It's Taco Tuesday!
Hi All!First, the elephant in the room: circles vs. no circles. Personally, I don't care.
Or, as DW told the Girls when they were little, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."
If you've ever attempted Stella's Saturday puzzles, you know she doesn't go easy on the solver. There's one or two "This is a Tuesday?"s in today's, but overall she constructed a smooth, light on the A&E, and cruft-free grid with a bit of crunch.
So, let's grab a tortilla, toss in some carne, onion, & cilantro and take a stroll.
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| Fajita beef, onion, & cilantro breakfast taco. |
17. Toyota pickup since 1995: TACOMA TRUCK.
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| Rear view of the 2025 model |
26. Sarcastic "Great idea!": WHAT A CONCEPT. Not!
45. Requires sacrifice to achieve: COMES AT A COST.
61. Portable Tex-Mex snack, or a progression depicted in this puzzle: WALKING TACO.
Get it? The [circled] TACO "walks" from left to right in the grid. Cute.
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| Er, more like a stumbling TACO after leaving the pub :-) |
Across:
1. Treadmill settings: PACES. ??? All my treadmill says is "speed" and "incline."6. Learn to fit in: ADAPT. Adjust, ADAPT, Overcome.
11. Fuel for some stoves: GAS. I've got a glass cooktop. You?
14. Enticing scent: AROMA.
15. Brings to the ground: RAZES.
16. "How We Do (Party)" singer Rita: ORA.
Not my cuppa, but you might like it.
19. Decimal base: TEN. As a child of the '70's, I got the experimental "new math" and the metric system (this was in '77 through '80 (?)). However, both came in quite handy whilst pursing degrees in EE & CS [#6d_STEAM - I married for the Arts :-) ] .
20. "Rooster" network: HBO. Home Box Office. I'd not known of this show but, from the trailer, it looks good.
21. Coin slot directive: INSERT.
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| Donkey Kong's Directive |
22. Bullfrog relative: TOAD.
23. Ironman race, for short: TRI. TRIathlon.
24. "Well, sort of": ISH.
26. [See: Theme]
32. Pre-1917 Russian ruler: TSAR.
34. Molecule part: ATOM.
35. Land parcels: ACRES.
37. Pancake topper: SYRUP. Here's my go-to from grocer H-E-B.
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| I'm a sucker for cute packaging :-) |
39. Take legal action against: SUE.
40. Large herbivore in India's Kaziranga National Park: RHINO.
This Rhino's in Oregon's Zoo.
41. "Cowboy Bebop" genre: ANIME. With a perp & an educated guess...
42. "Logically, this means ... ": ERGO. #Latin
44. "Toy Story" boy: ANDY.
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| Fun Fact: On Buzz Lightyear's boot, Andy's N is not written backwards [cite]. |
45. [See: Theme]
48. Brian of Roxy Music: ENO.
Brian Eno was commissioned by Microsoft for Win95's 3.25 second
startup sound that he composed it on his Mac.
49. Before, in classic ballads: ERE.
50. Confident and courageous: BOLD.
53. Rum cocktail: MAI TAI. A recipe.
57. Embrace: HUG.
60. Cry of realization: AHA.
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61. [See: Theme]
63. Grab a chair: SIT.
64. Common feature of flannel shirts: PLAID.
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| For the fans like me: Python's Lumberjack Song |
65. Volunteer's offer: I WILL.
66. Earth-turning tool: HOE.
67. Actress/writer Kaling: MINDY. I would have known "Mork's friend" who, according to WikiP, Kaling was named after.
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| Mindy Kaling |
68. Vanlifer, for one: NOMAD. Not sure that Matt Foley was considered a nomad :-)
Down:
1. Hiker's trail: PATH.2. Many a Yemeni: ARAB.
3. Pixar film set in Mexico: COCO.
Coco's Trailer
4. Punk subgenre: EMO.
5. Wiley of "The Handmaid's Tale": SAMIRA. You say so...
6. The "A" of STEAM: ARTS. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths.
7. Truth or __: DARE.
8. C te d'__, France: AZUR.
9. Substance that makes jelly gel: PECTIN.
10. "You should know better!": TSK.
11. Favorite choice: GO-TO.
12. District: AREA.
13. Temporary castle material: SAND.
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| Here's some more really cool ephemeral sculptures.. |
18. Maria's friend in "West Side Story": ANITA.
22. TV quiz show with Cash Builder rounds: THE CHASE. No clue. A few Googles later I learned that this is another US import of a UK game show. Here's the US trailer...
23. Played monotonously: THRUMMED.
25. Surgical memento: SCAR.
26. Nintendo character in purple overalls: WARIO. On autopilot, I first ink'd mARIO.
27. Completely lost: AT SEA.
28. Tennis venue: COURT.
29. Last Greek letter: OMEGA.
30. "Read the fine __": PRINT.
31. Care for: TEND.
32. Airport org. with wands: TSA.
33. Match, as a laptop and the cloud: SYNC.
36. Tofu base: SOY.
38. Part of a hammer: PEEN.
43. Bounding main: OCEAN.
46. Mogadishu native: SOMALI.
47. Starting point: ORIGIN.
50. Wild party: BASH.
51. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's state: OHIO. DJ Donna Halper introduced RUSH to the US when she played Working Man on Cleveland, OHIO's WMMS.
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| Crossword's fav architect, I.M. Pei (and Co.), designed the RRHOF. |
52. Not on time: LATE.
54. Astronaut Shepard: ALAN. Husker Gary, can you hit the ball "Miles and miles and miles"?
Alan Shepard slices it ;-)
55. "Just joking!": I KID.
56. In apple-pie order: TIDY.
57. Pop band with sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana: HAIM.
58. Home of the NCAA's Bruins: UCLA.
59. Top Olympic prize: GOLD.
61. Typist's stat: WPM. Words Per Minute. With copious use of the backspace key, I get about 42 wpm.
62. "It takes __ to tango": TWO.
The Grid:
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| The Grid |
My solve:
WO: mARIO -> WARIO
ESPs: ORA, ANIME (as clued), MINDY, SAMIRA, HAIM
Fav: SUE x-ing COURT made me chortle.
Cheers, -T
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| Most every workday am, I get breakfast tacos from Moderno's across from the office *chef's kiss*. |
49 comments:
It wasn’t always easy,
but I got it without resorting to any red letters or anything.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
This was a tale of two Rs, as in "Rats!" Wasn't familiar with STEAM -- STEM, yes, STEAM, no. Figured bringing to the ground must be dAZES or fAZES. The R never occurred. Didn't know what to call that Ironman thingee. Figured the woman's name was either SAMInA or SAMItA. The R never occurred. Bzzzzzt. R you awake yet, d-o? Thanx, Stella and Dash-T. (I do believe we have the same glass-top down-draft cooktop as you. There aren't many to choose from.)
Never took note of the circles until I completed the grid.
FIR, but strummed->THRUMMED (¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and mario->WARIO (¯\_(ツ)_/¯.)
We've kicked this around before, but I really dislike the addition of Arts for STEM->STEAM. Yes, the kiddos need Arts, just as they need English and history. (It would be nice if they also threw in a little civics lesson now and again, but that's tilting at windmills these days.) But the USA is getting our butts kicked because the little Johnnys and Judys of the nation don't know STEM, not because they don't know creative dance. (OTOH, in Galileo's day music was an area of mathematics.)
In apple pie order? Guess I must have watched too much slapstick back in my ute. To me, someone in apple pie order has a messy face.
Thanks to Stella for another entertaining puzzle, although there was a lot more A&E than I like, and I thought the theme qualifies to park in a handicap spot. And thanks to Bayou Tony for another fun review.
Ditto re Thrummed and Wario, add in Samira which was also unknown and that was a tough spot. Enjoyed learning that rhinos are native to India and about vanlife (o, the call of the open road or perhaps I'm just yearning to be young again). Plan to try Moderno- thanks for the tip and the review.
Took 5:36 today for me here at a corner.
I didn't know one of the Actresses of the Day (Samira; I knew Mindy) or the Sisters of the Day (Haim).
I recommend "Rooster". It's entertaining, but don't expect the zany version of Steve Carell (former co-star with Mindy in "The Office").
Oh joy, circles!
FIR. Another Jumble of circles. Oh, wrong puzzle! This is supposed to be a crossword?
For a Tuesday this had a fair amount of crunch to it. And the plethora of proper names added to the chaos. The crossing of Haim (?) and nomad (?) was basically a WAG.
And just what is a walking taco?
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
I FIR, but ran into a lot names I didn’t know like Rooster, ANDY as clued, SAMIRA, HAIM, WARIO, ANIME as clued, THE CHASE, and when I saw Vanlifer, I thought it was someone’s name.
I filled TIDY for the apple-pie clue, but didn’t know why.
The TACOs were obvious since we had circles, but the reveal was a little strange IMHO, since I’ve never heard of a WALKING TACO.
Thank you A-t. Nice review.
Although I never played it, I have heard of Mario Brothers all my life as I bought the Nintendo for my mother who loved it. I’ve never once heard of Wario…?????!
I get the term "walking taco" as it relates to the aforementioned progression, but it's not a recommended real-life activity.
As someone who has eaten more tacos than five average people combined, I'd expect a mess similar to eating a bowl of spaghetti while walking.
Never seen anyone do either.
Good Morning:
Another hand up for Strummed. Never heard of Wario, Samira, or The Chase and even familiar words needed perps because of the cluing, such as, Anime and Nomad. The theme was a Tuesday but the cluing and fill was definitely not. I finished w/o help but with more effort than a usual Tuesday requires. I'’m not complaining, just observing. Consistency in difficult levels is no longer a given, though.
Thanks, Stella, and thanks, Anon T, for explaining the theme and reveal, especially to those unfamiliar with Taco trends. It’s always fun to have you as our substitute blogger. Thanks for being there!
I’m going to lunch at P. F. Chong’s today with two nieces. I’ve never been there so I don’t know what to expect, other than noise and a crowd.
Have a great day.
Thank you, Stella. Good job, Dash T.
DNK: SAMIRA, THE CHASE. Thank you, perps.
Neat before TIDY.
Walking TACOS? Wait, what? Never heard of them. Oh, now I see. They are a variation of Frito Pie in the bag. Same diff. Swap the bag of Fritos with a bag of Doritos, and swap the chili with seasoned beef. Top with cheese, onions and maybe some lettuce and cilantro, then mix. Eat right out of the bag as if it was a bowl. Just like a Frito pie. WHAT A CONCEPT!
Dash T, breakfast TACOS? Yum! You made me crave for them with your pics. Years ago while visiting with my sister in Temple, she suggested that we have them for breakfast. Tacos for breakfast? From the convenience store of a gas station off the feeder of the interstate, no less? OMG, delishioso! Long story short, the Mexican restaurant next door had partnered with the convenience store for on the run menu items. The have since opened their own drive thru.
A relaxing long weekend ended of beautiful weather badly late yesterday afternoon. DW was planting in the front corner garden and I was in the garage when I heard her calling for me in an alarmed voice. She had just waved to the neighbor three houses up the street, and a minute later he was laying on the stairs leading to his front door. He was non-responsive to my calls as I headed to him as quickly as I could. I very loudly yelled back to DW to call 911 as I got nearer to him. His next door neighbors on both sides heard me and came out. He was fading in and out of consciousness, with very shallow breathing. I was getting a weak pulse just above the wrist. My neighbor checked at the carotid and said he got a strong pulse. Why was that? EMT and Fire dept showed up within 10 minutes. They quickly put him on the stretcher and rushed him to the hospital. That's all we know for now.
I read later that night that strong pulse at the carotid versus weak radial pulse "typically indicates a significant drop in blood pressure, shock, or an obstruction in the blood vessels leading to the arm. Because the carotid artery is closer to the heart, it remains strong, while the radial pulse fades."
It's been a heck of a few weeks. Second time we've had to call for an emergency situation. The first was when the school bus got wrapped with the utility lines near my driveway at the property line. That was crazy. This was worse.
Yes, expect noise for lunch. I’ve been to one of those restaurants and for some reason they are particularly noisy.
Stella provided us with an engaging and lively challenge. I appreciated her grid construction, with the four circled TACOs obediently--and symmetrically--walking down the grid.
I join others in having run into one or two problem areas, such as the head-scratcher WARIO/THRUMMED/ANIME. Sometimes a Natick can reside in just one cell, like the crossing of HAIM and NOMAD. It's difficult for a constructor (and editor) to predict where Naticks may be lurking for every solver.
Thanks, Stella, for the enjoyable and satisfying outing. And thanks, DashT, for helpfully recapping things for us.
Cowboy bebop?
Windows theme written on an IMac? ( I find that hilarious!)
Yes, the trail of Tacos look like the mess coming out of a pub! 😀
Tidy being "in apple-pie order" must be the smallest regional thing I've ever seen in an x-word... crossing that with "Haim" is definitely a Natick in my book...
Vanlifer=Nomad? This bugged me! (Sorry Anon-T, but even your explanation did not explain it for me.) so I did some Googling, and in the process discovered via typos, that I was reading it wrong! I thought it said Van Lifter? No wonder this didn't make any sense to me! But in googling, I discovered that there seems to be a company called vanlifer, that makes an RV called Nomad. And that vanlifer actually makes some sense as an expression for a nomad. So, learning moment. (But it still hurt!)
Which brings me to a question?
If a Natick involves 2 words, does the crossing of "tri" by Samara and thrummed, make it a double Natick because of the two letters crossing, or a triple Natick because it involves 3 words?
Which brings me to "thrummed." Ok, ok, it took a lot of looking at this to make sense. Because I interpreted "played monotonously" as a gaming reference. Was thrummed a new gaming terminology ? Perhaps if it was clued "played continuously," I might have seen it sooner...
Finally, I never heard of walking tacos before, so looking for a silly theme image results in something you might see at the beginning of a movie? but in looking, I think I may have found something something that may be worth a try...
A taco you can eat while walking.
You've never seen anyone eating a bowl of spaghetti while walking? You should do a proof-of-concept experiment: grab a bowl of spaghetti, a pair of chopsticks, and see if you can do it!
Wait, today is Tuesday, right? I struggled a bit, and had to check and make sure it really is Tuesday. This seems like a Thursday CW, although I did FIR in 15.
Can someone please 'splain why an "In apple-pie order" is "TIDY"? I filled it correctly with perps but don't get it.
19 names, DNK 9. I did the CW online with red-letter help turned on but never had a red letter pop up, so can honestly say FIR, not FWH.
Nit: An "Earth turning tool" would be a plow, or possibly a spade. A hoe is a weeding tool.
Thanx SZ for the mental workout.
Thanx too to Anon-T for the great write-up. I forgot Susan is off for a while, and was expecting lots of cartoons, but you did a great job subbing.
BTW, does anyone know? Is Susan off on a vacation (I hope) or is it some medical issue?
I am familiar with the expression “apple pie order” meaning “neat and tidy”, but never thought about the origin. Here’s one explanation.
“American Baking Precision: Another common (though less documented) theory suggests the phrase began with New England housewives. Bakers would meticulously cut apples into even, uniform slices and arrange them tightly row upon row in the pie pan, embodying the ultimate form of neatness.
Grammarist”
Thank you for that explanation. Totally new to:me.
Terrific Taco Tuesday. Thanks for the fun Stella and AnonT (I was looking for Bob and Doug McKenzie for the PLAID illustration),
My paper doesn’t credit the constructor, and I was amazed when I arrived here to discover that I had FIRed a Stella CW. But the TACOs had a little bit of crunch.
Hand up for mARIO before WARIO perped.
Perps changed rave to BASH, and neat to TIDY.
Thankfully, SAMIRA, MINDY and HAIM perped too.
I noted ENO and EMO, COCO and TACO, OCEAN and ASEA, SOMALI and ARAB, AREA and ACRES, TWO, TRI and TEN.
Wishing you all a great day.
This other explanation makes sense too, but I have never heard of the rhyme. “The Apple Pie Alphabet Rhyme: There was a popular 17th-century English children's alphabet rhyme called the Apple Pie ABC, which went something like: "A was an apple-pie, B bit it, C cut it..." Because the letters progressed perfectly from A to Z, people began using "apple-pie order" to refer to a meticulous, sequential arrangement.”
I only went to P.F. Chang's once. I found it to be noisy and expensive for Chinese food that was good but not exceptional. Lots of Chinese restaurants with food as good or better, much less expensive. My favorite Chinese foods: top of the list is hot-and-sour soup, then roast pork with snow peas and brown rice.
Thanx CE @ 12:51 for the explanations.
Delightful Tuesday puzzle, many thanks for this treat, Stella. And your commentary and pictures are always helpful and pleasant, thanks for those too, AnonT.
Well, it's always a bit tough for students to ADAPT to those Spring RACES, which soon put a bit of AROMA and GAS in the air, as they run around the track, with friends and relatives watching and saying "WHAT A CONCEPT". No, the TSAR never attended this event, even if it was considered a production of the ARTS, with trays of TACOS and pancakes with SYRUP and with even that illegal MAI TAI waiting for all those students after the race. After THE CHASE they get inspected for any SCAR they might have gotten, and are then given some lunch and told to take a nap before doing that great WALKING TACO exercise in the afternoon, that COMES AT A COST. But the students and their families and friends all agree that it was worth it!
Have a wonderful day, everybody.
Fun puzzle and aptly put on Tuesday. I love WALKING TACOS but have never eaten them while walking because I'm not that coordinated to eating anything while walking!
I have sons in their 30s who grew up playing Mario and Luigi on their Gameboys - now there have been a few movies from that universe- one of which just came out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En5QZmL5R1s
Mario wears red and Luigi wears green but two of their nemeses are WARIO and Waluigi who wear PURPLE. The WA at the beginning is from the Japanese word for bad Warui and then made into a portmanteau
Thanks Tony for the blog and Stella for the puzzle
prayers for TTP's neighbor - the body has an amazing mechanism where if the pressure is low, it will decrease the flow to the extremities and keep it up as much as possible to important organs like the brain. We can live without a limb but not well without a brain
TACO Tuesday with three unknowns filled by perps. THRUMMED, WARIO, SAMIRA sitting parallel and others HAIM and MINDY in the sourh.
I wonder how a MAI TAI would go with that 'walking taco'.
Adios.
Enjoyed crossword. Did not enjoy ads for women wl big boobs!
Musings
-Stella never goes without a fight.
-I can't hit the golf ball miles and miles but my new driver has the 80-yr-old up to 220 yds. which I did twice today.
-Alan Shepard's second lunar golf ball only went about 40 yds but he was using only one hand in a stiff space suit.
-He famously kept the secret of the brand of the ball he hit even to his death.
This restaurant was very quiet with only one other table occupied. I enjoyed my egg roll and crispy honey chicken over white rice and found the service very accommodating. I’d definitely go back. Maybe the noise is a night time feature.
I rather enjoyed doing this puzzle.
STEPS-->PACES. FELLS-->RAZES. PLOTS-->ACRES.
TACOMA TRUCK seems kind of green paintISH.
My son has a big GAS stove. I have an induction cooktop away from which I now have to stay at least two feet because of my pacemaker. (I can't keep my cell phone in my shirt pocket, either, so I'm forming the habit of putting it in my pants pocket. But this has a serious drawback: the phone too easily falls out as I rise from a sitting position. Today, luckily, I noticed it had fallen out and was able to quickly find it on the floor by retracing my steps.)
From Last Night, thank you sumdaze at 9:46 PM.
Good reading all your comments.
No, but I once saw a guy juggle an apple, a tennis ball, and a bowling ball. He ate the apple during the stunt.
He might be the right guy for the walking spaghetti stunt.
People come in all shapes and sizes. Get over it.
Hola! TACO Tuesday? Oh, that's rich! But I've never heard of a WALKING TACO. I guess if you have a short lunch period, that might be the reason for it.
I love a good MAI TAI! Me too, on NEAT before TIDY.
HAIM is totally new to me as a band and of course, I've never heard of those particular sisters.
I also have not read "The Handmaid's Tale" so SAMIRA is unknown. That is not a genre I enjoy.
Thank you, Tony, for enlightening us about Stella's puzzling grid! Have a lovely day, everyone!
TTP, your neighbor is lucky to have you and I hope he is doing better.
BTW, I have a glass top stove and I love how easy it is to clean.
you can give feedback to Google and/or to CC
As you all know, I am always on the lookout for silly theme links. Well, today was a total bust... (just not funny.) in fact, I found out that in Japan, walking while eating is not only considered rude, it is considered disrespectful to not only everyone, but also to the food!
There is really nothing on walking with tacos, and any funny video including tacos is not suitable for publishing. (Think Taco Bell.).
There was only one possible exception, it had nothing to do with walking,
and I include it only because I don't want the day to be a total bust...
I also have a glass cooktop. Watching the rhino destroy and devour the watermelon was educational. Love the movie Coco! And Canadian Eh!….I love the Apple pie ABC! Thanks for sharing it! After Mario gave way to Wario, things fell into place. But I did have to look up Wario to make sure it was right. Thanks Stella and Anon-T.
Ojai Guy. Having struggled with many Stella Saturdays, I enjoyed her Taco Tuesday. No grumbling on this journey to righteousness.
Probably - mine's a GE Profile (but not an inductive burner) glass-top.
I’m glad you were able to enjoy your lunch. Totally different experience from mine. I went for lunch, but the place was packed and super noisy.
Wow - I totally whiffed it on the Walking Taco. I was thinking just a regular "soft" taco in aluminum foil that you pickup at the food truck on your way over to wherever.
As for gas station tacos, the Shell on the way to (from) the kids' H.S. had a Tia in a kitchenette area of the gas station. After dropping the girls off at school, I'd pick up a couple of tacos for the way home. Those were some of the best tacos I've eaten.
Scary about your neighbor. Any update? I hope he's OK.
Wario was Mario's childhood friend who turned evil. Luigi explains :-) [SNL]
That’s what I expected, Monkey, but apparently this location (in a struggling mall) has lost its attraction and is no longer drawing the crowds. Perhaps they do a better business at night. 😉
The ads presented are from Google's algorithm based on by your (and whoever else uses the computer you're on) browsing history. Neither The Corner nor the host has anything to do with the ads you see.
Doh! - I missed a Bob & Doug opportunity. I did, however, get a Python / Canadian drop in there w/ the Lumberjack song ;-)
You never fail CED. You always have something to amuse us.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for our neighbor. We know nothing new.
As it was, DW would have been the only one that could have seen him. His wife was at work. His next door neighbors on one side were inside, and the neighbors on the other side were in their backyard. The view from the two houses across the street were blocked by his truck and SUV. Her concern and quick reactions were vital in getting the EMS responders there as soon as possible after it happened.
You retain your honorary Canadian award. LOL!
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