Party People
Today's constructor Keico Deuser is making her debut on the Corner with a
simple, but clever play on two different meanings for the word
PARTY. Each of the theme clues are a type of party -- a celebration
or gathering of people. However the fill for each is a real or fictitious
person that might be present at the gathering ...
17. Christmas party: SANTA CLAUS. The party attending this party
has the modern nickname for
St. Nicholas of Myrna (March 15, 270 – December 6, 343 AD), the patron saint of children and a storied
gift giver, whose feast day is celebrated in Western churches on December
6th. Legend has it that he rescued three girls from being forced into
prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house
each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of
them.
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| Santa Claus |
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Rip Van Winkle Hunter Mountain Ski Lodge Catskill Mountains |
44. Halloween party: MICHAEL MYERS. The party attending this party is a character from the slasher film series Halloween. He first appears in 1978 in John Carpenter's Halloween as a young boy who murders his elder sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he returns home to Haddonfield, Illinois, to murder more teenagers. He has been featured in twelve films, as well as novels, video games, and comic books. You wouldn't want to go trick or treating to his house💀.
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Tom Collins cocktail |
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Cop to: ADMIT. To confess guilt, perhaps to reduce a sentence -- "to cop a plea". See 50A.
6. Of this clue, approve he would: YODA. Yodaese.
10. Flows back: EBBS.
14. Previous: PRIOR. Prior (or prioress) is also an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first".
15. Brief analysis?: EVAL. Abbr. spelling of EVALUATION.
16. Blind strip: SLAT.
17. [Theme clue].
19. Unit of lipstick: TUBE.
20. Fuel made from corn: ETHANOL. Biofuels explained. In addition to fueling vehicles it is also used to fuel some parties -- see e.g. 60A. Here's the chemical formula for Ethanol ...
21. Beverage with tapioca pearls: BOBA TEA. AKA Boba tea (aka bubble tea, pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea) is a tea-based drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s and spread rapidly throughout Asia. Taiwanese immigrants brought it to the United States in the 1990s, initially in California, through regions including Los Angeles County.
23. Winter coat?: SNOW.
25. Many an island in the South Pacific: ATOLL.
26. [Theme clue].
32. Starting squad: A TEAM.
33. "Good Omens" co-writer Gaiman: NEIL. Good Omens is a fantasy comedy television series created by Neil Gaiman based on his and Terry Pratchett's 1990 novel. Michael Sheen and David Tennant lead a large ensemble cast that also includes Jon Hamm, Miranda Richardson, Michael McKean, Derek Jacobi, Brian Cox, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Frances McDormand as the voice of God, who narrates the series. Here's a trailer ...
37. Pasta filling, sometimes: MEAT.
38. Popped with a low blow: KNEED. Ouch!
40. Source of a low blow?: TUBA. This tune is usually played on a 4 letter instrument favored by crossword constructors, but here it is lowered by two octaves ...
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| Justin Trudeau |
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| Christopher Luxon |
42. Degs. for filmmakers: MFAS. Masters of Fine Arts. This article doesn't say whether they got MFAS, but here are 8 film makers who went to film school.
43. Call for pizza, say: ORDER.
44. [Theme clue].
47. Professionals who might bug people: SPIES.
50. Impassioned request: PLEA.
51. Seemingly unbeatable foe: NEMESIS. While we tend to think of a nemesis as the bad guy (e.g. Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes), in ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis was the goddess who personified divine justice and retribution for the sin of hubris; arrogance before the gods.
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Justice (Dike, on the left) and Divine Vengeance (Nemesis, right) pursuing a criminal murderer Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1808 |
59. Maroon 5 lead singer Levine: ADAM. Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine, drummer Matt Flynn, keyboardist PJ Morton and multi-instrumentalist and bassist Sam Farrar. Here's a little Sugar from their fifth album V ...
60. [Theme clue].
62. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, say: GAGA. People are going gaga over the game of gaga these days. Here's one of my grandsons on the left getting ready to score the winning point in the gaga pit at Catholic Family Land in Ohio ...
63. Glutinous glob: CLOT.
64. D sharp equivalent: EFLAT. Here's the E FLAT key signature.
66. Border lines?: HEMS.
67. Black Sea resort: YALTA.
Down:
1. Choir section: APSE. Do Keico/Patti want us to think of ALTO? The term APSE
generally refers to a semi-circular section of a church, such as the
sanctuary in the front of the church, or smaller niches along the sides,
typically containing statues of saints. Below is a floor plan for a
cathedral, showing the sanctuary in grey. If the sanctuary is large
enough, there may be space for a choir, but the space most commonly
associated with choirs is the choir loft in the rear or one side of the church, where the organ is usually placed.
2. "Dang it!": DRAT.
3. Ho Chi __ City: MINH. Formerly known as SAIGON, the capital of then South Viet Nam, it is the most populous city in today's Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
4. Crumb: IOTA.
5. Classic Pontiac: TRANS AM. Here's a 1978 Trans Am for sale for only $89,999 ...
6. Like many a school bus: YELLOW. Some of them are magic ...
8. Mark on a bingo card: DAUB. I ran this by the triceratops and the pigeons and they weren't buying it, so I Googled "bingo" and found this Wiki, which led me to the following YouTube by Ms. Delta Bingo. It turns out that when you're playing a high stakes game like bingo, every second counts ...
9. "On top of which ... ": ALSO.
10. Lot of wealth?: ESTATE. A very big lot. 😀
11. Popeye's rival: BLUTO. What a difference an apostrophe makes. Last week Popeyes' rival was KFC (see also 38D). This week Popeye's rival is Bluto ...
12. Genesis locale: BABEL. The construction of the Tower of Babel is described in Genesis 11:1–9. God interpreted this project as a sin of pride, as the people were attempting to reach heaven without His assistance. To prevent this he confounded their speech, such that they could no longer understand each other, with the result that they scattered to the ends of the Earth. Among other meanings this story explains the origin of languages.
13. Terrific bargain: STEAL.
18. Nutmegger's st.: CONN. Nutmegger is a nickname for people from the US state of Connecticut. The official nickname for Connecticut is "The Constitution State", as voted in 1958 by the Connecticut state legislature; however, "The Nutmeg State" is an unofficial nickname for the state, hence the nickname "Nutmegger". The exact reason for this is shrouded in history, but here are some theories.
22. Word with hard or soft: BALL.
24. Apple often used to make cider: WINESAP. Winesap apples are a cultivar of unknown origin, dating at least to American colonial times. Its apples are sweet with a tangy finish. They are used for eating, cooking, and are especially prized for making cider.
26. X Games launch point: RAMP. This one is a little subtle and I got it on perps. The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and owned by MSP Sports Capital, Inc since 2022. The X Games have been held all over the world and typically include sports such as skateboarding, BMX, freestyle motocross, skiing and snowboarding. Apparently the launch points for several of these sports are called RAMPS.
28. Pair in a pod: PEAS.
29. Factory tub: VAT.
30. Word that indicates a name change: NEE.
31. "Diary of a Wimpy __": KID. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an American children's book series and media franchise created by American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series follows Greg Heffley, a middle-schooler who illustrates his daily life in a diary (although he insists that it is a journal). Here are the first four books in the series ...
34. "Seriously, man!?": DUDE.
35. Superlative prefix: UBER. Today's German lesson: ABOVE.
36. Couple in a boat: OARS.
38. Company whose X account only follows some Spice Girls and seven guys named Herb: KFC. Here's story of the viral legend who cracked KFC’s hilarious code.
39. "Don't bother": NAH.
40. Tackle: TRY.
42. Fail to notice: MISS.
43. Walter who moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles: O'MALLEY. Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles despite the Dodgers being the second most profitable team in baseball from 1946 to 1956. In 2008, O'Malley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to and influence on the game of baseball.
44. Granny, to some: MEEMAW. "Meemaw", like "Mamaw", "Mimah" and various other Southern US expressions for grandmother or mother, ultimately derives from Acadian (Cajun) or Louisiana French, in which the French maman ('mother') is pronounced more or less as "m'maw". This is what Sheldon calls his grandmother on TBBT ...
45. Puts in a seat: ELECTS.
46. Host before Fallon: LENO. James Douglas Muir Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, writer and comedian. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 until 2009 and, due to some scheduling conflicts at NBC, again from 2010 to 2014. That year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Here he is in 1987 being interviewed by the host before him ...
47. Bumps in the road: SNAGS.
48. One of two on a tricycle: PEDAL.
49. Instagram upload: IMAGE.
52. Urge: ITCH.
53. Worn-down part of a shoe: SOLE. Or a flat fish ...
55. __ Romeo: ALFA. CSO to -T. I'll bet
that's how he swept DW off her feet!
56. Streamlet: RILL.
Also a verb: "to flow in a small stream; to trickle".
57. Tiny pest: GNAT.
58. "¿Cómo __?": ESTA. Today's Spanish lesson: "HOW YA DOIN'?"
61. May celebrant: MOM.
Cheers,
Bill
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| APSE |
3. Ho Chi __ City: MINH. Formerly known as SAIGON, the capital of then South Viet Nam, it is the most populous city in today's Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
4. Crumb: IOTA.
5. Classic Pontiac: TRANS AM. Here's a 1978 Trans Am for sale for only $89,999 ...
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| 1978 Pontiac Trans Am |
6. Like many a school bus: YELLOW. Some of them are magic ...
The Magic School Bus
7. Egg cells: OVA. Today's Latin lesson.8. Mark on a bingo card: DAUB. I ran this by the triceratops and the pigeons and they weren't buying it, so I Googled "bingo" and found this Wiki, which led me to the following YouTube by Ms. Delta Bingo. It turns out that when you're playing a high stakes game like bingo, every second counts ...
9. "On top of which ... ": ALSO.
10. Lot of wealth?: ESTATE. A very big lot. 😀
11. Popeye's rival: BLUTO. What a difference an apostrophe makes. Last week Popeyes' rival was KFC (see also 38D). This week Popeye's rival is Bluto ...
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| Mr. Bluto |
12. Genesis locale: BABEL. The construction of the Tower of Babel is described in Genesis 11:1–9. God interpreted this project as a sin of pride, as the people were attempting to reach heaven without His assistance. To prevent this he confounded their speech, such that they could no longer understand each other, with the result that they scattered to the ends of the Earth. Among other meanings this story explains the origin of languages.
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The Tower of Babel Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563 |
18. Nutmegger's st.: CONN. Nutmegger is a nickname for people from the US state of Connecticut. The official nickname for Connecticut is "The Constitution State", as voted in 1958 by the Connecticut state legislature; however, "The Nutmeg State" is an unofficial nickname for the state, hence the nickname "Nutmegger". The exact reason for this is shrouded in history, but here are some theories.
22. Word with hard or soft: BALL.
24. Apple often used to make cider: WINESAP. Winesap apples are a cultivar of unknown origin, dating at least to American colonial times. Its apples are sweet with a tangy finish. They are used for eating, cooking, and are especially prized for making cider.
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| Winesap Apple |
26. X Games launch point: RAMP. This one is a little subtle and I got it on perps. The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and owned by MSP Sports Capital, Inc since 2022. The X Games have been held all over the world and typically include sports such as skateboarding, BMX, freestyle motocross, skiing and snowboarding. Apparently the launch points for several of these sports are called RAMPS.
27. "Unexpected __ in bagging area": ITEM. You may hear this
phrase if you are using self-service check-out in a grocery store. If
the system detects an increase in the weight in one of the bags in the
bagging area, without a preceding ITEM having been scanned for
payment, a friendly voice will pop-up to remind you. During our recent
visit to Cleveland we were buying some groceries and heard the exact same
voice during check-out., presumably originating from the same point-of-sale
software we use back in Baltimore.
28. Pair in a pod: PEAS.
29. Factory tub: VAT.
30. Word that indicates a name change: NEE.
31. "Diary of a Wimpy __": KID. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an American children's book series and media franchise created by American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series follows Greg Heffley, a middle-schooler who illustrates his daily life in a diary (although he insists that it is a journal). Here are the first four books in the series ...
35. Superlative prefix: UBER. Today's German lesson: ABOVE.
36. Couple in a boat: OARS.
38. Company whose X account only follows some Spice Girls and seven guys named Herb: KFC. Here's story of the viral legend who cracked KFC’s hilarious code.
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| @edgette22 on the Kentucky Colonel's back |
39. "Don't bother": NAH.
40. Tackle: TRY.
42. Fail to notice: MISS.
43. Walter who moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles: O'MALLEY. Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles despite the Dodgers being the second most profitable team in baseball from 1946 to 1956. In 2008, O'Malley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to and influence on the game of baseball.
44. Granny, to some: MEEMAW. "Meemaw", like "Mamaw", "Mimah" and various other Southern US expressions for grandmother or mother, ultimately derives from Acadian (Cajun) or Louisiana French, in which the French maman ('mother') is pronounced more or less as "m'maw". This is what Sheldon calls his grandmother on TBBT ...
45. Puts in a seat: ELECTS.
46. Host before Fallon: LENO. James Douglas Muir Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, writer and comedian. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 until 2009 and, due to some scheduling conflicts at NBC, again from 2010 to 2014. That year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Here he is in 1987 being interviewed by the host before him ...
47. Bumps in the road: SNAGS.
48. One of two on a tricycle: PEDAL.
49. Instagram upload: IMAGE.
52. Urge: ITCH.
53. Worn-down part of a shoe: SOLE. Or a flat fish ...
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| Dover Sole |
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1990 Alfa Romeo Spider $23,990 - 51,440 miles |
57. Tiny pest: GNAT.
58. "¿Cómo __?": ESTA. Today's Spanish lesson: "HOW YA DOIN'?"
61. May celebrant: MOM.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
30 comments:
I can’t believe the cwd constructor referenced “Good Omens,” one of my favorite books of all time. A satire on the Apocalypse, with a mischievous 13 year old boy named Adam who supposedly is the Antichrist. What a book!
Anyway, I didn’t find this puzzle terribly difficult, once I grasped the theme, which I did pretty quickly. FIR, so I’m happy.
I have a tendency to see right through the classic "party" trick in clues, but assume (for whatever reason) that the answer is always going to be plural or referring to a group of people. So when SANTA popped up, I was thinking mall SANTAs before the actual SANTA CLAUS. And for the Halloween one I wanted something like ___ MONSTERS, ____ GHOSTS, that kind of thing.
Good morning!
With the A from ADMIT, d-o proudly inked in ALTO at 1d. (Have I ever mentioned....?) Few proper names, and not many TLWs. Lots to like. Thanx, for the challenge, Keico Deuser. (What a great name!) And thanx for leading the flock through the maze, waseeley and Teri.
TUBA: Wicked cw answer -- Solo instrument for Gabriel's Oboe.
E FLAT: This was my favorite key signature back when I still played (at) the piano. For some odd reason the chords sounded best in that key.
YELLOW: School buses are yellow to make them more visible. So why did they get rid of the yellow stop signs in favor of the almost invisible red ones? I can't begin to count how many I've blown through on unfamiliar roads.
ITEM: My first encounter with self-checkout got me escorted out of the supermarket.
FIR, but erased gasahol for ETHANOL, goliath for NEMESIS, and alto for APSE. Got my WAG at NEIL x KID, which I thought was a fun sponge.
If the damned software would keep up with my speed of scanning, the "unexpected item" guy could take the day off. (My laptop is trying to turn my screen into something that looks like a UPC label. Time to buy a new laptop?)
At one time, Walter OMALLEY was the only MLB owner whose primary income was baseball operations. Most of them are rich guys who own a team as a hobby. I was sad to see Dodgers ownership leave the family, but by that time I had divorced MLB and moved on.
Thanks to Keico for the mostly-fun puzzle, and to Bill 'n' Teri for the totally fun review.
Here's today's DAB puzzle. David has this to say about it ...
“When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you,” wrote Friedrich Nietzche, in “Beyond Good and Evil.” So, wanting to get beyond good and evil myself, I gazed into the abyss. Much to my disappointment, it didn’t gaze into me. In fact it didn’t do much of anything at all but just lie there being fathomless. So I didn’t get beyond good and evil. But I did get an idea for a crossword.
My life is so much richer knowing who KFC follows on X - hilarious! Lively and fun puzzle, in theme and fill. Great debut, Keico!
Fun puzzle and theme
Late to work - so thanks to Bill & Teri -
I especially enjoyed the video of Maroon 5 surprising all the people at multiple weddings in 1 day and the LENO routine with Johnny Carson- some things never change
Took 6:56 today for me to get invited to the party.
Clever theme.
I didn't know the co-writer nor "winesap," which means I guessed correctly at their intersection. I also didn't know "Omalley". But, on the bright side, I knew today's foreign language lesson (esta).
I liked seeing Yoda & Boba in the same puzzle.
FIR. Typical Thursday fare, tough but doable.
I got stuck for a while with Michael Meyers, mostly because of KFC. Now I know something about their X account that I don't really care about. It took time for kneed to appear, too.
But overall, although a slow solve, it got done so there's that.
I'll be the first to ADMIT. Other than the TOM COLLINS drink I couldn't see any connection with PARTY. I had a little trouble in the NE with DAUB and BOBA TEA. The Vietnamese around here call it 'bubble tea'. No idea about the DAUB-perps. The SW was also hard to finish. I've heard many different names for a grandmother but MEEMAW isn't one of them. I'll have to ask a few local Cajuns about that one. GAGA came for perps and then the V8 hit me.
NEIL, KFC-unknown as clued.
It's been a hell of a week for us. Sunday morning around 2:30 we woke to a loud sound and flashing lights. I noticed the little red light that every TV has wasn't on but we had electricity. Then the generator kicked on while the power was still on. Strange. I went outside to check it, saw an unfamiliar error code, and shut it off. When I came back in Diane said the AC was not blowing cold air and the alarm system was out. She thought it was lightning but it wasn't. I called the Generac people and AC tech around 8:00. The generator tech opened the main box that has the electrical feed from the local electric company and to his surprise a two-foot long SNAKE had somehow managed to get inside and decided to roast itself and ruin a few things in the process.
So what other damage did the snake do? The following had/have to repaired:
Alarm system-cost unknown
ATT Gateway for computer, internet, and televisions
DVR
GFI socket repair-$30
Television- $138 at Walmart (pretty cheap for a 40" TV)
Generator repair and voltage regulator-$930
AC repair-$1350
We got everything except the alarm system up and running Wed. afternoon.
Good Morning:
This was a cute, fresh theme encased in a very clean grid with no dreck, few TLWs, and no obscurities. Additionally, there were some cute clues and mostly straightforward fill, all leading to an enjoyable and satisfying solve. I fell into the Alto/Apse trap and also stumbled over Eat In/Order and Heel/Sole. The clues for KFC, Gaga, and Item were meaningless to me. Pop culture slang/memes/trends have long passed me by, I think. CSO to Tony at Alfa and CEh at PMs.
Thanks, Keico, for a terrific Thursday treat and thanks, Bill, for the fun, facts, and learning moments that you provide. Thanks, also, to Teri.
Have a great day.
Quite EZ for a latter-day puzzle this week. The KNEED for perps was limited
Ernestine: “Is this the PARTY to whom I am speaking?” Should be the theme.
🤲 up for alto/APSE, and then for some reason I put ETHyNOL first
Hadda picture the piano keys to change D sharp to E FLAT 🎹.
I know nothing about wines other than their color: guess that makes me a WINESAP 🤔
Harvey Wallbanger more fun but too long
BLUTO….Acute digital ischemia (ischaemia, Canada Eh?) “blue toe syndrome“
”Bewitched” mom who underwent sex reassignment surgery: TRANSAM
When the jury recesses for lunch they ____ in the court ….. ORDER.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta: AKA, Lady ____ …. GAGA
Big E : Guess that 🐍 took a bite outta yer wallet! I remember around 10 years ago our hospital had to go on backup power when a squirrel got into the electrical system. 🐿️
What a neat CW! It took me a little while to catch on to the theme. I didn’t know MICHAEL MYERS, but that didn’t bother me.
The rest was smooth going, except, except …. the north. I left YODA, EVAL,BOBA blank.
The APSE clue was a clever trick as were several other fills. All in all, I really liked this CW.
Thanks Waseely for the usual well researched and informative recap.
George @8:46 AM WOW! We have a Generac and have depended on it for outages of up to a week, caused by hurricanes in the Summer and ice storms in the Winter, but never outages caused by a SNAKE!
Ray - O @9:38 AM Loved the Ernestine quote. Wish I'da thoughta that!
I thought this was a terrific theme. The solve was more Friday-like for me. I soon dropped down and solved from the bottom up. COLLINS, oh TOM COLLINS and I had the theme. It still took me longer than my regular Thursday time.
I used to like a Tom Collins. Now I don't care for most sweet cocktails. I prefer gin and tonic.
I never heard of Michael Myers. I see he was a character in Halloween movies, not my cuppa tea. That central easy coast was a challenge for me.
Neither is boba tea my cuppa tea.
Kiddy lit for this teacher: Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Magic School Bus.
I have seen bingo daubers. Bingo is very popular here, but I don't play. I find it boring. I'd rather read.
I guessed Winesap from the P, only apple I know that ends in P.
I know a Japanese lady named KEIKO, a second K instead of a C. Deuser seems to be German name. Maybe KEICO could explain the origin of her names.
Thanks to Waseeley, Teri and Keico for fun outing.
Wow. Doesn't get much quicker for me. Another puzzle smack dab in the middle of my wheelhouse. Felt like another Monday! I'll Echo Irish Miss on this one. Especially the pop culture part. Pretty much over my head. (And it can stay there!)
Big Easy, so did the snake really taste like chicken?
YR @10:39 AM I couldn't turn up anything on the net on Keico re previous puzzles in any publication. I did get a couple of hits for other people, which is the only reason I assumed she was female. I thought it was pretty clever for an initial outing.
Good Morning! Fun puzzle with some good challenges. Thanks, Keico. Congratulations on your debut.
It was the SW, and the last to fill, NW which gave me pause (and some WOs!)
WOs: I started to enter bubble but ran out of squares to become BOBA TEA, aka -> NEE, heel -> SOLE; MPs -> PMS and in the NW: Alto -> APSE (that was hard to give up!) & spelling of MINH.
ESP: NEIL, GAGA
I recently heard the audiobook of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple story NEMESIS.
Yup, I go to bingo most every month with my neighbors, and we DAUB away with our DAUBers. 😄😄😄!
I loved the KFC clue!
Thanks, Bill & Teri, for the fun recap.
Hola!
I have to ADMIT this PARTY theme was a whole lotta fun. Starting with YODA, who else talks like that?
However, I have a big mess at BOBA, TEA/BALL, BABEL. I don't know what I was thinking!
I've heard of MICHAEL MYERS because my daughter is a big fan of slasher films.
MEEMAW is unknown to me. I'm nana to my grandchildren.
I had _FLAT and just waited for the sharp to emerge.
CSO to Irish MISS and one to AnonT at ALFA Romeo.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Waseeley’s explanations of RAMP, ITEM, and DAUB illustrated how difficult it was to justify the clues for those entries and got to the essence of why I couldn’t summon any affection for this easy but annoying puzzle.
The theme entries were rather clever, but elsewhere there were too many contrived, not-that-clever clues, often seeking misdirection. I’m still trying to figure out whether all CLOTs are “glutinous.”
I expected people to squawk about Walter O’MALLEY, a gimme for me, but so far, no. I’ve never seen any “Halloween” movies, so for me MICHAEL MYERS is the star of “Wayne’s World,” “Austin Powers,” and (the voice of) “Shrek.” Signature line on “Saturday Night Live”: “If it’s not Scottish, it’s crrrap.”
I was more amused a couple of times by my own foibles than by Keico’s. Copy editors (who don’t seem to exist anymore) did a lot of our internal communicating via internal email messages, but sometimes someone would ask out loud “What’s our style on such-and-such?” often meaning “how have we decided to spell . . . X?” For me today, the question was “What’s our style on MEEMAW?” I also had Tempest before TRANS-AM for the classic Pontiac. The Tempest can’t be called a classic, but my dad had one for a couple of years in the early 1960s, so that was the first seven-letter Pontiac starting with T that I could come up with.
I often identify with D-O, and his blow-up at the self-checkout counter is a good reason why. LOL.
Got 'er done in record time (for me) for a Friday-on-a-Thursday CW. Very clever theme, which I did get very early. W/Os ALTO/APSE, BOIL/BALL. DNK NEIL or ADAM, but surprised myself by immediately knowing WINESAP. BE@8:46, I once had a tiny frog fry itself on the circuit board for my gas pool heater. Poor little thing was only about 1/2 inch long, but managed to cost me an astounding $235 for a new circuit board plus $100 service charge. I made sure that compartment was thoroughly sealed to prevent any other critters from crawling in there. I scraped the frog remains off the old circuit board and saved it. Who knows, maybe without frog remains shorting it out, it might still work. I wish I woulda thought of that earlier. Not near as expensive as your snake, though, BE. Oy! Anyway, a fun CW with good theme and clues, thanx KD. Fave: KFC clue. And thanx too to Bill for the terrific write-up. Your time and effort really are appreciated!
Bit of a Thursday toughie for me, but still enjoyable, so many thanks, for the treat, Keico.
And your commentaries are always a pleasure, Bill and Teri, thanks for this one too.
Well, I did ADMIT that this puzzle was a bit of a NEMESIS for me at the beginning, but I managed only to miss a few here and there. I didn't have to ENLARGE my view too much to get SANTA CLAUS and RIP VAN WINKLE, but there were others who were not on my A TEAM.
But all turned out well, and it's time or me to ORDER some BOBA TEA to go with my lunch.
Have a good rest of the day, everybody.
I had a tight deadline this morning but still wanted to FIR before I had to dash. It was challenging, but I succeeded and enjoyed it! What a great Thursday puzzle. Congratulations, Keico!
Also many thanks to Bill for a tremendous post, and to Teri for her contributions. You explained what needed explaining, and threw in several treats. Loved the Maroon 5 video.
TOM COLLINS seems rather old fashioned, but now that I know what's in it, I think I'd enjoy it. DAUB reminds me of the evenings I spent selling cards and DAUBers at a weekly charity bingo game. DH was also a volunteer, and we were GAGA for each other, eventually becoming an ITEM. Good times!
Great catch on Popeye's rival vs Popeyes' rival, Bill! My virtual hat is off to you.
Thursday Toughie (I agree with Misty). Thanks for the fun, Keico (congrats on your debut), and waseeley and Teri.
Officially a DNF since I ran out of time to clean up my mess in the NW corner.
My choir section waited for perps to decide between Alto and Bass. ADMIT gave me Alto, and I stuck with it to the bitter end, even after getting SANTA.
Are those nutmegs in Penn, Minn - oh CONN (thanks to CLAUS)
Rime turned to SNOW.
Emoji changed to IMAGE.
DAbs changed to DAUB. (I was going to pick a nit about no plural in the clue. Instead, I am gifted with a U, when I am always complaining about being deprived of them. LOL!
This Canadian knew PMS (although Trudeau may be following in Biden’s footsteps). That’s not politics, but rather a warning that you may need some Canadian updating in future crosswords. I promise to do my best to keep you up to date.
Favourite was the clue for TUBA.
Gotta run. Read you all later.
Wishing you all a good evening.
Big E and unclefred, are reptilian cookouts covered by homeowners insurance? They sound like “natural” disasters to me.
Oops! Frogs are amphibians, not reptiles. Still natural though.
I enjoyed solving this puzzle.
Hi All!
Thanks for the fun theme, Keico. Congrats on the LAT debut.
//I found a librarian in San Antonio with that name - might explain Diary of a Wimpy Kid :-)
Fun review, wesseley. BTW, I didn't have the ALFA when DW & I got married; I had a GLC hatch-back then :-)
WOs: hand-up - alto, twO -> DUO, mALTA
ESPs: OMALLEY
Fav: YODA's clue is cute but KFC's is LOL.
Of course, I also liked ALFA ;-)
Puts in a Seat took me forever to get.
SubG - I am also a huge fan of Good Omens. I think I was still in HS when I read it and I laughed my butt off. If you haven't seen the Netflix mini-series, just as good as I remembered the book.
BigE - Oh, my - that is one expesive snake!
CopyEd - you want to see another funny Mike MYERS move, check out So I Married and Axe Murderer
Cheers, -T
Prof M- reptilian cookouts ARE covered by insurance, AFTER my deductible of $2,900 is met. The running total as of today is a little over $2,300.
Jinx- there wasn't enough left of the snake to eat. Its innards were basically vaporized, being touched by the incoming electrical feed.
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