Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here, poised to walk with you down the red carpet.
Theme: Crossword Style
 |
| Diane von Furstenberg dress ($558 at Nordstrom) |
Let's buckle down, roll up our sleeves, and get to work at solving today's clues. First, the three themers:
20 Across. Pricey booze at a bar: TOP SHELF LIQUOR. TOP SHELF is not a brand name of LIQUOR nor is it a category of LIQUOR. Instead, it refers to the common practice of arranging LIQUOR bottles behind the bar so that the most expensive brands are on the TOP shelves, medium-priced brands are in the middle, and lower-priced brands are on the bottom shelves. 
33 Across. Power tool for smoothing wood: BELT SANDER.
I thought this video about the New England BELT SANDER Racing Association was fun. (3:29 min.)
40 Across. Beef often used for carne asada: SKIRT STEAK.
The SKIRT STEAK is a cut of beef that comes from the plate (below the animal's ribs). It is not very tender so it is usually prepared by running it through a tenderizer machine and/or soaking it in a marinade.
 |
| The images on this SKIRT are STEAKs with the words "Well done!". |
Then the reveal:
49 Across. On the cutting edge of style, or what 20-, 33-, and 40-Across can be said to be?: FASHION FORWARD.
Something that is FASHION FORWARD is characterized by the latest trends in fashion.
Also, TOPs, BELTs, and SKIRTs are all clothing items (FASHION) at the front (FORWARD) of the themed answers.
I tip my hat to Stella for her fun theme and excellent variety in the meanings of TOP, BELT, and SKIRT . Let's see what else she has ready for us to try on:
1. Covertly included on an email: BCC'D. This means the email was also sent to someone whose name is not visible in the primary address box.
9. Enjoy a novel: READ.
15. Declare with assurance: AVOW. It has been a while since I looked up the difference between AVOW and aver. To aver is to verify and to avow is to say it publicly. They overlap when we want to state the truth (aver) so that the whole world can hear (avow).
16. __ of Wight: ISLE. a brief history of England's largest island
 |
| (Click to enlarge.) |
19. Fill until full: SATE.
23. Chimney buildup: SOOT. Here is Dick Van Dyke singing Chim Chim Cher-ee in the movie Mary Poppins (1964).
24. Greek letter after sigma: TAU.
25. Climb: ASCEND.
28. Periodic table components: ELEMENTS. I love this idea for a shower!
35. Horror filmmaker Aster: ARI. I have not seen any of his movies. You can find a list on his IMDb page.
36. Vietnam neighbor: LAOS.
37. Ore-__ Tater Tots: IDA. I have always liked those videos that show the production process. Apparently my high school Ag Science teacher did, too, because we watched a lot of them...or maybe he just was not into lesson planning. 🤔 Here is one about Ore-Ida French fries. (3:45 min.)
38. "Frozen" character with antlers: SVEN. Sven is a reindeer who lives with his buddy, Kristoff. Spoiler alert: Kristoff proposes to Anna at the end of Frozen 2.
39. Shade tree: ELM.
43. Witty banter: REPARTEE. Fun word! When it comes to witty banter in a TV show, it is hard to beat The West Wing (1999-2006). (3:24 min.)
46. Pops, as a bubble: BURSTS.
47. Nat __ Wild: GEO. National Geographic Wild is a global pay television network owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society. The channel primarily focuses on wildlife and natural history non-fiction programming.
48. Naive one: BABE. For example, the noun phrase BABE in the woods is used to describe someone who is innocent or who lacks experience.
56. Pixar film set on the Italian Riviera: LUCA. Here is the trailer for this 2021 film (1:26 min.). Luca 2 is scheduled to be released in 2027. 57. Buddhist teacher: GURU.
That's Amore ~ Dean Martin ~ 1953
60. Flight sked nos.: ETAS. "Schedule" and "numbers" are abbreviated, so is "Estimated Times of Arrival".
61. Perfect place: EDEN.
65. Andy who coaches the Chiefs: REID. Today we had READ and REID. The latter does not follow the "i before e except after c" rule.
Down:
1. Impact sound: BAM.
2. Coagulate: CLOT.
3. Inconspicuous gear, for short: CAMO.
 |
| Can you see the CAMOuflaged owl? |
4. Bodybuilding sequences that reduce weights incrementally: DROP SETS. Here's the gouge.
5. Bob of "Full House": SAGET. (1956-2022)
6. Shape of some platters: OVAL.
7. "The Three Little Pigs" canine: WOLF.
8. Suffer in the heat: SWELTER.
9. NSFW, perhaps: RISQUE. Not Safe For Work usually applies to a meme you would not want on your monitor should your boss walk in the door behind you.
10. Biblical twin of Jacob: ESAU.
11. The "A" of the choir shorthand SATB: ALTO. Soprano, ALTO, Tenor, and Bass
12. Forest dweller: DEER. Apparently they like the ocean, too. This video of DEER playing on Pebble Beach in CA went viral last year. (1:40 min.)
14. Stoneworkers: MASONS. difference between a mason and a bricklayer
21. Kotb of "Today": HODA. Like Issa Rae, both Hoda's first and last names make for good crossword fill.
22. Possible answer to "Who's ready?": I AM.
25. Better trained: ABLER.
26. Bobby of the Black Panthers: SEALE. Born Robert George Seale in 1936 in Liberty, TX, he co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey P. Newton in 1966.
27. Apt rhyme for "stomp": CLOMP. To CLOMP is to walk with heavy, loud steps.
28. Oscar winner Redmayne: EDDIE. Born Edward John David Redmayne in London, England in 1982, Eddie won an Oscar in 2015 for portraying Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. He was also nominated the following year for The Danish Girl.
29. King who banished Cordelia: LEAR. In Shakespeare's King Lear, Cordelia is one of King Lear's three daughters. Basically she is banished because she has more integrity than her shallow sisters. Yes, her father later regrets his actions.
30. Places for pews: NAVES. A NAVE is a section of a church.
31. Good dog's reward: TREAT.
5. Bob of "Full House": SAGET. (1956-2022)
6. Shape of some platters: OVAL.
7. "The Three Little Pigs" canine: WOLF.
 |
| You'll get this one if you are familiar with Angry Birds. |
9. NSFW, perhaps: RISQUE. Not Safe For Work usually applies to a meme you would not want on your monitor should your boss walk in the door behind you.
10. Biblical twin of Jacob: ESAU.
11. The "A" of the choir shorthand SATB: ALTO. Soprano, ALTO, Tenor, and Bass
12. Forest dweller: DEER. Apparently they like the ocean, too. This video of DEER playing on Pebble Beach in CA went viral last year. (1:40 min.)
14. Stoneworkers: MASONS. difference between a mason and a bricklayer
21. Kotb of "Today": HODA. Like Issa Rae, both Hoda's first and last names make for good crossword fill.
22. Possible answer to "Who's ready?": I AM.
25. Better trained: ABLER.
26. Bobby of the Black Panthers: SEALE. Born Robert George Seale in 1936 in Liberty, TX, he co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey P. Newton in 1966.
27. Apt rhyme for "stomp": CLOMP. To CLOMP is to walk with heavy, loud steps.
28. Oscar winner Redmayne: EDDIE. Born Edward John David Redmayne in London, England in 1982, Eddie won an Oscar in 2015 for portraying Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. He was also nominated the following year for The Danish Girl.
29. King who banished Cordelia: LEAR. In Shakespeare's King Lear, Cordelia is one of King Lear's three daughters. Basically she is banished because she has more integrity than her shallow sisters. Yes, her father later regrets his actions.
30. Places for pews: NAVES. A NAVE is a section of a church.
 |
| Snuffles is a Hanna-Barbera character from Quick Draw McGraw. |
32. Goes below the surface: SINKS. The Archimedes Principle explains whether or not something should sink in a liquid. When you drop ravioli into a pot of boiling water, they sink because they are denser than water. As they cook, they expand and their density decreases. When their density becomes less than water, they float. Eureka!
34. Maker of Vomero and Air Max sneakers: NIKE. Both are styles of shoes made by Nike.
38. Gamer going live on Twitch, say: STREAMER. Twitch is an internet platform where people can share "in real life" streams. For example, it is a popular place to share your screen while you play a video game. It was founded in 2011 and is a subsidiary of Amazon. Now that you know that, it is easy to break down the clue: Gamer (someone playing a video game) going live (streaming) on Twitch (website). more about Twitch
40. Classic slapstick trio: STOOGES. CSO to Chairman Moe!
41. Chairlift predecessor, at some ski resorts: T-BAR.
42. Rapid transit option: SUBWAY.
44. Shocked and appalled: AGHAST.
45. Outdoor gear giant: REI. I am a member of this co-op and have made a pilgrimage to the 'mothership' store in Seattle.
48. __ for greatness: BOUND.
49. Skipped town: FLED.
34. Maker of Vomero and Air Max sneakers: NIKE. Both are styles of shoes made by Nike.
38. Gamer going live on Twitch, say: STREAMER. Twitch is an internet platform where people can share "in real life" streams. For example, it is a popular place to share your screen while you play a video game. It was founded in 2011 and is a subsidiary of Amazon. Now that you know that, it is easy to break down the clue: Gamer (someone playing a video game) going live (streaming) on Twitch (website). more about Twitch
40. Classic slapstick trio: STOOGES. CSO to Chairman Moe!
41. Chairlift predecessor, at some ski resorts: T-BAR.
42. Rapid transit option: SUBWAY.
44. Shocked and appalled: AGHAST.
45. Outdoor gear giant: REI. I am a member of this co-op and have made a pilgrimage to the 'mothership' store in Seattle.
48. __ for greatness: BOUND.
Mac Davis ~ Texas in my Review Mirror ~ 1974
50. Wheels: AUTO. I wanted this to be "ride" because that would be a slang answer matched to a slang clue.
51. Look over quickly: SCAN. I love my ScanSnap scanner. If you do a lot of scanning, that is your tool.
52. Spanx shade: NUDE. Spanx is a brand of shapewear (tight-fitting underwear intended to control and shape one's figure). No one says "girdle" anymore.
53. Unoccupied: FREE. This could be said of an empty chair, conference room, or perhaps an empty port-a-john.
54. City that surrounds Vatican City: ROME.
55. German three: DREI.
59. Conclusion: END. Bonus points for this proper ENDing!
51. Look over quickly: SCAN. I love my ScanSnap scanner. If you do a lot of scanning, that is your tool.
52. Spanx shade: NUDE. Spanx is a brand of shapewear (tight-fitting underwear intended to control and shape one's figure). No one says "girdle" anymore.
53. Unoccupied: FREE. This could be said of an empty chair, conference room, or perhaps an empty port-a-john.
54. City that surrounds Vatican City: ROME.
55. German three: DREI.
59. Conclusion: END. Bonus points for this proper ENDing!
Here's the grid, all dressed up:
Before I go, I want to extend happy birthday wishes to waseeley's DW and blogging assistant, Teri! 🎂 We appreciate your contributions every week!
46 comments:
This puzzle struck me as having considerably more “crunch” than the typical Monday puzzle. In fact, I’m not even going to say it was a “walk in the park” because it didn’t quite strike me that way today, with such obscure names as “Momoa” for example. But anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o loves a themeless Monday. Zip, zip, done. Thanx, Stella and sumdaze. (Adam Ried of America's Test Kitchen and Cooks Country complies with the i-before-e rule.)
LAOS: Gimme. Back in the day I was assigned to plot the coordinates bombed by the planes from our ship for reporting to Saigon. If the bombs fell in Laos we didn't report 'em, because we weren't bombing in Laos.
DEER: There's a herd of 10 that frequent our back yard. Construction of new homes in our town has eliminated most wooded lots. They congregate in the 5-acre "reserve" in the center of our block.
APSE: I can never keep 'em straight -- I don't know my APSE from my NAVE.
Happy birthday, Teri. Keep on keepin' waseeley in line.
FIW Monday, missing HOtA x ASCENt. To me, Dave Garroway is Today. And the crossing clue and fill could be noun or verb. Still, I could have fixed it had I thought about it for a millisecond.
When we're not on the road (as we are now) our RV lives in Suffolk County, just a couple of miles south of the Isle of Wight County line. Smithfield, of Smithfield pork products, is probably the best-known "city" in Isle of Wight county.
I thought the only horror filmmaker allowed in crossword puzzles was Wes Craven. Eye are rolling in Ektorp today.
Nat Geo Wild "airs" The Incredible Doctor Pol, Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet, and Critter Fixers. Not enough animal TV? They also feature several different Secrets of the Zoo franchises. All of these are fun and interesting.
Name that tune:
Helter skelter in a summer SWELTER
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
"BOUND for greatness" sounds a little kinky to me.
In these days where saying something nice about the wrong person or liking the wrong post will get a person cancelled, how does NIKE continue to thrive with its long history of horrible human rights violations?
As Marlon Brando would shout, Stella! Thanks for the fun start to the week. And thanks to sumdaze for the fun, including all the apropos cartoons and pix.
Took 3:29 today, a very rare finish in less than 3.5 minutes.
As usual, I agree with SubG - in retrospect - seeing Momoa, a Blank Panther (really?), Greek, German, & Italian.
Like D-O, a nice themeless puzzle....
Jinx: That guy was killing me (softly)....
FIR. I agree with SG, I found today's puzzle a little crunchy myself. Starting off, I wanted BCC'ed instead of BCC'd. I still feel it's wrong.
And the proper names, Momoa, Ari, Luca, and Reid for example, was step too far.
So overall, it's done so there's that.
I counted 19 proper nouns, may have missed one or two. 3 answers I have never heard of : 1 across - Bccd, 47 across - Geo, and 9 down - NSFW - risqué.
Tough Monday
Good Morning:
As others have noted, Stella added some crunch but nothing indecipherable, IMO. I still have memories of a Saturday torture-fest by Stella a while back, but today's was a cuddly pussy cat in comparison. I didn't see the theme until the reveal, and the reveal was a new phrase to my ears and eyes, but perfect for the execution. I needed perps for Momoa, Luca, Drop Sets and Ari but, thanks to fair and friendly neighbors, the solve was easy and fast. Props for above average fresh and interesting fill, including Risqué, Aghast, Repartee, and Swelter and extra props for the scant 9 TLWs.
Nice job, Stella, and thanks, sumdaze, for entertaining us, as well as enlightening us. Loved the Read 'em and Weep comic, (Marley and Me would qualify as part of that sad book trio), seeing the one and only Dick Van Dyck and hearing the mellow tones of Dean Martin. I also enjoyed seeing the whole potato preparation process, from start to finish.
Happy Birthday to Teri, our faithful and dedicated contributor, and Bill's behind-the-scenes secret weapon! 🎂🎊🎉🎈💐
Have a great day.
Crunchy for a Monday with all the proper nouns. This puzzle would be discouraging for a new solver. Fine theme.
I liked the cardplayer cartoon.
AUTO is informal for automobile, so I readily accepted the informal WHEELS as the clue.
Good Morning! Lovely puzzle to start the week complete with a new fashion ensemble to wear.
Perps were kind for MOMOA, ARI, SVEN, LUCA, DROPSET, STREAMER.
SCAN: Interesting info on the ScanSnap. I don’t scan often, but when I do the scan feature on my printer it’s always a battle. Either it doesn’t scan, or the document flies off into the ethers and can’t be found. Plucks my last nerve! But, as I said, I don’t scan often enough to justify the cost of this marvelous technology.
Happy Birthday to Teri. Have a fun day!
Thanks, sumdaze. Your recap is a delight! I had to laugh at the crossword puzzle dress! How apt! And the BELT SANDER race was a hoot!
Usual Monday str8forward clues.
Alls I didn’t know was the STREAMER clue and “Andy the Chiefs coach” both easily perped. I only got the BELT and the SKIRT as FASHION FORWARD items. (A LIQUOR bottle can fall FORWARD from the TOPSHELF and a the BELT on the SANDER movers FORWARD?) just read the reveal, guess I’m the 4th STOOGE today 🙄.
AVOW/aver is fun to guess right 50% of the time. CAMO learned of and only see in CW’s
BURSTS: Grade school English teachers would always correct us when we said “ busts a ballon”
SKIRTSTEAK can be hard to find, first you gotta find a cow wearing a dress.
“LUCA” a cute cartoon movie about a young boy sea monster who can take human form by staying dry. Debut release was appropriately held at the Genoa Aquarium 🐟
In a recent puzzle entry GURU was a Hindu term. LIUed apparently Buddhist as well.
🎶Every summer we can rent a cottage in the ISLE of Wight, if it's not too dear
NAVES “are the place for pews” so if we are all sinners are “pews are the place for”____ ….? KNAVES 😉
Greek letters after zetas….ETAS
Throw another bash….REPARTÉE 🥳
I also lol’ed at the “read ‘em and week cartoon” 😀
Happy Birthday to Waz’s DW!
I'm rarely out of my depth with Monday puzzles, but then how often is fashion the focus? To say nothing of all the inscrutable proper nouns: ARI, MOMOA, HODA, EDDIE, SVEN, LUCA....and then there was DROPSETS. Several of which Naticked up in the NW vicinity.
I was even unfamiliar with the reveal, FASHIONFORWARD.
The puzzle seemed to be well-constructed and straightforward, to Stella's credit. It just had a few too many inscrutable irons in the fire for me.
Just a curiosity, but on my IPAD all the videos were blank. So I switched to my IPhone, and all the videos were there...
I also had a full page ad before the blog that I could not get out of because there was no "x" to click. Not sure how I got past it as I was hitting all sorts of buttons and was about to hit it with a hammer when the blog appeared. Maybe it just timed out.
Happy birthday Teri!
exhibit A
exhibit B
Exhibit A was supposed to be captioned "I will never understand fashion."
Although I FIR, I wasn’t happy with this puzzle because of the slew of proper nouns. That has become my pet peeve. I enjoy a challenge, but I don’t like playing trivial pursuit.
Thank you so much sumdaze for a nice, helpful recap. And happy birthday to Teri. 🎂🎉🎊
I use an iPad, (I just downloaded OS18) but I was able to see the videos. Although it didn’t happen today, once, and thank goodness just once, I encountered a full page ad as you did,, and couldn’t get rid of it until, if I remember correctly, it disappeared on its own.
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Stella and sumdaze.
My newspaper doesn’t credit the constructor, and I was surprised to arrive here and see Stella’s name. I still remember my first acquaintance with her with a disastrous Saturday CW. But this one was doable, with perhaps just a little more than the usual crunch for a Monday.
I almost FIRed but made two silly mistakes. I started amiss with CCED, changed it to BCED which left me needing to Google MOMOA for the M in the cross. Eamo had me scratching my head.
Then I merrily guessed at LIQUid instead of LIQUOR, which gave me a nit to pick about the plural Alti, and I did not even see my Deed instead of DEER.
Ach, my brain is not in gear today.
But I did get the FASHION FORWARD theme.
I always wait for perps to decide Aver or AVOW, Apse or NAVE, ETAs or ETDs.
ARI, SEALE, HODA, EDDIE, LUCA, REID perped.
This Canadian finally remembered REI after its appearance several times recently.
“Suffer in the heat” made me think of Sweat it, but perps corrected to SWELTERED.
Happy Birthday Terri.
Wishing you all a great day.
Happy Birthday, Teri !
I just finished reading The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. It is a long novel and won’t be everyone’s “cup of tea”, but I found it interesting, educational, and thought-provoking. Some of you fellow-readers may want to read it.
“WINNER OF A NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD - Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect, Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history.”
Good morning! I thought this one a bit crunchy as well. It is sometimes nice to be able to come to The Corner, read the comments, and say, "I guess I wasn't the only one."
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Stella Z’s byline in the LAT, and like IM ☘️ and CEh!🇨🇦 pointed out, she has thrown us some late week doozies in the past. I think today’s was fairly easy, had the grid filled in 9, BUT, no congratulatory message meant I had a mistake. So I perused the puzzle for another 10 minutes and couldn’t locate an error, thinking the message machine was turned off. Hit the “reveal grid” and discovered an embarrassing Monday FIW, like Jinx I had ascent, and messed up a name I’m very familiar with, had HOTA instead of HODA 🤦. Oh well. Get used to seeing vowel heavy MOMOA. The only unknowns were LUCA, ARI and EDDIE, both as clued. All in all a fun puzzle, thank you Stella, I like your style!
sumdaze ~ I like your style too! And like you, I don’t think I’ll ever distinguish between AVOW and AVER, today my first choice was of course wrong. BELT SANDER racing? What hoot 🤣! Thank you for always providing a bright spot on Monday’s, always a good read.
Happy b/day to Teri 🎉
Maybe a little bit of crunch, but a fast, fun, FIR. I also enjoyed "Read 'em and weep!" Thanks, sumdaze! Nice start for the first week of fall.
Wait, IM@9:02 mentioned the constructor of today's CW as one-and-the-same as the recent Saturday nightmare. No wonder it was Thursday-on-a-Monday today. I did FIR, but found this CW to be unusually difficult for a Monday. Too many obscure names, for one thing. Of course, my bad eyes don't help one bit, I often read the clue incorrectly. REI is a frequent flyer in our CW world, yet I can never think of it and hafta rely on perps. 25D Better trained = ABLER? I have never heard ABLER used by anyone...ever. I can't even think of HOW it would be used in a sentence. "John is abler to make a miter joint than Bill." Really? Not much else to say about this CW. Thanx (I think) SZ for this challenging Th-on-a-Mon CW. Sumdaze, I spent far more time on your fun write-up than I did on the CW. Thanx so very much for all the time and effort you so obviously put into your write-ups. So many interesting things today. The Ore-Ida French Fry video was VERY interesting. There used to be a "How It's Made" series on TV that I found interesting, but I guess I was in the minority, since I don't see it anymore. The belt sander races seem silly, but if it raises money for charity, so be it.
I just came back and did a paste of my comments, above. I mentioned on an earlier post that I try to remember to highlight and copy my comment before posting, "just in case". Today that paid off, as I went to "PUBLISH" but somehow screwed up and the comment disappeared. I'm glad I remembered to copy it today. Have a good week, everyone! Mine is off to a good start with my Packers beating the Titans yesterday. Our second string QB looked really good.
A question for Irish Miss: Does 22 Across count as a TLW? LOL.
Sorry, I meant 22 Down.
Of all the articles of clothing available, choosing a TOP seems very weak. A skirt or belt describes distinct pieces - each conjures up a specific image. But a top could be almost anything: shirt, blouse, jersey, polo etc. Constructor only needed to pick 3 items, and a generic TOP barely qualifies as one of them.
On the plus side, the items are in the proper order from top (!) to bottom.
RustyBrain@12:52. "items are in the proper order". Excellent catch! I missed that. I thought this puzzle was lacking an extra layer. You found it. Thanks for posting!
Much better Monday puzzle in NY Times today!
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Stella. And thanks too for your neat and interesting commentary, Sumdaze--I enjoyed that too.
Well, when I saw that ALARM followed by a GALE on that ISLE, it was pretty clear that we weren't going to get a chance to SWELTER on this day, when the ELEMENTS wouldn't be giving us any BURSTS of warmth or pleasure. We'll just have to dream that maybe our GURU will be able to TREAT us to some later sunshine that will restore EDEN to our neighborhood.
Have a good day, everybody.
I don't speak fluent female, but it seems to me that "top" is a specific wardrobe item for the fairer gender, at least while they are shopping. For guys, it could be anything from a wife beater tee to an Oxford dress shirt.
Hola!
Late again today but it is volunteer Monday so of course I was gone all morning. Thanks to Stella for a charming Monday puzzle. Just spelling her last name is a challenge.
Most of it was filled before I left then finished it after eating a quick breakfast. Ooh, I did not notice my error at BEhT SANDER where I had CHOMP instead of CLOMP. On a Monday, too! And my grandchildren are too old for LUCA so that is unfamiliar and I don't see my gr-grandson very much. However, it all worked out well except for the above mentioned error. I hope you are all enjoying a fine day, today. Happy birthday to Teri!
Later today we shall be celebrating the September birthdays of two of my octogenarian friends. We are all getting up there in age!
Uncle Fred @ 11:45 ~ I'm not sure which Saturday nightmare constructor you're referring to, but my reference is to today's Stella Zawistowski's Saturday stumper from a long time ago. I've never forgotten how difficult it was.
Brian @ 12:27 ~ It counts as a three letter entry, but I see your point! 😉
Monkey, are you enjoying Moonflower Murders? I am and I'm also enjoying the second season of Ridley. My favorite series, All Creatures Great and Small returns in January.
Disclaimer: from an PC perspective, if you have a touch screen, place 2 fingers about 2" apart & squeeze them together & maybe the x will appear if you are possibly zoomed out.
Musings
-The SW corner took some time. I had to leave before my tee time and had to finish later.
-Stella now produces a “Commuter Puzzle” that runs in the Omaha Weird Herald everyday.
-I will not gild Irish’s lily.
-I remember Shakshuka from Stella’s first Saturday themeless I blogged.
Yes, I’m enjoying “ Moonflower Murders”. Too bad the episodes are so short. I read the book a while back, but I forgot how it ends. I decided to watch “Ridley” from the beginning so I’m getting it on video from my library.
Shakshuka is seared in my memory, too, HG. 😱
I enjoyed Stella's puzzle this morning, but the real fun began when I read sumdaze's post this afternoon. Delightful!
I have to say that since my home office is for full time work, my ScanSnap is a treasured instrument. No more print/scan/fax combos for me. Separating those functions produces better results. But if your computer and peripherals are just for fun, it may not be worth the desk space.
Also want to concur with Jinx at 1:53 PM "that 'top' is a specific wardrobe item for the fairer gender." I do almost all of my shopping online, and vendor websites break clothes down first by gender, and when I choose Women, it's Tops, Pants, Dresses, Shoes, etc.
Forward! (Fashionably, of course.)
By pure coincidence I saw Shakshuka on the menu at a restaurant where DW and I recently had lunch, so I ordered it. It was very tomato-ey!
My experience with this puzzle, and with sumdaze's write-up, was quite similar to that of Irish Miss and YooperPhil.
Thank you, Stella, and thank you, sumdaze.
I thought it was a very typical Mondayish puzzle.
My favorite in the review was the GURU. That one really made me laugh.
I was surprised about the reaction to Aquaman Jason MOMOA. MOMOA shows up regularly in the Universal puzzle. Often with a very similar clue, as it was just last last week. It was a gimme. I generally solve 3 to 5 crosswords a day, so that may be why I don't find some of these clues and answers as problematic as some of you do.
Stella's debut at the LA Times (the Shakshuka puzzle) was Saturday, Dec 7, 2019. It was tough. I missed solving it by 4 letters.
This is her 17th puzzle here. Her last puzzle here was Saturday, March 2nd.
Stella also has today's USA Today puzzle.
I'm generally not concerned about my solve time. I solve for the pleasure of solving. If I solved on paper, I'd have to slow way down to be able to print legibly enough in those small squares to be able to read what I wrote. I'm not a red-eyed-hunt-and-pecker typist. I am fast enough on a laptop or desktop, but I'm not very fast like those that took typing. At least I can read it. I wouldn't even try to solve on my smart phone. Today my solve time was 38 minutes. That was while paying more attention to NFL Game Day Final highlights and commentary than to the puzzle. Watching the Bills / Jags game right now.
Unclefred, "How It's Made" is a Canadian series that ran for 32 seasons. I also like it. Reruns are aired on the Science Channel. I sometimes watch it on Sunday mornings. "Inside the Factory" is another TV series of the same ilk from Great Britain. You can find it on the Smithsonian channel. And "Inside the Food Factory" is the recent offshoot series also on the Smithsonian Channel. It is also interesting, but I definitely don't recognize many of the brand names.
Oh, sumdaze, I meant to mention about the coincidence(s), and me asking you if you had solved the USA Today on the 21st. After the LA Times, I solved the Universal and the USA Today. We had Chappell ROAN in the LAT, and the USA Today had three references in the puzzle to her that day. The further coincidence was that Sally Hoelscher mentioned that she has listened to the same WWDTM podcast (that you cited). It's almost as if they are going to drill Chappell Roan into our heads through sheer repetition!
Thanx!!
I am so pleased that Ridley, Moonflower Murders and other PBS programs have resumed. My only lament is that they are all squeezed into a Sunday evening! Thankfully I can record some and watch them later if I want to. I'm glad some of you are also enjoying those programs.
FLN
One more time!
A special thanks to Renee for revealing that yesterday was Teri's birthday. I don't know how she found out, but we really appreciated all of the HBDs on the Corner and especially CrossEyedDave's virtual cake. I got an email from Renee about it, but we were just settling in for dinner at Old Emmett's Grill in D.C. and I didn't want to post a thanks then as I sometimes lose posts from my cell phone, so I decided to wait until we got home, but by then it was late. Anyway we had a delicious dinner at OEG -- crab cakes, oysters, and parmesan cheese encrusted rainbow trout, etc.. Prior to that we visited the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum to see a wonderful exhibit called Sewn in America: Making -- Meaning -- Memory. The exhibit was especially meaningful to Teri and I as her sister Rose is a seamstress and my mother was, and two of my sisters are, seamstresses. After touring the exhibit we took a tour of several of the DAR's "period rooms" donated to the museum by various states of the union, depicting 31 rooms (the number of states when the museum opened in 1910) furnished and decorated in popular historical styles typical of each state and period. This was our first visit to the DAR Museum and we'll definitely be back. And again, thanks for all the HBDs!
Cheers,
Bill
p.s. We had cake and ice cream IRL as soon as we got back!
Lucina @1:20 AM If you have a streaming service (e.g. Roku) you can stream them on PBS at whatever time is convenient to you. We've now seen all the Ridley episodes, and will probably tackle Van der Valk next. IIRC All Creatures Great and Small is also available, although I think they just drop once a week.
Post a Comment