google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, August 3, 2023, Grant Boroughs

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Aug 3, 2023

Thursday, August 3, 2023, Grant Boroughs

 

 

Veggie Tales



Today is Grant Borough's 5th visit to the Corner, fresh from an appearance at the NYT.   He takes us on a visit to the County Fair to see the winners of the BVOAT contest (Best Vegetables of All Time), exhibiting 4 common veggies, all sliced short to sound like a common phrase ...

17A. Proud proclamation at the county fair produce contest?: THAT'S MY CUCUMBER.  Our CUCUMBERS are coming in faster than we can eat them, so tomorrow I'm making pickles.

Sliced cucumbers
26A. Praises a prizewinner at the county fair produce contest?: HAILS A CABBAGE.  These require an early start and we didn't.

45A. Cause of a frantic search at the county fair produce contest?: LOST ARTICHOKE.  They don't grow in these parts, at least I haven't found any ...
Arthur C. Clarke said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".  The same could be said for LOST ARTS.  The skills necessary to build another Chartres Cathedral disappeared long ago in the dusts of time ...

60A. Squashes a rival's entry at the county fair produce contest?: GOES TOE TO TOMATO.  I think Grant stubbed his toe on this a bit.  We're getting lots of cherry TOMATOES, but the big ones don't start coming in until early August.
Mortgage Lifter Tomato

There was no explicit reveal that I could find, but I'm open to any suggestions for interpreting the theme differently.

Across:

1. Respiratory organ: LUNG.

5. Lake-maker: DAMBEAVER was too long.

8. "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novelist Tom: WOLFEThomas Kennerly WOLFE Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018) was an American author and journalist widely known for his association with New Journalism. The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City later made into a movie with Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith  ... 

Wolfe also wrote a lot of great non-fiction.  One of my favorites is his iconoclastic The Kingdom of Speech (scroll past all the reviewer bios to start the review proper at "The Kingdom of Speech")

13. Among buoys: ASEA.

14. Came down to earth: ALIT.

16. Catherine of "Schitt's Creek": O'HARASchitt's Creek is a Canadian television sitcom created by Dan Levy and his father, Eugene Levy, that aired on CBC Television from 2015 to 2020. It follows the trials and tribulations of the formerly wealthy Rose family, who now suddenly destitute, find themselves up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  Catherine plays Moira, the family matriarch ...
17. [Theme clue].

20. Legalese adverb: HERE TO.

21. Some intelligence workers: ANALYSTS.  A CSO to you know who.

22. "To __ is human ... ": ERR.

23. King topper: ACE.

25. Neither Dem. nor Rep.: INDINDependent

26. [Theme clue]

33. Wander, in a way: DAYDREAM.

35. "Black-ish" star Tracee __ Ross: ELLISTracee Joy Silberstein (born October 29, 1972), known professionally as Tracee ELLIS Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series Girlfriends (2000–2008) and Black-ish (2014–2022).
Tracee Ellis Ross
2014 NAACP Image Awards

36. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.  Erma Louise Bombeck (n茅e Fiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. She also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers.  She was a mistress of the bon mot.
Erma Bombeck
37. Debonair: SUAVE.

40. Actor Idris: ELBA.  Among his many accomplishments, he is also the last word in the world's most famous palindrome.
Idris Elba, OBE
41. First Hebrew letter: ALEPHALEPH (or alef or alif, transliterated 示) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician 示膩lep 饜, Hebrew 示膩lef 讗, Aramaic 示膩lap 饜, Syriac 示膩lap̄ 軔, and Arabic 示alif 丕 ...

Aleph

43. Data in IRS tables: TAX RATES.

45. [Theme clue].

48. Novel: NEW.

49. Lawn layer: SOD.  Also a noun in British slang, which can be used as a verb, as in SOD OFF!

50. Slugger's stat: RBIHere are some others beside RBI and ERA.

53. Transfer recipient: ASSIGNEE.

58. Parent, e.g.: REARER

60. [Theme clue].

62. One-named "Easy on Me" singer: ADELE. Blue eyed soul ...

63. Ready to serve: DONE.

64. Deportment: MIEN.

65. Noodle option: RAMEN.

66. Actor Beatty: NEDNED Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood.
Ned Beatty
at the 1990 Annual Emmy Awards
67. Sole: ONLY.

Down:

1. Shaping machine: LATHEWhat's the difference between a LATHE and a SHAPER?

2. Theater director?: USHER.  Here's a film about someone you don't want to be directed by ...  based on a short story by Edgar Alan Poe (buried in my hometown 馃槺)


3D. Queen and regime, e.g.: NEAR RHYMES.  We are getting lots of Silver Queen corn from the Eastern Shore, delivered daily by the Misty Valley Farms regime, known for their fresh locally grown veggies.  That's a NEAR as I can get.

4. Part of a pen: GATE.  Not the kind you write with, the kind you pen animals with.

5. Sword of __: impending disaster: DAMOCLES.  Based on an ancient Greek fable ...

6. Gymnast Raisman with three Olympic gold medals: ALYAlexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is a retired American artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective team competitions.
Aly Raisman
7. Mineral used in pearlescent paint: MICA.  DNK this usage. Pearlescent pigments are coated MICA platelets that provide color and exciting visual effects to various coatings, plastics, and printing ink. They are widely used in the production of automobile paints and by DIY hobbyists and cosmeticians. I found lots of claims that they posed no hazards to the latter two groups but I was unable to find any info on what colorants are used to coat them, nor could I find any FDA material safety data sheets for them.

This is the variety of MICA commonly used to make them ...
Muscovite mica
8. Aspiring: WOULD BE.

9. "Gracious!": OH MY.

10. Research centers: LABS.  Many use a lot of 53D.

11. Worry: FRET.

12. "Were your __ burning?": EARS.

15. Long, loose top: TUNICThe history of the tunic ...
 
Roman worker dressed in a tunic

18. Help in getting to the next level?: STAIR.

19. Water-to-wine village: CANA.  Here's the scene from the series The Chosen where Jesus performs his first miracle (John 2:1-11).  One of the things I like about this series is that it often repurposes an anonymous figure in the Gospels, e.g. the "wine steward" in the wedding at Cana, and identifies him with someone famous: in this case the Apostle Thomas.   Even though Thomas has seen Jesus miraculously change water to wine, he is still a doubter even after Christ's resurrection ...



24. Son of Isaac and Rebecca: ESAU.  As we know ESAU was a twin, so I'm still waiting for a constructor to fill this clue with his brother JACOB, who is subsequently much more famous in the Hebrew Bible.

27. Roll with the punches: ADAPT.

28. Vintage violin: AMATI. AMATI  is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740.  Today, violins created by Nicol貌 Amati are valued at around $600,000. Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in museums or in private collections and are seldom played in public.   Here is the Adagio from Sonata No. 1 in G minor by J. S. Bach (1685--1750), performed on an AMATI violin by Sean Avram Carpenter ...
 The violin he is playing is in the collection of the Metropolitan Art Museum in NY.  For more information and selections see this link.

29. Gloomy: BLEAK.

30. Like some rugged vehicles: ALL TERRAIN.

31. Cutting remark: GIBE.

32. Those, in Spanish: ESAS.

33. Deliver cards: DEAL.

34. Folk singer Guthrie: ARLO.  Here's ARLO with Pete Seeger playing a song by Arlo's Dad ...
38. Carpet cleaners, for short: VACS.

39. Beseeched: EXHORTED.

42. Brand known for surfing gear: HANG TEN.  A name derived from the prehensile feet of surfers.

44. Barrel racing milieu: RODEO.  Here are some barrel races from the Houston RODEO (and CSO to -T).  Pretty exciting ...

46. Carson City neighbor: RENO.

47. Coarse fabric: TWEED.

51. Stimulant-yielding Asian leaf: BETEL.  I'd heard of BETEL, but always thought it was a NUT.  It turns out that the leaf (aka "paan") is always chewed in conjunction with the Areca nut, the fruit of the Areca palm. The chewing of these two plants together is widespread in Southeast Asia, despite the fact that The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) who have determined that chewing betel with areca nut is carcinogenic to humans.  OTOH, this article in the Indian e-zine netmed.com claims that there are Amazing Benefits Of Betel Leaves Nobody Told You, a veritable "paanacea" ...
Betel leaves
for sale in a local market

52. Wry twist: IRONY.

53. Seaweed gelatin used as a thickener: AGAR.  The word AGAR comes from agar-agar, the Malay name for red algae (Gigartina, Eucheuma, Gracilaria) from which the jelly is produced.  The substance is not only used in cooking, but also in scientific applications, e.g. as a culture medium in microbiology (see 10D).
 Petri dishes containing AGAR gel for bacterial culture

54. Fountain drink: SODA.  Also known in some parts of the country as POP.

55. Appear to be: SEEM.

56. Land in the water: ISLE.

57. School founded by Henry VI: ETONETON College is a public* school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore, making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Originally intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton is particularly well known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni (Old Etonians).

* Public school is Britspeak for private school.

59. Points to make in an argument, figuratively: AMMO.  Sadly, not all of it is used figuratively.

61. Lowest score on some scales: ONE.  On a piano score the lowest on the scale is AHere's why.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley  

Here are the CUCUMBERS Teri picked when I started writing this review:

Here are the first twelve jars of pickles we canned yesterday.  All twelve popped!
 

Postscript:

Today marks the 79th anniversary of the death of Teri's uncle Vincent Deterkavage, who was killed in action in Normandy during WWII

Teri and I have twice visited his grave site in the American Cemetery in St. James, Brittany in France, and today our family is taking the flag that was given to the family after his death to Fort McHenry in Baltimore, to have it flown there beside the Fort's Old Glory.


Note from C.C.:

Happy birthday to dear Melissa, the bravest, most tenacious friend I know. You continue to inspire me every day, Melissa!

[aug+12f.JPG]

54 comments:

Subgenius said...

Well, folks, unlike yesterday, I think today’s clueing was fairly and the answers eminently sussable. The one “veggie phrase” that had me stumped for a moment was “that’s my cucumber “ but then the V-8 can hit (speaking of vegetables) and I found the phrase “that’s my cue!” in it, though not spelled out quite as literally as those in the other themed answers. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

Subgenius said...

Replace the word “fairly” with the word “fair” in the above. “Stupid autocorrect “ strikes again!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

D-o inked in LUNG at 1a, but was certain GILL would be correct, so he could complain. Nope. This one was very straight-forward using the sound of the vegetable's first syllable to complete a common phrase. Nice. As a bonus, there was no reveal for some unnamed individual to miss. Thanx, Grant and Waseeley. (Sounds like quite an honor to have Teri's family's flag flown at the home of the Star Spangled Banner.)

Subgenius said...

By the way, Bill, I also love “The Chosen “ and follow it avidly. To me, it’s nearly miraculous that, in the midst of the SAG-AFTRA strike, “the Chosen “ team was able to complete filming its fourth season, which will be ready for viewing near the start of next year!

desper-otto said...

Oops, forgot to wish Melissa Bee a very happy birthday. Hope you do something fun, Melissa.

Subgenius said...

Like D-O, I also forgot to wish Melissa Bee a Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday, Melissa, I always enjoy your sparkling commentary!

Anonymous said...

P U to the nth degree. One obscure name after another. Right in the trash with this one

Subgenius said...

By the way, forgot to mention that yesterday was MY birthday! I turned 69 years old yesterday, a mere stripling in terms of some of you, I know, but it seems like a pretty advanced age to me!

waseeley said...

SG & MB HBD to you both!! 馃巿馃帀馃巵馃巰

inanehiker said...

This was a fun summer theme - especially with all the veggies getting ripe and the county fairs are all happening, at least here in the Midwest.

Thanks Bill for the Veggie Tales link - they came out when my kids were little so I have as many of their lines in the brain recesses as I have Monty Python.
One favorite song "The Pirates who Don't do Anything"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaWU1CmrJNc

Thanks Bill & Teri and kudos to Grant for starting off the day with a smile
HBD to MB and SG!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased leg up for STAIR, twill for TWEED, and ali for ALY (actually, just added a stroke to change "i" to "y".)

Frank Burns:
That's not my department, sir - intelligence is something I try to avoid.

The devil isn't in the details, the devil's in the VAC. Just ask any dog.

I haven't been to Carson City for something like 40 years, but I remember that back then they were holding on to the ambiance of the old west. Unlike Reno and Vegas, they didn't rip down the old buildings to build megacasinos. The casinos seemed to be half gambling house and half tourist attraction. Fun times. (Also visited the nearby Bonanza ranch, 100% tourist attraction. Only a little footage was shot there, it was mostly filmed in LA.)

HBDTY, SubG and melissa b.

Thanks to Grant. I found this puzzle to be a breath of fresh air after yesterday's thing.
And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun tour.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I hate to start a religious argument, but technically TOMATOs and CUCUMBERs are fruits. But on menus they are nearly always considered veggies.

KS said...

FIR. This was a really tough puzzle for a Thursday.

Way too many proper names, and most of them totally part of the baliwick of the constructor and not ones we mere mortals would ever know. Maybe it's just me, but it wouldn't surprise me to see a clue in the future that was the constructor's pet's name!

Husker Gary said...

Things are returning to some semblance of normalcy around here. The passing of my mother-in-law has been expected for months but it’s still so hard when it happens. Joann and her twin sister have borne up well in dealing with the many details and we are ready for the events of Friday and Saturday. One addition they came up with is to have a Happy Birthday Cake for their mother at the reception since the next day would have been her 101st. Thank you so much for the messages of comfort and sympathy, Joann really appreciated them too.

Anonymous said...

Took 7:43 today for me to finish my fruits & vegetables.

Didn't know today's author, mien, "hang ten" (as clued), or the spelling of the sword.
"Near rhymes" seemed odd, or maybe it was the examples of it. Not a fan.

I was a fan of Schitt's Creek (Catherina Ohara is wonderful in it).

Happy Birthday to SubG and Melissa.
(I am also a fan of their work.)

Big Easy said...

Easy Thursday puzzle with just a little trouble in the East. All my Spanish fills are guesses, GIBE is not a word I ever use, and ELLIS was unknown. It was looking BLEAK for a FIR but I managed. The vegetable clues were the easiest fills and that helped. O'HARA and CANA were the only other unknowns today. HANG TEN was a familiar term but didn't know is a brand name.

Arthur Clarke is right. Most people have no knowledge of how things they use all day, every day work. Only care that it works. It's just magic. Cell phone, microwave oven, and my new favorite- induction cooking. Explain that one.

Anonymous said...

The constructor’s pet’s name I think is sweepea

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Forgot to report on today's days:
NATIONAL HAIR GLOSS DAY
NATIONAL GEORGIA DAY
National (crossword favorite) IPA Day
NATIONAL WATERMELON DAY
NATIONAL GRAB SOME NUTS DAY (sounds painful!)

RosE said...

Good Morning! Just right for Thursday, very gettable with a little crunch – thanks, Grant.
ESP: AMY & ELLIS, known but forgotten.
WO: couple of vowel change-outs – my downfall…
33A – if anyone read my post on Tues, Aug 1 – synchronicity in action!! Love it!! 馃槈
Thanks, Bill & Teri. Pickles – congrats on your harvest! I remember as a kid my family canned watermelon rind pickles – have you tried those? And thanks for a packed full of tunes & info recap. You unveiled the theme for me – I got the veggies but missed the 2nd layer.

PS: Why am I seeing a trash can on my posts?

Lee said...

The watchword for today are slow and steady. They delivered a FIR for me. My toughest fill was NEARRHYME which needed most of the perps before becoming obvious.

Like Jinx, I wanted TWILL before TWEED, but DONE did it in.

HBD to SubG and Melissa, many happy returns of the day.

Finally cudos to Grant and Bill for their collaborative effort on make and take of today's contribution.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Hippo Birdie Two Ewes, Melissa Bee!

Thanks for the exposition, Bill. I will have to remember to eat an extra serving or two of veggies today.

A salute to Teri's uncle. My parents were both in the US Army at that time but did not see combat.

Monkey said...

My post disappeared. I probably forgot to hit Publish your comment button.

I remarked on my liking this healthy and somewhat crunchy CW.

Waseely: Wow what a cucumber harvest.

I still have a HANG TEN shirt. It must be an anti by now. LOL

HG: Condolences to JoAnn on the loss of her mother. That is always so tough.

Happy birthday to Melissa and a day late for young Subgenius.馃帄馃巶馃帀

Parsan said...

Thanks GB for a fair and challenging puzzle and Waseeley and Teri for an informative review.

Anyone remember the Broadway musical (and later a movie) “South Pacific”, based on “Tales of the South Pacific” by James Michener? Songs were written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and included one about a native women with the lyrics “Bloody Mary’s eating’ BETEL nuts. She is always eatin’ BETEL nuts, etc.”. That was back when musicals were wonderful and the songs were memorable.

Is it an age thing? I knew all the proper names today, WOLFE, OHARA, ELBA, ADELE, etc except for ELLIS. But when we have hip-hop and other current pop culture artists I am at a complete loss. Also stumped at technology terms.

HG Best wishes to you and your family.

BE@ 8:39 “Arther Clark is right”. I believe airplanes are magic.

Happy day all!

Wilbur Charles said...

I didn't get the CUe so I thought it was Friday. Had to go back and solve. Fortunately, a straightforward perpable xword. I thought of HAIL Caesar salad for a sec. And of course inked in strad/AMATI

I liked the clueing fe. CANA

BTW, I'm still trying figure out Friday's theme

WC

Lee said...

Induction stoves have a wire coil under the surface. When you turn it on, the current in the coil generates a magnetic field which induces a current in the iron/steel pan above it. The current in the pan creates heat due to the resistance of the metal, which by thermal conduction heats the water or food in the pan.

waseeley said...

Tante Nique @9:40 AM We're just getting started on the cucumbers. We'll run out of jars before we run out of cucumbers. Cucumber salad anyone?

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

A lot easier’n yesterday helped by str8forward long clue answers. Nary an Inkover.

“Land in the water” almost put dive. Good misdirection.

ALEPH means “ox” or “bull.” If you turn the Roman or Greek first letter of the alphabet, A upside down as it appears in some ancient alphabets it looks like a stylized ox head: the “feet” of the letter become the horns.

Perpwaited on Strad versus AMATI. Is there anybody left who doesn’t know how to say "those" in Spanish?



Bloody Mary’s favorite chaw: BETEL nuts (馃幖”Now ain’t that too damn bad!”馃幎)

Yellowfin-like or Albacore-ish….TUNIC
An end to the downpour…..ALLTERRAIN
In a back end collision the one who does the hitting……. REARER

馃巶

Happy Birthday Melissa

Happy Birthday plus one day SubG. Sub 70 by one year.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Parsan, I used to think that helicopters were magic. Then someone explained to me that they stir up so much dust and are so obnoxiously loud that the earth just rejects them.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...



Need some more help from my fellow “iPhonies”

How do you create a hyperlink from a personal or online pic?

On my android phone I would tap on the image be offered a choice to create a link. This isn’t an option on my iPhone

Lucina said...

Hola!

Yes! I found the salad veggies. We have salad every day at dinner with CUCUMMERS, lettuce and TOMATOES. Last night, though, we ate out at The Longhorn and today my out-of-town guests left to return to their home in Connecticut.

ERMA Bombeck was a gifted writer and I still miss her column. It's one of the reasons I subscribed to the daily newspaper.

Better go, my charge is acting up. Have a great day, everyone!

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Grant, and waseeley and Teri.
This was a refreshing solve even if I arrived here to see that I FIWed - twice! I had a C instead of W at the cross of WOLFE/Would, plus I WAGged an N instead of S at the cross of ElliS/Esas. Both fair mistakes and not the result of obscure clues. (I should have known Enas by now!)
The Veggie theme was funny. I smiled broadly at the triple Toes in GOES TOE TO TOMATO.

I waited for perps to decide between HERE in or TO.
NEAR RHYME was an Aha moment.
I changed Sauve to SUAVE when perps demanded it.
REARERS was a slight nose wrinkled.

Condolences to HuskerG and Joann on the loss of your mother (in-law). I remember that photo from her 100th birthday party, just a few months before my own mother’s 100th. Now they are both gone within a month of each other. Never forgotten with long lives well-lived.

Wishing you all a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Late to the dance due to a doctor’s appointment that ran much longer than scheduled. The theme was cute but I agree with Bill on the questionable Goes Toe To To (mato), but close enough in Crossworld Land. I also agree that there were numerous proper names but none were obscure (to me, anyway) and there were no other unknown entries, and perps were fair, so no complaints. I stumbled at Ali/Aly and Barb/Gibe but thought the overall solve was much easier than yesterday’s challenge. Props for the very few (10) three letter words. Lucina will be happy to see the handsome Mr. Elba. I, OTOH, was unpleasantly reminded of Hollywood’s disastrous adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s excellent novel, The Bonfire of The Vanities. IMO, that was the worst book to screen mishmash I’ve ever seen and was only exceeded in failure by the horrible miscasting of Tom Hanks in the lead role.

Thanks, Grant, for a fun and enjoyable solve and thanks, Bill, for the usual bounty of fun, facts, and frivolity. Only you could incorporate the disparate Bach and Barrel Racing, Arlo and Adele, and Erma and Eton, to name a few, and, as a Coda, throw in some transformed cucumbers morphing into those delicious looking pickles. Bravo to you and Teri for the entertainment and enlightenment which you provide every Thursday.

HG @ 7:46 ~ The birthday cake at the reception sounds like a very thoughtful and fitting honor for your MIL.

Happy Birthday馃巶馃巵馃帀馃帄馃巿, Melissa, hope you celebrate in style.

Belated Happy Birthday, Subgenius, 馃巶馃帀馃巵馃巿馃帄, hope you had a special day. And, yes, at 69, you are a mere lad amongst many of the elder Cornerites!

Have a great day.

RosE said...

CE Dave, thanks for your response. Why is it showing up on my posts & no one else's? And how do I prevent it?

MalMan, I have a mug with that BD greeting and the animals! So funny. And a sweet memory for me.
Happy Birthday to Melissa & SubG.

Anonymous said...

I must be on Grant’s wave length - I knew all the proper names except ELLIS and ALY. The theme clues were fun, but I took a long time to get NEAR RHYMES, a bit of a stretch IMHO. I thought the fill was interesting and not ho-hum obvious. Thanks, Grant for a lovely start to the day.
Thanks Waseely and Teri for the excellent tour.
Is anyone else missing the grid! In my print version in the LA Times, it isn’t there. I don’t remember that ever happening before.
MM - I’ve asked you this before, but if you live in Santa Barbara, why do you work the Chicago Trib puzzle? Wondering if tou’re a CUbs fan like Jack is.
Happy B’day Melissa Bee馃帀馃巶. To you as well, Sub-G.

JJB said...

A fun, quick puzzle. Don’t get the few complaints. Most of the fills were in many other CWs. Perps filled just about anything unknown. Difference in degree of knowledge and/or CW expertise. Out

Wendybird said...

So weird - Anonymous at 11:37 above, is me. I don’t know why my “name” didn’t show.

Wendybird said...

One last entry - HG and Joann, my consolences on the loss of your loved one. My aunt recently turned 100, and I want her to go on forever. It’s never easy to say goodbye.

Charlie Echo said...

A fun outing today. Clever theme, and fair perps. NEARRHYME was a tad gluey, and now we need to know obscure actress MIDDLE names? Sheesh! Much better than some of the post-Rich offerings, IMHO. Happy B-days to MB & SubG. No matter how quickly they accumulate . It's better to have them than not!

desper-otto said...

RosE : You are only permitted to delete your own posts. That's why you see the trash can on your own. Noone else sees it there.

Husker, sorry to hear of your MIL's demise. Expected, but still sad.

SubG, happy birthday, young man.

CanadianEh! said...

Happy Birthday to Melissa
Belated Happy Birthday to Subgenious.

RosE- all of us get a trash can so that we can delete our own post if desired. (Sometimes you made too many spelling errors or had weird autocorrections, or you have reconsidered something you posted and want to remove it.). You can only see your own trashcan, and it cannot be removed. Just ignore it if not needed.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

Today's puzzle was far easier to solve than yesterday's; it took me 1/3 of the time to solve so I will give it 1/3 of yesterday's "MOES hardness scale" score: 2.64

NEAR RHYMES --> I don't know if Grant (today's constructor) uses it, but I find this website to be most useful in finding rhyming words for my limericks and haikus. It has many more features, too

To no surprise, NEAR RHYMES makes its DEBUT as a crossword entry today

As for the theme and entries ... while there was a level of cuteness and cleverness to the puzzle, there was some inconsistency among them: HAIL A CAB(BAGE) (without the extra BAGE) is spelled, HAIL A CAB. OTOH, Take a CU(CUMBER) is spelled CUE. Same with the three TOES in GO TOE TO TOMATO). And the outlier - LOST ART(ICHOKE) - is not an idiomatic expression. Very odd to me that this would get past the editor(s)

Belated HB to Subgenious. As Ray-O-Sunshine points out, you are still Sub70. I don't know if you're a golfer, but there is a DTC golf club brand called Sub70Golf. I recently looked at new golf irons, and considered these ... until I realized that I was "post" 70 (age-wise) and therefore had to pass ...

HB to my fellow blogger Melissa Bee

We have at least another 6-7 days of high heat here where each day might set a new temperature record ... oh, joy

WC @ 9:45 --> I too am having a headscratch moment with Friday's theme. MalMan explains it well [spoiler alert] in his blog but also admits that he is open to other interpretations

unclefred said...

FIR in a Monday time!! Amazingly, it seems every day I say, “FIR in longer than my usual time”. Not today! OHMY, I was 100% on the same wavelength as GB!! I cannot recall the last time I finished a Thursday in 12 minutes, my usual Monday time. Maybe, like, NEVER? Needless to say, I LOVED this CW, thank you GB!! Everything just flowed!! Only W/O = ALGA:AGAR, followed by a forehead slap for such sloppiness on my part. TWEED went in when BURLAP wouldn’t fit, and TWILL didn’t perp. Thanx too to Bill for his dependably excellent write-up. HBD Melissa B, and HBD one day late to Subgenius.

RosE said...

Desper-Otto and CanadianEH, thank you both. Now I understand. I will either ignore it or use it as needed. There have been many times I've wanted to go back to correct spelling or punctuation.

PK said...

The veggie puzzle was enjoyable, reminding me of my gardening days when I was often in a pickle -- literally. My dill recipe had the cukes marinating in a big canner for a week. Such a feeling of accomplishment to see the row of jars full and awaiting your pleasure, thanks for the expo, Bill.

Happy Birthday, melissa bee.

Happy Birthday, Subgenius.

Condolences to Gary & Joann. Hard to lose a mom, but a relief to know their suffering is done.

Kelly Clark said...


Yay, puzzle! Really funny! Yay, Grant Boroughs! Yay Bill 'n' Teri! And yay, Melissa and Subgenius on your birthdays!

Jayce said...

I liked the veggies.

Parsan said...

Jinx - The helicopter? Makes sense to me. By the way, I made exactly the same errors initially as you did on STAIR, TWEED and ALY.

Other wonderful songs you can sometimes still hear, from “South Pacific” - “Some Enchanted Evening”, “There is Nothing Like a Dame”, “Younger Than Springtime”, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair”, Bali Ha’i”, etc.

AnonymousPVX said...


Wow, ten names, what imaginative clueing.

I’ve had an induction stove for 13 years, nothing beats it.

Wait’ll you turn 70…your insurance goes UP….just like being 16 again….as if.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

"Broccoli, celery, gotta be / Veggietales" -- Thanks for the fun & healthy puzzle, Grant.

Thanks waseeley for the beautiful veggie-photos in the expo. You're going to need a bigger jar.
//we make "dunkie-dunk" which is basically a floating salad of tomato, cukes, garlic, olive oil and red-wine vinegar (+anything else from the garden).
We call it dunkie 'cuz you dunk your bread into it.

WOs: N/A
ESPs: ALY, ELLIS, BATEL
Fav: I'll go with ARLO Guthrie - we haven't seen him in a while.

HG - let me also extend my condolences to you and Joann. The cake will be a nice touch to remember to celebrate her life too.

RosE - I like the new Avatar.

Happy Birthday mb! And a belated one to you SubG.

Inanehiker - funny you said Monty Python as the two guys that created VeggieTales (Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki) were fans. So, even though the aim of the show it so teach Biblical values to kids, it's really funny.

Gotta run. Cheers, -T

CrossEyedDave said...

Jinx, LOL helicopters...

Ray-O @ 10:43
Don't you read the Blog?
Two days in a row, me an' Irish Miss went thru this whole shebang!
I posted a very specific how to on what is involved in posting personal photos...

I could repost the whole dang trials and tribulations,
But in the end , it turned out easier just to email the photo to Irish Miss, who would the. Email it to me...

In fact, to make it easier, just email the photo to me at davegordon@optonline.net and I will post it on the blog for you...

(Or you could use Microsoft's Drive, but I guess that's not an option with an Android...)

Wilbur Charles said...

Happy Birthday mb! And a belated one to you SubG.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Happy Birthday mb! And a belated one to you SubG.

WC

Malodorous Manatee said...

I apologize, SubG, for misisng your birthday so please let me add one more echo of what has been said, above: Belated Happy Birthday to Subgenious.

Also, for some reason, this has been running through my head today:

Frank Zappa

OwenKL said...

I quite agree. In fact, I've taken to think of my smartphone as my "magic box". It can do so many things that magic items or spells do in fantasy novels.