Hello Cornerites!
Today's theme: Please wait to be seated.
In recognition of the theme, I have made a TABLE to organize the themed clues.
Clue # | Clue | Answer | “End” word + TABLE |
17 A. | Fleet of government vehicles: | MOTOR POOL | POOL TABLE |
25 A. | Payment method that may have a chip: | CREDIT CARD | CARD TABLE |
40 A. | Media briefing: | PRESS CONFERENCE | CONFERENCE TABLE |
50 A. | Summertime java order: | ICED COFFEE | COFFEE TABLE |
The reveal is at 64 Across. Living-room lamp holders, and what the answers to the starred clues all have?: END TABLES.
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| This END TABLE sits at the END of the couch. |
Simply put, all of the themed clues END in a word which is also a type of TABLE.
Let's TABLE our theme discussion and move on to New Business; that is, the other clues:
Across:
1. Sticky pine product: RESIN. I was curious about the difference between RESIN and what is in a baseball pitcher's RoSIN bag. It turns out that asking Google this question will send you to a lot of marijuana dispensary sites. 🙃 Eventually I learned that RoSIN powder is a combination of RESIN and magnesium carbonate powder that absorbs perspiration and enables pitchers to keep their throwing hands free of sweat.
6. First word of a rhyming cocktail name: MAI. as in MAI Tai
1. Sticky pine product: RESIN. I was curious about the difference between RESIN and what is in a baseball pitcher's RoSIN bag. It turns out that asking Google this question will send you to a lot of marijuana dispensary sites. 🙃 Eventually I learned that RoSIN powder is a combination of RESIN and magnesium carbonate powder that absorbs perspiration and enables pitchers to keep their throwing hands free of sweat.
6. First word of a rhyming cocktail name: MAI. as in MAI Tai
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| Those 2 islands in the background are The Mokes on Oahu's windward side. |
9. Family name in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis": SAMSA. The opening line to this book reads, "As Gregor SAMSA awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."
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| Hahtoolah gave us the comic on the left last week. |
14. Scotch-Brite sponge: OCELO. 
15. Like this clue's number: ODD. Even I knew this one.
16. Change, as text: AMEND.
19. Flustered (by): FAZED. He went through a phase where he was FAZED by all things disconcerting.
20. Red Cross supply: PLASMA. This article talks about 100 years of medical advances regarding blood PLASMA.
21. Philosopher Descartes: RENÉ. This 1 min. 16 sec. video does a fantastic job of explaining one of Descartes' greatest contributions to mathematics.
16. Change, as text: AMEND.
19. Flustered (by): FAZED. He went through a phase where he was FAZED by all things disconcerting.
20. Red Cross supply: PLASMA. This article talks about 100 years of medical advances regarding blood PLASMA.
21. Philosopher Descartes: RENÉ. This 1 min. 16 sec. video does a fantastic job of explaining one of Descartes' greatest contributions to mathematics.
23. Alphabet finale: ZEE. Sorry, CanadianEh!, "ZEd" would have made 4 D's in a row for 13D.
24. Venue: SITE.
28. Pro vote on the House floor: YEA.
29. Blue ink cartridge for a color printer: CYAN.
30. Storm-tracking device: RADAR.
34. "ER" actor Wyle: NOAH. As it turns out, he celebrated his 52nd birthday yesterday. Happy belated birthday, NOAH!
37. Barbed __: WIRE. 
43. Part of a "Scream" costume: MASK. This is the MASK worn by the killer in the movie Scream ... and its 5 sequels.
44. Not in favor of: ANTI.
45. Impeccable: IDEAL.
46. Foot soldier: PEON.
48. Pi follower in the Greek alphabet: RHO.
54. Engrave deeply: ETCH.
58. Neither's partner: NOR. an oldie but a goodie
59. Port or scope prefix: TELE-. It comes to us from a Greek word meaning "far off".
60. Attraction: ALLURE.
62. Dodge: EVADE. This time it's a verb, not a vehicle.
66. Like un enfant: PETIT. Cognates & perps make this one decipherable -- even if you do not speak French.
67. Pitching superstar: ACE.
68. "__ are red ... ": ROSES. Violets are blue. I cannot help but love, this crossword clue.
69. Deuce toppers: TREYS. Does anyone play Pedro? Nothing tops the deuce but it also tops nothing. It makes itself.
70. Fix a hem, say: SEW.
71. Not ignoring the alarm: AWAKE. At first I had AWArE but then I thought of an alarm clock for waking up in the morning.
Down:
1. Frolics: ROMPS. fun word!
24. Venue: SITE.
28. Pro vote on the House floor: YEA.
29. Blue ink cartridge for a color printer: CYAN.
34. "ER" actor Wyle: NOAH. As it turns out, he celebrated his 52nd birthday yesterday. Happy belated birthday, NOAH!
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| NOAH also plays Harry Wilson, a Louisiana lawyer, on the show Leverage: Redemption (available on Amazon and Freevee). |
45. Impeccable: IDEAL.
46. Foot soldier: PEON.
48. Pi follower in the Greek alphabet: RHO.
54. Engrave deeply: ETCH.
58. Neither's partner: NOR. an oldie but a goodie
59. Port or scope prefix: TELE-. It comes to us from a Greek word meaning "far off".
60. Attraction: ALLURE.
62. Dodge: EVADE. This time it's a verb, not a vehicle.
66. Like un enfant: PETIT. Cognates & perps make this one decipherable -- even if you do not speak French.
67. Pitching superstar: ACE.
68. "__ are red ... ": ROSES. Violets are blue. I cannot help but love, this crossword clue.
69. Deuce toppers: TREYS. Does anyone play Pedro? Nothing tops the deuce but it also tops nothing. It makes itself.
70. Fix a hem, say: SEW.
71. Not ignoring the alarm: AWAKE. At first I had AWArE but then I thought of an alarm clock for waking up in the morning.
Down:
1. Frolics: ROMPS. fun word!
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| This is my dog ROMPing in the snow with me. |
2. Bacteria in undercooked meat: E. COLI.
3. Adjusted to, as a thermostat: SET AT.
4. "No medals for me this time": I LOSE.
5. Social standard: NORM.
6. __ shu pork: MOO.
3. Adjusted to, as a thermostat: SET AT.
4. "No medals for me this time": I LOSE.
5. Social standard: NORM.
Cheers -- NORM greeting -- Wait for it....
6. __ shu pork: MOO.
7. Idolize: ADORE.
8. Sat at a light, say: IDLED. States began adopting Right-On-Red rules during the gas crisis of the 1970s to reduce the number of cars IDLing at traffic lights .
9. The "S" of OSHA: SAFETY. Occupational Safety Health Administration
10. Doc's gp.: AMA. "Group" is abbreviated, so it "American Medical Association".
11. Theater seating section: MEZZANINE. Nice fill!
11. Theater seating section: MEZZANINE. Nice fill!
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| A MEZZANINE is an intermediate floor, usually between the ground and 1st floors. In this photo, MEZZANINE seating is between the Orchestra level and the Balcony level. |
12. Disdainful lip curl: SNEER.
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| Fans swooned over Elvis' swivel & his SNEER. |
13. Tacked on: ADDED. This article compares the ADDED fees of nine airlines in 2023.
18. Walk and walk: PACE. and 26 Down. Talked and talked: RAN ON.
At first I was thinking of noun & verb meanings but then I realized the definition of PACE is to walk over & over along the same short route nervously or anxiously. So, when people PACE, they walk and walk and when people talk and talk, they run on...and on...and on....
22. Not mainstream: NICHE.
Merriam-Webster lists 3 pronunciations: nich, neesh, and nish.
(No SNEERing allowed for pronunciations perceived as uncouth!)
27. Sounded like a crow: CAWED. They also rattle.
28. Four-digit DOB nos.: YRS. Date Of Birth = MM/DD/YYYY
30. Tach stat: RPM. Revolutions Per Minute
Generally a good cadence on a bicycle is 80 - 100 RPM. Professional cyclists average 110 - 120 RPM during time trials.
31. Parseghian of Notre Dame football fame: ARA. Since he often visits grids, we should be on a first-name basis.
32. Willing to take extreme measures: DESPERATE. DESPERATE people do DESPERATE things.
33. Queried: ASKED.
35. Ottawa's prov.: ONT. Ontario
36. Blazing: AFIRE.
38. Small-screen pioneer: RCA. Have you seen the movie The Fabelman's (2022)? It is based on Steven Spielberg's life. In the movie (and in real life) his father worked for RCA in the early 1950s.
39. Snaky fish: EEL.
41. Lakeside boat rental: CANOE.
31. Parseghian of Notre Dame football fame: ARA. Since he often visits grids, we should be on a first-name basis.
32. Willing to take extreme measures: DESPERATE. DESPERATE people do DESPERATE things.
33. Queried: ASKED.
35. Ottawa's prov.: ONT. Ontario
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| It is about 567 mi. (912 km.) from Ottawa to D.C. |
36. Blazing: AFIRE.
Afire Love is a 2014 song about Ed Sheeran's grandfather who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
39. Snaky fish: EEL.
41. Lakeside boat rental: CANOE.
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| I took this phot last summer of a red CANOE on Moraine Lake, Alberta, Canada. (2,187 mi.(3,520 km) from Ottawa) |
42. Kia subcompact: RIO.
47. Groups of eight: OCTETS.
49. Miami hoopsters: HEAT. Their logo is a basketball AFIRE.
50. Likely to err: INEPT.
51. __ charge: entry fee: COVER.
47. Groups of eight: OCTETS.
49. Miami hoopsters: HEAT. Their logo is a basketball AFIRE.
51. __ charge: entry fee: COVER.
52. Pests that may prompt a visit to the vet: FLEAS. The migration of America's pets from the backyard to owners' beds can be credited to the new anti-FLEA medications.
53. Yard sticks?: FENCE. I liked this clue!
54. Armrest occupier: ELBOW.
55. Oklahoma's second-largest city: TULSA.
56. Small stream: CREEK. In Virginia, locals called a small stream a "run".
57. "Siddhartha" novelist Hermann: HESSE. This 1922 novel relates a man's spiritual journey of self-discovery during the time of the Gautama Buddha. It was originally written in German.
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| Tim and Wilson on Home Improvement |
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| These rules seem fair. (Click to enlarge.) |
56. Small stream: CREEK. In Virginia, locals called a small stream a "run".
57. "Siddhartha" novelist Hermann: HESSE. This 1922 novel relates a man's spiritual journey of self-discovery during the time of the Gautama Buddha. It was originally written in German.
61. Croft played by Angelina Jolie: LARA.
63. Craft kit letters: DIY. Do It Yourself
65. Morning moisture: DEW. You do not have to DEW It Yourself because Mother Nature will DEW it for you.
63. Craft kit letters: DIY. Do It Yourself
65. Morning moisture: DEW. You do not have to DEW It Yourself because Mother Nature will DEW it for you.
Here's today's grid:
This is the END of my TABLE tale. Have a good day, everyone!
43 comments:
We had our seats in the MEZZANINE,
Up where the screen could be clearly seen.
But in front of me sat
A stovepipe hat,
And in protest I made a scene!
~ ~ ~ John Wilkes Booth
A PRESS CONFERENCE is closed as a rule.
RENE used his press CARD to join the press POOL.
After the show
It was time to go,
But fresh roast from the COFFEE press was cool.
In this puzzle, there were only two words I was unfamiliar with, “Ocelo” and “Samsa.” Other than that, it was smooth sailing, as is usual for a Monday. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Solid. No drama. The unknowns were easily filled by the perps. That's how a Monday should be. Thanx, Susan and sumdaze.
ROSES: Why aren't violets violet? America wants to know.
WIRE: In these here parts it's not "barbed wire," it's bob-wahr.
I must have FIR, because the site took away the pukzle and congratulated me. Cox internet is down this morning, so I had to use Verizon's hotspot feature to play. But because my printer is on my home LAN, I couldn't print the grid without some extra steps. Gotta say today reinforced my pencil and paper bias.
But I liked the puzzle just fine, and Sumdaze's 'splainin' was terrific too. I liked that AMA had its legacy meaning, but wished I could have seen that perps took care of the family name of the bug-man. I knew the plot from watching Mom.
Looks like we are finally breaking out of the cold weather. Today's high will only be 10 degrees below average, and the rest of the week it will be just a little under our 82 degree average for this time of year.
I was reminded today of how much I enjoy Susan's puzzles. Thanks for this interesting but easy enough for Monday offering with perp-friendly proper names. I look forward to your next one.
Thanks sumdaze for your enjoyable review. While filling the puzzle I looked for a connection between the beginning words of the themers but the reveal put an END to that. My favorite picture was the MOO shu pork one.
Hope everyone has a good start to the week!
FIR, despite two throw downs that were hasty; aye for yea and zed for zee. Found the error of my ways and the rest just fell into place. Nice, clever theme. Very enjoyable puzzle.
FLN,
I owe you one Anonymous-T! (Or should I call you "Darling.")
You sent me down a very deep rabbit hole!
That black adder thing was completely unknown to me. So I IMDB'd Rowan Atkinson, and was amazed at all the work he has done!
I had only recently discovered his excellent parody of Dr. who, and now I have a plethora of leads to track down...
Did you know he voiced ZAzu in The Lion King? and here is another little ditty he was involved in!. And what's this Johnny English Spy parody?
Anywho,
I was so excited with this find, that I had to post right away, and the only way I could get here was to go the "The Review" of the puzzle with my eyes closed, (which I am sure will annoy TTP to no end, LOL!) but in my defense, it was only because I have not done the puzzle yet, and did not want to get any hints that might ruin my enjoyment of the puzzle, and my reading of the review afterwards...
:)
Took 5:27 today for me to kick this like a guy playing foosball....
I had the same unknowns as SubG, plus today's novelist ("Hesse").
I'm accustomed to hearing "conference room table," but not "conference table."
Maybe, it's a regional thing.
Maybe, it's a me thing.
Hi All!
The puzzle was either a little crunchy or I still had sleepy in my eyes. But it's OK 'cuz it's Monday.
Thank you Suzan for the start to a new week puzzle. Cute theme and not heavy on celeb names.
Sumdaze, you are giving Hahtoolah a run for her money on LOL comics sprinkled in. Nice expo.
WO: Dyslexic me put in DYI
ESP: SAMSA (oh, yeah - now I remember when DW read that)
Fav: FENCE's clue was cute
MOTOR POOL - when I was bored doing my Weekend Warrior duties, I'd go hang with the guys at the Motor Pool. The music was Jazz and once they let me drive a 5-Ton (and I didn't even have a license!)
//As an Army Lab Tech, there wasn't much training available during the monthly Reserves gathering. We didn't have a centrifuge and it's not like folks wanted to have their blood drawn by a 17yro kid anyway. Drill weekends, I mostly played wounded victim so they could train their field medicine skills.
Jinx - I feel for you losing internet. We used to have Comcast & ATT DSL for work from home but now ATT Fibre is stable (until a backhoe hits the line).
@7:41 - it's a you thing. Conference TABLE is most common.
CED - your daily silly links are payment enough. You owe me nothin'. //wait, Dr Who parody? You owe me a link ;-)
Cheers, -T
This was a little slower Monday for me - mostly because the horizontals on the top third were slower and needed more of the vertical perps to fill out. THe bottom third the horizontals nearly filled the whole puzzle and I came to the blog to see what I'd missed with the verticals!
D-O - must have been poetic license - since my violets are always violet!
Need to dive in to my day!
Thanks SD and Susan!
Did any Cornerites in the DC area hear the sonic boom yesterday? That unresponsive jet that caused the F-16 scramble hullabaloo yesterday reminds me eerily of the flight that killed golfer Payne Stewart. Apparently the cabin carrying Payne lost pressurization, everyone blacked out, and the plane flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel. Likely everyone aboard was dead before the crash.
Today's TV news talking heads breathlessly report that all aboard were killed in the crash, when that's not in evidence. (The network I was watching showed background video of a two-propeller plane, while the Cessna involved was a jet. More sloppy work.) The Cessna probably had the type of autopilot that controls direction but not altitude, and when the plane got to Islip and turned onto final landing approach, without further instructions just continued to fly SSW (over DC) until it ran out of fuel. I'll bet they find that everyone was dead already, probably before it reached NY. At least I hope that's the way it happened.
Jinx - you reminded me I forgot OKL:
{A, B+}
re: sonic booms in DC area. NPR reported it was a Cessna and that NORAD gave sonic permissions to the F16 to track it down. There was no radio response and it went down somewhere in VA. Axios & Reuters seems to back that up.
Cheers, -T
Good Morning:
Other than the unknown (to me) Samsa, this was a perfect Monday level puzzle which would surely draw a newbie into the wonderful world of solving crosswords. Even though Samsa might be an unknown to many, the perps were solid, as were the cluing and the rest of the fill. As always, I’m impressed and pleased when a theme is hidden until the reveal, especially in early week puzzles which are geared to the less experience solver and mustn’t be too obtuse. The lack of obscure pop culture, a cute theme and some clever cluing made this a very enjoyable and satisfying solve.
Thanks, Susan, for starting the week off on such solid and positive footing and thanks, sumdaze, for the cheery and detailed review. The pigs wearing the cow slippers was my favorite comic with the knight requesting a round table a close second. As to The Fabelmans, I just added that to my Netflix queue, along with The Whale and 80 For Brady. Tár is on the way.
Have a great day.
Unusually crunchy Monday. OCELO, a little Kafka…And of course I had eMEND and DAZED. And LOSt/LOSE(Clue implied past tense)
And cashed in, big time, by putting cameras at said lights at $168 a pop for non FULL Stops
Re. "Crunch". My experience was identical to inane-h. I never saw the down clues for SE (fe.)
WC
-T, the network (and local) newsies got that much right. They also (correctly) reported that the F16s deployed flares to try to get the pilot's attention, and that the flares caused some incorrect reports that the F16s fired on the Cessna. So they got THAT goin' for 'em.
Lovely Monday CW. I was a tad slow getting the PLASMA, but I was not FAZED. ZED, zee , where is CanadianEh!?
I knew SAMSA, since I have taught Kafka’s The Metamorphosis many times over the years.
Sumdaze: loved your TABLE. Thanks.
Thank you Susan for a good start to the week. Your puzzle was really TABULAR (square surfer-speak).
And thank you sumdaze for informative, funny review. I'm really conflicted between MOO-SHU pork and NORM's best greeting.
A few favs:
45A IDEAL. Non-sequitur used to be one of my favorite comics until the Sun cancelled it for a cleverly concealed, but truly prophetic piece of steganography. Speaking truth to power can get you in trouble.
32D DESPERATE. A CSO to our D-O?
38D RCA. Did Spielberg's father know Misty's father?
50D INEPT. HUMAN fit but didn't perp.
57D HESSE. Siddhartha's mantra was "I can think, I can fast, and I can wait".
Cheers,
Bill
For a Monday my initial "across" sweep was hit or miss. Then it eased up. The theme reveal coulda been PERIODIC TABLE cuz the word "TABLE" relates periodically to the starred clues
Thought a PEON was a lowly worker not a low ranking soldier. Make sure it's rosin and not RESIN you smear on your violin bow. I did the same as SD, I googled "rosin versus resin" and was bombarded by a slew of articles about Marijuana 😲). The SAMSA clue/answer and thus the cartoon flew right over my head (like a flying insect)
Thought 15A number was supposed to be XV...YEA and ANTI.... ZEE, (but 90 miles north in ONT, it's Zed 🇨🇦)
Inkovers: snarl/SNEER, plod/PACE, alter/AMEND (not emend this time?).
Sneezing crow, must have____ a coldl....CAWED
Insulting telegram: "barbed" _____....WIRE
The tough bird seed proved _____ IMPECCABLE
Mary had to de-bug her little lamb's _____ FLEAS
The fishermen considered attractive are those with ____ ....ALLURE
After 90⁰ weather back down to 60⁰. 🥶
Learning moment #1: rosin vs resin
But what about violin rosin? So I looked it up...
everything you ever wanted to know about rosin...
Learning moment#2 use different softnesses of Rosin for different string thicknesses?
Learning moment #3 no mention of magnesium for baseball pitchers powder, some one needs to update Wiki! It is incomplete!
Learning moment #4 Samsa
Thank you Sumdaze for splainin'. I saw that comic a couple of days ago and had no idea what the heck they were talking about.
Learning moment #5 steganography (there's a word for that?)
We still get non sequitur here in New Jersey. (Florida, not so much. They might outlaw the internet next.)
Anon-T! What was the name of the comic? OCKD or something, where he hides messages in the HTML?
(Also, as requested, Rowan Atkinson Dr. Who parody)
Which surprisingly I could not find in the IMDb record?
Lastly, some odd end tables...
(Odd, as in singular, and also, just plain weird...)
Easy, breezy Monday FIR. I too thought of Zed, but went ahead with Zee. Loved the well-shod porker, Sumdaze! Must take exception with the FOOT SOLDIER clue. PEON? No! Infantry is the QUEEN OF BATTLE! (Artillery is the KING).
Waz..I perused the article...and here I thought steganography was cave art attributed to a Stegosaurus. 😮
Musings
-I chuckled at having both PRESS CONFERENCE and EVADE in the puzzle
-Oh, now I get Hahtoolah’s cartoon.
-Exhibit A for PRESS CONFERENCE evasion (2:47)
-Yesterday’s RADAR showed much-needed rain approaching us from IOWA and then disappearing
-Galileo did not invent the TELESCOPE but he used to show moons circling Jupiter and NOT the Earth. The Pope was not amused.
-Another thing to love about word processors: I double clicked “cognate” and found its meaning
-No medal for me: World record holder Jim Ryun tripped in the 1972 Olympics and couldn’t finish
-A lovely write-up and with a table and a Cartesian Plane video that this math guy really liked, Renee!
Speaking of Florida..the police are randomly stopping people and asking them what the last letter of the alphabet is. If they say zed not ZEE..they are considered illegal Canadian aliens..sent to work picking grapes in Martha's vineyard
😄
As others mentioned, DNK SAMSA, and ROSIN:RESIN needed to wait on ECOLI. Other than that a nice smooth Monday level CW. FIR in reasonable time. Thanx, SG, for the fun start to the week, and thanx too Sumdaze for the nice write-up. I really smiled at moo-“shoe”-pork. Nice to have a smile on Monday morning.
Hola!
Thank you, Susan and sumdaze! It's a good start to the week.
I'm not sure if I've seen MEZZANINE in a puzzle before.
The MASK was an entertaining movie and the world's introduction to Jim Carrey, I believe.
Over the weekend a fire destroyed several boats at Lake Powel in northern Arizona.
"SIDDHARTHA" was on the required reading list in one of my classes.
I haven't seen the news today so all the above is new to me.
ICED COFFEE? No thank you. I'll take mine hot!
MAI TAI? Yes, please.
I hope you are all enjoying a great day!
CED, are those table prices the cost to acquire, or the cost to have someone to haul them away?
C-Echo, isn't air superiority the do-all and be-all of modern warfare? Seemed to be so in Iraq, but Ukraine seems to be doing OK without it.
Greetings, mostly smooth sailing for today’s puzzle. Thanks, Susan. And thanks, sumdaze for another great recap. Yours is always an enjoyable bonus to the puzzle.
Love the MOO shu pork tune, LOL! 🤣
Waited for the perps to see if it would be MOTORcade or POOL.
Thought there might be a trick to alphabet finale: xyz? bet? No, just the straightforward ZEE.
Sometimes OCTads, but today OCTETS. Thanks, perps.
FENCE, nice clue diversion.
DEW: after a winter with no snow, and now no rain in the forecast, So. PA is in need of water. Any bit helps.
DIY: Yesterday I replaced a socket in a lamp…. Well, no biggie to the experienced, but I was proud of my accomplishment when the bulb lit 😊!!!
HESSE: I read “Siddhartha” many years ago but needed the perps to capture the author’s name.
OOPS, should be "toon." I know better, but slow in the edit.
sumdaze Thanks for the illustrated review, complete with a TABLE.
I had to look twice to be sure Patti really was the editor. This was a delightful puzzle, with no crossed obscure names. Did not know OCELO or NOAH, but crosses were easy.
Here we are at the Santa Barbara Mission ROSE Garden.
DW is always slyly pinching plants around town and growing them around our home.
From Yesterday:
AnonT Thank you for the kind words about my COSTA RICA IGUANA photo and others. I am guessing you might have a BLAZING link today.
Learning moment about Ronnie SPECTOR. Founder of the Ronettes and wife of Phil SPECTOR. I had no idea about her. Such a tragic end to his life, after producing so much great music.
I also liked the Moo Shoe Pig. I'm happy you did, too. I'm also happy Tante Nique@9:31 and H-G@10:50 were pleased with my TABLE. That was fun to do.
-T@7:58. Absolutely no contest. Everyone knows Hahtoolah is the Queen of Comics; but, like Uncle Fred @11:02 said, it's nice to have a smile on a Monday morning.
waseeley@10:06. You're right! DESPARATE was a huge CSO to our own D-Otto. I definitely whiffed it. Apologies to D-O and a belated CSO!
CED@10:34. Those are ODD END TABLES for sure! I sort of like the octopus one.
RosE@12:34. I'm impressed with your light fix. Playing with electricity takes confidence!
sumdaze @ 1:02 ~ “but, like Uncle Fred @ 11:02 said, it’s nice to have a smile on a Monday morning.”
I think I’ve mentioned before that ever since the watermelon-fiasco-induced fall, I contact my niece, Laura, every morning to let her know I’m alive and kickin’. I usually send a humorous GIF, sans comments, hoping to start her hectic workday with a smile or chuckle. This morning’s was a cute little Teddy Bear lying on his side, sleepily closing and opening his eyes, with the caption, Happy Monday. The following dialogue ensued:
She: That’s how I feel today.
Me: Oh well, you’ll manage to seize the day, somehow. 🙃
She: I always do, Ag 🤓
Me: How well I know!
At 10:46, I received a text from Laura saying she hadn’t heard from me. I then discovered that I had sent the original text to my niece, Cathy, who also has a hectic job. After assuring Laura I was very much alive, and before I read the blog, I texted Cathy the following:
“Glad you enjoyed the Tired Teddy. Just found out I sent it to you instead of my daily check in with Laura. Oh well, everyone needs a morning smile.” 🤣
The world needs more smiles and smilers! 😘 (And Teddy Bears, too, 🧸)
Tante Nique, I'm sorry my comments last night about the whiteness of toilet paper and the blueness of blue things were so unclear. I'm afraid I expressed my self clumsily. I was referring to the ability to see colors so much more brilliantly after cataract surgery. I had made a joke about having forgotten just how white toilet paper is. I am still enjoying the childlike wonder of seeing the full beauty of the world in full color, and I hope I can hold onto that enjoyment and stave off taking it for granted. I was wishing the same for you. I apologize for not taking enough time last night to make myself clear.
IM - you & Lucina always lighten the day. My love to yous.
Jinx - I think it's now Space to cement outcomes of war.
HG - MASH is always funny [I was in a field medical unit so...]. This might be "too soon" #politics #SNL
Who needs to know? Steganography is how you hide messages w/ in an image. I have a few tools if you need to communicate with [REDACTED].
Sumdaze/RosE - electricity is fun; you know immediately when you've done it wrong. #zapp.
CED - with that link, we're even.
Onto my next meeting.
Cheers, -T
CED @10:34 AM Great clip CED. It's obvious that Mr. Bean must have had some evil assistants from the BEEB in order to generate (and regenerate ...) that parody. 😁
sumdaze@ 1:02, Aw gee, thanks, 't weren’t nothin’…😊, but here’s a secret – YouTube helped!! 😄
Anon-T @ 3:01 I was unplugged during the process – so no danger, only maybe a tripped circuit breaker if it didn’t work. But it worked, so I’m happy!
I liked this puzzle. It took me a few moments to remember the name Gregor SAMSA, and then I remembered the cartoon Hahtoolah had posted. We were required to read Kafka's The Metamorphosis in college, and pretty much the only things I remember from that experience are (1) the story made no sense to me, and (2) the professor's essay question of "What is the meaning/symbolism of the violin music?" also made no sense to me.
Hand up for waiting on perps to determine whether 1-across was ROSIN or RESIN. It also took perps to determine whether 62-across was AVOID, EVADE, or ELUDE, whether 28-across was AYE or YEA, and whether 1-down was PLAYS or ROMPS.
OCELO sounds, to me, like the name of a fast train between two large east coast cities. (Yeah, I know the train is called the ACELA. Just my warped sense of "humor.")
I loved your write-up, sumdaze, and laughed out loud at the pig wearing moo shoes.
Good reading you all.
Jayce@2:23. LOL. Sweet of you to remember my cataract experience. The brilliance of the colors became immediately evident after my first surgery. Since however I’ve not paid attention . So, thank you for reminding me to not take this new, beautiful world for grated.
😎😎
Jayce, Wouldn't The Metamorphosis have been better if turning into a bug had given him superpowers?
-T, That was a classic SNL skit. I love the fact that SNL finds nothing to mock in "The Binder," Karine Jean-Pierre.
Jinx, I guess super-powered bugs didn't exist in Kafka's time. It's an intriguing idea, though. Shazam! I'm a superbug! Not only that, a gigantic superbug!
I see the media still doesn't, or can't, distinguish between "raising" and "suspending."
Jinx and Charlie Echo @ 12:25 It looks like 'air superiority' may have been downgraded. Numerous vignettes from the Ukraine show one trooper firing a shoulder-launched missile -- costing $1000 -- bringing down jet or chopper costing millions. And the drones!
CED - I failed to answer your question... it's xkcd.
//I'm up one ;-)
Jayce - I'm clumsy with my verse too. TTP (and me boss-man) say I'm too dense in prose -- and PhD (English) DW always red-lines my odes to her :-)
Cheers, -T
Michael @8:02. Looks like we're going to have to re-think armored warfare as well, when one trooper with a Javelin launcher or the Rus equivalent can take out a million $ main battle tank!
Jayce, I'm with you on Kafka and Hesse is no picnic either*
-T, ever been to a meeting where the only one who knows what's going on is you and you never get a chance to talk. I had to reconvene the meeting.
Not to mention the smartest guys in the room completely blowing it leaving me to clean up. On a Saturday where I had to drive 40 miles where my buddy was System manager so I had a back door.
Then said buddy restored the wrong file and I had to cover. But since I covered he was a friend for life
Oh, did I mention the snow?
WC
* But Dostoevsky I really liked
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