We had a letter deletion theme a few weeks back, but this week our constructors Amie Walker and Wendy Brandes delete 7 different letters in 7 starred theme clues, which together spell a common ingredient used in baking sweets. The clue for each themer is for the word that results after a circled letter is removed from the actual fill for the themer, so the actual fill doesn't match the clue. Thus you'll need one of the down perps to get the actual fill. Got that? I'm sure that this theme will not bring joy to all of our solvers but I thought it was rather clever 😀. To get a heads up on what the word might be, you could start by solving 4D.
Here are the clues and fill followed by the word implied by the clue ...
16A. *Medical breakthrough: CURVE. CURE.
18A. *Many a spammer: BOAT. BOT, as in an app for sending email spam to a distribution list.
18A. *Many a spammer: BOAT. BOT, as in an app for sending email spam to a distribution list.
38A. *Bae: BOON. BOO. Shorthand for this common phrase in Peanuts ...
40A. *Recipe creator: CHIEF. CHEF.
42A. *Valuable deposit: LORE. ORE.
63A. *Attach a button, say: SLEW. SEW.
63A. *Attach a button, say: SLEW. SEW.
66A. *__-in-the-bone: BARED. BRED. I was not familiar with the term bred-in-the bone.
The reveal is contained in two symmetrically placed down clues describing the letters to be deleted to make sense of the clues ...
4D. With 46-Down, baking staple: VANILLA.
46D. With 4-Down, how to make the seven starred clues match their answers?: EXTRACT.
Here's a video showing you how to make your own VANILLA EXTRACT from real vanilla beans ...
Here's the grid ...
1. Native of Eastern Europe: SLAV. A timely clue. The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor. Today Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians are the existent East Slavic nations.
5. "Now!": STAT. Today's Latin lesson: The word STAT' is short for STATIM which translates to “immediately”
9. Carlos Alcaraz's birthplace: SPAIN. Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (born 5 May 2003) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as World No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Alcaraz has won 15 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including four Grand Slam titles and five Masters 1000 titles.
 |
| Carlos Alcaraz Garfia |
14. Currency of Turkey: LIRA. Turkish Lira -- overview, history, and exchange rate crisis.
 |
| Turkish Lira |
16. [Theme clue]
17. "You said it!": AMEN.
18. [Theme clue]
19. Theater honors: OBIES. The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after the 2014 ceremony, the American Theatre Wing became the joint presenter and administrative manager of the Obie Awards. The Obie Awards are considered off-Broadway's highest honor, similar to the Tony Awards for Broadway productions. Here's the 2024 - 2025 Off-Broadway season.
20. Hotel room amenity: MINI BAR. An "amenity" considerably more expensive than BYOB.😀
22. Least succinct: LONGEST.
24. Kiosk: STALL. From the Persian kūshk -- originally much grander than our STALL in a MALL.
25. Letter closing: AS EVER.
27. __ Angeles Dodgers: LOS.
29. Juice aisle suffix: ADE.
30. Impulse: URGE.
34. Cosmetic moisturizer: SHEA BUTTER. I wonder how many SHEAS they have to milk to make a pound of SHEA BUTTER? 😀
38. [Theme clue]
39. NYC rep since 2019: AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist serving since 2019 as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district.
 |
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
41. Install, as carpeting: LAY. This word has other meanings, e.g. a religious term meaning "non-clerical" or a Medieval song or poem, e.g. ...
42. [Theme clue].
44. Disney character who didn't want the other shoe to drop?: CINDERELLA. Cinderella is a girl's name that comes from the French name Cendrillon, meaning “little ashes.” Her story originated in ancient fairytales, with the oldest rendition dating back to 850 C.E in China. The protagonist is a young girl living in forsaken circumstances who is suddenly blessed by remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. There have been many variations on this story, including the opera La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini. Here's the overture ...
47. Whirled: SPUN.
48. Mil. support group: USO.
49. Forensic tech in a Showtime crime series, familiarly: DEX. DNK DEX, but apparently he's a "good cop", "bad cop", all rolled into one ...
50. Prompt: REMIND.
53. Make amends: ATONE. I think DEX is going to have a lot of ATONING to do when he meets HIS fate. 😀
57. Soaks up: ABSORBS.
60. Golden State NBAer: WARRIOR. The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the Warriors moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and took the city's name before changing its geographic moniker to Golden State in 1971. Here's where you can buy tickets.
63. [Theme clue].
65. Jessica of "Dark Angel": ALBA. Dark Angel is an American science fiction action drama television series that premiered on the Fox network on October 3, 2000. Created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, it stars Jessica Alba in her breakthrough role. Set in 2019, the series chronicles the life of Max Guevara (Alba), a runaway genetically enhanced supersoldier who escapes from a covert military facility as a child. In a dystopian near-future Seattle, she tries to lead a normal life while eluding capture by government agents and searching for her brothers and sisters scattered in the aftermath of their escape. Jessica Alba won the role of Max over more than 1,000 other actresses. As all the trailers were Rated R, all you get is this JPEG ...
 |
| Jessica Alba |
67. Obstacle for Jack and Jill: HILL. Another fairy tale with deep historical roots.
.jpg) |
| Jack and Jill |
 |
| Cinderella and the Handsome Prince |
70. Snakelike fish: EELS. UNAGI, a sushi staple, was too long. It's usually served cooked and is delicious, but it gives me indigestion.
 |
| Unagi Nigiri |
Down:
1. Criticizes harshly: SLAMS.
2. Ceiling: LIMIT.
3. WNBA venue: ARENA. A place where the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) play.
4. [Theme reveal part 1].
5. Buckwheat noodles: SOBA. Here's a rerun of last Thursday's explanation of the difference between SOBA vs UDON noodles.
6. Actress Birch: THORA. Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress, producer, and director. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in Purple People Eater, for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she was nominated for that year's BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
7. "Now I see it!": AHA.
8. One of 28 cards in Monopoly: TITLE DEED. It makes sense that the names of the British and USA cards would be different.
9. Teatime treat: SCONE. Salley McKenny shows you how to make the perfect SCONE (oh and they contain an Easter Egg - vanilla extract).
10. Sliders and fries with a pint, e.g.: PUB GRUB. But I'm sure you lads out there would prefer somethin' a bit heartier, so here are some sliders at Slys' in Savannah, Georgia (or a pub near you}.
11. Singer India.__: ARIE. India.Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in 2001, and she has since released six more studio albums. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide, and has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album. Here she sings The Truth ...
12. Singer Burl: IVES. Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own radio show, The Wayfaring Stranger, which popularized traditional folk songs. In 1942, he appeared in Irving Berlin's wartime musical This Is the Army and became a major star of CBS Radio. In the 1960s, he successfully crossed over into country music, recording hits such as "A Little Bitty Tear" and "Funny Way of Laughin'". Ives was also a popular film actor through the late 1940s and '50s. His film roles included parts in So Dear to My Heart (1948) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), as well as the role of Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country (1958), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the film noir Day of the Outlaw (1959). Here's his cover of Ghost Riders in the Sky by Stan Jones ...
2. Ceiling: LIMIT.
3. WNBA venue: ARENA. A place where the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) play.
5. Buckwheat noodles: SOBA. Here's a rerun of last Thursday's explanation of the difference between SOBA vs UDON noodles.
6. Actress Birch: THORA. Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress, producer, and director. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in Purple People Eater, for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she was nominated for that year's BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
 |
| Thora Birch |
8. One of 28 cards in Monopoly: TITLE DEED. It makes sense that the names of the British and USA cards would be different.
9. Teatime treat: SCONE. Salley McKenny shows you how to make the perfect SCONE (oh and they contain an Easter Egg - vanilla extract).
 |
| Some of Sally's scone varieties |
11. Singer India.__: ARIE. India.Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in 2001, and she has since released six more studio albums. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide, and has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album. Here she sings The Truth ...
12. Singer Burl: IVES. Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own radio show, The Wayfaring Stranger, which popularized traditional folk songs. In 1942, he appeared in Irving Berlin's wartime musical This Is the Army and became a major star of CBS Radio. In the 1960s, he successfully crossed over into country music, recording hits such as "A Little Bitty Tear" and "Funny Way of Laughin'". Ives was also a popular film actor through the late 1940s and '50s. His film roles included parts in So Dear to My Heart (1948) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), as well as the role of Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country (1958), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the film noir Day of the Outlaw (1959). Here's his cover of Ghost Riders in the Sky by Stan Jones ...
13. Snipe's home: NEST. A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage.
21. Finger painting shape: BLOB.
23. Like some plump pets: OVERFED.
26. Audited, as a class: SAT IN ON.
28. Yield: SUCCUMB. HARVEST also fit. GIVE IN was too short.
31. Emulate a tumbleweed: ROLL. Looks like a whole herd of em' ...
32. One-third of a hat trick: GOAL.
33. One-named New Age singer: ENYA. Eithne PádraigÃn Nà Bhraonáin (born 17 May 1961) known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish composer and singer-songwriter. Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist, with an estimated 80 million albums sold worldwide, and the second-best-selling music act from Ireland overall, after the rock band U2. This video has no lyrics, but invokes childhood memories of the forest behind my home, which is now the Baltimore Beltway ...
35. Nose ring shape: HOOP.
36. Almond alternative: ECRU. My last fill -- I couldn't think of any 4 letter nuts -- except maybe BILL 😀.
37. Professional phone call response: THIS IS SHE.
43. Dressed for court: ENROBED. Here are the US Supreme Court justices, enrobed and ready for work ...
45. Back end: REAR.
46. [Theme reveal part 2].
51. Wear away: ERODE. It took the Colorado River about 5 - 6 million years to erode the sandstone that comprises the Grand Canyon.
52. Reside: DWELL. The Havasupai people are a Native American people and tribe who have DWELT at the base of the Grand Canyon for at least the past 800 years.
54. Fuel-carrying ship: OILER. TANKER wouldn't fit although it is a much more common term for a fuel ship. OTOH OILER has a higher vowel to consonant ratio ( 3:2 vs 2:4).
55. High-minded: NOBLE. The NOBLE gases are so snooty that they refuse to mix with the other elements.
56. Clear: ERASE.
57. FBI alerts: APBS. All Points Bulletins.
58. Garnish on an espresso martini, often: BEAN. Here's a recipe. Note -- younger members of the Corner may not be able access it. 😀
59. Garment that can be draped more than 100 different ways: SARI. Here are ten ...
Here are a lot more.
61. Puncturing tools: AWLS.
64. Fib: LIE. No LIE -- I'm glad I'm done!
Cheers,
 |
| Pin-tailed Snipe |
23. Like some plump pets: OVERFED.
26. Audited, as a class: SAT IN ON.
28. Yield: SUCCUMB. HARVEST also fit. GIVE IN was too short.
31. Emulate a tumbleweed: ROLL. Looks like a whole herd of em' ...
32. One-third of a hat trick: GOAL.
33. One-named New Age singer: ENYA. Eithne PádraigÃn Nà Bhraonáin (born 17 May 1961) known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish composer and singer-songwriter. Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist, with an estimated 80 million albums sold worldwide, and the second-best-selling music act from Ireland overall, after the rock band U2. This video has no lyrics, but invokes childhood memories of the forest behind my home, which is now the Baltimore Beltway ...
The Memory of Trees
34. "Do the Right Thing" pizzeria boycotted by Buggin' Out: SALS. Do the Right Thing (1989) was actor/director Spike Lee's breakthrough film. Lee plays Mookie in the film and Sal is played by Danny Aiello, accompanied by an all star cast. I remember this film when it came out -- cinema had a new voice ...35. Nose ring shape: HOOP.
36. Almond alternative: ECRU. My last fill -- I couldn't think of any 4 letter nuts -- except maybe BILL 😀.
37. Professional phone call response: THIS IS SHE.
43. Dressed for court: ENROBED. Here are the US Supreme Court justices, enrobed and ready for work ...
 |
| Supreme Court Justices |
46. [Theme reveal part 2].
51. Wear away: ERODE. It took the Colorado River about 5 - 6 million years to erode the sandstone that comprises the Grand Canyon.
 |
| (a small part of) the Grand Canyon |
54. Fuel-carrying ship: OILER. TANKER wouldn't fit although it is a much more common term for a fuel ship. OTOH OILER has a higher vowel to consonant ratio ( 3:2 vs 2:4).
55. High-minded: NOBLE. The NOBLE gases are so snooty that they refuse to mix with the other elements.
56. Clear: ERASE.
57. FBI alerts: APBS. All Points Bulletins.
58. Garnish on an espresso martini, often: BEAN. Here's a recipe. Note -- younger members of the Corner may not be able access it. 😀
59. Garment that can be draped more than 100 different ways: SARI. Here are ten ...
61. Puncturing tools: AWLS.
64. Fib: LIE. No LIE -- I'm glad I'm done!
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
Notes from C.C.:
Notes from C.C.:
1) Belated Happy Birthday to Teri! Thank you for making every Thursday special.
2) Happy
birthday to Dennis, who always posted first on the blog before he moved
to Florida ages ago. Here's a picture of him and his wife Linda.
42 comments:
Quite a clever puzzle, especially in terms of the reveal. I figured out SOMETHING was going on early, though I didn’t know exactly what until the end. Knowing that helped me to get “Thora,” for example. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Yay, d-o noticed the circles, and even intuited that they must spell something. SHEA changed my LOOP to a HOOP. By the time I got to LODE, I sussed that the circled letter had to be removed from the answer, so LODE became LORE. Phew. I remember a young THORA Birch as Jack Ryan's daughter in Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger. Nice outing. Thanx, Amie, Wendy, Teri, and our resident 4-letter nut.
Hi there ~!
FLN - Tehachapi Ken - the National Cathedral Organ is an E.M Skinner, updated by Aeolian Skinner. It has undergone at least two more updates, and Foley~Baker is now
restoring the organ to get as close to the original as possible; during the renovation, there is a full-console digital organ with speakers in the chambers. I am a big
fan of Casavant - here's a (a href="https://www.casavant.ca/images/opus/opus-3900-montreal-1619x851.jpg")modern facade(/a), in Montreal, and my fellow employees have "mixed" reactions; some think it's progressive while others just "hate it".
Splynter
Ah, the link is Here
FIR. I saw circles and went "oh no". I stumbled through this puzzle trying to make heads or tails out of answers that just didn't make sense. And then I got extract, put it together with vanilla, and had an aha moment. I spent way too much time staring at curve and trying to understand how that was medical.
Having this awakening allowed me to get Thora and Sals, both of which I did not know.
Overall despite being Thursday hard, I enjoyed this puzzle. Very clever.
Took 7:19 today for me to extract ... no, I didn't even see the theme.
I didn't know today's actress (Thora), Dex, and a few others.
Oh joy, circles!
FIR, getting my WAG @ PEABO x BEAN. if anyone called me "PEABO," I'd probably jack his jaws.
Does anyone close letters with AS EVER? For that matter, does anyone write letters? Even business letters used to have flowery closings, like "yours very truly." When I was writing them the powers that be liked "Regards."
I know we aren't supposed to touch religion here, but I gotta say that I'm pulling for the LOS Angeles Trolley Dodgers this post season. My favorite WS was in 1988 when Kirk Gibson starred, even though he was so crippled up that he could have qualified for a handicap parking placard.
I went to the mirror to fill "nose ring shape," but it didn't help.
Thanks to Amie and Wendy for the fun puzzle, and to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun review.
Good morning! Despite early misgivings, this puzzle turned out quite doable, although with a measure of "whatever..."
I though the theme was not worth the effort.
Perps for THORA and DEX.
Thanks to waseeley and Teri.
Should read thought. Doing on my Kindle, so auto spell check giving me grief!
A special thanks to Renee for revealing that this past Monday was Teri's birthday and thanks also to C.C. for her good wishes today. I don't know how Renee found out about it, but we really appreciated all of the HBDs on the Corner and especially CrossEyedDave's virtual cake. We got Renee's email alerting us about it just as 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 had 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!
p.p.s. I posted a similar thanks in an FLN late on Monday evening but I doubt that any one saw it.
Splynter--FLN:
Thanks for the background on the Aeolian Skinner refurbishment at the National Cathedral. I have happy memories there, including partipating in many Kirkin o' the Tartans (my background is Scottish). Good luck on a happy restoration of the organ!
I share your fondness for Casavant. I lived and studied in Paris for a couple years back in the early '70's working with Edmond Pendleton. He was an associate of people like Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Durufle (and wife), who would often attend his salons.
To my knowledge the organs with which we worked there were not Casavants. But there is something about a Casavant that thrives on music by, say, Louis Vierne or Charles-Marie Vidor or Marcel Dupre (or Durufle). It just comes to life and its Gallic (or at least Quebecois) roots seem evident.
OK, sorry, bloggers to get carried away. I'll be back in a bit to weigh in on today's crossword puzzle.
Here's the bi-weekly DAB puzzle. Here's what David has to say about it ...
Work hard, believe in yourself, and there is nothing in this world you cannot do!—except things that are impossible for everybody, like flying unassisted or becoming invisible; or things you must be especially endowed by nature to do, like winning a marathon; or things you have to have the right social connections to do, like publishing a crossword (invitation only!) in the New Yorker.
FIR without help. I discovered the theme with the reveal. Not my cuppa tea. I like when the both words, such as bot and boat, are suggested by the clue.
I took a folk literature class as part of my MA. I was amazed how many cultures in so many different eras have Cinderella stories.
The E in the Natick , bean and Peabo, was a lucky guess.
Don't touch anything in the mini bar if you don't intend to pay for it. The mini bar is electronically monitored. If you take something out and put it back unopened you are charged.
Around a campfire adults would send kids looking for snipes in the woods. I knew snipes are wading and felt silly looking something that was obviously not there.
I like unagi nigiri but have not had any for a long time because it has become very expensive. The eels are endangered and unsustainable.
Curmudgeon time.
As clever and cute as is today's puzzle, I feel that the basic gimmick (the letters in "vanilla" being individually extracted from seven different answers) made for an unnecessarily convoluted exercise. And some results are unclear, like the clue "Bae" giving as its answer (after removing the N from BOON) BOO. Huh?
And as with so many LAT crosswords, there is so much undue emphasis on pop culture, it is as if constructor (and editor?) read only the National Enquirer and People magazine.
Today, for instance, we've got everyone from THORA to ARIE to DEX to PEABO to SALS. Why?
Good Morning:
I thought this was one of the more clever add/subtract a letter themes. It took me a few minutes to catch on and from that point on, the solve was easy-peasy. Dex, as clued, was the only unknown because I only know Dexter as an "exterminator", not as a forensic analyst. The solve was pretty straightforward and more enjoyable than many Thursdays.
Thanks, Amie and Wendy, nice job and thanks, Bill, for the usual enlightening and entertaining recap. I enjoyed seeing Danny Aiello, a versatile actor who was wonderful as the bumbling suitor in Moonstruck, one of my favorite movies. Teri's birthday celebration sounds delightful, especially that delicious dinner. As always, thanks to Teri for her contributions to the Blog.
Happy Birthday to Dennis, Semper Fi! 🎂🎊🎉🎈
Have a great day.
Tempting Thursday. (With all the baking, we will be OVERFED.). Thanks for the fun, Amie and Wendy, waseeley and Teri.
I would have FIRed, but had a personal Natick at the cross of the unknown to me SALS and LORE (with no chance for perps to give me the L). And since this Canadian can never remember AOC, I didn’t have the A either. I would have done better with Spanish clue for SALS like Sunday.
I did get the VANILLA theme nicely distributed throughout the CW, as it should be in baking. I could make lovely Vs on my newspaper to stir in those letters.
I changed Stand to STALL.
Prompt was a verb; almond was not a nut.
DEX perped.
Just when I had learned that Bae was Hon, it became BOO. Early Halloween.
Favourite was the clue for CINDERELLA.
I do like the sound of PUB GRUB.
Happy Birthday Dennis.
Wishing you all a great day.
With the beginning of the week being easy we were bound for a “correction” and got it in ♠️’s today. Struggled to FIR. But liked the theme, very clever. Extracting Vanilla (I erroneously say “vanella” like “Feb-you-ary”)
Inkover: loop/HOOP, Tonys/OBIES
But deliver us from evil, you said it just doesn’t sound right 😳
The original “Dexter” was great. (IM he was officially a bloodstain spatter analyst) The sequel “New Blood” meh 🫤
MINIBAR: where you can purchase a box of Junior Mints for 5 dollars
“Professional phone call response” : Listen carefully as our menu has changed.Thought maybe “Alcatraz home” was SFO,
Finally remembered India’s last name. ENROBE, OILER old standbys I only know from CWs
“Bae” is BOO? 👻
Lyric poem for listeners…..ERODE.
Doc expert for listeners….ERASE.
Ship captain’s need….ECRU
Abe quote, “of the, by the, for the ____… PEOPBO.
Happy Thor’s Day
What a workout! Very enjoyable Thursday sussfest...
Unfortunately I was not smart enough to use the theme as a solving aid, and only realized how brilliant this construction was by reading the Blog. I think my mistake was I kept looking for some kind of reveal in the clues when you need to step back and look at the whole thing to see it.
Another unfortunate circumstance, is that when I googled vanilla extract, nothing funny came up...
happy birthday Dennis! I would normally have gone with a Marines cake, but I kind of liked this one...
I also did some research (more needed) on how to EXTRACT and replace minibar items without getting charged, maybe just unplugging the dang thing? I dunno... but in the meantime, you can get by by taking this guys advice...
To conclude, I have never used "as ever" to close a letter. Regards perhaps, but never, "as ever..."
"Whatever,"
CED...
Musings
-Very enjoyable. The extra gimmick was fun once I saw it at CH_EF which “had to be”.
-Left-brained me kept looking for a 5-letter medical term at CUR_E
-SLAV/SERB and STAT/ASAP coin flips both came up correct
-Surprise OH HI – Guaranteed when I don’t shave and wear old shorts with a tank top out to shop.
-Does Hickory Farms still have a KIOSK in malls at Christmas time?
-The WARRIORS used to play in Oakland but crossed the bridge and now play in S.F. Oakland has also lost it MLB and NFL teams.
-P_ABO/B_AN was my only hint of a natick. PRABO/BRAN just didn’t sell. :-)
-I wonder if all the old cartoon animators have found other work
-I’ve never knowingly encountered a SOBA or UDON noodle anywhere but here
-Burl’s Holly Jolly Christmas gets to be annoying
-How much are willing to pay for a Snickers from a hotel minibar?
-That EEL dish looked, uh, interesting to say the least.
-31. Down never sounded better
Hola! Of course the theme went flying way over my head but I enjoyed the solve nevertheless. Those two ladies, Amie and Wendy should probably be working at the CERN labs doing some good for mankind but their puzzles are lovely to work on even if the theme is obscure and convoluted.
The names have appeared enough that they are recognizable, ALBA, PEABO, IVES and AOC but THORA Birch is new to me. Yet, it was not difficult to fill.
As for letter writing, I am an avid letter writer and like to correspond with the few long distance friends who are still alive. Sometimes it is just a friendly card with a handwritten message and other times it's a long, newsy letter.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Not my cuppa this morning. Couldn't get any traction, but I did enjoy hearing Burl Ives again! Nice version of Ghost Riders...Thanks, Was.
Husker @10:38 AM Re 31D, is that Roy Rogers on the right in the first scene?
Easy puzzle, despite the theme that made me roll my eyes. I am not a fan of “look how clever I am” gimmicks, especially those that alter answers into words that don’t match the clues.
Just a curiosity that may or may not be of interest,
(It could just be my old iPad going kerflooey...)
I have recently found that the Blog loads faster if I turn the iPad vertical (portrait mode) versus horizontal (landscape mode). Except today. All of a sudden that screen wide ribbon of Temu ads on the bottom of the screen with the teeny tiny (caret/angle bracket) that allows you remove it now appeared in the middle of the screen?! Hitting the caret/angle bracket only moved it an inch!
Another rant is is caret/angle bracket is only about 1000th the size of my thumb, and almost impossible to tap...
But the other day I mentioned the iPad YouTube videos were blank!
Today they were there, but when when I click on them they change to a message that I have to sign in to see them?
It is a obvious to me that techs somewhere are moving the furniture around in Helen Kellers house!
Clever puzzle , AW and ALB. With VANILLA in place and the circled VANI, it was clear vanilla was going to fill the circles and removal of the circled letter gave the clued answer.
CanadianEh - Also Natick at LORE for me, but guessed right at SALS instead of Sams.
ASAP gave me Park Place - wrong - when fine actress THORA Birch was obvious, so then was STAT. Liked seeing THIS IS SHE, PUB GRUG, and SUCCUMB.
Weseely - Old Ebbitt Grill? Trout was delicious and so were the scallops.
Happy day, all! Parsan
Sorry, waseeley (hat was I typing?). Late birthday wishes to Teri (the power behind the throne?).
DW and I rolled our honeymoon in with a sales force award outing sponsored by her work. We stayed at the ritzy Boca Beach Club. Meals were included, either in hotel restaurants or room service, but drinks at the bar weren't. However, minibar fees were on the company. Go figure.
(Doesn't sound romantic, but we got limo service from the airport to Boca Raton, got delivered from a banquet to a concert hall in chauffeured antique cars, and attended a Dionne Worwick concert just for the sales champs, their SOs, and the executive cadre who were there to speechify. Also, during their meeting day I was able to play golf at the beautiful course on premises. Bonus - on our "activity day" we got to go sailing! We both enjoyed the honeymoon immensely.)
Happy birthday Dennis, you were as much an institution as C.C. when this blog was in its virtual diapers. I enjoyed the puzzle though I do not recall any character calling Dexter "Dex" but I do remember Thora Birch from American Beauty . Also Mena Suvari . Thanks Bill, Amie and Wendy. I love the name Peabo.
Fun Thursday puzzle--a bit challenging here and there but still manageable, so many thanks, Amie and Wendy. And thank you, Bill and Teri, for your always helpful and interesting commentary, a real pleasure.
Well, as soon as I saw SLAV and SPAIN, I figured we were in for a bit of world-wide travel. So time to go to the bank and get some LIRA before getting on the BOAT for what could turn out to be our LONGEST trip. But fortunately we had access to the MINI-BAR and that gave us a chance to get some lemonADE. After we came back to the US the journey became even more interesting when we got to visit a CHIEF and a WARRIOR and a NOBLE, who were all ENROBED, though not in a SARI. A wonderful adventure, thanks again, Amie, Wendy, and Bill, for this pleasure.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
Count me in for enjoying this puzzle. I like that the theme was essential for solving it. I am still wondering if the theme answers without the EXTRACTion were supposed to mean something special: CURVE, BOAT, BOON, CHIEF, BARED. Correct WAG of B?AN/P?ABO to FIR.
I asked Mr Google about DEX. I think the intended meaning is: "Digital Evidence Exchange" not that character Dexter. The clue refers to "tech", which means a technology.
Here we had the privilege of watching VANILLA being pollinated in Madagascar.
Most of the real VANILLA in the world comes from Madagascar. It is very labor intensive, as you can see. I did share this video one time before.
I just watched Danny Aiello in The Purple Rose of Cairo. He is very convincing as the neer-do-well husband of Mia Farrow who goes to the movies to escape him! She falls for Jeff Daniels!
When teaching my senior level ethics class I tried to EXTRACT my students’ more NOBLE instincts. But, alas, the results were often more VANILLA than the preferred nuance of ECRU.
Canada Eh
Was well into season 3 of “Orphan Black” a terrific science fiction series I’ve been meaning for years to finally watch when I noticed on the closed captions last night (yeah sometimes don’t hear so well) the word “favor” spelled favour. I LIU and the series is Canadian and filmed in Toronto.
There are so many of them running around Toronto. Have you run into any of the clones?
I like this one, very clever. The circles were helpful and each letter was only used once so you could use the process of elimination. Plus who doesn't like a little vanilla extract!
I enjoyed the puzzle and FIR, but never read the clue for 46 Down (how to make the seven starred clues match their answers), so I thought the whole concept was to drop a letter in starred horizontal entries to get a meaningful answer. Wish I had noticed that VANILLA was EXTRACTed, but thank goodness, waseeley was there to point it out. Nice puzzle, Amie and Wendy!
Other than DEX and THORA the puzzle was as easy as slurping down a VANILLA malt. The circles gave the EXTRACT away after BO-A-T and CUR-V-E. BOO-N confirmed it.
No problemo senors.
Stay safe Floridians.
Anonymous
My lovely bride assures me that is Roy in that 1934 movie.
Clever gimmick.
Excellent write-up, waseeley, thanks.
As ever,
Jayce
Very clever CW, it took a couple theme answers to get it was an EXTRACTion needed for the theme. A couple small nits: BAE/BOO, for one, don't like it. The Sons of the Pioneers had many iterations, personnel wise. My uncle Charles Mitchel sang with them at one point. Jack and Jill: since when is the water well on top of a hill? And why are most nursery rhymes so dark? Broken skulls, babies falling out of trees, kids dying of the plague....
Regarding his link, I'd say, "Splynter, that's a beautiful organ you have there", but might be misinterpreted. Thanx for the fun, clever CW AW&WLB. I had fun, and managed to FIR, though your trickery meant it took a while. Fun write-up Bill, lotsa good stuff, thanx.
Ray-o - I am flattered that you have learned that “favour” is Canadian/British English. Yes, they call us Hollywood North for the amount of filming that goes on here.Vancouver in the west and Toronto here, but plenty in Hamiltin and Niagara too (both TV and movies). Think Handmaids Tale, The Shape of Water, Murdoch Mysteries, Anne. Cheaper costs and good filming talent. I don’t like sci-fi so no knowledge there.
Thanks to Amie and Wendy for their out-of-the-box puzzle!
Like NaomiZ, I skipped the reveal clue for EXTRACT so it took me a bit to see why those particular letters were circled.
Misty@1:52. I liked your travel story!
Happy birthday to Dennis!
Thanks to waseeley and Teri for today's write up! Like C-Echo, I appreciated the Burl Ives tune. I do not remember hearing that version of "Riders in the Sky" before today.
Thanks, also, for the thanks. I'm happy to hear that you & Teri had a much deserved special day!
Although the theme schtick was a little bit of a “huh??”, it was nonetheless enjoyable; snazzy little trick, EXTRACTing a letter to make the clue work while still having a viable word in the fill! First time i think I’ve seen this gimmick in a cw. Fun stuff, and not too much obfuscation in the clues.
====> Darren / L.A.
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