The GOOD, The BAD, and the UGLY, er, potato (19d.)~?
Today's
puzzle theme clues are opposing statements with the same
catch-phrase/idiom answer....two 15-letter spanners, and two awkward
14-letter spanners; a reasonable challenge for a Wednesday-level
puzzle, with only a few proper names to "42A." the solve. Splynter
here, filling in for melissa....
17. Good advice for an angry person / Bad advice for a novice dairy farmer:
DON'T HAVE A COW MAN
28. Good advice for a complainer / Bad advice for someone blowing out birthday candles:
SAVE YOUR BREATH
48. Good advice for a nervous public speaker / Bad advice for an impersonator:
JUST BE YOURSELF
63. Good advice for an impatient person / Bad advice for a Chippendales dancer:
KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON - I filled this in with "PANTS", but it didn't jibe with the DOWN clues
And, uh, Away We Go....
ACROSS:
1. Soccer star Lionel with seven Ballon d'Or awards: MESSI
_02.jpg/220px-Camp_Nou_Experience_(_Ank_Kumar%2C_INFOSYS)_02.jpg)
The "Golden Ball"
6. Spreadsheet line: ROW
9. Hope __: CHEST
9. Hope __: CHEST
14. Water brand: EVIAN - There was a comedian who pointed out that this is "naïve" spelled backwards....
15. Poetic preposition: ERE
16. Name tag word: HELLO
urm, Vader~? Anakin~?
20. Shelley's "Ozymandias," e.g.: SONNET - I had SONN - - , so from there....
21. Rhythm-heavy genre: SKA - pondered RAP first
22. Mole: SPY
23. Fine __: ARTS
25. Historical times: ERAS - I don't have the link anymore, but I believe this is the single most used crossword fill; see also 39D.
34. Wild beast also called a wildebeest: GNU - hey, that's "GNUS" to me....
35. "Pull up a chair": SIT
36. Fume: SEETHE
37. Blake who played Aunt Harriet on TV's "Batman": MADGE
21. Rhythm-heavy genre: SKA - pondered RAP first
22. Mole: SPY
23. Fine __: ARTS
25. Historical times: ERAS - I don't have the link anymore, but I believe this is the single most used crossword fill; see also 39D.
34. Wild beast also called a wildebeest: GNU - hey, that's "GNUS" to me....
35. "Pull up a chair": SIT
36. Fume: SEETHE
37. Blake who played Aunt Harriet on TV's "Batman": MADGE
Loved me the 60s Batman
40. Lower limb: LEG - oooh, a gimme~!
42. Go bad: SPOIL
43. Off topic: AFIELD - I am in the FIELD for the month of September - first on the west side of CT, and then back to Lynchburg, VA for pipe organ work
45. Repurposed tee, maybe: RAG
47. Directed: LED
52. Price-slashing event: SALE
53. Back muscles, for short: LATS - latissimus dorsi
54. Brief chances?: OPS - OPportunitieS
57. T'ai __ ch'uan: CHI - looked vague at first; more here
59. Newsstand stack: PAPERS
67. In vogue again: RETRO
68. Lunes or martes: DIA - Spanish for days Monday / Tuesday
69. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role: NITTI - no clue; filled via perps
70. Far-out type?: ALIEN - and: 56. 70-Across-hunting org.: SETI - the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence - and a musical interlude from Blue Öyster Cult
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser never makes any Top100 guitarists lists
71. Belief suffix: -ISM
72. Prepare, as an infusion: STEEP
DOWN:
1. Rx orders: MEDs
2. Cooking staple, initially: EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil; learned by doing crosswords
3. Ireland's __ Féin: SINN - SIEN, SEIN~? can never remember how to spell this
4. GPS technology, for short: SAT-NAV - the guys on Wheeler Dealers still call it as such
5. "We can share this hiding place!": "IN HERE~!"
6. Gun: REV
7. Miner concerns: ORES - cute; Miner/minor; see 34D.
8. More watered down: WEAKER
9. Comedian Margaret: CHO
10. Cut down: HEW - oddly followed by....
11. Colonnade trees: ELMS
12. High-five sound: SLAP
13. Broadway award: TONY
18. Legal dept. staffers: ATTYs
19. Potato nutrients, for short: CARBS - carbohydrates
"Ugly" Potatoes
24. Potting material: SOIL
26. Greek war god: ARES
27. Filter (through): SEEP
28. Complete fiasco: SNAFU - Situation Normal, All....
29. Some German imports: AUDIs
30. In __: unborn: UTERO
31. Island formation: ATOLL
32. "The Book __": Markus Zusak novel: THIEF - filled via perps
33. Grasped: HELD
34. Key with one sharp, briefly: G maj - "E min" would have
worked, too, as I knew it's the same as G major from playing the guitar;
A LOT of Metal music is in this key....I started taking piano
lessons~! My goal, which might take me decades, is to play Bach's
Dorian Toccata - this piece - right now I can play the part of "page turner" @ 3:17
Washington National Cathedral organ, NE facade
38. Grasps: GETS
39. Idris of "Cats": ELBA - seems to becoming a crossword staple as popular as "ERA"
41. Ancient France: GAUL - Hey~! My first chance to say this one is "Frawnche"
44. Car battery pioneer: DELCO - The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. - the Wiki
46. Result of some plotting: GRAPH - I toyed with "CABAL", but it's the 'other' type of plotting, e.g. geometry and AutoCAD
49. Violinist Menuhin: YEHUDI - No clue; filled via perps and WAGs
50. Sullies: STAINS - Not THIS Sully - I am fascinated with the Smithsonian Channel's "Air Disasters", not because I am morbid, but for the intriguing investigations - and how a very small part can bring down an airliner.
51. Global fashion brand founded in San Francisco in 1968: ESPRIT - again, no clue
39. Idris of "Cats": ELBA - seems to becoming a crossword staple as popular as "ERA"
41. Ancient France: GAUL - Hey~! My first chance to say this one is "Frawnche"
44. Car battery pioneer: DELCO - The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. - the Wiki
46. Result of some plotting: GRAPH - I toyed with "CABAL", but it's the 'other' type of plotting, e.g. geometry and AutoCAD
49. Violinist Menuhin: YEHUDI - No clue; filled via perps and WAGs
50. Sullies: STAINS - Not THIS Sully - I am fascinated with the Smithsonian Channel's "Air Disasters", not because I am morbid, but for the intriguing investigations - and how a very small part can bring down an airliner.
51. Global fashion brand founded in San Francisco in 1968: ESPRIT - again, no clue
54. Gumbo vegetable: OKRA
55. Spa treatment: PEEL - Dah~! I tried MANI first
58. Pupil's place: IRIS - I briefly considered "DESK"
55. Spa treatment: PEEL - Dah~! I tried MANI first
58. Pupil's place: IRIS - I briefly considered "DESK"
60. Kitchen addition?: ETTE - KitchenETTE - I bought my new
kitchen cabinets a year ago, but I need to upgrade my home electrical
service to 200amps, and even tho I can do it myself, I am waiting on the
electrician
61. Learning method: ROTE
62. Salon sound: SNIP
64. Not post-: PRE
65. "Round __ Virgin, Mother and Child ... ": YON - Silent Night
66. Actor Waterston: SAM - you know him best as John "Jack" McCoy, the Executive Assistant DA from Law & Order
61. Learning method: ROTE
62. Salon sound: SNIP
64. Not post-: PRE
65. "Round __ Virgin, Mother and Child ... ": YON - Silent Night
66. Actor Waterston: SAM - you know him best as John "Jack" McCoy, the Executive Assistant DA from Law & Order
Splynter
Fortunately, Messi is one of the very few names I know from the sport of soccer (what the rest of the world calls “football “) so I didn’t “punt” the opening answer. I would say that this puzzle was considerably tougher than those of the last couple of days, however. And crossing “Nitti” with that fashion brand was just cruel. Nevertheless, I persevered and managed to FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteKept the Wite-Out in the drawer this morning. Thought of GOTTI before NITTI, but the perps solved the issue. Thought the theme (which d-o got, by the way...) was cute. Thanx, Dan. Enjoyed your expo, Splynter. (Thought you were finished with the pipe organ repair business.)
YON : The Sunday school teacher asked the boy what that circular blob was in the corner of his nativity drawing, "Why that's Round John Virgin."
ReplyDeleteComment number TWO .... Deputy ( or Under secretary -) sub-genius.
I had a good time with the puzzle, thank you Dan Margolis.
Thank you Splynter for a very interesting commentary and lots of explanations. I knew it was you when you penned Frawnche ... and the picture of the shapely legs ...
I've heard of the fact that Esprit, was an american invention .. unlike say, Guess, ... which was from Morocco or Algeria...
Yehudi Menuhin, is one of the greatest violinists, like in the era, before Isaac Stern, etc., and lived mostly in England.
... Although I am a complete idiot when it comes to music ... I know of Yehudi because of his first name. Yehudi is the most common racial monicker/slang ( pejorative ?) for Jewish people, in middle, south and east Asia. ... and that was his first name ?!
He was one of the greatest child prodigies... like MOzart ...
Among many, many others, he has also collaborated with the Indian sitarist, Ravi Shankar.
Have a great Wednesday, and a great week, guys.
ReplyDeleteLest there be any misunderstanding ... the word 'Yehudi' means a Jew, in Hebrew.
For an interesting explanation, as to why his mother named him Yehudi Menuhin, .... you will have to read the whole story in his Wikipedia biography entry...
She purposely named him Yehudi, so he would experience anti-semitism, throughout his life ... and grow up despite the insult.
To each his own.
FIW. Crossing of Yehudi and dia did me in. Didn't know either and took a WAG with the letter "r". Wrong!
ReplyDeleteGot the theme with no problem. Very clever! Overall except for one mistake, a quite enjoyable puzzle.
FIR, getting my WAG @ YEHUDI x CHI. Erased sift for SEEP and SETa for SETI. I only knew EVOO, ELBA and SETa, er SETI, from crosswords.
ReplyDeleteToday is:
NATIONAL COFFEE ICE CREAM DAY (wake me up when it’s pecan pralines ‘n’ cream day)
NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY (try not to drip your ice cream on your book – especially your e-book)
Newspaper stacks are a lot smaller than they used to be. Not only because there are so few consumers of physical newspapers, but also because Sunday papers are about as thick as Thursdays used to be.
Nice CSOs to our bayou-dweller TONY and our director OMK, who SHOULD have a TONY in his trophy case.
Patti used SNAFU correctly this time.
Why wasn't Jesus born in D.C.? Because God couldn't find three wise men or a virgin.
Thanks to Dan for the fun start to Wednesday, and to Splynter for another great review. I hope your organ work turns out OK. BTW, that golden ball in the picture may belong to Lance Armstrong - I hear he's missing one.
Musings
ReplyDelete-An oh so clever gimmick that was also very helpful
-I was awed (a good use of the word here) when I first saw a spreadsheet
-Ozymandias made an immediate impression on me as a 16-yr-old
-As l have said before, every teacher’s lounge has a “mole/spy”, choose your words carefully
-SEETHE – Playing behind a VERY SLOW group that won’t even think of letting you play through
-Repurposing my golf tee as a rag? :-)
-SAT NAV – I am amazed that this device can find ANY golf course I play
-DELCO car batteries were big sponsors of 1960’s NFL games with this spokesperson
-Off to golf in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt this morning.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a fresh and clever theme with very strong, in the language Good Advice phrases and comical Bad Advice translations. There were some clever clues but too many fill-in-the-blanks for my taste. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this usage, other than when it’s necessary, as in Sinn Fein, but not for words like Chest, Thief, Yon, etc. I needed perps for Madge, Esprit, and Nitti. Lucina will be happy to see the handsome Mr. Elba again.
Thanks, Dan, for a pleasant solve and thanks, Splynter, for filling in for Melissa.
Jinx @ 7:11 ~ Finally, a whimsical National holiday I can relate to: Coffee Ice Cream Day. Coffee is my favorite ice cream flavor which is odd, I guess, because I don’t drink coffee. 😉
Have a great day.
Took 4:40 to finish today, but please hold your applause (good advice for a crowd/Bad advice for Lady Gaga).
ReplyDelete"Violinist Menuhin"? Seriously?
Almost makes me miss circles.
I also didn't know today's actress (Madge) or even her role, nor did I know Tucci's role (but the crosses filled that in before I got to that clue - I only was aware of it thanks to SubG's comment).
Tucci's role. Sounds a little like Tootsie Roll.
I disagree with Splynter’s statement “only a few proper names”. It seemed there was a proper name EVERYWHERE in this CW, by my admittedly expansively defined count 13, all, it seemed, right where I didn’t want them. Living in SOFLO I did know MESSI, as he’s been playing right here in FLL and has single-handedly (single footedly?) turned the local team from an annual doormat to a championship team. Other than that, I counted 12 more names, and I DNK many. The CW did have a fun theme, which I got with the first theme clue, which helped me FIR in, as usual, longer than my usual Wednesday time. (Wink). Only W/O = SEIN:SINN. (DOH!) “Pupil’s place” wins best clue award. Thanx DM for the challenging CW. Too many names, but other than that a fun CW. Thanx Splynter for the write-up, especially the Bach. Amazing talent it takes to play Bach compositions.
ReplyDeleteFIR. One of the best themes of late. Took a good bit of imagination to realize and implement. Well done, Dan. Splynter, your review was very informative.
ReplyDeleteSNAFU, situation normal, all fouled up. You don't need the other word.
Didn't know 1A, so it took a few perps to fill it. Several nicely formed clues today. Liked 72A, 70A, 31D and 19D.
My book, Ilium, is getting very interesting. The chapters switch across several plot lines, one of which follows the Iliad. The other two are ancillary to it. The whole story evidently takes place in a future time where the Iliad is being reenacted and observed. I'll post additional remarks as I read.
All's well that ends well and this ends here
ReplyDeleteWhat made it easy is that I GNU all the long theme answers which provided lots of perp fodder. All answers have YOUR in the phrase except the first.
AFIELD crossed with AURIS (?) (oh it’s MADGE not MArGE). Heard of “The Book Thief” but not the author.
Inkovers: sift/SEEP.
Great limited TV series, “Welcome to Chippendales” A tragic but fascinating story of Indian immigrant Somen "Steve" Banerjee who founded the club.
Repurposed Tee: a wooden nail?
Pastor’s moniker…..REV.
Present Garfunkel and Carney with parking tickets: Fine ___ …..ARTS.
Ancient Frenchman with some nerve…. Gaul
With rising seas some small island nations may not exist ____ …. ATOLL
The picture of those potatoes reminded me of the joke about the guy at the beach who wanted to impress the girls and was told to put a potato down his bathing suit. When instead the ladies ran from him he was told “in the front of the suit not the back” 🤣
Good Morning! When I opened with a blank NW – I thought, No Way!! But slowly it came together with a few well placed “gimmes” to build upon. Thanks, Dan, for the fun and clever theme.
ReplyDeleteWOs: wetter -> WEAKER & sift -> SEEP.
ESP: MADGE, NITTI (crossing) ESPRIT.
I vaguely knew MESSI from the news although I know nothing about soccer.
EVOO is well known if you’ve ever watched the Rachel Ray cooking shows.
SETI – I remember the movie Contact with Jodi Foster. My kind of SCI-(but not) FI movie.
D-O, Yon/John LOL!!
Thanks, Splynter. I enjoyed reading your recap. I chuckled at the ugly potatoes – they still eat good!! 😋😄
What a neat CW puzzle this morning. Since I figured out the long, and clever, answers, I was not bothered by the few unknowns I had to come up with.
ReplyDeleteLee@8:42.. I used to teach some of the Iliad in my World Literature class so you got me curious about Ilium.
I love coffee ice cream, and unlike IM☘️ I also drink and like coffee.
FIR, but a struggle. Clever phrases, but the obscure names and fill-in-the blank clues sucked some of the enjoyment out. Never saw The Road to Perdition, and not up on San Fran fashion, so the SE held me up for a while. Couldn't see SNIP, either. Oh, well. YMMV. On to Thursday!
ReplyDeleteI thought the Bach piece started like this...
ReplyDeleteI love Smithsonian's air disasters for its hour long detective work/whodunnit mystery/oh so that's what happened!
full episodes are available on YouTube.
One (of many) of my favs is when a twin engine puddle jumper crashed between islands, and they discovered the steel cables controlling the tail surfaces wore out. But why? They were not scheduled for routine inspection and maintenance for another year!
(Spoiler alert!)
They discovered they parked the aircraft between hangers at the end of a jet runway. The repeated jet engine backwash from the jets taking off was blowing past the parked planes control surfaces, and vibrating them constantly. Wearing out the steel cables where they passed thru the fuselage openings prematurely.
Want some good/bad advice?
(And be careful where you park your plane....)
Sorry, broken link.
ReplyDeleteAir disasters on YouTube was supposed to lead here...
The only "Madge" I know was played by Jan "you're soaking in it" Miner.
ReplyDeleteNo problems with this one that's because I knew all the names except for Yehudi/Chi and I guessed the H correctly. Fun theme. GC
ReplyDeleteSplynter
ReplyDeleteA nice puzzle review that reveals things we have in common.
You’re taking piano, I’m in Mel Bay Book 5 for guitar. I was told by a neurologist that there is nothing better than learning an instrument to stimulate both the brain and the body, lots of memorization and fine muscle control. Best of luck!
I’m also a huge fan of Air Disasters as well, just because it’s such an interesting investigation each week.
Finally….”Road to Perdition”…such a fine film with a cast that cannot be beat. If you haven’t seen it, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman (!!!), Jude Law, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig….plus it holds up big time despite being 20+ years old.
Oh yeah, nice puzzle, got the solve.
Pleasant Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Dan. And thank you too, Splynter, for your helpful commentary.
ReplyDeleteWell, as soon as I saw SONNET I got excited that we would indeed get lots of ARTS in this puzzle. But, sadly, 'twas not to be. We did get SKA, thank goodness, but, except for G MAJor in music, that was about it. No, wait, YEHUDI Menuhin is a violinist, and Idris ELBA is an actor, and so is TUCCI. That's a fair bit of art, after all--isn't it? So, we had a good puzzle!
Have a good day, everybody.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Irish Miss! Any puzzle with IDRIS Elba in it is a hit with me!
"The Road to Perdition" was so long ago I forgot who was in it. I appreciate the reminder.
"The Book Thief" was one of our Book Club choices. It is an excellent book.
CSO to our TONY Caruso.
Time to go. I stayed up late watching Netflix and so woke up late. For anyone with Netflix who hasn't seen "Virgin River", I highly recommend it. Warning: it's addictive and not over in one sitting.
EVOO is a Rachel Ray creation, Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Thank you, Splynter, for your "Good Advice" and keeping us in the loop on your activities.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Lucina @ 12:58 ~ Season 5 of Virgin River begins tomorrow on Netflix. And for the Apple TV subscribers, Season 3 of The Morning Show begins September 13th. These streaming apps will be go-to necessities for many broadcast TV viewers until the writers/actors strike is settled and new season shows become available.
ReplyDeleteIn late July and early August, 2002, my husband and I were vacationing in Newport, RI during a blistering hot heat wave. To escape the heat, we opted to go to an air-conditioned movie theater, not knowing nor caring what was playing. Road To Perdition was the feature one day and a few days later, the offering was My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We not only escaped the heat for a couple of hours, but we saw two excellent movies, though of polar opposite genres. That was our last summer together so these memories are strong and vivid.
Thank you, Splynter, for giving Melissa a break and for presenting today's Margolis PZL...
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I remember some of the things I do. But it comes in handy for crosswords.
I mean, how many people who don't reside in Africa know that a wildebeest is a GNU?
And how many who don't teach poetics know that "Ozymandias (King of Kings)" is not a limerick but a SONNET?
(And wouldn't we love to find a limerick by Shelley?!)
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, near side.
The center diag is weak on vowels, but we can manage an anagram (11 of 15) that uses a quaint spelling to describe a time spent masquerading as a blood-sucking evildoer.
Yes, I refer to a fellow taking a...
"VAMPIRE TRYP"!
Enjoyed the puzzle, expo, and all the comments.
ReplyDeleteDNK: MESSI, MADGE, NITTI, SETI, THIEF, SAM, ESPRIT, Ozymandias. But mostly perped well, only one little place where I had to do a red-letter run.
But YAHOO! I knew YEHUDI! My mother played violin and had a recording of him.
Jinx @10:45 AM What's the name of your Greyhound again?
ReplyDeleteBill, her name is Zoё, but her racing name was Jugni, Hindu for "female firefly." They called her "Cookie" at the racing kennel.
ReplyDeleteI love the theme! I'm glad that ISM was clued as "Belief suffix" this time, rather than as "Belief." Hand up for changing RAP to SKA. I also had to change RAN to LED.
ReplyDeleteDid not know, but filled solely from perps:
MADGE
NITTI
SATNAV
THIEF
ESPRIT.
Did know:
MESSI
CHO
ELBA
YEHUDI
SAM.
Loved your write-up, Splynter.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteWhew - compared to Monday & Tuesday, today's offering from DanM was NOT a walk in the park. Thanks for the whimsical theme and grid to play with.
Loved the expo, Splynter! Thanks for the LEGS; LOL ChipenFAILs.
WO: aides -> ATTYS
ESPs: THIEF (as clued), MADGE, NITTI, _IA took an ABC-run to get DIA (I recognize that!) and CHI was a good WAG to finish off YEHUDI (thanks for the info, Vidwan).
Fav: ALIEN | SETI crossing was fun.
LOL hand-soap's aroma, CED.
The cross-eyed teacher was fired because she couldn't keep her pupils under control.
Cheers, -T
Hi again~!
ReplyDeleteI suppose in reviewing the comments that there were indeed quite a few proper names, but I think because only one really stumped me, I didn't notice....
Yes, I am still an "agent" with the FBI - - - I was on my way to the drug screening last month for the new company when the guy who hired me at the organ company in the first place called and said "we are rethinking the pay limit"; I believe it occurred to the higher-ups that the CAD designer who has been in the pipe organ industry for a LONG time was eventually going to retire - and no one was in place to fill the position, other than yours, truly. :7))
We did not get very far today - turns out the church has two events over the next two days, so we tidied up and left early; I won't be back to that church, but I am still on my way to Lynchburg VA in two weeks.
Thanks for the comments~!
Splynter
IrishMiss
ReplyDeleteThank you! That's good to know.
Quick late post today. Thanks to Dan and Splynter (trust you to get LEG!).
ReplyDeleteOne FIW as I guessed a R at the cross of YEHUDI and DIA (my Spanish is lacking). (Hello KS)
But I got the themers.
I had SEE Red before SEETHE.
My pupil wanted a desk before IRIS perped. Great clue.
Wishing you all a good evening.
Thanks to Dan and Splynter for their work! Loved the long themers. Definitely needed them to perp several unknowns.
ReplyDeleteFAV: Result of some plotting
Hand up for first trying "pants" at 63A. "Pam Waterson" sounded OK.
Back in the early 80's I used to go to the ESPRIT outlet in SF. That's when "outlet shopping" meant true warehouses in sketchy areas -- but the deals were worth it!
sumdaze
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean about "outlets" being just that. In the 70s when we visited my sister in North Carolina when factories still existed there, many had real outlets and we found great bargains with really good buys sometimes with just very, very minor flaws. It was a shoppers' paradise!
ReplyDeleteAre we in a time warp. or is the internet stuck on yesterdays date ??
( Sept 7, puzzle answers blog is not reporting for duty ...)