Food Trucks
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| Washington, D.C. Mall |
Today's constructors Amie Walker and Geoffrey Schorkopf have dished up a tasty puzzle with 4 themers and a reveal that I think you'll concede is pretty straightforward (for a change!) ...
17. Menu icon that resembles a patty in a bun: HAMBURGER BUTTON. A hamburger button, so named for its unintentional resemblance to a hamburger, is a button typically placed in a top corner of a graphical user interface. Its function is to toggle a menu or navigation bar between being collapsed behind the button or displayed on the screen.
This reminds me a little of the trigrams comprising the hexagrams of the Chinese book of divination known as the I Ching, but that's a different kind of puzzle. 😀
23. Red-and-white pattern: CANDY STRIPE. The pattern on the traditional dresses worn by young hospital volunteers. One of my sisters was a "candy striper" at local nursing home when she was growing up. I think it may have led to her becoming a nurse when she got older.
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| Candy Stripers British Columbia, CA |
40. Textured features that help soundproof spaces: POPCORN CEILINGS. A popcorn ceiling, also known as a stipple ceiling or acoustic ceiling, is a ceiling with one of a variety of spray-on or paint-on treatments. The bumpy surface is created by tiny particles of vermiculite or polystyrene, which gives the ceiling sound-deadening properties.
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| Popcorn ceiling tile |
51. Intricate inversion on some roller coasters: PRETZEL LOOP. This one is pretty intricate -- the Impulse roller coaster at Knoebel's Grove Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA. My grandchildren love this ride, but no impulse will ever get Granddad onto this contraption ...
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| Impulse Roller Coaster Knoebel's Grove Amusement Park |
62. Compromise, or what solvers do when filling in the first words of 17-, 23-, 40-, and 51-Across?: MAKE CONCESSIONS. I'm sure you've noticed by now that the first word of each theme clue is actually the name for a common type of concession stand, e.g. a kiosk or a food truck, that has a limited menu of fast foods, e.g. HAMBURGER, CANDY, POPCORN, and PRETZELS.
My personal favorite food truck is operated by this guy, who once gave me a lesson in how to make Penne alla Vodka, including the quickest way to prepare fresh garlic cloves -- whack 'em with the side of a vegetable cleaver and the cloves will practically pop right out of their skins!
Here's the grid ...
1. Food safety concern: ECOLI. ECOLI is short for Escherichia coli, a bacteria that can be harmful, but also occurs in our intestines and is actually necessary for digestion. Here is the difference. Here is an image of the E.coli in our gut microbiome ...
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| Escherichia coli |
6. Calif. airport with yoga rooms: SFO. If you're a bare knuckle flyer this may be a good place to relax before boarding ...
9. Hypes (up): AMPS.
13. Like a dance marathon: TIRING. They can practically be killers, like the film about a Depression era marathon, depicted in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses Don't They ...
15. Sticky stuff: TAR.
16. Wraparound dress: SARI. Wedding saris are traditional garments worn for Indian weddings and other special occasions in Hindu, Punjabi and Bengali cultures. Also commonly spelled saree, this South Asian wedding dress is named after the Sanskrit word for "strip of cloth." You won't be sorry for skimming this article for some truly beautiful saris.😀
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| A beautiful bevy of saris |
20. Golden yrs. fund: IRA.
21. Iowa State city: AMES. Ames is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU).
22. Strainer: SIEVE. A collection of sieves of various mesh sizes is indispensable for the preparation of ceramic glazes ...
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| Glaze sieves |
27. Apple core?: IOS. -- a pun on the word "core", which in computing refers to the central HW or SW component of a system -- in this case IOS is the core software component, i.e. the operating system, of Apple's iPhones.
28. Dawn goddess: EOS. She had her day in the Sun two weeks ago.
29. "30 for 30" airer: ESPN. 30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online, highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. Not all of these films are flattering. Here's trailer for Brian and the Boz, a controversial film about the former Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth ...
31. On the wrong side (of): AFOUL.
34. Verify, in a way: CARD. The verb not the noun.
37. Beat handily: ROUT.
40. [Theme clues]
43. Tennis great Sampras: PETE. Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 286 weeks (third-most of all time), and finished as the year-end No. 1 six consecutive times.
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| Pete Sampras Wimbledon 1998 |
45. Luxury watch: OMEGA. The end all of all watches, or at least the Greek ones? 😀
46. Rae of "Barbie": ISSA. She played President Barbie in this clip called "Put the Constitution Back" ...
48. Style manual org.: MLA. MLA Handbook (9th ed., 2021) establishes a system for documenting sources in scholarly writing. It is published by the Modern Language Association, which is based in the United States. According to the organization, their MLA style "has been widely adopted for classroom instruction and used worldwide by scholars, journal publishers, and academic and commercial presses".
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| Amazon Link |
49. Latin I verb: AMO. Today's Latin lesson: AMO = "I Love".
51. [Theme clue]
58. "Divine Comedy" poet: DANTE. Dante Alighieri (c. May 1265 – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, is considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. His use of the Tuscan dialect helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language.
The poem consists of three parts: The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso. I recall reading The Inferno in college and discovered that it is a misconception that the 9th circle, the center of Hell and the abode of the Devil, is the hottest place in the Universe. Instead it's the coldest because it is the farthest away from God.
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| Dante Alighieri Sandro Botticelli, 1495 |
60. Feels sorry for: RUES. Not pities, regrets.
61. Badminton team, e.g.: DUO. Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock ("birdie") across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players per side). The use of the word "team" in the clue implies the answer DUO.
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| Here two Chinese duos compete in the mixed doubles gold medal match of the 2012 Olympics. |
66. Cold drink brand: ICEE. The Icee Company is an American beverage company located in La Vergne, Tennessee, United States. Its flagship product is the Icee (stylized as ICEE), which is a frozen carbonated beverage available in fruit and soda flavors. As I'm writing this there are 6" of snow on the ground outside that needs shoveling and for some reason this drink doesn't appeal to me. 😀
67. Inquire: ASK.
68. Bring about: INDUCE.
69. Playroom pile: TOYS. My son tells me that coming downstairs in the dark in the middle of the night and stepping on a pile of LEGOS in your bare feet is not a lot of fun. 😀
70. ACLU focus: RTS. The American Civil Liberty Union is concerned with defending rights.
71. Chuckled, slangily: LOLED. Laughed Out Loud, closely related is ROTFL, which is equivalent to roaring, slangily.
Down:
1. Moral tenet: ETHIC.
2. "1, 2 Step" singer: CIARA. "1, 2 Step" is a song by American singer Ciara featuring American rapper Missy Elliott ...
3. "Women & Money" podcast host Suze: ORMAN. Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman (SOO-zee; born June 5, 1951) is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with The Suze Orman Show, which ran on CNBC from 2002 to 2015.
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| Suze Orman |
5. Shiba __: INU. Thank you perps. Well not quite -- a Shiba Inu is both a breed of Japanese hunting dog ...
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| Shiba Inu |
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| Shiba Inu |
7. Language of Tehran: FARSI. Farsi, which is the Persian word for the Persian language, is spoken in Tehran, Iran, but also in many other countries around the world ...
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| Farsi speakers Worldwide distribution |
8. Celestial body: ORB. It has quite a few other meanings as well.
9. Italian bubbly: ASTI. Asti (also known as Asti spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont, but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the Asti has been classified as a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) and since 2004 has been Italy's largest wine product.
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| DOCG label |
10. Quick deposition of a king?: MATE IN ONE. MATE as in CHECKMATE, the move that ends a chess game -- the KING is attacked and has no escape. Here are two chess games where WHITE can end the game with one move ...
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| Game 1 |
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| Game 2 |
11. City near Salt Lake City: PROVO. Provo is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States and is the fourth-largest city in Utah. It is 43 miles (69 km) south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south. The 2020 census listed the population as 115,162.
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| Location of Provo in Provo County, Utah |
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| Sine A = a/h Cosine = b/h |
18. Setting for Big Ben, for short: GMT. As the clock Big Ben is in London, England the time there is Greenwich Mean Time. This app will show you the current time there, your local time, and the time in many other parts of the world.
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| Big Ben |
24. Court ties: DEUCES. Tennis courts of course. Here are the rules (well known by 43A).
25. "Carpe diem" hashtag: YOLO. More Latin: Carpe diem = "Seize the day", advice to take advantage of opportunities. It doesn't necessarily imply that You Only Live Once, an assertion that was considered debatable by this University of Virginia professor.
26. Mani-__: PEDI. A CSO to Lucina!
30. Like some fears: PRIMAL. Or the 1996 film Primal Fear, an American legal mystery crime thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand and Edward Norton in his film debut. The film follows a Chicago-based defense attorney who believes that his client, an altar boy, is not guilty of murdering a Catholic bishop.
31. Tablet download: APP.
32. Sworn enemy: FOE.
33. Alt analogue on a Mac: OPTION KEY.
34. "Erin Burnett OutFront" channel: CNN. Erin Burnett OutFront is an hour-long television news program hosted by Erin Burnett on CNN. OutFront is broadcast live from CNN's Hudson Yards studios in New York City or on location from the site of breaking news events.
36. __ Speedwagon: REO. Looks like they're Back on the Road Again ...
38. Comfy shoe brand: UGG.
39. Wand-waving org.: TSA. Thanks to the TSA's wand-waving magic airline hijackings are now very rare.
41. Bellow: ROAR.
42. Lounge around: LOLL. LAZE fit, but didn't perp, among other words ...
48. Soccer superstar Lionel: MESSI. Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Here's some MessiMagic for all you MessiManiacs! ...
49. Own up to: ADMIT.
50. Collision repair franchise: MAACO. When I filled this, I had to ask myself "do they still exist?" but after 53 years of operation they're still getting cars back on the road after accidents. MAACO Franchising, Inc. (doing business as Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting) is an American franchisor of auto painting and collision repair shops based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1972 by Anthony A. Martino and Daniel I. Rhode.
52. Accounting giant __ & Young: ERNST. Ernst & Young Global Limited, trading as EY, is a multinational professional services partnership, headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world.[8] Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms. It primarily provides assurance, tax, information technology services (including managed services in areas like Cybersecurity, Cloud, Digital Transformation and AI), consulting, and advisory services to its clients.
53. Stashes, as a football: TUCKS.
54. Calzone center?: ZEE. Metaclue -- if this were a Brit puzzle the answer would be ZED.
55. Big name in near beer: O'DOUL. It may be a big name, as in "recognizable", but this review of O'DOUL's near beer gives it poor marks. In fact this review of the 19 best nonalcoholic beers doesn't even mention it.
56. Cup part: OUNCE. HANDLE was too long and RIM was too short -- a measure of volume, not a container.
57. Not candid: POSED.
59. Simple tops: TEES.
63. Crew blade: OAR.
64. Lorne Michaels's show, familiarly: SNL. This past Sunday February 16th, SNL celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Here are some stars who participated in the 3 hour gala. And here's Steve Martin's opening monologue, rated (just a tad) PG ...
65. Response to "Who wants to go to Disneyland?": I DO. I guess "Vow on the altar" has become a bit dated.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
The answers to the chess quiz in 10D using algebraic notation: Game 1 -- NG6#, Game 2 -- RE7#.
The answers to the chess quiz in 10D using algebraic notation: Game 1 -- NG6#, Game 2 -- RE7#.
38 comments:
I wouldn’t say that this was the easiest puzzle in the world. However, the themers, even if not immediately known in some cases, were easily perped and sussed out. Also, I note “IOS” and “Eos.” Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
HAMBURGER BUTTON was a mystery -- don't think I've ever seen it. Never thought of ROUT as a sports verb, either. Still, it all came together. Thanx to today's four horsemen, Amie, Geoffrey, waseeley, and Teri.
OMEGA: At a previous employer you'd receive a Cross pen after one year and an OMEGA watch after five.
The MAACO (not to be confused with AAMCO) of my ute was Earl Scheib who would paint your car for $29.95.
FIR. I had to really work at this one. Lots of unknowns and rare proper names, two of them side by side, made for a struggle.
However the theme was fun, although I needed the reveal to get it.
But overall I enjoyed this puzzle.
Good Morning:
For a Thursday puzzle, this was a quick and smooth solve, the only unknowns being Hamburger Button and Option Key, both easily perped. The theme was cute and the reveal unexpected but very clever. I think my only w/o was Yell/Roar. Fun to see the CNN and ESPN duos.
Thanks, Amie and Geoffrey, and thanks, Bill and Teri, for the very interesting and informative review. I enjoyed seeing those beautiful saris and the equally handsome Shiba Inu. I remember seeing Primal Fear and being riveted by Edward Norton’s performance. I also remember being shocked and appalled by They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. On a lighter note, hearing Renee Fleming was a delight, as always.
Have a great day.
FIR, but consessions->CONCESSIONS (UNTIE!) and oduls->ODOUL (UNTIE!)
One of my sisters was a CANDY STRIPEr at our newly-opened regional hospital. Ironically, my sister's name is Candy, although she spels it Candi. Could the inability to spel be genetic?
(If you are interested in the story of two women who overcame many obstacles and got a regional hospital established, and by doing so changed health care in a large part of Eastern Kentucky, I recommend Country Doctor: The Story of Dr. Claire Louise Caudill by Shirley Gish. It is a great read.
I've seen a lot of people go through the messy process of removing POPCORN CEILINGS, but I've never seen anyone install a POPCORN CEILING over their flat-surface CEILING.
DNK CIARA, but I do know of Missy Elloitt, a local who made it big. (Pharrell Williams of "Happy" fame is another.)
Another clue from the nearly-unwatched CNN. Still no Fox News personalities, even though their ratings exceed CNN and MSNBS combined. That and a dime won't bias much.
I don't understand chess notation, but I did see that if the horsy moved in front of the black pawn that's in front of the castle thingie it will be mate, and that if the castle thingie took the pawn in the column where the king is it will be MATE. I think.
FLN - Bayou Tony, that sounds like a great bicycle trip. If we could only find an engineer to explain to us why greased bicycle chains and gears don't play well with sand, we'd really have something!
Thanks to Amie and Geoffrey for the fun, easy-for-a-Thursday puzzle. My favorite was the clue for GMT. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for anther fine review.
Easiest so far this week .Snacks from individual “concession” stands that have been “made”. ThougThe I never heard the term HAMBURGER BUTTON “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for one today”. Some old standbys like RUES, IRA, ICEE, TEES
“MATE IN ONE” assume a chess thing unknown to me. I was curious,LIU: Sports scholarships in Badminton do exist and some aren’t “Bad” 😀
CNN and ESPN, EOS and IOS
CANDY STRIPErs were teen girl volunteers. In part to garner their interest in the then woman’s only nursing profession. Now called simply “volunteers” (mostly not teens and obviously both sexes) Probably some of the same girls have now aged into Boomer volunteers
Hold ONTO your hat! “It’s going to be a bumpy ride” on that PRETZEL LOOP roller coaster. My rule: If they go upside down 🙃 I don’t get on 😰
“La Commedia Divina”: It was felt that to an Italian who is used to sunny warm weather HELL would be a cold place. Coincidentally the Italian words for Hell and Winter differ by one letter Inferno - Inverno
“Style manual org.”?
Green untruth …. ECOLI
when one AMES to lend money for a cheese investment: a ____ loan … PROVO
Duck or goose with bird flu: ____ fowl … AFOUL
What a drag queen does: TUCKS 🤭
___ you’d fail “Trig”, I saw all the ___ INU, SINES.
Off to Sanibel island on the Gulf of ______ for a week. The only white stuff I wanna see is sand on the beach. 🏝️
I FIR in a decent Thursday time with perp help around the board. DNK INU, MLA, CIARA and HAMBURGER BUTTON. Changed GRAin to GRASS, DOS to IOS. MAACO, not to be confused with “Double A (beep beep) M C O.” I don’t mind the references to CNN or CNBC, I guess I’m a LIB. Thank you Aimee and Geoffrey for today’s doable grid, good cluing and theme. Thanks to Bill and Teri for your insightful write-up, I always learn a lot from your blogs. I haven’t played chess in quite a while (when I realized I couldn’t beat the computer in “easy mode”, in whatever voice and accent I chose to be defeated in), but I did quickly figure out the “MATE IN ONE” moves on the two boards.
Took 7:32 today, without hotdogging.
Lots of unknowns for me today, especially the singer (as clued) Ciara, Ibu, "The Latin I verb" (that counts as a clue?), mate in one, and the hamburger button.
At least these were familiar foods unlike the obscure foods that are known to find themselves in LAT puzzles, most often the Saturday grids.
amo amass amat verb to be
From the teacher:
Actually, to love. And only one s in amas.
I saw all the goodies, but was surprised to see the concessions reveal. It was interesting that this food puzzle began with E.coli.
Obscure foods to some are quite common to others. They are common enough to have become English words. I love coming across a few that are new to me. I look them up in recipe books and on the internet and see that they do exist in English. Live and learn.
I was introduced to the drop down menu button by someone who called it the hamburger button. That made it memorable.
Only CIARA was new to me.
Uggs? Ugh!
I knew shiba inu. Inu is Japanese for dog.
Favorite was Apple core. I knew it referred to a computer, but it took a while to dredge up IOS.
MLA. A collogue and I took our Masters degree course together. Naturally, we followed the style recommended by our mentor. Our bibliography and footnote sections were scored as perfect. Soon after, we took another course and followed the same style for our bibliography and footnotes.. When it was severely panned by the instructor we exchanged covert side eyes.
Hey, there, Amie and Geoffrey! DNK CIARA, OPTION KEY or MAACO, but enjoyed the puzzle and FIR. Thanks for your creativity!
We had to remove *all* the furnishings from our mid-1960s home when we removed the POPCORN CEILINGS. Ours were made with asbestos. Much better without.
Ray-O did a nice job summing up the theme, and his wordplay continues to amaze.
Thank you, Bill and Teri, for another fine review.
FIR with minimal effort in spite of á few unknowns like CIARA and the chess expression which was easy to guess. Loved the Apple core clue.
Wow we can conjugate an abbreviation: LOLED?
Yoga rooms at an airport, neat. Several years ago I flew out of the Milwaukee airport and as I waited for my flight I browsed through a room full of books worthy of á well stocked library.
I liked the theme and caught on to it quickly. All in all good Thursday fare.
Waseeley, thank you for your excellent review. I loved the sari articles with the lovely pictures.
The most beautiful sari I've ever seen was from the 2024 Met Gala. https://sabyasachi.com/pages/met-gala-2024
The NW about did me in. I loved ETHOS for 1Down, but IRA and CANDYSTRIPE were having none of it. And then the vertical names CIARA and INU were contributing to my Natick mess up there.
Perps saved the day, but even when I got CIARA and INU correct (evidently), there was no satisfaction, because these words are totally unknown to me.
Amie and Geoffrey's theme was cute, although HAMBURGERBUTTON was new to me. If I've ever hit the hamburger button, it was a mistake.
Nice Thursday excursion, Geoffrey and Amie. And thanks, Waseeley, for your witty guidance.
When I did my MBA, we were required to follow the APA style manual. Fortunately, the instructors seemed to sing out of the same hymnal.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Amie and Geoffrey, and waseeley and Teri.
I FIRed and saw the CONCESSIONS theme.
Some clever clueing today - for TSA, IOS, GMT (thanks for explaining) and more
Unknown-to-me fills like CIARA, ODOUL, CNN, ESPN perped.
I smiled at EOS and IOS.
I waited for perps to decide between ETHos or ETHIC.
Busy day. Read you all later
Oh my gosh! So many things today has spawned that I don't know where to start. 1st, the bad news, Ray-O, red tide has been spotted off Sanibel. Here's wishing you east to southeasterly winds if you want to breathe without coughing... (not to mention dead fish everywhere...)
The good news? (Hmm, this may take a while, I'm still looking.)
Hamburger button? Ok, maybe a learning experience, but the learn8ng experience is people see with their stomachs! I don't see hamburgers, maybe a club sandwich? Definitely a BLT! (And why is this puzzle making me hungry?)
Yes, O'Douls tastes like Molsen, which puts it in the green slime category. But curiously, there have been great advances in taste when it comes to zero alcohol beer. ( or should I say zed...). Just recently, DW decided to have a no alcohol January, (worst month of my life...) but! She had a leftover Heineken zero that I got to taste with a burger, and I must say, this tasted like a pretty good beer! (Could've been the burger button talking, but...) here's the interesting part, I don't like Heineken!.!.? How the frack did they make a zer9 alcohol beer that tastes better than their regular beer?
Which brings me to: 54. Calzone center?: ZEE. Metaclue -- if this were a Brit puzzle the answer would be ZED. Hmm, there's a Frawnch comment here somewhere, but I just can't think of it right now,,, must be cause of all DW's leftover non alcoholic beeer....
My favorite NA beer was Saint Pauli Girl NA. My favorite full-strength beer was whatever someone else paid for.
Hmm, also, why is it call a concession stand? A simple look at the dicti9nary splains' it... you conceded to be ripped off by buying an overpriced item they wouldn't let you bring into the arena... we'll, there are ways to fight back at this injustice! So much so, it spawned a whole new page on Amazon...
P.P.S. Forget that whole cross site tracking thing yesterday, I was watching the 1st YouTube imbed about marathon dancing, thinking this reminded me of the Stephen King story about the kid who joined a marathon for food, but only the winner gets to eat because they shoot anyone who stops running until only one is left. Which reminded me "this sounds like hunger games," which reminded me it all started with the Bataan Death March, which reminded me, " I don't want want to watch this, I need to be careful what I wish for!" Which was remedied by the the next video which demanded I sign in to prove I'm not a bot...
Which reminds me I need to go back into settings and uncheck cross site tracking...
Grasped the theme in general terms, but still don't get it literally. When I fill in HAMBURGER I do not literally MAKE a CONCESSION. But I did enjoy the puzzle. FIR.
Learning moment about HAMBURGER BUTTON. I can't imagine using any modern technology without using one. But I never knew that is what they are called.
desper-otto Actually, MAACO was started by the same people as AAMCO. Both taken from the initials of founder Anthony A. Martino. Spelled backwards in the former case.
I have said it before, but not for many years. SUZE ORMAN gives some sensible advice: Don't run up credit card debt. Live within your means. Only borrow for housing.
But during the stock bubble before 2000, she told everyone to get into the stock market. When the bubble burst, she told everyone to get out. The worst possible advice that must have harmed a lot of her followers in a big way. There seems to be no accountability for entertainers like her and Dr Oz who play experts on TV but really are not.
This article lists 14 reasons not to listen to SUZE ORMAN.
It also offers some financial wisdom of its own.
Just one more thing about concessions. This is a true story, because you can't make this stuff up...
We were at a spring training baseball game with friends, who offered to go buy beers. This friend comes back a forever or so later, and says, I got these beers for free! Well, we had to know how this was accomplished, and she indulged us by informing us that in addition to only getting a max two beers, the line for waiting for these two beers was about a block long. So just as she got got her two (opened) beers, this guy comes up to her and says,
"I don't want to wait in line, I'll pay you double what you payed for these two beers."
And so she got back in line, and got two free beers...
However, knowing human nature, I can predict the future. Just wait, and you will see people popping up at the end of the line offering you no wait beer for double the price...
And pretty soon, the cops will crack down on this because...
When the venders see this, there will be a second line, just like at Disneyland! Where you can wait in a shorter line if you are willing to pay a higher price. Police enforced, of course.
Mark my words...
CrossEyedDave Thanks for the Amazon link. At first I thought you made a mistake. What do sun block and tampons have to do with CONCESSION products. Then I got it. Brilliant!
And thanks for the beer line story. Yes, bad enough to be overcharged. But then to waste time in line and miss the show is just evil. I would happily pay a fee to bring in what I want to bring in. Or just pay an honest admission fee.
I am reminded of a movie theater I used to go to in Berkeley when I had very little money. I think they charged a dollar for the movies. People were smoking pot in the theater and they didn't care. But don't try to smuggle in a candy bar!
Counted the names FIRST, and almost didn't do the CW: 22 names by my count, but as I looked at them I realized I knew 12, so went ahead and eventually managed to FIR in about 19 minutes. 65D: not room for my answer, NOTME, so hadda be IDO...which I don't. Interesting that as I look at the CW I can't think of comments! Thanx AW & GS. Bill, another sterling write-up. Although I don't know that chess notation system the two examples were easy enough. That roller coaster: is that otherwise known as a "vomit comet"? Was Ames deliberately built to be in the exact center of the state of Iowa? Another question to ponder: is a hot dog just baloney in a skin? And why does that description make me think of a politician?
Oh, one more comment. Quite a few years ago I had a GF with a house in Tallahassee. I went up there to help with some maintenance issues. The living room had a popcorn ceiling, which had peeled off the ceiling in a couple places and was hanging down. I was tempted to peel it all off, but since it had only peeled off in a couple small areas, I got some Elmer's glue and just glued it back up, then spray painted the ceiling with a thick elastomeric gloss paint. It turned out looking pretty good. It was only many years later that I learned old popcorn ceilings like hers contain asbestos. I had no idea at the time. Had I opted to peel it all off, I most likely would be dead now from the asbestos. Fateful choice, which I chose correctly just by chance. AND sealing it with elastomeric was another accidental great choice. Thank You, God!
For game 2, pawn to F4
62 A What solvers do when filling the first word, we make (the name of) a concession (item.)
Ironically, I recently ran across my copy of Andrew Tobias' 1978 book, modestly titled The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need. It's not aimed at rich folks, but to the ordinary people. The point of his book is that most people are best served to use available investment funds for simple but high-yield uses. He said to watch for products that you use to go on sale, or be available in bulk. He uses an example of buying your usual wine by the case instead of by individual bottles for a10% discount. You would be lucky most years to select an investment that will return 10% on investment, with no tax and very little risk. Some of the advice doesn't hold up - he instructs readers to send away for Sears, Best Products and Spiegel catalogs, to tell your off-to-college kids to not call home collect, and to never call person-to-person. However, the notion that most people can make far sounder investments than stocks just by buying stuff they already use more efficiently still rings true.
I managed to FIR but had some unfamiliar long fills, HAMBURGER BUTTON, POPCORN CEILINGS, PRETZEL LOOP, MLA, CIARA, Shiba INU, and MATE IN ONE are all unfamiliar terms.
I've gone on my last roller coaster. The last one in Dollywood made me feel sick for two days. A little vertigo.
In the SW I mistakenly put AAMCO it was white until I realized they repaired transmissions instead of doing body repair.
I saw PETE Sampras play twice, once at Indian Wells and the second time at the US Open. I don't remember if he won at Indian Wells but he definitely beat Nicholas Keifer in NYC in five sets
Now that I know the name popcorn ceiling and your mention of the difficulty in removing it, I would just put another layer of gypsum board over it, texture it, and paint it.
I could be wrong, but I thought the danger from asbestos was prolonged inhalation. Car mechanics working on brakes and clutches, plumbers installing insulated pipes, floor guys sawing new and chiseling out old tiles and the like. I thought that one-shot projects for hobbyists wouldn't be likely to cause harm. Medicos - is that stuff dangerous for one-time exposures?
One reason not to listen to Suze Orman or any other investment professional is they don't know any more than the next person. The odds that the 'adviser' you pick AND that 'adviser' picks the right things to invest in is a crapshoot. If somebody tells you they can 'beat the market', look elsewhere. The safest way is to 'match the market' and the only way to do that is an Index Fund.
I knew the Hamburger part but had never heard it called a button.
I had some inspiration when I first filled in the letter A, so I used this tool (https://wordletoday.cc/) to look up the rest of the words
Musings
-My school was one of the few to have school yesterday. Today the wind chill is -30F and so it joined the crowd and is closed.
-POPCORN CELINGS seem to be a sign of an older home.
-I installed an update to the IOS (Sequoia) on my MacBook two days ago.
-Our very young-looking friend got CARDED until she was 30.
-I screen puzzles for my PhD friend and he includes lots of scholarly abbreviations.
-Spin wires between magnets and you’ll INDUCE an electric current.
Good crunch for a Thursday, but not overly difficult, and I enjoyed the snazzy clues and the theme. Even with minor missteps like “loaf” for LOLL (didn’t even think of “laze”) I got the FIR without too much drama. Thanks for a fun cruise, Amie & Geoffrey!
Another amusing recap by the illustrious Bill & Teri, too — plus a ton of hilarious comments today. Loved CrosseyedDave’s link to all the Chinese cheater flasks — just goes t’show ya, where there’s a will (or an addiction) there’s a way. I also have never seen this HAMBURGER BUTTON thing, and I’ve used quite a few graphics programs; maybe it’s a PC thing, not iOS. I’d think it would be a shortcut on DoorDash to order a Big Mac or something… 🤣
It’s been eons since I’ve played chess, but I guess it’s like riding a bicycle — once you learn, etc. It was easy to see the MATEINONE on both boards. But I liked Jinx’ story better than that algebraic stuff…
Never heard that particular REO Speedwagon tune you linked, Bill (I’m surprised you chose it over some of their hits, like, say, “Can’t Fight This Feeling”). Thanks for showing it!
And Desper-Otto, your Earl Schieb reference…talk about a blast from the past! “I’ll paint anyyyy carrrrr for twenty-nine ninety-fiiiivvve”. He came off as such a shyster in those TV spots, but boy he sure made a Scheib-load of cash doing those crappy re-squirts, didn’t he.
====> Darren / L.A.
Hi All!
Thanks Amie & Geoffrey for the fast Thursday puzzle. All the reference to technology are right up my alley.
Erudite expo, waseely (and Teri).
WOs: N/A
ESPs: INU, CIARA, ISSA
Fav: MATE IN ONE - I play at least the Daily Puzzle daily on chess.com
Jinx - I told my family it was a bad idea, but they thought I was just being a stick in the mud. They really wanted to play on the ocean shore.
HAMBURGER BUTTON (aka the hamburger) has morphed into three simple vertical (Chrom) or horizontal dots (Edge) in some browsers. Look in the upper right corner for the "burger" and click to see your browser's menu.
Enjoyed reading y'all!
Cheers, -T
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