google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, May 9, 2023 Hoang-Kim Vu and May Huang

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May 9, 2023

Tuesday, May 9, 2023 Hoang-Kim Vu and May Huang

Working for Peanuts.  The Starting word of each theme answer pertains to one's wages: RATE, PAY and FEE.


18-Across. Review site used by students: RATE MY PROFESSORS.  Yup! There's a website for that.

28-Across. Honor, with "to": PAY TRIBUTE.

49-Across. Alliterative chant from "Jack and the Beanstalk": FEE FI FO FUM.

And the unifier:

64-Across. Entry-level wages, and a hint to the first words of 18-, 28-, and 49-Across: STARTING SALARIES.

Across:
1. NYC nabe with the Museum of Ice Cream: SOHO.  Who knew there was a Museum of Ice Cream in the neighborhood South of Houston?


5. Keith Haring genre: POP  ART.  Keith Haring (né Keith Allan Haring; May 4, 1958 ~ Feb. 16, 1990) was known for his Pop Art that often depicted themes of social activism.  Sadly, he died of complications of AIDS at only 31 years old.  [Name # 1.]


11. First piece moved in chess, often: PAWN.


15. "My turn!": I'M UP.

16. Dealership perk: LOANER.


17. __ vera gel: ALOE.  //  Not to be confused with 42-Across. Lisbon greeting: OLÁ.  Today's Portuguese lesson.


21. First part: INTRO.

22. Après-__: SKI.  Today's French lesson.

23. White House rejections: VETOEs.

24. Bronx-born member of Congress, familiarly: AOC.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (b. Oct. 13, 1989) represents New York's 14th District in the United States House of Representatives.  [Name # 2.]

26. Using Wi-Fi: ON-LINE.

32. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE.


35. Sheltered, at sea: ALEE.  This used to be a crossword staple.

36. German article: DER.  Today's German lesson.  //  And 41-Across.  French article: LES.  

37. Most concise: TERSEST.

40. Tell tales: LIE.

43. EMT skill: CPR.


44. Makeup for lashes: MASCARA.


46. Ride-or-die pal, briefly: BFF.  I wasn't familiar with the phrase "ride-or-die", but the perps gave me the Best Friend Forever.  According to the Slang Dictionary, the phrase means extreme loyalty to someone or some thing.  It does not exactly have a positive connotation.

47. Singer Del Rey: LANA.  Lana Del Rey (née Elizabeth Woolridge Grant; b. June 21, 1985) is known for her melancholic melodies.  [Name # 3.]


48. Opportunity: SHOT.

52. Montana's capital: HELENA.  How Helena got its name.  It's still a mystery.  Maybe Montana will weigh in and give us her take on the State's capital.  [Name adjacent.]


54. Soccer goal part: NET.

55. Calm: SERENE.

58. Neutral possessive pronoun: IT'S.

60. __ cotta: TERRA.  Today's Latin lesson.  The term means Baked Earth.  I saw the Terra Cotta Warriors when I was in Xi'an, C.C.'s home town.


67. Appellation: NAME.

68. Sign after Taurus: GEMINI.  Gemini and Taurus = a love match.


69. Colorful eye part: IRIS.  Everything you wanted to know about the Iris but didn't know to ask.

Iris are also colorful flowers

70. Avoided a tag, perhaps: SLID.  Think baseball.  It looks painful.


71. Like some fancy bathroom floors: HEATED.  My bathroom floors are not so fancy.  We did, however, experience some very fancy heated toilets while in Vietnam.

72. "__ No Sunshine": Bill Withers hit: AIN'T.  Bill Withers (né William Harrison Withers, Jr.; July 4, 1938 ~ Mar. 30, 2020) was working as an aircraft assembler when this song was released in 1971.   [Name # 4.]



Down:
1. Apple's virtual assistant: SIRI.  If you ask Siri personal questions and you will get some funny answers.  [Name # 5.]


2. Mideast sultanate: OMAN.



3. Sluglike species of "Star Wars": HUTT.  The most famous Hutt is probably Jabba.


4. Run: OPERATE.  As in operating some sort of machine, and not running a marathon.


5. Kleenex layer: PLY.


6. "My bad!": OOPS!

7. Sport that turns everyday objects into an obstacle course: PARKOUR.  You learn something new with every crossword puzzle.  The word parkour is derived from the French term (more of today's French lesson) parcours du combattant, which roughly translates to obstacle course.



8. Bless using oil: ANOINT.  Charles III, King of Great Britain (b. Nov. 14, 1948) was anointed at his coronation ceremony last Saturday.

9. Whistle blower?: REF.  Cute clue.


10. Rome's __ Fountain: TREVI.  The Trevi Fountain was constructed in the 1700s.  Construction began in 1732 and it was completed in 1762.  


11. Muted shades: PASTELS.


12. __ gobi: vegetarian curry dish: ALOO.  Another learning experience.  Aloo Gobi is a vegetarian dish made with potatoes and cauliflower.   It looks good.


13. Was dressed in: WORE.

14. Loch in tabloid photos: NESS.  The modern legend of the Loch Ness monster dates back just 90 years.


19. Tie up at the dock: MOOR.

20. Madame's Spanish counterpart: SEÑORA.  Today's Spanish lesson.  Hi, Lucina!

25. Angry Orchard beverage: CIDER.


27. Acquit: LET OFF.

28. Tropical tree: PALM.

29. Pseudonym: ALIAS.


30. "Unbelievable!": YEESH!

31. "Take care on the way home!": BE SAFE!



33. Late-afternoon coffee choice: DECAF.

34. Broadcaster of some NCAA games: ESPNU.  ESPNU is the sister company of ESPN that covers college sports.


38. Pixieish: ELFIN.

39. Shuttle on rails: TRAM.  Also known as streetcars.


41. Not yet visible: LATENT.

45. Held together: COHERED.

46. Scrams: BEATS IT.


47. Game of chance also known as "Mexican bingo": LOTERIA.  Another learning experience

50. Mystery: ENIGMA.  Alan Turing (né Alan Mathison Turing; June 23, 1912 ~ June 7, 1954) cracked the Enigma Code.  The Enigma machine was an encryption machine the Germans used during WWII to transmit coded messages.  Turing and other researchers at Bletchley Park found some weakness in the code and were able to decrypt it.  It's a fascinating history.



51. Greek cheese: FETA.  Feta is a soft, crumbly Greek cheese made from sheep or goat milk that is brined in salt.


53. "Psycho" actress Janet: LEIGH.  Janet Leigh (née Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 ~ Oct. 3, 2004) is the mother of actress Jamie Lee Curtis (b. Nov. 22, 1958).  The shooting of the shower scene in Psycho gave Janet nightmares for years after.  It creeps me out, too.  [Name # 6.]


55. Taxpayer IDs: SSNs.  As in Social Security Numbers.

56. List-shortening abbr.: ET AL.  A crossword staple.

57. Actor Malek: RAMI.  Rami Said Malek (b. May 12, 1981) made a convincing Freddie Mercury in the 2018 movie Bohemian Rhapsody.  [Name # 7.]


59. Levelheaded: SANE.

61. 2023 Super Bowl performer, to fans: RI-RI.  Ri-Ri is the nickname of Rihanna (née Robin Rihanna Fenty; b. Feb. 20, 1988).  She likes a lot of exposure.[Name # 8.]




62. Bridle part: REIN.



63. Admin. aide: ASST.  As in an assistant.

65. Formerly called: NÉE.  More of today's French lesson.  Technically, the word comes from the French which means born.  The word née, the feminine past participle of naitre, "to be born." The masculine form is né.

66. Pot top: LID.



Here's the Grid:



חתולה




55 comments:

OwenKL said...

OOPS is a word one cannot endure
When running thru a course of PARKOUR!
If you SLID by a tap,
But flipped right on back,
You can fake it to make it look demure.

I am a GEMINI, Gemini's my sign. ♊
Sign of the twins, both at a time.
Castor and Pollux,
Tho astrology is bollocks,
Still can make for a good pick-up line!

Subgenius said...

I thought this was a pretty typical Tuesday puzzle. My favorite fill? What the giant says in “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Despite the many names, d-o was able to navigate the maze without Wite-Out...and without noticing the theme. (Did you notice that the current Jeopardy! champ is a nationally rated crossword speedster? Thirteenth, methinks.) Enjoyed the outing, Vu and May (did I get that right?), and all your visuals, Hahtoolah.

SIRI: I use it in the car to call M-o-W clients who don't answer the door, and clients who need advance warning of a delivery.

LID: That photo looks like an expensive All-Clad Lid.

TREVI: Just who would undertake construction of a 30-year water feature? And who would commission it?

Anonymous said...

Took 5:18 for me to earn my paycheck today.

I knew today's actress (Leigh) & her movie.

I didn't know aloo - good thing I never saw the clue or answer until reading the fun review. I also didn't know the Mexican bingo or the pop artist. Otherwise, seemed like a usual Tuesday puzzle.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased emir for OMAN and trivi for TREVI (actually, I just added three pencil strokes to turn "I" to "E".)

Wanted "carjacker" for ride-or-die pal, but it wouldn't fit. And I wondered who would admit to having one as a friend?

This one wasn't bad enough to land Vu and May on my "don't bother" list, but it did make me look at it. I keep the list on my phone.

Aside to Ha2la: IT'S means "it is." Something belonging to IT is ITS. Took me years to get that one straight. Punctuation is as hard as speling for me.

Speaking of Ha2la, thanks for yet another colorful, funny and informative review.

KS said...

FIR. But parkour and RI RI were complete unknowns to me. Otherwise, fairly easy Tuesday puzzle.

inanehiker said...

This puzzle moved right along - filling the horizontal made the verticals often pre-filled before I got to the clue.

A few gimmes - my one son likes to do PARKOUR and our daughter's name is Marie but her nickname as a little was RIRI by the other littles.
A friend who is a professor dislikes the RATE MY PROFESSOR site because students often rate them down if they have them read anything that is more than a few pages long or don't grade inflate which affects their approval for promotion, tenure, etc.

AOC has become the YSL of the political world replacing AES and RFK.

Thanks Susan for the entertaining blog and the constructors for a fun puzzle

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Crossword friends. There were a lot of new pop-culture references in this puzzle. But, the perps helped in getting these new words and terms. Not that I will necessarily remember them in the future, but ...

QOD: Life is rather like a tin of sardines ~ we’re all of us looking for the key. ~ Alan Bennett (b. May 9, 1934), British actor and playwright

unclefred said...

Cruised right along to FIR in a bit longer than usual Tuesday time. DER/DAS/DIE had to wait for one perp. Only W/O ELFEN:ELFIN. Nice fun CW, good clues, thanx H-KV&MH. As always, a great write-up, thanx, Hahtoolah. You quote a “Life is like….” Here’s mine: Life is like a roll of toilet paper: the further along it gets, the faster it disappears. (There are other reasons life is like a roll of toilet paper, too; I’ll let you use your imagination).

ATLGranny said...


Our constructors, Vu and May, are back again with a nice Tuesday puzzle this time, a FIR for me. Thanks! As I circled around the puzzle, the reveal helped me complete the themers. My slowdown was putting "I'm on" instead of I'M UP so I didn't see HUTT and OPERATE right away. Eventually I did work it out.

Thanks, Hahtoolah, for a rich review full of information and amusements. You never disappoint us! I am familiar with PARKOUR, though I needed the perps to spell it today. I've seen them in parks, but not in use. Do people prefer going to a gym instead?

Hope you all are doing well!

desper-otto said...

Hahtoolah, Alan Bennett went even further in the "Take A Pew" skit: Some think they’ve found that key, don’t they? They roll back the lid of the sardine tin of life, they reveal the sardines, the riches of life, therein, and they get them out, they enjoy them. But, you know, there’s always a little piece in the corner you can’t get out. I wonder, is there a little piece in the corner of your life? I know there is in mine.

Monkey said...

Mostly Tuesday fare. I had a few snags with proper names like LANA and RIRI, but perps helped. I’m proud to say I didn’t let this strange word nabe catch me unawares this time. I remembered seeing it in a previous CW.

I got the theme quickly since I started at the bottom of the grid.

For a long time I had gEESH, but finally knew that little “y” had to be there.

I. confess, I’m a GEMINI.

Hahtoolah, I really chuckled at the dog and sheep joke.

Wilbur Charles said...

Catching up from long trip. Never got the following posted. FIR on Sunday but finished late Monday thus...

Re. Sunday; "Cold open?: OH IT'S YOU". My Cheers bits began with that phrase. I don't know what they mean
Among the NYSE indices there's a Dow Jones index

Re. "AMUSE ME": Isn't there a tale of a King who offered a fortune to anyone who could make him laugh. And death if not

OK, you asked:

Three rings for the Elven Kings under the sky
Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their halls of stone
Nine for mortal men doomed to die
In MORDOR where the shadows lie

One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
(From memory

Anon-T, thanks for the Rivendell link. I shuddered when I saw Rush. But it was great

CED, Who did Eowyn marry?

Also, check out Pearls before Swine
How many can you name?

WC

RosE said...

Good Morning! Clever puzzle, Vu & May, but.....
Encountered several unknowns, 2 Naticks and a few WAGs. I’ll leave it at that, so my take is YEESH! 😒
Thanks, Hah2lah, loved the Border Collie toon.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Easier than Monday, no inkovers.

Synonyms for SALARY "start" the theme clue answers: PAY (ok), RATE (kynda), FEE? (not really)

TERRA cotta is Italian not Latin (Terra cocta) Almost put eNeRO ("First part" of the year in Sp) for INTRO. YEESH?!! Aw c'mon, sheesh!!

Didn't get "angry" orchard beverage , it's a brand!! Not a very appealing name or logo . Looks like one of the trees that throw their apples at Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Ye Olde Shoppe: (google) Originally, the English word "ye" was spelled "þe." The symbol þ represents the letter thorn, a letter which no longer exists in English. It had a sound somewhat similar to the Greek letter θ, which is to say a th- sound. The word "þe" is an early spelling of "the."

If the beanstalk giant had started with "Fay" he would have uttered all the vowels in order (altbough left out..."and sometimes "FY")

Bothered and upset....ANOINT
Portraits of fathers....POPART
How Gram dried clothes....ONLINE
Where the hive's valuables are kept...BESAFE
"Granny Smith" and "Macintosh"...APPELATIONS

Classically funny toons H2LH. The "border collie/sheep" and the simple "Bridle" mag my favs

Have a nice day from this Taurean 🐂

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a typical Tuesday romp but with some entries that needed perps: Hutt, Prokour, Aloo, and Loteria. I didn’t see the theme (really wasn’t looking for it) until the reveal explained it. My only w/o was Une before Les.

Thanks, Vu and May, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the interesting commentary and always delightful comics, today’s favorites being: SheepPR, Bridle Magazine, and the closing Sheep/Dog repartee!

I watched A Man Called Otto last night and was left with mixed emotions. Somehow, as versatile and talented an actor as Tom Hank is, I just found some of his scenes/dialogue overwrought. I read the book, A Man Called Ove and saw the Swedish film adaptation, but I don’t recall all of the nuances to make a comparison between the two films. Surprisingly, to me, the younger Otto is played by Tom Hanks son, Truman, who did a fine job.

Have a great day.

desper-otto said...

Wilbur, I think I found 'em all -- 18 + the bonus. But one of 'em is a stretch, you know.

CrossEyedDave said...

Sarting Salary...

Wilbur Charles,
Wow! You almost had me!
I had to dig up Faramir from the depths to remember who married Eowyn...
(I therefore concede the trivia contest to you for even thinking up the question...)

Hmm,
Makes me wonder now, who did Sam marry? (I can't remember her name...)
And what is Tom Bombadil anyway, and why was he deleted from the LOTR movie version?

And why didn't they just have the Eagles air drop Frodo onto Mount Doom? It would have saved three books worth of arduous trekking! (Hmm, just answered my own question. Wouldn't have worked without Sméagol.)

Malodorous Manatee said...

Sheep P R and Herd Me . . . it's nice to have a smile to start a busy day. Thanks, Cat.

waseeley said...

FLN

Thanks Katie for a very timely puzzle and thanks sumdaze for your review. It was a real GEM!

And thanks Vu and Huang for today's fun Tuesday. However it was just slightly above my PAY grade. My undoing was 15A, which I initially filled as IM ON. When I got to 3 down I mentally filled HUTT, but failed to do so IRL. And thanks for the fun Hahtoolah!

As we're going to OHIO this weekend to attend my oldest granddaughter's graduation from Franciscan University in Stuebenville, I'm trying to get the 5/18 puzzle wrapped up so I'll keep this brief [hold your applause please].

So just one fav:

47A LANA. Perhaps more famous than Ms. Del Rey was actress LANA Turner. We saw her recently in the 1947 film Green Dophin Street, also starring Donna Reed and Van Heflin. They don't make films like this anymore.

Cheers,
Bill

Charlie Echo said...

Needed to engage fewer brain cells than yesterday to get the FIR. Only unknowns were HARING, RIRI, ALOO, and PARKOUR, and they perped nicely. (No Naticks!) Fun review, Hatoolah! I liked the collie/sheep 'too. And now, back to watching the Westminster show.

Parsan said...

Harder than a usual Tuesday for me, not knowing LOTERIA or PARKOUR, guessing DER correctly. Watch lots of football on ESPNU. Never heard anyone say YEESH.

Making a wish after throwing a coin in the TREVI fountain didn’t work. The ice cream museum in SOHO reminded me of the wonderful ice cream (gelato Italian style) in Gelatist TEVELI in Piazza di TEVELI a stone throw from the fountain.

Because of the 30 year secrecy rule, the women of Bletchley Park (75% of code-breakers) were unable to tell family and friends of their work in interpreting German messages with the ENIGMA machine, which was said to shorten the war by 2 years. The British government final recognized their contributions in 2009 long after some had died. A wonderful fictional series about some of the women was “The Bletchley Circle” seen on PBS.

V and H a very enjoyable puzzle.

Hahtoolah - I am so envious of your visit to the TERRA Cotta Warriors. A bucket list that will never be achieved.

Forrest Gump said Life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get”.

Hahtoolah said...

Ray: I agree that the STARTING words are not really synonymous with Salary, but you work with what you have.

Parsan: Just this morning I checked out a library book entitled The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: The Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park, by Simon McKay. I'll have to look for The Bletchley Circle.

Wendybird said...

Fairly demoralizing to FIW on Tuesday. The natick of LOTERIA and LANA got me, and I picked the wrong consonant to start them. Otherwise, a smooth and fun outing.

Waseely - 3 of our children graduated from Franciscan Univ., one granddaughter as well, and one granddaughter is finishing her fresman year. We’ve been there several times - a great school!

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thank you, Susan. I'll start with its/it's which are easily mistaken. ITS is the possessive and IT'S means it is.

I enjoyed this easy puzzle from our two constructors.

In the only Star Wars movie I've seen in a theater, Jabba the HUTT loomed large!

It's odd how MOOR can mean a meadow-like area and also a person of African descent.

I'll take a CSO at SENORA.

Though our tour bus circled completely around the LOCH in Scotland we never did see the LOCH NESS monster. Hmmmm. Makes me wonder.

I recall driving towards HELENA, Montana and the big sign above read Capitol instead of capital.

I would have to RATE all but one of my PROFESSORS A+. She frequently digressed and was disrespectful toward the early Mexican settlers of our country. I wish I could have rated her then. OTOH, my best prof had to move us into the auditorium because his class was so popular.

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful spring time as we are here in Arizona.










Jinx in Norfolk said...

CED, the Eagles couldn't deliver Frodo because they were in the Hotel California. Turns out, they could never leave.

Doesn't one of the animals in the comic strip Mutts say say YEESH a lot?

Misty said...

Neat Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Hoang-Kim and May. And your pictures and images in your commentaries are always a delight, Hahtoolah, thanks for those too.

Seeing RATE MY PROFESSOR made me happy that I'm retired and don't have to worry about my students rating me anymore. But it was always nice to find some students willing to PAY you a TRIBUTE for your work. It's also good to have worries about STARTING SALARIES long behind us. Yes, retirement can sure help to make us more SERENE.

Have a great day, everybody.

TTP said...

Thank you, Hoang and Huang and Hahtoolah.

A very early morning solve during a restless spell. No distractions and no problems. I spent more time on the review than on the puzzle.

Hand up for GEMINI.

Inanehiker, a professor friend also wasn't keen about RATE MY PROFESSOR. She had mostly good comments, but some took the opportunity to make jokes about her last name relative to her teaching style.

Waseeley, I hope that you are able to take a half day or more to visit East Liverpool. It's the home of the Potters (HS team name). Yes, Steubenville had their potters too, but at one time East Liverpool was the largest in the country. Read the Wikipedia on it. Try to go on a Friday if you can. You also might be interested in seeing the Museum of Ceramics. East Liverpool is just 30-40 minutes north of Steubenville on Rt 7. It's a nice scenic drive along the west side of the Ohio River.

Lucina said...

Seagrove, North Carolina is a pottery town where almost all the residents are potters. I bought a nice bowl there as a souvenir. I have always enjoyed my visits to North Carolina as there is always something or somewhere interesting to explore especially up in the mountains where all kinds of crafts can be found.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

I shot myself in the foot a couple of times but eek'd out a FIR. Thanks Vu & May for the fun puzzle.

Thanks for the entertaining expo, Hahtoolah. I really enjoyed the Parkour video - I watch many a few years ago and know I'd break my neck if I tried.

WOs: far out -> LATENT, biling [sic] -> HELENA
ESPs: LANA, RI-RI
Fav: TREVI fountain. When we went to Italy in '19, DW made sure I saw it.
//D-O: It's built atop an old aqueduct. The Church paid for it. Brief history.
Parsan - I had gelato from that same shop! //not smoking, I was a sucker for pretty much every gelato & espresso spot.

{A, B+}

RATE MY PROFESSOR used to have a "hotness" scale - DW had 4/5 chili-peppers. She currently has a 4.3/5 quality of teaching, 3.7/5 level of difficulty, and 100% would take again.
Inanehiker - I don't think DW's college uses RATE for anything. It's mostly for students looking for an Easy A professor. DW's not one of those but the students who actually showed up for class said they learned so much more than what's in the text.

TTP: DW worked with an aptronym prof - Dr. Gottschalk.

So do I say I served at Ft. Cavazos during Desert Shield / Desert Storm or, because it was Ft. Hood then, I say what it was called? I don't mind them changing the name, I'm just confused how to use it IRL.

Pop always said to me: "Life is full of disappointments - this is just a small one" ;-)
//as will be tomorrow's expo compared to how amazingly we started the week.

Cheers, -T

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Hoang-Kim and May.
I got the SALARIES theme, but FIWed. No, not the PARKOUR RIRI cited by many of you. I had I’M ON instead of UP, and could not parse Onerate into any logical version of Run. And I was not concentrating on Hott to correct to HUTT. YEESH (isn’t it Jayce who says SHEESH.)

We were treated to a variety of languages and locales today: DER, LES, TERRA, SENORA, and SOHO, Loch NESS, Greek FETA cheese, HELENA, OMAN, Rome’s TREVI fountain.

We have had ALOO here before (Nov. 3/22, Feb. 9/23 (Aloo Matar in clue for PEA), Mar. 6/23)

Wishing you all a great day.

sumdaze said...

Thanks Hoang-Kim and May for your fun puzzle. I had a FIR without paying much attention to a theme.
I lived in a city apartment when I first got my dog so I taught her "puppy PARKOUR" tricks to keep her brain and body active. The tricks were simple like walking along a narrow wall, leaping over a low fence, or weaving through bike racks. She is older now but she sometimes gets her own ideas for trick opportunities. For example, she will jump from one big rock to another then look at me, waiting for a treat.
WC@9:49. HELENA made me think of Sunday's PBS comic, too.
IM@10:08. I also loved AMCO and saw the original movie. I was looking forward to seeing the new version. Bummer to hear they messed with a good thing.
Thank you for your fun tour, Hahtoolah! I especially enjoyed the PARKOUR video, TREVI link, RAMI side-by-side video, and Border Collie comic.

CanadianEh! said...

I will beat HuskerG to some background on the constructors.
Hoang-Kim Vu, according to Linkedin profile is “a global health and international development professional with twelve years’ experience in directing complex global public health programs, with specific expertise in malaria and behavior change communication.” He speaks Spanish and Vietnamese.
Vu

He seems to go by Kim on this crossword site.
Kim

May Huang started making May’s Minis CWs during the early Covid days. She and partner, Kevin Trickey have created “a free-to-use crossword construction tool, Crossworthy Construct.”
Huang
Her Blogger profile says “I’m May, a writer and translator based in Chicago and Hong Kong. I graduated from the University of Chicago with Honors in English and Comparative Literature.”

desper-otto said...

Dash-T, since there was no Ft. Cavazos when you were there, I think you would be correct saying you served at the former Ft. Hood.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Hahtoolah brings us this Vu/Huang PZL.

A good, solid Tuesday XWD. Just enough of a challenge to bite into the week, but easy enough to remain pleasant throughout.

But it is another day w/o diagonals. The lack of same was easy to spot, as it falls under the 8x8 rule.

SHOT. The slang word for "Opportunity," firmly rooted in my mind by the song "My Shot" from Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton:
"Hey yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot..."
~ OMK

Irish Miss said...

sumdaze @ 1:47 ~ My comment wasn’t meant to disparage the movie itself, it was just my own personal (subjective) reaction to Tom Hank’s portrayal of Otto. I think it’s because it was such an out-of-character role for Hanks that colored my opinion. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and it has more than its share of comical moments to offset any discordance. I hope you’ll see it and enjoy it. 😉

sumdaze said...

IM@2:34. The book reminded us that we can develop wonderful relationships with our fellow humans if we set aside our prejudices and grudges. If the movie does that, I'll like it!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

WC @n9:47 I remember a story about a princess who never smiled. Her father the king offered anyone who could make her laugh to marry her (is that the kynda death you mean? 😄)

Terra Cotta soldiers
My wife's older sister travels the world and let's everyone know it. During a Disney trip I took pictures of the replica Terra Cotta soldiers and other artifacts at the Epcot China exhibit and sent them to her saying DW and I had taken taken a last minute Syracuse Beijing direct flight figuring she'd get the joke. Nope she bought it until her DH pointed out that kind of flight was near impossible. She called me a snake..😆 or maybe it was more specific what sounded like an ASp.

Wilbur Charles said...

Boston had a streetcar which connected to overhead wires for propulsion

YEESH, A semi CSO to Jayce, eh? C-eh thought so, too

Since the Nazis were actively scouting Pearl Harbor there must have been enigma transmissions prior to 12/7/41
Thus…
Agreed, it was the music in the background re. Psycho

"Pickleball injuries are mounting — but you can’t keep a determined player down" That popped up on my screen

CED: By what name did Gandalf refer to the Balrog?

As in "Begone foul ?

WC

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-WiFi at the school where I sub blocks certain sites like FaceBook and so I have to use LTE.
-A HEATED drive way would be nice to have
-I’d rather have this surface heated
-My golf partner was stunned when I asked, “SIRI, who wrote A Lantern In Her Hand? BTW, it as Bess Streeter Aldrich.
-I threw the coin into TREVI as per custom but doubt I will return
-The Shower Scene: The doc's title refers to the total number of camera setups (78) and cuts (52) in the scene, which itself lasts a mere 45 seconds. It took a whole week to film (a third of the film's shooting schedule), and it was, as the new film shows, something of an obsession for Hitchcock, the master of suspense.

Irish Miss said...

sumdaze @ 2:47 ~ On that note, you will not be disappointed, I assure you!

Ray O @ 3:02 ~ Methinks said sister-in-law lacks a sense of humor! 🤣

CrossEyedDave said...

Wilbur Charles@3:14,

Hey, I conceded already...!

I would have guessed "Durins Bane,"
But apparently, on the the bridge, the reference is "flame of Udun"...

(Again, Silmarilian stuff that is just too deep for me...)

Sheesh!

Anonymous T said...

D-O: "former" - that's the qualifier I need. Thx.

IM & Sumdaze - I've read Ove but have yet to watch the movie. The book was so wonderful, I purchased Backman's other books. I'm not quite through any of the others yet 'cuz I get distracted with new shiny things.
Anyone read Steve Martin's Number One Walking? Pop got it for me at Christmas; I'm 90% done through it.

Cheers, -T

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIW; LANA/LOTERIA fouled me up; I also had RAVI/NAVE before I corrected it to RAMI/NAME

WC - I could find only 16 of the original 18 state capitals; got the 19th, though

Another 16x15 grid to accommodate the reveal; I didn't quite get the RATE/PAY/FEE = Starting Salary - could there have been another reveal phrase that would better connect the three entry words?

Of the three entries, "PAY" seems to be the only one to have "earnings" listed as a synonym

RATE = How much, perhaps? As in $10k per month?

FEE, though ... when I think of a FEE (relating to salary) it usually applies to what a company pays a recruiting specialist (aka, headhunter) or a consultant (1099 employee); not a salary

There were a lot of interesting words used in the puzzle ... thanks to the constructors, and also to Susan for adding a bit of levity and explanation to the puzzle

Chairman Moe said...

Speaking of books and movies ...

Recently read "Squeeze Me" (by Carl Hiassen) - I'm sure of few of our Florida-based Cornerites are familiar with his work. Quite the read!

Recent movies that were worth watching include: "A Few Good Men" (1992), which believe it or not I had never watched, despite the iconic 'You can't handle the truth!' line; "Robin Hood - Men in Tights"; and "The Whale" (can see why Brandon Fraser won the Oscar for his acting role)

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. Didn't know RIRI and even after it filled from all four perps I still didn't know who it was. Sheesh. Thanks for explaining, Hahtoolah.

Good to read you all.

Lucina said...

Remember Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump? Otto is somewhat similar in personality, IMO.

waseeley said...

TTP @12:36 Thanx for reminding me of the East Liverpool museum. My sister, who is the family genealogist, made me aware of it a few years back. I don't recall whether she discovered if they were distant relatives of my ancestors from Fenton-on-Trent in the UK or not, but whatever, I will definitely look it up and see if we can make a side trip.

Brian said...

Lucina @ 12:10pm, that highway sign near Helena may have been referring to the capitol building rather than the city. I remember from grade school, I was taught that the capitol building has an "o" in it like "Dome".

CrossEyedDave said...

I SWEAR TO GOD!

When I asked about The Eagles flying Frodo to Mordor earlier, it was something that occurred to me on the spot.

So imagine my surprise, when just now, in my youtube recommended viewing list, the following appeared:

WC, did you have something to do with this?

Michael said...

CED -- Wasn't Sam's wife named Rose?

Malodorous Manatee said...

Ch. Moe, IIRC Hiassen wrote the last chapter of Naked Came The Manatee

Wilbur Charles said...

Oops, I thought "Begone foul dwimmerlaik" But that's what Eowyn called the nazgul.

Ced, you were right: Here's Gandalf's words
"You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, 'flame of Udûn'. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."

WC

Ps, Google listens and watches everything

Anonymous T said...

None Shall Pass [Python].

Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

Brian, of course that occurred to me but the sign is a gigantic banner situated over the highway as we entered the city. A sign labeling the CAPITOL it seems to me would have been closer to the building itself. It's been a few years since that trip so I have no idea if it's still there or if it has been corrected.