google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, March 21 2024, Robin Stears

Advertisements

Mar 21, 2024

Thursday, March 21 2024, Robin Stears

 

  Upside Down Cakes

Recipe

I found this puzzle a little harder to solve than last week's, but at least the only round things in it are slices of pineapple (see recipe above). 😀  Today constructor Robin Stears, last seen here on February 16th, returns to challenge us with a vertical theme.  These almost always have something to do with the order of the words or letters in the clue, which the reveal tells us ...

10. Desserts flipped after baking, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues: UPSIDE DOWN CAKES.  Here are the themers, but you'll have to turn your head 90 degrees to the left to see the CAKEs in these fills ...

3D. *Act the mediator: SEEK A COMPROMISE. Today this might be clued -- "Negotiation strategy now out of fashion".

8D. *Illinois alma mater of Ronald Reagan: EUREKA COLLEGE.  It is also the home of the Reagan Museum honoring its most distinguished alumnus.

Eureka College Campus
300 E College Ave, Eureka, IL 61530

17. *"Malcolm in the Middle" actress: JANE KACZMAREKMalcolm in the Middle is an American sitcom series that ran for 7 seasons starting in 2000, running for 151 episodes. The series is a dark-humored family comedy that follows the Wilkersons, a dysfunctional lower-middle-class family, and stars Frankie Muniz in the lead role as Malcolm, a child prodigy. The ensemble cast included Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm's parents, Lois and Hal.  Apparently Lois had some anger management problems ...


You can relax your neck now and see that the CAKES are revealed to be UPSIDE DOWN ...
 

The rest of this stuff is RIGHT SIDE UP (well maybe not all of it) ...

Across:


1. Puzzle (out): SUSS.  It's what we do!

5. Synonymous: SAME.

9. Software glitches: BUGS.  I'm reminded of a few of the "rules" of programming --

"If carpenters built buildings the way programmers build programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization".

"Any sufficiently complex program contains at least one BUG". This is the sine qua non for a program to be called complicated..

"If you find one BUG in a program, there are undoubtedly more."

Remember these rules when you read all the hype  about the highly complicated AI programs much in the news these days.  Oh,  and AI's BUGS are the least of its problems.

13. Leg joint: KNEE.

14. Slacks, slangily: TROU. Cutoff TROUSERS?.

15. Fall birthstone: OPALOPAL is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt.  It's the birthstone of people born in October.

Opal
16. Thing: ITEM.

17. Wag: JOKER. A species commonly seen around the Corner, but I'm not naming any names. 😁

18. Like an unswept hearth: ASHY.

19. Watering hole where servers may wear leis: TIKI BAR.  The term TIKI is the Maori word for the first human. A TIKI BAR is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails.  These "watering holes" are a part of Tiki culture, an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Oceanian art with influences from Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, the Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii.
A typical Tiki mug

21. Animal Planet's "Crikey! It's the Irwins" co-star: TERRI. Terri Raines Irwin AM (née Raines, born July 20, 1964) is an American-Australian conservationist, television personality, author and zookeeper who is the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. She is the widow of conservationist Steve Irwin.


23. Dead __ Scrolls: SEA.  The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period. They were discovered over a period of 10 years, between 1946 and 1956, at the Qumran Caves near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, here ...
Dead Sea Scrolls Location
24. "The Memory of Trees" singer: ENYA.  I remember the miles and miles of woods behind my home, where we used to play when we were young.  As a first step toward building the ring road around Baltimore (I 695), those woods were cut down and turned into acres and acres of logs stacked 30' high.  Then we played by climbing up the piles and tunneling thru them for a few months. Then they were hauled away and gone.  I've never heard this piece by ENYA.  Thank you Robin.


26. Youngsters: KIDDOS.

29. Quote: CITE.  Coincidentally here are some quotes by Albert Einstein that I ran across just today.  He has often been CITED, so you may have already heard some of them ...
31. Linguist Chomsky: NOAMAvram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science.  OTOH, he has his critics.  Perhaps his most famous critic is novelist Tom Wolfe (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018) who, while not a linguist, did make over $60 million in his lifetime, so he arguably knew something about words.  In his book The Kingdom of Speech, Wolfe takes to task not only Chomsky, but another cultural icon that I've vaguely referred to in clue 70A below.  While Wolfe got a lot of heat from the intelligentsia for this book, it was rated by readers with a majority of the ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐reviews, including mine. 😀
Noam Chomsky
33. Org. concerned with "forever chemicals": EPAThey're not the only ones.

34. Language related to Czech: SLOVAKSome sources suggest that Czech has 94% of the intelligibility of Slovak meaning that if you have a strong base in Czech, understanding SLOVAK should be doable, but speaking it is another thing entirely.  I've always wondered why the musical opus that put Czech composer Antonin Dvorak on the map is called the Slavonic Dances and now we know.  He wrote 16 altogether and here is No.1, Furiant, C major, conducted by German maestro Wolfgang Sawallisch ...
36. SHO subsidiary: TMCThe Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released and independently produced motion pictures, and during promotional breaks between films, special behind-the-scenes features and movie trivia.

37. Yemeni port: ADENAden (Arabic: عَدَنْ, romanized: ʿAdan, Old South Arabian: 𐩲𐩵𐩬) is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. With its strategic location on the coastline, Aden serves as a gateway between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, making it a crucial maritime hub connecting Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
 
Aden, Yemen
Gulf of Aden
38. Residence: HOME.

39. Pal: AMIGO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

41. F-150 maker: FORD.  Great trucks.  We recently gave ours to our son.  Given the amount we were using it it just didn't justify the insurance costs.  When we need it we just borrow it back from him -- along with a grandson (or granddaughter) to do the heavy lifting. It looked sort of like this (without the view)...
42. Catch: ESPY.  Also the name of a sports award
43. Spy-fi org.: CIAAKA "The Company".

44. Breathing room: LEEWAY.

46. Unceasingly, in poetry: EER

47. Policy pro: CZAR.

48. Home turf?: LAWNAlso a type of fabric.

49. President __: PRO TEMThe president pro tempore of the United States Senate (often shortened to president PRO TEM) is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate, after the vice president. According to Article One, Section Three of the United States Constitution, the vice president of the United States is the president of the Senate (despite not being a senator), and the Senate must choose a president pro tempore to act in the vice president's absence.   The Honorable Patty Murphy of Washington is the incumbent PRO TEM of the Senate.
Senator Patricia Lynn Murray
51. Pedicure targets: TOES.  And a CSO to Lucina.

53. Saturn or Mercury: CAR.  Not a god and not a planet.

56. Asia's __ Peninsula: MALAY.  The MALAY Peninsula is a part of Malaysia, a country of Southeast Asia, lying just north of the Equator, that is composed of two non-contiguous regions: Peninsular Malaysia, also called West Malaysia, which is on the Malay Peninsula, and East Malaysia, which is on the island of Borneo ...
58. Verification tool for online alcohol retailers, e.g.: AGE GATE.  One may have popped up if you tried to open 7D's website.

60. Not that: THIS.

62. Way to go: ROUTE.

64. Furniture retailer that sells FIXA tool kits: IKEA.  Two IKEA drawers in my office are jammed shut.  I don't think they have a kit for that.

65. Remove from power: OUST.  Should OUST be OUSTED from the crosswordese dictionary?

66. Lip: EDGE.

67. Clockwork part: GEAR.

68. __ of life: TREE.  The Tree of Life is a widespread archetype common to many religions, mythologies, and folktales. The tree of life is a common idea in cultures throughout the world. It represents, at times, the source of life, a force that connects all lives, or the cycle of life and death itself. Common features of various myths include supernatural guardians protecting the tree and its fruits that grant those who eat them immortality.

It's also a powerful way to model the evolution of life on Earth from simple to complex creatures and describes the interconnected nature of all life forms.

69. "Clue" actress Madeline: KAHNMadeline Gail Kahn (née Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999 -- her early death from cancer was a big loss to American comedy) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including What's Up, Doc? (1972), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), and her Academy Award–nominated role in Paper Moon (1973).  Here Madeline plays Mrs. White in Clue and we're treated to all her big scenes ...


Here's a bonus clip of Madeline Kahn teaching Grover to sing  -- compliments of Chairman Moe -- it popped up after his Muppets Letter S video last Friday. 

70. Systems of principles: ISMS.  There are many, many ISMS, but I can think of only one that consists simply of the name of a scientist + ISM.  Hand up if you can name a second one?

Down:

1. Funny sketches: SKITS.  Mr. Bean seems to draw a crowd wherever he goes ...

2. Loosen, as a bow: UNTIE.  A CSO to Jinx. 😁

3. [Theme clue]

4. Interstate rig: SEMI.

5. Tale: STORY.

6. Craft for the first couples cruise?: ARK.  Cozy clue. According to the Wiki there were 4 couples on the ARK: 💑💑💑💑..

7. Chandon's partner: MOETMOËT & Chandon (or simply MOËT) is a family business dating back to 1743Here's their website.

8. [Theme clue]

9. Scrabble surface: BOARD.
10. [Theme reveal]

11. Exasperated cry: GAH.  Exasperation lesson #1.

12. Underhanded: SLY.

17. [Theme clue]

20. __ test: BETA.  See 9A.

22. Lip: RIM.

25. Like the Dada movement: ANTI ART.  From a 2017 exhibit of Dadaist ANTI-ART at the Tate Modern in London ... 
The Art Critic
(1919–20)
Raoul Hausmann
The above image is Copyright: (c) ADAGP, Paris, although why anyone would want to plagiarize it I haven't a clue.

27. Judith Weir composition: OPERADame Judith Weir DBE HonFRSE* (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office.  While I was tempted to include one of her operatic works, I decided instead on this lovely setting of the first seven verses of Psalm 42 - Like as the Hart that she composed for the Queen's funeral ...









* Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

28. Blondish: SANDY

30. Tony winner Judith: IVEYJudith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for Steaming (1981) and Hurlyburly (1984). She also received Best Actress In A Play nomination for Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (1992) and another Best Featured Actress in a Play nomination for The Heiress.

Judith Ivey
32. Astonished letters: OMG.

34. Subject of a late-night countdown: SHEEP.  🐑🐑🐑

35. Also-ran: LOSER.

37. Three or four: A FEW.

40. Soccer star Hamm: MIA. Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the United States national team from 1987 to 2004. Hamm was the face of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional women's soccer league in the United States, where she played for the Washington Freedom from 2001 to 2003. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and helped the team win four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship titles.
Mia Hamm
45. Let (up): EASE.

47. Cartoon frame: CEL.

50. Officiate at a cook-off, say: TASTE.

52. Like some granola: OATEN.

54. First-stringers: A TEAM.

55. Brings up: REARS.

57. Jedi with an unusual speech pattern: YODA.  Nearly finished I think is this review.

59. Supermodel Hadid: GIGIJelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid, born April 23, 1995, is an American fashion model and television personality. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council.
Jelena Noura Hadid
60. Small fry: TOT.

61. "Ben-__": HURBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace (an American lawyer, Civil War general, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author!),  published by Harper and Brothers on November 12, 1880, and considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century".  It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions.   This first edition can be yours for only $30,000 ...

Wallace's book was the basis for this  award winning film starring Charleston Heston.  Here's the famous chariot race scene ...
63. Exasperated cry: UGH.  Exasperation lesson #2.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

----------------------------------------------

As today is the 339th birthday of my favorite Lutheran saint, I thought it appropriate to end with a little bit of Johann Sebastian Bach for the coming celebration of Easter.  Here's his Sheep May Safely Graze, from the Hunt Cantata, BWV 208, performed at the Toronto Bach Festival (and a CSO to CanadianEh!!)

 

60 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Bill, I have to take exception to your "4 year absence" comment. By my count, this is Robin's third appearance this year -- January 2nd and February 16th. Don't think I've ever heard of EUREKA COLLEGE and I certainly couldn't spell JANE KACZMAREK. (Jinx probably could!) The perps were kind, and both filled nicely. Thanx for the dessert, Robin, and for the tour, waseeley.

F-150 -- I traded mine in for an SUV five years ago.

MALAY -- Over the years I made numerous visits to Singapore, right at the tip of the peninsula.

waseeley said...

D-O @5:44 AM Math has never been one of my strong suits. I'll check it out and fix it. It feels a little lonely this morning without SG. 😞

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF/FIW. Looked up JANE KACZMAREK (see, DO?) and missing with ARTIART instead of ANTI ART. Hell's bells, one makes as much sense as the other to me.

Today is:
NATIONAL MEMORY DAY (the four categories of memory are Sensory, Short term, Working, and Long-term, IIRC)
NATIONAL SPRAY TANNING DAY (orange you glad you know this day)
ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE KIDS DAY (write a letter to your kid. In cursive, while you’re at it)
NATIONAL COUNTDOWN DAY (today is 3-2-1…get it?)
NATIONAL FARM RESCUER DAY (a non-profit doing what friends and neighbors once did)
NATIONAL FRENCH BREAD DAY (aka “baguette")
NATIONAL CALIFORNIA STRAWBERRY DAY (I’ll have the ones grown in Florida, please)
NATIONAL FRAGRANCE DAY (how about a “natural scent” day?)
NATIONAL SINGLE PARENT DAY (hard job, but two parents are far better for the kiddo)
NATIONAL COMMON COURTESY DAY (rather uncommon these days)

Not listed was that this is Opening Day of March Madness, not counting the four play-in games that almost nobody watches or bets on. This should be an extra mad version of the tourney, since all the teams seem to be vulnerable in any given game.

FLN: Welcome back, Bill G. I missed you.

I didn't know the actress, but I used to have a sailing buddy in Dallas who may have spelled his last name the same. He managed a sales force that sold janitorial supplies, like those little bull's eye strainers they put in the bottom of urinals. He and his wife kinda dropped out - sold everything and lived in Mexico for several years. Great people.

FORD used to make a lot of vehicles here, from the Model A to the F-150. When they closed the plant in 2007, 2,600 jobs were lost.

I loved Madeline KAHN's work.

"BETA test" - or as Microsoft calls it "Commercial Release."

Thanks to Robin for the fun puzzle, even though it was just beyond my grasp. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the informative review, and for the CSO @ UNTIE. (My only UNTIE! today was SLOVAc, but the theme saved my bacon.)

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I just found out that today is also WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY. Pisses me of that it was omitted by the Big List O' Days people, but they found room for all the silly stuff. My apologies to the many Cornerites who have been touched by this syndrome.

Big Easy said...

I'm glad I wasn't a LOSER today because most of the proper name fills/clues were unknowns. After filling 17D I couldn't determine either the first of last name. I wanted JANET until SLOVA__ was filled and it was a guess for either C or K. Decided on K after UPSIDE DOWN CAKE was filled. JANEKA CZMAREK made as much sense to me as JANE KACZMAREK.

AGE GATE & GIGI were both unknowns crossing as were EUREKA & TERRI. So were Judith IVEY and Judith Weir's OPERA.

The saying about Steve Irwin was " one of his animals will kill him and it was not a question of if, but when." A stingray did it.
ENYA's just a great crossword fill but I don't really know if I'd ever heard any of her music.
ANTI ART for Dada Movement- never knew.

Saturn (RIP 2009) or Mercury (RIP 2011)- old CARs, but one is a rocket- Saturn V- and the other was the NASA program Mercury.


waseeley said...

D-O @5:44 AM I missed the February 16 puzzle because the title had her as Robin C. Stears. I tried searching for date:2024 and did get a hit for her puzzle on January 2nd. There's also a puzzle for a "Robin Stears" on January 8th. What search string did you use?

Subgenius said...

That actress, Jane somebody - What a name! Fortunately, the perps were more than kind. And, in the long run, FIR, so I’m happy.

Robin Stears said...

desper-otto is correct! I haven't been absent for the past four years; on the contrary, I've had four puzzles in the previous four months! Guess I'm just forgettable. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well, I had to figure out a way to put JANE KACZMAREK into a crossword puzzle, and I finally did. It's such a Scrabble-y name, which probably explains why crossword constructors have avoided it. Z, J, C and two K's! I loved her in "Malcolm in the Middle." She is married to the lovely and talented Bradley Whitford of "The West Wing" and "The Handmaid's Tale," whose name is 15 letters long and who also has never been included in a crossword puzzle! It's kind of hard to resist all those double-consonant combos; he might end up in a future grid. 🤔

I do hope that SEEK A COMPROMISE makes a comeback as a negotiating option. I knew that EUREKA COLLEGE (also making its crossword debut) might be new for some people, but I hoped that solvers would get the Reagan-Eureka-California connection. Of course, editor Patti Varol helped me iron out the crossings to make sure all the theme entries were gettable.

Not too bad for a Thursday, eh?

waseeley said...

Jinx @6:54 AM Ahem -- shouldn't that be "DOWNS SYNDROME"? I've known two people in my life with that "disorder" and they are sweet 💓💓💓s.
LOL "Commercial Release". Why pay for all those expensive testers when you can let your customers do it!

waseeley said...

Robin Sears @7:25 AM Sorry about that Robin! I'm waiting for some schooling from D-O on the correct Blogger search string to use (BTW what does the "C" stand for and are you related to "Robin Stears"?) Your puzzle was very tasty and a lot of fun to review!

KS said...

FIW. With so many obscure proper names, I was bound to miss one. Gigi was unknown to me and age date looked logical to me. As did Digi. Oh well!
And the use of a proper name in a long answer, Jane whoever she is, was just cruel. Thanks to the perps for seeing me through.
I didn't see the theme till I got here and had it explained. But overall this puzzle was ridiculously hard, emphasis on ridiculous.

waseeley said...

Robin @7:25AM I'm glad I made that mistake and I'm glad D-O commented on it. For those of you who don't know Robin you might be interested in checking out her profile and especially her blog.

desper-otto said...

Bill, "Stears" was my search string. January 8th, 2024 was by Paul Coulter. I usually hear it referred to as Down Syndrome.

waseeley said...

d-o @7:49 AM I need the full string, e.g. title:"Sears" just gives me today's puzzle.

waseeley said...

d-o @7:49AM Make that title:"Stears" - bingo! everything lit up!

Anonymous said...

E nded this one in 7:06 today.

K aczmarek?

A ctress names (spelling Kahn is tricky for me, so spelling Jane K.'s last name is asking a lot) have become the bane of my existence.

C rossing of Terri and Moet was my last square today.

Robin Stears said...

FYI, I haven't posted on that blog in ten years. I do have a FB page where I post my goings-on. https://www.facebook.com/StearsWords

Robin Stears and Robin C Stears are one and the same! I've only ever found one other Robin Stears (Robin L Stears), and she's a rocket scientist. The C stands for Courtney, which is my maiden name. I don't have a middle name, or didn't until I started using my maiden name.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a nice Thursday level challenge, with some cute cluing and a fun theme. Vertical themers always make the theme itself more difficult to see, and that's fine by me, all the more fun to be surprised by the reveal. I was also surprised that I spelled Jane Kaczmarek's name correctly on the first try and I knew Eureka College, as well. I wasn't familiar with Terri, Age Gate, or Opera, as clued, but perps were fair and I had no w/os. I would be happy to see Trou retired from puzzles.

Thanks, Robin, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Bill, for the fact-laden review and informative commentary. I laughed out loud at the "rules" of programming, especially the one about the Programmers/Carpenters/Woodpeckers. 🤣 I enjoyed the Irwin video, Mr. Bean, and Enya, although I kept waiting for lyrics. I didn't know she was a composer, as well as a singer.

FLN

Bill G, so very nice to hear from you. I'm sorry to learn of your health challenges but hope you'll feel well enough to rejoin the Corner Community. Coincidentally, while doing the puzzle last night, I thought of you at Mia Hamm because you would often mention seeing her in your neighborhood. So, this morning, when I read last night's late comments, I was happy to you in "person". Best wishes, Bill, we've missed you! 😉

Have great day.

Irish Miss said...

Happy to see you in "person".

Robin, thanks for stopping by and sharing some insider's info.

Anonymous said...

The puzzle was nice, except for the crossing names and pronouns. We had a Saturn, a car my wife Robin hated. China is the world biggest strawberry producer, followed by California (the state produces 90% of the US crop). I put them on my cereal every day. They aren’t cheap but are damned healthy. Blueberries should also be eaten as much as possible; damned expensive also. If you’re not wealthy everything is expensive. The rich are the cause of all misery in the world.

Anonymous said...

Tough puzzle, too many obscure names. To nit pick ,42 across clue: catch = espy , found unusual.

Yellowrocks said...

This was my worst Thursday "non solve" ever. The unknown hard to spell, hard to pronounce actress, Kaczmarek did me in as well as other mistakes. I don't care for Malcom in the Middle and have never watched it for more than a few minutes.
CIA - I solved it, but doubted it. I thought SPY FI was all fictional.
I suppose you could call this pedantic, but IMO if you untie a bow you more than loosen it. Partially untie or begin to untie could be loosen, maybe.
Bill G, welcome back. I missed you. Sorry to hear of your health problems.
I knew Reagan graduated from Eureka College But I thought it was in CA. I thought maybe he got a second degree in IL.
A single parent household is better than a two parent household where the second parent is a very poor parent or absent or abusive. It is also better than a two parent household where there is constant verbal combat or worse.
I like this quote from Einstein: "Weak people revenge. Strong people forgive. Intelligent people ignore."
So many supposed slights are not worth the mental anguish to dwell on them. These days I feel more peaceful ignoring them.
Often if you don't compromise you get none of what you want. A half a loaf is better than none.

Monkey said...

Drats! I missed finishing by 3 letters. I’ve never thought of Dada as ANTI ART, couldn’t think of TMC, lacked the T, and the Z of CZAR. I retrospect I should have persevered and I would eventually have gotten it done.

Otherwise this CW was a piece of CAKE. I often make pineapple UPSIDE DOWN CAKES, however they never look quite as pretty as Waseely’s image.

I appreciate Robin visiting this morning. When I saw her name I definitely remembered it, but I wasn’t sure if she was the one who creates impossible CWs. I was reassured when I started solving. I enjoyed it in spite of my stumble which was my fault.

Tehachapi Ken said...

FIR, and I enjoyed Robin's cleverness in many of the clues. I had perhaps an unfair advantage regarding the theme, because I have recently rediscovered monkey bread.
Huh--say what? Well, monkey bread entails an upside-down process, so the reveal came instantly to me.

Robin, this was a fun Thursday puzzle, and thanks for dropping by (twice--so far!). You dropped some broad hints about future puzzles, and I look forward to confronting some day a cross-span BRADLEYWHITFORD.

Charlie Echo said...

Clever, interesting puzzle today, that I nonetheless managed to FIW ala Jinx at the cross of ARTIART & ROAM. Sounded good to me, too. The rest of the unknowns did perp nicely, so I did find it to be an enjoyable outing this morning.


RosE said...

Good Morning! Overall I thought today’s puzzle was a bit easier for the usual level on a Thursday. Thanks, Robin! And thanks for stopping by the Corner.

But alas, I stumbled in the SE. I had Didi instead of GIGI Hadid. The DATE for 58A made sense, sorta, but the “dEAR” for 67A was a word, but didn’t fit the clue, and I didn’t stop to SUSS it out. I’ll remember her name now…🤞.

ESP: MOET
FAV C/F: couples cruise – ARK

What a powerful video by Enya. I had not seen that before either. Haunting and lovely.

Loved the Mr. Bean SKIT. Rowan Atkinson is a very versatile actor. I was surprised to enjoy him in a dramatic role as a French detective in Maigret.

NaomiZ said...

Excellent Thursday morning fare! And fair, too, because I FIR in spite of many unknowns.

I loved Bill's opening solution to 1. Across, Puzzle out: "It's what we do!" It's certainly what I was doing!

Also loved the video of Enya's Memory of Trees, along with Bill's childhood memory of the forest that was felled -- all so beautiful and heartbreaking.

Thank you, Robin, Patti, Bill and Terri. I was able to have my CAKE today, but not eat it.

RosE said...

P.S. As always, thanks Bill and Teri for your fun and fact-filled recap.

waseeley said...

NaomiZ @10:59 AM I have a topological map of that forest in my mind. I still wander it sometimes. My favorite spot is a piece of GNEISS protruding from the ground along the path to my grandmother's house.

Anonymous said...

A fine Thursday offering.
I had no idea who Jane k-Alphabet was but the perps allowed for a fun fill of “kaczmarek”
Bill, I also grew up next to some woods that were eventually razed to make way or urban expansion.
Thanks Naomi for mentioning such deep feelings that Enya’s song envokes.
Thanks Robin for a challenging and fun Thursday.
…. kkFlorida

CrossEyedDave said...

Must be my day for PSA Trivia...

But 1st, thank you Waseely for the write up and all the links. Kept me busy all morning!
Especially liked,,, well, there wasn't anything I didn't like...

Trivia #1 I assume your stuck drawers do not have steel runners.

Trivia #2 (& possibly 3,4, & 5.)
Pls,don't take this wrong, as everything made by Man has some problems associated with it. But I think Cars are #1 on this list because some genius decided that every year has to be different from last years model...
I recently saw a YouTube by a mechanic about the F-150 , that I cannot find right now, that made me decide to never buy one. It is not all there problems found here, because every make and model will have some sort of problems. It was because I like to try and fix my own things. One, because I am cheap, and two, I believe that your not a musician if you own a piano but don't know how to tune it... no, the thing that scared me away from the F-150 was this mechanic griping about how it was built. You simply CANNOT fix one simple item without uninstalled a dozen others. The most poorly designed car ever when it comes to repairs, and sooner or later, they all need them...

Oh, and I guess one more thing about owning a Fix Or Repair Daily, I guess you can have your cake AND EAT IT too!

Wendybird said...

This was an interesting and doable puzzle , but unfortunately, I made it all the way to JANEKACZMAREK crossing CZAR and fell on my sword. I hate to get that close and FIW. I enjoyed the solve, however and thanks to Robin for providing it and for stopping by.

I must correct Robin’s info. about Jane K. She and Brad Whitford were divorced in 2010, and he married my cousin, Amy Landecker, in 2019.

I wonder if Jeopardy will ever go back to having new contestants rather than these endless tournaments of former players. It’s getting old, IMO.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Waseeley, our CDC uses "Down Syndrome." I'm so old that I used to trust the CDC. I think that both terms are used interchangeably.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

The two primary support organizations are National Down Syndrome Society (ndss.org) and National Association for Down Syndrome (nads.org)

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Proper names be damned, full SUSS ahead.
-Looking for names of cakes slowed the search for the gimmick
-Here comes a dazzle of 7th graders longing to learn about appositives.

CrossEyedDave said...

PSA's Cont...

Why cars are less reliable today: The Optimistic View (10:24)

Why cars are less reliable today:The Pessimistic View (00:46)

Why cars are less reliable today: The CED View, it's the drivers! (00:16)

unclefred said...

No time to try to work this CW honestly: far too many unknown names. So I cheated and looked up many of the names. With that massive cheat I managed to fill the rest of the CW. A nice concept: upsidedown cake, which I did see. Nice CW other than far too many unknown (to me, at least) names. Nice write-up, Bill, thanx.

Picard said...

Enjoyed the UPSIDE DOWN CAKE theme that helped with the solve. Especially with that JANE with the impossible last name. Hand up never heard of AGE GATE. WAG with GIGI to FIR.

I had NOAM CHOMSKY as a professor, but I can't seem to find any photos from that time. I met him a couple of times since then. Once at a conference in Arizona for my work.

Here I photographed NOAM CHOMSKY receiving an award here in Santa Barbara from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Bill I am guessing that one ISM you refer to is DarwinISM? What is the other?

Tehachapi Ken said...

Picard--

Lamarckism. And there are probably dozens of others, like Newtonianism. I seem to recall some mathematicians whose names were adjectivized with -ian, like Eulerian, Gaussian, and Fibonaccian.

Probably no usages are seen as often as Darwinism.

waseeley said...

CED @11:57 AM One of the drawers has something inside catching on the front panel when you try to pull it out. One of the design features is that the drawers are in sets of three, and if one catches the other two can't be opened (presumably to prevent the cabinet from tipping over - see #9A). I cleverly built the drawers into my office wall (so that's not a problem) so fixing them may involve going into the crawl space behind and using a saws all to cut my way in.

The Ford 150 was a gas guzzler and the Model was 2012. I think it was Ford's first BETA test of an automated front panel (see Jinx @6:54 AM) and ... well see #9A again.

Picard @1:05 PM I can't think of one. That was kind of a challenge to the Corner. Freudian (not really a scientist) and Newtonian are both adjectives not names. I think Sir Charles is unique in that regard.

Misty said...

Neat Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Robin. And always appreciate your commentary, Bill and Teri. I also have to say that listening to some of the music, while I worked my way through the comments, was a special delight.

Well, after the pleasure of seeing that INFANT in the puzzle yesterday, I was delighted that this one offered us KIDDOS, along with a TOT. We didn't get an AGE DATE for them, and I hope there will be somebody to REAR them at HOME, but it was nice to see them in any case.

Have a great day, everybody.

CrossEyedDave said...

Waseely@1:44

Hmm,

It is extremely difficult to diagnose a problem blindly over the internet, but in analysing your post, I think I may have isolated the problem...

It's right here:

" I cleverly built the drawers into my office wall (so that's not a problem) "

Hmm,

Anti-tip mechanism? This is not your usual IKEA fare...
May I suggest a hammer before you use the saws-all.
( No, I am serious... )
It's a long shot, but sometimes these complicated mechanisms that get stuck can be fixed with a good whack in the right place.
(It worked with my old black and white TV...)

If you can get one person to wiggle the dang thingie, while you find the right place to whack, you might just get lucky...

Anything is better than saws-all-ing your wall...

RosE said...

Waseeley @ 1:44, could you slide a kitchen offset spatula into the top of the drawer to dislodge the offending obstruction? that's the thinnest tool I have and have been known to use it for a similar problem.

Tehachapi Ken said...

Waseely--

Re the *#@×*! drawer:

--how is the front panel of the drawer attached?
--will the drawer open enough that you a) can see in it with or without flashlight, and/or b) as RosE suggested, is it open enough to get some thin tool like a spatula into it?
C) read or reread Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, where he discusses the concept of Stuckness.

Picard said...

Tehachapi Ken, waseeley Thank you for your comments about DarwinISM and other ISMS.

I actually had never heard the term DarwinISM. "ISM" seems pejorative to me. As if it is a whimsical belief. Darwin sat on his scientific research for decades because he wanted to be absolutely sure he covered all challenges.

I would guess that ISM is never properly applied to actual science.

By the way, I was shocked to discover that a childhood friend has fallen for the Flat Earth Kool-Aid. He refers to well established science: "Heliocentric is not reality."

This really worries me. Is this mental illness? Or mass delusion?

Picard said...

Interesting comments about the FORD F-150. We toured the FORD F-150 Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan just before COVID. The plant is very much open here in the US.

waseeley Yes, the FORD F-150 is a gas guzzler. I call such things "Pigmobiles".

The conservative Reason Magazine offers this explanation for the explosion of gas guzzlers like the FORD F-150.

It is rare for me to agree with Reason Magazine, but at the end of the article they explained that trucks like the F-150 were able to evade the regulations applied to cars.

The original rationale: Pickup trucks were intended as farm vehicles. They didn't travel far and and they were used by rural farmers who had little money. Agribusiness drove most rural farmers out of business. And now these "farm vehicles" out-sell all cars because of these loopholes.

TTP said...

Galvanism.

Alas, Luigi is not quite as famous as Charles.

waseeley said...

Rose @1:308 PM Worth a try. I have a long one in my studio.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

TTP, Luigi Galvani touches our daily lives with the coating developed from his principles.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

As I'm sure you knew.

waseeley said...

Picard @3:50 PM I have scores of books and hundreds of papers on evolution and origin of life theories and I can assure that the term Darwinism is used often and not disrespectfully.

waseeley said...

TTP @4:34 So the science is Galvaniism? 😃

waseeley said...

Picard @4:45 PM Make that "I've read scores ..."

TTP said...

Waseeley, at 70A you asked if there was the name of a scientist and ism.

You did not ask if there was a science ism.

Galvin fits, unless you now want to change the question.

waseeley said...

TTP @6:43 PM Luigi's last name was Galvani, neither Galvin nor Galvan -- Galvani + ISM = "Galvaniism". Galvanism is not the name of a science, but rather of a physical phenomenum (see my comment at 5:17 PM). Darwin + ism, equals Darwinism, a commonly used term for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution (see same comment). I'm still waiting for the name of another science constructed simply from the scientist's name + "ism".

TTP said...

It still isn't the question you asked at 70A. "...simply of the name of a scientist + ISM."

Galvani was the scientist as I wrote the first time. I had a typo the second time writing Galvin.

Galvanism fits. Unless you want to change the question.

waseeley said...

More on isms ...

Actually there was a "science" named for Luigi Galvani -- Galvanism maintained that electricity could be used to stimulate or restart life. Of course this turned to be a pseudoscience.

A science named for Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is one that fits what I'm looking: Larmarckism, the belief that acquired traits could be inherited by an organism's offspring. Darwin actually believed in some features of Lamarkism, but later experiments seemed to show that it was false. However in recent years a specialty of molecular biology called epigenetics has shown that some types of acquired traits can in fact be passed on the offspring.

sumdaze said...

Thanks, Robin for your TASTE-y puzzle and for chatting with us on The Corner. I didn't quite measure up today -- trouble at a couple of crossings. Hand up for dIdI to make AGEdATE. The reveal gave me some extra letters. Thanks for that!
I liked your SHEEP clue.

Thanks, waseeley! I appreciate your Thurs. tutorials. My FAV today was the Madeline Kahn clips.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Google has been giving me grief by requiring me to prove my identity through my cell phone and other hoops it wants me to jump through. It's very discouraging since I've always been able to post quickly and since this is my computer and I'm the only who uses it, I should not have to prove myself.

Consequently, my first post this morning was lost because of that process then I had to go have blood drawn and I didn't try again after that.

I went with my friend, Kathy, to go see the movie, Cabrini, this afternoon. It's an excellent portrayal of a brave and daring woman who against all odds started a religious order and founded many institutions throughout the world.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day.

Anonymous said...

“Let’s see how many crossing proper names can be crammed into one construct”.

Cruel and unusual punishment, if you ask me; it definitely left a bad TASTE in my mouth, and totally OUSTed my initial feeling that today’s work would be a CAKE- walk after I ripped out that fill for 10d. At least I had some cheap entertainment from a few of the clues — ARK’s, and the two “Lip” fills (would that be tulips? 🤣).

Another saving grace was Bill & Terri’s Excellent Adventure. I’m going to go back and revisit some of those links! Thanks!

Cross Eyed Dave @11:57am, if it is any consolation, Ford ain’t the only vehicle that suffers from the fix-it malady you noted; we had a ‘95 BMW M3 that I hated working on for the same reason — y’gotta take out nine things to get at one component ya need to replace. (P.S., wasn’t that Ford gag “Fix Or Replace Daily”?). A college buddy had an old Econoline van on which he switched the badge letters around on the rear doors so it read “DORF”…apropos.

After the sidebar thread above, I am completely ISM-ed out. 🤙🏽

====> Darren / L.A.