Theme: I GET A ROUND. The first word of each theme entry homophonically represents a factor in the formula for the circumference of a circle.
And, in honor of Brian Wilson, who left us a few days ago, here is today's theme song.
17 A. Annoyingly shrewd: TOO CLEVER BY HALF. A bit of smart-assery, perhaps. Note the first word.
37 A. Unrealistic enterprise: PIE IN THE SKY. Something that is pleasant to contemplate but is very unlikely to be realized. Note the first word.
I hated this song when it came out in 1959, but it was very popular, so I must be wrong.
Yeah - I still hate it.
42 A. "Hello?": ARE YOU THERE? A common phrase used to check if someone is present, listening, or available to respond. Note the first word.
58 A. Returns to the beginning, as suggested by the phonetic formula found at the starts of 17-, 37-, and 42-Across: COMES FULL CIRCLE. Returns to a past position or situation, especially in a way considered to be inevitable. Or more literally, scopes the circumference.
OK. Let's put this together [Nobody promised there wouldn't be any math.]. And I won't give you the run around. The formula for the circumference of a circle is 2*π*r, phonetically represented here by TOO, PIE and ARE. The value of π is 3.14159 and r is the radius. Thus, we COME FULL CIRCLE. But wait -- there's more!
24 D. Sundial three, and a loose depiction of the last part of the geometry formula hinted at in this puzzle: III. To understand this subtle clue, you have to think about the center of the grid in a way that is literally figurative. Note that the black squares inscribe a circle about as perfectly as can be done in this medium. The vertical I-I-I then represents a radius [r] of that circle. I have seldom been this impressed by a puzzle feature. Bravo!
Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here to lead us on this circuitous route.
1. Package closer: TAPE. Sticky ribbon that seals the box shut.
5. Closed, as drapes: DREW. I drew my drapes, then drew my bath, then put away my colored pencils.
9. Skilled: ABLE. Having a certain skill set.
13. "You beat me": I LOSE. Concession of defeat.
15. Second helping: MORE. If the first wasn't enough.
16. Place for some finger painting?: NAIL. Clever clue, leading us to a nail salon.
20. "Well, aren't you fancy!": OO-LA-LA. An interjection that expresses surprise, admiration, or excitement, often with a playful or suggestive connotation. It's a French-derived expression, though it's not a direct translation of a common French phrase. In my experience, there is always a suggestion of something at least risqué, and probably inappropriate.
21. Understand: SEE. I got it.
22. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob: PETTIT. Robert Lee Pettit Jr. [b. 1932] is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks. In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award and he won the award again in 1959. He also won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award four times.
26. Reunion attendees: AUNTS. Mom's or dad's sisters.
30. Wine shop order: CASE. A box, usually of 12 bottles.
33. __ away from: SHIES. Avoids something because of fear, nervousness, or dislike.
35. SeaWorld performer: SEAL. Any of numerous carnivorous marine mammals (families Phocidae and Otariidae) that live chiefly in cold regions and have limbs modified into webbed flippers adapted primarily to swimming.
36. Invoice no.: AMT. Amount, per item, and total due.
39. Singer Flack: ROBERTA. Roberta Cleopatra Flack [1937-2025] was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm radio format. She also won record of the year for 1973 and '74. Sadly, she left us in February.
22. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob: PETTIT. Robert Lee Pettit Jr. [b. 1932] is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks. In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award and he won the award again in 1959. He also won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award four times.
26. Reunion attendees: AUNTS. Mom's or dad's sisters.
30. Wine shop order: CASE. A box, usually of 12 bottles.
33. __ away from: SHIES. Avoids something because of fear, nervousness, or dislike.
35. SeaWorld performer: SEAL. Any of numerous carnivorous marine mammals (families Phocidae and Otariidae) that live chiefly in cold regions and have limbs modified into webbed flippers adapted primarily to swimming.
36. Invoice no.: AMT. Amount, per item, and total due.
39. Singer Flack: ROBERTA. Roberta Cleopatra Flack [1937-2025] was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm radio format. She also won record of the year for 1973 and '74. Sadly, she left us in February.
This might be her most famous song.
41. Tried to win over: COURTED. Attempted to win someone's favor, affection, or attention, often with the intent of forming a romantic or committed relationship. It can also mean to try to please or improve relations with someone, often to achieve a specific goal.
44. London facilities: LOO. What we politely call the rest room or comfort station. I would have clued this as "John in London."
45. Grow dim: FADE. Lose luster, strength or brightness.
46. Pink perennial: PEONY. Peonies are a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Paeoniaceae, and are known for their large, showy flowers. They are popular garden plants, especially in temperate regions, and are also widely cultivated as cut flowers. They come in a wide range of colors, including red, pink, purple, white, and yellow.
47. __ shui: FENG. An ancient Chinese practice focusing on aligning environments with the natural world to promote harmony and balance. It involves arranging objects and spaces to optimize the flow of qi (vital energy). The practice aims to create a positive and beneficial environment for occupants.
48. To-be: ELECT. In politics, a candidate who hs been elected, but not yet inaugurated.
50. Not wholesale: RETAIL. Wholesale is the pricing level used between suppliers and commercial sellers. The sellers' pricing is retail.
52. Chest bone: RIB. Each of a series of slender curved bones articulated in pairs to the spine (twelve pairs in humans), protecting the thoracic cavity and its organs.
54. MLB sluggers: RBI MEN. Batters who generate RBIs [runs batted in] This is accurately descriptive, but I'm not aware of this as an in-the-language phrase.
64. Mystique: AURA. The distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing, or place.
65. Like the center space on a bingo card: FREE. Purpose: The free space acts like a "wild" square or a "joker". It doesn't have a number, but it's automatically considered marked for all players from the start of the game. It's free in the sense that player did nothing to earn it
66. Wild guesses: STABS. Making attempts or tries, especially when you might not be very confident about succeeding. It implies a willingness to try despite potential challenges or lack of certainty. This describes me playing Wordle.
67. Hat part: BRIM. The projecting edge at the bottom of a hat.
68. __ machine: SLOT. A coin-operated gaming machine that generates random combinations of symbols on a dial, certain combinations winning varying amounts of money for the player.
69. "Make it snappy!": STAT. Without delay : immediately — used chiefly in medicine. Get this patient to the operating room, stat!
Down:
1. Salsa star Nieves: TITO. Humberto "Tito" Nieves [b. 1958] is a Puerto Rican-born, bilingual salsa singer and actor with a career spanning over four decades. Born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, Nieves started his professional career in 1975 with Orquesta Cimarrón, replacing Rafael De Jesus.
2. Saag __: spinach and potatoes dish: ALOO. Saag aloo is a popular Indian and Pakistani side dish made with saag (a variety of greens, including mustard greens), potatoes and spices.
3. Hotel amenity: POOL. For swiming.
4. Slip away: ESCAPE. Break free from confinement or control.
5. Real ID issuer: DMV. Department of Motor Vehicles.
6. Caviar: ROE. Processed eggs from a large fish, such as a sturgeon, considered a delicacy. I had shad roe once. Once.
7. Drop the ball: ERR. Fail to complete something, or live up to expectations.
8. Halloween decor: WEBS. Suggestive of spiders.
9. Busch brewing partner: ANHEUSER. Famous for their horses.
10. Call to Bo Peep: BAA. They cried out, sheepishly.
11. Short, for short: LI'L. So to speak
12. One with a pole position?: ELF. North pole laborer. Well played!
14. Allure competitor: ELLE. Fashion magazines
18. Falls for something hook, line, and sinker: EATS IT UP. Something fishy here. Still - going for something in a big way. Alternatively, enjoying something immensely, like attention or entertainment
19. Favorable vote: YEA. As opposed to neigh - the usual response from horses.
23. Staging area: THEATER. Usually this means a location in which people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. Here it a place where plays are produced. Clever mis-direction.
25. Like paperback novels, once: TEN CENT. Once, long, long ago, they cost one thin dime. But not any time in my memory, and I'm old.
27. Toll House chocolate chips maker: NESTLE. A Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014
28. Acquire: TAKE ON. Take on has many meanings, from hire an employee to accept a task or meet an adversary, to accept a thing or responsibility.
Marginally relevant. Maybe.
29. Foxy one: SLY DOG. A person who is very secretive and sly about their activities, though the creatures in the clue and fill are both canines.
30. Wine bar order: CARAFE. An open-topped glass flask typically used for serving wine or water.
31. Unprincipled: AMORAL. Lacking a moral sense; unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something.
32. "Venerable" monk of Eng. history: ST. BEDE. Bede [672-735] was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages,
34. Multiepisode narrative: STORY ARC. This is inexact. It is the overarching structure and progression of a story, guiding the sequence of events and plot progression. It can also relate to a single episode of a TV series, a movie, novel or even a short story.
37. Maven: PRO. One with expertise in a certain field.
38. Tinge: HUE. Tinge refers to a slight degree of coloration in something, while hue is a specific color or shade. They don't seem equivalent.
40. Application for crow's-feet: EYE CREAM. A specialized skincare product formulated to target the delicate skin around the eyes.
43. Turn the soil: HOE. To labor with a long-handled gardening tool having a thin metal blade, used mainly for weeding and breaking up soil. Careful, though - Santa might laugh at you.
47. Toys (with): FLIRTS. Behaves as though attracted to or trying to attract someone, but for amusement rather than with serious intentions. Seems rather heartless.
49. Poetic contraction: 'TIS. Meaning "It is."
51. Everglades bird: IBIS. A large wading bird with a long down-curved bill, long neck, and long legs.
53. Lifetime pals, briefly: BFFS. Best Friends Forever
55. Future doc's exam: MCAT. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized, computer-based exam used by medical schools in the United States and Canada to assess applicants' problem-solving, critical thinking, and scientific knowledge.
56. Idris of "The Wire": ELBA. Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE [b. 1972] is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Emmy Awards. He was named in the Time 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World in 2016. His films have grossed over $9.8 billion at the global box office, making him one of the top 20 highest-grossing actors.
57. Twigs digs: NEST. A domicile constructed from small tree parts? It's for the birds!
58. Uber alternative: CAB. Modes of urban vehicular transportation - the modern and the traditional. Either way, you pay.
59. First word of the Lord's Prayer: OUR. I think we all know this.
60. Source of inside info?: MRI. An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan is a non-invasive medical imaging technique that uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed pictures of the body's organs and tissues - the "inside information."
61. Dot-com address: URL. Universal Resource Locator.
62. Sign for most of August: LEO. The fifth sign of the zodiac, typically spans from July 23rd to August 22nd. It's associated with the constellation Leo and is symbolized by the lion. Leos are known for their confidence, charisma, and natural leadership abilities. They are often described as passionate, loyal, and creative individuals.
63. Tennis call: LET. A "let" occurs when a serve hits the net but still lands within the service box. This results in the serve being replayed, according to various tennis resources. Essentially, a let means the point is replayed, offering the server a second chance at serving.
And with that, we have come FULL CIRCLE.
As usual, I had my nits, but overall, this is a superb puzzle.
Special thanks to those gave me technical and temporal assistance. You know who you are.
If you're in Plymouth, MI this evening, come to the Concert Band Performance at 7:00 pm in Kellogg Park. Say hi to me before or after, and I'll buy you an ice cream.
The weekend is almost upon us. Hope we all get around to having some fun.
Cool regards,
JzB
54 comments:
Wow! I don’t know
about the rest of you, but to me this puzzle seemed to be quite difficult, more like a Saturday puzzle than a weekday one. And I found out I have a hard time spelling “Anhauser.” I kept trying to make it “Anheiser.” Anyway, after all is said and done, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Very interesting puzzle. Joe's III explanation was TOO CUTE BY HALF -- I had to squint to see it, and it's vertical rather than at 3 o'clock. Today it was AUNTS vs ALUMS. [Wite-out, please.] No baseball fan here, but RBI MEN seems really awkward. Thanx for the fun, Joe and JzB. (Your Foxtrot cartoon link now results in a "Link expired" error.)
I concluded that III, arranged vertically, hinted at Morse code’s letter O, another “round” figure.
Took 9:04 today to see that strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
As usual, I agree with SubG - this was tough. I didn't know the salsa star (Tito), its neighbor "saag ___" (aloo), or "tencent".
I wanted to make Cousy/Cousie then McAdoo fit for the Basketball HOFer.
Oh joy, a circle puzzle!
FIW, missing with OhLALA x ALOh and FENn x SLY DOn. flirted->COURTED, and anheiser->ANHEUSER.
I love Lionel Richie's beautiful love song Hello.
Then there's Rupert Holmes' ESCAPE, widely known as "the pina colada song."
A Saturday clue for NESTLE would be "seller of Stouffer's frozen foods."
Thanks to Joe for the mostly-fun puzzle. I'm not big on themes unless it helps with the solve, so that piece of creativity passed me by. And thanks to JzB for another fun review. I was also going to gripe about HUE/tinge, but you beat me to it. Wish I could be there for the ice cream (oh, and the music too.) Gonna be >100 degree heat index here this weekend.
FIR. Typical Thursday puzzle with the expected degree of difficulty. It took a while to fill the top so I started at the bottom and worked up. Threw down the reveal almost immediately and that helped a lot with the rest.
My brain froze on Roberta Flack; I just couldn't remember her name, as her songs went through my head, "killing me softly".
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
As a mathematician, I appreciated this puzzle's unusual and creative theme, and the fill and clueing offered just the right amount of crunch for a Thursday morning. Didn't quite see III as a radius until coming here.
It was nice to be reminded of Roberta Flack's hauntingly beautiful performances - and of the fun, fun, fun that Brian Wilson provided.
Thanks, Joe for the refreshing and amusing puzzle. And thanks JzB for another entertaining and enlightening recap!
Two-PIE-ARE= circumference. I did FIR but never noticed it. Joe FLIRTS with us. He COURTED us, but he was TOO CLEVER BY (more than) HALF on this puzzle. And then the III radius above the PIE IN THE SKY in the center of the quasi circle. How did he come up with that? That SLY DOG, Joe Rodini.
EYE CREAM- years ago models would use Preparation-H to remove those wrinkles and eye bags. Not recommended.
The NW was the last to fall, with TITO and ALOO unknown. OOH LA LA (not OO) was a song by Faces with Rod Stewart as the singer, written by Ron Wood before he joined the Rolling Stones.
22A- Bob PETTIT (still alive at 92) was an LSU great, who was the CEO of a local bank located about 1/2 mile from my house. Speaking of LSU, did anybody else watch the LSU-Arkansas College World Series game last night? Wildest finish I've seen in a long time, won by LSU scoring 3 runs with 2 outs in the bottom on the ninth. Both teams had crucial RBI MEN when it counted but the Tigers batted last.
Yeah, I had trouble spelling anheuser too, but, I have no trouble drinking it...
dime novels before my time also, but loved big little books!
I enjoyed Joe's puzzle today. It was clever, well-constructed, and educational to boot. It was relatively free of A/E names, and there was one that I actually knew, because she's from my generation: Roberta Flack.
JzB, I see you'll be at an event tonight in Plymouth MI. So you're in proximity to the best team in baseball, the Detroit Tigers. I bring that up because a big part of the reason for the Tigers' success this season is due to their RBI Man (54 Across), Spencer Torkelson. At the rate he's going, he'll end up with over 100 runs batted in for the season. Now THAT's an RBI Man!
Thanks, Joe, for an enjoyable Thursday-appropriate challenge; and JzB, for the helpful and entertaining recap.
Good morning.
The theme answers and reveal were shadowed. The only one I entered right away was ANYONE THERE. It was almost correct. But it provided a good start. The puzzle wasn't that hard. At least as far as filling the grid. Thanks, Joe As far as the theme, 13A: "You beat me": I LOSE.
I needed JzB's explanation because I just wasn't getting the association of the first words. Homophones never occurred to me. After another hour of sleep and a cup of coffee, so I gt it (ish), saw the circular arrangement, and kinda sorta got the III.
Circuitous, indeed.
"literally figurative" - JzB, are you messing with me?
What you said about the STORY ARC clue.
A good Thursday puzzle A few notes:
- SeaWorld performer: SEAL. Changed from orca with the NESTLEs Toll House clue. Wasn't Shamu an orca?
- Saag __: spinach and potatoes dish Ektorp. ALOO
- The first TEN CENT books I encountered were old Big Little Books from the 1930s.
- ROBERTA: "Killing Me Softly with His Song" was beautiful, and the teenage girls all seemed to love it.
"If she's giving me a sign, that she wants to make time, I can't stop..." <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0NsTD7FlIY>Lightnin' Strikes - Lou Christie | The Midnight Special</a>.
That link:
Lightnin' Strikes - Lou Christie | The Midnight Special
Musings
-Challenging fill and gimmick!
-I see many middle school girls with $100 NAILs
-I knew Bob PETTIT immediately and was surprised to see an NBA star from over 60 years ago
-Add ROBERTA to the list of easy fill for some of us with some miles on our tires
-The U.S. Open golf course had a lot of places to SHY away from
-Blooming PEONIES are a sure sign of Memorial Day here
-The house edge on SLOT machines is about 7%. There’s a reason they are called one-armed-bandits
-Professor Harold Hill warned parents their child might have “a dime novel hidden in the corn crib”
-A carpet man agreed to TAKE ON the job of re-stretching some carpet for me yesterday. He charged us $150 for a 15-minute job.
-Is The Fugitive’s search for the one-armed man the most famous ARC in TV history?
Good Morning:
Forgive me for being a Debbie Downer but any enjoyment or interest in solving this ended when I had to enter RBI Men. Thumper agreed.
Thanks, JazzB, for explaining the theme. Good luck tonight.
Have a great day.
My TAKE ON This puzzle? Big jump on the hardness scale from yesterday. Not an uncommon Thursday phenomenon. Lots of blanks during the first run through but the series of wall to wall clue answers provided lots of perpage to an eventual FIR. Even figured out 2 π r (Hope all the Cyclosophobes 🚫 are not offended … 😀) I didn’t have the imagination to come with the hidden grid circle made of squares
Inkovers: La de da/OOLALA, Ke(e)bler/NESTLE, I lose/LOST Anheiser/ANHEUSER (like SubG)
Never remember paperbacks only costing TEN CENTs (like penny dreadfuls?) must be BMT (before my time) like JzB.
I drove the 60 miles in a snowstorm to get take the MCATS in Syracuse. Never do this but picked up a desperate freezing hitchhiker who was from California and couldn’t believe the weather. Then my 1963 Plymouth Valiant had a blowout, just about made it to the road shoulder and had to change the tire myself. Got there just in time for the exam distribution… frozen, disheveled, tar smudged hands
Didn’t finish; missed the M of MCAT and RBI MEN. Although I got it right, I misread the EAT IT UP CLUE. I think of that phrase as expressing á deep liking for something. The clue implies deception.
I’m not familiar with ALOO as clued and I had to correct my spelling of ANHEiSER. I liked the clue for MRI.
The theme however was so convoluted that it gave my poor morning brain á headache.
Thank you JzB for your clear explanation of the theme and the rest of the clues. I too have always disliked that Sinatra song, but since I first heard it, I have loved ROBERTA’s Killing me Softly song.
The puzzle seemed easy for a Thursday, and filled in quickly. However….
The puzzle’s true title can be found in 17A, TOOCLEVERBYHALF. I never try to parse the gimmick during the solve, and I am especially thankful for that policy today.
As someone who spent decades around the game of baseball, I never once heard the term “RBI man/men.”
Still, a very good puzzle overall with several solid entries and an easy flow.
The last person I knew who drank regular Bud was my Son-in law's father, who died two years ago at 91. I don't even notice it in the refrigerated beer sections in WalMart or any convenience store. I have not seen it on tap in 30 years.
But Bud-Lite seems to have a monopoly in concession stands at all the major stadiums and arenas. I've never seen it on tap anywhere, now or in the past. But somebody must be drinking it.
Go Tigers, LSU Tigers.
My reaction was that the entire puzzle was “too cute by half.” That said, I did solve it without help other than confirming that it actually was Anheuser.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Joe and JazzB.
I thought I FIRed, but I arrived here to see that the finger painting was on a NAIL, not in JAIL (think fingerprinting), and I failed to correct to ANHEUSER.
I did see the CIRCLE theme (great I Get Around title JzB), but was thinking area of circle not circumference, and failed to see the whole picture. The circle/radius in the grid ESCAPED me too. Very impressive.
That (STORY) ARC was an Easter Egg (although slightly outside the circle in the grid).
Multiple inkblots.
I LOSt changed tense to I LOSE. Ditto with Shied to SHIES.
TOO smart expanded to TOO CLEVER.
Alums changed to AUNTS (wrong reunion).
Orca changed to SEAL
I have a nit with LOO as clued. The plural “Facilities” requires the plural LOOS IMHO, and thus I entered WCS. I prefer JzB’s suggested clue of “John in London”.
I have learned ALOO=potato doing CWs.
You all know that a British/Canadian staging area is a THEATre.
Favourite today was the “pole position” clue for ELF.
Wishing you all a great day.
Déjà vu. It happened to me THIS MORNING. He was doing the same for me for carpet his workers installed 18 months ago. It took about 45 minutes and cost me $175.
And you obviously massed that MCAT!
Passed!
Great first paragraph Bg Easy!
B-E, the low class restaurants I frequent all have Bud-Lite on draft.
B-E, shouldn't that be "Geaux Tigers?"
Impressive construction and theme, which went totally over my head until JzB’s expo, but I did manage a FIR in 16:34. DNK TITO, ST BEDE, or that Alliure was a fashion mag, so ELLE required perps. I did pull PETTIT from my memory bank, but probably an obscurity to many (Hi Naomi 😊). I’ve learned from CW’s that any potato dish paired with a foreign word is always ALOO. ARC should have been positioned at 37D or 38D to make the puzzle even more remarkable. A good puzzle difficulty level for a Thursday, thank you Joe R, and thanks to JzB for your very explanatory review!
Diameter X 3.14 is the same, with less math involved 🤣
R-o-S, I don't remember paperbacks costing a dime, either--most were 35-cents. I do remember 10-cent comic books, except for Classics Illustrated which cost 15-cents.
Looks like we thought the same things about ARC and ALOO, I didn’t see your comments before I posted mine 😊.
This is for anyone:
Occasionally someone will comment about "green paint" in a particular puzzle. From the context, the connotation seems to be unflattering.
I have looked in the Glossary at the bottom of this blog, and found nothing.
What does green paint mean?
A wonderful and clever puzzle. Well done Joe.
The fill had some crunch but the theme and clues were Thursday worthy.
Killing Me Softly was originally released in 1972 by Lori Lieberman after she went to Don McLean concert and had her soul touched when he sang “Vincent”; a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh.
You say potato… I say aloo… 😊
RightBrain and I visited her uncle a number of years ago. He said help yourself so I found a bottle of Budweiser separate from others on the refrigerator door. I took that one instead of breaking a new six pack, but it tasted skunky. I checked the label, and handwritten on it was "Scotty's wedding 1998."
Green paint is clunky fill. It's often not a common phase that people say and in this instance, paint can be any color. It feels like the constructor was in a bind and couldn't think of anything better.
Thanks!
I thought Joe's puzzle was better than average for a Thursday. The "III" took it up a notch, although I didn't see the inner "circle" until JzB mentioned it. I just saw a partial radius, so I only partially liked it until now.
The two wine answers seemed very general compared to the plethora of wine options available.
Wanted SLY fox before DOG.
Thanks Jazz et al. for making sense of this one!
I thought this was a very enjoyable, not too hard, and fairly free of A&E puzzle. The theme, however, whooshed far over my head. Didn't care much for RBIMEN, and I felt that LAH-DI-DA fit the clue better, but other than that, no worries!
YP- you were probably writing as I was posting. Great suggestion for location of ARC
I already mentioned Roberta Flack in an earlier comment, but I just want to add something about her musicianship. People who like to pigeonhole and categorize seem to get their feathers ruffled because they can't determine what category to put her in: pop, R & B, rock, or light opera, for all I know.
I couldn't care less how to label her. The bottom line is that Roberta Flack was a born singer and musician. Her voice was like velvet, you could understand every word, and she was pitch-perfect.
She lived in the Dakota next door to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Sean Lennon grew up calling her "Aunt Roberta." We lost Aunt Roberta a few months ago, and I thank Joe, our constructor today, for reminding us of such a wonderful person.
I came up with Cousy and McAdoo too. Also Bob Lanier, before Pettit perped.
I too soon realized I needed to start at the bottom and work my way up. Starting with 2 unknown names was the main reason. All in all it was challenging and enjoyable. Thanks for the reveal and recap JzB.
Great comment about this fantastic musician. I used to have several of her CDs.
Wowza! Thanks, Joe Rodini, for a very CLEVER puzzle, and thanks, JzB, for a very cool expo! I saw the 2*π*r, but never saw the circle made of squares, and did not figure out that III was the radius. Brilliant!
Thanks to YooperPhil for knowing right away that PETTIT was all perps for me. FIR and enjoyed it with all of your comments to boost my appreciation.
FIR in 13, which is very good for me on a Thursday. This one seemed just right for a Thursday. Only 9 names (Thanx JR) DNK 2. As hard as I looked at it after the fill the theme escaped me; I needed JzB to 'splain it. Oy. Seems easy once it is explained. Also did not see the III bit. "One with a pole position" = best clue. MLB sluggers = RBImen = worst, by far, as several have commented. Thanx JR I did enjoy your clever and fun CW, even though I didn't get the theme. Thanx too to JzB for the great write-up and for enlightening me as to the theme.
Hola! Thanks to JZB's and all your comments I now have a deeper understanding of this puzzle. It was fun just to solve but with more layers, it becomes even more enjoyable. Thank you, all.
My great-grandmother loved to read and had many paperbacks on the shelves which, I suspect, were TEN CENT paperbacks. Mine are all hard backs and take up much shelf space.
I have wonderful childhood memories of my AUNTS. My mother had only one sister, but my dad had four and all left a lasting legacy.
Spelling ANHEUSER was challenging so I'm thankful for all the words that crossed it and helped to finish it.
Any puzzle with IDRIS ELBA in it is a winner in MHO.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Interesting Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Joe. And thanks for your always helpful commentary too, JazzB--always appreciated.
Well, this puzzle created the possibility of an interesting STORY ARC, maybe about some guy who was TOO CLEVER BY HALF, and so drew ideas from a TAPE for making bets, and actually won a bit and went OOLALA! That made him ABLE to take even more STABS at betting, but in this CASE it didn't work too well. So he had to figure out what to do with what was left of his money if he wanted to avoid ending up with just TEN CENTS. He wondered if he should go to the POOL, or buy a THEATER ticket. But in the end he decided to adopt a cat who now NESTLES with him on the sofa when he watches TV. That makes him feel great, and his winnings have COME FULL CIRCLE, in his mind.
We've just started to get some sunshine, so I wish you all a lovely afternoon!
100 RBI doesn't seem like an impressive amount considering they play 162 games and get about 5 plate appearances per game. However, only about 14 MLB players topped 100 last season.
that was tough for Thursday, I finally FIR, but the theme is A strain on my brain. I'll have to agree. It was too cute by half.
I liked this puzzle for the same reasons you all have mentioned. Even RBIMEN didn't detract too much from it, although it is ugly.
TehachapiKen @ 11:47 AM, well said.
And then Roberta heard it over an airplane's in-flight entertainment system. From Smoothradio.com:
"The soul singer said the song "smacked me in the face" when she first heard it on an airplane, when the Lori Lieberman original was played as part of the in-flight audio programme [hi C-Eh!].
"I immediately pulled out some scratch paper, made musical staves then played the song at least eight to ten times jotting down the melody that I heard" Flack remembered.
"When I landed, I immediately called Quincy Jones" who set up a meeting with [songwriter Charles] Fox who allowed her to record the song."
Like KS and AcesAround, I built this one from the cellar up. When I read the clue for 56A, somehow I grokked that there’d be some math-ish element, which helped a bit on solving the themers. Joe pulled an uber-snazzy stunt with that 2 π r trick, then added III-in-the-circle as a bonus Easter egg. Well played, sir! And JazzBumpa, thanks for the in-depth exploration of the fills — very informative stuff 🤙🏽😎
Generally not too hard a solve, with some fun clues (like pole position for ELF, and To-be for ELECT). But RBI MEN…yeah, just doesn’t fly for me either — that one is just a strain to buy into.
Idris ELBA is becoming another Oreo in our xwords, methinks…
By the way, ELF was a sponsor of several Formula 1 race teams in the ‘70s, notably the Tyrell effort that ran a six-wheeled race car in ‘76… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrrell_P34
====> Darren / L.A.
I agree!
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