ALMOST HEAVEN
After he retired my father built a small home on a mountain top in West Virginia. We made many visits to it, then my mother had to sell it. But one of sister's children bought it recently so it's back in the family. And it was, and still is "Almost Heaven", a space where we can go and be at peace in a world with a starlit sky in the night, forests as far as the eye could see, meadows in the valleys, and a bucolic town with a yearly Apple Butter festival in the town below.
Today's constructor Rebecca Goldstein challenges us with 3 theme clues that re-imagine our world as a safe space where all people are free from bias, discrimination, and hatred -- a noble ideal ...
20. Mindset that may hinder growth: COMFORT ZONE. A COMFORT ZONE is a familiar psychological state where people are at ease and (perceive they are) in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress. But the clue hints that there is built-in tension -- that it can also hinder growth, and so it requires some careful navigation to maintain it ...
27. Mental image during meditation: HAPPY PLACE. Here is the visual image of the sound OM used in some forms of meditation ...
 |
| Bon Secours Peace Garden |
And the reveal ...
29. Bias-free environments, or what 20-Across and 27- and 35-Down are: SAFE SPACES.
Something we all wish for. And each of us has a different path toward them.
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Data depiction: GRAPH. With the advent of low-cost graphics tools such as the PC, it became very easy to create GRAPHS tailored to specific needs.
6. Mouth piece?: JAW. AKA the mandible -- the opposing piece is the maxilla ...
14. Diet that precludes grains and dairy: PALEO.
15. Charlottesville sch.: UVA.
16. Animal wearing red pajamas in Anna Dewdney kids books: LLAMA. I guess that's a better clue than "Camelid who'll spit in your eye!" -- and they have a great after-market --
 |
18. "A Life Outdoors Is a Life Well Lived" co.: REI. Lately this co. has spent a lot of time living in crossword puzzles.
19. Get greasy: OIL UP.
20. [Theme clue].
23. Quick burn: SEAR.
24. "Me too": SAME.
25. Deep rift: SCHISM. Not a safe space for groups who experience one.
28. Plant used as an herbal medicine: HYSSOP. A member of the mint family. Here's what Britannica has to say about HYSSOP. Here's what WebMD has to say about it. It's certainly a pretty plant ...
 |
| Anise Hyssop |
33. Getting a grip, maybe: SEIZING.
Also an archaic nautical term referring to a length of rope.
37. "It's __-win situation": A NO.
38. Slip in judgment: LAPSE.
40. "Jeopardy!" host Jennings: KEN. No not Barbie's BFF.
41. Getting hungry, probably: UNFED. If prolonged it's not safe, especially for children -- see for example last Thursday's puzzle.
43. Uses a keyboard: TYPES.
44. Come to a close: END.
45. Slips through the cracks?: SEEPS. Our basement laundry room SEEPS water and it looks like we'll have to hire a contractor to stop it.
46. Spanish "Hey!": OYE.
47. Field where things disappear?: MAGIC.
49. NNW opposite: SSE.
50. European range: ALPS.
51. "August: __ County": Streep film: OSAGE. August: Osage County is a 2013 American tragicomedy film starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, and Misty Upham as a dysfunctional family that reunites at the familial house when their patriarch (Sam Shepard) suddenly disappears. Looks like a comedy in a dysfunctional sort of way...
54. Actress Gadot: GAL. Gal Gadot Varsano born 30 April 1985, is an Israeli actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Israel 2004 and represented her country at the Miss Universe 2004 pageant. She then served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years as a combat fitness instructor, after which she began studying drama, while building her modeling and acting careers. Her first international film performance was as Gisele Yashar in Fast & Furious (2009), a part she reprised in several sequels. Gadot achieved global stardom for her portrayal of Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe films (2016–2023) and the mystery film Death on the Nile (2022).
 |
| Gal Gadot |
57. Skilled sort: ACE.
58. Let up: ABATE.
60. Pretty strange: ODD. IMHO all of "reality"is pretty ODD.
61. Chops in the kitchen: DICES. As the family sous chef, I do a lot of this.
63. Likely to speak out: VOCAL.
64. "Say Yes to Heaven" singer Lana Del __: REY. Good advice ...
65. Goddess of peace: IRENE. Eirene or IRENE, is one of the Horae, the personification and goddess of peace in Greek mythology and ancient religion. She was depicted in art as a beautiful young woman carrying a cornucopia, sceptre, and a torch or rhyton. She is usually said to be the daughter of Zeus and Themisa. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess PAX. She could almost be a fourth themer. This also brings to mind a song by Huddie Ledbetter made popular by The Weavers ...
... although a careful listen to the lyrics tells us that Huddie and Irene didn't part very peacefully
66. Put forth: EXERT.
67. Chemistry suffix indicating a double bond: ENE. In chemistry, a double bond is a covalent bond between two atoms involving four bonding electrons as opposed to two in a single bond. Double bonds occur most commonly between two carbon atoms, for example in ALKENES. Double bonds can form between other elements and may not be designated with the ENE suffix ...
 |
| Chemical compounds with double bonds |
68. Exams: TESTS.
Down:
1. Waze tech: GPS. Waze Mobile Ltd, formerly FreeMap Israel, is a subsidiary company of Google that provides satellite navigation software on smartphones and other computers that support the Global Positioning System (GPS). In addition to turn-by-turn navigation, it incorporates user-submitted travel times and route details while downloading location-dependent information over a cellular network. Waze describes its application as a community-driven initiative that is free to download and use.
3. Smart __: ALEC.
4. Speaker emerita Nancy: PELOSI. Nancy Patricia Pelosi (born in Baltimore on March 26, 1940) is an American politician who served as the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. She was the first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, leading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. A member of the House since 1987, Pelosi currently represents California's 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco.
 |
| Nancy Pelosi |
6. Peer at a trial: JUROR.
7. State firmly: AVER.
8. Counts down the minutes, maybe: WAITS.
9. Member of the blue man group?: GLOOMY GUS. Here's the poster child for the species from the Hundred Acre Wood ..
10. Dresses that twirl: A LINES. This one was made from a tablecloth ...
12. Outback bird: EMU.
13. Softy: SAP.
21. Notoriety: FAME. All of the notorious are famous, but not all of the famous are notorious.
22. Investigative journalist Paula: ZAHN. Paula Ann Zahn (born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series On the Case with Paula Zahn on the Investigation Discovery channel.
 |
| Paula Zahn |
 |
| Nile River Delta |
29. [Theme reveal].
30. Latte order specification: ONE PERCENT.
31. Dishwasher detergent units: PODS. Kids do the darnedest things -- between 2012 and 2013, poison control centers reported over 7,000 cases of young children eating laundry pods, and ingestion of laundry pods produced by P&G had resulted in six deaths by 2017. In response to the dangers, P&G changed Tide Pod containers to an opaque design, introduced warning labels, and added a bitter-tasting chemical to the pod contents ...
.jpg) |
| Original Packaging Aren't they colorful! |
36. Need for some denim jeans: INDIGO DYE. Indigo is a pigment extracted from the leaves of indigo-bearing plants and is the oldest natural source of blue dye in the world. Humans have used indigo to dye natural fibers for thousands of years, with traditions spanning continents and cultures. GLOOMY GUS would love this stuff ...!
 |
| "Indigo vat" used for dyeing |
42. Loch with a legend: NESS.
47. "Me, mon ami?": MOI. Some good advice to solvers from a famous Belgian solver ...
50. Tequila plant: AGAVE.
53. Approvals: YESES. OKAYS fit as well
55. Suspenders alternative: BELT. Probably the most famous belt in the Universe is in the constellation Orion:
_Art.svg.png)
56. Exchange a few words, say: EDIT. I exchanged a few words to create this review.
59. Roof sealant: TAR.
62. Fury: IRE. From the Latin word for "wrath". The DIES IRAE ("Day of Wrath") is a Latin hymn from the Requiem Mass for the Dead. The setting in Verdi's Requiem left us with the best expression of FURY that I know. Here it is performed by the Metropolitan Opera on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 ...
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
With so many long “down” answers, I wondered if there was more to this puzzle than I was seeing, but apparently not. Anyway, it’s a very “happy” puzzle, and I was happy to solve it. You know what I (almost) always say: “FIR, so I’m happy.”
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDelete1a. wasn't CHART (Have I ever mentioned...?) and 6a. wasn't LIP. Not an auspicious start. But everything came together. Yay. Thanx, Rebecca, waseeley, and Teri.
"Goodnight IRENE": As a young child my bedroom was right on Main Street at the main downtown intersection in our little town. One of my early memories is falling asleep to the strains of Goodnight Irene from the jukebox in Slim's Bar across the street.
I'm familiar with rope SEIZING, but it wasn't a "length," it looked like this.
ReplyDeleteI managed to FIR with a guessed P for SPELT & RAP. No idea about SPELT and guess RAP has something to do with a seance. HYSSOP- 100% perps; not a clue about that fill.
ReplyDeleteSAFE SPACES makes me think about people who try to hide so they don't have to face reality.
I never had a CRAYOLA BOX with a sharpener. Just peel off a little paper until you get to the very end.
Here's DAB's bi-weekly puzzle 300-cccentering, about which he has this to say ...
ReplyDeleteThree hundred! It’s an important number. There are three hundred days in the year, if you don’t count the other sixty-five or so. There were three hundred Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. Three hundred years ago today, J.S. Bach’s St. John’s Passion had its debut. In 300 A.D., Micheon (as Wikipedia informs us) became the ruler of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, and Li Shou, future emperor of the Cheng Han dynasty, was born. And so today, in honor of Li Shou, and Micheon, and St. John, and J.S. Bach, and all those fearless Spartans, I post my 300th crossword.
Re DAB's reference to Bach's St. John's Passion, I'm currently reading a fictional biography of Bach called The Great Passion by James Runcie (who wrote the books behind the Grantchester mystery series). It paints a vivid picture of Bach's life in Leipzig and culminates with the composition of the St. Matthew Passion. Highly recommended.
D-O @5:52 AM That looks to me like a cross between "whipping" and "splicing"
FIR without erasure, getting my WAG @ SPELT x RAP.
ReplyDeleteToday is:
NATIONAL SUBMARINE DAY (the Navy purchased the USS Holland (SS-1) on April 11, 1900)
NATIONAL BARBERSHOP QUARTET DAY (wonder if any actual barbers participate these days)
NATIONAL EIGHT TRACK TAPE DAY (as the great Billy Joel asked, “Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile?”)
NATIONAL ALCOHOL SCREENING DAY (man alive, I’m gonna CRUSH this screening process)
NATIONAL CHEESE FONDUE DAY (heaven to eat, hell to clean up)
NATIONAL PET DAY (is there anything better than giving your dog a brisk belly rub?)
NATIONAL LIVING DONOR DAY (I think I’ll keep my stuff while I’m alive, thank you very much. But at death, the late, great John Prine sang: “Throw my brain in a hurricane and the blind can have my eyes, And the deaf can take both of my ears, if they don't mind the size. Give my stomach to Milwaukee if they run out of beer, Put my socks in a cedar box, just get 'em out of here, Venus de Milo can have my arms, look out, I've got your nose, Sell my heart to the junkman and give my love to Rose, Give my feet to the footloose, careless, fancy free, Give my knees to the needy, don't pull that stuff on me, Hand me down my walking cane, it's a sin to tell a lie, Send my mouth way down south and kiss my ass goodbye”)
Never heard of HYSSOP, but I know what a sysop is.
Hand up for knowing that SEIZING was the small stuff at the end of a rope (actually, "line" in nautical-speak) that keeps the end from fraying. AKA "whipping." Not sure I'm buying "length." (In nautical terms, "rope" is usually made of wire.)
I've mostly heard HOT MESSES used to refer to people who are complete disasters. Usually found in SAFE SPACES.
I don't understand why RAP = "future genre." Is it a song title, or maybe another made-up name for a RAP performer?
Thanks to Rebecca for the fun. My favorite was "exchange a few words" for EDIT. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fine review. In addition to the CSO at SPELT, I liked the chart at the top. Interesting that the SAFE ZONE is far removed from the learning zone. Maybe we should send copies of that chart to current college leaders.
Bill, "whipping" and "seizing" are synonyms to a (crossword favorite) tar.
ReplyDeleteThis was a smooth solve for a Thursday - I was wondering if the configuration of the theme answers were supposed to be in the shape of a shrine or temple that someone might take refuge in or go to meditate in like a zen garden
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsukushima_Shrine#:~:text=The%20Itsukushima%20shrine%20is%20one,forests%2C%20and%20its%20ocean%20view.
Like D-O I had lip before JAW as the JAW is not technically a part of the mouth
HYSSOP has several mentions in the Bible - both for cleansing rituals and the vinegar on the sponge was given to Jesus on a stalk of HYSSOP
I was disappointed in "August: OSAGE County: as a movie. All these great actors in it- but it was so depressing and there weren't any redeeming qualities of any of the characters - you just wanted them all to go away
Thanks Bill & Teri for the fun and informative blog and to Rebecca for the puzzle.
Bill - your posting of the John Denver song "Country Roads" reminded me of a friend who was from Virginia - he would always say it was Heaven because the song lyrics said "ALMOST Heaven, WEST Virginia"
FIR. Took a WAG at the crossing of spelt and rap. And hyssop was a learning moment for me especially since I couldn't remember how to spell Zahn.
ReplyDeleteTook a while for me to see the theme, but when comfort zone filled in, aha!
Good Thursday puzzle, difficult but very doable.
Took 6:05 today for me to find my inner peace.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't a bank be considered a "safe space"?
"Future" is the name of a rapper.
"Hyssop" was completely unknown to me, and likely will be in an hour.
I knew today's actress (Gal) and today's French lesson. I did not know the journalist.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteAside from the themers, this puzzle had a lot of interesting fill and an unusual grid layout, to my eyes, anyway. Hyssops and Oye needed perps, but Paleo and Llama were easy WAGs. Crayola Box, IKEA Store, and Indigo Dye are pretty generic terms, if not actual green paint, IMO, but Hot Messes, Gloomy Gus, One Percent, and the themers were strong, solid phrases. The cluing was clever, particularly Member of the blue man group=Gloomy Gus and Exchange a few words=Edit. The theme was well-hidden until the reveal, not unusual for a predominantly vertical theme.
Thanks, Rebecca, for a challenging and enjoyable solve and thanks, Bill and Teri, for explaining and illustrating the varied topics. The IKEA and Eeyore cartoons were my favorites. Quite a contrast between John Denver and Verdi!
Have a great day.
Nina @7:48 AM Thanks for mentioning HYSSOP in the context of Christ on the cross. I think I'd intended to mention that, but never found a ROUND TOIT.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @8:30 AM Thanx for pointing out that "Future" was a RAPPER. It perped but I didn't know what to say, and as my Mother always said "If you can't say something nice ...". 😀
Thanks for the John Denver song, "Almost Heaven," one of my favorites. My sibs and I have rented a housekeeping cabin together in all of the WV state parks for more than 30 years. What tranquil vacations with beautiful scenery and great day trips. I loved eating on the porch by a babbling brook and seeing my family for a whole week. In surely miss it. Being in my 80's, I don't drive that far these days.
ReplyDeleteI liked seeing the comfort zone chart again after all these years. I welcome the clues and fill that take me out of my comfort zone. That's is how we learn. As I taught I always started in the students' comfort zone with what they already knew and then expanded it bit by bit.
My jaws are a dentist's nightmare with a narrow bite. Servicing my teeth is like building a ship in a bottle. My parents couldn't afford orthodontics. The crowding is causing more and more trouble after all these years.
Meryl Streep is one of my favorite actresses.
I, too, thought of hyssop being in the Old and New Testament. "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean." Psalm 51.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I am subbing today and school has always been my HAPPY PLACE and COMFORT ZONE
-C.C. got me out of my COMFORT ZONE when she asked me to take on blogging the Saturday puzzles
-A sand trap has sand and a rake but is hardly a ZEN GARDEN
-Excel calls GRAPHS charts
-Yes, inanehiker, John 19:29, "A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of HYSSOP (ὑσσώπῳ) and held it to his mouth."
-My first thought on a 3-letter Jeopardy host is the original host ART Fleming. He and Alex were much better than KEN.
-Having a BIT ROLE is a step up from being a villager or spear carrier
-The scent of CRAYOLAS takes me back to grade school instantly
-I bought two pairs of Levis yesterday and the amount of DYE varies greatly among the styles
-I searched for Future’s lyrics wondering if I had found a rapper whose lyrics weren’t obscene. My search continues.
There was much to like about this puzzle. I was impressed by the grid layout, for one thing. There were descending back-to-back 10-letter answers on both the right and left sides of the puzzle. And in the middle we were treated to three descending 9-letter answers hugging each other. Well done, Rebecca and Patti!
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of cleverness was placing my name dead center. OK, I'll share it with Jennings.
Anyway, there is considerable hugging going on out there, which aptly fits with the puzzle's soothing theme.
The solving of the puzzle itself for me wasn't quite as comfortable, although I did manage to FIR. The NW gave me fits, with 1D, 2D, and 17A all Naticked together. But Nancy Pelosi and others came riding to the rescue.
7D provided the age-old battle between AVER and AVOW. Sometimes I think we see as much of them as OREO. Or EMU. Thank you, Rebecca/Patti, for providing helpful perps near HYSSOP, INDIGODYE, REY, and GAL.
A personal note on today's theme: even though I am a Californian now, I grew up back East, and my Happy Place is Ocean City, N.J. Our summer home there was a block from the beach, and we would go to sleep with our windows open and the sound of waves breaking.
Inane hiker @7:48
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention that hyssop was in the Psalms “Cleanse my with hyssop, and I shall be white as snow” says David.But I was afraid of being considered too “religious.” Thank you for being courageous where I was cowardly!
DNF because of the p I couldn’t come with. Nice to know that Future is the name of a rapper.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know REI and ZAHN either but perps helped. Indeed interesting puzzle with clever and fresh cluing like EDIT and GLOOMY GUS.
Waseely thanks for informative review.
ReplyDeleteNot bad for Thor’s day. Sped thru kinda quick with only a few road bumps
Inkovers: skirts/ALINES. A bud in school told me his mother was showing his father her new “ALINE” dress. His reply “Why did you buy an airline dress?”
SPELT “HYSSOP” with an “I” screwing up the NE for a bit
Didn’t the cavemen and women eat grains? Spinkle some on their salads before their medium-well mastodon steak entrées after a long day of cave painting?
How is RAP a future genre?
I hear a lotta folks under 40 using the term HOTMESS lately.
I broke a commandment as a kid coveting my neighbors’ multi-tiered CRAYOLA BOX with a sharpener. Mine was never bigger than two rows 🥹 (anyone under 40 would have no idea what I’m talking about)
More free advertising for the IKEA STORE
BIT part yes, BIT ROLE? nope
I learnt about SPELT and REI from CWs …Avow/AVER only the perps ever know for sure
Where cats ‘n’ kids like to sit…..LAPSE
Yiddish “Alas”…..OYE
What a busboy might find in a bread basket…… BITROLE
What Rachael Ray does to salads…..OILUP
Polyps removed during my recent “exploration”. Waiting on pathology. Otherwise everything came out well in the end 😊
🤣👍🏽
DeleteGood Morning! A nice puzzle on a Thursday! Thanks, Rebecca. The theme set a calming tone true to its message.
ReplyDeleteNot to say it didn’t have a few bumps along the way. I had to pause to see if 9A would be flags, poles to finally become GATES. Then HYSSOP held me up in the middle east and was the last to fill.
WOs: COMFORTable -> ZONE; So am I -> SAME; Chasms -> SCHISM; BIT part -> ROLE; pro -> ACE. Whew!!
A-line, hmmm, not exactly the fashion definition of a dress popular in the ‘60s (?). It was svelte, but not twirly.
Another new Spanish word: OYE, filled by perps.
Musings: I guess I have a different perspective of a comfort zone. One can be there and observe the world with detached curiosity.
Thanks, Bill & Teri. Lovely story about your family’s mountain cabin.
A positive and clever Thursday offering by Rebecca. I enjoyed the vibe.
ReplyDeleteThe Waze driving app is awesome.
It’s better than Google Maps.
The routes they suggest are spot on and the graphics are state of the art.
Its free and is user friendly.
Drivers can tap the app if they see a photo radar, or hidden police cars, then Waze will warn other drivers.
So its always up the minute reporting.
You can also report a hazard on the road, a traffic accident, etc
And best of all you can pick from over 50 different voices or languages to guide you through your drive.
I chose the voice of Carol to guide me on my drives. She has a sultry British accent.
Thanks Rebecca and Bill for a fun Thursday…
…… kkFlorida
The northeast corner was the hardest part of today's puzzle for me. LLAMA was an easy rhyming guess, and I've heard of slalom GATES during Olympic broadcasts, but A-LINES are *not* dresses that twirl! An A-LINE dress is fitted from the shoulders to the waist, and then flares *slightly* to the hem -- not as narrow as a sheath dress, but nowhere near wide enough to twirl, and nothing like the full skirt shown in Bill's illustration.
ReplyDeleteBill, that hilltop home must be wonderful. DH and I rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains last year to share some of his Tennessee roots with our grown children, and it was a delight.
Rebecca and Patti, thank you! I enjoyed the puzzle and was able to FIR! Bill and Teri, thank you for explaining it all. Almost heaven, here in the Corner with all y'all.
Didn't take any notes today,
ReplyDeleteSo, going from memory:
.
Hmm, there was one thing. How many people who do crosswords did not know the three letter jeopardy Jennings...?
And softy=sap? I take offense at this! I'm a softy from way back, (cat lover etc...) does that make me a sap?
Did not see rap in the perps, but future genre=rap became a learning moment when reading the comments.
(2nd learning moment: ignorance is bliss...)
Went looking for "seizing" as a nautical rope thing, 1st video up was an hour long showing "all" the rope thingies you would ever want to see. So i looked for something shorter, and up popped a video on seizing the rigging on a model ship. Only 3 minutes, but watching that kind of work made my arthritic Hands hurt. Here is a simplified single image that will be of infinite use if you ever want to make a handle for an axe, tie two sticks together to make a longer pole, or stop a rope from fraying.
a very useful th8ngie
Believe it or not, I put one of these on the end of my broken iPad charging cable, when I did not have any heat shrink tubing, and it is still functional after 3 years!
Hola!
ReplyDeleteCrossword puzzles, any crossword puzzles, are my COMFORT ZONE. I love words and I love solving!
August: OSAGE County is probably the most disappointing movie I've ever seen. Since Meryl Streep was in it, I was excited to see it, but ugh. It definitely did not live up to expectations.
When she washed whites (sheets, etc.) my mother always used ANIL, i.e, INDIGO DYE to ensure a clean look.
I consider this Blog a SAFE SPACE.
I have seen two beautiful, large ZEN GARDENS, one in San Francisco and another in Canada, B.C. if I remember correctly.
Coloring with CRAYOLAs was one of our main entertainments as children and I recall being so excited when we got a 64 piece one with a sharpener! Woo woo! My youngest granddaughter is a talented artist with any medium but at present pencil is her preferred one.
NaomiZ, I share your admiration for the Great Smoky Mountains. When I visit my sister in NC a trip to the mountains is always on the agenda. It's such a beautiful area. We no longer go white water rafting but in the past that was something to anticipate and enjoy.
Have a beautiful day, everyone! Drs. and nail appts on my agenda today.
This one was pretty much in my "comfort range." A few of the clues were a touch nose-winkling, but all's well that ends well!
ReplyDeleteRebecca’s theme was nicely executed, as was waseeley’s commentary, and I enjoyed two of the clues, the one for EDIT (a CSO to me?) and the “blue man” clue for GLOOMY GUS.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I had “poles” instead of GATES after guessing incorrectly that the blue man was Papa Smurf. That marred my grid, though I wouldn’t call it a HOT MESS. That expression, by the way, is used more these days with a tinge of sexism, because it seems to apply most aptly to a woman who is attractive but extremely neurotic – like actress Jennifer Coolidge’s characters, but even more so like my niece, I’m afraid.
I knew most of the names, as well as OYE and SPELT, which we eat here occasionally.
On the complaint side, I found myself hoping Irish Miss would cite a couple of answers as “green paint,” and she did! Adding STORE to IKEA was the worst one. . . .I still maintain there ought to be a ‘k” at the end of smart ALEC, unless we’re talking about the young man we’ve watched grow up in the Shriner’s Hospital ads. . . . Like “arfed,” YESES” just doesn’t look right. . . . I needed perps for IRENE. That line “I’ll see you in my dreams” always makes me tear up, though not OIL UP.
So OJ's hunt for the real killer ended today. May his final judgement be swift and deserved.
ReplyDeleteRay-o, Future has already been explained. Ludacris, er, ludicrous, don't you think? Also. ya think we should exchange polyp pictures here?
I must have 5 or 6 spools of seizing line around here somewhere. Kinda like teflon tape for threads, I can never lay my hands on some when I need it, so I just buy some more.
Lucina, did your mom call the dye "blueing?" I've always heard that term associated with laundry, but didn't know what it meant. IIRC (now that I think about it,) my mom used a product called Blue Monday.
This theme is too silly not to provide links...
ReplyDeletefirst, and foremost...
A zen garden, for cat lovers? (more on this later...)
happy place?
An honorable mention: this one might be different with age, ymmv...
Addendum to softy=sap...
Cats are known to carry (a virus?) that has been proven to make rats unafraid, and even attracted to cats!
There has been talk, that this parasite, known a toxoplasmosis, may also affect the human brain...
hmm, that might explain a lot...
Especially zen garden litter boxes...
Thank you for this update on toxoplasmosis. It was the cause of my mother's death according to UCLA. She also suffered from schizophrenia.
DeleteUnbelievably, I rang the bell on a Rebecca Goldstein puzzle. Today, many of the words, such as PALEO ,SPELT, HYSSOP, were in my wheelhouse,and perps were kind with the (to me) head scratchers. I liked the theme and have enjoyed reading about others ’ HAPPY PLACES. Mine is a lake in central Ontario, Canada among beautiful birch and pine forests.
ReplyDeleteThanks,Rebecca ,and rhanks, Bill and Teri , for the lovely tour.
Going back to the NW to finished the puzzle with only guesses at SPELT (didn’t know) and GPS (Wase?). I remembered HYSSOP from the Bible.
ReplyDeleteI got the spin on RAP because I knew Future but not his music. A RAP writer and producer pioneer, the Grammy winning Director of the Albany Symphony, my late husband and several others were inducted into the Thomas Edison Hall of Fame 2 weeks ago. Many were\ very excited to see rapper Kurtis Blow there to support his friend and mentor, but I had not heard of him.. He had the first single hit record in the genre. His lyrics were clean. He is an ordained minister and has a church in NYC.
HG@9:50 - Check out the lyrics for that “song” from 1980 “The Breaks”. I hope it makes you laugh. My husband did not call it music but “street poetry”. RAP now, a sad evolution, IMO.
Yellowrocks@9:41 - The WV state parks are great destinations, and staying in the cabins made many of us happy during WW2 when gasoline was unavailable for longer travel. And BTW, you and HG should like wonderful teachers!
Bill and Teri, your comments about WV warms my heart and “Country Roads” always makes me smile. Thank You!
Happy day, all!
Agh!!! Above is Parsan.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks - Mr, Smartypants has changed my word, again! I wrote that you and HG “seem” like wonderful teachers.”. Even earlier when I wrote “Woze” it turned it into “Waseeley” I sent condolences to a frien about her “bad flu” and it was written as her “bad flue”. Enough!
ReplyDeleteCED, thank you for the virus info. That explains the Lyle Lovett / Julia Roberts romance. Also, they could probably show that happy place baby with the same smile in about 20 years, but with a different woman.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteJinx @ 12:15
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours 😉.
Anonymous @ 10:27 AM
You realize your Brit GPS sultry girlfriend Carol thinks you’re driving on the left side of the road and might steer you over a kerb into oncoming traffic. Make sure ask for a car park not a parking lot and a petrol station when you need gas. 🚙
Naomi @ 10:57 am
I also thought an ALINE DRESS was tight at the collar and then shaped like the letter “A” and couldn’t twirl like a skirt. But google shows pictures of skirts belted at the waist and calls them ALINE DRESSES 🤷♂️
Jinx@12:15
ReplyDeleteMy mother called bluing "ANIL" because that is how it was named on the bottle and it's an easy word to say in Spanish which is what she mostly spoke.
Sigh. My doctor is concerned about my BP because it has been running high so now I have to see a cardiologist. That will be next Wednesday.
Sheesh, I got Covid! Fortunately the symptoms are relatively mild. If you read my posting last Sunday you can make an educated guess where I got it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed solving this puzzle and I also noticed the same Green Paint that a few of you already pointed out. Very much enjoyed reading your write-up, waseeley.
ReplyDeleteJayce @ 5:50 PM Judging by your last Sunday post, are you sure you don't have the Chinese Flu? :-( Take care of yourself and follow your doctor's orders!
ReplyDeleteWell, I was cruisin’ along in a HAPPY PLACE on this one…until I got to the crossing of HYSSOP and GLOOMY GUS, both of ‘em unknowns, so, in spite of knowing who Paula ZAHN is, it hung me out to dry! Bummer because I really was enjoying Rebecca’s long verticals and fun clueing.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings up an interesting mystery: what’s all this talk about rope and length re: SEIZING? My puzzle has the 33a clue as “Getting a grip, maybe”… (LAT).
LLAMA was an easy one for me, because up until this February (when our last one went toes-up at the ripe old age of 24) we have had pet llamas for almost 30 years. Very intelligent animals (supposedly on par with dolphins — but how the hell does science compare an Andes critter with an ocean-frolicking one???) and very calming entities — they’re fascinating animals.
Bill, I dang near fell off the couch after your comment about your ‘scope job! ROTFL.
Waze is a good GPS app — but you’d better have your phone plugged in to power because the app is a juice (and data) hog. I burned down my iPhone battery once using Waze and didn’t have a car cord adaptor with me (yep, I know — dumb…).
====> Darren / L.A.
Thanks to Rebecca for her puzzle! It must have been in my COMFORT ZONE because I zipped right through this one despite the long fills. Interesting that it had vertical symmetry despite being a 15X15 grid. We usually see that with rectangular grids.
ReplyDeleteFAVs: GLOOMY GUS and clues for SEEPS and EDIT.
H-Gary @ 9:50. Sand trap comparison. LOL!
Take care, Jayce!
Thanks, also, to waseeley for another fine review. You tick all the boxes!
Get well fast Jayce.
ReplyDeleteJayce
ReplyDeleteWishing you a quick recovery.