Friday, Aug 7th, 2026 ~ Gali Ellenblum & Tal Wagner
"Park Drive is always jammed"
"I said THROUGH the park"
We're taking the scenic route today, a walk in, uh, drive through the park for yours truly. I do believe this is a debut construction for both authors - I did a Google search of the names, and the one thing I found they had in common ( if I picked the correct people ) is a "machine learning" education/understanding. We'd love to get some feedback from you - drop in & visit our Crossword Corner~! ( merge left here ) There were no delays today, just a cruise through the clues & answers, including several one-word types - twenty-one, in fact, which I like; that's how Fridays should be. Yet another "expanded" grid for your Friday host, two in a row now. The "ST" abbr. for 'street', tacked on to four in-language phrases, outside the box, on the "side", with humorous cluing - sounds like a coffee or restaurant order. Standard grid initially, a few names, no Twurds, a balance of 3-, 4-, and 5-letter words, with several car clues & Frawnche fill. The four themers and reveal;
25. "My peacock's tail is the best!," e.g.?: FEATHERBOAST
49. Record of one's attempts to enter a hedge maze?: STARTHISTORY
60. Promise made by a serial dater who aspires to commit?: ONEMORETRYST- "One More Try" is a unique fill
38. Features of some detours, or what four answers in this puzzle need in order to match their clues?: SIDE STREETS - and a unique fill, too~!
Grid Flow a low 24.9
🚧But Wait, ⛔There's More~!🏁
ACROSS:
1. Sheer: UTTER - One-word clue, one-word answer; letting me start with SHEER~? Priceless~!
Utterly beautiful
6. Walrus kin: SEAL
10. Waffle over in the freezer aisle: EGGO - Too easy for Friday
14. Bête __: NOIRE -Frawnche #1, "black beast"
15. Shoestring: LACE - Sunday dupe
16. Infuriate: ROIL
19. Explore Mars, perhaps: ROVE - As Spirit & Opportunity did for NASA; I love the science success stories these two travelers gave us
20. Ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: TET - new clue for this old answer; learning moment for me
21. Reaction to lions and tigers and bears: "OHMY~!" - never gets old - 😁
22. Vein of ore: LODE
23. Genesis locale: EDEN - AND - . . .
29. Genesis locale: SODOM - straight clecho
31. Accessory often tipped or used for tips: HAT
32. "Dee-lish!": "YUM~!"
33. French bean: HARICOT - straight Frawnche translation, #2, not a "?" clue for "tête"
37. "We are not alone" subj.: SETI - Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
40. "Shoo!": "SCAT~!"
42. "Call Me" band: BLONDIE - name(ish) - they were just a hint before my time
Oui amie - more Frawnche, #3~!
43. Bud: PAL
44. Refuse to settle, perhaps: SUE - Last week, it was a "boy named SUE" . . .
45. Sticker: DECAL - Ah. There's where it goes - I had it here - 26D. Sticker: THORN. . . 😜
54. Mountain lion: PUMA
55. "Yer killin' me!": "C'MON..."
56. Utah city near two national parks: MOAB - mostly perps, I just had to fill in the "B"; geo-name #1
Click to enlarge and read the description
58. Fishing pole: ROD
59. Drops from above: RAIN - not the "bomb" kind of drop . . . 😏
63. Early Bond foe: DR. NO - The earliest, in movies, name #2
64. Actor Auberjonois: RENÉ - name #3, knew him from "Benson"
65. :-( : I'MSAD - The "original" way of using typed characters for emotions, a Thursday dupe, and plain sad is actually not available through the blogger, as R-Brain showed . . . now we're "égaliser" 😁
66. Fortuneteller: SEER - AND - 60D. Sphere consulted by a 66-Across: ORB
67. Spanish kiss: BESO
68. Touchscreen tappers: STYLI - FINGER was a 'digit' too much . . . 🙄
DOWN:
1. Marries: UNITES
2. Home of the El Greco Museum: TOLEDO - Spain, geo name #4, more here
3. Pitching: TILTED - Dah~! Not the SELLING, HAWKING or VENDING kind of pitching
4. Pitching stat: ERA- aaaand yet another definition of pitching - baseball
5. Make over: RE-DO - thanks for the Sunday shout-out, C.C. - I have finally gotten below 200lbs~!
6. Substance celebrated by the Sloomoo Institute: SLIME - Learning moment for me - more here
7. Smooth course: EASYA - crossword staple
8. Best club in Vegas?: ACE - But the best Ace is of Spades . . .
Motörhead - another "umlaut" band
9. Was up: LED - think sports, not out-of-bed
10. Bad move: ERROR
11. Peace offerings?: GOOD-BYES - I, and a couple of friends, usually sign off with "Peace."
12. Buckle: GIVEOUT - Like this bridge did - the verb, not the noun
give IN works, too, but doesn't fit
13. The Grand __ Opry: OLE
18. TV broadcast band: VHF - sssss, close, I tried UHF
22. Allow: LET
24. Like a 2024 Blake Snell game: NO-HIT - the only name I had no clue about, but in retrospect, the answer couldn't be much else, really. More baseball, name(ish)
27. Despised: HATED
28. French friend: AMI - Frawnche #4, the masculine friend
30. Steamed: MAD - Dah~! Not HOT
34. Symbolic puzzle that dates to the Middle Ages: REBUS - good WAG on my part
35. Key: ISLET - Didn't fool me this time - I count about two dozen definitions of the word "key"
37. Very much inclined: STEEP - I am one house, or about 500ft, from CT rte. 195, and I can tell when a semi is either lumbering up the 6% incline, or jake-braking on the down-side
Burrrr-bur-bur-bur-bu-bu-bur . . . .
38. Source of some pink seasoning: SALTMINE - I knew we were looking for "SALT", but "SEA" was not going to work . . .
39. Ramadan-ending holiday, informally: EID - filled via perps
40. Cocoa scrub venue: SPA - it's a "thing" - more on the benefits here
41. Auto maintenance: CARCARE - TUNE-UP was too short, OIL CHANGE too long
44. Transgression: SIN
46. Respectful dip: CURTSY
47. Virtually indifferent?: AMORAL - clever
48. "The People's Princess": LADYDI - killed in a car crash, Paris, 29yrs ago this month - no one was wearing a seat belt; name #5, Frawnche #5
SIDE STREETS and BLONDIE remained hidden until the very end. Changing CIO to CTO really helped. Another "fun" sequence was GIVEsin/GIVEsUp/GIVEOUT. Wite-Out, please.
VHF: Madison was supposed to be an experimental UHF-only TV market, but somebody with political "pull" managed to latch onto VHF channel 3. When I lived there Madison had 4 TV stations: WISC-3 CBS, WMTV-15 NBC, WHA-21 PBS, and WKOW-27 ABC. There are more channels today. Digital TV has leveled the playing field. A UHF channel assignment is no longer a disadvantage.
TV channels used to correlate with the broadcast frequency, but no more. WISC-TV Channel 3 actually broadcasts on VHF channel 11 these days. The vast majority of US TV stations use UHF channels, like Norfolk's WAVY-TV Channel 10 broadcasting on UHF channel 19. The broadcast signal "tells" the TV set what channel to display. The only time viewers need to know the actual broadcast channel is if/when an antenna needs to be pointed toward a station.
FIR, but rail->ROIL, orem->MOAB, gives up->GIVE OUT, and buso->BESO (desatar!)
I got three of the theme meanings, but not (ST)ART HISTORY. Wasn't the big bang the only START HISTORY?
For Splynter and the other young'uns, Jennifer Wood only posted the BLONDIE YouTube video. Debbie Harry was the one-and-only namesake for the band. (My favorite from them was Rapture.)
I know MOAB only because a neighbor used to participate in a bicycle race there every year. Supposed to be a big deal.
Thanks to Gali and Tal for the fun, easy-ish Friday puzzle, and to Splynter for the fine review. Great graphic at the start!
Fits right in with today's SETI: And you drive all night, and then you see a light And it comes right down, and it lands on the ground And out comes a man from Mars
FIR. This was especially crunchy even for a Friday. But persistence paid off with the help of well placed perps. When I was done I stared at the reveal unable to get the theme. I kept trying to insert side or street in the long answers. When I saw it I had my aha moment. Why it took me so long is beside me. Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
It's not really your fault. This sort of theme is much easier to grasp if the "wacky" phrases are the actual answers in the grid. Getting ILL-ADVISED as the answer to that clue leads to a lot of head-scratching, but if you saw STILL ADVISED in a puzzle, it would be easy to spot the base phrase and recognize that there's an extra ST.
We seasoned citizens remember well when VHF channels were channels 2-13, and UHF channels were channel 14 and above. To turn the TV on or off, we had to get out of our seats and turn the knob. A different knob changed the channels. And if the temperature changed where the set sat, the viewer had to fine-tune the TV as the tuner drifted with increased or decreased heat.
Tricky puzzle, and just not the missing streets. I FIR, ignoring the SIDE STREETS clue until the end. It got filled by perps anyway. The ILL ADVISED had me puzzled; UHF or VHF. SLIME was and unknown, and I forgot the Yellow Brick Road OH MY fill. GOOD BYES took a while to get.
"Fortuneteller:- SHAM and FAKE go just as well as SEER. I'll consult California Psychics and ask one of them.
SODOM and ONE MORE TRY-ST go together. Law Professor to student: Mr. Smith, explain to the class the difference between adultery and fornication. Law Student after thinking: "I don't know, I've tried them both and can't tell the difference"
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Gali and Tal, and Splynter. I really enjoyed this CW (even though I now see that I FIWed). I got the missing STs with BOA which helped the solve. Plenty of misdirection in the clues, but I carried the 8D ACE clueing too far, thinking of SEEing an opponent’s poker bet at 44A, and didn’t notice REBeS misspelling.
Perps were fair for unknowns like MOAB, RENE (I WAGged the French name when I had R- - E). I LOLed at the I’M SAD typed clue after RB’s emoji-fest yesterday. So many clues with misdirection. But I had to read Splynter’s explanation for NEE several times before the light dawned - “abroad” as in France!
We had PAL and AMI. YUM reminded me of YUMmers. SODOM under EDEN was a total antithesis. OH MY.
Favourite today was hard to pick but I think the clue for AMORAL wins.
A fun offering from our new constructors today. I liked it. Some of the clueing was a ‘ lil too cutesy. Nice to see french bean “haricot” as I automatically assumed “tete”. As with a few other cornerites I solved the puzzle fairly fast but it took me ages to get the ST theme to make sense. Well done Gali and Tal. An awesome recap Splynter.
Was able to manage a FIR w/out help in the Friday time of 18:48. Figured out the gimmick after my first themer solve of FEATHER BOA, the clues helped solve the others with the missing ST’s. Had to change ‘users’ to STYLI early on. Sloomoo Institute 🤷♂️. ‘Give way’ became GIVE OUT. HARICOT was all perps (thought ‘bean’ may have been slang for ‘tete’, but it’s literally a bean). DNK RENE, I do know BLONDIE, but not from that clue, solved with a few perps. First thought for SALT MINE was Himalaya, as I currently have a grinder of that salt. Was a commoner supposed to CURTSY to LADY DI? Thank you Gali and Tal for the challenge, and to Splynter for another excellent review!
Late to the dance due to a very busy morning. I’m sorry but if I can’t figure out the theme of a puzzle that I solved without difficulty, I am not happy. As the vast majority of Cornerites had a positive experience in solving and seeing the theme, then I have only myself to blame for missing the gimmick, which Thumper and I agree on.
Thanks, Gali and Tal,, and thanks, Splynter, for deciphering and explaining the theme so well.
Well once again hafta give myself a big DNF since I needed to go online turn on red letters and still needed a few alpha runs. AND after 20 minutes and filling all cells I still did not see the theme. Also, I did not enjoy working on this CW. 14 names, DNK 5.
A few clechos: 23A+29A, 45A+26D, and I thought there was another, but now don't see it.
SHEER/UTTER. DNK there was an institute devoted to slime. Hmmm.
Thanx Splynter for your fun write-up, and nice legs pic.
Not an easy puzzle, but
ReplyDeleteI got it. And eventually even figured out all the “ST’s” that the reveal referred to.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteSIDE STREETS and BLONDIE remained hidden until the very end. Changing CIO to CTO really helped. Another "fun" sequence was GIVEsin/GIVEsUp/GIVEOUT. Wite-Out, please.
VHF: Madison was supposed to be an experimental UHF-only TV market, but somebody with political "pull" managed to latch onto VHF channel 3. When I lived there Madison had 4 TV stations: WISC-3 CBS, WMTV-15 NBC, WHA-21 PBS, and WKOW-27 ABC. There are more channels today. Digital TV has leveled the playing field. A UHF channel assignment is no longer a disadvantage.
Today's another medical appt day. Fun!
TV channels used to correlate with the broadcast frequency, but no more. WISC-TV Channel 3 actually broadcasts on VHF channel 11 these days. The vast majority of US TV stations use UHF channels, like Norfolk's WAVY-TV Channel 10 broadcasting on UHF channel 19. The broadcast signal "tells" the TV set what channel to display. The only time viewers need to know the actual broadcast channel is if/when an antenna needs to be pointed toward a station.
Delete(You need to know the air channel when aligning an antenna so you can set up the meter to the correct signal.)
DeleteGood One!
DeleteThey’re trying too hard. Very contrived but not in a good way.
ReplyDeleteIndeed
DeleteFIR, but rail->ROIL, orem->MOAB, gives up->GIVE OUT, and buso->BESO (desatar!)
ReplyDeleteI got three of the theme meanings, but not (ST)ART HISTORY. Wasn't the big bang the only START HISTORY?
For Splynter and the other young'uns, Jennifer Wood only posted the BLONDIE YouTube video. Debbie Harry was the one-and-only namesake for the band. (My favorite from them was Rapture.)
I know MOAB only because a neighbor used to participate in a bicycle race there every year. Supposed to be a big deal.
Thanks to Gali and Tal for the fun, easy-ish Friday puzzle, and to Splynter for the fine review. Great graphic at the start!
Hi there~!
Delete. . . I'm not THAT old~!
Splynter
Oops, forgot to thank Gali, Tal, (TRYst was very clever) and Splynter for today's amusement.
ReplyDeleteLoved “Rapture”
ReplyDeleteFits right in with today's SETI:
DeleteAnd you drive all night, and then you see a light
And it comes right down, and it lands on the ground
And out comes a man from Mars
FIR. This was especially crunchy even for a Friday. But persistence paid off with the help of well placed perps.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was done I stared at the reveal unable to get the theme. I kept trying to insert side or street in the long answers. When I saw it I had my aha moment. Why it took me so long is beside me.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
It's not really your fault. This sort of theme is much easier to grasp if the "wacky" phrases are the actual answers in the grid. Getting ILL-ADVISED as the answer to that clue leads to a lot of head-scratching, but if you saw STILL ADVISED in a puzzle, it would be easy to spot the base phrase and recognize that there's an extra ST.
DeleteTook 9:23 today to cross the street.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Actor of the Day (Rene), nor did I know the French lessons (haricot or ami).
I had no idea what the theme was about until all I had left was the top-left corner. Holy Toledo that was a rough section.
Just listened to some Blondie last week.
Stick around and AMI will be as top-of-mind as OREO.
DeleteIs CAR CARE a thing? Also, MOAB x BRIS x STYLI? And TET as clued? I thought we were done with Hebrew letters except ALEPH as fill.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is VHF? If you're building a grid and your themers give you V-F... maybe it's best to change the layout a bit.
We seasoned citizens remember well when VHF channels were channels 2-13, and UHF channels were channel 14 and above. To turn the TV on or off, we had to get out of our seats and turn the knob. A different knob changed the channels. And if the temperature changed where the set sat, the viewer had to fine-tune the TV as the tuner drifted with increased or decreased heat.
DeleteTricky puzzle, and just not the missing streets. I FIR, ignoring the SIDE STREETS clue until the end. It got filled by perps anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe ILL ADVISED had me puzzled; UHF or VHF. SLIME was and unknown, and I forgot the Yellow Brick Road OH MY fill.
GOOD BYES took a while to get.
"Fortuneteller:- SHAM and FAKE go just as well as SEER. I'll consult California Psychics and ask one of them.
SODOM and ONE MORE TRY-ST go together.
Law Professor to student: Mr. Smith, explain to the class the difference between adultery and fornication.
Law Student after thinking: "I don't know, I've tried them both and can't tell the difference"
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Gali and Tal, and Splynter.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this CW (even though I now see that I FIWed).
I got the missing STs with BOA which helped the solve.
Plenty of misdirection in the clues, but I carried the 8D ACE clueing too far, thinking of SEEing an opponent’s poker bet at 44A, and didn’t notice REBeS misspelling.
Perps were fair for unknowns like MOAB, RENE (I WAGged the French name when I had R- - E).
I LOLed at the I’M SAD typed clue after RB’s emoji-fest yesterday.
So many clues with misdirection. But I had to read Splynter’s explanation for NEE several times before the light dawned - “abroad” as in France!
We had PAL and AMI.
YUM reminded me of YUMmers.
SODOM under EDEN was a total antithesis. OH MY.
Favourite today was hard to pick but I think the clue for AMORAL wins.
Wishing you all a great day.
Yech
ReplyDeleteA fun offering from our new constructors today. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteSome of the clueing was a ‘ lil too cutesy.
Nice to see french bean “haricot” as I automatically assumed “tete”.
As with a few other cornerites I solved the puzzle fairly fast but it took me ages to get the ST theme to make sense.
Well done Gali and Tal.
An awesome recap Splynter.
Was able to manage a FIR w/out help in the Friday time of 18:48. Figured out the gimmick after my first themer solve of FEATHER BOA, the clues helped solve the others with the missing ST’s. Had to change ‘users’ to STYLI early on. Sloomoo Institute 🤷♂️. ‘Give way’ became GIVE OUT. HARICOT was all perps (thought ‘bean’ may have been slang for ‘tete’, but it’s literally a bean). DNK RENE, I do know BLONDIE, but not from that clue, solved with a few perps. First thought for SALT MINE was Himalaya, as I currently have a grinder of that salt. Was a commoner supposed to CURTSY to LADY DI? Thank you Gali and Tal for the challenge, and to Splynter for another excellent review!
ReplyDeleteDNF. C’mon. Hated this CW. The ST’s outside of the grid especially annoying.
ReplyDeleteLate to the dance due to a very busy morning. I’m sorry but if I can’t figure out the theme of a puzzle that I solved without difficulty, I am not happy. As the vast majority of Cornerites had a positive experience in solving and seeing the theme, then I have only myself to blame for missing the gimmick, which Thumper and I agree on.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gali and Tal,, and thanks, Splynter, for deciphering and explaining the theme so well.
Have a great day.
Well once again hafta give myself a big DNF since I needed to go online turn on red letters and still needed a few alpha runs. AND after 20 minutes and filling all cells I still did not see the theme. Also, I did not enjoy working on this CW. 14 names, DNK 5.
ReplyDeleteA few clechos: 23A+29A, 45A+26D, and I thought there was another, but now don't see it.
SHEER/UTTER. DNK there was an institute devoted to slime. Hmmm.
Thanx Splynter for your fun write-up, and nice legs pic.