Anagram Mountains...
19 Across. "Well, not quite ... ": THAT'S A STRETCH (an anagram of Shasta)
Mount Shasta.
28 Across. "The gall!": WHAT NERVE! (An anagram of Etna)
Mount Etna.
43 Across. Move to the country?: LINE DANCE. (Anagram of Denali)
Mount Denali.
This clue/answer is very clever, but may cause a double controversy. It seems this mountain keeps changing its name between Mt. Denali and Mt McKinley. Line dancing is associated with country and western culture, but it is not strictly country. I am sure Yellowrocks could enlighten us to the difference between square dancing and this recent upstart...And our Theme Reveal:
52 Across. Go to great lengths, or what this puzzle's circled letters do?: MOVE MOUNTAINS. Mountain names can be found in the circles, "if you move the letters around..."
Onward:
1. "A Christmas Carol" scoff: BAH.
4. Insta posts: PICS.
8. Discomfit: ABASH. I got discombobulated by these words... I am familiar with discomfort: The absence of ease or the presence of mild physical or mental uneasiness. However, Discomfit is a verb that means to make someone feel confused, embarrassed, or uneasy. It can also mean to thwart or frustrate someone's plans. (Like my solving of this puzzle...) And Abash is a verb that means to cause someone to feel embarrassed, ashamed, or self-conscious. It typically involves breaking someone's poise or self-confidence, often as a result of an unexpected comment, mistake, or realization of inadequacy.
13. County seat of Hawaii County: HILO.
14. Home of the Mighty Five national parks: UTAH. Everything you ever wanted to know about a 465 mile scenic loop, that will take 7 to 10 days to complete...
15. Bundled software collection: SUITE. A highfalutin word (yes, highfalutin is a word...) for a bunch of old junk software that nobody wants, tied up with a ribbon, in the hopes they can still make money...
16. Disapproving sounds: TSKS. (Sound I make when I see someone trying to sell me the above...)
17. Plumbing part: PIPE. (Oy, so many parts to choose from...)
18. Play a banjo: STRUM. Hmm, maybe a guitar, but...
Banjos require pickin' and a grinnin'...
19. [Theme]
22. Well-mannered: POLITE.
23. IRS form expert: CPA. Certified Public Accountant.
24. Catchy part of a song: HOOK. I asked my Daughters, and Google, to identify an Earworm I could insert here, and they all referenced songs I never heard before... so, if you can name your own personal earworm, mention it in the comments...
27. Book part: SPINE.
28. [Theme]
30. Persona non __: GRATA. "Persona non grata" is a Latin phrase that translates to "an unwelcome person".
32. Worked for: EARNED.
33. Compass rose dir.: SSW.
36. Portuguese greeting: OLA.
Ola (Spanish & Hawaiian Words)
37. Sch. in the smallest U.S. state: URI. University of Rhode Island. Interesting that the clue uses Sch.=School. Which may make this clue/answer somewhat contentious, because according to Google A.I. The Block island School, located on Block Island in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, is the only K-12 public school serving the state's smallest municipality. It educates roughly 125 to 160 students, making it one of the smallest unified public schools in the state. So, could this answer have two valid answers if you include B.I.S?
- Spanish: Ola means a wave in the sea or ocean. It is pronounced just like "Hola" (hello), but the "h" is silent and the meaning is completely different.
- Hawaiian: Ola means life, health, to live, or to thrive.
37. Sch. in the smallest U.S. state: URI. University of Rhode Island. Interesting that the clue uses Sch.=School. Which may make this clue/answer somewhat contentious, because according to Google A.I. The Block island School, located on Block Island in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, is the only K-12 public school serving the state's smallest municipality. It educates roughly 125 to 160 students, making it one of the smallest unified public schools in the state. So, could this answer have two valid answers if you include B.I.S?
38. Some SAT takers: SRS. Seniors. And according to Google AI, In U.S. college admissions, SAT is a standardized test created by the College Board. While it originally stood for Scholastic Aptitude Test and later Scholastic Assessment Test, the College Board officially states that the letters no longer stand for anything.
39. Excuses: ALIBIS.
41. Fashion: STYLE.
43. [Theme]
45. Scope: AMBIT. An ambit is the scope, boundary, or extent of something. It most commonly refers to a sphere of influence, action, or authority.
49. Small whirlpool: EDDY.
50. Murmur: COO.
51. Smooth and suave: URBANE.
52. [Theme Reveal]
55. Share one's thoughts: OPINE.
57. Financing figs.: APRS. Annual Percentage Rates.
58. Skirt feature: SLIT.
59. Sweet, in Italian: DOLCE.
60. "Bro!": DUDE.
61. Goes out with: SEES. (Dates wouldn't fit...)
62. Stella who founded an acting school in New York City: ADLER. Name #1
63. Short railroad branch: SPUR.
64. Fabric store meas.: YDS.
Down:
1. Diagonal mover in chess: BISHOP.
2. High-pH substance: ALKALI.
3. In charge of Thanksgiving dinner, say: HOSTING.
4. Butterflies-to-be: PUPAE.
5. "Yep": IT IS.
6. Bot blocker: CAPTCHA.
7. Tibetan people: SHERPA.
8. Exec's helper: ASST. Assistant.
9. Mispronounce horrendously, as a name: BUTCHER.
10. Shock jock's sound effects: AIR HORNS. Technically Air Horn is two words, but is fast becoming simply "Airhorn" in the vernacular...
11. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU. Fictional Name #2
12. Tailored edge: HEM.
13. Part of an encrypted URL: HTTPS. HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure.
20. Anti-inflammatory choice: STEROID.
21. Restaurant: EATERY.
25. Finito: OVER.
26. "Comfortable. Confident." shoe brand: KEDS.
28. Elena Rybakina's org.: WTA. World Tennis Association. Name #3 - either you know it or you don't...
29. Finger painting?: NAIL ART.
31. Cultural territory in France's Grand Est region: ALSACE. Looks like a nice place to visit...
33. Realtor's success: SALE.
34. Made it home quickly?: SLID. (Baseball reference)
35. Image on Dutch Bros coffee cups: WINDMILL.
37. Sporty truck, briefly: UTE. Short for utility vehicle.
40. "Cowboy Carter" icon: BEYONCE. All you need to know:
41. Grab before anyone else can: SCOOP UP.
42. Diplomatic mission: EMBASSY.
44. Migratory people: NOMADS.
46. Helped (out): BAILED.
47. Concave belly buttons: INNIES.
48. Tries, as patience: TESTS.
51. Auto racing family name: UNSER. Name #4
53. Swerve: VEER.
54. Rawalpindi language: URDU. Rawalpindi is a city in Pakistan, where the national language is Urdu.
55. "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown: ODA.
Whoopi Goldberg portraying fictional name #5
The Grid
Emily is on the left.
Well, did you have to move mountains to finish this puzzle? Or did you just ski around the moguls...
Let us know in the comments how your solving experience went.
CE:D out
₍^. .^₎⟆
I didn’t find this puzzle
ReplyDeleteterribly difficult. I was able to see all the “mountains,” eventually. And everything else fell pretty easily into place.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWith two American and one European mountain, I thought the theme was a little loose. On the other hand, I can't think of many well-known American mountain names. Pikes Peak, Whitney, or St. Helens could be tough to scramble into a grid. The SW corner was the toughest area with DOLCE and ADLER both requiring perps. This one took about a minute longer than yesterday which is par for a mid-weeker. Thanx, Emily and CE:D.
Don't know why, but "Select Profile" and "Google Account" were both grayed out this morning. Maybe TTP knows...
Oh, I see. It's necessary to select "Google Account" before writing anything in the comment block. Not sure why "Select Profile" is grayed out, though.
ReplyDeleteMine was also gray. I just went to Name/URL and wrote Big Easy, This was from Chrome.
DeleteBus using Microsoft Edge, it comes out differently.
DeleteFIR, but larve->PUPAE.
ReplyDeleteMicrosoft Office is a great example of a software SUITE. I like Outlook, Excel and Access, and put up with Word and Power Point. Visio and Project are part of the SUITE, but are relatively expensive options. I've tried Open Office, but don't find it as easy to use (probably because I've been using MS Office for so long.) I used Lotus Symphony in the days before Microsoft Windows, which was a bundled SUITE disguised as a single application.
Earworms:
From Taylor Swift's Shake it Off:
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (whoo-hoo-hoo)
Speaking of Taylor, what's the over-and-under on how long her upcoming marriage to Travis will last?
When I was quitting smoking nearly a half-century ago, the ear worm that helped me get through the tough periods was "Getting strong now, Won't be long now, Getting strong now" from Rocky.
But the ultimate ear worm is Disney's It's a Small World.
Thanks to Emily for the fun Humpday puzzle, and to CED for another clever review.
That earworm makes me wonder what's the suicide rate among the Disneyland employees who worked at the Small World ride. I suspect it's considerably higher than the national average.
DeleteWed. puzzles are usually very easy to FR, and this was one. I looked at the circles and the only one I unanagrammed was ATNE to NEAT. 'Scrambled Hills" would have better unifier than MOVE MOUNTAINS.
ReplyDeleteSUITE- just like buying a car. You are forced to by everything you will never need or willingly pay for to get the one thing you want. You want A, you have to also buy B,C,D,E... if you want A.
Most banjo playing I've heard is PLUCKed but STRUM was already filled by perps.
Irene ADLER I know; Stella, I know Artois.
ODA said OLA today.
I also prefer PLUCK, but I guess if you're in the kitchen with Dinah, you can strum on the ol' banjo.
DeleteCE:D here, if some one could please monitor the Blog for Spam today it would be appreciated. I am in the car all day driving home from Maine...
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I would not be able to monitor anyway, because on my phone, I am anonymous. I sign in, and my phone takes me back to the blog as an Anon every time.
Anagrams are my Achilles' heel, but that didn't stop me from climbing to the top. Thanks for the hump-day special, Emily.
ReplyDeleteCED, DENALI vs McKinley gave me a brief pause as well. And remember, MOUNT EVEREST has the "UTMOST VEENER!"
"VENEER" See? I'm bad at anagrams! LOL
DeletePretty easy puzzle this morning. I needed the reveal to figure out the anagrams of mountains. So I was not ABASHed, nor discomfited.
ReplyDeleteSome fills needed perps, some were WAGS like WIND MILL, what else could it have been. 😎 The names were few and presented no problem. URBANE is one of Dictionary’s featured words today for those of you who get their emails.
I did UTAH’s five national parks a few years ago, and some state ones as well, I’ve spent some time in Strasbourg, ALSACE, and saw shy DENALI when I was in Alaska.
DOLCE was easy to get if you remember the movie “La DOLCE Vita” from many years ago.
Lately my ear worm has been “Suicide is painless” because we just watched the movie “Mash”.
Thank you CED for that very informative review.
FIR. Circles, yuk. Useless in crosswords. And a bunch of proper names, even two crossing at Adler and Oda. That's so wrong.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme idea, and saw the mountains, but IMO the theme was really lame.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Mountains on Humpday, how appropriate. 🗻🌋. But isn’t it now a federal offense to get caught saying “Denali” instead of Mt McKinley? We were fortunate enough to see it years ago unobstructed by clouds. I took a photo and entered it into a local contest with the title “Denali/McKinley” so as not to get in trouble
ReplyDeleteInkover: Kona/HILO
“Software collection bundle” SUITE?
Anyone remember the small province of “Applesauce-Lorraine” from “The Rocky & Bulwinkle Show” protected by the 3 Mooseketeers?
“Smooth and suave “ … tried but my name wouldn’t fit 🤭
ADLER is usually clued as Sherlock’s female nemesis
Citizens of Alaska’s capital … NOMADS
“Definitely Dad! let’s climb Everest… SHERPA
College of bad colds … URI
🐪🐫