Kathy Lowden is becoming a regular here, her last puzzle was just back in April.
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| Ashes to ashes... |
16. Evil actions of a cartoon villain, e.g.: DASTARDLY DEEDS. Like those of Dick DASTARDLY, as he twirled his mustache.
23. Having no chance of success: DESTINED TO FAIL. Like the plots of Dick DASTARDLY.
35. Forty-second cousin: DISTANT RELATIVE. A 42nd cousin is commonly known as "no relation."
50. Alyosha Karamazov, for one: DOSTOEVSKY HERO. From his Russian novel, The Brothers Karamazov.
56. Final touch for some desserts: DUSTING OF SUGAR. It's the icing on the cake! Sorta.
And sometimes why? The vowels appearing in alphabetical order make sense, but I'm not sure why they're buried in D_ST- at the beginning of each phrase. I'm sure it was difficult to find four-letter starters that only varied by their vowel, but by themselves, only DUST- is a word. DAST-, DEST-, DIST- and DOST- seem kinda random. I would've preferred some phases that began with last, lest, list, lost and lust, for example.
The number of proper nouns today was kept to a minimum, so that helped make it a pleasant solve. Only half of them were peoples' names, and they all were very famous. Yay!
1. Millennial follower, briefly: GEN Z. Generation Z, sometimes called Zoomers, followed GEN Y who didn't like that name so they changed it to Millennial. Sounds like something they'd do.
5. Grass unit: BLADE. Grass unit: OUNCE. I went to college in the 70's and was on double secret probation!
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| Prof. Jennings and Pinto in Animal House |
10. Sobriquet letters: AKA. A sobriquet is Also Known As a nickname, such as Pinto.
13. Plains people: OTOE.
14. Tulip : bulb :: oak : __: ACORN. Remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you!
15. "__ betcha": YOU. Frances McDormand did a great job in Fargo.
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19. __ de cologne: EAU. EAU de cologne translates from French as "water from Cologne." Historically, it refers to a light, refreshing citrus fragrance created in Cologne, Germany, in 1709.
20. Tune: AIR. An AIR (or ayre) is a song-like, melodic tune, typically for a solo instrument or voice. I learn something new everyday! It basically replaces what I forget everyday.
21. Prefix with -metric: ISO. ISOmetric.
23. [theme]
28. Greek letter that represents torque in equations: TAU. TAU is used for torque in physics and engineering. In mathematics, τ represents one full rotation around a circle.
29. Gold medalist at the 1936 Summer Olympics: OWENS. Jesse OWENS was an American track and field athlete who made history by winning four gold medals at the Berlin games, setting Olympic records in each event.
30. Got on the nerves of: IRKED.
31. __ mater: ALMA.
33. Grain in many a Quaker product: OAT. This is the first of three cereal-related clues today, part of a "complete" breakfast.
34. Card in an around-the-corner straight: ACE. AKA a wrap-around straight, it's a poker hand where the sequential card values "wrap around" the ACE, such as Q-K-A-2-3. It is not valid in most standard poker games.
35. [theme]
41. Little newt: EFT.
42. Feel icky: AIL.
43. One of a cereal trio: SNAP. SNAP, Crackle and Pop have been mascots for Rice Krispies for nearly 100 years!
44. Thrash about: FLAIL.
47. Cause of interrupted sleep, perhaps: APNEA. CPAP machines are a common method to treat APNEA, so common that there are occasional shortages of the distilled water they use. Don't ask me how I know.
49. Ávila aunt: TIA. Ávila, Spain is is famous for it's Walls of Ávila, built between the 11th and 14th centuries.
50. [theme]
53. OR workers: RNS. Registered Nurses may work in Operating Rooms.
54. Viking weapon: AXE.
55. D-backs, in box scores: ARI. The ARIzona Diamondbacks change their logos as often as Rice Krispies.
56. [theme]
63. Metallurgist's material: ORE.
64. Private pupil: TUTEE.
65. Ivory soap ad word: PURE. Ivory is 99.44% PURE soap, but it only stayed AFLOAT because Procter & Gamble used to whip air into it. The current bar doesn't float in your sink.
66. Word in four state names: NEW. NEW Hampshire, NEW Jersey, NEW Mexico and NEW York.
67. Down-at-the-heels: SEEDY.
68. Elevated on the course: TEED. Also elevated is one's blood pressure when TEED off.
Down:
1. Mars or Mercury: GOD. The Roman GODs of war and swiftness.
2. Pilot's approx.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
3. Tiny biters: NO-SEE-UMS. One of our favorite getaways from the rat race in South Florida is Sanibel Island on the Gulf Coast, which sadly was heavily damaged in 2022 by Hurricane Ian. We used to rent a little cottage (now destroyed) and stroll along the beach. At certain times of day, our legs would itch from nearly invisible pests, the infamous NO-SEE-UMS.
4. Followers of epsilons: ZETAS.
5. Where to find a priest, a minister, and a rabbi?: BAR. Is this some kind of joke? Ha ha!
6. "American Dream" band __ Soundsystem: LCD. An odd band name (aren't they all?) that originated as Liquid Christmas Display after performing at a holiday party.
7. Early ISP: AOL. You've got mail! America OnLine used to be an Internet Service Provider. Now it's just a brand name bandied about by various corporations.
8. Forest nymphs: DRYADS. Almost wrote DRUIDS.
9. Break off a romance: END IT.
10. Vote in favor: AYE.
11. Frazer Lake bear: KODIAK. Frazer Lake is on KODIAK Island in Alaska.
12. One who may say "G'day": AUSSIE. Australian greeting.
17. Motor vehicle: AUTO. Nowadays, some vehicles drive on AUTO.
18. Beethoven's Third: EROICA. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, pushed the boundaries of harmony, motivic development, and expression. AKA the EROICA (Italian for "Heroic") it was dedicated to Napoleon.
22. Vintage: OLD. I collect vintage guitars; RightBrain calls them OLD. They probably fall somewhere in between.
23. "Meditative Rose" artist: DALI. Salvador DALI was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work.
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| Dali's striking and bizarre visage |
24. Terse refusal: I WONT.
25. Clutter-free: NEAT. Some people like their whiskey clutter-free.
26. Sets up: ENTRAPS.
27. Guitar bars: FRETS. The frets on the necks of my vintage guitars.
28. Tiny bit: TAD.
32. Wiped out: ATE IT.
34. Strike zone?: ALLEY. A bowling ALLEY.
36. Not having that sinking feeling?: AFLOAT. Unlike modern Ivory soap bars.
37. Kindle display: E-INK. Just add an E to anything!
38. Secret plans: INTRIGUE.
39. Japanese laptop maker: VAIO.
40. Safe Drinking Water Act org.: EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency.
44. New Deal pres.: FDR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the U.S. The New Deal was a series of economic, social, and political reforms in response to the Great Depression.
45. "Sweeney Todd" setting: LONDON. Also where Tina FEY appeared recently. "Live from LONDON, it's Saturday Night!"
46. Make certain: ASSURE.
47. City grid feature: AVENUE. Here's another city grid:
48. "Eureka!" cries: AHAS.
51. Goes out: EXITS.
52. Go off: ERUPT.
57. Hem, but not haw: SEW. SEW what?
58. Former telecom co.: GTE. General Telephone & Electronics Corp. was the largest independent phone company in the U.S. In 2000, it merged with Bell Atlantic and became Verizon.
59. 20-volume ref. work: OED. Oxford English Dictionary.
60. First host of "Saturday Night Live UK": FEY. Tina FEY led the charge across the pond to appear on the telly.
61. "__ you decent?": ARE. "Yes, but I'm not wearing any clothes."
62. Color of Lucky Charms balloons: RED. There have been over 30 marshmallow shapes over the years, each with a special "power." The RED balloons give the power to float - or stay AFLOAT in a bowl of OAT cereal with a DUSTING OF SUGAR.
Be good. RB
Not the easiest puzzle
ReplyDeletein the world and if you were unfamiliar with the novels of Dostoevsky you may have been (one of cw’s favorite phrases) “at sea.” But I found it doable, in the end.
FIR, so I’m happy.
DNF, hitting a brick wall @ DOSTOEVS_YHER_ x EIN_ and VIA_. EINK makes me appreciate “oho” and “totes adorbs.” But I got OWENS without benefit of perp, so I got THAT goin' for me. Which is nice.
ReplyDeleteToday is 6-4, my day to unload and return my rental truck. The drive down was actually enjoyable. 6-4 also reminds me of the Beatles’ big hit When I’m Sixty Four.
I’ll take a CSO @ GTE.
Harley Procter (of P&G fame) was inspired by Psalms 45: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the IVORY palaces whereby they have made thee glad.” Until then, the working name for the new product was “P&G White Soap.” Ronnie Milsap had a big crossover hit with PURE Love.
Thanks (I think) to Kathy for the challenge, and (for certain) to Rusty Brain for the fun review.
Big hitter, the Lama...
DeleteI get that reference!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThis was an enjoyable romp. Never noticed the theme, but that's par for this solver. Thanx, Kathy and Rusty. (Wow, I was not aware that Ivory soap no longer floats.)
Took 5:37 today to suffer from dystonia.
ReplyDeleteSeemed like a fine themeless to me too, despite all the 3LW. I knew the Actress of the Fey, but really struggled with "Dostoevsky" and "air" for "tune".
From last night/afternoon, I recommend playing the game/app "Map Tap". It's a brief, fun way to test/enhance your knowledge of geography, and has some informative blurbs when you're done. CED was kind enough to provide the link yesterday, and even tried it out (and liked it). https://maptap.gg/
Easy as AEIOU for a Thursday, except the spelling of DOSTOEVSKY. After a few down perps, I guessed DASTARDLY DEEDS. I really didn't know LCD Soundsystem or KODIAK as clued. And I couldn't figure out what 'Tiny-biter' was in my NOSE. It worked out but I didn't SEE-UM. I just call them gnats.
ReplyDeleteMy handwriting has become so bad it would be hard for anybody to recognize any Greek letter used other than delta or theta.
ACE- never heard of an 'around-the-corner-straight' and if you tried to take the pot with one the other players would SNAP your fingers off.
DALI was a WAG. FEY was perped. RED was combo of both.
I filled EINK by perps. E-INK is a new term for me.
FIR. I was hung up on the "vs" sequence in Dostoevsky for quite a while until the light bulb went off.
ReplyDeleteAnd I failed to see the vowel sequence in the long answers thinking correctly that they all started with "D".
Other than that this was typically appropriate to the day in difficulty.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
E INK? Yuck.
ReplyDeleteOther than that stinker an enjoyable puzzle
I saw the AEIOU theme after DESTINED TO FAIL. However, I FAILed to see the tiny biter. I couldn’t figure out what kind of creature would bite a NOSE.
ReplyDeleteThe rest was PURE fun. Perps helped with VAIO, LCD, and FEY. My one erasure was ensure to ASSURE.
As a black athlete OWENS’ other great achievement was defeating Hitler’s Aryan Supremacy notion. My aunt Rose was present at these Olympic Games in Berlin.
I forgot to thank RB’s fine recap. Yea!
ReplyDeleteA challenging offering from Kathy Lowden on this rainy Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI knew Dostoevsky but needed perps for the correct spelling.
I read Crime and Punishment years ago.
The angst, guilt, and paranoia of Rodion ( the protagonist) grab you on a palpable level.
Hands up for downloading MapTap 🌎
Thanks for the link CED
A fun and educational App to increase your geographical knowledge and trivia.
I really enjoyed playing.
Takes 5 - 10 minutes a day to play.
Thanks RB for the detailed recap.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis type of sequential vowels puzzle is a rare offering and Kathy came up with very strong and evocative phrases to achieve an impressive execution. Vaio was the only true unknown and Eink was the only nose wrinkler. But there were many entries that were fresh and appreciated, such as, Noseeums, Intrigue, Afloat, Eroica, Erupt, etc. And who doesn’t think of dear Boomer when Alley shows up? This was a smooth and enjoyable solve, Eink notwithstanding.
Thanks, Kathy, and thanks, RB, for a very informative review with lots of learning moments, the most surprising one that Ivory no longer floats.And who knew Lucky Charms had powers? There were many other interesting tidbits, too, and, of course, your subtle humor always shines through.
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I tried to make the gimmick more than what it was but enjoyed the solve.
-Symmetrically placed 14-letter entries that flank a grid spanner amazed me.
-Painstakingly getting DOSTOEVSKY was a pleasant surprise
-In 1664, the British seized the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdamand renamed it after their Duke of York
-Mary Martin was a 47-yr-old womanwho sang this I WON’T song playing a boy in this classic 1960 TV movie event
-I played MAPTAP yesterday as well and found I am very ignorant of water passages north of Australia
-Nice job, RB!
I enjoyed Kathy's offering today. The vowel-sequence gimmick was cute, and it provided us in the bargain with some wonderful words, like DASTARDLY and DOSTOEVSKY. As well as how to spell the latter!
ReplyDeleteAnd we were provided several teachable moments. One example is Beethoven's Eroica (Heroic) Symphony. The Hero here is Napoleon, who Beethoven initially admired. Subsequent events forced Beethoven to alter his opinion.
I never knew that TAU represents torque, and had never been acquainted with the DRYADS. VAIO and EINT were also new to me.
Thanks, Kathy, for the informative and delightful challenge. And thanks, RB, for the fun review.
Hi there~!
ReplyDeleteFine job of a write-up, Rusty - where do you stand on the Fender Guitar lawsuit debate~?
Splynter
I think Fender's new president made an unforced error filing a body-shape lawsuit that's sure to lose like Gibson's did. But Youtubers need content so it's blown up like Angine de Poitrine and their microtonal music did last month.
DeleteDryads?
ReplyDeleteI thought I didn't like French in English puzzles, but crossing Russian with Eink, Ste-inks!
HG, yea, I grew up in Australia, and I thought that was an island between Tasmania and Victoria. (Only a thou or two off...) would you believe, that in fourth grade, in addition to mandatory CPR, and water life saving Lessons, ( a good idea for a country that lives on its coasts.) it was required to Memorize the names of every river that flowed from inland to the sea in New South Wales. All I can remember, is the Murray River, and a distaste for Geography...
I always thought DRYADS were commercials for Arrid.
DeleteInteresting but slightly tough Thursday puzzle--still, many thanks, Kathy. And thank you too, Rusty, for your helpful commentary and neat pictures--appreciated those too.
ReplyDeleteWell, I liked the way those long words started off pretty negative--with those DASTARDLY DEEDS that caused everyone DESTINED TO FAIL, including one's DISTANT RELATIVE who was little known by the family. But these negatives were then followed by our meeting with the wonderful DOSTOEVSKY HERO, whose breakfast treats were sweetened with a DUSTING OF SUGAR. At this point (10 AM my time), I'm getting pretty hungry for some breakfast and think I'd better find myself some cereal and some morning toast. Sounds good, doesn't it?
Have a cheerful morning with some tasty food, everybody.
Thanks Rusty for the recap. I didn't pay any attention to the theme. Nice puzzle except for E-ink. That was E-awful.
ReplyDeleteHola! I loved this puzzle from Kathy Lowden! Thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteI have many a DISTANT RELATIVE most of whom I see only at funerals and occasionally weddings, though we don't have too many of those anymore.
Yes! DOSTOEVSKY is challenging to spell; my main dilemma was whether it ended with i or y. ALLEY decided.
I learned of KODIAK island and KODIAK bears from one of my nephews who lived in Alaska for a while.
I love books and movies that are filled with INTRIGUE.
Can someone explain how ALLEY is a "strike zone'?
VAIO is new for me; my computer is an ACER.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Lucina, you could roll a STRIKE in a bowling ALLEY.
DeleteThank you, desper-otto. I know nothing about bowling, obviously.
ReplyDeleteAll we Arizonans will take the CSO @ 55A.
ReplyDeleteI very much liked this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteTUTEE makes my nose wrinkle far more than E INK.
I loved the clue for BAR.
BARBERSHOP was too long to fit into that space for LONDON.
Good reading all your comments.
Please some advice from anyone who's tried Map Tap. I can rotate the globe, but how does one zoom in (and out)? I'm using the computer version. Also, can one use arrow keys to rotate the globe? My 1st score yesterday was a couple 100 less than could have been because left hold and sweep mouse pad to rotate the globe resulted in 2 unintentional location selections.
ReplyDeleteI roll the mouse roller to zoom in and out.
DeleteAlso curious if first-timers got the same locations to ID:
DeletePractice--NYC
Game 1 A--Colombo, Sri Lanka (nailed it)
Game 1 B--Narobi, Kenya (was within 141 miles)
Game 1 C--Uttar Pradesh(?), India (trying to navigate to north central India, unintentionally selected NE India. Close but no cigar)
Game 1 D--Tucson, Arizona (trying to zoom, accidentally selected the pacific off the coast of California)
Thanks Jayce, but I'm using a laptop with just a touch mouse pad and no touch screen.
DeleteGame 1 E--Sardinia, Italy (nailed)
DeleteAlleys reminded me of Boomer and his dislike of the use of the term alleys for bowling lanes. I liked the puzzle, Thanks Kathy.
ReplyDelete