20A. *"The Sound of Music" heroine : MARIA VON TRAPP. Let's get the day's earworm out of the way courtesy of a pretty cool flashmob in Antwerp's Central Station.
33A. *Common Italian restaurant fixture : PIZZA OVEN. For all the home-cook pizza fans out there, you can get your own from Williams-Sonoma for a mere $5,995,99. The ocean view costs extra.
44A. *Completely in vain : TO NO AVAIL. Just like my hints to Santa Claus for a pizza oven, complete with Malibu-overlook property.
Leading to:
54A. Breakfast serving, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : SCRAMBLED EGGS. Also the working title of the Beatles' "Yesterday" before Sir Paul wrote the lyrics.
Hi everyone - Steve checking in with Gareth's fun puzzle. I grinned when I realized what Gareth was up to - I tried some months ago to make the theme work myself, however I was stuck on "Level 1" of looking for anagrams of EGGS, of which there are few. Gareth was a lot smarter than me and added the extra twist of using OVA instead. Bravo!
Let's see what else we've got today:
Across:
1. Desert partly in northern China : GOBI
5. Allergic reaction : RASH
9. Make overly dry : PARCH. As eastern Asia does to 1A.
14. Air or Mini : IPAD
15. Capital on a fjord : OSLO.
16. Union Pacific Railroad headquarters : OMAHA. It seems pretty logical when you see it's pretty much slap-dab in the middle of the country. Learning moment.
17. Acidic : TART
18. Laser __ : BEAM
19. Up to this point : SO FAR
23. Ho Chi Minh City, once : SAIGON. On my bucket list for the French and Asian influences in the food.
25. Tribute in verse : ODE
26. Part of ETA: Abbr. : EST
27. Fresno-to-L.A. direction : SSE. Hey, I got this one without waiting for crosses!
29. Altar oath : I DO.
30. Conk on the head : BOP. Enjoyed this one.
36. Construction site sight : CRANE
38. "__ Nagila" : HAVA. Musical staple of 3D, among other occasions.
39. '50s vice president : NIXON
41. Snow Queen in "Frozen" : ELSA
42. Unsuitable : INAPT. A member of the crosswords-only lexicon, no?
46. Remains in a tray : ASH
47. Row-making tool : HOE
49. Photo lab blowup: Abbr. : ENL. Enlargement.
50. Had a meal : ATE
51. According to : PER
52. Appeared : SEEMED
60. Soap vamp __ Kane : ERICA. Thank you, crosses. If I had a wheelhouse, this wouldn't be in it, nor anywhere close.
61. Novelist Turgenev : IVAN
62. Laryngitis sound : RASP
65. Handled bags : TOTES. Nouns, not the past verb tense which had me barking up the wrong tree for a moment.
66. Insect eggs : NITS
67. Hockey great Phil, familiarly : ESPO. He played for the Blackhawks, the Bruins and the Rangers, thereby alternately delighting and alienating the good residents of Chicago, Boston and New York.
68. Stimulate : SPARK
69. Swiss abstractionist : KLEE. "Tunisian Gardens" painted in 1919 is a great example of his work.
70. Former Russian autocrat : TSAR. Czar or Tsar? Wait for the crosses.
Down:
1. "Amscray!" : GIT
2. __-Locka, Florida : OPA. Recently popular in these parts?
3. Coming-of-age event : BAR MITZVAH
4. Luggage tie-on : ID TAG
5. "Miniver Cheevy" poet Edwin Arlington __ : ROBINSON. Thank you crosses!
6. Sailing, say : ASEA
7. Moravian or Czech : SLAV
8. __ sapiens : HOMO
9. Like some specialized research, for short : POST-DOC. Post-doctoral. I don't think I've seen the shortened form before, but it slotted right in.
10. Luigi's love : AMORE
11. Nadal of tennis, familiarly : RAFA
12. Become overly dry : CHAP. Lips seem to chap more than anything else.
13. Angelic strings : HARP
21. Activist Parks : ROSA. I took a time-out from business last week and visited the Ford Museum in Dearborn - I stepped aboard the actual bus that she was riding in Montgomery when she refused to give up her seat. Stirring stuff.
22. Show assent : NOD
23. Old Kia model : SEPHIA. I tried SENORA at first for no good reason other than it seemed familiar.
24. Koreans, e.g. : ASIANS
28. Party-planning site : EVITE
29. All-__ printer : IN ONE
30. One of two talking animals in the Old Testament : BALAAMS ASS. That's one heck of a lot of S's and A's in 10 letters!
31. Like some training : ONSITE
32. Rang out : PEALED
34. Ray gun sound : ZAP
35. Outer: Pref. : EXO. Exoskeletons are moving from the realms of sci-fi to sci-fact.
37. Get ready to drag : REV. Gentlemen, start your engines! Drag racing.
40. Drivel : NONSENSE
43. 1994 Jim Carrey movie : THE MASK
45. "Break __!" : A LEG. The acting community deem it ill-fated to wish a fellow thespian "good luck". Instead they exhort them to fall 16 feet from the apron of the stage into the orchestra pit and enjoy a spot of fibula-fracturing. I broke mine when I was a kid, not an experience I'd wish on anyone.
48. Planet, poetically : ORB
51. Hoosier hoopster : PACER. Indiana cager. A youthful Reggie Miller some years before his Hall of Fame induction.
53. Blue heron kin : EGRET
54. Tennis divisions : SETS
55. Field goal? : CROP. Harvesting a crop would be a farmer's goal after the field was planted.
56. Grammy winner Coolidge : RITA
57. Sausage serving : LINK. Food! Let's hear it for the great British Banger.
58. Like some movie twins : EVIL
59. Historian's tidbit : DATE
63. Fancy tub : SPA
64. ESP neighbor, to the IOC : POR. Spain's cross-border chum Portugal, in the eyes of the International Olympic Committee.
That's about all from me. Tonight is Guy Fawkes' Night in the UK - fireworks, festivities and cooking bangers in the bonfire all to commemorate a chap who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament back in the 1600's. Let's say it didn't end well for Mr. Fawkes.
Steve
41 comments:
Morning, all!
No circles for me, so no clue what the heck was going on with the theme answers. Fortunately, though, I didn't need to know the theme to actually get the theme answers.
I went with the Kia SEDONA instead of SEPHIA at first, which held me back a bit, but that was about it for problem areas. No NITS to report.
Good morning!
Great job, Steve. Don't you just hate it when someone else comes up with a better way to do one of your themes? It's double curses for Gareth this morning, though. He also had a puzzle in the NYT today, and I just submitted that theme to Rich two weeks ago!!!
I caught on to the theme with PIZZA OVEN, because the circled letters could only be OVA. My only question would be what he would use for the reveal - and it was a clever one!
Also, thanks for explaining "Handled bags" for TOTES. Of course I entered TOTEd at first, and that wasn't going to work at all with THE MAdK. (Hmmm, was the movie about an angry consonant???)
Happy Hump Day, everyone!
HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY! The elections are over, at least for you guys. But we have a runoff for the Senate. We have four more weeks of ridiculous political ads.
I started slowly with ITCH for RASH and LYRE for HARP and had to think before PARCH came to my mind. BALAAMS ASS was 100% perps as was ROBINSON. the only HAVA that I know was HAV-A-TAMPA cigar, but that was 50 years ago. Oh, HAVA Nagila is a song for a BAR MITZVAH- nice cross next to the SEPHIZ made by the ASIANS from Korea.
The clue for 65A- Handled bags- had me wondering. I had only heard of TOTES umbrellas, not the baggage. Well, that's enough NONSENSE from me.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Interesting theme. The LINK of Sausage Servings goes well with the SCRAMBLED EGGS.
I tried Unfit before going with INAPT for Unsuitable.
Who can name the other Talking Animal in the Bible?
Big Easy: Not looking forward to another month of nasty political ads.
QOD: To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say. ~ Will Durant (Nov. 5, 1885 ~ Nov. 7, 1981)
Good morning!
Marti was smarter than I was this morning. I looked at The Mad K and decided, "Could be." Bzzzt! DNF. My other stumble (which I did fix) was MOR (Morocco) before POR. And MOR was also wrong. The IOC calls it MRC. Who knew?
OMAHA was a nice shoutout to the Nebraska contingent, and especially to Husker, who seems to go there every third minute.
And I always thought that's what BALAAM was talking out of. I'm guessing #2 was the serpent, Hahtoolah.
I remember a lounge act that performed Hava Nagila: "Hava Nagila, Hava Nagila, Have two Nagilas, they're very small."
Good morning all !
No circles and forgot to look for the theme.
Tripped myself up with the tense answer at "Handled bags" but Jim Carrey's movie made me see we were looking for the items, not the (past) actions. ie, what Steve said about those parts of speech. Let's review, there are how many parts of speech ? Bonus credit if you can name them w/o looking them up.
I think the last time we had "Up to this point" the answer was AS YET, so the perps had to correct that as well.
Had a natick at the intersection of KIA model and "____ Naglia." Never heard of the latter and don't pay much attention to car models.
So a fail here. One lousy H.
Speaking of failures... One of the interesting "counts" from yesterday was that over 2000 election judges did not show up for work in their City of Chicago polling places. Makes one wonder what will happen when they catch the perp that sent those robo calls to the election judges. The doors were shut at 7PM, but those in line got to come inside and wait their turn to vote. The last of the votes were cast after 3AM !
Abejo was an election judge yesterday here in suburbia. He's one active dude !
The breakfast menu today at Aunt Peg's
Featured biscuits and gravy and SCRAMBLED EGGS.
"Cholesterol yolks,"
she said, "worry some folks,
When they should be more worried about fried chicken legs!"
Today for my breakfast I had caviar;
Scooped it right in the blender from out of the jar.
You might think that roe
Shouldn't be treated so,
But SCRAMBLED EGGS surely aren't that bizarre!
On cola I grew fat,
And 25¢ cheese-mac,
While skinny folk dine
On caviar and wine.
If fish eggs I ate
Instead of a plate
Of eggs from chicken
Maybe I wouldn't thicken!
"Puzzling thoughts":
To Hahtoolah and Big Easy: forget about the Senate race this week, and focus on THE big event in the state, and that occurs this Saturday night in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge ... Geaux Tigers!!
Hands up for thinking 65A was tense-specific; and Big Easy, I think they're referring to a piece of baggage called a TOTE, not the brand "Totes". Baggage in this case is plural ... but that Natick between THE MASK and TOTES caused me a DNF
INAPT? Not familiar with that word
SEPHIA? Ditto - not familiar with that car
BREAK A LEG? Thought that phrase began after Lincoln's assassination - didn't Booth break his leg after falling while shooting the President? Which of course gave way to comedian's line: "well, besides that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play??!"
Good Morning:
Another gem from Gareth. Spotted the OVA right away and was tickled by the reveal. Hand up for as yet before so far and lyre before harp. Nice CSO to the Husker crowd.
Very well done, Gareth, and thanks to Steve for a heads-up expo. Those two musical links certainly spiced up the morning. I saw Andre Rieu's show a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I haven't read the paper yet, so I'm not sure if the close races were decided or if we, like some others, are in for recounts or run-offs and more trash-talking, mud-slinging rhetoric. I do know a 30 year old woman was elected to the House of Representatives, the youngest in history.
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
A little crunchy this morning. But OSLO and OMAHA were gimme's and fortunately I remembered KLEE and BALAAMS ASS from earlier puzzles. (Balaams ass is the subject of a wonderful painting by Rembrandt.) Got a little flummoxed getting TOTES right. SCRAMBLED EGGS schtick was OK but didn't help the solve much. Got the V in AVAIL from it, though
Have a good day..
d-o@6:52: I remember the parody as, "Hava nagila, have two nagilas, have three nagilas, they're very small". You can Google it.
A tried and true cwd device using a tried and true cwd, uh, word. Very nice.
Musings
-Unique use for a PIZZA OVEN (1:41)
-This night image of Earth shows the GOBI and other deserts very well
-By reflecting a LASER BEAM off the Moon, NASA can determine its distance from the earth within an inch
-I think SAIGON conjures up memories for my generation that Berlin and Tokyo must have for my parents
-Cost of living in Fresno compared to LA
-It SEEMED like a good idea at the time
-Having to TOTE bags keeps me from driving a bus
-Our kitty has an ID Chip under her skin
-I have a CHAP stick in my golf bag for winter play
-Is my online sub notification an EVITE?
-I’d never heard of BALAAM’S ASS or any other part of him.
-Farmers are having issues finding finding places to store this year’s record breaking CROP
"however I was stuck on "Level 1" of looking for anagrams of EGGS, of which there are few." - Me too! I left it in my half-baked theme list to incubate and when I came back a few months later, level 2 hatched out. Okay, that metaphor was a bit too much of a stretch!
Good day, all!
RASH, PARCH and CHAP are harsh reminders of the recently passed summer. Now is the best time of year in the desert southwest.
As usual, Gareth Bain provided a fun romp for breakfast complete with SCRAMBLED EGGS and LINKs.
I have to confess to a TOTES fettish with a collection from many countries and cities. Needless to say, I use plastic bags only if I forget to take them.
Drat! I thought the car was a Kia SOPHIA and failed to check that OST couldn't be right.
Thanks, Gareth and Steve for an entertaining morning while I'm waiting for a repairman for my dishwasher.
Have a peaceful Wednesday, everyone, sans political commercials. Sorry, you in LA who still are dogged by them.
Oops. That sentence should read, "Needless to say, I use plastic bags only if I forget the TOTES."
Hatoolah- Edwin Edwards? What were people thinking?
Chairman Moe- We are going from LA to Alabama Saturday to watch the Tiger-Tide game at an annual party that moved from New Orleans to Mobile. The husband is an LSU grad and the wife is a Bama grad. So we usually have 8-10 Tiger fans and 20 Tide fans at the party.
LSU needs a quarterback.
Tough puzzle for limericks . . .
Having a plate of SCRAMBLED EGGS and LINKS,
Can contribute to ones bad health, methinks.
But eating fiber gives me gas,
And causes a pain in my ASS,
So guess what? A healthy breakfast just "stinks"!
Big Easy - sounds like a good time despite having to watch the game with Bama fans. Agree, our QB situation is suspect, and Bama won't be as easy to run against. Still, you gotta think that the Mad Hatter (and Cam Cameron) will come up with a plan for victory. The SEC West may be out of reach for our Tigers this year, but I'd sure like us to be the spoiler and keep Satan (oops I mean SABAN) out of the BCS playoffs . . .
I didn't think the 3-letter scrambling pay-off was worth all the other 3-letter answers (ode, ido, bop, ash, hoe, orb, rev, spa...), 3-letter abbr. (SSE, est., enl., Por...), and the 3-letter painful "git".
I thought "break a leg" was said pre-performance to avoid a jinx.
Totes was a good clue. For field goal, I had "cr_p" and was convincing myself that the "a" was acceptable just before I got the "o" in totes.
These anti-robot proofs are causing me to lose the poor vision I already have.
Gareth always entertains, and any puzzle with BALAAMS ASS as fill has to be fun. The reveal made the theme, and the comments from Steve show how tricky the creation of a theme can be.
To have another daily double is awesome GB, and thanks for stopping by.
My favorite Robinson poem:
Richard Cory
By Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Gareth Bain is in the house! Thanks for the puzzle Gareth. Thank you Steve for the write up.
Only squirmer for me was INAPT, but not enough to get all worked up about. I two was wondering about the 2nd talking animal. The snake in the Garden of Eden?
Edit --- *too
(sakes...)
Hi Y'all! Great one, Gareth! I worked the puzzle with no circles, but with only the three memorable theme answers, I was able to call up the LA Times link and fill those in to see the OVA. Great one, Steve!
Field goal: CROP was a gimmee, filled in with no hesitation. No bin busters at my farms though, thanks to hail.
I had no problems filling in "The Mask" which was a favorite movie of my teenaged son at the time. He kept bringing home the tape. I couldn't stand the show. Only good thing was the "big band" music which he loved and had never heard before.
My college professor brother talks about his POST DOC students who do research in the medical research labs he directs. Only place I've heard the phrase.
This year's election has the distinction of being one where no one I voted for was elected. Boo hoo! But at least no more mud-slinger ads.
Richard Cory, as interpreted by Simon and Garfunkel.
Delightful puzzle, Gareth, even though I too goofed on TOTED instead of TOTES. But I loved seeing BAR MITZVAH cross HAVA. And the eggs and links theme was a lot of fun.
Gorgeous KLEE picture, Steve.
I know ERICA Kane only from watching "Hot in Cleveland" with Betty White, one of our favorite sit-coms.
Have a great Wednesday, everybody.
My grandmother watched soaps, and I do recall seeing young Susan Lucci playing ERICA KANE on AMC. Her turn as Victoria's nemesis on HOT IN CLEVELAND and the Newman like refrain, "Lucci" is fun TV.
She started as Erica 44 years GO!
Steve: Outstanding write-up and links. Good Job.
SAIGON isn't on my "Bucket List" ... I didn't even go there when my Favorite Uncle had me in a different part of that country (and it would have been an easy day-trip).
Only needed ESP to get ROBINSON, ELSA, SEPHIA, IVAN and BALAAM'S ASS.
That notwithstanding, this was my All-Time Favorite Gareth Bain puzzle.
Liked the OMAHA CSO to our Nebraska buddies: Husker Gary, Avg.Joe and Ergo (I didn't forget you this time!).
It's kinda nice to watch TV again without all the negative political crap. JMHO ... lol
A toast to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!
The new season ]of HIC starts tonight, coincidentally.
Also, Happy Guy Fawkes Day which will always remind me of the first time I fell in Love (11/5/1968, also an election day and of course the V is for Vendetta .
Yay for me--I finished about 95% of a Gareth Bain puzzle! Your expo was necessary to fill in my blanks, Steve.
The last time I took Alleve I broke out in a rash and prayed it wouldn't go to my throat. No more NSAIDs for me--allergic to all of them.
I got the theme. The SCRAMBLED EGGS have the Frasier theme song as an ear worm today.
Happy Hump Day!
Pat
Good morning all,
No circles here, but I rarely get the theme and use it to my advantage...some day. I saw a tiny DRY theme: parch, arid, Gobi and chap. I could not even read balaamsass after the perps filled it. Had perps fill sepia and inapt also... not a clue.
Steve, great write up and links. Julie Andrews has a voice like none other. Too bad they botched up removing polyps a few years back. Same thing happened to me, so I gave up singing with the autoharp in the classroom. Remember those Lucina?
Since AMC was cancelled, "Erica Kane" is mostly on QVC, although she was a villain of sorts on Army Wives for a few episodes.
Lemony, you alright bro?
Your posts today are messy, even for your standards. Maybe you should check in with a doctor.
Fun puzzle, Gareth, and always entertaining write-up Steve!
When I hear the music of "hava nagila" I always think of the Allen Sherman album my folks had when I was growing up with "Harvey & Sheila" on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUKn_Ar96PE
I toted that nit all the way to my computer, only to find I couldn't use it...
Some very funny stuff (see Balaam's Donkey my Ass!) which I will not link here as I do not want to offend anyone. (again...)
Todays cooking lesson: Scrambled eggs 3 ways with Jamie Oliver.
I fail to understand all the jokes out there about scrambled eggs being a failed omelet, because that is how I make my omelets fluffy. Seriously!
I start with a non stick pan over LOW heat, add a pat of butter & diced scallions. (I used to add diced tomatoes here, but unless they are in season, freshly picked from your backyard, they won't add anything worthwhile.)
While that's heating up, 2-3 room temperature eggs (cold eggs=flat omelettes) beaten with a splash of milk, salt & pepper.
Add that to the pan & immediately begin scraping with a plastic spatula (nothing metal you idiot! that's my best non stick pan!) bringing the fresh curds from the outside to the center. Once it starts to look like scrambled eggs (but still wet) walk away,,, just walk away!!!
Do not come back until you can flip the whole dang thingie with a spatula. (you can flip it by hand, but I think that's where people wind up with scrambled eggs...)
Once flipped, top with grated cheese of your choice, & fold carefully in half. (If French, go for the tri-fold...)
Just a little longer to warm the cheese, aannd sliide it onto a piece of toast...
(Dang it! now I'm hungry...)
Lemonade, glad you like "Hot in Cleveland" too.
Sounds like an awesome recipe, CED!
HI All!
A NOD to Gareth who beat me again and to Steve for an informative write-up.
41a x-ing 30d, H in HAVA and I wag'd a U in POR. At 31d I had ONlInE for way to long and kept trying to think of _NE that means ATE. That was fixed, but still a DNF
Likes - WEES re dry and IVAN near TSAR.
Fav of course - PIZZA OVEN!
C. Moe - did you get logged out or is an EVIL someone posing as you?
I'll give my iPAD a rest now and read the paper.
Cheers, -T
Lucina, hot dry weather is headed your way. The humidity was down in the teens today.
I voted for the California propositions mostly based on the recommendations of the LA Times. My default vote is NO since most of them seem to be written by and benefit special interest groups, groups that I am not part of. Most of them seem to have desirable features offset by sneaky downsides. Of course I shouldn't complain about old Proposition 13 that's kept our property tax from going up out of sight.
Nearly thrown by BALAAM'S ASS. I got it, but could only read it as one weird word.
As for BREAK A LEG, I am not sure how far back it goes. But I never heard of the Booth story as its origin. I suspect it comes form the same root as the German "Hals und Beinbruch!" Those thorough Germans want both the leg and the neck on the line.
BillG:
Hot, dry weather headed our way? Surely you jest!
It's been glorious all week in the high 70s and 80s. Perfect weather.
gibberish captchas are back. (sigh)
For you night owls / west-coasters - TMBG's EVIL Twin LINK.
I just had puzzle talk w/ MIL - she liked HOE. Back story: There was a snake and she grabbed the HOE to kill it. As she's relating the story, she tells how it took 3 whacks because it was a dull HOE. DW said with a straight face... That's sad, no one likes a dull ho.
Cheers, -T
Dull ho... Heh heh!
Logged out - it was me!
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