The Language of Love*
Today's constructor Michael B. Berg made his debut in the New York Times just last year (be sure to read his note about how he got into the construction business). Now that he's ready for the big time (😀) he has come to teach us a little bit about romance. Some say love is a battleground -- and if it is, Michael's theme describes where it all takes place ...
16A. "Don't switch to memory foam": KEEP IT DOWN. It keeps you much warmer, and sometimes it gets hot.
25A. "Pray we can hold on to the smaller one, which is more comfortable than the king": GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. And more than that it brings lovers closer together.
42A. "Please double-stitch the new sham": MAKE A STRONG CASE. True love is the best.
The themers are all references to the boudoir of course and in this reveal Doris Day tells us all about the language spoken there ...
56A. Nighttime heart-to-heart that's taken literally in this puzzle: PILLOW TALK.
1. "General Hospital," for one: SOAP.
Jacklyn Zeman
(March 6, 1953 – May 9, 2023) portrayed nurse Bobbie Spencer on the ABC
daytime soap opera General Hospital for 45 years. Prior to that
she played Lana McClain in One Life to Live.
|
| Jacklyn Zeman |
9. Bogus offer: SCAM.
13. Wheel shaft: AXLE.
14. Admit: COP TO.
15. Latin bear: URSA. MAJOR is the big one and MINOR is the little one. The tail of the little one is the NORTH STAR ...
16. [Theme clue]
18. Softball clubs: BATS. Not the ones who live in belfries. 😁
19. SASE, perhaps: ENC. Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes. Aspiring novelists buy them by the pound.
20. R&B's __ Hill: DRU. Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 by Tamir Ruffin, and as of 2023, is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits In My Bed, How Deep Is Your Love, and Never Make a Promise: the last a bit of R&B pillow talk ...
23. Vend: SELL.
24. Laura of the "Jurassic Park" films: DERN. Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967), who plays Dr. Ellie Sattler, is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Here are a few memorable scenes with Dr. Sattler from Jurassic Park ...
25. [Theme clue]
32. Makes the first bid: OPENS.
33. Srs.' nest eggs: IRAS.
34. Rain-__ gum: BLO. It's also available in a JUM BLO size and it doesn't lose its flavor on the bed post over night ...
36. Brunch staple: BAGEL.
38. Void partner: NULL.
39. Coastal raptor: ERN. A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ERN, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Ten extant species exist, currently described with this label. They are also frequent flyers through crosswords puzzles ...
 |
| Sea Eagle or Ern |
41. HS class with a big reading list: AP LIT. Advanced Placement Literature.
42. [Theme clue]
46. Poet of ancient Rome: OVID. Publius Ovidius Naso (21 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as OVID was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. In keeping with today's theme here's a poem from Ovid's The Art Of Love: Book Two.
|
| Ovid |
48. See 59-Across: BLOOMER.
51. PC file suffix: EXE.
52. Xiao long __: soup dumpling: BAO. Here's a recipe.
 |
| Xiao long Bao |
56. [Theme reveal]
59. With 48-Across, one who is eventually successful: LATE.
60. "Finding Dory" setting: OCEAN.
61. Peru's capital: LIMA.
62. Stretches between forces, briefly: DMZS. An outmoded concept. Nowadays the forces are fair game no matter where they're found.
63. Gender-fluid pronoun: THEY.
64. Sculpting material: CLAY. CLAY is soil composed of the dust from igneous rocks mixed with water. One of the things that can be sculpted from it is a 25D.
Down:
1. Quaff with sushi: SAKE. SAKE is a wine made from rice, water, yeast, and a mold called koji.
2. Rice paddy team: OXEN. And speaking of rice ...
 |
| Balinese rice farmer preparing his paddy for planting |
3. Oscar winner Guinness: ALEC. Sir Alec Guinness, CH CBE (2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English Shakespearean actor probably most famous in the US for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas' original 1977 Star Wars trilogy. But his career really began in 1946 with a series of collaborations with Director David Lean that included The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957 Oscar and BAFTA), Dr. Zhivago, and Lawrence of Arabia. In 1959, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts.
 |
| Sir Alec Guinness |
5. Self-contained unit: MODULE. A MODULE can be easily replaced with any unit that accepts the same inputs, produces the same outputs and has an interface compatible with the units it is intended to work. This concept is widely used in electronics and software development and simplifies development and maintenance.
6. Wall St. announcement: IPO. Initial Public Offering -- what it is and how it works.
7. Packaging meas.: NT WT. The amount that you get after the packaging is removed.
8. Signed, sealed, and delivered agreement: DONE DEAL.
9. Outback maker: SUBARU.
10. Cosmic cloud that resembles a crustacean: CRAB NEBULA. Apparently it can get pretty crabby.
 |
| Crab Nebula Messier 1 Hubble Telescope |
12. Sloop pole: MAST. A CSO to Jinx. See also 36D.
14. PC paste combo: CTRL-V. Pastes whatever is on the memory "clipboard". The former gets filled by highlighting a portion of text and clicking CTRL-C ("Copy").
17. Dot journal entries: IDEAS.
22. Nonelective courses, informally: REQS.
23. Nine-digit IDs: SSNS.
25. 64-Across creature of Jewish folklore: GOLEM. A GOLEM (/ˈɡoʊləm/ GOH-ləm; Hebrew: גּוֹלֶם, romanized: gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The golem is a highly mutable metaphor with seemingly limitless symbolism. It can be a victim or villain, man or woman—or sometimes both. Over the centuries, it has been used to connote war, community, isolation, hope, and despair. There has been some suggestion that the Golem was the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's Gollum in the Lord of the Rings.
 |
| Golem |
27. Novelist who wrote the "Odd Thomas" thrillers: DEAN KOONTZ. Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list including Odd Thomas. The protagonist is a twenty-year-old short-order cook named Odd Thomas, who can communicate with the dead and helps to solve crimes.
 |
| Why such an odd name? |
28. Big cat in "Life of Pi": TIGER. A 2001 novel by Yann Martel about Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel from Pondicherry, India, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger which raises questions about the nature of reality and how it is perceived and told. It's also a film adaptation directed by Ang Lee. Here's a trailer ...
29. Otto I's realm: Abbr.: HRE. The Holy Roman Empire has been described as neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.
.svg.png) |
| Holy Roman Empire circa 1512 - 1806 Superimposed over modern states |
30. New York Harbor's __ Island: ELLIS. Europe's gateway to America.
 |
| Ellis Island |
36. Place to watch Greyhounds: BUS DEPOT. A CSO to Zoё.
37. Actor's rep: AGT.
38. Background figures in video games, for short: NPCS. A non-player character (NPC), is any character in a video game that is not controlled by a player.[
40. Actor Corey: HAIM. Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor. He starred in a number of 1980s films, such as Silver Bullet (1985), Murphy's Romance (1985), and Lucas (1986). Haim's early success led to money and fame. He had difficulty breaking away from the trauma of his experience as a child actor and was troubled by drug addiction throughout his adult life. He died of pneumonia on March 10, 2010.
 |
| Corey Haim |
43. Conjures: EVOKES.
44. Beck album with the single "Where It's At": ODELAY. Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck (not to be confused with the binonymous Jeff Beck born in 1944 😀) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Beck rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style. This is "Where It's At" ...
45. President who resigned in 1974: NIXON.
48. Daring: BOLD.
49. Actor Neeson: LIAM. William John Neeson OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed seventh on The Irish Times list of Ireland's 50 Greatest Film Actors. Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.
 |
| Liam Neeson |
52. Cut out early: BAIL.
53. __ mater: ALMA.
54. Approve: OKAY.
57. Director Spike: LEE. A common surname among movie directors.
58. "Waterfalls" trio: TLC. TLC is an American girl group formed in 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia. The group's best-known line-up was composed of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. The group enjoyed success during the 1990s, with nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number-one singles: Creep, No Scrubs, Unpretty and Waterfalls ...
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
* This review is dedicated to the memory of Professor Keith Fowler, who loved language, Shakespeare, acting, crossword puzzles, and diagonals.
 |
| OMK |
While I won’t say this puzzle was easy, it was definitely doable, especially with strong in-the-language phrases as themers. I will admit, however, that I had no idea about the overall theme until the reveal, but I got it then. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteThe big freeze is over, temporarily, and we could see 70° this afternoon. Saturday it'll be back to winter. Phil, the philodendron outside our bedroom window, is not happy. Maybe not even alive.
Needed my trusty Wite-Out to change OWN UP to COP TO. HAIM and NPCS were mysteries, but the perps were kind. Chalk this one in the win column. Thanx, Michael, waseeley, and Teri.
FIR, but erased durn for DERN (UNTIE!)
ReplyDeleteToday is:
NATIONAL WINNIE THE POOH DAY (I’m surprised that we don’t have a Cornerite using the pen name Christopher Robin)
NATIONAL PEKING DUCK DAY (wouldn’t want to invade the duck’s privacy by Peking)
GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS DAY (so you can sell their data)
NATIONAL THESAURUS DAY (what’s another word for “thesaurus?”)
Tb is TERABITS, not to be confused with TB, TERABytes.
In my experience, "signed, sealed and delivered" is more of a long way of saying "done deal." If it is important, the decision has already been reached before my lowly butt hears about it. (Not to be confused with Stevie Wonder's big hit from 1970.)
What the heck is a .journal?
I always called nonelectives "core" courses. I guess prerequisites are nonelectives too, but wouldn't be abbreviated that way.
LIAM joins oboe, oreo, stet and opt as trite-but-useful crossword fill.
FLN - Ray-O, AZ currently uses less water than it did in 1957. They have never mandated municipal or residential restrictions on water uses. Many of the golf courses are designed for "target" golf - grass at the tee boxes and greens, plus landing areas in between. Rattlesnakes, cacti and hardpan dirt between the green areas. Sounds tough, but even as a new golfer I didn't really notice it.
Thanks to Michael for the easy-ish Thursday puzzle, and to Bill 'n' Teri for another fine review. Zoё really liked her SO.
Once queen appeared I kept looking for king, twin and full. Not!
ReplyDeleteToday's bi-weekly DAB puzzle,. David has this to say about it:
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried to play “tennis,” gentle solver? I did once, in an eighth-grade gym class. Apparently you’re supposed to chase after a small bouncing ball, and when you reach it, you’re supposed, with a tool made of a mesh stretched tightly across an oval frame and attached to a handle, a “racket,” to hit that ball at an angle and with a force that will direct it across a net into a defined space, from which an opposing player may hit it back to you. I tried to do this not just once but several times, but I was never able to make the racket and the ball meet in the same location in space and time, much less direct the ball anywhere at all. And yet I have seen people who seem otherwise to enjoy no exceptional physical abilities engaged in this game. Some even indulge in a variant called “mixed doubles,” in which, while chasing and hitting the ball, you are simultaneously called upon not to collide with someone else who shares your side of the net.
I’d like to conclude here, as a profound insight, that “mixed doubles” is somehow an apt metaphor for life. But in fact I can’t see much resemblance. If life resembles any sort of ball game, it’s the one where you sit on a platform above a tank of water, until someone throws a ball that activates a lever releasing the platform and sending you into the tank. Except, if it were truly like life, the platform would be automatically activated at random intervals, and the tank would be full of sharks.
Apparently he didn't do very well in the game.
His website has this illustration of a mixed doubles match.
It was a FIR today with a WAG at the cross of unknown singer's unknown album-ODELAY- and THEY or THEM. I know of Jeff Beck but not the other guy. I'll COP TO the fact I had trouble in that area and it took GOD SAVE THE QUEEN before DOWN made it on the grid. Couldn't originally decide between IPO or LBO. As for the theme, I was thinking mattress, not PILLOW TALK.
ReplyDeleteThis LATE BLOOMER didn't have a chance to take AP LIT; those AP classes didn't exist at my HS.
DEAN KOONTZ was known but not from the clue. Same for NOLTE for the unknown movie. And Corey HAIM and all three of the listed movies were unknowns.
NPCS, TLC- definitely all perps for those two. No Play Station, WII, or Xbox at my house. The only 'Waterfalls" I know were being chased by Prince.
Jinx- if you're talking bits and bytes, don't leave out nibbles. Is there any abbr. for a 'teranibble'?
Time for me to BAIL. Have a nice day.
FIW. I had no idea about what a NPC was and guessed AMLIT thinking American literature.
ReplyDeleteOther than that this was challenging but doable. Got the theme early as soon as I saw queen and that helped a lot. Late bloomer took a while since Dean Koontz was unknown to me.
Took 6:59 today for me to lay my head down.
ReplyDeleteI guess there's a thing called a queen pillow.
Or, a nice member of the royal family who is affectionately known as "the pillow queen." Either way, new to me.
Lots of proper names, again (Odelay, Agnew, Nixon, Dru, TLC, Koontz, Alec, Dern, Ellis, Nolte, Asti).
I knew today's actress (Dern) and actors (Nolte and Alec).
New York Harbor's Ellis Island, is correct. But there's a debate as to which state Ellis Island belong to.
I loved this puzzle and theme, although it took longer for me to solve than a usual Thursday puzzle. At first I thought the theme was mattresses until sham appeared. Then, I thought the theme was bedding. It could have been, so I am happy. My mom would say, "Right church, wrong pew." I skipped the P in APLIT and NPC and forgot to go back for it. An ABC run might have succeeded.
ReplyDeletePerps were kind. ESP for HAIM, ODELAY, TLC. A few perps indicated the actor, NOLTE.
My favorite clue was "place to watch greyhounds = bus depot."
I enjoyed The Life of Pi, both as a novel and as a movie.
I really love historical novels about other cultures. Golem appeared in several of those I read.
I use what I learn in these novels as a jumping off platform to learn more.
My love of historical novels helped me to win a two week all expenses paid trip to Japan to study Japanese education and to introduce Japanese culture to my class at home. It was a highlight of my professional life.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a faster and smoother solve than yesterday's and much more enjoyable. There were a few unknowns, namely, CTRL V, Crab Nebula, Odelay, and NPCs, but perps were fair throughout the grid, so no complaints. My first thought at Odd Thomas was Stephen King, but God Save The Queen said otherwise and I knew Dean Koontz as an author. I don't think I've ever seen so many actors in a puzzle who weren't part of the theme and, interestingly, they represented three generations. I know very little about Corey Haim, but Guinness, Nolte, Neeson, and Dern are all top-notch, in my book. The themers were all solid phrases, but the clues were a little tortured, IMO. The theme itself was fine, if a tad simplistic, especially for a Thursday.
Thanks, Michael, enjoyed hearing about your journey to crosswording and thanks, Bill, for your always interesting review and the extensive learning moments you provide under the watchful eye of Teri! Enjoyed the many visuals and Ms.Midler's performance. Most of all, though, I was touched by your heartfelt and fitting tribute to our dear Keith.
Have a great day.
Big Easy - I've known about "nibbles" since the '70s, when memory was expensive. (A 16 kilobyte set of memory chips for my Apple II was $800.) The mighty PDP 1170 was the affordable choice of many companies that weren't ready for an IBM 370. I wonder if programmers still worry about optimizing memory use now that it is dirt cheap.
ReplyDeleteBTW, you can see a LOT of Laura Dern in Wild at Heart. (Coincidentally, she played her role very well too.)
ReplyDeleteNot knowing ODELAY, left one blank and THEm for THEY, otherwise FIR. Got the theme pretty quickly, but had to struggle with a few other unknowns like CTRLV, BLO, and almost BAO, then remembered from past CW.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see NIXON and AGNEW next to each other.
I’ve never read any of DEAN KOONTZ’s many, many novels, but recently I read his wonderful book about the way a smart golden lab he and his wife adopted affected his life and even his writing style. The title is “A Big Little Life”.
D-o @ 5:50.Why was poor Phil left outside?
Great recap.
ReplyDeleteThe theme almost put me to sleep 💤
I hadda go to the mattreses to try complete this one. Though what I didn’t know perped like KS I had AmLIT (perp wouldn’t help cuz I didn’t know NPC) so a FIW (and I actually took AP English in HS 🥹)
One of those scary moments. Now how did I know CRAB NEBULA? But Rain-BLO gum I musta passed by on the candy shelf.
Inkovers: Golum/GOLEM (same mistake ev’ry time, DERN!!)
OXEN replaced yaks as the ” rice paddy team” cuz they were too chatty. Our ERN(e) alit after a long CW absence 🦅
Guess it’s not Faith Hill. OPERA “gloves”? (Will they sing an aria of your choice?)
DMZS, the black CW squares
Ovid: Publius Ovidius Naso, Romans adopted or inherited a “cognomen” that reflected something about their own or an ancestor’s physical appearance, often self-deprecating. NASO (big) nose. Gaius Julius Caesar "Caesar" is believed to have originated from an ancestor who was born by caesarean section (Latin "caesus," meaning "cut") OR “caesaries” hair (an ancestor with a huge head of hair, BTW JC was bald) OR Ca(e)dere: to slay/massacre. Then there’s (Marcus Tullius) “Cicero”, Cicer means chickpea. It’s believed he had an ancestor with a wart on his nose resembling a chickpea ….or …. grew the crop
Hey hey, wake up and stop yer bellyaching’. I learnt yah sumthin’
🤓
Have a nice day. I gotta go and tryda fix the vacuum cleaner 🙄. (DW: “Aren’t you done with that puzzle yet!!” )
Good Morning! It took a second look to finish today. Always amazing how things can appear after a time away. Thanks, Michael. Fun theme.
ReplyDeleteOKAY for a Thursday, I guess, but a fair share of obscurities to overcome. ESP for BLO, NPCS, HAIM and ODELAY.
WO: items -> IDEAS.
Had to look up GOLEM and KOONTZ.
CTRL V: I never use keyboard shortcuts. My mouse is on the job!
Thanks, as always, Bill & Teri, for your review filled with lots of learning moments.
Much easier than yesterday. Got the FIR thanks to fair perps and a few lucky WAGs. Liked the "greyhound" clue, wanted "no man's land" for DMZ, and "water buffalo" for OXEN.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-A clever, just right Thursday exercise
-SCAM – Joann just got another phishing email
-LATE BLOOMER – Ever see one at a class reunion?
-Sir ALEC’s portrayal of Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge On The River Kwai was amazing
-The Apollo Moon Shot had a Service MODULE, Command MODULE and Lunar MODULE
-What Irish said!
Jinx @ 6:25 AM
ReplyDeleteLess water use than 1957, when all there were in AZ were cowpokes and cattle rustlers! 🤠🐮and who knows how often they took baths. 🛁 😃
Truly amazing except for the rattlesnakes on the golf course . 🐍
I visit my cousin when I attend CME conferences in Scottsdale . He moved from Glendale when it got too trafficky and loud to Peoria when you can hear a pin drop. Went from the headache of a water hungry green front lawn to desert plantings, much more interesting and attractive
🌵🏜️
Hola!
ReplyDeleteLots to like about this puzzle. Thank you, Michael B. Berg! Actually, anything to do with sleep and beds is fine with me. After my DH passed, I replaced the QUEEN mattress with a FULL one and gave all the QUEEN size sheets, etc., to one of my friends. It suits me better and is easier to make it. Hmm. Why do we say, "make the bed"?
MY favorite role for Nick NOLTE was in Prince of Tides with Barbra Streisand.
I love the pun in KEEP IT DOWN.
AGNEW/NIXON, side by side, how appropriate!
I've learned GOLEM from crossword puzzles.
URSA crossing CRAB NEBULA is fitting, too.
I've not read any books by DEAN KOONTZ, but I'm familiar with his name.
"The Life of PI" was a very strange story. I did not see the movie so don't know how it was portrayed.
The cleaning crew will be here soon so I need to get moving.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Ray-O
ReplyDelete"cowpokes and cattle rustlers?" I think you have read too many Zane Grey novels!
I has been quite civilized here for many decades! The area north of Phoenix, such as Peoria, Surprise and other communities, took a while longer to develop, but the whole area is now a giant metropolis. Before, it was all desert with very few buildings.
Actually, if you go to the Peoria, AZ website, it gives a nice historical review of how the town was established and when. It was mostly agricultural until building developments took over most of the area. Today it is a thriving metropolis.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that that cheap Kindle novel I'm currently reading was written by Dean Koontz. Guess that's why his name was somewhat familiar. D'oh.
ReplyDeleteMonkey, Phil is planted in the ground outside our bedroom window. Moving him is not an option. He's smaller now, but when he was in his prime prior to the 2021 freeze, he was six feet tall and about eight feet in diameter.
I stand corrected. Dw informs me that prior to his severe 2021 freeze, Phil was at least 8 feet high and 12 feet in diameter.
ReplyDeleteConfused by TRANSFER in TERABIT clue. BAUD refers to TRANSFER rates. Enjoyed the PILLOW TALK theme. But even seeing the word DOWN terrifies me. A DOWN PILLOW can cause a deadly allergic reaction for me. I wish they would permanently be replaced by MEMORY FOAM, which is delightful.
ReplyDeleteHere I was at the Korean DMZ.
It is very much still in operation. Only Americans are allowed in the DMZ. The Korean War has never officially ended.
From Yesterday:
AnonT Thanks for the kind words about my CERN HIGGS BOSON photo.
Chairman Moe I enjoyed the puzzle, but I could not find any place to view the solved puzzle. Do you know where the solution is posted?
From Sunday:
waseeley and AnonT I was an early user of USENET starting around 1986. Originally through the activist portal Peacenet. That was before the World Wide Web took over the Internet. It was a very open feeling back then. No malware. Just helpful, friendly people.
Mssr. Picard, methinks the TERABITS refers to the amount of data being transferred (if you have that high baud rate 😎
Delete====> Darren / L.A.
D-o @1:14. Wow! I can see where Phil might be like a member of the family. He must be facing the south to have survived and thrived so well.
ReplyDeleteLucina @ 11:34 ~ My Ireland-born grandmother used to say "dress the bed. " She used a lot of quaint expressions with a lilting Old Sod accent. I agree that Nick Nolte was outstanding in The Price of Tides as Tom Wingo. That was one of my favorite novels, so much so that I read it twice, just to enjoy and marvel at author Pat Conroy's evocative and mesmerizing prose.
ReplyDeleteWould you like to try for PrInce of Tidesl
DeleteStarted out easy, and got harder the less white spaces there were...
ReplyDeleteNorth center was like pulling teeth, and for this iPad user, CtrlV crossing Dru might have well been two foreign languages...
Crab Nebula 20 year time lapse.
Personally, I prefer it when pillows "don't" talk...
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFIW as I had to reveal BLOOMER; there were a couple of open squares that BLOOMER solved. I had heard of DEAN KOONTZ but it was not registering; HAIM was an unknown; DMZS as clued was completely over my head
waseeley -> have you had your surgery yet? If so, hope you're on the mend. I did the DAB puzzle - thanks - and it was pretty clever
@ Picard @ 1:50 -> Here are the answers to my puzzle on Tuesday
See you tomorrow as it's my turn to blog ... no spoiler alerts
Interesting offering from Michael today. Almost a pangram, missing only a "J" and of all things an "F"! Bill, your review was well done.
ReplyDeleteFinished with no help, perps necessary for several unknowns.
Evel Knevel always landed on the ground.
Wound
Lucina, I'll bet it's still pretty wild Out Wikenburg Way. I hope that Carefree and Cave Creek haven't become just bedroom communities pf Phoenix.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Phoenix, but my mailing address was Glendale. Made things interesting when I ordered cable. "We don't service Glendale."I live in Phoenix." "Your address says Glendale." "Yes it does. Phoenix is a suburb of Glendale." "Oh, OK then." (I made up only the last statement. In real time they had to find a supervisor to figure it out.)
I'm in Apache Junction which is about as far east of Phoenix as Glendale. I "say" I live in Phoenix but that's a stretch. Different county, too. Carefree and Cave Creek are far enough away from Phoenix to be less than bedroom communities, IMO. Probably cater more to retirees and more well-to-do snowbirds
DeleteLee @ 3:00 ~ Yes, I would, thank you! I'll take an N, please! 🤣
ReplyDeleteMOE @2:50 PM One eye down and one to go. Things still look a bit fuzzy at this point (using a magnifying glass for close work. Next one is January 29th. I understand that it can take several weeks for your eyes to completely heal.
ReplyDeleteAfter solving the Universal puzzle for January 15th and comparing it with the answers you posted for Picard I see that I did the wrong one. I've printed the one for the 16th and will report back later.
Re DAB's puzzle - the solve wasn't too bad but I'm still puzzling about the theme. This is the first time I've ever seen David include a reveal and this one's a real doozy. Wait, wait, don't tell me!
Ok, I won't!!
DeleteCED @2:28 PM Great clip on the Crab Nebula!
ReplyDeleteEven though I eventually nailed all the themers, aside from PILLOWTALK somehow the title “Language of Love” is a bit of a stretch (like, the elastic band is about to break…). But other’n that Michael’s puzzle is a winner; any other solver here try “dog track” instead of BUSDEPOT? And my brain just couldn’t adjust from “rackets” being a DIN and not something to do with scams until the perps whacked me upside da haid.
ReplyDeleteNote to @ ROSe: it’s not hard to learn key-commands to cover computer ops — it sure saves a lot of mouse-draggin’! I’m a Mac guy (they brought the GUI idea to computers) but, even having been raised on mousing around, now I hardly ever use anything but keystrokes to do the usual stuff. As the old commercial tag went, “Try it, you’ll like it!” 😎
====> Darren / L.A.
I liked this puzzle okay. Took a guess at the cross of ODELA- and THE-. Could just as well have been an M as a Y as far as I'm concerned. Also, it took MODULE to cement the U in the unknown-to-me DRU. As a kid, I always saw NTWT on packages as "nitwit."
ReplyDeleteNothing to do with today's puzzle, but it's too good not to share. Some local sortsbabe reporter asked the Tampa Bay Buccaneer coach whether he planned some cold-weather team acclimation sessions for the upcoming game in Detroit. Coach kinda smiled, and said "the game is in the dome, we'll be in the cold for about 20 seconds from the bus to the dome, so I think we'll be OK."
ReplyDeleteNeat Thursday puzzle, a bit tough here and there, easy here and there, all of which makes it fun. Many thanks, Michael, and Bill and Teri, your commentary is always a helpful and interesting pleasure. I'm just heartbroken to hear the loss of our dear Keith Fowler.
ReplyDeleteHave a good evening, everybody.
Anon @ 6:15: Thanks for your comment, but probably that saying about old dog, new tricks applies. LOL! And since my mouse is in hand to hi-light the chosen area it's easy to continue on with it to cut of copy.
ReplyDelete🤙🏽😎 I’m an “old dawg”too!
DeleteAnon: Sorry, that should be cut OR copy.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank You Michael Berg for an interesting and challenging Thursday puzzle. I finally finished it, but I had trouble parsing some of the answers, especially with the clues provided. I thought I had 'met' a Michael Berg before, but that was a Paul Berg, one of the fathers of recombinant DNA. I met him at CaseWesternReserve UNiv. in 1977, just 3 yrs before he received/shared in a Chemistry Nobel Prize, 1980.
I have also met/shook hands with George Bush Jr., when his father was V.P. .... He was schlepping some oil partnerships ( Spectrum, or some similar name - ). I did not invest, and the partnerships did not strike oil / or do too well....
Thank You Waseely and Teri for the yeoman work of writing the blog. All very interesting.
I had a tough time with some of the answers .....
Like NTWT, My wife explained this to me ..., REQS and NCPS ( Dont do video games ...)
We have a huge bedroom with all the usual accoutrements ... down covers and all ... but its on the 2nd floor, and for the past year I have not been able to make it up there. So, I use one of our two bedrooms on the first floor, with full or twin sized beds used originally for guests. Ive got used to it by now, and I find 3 fleece blankets are just as warm as a down comforter.
I would be terrified to go close to a DMZ, I thought them areas was for the enemy to take potshots ... at anything that moved. Plus who would you complain to , huh ????
I found BUS DEPOT meaningful and smiled ... I often used Greyhounds in my/our early years in this country ....
Jinx in Norfolk, knowing about your dog Zoe, and her SO in todays puzzle .... and that her earlier name was an indian name, called Jugni ( female firefly - )
... I thought I would link a 'famous' song from a famous indian marathi movie (2015?) involving several 'fireflies' .... The name of the movie is Katyar Kaljat Ghusli = The dagger entered the heart . IMHO, the singer is fabulous, and the idea is, that the song and singing is supposed to 'call' out to the fireflies, to show themselves.
Its too complicated to explain the song ... or the movie ... so, if you care, .... just enjoy the scenery. You can read about the song or movie, in Wikipedia or Imdb.
Have a great rest of the week, all you folks,
Waseely, this came up in my recommended feed this morning
ReplyDelete