Theme: Yes, you can go back. If you are in Reverse. Each two word theme fill contains the name of a travel passage, spelt backwards and spanning the two words. This is indicated with the circled letters.
17. Sticky stuff in a dispenser: SCOTCH TAPE. Scotch is a brand name used for tape and related products developed by 3M. A path is a way or track laid down for walking or made by continual treading.
22. Out of this world: TOTALLY AWESOME. Extremely enjoyable or impressive. A WAY is any track for traveling.
35. Cause of some springtime discomfort: POLLEN ALLERGIES. A pollen allergy is an immune system reaction to pollen, a fine powder released by plants to fertilize other plants. Pollen allergies are also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis or hay fever. A LANE is a narrow road, especially in a rural area, or a division of a road marked off with painted lines and intended to separate single lines of traffic according to speed or direction.
45. Fruit from the Sunshine State: FLORIDA ORANGES. These are simply oranges grown in the state of Florida. Go figure. A ROAD is a wide way leading from one place to another, especially one with a specially prepared surface which vehicles can use.
53. Thoroughfare away from the main drag, or what can be found in each set of circled letters: BACK STREET. This is a minor street remote from a main road. Or, in the case of this puzzle, the name of any travel path concealed in a two word sequence and spelt in reverse.
Hi gang - JazzBumpa here, your travel guide for the day. Let's embark on this puzzle journey. With a little luck, nobody will get lost.
Across:1. Philosophy test component: ESSAY. A written work that expresses the author's thought on a given subject.
6. Water conveyer: PIPE. A tube used to carry a fluid.
10. Royal __: seabird native to the Americas: TERN. A sleek seabird of warm saltwater coasts, with a tangerine-colored bill and ragged, ink-black crest against crisp white plumage.
14. India's first prime minister: NEHRU. Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 – 1964) was an Indian statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was second only to Mahatma Gandhi in leading the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s, and upon independence from Britain in 1947 served as India's first prime minister until his death in 1964.
15. Four or five: A FEW. A small number of people or things.
16. French god: DIEU. Literal
19. Seckel, e.g.: PEAR. A pear of a small sweet juicy brownish-red variety, grown chiefly in the US.
20. Normandy city: CAEN. Caen is a port city and capital of Calvados department in northern France's Normandy region. Its center features the Château de Caen, a circa-1060 castle built by William the Conqueror. I
21. Competes in a regatta: SAILS. Travels in a boat with sails, especially as a sport or recreation.
27. Least likely to be seen: RAREST. Most uncommon.
28. Family men: DADS. Male parents.
29. Middle East flyer: EL AL. Meaning "Upwards" or "To the sky," it is the flagship airlines of Israel.
30. Triangular-stemmed marsh grass: SEDGE. Any of a family (Cyperaceae, the sedge family) of usually tufted monocotyledonous marsh plants differing from the related grasses in having achenes ( small, dry one-seeded fruits that do not open to release the seed) and solid stems.
32. __ Dhabi: ABU. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, sits off the mainland on an island in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. Its focus on oil exports and commerce is reflected by the skyline’s modern towers and shopping megacenters such as Abu Dhabi and Marina malls.
39. Tunisian tennis pro __ Jabeur: ONS. Ons Jabeur (b. 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of world No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022. Jabeur is the current Tunisian number one, and the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP rankings history. She has won five singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as eleven singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit.
40. Tied up in knots: TENSE. Displaying anxiety or nervousness.
41. Country on the Arabian Sea: OMAN. Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The capital and largest city is Muscat.
42. Sharpen: WHET. Sharpen the blade of a tool or weapon.
43. The movie industry: CINEMA. The art or industry of producing movies.
50. Museum piece: RELIC. An object surviving from an earlier time, especially one of historical or sentimental interest.
51. Zero-star reviews: PANS. Severe criticisms.
52. Drop out: OMIT. Leave out or exclude someone or something, either intentionally or forgetfully.
59. Symbol of peace: DOVE. A stocky seed- or fruit-eating bird with a small head, short legs, and a cooing voice. Doves are generally smaller and more delicate than pigeons. They are typically docile and highly intelligent.
60. Garfield's housemate: ODIE.Garfield, an orange cat, and Odie, a yellow dog, are the cartoon pets of Jon Arbuckle.
61. Cause for some recalls: E COLI. Escherichia coli is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. They can cause infections when contaminating foods.
62. Small notes: ONES. Dollar bills.
63. Some imitative software: BOTS. Software programs designed to automatically perform repetitive tasks on the internet, often mimicking human behavior, like interacting with websites, chatting with users, or collecting data. They and can be used for both helpful and malicious purposes depending on its design.
64. Flip out: PANIC. Sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.
Down:
1. 34-Down grad: ENS. Ensign is the junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps.
2. "Hold on a __!": SEC. Requesting someone to briefely wait.
3. "Your Honor" airer, briefly: SHO. Showtime Networks, Inc. is a television company owned by American media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks division that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship namesake service, The Movie Channel, and Flix.
4. Museum piece: ART. Art describes a diverse range of cultural activity centered around works utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, beauty, and/or technical proficiency.
5. Desert bloomers: YUCCAS. Plants of the agave family with stiff swordlike leaves and spikes of white bell-shaped flowers that are dependent upon the yucca moth for fertilization, found especially in warm regions of North America and Mexico.
6. Dev of "Hotel Mumbai": PATEL. Dev Patel [ b. 1990] is an English actor and filmmaker. He has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Patel was included in Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024.
7. "Assuming there are some": IF ANY. Anticipating the possible existance of a small quantity of something.
8. Frisky feeling: PEP. Energy and high spirits.
9. Source of milk for manchego cheese: EWE. Female sheep.
10. Completion worth six points, informally: TD PASS. A ball thrown to an eligible receiver who is in or makes it into the end zone for a touchdown.
11. "Old MacDonald" letters: EI-EI-O. Nonsense syllables in a children's song.
12. Monarch's territory: REALM. Literally, the territory of a ruler.
13. Drink slowly: NURSE. As defined, over an extended period.
18. Drill command: HALT. Stop, soldiers!
21. Ceremonial feast during Passover: SEDER. A Jewish ritual service and ceremonial dinner for the first night or first two nights of Passover.
22. Hawk's weapon: TALON. The claw of a bird of prey.
23. Face-to-face exams: ORALS. Spoken tests.
24. Spill the beans: TELL. Disclose a secret or reveal something prematurely.
25. Perplex: ADDLE. Make someone unable to think clearly; confuse.
26. Minimum __: WAGE. The lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid
27. Credit union seizure: REPO. Repossess a car or other item when a buyer defaults on payments.
30. North Pole VIP: SANTA. That jolly old elf.
31. Couple of fellows?: ELS. The word "fellow" contains a double letter "l."
32. Singer-songwriter Mann: AIMEE. Aimee Elizabeth Mann [ b. 1960] is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often describing lost or lonely underdog characters.
33. Grins broadly: BEAMS. Smiles with joy.
34. Annapolis inst.: USNA. United States Naval Acadamy.
36. Code of conduct: ETHIC. Aset of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct.
37. "__ a hand?": NEED. Can I help you?
38. Large percussion instrument: GONG.
34. Annapolis inst.: USNA. United States Naval Acadamy.
36. Code of conduct: ETHIC. Aset of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct.
37. "__ a hand?": NEED. Can I help you?
38. Large percussion instrument: GONG.
42. Drops a line: WRITES. Frex, a letter, post card or email.
43. Beer containers: CANS. Small steel or aluminum containers in which food or drink is hermetically sealed for storage over long periods.
44. Foot part: INSTEP. The part of a person's foot between the ball and the ankle.
45. Hobbit who inherits the One Ring from Bilbo: FRODO. Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings and one of the protagonists in The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly as "uncle", and undertakes the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor. He is mentioned in Tolkien's posthumously published works, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.
46. Shade of yellow: LEMON. A vivid yellow color characteristic of the lemon fruit.
47. Shade of green: OLIVE. A dark yellowish-green color, like that of unripe or green olives. ...
48. Footnote abbr.: OP CIT. Abbreviated form of opere citato (Latin, 'in the work cited'), a formula employed in scholarly footnotes and endnotes when referring to a quotation from a work of which the title has already been specified, this reference usually being preceded by the name of the work's author.
49. Leaf collectors: RAKES. An implement consisting of a pole with a crossbar toothed like a comb at the end, or with several tines held together by a crosspiece, used especially for drawing together cut grass or fallen leaves, or smoothing loose soil or gravel.
53. Weave's partner: BOB. To bob and weave is to move quickly up and down and from side to side, usually in order to avoid hitting or being hit by something:
54. "Without further __ ... ": ADO. A state of agitation or fuss, especially about something unimportant. Here, it is to do something without delay.
55. Classic TV brand: RCA. The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company. In 1932, RCA became an independent company after the partners were required to divest their ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit.
56. Long, long time: EON. An indefinite and very long period of time.
57. Arch Manning's uncle: ELI. Archibald Charles Manning (b. 2005) is an American football quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. He is a member of the Manning family, the oldest son of Cooper Manning, himself the eldest son of Archie Manning, and nephew to Cooper's NFL quarterback brothers, Peyton and Eli.
58. Start of a pencil game: TIC. Continuing with tac and toe.
So we have arrived at our destination.
Not everyone is so lucky. A month ago my daughter Karen was driving with her daughter Emily [18] an son Nate [22] to a concert where I was playing. In a residential neighborhood at a 4-way stop, a drunk driver traveling at high speed with her lights off in the dark hit them broadside. Karen got broken ribs and some other minor injuries. Nate got scrapes and bruises and was relatively unharmed. Emily was severely injured, with a shattered pelvis, broken arm, and internal injuries. She is still in the hospital and will be for some time. The bones are knitting properly, but she has had some complications with the soft tissue damage. She's in remarkably good spirits, and is angry, of course. I'm happy to see she is channeling that energy into determination. She'll get better, eventually, but it will be a long road.
The lesson here is to wear your seat belt - and have it low and tight across your lap. It can be a life saver.
Cool regards!
The lesson here is to wear your seat belt - and have it low and tight across your lap. It can be a life saver.
Cool regards!
Ron
25 comments:
This puzzle wasn’t terribly hard. For one thing, the circles made the gimmick obvious. Favorite clue/answer? “Couple of fellows?” “Els.” Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Mark provided the easiest puzzle so far this week. Only a single Wite-Out application was required: duct/PIPE. Several of the proper names were unfamiliar (ONS Jabeur and Dev PATEL, I'm lookin' at you), but the perps were solid. Also unknown was the royal TERN. Excellent explication, JzB. (Sorry to hear of the auto accident. It's fortunate that everyone survived. And was there more than one William the Conqueror?)
BACK STREETS: Here's a twangy golden oldie from Mel Street -- Lovin' On Backstreets
ECOLI: Because "gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia" was too long.
ABU Dhabi: When I was there, back in the '80s, there were no modern towers or shopping megacenters in evidence. Lotsa sand, though.
Minimum WAGE: In my ute I was employed as a drug store clerk for the princely WAGE of 85¢/hour -- $1.25 on Sunday. I also set pins for a penny a frame. Of course, gas was only 25¢/gallon back then.
I am deeply saddened to hear about your daughter’s family. I hope and pray for the best.
FIR, but hone->WHET.
I've read that the important city of Palmdale, CA got its name when the first Anglo settlers came through the area, and thought that the YUCCAS they were seeing were palms they had heard so much about. (Other than being a bedroom community for the LA basin, Palmdale is important because of its proximity to Edwards Air Force Base.)
I can't see GONG without thinking of Chuck Barris. Here's a memorable juggler from The GONG Show. (She didn't get the GONG.) Maybe Picard can recreate the act for us?
Thanks to Mark for the fun, Monday-on-a-Wednesday puzzle, and thanks to JzB for the encyclopedic review. Please tell us that the drunk who caused the mayhem received full justice. Best wishes for a fast and full recovery to your loved ones.
For some reason, I'm still not getting the "couple of fellows" thing! Can you explain?
Took 5:03 today for me to get thE CAR To where I was going.
Lots of this puzzle I didn't care for (and not just those pesky circles). This seemed like a geography/foreign word exam: Abu, French god, India's prime minister, Arabian Sea country, and of course, our leader for worst clue of the month/year, "Tunisian tennis pro __ Jabeur."
Is it just me, or do many of the recent puzzles lack ... enjoyment?
JazzB, very sorry to hear about the injuries to your daughter and grandchildren. Another lesson: don't let anyone drive drunk.
Oh joy, circles!
First my prayers and thoughts go out to JzB and his family, I know what a close family they are and I know how dangerous all roads are when drivers drink and drive. It brings back memories of a night when a car with its lights off came at me while I was returning from a horse farm near Gainesville in the dark. I still get chills at how close that was. Please use UBER if you drink.
As with all of Mark's puzzles, I found some challenge and some learning. I am allergic to pears, apples and the like so I did not know the Seckel pear which is said to be named after the Pennsylvania farmer who first introduced it in the late 18th century and was one of the varieties planted at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson (wiki). I enjoy watching tennis but I have missed ONS JABEUR . I do know DEV PATEL and really enjoyed HOTEL MUMBAI which also featured the great Anupam Kher . I also appreciated the CSO to me in 46D. Mark has mentored our own Chris Gross in puzzle making. Thank you Mark and Ron.
There are a couple of "L"s in feLLows."
FIR. At first when I saw the circles i groaned, but I soon picked up on the gimmick, which actually helped with the solve.
This was an unusually easy puzzle for a Wednesday. A couple of proper names, something else I dislike, but the perps were there to assist.
Overall a fairly enjoyable puzzle.
Wednesday puzzle. Mondayish.
Couple potholes, perps to the rescue. Otherwise a one way pleasure.
Greet the day.
YP here ~ you beat me to the nomination for worst clue of the month, Big Easy may know ONS, the rest of us probably not. 😂
Yes, very easy for Wednesday. Only totally new to me was ONS JABEUR. But I have heard of the movie and the incident that inspired it.
I liked the theme and the circles. This helped the solve.
In school and college I loved essay tests. I found that cutting to the chase, rather than rambling on made for success. I also loved tutoring essay writing and term papers.
Often one letter suggested the answers today.
A sea bird, with four letters, the immediate choice was tern. I didn't even need the t.
A five letter Indian name beginning with Patel is as common as Smith and Jones here. After writing it. it rang a bell.
There's a whole wide world out there and most of these so called "foreign" answers and clues are common knowledge.
My hay fever has turned into all year round allergies to almost everything. My deviated septum makes my sinuses fill up constantly and drain poorly, often as post nasal drip.
JzB, what a horrible, needless accident. I pray that Emily heal s quickly.
Finished faster than yesterday. Plus the “circular” theme was quite obvious .
Inkovers: reign, regal/REALM, pump/PIPE, farest (like the most far?😌)/RAREST
Songster “Mann” Manfred wouldn’t fit. “Recalls”: can an automobile get E.COLI?
It’s only Wednesday” why “Seckel”, not Bartlett, Bosc, or Anjou. 🍐. Tunisian tennis pro? So they play Tennis in Tunis? ONS, why not “opposite of offs😆. Looked up “ONS” on Google and got: Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery Specialists, ONS clothing brand, Object Naming Service, ONS Island in Spain, the tennis pro, et al.. but the first in line was One-night Stand : A sex_ _l encounter with no expectation of further relations 🤭 when Mr. McClain Googled ONS he shoulda picked that one as the clue.
Infrequent break …. RAREST.
French pepper city: ___ CAEN.
Defective automobile or another “sunshine state fruit”….. LEMON.
In an ORAL exam the student sits ____ … the interrogator …. OPCIT.
Movement if you tap King Charles on the shoulder: Royal ___ …. TERN.
OLIVE is a “shade of green”, a different ___ … EWE.
………
Jazz (Ron) May your daughter and grand kids all get well soon. An awful experience.
Yes, Jason, Mark has indeed mentored me and continues to critique my puzzle entries, prior to submission. I hope he stops by today to say "hi"
Puzzling thoughts:
First, my prayers go out to Ron's family
Second, today's puzzle definitely caught my attention as it was constructed by my friend and mentor, Mark McClain. Mark will sometimes visit the Corner so perhaps he will do so today
Third, a mini-SO to me in Mark's first entry, SCOTCH TAPE. My sales and marketing career began with 3M in 1974. I worked for them for 25 years and began as a sales rep, peddling many different versions of Scotch (brand) tape. It's hard to believe that it's been 26 years since I left them. Nice reminder to me that I am getting old, but I am still a "kid" to many of the Cornerites! ;^)
Fourth: not sure if this entry was one that came to Mark's mind, but it fits the theme. Clue: "What Parisians say when leaving Las Vegas?" ADIEU NEVADA
(kudos to the first person that can find the backstreet here ...)
[spoiler alert] Friday's puzzle is a doozy
Jzb, terrible news! Let me guess, the drunk driver came out unscathed...
It amazes me how people can drive oblivious, drunk or sober!
On the lighter side, found on the backstreets...
I've always wondered why they called the tape "Scotch,". Today I found this on the internet: The brand name Scotch came about around 1925 while Richard Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The body shop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!"[8][9] The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes. you can't make this stuff up. (Can you?...)
Sedge, don't remind me of sedge... I am very familiar with that triangular stemmed invader of my lawn! It's that patch of grass that grows faster than any other grass! One saving grace, is that some types can be a food source due to the little nutlets that grow on their roots. But it also makes them harder to kill...
I have found that I am allergic to pine pollen, I used to wonder why.... But, now I just live with it...
Um, apologies to Jazzbumpa. Your news was just terrible, but in retrospect, my last link was pure accidental bad taste... I swear I was sober when I posted...
Wonderful Wednesday. Thank for the fun, Mark and JazzB (thoughts and prayers for your family after that horrible accident).
I FIRed in good time and saw the BACK STREET theme (Here’s some Back Street Boys for you)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gl2QnHNpkA
Perps were friendly, and I waited to decide between ETHIC and Ethos.
Cactus came to mind, but YUCCAS perped.
ONS perped. She has advanced to play in the second round today at the Australian Open.
Misty will have lots of food fodder today to WHET our appetites with ORANGES, LEMON, OLIVE, PEAR and that EWE cheese.
I am not familiar with that variety of PEAR, and thought of Coin. LOL , that’s a Shekel.
The cross of 42A and D could have gone wrong as I thought of Fishes before WRITES and Hone before WHET.
For some reason, ADDLE makes me smile.
We had both ESSAY and ORAL exams today.
I noted CSOs to Misty with RCA, and to our SANTA, Argyle, RIP.
Belated Happy Birthday to JD.
Wishing you all a great day.
I saw Venue but it didn’t fit as a Back Street. Aha, include the A! But may not necessarily be a BACK Street?
Ron, thanks for sharing your sobering news about the horrible accident. I hope the drunk cretin was at least carrying liability insurance.
Your granddaughter is showing impressive grit and forbearance despite such a life-altering experience. It sounds like she is not going to let this get her down. Go, Emily!
Chris, first I believe the answer to your query is AVENUE; and second, Jim and I owe you a phone call, I know.
Monday, already? FIR. I had no problems with this CW. Yes, á couple of unknowns such as ONS and PATEL, but perps took care of them. I don’t see how anyone can object to the inclusion of NEHRU, á major world figure of the 20th century. (He even gave us á jacket style for men).
JzB. Thank you for your, as someone said, encyclopedic review. I appreciate all the background to the clues. I’m also so sorry about what your family is suffering through.
Musings
-A nice humpday exercise. Wait a minute, I’m retired, so humpday is not relevant! :-)
-My wife does not like my fondness for taking BACK STREETS.
-Correcting teenage ESSAYS is not a pleasant chore
-Yes, I’ll admit it, I did wear a NEHRU jacket at one time. :-(
-CA_N/PAT_L made for a bad cell. CAAN and PATAL looked okay in my haste.
-We made many trips to CINEMA houses earlier in our marriage but find nothing to get us there now. Although Joann went shopping while I went to Oppenheimer
-Is this ART?
-TALON: A representative of the The Nebraska Raptor Center brought several raptors with her for a “SESH” and told our kids, “A raptor will never be your friend”.
-The citation forest of OP CIT, ibid, etc. and the minutiae of their use will always be a mystery to me
-RAKES remain in our garage because of my mulching mower
-ELI as straight man and his brother as comedian are a hoot on TV
-Ron, I am so sorry to hear about crash with your family. I wish them all a speedy recovery.
Hola!
First, let me say, JazzB, how sorry I am about your daughter and granddaughter being through such an awful experience. I hope Emily heals quickly and the perpetrator is duly punished. And thank you for the totally complete explanation of today's puzzle. It was a PATH forward.
Dev PATEL is a talented actor who has appeared in THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL , SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, etc. Those are the ones I've seen and had no idea he had so many others.
POLLEN ALLERGIES are very serious here and in one case that I know of, it led to the death of a friend's mother.
Most of my college EXAMS were written but I did have ORALS for my final in the Masters program. Being well prepared is the key to success especially when facing a panel of one's professors.
SECKEL is new to me but PEAR perped..
CSO to Misty's DAD at RCA.
Have a wonderful day, everyone! Every day is a gift.
Good Afternoon:
This was an easy, peasy solve, aided by the ubiquitous circles which, on a Wednesday, may have been unnecessary. No stumbles or complaints except Ons and its clue, which caused a severe nose wrinkle. Otherwise, this was a quick and simple solving experience.
Thanks, Mark, and thanks, JazzB, for the usual fact-laden and informative review. What a horrific ordeal for your daughter and grandchildren, especially Emily. Best wishes to Emily for a speedy and complete recovery.
Have a great day.
SS, no it is not just you. I’m right there with you and have been for quite some time.
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