Got Style?
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| Fashion Don'ts |
Doug Peterson is a veteran constructor who, when not in the LAT, I oft spot in Southwest Airline's Spirit magazine. No matter where I find him, his puzzles are always a treat. Today, he teases me with something I've never been accused of... Let's see what I mean:
17. *Refrain from walking on the lawn?: SKIRT GRASS. "It takes six feet of dirt to grow that grass and two feet to kill it. And those two feet are yours, private!" -Drill Sgt.
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| Grass Skirt |
22. *Doesn't pay enough in island taxes?: SHORTS BERMUDA. Isn't that where you headquarter to short Uncle Sam on taxes?
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| Extra pockets added later ;-) |
46. *Gives the third degree to the decorator?: PUMPS DESIGNER.
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| Not A Torture Device(?) |
52. *Put a limit on wash time?: CAP BATHING. Oy, the girls in my house will empty the water heater and timer soaking it up.
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| Retro! |
34. With 37-Across, up on the latest trends, and a fitting description of the answers to the starred clues?: FASHION.
37. See 34-Across: FORWARD.
FASHION FORWARD -- conforming to, attuned to, or characterized by the latest trends in fashion or, in this puzzle, putting the clothes before the style.
Much to DW's chagrin, I put function & comfort over form. I did read Cargo Shorts are back - so, I'm hep again ;-)
Across:
1. __ Griffin Way: street in Beverly Hills: MERV. Named for MERV Griffin - the creator of Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy.
5. "Superfudge" writer: BLUME. Judy Blume wrote Y-A (Young-Adult) literature before there really was such a category. Are You There God? It's Me Margret is Blume's book I most remember.
10. Completely level: RAZE. //Story:
I was 9yrs old on the roof of the 5 story Trifty Drug Building at 5th & Monroe with Pop and Gramps (who were sippin' beers) to watch the Hotel Abrahham Lincoln get RAZEd (hope that Facebook link works). The State-Journal Register carried the story (and I carried their paper).
14. Lip balm additive: ALOE.
15. AL and NL divisions: EASTS. American League and National League both have an East, Central, and West divisions. #Baseball.
16. In history: EVER. Well, I nEVER!
17. [See: Theme]
19. Recital highlight: SOLO. Only if it's your kid singing.
20. Unassuming: MEEK. They will inherit the Earth.
21. Some invisible inks: ACIDS. I'm assuming etching and not secret messages that burn through the paper. //though, um, lemon juice makes good invisible ink and it is an acid.
22. [See: Theme]
27. Traffic jams: TIE UPS. Loop 610 between I-69 and I-10 is among the worst in Texas and is part of my daily commute.
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| Entry ramp to 610S & I-69 (nee US59). |
28. Hacienda material: ADOBE.
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| Adobe Abode |
29. Single section: UNIT. The Hacienda above looks like a single UNIT.
30. Nimble: AGILE.
31. Alternative to OAK: SFO. Oakland, CA and San Francisco, CA are nearby airports with respective FAA codes.
34. [See: Theme]
37. [See: Theme]
39. __ for tat: TIT. You know the limerick...
40. Dapper: NATTY. An Easter Egg bonus. NATTY: current in style in both dress and manners.
Dapper - See: Poirot.
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| David Suchet played it best, Oui? |
42. Creme-filled snack: OREO.
43. Less risky: SAFER.
44. Business news: MERGER.
46. [See: Theme].
49. "Start the music!": HIT IT.
50. Bunches: ALOT.
51. __ interview: EXIT.
52. [See: Theme]
58. Many an Olympic event: RACE.
59. One-fourth of a 45-Down: AWARD.
60. Result of cogitating: IDEA.
61. ThirdLove garments: BRAS. ThirdLove is a lingerie company that somehow I knew about.
62. Circuit device: RELAY. Also, a song by The Who.
The Who - Relay [5m]
63. Shows drowsiness: NODS. Hopefully not you, dear reader, at this point.
Down:
1. More, in Mexico: MAS. Is that Spain-Spanish too? I ask for Youngest who will spend next semester in Madrid but learned Spanish in Texas, er, Tejas.
2. Caribou kin: ELK.
3. Financial performance measure, for short: ROI. Return On Investment.
4. Martini ingredient: VERMOUTH. I like wet-martinis (2:1 gin:vermouth); MIL likes 'em dry - "Just pass the cork over the glass," she says.
5. Fathers: BEGETS. Present tense of begat. Pop says most every DIY project turns into the "begat system." Go to fix a pipe and find the valve doesn't work begets replacing the valve which begets going to hardware store to buy a curb-key to cutoff water to the house. True story.
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| Curb-Key |
6. Merry escapades: LARKS. Sprees didn't fit.
7. NATO member: USA. United States of America is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
8. Pts. of a range: MTS. Mountain ranges.
9. Cornering challenge: ESS.
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| Stock Photo |
10. Get out of a jam: RESCUE.
11. Keep clear of: AVOID.
12. Writer Fitzgerald: ZELDA.
13. Consort of Psyche: EROS.
18. UMD athlete: TERP. University of Maryland.
21. Honey-colored: AMBER.
22. Red Sea peninsula: SINAI.
23. "Money __": Spanish Netflix crime series: HEIST.
24. Skittles package: BAG.
25. Spiritually enlighten: EDIFY.
26. Chocolate-and-caramel candy: ROLO.
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| Delicious |
27. Clump on a lawn: TUFT.
30. Got in on the deal: ANTED.
31. Noncom nickname: SARGE. Non-Commissioned Officer; E-5 and above.
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| That Tracks |
32. Less restricted: FREER. Meh - it's a word but I don't have to like it.
33. Baking soda target: ODOR.
35. Poorly chosen: INAPT.
36. Clods: OAFS.
38. Grown less appealing: WORN THIN.
41. Uno e due: TRE. Italian math: I + II = III.
43. Strikes down: SMITES. Old Testament God seemed to smite aplenty.
44. Word said with a curtsy: MILADY.
45. Impressive entertainment acronym: EGOT. Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony but not HDTV ;-). All, save my first thought, are performance AWARDS as per 59a.
46. "Soul" studio: PIXAR.
Soul Trailer
47. City near Rome: UTICA.
48. Hummus brand: SABRA.
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| If you don't have time to make your own - not bad. |
49. Kitchen garden plant: HERB. My herbs are out in the garden and I use all my garden plants in the kitchen. //Oh, except the flower-garden plants -- now I get it.
52. Electric __: CAR.
53. Bowl over: AWE.
54. Playmate: PAL.
55. Phrase preceding "By the power vested in me ...": I DO. One more I DO and then kissing before begetting ;-)
56. Evangelical character on "The Simpsons": NED.
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| Hi Diddly Ho! |
57. Island purchase: GAS. Kitchen-island gas range or petrol-station pump islands? We should be told.
The Grid:
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| The Grid |
The TL;DR:
WOs: escapE -> RESCUE which begat coda->SOLO. BEGaT-> BEGET, Siani -> SINAI #untie!
ESP: ZELDA
Fav: Learning what NATTY means.
There you have it. Doug HIT IT out of the park again. That's it from me. Y'all have a great weekend!
Cheers, -T
32 comments:
After I got “shorts Bermuda,”. I had the theme firmly in mind. Getting “Merv” Griffin and (Judy) Blume helped, too. I didn’t find this puzzle to be terribly difficult, especially for a Friday. But then, Doug Peterson puzzles are always fair and sussable. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Not tough, but the toughest so far this week. Just right for a Friday. Got the theme early at SKIRT GRASS, and d-o was off and running. BEGETS, MILADY, VERMOUTH, and WORN THIN were nice non-theme entries. Nicely done, Doug. Knew it was you, Dash-T. You've got style.
MEEK: In Camelot Roddy McDowall sang, "It's not the earth the meek inherit, it's the dirt."
TIE UPS: I don't envy you that commute, Dash-T. I passed my thirteenth anniversary of non-commuting the first of this month. (HR leader told me that if I retired on 10/1 rather than the 9/30, it'd extend my medical insurance coverage by another month.
BEGETS: We've got a shut-off valve in the garage -- no need for a curb-key thingey. We also have a water manifold, so we can isolate any faucet in the house. That's real handy when making plumbing repairs. Of course, if that shut-off valve were to fail, it'd BEGET a trip to the big-box store for a curb-key.
FIR, but it was a workout. Last area to fall was center north. Blume was totally unknown to me and 8 and 9 down wouldn't come.
Also I fought the lower section when I put Oscar and Mi'Lord together. I guess I was trying to be too specific about which one it was.
Clever theme. Once I got Bermuda shorts things started to pop, except for bathing cap of course, which I blame on Oscar.
The puzzle was'easy' but it was a big fat DNF for me. The NE had me stumped. Changed EVEN to SANE for 'Completely level'. ZELDA was unknown and the brain never thought of RAZE.
PUMPS- is that a term for chewing out or what?
D-otto--shut off valves? When I had the house built in 1990 I had the contractor put shutoff valves on faucet, toilet,..etc. ( 19 total) Guess what? They were the type with a gasket and I found out the hard way the gasket will DRY ROT in place if you don't occasionally turn it on and off. Last month DW decided to have new granite countertops installed in two bathrooms. That also meant two new faucets. The shut-offs wouldn't completely shut off and I had to get a plumber to install four BRASS shut-offs so the granite installer could take out the old faucets.
Took 8:38 today for me to boot the cowboy.
Clever theme, which I somehow didn't notice until I had about 10 squares left. And, good execution - the fill didn't suffer for it.
I knew today's author (Blume) and foreign word (mas).
I thought my lady, and then mi lady, would be two words, so I hesitated there for a bit.
TGIF.
“Cargo shorts are back”? I didn’t know they had gone out of style. I quit worrying about “style” long ago. I wear what suits me, and cargo shorts are my daily choice for at least thirty years. They went out of style? Oh well. I DNK BLUME or ZELDA. Zelda I finally got via perps when every other option conceivable had not worked and RAZE finally occurred to me. BLUME I had to Google, since I didn’t suss MTS or ESS. So after all my efforts I ended up with a DNF, due to the Google cheat. 8D and 9D coupled with not knowing BLUME did me in. I need to go back and see what Anon-T had to say about 9D. Other than all that, I got the theme with SKIRTGRASS which helped with the other theme fills. Thanx DP for the nice CW. It’s my bad that I could suss the two letters to fill the 8D and 9D cells. Dang! I filled everything else. Thanx too to Anon-T for the terrific write-up.
FIR, but erased even for RAZE, ledger for MERGER, escape for RESCUE, atica for UTICA. lei for GAS, and, reading "cogitating" as "coagulating," scab for IDEA.
Today is:
NAVY BIRTHDAY (happy 248th, Swabbies)
Stand Navy out to sea, fight our battle cry!
We'll never change our course so vicious foes steer shy-y-y-y!
Roll out the TNT, anchors aweigh!
Sail on to victory, and sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!
METASTATIC BREAST CANCER AWARENESS DAY (more than 250,000 Americans get this yearly)
NATIONAL NO BRA DAY (on a day with TIT and BRA as fill)
NATIONAL YORKSHIRE PUDDING DAY (never have tried this - or figgy pudding - by Jove)
NATIONAL TRAIN YOUR BRAIN DAY (SIT! STAY! WAAAIT! SPEAK!)
Sportscasters use TIE UP as a replacement for "jump ball."
RELAYs used to be much more common before integrated circuits became cheap and versatile.
Had to wait for ROE /ROI. ROI answers how are we doing compared to how much money we're risking. ROE answers how are we doing compared to how much of our own money we're risking.
Also had to wait for my lady / MI LADY.
I decided there was two T's in F. Scott Fitzerald, so I had to wait for his wife ZELDA to show up.
Thanks to Doug for the fun, challenging Friday puzzle. And thanks to Bayou Tony for the terrific review. Except that southerners shouldn't shun Pepsi - it was invented in New Bern, NC. In NC and SC, Pepsi is more common in non-chain restaurants than Coke. The chains still prefer Coke, largely from the days before Pepsico spun off their restaurants into Yum! Brands.
Big Easy: PUMPS = gives the third degree = interrogates. As in what your parents did before they let you go on your first overnight road trip that wasn't school sponsored. Who's going? Who ELSE is going? Who's driving? Where are you staying? How many rooms? Are any girls going? Are you meeting anyone there? What will you do all day before the game starts?
(Or was it just me?)
Good Morning:
This was a perfect Friday puzzle and a welcome change from the add/subtract a letter gimmick. The theme was evident early on but the surprise reveal was a clever, quite fitting (pun intended!) phrase. The grid was pretty clean and junk free, considering the density of themers. The cluing was tricky, as witnessed by the many faux pas I made: Andy/Merv, Even/Raze, Lore/Ever, Oscar/Award, and Turf/Tuft. No unknowns but I had to wait on perps for Blume and Pixar. Big CSO to Ray O at Utica.
Thanks, Doug, for a fun Friday the 13th non scary solve and thanks, Anon T, for the usual folksy banter and asides. As DO said, you've got style and it's always a treat when you step up to the plate and pinch hit! BTW, that photo of footwear is definitely not a Pump!
Have a great day.
This is a pump.
Musings
-What tortuous fun! I SKIRTED Naticks and “close but no cigar” fills several times
-Here is A LOT of BEGATS
-Lombard St. in SF must hold the record for most ESS turns/feet of driving
-We were nearly late for our granddaughter’s event yesterday. The “low fuel” warning saved me but then I had to pump GAS from an island in Wahoo, NE.
-Off to sub.
Addendum
-Here is a picture of two lovely ladies and me at yesterday’s event at Lincoln Pius X High School
Nice work for a Friday. FIR. Caught the theme when SHORTS BERMUDA filled. Helped with the rest. Wanted WORNTHru but perps saId otherwise. Also wanted eel but CAR won out.
Almost a pangram, but no Q or J.
Short and sweet today, gotta run.
Adieu
Nice bit of Friday the 13th exercise. Got the FIR, but had to work for it, which is fair for a late week entry. Lots of AHA! and D'OH! moments for me today, which always add to the fun. TGFWO. (Thank God For WiteOut)
FASHION Friday. Thanks for the fun, Doug and AnonT.
I saw the clothes’ words turned around at SKIRT GRASS so the theme appeared quickly. (Great catch on the Easter Egg NATTY, in the centre) Is that a hoser red plaid flannel shirt not FASHION FORWARD?
But I had too many inkblots to enumerate them all.
.
I resorted to Google to replace Scott by his lesser-known (at least to me) wife, ZELDA. That broke open my final corner by forcing RAZE (great video AnonT) instead of Flat (we need a verb?,). SOLO replaced Aria (the recital wasn’t opera music) and confirmed EROS. Then Over changed to EVER for the RESCUE.
Similarly in the far south centre. Eel changed to CAR, Wow to AWE, and MILADY was confirmed instead of MIlord to CAP the BATHING. Thanks AnonT for explaining GAS (sorta). I was stuck in Bermuda or Hawaii islands and entered CW favourite Lei.
I hate driving in TIE UPS. That Texas photo would make me work from home. EXIT or MERGER traffic like that gives me fits.
The “cornering challenge” could refer to wallpapering, but we were on the road again.
CSO to Ray-o with UTICA.
I just finished a Derek Bowman CW in my Canadian Readers Digest. Theme brought a smile - I LOVE CANADA FROM EH TO ZED
Wishing you all a great day. Read you all later.
Thought I had FIR until I noticed I had written Cap washing, duh. Took a while but a nice Friday puzzle. Fell into place after I saw shorts bermuda. We see Doug a lot, but he does good work. GC
I'm with Uncle Fred on the cargo shorts. Never stopped wearing them. GC
Now this was an excellent puzzle! Just shows what can be done if one stays away from too many names and abbreviations. Great theme. Nice job Doug. One abbrev. 8d. SFO doesn’t count. Airport designation. Very clever stuff. Let’s have more like this.
Greetings, an apt Friday puzzle today. Thanks, Doug.
Crazy fill – I was all over the place at the start, but mainly from the NW -> SE, up to the NE and down to the SW.
DNK: BLUME, EROS (as clued) & UTICA (as clued). Is this another CSO to Ray-O-S?
I had to change uMBER -> AMBER, although I think either could be in the honey-colored family.
I saw the theme at CAP BATHING & confirmed it at SHORTS BERMUDA. Nice! Anyway, I was happily challenged today.
Got a chuckle to see these two words together:
A-DÅŒ-BE A-BÅŒ-DE and A-DÅŒBE A-BÅŒDE 🤣, I know, one of each…
Thanks, Anon-T for the fun Merry Escapade recap.
NATTY – Hercule Poirot / David Suchet – Oui, Oui !!
Hola!
Si! Si! It's the same in Spain as it is here. Some words are different but not MAS.
I also saw the backwards theme with SHORTS BERMUDA. Clever!
The only HERB I now have in my "garden" is rosemary and it is enormous which shows what plenty of sun and some water can do.
Sigh. I had Judy BLOOM instead of BLUME. Yes, it's been 25 years since I retired, and it shows.
Sadly, the SINAI is suffering at this moment.
When I worked I considered myself NATTY in my appearance.
My uncle Ted was a career soldier, 30 years as a noncom officer, a Master SARGEnt. He sent me a toy panda from Australia.
31A is backward. To me OAK is an alternative to SFO not the other way around but, of course, it depends on the final destination.
ZELDA's husband, Scott, is, I believe, better known. I can't even think of anything she wrote.
Time to go. Have a fabulous day, everyone!
A few years ago, I visited my birthplace, Concho, and was saddened to see that all the ADOBE homes were dissolving and becoming part of the ground. What had been the town is now a large clump of former homes.
For some reason In History> ever doesn't quite compute for me, but I vaguely hey it.
Get it
I started this CW this morning but had to run some errands and didn’t get back to it until after lunch, so that might account for my slooooooooow discovery of the theme. PUMPS DESIGNER was my eureka.
I think GAS for island purchase is a little unfair, but I was proud that I finally can remember EGOT, but at first I had OSCAR for one fourth instead of AWARD.
Clever, fun puzzle otherwise, and so few proper names, I FIR.
A-T delighted as usual with a fun and informative review.
Anon T brings us the mind behind this Peterson PZL.
The NE corner was the tricky one. But after FLAT and TRUE, RAZE worked.
~ OMK
____________
DR: No Diags. 8x8.
I really couldn't relate to this puzzle's theme, as I have absolutely no sense of STYLE. I did like the puzzle though FIR various reasons to be described below. And thanks for the fun Doug.
And thank you -T, your STYLE was immediately recognizable (and that's a good thing!).
Some favs:
All the themers and the reveal.
29A UNIT. Rumor has it that U.N.I.T (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) is going to come back under the command of Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter in the upcoming celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Dr. Who.
40A NATTY. National Bohemian beer ("NATTY BOH") used to be a popular brew in Baltimore.
42A OREO. Flash: -- What's the best way to split an Oreo? Spoiler alert -- I'll definitely be using this the next time OREO pops up for one of my reviews.
62A RELAY. Not one of the Who's best outings.
9D ESS. My high school girlfriend's other boyfriend taught me that if you've got visibility on an ESS curve and don't see any oncoming, just go straight. At least it worked in his MG. He ended up with the girlfriend.
32D FREER. One of my favorite art galleries in D.C. Their Sung Dynasty vases are to die for. We actually going museum hopping in D.C. in about 2 weeks. Maybe we'll hop into the FREER.
46D PIXAR. Great flick.
57D GAS. Favorite clue.
Cheers,
Bill
Prof M @2:03 PM "It hasn't EVER happened" (in HISTORY).
Thank you, Doug, for a puzzle that was equally tough and satisfying to work out! That NE, whew! OMK @ 2:34 "FLAT > TRUE > RAZE". Same same!
I'm on team H-Gary @ 9:38 about the GAS station island. Great clue! I had to stare at it a while after it filled to understand it. Same with WORNTHIN, oh WORN THIN.
Thanks, also, to -T for narrating! Lots of smiles!
waseeley@3:22. The FREER Gallery is my FAV of the Mall museums, too. IIRC, we talked about this before. I might have told you that my colleague's partner worked there so I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour. They have an amazing collection. Enjoy your visit!
I hope everyone survived Friday the 13th. LOL
I loved this Doug Peterson puzzle. He makes good ones.
TanteN. Call me stupid-stitious but... Every real traffic accident I've had was on a Friday 13. There's been two and I don't want #3 //I'm too old for that! #DannyGlover
D-O: Pop has a refurbished red-PUMP out in his yard. He hooked it up as a spring for the birds.
Jinx - there was a secret room in N. Abraham (spelt it right this time, I did) Lincoln library called Davy Jones' Locker (I knew the sea reference but always jump to The Monkees. It had all the "banned books." //My fav spot - I was 11 in '81.
RosE - you can't see the smile on me face; that noticed ADOBE abode. I'll chalk the write up as worth it.
BigE - when Pop redid the plumbing in his house [built b/f Lincoln was POTUS], he put in off shut-off valves galore. He also re-wire'd the house which had ball insulators & cloth insulated cords (and aluminum!). I admire that man.
Glad everyone save OM(no diags!)K :-) had fun with Doug's puzzle.
A personal note: Youngest is home from UT again (love it!) but it's b/c she's really down. Her second leg of grief after her buddy since 6yrs old died 2 weeks ago of a medical condition [Adrenal gland something(?) and needed regular shots. They explained it to me bu...] kicked in. My job is make Youngest smile and get her Thai.
Oh, and I have to find my welder's helmet so we can watch the eclipse tomorrow.
Cheers, -T
Thank YOu Doug Peterson for a nice challenging puzzle, that i needed google help on solving some of the queries, ... but its all ok, and I had a lot of fun, and learnt a lot. I guess I'm getting too old to rack my brains about GAS and EEL etc.,
Thank You Anon-T and your style of commentary is unique and wonderful in its own way. I love how concerned you always are about DW, eldest and youngest. I hve still have my DW, but my kids are waay out of my hands and nurturing ...
Thanks to all of you other posters, for adding to the joy of coming here.
I am a little under the weather, and what with what else, I might as well stop.
Have a great weekend, and Friday the 13th will soon be over. Nothing unusual at my end.
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