Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Today's constructors are Owen Bergstein and Shannon Rapp. Shannon is a veteran and Owen is taking his opening bow on the Corner. Their theme was a little unusual today as it is ROW based rather than CLUE based. To make that a little clearer I'll start with the reveal ...
62A. Tune that can soothe an aching heart, and a feature of rows 3, 5, 8, and 11 in this puzzle: BREAKUP SONG. To try to make that a bit clearer I've snipped the aforementioned 4 rows out of the grid to make them easier to annotate (don't worry I'll put them back in a bit). Also I've left the original clues and fill in their original locations below.
Here's ROW 3:
The first thing we observe is that our constructors' "break up songs" are not necessarily sad songs (a la maestro Neil Sedaka in our opening number). They are merely "broken up" by a BLACK space. The second thing is that they are genres of songs, not specific songs. This is the a cappella group Pentatonix with a Christmas CAROL ...
Here's ROW 5:
Our genre is the DIRGE, a lament often sung at funerals. Here's Buffy Sainte-Marie's rendition of the haunting Lyke Wake Dirge ...
Here's ROW 8:
An ANTHEM is a rousing or uplifting song identified with a particular group, body, or cause. Here is a famous one by Canadian Leonard Cohen called simply Anthem. He is one of my favorite poet/songwriters, but as he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, here is a cover of the song by fellow Canadian singer Eleuthera (and a CSO to CanadianEh!) ... Here's ROW 11:
Our final genre is one of the oldest musical forms, the BALLAD, a song that tells a story. Here's a modern one by Bobbie Gentry -- her 1967 hit Ode to Billy Joe MacAllister ...
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Volleyball official: REF.
4. Nirvana genre: GRUNGE. And right out of the gate we have an Easter Egg. Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture which emerged during the mid-1980s in the U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal. While Nirvana was the most commercially successful grunge group, there were many others, including several all female bands, e.g. L7. Here's their Pretend We're Dead ...
10. Style alternative to MLA: APA. -- Modern Language Association vs American Psychological Association -- what's the difference?
13. "It's __ good": ALL.
14. Service provider based in Tehran: IRAN AIR. Iran Air, officially known as The Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the flag carrier of Iran, which is headquartered at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. As of 2024, it operates scheduled services to 72 destinations in Asia and Europe. No service to the US as yet.
15. Gentle touch: PAT.
16. Transportation for those who are plugged in?: ELECTRIC CAR. [Half of a clue song]
18. World Cup cheer: OLE. [The other half]
19. Former union members?: EXES. All of George Strait's EXES live in Texas ...
20. Fix, as a sock: DARN. Hand up if you still DARN socks?
21. Earnest request: PLEA.
22. Low point: NADIR. [Half of a clue song] The opposite of ZENITH.
24. "Take it elsewhere, lovebirds!": GET A ROOM. [The other half]
26. Sequenced sequence: GENOME. A GENOME consists of the sequence of all of the GENES in the DNA of a species, determined by a process called DNA sequencing. A massive 13 year multi-disciplinary project to sequence the entire human genome began in 1990 and gave rise to a new science -- GENOMICS. Here is a brief overview of the project ...28. __/her pronouns: SHE.
29. GLAAD, for one: NGO. GLAAD is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since expanded to queer, bisexual, and transgender people.
31. Lends a hand: AIDS.
33. Actress Tracee __ Ross: ELLIS. Tracee Joy Silberstein (born October 29, 1972), known professionally as Tracee Ellis Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series Girlfriends (2000–2008) and Black-ish (2014–2022) receiving nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the latter. Ross is a daughter of actress and Motown recording artist Diana Ross and Robert Ellis Silberstein.
 |
| Tracee Ellis Ross |
 |
| Wedding cake covered and decorated with fondant |
40. Toxic plant in the carrot family: HEMLOCK. [The other half] Conium maculatum, known as poison hemlock is a highly poisonous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. It is herbaceous without woody parts and has a biennial lifecycle. It is a hardy plant capable of living in a variety of environments. It is purported to have been used as the method for the execution for the philosopher Socrates, who was accused of the corruption of youth.
 |
| Poison Hemlock |
43. TikTok mashup, e.g.: EDIT. TikTok allows users to create short videos, from 15 seconds up to a minute and which often feature music in the background and can be sped up, slowed down, or edited with a filter. They can also add their own sound on top of the background music. To create a music video with the app, users can choose background music from a wide variety of music genres, edit with a filter and record a 15-second video with speed adjustments before uploading it to share with others on TikTok or other social platforms.
46. Short time out?: NAP. I try to get a "short time out" every day.
48. Focused while working: ON TASK.
51. Game also known as table soccer: FOOSBALL. [Half of a clue song] Today's German lesson: "table soccer" = "tischfußball" The funny letter than looks like a B is actually a double S in German and so it was transliterated to English as Foosball, a tabletop game loosely based on football (soccer on the other side of the Pond). Its object is to move the ball into the opponent's goal by manipulating rods which have figures attached resembling football players of two opposing teams. Although its rules often vary by country and region when the game is played casually, competitive-level table football is played according to a unified code. Here's a brief clip from a competition ...
55. Pueblo material: ADOBE. [The other half] Adobe is a building material made from earth and organic materials. Adobe is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of earthen construction, or various architectural styles like Pueblo Revival or Territorial Revival. We tend to associate adobe with the American Southwest, but similar construction techniques are used throughout the world, e.g. in the Citadel of Bam in Kerman Province, Iran: the world's largest adobe structure, dating to at least 500 BC ...
 |
| Citadel of Bam, Iran |
 |
| Grenadilla wood cross section |
60. Laundry pile emanation: ODOR.
61. Track unit: LAP.
62. [Theme reveal]
65. Private online convos: DMS. Direct Messages -- A DM is a private mode of communication between social media users.
66. Lawn sign phrase: FOR RENT.
67. Korean automaker: KIA. Kia Corporation was founded in May 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles.
 |
| Kia Headquarters Seoul, South Korea |
69. Thomas of the WNBA or Thompson of the NWSL: ALYSSA. Alyssa Thomas of the Women's National Basketball Association ...
.jpg) |
| Alyssa Thomas |
 |
| Alyssa Thompson |
70. Equinox mo.: SEP.
Down:
1. Issa of "Insecure": RAE.
2. Actress Pompeo: ELLEN. Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. One of the world's highest-paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances on Forbes' year-end lists. Her accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination. She is best known for starring as the title character Dr. Meredith Grey in the long running ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy.
Down:
1. Issa of "Insecure": RAE.
2. Actress Pompeo: ELLEN. Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. One of the world's highest-paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances on Forbes' year-end lists. Her accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination. She is best known for starring as the title character Dr. Meredith Grey in the long running ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy.
 |
| Ellen Pompeo |
3. Geometric paper toys: FLEXAGONS. In geometry, flexagons are flat models discovered by the British mathematician Arthur H. Stone in 1939 and were made popular by mathematician Martin Gardner in his Scientific American articles on mathematical games. Flexagons are usually constructed by folding strips of paper, that can be flexed or folded in certain ways to reveal faces besides the two that were originally on the back and front. They are usually square or rectangular (tetraflexagons) or hexagonal (hexaflexagons).
The geometry of flexagons can be extended to the folding of 3 dimensional surfaces studied in a branch of mathematics called knot theory. The simplest example of such a fold is the trefoil knot ...
4. [I'm mad!]: GRR.
5. Brand with anti-ant products: RAID.
6. Free: UNCAGED.
7. Shiny shell material: NACRE. Also known as mother-of-pearl -- this is how it gives birth.
8. Titans: GIANTS.
9. Make a blunder: ERR.
10. Olympian Ohno: APOLO. Apolo Anton Ohno (born May 22, 1982) is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019. Here he wins 1,500-Meter Gold In 2002 ...
11. Diet inspired by hunter-gatherers: PALEO. What is it and why is it so popular? I'm sorry, but as writing hadn't been invented yet, I can't give you any recipes. 😀
12. Starters: A TEAM.
14. "Score!": ITS IN.
17. Give up: CEDE.
21. Green shampoo brand: PRELL.
23. Speckled horse: ROAN. There are many breeds of ROAN horses. This one is an Appaloosa ...
25. "Beg pardon": AHEM.
27. Plant pest: MITE. Of the many species of mites spider mites are the ones who are most damaging to plants. They are members of the family Tetranychidae, which includes about 1,200 species. Spider mites generally live on the undersides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, and can cause damage by puncturing the plant cells as they feed. Spider mites are known to feed on several hundred species of plants. They look like this close up ...
29. Gp. with Lions and Bears: NFL. National Football League.
30. Gunk: GOO.
32. __ guard: SHIN.
34. Compilations for fashion influencers: LOOK BOOKS. In the over 50 men that Elaine Benes dated in the Seinfeld series, one of the most fashionable was J. Peterson, purveyor of his own eponymous LOOK BOOK ...
35. Critical hosp. area: ICU. Intensive Care Unit -- the hospital destination for those with life threatening injuries transferred from the ER, or those recovering from serious surgeries.
36. Enjoy the slopes: SKI.
38. Thick: DENSE.
39. Many an Egyptian: ARAB.
41. Jazz legend James: ETTA. Here her Somethings Got a Hold On Me ...
 |
| Hexaflexagon |
5. Brand with anti-ant products: RAID.
6. Free: UNCAGED.
7. Shiny shell material: NACRE. Also known as mother-of-pearl -- this is how it gives birth.
9. Make a blunder: ERR.
10. Olympian Ohno: APOLO. Apolo Anton Ohno (born May 22, 1982) is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019. Here he wins 1,500-Meter Gold In 2002 ...
11. Diet inspired by hunter-gatherers: PALEO. What is it and why is it so popular? I'm sorry, but as writing hadn't been invented yet, I can't give you any recipes. 😀
12. Starters: A TEAM.
14. "Score!": ITS IN.
17. Give up: CEDE.
21. Green shampoo brand: PRELL.
23. Speckled horse: ROAN. There are many breeds of ROAN horses. This one is an Appaloosa ...
 |
| Appaloosa horse |
27. Plant pest: MITE. Of the many species of mites spider mites are the ones who are most damaging to plants. They are members of the family Tetranychidae, which includes about 1,200 species. Spider mites generally live on the undersides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, and can cause damage by puncturing the plant cells as they feed. Spider mites are known to feed on several hundred species of plants. They look like this close up ...
 |
| Spider mite |
30. Gunk: GOO.
32. __ guard: SHIN.
34. Compilations for fashion influencers: LOOK BOOKS. In the over 50 men that Elaine Benes dated in the Seinfeld series, one of the most fashionable was J. Peterson, purveyor of his own eponymous LOOK BOOK ...
35. Critical hosp. area: ICU. Intensive Care Unit -- the hospital destination for those with life threatening injuries transferred from the ER, or those recovering from serious surgeries.
36. Enjoy the slopes: SKI.
38. Thick: DENSE.
39. Many an Egyptian: ARAB.
41. Jazz legend James: ETTA. Here her Somethings Got a Hold On Me ...
44. Hong Kong currency: DOLLARS. Here's how many Hong Kong Dollars you can get for one US Dollar.
47. Keep the beat?: PATROL. A policeman making the rounds of the neighborhood -- from the idiom "pounding the beat".
49. Add to the family: ADOPT.
50. Rolls up to the front door?: SODS. Up to the front porch, maybe. 😀 Also insulting British slang ...
52. "The Light We Carry" writer Michelle: OBAMA. The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times is a nonfiction book written by Michelle Obama and published on November 15, 2022. According to the Associated Press, the author "shares the contents of her 'personal toolbox' - the habits and practices, attitudes and beliefs, and even physical objects that she uses to overcome her feelings of fear, helplessness and self-doubt."
54. Untrusting: LEERY.
56. Bert's buddy: ERNIE. Ernie gets Bert to exercise ...
59. __ out a living: EKES.
62. Deg. for creatives: BFA. Bachelor of Fine Arts.
63. Spanish article: UNA. Today's Spanish lesson: "One".
64. Space: GAP.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
38 comments:
Well, I got it.
But I must be dense or something because this is the second time this week I didn’t understand the reveal, until Waseeley made it crystal clear to me. Anyway , FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o seldom crashes and burns midweek, but did so today in spectacular fashion. FLEXAGONS, GENOME, FONDANT, FOOSBALL, and OOPSY were the culprits. Bzzzzt. Thanks for playing; now go down to the abasement. Your expos are always good, waseeley, but you outdid yourself this morning. Bravo. Enjoyed my comeuppance, Owen and Shannon. Thanx to Teri, too.
BALLAD: Ode To Billy Joe was big in the summer of '67. KCBQ played it every hour when I was in boot camp.
DARN: Nobody DARNs socks today. Mom used to do it, and had a special darning "egg" for the purpose.
APA: Never heard of it. We were required to use the MLA Style Book back in the day, but had no idea what the letters stood for.
Here's the bi-weekly DAB puzzle. Here's what David has to say about it ...
Facing uncertainties is, of course, inevitably a part of life. Will we live to extreme old age or succumb all too soon to accident or disease? Will our crosswords be hailed by a grateful world, or neglected through ignorance, prejudice, and bad taste? In any case, we must hope for the best and do our duty, as I do every week on this website.
FIW, missing my WAG @ FOOdANT x FLEXAGOoS. Never heard of FONDANTS, and if "ants on a log" are OK as candy, maybe FOOd ANTS would be fine on cake. Also never heard of FLEXAGOnS, which didn't help.
Also DNK ELLIS, ELLEN, LOOK BOOK, or either ALYSSA.
The Breakup Song by Greg Kihn Band. They don't write 'em like that anymore.
Thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for another fine review. All in all, I think the best thing about today's puzzle was the reminder that DAB has a new one posted.
A typical Thursday grid, half the fill were gimmes, the other half not so much. Struggled a bit in the Deep South central, had to change MFA to BFA which broke it open a bit. FIR in about 25 minutes. I did see the broken songs after I got the reveal (sans circles which will make some people happy). DNK APA or NGO, never heard of LOOKBOOKS, FONDANT, and FLEXAGON was also new (geometry was never my strong suit). And of course I needed perps for the names, ELLEN, ELLIS and ALYSSA. “Woodwind” is all that’s needed to get the four letter OBOE, lately the cluing has included info beyond that, which is unnecessary. Played a lot of FOOSBALL back in the day, don’t see it very much these days, I just might not frequent the places that have it. Thank you Owen and Shannon for the morning entertainment. and as always to Bill and Teri for another fine review!
...WAG @ FOOdANT x FLEXAGOoS... should be ...WAG @ FOoDANT x FLEXAGOoS...
It was a guessathon today and a DNF at the cross of FLEXAGONS & FONDANT. Unknowns for both words. I filled BREAK UP SONG but didn't see the connection with the 'breaks'.
LOOKBOOKS-filled it by perps but had no idea what it was.
YO, DELivered a win today in 5:55.
Helped that I knew today's actresses (Ellen & Ellis), because I didn't know either female athlete (Alyssa) or flexagon.
Once again, the foreign language lessons weren't kind to me. Frankly, I don't think "Spanish article" should qualify as a clue.
I knew fondant from having seen some episodes of "Cake Boss." Listening to Buddy say "fondant" in his Jersey accent was part of the entertainment.
I would've guessed "Pearl Jam" as the most successful grunge band, ahead of Nirvana. I enjoy both bands immensely.
Genetically speaking, Egyptians are not Arabs. Neither are Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians, Jordanians and Algerians.
FIR. Once again we have a plethora of proper names. Seems to be a pattern of late. Why not the constructor's pet cat when he was a boy?
I've never heard of fondant. Thank heavens for perps!
And I had to come here to have the theme explained. Luckily it wasn't critical to the solve.
But overall, not an enjoyable puzzle.
Hola! Today I swam against the current, so to speak because I found this puzzle easy unlike many of you. However, I did not see the theme and this is one instance when circles would have been helpful. So, thank you, Bill, for highlighting the SONGS. Later in the day when I was more awake and spent more time on it, I might have seen the theme.
GRUNGE did not come easily and I had to wait for every perp. HONG KONG currency led me down memory lane to a very enjoyable visit there immediately after China opened following the SARS epidemic. Since tourism had stopped for a year, we were treated like royalty and we found bargains galore everywhere. Now, I'm going to go find my bed again. Have a lovely day, everyone!
Good Morning:
The theme was well hidden until the reveal and, even then, it took a few seconds to see the “broken” songs. I don’t think we’ve had this type of theme in quite a while, so it was a refreshing change of pace. Circles were not necessary to suss out the theme answers and certainly would have diminished the level of difficulty, while raising the ire of many solvers! Flexagons and Look Books were both new to me, and WNBA players are just as confusing to me as NBA players, but the perps were fair and the solve was smooth and angst-free.
Thanks, Owen and Shannon and congrats to Owen on his debut and thanks to Bill and Teri for another fine review, filled with interesting and thought-provoking morsels of facts and figures. My favorite musical offering was the talented and impressive Pentatonix performers, and I also enjoyed Leonard Cohen’s Anthem.
Have a great day.
I hate to admit my major error this morning. I didn’t pay attention to the theme instructions and instead of ROWS I looked at 3, 5, 8, and 11 down. So, I obviously didn’t get the theme.
I too flubbed the FLEXAGONS FONDANT crossing, I didn’t finish the SW. Not familiar with LOOK BOOKS. I really hesitated entering ARAB for Egyptians.
Now I was not a total LOSER however. I got all the long answers, and used WAGS for several unknowns.
Now I’m scared to eat carrots.
Thank you Waseeley for a great recap.
I don't like to miss the theme. Blame it on solving while waiting to board a flight! Bill did a terrific job of explaining it all. FIR except for not seeing the broken songs.
I didn't know the athletes or the paper toys. Didn't like the clues for SAY and SODS. Otherwise, a very nice puzzle!
A little crunchy for a Thursday. Way too many names. We puzzle solvers are logophiles. More words instead of names, please!
I didn't get breakup songs until very near the end. I think of them as laments, not heart soothers. There was a feeling of sadness about my divorce, what might have been. There was also a feeling of freedom and relief, but there was no soothing for the end of a dream.
For rent instead of for sale took a while to see, as did dollars. MFA before BFA
I know of fondant in reference to both icing and candy making.
Flexagon was perped. LIU . Aha! They are what my 5th graders called fortune tellers.
I like the clues for oboe. They are learning moments for me.
Musings
-Irony: Neil Sedaka not only wrote Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, he also wrote Oh, CAROL about Carol King
-I’ve seen a great many FLEXAGONS that middle school girls used to predict boyfriends, careers, etc.
-FONDANT, Ms. Ross’s parentage and grenadilla were interesting learning
-Several people have been credited with saying, “Second place is the first LOSER”
-Did ELLEN make Grey’s Anatomy popular or vice-versa?
-RAID never seemed to work, but, as I’ve mentioned before, this stuff has never failed me
-APOLO – Two P’s or two L’s? Neither as it turns out
-FWIW, something can be dense without being thick and can be thick without being dense
-I agree with YR about the theme.
-Me too, Naomi, on SAY cluing
-Nice job Bill and Teri.
Strange goings on. I have been having problems with Firefox hanging up when I enter the corner. No other websites I try give any problem. It manifests when I try to scroll. I tried reinstalling and I had a few days when it worked OK again, but since Monday it is hanging again. It gives an error notice but it just states that Firefox had a problem.
I am writing this in MS Edge, which allowed me to login to my Google account and comment. Thanks for any comments.
Lee
In the management masters program at the University of Maryland, we had to use the APA (American Psychological Association) Style book for all of our writings.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Owen and Shannon, waseeley and Teri.
I FIRed in fairly good time, but got interrupted and forgot to look for the BREAKUP SONGs.
Plenty of inkblots, all in the Deep South.
FOR sale changed to RENT
Not following any fashion influencers, I had LOOK board before BOOKS (which had the required plural).
Perps changed my initial WAG from ALYSON to ALYSSA.
AHEM, OOPSY, SAY(? I’m still scratching my head over that one?) will bring a comment from Jayce.
FLEXAGON was a learning moment for me.
Thanks waseeley for the CSO and Anthem. Leonard Cohen is well known for his Hallelujah, but all his poems/songs are deep.
Favourite was the clue for EXES.
Wishing you all a great day.
I have my grandma’s darning egg. It gets used occasionally.
Oh, now I remember those FLEXAGONS. But we didn’t have that name for them.
Nope. DNF, darn it! Waaay above my pay grade today.
I remember a particular governor--oddly, he was a former Gilbert & Sullivan performer--whose first term was bustling with activity. Things slowed down a bit after his reelection, a period known as his "StandPAT TERm."
Sorry, Owen and Shannon had such fun with today's theme, I had to give it a shot. And as a Gilbert & Sullivan singer of many rapid-fire patter songs, I knew which type of song to break up.
Today's puzzle was delightful, I felt. There was not a plethora of obscure names, and a fair percentage of the names that did appear were either perpable or recognizable.
If you haven't seen the WNBA's Alyssa Thomas play, you should. The inventor of basketball, James Naismith, I think would find today's WNBA games recognizable and more favorable to his intent than that of the NBA.
I stand firm in my dislike of clues and answers in crosswords like "My bad" (OOPSY) or "Gee...." (SAY).
I've determined that the musical equivalent of OREO in crosswords is OBOE.
Thanks, Owen and Shannon, for giving us a Thursday-appropriate fun solve. And welcome, Shannon, to the Corner!
FWIW 2
As Bill mentioned, today's David Alfred Bywaters puzzle to which he linked (and I do below) is a real delight.
https://www.davidalfredbywaters.com/316-facing-uncertainties
C.C. has today's Universal crossword: It's Cold Outside.
I’d like to believe my FIR on this puzzle enhances my ranting about it, starting with a theme I still barely understand. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded circles.
I counted only 11 (other) annoyances, which is a low number for a late-week puzzle, but they were REALLY annoying, beginning (and ending, solve-wise) with the FLEXAGON/FONDANT Natick. I also took exception to the MLA/APA entry; the clue for FOOSBALL; LOOK BOOKS; the “front-door” portion of the SOD clue (not EVERY play on words is clever, folks!); the gee/SAY and GLAAD/NGO entries; the two obscure ALYSSAs; OOPSY (of course!); and the “abbreviation” of September, which according to both AP style and the Chicago Manual, is Sept.
In contrast to my FIW on C.C.’s puzzle last Saturday, which I enjoyed nonetheless, this puzzle was a slog, especially for my/our age demographic. I nearly TITT.
Greetings! What a clever theme! I suspected something was up with the phrasing of the reveal clue but didn’t suss it out until after the puzzle was complete. Then it all made sense! Well done. The puzzle itself presented some challenges, and I had to look up the unknown ALYSSA in order to finish.
Perps were the building blocks today in many areas. Relied on for ELLIS, FLEXAGONS, LOOKBOOKS.
I first learned of FONDANT watching Buddy Valastro on Cake Boss. Beautiful as it is, I really don’t like the texture. Butter cream is so much tastier, but not for decorating purposes.
The Human GENOME Project video was impressive, and I am happy to have had a very remote ancillary exposure to it via a member of an NIH committee member. Very exciting doorway to the future.
I know nothing about Tic Tok and am LEERY of its source and connections.
Another new clue to be on the lookout for the often-appearing OBOE and BTW, what a beautiful piece of wood, the likes I have never seen before.
Congratulation to Owen for your first LAT collaboration. Well done!
Thanks, Bill and Teri, for and outstanding recap.
Very creative puzzle - I'm always amazed when the have the theme answers jump across two answers with a space.
I think FONDANT makes some of the most beautifully decorated cakes but the taste yuck!
We still have FOOSBALL and air hockey tables in our church's youth room
This summer we took our daughter and grandson to a family camp on the beach and the rec center had a FOOSBALL table too - the 2 1/2 year old was fascinated by it though he didn't have the size or dexterity - so he played one side with one of us and against the other adult
One of the best known break-up songs of the 2010s was Adele's "Someone Like You" which was on her "21" Album which was the age she wrote it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0
Thanks Bill & Teri for the enjoyable blog and to Owen & Shannon for the puzzle
Re: C.C.'s puzzle - clever theme which helped me I got mired down in the Texas area.
RosE, here's a thought provoking video about Gen Z that I found interesting, but YMMV: How TikTok became Gen Z’s search engine.
TTP @12:43 PM Thanks for the TikTok click -- scary -- or make that terrifying!
I know, right?
Fun Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Owen and Shannon. And always enjoy your commentary, Bill and Teri, thanks for that too.
Well, this morning's puzzle made me think about a kid who loves his new toys. He was excited about getting those delightful FLEXAGONS, but even more when he saw that ELECTRIC CAR. Later, he and his friends teamed up as an A TEAM, and learned how to play FOOSBALL. By then it was time for him to take a NAP, but first his parents had a surprise for him. It was his birthday, and they made him a beautiful cake decorated with a lovely FONDANT, and gave him a gift of a few extra DOLLARS. It was his best birthday ever.
No need to end with a BREAK-UP SONG. Just wishing you call a sunny, delightful day and a good weekend coming up. Cheers!
Apropos of nothing, except that I went through a long over due BREAKUP recently; “X” is now one of my EXES, and am enjoying a new union with Bluesky.
Prof M @4:16 PM Thanks for the tip about Bluesky. The only social media I am currently active in is the Corner, but Bluesky sounds interesting and I may look into it.
Nina @12:33 PM Wow! I just got around to listening to Adele's "Someone Like You". Very powerful.
I somehow managed to solve this puzzle but even after filling it there were some answers I never heard of. My reaction was a big fat meh.
Yes- a song with emotions we can relate to - but such a beautiful mezzo soprano voice
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