Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with today's recap. I hope that everyone had a great (extended) Independence Day holiday.
Our puzzle setter is Hanh Nuynh for whom I see references on the Crossword Fiend site but not on the LAT site so, once again, this may be an LAT debut.
Today's puzzle theme consists of four entries and a reveal. Within those entries, our constructor has inserted the letters AD into other words to create appropriate answers to the somewhat (of necessity) strained clues.
The reveal sums things up pretty clearly so let's start with that:
59 Across: Words on an empty billboard, and a hint to how the answers to the starred clues were formed: YOUR AD HERE. We've all seen this many times IRL, if not in our puzzles.
The four places (with the clues marked by asterisks for our convenience) where these insertions are to be found are:
17 Across: *Abandoned in the shallow end?: LEFT WADING. LEFT WING is transformed into the answer. I came across this theme answer before the others and, at first, thought that the "riff" was going to be along the lines of changing WAITING to WADING.
23 Across: *Group that oversees some sauces in the kitchen?: MARINADE CORPS. My IT to D theory was clearly not going to work out here.
36 Across: *Not fully self-indulgent?: HALF WAY DECADENT. HALF WAY DECENT
49 Across: *Job description for a private eye?: SHADOW AND TELL What did you bring to share with the class today?
Here is how this all looks in the grid:
, . . . and below are the rest of the clues and their answers:
Across:
1. "Mi __ es su ... ": CASA. This could be cited as today's Spanish lesson but it seems like this expression has been adopted into American English vernacular usage (much like RSVP, below). My house is your house.
5. Notice with a clickable 10-Across: E-VITE and 10. 5-Across letters: RSVP. Invitation and reply to same.
14. Sitting on: ATOP. The God of Thunder rode up the mountain ATOP his trusty steed. "I am Thor!" he cried. "Of course you are," replied his horse, "You forgot your thaddle, thilly."
15. Romantic partner: LOVER. Let Paul please explain . . .
16. Red Muppet: ELMO. A frequent visitor
19. Shiny wrap: FOIL.
20. __ tai: MAI.
21. Long walk: HIKE.
22. Question of methodology: HOW.
28. Minecraft resources: ORES. I have never played the Minecraft game but am familiar with the resources from solving crossword puzzles.
29. Plug: PROMOTE. Neither an electrical nor a hair restoration reference.
31. Text that may have red squiggly underlining: TYPO.
42. Brewpub pours: ALES. IPAS would have fit the allotted space.
43. Olympus neighbor: OSSA. We used to see Mt. OSSA often in our puzzles during what I sometimes refer to as the "age of snood". We did see this last Sunday clued as "Thessaly Peak".
44. Criticized harshly: LIT INTO.
46. Nombre entre six et huit: SEPT. Cours de français et de mathématiques d'aujourd'hui. Seven is the number found between six and eight. (in French, SEPT).
57. Pot-baking spot: KILN. Not where you got to get "baked" on pot. And not where you would place the pot to bake the food therein. The place where you would "fire" the pot when you were making it out of clay.
62. Blizzard component, often: OREO. Blizzard, in this case, is a blended milkshake-like drink from Dairy Queen. The clue takes advantage (to mislead us) of the convention that has the first word all crossword clues capitalized.
What's In The Middle? The White Stuff
63. Shift neighbor: ENTER. A computer keyboard reference.
64. See 56-Down: EGGS with 56 Down. With 64-Across, retirement funds: NEST. NEST EGGS Idiomatic
65. Ramona, per Beezus: PEST. A reference to the 1955 children's novel written by Beverly Cleary and subsequent media adaptations.
Ramona and her sister Beatrice, aka Beezus
66. Requires: NEEDS. Whenever my girlfriend is upset I let her color in my black and white tattoos. Sometimes she just NEEDS a shoulder to crayon.
67. Rendezvous: MEET. Used as a verb.
Down:
1. Chill: CALM. Idiomatic.
2. First-stringers: A TEAM. I will skip the Mr. T reference.
5. "Seinfeld" character with unusual dance moves: ELAINE.
Elaine Benes and Friends
6. Stoli and Smirnoff: VODKAS. Stolichnaya and Smirnoff.
7. Like Wrigley Field's outfield walls: IVIED.
8. Messi's jersey number: TEN. A soccer (football) reference.
9. Work unit: ERG.
10. Improve: REFORM. A bit of a stretch. Remember when kids talked about getting sent to IMPROVE School? Not!
11. Sluggish ones: SLOWPOKES. SLOW POKES are something else entirely.
12. The Keydets of the NCAA: VMI.
13. Party pro: POL. Often seen.
18. Sound at a drone race: WHIR. A modern reference for WHIR.
22. Commotion: HOOHA. Usually we get ADO as the answer.
24. __ deck: ROOF. Anyone go with POOP?
25. Olympic blade: EPEE. A weapon frequently employed in crossword puzzles.
26. Colorful clog: CROC. Shoes. Often clued as a 'gator's cousin.
27. Worships to excess, in slang: STANS. The act of being overly obsessed with an artist/person/character/etc. STalker + fAN = STAN. Used, here, as a verb.
30. Jazz legend James: ETTA. A frequent visitor.
31. Take __: admit defeat: THE L Take the Loss or in crosswordese DNF?
32. Graph line: Y AXIS.
33. Continuity problems: PLOT HOLES. Why didn't Kevin just call the cops in Home Alone?
34. Football meas.: YDS. YarDS
37. Rabbit conjurers: WANDS. Hand up for first thinking that this was going to be a person not an inanimate object.
38. Choir part: ALTO.
39. Pained cry: YEOW. YEOH and YEOW in the same puzzle!
40. Lavish affection (on): DOTE.
45. Emphatic denial: I AM NOT. I AM pretty certain that we can all think of others.
46. Was obviously asleep: SNORED.
47. Mystery awards named for a mystery writer: EDGARS. Named for Edgar Allan Poe.
48. VA concern: PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
50. Like some angles: ACUTE. Less than 90 degrees.
51. Medieval lord: LIEGE. A bit of an odd word because LIEGE can also mean vassal.
52. Tee size: LARGE. T-shirt
57. Keystone __: KOP. A throwback to an earlier era.
58. Isl. with four provinces: IRE. The Island is IREland. Don't get mad.
59. Hong Kong actor/director Donnie: YEN. You know where to find the info.
60. Four quarters: ONE. I was once asked "How many quarters are there in a basketball game?"
Yup, expected WADING/WAITING. Was soon disabused of that idea. Noticed the YEOH/YEOW pairing, and the CSO to Waseeley at KILN. Very punny today, Mal-Man. Thanx for 'splainin' STANS and THEL. Enjoyed the outing Hanh Huynh. (How is that pronounced?)
I will admit I had “poop” deck before “roof “ deck. And I also had to change “x-axis” to “y-axis” to make things work. It wasn’t until I solved the reveal that I understood quite what was going on, but at that point it became clear. FIR, so I’m happy.
Usual Friday letter-play. This puzzle went quicker for me than yesterday, so there goes the week-difficulty progression that seemed to have made a comeback.
I, too, thought the wading/waiting was going to be a theme. Also, was thinking marinara, rather than marinade for the next themer. Wasn't really familiar with today's actress (Kat) or actor (Ian), but fortunately the crosses were fair.
Is the billboard empty if it has a message YOUR AD HERE? Isn't that an ad for the billboard company? Actually I've noticed that the unrented big billboards along I-95 have eye catching graphics and something like "Got your attention, didn't it? 1-800-867-5309" Reminds folks that in the days of popup ads and multimedia, the lowly billboard still has a place.
I saw only the final episode of Seinfeld, but "dance like Elaine" is more in the language than STAN.
I haven't had a drop of alcohol in around 8 years (I've lost track) but I Absolut remember Stoli and Smirnoff VODKAS. Guess it must be like knowing how to ride a bicycle.
VMI is in the little college town of Lexington, VA. Beautiful little mountain village in the far western part of the state. Hand up if you knew that half our states have a Lexington.
A fresh clue for the mandatory OREO. My favorite part of this one.
Until the reveal (A+, IMO), I thought the themers were just sound-alike phrases, if somewhat tortured. Never noticed the AD insertion but considering my well-established non-existent powers of observation, not the least bit surprising. And, yes, I had Poop before Roof and also stumbled at I Didn’t/I Am Not. The Y Axis-Plot Holes section gave me pause but perps eventually saved the day. I liked the side by side EVite and RSVP and the Nest and Eggs crossing. Learning moment was that Ireland has 4 provinces; I was only familiar with counties. Naturally thought of Bill at Kiln.
Thanks, HH, for a fun solve and thanks, MalMan, for the thorough expo and, of course, the trademark Dad jokes. My favorite was Thor, in all his Thilly glory. This reminded me of being in Scrabble Tournament on a cruise ship many years ago. The couple sitting next to us were from The Bronx and, apparently, were playing in a cutthroat manner. The husband played THAW and, for reasons unknown, the wife challenged the word, at which time said husband bellowed “THOR, THOR, like when you THOR meat! 🤣
FLN
Tante Nique, Your droll comment about DH’s “Rainman” claim tickled my fancy. 😉
FIR. For me I found this to be easy for a Friday. The theme was clever. I too thought that it had to do with missing "it" for a "d" based on the first answer. Then the unifier made everything clear. Just one nit, stans? That seems a bit of a stretch.
I'll 'Take THE L' today with a DNF. I had HALF, EXO, and _AXIS but couldn't come up with TYPO or PLOT to finish. I knew WORM HOLES wouldn't work.
I noticed the 'added AD' at HALFWAY DEC-AD-ENT, which is my usual attire at home. YEOH, PEST, STANS- all perps on those ELAINE I leaned from doing crosswords; never watched the show. SOFIA Vergara- only know of her from her furniture commercials
e-otto, STANS( Afghani, Paki, Uzbeki, Kazakh, Tajiki, Turkmeni, Kyrgz)- those I know but have never heard of Maurice STANS.
FIW. Tried rIpINTO and PaST. BZZZT. Wrong. The perps gave me STANS but had no Idea what it meant. I so wanted link or icon for 10A, but when the S appeared the V8 can hit.
Thanks to Hanh and MM for today's offering and analysis.
Easier than most Friday puzzles. FIR. The reveal helped with some of the the answers. Fun theme. STANS was all perps, never heard of it. Wagged the A in KAT and STAN. THEL was all perps, too. I thought of HOOHA right away, but waited to see whether it is a real word. I hear it sometimes. Jinx, I had a friend who was an alcoholic who stayed sober for decades. After all that time he still would go into a restaurant and quickly note what kind of drink every table had. I applaud your sobriety. Reform is meant to improve something. Legislative reform, social reform, institutional reform. MM, your ACUTE cartoon reminds me of a joke. A pretty young lady swished into the doctor's office. After examining her he said, "You have acute appendicitis." "Why, thank you," she replied with a flirtatious smile. MM, fun, interesting post. Half decent is almost the other half of half way decadent.
All sluggish people move slowly and thus are slowpokes. Not all slowpokes, are sluggish. Some are unmotivated, some are scattered, some are depressed, etc. With others it is a habit.
Musings -“It was a dark and stormy morning…” So I had time to work on this wonderful, challenging puzzle! I loved MARINADE CORPS/MARINE CORPS. -A real nitpicker would tell people, “It’s aluminum FOIL not tin FOIL”. I mostly don’t. :-) -That plug could also be a bad horse, chewing tobacco, bathtub stopper, … -The weather made me cancel my rendezvous with grandson to play golf in Lincoln :-( -SOFIA sans makeup -SLOWPOKES – I should be more tolerant on the course, in the checkout line, while waiting for a table, behind someone who does not see the light turn green… Barry’s ROOF DECK is the place to be on Husker game days. HuskerSTANS?
FIW(Easy but difficult in spots) After laboriously working out cali(YAXIS had to be right(plus EXO) which meant loopHOLES, ROLA(deck) had to be wrong). HALF on the measure dropped, ROOF fell and finally (take)THE L and TYPO. So…
I missed the last letter of Michelle's last name thought it was YEOw*. HOOWA made no sense but HOOHA is barely better
HOO HA examples. I know I have heard it and seen it in print. Many dictionaries list it as informal.
"But just you wait until you find out who's to blame for this whole hoo-ha.
So, what with the recent hoo-ha about ballet performed to a recorded soundtrack, is this another scandal?
I paid the site a visit when the media hoo-ha began and registered, just to see what the fuss was all about."
Tin foil was out if favor long ago, but in popular lingo it has become synonymous with aluminum foil. MW says, "a paper-thin metal sheeting usually of aluminum or tin-lead alloy." There is no caveat that tinfoil is informal. Constant popular usage eventually gets words accepted as legitimate.
Bogged down on this one. DNF. THEL? D'oh, THE "L". STAN? New to me. Had to have MM sweep out the cobwebs today. Definitely a Friday effort for my morning.
Went down in de fête.. the Midwest: missed _ YPO across and _HEL (?) down. Mideast: ST_NS (?) crossed with K_T (and I watched every episode of WandaVision)
Theme seemed complicated until I realized you hadda drop the Anno Domini.
"Olympic blade", first thought skate Novel way to clue OREO. Liked YEOH but not YEOW (nor owie). "My house is Sue's house?" What? 😃
"Emphatic denial", IAMNOT going to admit my first thought here was damn no!! 🙉 🙊
"Cuff my pants now, ____ , don't haw"....HEM Our Chairman's Spanish cousin...ELMO How to quietly get someone's attention ....SLOWPOKES "Where ___ you with my drone?...WHIR
Have a nice weekend. Our big Local 15K and 5K race in Utica "The Boilermaker" is Sunday, usually over 20,000 runners spectators and volunteers...for a town of around 70,000 🏃♀️🏃♂️
"Curses, foiled again!" is the villain's refrain. You wonder if the tin-FOIL hat CORPS remain As an an active force For the cause they endorse, And thwarted the evil guy's brain?
Is it true that the poet's a PEST To other authors -- all of the rest -- Who rely on VODKA, 'Stead of euphonics, ta Cover PLOT HOLES in the words that they wrest?
Don't see my alma mater very often. Go Keydets. So what's a Keydet you say? The problem lies in the fact that there is no definite meaning that has been found for the word. Obviously it is some type of play on cadet but no one really knows the first time it was used. GC
Fun Friday puzzle, many thanks, Hanh. And always enjoy your commentaries and pictures, MalMan, thanks for those too.
Well, as soon as I saw LOVER I looked forward to a bit of romance in this puzzle, but 'twas not to be. There just wasn't much to PROMOTE that theme, given how CALM and a bit quiet this puzzle was, with SLOW POKES who probably took naps and SNORED after enjoying a couple VODKAS. Not too many snacks for them either, except for that OREO and some EGGS, not much of a great lunch. Hey, it's the end of the week--let's just take it easy and avoid any P-OT HOLES this weekend.
WC, Lexington, KY lays claim to being the thoroughbred capital of the USA. To which Ocala says "neigh."
Anon@ 11:48, If you go about 20 miles due west of Lexington, VA you'll be in West (By God) Virginia.
MalMan, the sitcom Mom uses HOOHA for a lady's nether region.
Which brings me to this tall tale: When I was younger, I once went to a movie to watch a popular drama. There was a nice young couple sitting in the row in front of me. During a particularly tense scene the young lady started laughing loudly (and inappropriately.) I tapped her on the shoulder and whispered "excuse me miss, are you feeling hysterical?" She didn't even look back, but replied "NO! He's feeling mine!"
Whew... that took a bit of noodling. Thanks Hanh and congrats on the LAT debut.
Fun Weird Al laden expo, MManatee. Thanks for in-depth review. //a shoulder to crayon? Really? ;-)
WOs: http->RSVP, etnA -> OSSA, Lay INTO -> LIT INTO ESPs: STANS | OSSA, YEOH, SEPT (as clued), IAN, YEN (as clued) Fav: YEOH & YEOW made me giggle.
The theme helped me finish-off 49a and subsequent perps.
{A, B+}
STAN, as used, is new to me and makes me feel for all the Stanleys out there.
YR - And some SLO[w] POKEs are candies. HG - DW says I'm going to have a heart-attack as I LIT INTO SLOWPOKES (which is why I leave the office at 7pm and skip the traffic and stay CALM).
"Tin-FOIL hat" scans better than "aluminum-foil hat." That, and Brits & Yanks pronounce "tin" the same way ;-)
Very late to this party due to A/C problems and being on the phone with the company which sent its repair man yesterday. it seems cool right now. 101 outside.
A very nice Friday puzzle from Hanh Huynh but I was interrupted so many times it was hard to find CONTINUITY. Finally the A/C is all taken care of and I can concentrate. Also my newspaper wasn't delivered so that got me off to a bad start. Luckily I can print the puzzle from other sources but it's inconvenient.
However, it's lovely to start with a Spanish adage! I have a nice block sign bought in Mexico with that saying.
I received an E-VITE to an event tonight at the home of one of my nieces so my social life is not entirely DECADENT.
CSO to my great-niece, SOFIA and to my late aunt, too.
Fav fill today: SHADOW AND TELL.
Not many IVIED walls are found here due to lack of water.
I'm not familiar with THE L as a saying. Are people too lazy or too afraid to say the complete word?
In Mexico a SIGN with ALTO on it has a completely different meaning and cars had better STOP. For non-Spanish speakers, the shape of the SIGN should be a clue.
I cannot tell you how much I dislike CLOGs! It's another ugly import that Americans have latched onto.
Time to go watch Daytime Jeopardy! Have a wonderful rest of your day, everyone!
I see I wasn't the only one to fill ETNA before OSSA. Why are these classical mountains both 4-letters? I should have remembered OSSA from Hamlet's speech in Ophelia's grave! ~ OMK ____________ DR: Three diagonals, far side. The center diag offers an anagram (14 of 15 letters) that refers to the highest ranking gal on her cheerleaders squad, a medal winner, the one who this year, once again...
My brain just wouldn’t go into gear today, even after getting LEFTWADING and the reveal on 59A. Thanks to MM for getting my gray matter unscrewed. But STANS? Never heard of it.
We're still on the road, but Teri and I managed a FIR on this one. She gets extra credit for helping me out of some tough spots.
Thank you Huynh and thank you MalMan for the usual wry hilarity.
55A IAN. Loved IAN MCSHANE in Lovejoy, the tale of a brilliant, but slightly dodgy antiques dealer, co-starring the dishy Mrs Hughes in her younger years.
56A KILN. Would you believe this one went right over my head and Teri had to suggest it.
We'll be on the road tomorrow so I doubt that I'll subject myself to the usual stressful Saturday struggle.
Decadent, showing excessive self indulgence and moral decay. VOCABULARY.COM "His decadent world of power, crime and big money comes to life through ostentatious fashions and outrageous hairdos." Seattle Times Dec 27, 2013 |
FIW @ HOOlA X YEOl. (The definition of HOOHA I know does not pass the breakfast test.) Thanks for the challenge, Hanh. Congrats on your debut! FAV themer was SHADOW AND TELL. Also happy to see Beverly Cleary's book "Ramona the PEST".
Misty@12:28 "SLOW POKES who probably took naps and SNORED after enjoying a couple VODKAS". LOL! You must have been thinking about a TGIF beverage.
Thank you for the recap, MalMan! I shared your 17A to 23A predictions/thoughts/conclusions. Hand up for needing your help with STANS. How about, "Lee and Hardy"? Why is that COGS gif so mesmerizing? Also enjoyed learning about drone racing. Thanks for that, too.
Jinx, "the sitcom Mom uses HOOHA for a lady's nether region makes sense because both Mom and 2 1/2 Men are Chuck Lorre productions. I was being (perhaps) a bit more "delicate" than some of the later posts in this thread.
Thanks to all for the nice comments. Happy to learn that several of you enjoyed some of the references.
I too, did not know STAN. It was perp'd for the solve and then the slang dictionary was consulted.
Jinx, she thought if A won set 1, 6-3 and lost #2, 6-4 then A should still be ahead 10-9.They did take a stab at a points system at one time. Failed miserably
Ocala now has WEC(the)World Equestrian Center. Quite a layout for horses and horsey people who pay $100+ for a steak dinner
44 comments:
Good morning!
Yup, expected WADING/WAITING. Was soon disabused of that idea. Noticed the YEOH/YEOW pairing, and the CSO to Waseeley at KILN. Very punny today, Mal-Man. Thanx for 'splainin' STANS and THEL. Enjoyed the outing Hanh Huynh. (How is that pronounced?)
I will admit I had “poop” deck before “roof “ deck. And I also had to change “x-axis” to “y-axis” to make things work. It wasn’t until I solved the reveal that I understood quite what was going on, but at that point it became clear. FIR, so I’m happy.
Took 8:15 today for me to place my ad for the W.
Usual Friday letter-play. This puzzle went quicker for me than yesterday, so there goes the week-difficulty progression that seemed to have made a comeback.
I, too, thought the wading/waiting was going to be a theme.
Also, was thinking marinara, rather than marinade for the next themer.
Wasn't really familiar with today's actress (Kat) or actor (Ian), but fortunately the crosses were fair.
FIR, but erased trek for HIKE.
Is the billboard empty if it has a message YOUR AD HERE? Isn't that an ad for the billboard company? Actually I've noticed that the unrented big billboards along I-95 have eye catching graphics and something like "Got your attention, didn't it? 1-800-867-5309" Reminds folks that in the days of popup ads and multimedia, the lowly billboard still has a place.
I saw only the final episode of Seinfeld, but "dance like Elaine" is more in the language than STAN.
I haven't had a drop of alcohol in around 8 years (I've lost track) but I Absolut remember Stoli and Smirnoff VODKAS. Guess it must be like knowing how to ride a bicycle.
VMI is in the little college town of Lexington, VA. Beautiful little mountain village in the far western part of the state. Hand up if you knew that half our states have a Lexington.
A fresh clue for the mandatory OREO. My favorite part of this one.
Thanks to our Malman for making your rounds.
Don’t forget Washington &Lee
Glad I found this site with explanations, because I had absolutely no idea what STANS was.
Good Morning:
Until the reveal (A+, IMO), I thought the themers were just sound-alike phrases, if somewhat tortured. Never noticed the AD insertion but considering my well-established non-existent powers of observation, not the least bit surprising. And, yes, I had Poop before Roof and also stumbled at I Didn’t/I Am Not. The Y Axis-Plot Holes section gave me pause but perps eventually saved the day. I liked the side by side EVite and RSVP and the Nest and Eggs crossing. Learning moment was that Ireland has 4 provinces; I was only familiar with counties. Naturally thought of Bill at Kiln.
Thanks, HH, for a fun solve and thanks, MalMan, for the thorough expo and, of course, the trademark Dad jokes. My favorite was Thor, in all his Thilly glory. This reminded me of being in Scrabble Tournament on a cruise ship many years ago. The couple sitting next to us were from The Bronx and, apparently, were playing in a cutthroat manner. The husband played THAW and, for reasons unknown, the wife challenged the word, at which time said husband bellowed “THOR, THOR, like when you THOR meat! 🤣
FLN
Tante Nique, Your droll comment about DH’s “Rainman” claim tickled my fancy. 😉
Have a great day.
FIR. For me I found this to be easy for a Friday. The theme was clever. I too thought that it had to do with missing "it" for a "d" based on the first answer. Then the unifier made everything clear.
Just one nit, stans? That seems a bit of a stretch.
It's summer, so I thought of pOOl deck before ROOF
Thx for explaining STANS, but it sent me to my internal Rolodex to remember the wordplay - oh yeah, portmanteau
The only STANS I'd recognize is Maurice. Hmmmm, I must be getting old.
I'll 'Take THE L' today with a DNF. I had HALF, EXO, and _AXIS but couldn't come up with TYPO or PLOT to finish. I knew WORM HOLES wouldn't work.
I noticed the 'added AD' at HALFWAY DEC-AD-ENT, which is my usual attire at home.
YEOH, PEST, STANS- all perps on those
ELAINE I leaned from doing crosswords; never watched the show.
SOFIA Vergara- only know of her from her furniture commercials
e-otto, STANS( Afghani, Paki, Uzbeki, Kazakh, Tajiki, Turkmeni, Kyrgz)- those I know but have never heard of Maurice STANS.
FIW. Tried rIpINTO and PaST. BZZZT. Wrong. The perps gave me STANS but had no Idea what it meant. I so wanted link or icon for 10A, but when the S appeared the V8 can hit.
Thanks to Hanh and MM for today's offering and analysis.
Easier than most Friday puzzles. FIR. The reveal helped with some of the the answers. Fun theme.
STANS was all perps, never heard of it. Wagged the A in KAT and STAN.
THEL was all perps, too.
I thought of HOOHA right away, but waited to see whether it is a real word. I hear it sometimes.
Jinx, I had a friend who was an alcoholic who stayed sober for decades. After all that time he still would go into a restaurant and quickly note what kind of drink every table had. I applaud your sobriety.
Reform is meant to improve something. Legislative reform, social reform, institutional reform.
MM, your ACUTE cartoon reminds me of a joke. A pretty young lady swished into the doctor's office. After examining her he said, "You have acute appendicitis." "Why, thank you," she replied with a flirtatious smile.
MM, fun, interesting post.
Half decent is almost the other half of half way decadent.
All sluggish people move slowly and thus are slowpokes. Not all slowpokes, are sluggish. Some are unmotivated, some are scattered, some are depressed, etc. With others it is a habit.
Musings
-“It was a dark and stormy morning…” So I had time to work on this wonderful, challenging puzzle! I loved MARINADE CORPS/MARINE CORPS.
-A real nitpicker would tell people, “It’s aluminum FOIL not tin FOIL”. I mostly don’t. :-)
-That plug could also be a bad horse, chewing tobacco, bathtub stopper, …
-The weather made me cancel my rendezvous with grandson to play golf in Lincoln :-(
-SOFIA sans makeup
-SLOWPOKES – I should be more tolerant on the course, in the checkout line, while waiting for a table, behind someone who does not see the light turn green…
Barry’s ROOF DECK is the place to be on Husker game days. HuskerSTANS?
FIW(Easy but difficult in spots) After laboriously working out cali(YAXIS had to be right(plus EXO) which meant loopHOLES, ROLA(deck) had to be wrong). HALF on the measure dropped, ROOF fell and finally (take)THE L and TYPO. So…
I missed the last letter of Michelle's last name thought it was YEOw*. HOOWA made no sense but HOOHA is barely better
Heres the "dancing" that Elaine was famousfor
Messi is going to play for Miami in USFL
The narcissist with the jaundiced liver thought the hot intern was referring to him as "The Cute Alcoholic" in the other room
Maloman, try explaining Tennis to my wife
Massachusetts has the most famous Lexington
WC
* Yes, that would have meant two YEOWs but originally I had YELP(of pain)
Yea! This was a lot of fun, even though DNF. I tripped over a letter or two. Had xAXIS and no T to go with THE L an expression that is new to me.
I too had WAitING for WADING, but the MARINADE set me straight. For a long time I had las for OMS.
Loved the fresh OREO clue. MM and our constructor made my morning.
Very nice puzzle. Just hard enough for a Friday. My compliments to the constructor.
HOO HA examples. I know I have heard it and seen it in print. Many dictionaries list it as informal.
"But just you wait until you find out who's to blame for this whole hoo-ha.
So, what with the recent hoo-ha about ballet performed to a recorded soundtrack, is this another scandal?
I paid the site a visit when the media hoo-ha began and registered, just to see what the fuss was all about."
Tin foil was out if favor long ago, but in popular lingo it has become synonymous with aluminum foil.
MW says, "a paper-thin metal sheeting usually of aluminum or tin-lead alloy."
There is no caveat that tinfoil is informal. Constant popular usage eventually gets words accepted as legitimate.
Bogged down on this one. DNF. THEL? D'oh, THE "L". STAN? New to me. Had to have MM sweep out the cobwebs today. Definitely a Friday effort for my morning.
Jinx, I, too, saw only the final episode of Seinfeld.
IIRC, there was an episode of Two and A Half Men in which HOOHA was employed in a completely different (anatomical) manner.
WC, I wouldn't know where to begin. 15 30 40 ?
Lexington, VA - 287 miles to western edge of Virginia?
Went down in de fête.. the Midwest: missed _ YPO across and _HEL (?) down. Mideast: ST_NS (?) crossed with K_T (and I watched every episode of WandaVision)
Theme seemed complicated until I realized you hadda drop the Anno Domini.
Inkovers: trek/HIKE
This is actually the "awkward dance scene that Elaine is famous for
"Olympic blade", first thought skate
Novel way to clue OREO. Liked YEOH but not YEOW (nor owie). "My house is Sue's house?" What? 😃
"Emphatic denial", IAMNOT going to admit my first thought here was damn no!! 🙉 🙊
"Cuff my pants now, ____ , don't haw"....HEM
Our Chairman's Spanish cousin...ELMO
How to quietly get someone's attention
....SLOWPOKES
"Where ___ you with my drone?...WHIR
Have a nice weekend. Our big Local 15K and 5K race in Utica "The Boilermaker" is Sunday, usually over 20,000 runners spectators and volunteers...for a town of around 70,000 🏃♀️🏃♂️
"Curses, foiled again!" is the villain's refrain.
You wonder if the tin-FOIL hat CORPS remain
As an an active force
For the cause they endorse,
And thwarted the evil guy's brain?
Is it true that the poet's a PEST
To other authors -- all of the rest --
Who rely on VODKA,
'Stead of euphonics, ta
Cover PLOT HOLES in the words that they wrest?
{A, A.}
Don't see my alma mater very often. Go Keydets. So what's a Keydet you say? The problem lies in the fact that there is no definite meaning that has been found for the word. Obviously it is some type of play on cadet but no one really knows the first time it was used. GC
Fun Friday puzzle, many thanks, Hanh. And always enjoy your commentaries and pictures, MalMan, thanks for those too.
Well, as soon as I saw LOVER I looked forward to a bit of romance in this puzzle, but 'twas not to be. There just wasn't much to PROMOTE that theme, given how CALM and a bit quiet this puzzle was, with SLOW POKES who probably took naps and SNORED after enjoying a couple VODKAS. Not too many snacks for them either, except for that OREO and some EGGS, not much of a great lunch. Hey, it's the end of the week--let's just take it easy and avoid any P-OT HOLES this weekend.
Have a good one coming up!
WC, Lexington, KY lays claim to being the thoroughbred capital of the USA. To which Ocala says "neigh."
Anon@ 11:48, If you go about 20 miles due west of Lexington, VA you'll be in West (By God) Virginia.
MalMan, the sitcom Mom uses HOOHA for a lady's nether region.
Which brings me to this tall tale:
When I was younger, I once went to a movie to watch a popular drama. There was a nice young couple sitting in the row in front of me. During a particularly tense scene the young lady started laughing loudly (and inappropriately.) I tapped her on the shoulder and whispered "excuse me miss, are you feeling hysterical?" She didn't even look back, but replied "NO! He's feeling mine!"
Hi All!
Whew... that took a bit of noodling. Thanks Hanh and congrats on the LAT debut.
Fun Weird Al laden expo, MManatee. Thanks for in-depth review.
//a shoulder to crayon? Really? ;-)
WOs: http->RSVP, etnA -> OSSA, Lay INTO -> LIT INTO
ESPs: STANS | OSSA, YEOH, SEPT (as clued), IAN, YEN (as clued)
Fav: YEOH & YEOW made me giggle.
The theme helped me finish-off 49a and subsequent perps.
{A, B+}
STAN, as used, is new to me and makes me feel for all the Stanleys out there.
YR - And some SLO[w] POKEs are candies.
HG - DW says I'm going to have a heart-attack as I LIT INTO SLOWPOKES (which is why I leave the office at 7pm and skip the traffic and stay CALM).
"Tin-FOIL hat" scans better than "aluminum-foil hat." That, and Brits & Yanks pronounce "tin" the same way ;-)
Cheers, -T
Hola!
Very late to this party due to A/C problems and being on the phone with the company which sent its repair man yesterday. it seems cool right now. 101 outside.
A very nice Friday puzzle from Hanh Huynh but I was interrupted so many times it was hard to find CONTINUITY. Finally the A/C is all taken care of and I can concentrate. Also my newspaper wasn't delivered so that got me off to a bad start. Luckily I can print the puzzle from other sources but it's inconvenient.
However, it's lovely to start with a Spanish adage! I have a nice block sign bought in Mexico with that saying.
I received an E-VITE to an event tonight at the home of one of my nieces so my social life is not entirely DECADENT.
CSO to my great-niece, SOFIA and to my late aunt, too.
Fav fill today: SHADOW AND TELL.
Not many IVIED walls are found here due to lack of water.
I'm not familiar with THE L as a saying. Are people too lazy or too afraid to say the complete word?
In Mexico a SIGN with ALTO on it has a completely different meaning and cars had better STOP. For non-Spanish speakers, the shape of the SIGN should be a clue.
I cannot tell you how much I dislike CLOGs! It's another ugly import that Americans have latched onto.
Time to go watch Daytime Jeopardy! Have a wonderful rest of your day, everyone!
MalMan escorts us through today's Huynh PZL...
Veddy clevuh this AD-on theme!
Are YEOH and YEOW pronounced the same?
I see I wasn't the only one to fill ETNA before OSSA. Why are these classical mountains both 4-letters?
I should have remembered OSSA from Hamlet's speech in Ophelia's grave!
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, far side.
The center diag offers an anagram (14 of 15 letters) that refers to the highest ranking gal on her cheerleaders squad, a medal winner, the one who this year, once again...
"LED (the) POMPOM ORDER"!
My brain just wouldn’t go into gear today, even after getting LEFTWADING and the reveal on 59A. Thanks to MM for getting my gray matter unscrewed. But STANS? Never heard of it.
I need a VODKA after this one🤣
====> Darren / L.A.
waseeley here ...
We're still on the road, but Teri and I managed a FIR on this one. She gets extra credit for helping me out of some tough spots.
Thank you Huynh and thank you MalMan for the usual wry hilarity.
55A IAN. Loved IAN MCSHANE in Lovejoy, the tale of a brilliant, but slightly dodgy antiques dealer, co-starring the dishy Mrs Hughes in her younger years.
56A KILN. Would you believe this one went right over my head and Teri had to suggest it.
We'll be on the road tomorrow so I doubt that I'll subject myself to the usual stressful Saturday struggle.
Prolly see y'all Monday.
Cheers,
Bill
Decadent, showing excessive self indulgence and moral decay. VOCABULARY.COM
"His decadent world of power, crime and big money comes to life through ostentatious fashions and outrageous hairdos."
Seattle Times Dec 27, 2013
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Cool puzzle.
Jinx-"are you feeling hys-terical?" She didn't even look back, but replied "NO! He's feeling mine!" I bet she had 'acute angina'.
Yellowrocks- "Decadent, showing excessive self indulgence and moral decay. VOCABULARY.COM"
A current description of our population in general. I don't need the Seattle Times to inform people of that description. Just look around.
Did NOT “get’er done” today. Got half of it filled and gave up. Not on this wavelength. Ya got me HH. Terrific write-up, MalMan, thanx.
Big Easy - It was dark in there. Probably have to judge that by the braille system.
Oh, and I thought she was wearing a velvet dress, but I'll bet it was felt.
FIW @ HOOlA X YEOl. (The definition of HOOHA I know does not pass the breakfast test.)
Thanks for the challenge, Hanh. Congrats on your debut! FAV themer was SHADOW AND TELL. Also happy to see Beverly Cleary's book "Ramona the PEST".
Misty@12:28 "SLOW POKES who probably took naps and SNORED after enjoying a couple VODKAS". LOL! You must have been thinking about a TGIF beverage.
Thank you for the recap, MalMan! I shared your 17A to 23A predictions/thoughts/conclusions.
Hand up for needing your help with STANS. How about, "Lee and Hardy"?
Why is that COGS gif so mesmerizing? Also enjoyed learning about drone racing. Thanks for that, too.
No one noticed HOOHA x MARIN[]E CORPS? It's usually spelled differently, but still...
Shouldn't it be you're here?
Jinx, "the sitcom Mom uses HOOHA for a lady's nether region makes sense because both Mom and 2 1/2 Men are Chuck Lorre productions. I was being (perhaps) a bit more "delicate" than some of the later posts in this thread.
Thanks to all for the nice comments. Happy to learn that several of you enjoyed some of the references.
I too, did not know STAN. It was perp'd for the solve and then the slang dictionary was consulted.
Jinx, she thought if A won set 1, 6-3 and lost #2, 6-4 then A should still be ahead 10-9.They did take a stab at a points system at one time. Failed miserably
Ocala now has WEC(the)World Equestrian Center. Quite a layout for horses and horsey people who pay $100+ for a steak dinner
WC
Lucina - I've often in sports-casting "for the Win" or for the W." I think for "The L" is a take-off of that in pop-culture to be (kinda) funny.
DW & I just got back from Wes Anderson's Asteroid City [Trailer]. We loved it.
Cheers, -T
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