google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, August 31, 2023, Jeff Stillman

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Aug 31, 2023

Thursday, August 31, 2023, Jeff Stillman

 

 

 That's Entertainment!
 Today constructor Jeff Stillman steps into the spotlight for his 51st appearance on the Corner, and entertains us with a bit of slight-of-hand.  The rare solver, who will remain anonymous, may be disappointed that Jeff conceals his tricks in (horrors!), circles.  But I think the former's time for today's puzzle would not have been as lightning fast (as I'm sure it was) without them.  The rest us, incapable of solving 3 dimensional crossword puzzles in our heads, would probably have been AT SEA.

Since each of the three themers consist of single letters spread across two consecutive lines and 4 consecutive columns we'll start with the grid ...


And here's Jeff's reveal ...

64A. Hollywood honors since 1995, and what the circled letters are?: SAG AWARDS

The honors he is referring two are those of the Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards),  accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA*).  Starting in 1995 SAG awards have been given in the major areas of Film, Film, and Life Achievement in various subcategories.  The statue given to each of the awardees looks like this:
"The Actor"
The bit of legerdemain that I referred to above is the fact that while the letters in the circles spell out awards that SAG on the grid, they are not given by The Screen Actors Guild, but rather by other organizations:

The TONY, formally known as The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The ceremony is held on the second Sunday of June.  Here are this year's awards.
Tony Medallion
The ESPY Award, short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award, is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC.  Here are the winners and nominees for 2023.  Here's the statuette awarded to each winner ...
ESPY Statuette

The annual CLIO Awards, established in 1959, are named for the Greek goddess Clio, the mythological Muse known as "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments" in the field of advertising. They are awarded. to recognize innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals.  Here are the 2023 winners.  This is what they won ...
 
Clio Award

Here are the rest of the clues ...
 
Across:

1. First word of a Shakespeare title: ALLSALL'S Well That Ends Well was published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. The play is considered one of Shakespeare's "problem plays", one that poses complex ethical dilemmas that require more than typically simple solutions.

5. Chorus member: ALTO.  Here "chorus member" Marianne Crebassa adds some exquisite harmonies to this performance of the Flower Duet with Soprano Sabine Devieilhe from Leo Delibes opera Lakmé (lyrics) ...
 
9. Autumn bloom: ASTER.  And here's a beautiful ASTER duet ...
Asters
14. Wobble: REEL.

15. Bellyache: MOAN.

16. Volleyball shot: SPIKE.  Would you believe, there is actually a machine that can help you improve your volleyball SPIKES? ...
 

17. Spot for a TV dinner: TRAY TABLE.  For those who eat dinner in their dens.

19. Realty listings: HOMES.

20. Young fella: SONNY.  A father's song to his SON? ...

21. Large amount: SCAD.  We've seen this fill SCADS of times.

23. Audition: TEST.

24. Unqualified: INEPTEPT qualifies as its antonym, at least according to the OED.

26. Yellowish pink: CORAL.  Actually CORALS come in a variety of hues.  Some little-known facts about these underwater ecosystems.
Coral Array
28. "YOLO" philosophy: SEIZE THE DAY.  Just make sure it's not a tiger ...

32. Slower than Mach 1: SUBSONIC.  Speeds faster than Mach 1 are SUPERSONIC.

35. Susan Swain's network: CSPANSusan Swain (born December 23, 1954) is an American journalist, author and the co-CEO of C-SPAN.
Susan Swain
37. Spanish "that": ESO.  Today's Spanish lesson on demonstrative pronouns ...

38. Horse barn sound: SNORT.

41. __-mo: SLO.

42. Scope of influence: AMBIT.  The AMBITIOUS want to increase theirs.

45. Low-alcohol beverage: NEAR BEER.

48. Brownie-making ingredient: COCOA POWDER.  We're still getting lots of zucchini.  If you are, here's last week's recipe again.

51. Ship with staterooms: LINER.

52. Oscar-winning role for Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno: ANITA.   Sixty years ago, Rita Moreno became the first Latina to win an Oscar, given for the role of ANITA in the 1961 film West Side Story. Recently Ariana DeBose won best supporting actress for the same role in the Steven Spielberg's 2021 reboot, becoming part of an elite club of Oscar-winners who've received the accolade for playing the same character. They're the first pair of women ever to accomplish this. Incidentally, Ariana hosted this years TONY Awards, and of course Rita has a TONY as a part of her EGOT.
And not coincidentally,  Rita played the role of Valentina in the new production, and served as an executive producer.  Here's Spielberg's take on her contributions as a consultant ...
Ironic note: The 1961 film was awarded a total of 10 Oscars, the musical film with the most Academy wins.  The composer of that music, the great Leonard Bernstein, didn't receive one for Best Original Score; in fact he wasn't even nominated. 


55. C __ Charlie: AS IN.

57. Dollars for quarters: RENT.  Also the name of a Broadway musical loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme.  Among several awards it won 3 OBIES, a TONY, and a Pulitzer Prize ...


 
60. Piano exercise: ETUDE.  As Annique Göttler demonstrates, 14 years of piano exercises makes a big difference when playing  Chopin's ETUDE Op.10 No.4 (the "Torrent"). ..

62. Photographer Dorothea: LANGE Dorothea LANGE (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs influenced the development of documentary photography and humanized the consequences of the Great Depression.
Dorothea Lange
1936
64 [Theme reveal}

66. Caulking fiber: OAKUMOAKUM is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships.
Hemp oakum
67. Nights before special days: EVES.

68. "Yeah, right": I BET.

69. Medicine amts.: TBSPS.

70. Poker player's giveaway: TELL.

71. Plant stem joint: NODE.

Down:

1. Creative pursuits: ARTS.  Here is yet another award for the musical ARTS -- the An Die Musik ("To Music")  Award, presented annually to a classical music enthusiast who has significantly furthered the work and mission of the Schubert Club.  The award is named for the most famous of the over 600 Lieder (songs) written by Franz Schubert.  It is sung here by the great tenor Fritz Wunderlich (lyrics and translation) ...

2. The king of France?: LE ROI.  Today's French lesson.

3. "The Right Kind of Wrong" singer Rimes: LEANNMargaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's Blue, by writer Bill Mack (lyrics) ...
4. Craft: SLYNESS.

5. Reddit sesh for fans: AMAAsk Me Anything, but you'd better pull up a chair. 😁

6. Deft tennis shots: LOBS.

7. Soft mineral: TALC. Number 2 on MOE's Hardness Scale.

8. Staged without a break: ONE ACTHere is probably the most famous of them all and it's still playing!

9. Cigarette end: ASH.

10. Part of a politician's media campaign: SPOT ADS.  The season will soon be upon us ...

11. Like photographs of an eclipse, say: TIME LAPSE.  Here is a time lapse video of the 2018 solar eclipse taken in Casper, WY.  The photographer paused the video for a few seconds at the moment of totality.  Nice touch ...

12. __ out a win: EKES.

13. Musical interval: REST. Sometimes RESTS in music can be as beautiful as the music that surrounds them. This famous passage near the end of the 2nd movement of  Antonin Dvorak 's New World Symphony. has several. I've clipped this to begin after a brief allegretto at 9:21 sec.  After the music dies down to quiet passage in the English Horn, listen for the first REST at 11:18 followed by 3 or more toward the end ...

18. Versatile blood donor: TYPE O.

22. Quote from Homer: DOH. "Why didn't I think of that!?"

25. Cookie containers: TINS.

27. __ center: REC.

29. Cab alternative: ZIN.  As CABernet is abbreviated, so is ZINfandel.

30. Low-cost prefix: ECONO.

31. Handsome Dan's Ivy: YALEHere's the latest BDOC ...
Handsome Dan XIX
32. "Wide Sargasso __": Jean Rhys novel: SEAWide Sargasso SEA is a 1966 novel by Dominican-British author Jean Rhys, CBE. The novel serves as a postcolonial and feminist prequel to Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847), describing the background to Mr. Rochester's marriage from the point-of-view of his wife Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress.  There have been several adaptations of the novel, some rated R and at least one rated NC-17.   The most unusual one I found told the story in the lyrics of the song Wide Sargasso Sea by Stevie Nicks from her 2011 album In Your Dreams  (rated PG) ...

33. "Oorah!" org.: USMCThe United State Marine Corps.  A CSO to our dear departed Wilbur Charles ...

34. Migratory songbirds: BOBOLINKS.  And sing they do ...

36. Negative conjunction: NOR.

39. Button with left-pointing arrows: Abbr.: REW.

40. Unveiling shout: TA DAVOILÀ  was too long.

43. Becoming treacherous, as a winter road: ICING UP.

44. Weigh station unit: TON.

46. Extend: RENEW.

47. Great place?: BRITAIN.  I'll drink to that!

49. __ Lingus: AER.  Ireland has some great brews too.

50. Adjusted beforehand: PRESET.

53. Engine booster, for short: TURBO.

54. Supplemented: ADDED.

55. Bushels: A LOT.  Note space between A and LOT.

56. Onetime Volvo rival: SAAB.

58. Cathedral part: NAVE.

59. Neutrogena dandruff shampoo: TGEL.

61. 90° from norte: ESTE.  More Spanish.

63. "Mamma Mia" quartet: EMS.  Oh my, how am I gonna stuff ABBA into a 3 letter fill?  DOH, with a EMeta clue of course! 

65. Communication sys. at Gallaudet: ASL.  One of the most interesting experiences we've had was attending a wedding Mass for a relative of Teri's who had attended Gallaudet University.  Many of the people there were deaf and prior to the service they were chattering away in ASL with one another all across the church.  We couldn't understand a word that they were saying, but we did get some some idea of what it must be like to be deaf in a crowded room.

*As many of you are aware, as of this writing the SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are still in the midst of a bitter strike against Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.  At a recent press conference, SAG president Fran Drescher gave a fiery speech rebuffing the AMPT, and showing she has certainly come a long way since her days as a Nanny.

Cheers,
Bill

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

waseeley 

38 comments:

  1. Well, folks, I would say this has been an interesting week, to say the least. To me, Monday and Wednesday’s puzzles seemed fraught with difficulty, while Tuesday and Thursday’s puzzles seemed quite easy, or at least much less difficult. A new pattern emerging, or just a random jumble of difficulty? I’m sure IM will have something to say about this. And, speaking of my friends, I’m sure SS appreciated the “shoutout “ to him. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

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  2. Good morning, Waseeley and friends. Note that the circles allows each of the AWARDS to "Sag" and form a little bowl, hence the SAG AWARDS.

    The next solar eclipse to go across the United States will be on April 8, 2024. We already have it marked on our calendar and plan to be in the Dallas area to experience it. We were in the Nashville area in 2018 for the eclipse and it was amazing.

    QOD: Everybody has got to died, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. ~ William Saroyan (Aug. 31, 1908 ~ May 18, 1981), American novelist

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  3. Good morning!

    After the reveal, d-o also noticed the "SAG" that Hahtoolah saw. Cute gimmick, Jeff. Quite the musical tour de force, Waseeley -- nine links if my count is right.

    Still hot here, but the hurricane as shifted our winds to the north and humidity is low. This morning will actually be quite nice, but it'll heat up quickly. Hoping for some rain this weekend. We're parched.

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  4. Very creative theme - and timely with SAG strike! I personally wouldn't have seen the awards without the circles

    Thanks Bill for all the musical links from Marvin Gaye to ABBA, including the actual musical links for RENT and West Side Story. BTW Bernstein couldn't have been nominated for Best original Score because it had already been on Broadway and thus wasn't ORIGINAL. Musicals often add a new song to the movie that wasn't in the stage play so they can be nominated in the Best Song category.

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  5. Without the circles? No way I would have noticed the SAGging AWARDS. But the puzzle was a fast fill for a Thursday with only a few unknowns, notably Handsome Dan and Susan Swain- never heard of either. But YALE and the network that nobody watches, CSPAN, were easy fills anyway. Watching members of Congress talk is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

    LANGE- filled by perps before I saw the clue but I didn't know of her.
    OAKUM- thank you perps; new word for me.
    SONNY- Marvin's dad wasn't so kind to his 'Sonny" after he was caught stealing money from him.
    TBSPS- I bought and sold over a billion dollars of pharmaceuticals and don't ever remember seeing 'tablespoon' used as dosage for any Rx drug. For OTC items it was either teaspoon, cc, or ml.

    TURBO- when I buy an auto I make sure it does not have a turbocharged engine. I'm not a speed demon and don't need a 'boost' and worse gas mileage.

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  6. FIR. Stared at a lot of white squares for a bit, and then found my foothold and "seized the day", my breakthrough.
    I'm not a fan of circles and could have done this CW without them. Best clue was definitely 63D.

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  7. Oh joy, circles! Enough with the proper names/nouns.

    Been 8:25 since I started this. I do appreciate the shout-out.

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  8. PS. I tried inserting many more spaces between my first two sentences to try to play into the theme, but I seemed to have failed in the execution.

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  9. inanehiker @7:48 AM Thanks for that explanation Nina. It figures that "original scores" should be original! I think the same thing applies to copyrights. I'm reading Samuel Butler's Erewhon and in the preface he mentions that he added some new material to the 2nd edition at the request of his publisher (even though he didn't want to) to maintain the copyright.

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  10. FIR, but erased unfit for INEPT, doses for TBSPS, and EKEd for EKES. EKEd held up TEdT, which I new was wrong but couldn't figure out why until I took a little break and complete the King Syndicate puzzle. That freed up the V8 can, and initiated the DOH! moment.

    Today is:
    NATIONAL DIATOMACEOUS EARTH DAY (the REAL Earth Day)
    NATIONAL EAT OUTSIDE DAY (it's RAIN ALL DAY here in Norfolk)
    INTERNATIONAL OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY (Fentanyl is a factor in more than half of overdose deaths)
    NATIONAL TRAIL MIX DAY (that stuff can be addicting)
    NATIONAL MATCHMAKER DAY (dating apps may have made these obsolete)

    You might get the nickname SONNY as a lad, but it is likely to become a lifelong moniker.

    I know AMA in this context from crosswords. I already knew the doc's club.

    One-act plays must aggravate theater bartenders.

    Actually, weigh station units are pounds, not TONS. Drivers can get tickets for overall weight, or if individual axles are over weight. Sometimes they will be allowed to rearrange the cargo to correct the problem. If the overall weight is too high, the truck will likely be stopped until another truck can be brought in to offload enough cargo to make it legal.

    I remember "where crickets chirp and the bobolinks sing, comes milk as fresh as the morning dew, right to Valley Bell, straight to you." Valley Bell Dairy in Charleston, WV did a lot of TV ads back in the day, and I watched a lot of WV TV as a kid.

    Thanks for another fun challenge, Jeff. My favorites were "dollars for quarters" and Momma Mia quartet. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun visual review.

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  11. Good Morning:

    Yes, as subgenius suggests this was on the easier side for a Thursday which, as I’ve mentioned previously, is the new norm of the day/difficulty increment pattern being no longer in play, as a rule. No matter today, as I thoroughly enjoyed the solve and have no criticisms whatsoever. Loved the theme and execution, and the fitting and surprise reveal. The circles were necessary to illustrate the “sag” of the award and also played a part in the easiness of completion. I appreciated the three different disciplines, Arts, Sports, and Advertising, as well as the low (14) three letter word count and minimal pop culture and no junk fill. Oakum, Handsome Dan, and CSPAN, as clued, were the only unknowns but were soon filled by perps. My favorite C/A was Great place=Britain and favorite fun fill was Bobolinks. The Volleyball/Spike has a special meaning to HG which I hope he’ll expound on.

    Thanks, Jeff, for a fun and very satisfying solve and thanks, Bill, for another tour de force review. If your depth and breadth of knowledge of so many fields, especially music, could be converted into money, you’d be a billionaire! Thanks for sharing and introducing us to the wide, wonderful world of Waseely-pedia! Thanks, also, to your sidekick and collaborator, Teri.

    FLN

    HG, congrats on that Wordle feat. That achievement has eluded me, so far, but I did get a Phrazle on the first try. Pure luck, naturally, but exciting just the same.

    Have a great day.

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  12. Good Morning! Thanks, Jeff, for a fun and challenging puzzle today.

    The North filled quite readily, but then I ran into some more “Thursday-ish” offerings.
    I held off neigh for SNORT.

    WO: started choc…. when COCOA emerged.

    The SW gave me pause. BOBOLINKS crossing AMBIT, (WAG) LANGE and OAKUM.

    I don’t know Susan Swain, but CSPAN filled from the downs.
    Nor did I remember the name of Rita Moreno’s character, so ESP ANITA.

    Thanks, Bill & Teri. What a wide variety of music we were treated to today, from birds, country, opera, pop…… WOW!!!

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  13. Musings
    -The awards stood out like a brick in a punch bowl and the reveal was oh so clever!
    -Bill and Teri, your write-up and the The Flower Duet really ADDED to my day!
    -Yes Irish: In case you missed it, 92,003 Husker VB fans showed up last night to set a world’s record.
    -TRAY TABLE – I wish I still had some of those old battered TV trays of my yute!
    -I think those LINERS are sailing with some empty staterooms these days
    -A favorite rock and roll REST of mine occurs in Monday, Monday
    -The Shuttle’s three main engines and two boosters had to lift 2,200 tons off the pad
    -It doesn’t matter if a speech heard on C-SPAN is boring, no one in the chamber is listening.
    -What are the PRESETS on your car radio?
    -Believe me, supplementing a teacher’s lesson plans as a sub can is not always welcome!

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  14. Big Easy, From Mary Poppins - "A spoonful of love makes the medicine go down...." coulda been a tablespoon...?🤣

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  15. HG @8:47 AM Thanks for being my straight man today -- I only have one PRESET, which is of course WBJC-FM. 😀

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  16. Was just about to hang my head in shame and accept a DNF for one letter in the SW: OAKU_ crossed with E_ S when the letter M quartet smacked me in the head. ABBA ABviously wouldn’t work. Great misdirection although not a fan of this kind of letter clue. I didn’t get the sagging part of the theme but those are some Ugly looking trophies

    Inkovers: aims/ARTS

    Also liked the misdirected “cab alternative” (not Uber/Lyft) and RENT "dollars for quarters”

    I put reach for “extend” which screwed up the surrounding perps for awhile. MARIA seemed wrong but filled it anyway eventually perpcorrrected. With just the B was tempted to fill Bluebirds but held off, cuz if wrong, would again mess up too many perps.

    LE ROI as in… “Hey Leroy, yo’ mama, she callin’ you man." (which begs the musical question : Why she calling you “man” if your name is Leroy?) ….

    Jinx, I have a cousin SONNY (Joseph) who is 76….. “Handsome Dan”, Swain,LANGE, OAKUM? BTW: The movie version was called “All’s Swell that Ends Swell”

    TRAYTABLES ( We called ‘em TV trays cuz sometimes Mom would let use them to eat from while watching a favorite TV show on at the same time as dinner.)

    Makes it till dawn…. SIEZETHEDAY
    _____ the day…. REW
    Finishing touch on a cake ….ICINGUP
    “Krossword” is an example….TYPEO

    End of August already (seems like it never stopped raining all month) Summer races by once again.

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  17. Don't they call those little shelves on airplanes that pop out from the seat in front of you a TRAY TABLE? BTW Ray, your link (not the bobo-type) doesn't work on my machine.

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    Replies
    1. TV tray …I must have set it up wrong cuz it didn’t work on my printed version either

      Delete
  18. Indeed a nice puzzle, clever theme that almost got me a DNF. I kept EmmY far too long and to add to my misery I spelled DOH DuH. I finally came to my senses. So FIR with SUBSONIC speed.

    So lovely Waseely provides us with musical entertainment.

    Only once did I get a WORDLE on the first try, but I keep trying for that to happen again.

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  19. Easy puzzle, clever theme. If we must have obscure proper names, at least the perps were fair. I put my cookies in JARS, before re-housing them in TINS. Knew OAKUM, from reading many novels of the great age of Fighting Sail. Why do they call them STATEROOMS? I guess that sounds better than "closets".

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  20. I especially like when the recap is as much fun as the puzzle itself. Thanks Waseely for an informative and entertaining review. Thanks Jeff for a fun run 🏃‍♂️ on a Thursday….. kkFlorida

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  21. Hola!

    ALL'S well that ends WELL which in this case was the puzzle which I solved earlier then returned to bed. The noisy landscapers were here and woke me up. They naturally start at the crack of dawn to avoid the heat.

    Wasn't SONNY in the Godfather?

    ESO has to wait for BOBOLINKS to complete it.

    I don't know of photographer Dorothea LANGE but Jessica is familiar.

    Coffee beckons me so, later.

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  22. And don't forget the other half of the SONNY AND Cher duo. SONNY Liston was a great boxer, SONNY Jurgensen was a player and an announcer for the Redskins, and SONNY Perdue was governor of Georgia. "Junior" and "Trey" (for "the third") also stick.

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  23. Today's puzzle was a turtle version, slow and steady won the race. Not particularly difficult, as SubG and IM pointed out, it just took a bit of plodding for me to FIR.

    Fine job, Jeff. A stellar review, Bill. Keep up the good work, fellas.

    Watch out for the NE heat wave coming next week!

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  24. A clever puzzle JS that seemed ordinary with CLIO, TONY,and ESPY. Until the dipping SAG AWARDS. Waseeley and Teri, the music from many genres was delightful — my favorites the Dvorak and the USMC Marine’s Hymn, which we sang in grade school, along with other Navy, Army, and Air Force songs. Prefer La Boheme to RENT.

    Olivia Havilland starred in “The Snake Pit”, a movie about mental illness, and the music from the New World Symphony that you gave us today, Waseeley, was called “Going Home”. The words to the song, a major factor in the film, were sad and poignant. The movie called attention to mental illness, with some positive results that brought the subject out into the open, but also criticism of some aspics of the film. I think a very different film would be made today with advances in treatment and attitudes about mental health.

    Susan Swain of CSPAN did an excellent series a few years ago, “First Ladies”, 45 one hour episodes that presented the lives of each presidential wife from Martha to Michelle. The show interviewed historians, relatives, friends, and had access to diaries, letters, and visited places that were part of each ladies history. In truth, much of it was fascinating, some of it was boring, but it was American history found no where else. A book was put together from all the information and may still be available.

    I once saw Handsome Dan. I think he was the IXth one.

    Happy evening, all!

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  25. I liked the sagging awards and words like BOBOLINKS and SUBSONIC. Favorite clue/answers were Great BRITAIN, Dollars for quarters: RENT, and Quote from Homer: DOH.

    Excellent write-up, waseeley.

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  26. Waseeley brings us today's Stillman PZL.

    OAKUM is a new one on me. And the "Mamma Mia" misdirection was wasted on me because I had E_N (not E_S) waiting to be finished.
    (I had filled 69A with TBSPN!)
    ~ OMK
    ____________
    DR:
    Three diagonals, near side.
    The center diag yields an anagram (13 of 15) which might be applied to an early explorer who has teamed up with another because they met while children and grew up together.
    Yes, I know it is awkward, but such a person may be called an...

    "ADNATE PIONEER"!

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  27. Hi All!

    FIW the SW. Never heard of a BOBOLINK, LANGE or OAKUP. I waged the N in LANGE and thought OAgUM & BOBOLING sounds good :-)

    Thanks Jeff for the fine puzzle. The reveal gave me the theme to get TRAY (Table) and finish the NW.

    Thanks for the musical review, waseeley.

    WO: house->HOMES
    ESPs: REEL (as clued)| LEANN, AMBIT, LANGE
    Fav: Three-way tie: Great BRITIAN, 4 EMS in "Mamma Mia", Dollars for quarters.

    Big Easy - When I had cable, I loved CSPAN. No "news" person's filters/spin (just what our fine leaders said with context) and >1/2 the time you'd get a nice nap ('cuz no loud commercial interrupt every 10 minutes).

    Anon@8:13a - if you need spaces use   (you NEED the ; -- that's not me punctuating). I put 4 of them here: "       ".

    HG - On FM, NPR (88.7), The Eagle (106.9 - classic rock), and The Buzz (94.5 Alternative Rock). On AM, it's 740 for Astros games and the Crazy People Show at midnight.

    Ray-O: ditto "TV TABLE" that's why I never thought of TRAY until the theme pointed to "TONY."

    The only NEAR BEER that I found palatable was Clausthaler.

    Cheers, -T

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  28. I like saying BOB-O-LINK. It slides across my tongue.

    Yes, DOOLARS FOR QUARTERS is good!

    We almost got rain here. The ground was wet for about 15 minutes or maybe less.

    What is NEAR BEER, anyway?

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  29. Interesting Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Jeff. And thank you for your commentary too, Bill and Teri.

    Well, this puzzle started off a bit sad, I thought, with someone MOANing and REELing, and making sad sounds, like a SNORT along with a look of SLYNESS. But soon things cheered up, when we noticed that actually there was some music right at the beginning, with an ALTO tune, in a setting decorated with an ASTER, and guys from YALE and from BRITAIN showing up to collect some AWARDS. That'll would be a much better way to spend this EVE, wouldn't it?

    Have a great evening, everybody.

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  30. Anon-T

    "C-SPAN is the 83rd most popular TV network and the 1309th most popular brand."

    Translation- <.1% of the watching audience.

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  31. CSPAN broadcasts government hearings without commercial interruption. Also many excellent book reviews

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  32. Anonymous at 7:39PM Thanks for pointing out the value of CSPAN. But how would people have time to participate in democratic government?

    How will they keep up with all those important cat videos? And what the celebrities are wearing?

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  33. Fun puzzle & expo, thanks, Jeff & Bill!

    Would you believe DOH was my last fill? I tried "ode" holding out until the last, thinking the quote was from ancient Homer, the Greek.

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  34. Thanks, Jeff, for your clever puzzle. I saw the SAGging AWARDS but stumbled at the AM?IT/BO?OLINKS crossing. FAVs: Great place? and Dollars for quarters.

    55A is a CSO to Charlie Echo!

    H-Gary @ 8:47. PRESET. K-PIG 107(oink)5

    Lucina @ 4:54. NEAR BEER is a brand of alcohol-free beer so it's "nearly beer".

    Thank you, waseeley, for the Thursday education! FAV videos: ETUDE, eclipse, and BOBOLINK

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  35. Thank you Jeff Stillman for a very challenging puzzle. I tried to see where I could go before turning on the red letters ... and some of the surpirse answers I got, were very interesting and charming indeed. Great Britain really tickled my funnybones...

    Thank you Bill Waseeley and Teri for an fantastic review, and a musical tour-de-force .... did I use that right ??
    i tried to click on every musical link, but I may have missed some...

    For a simple person, like me, whose musical education is one hundredth of his crossword education ... it was very overwhelming.

    I was not familiar with the term SAG in the awards. Seems like the OPEC of the musical and prose arts industry.

    Without dealing with the politics, ... although I am aware of the ongoing writers strike, ..... it seems to be to be self defeating and a lose-lose situation on both sides.
    Something like the baseball strike a while ago.

    Have a good night, all.

    ReplyDelete

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