The Art of Being Graceful. In today's puzzle, an ODE gracefully slides down and across the grid.
20-Across. Wide receiver who was the 2014 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: ODELL BECKHAM, JR. Odell Cornelious Beckham, Jr (b. Nov. 5, 1992) was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and played football at Louisiana State University. His plays were Poetry in Motion.
33-Across. Literary movement for Vonnegut and Pynchon: POST-MODERNISM. Postmodernism is a movement that challenged modernism in the arts, culture, and philosophy. Postmodernism is known for its skepticism, irony, and critiques of objective reality and universal truths. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Nov. 11, 1922 ~ Apr. 11, 2007) was known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. The only Vonnegut novel I read was Slaughter House-Five. Thomas Pynchon, Jr. (b. May 8, 1937) is known for his dense and complex novels. I have never read any of his works.
40-Across. Pushes one's game to the next level: GOES BEAST MODE.
53-Across. Epitome of grace, and an apt title for this puzzle: POETRY IN MOTION. See how the Ode (Poem) gracefully moves (Motion) down and across the grid.
See how the ODE gracefully moves down the Grid.
Across:
1. Long, long time: AGES.
5. Important ingredient in Toll House cookies: CHIPS. Yummers! The history of the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie. My mother had a chocolate chip cookie that was ever so much better than the Toll House version.
10. Touch: ABUT.
14. U2 lead singer: BONO. Bono (né Paul David Hewson; b. May 10, 1960) is also a founding member of the band. He took his name, Bono, from an Irish hearing aid company.
15. "__ and Juliet": ROMEO. What if Shakespeare wrote a different ending to Romeo and Juliet? That's the premise of & Juliet. We just saw the show and it was so much fun and very high energy.
16. Friction fighter: LUBE.
17. Indian flatbread: ROTI. Not the expected Naan! What's the difference?
18. No longer together: APART.
19. Neighborhood: AREA.
23. Show on television: AIR.
24. Photo __: OPS.
25. Punk subgenre: EMO.
26. Loved by: DEAR TO.
28. Protagonist: HERO.
30. __ Moines, Iowa: DES. A brief history of Des Moines.
36. Bombard (with): PELT.
38. MSNBC host Melber: ARI. Ari Naftali Melber (b. Mar. 31, 1980) is an attorney and a journalist. He hosts The Beat with Ari Melber.
39. Roadie's gear: AMPS. A crossword staple.
45. Actress de Armas: ANA. Ana de Armas (née Ana Celia de Armas Caso; b. Apr. 30, 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. I first saw her in the 2019 film, Knives Out.
46. "General Hospital" actress Rylan: EMME. Apparently, Emme Rylan (née Marcy Faith Behrens; b. Nov. 4, 1980) has appeared in a number of soap operas, including General Hospital and The Young and the Restless.
47. Long-armed shaggy apes, familiarly: ORANGS. As in an Orangutan.
50. Hon: BAE. This is becoming a crossword staple. It appeared in last Wednesday's puzzle.
51. E-file org.: IRS. As in the Internal Revenue Service.
52. Sign of a hot ticket on Broadway: SRO. Standing Room Only.
58. Slangy coffee: JAVA.
59. Irritated: GOT TO.
60. Oblong tomato: ROMA. The Roma tomato is a plum tomato that is commonly used for tomato paste because of its slender and firm nature. They grow well in the United States, Mexico, Australia, and Great Britain.
61. Receiving customers: OPEN.
62. Burstyn of "The First Lady": ELLEN. Ellen Burstyn (née Edna Rae Gillooly; b. Dec. 7, 1932) has been in numerous films during her long career. She earned an Oscar for her portrayal of Alice Hyatt in the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More.
63. Condo, e.g.: UNIT.
64. Places to find fuzzy navels: BARS. Nice misdirection. A Fuzzy Navel is a mixed drink made with peach schnapps and orange juice.
65. American Girls, e.g.: DOLLS. American Girls is a line of dolls, many of which are based on historical characters or figures.
66. "¿Cómo __ usted?": ESTA. Today's Spanish lesson.
Down:
1. Overseas: ABROAD.
2. Unexpected treat: GOODIE.
3. Respond to court charges: ENTER A PLEA.
4. Bed component?: SOIL.
5. Underwater trap: CRAB POT.
6. Aspirations: HOPES.
7. Apple desktop: iMAC.
8. Free lunch on Fridays, e.g.: PERK. Why Friday?
9. "Told ya!": SO THERE!
10. Budget competitor: ALAMO. Both are car rental companies.
11. __ Khalifa: world's tallest building: BURJ. The Burj Khalifa stands at 2,717 feet. The Burj Khalifa is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building is named after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Sept. 7, 1948 ~ May 13, 2022), the second president of the UAE. The tallest building that I have ever been in is the third largest building, the Shanghai Tower, which stands at a mere 2,073 feet.
12. Big name in food delivery: UBER.
13. Spills the __: gossips: TEA. // And 50-Down. Spills the __: blabs: BEANS. While both idioms have similar meanings, “spill the tea” typically refers to gossip, while “spill the beans” typically refers to an unintentional disclosure of private or secret information.
21. Quite a few: LOTS.
22. Cupid's domain: AMOR.
27. Becomes compost: ROTS.
28. Seabiscuit, for one: HORSE. Seabiscuit (1993 ~ 1947) was a famous American Thoroughbred. He was born in 1933 and raced from 1935–1940.
29. Work periodically?: EDIT. Cute clue.
30. Part of a design spec: DIMENSIONS.
31. Seer's gift: ESP.
32. Texting format: SMS. As in Short Message Service.
34. Polite term of address: MA'AM.
35. Zippo: NADA.
36. Links org.: PGA. As in the Professional Golfers' Association.
37. Long, long time: EON.
41. Edged out: BEAT.
42. Came out of hiding: EMERGED.
43. Church members who are encouraged to do missionary work: MORMONS.
44. Roughly: OR SO.
48. Wallace's claymation pal: GROMIT. Wallace & Gromit is a British claymation comedy franchise. The stories all come have a hidden meaning: they tell the story of a class struggle. Wallace, the human, represents the privileged upper class, while Gromit, his faithful dog, represents the lower class that supports his master.
49. Hyundai sedan: SONATA.
51. Dirt dug up by moles: INTEL. Good misdirection! As intelligence gathered by a spy.
53. Grandad's nickname: PAPA. This is just one of many of nicknames for Grandfather.
54. Finished: OVER.
55. "I'll never have this chance again, so why not!" letters: YOLO. You Only Live Once.
56. "__ all work out": IT'LL.
57. Immodest response to "You're the best!": TRUE.
58. Occupation: JOB.
חתולה
 |
| Uluru, also known as Ayres Rock. |
41 comments:
Even if you didn’t know anything about football or the expression “going beast mode” the perps were probably friendly enough so that you didn’t have any problem with this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Ode to Joy! Circles (sorry SS). I enjoy any puzzle that I can FIR, and today I managed that in 9:52, as usual requiring perps for names unknown to me, ANA, ARI, and EMME. With only a few days left in the month “Wallace’s claymation pal” gets a nomination for worst clue, as does GROMIT for worst fill. GOES BEAST MODE must be a millennial term? I guess I have to get up with the times and quit calling DW “babe”, I wonder if she’ll notice that I dropped the second B. My only other nit about this grid is the symmetry, the middle ODE should occupy the middle three spaces and the SE ODE should be in the same space corresponding to the ODE in the NW. Thank you Wendy for the morning treat, and to Hahtoolah for an illustrative and informative write-up!
Good morning!
D-o also thought the ODEs lacked symmetry -- guess they must've been braking. ODELL BECKHAM JR only required 14 perps. IMAC dredges up unplea$ant memories. Thanx for the diversion, Wendy, and for the tour, Hahtoolah. (Is that you wearing Uluru on your head?)
FIR, but aeon->AGES.
If Wendy had some peach schnapps, 64A could have been "where to find sex on the beach."
"Ha, it's poetry in motion" is the first line of Thomas Dolby's hit She Blinded Me With Science. I linked the song a week or so ago.
Thanks to Wendy for the fun Tuesday puzzle. My favorite was "dirt dug up by moles" for INTEL. And thanks as always to Ha2la for the chuckles, especially the "Free Cookies" toon.
Took 5:19 today for me to mODEl this one.
I am familiar with Odell Beckham, Jr (aka OBJ) and Gromit (from "The Wrong Trousers", which I think won an Oscar about 30 years ago) and I wondered how many of my fellow Cornerites would know either.
I didn't know today's soap opera actress (Emme), though I vaguely recalled one of today's movie actress (Ellen) and knew the other movie actress (Ana) though mainly from crosswords.
I passed today's foreign language lessons (nada & esta).
Oh joy, circles!
FIW. I never heard of the wide receiver, not a football fan, and the crossing with Burj got me. I put an "A" instead of a "J".
The theme was really lame, and it involved circles to boot. And there were way too many proper names for my liking.
For a Tuesday puzzle this one had some teeth. Overall this puzzle was NOT enjoyable!
Looks like Wendy L. Brandes is the same person as the author and attorney by the same name. I'm going to the used bookstore today, and will see if they have any of her summer camp novels. (I started looking because I had a work associate at GTE, Bob Brandes, whose wife's name was Wendy. Bob had an Apple II that was older than mine - he had an adapter that would allow 4 rows of 4 kilobyte chips to be installed on the 3-row motherboard, for a whopping total of 16 kilobytes of RAM. (Mine came with 16k chips, for a total of 48 kilobytes.) His enjoyment of his Apple II was a factor in my selection of the Apple instead of a Radio Shack TRS-80 or a Heathkit H8.
Looks like it's not the same. The blurb on her shows she lives in Manhattan with her husband, and I'm pretty sure Bob wouldn't live there,
FIR but so busy once again forgot about the theme
Inkovers: slat/SOIL,
Haven’t seen “spills the tea”’in a puzzle for awhile. Wonder what “slangy coffee name” they use in JAVA?
So ROMA tomatoes grow well everywhere but… ROMA. I’ve heard of a lobster POT
ARI Melber?
”POETRY IN MOTION”, Johnny Tillotson, 1961 Didn’t think any of you boomers would remember ‘cept me.
Beloved robot: Artoo ___ …. DEARTO
Came together online: … E MERGED
Improper reference for a lady traveling overseas…. ABROAD
Got to go. Happy Tuesday.
Wow, two days in a row I get to bring up Richard III's immortal words, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" This time it's Seabiscuit, and if Richard had ridden him, the Wars of the Roses might have ended differently.
Wendy's puzzle today struck me as Tuesday-appropriate, with the exception of head-scratchers like GROMIT, ROTI, and BURJ, as well as a bunch of obscure proper names. Her modest theme was fine, and we were parties to two mishaps: first the tea was spilled, then the beans.
Thanks to our helpful and amusing tour guide Hahtoolah, and to Wendy for a fun and diverting challenge.
This was a typical Tuesday faster solve. I'm sure it helped having the ODEs in circles. And I knew of OBJ and Wallace & Gromit series of short films as well as having feature length films all done with the claymation technique which is very slow to produce.
OBJ didn't fully live up to his hype and potential between injuries and off the field conduct. He had a few good years with the Giants but after that went to a different team each year in the last few years.
I really enjoyed the novel "Seabiscuit" by Laura Hillebrand as well as the movie made from it
American Girl DOLLS started in Madison, WI by a former social studies teacher during the years I lived there - the books that accompanied them each told of a girl growing up in a different era of American history
Ray-O I had heard the song "Poetry in Motion" but never would have been able to come up with the person who performed it
Thanks Susan for a fun blog and Wendy for the puzzle
I'm glad I knew OBJ because the spelling or FURJ Khalifa wouldn't have been possible. My first thought for 13D was spill the BEANS. I only knew TEA from earlier puzzles. The BEANS had to wait until 50D.
EMME was unknown. ANA and ARI are crossword staples. Don't know anything about either.
I see ELLEN Burstyn's birth name was Gillooly. Maybe she was related to
Tonya Harding's ex- husband, Jeff Gillooly. What an idiot.
GROMIT and Wallace-not a clue about either but the perps took care of it.
Enjoyed the puzzle but enjoyed the recap even more. Thanks, Cat.
Anybody here remember Vonnegut's cameo in the Back To School movie? And the later review of the paper he wrote?
FLN. The Morgan was a little slow but had a full leaded keel, which made it nice in rougher weather. No wind? Just crank up the Perkins 55hp diesel. The only problem we ever had was a constant need to change the fuel filter, even after having the fuel tank cleaned.
Thanks for the write up, but I must report a DNF for this Tuesday. I could not get a Tada because I could not believe there was not a vowel crossing some football player, and some tower I could not give a rats ass about. Sorry to sound like Thumper, maybe I should try and learn a little about both. But sometimes you just have a bad day...
On the lighter side, improper reference for a lady travelling overseas did make me smile.
And, in looking for something to salvage from this experience, I did learn "someth8ng." the stupid rule that makes javelin throwing not look like poetry in motion...
A very enjoyable puzzle Wendy. GOES BEAST MODE and SMS unknown, so that slowed me down.
America Girl DOLLS - great memories! We took my granddaughter to the company store in Chicago where owners brought their dolls who then sat in highchairs.while lunch was served. Expensive, but a lifetime memory and reservation wait list as long as Nobu in NYC. They also have a doll hospital where your doll can be repaired.
ODELL BECKHAM JR also known for his many different hair styles and colors. I always liked Wallace and GROMIT. Automatically fill in crossword regular EMO but would not recognize the music if I heard it.
I really enjoyed the book and film about the HORSE Seabisquit. It was filmed, in part, here at the Saratoga Race Track. Friends were hired as extras in the crowd scenes and they said the days were long and boring, but that they would do it again. They saw themselves for about 2 seconds.
Happy day, all!
Not a fan of theme words being repeated. When I saw a letter of the 2nd ODE matched the 1st, I went ahead and filled them all in. This type of theme gives away too much real estate at once. If they weren't circled, however, it would be less obvious. Especially as they are not laid out symmetrically as noted by YP & D-O.
Oh, I forgot to thank Hahtoolah for the informative and funny review. I especially liked th ORANG hanging from th Alexander Calder mobile.
FIR, but needed lots of perps for several names, including that OBJ fellow, ARI, ANA, EMME, GROMIT, DOLLS as clued. I don’t remember ever seeing spill the TEA. Besides, I prefer JAVA. GOES BEAST MODE also required perps. So not my finest hour.
I also don’t much care for á theme word being repeated.
I too have read most of Vonnegut’s novels, but never tried Pynchon’s. He’s too long winded.
Welcome back Hahtoolah. Thanks for the funnies, lots of good ones.
Á word about the YouTube videos reviewers include. The last few instances, I could not open them, but this morning I could open Susan’s. Could the cause of this discrepancy be the reviewer’s own system? Somebody more knowledgeable than I might be able to comment on this.
Good morning! Most of you seem to be in a sunnier mood than I am after encountering six minor celebrities in the Across answers. The crossing of BURj with someone jR did not work out for me. FIW! And I was unimpressed by the irregular ODEs. As I have never constructed a crossword grid, but enjoy solving them, I am still grateful to Wendy. She only beat me by one square.
Hahtoolah, it's wonderful to have you back. Can't be grumpy after your review! Please tell us more about your latest travels.
Yet another festival of names: 17, 6 DNKs. I do not like actor/actress names, especially if they are from a soap opera, but just generally. There is no way to apply logic to get the fill: either you know an actress from "General Hospital" or you don't. I have never watched a single episode, so had no idea, all perps. And of course it couldn't be "EMMA", but "EMME". I've never met anyone named EMME. Good job I knew 28D was "HORSE", I needed that "E". Other than the usual over abundance of names, and the slightly annoying mis-alignment of the "ODE"s, a fun CW of appropriate Tuesday level difficulty. Thanx WLB for the entertainment. Perhaps you could look at last week's CW creation by C.C., and notice a CW can be constructed W/O a ton of obscure names? Hahtoolah, thanx for the terrific write-up, I always enjoy your review and your cartoons. It is obvious you put a lot of time and effort into your write-ups, and please know your hard work is appreciated.
Good Morning:
The reveal, Poetry In Motion, gets an A+ for imagination and surprise, but the them gets a C for lack of both.The solve was Tuesday suitable, except for the unknown Emme and Burj. As a Giants fan who well remembers OBJ’s antics, that fill was a gimme. I’ve heard of Wallace and Gromit but couldn’t tell you a single thing about them or, for that matter, what Claymation is.
Thanks, Wendy, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for another fun and fact-filled review. Winning comics today are the ones for Enter A Plea (Buy a Vowel), Soil (Flower Bed Grump), and Job (IKEA Chair).
Have a great day.
Google goofed. The above comment is mine.
ODELL BECKHAM JR was the first wide receiver I thought of. The J in Burj Khalifa confirmed it.
Biggest gripe: The clue “fuzzy navel” should have read “Fuzzy Navel.” It was my last fill. Fortunately, I assumed it was a drink that should have been capitalized.
Theme was MEH. I don’t mind circles, but I don’t really notice them.
Great recap, Ha2la! I really liked the TV news 'toon. Very true! The puzzle? Meh. FIR thanks to perps, but the obscure names sucked most of the fun out.
Hola!
This puzzle is not "one for the AGES" but it was fun. I liked seeing ROMEO but I know nothing about ODELL BECKHAM, JR. If it's sports, I don't know it.
I do know ARI Melber and watch him almost every day. I don't really understand GOES BEAST MODE but I think I can suss it. As I've often said, I enjoy Spanish in a puzzle so it was nice to see ESTA and NADA .
I know of the BURJ Khalifa because it was in the newspaper when it was completed. The Sheik said he wanted to build the highest building in the world.
Hahtoolah, that's a nice photo of you and thank you for today's entertainment, especially the comics.
Have a gorgeous day, everyone!
Tuesday puzzle. Doable name dropper..meh. Theme…double meh.
OBJ extremely talented full of himself Calvin Johnson wannabe….just saying.
Greet the day.
Hand up for a boomer who doesn't remember the song. The reference to love potion number 9 was interesting, because that song didn't hit it big until 1964.
Lamar threw a pretty mean javelin.
Mostly I enjoyed this puzzle. Loved seeing Vonnegut and Pynchon. But hand up the theme seemed weak. And that J at that crossing was just evil. Kind of spoiled the whole feeling. I put an E and that football guy and the tower should just change their names.
Was I the only one IRRITATED by the clue for PAPA? Has anyone ever heard of PAPA for grandfather?
Hahtoolah Thanks for the Australia photo of yourself and for the many amusing illustrations.
The EZine Parents about a year ago stated "...the most popular names for grandparents in the U.S. [are] Nana and Papa. News to me too.
Fun Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Wendy. And your commentary was a lot of fun too, Hahtoolah, and I especially liked listening to John Tillaston's sweet song.
Seeing ROMEO near the top of the puzzle made me expect some romance, but one where the couple's HOPES hopefully didn't come APART. Especially not if the story was about a woman who felt DEAR TO her HERO, and even EDITED his MODERNISM stories. But when his TRUE self EMERGED, she packed up her DOLLS and all her things, and GOT on a HORSE and headed off to visit the ALAMO, yelling "SO THERE!"
Have a good, happy day, everybody.
Jinx Thanks for that information about PAPA. I am still IRRITATED. As Mr Spock would say, "It is not logical, Captain." How can someone tell if PAPA refers to father or grandfather? Learning moment, but still very annoying!
Thanks to Wendy for her moving ODE (poem) puzzle! What a clever idea!
Thanks to Hahtoolah for her take on things! I especially liked your Uluru puzzle and the Ikea comic.
But it's part of the job description for subsequent generations to speak in a manner that irritates their elders. Hope I'm still around to witness what the Beta generation will do with the language to drive the Alphas and Gen Zers nuts.
Could not view them? (More info needed)
However, "if" you are referring to the infamous "sign in to prove your not a Bot" error that leads nowhere, then I'm afraid you must have missed me beat this dead horse to death, (and annoy TTP...). FYI, it is pure YouTube's doing...
How, how,ever... I recently tried to open a YouTube imbed that was about artificial intelligence, and, you guessed it, "prove your not a bot..."
It just made my day, and had me ROTFL!
OK, I give up. No need to try to understand.
I've heard PAPA used on TV shows but not by anyone I know. The only grandfather I knew was my great-grandfather and we called him "grandpa Jesus". My grandchildren call me "NANA".
You were irritated by that? Of all the things in the world, you were irritated by papa as a name for grandfather? You are a putz.
OK anon, I've got you down as "undecided."
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