The Answer is Always Chocolate. What was the question? The first word of each theme answer is Chocolate!
16-Across. Arbitrary allowance for error: FUDGE FACTOR. Chocolate Fudge
24-Across. Poker player with the tallest stacks: CHIP LEADER. Chocolate Chip.
47-Across. Rite of passage for a Jewish boy: BAR MITZVAH. Chocolate Bar.
59-Across. Words on a novelty apron: KISS THE CHEF. Chocolate Kiss.
Here's the unifier:
36-Across. Sweet treats for a valentine, or what the starts of 16-, 24-, 47-, and 59-Across are: BOXES OF CHOCOLATE.
And, in keeping with the Chocolate theme:
45-Down. Apt candy for a snack break?: KIT KAT. Yummers! One of my favorite candy bars. I guess it is good for a snack break, because you can easily break the bar into pieces.
Across:
1. "Jurassic Park" resin: AMBER. Everything you wanted to know about Amber, but didn't know to ask.
6. Big name in champagne: MOËT. The perfect beverage for a celebration. The company has been making champagne for over 280 years. [Name Adjacent.]
10. Pigpen: STY.
13. Glacier-climbing tool: ICE AXE.
14. First word of a fairy tale: ONCE. Best opening line in a children's book: "Once upon a time there lived... 'A king! ' my little readers will say immediately. No, children, you are mistaken. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood." *
15. __ vez: again, in Spanish: OTRA. Obviously, this is today's Spanish lesson.
18. Sonnet or ode: POEM.
19. Phony: FRAUD.
20. Margaret of "Fire Island": CHO. Margaret Cho (née Margaret Moran Cho; b. Dec. 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. In Fire Island, she portrayed an LGBT Asian-American on vacation with a group of gay friends in Fire Island. [Name # 1.]
21. Play parts: SCENES.
23. Ivy in New Haven: YALE. Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was named after Elihu Yale (Apr. 5, 1649 ~ July 8, 1721). [Name Adjacent.]
26. Out of __ world: THIS.
28. Not online, online: IRL. Textspeak for In Real Life. This appears with some frequency in the crossword puzzles.
29. Dove's sound: COO.
31. Prefix similar to quad-: TETRA. Also the name of an early video game created by Alexey Pajitnov (b. Apr. 16, 1955).
33. 38-Down dispenser: ATM. // And 38-Down: Money: CASH.
35. Talk a big game: CROW.
40. Inning's six: OUTS. Because each baseball team has three outs per inning. Clever.
41. Tyrannosaurus __: REX.
42. Many Omanis: ARABS. The official name of the country is the Sultanate of Oman and it is located on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula.
43. Shivered syllable: BRR. It was unseasonably cold in Iceland. Temps are normally in the 60s in June, but the first week or so we were there, temps were in the 40s. BRR ...
44. Barinholtz who won "Celebrity Jeopardy!" in 2023: IKE. I recognize his face, but did not know his name. Ike Barinholtz (b. Feb. 18, 1977) starred in The Mindy Project. [Name # 2.]
46. Community FYIs: PSAs. As in a Public Service Announcement.
51. Cheeky answers: SASS.
55. Legal scholar: JURIST.
56. Organ with a lobe: EAR.
57. Desert flora: CACTI.
58. Shortly, shortly: ASAP. As in As Soon As Possible.
62. Piffling: MERE.
63. Uffizi display: ARTE. Today's Italian lesson. The Uffizi Gallery, which is in Florence, Italy, houses many Renaissance masterpieces. It's well worth the visit. Even the building itself, which was built in the late 1500s, is a masterpiece.
64. "Love that": IN TO IT.
65. NNW opposite: SSE.
66. Body positive activist Holliday: TESS. Tess Holliday (née Ryann Maegen Hoven; b. July 5, 1985) is completely unknown to me. [Name # 3.]
67. Brick-and-mortar worker?: MASON.
Down:
1. Honda luxury line: ACURA.
2. Olympian's aspiration: MEDAL. What are the medals made of?
3. French loaves: BAGUETTES. Yummers! When we lived in France, we had fresh baguettes and cheese every day. You had to eat the baguette the day you bought it, though, because if you didn't, you could use the baguette to hammer nails.
4. Struck through: EX'ED.
5. Penalty caller: REF. As in Referee.
6. Sweet rice cake: MOCHI. Everything you wanted to know about Mochi but didn't know to ask.
7. In first place: ON TOP.
8. Prefix with hotel or tourist: ECO-. Everything the Eco-Tourist should know about an Eco-Hotel.
9. Less verbose: TERSER.
10. Crustacean eaten by sea turtles: STONE CRAB.
11. Moving sidewalk creators?: TREE ROOTS. Tree roots can also move driveways.
12. Thanksgiving tubers: YAMS.
13. Not without risk: IFFY.
15. Opinion piece: OP-ED. The term Op-Ed is short for "opposite the editorial page". Apparently, the New York Times began publishing the Op-Ed Page in 1970, and it now refers to the practice of newspapers placing opinion pieces on the opposite side of their editorial page.
17. German cries: ACHs! Today's German lesson.
22. Berkeley, briefly: CAL. Berkeley is a town/city in California.
24. Bologna bye-bye: CIAO. More of today's Italian lesson.
25. Long ride, for short: LIMO.
27. Bits of time?: HRs. As in Hours.
30. Need to repay: OWE.
31. Band wagons?: TOUR BUSES.
32. Like a limited edition: EXTRA RARE.
33. Hardware chain that celebrated "100 Years of Helpful" in 2024: ACE.
34. "appreciate u": THX. More textspeak.
35. Mensches: CLASS ACTS. Mensch, today's Yiddish lesson, and it means a person with integrity and honor. If someone is called a Mensch, it is a real compliment.
36. __ for apples: BOB. [Name adjacent.]
37. Lose sleep, maybe: FRET.
39. "Your Song" singer Rita: ORA. Rita Ora (née Rita Sahatçiu; b. Nov. 26, 1990) was born in what is now Kosovo, but her family moved to England when she was a baby. Her parents changed their surname from Sahatçiu, which means watchmaker, to Ora, which means time, because it was easier for English-speaking people to pronounce. She is married to the New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi (b. Aug. 16, 1975). [Name # 4.]
44. Online convos: IMs. Instant Messages. More textspeak.
46. Take different paths: PART.
48. Like peaches in summer: RIPE. Yummers! I love fresh, ripe peaches.
49. Cocktail twists: ZESTS.
50. Bouquet bearers: VASES.
52. Sneeze sound: ACHOO!
53. Oktoberfest mug: STEIN. Oktoberfest begins in Munich this September 21.
54. Verb in a bread recipe: SIFT.
55. Scone spreads: JAMS. Yummers!
57. John of "Argylle": CENA. John Cena (né John Felix Anthony Cena; b. Apr. 23, 1977) is probably best known for being a professional wrestler, although he has moved into acting. [Name # 5.]
60. Anger: IRE.
61. That guy: HIM.
Here's the Grid:
* Opening line of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi.
חתולה
43 comments:
Once I got past “mochi “ and “Moët,” the rest of the puzzle wasn’t that difficult. So I don’t have too much else to say about it. FIR, so I’m happy.
I put in KISS THE CHEF, erased CHEF for COOK, crossed it with BAKE, and then realized it was wrong because of STEIN. I wonder if anyone else did something similar.
Good morning!
My motto: if it's not chocolate, it's not candy. I enjoyed this one. Thanx, Rebecca and Hahtoolah. (Methinks CAL refers to the University of CALifornia home campus at Berkeley.)
No damage here, but lots of pine litter. D-o and dw are both sick of the daily raking ritual. We finally got our power back after a week on generator power. Internet is still out. Cell service finally came back for dw's phone yesterday. Mine still can't make calls or send texts. Weird -- we've got identical phones on Consumer Cellular. I'm writing this on the PC using her phone as a hotspot. Ain't technology grand?
FIR without erasure. Knew, but had to wait because of my poor speling, BAR MITZVAH and STEIN.
CSO to Lucina @ TAL OTRA.
I would never have guessed that professional poker would be interesting on TV, but it is.
I remembered Fats Domino and Fats Wanderone (Minnesota Fats) and wanted Holliday's first name to match.
The best TOUR BUSSES are built on the fabulous Prevost (pronounced PREY-vost) chassis, the pride of Canada.
In Robert Palmer's big hit Bad Case of Lovin' You, he declares:
I know you like it, you like it ON TOP
Tell me momma are you gonna stop
She must have been a highly competitive athlete.
Thanks to Rebecca for the fun puzzle, even the weak spot "apt candy..." for KIT KAT. Loves me some KIT KAT bars, but methinks you should have stayed at a Holiday Inn before cluing that one. And thanks to Ha2la for another fine review, and especially for the physician's note at the end.
Good Morning, Crossword friends.
Good to see you back, D-O. I wondered how our Houston contingency fared. Glad the power is back on.
QOD: Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn kernel that didn’t pop. I’ll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a piece of paper and mail it back to them. ~ Orville Redenbacher (né Orville Clarence Redenbacher; July 16, 1907 ~ Sept. 19, 1995)
Took 4:57 today for me to drink the milk.
Seemed themeless, which is good.
I almost passed today's Spanish lesson (waited on the last letter), but I failed the Italian lesson.
I didn't know today's actress or her show, and I didn't know today's "celebrity." I find that tv shows take great liberties when referring to people as "stars" and "celebrities." I usually have to use the Google machine to find out what obscure show they were in, which was often many years ago.
"Body positive activist Holliday. Tess"
Ladies and gentlemen, that's our leader for worst clue of the month.
FIR. Went astray once by throwing down brag instead of crow, but beyond that nothing too critical.
I dislike the clue for 22D. Berkeley is a city and Cal would be a state? Am I missing something here?
Otherwise, it's done, so there's that.
Took longer than a normal Tuesday time, had the grid filled but no congratulatory message, located a mistake which was a typo to get my FIR. While solving I had to change A IS to BOB for apples and COOK to CHEF. DNK TESS or MOCHI but they perped. Liked the inclusion of KIT KAT in the chocolate themed puzzle. Is that what is referrered to as an Easter Egg in crossword lingo? “NNW opposite” is definitely early week clueing. I think I’ve finally committed CHO to memory, but those three letter Asian names always give me pause. Thank you Rebecca G, I always enjoy your creations!
Hahtoolah ~ thank you for another fine run down. I learned a few things today, that the OP in OP ED stands for opposite and not opinion. Also, I’ve heard the Yiddish term mensch, but I always thought it sounded derogatory and not complimentary, I guess I haven’t seen it in context. I too love a ripe juicy peach, but sometimes what I thought were great looking fruit were dry and pulpy, disappointing.
Testing Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Rebecca and Hahtoolah. (That doctor’s writing is why pharmacists rejoiced when computerized prescription printouts began to be used.)
Great catch on the KITKAT Easter Egg.
Officially a FIW today since I had MOCHo and CHoP instead of CHIP for the poker player. D’uh.
And I had trouble with the theme, as I was trying to make the first words of the themers fit with boxes (although I did see the CHICOLATE). Double D’uh!
We are a Q short of a pangram today.
Some unknown-to-me names (IKE as clued, TESS, CENA as clued) held me up. (CHO was an Ecktorp!)
Several inkblots.
False changed to FRAUD, Stir to SIFT (not many recipes need SIFTing anymore).
ASAP clue was better than usual, but I avoided HRS (until perps forced it) because the clue had no indication of an abbreviation (unless you consider “bits” to indicate an abbreviation?).
Niagara peaches are RIPE - the earliest season in memory. Freestone are yet to come, but these ones are juicy and yummy.
Wishing you all a great day.
Good Morning!
Have a mixed impression of today’s puzzle. Sweet treats, indeed, for a theme. Yum! Make mine dark with nuts &/or coconut! A few rarely seen words, a few often seen words, a few learning/reminder moments and a few WAGs, perps not necessarily kind. Thanks, Rebecca and Hah2lah. I enjoyed your offerings.
I bought MOCHI once….I think it’s an acquired taste. What I had was the consistency of wallpaper paste.
WO: A IS -> BOB for apples; lemon -> ZESTS
Perps for IKE, TESS, CENA.
Good Morning:
This was a cute theme and a fun solve. My unknowns were Tess, Mochi, and Ike and my w/os were Brag/Crow (Hi, KS) and A Is/Bob (Hi, Yooper Phil). I guess I read too many Sue Grafton novels! I noticed the Easter Egg with Kit Kat and the two celebs who are becoming as ubiquitous as Erie and Oreo, i.e., Rita Ora and John Cena. I was not familiar with the term Fudge Factor, but it's self explanatory. There were a few less TLWs compared to yesterday, but still too many not to be noticeable.
Thanks, Rebecca, for a fitting Tuesday solve and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the fun, facts, and commentary. Favorite comics today were the ones for ATM, Part, and Rex, plus the Pinocchio opening lines. The Coda with the wise MD's scribbles was so on point.
DO @ 6:26 ~ Happy to see you back and relatively unscathed by Beryl.
Have a great day.
KS, as D-O said earlier, The University of California founding campus was in Berkeley, its web site is berkeley.edu, it has a link to "Cal Athletics" which is calbears.com
Sports stories often refer to it as just "CAL", while Berkeley has become shorthand for UC,Berkeley as opposed to UCLA, UC-Davis, etc
Not a bad Tuesday with a fun theme. Life is not a bowl of cherries but BOXES OF CHOCOLATES since Forrest Gump. I agree with DO: “If it’s not chocolate it’s not candy!!” (Hope everything is back to normal soon for our Texas contingent)
Inkovers: brag/CROW,
If you can afford it get a premium ICEAXE. Need to economize? Settle for just an ICEAX. 😉
“Shortly, Shortly” (“I told you not to call me Shortly!!!”, “Shirley you know what my name!”)
“Margaret” CHO…I saw “Fire Island” cuz I like Bowen Yang’s zany comedy on SNL but it was kyndova serious role and a bit disappointing.
When I was at university in Bologna students would greet each other with “CIAO!” but upon PARTing we’d say: “ci vediamo” kinda like “see yah” a teen’s version of arrivederci. A few who knew a little English and that I was American would laugh and say “bye-bye”
MOCHI? (anyone remember Kevin “Moochie” Corcoran from 60’s Disney productions?)
Couldn’t have been much of a “celebrity”… Barinholtz? Who? (And I watched all 6 seasons of “The Mindy Project”) ohhhh THAT guy.
Paul Bunyan’s frustrated German bovine companion: “Babe the blue ___ “ACHS
Tell Mr. Hope I wanna make an apple pie, yes send “___ for apples” …. BOB
Presume correctly….. INTOIT
Folks there are so friendly, so why’s it called ____ Land?…IRE
Mercury rising 🥵and I don’t mean in the zodiac sense. Ended again last with a torrential rain storm and on the rise again today. Seems to be a Central NY theme this summer.
I liked this puzzle's sweet theme, and especially the Kit Kat Easter egg. I thought the puzzle was a walk in the park. Alan's current favorite candy bar is Kit Kat.
My grandson loves mochi which my DIL makes frequently. I'll pass. I don't care for the texture. The M confirmed the Moet champagne.
My grandson currently is in Japan as an ESL teaching assistant. He is happy but the salary is very slim.
Technically yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing. Grocery stores call sweet potatoes yams. This mistake is so common that yam has become acceptable outside of technical circles. The same is true of bison vs buffalo.
I forgot Barinholtz's first name. Thx perps. Also thx for TESS,
I knew Cena.
DO I'm glad you had so little damage. But I sympathize. A week without electricity and connectivity is difficult. During Sandy our area ran out of gas, groceries and ice. Are your services fully restored?
Mensch, a loan word, has become standard English. It's in the Language. “She was also very sensitive and thoughtful, and had a gentle way about her. She was kind of like the lady version of a mensch.” New York Times Oct 12, 2018
I see that the plural in English can be -s or -en. My German background prefers the -en.
I think the clue was meant to refer to the school located in the city, U.C. Berkeley, and the answer CAL is a nickname for that school. I'm not too excited about this clue myself.
Fine Tuesday puzzle. I did get the theme right off. Too bad I dislike CHOCOLATE.
YES, CHO and ORA have become the Oreos of CW.
I had a few hiccups like the textspeak IRL and THX. There were a few people I didn’t know like IKE and TESS, but the rest went smoothly.
I love a RIPE peach. Our local store carries Georgia peaches. The best.
I don’t care for sweets but BAGUETTES are my sinful pleasure, preferably with cheese and red wine.
D-o. So glad you’re slowly coming back to life. Generators do come in handy.
Hahtoolah, thanks for a fun and informative review.
Very nice exactly-a-Tuesday-level CW. I guess I liked it so much because I managed to FIR in good time and my one WAG turned out to be correct, the "L" in IRL/CAL. CAL was my best guess for 22D clue. W/O: AIS/BOB. DNK: TESS, MOCHI, ORA, but perps rescued me. Favorite clue: 11D. Overall, fun CW, and, wadaya know, I even got the theme (gasp!). Thanx for the perfect Tuesday tune-up, RG, and thanx for the (as always) fun and informative write-up, Hahtoolah.
An easy puzzle with only having to change KISS THE COOK to CHEF.
MOCHI, TESS, CENA, OTRA- unknowns filled by perps.
IMS, IRL, THX, HRS, ECO, REF, PSAS, BRR, ASAP - how about some real words instead of these ABBR.
TREE ROOTS- the city of NOLA has many live oak trees planted between the sidewalks and streets under the power lines. And people have to walk down buckling sidewalks because the city won't allow the homeowners to cut the trees down. When there is any minor storm a tree will break the power lines. Duh! My OP-ED.
CIAO
Pretty quick FIR today despite the obscure names. Yes, it does seem to me that the bar for "celebrity" status has been set at a much lower level than it was in my youth! Another fun recap by Ha2la, especially the T-Rex and Dr. Scribbles. Onward to Wednesday!
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR with nary a write over. Didn't take too long to solve; maybe a minute or two more than a "normal" Tuesday puzzle
My favorite CHOCOLATE is Lindt 72-80% dark. Trying to keep my carbs down
CanadianEH! @8:36 and Monkey @10:06 => speaking of RIPE peaches, if you ever want to taste the most fantastic peach, try one of these. They are to die for
Anyone else notice that today's puzzle had 15 additional squares? (to accommodate the length of BOXES OF CHOCOLATE)
Surprised that unclefred @10:08 didn't comment about STONE CRABS. South Florida is home to these "creatures"; they are seasonal, expensive, and are essentially "farmed". Fishermen who catch these can remove just one claw from the crab. The crab will grow it back when returned to the ocean. Probably the most famous restaurant in Miami
On the plus side, I like MOCHI (but I imagine it’s an unknown to many of you) and STONE CRABS. I liked the band wagons/TOUR BUSES entry. KISS THE CHEF was a good theme entry, although I like DW’s “After-Dinner Sinner” apron better. And I was in a good mood following our CAL-oriented octet’s excellent rehearsal last night.
But this puzzle, although it was an easy FIR, was pretty much meh, and it wouldn’t be worthy of commentary had it not contained some truly annoying clues and fill to go with a theme full of rather empty “boxes.”
I can’t imagine anyone expressing “love that” by saying “into it.” Would anyone come up with THX for the horrible clue “appreciate you” without perps? Did the “Argylle” connection help anyone figure out which John was in it without perps? Could they have found a more obscure TESS? Bits of time? Does everyone know that poker jargon now includes “chip leader?” Isn’t “terser” worser than “more terse?” EXED and EXTRA RARE in the same puzzle? One zest, two ZESTS,eh? And did “piffling” (as clued) and FUDGE FACTOR bring out the 8-year-old in anybody else?
Getting back to Berkeley: Hahtoolah, although you’re not wrong that Berkeley is “a town” in California, the point of the clue, clearly, is that the town is the seat of THE University of California, the system’s flagship campus, better known as simply CAL but often referred to as simply “Berkeley,” as though the town’s name is synonymous with the university. Which it is.
Sweet puzzle today,
Brut b/4 Moët
Snow b/4 stone crab, yeah, the missing letter tipped me off...
And, cook b/4 chef, because I would kiss the cook, but kissing the chef in a restaurant might get you arrested...
My thoughts?
I looked at the map of Oman, and thought it looked like the nose of Africa. Then thought, no! That can't be right, Ethiopia is the nose of Africa! Maybe, more like the "eyebrow" of africa? Looked again and realized, it's not even "in" africa...
you may be more interested in "other" peoples thoughts...
Just another thought...
Airlines are fiercely competing against each other, lowering prices, then tacking on hidden fees.
When will these idiots realize that I would fly on the airline that handed out Snickers and Kit Kats instead of those horrible tiny bags of stale mini pretzels!
Hola!
If it's FUDGE or any CHOCOLATE, I want it! I agree with d-o on his standard for candy. However these days I can't indulge as I once did. Drat diabetes!
Thanks to Rebecca Goldstein for a fairly easy walk in the park today. I, too, have read too many of Sue Grafton's novels and first had A Is for apple before BOB for apples forced its way in.
The sahuaro CACTI very much typifies our state flora.
KISS THE CHEF made its appearance without much of a problem though COOK seems more typical, especially as seen on aprons.
I look in vain for RIPE peaches; usually when I buy them they are hard as rocks and even after they've softened they lack flavor.
Today I have to go take care of some banking business because yesterday someone called and tried to convince me that my debit card had been misused and I inadvertently gave out too much information. I called the credit union to verify that the call was valid and discovered it was not. Curses on all thieves and crooks!
Have a wonderful day, all!
On an airline? 😉 Snickers has deadly PEANUTS.
Lucina as our resident expert in the Spanish language is it Sahuaro or Saquaro? 🌵
I meant saguaro
We all have differing life experiences. It keeps life interesting.
I use the slang, "into," all the time. I am really into reading historical fiction, several books a week. I'm into crosswords. I can't get into dystopian novels.
I am on several texting groups where THX and YW (you're welcome) appear regularly. Usually we are acknowledging pics.
There are female chefs, even in the home kitchen. Chef is basically on a higher level than a cook. My son and DIL both are really into inventing or reinventing excellent dishes. Maybe not technically, but often they are both chef like.
Lucina, I hope you caught the scammers in time.
Chairman Moe. I would never have thought of Colorado as a peach growing region. Those peaches have to be super good to beat the ones from Georgia.
Monkey @1:47 => "super good" can't even describe them! Phenomenal is more like it! I grew up eating peaches from Georgia/SC/NC/NJ/PA, et al, and none - and I mean none - can hold a candle to those from Palisades CO. None. Zero. Nada. And specifically, peaches from Palisades. It is a very small town in population, but rife with peach orchards. We are fortunate to be fairly close, and have a local farmer's market here in AZ that gets them in bulk each summer (August is the best month for them)
Ray-O the spelling is usually with the “g” but the pronunciation is with the “h.”
45 Down (Apt candy for a snack break) is clued to match its popular jingle:
Gimme a break
Gimme a break
Break me off a piece of that
Kit Kat Bar
One of our daughters did her undergrad at CAL, so that was familiar, although the Berkeley sports teams are also called CAL. Not my bailiwick!
Only unknowns for me were IKE and TESS. Perps helped.
As a chocoholic, this puzzle was right up my alley. Think I'll need a bit of 70% cacao Italian chocolate after this exercise! Many thanks to Rebecca for a great puzzle, and to Hahtoolah for an entertaining and educational review.
Desper-Otto, what a challenge! Glad it wasn't worse.
Delightful Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Rebecca. And, Hahtoolah, your pictures were so funny and gave me such a laugh this morning--thanks for those too.
Well, seeing MEDAL and POEM early on made me hope for a literary or artistic theme coming up, but 'twas not to be, as far as I can tell. There were only two themes that got my attention, and the first one was food, when I saw those BAGUETTES crossing the FUDGE FACTOR (well, sort of). Maybe the STONE CRABS would be better for lunch, or some YAMS.? No, let's go back to those BOXES OF CHOCOLATES, and KISS THE CHEF in thanks. The only other theme I noticed had to do with transportation: a chance to take an ACURA and some TOURIST BUSES if we couldn't afford a LIMO.
Time to get some lunch and take a nap.
Have a lovely evening, everybody.
Musings
-The theme became obvious quickly
-The temp is 20F less today and it is a beautiful day on the prairie.
CMoe @ 10:45. I thought about commenting re the stone crabs, like admitting I didn't know turtles ate them, or maybe shaking a virtual fist at the turtles to eat something else. But I ended up having to deal with my Jeep which wouldn't start this morning and me having to have it towed to a dealership. Spent most of the day on that project. Rented a car and drove to my favorite watering hole, the Quarterdeck. Taco Tuesday there, two blackened mahi-mahi tacos with avocado slice lettuce and salsa for $6! Can't beat it. Tomorrow gotta go back to the dealership; hopefully not an arm-and-a-leg. Happily surprised the Enterprise rental car, a VERY nice Chevrolet Equinox, is only $40/day!! Anyway, yeah, u right, too, that "Joes Stone Crab" is a special restaurant for sure. During my working years I entertained many clients there.
The usual spelling is SAGUARO but pronounced sa-wa-ro.
Yes I'm happy to report that my account is safe and was blocked just in time to prevent theft. I was issued a mew debit card and was spared the chore of having to inform most companies of the change. Only two or three withdraw payments from the debit card.
Today is my great-grandson's 6th birthday but we won't celebrate until Sunday. He will start kindergarten tomorrow. Yes! school is already starting! It's slowly inching toward an all year event.
108 degrees now.
OK Chairman Moe, I believe you. You’re lucky to be able to get those peaches where you live.
It’s also a learning moment for me about this little town in Colorado.
This is what I just found out about Palisade Colorado:
Palisade, Colorado, is renowned for its ability to grow some of North America's best fruit. Palisade has a rich history of raising all types of fruits and vegetables in a climate unique to this section of the Western Slope. As early as the 1890s, apple, cherry, peach, pear, and plum trees were planted in the area.
I liked the following fill:
JURIST
BAGUETTES
TREE ROOTS (and the clue)
EXTRA RARE
CLASS ACTS.
I liked the following clues:
First word of a fairy tale
Inning's six
Brick-and-mortar worker?
Moving sidewalk creators?
Like peaches in summer.
I disliked:
OTRA vez
IRL
"Love that": IN TO IT
TERSER
ACHS
HRS
"appreciate u": THX
IMS.
I noticed:
COO
CHO
CROW
OWE
CAL
CIAO.
Good wishes to you all.
Todah, Hatoolah. Especially loved the closing doctor's wisdom.
Hi All!
Lurked the last few days and glad to hear from AZ-Jim Sunday that his Pop, T-Ken, is on the mend.
I also loved sumdaze's review of yesterday's puzzle (and the puzzle was fun too!)
Thanks Rebcca for today's puzzle (mostly what Jayce said) and to Hahtoolah for a chuckle-chockfull review.
WOs: MOCHa, dMS -> Ims
ESPs: BARMITZVAH (spelling), ORA, TESS, IKE
Fav: ARTE just 'cuz I could have spent another day at Uffizi and still not felt I'd not spent enough time in there.
D-O! Glad to see you back on-line. I figured you'd be a little longer than me to get power back (Friday morning for us). Last week, DW & I had to drive 15 minutes from the house to get cell service. Yesterday power went out again for a few hours and I had to hot-spot my iThing to finish up my workday.
@5:28a - I had to pause at C waiting to see if it would be cook or CHEF. STEIN decided it for me.
C. Moe - I'm w/ you on the chocolate choice.
Lucina - sounds like they have you on a list. IIRC, this is not the first time(?) Next time anyone calls you about financial anything, just say "Thank you. I'll call your right back." Then hang up and call your bank. #PSA
Re: 1a - For all who's young minds were poisoned: Mad Magazine's take.
//that and this tee-shirt a buddy at Silicon Graphics gave me
Cheers, -T
Same thing is true about credit cards, viruses etc. Do not respond. Always call the source.
Anon-T
Thank you for that advice and I believe you are correct that for some reason I am a target. At the credit union I was also told that I would most likely receive an e-mail instead of a call.
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