Theme: "No, No, Nanette"
 | |
| ZaSu Pitts played Pauline Hastings in the film "No No Nanette" |
Puzzling thoughts:
The rest of the answers to the clues:
Across:
1. Dashboard tech: GPS. MPH and RPM were tried, unsuccessfully. The first of 20 three-letter words and 12 abbreviations in today's puzzle
4. Queen with icy powers: ELSA. The fictional character from Disney's "Frozen"
8. Hands over: GIVES. CEDES was tried, unsuccessfully
13. Daiquiri ingredient: RUM. This clue was directed, I think,
at we older solvers as I doubt that many Millennials and/or Gen Z's
drink Daiquiris. And another cocktail related clue/word was found at (30-down. Cognac cocktail with orange liqueur): SIDECAR. This is another drink that probably escapes the younger generations
 |
| The sidecar became popular in Paris and London in the early 1920s |
14. Purple hue: MAUVE. LILAC was tried, unsuccessfully
16. Put on a pedestal: ADORE.
17. Rollover subj.: IRA. Not so fun fact: the Chairman did this once and the institution I had the IRA with forgot to report it as a "rollover" to another retirement fund. The IRS spotted this and sent me a tax statement for a huge amount of $. Moe had to make a lot of phone calls and collect a lot of paperwork to prove the rollover was legit
[a theme entry]
20. Word of thanks: MERCI. Hmm. I suppose that the word "merci" (although French) is commonly substituted for the word "thanks". The clue didn't lead us to knowing this
22. "Thus with a kiss __": Romeo's final line: I DIE. Seemed kind of logical as I recall that Romeo dies in the final scene of Shakespeare's play, "Romeo and Juliet"
23. Fortune: LUCK. I'm reminded of the negative phrase: "if it weren't for bad luck I would have none at all"
[entry]
27. "Industry Baby" rapper Lil __ X: NAS.
28. Intel org.: NSA. An anagram of 27-across, too
29. Vane point: EAST. Had to end in st; waited for the perps to determine whether it was 90° or 270°
31. Dry mop target: DUST.
34. __ large: LOOM.
38. Reunion attendee: NIECE. And its clecho: (54-down. Reunion attendee): AUNT. In both cases the constructors were looking at family reunions rather than school reunions
[entry]
44. Invertebrate's lack: SPINE.
45. Greek house: FRAT. Moe-ku #1:
46. Sea eagles: ERNS. Crossword-ese; kind of surprised to see one in this puzzle, honestly
47. Tropical tree: PALM.
49. Business letter abbr.: ENC. I somehow prefer the letters encl to refer to an enclosure in a letter
51. Commanders org.: NFL. Erstwhile Washington Redskins
[entry]
60. "Oh, woe!": ALAS.
62. Hearts, e.g.: SUIT. Could've used spades, clubs, or diamonds
63. Eat away at: ERODE.
[reveal]
67. Countdown start: TEN. "Nine, eight, seven, six, five, ...
68. Large venue: ARENA.
69. Hit lightly: TAP ON.
70. Letters of urgency: SOS.
71. Full of back talk: SASSY.
72. Gave temporarily: LENT. Does this word have any particular
significance when something is given temporarily during the time period
from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday?
73. Indefinite amount: ANY. Fun observation: now that I have
lived in the desert SW for almost 6 years and take many hikes, I have
discovered that the number of rocks, pebbles, and boulders on this
planet are not just indefinite, but they may be infinite
Down:
1. Fairy tale brother: GRIMM. As in the brothers GRIMM
2. Step in making some soups: PUREE.
3. Sharp: SMART.
4. Online letters: EMAILS.
5. Part of UNLV: LAS. The "Running Rebels" is the sports team nickname for the University of Nevada @ Las Vegas
6. Girl in "Calvin and Hobbes": SUSIE. Susie Derkins is a little girl who makes her home in Calvin's neighborhood. She is his well-known neighbor and the only major character to have both a given name and a family name
Susie is an intelligent and polite 6-year-old girl, who in many ways is a foil to Calvin. She takes her studies seriously and doesn't slack off on her homework as Calvin does. She also takes piano lessons
[this from the calvin and hobbes fandom page]
 |
| The three characters |
7. Eco-friendly spa brand: AVEDA.
8. Lass: GAL.
9. Pastoral poem: IDYL.
10. Tennessee athlete: VOLUNTEER. Or when written as the plural,
VOLUNTEERS, a Jefferson Airplane song back in the Vietnam War era. I
could've chosen "Rocky Top" but I didn't
11. "I Luh God" gospel singer Campbell: ERICA. Sounds more like rap, to me
12. Is after: SEEKS.
15. Wakim of "SNL": EMIL. This video violates politics and religion, but it was the only SNL video I could find on YouTube. FTR, I haven't watched SNL since it first aired 50 years ago
19. __ noire: BETE. From [Merriam-Webster]: "BĂȘte noire is a French phrase meaning "black beast" or "bugbear". It refers to a person or thing strongly detested or avoided"
21. Saloon: CANTINA. From [Merriam-Webster]: "Cantina is a noun that can mean a pouch or bag at the pommel of a saddle, or a small barroom or saloon"
25. Angelic glow: HALO. AURA fit unsuccessfully
26. Suspend: HANG.
[listed in across]
31. Insult: DIS. Is it DIS or DISS??
32. Cricket official: UMP. Similar to baseball I've heard
33. Some transports in the Arctic tundra: SKI PLANES. They are real!
35. On vacation: OFF. I suppose if they allowed 2-letter words in xword puzzles, the opposite clue would fit: OFF vacation = ON
36. Regatta tool: OAR. When I think of a regatta I picture this:
37. Exec's degree: MBA.
39. "__ it wait?": CAN.
40. High trains: ELS. Also a transport for golfer Ernie?
42. Wooded valley: DELL. GLEN fits too
43. Thing: ITEM.
48. Colorado's __ Verde National Park: MESA. This is one of several dozen National Park sites that Ms Margaret and I have visited. Well worth seeing
50. "You __ worry": NEEDN'T. I may have incorrectly counted this as one of the abbreviations ... technically it's a contraction
51. Mamas' mamas: NANAS. Meemaws didn't fit but GRANS did
52. Vegetation: FLORA. Place where many fauna hang out
[added in the across section]
55. "1876" novelist Gore: VIDAL. Some info about the novel
56. Tour de France stage: ETAPE. Definition
57. Many, casually: LOTSA. Speaking of "casually", remember when Casual Fridays first appeared?
59. Minuscule: EENSY.
61. Hyphenated IDs: SSNS. Have I ever mentioned before that certain pluralized abbreviations are not my cup of tea?
65. Swift nickname, when doubled: TAY. As in TAYlor Swift. I wonder if today's constructor follows her? Moe-ku #2:
66. Emmy winner __ Cephas Jones: RON. Ron appeared on one of my favorite made for TV dramas This is Us
28 comments:
Good morning!
My first impressions were mostly correct this morning. Exceptions: CEDES/GIVES, ALUM/AUNT. TAP ON seemed to be a stretch. D-o looked at SKIP LANES for a long time before the anvil dropped. Thought the theme was OK, and gettable without the need for a reveal. Thanx, Baylor, Katie, and C-Moe. (Our little town had only a single movie theater, so it was just the city theater. If you could convince the ticket seller that you'd already seen the movie, you could get in for free, saving your fifteen cents.)
Took 9:22 today for me to fiish this oe.
Seemed like a now-typical Friday with the +/- a letter theme, although I agree that the reveal was a reach.
I struggled with the French (etape & merci), Greek (odeon; not frat), the singer who "luh" God (Erica), the SNL newcomer (Emil), Aveda, and a couple others.
Like d-o, it took me a long time to parse "skip ____s."
Like the Chairman, I really enjoyed touring Mesa Verde National Park. Before going, I expected it to be more ... museum-like, but you can actually go through some of the tunnels. Very pretty too.
Whither SubG?
DNF, but not because I was stumped. Got most of it, and was sidetracked (not sidecarred) by son and DL, and thought I had finished when I still had two blank squares. I'll take family and friends before a FIR any day. erne->ERNS, alum->AUNT, and odium->ODEON (UNTIE!)
For a change, I got the gimmick before arriving at the theme entry.
The Tennessee VOLUNTEERS are contenders in the top collegiate sports conference, the SEC. As Queen Victoria was told after we won the first America's Cup, there is no second.
Palms are pretty but messy. I prefer the gumbo limbo.
It's DIS, not DISS, for "disrespect." I think.
My hometown's main street was also US-60, named the Midland Trail. So our one and only indoor theater was the Midland Trail Theater, conveniently located a half block north of Main Street. The drive-in was simply named the Morehead Drive-In. I'll refrain from jokes about Morehead and teen drive-in activities.
Thanks to Baylor and Katie for the fun, easy-for-Friday challenge. And thanks to our Chairman for another fine review, replete with chuckle-worthy Moekus.
Forgive me for being
“late” friends, but the internet on my phone has been off for two days, and it was not until I could get to my tech whiz friend Megan that she could tell me what was going on and fix it. (It had to do with Wi-Fi).
I did end up doing the puzzle, which seemed to have a pretty usual Friday level of difficulty,
FIR, so I’m happy .
Here's some more on Baylor Gallagher, who is indeed making his debut today: https://www.cnusports.com/sports/football/roster/baylor-gallagher/19300
Thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle, but it played tough for me! I was also in the CEDES camp. VOLUNTEER set me straight, though.
I too kept parsing 33d as skip lanes.
FIR. I had cedes before gives and tap in before tap on, but other than that fairly straightforward Friday fare.
I got the theme early with me(n)tal health which helped a lot with the solve. However the reveal had me stumped for a while before I had my aha moment.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
I’m glad that I wasn’t the only one who parsed Ski Planes incorrectly. I also went astray at Cedes/Gives, Aura/Halo, and Live/Loom. The only unknowns were the usual suspects, pop culture proper names: Emil, Susie, and Erica. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to parse the reveal to fit the themers and, even after Moe’s explanation, it’s too much of a stretch, IMO. I’ll admit to holding a higher standard for what I would like in a Friday puzzle but, as Moe, so accurately points out, creativity and freshness and, may I add, challenging word play, are the exception today, rather than the norm.
Thanks, Baylor and Katie, and thanks, Moe, for your honest and fair appraisal and for the excellent explication of the theme/reveal. I share your fondness for This Is Us.
Have a great day.
I caught that missing N when I completed the NW. It helped solve a few of unknowns-ELSA, SUSIE, & AVEDA- after ASSEMBLY LIE was completed. I wasn't thinking GPS or SMART but the GRIMM boy helped.
SIDECAR- I'm not in 'the younger generations' but I didn't really know what was in that drink. Remember the "Pepsi generation"?
I've never heard the term SKIPLANE but know what they are. Airplanes with skis.
Reunion attendee- uncle, aunt, alum, aunts, niece, and skeleton in the closet.
ERICA, EMIL, TAY RON- more people who filled the grid by perps.
IRA- Moe's not the only one. When I quit working I sent the Vanguard information for my company to send it directly to Vanguard as a direct rollover. What did they do? They sent the check TO ME. Luckily, Vanguard took care of the hassle.
I'M KID OF A BIG DEAL- about 25-30 years ago when my son was working a late shift for the PD, he was sent to an accident scene. The drunk lady had run into three parked cars and refused to take a breathalyzer test. So he put the cuffs on her and while hauling off to jail she said- my father-in-law is the DA. His replay was simply "I don't un-arrest anybody".
FIR, so no complaints. I soon detected the theme which helped fill my unknowns like EMIL, SUSIE and ERICA.
I wanted cedes for GIVES and lilac for MAUVE. At first I had SKI PLAtES, then changed NOt STANDARD to NON.
I neither loved nor disliked this puzzle. I thought it was easier than many Friday ones.
Thank you C-Moe for that frank and informative review.
I'm with Moe. I'm not a fan of some puzzles. CORNY, PUNNY, CIRCLES. Coming up with new themes is hard. I like the Saturday type puzzles, even it I can't complete them.
About today’s puzzle…. My Mom always said if I couldn’t say anything nice to be quiet… so now I will just have ‘a word of silence’. Of course my friend Judy’s Mom advised her to ‘call it like she saw it’.
Normally, I love a Friday gimmicky puzzle, because the gimmick usually aids in the solve. But for me, todays reveal refused to reveal itself...
I think it might have been the two Naticks, "Tay," and "Ron." But mostly due to my inability to parse correctly. What I see is " No N's Tandard...
oh well...
Thanks and congratulations to Baylor on his LAT debut! Thanks, also, to Katie for adding her expert touch! I liked the LEAVE ME ALOE themer the best.
Thanks to C-Moe for his VOLUNTEER duties today!
Perps were fair. Theme puns were poor. What C-Moe said.
I liked Moe’s FRAT joke, but must point out that fraternity folk don’t like “frat.”
Favorite entry: NEEDN’T, a CSO to Thelonious Monk and his wonderful “Well, You Needn’t.”
A highlight of a Mesa Verde visit is climbing a 32-foot ladder along a cliff. I braved it.
Mea culpa. Here is a blurb regarding the name Baylor. I guess it's considered a gender-neutral first name. Its origins are English and as a surname it meant "horse trainer"
Yes, Baylor can be used as a girl's name. It's a unisex name, meaning it's traditionally used for both boys and girls, and its usage for girls has become more common in recent years. Baylor's origin is traced back to the German surname "Beiler," meaning "measuring stick," and has also been associated with the English word "bailer," meaning a person who delivers things. In 2024, Baylor was the 807th most popular girl's name in the United States, according to The Bump, says BabyCenter.
Musings
-Someone must have done some spring cleaning and found a bunch of proper names lying around and put them in this puzzle. :-)
-SUSIE/EMIL/ERICA/AVEDA (ERICA and RON appeared later) was a brutal quartet but the gimmick helped. I’m surprised GAL was clued as actress Gadot.
-When we flew into very primitive central Saskatchewan to fish, we needed a FLOAT PLANE for the trip.
-My eldest daughter did not invoke my name but when a Lincoln policeman saw her maiden name, he asked if I was her father. When she said yes, he just told her to slow down.
-Youngest daughter now lives on Moonlight Bay in Lincoln which saves us 15 minutes in drive time but I needed GPS to find my way there and back out the first time.
-Since figuring out my swing mistakes, my golf LUCK has greatly improved
-There is a significant movement by native and non-native fans to restore the nickname Redskins
-Chairman: To quote Carl Sagan, “There are more stars in the heavens than grains of sand on all the beaches on the planet Earth.”
-If I go to a Spanish CANTINA, can I request to be seated at a MESA VERDE?
-Also, Victor Borge said, “In America, Giuseppe Verdi is simply ‘Joe Green’”.
-When I was in college, the town ODEON was The Gay Theater. The name is now The Majestic Theater”
-BAY BAY and TAY TAY are just TOO TOO...
Joy, as the King of Siam mused, “‘Tis a puzzlement!” đ
I enjoyed today's puzzle and had fun applying the NO "N" STANDARD to the theme answers after getting METAL HEALTH. Filling the reveal was the hardest part for me because I was unaware of Ms Swift's nickname (TAY TAY) and of Emmy winner RON Cephas Jones. EMIL Wakim was another fellow filled by perps.
Nevertheless, a good time was enjoyed by at least one of us! Thank you, Baylor, Katie, and Mr. Chairman.
SubGenius, my phone has been internet impaired since I returned from vacation. I must have a setting wrong. It doesn't like my home wifi, but it worked fine on wifi in the Verizon store where I went looking for help, and DH's phone has no issues. Bother!
Seemed easier than most Friday puzzles. The Frawnch threw me for a bit, but I figured out the missing Ns. The theme was a tad lame IMHO. Our local theater was the "Alcyon". One screen, ten-cent popcorn machine, ( you held the little bag over the spout and popped in your dime) ten-cent pop machine, (little paper cup) 25 cents admission (newsreel, 2 cartoons, the latest serial episode, coming attractions, double feature ( Saturdays) and no ads! Gotta find me a time machine somewhere.
Rats! I managed to FIR a Friday but forgot to note my start time, so don't know how long it took, so can't brag about a Friday FIR. I would guess 15-20 minutes to fill, pen on paper. I thought of a good response to 41A, "Do you know who my father is?" My response: "No, do you?" While I did FIR, this CW is a sea of W/Os: halt/hang, dale/dell, dig/dis, ilsa/elsa, live/loom, don/ron. What a mess! I found 33D to be a particularly difficult clue. I kept wanting "dogsleds" to somehow fit, but no. Anyway, not a bad Friday offering, thanx BG&KH. Thanx too to C.Moe for the terrific write-up, complete with his famous MoeKus.
Interesting puzzle, Baylor and Katie--many thanks for that. And your commentary is always helpful, C-Moe, thanks for that too.
Well, when a puzzle starts out willing to GIVE you something you'll ADORE, you know you're in for a good time. But this one was going to involve a big circle of people, starting with two GALS, ELSA and SUSIE, who each appeared to be a NIECE to their SMART AUNTs and NANAS. This was a BIG DEAL and good LUCK because their relatives VOLUNTEERED to take them in a SIDE CAR to a CANTINA, where they had some RUM, and then to a FRAT party, where, ALAS, the people were SASSY and told the girls to LEAVE ME ALONE. That upset the NANAS who advised them that from now on they had better HANG out with their dates on E-MAILS. Let's hope that was good advice and that the girls will soon start wearing a HALO.
Have a lovely day, everybody.
I rather liked this puzzle, in spite of not knowing the names ERICA, EMIL, and RON, and in spite of not knowing the brand AVEDA.
CEDES --> GIVES. LILAC --> MAUVE. FATE --> LUCK. WRIT --> LOOM. ALUM--> AUNT. AURA --> HALO. STOP --> HANG.
Good reading you all.
Victor Borge was such a talent, and his routines still hold up today. “One afternoon, when I was four years old, my father came home, and he found me in the living room in front of a roaring fire, which made him very angry. Because we didn't have a fireplace.”
You left out RI RI. Somebody needs to call the PO PO on them.
I tried to work my way down to the revealer, but with holes everywhere, I finally gave in. And it didn't help. I saw the word "and' in the middle and tried to parse it as NON ST AND ARD. That lead me on a wild goose chase until I finished the spanner in the middle and had that aha (oho?) moment. Unfortunately, by then I was a little frustrated. So, I agree with our Chairperson's assessment that it felt Friday difficult, but not Friday fun.
Learning moment: Regattas can be any kind of boat race. As an occasional crew member in ocean regattas off the Fla coast, I always assumed that they were sailboat races only. You know what happens when you assume...
SOS are letters of emergency, not urgency.
When I lived in Atlanta, city police followed a stolen car into the mayor's driveway. Concerned that something was afoot beyond grand theft auto, they arrested the four young men that were in the car. One of them was the mayor's son. To ward off similar problems in the future, city police were banned from patrolling the mayor's street.
Right. Urgency is indicated by "pan, pan, pan." Of course being nautical, it can't be pronounced the obvious way - it's "pahan, pahan, pahan."
Post a Comment