Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here along with He-man to bring you a TGIF recap. Today, the ayes (I's) definitely have it with a straightforward theme from veteran puzzle-setter Pam Klawitter. This puzzle "continues" the egocentric "I Me Mine" drift of the puzzle reviewed by this blogger two weeks ago. Who knows what the future may hold. I can't wait to find out.
At the following four places within the grid, Pam has added (dropped in) the letter I within common words/phrases to create amusing answers to the given clues:
16 Across: Member of the swim-up bar staff?: TREADING WAITER. Treading Water.
21 Across: Exercise class that's all about one's ego?: VANITY PILATES. Vanity Plates.
34 Across: Elements needed to start NFL games?: THE PROS AND COINS. The Pros And Cons. A professional football reference.
The Pre-game Coin Toss
Call It In The Air
48 Across: Tricks for producing excellent Tweetstorms?: TIRADE SECRETS. Trade Secrets.
The reveal comes at:
54 Across: "Not staying long," and an apt title for this puzzle?: I JUST DROPPED IN.
Here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Pizza chain in many food courts: SBARRO. The chain specializes in what is called "N.Y. style" pizza.
7. Mark Cuban's NBA team: DALLAS.
13. Blue state: SADNESS. Misdirection. Not a political red state/blue state reference.
15. Fútbol chant: OLE OLE.
18. La Scala showpiece: ARIA. Tunes frequently heard in crossword puzzles.
19. Take a little off the top: TRIM.
28. Big name in nail polish: OPI. This had to be something like the twentieth time I have seen this one in a puzzle....and I finally remembered the product's name.
29. Phishing fig.: SSN. Social Security Number
30. Interior designer Berkus: NATE. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, perps.
31. Marriages: UNIONS.
40. Most massive: HUGEST. An odd-looking word is it not?
41. Barrel band: HOOP.
42. Many a "9-1-1" character: EMT. Emergency Medical Technicians are not strangers to crosswords.
45. Make a typo, say: ERR.
46. Not fair: CLOUDY. Not an ethics reference, a meteorological reference. With a nod to Paul and Art:
52. One with elitist tastes: SNOB.
53. Gray __: AREA. Neither MATTER nor WHALE were going to fit.
62. "Come From the Heart" country singer Kathy: MATTEA.
63. Without any oomph: WEARILY.
64. Came next: ENSUED.
65. Office binder: STAPLE. Not a three-ring binder. Something to use to bind papers together.
Down:
1. Retired jet: SST. SuperSonic Transport
2. Granola __: BAR. A raisin, a peanut, and an oat sit down to order a drink. The bartender says, "What do you think this is, a granola bar?"
3. Juice aisle suffix: ADE.
5. Hill-building stinger: RED ANT.
6. Egyptian god of the underworld: OSIRIS.
7. __ Jones: DOW. The stock market is fluctuating wildly. We haven't seen so much bouncing up and down since Clinton was in the White House.
8. Menu phrase: ALA. In the style of.
9. Island chain: LEI. A bit of wordplay. A "chain" of flowers often associated with the Hawaiian Islands.
10. Buncha: LOTTA. Punt.
11. National Weather Service postings: ALERTS.
12. Binger's target: SERIES.
14. Cranky mood: SNIT.
17. Part of LGBTQ+: GAY.
20. Web portal with a butterfly logo: MSN.
22. First Hebrew letter: ALEPH.
23. Gesture while giving directions, maybe: POINT.
24. Shuffle gadget: IPOD. Before we kept our tunes on those devices that we call "phones" some of us used these:
Omar is on the right
26. Explosive letters: TNT.
27. "Phooey!": BAH. The sheep says Baa.
31. Tech support callers: USERS.
32. "Panini" rapper Lil __ X: NAS. A frequent visitor.
33. Not __: barely acceptable: SO HOT.
35. Had regrets: RUED.
36. Nasty sort: OGRE. Shrek might beg to differ.
37. "We'll square up later" markers: I O U S. Phonetically, I Owe You. In Philly, I Owe Youse.
38. Wordless agreement: NOD. Apparently, most people lean slightly forward when they NOD their head. I am inclined to agree.
39. Seeker of intel: SPY.
42. UFO mechanics, presumably: ETS. Extra TerrestrialS.
43. Verne Troyer's "Austin Powers" role: MINI-ME.
44. __ horse: TROJAN. As a UCLA Bruin and Cal Bear, I might take umbrage . . . but both my father and my son graduated from USC.
46. Brunch choice: CREPES. Two weeks ago we were served OMELETTES.
47. Seize, as an opportunity: LEAP AT.
50. Canal setting: EAR. Neither Suez nor Panama would fit the allotted space.
51. Jackdaw kin: CROW.
55. Disco __ of "The Simpsons": STU.
57. Cam or Mitch, on "Modern Family": DAD. A TV reference.
58. Celebrated time span: ERA. Often clued along the lines of Equal Rights Amendment or Earned Run Average.
59. Short swim: DIP. When people take a dip in the ocean how do they say "Hi" to each other? They wave.
60. Under the weather: ILL.
61. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE. Another frequent visitor.
And now, having just dropped in for a quick visit . . . .
_________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Not too many white outs with this one. I seemed to be on the constructor’s wavelength. As far as I know, there are no Sbarro’s in Richmond, but I’ve had it as a crossword answer so many times that it was the first “pizza chain “ I thought of. FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteThere was a fellow from DALLAS
ReplyDeleteWho thought that the pill was Cialis.
Instead it was acid,
His parts remained flaccid,
But even so, it was a Texas sized phallus!
No cowboy has ever ate BRUNCH.
Real men don't eat CREPES for lunch.
They don't eat aperitif,
They eat only beef
That they've killed with one single punch!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteIs it really Friday? Saw the stray Is and the hilarity which ENSUED. Even read the full reveal clue. Amazing. Thanx, Pam and Mal-Man. (Methinks that photo is the original Linc, Clarence Williams III.)
STAPLE: We've got three staplers. Dw is allowed to use two of 'em, but the little Bostitch on my desk is off-limits.
FIR, but erased skim for TRIM and omelet for CREPES. In another 500 appearances maybe I'll remember OPI too.
ReplyDeleteWith the demise of enclosed malls, I wonder what the strategy is at SBARRO. I like their food, but haven't eaten at one in years.
I used to love playing blackjack at the swim-up table at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. The dealer would put your money through a squeegee-like press before depositing the bills into the box.
My VANITY PL(I)ATES say "ZOE GOZ" and "Z MOBIL".
Never saw the new Mod Squad, but I loved the original show.
IIRC, our HR department told all the men in management that it was forbidden to be a HUGEST. Or maybe it was HUGiST. Never mind. Bitch. (with loving memory of Gilda Radner).
Off to the optometrist for a contact fitting. My eyes aren't correctable with glasses or soft contacts, and now hard lenses aren't doing the job. We're going to try some extra-large contacts that she thinks will work. Then next week I'll check in with one of my two ophthalmologists. Ain't getting old great!
Thanks for the colorful review, MalMan.
This one took 7:19 to fiiniish.
ReplyDeleteSeemed easy for a Friday, but that's based on the seemingly now-obsolete increasing difficulty throughout the week.
I didn't know the Egyptian god, the Mod Squad guy, or "jackdaw." Fortunately, the crosses came through.
I saw the Friday-ish clues like "red state" or "Shuffle gadget", but it still was a quick solve. I think all my times for this week have been around a typical NYT Tuesday for me.
ReplyDeleteI was so wrong on MINI-ME. I didn't know it, and in my head I read it stressing the second I, like the French name MAXIME but with "minimum" instead of "maximum". My mind works in very strange ways at times.
Amusing theme today - Pam always does a great job!
ReplyDeleteMot working today, but have a family of four coming to visit so I have a lot to do to get ready!
Thanks MM!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI always like to see Pam’s byline and, as usual, I enjoyed solving her offering. No reflection on Pam, of course, but I really miss the more challenging Friday puzzles. With few exceptions, the difficulty progression formula no longer exists as we’ve known it. Saturdays are the only true challenges and even they are variable in difficulty. While the theme was obvious from the get-go, the reveal was a cute Aha. Vanity Pilates was my favorite themer. No w/os, but Osiris and Mini Me needed perps, but both were familiar. Can’t see Opi without thinking of Lucina!
Thanks, Pam, for a fun solve and thanks, MalMan, for the entertainment and enlightenment. Your Dad humor is rivaled only by your subtle, tongue in cheek asides ala Clinton’s White House. Loved the Sleepy’s Chinese Disease and the Red “Them”.
It was 89 here yesterday, breaking a record, I believe. It’s way too early to need A/C, but Mother Nature has a mind of her own! Of course, next week we return to the 50’s, so the roller coaster just keeps rolling along!
Have a great day.
FIR. Didn't know Mattea, and forgot Mini Me, but the perps helped me out. I got the theme early and overall found this to be a fairly easy Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWednesday on a Friday. Many gimmes. Just a slight slow down in the SW. MATTEA and MINI ME were all perps except for the wagged M at the crossing. The only challenge today and that was slight.I liked the theme which was easy to spot. The reveal was clever. Favorite was blue state, one of my gimmes.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be SABBARO pizza places on limited access highways here. Not a fan. Maybe it was better in stand alone stores.
Jinx, good luck with your vision problem.
NOT SO HOT? Not here. The average April high temperature here is 58 degrees. Yesterday we had 83 and the forecast is higher for today. It seems too hot. The roller coaster of sudden changes from hot to cold makes it hard to become acclimated. We had frost several mornings this week. Warm clothing in the early morning and summer clothing in the afternoon. This is the temperate zone??
Musings
ReplyDelete- Pam never fails to amuse
- My neighbor NATE is a manager at a local Kroger’s Grocery. Last year his middle aged, male head butcher of many years showed up in a dress and heels. Nobody cares and life goes on.
-In 1957, Fats Domino sang about having A Whole LOTTA Lovin’
-Gotta drive into Omaha to have a 15-minute talk with my GI doc. He’s a good guy but we won’t talk about my medical issues very much but Medicaid insists.
-Nice job MM!
Thanx PAM for a surprisingly easy Friday FIR. Got the gimmick right away and confirmed it with the reveal. Fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks MalMan for a really IFULL review!
Some favs:
18A ARIA. We endured 3 hours of really awful 12-tone serial music in LA SCALA ("The Ladder") in Milan just to sit in the "House that Verdi Built" (and we were really TRIMMED for it by scalpers to get in the door).
28A OPI. So it's really not a spinoff by Ron Howard?
53A AREA. Rumor has it that there are 50 AREAS of GRAY, plus AREA 51, which is really DARK.
4D RNA. You usually have to wait for perps to get this one, unless it has the word "messenger" in the clue.
24D IPOD. I don't have any tunes on my IPOD. I just keep it permanently tuned to WBJC.COM
27D BAH. Says Scrooge.
51D CROW. Nice CORVID collection MM!
55D STU. We first saw the Simpsons as a short following the Tracey Ullman Show. We've only watched a few episodes of the long running spinoff because we're too cheap to pay for them. However we know most of the characters thru their cameo appearances in crosswords. Occasionally I'll buy an episode if I need it for a review. The sacrifices we bloggers make (sniff)!
61D NYE. Bill is definitely NOT a "science guy". He just plays one on TV.
Cheers,
Bill
Oh MM -- when I saw the pic of your partner in crime at the end of the review, I had to go back and double-check your byline. You had me fooled for a second (but then that's pretty easy to do).
Jinx @ 6:59 AM "Ain't getting old great!" -- Like my old buddy Merrill Snyder used to say "Old age is not for sissies!" BTW I think you can still find SBARRO'S in the rest stops along major interstates. Don't eat their pizzas though - I'm on a low-salt diet (see "Merrill" above).
ReplyDeleteThat is not a photo of Omar Epps.
ReplyDeleteIt is Clarence Williams III, from the original TV series.
DeleteFIR on a Friday Pam Klawitter puzzle. A good start to the weekend! I like Pam's puzzles, finding them a good match for me with enough perps to confirm iffy fill.
ReplyDeleteWith the first themer, I saw the gimmick, an added "I" for a new phrase, but the reveal still surprised me. Thanks, MalMan, for your fun review. I needed your help to get the meaning of "Binger's target" since I was pronouncing it wrong: like BING rather than BINGE. Perps saved me there.
Jinx, I hope you get help with new contacts. After wearing hard lenses for 58 years, I learned I had astigmatism when I switched to wearing glasses. The lenses had corrected it previously. Who knew!
TGIF, hope everyone has a great day!
D-otto, Clarence Williams as LINC and Mrs. Quincy Jones, aka Peggy Lipton, are who I remember from the original Mod Squad.
ReplyDeletePam offered up an extra I to her I JUST DROPPED IN Friday puzzle. Just a few perp solved for unknowns this morning. NATE, TEE for rugby, DAD, MINI ME (never saw the shows), IPOD (never used one and Shuffle Looked like Shuttle in the paper), MATTEA.
No SBARRO around here but I saw one in NYC.
OPI- becoming a regular in Xword land. Ditto for NAS.
And with those words of non-wisdom I'll be on the way to the French Quarter Festival and as the late Fats Domino sang 'I'm Walkin' a long way from the parking lot to get there.
TRIM/skIM; I strained my memory for OPI, Aha, that's binge-er not rhyme of dinger
ReplyDeleteNot as hard as some Fridays of yore. Themes helped with some fill. Dnk: MATTEA but I remember MINI-ME
I didn't get the Clinton reference?
WC
FLN,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Wall Street origin reminder, I had no idea...
Hmm, it looks like Canal street is a no brainer also,...
Makes me want to check out some other NYC street names.
hmm, maybe not...
Learn8ng moments:
Jackdaw?
Apparently they are not native to the U.S.
(Hmm, 1st French in American xwords, and now foreign birds.)
I guess I can't complain, emu has been a xword staple from the beginning...
Rugby tee?
Has anyone ever been injured by tripping over the dang thingie?
Sbarro, I love their thick soft crusts. But mention it to a crispy crust pizza aficionado, and you may be in for a fight...
I know a lot of you Blog readers are not into The Big Bang Theory because Sheldon turns you off, but Bill Nye gives me an opportunity to show you what you have been missing.
The tbbt guest stars are some of the best moments on the show.
Well, I just dropped in to comment. hope I didn't overstay...
At first I struggled, then readjusted my game plan, and FIR. I really liked the theme.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t know SBARRO, MATTEA, and wish I didn’t know RED ANTS. Their sting is so disproportionate to their size.
Fun morning from Pam and MM.
Good Morning! Today’s puzzle was a pleasant surprise. Thanks, Pam!
ReplyDeleteThe west filled before than the east where I hit a few snags.
Got the nail polish O_I, but couldn’t remember the “P” which made me do a few alpha runs to get to IPOD. Bill, you gave me a great word association to remember the next time! Ron Howard in red nail polish!! 😂
“AND” gets me most every time. It’s one of those “skip over” words and got me again today. What the heck was PRO SAND? But I trusted the themer and went with it until the recap.
Thanks, MalMan! Loved the sheep shearer and the sleepy dwarf!🤣. Chortled at the couple of those groaners you slipped in!!
Comment: Who would want to drink straight lemon juice? Sugar water is a good thing!!
A wooden barrel HOOP was just discovered on the riveting Oak Island on the History Channel. Love that series.
I JUST DROPPED IN to say I enjoyed the theme. Crossed proper names, not so much. Never saw a SBARRO in my life. Cross with RNA v DNA unfair. WAG to FIR.
ReplyDeleteHiking with my friend Virginia on Tuesday we came across these very busy RED ANTs.
Not clear what they were very busy doing.
From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words, comments and questions regarding the photo of me with Hillary CLINTON before she was at the STATE Department.
This was in 1994, during the attempt to get true universal health care. Hillary CLINTON revived a plan created by Nixon, thinking the Republicans would support it. Let's just say that did not work as planned.
I was working at the same time on a plan for universal health care in California. I was wearing a button for that. I paid the big bucks to see her to ask if she would endorse our plan. She said it was great that we were doing this. She knew all about it and supported it. But she would not publicly endorse it. Thanks. Let's just say I was not a fan after that.
This was clever and fun to do; thanks Pam! MM, granola BAR joke was funny and the jumping puppies reminded me of a recent TV show, Nature on PBS ‘Remarkable Rabbits”, about rabbits and hares around the world. In one species, the female will LEAP AT and over the male many times in a mating ritual while she decides if he is the one.
ReplyDeleteKathy MATTEA, a wonderful songwriter ,musician and singer from West Virginia. If you like country and bluegrass, check her out.
DO - Yes that is Clarence Williams III. I remember Omar Epps from the excellent TV show “House”.
At first I had lotsa which gave me skim before LOTTA and TRIM became obvious.
ATLGranny @9:25. Two minds with the same wrong thought! I read binger as bing - er; what is a bing? Only when all the letters filled in did I understand it was binge = SERIES.
IM - The AC was turned on yesterday to make sure that it works and it was so nice and cool that I kept it on.
I have enjoyed the puzzles this week because they have been at my level of expertise. I understand the frustration with no longer having the weekly progression of difficulty for you more advanced solvers. Perhaps tomorrow will fit the bill.
Happy day,all!
I
Definitely not an easy-to-hard challenge week. Unless tomorrow's puzzle is in Greek.
ReplyDeleteI raced through the top 2/3 slowing down a bit toward the bottom (like I always seem to do)
Any questionable answer was easily perped. Long gettable theme answers helped as well.
Wonder what's a 🦶?... is this a fluke or new editor's idea?
Inkover: lap/DIP
Thought the COINS refered to the money needed to get football players to play. 😀
I think all of us guys know OPI by now. Malman you just have to choose a color that goes with your flippers 😄
Jinx, those of us who live in the frozen north still have and appreciate our enclosed malls 🥶..SBARROs has been a mainstay at ours.
"Marriages" are UNIONS, we can pick at our dinner, and get locked out but no right to strike
Sally is serious, but Shirley ____ HUGEST
You can see clearly today's theme is ____ EYE DROPS
Swarthy ___ NOT FAIR
Whistling Andy's fishing partner....OPI
Switched to a t shirt, shorts and sandals today..hadda fish out my car keys from my heavy winter jacket. Such an abrupt change in temperature,
Another Monday already? Had to do a fast re-check of the calender. Fun run, with fair perps for a Friday FIR. I shudder waiting for the other shoe to drop! I had a run-in with a red anthill back in the 70's at Ft. Benning, GA. Taught me to watch where I sit, big time!
ReplyDeleteOofda!! I survived the last two days of torrential rain. In all my years, I’ve never seen it rain that hard for that long. Think of the hardest rainfall you can remember. It might have gone on for 15 or 20 minutes, right? This lasted 12 HOURS!! Luckily, my house is on a ridge in Fort Lauderdale, so there was no danger of the house itself flooding. But I am told it was a once-in-a-thousand-year event. We got a year’s worth of rain in one day! At Club Fred I measured 38” of rain, in one day!! Oh, the CW: clever theme which I did see which helped, but too many proper names for my liking. By my count, 14. “Mark Cuban’s NBA team” I knew: MAVERICKS but that’s too long; MAVS but that’s too short! It took perps to give me DAL_ _ _ before the V-8 can hit. DOH!! Anyway, got ‘er done. Good CW, PAK, thanx. Terrific write-up, MalMan, as always, thanx. Owen you get two “A”s today, thanx for the grins.
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFIR - I think I had SNIP/TRIM, though
Pam's puzzles are always fun
unclefred - glad to hear you're ok after the rains. Knowing the Fort Lauderdale area well (I used to sell wine for a Florida distributor, and had many accounts in Broward County) I can only imagine how many businesses suffered
Hard to believe that Albany NY is warmer than Phoenix today
Uncle Fred..Glad you're OK. Love FM. Walking along the high-rise free beach down near the Elbo Room. Stay safe
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteYes! I'll take a CSO at OPI. These days I wear clear polish because I don't go as often as in the past. Prices have skyrocketed!
Thank you, Pam A.K. Good puzzle! Good puns! I can't even name a favorite. OLE! OLE!
Our local mall had a SBARRO's but I haven't been there for a while so don't know if it's still there. Fashion Square is actually a very successful mall, always crowded when I go there. It's mostly for shoes which I have to try on before buying.
The fire truck was out in front today though I don't know why or if EMTs were on the scene.
I really, really wanted TOM Jones not DOW but TALLAS did not cut it.
CSO to my nephew NATE (Nathan).
I love CREPES and LEAP AT the chance to order them whenever possible.
Ken Follett wrote a book called JACKDAWS which referred to planes called that. I have read and own every book he wrote. My favorite author!
Netflix has some really good SERIES which I've enjoyed.
Have a great day, everyone! It's wonderful to read you all!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam for a fun Friday puzzle. Nice theme reveal and Treading Waiters was a funny image.
Thanks for the amusing expo, MManatee. Dragon Ass & granola BAR joke was funny. Phill Collins named his second album after Marx Bro's song [WikiP cite].
WOs: misspelt PliATES, RUEs
ESPs: OSIRIS, OPI, NATE, MATTEA
Fav: TROJAN Rabbit, er, horse. [Monty Python - 5:54]
Runner-up: MINI-ME. I have no idea how I knew that from the actor's name 'cuz I usually don't remember actors' names.
{B, A}
RED ANT? Down here they are called Fire Ants. When we were in IL visiting Pop, I tried to get Eldest to play with black ants but, knowing only fire ants, she was too scared of them (she stepped in a fire ant mound when she was 2yrs and never forgot).
Unclefred - I can relate and feel your pain. Harvey dumped 60" in 4 days - we were marooned in our house for 2 more days waiting for the street to unflood. Stay dry -- and I bet you're glad you're (mostly) off the electric grid.
Jinx - One word. Airports. There always seems to be a S'BARRO those food courts.
Good luck with the new lenses (I'm still on 1.25 readers).
Waseeley - ever read Blank Spots on the Map?
Picard - where's the ant holding the orange "Construction" sign? ;-)
LOL "Welcome Mat," CED.
"Ain't getting old great?" Pop always says, "Beats the alternative."
Cheers, -T
It's 66 degrees at the moment according to my computer. That is so unusual! By now it's normally in the 90s.
ReplyDelete-T @1:13 PM Looks like an interesting book. Hmm, so all this started in 1947, the year that flying saucers crashed in Roswell, NM (about a week before I was "born", no connection of course 🙃)? ... anywho, based on recent news the system is developing some cracks ... a 21 year old with access to TS info, sharing it with his buds?
ReplyDeletePicard, your long-shot shows ants runnning out the edge of the colored area, and then heading right back to the nest. Do you suppose they're carrying sand outside to dump it as they expand their underground tunnels?
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteHappy to see that the "Them" visual was recognized. It was one of the early horror movies that I remember seeing on TV (besides the "unholy trinity" of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy). Another was the one where the space aliens were implanting bead-like strands into the back of people's necks. I think it was called "Invaders From Mars".
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Pop is right.
-T, Those are a special kind of red ant. Fire ants climb on their victim until a lot of them are aboard, then they all sting at once. Like a thermos, how do it know? When I worked at the fone factory in Dallas (Las Colinas, actually), whenever we had a crisis the suits would congregate with a flurry of activity but little accomplishment. We referred to them as fire ants. (For those who haven't seen them, bumping a mound of fire ants causes thousands of them to immediately surface, scramble around in a mad frenzy, and climb on anything near the disturbance.)
ReplyDeleteI can't remember whether it was here or in LA, but I have raced against a boat named Meassis Dragon. It had a lovely graphic of a dragon on it's side. (We also had one with the lovely name Dilysi, an acronym for the not-so-lovely "drive it like you stole it.)"
Mal-Man, do you recall that the monster in Them was played by an unknown actor named James Arness in his pre-Matt Dillon days?
ReplyDeleteDesper-Otto,
ReplyDeleteYou may be referring to The Thing From Another World
Here is a recap of the invaders from mars 1953.
You can stream it free on Pluto, or with a paid subscription to YouTube or Amazon.
My apologies,
ReplyDeleteJames Arness was indeed in "Them".
also , an older Santa Claus from Miracle on 34th Street. edmund Gwynn
Thanks, Pam, for a Friday puzzle even "I" could solve. Had to change LOTsA to LOTTA to then get TRIM and MSN.
ReplyDeleteWell done, MalMan!
Jinx, my personal favorite boat name was the NEVER AGAIN II
ReplyDeleteI always like a Klawitter konstruction and this one is no exception. Excellent puzzle, made less excellent, IMO, by the following unimaginative clue-answers:
ReplyDeleteInterior designer Berkus: NATE
"Come From the Heart" country singer Kathy: MATTEA
"The Mod Squad" role for Omar Epps: LINC
"Panini" rapper Lil __ X: NAS
Verne Troyer's "Austin Powers" role: MINI-ME
Disco __ of "The Simpsons": STU
Cam or Mitch, on "Modern Family": DAD.
OLEOLE looks funny, like some sort of oil food additive. And yes, HUGEST is an odd-looking word.
I smiled widely at TREADING WAITER and VANITY PILATES.
I guess LOTTA is Ray's last name with the "I" dropped.
As Jinx said so well, in another 500 appearances maybe I'll remember OPI too.
FOLDER --> STAPLE.
DW and I met our son for lunch today and had terrific food and conversation. It looks like we may be having regular "Festive Fridays" because he works at his San Jose office for half a day pretty regularly and it is therefore easy to get together.
OwenKL, I especially liked your verses today. Thank you for them.
Good reading you all.
MalMan, That;s a great name. Reminds me of the kid who said "I didn't do it. And I'll never do it again."
ReplyDeleteJinx - we all know those Suits.
ReplyDeleteCED - you've too much time on your hands ;-)
Speaking of... DW & Youngest are at a conference in MN and I'm left alone to my own devices. After working & eating, I "Binged" Jolly which is two uni chums that try food from around the globe.
One's wife is Korean and they went off to film with the others' 2yro.
If you want to watch the the cutest thing ever... You're welcome.
Cheers, -T
I remembered the Bill Nye appearance on TBBT.
ReplyDelete"because Sheldon turns you off" ??? Admittedly, I watched it because Penny turned me ON
We have fire ants and I got bit just today. I got all but one off my hands. And…Walked into a Mall in Ocala and there was SBARROS
MM, you're thinking of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". And… D-Otto, you're thinking of "The Thing" with Arness as TT
WC