Signals Ahead
Constructor Jason Reich shared a few grains of truth in his first appearance on the Corner this past January. Today he sends us some mixed messages that life might not be so simple after all. Modern society is constantly bombarding us with messages, and at times it becomes difficult to tell them from the noise, especially if the former are encrypted (scrambled) in someway, like these 4 themers ...
17A. "Devilishly delicious" hard cider brand: ORIGINAL SIN. It's what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden, but where would we cruciverbalists be without EDEN? This one can get you kicked out if you drink too much of it. I think all the Cornerites are old enough to get into this site.
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Original Sin Ciders |
50A. Result of appreciation: CAPITAL GAINS. Something that all investors appreciate, except at tax time.
As Jason reveals here, his encryption algorithm is pretty simple -- he just TURNS anagrams for the word SIGNAL into fragments inserted in his theme fill ...
60A. Blinkers, and a hint to filling in 17-, 24-, 38-, and 50-Across?: TURN SIGNALS.
ORIGINAL SIN
CHORAL SINGER
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
CAPITAL GAINS
CHORAL SINGER
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
CAPITAL GAINS
I was going to give Jason a demerit for not spanning the two words in the third themer, but maybe it was intentional, as Gilligan and company couldn't get a SIGNAL off of the ISLAND.
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Here, there, or everywhere: ADVERB. Swap "or" for an "and" and you've got a song ...
11. 12-mo. spans: YRS.
14. Bit of baby babble: GOO GOO. While babies play with DOLLS, the GOO GOO DOLLS play rock and roll ...
15. Cornfield array: EARS. It's that time of year! We're eating Eastern Shore Silver Queen sweet corn most evenings.
16. Permit: LET.
17 [Theme clue].
19. "Blonde" Oscar nominee de Armas: ANA. ANA Celia de Armas Caso (born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba with a leading role in the romantic drama Una rosa de Francia (2006). At the age of 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in the popular drama El Internado for six seasons from 2007 to 2010. She starred in Blonde, the 2022 bio-pic about Norma Jeane Mortenson (June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) ...
20. Josh of "Frozen": GAD. Joshua Ilan GAD (born February 23, 1981) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He is known for voicing Olaf in the Frozen franchise, playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, and playing Le Fou in the live-action adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
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24 [Theme clue].
27. Give, as a passport: ISSUE TO.
30. Wee: ITSY. I'm reminded of a song ...
31. Many a Maldives formation: ATOLL. The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives is an archipelagic state and country in South Asia, situated in the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent's mainland. The Maldives' chain of 26 ATOLLS stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south. Here is the Malosmadulu Atoll seen from space ...
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Malosmadulu Atoll Republic of Maldives |
35. Young chap: LAD.
38 [Theme clue].
42. __ pro nobis: ORA. Today's Latin lesson - "Pray for us" -- Lord knows we need it!
43. Texter's "But ... ": OTOH. What we'd all do for a one handed politician! 😀
44. Hexa- minus one: PENTA. Today's Greek math lesson.
45. Promising: ROSY. A CSO to RosE, who I assume pronounces it the same way.
48. Causing acute embarrassment: CRINGEY. The feeling most people get when they listen to opera. 😁
50. [Theme clue].
54. Florida city known for thoroughbred farms: OCALA. OCALA in Marion County was the first thoroughbred horse farm in Florida and was developed in 1943 by Carl G. Rose. Ocala is one of only five cities (four in the US and one in France) permitted under Chamber of Commerce guidelines to use the title, "Horse Capital of the World", based on annual revenue produced by the horse industry. 44,000 jobs are sustained by breeding, training, and related support of the equine industry, which generates over $2.2 billion in annual revenue. In 1978, Affirmed, who was bred and trained in Marion County, won the Triple Crown:
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| Affirmed Spendthrift Farm in 1981 |
56. Racing circuit: LAP.
59. Part of some German names: VON. German for "from". For example, Field Marshal Paul VON Hindenburg was President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. He will be forever remembered for the eponymous air ship the Hindenburg, which crashed while attempting to land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township in New Jersey on May 6, 1937 ...
64. Before, poetically: ERE.
65. "All clear now": I SEE.
66. Blue alien played by Karen Gillan in Marvel films: NEBULA. I'm more familiar with Karen as Amy Pond in Dr. Who, but here she is as NEBULA in Guardians of the Galaxy ...
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| Nebula |
68. Throw out a line: CAST.
69. Motown great Knight: GLADYS. GLADYS Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten. Here's their cover of Jim Weatherly's Midnight Train to Georgia ...
Down:
1. Dumbfounded: AGOG.
2. Animated explorer: DORA. Here's DORA's Night Light Adventure ...
3. Null and __: VOID.
4. Urge (on): EGG.
5. French king: ROI. Today's French lesson.
6. Laugh line?: BON MOT. More French -- literally "Good word". Around here they're called "Punch lines".
7. David Oyelowo film set in Alabama: SELMA. SELMA is a 2014 historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis. The film stars actors David Oyelowo as King, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as George Wallace, and Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King ...
8. Atelier tripod: EASEL.
9. Orthopedist's scan, briefly: MRI.
10. "Wouldn't you agree?": ISNT IT.
11. Tropical flower used in aromatherapy products: YLANG YLANG. Ylang Ylang flower - uses, side effects, and more. It's also called the "Queen of Perfumes" ...
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Ylang Ylang |
12. "Girls5eva" co-star __ Elise Goldsberry: RENEE. RENÉE Elise Goldsberry (born January 2, 1971) is an American actress and singer known for originating the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway musical Hamilton, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her name is also a CSO to our Monday sherpa.
Girls5eva is a 2021 mini-series about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 1990s that get thrust back into the limelight 20 years later. Its members reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot -- this time while balancing spouses, kids, jobs, debt, ageing parents, and shoulder pain ...
13. Drummer Ringo: STARR. Also a singer ...
18. Stunt pilot: AEROBAT. Here is a team of 7 Italian AEROBATS performing in Dubai on August 20, 2021
23. Add-__: ONS.
24. Winnow: CULL.
25. Prefix with pad: HELI. This is a Google Earth shot of the HELIPAD on the top of the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. One of my nieces is a nurse who used to go out on these flights to give emergency medical treatments to trauma victims ...
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Helipad University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center |
26. Tireless, unpaid assistant: SIRI.
27. "It is the green-eyed monster ... " speaker: IAGO.
In Shakespeare's Othello, Act 3, Scene 3 IAGO tries to
manipulate Othello by suggesting that his wife,
Desdemona, is having an affair. Iago plants the seeds of jealousy in
Othello’s mind by saying:
“O beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
And the seeds sprout.
28. Step in a cocktail recipe: STIR.
29. Green thing on a roof: SOLAR PANEL.
33. Musician Brian who calls himself a "nonmusician": ENO. Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle ENO (born May 15, 1948, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England), British producer, composer, keyboardist, and singer who helped define and reinvent the sound of some of the most popular bands of the 1980s and ’90s and who created the genre of ambient music. One those bands was U2 ...
Sometimes artists are their own worst critics. Apparently ENO, who was the producer for U2's 1987 album Joshua Tree and the song Where the Streets Have No Name, hated the latter so much that he tried to destroy it.
34. Refuse collectors: ASH CANS. Also navy slang for the depth charges used in anti-submarine warfare.
36. Prerequisite to a deal: ANTE.
37. Make-or-break time: D DAY. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. This past June 6th was the 79th anniversary of the landings. The 2001 HBO Mini-series Band of Brothers was one many attempts to bring that event home to those who weren't there ...
39. Spanish painter Francisco: GOYA. Francisco José de GOYA y Lucientes (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and print maker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters. Goya is often referred to as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns.
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Francisco Goya |
41. Eye part: LENS.
46. Frequent medium for 39-Down: OIL. For example: The Third of May 1808, which Goya completed in 1814. In the work, Goya commemorates Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of 1808 in the Peninsular War ...
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The Third of May 1808 Museo del Prado, Madrid |
49. On the way up: RISING.
50. Sheltered inlets: COVES.
51. Squirrel morsel: ACORN. Also the name of a British personal computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the ACORN Electron and the ACORN Archimedes. They are credited with the development of reduced instruction set computing (RISC) personal computers. They ceased operations in 1999.
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Acorn Electron |
52. Early strings: LYRES. LYRES are still around (at least in France)...
53. Absurdist playwright Jean: GENET. Jean GENET (19 December 1910 – 15 April 1986) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels The Thief's Journal and Our Lady of the Flowers and the plays The Balcony, The Maids and The Screens.
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Jean Genet Illustration by Edward Kinsella. |
57. Side (with): ALLY.
58. Free TV spots: PSAS.
61. Can. neighbor: USA. A left-handed CSO to CanadianEh! ...
63. Org. with Kings and Cavaliers: NBA. The aristocracy of B BALL?
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
36 comments:
Well, it had to happen sooner or later. This puzzle defeated “the great” Subgenius. As you folks know, when it comes to crosswords, I am “directionally challenged.” However , I believe my problem happened in the extreme Northeast. I didn’t know the flower “ylang-ylang” and so “yling-ylang” seemed just as likely to me. And the perp was no real help, as I figured it could be “Ina” as likely as “Ana.” So, to make a long story short, I FIW. So, while I can’t say “I’m happy “ about this, I am happy to be on this site with you friends, even in the midst of my humiliation. Subgenius out!
Good morning!
Didn't notice the theme. Didn't notice the reveal. Did notice lotsa Ys...at least it seemed like a lot. Tried SIFT before CULL showed up. "Sifting and Winnowing" is a signature phrase of U-W Madison. Didn't recognize many of the names (as usual), but the perps were fair. That YLANG YLANG flower was just cruel. Thanx for the diversion, Jason. Learned a lot from your expo, Waseeley -- also as usual.
FIR, but erased last for BEAR, fish for CAST, and at long last, corn for EARS which allowed me to get 'er done. This theme should have been There's No Business Like Show Business. More an Entertainment Weekly offering, IMO.
Today is:
NATIONAL PAWPAW DAY (the largest native fruit of North America)
NATIONAL CHAI DAY (I don’t drink tea often, and when I do I just order ‘unsweet’)
NATIONAL PECAN COOKIE DAY (one of the few fat pellets I haven’t eaten)
CSO to U.Fred at SOLAR PANEL. We haven't had a cost/savings report in a while, Fred. Would love an update.
We live about a half-block from the area's Level 1 trauma center. When we moved here, the HELIpad was near the emergency entrance. Now they have relocated it atop a new addition to the main building. We used to hear the helos leave and arrive, but now we hear them from the time they start up until they are gone. Seems like an excessively long warm up time to me, but then again, my life's not in the balance. My former Navy helo pilot told me that it is much easier and safer to land on a rooftop than on a pad among buildings.
OCALA has horse sculptures scattered throughout the city. Various artists have decorated them in fanciful colors and patterns. Norfolk does the same with mermaids. If I can find where my picture of they are filed, I'll post them later. Busy day getting ready for a two-week trip starting Sunday. Tomorrow and Saturday look like washouts, so I gotta scramble to get everything ready today.
Thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun review, which (fortunately) was not a Three Hour Tour.
Since they were earlier fill, at first I thought the theme would all be repeats with GOO GOO and YLANG YLANG. But no. Creative construction, with a long word like SIGNAL to find mixed up in other phrases.
Cute clue for CHORAL SINGER - - with one doing a service. Thanks for the Musicality link- "The Greatest Showman" has many wonderful songs
Karen GILLAN is a versatile actress - I enjoyed her in the newer "Jumanji" movies with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black. She uses so many different speaking styles, it is surprising when she is interviewed and her own voice is a Scottish brogue!
When we lived in Wisconsin we were not far from the UW HELIpad- my kids were littles then and when we would see one coming in we would pray for whoever was in the helicopter coming in for treatment.
Thanks Bill & Teri for the blog- lots of fun musical links and to Jason for the puzzle!
Good Morning:
Scrambling a six letter word into four strong themers is impressive to me. I saw some of the repeating letters early on but had neither the patience nor curiosity to try to unscramble them. Seeing the perfect reveal was its own reward. Ylang-ylang, Nebula, and Reneé were unknowns, as was the hard cider brand, but perps were fair, IMO, so no foul. An added bonus was the fun grid spanner of Gilligans Island. Ocala brought dear Wilbur to mind, as he mentioned it often. Nice CSO to our Reneé.
Thanks, Jason, for the fun solve and thanks, Bill, for the fun and facts, as usual. Thanks, also, to Teri.
Have a great day.
FIR. The theme escaped me till I got here, and I still don't see mixed signals from the reveal which says turn signals. What's to turn? Can we say lame?
This was an especially difficult Thursday puzzle for me, more of what I would expect on a Friday. I did not enjoy it.
My SIGNALs were definitely mixed today. I managed to FIR it wasn't easy. I wasn't familiar with ORIGINAL SIN Cider, YLANDYLANG, NEBULA, RENEE, GENET, Josh GAD, or the term CRINGEY ( only Cringe worthy). Perps for those unknowns.
CAPITAL GAINS- sell your losers to offset any gains. And if you invest don't lie and say you don't have any losers. And for those who pay taxes quarterly, they were due LAST WEEK by 9-15.
OCALA- Affirmed was trained by a good friend's uncle, Laz Barrera. After the horse won the Derby and Preakness Joe bought 100 $2.00l wagers on Affirmed to win the Belmont and gave one to each of my office employees. I managed to lose mine sometime in the last 40 years.
Good Morning! Very clever puzzle today, Thanks, Jason.
It was all good but for the NE. I never heard of that tropical flower – lots of WAGS to get there.
I saw the theme after much pondering – Nice!
WO: iris -> LENS
Perps: GAD, NEBULA & RENEE
Help, please, don’t laugh, okay maybe chuckle – is it pronounced ME-ME, MEM, or …? I’ve only seen it in print.
Thanks, Bill, for the CSO – Yes!! It’s a play on my name. And thanks for the musical treat. I enjoy music but don’t seek it out, so your offerings are much appreciated.
Took 6:56 today for me to let the GALS IN.
I did not see the theme until finished, which is a recurring theme for me.
I did not know the ylangylang, the absurdist writer, the Latin phrase, the German name part, and neither today's actress, nor her show/movie.
Luckily, I seemed to know many of the other proper nouns today (Starr, Iago, Eno, Dora, Selma, Ana, Ocala, Nebula, Bowen Yang, Siri, Gladys, etc.).
SubG, I'm sure you still have many other reasons to be happy today. (See, supra, Jinx's reasons to celebrate.)
"Meme" rhymes with "deem" or "seem".
Musings
-YLANGYLANG in the COVE with two obscure actresses was a struggle
-How ‘bout this fun __LANG __LANG sequence?
-I looked for an anagrammed gimmick but took a long time to enlarge my search to six letters
-A bypass with three roundabouts was supposed to take SEMIS off a main street in our town but some truckers hate roundabouts too much.
-My winter-Texan golf partner says he does not need a passport to get into Mexico and only occasionally needs to show one to get back into Texas
-I knew the fill was EASEL but used SIRI to look up atelier
-We had one washer that seemed to use the SPIN cycle to escape out of the laundry room
Turn signals are a very important safety feature on cars. If you see some one who left their turn signal on forever, you know that they are oblivious to their environment while speeding down the road in a two ton killing machine, and you should stay the hell away from them...
Whenever I see some one change lanes without signaling, I say say to my back seat driver, "I guess he Owns this road!"
But, there are always other explanations...
From yest,
I never heard avocado hand.
(I never heard of bagel hand either...)
But apparently, it is common enough to require workplace safety signs...
So, in the spirit of PSA's,
here is a safer way to depot an avocado that you never heard of either...
At first I thought I would never finish this puzzle, but as I filled the short answers the long ones appeared. However I didn’t see the theme until the reveal. All in all no complaints. I enjoyed the challenges.
I got YLANG YLANG right away. I remember a few months ago we had it in a puzzle reviewed by CC and she provided us a picture of the flower and said she uses a skin care product that’s imbued by that scent. When it comes to flowers, scents, and skin care products I’m all ears. Marvel comics, TV shows, not so much.
Much easier’n yesterday even with unknowns, but didn’t get the theme.
“As Jason reveals here, his encryption algorithm is pretty simple” I think the word “simple” here applies to me 🙁 (I coulda used some much maligned ⚪️⚪️⚪️’s)
Inkovers: last/BEAR, paper/TONER
“Prerequisite to a deal”: Almost put Atty but no abbrev. in the clue, then envy for IAGO but reread the clue. A SOLARPANEL is "green”? oh, not the color. I get it. Plus considered AERONuT but GILLIGAbN said no. Never heard of an AEROBAT. Bowen Yang, first Asian American on SNL and one of the funniest.
“Squirrel morsel” wonder what squirrel tastes like 😝
“I’d like to order a dozen long-stemmed YLANGYLANGs please, 😃
From La Bohème
“Mi chiamano ____ “, the same in French….. MEME
The New York State Thruway takes ____ on cars….. ATOLL
Devilish digs ….. HELIPAD
* Our hospital spent a fortune on a HELIPAD years ago to quickly send patients who required a tertiary care center to one in Syracuse, 50 miles away only to realize after all the paper work, permissions, and equipment etc. it was faster to go by ambulance. Moot point cuz the hospital closes in a few weeks.
Husker @ 9:37 AM Thanks for that ear worm!
RosE @8:46 AM I believe MEME comes for the word MNEMONIC (silent "N") meaning memory aid. It was coined by story teller Richard Dawkins, of whom I am not a big fan.
CED @9:47A ROTFL! "Workplace safety signs" and thanks for the PSA. We used to eat lots of avocados, but gave them up for dietary reasons (they have good fat, but it's still FAT). Never had AH -- my approach (I'm the kitchen sous chef) was to:
1. Slice around the avocado lengthwise.
2. Twist and remove the first half.
3. Slice around the the second half lengthwise.
4. Twist and the pit becomes easy to remove without a knife.
5. This has the added benefit that the skins are easier to remove.
Got ‘er done, FIR in typical (for me) Thursday time. Wow, that’s really a difficult to suss theme, which I never did. Even after going back to look I didn’t see it and just shook my head. Insane number of names, by my count 17. Across: 17, 19, 20, 38, 66, 67, 69. Down: 2, 7, 12, 13, 27, 33, 39, 53, 61, 63. Fortunately, I knew 8 of them. Brian ENO sure shows up in a lot of CWs. Lots of DNKs, too. When I look back at it it’s a wonder I managed to FIR in typical Thursday time. Good challenge, JR, thanx. As always, a terrific write-up, Bill, thanx for all your time and effort. D-O, you mention UW-Madison, my alma-mater. I graduated January of ‘67, with a B.S. in Zoology and a Chemistry minor. Did you go to UW-Madison too? I was there about 9 years ago, showing my GF around. We sat on the pier adjacent to the Student Union that recently collapsed. Total embarrassment, it wasn’t that old, you’d think the pier construction would have been a project of the College of Engineering, and would have been better designed and built. Like you, when the CW made me think of Sifting and Winnowing, I thought of UW. Jinx, tough to say exactly how much the solar panels have saved me. I thought I’d have no power bill from FPL at all. In the last one year, I have sent them over 1,100 kWh of electicity, yet, because they write their own rules in FL, I have had to pay them $29.95/month just to stay connected to the grid. So that means I’ve paid them $390 since the system was activated, plus January of this year an extra $10 fee for something, so $400 total. Without the solar, I would have paid them roughly $2,000 in the 14 months since the system was turned on, so I’ve saved an estimated $1,600. Is that worth the $48,000 the whole system cost? Well, another aspect is the 2 Tesla PowerWall batteries give me back-up power in case the grid goes down, like from a hurricane. The system has software built into it so that if the National Weather Service issues a severe storm warning, the batteries automatically get fully charged from the grid quickly, before the power goes out. Only problem: every single time that system was activated, the grid would start to charge the batteries, then the circuit breaker would open. After complaining about it for a year, PES Solar finally came and had a look and discovered they had installed 30 amp breakers where 60 amp breakers shoulda been. They replaced them free, and, finally, that’s fixed. Anyway, that’s the latest on the solar system.
Cringey pretty much sums up today's cross-name puzzle for me. Big DNF. Theme? There was a theme?
I got TURN SIGNALS pretty early but it did nothing to help me get ORIGINAL SIN, which I've never heard of (the cider). YLANG YLANG, are you kidding me? Did not enjoy this one.
Uncle Fred
It’s interesting that a state as sunny as Florida makes so little use of solar energy while upstate NY and other much less sunny states are more and more trying to squeeze as much energy out of the sun as possible. An article not written by Florida Light & Power stated that “Net metering which allows solar owners to earn credits for excess energy that they send to the grid that offsets their grid usage when their panels aren’t generating power was recently under threat in Florida from a bill that passed in the state legislature, but it was ultimately vetoed by the Governor.
Florida House Bill 741 would have stripped net metering from homeowners and businesses who go solar starting in 2024. This move would have made rooftop solar uneconomical for everyone and would have killed the state’s solar industry. Thankfully, this attempt to kill solar failed, but there will undoubtedly be another.”
With the Florida state legislature hostile to solar I can understand why people are reluctant to make the investment.
I wrote the Board of our Sanibel Island Fl timeshare resort complex which was severely damaged during Hurricane IAN suggesting
we use the opportunity to install solar panels during the rebuild …. Crickets….
And now for something completely different…
“Constructor Jason Reich shared a few grains of truth in his first appearance on the Corner this past January. “
So his next will be a Third Reich Puzzle “YOU WILL DO IT AND YOU WILL LIKE IT!!!” 🧐
Fun Friday puzzle, many thanks, Jason. And your commentary is always detailed and helpful and a pleasure, thanks for that too, Bill and Teri.
Well, I always look for signs of art in puzzles, and this one began by putting a bit of music in our EARS, with lovely melodies from LYRES, and that CHORAL SINGER, and also the sound of the drummer, Ringo STARR and the singing of Gladys KNIGHT. This is all music we would LAUD. For visual art we got the appearance of Francisco GOYA, who undoubtedly had an EASEL in his studio in order to make OIL paintings. Makes me wish we had a single studio in town where we could hear and see all of this art. Wouldn't that be an amazing treat!
Have a good Thursday, everybody.
One of the interesting things about The Corner is how “easy” for one person is “impossible” for another. Yesterday, I was frustrated beyond belief and ready to throw the newspaper across the room. Today, everything fell into place nicely, and the proper names were very gettable with perps. I knew ylangylang from looking at perfume ingredients over the years. Today’s outing was really enjoyable, so thanks Jason. I run out of superlatives for the tours Bill and Teri give us - always such a treat!
R-O-S @ 12:03 The system currently used by virtually every power company in the country is the same one envisioned by Thomas Edison, circa 1885: a central power generating station with the power strung up on high-voltage towers for distribution to far off consumers. It is absolutely asinine to still be using this antiquated system today. Power companies should be in the business of distributive local power generation: sell solar panels to every business and residence, add batteries to each, and hook them all together into your grid, charging a small monthly fee to regulate the entire system. This avoids hanging wires on huge high-voltage towers (which can fall causing fires and other problems), avoids the unsightly and expensive sub-stations, etc., and when a hurricane comes, everyone has power from their batteries even when there is a storm, and after the storm passes, the sun comes out and everyone whose batteries might have run flat has power once again. No bringing in crews from a thousand miles away to frantically try to hang the wires back on poles. Reconstructing the grid is no longer an emergency. And properly structured the power company can make the same profit they currently make. I sent this idea to FPL CEO Hay roughly 20 years ago. His response was that they are building a big solar generating plant somewhere in central florida, and would put the power so generated on high-voltage towers and send it where needed, completely missing the point. Of course, FPL doesn’t care a lick about the huge expense of re-hanging the wires, it costs them nothing, they just add it as a surcharge to everyone’s power bill. And therein lies the problem.
A clever puzzle. Jason is talented to mix a 6 letter word. I enjoyed the cluing and finished it right with a few WAGS. Thanks Jason and Bill…. kkFlorida
Great finds, Jason! Thank you for a fun solve. And thanks to Bill-'n-Teri for a cool review!
U-Fred, I see your point. Interesting that you were touting local solar so far ahead of the crowd. I'm sure that part of the problem is providing for power for high density areas like the huge apartment complexes one sees driving into NYC.
I always thought that Edison's concept was lots of small DC power stations, and that Tesla pushed the competing AC scheme with big, centralized generating stations that worked with transformers and enabled high tension lines to local distribution systems. Must be true; I saw it on a TV show.
Hi All!
What a WAG-fest of names in the NE! And filling "YL___" - you know something must turn out wrong...
Thanks Jason for the Thursday challenge. Theme (6-letter scramble!?!) helped the solve [24a] and wordplay was fun [cite: 24a, 29d, etal].
Another in-depth expo from Waseeley. Thanks for the GOO GOO DOLLS & fer learnin' me something today!
WO: aIde -> SIRI
WAGs: YLANGYLANG(?!?), RENEE, ANA
ESP: GENET
Fav: Clue for SOLAR PANEL is beautiful misdirection. //well, it had me barking up the wrong tree for a while
Youngest is a big fan of Broadway and Josh GAD - she even got his autograph on a playbill. That's how I know who he is ;-)
I bet more people can sing the theme to Gilligan's Island than can recite the preamble to The Constitution.
CED - I just purchased (online groceries is awesome!) two avocados for DW. Thanks for the PSA; I'll show DW that method Sat. am.
Enjoyed reading everyone!
Cheers, -T
A tough Thursday PZL from Mr. Reich...
I question the wisdom of the proper name nexus at 19A & 12D. I got 'em, but still wanna register an objection.
Was I the only one puzzled by the cluing of 27A?
"Give, as a passport" left no room for the preposition in the fill.
I got as far as ISSUE, then had to grit my teeth while adding TO.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, far side.
Its one word anagram (13 of 15) speaks to the anti-monarchical sentiments held by many here in the "new world."
Most of us belong to this group, now headed by Prince Harry.
Are we not mainly...
"ANTIROYALISTS"?!
Ray-O-Sunshine
"Florida House Bill 741 would have stripped net metering from homeowners and businesses who go solar starting in 2024."
Net metering is okay if the sun is shining but it doesn't account for the upkeep of the electrical grid and backup power generation. If those who have solar panels have multiple backup batteries they don't need to hook to the grid. Every facility hooked to the grid needs to pay for the privilege if they expect to be able to turn on the lights every time they want power. The 'draw' on the grid changes every second depending on many factors including temperature and weather conditions.
Me? I have a 22Kw natural gas generator. Is it cost effective? Hell no. It's expensive to run but cheaper than hotel rooms after a hurricane blows through. Powers my entire house and neighbor's refrigerators.
BE, UF: Most of FL doesn't have natural gas utilities. And at the risk of being accused of being a conspiracy theorist, what if cyber attacks shut down the electrical grid and the natural gas transmission system? I used to think that was far-fetched, but no longer.
Back in business on this laptop - kinda sorta. New keyboard was hard to replace, and it's still not right, but at least it works now. Good to have the space bar and the B and N keys back.
From yesterday - I didn't find the puzzle difficult at all, and I learned a couple of new terms. Notably, mossback and avocado hand. I use Jalepeno peppers when making Pico de Gallo, not Serrano peppers. One Jalapeno, minus the seeds.
I thought today was pretty easy as well. Just a little bit of crunch. YLANG YLANG was new, as was NEBULLA, but they had to be.
Thank you Jason and Waseeley.
BTW, not anagrams. They are jumbles, or scrambles, but not anagrams. Common mistake.
I can’t believe I’m going to bed without reading the words, “FIR so I’m happy.” If it makes you feel any better Subgenius, I didn’t FIR either. Not even close. But that’s why God created tomorrows…
Dash T, FLN? I have a few extra external PS/2 architecture keyboards, but no PS/2 to USB adapters. I'm going to order one or two adapters. I've gotten so used to using laptops without a docking station, external monitor, and external keyboard/mouse that it would take some getting used to, but having the adapter as a fallback isn't a bad idea.
Funny thing happened as I was replacing the keyboard. At least to me. I got a telephone call just after removing the keyboard with the bad keys. Put the new one in and it had the exact same problem. No spacebar, no N and no B. Oops. I'd absent mindlessly reinstalled the old one. D'OH!
I enjoyed Jason's puzzle, mostly because of the fun themers. Gotta love GILLIGAN'S ISLAND!
Google says the Y's are silent in YLANG YLANG. (speaking of... I'm fairly sure it's the "m" that is silent in "mnemonic".)
I also saw the CSO's to unclefred, CanadianEh!, and WC.
TTP@9:03. Too funny! I can totally see that happening.
Thank you for your musical write-up, waseeley! Lots of good stuff, especially the connection with the GOO GOO Dolls!
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
“encryption algorithm”…as Robot in “Lost In Space” would say: “It does not compute!”. Although I scored a FIR, and enjoyed the themers, as a clue to them, 60A is totally useless in my book!
====> Darren / L.A.
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