CHARGE~!
Today's
theme and reveal totaled 60 squares - I don't have the comparison
software, but I think that's a pretty high count. I suppose this was a
"typical" Wednesday-level puzzle, but once again, it felt like there were
way too many proper names - this is becoming the "Universal Solving Bane"
of many LA Times crosswords these days; call it the 'theme' that
'carries over' via 'flash drive' from puzzle to puzzle - but your
experience may vary. OK, I'm done ranting....Since I typically do the
DOWN clues first, the reveal at 67D. gave away the theme - when I looked
back at my partially filled grid, U, S, & B had already filled in
at 24 Across via perps, and therefore verified the "connection". Ta-DA~!
17. Place that takes care of bad Apples: GENIUS BAR
- I have had several disappointing experiences with Apple products in
the past, so in my world they're all "bad" Apples; I am 22D.
24. Agency that conducts a decennial count: CENSUS BUREAU - I have changed states since the last census
40. No joke: SERIOUS BUSINESS
52. Congressional economic boost: STIMULUS BILL
66. Top-quality meat: ANGUS BEEF
67. Connection port, and the connections found in 17-, 24-, 40-, 52-, and 66-Across: USB - Short for Universal Serial Bus - the Wiki
And A Name We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Crowd-sourced review site: YELP
5. "Or __ what?": ELSE
9. Tennis star Naomi: OSAKA - considering the number of names (
this is #1) in the grid, could we not have made this clue "Japanese
city"~? Crossing ARRAU is just cruel, as I had to WAG the last "A"
14. See 62-Down: see 62-Down
15. Capital of Qatar: DOHA - I knew this name only because I do crossword puzzles (#2)
16. Henry VIII's house: TUDOR - I happen to like the "style"
of Tudor homes, tho there's an argument that it's not actually a
"style" - more of a conglomerate of English building details - I plan to
do the front of my home in this "style" - and yes, people, I
recognize "house" means 'ruling family' here....
Henry the Eighths actual residence
19. Asparagus piece: SPEAR
20. Treats wrinkles: IRONS
 |
| Oh, not that kind of iron.... |
21. Upscale hotel chain: OMNI - been a popular fill lately
23. 47-Across, in Spanish: ELLA - meh. Not only circumreferential, but a "foreign" word as well; crossing a name I had never heard of = Natick
27. Contemporary of Julius Caesar: CICERO - Name #3
30. "Singin' in the Rain" studio: MGM - I had the first "M"
31. Hubbub: ADO
32. Like paper clips: BENT - uh, well, yeah, I guess they are, in fact, bent....
36. Hawaii's sixth-largest island: LANAI - I've never been to Hawaii, and I didn't pay enough attention while watching Hawaii Five-O to recall which is "Number six" on the largest island list....name #4
And I forget the "Big Island" is named "Hawai'i", too
44. NORAD tracking target: SANTA - target~? Someone at NORAD is gonna end up on the 'naughty' list....
45. Cab: TAXI
46. Chowed down: ATE
47. Personal pronoun: SHE
49. Raucous bird: MAGPIE
58. NPR's Totenberg: NINA - #5
59. "Thinking about it": "I MAY..."
60. Word with dots or bands: POLKA
64. Radiology study: IMAGE
68. Jeans fabric: DENIM
69. Award-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust: MAUS - name #6, filled via perps, and a WAG at the "A" - I was going to link the Wiki, but it seemed to graphic for the blog
70. Firmly declare: AVER - I had the "R", so it was not AVOW
71. C-suite types: EXECS
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/C-suite-3c5f3b64ddca43fe8b3e20b6fd4f184d.jpg){kind=link}
72. Metrical foot: IAMB - the poetic "beat"
73. Stitch's buddy: LILO - Disney movie I have not seen; name #7
DOWN:
1. Jellystone Park bear: YOGI - "smarter than your AVERage bear", name #8
2. Of all time: EVER
3. Fallon predecessor: LENO - The Tonight Show hosts; #9
4. Paisley Park Records founder: PRINCE - The "artist formerly known as Name Number 10"
5. Mag honchos: EDs - editors of magazines
6. University of New Mexico athletes: LOBOS - filled via perps
7. Former SeaWorld headliner: SHAMU - name #11 - I didn't know the history of the show animal
8. Comes by honestly: EARNS
9. Tense sports periods, for short: OTs - overtime, plural.
10. Character who debuted in Action Comics #1: SUPERMAN - this was my guess, but I waited on perps, and, technically, a name
11. Singer known for numerically titled albums: ADELE - and numerically name no. 12
12. __ bear: KOALA
13. Chilean pianist Claudio: ARRAU - Yeah, not much you can do with the "U" at the end of CENSUS BUREAU, so this was a necessary evil - still, name #13
18. __-friendly: USER
22. "Big Blue": IBM - The "anti" Apple - the Personal Computer (PC); or would it be the "Orange~?"
25. Asian fusion chain: NOBU - Never heard of this; it would appear that the closest locations to me are both in NYC - and, technically, a name
26. Jamaican tangelo: UGLI - semi-orange~?
27. Mama of pop: CASS - a name ( #double-digits ) that I did know
28. Notion: IDEA
29. Biofuel source: CORN - You can tell when someone has converted their car to biofuel, because the exhaust usually smells like fast food fries
33. Guessed-at fig.: ESTimate
34. Thunder's org.: NBA - Oklahoma City's National Basketball Association team
35. Gala garb: TUX
37. Tide type: NEAP
38. Province bordering Turin: ASTI - geographic name #, uh...
39. "Makes sense": "I SEE."
41. Cheeky comeback to "How did you do that?": "IT'S MAGIC"
42. Hawaii's third-largest island: OAHU - I found this fascinating reference image of my home state - and - geographic name blah blah blah
43. California's __ Valley: SIMI - geographic - OK, I've lost count of the names....
48. Yalie: ELI - from doing crosswords
50. Range in Europe: ALPS - another geographic na... - oh, never mind
51. Part of GPS: GLOBAL - the other two thirds being "Positioning System"
52. Dripping with sarcasm: SNIDE - like calling a person with 'weight issues' "Shamu" - Brendan Fraser starred in the 2022 film "The Whale" - the trailer
53. Ironman Triathlon watchmaker: TIMEX
54. Silly: INANE - too many clues in name / is just inane meh.
55. Fifth flavor: UMAMI - from crosswords
56. Largest city in Yemen: SANAA - only because I do crosswords; name #291,971, I think
57. "For dang sure!": "BY GUM~!" - I have been reading Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, and this is a standard phrase from the books
61. Big name in 68-Across: LEVI - namenamename
62. With 14-Across, collapse: KEEL - and - 14A. See 62-Down: OVER - I'm about to KEEL OVER from the number of names in this grid
63. Curly coif: AFRO
65. Ambulance letters: EMS
Splynter
After I finished the puzzle and got the reveal, I went back and saw all the “USB’s.” Also, I wasn’t sure how to spell the name of the pianist, but knew the perp had to be “elle” or “ella” (it certainly couldn’t be “ello” which was my first guess) and my WAG turned out to be correct the first time, which was good. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteRemembered ARRAU from previous cw encounters. No problem. But NOBU sounds like something YOGI would say. Problem. Otherwise, this one came together quickly. Kudos to Alan, Doug, and Splynter. (Always enjoy your take on things. Was surprised you didn't recognize Mama Cass of the Mamas and the Papas. Before your time, I guess.)
BY GUM: I have a distinct memory (perhaps faulty) of a Walter Brennan western. I think he played a judge or maybe a sheriff. His favorite expression was "By Gob." I can't find any reference to it. Does anyone here remember?
I think it was "By Golly", DO.
DeleteThe character was Judge Roy Bean.
DeleteFIR, but erased usda prime for ANGUS BEEF, nana for CASS, coal for CORN (hey, ain't dead vegetation a biofuel?) maui for OAHU, and perm for AFRO.
ReplyDeleteToday is:
NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY (declared by Ronald Reagan)
NATIONAL PERIODIC TABLE DAY (I won’t make an obvious menstrual joke about the previous Day)
NATIONAL FETTUCCINE ALFREDO DAY (love it, but creamy dishes don’t love me back)
I shudder whenever I realize that a fill needs the word BUREAU. You could give me a spelling test on that single word, give me three days to study for it, and I would still be sweating bullets when I sat for the exam. (I would also forget how to spell it two days later.)
I think I know CICERO. IIRC, he lives near Chicago.
Yeah, I think we've had C-suite before, but still don't remember what it means. We called that area "Mahogany Row."
I couldn't figure out how to enter EMS in mirror-image letters. That's how our ambuli are labeled.
Thanks to Alan and Doug for the Wednesday challenge, and to Splynter for laying it all out for us.
I forgot-I knew NOBU because Howard Stern and his sidekicks were always talking about eating there, and their pal Richie Notar who had some kind of connection to it.
ReplyDeleteAlso BY GUM evoked one of my favorite drinking songs, Rum BY GUM, famously covered by The Chad Mitchell Trio:
Away, away with rum, BY GUM
Rum, by gum, rum, BY GUM
Away, away with rum, BY GUM
The song of the Temperance Union
This was a mainstay at the (now defunct, I think) San Fernando Valley Yacht Club Christmas parties (and other events on an ad hoc basis.)
Learning moment: Thought long and hard, and still could only come up with six Hawaiian islands. Even seeing the names of #7 and #8 in Splynter's chart, I still didn't recognize 'em.
ReplyDeleteFIR. Arrau, Nobu, and Maus were unknown to me. The perps solved two of them and a WAG at Maus solved that one.
ReplyDeleteThe theme answers came easily for me, but I didn't see the connection until the reveal. And them my aha moment.
Typical mid week puzzle and fun to do.
D-O, if Walter Brennan was a judge it was probably as Judge Roy Bean in "The Westerner" (1940) with Gary Cooper.
ReplyDeleteThe three names in the northeast were two too many
12 Down. Actually a Koala is not a bear. It doesn't meet the koalafications.
ReplyDeleteAs Splynter wrote, it was a typical Wed-level puzzle. Just a few unknowns solved using perps. Didn't notice the USB until filled by the reveal. Had to guess the A for the cross of ELLA & ARRAU. NOBU- all perps for that unknown. KS's unknowns were also my unknowns.
ReplyDeleteAVER or AVOW- you never know without a perp
CORN & Biofuel-fast food fries" exhaust has to smell better than diesel.
TIMEX because they don't wear a heavy ROLEX. "Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'". I buy Foster Grant's Ironman Triathlon sunglasses from Wal-Mart for $15-20. Keep them in each car and one on my bicycle.
Wear a watch? Why bother. Don't need it.
Took 5:51 today for me to focUS Better.
ReplyDeleteI concur with the others. There are too many names in this crossname puzzle.
"Sanaa" crossing "Maus" wasn't nice, and yet, without further ado, February's leading candidate for worst clue of the month is "Chilean pianist Claudio".
DNF, I had only two more clues to go when I was interrupted. I forgot I needed them and came to the blog without finishing, even though I have heard all the names in the NE. "I coulda been a contender."(Marlin Brando)
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't follow Adele, she is often in the news. Henry VIII was a Tudor king. I hear ARRAU is on NPR when I listen to the car radio. OSAKA was the hardest to remember.
The reveal seemed meh, valid, but meager.
MAUS filled itself in, thank goodness.
NOBU was ESP, but seeing it rang a bell.
M&Ms had a few red ones in the mix when I was in college. We called them passion pills. The rest is TMI.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteUsually, proper names/places don't bother me unless they are totally unknown and are overused. In today's offering, the former was not the case, but the latter certainly was and Splynter's count was kind because he missed several that would qualify as always being capitalized. 51D Global could have been the theme with Osaka, Doha, Lanai, Oahu, Sanaa, Alps, Simi, and Asti. The USB reveal was a complete surprise as I never made any connection with those letters while solving because I was trying to find a commonality with the second word in each theme beginning with B: Bar, Bureau, Business, Bill, and Beef. Other than the difficult Ella/Arrau* crossing, it was an enjoyable solve. *Cluing Ella as Fitzgerald would have been a more likely Wednesday level clue, rather than a Saturday level, especially with the cross of the equally unknown Arrau. My favorite C/A was Mama of pop=Cass.
Thanks, Alan and Doug, and thanks, Splynter, for the grand tour. Your pinch-hitting efforts are very much appreciated.
Have a great day.
I don't believe I have ever seen so many proper names in one puzzle. Please correct me if I am wrong. I got the unifier with no issues. The cross of Sanaa and Maus threw me also Osaka and Arrau.
ReplyDeleteGood morning.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alan Massengill & Doug Peterson. Thank you, Splynter.
Nice theme, and clever hiding. What, no gratitude for NOT having circles?
Didn't see some clues and answers along the way. I don't like it when that happens. You never know when your going to get a variant of one or the other in a future crossword. Of course, the reviews always provide the fallback. For instance, I didn't know that OMNI and NOBU were in today's puzzle until reading the review.
Splynter, I love me some AC/DC. And your 4D comment was very clever. Especially that it landed in sequence for name number 10.
Desper-otto, it is "by gobs." billocohoes is correct. The Westerners. Brennan as Judge Roy Bean. I searched the script. He said "by gobs" at least 14 times.
FLN: "I recall that Desper-otto commented in this blog many years ago about the margarine laws in Wisconsin. His comment was where I first heard of the Wisconsin laws..." Found it: D-O's Aug 19th, 2015 Comment
ReplyDeleteNot bad for a humpday but I always get hung up on the word IAMBS, a frequent visitor, plus didn’t know MAUS but ironically the “Yemeni capital” saved the day.
Some don’t like circles. I don’t mind them. What I find less enjoyable is clue-jumping from one part of the puzzle to another. How is it possible in the nanosecond I hop to the clue where I have been directed I forget the original clue 🙄
Thought the “connecting node” was SB then noticed the U. Probably calling it a port would have made it too obvious.
Inkovers : polar/KOALA (ain’t a bear, good one Tony “koalifications” 😆), snark/SNIDE, Lees/LEVI, coal/CORN (thunk the same as Jinx), UMAMe/UMAMI
Almost put cidermill for “bad apple place” 🍎. Is a GENIUS BAR where tech geeks hang out? Didn’t know NOBU and will forget it the next time it’s clued. I posit that foreign words shouldn’t be used if there’s an alternative, ELLA (Fitzgerald maybe?)…Bad 70’s joke based on a myth “If only Mama Cass had given that ham sandwich to Karen Carpenter”
We had a POLKA band play at our wedding “The Warsaw Express” 🇵🇱
Elizabethan garage….TUDOR
Island famous for its porches….LANAI
“Owie!” for example…..YELP
“Restrooms for customers only, so you’ll at least have to“_____ ……BYGUM
Splynt. All CW authors do an amazing job but IMHO: In yesteryear when a constructor was backed into a corner, stuck with a weird set of letters they would need to rework a whole section of the puzzle. Now it’s just a matter of checking with Siri/Alexa or Google or a data base to come up with a matching clue, frequently, inevitably an obscure Proper Name or abbreviation likely they themselves never heard of.
Another snowless sunny February day 35 🏝️🦩🏖️
Good Morning! Overall smooth sailing in the puzzle today. Thanks, Alan & Doug.
ReplyDeleteGrrr. I had another one of those WARNING – YOUR COMPUTER HAS BEEN LOCKED scams while linking to the AC/DC song. My screen is really locked when it appears. I had to shut my computer down, even just holding the power button ‘til off did not work. It popped right back up again. It finally went away when I closed the screen 🤞.
I held off on 27D – Mama of pop. I waited to see if it might be Gran or Nana. Nope. One of my favorite singers, CASS Elliot.
WO: Rolex for TIMEX.
Perps helped to complete PRINCE, LOBOS, SUPERMAN (as clued) and NBA.
ESP: NOBU
An “A” or “E” Natick at ARRAU crossing ELLA, not a Wednesday friendly name or clue.
Splynter, I seemed to be on your wavelength today. I had had a lot of your same thoughts while reading your recap. Thanks for bringing it all together.
RosE, I am assuming that you are running a Windows based computer.
ReplyDeleteDownload and run the Microsoft Security Scanner:
Microsoft Security Scanner
Today's puzzle was another romp to FIR. I am surprised by Splynter's review. Are you really upset by place names? ALPS for "range in Europe" is hardly obscure! I didn't know the Chilean pianist, but had no problem relying on perps to complete that corner. And for the chorus of voices unfamiliar with Maus, you have some good reading ahead of you. Even if you don't pick up the book, it's significant enough to have heard of it.
ReplyDeleteTTP, thanx for confirming that my dementia is not so far advanced as I'd feared. Thanx, too, to billocohoes and Lee.
ReplyDeleteNaomiZ, the perps for the Chilean pianist included: a Japanese tennis player (with your name), an English king's house, and some Spanish word that had to be derived from yet another clue. Those answers intersected with two other names: a comic book character and a singer.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you had no problem (and I knew Superman and Adele, well, not personally), but I prefer to see less proper names in a puzzle, or at least more space between them.
But, to meld and misquote SubG and TTP: There's no circles, so I'm happy.
Enjoyed the puzzle and the review but must confess I did not know what a USB was, but I did see it in the answers.
ReplyDeleteMiss Irish, I also looked for a connection to the 5 B’s, and not knowing USB, I was thinking U.S. Beef, U.S. Bill, etc. Dear me!
Doris Day had a major hit with “ITS MAGIC”, a memorable song by Jules Styne and Sammy Cohn. I would post it here but I don’t know how. A look back at a beautifully written tune, the lyrics made sense, and the vocalist could really sing.
Happy day, all!
Wired Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Alan and Doug, and Splynter.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time, and saw the USB theme. Actually, I was seeing the repeated B, got to the reveal and went back to fill in some U’s and S’s.
There were some unknown-to-me names (MAUS, NINA, NOBU, ARRAU) but perps were friendly.
I am not familiar with the C-suite expression, but EXECS perped.
I changed Fall to KEEL, Coal to CORN (bio-d’uh!).
Did we all wait to let perps decide between Avow and AVER?
CSO to Ray-o with IMAGE.
Wishing you all a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-USB stood out but I only saw SUB (I wonder why) or BUS. Sorry, Gary, we have some lovely parting gifts for you
-Hubris made us think SHAMUS could be tamed
-I was surprised to learn today that YOGI Bear’s mannerisms were based on Art Carney’s Ed Norton character not Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden.
-We only use the GENIUS BAR when buying yet another Apple product.
-ARR_U/ELL_ succumbed to a lucky spin of the vowel wheel.
-Yesterday, I saw my first robin and geese flying north. I’m going to clean my IRONS today.
--I’d bet you have used an UNBENT paper clip like this
-No wine misdirection on “Cab” today
-POLKA bands were a big part of my Bohemian mother-in-law’s life
-Nebraska ethanol plants annually convert over 700,000,000 bushels of CORN to fuel
-Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of Henry VIII’s father Henry VII
Hola!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good day when I can finish a puzzle with few or no problems. Yea! It did not take a GENIUS for this one. Thank you, Alan Masengill & Doug Peterson. And thank you, Splynter, for unraveling it.
Los LOBOS is also a musical group which we have seen in the past. Also, a CSO to my late cousin, Ralph, who was an alumnus of New Mexico U.
Claudio ARRAU has appeared in puzzles before.
Our local ASIAN-FUSION restaurant closed because the owner wanted excessively more for rent and now it is sitting idle. It has been closed for about a year. It's a case of cutting off his nose to spite his face, IMO.
I have been to the major Hawaiian Islands but not to LANAI.
The NINA I once knew moved to Nome, Alaska.
CSO to my niece, CASSandra. Aka, Cassie.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Thank you Alan and Doug for this puzzle. Loved the theme -- as someone who spent a lot of time futzing around with RS-232 serial and Parallel printer ports I think USB ("Universal Serial Bus") ports are a stroke of GENIUS! Including them in a puzzle "connecting" words in 4 theme fills is also a stroke of GENIUS! And IT'S MAGIC -- all done WITHOUT circles!
ReplyDeleteThanks splynter for an illuminating review.
Just a few favs:
58A NINA. NINA (LONG I -- rhymes with CAROLINA) is a CSO to our inanehiker.
64A IMAGE. A CSO to Ray - O.
13D ARRAU. Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata No. 14 is named for its first movement suggesting the streaming of tranquil rays of "moonlight". Here Claudio ARRAU plays the 3rd movement, which suggests the streaming of COSMIC RAYS.
54D INANE. Also a CSO to our INANEHIKER (BOTH I's LONG -- rhyme with CAROLINA). Score two for you NINA!
Cheers,
Bill
Missed the "Sanaa/Maus" block with an "I", otherwise not problems. Not a bad puzzle "by gum".
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun and fast Wednesday with the USB theme - my laptop used to have a USB port but now they rely on the cloud and other methods to pass on data. I was surprised that my last phone didn't have a plug-in for headphones - now they only use Blue tooth and those earbud thing-eys. Fortunately I have very tech-y kids who can usually explain things with a barely suppressed eye roll. @Ray-O - GENUIS BAR is the name of the Apple retail stores where you can buy Apple products or actually go in and talk to a real person about issues or questions you have about your Apple phone or computer. I don't have one near me, but there is one in KC about a mile from where my mom lives.
ReplyDeleteI love geography so DOHA and SANAA were gimmes - plus my BFF lived in DOHA, Qatar for 5 years when her husband was posted there with Chevron.
Naomi OSAKA is one of the top players in women's tennis - interesting background her mom is Japanese and her dad is Haitian. She was born in Japan and took her mom's name as a last name which is tradition there when only one parent is Japanese. But at age 3, they moved to the US and her dad trained and coached her in tennis after learning of the Williams sisters father coaching them. She has dual citizenship, but decided to play for Japan to honor her mother's family and her country of origin.
When my aunt & uncle moved to Hawaii in the 60s, LANAI was just one big Dole Pineapple farm- but now you can actually go there to a resort if you want a quieter experience than the other islands.
PRINCE's estate in Minneapolis is also called Paisley Park- when I was up there (before I knew CC & Boomer) visiting a friend we drove by it- very modern, all white buildings lit in his signature purple - now that he has died it was turned into a museum you can visit
https://www.paisleypark.com/about
ASTI is popular crosswordese usually clued as a wine area or with spumante
SIMI Valley is where the Reagan presidential library is and where the Reagans are buried.
The numbers in ADELE albums are the age she was when they came out: 19,21,25,30. Love her mezzo soprano voice and her songwriting.
I like to listen to NPR classical music so Claudio ARRAU's wonderful piano renditions are amazing. I have very eclectic music tastes, but they don't stretch to -T's favorite Rush.
I have a black hole of cultural exposure during my med school/residency years - if I was free I was usually asleep ;)
My go-to watch for many years was the women's version of the TIMEX Ironman triathalon watch.
Thank Splynter for sub-blogging and for Alan & Doug for the puzzle!
Gosh, we’ve had Claudio Arrau a bunch of times. If folks would take a minute and Google these recurring name clues they would be amazed at who these people are-to the point of remembering them!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bill - we must have been typing at the same time!
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan & Doug for the circleless USB puzzle. I notice you didn't specify spec USB-A, -B, or -C connectors ;-)
Great expo, Splynter. I LOL'd at "formally known as Name Number #10."
WO: TUtOR
ESP: OSOKA | ARRAU | BUREAU spelling; NOBU, SANAA
Fav: BY GUM is fun.
DW's PhD studies include a Graphic Novels Class (she's reading comic books while I'm toiling in the computer lab?!?). Maus was part of the curriculum. I read it too. Heavy. Good, but heavy.
Jinx: I've not heard Mahogany Row in ages.
LOL koalafications, Tony Express.
Parsan - here's your Doris Day's It's Magic. However, I was thinking Pilot's IT'S MAGIC at the fill.
HG - I have a CD-Ejection Tool story for later (time permitting). Spoiler: we got bratty on the helpdesk ;-)
Cheers, -T
Tony Express Hand up KOALA BEAR is just wrong and you "Expressed" it perfectly!
ReplyDeleteFun theme despite the crossed proper names. FIR.
Splynter Glad to have you back when I see your illustrations like for POLKA. Speaking of which...
Here was a highlight of a show called IT'S MAGIC I saw in 2012.
AnonT I also thought of the Pilot song IT'S MAGIC. A delightful upbeat song of my youth.
From Yesterday:
Prof M I was trying to stay away from politics with McCain in HANOI. Just setting the record straight about that monument and the mutual feelings between him and Vietnam.
Jayce Thanks for the kind words about my ENCHILADA revelation. Not sure what prompted me to look it up. A learning moment for me, too.
AnonT Thanks! I am curious exactly what you meant, though. You were on that Sky Star FERRIS WHEEL in Golden Gate Park?
TTP, Thank you so much for the Microsoft Safety Scan info. I wasn't sure whether to pick the 32-bit or the 64-bit, but I went with 64. It took about an hour. First it said there were 7 compromised files, but then it came back that all was good, so that's a relief.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got my new laptop my computer guy hooked me up with Carbonite, but I don't know what they've ever done. I like Defender better. So, thank you again.
I usually dread proper names, but in spite of this CW including so many, as has been noted, I had no problems with them probably because I knew them all, including MAUS, so I FIR.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the theme once I saw the USBs.
I imagine the old rule of MAY meaning giving permission, and might, indicating probability doesn’t exist anymore.
Thank you Splynter for a fine recap.
How many times has Arrau appeared in the LA Times Crossword?
ReplyDeleteFrom yesterday: No, sumdaze, I did not hear that the Whole Enchilada restaurant in Moss Landing is closing. Sorry to hear that and the reason for it.
ReplyDeleteI smiled at the crossing of INANE and NINA.
So, YELP is "crowd-sourced", eh? I didn't know that. Our son says he doesn't trust any of the reviews there. I only give credence to the 4 and 3-star reviews.
Our dental hygienist's "go to" summer vacation place is KAUAI. Apparently Mark Zuckerberg bought up a huge chunk of it, including most of the beach they used to go to.
Yep, hand up for letting the perps determine whether it's AVER or AVOW.
I, too, have run that Microsoft Safety Scan (MSERT) and it would tally up 6 or 7 "infected" files and then, at the end, claim that no infected files were found. If I would run it again right away it might find a different number of "infected" files, yet still claim on the final screen that no infected files were found. I have not been able to find any explanation for that. So, should I believe it? Should I trust it? My answer is no.
Thanks for the excellent recap, Splynter.
I don’t usually comment on easy puzzles, but I’m glad to see some pushback today against those of you who think there should be no names in crossword puzzles. I’ve said before that some of those names give me a foothold in difficult puzzles. Today’s names were numerous but not difficult, although I needed perps for MAUS and didn’t notice NOBU. I’ll concede that I’m in a minority for knowing ARRAU, but the rest were crossword staples, like DOHA and SANAA. Naomi OSAKA has been in four or five puzzles by now and she’s been one of the biggest U.S. stars since she beat Serena Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open title match. She has won other majors since.
ReplyDeleteThanks AnonT - The song makes me smile. I too remember the other IT’S MAGIC, but I like mine best. To each his own!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Alan and Doug! I didn't notice the USB until the reveal. That's always fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Splynter for delivering despite this puzzle not being his cup of tea. Loved the charge card at the top. If only.... Also, thanks for the interesting HI table.
Others already pointed out the INANE & NINA crossing.
= )
Jayce@3:27. I disregard YELP ratings and comments. I’ve seen criticisms of excellent restaurants we frequent that were mean and unfair.
ReplyDeleteRosE, you're welcome. I'm happy for you that the tool found and removed the culprits.
ReplyDeleteYou'll now want to check your browser's privacy and security setting for "Pop-up windows." Most browsers have the setting turned to Block (or off) by default, so pop-up windows don't occur without you taking an overt action. Your default setting may have been changed by the malware. You'll want to make sure that pop-up windows are not allowed. Look under settings to find it. The Security Scanner may have already corrected the setting for you during the remediation process, but it would be a good idea to check to be certain.
Note that some websites use pop-ups for legitimate reasons. Perhaps a dialog box, a form, or a document is presented in the pop-up window. An online bank I interact with uses pop-up windows. I can't read documents unless I allow the website to open a pop-up window (to display the document.)
So I have given that website "permission" to use a pop-up window. As well to a couple of others. My recommendation would be to block pop-up windows by default, and only give permission to allow them as needed.
Monkey @3:59 PM, we also have seen criticisms of excellent restaurants we frequent that were mean and unfair. Many of those are along the lines of "We showed up on a busy Saturday evening without reservations and had to wait an hour for a table."
ReplyDeleteIt’s Magic..interspecies version
ReplyDelete🐸
A fast FIR, but the plethora of names left me sort of *meh*. Didn't bother to look for the theme until I got to Splynters review, which I enjoyed more than the puzzle. To each his own, YMMV.
ReplyDeleteNobu was a chef making free (excellent) sushi on a cruise ship before he began to open restaurants. Now his tasting menus start at $250. The actor Robert Taylor owned a house on Hanalei Bay in Kauai. Dole pineapple burned their ripe pineapples before selling Lanai to millionaires. Claudio Arrau was an acclaimed classical pianist. My kind of trivia!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous@7:32
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about that trivia! Thank you for posting.
The last comment seems so early for the last of the comments. I wonder if it has anything to do with the return of regular TV programs. It does for me.