Theme: "NBA Divisions" - Seven NBA team bookend the common phrase.
23A. Fijians and Hawaiians in Indiana?: PACIFIC ISLANDERS. Indiana Pacers.
39A. Small office printers in Los Angeles?: LABEL MAKERS. LA Lakers.
61A. Vehicles serving pale ales and pilsners in Milwaukee?: BEER TRUCKS. Milwaukee Bucks.
81A. Taps and reveille in Chicago?: BUGLE CALLS. Chicago Bulls.
98A. Nutritionist's plan in Miami?: HEALTHY DIET. Miami Heat.
120A. Attractive objects in Charlotte?: HORSESHOE MAGNETS. Charlotte Hornets.
38D. "Jeopardy!" host in Sacramento?: KEN JENNINGS. Sacramento Kings.
45D. Kitchen blade holders in New York?: KNIFE BLOCKS. New York Knicks.
I
originally had circles in the grid (I know some of you hate circles!). Patti thought circles made the
theme too obvious for a Sunday grid. She added the city names to the
clues. Sunday grid is big, but the difficulty level is normally about LAT Thursday.
Across:
1. Harder to find: RARER.
6. Dry lip soothers: BALMS.
11. City with a tilted tower: PISA. Guess who this guy is.
15. Leave abruptly: BAIL.
19. Like a parkour athlete: AGILE.
20. Weak hit that may drop in for a single: BLOOP. Also 37. Popped (out): FLIED.
21. Berry from the Amazon: ACAI. A bit bitter for my taste.
22. __ Minor: URSA.
26. Festival shelter: TENT.
27. Pi, for one: RATIO.
28. Gosling parents: GEESE.
29. Univ. system with SF and LA campuses: CAL STATE. California State University.
31. John of pop music: ELTON.
33. __-Magnon: CRO.
35. Conscious beginning?: ECO. Eco-conscious.
36. Prez on the half-dollar: JFK.
44. Hopping joint?: ANKLE.
48. Apple Watch screen, for short: OLED.
50. "When pigs fly," for one: IDIOM. Me and Splynter.
51. "Oy __!": VEY.
52. Tablecloth fabric: LINEN.
53. Family tree information: LINEAGE.
56. Cold, pink drink: FROSE. Frozen Rosé.
58. Quiet moment for a nanny: NAP TIME.
60. Selena's genre: TEJANO.
63. Cub's coat: FUR.
64. Naval daily record: DECK LOG.
66. "All Things Considered" host Chang: AILSA. Her parents are from Taiwan.
67. Stout sleuth Wolfe: NERO.
68. Japanese masked drama: NOH.
69. Catchall abbr.: MISC.
73. Burglarize: ROB.
74. Olivia of "The Predator": MUNN. Her son is super cute.
76. "Yes __, Bob!": SIREE.
77. Shocks: APPALLS.
80. Poke bowl protein: AHI.
85. Common soccer score: ONE ONE.
87. City on the Italian Riviera: SAN REMO.
89. Home on the prairie: TEPEE. TIPI is the preferred spelling.
90. Fraud involving a forged painting, e.g.: ART SCAM.
91. Honey alternative: SUGAR.
92. "i can't believe u said this": SMH. Shaking My Head.
94. Covers with asphalt: PAVES.
96. Peruse quickly: SKIM.
97. Beast of Borden: ELSIE.
102. Conniving: SLY.
103. "Don't think so": NAH.
105. Enjoyed a salad: ATE.
106. Glitzy parties: GALAS.
108. Spotify creation: PLAYLIST.
112. Broth often made with kombu: DASHI. I mostly use kombu, occasionally dried sardines. And 111. Noodles in 112-Across, perhaps: SOBA.
116. "Good job!": BRAVO.
119. Clutched: HELD.
124. Numbers to crunch: DATA.
125. Lie right next to: ABUT.
126. Taco bar condiment: SALSA. Have any of you tried this Sambal Oelek? It's an Indonesian condiment.
127. Like a foggy forest: EERIE.
128. Fix, as a pet: SPAY.
129. Notebook flaps: TABS.
130. Silly sorts: TWITS.
131. Romantic rendezvous: TRYST.
Down:
3. Costa __: RICA.
4. Upper crust: ELITE.
5. Request at a bar: REFILL.
6. "EastEnders" airer: BBC.
7. Set straight: ALIGNED.
8. Come in last: LOSE.
9. Source of leaks: MOLE.
10. Places for dermaplaning: SPAS. This picture can't be true.
11. Inflate artificially: PAD.
12. Glacier sample for paleoclimatologists: ICE CORE.
13. Bareilles of "Girls5eva": SARA.
14. Window alternative: AISLE.
15. "Not another word": BUTTON IT.
16. 97,813 square miles, for Wyoming: AREA. Never been there. You?
17. "Money __ everything": ISN'T.
18. In after the deadline: LATE.
24. Teeny amount: IOTA.
25. Head stand?: NECK. And
30. Head massage targets: SCALPS.
32. Theater honor: OBIE.
34. Daydream: REVERIE.
36. Sudden shock: JOLT.
40. "Story of my __!": LIFE. So I've been sleeping on the basement floor due to the loud new 5501 renter (the last one was evicted quickly). Was worried that the mice might snack on me. They couldn't be less interested.
41. "Encore!": MORE.
42. Omnia vincit __: AMOR.
43. Matches, as audio to video: SYNCS UP.
46. Madagascar primate: LEMUR.
47. Febrero preceder: ENERO.
49. Church figure: DEACON.
54. Egyptian cross with a top loop: ANKH.
55. Shout in La Liga: GOL.
57. Galaxy member: STAR.
59. Alias indicator: AKA.
61. Female hip-hopper: B GIRL.
62. Forearm bones: ULNAS.
65. "Geez Louise!": OMIGOSH.
67. "... if you can believe it": NO LESS.
70. "Did you watch?": SEE THAT.
71. Gospel singer Winans: CECE. I had ONCE there, failing to notice the dupe with ONE. Patti caught it, of course.
73. Go on a tirade: RANT.
74. En __: together: MASSE.
75. Moving day rental: U HAUL.
76. Total amount: SUM.
78. "__ favor": POR.
79. Garden mollusk: SNAIL.
81. "Face facts!": BE REAL. If only I would listen to Agnes!
82. Date with a doc: APPT.
83. Actress Remini: LEAH.
84. Impose, as a tax: LEVY.
86. Award for "Ted Lasso": EMMY.
88. Saving time?: RAINY DAY. Patti's clue.
90. __ Minor: ASIA.
93. Barbecue spice blend: MEAT RUB.
95. Most provocative: EDGIEST. Been loving "Nasty" lately. Is somebody gonna match my freak?
99. News story intro: LEDE.
100. Idris of "Luther": ELBA.
101. Place for a bull's-eye: TARGET.
104. Part of a drum kit: HI HAT.
107. Less outlandish: SANER.
108. Some postgrad degs.: PHDs.
109. Take a big jump: LEAP.
110. Baja's opposite: ALTA.
113. Abbr. in job titles: ASST.
114. "Pygmalion" playwright: SHAW.
115. Hindu festival celebrated with water balloons: HOLI. There's a big Hindu Temple in Maple Grove, where my favorite pool and trails are. Big Holi celebration there every March.
117. Exceedingly: VERY.
118. Elevator innovator: OTIS.
121. Some GPS lines: STS.
122. Some postgrad degs.: MAS.
123. Stage design: SET.
C.C.
A puzzle created by our founder and still very involved leader C.C! What could be better than that? I saw all the “NBA teams “ and having a good idea how each one would “pan out” made the puzzle easier, if not always easy. Some of the names, for example, seemed a bit obscure. But, no complaints. FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteYesterday we had “Attractive bar” and like several others I instantly put in MAGNET which was wrong. Today we have an “attractive” clue about magnets and I didn’t think magnets at all. I had HORSE (plus -NETS from getting the theme) and I was expecting some HORSE-related idiom. Like dangling a carrot in front of a horse (??)
ReplyDeleteI only got the theme after BEER TRUCKS, solving top to bottom. I’m non-American but I remember many Big 4 team names from crosswords and Sporcle. What I can’t remember is where all the states are. So I assumed that Indiana had to be on the PACIFIC and ISLANDERS was the sports-related part (they’re a Big 4 team… but in the NHL, I always get the teams in different leagues mixed up)
When I got LABELMAKERS, I kind of saw “Lakers” in there and noticed that LA was in the clue, but the theme took a bit longer to click.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGuess who never got the theme, and wondered why KEN JENNINGS was in Sacramento? Guess who doesn't know the names of the NBA teams? Guess whose eyes glaze over whenever sports comes on the TV? Yup. Was shaking my head at FROSE, AILSA, and SMH. Nice "minor" pairing with URSA and ASIA. This one took 20 minutes, which is just about par for a Sunday. Thanx, Z.B. (aka C.C.)
I thought this was a very well constructed puzzle today with a clever theme, although those with a sports allergy may not be on board with me on that. I agree with Patti that circles would have made the theme too obvious, which I figured out after I filled the second theme entry. I still failed to succeed though, had the grid filled in about 30 minutes, but no congratulatory message meant I had a mistake which I spent a considerable amount of time perusing for. I had one bad space, H, which gave me SHH/HEAT RUB instead of SMH/MEAT RUB (duh) for a FIW. I liked the clues for NECK and ELSIE, and the clue for BEER TRUCKS was most apropos. LABEL MAKERS actually was doubly good containing both LAKERS and LA LAKERS which they often referred as. DNK FROSE, and AISLA just didn’t seem right. Thanks for the Sunday fun C.C. !
ReplyDeleteFIW, synches instead of SYNCH UP. I blame the clue - For that fill, it should read "match, as audio and video," not "matches." Erased tejana for TEJANO, ike for JFK and ulnae for ULNAS.
ReplyDeletePlaces I eat tend to have oilcloth tablecloths. Maybe they see me coming.
One of my New Year's Resolutions is going to be change from SUGAR-based toppings (like strawberry preserves) to honey. No significant calorie savings, but there are some health benefits. Another resolution will be to drink more water than Diet Pepsi. Same reasoning.
One famous TRYST is chronicled in Third Rate Romance.
"Inflate artificially" had to be "implant," but there weren't enough squares.
Money ISN'T everything, but it can Buy Me a Boat.
I thought that hip-hoppers referred to all females using the same word dog people use to describe their females.
Thanks to CC for creating and narrating this fun Sunday workout.
From two days ago: Yes, I’ve seen The Hunt for Red October (italicized) many times (and read the book by Tom Clancy). Best submarine movie ever, and a fascinating look at international relations.
DeleteIt was from recalling this movie that I was able to come up with PINGS.
Forgot my name! This is AZ Jim
Delete"Flied"????
ReplyDelete-baseball reference.
Deleteas in "the batter FLIED out to the center fielder" see also, e.g., grounded out and lined out.
DeleteFIR. I found this to be just a tad crunchy, but quite doable. I didn't get the theme until I got here. No wonder I was scratching my head so much, trying to figure out how the Islanders, not even NBA, were in Indiana?
ReplyDeleteNot my most enjoyable Sunday puzzle, but it's done, so there's that!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThe title was a dead giveaway; as soon as I filled in Pacific Islanders, I saw Pacers and got the gist. I also agree with Patti that circles would have been overkill. I'm not a basketball fan, but I knew all of the teams, although Hornets is the least well-known to me. I needed perps for Oled (still unaware of its meaning), Frose, Tejano, Alisa, and Dashi but I had only one w/o, Ole/Gol. Seeing Emmy and Obie and the two Minors, Asia and Ursa was fun. Favorite C/As were Saving Time?=Rainy Day and Beast of Borden=Elsie. CC's grid was clean, with a typically low (22) TLW count.
Thanks, CC, for the fun Sunday solve and its exposition. You're braver than I would be to take a chance on any inquisitive (or hungry!) mice. Tony looks pretty handsome next to that tipsy tower.
Anonymous @ 8:30 ~ Flied is acceptable usage in baseball terminology.
Have a great day.
d-o and I have the same allergy. When I saw CC’s name I rejoiced, but that elation quickly disappeared when I saw the theme title. So the theme answers were meaningless to me. I came close to FIR except for FLIED (more allergy symptom) crossing OLED (?).
ReplyDeleteI encountered many unknowns like BLOOP, AILHA, CECE, DASHI, RENU, etc, but perps and WAGS took care of those.
I loved the RAINY DAY and ELSIE clues.
CC reviewing Zhouqin’s CW. LOL.
When I saw that C.C. was leading us today, I knew we were in good hands. This puzzle was so much fun, and thought-provoking at times.
ReplyDeleteThe baseball season is nearing the MLB playoffs, the NFL season is just beginning, so which sport does C.C. choose for us today? The NBA, of course! Which led to such wonderful oddities as Pacific Islanders in Indiana, and Ken Jennings in Sacramento!
A couple English usage items that C.C. brought up. First, the word "flied." We all know that the past tense of "to fly" is "flew," right? Well, in baseball usage, it's appropriate to say that a batter flied out. I do it myself; somehow it sounds better than he flew out. [see C.C.'s 37Down]
I am reminded of a poem by Ogden Nash, who is my guilty pleasure in the poetry department:
"A flea and a fly in a flue
were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee!"
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue."
Sorry about that. My other linguistic observation concerns the verb "to lead," the past tense of which is led, spelled LED, not LEAD. It is astonishing to me how often I see in print--including the NYTimes--the past tense of this verb spelled LEAD! Gah! What made me think of this is today's 99Down.
Thank you, C.C. and Patti, for providing helpful perps in the neighborhood of such inscrutable answers as SAWEETIE, OLED, FROSE, DASHI, HOLI, and BAREILLES.
I've always thought that NPR's Ailsa Chang was Elsa Chang.
Thank you again, C.C., for providing such an enjoyable and informative Sunday morning!
Love the Ogden Nash!
DeleteBravo, CC! A very enjoyable puzzle. Got the FIR, but whiffed on the NBA names.
ReplyDeleteAfter yesterday's DNF, I was looking forward to a Sunday walk in the park, but instead found myself on basketball courts all over the US of A! I grasped the theme at once, but team names took longer. Still, FIR! Like TK, I was surprised by the spelling of AILSA Chang. I do like rose wines in the summer, but never heard of FROSE.
ReplyDeleteJinx, the answer to 43 down is SYNCS UP, so it does match "matches" in the clue.
C.C., you did a great job on his puzzle. Thank you! DH and I once visited Wyoming with our daughters. Not only was it hard to find anything vegetarian on restaurant menus there, but one place refused to serve us when I asked if they could make plates of vegetables, like the green beans and potatoes we saw being served with steaks. They told us they were "out of vegetables." It was the only place to eat in that town, so I asked for a beer (from the substantial beer menu), and was told they were "out of beer." But we were on our way to Yellowstone, and it was amazing.
Naomi, I had "synch__", not SYNC___," so i missed AILhA too. Never heard of her. Thanks for the correction.
DeleteI have to give credit to our own NaomiZ for coining the term “sports allergy” 😂
ReplyDeleteCorrection: C.C., you did a great job on THIS puzzle!
ReplyDeleteThanks, YP!
ReplyDeleteBRAVO to C.C., Yes SIREE.
ReplyDeleteI managed (barely with a WAG) to FIR. With ISLANDERS on the grid I originally thought hockey, not basketball. When the NBA dawned I couldn't figure out why it was LABEL-LAKERS and KEN-JEN-KINGS. Then I confidentially filled BUCKS at the end of 61A. Ditto for HEAT, HORNETS, and BULLS. Let's just say I had to back out of all those before I saw the light. Split team names. It took a WAG for the cross of the unknown FROSE and AMOR to finish.
BLOOP- A Texas leaguer is what it was called when I was a kid.
"Money __ everything": ISN'T. but it helps if you need it and the older you get the more you need.
OLED, TEJANO, AILSA, MUNN, SMH (tried OMG and TMI first), DASHI and C.C.'s kombu, RAP and both of the R-GIRLS, not B, SARA- filled those unknowns by perps.
I have to argue about B-GIRL, which is an old term for B-drinkers. Paid women would sidle up to a woozy man sitting at a bar, act like she was 'interested', ready for a TRYST. He would offer to buy drinks, which she accepted. Hers would turn out to really be Shirley Temples, he got drunker and scammed, and she would get money from the barkeeper. Or just take his wallet.
BTW, this is from Big Easy. Wrote it on the wrong browser.
DeleteB-girls were common in the Tu-Do street bars of Saigon. They made a living out of getting soldiers to buy them "drinks"...glasses of tea at whiskey prices. They received a ticket for each, which they would turn in for cash. There was hardly any pretense..."Hey, GI! You buy me Saigon Tea?"
ReplyDeleteI believe the B in B Girls stand for BAR.
ReplyDeleteThis one was a lot of fun. Thanks, Cece!
ReplyDeleteI like how OFL signed the grid by putting her first initial in the center!
ReplyDeleteEdward in Los Angeles: my spouse is Dutch Indonesian, so we have Sambal every day. I am from Texas, it’s great on BBQ!
ReplyDeleteI was elated when I say it was a CC Sunday puzzle. I got the theme right away. Listing the cities made it really easy for me. Several unknowns but I guessed right except for SSH and Heatrub. I didn't know "shaking my head". I shoulda seen meatrub. I put Asia in the first "minor" clue but had that changed pretty quick. "Rainy day" and saving time? I'm glad you said that was Patti's clue. All in all it was a fun puzzle. Thanks CC.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteSuper Sunday! I enjoyed your puzzle, C.C., thank you. However, the many spots of wite-out attest to the many mis-directions that led me astray. Of course, my first "minor" was ASIA but then it appeared farther down. And at first, church figure was PASTOR but then DEACON qualified, too.
Sigh. I know that FLIED is used in baseball but it still rankles me.
HEAD STAND for NECK was a great clue and one I've not seen before.
One of my cousins has traced our lineage back to the 17th century. Those stalwart ancestors took a convoluted route to reach us here in AZ and in New Mexico.
Again, thank you, C.C., for doing double dut;y today.
Oops. DUTY has some unwanted punctuation on my post.
ReplyDeleteYooperPhil
ReplyDeleteI love your term "sports allergy" which describes me perfectly.
It was coined by NaomiZ
DeleteWhat a total pleasure to get this wonderful C.C. puzzle on a Sunday! A total delight--thank you so much , C.C.!
ReplyDeleteSeeing BALMS made me calm right away, and I figured we wouldn't need any BAIL to go to the SPAS. There we'd do our exercises to become more AGILE, and that would also keep our neck and our ANKLE ALIGNED. Getting a bit of a rub on our SCALPS felt pretty good too. We then ATE a good lunch with a HEALTHY DIET including some food flavored with SUGAR and SALSA and some DASHI (which I've never tried) and for which I'd say BRAVO. And I think by now we're at the end of our PLAYLIST and it's nap time.
Have a good rest of the day, everybody. And thanks again for this treat, C.C.
A treat having two of the most puzzle makers two days in a row- Rich Norris yesterday and our own Zouquin today. It is beautiful weather here so I understand why there are not too many comments; also the NFL season starts in earnest today though our solver don't seem to care. I find my ability to watch sports is waning with my health. Actress Remini: LEAH hosted a crossword puzzle solving show called People Puzzler I think. Have a good week ahead. Thank you
ReplyDeleteSuperb Sunday. Double thanks for the fun, C.C.
ReplyDeleteThis is a prime example of what a CW should be - fun, but with a little challenge, some “ lightbulb” clues, few names or cutesy slang clues, and a theme which requires a little work to see. Bravo!!
Perps were fair for the unknown-to-me FROSE, AILSA, TEJANO, DASHI, OLED (I LIUed to find meaning-“ organic light-emitting diode“)
I smiled at the clues for NECK, RAINY DAY.
We saw My Fair Lady (based on Pygmalion) at the SHAW in late June. (Great show! Still on until December.)
ELTON John was at Toronto International Film Festival yesterday for opening of new movie about his life.
TIFF
Wishing you all a great day.
Terrific title, beautiful theme entries, superb fill, great clues...who could ask for anything more? Oh, yes, and a great review...thanks so much, CC!
ReplyDeleteAssuming 'STS' means 'stations' I'd quibble at 121D - stations are usually dots not lines?
ReplyDeleteMind you, I'd also quibble at using 'GPS' to mean 'map' or 'map app'. Map apps often use GPS - but they don't have to.
'ULNAS' was cruel (but fair).
STS is STreetS. Station is usually sta or stn.
ReplyDeleteDoh! Glad I snuck in the qualifying 'if'.
DeleteI'm so used to GPS clues being either RTE or STA I didn't even consider any alternative.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Huskers are back (for good, I hope!)
-Fun and interesting puzzle, but it took Beer trUCKS to finally catch on.
-Clever and fun. KEN JENNINGS just isn't Alex but waddaya gonna do?
-URSA Minor not ASIA Minor. No, wait a minute…
-Beast of BORDEN? Loved it!
-Saweetie maintains the RAP tradition of filthy lyrics
-Cheyenne, WY is very interesting and so is Yellowstone, WY. The 490 miles in between, not so much.
-I overthought Galaxy member/STAR but finally saw it was pretty simple
-Fr. Mulcahy once told Hawkeye on MASH he worked his way through Divinity School as a B-GIRL.
-For all the moves for our daughters first homes, a U-HAUL was our pickup and SUV.
-Burying the LEDE: December 8, 1941 – Pearl Harbor Golf Tournament cancelled.
Good to see the Huskers win yesterday. Your new coach is good at turning college teams around even though the pros didn’t give him a chance. As an alum I watched him play linebacker at Linebacker U. Plus he was a volunteer assistant coach here for Joe Paterno after he graduated.
DeleteCC Congratulations on yet another published puzzle. I am in awe of your crossword fecundity. And I am honored that you featured me in PISA.
ReplyDeleteHand up as one with the sports allergy. I will have to coin a new term FIRST: Finished It Right, Sans Theme. I had no idea what to make of the theme until I came here.
Last to fill was TEPEE/CECE cross. I thought it is TEEPEE. Hand up FLIED just seemed wrong. Learning moment.
OLED is a bit of a RETRONYM. At some point, LCD SCREENs were falsely being called LED SCREENs because they were illuminated with LEDs. OLED was a way to emphasize that the SCREEN really was an LED SCREEN.
Solstice this year: WHEN PIGS FLY.
The theme this year was "Flights of Fancy". I had photos of NOH and LEMURS in MADAGASCAR, but the Flying Pig seemed to be more salient today.
Robert, A thousand pardons for not recognizing you at the Tower. I guess I just didn't study the face closely enough and just assumed it was our Paisano, Tony. Perhaps I was thrown off by the lack of one of your more colorful shirts and the missing ball cap, two of your more current trademark identifiers! 😉
DeleteLoved your puzzle, C.C.! Thanks for the fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat IM @9:03 said.
Yay sports!
ReplyDeleteBut it was a TITT for me with all the unknowns (26 - I counted). Got 95% filled in but just couldn’t get through a few sections.
Forgot about that spelling of LEDE so had LEAD which really screwed things up—was trying to come up with some silly spelling of HORS D’OEUVRE MAGNETS??
And boy does it irk me when I miss a baseball reference (FLIED) but in this case I think I have a good excuse: A pop-up is NOT a fly-out. if a batter “flied-out” then the ball went significantly into the outfield, and an announcer would never call it a “pop-up.” If a batter “popped-up” then the ball basically went straight up, maybe going as far as just beyond the infield, and an announcer would never call it a “fly-out”. What, he flied out to first??
And finally - look, I consider myself a globally-minded person. I’m interested in other cultures and what’s happening in the rest of the world… but what’s the deal with all these bizarre foods in CWs? Today there was AGAR, POKE, AHI, DASHI, SOBA… Why are CW foods always about slimy noodles and eel?? Can I just have some bacon and eggs for once?
I recall when Joe Buttitta was calling games for the Angels and Reggie Jackson was up: Joe — He popped him up; Color commentator — That’s got a chance, Joe; Joe — It’s a home run!
DeleteAhhhh, what a relief to see that C.C. did today’s puzzle, after the slog yesterday through Mssr. Norris’ nightmare 😆 Having said that, I’m not a roundball fan, so even though this was fairly easy, I was baffled by the themers until I read C.C.’s recap — then, “Doh!!” The closest I got was the “LA” in 38A, but, like Anonymous 4:25am, that’s about as far as I got until she ‘splained me up.
ReplyDeleteWould’ve had a FIR, but I fell into the same hole as @Jinx — all of us music techno’s write “synch”, not SYNC. If I’d paid a bit more attention to the clue, I would’ve seen “Matches” with the “s” and maybe have gotten it right then, because I had nooo idea who the All Things Considered host is…
Y’all will get a giggle out of this, though… I misread the clue for 37D as “Pooped (out)”, as in “tired”, and put in FrIED — but I’d never heard of an OrED screen. I finally happened to look back on the clue and saw it’s “Popped”. My dumbass moment for the day 🤣
TFTD: “Money ISN’T Everything”, true; but whoever wrote “Money Can’t Buy Happiness” was apparently never poor. It sure as hell helps!
Thanks for the nice cruise, C.C.!
====> Darren / L.A.
I liked this puzzle for all the same reasons you all have mentioned. My appreciation to C.C.
ReplyDeleteMy Wyoming story:
I've been in Wyoming. The first time was to Devil's Tower when we lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A fascinating place.
The second time was in December, the middle of winter, driving home from Montana to Pennsylvania after finishing my 4 years in the USAF. It was cold as heck and fortunately the heater in my old beat-up car worked fine and the main roads were plowed. I was getting very low on gas so stopped at a gas station in Casper. However, it was about 1:00 AM, the middle of the night, so everything was closed. I figured I could wait in the car until the gas station and the next-door diner opened for business. Not wanting to burn what little gas I had left, I didn't run the engine to keep the heater warm. Fell asleep. Woke up damn near FROSE. But at least the gas station and the diner were open and I had enough mobility to get my a$$ into the diner, warm up, and get a good breakfast. After gassing up I was happy to be on my way. Made it all the rest of the way without incident, having learned to plan ahead a bit better. No, I did not stop at Devil's Tower.
End of story.
Good reading you all.
When you lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota, did you run across a young boy named Rocky Raccoon?
DeleteOur grandson, who fancies himself as quite the "ladies man," often uses the phrase Chick MAGNET.
ReplyDeleteJust a hint - the NYT was more wordplay fun today to a solver who does not follow sports!
ReplyDeleteJinx @ 7:13PM, haha! Never met Rocky Raccoon, but my best friends were a boy named David Martin (not the CBS journalist) and a boy named James Brown (not the singer nor the sports announcer).
ReplyDeletePicard, your city has the most interesting and and frequent parades! Thank you for always sharing. I failed to mention that on one of our sister trips we visited Wyoming and of course, Yellowstone Park.
ReplyDeleteJayce, I enjoyed reading your story. What a way to learn a lesson, though!
cross@words, really? You want to post a comment to a blog 11 days later? Do you really think any one is going to read it? Try to be more timely, or just don't post a comment.
ReplyDelete