Welcome to Jumble Thursday. I can't wait to see what OwenKL does with this one.
Our constructor today is actress Ella Dershowitz,
who says on her website that "When I'm not acting I make crossword
puzzles ..." (including 4 previously for the LA Times). Here's Husker's
review of her first outing on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Her web site is definitely worth checking out.
Today Ella takes us on a brief tour of New England in the Fall with the following themers:
 |
| Before the Pandemic |
 |
| During the Pandemic - the Virtual Water Cooler |
37A. *First love, perhaps: HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH. I met my first and only love in the 11th grade in the doorway of Mr. Saterlie's Modern and Contemporary History Class and had an immediate CRUSH💓💓💓
on her. She's a wonderful person and among the many other things she
does to help me, she proofreads these puzzle reviews (I of course am
responsible for any remaining errors).
48. *Small-scale investments: MICROLOANS. Microlending: Definition, How It Works, Risks & Rewards.
I guess I can't hide the meaning of the themers any longer, so before they fall off, here's the reveal:
58. What autumn leaves do, and what five letters do in the answer to each starred clue: CHANGE COLOR.
Wasn't that exciting?
Here's the grid:
Here are the rest:
Across:
1. Not in the mood for any funny stuff: STERN.
6. Bartending tool: SPOON.
11. Proof letters: QED. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. Latin for "which was to be demonstrated", the statement appearing at the conclusion of a text to signify that the author's overall argument has just been proven. At least she/he thinks it has.
14. Threepio's pal: ARTOO. Star Wars lesson #1. Here ARTOO is delivering a message ...
15. Khaki-colored cloth: CHINO.
16. Stars-and-stripes land: Abbr.: USA.
17. [Theme clue]
19. Doctrine: ISM. Quick, think of the name of science other than DARWINISM that consists of a scientist's name + ISM?
20. Place for a spring break?: SPA. The town of Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees in southern France, is one of the world's most popular SPAS. The waters flowing from the spring at the Grotto of Massabielle are believed by many to have healing properties. However only 70 persons over the last 160 years, a very small percentage of the over 3 million visitors who visit the site each year, have met the Catholic Church's stringent standards for declaring a healing miraculous.
21. Daily grind: RUT.
22. Food truck fare: TACOS. 3 Reasons Why Taco Tuesday is Freakin' Terrific.
24. [Theme clue]
28. Amazed: IN AWE.
30. Candor: HONESTY.
33. Pool resources: UNITE.
34. Close: SEAL.
36. __ yum: Thai soup: TOM. I DNK this soup, but it looks delicious. Here's a recipe.
41. "Sooo annoying": UGH.
42. [Hands off my Friskies!]: HISS. Today's cat lesson: "That'ss mine!"
43. Tyler Perry character in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman": MADEA. Rumor has it that this film was a real DRAG.
44. Major babes: HOTTIES. The Brits would add BIRD to this list ...
48. [Theme clue]
51. Fifth flavor: UMAMI. Remember the old days when the kids in the neighborhood would yell "UMAMI wears combat boots!" 😉
53. Tech giant based in Armonk, NY: IBM.
54. Tidal action: EBB.
57. Tavern: BAR. I'll drink to that! Here's the chorus in taberna ("in the tavern") from Carl Orrf's secular cantata Carmina Burana (all the toasts are in English at the bottom of the screen).
58. [Theme]
63. __ contact: EYE.
64. "Goodness me": LORDY. I give you the lady from Port Arthur, Texas ...
65. Korean short ribs: GALBI. Looks kind of YANG ...
 |
| GALBI Here's a recipe. |
66. Sigur __: ethereal Icelandic band: ROS. Like the Icelandic landscape. A commenter to the following 2006 video Glósóli (apparently untranslatable) said: "I watched Sigur Rós put an audience into the throes of rapture at
Coachella 2001, their first North American performance. None of us knew
who they were, but when they’d finished, thousands of us were left
stunned, speechless, weeping, at peace. I’ve never seen anything like
it. These are not songs. They’re spells".
68. Some big-box stores: IKEAS.
Down:
1. Tools that make the cut?: SAWS. Or that make music that can take you over the rainbow ...
2. Hip-hop genre: TRAP. I predict that we probably won't see this clue/fill combination again any time soon. TRAP is
a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United
States in the 1990s. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang word
"trap", a house used exclusively to sell drugs. Sorry, but none of the
songs I sampled passed the breakfast test.
3. Blues guitarist Baker: ETTA. Etta Baker (March 31, 1913 – September 23, 2006)
was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North
Carolina. Here she plays the guitar riff to a song my Daddy used to
play (lyrics). His name was Bill too:
5. Neither partner: NOR.
6. Search all over: SCOUR.
7. Instagram posting: PHOTO.
8. Canola __: OIL.
9. Opening number?: ONE.
10. Edward of "Glass Onion": NORTON. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (titled onscreen as simply Glass Onion) is a 2022 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman. It is a standalone sequel to the 2019 film Knives Out, with Daniel Craig reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc. NORTON plays the billionaire. Available only on Netflix:
I first saw Edward Norton's work in The Illusionist. A great flick streaming on various venues.
11. Fast learner: QUICK STUDY.
12. Petro-Canada rival: ESSO.
13. Stops (up): DAMS.
18. First Nations people of Canada: CREE. A CSO to our CanadianEh! The CREE are one of several First Nations people in Canada. I was struck by this modern work by Jackson Beardy (July 24, 1944 – December 7, 1984) who was an Indigenous Oji-Cree Anishinaabe artist born in Canada.
 |
| Calling the Night |
24. Bedtime story preceder, perhaps: BATH. Presumably the BATH is a part of the deal if they want to hear the bedtime story. Also the name of another famous SPA, a city in Somerset, England originally founded by the Romans and known for its BATHS.
25. Baa nanas: EWES. Well, sheep do have grandmaas too.
26. Utter disorder: CHAOS. The classic meme for CHAOS theory is "The Butterfly Effect", where a very small change in one location can ripple, enlarging as it goes, to cause a catastrophe far away:
28. "My name is __ Montoya. You killed my father ... ": INIGO. Here he is, played by Mandy Patinkin, straight from The Princess Bride ...
29. Frightening ordeals: NIGHTMARES. Nightmare Meaning and Nightmare Disorder: A Jungian Perspective.
 |
| The Nightmare John Henry Fuseli |
32. Jewish social org.: YMHA. A Young Men's Hebrew Association is a communal institution organized in various cities of the United States for the mental, moral, social, and physical improvement of Jewish young men. The YWHA is the corresponding organization for young women.
33. "Hard pass": UH UH.
34. Mint variety used in Japanese cooking: SHISO. A garnish often served with sushi, SHISO is a cultigen of Perilla frutescens, an herb in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is native to the mountainous regions of China and India, but is now found worldwide. It has many varieties beside the ruffled green one seen in sushi bars. Here is the red variety:
 |
| Red Shiso |
38. Singer known as the "Goddess of Pop": CHER. Born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946), CHER is an American singer, actress and television personality. She has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry. Here's her 1998 hit Believe (lyrics):
39. "Seriously?": C'MON.
40. "Gosh darn it": RATS.
45. "Madam Secretary" actor Daly: TIM. James Timothy Daly (born March 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom Wings and his recurring role as the drug-addicted screenwriter J.T. Dolan on The Sopranos (for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award). We saw all the Wings episodes but then he kind of dropped off our radar scope. The opening theme was from Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959, Rondo: Allegretto.
 |
| Tim Daly |
47. Tablet download: GAME.
49. "Dead to Me" star Cardellini: LINDA. Dead to Me is an American black comedy television series created by Liz Feld. The series premiered on May 3, 2019, on Netflix and stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as two grieving women who bond during therapy.
 |
| Linda Cardellini |
51. __ Eats: UBER. IMHO this might not be a good idea as over eating can lead to obesity.
52. Club condiment: MAYO.
54. "The Great" actress Fanning: ELLE. The Great is an historical and satirical black comedy-drama television series starring Elle Fanning and loosely based on the rise to power of Catherine the Great, Empress of All Russia.
.jpg) |
| Elle Fanning |
56. Jewish ritual: BRIS. The Brit Milah (Bris): what you need to know if you're planning this ritual.
59. __ lane: HOV. A lane reserved for High Occupancy Vehicles. Here are the rules in Maryland.
60. NPR host Shapiro: ARI.
61. Sci-fi FX: CGI. Computer Generated Imagery. Sci-fi FX are becoming Sci-Reality FX, e.g. deep fakes.
62. Wine tasting note: OAK. A CSO to MOE.
Cheers,
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof
reading, for her constructive criticism.
58 comments:
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Ella, for an interesting challenge. Thank you, Bill & Teri, for 'splainin' what I didn't Know.
I had to read through Bill's theme explanation three times to sorta finally get the theme which still doesn't seem like a theme to me. However, I filled in the theme lines easily. Never heard of MICROLOANS.
A lot of the fills just weren't in my vocabulary: SHISO, EOS, TIM, LINDA, BOBA, HOV, CGI, TOM yum, GALBI, ROS, TRAP, NORTON, YMHA, UHUH. Surprisingly I didn't get too frustrated and filled the grid. Some red-letter runs, I'll admit to.
On a bus trip across the western part of Canada, we stopped at a Buffalo Jump. I had an interesting conversation with a young CREE brave giving guided tours lectures. He was in college and planning a career in broadcasting. The CREE ran the buffalo over a cliff so they could butcher the winter "eats". Very efficient. After they were done, they burned the area to purify it and the resulting ash-blackened moccasins earned them the nickname: Blackfeet Indians.
I found this puzzle had quite a bit of “bite” to it and definitely seemed Thursday level to me. A number of unknown names and a couple of obscure foreign terms contributed to this. After getting the reveal, I went back and saw all the “color” changes. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
My slowest solve this week was Monday. Come ONNNN.
With GALBI and SHISO (which I think we've seen before) in there, you'd think TOM would be clued via literally any famous Tom, especially crossing YMHA (?). I guess not.
Good morning!
After working in an office for 28 years, I can honestly report that I never saw a WATER COOLER. Never saw the COLOR in today's puzzle, either. Like PK, there were many unknowns in this one, but somehow it all came together without any serious WAGs. Thanx, Ella and Waseeley.
Micro LOANS -- Are these investments? Only if you're the one making the loan.
"Air on a G String" -- Did this come before or after the current meaning of a G-String?
"Glass Onion" -- Interesting movie. Daniel Craig's southern accent was barely passable.
TOM Yum Soup -- If that soup is named for me, it must be pretty bland. DW says I've got no taste.
Very difficult CW. It seems all the obscure proper names were saved this week for today. It always depends on how “proper name” is defined, but I count 16. Anyway, I had to Google my way to a finish, and therefore it took a very long time. Thanx Bill for the terrific write-up.
D-O @6:20 AM Bach's Third Orchestral Suite was composed circa 1724-1731, but August Wilhelmj's arrangement of the tune wasn't made until 1871. I'm sure the world's oldest professionals were using them long before those dates. BTW I knew you'd probably be asking so I researched this factoid in advance. 😁
Mandy patinkin
DNF. All of the A&E crap were disincentives and fun sponges. Gave up with _HISO, _OS, and GA__I unfilled. Erased aerto for ARTOO, beer thirty for BEER OCLOCK, and near for __AL.
Once upon a time in a dusty old west town, a dog three-leg limped into a crowded saloon and fired a shot into the ceiling. The piano player stoped playing, and all eyes focused on the canine. He exclaimed "I'm lookin' for the man who shot my paw."
Sailors go TO SEA, because "TO the yacht club bar"wouldn't fit.
Thanks to Bill and Teri for putting some fun into what seemed to me to be a drudge.
To all you MLB fans on the Corner, I wish you a happy opening day.
Anon @7:11 AM Thanks for that Anon. A Potemkin is a sham facade often used in warfare to draw fire or deceive the enemy. The faux tanks and other armaments along the SE English coast were used to deceive the Germans about the launch points for the D Day invasion.
Interesting side note on Ella. Her father is Alan.
This took 6:22 for me to finish before going to faR LOCO.
The Icelandic band, the Korean ribs, the Thai soup, and the Japanese mint were all unknown (and, frankly, unliked).
Back to the usual: today's actresses (Elle & Linda) and their works ("The Great" & "Dead to Me") were unknown.
I knew both Star Wars answers (Artoo & Boba), though I continue to dislike that R2 is spelled "artoo," rather than "artwo."
Speaking of things I dislike, I appreciated the fact that there were no circles today, even though this strikes me as the type of puzzle that often would have circles.
How is "spa" a "place for a spring break"?
FIW. NW corner wouldn't come together mostly because I misspelled artoo; I had areto. Too many unknowns, and a few too many proper names for me making this a rather crunchy Thursday CW. On a good note, the theme and corresponding answers were easy to solve.
For those who find today's puzzle a bit too colorful, here's DAB's latest: Running Short. The only proper name in it is a cookie.
Too tough for me today with a DNF in two places. The CHANGE OF COLORS spanners were easy fills. The the unknown A&E characters, UH NO (instead of UH UH). INIGO- never heard of him. That wouldn't let any HOTTIES show up. The SE was a WAGfest. I knew CGI, guessed OAK and BRIS, but OAK, ELLE, BOBA, and GALBI were unknowns. So were TRAP, ROS, TIM, TOM, SHISO, EOS, LINDA, and NORTON- thank you perps.
MADEA and HOTTIES-couldn't be any more polar opposite.
BEER O'CLOCK? I'll go with Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet- "It's Five O'clock Somewhere".
Korean, Thai, Hebrew, Star Wars, Icelandic, and two Japanese fills in one puzzle today.
A Tower of Babel fills.
Today's puzzler puzzled me good and I got a FIW. As I began to read the review, I had two iffy squares which I didn't know: the cross of TOM and YMHA (where I put O, but now see the similarity with YMCA) and ELLE and GALBI (more unknowns but a good guess this time!) To my chagrin I found a sloppy error as well, leaving nEAr where SEAL belonged, not catching the misspelled LOLL. Didn't know the mint variety so that didn't help. SEAL never occurred to me as I started out thinking of "near" or "shut."
Anyone else put "once" for bedtime story preceder instead of BATH? Perps soon fixed that. The reveal helped me find the COLOR in the themers without much delay since experience has helped me know what to look for. I enjoyed the puzzle and thank Ella for constructing it, plus waseeley and Teri for deconstructing it today!
Previous comments by D-Otto, Jinx, and Anon@7:52 were fun and I hope everyone finds something to smile about today! Enjoy!
Anon @7:52 AM, waseeley explained that SPRING BREAK can be the seasonal break or the one with hot springs to relax, for example, to fit SPA.
Anon @ 7:52, a SPA is a resort based around mineral springs or hot springs, where you take a break from your normal life for rest or healing. Named for the original (since Roman times) Spa in Belgium.
Hard to believe this one got through. GALBI crossed with BOBA and UMAMI intersected with some guy name TIM is a desperate attempt at getting the construction over with. And who is INIGO Montoya? At least Inigo Jones is of historical note.
Although the puzzle was ultimately completed, there certainly were many "learning moments" this morning.
DNF. I got tired of guessing wrongly at proper names, like filling in Pam instead of TIM, not wanting to Google my way through this CW.
I filled all the long answers right away so saw the theme immediately, it’s the rest that got me to say UGH.
There were some clever fills like OAK, IKEA, I liked the baa nanas. The theme today included a lot of Asian food references, not a cuisine I care for much. I know that makes me an old stick in the mud, but my taste buds are too old to be retrained.
Waseely gave a great recap. I loved the CHAOS cartoon.
Good Morning:
I had a rare DNF due to the Boba/Galbi cross. This, along with the numerous other unknowns, Ros, Tom, Trap, Shiso, Linda, Etta, etc., made the solve less than pleasant, although I will say the perps were fair, except for Boba and Galbi. I saw the sequence of the jumbled C O O L in the themers but missed the presence of the R, therefore, the reveal was a big surprise. The best, and strongest, themer, IMO, was High School Crush, which I think everyone can relate to, hopefully with fond memories like Bill’s.
Thanks, Ella, for a challenging Thursday and, thanks, Bill, for the usual informative and entertaining review. Once again, the breadth of your knowledge of history, literature, religion, science, entertainment, and, especially music, astounds me. I believe I saw The Illusionist, but don’t remember much about it. The Edward Norton film that I do remember is Primal Fear with Richard Gere. Norton gave such an electrifying performance, I can still visualize it.
Have a great day.
Oops, I forgot to acknowledge Teri’s contributions to Bill’s blogging endeavors. Thank you, Teri! 🤗
Good Morning!
DNF. Nope.... not today. Got the top and the bottom (except BO_A meeting GAL_I, and 3 ½ of the themers. The middle got me. Too many unknowns, but congrats to all who finished.
I’ve got company coming today, so gotta get busy.
I have to make a couple of corrections in my previous post.
The Asian food is not a theme, of course, and I should have written East Asian food, since I love Lebanese food, also Asian. My husband’s family is Lebanese and all great cooks.
DNF. 'Twas too good to last. Back to obscure names and poor clues. MICROLOANS for investment, Korean soup for TOM, and not every PRO is an ACE. Nor is every ACE a PRO. I did know INIGO: (.....now, prepare to die!) But this one was just not fun, at least for me. Really wanted MILLER TIME instead of BEEROCLOCK. I see what passes for major league baseball starts today.
My favorite part of this has to be the magic beer trick!
(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!)
I just had to know how he did it, (plus, it made me thirsty...)
I went online, and found out, the simple explanation is that the paper bag has a trap door cut in the back.
I also slowed down the video on YouTube to .25% to watch him take the wine bottle from his coat and hide it behind his hand.
But!
All of this how it's done information in no way diminishes this guys act. To produce beer after beer in glasses without spills is a thing of Beauty to watch. (Saran wrap?) but there is is more!
Watching closely, you can see he is not using the standard trap door flap trick to produce a liquid filled glass. How did he do it?
how it was done...
As for how the color changing thing was done is no great mystery either,
Where's Puce? I don't see Puce...
oh!, so that's Puce...
A bit too much of a trivia contest for my liking. Got most of it, but finally gave up on the SE corner.
Baa nanas is one of the best clues I’ve ever seen!
Anon @ 7:52, spring break --> SPA stopped me too for a minute. Then I remembered that old-timey SPAs were often located at hot springs. I've stayed at the SPA in Hot Springs, AR. DW and I played 18 holes on their golf course, and I remember that there wasn't a flat spot on any fairway.
Hola!
This puzzle came together very slowly although the long fill was easy, especially HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH.
I first saw Edward NORTON in Primal Fear with (sigh) Richard Gere. That is where I first got a CRUSH on Mr. Gere, and I believe he demonstrated the range of his talent in Chicago.
CSO to my three sisters-in-law named LINDA. One is deceased. Also, CSO to all the TOMs on the Blog
Luckily ROS was filled by perps.
BOBA Fett? New to me.
I first heard of MICRO LOANS when reading that the Clintons began the practice by granting them to women in third world countries to help them start businesses.
Time to go. I hope you are all having a wonderful day!
ATLGranny & Bill-O: guess I should have refreshed before posting. Sorry.
Musings
-I got rousted out of bed by to sub today and then had to actually teach, so I am late to the party. BTW, I am wearing CHINOS.
-We subs do have to be somewhat of a QUICK STUDY
-We are looking forward to a CHANGE OF COLOR from brown to green this time of year
-It must have been here when R2D2 evolved into ARTOO with its friendly letters.
-The first lesson today was on DARWINISM and I had to bring up Nebraska’s most famous politician William Jennings Bryan and The Scopes Monday Trial
-TO_/Y_HA was my only bad cell in this blizzard of names
-I did pick an L correctly for GA_BI/E_LE
-Baa nanas? Aces!!
-Gotta run! New batch of sophomores coming in to hear about WJB!
JJB. Just ridiculous
"Pool resources: UNITE".. Pool is a verb here. Duh! You say
There's a PGAer named TOM Kim
"Wine tasting note: OAK". ???
Some kind of jargon? Perhaps C-Moe can explain.
I had four squares in SE left blank. IKEAS could have been grok'ed but GELBI was hopeless
Something tells me there's going to be pushback on this one
Sorry, SPA for Spring Break doesn't compute. OK, billocos explained(still a reach)
Gary meant Scopes monkey trial. Wasn't Clarence Darrow
involved too?
It wasn't obscurity of the clues but of the clueing(wording)
WC
Arrrgh! My shower is running nonstop and a plumber won't come until this afternoon! I suspect the washers are shot but who knows. My new checks haven't arrived so I will have to use a credit card.!!!!!! What else can happen today?
I'm catching the running water with a bucket and a large diaper hamper left over from infant days of my daughter and granddaughter. Some things eventually come in handy! Though I actually use it as a laundry hamper.
Lucina Why don't you shut off the water for your house?
You know I was thinking that the transition from R2D2 to ARETOO was probably demanded by cruciverbalists because you can't put numbers in crossword puzzles.
Jinx @ 12:54 PM
You don't have to apologize to me about your SPA comment. You added new information about Hot Springs AR. It reminded me of a pleasurable soak in the hot springs in Ouray CO after a day of ice climbing in the winter, warming up and relaxing sore muscles.
And Lucina @ 1:24PM
I hope it isn't the hot water running! I know the feeling of having things go wrong with everything at once and sympathize with you. So far I know how to turn off the water inside the house but not at the street. DH knows that.
Yesterday I broke the turn-off valve on the water line to the toilet on the main floor because I was tired and forgot to turn it just a quarter turn. Plumbing friend says he'll come next week so in the meantime we'll manage without water in the tank. No water leaking on the bathroom floor or problems with any other water faucets, etc. We just can't turn the water back on for that toilet, which needed new insides anyway, so he can fix that too. House is approaching 100 years old and full of surprises.
Bill, don't leave out C3PO to See-Threepio. Haven't seen that in a puzzle yet. Sounds Italian to me.
Is it Saturday already? My first run through looked like it...if a CW could make cricket noises this would be the one...but like Saturdays the neurons started firing ..but... still DNF... the first letter of that Japanese mint and the colored eggs did me in. And theme? Nope.
GALBI? .....LINDA (with Christina Applegate) was terrific in the "Dead to Me" series
Inkovers: once/BATH, MEDEA/MADEA (LORDY.!!!!...wonder when "she" will be banned?)
I don't know how I knew INIGO, musta been from an old puzzle
C'MON? C'mon!
Bolognese for one.....SAWS
"Place for a spring break".....SOFA
Loo or lav entrance...CANDOR
Appropriately served at a Jewish ritual, ____ cut...BRIS
German hip hop genre, ____ Von....TRAP
Irish M, a DNF? Say it ain't so! 😲
More snow this morning... LORDY
Got the solve, sans fun.
My comment is both the clue and the answer for 39D.
Musings 2
-Yeah, I meant Scopes Monkey Trial but was hip-deep in teenagers when I was typing. That excuse and $4 will get you a plain coffee at Scooters!
-Of course it was made into this classic movie.
Tante Nique @ 10:21 ~ My sister married a first generation Lebanese-American man and his mother and sister shared many family traditions and recipes with Peggy who became an excellent all-around cook. I’ve sampled several dishes over the years, but my favorite is Kibbeh Nayyeh. (Sp?) Not surprising as I’m also a Steak Tartare lover, too. 😉
Ray O @ 2:08 ~ I cannot tell a lie, Sir. ‘Twas a definite DNF. 🫢
Hi All!
FIW at GALlI | BOlA
Thanks Ella for the Fall COLOR CHANGE. Thanks waseely (and Teri) for the fun review - more links to click tonight!
WEES re: density of unknowns.
WO: UH, no
ESPs: ETTA, TOM, TIM, SHISO, EOS, ROS, LINDA, BOBA | GALBI | ELLE
Fav: CHAOS, er, KAOS (a commercial?)
I enjoyed reading everyone but can't comment now as work beckons.
Cheers, -T
-T @ 2:45 PM So you're sayin' we're NSFW? Sheesh! 😁
One question: in the midst of an excellent review by Waseeley, this 'explanation' shows up --
33. "Hard pass": UH UH .
Most of the other clues have expansive and enlightening explanations, but for me "33. "Hard pass": UH UH." is written in Middle Hittite.
Any explanations by the noble and learned readers much appreciated.
IM☘️ not many people know about kibbeh nayyeh (also not sure about spellling). When I was first married, I still was a meat eater and I loved my MIL’s kibbeh nayyeh. It was quite a treat. She frequented a small grocery store and had her meat ground just as she wanted it. She would serve it with a little olive oil (I still have her little dispenser), and a thin slice of white onion.
I miss her cooking, and that of other family members, most are gone now.
Puzzling thoughts:
Wilbur Charles @ 1:21 --> the OAK reference (wine tasting note) in this puzzle seems forced to me. I would normally call a wine "OAKY" (rather than "OAK"), but the word "OAK" is often heard among wine geeks.
When I "instructed" (i.e., gave wine tastings to newbies) about the OAKiness of wine, I would tell tasters to imagine licking a tongue depressor or popsicle stick. That "woody" taste is etched in your brain (if you think about it). And if that flavor appears when you taste the wine, it has been over-OAKed, IMO. OAK to wine should be like spice to food. Finding the right balance is essential
The result of OAK flavor (in wine) usually comes from a winemaker who ages their wine in new OAK barrels; but it also can be a result of a winemaker floating OAK chips in the wine as it ferments and/or ages in a stainless steel container. Some folks like the added flavors of OAK; some don't. The use of OAK barrel aging and the kind of OAK used (French OAK has a tighter grain, and produces more of an earthy/coffee/chocolate flavor to red wine; American OAK has a looser grain, and produces a vanilla and dill pickle-like flavor)
The barrels are charred prior to being filled with fermented or un-fermented wine. The level of char is called the "toast"; and much like bread, the level of "toast" affects the flavor. New barrels transfer about 70% of their "flavor" to wine in the first use. Many winemakers find that using a second or third use barrel to be a better match, as the harsher amount of OAK flavor is greatly reduced; as is, the price of the barrel
Hope this answered your question!!
Re: the puzzle ... I enjoyed solving DAB's better, but Ella's offering had a more involved "theme". Finished them both, correctly.
Bill and Teri added to today's solving enjoyment with the number of facts, figures, pictures, comics, and videos ... all "punctuationally" correct, I might add ... ;^)
Well, this puzzle was no fun for me. I mean, c'mon, repeated lookups get to be a drag after a while. My response to this puzzle is "shrug". Agree that "Baa nanas" is an awesome clue, though.
Neat Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Ella. And always enjoy your commentaries, Bill and Teri, thanks for those too.
As soon as I saw SPOON, I got hungry, knowing that we'd have some food items coming up. Well, the first one was OIL, and we couldn't live without olive OIL, could we? And even before that we got that sushi roll garnish, ROE, which will be delightfully accompanied by some TACOS, after we've had some of that Thai soup. Anyone need some MAYO? We might also want to go to the BAR and get some BEER to go with all that yummy food.
After that nice lunch, lets go to an Art Museum, and look at some lovely OIL paintings, and some contemporary PHOTO displays. You need a good EYE to STUDY all that art, and note the CHANGE OF COLOR everywhere.
Great visits, lets do them again next week.
Too much random trivia to offer a foothold for the overly clever cluing. No fun. Another one for the trash bin.
Michael @ 4:37 PM According to the Oxford Languages dictionary:
noun: hard pass; plural noun: hard passes
a firm rejection or dismissal.
"I am concerned that audiences might give the film a hard pass"
exclamation: hard pass
used to express firm rejection or dismissal.
"$150? Hard pass!"
I have to admit that the fill of "UH UH" is more of a "NOPE" and doesn't quite have the same emotional heft.
waseely, just reading the blog very late today, and see your challenge to me, but not sure what for. Maybe you want something like this acrostic.
Raging COLOR changes in fall
Often to peepers give a call.
Yearly cycles:
Grieving denials
By dying leaves
In living trees;
Vistas brighten and enthral!
AABBCCA {A+}.
OwenKL @ 7:15 PM Nice lick Owen {A++}. I'm afraid that my challenge was simply a lament that most of the recent Thursday puzzle themes have been "scrambled word games" and I felt like I was getting into a rut. Well the crossword gods got even with me in spades for next Thursday's puzzle. Spoiler alert: I found the theme so inscrutable that I had to send out an SOS to the blogger team, who promptly obliged with an explanation. Now I just have to hope that I 'splain it right to you folks.
Cheers,
Bill
Picard
Yes. I turned off the water and I'm just glad that I am home alone today so the need for water is minimal. There's bottled water for drinking. For dinner I want to Mark's house for a change. He usually eats here with me. The plumber said he would be here at 8 tomorrow.
When it trains it pours! First, the bank fiasco and now this.
waseeley @ 6:42 -- Thank you for the explanation on 'hard pass.' My dictionary does not have the phrase. I think "No way!" would be closer in intent ... but it wouldn't fit.
Because spas used to be at hot springs resorts 😎
Tired of anything with hip-hop, (c)rap, and alphabet groups.
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