google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, March 31, 2023, Rena Cohen

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Mar 31, 2023

Friday, March 31, 2023, Rena Cohen


Good Morning Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the Friday recap.

Today's puzzle comes to us courtesy of Rena Cohen and, in what seems to be an abundance of riches, we get not only starred clues but circles, too, each of which may have been either annoying or helpful depending on your personal proclivities.

Let's start with the unifier:

61 Across:  Lifts for one's self-esteem, and what's been given to the answers to the starred clues: EGO BOOSTS.

Ego.  Self.  Myself.  ME.  At four places in the puzzle (circled in case any of us found ourselves in danger of having an identity crisis) ME is "boosted" (raised) above the clue/answer on which we are working.  The letters ME are then integrated (in sequence - up right down right) into the answer below.  A metaphor for the whole self if you will?  It would have been fun if synonyms for ID and SUPER EGO had somehow been worked into the puzzle.  A picture being worth a thousand words, here is how things look in the grid:


Here are the four themed clues/answers (each starred for our convenience).  Without the ME the answers border on gibberish

17 Across:  *Brunch station for custom orders: OMELETTE BAR.



23 Across:  *TV competition won by singer Noah Thompson in 2022: AMERICAN IDOL.

37 Across:  *Many a retired pro athlete: SPORTS COMMENTATOR.  Retired (?) football player Tom Brady recently signed on as a COMMENTATOR for the sum of $375 million.

48 Across:  *Masquerade:  COSTUME PARTY



Across:

1. Lead characters in "Mike & Molly"?: EMS.  The leading letter (character) in both names is M.

4. Pockets for falafel: PITAS.   What did the hummus say to the PITA bread when she got sick?  I falafel.

9. Hawkeye: IOWAN.

14. "That's Not All Folks" memoirist Blanc: MEL.  Mel's book title may have included the word "Not" but his epitaph does not: 



15. Not quite right: ACUTE.  A geometry reference.  A right angle is 90 degrees.  An ACUTE angle is less than 90 degrees.



16. Evade, as the truth: 
SKIRT.

19. Gate part: LATCH.

20. Christ the __: Rio landmark: REDEEMER.  A very famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



21. 400 meters, on a standard track: LAP.

22. Polite assent: YESM.  Shortened form of YES Ma'am.  What would be a polite dissent?  NOM?  Nom.

28. Write: PEN.  Noun or verb?  Verb.  T0 write something.

30. "Most likely ... ": ODDS ARE.



31. Checked thoroughly?: MATED.  A chess reference.  Checkmate.

34. Peak: ACME.  We often need to choose between ACME and APEX.

36. Irish actor Stephen: REA.   A frequent visitor.

41. Drop off: NOD.  To NOD off to sleep.  See also 38 Down.



42. Roman moon goddess: LUNA.

43. Actress Spacek: SISSY.

44. Late __: BLOOMER.


47. Shining example: 
GEM.

51. Former home of the Mets: SHEA.  SHEA Stadium 1964 - 2009



55. Asian festival: TET.

Tet 2017 Year of the Rooster - Photo By MM

56. Military shelter: ARMY TENT.

58. Book that's all mapped out?: ATLAS.  An ATLAS being a book of maps.

62. Southern twang: DRAWL.  What happens to Texans when they stop doing drugs?  They suffer with DRAWL.

63. Flower part: SEPAL.



64. "Happy now?": SEE.



65. Burj Khalifa's city: DUBAI.  The world's tallest building.



66. Barilla rival: PREGO.  A pasta sauce reference.

67. Hurler's stat: ERA.   A baseball reference.  Earned Run Average.



Down:

1. Georgia school whose unofficial mascot is Dooley the Skeleton: EMORY.



2. Wild brawl: MELEE.  The word's origins are French.

3. Bobrun runners: SLEDS.  BobSLEDS.




4. Bánh mì spread: PATE.



5. Marvel hero with super cool powers?: ICEMAN.  Cool as in cold as in ICE.  We shall pass on the Eugene O'Neill inspired jokes.


6. Rutabaga, e.g.: TUBER.

7. Game company featured in "Ready Player One": ATARI.

8. Spanish 101 verb: SER.  To be.

9. Christmas or Easter: ISLAND.  Nice word play.  Not Nice as in the city in France.  Nice as in pleasant.  Both Christmas and Easter are the names of holidays and ISLANDs.

10. Giraffe kin: OKAPIS.  Seen most often in crossword puzzles.



11. Quipster: WIT.  Hand up for first thinking WAG.

12. Part of a circle: ARC.

13. Ultimate power?: NTH.  A mathematics reference.  NTH can mean either unspecified or largest.

18. Disposition: TEMPER.



21. Encumbered: LADEN.

24. Date component, often: COMMA.  Not a social setting,  E.G. March 31 COMMA 2023.

25. Board game?: DARTS.  More wordplay.  Think dartboard.

26. Cookies that can illustrate phases of the moon: OREOS.  I had not thought of that. . . but OREOS are always a good guess if the clue references cookies.



27. "The Sandlot" actor Denis: LEARY.

29. D.C. clock setting during baseball season: EDT.  Eastern Daylight Time

31. Rachel Maddow's channel: MSNBC.


32. Speed skater Ohno: 
APOLO.  A frequent visitor.

33. Ruckuses: TODOS.

34. "Precision Crafted Performance" sloganeer: ACURA.


35. Scam: 
CON.  Both the clue and the answer can be used as either a noun or as a verb.

38. Dropped off: SLEPT.  See also 41 Across.

39. "Four Quartets" monogram: TSE.



40. Has as a goal: AIMS TO.

45. Parliament site in North America: OTTAWA.



46. Cereal mix: MUESLI.  This blogger's personal favorite.


47. Backpack in a locker, maybe: GYM BAG.

49. Epic bash: RAGER.  Relatively recent slang. 

50. Familiar theme: TROPE.


52. "Steppenwolf" author: HESSE.  Many here likely read the book.  About the same time we were listening to this:

Steppenwolf - 1968

53. Key in: ENTER.



54. Lost: AT SEA.  Idiomatic.

57. "Carpe diem" acronym: YOLO.  You Only Live Once

58. Do some sums: ADD.

59. Capote nickname: TRU.



60. CSI setting: LAB.  A TV show reference.  Crime Scene Investigation.  LABoratory.  Also, an abbreviated dog.



61. Unproven ability: ESP.



. . . and now it is time for ME to go
_______________________________________________



53 comments:

OwenKL said...

There was a cook, an IOWAN,
Who tried to use a frying pan.
His OMELETTE BAR
Was worst by far --
His flips all landed in the sand!

An Italian cook named Rosita
Fried FALAFEL fritters in Pisa.
She said heaven's GATE
Was surely her fate,
Where she would be judged by Saint PITA!

Subgenius said...

I actually sussed the gimmick from the first themed solve “o(me)lette bar” which greatly helped with the rest of the solve. And I imagine my friend SS will have something to say about the circles, but I didn’t mind them. I wouldn’t have understood the theme, at least certainly not as quickly, without them. Anyway, I think I’ve gone on long enough. FIR, so I’m happy.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thank you, Rena, for a doable challenge that took me half the time I spent on that monster yesterday. Another good expo, MalMan, thanks.

I got the theme with COM(ME)NTATOR but needed the reveal to understand it.

Last to fill: EMS, EMORY,SLEDS, OLETTEBAR. Totally AT SEA on that section.

DNK: TROPE, PREGO, SER, TSE. ICEMAN was an immediate lucky WAG.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Cute theme, well executed. Nice. Wite-Out need not apply. Thanx, Rena and Mal-Man.

Electricity is out chez d-o. Not sure why. It went out at 4AM. The power company estimated restoration at 6AM, but as 6AM approaches, they revised it to 2PM. This is the first "acid test" for our newly-replaced whole-house generator. So far, so good. It came on as expected, and is humming away outside. Soddenlink Internet is also out, so I'm writing this via my phone hotspot. Ain't technology grand?

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased omelet bar (I may have mentioned that I tend to be speling-challanged), amiss for ACUTE, petal for SEPAL, tesla for ACURA, and okapti for OKAPIS (c'mon ref - isn't okapi already plural?)

Date component - "rufie" would fit too.

March Madness semifinals are tomorrow. The fastest and strongest didn't make it. The final rankings before the tournament started were UConn - 10th, Miami - 16th, SDSU - 18th, FAU - 25th. I think that the NCAA has done a great job of spreading TV money around to improve the programs of schools that didn't have much of a chance in the old days. (As a Kentucky fan, it hurts me to admit that.)

Big Easy said...

So we have a Toby Keith Song theme- " It's All About ME" this morning. I was a little confused on some of the theme fills that I knew but hadn't completed. Then I noticed ME in circles above them. Then it was game over.

Only one unknown in this great puzzle without the proper names-SER. PATE, ICEMAN, & PREGO were guesses.

PREGO was an easy fill but didn't know Barilla made a sauce, only pasta.
YES'M, I guess those EMORY students with the Southern DRAWL named their mascot after the Georgia Dawgs coach Vince Dooley.

BobB said...

Not used to seeing the British omelette.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Like SG, Omelette Bar exposed the theme to me and, therefore, helped decipher the other themers. I agree that the circles were necessary, but I found the whole parsing exercise distracting. I admit I’m a purist and like my grids straightforward, one letter in each square, spelling a legitimate word. This is why I don’t like so-called rebus puzzles. That said, I admire the craftsmanship and creativity that goes into these types of offerings. Ice Man and Ser needed perps and Petal turned out to be Sepal. Nice CSO to CEh at Ottawa.

Thanks, Rena, for a Friday challenge and thanks, MalMan, for the fun and facts in your review. Loved all of the jokes and visuals, especially Hummus>Pita Bread>Felafel, which made me laugh out loud, and also the Vicious Circle.The GIF of the Cat whaling away on the laptop keyboard is one that I have sent to my niece as part of my daily wellness check-in. (Ever since my disastrous fall with the watermelon and scary aftermath, I wear a life alert signal I and also contact my niece every morning to let her know I’m still kickin’!)

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

I feel awful about spelling Falafel incorrectly. 🙄 Where is Autocorrect when needed? 🤭

KS said...

FIR. The usual Friday fare. One small nit: clue for giraffe kin was singular and the answer plural. Shouldn't the clue have been giraffes kin? This had me puzzled for a while with "odds are". Got the theme early, and this helped with the solve. Nice job.

Anonymous said...

Took 7:47 for ME to get through this one today.

As predicted by my good friend, SubG: oh joy, circles.

Theme/execution seemed a little off. If the (dreaded) circles had the word "ego", that would make more sense, or if it were "pick me up" as a theme answer/reveal.

I really enjoy some of the comments/commentators here, especially today. SubG types 3 sentences, then says he's gone on long enough. Ms. Irish Miss feels "awful" about a misspelling. Only on this Corner do things like that happen.

MAGILLA go-rilla said...

Rao’s is a better sauce.

Yellowrocks said...

Much easier than yesterday's monster puzzle once I parsed the omitted ME above the word. Hello, PK. I liked the theme and the circles. Repeating the reveal word EGO would have been too easy. Only word that was all perps and wags was LEARY.
KS, I agree. It had to be OKAPIS, but the singular giraffe and the plural okapis gave me pause.
I haven't seen RAO sauce, but have used Barilla sauce. Homemade is the best, but I often cheat, except for company meals.
My email sites have been messed up. They are all functioning now, so I will just try to find my old avatar and fill the profile anew. I don't want to chance more snafus.

desper-otto said...

YR, Giraffe is an accepted plural of Giraffe, as is Giraffes -- kind like fish and fishes, I guess.

RosE said...

Good Morning! With trepidation I approached a "Thursday" (ugh!) puzzle, especially after the doozie we had yesterday. My company was back on the road, so I figured I had time to work my way through it but was delighted it all went quite smoothly! Thanks, Rena, for your offering and I saw the "ME" gimmick working its way into the answer below right from the first. Clever! Yes, I needed the circles to see it, so thanks for them.
OTTAWA, CSO to CanadianEh! I'm into the Louise Penny - Inspector Gamache series, so tip of the hat to Canada!
NOD. With Wynken and Blynken was one of my favorite bedtime stories, ......sailed off in a wooden shoe.
SHEA. I went to a Mets game decades ago and remember the dizzying steep tiers, not necessarily the game...
TRU. He used to be a regular (or more so) in the CWs. I remember seeing him on late night TV. Always an entertaining storyteller.
Thanks, MalMan for your recap. I didn't get the OREOS/moon connection until your pic explained it, another picture worth 1,000 words. Also, for the "Date component" I was stuck on the fruit until your reveal. COMMA was all perps.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Hey, the ME is missing from OMELETTE BAR. Never mind, what fun!
-My favorite IOWANS were portrayed in Field Of Dreams and The Music Man
-When I was raised, my family managed to either SKIRT or ignore any contentious issue
-A sub-sixty second 400-meter LAP is the gold standard for high school tracksters
-Late BLOOMER: My surgeon was a non-descript student in the 80’s
-FWIW, the bill came yesterday and my out-patient surgery cost $31,000 and we pay nothing.
-The 4077th had a famous ARMY TENT called The Swamp
-A recent survey revealed 71% of Americans think Toronto is the capital of Canada
-NCAA basketball viewership is very low during the season but adding the betting component in March drives the ratings way up

RosE said...

Chiming in with the Okapi conversation, If OKAPI was plural, OKAPUS would be singular, and it isn't, so I vote OKAPIS is correct. (If I remember my Latin...)

RosE said...

Me, again.....OTTAWA, my bad. Like Irish Miss, I like to correct my spelling.

waseeley said...

Thank you Rena for an UPLIFTING puzzle, surprisingly easy for a Friday (once I sussed the clever theme).

And thanx MalMan for the all the WITTY QUIPS. As there was no specific clue to hang this on, I'll hang it here.

A few favs:

15A ACUTE. CUTE clue.

16A SKIRT. Some evade 'em, others chase 'em.

20A REDEEMER. Many people will be remembering when He did it, a week from today.

65A DUBAI. UPLIFTING fill that's becoming crosswordese. Must be all those delicious vowels.

10D OKAPIS. They're not like OCTOPI. According dictionary.com OKAPIS is the correct plural.

46D MUESLI. Hey Bro, I had the same brand for breakfast this morning.

49D RAGER. My BIL is a specialist in a medical informatics system called "Epic" and his team is having a party today. Rumor has it that it's going to be a RAGER.

52D HESSE. I've read them all. My favorite is The Glass Beadgame. I wanted to use JoeKnecht for my Corner handle, but it was taken so I had to settle for one that was unique. I think a lot of people are glad there's only one! 🙄

61D ESP. Here's a 463 page book (TL;DR), written in 1940 and republished in 1966, that presents strong evidence that ESP HAS been proven. As these results are inconsistent with science's current metaphysical paradigm, and are thus inexplicable, they have largely been ignored. I think this URL lands you in the middle of the book so you'll have to scroll to the top for the abstract.

Cheers,
Bill

Charlie Echo said...

Better than yesterday. Some of the clues felt a touch off, but that's probably just me. Perps gave enough of a foothold for some serious WAGS, so was able to FIR. Needed the review to get the the theme today. D'oh! V-8 can. I think I left my brain in low gear this morning.

waseeley said...

I should have mentioned that ESP has actually been proven here, as long as the perps go with you.

Monkey said...

I too got the theme right away with OMELETTE BAR. So the rest filled in no problem. What is extraordinary is I found NO unknown proper names.

So fun CW and MM’s recap full of goodies.

I wonder if the owners of the house down the street are EMORY grads. Besides an inflated Easter bunny in front of their house is a full sized skeleton seated in a rocker.

Parsan said...

This puzzle was fun and the ME’s made the theme obvious with OMELET, but it took a while to get the TE French spelling. Speaking of spelling, IM and Jinx - my bugaboo is “is it a, e, i, o, or u?”.

KS - Also thought giraffe needed an “s” and wondered if OKAPI had an additional spelling.

Originally had IPO for 61D - unproven ability. You buy a new stock offering and hope for the best! Then EGO was obvious with BOOSTS.

MM - the piano playing cat is so cute! My daughter has a rag-doll named LUNA. Thank you for the interesting and entertaining write-up.

Final four - Go UConn!

Years ago while driving by SHEA stadium one afternoon after dropping my husband off for a flight out of Kennedy, I was listening to the Mets game and just as I drove by the stadium Dwight Gooden (pitcher) hit a home run. I rolled down my window and could hear a huge roar from the crowd. It was his only HR that year.

Problem: For the last 3 days a female robin has flown into a large window in my dining room. I’m not exaggerating when I say she has done it about 100 times. This happened once several years ago and the local home bureau recommended taping rubber snakes to the glass, which I did to no avail. Any suggestions?

IM - Living with health problems presents many challenges. You seem to have made good choices to keep you safe. I’m guessing I’m probably 15 min. away. Can I help?

Yellowrocks said...

DO, I thought of that, but okapi can also be a collective plural, so these do not match.
"noun, plural o·ka·pis, (especially collectively) o·ka·pi" Same principle as giraffe being plural.
Okapi is not Greek, so the singular is okapi. I have seen it often in print.
"Okapi (is) derived from the pygmy word O'Api which, when spoken by pygmies, sounds like okapi."
I haven't really believed in ESP, but I am beginning to wonder. I sometimes get premonitions about people I love, often when they are in trouble, and sometimes when they are fine and trying to reach me. Eerie!

Irish Miss said...

SS @ 8:11 ~ My “I feel awful” comment was a play on MalMan’s joke about 4 Across. 🤣

Irish Miss said...

Parsan @ 10:46 ~ Thank you for that thoughtful offer. I am surrounded by family and in touch with at least two family members every day. I don’t have any serious health impediments, thank God, but even though the fall with the watermelon was a fluke, it was a warning that I needed a system to alert someone if and when I need help. 😉

Lucina said...

Hola!

The plumber is here working as I write.

Missing letters is my least favorite kind of puzzle. Please. Can't we have a puzzle with complete words and phrases? I understand trying to be clever but enough!

Reading Steppenwolf was sooooo very long ago.

My late brother-in-law, John, had a soft, North Carolina DRAWL.

There's a SHEA Blvd in north Scottsdale.

My sister and a friend paid $300 for a drink in DUBAI.

Could a PATE be served on a PITA? With a TUBER on the side? Preceded by MEUSLI. I'm sure Misty will have a meal made from those ingredients. She'll work in OREOS, too.

I remember the ICEMAN coming to our house to deliver a large block of ICE.

Rachel Maddow is one of my favorite commentators on MSNBC but now she is on only on Mondays.

Thanks MarlMan and Rena Cohen!

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!









waseeley said...

Parsan 10:46 AM See if you can find a silhouette of a HAWK and tape it on the inside of your window.

CrossEyedDave said...

Grrrr...

I typed a novel gushing about how I loved the puzzle, and MalMans write up, and Shea stadium, and went to get a video for Parsan re: birds/windows, and when I went back, all my typing was gone!?!?

Anywho,

Parsan, check this out.

Rats!

Why O why does this always happen to ME!
(Hmm, the theme returns...)

Oh well,


At least looking for silly links always cheers me up...

CrossEyedDave said...

Parsan,

Note first video comment: get rid of windows and use Linux...

And the only reason I can find that makes any sense as to why they tore down Shea, was to make a bigger parking lot for CitiField...

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR, but had SES instead of SER which made my OMELETTE BAR an OMELETTE BAS - I knew how the other entries were using the boosted ME, but for some reason I was looking for an OMELETTE STATION, not an OMELETTE BAR ....

Fun puzzle and a very witty recap

In a puzzle that's all about ME, how about doing a one-eighty whilst listening this lovely Beatles hit?? Enjoy!!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Now playing: MalMan does a Cohen PZL...

Veddy clever today's theme. I caught how to decipher the theme fills well before I noticed they were all MEs.

Do you suppose that dictionary-makers, when naming flower parts, had future crossworders in mind when they chose SEPAL to mirror PETAL?

SHEA really didn't last very long--did it? It is hard to imagine a huge public building lasting only half of one's own lifetime.
~ OMK
____________
DR:
One diagonal, far side.
I swear I am NOT being political as I seek anagram possibilities. But it cannot be a coincidence that on today of all days, the main anagram (12 of 15 letters) references the headlines in both the NY Times & LA Times.
One proper name crops up, followed by a range of possible adjectives, nearly all of them negative.
This anagram tells the common story:

"TRUMP TRODDEN"!
--But wait!
Hold your horses!!
By scouring deeper, I find a prefix that raises the anagram count to 14 of 15 AND offers hope to the hardcore followers of said public figure.
Whether we like it or not, whichever side you prefer, we must acknowledge the diagonal that says...

"TRUMP UNTRODDEN"!!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thanks to chairman Moe for that fine Beatles reminder!

I wonder, is that YouTube artwork from the Revolver or Meet the Beatles cover?
Revolver was my fave album, but I haven't actually seen it in decades.
~ OMK

waseeley said...

OMK @1:29 PM That's EERIE! I wish you'd have quit while you were ahead.

waseeley said...

OMK @1:56PM I echo those sentiments. A fine antidote to "I, Me, Mine".

Kelly Clark said...


Beautiful puzzle and terrific MalMan commentary!

The constructor's Mom posted on Twitter that Rena Cohen is a high school student...Mom is understandably proud!

Token Creek said...

Bill @ 1:29PM. He Did !!

Anonymous said...

A very entertaining play with the theme, Rena — thanks! I guess if this one got a title, it could’ve been “It’s All About Me” 😎.

Now, if we could just get away from those 🤬ing crossed proper names, life would be sooo good; LEARY and REA…REAlly??

===> Darren / L.A.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

What a wonderful puzzle! While the gimmick was easy to catch, the reveal wasn't. Thanks Rena.

Thanks for the visual post-game, MManatee. I especially enjoyed the Steppenwolf video.

WO: Nap -> NOD
ESP: REA
Fav: CheckMATED (with Nap in place, an ABC-run was required to get the MATED aha!

Lucina - it's not drop a letter(s); all the MEs are BOOSTED above the rest of the themer and assist fill in clock-wise manner.

Dennis Leary did (angry-a**hole) Standup in the 90's but is probably most widely known from the TV show Rescue Me [disclaimer - I've only ever saw the ads for the show].

To breakup stress of work, there's a Chessboard in boss-man's office. When you come in, you can make a move (Black or White; depending on turn) and then write it on the whiteboard. Takes about 2 weeks (we're only on-site 3x/week).
The end-game is most interesting.
Last week, with three of us working remote, we did a round-robin online. Three of us played Black against his White #KeystoneKops*. Next week, we're going to do 2-on-2 with no conferring. Should be an interesting game post-Mate analysis (we load all the moves into chess.com for move-quality assessments).

Kelly C - wai, wha?? Good on Rena!

Cheers, -T
*one of our workmates is still weak at position-analysis

ATLGranny said...

ME,ME,ME,ME. A happy ME today with a FIR Friday! Thanks, Rena, for a puzzle I figured out and enjoyed.

MalMan, thanks for the able review, which was just up your alley. M M, indeed, just like the two lead characters in 1 Across!

Hand up for OMELET, causing major WOs. With the second circles I assumed all would contain ME. I saw where ME fit in all the themers OK but didn't think about their placement until I proofed the puzzle and thought a minute. So clever!

Otherwise I had pEtAL/SEPAL and GYM bAr/GYM BAG (though my GYM doesn't have a bar for refreshments.)

YR @ 9:17AM and D Otto @ 9:21AM, with Giraffe kin, I focused on the word KIN which it turns out can be singular or plural, so no problem with OKAPIS. Who knew?

Did people know 1 Down was EMORY? I thought it might seem obscure. The campus is near me so I am familiar with Dooley. This is Dooley Week with special activities and the costumed mascot roaming on campus light-heartedly in spite of being a Skelton. It's probably just a coincidence since puzzles are seldom matched with holidays. By the way, Big Easy @ 7:24AM, I guess you were joking, but Dooley first appeared in 1899 at the first campus of Emory by writing letters to the student newspaper, predating UGA coach Vince Dooley just a little....

TGIF everyone!

Yellowrocks said...


My point was the plural can be okapis, or okapi when referring to a group.
The plural can be giraffes, or giraffe when referring to a group.
I think it is ironic that the Venn diagram in the expo had giraffes vs okapi and the puzzle had giraffe / okapis. Both are mixed usages.

For me it can be omelette or omelet. Spellcheck flags omelette.

We are hosting an Irish balladeer here tonight.

Picard said...

Lucina Glad you turned off the water for the house. Since we also live in the desert we have to know how to do that in a hurry. Because we also live in an earthquake area we have to know how to turn off the gas in a hurry. Please keep us posted.

Maybe it is just ME and my EGO, but I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. Very clever A few crossed proper names, but able to WAG to FIR.

Here is my up close photo of CHRIST THE REDEEMER, along with ME and RIO below.

MalMan Thank you for sharing the OREOS image and the STEPPENWOLF video. I have a video of STEPPENWOLF performing here, but it is cool to see him in his prime.

jfromvt said...

Fun puzzle, if not a more Wednesday level. I usually don’t care for circles but these were necessary. Welcome improvement from yesterday.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Parsan - I hear they taste like chicken.

I also have become concerned about my advancing age and DW's declining cognitive abilities. My concern is that she wouldn't know how to dial 911 in case I fell or became unconscious for another reason. At home, I guess she might go to a neighbor's house or stop a passer-by, but if something happened while we're on the road I don't have any idea what she would do if I just managed to pull to a stop in the breakdown lane before losing consciousness.

I think I'll cook omelettes for brunch Sunday. Guess I'll have to go out tomorrow and get some estimates for a dozen eggs.

Malodorous Manatee said...

A few years back I saw a show on which John Kay performed. I think the show was on PBS - likely a pledge drive. What was notable, for me, was that Mr. Kay was not just "phoning it in". He was behaving like a real musician, turning a phrase or three and not just doing what he had done decades earlier. It was good to see/hear.

Jayce said...

I liked the theme gimmick. As for the rest of the puzzle: *shrug*

MalMan, I loved your write-up and especially the Falafel joke.

I have driven SHEA Blvd several times, to go to Fountain Hills and to Mount McDowell.

Good wishes to you all.

Parsan said...

Want to see something funny? Play the Steppenwolf song but keep the piano playing kitten in the frame. Both are performing at tHe same tempo. This proves the phrase “ Those cat’s can play!”. If this doesn’t make you laugh, well la-de-dah!

CrossEyedDave said...

About a year ago,
I opined that there were no new clues for "Oreo" cookies.
Since that time, I have seen nothing but new and inventive clues for this (phase of the moon?) cookie.

However,

Todays comics revealed a new , possible Saturday level clue.

How bout'

seven of 100?

Still mad about losing my rememberences of Shea stadium.
anyone remember the home run apple?

Anonymous said...

Maybe pull down the window shade or cover the window to avoid any shining light that may be attracting birds to fly into it.

CanadianEh! said...

No time to do the CW or post as usual, as I’m up to my ears helping an elderly relative with a health crisis. But I did want to acknowledge my CSO - and of course by now you all know that I lived the proper British/Canadian OMELETTE,

sumdaze said...

I might be the only one here with a FIR yesterday and a FIW today. I couldn't quite work out the NE.
Rena ~ Very impressive contribution! Please keep 'em coming!
I thought the reveal was going to be "Lift ME up".
MalMan ~ Nice work! That bobsled video ... oof!

Parsan@10:45. I agree with anonymous@9:25. You might try keeping your curtains closed for a few weeks while the robin finds a suitable nesting area. I do love robins so I hope this works!

Lucina said...

Picard
Turning off the water is a simple procedure. The valve is outside, just under the kitchen window. The plumber replaced the corroded pipe leading to the shower head. In the process he had to go in through my closet which is adjacent to the shower. A row of shelves for my shoes is there, so they had to be temporarily moved, shelves removed and a 12X12 square of drywall cut out. He replaced the drywell neatly, the shelves went back in and all was finished for a mere $1100. I'll see tomorrow when I shower how it all works.

One of my sisters called to tell me that a graveside service is being held for a long deceased cousin. Her family is observing the anniversary of her death with that service so I'll represent the family at 10 A.M. tomorrow.

Lucina said...

Also, my home is all electric so there's no gas to worry about.