with my good report from the eye doctor and I met the vision requirements for my driver’s license renewal. The doctor was navigating on a knee-scooter as he broke his tibia playing hockey and was in a cast.
FLN
PK, we share the same year of birth and we’re both Aries but while you were the big sister, I was the runt of the litter, being the youngest of 10. I don’t think I was spoiled but my siblings might disagree. 😈
Have a great day.
I went back to sleep for a few hours. Feel a little better now.
No response from SubG to explain what his nit with ESC in the puzzle is. ESC are the three letters of the key name that are removed and it is an abbreviation of ESCAPE. So what ? What does ESC being and abbreviation of ESCAPE have to do with anything, and how does it detract from the puzzle ?
The other 3 letter removals ALT and DEL are also keyboard key names and are also abbreviations.
With those three abbreviations included, they are common phrases, but they don't match the clues. When you subtract (LESS) the name of the KEY from the phrase, you have another (whimsical) phrase, and the clue is written to match it.
Maybe reading the write up would have helped.
FIR, and actually recognized two names! EDIE and cousin ITT. Perps were fair, but the theme ESCaped me until Moe's explanation. Clever! A couple of personal nits: AIRPLANEMO: if the answer is abbreviated the clue should be too, and AMIGO: foreign answer should have a foreign hint in the clue. Just my opinion, YMMV.
Musings
-Wow, a crossword with a fun gimmick to get to a silly phrase tied to computer keys. Gotta love it!
-Uncle Leo lost his eyebrows in an accident and had to have them drawn on. It led to this exchange.
-Like many cities, our little town is having huge issues about books our library LENDS out
-SNL’s ratings have dropped disastrously over the years. I hear people refer to, “back when it was funny.” (Thanks spell check for showing me disastrously only has four syllables)
-TMI? – Thanks for all the medical advice yesterday!
-Show kids there is IRON in their cereal
-SOBERED UP- My dad had to be at death’s door to finally do so at 50 years old. I was 25 when I first saw him sober.
-I remembered AGNES is Cecil B.’s niece
-WEAKEST gave way to TENSEST
My thoughts?
I wondered if the puzzle even needed circles.
Then it occurred to me that they come in handy because the keys do not start "all" the themers...
(Hmm, keyless entry, I wonder if... Ow! My brain hurts...)
I need an easier solution...
Wilbur Charles @ 5:58
People are working on a U-Turn signal for cars, but the real problem is people do not use the signals they already have.
There is an ingenious solution however. I think they will sell millions of these back window sign custom emoji displays!
I believe the U-Turn sign will be the one displayed here...
Hi All!
Well thank you C. Moe (beautiful pup!) for telling me how the clues matched the fill through removal of the KEYs.
//Ok, I didn't think about it much after I finally (correctly!) filled my inky mess in the southeast.
//To echo waseely - I'm still working on the Boston Herald grid. Oy!
Very cool puzzle Samantha & Katie! Thanks both yous for the effort.
WOs: saucer -> deFUSER -> more ink, upTIL -> UNTIL, test[i]est -> TENSEST
ESPs & WAGs: PULIS, MEG|DEMILLE, LAME. TOSH was a "Oh, we had this just a bit ago!" moment.
Fav: PALO Alto. a) great firewall IDS/IPS [Intrusion Detection System / Intrusion Protection System] product b) birthplace of Silicon Valley [see: Hewlett-Packard]
TORO - I love this sushi! But, not knowing maguro (Hi unclefred!), I went way out into left-field thinking re: yams. Hey, I still caught the ball, er, fill.
D-O: Terse but spot-on re-review.
@SS @8:05 - Nice TAB addition and (to add to your joy), YA right - we could have used more circles around END. Nice catch.
TTP - You call Sublime Punk-Ska? [What I Got]. I know you've heard Reel Big Fish [Sell Out]. //both fun songs!
While we're on music... Jinx & BigE - when I was in Sugar Land, Top 40 Ranch was only 20 minutes away. During Covid lock-down, I'd drive my Alfa Spider out there for escape (and hoping Frank Beard (who didn't have one!)) would come out. //DW's friend had a son who played baseball w/ Beard's son.
+1 Lucina. Aidy is great (for far too long, I though Aidy's name was Amy Bryant #dyzlexia).
-1 HG: SNL is still just as funny as the '70's years. And, just as not [funny] with some sketches.
And don't get me started on what kids can't LENDed from a library *smh*
Y'all have a great Friday!
Cheers, -T
TTP, I found ESCape Artist to be an inferior entry than the other two "keys" because the "ESC" is, indeed, short for "escape", which also happens to be the very word in the answer ("escape artist"). It's more confusing and less witty than the other two keys.
Also, I wouldn't have expected someone to elaborate on a point they made just by putting their name followed by a question mark.
Musings
-Samantha is a FaceBook friend and I asked her about her partnering with Kate, Patti’s assistant who lives in London. This is Samantha’s reply:
- I hooked up with Katie via a couple submissions I made to LAT and we started chatting. My sister also lives in London - the rest is, as they say, history :-)
TTP, I’m surprised my meaning “escapes “ you. I simply meant that having “escape” as part of the answer makes the solve too easy. Get it now? SS did!
Thanks Moe. I didn't get the theme until you explained it. I never heard of pulis or maguro or toro unless its the bull. GC
(I would love to explain more fully, but as I am currently in a van hurtling towards Dollar Tree, can’t do it right now).
Hi Y'all! Yes, Moe, this puzzle made me TENSE. Before you 'splained, theme made no SENSE!
I filled it, but all the unknowns & not making any sense of the theme, made me dislike it. Keys on my computer have the words printed so small I have to get my nose practically on them to read them & I rarely use any but the shift & caps keys anyway. So computer keys never occurred to me at all. Anyway, many thanks, CMoe.
Agnes, if you weren't spoiled a little & lavished with love, your older sisters sadly failed in their job as big sisters. One of my sisters-in-law thanked me for the affection I lavished on her husband because he is affectionate to her & their kids. Our parents weren't touchers. My grandma hugged me a lot to show me the value of it.
@SS - I can see your point but ESC has nothing to do w/ escAPE ARTIST.
If I were to make the puzzle better - which I can't 'cuz there's no way to make a phrase out of...
CTRL-ALT-DEL would have been ideal.
Now, I've got to get back to playing chess online with my workmates, getting y'all ready for Wednesday's disappointment [not the grid, just my review], and finishing my presentation.
Cheers, -T
Chairman Moe leads us through today's Nowak/Hale PZL.
A thoroughly enjoyable XWD with a clever theme.
I see I wasn't the only one who went for ALF before ITT.
SEE YA & CIAO = perfect companions.
~ OMK
_____________
DR: One diagonal, far side.
Its anagram (12 of 15) is explicit.
It refers to a...
"MONKEY TITTIE"!
SubG, okay, in that sense, I guess I can buy that it made it slightly easier, but it was already easy. I didn't (don't) understand why you were (are) saying it is any less witty. But okay. Some interloper has also responded as if they were you, and has now added "confusing". But thanks for your response, and pay attention to the road and traffic, especially if you are hurtling down the road. :>)
Dash T, yes to Sublime as ska punk, or reggae rock, or alt rock even though they were from southern California rather than Jamaica. Kind of hard to classify or pigeonhole. There are four or five songs on their eponymous album that I like. Santeria may be my favorite. Sublime reminds me of Red hot Chili Peppers because their sounds are all over the place. But no to circles around the word "end" in theme answer LEGAL TENDER. Yes, it's a word that happens to be on a keyboard. You wouldn't end up with a legitimate playful phrase if those letters were also removed. Also, I had never heard that story about Ctrl Alt Del or the history behind it.
Anon T: Thank you for seeing my "tab" and my point, but I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on whether "escape" has nothing to do with "escape artist."
More importantly, I was definitely not insinuating that we needed MORE circles.
-Anon @ 8:05
PSA:
Car Keyless Entry Has actually made cars much easier to steal.
The FOB is always transmitting, a hacker with the right equipment can receive, and retransmit your FOB code from a distance.Even If your car is in the driveway, and your key fob is secure in locked house!
one way to stop this on some models...
more info can be found here (14:08)
Bill, it could have been that other CW favorite fill, GMA. I watch GMA even less than SNL.
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Samantha and Katie, and CMoe.
I saw the KEY theme early, as I solved 20A, saw ESC in the circles, had the T in 29A, and saw ESC ALT DEL immediately.
Yes, AnonT, CTRL would have been perfect.
I still had some inkblots, especially in the East.
Loans changed to LENDS., Oh MY to MY MY, Weakest to TENSEST.
EDIT Entry was too short (and I needed ENTRY for the reveal).
I thought of the record Sleeve, but it was too long.
I noted ERAS and EON.
We had SOU crossing I’LL SUE (plus there was a NO U TURN).
MY MY crossing TMI is interesting.
Jinx- I think UNI is Australian. I am not familiar with it being used here for University.
inanehiker refers to UK usage. Perhaps one Britishism we don’t use here.
FLN- re PK and Lucina as Elder Sisters. I have termed it “ELDEST SISTER SYNDROME”; they rule the younger siblings and the world, God love them. And they never outgrow it. I can say this as a child of, younger sister of, and mother of an eldest sister. Often, they keep the family connections string even after the parents are gone. I’m the youngest, spoiled one.
Wishing you all a great day.
OMK @ 1:14
Your diagonal anagram today is fitting for one of the clues: APE ARTIST
😀
Upon reflection, I don't believe TENSEST passes the common usage test.
It is hard to codify a rule, but certain adjectives are usually served with comparative suffixes, while others remain standing, but with "more" or "most" added.
I would go with "most tense" over TENSEST.
CanadianEh! ~ Thanks for your "great day" wish! The same to you--and into the evening!
UNI may be Australian, as you suggest, but it is also definitely British.
Or at least it was when I was a UNI grad student in England ages ago (1960-61)-at The Shakespeare Institute of the UNIversity of Birmingham in Stratford-upon-Avon.
~ OMK
Chrmn M @5:07 ~
Indeed! You found the perfect image.
I can easily imagine that picture on display above the bar of the Golden West Simian Saloon (No Lemurs Allowed)!
~ OMK
C-Eh!, I'm a fan of the reruns of the Canadian comic strip For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston. (I liked it the first time too.) I remember the kids getting older and "going off to Uni", so that's why I thought it was from the Frozen North.
I liked the theme.
President Biden speaking at a gala dinner in Ottawa tonight, “we’re more than neighbours, and more than friends, we’re family”. (well, he probably didn’t have the U in neighbour LOL)
Jinx @2:41 PM I stopped watching SNL years ago and I've never seen GMA. Everything we watch is streamed.
C Eh, OMK, Jinx, etc. The Germans also say "UNI" when referring to university. I heard this usage when we lived in Bonn and a student at the University in Bonn lived with us her first year.
55D, Calif. hub, SFO is a purely arbitrary answer, because OAK, SMF, SJO, LAX, BUR. LGB, ONT, SNA , and SAN are also hubs.
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