Beejay
San Francisco
Had heard of the game, but never played. Really enjoyed MINE ALL MINE, Bwahaha.
Wow, that was amazing! I read the revealer clue when wandering around the grid. Got to “Stop’s opposite”, looked at the clue again and after grinning, entered (ST)ART. Then thought “seriously?” All the downs? Let’s see… and couldn’t stop till done. Felt like a maniac. Fast, but enjoyable.
I love it when I figure out the trick soon enough to help solve the themers! Great fun. And yes, I did picture underwear on the head before I got the bloomers of a LEI. [still chuckling] 🤭 Clever clue for Sir Paul! Thanks for a great Thursday puzzle.
@Mike Well, if one was a typesetter, as I was, you would come across it daily. In order of length from the shortest; hyphen, endash, emdash. The latter two named due to the width of the letters n and m. There are also specific rules for which one to use. Because you aren’t schooled in type, doesn’t mean “no one” is. P.S. I am not AI generated.
@SP The clue was factual. I didn’t see any glamorization in it. I just finished reading Walter Isaacson’s excellent biography, “Steve Jobs.” He paints a very real portrait of a brilliant man with many flaws. Jobs asked Isaacson to write the bio, knowing it would have warts and all. If you think anything Jobs did equates glamour, I disagree, and you may want to give the book a read.
Very nice. 🖖 be well and prosper.
A “wow” from me! Knowing LORCA, quickly saw that denim in 1A wouldn’t work, but saw the BLUE DENIM turn soon, filling in that corner. Then saw the DATA MINED turn. Brilliant! Proceeded to enjoy finding more “Both Ways.” Good editing choices prevailed, re constructor comments, I think.
Still laughing 😂. [whew] I needed that. Thanks.
@Chris For the puzzle, same here! When I finished the puzzle, I finally parsed it, DO OR DIE, and burst out laughing 😆. Made my day!
Had a great time with this well-thought-out puzzle! Love Pixar films and rebuses. Fun use of both. Got it with BRAVE. Was expecting UP and it solved the DUPLEX/ EUPHORIA issue. Finally 💡 thought of Pooh’s nemesis, the BEE! Well done.
My dad loved the opera and more often than not sat in what he always called “the nose bleed section,” which I’ve also frequently experienced. So I had ‘balcony’ for a while, before LAST ROW, which I’ve also experienced in theaters, even once, the last seat in the LAST ROW. (Bring the binocs!) A challenging, fun puzzle. Enjoyed the puns there and here in the comments also.
This one was a challenge. I started it last evening and got stuck, but finished it up nicely this morning. And it was enormous fun! I learned a lot, a reason I love puzzles. TUPLES was my favorite. I laughed out loud at MY SHARONA, and trying to think of a chime starting with an N, the old, bing bong bing, went off in my head. A nice aha moment. As some others noted, I also think Mr. Judge was referring to a person re: Frisco. But either way, I’d like to note that even Herb Caen didn’t care, in the end, about calling San Francisco, Frisco. Call the city what you wish and move on, IMHO. I enjoy calling it my home.
Loved it! I only had the ICE at the top of the center squares, but wasn’t sure because I was thinking, ayes, seize, and ease for the downs. I decided to work on the rest of the puzzle. Nearly finished with that and was called away. When I came back, I 💡 on ZAMBONI, figured another ICE for the bottom of the center, so another 💡… they are all ICEs! And the little ZAMBONI started to clean them. Bwa ha ha… good one.
Got stuck, but had the -ian of the omega 3 clue, so I was trying to think of diet names. Then thinking 🤔 of fish, I wondered if pescatarian was a thing and looked it up… noticed the spelling variant and when it worked, I headed to the finish. Made my evening! Huzzah 🥳 Whichever uni you get in to Mr. Matz, I’m sure you will be a winner!
Not sure which word clued me in to the theme, butt I got it shortly after filling in the revealer. Loved seeing TOTORO! “Tonari no Totoro” (My Neighbor Totoro) the movie came out shortly before I lived in Japan, so it was still big when I was there. There is now a musical play, in London’s West End, which I highly recommend for anyone who can go. Got a kick out of Deb’s write up and all the butt jokes. Thx!
After bOINK and pOINK didn’t work, it had to be YOINK. Thanks Will for adding to the Deb send off. She will indeed be missed.
@Sarah Well, I knew all three. Perhaps just not in your wheelhouse, as they say.
As an avid art student and then artist, this was right up my alley and I really enjoyed figuring out how the artists’ names fit into the phrases. My favorite was Okeeffe in smoke effects (I worked in theater too). Very satisfying Mr. Kwong… kudos from me.
@Eric Hougland I had the same thoughts about the Nez Percé. I believe they were on the eastern side of Washington and Oregon, not on the Pacific. A very fine museum I visited in Vancouver, BC included many native peoples of the Pacific Northwest, but the Nez Percé were not among them. That was my trouble spot in the puzzle which I finally got with the Z.
@RichardZ Totally agree. Got Sherlock Holmes almost immediately as my PBS station has been replaying the “Sherlock” series with Cumberbatch and also airing Lucy Worsley’s shows about Doyle’s “relationship” with his character, Holmes. An interesting tidbit; turns out the famous hat was the invention of the artist that illustrated him and not Doyle. It’s all been on my mind. Jeremy Brett was a superb Holmes.
I came to say what a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle this is. Congratulations! And, I’ve been known to do similar “round the couch” activities with my brother’s dog when I visit them. (I think she waits for me.) On reading Deb’s letter I thought, clue 16 across (a la John McEnroe voice). I remember your daily post back in the day, and the first time we got to 100 bloggers! A bit different when it opened up to a wider audience and more voices, Caitlin and Sam. Still, you’ve been a mainstay. Many thanks. Enjoy doing whatever you want! Best.
ACROSTIC: Balton and Stewart served up a yummy and challenging puzzle. Over ten clues related to the quote. Great fun!
@B I also quickly put “life.” :)
Smile, I did. Prell and its greenness was well known back in the day.
@suejean I had a work colleague/friend who avoided left turns at all costs and we used to discuss it. Her husband thought she was being silly. But I would avoid lefts when driving her, and came to see the benefits, especially here in S.F. I now also avoid lefts whenever possible. Btw, Yesterday evening about 7:30pm my time, I said 15A. :-)
Fun crossword. Also, excellent Acrostic by Balton & Stewart in which every clue or its answer is related to the puzzle. Well thought out, amusing and enjoyable.
A toughy today, but that’s why I do puzzles. I studied French language and culture a lot, but didn’t know MIDINETTE, so that was a plus for me. When I had MIDI… I wondered if it had a connection with the South of France, but I’m guessing, not.
@B The Alous were greats! I watched them all play. Go Giants.
@Rosalind Mitchell Thanks for your post. I love to laugh 😂 and loved the bird calls. Particularly chortled over the literate birds reading The Three Musketeers!
@Steven M. Haven’t seen it yet, but it’s going to be a play in S.F. this fall at our ACT company. I have my ticket 🎟️ and looking forward to it.
I had the reveal fairly early on and eventually was about 3/4 done with two 5-letter themers to get. It was clear the ones I had weren’t jiving with their clues, and I wasn’t making the connection. 🤔 I’m trying too hard? What does George TAKEI have to do with it? So I took a break and on coming back saw BITTE become BITTER ENDERS. I saw the light 💡 and got the last two. Huzzah! My favorite was TONY AWARD.
@suejean I also appreciated the British government references after tuning in to the BBC there for almost 2 weeks. But I got stuck in the lower half until I finally tore my thoughts away from Curling, the sport, and got BICEPS. Then I found RHAPSODY and a reference to Freddie Mercury that I had been hoping for. Fun Thursday.
@Etaoin Shrdlu They did that before a few months back for a previous variety puzzle before I could leave my comment. I tried sending a message asking if they could reopen the comments and got sent to a customer service person who didn’t know what I was talking about. At that time, I thought they were going to stop the variety puzzle comments, but then it resumed. 🤷♀️
@Trish So did I learn it as … repair. West Coast usage too?
@Liz B I agree. It’s always been a “down home” colloquial phrase in my experience, where spelling is often simplified.
@Mike I believe leis are worn in various places. The haku leis are very beautiful.
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