Well, it's RustyBrain again, Moe's alter ego for the third and final
time, so let's call this a visit from the spirit of Chairman future!
Zachary
David Levy is an assistant professor of neurosurgery and emergency
medicine at Hofstra's Zucker School of Medicine on Long Island. He's also the crossword editor for Ocean City magazine. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to create crosswords, but it can't hurt!
No revealer today, so watch how HASTE makes WASTE, sorta:
17. Speed needed to harvest lilacs, violets, and lavender for dye?: PURPLE HASTE. Derived from "purple haze," slang for assorted varieties of pot or LSD (thus a fitting 60s song title).
28. "Waterfowl found to prefer celibacy"?: WILD GOOSE CHASTE. A twist on the familiar phrase "wild goose chase."
44. Enigmatic pile of trash?: MYSTERIOUS WASTE. From "mysterious ways," describing things that are difficult to understand or explain, often divine or supernatural. (Must everything be a album cover with this guy?)
57. Fake gems that add sparkle to a gastropod shell?: SNAIL'S PASTE. "Snail's pace" is an idiom describing something moving very slowly, often to the point of being frustrating. Some snails don't know when to stop.
Most of these themers seemed a bit forced, rather than wacky, with a convoluted clue leading to an equally nonsensical answer. Only MYSTERIOUS WASTE rises to the occasion as a plausible thing. I used AI to make picture sense of a couple of them, and I didn't really like the the results so I resorted to my old standbys - album covers!
The changed words all rhyme, but the original words they replace don't. So, while haze and ways rhyme, as do chase and pace, the two pairs don't match each other. Rhyming aside, the fill overall was decent, although a tad easy for a Friday.
Are you braced for a taste?
Across:
1. Photo display option: ALBUM. A great way to display pics of four friends.
6. Early PC platform: MS-DOS. MicroSoft Disk Operating System. Bill Gates quickly needed an operating system for the new IBM PC, so he bought 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products for $25K. He renamed it MS-DOS and the rest is history.
11. NFL Hall of Famer Marino: DAN. This jersey gives you an idea of how long I've been a fan of "DAN the Man." In December 1985, I attended my first NFL game on a epic Monday night in the Orange Bowl vs. the then undefeated Chicago Bears. I was hoarse the next day from shouting so loud! Been a Dolfan ever since.
14. "CSI" city: MIAMI. Home to #13 Dan Marino and the MIAMI Dolphins.
15. Unescorted: ALONE.
16. Moody genre: EMO.
17. [theme]
19. Cry before a jump: BOO. Because "Geronimo!" didn't fit.
20. Tahini ingredient: SESAME. Tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment made from crushed SESAME seeds. Cultivation of sesame began 3,500 years ago in the Tigris and Euphrates region of Mesopotamia, so check the expiration date on your tahini before you buy.
21. "Aw, rats!": CRUD. "The tahini has expired!"
22. Custard ingredient: EGG.
25. NYM rival: ATL. The New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves are both in the National League (NL) East division. Pictured is a Brave trying to give a Met a wedgie as they jockey for the pennant.
26. Sore: ACHING.
28. [theme]
32. Blue shade: AZURE. Another shot from my visit to the PNW a few weeks ago (seems like longer!). This is Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park. Look at that color!
33. Russian saint for whom an alphabet is named: CYRIL. The Cyrillic alphabet is used for several languages across Eurasia. It's based on the Greek Alphabet with additional letters developed to represent Slavic sounds.
34. Post-WWII gp.: NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a political and military alliance of countries in Europe and North America, founded in the aftermath of World War II.
35. Giggle syllables: TEHEE. I prefer tee-hee, but the usual response to my jokes is a groan.
37. Hesitant denial: UM NO. UM NO, not wild about this one.
41. Biblical song: PSALM.
43. Yves Saint Laurent fragrance since 1977: OPIUM. One of RightBrain's favs. (BTW, my wife chose this name for my blogs because she's always...oh, you know.)
44. [theme]
49. "The Grass Harp" author: CAPOTE. Truman CAPOTE.
50. A Bobbsey twin: NAN. Oddly, her twin is also named NAN, but spelled backwards. As they are fraternal twins, the boy's name was later changed to MAN to avoid confusion...or so I heard.
51. 1040 fig.: SSN. Social Security Number. Wow, there are a lot of abbreviations in this puzzle!
52. Sleep apnea device, briefly: CPAP. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machines use a hose connected to a mask or nose-piece to deliver steady air pressure to help breathing while asleep.
53. Saguaro National Park growth: CACTUS. The large saguaro CACTUSes (cacti in Latin) stand like silent sentinels in the desert. Reminds me a bit of Easter Island.
56. Car loan fig.: APR. Annual Percentage Rate
57. [theme]
62. Shipping charge, e.g.: FEE.
63. "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" writer Marie: KONDO. "Just thank an item for it's service and let it go." But I paid good money for it!
64. Word in some bank names: TRUST. Your money is safe here <wink> TRUST me.
65. Publishing VIPs: EDS. Editors, or possibly famous newsmen like Ed Bradley and Edwin Newman.
66. Luggage attachment: ID TAG. TAG is short for...I mean ID is short for IDentification. I'm getting bleary-eyed keeping up with all these abbrev.
67. Cries in sties: OINKS.
Down:
1. Psych (up): AMP. This one goes up to 11.
2. Simu of "Barbie": LIU.
3. __ exam: BAR. And now, a BAR exam for you. (Hint: the correct answer is Almond Joy, because I'm nuts! I mean, I like nuts. I like all kinds of people, actually. I'm gonna stop now...)
4. Cricket officials: UMPS. Baseball is believed to have originated from older bat-and-ball games such as cricket and rounders, hense similar terms like UMPires.
5. Line in some expense reports: MILEAGE. Yours may vary.
6. Hawaiian "thank you": MAHALO. I just started watching the Hawaiian historical drama "Chief of War" on Apple TV. Fascinating to see Hawaii in the late 18th century before being "discovered."
7. Criticize harshly: SLAM. "Boo! You can't end a poem with orange!"
8. Rx information: DOSE. The term "Rx" on a prescription originates from the Latin word recipe, meaning "to take."
9. Blue Jays prov.: ONT. The Blue Jays play in ONTario's capital city of Toronto.
10. "Happy now?": SEE.
11. Remains: DEBRIS.
12. Specification in a recipe: AMOUNT. It could be a tsp. or even a tbsp. (adding some abbreviations of my own).
13. Annoying one: NOODGE.
18. This, in Spanish: ESTO.
21. Fried dish named for a small boat: CHALUPA. Here's a flotilla of CHALUPAs.
22. Actor McGregor: EWAN.
23. Home of the Grand Egyptian Museum: GIZA. Finally open after over a decade of delays, the GEM is the world's largest archaeological museum and features the 83-ton, 3200-year old statue of Ramesses II in the entrance hall.
24. Surplus: GLUT.
26. Farm unit: ACRE.
27. Chinese life force: CHI.
29. Convertible: DROP TOP. Once upon a time we had this beauty, a 1998 Jaguar XK8 Cabriolet (fancy name for a DROP TOP, so they could charge more). Unfortunately, the DROP TOP turned into a rag top under the intense Florida sun.
30. Knucklehead: SCHMO. Also a very popular Harley-Davidson V-twin motorcycle engine.
35. Container weight: TARE. To get an accurate weight of an object, especially one packed to ship (such as the knucklehead engine above), you first weigh the empty crate (or truck) to determine its TARE. Then you weigh them both together and subtract the TARE to find the item's actual weight.
36. Civil War-era pharmacist Lilly: ELI. "When it says Lilly's Lilly's Lilly's on the label, label, label, you will like it, like it, like it, on your..." Wait a minute, that's not right.
38. Battleship cry: MISS. I once called an old battleship MISS and she hit me with her pocketbook.
39. "Aw, rats!": NUTS.
40. Sign: OMEN.
42. Gel: SET.
43. Take responsibility for: OWN UP TO.
44. Maker of Baked Apple Pie K-Cups: MC CAFE. Sounds awful. Then again, I'm a black coffee kind of guy.
45. Prattled on: YAPPED. "...and as I was saying, the bunny hopped over my garden fence - I guess I should've made it taller - and maybe painted it. The fence, not the bunny, anyway..."
46. Extras: SPARES. Mom said always carry an extra pair of socks, just in case all the stores close right after you step in a puddle.
47. Clear: UNCLOG. Years ago, I used a pressurized drain cleaner in my apartment. Suddenly, the people downstairs started yelling as I created a geyser in their kitchen sink! Not the best way to meet the neighbors.
48. Hurdles for srs.: SATS. High school seniors take Scholastic Assessment Tests, which use to be called Scholastic Aptitude Tests but now SAT officially stands for nothing (actually true!).
53. "Sorry, busy": CAN'T.
54. Elton John musical: AIDA.
55. Dress at some Asian weddings: SARI. "Oops! I accidentally spilled wine on your dress." "SARI." "Yes, I am."
57. Slalom runner: SKI.
58. Bobblehead's motion: NOD.
59. Great ball of fire: SUN.
60. Disapproving sound: TSK. Reminds me of my elementary school piano teacher for some reason. I quit after a year or so (I'm apparently not a childhood prodigy). It wasn't until high school that I got back into music, only this time on guitar. A number of years ago, I picked up keyboards again. It's amazing what you can learn on YouTube, but the rudiments from my youth came in handy. Thank you Mrs. Price, wherever you are!
61. Non-earthlings, for short: ETS. ExtraTerrestrialS. Are we finally done with all these initials and abbreviations?
Moe, please hurry back! Fridays are hard!!
28 comments:
Had to replace “ear”
exam with “bar” exam. Otherwise, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle that needed no reveal. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
My major struggle was STL where ATL needed to go. Don't think I've heard of a DROP TOP, rag top, yes. My first computer didn't use MS-DOS -- it was HDOS from the Heath company, also the brand of the computer. Very similar to MS-DOS, though, only the name was changed to protect the innocent. Thanx, ZDL for a crunchy Friday, and Rusty Brain for subbing today. (You may want to ease off on the coffee. BTW, I thought NAN's brother was Bert.)
Took 9:43 today to finish Fridaze puzzle.
Not my favorite puzzle, but Friday-worthy at least.
RB: Great review, and I love the picture from North Cascades National Park. I was there three years ago, and can't figure out why so few people visit it (during decent weather). It's beautiful there. Saguaro N.P. is also a great place to visit, though it was 100F at 10am when I was there.
FIW. Took a WAG at the crossing of Cyril and chalupa and was wrong.
I'm not a car guy but I've owned many and I don't believe I've ever heard of one having a drop top. Convertible top yes. And living in Florida i certainly would not own one.
Honestly several of the answers seemed overly contrived. And names like Kondo seem out of place altogether.
The theme however was clever and the only fun part of this Friday presentation.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
I’m not a fan of this type of theme, mainly because of the tortured cluing to reach a slightly less complicated or exaggerated answer. Some of the fill was challenging, i.e., Chalupa, DropTop, McCafe (I had Nescafé but spelled Necafé) but fair perps solved all stumbling blocks. Friday puzzles should be more difficult and less gimmicky, IMO.
Thanks, ZDL, and thanks, RB, for the review, commentary, and humor. I agree with your overall assessment of the offering. Gorgeous photo of the National Park, BTW. Thanks for doing such a great job subbing for the peripatetic Chairman.
Have a great day.
Knew droptop from my sons rap music,wagged 13 dn surprised I was right,rest finished easier
FIR, but darn->CRUD, teehe->TEHEE, taboo->OPIUM (that makes scents,) yin->CHI, gaza->GIZA, and slap->SLAM.
I remember the early days of Windows. You had to load MS DOS before you loaded Windows. I attended COMDEX (a big computer show) in Las Vegas, and bought a graphics package called Visio. Took it home and it wouldn't run on my true-blue IMB PC. Called Visio tech support, talked to a live tech without going through a single automated answering device, and he diagnosed the problem: I was running Windows 3.0, and Visio required 3.1. Bought 3.1, but couldn't load it on my PC until I bought and loaded a newer DOS. Those upgrades cost more than Visio. (Shortly after that, Microsoft bought the little Visio startup company for $1.5 billion.)
RB's AI can of tahini made me think - no dates could be labeled "BC" or "BCE," because no one knew there was a new demarcation date coming.
The sight in my left eye is so bad and the shape has flattened out that I now need a scleral lens. My insurance convers an exam and contact lenses once
a year, but they have denied coverage for both exam and lens this time. I'll appeal.
Thanks to ZDL for the fun, challenging puzzle. The added -T reminds me that we are missing our contributor and sometimes blogger Anonymous T. The Black Hat conference was last week, and methinks his head got so full of neat network ideas that his mind has yet to exit the cyber world. And thanks to Rusty Brain for the fun review. I was thinking of those two songs before I came to the Corner.
Musings
-This puzzle was oh so clever where I was certain I knew the answers but had to work to get done. Loved it!
-A few weeks ago, I had scalded milk as an ingredient in custard
-I knew of the CYRILLIC alphabet and was happy to learn the source of this word. Hopefully Presidents Trump and Putin can start on the road to мир (Russian/Cyrillic word for peace) in Alaska today.
-CPAP has provided me with better health and my DW to better sleep
-I see items for sale that only ask you to cover shipping and handling. Hmmm…
-MLB will be using electronic UMPS soon. They tried it in 1950. Bonus points if you can name the batter in this picture.
-MLB wants to avoid this
-Egypt has been actively calling for the return of its artifacts, like the Rosetta Stone from England.
-OWN UP TO: Just rip off the bandage and get it over with
-I used something like that to UNCLOG a kitchen drain once and everything backed up into the dishwasher.
-Some colleges require SAT scores as part of admittance consideration. Others make it optional and others go “test blind”.
-For $70 you can make your own bobblehead
Looks like the Splendid Splinter in that photo?
Yooper, As you can see in the picture, it is a 1950 Brooklyn Dodger who wore #1. Therefore it is not Ted.
Difficulty wise, I think this puzzle was apropos for Friday, for me anyway. Took me a little over 25 for the FIR after I corrected Cyrus to CYRIL, which gave me the unknown CHI and CHALUPA (knew that it was a dish but not a boat). KONDO and LIU were all perps. Last time we had a disapproving sound it was tut and not TSK. Thank you Zachary for the challenge and RustyBrain for your thorough recap, you’ve done a fine job in CMoe’s absence, pretty sure you’ll be subbing again soon.
I got the theme pretty quickly, but I was defeated by the NE. NOODGE, CRUD as clued, and BOO just didn’t come to me.
WAGS or perps helped with LIU, ATL, MAHALO. I had eye before BAR, Vegas before MIAMI. Oh, I just noticed I left hISS crossing Uh NO. Oh! CRUD.
I usually spell TEeHEE, so I hesitated there.
Thank you Rusty Brain for holding the fort for the Chairman so valiantly. It’s amazing you found those images of the CHASTE GOOSE and the SNAIL with PASTE. Or did you have tham created by á chat bot?
I didn’t look close enough, but with some google help I now know who wore #1 😆
The combination of NOODGE, SCHMO, CRUD, and NUTS gave this puzzle a "Buddy Hackett meets Beaver Cleaver" undertone. Overall, a decent enough puzzle, finished in 11:32.
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Zachary and Rusty Brain.
I FIRed eventually, but that NE corner held me up.
Noodge is not part of my vocabulary (autocorrect doesn’t like it either), and I had Darn not CRUD (which could have been used for DEBRIS). CHALUPAS are not common around these northern parts. But eventually things came together.
I saw the theme with SNAIL’S PASTE and went back to finish the other themers.
WASTE was very MYSTERIOUS as Mysterious Waist made no sense to me. That themer was an outlier IMHO as WASTE/Ways don’t rhyme as the others do.
I will take multiple CSOs today with DOSE and ELI Lilly referring to my profession. Plus the Canadian references to Simu LIU (I hope you all know his name by now) and ONT with our Toronto Blue Jays (who are doing very well this year, currently leading the AL).
That photo of the AZURE lake reminded me of Peyto Lake in the Canadian Rockies.
I’ll second d’o’s query re NAN’s twin being Bert.
I have 20 or more ALBUMs of family photos spanning 4 decades. I still print some, even with digital photo files on my computer. My kids still like to show them to the grandkids.
Wishing you all a great day.
Several negative comments about this CW today, but I found it delightful! Maybe because I got the theme with PURPLEHASTE (Purple Haze) which helped. I did like this CW, but did NOT like 16 names, 7 DNKs among them. I did know AIDA but could not bring it to mind until I had AI_A, crossing KONDO, a DNK name. Then the V-8 can hit: "Oh, yeah, it's AIDA!" Thanx ZDL for the clever and fun Friday level CW. FIR in 15. Rusty Brain I enjoyed your witty write-up as much as the CW, thanx for all the time and effort you so obviously put into it.
What am I missing? Doesn't the text say it's Pee Wee Reese?
I found this one to be very enjoyable, after getting past the aggravating "paraphrase" non-clues. Always confuse Simu Liu with the Limu Emu. Nice work on the recap, Rusty Brain!
My wife and I were invited to music trivia night at our local pub. Our group was of mixed ages and at one point a younger college age girl said that song is “tots adorb”
I just about fell off my bar stool because I thought that was only a made up annoying crossword clue. I used to curse Patti for letting it stand as a clue. So I apologize to our L.A. Times editor for doubting that hideous lingo.
Todays puzzle was not my fav. I usually like ZDL puzzles but the clueing seemed contrived and stretched.
A wonderful recap Rusty.
Have a nice weekend.
I enjoyed this one despite some inconsistencies in the theme. Few quibbles, all in all.
UM, NO (which I dislike more than “uh, no”), is starting to become an easter egg. . . I haven’t seen CRUD as an interjection for about a half-century. . . . I still think there should be another E in TEeHEE. Thanks for agreeing, Rusty. . . .NAN is the only Bobbsey I can name. . . .I needed perps for the obscure CAPOTE opus. Sheesh. . . .Coffee that tastes like baked apple pie? Sheesh. . . . I didn’t understand the Battleship entry. . . .I wasn’t so sure about the “jump” aspect of BOO, either. . . .I think of a SCHMO as being a nobody, not a knucklehead.
Zachary did define NOODGE as I would. . . . In Jeopardy terms, it took me too long to come up with CPAP. . .I didn’t have to change TSK to tut today. . . .CYRIL was the first name of my curmudgeon orthodontist. Never saw him smile. Thank goodness his assistant Karen was so nice. . . . When I worked at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the cafeteria served CHALUPAs, but they didn’t fit the “fried dish” definition. These were tostadas with only cold ingredients, including plenty of tomato and cheese.
I had to resort to Ai for those, which I hated doing but the themers were so weird. I like to find real pics that somehow strike a chord with me.
RB, nice touch with the flotilla of chalupas. I'm glad you mentioned the ABAB rhyme scheme in the themed answers, as that gave me a moment's hesitation at one point. This puzzle gave me a reason to look up why PASTE is used to describe costume jewelry and provided an interesting and educational rabbit hole.
I've had 2 convertibles (the other was a 1980 450SL) and rarely used them in the daytime - pro tip: blast the AC to the floor vents so cool air is constantly rising up. Most of the time I dropped the top after sundown when things cooled down a bit.
I believe it’s supposed to be MYSTERIOUS WAys, which is less, well, MYSTERIOUS.
Hola! MYSTERIOUS WASTE finally edged into place and I could finish the SW corner. I'm a big fan of Truman CAPOTE's writing but I don't recall "The Grass Harp". But with MCCAFE in place, it occurred to me.
Good job, ZDL, thank you. And thank you, Rusty Brain, for a great job subbing. Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Interesting Friday puzzle, many thanks Zachary. And your commentary is always a pleasant treat, Rusty Brain, thanks for that too.
Well, this puzzle made me wonder if by any chance Dan and his friends went on a WILD GOOSE chase to find some EGGS. Surely EGGS are not any sort of MYSTERIOUS WASTE at all, because many people would MISS not having them for breakfast. I doubt they'd rather have SNAIL PASTE, or some SESAME (and let's just skip OPIUM which is not on any of our lists). Well, before we get our EGGS we'd better clean up all that DEBRIS. So we'll see you again in just a little while later.
Have a sunny, cheerful day, everybody.
I thought ZDL's puzzle was appropriately challenging for Friday, and I enjoyed wrestling it to the ground ... but with one mistake. "This, in Spanish" should be ESTO as solved by our fearless blogger, but I wrote ESsO which is Spanish for "that." Oops. That gave me AsL where "NYM rival" called for ATL, but none of those acronyms meant anything to me.
I liked adding the TE sound to haze, chase, ways, and pace.
Many thanks to ZDL for puzzling, to El Cerebro Oxidado for blogging, and to Cornerites near and far for sharing your solving experiences.
Thanks to ZDL for today's challenge! I always like seeing his byline because I know I'll have to work for a FIR. FAV was "Contact site". I was unsure about the O in NOODGE X BOO but what else could it have been?
It is Car Week here in Monterey. Our streets are filled with gorgeous cars, many of them DROP TOPS. They estimate 100,000 visitors on our small peninsula. Our resident population is about 90,000. It's bananas but I'm happy to see people enjoying their hobbies.
Thanks to RustyBrain for an 11-rated review! I'm also a Dan Marino fan and thought it would have been fun if 11A and 14A were clued together. Loved the GOOSE pic and the flotilla of CHALUPAs. Oh, and the SUN tie in was clever.
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