Numbers
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| Fibonnaci Sequence Nautilus shell cross section Smithsonian Institution |
The polymath Carl Friedrich Gauss once said that "Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics". Veteran Joe Rodini's theme today is about numbers, but a slightly different kind of number, that is musical numbers -- but as the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras discovered there is a close relationship between mathematics and music. Let's look at Joe's themers, which are all song titles ...
18A. One-hit-wonder by the New Zealand band OMC: HOW BIZARRE. OMC, or Otara Millionaires Club, was a New Zealand music group best known for the 1996 hit How Bizarre, named one of the greatest New Zealander songs of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association. The full name of the band is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Ōtara's status as one of the poorest suburbs of Auckland ...
27A. Title theme song of a 1985 John Hughes film: WEIRD SCIENCE. I guess John Hughes had to start somewhere ...
36A. Tom Jones classic that accompanied the Carlton dance on "Fresh Prince": ITS NOT UNUSUAL. This may be the odd song out ...
45. ELO hit from the album "Face the Music": STRANGE MAGIC.
Here's the reveal ...
59. Figures on right-hand pages, or an apt title for this puzzle: ODD NUMBERS. There is nothing special about this -- it's just a convention. But why is it an apt title for this puzzle? As the themers are all song NUMBERS, then they must somehow all be ODD. Notice that (1) BIZZARE, (2) WEIRD, (3) UNUSUAL, and (4) STRANGE are all synonyms for ODD and in the sequence of 4 themers, the odd numbered ones are on the RIGHT and the even ones are on the LEFT. FWIW Joe's theme was a "puzzle within a puzzle" rather than one intended to help with the solve.
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Hurtful remark: BARB.
5. Can't help but: HAS TO.
10. Get smart with: SASS.
14. Cookie with a Dirt Cake flavor: OREO. Rumor has it that Nabisco is working a variation of Dirt Cake containing earth worms.😀 While we're waiting, here is Jennifer's recipe for Dirt Cake.
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| Dirt Cake |
16. Miller option: LITE.
17. Director Preminger: OTTO. Otto Ludwig Preminger (5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre, and was one of the most influential directors in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, twice for Best Director and once for Best Picture, among many other accolades.
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| Otto Preminger |
18. [Theme clue]
20. Collect: AMASS.
22. "Just tell me the answer": I GIVE UP. On the Corner we call that to TITT.
23. Twiddled one's thumbs: IDLED.
25. Advil target: PAIN.
26. Online convos: DMS. In computer networking, a private message, personal message, or direct message (abbreviated as PM or DM) refers to a private communication, often text-based, sent or received by a user of a private communication channel on any given platform.
27. [Theme clue]
31. Egg cells: OVA. A little review of the birds and the bees ...
32. Mosul's country: IRAQ. Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh—once the largest city in the world—on its east side.
33. Broke bread: ATE.
36. [Theme clue]
41. Island garland: LEI.
42. Steak sauce brand: A ONE. You can make your own -- here's a recipe ...
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| Steak sauce |
45. [Theme clue]
50. Texting segue: BTW. By the way the next clue is about a news broadcaster ...
53. "Dateline NBC" anchor Lester: HOLT. Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News Kids Edition, and Dateline NBC. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News following the demotion of Brian Williams and became the first Black male solo anchor for a major network newscast.
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| Lester Holt |
55. Snoopy alter ego: JOE COOL.
59. [Theme reveal]
61. "Ferrari" actor Driver: ADAM. An appropriate name for the actor who played in the 2023 film about auto designer and racer Enzo Ferrari ...
64. Wrath: RAGE. Here's the Dies Irae ("Day of wrath") from what has been called Giuseppe Verdi's greatest opera -- his Requiem, with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the Metropolitan Opera chorus and orchestra on the 20th anniversary of 911 ...
65. Lifts, as spirits: BUOYS. BOOSTS was two long. A CSO to Jinx -- "Red right returning" right?
66. Sounds from a comedy club: YUKS.
67. Russian refusal: NYET. Back at ya Vlad!
68. Far from shore: AT SEA. You don't find too many 65As AT SEA.
69. Duration: SPAN.
Down:
1. Bae: BOO. Short for Babboo?
2. Objet d'__: ART. French: Objet d'Art = "Art object". Technically this could be an oil painting or a sculpture, but it generally refers to an especially exquisite artifact such as a Fabergé egg ...
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| Gatchina Palace Egg |
3. Return like for like: RETALIATE.
4. Child of the 1950s: BOOMER. And a CSO to a dearly departed friend.
5. Sounds of derision: HAHS.
6. Mil. addresses: APOS.
7. Tool that can make music: SAW. Here's sawist Adriano Fernandez playing O mio babbino caro, the signature aria from Giacomo Puccini's only comedy, Gianni Schicchi ...
8. Fibulae neighbors: TIBIAE. Here's everything you need to know about these neighbors ...
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| Fibulae and Tibiae |
9. Where the x-axis and the y-axis cross: ORIGIN. It's where everything starts ...
12. Play lightly: STRUM. Here's John Denver doing a little strumming ...
13. Trickles: SEEPS.
19. Metal in pennies: ZINC. Pennies actually cost 3.7 cents each and it has been suggested recently that they're not worth minting. As ZINC is a key ingredient in Bristol glazes, I'd suggest that it be used to make stoneware crocks, which can bring a pretty penny at auctions ...
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| Bristol glazed butter crocks |
21. Introduce to the mix: ADD IN.
23. __ Jima: IWO. The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field. The seven day battle cost approximately 6,800 American lives. The photo of the raising of the US flag on Mt. Suribachi has become an icon of our nation's military valor and sacrifice ...
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| Raising the colors on Iwo Jima |
24. New Jersey athlete: DEVIL. The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference.
28. Packed theater letters: SRO.
29. Monopoly token that replaced the iron: CAT. The IRON is out, the CAT is in -- not a popular decision among DOG lovers. The monopolists had obviously been watching too many cat videos on the Internet.
30. __ de cologne: EAU. French: Eau de Cologne = "Water from Cologne", a perfume originating in Cologne, Germany (known as "Koln" auf Deutsch. In contemporary American English usage, the term "cologne" has become a generic term for perfumes marketed toward men. It also may signify a less concentrated, more affordable, version of a popular perfume (i.e. cheap!).
35. Pitcher of milk?: ELSIE. Not this pitcher ...
37. Family girl: SIS.
38. Eggy drink: NOG.
39. Arles article: UNE. More French. One of the most famous articles to come out of Arles resulted from a play called L'Arlésienne ("The Girl from Arles"), written by Alphonse Daudet, with incidental music written by George Bizet. -- the play bombed, but the music survives to this day as a concert piece. Here is a snippet of it -- you will most surely recognize it ... 40. 18-wheelers: SEMIS.
44. Play, or part of a play: ACT. See 39A.
46. Commandment start: THOU. Great words to live by ...
48. Nearly entirely: ALL BUT.
49. Analyzes chemically: ASSAYS. Essentially an ASSAY involves analyzing a substance for its chemical constituents, e.g. to determine the nutrients that make up a food product. This is something I've done quite a bit of in my avocation -- the making of glazed pottery. For the most part glaze recipes consist of specific quantities of ingredients made from ground minerals. However looking at a recipe tells you very little about the properties of the glaze -- e.g. glossy or matte surface, color, or fluidity (i.e. will it run all over your kiln shelves?) I use a very useful program called Digitalfire Insight to analyze glaze recipes for their chemical constituents -- alumina and related oxides to form the body of the glaze; fluxes to regulate the melting point; and glass formers to determine the final surface characteristics. The proportions of those ingredients (what the old Chinese potters called bones, fire, and flesh) tell you much more than just the recipe can about how the glaze will fire and what it will look like when it comes out of the kiln.
50. ABBA singer Ulvaeus: BJORN. BJORN did other things besides sing for ABBA. Among them was collaborating in the composition of a musical called Chess, along with his ABBA colleague Benny Andersson and English songwriter Tim Rice. Based on a true story, it revolves around intrigues that took place during a Cold War match between American and Russian Grand Masters. The musical production was a big deal -- including a double LP recording and stage productions in a West End theatre in London and a Broadway theater in New York. I was unable to find any suitable songs from the original LP, but I did find a concert version of the song Anthem sung by Josh Groban, a paeon to the Russian Grand Master's homeland ...
51. "While I'm young!": TODAY. Thank you perps. I think this may be Gen-Z slang for STAT. These days TODAY seems to be getting shorter and shorter!
52. Trivial Pursuit piece: WEDGE. Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. This sounds like it might be a good game to warm up with before attempting to solve LA Times crossword puzzles. 😀
Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question they are asked from a card (from six categories including "history" and "science and nature"). Each correct answer allows the player's turn to continue; a correct answer on one of the six "category headquarters" spaces earns a plastic wedge which is slotted into the answerer's playing piece. The object of the game is to collect all six wedges from each "category headquarters" space, and then return to the center "hub" space to answer a question in a category selected by the other players. Doesn't sound trivial to me.
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| Trivial Pursuit wedges |
56. Tech review site: CNET. CNET (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website found in 1992 that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. Following acquisition by Red Ventures on October 30, 2020, the website faced criticism for the decline in quality of its editorial content and its factual unreliability due to the use of generative AI in the creation of its articles, as well as concerns over its journalistic integrity after it began increased publication of biased reviews and sponsored content to benefit its advertising partners. On October 1, 2024, CNET was acquired by Ziff Davis, who will hopefully improve it.
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57. Boot company since 1863: FRYE. The Frye Company is an American manufacturer of shoes, boots and leather accessories. Founded in 1863, it claims to be the oldest continuously operated American shoe company. Apparently their boots are really aged, as a pair like this one will set you back $498 + tax + shipping (I'm assuming you get two for that price 😀) ...
58. Mount of Greek myth: OSSA. Mount Ossa (Greek: Όσσα), is a mountain in the Larissa regional unit, in Thessaly, Greece. It is 1,978 metres (6,490 ft) high and is located between Pelion to the south and Olympus to the north. In Greek mythology, a race of giants called the Aloadaes are said to have attempted to pile Mount Pelion on top of Mount Ossa in their efforts to scale Mount Olympus.
60. Volkswagen model until 2016: EOS. The Volkswagen Eos is a compact two-door, four passenger convertible manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen from 2006 to 2016 — noted for its five-section hardtop retractable roof.
62. Alias letters: AKA.
63. AOL alternative: MSN. MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnered with.
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| Frye boot Campus 14L Wide Calf |
58. Mount of Greek myth: OSSA. Mount Ossa (Greek: Όσσα), is a mountain in the Larissa regional unit, in Thessaly, Greece. It is 1,978 metres (6,490 ft) high and is located between Pelion to the south and Olympus to the north. In Greek mythology, a race of giants called the Aloadaes are said to have attempted to pile Mount Pelion on top of Mount Ossa in their efforts to scale Mount Olympus.
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| Mount Ossa |
60. Volkswagen model until 2016: EOS. The Volkswagen Eos is a compact two-door, four passenger convertible manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen from 2006 to 2016 — noted for its five-section hardtop retractable roof.
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| 2006 Volkswagen EOS Sport |
63. AOL alternative: MSN. MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnered with.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
Notes from C.C.:
I'm sad to share that today's blog will be Bill's final Thursday review for us. He's stepping away to focus on his health and prioritize time with his family.
Bill began blogging for us in December 2020, and his posts have always been full of insight, information, and warmth. Thank you, Bill (and Teri!), for the care, time, and heart you've given to this blog. We wish you joy and good health in the next chapter. And we look forward to seeing you in the Comments section whenever you feel like stopping by.
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| Bill (waseeley) |
I'm also happy to announce that Naomi will be taking over the Thursday blog
moving forward. She has filled in for several bloggers over the past few
months and brings a clear, thoughtful voice and a deep love for puzzles.
We're excited to have her on board!
41 comments:
This could have been
tough, if you didn’t know Peanuts characters or certain semi-obscure songs, I suppose. On the other hand, the perps were (mostly) fair and helpful. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
P.S. Thank you, Waseeley for years of faithful service and welcome NaomiZ! I think you’ll be great!
Thanks for all you've done, Waseeley, and best to you with your health~!
Next up, Naomi~!
Good morning!
It's the end of an era. We're gonna miss your weekly expos, waseeley. I hope the health issues aren't too severe. And we'll all welcome NaomiZ to a permanent slot in the rotation.
HOLT: He's announced that he'll be stepping down from the nightly news this summer. Not retiring, though.
CAT: Our old Monopoly set included a Scotty Dog token. The dog lovers weren't ignored, waseeley.
I believe “While we’re young” was a plea by Rodney Dangerfield to a slow golfer in “Caddyshack,” so not just Xers
Sorry, Zers
You are correct, sir. While we're young! The USGA made some TV spots using that tag line in an attempt to reduce the epidemic of slow play.
FIR. For a Thursday puzzle this had all the trappings one could expect. A few odd proper names, and some unusual references such as Joe Cool. But the perps were fair.
I got the theme early on despite not knowing some of the songs. But once I threw down "It's not unusual", everything fit into place.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR, but oman->IRAQ, hate->RAGE, and bug->EOS (the last Bug was made in 2003, not 2016.)
I'll have to watch Weird Science when I get the chance. Makes me think of one-hit wonder Thomas Dolby's She Blinded Me with Science.
Yes, Bill "red-right-returning" in coastal waters, but not on inland waterways. That'd be too easy. And in coastal waters you have to know your can BUOYs (green) from your nun BUOYs (red.) They are different shapes, so being color blind is no excuse.
Norfolk has a city-sponsored artist's area called d'ART. There's a breakfast and lunch joint in the same building named d'Egg.
"Pitcher" is appropriate for this, the opening day of MLB.
I learned from reading Galileo's Daughter that in his time music was considered a branch of mathematics.
Thanks to Joe for the late-week challenge. More so because of my ignorance of things A and E. But are songs one hit wonders? I've always used the term to mean the performer, in this case OMC. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for one last fine review. I'll miss your write-ups, but we know that NaomiZ will do a fine job in your stead.
Jinx, yes one hit wonders are the band.
PIQUANT is such a fun word, I'm going to try and use it somewhere today. Use it three times and it's mine!
Took 8:05 today to finish this ... uncanny puzzle.
I didn't know the ELO song, but by then I had sensed the theme, which helped. I struggled with today's foreign language lessons, and I still strongly dislike clues such as "Arles article" or "Latin I word".
I also didn't know Bjorn, Eos, or Frye.
waseeley/Bill: Thank you for all your contributions over the years, and I hope a little time away is all that you need. And, thank you to Teri for her assists too.
I generally attempt the across clues first, and today that enabled me to fill 80-85% of the grid, which is highly unusual. This puzzle felt Tuesday-ish to me, just as Tuesday's puzzle had a Thursday feel.
IT’S NOT UNUSUAL to shout “I GIVE UP” after a frustrating puzzle , but not TODAY. Theme: ODD NUMBERS: “pages are on the right” and ODD titled songs (numbers) …clever, knew ‘em all but the first BIZARRE tune.
Wait !!!: I see I FIW! strut instead of STRUM. 😲
Inkovers: adopt/ADDIN, car/CAT, almost/ALLBUT.
IM ☘️ must be steaming over all the 3 letter answers 🤭 …
I liked the ELSIE “pitcher” clue. “Snarled”: first thought : an angry wet cat 😾. Couldn’t remember if “Snoopy Flying Ace” had a name? Perps finally pointed me to JOE COOL.
Always want to fill les for UNE in this not infrequent clue Je ne sais pas pourquoi then almost filled picante
Does any other four letter CW cookie exist? “Bae” isn’t bad enough? BOO?. (booo!!!)
I’m a BOOMER (b. 1950) but prefer to be referred to as “Mid-century modern” 😆
Hope to see you in the comment section, Waz. 🙂
Opening Day here in the U.S., the regular season started a week and a half ago with the Cubs and Dodgers playing two games in Japan.
Ray O, Today’s count of 20 TLWs is borderline high, but not high enough to raise my BP! 😉
For a solver, much of the fun of doing a crossword lies in the "aha!" satisfaction of recognizing that your solve for a particular entry is correct. That goes out the window when you're in a situation of either knowing the clue's answer or not. Such was the case for me with today's four theme answers. Even when (thanks to perps and wags) I came up with, say, HOWBIZARRE, I had no idea if that was correct since I was unfamiliar with both OMC and their song.
Nevertheless, thanks Joe, for your efforts. I appreciated some clever misdirections and word play, such as 48A, "Nearly entirely." Rarely do we see two -ly words back-to-back. Here the second one was acting as an adjective.
Thanks, Bill, for not only today's recap, but for your long stream of consistently informative and entertaining reviews. I understand your decision to step aside now. Health and family are paramount.
A peculiar but refreshing theme today, about par for me in Thursday difficulty as FIR in 15:29. Just an X shy of a pangram. The tunes all ran through my head except WEIRD SCIENCE which I’m unfamiliar with. Thanks Joe for the morning enjoyment!
Bill and Teri ~ for as long as I’ve been on the Corner, four years, you’ve had the Thursday blog gig. Thanks for your commitment and dedication, your writings have always been an education, enlightening me on things I would never learn otherwise, I appreciate your time and research, always an interesting read! Thanks, and I wish you both the best.
NaomiZ ~ congrats on your promotion to the full time Thursday slot, you’ve already got a style all your own and you’ll do great! Look forward to reading you on a regular basis 😊
Musings
-The Godfather had a lot of RETALIATION in it. One such act involved a gun hidden in a toilet stall.
-This BOOMER also misses BOOMER.
-Having Slav in the clue solved the SERB or SLAV issue
-This VERY thin copper jacket is all that is left when my chemistry kids removed it from a mostly ZINC penny
-We were fortunate that my SIS had power last week so we could charge our devices
-An important business in gold rush towns
-Happy Trails and good luck to Bill and Teri. Your write-ups were always a treat.
-BTW, Crossword learning – An odd-numbered page is called the recto and are opposite the verso
-BTW2 – From yesterday: Thanks Brian, I opened the puzzle in a new tab online and had no problems.
I rarely watch movies, but 'Caddyshack' is one you can watch multiple times.
Good Morning:
The only song I knew was It’s Not Unusual, but because of fair perps and straightforward fill, the solve was smooth and enjoyable. Bjorn and EOS needed perps, but no w/os were necessary. The theme and cluing were fresh and the grid was dreck-free.
Thanks, Joe, and thanks, Bill and Teri, for another outstanding review, filled with interesting tidbits and detailed descriptions. Most of all, thanks for your dedication in educating and entertaining us and being our faithful guides for so long. Best wishes for good health and happiness and your continued presence as a commenter. Your departure is greatly softened by the arrival of Naomi to the full-time ranks of blogging. Based on her substituting talents, we are fortunate to have her on a regular weekly basis. A thousand welcomes, Naomi, we’re thrilled to have you join the daily blogging crew!
Have a great day.
"Red right returning" right? Blinking buoys and other red lights at night in the Intracoastal across Mississippi Sound can easily confuse you, especially if barges are moving close. I would preset the exact locations on LORAN and then GPS. Your eyes can deceive you.
TITT after the one hit wonder down under, and the plethora of paraphrase clues. Just not my cuppa'. Fair winds and clear skies to Bill & Teri, and welcome to the Bigs NaomiZ!
Thanks Bill for all the time, effort, and research when presenting your puzzle recaps. I have always appreciated your Thursday thoughts. Take care.
The song “How Bizarre” is indeed worthy of being one of New Zealands all time best songs. If you listen carefully to the lyrics it recants an incident of 4 Maori youth that are out for a cruise in their chevy and are racially profiled and pulled over by the police. Made to get out of the car and stand on a line. They coincidentally are standing in front of a Circus poster that is plastered on the store wall behind them.
Its sung to a rather whimsical and catchy melody so people just sing along without realizing the depth of the verse.
Thanks Joe for a good challenge.
Bill (Waseely) thank you for all you have done (and Teri!) you will be missed, please don't disappear on us and stop in when you can!
Curiosities:
Why is the clue for "a pair" two and two, and not just "two."?
NSA A secret agency?
Snoopy alter ego is not WW1 Flying Ace? (What was his name anyway.?)
And a rebuttal.
Also, curiously, for several days, all my YouTube imbeds were playable? Have they fixed the prove your not a bot thing?
Also, also curiously, am I amiss, or have we not seen our Blog moderator in quite a while? I hope everything is alright... I was reminded of this when the filter was not checked for missing blogs, I was also, also also, reminded of this because the first time I clicked on HG's first link, it opened another blog post a comment page instead of his link. It worked correctly on the second attempt, so I am wondering if my iPad is going kerflooey and my missing posts were accidentally posted on some ghost page somewhere in the ether...?
odd songs are noth8ng new...
Finally, (and not also) it's not unusual does not remind me of Carlton.
it reminds me of Mars Attacks!
Bill, I haven't read the comments in a couple of months. I was spending way too much time on blog stuff. Also, too much negativity and griping about insignificant crap. The last time I commented was a Monday that Sumdaze blogged and she also had a Universal puzzle published that day, and I remember it. So anyway, it has been awhile. I've enjoyed the time away and made better use of my time, and it appears that Blogger is stable. If something really major comes up, C.C. can contact me if she needs any help.
But I do try to read the reviews daily. I read today that you are re-retiring to spend more time with your family and to focus on your health. I hope that all is well with you, and that I am not reading too much into the health part of it.
You've done a great job blogging the puzzles. 175 blog posts! Fare thee well, and make good use of your time. God Bless!
Bill and his exhaustive knowledge and hyperlinking will be missed on Thursdays, but NaomiZ is a capable replacement. Presumably, Bill will still be visible with comments, so I will leave the classical music beat to him.
When I realized I knew only two of the four themed songs, I also realized most Cornerites would know only one and therefore the execution of the theme wasn’t quite as good as the idea for it.
That said, “Strange Magic” is not all that obscure, seeing as I’ve heard Musak versions at the supermarket. It’s my favorite ELO song. I like the way the chorus and hook come out of nowhere. As for New Zealand rockers, no one in pop music writes hooks that come of nowhere as deftly as Neil Finn of Crowded House.
Other likes: The “pitcher of milk” clue for ELSIE Borden; PIQUANT; ORIGIN, as clued.
Gripes: TANGLED ‘UP’; the inaccurate clue for STRUM; the obscure VW model. The paraphrase for I GIVE UP; HAHS and YUKS.
One error in the puzzle: The steak sauce is A1, not Aone. Should have been clued differently. Today’s exercises set up a trap for spelling errors. Fibonacci/fibonnaci and one slip-up on bizarre/bizzare showed up. Which reminds me that the Giants open this afternoon in Cincinnati/Cincinatti. I’m trying to think of other words that present this trap.
Fairly quick solve for a Thursday - but some of the answers were in my wheelhouse! We have friends who live in a city a few hours from Mosul in IRAQ - fortunately their area was not as war torn as Mosul was
Snoopy had several alter egos - CED - the WWI Flying Ace on his Sopwith Camel facing The Red Baron was one - JOE COOL was his college persona
As a kid I loved the song Snoopy vs The Red Baron by the Royal Guardsmen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icsHJhMeXYo
FRYE boots have been popular for a long time - well made, comfortable and last a long time - couldn't afford them when I was a teen and wouldn't spend that kind of money on them now!
Thank you Bill & Teri for all your blogs - interesting, informative and eclectic!
We will miss you - but I hope to see you when we get back to the DC area to visit our son again - recently it's been other places we have connected with him but hope to get back there soon and include a connection with you all too! And Welcome to full time Naomi - I've enjoyed your subbing
Interesting Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Joe. And your commentaries are always delightful and we will miss you very much in the coming weeks, Bill and Teri. But have good times and experiences coming up.
Well, today's puzzle did take us into some BIZARRE territory TODAY, making it a bit tough to keep us from wanting to SASS or RETALIATE with negative responses like RAGE in return. But I'm guessing we're inclined to just stay COOL and ACT in a friendly way by staying IDLE or maybe going to STRUM a guitar, or munch an OREO, or even spend some time AT SEA and visit an ISLET. Wouldn't that be fun?
Have a pleasant day, everybody.
Hola! No BOOs or BARBs today; in spite of the unknown songs, except for Tom Jones', the grid filled quickly. I love listening to Tom Jones!
PIQUANT was a bit challenging to spell but perps helped. I don't recall ever having to spell it before. And I have heard that not much copper is used in pennies.
Bill, thank you so much for your dedication on Thursdays. I've enjoyed your always prolific style and thanks to Teri as well.
Enjoy the day, everyone!
CrossEyedDave at 11:23 AM -- The clue for 15-Across is "Two twos, say." It could also have been "two threes," or "two Jacks." Either way, the answer is A PAIR (of cards). At least that's how I read it!
FIR in 16 in spite of 22 names, 8 of which I DNK. TIBIAE? Really? 2 W/Os: ache:PAIN, inlet:ISLET. Also DNK DMS was a "convo". AND forgot to look for the theme, which was obvious had I remembered to look for it. Thanx for the entertaining CW JR. Tons of thanx too to Bill for this and all his always outstanding, informative and entertaining write-ups. Best wishes for you! I suspect we will still hear from you here as a commenter.
Speaking of "convo". is that now an accepted usage? I find it offensive that real words aren't used especially in the context of crossword puzzles which are based on terminology! I guess we can expect convo as fill sometime in the near future.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Joe (you gave yourself a CSO with JOE COOL), and waseeley and Teri (thanks for all your contribution here, and all the best with your future health, family time).
Officially a FIW due to silly errors in the SW corner that I could not resolve. My texting segue was OTH (I messed up the letters for On The Other Hand). Then I had hAtE instead of RAGE, and couldn’t remember BJORN, even though I am a BOOMER.
MY WAG of F at the Natick-to-this-Canadian cross of FOSSE and FRYE was correct. And I did get the ODD theme early in the solve.
Other inkblots were Almost to ALL BUT, and ELmer to ELSIE (Ach! Milk not glue!). I thought of Red Baron before JOE COOL.
Hand up for running out of space for BOosts and downsizing to BUOYS.
I use HP sauce (named after the British Houses of Parliament) not A ONE.
Trivial Pursuit originated in Canada, (Niagara-on-the-Lake) with the two inventors and the family members and friends who made the initial investment making a tidy profit.
Wishing you all a great day.
And in Canada - the Blue Jays play in Toronto this afternoon.
Thank you, Bill 'n Teri for your terrific reviews. Prayers for good health and continued happiness. And looking forward to Naomi's Thursday blogs. Very nice puzzle, Joe Rodini...I enjoyed it, thanks!
Big Easy - I'll never forget the first time I sailed at night. Then-DW and I were out for an afternoon sail in the LA/Long Beach harbor. The wind went very light, and I couldn't get the little outboard (a British Seagull) to start. When it got dark, I was amazed and overwhelmed by the difference from sailing in daylight. Beautiful but scary. I learned to love sailing at night, however.
The ICW markers are a little different. In addition to the red and green buoys, they have yellow squares that override the traditional markers when both are present. Going south on the ditch is considered "returning."
Hi All!
Thanks JOE (COOL) for the nice theme with perfect execution!
Another fine expo, waseeley (and Teri!). While I'm sad to see you go, I get it - expos take hours to put together.
Just don't be a stranger!
WO: TSKS -> HAHS (which really held-up HOW BIZARRE)
ESPs: BJORN, OSSA, FRYE
Fav: ELSIE as clued
Runner-up (for the HA! it evoked): A PAIR as clued
I knew all the songs but... I didn't HOW BIZARRE as clued (OMC?!? Who's that?)
WEIRD SCIENCE would have come quicker if Oingo Boingo was in the clue.
IT'S NOT UNUSUAL and STANGE MAGIC didn't require the few perps I'd already inked.
I remember an Encyclopedia Brown mystery where he solved the case because the suspect said it was found between pages 87 and 88 of an old book. EB pointed out that p88 is the back side of p87 so the kid had to be lying.
Nice to see you stop by, TTP.
Welcome to Thursdays, NaomiZ!
Cheers, -T
No major problems with this singular CW. I knew only one of the songs, but no major impediment.
I love SNOOPY aka JOE COOL. Thank you Waseeley for those many informative recaps. I’ll miss your insights, but look forward to NaomiZ’s own great reviews.
Where is Picard?
He sent his thanks via email.
Husker: I'm glad the tip is working for you. I've had the similar experience of the website locking up but have seen flawless performance since opening a new tab when starting the crossword. I enjoy your posts each day and your Saturday blogs.
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