Greetings, Cruciverbalists. Anomalous Moderate here with a recap of today's puzzle by Katie Hale. As was the case with the puzzle reviewed by yours truly this past December 29th, Lisa Simpson leads the way to anagram-ville (well, it's kinda close to being an anagram of Margaritaville).
At five places in the grid Katie has a bit of fun by rearranging the initial three or four letters of everyday vocabulary and thereby produces humorous themed answers. After the first few of these were figured out by this solver (not in top-to-bottom order) I thought that the theme would also have an electronics angle (STEM, USB, RCA) but this was not to be.
Here are the five he terms, er themers:
18 Across: Shirts for a coders vs. physicists softball game?: STEM JERSEYS. (New York) METS JERSEYS has been rearranged. A tech reference.
24 Across: Break-even transactions involving vintage TVs and turntables?: RCA WASHES. CAR WASHES RCA was an early brand of TVs and other electronic gear (although I do not recall ever seeing an RCA turntable). A break-even transactions is sometimes referred to as "a wash". Six of one a twenty-fourth of a gross of the other.
38 Across: One issuing tickets to the over-50 crowd?: AARP TROOPER. PARATROOPER If anyone here needs AARP explained please drop me a line.
51 Across: Animated image of an apple falling on Sir Isaac?: GIF NEWTON. FIG NEWTON A popular cookie morphs into an animated illustration of an aha moment in the history of physics. Here, now, a GIF:
59. Lab work focused on data storage devices?: USB CULTURES. SUBCULTURES
This is how all of this appears in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and answers:
So, Cars: Oops, Across:
1. Trailhead posting: MAP. My hiking friends and I used to rely heavily on the USGS contour maps.
4. Courtroom drama on NBC from 1986 to 1994: LA LAW. Today's first TV show reference.
9. Lariat: ROPE. Drop the L from the clue and we could form RIATA.
13. Spring mo.: APR. APRIL. This could have been clued with a credit card interest rate reference.
14. Vague afternoon time: ONE-ISH. Probably not Katie's favorite fill.
16. Multicolored gem: OPAL. We have all seen some so-so posts on blogs but here are some gems: emeralds, sapphires, OPALs, rubies
17. "Gotta __!": JET. New to this solver. "I gotta JET is, apparently, a phrase that means "I have to go (quickly)".
20. Miner concern: ORES. Often found in crossword puzzles but rarely seen pluralized.
22. Water coolers: ICE. The use of the plural in the clue lead to a bit of head scratching but, I guess, ICES would not be not used in this context.
23. Water movers: MAINS. Not the first water conduit that came to mind but the clue is on target.
27. Dead set on: WED TO. Pairing Dead with WED might be perceived as a slippery slope.
29. Tangy red spice: SUMAC. Popular in middle-eastern cuisine.
30. "Jingle Bells" contraction: O'ER.
32. CSNY's "__ House": OUR. It was very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard.
33. Making one's hair stand on end?: TEASING. A clue to be taken literally.
37. Doesn't take well?: ROBS. Don't take this wrongly . . .
40. Mark left by a bumper: DENT. If a plane has a small DENT does that make it an airline fracture?
42. Afternoon rests: SIESTAS.
43. Sprint: RUN. Did the clue jog your memory?
44. Dudes: MEN. By definition.
45. Romance novelist Dare: TESSA. Unknown to this solver although I am aware that Romance Novels exist and I have heard such books referred to as "bodice rippers".
49. Make space on the whiteboard: ERASE. Clued many ways.
55. "__ you a barrel of laughs": AREN'T. See also 63 Across.
57. Nintendo character option: MII. Completely unknown to this solver. Thanks perps. MII is a customize-able avatar used on several Nintendo video game consoles.
58. Artemis org.: NASA. With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. The first manned, excuse me, the first crewed lunar landing is scheduled for 2026.
62. Gov. or sen.: POL. POLitician. We often encounter POLs in our puzzles.
63. Barrel of laughs: RIOT. See also 55 Across.
64. Big-box shop: COSTCO. I was in one just prior to starting to work on this write-up.
65. 68-Across restroom: LOO. We often go there in our puzzles.
66. Drummer Ulrich: LARS. Of Metallica.
67. "Anything Goes" star Merman: ETHEL.
68. U.K. part: ENG. United Kingdom. ENGland
Down:
1. Focuses in college: MAJORS. If marine biology was the right MAJOR for you then your grades were probably above c-level.
2. Brief sketch: APERCU.3. Comms experts: PR TEAM. COMMunicationS experts - Public Relations TEAM
4. Rock's __ Lonely Boys: LOS.
5. Opposition parties: ANTIS. ANTIS is a word not often heard, seen or used.
6. Hanger-on: LEECH. Idiomatically and literally. Ugh.
7. Teegarden of "Friday Night Lights": AIMEE.
8. Financial paper, for short: WSJ. Newspaper. The Wall Street Journal
9. "The Jetsons" maid: ROSIE. That's ROSIE in the back. You know the other names from the theme song. Another TV reference.
10. What love is, per a "Frozen" song: OPEN DOOR.
11. Earnings report: PAY STUB. Of a sort, I suppose, for an individual but not for a company.
12. Lapel edges?: ELS. Lapel begins and ends with the letter L.
15. Take up, in a way: HEM. See also 37 Down.
19. Playful "grr" alternative: RAWR. Used to express anger, flirtation or affection.
21. Try to hit: SWAT AT.
25. Lenovo rival: ACER. DELL and SONY would also have fit the allotted space.
26. Wireless speaker brand: SONOS. Hand up for ANKER.
28. RN workplaces: ORS. Registered Nurse. Operating RoomS.
31. Elton John accomplishment, briefly: EGOT. Emmy Grammy Oscar Tony. Elton John is the most recent person to complete this feat and, of all who have done so (less than twenty people) he was the oldest at "completion".
34. Basilica alcove: APSE. Do you struggle to find domed recesses in cathedrals? There's an APSE for that.
35. Result of angering a wasp, probably: STING. Not the ethnic kind of WASP.
36. Fury: IRE.
37. Taken up, in a way: RE-SEWN. See also 15 Down.
38. University of Michigan city: ANN ARBOR. Go Blue!
39. Spread out at a cocktail party: PATE. Not splayed. An edible spread that might be put out (served).
40. Rap's Dr. __: DRE.
41. "1984" superstate: EURASIA.
44. Maitre d' offering: MENU.46. Paper clip alternative: STAPLE. Alternatively: You shouldn't eat stationery. It might become a dietary STAPLE.
47. "Time to go already?": SO SOON.
48. Like a watch with hands: ANALOG.
50. Factions: SECTS.
52. "You can't stop me": I MUST.
53. Colin of "1917": FIRTH. An actor/motion picture reference.
54. Extended family member: NIECE. In Nice, nièce.
56. "No Scrubs" group: TLC. A music/"girl group" reference.
59. Clickable link: URL. Here's One
60. Little piggy: TOE.
61. Mexican lager: SOL. Aaahhh, a nice cold beer to wrap things up.
________________________________________________________
Notes from C.C.:
Happy
83rd birthday to our sweet Pat (PK on our blog), who's been with our blog for a long time. PK used to be a reporter.
 |
Cake from Dave
|
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteDidn't understand the theme until GIF (FIG) appeared. Tried PRECIS for APERCU. Nope. GOTTA JET -- is that really a thing? After 12 minutes, it was still a DNF. haD TO/WED TO did me in. RAHR and ROSIA made sense to d-o. Thanx, Katie and Mal-Man (Your MAP visual didn't make the trip.)
COSTCO: There's one about 20 miles away, but we've never visited. There's just the two of us. Buying in quantity doesn't match our lifestyle.
SOL: Don't think I've ever seen that brand. Around here we see Corona and Dos Equis.
I have a Tecate chilling.
DeleteNothing but nonsense
ReplyDeleteIt was kind of a drag.
DeleteNeeded an alphabet run to get “RAWR” and “wed to.” And there were other difficulties as well. After solving the puzzle, I went back and saw all the “anagrams.” But I wouldn’t say this puzzle was easy; not at all. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteDNF. Stalled up in CC country, and didn't like the bottom 2/3 enough to toil on the top.
ReplyDeleteToday is:
NATIONAL BAVARIAN CREPES DAY (that would be palatschinke to you)
NATIONAL GOOF OFF DAY (just what we need – a celebration for slackers)
Got that FIG is GIF backwards, but BSU? PRAA? Oh.
FLN - Bill, I wasn't aware that defibrillators were based on pseudoscience. Gotta be a good bar bet in there somewhere.
HBDTY, PK. May you have many more.
Thanks to our MalMan for the fun tour. May you have many pleasant vowel movements.
Off the wall cluing today, but hey, it's Friday.
ReplyDeleteI got the ploy of the game at AARP TROOPER (I often start puzzles in the middle of the grid) so I knew we were changing the arrangement of the first letters, and that definitely helped with understanding the others.
But it wasn't to be.
I also struggled to work out the RAWR and WED TO answers, and in other places in the rest of the puzzle, but I failed a little north and west of there. I first had LEASH for hanger-on. I changed the S to I to make ICE, but never changed the A to another E for LEECH. So I was looking for one last letter and had STA-JERSEYS crossing AI-EE Teegarden. I guessed L which would have been LAST JERSEYS. It was a flip of the coin between L and M which would have given me MAST JERSEYS. Neither made sense for the clue, but by then I'd fought this one long enough.
Also had to guess either U or I at the intersection of MII and FIRTH. Was pretty sure the actor's name was FIRTH, so I went with the I. Had no inkling on MII.
Like MM, and D-O, the phrase Gotta JET is new to me, too.
"We often go there in our puzzles." Too funny, MM, and nice setup for it with "We often encounter POLs in our puzzles" a few lines earlier.
Thank you, Katie and MM.
Wendybird, from yesterday, so you are a niece or cousin of John Records Landecker? His nighttime broadcasts on WLS could be heard in most states and in Canada. We occasionally listened from NE Ohio because a) he was fun and b) it seemed to be an oddity that we could pick up a station that far away.
Took 10:05 today to unscramble this one.
ReplyDeleteDidn't fully catch the theme while solving, but I knew there was some typical-Friday word play involved with the start of the themers.
I somewhat knew the name of one of today's actresses (Ethel), but not the other (Aimee).
I also didn't know today's writer (Tessa), Sol, or "apercu." In fact, I was trying to parse it as something to do with an "aper".
Not a particularly fun puzzle.
FIR, but it was a struggle. But I guess it's Friday so it's to be expected.
ReplyDeleteThere were a ton of proper names and unknowns for me, too many to mention (gotta jet?), but a few WAG's and some perps saved the day.
The theme escaped me till I got Fig Newton, and then the lights came on. Although I tried to make sense of bus cultures till I got here and saw the error of my ways. And I wasn't familiar with stem?
Overall this puzzle was not one of my favorites.
Thanks Katie for a fun Friday FIR, with lotsa' crunchy clues.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks MalMan for your ANOMALOUS MODERATION - Très intelligent!
Lotsa favs:
45A TESSA. In Bible times these novels would be called "Bodice renters".
57A MII. Learned in CWDS.
66A LARS Learned in CWDS.
68A ENG. Luv it. You can also visit the LAV there.
2D APERCU. Last to fill - after a very lengthy stretch this one emerged from the depths.
5D ANTIS. These days it seems that everybody is ANTI something. What has happened to all the PROS?
31D EGOT. CBE was too short.
34D APSE. There are two kinds - the big one at the front with the ALTAR and the smaller ones along the sides with the SAINTS and candles.
50D SECTS. Favorite bling - thanks Joseph!
53D FIRTH. Firth played Vermeer opposite Scarlett Johansson in the 2003 film Girl With A Pearl Earring. If you watch the clip closely you'll catch a brief glimpse of recent OSCAR winner.
Cheers
Bill
Jinx @7:01 AM NATIONAL GOOF OFF DAY. So what is it we solvers do?
HBD PK!!! 🎈🎁🎀🎂
FIR, but agree with several about rawr, but fortunately‘wed to’ finally dawned late. Never heard of apercu and crossed with sumac and gotta jet made this the last stabs or swag! Glad I made it!
ReplyDeleteI finally got the theme at Fig Newton, but it still didn’t help with the other theme entries. Too many unknowns to guide me like PR TEAM as clued, JET as clued, RAWR, AIMEE, (it didn’t help that I spelt LEECH leach), TLC, MII, and TESSA.
ReplyDeleteI liked MM’s recap. Probably scrabble games should come with a warning. LOL.
On a tight schedule this morning, but FIR and enjoyed it! Like others, I had my aha moment at GIF (fig) NEWTON. MM's example of same was amazing, and the entire blog entry was a delight. MM, you are a wonder with anagrams! I also loved the closing Scrabble meme with vowel movement. Very funny!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, PK! Thanks, Katie, Patti, and MalMan!
Very Friday puzzle! Got 'er done, finally, but without figuring out the theme until MM explained it. (Cue the V-8 can!) Looks like I put the snow shovel away too soon. Should know better here in northern Illinois! White Easter, maybe?
ReplyDeleteNathan Hale, a perhaps-ancestor of our constructor today, Katie Hale, is alleged to have said that he regretted that he had but one life to give for his country.
ReplyDeleteMy regret is perhaps slightly less lofty than that of Nate: it's that I spent a good bit of time on this frustrating puzzle.
My problem with it is I feel there should have been some kind of warning hint--witty, of course, and enigmatically couched in some clue--that in FIVE of the long answers the first few letters had been inexplicably scrambled.
The result was mildly amusing--e.g. , AARPTROOPER/PARATROOPER, and so forth--but there was no explanation for why some letters had been anagrammed.
It's Friday, I know, but even a difficult Friday puzzle doesn't expect clairvoyance on the part of the solver.
Good morning/early afternoon to all. I am happy to see that the humor and word play brought a few smiles. While I would like to take complete credit for the Anomalous Moderate bit I must, in the spirit of Toto pulling back the curtain, confess that I sought some help on that one from an online anagram generator.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteUgly is as ugly does, so we have ugly clues with ugly fill.
RAWR? Let’s just make stuff up! Ok then let’s go with “gotta JET”!
I dislike circles, but if you’re going to have a “3 or 4” letter scrambled prefix, then circles would be good.
Now, now, be nice!
DeleteMM @11:31 AM Oh, please, please post the URL!
ReplyDeleteIf ever we needed Rex Parker to guest-blog for an evisceration of a puzzle, this is it. The Crossword Corner has a very anti-Rex ethos, partly because C.C. is primarily a constructor and is not interested in trashing her peers or letting us do it.
ReplyDeleteI lurked at the Crossword Corner for more than a decade, reluctant to intrude on the “be nice” atmosphere. So I am not going to empty my notebook on today’s puzzle, other than to say my count of unknowns, crappy clues, and simply lame entries today hit 22, which is not a record and doesn’t reach my “unacceptable” limit of 30, but certainly warrants something less than back-patting. Itemizing or even pointing out lowlights would be frustrating without listing everything. Let’s just say Anonymous PVX’s comments would be a good starting place for mine.
I’m claiming an FIR, by the way, but it wasn’t satisfying.
Now, now!
DeleteI may be in the minority here but I enjoy this kind of CW, had to think a bit, took a WAG or two, but the the perps were kind and the theme sussable after getting the first couple. Managed a FIR in 16:23 w/o help of any kind, so that tells me it wasn’t as difficult for me as it was for others, which is sometimes vice versa. It’s Friday, not Monday. Thanks Katie for your creation!
ReplyDeleteAnomalous Moderate ~ enjoyed your APERCU also 👊🏼
I'm not much on anagrams, which is why I didn't see the full value of this puzzle, but I should have realized it from (probably the seed entry) GIF Newton... my problem was I didn't understand a lot of the clues. Gotta jet? What's next? Gotta squirt?...
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Pat.
I see from my previous (and other) cake(s) that I used a computer generated writing for the "PK."
I prefer to use actual "iced" letters, as they infer more thought and effort, but in the case of PK, it didn't come out as appetising...
FLN,
Tehachapi Ken intrigued me with "The Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance." Last nite. I had to go looking, because, to me, all repairs require blood, sweat, tears, and sometimes magic smoke... come to think of it, most of my repairs somehow miraculously just start working by themselves. I think it's because God took pity on me when I started crying... if interested here is a synopsis.
Anywho,
Anagrams? I really don't get the interest in them, I mean, it's not like you can make words more meaningful or something...
CED @12:36 PM "... didn't come out as appetizing ...". Hey don't throw that away, I'll eat it!
DeleteRead TAOMM many years ago -- great book
Anagrams.-- yo
Man, this was a workout!! I never got the theme until MM ‘splained it, and I confess to looking up a clue or two in the NW. Still, it was kind of a fun challenge, and I’ll take a CSO at ANN ARBOR, my home town. Go Blue! indeed.
ReplyDeleteMM you never fail to amuse and amaze - thanks for the laughs. Thanks, Katie for keeping me humble.
TTP at 7:35, John Landecker and I went to the same high school in Ann Arbor. He married my first cousin, and their first child was Amy Landecker, who is now married to Bradley Whitford. He was/is handsome, witty and really funny. I’m glad you were able to enjoy listening to him.
Bill said: "Jinx @7:01 AM NATIONAL GOOF OFF DAY. So what is it we solvers do?"
ReplyDeleteCan't speak for the others, but I'm "engaging in intellectual calisthenics." Kinda akin to what
Wernher Von Braun said: “Basic research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I am doing.” But I'm no rocket scientist, obviously.
I forgot to wish PK Happy Birthday! And many more🎂🎉
ReplyDeleteOkay, so apparently I am back in business with no nonsense from Google about my identity.
ReplyDeleteMy puzzle glows with wite-out from my many errors and re-writes. But I FIR in the end. And, I confess, a little help from ALEXA with TESSA of whom I've never heard.
But I have heard of Colin FIRTH and knew where he belonged (besides my heart).
CSO to Misty at RCA and one to me at ACER which is the brand of my home computer.
COSTCO is way too big for my needs, too, but occasionally I go with my friend, Kathy, to buy something unusual or at times, order a birthday cake.
I've known only one ETHEL in my life and that was my late NIECE'S grandmother.
My first fill was "gotta RUN" but of course, that was wrong. BZZZ RUN came later farther down.
TESSA is a complete unknown to me so I sought help from ALEXA.
Around the house I have several ANALOG clocks and I'm so glad we don't have DST and would have to change them twice a year.
Alan LEECH is an actor in Downton Abbey.
I've never seen "Frozen" so again had to ask ALEXA and she knew OPEN DOOR. I did not.
I hope you are all having a fabulous Friday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PK!
ReplyDeleteJinx @ 7:01am, I love palatsckinkes, I've been eating them for 70 years. My mother was Hungarian, and that was a real treat for us kids. We filled them with jelly. Fortunately for me, my wife learned to make them. First time I've ever seen it spelled out.
ReplyDeleteI have been researching the stuck file cabinet problem, it would help immensely to know the make and model of the cabinet in question. But all the anti - tip mechanisms have latches, usually on the sides. (One I saw had the latch on the rear)
ReplyDeleteIf you can find a video of your particular latch mechanism, this method may help.
Note:
I watched many videos on this problem, not all were helpful...
I wonder if anyone wrote a book on the zen of file drawer maintenance...
Copy Editor @12:06 PM I believe that the "be nice" atmosphere you refer to emanates from the solvers. They usually thank the constructor and the reviewer and then express whether they liked the puzzle or didn't like it, as you have today. And you're not the only solver who does that. And I've never seen C.C. intervene in those disputes. If these get too heated, the blog admin will step in and intercede, and I won't identify him here if you don't already know him.
ReplyDeleteOTOH I think you'll find that most of the reviewers devote most of their recaps to simply explaining and illustrating a few, more, many or even all of the clues in the puzzle. As a reviewer I rarely give effusive praise to a puzzle, although I will comment if I find the theme clever and specific clues to be clever, but I'm not a FAN. Our jobs are just to help solvers understand the puzzle. But you're right that this ethos stems from the personality of C.C. Burnikel. I deal with her "behind the scenes" and she never expresses her opinions about puzzles, but rather helps us with difficulties me might encounter with the puzzles and problems with the blog itself -- on at least two occasions that I'm aware of she saved highers from closing this operation down. And in all the time I've known her, I've never heard her utter a discouraging word.
Cheers,
Bill
I have heard the phrase, "gotta jet" before. Never heard of "RAWR". I thought the theme was just a few abbreviations and I just didn't know what STEM was an abbreviation for. Never even thought about the common phrases except for fig newtons. Thanks MM for "splaining" it. GC
ReplyDeleteI joined this blog because I found the commenters were so nice, clever, funny, smart, informed, and of very diverse backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the reviewers were stellar. Thank you C.C. for your leadership.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteSince I have not seen a comment from Irish Miss, my guess is that she would've defaulted to Thumper today
APERCU / JET / PR TEAM / and SUMAC were the last to fall. APERCU (a look up) helped to fill the others - still scratching my head a "JET" as clued
Happy Birthday PK
One of today's many plurals brought to mind an old limerick I penned a few years ago ... still one of my all-time favorites:
Amish couple arrived in their carriage;
The town elder was heard to disparage:
"I think something's not right;
She grew up Mennonite,
And I only perform same SECTS marriage."
Thank you C.C. and the rest of you all for the kind birthday wishes. CED thanks for the cake. I am not well this week so probably won't have another cake. You all cheer up my life.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on Katie's puzzle not far in. We just don't speak the same language.
Had to cheat like crazy to fill this CW. And never saw the theme, but didn't really look for it. Rats. Ya got me, KH. Terrific write-up, MalMan, thanx.
ReplyDeleteHBD PK!
Greetings. I made it through today’s puzzle but found it a grind with a few W/Os, WAGs, ESPs and some side eyes.
ReplyDeleteThe NE was the last to fill. I had to google OPEN DOOR then WO Rues -> ROBS.
Thanks, MalMan. You summed up this forgettable chapter in grand style.
Happy Birthday, PK!
WASEELEY: Thanks, Bill, for your response and to MalMan for explaining
ReplyDeleteBill @ noon, a web search reveals several. IIRC, this is the one that I used:
ReplyDeleteWordPlays Anagram Generator
Thanks, Katie, for a fun Friday FIW! I had I'M oUT vs. I MUST. I caught your clever theme at paraTROOPER and confirmed it at gifNEWTON. Knowing that the 5 themers began with an acronym/initialism helped. Put me in the "This one was fun!" SECT.
ReplyDeleteFAV: Lapel edges?
New to me: APERCU, SONOS, & TESSA
They have been putting in a new water MAIN on my street for 6-8 weeks now. Very noisy and very inconvenient but how else can they do the necessary work?
Lucina @ 1:04. I'm so glad you are persistent with your posting!
CED @ 12:36. Loved, loved, loved the anagrams table!
Happy birthday, PK! I hope you feel better soon. It's OK to take a raincheck on that cake.
Thanks, Mal-Man, for another review full of word play and smiles! Your Newton GIF was spot on!
Re. 9A and almost anagram..."Lariat" is what the northern cowboys' ears heard when the vaqueros from Mexico said, "la riata". Ah, it all makes sense now.
Sumdaze, I had never put that together - la riata / lariat. Muchas grassy ass.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, PK!
ReplyDeleteI just wished my neighbor lady a Happy Birthday 3 days ago. I'm not sure whether she is your age or one year younger. I didn't ask her.
Wendybird, I wasn't familiar with the actress Amy Landecker, so I looked her up yesterday, and that's when I saw her father's name, who I did know. Not personally, but he's been on many stations here in Chicago since I first heard him back in the early 70s. I read the Wikipedia on him and see that he's in the DJ Hall of Fame after his storied and lengthy career.
Ooops I forgot happy birthday PK.🎊🎂🎈🎉
ReplyDeleteI prefer Tecate to Sol or Modelo.
ReplyDeletePolar cerveza para mi.
ReplyDeleteHappy B'day, PK.
ReplyDeleteI am not certain where Prof M was heading, above, but to be clear, I was not being sarcastic when I said @4:13 above that I had never put that together. I really had never put that together.
CED @ 12:36 WsumdazeS on the anagram table!
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 5:26, you must be remembering the big hit Kind of a Drag by the Buckinghams.
ReplyDeleteI have liked the themes in many of the last several months' puzzles but have not experienced much pleasure or satisfaction from them otherwise. This blog is definitely worth coming to, and I always enjoy reading what you all have to say.
ReplyDeleteI figured out the acronym themed puzzle but was stumped at GIF. I was thinking CGI and I RULE. FIRTH and SOL were both unknown, so CULTURES didn't enter my thought train even though I had NEWTON and USB filled. I spent two years in college making agar cultures for various pathogens in a microbiology lab, then destroying them after class in an autoclave. Then I had to wash out the petri dishes, all for the big money of $1.25/hr. A DNF.
ReplyDelete"Gotta JET"- never heard that. TESSA was unknown.
I didn't like the clueS "Comms experts" for PR TEAMor Playful "grr" for RAWR which I've never seen before today.
Changed OPEN BOOK to DOOR
Mexican beers I drink- Dos Equis, Pacifico, Corona, Carta Blanca. Maybe I'll try a SOL.
GIF was my first inkling of what the theme gimmick was. I was looking for "fig" and I had the F for FIRTH in place, so I guessed GIF because I knew it was applicable to Apple, although I didn't quite know exactly how. I kind of liked that one and AARP/para TROOPER, but the betting on RCA seemed too far-fetched and the STEM/METS thing nearly eluded me entirely. By the way, I have an RCA turntable I bought in the Nineties. It's very similar to the good old BSR turntables of my yute. Very rudimentary, but functional.
ReplyDeleteI've often been told that I was SOL...[something] Outta Luck.
ReplyDeleteI am very pleased that I can post without incident as this Blog is one of my daily sources of joy, thanks to all of you!
ReplyDelete