google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, August 22, 2024, Katie Hale, Tennessee Grimes

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Aug 22, 2024

Thursday, August 22, 2024, Katie Hale, Tennessee Grimes

  

Chacun a Son Goรปt
("Every One to Their Own Taste")

Here is the bored Prince Orlofsky (a "trouser role") throwing a party in Johann Straus' operetta Die Fledermaus ("The Bat"), and admonishing his revelers to behave to "their own tastes" (i.e. "do your own thing!")  ...

Today's constructors, veteran Katie Hale and Tennessee Grimes (making his/her Corner debut), give us a taste of lean construction, with only 10 TLWs and only a few people and places.  They also give us 4 asterisked single word theme clues that fill with a synonym preceded by one of the classic four tastes: SWEETSALTYSOUR, and BITTER, each a two word in-the-language phrase ...

16A. *Center: SWEET HEART.  Teri is ...
23A. *Hound: SALTY DOG.  Slang for a seasoned sailor and the title of a sad song by Procol Harum, possibly about the sinking of a ship, but the meaning of the lyrics are disputed ...
49A. *Memo: SOUR NOTE.  An offkey note, or metaphorically an unpleasant ending

61A. *Tablet: BITTER PILL.  Something difficult to swallow.

And the reveal ...

37A. Something not immediately appreciated, or what the answers to the starred clues have?: AN ACQUIRED TASTE.  Each of the one word clues has acquired a taste.

My only beef is where's the UMAMI? ๐Ÿ˜€

Here's the grid ...
 
Here's the rest ...

Across:
1. "Ethan Frome" writer Wharton: EDITH.  Ethan Frome is a 1911 novella by American author Edith Wharton. It details the story of a man who falls in love with his wife's cousin and the tragedies which result from the ensuing love triangle. The story is an echo of our last two themers, ending on a very sour note and on a very bitter pill for the protagonists.  The novel has been adapted into a 1983 film of the same name, starring starring Liam NeesonPatricia ArquetteJoan Allen and Tate Donovan ...

6. Zenith: ACME.  I'm tempted to take this fill and run with it, but I'm afraid I'd end up at the bottom of a canyon. ๐Ÿ˜€

10. Bygone airline with an iconic terminal at JFK: TWA.  The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City. The TWA Flight Center was designed for Trans World Airlines by Eero Saarinen and Associates starting in 1956. It was erected between 1959 and 1962, and it operated as an air terminal until 2001.
TWA Flight Center

13. Roughstock event: RODEO.  This article describes various rodeo events including Roughstock Saddle broncBareback, and Bull riding.  Contestants have to stay on the animals for at least 8 seconds before they are scored by the judges for other variables like rider control and animal ferocity.  By my reckoning the scores in this clip are beasts 10 and cowboys 3 (don't know the scores for "rider control" for the latter, but the beasts look pretty ferocious for all 13 events) ...

14. __ dunk: SLAM.  I think some of the beasts in 13D could probably make it in basketball. ๐Ÿ˜€

15. Pretense: SHAM.  Also a pretentious pillow.
Sham
16. [Theme clue].

18. Pacific Islands root: TARO.

19. "__ of story!": END.

20. Clinking occasion: TOAST. Here's the famous toast aria, 'Libiamo ne' lieti calici' ("Let us drink from our happy cups ...") from Verdi's La Traviata ...
21. Made a guest appearance during a jazz set, perhaps: SAT IN.  Here's B.B. King sitting in on a John Mayer gig ...

22. Cattle chew: CUD.  Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the physical digestive process of rumination.  I'll pass on the recipes. ๐Ÿ˜€

23. [Theme clue].

25. Wedding budget saver, maybe: CASH BAR.  It might even save a few lives too.

29. Approximately: OR SO.

30. Not pro: ANTI.

31. "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore" coiner: BERRA.  There are literally 100's of Yogi isms out on the net, but here are a few of his best.  And for those of you who can't get enough.

34. Garden-variety fish?: EEL. Hand up if you thought it was KOI?

37. [Theme reveal]

41. Neither's partner: NOR.

42. "If only I could __ that": UNSEE.

43. Charles III, e.g.: KINGCharles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.  Charles ascended to the throne on 8 September 2022, after the death of his mother, the beloved Elizabeth II.  She reigned for 70 years 214 days, the longest of any British monarch. Charles was the longest-serving British heir apparent, having surpassed Edward VII's record of 59 years on 20 April 2011. He was the oldest person to succeed to the British throne, at the age of 73.
King Charles III
44. Angler's need: BAIT.

46. Cantina sizzlers: FAJITAS. Our favorite Tex-Mex.  Here's a recipe.
 
Steak Fajitas
49. [Theme clue]

53. Signature need: PEN.

54. Exponent symbol: CARET. As in 10^3 = 1,000.  But this word has 3 other homophones with different meanings:
55. Wage increase: RAISE.

57. Airport served by BART: SFO.  The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system station. The elevated station is a transfer point to the AirTrain people mover system.

60. __ Major: URSA.  Today's Latin lesson: BEAR -- the Big Bear, aka the Big Dipper, probably the most recognizable of the Northern asterisms ...
The Big Dipper
the two stars furthest to the right point upward to
Polaris, the North Star (not shown in this picture)

61. [Theme clue].

63. "All __ are off!": BETS.

64. Self starter?: YOUR.  Meta clue.

65. Barely beat: EDGED.

66. Spots: ADS.

67. Spot: ESPY.  An archaic term for "to see", rarely used outside of crosswords ๐Ÿ˜€.  Also the ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports.
68. Copenhagen citizens: DANES.  Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and the birthplace of my favorite DANENiels Bohr (come to think of it, the only other Dane I can name besides his wife Margrethe is Hamlet ๐Ÿ˜€)
Niels Bohr
Down:

   1. Gaelic tongue: ERSE.  An alternative name for any Goidelic language, especially the Irish language.
Percentage of Irish speakers in the
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

 2011 Census
2. Word with payment or pillow: DOWN.

3. Put a name to a face: IDED.

4. Many an undershirt: TEE.

5. Bubbly bath: HOT TUB.

6. On the briny: ASEA.

7. Elegance: CLASS.

8. One of the von Trapp girls: MARTA.  Surprise -- there was no MARTA von Trapp, at least not in real life.  Marta is a character in Roger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, but there was no one by the name in the von Trapp family.  There was a Martina, but her nickname was not Marta.  Here is the real story of the von Trapp Family.  
The Trapp Family in January 1946.
A personal note: Agathe von Trapp settled in America and was a parishioner in Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Glyndon, MD, where she was a music teacher in the school. Teri and I used to attend that church years after the time of Agathe's death in 2010, but many of the existing parishioners still had fond memories of her.

9. Triage pro: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technician.

10. "OK, now I'm really mad": THAT DOES IT.

11. Nintendo antagonist in purple overalls: WARIOWario is a character in Nintendo's Mario franchise that was designed as an arch nemesis to Mario. Wario first appeared as the main antagonist and final boss in the 1992 Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. His name is a portmanteau of the name Mario and the Japanese word warui (ๆ‚ชใ„), meaning "bad".
Wario
12. Interlaced with: AMONG.

15. Legal suspensions: STAYS.

17. "Today" co-host Kotb: HODA.  Hoda Kotb (HOH-dษ™ KOT-bee, born in Norman, Oklahoma on August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today and co-host of its entertainment-focused fourth hour. Kotb formerly served as a correspondent for the television news magazine program Dateline NBC.
Hoda Kotb
21. Guitar that Bob Dylan went electric with, familiarly: STRAT.  I was looking for something like B.B. King's Lucille, but here Dylan just plays his STRATocaster at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival ...
22. Smart: CHIC.

24. Member of the peerage: LORD.

25. James of "The Godfather": CAANJames Edmund Caan (KAHN; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance that earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion-picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.

James Caan
26. Montessori year?: ANNO.  Today's Italian lesson: YEAR.  Maria Montessori, the founder of the eponymous teaching method was born in Chiaravalle, Italy.  A bit of a stretch. ๐Ÿ˜€
Maria Montessori
31 August 1870 – 6 May 1952

27. Patterns around explosive comic book sound effects: STARBURSTS

28. World Series stat: RBIS. Runs Batted In (RBI) vs Runs Batted Ins (RBIS).  Your opinion?

32. Previously found in poetry?: ERE.

33. 49-Down spot: REEF

35. Volcano with 2,700 years of documented eruptions: ETNA.  Let's see what it's up to today ..
If the above display is dark, try this webcam right on the slopes of the volcano.

36. Staying power: LEGS.

38. One of five: QUINT.  One of 5 cards, or one of five quintuplets, children all born at the same time, e.g. the Dionne sisters born in Callander, Ontario in 1934 (CSO to CanadianEh!) ...
The first quintuplets
known to survive infancy
1947
39. Golden Rule word: UNTO.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  A universal principle recognized by philosophers, ethicists, and religions throughout the world.

40. Similar (to): AKIN.

45. Some geometry exam answers: AREAS.

47. Cardinal's wing?: APSE.  A section of a Church?  Crossword Tracker shows that this is the first time this clue has been used for this fill (click View All to see complete list).

48. Reacted to a flagrant foul, perhaps: JEERED.

49. Underwater gear: SCUBA.  Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

50. Obeyed the coxswain: OARED.

51. Le Tigre and HAIM: TRIOS.  Le Tigre was formed in 1998 by Kathleen HannaJohanna Fateman and Sadie Benning.  Here's their TKO ...
And from the other side of the tracks we have Haim (/หˆhaษชษชm/ HY-im; meaning "life" in Hebrew, stylized HAIM), an American rock band, based in Los Angeles and composed of three sisters, Este (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle (lead vocals, guitar, and drums), and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vocals). In addition to their primary instruments, each is proficient in several others.  Here's their Cherry Flavored Stomach Ache ...

52. Devour: EAT UP.

56. "Glad my effort was good enough": I TRY.

57. Leo or Libra: SIGN.  
  Leo                         Libra

58. Leave in a hurry: FLEE.

59. Former GM brand: OLDS.

61. "Sayonara!": BYE.

62. Kissing in the park, e.g.: PDA.  Public Display of Affection -- this one is very public ...
Mets Fans at Citi Field
 

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

58 comments:

Subgenius said...

Obviously, when doing a puzzle of this type, the perps are all important. And I would say, in this case, that the perps were (mostly ) fair, so the puzzle was definitely sussable. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

YooperPhil said...

Second day in a row I sussed the theme before the reveal, SWEET and SALTY gave it away. First thought after solving was the same as Bill’s, where’s vowel heavy UMAMI? FIR in about 11 minutes, way better than my DNF on Katie’s last themeless offering. OARED kinda grates on me, should be rowed. RBI can be singular or plural, no need for an S after the I, but it’s common to add the S. Didn’t know Montessori was a person, thought it was a city ๐Ÿคท‍♂️. Thanks Katie and … Tennessee Grimes? Pseudonym? Enjoyable read today Bill and Teri, appreciate your insights!

FLN ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆCanadianEh! Nice to see you back, missed your comments. Hope that DH is on the mend.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

D-o liked this one, even if he didn't realize that AN ACQUIRED TASTE was the reveal. As a bonus, it came together in less than 10 minutes, which is good for a late-week puzzle. DANES evokes Victor Borge or, perhaps, Claire for this low-brow. RODEO is a big deal in Houston, but the big bucks are what it costs to attend. Congrats for a sterling effort, Katie and Tennessee. Waseeley, you're gonna have to stay after class and clean the erasers for that whopping math error.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased plush for CLASS and sit in for SAT IN (read the clue, Jinx!)

BERRA must have told Bill that 10^100=1000. (10^3=1000, for you folks whose degree ends with an "A".)

A guy on our block had a license plate proclaiming NCALYK9. I greeted him once by saying "good morning, SALTY DOG." He said it was the first time anyone had told him that they had decoded his license plate.
Here's Flatt and Scruggs singing SALTY DOG Blues.

When I was frequently in hot water, I considered a HOT TUB to be still water, while a spa or Jacuzzi was bubbly.

Sorry, a singular World Series stat is RBI, not RBIS. Unforced error, to borrow a tennis term.

Thanks to Katie and Tennessee for the fun, except for the awful crossing of SOUR NOTE and TRIOS and QUINT. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for another interesting and fun review. (I always thought that the "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" was said about Sardi's in NYC. Old salty dog, new trick today.)

waseeley said...

Jinx & D-0 - Math error? What math error. You better check the review again. ๐Ÿ˜

waseeley said...

Jinx @6:02AM I like your Salty Dog lick better. Wish I'd found it first!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FLN, I would have really liked someone on the dais to invoke their inner Willie Shakespeare and say "I come to bury Joe, not to praise him." With friends like those orators, who needs enemies! Pretty entertaining show though.

waseeley said...

A friend on the Corner contacted me and informed me that my erudite, incisive (and lengthy!) comments to the daily puzzles have been missed. Thus I feel an obligation to my many fans to explain why. ๐Ÿ˜€ In short the circumstances of my personal life have changed and I simply need more time each day to deal with them. It turns out that not solving and commenting on the puzzles each day frees up quite a bit of it. However I continue to have great affection for the community of Cornerites, especially our Blogmistress C.C. Thus I will continue to subject you folks to puzzle reviews each Thursday. And if my circumstances change you can count on me to subject you my comments as well.

Cheers,
Bill

waseeley said...

ROTFL!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Sorry, Bill. 10^4=10,000. Maybe you should check with Teri!

Anonymous said...

Wouldn’t it be NACLYK9?

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I need to follow your example. Is there a 12-step program for sounding off on a blog?

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Yup. And I can't blame automiscorrect for this one. But I can blame the lack of "preview" mode.

CrossEyedDave said...

Just read yesterdays late nite, and I just had to post. I probably will not get to the puzzle til later today as much is afoot.

When TTP said regarding phone scams, "if the bank calls you, hang up and call back the bank directly." It set off alarms bells in my head.

It must have been 6 months to a year ago, I read of a new scam, where the scammer not only spoofs the number, but has the ability to keep the phone line open when you hang up. They also spoof the dial tone, even though you are still connected to them. So you think you dialled the bank, but in reality you are still talking to the scammer that dialled you. The even use multiple people to fool you that you are talking to some one else.

I don't remember all the how to details, it is quite sophisticated.

Perhaps Anonymous-T can elucidate...

waseeley said...

Check it again Jinx. It's 10^3.

RustyBrain said...

As a guitar player and collector wanna-be, I always appreciate a guitar-related clue! This time, it's the infrequent STRAT, a nickname for for one of the most influential electric guitars of all time. I have 2 old Stratocasters and the one I've had for 50 years since high school is near and dear to my heart (don't tell my wife!) Ha! She already knows! LOL

TTP said...

CED, 'twas Ray-O, not moi, that said just hang up.

KS said...

FIR. Did anyone else throw down stray dog? I stared at Martt and scratched my head. Then the reveal set me right when I realized they were tastes.
And speaking of tastes, I thought the taste was just salt and not salty? But I've been known to be wrong. Just a memory from high school health class.
But the theme was clever, and the cluing straightforward, so overall an enjoyable puzzle.

Anonymous said...

Took 7:15 today for me to taste success.

Didn't see the theme until finished, and also wondered if there were a hidden umami somewhere.

I struggled to remember today's author (Edith), the proper way to spell this caret (and all forms of karat, carat, etc.), and the trios.

I still don't understand how a hound is a salty dog.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Maybe we have a notation problem. To me "10^3" is 10 cubed, 10*10*10=1000. How do you read it?

Monkey said...

I’m back on Safari because when I tried to publish using Chrome, I got an error warning. I did copy my post so I’ll tack it on to this. But, really, why couldn’t they have left good enough alone.

Oh, of course I can’t paste what I copied from Chrome. RATS again.

I simply said that this was a nice smooth CW that I liked and enjoyed waseeley’s musical recap.

By coincidence, last night I just finished reading “Fly Girl” by Ann Hood where she recaps her 8 years as a flight attendant for TWA and she often refers to the beautiful TWA terminal at JFK.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a fun, easy solve, considering that it's Thursday, the day when the Crossword Gods can be fickle. Naturally, the early reveal placement gave away the theme, if you hadn't already figured it out. My only w/o was Earl/Lord and the few borderline unknowns, i.e. Wario, Trios, and Rodeo, were filled in by the adjacent knowns. The crossing of Berra and RBIs was neat, the clunky Oared not so much.

Thanks, Katie and Tennessee, and thanks, Bill, for another informative and entertaining review. La Traviata highlights are always welcome, as are reminders of those no longer with us, to wit, James Caan, B. B. King, and the beloved Yogi. My favorite Dane would be Hans Christian Andersen, portrayed on film by the multi-talented Danny Kaye. Thanks to Teri, also.

FLN

CanadianEh, welcome back. Hope DH is on the road to recovery.

Have a great day.

Monkey said...

I also said in my failed Chrome posting that I appreciated the lack of numerous proper names. TRIOS for 51 down was an easy guess although I didn’t know the groups.

This CW had CLASS.

CanadianEh! Nice to have you back. I hope your DH is doing well.

Brian said...

The one word clue only refers to the last word in the two word answer. Then that last word ACQUIRES a taste.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-What a SWEET gimmick!
-Victor Borge is a very funny DANE.
-Among its 243 languages, Google translate does not offer translating a phrase into ERSE
-WARIO was just a minor annoyance
-Famous session guitarist Vic Flick was shown selling his STRAT on Pawn Stars for $55,000
-After hearing RBI’s all my life, RBI as a plural clangs on my delicate ear. Former student Alec Bohm has 85 RBI's so far this year.
-TRIO – Hey, where’s Kingston?
-SCAM – I’m afraid I left my grandson to rot in jail! :-)
-Fore!

Big Easy said...

Where's your mother? You missing "UMAMI'? Groan.

After SWEET HEART was filled I guessed SALTY dog after a few perps were in place. SOUR and BITTER were easy guesses. Only a few unknowns today to complete it correctly.

CARET- perped. I never knew it could be used as a exponent. Never witnessed it in any physics, math, or chemistry class or textbook.

MARTA- didn't know that one. TOAST changed MARIA.
WARIO- learned from crosswords.
TRIOS- all perps. Unknown to me.

HODA-met her a couple of times. She was married to a local tennis pro when she was a newscaster in NOLA. Some of DW's friends knew her well and have told about how Hoda threw his clothes on the street in NYC. Use your imagination to guess why? I heard two versions. He's back in NOLA and she's on to bigger and better things.

NaomiZ said...

Oops! I had TWA, but then entered MARIO going down, and ended with TmA. Not sure how I would have solved it if I'd noticed!

There's a huge illegal trade in baby EELs. Once incredibly populous, and crucial to many cuisines worldwide, their numbers have fallen precipitously -- by 90% in Europe, I think, and 50% here.

Many thanks to Katie and Tennessee for a delicious puzzle, and to Waseely for a tasteful review!

NaomiZ said...

Typo above: waseeley. Thanks!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I think the CARET to denote an exponent started with Visicalc, although I didn't use that one. Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony, along with the ubiquitous Microsoft Excel, use that notation. I don't remember whether Apple Floating Point Basic used it or not, but I plan to try to fire up my old Apple II soon, and I'll try to remember to test it out. (I remember that the quotient of 1/2 was displayed 0.499999999.)

Tehachapi Ken said...

Today's puzzle was by-and-large pretty enjoyable.

However, there were some clues that made me cringe:

--50D Obeyed the coxswain. The answer was OARED. I doubt I'm the only one in the room who has never used "oar" as a verb.
The problem is that it has been so used since Shakespeare. I looked in my Shakespeare Lexicon, and sure enough, he had no problem using "oar" as a noun or verb. Still, there are convenient alternatives like "row."

--26D Montessori year? Both my granddaughters went to Montessori schools, of which there are thousands in the U.S. The correct answer to 26D is YEAR.

Today's Natick Central for me was in the SW, at the confluence of TRIOS, SOURNOTE, and the aforementioned OARED. But I survived.

Anonymous said...

A clever puzzle with theme clues that had me confused until I figured out the central spanner reveal. Noting your comment on Danes (68A), one famous Dane that came to mind for me was pianist/comedian Victor Borge, whose antics at the grand piano and phonetic punctuation routines were silly but very entertaining during my youthful years.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

Since I had no Moe-ku's in my latest recap, I thought I'd add one to today's after seeing a certain word appear:

New “My Pillow” ad
Promised free pillowcases.
I hear it’s a SHAM

Also, here is video associated with the word: SHAM

RosE said...

Greetings! Lots of trial and error (WOs) today. I had to put it down and walk away, but second looks worked like a charm. A fair Thursday puzzle.

Quirky themer clues, but I did see how it came together for the theme. I echo, “Where’s umami?” ๐Ÿ˜„๐Ÿ˜›๐Ÿ˜ƒ

Ethan Frome. It was a reading assignment in Jr. High and we were tasked with writing a book report on why we liked/disliked it. I wrote why I didn’t like it and got an A+!! I think it might have been the only “dis” she received!!

I love Yogi-isms. I wonder if he knew how funny he was…? Thanks, waseeley, for the links – I was ROTFL ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ.

Hand up for koi -> EEL.

Secret: I can remember the spelling of FAJITA by mispronouncing it for spelling purposes. I say it with the “J” to spell, but not to order. It’s one of my favorites!

Question: “meta clue”? I’ve seen it used a couple of times, but not sure what it means.

ERSE: my disappointment in realizing that ERSE was not a phonetic language. Our guide told us that even studying it in school, it was difficult to master. I was surprised to see the large percentage who claim it on the map.

Perps for WARIO, TRIOS.

Thanks, Bill & Teri. Great recap!

CrossEyedDave said...

Well, waddiyaknow! Finally, a puzzle that's all about me!...

Just in case you may have tried it, and gave up, may I suggest a couple of health thingies I have been attempting. The combination seems to help reduce inflammation of my psoriasis. Turmeric has been used for centuries to reduce inflammation, but the suggested "teas" all taste like drinking "chalk" to me. I tried many different methods for ingesting it, but the best way I have found is to pour a tablespoon of olive oil in a slice of bread, add turmeric powder (usda tested only, the cheap stuff contains lead based dyes. You can test for this at home but it's a long story.).

So, olive oil on bread, add turmeric powder, add freshly ground pepper, (increases absorption in the body) spread it out and make a sandwich out of it. This combo tastes rather flowery, and I have started to like it. Plus it is the Least messy way to consume. Turmeric is a very potent yellow dye that is used to color mustard, and will stain anything it touches.

Note, all medicines have side effects, do not use if susceptible to kidney stones!

Another is apple cider vinegar (with "the mother.") a tablespoon in 8 ounces of water before bed lowered my A1C a full percentage point!

Copy Editor said...

Puzzle was fine. Good theme. Not particularly memorable.

MARTA, the second-youngest daughter, is arguably the most obscure of the seven Trapp children in the musical, but I can name all of them, as well as the actors who portrayed them (except the younger boy). Debbie Turner played Marta in the movie. Always have to double-check spelling of Rogers/Rodgers, although I’m sure about Richard being Rodgers. The other bugaboo is the pronunciation of Hammerstein. Like Leonard Bernstein, Oscar was a “stine,” not a “steen.”

Jinx is not absolutely right about whether RBIs is correct or acceptable. The Associated Press stylebook, arguably THE arbiter of sports style, has long ruled in favor of RBIs “because they consider RBI to be a formal term, requiring an “s” to pluralize it." Bottom line: Whether to include the ‘s’ is a matter of style or opinion, not fact.

CrossEyedDave said...

P.s.
When making a sandwich of it, I meant add ham and cheese or whatever tastes good to you. And if you don't like tart tastes, you will never like apple cider vinegar, but to me, it tastes like lemonade! Note, drink thru a straw, it's an acid that's bad for teeth. Rinse with water afterwards.

Charlie Echo said...

Quick and easy FIR today. Enjoyed this crossWORD puzzle despite "oared". Still trying to figure out the connection between "garden" and "eel", though!

Lucina said...

Hola! Katie Hale is familiar but Tennessee Grimes? Welcome if this is your debut. My lit background comes into play immediately with EDITH Wharton and my southwestern culture at RODEO. One occurs annually here in Scottsdale, usually in February. When my friend, Claire, lived in Lafayette, CA, we regularly rode BART to and from the airport in SFO on our visits there.
STAYS are also very uncomfortable inserts in some bras as well as in girdles and corsets. WARIO is totally unfamiliar to me; I only know of Mario.
I recall seeing freshly caught EEL in Portugal and was surprised at how large they are. Like all the fresh seafood, they were displayed in baskets around the wharf.
Many, many years ago I had an OLDS. My daughter was a toddler at the time, so it was likely in the early 80s.
My late DH and I flew on TWA on our first trip to Hawaii.
MARTA is also a Spanish name.
Well, THAT DOES IT for me. I hope you are all doing well.

Lucina said...

"Garden variety" simply means an ordinary, every day kind of thing.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I'll go by the way the late Vin Scully used it. Drilled into my brain from listening to thousands of hours of Dodger Baseball on AM radio. (He also changed the way this hillbilly pronounced "auxiliary" too.)

Anonymous said...

Danish men can be the most charming of the Scandenavians, imho.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Just found my old Apple manuals from 1978. Apple Basic, both Integer and Floating Point, used the CARET to denote an exponent. Since the Apple II keyboard didn't have lower-case letters, they used Shift+N for the CARET character. Nice walk down memory lane.

Anonymous said...

Good question. It does seem like a clue for koi, as Waseeley noted.
I think the only thing "garden-variety" of an eel is its frequency in crossword puzzles.

NaomiZ said...

"The garden eels are the subfamily Heterocongrinae in the conger eel family Congridae. The majority of the 36 known species of garden eels live in the Indo-Pacific, but can be found in warm ocean water worldwide. These small eels live in burrows on the sea floor and get their name from the behavior of poking their heads from their burrows while most of their bodies remain hidden. Since they tend to live in groups, the many eel heads "growing" from the sea floor resemble the plants in a garden." -- Wikipedia

Arizona Jim said...

Great puzzle. Loved it.

Got the the reveal without any letters! — only knew 16a probably started with ‘sweet’.

Then I didn’t understand why the theme clues only referred to the latter words of the answers, but after completion realized that they all “acquired” a taste which turned them into a common phrase… it works beautifully!

Don’t know CARET, don’t like OARED, and don’t understand what’s garden-variety about an EEL (that anonymous reply just above is so on point it made me lol).

And as for the RBI(s) debate, I think it’s fine. For instance, I could say; “I have four FIRs in a row!”

Anonymous said...

Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Katie and Tennessee, waseeley and Teri.
I FIRed (like NaomiZ I had TWA and almost changed WARIO to MARIO), and saw the theme. Thanks Arizona Jim for further elucidating re”acquired”.
Yes, I missed Umami, but that would have been impossible to use.

Hand up for Koi before EEL.
It took a while for this Canadian to get used to saying KING Charles.

Those Dionne QUINTS had a terrible experience, being removed from their parents care and put on display for the public. The two surviving quints celebrated their 90th birthday in May/24.
Link text

Thanks for your kind words about my absence. DH is recovering and out of hospital.

Wishing you all a great day.

CanadianEh! said...

Oops, I wasn’t signed in, but you probably would have known it was me, the lone Canadian here.
I found entering the link a little harder than usual on this smaller format, and forgot to give it a title. It should be easier with practice.

Picard said...

Enjoyed the ACQUIRED TASTE theme, but it took awhile to grasp that the clue only referred to the second word in the theme answers. Very creative. Stuck a long time in NE with unknown WARIO. And QUINT and the TRIOS mystified me. FIR.

NaomiZ Yes, I think your explanation makes sense about the GARDEN EELs. That is what I guessed, but it may be a bit obscure for some people.

Here I photographed this beautiful chalk painting "EEL GARDEN Party"

As you can see, this was made into a note card and I got photo credit along with the actual artist Ann Hefferman.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thanks Katie & Tennessee (congrats on debut!) for a clean-fill puzzle with a pretty cute theme.

Thanks Bill & Teri for a fine review. I guess your exponents were fixed by the time I got here.

WOs: N/A
ESPs: MARTA, HODA
Fav: Yogi BERRA. RBIs xing him seems apropos.

Good thing APSE was mostly filled or I'd be thinking Baseball or avian Cardinals' at 47d.

Both my Girls started their academic careers at a Montessori school when they were ~3yrs old.

CED - Yes, on a POTS system it can up to 2 minutes for the call to disconnect if the caller does NOT hang up. This is NOT an issue on cell phones.
Lucina - because you fell for one scam a while back, you are on the "easy target" list and different scammers will keep trying. Trust. No. One.

Elon Musk as WARIO [SNL]

Cheers, -T

waseeley said...

Rose @11:39 AM A "meta clue" is one where the fill refers to the clue itself. Today's puzzle had "64. Self starter?: YOUR." Where "Self" is started (prefixed) by the word YOUR, giving "Yourself"

waseeley said...

-T @5:13 PM 3rd time's a charm - although I did get a lot of help from TTP. I haven't been eating my carrot ๐Ÿฅ•๐Ÿฅ•๐Ÿฅ• lately and those little hats are looking kinda fuzzy. ๐Ÿ˜

NaomiZ said...

Picard at 5:06 PM -- I love your photo of the EEL party chalk painting -- it is so vivid! -- and they do seem to be garden eels, popping up from their hiding places in the sand. Beautiful!

Lucina said...

CanadianEh: were the Dione quints ever allowed to live a normal life, i.e., marry, have children, etc.?

RosE said...

Thank you! I'll put that in my def. list.

Picard said...

NaomiZ Thank you for the kind words about my EEL GARDEN Party art photo. And thank you for your comment yesterday on Facebook about my stacked images photo of the tiny lizard. I had no idea this was a thing now. Thanks!

CanadianEh! said...

Yes Lucina. Three of the Dionne sisters married: Annette had three sons; Marie had two daughters; and Cรฉcile had four sons and one daughter.
ร‰milie devoted her brief life to becoming a nun. She died at age 20 as a result of a seizure. Yvonne finished nursing school before turning to sculpting, then later becoming a librarian.

Michael said...

The problem is the first notation in Jinx' comment is 10^100, which is a googol -- 10 to the power of 100 -- and not 10x10x10.

Lucina said...

CanadianEh: Thank you! I had no idea about their lives and I'm glad to know they were able to lead "normal" lives.