Films on the right...
I wouldn't be CrossEyedDave if I didn't offer you my interpretation of the theme:
Nah, just kidding...
This pleasant 15x15 by Veteran Constructor Jeff Stillman has film titles on the right side of the starred clues as follows:
17. Across *Part of the bus that makes the wheels go round and round, round and round: DRIVESHAFT
You have all seen this thingie under a truck.
But have you seen this film?
(The first of five...)
26. Across *Part of the Blessed Trinity: HOLY GHOST
Image subject to interpretation.
Film also subject to interpretation.
I flew the above style for several miles by throwing off the Eiffel Tower.
(Hmm, i guess i have also littered in France...)
This film has enjoyably littered movie screens across the world...
49. Across *Command aboard the USS Enterprise: WARP SPEED.
Faster then light travel
Faster than a bomb travel...
And the Reveal:
59. Across, Permission to adapt a novel, say, or what the answers to the starred clues all have: FILM RIGHTS.
14 three letter words (4 of which were names...) I also counted 14 names, but there are more depending on your interpretation.
Across:
1. In the thick of: AMID.
Not A-mud...
5. School attendee: PUPIL. (Are they called this because you have to keep your eye on them?)
10. Muscles above abs: PECS. Pectoral muscles.
14. Junction point: NODE.
One interpretation.
15. Father of Kartikeya and Ganesha, in Hindu traditions: SHIVA.
16. Feedback for a prof: EVAL. Short for evaluation.
17. [theme]
19. Frost: RIME. AI Overview
- adjective. very good. synonyms: bang-up, bully, corking, cracking, dandy, great, keen, neat, nifty, not bad, peachy, slap-up, smashing, swell. good. having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified.
21. Leave slack-jawed: STUN.
22. Extend beyond: OUTLIE. (Or possibly out of bounds in Golf...)
24. Mass-mailing tool: ELIST. I presume this to be one word, like Email.
26. [theme]
28. Barbecue wipe: WET-NAP. The official copyrighted name has a dash, so it is not one word. This clue gave me pause, because I would have clued it "Lobster wipe." But i am not opposed to surf and turf.
30. Punster: WAG.
31. One of the Three Stooges: MOE. (There is only one Chairman Moe...)
32. At the original rate, in sheet music: A TEMPO. I was surprised to discover that this is two words.
35. Canasta combination: MELD.
Sets of 3 or more cards of the same rank.
(Learning moment)
36. [theme]
40. Ordinances: LAWS. The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread," was said by French writer Anatole France (1844-1924) Also,
The sentiment that
"the more laws the more criminals" is commonly attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu). 41. Kolkata resident: INDIAN. I would post a map, but India is a big place, and you would still get lost...
42. Simile center: AS A.
"Simile center" most often refers to
an educational activity or station for teaching similes(comparisons using "like" or "as") in literacy, but it can also be a crossword puzzle clue, where the answer is often ASA, meaning "as". In education, it's a classroom setup with tasks like matching similes to their meanings or writing original ones, while the crossword answer highlights the key word in the comparison, as noted by sources like WordTips and USA Today. 43. Long stretch: EON.
45. Lawn care task: EDGING. And seeding, and mowing, and thatching, and...
49. [theme]
53. Sing in a high range?: YODEL. (Very cute, I just groked this reading it now...)
54. Most peculiar: ODDEST. (Because i am the 53A comment)
55. Glorify: LAUD. (I am The Oddest!)
57. Farm-to-table program, briefly: CSA. (Community Supported Agriculture) is a farm-to-table model where consumers buy shares of a farm's harvest upfront, then receive weekly boxes of fresh, local produce throughout the season, directly supporting local farmers, reducing food miles, and getting peak-season food with fewer middlemen.
58. Golda of Israel: MEIR.
59. [Theme Reveal]
62. Novelist Tyler: ANNE.
63. Rubber-stamping: OKING. (Does it take a King to OK the dang thing?) Interesting that Google prefers Okaying, and thinks OKing is a popular South Korean YouTuber and Streamer...)
64. Gets even with: TIES. (Ya cant get even with em unless ya beat em!)
65. Badgers: NAGS. (Like 64A vexes me...)
66. Witherspoon of "The Morning Show": REESE.
67. Agile: SPRY.
Down:
1. "Christina's World" painter Wyeth: ANDREW.
1. "Christina's World" painter Wyeth: ANDREW.
2. Booster target, perhaps: MORALE.
3. Victorious cry: I DID IT.
4. Actor Patel: DEV. (This clue/answer seems devious to me, thank goodness for perps.)
5. Sibilant summons: PSST.
6. Slangy affirmative: UH HUH.
7. Grand instrument: PIANO. (There is also a Baby Grand if space doesn't permit.)
8. Assisted reproductive option: Abbr.: IVF. In Vitro Fertilazation
9. Singer Jackson: LATOYA.
10. Capital of Western Australia: PERTH.
11. Really bad sign: EVIL OMEN.
12. Top with spaghetti straps: CAMISOLE.
3. Victorious cry: I DID IT.
4. Actor Patel: DEV. (This clue/answer seems devious to me, thank goodness for perps.)
5. Sibilant summons: PSST.
6. Slangy affirmative: UH HUH.
7. Grand instrument: PIANO. (There is also a Baby Grand if space doesn't permit.)
8. Assisted reproductive option: Abbr.: IVF. In Vitro Fertilazation
9. Singer Jackson: LATOYA.
10. Capital of Western Australia: PERTH.
11. Really bad sign: EVIL OMEN.
12. Top with spaghetti straps: CAMISOLE.
Makes for an interesting outfit.
(Oh, straps, not scraps.)
13. Came down hard?: SLEETED.
Strange name for a bird...
18. Grand property: ESTATE. Tried Manor first, wasn't grand enough...
23. Brand of fleecy slippers: UGG. Overgrown Fuzzy Slippers
25. Onesie closers: SNAPS.
27. Euphemistic expression of affection: L WORD. I just assumed this had something to do with "Love." However Google is less than romantic, and shows it by saying this is a TV show...
29. Each: PER.
33. Quebec neighbor: MAINE. I could say volumes about this clue/answer, but in our current political climate, it would get too political...
34. Brooch: PIN.
35. National fruit of the Philippines: MANGO.
36. Caltech locale: PASADENA. You would known this if you watched The Big Bang Theory.
37. Handing an Emmy to, e.g.: AWARDING.
38. __ chart: PIE.
39. Royal bride of 1981: LADY DI.
40. Doors album whose last track is "Riders on the Storm": L.A. WOMAN.
43. Pothook shape: ESS.
44. Select: OPT FOR.
46. Pet-locating device: ID CHIP.
47. Mama bird, for one: NESTER.
48. Like some stares: GLASSY.
50. French fathers: PERES.
51. "Love Me Like You Do" singer Goulding: ELLIE.
52. Sends to eternal punishment: DAMNS.
56. Craving: URGE.
60. Actor Barinholtz: IKE.
61. Classic sports cars: GTS. I wanted MGs.
And here's the grid:
Jeff Stillman, name sounded familiar. So i Googled him and only found his NewYork Times puzzles, which led me to This Site which had an interesting compilation of his first time used words in NYT. Click on "Naples Florida" to see how easy you got off with this Wednesday puzzle. Scroll to the bottom for the matching Clue offered. Even more embarrassing than thinking this might be a LAT debut, was that not only was his LAT debut in 2014, I had actually used his LA Times puzzles from November to practice writing this Blog...
Well, before i forget,
CE:D out...
37 comments:
I usually don’t talk about
my personal life but I
thought it would let you folks know that I had a minor foot operation
yesterday morning.
I had thought that I would just “sleep through” this morning and not participate in the Corner but I found myself getting up even earlier than usual so I went ahead and wrote this:
I saw all the “films” and
the reveal made sense to me (for a change).
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Jeff provided us with a mostly-clean grid, cute theme, and some nice fill. No complaints from this corner. Methinks Airplane is a hilarious movie. Dw added a stickie to the disc case with just a single word on it: No! We've got a print of ANDREW's Christina's World on the office wall. Thanx for the explication, CED. I'm off to the quarterly dental cleaning this morning. Fun times.
SubG, I was up early as well. My DW let me know that the toilet wouldn't flush. It was 4:05 AM. The top end of the little chain that connects from the handle arm to the flapper rusted off. Easy fix. Found an S hook in my small parts cabinet. Et voila!
Just kidding about it, I told her that it would be $240 for the service call and repair parts. She said, "For 15 minutes work and that little part?" Of course. Emergency call outside of normal business hours, 2 hour minimum... She was slightly amused, and then muttered something about what she's going to charge me for dinner tonight.
CED, this is Jeff's 57th LAT puzzle. Going back to bed now. I'll send a note showing you how to use the Blog tools to get that kind of info.
Before I forget...
This day in blog history - 14 years ago: Irish Miss' first comment
Thank you, Jeff and CED.
See all y'all later n'at!
What a treat. Not only IM's first $0.02 worth, but also all those familiar handles, many of which are no longer with us. As Bob Hope would croon, Thanks for the Memories.
FIR, but mgs->GTS, and after a long while, exam->EVAL. EVAL was the key to opening up New England and allowing me to finally finish.
I'm calling BS on ELIST.
I bought a book on making PAPER AIRPLANEs once at Flights of Fancy in Frederick, MD. Wonderful store with lots of goodies for eccentric people (like me.) Long gone, unfortunately.
John Lennon's Nobody Told Me included the lyrics
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed, most peculiar, mama
CSA: "Sace your Dixie Cups, the South will rise again!" was a common expression when I was growing up.
Good fill with OKING, but horrible cluing with "rubber-stamping." In my experience, nearly all OKING is performed only after at least some degree of review.
I loved the TV series The L WORD. Gave me a deeper insight into lesbian culture that I had only superficially explored. (I was friends with a lesbian couple, and they took me for nights out at their favorite gay bar occasionally.) Oh, and I've heard people ask of new romances, "have you used the L WORD yet?"
I don't think of GTS as being sports cars. I think of sports cars as being light weight, low slung cars designed for excellent handling on winding roads. I think of GTS as being muscle cars designed for excellent acceleration. I'm lookin' at YOU, Mustang GT.
RIP Scott Adams. The world of cubicle dwellers will never be the same.
Thanks to Jeff for another enjoyable challenge. My favorite was "booster target" for MORALE. And thanks to CED for another fun review. AIRPLANE is on my list of the funniest movies ever made, along with Blazing Saddles and Caddyshack.
FIR. I didn't have a lot of trouble with today's presentation. All the clues were fair.
The reveal made the theme real for me. I haven't seen all the movies but I certainly had heard of them all.
I must admit I had a brain freeze at the Doors album. I kept seeing law o man. I had to come here to get it. Duh! And it's one of my favorites!
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
An easy puzzle to FIR with too many abbr. PSST, IVF, CSA, LWORD, GTS, PECS, EVAL, and the word I've only seen in a crossword puzzle-OKING.
UH HUH. For other shorts add ESS and even LADY DI(ANA).
And INDIAN theme today with DEV and SHIVA.
GTS- I wouldn't think a Grand Touring (GT) car would be called a sports car. Built for luxury and long drives. Changed it from MGS.
LATOYA- NOLA just got rid of a mayor yesterday who has that name. There are many Jackson singers but my favorite is ALAN. Gotta go, "It's Five O'clock Somewhere".
Good Morning:
Jeff kept me guessing about the theme until the spot-on reveal, which is my preference, anyway. However, I got off on the wrong foot with Palo Alto instead of Pasadena and my deducting powers failed me in the NE corner, which resulted
Sorry, that Publish button is too close to the comment area. Anyway, “which resulted” in a FWH, Finished With Help. My nemesis was Exam instead of Eval, and not being able to come up with Sleeted or Outlie. I saw all the movies, except Shaft and still remember some hilarious scenes with Whoopie Goldberg’s character in Ghost, Oda Mae Brown. I enjoyed the solve and thought it was of Wednesday difficulty.
Thanks, Jeff, and thanks, CED, for a great review. You’ve settled very nicely into your blogging role. Congrats.
Thanks, TTP, for that long ago debut blog comment. I’ve become a tad more vocal over the years, haven’t I? 🤣
Subgenius, hope you’re feeling better.
Have a great day.
Very cool, TTP! Great job of digging out that tidbit.
This solver particularly enjoyed the SW with references to both L.A. and Pasadena. For some reason it brought to mind this bit of music:West L.A. Fadeaway - Grateful Dead RIP Bob Weir.
Took 6:06 today to drink a Manhattan.
I knew the Actress of the Day (Reese), but I had to guess at the intersection of CSA with glassy/glossy. Never heard of "elist" before either.
Subg, I hope all is well with your foot, buddy.
Congrats to Ms. Irish Miss on her anniversary.
Fast, fun, FIR. Zipped right on through this one. Yes, Airplane! is one of my all-time favorites too. Sad that they can't make movies this funny in today's PC era.
An easy-breezy FIR in 6:21. I didn’t know the Hindu deity, but didn’t need to thanks to Monday-ish perps.
MORALE booster was very clever, and although I never pay attention to the theme, I appreciated it once I read the summary.
In the early days of HBO, their programming was very limited, and my roommates and I must have watched Airplane 15 times. And enjoyed it every single time.
Not bad for midweek but a few too many names. Did a double take on the FILMRIGHTS till I realized AIRPLANE was the RIGHT side of
The starred clue answer like the rest of the movie titles.
Inkovers: exam/EVAL, ell/ESS, glares/GLASSY
Is “ yeah” or “yep” a “slangy affirmative”? UHHUH… Liked “gets even with” and “sing in a high range”. “folded flyer” origame crane wouldn’t fit.
Seems like sometime in the 60’s it got changed to HOLY spirit at least for us RC’s
Calcutta/Kolkata (Did anyone tell Mother Teresa?) Bombay/Mumbai? (Does Samantha’s “Bewitched” Doctor know?) Peking/Beijing (Chinese ducks are confused.)
3 of my nieces had IVF. Boy, Girl, and Twins, then all three had another kid the traditional way within a couple years.
ELIST sounds like “low on the celerity totem pole.”
Easy Humpday often an EVIL OMEN of a rough Thursday ☹️
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and CED.
Officially a FIR, as I had UGs instead of UGG, which had me tentatively entering gas instead of WAG, which left me totally stumped at L gORD. D’uh!
But I did eventually see the FILMS on the RIGHT.
DIL was born in Calcutta, now Kolkata.
I was a bride (but not Royal) in 1981 just a month before. LADY DI.
Favourite today was the clue for YODEL. I smiled when I saw that the high range was the Alps, not the soprano section.
Subgenius- best wishes for that foot to heal.
Wishing you all a great day.
Yes, that was a blast from the past!
TTP- I LOLed at your wife’s muttered comment.
An enjoyable puzzle with solid clues.
I too had a “doh” moment when I thought the Doors album was Law O Man.
Thanks CED for reminding me of the album title that I already knew but couldn’t see.
Hola! Fairly easy Wednesday puzzle. Thank you, Jeff Stillman. But I was slow due to a blurry eye. I accidentally poked myself with the edge of a paper and it smarts!
I DID IT, solved the puzzle, but not at WARP SPEED.
i remember my brothers making PAPER AIRPLANES then racing them against each other.
At church we sang "Come HOLY GHOST" as our ending song.
DEV Patel is a good actor whom I've seen a few times.
i hope you are all enjoying a good day!
Almost FIR. I just missed the K of IKE, unknown to me and OKING. My excuse is needing to leave for my exercise class. Other than that mishap, I enjoyed this puzzle though it didn’t do it at WARP SPEED. I LAUD the creator for the RAD theme.
I needed perps for EVAL and I too couldn’t figure out LAW O MAN. LOL.
Thank you CED for your review. Lots of good info.
That should be I didn’t do it. Sorry.
Edward in L. A. (NOT a woman!)
Easy-peasy, but don’t call me Shirley.
GREAT (or maybe Grate) link, MalMan, thanx. I listened to the song and several more. Like Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead had their own style that didn't fit a category. Hard to believe Jerry Garcia has been dead for almost thirty years. I actually cried when he died: end of a great person, a great musician, and end of an era. In fact, makes me tear up now thinking of it.
Really enjoyed this CW, thanx JS. Lots of clever clues. Too many names at 16, DNK 6, but perps came to the rescue.
W/Os: EMAIL/ELIST, EXAM/EVAL, GTO/GTS.
Once again I forgot to look for the theme. Dang!
The MANGO fill reminded me January is the month I need to pound the fertilizer stakes into the ground under my mango tree. I also dump my coffee grounds under the tree every day. The tree makes the BEST mangoes, and it's not just me saying that. When I give them away the recipients always say the same thing. I cut, scoop, freeze in ZipLock bags dozens of mangoes then enjoy them from the freezer all year.
MalMan's link to L.A. Fadeaway really brought back memories, but LAWOMAN had me parsing several ways before the V-8 can hit.
"Mass mailing tool" had me thinking ROBOT, finally filled EMAIL; still wrong. DNK ELIST.
Back in the day, GTO stood for Gran Turismo Omologato, which I never understood why they would call a car this. GTO was wrong today anyway.
Terrific write-up, CED, thanx for all the time and effort you put into it.
Grateful Dead reminds me of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. Not a lot of hit singles on the charts, but both had huge fan bases, and their concerts were more events than concerts.
Parrot Heads forever!
I think it was my third viewing that I noticed that they used sound from a propeller airplane for their 727. (Rocky and Bullwinkle were like that too. I was an adult before I figured out that Kerwood Derby was funny.)
I was not an "official" Dead Head (oxymoronic, I know) but saw the band a dozen or so times. I was fortunately enough to see Jimmy Buffet just once at an outdoor venue outside Cleveland. He had a guitar player with him who had been named Nashville Guitar Player of the Year. It might have been Peter Mayer. It was a great show and a great time.
Many thanks to Jeff Stillman for an enjoyable puzzle to begin the day, and to CE:D for a funny blog to extend the enjoyment. Mr. :D , you are a WAG!
SubG, feel better soon. Irish Miss, what fun to view your debut.
Well done puzzle. I'm glad I'm not the only one who missed Law-o-Man. Geez. Sometimes I wonder how I can miss the easiest things. Thanks CED for the excellent write-up.
Delightful Wednesday puzzle, Jeff--many thanks! And your commentary is always helpful too, so thank you for that also, Dave.
Well, having the puzzle begin with AMID lets us know that there will be a lot of movement going on here, possibly beginning with those PUPILS exercising their PECS. But even before that it was clear that the PUPIL was probably already playing the PIANO, so let's hope he was clever enough to keep track of A TEMPO, and maybe already had listeners beginning to YODEL to the high range. (Makes me wish these puzzles had a sound attachment so we could listen to some of this stuff). But let's just hope everyone had a great time, playing with that PAPER AIRPLANE and eating some PIE, and enjoying all that AWARDING going on, including on those FILM RIGHTS. I was happy supporting almost everything in this puzzle, except that nasty voice that had to give us DAMNS. Let's urge him (or her) to get some decent training on how to behave properly. But otherwise, great fun in the middle of the week!
Cheers, everybody!
P.S. Forgot to wish you a good recovery on your foot surgery, Subgeniusl Take good care of yourself.
Yesterday I had internet connectivity problems. Again. But I didn't mind it much, because our temps went over 50, so I got to work outside for a few hours and then go to the big box hardware store, Walmart and then get my truck washed.
I minded the outages we had yet again today. It was fine for an hour or so, but then I lost internet, cable TV and phone service. It just seems like it's a bigger deal in the dead of winter when the temps are in the twenties and the wind is blowing. Glad it's all working again now. Just finished reading the comments.
ANOTHER... THIS DAY IN BLOG HISTORY - Only 4 years ago: Yuman and CanadianEh! almost simultaneously ask the same question of Corner Blog readers. Within a minute of each other!
From that point, many blog readers started playing the new game every day. And they were reporting their results here. After a few weeks, there was some push back. There were so many comments about the new game. Similar to what had happened with the Daily Jumble comments many months before, (mostly anon) commenters started to complain that this is a crossword blog, not a jumble blog. I'm sure that many of you remember how that all played out.
See all y'all later n'at!
I liked A TEMPO, YODEL, MORALE, MANGO, and PASADENA.
I did not like EVAL, RAD, OKING, NESTER, and GTS.
I noticed three answers ended in ING, namely EDGING, OKING, and AWARDING.
With credit to Jinx, "Blah Blah Blah Witherspoon" = REESE.
I never thought of OUTLIE as a verb, but it makes sense.
DW and I have driven through PASADENA many times. I used to confuse Cal Tech with Cal Poly, but not any more.
Good reading you all.
Wow! I thought the song was "L.A. woman". but I'm not a fan of pop music.
Yes. I just looked it up and it is, "L.A.Woman." Lucky guess.
Post a Comment