¡Hola todos! sumdaze here with a calendar-appropriate puzzle -- just not the holiday I was expecting. No worries. We can pivot. Put down your sombrero and margarita. Instead, don your fascinator and mix up a mint julep.
Theme: 
Kevin and Andrea have teamed up to bring us three themers plus a reveal. You can read about Andrea on her Wikipedia page.
I hear the bugler's call to post. It's time to check out the main contenders:
20 Across. Offerings at some cocktail parties: WINE AND CHEESE.
20 Across. Offerings at some cocktail parties: WINE AND CHEESE.
 |
| Awkward! |
27 Across. Improvement that may be based on psychology instead of medicine: PLACEBO EFFECT. NIH.gov article
44 Across. Accessory that may coordinate with bath mats: SHOWER CURTAIN.
Here is the unifier:
 |
| I call clear ones show-er curtains. |
50 Across. First leg of the Triple Crown, whose levels of success can be found in this puzzle's circled letters: KENTUCKY DERBY.
The 151st KENTUCKY DERBY took place this past Saturday. (I hope to have this blog in the can before the race begins so I have no news of the results.) It is a 1¼ mi. (2 km.) race in Louisville, KY. The other two races in the Triple Crown are:
- Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, MD ~ May 17, 2025 ~ 1+3/16 mi. (1.88 km.)
- Bellmont Stakes in Elmont, NY ~ June 7, 2025 ~ 1½ mi. (2.4 km.)
And we're off!
Across:
10. Small amounts of face cream: DABS.
14. Assign portions: ALLOT.
15. Visa competitor, informally: AMEX. credit card companies
16. Mallorca, por ejemplo: ISLA. The Spanish in the clue hints to a Spanish answer.
17. Savanna hunter known for its laugh: HYENA. Not to be confused with hunters from Savannah, GA:
18. Spinner on a roof: VANE.
19. Canned Hormel product: SPAM.
23. "How ya doin'?": S'UP. "What'S UP?" Both the clue and answer use non-standard English.
25. Prez after JFK: LBJ. Both the clue and answer use abbreviations.
26. Just that single time: ONCE.
32. Follow as a result: ENSUE.
33. Need to and from the dog park: LEASH. Dog owners need a LEASH to walk their dog to and from the dog park but the dog can be unLEASHed while in the dog park.
34. Lightbulb unit: WATT. Watch this 2 min. video before you buy your next lightbulb.
35. Apple beverage: CIDER. Did you think this was a hard clue?
37. All excited: AGOG. I rarely go to Starbucks but I was there in January with a friend. I pulled out an old Starbucks card from my wallet to pay. Apparently the cards are now made from paper but mine was plastic and still had a few dollars on it. The barista was AGOG that I still had an unused plastic card. She advised me to hang on to it.
41. Copy using very thin paper: TRACE.
43. Jumper cable connection: ANODE.
47. Mountaintop: PEAK. 16-A has me thinking about Mallorca.
48. BofA convenience: ATM. BofA = Bank of America
49. Explosive material: TNT.
55. Post-WWII transnational gp.: NATO.
56. Bygone Apple player: iPOD. I wish Apple still made these.
57. Wed in secret: ELOPE.
60. Beige kin: ECRU. Both are tan-ish colors.
61. Spelling of "BH90210": TORI. BH90210 refers to Beverly Hills, 90210, a teen drama series that ran from 1990 to 2000. The friends hung out at the 47-D Pit. Tori's father, Aaron Spelling was the producer. In XWD puzzles, I often mix up Tori Spelling with singer Tori Amos...and sometimes with 4-D.
62. Coffee shop freebie: SUGAR. Is the SUGAR free or are unsweetened beverages overpriced?
63. One of the five W's of journalism: WHAT.
64. Pentathlon blade: ĆPĆE. The modern Olympic pentathlon sports are fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running.
65. Fantasy league deal: TRADE. Fantasy sport leagues allow participants to assemble imaginary teams composed of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete based on the statistical performance of those players in real games. Owners can make a deal to TRADE players.
Down:
1. "Go team!": RAH.
2. Gymnastics gold medalist Raisman: ALY. [b. May 24, 1994]
3. Was over in no time: FLEW PAST.
4. "Breathe Again" singer Braxton: TONI.
5. Comics legend who co-created Spider-Man and the X-Men: STAN LEE. [Stanley Martin Lieber 1922-2018] Like Issa Rae, we usually see either STAN or LEE so it was fun to get both of his names today.
6. Language of WWII code talkers: NAVAJO.
7. Persian Gulf sultanate: OMAN.
8. Hang in the balance: PEND. Think: "The matter was still PENDing when he left."
9. CFO or VP: EXEC. Chief Financial Officer / Vice President / Executive
10. Turn off, in a way: DISENCHANT. Def.: (verb) to free from illusion.
11. Characteristic: ASPECT.
12. Supremely unconcerned: BLASĆ.
13. "I think so too!": SAME.
21. Go out, as the tide: EBB.
22. Weeding tools: HOES.
23. Gush forth: SPEW. This interesting table organizes information on the world's geysers. It says that 51.9% are located in Yellowstone.
35. Crow's cry: CAW.
36. Cooler cubes: ICE.
39. Creator of Norse mythology?: ODIN.
40. Polite fellow: GENT.
42. Streaming option: ROKU. We had this one last week.
43. Spot frequently shared by flyers: ARM REST. "Shared" might be an exaggeration as in this 40 sec. comedic video:
44. Nissan sedan: SENTRA.
45. Golfer's helper: CADDIE. This 1:45 scene from the 1980 movie Caddyshack gives another meaning to the 1-A clue. Yes, it is beyond sophomoric but I love Bill Murray at the end.
46. Sport-__: off-road auto: UTE. utility
47. Bellini fruit: PEACH.
50. Was in the loop: KNEW.
51. Quote from, as a legal case: CITE.
52. BTS music genre: K-POP. Did anyone else listen to WWDTM recently when they asked actor Brian Tyree Henry about the Korean Pop group, BTS? BTH guessed well and won the quiz but it was apparent he does not do XWD puzzles. If he did, he would be familiar with BTS -- like we are. š
53. Days of knights: YORE. This was my favorite clue today.
54. Hazy memory: BLUR. Here's a song about hazy thoughts:
1. Flat floaters in a pool: RAFTS. 
6. "Fuhgeddaboudit!": NOPE. I hear this in TV shows about New Yorkers. It is a slur of "Forget about it" as in "Let go of that idea. It's not going to happen."
10. Small amounts of face cream: DABS.
14. Assign portions: ALLOT.
15. Visa competitor, informally: AMEX. credit card companies
16. Mallorca, por ejemplo: ISLA. The Spanish in the clue hints to a Spanish answer.
I recently finished listening to Coffee Break Spanish Season 4. It is comprised of 40 podcasts telling a story set on the island of Mallorca, Spain. Now I want to go there! Here is Episode 1
17. Savanna hunter known for its laugh: HYENA. Not to be confused with hunters from Savannah, GA:
18. Spinner on a roof: VANE.
 |
| Look at the direction letters. |
23. "How ya doin'?": S'UP. "What'S UP?" Both the clue and answer use non-standard English.
25. Prez after JFK: LBJ. Both the clue and answer use abbreviations.
26. Just that single time: ONCE.
32. Follow as a result: ENSUE.
33. Need to and from the dog park: LEASH. Dog owners need a LEASH to walk their dog to and from the dog park but the dog can be unLEASHed while in the dog park.
 |
| Meadow at her favorite Colorado dog park. |
34. Lightbulb unit: WATT. Watch this 2 min. video before you buy your next lightbulb.
35. Apple beverage: CIDER. Did you think this was a hard clue?
37. All excited: AGOG. I rarely go to Starbucks but I was there in January with a friend. I pulled out an old Starbucks card from my wallet to pay. Apparently the cards are now made from paper but mine was plastic and still had a few dollars on it. The barista was AGOG that I still had an unused plastic card. She advised me to hang on to it.
41. Copy using very thin paper: TRACE.
 |
| Teenager me used to do this a lot. |
43. Jumper cable connection: ANODE.
47. Mountaintop: PEAK. 16-A has me thinking about Mallorca.
 |
| Puig Major is the highest peak on the Spanish island of Majorca elev. 4,711 ft. / 1,436 m. There is a radar station at the top. |
48. BofA convenience: ATM. BofA = Bank of America
49. Explosive material: TNT.
Muddy Waters ~ I'm Ready ~ 1954
šµ I'm drinkin' TNT, I'm smokin' dynomite
I hope some screwball starts a fight šµ
55. Post-WWII transnational gp.: NATO.
56. Bygone Apple player: iPOD. I wish Apple still made these.
57. Wed in secret: ELOPE.
 |
| It's a melon-choly story. |
60. Beige kin: ECRU. Both are tan-ish colors.
61. Spelling of "BH90210": TORI. BH90210 refers to Beverly Hills, 90210, a teen drama series that ran from 1990 to 2000. The friends hung out at the 47-D Pit. Tori's father, Aaron Spelling was the producer. In XWD puzzles, I often mix up Tori Spelling with singer Tori Amos...and sometimes with 4-D.
62. Coffee shop freebie: SUGAR. Is the SUGAR free or are unsweetened beverages overpriced?
63. One of the five W's of journalism: WHAT.
65. Fantasy league deal: TRADE. Fantasy sport leagues allow participants to assemble imaginary teams composed of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete based on the statistical performance of those players in real games. Owners can make a deal to TRADE players.
Down:
1. "Go team!": RAH.
2. Gymnastics gold medalist Raisman: ALY. [b. May 24, 1994]
 |
| 2016 Summer Olympics |
3. Was over in no time: FLEW PAST.
 |
| Pongo says it's time for his walk. |
5. Comics legend who co-created Spider-Man and the X-Men: STAN LEE. [Stanley Martin Lieber 1922-2018] Like Issa Rae, we usually see either STAN or LEE so it was fun to get both of his names today.
6. Language of WWII code talkers: NAVAJO.
 |
| This was an excellent book. |
7. Persian Gulf sultanate: OMAN.
8. Hang in the balance: PEND. Think: "The matter was still PENDing when he left."
9. CFO or VP: EXEC. Chief Financial Officer / Vice President / Executive
10. Turn off, in a way: DISENCHANT. Def.: (verb) to free from illusion.
11. Characteristic: ASPECT.
12. Supremely unconcerned: BLASĆ.
13. "I think so too!": SAME.
21. Go out, as the tide: EBB.
22. Weeding tools: HOES.
23. Gush forth: SPEW. This interesting table organizes information on the world's geysers. It says that 51.9% are located in Yellowstone.
24. Funny bone neighbor: ULNA. This 1:27 min. video explains what happens when we hit our funny bones. 28. "Stop it!": CUT THAT OUT. Pro tip: Stop the tomfoolery when you hear your mom's feet coming down the hallway. Don't wait for her to enter the room.
29. Respected tribal member: ELDER.
30. Overdue fine, e.g.: FEE.
31. A long way away: FAR.
29. Respected tribal member: ELDER.
30. Overdue fine, e.g.: FEE.
31. A long way away: FAR.
35. Crow's cry: CAW.
36. Cooler cubes: ICE.
38. Exercise with barnyard animals: GOAT YOGA. Has anyone tried this? I have not.
40. Polite fellow: GENT.
42. Streaming option: ROKU. We had this one last week.
43. Spot frequently shared by flyers: ARM REST. "Shared" might be an exaggeration as in this 40 sec. comedic video:
44. Nissan sedan: SENTRA.
45. Golfer's helper: CADDIE. This 1:45 scene from the 1980 movie Caddyshack gives another meaning to the 1-A clue. Yes, it is beyond sophomoric but I love Bill Murray at the end.
46. Sport-__: off-road auto: UTE. utility
47. Bellini fruit: PEACH.
 |
| recipe |
50. Was in the loop: KNEW.
51. Quote from, as a legal case: CITE.
52. BTS music genre: K-POP. Did anyone else listen to WWDTM recently when they asked actor Brian Tyree Henry about the Korean Pop group, BTS? BTH guessed well and won the quiz but it was apparent he does not do XWD puzzles. If he did, he would be familiar with BTS -- like we are. š
53. Days of knights: YORE. This was my favorite clue today.
54. Hazy memory: BLUR. Here's a song about hazy thoughts:
Jimi Hendrix ~ Purple Haze ~ 1967
58. Word after mattress or mouse: PAD.
 |
| mattress PAD, mouse PAD, and helicopter landing PAD |
59. Before, to Byron: ERE. Good clue! Lord Byron [1788-1824] was an English poet and ERE is an old-fashioned, poetic word meaning before.
The grid: 
Time to collect your winnings. Have a good week everyone!
44 comments:
This extremely topical
puzzle was also a “walk in the park.”
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Raced right through this one with nary a stumble. Only needed an occasional down to confirm my left-to-right, top-to-bottom course. Very smooth, Kevin and Andrea. Great expo, sumdaze? (Am I the only person who's never seen Caddie Shack?)
FIW, confidently filling ALi and not catching my mispeld HiENA. Also, when->WHAT, emir->OMAN, and amen->SAME.
Happy 75th "birthday" to Kinsey Millhone, the late Sue Grafton's fictional detective. Grafton was from Louisville, home of the KENTUCKY DERBY.
A more modern tune: TNT by (crossword favorite) AC/DC.
Thanks to Kevin and Andrea for the fun Cinco de Mayo puzzle. And thanks to sumdaze for the tour. I especially liked the vanes.
Took 4 minutes flat today to hit the trifecta, getting the acrosses and the (Churchill) Downs.
I knew today's actress and today's foreign language lesson (isla).
Oh joy, circles!
Thank you, Kevin Christian and Andrea Carla Michaels, and thank you, sumdaze.
An easy, fun little theme. sumdaze captured it well with the "A Day at the Races" image. Loved the review.
We watched the exciting race part of the Kentucky Derby. I changed the channel to NBC at about 5:55 CDT, just before they were loading the thoroughbreds. Changed it back to what I was watching about 15 minutes later when the race was over. I (intentionally) missed all of the pre-race build-up and the fascinators, but read the link that sumdaze provided. Is the winner known to be a mudder?
FLN, NaomiZ, et al, when commenting from a phone, try scrolling all the way down to the bottom, and then press the "View web version" button. You should be able to successfully sign in to your Google account when using the web version.
FIR. I saw the circles and groaned but decided as I always do to ignore them. What remained was a very easy CW that I had no problem with whatsoever.
When I threw down Kentucky Derby without a thought, only then did I see the theme.
So, circles aside, this was an enjoyable puzzle.
TTP @ 8:02
I recall, although it’s been a good while ago, when you showed me how to get my “avatar” on screen when using my smartphone. Thanks again for that, TTP.
Smooth solve this morning, timely theme, and very few unknowns. True Monday level.
Thank you NaomiZ for Ć” nice recap.
Today is the 80th anniversary of VE Day
My IOS system updated last night and things are not working right this morning . Why did the period at the end of my sentence end up by itself on the next line?
SubG, you're welcome.
Good Morning:
Well, this was an enjoyable and timely (even if two days late) solve. The themers were solid and led to a very nice reveal. No unknowns, no w/os, and no complaints. Props for above-average fill for a Monday offering.
Thanks, Kevin and ACM, and thanks, sumdaze, for a fine review. One small correction: the Belmont Stakes will be held at Saratoga (NY) racetrack on June 7th. This is the second year Saratoga has hosted this event, while Belmont Park is being rebuilt. Favorite comic was the wine and cheese!
Have a great day.
I see that what I was seeing as I posted doesn’t appear the same once I publish. Never Mind! As Gilda Radner would say.
This is not my morning. Thank you sumdaze, not NaomiZ’s. Oops!
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Kevin and Andrea, and sumdaze.
I saw the betting them with PLACE, and immediately thought of the recent KENTUCKY DERBY. So although this CW was no “walk in Churchill Downs” for me (to misquote Subgenius), it was fair and solvable.
AMEX is used as much in Canada - we have VISA and Mastercard.
BofA meant nothing to this Canadian. ATM perped and I assumed Bank of America.
We also do not have SPAM on our plates.
Thanks to sumdaze for explaining ARMREST for me. I was thinking of flyers that you receive in the mail, and scratching my head when it perped. D’oh!
I wanted CUT it OUT, but it lengthened to THAT.
We have had recent discussions here about the clues for ODIN. Views on today’s clue with the ?
Hand up for the clue for YORE being my favourite today.
Wishing you all a great day.
Jinx- see my UNI reply yesterday.
Thanks. I almost always check for late comments from last night before coming here in the morning, but it never hurts to be reminded.
A horse that has consistently done well on muddy or sloppy tracks is known as a "mudder." Haven't been to the races in a while, but they used to put an asterisk next to the horse's name in the program (and/or Racing Form if there still is such a publication) to indicate that stat.
Musings
-Unlike the Derby, there was no mud to slow me down
-In one episode of M*A*S*H a bad batch of morphine forced the doctors to use sugar pills as PLACEBOS with over a 50% success rate.
-We had to replace a 40 WATT light bulb recently. My, oh, my the options seem to be infinite!
-A boy at my school says he can take my many iPod songs and put them on my iPhone
-In On Golden Pond, when Henry Fonda’s character is asked to talk about turning 80 said, “I’m surprised it got here so fast!”
-Cut that out!
-Fore!
Remember when paying with a credit card required the clerk to whip out a paper listing of bad card numbers to make sure yours didn't appear? If all was well, (s)he would put your card into a machine, add a form, run a roller over the card and form, keep the original and give you a carbon copy.
Fun, Fast and Furious with friendly circles to place your bets in and act BLAHZAY if you lose. (SumD: “Winner’s circles” very good … and the lightbulb blurb was very “I-lumen-ating”. Now I know WATT to look for on the package, why and where š)
If you turn your forearm inward and outward the ULNA is fixed and the radius radiates around it.
Inkovers: discourage/DISENCHANT, Aden/OMAN, flew fast/FLEWPAST, vent/VANE. (that’s ALLOT of corrections! for a Monday)
CUT iT OUT, a letter or two too short Jack BENNY and a very young comedian friend: “NOW CUT THAT OUT”
(Husker G. You beat me to it š)
GOAT YOGA? C’mon, then LIU and it’s real (yikes) there are even places that offer it in our small town.
Towels that match the bath mat (rug in front of tub or shower) but I haven’t seen SHOWER CURTAINS that do.
Happy Cinco de Mayo (if YORE in a town still celebrating.) š²š½
Happy week,
Kevin and Andrea provided us a smooth and enjoyable offering today. The circles were obviously appropriate to satisfy the Reveal's direction.
I don't think that circles are overused in LAT crosswords; they are generally helpful and often indispensable.
Thanks, sumdaze, for your thorough and amusing recap. I particularly noted your featuring 6D NAVAJO with Chester Nez's superb book, "Code Talker." I highly recommend it to anyone curious about the details and inner secrets of an inscrutable code that baffled the Japanese military in World War II, written by Chester Nez, who was one of the Code Talkers.
Thanks, TTP at 8:02 AM! Your technical assists are always much appreciated.
I worked at a gas station that had a small booklet with columns of finely printed numbers. Definitely held up the line scanning for bad cards. And on the rare occasion I found one, there often was hostility from the patron who offered it. "It's not me, it's the computer," would've been handy back then.
Although I've never bet on the races, I got an early education playing WIN, PLACE, & SHOW, a rather deluxe board game from the 60s. It was one of a series of high-end games by 3M of all people.
Fun fact: All of the horses in this weekend's derby are descendants of Secretariat.
I really enjoyed sumdaze's racy opening remarks!
Jinx, Thanks for the pleasant reminder of Sue Grafton and her beloved PI, Kinsey Millhone. I read every one of her alphabet series, from A to Y. Sadly, Sue died before she got to Z.
No, DO, you are not the only one.
Sumdaze you just get lucky .... I loved the ice cube (who was water before it was cool) and the armrest video. I usually wind up in a middle seat because DH needs the aisle and wants me next to him, so I favor the theory that the armrests belong to the middle passenger, but the folks around me seem to be unfamiliar with that theory, and I am meek. Thanks also for the Coffee Break Spanish -- I will enjoy that!
The puzzle was a pretty smooth solve today -- many thanks to Kevin and Andrea. Having witnessed the horrific death of a racehorse on one of our local tracks, I'm no fan of horse racing, but the "sport" is well-known enough that the theme worked for a puzzle.
IM, and the Belmont which will run at Saratoga will be a slightly shorter distance than the normal mile and a half. Today's puzzle amused me as I had a wildly successful Kentucky Derby on Saturday, winning Win, Place, the Exacta, the Trifecta, and the Superfecta! Very grateful because anything can happen in such a large field of runners, especially in the mud. Now if I could only figure out how to create an alias here at the Corner!
DO, never saw Caddie Shack either, or, any of the reality shows on islands OR such.
Thanks for all the kind words! I'm looking forward to another week of fun puzzles.
Well I trotted across the finish line about 6 minutes slower than Sovereignty’s Run for the Roses, finishing out of the money in this group I’m sure. The only real unknown was the Bellini fruit but PEACH easily perped. Always nice to start the CW week with relative ease. Thank you Kevin and Andrea for the timely puzzle and to sumdaze for the illustrative review, I like your light-heated style and word play.
Secretariat’s jockey, Ron Turcotte never used a whip, the great horse was simply motivated to race!
I liked this puzzle.
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Kevin and Andrea. And your comments and pictures are always a pleasure, thanks for those too, Sumdaze.
Well, it looks as though we were out in the country in this puzzle, hopefully near where we could attend the KENTUCKY DERBY. We might also be near to a place where we could take care of a GOAT, though probably not a HYENA, and where it would be pleasant to walk a dog on a LEASH. Maybe we could also take a RAFT to go sailing on a lake, and then play golf with a CADDIE'S help. After that we might need to have a snack of WINE AND CHEESE, and later some CIDER while relaxing on a sofa chair with an ARM REST. All in all, a pleasant and enjoyable day, wouldn't you say?
Have a great week coming up, everybody.
Anonymous, congrats on your Derby winnings! Until you figure out how to create an avatar and/or screen name, just sign off using whatever name you want to be known by. š (I’ve never seen any of the so-called reality shows, either!)
Hola! Feliz Cinco de Mayo to those who celebrate. I do not. It's Mexico's Independence Day and good for them! But more importantly, happy VE DAY!
What a clever puzzle starring the RACES of the KENTUCKY DERBY. Thank you, Kevin and Andrea whom we haven't seen in quite a while.
Are SUGAR CUBES still fed to horses? Or is that only in movies?
The late STAN LEE lived here in Arizona.
This past weekend the NAVAJO CODE TALKERS were again celebrated in the local newspaper. They are much honored and esteemed here as they are natives of the state and not many of them are left.
GOAT YOGA? Why? And what if they decide to relieve themselves while on someone's back? No thank you. That is not for me.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Fast and easy start to the week, with a nice winner's circle from sumdaze. Actually, Cinco De Mayo celebrates a victory at the battle of Puebla and is not an official Mexican holiday. I believe their Independence Day is 16 September.
Anonymous, a few years ago, I doc'ed the steps to create your account and create your Blogger profile. Back then, we called it "going blue."
It's on the main page of the Corner blogspot under the Olio heading. Here's the link to it:
https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-to-have-blogger-account.html
Hah! I just noticed the URL. A few years ago? 9 years ago! Some of the steps have probably changed since then, but following the first few will be enough to get you started.
It's worth watching.
FYI, Dan Kammann and C.C. constructed today's USA Today puzzle
Musings
-I just got back from 18 holes on a glorious spring day.
-I watched Jeopardy as I ate and if you think the LA Cwd has a slew of contemporary media names that were completely foreign to me.
-D-O, Anonymous and Irish, Caddyshack is a hilarious golf movie and the backstory of how it was made was mayhem. Check out this cast!
Very nice, fun CW today. Lots of names, 15 by my count, but only DNK 3. FIR in 10. In my years working for Merck, I recall talking to a pharmacist who told me about a local physician who wrote quite a few Rxs for "Obecalp 25mg BID". The first time he got one of these he had to call the doctor, who told him "Read it backwards". The fact is placebo often does work, which is why drugs must be compared to placebo to see if they actually work. The pic of the shower curtain reminded of why I prefer shower doors: the curtain is outside the tub, and any water splashed on the curtain will end up on the bathroom floor. And if you put the curtain INSIDE the tub, the force of the shower pulls the curtain further in, getting in your way. Give me a shower door any day. The melon cartoon reminds me of this corny joke: Where do watermelons go on vacation? They go to the John Cougar Mellencamp, of course! (I can actually hear you groan, you know.) Many years ago I went to a Kentucky Derby watch party. After everyone put $10 in the pot per ticket, and everyone had two tickets, there was one left, that nobody wanted, so I threw in another $10. Where did my three horses finish? Last, next to last, and did not finish because it broke a leg and had to be shot. Oy. (Why I don't gamble!) Anyway, I had two W/Os, ALOTT/ALLOT, (DOH!) and writing VANE in at 19A instead of 16A. Overall, a nice, fun Monday CW, thanx KC & ACM. Terrific write-up, as always, thanx for all your time and effort, Sumdaze.
I always heard that Secretariat had a lot of heart. After he died, an autopsy showed that he actually did have an unusually large heart – 22 pounds - compared to the average Thoroughbred heart weight of 8.5 pounds. No doubt a huge factor in why he was so outstanding on the track.
Charlie Echo
You are correct about Mexico's Independence Day but Cinco de Mayo is also celebrated, more in the U.S. than in Mexico, actually.
Hi All!
Thanks Kevin & Andrea for the fun over breakfast.
Thanks sumdaze for the fun over lunch. Loved the "water before it was cool" comic.
WOs: emir -> OMAN (Hi, Jinx!), Airport->ARM REST
ESPs: ALY
Fav: STAN LEE or WATT?
CADDIE made me think of the Caddie Shack too.
FLN: I've seen noice spelled with two Os: Nooice [Key & Peele 3:58]
Jinx - ~15 years ago I was in rural north Louisiana and stopped for gas. I had to go in to pay and the clerk pulled out one of those imprint devices to take my credit card number. Took me aback for a second as I hadn't seen one in years! I don't know what they'd do now -- none of my cards have embossed / raised numbers.
Nerd Alert - Today is also Square Root Day. 5/5/25 -> 5*5 = 25; squrt(25) = 5. For info - see: Squarerootday.net.
Cheers, -T
+1 @unclefred
It was a long time ago (maybe 30 years,) but I was at a National Car Rental counter getting a car. The computer system was down, and the young agents had to struggle through filling out the two-foot long, multipart carbonless form left over from the days of old, using only a ball point pen. They were extraordinarily stressed, and I wanted to ask if I could help them, but for once I actually minded my own business and let them flounder without "benefit" of my assistance. A half-hour later I got the car and was on my way.
Post a Comment