Bug Fixes
Rebecca Goldstein's theme features don't exactly jump out at you ...
- She uses 4 cross references to another clue to identify the theme clues, a feature unpopular with some solvers, some of whom might even call it 49D 😀.
- She uses mixed Across (1) and Down (3) clues ...
... here are the themers ...
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| Button Fly Jeans |
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| 2024 VW Beetle |
Rebecca's clever reveal suggests that she might have done a stint in IT at some point in the past ...
58A. Seeming flaw that's intentional: A FEATURE NOT A BUG. I.e. the second word of each theme fill is part of an in-the-language term (a "feature") not an "insect" ...
... the reveal reminds me of the old programmer's excuse -- "That's not a bug, that's a feature!" to justify an attempt to fix a bug that unintentionally introduces a new and bigger one. A good example of such a claim might be one of the improvements recently made to the Blogger comments section -- the new feature of always returning to the top whenever you refresh the screen gives you multiple opportunities to read each commenter's bon mots, insuring that you'll have them all memorized by the end of the day. 😀
Here's the grid ...
1. From downtown, maybe: URBAN. The etymology of the word URBAN.
6. Dream team member?: MVP. Most Valuable Player. We are blessed to have C.C. as our MVP.
9. Mammal with a prehensile snout: TAPIR. Elephant wouldn't fit, but this mammal did ...
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| Malayan Tapir |
15. Avian Tootsie Pop mascot: OWL. The mascot for Tootsie Roll Pops is known for asking "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" and then saying "One, two, three..." before biting down on the pop.
16. Counters of yore: ABACI. The history of the abacus.
17. Tons o': LOTTA. SCADS fit but didn't perp.
18. Jazz org.: NBA. The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Here's their noted logo ...
19. Like some comic-con attendees: CAPED. Here's an attendee from the 2023 Comic Con held in Cape Town, South Africa ...
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| Any guesses on who she's cosplaying? I haven't a clue. |
20. QB's throw: ATT. Short for ATTEMPT. QB's get a stat just for trying!
21. Action by the Fed: RATE CUT. The "Fed" being the Federal Reserve System - what it is and how it works.
24. Commercials: ADS.
25. Angus animal: COW. They look like this ...
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| Angus Cow |
28. "Well, ya see ... ": ERM.
29. Simple path: LANE. Certainly not an ALLEY. 😢
30. Insurance company with a purple heart logo: AETNA.
31. Hobart hoppers: ROOS. Hobart is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Tasmania has approximately 26,000 kangaroos. This one lives in an obscure Northeastern province of Tasmania called "The Hundred Acre Wood" ...
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| Roo |
35. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT. Usually reboots the OS, but if it's really hung you may have to turn it off and on again.
36. Solve, as a problem: CRACK. The daily exercise routine on the Corner.
37. Lady: GAL. This number might be more to your taste, and it's rated G too ...
Is it just me, or do those guys look like quadruplets?
38. Let loose: UNLEASH.
41. Greek X: CHI. Not to be confused with the anti-social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 😀 -- or the given name of one of my BILs.
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| Chi |
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| Élysée Palace |
46. "Welp, what can you do?": ALAS. ALAS, the very last thing I thought of.
48. Solemn vow: OATH. Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon āþ, also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise intended as a sign of that the speaker is telling the truth. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to give an affirmation instead. Nowadays, even when there is no notion of sanctity involved, certain promises said out loud in ceremonial or juridical purpose are referred to as oaths. OTOH in certain contexts it implies profanity ...
52. Unit of magnetic induction: GAUSS. Definitely not a Thursday clue. GAUSS is a unit of magnetic flux density named for the physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose researches helped define it. To make matters worse the unit is obsolete and has been superseded by the Tesla, an SI unit equal to10,000 Gauss. My links having exceeded 1000 words, I am forced to resort to this picture ...
55. Color-blending technique: OMBRE. Ombré (literally "shaded" in French) is the blending of one color hue to another, usually moving tints and shades from light to dark. It has become a popular feature for hair coloring, nail art, and even baking, in addition to its uses in home decorating and graphic design.
61. "Succession" cousin: GREG. Succession is an American satirical black comedy-drama television series that aired for four seasons on HBO from June 3, 2018, to May 28, 2023. The series centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch. Gregory John "Greg" Hirsch, played by Nicholas Braun is great-nephew of Logan Roy, played by the great Brian Cox, the patriarch that everybody's trying to succeed. This following trailer is rated PG13 (profanity and dramatic music 😀) ...
62. Coop up, say: PEN IN.
63. Rowlands of "The Notebook": GENA. Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress, whose career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she collaborated with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She appeared in Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988), and her son Nick Cassavetes's film, The Notebook (2004). In 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, "The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus is Gena Rowlands." In November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her unique screen performances. Here's the trailer for The Notebook ...
64. Feeling yesterday's workout: SORE.
65. Briquettes: COALS.
66. Tagged, say: IDED.
Down:
1. Campus near Sunset Blvd.: UCLA. The University of California, Los Angeles. The new UCLA campus in 1929 had four buildings: Royce Hall and Haines Hall on the north, and Powell Library and Kinsey Hall (now called Renee And David Kaplan Hall) on the south. Today, the campus includes 163 buildings across 419 acres (1.7 km2) in the western part of Los Angeles, north of the Westwood shopping district and just south of Sunset Boulevard. In terms of acreage, it is the second-smallest of the ten UC campuses.
2. Endodontic therapy: ROOT CANAL. Everybody's favorite dental procedure.😀 A root canal is treatment for infections in tooth pulp, the innermost layer of your teeth. Endodontists and dentists do about 15 million root canals in the United States every year. Typically, root canals are painless treatments. You can avoid needing a root canal by brushing your teeth after meals, flossing daily and having regular dental checkups.
3. [Theme clue]
4. Spot-on: APT.
5. In the neighborhood: NEAR.
6. City named for the hill it surrounds: MONTREAL. Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the tenth-largest in North America. Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked mountain around which the early settlement was built.
7. [Theme clue]
8. Organ that nourishes a fetus: PLACENTA. The Cleveland Clinic addresses this description to expectant mothers -- "The placenta is a temporary organ that connects your baby to your uterus during pregnancy. The placenta develops shortly after conception and attaches to the wall of your uterus. Your baby is connected to the placenta by the umbilical cord. Together, the placenta and umbilical cord act as your baby's lifeline while in the uterus."
63. Rowlands of "The Notebook": GENA. Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress, whose career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she collaborated with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She appeared in Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988), and her son Nick Cassavetes's film, The Notebook (2004). In 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, "The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus is Gena Rowlands." In November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her unique screen performances. Here's the trailer for The Notebook ...
64. Feeling yesterday's workout: SORE.
65. Briquettes: COALS.
66. Tagged, say: IDED.
Down:
1. Campus near Sunset Blvd.: UCLA. The University of California, Los Angeles. The new UCLA campus in 1929 had four buildings: Royce Hall and Haines Hall on the north, and Powell Library and Kinsey Hall (now called Renee And David Kaplan Hall) on the south. Today, the campus includes 163 buildings across 419 acres (1.7 km2) in the western part of Los Angeles, north of the Westwood shopping district and just south of Sunset Boulevard. In terms of acreage, it is the second-smallest of the ten UC campuses.
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| Royce Hall after the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, Italy |
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| See, it's simple! 😀 |
4. Spot-on: APT.
5. In the neighborhood: NEAR.
6. City named for the hill it surrounds: MONTREAL. Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the tenth-largest in North America. Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked mountain around which the early settlement was built.
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| Mount Royal view from av. du Parc in Montreal. |
8. Organ that nourishes a fetus: PLACENTA. The Cleveland Clinic addresses this description to expectant mothers -- "The placenta is a temporary organ that connects your baby to your uterus during pregnancy. The placenta develops shortly after conception and attaches to the wall of your uterus. Your baby is connected to the placenta by the umbilical cord. Together, the placenta and umbilical cord act as your baby's lifeline while in the uterus."
More on the amazing functionality of the placenta from the National Library of Medicine website.
9. Diplomatic skill: TACT.
10. Therapy for some individuals with autism, for short: ABA. This one is a real toughie. The articles on ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) are heavily peppered with psychological jargon -- a language in which I am reasonably fluent, as my BA is in Psych -- yet I still wasn't able to come up with a succinct explanation for how this "therapy" works. However one of the characteristics of persons with autism is that they are often very visually oriented, so I've decided to start with a trailer for a biopic about a real individual with autism named Temple Grandin, who has managed to succeed in a world of "normal" people ...
And here's Temple Grandin speaking for herself...
Now I'll leave it to you to go back to the first link and see if you can make any sense of ABA.
11. [Theme clue]
12. Cold, chocolaty cafe order: ICED MOCHA.
13. Frees (of): RIDS.
22. __ glance: AT A.
23. MA and PA home: USA.
26. Hardly huge: WEE.
28. Blunder: ERR.
29. Supine winter sport: LUGE. Luge racing is a competitive sport that's included in the Winter Olympics, and "to luge" means to speed down a snowy hill on a luge. The word luge comes from the Latin sludia, or "sled." This is another clue that can only be described visually. Here's the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea with Chris Mazdzer taking the silver medal run in men's singles luge ...
32. Smartphone case: SKIN.
34. Competitor who may be put through the paces?: DUELIST. Duelist Aaron Burr may have won his duel with Alexander Hamilton, but he lost everything as a result -- an accused murderer, he fled, was turned away by many countries, anonymously returned to the US, and eventually died a miserable, penniless traitor.
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| Aaron Burr dueling Alexander Hamilton |
36. Customer service agent unlikely to pass a captcha test: CHATBOT. CAPTCHA is a contrived acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart". It usually takes little effort to convince a customer service CHATBOT that I need to talk to a human -- they're not as smart as they think they are. 😀
39. National Book Award winner Shusterman: NEAL. Neal Shusterman (born November 12, 1962) is an American writer of young adult fiction. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book Challenger Deep and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book.
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| Neal Shusterman |
40. Hitch: SNAG.
43. McMuffin option: SAUSAGE. “Laws are like sausages. It is best not to see them being made.” -- origin disputed.
45. Crèche trio: THE MAGI. The MAGI go all the way back to the infancy narratives of Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:1-13), but the Crèche ("Nativity Scene") didn't appear in modern Europe until 1223, when St. Francis of Assisi staged a living Crèche complete with an ox and an ass in the Italian town of Greccio.
43. McMuffin option: SAUSAGE. “Laws are like sausages. It is best not to see them being made.” -- origin disputed.
45. Crèche trio: THE MAGI. The MAGI go all the way back to the infancy narratives of Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:1-13), but the Crèche ("Nativity Scene") didn't appear in modern Europe until 1223, when St. Francis of Assisi staged a living Crèche complete with an ox and an ass in the Italian town of Greccio.
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| St. Francis at Greccio Giotto, 1295 |
48. Result of achieving a goal?: ONE NIL. The score after the first goal in games like soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse would be ONE NIL. In American football a six point touchdown would have to be scored before a single extra point could be scored.
49. Part of LGBTQ: QUEER.
50. Humanitarian Sendler recognized by Yad Vashem: IRENA. Irena Stanisława Sendler (née Krzyżanowska; 15 February 1910 – 12 May 2008), was a Polish Catholic social worker, and nurse who served in the Polish Underground Resistance during World War II in German-occupied Warsaw. She was eventually captured and tortured, but refused to reveal the identities of a list of potential Holocaust victims. She was scheduled for execution, but escaped when her compatriots bribed the guards who were to take her to the firing squad -- corruption has a way of corrupting itself.
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| Irena Sendler 1942 |
51. Receded: EBBED.
52. Funny bits: GAGS. Last week we had funny bits from Monte Python. Today we hear from Beyond the Fringe. A friend of mine from High School could intone this whole monologue from memory ...
53. Natural style: AFRO.
56. Ancient character: RUNE. A RUNE is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before those peoples adopted the Latin alphabet. In addition to representing a sound value (a phoneme), runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Here are the Anglo-Saxon runes, also known as the futhorc ...
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| Anglo-Saxon runes |
59. Checkout lines?: UPC. The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode symbology that is used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. Here is the UPC for this clue ...
60. Word with come or carry: ONS. And with that I'm signing OFF.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
40 comments:
This was tough!
Particularly the bottom middle section. And the fact that the reveal was “hidden,” that is, not clued as a “reveal” added to the difficulty. But, through P&P, I persevered and got the win. (And, by the way, who the heck was “Papa Roach”?)
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Immediately inked in LOCAL at 1a. Bzzzzzzt. (Have I ever mentioned....?) Also needed my trusty Wite-Out to fix reLEASe/UNLEASH, LOTsA/LOTTA, and Out/ONS. This was a tough Thursday; d-o was lucky to survive scathed, but intact. Thanx, Rebecca, waseeley, and Teri. (Alan Bennett's "Take A Pew" is one of my favorite comedy routines. In fact, the entire Beyond The Fringe album is worth a listen...or two...or three.)
BUTTON FLY: The Navy, in its infinite wisdom decided on a 13-button fly (for the 13 colonies) on the dress blue enlisted uniform. Bathroom breaks required pre-planning.
ROOT CANAL: I've had more than my share over the years. On the last one the dentist ran into a problem and was unable to finish, referring me to a $peciali$t.
Interesting looking asymmetrical north/south grid layout today, triple vertical 8’s in the middle, bookended by double 9’s, a horizontal 11 and the spanner reveal. I CRACKed the case w/o help in 16:18 (OK, perps were major help). DNK GREG or how he was related to “Succession”, ABA, the Book Award winner, the humanitarian, what GAUSS is, or OMBRÉ (pronounced like the Spanish word for “friend”?). My smartphone case is a SKIN?? There’s that pesky ERM again. Yesterday OTTAWA, today MONTREAL, tomorrow EDMONTON? Jazz was a more APT name when the team was based in New Orleans, Utah not exactly a hotbed of that genre. I prefer when GAL is clued with “Gadot” and there is a photo of her in the blog, stunning! I had one ROOT CANAL several years ago and she started drilling before I was fully numb, YOW! Thanks Rebecca, very outstanding work IMO, and to Bill and Teri for your in depth analysis.
Back to the real world today after 3 days here on Mackinac Island where the only modes of transport are by foot, bicycle or horse drawn carriage.
Took 7:49 today for me -- I hope that doesn't make me a louse.
I had the same unknowns as my neighbor YooperPhil, except for Ombre (YP, I think hombre is man, while amigo is friend) and Greg - I loved "Succession," and Cousin Greg was great comic relief. I also agree with him that we could use a little more Gal. And, like him, after all these years following their relocation from NOLA, I still find "Utah Jazz" to be amusing. I'm sure there's some good jazz musicians that have come from Utah and I'm sure there's some vibrant jazz scenes in the state, but ... Utah Jazz?
I liked MA and PA home: USA which could befuddle any newbie solvers. I would love a synaptic recap of the path from BUTTON FLY to Erica Jong's books, or mind. I think the conventioneer is a female Dr. Strange, but I have never been to any so...
Lemony @8:11 AM My analysis was just a roundabout means of avoiding the F word at the highest level. If you drill down on the Wiki article you'll find all that you need to understand why BUTTON FLYs are an impediment to Jong's fantasy shag. 😁
FIR, but what a workout. I do not like vertical puzzles, and this one was worse because it had a Saturday feel to it. Talk about crunchy! My word if this wasn't over the top crunchy.
I got the theme from the reveal and that helped with Papa Roach. I did not remember that group.
Overall, this was NOT enjoyable at all.
Good Morning:
Today's solve was challenging, for me, because of the numerous unknowns, some simply because of cluing: MVP, Owl, Gauss, Ombré, Greg, Papa Roach, Neal, Irena, and ABA. I finished correctly, thanks to a WAG on Caped because ABA and Papa Roach had me stymied. ABA, as clued, is too narrowly focused, IMO, and could have been cross-referenced to 18A NBA or, as it's often clued, the American Bar Association. I didn't fully grasp the theme until reading Bill's clear and concise explanation, so my appreciation level for the cleverness and creativity rose considerably. My only nits are Erm and Ons in the grid and the asinine Welp in a clue.
Very nice job, Rebecca, thank you and thanks to our erudite blogger who informs, enlightens, entertains, and charms us every Thursday. Thanks, Bill and Teri, for your time and efforts which are very much appreciated. I saw the movie about Temple Grandin and was very impressed with her. I was even more impressed hearing her own words.
Have a great day.
Musings
-A wonderful, infuriating puzzle. The gimmick, cluing and fill taxed my abilities. Me – ONE, Puzzle – NIL.
-This beautiful COUPE had minimal protection in a rollover
-Jerry Lee sang of A Whole LOTTA Shakin’ goin’ on
-A horrible two-truck accident had Hwy 275 down to NO LANES and traffic backed up for miles yesterday. Fortunately, we were going the other way.
-Sometimes a very small fill can CRACK a stubborn puzzle.
-ALAS is a cwd stalwart dressed up in some contemporary cluing
-I suspect some of our tech guys have done some DEGAUSSING in their careers
-MONTREAL, IRENA, OMBRE and ABA provided learning
-Going 80mph on a lunchroom tray with legs? LUGERS are fearless.
-EGAD! UPC makes this seem so very old!
-What Irish said about the puzzle and Bill and Teri.
I know Rebecca puts a lot of work constructing puzzles but these obscure clues for unknowns is getting tiresome. With ABA (never heard of) and ERM in the NE, all I can say is "really ?". Then there's the unknown band PAPA ROACH that I didn't fill. Ugh.
I noticed the FLY, BEE, AND BUG fills but I couldn't CRACK the puzzle completely. DUELIST, NEAL (unknown), and CHAT couldn't make it because I had RELEASE instead of UNLEASH. It's hard to give up on a fill that you 'know' is right. Duh, it was wrong. OMBRE, GREG, and IRENA made it due to perps.
BUTTON FLY- I had a pair of Levi's with those-once. Biggest PIA to put on and take off. Never again.
GAUSS- a gimme
Challenging CW. I found the bugs, but I didn’t come up with the reveal, though in retrospect, I should have. The big unknown for me was PAPA ROACH, but I knew I needed a bug (yuk, I hate roaches).
I’m super lucky. I’ve never had a ROOT CANAL, crown, cavity, etc. All the dentist does is clean my teeth. However just yesterday DH went to an oral surgeon since he has a tooth that needs pulling.
TAPIRs are weird looking creatures. The MA and PA clue is really cool.
Thanks waseeley for the nice write up. Much food for thought.
Loved it! There were a number of unknowns, as others have pointed out (PAPA ROACH, GAUSS ...) but perps were fair, and I delighted in finding the NOT-A-BUGs. FIR.
Many thanks to Rebecca for a very fresh puzzle, and to waseeley for revealing the mysteries.
I'd always heard the Navy had thirteen buttons on the trousers to give a girl twelve chances to say "NO"
I remember Jackie Gleason would open his "Joe the Bartender" sketches with a couple bars of "My Gal Sal"
Too clever for me today. Not my cuppa'. TITT. Enjoyed the blog, though! Thanks for that, Was!
I struggled for my FIR, and emerged with an urge to yell at Rebecca and Patti. I’m not sure I’ve EVER seen so much B.S. in a crossword puzzle.
The theme unifier was a huge letdown, and there was nothing delightful about any aspect of the theme — especially not the unknown-to-me PAPA ROACH. Thanks, waseeley, for a valiant attempt to persuade me otherwise.
Many of you will note obscure names/words like GAUSS and OMBRE; faulty fill like ONE-NIL, DUELIST, PEN IN, and ID’ED; and the unhelpful clues for NEAL, IRENA, OWL, ABA, and SKIN; but there were other ridiculous clues that hacked me off more.
Is a COUPE “sporty?” Are TREES “growers?” Did anyone know the PLACENTA is an “organ?” And don’t get me started on how badly the word “lady” gets corrupted on Next Door every time some illiterate relates an anecdote about an encounter with an incompetent woman.
And I haven’t even mentioned the usual dialogue clues that didn’t track well, the worst being the whoever-said ERM.
Ultimately, my FIR came down to changing LOTTA from lotsa and UNLEASH from release. I liked MONTREAL, TAPIR, and RUNE. And not much else.
Guess I'll just share a replay of my solve so you can see for yourself how awfully I fumbled around for the first half of my total time:
https://downforacross.com/beta/replay/5986350-snaff
Getting the BUG part of the revealer, then QUILTING BEE, then the full revealer helped a lot as I finally saw the theme, phrases where the bugs aren't really bugs. Neat.
I probably was too stubborn in trying to find the correct unit at 52A. WEBER? HENRY? TESLA? Those are all magnetic units but I didn't quite remember what each one measures. The actual answer GAUSS is just a fraction of a TESLA. I'll admit I didn't even stop to think that 49D could only be TRANS or QUEER, and I accidentally never even looked at the clue for SORE. I totally should've done both of those things, but hindsight is 20/20.
Husker, in my ute I deGAUSSed our telephone in attempts to see if "a beep would be provided" as listed in our phone directory. The phone never rang again and had to be replaced. Our local phone company was at a loss as to what could have caused the problem.
Today's puzzle did not bug me at all. I was, however, forced to recall the days of reel to reel tape recorders. I had a Teac. Sometimes we had to de-gauss the tapes. Thanks for the wonderful recap waseeley.
Is it just my imagination or are these folks deliberately trying to irritate us? I don’t understand why they would deliberately try to thin the crowd of puzzlers but that is what’s happening. Way too many unknowns, obsoletes, and ridiculous, absurd cluing, all in the same puzzle. Shame, shame. I’m about this close to the NYT.
FIW, missing UNLEASH instead of reLEASe, ELYSam, and CosED instead of CAPED.
Ships eventually take on a permanent magnetic characteristic, called "getting permed." It makes them more susceptible to magnetic mines. The Navy operates a big DEGAUSSing station in the nearby Elizabeth River, just a couple of miles away from the world's largest naval base.
Even though the NBA swallowed the ABA, the three is now ingrained in all levels of basketball, and the WNBA uses the multicolored ball made popular in the ABA.
Champion wiener eater Joey Chestnut was banned from the 4th of July Nathan's contest for signing a promotional deal with an Impossible Frankfurter brand. It was kind of like banning Tiger Woods from the Masters golf tournament when Tiger was in his prime.
I needed perps to get the organ that nurishes a fetus, but I already knew the organ that causes a fetus.
Had to take Zoё back to the vet today. Her UTI didn't respond to the first round of antibiotics. Now the doc wants us back for a pelvis xray. Scary for the dad of an 11 year old greyhound. When we got home, DW fell where the grass meets the sidewalk. A couple of scrapes and a little blood, but no broken bones. The osteoporosis treatments must be working, thank God.
My laptop is flashing UPC-looking bars intermittently over the whole screen. I suspect that it is in the electronics, either the on-board graphics circuitry or the screen itself. I really don't want to buy a new computer until Win 12 comes out, so I'll probably get this one fixed even if it doesn't make economic sense.
Thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the silk purse.
O.K., let's start with ERM. What is it? "Well, ya see..." and the fill is ERM? I don't get it. Also ABA: never heard of it, all perps, then I just looked at it. No V-8 can. I've only ever called my iPhone case a case. Never heard anyone call it a skin. 12 names, but I knew 8, so not too bad in that category. PAPAROACH = big DNK, I wasted a lot of time trying to remember, "O.K., it was The Mamas and the Papas, and Momma Cass and Papa ....?" Bzzzzzt. Wrong decade. Wrong band. I have never had HBO, so "'Succession' cousin" left me clueless. I did know GAUSS but needed perps to make sure I spelled it right. "Big name in competitive eating" Joey was too short, and Chestnut was too long, so it had to be Nathan. I can't imagine how Joey Chestnut can eat 80 hot dogs. I also cannot figure out why he doesn't weigh 500 lbs. Overall, a real toughie of a CW, a real workout, too many W/Os to list, but I did manage to FIR in 22 minutes. Thanx RG for this tough but sometimes fun CW. HG @ 9:44, that's a beautiful vehicle. My best guess a '57 Chevy Bel Air. They looked so beautiful, but what death-traps. Correct me if I'm wrong: steel dashboard, no airbags, in fact no seat belts. No collapsible steering column. No built-in roll bar. Oy. You mention lunch room trays. I went to UW-Madison, and in winter we would borrow trays from the dinning rooms and slide down Bascom Hill. The hill ended with about a three foot drop-off to the sidewalk, and just beyond that the road, yet I don't recall anyone getting killed, or even hurt badly. I also liked your link to a cashier from back in the day. Thanx too to Bill for all the time and effort put into today's write-up. If someone can 'splain "ERM".....
Well, puzzles start getting a bit tougher on Thursdays, and this was no exception. But it was still interesting with lots of neat items, so you still deserve many thanks, Rebecca, and so do you, Bill and Teri, for your always helpful commentary.
ALAS, this was a bit of an URBAN challenge that required a LOTTA TACT to CRACK and UNLEASH some of the tougher clues. When I saw that OWL I was hoping for some animals, and we did soon get a COW and a ROO and a TAPIR, but that was pretty much it, unless you UNLEASH that BUG. At this point I decided it was time to have some ICED MOCHA to go with some SAUSAGE, while listening to the STEREO. Yes, I feel less SORE and a lot better now.
Have a great sunny day, everybody.
I agree that this regime seems to be determined to make ex-puzzlers out of us. That will not happen, but it may very well make me an ex-LAT XWord solver.
Erm…is that too direct?
And that’s the first and last time I’ll ever use that “word”.
YP here ~ I tried to define ERM as “a word seemingly made up by a CW constructor for the sake of fill, which nobody has ever uttered”. Then I looked it up and supposedly they say it in Britain as a form of “uh” or “er” as a pause in speech when thinking of what to say next, or something like that 🤷♂️.
I’ve seen ERM in an LAT puzzle three times in the last six months, each time with a different clue, today I needed perps cuz it wasn’t something I thought of off the top of my head.
Uncle Fred @2:00 PM "ERM ... I can't!"
Haven’t finished but I’m going to keep working on it so I haven’t read any posts yet. I find it helps to put the puzzle down for a while and then when I pick it up later I can see the clues in a different way. It just means that I finish late at night and then figure no one will see my post anyway, which is why I haven’t been on here the last few days.
This one has been a fun challenge - maybe too much of a challenge but still enjoyable. I was determined to get 58a and just did it. Knew it had something to do with bugs…
But I don’t know if I’m going to get past these unknowns in the SE: I have 45d THE_A_I (the magi?? idk what Crèche is), 55a O_B_E (I have an art degree but I don’t think I know this color-blending technique), 56d _U_E and 63a _E_A. My WAGs right now are OMBRE, RUNE & GENA.
Favorite answer is ONENIL (yay sports!). If anyone ever says the score of a soccer game is “one-zero” or “one to nothing”, you know they’re not a soccer fan. Only issue with it is the clue needs a ‘maybe’ because the result of a goal could also be like, well now you’re down 5-1.
Uncle Fred, I remember having difficulty climbing up Bascom Hill. I believe it was Saint Paddy's Day, and I was trying to navigate back to the dorm from the Var-Bar.
Enjoyed the FEATURE NOT A BUG theme. This is an expression I often use.
Happy to see GAUSS and IRENA. These are people who made heroic contributions to humanity. Whose names are worthy of remembering. Perhaps a bit more than an actor on some show on some streaming service.
Two years ago we climbed the Arc de Triomphe to get a magnificent view of the Champs-Élysées all the way to the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde.
I included a second shot of us in the same location with a familiar backdrop.
From Yesterday:
sumdaze Thanks for the further information about how you lived in Japan. When was that?
I seem to be in the minority here, but I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. It was challenging, but doable. It took me about 30 minutes to finish it without the use of red letters or outside resources.
The diversity of experiences and backgrounds of the members of this group is so interesting. Some of us say we’ve never heard of the expression FEATURE NOT A BUG, and here’s Picard @2:59 saying that’s an expression he often uses.
Hi All!
TDNF (Technical DNF - I had to lookup #Names).
Thanks Rebecca for the grid to pass our "all hands" meeting. Thanks waseeley for filling in knowledge gaps.
LOTSA WOs: Tesla -> GAUSE, ache -> SORE, reLEASe -> UNLEASH, bye -> ERM (read that as "Well, see ya...")
ESPs: N/A 'cuz I cheated on the names
Fav: After yesterday's MEL*, I'll go with GAGs :-)
Everything wrong with me brain is A FEATURE NOT A BUG (or so I tell myself). I enjoyed the Temple Grandin vids, wasleey.
Picard - I don't understand half of the French you used but cool pix. We're on the same page w/ != bugs.
MManatee - I remember the degauss button on monitors, but... tapes? Wouldn't that wipe them?
//I've used degaussers on numbers of hard drives before beating them with a sledge. I still have a TEAC turntable :-)
Jinx - don't hold your breath for Windows 12. It's supposedly next year but...
//I'm getting Eldest a new laptop; the plastic holding the screws to the screen's hinge went Tango Uniform.
Cheers, -T
*Anyone ever read Anne's & Mel's son's books? Max consults for [REDACTED] & is tack-sharp.
More on Max discussing his father & son? Sure.
Please! To much of Rebecca Goldstein-she is on her own plain and very tedious.
Get better at the game.
I just stopped in to say hi to you all. Been away on a week of fun vacation with the kids and grandkids.
Monkey, AnonT Yes, diverse backgrounds here, indeed! A FEATURE NOT A BUG indeed is sometimes used with tongue in cheek to deal with an unintended consequence. My mentor here at UCSB Physics said that sometimes the best solution for turning a BUG into a FEATURE is just to rewrite the manual!
AnonTPerhaps you can think of an example and/or add to this?
I should have capitalized why I included those photos. It was in reference to ELYSEE.
Picard @6:29 PM Yes, but users don't read manuals 😀
I think I read halfway through the clues before I even got ONE fILl; this cw was a real BUGgah! I’m with @Copy Editor — both the ladies need a good spanking for submitting us to this sort of ☯️ insanity; a pretty clever theme, but the overall experience was ruined by the content. ERM I can get along with, thanks to hangin’ out with too many Brits over the years; but DUELIST? What, the Ridley Scott flick? Getting pretty bloody obtuse here, ladies…
Pretty much the best fun today came from Waseeley’s overview.
@MalMan, I’m also wondering if you didn’t mean “tape heads” on deGAUSSing — I regularly used my trusty Nakamichi tool on the heads back in my taping days, but took great pains to keep it away from tapes themselves!
Since someone mentioned it: This new FEATURE in the blog that sends the page back to the top every time one deviates to a link is a BUG that needs to be stomped into oblivion at first opportunity; it’s maddening. The only way I’ve found to beat it is to open links in a new tab — that doesn’t seem to trigger the Return to Top ROACH.
====> Darren / L.A.
Some reaches here. Do not mind a challange, but these are getting so far out there. papa roach??? gauss??
How is odor a fragrance? Odor implies a stench.
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