Quoting from Husker's review of the April 1, 2023 puzzle, constructor "Katie Hale, originally from Houston, is now a stay-at-home mom in London and Patti's assistant editor for the LA Times puzzles. We have seen her in a collaborative role quite often." And it looks like Adam Arvidson, her collaborator today, is making his debut with the LA Times.
Together
they invite us on a whirlwind tour circle-navigating the scrambled
world of today's crossword with this theme reveal ...
60. Travel the world with one bag, and what can be found in this puzzle's circled letters?: BACKPACK. And while it may disappoint some, finding the BACKWARD PACKS wouldn't have been very easy without those round things ...
16A. "Not in public, you two!": GET A ROOM.
Publicly the speaker here is suggesting that a couple involved in a PDA
go someplace more private. But privately this clue refers to the RAT PACK,
an informal group of entertainers, the second iteration of which
ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues.
They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as an evolving group
of A-list show business friends, including Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and others who met casually at the home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. By the 1960s, the group featured Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford, among others. Here are some of the usual suspects:
25A. Spot to catch a ride: TAXI STAND. Drinking a cold one from a SIX PACK at a taxi stand might get you in some trouble. But if I were going to risk it, it would be one of these:
38A. Skydiving event: PARACHUTE JUMP. Parachuting has been around since 1617 and is a well established skill. OTOH a JET PACK is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. However they still haven't taken off yet, primarily due to their weight, the dangers of the exhaust stream, and their limited range and unwieldiness. Work is underway developing electric versions which would eliminate at least some (but not all) of these limitations ...
I loved the narrator touting another video at the end on an "insane nuclear fusion break thru" (as always "just 10 years away" I'm sure).
49A. Safety device in some kitchens: CHILD LOCK. Here's a HOWTO on installing child locks on kitchen cabinets:
COLD packs are those BLUE BLOCKS you stash in your cooler to keep your SIX PACK cold.
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Peppermint __: TEA.
4. Float (in): WAFT.
8. Dangerous nestful: WASPS. Bob V shows you How to Get Rid of Wasps: Say “Goodbye!” in 5 Easy Steps. Here's one:
 |
| Wasp Nest |
13. Circle section: ARC.
14. Uttar Pradesh city: AGRA. A World Heritage site that has enshrined itself in the crossword canon by virtue of two vowels plus endings for a gerund and a comparative adjective:
 |
| Taj Mahal Uttar Pradesh, India |
15. Bakery-cafe chain: PANERA. We often take one of our granddaughters there after she's worked up an appetite after a volley ball game.
18. Longtime bud: OLD PAL.
19. Loops in, in a way: CC'S. Stuff owned by our fearless leader, who always keeps us in the loop. Also short for Carbon Copy. What the heck is that?
20. Nina Simone's "I Put a __ on You": SPELL. Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. This song just might be enough for Jinx to get his letters straight. 😀
22. Bygone airline: TWA. Trans World Airlines for you younger folks.
23. Romanov dynast: TSAR. One of the dominant leaders in 4 letter fill, along with killer whales and irresistible cookies.
25. [Theme clue]
27. Clothes line: INSEAM.
30. Regarding: AS TO.
31. Lucy of "Elementary": LIU. Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award. Here's a trailer for Elementary:
32. Schlocky stuff: KITSCH. or GEE GAWS.
35. "Curses!": FIE. Late 13c., possibly from Old French fi, exclamation of disapproval.
38. [Theme clue]
41. "Mr. Blue Sky" gp.: ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. Here's their 1977 hit Mr Blue Sky ...
42. Ride-hitching fish: REMORA. REMORA, (family Echeneidae), also called sharksucker or suckerfish are noted for attaching themselves to, and riding about on, sharks, other large marine animals, and even oceangoing ships. The hobos of the sea world I guess. This clip has more on these fascinating creatures ...
43. Card worth four points in bridge: ACE.
45. Cambodia neighbor: LAOS.
47. Peace in the Middle East: SHALOM. SHALOM is a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye. We've been streaming a series called The Chosen about life during the time of Christ. As Hebrew doesn't have comparative endings it achieves this by repeating words. In one scene Peter is asked by a Roman friend, "I understand Shalom but what does it mean when you say Shalom, Shalom?" Peter replies that it means "Perfect peace". The Middle East is still trying to find SHALOM after nearly two millennia. For more on this subject see 4D.
 |
| Shalom |
54. Part in four-part harmony: ALTO. The A in SATB.
55. Flying Solo?: HAN. A famous Star Wars cowboy, who flew the Millennium Falcon.
56. "Glass Onion" star Janelle: MONAE. Glass Onion is a Knives Out Mystery starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, and Janelle MONAE, who gets rave reviews from her fellow cast members in this trailer ...
.
57. Bauxite or hematite: ORE. Tin (Sn) and Iron (Fe).
58. 23-Across's realm: RUSSIA. The current TSAR makes that Romanov's realm look like the "good old days".
60. [Theme reveal]
64. Entry-level position: INTERN.
65. Part of A.D.: ANNO. Today's Latin lesson.
66. Sushi spheres: ROE. Tiny ones.
67. Clinton's former department: STATE. Hillary Clinton was the 67th Secretary of STATE.
 |
| Hillary Clinton |
69. Hog heaven: STY.
Down:
1. Playground game that is now a professional sport: TAG. At first I thought this was about Laser TAG, but it's really just about TAG.
2. Afore: ERE.
3. "Just pretend we belong here": ACT CASUAL. The art of being nonchalant ...
4. Conflicts in history class: WARS. We tend to think of WARS as a chaotic events, but in 1944 physicist Lewis F. Richardson published a peer reviewed article entitled The Distribution of Wars in Time, a mathematical analysis of wars that indicated that they were to a certain extent predictable, and perhaps even preventable. The previous article is behind a paywall but this article, The Mathematics of War: On Earthquakes and Conflicts is based on Richardson's work, et. al. and also contains a link to a TED TALK summarizing the topic. Unsatisfied at the conclusion of the TED TALK, I posited this question to Google's Bard: "What can we do to end war?", and got this response. I'm still not satisfied.
5. "Four score and seven years __ ... ": AGO. ... speaking of WARS.
6. "After Apple-Picking" poet: FROST. The first line of which is "My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree ..."
7. Florida's third-largest city: TAMPA.
8. NYC stretch originally called "Het Cingel" by the Dutch: WALL ST. Today's Dutch lesson (is this our first?). WALL STREET, the home of the New York Stock Exchange, was originally known in Dutch as "Het Cingel" (or "the Belt") when it was part of New Amsterdam in the 17th century. An actual wall existed on the street from 1653 to 1699. During the 18th century, Wall Street was a slave trading marketplace and a securities trading site, and from the early eighteenth century (1703) the location of Federal Hall, New York's first city hall:
 |
| The History of the Charging Bull |
10. Heart dividers: SEPTA. What to know about the septum of the heart.
12. Caesar __: SALAD.
15. Buffers: POLISHERS.
17. 43,560 square feet: ACRE.
21. Precise, in Peru: EXACTO. Today's Spanish lesson.
23. "Voices Carry" pop group __ Tuesday: TIL. 'TIL Tuesday (often stylized as 'til tuesday) was an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann (lead vocals, bass), Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Hausman (drums), was active from 1982 to 1989. They are best known for their 1985 hit single [hush, hush] Voices Carry (or as my Father used to say to my Mother, "Little pitchers have big ears"). Lyrics ...
24. Toss insults (at): SNIPE.
26. Vegetarian staple: TOFU.
28. Letters between names: AKA.
29. Small amount of seed money: MICROLOAN. We saw this fill on March 30, 2023 clue 48A.
33. Holy Trinity member: THE SON. That is Jesus Christ. Christians celebrated his Resurrection from the dead just four days ago on Easter Sunday.
34. Bottom line amount: SUM.
36. "Tell me!": I'M ALL EARS. We had this fill on last Thursday, clue 60A. Did y'all hear it?
37. Spaceship Earth theme park: EPCOT. Where the Impossible Becomes Possible.
 |
| Epcot Theme Park |
39. $10 worth of quarters, e.g.: ROLL. A CSO to Lucina (she'll explain it to you). Every penny counts ...
40. God, in Rastafarianism: JAH. And yes, He speaks German!
44. Fall Out Boy genre: EMO. There seems to be some of controversy over whether Fall Out Boy is really EMO. You'll have to decide that one for your self (simulated violence) ...
46. Esteem: ADMIRE.
48. Org. founded by Ethel Percy Andrus: AARP. Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus: One Woman Who Changed America ...
 |
| Ethel Percy Andrus |
50. Weigh on: HAUNT.
51. The 'gram: INSTA. INSTA is the more commonly used abbreviation, to avoid confusing its users with the metric unit defined as the weight of 1 cubic centimeter of water.
52. Scheming group: CABAL.
53. Reeves of "Always Be My Maybe": KEANU. Always Be My Maybe is a 2019 American romantic comedy film, starring Randall Park and Ali Wong as childhood friends Marcus and Sasha, who have not been in touch since a brief teenage fling that ended badly. When Sasha returns to San Francisco to open a restaurant and romantic chemistry from their teenager years remains, Marcus's fears and Sasha's fame and demanding career challenge their potential new relationship. I don't think KEANU had to do much rehearsing for this scene ...
57. "Fine! Yes!": OK OK.
59. Prepared: SET.
61. Fareed Zakaria's channel: CNN. Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (born 20 January 1964) is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time.
 |
| Fareed Zakaria |
62. Camp sight: COT.
63. Delete, e.g.: KEY.
Cheers,
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof
reading, for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
43 comments:
There was a young person of TAMPA
Who ate every lunch at PANERA.
When asked for review,
Said all that he knew
Was that no coworker ate at Panera!
Jim's grandmother collected much KITSCH.
That he'd love it was her fondest wish.
But when she passed on,
He sold for a song,
All her priceless antiques. Jim's dumb glitch.
Something that I’ve noticed this week: It seems to me that we haven’t had a puzzle of any real difficulty since last Saturday. I wonder how IM, for example , looks at this, for I know how her quick mind likes a challenge. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy, if not quite satisfied with the quality of the puzzles lately. Just two other things: my good friend SS will no doubt have something to say about the circles. I noticed the “backwards “ words in them, but didn’t get the theme until the reveal. And finally, Bill, “The Chosen” is my favorite television series. I can hardly wait until the next season! (Which will be the fourth one.) Well, folks, pardon me for the long screed. SG out!
Good morning!
DNF. Failed to read the clue for 65a and wound up with OKAY instead of OKOK. Bzzzzzzzt. Tried ATRIA before SEPTA filled in, and FATHER for THE SON. Wite-Out, please. The FROST clue reminded me of The Cow In Apple Time -- don't ask me why. Interesting puzzle, Adam and Katie. Excellent tour, Waseeley.
Subgenius @4:40AM Thank you for your comments SG: I was especially gladdened to hear your feelings about The Chosen series. It is a remarkable achievement and Teri and I are eagerly awaiting Season 4. As to the puzzles, I'm less concerned about their difficulty (which seems to be variable these days), than their quality. We stand on the shoulders of thousands of years of great civilizations, great persons, diverse cultures, arts, music, philosophy, and so forth, yet we seemed to have descended into a rut of early 21st century pop-culture that revels in one-off cluing of people and places that we are unlikely to ever hear of again. The days of the puzzle as a place to learn things seems to be disappearing.
Regarding wasps: I used to frequently get wasps’ nests on the ceiling of the patio outside. When in Spain I noticed how many people painted their outside patio ceilings blue. I was told wasps won’t build nests there if painted blue. When I got home I painted the outside patio ceiling blue, and, sure enough, for the last twenty years: no wasp nests! Second comment: Why is “tsar” spelled so many different ways? As to the CW, I did FIR in reasonable time and did get the theme, but only after filling the reveal. Once again, some obscure (to me, at least) proper names, but other than that a fun fill. Must admit it took quite a while for 1A TEA to appear. PATTY didn’t fit, SCHNAPS didn’t fit…..Thanx AA&KH for the entertaining CW. And thanx too to Bill for his (as ALWAYS) terrific write-up.
Took 8:10 for me to get this one to FLOW.
Oh joy, circles.
I realize this was just a few backwards-spelling words today, but I do not understand why jumbles are so readily accepted in crosswords.
Speaking of the noticed trends in the LAT crossword, would you agree the fun level has been decreasing too?
I enjoy "Voices Carry" and "Glass Onion" (and the sequel), and the First Citywide Bank skits.
Creative theme - I definitely wouldn't have seen the PACKS without the circles, but I'm not one who is bothered by them
The TAXI STANDs have many less cabs lined up now that there are UBER and LYFT rides!
SHALOM is sort of the Hebrew Aloha - it can have many meanings depending on context - but all good. My husband and I have enjoyed watching The CHOSEN - he was at first skeptical because a lot of Christian media can be cheesy - and he was prepared for it to take things out of context, but you can tell they have advising from rabbis, priests, theologians to get it right, but also make it more personal.
Off to work - thanks Bill & Teri as well as Adam & Katie!
FIR. The first time in a long time I completed the puzzle from the bottom up. Saw the reveal right off and shortly realized the gimmick. Filled in the long answers, and the rest was just fill in the blanks. Clever CW, and slightly easy for a Thursday.
Gah! Lost my post. Gotta go; more later. Thanx Bill 'n' Teri, in case I don't get back today.
Here's DAB's latest.
I should of posted this comment from David, appended to his puzzle:
"I am often asked, “Why are your crosswords so much better than other people’s crosswords?” The answer—specialization! As I’ve said before, “I” am (is?) not a single person, but a collective, diverse in age, and race, and gender, and everything else imaginable, including skills. So there is a specialist for Down answers, and another, altogether different, specialist for Across answers; there are specialists for clues, for blocks, for partial phrases, for abbreviations. An entire department, with its own vice-president, handles the crosswordese. There is a letter-addition team and a letter-subtraction team, a punning team and a parsing team. Doesn’t this cost a lot? Sure it does! But you the solver deserve the best, and here at David Alfred Bywaters’s Crossword Cavalcade and Victorian Novel Recommender, the best is just what you always get."
Sigh.
Probably the worst Thurs. puzzle I've ever tried to work. Besides all the proper names and foreign terms they used misleading clues, i.e. 23 across dynast, crossing two names ,then using casual instead of normal on 3 down.
Easy for a Thursday in spite of having way too many A&E related clues. Never caught the BACKPACKs until BACKPACK was filled.
MONAE, FROST, WALL ST, TEA, PRAWN, TIL, JAH, EMO, AARP, CHRIS, INSTA, CNN- none known as clued.
AARP. I'm not a member. A discount club masquerading as an advocate for older people.
Good Morning:
I’ll begin by agreeing with SG and Bill that today’s puzzles have become less enjoyable and less satisfying to solve. A major reason for this decline, IMO, is the heavy emphasis on pop culture and obscure names and places in the cluing and fill. Also, the difficulty level is inconsistent, so that alone throws the solver off balance somewhat. I personally believe the bar has been lowered for originality of themes, execution, C/As, and the overall standards of the past.
Today’s offering, IMO, exemplifies what I consider a bothersome trend of not only using unnecessary proper noun/names references, but also using the fill-in-the blank shortcut for common words such as Tea, Spell, Ago, Salad, and Til. This seems more Monday-ish, but would still be annoying. The 26 three letter words also detracted from the overall solve. That said, I really liked the theme and even with the circles, found the reveal very surprising and spot-on. No w/os but I needed perps for Micro Loan, Jah, and Chris. I never heard of just Lunk, only Lunkhead and discovering Tag is now a sport, I wonder, can Hopscotch be far behind? 🤣
Thanks, Adam and Kate, and congrats, Adam, on your debut and thanks, Bill, for the always informative and entertaining review. I especially enjoyed the clip of Elementary as I was a fan of that show, even though I missed half of Jonny Lee Miller’s rapid-fire dialogue! I also liked Aidan Quinn’s character, as well as Lucy Liu. Thanks to Teri, as always.
Have a great day.
Musings
-Subbing today with no lesson plans of any kind. Kids are great and have their phones, so no prob!
-After 10+ years the WOLF valve on my sprinklers had to be replaced
-We coaches all had these COLD PACKS in our med kits
-Most uranium is obtained from the ORE called pitchblende
-Fourscore and seven years AGO, Adolf Hitler opened the 11th modern era Olympic Games in Berlin
-After many trips to EPCOT, I paid to have my name and image put on one these Leave A Legacy monuments
-Does getting your AARP information mean you have moved past being middle aged?
-Nice job, Bill and Terri!
Good Morning! When I saw Katie’s name I thought, “fasten your seat belt!” Her reputation for tough puzzles precedes her but it turned out not so bad. Thanks, Adam & Katie.
But, I don’t mean to imply I didn’t run into some snags. pRE -> ERE; net -> SUM
DNK: REMORA or MONAE. Perped a bunch in other places.
Saw the theme from the reveal and the circles.
Thanks Bill and Teri for your recap. Enjoyed the clips & info.
Waseely and IM have analyzed the modern crossword condition to a T IMHO. I totally agree with their comments.
I did FIR, though thé NE gave me pause for a while. I liked the theme and the BACK PACKs.
Backpacks?
I dare you to get on the subway with this...
On a more serious note: every school kid needs one.
Uh-oh, sez I, a flock of arcane A&E! But surprise! The perps were very fair, and I managed to FIR. Are there other skydiving events beside parachute jumps? Jumps WITHOUT parachutes perhaps? (If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is probably Not for you.) -Agree with IM and Waseely on state of the crossword arts.
Monday/Tuesday level puzzle. Sailed through pretty much unassailed. What IM said (much better than I could)
Inkovers: smear/SNIPE, nee/AKA,
And the anagram theme was clear: SIX COLD RATS on a JET...(Kyna like "Snakes on a Plane"), What? No? OKOK so I'm wrong ðŸ˜
The senators made Caesar SALAD out of Caesar.
EPCOT.. Recently Mrs. Doubtfire and Tootsie were discovered and arrested attempting to seek asylum in "Spaceship Earth" by Florida authorities and dragged away.
Was an INTERN so long ago 😕....A snapshot of us back in the day performing our hospital morning rounds
"Seed money" I started to fill startup but didn't work with perps. "Entry level position"..mail room too long..
Cookware epoch....PANERA
STY papered with posters...ADMIRE
In the Will S. play what Cordelia's Mom said at the altar...IMALLEARS
Welcome Adam, Arvid would be proud.
I don't mind circles. What I miss (and must be now prohibited by the CW police) are theme phrases pieced together throughout the puzzle which were common and fun when I first started working the puzzles centuries ago.
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR, but there were Moe-Ments where my other self (CHRIS) was scratching his head ...
Thanks, Bill and Teri for the recap - as I was reading it and checking the links and videos, I almost thought it was Anonymous T subbing for you ...
Adam and Katie came up with a lot of interesting words and phrases today. I did "get" the reveal but would not have seen it without the circles
As noted in my first sentence, a CSO to my actual nickname ... but not unlike other chat boards, most all of my cyber (and some actual) friends just call me "Moe"
FLN: Wilbur Charles, I checked the link I used in HIDE YOUR HEART and indeed, it did not go to the Kiss video I thought I copied. I will blame it on using MS Edge. My other laptop is on Firefox, and I never have a problem with it
As usual missed some of the proper names, LUNT and KITSCH were new to me.
We don’t have a CHILD LOCK, we removed the burner knobs and have a digital lock mode on our range.
Several years ago, I came home from work to see the fire department putting out a fire that started on my stove. As I was talking to the fireman my sweet lab stood up a put her paws on the burner knob. Apparently she smelled some crumbs, touched the knob and ignited the cabinets over the stove. The firemen told me that pets start a lot of kitchen fires. In our current house I smelled gas, and discovered our cat was able to nudge the one knob and we had gas seeping, so once again I removed ALL the burner knobs. Late one nightI I heard beeping and discovered the same cat walking on the digital readout panel. Fortunately, I discovered I can lock the keypad. Unless our cat figures out how to “unlock” keypad we are safe.
MOE @11:52 AM "Anonymous T subbing for [me]". I take that as a compliment!
Hola!
I'll read you all later. I have to watch my gr-son now. Finished the puzzle late because I had company earlier. My friend, Kathy, came to pick up the latest book club book, Hello, Beautiful and, of course, we visited for a while. Easy fill.
The WASPS on my eave finally disappeared with no help from me.
As for money counting, we rarely have enough coins to ROLL. It's all bills or checks. Sometimes the bills are so tightly rolled it seems they must have been inside a pocket for a long time. Easter congregants were generous!
Must go do my grandmotherly duty. Later. Thank you, Bill and Terri.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Bill Seeley Thank you for your much-illustrated review of this enjoyable BACK PACK theme puzzle. Way interesting learning moment about the electric JET PACK. Your video was fascinating.
Here is a photo of me with Hillary CLINTON long before she was at the STATE Department.
I had lost that photo for years and only recently found it.
From Yesterday:
Lee, Bill Seeley, Wilbur Charles, AnonT, Jayce Thank you for your comments and kind words regarding my NEUTRINO/ATOM shards/wine glass analogy. And regarding FRAN as a nickname for Francis.
FIW, missing JeH x REMORe (which I thought was a "pilot fish".) Erased net for SUM, and for COT, and persia for RUSSIA (decaf).
Bill, one might think that Simone's tune would help me spel gud. But I wasted the chance by just being grateful that the lyric weren't "I put a restraining order on you." I would explain, but it would be (crossword favorite) TMI. However, any tune that contains "doo doo" in the lyrics is OK by me.
Peace in the Middle East was SHALOM, because "oxymoron" wouldn't fit.
Still don't know how I clobbered my original post, but IIRC was much witter than this one. I know I inadvertently hit some random keys, and I was back to the blog's front page.
I almost believe DAB's staff. He should name them, a la Click and Clack.
You are exactly right. It's very disappointing !
waseeley does today's Arvidson/Hale PZL...
"Het Cingel," eh? Maybe they should have kept "The Belt," as in "Moneybelt"....
Picard: Cool photo of you with Mrs. C. She is one of those rare peeps who look like two different personae between their youthful photos and those shot later on.
Your picture shows her younger self.
~ OMK
___________
DR: Nope, no diags today.
Challenging but fun Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Adam and Katie. And always enjoy your commentary, Bill and Teri, thanks for that too.
I always start by looking for food in a puzzle, since that would work for ordinary people, but except for the lunch of PRAWN and SALAD on the side, I didn't find much else. No, this seemed to be a bit of upper-class territory today, with that TSAR from RUSSIA with a heavy WALLET ruling over WARS in his kingdom, and handing out a ROLL of cash to an OLD PAL and a MIRCROLOAN to a servant. Hope he doesn't come over here and visit WALL STreet, accompanied by THE SON and an INTERN hoping to fill up their BACK PACK. Hope he has trouble getting a ride at a TAXI STAND in TAMPA and takes a TWA ride at the airport to go home again. Nice to have that royal SPELL over with.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Picard:
That is a wonderful photo of you and Hillary! I've always thought she was beautiful. But tell us, please, what was the occasion for it?
BTW, I don't know if I wrote about the book, Hello, Beautiful. It's w wonderful story to which I could relate in many ways since it involves four sisters of Italian ancestry (not Spanish). However, no brothers, though many men were involved since it had a basketball team in the story. In fact, the main character is one of the men and his tragic though ultimately redeeming tale. The author is Ann Napolitano who sounds Italian.
Misty, I thought you would surely have your WALLET ready to pay for the food!
Waseeley, I can't believe nobody challenged you on your ore reference. Bauxite is the primary ore for (Al) aluminum not tin.
Liked the clue for KITSCH. Made me think of schleck, all the good sugary stuff that we all like to eat and is so bad for us.
Never heard of the Dutch name for WALLST.
Lee @3:55 PM Well you finally arrived. Like my old physics teacher Mr Owen (God rest his soul) used to say "I just wanted to see if you were paying attention". I think I must have been wearing my "tin foil hat" when I dreamed that one up. Of course the principal ore for tin is cassiterite, and a valuable mineral for potters, as Tin Oxide (SnO2) is used in ceramic glazes as an opacifier to render them white. And with just a touch of Chrome Oxide (Cr2O3) it makes a beautiful raspberry red. Thanks again Lee!
Hi All!
I shot myself in the foot but good this morning. I had Mis (middle initial) instead of AKA, NET instead of SUM, and LUI for Lucy's name (#untie!).
Thanks Adam & Katie for the puzzle.
Thanks waseeley for a peek at your grid and expo (esp. Jet Pack video).
Fav: I'll go w/ KEANU - DW & I have been watching the John Wick movies the last couple of weeks.
{B+, B+}
Cool snap with Clinton, Picard.
IM - I agree on the fill-in-the-blank fill but I think 'Til Tuesday is fair 'cuz that's the band's name.
LOL "skydiving not for you," Charlie Echo.
Ray-O: I miss phrase / riddle puzzles too.
Yuman - I've heard "The dog ate my homework" but never burned down my house. //Cats will do that just out of spite ;-)
Cheers, -T
When I checked the mail today my new checks were there!!! Finally! Most of you know the saga of my hacked checking account and therefore the need to order new checks. Not that I write many checks these days, mostly to my church and since I had non on Easter I used cash. But there are a few charities that I send checks to so I'll have to catch up on that.
PANERA markets soups to Publix including Lobster BISQUE*. Need bogo for me to buy, though
Slapping an O on EXTACT got me through the 3-way Natick especially that Asian god
LAOS cleared up a mess in the middle. The oreo of Indochina
WARS eg prevention of? Follow the money; Building pyramids accomplishes the same thing
Jacksonville I'm guessing is #2
Had to inkout father/THE SON
* Last Saturday clue
I thought someone would mention the CSO to Misty at RCA
I hereby quote Tante Nique rather than try to use my own words to express my feelings about this puzzle:
"Waseely and IM have analyzed the modern crossword condition to a T IMHO. I totally agree with their comments."
I learn so much from your posts, everyone. Thank you all.
I've expressed it before. Sunday thru Friday are now all moderately easy with no progression, while Saturday (and sometimes Friday) are NYT difficulty that I can only solve with red letters turned on.
FIR again today. How long can I keep this up? Thanks Adam & Katie for an interesting puzzle. The theme was clever.
I slowed down in the middle and ended up circling around to the start before getting the center. Changing POLISHing to POLISHERS, remembering REMORA and seeing PARACHUTE JUMP finally gave me JAH, a total unknown. A ROLL of quarters made more sense to me than my first thought, TOLL, picturing quarters to throw in a toll basket on a toll road. Finally the squares were filled and made sense. Thanks waseeley and Teri for your informative review. Well done!
Interesting about blue ceiling paint on porches to repel WASPS, unclefred, as I heard it's a tradition to paint porch ceilings pale blue here in Atlanta. I learned this right after I had painted ours light green!
A busy day after doing the puzzle this morning. One highlight of the day was playing Rummikub with our daughter after lunch. Hope you all enjoyed your day!
Uncle Fred asks @ 6:35 AM: "Why is “tsar” spelled so many different ways?"
The answer is that, in Russian, 'tsar' is spelled « Царъ ». The first letter of the Russian word is the letter 'ts,' pronounced like the ts in 'it's.' Now remember the Prussians were poking around Eastern Europe a millennium ago, and when they ran into the 'ts' sound, they wrote it down as 'cz.' (I know this makes no sense to us, but cross-alphabetization sometimes is arbitrary.)
So that's where 'czar' comes from. We Anglophones just write it as 'tsar.'
(Another Germanic speed bump: the Slavic letter « щ » is pronounced 'shch,' as in 'freSH CHeese.' Germanified as 'szcz.' The Poles use the German-style alphabet, so we get Polish names with the stunning -- and confusing and unpronounceable -- 'szcz' in the middle.)
IM @ 9:04 -- Just what we need ... an Olympic Hopscotch competition!
Was it here that I learned there used to be an actual WALL along WALL street?
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