Theme: TEasing TEsty TErriers
Veteran constructor Joe Deeney gives us five symmetrically placed theme entries, with one spanning the grid, and a reveal at the very end. In each answer, the letter combination TE is repeated thrice.
Theme entries:
17 Across. *Asked for trouble: TEMPTED FATE.
24 Across. *Nickname for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio where Bugs Bunny was developed: TERMITE TERRACE.
"Termite Terrace was the original Warner Brothers animation studio for Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Unlike most other animation studios, which used much larger buildings, Termite Terrace was a very small building made of clapboard, and very infested with insects, especially termites." (https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Termite_Terrace) Did Not Know (DNK), but filled it with the help of perpendicular entries ("perps").
34 Across. *Van Gogh painting also known as "Sorrowing Old Man": AT ETERNITY'S GATE.
47 Across. *GPS offering, maybe: ALTERNATE ROUTE.
56 Across. *One who might leave bite marks?: TASTE TESTER.
65 Across. Banal, or a three-part hint for the answers to the starred clues: TRI T E. TRITE means unoriginal, banal, clichéd, commonplace, hackneyed, stale, stereotyped, threadbare, or tired. However, in THIS case, broken into three parts, it means TRI T E, or three T E combinations in each theme answer.
Let's go on to the other clues and answers.
Across:1. Ferret out: DIG UP. I never really stopped to consider the origin of this expression before.
6. Universal donor's type, briefly: O NEG. Type O negative blood is considered the universal blood type because it can be safely transfused to people with any blood type. "Briefly" in the clue allows for the abbreviation "NEG" in the answer.
10. __ generis: SUI. Sui generis is a Latin phrase that means "of its own kind" or "in a class by itself." While the phrase is used in biology, the arts, and law, I remember it from my college philosophy courses, where it meant an idea or entity that cannot be reduced to a lower concept or included in a higher concept.
13. "Spirited Away" genre: ANIME. DNK. Solved with perps and a reasonable guess. It's a 2001 Japanese animated film about a girl who accidentally enters the world of spirits.
10. __ generis: SUI. Sui generis is a Latin phrase that means "of its own kind" or "in a class by itself." While the phrase is used in biology, the arts, and law, I remember it from my college philosophy courses, where it meant an idea or entity that cannot be reduced to a lower concept or included in a higher concept.
13. "Spirited Away" genre: ANIME. DNK. Solved with perps and a reasonable guess. It's a 2001 Japanese animated film about a girl who accidentally enters the world of spirits.
14. First State capital: DOVER. Delaware was the first colony to ratify the U.S. Constitution, and by doing so, became the first state. Its capital city is Dover.
16. Sculptor Gillen: ANN. DNK. All perps. She has created a lot of public art in NYC.
 |
| Flying Red by Ann Gillen, 1987 |
17. [Theme clue]
19. Routing word: VIA.
20. Shot spot: ARM.
21. Game cube: DIE. Singular form of the plural word "dice."
19. Routing word: VIA.
20. Shot spot: ARM.
21. Game cube: DIE. Singular form of the plural word "dice."
22. Handy reference for a crossword constructor: ROGET'S. Roget's Thesaurus, first published in 1852.
24. [Theme clue]
28. Like granola: OATY. The plant-based "milk" we use at breakfast is also "oaty."
29. Continues with intensity: RAGES ON.
30. Urban haze: SMOG. Of course, we've never seen that in Los Angeles. đ
32. Fishing pole: ROD.
33. Start at the beginning?: ESS. The beginning of the word START is the letter ESS. Meta! (Or, self-referential. The clue is about the clue.)
34. [Theme clue]
39. Little bit: TAD.
40. Intention: AIM.
41. Ballpark figure: OUTS. Not a person, but a statistic. A figure can be a shape, a diagram, or a number.
42. Connecting: TYING IN.
45. Paint brand at Home Depot: BEHR.
47. [Theme clue]
51. Having a veneer: COATED.
52. "You for Me" singer Rita: ORA. Singer/songwriter who is popular in the UK and in crossword puzzles.
53. Purple yam in some desserts: UBE. DNK! A sweet yam that originated in Southeast Asia and has been cultivated in the Philippines for centuries. My limited experience with Philippine desserts is that they do not match my expectation for sweetness.
55. On a streak: HOT.
56. [Theme clue]
60. New Orleans-to-Tampa dir.: ESE. East-South-East.
61. Bothered: ATE AT.
62. __-Grain cereal bars: NUTRI. A brand name.
63. __ Moines, Iowa: DES.
64. Slithery swimmers: EELS.
65. [Theme reveal]
Down:
1. Mined stuff: DATA. Couldn't be ORE, so it had to be the more modern DATA mining.
2. Like helium: INERT.
3. Easy score: GIMME.
4. Ballpark figure: UMP.
5. Family member who might be microchipped: PET. Did you write in DOG or CAT at first?
6. Curious thing: ODDITY.
7. Pro bono: NO FEE.
8. Green of "Casino Royale": EVA. DNK. Eva Green is a French actress. Of her many films, I have only seen Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016).
 |
| Eva Green with Daniel Craig (as James Bond) in Casino Royale |
9. Warm up: GET READY.
10. Put one's jacket down, say: SAVE A SEAT. Good strategy at a large gathering.
11. Prices per piece: UNIT COSTS.
12. "Sorta": IN A SENSE.
15. Office shake-up, briefly: REORG. Again, "briefly" in the clue signals an abbreviation in the answer, in this case, the abbreviation for reorganization.
18. Improve, hopefully: EDIT.
23. Hurdle for Ph.D. hopefuls: GRE. I took the Graduate Record Examination decades ago when applying for the Master of Library Science program at UCLA. DH likes to brag about my perfect score on the verbal section.
25. __ cellar: ROOT. Before refrigeration, an underground root cellar was an essential way to store carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips, potatoes, and other root vegetables.
26. World of Warcraft charmer: MAGE. World of Warcraft is a multiplayer, online video game. A mage is a magician or wizard who can cast spells (or charms).
10. Put one's jacket down, say: SAVE A SEAT. Good strategy at a large gathering.
11. Prices per piece: UNIT COSTS.
12. "Sorta": IN A SENSE.
15. Office shake-up, briefly: REORG. Again, "briefly" in the clue signals an abbreviation in the answer, in this case, the abbreviation for reorganization.
18. Improve, hopefully: EDIT.
23. Hurdle for Ph.D. hopefuls: GRE. I took the Graduate Record Examination decades ago when applying for the Master of Library Science program at UCLA. DH likes to brag about my perfect score on the verbal section.
25. __ cellar: ROOT. Before refrigeration, an underground root cellar was an essential way to store carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips, potatoes, and other root vegetables.
26. World of Warcraft charmer: MAGE. World of Warcraft is a multiplayer, online video game. A mage is a magician or wizard who can cast spells (or charms).
 |
| World of Warcraft mage |
27. Brisk gait: TROT.
30. "Relax!": STAY LOOSE.
31. Does one's om work?: MEDITATES. In Hinduism, Om is a sacred sound that can be chanted during meditation.
32. Basket part: RIM. Admittedly, I wasn't thinking about basketball and envisioned a different kind of basket. But I think this is what the constructor had in mind:
34. Unable to let go: ATTACHED.
35. Plan B time: RAIN DATE. An alternative date for an event in case of inclement weather.
36. "Little Girl Blue" singer Simone: NINA. Nina Simone (1933-2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, and civil rights activist.
37. Neighborhood near Tribeca: SOHO. A 16 minute walk between these NYC neighborhoods.
35. Plan B time: RAIN DATE. An alternative date for an event in case of inclement weather.
36. "Little Girl Blue" singer Simone: NINA. Nina Simone (1933-2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, and civil rights activist.
37. Neighborhood near Tribeca: SOHO. A 16 minute walk between these NYC neighborhoods.
38. Ashram adviser: GURU. Bet he does his om work.
43. Basket part: NET. Well, here's the other part of that basket!
44. "Lady Bird" Oscar nominee Gerwig: GRETA. Greta Gerwig directed this 2017 coming-of-age film, as well as the more recent Barbie movie and others. She has also acted in films and on television.
45. TĂȘte toppers: BERETS. TĂȘte is French for head, so you would put French hats on top.
46. Basic Latin verb: ERAT. Past imperfect form of third person singular "to be."
48. Absolute: TOTAL.
49. __-frutti: TUTTI.
50. "At the Movies" co-host: EBERT. Roger Ebert (1942-2013) was an American film critic widely known for the televison show "At the Movies With Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert" which appeared under varying names on several networks over the years.
54. Pennsylvania port: ERIE. Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and is the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Like other Great Lakes port cities, Erie is accessible to the oceans via Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River network in Canada.
57. "Get the picture?": SEE.
58. Tolkien's Treebeard, for one: ENT. In J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings, ents are sentient beings who resemble trees. Their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest.
59. South, south of the border: SUR. Spanish for South, as heard south of the US-Mexico border.
49. __-frutti: TUTTI.
50. "At the Movies" co-host: EBERT. Roger Ebert (1942-2013) was an American film critic widely known for the televison show "At the Movies With Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert" which appeared under varying names on several networks over the years.
54. Pennsylvania port: ERIE. Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and is the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Like other Great Lakes port cities, Erie is accessible to the oceans via Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River network in Canada.
57. "Get the picture?": SEE.
58. Tolkien's Treebeard, for one: ENT. In J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings, ents are sentient beings who resemble trees. Their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest.
59. South, south of the border: SUR. Spanish for South, as heard south of the US-Mexico border.
Here's the grid:
What did you think of today's tripartite effort? Was it a TAD difficult? Or were the answers all GIMMEs?
NaomiZ
After staring at the completed puzzle for a while, I think I finally understand the reveal. “Tri” or three “te’s” right? Also, some of the themed answers weren’t very obvious, I would say. A couple were downright obscure (I’m referring to “At Eternity’s Gate,” and others). Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteDidn't see a theme. Didn't ferret for it. Don't miss it. Glad I didn't have to explain this one. Those stacked 9s and an 8 in the NE and SW were very nice. Hand up for DOG before PET elbowed in. Saw the EBERT/BERET pairing -- cute. Nicely done, Joe. Excellent expo, NaomiZ. (Took a while for d-o to realize that the ferret photo wasn't a fat animal with a small face.)
DNF with 4 bad squares. Trouble started in Bangor when I couldn't even WAG _ _ _ generis and sculptor Gillean. I flunked with TERMITE TERRors and RAGEd ON. I didn't erase dog or cat, I erased both to get PET. Also erased est for UMP.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in LA, there was a popular bumper sticker that proclaimed "I refuse o breathe air I can't see."
A couple of ODDITies from Joe were ATE AT / A TEAT and O NEG or, as H.Gary prefers, ONE G.
Constructors and editors (and most of the general public, for that matter) still struggle with the difference between "price" and "cost." If you are a manufacturer or a retailer, you know the difference intrinsically.
Thanks to Joe for the fun puzzle that was just a little beyond my ability to complete, and to NaomiZ for the great tour. Congratulations for (crossword favorite) acing the GRE, but I gotta tell you as a guy who used to frequent sports bars, a lot of husbands brag about their DW's oral performance.
Looks like I forgot to close by "bold" tag. I miss preview.
ReplyDeleteTook 11:25 today for me to take this Texas Tech test.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know today's actress (Eva). I went 1 for 3 on the foreign language tests again today; I knew sui, but not erat or sur. I didn't know the studio nickname, the Van Gogh painting, or hear of a "root cellar."
I guess I need to brush up on my sculptors (today) and puppeteers (earlier this week). I wonder if tomorrow will have a clue for a ventriloquist.
When I got to the Plan B clue, I already had "____Date", and thought, well, this could be interesting.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteJoe Deeney has a knack for coming up with varied and fresh theme ideas and this one went right over my head. No matter what way I tried to parse Trite, I didn't see the triple TEs. Although I would prefer a more challenging, traditional Friday offering, ala Jeffrey Wechsler, Joe provided a lot of interesting and lively fill, including the unknown Termite Terrace and At Eternity's Äate. I liked the clecho cluing of Basket Part and Baseball Figure. CSO to Nina, who hasn't posted in a while.
Thanks, Joe, and thanks, Naomi, for an enlightening and entertaining review. Thanks, also, for pinch-hitting for our peripatetic Chairman Moe.
For those fans of Magpie Murders, the new series, Moonflower Murders, begins Sunday, September 15th, on PBS.
Have a great day.
FIR. Not a fan of the several proper names in this puzzle, but I persisted and got through. And also some unknowns, so thanks perps!
ReplyDeleteWhen I got to the reveal I went back and saw the gimmick. (Head slap)
But this is Friday and one has to expect some difficulty. Overall, I enjoyed this puzzle.
Crosses saved the day with proper names. The only thing I couldn't get was the themer. Tried to parse TRITE into three parts as directed but no dice (or multiple DIE).
ReplyDeleteFIR, but this puzzle needed quite a few perps and WAGS. Several unknowns like ANIME as clued, ANN, EVE, MAGE, GRETA, and TERMITE TERRACE. I did ferret out the theme early for a change. Nothing TRITE about this CW puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThank you NaomiZ for a great write up.
Be careful out there it’s Friday the 13th.
Thank you IM☘️ for the heads up on Moonflower Murders.
That should be EVA.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty clear we were in the hands of a veteran today. Joe Deeney showed me that he is a master constructor with his theme consisting of five phrases, all of which obeyed the reveal (TRITE) by containing within them three TE letter combinations. That must have taken Joe considerable time and thought.
ReplyDeleteAnd there was eye appeal to the look of the puzzle, including one grid-spanner smack dab in the middle, as well as some adjoining vertical skyscrapers in the NE and SW.
Still, this didn't come without a cost. For example, two short answers in particular, OATY and ESS, made me cringe. And I had to rely on nearby perps for MAGE, BEHR, and UBE.
I enjoyed seeing two different answers for "basket part."
Thanks, Joe, for providing us with a fun, clever, and satisfying Friday-appropriate challenge.
Great puzzle , clever clues, (they are always clever and never unfair when I FIR đ„č) Darn, in my haste and jubilation over finishing I forget the Theme
ReplyDeletePET: I searched and found a recipe for Haitian puppy dog stew with kitten ear fritters https://medium.com/@desiredapps/bring-the-vibrant-flavors-of-haiti.
Inkovers: no pay/NOFEE, Irene/GRETA, TYINGup/IN, esse/ERAT, sud/SUR
“Ball park figure” was not a “stat”. Guess UMP is not considered an abbrev. “TĂȘte toppers” chapeaux est trop long
Remembered UBE from earlier puzzles like REORG. Got fooled in Latin, put esse first (the classic clue is “part of QED”)
Tutti FRUTTI (Ital. “all or every fruit”)
May earn double pay for (abbrev.)…. OATY
Silver fishing pole ___ Sterling….ROD
State of not-guiltiness ….. INASENSE
Should be a nice weekend here. First wave of “outlaws” just left. We join them tomorrow
Fortunately, I knew about Termite Terrace and that proved to be helpful in sorting things out. Thanks, Joe and NaomiZ.
ReplyDeleteWorked through this one slowly but surely. FIR.
ReplyDeleteSome nice inclusion with the stacked 9's and 8. Went with PET since I already inked in UMP. Wasn't too sure if helium was lighT or INERT. ARM decided.
Not working this morning so I was able to complete the puzzle and post my results. Often I don't get to finish 'till much later.
Kudos to Joe and NaomiZ for their fine efforts providing our pleasure.
Swing for the fences.
Inspection.
As a retired Friday sherpa, I did not find this to be especially difficult- no curveballs- but there were some hard sliders. Joe who is an expert on themeless puzzles knows how to clue.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed Eva Green as an actress and as a very pretty woman. She was quite good in PENNY DREADFUL .
After TEMPT and TERMITE I was thinking all TE starts until I filled ATTCHED for 34D. Didn't notice other TEs. I had trouble finishing and am glad for the down perps. I'd never heard of TERMITE TERRACE and other that the Mona Lisa I could not name any artist's painting. The NE was the last to fall. Filling O-POS instead of O-NEG didn't help.
ReplyDeleteBut it was a FIW filling HAVE A SEAT instead of SAVE. SUI I did not know. And I've seen many arguments over saved seats when there's a crowd, especially when some dork waiting to board a plane and decided to save seats with pieces of luggage to his left and right while other people have to stand.
It took WAGs to get ANIME, MAGE, & ANN. GRETA, UBE and EVA were unknown.
3 letter Rita clue=ORA
4 letter Simone clue=NINA
Musings
ReplyDelete-This was a nearly perfect puzzle for me. Obvious fill that turned out not to be, clever cluing, hard fill that had great outs and even a gimmick that took some parsing.
-DIG UP: Every pol’s past seems to be fair game in an election year
-ANIME and its lovely vowels is becoming a mainstay in our cwd world
-Most of the famous ANN’s have an added “E” at the end. The only one I knew was Ann Southern and you have to have some serious mileage on your tires to remember her TV series
-I doubt today’s constructors use a “dead tree version” of ROGET’S.
-SAVE A SEAT: I hate doing it and being denied a seat because of it!
-Taking a GIMME putt without someone saying you may is bad form.
-Relax/STAY LOOSE: Don’t bother telling me that. I’ll overthink it anyway.
-Basketball teams like to have “RIM protectors” playing for them
I'll usually take GIMMEs when offered, but if I'm uncertain if I would make it 99% of the time, I'll putt out. I'm not above asking "is that one good for par?" even though that's supposed to be gauche. But purists would (correctly) say that agreeing to GIMMEs violates 1.3b(1)/1 – Disqualifying Players Who Know a Rule but Agree to Ignore It. Adherents must like 5-hour golf rounds.
DeleteAddendum
ReplyDelete-The UMPS at last night’s H.S. softball game had to stop play after a girl hit a ball into a light and shattered it. Bonus points for anyone who can name the 1984 movie that had a scene with this as a device and the man who played the lead role. I asked the UMPS the same question after the game and the young one had no idea but the older knew immediately!
-Here’s the scene!
Without looking at the scene, I'm guessing The Natural, based partly on the year of release.
Delete…with Robert Redford. Sappy movie but pretty cool that that happened in real life.
DeleteIf you build it they will come (RIP James Earl Jones)
DeleteFrazzling Friday. Thanks for the fun, Joe and NaomiZ.
ReplyDeleteOfficially a FIW, but I did get the TRI TE theme. That helped me correct Magi to MAGE and fill 34A.
Ores changed to DATA, but I entered PET immediately.
This Canadian did not know DOVER and had Ena instead of EVA.
Hand up for Esse before ERAT.
I got carried away by TUTTI and entered NUTTI crossing it. I WAGged the B in UBE but didn’t correct Ebett to EBERT.
Lightbulb moment at SAVES A SEAT.
EELS and ERIE were ECKTORPs today.
Wishing you all a great day.
FIR on a Friday! An unusual occurrence for me. A LOT of unknowns today, but fair perps led to good SWAGs and made for an enjoyable puzzle. The theme? There was a theme? Oh, thanks for 'splainin' NaomiZ!
ReplyDeleteAfter completing the grid, I managed to notice the five sets of triple TEs, but I had filled in TRITE without really reading the clue, so I failed to notice it was the unifier. Other noticed the unifier but not the triple TEs.
ReplyDeleteIt was possible to enjoy the puzzle without solving the theme. Joe made it difficult without ever verging on making it impossible. He is one of our most dependable constructors.
The Natural….i don’t know how any baseball fan would not know this.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a baseball or any other sports fan, but I am familiar with The Natural. Some of its scenes are featured in some commercials.
That clue and some other clever ones from Joe Deeney provided some interesting and entertaining moments in this puzzle. TERMITE TERRACE caused me many doubts but I couldn't argue with the perps. I'm grateful for the explanation.
And the alternative clue for DIE made m laugh. it's not an ODDITY but it is so confusing to ESL students. As if English isn't difficult enough!
It's only midmorning here but you east coasters and mid-westerners have provided me with additional entertainment with your comments. That includes you, NaomiZ. Thank you for your clarity in supplying us the narrative needed for this puzzle. Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Glad to see that so many folks are enjoying the puzzle and the Corner today! Thanks for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteJinx at 7:23 AM, I just viewed today's blog and comments through the Blog Archive (available at bottom right of crosswordcorner.blogspot.com), and the BOLD type that you turned on appears to have affected every subsequent comment so that the whole string from that moment on is BOLD. Which is very suitable, considering your comments! LOL. I wonder if it displays that way to everyone?
In the "new normal" format, only my comment has residual bolding. Otherwise I would have deleted, edited and my comment. Probably not worth doing at this point.
DeleteYes, bold for me as well.
DeleteJinx, on the main blog page, to the right of NaomiZ's NutriGrain image is the blog archives. If you select today's date and scroll to the comments, you will see that all of the comments after your 's at 7:23 are bold.
No big deal.
Husker Gary @ 10:20
ReplyDeleteWhen you said: "Most of the famous ANN’s have an added “E” at the end. The only one I knew was Ann Southern and you have to have some serious mileage on your tires to remember her series."
I was sure the link would take us to< Ann Sothern as My mother the Car...
You may notice I don't like the reply option, and really have not posted much since they changed the comments format.
FIW with “HAVE” A SEAT instead of SAVE - had no idea on the latin SUI thingy.
ReplyDeleteBut wow, what an impressive and fun puzzle. I remember a while back making a point of remembering a constructor’s name because I enjoyed his puzzle.. all I can remember now is that it was Joe Something lol. I bet it’s this guy.
There were many clues that took just the right amount of time to suss out, like the ones for ROGETS, GET READY, SAVE A SEAT, and BERETS. And I love when the reveal is just a short word yet it explains so much. Very elegant.
The awkwardness came from RAIN DATE, a term I’m not familiar with. Like an Anon posted above, seeing “DATE” first made me think of the Plan B morning-after pill. This led to many impure thoughts, wondering what kind of date had just taken place.
- First thought of BAR for “Shot spot”
- Spanish word for south always trips me up because, as a soccer fan, I always think of the “Copa Sudamericana” (a fun-flowing phrase to say), but then SUD never seems to be right. Just looked in my Spanish dictionary (copyright 1967 - so make that my DAD’s Spanish dictionary) and both SUD and SUR are in there with exactly the same meaning. So what’s the difference?
Well, Friday puzzles are supposed to be tough, but thankfully this one was still manageable--so thank you for making it a treat, Joe. And thanks for your enjoyable commentary, Naomi.
ReplyDeleteI guess we were warned to GET READY for some toughness early on, but then started to get a lot of advice, which came from a GURU, as we learned later on. We were told to SAVE A SEAT, and STAY LOOSE, and MEDITATE. That all helped us not to TEMPT FATE and to avoid ETERNITY'S GATE by taking an ALTERNATE ROUTE. So we put on a BERET, and went to a diner for a TASTE TEST, where we had a chance to try some TUTTI-FRUTTI along with some NUTRI-GRAIN cereal bars and some HOT tea. Feels pretty good, all around.
Have a lovely weekend, everybody.
peripatetic no longer. Thanks, Naomi for blogging for me whilst I was away
ReplyDeleteBTW, the stream of "bold" text comments seems to have ended with my post. My contribution to the blog today... you're welcome!! ;^)
ReplyDeleteMoe, your close bold tag submission fixed it. Thanks!
DeleteThank you, Joe. No Nits.
ReplyDeleteThank you, NaomiZ.
That is one (SUI generis?) looking terrier.
That can of paint must be sold in CanadianEh!'s province or country.
Yes, we have BEHR paint at Home Depot!
DeleteFrom a few days ago (FAFDA)… Take ME out: ANI(me); GIM(me).
ReplyDeleteFAFDA… Cut IT out: ODD(it)y; MED(it)ATE; ETERN(it)y…
ReplyDeleteBoth of which result in as much sense as today’s the(ME), IMO!
ReplyDeleteROGETS … I wish more constructors would refer to it! IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle. I had to look up "Sorrowing Old Man" in order to get the "AT," which then cracked open the SW corner. Good reading you all.
ReplyDeleteArizonaJim
ReplyDeleteYes, SUD and SUR both mean south but used differently. El Sud is used as a noun: Ella vive en el SUD. She lives in the south.
SUR is an adjective. Mexico esta al SUR de los Estados Unidos. Mexico is south of the United States.
Lucina, thank you for that clear and concise clarification.
DeleteI should add that a creative writer in Spanish, just as in English, can use words creatively to form idioms and word pictures but the basic meaning does not change.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joe, for a hard-earned FIR. Those long themers did not give you much wiggle room. Very impressive! I was unfamiliar with the first two themers but ferreting out TRITE gave me enough letters to fill in the rest.
ReplyDeleteI had "wine" in my cellar before ROOTs. NE was last to fill.
H-Gary@10:23. I immediately thought of "The Natural" -- probably my favorite baseball movie.
Thanks to NaomiZ for her excellent tour! I liked your clever theme! Do you make your own OATy milk?
Fair question, sumdaze! I let "Oatly" make my "milk." It is perfect for my morning chai.
ReplyDeleteYep, the TRI TE was a groaner for me, a real ssttreettcchh…but FIR in spite of that (it went zooming over my head at about Mach 5…). I did manage to pull out all the themers, though. I’d heard stories of The TERMITE TERRACE from some obscure article I read on cartoon history. As for ANIME, “Spirited Away” is a prime view for any fan of the genre; it is gorgeous visually, with a very compelling storyline. Even if you aren’t a fan, it’s worth seeing!
ReplyDeleteHaving gotten ANIME, PET was a gimme.
Loved your recap, @NaomiZ, but, I gotta say, your “Poulets En Sauce” gag left a bad taste in my mouth (but was funny as hell!).
Speaking of funnier’n’hell, the “om work” gag for GURU was Grade A! Great job filling in this past week+, thank you!
====> Darren / L.A.