Puzzling thoughts:
Today's puzzle is a clever POW (play-on-words) that has three spots where the reveal (54-across. Demand from a suspicious bartender, and an apt title for this puzzle: "LET'S SEE SOME ID") is supported:
19-across. Matchmaker who's popular in all 50 states?: AMERICA'S CUPID. Remove the "ID" from this entry and you're left with "AMERICA'S CUP" - the erstwhile popular yacht race
27-across. Barriers on the ocean floor?: DEEP SEA DIVIDERS. Snip the "ID" from this and you have "DEEP SEA DIVERS" - and a SO of sorts to my gorgeous partner, Margaret, who in an earlier life was a certified SCUBA guide
48-across. Tearing the felt while attempting to put spin on the ball, e.g.?: ENGLISH ACCIDENT. Interesting clue; (and for me, a diversion) I believe the clue refers to how you'd apply backspin (aka "ENGLISH") to a cue ball (billiards/pool), but cause an "ACCIDENT" by tearing/ripping the felt from the pool table surface while trying. Here is a short video that shows the proper method for jumping the cue ball. Sorry, I couldn't find an instructor with an ENGLISH ACCENT ...
Today's puzzle is from the LA Times Crossword Puzzle Editor, Patti Varol. Maybe she will stop by to say "hello", and tell us what was her "seed" entry ...
Of course, Chairman Moe loves these kind of puzzles ... and couldn't help but wonder if these were other possible choices that Patti considered (remember to remove the "ID"):
Clue: Straight person who was accepted by their gay friend?: PRIDE APPROVED.
Clue: Fundraisers whose faces are plastered on billboards?: EVIDENT PLANNERS.
Here is the grid, and then on to the other clues/words:
Across:
1. Dexterous: DEFT. Not a word used often, but it fits
5. __+Zoe: fashion brand named for the founder's children: NIC. Perps to the rescue
8. Grills, briefly: BBQS. We just had one of the busiest BBQ days of the year this past Monday
12. Geometric reference line: AXIS. This (note, AXIS showed up this past Tuesday):
13. Former frosh: SOPHS. "Frosh" gave it away - Patti wanted an abbreviation. Freshmen = SOPHOMORES. Frosh is the abbr. of freshmen
15. Prado display: ARTE. Italian word for "art"
16. Small pie: TART. Would the Italian word for this be "tarte"? No, it's "crostada"
17. Prove useful: AVAIL.
18. Lean: LIST. Not lean as in slender; lean as in "tilt" - or when on a cruise liner, "LIST"
22. Credit card fig.: APR. Mo. for filing taxes would also fit as a clue
23. Initials for William or Kate: HRH. His or Her Royal Highness
24. Transcript fig.: GPA. I got mine above a 3.0 in my senior year in college ... after my SOPHomore year it was in the low 2's
33. Record producer Gotti who created the BET series "Tales": IRV. More perps; total unknown to me
34. Scent: ODOR.
35. Travels to an away match?: ELOPES. Sports fans ... "home" teams generally wear white ... so, at an "away" event (in this case, a wedding) would the bride wear gray?
36. Soho stroller: PRAM. Baby buggy in Britain
38. Shaver: LAD. Why is a little LAD called a shaver?
40. "By __!": JOVE. "I think he's GOT it!"
41. Pacific Rim nation: PANAMA. Nice clue mis-direction ... the southern border of PANAMA lies on the Pacific Ocean
44. Pastoral chorus: MOOS.
47. Transgression: SIN.
51. HST successor: DDE. Harry S Truman preceded Dwight D Eisenhower
52. UPC kin: SKU.
53. __ carte: à la. Frawnch. Unlike Splynter (who subbed for Melissa on Wednesday) I spell MY Frawnch without the "e" at the end ... ;^)
61. Texter's hedge: FWIW.
63. Midwest hub: O'HARE.
64. Plus: ALSO.
65. Flow slowly: OOZE.
66. __ friends: FURRY. Cats or dogs - our pets
67. Deck chair piece: SLAT. Found in these: (the wood thingies)
68. Honey bunch: BEES.
69. Counterpart of "thx": PLS.
70. "Lonely Boy" rock band the Black __: KEYS. Perps, again; I did not know this rock band ... I DO know that there are 3 dozen black KEYS on a piano, though
Down:
1. Cellular plan component: DATA. Mine are unlimited
2. Prof's preparation: EXAM. QUIZ could've fit here
3. Marshmallow blackener: FIRE. How do YOU like your toasted marshmallows? My level of "toast":
4. Sandal style: T-STRAP.
5. Bossa __: NOVA. NOVA = "new"
6. Brewpub pours: IPAS. ALES also fits
7. Affectedly elegant: CHI CHI. On Wednesday we had just one "CHI" in the puzzle (Tae CHI). Today we get two CHI's. With the phrase "CHI CHI", though, you gotta be careful when using the plural term (CHICHIs) in certain Latin American countries ... CHICHIs is the slang term for breasts
8. Westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands: BALI. Another SO to my beautiful partner Margaret ... she lived in BALI back in the early part of the 21st Century in UBUD
9. Yoga backbend also called Setu Bandha Sarvangasana: BRIDGE POSE. This filled with perps, but the word "POSE" was easily sussed ... a bit of a nit here ... the letters "ID" are also found in this entry ... but to my knowledge, there is no such thing as "BRGE POSE" ... I guess the editor let Patti get away with this one ... ;^)
10. Liq. measures: QTS.
11. Firm: SET.
13. Revered: SACRED.
14. Hybrid breaking pitch: SLURVE. A Major League Baseball term
20. __ facto: IPSO. [Wikipedia] "IPSO facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself", which means that a specific phenomenon is a direct consequence, a resultant effect, of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a previous action. It is a term of art used in philosophy, law, and science. A CSO to all of our resident lawyers here
21. Genesis name: PHIL. I kept thinking of ESAU, ADAM, CAIN, ABEL, et al ... until it dawned on me ... GENESIS is a name of a rock group, and PHIL Collins was their drummer and lead singer ... clever
25. Musician Andre with four Oscars and 11 Grammys: PREVIN. [Wikipedia] "André George PREVIN (KBE) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved success, and the latter two were part of his life until the end. In movies, he arranged and composed music"
26. Approval: ASSENT. OK!
27. Went down a bit: DIPPED. "Tobacco" related clues are generally not allowed, so we wouldn't have seen "sampled some SKOAL" for this ... but it works!
28. Gofer trip: ERRAND.
29. Preach: EVANGELIZE. This one took me a few stabs before filling in. This word is not a first-timer, but it rarely appears in xword puzzles
30. Classic ISP: AOL. Oddly I was never an AOL user
31. Gossip fodder: DRAMA. Meh; but on Friday there needs to be more clues that are vague. Which also applies to a similar clue today: (49-down. Keep from spreading:) HUSH UP.
32. Org. headquartered at the RFK Building in D.C.: D.O.J.. Department Of Justice
37. Lousy start?: MAL. A CSO to my co-Friday blogger, MALodorous Manatee
39. OB or GYN: DOC. If the clue had been OB AND GYN the answer would be DRS
42. Fine spray: MIST. I use a MISTing spray device on my patio here in AZ ... it helps
43. Requests from: ASKS OF.
45. Sean whose first play debuted at the Abbey Theatre: O'CASEY. Another one solved via perps. [Wikipedia] "Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes"
46. Dairyland structure: SILO. Wisconsin skyscrapers
50. Fabric named for an Asian capital: DAMASK. [schumaker dot com] "DAMASK gets its name from the ancient Syrian city of Damascus and is one of the five basic weaving techniques from early Middle Ages-era Byzantium and the Middle East. Historians have pinpointed damask's origins to Tang Dynasty China, circa 300BCE (Asia reference)
55. Some sheep: EWES. RAMS also fits
56. Bluegrass legend Scruggs: EARL.
57. Isn't perfect: ERRS.
58. Actress Fanning: ELLE.
59. "My stars!": "I SAY".
60. Ellipsis trio: DOTS. A CSO to yours truly ... the "master" of the three DOTS ... found ad nauseum in Chairman Moe's blogs ...
61. Electric key: FOB. [businessnewsdaily] "A key FOB is a physical device small enough to attach to a keychain that opens or unlocks doors electronically. A mainstay of keyless electronic door lock systems, the key fob has gone through many iterations since its inception in 1983." So now you know that the electric key FOB has been around for 40 years!
62. Heartache: WOE. WOE is you ... no Moe-kus today :-( ... but LOTS of ellipsises ...
Despite the few unknowns (clues/words) this one filled fairly easily. The theme and entries weren't too difficult. So, in keeping with my MOES [sic] Hardness Scale rating ... (and since our editor's first name begins with "P" and ends with an "I") I will give this a 3.14159265359 ... see you in a couple weeks ... please offer your thoughts and comments below ...
47 comments:
I’m not sure what the Chairman’s “pi” rating signifies but to me this puzzle seemed just as difficult as a Friday puzzle should be. However, with the first themed fill I grasped the gimmick of the puzzle so that helped me solve the other two themed entries. There were definitely some obscurities (“Nic,” anyone?) but, as far as I could tell, little misdirection. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Nope. 'Twas not to be. Sussed CHICHI, but never heard of a SLURVE (d-o had entered SLIDER), and got stuck in the Bible looking for PHIL. Bzzzzt. Thanx for playing. Thought the theme was clever, after C-Moe explained that there was a theme. Thanx, Patti and C-Moe.
SILO: Those Wisconsin silos are filled with chopped corn stalks. The "silage" feeds the dairy cows through the winter.
PANAMA: One of those "trick" geography answers: The Pacific end of the Panama Canal is east of the Atlantic end. Others: Reno NV is further west than Los Angeles CA. Drive south from Detroit to reach Windsor, Ont.
Cool puzzle.but shouldn't frosh have been plural
Took 13:47 today, without any fluid retention.
Cute theme, I guess, but once again, too many obscure names (Nic, Irv, Previn, Ocasey, etc.).
The Genesis clue was a good one.
I see the usual Friday add/subtract a letter or two continues.
FIR. Tough Friday puzzle but very doable. Loved the theme, and it helped with 19A. Slurve was new to me, and the NE eluded me as I failed to see BBQs at 8A. Cupid turned on the brain light and everything fell into place.
Very clever clue for Pacific Rim nation. My brain went to the wrong side of the ocean.
Sadly, along with D-O, a big DNF for unclefred today. I didn’t get the theme until the reveal, but even then it didn’t help. The North Central did me in. I DNK NIC at 5A, and had ALES for 6D, and ABEL for 21D. PHIL?? Who?? Also started writing SOPH, but once the SO was filled I could see it would hafta be SOPHS and that didn’t sound right especially since the clue was not FROSHS. HYBRID BREAKING PITCH made no sense at all to me. I never thought of MLB and if I had I still would not have come up with SLURVE. Is that real? CHICHI? Never heard of it, as clued. Somehow HRH didn’t occur to me for 23A. With all my problems in the North Central you can imagine how many cells remained unfilled in that whole area. Also DNK FWIW, so the cell at 62 stayed empty. Oy. Overall then, as I said, a big DNK. Ya got me, PV. Thanx for the great write-up, C-Moe.
DNF, running to a jam near Holloman AFB and looking up ELLE. "Dakota" wouldn't fit. Many erasures: gosh->JOVE, lets see your id->LETS SEE SOME ID, imho->FWIW, seep->OOZE, ales->IPAS, ell->MAL, and egad->I SAY.
Today is:
NATIONAL PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY NURSES DAY (if I ran the world they would get a month)
STAR TREK DAY (AKA Picard Day)
World Ampersand Day (and...?)
Patti doesn't understand the difference between "electric" and "electronic." AFAIK, there's no such thing as an electric key. (Of course, I had never heard of "electric boots" until Sir Elton John sang about that girl who was so spaced out.)
I don't care about credit card APRs, because I pay off the balance every month.
I Also DNK that the USA and Canada are Pacific Rim nations. I always think of just the island nations.
So happy to see Zoe and FURRY friends today.
I used to watch Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs every week. My dad loved them, but my mom hated their music. We only received one channel, so they couldn't fight over the remote (even had they been invented in those days.)
Thanks to our Chairman for the fun review. But remember that in the NFL and NHL, white jerseys (or sweaters) are worn by the visitors.
FLN - Anon @ 7:45 PM: Every time I hear Ozzie's Crazy Train on the oldies station, I think of Chipper Jones walking up the plate in Turner Field.
I said earlier that there was not much misdirection. However, there was one “big” misdirection-“Genesis name”. For those who didn’t “get it,” she’s talking about the BAND “Genesis” and their lead singer, Phil Collins. You’re welcome.
Today’s puzzle is also a pangram, always impressive!
Big Easy from phone.
I caught the added ID at deepseadividers but there was a slew of unknowns that just took a lot of guesses and perps.
NIC, IRV, KEYS, SLURVE, ELLE,DAMASK, BRIDGE POSE,BALI.
Didn't know any of them as clued. I wracked my brain over getting to PHIL Collins. Had to change TRYST to DRAMA and AIN'T to ERRS
You might tear the felt on a pool table by missing the cue ball but I've never seen anybody tear the felt off a tennis ball while attempting to put top spin on it
Good Morning! What a fine challenge for a Friday! Thanks, Patti.
Clever misdirecting clues: PHIL, ELOPES & MOOS.
Perps & WAGS: NIC, BRIDGE, SLURVE, IRV and KEYS.
WO: DIPPED -I tried to fit some square pegs into round holes spelling-wise until I got it to fit.
Ellipsis: I use it all the time…but never knew its name!
61A revealed the theme, but I never dug deeper to see the rest. Clever! Thanks C-Moe for the reveal & fun recap.
Subgenius @8:42, from Chairman Moe's review:
"21. Genesis name: PHIL. I kept thinking of ESAU, ADAM, CAIN, ABEL, et al ... until it dawned on me ... GENESIS is a name of a rock group, and PHIL Collins was their drummer and lead singer ... clever"
You're welcome.
Musings
-After wasting time looking for literal answers to the gimmicks, I had fun
-ENGLISH ACCIDENT gave me the gimmick and a nice chuckle
-Moe’s comments added to the enjoyment as well
-The x and y axes were part of a real lesson I got to teach yesterday about parent equations. I had to AVAIL myself of the internet to refresh my memory.
-Credit card figure – The tip figure on our “thank you dinner for four” last night was $37
-ELOPE, PHIL and BEES cluing were very clever.
-The slider/curve hybrid word SLURVE is not heard very often these days
-I was surprised that Patti had an extraneous ID in BRIDGE POSE
A dumb FIW: had TORT for “little pie” and BY JOVE could not figure out why a “Prof” would “prepare” an EXOM? 😳 And unlike the recent puzzle with long horizontal answers I has quickly susses has a hard time I SAY with today’s
Inkovers : int/APR, Shem/PHIL,
I do believe we have a give-Mom’s-or-Dad’s-mother-a-bad-review In other words a PANGRAM
Odd to call a LAD a “shaver” cuz they usually don’t. Really clever clue for ELOPE "travels away for a match” but took awhile cuz it was crossed with SHEm from Genesis. “frosh” yes, SOPH, no
Knew OCASEY, impressed by a college production of “Juno and the Paycock” during my “Frosh” year …and OHARE from years of attending an international imaging conference in Chicago. CHI CHI? c’mon! SLURGE? More of a hurricane term
The Prado is in Madrid so I assume ARTE is Spanish (also Italian) for “art”
Im only familiar with the Greater “Sunda islands” 🤗
Holds the steeping bag in the cup…..TSTRAP
Them sheep ‘r mine those ‘r ….. EWES
Blue laws on BALI : Never on…SUNDA.
Into the weekend
TTP @ 9:29 - I have to “eat crow.” Here I was thinking I was doing everybody a big “service “ and I had forgotten (or overlooked) the fact that C-Moe had already done it perfectly! Oh well, live and learn!
Fun puzzle with lots of wordplay. Wees,
Learning moment: tobacco related clues are generally not allowed... (why?)
Trivia: the definition of FOB.
There was a cur from PANAMA,
Scammed his pa, conned his ma.
Tried to trick
His brother, Nick,
Now he's in the NIC, Judge Nick's the law!
SEAN, a dairy farm did choose
As an ideal life, in his views.
His eyes won't close
Till one cow lows --
He likes to hear the evening MOOS!
Good Morning:
This started out crunchy because of the cluing and several unknowns, i.e, Nic, Irv, Keys, Phil, Slurve, and Bridge Pose. However, slowly but surely, the dominos fell, one by one, and the solve was completed. Surprisingly, I automatically filled in the reveal before any of the themers were fully visible, but had just enough letters to see the ID connection. Moe mentioned Patti’s use of the “play on words” formula, which this add/subtract letters gimmick certainly is but, IMO, Patti’s talents as a constructor truly shine when she utilizes “word play”, a totally different tactic. The clues for Phil, Elopes, and Bees were very clever and Furry Friends are always welcome.
Thanks, Patti, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, Moe, for the review and commentary. Missed your Moe-kus, though. 🙁
Have a great day.
I got the theme early on and had fun working the answers out, except, and I’m bummed out about it, I didn’t get the CUPID because I had sHIsHI, didn’t know SLURVE and couldn’t come up with PHIL. I got stuck in the Bible.
There is no “s” on frosh because the plural is men, but SOPH needed an “s”. Attention to détails is Patti’s specialty.
I liked the ELOPES clue.
I hadn’t heard André PREVIN’s name in a long time.
Formidable Friday. Thanks for the fun, Patti and CMoe (loved your Pi rating).
I FIRed and saw the removable ID theme.
But I started slowly doing the Across clues, and moved to the Downs. Somehow I have lived my life thinking the word was dexterous, but that is actually a misspelling of dexterous or dextrous. Learning moment.
SLURVE was new for me ALSO.
Some Canadian disadvantage today with NIC, DOJ, but I knew OHARE and DDE. And HRH was a given for this Canadian. (But we call them Buggies not PRAMs here)
Did anyone else enter ELL (to match ELLE) for 37D? Eventually I gave in to MAL. But then I was counting the similar letters in Ellipsis. No trio. Ah, the dots.
My Pastoral chorus was Amen before MOOS (crossing SILO no less). I must have been misdirected by EVANGELIZE.
I had IMHO before FWIW. Both fit the clue IMHO.
Great catch on the pangram Yooper Phil (and LOL Ray-o)
Favourite today was the clue for Elope. The PHIL clue was great misdirection also.
Wishing you all a great day.
Auto-correct would not let me enter my incorrect “dexterious “.
DNF. Ran out of time, and had to TITT. Too much obscurity & fill-in-the-blank for me today.
Had a couple of misfills that took me off track. DEEPSEAtrenches was the worst. Also CICERO didn't he.p either. A couple of lookups put me back on the right way.
Like IM@10:16, filing in the reveal helped with the theme answers. Great clue for ELOPE.
5 stars to Patti for a great puzzle and a pangram to boot. 5 stars to Mie for his fine review.
Have a COOL weekend.
That is supposed to be CHICer
IDed the theme early by working from the bottom up with confirmation at DEEP SEA DIIVIDERS. Very clever Patt! Thanks CM for explaining PANAMA, PHIL (Phillip is in the Bible, but no where is he PHIL), and FOB crossing FWIW kept me from finishing the puzzle. Early on mistakes: slider - SLURVE, dropped - DIPPED, coal - FIRE.
Knew PREVIN, IRV, ELLE, O’CASEY, and thought of Lester (too long) before EARL. A lot of these — APR, HRH, GPA, DDE, SKU, FWIW, PLS, AOL and DOJ.
Hercule Poirot’s side-kick Capt. Hastings on PBS often exclaims, “I SAY!”.
When my son was a little LAD, he used to stand on a chair and shave with his father with a plastic spoon. A man at church would always say “Hi you little shaver!” My son — “How that man know I shave?”
Happy day, all!
Puzzling thoughts, two:
Subgenius @ 4:09am --> back a few weeks ago, a puzzle had (as an answer) MOHS - as in the hardness scale for minerals. "1" being something like talc; "10" being something like a diamond, for example. In my "playful" manner, I took the homophone (MOE's) of MOHS and used the 1-10 scale to rate the "hardness" (difficulty) of the puzzle. As a CanadianEh! noticed, today's pi rating has to do with Patti's name - she spells it P***I - so it was just my weird brain doing weird things ... it's who I am ...
Jinx @ 8:04 --> indeed, I was referring mostly to baseball when I used the "white" vs "gray". In the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys traditionally wear white jerseys @ home games, as do the Miami Dolphins (in September), and way back when, the Cleveland Browns home jersey was always white ... just to name a few ... and yes, the NHL (since 2003) has had the home teams wear the dark sweaters - but that has changed a few times over the course of its existence
CED @ 10:07 --> my mention of tobacco related clues (and also fill in the puzzle) have been taboo for some time among the crossword editors. Once I got into constructing crossword puzzles, I discovered that each editor has his or her own "rules" for what words and/or word/phrase categories are verboten. Tobacco is one of those
To several who commented on the FROSH clue ... I didn't explain it very well in my write up. But as an abbreviation, the word "FROSH" can be either singular or plural. Frosh is the abbreviation for freshman OR freshmen. Soph. would be the abbreviation for a SOPHOMORE; SOPHS would be the abbreviation for SOPHOMORES. Perhaps we can all agree that this word seemed "forced", but as a constructor I know that many times you can't avoid having at least one "wrinkle" in a puzzle
HG @ 9:42 --> as you (and I, in the blog) noted, the extraneous "ID" in BRIDGE POSE took a few points away from the puzzle. But as I said, I'm sure that Patti knew that the editor would let it slide ... ;^)
IM @ 10:16 --> You are correct; Patti's puzzle was WORD PLAY moreso than PLAY ON WORDS. Thanks for the correction! ;^) Sorry - again - that I had no Moe-kus in the write-up. I found one on my Facebook memories that you might enjoy ...
A crone had to choose
Between sewing or art class.
Would this be "which"-craft?
Just the right amount of difficulty for Friday. I too got caught up with biblical names until I saw it must be Phil and then the band dawned on me. Got the theme pretty quick which helped. All in all I enjoyed it. GC
My two cents
I don’t have a problem with “frosh” ; It’s a well known term. My beef is with SOPH..never heard of it. It’s just a non word filler IMHO
What’s next? “What comes after SOPH?” June and Seen?
😳
Ray - O - Sunshine @ 1:05pm --> My "go-to" source for crossword puzzle words (or non-words) is Crossword Tracker. It lists up-to-date entries for words used by the major crossword puzzle publishers. You can type in the word you're seeking/checking as well as a clue. This site assists me greatly in puzzle construction
If you click on the link it should take you to the words "SOPHS"; you'll notice that SOPHS has been used a dozen or so times over the past five years by all five of the major venues: WSJ, LAT, NYT, Newsday, and Universal ... that doesn't mean that YOU have to like or accept it ... SOPHS wasn't one of my favorite words used today if that makes you feel any better :^)
Chairman Moe shepherds today's Varol creation...
SOPH is quite familiar to me, as I attended a three-year HS, which we began as "low SOPHS"--the first of two terms as Sophomores.
(The second term we were [obviously] "high SOPHS.")
And no, we did not abbreviate Junior and Senior.
As Sophs, we were the lowest of the low and did not rate our own dance. But we all had two HS proms, as high juniors and high seniors.
The junior prom was dressy, but in our gym. The senior prom was formal and held at the Fairmont Hotel (San Francisco).
Now, will anyone explain SKU? I imagine the clue acronym,"UPC," stands for "Universal Price Code."
But what is an SKU?! It is so close to Ska that I wonder if I even understand the clue.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, near side.
The center diag yields a recognizable anagram (14 of 15!) of a procedure you might be shopping for--if you want to get rid of some evil forces on the cheap.
You would be looking for a...
"DOLLAR EXORCISM"!
Stock Keeping Unit = SKU. Another type of bar code identification.
Never would've guessed it . I don't even understand what that means. I get that UPC connects an item with a price.
But thanks for the translation, Jinx!
~ OMK
CM @ 1:47 pm
Alls I can say is OWIE am I IRED 😉
I know SOPH has been used in previous CWs
If a constructor needs a clue for a fill like ZWXQ alls he need do is ask Alexa or Siri or google it or use a data base. Back when brain matter mattered, not computers, to find clues for answers seems like we had fewer nonsense words and oddball proper names. It might have required a whole redo of parts of the puzzle to come up saner answers thus was more time consuming and challenging for a constructor. I remember when the weirdest thing about a puzzle was spelling CZAR as TSAR
Anyhoo I’ll do a UIE and put my two cents back in my pocket😊
Chairman Moe @ 12:25 ~ Moe, I wasn’t correcting you, I was agreeing with you that this type of theme is a “play on words”, i.e., adding/subtracting a letter. My idea of “word play” is Patti’s puzzle of August 22nd with the repurposed meanings of Wall OUTLET, National MALL, General STORE, and Bear MARKET. That’s my idea of word play, so, IMO, you were 100 percent correct about today’s theme description. 😉
Thanks for the belated but bewitching Moe-ku! 🤣
APR is Annual Percentage Rate not April
OMK, IIRC, UPCs are supposed to be unique to an article, wherever it is. An SKU isn't supposed to be universal. So an Acme Explosives Detonator would have the same UPC whether the roadrunner shops at Lowes or Home Depot, but each hardware chain would probably have its own SKU for that device. SKUs are handy internally because there isn't an external registration process. Too bad the LAT crossword doesn't use two-letter fill, or we could add QR (quick Response) codes to the confusion.
Thank you Ms. Patti Varol, for a challenging Friday puzzle, that I completed with some assistance ... (ellipsis ) It was certainly very instructive.
Thank You Chairman Moe, for a thoughtful and instructive commentary, that explained most of the clues that confounded me.
I was not familiar with SLURVE etc., but since I have no interest in sports in general, ... that was only to be expected.
I was also confused by PHIL, but I assumed he was a minor character from the Bible, who hadn't yet made his way into the crosswords. I've heard of the band GENESIS, but I couldn't even name the lead singer...
More to my curiosity, I tried to decipher the Sanskrit of the Yoga position .. Sethu banda sarvangasana ... I studied the language for 4 years, much to my detriment ...
I figured Sethu - meaning 'island' ,
banda - meaning friend or companion,
Sarvang-asana - meaning Universal (? ) - asana - position ...
I finally figured out " Bridge position "...
According to Google, sethu et. al. means bridge - bound/lock - body - position.
So much, for my knowledge of Sanskrit ...
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing .... ;-)
Finally, I read ellipsis, as Ellipse .... x*2/a*2 +/- y*2/b*2 = 1 or c*2
Aha, finally some math ... alas it brought me no closer to the truth or the solution. Finally, I figured ... something to do with my favorite style of writing ...
I however, ... learnt a LOT from reading your comments, you all, and Chairman Moe's further clarifications. I am flabbergasted at the fountain of knowledge we have at the Corner ...
Have a nice weekend all.
Jinx in Norfolk, ... this is not a personal attack ... ( as the line above this box, clearly prohibits ;-)) ...)
Thank you for the explanation of the difference between UPC and SKU, ... but, in the interests of accuracy ... and , more so, of general cartoonish humor, ...
You wrote ... (sic) '... So, an Acme Explosives Detonator would have the same UPC whether the roadrunner shops at LOEWS or HOME DEPOT ...."
I presume you meant Wile. E. Coyote ... who did the actual shopping ... ;-)
May you have a great weekend, free of such worries ...
Very interesting comments today!
Thanks to Patti for a fun & challenging puzzle. FAV themer was ENGLISH ACCIDENT. EVANGELIZE was a surprise. Also, clues for ELOPE and PHIL.
Speaking of pool.... I shoot left-handed. I am thoroughly right-handed in everything else. We had a table growing up and my dad & brothers all shot lefty so I picked it up from them. Dad & bro#2 = lefty and bro#1 = ambidextrous. (BTW, non-dominant hand should be closest to cue ball.)
Nice write-up, C-Moe! Thank you for explaining SHAVER and SLURVE. I sussed CHICHI and the Genesis PHIL but SLURVE never looked OK.
Ray - O @ 2:21 --> Before I knew that crossword puzzle construction software existed, I tried my hand at creating one using a tablet of graph paper and forming a 15x15 square grid. I knew nothing about the symmetry required (for the black squares/blocks); just started entering words and blocks ... after getting nowhere I contacted C.C. She helped me as a co-creator for my first two puzzles and encouraged me to purchase the Crossword Compiler software. Later on, Mark McClain turned me on to the various websites (Crossword Tracker, Crossword Fiend, et al) that offer a "library" of words and abbreviations used in published crosswords. There is also a database for clues which lists clues by day (Monday easy; Friday hard) and by publisher! And while this sounds "easy" (because of all the assistance available), the actual time spent by most constructors (from their "seed" idea to published puzzle) is quite long
As for clues, though, it is always fun to think up a new one that hasn't been used for a particular word (or phrase). Crossword puzzles (I guess) have to continue to evolve or they will eventually die off when we (those of us who are 70 years old and above) do
Thank you Patti for a fun and very doable puzzle. I'D never have guessed it was you. And thanks for the PANGRAM!
And thank you MOE for the excellent review. But it is gonna be tough waiting two weeks for more KUS. Promise?
A few favs:
16A TART. TART is also English for a delicious looking female, e.g. 58D.
35A ELOPES. Clever misdirection.
40A JOVE. By JOVE you simply don't hear this one these days!
41A PANAMA. Cleverer misdirection.
8D BALI. Margaret must really love you if she returned home to you from this place! Are you the one in the middle in panel 2?
23D PHIL. Cleverest misdirection.
37D MAL. I had ELL -- ya know, the first letter of Lousy. I still don't get MAL.
56D EARL. Love me some Flatt and Scruggs.
Cheers,
Bill
Thanks, Vid. Sometimes I wonder how much worse I must have been before I quit drinking! I don't remember if you hung around the Corner when I returned from my granddaughter's wedding near Lancaster, PA some 5 years ago. I was amazed when I ran across a huge warehouse that was simply labeled "ACME." When I breathlessly explained here that I had found the Coyote's cache, my Corner neighbors let me know that Acme is a large grocery chain in the area.
Bill, Flatt & Scruggs played great even when they were just doing a commercial. To wit: Their commercial for Martha White Self Rising Flour (with hotrise plus.)
waseeley- I think you are the only one to admit to ELL before. MAL after my query at 10:30 am. “Did anyone else enter ELL (to match ELLE) for 37D? Eventually I gave in to MAL.”
MAL is a prefix which means bad, ill, poor. Thus “Lousy start?”
Groan now!
C-Eh - I fessed up to ell b4 MAL @ 8:04. Among a plethora of other goofs.
When I saw Varol as constructor, I almost skipped the puzzle and went on to bed. I will next time. No fun. Filled it. Wonder about Patti's ID & ego torturing us.
My computer died. I’ll see you all again when I get it fixed or replaced.
Got some good grins from Patti’s clever wordplay on today’s bout of cheap entertainment! Loved the ENGLISHACCIDENT gag — and thanks, Chairman Moe, for the video on how to make a jump shot…after all these years of doing it incorrectly…Now all I gotta do is find a place with a pool table to try this technique.
ELIPSEs…one of my favorite bits to use when writing…and I just didn’t get it until Moe threw the can at me!
Looks like I’m not the only one today that had to wait for the V8 hit on the Genesis clue…
====> Darren / L.A.
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