Puzzling thoughts:
FIR with a few corrections (see the grid for the little black triangles in the squares where I flubbed)
This one was a bit of a "slog", as it took me nearly twice as long as usual to solve
I was excited when I saw Robin C. Stears on the by-line, as I've had the pleasure to re-cap a couple of hers before
True to her love of Merl Reagle-type puzzles, Robin delights us with - gosh darn it all - a series of mild, homophonic expletives in her playful entries. No reveal; just a bit of frivolity mixed in with some elegant "fill". Certainly "FRY-day" worthy! π
The first of the five entries (17-across. Rather impressive exclamation of relief?): QUITE A PHEW! plays off the more familiar "quite a few", with a different parsing of the adverb "QUITE"
#2 of the entries also used a slightly different meaning of the adjective, BORDER (24-across. Astonished exclamation at the Four Corners Monument?): BORDER, GOLLY!. If I am understanding this one correctly, Robin is playing off of the animal, Border collie. As one who has ventured out to the spot where the Four Corners Monument resides, I might have uttered a slightly different "expletive"
#3 of the quintet is (35-across. Exasperated exclamation over a breath mint?): TIC TAC, D'OH!. When I discussed these entries with Robin (we are Facebook friends) she volunteered that the original entry for this one was something like, "cough up the d'oh". I think I like the one that made the puzzle, better, and of course it led me to finding a video of the Simpsons and the eponymous breath mint ...
The fourth entry is (51-across. Quiet exclamation of dismissal from way back when?): OLD SOFT SHOO. [Idioms @ The Free Dictionary dot com] defines "OLD SOFT SHOE" as: "Something, such as a speech or explanation, delivered especially carefully and skillfully in order to convince or persuade; e.g., 'This salesperson keeps trying to give me the old soft-shoe, despite the fact that I already told him I don't want a new TV!'"
And speaking of Shoe (and shoo) and today's homophones, here is an old Shoe comic that fits the bill:
And finally, the fifth entry parodies the origin of words with (60-across. Etymological story about an equestrian's exclamation?): TALE OF WHOA. Ha! Ha! Get it? A TALE (as in the story of) that reins us in to the meaning of "whoa" ...
The flip side of this might be: (Clue - The letter "e"?) TAIL OF WOE
Here is the grid, and then off to the races!
Across:
1. Cravat kin: ASCOT. This one is for Irish Miss: π
| To my admirer Agnes: Love, Cary |
6. "Masters of Illusion" host Dean: CAIN. How about this for a homophonic play-on-words, and mild expletive? Clue: Causing trouble in the sugar fields? "RAISING CANE"
10. Swedish pop group: ABBA. Or perhaps, a common poetic rhyme scheme?
Three un-rhyming poetic lines (by yours, truly) is called a "Moe-ku"; 5 lines in an AABBA rhyme scheme is a "Moe-l'ick, but what should I call a 4-liner with an ABBA rhyme scheme? Maybe a "Moe-em??" Look for one later on... in the meantime, here is a little something to formulate today's earworm:
14. Fabric: CLOTH. No one ever has referred to a priest or pastor as "a man of the fabric" ...
15. Land unit: ACRE. Alternate entry for today? Clue - Angry expanse above one's waistline? BELLY ACRE ... sorry Robin for stepping on your homophones π
16. Subatomic particle with greater mass than an electron: MUON. One dictionary definition calls a MUON: "an unstable lepton that is common in the cosmic radiation near the earth's surface, has a mass about 207 times the mass of the electron, and exists in negative and positive forms" ...
19. Peruvian people who made rope bridges: INCA. Read all about them, here
20. Server with a spigot: URN. I tried TAP first, to no avail
21. Unoccupied: FREE. Not a welcome sign during an airplane flight when you gotta go ...
 |
| Hurry up in there / Γndale |
22. Perfect little darling: ANGEL. What many dads call their daughters ... along with princess, sweetie, et al
23. "Science Friday" host Flatow: IRA. Glass, Gershwin, and Levin? Not happy ... but to the clue's credit, this website lists IRA Flatow as the most popular IRA
27. Get back: REGAIN. Moe-ku:
First advertisement
For famous hair growth product:
"REGAIN with Rogaine"
29. __ de Janeiro: RIO.
30. Volleyball quartet?: ELS. Golfer "Ernie" is getting a little long-in-the-tooth ... the word "Volleyball" has four "L's"
31. Biblical garden: EDEN. Where "raising CAIN" occurred
32. Brian Setzer genre: SWING. [Wikipedia]: "Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as Eddie Cochran in the film La Bamba". Here is another ditty for you to hum all day ...
34. "Park it!": SIT. Have any dog owners ever been tempted to tell "Fido" to "park it"??!!
39. "The Gilded __": Julian Fellowes series: AGE. Filled by perps, IIRC
42. Splash: SLOSH. The thesaurussaurus confirms it:
43. Once, quaintly: ERST. I've been known to throw the word "erstwhile" into my blogs, every now and again
47. Photographer Goldin: NAN. More perps to the rescue ... an example of her work:
 |
| From "Joy and Fury" |
48. Exhibition funding agcy. since 1965: NEA. National Educational Association
49. Moves furtively: SNEAKS. Or, what I called my gym shoes back in the day ...
 |
| Jack Purcell's were my SNEAKerS of choice |
55. Future louse: NIT. Where the figurative term literally got its meaning ... having a NIT to pick
56. "Correctamundo!": RIGHT. Anyone remember "The Fonz"?? Fast forward to about the 3:00 mark to here his famous phrase ...
57. Station under the Garden: PENN. I knew this. Why? Madison Square Garden (arena home of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers) is the venue above PENN Station ... don't believe me? Google it!!
58. Training course for an EMT: CPR. CPR should be taught to people other than EMT's; you'll never know when you'll need to perform it
59. Jai __: ALAI. Moe-ku:
Jai ALAI arena
Serves Chinese food at snack bar.
Features fronton soup
63. Governor of Georgia: KEMP. [Wikipedia] "Brian Porter Kemp is an American politician serving since January 2019 as the 83rd governor of Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 to 2018, and as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2007"
64. Paper clip shape: OVAL. So it is ...
65. Devoured: ATE UP.
66. Dates: SEES.
67. Caresses: PETS.
68. Small pastries: TARTS. Moe-em:
For making desserts, I had lots of smarts
At Johnson and Wales, I practiced my arts.
My special sweet treats were pies shaped like hearts;
My degree, of course, was Bachelor of TARTS
Not exactly "ABBA", but as today's blogger, I make the rules around here!!! ππ
Down:
1. Get: ACQUIRE. Fun 1-down word; it doesn't appear nearly as often in major crossword puzzles as it should. Nice way to get to a pan-gram
2. Spoke indistinctly: SLURRED. For me, it's not an indistinct slur of my words ... when I have had too much to drink my slurring is QUITE noticeable
3. Neologism: COINAGE. The word "COINAGE" has two distinct meanings:
a) the "making" of COINS from various metals
b) neologism - the forming of a new word (or phrase)
4. Hall of Famer Mel: OTT. ERST and OTT in the same puzzle??? This is a nice "throwback" to old time crossword answers! π
5. Law org. led by Christopher A. Wray since 2017: THE FBI. Question: who would've gotten this answer immediately if the clue had a reference to J. Edgar Hoover?
6. Escapade: CAPER. As our resident wit, Ray-O-Sunshine might ask: What should you do to Supergirl if she were feeling a bit cold? ... CAPER
 |
| A different clue could've referred to the object pictured above |
7. Felt sore: ACHED. A never-ending "feeling" for the Chairman these days ... today, my neck and shoulders ACHED
8. Sore feeling: IRE. A semi-clecho to the above answer - OR - the abbr. for the Emerald Isle
9. Still in the box: NEW. This could've been a fill-in-the-blank clue (Still ___ in the box). Collectors know all about this condition for getting full value at auction ... what do you think the object below would be worth, "still NEW in the box"?
 |
This eBay listing has it for $5,800!! |
10. __ acid: AMINO. Ok, there is a fill-in-the-blank entry today ...
11. Botches: BUNGLES. For TTP and waseeley (who I believe are fans of teams from the AFC North) - the nickname of the Cincinnati NFL football team who've now "BUNGLED" three Super Bowls
12. "Romanza" tenor Andrea: BOCELLI. Another video/audio clip (long):
13. Equity expert: ANALYST. And a "specific" ANALYST: (25-down. Psychoanalyst Fromm): ERICH.
18. "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" memoirist Ralston: ARON. And here I thought the only ARON in crosswords was the middle name of Elvis Presley! [Wikipedia] "Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering"
22. Whisky __: Hollywood disco: A GOGO. Their website
26. Peel: RIND. A "zesty" word, if I do say so myself ...
28. Echidna snack: ANT. [Wikipedia] "Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae, living in Australia and New Guinea"
32. Brown ermine: STOAT.
33. Is in the past?: WAS. Past tense of "is" is WAS
36. "Nuh-uh!": IS NOT. It is IS NOT, isn't it??
37. Pitch setter: CLEF. Did anyone else try OBOE here first? I did
38. Happy sound: HEE. If a golfer tried to hit a happy sound, would they "tee" HEE?
39. Hooded gear: ANORAKS.
40. Sea fed by the Jordan: GALILEE. Where Jesus grew up
41. Final Avengers film in the Infinity Saga: ENDGAME. The trailer ... Margaret got me interested in the Avengers films during COVID
44. Major stock holder?: RANCHER. Stock, as in "livestock" - not stocks and bonds
45. Take a powder: SKIP OUT. Interesting clue
46. Features of some Mary Janes: T-STRAPS. An OLD HARD SHOE - see the T-STRAP?
 |
| Didn't we see "T-STRAP" earlier this week? |
49. Prefix with -gram: SONO. I tried "MONO" first
50. Like some ice cream: NONFAT. What's the point??!
52. Uses UPS: SHIPS.
53. Wet impact sound: SPLAT.
54. Parts of a loaf or loafers: HEELS. Also, a part of Mary Janes - see photo in 46-down
60. Spinner: TOP. A kid's toy
61. Wide st.: AVE. At first, I thought this meant wide STATE (abbr.), and tried TEX
62. Coco Gauff's org.: WTA. Short for, Women's Tennis Association
And once again, the blog has come to an end ... please offer any comments below ...
Thanks Robin! I know you'll pay us a visit ...
44 comments:
As far as I could tell, there wasn’t much of a theme this time, yet at the same time you couldn’t really call this puzzle “themeless.” And while the various themed entries were clever take-offs on well-known phrases, I found the entire effort rather underwhelming. Nevertheless, I didn’t have any great difficulty solving this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Oh, (darn!) Upon reading C-Moe’s review, I “see” the theme now, It’s all about “expletives,” apparently. A little more clever than I thought, but I still stick with my original critique of “underwhelming.” Subgenius out!
Good morning!
Got all the punny exclamations -- cute, Robin. Did that RANCHER raise Stears? This one seemed a little easy for a Friday. The difficulty progression seems to be a thing of the past. No problems encountered; no Wite-Out required. Enjoyed your view on things, C-Moe.
CAIN: Folks around here often post yard signs promoting their kids: "Student of the Week," etc. I was surprised to see one for a CAIN. Thought it had gone the way of Adolph.
FIW, missing my personal Natick @ dAN x AdORAKS. Erased erica for ERICH, kilo for SONO, and had to fix RANCHEs (read the danged clue, Jinx!)
Today is:
NATIONAL DO A GROUCH A FAVOR DAY (I await my offers)
NATIONAL CAREGIVERS DAY (The 36 Hour Day has been a great help to me in dealing with my DW’s dementia)
NATIONAL NO ONE EATS ALONE DAY (I used to eat enough for two, but this day is geared to high school students, when I was skin and bones)
NATIONAL TARTAR SAUCE DAY (love a little tarter sauce with my vinegar-soaked fish and chips)
Dean CAIN probably limited his opportunities by not falling into step with the Hollywood in crowd. But hey - he made it to the LAT crossword, and he was, after all, Superman. (Yes, Moe, I see what you did with Teri.)
I always get Brian Setzer confused with Brian Stelter, the stout guy who wasn't even good enough for CNN.
I got NEA, but thought it was National Endowment of (or for) the Arts that funded expos.
I've been in PENN, but didn't realize I was under MSG.
Thanks, Robin, for the fun workout that I was almost able to ace. And thanks to our Chairman for another chuckle worthy review, and for showing your range by giving us the pome.
Much of "The Gilded Age" exteriors were shot in IM's downtown of Troy, NY, as well as Cohoes, Albany, and places in the Hudson Valley.
"The old soft-shoe" is from stage musical numbers, without wearing leather-soled shoes without taps.
Didn't know the Jordan flowed 'into" Galilee as well as out of it.
Good morning. It was a fast fill for a Friday offering, only having to use perps for the proper names. CAIN, IRA Flatow, ARON Ralston, NAN Goldin, END GAME, and T-STRAP. MUON and BOCELLI were guesses. I noticed the alternate spellings at PHEW. Whew, I'm glad it's crosswords because that's the only place I've seen PHEW.
There was a TV show named TIC-TAC-DOUGH back in the 50's. D'OH!
Speaking of ARON, we are leaving this morning to travel for a funeral, staying in a hotel in the town of Tupelo, MS, birthplace of a more famous ARON, Elvis Aron Presley.
Gram & SONO- lots of grams, just wait for perps
FIW. Tough puzzle but typical for a Friday. Got the theme early on with quite a phew. Got stumped on tic tac doh when I wrote down wee instead of hee. IMHO, the clue for hee seems wrong. How is hee a happy sound? Originally had tic tac doe but eee seemed so wrong. And dow made no sense.
Oh well, on to Saturday!
Good Morning:
I had no trouble with the solve itself, but there were several entries that needed perps: Muon, Ira, Swing, Nan, End Game, and Aron. In addition to these, I stumbled over Sable/Stoat, Sends/Ships, and, like Moe, Oboe/Clef. I didn't consider these to be mild expletives, just homophonic, word play expressions, but Moe's explanation offers a tighter connection of the themers. I still haven't gotten used to the absence of the Friday head scratchers, especially Jeffrey Wechsler's signature stumpers.
Thanks, Robin, and thanks, Moe, for a delightful summary, filled with fun and facts, wit and wisdom! I'll be walking on air all day thanks to the "autographed " photo of the one and only Cary Grant! Favorite Moe-ku was the one for Jai Alai and the runner up the one for Tarts.
FLN
Belated welcome to Arizona Jim.
Thanks, Billy Ouska, for dropping by and sharing your thoughts.
Have a great day.
billocohoes @ 8:01 ~ Thanks for mentioning The Gilded Age. I so enjoyed watching that series and am anxiously awaiting the second season to be available on Netflix or Amazon Prime. It was fun to see so many scenes of familiar landmarks in downtown Troy and other easily recognizable locations. Several interior scenes were filmed in my sister-in-law's brother's brownstone. π
Took 15:49 to finish today, without having to exclaim any expletives.
I agree: with SubG about being "underwhelmed"; with KS about hee/wee (I originally had "wee" too); and, with Ms. Irish Miss's waxing nostalgically about Friday's of yore.
I didn't know many of today's many names: Erich, Cain, Bocelli, Nan, Kemp, NEA, & WTA.
HEE HAW! I FIR more quickly than most Fridays. I guessed the theme with PHEW and confirmed it with BORDER GOLLY.
Thanks for the lively expo, Moe. I especially liked Bachelor of Tarts.
My 87 YO sister still calls them sneaks. Even way back in my youth I called them sneakers.
Jinx, I am thinking of you with your long care giver days. My mom had dementia, too. Besides all the care giving, it must be heart rending to see the slow disappearance of the personality of the one you love.
OOPS, library committee meeting now. TTYL.
Amazingly enough I managed a FIR in 13:39, besting Anon SS’s time for only the second time that I remember, not that it’s a contest or anything, but he sets the bar high as far as fast solving goes π€£. Kind perps and few WAGs helped with the unknowns. I do remember that on Wednesday C-Moe had a spoiler alert saying that at least two words from that days grid would appear today, and that certainly helped with T STRAPS as I had no idea what Mary Janes were. As billocohoes stated, I also thought old soft shoe referenced dance as in Mr. Bojangles “silver hair and ragged shirt and baggy pants, the old soft shoe”. Anybody singing that line? π. Coincidentally, just after finishing the puzzle a story about the tragic life of country music singer Mindy McCready came across my FB feed, she was once married to Dean CAIN. IM ☘️ ~ I also miss seeing the bylines of Jeff W and Stella Z, are they on some kind of sabbatical from constructing?
Thank you Robin for the Friday treat, and C-Moe for explaining it all, always enjoy your Moe-ku’s and todays Moe-em.
The southwest was last to fall. Hung on to mails until I finally realized UPS SHIPS stuff. Otherwise an easier than average Friday with a clever theme to π₯Ύ
“Peel” pare?, zest?, skin? Nope, RIND.
…. “Still in the box.” (Pre-popped Jack?)
Almost put Ethan Fromm. Was thinking of the Edith Wharton novel “Ethan Frome”. Haven’t seen our furry STOAT friend in a while. Feared he might have become part of a “brown ermine” jacket! π§₯.
Didn’t we just have TSTRAPS?…. And does the CLEF actually set the “pitch”?
Γ GO GO, c’est franΓ§ais for “galore” so “Whisky Galore”…….WAS? I guess I wuz spelling it wrong π. Coco Gauff??…Thought the “equestrian’s exclamation” would involve Paul Revere yelling π. Liked “Major stockholder” but was looking for a corral or pen like answer. Our old sloppy friend styway too short. Never quite understood what makes an AVEnue. In NYC they run perpendicular to streets but in our city they don’t seem distinctive from our streets
I can wait. I ____ no hurry…..AMINO
Devoured….. EDEN
What the year stamped on a nickel provides….. COINAGE
C. Moe..I was gonna add Superman, Batman, or Zorro types … CAPER
but liked “cape her” better π
Been snowing hard. Schools closed for the first time this season.
❄️❄️❄️
YooperPhil, congratulations on an excellent time this morning. You definitely bested me.
I appreciate your nice sentiment.
For the record, I wouldn't elevate Stella Z as being in the same group with Jeff W. - he's the one who sets the bar high. I believe she's admitted to being more of a "look it up" type, which is not my preference.
Fab Friday. Thanks for the fun, Robin and CMoe.
I thought I FIRed, but arrived here to see that I left Pats for my caresses and did not edit to get AVE. I was wondering which state was abbreviated AVA. D’uh!
But I did get all the themers - eventually. OLD SOFT SHOO (yes the dance) was the last to fall, as I had Woosh instead of SLOSH and could not remember NEA (Canadian disadvantage).
Plenty of unknown-to-me names and more Canadian disadvantage but perps were fair.
I had to adjust the C and L count to make BOCELLI fit.
SLOSH and SPLAT - great onomatopoeia! BUNGLES makes me smile too.
Are we Agog over AGOGO.
Big Easy- Wordle gives you a PHEW if you just get in under the wire with your sixth guess.
Kudos to Jinx and any other caregivers here. Not an easy job. Remember to care for yourself too - think of the example of reaching for your oxygen mask first in an airplane.
Wishing you all a great day.
Soft shoe-dance was changed to soft shoo-quiet dismissal. I actually thought the theme was fun.
I say "phew," not "whew."
My dad was a man of the cloth. One day we were all set to drive off to church when he said he had to go back in the house to get his surplice. My brother said, "Surplus of what, Daddy?" In Lutheranism. traditionally, the surplice is used for non-sacramental services, worn over the cassock, such as morning prayer, Vespers, and Compline without Eucharist.
I longed for Mary Jane shoes when I was a kid, but my parents didn't look very hard to find them. We lived in the sticks. I always had to wear brown oxfords. Ugh! When I was a teen I was allowed white bucks. I was in heaven to be in sync with my friends.
I love shoes. I had many different styles and colors until about ten years ago. I had to give them all away. Now my knees and feet demand flats only.
Anon SS ~ I agree about Jeff W, definitely a master of the cruciverbalist craft!
Fun, fun, fun,,,
Return b/4 regain. (Ant set me straight.)
I had a sussing extravaganza trying to break into the SW corner, anorak covered my eyes...
Whenever I see a Q, I start looking for a pangram. This puzzle kept me up, (because I didn't catch any Z's)
Y, I don't know...
I'll see myself out...
Phew! Much easier than yesterday, despite the obscure names sucking some of the enjoyment out. Perp and WAG fest today. CMoe, however, managed to pump the fun back in!
HEE HEE! I was happy with this puzzle and FIR although some commenters didn't see the glee in HEE. I didn't know CAIN, MUON, SWING, NAN, ARON, or WTA, but perps made my day. Many thanks to Chairman Moe for explaining BORDER GOLLY. D'OH! And thanks to Robin and Patti for the fun.
Hidey-ho, solvers! The inspiration for this grid was the Barenaked Ladies' song "Be My Yoko Ono." Sadly, YOKO OH NO did not make the final cut. My original clue for TALE OF WHOA involved a very young, very adorable Joey Lawrence on the TV show "Blossom." I realize now that editor Patti Varol changed that because the equestrian clue is much more accessible to the younger crowd. As always, she made me look good! And so did blogger "Chairman Moe," which I'm just now realizing is a pun on Chairman Mao. Brilliant!
Greetings! Fun puzzle once I got into it and things started to come together. It took a while to get a foothold in some sections, but once I glommed onto the theme, it was fun all the way. Thanks, Robin!
ESP: MUON, NAN, WTA.
WO: 37D: oboe -> CLEF. Hand up C-Moe! & 45D slip -SKIP
I liked the clever misdirection of RANCHER, 2nd Hand up, C-Moe.
I had the same reaction at NON-FAT, 3rd Hand up, C-Moe.
The Andrea BOCHELLI clip gave me chills – beautiful even though I didn’t understand the lyric.
ABBA music is timeless and always welcome.
I associate Dean CAIN more as Superman.
I loved your recap, C-Moe, and how you continued the silly theme.
Thanks Robin for stopping by and relating changes made. Too bad YOKO OH NO didn't make the cut. π
Pretty easy for a Friday, with interesting puns involving five interjections. TALE OF WHOA seems a likely seed entry, TIC TAC DOH is likeable because of Homer Simpson, and OLD SOFT SHOO seemed innocuous enough. I thought less of QUITE A PHEW because I still refuse to grant “phew” equality with “whew,” and BORDER GOLLY was just too lame.
All five expletives are interjections and are good illustrations of what that part of speech entails. Too many people have corrupted the meaning of “interjection” by using it to mean “injected,” as a comment added to a conversation or an out-and-out interruption. Make ‘em stop!
My biggest quarrel with the fill was the notion that an AVEnue is wide. Although it’s true New York’s avenues are wider than its streets, I’m from a major city whose “streets” have names and whose “avenues” are simply the numbered streets, and I don’t think that’s unusual. I agree with those who felt “oboe” was a better answer for “pitch-setter” than CLEF. Although the Coco Gauff entry was easy for me, I’m not sure non-sports folks should be expected to know who Coco is, much less the nomenclature that gave us WTA. I didn’t have any trouble discerning the Garden/PENN Station answer. Last time I visited New York, I was covering a boxing event at the Garden and staying across the street, so I took a train from JFK and emerged you-know-where.
One of my pet peeves was evident in the answer ATE UP. Must we eat UP, sop (a cheap substitute for “soak”) UP and serve UP foods, no matter how elegant the serving situation? Serve UP cornpone, and leave it at that.
A fun Friday and I always enjoy a Robin Stears offering.
I’m a huge fan of Andre Bocelli.
He lost his sight when a soccer ball hit him in the head at age 12.
But he persevered with his music and when his version of Con te Partiro sends shivers down my back.
Thanks for the fabulous Friday puzzle Robin.
….. kkFlorida
NOTE TO CMOE and HG: I did use the “Highway Patrol” link to watch the episode with the hitchhikers. One of the most distinctive. In another distinctive episode I saw recently, notably fast-talking Broderick Crawford was gathering evidence from a 10-year-old girl who could neither hear nor speak but could read lips. I couldn’t help laughing when Crawford’s Dan Mathews character asked the girl, “Am I talking too fast?”
Puzzling thoughts (2):
YooperPhil @ 9:06 ==> Thanks, buddy ... I have been mentally humming "Mr. Bojangles" for the past two hours! ;^)
Robin Stears @ 11:21 ==> Yes, to the Chairman Moe/Chairman Mao pun, but it took a lot longer for that to emerge in my cyberworld/moniker/avatar evolution. FTR, the "Moe" part originally began as "Moe Vedre" (a pun for Mourvedre - a grape varietal) when I participated in the Wine Spectator (magazine) chat boards 30 years ago. Coincidentally, Moe was also my grandfather's nickname, and I did like The Three Stooges.
Eventually, I met several folks (in person) from the wine chat boards, and I was instrumental in arranging scores of "off-line" wine tasting events - all over the country. My job at the time allowed me to travel, so I took advantage of that by coordinating wine dinners, etc, ahead of my visit. One of my cyber buddies praised me for doing all of the heavy lifting/organizing, and playfully thought up the "Chairman" connection (to Mao), and Moe Vedre was no longer. It was then that I became Chairman Moe
As Paul Harvey would say, "and that's the REST of the story ..."
C-Moe, re: your comment at 5D: a person before I began paying attention, but I remember the movie, "J. Edgar" with Leonardo DiCaprio, an exposΓ© I’m sure would never have happened in his lifetime.
Well, I kept thinking about one of Shakespeare's titles, "Much Ado About Nothing." The "much ado" part was our slogging through a crunchy Friday puzzle full of the usual obscure names, only to come up with nothing; i.e., a bunch of lame puns in the long answers.
Here's an oddity: yesterday's puzzle contained a word that was new to me, t-strap. And--Holy Footwear!--it showed up again today.
I was glad to see Ira Flatow in the puzzle. He hosts NPR's Science Friday, and depending on your time zone, he might be on NPR right now. He makes science accessible and fun.
Today I learned that when there are two diagonal "U"s I should check for a Q.
¯\_(γ)_/¯
YR and C-Eh, thanks for your kind words about caring for my DW. 'Cept if the O2 masks dropped, she would grab mine and claim it as her own:)
Robin, thanks for checking in. There was a lot of talk before the Superbowl that if SF won, Taylor Swift would be labeled "the Yoko of the NFL."
I really like the Phoenix street / avenue design. Streets run north and south, and are numbered starting east of Central (IIRC.) Avenues run north and south, and are numbered starting west of central. Again, IIRC, streets and avenues are about .1 mile apart, so to get from one address to another, you knew which way to go and approximately haw far you had to go. GPS shmeePS.
Hola!
GRRRRR! I just went through an agonizing process having to prove my identity. I may have to quit Google!
I had a nice, appropriate comment ready to post when I got interrupted having to prove myself then being required to change my password! I don't use curse words but I was really tempted.
Anyway, the puzzle. I enjoyed the phun and finished it with very little trouble. Thank you, Robin Stears and Chairman Moe.
If this doesn't post you may have seen the last of me.
Musings
-A fun gimmick although the SW corner was a trial. It was tricky plus I was hip deep in 7th graders…
-In that corner I had to change MAILS to SHIPS, ferret out RIGHT for correctamundo, enter ANORAKS (that I have only seen here) and make a good guess on ENDGAME and KEMP. I really enjoyed the chase.
-More adolescents trundling in!
People thought this was easy?? I may be in the wrong place… OK in fairness I did finish the thing just one letter off (guessed DAN over NAN, same as Jinx), but boy did it take a while.
Hand up for WEE over HEE. Could the clue have been in brackets?: [happy sound]
Thanks for stopping by, Robin (lol @ YOKO OH NO).
And thanks for the welcome, Irish Miss.
Hi All!
Maybe it's just coming out of being sick again but I had real troubles in the south. Anon was right out at 43a.
Thanks Robin for the puzzle (and I do enjoy The Barenaked Ladies!) but, alas, #names. Thanks C.Moe's grid (and Google) for a nudge to finally finish.
Fun theme, Robin. Great expo (with Loony Tunes, how could it not be :-)), C. Moe.
WOs: REturn -> REGAIN (hi CED!), ANGle -> ANGEL (Untie!), Sends -> SHIPS
Fav: seeing MUON & IRA Flatow as I listen to SciFri.
Runner-up: Brian Setzer's Orchestra.
FLN - TTP, if I said I was 4 when I fell in love with RUSH, I lied. I was 11 or 12 - it was their Signals album's Countdown that hooked me #SpaceNerd!
At 4 I was listening to The Beatles, The WHO, Rolling Stones, Motown, Kansas, Chicago - what my parents liked. I got into Zeppelin, YES, KISS when I was 9 and found K-SHE 95 out of STL (stoner Uncle taught me how to hookup Cable to the Stereo to pickup stations further away).
FLN - Monkey: as soon as DW will eat raw oysters again (long story about tossing cookies in Japan after her dinner the night before in Russia), I'll find Jones Creek.
FLN - waseeley: that xword love story vid. was cute. Thx.
Cain as Superman? I thought the Reeves were it?!?
YooperPhil - I had so many thoughts at Mary Janes but shoes wasn't rattlin' around my brain.
Back me up, Jinx :-)
AZJim: Hey, I thought this was hard (& needed Sat-level cheats) too. And I've actually help'd make published puzzles (C.C. does the heavy-lifting / setting)!
C, Eh! Worldle was a Whack-a-Mole today. I got the first three letters out of the gate yet it took me 4 more tries :-(
If you're into more fun word games try NYT's Categories and Letterbox.
//I play #1 against Youngest (beat me today) and #2 against PhD-to-be Eldest (she's got big words and bests me 1/2 the time - little snot).
Cheers, -T
Great job, Robin and Chairman Moe.
Dash T, you didn't lie. Earlier, someone else asked you if you loved Fly By Night when it first came out. I just paraphrased the question, adding what age you would have been at the time.
Back later.
Great job, Robin and Chairman Moe. Thanks again. I liked the fun to start the day, but then it got away from me. It's been a weird day.
Anyway:
Hand up for oboe.
Yes, today's NEA is the National Endowment for the Arts, created in 1965.
The capital G in Garden made PENN obvious with station also in the clue.
The borough of New Galilee, PA was so named because "In 1854 the question was raised as to what to name the village. The citizens, most of them devout Christians, said that, "As the small stream that flows through the village is called Jordan's Run, why not name it New Galilee as Galilee means beyond Jordan".
The Wikipedia article on New Galilee was a fun read for me. I knew the area well.
A minor "future louse" to pick - Isn't a paper clip oblong, rather than oval?
Yes, Chairman Moe, big Steelers fan here. Pretty much everyone was either a Steelers fan or a Browns fan in our area. Except one of my classmates who was a contrarian. He was a Bengals fan. Myron Cohen was responsible for the COINAGE of the Bengals as the Bungles. As you know, Cohen was also responsible for the creation of the "Terrible Towel."
Don't you get a kick out of it when watching Steelers away games and the color commentators or announcers talk about how well the Steelers fans "travel, and they're in abundance in the crowd today" or similar comments? Yeah, well maybe some traveled to the game, but it's more likely they are just part of the diaspora that left the region as the mills and related industries started shuttering down. The economy is much more diversified there now.
Dash T, the best radio station in Youngstown back then was WHOT, and they played a really good mix of 60s pop and rock hits, Motown and 70s pop and rock hits but mostly in a Top 40 format. But the best station was WDVE out of Pittsburgh. They played deep cuts that you just didn't hear on regular radio. Like songs from the Allman Brothers and Emerson Lake and Palmer. And songs that were too long to play on regular radio like In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, as well as playing entire album sides.
It was great for a music fan.
Anon-T, yes, Dean CAIN was Superman on the TV show, Lois & Clark with Teri Hatcher as Lois.1993 - 97
Wasn't there a TV show called Tic Tac Dough?
Another hand up for OBOE before CLEF.
MalMan, I think that you are correct, and it's probably on the crossword favorite channel GSN.
I'm not complaining, but I don't understand. Every time DW watches a pay video on Amazon Prime, I get an email receipt that thanks me for the order, gives me the total, and then subtracts the same amount as Gift Certificate/Card Account. Previously, I'd assumed that the charge would show up on my credit card charges, but it never does.
Any ideas? What gives? If a person is a Prime member, does that mean you get so many free movies "pay" per month? The movie she rented tonight wasn't categorized as "Free for Prime Members" so I wonder why this is going on. Not that I am complaining, mind you. :>)
SHB, "... so many free "pay" movies per month?"
I'm wishing you all a good night now; I'm not looking forward to tussling with Google tomorrow, though. I'll hope for the best.
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