Hello Cornerites!
Today we remember those who lost their lives as a result of the four, coordinated terrorist attacks
that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. The victims represented 93 nations.
This is a link to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York, NY.
And now on to today's puzzle....
Theme: Nice ABs!
We'll begin with the reveal then have a look at the referenced clues.
61 Across. First leg of a journey, and a description of 20-, 30-, 38-, and 49-Across: FROM A TO B.
All of the answers to the themed clues are two-word phrases that begin with the letter A and end with the letter B.
20 Across. Pitchfork-wielding crowd: ANGRY MOB.
Let's hope they can be dissuaded by a minister wearing an AlB.
30 Across. Group that may arrange a class reunion: ALUMNI CLUB.
Perhaps they'll put on a performance where they can AdliB.
38 Across. Tech user who will only use Macs: APPLE SNOB.
Such a person might come across as overly AplomB.
49 Across. Part of speech that conveys doing: ACTION VERB.
Not to be confused with an AdverB.
Next, we'll AbsorB the other 70 clues:
1. Helps with a crime: ABETS. In this first clue, we go from A to B in just one step. Foreshadowing???
6. Capture: SNAG.
10. __ Lee desserts: SARA.
14. Actress Zellweger: RENÉE. She won Oscars and BFTAs for Cold Mountain (2004) and Judy (2020). I will always love her for Bridget Jones's Diary (2001).
Bridget introduces Mr. Fitzherbert (2 min.)
15. Work very hard: TOIL.
16. Greek Cupid: EROS.
 |
| EROS has a quiver filled with arrows. |
17. Mother, in Madrid: MADRE.
18. Italy's capital: ROME. Google says MADRE is also 'mother' in ROME. Is that correct?
19. Sitting on: ATOP. Did you realize that the letter "a" in ATOP is a prefix? This link goes to a transcript of Grammar Girl's August 22, 2023 podcast The Wonders of the 'a-' prefix in English (Episode 942). Inquisitive minds will be clicking.
22. Tag player's cry: NOT IT.
24. Confidentiality contract: Abbr.: NDA. Non-Disclosure Agreement
25. Feel sick: AIL.
26. Georgia home of the Tubman Museum: MACON. website
28. FDR coin: DIME.
34. South American country where Paddington Bear was born: PERU. It turns out that PERU, South America's 3rd largest country, is its only 4-letter country.
Try making a list of all the 4-letter countries in the world then check your answers here. (Hint: Only two are in the Western Hemisphere.)
36. Slimy garden pest: SLUG. Organic gardening tip: Hand-pick your SLUGs then put them in an exposed place where they will attract birds to your garden but is too far for them to slither back to your plants. The birds will now know to help you with future pests.
37. List-shortening abbr.: ETC. Ironically, ETC means the list continues on.
42. Bad-mouth: DIS. slang, to DISrespect and 4 Down. Region: Abbr.: TERR. TERRitory and 23 Down. Informal "Holy cow!": OMIGOD.
 |
| the story of Paddington Bear |
36. Slimy garden pest: SLUG. Organic gardening tip: Hand-pick your SLUGs then put them in an exposed place where they will attract birds to your garden but is too far for them to slither back to your plants. The birds will now know to help you with future pests.
37. List-shortening abbr.: ETC. Ironically, ETC means the list continues on.
42. Bad-mouth: DIS. slang, to DISrespect and 4 Down. Region: Abbr.: TERR. TERRitory and 23 Down. Informal "Holy cow!": OMIGOD.
45. Title of respect: MA'AM.
46. Medical pros: DOCS. "PROfessionalS" is abbreviated, so is "DOCtorS".
53. "That was close!": WHEW.
56. Battery size: AAA.
58. Obamacare, for short: ACA. Affordable Care Act
59. Shipping container: CRATE.
63. Bell hit with a padded mallet: GONG. Time for some music! You can hear two GONG strokes in the beginning and a couple more later on.
The Bangles Walk Like an Egyptian (released 1986)
We do not see the GONG; but, then again, we do not see anyone actually playing a guitar.
The dancing is fun, though.
64. Solving aid: CLUE. not so much on Saturdays....
A 4-letter 'solving aid' on Saturdays is GARY, as in Husker Gary. 😀
66. Sports complex: ARENA. How do you find the area in ARENA? Erase the "N".
66. Sports complex: ARENA. How do you find the area in ARENA? Erase the "N".
Actually, it is almost that easy. If the ARENA is an oval (ellipse), you can calculate the area of the ARENA this way: 
67. French fashion magazine: ELLE. Zendaya is on this month's cover.
68. Cat's warning: HISS. I'm currently reading Haley Mill's memoir, Forever Young. With that on my mind, this clue makes me think of the Disney classic, That Darn Cat! Here is a fun retro-review.
69. Heaps: SCADS. From etymonline: (noun) "large amounts," 1869, American English, earlier "a dollar" (1855, usually in plural), a word of uncertain origin. Unknown connection to scad, the fish, which, along British coasts, were often very abundant and occasionally seen in immense shoals.
70. Slow Churned ice cream brand: EDY'S.
71. Send packing: OUST. and 12 Down. Eradicate, as corruption: ROOT OUT. See 20A.
72. Admonition in a train's quiet car: SHUSH.
Down:
1. Actor Assante: ARMAND. Born October 4, 1949. He's one of those actors you might not know until you see him. Then you say, "Oh, yeah, that guy." his IMDb page
2. Party bowlful with tortilla chips: BEAN DIP. "Salsa" was too short. "Guacamole" was too long. Fritos might be the "traditional pairing".
3. Final stages of a chess match: ENDGAME. the last few moves you make in a strategic game, like chess or backgammon
5. "Later, gator": SEE YA. I like to say "Later, gator" to DH because he's a UF grad.
6. Recreational walk: STROLL.
7. Beginner, in gaming slang: NOOB. Anon T said to use zero's for the O's to trick the BOTs.
8. Ultimate goal: AIM.
9. Narrow valley: GLEN.
10. Washington airport named for two cities, familiarly: SEATAC. SEAttle and TAComa
11. Newspaper piece: ARTICLE.
13. Dangerous Egyptian snake: ASP.
21. "Mamma __!": musical featuring ABBA songs: MIA. It ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2013. This is a montage of scenes and songs:
27. TV network that owns the Peacock streaming service: NBC.
29. Chunk of time: ERA.
31. "I can help": USE ME.
32. L.A. Galaxy's org.: MLS. Major League Soccer
33. Convent resident: NUN. CSO to Lucina!
35. Loftiest: UPMOST. Def: (adjective) uppermost.
39. Bad review: PAN. Do we really want to open this door?
40. Loo: LAV. Both are Britishisms for restroom/washroom.
41. Gift box topper: BOW.
42. Familial source of corny jokes: DAD.
67. French fashion magazine: ELLE. Zendaya is on this month's cover.
68. Cat's warning: HISS. I'm currently reading Haley Mill's memoir, Forever Young. With that on my mind, this clue makes me think of the Disney classic, That Darn Cat! Here is a fun retro-review.
69. Heaps: SCADS. From etymonline: (noun) "large amounts," 1869, American English, earlier "a dollar" (1855, usually in plural), a word of uncertain origin. Unknown connection to scad, the fish, which, along British coasts, were often very abundant and occasionally seen in immense shoals.
70. Slow Churned ice cream brand: EDY'S.
71. Send packing: OUST. and 12 Down. Eradicate, as corruption: ROOT OUT. See 20A.
72. Admonition in a train's quiet car: SHUSH.
Down:
1. Actor Assante: ARMAND. Born October 4, 1949. He's one of those actors you might not know until you see him. Then you say, "Oh, yeah, that guy." his IMDb page
2. Party bowlful with tortilla chips: BEAN DIP. "Salsa" was too short. "Guacamole" was too long. Fritos might be the "traditional pairing".
3. Final stages of a chess match: ENDGAME. the last few moves you make in a strategic game, like chess or backgammon
5. "Later, gator": SEE YA. I like to say "Later, gator" to DH because he's a UF grad.
6. Recreational walk: STROLL.
7. Beginner, in gaming slang: NOOB. Anon T said to use zero's for the O's to trick the BOTs.
8. Ultimate goal: AIM.
9. Narrow valley: GLEN.
10. Washington airport named for two cities, familiarly: SEATAC. SEAttle and TAComa
11. Newspaper piece: ARTICLE.
13. Dangerous Egyptian snake: ASP.
21. "Mamma __!": musical featuring ABBA songs: MIA. It ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2013. This is a montage of scenes and songs:
27. TV network that owns the Peacock streaming service: NBC.
 |
| NBC's logo is a peacock. |
31. "I can help": USE ME.
32. L.A. Galaxy's org.: MLS. Major League Soccer
33. Convent resident: NUN. CSO to Lucina!
35. Loftiest: UPMOST. Def: (adjective) uppermost.
39. Bad review: PAN. Do we really want to open this door?
40. Loo: LAV. Both are Britishisms for restroom/washroom.
41. Gift box topper: BOW.
42. Familial source of corny jokes: DAD.
43. Like a frosty beverage: ICE COLD. Do you remember these A&W Root Beer commercials?
44. In a no-nonsense manner: STERNLY.
47. French manor house: CHATEAU. Do we have any Dick & Angela fans on The Corner?
Escape to the Chateau (40 sec. preview)
48. Additional helping at a meal: SECONDS. servings, not staff
50. Mental pictures: IMAGES.
51. Least common: RAREST.
52. Steamed dumpling: BAO. C.C. taught us this in her April 23, 2023 blog:
Actually "baozi". No one says "bao" alone in China. Cha siu bao, Xiaolongbao, etc. So so good.
54. Terre Haute's river: WABASH. Terre Haute is in western Indiana. Here is a USGS PDF leaflet from 1981 about the WABASH river. It lists the river as 475 miles (764.4 km) long.
57. Gather: AMASS. Catholics gather for A MASS on Sunday mornings.
60. Reverberate: ECHO.
61. Hubbub: FUSS.
I liked both of these and could not choose. The first one is a bit hard to read. It says,
"This one's from you know who, so make a fuss and thank him."
62. St. Louis landmark: ARCH.
63. "__ willikers!": GEE.
65. Actor Simu who plays Shang-Chi: LIU.
 |
| Simu Liu is a Canadian actor. He was born on April 19, 1989 in Harbin, China. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a Marvel movie released in 2021. |
Here's the grid: 
A lot of bafflegaB? (15 letters)
I hope not! I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this one.
Wishing everyone a good week!
Notes from C.C.:
Happy birthday to dear Husker Gary, our creative and faithful
Saturday sherpa, who has saved me a thousand times with his fun and unexpected
clues and titles. Hope it's a lovely day for some family time, Gary!
 |
| Joann & Gary |
43 comments:
This puzzle was a piece of cake! I was going to say it was “literally “ a piece of cake but then I remembered that I hate it when people do that; confuse “literally “ with “figuratively “ just to stress a point. I mean, am I going to stick my arm through this phone screen to your phone or computer screen and hand you a piece of coconut or chocolate cake (your choice )? I don’t think so! So, while I can’t say this puzzle was “literally “ a piece of cake , it was figuratively (metaphorically ?) so. In other words, it was easy and I FIR, so I’m happy.
Well, now that we’ve got that straight let me be the first to wish you a Happy Birthday, Husker Gary! I hope CED comes up with a good “cake” for you! Blessings!
And with that, Subgenius out!
Good morning!
UPMOST? Utmost, yes, upmost, no. Otherwise, this one was a nice, easy STROLL through the grid. Never noticed the A-B theme. Probably should've read the full reveal clue. Are there really "quiet cars" on trains? I've only traveled by rail in Europe and Asia. Thanx, Jay and sumdaze. ("Bafflegab" looked like a sumdaze creation. Nope, it's a real word. Who gnu?)
ALUMNI CLUB: I think my classmates may have given up on class reunions. Haven't visited that little town in 35 years. Last attended a reunion 45 years ago.
TERRE HAUTE: Its claim to fame was "home to the Columbia Record Club." Remember? "6 albums for $1.97. Just purchase six more in the coming year at regular price." You had to return the computer card to cancel automatic shipment of this month's selection, or check a box on the card to have it shipped to you immediately.
Happy Birthday, Husker. Anything special planned. Today would've been my oldest brother's 96th.
FIR, but erased ask me for USE ME.
Today is:
PATRIOT DAY AND NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE AND REMEMBRANCE – September 11 (there are a few others on the list, but this one is all we need today.)
Roy Acuff sang about the WABASH Cannonball.
Just gotta ask - since when is "holy cow!" formal?
Has a tag player ever said "NOT IT" instead of "you're it?" Maybe it's just a relic from my hillbilly youth.
HBDTY HG. Hope you get that piece of that cake Sub's teasing you with.
Thanks to Jay for the Monday romp, and to sumdaze for the review, especially the 911 memorial link. Wish I could be at the Flight 93 memorial today. Last time I was there was a few months before they opened the wind chimes feature. BTW, tell hubby that this UK Wildcat says HISS!
FIR. Quite a typical Monday puzzle. Nice theme, easy cluing, great way to start off the week.
Good Morning! Good start to the week – thanks, Jay. FIR – no WOs! Yea!
Clever opener, sumdaze, followed by another of your fun reviews!
The middle middle was the last to come together.
Perps for: MLS, BAO & LIU
I liked Renee Z. from her role as Roxie in Chicago.
I hadn’t remembered Paddington Bear was from Peru.
Happy Birthday, H. Gary. Best wishes for a happy day!
When I saw the constructor's name my first thought was Tonto. Oh, Jay Silverman not Silverheels.
I noticed the A but not the B, trying to guess what ANGRY, ALUMNI, APPLE, and ACTION had in common.
You should not have to TOIL to finish a Monday puzzle. BAO, LIU- unknowns filled by perps.
DAD and corny jokes? Here's one I saw today about popcorn but I won't tell it? Why? It's too corny. Moving on...
PERU- had no idea where Paddington Bear was born. Without taking the 'hint'- PERU, CUBA, CHAD, MALI, LAOS, IRAQ, IRAN, OMAN and I can't think of any others unless you want EIRE for IRELAND.
d-otto--the Columbia Record Club. Six albums of your choice and they sent you six albums (that nobody would ever buy) of THEIR choice.
Took 4:22 to finish this today, with AplomB.
Started a little rough with a few proper names (Sara, Renee) followed by Greek and Spanish, but then it settled into a nice themeless (so it seemed until I finished) Monday-level puzzle.
SubG, I feel your pain about "literally." Not literally, but figuratively, of course.
I, too, wanted UTMOST, but changed due to APPLESNOB. Along with ANGRYMOB and ACTIONVERB, okay but ALUMNICLUB?? Alumniassn would be better but not fit the theme.
FIR, since the rest was all regular crosswordese.
Nice effort, Jay, keep on plugging away. Sumdaze, always a well done review.
Have a great day!
HBDY, HG. All the best
Especially easy Monday puzzle. The reveal surprised me. I knew it was something about B, but I overlooked the A's. Only new to me fill was ARMAND and LIU, easily perped and wagged.
Happy birthday, Gary. I love your Saturday blogs.
Yes, IMO Renee Z's most memorable role was in "Chicago." Terrific.
I enjoyed reading Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. I didn't see the movie. I can think of only one case were I liked the movie better than the book, The English Patient. When I was dating my future husband, a movie buff, every time he asked me if I had seen a certain movie, I said no, but I had read the book. I was surprised how many movies are based on books.
I read more than a dozen books this past month, most from Amazon Prime free reading, which often features British authors. I found the, despised by the Corner, ERM over and over again. I finally LIU. It is used to expressed hesitation, where we would say UM (i.e. I am thinking up an answer.) It is basically British. They seem to elide the R sound. Think how they pronounce Worchester.
Vocabularly.com has very many examples of upmost in print. It is upmost in my mind sounds better than utmost in my mind.
Jinx, I, too, wondered about holy cow being more formal than omigod.
In my youth, not it and you're it were near opposites.
As sumdaze said, South America in the clue left only PERU. CUBA is usually considered to be in North America.
Erratum: used to express hesitation not used to expressed hesitation
To paraphrase Dorothy Parker : The puzzle “runs the gamut of emotion from A to B”
Raced through this one allowing for some peculiarities. Thought CHÂTEAU was français for castle ����? Never thought of a GONG as a “bell” oh “well”. More like a large upright cymbal?…. UPMOST ?(I’ve heard of UtMOST) is the opposite downmost? Started to fill deign for DEEMS then noticed the clue was plural.
Taking SECONDS is bad enough
“Holy Cow” kinda informal all by itself?
So now I know of at least 3 Harriet Tubman museums the other two in Auburn NY and Cape May NJ
RENEE Zellweger the actress famous for having no eyes
A very close valley…. GLEN
Dial on a Mach computer….APPLESNOB
What Cupid shoots ……EROS
New York St airport named for its capital familiarly….ALB
Happy Birthday Gary, keep on Huskin’
Start with plan A, but always have a plan B...
Hmm,
I have seen a lot Disney movies, but have never seen That Darn Cat for some reason. Thank you for the link/review, it looks very entertaining. The trouble is trying to find a source that will stream it. May have to wait until Disney reopens the "vault."
(If I find a streaming source, I will let you know...)
Happy Birthday Husker Gary!
Thank you for all you do for the Blog, (and teachers everywhere.)
Which gave me an idea!
I have been posting Huskers cakes for years now.
thought this year we should go with something a little different...
Musings
-Into every puzzle an 65. Actor Simu who plays Shang-Chi: LIU must fall.. It filled without a FUSS but Charlie’s Angel Lucy would have been more “Monday”.
-We have eight Apple devices but don’t consider us to be SNOBS
-Taylor Swift has every one of her employees sign an NDA
-Saturday CLUES can be a mind-bending adventure, like Saturday’s “55. Bit of hot goss: DEET.” Thanks for the shoutout Renee.
-We went to a wonderful stage show last night and their ABBA set was a delightful part of their repertoire.
-PAN – There are several movies where I should have consulted Rotten Tomatoes first
-Every baseball fan of my age can remember announcer Dizzy Dean singing the WABASH Cannonball during a particularly dull part of the game.
-Thanks for the kind sentiment, C.C. I’m subbing today despite having completed my 77th trip around the Sun. BTW, I am really enjoying today, especially after the secretary announced my birthday over the intercom.
-I appreciate the well wishes along with Renee’s always fun review.
Neat, Monday puzzle. No problems with the clues, except had UtMOST and I had to change loads to SCADS.
I admit to being an APPLE SNOB.
I enjoyed Sumdaze’s review and cartoons. Thanks for the 4-letter country reference. I didn’t think of Guam as a country.
Happy birthday HG. 🎊🎂🎉🎁
Happy Birthday, H-Gary! I'm happy to hear you're having a good day!
Loved CED's cake! There is even chalk dust on the eraser.
Clever CW, FIR in usual Monday time, only W/O = UTMOST:UPMOST. DNK = ARMAND, BAO, LIU, or who the L.A. Galaxy is. As others said, never heard “Not it” when playing tag as a kid. I did see the A to B theme, but only after the reveal, so no help in the solve. Thanx JS for starting the week off right with a nice, fun CW, I enjoyed it. Another super write-up in the books for Sumdaze, thanx, your time and effort are appreciated. HBD HG! Don’t burn down the house with the bd candles, just eat the chocolate cake, and maybe wash it down with a nice ice-cold beer! (Why not, it’s your BD!)
Good Morning:
I saw the A - B repetition early on, but the reveal was a surprise and, of course, brought the Dorothy Parker quote to mind. Wabash and Liu were unknown but perped easy enough. Upmost and O Mi God are stretches, IMO. The Mia/Aim palindrome stood out as did Nun for our Lucina. This was an easy solve for newbies, as Mondays should be.
Thanks, Jay, for a pleasant start to the week and thanks, sumdaze, for a lively and informative review. Enjoyed the visuals and links, especially the clip of the multi-talented Renée Zellwegger. I never saw Bridget Jones but I have seen Chicago and Judy, both of which showcase her versatility and range. My favorite performance by Miss Z, however, is the true-life character she portrayed in The Thing About Pam, a TV limited series. My favorite cartoon today was Cleopatrick! ☘️
Happy Birthday, Gary, may your day be as special as you are! 🎂🎉🎊🎈🎁
This is a sad and solemn day of remembrance for the many innocent lives lost and those left behind to grieve. 🙏
Sumdaze: I've enjoyed "Escape to the Chateau", but more so for the "renovations" than Dick and Angela themselves.
I neglected to mention that earlier (at 8:27), I didn't mean to be AcerB.
Hola!
Happy birthday, Gary! I hope you have a sensational celebration. It's also my granddaughter's birthday. She is 27 today. She was born the year my late DH died. Yesterday we celebrated at my daughter's home.
The puzzle was SCADS of fun. Thank you, Jay Silverman and sumdaze.
The only remnants of my years in the convent are my very good friends whom I cherish.
One year when I was teaching I had the class do a presentation which required the sound of a GONG though I had no idea where I could find one. When I presented that dilemma to one of the parents she set about finding one and borrowed one from a local Chinese restaurant. It was amazing to me that she went to that length. But all teachers know that parents are a wonderful resource.
Interesting news to me that Paddington was from PERU. I had no idea.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Thank you Jay for a fun FIR! I filled it from A to B without A Blink.
And thank you sumdaze for remembering and for the 911 link, but it was difficult to watch too much. We'll all remember where we were that day -- I was in Miami data center that week and had to stay through the next week because all the planes were down.
But we can Always count on you to get the Ball rolling on Monday mornings. Liked the ABS pic!
Some favs:
14A RENÉE. IRL a CSO to today's sherpa!
17A MADRE. My Google agrees with your Google sumdaze. I love it when that happens.
26A MACON. I believe there are several museums dedicated to Harriet Tubman along the route of the Underground Railroad. There is one on the Easter Shore of Maryland in the Dorchester County city of CAMBRIDGE.
34A PERU. PERU? Whoda' thunk it!
36A SLUG. I find the best way to control slugs is to put out a dish of BEER in the garden -- they love the stuff and will drown their sorrows in it (it's not easy being a slug).
64A CLUE. You got that right sumdaze. I don't know how he does it.
68A HISS. Coincidentally Hayley Mills plays Lady Emma Hume in season 5 of the hit Brit series Unforgotten.
42D OMIGOD. Better be careful -- He might answer! 😀
Cheers,
Bill
HBD Gary 🎈🎉🎁🎀🎂!
Happy Birthday, Husker, have a good one.
Easy Monday FIR. So quick I didn't see most of the down clues until Sumdazes' review! Loved seeing the vintage A&W ad, but the real mug from the drive-in still tastes better than the can. 9/11 is one of those events one always remembers exactly what they were doing when they heard the news. The other one for my generation was the JFK assassination. (Sophmore English class) For my folks, it was Pearl Harbor.
Lucina, I know what you meant, but I still got a chuckle from your "She was born the year my late DH died. Yesterday we celebrated at my daughter's home."
IM - "This is a sad and solemn day of remembrance for the many innocent lives lost and those left behind to grieve." I totally agree. But it is also a day to celebrate the finest people that this country can produce, from the brave men on Flight 98 who saved either the Capitol or the White House, to the police and firemen who ran into the burning buildings knowing the danger, to the shopkeepers in the area who held their entrance doors closed to the blowing debris but opened them briefly to let escapees enter. And it showed how unified we can become under duress, and that we are capable of putting political affiliations aside, even if it only lasted a few days.
Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Jay and sumdaze.
I FIRed in good time and saw the FROM A TO B theme (good observation on ABETS, sumdaze).
I saw MIB and SNIB in the first themer# that I completed, and thought we might have a rhyming OB theme.
Hand up for Utmost before APPLE forced the P.
This Canadian knew Simu LIU. You may also remember him from Kim’s Convenience. His book, We were Dreamers is an interesting read.
Speaking of books, Louise Penny fans would have liked ARMAND to have been clued as Chief Inspector Gamache in the Three Pines series.
D’o- we took the grandkids to Toronto in the GO train, and unknowingly sat on a quiet car. It was our return trip and the kids were all tired; it was DH that I had to SHUSH. (Other commuters were sitting quietly reading, listening with ear buds, etc. after a day at work. Nobody tattering on their phone for the whole car to listen!
Ray-o and waseeley- Although not strictly a museum, the Salem Chapel in St Catharines has a plethora of information, pictures, etc. about Harriet Tubman.
SisterTubman
Happy Birthday Husker Gary.
Wishing you all a great day, even as we remember 9-11 from this side of the border. Yes, Jinx, and Come From Away highlighted some more wonderful people who stepped up to help.
OMIGOD I had SCADS of errata:
MOB and SNOB not MIB and SNIB
Themers not themer#
Yattering not tattering on the phone
The first two were typos, but I see that the third can be blamed on auto-correct.
Puzzling thoughts:
HBTY, Husker Gary. Celebrate in style! Are you going to play golf this week? Knowing your prowess as an accomplished golfer, it would not surprise me to hear that you "shot your age". And speaking of which (your age, that is) how about this reference??!!
As for today's puzzle, the theme and reveal were pretty easy to suss; nice job, Jay, and sumdaze, you not only regaled us with an enjoyable recap, you got a CSO with 14-across (Renee)
Please have a moment of silence sometime today to honor those who fell victim to the horrific events on 9/11/2001 ...
Enjoyed the ATOB theme. I enjoyed the PADDINGTON books as a child. Hand up LOADS before SCADS.
Today is the 50th anniversary of an earlier and more deadly 9/11 day of infamy. When the CIA helped overthrow the SOUTH AMERICAN democracy of Chile, ushering in an ERA of terror, mass killings and disappearances. We must never forget.
From Yesterday:
CC Thank you for sharing your video of you swimming. I have never understood why that difficult "freestyle" "crawl" swim stroke is so popular. It is indeed difficult to coordinate breathing and pulling your head in and out of the water. For most ordinary casual swimmers I recommend what I have always preferred: The side stroke or the back stroke. If you have to stay afloat in the water, nothing is easier to maintain than just lying on your back.
Fun Monday puzzle, many thanks for the pleasure, Jay. And thank you, too, for your helpful commentary, Sumdaze, and especially for the 911 reminder, to give us all a moment of remembrance.
Well, this puzzle had some worrisome sounds, with a HISS and someone telling us STERNLY to SHUSH at the end. Did this come from the various responsible people in the puzzle, like the DOCS, and the respectful MAAM, and the DAD? Were they all hoping to prevent an ANGRY MOB from acting up? But when we come to the END GAME we can just give a sigh of relief and say WHEW: glad everything is okay.
Have a pleasant week coming up, everybody.
sumdaze ushers the way for this Silverman PZL...
Relatively chewy for a Monday XWD. Mondays are beginning to get good names!
DOCS reminds me. I must send something to Doctors Without Borders. They just sent me a neat flashlight pen-(for looking into the light or opening wide and saying "Ah"!)-cum-screwdriver, so I should reciprocate. They spend 86% of donations on their good works.
(My flashlight pen comes out of the other 14%.)
I had to sing the whole WABASH song to myself to recall the river's name. (A nice old Barbershop-style tune...)
Who says SCADS anymore? Anybody?!
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, far end.
Its anagram (14 of 15 ltrs) refers to a good hanky blow, a fine clearing of both nostrils. This would be a way of paying for a nasty raspberry (fake derogatory nose-blow) or a snobbish lifting of one's natural inhaler to the sky.
When done properly, we refer to this action as...
"NASAL ATONEMENT"!
No, I didn't mean the Cannonball song--the other one. The State Song.
"Oh the moonlight's fair tonight along the WABASH..."
Cool. Makes you wanna go back to Indiana, even if you've never been.
~ OMK
Picard, I too have always wondered why we teach kids the crawl. As an adult I developed an impingement syndrome in both shoulders, so I try to refrain from movements above my shoulders. I had to learn to throw balls underhanded (and not look like a sissy) and I swim with a modified breast stroke (no giggling, kids.)
I haven't been swimming since I've shed 80 pounds, so I don't know if I can just flop on my back and float any longer, especially in fresh water. And CC's pictures look like she has a lot less body fat that I still have, so she might have to slowly kick to remain afloat. That is still easier than the crawl, and much easier than doggie paddling, which I find very tiring. Don't know why they still teach that - I just heard that yesterday when the TV announcer talked about what to do if you get into a rip current.
OHH OHH - The V8 can just hit - when you're swimming for exercise, you aren't looking for the easiest or most efficient way.
Last night I had to do more than a double take to recognize Hayley Mills on Unforgotten. She has certainly aged well.
I just reread my post and I see that I could have stated that better. I'll just add that it's hard to believe that my DH has been gone that long. My mother also died that year a few months before my granddaughter was born. It was a difficult year, but bittersweet.
A Monday worthy puzzle. Thanks Jay and Sumdaze…. kkFlorida
Hi All!
I almost tossed the towel when I saw the xing of RENEE & ARMAND's CLUEs. #NAMES!
Thanks Jay for an enjoyable (sans names) puzzle. The reveal took me seemingly forever to parse and when I think I had it, I had to check 20-,30-,38-, & 49-a to double-check my work.
Thanks sumdaze for the delightful review. That "decision" comic rings to close to work ;-)
WOs: N/A
ESPs: ARMAND, LIU
Fav: ROME. Fun place to be even if you don't speak the language gooder [yes, English is hard too ;)]. Nice folks, the Italians.
Happy Birthday HG! I'm still waiting for you to invite yourself (& Joann!) to Houston & JSC.
NUNs evoked Lucina. Hope your day was just as merry as HG's.
Living in Houston is nice. We have a great collection of fare from all around the world (and Katrina brought real Cajun yummies here). My kids love BAO (kinda sticky to me but w/ meat tucked inside, delicious!)
Wassely - DW was pregnant with #2 when we watched the fallout on CNN. She asked "why bring a child into this world?" "It's what we do as a species - everything will be fine."
//I was driving to work when NPR announced the 1st plane. We all watched the second plane hit the towers - and then went home to let everything sink in. I didn't think "this changes everything" but then we had to go to war :-(
//DW just told me my memory is wrong - I disagree ��
Apples are nice devices if you like to live in their ecosystem. When crap needs to work (see: phone), it's the best. When you want to hack you'll find BSD under the hood of MacOS (thank you Jobs' time at NeXT). Of course, for the GUIs (and mice!) we all love, thank Xerox PARK's X-windows system. [I can go deeper, but this isn't #nerdfest*]
//BTW, I use Linux for hacking, Windows for work, and Pis for fun.
NOT IT! Is the first thing you learn to yell as a kid. As you get older, Shotgun! calls your position in the car. Now I see kids (well, at least my Girls do it) simply touch their nose to mean NOT IT (especially at do clear the table at dishes time :-) //I'm joking - my girls are very conscientious).
Cheers, -T
*I missed a Hacker Jeopardy question [I was only in the peanut-gallery] by not knowing B was Kernigahn & Ritchie's first go before C.
Happy Birthday, Husker Gary! What Sumdaze said at 64A.
I laughed at erasing the N to find the area of an arena.
I liked Renee Zellweger in a few different movies. It may have been her role in Jerry McGuire ("You had me at hello") that is most memorable to me.
My eldest niece is also named Renee. Like today's birthday celebrant, she is also a retired teacher that continues to teach.
OMK wrote, "Makes you wanna go back to Indiana, even if you've never been." That comment reminded me of a one hit wonder song from 1970:
R Dean Taylor - Indiana Wants Me.
waseeley on my cell ...
-T @8:24 PM Do a reverse alphabet run starting at C and what's next? 🙃
waseeley - Hacker Jeopardy makes you drink from a warm beer if you get it wrong. See: this [TV MA-L 13:06].
I got back home after a week in Hilton Head Island, SC - helping to put on a conference- so dug through what was waiting for me when I got back, to be ready for the office and then to the puzzle to unwind.
Good that it was a Monday - as I have little bandwidth left
-T discussed my thoughts on "NOT IT!"
Simu LIU became a known actor with the Shang-Chi movie, but this summer he is the second most prominent Ken of the multiple Kens in the "Barbie" movie, after Ryan Gosling. Fun to see him in a lighthearted movie after his serious turn as Shang-Chi.
Happy birthday Gary - as I was driving back I saw the turn off to Huntsville and thought of you!
Thanks SD for the blog and Jay for the puzzle!
Oh, my goodness! I just saw my granddaughter and her son on the news! He was injured at daycare last week and I actually did not think it was that serious but apparently she did. If nothing else they might suffer from the bad publicity.
A very late Happy Birthday to Gary.
Enjoyed the puzzle, Jay! Great expo, Sumdaze!
I see I'm just past midnight ... but still, a sincere and belated Happy Birthday to Husker Gary, for your 77th ... and may there be many more. I meant to type this in earlier in the day, but I had some very urgent tasks which required some immediate action.
Hope you did something that gave both of you joy, or ... if not, maybe something planned for later on in the week. Sometimes, I fantasize, about being a student in a class, subbed by you ....
Lucina, I also thought of you as NUN came aboard... Your post about your DH's loss and the birth of your grandchild ( and the celebration ...) immediately alerted me to the subject-predicate status, but we all knew what you meant ... and I would not dream ...to write about it...
Nice to hear about all your relatives, and their celebrations, and that it keeps your time busy and your mind very active.
I suffer from the opposite behavior, .... my relatives in the US, are few and far between, and very spread out, ... and many moons have to pass before I come across a noteworthy event to celebrate ...
Thank you Jay Silverman for a nice and easy MOnday puzzle,...
.... and of course, Sumdaze ( alias Renee' ?) for a charming commentary.
Your knowledge of word puzzles and wordplay, indicate you could be or have been, a wordsmith ... or rather, a puzzle constructor , yourself.
ClUES:: I first thought of PNA ... prenuptial agreement, before NDA... !
The Area of an ellipse = pi*ab sounds about right,
if a=b, then the resultant equation, would be that of a circle,
thus, Area of a Circle, ...... A = pi x a*2
Nothing else to add, you all folks, did a fine, fine job of elucidating all the other notable points.
Have a great week ahead, you all.
Sigh. I should have said that yesterday we celebrated my granddaughter's birthday at my daughter's home.
Does anyone have any recommendations for Netflix? I have exhausted my short list of movies to watch.
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