Puzzling thoughts:
Laura Dershewitz (see fourth constructor listed) is a relative newcomer to crossword puzzle construction. Likewise, Katherine Baicker is also new to constructing. Both debuted during COVID, and the two of them have collaborated on an LA Times puzzle before
I know that many of you who comment here are not in favor of circles in a puzzle. However, today's would've been quite difficult to "see the theme" if they weren't there. All three of the theme entries used the circled letters to complete the reveal, as you'll see in the highlighted grid. The circles spelled out the name of a member of the cat family - COUGAR, PUMA, and LION. There didn't seem to be any continuity as to how the circled cats came into view. In other words, one cat - the COUGAR - went above and counterclockwise; the LION went up and counterclockwise, too; the PUMA, though, decided to appear in a downward, clockwise pattern. Not a nit; and perhaps this was done to further support the fact that like domestic cats, the "wild varieties" are also difficult to herd
Entry #1 actually uses the singer's name (20-across. Big name in 1980s heartland rock: JOHN C MELLENCAMP) although most audiophiles refer to this singer by his full name - John COUGAR Mellencamp - as opposed to using just his middle initial
Entry #2 is a bit trickier, as (32-across. Some suede kicks: P SNEAKERS) the PUMA was mostly separate from the SNEAKERS part. What are suede-like PUMA SNEAKERS you ask? Here:
Entry #3 might have been the trickiest of all. The grid revealed (45-across. "If I Were King of the Forest" singer: COWARDLY L), which looked odd to me; but when I saw the LION appear in the circles, it made sense
Overall, it was a good puzzle; not great. Many words and phrases are not ones we would use daily, but as someone who's constructed puzzles, I know how difficult this must've been to create
This puzzle took me over 20 minutes to solve (on-line), and I give it a 7.1 on the MOE'S hardness scale. You might notice from the grid image that I had a couple of mistakes ... did you, too?
Let's throw in the grid; follow the circles as I've explained to see how the CATS became "herded":
Across:
1. Chow down: EAT. Easy start; three-letter beginners need to be easy IMO
4. Military bigwigs: BRASS. Named for their "BRASS" colored medals denoting rank, perhaps?
9. Bar codes?: LAWS. A slight bit of misdirection as "bar" refers to the test that lawyers take (and must pass) to practice LAW
13. Injure severely: MAIM. Kind of a harsh word, but OK as clued
15. "This __ to be good": OUGHT. What I hope you folks say when you're about to read a Chairman Moe blog!
16. Hemoglobin mineral: IRON.
17. College chem course, informally: ORGO. [vanderbilt.edu] "What does ORGO mean? Simply put, orgo is the study of organic chemical reactions, mainly involving the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. A typical reaction may look something like this: You essentially need to know the mechanism of how the reaction works and be able to predict the product and reactant". Learning moment, and the first of the words I would not use on a daily basis
18. Basketry willow: OSIER. If it weren't for crossword puzzles, I would not know the word OSIER
19. Actress Garr: TERI.
23. Opening words: INTRO.
24. "Pomp and Circumstance" composer: ELGAR.
25. Leslie __ Jr. of "Hamilton": ODOM. I knew this, but when I first inserted it I made a correction because I thought that (26-down. Allowed: OKD) was LET
28. Not much: A BIT OF. Meh
37. One who may be shorthanded at work?: STENO. Good clue but easy to solve. Do STENOs even exist anymore?
38. Wish undone: RUE. Moe-ku #1:
Ms. McClanahan
Wishes folks knew her first name
Was Eddi. Rue, RUEd
39. Flag: DROOP. The verb version - "sag", as a clue, would've been TOO easy
41. "Baby Cobra" comedian Wong: ALI. Not Mohammed or Laila
42. Hub city for Royal Jordanian Airlines: AMMAN. Geography
48. Oh so very: TOO, TOO. Our Thesaurussaurus doesn't agree ...
50. Turn on an axis: SLUE.
51. Medieval Times prop: LANCE.
54. Shot-putter?: NURSE. Shot-sipper would also fit as a clue here if they used the verb. But in this case, the NURSE was the one "giving the shot". Cute
63. Brainstorm: IDEA.
64. Established beliefs: DOGMA. My error here was thinking too far ahead ... I placed an "S" in the fifth position before looking at the crossing words
65. Tall birds: EMUS. Just how tall is an EMU, you ask? [Smithsonian] "The EMU is the second largest living bird and the largest bird found in Australia. Its height averages 5.7 feet (1.75 meters). Males weigh 110 to 121 pounds (50 to 55 kilograms), and females weigh about 11 pounds (5 kilograms) more than males. Emus live only in Australia, where they are widespread". And now you know
66. Is appropriate: FITS. GIBES or AGREES do not "fit" here
67. Get 100% on the test: ACE IT.
68. Movie theater drink: SODA. If you can afford it
69. Quartet for Jennifer Hudson, for short: EGOT. This word is quickly becoming part of crossword-ese
70. Question type: YES/NO. TRUE/FALSE was too big for the five spaces here
71. BOS rivals: NYY. A posthumous CSO to Wilbur Charles who was a big Red Sox fan. Sadly for the fans of the Beantown baseball team, the Yankees lead the overall series, 1,259–1,052
Down:
1. Japanese term whose similarity to "emotion" is coincidental: EMOJI. Want to see how to create an EMOJI? Let's see if it works ... if I did it correctly there should be an EMOJU of Husker Gary swinging a golf club below ...
🏌️♀️
2. Crooner Neville: AARON. Hmm ... AARON not clued as: ___ Burr; or Hank ___; or Exodus Biblical character ... today it's clued as a crooner. Neville. I was trying to think, is it Neville AARON or AARON Neville? Guess I'll just have to insert one of his croonings ... and FTR, this is one of my favorite AARON Neville songs ... I was in 9th grade when this released ... and I remember it as being one of the more popular "slow dance" songs ...
3. Snug: TIGHT. Unfortunately, I've gained about 12 pounds since COVID began and can't lose it. Everything I wear is pretty TIGHT these days
4. Market upswing: BOOM. Better than a BUST, which is when the stock market swing is coming down
5. Scheme: RUSE. Moe-ku #2:
Ms. McClanahan
Thought that Sara's a schemer.
Yes, Rue rued Rue's RUSE
6. Spry: AGILE.
7. Narrow racing boat: SHELL. Here are a slew of SHELLs during a race ...
8. "__ Nona": Tomie dePaola picture book: STREGA. #2 of the words not usually mentioned daily. I had "no clue" but googled the word to learn more. Good old [wikipedia] says, "STREGA Nona is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. If considered as a folktale, the story is Aarne-Thompson type 565, the Magic Mill. It concerns Strega Nona and her helper, Big Anthony. With only a single "n", the title actually means "Ninth Witch" in Italian". Another website says that the book has been banned in the US for promoting magic and witchcraft ...
9. English major's course, informally: LIT CRIT. #3 of the words/phrases not usually mentioned daily. Short for LITerary CRITicism. Margaret tells me that this subject is the informed analysis and evaluation of literature. And now I know ... 😀
10. Geometry calculation: AREA. Length times width, e.g.
11. Wriggly bait: WORM. Every kid who's ever gone fishing knows that it takes a few tries to get the wriggly WORM onto the hook. For those who need a brief tutorial:
12. Clean up loose ends, in a way: SNIP. I think this works on split ends, too
14. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl "The Pearl" __: MONROE. Laura and Katherine went old school on us twice today with their clues on proper names ... AARON Neville was a crooner in the 1960's, whilst Earl (The Pearl) MONROE was a hoopster during the same decade. He started his career with the Baltimore Bullets and retired with the New York Knicks
21. Symphonic finale: CODA. [Brittania dot com] "CODA, (Italian: “tail”) in musical composition, a concluding section (typically at the end of a sonata movement) that is based, as a general rule, on extensions or reelaborations of thematic material previously heard" ... basically, a fancy word for "repeat"
22. Snags: NABS. GRABS and TRAPS were too big; NETS fit, but then it didn't
27. Chi-town exchange, with "the": MERC. Would you like to know more about The MERC? Please click on the link. MERC also is a nickname for an erstwhile luxury brand of the Ford Motor Company. This bad boy:
29. Dark greenish blue: TEAL. My crayon box contained just the basic 8 colors; yours? I thought TEAL was a duck?
30. Part of YOLO: ONLY. As in YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE ... unless of course, you're James Bond
31. Wrap that shouldn't be microwaved: FOIL. [Reuters] "The FDA reiterates that food completely covered in aluminum FOIL should not be put in the microwave here . The electric fields in microwaves cause charges to flow through metal. Thin pieces of metal like aluminum foil are overwhelmed by these currents, causing them to heat up so quickly that they can ignite"
32. Brit twit: PRAT. #4 of the less likely-to-be-used-everyday words in today's puzzle
33. Sport that's big in Japan: SUMO. Moe-ku #3:
Japanese wrestler
Named Maurice was served. Someone
Wanted to SUMO.
34. Sought-after fish: NEMO. Moe-ku #4:
Chairman got too fresh,
And the only defense was
For her to NEMO
35. Hundred Acre Wood kid: ROO. TIGGER, EEYORE, and POOH didn't fit
36. Females with pig tails: SOWS. GIRLS didn't fit
40. Bud: PAL. Nice to see another "old time" word used - PAL, not BRO for a change
43. No less than: AT LEAST. Most of my blogs contain AT LEAST 3 Moe-kus
44. Ark-itect?: NOAH. Ha Ha!! 🤣
46. Step up: RUNG. As a step up on a ladder or stairs, I guess
47. Low pair: DEUCES. They still beat ACE-high in poker
49. Not now: ONE DAY. Ralph Cramden used to say, "ONE of these DAYs ..."
52. "Time in a Bottle" singer: CROCE. [wikipedia] "James Joseph CROCE was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. On the night of Thursday, September 20, 1973, during Croce's Life and Times tour and the day before his ABC single "I Got a Name" was released, Croce and five others were killed when their chartered Beechcraft E18S crashed into a tree during takeoff from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana
53. Margins: EDGES. Something you always had to stay within when you wrote a paper in school, IIRC
55. "Will Trent" star Rodríguez: RAMON.
56. Den: STUDY.
57. Many an assignment in 9-Down: ESSAY.
58. Board game with car-shaped tokens: LIFE. It's actually called: "The Game of LIFE"
59. "Capisce!": I DIG.
60. Atkins variant: KETO. Diets haven't worked too well for me over the years ...
61. "Sign me up!": I'M IN. Or as some poker players (and Jeopardy! contestants) say, "I'M all IN"
62. Gp. headed by Jens Stoltenberg: NATO. Him
Comments welcome below ... 👍
43 comments:
While this puzzle was not easy, I didn’t find it terribly difficult once I grasped the gimmick, which was did with the first themed entry. And I agree with C-Moe that circles were necessary in this case, so I had no problem with them, despite what SS might say. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Yay, d-o got 'er done. Wasn't familiar with MONROE or RAMON (though I've started watching Will Trent). Saw the circle theme at LION. Without it that P in PUMA would'a been a crap shoot. Thanx, Laura, Katherine, and C-Moe.
CODA -- Vaguely remembered from piano lesson days. D.S. al coda was an instruction to jump to the Dal Segno symbol (the D.S. which looks sorta like an S) and continue playing until reaching the coda symbol which looks like an O with a plus-sign superimposed on it. Or something like that.
Way too many proper names and a lame circle gimmick. Directly to the trash
SG, thanx, I’m feeling a bit down this morning, and your phrase “which was did” brought me a smile. As for the CW, I really don’t know what to say. Clever theme, which (for a change) unclefred’s few remaining brain cells actually comprehended. But “ORGO”? I took Organic Chemistry, which, along with Comparative Anatomy, were the two most difficult courses I struggled my way through. Never heard Organic Chemistry called ORGO, though. Not in my college years or since. And I taught high school chemistry for five years. I included an intro to Organic Chemistry for my second year Chemistry students. Also not familiar with LITCRIT. As if not feeling down enough this morning, there’s “Time in a Bottle”, which to me at least is a very sad song. Couple that with Croce dying at age 30. Oy. Two W/Os today = SPIN:SLUE, RISE:RUNG. I did not like 17 names in the CW, most of which I DNK. I do not like CWs with so many names. I keep telling myself, “I’m gonna count the names before I start the CW, and if it’s more than eight or nine, I’m not gonna bother with the CW”, but if I did that I would have very few CWs to do. I’m waiting for somebody to construct a CW that is ALL names. Anyway, I did (eventually) FIR, in far longer than a typical Friday time. LD&KB, you put together one hell of a challenge this morning. Thanx? Curses? Maybe both. Thanx go to CMoe for the excellent write-up.
FIW. Failed tail-over-propeller cartwheel fail. Six bad cells, including all three of my Naticks. Had I paid attention to the theme, PUMA would have given me b SNEAKERS x bRAT. Other wrong WAGS were CdWARDLeL x ROd and JOHN C MELLoNCAMP x STRolA.
Today is:
NATIONAL GIRLS’ NIGHT (invites women to reconnect and celebrate life together)
AMERICAN BUSINESS WOMEN’S DAY (brings together businesswomen of diverse occupations to collaborate and network)
NATIONAL ICE CREAM CONE DAY (celebrates the cone, not the ice cream)
NATIONAL WHITE CHOCOLATE DAY (throw in some macadamia nuts and cookie dough and I’m there)
NATIONAL ELEPHANT APPRECIATION DAY (I am NOT suggesting that there is a correlation between these five)
NATIONAL LEGWEAR DAY (STEVE!)
NATIONAL CENTENARIAN’S DAY (a lot of us Cornerites are closing in on this milestone)
FLN - TTP, glad you are back up with a functioning keyboard. Guess I don't know the difference between an anagram and a jumble.
Looks like we're in for about 12 hours of tropical storm this evening / tomorrow am. Quite a storm surge for not being a hurricane.
Thanks to our Chairman for the fun tour, and especially the last "ku."
PUMA, or LION, or COUGAR
Is not what you'd want in your boudoir!
They may have soft fur,
And may even purr,
But you'd more likely prefer a human suitor!
Would EMUS use EMOJIS, if they had a chance?
Would they use emojis to invite to a dance?
Would a smiley they replace
With an emu face?
Could an emoji start an emu on romance?
O h joy, circles!
C ost-benefit analysis of the circles does not justify the rest of the puzzle's fills.
E xcessive amount of proper names today.
L uckily I guessed correctly at the intersection of "Strega" and "Elgar".
O rgo?
T ook 11:27 today.
Thank you Laura and Katherine for a Friday challenge. I got an FIW by one letter due to a FTPR (see below). Great puzzle and great theme!
And you you MOE for herding all those clues. I hope you don't mind -- I've pocketed those pocket bios for possible future use (the EMOJI site too!).
A few favs:
17A ORGO. SWAGGED ORGC resulting in the nonsensical MCNROE for 14D. DOH!
19A TERI. My high-school sweetheart and beloved DW, whose birthday is tomorrow.
24A ELGAR. You college grads will have heard this. Take a bow and stop it after you leave the stage!
58A LIKE HERDING CATS. I first saw this classic HP commercial at a trade show many years ago. It was the first thing I thought of when I read the reveal. I never get tired of watching it.
Cheers,
Bill
FIW. Spelled Mellencamp wrong and had no idea about Strega. The crossing did me in. Several other proper names crossing got done via a WAG.
This puzzle has too many proper names and several crossing each other. This and circles do not belong in a good CW. To me this is very bad form, and a lack of creativity on the part of the constructor.
Nuff said!
Waseeley, IIRC back in the day EDS was a Ross Perot company.
SS @8:04 AM Très bien!
Good Morning:
This was a cute theme and Herding Cats is a great, evocative expression, even to dog lovers! Thumbs down to Orgo, although I found an academic web site that references it. Strega was a WAG and Ramon was unknown, even though I’ve seen all of the episodes of Will Trent. However, to me, Moe’s photo looks nothing like the actor in the show. I agree that today’s circles were necessary, so no complaints there and props for the almost nonexistent three letter words.
Thanks, Laura and Katherine, and thanks, Moe, for the great review and the many clever Moe-kus. I’m sure you have something special planned for Margaret’s birthday tomorrow.
Have a great day.
Unclefred@7:20 a.m. - Actually, “which was did” was a typo caused by spellcheck. I meant to say “which I did.” But I’m glad I could bring a smile to your face, unclefred.
SG, I figured as much. Autocorrect strikes again. I call it "autof___up". I figured you meant either "which I did" or "which was done", but it turning into "which was did" by autof___up brought a smile. Have a good wokeend.
Came back a few times to FIR. Some real challenges but the wandering circled 😸😺😸‘s helped for a FRI FIR
Inkovers: mail/MAIN, rise/RUNG, spin/SLUE, let/OKD
Always forget the “P&C” author
“STREGA Nona”, is supposed to come across as an Italian folk tale but is simply the result of the author’s imagination. “Grandmother Witch” As Moe explained although the Italian word for Grandmother is “nonna” “Nona” means “ninth” so “Ninth Witch”? . This award winning book has the honor of being banned in some school districts along with other great children’s books like “Charlottes Web” and “Where the Wild Things Are” cuz of magic, witchcraft, and talking animals which is unnatural and evil and other nonsense. Considering what most fairy tails are about they are probably all banned in some parts of our country. Think “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty” …Sheesh, even the “Three Bears” talk
“Chi town hall exchange” crossed with “Leslie of Hamilton” Al Natick and a WAG. Siri/Alexa musta worked overtime on that.
Like Uncle Fred sed (how ‘bout a CW with NO names)…Did anyone call Organic Chem class ORGO? LITCRIT?… Octopus: Octopi, EMU: Emi? SUMO wrestler response when his foe concedes “How BIG of you” …. C Moe, STENOs still record legal testimony
A-BIT-O(F)-Honey candy, not a fav.
Liked NURSE as “ Shot putter” but needed many perps. Was thinking more bartender-ish! Agree, “sipper” woulda worked too
“Capisce“ (cah-PEESH-eh) (formal for “Do you understand” should have a question ? Not a ! If the answer is I DIG and it actually should be “capisci” (informal)
🎼🎵“____ Tootsie Goo’ Byyyye” ….TOOTOO
Freddie Krueger’s mom’s sister, Auntie ____ …..MAIM
Armstrong touches down…..LANCE
Currently a balmy 57 and sunny. Soon the leaves they’ll be a changin’
🍁🍂
D-O @8:33 AM EDS was acquired by HP in 2008.
Good Morning! I didn’t think I’d be chiming in today, but I ultimately finished, though not a fun journey.
Gain -> bull -> BOOM, then plot -> RUSE; scull -> SHELL
I hadn’t paid any attention to the circles until I saw the LION. I then went back & found the COUGAR, and that gave me the P in PUMA. “TOO TOO” many obscurities were a drag.
My bright spot in the puzzle was the clue/fill NOAH.
Thanks, C. Moe for your MOE-KU’s and the cheery conclusion to the puzzle.
Apologies to Moe and Bill for mixing up tomorrow as Margaret’s birthday instead of Teri’s. 🫢
Musings
-What a brilliant puzzle even though 8. "__ Nona": Tomie dePaola picture book: STREGA Has to go into the obscure Hall Of Fame for clue and fill!
-I’m sure STREGA was an “any port in a storm” fill and Patti and/or the constructors usually leave an escape hatch for these.
-That U in PUMA kept crying for BLUE suede kicks but reason prevailed
-JOHN’s Jack And Diane was played at our neighbor Diane’s funeral at her husband Jay’s request (it was “their” song) The minister allowed it but left the altar when it was playing because of some of the lyrics..
-We baseball fans would have better known Blue Moon ODOM
-The flu shot the NURSE put in my arm Monday was still sore two days later
-Thanks for a very nice golf swing, Chris. I wonder what direction that ball took.
-When I had to write a 4-page ESSAY, the margins and fonts were as big as I could get.
Once I got the HERDING CATS fill, I got the circled ones. Yet I left a lot of blanks, mostly proper names I couldn’t come up with. I knew MELLENCAMP but couldn’t spell the name. AARON Neville was unknown to me because I just know the siblings as the Neville brothers. I had umami instead of EMOJI. Duh!
In retrospect a very clever theme as so well explained by CMoe. I just wasn’t FIT for HERDING CATS this morning. ONE DAY…….
CROCE’s name came to me immediately since 2 days ago our local NPR station reminded us about Jim’s fatal accident 50 years ago just north of here.
My bit of difficulty was created by having rise/souse before working out RUNG/NURSE. Like D-O, I caught the theme at COWARDLY LION. I started the puzzle in the middle and worked outward.
Not familiar with ORGA. STRENGA was also new, but I was certain from the perps that both were correct. Big fan of John Cougar Mellencamp. I recall his early songs on the radio were credited as John Cougar, and he didn't like it. He wanted his full name. He's since dropped Cougar.
Long time Chicagoans, especially the cityzens, know of "The Merc" and the CBOT. While acting as a tour guide, DW would take her European relatives on a quick visit to see the action of the traders on the floor of the CBOT. Loud Type-A traders with colorful jackets. My mind's eye recalls bright yellow jackets with trader numbers, arms and voices straining to be seen and heard above the din.
Very fun puzzle, Laura and Kathryn. Nice job, Moe. Enjoyable read. I also had let before ODOM forced OK'D.
Jinx, an anagram is a word, name, or phrase that can be rearranged to be another word name or phrase. From the very simple: cat anagrams to act, to the complex: The American fast-food giant McDonald’s anagrams to Digest a ton of fat and random chemicals.
Some others:
Dormitory anagrams to dirty room.
Clint Eastwood to old west action.
A gentleman to elegant man
William Shakespeare to I'll make a wise phrase
HG mentioned funeral. It anagrams to real fun. I don't think of them as fun. But it is an anagram.
Editor Rich Norris had some fun by creating byline pseudonym anagrams for some of the puzzles he created:
Nora Pearlstone - Not a real person
Lila Cherry - Really Rich
Gia Christian - Again its Rich
See the Olio section of this blog for more.
Ditto. Meh.
You people have altered my perception...
I like circles! But now when I open the puzzle and see them, I say to myself in a dry voice, "oh joy! Circles!"
(I can't seem to stop myself, but I do like circles...)
I would like to say "Wees!" But while there were way too many proper names, I am not ready to throw it in the trash like Anon@6:40.
I mean, hey! What's not to like about a puzzle that has Cats in it!
Yes, Strega was a stretch. It's like the constructor went out and found a meaning for a non existing word. But, this word is like the cork that's needed to float your boat...
Dogma!
This is a really fun movie, if you like irreverence .
(Hey, George Carlin plays a Cardinal! You know it's gonna be irreverent!)
It is chock full of famous movie stars, and Alanis Morrisette plays God at the end!
here is a taste...
(Be sure to watch the disclaimer at the beginning where they apologize to the Platypus...)
P.S.
For the irreverent:
here is the full Dogma movie
You may want to watch it twice...
From my "little Pink House" I managed to FIW. I even have a JOHN COUGAR CD. I've never heard of STRENGA; I guessed wrong with MELLONCAMP, as it could have been A, O, or E. The perps basically solved the rest of the puzzle for me. SNEAKERS was already in place but I wasn't expecting a P until I'd filled LIKE HERDING CATS by perps and noticed the UMA in circles. Ditto for COUGAR.
ORGO- this guy with a chemistry degree has never heard it called that.
LIT CRIT- not an English major but it was also an unknown
RAMON- all perps for him and the car-shaped token game LIFE.
MERC- I drove one for 20 years until June 2022; wrong Merc, it's the MERCantile Exchange
Jim CROCE died 50 years ago after playing a concert at Northwestern State College with less than 1,000 people attending. Why were there so few people there?
It was the same night as the Bobby Riggs- Billie Jean King Battle of the Sexes tennis match held in the Astrodome. Everybody was watching television.
Not as atrocious as her last puzzle, but still worthy of the SGT (Stupid Gimmick Theme) rating. I will give Ms. Dershowitz another chance before putting on the “I Won’t Bother With It” list.
Anonymous @ 10:44 ~ Perhaps you’re thinking of Ella Dershowitz, not this author, Laura Dershewitz. I seem to remember not liking the former’s last offering.
Parsan, you may be still having computer issues as I sent you two more emails on Wednesday.
Orgo!?? Really? Ridiculous!
starring youngsters Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as two fallen angels condemned to
1000 yrs in a place worse that hell, WISCONSIN!! They use a plenary indulgence loophole to try to get back to heaven
Something went awry
And just realized I can’t delete.
Oh well was talking about CED mention of the 1999 irreverent romp “DOGMA
I enjoyed the reveal… herding 🐈 cats… but Im not a fan of obscure words that even college students wouldn’t use in their slang. Orgo … Lit Crit .. really? That just lowered the puzzles fun and cleverness. Thanks Laura, Katherine, and Moe….
kkFlorida
Another DNF. KS said it all for me. Way too many obscure names, and much of the language was just not in my wheelhouse. At least we had C-Moe to brighten things up, so the morning was not a total loss! I agree..."Dogma" is a real hoot!
Thanx CED for the link to the full-length "Dogma" movie. Just watched it. Very strange movie, absolutely FULL of stars, hard to believe I'd never seen it.
Neat Friday puzzle, Laura and Katherine, many thanks. And always enjoy your helpful commentary, Chairman Moe, thanks for that too.
Well, I'm a retired English Professor, so LIT CRIT, Literary Criticism, was clearly one of my majors in college and graduate school. So I work in my STUDY, where I've written many ESSAYs over the years, usually with an INTRO and dealing with IDEAs, though not often with DOGMAs. I think back in the day I ACEd it, and I'm thankful for my career. Hope you all enjoyed yours as well.
Have a good day, everybody.
Got the solve so no complaints, but I echo the ORGO comments.
And I just loved the “Herding Cats” ad, thanks for posting it up…I had totally forgotten it. It put me on the floor.
A fine Dershewitz/Baicker XWD...
I finished this Friday PZL in record time.
My breakthrough fill was 45A, the COWARDLY LION.
"Aha!" sez I, "dem soicles mean sumptin'!"
30D and 50A both started with correct but wrong answers, ONCE & SPIN, requiring over-writes to ONLY & SLUE.
Also 45D, RISE to RUNG...
My fave? 54A. NURSE.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one per side.
The near diag anagram (14 of 15) tells of a spooked teenager's irrational conviction that his face has been taken over by evil spirits!
This is a case of ...
"DEMONOLOGY ACNE"!
One box FIW at PRiT/iMMAN. I should sign up for a GEOGRO class....
STREGA Nona also has spin-off books like "Merry Christmas, Strega Nona." I shelved 3 of them yesterday while volunteering at my local library.
My FAV AARON Neville song was recorded as Neville Brothers (Hi Tante Nique!): Ain't No Sunshine
Waseeley @ 8:25. Thanks for posting the Herding Cats link! It's what I thought of first, too. IIRC, it was a Superbowl Ad. I can watch it over & over. Love the small things like rolling up the yard and sneezing. They nailed that one.
Thanks to Laura and Katherine for their puzzle and C-Moe for his fantastic critique! Loved your INTRO with the kitten gif and the Moe-kus!
Hi All!
Two Googles were required to finish :-(
Thanks Laura & Katherine for the grid to play - nice how the "cat" fit into each themer (eg John COUGAR Mellencamp).
Fun expo C. Moe! I enjoyed the Kus & Ralphie-boy.
Googles: RAMON, STREGA
WOs: LIT-Comp, ONce -> ONLY
ESPs: No, I cheated silly.
FIW: MaNROE
Fav: CROCE. I can't think of a bad song of his.
{B+, B}
Waseeley - I nearly forgot about that EDS "Cat Herding" commercial. Thanks!
HG - JCM said in an interview that Jack was black and he & Dianne were a mixed-race couple. The record company said no so (citing radio play in some markets) JCM changed Jack's description to "football star." [cite]
LOL GEOGRO, sumdaze.
Enjoyed reading y'all!
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Groan! WEES. A struggle but got the theme which helped fill it. So thanks Laura & Katherine. Thanks, Moe for another very interesting expo.
Happy Birthday, Teri!
Aaron Neville is my all-time favorite male singer. If I am depressed, he sings the blues out of me. I read once that a psychiatrist regularly prescribed listening to Aaron to his depressed patients. He isn't just a 60's singer. He is 82 and was still singing professionally the last time I checked altho two of his brothers have died. Sumdaze, "Ain't No Sunshine" is a favorite of mine, too.
FLN: AnonT mentioned his garden died from the weather. Well, after 60 years of owning farms, this year marked only the second year we didn't have a wheat crop because of a drought. I "harvested" my private crop insurance check this week. The good news is it will cover the local property tax on my land. The bad news is my fall soybeans, corn, & milo crops are also ruined by the weather for the first time EVER. I have one irrigated field that may be worth harvesting. I won't starve, but I'm glad I didn't do some spending people thought I should--like go to an assisted living facility that cost $8,000 a month. I just hope my farmer doesn't go under.
Friday fight. Thanks for the fun, Laura and Katherine, and CMoe.
I had many inkblots, but eventually I got my cats herded into those circles.
WEES re ORGO. Yes, I found Organic Chemistry to be very difficult. (I still cringe at the mention of the Krebs Cycle.)
Hand up for Let before OKD, and spelling MELLENCAMP/STREGA with an A at first.
I had Sort Of before A BIT OF.
We had ROO and RUE (and RUSE - great catch CMoe). Then there was TOO TOO.
Plus we had DEUCES and ACE IT.
I smiled broadly when I got the clue for NURSE.
Wishing you all a good evening.
One can make up whatever they see as a theme and call it good. This not so much.
I’ll echo the majority sentiment that this puzzle’s gimmick was just TOO TOO “gimmick-y”… I was totally clueless on the circles (basically, I ignored ‘em) until I read the Chaiman’s review— and then I was like “oh-kay-eee, that was, er, cute…but unnecessary”. Really weren’t needed to solve, as I FIR’ed it.
Oh, fwiw, “BRASS” supposedly originated from the bars’n’stars the high-ups sported…
====> Darren / L.A.
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