Theme: "State of Disrepair" - Seven states are scrambled and hidden inside the theme entries.
22. Natural wonder that's roughly 1,100 times bigger than the Grand Canyon?: AMAZON RAINFOREST. Arizona.
33. "Show Me where I went wrong!?" elicitor, maybe?: SERIOUS MISTAKE. Missouri.
52. Hawkeyed writer of "To the Lighthouse"?: VIRGINIA WOOLF. Iowa.
69. Question before making a Pine Tree disappear?: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC. Maine.
93. The NHL's North Stars in 1967, for one?: EXPANSION TEAM. Minnesota. The North Stars left MN in 1993. Now the Dallas Stars.
109. Wolverine's snack dispenser?: VENDING MACHINE. Michigan.
124. Secluded place in Lhasa to think about Treasure?: TIBETAN MONASTERY. Montana.
I
really like this puzzle. Perfect title. Very consistent theme set,
which includes a long Minnesota! The extra state hint in the clue is
probably Patti's idea.
Also so happy with the clue for TERESA (5. Teng known as the "Eternal Queen of Asian Pop"). I know this might stump you, but it made my day.
Across:
11. Broker's charge: FEE.
14. Shadow: TAIL. Verb.
18. Basketball Hall of Famer Leslie: LISA.
19. Spotted cat: OCELOT.
20. Spanakopita cheese: FETA. Also 57. Mild Dutch cheese: EDAM.
21. Jasmine __: RICE. Long-grained. Chinese prefer short-grained.
25. Neighborhood: AREA.
26. __ scheme: PONZI.
27. Afro puff, for one: UPDO.
28. Actor Holbrook: HAL.
29. Post-breakup parties?: SECTS. Nice clue.
31. Front-of-the-rack sizes, often: SMALLS.
37. "__ it first!": I SAW. My sister-in-law Connie and I went to
the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and saw these gorgeous Lady
Slippers, our state flowers.
39. Reservoir creator: DAM.
40. Family member: AUNT.
41. "You __ one job!": HAD.
42. Muscat's land: OMAN.
45. Speech fillers: UHS.
47. Good at repairs: HANDY.
50. "Too bad": A PITY.
56. Scolds harshly: BERATES.
58. Deux halved: UNE.
59. Large chau gong: TAM TAM. Do you all know chau gong?
60. Tartan pattern: PLAID.
62. Title of honor: SIR.
63. Tablelands: MESAS.
65. Body art: INK.
67. Listens to: HEARS.
77. Finish (as): END UP.
78. Pro vote: YEA.
79. "Metropolis: The Chase Suite" artist Janelle: MONAE. And 86. "Thank U, Next" singer Ariana: GRANDE. Also 101. Writer/activist __ B. Wells: IDA. And
102. Actress Fey: TINA. 123. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE. Girl power.
81. Bigelow product: TEA.
83. "August: __ County": OSAGE.
90. Tiny ammo: BBS.
91. Insect marching in a column: ARMY ANT.
96. Draws from a Juul, say: VAPES.
97. Heavy-duty cooler brand: IGLOO.
99. Big name in cheese balls: UTZ.
100. Inactive: IDLE.
104. Place for a mineral scrub: SPA.
107. Stitched: SEWN.
114. California wine valley: SONOMA.
118. Woodland deities: FAUNS.
119. Prefix with tourism: ECO.
120. Broadcasts: AIRS.
122. Some spouses: WIVES. Feels strange to be called "Doug's widow".
128. Italian automaker since 1899: FIAT.
129. Big personalities: EGOS.
130. "Turn it up!": LOUDER. The House of Kiran played Michael Learns to Rock when I was there. I suspect the owner lived in Guangzhou in the late 1990s also.
131. Encourage: URGE.
132. Ish: OR SO.
133. Wages: PAY.
134. Size up: ASSESS.
135. "Don't dele": STET.
Down:
2. Start of a call home, perhaps: HI MOM.
3. Yoga position: ASANA.
4. Truly brilliant: DAZZLING. Boomer loved these Asiatic lilies. So relieved that they're thriving.
5. Unit of measure for elephants or cargo: TON.
6. Neutral shade: ECRU.
7. Harvests: REAPS.
8. Skipped over: ELIDED.
9. Chihuahua neighbor: SONORA.
10. DOJ arm concerned with explosives: ATF.
11. Are blue: FEEL SAD.
12. UFO pilots, probably: ETS.
13. Uses Blue Apron, say: EATS IN.
14. Land parcel: TRACT.
15. Carrier in French Polynesia: AIR TAHITI. Most of the plane images have Air Tahiti Nui when I googled. Must be more popular than Air Tahiti.
16. Olympian Nathan Chen, notably: ICE SKATER. His parents are from China.
17. Grazing ground: LEA.
20. German woman: FRAU.
23. Aromatherapy array: OILS.
24. "Lookee here!": OHO.
30. Counterpart of "ser," in Spanish: ESTAR. Also 35. Spanish "Very good!": MUY BIEN.
32. Steamy spot: SAUNA.
34. "If u ask me": IMHO.
36. Slow Churned brand: EDY'S.
38. Caprice: WHIM.
42. Egg cell: OVUM.
43. Went for the gold?: MINED. Good old clue.
44. Playground retort: ARE SO.
46. Convened: SAT.
48. Swiss peak: ALP.
49. Super Bowl org.: NFL.
51. Complete a Monopoly circuit: PASS GO.
53. "Showtime!": IT'S ON.
54. Cry miserably: WAIL.
55. Luxury hotel chain: OMNI.
61. Pacific tuna: AHI.
64. Lemur with long fingers and ratlike teeth: AYE-AYE. Learning moment for me. His fingers are sure long.
66. Tab, for one: KEY.
68. Shio or shoyu dish: RAMEN. Shio = Salt. And
70. Noodles served in dashi: UDON.
71. Lowering in rank: BUSTING.
72. Clean air agcy.: EPA.
73. Star in Lyra: VEGA.
74. Deserve: EARN.
75. Retired, maybe: IN BED.
76. Group of schemers: CABAL.
80. "Twilight" vampire: ESME.
81. Industry-wide expo: TRADE FAIR.
82. Latin American pastries: EMPANADAS. Never had these.
84. Ultrasound goop: GEL.
85. Outer: Pref.: EXO.
87. Sparky the Sun Devil's sch.: ASU.
88. Minor criticisms: NITS.
89. Naps: DOZES.
91. Tel __, Israel: AVIV.
92. Sean of "Stranger Things": ASTIN.
94. Swanky: POSH.
95. Condition sometimes treated with hearing aids: TINNITUS.
98. Handheld Nintendo system: GAME BOY. Also 121. Mario Kart console, for short: SNES.
103. Arched foot part: INSTEP.
105. Duelers at some bars?: PIANOS. Another nice clue.
106. Ill will: ANIMUS.
108. Amazes: WOWS. Started a second bottle of Robitussin. This cough is something else. Gets violent in the evening.
110. Because of: DUE TO.
111. Scores 100% on: ACES.
112. Foldable bed: COT.
113. Wear with time: ERODE.
115. In the open: OVERT.
116. On-ramp sign: MERGE.
117. So far: AS YET.
123. NorCal hub: SFO.
125. Two-time French Open winner Swiatek: IGA. From Poland.
126. In the style of: ALA.
127. __ Technica: tech news website: ARS.
C.C.
39 comments:
I quickly figured out the jumbled words in the circles were states, but at first couldn’t figure out why the clues were so “convoluted.” Then, it hit me (or, as some here say, “the V-8 can hit.” And I realized the clues were all about state nicknames/mottos. Such as Maine, “the Pine Tree State” or Michigan, “the Wolverine State.” So then the puzzle made sense at a whole different level. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Thanks for the write up! I usually need explanation of the motif so coming here is very helpful. See to that cough, I thought it was just my asthma acting up but it turned out I had pneumonia. First time since I was a kid. Didn't show up in the blood work but luckily I got sent for a lung x-ray and soon I was eating medicine. Cleared right up but hard to get a diagnosis in the middle of 3 bouts of flu there in March.
Good morning!
Figured out that there were scrambled state names, but missed the state hint in the clues. All of the states were obvious to me, except for Minnesota -- just couldn't see it. Thought "Very good" in Spanish could be MUCHO BUENO -- too long. TINNITUS was a gimme, unfortunately. Mis-read the "Sparky" clue -- thought we were looking for the animal, AS_ gave me ASS. That resulted in ST. Z for those cheeseballs, and d-o let it stand. D'oh. Thanx, Dan and Shannon. Enjoyed your expo, C.C. (Take care of that cough!)
Since when is Arizona spelled with 2 N’s and 1 A? I’ve lived on ARIZONA DRIVE for 30 years.
Wrong letters circled.
Yeah. I noticed this right away once I figured out the theme. I even thought the theme would be one wrong letter. But it was fun!!
This was an easy Sunday offering (not tithe) from the constructors until the very end. I never look at the circles but today I had to because I didn't know ARS or the correct spelling of MONASTERY. Thank you IOWA for giving me MONTANA.
45. Speech fillers: UHS. I hate those type of clues, especially when it leads to the 'chau gong' TAM TAM (not tom tom) unknowns with WHIM in between.
MONAE, GRANDE, IDA, TINA, SADE= girl power? You left out LISA, ESME,TERESA and your MOM & AUNT in your 'girl power tribute'.
ESTAR, MUY BIEN, RAMEN, ESME, MONAE, SNES-thank you perps for those unknowns.
No ANIMUS for anything about this puzzle or was it a SERIOUS MISTAKE that had SECTS IN BED on the grid.
Solved the whole puzzle and never did get the scrambled circles. DOH!
FIR, but I found this to be a tad crunchy for a Sunday CW. A lot of proper names, several of them crossing. And circles, why do we need circles in puzzles?
Got the theme half way through and was able to unscramble the states. Only Minnesota gave me a hard time for some reason.
FIR, but erased wine for RICE, ums for UHS, tat for INK, aye for YEA, sega for SNES(?), and cabol for CABAL (UNTIE!) Figured out that the theme fills were anagrams and skipped them, since I don't enjoy solving them for some reason.
Good to see Mark Twain (Dixie Carter's husband) memorialized today.
You had ONE job.
The Lovin' Spoonful were quite the showmen when they asked DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC.
Finally a clue for IGA that Picard will approve! (Us country folks knew the grocery chain.)
Hand up for having TINNITUS. Doc said probably too much very loud music in my ute, to which I responded "HUH?"
Mucho = much, muy = very. I think.
FLN - WC, thanks for the offer of Betsy's tonsorial skills. However, I couldn't find an RV site in Ocala, so the closest I'll get this season will be Wildwood. Amazing that a year isn't enough lead time to reserve a site. (Problem is that I like to spend one month in three locations, and a lot of places don't want to rent for one month.)
-T, I can't even imagine how much trouble I could get into with one of them thar Flipper Zeros. Be a good boy.
Thanks to Dan and Shannon for the fun challenge. And thanks to CC for the review. Never thought about how "Doug's widow" could be so bittersweet. And take care of that cough. (My front yard doesn't get enough sun for asiatic lilies, unfortunately. Beautiful.)
Very clever puzzle. I got the states and then wondered why the strange clues then hit on the wolverine and figured it out. What mental gymnastics. Fun Sunday.
CC’ s lovely lily picture is a treat.
Now what about that ARIZONA with 2 Ns and 1 A? Am I missing something?
Spanakopita and empanada in one puzzle. Delicious.
Oh, Moses. You had ONE job.
Musings
-Leave it to me to solve the puzzle before I saw Treasure as a hint in the cluing for Montana and then the wonderful extra layer in the other clues. Hawkeyed? Loved it!
-Grandson will shadow, and not TAIL, a cardiologist this summer
-PONZI: I have had several “friends” try to get me into pyramid schemes
-Do you say “ant” or “ahnt”? I am in the first category.
-He HAD only one job on April 15, 1865!
-Movie fans will remember FRAU Blücher (cue the frightened horses)
-PASS GO: We played that if you don’t ask for your $200 before the next roll you’re out of luck.
-TAB: Did you ever set them on an old manual typewriter?
-J.D. Salinger’s ESME gets the day off.
-Rearview mirrors should be sufficient for a safe MERGE, but I still glance back quickly
Obviously the one circle is in the wrong position and should be at the third position and not the tenth.
Biggest problem in merging is the "blind spot" so a quick glance is worth taking.
Hi @CC! Thanks so much for the lovely write up. The state hints were actually Dan's idea! I love his puzzles so much :) <3
Hope everyone has a nice day, thanks so much for solving!
Great puzzle today! Nice job of sussing out the two levels in the clues and answers, SubG.
Solving went smoothly. Perps jumped in when needed. Thanks, Dan and Shannon, for the puzzle and C.C. for the wrapup.
Lee, that's why I really appreciate the yellow arrow that appears in my side mirrors when there's a vehicle in my blind spot.
Solved without ever groking the theme. In hindsight, it was pretty obvious with those "convoluted" clues telling me just what a state I was in.
Got the puzzle done at which point I usually ignore the circles, but went ahead and sussed those out as well. Northwest corner was the last to fill and Minnesota was the toughest descramble, for me at least. FIR so I’m happy.
Yesterday was our big Summer Solstice Parade.
Lots to tell, but I will just share this 18 second video of me performing yesterday in the Solstice Parade.
I am impressed with the hidden STATE construction, keeping the scrambled letters contiguous. But I feel I am missing a layer of what the theme literally means. Can someone explain the exact meaning of the theme?
Jinx Thank you for the shout out. Unfortunately, I have less knowledge of sports people than I do of regional stores. IGA took ESP and looked wrong. MONA?/?SME a WAG. FIR.
Seeing SKATER reminded me of this video I took yesterday at Solstice.
These "Brawlin Betties" are probably in a different style than NATHAN CHEN.
From Yesterday:
sumdaze Quite a coincidence indeed about us and PK. I emailed her last Wednesday and I was surprised to see your inquiry the next day! I did not want to reply without her permission. Very happy that she commented herself.
I am grateful to connect to so many interesting people here. PK is one of the most interesting to me. She has done so many different things in her life. Including journalism, which we share. I am in awe that she is still actively farming under challenging conditions.
What a nice puzzle! FIR, with some wite-out (tinnitus? tinnites?) but lots of fun. Perps & WAGs to the rescue! Theme? There was a theme? Was so eager to get to CCs recap I forgot to look for it. D'oh.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Dan & Shannon, for a mind-stretching activity today. I filled it despite a lot of unknowns, but needed C.C. to explain what was in the circles. Duh! Thanks, C.C.
Thank you too all you Cornerites who cheered me yesterday: Irish Miss, TanteNique, AtlGranny, Lucina, Sumdaze, Jayce, YellowRocks, Anon-T, & Wilbur. The corner is more than a mere blog. Thank you also Picard for reaching out to me.
I am a farm landlord now, not really actively farming. I have a good friend who has farmed my land for 25 years and is like a son to me.
Picard: got some good laughs over your solstice videos. Thanks for sharing. That is a better hat than your first one.
Welcome back, PK.
Need to try some Empanadas. Good with milk or coffee.
H-Gary, that WaPo story is behind a pay wall, but I remember reading in Bill O'Rielly's Killing Lincoln that Abe's bodyguard was at a bar drinking when the assassination occurred. (BTW, Bill's Killing series books are devoid of politics and well researched. I highly recommend them.)
Picard - No juggling? Lookin' good anyway.
Delightful Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Dan and Shannon. (And thanks for checking in with us, Norah. And C.C., your weekly commentaries are so helpful, and always a pleasure--thanks for this one too.
Well, this puzzle started on a Sunday morning when one probably still DOZES IN BED, and goes to get a SAUNA in the SPA afterwards. Then it's time to get some lunch, some FETA or some EDAM cheese or even some UTZ balls, along with some RICE, followed by those delicious EMPANADAS, all accompanied by some TEA.
In the early evening it will be time to go to a bar, and listen to a PIANO playing, along with other music, hopefully not loud enough to give you TINNITUS and make you WAIL. But let's hope you END UP feeling like you had a great day.
Have a good one, everybody.
Sunday Lurk Say...
C.C. - I'll echo WEES: Get that cough taken care of, really.
Click-n-Clack says you should never have a blind spot if your mirrors are set correctly. I still glance over / relies on the mirror indicators as well. Plus, my car has a passenger-mirror camera on the right that presents traffic on the monitor in the console - that's nice for when objects in mirror are closer than they appear ;-)
Empanadas are like samosas (Indian fare) but with meet. Think spicy Natchitoches meat pies, Big-E. DW & I get pretty good empanadas at a joint just down the road that we like to frequent (and try the street-corn!).
//sometimes we just order 4 appetizers and cocktails ;-)
Jinx - to paraphrase Mad "What, me worry (about trouble)?" Tomorrow I'm going to see if my cloned Amex works at the Circle-K.
Fun videos, Picard. Nice to see you on the mend, PK (and you're right - this isn't a "normal" blog - thanks C.C.!)
Cheers, -T
I liked this puzzle. Cool gimmick. Most answers sussable. I definitely prefer puzzles that can be solved by reasoning over puzzles that require mere guessing.
Hand up for changing MALI to CHAD, TAT to INK, and UMS to UHS. Also HEEDS to HEARS and AYE to YEA.
By the way, half of deux is UN, not UNE. 1 2 3 in French is UN deux trois. Other than that, and that the circles for ARIZONA are off by one position, the puzzle was pretty doggone pleasurable.
Thanks for the solstice videos, Picard.
Good wishes to you all.
Everyone is welcoming PK back (as i do to, of course) but i haven't seen any notice of another old-timer back yesterday and today who i enjoy, SwenglishMom. HI, MOM!
I slipped out to get diesel for the tractor(mower) and picked up the TBTimes so I'm relatively early today.
I racked my brains and traversed the 50 states and missed CC 's adopted home of MINNESOTA. As a charter member of the J-blog I'm terrible at anagrams. OMK can decipher at a glance
PONZI was an actual grifter(20s?). He may have accidentally discovered the "scheme" as he got over his head. I read about him in the 60s in WSJ methinks
Aha, I get SECTS now. There's a million of them in Fla. Half dozen within 8 miles of my house. How they are funded I'm guessing in my head?
Betsy went to Orlando for Khi(sic) GONG class for a weekend.
WEES: CC, have you seen a Doctor re. That cough. It worries me(Covid?)
I watched IGA defeat Coco Gauff with Betsy. Game,set, Match, Ad in/out, deuce etc should be second nature by the end of Wimbledon
Ah, there's my FIW. I went with UrS and WrIt with TAMTAM UNK. I convinced myself that writ could be part of a "Caprice" to swindle someone
And even Wolverine(State) didn't clue me re. The nicknames
We had a CSO to Anon-T with FIx Again Tony
WC
Hola!
It's so nice to read you all! I'm late because of unusual circumstances. My family attended Mass at our previous parish, St. Daniel the Prophet at 10:30 instead of 11 at St. Theresa; then we went to brunch afterward. My sisters, Juanita and Yolanda are here from out of state, our niece, Carol, also joined us and we had a jolly time at Denny's. I am so stuffed!
While there with the family I learned that plans are afoot to journey to Rocky Point, Mexico next weekend so, of course, I invited myself, too.
Meanwhile, I had finished the puzzle before I left but had not searched for the states.
C.C., thank you for the recap. I understand your feelings about being called a widow. At first, I had to do a double take when referred to that way. Now, of course, I'm used to it.
I could not finish watching "August: OSAGE County". It was too awful.
EMPANADAS. Another beloved food that I can no longer eat.
Picard: I love your colorful photos!
I hope you are all enjoying a good day!
Thanks to Dan and Shannon for their fun Sunday puzzle!
I read the title and guessed the circles would be scrambled states but I missed the "extra state hints" so I was confused by the question marks. Since ARIZONA was first and the circles were off, I thought that was connected to the question marks. I spent quite a bit of time trying to work that out. I finally moved on. Nothing strange with the other states. Hmmm... It's so nice to be able to come to The Corner and read C.C.'s write-up. It all makes sense now. Thank you!!
C.C. WEES about your cough. Take care!
FLN: Wendybird@3:04. IMDb is Internet Movie Database. You can go there to see a list the actors in a movie or TV show -- and much more. I like it for when I am watching a movie and an actor looks familiar but I cannot place where I've seen him before.
Lucina, I think you will enjoy Rocky Point, Mexico. My wife and I enjoyed the town on each of our three times going there. At that time, we had family living there (which is why we went there) but some have died and the rest moved back to Arizona since then. Please try out The Blue Marlin restaurant while you are there.
sumdaze, I often use IMDb for that purpose as well.
heya Sub-Genius, thanks for the observation on the clues (Pine Tree, Wolverine et al). Obviously I’m sub-sub-genius at seeing stuff like that.
Hand up for INK, and I blew a FIR thanks to giving WHIM not a WHIT…
Love empanadas— there’s a great place in West L.A. that sells this delectable Argentina fare.
====> Darren / L.A.
@Jayce - I use IMDb to cliff notes all the movies I should have seen ;-)
Lucina - sounds like a great day (except for the boring Mass parts :-)). Tiny bites and you can still enjoy an empanada... //that's what I do with spicy #gird :-(
WC - I have Alfas & Hondas. Fiat is 'Fix It Again Tony'; Alfa is 'Antony, Let's-A Fix.' //we're dyslexic :-)
Just got off the horn with Pop. His Bullwinkle cactus died; it was >9' tall and >200lbs. He's no idea what happened (his wife said he didn't put it outside "Honey, I'm 72 and can't lift the damn thing).
I have a cutting that's doing well so I need to figure out how to get him a new start.
The cactus all sprang from Gramp's he "appropriated" from AZ in the '70's.
//*shush*, me -- no one needs to know about that.
Cheers, -T
Darren / L.A - we posted at the same time...
LA has great Mexican dishes that (nearly?) rival Houston's. Lucina's SW-mix is something altogether different... It's odd to my pallet but certainly delish.
-T
Lee and Darren, SubG probably appreciates your praise for pointing out the second layer, but C.C. clearly wrote in the review, "The extra state hint in the clue is probably Patti's idea."
So even though it turned out that the state hint in the clue was Dan Schwartz's idea, C.C. pointed it out. SubG echoed it.
Picard, I wouldn't call IGA regional. According to Wikipedia, there are 763 IGA franchise stores in 38 states and they also have franchise locations in 41 countries around the globe. Using their store locator function, I found that there are nearly 50 locations in California.
I first learned of them by grocery shopping at Brookshire Brothers in Salado, Texas. Then I started noticing many more Brookshire locations and many other IGA supermarket stores under other names.
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