I'm Joking!
Hi All!Well, it looks like I'm your Corner host for the next foreseeable Wednesdays as JzB and mb are out of pocket for a spell.
// Yo!, see 22a: BE CALM. JazzB is probably busy Bumpan' it on the trombone for Christmas shows & mb is fine. Both will be back hosting The Corner in January.
Today's puzzle is a cute/fun pre-Christmas [Advent Box Calendar anyone?] gift from Jeanne. If I'm not mistaken, this is her LAT debut (I found a Dr. Jeanne D. Breen, an infectious disease specialist / internal medicine Dr. in CT, but I donno if she's one & the same*).
I nearly grok'd the "kid" theme but I was missing something. Thanks to the regular bloggers who set me straight and parsed things properly. (I was thinking children, not pranks.)
17. *Collection for an afternoon party: TEA SERVICE. My Girls [kids] would have tea service with me hunched over a little table with an American Girl doll, a teddy bear, and a stuffed Unicorn as one of 'em hosted & poured imaginary tea. It was delicious spiked (I TEASE!)
26. *Subject of many June parades: GAY PRIDE. RIDE.
49. *Bed in a nursery: BABY CRIB. RIB.
59. *Desert plant on the back cover of a U2 album: JOSHUA TREE. JOSH. //great album!
38. "But seriously," and an apt description of the answers to the starred clues: ALL KIDDING ASIDE.
OK, Corner eFriends. Slow down. Pace yourself. 'Cuz here we go...
Across:
1. Primary: CHIEF.
 |
| Don Adams & Edward (Chief) Platt |
10. New Mexico skiing destination: TAOS.
14. Poet/activist Lorde: AUDRE.
15. Leather stickers: AWLS. Not Hell's Angels' patches but pokie tools.
 |
| Awe |
16. Stash: STOW. Just wait, CACHE will come later... #Foreshadowing
17. [See: Theme]
19. Sunrise obscurer: HAZE.
20. "Malo" opposite: BUENO.
21. Televised: AIRED.
22. "Don't panic!": BE CALM.
 |
| If you've never read Douglas Adams' HHGTTG, make it a point. You'll laugh your bum off (if you're skew'd a bit). |
28. Disneyland city: ANAHEIM.
30. Unwelcome picnic visitor: ANT.
31. Classic clown name: BOBO. Not BOzO.
 |
| BOBO The Clown [WikiP] |
32. Ahead by a point: UP ONE.
35. Director Luhrmann: BAZ. No clue - WikiP
38. [See: Theme]
42. Issa of "Insecure": RAE. More ??? - LIU [WikiP again]
43. Runway figure: MODEL.
44. Jerseys and Guernseys: COWS. Moo Milk (not that almond stuff).
45. Greek consonant: TAU.
46. Place to practice asanas: YOGA MAT.
49. [See: Theme]
54. Major route: ARTERY.
55. Grand-scale tales: EPICS. Wait 'till we get to 51d. That is a saga :-)
56. Secret stash: CACHE. And there you are 16a.
58. "Collapsed in Sunbeams" singer Parks: ARLO. Another ARLO singer?
I had to Google after the fill.
59. [See: Theme]
64. AnnaSophia of "Little Fires Everywhere": ROBB. No idea - WikiP
65. Not backing: ANTI.
66. Cussed: SWORE.
67. Stuck-up sort: SNOB.
68. Fraction of a min.: NSEC. Nanosecond.
69. Sing "The Lonely Goatherd," say: YODEL.
This is cute.
Down:
1. Cindy Clawford of "Ted Lasso," for one: CAT. The bassist, Leslie Higgins', cat. Note the "L" in the cat's name.
2. Color chart element: HUE.
3. Princess in the Monument Valley video game: IDA. My Secret Santa editor looked it up for you.
4. Unsure sounds: ERS. Um, OK.
5. Lacking strength: FEEBLE.
6. Spot for icicles or icicle lights: EAVE. 'Tis the season.
7. Big Band style: SWING.
Squirrel Nut Zippers from the '90's
8. Metal giant: ALCOA.
9. Draw upon: USE.
10. Bit of concert merch: T-SHIRT.
 |
| Two of mine |
11. Arcade pioneer: ATARI.
12. Exuded, as charm: OOZED.
13. Gothenburg native: SWEDE.
18. Persian poet who wrote the "Spiritual Couplets": RUMI. I've seen this before but needed a refresher.
21. Sleep malady: APNEA.
22. Kid-lit elephant: BABAR.
23. Sherlock's sister in a book series by Nancy Springer: ENOLA.
 |
| We had (IIRC) ENOLA clued similarly inre: Netflix my last expo. |
24. Dish alternative: CABLE. Oy! and now I have 13 streaming channels of s*** to choose from.
//Allusion to Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home" from "The Wall" -- sorry folks, you'll just have to deal with my scattery brain like I have to all the time.
25. "Oh, gotcha": AH OK.
27. Bowen of "SNL": YANG.
 |
| He's super funny. |
29. Emmy-winning journalist Roger: MUDD.
33. Pizzeria order: PIE.
 |
| Thatsa Pizza Pie! //Russo's 28" party goodie. |
34. Exclusively: ONLY.
35. Ecosystem: BIOME.
36. Nasty marketing battle: AD WAR.
Cola Wars.
I grew up in a Pepsi household in the Midwest.
My first taste of Coke was like, "That's a bit bitter; Me like!"
//full-disclosure: I own bits of stock in KO & CCE (now an EU co.)
37. Piquant: ZESTY. [See: Coke above]
39. Apples that come in seven colors: IMACS. Cute - Apple's Computers.
 |
| The newer iMacs |
40. Unsociably cross: DOUR.
41. Sing like Ella: SCAT.
45. Hall of Famer known as the "Georgia Peach": TY COBB. #Baseball
47. Waimea Bay island: OAHU.
48. __ spoon: GREASY.
 |
| Mel's Greasy Spoon Sitcom [Alice] Cast |
49. Unwelcome picnic visitors: BEARS. Fun Clecho.
 |
| Hey, BooBoo! |
50. Garment that may say "World's Okayest Cook": APRON. Mine says "Italia!" DW's says (in Green, White & Red) "IBM" [Italian by Marriage].
51. Baggins of Bag End: BILBO. Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit saga. #CallbackTo55a
52. Desktop array: ICONS. I have minimal (1.2 columns) ICONS on my laptop; DW's is literally covered with 'em -- drives my OCD self nuts.
53. Verb in cooking or sewing instructions: BASTE. Someone will have to fill me in on the sewing part of this clue 'cuz, at this point, I'm too lazy to look it up.
57. Smart: CHIC. Hep.
59. MLK Day's mo.: JAN. Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of January.
60. Couple: TWO.
61. Divining tool: ROD. To find water(?) #BS!
62. Afore: ERE.
63. Rainbow roll fish: EEL.
 |
| OK, true, no Rainbow Roll in this boat -- but! the second one, [no photo available] for the KID's table, did. |
The Grid:
 |
| The Grid |
WO: BOzO
ESPs: AUDRE | IDA, BUENO (as clued), BAZ, RAE, ARLO (as clued), ROBB
Fav: I'm going w/ 1a's CHIEF 'cuz it made me think of Buck Henry's & Mel Brooks' Get Smart.
No Joke folks, I'll be here for your next four (4) Wednesdays -- be sure to tip the waitstaff.
Cheers, -T
*My Angel Editor / Secret Santa found this about Dr. Breen:
"I’m a physician, piano player, voracious reader, lap swimmer, animal lover, movie buff, student of baseball, and a lifelong resident of the Northeast. I drink my coffee with milk and my gin gimlets straight up and ice-cold. I’ve enjoyed solving crosswords and other word puzzles for years and just started constructing this spring (2023); I’m honored that gin + grapefruit is the site of my debut. The ‘crossworld’ is such a warm, welcoming community and I’m genuinely in awe of how creative puzzlers are with their themes, themeless seed entries, and cluing. My thanks to Taylor for encouraging me to give midi construction a try and to Shannon for editing. I hope you enjoy the solve!" on this site.
Thank you Dr. B.
45 comments:
Hello early APNEA sufferers ….
I came to do what I thought would be a relatively easier puzzle ….. and I was not disappointed. I kinda sorta hog the theme, but hey, thanks AnonT for clarifying it !
Thank you Dr Breen for a lovely Cw snd thank you AnonT for a charming snc chatty commentary….. what no Rush videos ? And you didn’t even mention your eldest or your youngest … lol
Have s great Wednesday all you all … it’s gonnna bd s great day tomorrow …. If I can get some sleep ….
I admit I didn’t see the theme entries in “Gay Pride” and “baby crib” until Anon T hipped me to them. But I agree that it was a relatively easy puzzle, although “biome” and “Baz” gave me pause (for some reason, I thought it was “biota.”) Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Figured a CAZLE was probably a chef's creation, so BOZO got to stay. Bzzzzzt. Thanx for playing. The only Persian poet in d-o's acquaintance was OMAR. Wite-Out, please. OH, OK -- more Wite-Out, please. JOSHUA TREE is on my music server, but only depicted by the front cover. Nice debut, Dr. Breen. (Does your name rhyme? The Jeanne, not the Dr.) Thanx for the tour, Dash-T.
Off to the quarterly dental cleaning this morning. Fun times!
FIR, but erased bozo for BOBO, i see for AH OK, and feb for JAN.
Today is:
NATIONAL PACKAGE PROTECTION DAY (NOT a Kevlar cup; this day alerts us to porch pirates)
ELECTRONIC GREETINGS DAY (NOT sponsored by Hallmark)
12th ranked Kentucky was UP not ONE, but twenty-two over #8 Miami last night when the game clock expired.
My Naticks of the day: IDA x AUDRE, BAZ x BIOME, and BILBO x ARLO and ROBB. Pretty easy WAGs.
Thanks to Jeanne for the fun puzzle, and to Bayou Tony for the entertaining review.
Fun theme Dr. J and great recap Anon T. 14 names a bit many, eight of which could have had the same clue for me. “People I don’t know.” But got them all, so happy!
That was total crash. A ridiculous amount of proper names. I guess she couldn't think of any more words
Hi, I'm the constructor of today's puzzle. I have to say it's interesting to read an analysis of/comments on one's work. Thank you to T for the fun review (and yes, I'm the doctor in Connecticut), and thanks to those who shared complimentary comments. Constructing is still very new to me, and I hope to continue with it and improve along the way; encouraging words means a lot.
Ida crossing Audre was a crap shoot. The other unknowns were covered with the perps.
Good Morning:
It took me a few seconds to parse the theme words as I was looking for stand alone words, not partials. This was similar to yesterday's offering, using synonyms. The Audre/Ida crossing was definitely a Natick that could have been avoided with different cluing for Ida, e.g, Wells, Tarbell, or Lupino, all three more widely recognized than a video game character. The same standard could be applied to the cluing for Arlo and Robb but, as mentioned yesterday, the rules have changed and, therefore, so must our expectations. I hastily entered Orlando until perps brought forth Anaheim and Bozo soon gave way to Bobo.
Thanks, Jeanne and congrats on your debut in the LA Times, hope to see you again and thanks, Anon T, for the stream of consciousness commentary and review. We're lucky to have your unique perspective for the next four Wednesdays and hope Pop and the girls make an appearance. DW, too!
Have a great day.
Well Dr. Breen, thanks for stopping by, but you stumped me today. ALL KIDDING ASIDE, the NW was just not guessable. IDA, CAT, RUMI, BUENO, and AUDRE- all five unknowns. Thought maybe Cindy was a PET but couldn't fill PRIME since 'Primary' was the clue. CHIEF & FEEBLE never had a chance with no start. Thought maybe ANEMIC and BE COOL might work but it was no cigar this morning. DNF.
Rainbow roll was unknown but perps took care of EEL. ROBB, BAZ, YANG, ARLO, BOBO-perps for those.
Unsociably cross- with OU in place it could have been FOUL, SOUR, or DOUR-the winner.
Way too many proper names to really like but maybe I'll remember one of them. No I won't because Patti will probably stick in a few more obscure people that nobody knows.
Took about 5 minutes today, except for that top-left area, which took 3 more minutes, but I guessed wrongly at the intersection of the poet and the video game princess. Aubre seemed viable.
As usual, I didn't notice the theme.
I also had Bozo before the unknown Bobo. I didn't know the other poet either (Rumi) or the director (Baz), and I didn't know today's actress (Robb).
Joshua Tree is both a great album and a great National Park.
Thank you, JDB for stopping-by, and congratulations on your publication of this puzzle.
I almost had the director but I thought his name was lAZ bURHMAN. Perps helped there, but even with FEEBLE and TEA SERVICE, the NW wouldn't fall, as I muttered umS and uhS
Responding to Irish Miss: My original clue for IDA was "Actress and director Lupino" and for ROBB was "Ned Stark's oldest son on 'Game of Thrones'"...but those got changed in the editing process. Also had a different clue for ARLO.
JDB - I Understand that you're new to constructing. But as a few people said, the amount of proper names, especially when they cross each other - way too many. I'm sure most of us appreciate learning a few new names or facts in a puzzle. But you included a full 10% of the puzzle with proper names. And when the obscure ones cross each other, it's even more disappointing. Sorry for the criticism! Otherwise, well done.
Andy
I counted 24 proper nouns and I may have missed some. Noy my kind of puzzle.
I struggled with this crossname puzzle.
JDB @ 8:09 ~ Based on my experience of daily solving before and after the editorial change, I was pretty sure those clues were not yours. Thanks for stopping by. 😉
FIW. The crossing of Rumi and bueno did me in. I put bieno and failed to catch my error.
However, having said that, could we possibly have had more proper names in this puzzle?
Creative theme for Jeanne and it pieced together well - the NW was slow to fill - I thought of D-O when I went on and came back.
I'm a fan of BAZ Luhrmann's films - he doesn't make too many, but they are big epic films like "Moulin Rouge" and "Elvis"
https://www.rogerebert.com/cast-and-crew/baz-luhrmann
Since Tony asked..... BASTE in the sewing sense is when you are putting together a garment and you take large stitches in another color (so they're easy to spot and take out later) to hold things in place until you can do the final finished stitches. It's helpful when you're fitting it, so it's easy to change if needed
https://www.singer.com/sewing-resources/stitch-reference/207#:~:text=The%20Basting%20Stitch%20is%20a,the%20basting%20stitch%20is%20removed.
My daughter is into the writings of RUMI - but she has gotten New Age-y since living up in the PNW.
Thanks Tony for filling in and Jeanne for the puzzle!
Thought the NW was gonna do me in but perped my way through. But like DO stuck with BOzO; ended up with CAzLE (Old English or Germanic term for “Dish” meaning to spread gossip? Huh? Maybe?). Ironically after 30 years I replaced our satellite “Dish” at camp this summer, (Adirondack forest pines got too tall and blocked signal) Replaced it with Spectrum CAzLE.
Inkovers: biota/BIOME, sagas/EPICS
Anyone else read it as Cindy Crawford?
First trip to Santa Fe it was hot and dry and I ASSumed it was always like that until I returned in late fall to a snowstorm and a scary drive on the High Rd to TAOS, few guardrails.
DW takes the phrase “delete CACHE” too literally when she goes shopping. 💸…. “Plant on a U2 album”? And I’ve been to Joshua Tree National Park
CW picnic visitors are usually ants not today….think waaaay bigger 🐻
ENOLA (Holmes) Millie Bobby Brown also played Eleven on “Stranger Things”. Never heard of Luhrman or Parks
Bowen Yang , the first Asian SNL cast member and one of the funniest.
Vermont ski resort like TAOS…..STOW
Gabby or Helen….HAZE
What a caddy might provide…. TEASERVICE
Nonsense over a charge…..FEEBLE
Ran into the first big snowstorm after work yesterday. Due to politics our new Hospital’s parking garage won’t be finished till March. Have to park in lots that require a 10 minute walk. I gotta find me a parka. 🥶
Hola!
Thank you, I think, for this creative puzzle, Jeanne D. Breen, though I see by your post that it was heavily edited. Nevertheless, I managed to finish it albeit with a big error at SOUR instead of DOUR which I did not even notice. BTW, I have not had my coffee yet. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!
As inane hiker described that is a BASTE stitch in sewing. It is used before the final stitching to ensure that it's a good fit. I usually basted with a contrasting color thread to be sure I could see it when the time came to remove it.
I had no idea about who AUDRE Lorde is but perps filled it.
Thank you, dash T for the amusing analysis. I'm looking forward to Wednesdays!
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Musings
-Many a boxer can find themselves trying to fight their way out of a corner and I had to at the very start.
-AUDRE Lorde and Bowen LANG were partially offset by TY COBB and SWING music
-A fun gimmick. I really like them when they are unrelated parts of words
-BOBO: It’s odd how clowns can be amusing to some and terrifying to others
-If you’re only UP ONE with two minutes to go and the other team has Patrick Mahomes, good luck!
-The pros and ANTIS these days often forsake rational discussion
-All teachers have heard (and used :-)) a great many FEEBLE excuses for unmet deadlines.
-Nebraska’s semiarid prairie is fertile because we draw upon/USE the Ogallala Aquifer.
-Sherlock’s sister continues to supplant Col. Tibbets’ airplane
-My students bought me a NASA APRON at KSC. It’s in a drawer somewhere around here.
-A colleague of mine used these as diving rods. Our city had him walk through a local park seeking grave sites from when the park used to be a cemetery.
-I loved the puzzle and your stopping by, Dr. Breen, and agree with Irish that cluing is not always your choice.
Thank you, Dr. JDB. Congrats on your LA Times debut! Thank you, Dash T (But with that title... Shirley, you jest! ;>) )
A fine puzzle that took - just like yesterday - a few more minutes than normal. That NW corner was tough for me. It was CAT, along with IDA and AUDRE. It feels good to properly work out total unknowns, and the D seemed like it would be the most logical fit. And "Cindy Clawford" indeed. Read it three times before I noticed that it was an L and not an R.
There were a few more unknown proper names today, and as has been repeatedly said on this blogspot since Patti became the editor, (I'm paraphrasing) "... they could have been clued to be standard crosswordese gimmes." Every name that was unknown was aided by the perps. BTW, I don't see 24 names. Nouns, yes. Names, no.
Hand up for BOzO before BOBO. I was never into clowns. In addition to Bozo, I'm vaguely familiar with Red Skelton's Freeloader clown and Emmett Kelly's Weary Willie. The latter only because my neighbor had an autographed poster and pictures of him prominently displayed in his den. Fear of clowns? The University of South Wales recently set out to study the aetiology of coulrophobia and produced the summary report you can read in the link.
I agree with Unknown Author at 8:05 about the album. I've never been to the park, but that will change. My nephew bought some land just outside of Joshua Tree. He is building two or three vacation rental properties to rent out on services like Airbnb and Vrbo.
inanehiker and PK, there was a short segment on the morning news about the Kansas license plate debacle. It was presented in a humorous way. I actually like the Missouri colors. I would find it hard to believe that someone didn't raise an objection along the way to approval...
Bozo b/4 bobo.
JDB, you deserve a cake for visiting the Blog!
I knew someth8ng was up with "tea se" in the 1st themer, but I couldn't parse the others.
(Which doesn't mean anything, I couldn't parse my arse, whatever "thats" supposed to mean...)
All Kidding Aside? what am I supposed to link for that?
Ida crossing Audre was a total Natick, but it makes me wonder. If our constructor could tell what day of the week this was designed originally for, say thurs-sat, then no harm, no foul. And what clues were changed by the editor, the awl clue made me smile, hope it was yours...
Cindy Clawford was a learn8ng experience, I won't pay for anything Apple until they lower the price of replacement cables, and make stuff that is repairable by DIYers...
And all kidding aside, someday I would like to visit a fancy French Restuarant with the title, "Cuillere graisseuse."
Not my cuppa, today. I much prefer trying to grok the meaning of WORDS, than arcane or obscure proper names that you either know or don't. Figuring out a WORD often leads to an "Aha!" or "D'oh! moment, while having to perp or Google an unknown name mostly leads to "meh." That said, not a terrible first outing, JDB! Thanks for dropping by, and remember crossWORD puzzle, not Trivial Pursuit!
Cudos to Dr Jeane for her first LA Times cw. Like some of the other comments I also think there were way too many proper nouns. Some of us who have been doing these things for 40-50 years would love to more use of our delightful language. That said, a nice debut on the whole.
"People I don't know" as a clue, that's funny. Too many proper names crossing. I managed to correctly guess the southwest corner, but destroyed the northwest corner. Not my favorite, sorry. GC
Pretty tough cluing for a Wednesday. Could have used some easier clues with some of the proper nouns. For example, the more obscure reference to Sherlock's sister could have had a reference to a more well-known WWII bomber, the Enola Gay. As a bonus, _____ Gay would have better fit in with the latent, true puzzle theme: GAY PRIDE, YANG (again, a more simple YIN and YANG cluing was forsaken for a gay comedian that is pretty obscure), and AUDRE Lord, a lesbian social activist.
I would point out that the “editor” is the one who removed the good clue for 3D and substituted the one that was published.
The same for 64A.
So she strikes yet again.
AnonT Thank you for stepping up with plenty of illustrations. Hand up thought of Hitchhiker's Guide with "DON'T PANIC".
Hand up absurd crosses of obscure names. Hand up BOZO/BOBO. FIW with BAT/TESTY. Got TEASE, RIDE, JOSH theme answers, but missed RIB.
Here we were at JOSHUA TREE.
Learning moment about the U2 album.
From Yesterday:
AnonT Thank you for the kind words about my MISTy, MOSSY photo. It may not be a big deal in most places, but here in the desert it was truly magical. Seconds later, someone fell about ten feet from one of those slippery rocks. He was not following the rest of us. Shaken, but not injured. Landed on his very full back pack.
As an infant, my daughter was afraid not only of clowns but of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. And did she EVER outgrow those fears! She is now a huge fan of horror movies, the scarier, the better! When a movie comes out and if I have doubts about it, she will apprise me of its horror rating.
Thanks JDB for a fun puzzle and welcome to the “corner”. I hope to see more of your work in the near future.
As others mentioned its not your fault the editor switched some of the clues to obscure things that no one else knows.
Thanks for the awesome recap -T
….. kkFlorida
Nah, this puzzle left me cold. Very interesting to learn from the horse's mouth about how the editor changed a couple of clues, which are worse than the original clues. That is why I have stopped posting my opinions about which clues I like; I have no idea whose handiwork I am complimenting (or criticizing.)
BOZO is THE "Classic clown name". Does anybody ever think BOBO when clowns are mentioned? Does anybody ever say, "Oh, that bunch of bobos."? Anybody? Show of hands?
Yuck, ptooie, grumble, mumble.
Good wishes to you all.
TTP -
when I was visiting my mom over last weekend in KS I saw an article about the new Kansas license plates - we were all cracking up how people making the plate design were only thinking about sunflowers with KS being the Sunflower State - but it definitely looks like Mizzou Tigers black and gold - who were the Kansas Jayhawks archrivals until Missouri went to the SEC and KU stayed in the Big 12. It also looks like an Iowa plate that is also black and gold for the Hawkeyes.
Wednesday workout. Thanks for the fun, Jeanne (congrats on your debut here, and your visit) and AnonT (gotta love the Rush T).
I FIRed eventually, but had to come here to see the KIDDING. (Would circles have helped or given it away too easily?).
Unknown names (AUDRE, BAZ) again caused many inkblots and hesitations (ERS), but eventually the perps won.
The central west and NW corner were the last to fall.
This Canadian thought of Orlando (but that’s Disney World). (Hi IM) Finally changing to ANAHEIM opened up that area.
Hand up with the crowd for Bozo before BOBO.
I had Plate before CABLE.
Couldn’t we have had ENOLA GAY PRIDE? (Anon@12:27 beat me)
Those unsure sounds can be UM’s, EHS, ERS.
I presumed Malo is Spanish for bad (similar to the French Mal); BUENO (like the French bien) came to my mind.
Tangy changed to Tasty changed to ZESTY.
How short is our fraction of a minute? Milli- or Nano second. N perped when this Canadian remembered your MLK holiday month.
We had ANT and ANTI.
Wishing you all a great day.
TTP - No Joke. And please don't call me Shirley ;-)
Um, Vidwan & (IM) My girls are in the Tea Service story and RUSH is in my T-Shirt merch collection -glad you noticed C,Eh!
Thanks JDB for stopping by and confirming you are that JDB. Congrats on the debut and good luck leaving out names in the future ;-)
//every one of my published puzzles (yeah, ok, just 5) were with very patient help of a great mentor and master puzzle setter. She knows who she is.
I'm going to say BOBO is fair. He was a famous clown in Ringling Bros and I learnt something from the WikiP.
Bowen Yang is fair too (if you seen SNL in the last few years). I'd say he's just as much of a star as Colin Jost, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Kenan Thompson & AIDY [yesterday] Bryant.
Ray-O: I read Crawford too. But the reference to Ted Lasso [great show!] made me re-read it a few times to get CAT.
And inanehiker knew BAZ so there's that. //BTW, thanks you & Lucina for filling me in on sewing BASTE. I probably knew that along the way somewhere 'cuz Mom made many of her dresses in the early '70's. #Hippy :-)
HG - I almost used the exact same divining rods as you link'd but felt I already had enough stuff. Thanks for the lift.
Nice snap, Picard. Maybe you've heard Where the Streets Have No Name - it was the first track on Joshua Tree.
CED - LOL second link!
Cheers, -T
JDB, you hit it out of the park today, and since this was your inaugural effort, you've got my vote for Rookie of the Year. Yes, you ran afoul of the editor in a few places, but you're certainly not the first!
One suggestion might be to use as few names as possible, so that the editor has no chance to change the clue for IDA, say, from Lupino to some obscure video game character.
A well-constructed crossword puzzle
should show style, and yours does in many ways:
--it's a nice balanced 15 x 15, and
well over 80% of the squares are
white.
--you did not shy away from rarely-used letters. I counted two Z's, a K, and a J.
I look forward to your next venture!
Anon T @ 4:57 ~ I meant hearing more about your girls in their current stages, Tony. But I did enjoy the images their "Tea Parties" with Dad conjured up!
From past personal experiences and confirmation by others, I know it is not unusual for a crossword editor to change upwards of 50 percent (usually more) of the clues submitted. This is done for brevity, clarity, enhancement and, in some cases, to increase the overall difficulty level to match the publication day. This formula, of course, is interpreted and implemented at the sole discretion of the editor who has the final say. As we all know, Patti has taken the puzzle to new and different directions and while change may be inevitable, I don't agree or accept that it is always for the better.
Thank you, Dr. Breen for your clever ALL KIDDING ASIDE theme! You took a 15-letter phrase and parsed it in a different way. That's what talented constructors do. Congratulations on your debut and I hope to see you again soon! Oh, and did you see CED@10:53 's cake? The rest of us have to wait for our birthdays to get a CED cake. Very special!!
Unfortunately, I was in a rush and TITT at a couple of the crossings mentioned above. I "read" Cindy CRawford (CLAWford is so much better!) and also "meNtal giant". Those are on me. Oof!
Thanks, also, to -T for his high energy review! FAV was CHIEF. Hand up for minimal ICONS on my desktop. I have a feeling this is going to be a December to Remember!
One thing I learned doing this puzzle is that I am not at my crossword best at 3 a.m. Not only did I not see any theme, I got stuck on TEASER V__E and didn't parse it differently even after red-lettering the VICE. I still wondered what kind of VICE that could be. Lots of hard unknowns for me.
My cable television has been off and on malfunctioning so I can't see it most of the time. Learned of the Governor nixing the car tag from a friend's Face Book post. Thus my wisdom grows more and more obsolete.
I had to take a several hours break before coming back to finish the NW corner. I agree with those who have an issue with the plethora of personal names - a dozen by my count. Fortunately feeble and Chief finally came to me so as to overcome Ida and Audre. A friend has a Great Dane named after Rumi or that would have been another swag. Late figured bozo couldn’t be right! Do many of you play monument valley games? C’mon! But fortunately still finished 🤪
Oooh! A birthday cake! I can't wait for mine in a few days along with several other December babies on the Blog.
CEDave
Be ready with your icing videos!
R.I.P. Henry Kissinger. A serious and worthy statesman. 100 years! Wow!
Sumdaze - sweet praise from you is whowa! Thanks.
Lucina - I read about Kissinger's death today. My only references (remember I was born in '70) to him was building a bridge (and Ping-Pong) to Mao's China and SNL bits.
//I also remember a sketch where he jumped out of plane w/ the mess kit bag instead of a parachute; "World's Smartest Man" was the smug line used at the end [but I can't find the link].
IM - My girls are doing great. They're both almost ready (finals first!) for Christmas break & come home to help me & DW deck the halls.
Cheers, -T
inanehiker, that's so funny to consider that they were thinking solely about the sunflower, and didn't consider the colors of their Mizzou neighbor's colors. Especially because of the long-running rivalries between the schools, and even longer, between the states. :>)
BTW, speaking of those sunflowers, I planted a few this year, but they snapped under their own weight in a really strong wind before the plants matured. Bummer. I usually buy at least one 40 lb bag of the black oil sunflower seeds at Menard's for the birds (and the squirrels) for the winter. I was pleased when I saw them on sale in this week's local Menard's flyer for $14.99, until I looked a little closer and saw that was the price for the 20lb bag. I'm a bit shocked at the price here. I think it's a safe bet that they are much less expensive there.
PK, 3 AM is one of my better solving times of day! Plus it gives me something to do quietly when I wake up in the early morning hours. I didn't have any problem finding something to do this morning. The furnace in my addition wasn't making heat. I messed with it for a bit after reading in the manual, and got it working again. Then read more online about the symptoms. I may be able to avoid a service call tomorrow. Now it's time to get on to today's puzzle!
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