1. Draft pick?: OXEN π OXEN are draft animals
5. Bentley of "Yellowstone": WES - Second from left
8. __ Canarias: ISLAS - Canary Islands was obvious but I had to work to get ISLAS
13. Backs: SIDES WITH
16. Use, in a way, with "off": MOOCH and 37. Used, in a way, with "off": SPONGED.
17. Texas Revolution figure: SANTA ANNA.
18. Ask: PUT TO - I PUT TO you this question, does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?
19. Hot: ON A STREAK.
20. Like some accents: ACUTE.
21. Uniform item, often: CAP - At the Pentagon Mall store - $29. At a street kiosk by Ford's Theater - $9
24. March honoree, familiarly: ST. PAT.
27. 21st century explorer: DORA.
28. Job listing ltrs.: EEO.
30. Golf shot: CHIP - Tiger's on #16 at Augusta is probably the most famous
31. 2002 AFI Life Achievement Award honoree: HANKS - At 46, he was the youngest to get it
32. Pandora or Spotify: APP.
33. Demolish: RAZE - My childhood home finally got RAZED two years ago, twenty years later than it should have been.
35. Take the lead: STAR - Henry Winkler declined to STAR as Danny Zuko in Grease
36. Snack brand since 1921: UTZ - Not familiar in my town
37. Cocky gait: STRUT.
38. Olympian queen: HERA - A wife of Zeus
39. Org. honored with a commemorative stamp for its 50th anniversary in 1960: BSA.
38. Olympian queen: HERA - A wife of Zeus
39. Org. honored with a commemorative stamp for its 50th anniversary in 1960: BSA.
40. Assistant's job, often: PREP.
41. Deserving of: WORTH.
42. "Criminal Minds" actress: AJ COOK.
41. Deserving of: WORTH.
42. "Criminal Minds" actress: AJ COOK.
44. Cut (off): LOP.
45. Runners at the corners, say: TWO ON - That means a baseball team has runners at 1st and 3rd base.
46. Request to be heard: INDULGE ME.
52. Garden hose gasket: O-RING - Of course this NASA guy immediately thought of the O-RING on the Space Shuttle Booster that failed on that cold January day and caused the Challenger to blow up.
53. TV series that teamed a conspiracy theorist with a doctor: THE X-FILES - Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was the conspiracy theorist and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) was the doctor turned FBI agent.
54. Poet whose work helped establish modern Italian: DANTE.
The Inferno - Canto I
The Dark Forest. The Hill of Difficulty. The Panther, the Lion, and the Wolf. Virgil.
| Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, chΓ© la diritta via era smarrita. Ahi quanto a dir qual era Γ¨ cosa dura | Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say |
55. Critters with discs on their extremities: TREE FROGS.
56. Wasn't indecisive: OPTED.
57. Kennel sound: YAP.
58. "Fuller House" actress Ashley: LIAO - In the middle below
Down:
1. __ buco: OSSO - Italian for "bone with a hole"
2. Capital of Shaanxi Province: XIAN - This is the hometown of our gracious hostess, C.C.. Here is a beautiful picture of her in her old XIAN "hood" where her brother Andy still lives.
3. "The Incredibles" designer Mode: EDNA - It is commonly believed that multi Oscar-winner Edith Head was the inspiration for this cartoon character.
4. Loser to Explorer in the first browser war: NETSCAPE - This was my first browser and I remember how thrilled I was to use it via my dialup modem.
5. __ Country: WINE.
6. Volcano where Zeus trapped Typhon, in some myths: ETNA - Zeus, volcano, c'mon...
7. Agree: SHAKE ON IT.
8. Chevys retired in 2020: IMPALAS - I didn't know that
9. Sans __: carefree: SOUCI - French: Sans (without) SOUCI (worry)
10. Odyssey dreamer: LOTUS EATER - Speaking of sans souci...
11. Behave as required: ACT THE PART.
12. Brake __: SHOE.
14. Occupied, in a way: SAT AT - The famous 1960 lunch counter SIT IN in at a Woolworth's Lunch Counter in Greensboro, N.C.
15. Distort: WARP - Did'ja ever...
23. Bugs: IRKS.
24. Really clean: SCRUB - My idea of "clean the deck" is using a garden hose for ten minutes. Joann's is two hours with a power washer attached to a 2,700psi compressor.
25. Closing words: THAT'S A WRAP - In some movies, "THAT'S A WRAP" is heard after the first scene is filmed way out of sequence.
26. Pie seller, casually: PIZZA JOINT - This is a one where we got a great pie on top of the Island of Capri which is called Anacapri.
27. Block: DAM UP.
29. Media mogul born in Mississippi: OPRAH.
 |
| In Kosciusko, MS |
31. Summons whose last word is often repeated: HERE KITTY - Repetition does not seem to help with our kitty.
34. Minute Maid Park player, to fans: STRO.
35. Meg Ryan's screen name in "You've Got Mail": SHOPGIRL.
41. Mezzo-soprano Beverly: WOLFF - Two famous Beverly sopranos with five-letter last names.
 |
| SILLS. WOLFF |
43. Italian noble title below marchese: CONTE.
Nobility
- Imperatore (Emperor) / Imperatrice (Empress)
- Re (King) / Regina (Queen)
- Principe (Prince) / Principessa (Princess)
- Duca (Duke) / Duchessa (Duchess)
- Marchese (Marquis) / Marchesa (Marchioness)
- Conte (Count or Earl) / Contessa (Countess)
- Visconte (Viscount) / Viscontessa (Viscountess)
45. Well attachment?: TO DO - Well TO DO peeps demand LUXE accommodations
47. Drag org.: NHRA - National Hot Rod Association
47. Drag org.: NHRA - National Hot Rod Association
48. Word with freeze or fry: DEEP - McDonald's great fries are DEEP frozen before they are DEEP fried
49. H.G. Wells race: ELOI - Rod Taylor greets the passive ELOI in the 1965 iteration of The Time Machine
51. Petrol brand: ESSO - This Ontario station was charging 116.5 cents/liter
The low (only 1...?) amount of π in Gary's write-up should tell you how I felt about this puzzle. Some cool entries (PIZZA JOINT, ACT THE PART, THAT'S A WRAP, SHAKE ON IT, THE X-FILES, and HERE KITTY with my favorite clue-answer combo), but the difficulty seemed to come more from trivia than actual cleverness. Typical Rich.
ReplyDeleteMaybe as a non-American I have no idea how well-known the NHRA actually is, but NHRA x YAP seems inexcusable (YIP is a perfectly valid alternative). I would've just gone with YAM x DEEM instead of a P.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGot 'er done, but tweren't a no-peeky, so this one rates a DNF. Yes, d-o went with SILLS. Yes, d-o tried RICH and LUSH before LUXE barged in. Yes, d-o distorted with SKEW. And yes, d-o tried YIP (Hi there, Anonymous.) The long downs -- PIZZA JOINT, LOTUS EATER, THATS A WRAP, ACT THE PART -- were very nice. Defeated, but it was an enjoyable game. Thanx, Rich and Husker.
My memory is vain. It allows me to recall that someone here (I forget who) once started off a commentary in this way, “Sub, our resident genius…” See what I mean about my memory being vain? It recalls the (extravagant) compliment but not who said it. Anyway, I don’t know about being the “resident genius “ but I have to admit I feel pretty smart after solving this “toughie “ of a puzzle. I thought of such things as “Dante,” “Shopgirl,” and “Lotus-eaters.” However, I’m far from perfect. I didn’t know the names of the actresses, the opera singer (the only “Beverly “ I know in opera has the last name “Sills”-Hi, D- O!) or the “drag racing” organization. Anyway, all that said, I managed to FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteDNF, not even close. Filled 25, 19 correctly. The only showbiz name I knew was Sills, er BZZZZ.
ReplyDeleteI remember SANTA ANNA as a prominent figure in Texas history. The Yellow Rose of Texas was a tribute to the "lady of the evening" who supposedly held the attention of the famous Mexican general, allowing the Texans to carry out an early morning surprise attack at the battle of San Jacinto. The HR department of the Mexican army has so far declined to confirm or deny those reports, but no disciplinary action was taken against SANTA ANNA (why not 'ANA'? Lucina?).
Today is:
NATIONAL BOWLING DAY (yes, we still miss him, especially on Mondays)
NATIONAL VINYL RECORD DAY (hi Bayou Tony et al)
WORLD ELEPHANT DAY (the DNC asks "when is 'Donkey Day?'")
NATIONAL GARAGE SALE DAY
NATIONAL MIDDLE CHILD DAY
Thanks to Rich for the visit, and to H. Gary for the tour.
ST. PAT and SANTA ANNA were chatting one day.
ReplyDeletePatrick said, "I sent a lot of snakes this way."
Antonio said, "Me, too,
A whole Texas crew!"
-- They looked at each other. --
"Huh?" was all they could say.
The starship crew would warp to a star,
It would take a week, no matter how far.
They'd get there in time
To correct any crime,
(And maybe leave a hybrid avatar!)
{B+, B.}
DeleteHad to resort to red strikethroughs early in the game. That and many alphabet runs got me gasping and wheezing and coughing up blood over the finish line. I’m going back to bed.
ReplyDeleteFIR, but what a workout. I too had Sills and rich at first, and as a result that corner was the last to fall.
ReplyDeleteNetscape brought back fond memories. 1200 baud rate and dial up modems. Sigh! How did we ever survive?
And does anyone remember "Internet in a Box"? That was my intro into Usenet and FTP. We have come so far!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a disappointing FWH (Finished With Help) due to being stuck on Leech for Mooch and vainly trying to come up with a Chevy model beginning with Il (Why does a capital I have to look like a lower case l, anyway? π€) This mistake, plus not coming up with Put To, Acute, Lotus Eater, etc., made that NE corner a nightmare. Once I got help with Mooch, the dam burst and I was home free. Filling in Impalas added salt to my self-inflicted wounds as my very first car was a 1964 Chevy Impala. I was also hung up on thinking the Oscar winner clue was calling for a song not the singer, so missing Eilish was another impediment. Even though I was stumped and stymied, I enjoyed the overall solve and admired the clean (no junk) grid, the very few (8) three letter words, some devious but fair cluing, and lots of lively fill. Loved seeing our dear CC’s Xian, a purposeful tribute, I’m sure, from Rich.
Thanks, Rich, for a difficult but doable (almost!) challenge and thanks, HG, for another excellent review and commentary. Loved all the visuals, especially the photo of winsome CC in the snow. Also found the Winkler/Travolta Grease tidbit interesting, as well as the seeing the cartoonish look-alike Edith Head. I never heard of Utz until a few years back when they started showing up in the supermarket, but haven’t tried any of their products.
Have a great day.
Mr Google and I FIR.
ReplyDeleteOK @7:23 I give your first poem A- at least.
Took 25:35 today.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed. I look forward to Saturdays. You may be aware of my pro-themeless stance, which is a little less known than my anti-circle stance.
I spent the last 10 minutes in the top-right corner. Not a fan of that corner, and I do enjoy challenges.
Oh well, there's always next Saturday.
I had to have help today. So I “learned” some things, I hope. I discovered Utz last year—their Dark Russet “gourmet” potato chips are to-die-for; so far I can get them only online. I always enjoy the write-ups here - thanks.
ReplyDeleteImpossible for me without many red-letter runs. Not fun. Thanks, Gary.
ReplyDeleteUpon seeing Rich's name my first thought was "how much 'editing' did Patti do to his puzzle".
ReplyDeleteThe left was easier to complete than the right side. I took a WAG for XIAN after OXEN was filled. EDNA was unknown but the perps took care of her. I've never seen 'Criminal Minds' and A.J. COOK was all perps. Ditto for THE X FILES, which required changing LUSH to LUXE and guessing the unknowns WOLFE (wrong), SHOP GIRL, and LIAO before I remembered TREE FROGS and WOLFF finished that area.
The NE had me stumped with my brain stuck on the HONDA Odyssey and with SEATER already on the grid it was hard to get it out of my mind. "No Time To Die" is another I've never seen, so the Oscar winner was also unknown but EILISH has show up before so I just filled it.
Sans SOUCI- never heard of it.
PUT TO- took a while to click and then I realized my weird Honda model, the LOTU SEATER was a LOTUS EATER. Finally I managed to FIR.
Yesterday I OPTED to put a new O-RING on one of my sprayers attached to a garden hose.
Gary as far as demolishing you old house that was 'past its use by date', NOLA has thousands in that condition than need to be RAZED. Dilapidated termite-eaten fire-trap rat holes that are very close to other structures. There's nothing "historic" about them; they are just old structures and when they catch on fire they always damage the adjoining houses.
A Saturday slop if ever there was one I got caught in the Sills/WOLFF trap. Mr Google gave me Ms WOLFF, which broke the dam in the SE.
ReplyDeleteIMPALA was obvious and after filling up the SE, ACTTHEPART helped fill the NE. AJCOOK helped fill the middle part when I saw HEREKITTY.
FIR but with several assists.
Salutes to Rich and Gary for today's entertainment.
This was a true Saturday toughie, and it proved way tougher than me. A big DNF, with the NE remaining a sea of emptiness. No hope on the many A&E clues. Guess I don't watch enough TV. Give me a good book, anytime. After reading HGs review, a lot of clues made sense, but I was just not tuned in to the Rich frequency today.
ReplyDeleteBit of a Saturday toughie, but how nice to get a Rich Norris puzzle--many thanks, Rich. And your commentaries and pictures are always a pleasure, thanks for those too, Gary. And sweet picture of C.C
ReplyDeleteWell, all was fine as soon as I saw WINE, although I'm not sure that the PIZZA JOINT would offer us any. But at least we'd get a CHIP or two, and maybe even an UTZ snack (whatever they are). But we managed, and so THAT'S A WRAP.
Have a lovely weekend, everybody.
Greetings, Nope, not today. Beyond me and I had chores to attend to this a.m.
ReplyDeleteBut I wanted to stop by and say thanks to TTP and Jayce for the Comments/ad info. I was too sleepy last night to absorb it but will run the security software and see what it reveals.
Thanks again. π
A Saturday toughie and an enjoyable DNF. Got stuck in the north east corner and threw in the towel. Is the Belle of the NHRA known as a drag queen…. kkFlorida
ReplyDeleteWow! Today’s puzzle required a Wendy/Jack combined effort and even then, after much too long, we had to look at the grid to finish the NW. I hung onto One A/OXEN for too long and Beverly Sills/WOLFF in the SE. I’m embarassed Ms. Wolff isn’t familiar to me. So, a big FIW - even so, we thought the clues were creative and the mis-directions fiendishly clever. Thanks so much, Rich, for showing us “how it’s done” and causing Jack and me to even enjoy our stumble. thanks, Gary, for the entertaining tour. You never disappoint.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good question about SANTA ANNA and I don't know the answer. Possibly it was attributed by an American author. It requires research I fear. However, I have seen it as SANTA ANA on other sites. Of course, when it's pronounced orally it's merged together as SANTANA.
On Saturdays I am never ON A STREAK. It's more of a slog and needs assistance from Google especially since I never watched the XFILES. But with toddlers at home DORA, the Explorer is a must.
I'm sure ST. PAT is a given for just about all solvers. But WOLFE is not. I, of course, immediately filled SILLS. Bzzt.
UTZ is unfamiliar to me.
We saw tiny TREE FROGS in Costa Rica.
Oh, TWO ON. I just now saw that and was perplexed by TWOON.
I did not readily recall A.J. COOK although I used to watch Criminal Minds regularly.
Wow. NETSCAPE was a long time ago and I believe it was my first attempt on the Internet.
SANS SOUCI reminds me of Kazie because she often wrote the related INSOUSIANCE.
Time to go. Have a super Saturday, everyone!
ReplyDeleteA horribly clued puzzle with 15 names by my count.
I got the solve but hated it.
Ugly ugly grid, no one should be proud of publishing this garbage.
The crossword is the one escape from the drudgery of our lives. Today I did not escape.
ReplyDeleteHusker G does a fine job for a Norris PZL.
ReplyDeleteToo tough for me. I got a little in each sector, but only the NE could be claimed as "almost filled."
UTZ is entirely unknown, and from the sound, I don't wanna know it.
Very clever to insert the enemy at 17A. I got him, with a smile.
The TREE FROG'S discs are on the very extremity of their extremities!
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diags, far side.
The central diagonal presents an anagram (12 of 15) that reminds me of my addiction to milk (of the cow, of course!) right through my late teen years.
It is no longer so. But back then I always looked forward to a crisp, cold glass of bovine nourishment when coming home from a late rehearsal!
Those ice-cold glasses were like a drug to me, my...
"MOO NARCOTICS"!
I had to look up several things in order to fill in all the squares in this puzzle.
ReplyDeletePatti-like names in her unvarying, unimaginative clue/answer format:
Bentley of "Yellowstone": WES
Best Original Song Oscar winner for "No Time to Die": EILISH
"Criminal Minds" actress: AJ COOK
"Fuller House" actress Ashley: LIAO
"The Incredibles" designer Mode: EDNA
Meg Ryan's screen name in "You've Got Mail": SHOPGIRL
Other names:
SANTA ANNA
DORA
HANKS
HERA
DANTE
OPRAH
WOLFF
Today is our son's and his 2nd wife's first anniversary. They are celebrating the weekend in San Luis Obispo, which is where they connected.
Good wishes to you all.
A big DNF. One that I got but didn't like: NETSCAPE. That's analogous to Microsoft. NAVIGATOR would have worked for the clue Explorer.
ReplyDeleteSome people were not made to create crosswords and you are one of them. Have a good day!
ReplyDeleteHypothetical question: is there ANY crossword constructor out there capable of writing a puzzle devoid of pop-culture names?? “Only” eleven of them in this one…yech, this gets “old”.
ReplyDeleteOld memory of a residence building near Diamond Head, Sans Souci, pulled from the depths of my aging mind from when I lived there in the late ‘60s, got me started on the NE sector. Other than that, a usual Saturday slog.
Great photo of C.C. in her old ‘hood (and hoodie), loved it!
====> Darren / L.A.
Anon @ 11:56. Rich Norris is the former editor of the LAT xwrd, but in my reollection not a meanie. The new editor, as Jayce noted @4:43, seems to enjoy clues "... in her unvarying, unimaginative clue/answer format."
ReplyDelete