Envy much?
16. Injury sustained while making guacamole: AVOCADO HAND. Never heard of this but a quick Google says it's like bagel-hand -- you slice the *explicate* out of your hand while cutting your food.29. Person aggressively opposed to progress: MOSSBACK. Another never heard of. I kept trying to fit Luddite but perps said no. Google says: MOSSBACK - An old-fashioned or extremely conservative person.
34. First track on Fleetwood Mac's "Mystery to Me" album: EMERALD EYES. Yet another I didn't know.
40. Nitwit: PEA-BRAIN. I've heard of this one - usually directed at me.
54. Marvel Comics supervillain, or a creature made up of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 40-Across?: GREEN GOBLIN. Finally, my mispent youth pays off!
There you have it - different shades of green for different body parts of the
 |
| The Green Goblin |
Across:
1. Poaching targets: EGGS. Is this a Dr. Seuss bonus themer?
5. Afghanistan's capital: KABUL. My little (Army) Bro spent a tour there.
10. "Rumor __ it ... ": HAS.
13. Alpaca product: WOOL.
14. "One more song!": ENCORE.
 |
| How it Started |
 |
| How it's Going |
15. One in a concert lineup: AMP.
 |
| Story behind the Marshall Stack |
16. [See: theme]
18. NFL arbiter: REF.
19. John Fetterman's title, briefly: SEN.
 |
| (D) Pennsylvania |
20. Bat mitzvah, e.g.: RITE.
21. "Here's the one-sentence version" letters: TL;DR. Too Long; Didn't Read.
23. Makes urgent decisions?: TRIAGES. I was in a field medical unit so I learned all about this. Avocado Hand is treatable and not life threatening.
25. Dangerous pool in a video game: LAVA PIT.
28. "Perfect is the __ of the good": ENEMY.
29. [See: theme]
30. Violets or lilacs: FLOWERS.
 |
| Pretty with a lovely aroma |
33. __ Tomé and Príncipe: SAO.
 |
| Found it! |
34. [See: theme]
37. Wood-burning stove buildup: ASH.
39. More icky: GROSSER. Eew(er)?
40. [See: theme]
43. Theater walkway: AISLE.
47. Pico de gallo pepper: SERRANO.
 |
| Hotness on Scoville Scale |
48. Czech Republic region: BOHEMIA.
50. Urban haze: SMOG.
51. Deutschland city on the Rhein: KOLN. German name for the city of Cologne.
52. Corn unit: EAR.
53. Steamed bun in Asian cuisine: BAO.
 |
| Yum! |
54. [See: theme]
58. BYOB part: OWN. Bring Your OWN Beer.
59. Word on the California state seal: EUREKA. There's gold in them thar hills! [The real money was in selling shovels, sluice pans & Levi's :-)].
60. "What __ is new?": ELSE.
61. Social science subj.: PSY. Psychology.
62. Faculty positions: DEANS.
63. Turned red?: DYED. Ha!
Down:
1. Discarded Apples, e.g.: E-WASTE. Your old iThings.
2. Do House work?: GOVERN. If they'd do their job.
3. Mouth, Chunk, or Data, in a 1985 film: GOONIE. Total gimmie. Goonies is a movie from the '80's and absolutely fun.
Hey You Guys!
4. 2002 Winter Games host, initially: SLC. Salt Lake City. Mitt Romney made that happen.
5. Pretzel shapes: KNOTS.
 |
| Fun With Food |
6. Throb: ACHE.
7. __ constrictor: BOA. A snake.
8. Caterer's coffee container: URN.
9. Some Best Buy buys, briefly: LED TVS. My old TV (that was in my study (it was the living room TV until it got funky)) died. I found two TVs we gave to the Girls when they were little. One was so old it couldn't decode over the air HD signals. The other has a HD tuner and is the only DVD player in the house.
10. "Absolutely not": HARD PASS. I kept thinking "HARD NO."
11. IN place?: AMERICA. Indiana is in America.
12. Sunblock letters: SPF. Sun Protection Factor.
14. Actress Falco: EDIE.
 |
| Edie Falco |
17. Knitting pattern: ARGYLE. R.I.P. our buddy Santa.
22. Research site: LAB.
24. Radio switch letters: AM/FM. Do you really want me to go into Amplitude Modulation / Frequency Modulation?
 |
| Waveforms |
25. House of __: LORDS. I inked caRDS.
26. Donkeys: ASSES.
27. MMA decision: TKO. Mixed Martial Arts / Technical Knock Out.
29. Honeydew, e.g.: MELON.
31. Instrument with pipes: ORGAN. Splynter can tell you all about their innards.
 |
| Organ at Catlett Music Center, OU |
32. Nintendo antagonist with a "W" on his cap: WARIO This calls for SNL.
Anyone else reading Walter Issacson's Elon Musk?
34. "Get Who Gets You" dating site: E-HARMONY. We usta get A-words; now they're all E-lectronic.
35. "Don't think so": YEAH, NO.
36. Canal with a museum in Syracuse: ERIE.
37. High-level HS courses: APS.
38. Vacillates: SEE SAWS. Goes back and forth; up and down.
41. Dude: BRO.
42. Worn out: RAGGED.
44. Hardly fresh: SMELLY.
45. Connect (with): LIAISE.
46. Worked for: EARNED.
48. Knocks on the head: BONKS. I had Conks cuz' I was going for Croatia on the across.
49. Gymnast Korbut: OLGA.
 |
| Olga Korbut |
51. Eager: KEEN.
53. Knock on the head: BOP.
55. Have buyer's remorse, say: RUE.
56. Significant period: ERA.
57. Vegetable plot: BED. My garden BED burned up 'cuz of 45+ days of 3-digit temps and no rain. Even my cacti are crying uncle.
Only think left to do is paste the grid:
 |
| The Grid |
Oh, you want'd the -T report?
WOs: caRDS, cONKS
ESPs: Most of ACOCADO HAND & EMERALD EYES. All of MOSSBACK, OLGA, SAO
Fav: Goonie
Cheers, -T
34 comments:
This puzzle seemed to me considerably more difficult than the Monday and Tuesday puzzles, but it IS Wednesday, so I guess that’s fair. And like T I had “house of cards” before I got “House of Lords.” Also, I had to solve the reveal before I could come up with the “Y” of “Emerald Eyes.” Anyway, after some P&P, I managed to FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Learned that SERRANO has two Rs and one N. Wite-Out, please. And so it went. Hand up for cARDS and cONKS. Wasn't familiar with AVOCADO HAND, MOSSBACK (one word?), or GREEN GOBLIN. Still they managed to get filled in. ARGYLE was a reminder of our late, great Mon-Tue Sherpa. He is still missed. Thanx, Rebecca. Knew it was you, Dash-T. Well done.
"House work": Here in Texas the house did it's job. The senate, however, had a primary reason for not doing theirs.
E-HARMONY: Here in redneck land most folks live in modest homes on large lots. A developer came in with "The Estates" -- McMansions on small lots. We refer to them as the E-States.
FIW. P&P expired, and I settled for cONKS x cOHEMIA. It seems to me that Rebecca's puzzles are either delightful or joyless; no second gear. To this non-gamer old fart, this one was the later.
Today is:
NATIONAL FRIED RICE DAY (still hungry...)
NATIONAL STRING CHEESE DAY (STILL hungry...)
PEPPERONI PIZZA DAY (full, but now it's time for...)
NATIONAL PUNCH DAY (unspiked - it's...)
NATIONAL CARE FOR KIDS DAY
Waited for ump/REF. Casual NFL fans don't know that NFL officiating crews include an umpire. Also waited for ASH/tar. Ash is messy, but tar will burn your house down.
Fetterman's title had to be SEN, because Slob wouldn't fit. Since there is no longer a dress code for SENs, maybe Mitch McConnell should report for work in a Speedo. (Apologies in advance if you couldn't finish your oatmeal from the thought.)
Simplistic decisions like TLDR are to the determent to the decider. No Atlas Shrugged, no Tales of the South Pacific.
The "rr" in SERRANO requires a strong trill. Same for Zoё la perra.
Thanks to Bayou Tony for the fine, fun review.
DNF. The NE did me in, mostly because I insisted on house of cards instead of lords. Also serrano was a mystery to me along with moss back.
I figured out the theme but it didn't help with the solve.
The video game references were wasted on me; not a fan. So Wario and lava pit went over my head.
For a Wednesday puzzle this seemed harder than the average.
Took 5:31 today for me to be green with envy.
Wasn't a fan of the Czech area quickly followed by the German area that was quickly followed by the Asian cuisine.
I had "act" before "amp" and although I thought "IN" meant Indiana, I was holding out for an abbreviation for the answer. I thought that was a crossword rule: an abbreviation in the clue meant an abbreviation in the answer. I guess it means there MAY be an abbr. in the answer.
I knew today's actress (Edie) and female athlete (Olga). I didn't know serrano, mossback, or the Fleetwood Mac song.
Good Morning:
I will respectfully defer to my trusted conscience, Thumper.
Thanks, Anon T, for your always upbeat tone and for pinch hitting again.
Parsan, I sent you a email on Monday.
Have a great day.
Took 30 minutes of struggle to FIW. Dang. DNK = LAVAPIT, MOSSBACK, TLDR, GOONIE. TLDR and GOONIE eventually perped, but CAVAPIT and MASSBACK persisted since I had CARDS in there for 25D. Again: dang. Thanx anyway for the CW RG, and thanx too for the write-up, T.
Greetings. Nope, no joy today. I left a lot of blanks in the NW & NE. Too many obscurities. Upon reading Anon-T’s excellent recap, I probably could have filled in a few more. Thanks, -T.
I knew it would be MOSSBACK, but I was stuck on House of CARDS, and didn’t go back to fix it.
WAG: ENEMY. Perp: KOLN (among others.)
SEN – disgrace wouldn’t fit.
Noted BAO & SAO.
I’ve already forgotten TLDR even though we’ve seen it before. It will never register. I wanted it to be TGIF or ASAP. Those are sentences in letters…..
Slowly filled this (for a Wednesday) - amusing that -T blogged today since I learned TL:DR from him on another of his posts.
GOONIE came out during my personal blackhole of culture, I've never seen it, but I know of it through crosswords and Sporcle. (Similar to all the characters of The Simpsons)
I always mix up GREEN GOBLIN, the GREEN Lantern and the GREEN Hornet in comic book land - I forget who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. Even though I don't mix up Willem Dafoe, Ryan Reynolds, and Seth Rogen who played them in the movies!
Thanks Tony for filling in and Rebecca for the puzzle!
Very tough for a Wednesday puzzle. Completely unfamiliar with the term Mossback, Goonie, Wario, yeah no, avocado hand, or Green goblin. I may have heard the song Emerald Eyes but could not tell you the name of the song. I had to change House of cards to House of Lords to change Cava pit to lava pit and Massback to Mossback. Luddite wasn't long enough. I knew Bohemia but wanted conks on the head instead of bonks on the head. Bop was already taken.
DNF. Way too many unknowns, most filled with perps but some didn’t, ERGO DNF.
I too had House of caRDS.
Thank you -t for pointing out the parts of the body. I should have noticed that clever little bit.
Based on this CW I must be a MOSSBACK.
Green Goblin?
It's complicated...
(Hmm, I wonder if the green part has something to do with envy...)
11. IN place?: AMERICA.
My thoughts on this clue/answer...
Lol! I love the 1st comment under this video: "I hate it when I am arguing with my girlfriend, and she breaks into singing and interpretive dance..."
More on the goonies later...
The Goonies was also very complicated...
(Chunk, Mouth, and whoever the other guy is...)
I am intrigued by that Star of David Pretezel! How is it tied?
In researching, I am beginning to think it is an impossible shape of pretzel...
Nope. TITT. Way too many arcane clues, obscure answers, and unknown slang for this mossyback. I would normally apply P&P and slog along, but this was so far off my wavelength I didn't even want to try. Kudos to -T for 'splainin' things...at least that part of my morning was interesting!
Been running errands all morning plus an eye exam so doing the puzzle in pieces but…. YIKES
Is today a super Saturday? Tons of blanks, lots of unknowns
I say “ Uncle” and give up
Kudos (whatever they are) to those who FIR
I finally got the solve, I agree that this was a Wednesday toughie.
Echoing Irish Miss - Thumper!!
This puzzle was on the ridiculous side. Don’t know why the creator and/or the editors need to put us through their hoops unless of course they enjoy masochism. Yep, you girls are taking the fun out of this little morning diversion we had up until now. Been doing the LAT crossword for almost 40 yrs now and never crossed anything like this. Not all of us play video games, go to goonie movies or know all the IN abbreviations. How about trying the English language for a change. Nuff said.
About that "Avocado Hand." I've never heard it named, but speaking from personal experience, it can happen. Avocado Hand Recipe: After cutting the avocado in half from stem to stern, twist the halves apart. To remove the pit, vigorously pierce it with the tip of your paring knife. Carefully, carefully, or the tip of your knife can easily and vigorously pierce the heel of your hand - the fleshy part below the thumb. Voila, Avocado Hand.
Very tough but interesting puzzle. It SEESAWed from so easy to so hard. Did not know TLDA LAVE PIT, WARIO, or EMERALD E-E- (EYES).
AnonT - Never heard of those GOONIE boys but the caption under the video “Hey You Guys!” reminded me of the great Rita Moreno always yelling that at the opening of “The Electric Company”, seen on many LED TVs (or did they come later?). The caption under KNOTS, “Fun With Food” brought back memories of “Fun WithFlags”, very funny episodes with Sheldon and Amy.
Never heard HARD PASS but remembered MOSS BACK and didn’t think of cards for LORDS.
A lot of BOP was played at the now long gone jazz venue Cafe BOHEMIA in NYC.
Happy day, all!
My kids played Mario Cart when they were young so Wario and lavapit were easy fills. I didn’t know avacado hand or serrano but sussed the answers from the perps. A tough puzzle for a Wednesday but it was a satisfying finish. Thanks Rebecca and T…. kkFlorida
Cracking the code on "shade of green + body part" helped me get past the unknowns today. Changing my LAVA PoT to a PIT was my last entry.
inanehiker@9:53 described my GOBLIN thought exactly!
FAVs: Poaching targets? and Concert line-up
Thanks to Rebecca for her puzzle and -T for adding his (always fun) take! Liked the CSOs. Hand up for wanting "luddite" at 29A. Sorry to hear about your veggie bed. I was wondering how your pumpkins were doing.
Musings
-Back from playing 18 on a beautiful Nebraska autumn day
-Many games come down to a bad call or a no-call by a REF.
-The actual REF is the ultimate arbiter and the only one who wears a white hat.
-My MIL’s parents were from the heart of BOHEMIA
-Best Buy has a 32” smart LED TV for $94.99!
-EDIE Falco: What did she think was the source of husband’s Tony Soprano’s money? :-)
-Little Bunny Foo Foo, Hopping through the forest, Scooping up the field mice, And BOPPING them on the head.
-Nice job, Tony.
Gary, she thought he was in waste management. "Hey Paulie - woodja waste that scumbag dat started dat fight at da Bing last night?" "Hey Silvio - wanna waste dat guy dats cozyin' up to the DA?"
IN place. IN is the abbreviation for Indiana. IN place, where is Indiana? America.
If this post seems a little blurry (blurrier than usual that is 😎) I just got back from an eye examination and the optometrist put drops in my eyes. The good/bad news is that I don't need cataract surgery/yet.
Anywho, thank you Rebecca for an ECO-FREAK FIR. The first five clues fell like dominoes until you started to AMP up the themers, which with the exception of PEA BRAIN (I'm lookin' at you Tony 🤣) I DNK.
And while we're on the subject, thank you -T for the calming review. I was a little FRIGHTENED when reveal was uncaped -- all I know about the MCU I learned by hanging around the Corner. Oh, and how bout dem Os!
Some favs:
12A AVOCADO HAND. Would somebody explain this again?
31A EMERALD EYES. DNK Emerald Eyes. Meh. But EMERALD is one of God's better uses for the element Beryllium
48A BOHEMIA. The birthplace of Antonin Dvorak who first became famous for writing this dance (and 15 others). As my favorite DJ says, the man never wrote an unpleasant note.
2D GOVERN. Oh is that what they're supposed to do? Maybe somebody should tell them.
44D SMELLY. And speaking of SMELLY, I'm reminded of a song.
Cheers,
Bill
OK, Anonymous T ~ Show us the way through this Goldstein XWD.
Why didn't I see AMERICA right away?
I don't keep up on my GOBLINS and F-Macs any more, so this was a perp PZL for me.
I got 'em all, but the fun went out around...
"GOOSIER or GROSSER?"
-or-
"How Many Rs are in SERRANO?"
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, far side.
Its anagram (11 of 15) tells of a host's difficulty.
This is a probable diagnosis when the Slavic caterer's URN is keeping the guests waiting--for their tea most likely.
It is a probably a...
"SLOW SAMOVAR"!
Many thanks for an interesting, if somewhat challenging, Wednesday puzzle, Rebecca. And always appreciate your helpful commentary, AnonT, thanks for that too.
Well, as soon as I saw EGGS, I figured we were going to get a bit of nature today, especially when I also saw WOOL. I mean WOOL comes from an animal, doesn't it? Though I doubt those ASSES would end up giving us any WOOL. Wonder if they have EMERALD EYES? Hope they don't have PEA BRAINS--I mean they have to find themselves some food. Maybe some E-WASTE? No, that's the wrong kind of WASTE. Some MELONS would be better, and some GREENS. Sorry, guys, not much of a feast. Hope you get to listen to some music so you at least get a little HARMONY in your lives today.
Have a good day, everybody.
Waseely@4:50. They all say you’ll know when you need cataract surgery, but I didn’t. The ophthalmologist is the one who decided for me. Apparently not everyone “knows”.
EMERALD is my birthstone and one of my favorite cars was a 2005 Infiniti FX 35 whose color was beryllium. I’ve always loved saying that word. Infiniti used that color only that year. I miss that car.
I too, had a tough time with the puzzle, but not unusually tough - just the normal tough.
Thank You Rebecca Goldstein, ( I wonder if she's related to my neighbors ... same name ) for a nice and challenging puzzle.
Thank You Anon-T for a charming and involved review. I read it very focused but I still couldn't decide as to who wrote it, til the end... Very NIce.
I had some advantages in solving ... I got Avocado early, and I knew of the Goonies - both my daughters saw the movie, in the theaters, because I took them to see it. I 'got' LORDS, and never even thought of Cards. I am familiar with Serranos ... but couldn't figure out, why America ? But, all in all, a lot of fun.
-T, I know its clip art , but ... the Jalapeno or the Serrano pepper, in your picture, .... don't look like the representative kind ... Jalapenos are much thicker and juicier, and serranos are a lil more plumper...
... plus the Scovill scale, for the peppers, must be off, Serranos are hardly that piquant.
Habaneros or Scotch Bonnet or some of the small Thai chillies ... maybe.
Not familiar with many of the slang words, MossBack and HardPass ... or the Mario villain,
... but I kept going. All in all, a pleasant journey.
I remembered Argyle, from the days not long ago, and his gentle humor, ...
I was fascinated by the 5 pointed star pretzel ..... now, thats the shape to aim for ...
CrossEyedDave ... unless I misjudged you, thats not the Star of David, ... the Star of David has 6 points, and would be probably easier to assemble, as two separate 'lines'.
Hi All!
Jinx - I don't think I explained it well. TL;DR doesn't mean you didn't read something that you deemed too long but the synopsis (Executive Summary, if you will) of the lengthier, document, event-recount, etc..
Parsan -- The TL; DW (Too Long; Didn't Watch synopsis): In The Goonies, Sloth (the monster) is locked in the basement, chained to his chair, and watches TV all day. Electric Company is a large part of his diet. When Chunk meets him, he's (Chunk's) afraid but then they become friends, escape and go off to save Chunk's other friends that are being hunted by Sloth's family. Right before the dramatic "slide with a knife down the sail to save the day" scene, Sloth yells, "Hey You Guys!"
I'm glad some enjoyed the (mathematical) topology of the pretzels.
Back to work - we're cutting over one of our systems in 10 minutes.
Cheers, -T
Work-required Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Rebecca and AnonT.
I got the GREEN GOBLIN, but DNF in the NE. I didn’t remember TLDR, and couldn’t figure out the crosses of LAVAPIT , LEDTVS and HARD PASS.
But the rest filled quite quickly. (Hand up with the rest of the class for Cards before LORDS).
I noted SAO/BAO and BOA. EAR crossing EARNED was cute.
And was DYED at the end an Easter Egg to the GREEN theme.
Wishing you all a good evening.
Lizlee @12:06 PM Thanx for explaining AVOCADO HAND. You can avoid it by following a simple rule I learned in scouts -- "Never point a knife at yourself".
JJB @ 11:49 wrote, "Not all of us play video games, go to goonie movies or know all the IN abbreviations. How about trying the English language for a change. Nuff said."
He (or she) spoke for me. (Yes TL;DR has appeared in the past, but forgotten.)
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