If April Showersbring Mayflowers, what to Mayflowers bring? The word Shower can follow the last word in each theme to give us a new concept.
20-Across. Winter weather caused by cold air moving over warm water: LAKE EFFECT SNOW. Snow Shower.
I can't recall hearing the term Snow Shower, but according to NOAA, a Snow Shower is: is a short duration of moderate snowfall. Some accumulation is possible.
32-Across. Hopping African primate: BUSH BABY. Baby Shower.
39-Across. Malady that causes the sniffles: HEAD COLD. Cold Shower. Maybe this is where one has shower thoughts.
51-Across. Mundane musings, or what the last words of 20-, 32-, and 39-Across have in common?: SHOWER THOUGHTS. I don't believe I have ever heard the expression Shower Thoughts. According to Collins Dictionary, a Shower Though is "a sudden idea that occurs to a person during an unconnected mundane activity." It doesn't have to be a thought or idea you had in the shower, however
Across:
1. Many a home in the Italian countryside: VILLA. A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house.
6. Automotive historian Jay: LENO. Although best known for being a stand-up comedian and television host, Jay Leno (né Douglas Muir Leno; b. Apr. 28, 1950) is also know for having a huge collection of cars and motorcycles. [Name # 1.]
10. Friends: PALS.
14. Flawless: IDEAL.
15. Smell: ODOR.
16. Bryce Canyon state: UTAH.
17. Undertaking: DOING.
18. "O patria mia" opera: AIDA. This opera appears often in the puzzles. I have given its history on several occasions.
19. Old Roman garb: TOGA.
23. "Downton __": PBS historical drama: ABBEY. This television show was a favorite Dudley, one of one of our early commenters.
24. Ancient strings: LUTES.
25. Seize: NAB.
28. "Totally sweet!": RAD.
29. Philippine money: PESO. 1 US Dollar is worth approximately 56.16 Philippine pesos.
30. Like many parking garage ramps: ONE WAY.
36. "__-Hero": Taylor Swift hit: ANTI. I'll spare your ears. [Name # 2.]
37. Cup on a hook: MUG.
38. Director Kazan: ELIA. Elia Kazan (né Elias Kazantzoglou; Sept. 7, 1909 ~ Sept. 28, 2003) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles. He became a controversial figure in Hollywood for naming names in before House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s. [Name # 3.]
42. Highway divider: MEDIAN. In New Orleans, it's called the Neutral Ground.
44. A long, long time: EONS.
45. "Scrunch out the crunch" hair product: GEL.
46. "You should know better": TSK.
47. Begin: START.
49. Principle: TENET.
55. Caitlin Clark's college team: IOWA. Caitlin Clark (née Caitlin Elizabeth Clari; b. Jan. 22, 2002) now plays professional basketball for the Indiana Fever. [Name # 4.]
56. Like Big Bend National Park: ARID. Big Bend National Park is in southwest Texas. Much of the park in in the Chihuahuan Desert, hence it is ARID.
57. No-frills font: ARIAL. This is Arial. This is Times. Everything you wanted to know about the origin of the Arial font but never cared to ask.
59. Summer top: TANK.
60. Preserve with salt: CURE.
61. Guts: NERVE.
62. Otherwise: ELSE.
63. Canvas shoe with a Monster High collaboration: KEDS. I'll pass on these shoes. [Name adjacent.]
64. Coarse fabric: TWEED. We saw the Tweed fabric in the Tuesday August 20, 2024 puzzle. See 20-Across in that puzzle.
Down:
1. TikTok post, briefly: VID. Short for Video.
2. Object of adoration: IDOL. Idol has become a frequent Tuesday guest. See 6-Down in last week's puzzle.
3. Heroine from Alderaan: LEIA. Alderaan is a fictional planet in the Star Wars franchise. It was the home planet of Princess Leia, portrayed by Carrie Fischer (Oct. 21, 1956 ~ Dec. 27, 2016). See 12-Down in last Tuesday's puzzle. [Name # 5, fictional.]
4. "Sri __ Matha": South Asian national anthem: LANKA. The name of the anthem translates to Mother Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the tear-drop shaped country at the tip of India.
5. Subject with an "x" factor?: ALGEBRA. More than you ever wanted to know about Algebra.
6. Lounged around: LOAFED.
7. Enlighten: EDIFY.
8. Lymph __: NODE.
9. Ancient prophets: ORACLES.
10. Finalizes for printing, as a newspaper: PUTS TO BED.
11. Back up an apology, say: ATONE.
12. Burial place of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti: LAGOS. Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (Oct. 15, 1938 ~ Aug. 2, 1997) was a Nigerian musician and political activist. Not your usual Tuesday guest. [Name # 6.]
13. "Killing Eve" actress Fiona: SHAW. Fiona Shaw (née Fiona Mary Wilson; b. July 10, 1958) is an Irish actress. Killing Eve is a British spy television series. [Name # 7.]
21. Modern trading post: EBAY.
22. Bottom: TUSH. Today's Yiddish lesson.
25. "Barbie" co-writer Baumbach: NOAH. Noah Baumbach (b. Sept. 3, 1969) is an American filmmaker and is married to Greta Gerwig (née Greta Celeste Gerwig; b. Aug. 4, 1983), who was the other co-writer of Barbie. Today is his 55th Birthday. [Name # 8.]
26. Green Gables girl: ANNE. Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 children's novel written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne Shirley is an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who wanted to adopt a boy to help them on their farm. The story takes place in Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can visit the Anne of Green Gables museum. [Name # 9, fictional.]
27. __ carotene: BETA. Beta Carotene, also written as β-Carotene, is an organic, colored red-orange pigment abundant in fungi, plants, and fruits.
29. Short-muzzled dog: PUG.
31. Not at all sleepy: WIDE AWAKE.
32. __ vase: BUD.
33. Dismounted: ALIT.
34. Lack of objectivity: BIAS.
35. Tug sharply: YANK.
37. Chicago Fire org.: MLS. Chicago Fire is a soccer team, hence, MLS stands for Major League Soccer.
40. Apple part: CORE.
41. Likely to succeed: ON TRACK.
42. Cafe reading: MENU.
43. Like an ingeniously simple mathematical proof: ELEGANT. More than you ever wanted to know about Beautiful and Elegant Math proofs.
45. Stardew Valley mine finds: GEODES.
47. Underwater bank: SHOAL. I grew up near the Isle of Shoals, a group of small islands and tidal ledges located about 6 miles off the east coast between Maine and New Hampshire.
48. Mini cities: TOWNS. Really? Towns are just mini cities?
49. Last stop before home?: THIRD. Think baseball. Third base is the last stop before running into home base.
When I saw “cold” and “snow” I thought there would be some kind of winter weather theme. But “baby” surprised me. But the reveal tied it all together nicely. FIR, so I’m happy.
A SNOW shower was a common weather forecast in my ute. Unfortunately, blizzard appeared even more often. Didn't need the theme to solve this one, and that's a good thing. Thanx, Kelly and Hahtoolah. (Enjoyed your "arial view." Is a lute usually only 2-5/8" tall?)
PUG: The lady nextdoor has a PUG named Frank. She also has a mutt named Maizey. She's got a hot dog and a corndog.
TOWNS: Aren't just small versions of cities. Cities must be incorporated. Our little town is actually a city, incorporated so Houston can't swallow it up. To further confuse things, neighboring us is the City of Woodbranch Village.
Had a learning moment last night. NatGeo is under the Disney umbrella. We were planning to watch two episodes of OceanXplorer only to see the DirecTV black screen. Our local ABC affiliate is also Disney-owned and has also got the black screen. I'm sure LSU fans were upset. DirecTV waited until the Saturday game was about to start, and then pulled the plug with no warning. ESPN is also a Disney channel. Who gnu?
Bud vase? Seems odd. Lake effect snow? Way too familiar with that.
I enjoyed traveling to Big Bend National Park and Bryce Canyon N.P. Bryce looks like it's another planet. It rained steadily while I was there, so I want to get back. Big Bend could've used the water - it was warm while we were there, although we were able to cool off a little in the Rio Grande.
Good Morning, crossword friends. D-O, where I grew up it wasn't intermittent snow ~ it was all or nothing, so we never said we were experiencing a snow shower.
QOD: It’s very hard to find someone who’s successful and dislikes what they do. ~ Malcolm Gladwell (né Malcolm Timothy Gladwell; b. Sept. 3, 1963), Canadian journalist
FIR, but erased lyres for LUTES, elie for ELIA, ucon for IOWA, and anna for ANNE. (I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out Ha2la's "Anne Shirley is an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake..." Are there two characters named Anne Shirley? Did she send herself?)
Did you see that we NABbed the jet plane of the president of Venezuela? Isn't that an act of war? (It's a great little jet - a Dassault Falcon 900EX.)
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but SEC Network and ACC Network are also Disney properties and are dark on DirecTV. To add insult to injury, our local Fox affiliate is airing the Deadskins instead of the Cowboys Sunday.
I wonder if the underwater bank has an (crossword favorite) ATM?
I wore KEDS as a kid, but they never had anything fancy in those days.
Thanks to Kelly for the mostly-fun puzzle. For me there seemed to be some odd and/or obscure cluing that detracted from the fun, but that may not be entirely your fault. And thanks to Ha2la for another fun tour, and for convincing me that I want nothing to do with that Gables book.
FIR, but I gotta ask, what are shower thoughts? I've never heard of this! And the list of "never heard of"s goes on throughout this puzzle. Is this really Tuesday? This is at best a Thursday puzzle. I didn't need the theme to solve this, but rather needed the parts to solve the reveal. And more proper names than was necessary. Overall, yuk, and definitely not enjoyable. But it's done so there's that!
I did not find this especially difficult except for Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti who I have never hear of, nor that style of music. Bud Vase may be odd but not as odd as Bud Bundy. Not sure what you have against Taylor Swift's music but her story is inspiring. Fall is about to fall but here it is mostly rain coming down. Some CCR? Someone told me long ago / There's a calm before the storm / I know, it's been comin' for some time / When it's over, so they say / It'll rain a sunny day /.
Hola! This puzzle was appropriate for me as I have been WIDE AWAKE all night. It has been one of those nights when sleep eluded me. Luckily I have a good book to read and as soon as the newspaper arrived I could do the puzzle. I have no idea about SHOWER THOUGHTS unless they are thoughts during a shower? In a convoluted way I can see thoughts occurring while SNOW is falling, also about a BABY SHOWER, and perhaps during a COLD SHOWER. Maybe Kelly will stop by to enlighten us. Susan, your narratives are always impressive and entertaining and I look forward to your choice of cartoons. Luckily most of LAGOS was already filled when I saw the clue. The burial place of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti is like a foreign language to me. In fact, it is a foreign language! Enjoy your day, everyone! I only hope I can concentrate later today as it is a money count day
Good Morning! I was breezing along until I got to the south central & southeast.
I needed perps/WAGs for GEL, ARID, LEIA (as clued), LAGOS, SHAW, NOAH, MLS, ELEGANT, GEODES. Wow, more than I thought! Okay, mostly unknown names & places with familiar word fills. Aha! - tricky clues.
I choose ARIAL, san-serif for me!! I guess I’m a no-frills gal.
Thanks, Hah2lah! Your posts are so amusing and informative. Your closing art was timeless funny!
I forgot to mention that KEDS were what we wore as kids, too. In fact, they were the most available brand. Sometimes they cost as little as two dollars.
Not too diffficult. The NW was the last to fill. For a while I was trying to think of a kind of BRA that would have the letter x, like maybe large? Then it hit me. Oh! One word ALGEBRA. Neat clue.
Bryce Canyon is indeed surreal. I’ve been there twice. I also enjoyed, though I had never read the books, Anne of the Green Gables museum on PEI.
Thanks Hahtoolah for the fun review, especially that last joke.
This seemed Tuesday appropriate. All names were easily perped. At first I thought the theme would be weather. One silly mistake gave me one bad cell. "Shower thoughts" was new to me but it makes sense. There are many internet references for shower thoughts. Some examples are deep, some funny. Snow showers are common here. I am happy when a snow storm forecast is corrected to snow showers. A have several bud vases. They are small, slender and hold a single stem, usually a rose bud. Bryce Canyon is my favorite western national park. The hoodoos are fantastic. Jinx, my heart goes out to you and your wife. It is truly heart breaking. My mother had Alzheimers.
NatGeo WAS a Fox channel but Fox sold most of their non-news networks and Sudios a few years ago to Disney, but there are so many partial ownerships of broadast and streaming networks it's hard to tell which company owns what.
Thay also pulled the plug at match point for a tennis match at the US OPEN.
" SHOWER THOUGHTS. I don't believe I have ever heard the expression" Neither have I. But the LAT wants a theme for M-F puzzles and there are only so many themes that haven't been used.
ANTI-Hero and any other Swift song are unknowns but the perps were here. I guess Patti didn't want "_____-perspirant" as a clue but there is an ODOR in the puzzle, unless your THOUGHTS were about taking a SHOWER.
i didn't know the Ceylonese national anthem is but LANKA was an easy fill after Sri.
KEDS, LAGOS, SHAW, NOAH, GEODES- not known as clued.
D-O. SEC= Southeast Conference. Texas A&M used to be one of their big schools. ACC=Atlantic Coast Conference North Carolina Staten at Raleigh, and that other school in Chappel Hill which must not be named are members. If you were yanking chains ya got me
The usual super busy after-a long-holiday-weekend. May yet get to the puzzle
But
From yesterday
PRNDL
1950 (year I was born, new baby, new car) My folks had a brand new cool dark green Dodge Meadowbrook. Standard Transmission. When it saw its last legs Dad in 1960 Dad traded it in for a used 1958 Ford Fairlane with Automatic Transmission. Mom was driving the recently acquired Fairlane and stopped at a red light. My younger brother Rich and I were goofing around in the back seat. Mom kept warning us to stop. The light turned green.
She forgot she was in the automatic Fairlane and not in the standard Dodge and grabbed the shift thinking she was putting it in first gear but actually into Reverse and plowed into the car behind us.
YooperPhil here, reporting from Somewhere in Time on Mackinac Island today, on our deck watching the tenders ferrying in the passengers from the three cruise ships anchored a short distance out, a gem of a morning! Currently experiencing an Island wide power outage which is probably really hurting the businesses. As far as the puzzle goes, I FIRed in good time, 12:14 (hi CanadianEh!🇨🇦). Took perps for NOAH, BUSHBABY, and of course the burial ground of the legendary Fela Kuti, which will probably stand as worst clue of the month only 3 days into September. When I was a kid the two most popular shoe brands (we called them tennis shoes and not sneakers) were PF Flyers and Keds Red Ball Jets, and surprisingly are still available today. Thanks Kelly for the CW and Hahtoolah for EDIFYing it for us!
My thoughts? (You can skip to the next comment now...)
Star Wars names bug me. I just feel like they were stolen from something else just to make up a new word. Alderaan has always bothered me, it was stolen from...
There are many, but another case in point is the the name Padme Amidala. Obviously stolen from...
Thank you. My mother had it too, as did my dad's mother. Concerning. Makes me wonder whenever I misplace something like my keys. I'm still a year younger than my wife was when she received her diagnosis. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, It's always something.
Lovely truly Tuesday CW with some easy long fills, like 10D, 31D, and 43D, that really helped me FIR in good time for a Tuesday (for me) of 12 minutes. I have been to Lagos, but the one in Portugal. Nice little port TOWN. Some discussion about snow. I grew up in Wisconsin and remember rushing to the window in the middle of the night to watch very large snow-plows take a running start and crash their V-shaped plow into huge snow drifts, maybe 8' high. They would get partially through the drift, then bog down, back up twenty or thirty feet, rush forward, chains on tires clanking, and crash into it again and again, until they finally cleared the street. Of course that put a huge snowbank in our driveway. Guess whose job it was to get up extra early and go shovel the snow out of the driveway so dad could get to work? With a shovel. When I left for college dad got a snowblower. KEDS were shoes I too wore in the summer. Very inexpensive, rubber soles glued to canvas tops. I looked up bush baby to see what they look like, and the word "cute" is an understatement. I had no problem with the theme of "Shower Thoughts", there really is such a thing. All-in-all, a fun CW with nice clues and fun fill. Too many names, 11 by my expansive count, but only 4 DNKs in the list. Thanx for the fun, KR. Every blog moderator has something special to offer, all are great and truly much appreciated. For Hahtoolah it's the humor and cartoons offered up in addition to the incredibly fun and informative write-up. Thanx Hahtoolah for all the time and effort you put into your write-ups.
From Yesterday: sumdaze Thank you for your concern, advice and good wishes. And thank you for your explanation about the Ikua Hirayama CAMEL art. Way cool that you also went to that museum near Hiroshima! I would not have known about it if not for our tour guide.
I went back and looked at my photos from that museum visit. I noticed there was a small CARAVAN of CAMELS outside the museum. Did you notice that?
Enjoyed the SHOWER THOUGHTS theme. Learning moment for this term. Thought a CAFE READING might be a POEM.
Last to fill was the center due to unknown MLS/team and BUD VASE. Learning moments.
I have a stash of PHILIPPINE PESOs from my many adventures there. Did not realize they are declining in value now. They used to be fairly stable against the dollar.
FIR thanks to generous perpendicular entries and common sense. Not surprising, for instance, that GEODES would be found in a mine, but Stardew Valley? Since Hahtoolah didn't explain it, I Googled to learn it's a video game.
Taylor Swift is adored by three generations of my family. Her ANTI-Hero song is not bad.
Anyone who keeps a few vases on hand for the occasional cut flower probably owns a BUD vase -- a little vase meant to hold a single stem.
As a child, I wished I had KEDS. My mother bought no-name shoes. I'm sure her thrift explains why she is able to live independently today in her 90s.
Final note: Anne of Green Gables is a lovely book. My daughter and I read it aloud, taking turns, when she was in first grade. I was amazed that she understood the action in spite of the flowery language.
Many thanks to Kelly for an interesting-- and fair! -- puzzle, and to Hahtoolah for reviewing and illustrating.
Neat Monday puzzle, many thanks, Kelly. And thanks too for your helpful commentary, Hahtoolah.
The puzzle made me wonder if it might be IDEAL to live in a VILLA in UTAH, with some PALS to keep you company. You could all be wearing TOGAs, and listening to someone playing a LUTE while listening to AIDA on the radio. But if someone got a HEAD COLD they'd need some GEL and a SHOWER, hoping to get a CURE.
Oh! Oh! I finally got it, after noodling on it on and off all day. "Anne Shirley is an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who wanted to adopt a boy to help them on their farm." Someone should (crossword favorite) DELE the second "Anne Shirley." (Or am I still missing it?)
You know, Anne of Green Gables was just the first book in a popular series that took Anne through growing up, teaching, marriage, and motherhood.. That series took me through all my youth, and some years ago when I discovered that my granddaughter was reading it, we took a trip to PEI. There was a very active tourist industry, ad we did it all! Fond meory
Testing Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Kelly and Hahtoolah. Well this was not a walk in the park for me today, and although I FIRed, it was not in good time. But I got’r done so I should be happy like Subgenius.
I wanted VILLA but also wanted PIC for 1D. That held me up until I finally saw VID. Hand up for changing Lyres to LUTES, and waited for perps to confirm ELIA not ELIE. I’ll echo Lucina about my first thought at 12D LAGOS clue.
This Canadian rarely sees snow showers, but I am familiar with LAKE EFFECT SNOW. Fortunately I am far enough away from Buffalo and Fort Erie to avoid the severity of their storms. Sorry, I am having difficulty creating the links n this new format. It is too jumpy!! https://weather.buffalostate.edu/sites/weather.buffalostate.edu/files/uploads/photos/PDF/Lake%20Effect2.pdf
I noted MUG crossing PUG, and our math lessons with ALGEBRA and ELEGANT. ANNE is a Canadian classic. Hahtoolah’s link takes you to one tourist attraction, but that house is not Green Gables. It is at the Green Gables Heritage Site. https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables
A bit of crunch for a Tuesday, but the themers made for fast fill. Thanks Kelly for the puzzle.
I'm familiar with SHOWER THOUGHTS as an idle "brilliant! Idea"
Thanks Hahtoolah for another bang-up review.
WOs: N/A ESPs: ANTI, MLS as clued (thought Chicago Fire was a TV show :-)), GEODES (as clued - ILU, Stardew Valley is a video game) Fav: Nothing beats an ELEGANT proof.
LAKE EFFECT SNOW - I grew up downstate IL and always heard about Chicago getting LES from Lake Michigan. Schools didn't close ☹
BUD vase - we have a few. They're great for the remaining flower (or two) of a bouquet. //I buy DW flowers every week so...
I read ANNE of Green Gables in HS and saw Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables IRL on a trip to Salem, MA (Mom did not care for the Wicca Halloween book I brought back for the girls :-))
FLN: TTP - Green Acres PRNDL VID was cute. Jinx - God Speed man. Picard - you too w/ that wrist. And, sumdaze, you gave me another reason like you... #StickShift
And now for a crossword-fav... some emo from The CURE.
Well, somehow I made it through the counting! I believe I have a wonderful guardian angel who watches over me. our supervisor, who usually is not here, was present and she made sure I had everything in the right columns. I didn't tell her I was short on sleep but somehow she sensed I needed assistance. BUD VASES tend to accumulate from the many holidays, birthdays, etc. I used to take them to a local florist but it's no longer there. I should find another one.
Musings -Another beautiful day on the prairie. San Diego has nothing on us (for a short time). -Our league played its final rounds and we had a nice lunch. -Buffalo N.Y. fights horrible LAKE EFFECT SNOW but built a new FB stadium with no roof! No, really! -On Sunday night, we had appointment TV for Downton Abbey -Caitlin has had the strength to withstand all the physical and emotional stress she has endured despite putting the moribund WNBA on the map. -Did anyone ever own a TWEED jacket with leather elbow patches? -ALGEBRA teachers seem to give kids a lot of problems -We kept our daughters ON TRACK to get their BA’s in four years. -Did Sonny Liston THROW the fight against Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali? -Anonymous: Give me a name and I’ll put you in your Yooper region if it’s on the map or not.
Thanks Kelly for the cleansing puzzle! FAV: WIDE AWAKE Picard@11:48. I cannot remember if I saw the little caravan sculptures or not. Thanks for posting the pic! Thanks to Hahtoolah for giving us her take on this one and, as always, for the smiles! FLN. TTP. Saw the "Green Acres" PRNDL. Loved, "There's no 'B'." Best quote of the day goes to Uncle Fred @ 11:37. "When I left for college dad got a snowblower."
Never had a TWEED jacket, but I've owned three distinctive ones. When I was a teen I did one of those study abroad vacations. I bought a black velvet suit. The only time I wore it was to a Jimi Hendrix concert in Cincinnati. The second was around the same time. My dad bought me a brown suede jacket to match the one he thought he looked so cool in. I only wore it on the rare occasions when he wore his. The third was a black motorcycle jacket that I bought at a police supply store. I was working at a 2-way radio shop that did a lot of installations and repairs for small-TOWN fire and police radio systems, and I was there to pick up a couple of minor parts. They said that they would sell me a jacket, but theirs all had snaps on the chest for mounting a badge. They agreed to special order one without snaps. After it came in I wore it a lot, but within a couple of years I got drunk at a dollar-a-pitcher beer night near the UK campus and left it at the bar. I returned the next day but it wasn't there, and of course no one had turned it in.
As a native Southern Californian, there was (I think in 1948...) 2" of snow in L.A. My parents took photos to record the wonder. But I was cured of snowphilia by 3 years in New York -- pictures of a house in Buffalo with drifts 50 feet tall one winter did me in.
Thank you, Kelly, and thank you, Hahoolah. A fun puzzle and a fun review. A reason to smile starting the day.
Dash T, and sumdaze, I liked the Ava Gabor PRNDL video. Green Acres was a show that I seldom watched. My my older sister was a fan. She controlled the TV. I was developing my professional baseball and basketball skills at the time. Neither panned out.
I don't think that either of you would have been around to see the original airings. :-)
I had to laugh at UncleFred's comment about his dad getting a snowblower. I shoveled my fair share of lake effect snow in NE Ohio. Later, after relocating from Houston to Chicago, two of the first things I did here was to have my driveway blacktopped and getting a snowblower. I don't have a problem with winter. I didn't mind the heat and high humidity in Houston. But 100 consecutive days of 100° temperatures (so far) in Phoenix? No way. That kind of streak never happened while I was in Houston, even though it could get miserable at times.
49 comments:
When I saw “cold” and “snow” I thought there would be some kind of winter weather theme.
But “baby” surprised me. But the reveal tied it all together nicely. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
A SNOW shower was a common weather forecast in my ute. Unfortunately, blizzard appeared even more often. Didn't need the theme to solve this one, and that's a good thing. Thanx, Kelly and Hahtoolah. (Enjoyed your "arial view." Is a lute usually only 2-5/8" tall?)
PUG: The lady nextdoor has a PUG named Frank. She also has a mutt named Maizey. She's got a hot dog and a corndog.
TOWNS: Aren't just small versions of cities. Cities must be incorporated. Our little town is actually a city, incorporated so Houston can't swallow it up. To further confuse things, neighboring us is the City of Woodbranch Village.
Had a learning moment last night. NatGeo is under the Disney umbrella. We were planning to watch two episodes of OceanXplorer only to see the DirecTV black screen. Our local ABC affiliate is also Disney-owned and has also got the black screen. I'm sure LSU fans were upset. DirecTV waited until the Saturday game was about to start, and then pulled the plug with no warning. ESPN is also a Disney channel. Who gnu?
what does 'Name adjacent' mean?
Took 5:39 today for me to walk in.
Bud vase? Seems odd.
Lake effect snow? Way too familiar with that.
I enjoyed traveling to Big Bend National Park and Bryce Canyon N.P. Bryce looks like it's another planet. It rained steadily while I was there, so I want to get back. Big Bend could've used the water - it was warm while we were there, although we were able to cool off a little in the Rio Grande.
Good Morning, crossword friends. D-O, where I grew up it wasn't intermittent snow ~ it was all or nothing, so we never said we were experiencing a snow shower.
QOD: It’s very hard to find someone who’s successful and dislikes what they do. ~ Malcolm Gladwell (né Malcolm Timothy Gladwell; b. Sept. 3, 1963), Canadian journalist
FIR, but erased lyres for LUTES, elie for ELIA, ucon for IOWA, and anna for ANNE. (I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out Ha2la's "Anne Shirley is an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake..." Are there two characters named Anne Shirley? Did she send herself?)
Did you see that we NABbed the jet plane of the president of Venezuela? Isn't that an act of war? (It's a great little jet - a Dassault Falcon 900EX.)
ZZ Top knew a thing or two about TUSH.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but SEC Network and ACC Network are also Disney properties and are dark on DirecTV. To add insult to injury, our local Fox affiliate is airing the Deadskins instead of the Cowboys Sunday.
I wonder if the underwater bank has an (crossword favorite) ATM?
I wore KEDS as a kid, but they never had anything fancy in those days.
Thanks to Kelly for the mostly-fun puzzle. For me there seemed to be some odd and/or obscure cluing that detracted from the fun, but that may not be entirely your fault. And thanks to Ha2la for another fun tour, and for convincing me that I want nothing to do with that Gables book.
FIR, but I gotta ask, what are shower thoughts? I've never heard of this! And the list of "never heard of"s goes on throughout this puzzle. Is this really Tuesday? This is at best a Thursday puzzle.
I didn't need the theme to solve this, but rather needed the parts to solve the reveal. And more proper names than was necessary.
Overall, yuk, and definitely not enjoyable. But it's done so there's that!
I did not find this especially difficult except for Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti who I have never hear of, nor that style of music. Bud Vase may be odd but not as odd as Bud Bundy. Not sure what you have against Taylor Swift's music but her story is inspiring. Fall is about to fall but here it is mostly rain coming down. Some CCR? Someone told me long ago / There's a calm before the storm / I know, it's been comin' for some time / When it's over, so they say / It'll rain a sunny day /.
Hola! This puzzle was appropriate for me as I have been WIDE AWAKE all night. It has been one of those nights when sleep eluded me. Luckily I have a good book to read and as soon as the newspaper arrived I could do the puzzle. I have no idea about SHOWER THOUGHTS unless they are thoughts during a shower? In a convoluted way I can see thoughts occurring while SNOW is falling, also about a BABY SHOWER, and perhaps during a COLD SHOWER. Maybe Kelly will stop by to enlighten us.
Susan, your narratives are always impressive and entertaining and I look forward to your choice of cartoons.
Luckily most of LAGOS was already filled when I saw the clue. The burial place of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti is like a foreign language to me. In fact, it is a foreign language!
Enjoy your day, everyone! I only hope I can concentrate later today as it is a money count day
Good Morning! I was breezing along until I got to the south central & southeast.
I needed perps/WAGs for GEL, ARID, LEIA (as clued), LAGOS, SHAW, NOAH, MLS, ELEGANT, GEODES. Wow, more than I thought! Okay, mostly unknown names & places with familiar word fills. Aha! - tricky clues.
I choose ARIAL, san-serif for me!! I guess I’m a no-frills gal.
Thanks, Hah2lah! Your posts are so amusing and informative. Your closing art was timeless funny!
Anonymous@7:02
Name adjacent means the name right next to the subject in question. "Adjacent" means "next to" or "beside"
I forgot to mention that KEDS were what we wore as kids, too. In fact, they were the most available brand. Sometimes they cost as little as two dollars.
Today's Penny Press / Dell crossword has "like some tickets" for our very own ONE WAY. It is an otherwise forgettable puzzle.
Jinx, I've never heard of the SEC network, nor ACC. Securities and Exchange Commission? Air Conditioning Consortium? :)
Not too diffficult. The NW was the last to fill. For a while I was trying to think of a kind of BRA that would have the letter x, like maybe large? Then it hit me. Oh! One word ALGEBRA. Neat clue.
Bryce Canyon is indeed surreal. I’ve been there twice. I also enjoyed, though I had never read the books, Anne of the Green Gables museum on PEI.
Thanks Hahtoolah for the fun review, especially that last joke.
This seemed Tuesday appropriate. All names were easily perped.
At first I thought the theme would be weather.
One silly mistake gave me one bad cell.
"Shower thoughts" was new to me but it makes sense. There are many internet references for shower thoughts. Some examples are deep, some funny.
Snow showers are common here. I am happy when a snow storm forecast is corrected to snow showers.
A have several bud vases. They are small, slender and hold a single stem, usually a rose bud.
Bryce Canyon is my favorite western national park. The hoodoos are fantastic.
Jinx, my heart goes out to you and your wife. It is truly heart breaking. My mother had Alzheimers.
NatGeo WAS a Fox channel but Fox sold most of their non-news networks and Sudios a few years ago to Disney, but there are so many partial ownerships of broadast and streaming networks it's hard to tell which company owns what.
Thay also pulled the plug at match point for a tennis match at the US OPEN.
" SHOWER THOUGHTS. I don't believe I have ever heard the expression" Neither have I. But the LAT wants a theme for M-F puzzles and there are only so many themes that haven't been used.
ANTI-Hero and any other Swift song are unknowns but the perps were here. I guess Patti didn't want "_____-perspirant" as a clue but there is an ODOR in the puzzle, unless your THOUGHTS were about taking a SHOWER.
i didn't know the Ceylonese national anthem is but LANKA was an easy fill after Sri.
KEDS, LAGOS, SHAW, NOAH, GEODES- not known as clued.
d-otto, South Eastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.
D-O. SEC= Southeast Conference. Texas A&M used to be one of their big schools. ACC=Atlantic Coast Conference North Carolina Staten at Raleigh, and that other school in Chappel Hill which must not be named are members. If you were yanking chains ya got me
The usual super busy after-a long-holiday-weekend. May yet get to the puzzle
But
From yesterday
PRNDL
1950 (year I was born, new baby, new car)
My folks had a brand new cool dark green Dodge Meadowbrook. Standard Transmission. When it saw its last legs Dad in 1960 Dad traded it in for a used 1958 Ford Fairlane with Automatic Transmission. Mom was driving the recently acquired Fairlane and stopped at a red light. My younger brother Rich and I were goofing around in the back seat. Mom kept warning us to stop. The light turned green.
She forgot she was in the automatic Fairlane and not in the standard Dodge and grabbed the shift thinking she was putting it in first gear but actually into Reverse and plowed into the car behind us.
YooperPhil here, reporting from Somewhere in Time on Mackinac Island today, on our deck watching the tenders ferrying in the passengers from the three cruise ships anchored a short distance out, a gem of a morning! Currently experiencing an Island wide power outage which is probably really hurting the businesses. As far as the puzzle goes, I FIRed in good time, 12:14 (hi CanadianEh!🇨🇦). Took perps for NOAH, BUSHBABY, and of course the burial ground of the legendary Fela Kuti, which will probably stand as worst clue of the month only 3 days into September. When I was a kid the two most popular shoe brands (we called them tennis shoes and not sneakers) were PF Flyers and Keds Red Ball Jets, and surprisingly are still available today. Thanks Kelly for the CW and Hahtoolah for EDIFYing it for us!
HuskerG ~ I just looked at your blog map, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is missing! I feel so slighted 🤣
My thoughts?
(You can skip to the next comment now...)
Star Wars names bug me. I just feel like they were stolen from something else just to make up a new word. Alderaan has always bothered me, it was stolen from...
There are many, but another case in point is the the name Padme Amidala. Obviously stolen from...
Ok, it's not plagerism, they are new words. But it does lead me to another word you won't find in crosswords...
On a lighter note: other thoughts
Which makes me wonder, would a cat ever sing in the shower?
Maybe an alge bra is a bikini top that for some reason (probably tequila) was abandoned at the bottom of the pool for a while.
Thank you. My mother had it too, as did my dad's mother. Concerning. Makes me wonder whenever I misplace something like my keys. I'm still a year younger than my wife was when she received her diagnosis. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, It's always something.
Jinx came closer than Anon on SEC. It's the Southeastern Conference, with an "ern" but without a hyphen.
Lovely truly Tuesday CW with some easy long fills, like 10D, 31D, and 43D, that really helped me FIR in good time for a Tuesday (for me) of 12 minutes. I have been to Lagos, but the one in Portugal. Nice little port TOWN. Some discussion about snow. I grew up in Wisconsin and remember rushing to the window in the middle of the night to watch very large snow-plows take a running start and crash their V-shaped plow into huge snow drifts, maybe 8' high. They would get partially through the drift, then bog down, back up twenty or thirty feet, rush forward, chains on tires clanking, and crash into it again and again, until they finally cleared the street. Of course that put a huge snowbank in our driveway. Guess whose job it was to get up extra early and go shovel the snow out of the driveway so dad could get to work? With a shovel. When I left for college dad got a snowblower. KEDS were shoes I too wore in the summer. Very inexpensive, rubber soles glued to canvas tops. I looked up bush baby to see what they look like, and the word "cute" is an understatement. I had no problem with the theme of "Shower Thoughts", there really is such a thing. All-in-all, a fun CW with nice clues and fun fill. Too many names, 11 by my expansive count, but only 4 DNKs in the list. Thanx for the fun, KR. Every blog moderator has something special to offer, all are great and truly much appreciated. For Hahtoolah it's the humor and cartoons offered up in addition to the incredibly fun and informative write-up. Thanx Hahtoolah for all the time and effort you put into your write-ups.
From Yesterday:
sumdaze Thank you for your concern, advice and good wishes. And thank you for your explanation about the Ikua Hirayama CAMEL art. Way cool that you also went to that museum near Hiroshima! I would not have known about it if not for our tour guide.
I went back and looked at my photos from that museum visit. I noticed there was a small CARAVAN of CAMELS outside the museum. Did you notice that?
Here is that miniature CAMEL CARAVAN along with one of his other CAMEL paintings.
When were you there and how did you know to visit it?
Enjoyed the SHOWER THOUGHTS theme. Learning moment for this term. Thought a CAFE READING might be a POEM.
Last to fill was the center due to unknown MLS/team and BUD VASE. Learning moments.
I have a stash of PHILIPPINE PESOs from my many adventures there. Did not realize they are declining in value now. They used to be fairly stable against the dollar.
FIR thanks to generous perpendicular entries and common sense. Not surprising, for instance, that GEODES would be found in a mine, but Stardew Valley? Since Hahtoolah didn't explain it, I Googled to learn it's a video game.
Taylor Swift is adored by three generations of my family. Her ANTI-Hero song is not bad.
Anyone who keeps a few vases on hand for the occasional cut flower probably owns a BUD vase -- a little vase meant to hold a single stem.
As a child, I wished I had KEDS. My mother bought no-name shoes. I'm sure her thrift explains why she is able to live independently today in her 90s.
Final note: Anne of Green Gables is a lovely book. My daughter and I read it aloud, taking turns, when she was in first grade. I was amazed that she understood the action in spite of the flowery language.
Many thanks to Kelly for an interesting-- and fair! -- puzzle, and to Hahtoolah for reviewing and illustrating.
Neat Monday puzzle, many thanks, Kelly. And thanks too for your helpful commentary, Hahtoolah.
The puzzle made me wonder if it might be IDEAL to live in a VILLA in UTAH, with some PALS to keep you company. You could all be wearing TOGAs, and listening to someone playing a LUTE while listening to AIDA on the radio.
But if someone got a HEAD COLD they'd need some GEL and a SHOWER, hoping to get a CURE.
Have a good day, everybody.
Oh! Oh! I finally got it, after noodling on it on and off all day. "Anne Shirley is an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who wanted to adopt a boy to help them on their farm." Someone should (crossword favorite) DELE the second "Anne Shirley." (Or am I still missing it?)
Figuring that out took my dumb mass a lot longer than finishing the puzzle.
You know, Anne of Green Gables was just the first book in a popular series that took Anne through growing up, teaching, marriage, and motherhood.. That series took me through all my youth, and some years ago when I discovered that my granddaughter was reading it, we took a trip to PEI. There was a very active tourist industry, ad we did it all! Fond meory
Testing Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Kelly and Hahtoolah.
Well this was not a walk in the park for me today, and although I FIRed, it was not in good time. But I got’r done so I should be happy like Subgenius.
I wanted VILLA but also wanted PIC for 1D. That held me up until I finally saw VID.
Hand up for changing Lyres to LUTES, and waited for perps to confirm ELIA not ELIE.
I’ll echo Lucina about my first thought at 12D LAGOS clue.
This Canadian rarely sees snow showers, but I am familiar with LAKE EFFECT SNOW. Fortunately I am far enough away from Buffalo and Fort Erie to avoid the severity of their storms.
Sorry, I am having difficulty creating the links n this new format. It is too jumpy!!
https://weather.buffalostate.edu/sites/weather.buffalostate.edu/files/uploads/photos/PDF/Lake%20Effect2.pdf
I noted MUG crossing PUG, and our math lessons with ALGEBRA and ELEGANT.
ANNE is a Canadian classic. Hahtoolah’s link takes you to one tourist attraction, but that house is not Green Gables. It is at the Green Gables Heritage Site.
https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables
Wishing you all a great day.
Hi All!
A bit of crunch for a Tuesday, but the themers made for fast fill. Thanks Kelly for the puzzle.
I'm familiar with SHOWER THOUGHTS as an idle "brilliant! Idea"
Thanks Hahtoolah for another bang-up review.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: ANTI, MLS as clued (thought Chicago Fire was a TV show :-)), GEODES (as clued - ILU, Stardew Valley is a video game)
Fav: Nothing beats an ELEGANT proof.
LAKE EFFECT SNOW - I grew up downstate IL and always heard about Chicago getting LES from Lake Michigan. Schools didn't close ☹
BUD vase - we have a few. They're great for the remaining flower (or two) of a bouquet. //I buy DW flowers every week so...
I read ANNE of Green Gables in HS and saw Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables IRL on a trip to Salem, MA (Mom did not care for the Wicca Halloween book I brought back for the girls :-))
FLN: TTP - Green Acres PRNDL VID was cute. Jinx - God Speed man. Picard - you too w/ that wrist. And, sumdaze, you gave me another reason like you... #StickShift
And now for a crossword-fav... some emo from The CURE.
Cheers, -T
Even if it’s Tuesday.
That would depend on what you consider singing, as I’m sure the cat would have a lot to express.
Well, somehow I made it through the counting! I believe I have a wonderful guardian angel who watches over me. our supervisor, who usually is not here, was present and she made sure I had everything in the right columns. I didn't tell her I was short on sleep but somehow she sensed I needed assistance.
BUD VASES tend to accumulate from the many holidays, birthdays, etc. I used to take them to a local florist but it's no longer there. I should find another one.
Automatic transmissions cost extra. Our three-on-the-tree was R-1st-N-2nd-3rd. But with the clutch in, it was N everywhere.
Musings
-Another beautiful day on the prairie. San Diego has nothing on us (for a short time).
-Our league played its final rounds and we had a nice lunch.
-Buffalo N.Y. fights horrible LAKE EFFECT SNOW but built a new FB stadium with no roof! No, really!
-On Sunday night, we had appointment TV for Downton Abbey
-Caitlin has had the strength to withstand all the physical and emotional stress she has endured despite putting the moribund WNBA on the map.
-Did anyone ever own a TWEED jacket with leather elbow patches?
-ALGEBRA teachers seem to give kids a lot of problems
-We kept our daughters ON TRACK to get their BA’s in four years.
-Did Sonny Liston THROW the fight against Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali?
-Anonymous: Give me a name and I’ll put you in your Yooper region if it’s on the map or not.
Thanks Kelly for the cleansing puzzle! FAV: WIDE AWAKE
Picard@11:48. I cannot remember if I saw the little caravan sculptures or not. Thanks for posting the pic!
Thanks to Hahtoolah for giving us her take on this one and, as always, for the smiles!
FLN. TTP. Saw the "Green Acres" PRNDL. Loved, "There's no 'B'."
Best quote of the day goes to Uncle Fred @ 11:37. "When I left for college dad got a snowblower."
Never had a TWEED jacket, but I've owned three distinctive ones. When I was a teen I did one of those study abroad vacations. I bought a black velvet suit. The only time I wore it was to a Jimi Hendrix concert in Cincinnati. The second was around the same time. My dad bought me a brown suede jacket to match the one he thought he looked so cool in. I only wore it on the rare occasions when he wore his. The third was a black motorcycle jacket that I bought at a police supply store. I was working at a 2-way radio shop that did a lot of installations and repairs for small-TOWN fire and police radio systems, and I was there to pick up a couple of minor parts. They said that they would sell me a jacket, but theirs all had snaps on the chest for mounting a badge. They agreed to special order one without snaps. After it came in I wore it a lot, but within a couple of years I got drunk at a dollar-a-pitcher beer night near the UK campus and left it at the bar. I returned the next day but it wasn't there, and of course no one had turned it in.
Jinx at 2:02 PM, you solved the puzzle of that sentence. Hahtoolah had a few typos today! Unusual for her.
Husker Gary at 5:33 PM, that was our own YooperPhil who commented as Anonymous on September 3, 2024 at 10:27 AM.
Sorry, HG at 5:33 PM, that was YooperPhil again at 10:59 AM.
As a native Southern Californian, there was (I think in 1948...) 2" of snow in L.A. My parents took photos to record the wonder.
But I was cured of snowphilia by 3 years in New York -- pictures of a house in Buffalo with drifts 50 feet tall one winter did me in.
Thank you, Kelly, and thank you, Hahoolah. A fun puzzle and a fun review. A reason to smile starting the day.
Dash T, and sumdaze, I liked the Ava Gabor PRNDL video. Green Acres was a show that I seldom watched. My my older sister was a fan. She controlled the TV. I was developing my professional baseball and basketball skills at the time. Neither panned out.
I don't think that either of you would have been around to see the original airings. :-)
I had to laugh at UncleFred's comment about his dad getting a snowblower. I shoveled my fair share of lake effect snow in NE Ohio. Later, after relocating from Houston to Chicago, two of the first things I did here was to have my driveway blacktopped and getting a snowblower. I don't have a problem with winter. I didn't mind the heat and high humidity in Houston. But 100 consecutive days of 100° temperatures (so far) in Phoenix? No way. That kind of streak never happened while I was in Houston, even though it could get miserable at times.
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