Theme: It's synonymous!
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| The Thesaurus-saurus LOVED this puzzle!! Puzzling thoughts: I once again have a Zachary David Levy puzzle to recap The infamous "ZHUZH" puzzle is in the hyperlink above. Remember that one? Today, Zachary's "wordplay" used a number of synonyms to describe (clue) the five entries he squeezed into this 15x15 grid. All five entries' clues have a trio of words that reference the first part of the answer. All five of the answers are a compound word/phrase whose second half is related to a form of communication. How you ask? Well, let's examine each of them: 17-across. Ermine, polecat, mink, etc.: WEASEL WORDS. Each of these three animals are in the weasel family. Each of these three are also words. The phrase weasel words [according to Wikipedia] refers to: "a word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant claim has been communicated." "Examples of weasel words include the phrases "some people say", "it is thought", and "researchers believe". Using weasel words may allow one to later deny any specific meaning if the statement is challenged, because the statement was never specific in the first place." Unlike, I guess, the toothpaste commercial when they claimed, "4 out of 5 dentists recommend Colgate". That's pretty specific But certainly, the ad phrase mentioned in the video below would be an example of weasel words, IMO: 24-across. Bouncing off the walls, frenzied, feverish, etc.: HYPERTEXT. Or is it HYPER TEXT? (two words). When describing the word "hyper" the synonyms you might use include those in the clue. One of those synonyms - "bouncing off the walls" - actually fits both the compound word hypertext and the compound phrase hyper text. Click this hyperlink to see how! 34-across. Sodium chloride, potassium cyanide, calcium phosphate, etc.: SALTY LANGUAGE. NaCl, KCN, and Ca3(PO4)2 are all salts. They are also words "in the language". But most of us (when confronted with salty language) have a different image in our minds:  46-across. On the house, gratis, comped, etc.: FREE VERSE. Does this need to be further explained or are y'all starting to see how today's puzzle works?? If you're still confused, I will try to 'splain it with a Moe-ku: When I write my blog 56-across. Violaceous, heliotrope, mauve, etc.: PURPLE PROSE. For those not familiar with the term "purple prose", click on this link My three "nits" with today's puzzle are: 1) HYPERTEXT. Despite my discovery of a book (text) called "Bouncing off the Walls", hypertext is a compound word; all of the other entries use a compound two-word phrase 2) The phrase purple prose is defined as "excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and metaphors". It would have been nice to have had something other than two adjectives and a noun in the clue. I wish Zachary/Patti had used "shrinking violet" instead of violaceous when he/she finalized the clue 3) Anytime a constructor uses 50 or more characters for their entries (or uses 5 entries), it usually means that the grid will be rife with the dreaded TLW (3-letter word) Sorry Irish Miss; today's puzzle has 25 of them (if I counted correctly). More on those, later All-in-all I will rate this one: ⭐⭐ 1/2⭐'s Here is the grid, and then a brief recap of the other clues/answers. My intro today took quite a while to write and edit ...  Note before we get started: you will notice that a couple of today's words (UTES / FOOLS) appeared earlier this week |
4. Luxurious: UPSCALE. Can you think back to what was the most upscale item you've ever owned? For Miss Margaret and me it was an automobile. Hers, a Chrysler Sebring Convertible; mine, an Audi 2-door sports coupe
11. "The Marvels" director DaCosta: NIA. (TLW #2 - Proper name #1) - this filled via perps as I was unfamiliar with this director. Here is an interview with her:
14. Contented sigh: AHH. (TLW #3) This expression is not a contented one when the doctor sticks a tongue depressor into your mouth and asks you to say it
15. As requested: TO ORDER. What I enjoy about dining out - especially for breakfast - is being able to have my eggs, e.g., made to order. Like this, maybe?
19. Tats: INK. (TLW #5) This is becoming a crossword staple (clue/entry)
20. Red shade: CERISE. When I was a kid, my crayon box had 8 colors. Period. Cerise wasn't among them. And technically, cerise is a pink shade
21. Less than zero: Abbr.: NEG. (TLW #6) I am pos. about this
22. Citrus drinks: ADES. Isn't this just another 3-letter word made plural?
23. Prince in "The Little Mermaid": ERIC. Aka, Jonah Hauer-King
26. Quaint contraction: TIS. (TLW #7)
27. Salon job: DYE. (TLW #8)
29. Muse of poetry: ERATO. How does Erato even show up, anymore, in crossword puzzles? I would've thought that she was banished alongside the likes of Ott, Orr, and Alou
30. Dolts: TOM FOOLS. A better clue for our regular bloggers would be: What TTP or desper-otto does on April 1st?
33. Bird: Pref.: AVI. (TLW #9) If Zachary or Patti had clued it as this it would have been more difficult to solve, IMO
38. Past: AGO. (TLW #10)
39. Not plugged in: WIRELESS. I so enjoy the newer models of cars these days. Wireless connection means not having to use the power cord attached to my iPhone (Apple Play)
41. Help desk staffer, briefly: IT PRO. Somewhat similar to (8-down. Seller of TV spots:) AD REP.
44. __ Cruces, New Mexico: LAS. (TLW #11)
45. Toll rd.: TPK. (TLW #12)
50. Wells race of the future: ELOI.
51. + or - particles: IONS. Isn't this just another 3-letter word made plural?
52. Fawn mama: DOE. (TLW #13)
55. __ drop: MIC. (TLW #14) and Moe-ku #2 (slightly political):
When former Pres. said
He would dismiss his VP,
Was that a MIC drop?
as an aside, I find it an interesting coincidence that the 2024 VP choice for this former Pres. has a last name that is also five letters in length, and ends in the letters "nce" ... another interesting coincidence is the first and middle initials of the party candidates: DJ and JD
58. Cover letters?: AKA. (TLW #15)
59. Nail polish remover: ACETONE. As somebody who doesn't use nail polish, this one was a bit unfamiliar to me, but it makes sense
60. Vast body: SEA. (TLW #16)
61. Sharp bark: YAP. (TLW #17)
62. Doesn't just ask for: DEMANDS.
63. The Oilers, on ESPN tickers: EDM. (TLW #18, and a CSO to CanadianEh!) A timely entry as the Edmonton Oilers were vying for the Stanley Cup just a month ago. Alas, the Oilers succumbed to the Florida Panthers in game 7
BLOG INTERMISSION ... (if you need to refill your coffee/tea mug/cup, or go to the restroom, now's a good time. When you return, I have a little "challenge" for you
Are you back? OK, here is the challenge: Please sing out only the vowels in this Canadian pop artist's name:
CELINE DION
Down:
1. Big name in 1970s Angels: FAWCETT. Who else was thinking about the Los Angeles baseball team? I was. But this woman was well-known as being one of Charlie's Angels (ABC hit TV series co-starring actress Farrah):
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| Back in her "big hair" days |
2. General Mills staple: CHEERIOS. As an aside, how did General Mills allow Quaker Oats to come up with the Cap'n Crunch brand?? 😉
How about Moe-ku #3, instead? A bit sophomoric (sorry, Yellowrocks):
The British toddler
Was weaned from tata(s), and now
Prefers, CHEERIO(s)
3. Personal magnetism: CHARISMA. A must these days for political candidates
4. Heavy-duty vehicles, for short: UTES. Or how about this for a clue? Appropriate rental vehicles for fans of a Salt Lake City-based University?
5. Global extreme: POLE. Am I the only person to wonder why Santa Claus doesn't live at the South Pole?
6. Plant: SOW. (TLW #19) Moe-l'ick #1:
Johnny Appleseed wanted to know
That his fame as a planter would grow.
After planting his trees
He waived all of his fees:
No one's yet called him, "you SOW and SOW"
7. Lifelong pal: CRONY. [dictionary dot com] shows the origin of this word as follows: "mid 17th century (originally Cambridge university slang): from Greek khronios ‘long-lasting’ (here used to mean ‘contemporary’), from khronos ‘time’."
9. High precipice: LEDGE.
10. Urgent care ctrs.: ERS. (TLW #20 - another abbr. pl.)
11. "Beats me": NO IDEA. Not today; I definitely had an idea about where this puzzle was heading as I solved the entries
12. "Wait your turn!": I'M NEXT.
13. Invites for: ASKS TO.
18. [Not my mistake]: SIC. (TLW #21) The [brackets] gave this one away
22. Related to a heart chamber: ATRIAL. Or (if you separated atrial into two words), what there would be if the A-Team was sued and taken to court? An A-TRIAL. No? How about this? What Iranian banker said to Jerry Maguire when he returned with some dollars? "You had me AT RIAL!"
24. Alternative to high water: HELL. I kind of liked this one:
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| Does anyone remember when they called those type of pants, high waters?? |
25. Variety shows: REVUES.
28. Go up and down: YO-YO. Like many fad diets
31. Solar phenomena: FLARES.
32. Spotted: SAW. (TLW #22) "Pied" (as in a spotted horse) wouldn't fit
33. Uttar Pradesh tourist site: AGRA. Uttar Pradesh is a state in N. Central India - in which the city of Agra is located (Taj Mahal is the tourist site there)
35. River fed by Lake Victoria: NILE.
36. Break out: GET LOOSE. My first thought was Cut Loose - anyone else??
37. Embraced: ESPOUSED. Moe-ku #4:
Instead of a ring
Frugal guy decided to
ESPOUSE his ESPOUSED
40. Group that's always looking for a lift?: SKI TEAM. Ha Ha!
41. Polite interjection: IF I MAY. Miss Margaret is at times frustrated (or maybe confused) when I ask her a favor and begin the request with "May you please ... ?"
42. Three-horse ride: TROIKA.
47. Draw out: EDUCE. Or, what is the lowest playing card in an on-line deck?
48. "Our Town" composer Ned: ROREM. On a positive note, today's puzzle did not have many proper names. Rorem adapted his opera (Our Town) from Wilder's play in 2005
49. Anatomical dividers: SEPTA. This is what Bing shows when you type the word "septa" into the browser. Hmm. Let's dig a little deeper ... when you enter the word "septa anatomy" the word septum appears. Septa is its plural (see the clue - "dividers"). Sometimes, folks, I just research these to inform myself ... and if you don't believe me, then look at this image of a lingual septum 😛
50. Fumble: ERR. (TLW #23)
53. Stave (off): FEND.
54. Parrots: APES. As in mimics; not bird-related. We had that earlier with avi. And yet another 3-letter word pluralized
56. Paw cushion: PAD. (TLW #24)
57. Chaney known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces": LON. (TLW#25) Here is just one of Lon's many faces:
And that's a [stole, scarf, boa].
On a personal note, I have a plethora of puzzles that have not been published. As a treat to anyone here who might want more crossword puzzles to solve, please send me a private email message (my email is in my profile) and I will be happy to share them. You will need to download the Across Lite software in order to solve (either on your computer, or by printing them out). The puzzles will come as an attachment (.puz). Just click on it and enjoy; no strings attached!
On another personal note, if you are interested in hearing a recent (2022) recital featuring my daughter, please click on this link as it will take you to Fred Childs' Your Classical Today on NPR
40 comments:
The answer “free verse” seemed kind of a stretch to me. Nevertheless, all the themed answers, including that one, were common in-the-language phrases and not all that difficult to figure out. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ZDL offered up a wordy outing which seemed to only midweek difficulty. My loins had been unnecessarily girded. The themers were all cute, and easy to get. Methinks a certain politician is a master of WEASEL WORDS. Thanx for the many-fonted tour, C-Moe. (Sorry to hear about your mom, but it sounds like she lived a full life and was ready to move on.)
Dear Moe: I am so sorry for your loss. I know your mother will be missed. May her memory be a blessing.
FIW, missing my 50/50 SWAG @ TROIKi x YiP. Erased spy for SOW, and carmine when I ran out of squares and waited for CERISE.
I'll take with a grain of SALT the idea that a help desk staffer is an IT PRO. More like an IT PRO aspirant.
Another grain of SALT is needed for UTES being heavy-duty. They are usually built on half-ton pickup truck chassis, which may be rugged, but aren't heavy-duty. (My 32,000 pound RV powered by a Caterpillar diesel is classified as a "medium duty" vehicle.)
ACETONE is handy for spot cleaning. I would occasionally have people on the boat wearing jeans with rivets, and those rivets left black marks on the white fiberglass. ACETONE takes it right off, but if you get it at Home Depot, the container is enough for years of touchups. Getting the little bottles of fingernail polish remover is much more practical, but some of the newer stuff isn't ACETONE.
I feel for (crossword favorite) ESL students. Today we learn that "parrots" = "APES." They would never learn that by watching Secrets of the Zoo.
Fortunately, AGRA is an Ektorp, because I didn't know Uttar Pradesh.
Thanks to Zachary for the easyish-Friday (my FIW notwithstanding.) My favorite wasHELL as an alternative to high water. And thanks to our Chairman for the fun review, especially the Paul West explanation of PURPLE PROSE. My condolences on the loss of your mom. Sounds like she was a very special woman.
Uttar Pradesh, anytime I see a 4 letter fill for a obvious Indian clue, my go to is naan or Agra.
C-Moe:
I tend to rush through the “review” quickly to get in my own remarks, so at first I missed the sad news about your mom. It’s always a significant moment when our parents are “gone” and we are truly on our own. May her name be blessed!
Took 8:08 today.
I'll give his puzzle decent score for the originality, despite too many 3LW. It's nice not having the add/subtract a letter(s) gimmick every Friday, and it didn't have any foreign language lessons. Plus, it's always nice not having to deal with those pesky circles.
There weren't many proper names, but still I didn't know Nia or Rorem.
Mr. Chairman/C-Moe: I am sorry to hear of your mother's passing. Sounds like she was a wonderful mother and that you two were able to share in each other's lives. That's a blessing.
FIR. Everything seemed to come together once salty language appeared. This may say volumes about my thinking! 😁
For a Friday puzzle this did not appear that difficult. I didn't know Nia, but that's not surprising. I don't like proper names in puzzles anyway.
But overall, this was enjoyable. So onward to Saturday!
And to C-Moe, I'm sorry for your loss. 95 is a grand age to live to!
Good Morning:
Despite the glut of TLWs, I really liked this theme. Mind you, our reviewer pointed out other weaknesses in the execution, such as the outlier Hypertext, but I don't notice technical lapses when solving. Nor do I notice an oversized grid or a possible pangram or unusual symmetry. My bottom line is: Did I enjoy the journey and reach my destination satisfactorily. All of the themers were solid, in the language phrases, although I was unfamiliar with the term Weasel Words. Purple Prose was my favorite themer as it reminded me of my long-held ignorance in thinking that the term meant "coarse, foul language!" I also liked some fresh and strong fill, i.e., Charisma, Cheerios, Troika, and Espoused. Nia and Eric, as clued, were unknown, as was Tom Fools vs Tom Foolery. Pen Cap has a strong whiff of Green Paint, IMO.
Thanks, Zachary, for a fun, Friday solve and thanks, Moe, for a treatise that must have taken hours to write and edit. Your professional insight is appreciated and really helps us to understand the challenges and intricacies that constructors face. You touched upon several points of interest that I, personally, never considered. Your Moe-kus were plentiful today and all enjoyable. Erato must have been sitting on your shoulder! Loved the comic of the Chicken "Waiter." I'm not sure how to access your daughter's performance; I clicked on the link, but didn't see any reference to her. Sincere sympathy on the loss of your Mom.
FLN
Monkey, how was your experience with Phrazle?
Have a great day.
I solved slowly until I had the second words of two of the themers, TEXT and VERSE. After getting the theme, solving went quickly for an enjoyable FIR without help.
I find most LAT puzzles fun and do not rank them unless they seem terribly bad or extremely good. With most of the puzzles that I do not solve well, on reading the blog I can see that they are fair and worthwhile. I like coming across unfamiliar fill or clues if they are not names.
Moe, thanks for the shout out. I look for a certain "feel" in haiku, a je ne sais quoi. I liked your Johnny Appleseed as a poem, just not as a limerick, which always has a definite rhythm.
There is a difference: Purple prose is prose that is too elaborate or ornate as opposed to blue prose, writing which is vulgar or overly sexual.
Beware of politicians' weasel words. Weasel words are vague, ambiguous, or misleading claims packaged as definitive statements.
In common conversation weasel words can be preceded by "People say," when they are only what the speaker believes.
Sea is often used as a metaphor as in sea of troubles.
Do we as a nation value charisma over substance?
Fantastic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Zachary and CMoe (condolences on the passing of your mother).
I FIRed in good time and saw the LANGUAGE theme.
Several inkblots.
Egg changed to MIC (not the soup!).
This Canadian toyed with abbreviations for Highway or Interstate until TPK perped. We don’t use the Turnpike term.
I rushed to enter Peter for the Seller (minus S). Perps quickly showed me my ERRor.
The NW corner was the last to fall.
This Canadian did not remember FCC (but I did know EDM!).
I did think of Charlie’s Angels immediately.
, but FAWCETT took a few perps to recall.
I almost had to use a “call a granddaughter” to get the Disney Prince, ERIC, but perps finally filled it.
Aah changed to AHH.
Pocket Protector (DH the Engineer, used them!) was too long, but PEN CAP fit.
APERY yesterday and APES today.
Favourite today was “Cover letters? =AKA”
We called those pants Floods not High waters. With a 32 inch inseam, I was always trying to avoid pants that were too short. I fought wearing capris for that reason. Now we have FLARES back in style.
Wishing you all a great day.
FIR and loved it! The theme clues and answers were wonderful. I laughed at HYPER TEXT.
My long-haired first husband used FAR OUT frequently. At a recent birthday dinner for my daughter's husband, I noted that he still does, as he recounted the story of a favorite acid trip. Oh, well, he has been ExSPOUSED.
Moe, your haikus were excellent today. I loved the one with FREE VERSE. I'm glad to know your mom was a fan. Parental approval is a great thing, even at our age!
Many thanks to Zachary for the very clever puzzle, to Patti for editing, and to Moe for the thorough review.
I enjoyed the themed answers, even though I didn’t know WEASEL WORDS, it made sense nevertheless, so no problem.
Actually I found most of the puzzle fairly easy, except for the mid north. I spent an inordinate amount of time on solving it. At first I had opulent, but ERS nixed that. I had gorge for LEDGE, and I would never use CRONY to mean long time pal, though I know it’s correct.
Also I don’t understand the clue for HELL.
C-Moe. Thank you for a fun recap, and that CELINE DION vowel surprise. And condolences for the loss of your mother. You’re lucky to have had her this long .
IM☘️. I must be doing something wrong or be on the wrong site, but it’s not working as it should. Then it wants me to watch an ad before I can get a hint? So I gave up.
FIR on a Friday. Will wonders never cease? A very enjoyable crossWORD puzzle this morning. Lots of clever cluing, and a superb recap by C-Moe. My condolences on the loss of your mom. Never easy, no matter the age. YELLOWROCKS...the trend to charisma over substance started with the televised Nixon-Kennedy debate, and has rapidly gone downhill since, in my humble opinion.
Farrah FAWCETT got me off to a good start. I worked in her hometown, Corpus Christi, from 1977 to 1981, at the peak of her stardom. As I’ve mentioned before, the Sparkling City by the Sea also produced Eva Longoria and Tejano legend Selena Quintanilla. FAR OUT also produced Seventies nostalgia. I liked EDUCE and ACETONE, probably because each was my first guess; as well as CHARISMA; SEPTA; TROIKA; and PEN CAP. I liked the “cover letters” and “alternative to high water” clues, too. (I’m gonna finish this, come hell or high water, is an old expression not heard as much now, Monkey.)
I also liked LEDGE, once I came up with it – which should have been earlier since Bob Newhart’s Ledge Psychology routine was so fresh in my mind.
The five theme entries were very imaginative, but I didn’t think the VERSE part of the freebies entry was as precise as the others. C-MOE found a problem with HYPERTEXT that I should have spotted.
I had a bit of trouble in the upper Midwest because I didn’t know there’s a “lifetime” qualifier to being a CRONY, and that’s why LEDGE took a while to hit me. I also had trouble with TOMFOOLS, although I suppose you can’t have tomfoolery without them.
CHRIS: Sorry to hear about your mother, but delighted to hear she was a fan of your work to the end.
Forgot to mention that my most UPSCALE purchase was a 1991 Mercedes 300 SE. DW and I used to go to an upscale restaurant/sports bar near our work locations in Dallas where they had valet-only parking. There was a small ego boost when they would repark a "lesser" car so ours would be on display out front. (After about 2 years, our car was relegated to "regular priority" parking.)
My favorite weasel worded statement is "it depends on what the definition of 'is', is." Runner up is any of the talking heads saying "according to a highly placed source who spoke only on the condition of anonymity..." Two problems - 1) It could be something totally made up by the talking head or the talking head's organization, and B) appears to be from a single source, but isn't identified as such. (Anything single-sourced should be taken with a grain of SALT.)
YR asked "do we as a nation value charisma over substance?" I don't think so, but I do think we often vote for charisma over substance. National hero and broadly experienced legislator Bob Dole was certainly more qualified to be CinC than Bill Clinton, but he had zilch for charisma. Occasionally we get a contest where neither candidate has much charisma in the ol' quiver - Exhibit A is Ford v. Carter, exhibit 2 is Bush v. Gore. Those are fun.
Thank you Zachary for a fun Friday FIR.
And thank you MOE for your puzzle critique and all of the poesy. I'm a glutton for puniishment, so you can send yer ole puzzles to my profile email.
A few favs:
56A PURPLE PROSE. Moliere's Le Bourgoise Gentilhommewanted to learn poetry. He was delighted to learn from his tutors that he had been speaking PROSE all of his life!
1D FAWCETT. I never saw Charlie's Angels, but IIRC Farrah was a favorite pin-up for the GIs in NAM.
24D H*LL. Zachary/Patti -- what would Margaret Farrar say!?
36D NILE. DENIAL is not a river in Africa, but it is common in the USA these days.
42D TROIKA. It eventually morphed into the KGB
And thank you for linking your daughter's performance of Eugene Bozza's bassoon sonata. A beautiful piece, beautifully performed!
Finally, I'm sorry to hear about your Mother Chris, but I'm sure she's upstairs now bragging to all who will listen about her son. My Mom died at a similar age, shortly before Christmas and I tell everyone she got tired waiting for the Lord to come, so she hopped onto an express flight to Heaven.
Bill
A relative romp for a Friday as I came in at 16:23. Wasn’t familiar with the themers PURPLE PROSE or WEASEL WORDS but they perped, as did TOM FOOLS, huh?? ACETONE is a powerful solvent with many other uses than in nail polish remover. Farrah FAWCETT was a huge celebrity for a couple years.
Chairman ~ you and IM☘️ certainly have a certain flair in your writing styles which always makes for an enjoyable read! As Steve Martin said, “Some people have a way with words, and some people….not have way”. Especially liked Moe-Ku #3 today 😂. My most UPSCALE purchases - a candy 🍎 red 1982 Les Paul Standard, a Robalo boat, a can-am HD 10 Defender Limited side-by-side, fun to drive and in my rural area, my major mode of transportation.
Condolences on the loss of your mom, you were a good caring son and she was proud of you! May you cherish your memories.
WASEELEY: Thanks for your comments yesterday. I sent a long reply, but rather late. . .
As I double-checked the end of Thursday's comments just now, I ran across Michael's justification for some of the current jargon appearing in fill, and he cited one but omitted a letter, leaving us with "tots adorbs." On one hand, you could use that in a themed puzzle that omits the letter 'e' for effect. On the other hand, I don't think we want to go there.
FLN
Well I gave the Béla Fleck fan pictured 50 years ago playing the Banjo at the end of yesterday's review until Noon to out himself. As it is now 1 PM EDT on the East Coast and we haven't heard from him yet, I have to reveal that Messier Joseph Schwartz (aka Malodorous Manatee) was the culprit. Let's hope he stops by and gives us some background on the pic.
Cheers,
Bill
Thank you Copy Editor. I wasn’t thinking of that expression, come HELL or high water.
We called those pants both floods and high waters. I remember at one point buying pants for my son to wear to school every three months or so. I only bought a few pairs at a time and did a lot of laundry.
Espouse - Adopt or support a cause, a belief or a way of life.
Espouse - marry is a very old fashioned usage.
Independents don't espouse every tenet of either party.
Educe - As a teacher I enjoyed educing new thoughts from previous knowledge. I would start with previous knowledge and ask leading questions. Bit by bit I would build on what was known to lead the students to draw out for themselves higher concepts.
I laughed to see HELL. Come hell or high water. (I see I am too late with this.)
Bob Newhart was one of my favorite comedians. Rest in peace, Bob. Thanks for the many years of fun and memories.
Dear Moe, condolences on the passing of your mother. Cherish your memories.
Has the Microsoft failure hit any of you? It has not effected us.
Monkey @ 11:15 ~ Try www.solitaired.com/phrazle. Note the d ending on solitaired. This is the site I have bookmarked.
Yooper Phil @ 12:11 ~ Thank you for the flattering compliment. I wonder if my "way with words" was what prompted my third grade Nun's note to my mother that began: "Dear Mrs. McGrath, Your little "Miss Chatterbox" has done it again!" ("It" was a straight A report card, a recurrent achievement until I found my male classmates more interesting than the Three Rs!) 🤣
Thanks to ZDL for a puzzle with some RIZZ! I had a one-box FIW with YiP instead of YAP. In hindsight, the A seems a better guess. Other changes: "high end" before UPSCALE"; gum drop before MIC drop; and lET LOOSE before GET LOOSE.
Coincidentally, the M-W Word of the Day for Thursday was "TOMFOOLery".
Many thanks, also, to C-Moe for his constructor insight and explanations today!
FAVs: use of the Thesaurus-saurus for the theme; EIEIO; egg comic; Mo-kus; and learning about CRONY's Greek roots.
My sincere condolences on the loss of your mother. We all benefit from the wordplay encouragement she gave you.
Well I did FIR, with the only W/Os being where I ... twice...filled a correct answer in the wrong place on the CW. Could scarcely believe it the SECOND time. Sheesh! DNK CERISE, NIA, ROREM, or ERIC, but perps rescued me each time. A Chrysler Sebring Convertible was mentioned as an upscale car. I had the hard-top version. WORST...CAR...EVER. For me at least. No end of problems. I solved this CW due to the common expressions used, but (as usual) the theme flew fifty feet over my head. Thanx, ZDL for this fun somewhat-easier-than-most-Fridays CW. (Except for the devious theme!) And thanx CMoe for the detailed explanation of the theme, and the rest of the fun and informative write-up. I especially smiled at the E-I-E-I-O reference to Celine Dion. Condolences, on the passing of your mom. DO @ 5:34, your comment about a certain politician made me smile. I thought exactly the same thing.
Oh, I meant to mention. I got my Jeep back from the dealer yesterday. They had mentioned it needed an alternator, and while they are there, they should replace the drivebelt, it look pretty cracked and frayed. An extra $500. I told them to go ahead, then called back later and asked them to save the old drivebelt for me.
When I picked up the car the service manager said, "Oh, the drivebelt didn't look that bad after all, so we didn't replace it". Funny how it was "cracked and frayed"... until I asked to see it. Women complain they are taken advantage of when it comes to car repairs. It's not just you, ladies!
First, condolences to Ch Moe and his friends and family. Yet another lesson in perspective that none of us really needs.
As for Bill's outing me, I suppose we all have checkered pasts😉. I know exactly where and when the photo was taken. No, my memory is not that crisp but I have the certificate that I received for 3rd Place Imtermeidate Bluegrass Banjo at the Third Annual Old Time Fiddlers' Convention at UC Santa Barbara and the certificate says Sunday, October 20, 1974.
My banjo-playing days wound down when I (A)started grad school and (B) had children. Next life, I will persevere musically.
Clever Friday puzzle, Zachary--many thanks for this weekend treat. And your commentary is always a complicated delight, thanks for that too, C-Moe. And I also send condolences for the loss of your mother.
IF I MAY say so, I liked the way this puzzle didn't take its UPSCALE role all that seriously, by starting us off with 'I have NO IDEA'. But what gave it its special CHARISMA was, of course, its focus on literary language: HYPERTEXT, PURPLE PROSE, FREE VERSE, and even WEASEL WORDS and SALTY LANGUAGE. I EDUCE from that that you, Zachary, probably started your career as an English professor, my own field, back in the day, IF I MAY say so.
Well, time to get some CHEERIOS.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Hola!
first, condolences on the loss of your mother, MalMan. At any age we miss our mothers. Also, R.I.P., Bob Newhart. I always liked him.
CHARISMA was my favorite fill today. I have several friends who ooze it. They are all teachers and that's an important trait in a teacher.
I have never heard the term WEASEL WORDS so that was a surprise and it took a very long time for it to emerge. Of course, the animal, WEASEL, is well known as is the idea of being a WEASEL.
I hadn't thought of CHEERIOS in a long time. My favorite CEREAL is Raisin Bran.
As YR explained, a good teaching technique is to EDUCE answers from students by posing leading questions that help them to arrive at a logical conclusion. In a good teacher education class one is taught how to form those questions.
TROIKA always reminds me of the movie, Dr. Zhivago.
As someone already mentioned, seeing a four letter clue that is obviously east Indian immediately calls to mind AGRA.
Thanks to ZDL and to MalMan for the Friday fun.
Have a fun-filled, fruitful day, everyone!
Musings
-Just back in after 18 holes where I had to put on a jacket for a cool morning.
-The gimmick was a hoot.
-I bought an UPSCALE catcher’s mitt in 1963 that I really couldn’t afford.
--Carson takes a dim view of the new WIRELESS
p.s. Nebraska has 93 counties and the license plates have prefixes from largest to smallest counties. Today I parked next to a guy with a 93 prefix and he said that was Hooker County. I told him that is the reason Nebraska does not have county names of plates because no one wants Hooker on their car. :-)
H.Gary, I think I mentioned this before, but I used to work with a woman whose mom's maiden name was Hooker. She said her dad used to announce to anyone who would listen that his wife had been a Hooker until the very day they got married. To her credit, her mom thought it was funny too.
IM☘️ I have the right site but when I enter a phrase, nothing happens.
Greetings! Crazy day today. I did most of the puzzle this morning then mowed before I had a second look at the few remaining blanks. Thanks, Zachary for this stumper.
No complaints from me about the TLWs.
I had to confirm my guess for ROREM.
Perps for FAWSETT (as clued! I never thought of Charlie’s), NIA, ERIC, TROIKA.
,
WO: CHEERIOS (spelling double R or Double E?); AD man to REP; set -> GET LOOSE.
I got the theme at PURPLE PROSE and was able to fill in a few more blanks.
I guess TOMFOOLS would be the ones committing tomfoolery, but while I’ve heard of the latter, I never heard them called that specifically before.
AGO triggered me for some reason. I went to YouTube to listen to Frank Sinatra singing Long AGO and Far Away…..swoon. What a classic!
I had to come to the Corner to get HELL or high water. Thanks, C-Moe! Yes, my first thought seeing the clue was pants (lower than capris, more like boys with growth spurts!)
C.Moe Your blog certainly entertained today in your grand style. Then I read you postscripts, and I send you my heart-felt sympathy at the passing of your Mother.
I liked this puzzle. I thought "Alternative to high water" for HELL was an outstanding clue.
The most UPSCALE item I've ever owned, I think, was a Sterling silver tea set we inherited from my mother who inherited it from her mother. Or maybe it was the 2nd car I ever owned, a Datsun 810 (now known as Nissan Maxima), the first car (4-door sedan) that talked to you.
TOM FOOL (March 31, 1949 – August 20, 1976) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1953 American Horse of the Year and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. He sired the champion racehorses Buckpasser and Tim Tam.
I remember the days my friends and I got a kick out of exclaiming "FARM OUT!"
I think I likely had ATRIAL fibrillation for years before it was diagnosed.
Sergei Prokofiev composed a TROIKA as one piece in his Lieutenant Kijé incidental music/suite. I'm too lazy to link it, but I think if you heard it (on YouTube, for example) you would recognize the melody.
I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into your write-ups Chairman Moe, and I have greatly enjoyed reading each and every one of them.
Good wishes to you all.
Thanks to everyone for all of the kind words of condolences
Jayce @ 5:33 => Tom Fool (the racehorse) is also generationally linked to one of the more recent Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah
waseeley => I will make sure I send you a few puzzles via email. I need to find them first so be patient! They're on a laptop I don't use as often ...
Yellowrocks @9:33 => I had a very difficult time with the last line of my five-line poem. I couldn't find any other phrase that fit (and made sense) that scanned; glad you enjoyed it though ;^)
NaomiZ is going to sub for me in two weeks; but MalMan will be in control next Friday
C-Moe
JAYCE: I nearly mentioned Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite, which made it into at least two movies -- Woody Allen's "Love and Death," which at least took place in Russia, and "Doc Hollywood," the film in which Michael J. Fox played a budding plastic surgeon whose sports car breaks down in or near South Carolina as he's en route to fame and fortune. He is presented a pet pig while waiting for his car to be fixed and parades the animal around town to the "Troika" segment. Frances Sternhagen, cast against type, played one of the townspeople.
It was an ultimate DNF today. Come HELL or high water I couldn't place the H and missed HYPERTEXT. And then in the SW I gave up on PEN CAP, Couldn't get FREE (just VERSE). not bothering to look at the clues for MIC or YAP. But I've had a grueling day and didn't feel like bothering with it.
SALTY LANGUAGE- I have to laugh when the Naval brass is trying to clean it up with the women on board.
WEASEL WORDS- "honey I only kissed her once", BS. Or listening to a politician speak.
APES- the AVIfauna are trying to be mammals.
NIA, ERIC, TOM FOOLS- perps got those. Only heard of 'tomfoolery' and I don't follow horse racing either.
UPSCALE- I don't bother with trying to go upscale on anything but when my boss GAVE me a Mercedes 560-SEL I gladly took it. Definitely upscale and he paid for all the maintenance.
Jayce- I got aFib three days after I had intestinal surgery three years ago. Prior to that I have had a resting pulse greater than 70.
Gary- Years ago, LA the state stopped designating where the license plate was registered on the plate because police in small towns would write too many tickets on plates that were not from their home area.
Not sure if anyone will see this late post. As a professional writer I enjoyed the WORDS/TEXT theme. FIR.
Chairman Moe Thank you for your heroic blog today. I also offer my sympathy to you on losing your mother. Yes, I linked that SEPTA back in July 2018.
But today I want to link this sign that TATS/INK are very taboo in Japan.
We saw these signs at every Onsen (public bath) that we visited. Japanese consider TATS/INK to be menacing symbols since the 1600s because of their ties to the yakuza, aka the Japanese mob. I just find them hideous to look at.
From Yesterday:
waseeley Thank you for the kind words about my KOI body painting art. Very different when it is paint than when it is TATS/INK.
And thank you for revealing MalMan as the mystery musician.
@Chairman Moe, no comments about the puzzle…but I do wish you peace with the passing of your mother. 95, that’s pretty good mileage ❤️🩹
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