Unaccustomed as I am
to Public Speaking?
Today's constructor is Susan Gelfand who is making her 34th appearance on
the Corner. She presents us with 5 punny theme clues all beginning
with the word "Presentation", and fills them with in the language
phrases that are trying to demonstrate something or convince us of something ...
17A.
Presentation on an organic flytrap?: WEB ADDRESS. This one
brings to mind the valiant attempts of a spider to save a pig ...
24A. Presentation on how to generate chemistry when matchmaking?:SPARK PLUG. The perfect match for generating internal combustion in your engine
...
37A. Presentation on hot dogs?: FRANK DISCUSSION. Frankly these famous hotdogs are the greatest (but the winners of their contest are CRAZY!) ...
50A. Presentation on recycling?: TRASH TALK. Sorry but all the clips I viewed on TRASH TALKING were rated R, so here's a PSA on recycling courtesy of the city of Chandler, Arizona and a CSO to Lucina and Chairman Moe ...
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Bread component, casually: CARB.
5. __ toast: MELBA. Named for Australian diva Dame Nellie Melba GBE (née Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931). Here is a 1904 recording of Caro nome ("Dearest name") from Verdi's Rigoletto
10. Research sites: LABS. DIGS fit, but didn't perp.
14. Ingredient in some superfood smoothies: ALOE.
15. Classic cookies: OREOS. 5 letter plural cookie - Ektorp.
16. Assessment, briefly: EVAL.
17. [Theme clue]
19. Sam Cooke's "__ Little Love": TRY A.
20. Book that details the origin of Passover: EXODUS. In EXODUS chapter 12 the Lord describes in detail the Passover -- the flight from Egypt by the Jewish nation and the meal that the Jews consumed before departing. In verse 14 He says "This day will be a day of remembrance for you, which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD; you will celebrate it as a statute forever." And in fact devout Jews do observe the Passover to this day; and this celebration is also the basis for Christianity's various communion services, e.g. the Catholic Mass.
21. Time with a therapist: SESSION. A CSO to constructor and therapist Trent H. Evans who has had 6 puzzles published in the LA Times.
23. Went out with: DATED.
24. [Theme clue]
26. Postpone: DEFER.
28. Hermana del padre: TIA. Today's Spanish lesson: AUNT.
29. Part of a one-two punch: JAB. The JAB is the first punch, but there are apparently several types of TWO punches, as shown in this How-to ...
32. Had a bite: ATE.
33. MSNBC host Jen: PSAKI. Jennifer Rene Psaki (born December 1, 1978) is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations. She served the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary until May 2022.
37. [Theme clue]
42. Divided Asian peninsula: KOREA.
43. Seemingly forever: EON.
44. Lots of noise: DIN.
45. Ozs. and lbs.: WTS.
47. Sacks: LOOTS. The city of Rome had the distinction of being sacked twice, in 410 AD and again in 1527 AD. However the last two times we visited the Eternal City it seemed to have recoverecd. 😀
50. [Theme clue]
54. Slip past: ELUDE.
58. "Faster!": HURRY UP.
59. Brunch order: OMELET. How to make a mushroom OMELET ...
60. Potatoes, in South Asian cuisine: ALOO. Here's a video showing how to make perfect Aloo parathas (flatbread stuffed with spiced potatoes) ...
61. [Theme clue]
64. Pixar protagonist who has one small fin and one large fin: NEMO. Here's NEMO in case anybody is still looking for him -- although I'm not sure the clue description exactly fits - by my count he has 7 fins ...
65. Liechtenstein currency: FRANC. The
Swiss franc
(plural: francs; in German: Frank, plural: Franken) has been the currency of
Liechtenstein since 1920. The Swiss franc is legal tender since Liechtenstein
is in a customs and monetary union with Switzerland.
66. Like Southern California skies during June Gloom: GRAY.
Understanding
localisms for Summer in SOCAL. A CSO to MalMan, NaomiZ, Picard, and
Wendybird -- how's the weather out there?
67. Wax-wrapped cheese: EDAM. Edam is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands, and is named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland. Edam is traditionally sold in flat-ended spheres with a pale yellow interior and a coat, or rind, of red paraffin wax.
68. Gets together?: SYNCS.
69. Corridor: HALL. *See the Epilogue for the Concert HALL we visited on our vacation.
Down:
1. Cried like a crow: CAWED.
2. "Five Feet of Fury" pro wrestler Bliss: ALEXA. In 2013, Alexa Bliss (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental brand Big Show. She made her main roster debut on the Big Show brand in 2016, later becoming a two-time Big Show Women's Champion and the first woman to hold the title twice.
3. Unpaid worker: ROBOT. And they're worth every penny of it. 😀
4. Like some intricate wedding gowns: BEADED. This one can by yours for only $2,350...
5. Some admins: MODS. MODeratorS? Close enough I
think ...
6. Make a boo-boo: ERR.
7. "Da 5 Bloods" director: LEE. Da 5 Bloods is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. The film's plot follows a group of four aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there.
8. __ nova: BOSSA. Here are Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto, Stan Getz and "The Girl from Ipanema" performing a famous bossa nova ...
9. Stand up for (oneself): ASSERT.
10. "I vote we say no": LETS PASS. [Okay]
11. "Love Sux" singer Lavigne: AVRIL. Think of The Nanny's Fran Drescher as a blonde pop singer on steroids ... 😀
12. Spoonbill habitat: BAYOU. A CSO to Bayou Tony? Spoonbills are a genus of large, long-legged wading birds.
The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every
continent except Antarctica. The genus name Platalea derives from
Ancient Greek and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of
the bill.
13. Colloquialism: SLANG.
18. "My man!": DUDE. An example of 13D.
22. Happy hops: SKIPS.
24. Alien-seeking org.: SETI. Having despaired of finding any terrestrial intelligence, the SETI Institute ("Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence") has trained its eyes on the skies. The institute was founded in 1984 with astrophysicist Dr. Frank Drake ( (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) as its president. Dr. Drake is probably most famous for this eponymous equation, which estimates that 12,500 intelligent civilizations may currently exist in our galaxy. But to paraphrase physicist Enrico Fermi "Where are they?" -- the following article on the "Fermi Paradox" asserts that we are alone in the universe.
25. Market ahead of time: PRESELL. Merriam-Webster.
27. Fleeting trend: FAD.
29. LGA alternative: JFK. Not the Ladies Golf Association, but the LaGuardia Airport, New York City's other air field.
30. Not prone to infatuation, for short: ARO. AROmantic.
31. Keep out: BAR.
34. Lend a hand: AID.
35. Splash of color in a water garden: KOI. Below is a picture of the Koi pond in the H.P. Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens in Baltimore. They have a coin-operated dispenser for food to feed to the fish. This was a favorite place we used to take our youngest granddaughter ...
36. Lodge: INN.
14. Ingredient in some superfood smoothies: ALOE.
15. Classic cookies: OREOS. 5 letter plural cookie - Ektorp.
16. Assessment, briefly: EVAL.
17. [Theme clue]
19. Sam Cooke's "__ Little Love": TRY A.
20. Book that details the origin of Passover: EXODUS. In EXODUS chapter 12 the Lord describes in detail the Passover -- the flight from Egypt by the Jewish nation and the meal that the Jews consumed before departing. In verse 14 He says "This day will be a day of remembrance for you, which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD; you will celebrate it as a statute forever." And in fact devout Jews do observe the Passover to this day; and this celebration is also the basis for Christianity's various communion services, e.g. the Catholic Mass.
21. Time with a therapist: SESSION. A CSO to constructor and therapist Trent H. Evans who has had 6 puzzles published in the LA Times.
23. Went out with: DATED.
24. [Theme clue]
26. Postpone: DEFER.
28. Hermana del padre: TIA. Today's Spanish lesson: AUNT.
29. Part of a one-two punch: JAB. The JAB is the first punch, but there are apparently several types of TWO punches, as shown in this How-to ...
32. Had a bite: ATE.
33. MSNBC host Jen: PSAKI. Jennifer Rene Psaki (born December 1, 1978) is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations. She served the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary until May 2022.
|
|
Jen Psaki |
42. Divided Asian peninsula: KOREA.
43. Seemingly forever: EON.
44. Lots of noise: DIN.
45. Ozs. and lbs.: WTS.
47. Sacks: LOOTS. The city of Rome had the distinction of being sacked twice, in 410 AD and again in 1527 AD. However the last two times we visited the Eternal City it seemed to have recoverecd. 😀
50. [Theme clue]
54. Slip past: ELUDE.
58. "Faster!": HURRY UP.
59. Brunch order: OMELET. How to make a mushroom OMELET ...
60. Potatoes, in South Asian cuisine: ALOO. Here's a video showing how to make perfect Aloo parathas (flatbread stuffed with spiced potatoes) ...
61. [Theme clue]
64. Pixar protagonist who has one small fin and one large fin: NEMO. Here's NEMO in case anybody is still looking for him -- although I'm not sure the clue description exactly fits - by my count he has 7 fins ...
67. Wax-wrapped cheese: EDAM. Edam is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands, and is named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland. Edam is traditionally sold in flat-ended spheres with a pale yellow interior and a coat, or rind, of red paraffin wax.
|
|
Edam Cheese |
69. Corridor: HALL. *See the Epilogue for the Concert HALL we visited on our vacation.
Down:
1. Cried like a crow: CAWED.
2. "Five Feet of Fury" pro wrestler Bliss: ALEXA. In 2013, Alexa Bliss (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental brand Big Show. She made her main roster debut on the Big Show brand in 2016, later becoming a two-time Big Show Women's Champion and the first woman to hold the title twice.
 |
| Alexa Bliss In her Glitter Fairy persona |
3. Unpaid worker: ROBOT. And they're worth every penny of it. 😀
4. Like some intricate wedding gowns: BEADED. This one can by yours for only $2,350...
 |
| Beaded wedding dress |
|
7. "Da 5 Bloods" director: LEE. Da 5 Bloods is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. The film's plot follows a group of four aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there.
8. __ nova: BOSSA. Here are Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto, Stan Getz and "The Girl from Ipanema" performing a famous bossa nova ...
9. Stand up for (oneself): ASSERT.
10. "I vote we say no": LETS PASS. [Okay]
11. "Love Sux" singer Lavigne: AVRIL. Think of The Nanny's Fran Drescher as a blonde pop singer on steroids ... 😀
 |
| Roseate Spoonbill |
18. "My man!": DUDE. An example of 13D.
22. Happy hops: SKIPS.
24. Alien-seeking org.: SETI. Having despaired of finding any terrestrial intelligence, the SETI Institute ("Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence") has trained its eyes on the skies. The institute was founded in 1984 with astrophysicist Dr. Frank Drake ( (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) as its president. Dr. Drake is probably most famous for this eponymous equation, which estimates that 12,500 intelligent civilizations may currently exist in our galaxy. But to paraphrase physicist Enrico Fermi "Where are they?" -- the following article on the "Fermi Paradox" asserts that we are alone in the universe.
25. Market ahead of time: PRESELL. Merriam-Webster.
27. Fleeting trend: FAD.
29. LGA alternative: JFK. Not the Ladies Golf Association, but the LaGuardia Airport, New York City's other air field.
30. Not prone to infatuation, for short: ARO. AROmantic.
31. Keep out: BAR.
34. Lend a hand: AID.
35. Splash of color in a water garden: KOI. Below is a picture of the Koi pond in the H.P. Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens in Baltimore. They have a coin-operated dispenser for food to feed to the fish. This was a favorite place we used to take our youngest granddaughter ...
 |
| Koi Pond |
39. Forensic anthropologist/writer Reichs who inspired the TV series "Bones": KATHY. Dr. Kathleen Joan Reichs (PhD) (née Toelle, born July 7, 1948) is an American crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic. She is an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
 |
| Kathy Reichs |
40. Diner staffer: COOK.
41. Game with a spinoff called Dos: UNO. Spanish lesson two: ONE.
46. Packs: STUFFS.
48. Seasonal worker: TEMP.
49. Santa's transport: SLEIGH.
50. Old Scottish title: THANE. At beginning of Shakespeare's Macbeth there are a total of eight THANES, each a governor of a particular region of Scotland. The Thanes are all noblemen beneath an elected kingship (King Duncan). But then the plot thickens.
51. Was extremely sweet?: RULED. Let's see what the pigeons think ...
 |
| Gen-Z slang perhaps? or a dulcet dominatrix? 😀 |
52. Bakery emanation: AROMA.
53. Copycat's activity: APERY. A nounification of APE. Some ways to stop this crosswordese menace.
55. Extremely: ULTRA.
56. Window sticker: DECAL. Short for decalcomania, a decorative technique by which engravings and prints are transferred to pottery or other materials.
57. __ alcohol: hand sanitizer ingredient: ETHYL. AKA Ethanol.
59. Tolkien brutes: ORCS. The gray meanies ...
 |
| ORC |
63. Env. insert: ENC.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
And special thanks to Naomi for filling in for me on the 11th.
And special thanks to Naomi for filling in for me on the 11th.
waseeley
Epilogue: What We Did on Our Summer Vacation
We began our vacation by visiting our family at Catholic Family Land, a retreat center about 20 miles West of Steubenville, Ohio. Here we are, lined up for the annual picture, from left to right: the 4 youngest grandchildren, Teri and I, the 4 oldest grandchildren, our daughter-in-law, and our son.
The first was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is basically a 6 story visual and auditory history of Rock and its origins, starting with the legendary guitarist Robert Johnson who invented the blues, and continuing through hundreds of different musicians, up to the present time. It winds up in a small theatre with an immersive 20 minute video of past musicians celebrating their investitures into the Hall, playing Rock the way it is meant to be played -- LOUD. Here is Teri out front, recovering from the experience! ...
 |
| Teri |
Speaking of immersive experiences, we had another one at the Cleveland Museum of Art called Into the Seven Jeweled Mountain inspired by a 19th-century Korean folding screen. The experience uses digital imagery overlaid on a room-size image of the screen to create the illusion that you are ascending the legendary mountain, which has 7 jewels buried somewhere on its slopes. The Seven Jeweled Mountain actually exists in Northern Korea, but of course the guardians of that realm are keeping it to themselves. There is much to see in the Cleveland Museum of Art and it is considered by some to be the second greatest museum in the US after the Metropolitan in New York. It is probably worth a visit to Cleveland for that purpose alone.
But we were still in search of music, and we'd done some homework. The Cleveland Symphony has a Summer series called The Blossom Festival where it hosts a series of concerts, both pop and classical. Our researches had found that one of the classical concerts happened to be on July 6th and it featured a musician named Béla Fleck, who had transcribed the piano part to George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue to banjo. If you've not heard of this musician you can just think of him as the Jascha Heifetz of the banjo ...
 |
| Béla Fleck |
And finally it seems that Béla has some fans on the Corner -- see if you recognize this one from 50 years ago ...
We would definitely recommend a visit to Cleveland anytime, but it's good to be back home!
Bill and Teri.
Bill and Teri.
53 comments:
I would be surprised if anyone actually put in ALOE without trying ACAI first. Superfood AND smoothie in the clue, plus the free A from the gimme CAWED. That was my only real hang-up today.
I couldn’t believe “Psaki” could be right
but I held my nose and put it in and got the congratulatory message so apparently it was. Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Still puzzling via a hotspot. Power's been back four days, but still not a peep from the ISP. Their new name, Optimum (formerly Soddenlink), seems ill-chosen.
Hand up for ACAI -- at least it wasn't at 1a. ARO came back for an encore, but waited sufficiently long that d-o had forgotten. "Sweet" -- RULED???? Still don't understand it. That L was a WAG, but the only letter that made a recognizable word. Thanx, Susan, waseeley, and Teri. (Glad to see you enjoyed the "city of light, city of magic" per Randy Newman.)
Here's DAB's bi-weekly puzzle. Here's what he has to say about it ...
As part of my innovative, ground-breaking, take-no-prisoners, bourgeoisie-shocking, taboo-shattering, avant-garde crossword project, I offer here a puzzle that’s not afraid to deal with the brutal, grim, soul-deadening, filth-encrusted underside of life. I warn you, however, that this is dark stuff, not for the faint of heart or the weak of knee. Do you have the inner strength to endure and the aesthetic discrimination to appreciate the most advanced cultural productions of our age? Prove it by solving, and enjoying, and praising this puzzle!
D-O @5:49 AM I've not heard Newman's "City of light, city of magic". It's an apt description and I'll check it out. I'm not too crazy about "Baltimore" and "Short People" (I resemble that remark!)
I don't get 51d, ruled?? Was extremely sweet??
When I had to correct Açaí to ALOE my first thought was that I wouldn’t be alone, and judging by a couple previous comments there will be a lot of 🖐️’s up on that one. I managed a FIR in a little over 20 minutes, about par for a Thursday. Needed perps for ARO, MODS, TRYA, KATHY and ALEXA (both would have been clued very differently on a Monday). Wasn’t sure if it was Tio or TIA, Evade or ELUDE, perps again. Last fill was the L in the RULED/ALOO crossing, we’ve had vowel heavy ALOO several times in the past but I’ve yet to commit it to memory, maybe after today 🤞, and the clue for RULED was a little odd. All in all an enjoyable later week challenge, thank you Susan G for your clever creation!
Bill and Teri ~ excellent recap today! Today I learned where MELBA toast originated, DECAL is a shortened word, and the history of Nathan’s hot dogs. Always enjoy your photos and videos. Thanks for taking us along on your vacation, you certainly made the most of your time in Cleveland, very nice family photo too! The R & R Hall of Fame is on my bucket list.
FLN ~ Irish Miss ☘️, CanadianEh🇨🇦, Lucina, Anon T, Monkey 🐒 - thank you for your b/day wishes! 😊
Tehachapi Ken and Arizona Jim ~ nice to see your duet comment, hope you are getting better with each passing day Ken! 👊🏼
sumdaze ~ thank you also for your birthday wish and kind words! I always read the comments from the day before to make sure I didn’t miss anything cuz I know some people post late. And yes I do enjoy your Monday blogs and comments, your personality comes across in your writing, you seem like a very sweet person with a positive outlook, and what better way to start Monday morning than the pleasant read you provide!
T Ken and A Jim ~ forgot to thank you for acknowledging my b/day!
"Sweet!" = "Cool!"
"That rules!" = "That's awesome!"
Hence the clue/answer pair at 51D.
Took 9:03 for me to get the venison presentation (game show?).
Yep, I had acai before aloe. Seemed like an Ektorp, but not. Should we call that a "Protke"?
I didn't know the inspiration for the tv show, and it took me awhile to remember the South Asian cuisine from prior crossword puzzles.
Waseeley, I'm glad you shared your trip with us, and that my town of Cleveland was a good host to you & Teri. It does have underappreciated art and music scenes, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, one of the country's 63 National Parks, and many other amenities. It's also about an hour away from the Pro Football HOF and the world-class amusement park, Cedar Point. I attended a concert at Blossom as recently as July 3rd. Cool venue, right?
FIW, missing ToYA x AVoIL and AgOO x RUgED. Considered RULED but thought "nah, can't be." Yes, erased acai for ALOE. Also delay for DEFER, and bus for VAN.
CSOs to Aunt Lucina and BAYOU Tony (hi Bill)
DOS was easy only because "Uno" is an EKTORP.
PSAKI was an excellent presidential spokeswoman, but is now a hack TV personality. (She's as cute as a bug's ear too, so she's got that goin' for her.)
Thanks to Susan for the fun Thursday puzzle, except for the stumper down by San Diego. And thanks to Bill and Teri for another fine review. Glad you're back, but the Corner didn't miss a beat due to Naomi's excellent work.
Waseeley, Newman's song wasn't complimentary. You may want to skip it.
BobB @6:40 AM I didn't either. GenZ slang?
SS @7:31 AM Blossom was fantastic, but it's a big place -- the logistics of getting in and out of it are tricky. The next time we go we'll definitely get premium parking, but I think those tickets sell out quickly. One regret is that we didn't have time to do any hiking in Cuyahoga National Park, but we got a bit of a feel for it, as Blossom seems to be smack dab in the middle of it. Knowing that the ingress was going to be tricky, we actually rehearsed the trip the day before!
Still waiting for someone to guess the mystery banjoist who ends the review?
D-O @7:50 AM Are any of his songs complimentary? ☹
FIR, but I struggled to get a foothold. Only when the theme became apparent did I finally make progress.
I too threw down acai before aloe, which I'm not sure of still? Aloe? Hmmmm.
And what has ruled got to do with extremely sweet?. If not for a WAG, this puzzle would have finished another way.
But overall for a Thursday puzzle it was enjoyable. So there's that.
Good Morning! I found today’s puzzle somewhat of a grind. Too many abbreviations, acronyms, kid-speak, 8 by my count, plus question mark clues and unknown people. Not a fan of any of it, but I did like the theme once I saw it.
WO: acai -> ALOE; delay -: DEFER; aping -> APERY; ban -> BAR.
Thanks, Bill & Teri. My, you had a pack-filled excursion!
Good Morning:
I like this type of theme and thought this one was very well executed, with Frank Discussion being my favorite presentation. Another hand up for Açaí/Aloe, plus the missteps of Delay/Defer and Elide/Elude. Alexa was an unknown and Aloo was a known but forgotten. No issue with Kathy Reichs as I have read many of her books, but never watched Bones. Seeing the full Session again, so soon, brought a smile. Was Extremely Sweet?=Ruled has to be one of the most misleading, spurious C/As that I've ever seen. I can understand a bit of trickery in cluing but this strays into inanity, IMO. I would be willing to bet that if your life depended on coming up with an answer to a definition of Extremely Sweet, Ruled wouldn't enter your mind.
Thanks, Susan, for a fun solve, despite the aforementioned criticism, and thanks, Bill for an overflowing cornucopia of facts, fun, and learning moments. Loved the family photo and the synopsis of your time in Cleveland. Enjoyed the Béla Fleck performance of the amazing George Gershwin masterpiece, and Avril Lavigne's caterwauling was, thankfully, erased by Sam Cooke's velvet tones.
Great write-up, welcome back, and thanks to Teri, as always.
FLN
Ken and Jim, so good to hear from you both. Ken, hope each day brings you a little closer to recovery! Please stay with us, if you're up to it.
TTP, lest you think CC only publishes the ages of the men on the Corner on their birthday, she has announced mine very loudly and clearly for the last several years. I think if she is aware of one's age, she mentions it, man or woman. 😉
Shotgun approach to solving today's puzzle. No I did not put in again. Waited for perps since I had the "E" from BEADED.
RULED is a long stretch from extrenely sweet. Liked the theme. Nice puzzle, Susan. Thanks waseeley for your review and sharing your trip.
Ever wonder why people are the way they are?
Scramble.
Acai, not again. Autocorrect strikes again(??).
Agree with IM about RULED. The "L" was the only letter that made sense so that is what I filled.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Susan, and waseeley and Teri (great family photo and commentary on your travels).
I finished in good time and saw the Presentation theme.
Hand up with the rest of you for Açai before ALOE. (Anon@7:31- I think both Açai and ALOE were ECKTORPs for this clue.)
Another hand up for delay before DEFER.
Did anybody else want Terra before BOSSA?
Plenty of unknown (as clued) names today (PSAKI, LEE, ALEXA, KATHY), but perps were fair.
This Canadian knew AVRIL, even if I’m not a fan of her music.
What IM said re the clue for RULED!
With PITCH in the answer, the clue might have been improved with a baseball team, but the Shullsburg/Benton Fever team out of Wisconsin is not very well-known!
Euros were accepted on our brief visit to Liechtenstein, but FRANCS are the official currency.
My brunch order would be an OMELETte. Skies over California might be GRAY, but our Grey skies have finally turned to blue.
Wishing you all a great day.
Anonymous at 7:27 AM nailed it:
""Sweet!" = "Cool!"
"That rules!" = "That's awesome!""
Therefore, was extremely sweet = RULED. I had a huge question mark next to this one, so many thanks to Anonymous!
Also doubted PSAKI, but there you go.
Bill asks about the weather in So Cal. I'm fortunate to be near the coast, a hop, skip and jump inland from Marina Del Rey. It's been in the mid-70s all summer, thus far! No rain, no wind.
Thanks to Jim at 7:45 AM for his kind words, and thanks to Bill for the very interesting tour of Cleveland and the amazing family photo.
I finished the puzzle correctly in spite of several unknowns, and thought it was pretty clever. Thanks for that, Susan, and thanks to Bill and Teri for explaining it all.
My thanks were autocorrected! Thanks to JINX at 7:45 AM for his kind words!
Musings
-A_OO/RU_ED started at me for a long time and an “L” was the only thing that made some kind of sense. SWEEEEEET!
-Electric cars greatly diminish the need for SPARK PLUGS and those that make them
-FRANK: Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest is overseen by by this organization. No, really!
-This FEVER’s rookie has revolutionized the WNBA
-Mike Tyson’s devastating one-two combination was a right hook followed by a right uppercut.
-Perhaps NEMO’s clue should have used the word pectoral fin
-Da Five Bloods on Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 92%, Audiences – 53%
-Destination wedding in the Rockies for people we hardly know? LET’S PASS
-A big part of Revell model cars I built in the 50’s were flame DECALS (how do you pronounce it?)
-My favorite blogger called Rhapsody In Blue the best piece of American music ever written and I agree. I appreciate the skills of the banjo player but…
-Bill and Teri, I enjoyed your summary and tales of your travels
-Welcome back T-Ken!
I loved the theme. Perps were kind. The L in RULED and ALOO was a fortunate wag. Now I recognize ALOO. V-8 can moment.
Anonymous @7:27, thanks, I liked your explanation for RULED. Both are slang. BUT it is mostly used as RULE or RULES, which I would find acceptable. In my experience RULED is rare.
CSO for me with Kathy. I spell it Kathryn.
IMO my wedding dress was prettier and far less costly. I know I am prejudiced.
MODS and ARO needed ESP.
Apery is not crosswordese. It has been around at least since 1610 or 1620. Do we object to drape/drapery?
I like edam. I like smoked edam even more.
I am a fan of PSAKI as a pundit.
Bill and Terri, thanks for sharing your interesting vacation with us
WEES. Thanx NaomiZ @7:27 for a possible way for "RULED" to be fill for "Was extremely sweet", but I dunno, sounds particularly spurious. Or maybe far-stretched (?). I was hoping SG would post an explanation. Anyway, WEES, L was the only letter to make a word, so that's what I wrote, for a FIR in reasonable Thursday time. Thanx SG for an otherwise fine CW, and thanx also to Bill for his informative and entertaining write-up. Sometime today I hope to pick up my Jeep from the dealer: new alternator, new drivebelt, new battery: $1,800. %&$#@! Plus the cost of a rental.
No TRASH TALK here. I found the puzzle theme fun, even though when I entered FEVER PITCH I didn’t know why.
Like everyone else here it seems I entered açaí instead of ALOE, but perps redirected me.
What IM. ☘️said about RULED.
I read KATHY Reich’s books and enjoyed them all, but I was disappointed with the series Bones because it’s not anything like the books.
Thanks Waseely for the fun recap.
IM☘️ I’m trying out Phrazle.
FIR, despite the inane clues and obscure names. RULED? The theme was clever, and helped the solve. Definitely a later-week effort for me. I'll Echo RoseE on this one. ALOE is not something I usually associate with food or drink. KATHY & PSAKI were complete unknowns.
Susan Gelfand has been an earlier-in-the-week constructor whose puzzles tend to be pleasing and seldom off-putting, and this Thursday offering doesn’t disappoint. With five theme entries and no unifier, only the SPARKPLUG is a bit off, because the PLUG isn’t as clearly a talk or discussion as the other four.
I wonder if FEVER PITCH was the seed entry. Even if it was, Susan and Patti couldn’t have known Fever rookie Caitlin Clark would toss a WNBA-record 19 assists in a game this week. She’s more than a stunt-shooter.
There were stumbles here and there. The “was sweet”/”RULED entry didn’t parse well, even if you understand the modern vernacular involving “sweet.” . . . The LET’S PASS answer and clue seemed contrived, not truly conversational. . . . Why is Southern California singled out for summer fog? Northern California has its share – thank goodness, considering my part of the Bay Area has averaged nearly 100 degrees for daytime highs this month because the fog went away for a while. . . . Hand up for acai before ALOE . . . . And APERY? Really? Sorry, YR, but drapery is something people actually say, outside of crosswords, far more often.
I guess NEWSROOM is a CSO to me, but I have developed a real aversion to the term “breaking news” in this clickbait age, because the term is losing its value through overuse.
I don’t get that either
Hola!
Yes, me too. ACAI was, in fact, my first fill but then was overtaken by BEADED wedding dress and I first had TIERED for that. Wite-out to the rescue.
I've also read books by KATHY Reichs but have not seen the TV show. CSO to my friend, KATHY, whose name is actually Kathleen.
I loved FRANK DISCUSSION as clued! My ALEXA is a big help with her vast sources of knowledge and information.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Copy Editor @11:25 AM. I seem to recall a sobriquet for Susan as "the Queen of early week puzzles" and wanted to use it to contrast this with today's slightly crunchy Thursday outing, but couldn't find any references to it on the net. Also I'm with you on APERY, which I've only ever seen in crosswords. And I found your comment re NEWSROOM to be particularly true in my case. Google has figured out that I follow pop-sci news and thus sends a lot of it my way. Virtually every article is about some "ground breaking", "revolutionary" new finding that will "overturn everything we've believed" about cosmology, quantum physics, AI, etc. This is particularly true of articles about the data stream coming from the James Webb Space Telescope. I also subscribe to a couple of newsletters from real scientists, who assure me that while the JWST is discovering an enormous amount of information we didn't know and will need to integrate with existing data, we're not in any danger of abandoning The Big Bang Theory and reverting to a steady state theory.
Naomi, You're welcome. I used to live in Torrence, which is probably near your town. It could be beautiful and warm on a Saturday morning, but when I made the short drive to the coast it would be foggy and cold. Especially in summer. (When I lived in Canyon Country the difference was even more pronounced.)
H.Gary, I say DEE-cals.
You sure 'bout them 'letrick cars leading to diminishing demand for spark plugs? I would bet my left ignition bank that unleaded gas and electronic ignition have been substantially more impactful.
I'll see your Rhapsody In Blue and raise you a Take Five. Can't go wrong with either.
Copy Editor, I'm sure you know that Mark Twin did NOT say "the Coldest Winter I Ever Spent Was a Summer in San Francisco." He did say something similar, but it was about Paris.
Sorry, Copy Editor. Crossword puzzle fill does do not have only the words that are the most frequently used. I make it a practice not to diss words that are outside my experience. There are so many great words I have yet to meet. I am open to building my vocabulary. In this case, I filled in apery very quickly. I have seen apery in many novels. I read apery in the politics section of the newspaper just lately. Quoting it here would ignite a firestorm.
It's been suggested we should see a movie tonight. I vote, "Let's pass."
A plug is a way of advertising a product, event, etc. by talking about it or praising it, especially on radio or television. Are they putting in a plug here about a dating service?
waseeley Thanks for the shout out and for the recap of your summer vacation. Yes, we indeed are in GRAY fog now along the SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA coast. This is usually paired with extreme heat just over the mountains. Often paired with fire. Which we indeed have in a big way now over the mountains. It has burned half of the UC Santa Barbara research station out there.
We have:
May GRAY
JUNE GLOOM
No Sky July
Fogust
September and October are our summer here.
Hand up I found this very difficult. Hand up about ALOE and RULED. Learning moment you can eat ALOE. But I enjoyed the PRESENTATION theme. I just ate ALOO a couple of days ago. FIR. We saw many KOI in Japan.
But instead I will share this beautiful KOI body painted lady.
I have no idea why I had this in a set of photos from a few weeks ago.
PS:
waseeley Thanks for the BONES clip! Sexy, creepy and hilarious all in two minutes!
Bill @ 12:39 ~ I believe you're thinking of Lynn Lempel, Queen of the Monday puzzle. Her puzzles appear mostly in The NY Times, although she has visited the LA Times. On the other end of the spectrum is Robin Weintraub, Queen of the Friday puzzle, again, mostly in The NY Times. And, in the middle, we have our very own Queen of every day of the week puzzles, CC Burnikel! 👏
Waseeley: I should have recommended the VIP parking for Blossom. I haven't actually done that, but I know several people who swear by it. It's pricey, but if you carpool with others, it's less offensive.
I'll bite, is that photo of a younger Waseeley? If not you, then Picard?
-The anon from 7:31 a.m. (again)
Well, by Thursday our puzzles get tougher, but still enjoyed this one--many thanks, Susan. And your comments and pictures are always a pleasure, Bill, so thank you and Teri for these too.
The FRANK DISCUSSION of the long items in the NEWSROOM, offered in a FEVER PITCH along with TRASH TALK, didn't really bode well as a start to this puzzle. They encouraged us to HURRY UP or at least SKIP things and LET stuff PASS, or DEFER dealing with everything before making an EXODUS. But the pleasure of lovely food stopped us. Who can resist OREOs, MELBA toast, OMELETs, and EDAM cheese, all with a lovely AROMA and a price of only a few FRANCs. A delightful morning, gift--thank you again, Susan, and Bill and Teri.
And have a lovely day, everybody.
RIP Bob Newhart. Thanks for all the laughs over the years, and for the very best final sitcom episode ever.
Mods? Aro? Let's just make stuff up now.
A DNF. I left the cross of RULED & ALOO blank. Not familiar with ALOO and after an ABC in my mind nothing made sense. ARO, ALEXA, GRAY, and KATHY were unknowns.
I had some dead ends early that required changing. DELAY to DEFER; APING to APERY; LTR to ENC.
Picard @1:15 PM That's a stunning work of art, but in nature and in artifice.
Anonymous @1:54 PM No that is not a younger me -- one of my few regrets in life is not having learned to play an instrument. I actually obtained permission to use that photo from one of the Cornerites. He hasn't posted yet (rules out Picard) so perhaps he'll fess up to it before the evening is out. If he doesn't show I'll post a comment with an FLN tomorrow.
Sorry to hear about Bob Newhart. I distinctly remember hearing him for the first time doing one of his phone skits on my car radio as I was crossing the Potomac on the way to work in 1962.
I had no idea that ALOE could be an ingredient in some superfood smoothies. Of course I put ACAI in there at first. Learning moment, although I don't know how long I'll remember it. Just as I had forgotten ALOO and then was reminded of it today. ALOE and ALOO, hmmm.
FIRES --> LOOTS
Perps to determine EVADES or ELUDES
MIMOSA --> OMELET
"Some admins: MODS. MODeratorS? Close enough I think ..." Not very close, IMO.
A professor from San Jose State University whom I greatly respect works for SETI. He is not paid for it, but he is definitely not a ROBOT.
Speaking of EDAM, I learned that Gouda is pronounced in Dutch (and Flemish) as "Howduh."
At first I read AROmantic as AROmatic.
At the risk of appearing to be a grumpy old man (2/3 correct) I must say I dislike it when the news people emphasize "Breaking news!" as if it matters to me whether it is breaking or not. I think it only matters to them. The same goes with "Our exclusive interview!"
I still don't really get "Was extremely sweet?": RULED.
Excellent write-up, waseeley. Thank you again.
Just finished the puzzle. .. went Kayaking for two hours with my cousin on the Moose River in the Adirondack park. I probably won’t be able to raise my arms above my head tomorrow after my shoulders seize up!🥺
Almost a DNF cuz of the NE.
Never heard of the pro wrestler (BTW “The Iron Claw” film about the Von Erich bros is worth a watch)
Changed the smoothie ingredient from acai to kale finally ALOE (you can eat the stuff 😳?). Then changed helot (a not infrequent unpaid CW visitor) to ROBOT giving me the R for CARBS…
Additional Inkovers: beach/BAYOU, ban/BAR, euros/FRANC, inc/ENC, laird/THANE, (I took “sacks” to mean “fired) hence boots/LOOTS
Convoluted theme clues, yikes (thought to SPARK someone or with someone meant to “make out”). LETSPASS means not to vote at all
Knew the hotdog clue hadda end in MUSTARD when “dos” became UNO plus the S from SKIPS WRONG!! Then misread “hermano and put TIO first
Seasonal worker next to the SLEIGH oughta been Santa. Ah today it’s SESSION and not sesh 🤨
Lots of PN’s that needed perp-aid like AVRIL (alternative clue “April in Paris”, AVRIL = April in French)
One candy/breath mint…. ASSERT
”Let me run this ____ again”… BAYOU
Simian zoo housing…. APERY
The cheese is wrapped in pieces of wax paper. Make sure you don’t ___ …. EDAM
Where you find “IL Colosseo”….AROMA
Take DW to Syracuse tomorrow for a left renal stone lithotripsy. Hope they finally pound the heck out it so she can then have her stone filled gallbladder removed.
I had no idea that ALOE could be an ingredient in some superfood smoothies. Of course I put ACAI in there at first. Learning moment, although I don't know how long I'll remember it. Just as I had forgotten ALOO and then was reminded of it today. ALOE and ALOO, hmmm.
FIRES --> LOOTS
Perps to determine EVADES or ELUDES
MIMOSA --> OMELET
"Some admins: MODS. MODeratorS? Close enough I think ..." Not very close, IMO.
A professor from San Jose State University whom I greatly respect works for SETI. He is not paid for it, but he is definitely not a ROBOT.
Speaking of EDAM, I learned that Gouda is pronounced in Dutch (and Flemish) as "Howduh."
At first I read AROma*tic as AROmatic.
At the risk of appearing to be a grumpy old man (2/3 correct) I must say I dislike it when the news people emphasize "Breaking news!" as if it matters to me whether it is breaking or not. I think it only matters to them. The same goes with "Our exclusive interview!"
I still don't really get "Was extremely sweet?": RULED.
Excellent write-up, waseeley. Thank you again.
I don't know what happened just there. Sorry for the duplication. I thought my post had been automatically deleted by the censor ROBOT, so I tried to figure out why. The only thing I could guess might have offended the censor algorithm was that word that I changed.
What a day this has been! It started with a trip to the credit union where I was given a new account; then coming home to re-insert all the billers I have to pay and lacking some addresses. Grrr. I never thought I had the urge in me to kill, but this experience has opened that in me. And it's the second time I've had to change my account. Thieves should be punished! The trouble is, they have to be caught.
I'm sorry for the rant. It's hard to suppress my anger.
WASEELEY: Thanks for the timely travelogue on Cleveland, a town I’ve never visited that has been on my mind more than usual this month. First,the S.F. Giants played a three-game set there and I liked what I was seeing. Now I’m pulling for the Guardians to win the A.L. pennant, even against Oregon State legend Adley Rutschman and your Orioles. Then, I started watching reruns of Drew Carey’s old sitcom, set in Cleveland, with a theme song by Randy Newman. And yesterday, I stumbled on another showing of “Major League.”By the way, a 2025 National Parks calendar arrived today, and the photo accompanying March shows a waterfall from Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
I saw/heard George Szell and the Cleveland Symphony in Portland during their tour in 1969 or 1970. He died not long after that.
SHORT PEOPLE: Our octet used to perform that song. One person is designated the short person and sings the “short people are just the same as you and I” bridge, and I always wanted to do it. Meanwhile, our short person retired and his short replacement was no fan of the song. I’m as short as anyone in the group now – and definitely the “little guy” now -- but we’ve moved on. It’s hard to argue that short people like the song and appreciate the underlying theme of not judging by appearances. My mother, who shrank well below 5 feet tall by the time she died, hated the song and didn’t care what its point of view was.
I liked the boxing explanation/demonstration. Notice he called the longer power punch by this right-handed (or orthodox) boxer a “right cross,” rather than a “right hook.” A right-handed fighter ‘s hook, would be with the left hand, while pivoting, and that includes Tyson. I will say that he was quick enough to throw two quick power punches like a right cross and a right uppercut in short order.
He was very intelligent and spoke with slurred speech which never interfered with his hilarious routines.
Thanks to Susan for a puzzle that challenged me without frustrating me! I liked how both the DOS clue and the EXOCUS clue were sussable even if one did not know the "answer". WEB ADDRESS was my favorite but it was also my last themer to fill.
I ran into the same issues already mentioned.
Jayce @ 5:32. I agree that the jump from "Sweet" to RULED is lengthy but perhaps if you think of a nice car as a "SWEET ride" and how a successful team "RULES" then you can see both of those as being "very good".
Misty @ 2:36. I am always impressed with your ability to write clever stories using the fill words. Today's was an especially good one!
Lucina @ 6:29. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this but I am happy the scammers did not get into your account. Thank you for the reminder that we all must be extra vigilant!
FLN. Good to hear from Ken & Jim! Best wishes for continued progress.
Welcome back to waseeley! Thank you for today's blog, for telling us about your trip, and for sharing the pic of your beautiful family! I'm happy for you and Teri!
I have to express my thanks to the people at the credit union. They notified me when some unusual expenditures started coming onto my account. Someone was trying to have a good time on my money. Luckily I was able to deny them but then had to change my account. I'm very grateful to them.
Sumdaze, how kind of you to take the time to make such kind comments about your colleagues'
postings on this blog. I think mine are generally pretty silly, so your supportive note today was especially appreciated. We are all so lucky to have you as a companion here. Thank you so much!
Sorry, friends, but that ''Was extremely sweet = RULED" clue makes sense only with a triple Scotch on the rocks ... and only the rocks are left.
I submit that the dorky clues and answers (e.g., ARO, anything WNBA) of recent vintage are due to the fact that crosswords have been around for a century, and all 'low-hanging fruit' and juicy materials have been harvested again and again, so that a lot of what is left is "Tots Adorbs."
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