Loved seeing WHALERS pop up in a puzzle! I lived just outside of Hartford when the ownership decided to move the team and it's possible that I still haven't forgiven them for it.
2
To cheer you up, here in Raleigh they are always Dead Last in NHL attendance.
Thanks for the Idaho shout-out: Gem State of course plus Picabo Street. Picabo is a twofer because she was named for the town of Picabo.
3
Once again I - - -laid the hub’s puzzle. He was - - -cross!
1
and Elke
Was thinking that some Newfie (a Canadian from Newfoundland ) or a Manhatenite would chime in with the new musical ''Come from AWAY :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_From_Away
Interesting story.
1
I agree with Deadline in that I wish there had been more trickery as in typical Thursday puzzles, e.g., rebuses, dashes, numerals, mixes of acrosses and downs (12/28), etc. This puzzle was, to me, on the level of a Tuesday puzzle.
It took me all day to put No Way - the puzzle reveal - together with the many carols and motets I've sung based on the old French "Noë" which has come down to us as "Noël" but was of course pronounced "No Way."
Here's one for the curious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojWRokAxygw
2
I don't run unless there's something chasing me, so I'm not up on marathons. ULTRA marathons were completely new to me. And now I learn about this Self-Transcendence thingy. I'm just glad I don't live on that block in Queens that the competitors keep running around.
Got the theme right away, at HIGH(WAY) ROBBERY, so my only real challenge was seeing whether the down longies were also themers. Not.
A couple of gimmes, including themers (after I'd seen the theme): GEM STATE, RUB-A-DUB, RUN A TRAIN, ONE STREET, BRETT, a bunch of shorties.
Sort of knew COHIBA, because there are references to the cigars sometimes in TV crime shows, where the really rich bad guys smoke them. I just didn't know how to spell it, and wondered about COjIBA. Easily disentangled.
WHALERS became HURRICANES? Okay. If you say so. But I did get NBA at 21A, and even knew why. Sorta. I knew "traveling" was a basketball term, even if I had no idea what it meant.
Overall, an amusing puzzle, although I'd have wanted either more trickery or more challenge in a Thursday. Maybe next time for these two newbie constructors ... whom I welcome to our stable.
I didn't understand much of what Jeff said today at xwordinfo, but he gave me an earworm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSOn5gQFDpE
Stay warm, my friends.
2
Deadline, good for you for getting a sports answer! For your further self-improvement, in basketball, traveling means running or stepping with the ball, without dribbling.
As for the hockey teams, some irony exists because when the WHALERS were in Hartford, they were some 35 miles from the coast. Not much whaling to do on the Connecticut River, but then, they move to Raleigh and become the Carolina HURRICANES. Raleigh is about 170 miles from the coast, so hurricanes are not exactly a dominant feature of Raleigh.
Worse than those examples is the move the Minneapolis basketball team made. In the land of 10,000 lakes, the team was known as the Minneapolis Lakers. They moved to Los Angeles, where the mudslides put out the wildfires, and retained the Lakers name.
The Hartford WHALERS moved to Raleigh & became the Carolina Hurricanes. Hockey fans in CT have never recovered. (In many ways Hartford as a city never recovered.) The WHALERS are still popular enough that the NHL started selling official WHALERS jerseys again several years ago (I think it was around 2010).
"For your further self-improvement, in basketball, traveling means running or stepping with the ball, without dribbling."
In the context of the game of basketball, "dribbling" means bouncing the basketball on the floor.
1
Apologies if this was already noted, but I have Jackie Gleason in my head saying "...and a WAY we go!"
3
Apropos of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training soon, I appreciated Thursday's "change-up" after Tuesday's 99 m.p.h. "heater."
3
Very easy and quick for a Thursday. Caught on to the theme right away and it helped speed me through the puzzle, along with quite straight-forward clues.
1
This was an excellent first and second puzzle. Thanks to Mr. McCarty and Mr. Southworth for giving us a solid Thursday puzzle with a clever theme and no weird tricks.
I must admit, for 4D I was stuck thinking about a dial phone, and I put CERO. I started to get OCHO from the crosses, and then I realized that we've been pressing buttons on telephones for nearly 40 years now. (That makes up for all those dated references, like Della STREET, that I get because I'm so old, I guess.)
I'm a baseball fan and a card magician. 24A was the last one for me to fall, because I was stuck in the latter mode and didn't let my mind go into the former.
1
Holy MOSSES! What do I know about Cuban cigars? Considering there's a 'Diamond' (baseball) club called the Washington NATs, I was fine with COHINA instead of COHIBA. Close, but no cigar!
Liked the level of difficulty in the fill; seemed a little ramped up over the average. That had me slide down the West Coast, so reached the reveal before any themers completed. Certainly easier with knowing to look or a WAY in, but they were still Ahas and Hohos. Didn't care that they were uneven; all were good and variety is a slice of pife. I liked them and I won't be swayed.
Also enjoyed the Cockney cross of the LONDONER 'ERE, a RIGHTO bit o' Britspeak; the RUBADUB is quite far from the TUB, but we can probably find three men to man it, so long as they aren't WHALERS, and SVEN stays out of the galley.
In keeping with the theme, am curious to see if our musical mavens will link us to anything I have on my list of possibles -- WALK A RENEE, HERNANDO'S HIDEA, and I AM A POOR FARING STRANGER. Probly not,eh?
Like some other readers, I was tempted to try my hand at EMUlating some themers, but somehow most of mine turned out pretty much unPC:
*Cry while chasing mannequins - RUN, MODEL!
*Polite remark turned rude - GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD
*The Tops quit, anagrammatically - FOUR STOP
*Fishy movie star - THE GREAT WHITE
(which, of course, points to NO'WAY, the country that's supposed to send us more immigrants)
Thanks Messers McCarworth, halfWAY between CAMP and sCAMP
6
Mustn't forget those quiz-show masters, broadcast i living color: The ANS Brothers, Keenen Ivory and Damon.
3
Your postscript made me think of one:
Guy who goes door-to-door in the mornings:
AM SALESMAN
1
It's as you point out, David, out of the many no-way' possibilities, the quality depends on how you can clue what's left after you've lost your WAY. I agree that seeing AM and ANS as abbrevs is what opens the door to new perspectives
Given the fact that I scarred my child's psyche by letting her see Jaws much too young, I've no excuse for being as tickled as I was to think of "The Great White". Guess there's always psychotherapy...
1
Very enjoyable. As Londoner, I note the synecdoche (figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, e.g., cockney for all Londoners). Or maybe the clue should have said for exemple?
It did say Cockney, e.g.
Oops! You’re right. Missed the e.g, when solving!thank you.
1
OoooohKay. Finished with a wrong letter--no clue whatever about cigars, Cuban or otherwise, so COHINA made as much sense as anything. A 'Diamond club' could be any of the baseball teams, I cleverly thought--so the NATs came to mind. Perhaps if I had run the alphabet.... but No.
Also ran afoul of KUBO, but fortunately PhysicsDaughter was by my side and knew that film; I say 'fortunately,' but that's just one point of view. She is here because her horse spooked during a lesson last week, leaving her on the muddy ground....with a broken wrist, badly wrenched knee, generous bruising from stem to stern, and basically incapacitated. DHubby zoomed Southward and after the ortho follow-up, brought her here for R&R (Rest and Recuperation, that is.) She will be fine...eventually. This is her first (hopefully last) broken bone, which I guess is impressive given the number of falls she has taken throughout her life. She's also come off her horse before, but less traumatically. She is still working on today's puzzle.
Oh, the puzzle. Well, pretty good one, but no cigar (literally.) Congrats to our constructors, and extra points for providing photos on Xword Info. Now back to my duties as Chief Hovering Officer.
5
Just don't let her read Dick Francis's Sid Halley books....
1
KBarrett, I suspect any offspring of MOL's has probably read all the Dick Francis books. (Agree that those have some particularly cringe-worthy passages.)
Nice to know I wasn't alone in wearing the NAT vs BAT hat, Ms MOL. I think COHINA sounded reasonable on account of similarity to Kahuna and kachina dolls.
Org. that discourages traveling: TSA before NBA
12
Very nice puzzle. Boy, was it ever tough to get the last nine letters
S U B
O B O
N O W
!
I might have something in common with today's puzzle creating collaborators; that is if they have ever taken libations at The Tiger's Tail. I've also done some marketing at Palmer Square, seen shows at the McCarter and bowled a few lines at the alleys downtown. That is, however, the extent of my Ivy education. I have no BEEFS, the rest of my learning coming from the school of hard knocks. You know the place; where COEDS are few and far between, as they were on Nassau Street until 1967...There was a lot to like about this wrinkly Thursday as it solved with relative ease although not completely bereft of exigency...A warm WP welcome to Alan and his able assistant Ryan. Hope there's more works on the WAY, both as a team and as solo word fitters...Aretha Franklin, backed by Cissy Houston also team up today on this SLOWEST of slow jazz-blues. The song turns 50 in April. EVEN IF you are not into ballads, "Ain't NO WAY" should stir the SENSES. If not, IMHO, you might NEED to apply to music appreciation TRY OUT CAMP. (-;]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLPQpExVn9k
Yes WAY,
Bru
2
I don't understand the Della and Picabo answer. I got it with the crossings and some common sense as to what the phrase was, but I don't get how it relates.
Della STREET was Perry Mason's assistant (?)
Picabo STREET was (is?) an American Olympic Skier
Each individual (the clue suggests a singular) is ONE STREET
1
Della STREET was Perry Mason's confidential secretary, so described several times on the TV series at any rate. She was portrayed by the lovely Barbara Hale. From time to time, a visitor to Mason's office would object whenever Della would start taking notes of what was being said. Mason would assure them that, "Miss STREET is my confidential secretary," and that would seem to allay their misgivings. Then would follow a most candid discussion of the very things the visitor didn't like to have written down, with Della taking it all down in shorthand.
2
I got the STREETs right away, because I am old enough to have read Erle Stanley Gardner's *books,* predating even the 'Perry Mason' TV series.
Picabo STREET was a very good competitive skiier back in the day. I recall seeing her in the Winter Olympics long ago...
1
Congrats to our freshman and sophomore constructors today. Good idea for a rebus-free Thursday. Not my SLOWEST Thursday solve, nor my fastest. Only write-over was CEMENTMAKER before MASON.
"KUBO and the Two Strings" is highly recommended to animation fans.
Minneapolis rock group Soul Asylum hit the Pop Top 10 in 1993 with their single "RUNAWAY TRAIN" (EVENIF they sound a whole lot like Tom Petty on this number). The accompanying video focused attention on runaways and other missing children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtvqT_wMeY
2
With apologies to a Hoboken crooner:
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
....
And more, much more [like] this
I did it my
10
Yesterday I didn't tumble to the DOWN FEATHERS theme until the bitter end. Today, I began in the upper left, saw HIGHR______ (rooftop heist) and instantly guessed that the revealer would be NO WAY JOSE. Close enough to elicit High Revelry. Thanks for making my day.
6
A very enjoyable puzzle from our freshman and sophomore constructors. Bravi tutti!
I call synchronicity! I mentioned "interregnum" in a comment yesterday, and here it is as a clue today. (Someone else mentioned "emus" yesterday, and we have EMU as an entry. So synchronicity again. But the chances may have been better for that one. Like mentioning OREO, or ERA, or AREA. Much better than, say, BATON.)
Housebound again today. Teeny bit of melting expected this afternoon. Better melting tomorrow. May take some time to get rid of twelve inches.
6
Still frozen in Spartanburg, slightly worse off as the plow created a small burm at the entrance of our apartment parking lot.
Spartanburg! Please give my best to our mutual friends at Wofford.
1
Will do. And burm --> berm. Where is spell checker when you need it?
2
At first I thought that IT would be the missing word because 69a began "Forget it!" Happily HIGH ROBBERY disabused me of that so the puzzle went fairly smoothly from there on.
I had entered OBOES but zapped it when I tried to fill in the crosses. Same thing with REVOTES. My hold-up in that area was the two children's film clues.
The N in ONO was my last entry and that was just a guess, not even an educated guess.
1
Congrats on an excellent debut and collaboration! Cute theme with matching reveal. Well done!
As for ultramarathons, even as a non-runner, I'm familiar. Several of my fellow Cincinnatians are ultramarathoners, including this one who made the news in 2014 for winning the Badwater 135 (mile) outside of Death Valley CA:
https://www.dailynews.com/2014/07/27/cincinnati-man-wins-135-mile-ultram...
Never heard of the Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race. I find that name difficult to speak trippingly on the tongue. They should make the race a few miles longer--it's not like participants would even notice the difference at that point!--so they could call it a 5kk.
Are you really saying that the runners wouldn't notice a 1,900 mile addition?
Mmm. 3,100 miles already equals 5,000 k. So go ahead and call it 5kk
KK.
A Thursday without little tricks is a thing of beauty. We have EMU of early week and a whiff of what is to come with COHIBA. Allegedly rolled on the thighs of virgins as if that mattered. I ask: What of the thighs of curmudgeons? When pricked, do we not bleed? Sorry carried away.
MOSSES is my favorite fill. Brings back memories of Botany where one of our taunts was: I think he reproduces by budding? Those were the days as we impressed COEDS with our rapier wit: IMHO.
Nice done A&R men.
4
I thought the theme was clever. Filled in all of them once I got the reveal except for 30a, where my first thought was RUNWAY... something. Puzzled over that for quite a while and needed some other down crosses before that finally dawned on me. Got stuck in a couple of places but was able to work those out. GEM was the toughest, with 16a being ambiguous and thinking that 19a could have been something I just didn't know.
I thought that was a quite overdone choice of a clue for COEDS, when 'college' is the only relevant part of "Jack Benny film 'College Holiday'". Also thought that it might have been a bit better to clue 17a as "subject of the film 'Tower Heist'?" which at least is a thing. I can't think of anything else.
2
Rich,
Are you feeling better?
2
I liked the clue for 25A because it emphasized the quaint aspect of the word COEDS, and seemed like the obvious answer.
3
Paul, yes - better than I did yesterday. Thanks for asking.
Liz, good point. I didn't consider that angle.
2
I managed this one fairly fluently today. I choked on the Cuban cigar but eventually got it with the crosses. I got 46A but did not know either of the "Streets". Now I do. I always thought the spelling of 48D was TOOTS(IE). I see that both spellings are acceptable. And, as my NYC knowledge is decades old, I was quite sure that Queens stadium had to be Shea Stadium. Pleased to see that the same letters produce ASHE Stadium. HE'S A legendary tennis player.
6
ONO, ETE ENE ERE EVE!
Cute theme and nice for a debut. Mazel TOV to the constructors. We've got TEENs and TOTs and RUB A DUB, three men in a TUB. Was 'stuck' for the longest time on CEMENT 'mixer', EVEN though I knew the X would not be RIGHTO.
Now I am LOOking forward to Friday.
1
SO I don't want to take a BAT to the puzzle, but I do NEED to say I found the four theme entries strangely uneven. HIGH ROBBERY is funny if unreal for the clue, but RUN A TRAIN is not funny and quite real. ONE STREET is easy but silly, and SUB STATIONS is too close to the actual clued SUBWAY. An ULTRA, for me, would have the same tone for all four. No other BEEFS.
1
According to another crossword blogger, RUN A TRAIN has another, unsavory meaning. Personally, I would never have known:
http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com
2
Me neither, Steve; I only knew it as "pulling..." But if the editors took out every word that had an "unsavory" slang meaning, we wouldn't have any puzzles. In addition to being a "Tackle box item," BOBBER is also a type of motorcycle, a type of railroad caboose, and something "unsavory."
2
T M I.
1
A fine debut.
I got on to the theme late, after all of the theme entries had been entered.
The NE corner required two lookups: the history of the Hurricanes and the Idaho nickname. Everywhere else the crosses sufficed.
CORONA before COHIBA, AHI before ONO. I had to go through the alphabet for the N in the latter, as my knowledge of basketball terms and Hawaiian fish is limited.
5
Filling in ONO was an AHI moment for me.
8
That comment elicited an O(H) NO! from me.
2
Good effort by Messrs. Southworth and McCarty. Clever theme and a nicely pitched level of difficulty. Let's hope to see more of their work.
3
What a WAY to go ! Fun theme
Easy, yes, but high quality. Favorite clue: 53A. Do they have TRYOUTCAMPS for xword constructors? Maybe during a cruise across the DEEPSEA?
Way too easy for a Thursday. :-)
Did have a natick for the Hawaiian fish, tho.
60D has a hidden pun: the fiil is a Latin word, so .... that one is "no wave".
1
Dr W, I'm sure you meant that sinecerely.
4
Learned COHIBA (a cigar originally made exclusively for Castro and other Cuban higher-ups), and KUBO (which had a cast that included Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, George Takei, and Matthew McConaughey).
I tried to come up with other theme answers that rolled off the tongue as easily as the ones in this puzzle, with no success. Props to the constructors for coming up with these! Also, this is the third day in a row with a mini-theme of double E's (5). In addition, I like the "lantern fish" answer (DEEPSEA), crossing NEONS.
Congratulations on the debut, Alan, and on the second puzzle, Ryan. Keep 'em coming!
1
Other possible theme answers (can't guarantee rolled-off-the-tongues-ness)-
with a "WAY" word:
A(WAY)WITHWORDS - lol
TWO(WAY)STREET - if there is ONE, why not TWO?
BROAD(WAY)SHOW
ALL(WAY)STOP - or FOUR WAY STOP - regional variations in traffic signage.
SIDE(WAY)SGLANCE
MY(WAY)ORTHEHIGH(WAY) - double takeaway.
NO(WAY)JOSE - no? repeat of revealer?
SIX(WAY)SFROMSUNDAY
with an "AWAY" word:
TOWA(WAY)ZONE
LAYA(WAY)PLAN
GETA(WAY)CAR - to go with the HIGH(WAY)ROBBERY in the puzzle.
CUTA(WAY)SECTION - self-describing in this theme.
BREAKA(WAY)HIT
4
I'm sure there are WAY more than that!
Now, back to my STEIN PIANO.
3
Very enjoyable puzzle. I actually caught on to the theme early for once, though it wasn't any particular help in solving (they usually aren't), and thought it very well worked in. Nice work!
Is there any such thing as a “non-CEMENT” MASON?
2
Uh . . . weren't masons originally brick layers? Did that order that Mozart belonged to, with the aprons and trowels, pour cement?
1
High energy physics also comes to mind. Particles called mesons may contain gluons. And no I am not making this up.
1
Well, there's Perry MASON.
4
and Elke
Thought that maybe NorWAY would find its WAY into the puzzle this EVE (considering recent mention in the news). Got the STOCKADE version of ''fence'' ,though.
Did notice REVOTE - is there really a WAY ??
Those three men from RUB A DUB are quite far from the TUB or are they quipped with BOBBERs?
Can/should one run an ULTRA marathon on a ONE(WAY)STREET ?
My takeAWAY is : interesting, but no sparkle. Probably me, not those TEENage-looking constructors.
1
The revealer was just an R away from your opening wish.
good puzzle. got theme early with HIGH ROBBERY and it was easy sledding to the end. After a lot of hype we got just about two inches of snow in NJ. No easy sledding here thank God!
1
judy d, you may have has much of our twelve inches as you wish. You'll have to come pick it up, though. No delivery.
2
Alan,
I guess you're not going anywhere until spring.
I think someone posted this a while back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2fHuw1J0Xk
1
Loved the clip, Paul. That guy really needs his milk sandwiches, eh?
1
WAY cool! Picked up on the theme at 17A, and was more convinced after 30A, so the rest went fairly smoothly. Favorite clues: concrete plans for the day and pull some strings.
At first glance, I thought "concrete plans for the day and pull some strings" was your schedule for today!
in the 1/17 mini you ask for an abbreviation for a musician's degree. The answer for your puzzle is MFA. However the actual degree abbreviations are: BM, MM, BME,MME, DMA and PhD where the second M stands for music, e for education. DMA is Doctor of Musical Arts. if a musician gets a degree from liberal arts school without a conservatory then it is just a BA. I have never heard of anyone who has studied music and got a Fine Arts degree.
I'm not arguing that it's the best clue, or that the MFA is the most common master's-level degree awarded for music, but don't fall into the "I've never heard of it, so it doesn't exist" trap.
A quick Google search (MFA in music) gives several hits on the first screen, including these:
http://www.bennington.edu/academics/graduate-postbac-programs/mfa-music
http://vcfa.edu/music-comp
https://music.calarts.edu/programs-specializations/mfa-program-in-music
2
My earlier post simply called the choice of "musician" bizarre. This is because, though there are programs, particularly in composition, where an MFA can be earned in music, the real-world facts are that a vanishingly small proportion of MFAs are granted in music (as opposed to visual arts, theater, dance, design, writing, etc.) and a vanishingly small proportion of professional musicians hold MFAs in music (with most holding one of the degrees listed by Marc). When both facts are taken into consideration, it makes the clue...bizarre.
2
Many degrees ending with E are engineering degrees.
1
I tried to imagine the smallest potato possible for 11d since a full-sized one wouldn’t fit. Apparently there is one called a GEM.
2
Eh bien, c'est une pomme de terre
2
Non, un bijou!
1
The littlest spud is right there -- the GEM'S TATEr TOT...
Clever theme. Felt like could have been a Wednesday (or possibly Tuesday) while yesterday’s should have been a Thursday. But maybe because yesterday was harder for me!
5
Got the reveal. right aWAY, so this one tumbled quickly. Lots of fun. Thank you!
1
Very fun theme.
Coincidence? ICE and SNOW!!!
Over three days, EMO, NEMO, EMO. Missed EMU with feathers, today EMU! Previous EVE, today EVE NIF. Two clues before (both down), one answer today (down): SENSES. WAY NE is now NO WAY.
Solve so quick too much time after to look for things to point out! :)
1
and Elke
and I see - RAIN in RUN A TRAIN--- :))
Nice. At least no EHOW. :)
2
:)
EVE today too!
Three cheers for Old Nassau they sing,
Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!
etc. etc.
66A meets 67A in an old joke:
The concertmaster calls for the tuning note but the oboist doesn't respond. After a second attempt, she sees that the oboist is involved in a dustup with a neighboring violist. She goes over to ask, "What's going on? Why aren't you giving the A?" "He broke my best reed, the one I've been working up all week for tonight's concert!" "Is this true?" "Well, yes, but I only did it to get even with him for what he did." "And what could that have been?" "He moved one of my tuning pegs, and he won't tell me which one."
10
Amazing. That is, that the stream of dumb violist jokes, the equivalent of dumb blonde jokes in the extra-symphonic world, is still flowing. I've heard a couple more, but won't repeat them. No one has ever told me why Mozart's favorite string got itself into this role in vernacular humor. Not that I think this is a huge societal issue (but I was a wind player), it just seems odd.
1
This one's a string-related old chestnut, still good, tho:
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/humor/lexical-ambiguity.html
10
Excellent joke! Thanks for linking (and no violists were belittled).
1
Seems Wednesday and Thursday puzzles were reversed. Hardest 5 x 5 mini puzzle in years, though.
8
agree on mini. PIC before VID threw me off.
4
Clueing MFA to musicians in the Mini is just bizarre. Woof.
4
I have never matured enough not to giggle when a word starts MF...
2