Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with an eye opening puzzle from Christina Iverson.
Theme: I See What You Mean
Let's see if we can shed some light on this one.
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| TBH, thinking about eyeball anatomy and diseases makes me feel squeamish so I am narrowing this down to just one diagram that has all we need for today: ROD, IRIS, CONE, and PUPIL. |
These are the themers:
17 Across. Curtain holder in a bathroom: SHOWER ROD
69. Cities with harbors: PORTS.
70. Post-blizzard blanket: SNOW. Cute clue!
71. __ and crafts: ARTS.
Down:
1. Like an overbearing older sibling: BOSSY. Lucy immediately came to mind.
2. Is sore: ACHES.
3. Pattern of spirals on a fingerprint: WHORL. You don't hear this one everyday.
4. Actor Rob of "Parks and Recreation": LOWE. He played Chris Traeger, an intensely cheerful and enthusiastic character.
5. Bug keeper-outer on a window: SCREEN.
6. Rowboat rower: OAR.
7. Noisy, as a crowd: AROAR.
8. Fixed up again: REDID. past tense of "redo"
9. "Yo te __": AMO. Spanish
10. Putrid: RANCID.
11. Allowed to roam, as chickens: FREE RANGE.
 |
| I like these curved ones. They give me just a bit more space. |
25 Across. Purple flower with a fuzzy patch: BEARDED IRIS.
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| These lovely IRISes belong to my former neighbor and current friend. |
51 Across. Orange marker in a construction zone: TRAFFIC CONE. 
64 Across. Student at the top of the honor roll: STAR PUPIL. 
Then the reveal:
39. "We're almost there!," and what can be said about 17-, 25-, 51-, and 64-Across?: THE END IS IN SIGHT.
The ends of all the themed clues (ROD, IRIS, CONE, and PUPIL) are parts of a human eye and are essential to sight.
This theme seems an excellent fit for viewing today's total solar eclipse. I think that was Patti's plan. What do you think?
PSA from The Corner: Prioritize your eye safety. Do not look directly at the sun during an eclipse. Turn around!
Bonnie Tyler (1983) Total Eclipse of the Heart (Turn around)
<You knew I had to work this in.>
Across:
1. Have an ugly cry: BAWL. a baseball reference 😜
5. Fly through the air: SOAR.
9. Barked: ARFED.
14. Eight, in Spanish: OCHO. ¡Canta conmigo! (Sing with me!)
15. Give a darn: CARE.
16. "__!" ... "Polo!": MARCO. It's a hide-and-seek game played in a swimming pool that holds a distinction in that everyone who ever played it also cheated at least once.
19. Situation with a player at first, say: ONE ON. another baseball reference.
9. Barked: ARFED.
14. Eight, in Spanish: OCHO. ¡Canta conmigo! (Sing with me!)
15. Give a darn: CARE.
16. "__!" ... "Polo!": MARCO. It's a hide-and-seek game played in a swimming pool that holds a distinction in that everyone who ever played it also cheated at least once.
19. Situation with a player at first, say: ONE ON. another baseball reference.
A runner at first sets up the opportunity for my favorite thing about baseball -- the double play.
20. Peaceful: SERENE. Def.: (adj.) marked by or suggestive of utter calm and unruffled repose or quietude.
21. Commercial lead-in to "bnb": AIR. This clue feels like a lot of work for something as ubiquitous as AIR. "Commercial" here refers to business as opposed to a TV advertisement.
23. Gaelic speaker: CELT.
24. French fashion initials: YSL.
28. Country singer Loretta: LYNN. (Apr. 14, 1932 - Oct. 4, 1922) Her website says that she is the most awarded lady in Country music.
29. Scotch's partner: SODA. A Scotch & Soda is an alcoholic beverage ... and the first line of this song by the Kingston Trio.
30. Naked: BARE. Here's a clip from a TV show called Naked and Afraid from The Discovery Channel. You can think of it as Survivor on crack. It is now on its 17 season.
33. Stomp on the gas: GUN IT. Let's move on from this one as quickly as possible.
36. Govt. intel org.: NSA. National Security Agency
43. Unnaturally pale: WAN.
44. Construct: ERECT.
45. Film spool: REEL.
46. Root vegetable in Nigerian cuisine: TARO. TARO, aka cocoyam (pronounced "KOH-KOH-YAM"), is a crop cultivated in many regions including Africa and the West Indies / Caribbean. The crop is a staple food in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana. It can be prepared a variety of ways.
48. Lawn tool: RAKE.
55. Work on a quilt: SEW.
58. Wild canine: WOLF.
59. "Dance the Night" singer __ Lipa: DUA.
60. Like some albums: DELUXE. A "deluxe edition" usually means it contains extra content, compared to the standard edition. This is the album cover for 59A's DELUXE edition.
62. Show host: EMCEE. I learned the other day on WWDTM that a British English term for an MC (Master of Ceremonies) is compere.
66. Jump back, say: REACT. This is how it's done:
67. Sheet of paper: PAGE.
68. Hatchling's home: NEST. A pair of intrepid birds have built a nest in my hose holder. Needless to say, I will not be using that hose for a while. I know this is not a great picture but I did not want to upset them. The mom is in there. They were well-protected during our recent storms, my dog will keep cats away, plus I have a lot of miner's lettuce going to seed in my front yard for them to forage. They chose well, don't you think?
20. Peaceful: SERENE. Def.: (adj.) marked by or suggestive of utter calm and unruffled repose or quietude.
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| That's you ... in the canoe. |
21. Commercial lead-in to "bnb": AIR. This clue feels like a lot of work for something as ubiquitous as AIR. "Commercial" here refers to business as opposed to a TV advertisement.
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| Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people who want to rent out their property with people who are looking for accommodations, typically for short stays. |
24. French fashion initials: YSL.
28. Country singer Loretta: LYNN. (Apr. 14, 1932 - Oct. 4, 1922) Her website says that she is the most awarded lady in Country music.
29. Scotch's partner: SODA. A Scotch & Soda is an alcoholic beverage ... and the first line of this song by the Kingston Trio.
30. Naked: BARE. Here's a clip from a TV show called Naked and Afraid from The Discovery Channel. You can think of it as Survivor on crack. It is now on its 17 season.
33. Stomp on the gas: GUN IT. Let's move on from this one as quickly as possible.
36. Govt. intel org.: NSA. National Security Agency
43. Unnaturally pale: WAN.
44. Construct: ERECT.
46. Root vegetable in Nigerian cuisine: TARO. TARO, aka cocoyam (pronounced "KOH-KOH-YAM"), is a crop cultivated in many regions including Africa and the West Indies / Caribbean. The crop is a staple food in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana. It can be prepared a variety of ways.
48. Lawn tool: RAKE.
55. Work on a quilt: SEW.
58. Wild canine: WOLF.
59. "Dance the Night" singer __ Lipa: DUA.
60. Like some albums: DELUXE. A "deluxe edition" usually means it contains extra content, compared to the standard edition. This is the album cover for 59A's DELUXE edition.
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| (tiny writing at the bottom says "deluxe edition") |
62. Show host: EMCEE. I learned the other day on WWDTM that a British English term for an MC (Master of Ceremonies) is compere.
66. Jump back, say: REACT. This is how it's done:
68. Hatchling's home: NEST. A pair of intrepid birds have built a nest in my hose holder. Needless to say, I will not be using that hose for a while. I know this is not a great picture but I did not want to upset them. The mom is in there. They were well-protected during our recent storms, my dog will keep cats away, plus I have a lot of miner's lettuce going to seed in my front yard for them to forage. They chose well, don't you think?
70. Post-blizzard blanket: SNOW. Cute clue!
71. __ and crafts: ARTS.
Down:
1. Like an overbearing older sibling: BOSSY. Lucy immediately came to mind.
3. Pattern of spirals on a fingerprint: WHORL. You don't hear this one everyday.
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| A fingerprint analyst is a professional scientist who obtains, studies, and analyzes fingerprints as well as palm prints and footprints as part of a crime scene investigation. |
4. Actor Rob of "Parks and Recreation": LOWE. He played Chris Traeger, an intensely cheerful and enthusiastic character.
5. Bug keeper-outer on a window: SCREEN.
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| perhaps an underappreciated moment of brilliance |
7. Noisy, as a crowd: AROAR.
8. Fixed up again: REDID. past tense of "redo"
9. "Yo te __": AMO. Spanish
11. Allowed to roam, as chickens: FREE RANGE.
You can feed your RANCID fruit to your FREE RANGE chickens.
12. Gut bacteria: E. COLI.
13. Heading on a list of actions to avoid: DON'TS.
18. Phonetic term often associated with they/them pronouns: ENBY. It is "phonetic" because it sounds like N-B, as in non-binary. 
12. Gut bacteria: E. COLI.
13. Heading on a list of actions to avoid: DON'TS.
22. Sticky tree secretion: RESIN. I learned on this U.S. Forest Service website that RESIN in hops gives beer its unique aroma and bitter taste.
26. "The Hate U Give" writer Thomas: ANGIE. goodreads link
27. Connect the __: DOTS. The 2018 Guinness World Record is 52,901 dots!
28. Big name in jeans: LEE. Their marketing campaign uses a 'regular guy' approach.
30. Short "While I'm thinking of it ... ": BTW. By The Way....
31. Exclamation of understanding: AHA.
32. Vehicle picked up at an airport, maybe: RENTAL CAR. Good clue! It reminds me of what happened to the rental cars in Hawaii during Covid. Most tourists visiting Hawaii get a rental car. Tourists stopped flying to Hawaii during Covid. Suddenly there was no room to park all the rental cars that would normally be checked out to visitors. The solution was to park them at Aloha Stadium. They filled the parking lot!
34. Golden State sch.: USC. University of Southern California
26. "The Hate U Give" writer Thomas: ANGIE. goodreads link
27. Connect the __: DOTS. The 2018 Guinness World Record is 52,901 dots!
28. Big name in jeans: LEE. Their marketing campaign uses a 'regular guy' approach.
30. Short "While I'm thinking of it ... ": BTW. By The Way....
31. Exclamation of understanding: AHA.
32. Vehicle picked up at an airport, maybe: RENTAL CAR. Good clue! It reminds me of what happened to the rental cars in Hawaii during Covid. Most tourists visiting Hawaii get a rental car. Tourists stopped flying to Hawaii during Covid. Suddenly there was no room to park all the rental cars that would normally be checked out to visitors. The solution was to park them at Aloha Stadium. They filled the parking lot!
34. Golden State sch.: USC. University of Southern California
California has "University of ___" schools and "CSU, ___" schools (e.g., CA State University, San Diego). Both are 4-year degree schools. UC schools operate as residential campuses focusing on research and graduate education. CSU schools, in contrast, tend to enroll more commuter students. The UC system is generally considered more prestigious -- and more expensive.
35. The "N" of TNT: NITRO.
37. "__ Persisted": children's book by Chelsea Clinton: SHE. goodreads link
38. Ga. capital: ATL. Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.
40. Maker of squishy darts: NERF.
41. Humanlike robot: DROID.
35. The "N" of TNT: NITRO.
37. "__ Persisted": children's book by Chelsea Clinton: SHE. goodreads link
38. Ga. capital: ATL. Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.
40. Maker of squishy darts: NERF.
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| super squishy |
For the record, I want our future AI overlords to know that I supported them
by posting this very favorable 1:20 min. video.
42. Anger: IRE.
47. Move emotionally: AFFECT.
49. Composer Lloyd Webber: ANDREW. (b. Mar. 22, 1948) I learned from reading his bio on his website that he has EGOT status. This is Patti LuPone singing With One Look from his musical, Sunset Boulevard. 50. Save: KEEP.
51. Little troublemaker: TWERP.
52. Juliet's partner: ROMEO.
53. Zodiac transition points: CUSPS. These are the days bordering the sun's transition to a new sign. For example, those born between April 17-23 are in the Aires-Taurus CUSP. They are said to be influenced by both the Aires and Taurus zodiac signs.
54. Board game that dropped "The Settlers of" from its name: CATAN. I have blogged this fill before but I still could not remember it. Oof! Perhaps another visual image will help lock it into my cerebral cortex. If not, my neurons will play CAT ANd mouse looking for this name.
55. "Terrific!": SUPER. 
56. Are: EXIST.
57. Swollen marks: WELTS.
61. Name that means "moon": LUNA. If you are around anyone named LUNA while watching the eclipse today, you can say, "Down in front!"
63. UFO pilots: ETS.
65. Back in time: AGO.
47. Move emotionally: AFFECT.
49. Composer Lloyd Webber: ANDREW. (b. Mar. 22, 1948) I learned from reading his bio on his website that he has EGOT status. This is Patti LuPone singing With One Look from his musical, Sunset Boulevard. 50. Save: KEEP.
51. Little troublemaker: TWERP.
52. Juliet's partner: ROMEO.
53. Zodiac transition points: CUSPS. These are the days bordering the sun's transition to a new sign. For example, those born between April 17-23 are in the Aires-Taurus CUSP. They are said to be influenced by both the Aires and Taurus zodiac signs.
54. Board game that dropped "The Settlers of" from its name: CATAN. I have blogged this fill before but I still could not remember it. Oof! Perhaps another visual image will help lock it into my cerebral cortex. If not, my neurons will play CAT ANd mouse looking for this name.
56. Are: EXIST.
57. Swollen marks: WELTS.
61. Name that means "moon": LUNA. If you are around anyone named LUNA while watching the eclipse today, you can say, "Down in front!"
63. UFO pilots: ETS.
65. Back in time: AGO.
"Now in time", we will take a look at the grid: 
See you later!
42 comments:
It took me a minute to “see” the theme, but “eye” eventually did. On the whole, this was a pretty easy puzzle, despite an obscurity or two such as “enby.”
(Which autocorrect wants to make into “envy”, and I don’t blame them!) Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Only needed my trusty Wite-Out to correct SHARP to STARP. Got the eye theme. D-o has deficient (or missing) cones; so does older brother. In fourth grade the teacher held up a poster, "Class, what does this say?" Everyone said COLOR, except for d-o who, like that fifth dentist, said ONION. Very nicely done, Christina and sumdaze.
We'll be leaving shortly for our attempt to reach the zone of totality. It's iffy whether traffic will permit us to get there. It's also iffy whether the clouds will part long enough for us to see it. It all may turn into a big nothing-burger.
Nice explanation of the UC vs the CSU systems. However, my alma mater in the CSU system, is properly named San Diego State Univerity, as is Sonoma State University. All other campuses are CSU at ....
I enjoyed both the puzzle and the review. Alas, no eclipse near me!
Good Morning:
I solved this puzzle last night and had no idea what the theme was. I revisited it this morning and, after several minutes, I finally saw the Rod, Iris, Cone, Pupil connection. To be baffled by such an obvious theme and on a Monday, to boot, is not only embarrassing, but unsettling. That said, I thought Christina gave us a nice, clean grid and a well-executed theme. Angie was the only unknown and although Enby needed perps, I remember it from previous puzzles.
Thanks, Christina, and thanks, sumdaze, for the informative and entertaining review. Enjoyed all of the visuals, especially the building of Rome and the acrobatic kitty. Oh, and the beautiful Iris display, also.
Belated congrats to Bill on your debut crossword collaboration with C.C. That theme escaped me, as well, requiring a search, but I enjoyed the solve nonetheless.
Have a great day.
FIR, getting my WAG @ DUA x CATAN. build->ERECT, rowe->LOWE, and cal->USC.
Today is:
NATIONAL ZOO LOVERS DAY (the zoos I’ve been to have been great. San Diego is probably my favorite, but I haven’t been to those in Columbus or Tampa)
NATIONAL EMPANADA DAY (kinda seems like a Mexican pot pie)
I was going to make a crack about THE END IS IN SIGHT, but some things are just too easy. Some can't be unseen.
Almost There was sung by Andy Williams in the movie I'd Rather Be Rich. I wonder if Patti ever thinks I'd Rather Be Rich when we gripe about her editorship.
My favorite name in the California college system is Cal State Northridge - AKA C-SUN. Van Nuys Airport is one of the busiest in the world, and it is just south of CSUN. It doesn't have scheduled airline service, just all those private planes. (It was the home base for Kenny Rogers' airplane, the only four-engine private jet I've ever seen.) Anyway, when you contact the approach traffic controller, he gives you a vector and tells you to call back over CSUN. I've never heard anyone ask "what's a SeeSUN," so nearly all the traffic must be repeats.
I hate to second-guess the brilliant statmasters at ESPN, but their statistical analysis of the original 66 teams in March Madness excluded UConn. I LIU, and UConn meets all of the criteria ESPN listed. So history won't be made tonight, at least on that front. (My niece and nephew graduated form Purdue, so I guess I'll cheer for them.)
FIR. This was an easy solve with few proper names to spoil it. The theme was clever, but I only saw it when the grid was filled. And then the aha moment happened.
The only mystery for me was enby? I had to come here to get it explained to me. I guess, thankfully, I'm not woke enough for this pronoun stuff.
Took 5:46 today for me to see the light.
Not my favorite puzzle, but I knew today's Spanish lesson (Amo).
[From yesterday, I didn't say that banc was Spanish.]
I've never heard of "enby" before and hope not to hear it again. I didn't know today's writer (Angie) or the "bearded iris."
"Ga." seemed off to me; I guess I only associate the postal abbreviations (GA) with the states' names.
I am in the "Path of Totality", so hopefully the clouds cooperate.
Fun theme by Christina that I picked up before the theme reveal answer with the ROD and IRIS- it helped speed along solving the other theme related answers
SD had a lot of fun links and cartoons, however the explanation after USC applied to the state schools in CA and not to University of Southern California which is a private school. We used to call it University of Spoiled Children or Second Choice ;)
Not exactly the usual quick Monday romp. Had some blanks that needed perp-aid heading from north to south. The theme, though remained a head scratcher. Clever and timely I get de-cataracted in a month 👀
No idea what CATAN is but pops up as an occasional CW visitor thus now easier fill. ENBY? gnu to me and LAT but based on SD’s list I should be expanding my CW venues.
Inkovers: build/ERECT,
SHOWERring one letter too long
Actually compared to “Wrangler, ” LEE is a “little” name in Jeans. RESIN, not rosin (if you put RESiN on your violin bow it’ll stick to the strings 🎻 😖 (Yikes when I looked it up stumbled on a discussion of the cannabis concentration in both substances.)
It’ll make you cry but not BAWL….ONEON
Give peace a chance, _____ ….get you nowhere……WHORL
Do the all the scenes over…. REACT
To stop them barking make sure the dogs____ ….. ARFED
”Lady” attraction at a sideshow maybe…. BEARDED IRIS
Later today LUNA will devour Sol
🌔🌒🌑. Our local specialty repurposed for the heavenly event, have been flying off the shelves
With apologies to Carly Simon:
🎶. “Well I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won aaaaand
To see the 97.8 % total eclipse of the sun”
the end is in sight?
are you sure this is a good thing?
Oh well, might as well rejoice...
Good Morning. I sailed through most of the puzzle until I got to the SE. DELUXE was slow to come together, but when EXIST filled I had it. The other crunch was DUA crossing the unknown CATAN and ENBY was all perps. I never saw it.
I noted S-OAR crossing OAR and AR-OAR.
Thanks, Christine for the puzzle, and sumdaze for great toons and tunes today!
A tougher than usual Monday puzzle today, at least for me. Did I notice THE END IS IN SIGHT? No. If the reveal is not at the bottom of a puzzle I skip that area until the rest of the puzzle is done.
CATAN, ANGIE, SHE, DELUXE- didn't really know them.
ENBY- never heard of it and really don't know or care what 'non-binary' is supposed to mean.
DW was astonished I'd never heard the song. My scotch is with H2O, not SODA. When she would say "scotch & soda, jigger of gin" when somebody poured a drink I was clueless.
BARE or NUDE? CIA or NSA? I'VE or SHE Persisted? Waited for a perp.
DUA Lipa- only know from doing puzzles. Becoming a standard fill to go with ORR, OTT, ISSA, and a few others. Not many JAI ALAI fills have show up lately.
Easy, except I failed with one Natick cell, the A in DUA and CATAN. I don't remember hearing of either one. I didn't look for the theme. The end words would have signaled EYE.
As I said on Friday, I hate being too intimidated to use certain words. I like AROAR, finding it more colorful than ROARING, but I hesitate to use it. Jinx, referring to Friday's comments, if I read that speech I never would have picked out, "I trust that you have perceived the analog," as being over the top. As for pronunciation, in many, but not all cases, I read that variations are fully acceptable, for instance, VASE can be pronounced rhyming with base of haze, or even VAHZ. We seem to think the grammar and pronunciations we are familiar with are the only correct usages.
The iris is my favorite flower. The beautiful Presby Iris Gardens in North Jersey has many varieties of irises, including the bearded iris.
I know NB but never have seen it spelled enby.
The postal abbreviation, GA means Georgia, whose capital is Atlanta, ATL.
CED, love your cartoons.
FIR. Thanks Sumdaze for that diagram of the eye, I didn’t know I had a rod there and I had my one-year post cataract surgery visit Friday. The doc never referred to my eye rod. LOL.
The few unknowns filled thanks to perps and WAGS like CATAN and ENBY. “Yo te____ “ looked so weird out there by itself, I thought it was some kind of unknown slang, then it hit me, oh! It’s Spanish.
The theme long answer is a little scary.
Good luck to those of you who are in the path of the eclipse. Here not only we won’t get the TOTAL eclipse, it’ll be cloudy, so no viewing.
Thanks for commenting, everyone!
I hope the clouds part in time for you to view the eclipse.
Musings
-No EYE references for me, Sumdaze had some great ones. Bonnie Tyler and “Down in front” today? Great!
-Name that poet - SERENE: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you
-At first, I couldn’t remember if The Coal Miner’s Daughter had an “I” or a “Y” in her last name
-REELS in theaters are going the way of the wall phone
-There’s an old golf joke whose punch line is, “I stepped on a RAKE”
-I looked up to see of Ms.LIPA’s lyric rose above obscenities and violence. Nope!
-Will I ever be in this ENBY exchange: “Is Johnny Smith in your room?” “No, they went to the bathroom.”
-Should 77-year-old men wear skinny jeans? I’m asking for a friend.
-Uber drivers can now use RENTAL CAR companies
-Jinx, The Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha is one of the world’s best
Hola!
I don't have time to read comments. It's volunteer Monday and I have to go soon.
The puzzle was an easy romp. Thank you, Christina Iverson!
CSO to our LUNA! I'm sure she misses her grandmother, my late niece, Regina.
Not E-COLI but MERSA is what the nephew of my friend has. UGLY! They had to cut one of his hands and likely more to follow.
CSO to my cousin, ANGIE. If there is a name in the puzzle the chances are high I have a relative by that name! Yes, my late great-uncle, ANDREW.
Time to go. Have a marvelous Monday, everyone! If you are in the path of totality, be careful!
FIR in 2 ticks over 10, about par for a Monday. I failed to suss the theme though so I was only half successful. DNK CONEs and RODs were ocular parts till I saw the diagram of an eye, a truly amazing organ! I’ve never referred to a SHOWER ROD, I would call it a curtain rod no matter where it is. Thank you Christina for easing us into the CW week!
sumdaze ~ another delightful rundown today, you certainly have a knack for finding appropriate graphics, cartoons and videos to go along with your expo!
Husker G ~ I know of the preceding line of the golf joke, I’ve seen it on tee shirts 😂. Speaking of golf, I don’t wanna brag but I will. Shot the best round of my life yesterday, even par 72 which included three birdies and an eagle, double bogey free. Not sure how cuz my last two scores on the same course were 84 and 86. Almost shot my age, 2 off.
ENBY was the only unknown, so I FIR in good time. I love Monday CW, and especially loved this one because it had so few names. AND I saw the theme. I had cataract surgery last Nov. 16. A week later I had the retina detach in my right eye. This was followed by two eye surgeries, another retinal detachment, two more surgeries...the eye is still not good. See that diagram of the eye? Notice the fovea is in a small depression? Not my eye. Thus not only is the vision blurry, but straight lines are wavy. Meanwhile, not to be left out, the LEFT eye has had the vitreous humor detach, leaving a membrane floating around in the eye, screwing up vision in THAT eye. I am told the membrane will eventually break up and gradually be eliminated by the eye, though it may take a year or more. The fovea in the right eye, I am told, cannot be fixed surgically, and I can only hope it won't get worse. Oy. Oh, the CW: Thanx CI, I really enjoyed your CW. And Sumdaze, your write-ups are always a delight, thanx for your efforts.
I don’t buy LEE jeans because the rise is too short. If an underweight fella like me, who does NOT have a “dad bod,” has too large a bottom for your jeans, then who, besides stereotypical plumbers, are your customers in this overweight nation?
Re the UC/CSU discussion: A lot of the CSU schools other than San Diego State are known better by their city names, including San Jose State and Long Beach State. Meanwhile, UC-Berkeley (where I sang Saturday) is trying to address a branding problem. Sports fans know it as “Cal,” and others know it, more academically, as “Berkeley,” but marketers are finding that too few people know it as both. Solution: It’s the flagship school in the UC system and the only with the right to be simply “California.”
I miss ATLanta Granny.
“Awarded” is only a verb, not an adjective or adverb, despite what TV ads may be telling you by claiming their product is “the most awarded.” They use “awarded” incorrectly because time is money in an ad. It’s difficult to convey “has won the most awards” in less than three or four seconds, so they take an ungrammatical shortcut to keep the ad at 15 seconds. Whether that excuse is acceptable is questionable at best.
Copy Editor-
"Whether that excuse is acceptable is questionable at best."
They pay the money; they make the rules. Ad time on TV isn't cheap and the message is not about correct grammar, it's about selling goods and services.
Remember Apple's "Think Different"? Yeah, they were 'different', selling overpriced PCs and peripherals that had 'different' operating systems that were made for them by Microsoft.
Copy E @ 11:58
My beef is with commercials for alternative drugs where actors rave about how their (fill in the blank) was eliminated followed by the disclaimer: “This product has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” ” Spoken faster than the speed of sound so no one can understand and repudiates what the actors just claimed.
U.Fred, so sorry to read your eye update. Surgery screwed up my eyes, or at least the left one, but it was a poor decision on my part. I had radial keratometry surgery solely because it was supposed to remove the need for my coke bottle glasses or contacts. It worked on my right eye, but after the first try my left eye was still weak. The doc said he intentionally undercorrected my left eye, because it was such a large correction. he did it again, and it was better but still weak. The third time wasn't a charm, and that eye now has so much astigmatism that it can't be corrected by glasses or soft contacts.
Phil, congratulations on your fine round. Now you know what you are capable of. And as I'm sure you know, handicaps are weighted heavily toward your best rounds, so you are now ruined for handicap-based tournaments. I once shot a 38 in GTE's 9-hole league, (having bogied both par 3s) and was never competitive in that league again.
H.Gary, there are several zoos I want to tour. Can't do it with DW's lack of attention span, but I'm sorta starting the sad process of planning life without her.
Yellowrocks, eschew obfuscation.
Forgot to thank sumdaze for another of her amazing commentaries. So, thanks.
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks for starting our week with such a neat gift, Christina. And your commentary is always a treat, Sumdaze, thanks for that too.
ROMEO has been showing up a lot in puzzles lately--no, problem, a little romance is always a pleasure. Lots of different emotions today too--with spirits that SOAR,and tempers that are SERENE, and kind folks who CARE, and folks who stay ERECT and don't REEL, but sometime REACT.
Have a great week coming up, everybody.
Big Easy, remember the days when cigarettes were advertised on TV? Winston's slogan was "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." They had a follow-up ad with a snobby-sounding actor saying it should be "AS a cigarette should," followed by "what do you want, good grammar or good taste?" Someone gave my dad, who went by Archie and was a big fan of All in the Family, a coffee cup declaring "what do you want - bad grammar or bad taste - get both with ARCHIE!" It became his favorite mug.
Zip, zip, done. Theme? Dang! Knew I forgot something. Thanks, Sumdaze, and thanks for the Kingston Trio. Mud in your eye! ENBE? Wha'?
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Christina and sumdaze.
I FIRed in good time and saw the EYE theme. Very appropriate to this eclipse day (along with LUNA and perhaps TRAFFIC - and no BARE eyes).
(At first, I thought we had a morning routine theme with SHOWER and BEARD.)
This Canadian waited for perps for the California University initials.
ANGIE perped, but I have learned DUA.
I thought 9D starting with “yo” might be a new slang phrase. Spanish perped LOL.
But I did need sumdaze to explain ENBY.
I thought of Pylon, but it was a CONE.
PORTS brought Baltimore to my mind.
We have tickets to see ROMEO and Juliet at Stratford (Ontario) on our anniversary in June.
I noted SOAR crossing OAR and AROAR! (Rose beat me to it)
Ray’o @12:37- Canada does not allow commercials for prescription drugs. I am always amazed when I hear those American ads - and then a list of side effects that would make you wonder why anyone would want to take that drug!
Wishing you all a great day.
We are in the path of totality but have been cloudy all morning. But the sun is starting to peek out, and weather report has “a mix of sun and clouds” for the next few hours. Fingers crossed for a good view of the eclipse from our backyard.
Today we had a smaller than usual counting team but we finished earlier! I'm not sure what that means because our total was close to the usual amount. Lately, there is a lot more loose cash which likely means visitors. Many, I mean thousands of people, are here for spring training and a lot of other activities that are happening here. Even my friend, Mark, has relatives visiting from Indiana. Luckily, the weather is perfect. Right now it's 67 degrees and will likely reach 75. Oops. It looks like the eclipse might be starting.
I object a lot less to poor grammar in ads than I do to seeing those grammar offenders creep into print, including The Corner. Grammar is fluid and it changes over time, but some things are just wrong.
Well that’s over. We had on and off clouds during the approach to totality but cloudy during and after. Dark enough for solar lights to come on.
Anyway the world didn’t end so unfortunately I’ll still hafta show up for my colonoscopy tomorrow morning.
😖
Ray, I'm so sorry about that but hopefully you will get a clean bill of health!
Thanks to sumdaze for explaining the theme, which I didn't understand until reading it.
Things about this puzzle I liked:
The clue and answer Scotch's partner: SODA.
The words BOSSY, WHORL, RANCID, and WELTS.
What I did not like:
ARFED (I darn near BARFED when it filled).
ENBY.
SCOT --> CELT. NUDE --> BARE. BUILD --> ERECT.
Good wishes to you all.
Thank you Christiana for an eye opening start to the week.
And thank you sumdaze showing us how all the parts of the puzzle fit together.
Some favs:
66A REACT. That's one KRAZY KAT!
68A NEST. Looks like a great place to hang out.
69A DELUXE. Do you pay extra for the tiny print at the bottom of the cover?
69A PORTS. Ours is not doing too well at the moment, but people and organizations from the Presidency on down are pitching in to repair the damage from the Key Bridge collapse; to remember those who died in this tragic accident; and to support their loved ones. The latest I'm hearing is that the port will be open by the end of May.
11D FREE RANGE. Foxes love them!
27D. DOTS. Most interesting bling.
37D SHE. SHE Persisted turns out to be the start of a whole series of children's books for "persistent" girls/women. I just one-clicked this on for my grandson, who is studying Harriet Tubman in home school. We recently took him to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, which has an entire exhibition devoted to role that the B&O played in supporting the Underground Railroad
55D SUPER. SUPER cartoon!
Cheers,
Bill
Ray - O @ It's probably too late to weasel out of your colonoscopy, but men "of a certain age" can substitute what's generically called an "occult blood stool test" to screen for colon cancer. Here's a non-invasive commercial kit called Cologuard created for that purpose.
Ray, I hope you get through the hole process uneventfully. (Sorry Copy Editor, I left out the "w" in hole, and I had already pressed preview and couldn't change it.)
Bill, they keep sending me those kits, but on the package it says they aren't for high risk patients. Having found polyps in previous exams, I'm now on a five-year instead of 10-year schedule to drink snot.
Exercise your brain as well as your body.
Carol Dweck says, "....contrary to the belief that a person is born either smart, average, or dumb, instead the brain is more like a muscle, it changes and get stronger when you use it." Be a logophile. Eschew calling learning moments obfuscation. We need to be life long learners to keep our brains functioning well as we age.
Musings
-Brag away, Yooper! Very impressive. If we ever play, remind me to leave my checkbook at home.
-My game is coming along this year after a few modifications I have made but I'm still about a 14 handicap on 18 holes. I'm just making better mistakes and not losing any golf balls!
I have had precancerous adenomas removed and can’t rely on Cologuard either plus family history. Having an upper endoscopy same time, I guess when they see each other they’re done
Monday is my duplicate bridge day, so I am just getting finished with the puzzle. It seemed to be reasonably clever and Monday-appropriate.
I agree with those who complained about mistakes in grammar. I need to weigh in on one we can blame less on advertisers than on Hollywood. Ever since "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" came out, people don't seem to know the difference between the simple past tense and the past participle.
Yesterday I shrank the kids; often I have shrunk them. Shrink-shrank-shrunk, or drink-drank-drunk, or sink-sank-sunk, and many others.
Ray-O @ 12;37 -- I once heard a pharmaceutical ad that listed the possible side effects of some wondrous and unpronouncably named drug -- all faster than the speed of sound -- " ..., halitosis, dandruff, cooties, beri=beri, trichinosis, ... or death." (At least they were honest , because we are all experimental laboratory subjects.)
Also home to the Playboy private jet. Presidents and veeps fly in and out as well.
Pharmaceuticals sell their drugs to MDs the same way. Remeber the book "How To Lie With Statistics"!
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