That was my 2000th puzzle. ISNTTHATSPECIAL? RECKONSO.
Congratulations! (Did you solve it?)
@Dave K. *And* you were the first to comment. Soooo GUCCI! ;-) Congrats!
ISN’T THAT SPECIAL immediately made me think of Dana Carvey as The Church Lady on Saturday Night Live. He did such a great impression of George H. W. Bush too. So hilarious. Wonderful memories also of belting out VIENNA in my college dorm with my BFF. I love when a puzzle brings back memories from years gone by. Thanks, Kathleen.
@Anita In one of the great Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee episodes, Jerry Seinfeld asks Carvey how he responds when people walk up to him on the street and beg him to reprise HW. "Not gonna do it," says Carvey.
A straightforward puzzle enlivened by reminding me of the great John Cleese. My brother and I spent hours memorizing the best of the Cleese skits in Monty Python, and trying to copy his silly walks. My wife just rolls her eyes when the two of us are together and spontaneously launch into Cleese bits.
"You don't want my creamy French soup?" "No, I'm not that much of a bisque taker." ("Well, I won't stew about it.")
@Mike I chowder to think what puns you didn’t use today. Thanks a bullion Mike your jokes are always a broth of fresh air!
@Mike Are you pho real? Your wonton puns just take my broth away!
@Mike Sounds like a lot of mumbo gumbo to me.
@Mike Another one of your stock comments...
@Mike You display creme-inal tendencies.
We adopted out very good boy Mr. Peter Pancakes from the cat cafe.
@Thomas I defend your right to name your cat Mr. Peter Pancakes. In fact, Mr. Peter Pancakes may be the best name for a cat ever conceived. Years ago, I wanted to name a new cat Louis Diefenthaler Jr., which happened to be the name of my next-door neighbor, recently deceased. But my wife would not allow this, for some reason.
There was a restaurant in my neighborhood in West Berlin that had a chalkboard in the window advertising its "Tagessuppe du jour."
@Fact Boy Was it the "Cafe du Redundancy Restaurant"?
@Fact Boy There's the old joke of the restaurant patron asking the waiter "What's the soup du jour?" The waiter answers "It's the soup of the day."
@Fact Boy Many years ago, when I was in the racetrack business, I went to The Fair Grounds, the famous horse track in New Orleans. Like all of the old tracks, it was showing its age. But in the Clubhouse restaurant, they had a sign that said: The track is Fast. The turf is Firm. The Soup of the Day is Chicken Noodle. Them right there folks are the only three things a handicapper needs to know.
Bright, airy puzzle, with a fun theme to tie it together; enjoyed it! And nice cluing on 'this might be hot!.
Time and again, I uncovered a word and spontaneously experienced an “Oh, lovely!” feeling. EMBOSS, ADROITLY, MOLASSES, even ROOD and SNOOT. It felt like entering a room that has good friends in it. Not to mention happy-bursts from CLEESE, which triggered a joyous inner montage, and VIENNA, which sent Billy Joel’s voice soaring through my head. Five worthy NYT answer debuts, including the first two theme answers plus YES DAD, TAKE POINT, and SAGE OIL -- clues and answers never seen in the NYT puzzle before -- really galvanized the grid. I liked the contradictory centerpiece of YOM (Kippur) and HOOHA, my brain savored trying to figure out the revealer, even though it didn’t come close. That’s a lotta lovely packed in the box today. "Special" indeed -- a sweet start to the day. Thank you, Kathleen!
I forgot to announce my 2250th gold star in a row, but for what it’s worth, this one was my 2260th (and I liked today’s puzzle better anyway). Add a further 1700ish from the archives, and you can see that my life has a lot of little squares in it (and I’m the littlest square of all).
@abelsey Congratulations! Nice work!! At only 1712 now, I have a ways to go. Thinking of getting to 2000 then taking a break. But we shall see! In any case, glad to see your achievement here!! Mark
One of my pet peeves is people in India (where I'm also originally from) using 36D as a corporate synonym for "reply" or "respond" (e.g., “Please revert with the details”). In fact it's become so common now that's it's been officially recognized in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary as 'Indian English' usage but it still continues to annoy me for some reason.
Rahul, Hardly just in India. That use of "revert" has annoyed me for decades in the U.S. corporate world.
@Rahul @Barry Wow. I am so grateful that in all of my career in corporate America – and communication with my Indian in-laws – I never encountered that one! As the clue (correctly, IMHO) defines, the meaning is the *opposite* of the usage you describe! Smh.
@Rahul Eww. I’m guessing some will offer to revert “at my earliest convenience.” Such a poor attempt at formality & my personal peeve
Musical Find OF THE DAY: Here's the third movement of the Sonatina for [Clarinet] and Piano, marked "CON BRIO," by VIENNA-born composer Joseph Horovitz, played by Max Mausen and Jason Anderson. The clarinet is the most agile of the woodwinds, and Horovitz doesn't fail to write A LEAP or two in the clarinet part, which Mr. Mausen handles ADROITLY: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmtUESK2V6o&list=RDWmtUESK2V6o&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmtUESK2V6o&list=RDWmtUESK2V6o&start_radio=1</a> (Although born in Austria, Horovitz's family fled to England in 1938, for the reason one might expect, and most of his life and career were spent there. In addition to concert works, he wrote fiolm and TV scores, including the theme to "Rumpole of the Bailey.")
@Bill Is that a phone in his pocket or is he just happy to be playing?
@Bill: One of my singing groups has latched onto the direction that appears in Britten’s Ceremony of Carols: “Con slancio”. It’s like con brio, but extra. We now throw it around quite often.
That is.. not exactly what the more modern definition of "hooha" is 😁
Even though I was not rushing on purpose, I solved the puzzle 25% faster than yesterday's, and 40% faster than my Wednesday average... Or so I thought! As I typed in the last letter, I was hit with the dreaded "So close" popup. I looked at the grid several times and saw nothing wrong, so I consulted the answer key. My mistake was ISNT THis SPECIAL crossing with ULTi and OsRA 🤷🏽. The expression still made sense with "this", and it crossing with a brand and a word from a language I don't speak was no help at all. It's interesting what sort of obstacles I encounter as a Polish guy doing American puzzles. I suppose I just ignored the brand (I've seen ULTA before when I think about it now), and the Spanish, too even though "otra" is a word I recognize. My tactic of solving around stumpers without giving them a second thought backfired today. It was a pleasant solve, overall, if too easy for the day.
@Andrzej I had an oopsie (hehe) in that area, too. I had ULeA and GeOS.
@Andrzej For a language you don't speak, I'd say you're doing pretty darn good 👍
@Andrzej Very similar experience here — I had instantly entered LIRa early in the going, and it took me > 2x as long to spot “soup of thA day” as it had to fill in the whole grid. Come to think of it, I’ve had that happen a few times lately…
@Andrzej I was actually in an ULTA store yesterday and still didn't think of it until I had three letters. Besides, I thought OLAY owned those four squares.
Cheers to all the Arsenal supporters who do the NYT crossword!!!! 🏆We won the Premier League! Let’s do it again…next season! 🍾🥂🍻🎉
@Becky Congrats! On a related note, Lech Poznań, the team my wife has cheered for all her life, became Polish champions for the second year in a row last weekend!
So, how to put this? Those of you who read me regularly know that I would never insult a constructor--for real, I wouldn't. And I'm not here either, but I just have to say, did our wonderful constructor of this fun puzzle really refer to Dana Carvey's long standing SNL church lady bit as a comedy special? Just some, just just... just, oh I don't know, just some comedy special!? A comedy special!? Gen Xers of the world, unite! 🤣 Someone even gave me a poster of the church lady that I hung on the wall of my first little house. Was more like a somewhat large closet of a little rental house, but still. I might finally feel old. 🤣 Oh yes, the puzzle! I thought it was fun and obviously did enjoy the revealer. I too started with glass of water instead of soup of the day, before I figured it out, and felt very smug indeed, but it was a fun theme. Finished up a significantly faster than average, which is actually helpful because I have to continue packing. My husband, my 92-year-old mother-in-law, and I are heading to Honduras tomorrow morning. If you're the praying sort, feel free to do so for us... My dear MIL is very far advanced in her dementia, and I don't think we'll be able to take her after this year. I hope things will go well, or as well as they can. ☺️
@HeathieJ I came here to say the same - was there a reason she didn't just say "Saturday Night Live" and "the church lady"?
@HeathieJ I was really hoping for a leading blog photo of the Church Lady with her stained glass background and "gotcha" facial expression, but I think our dear new Isaac has no memory of that heady era. The puzzle revealer absolutely brought me memories of howling with laughter after sneaking downstairs in my parent's house to watch SNL.
@HeathieJ Ha! I didn’t even catch that until you pointed it out. Yes, I suspect our very talented constructor watched some SNL retrospective and enjoyed the many comedy relics that first aired way, way before her time. It was like television archeology, really. (We’re not old. We’re just living the museum in real time. And isn’t that…. ?) Speaking of special, I hope you have a genuinely special time in Honduras. You’re giving your MIL a wonderful gift. Be sure to send us a postcard… or whatever it is kids do today. 😉
@HeathieJ Hmm. Or could it be...Satan?!
I like CATs. I really do. They're not as good as dogs, of course, but that's an unfair comparison. Dogs are the best thing about this planet. If you don't trust me on that, here's Jane Goodall's wise opinion: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGvLApNrFQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGvLApNrFQ</a> And I like the idea of a CAT CAFE, but if you've ever been to one, the first thing you notice is the list of rules about how you should (and especially how you should NOT) interact with them. Don't pick them up. Don't pet them *there*. Let them come to you. Don't hold on to them when they want to leave, etc. etc. You come to realize that it's a CAT CAFE, not primarily in that you, the patron, get to interact with cats, but rather in the sense that this CAFE belongs to the CATs, and you are welcome only to the extent that the CATs are willing to tolerate you. Which may be a good lesson for us self-important humans.
Perhaps better than a CAT CAFE is Fleabag's Guinea Pig cafe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hNGM5kS4XUI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hNGM5kS4XUI</a> If you haven't watched "Fleabag" yet, and you're a fan of snarky humor (with a soft underbelly), I can't recommend it highly enough.
@The X-Phile jane Goodall's great but I have to say: There ain't nothing better than cats. I had three in college that always came home. Why? i could never understand why they wouldn't just live in the wild. (And there was very nice wild where I lived.) It must have been the raw beef kidney and liver I fed them!!
@The X-Phile @lucky13 I’ve had cats who were like dogs, and dogs who were like cats. I don’t think you can say one is better than the other. They’re all individuals, and most of them make wonderful companions. (Let’s face it, some cats and dogs are just jerks.) A cat cafe does not sound like fun.
@The X-Phile The only cat cafe I've visited (San Diego) was also an adoption center. So they did own that whole space. I don't remember rules posted, probably because there were walkways and ladders and windows and such where the cats could get away from guests. Plus cat people know the rules.
So much to like in this Wednesday puzzle. Clever theme, excellent revealer, surprising fresh fill for a Wednesday. IT FIGURES, BETRAYAL, CON BRIO, etc. Nice stuff! And lovely nostalgic memories of Billy Joel and Monty Python, to boot. My only complaint? That in her "Constructor Notes", Kathleen Duncan refers to the generic "catchphrase" in a "comedy special" rather than giving credit to Dana Carvey. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xyd31W7Hwkw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xyd31W7Hwkw</a> But if you keep making quality puzzles like this, all is forgiven. Thanks, Kathleen Duncan for a SPECIAL Wednesday puzzle!
Really fun puzzle! I struggled with CONBRIO crossing both NOLO and ACERB, but loved everything else!
ONION rings and TATER tots, HOO boy. I'll have mine Sitting on the Dock with OTIS trying to catch a sea BASS or maybe at the TIKI BAR. No HATERADE for me, thanks. Then there's always VIENNA waiting.
@Vaer Did you leave your home in Georgia? Well, I guess you weren't headed for the Frisco bay. ...
@Vaer VIENNA fingers or VIENNA sausages? Mmmm! Little wieners in a can, packed in formaldehyde! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4M4OXsIZg8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4M4OXsIZg8</a> ISN'T THAT SPECIAL!?!
@Rich in Atlanta Sorry, no. My dock was in the Great South Bay, and Otis just on the radio.
@The X-Phile Nope. Viennese Crescent Cookies.
VIENNAWAITSFORYOU My go-to karaoke song. Barely remember any of my own performances, though...
@Matt ABBA was made for karaoke.
Dana Carvy's Church Lady skits were brilliant. And The Stranger still Billy Joel's best album IMHO. And what was with Billy Joel not being on NYT's top 30 singer songwriters list. Who was behind that . "Could it have been Satan?!!!"
@Jeff B MD New Netflix documentary, "Marty, Life Is Short" (about another SNL alum, Martin Short) is worth a watch.
@Jeff B MD I was shocked when I realized they left Billy Joel off that list.
Nice Wednesday puzzle. Typical slow start for me, but things fell together from the crosses. And... didn't entirely catch on to the theme until I was almost done. That's always a nice touch. And... one puzzle find today - a Wednesday from December 20, 2006 by Nancy Salomon. What led me there was the first theme answer - a duplicate with today's puzzle: ISNTTHATSPECIAL The clue for that was: "Words of admiration --- NOT!" The other theme clues and answers: "Words of apology -- NOT!" WELLEXCUUUUSEME "Words of congratulation -- NOT!" NICEGOINGGENIUS Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/20/2006&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/20/2006&g=17&d=A</a> Might put another puzzle find in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened. A Sunday puzzle from July 28, 2019 by Christopher Adams with the title: "Anagrammar." Some theme answer examples with the highlighted sections of each in all caps. And the answers were all straightforwardly clued: "ATMOSPHERe" "blastfROMTHEPASt" "fortHEMOSTPARt" "chriSTOPHERMArlowe" "priMROSEPATH' And the reveal: "mixedMETAPHORS" Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/28/2019&g=37&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/28/2019&g=37&d=A</a> ....
CONBRIO crossing NOLO and ASCERB felt very un-Wednesday to me! Not that I mind an extra minute or two of gameplay, of course.
I enjoyed trying to race through this puzzle, and seemed to go faster than for most Wednesday NYT puzzles. I felt a lot of the clues today were not very tricky. For the first time I noticed the unconscious strategy I use to try to solve fast. (In case anyone is interested, this is it: Just try to get the easiest clues first in one area of the diagram, and as soon as the crossing words seem to allow it, nail the longer crossing words to get a lot of letters fast. This doesn't work on the harder puzzles where the individual clues don't solve readily.)
@Dan That's a good strategy, I think. I use something very like it. When I solved on paper, I'd go through the acrosses and then the downs, but online I jump to whatever square seems most likely I'll be able to get.
The clue for 32 Down is fine [informally] in its civilian sense, but I wonder if any veterans who actually took or walked point considered themselves to [Be in charge].
@Barry Ancona Good 'point.' I walked point in Vietnam a number of times and that was just the primary risk. I can promise you that no platoon or company leader ever, ever walked point. Maybe a squad leader on occasion, but even that not very often. ...
Now I know what a "rood" is. Thank you.
@Steve Daniel -- Ah, a rood awakening...
@Steve Daniel The Old Rooden Cross
@Steve Daniel -- "The Dream of the Rood" is a famous poem of the old English period. Well, famous to English Lit majors, perhaps!
The way the revealer is used is fine with me. It's the revealer itself that sets my teeth on edge. I have reached a Very Great Age and yet at no point have I ever said ISN'T THAT SPECIAL to anyone. Nor, happily, has anyone ever said it to me. Never. What's more, I can't imagine a situation in which I would say it, nor a person I would ever say it to. It would have to be someone for whom I harbored real HATERADE, (Isn't HATERADE something you harbor rather than drink? I wouldn't know -- that's another unpleasant term that crept into the language when I wasn't looking. Why do so many crosswords include snarky language that, happily, wasn't around in my youth? ISN'T THAT SPECIAL is snark, pure and simple. I don't think it needs to be celebrated. Oh, and please, please don't hit me with an "Ok, Boomer" -- which all-too-often happens when someone of a certain age talks about how things were in their youth. Because that's snark too:)
@Nancy Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” character used it as her signature line, which thrust it into broad (not to say universal) consciousness in the late 80s.
@Nancy In exactly one month, I will hit the age that is supposedly granted to me, according to the Psalmist, so I'm no spring chicken, and despite this and the fact that we live maybe 30 miles apart, I often am amazed by what you find peculiar. Dana Carvey's character--broadcast across the nation every Saturday night in the late 80s, when you and I were both much younger, from a location no more than a few blocks from Lexington Ave.--is an iconic sketch comedy character. How she can be an unknown to you is beyond belief.
@Nancy The Church Lady character poked fun at a certain type of judgmental, holier-than-thou person, so anyone who uses the phrase as their own is kind of missing the point. 😉
@Nancy Have you read the comments here? Snark and condescension are what the audience gets off on.
Not a fan of 7 down. The clue would suggest that a "clarinet" is a "reed" which it is not. It uses a reed, but it is not a reed. If they were going for instrument family, that would be woodwind, not reed.
REED has been clued more than once as [Clarinet or sax].
@Paul Did it occur to you that there might be more than one way to classify musical instruments?
@Paul Oh Puh-leez! Violins and violas have strings, but are not strings in and of themselves; trumpets and trombones are made of brass, but not an alloy per se; timpani and gongs are struck, but not the concept of striking in the abstract--and yet we speak of "strings, brass, and percussion." Now, let me return to listening to Mozart's beautiful Synecdoche in G minor!
@Paul The clarinet is a reed instrument in the woodwind family.
@Paul "Woodwinds" includes flutes. Clarinets, oboes, bassoons, and the like, are collectively called "reeds. "
Interesting how CLEESE appears the day after I comment on it being used once in a clue for yesterday’s LOO ([John, for Cleese]).
Based on crowdsourced results -- not my personal opinion -- it seems the editors may have switched the Tuesday and Wednesday puzzles this week. <a href="https://xwstats.com" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com</a>/
@Barry Ancona I think you're right! The Tuesday took ten more seconds and required two cheats (not remembering "Lecter" and not knowing Outkast's 'Big Boi', Wiki to the rescue!). This "Wednesday" puzzle is a breezy delight, all hard answers easily filled in by the crossing words.
@Barry Ancona Regarding my times so far this week: M < T < W. This one took me about two minutes longer than yesterday's.
I loved HATERADE, cute. Overall I thought the cluing was really good, lots of nice "Aha" answers. A few proper nouns with questionable crossings. Like HOOHA felt like a bit of a reach for the clue and crossed HODA. Then ACERB crossed with CONBRIO when I didn't know Acerbic could be shortened that way.
Wow wow wow! What the heck was Kathleen thinking? First of all- it’s HOOPLA not HOOHA! Hooha is a name for female private parts. Also, why on earth would a zombie go to a tiki bar? I don’t even get the pun there if that’s what it was trying to do. Overall, BOO!
Brooke, (1) HOOHA has more than one meaning. (2) The zombie is a tiki cocktail made of fruit juices, liqueurs, and various rums. It first appeared in late 1934, invented by Donn Beach at his Hollywood Don the Beachcomber restaurant. (Thanks, wiki.)
Lire is the plural of Lira. Perhaps I misread the clue, but I don't think there was an indication they were looking for the plural, right?
Condescending rhetorical question? "Aren't you SPECIAL" is what I first went with when I only had SPECIAL in place. I'm so glad that wasn't the right entry. I find it not just condescending, but downright rude and offensive, no matter what jokey tone is used. I can't tell you why but it never makes me laugh. ISN'T THAT SPECIAL, however, doesn't bother me at all. Go figure. As for the whole of the puzzle, I liked it a lot, despite having had difficulty with words today. I needed quite a few letters for simple words like EMBOSS, RECANTS and REVERTED to come to me. I think it was the impulsive Snickers bar I had for dinner. Dark chocolate: good, Snickers bar: bad. VIENNA, on the other hand, came easily with the obvious clueing for those of us who know the song. It's been decades since I've heard it, so it was nice to have a listen again: <a href="https://youtu.be/3jL4S4X97sQ?si=E1OMXKr_tSIRaB42" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/3jL4S4X97sQ?si=E1OMXKr_tSIRaB42</a> Thank you, Ms. Duncan. Nicely done!
@sotto voce Obviously none of your preferred pronouns is "that".
@sotto voce - "Isn't that special" was a catch phrase on the US's Saturday Night Live and earlier users.
Very nice Wednesday puzzle. Simple theme, ADROITLY handled, with lots of interesting entries. Thanks.
Who decided it isn't spelled HAToRADE?
@DIVAS IVLIVS Why would it be? ADE is the suffix. Lemonade, etc long predates Gatorade.
@DIVAS IVLIVS Hand up for HAToRADE. Gatorade / Hatorade. Makes sense to me.
@sotto voce Yeah, but gator is the animal and hater is the critic
@DIVAS IVLIVS. Considering Monday of last week I’d say HATourADE
@DIVAS IVLIVS The fact that crossing that entryt is KEYS UP, with the E in question.
@DIVAS IVLIVS et al. Thanks for the ngram rabbit hole. It finds zero occurrences of HAToRADE. But the real surprise is that HATERADE had a big spike around 1840, long before the existence of Gatorade. Fun Fact: Gatorade "...was developed in 1965 by a team of researchers at the University of Florida led by Robert Cade. It was originally made for the school's student-athletes, the Gators, to replenish the carbohydrates that they burned and the combination of water and electrolytes that they lost in sweat during vigorous sports activities." U of FL still receives royalties from sales.
"Isn't that special!' is a par with referring to a hit and run driver as "the gentleman who . . . " and saying "utilize" when "use" is a better word, and "gifted" instead of "gave" to make an occasion seem classier. There are dozens of highfalutin efforts now to gussy up the language that only serve to dilute its power. I don't know when this started, but I find it tiresome.
@dutchiris It probably started in 1066 when William the Conqueror brought the language of Normandy (i.e. medieval French) to England which led to the "English" vocabulary being about twice the size of every other because there are so many instances of a French/Latinate word having the same meaning as a word of Celtic (pre-Roman invasion), Germanic (Anglo-Saxon invasion) or Norse (Viking rule or "Danelaw") background, often distinguished only in nuance which makes it really hard for us foreign learners of English, because both words are translated the same into our own languages. There has always been a tendency of people to invent new words in an attempt to clarify something. "to give" does not necessarily imply that something is given as a present or that a change of ownership happens. "to gift" clarifies this. And it's much simpler than "to present somebody with something", which has the same meaning (but isn't the same is "to present someting to somebody"). Even the habit of transmogrifying parts of speech so a verb becomes a noun or vice versa is not new. Why say "to access" something when you could say "accede" or "gain access"? But then, why use this Latinate word (from accedere) in the first place rather than "enter" (but oops, that's French, from entrer) or just "go in(to)"? ...
@dutchiris I’m trying to remember when all the ‘signs’ were replaced with ‘signage’.
@dutchiris & @veevee-- I always hated the use of "to gift" instead of "to give," until I discovered, through the OED that the verb form of "gift" is as old as "give," perhaps older. Also, and even more curious, in the oldest Anglo-Saxon texts, "to gift" frequently involved an exchange--sometimes money, but also sometimes fealty ("The King gifted him a knighthood."), whereas "to sell" did not. In other words, the exact opposite of how we use them today. (My OED access expired with my library card, so I can't cite exact sources.) Tired of reporters using those high-falutin' Norman words? Consider The Anglish Times--"All the News that's Fit to Druck!": <a href="https://theanglishtimes.com" target="_blank">https://theanglishtimes.com</a>/
Nice to see SAGEOIL in the puzzle. I noticed yesterday walking in my garden that my sage plants were in beautiful purple bloom. Here's a pic: <a href="https://www.dmagazine.com/home-garden/2015/09/in-the-garden-texas-sage-blooms-abound" target="_blank">https://www.dmagazine.com/home-garden/2015/09/in-the-garden-texas-sage-blooms-abound</a>/ Easy to grow and great with turkey dinner.
really fun one im a bit of a beginner so i used alot of helps and lookups, and got stuck for maybe five minutes on the NE side before i looked up the church one and admitted defeat!
I thought I was doing poorly but once I corrected Yon with Yom I finished in record time 😳😜
@Dan Aye...that particular Kippur, hard to starboard, waaaaaaaay over there.
HOO, boy! I gather a "zombie" is a drink, not a particularly aged customer... SAGE OIL? I doubt it would have helped... my "acne" was actually an allergic rash--reaction to the only soap in the house (Dial)... For "Speech full of invective" I wanted something like "stem-winder" or "barn-burner," but instead of the family favorite ("Hellfire and damnation!" as the starter) we just got RANT. Quite the let-down. Oh well....the rest of the vocab was nice--especially ACERB, ADROITLY, and BETRAYAL. We don't see those every day!
Hi, @MOL! Yesterday, several commenters, including yourself, asked me direct questions, which I never had a chance to answer. Although I love many Coen Bros. films, I have never seen *The Big Lebowski*. I would heartily reccommend *Miller's Crossing* and especially *O Brother, Where art Thou?*
@Mean Old Lady Though I've really liked many Coen Bros. films and adore Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski was not for me. The three I'd recommend are Fargo, Oh, Brother... (Hi Bill), and Raising Arizona.
That really was special. Grazie!
I’m both embarrassed by how long it took me and proud that I properly completed it without a single lookup. Had to change several answers and try multiple different words before the puzzle fell squarely into place. Out out damn head cold.
@Red Carpet Pretty much the same here, I sorta slogged through it, slow start, but once the grid started to fill, gained momentum. Clues like for MIC, oh boy, get me every time! I'm not feeling so great myself lately and I guess I'm glad for a tricky crossword, it's a good distraction. Feel better, may the warming rays of the approaching summer rid you of your cold!
@Red Carpet Hope you feel better soon!!
Today's poem made from words found in today's puzzle <br> <br> a/ ok seems ok <br> you say ok <br> perhaps you make a silent ok <br> or you make ok a question, ok? <br> someone <br> sang ok to god <br> on an ok tv show <br> d/ and with that one word the ocean makes a walkway! <br> and i don’t know why i thought that what it means is just that <br> a/ yes <br>
a cheer for @Becky Arsenal are champions. That was special.
@Ιασων Becky had nothing to do with it.
Cheers @Ιασων I’m delighted! Champions League 🏆 next!
Didn't even need to wait for Week 38! (Battle remains at the bottom.)