Offer at a Pub

SHE-eh-RRY, SHERRY eBAY-yay-bee,
SHERRY, won't you come out tonight?

CanNOT believe I was alone here.

No SAKE. Alex took the four of us to a great restaurant last night. Amazing place. Lots of great seasonal sake to go with the wonderful food. Also went to some museums and stuff.

Gulls and Seams both brought me back thirty plus years.

The only time I didn't live near the Eastern seaboard (gull territory), I lived in Toledo OH. Seagulls in every parking lot. They considered the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes part of the Atlantic Ocean, apparently. So, I've had seagull decorations on my cars all my life.

Leaky tent seams reminded me of one of the best accidents of my life. I grew up thinking that plants were too varied and subtle for me to learn. One summer, I was camping outside D.C. while prepping for a recital, and it poured rain day after day. Eventually, every seam in the tent gave way and everything I had was soaked through. As soon as I could, I threw the soaking-wet camping gear into my car and drove home to Toledo. What to do with the rest of my scheduled vacation? I stopped in at the Toledo Botanical Gardens, then resolved to stop in every Friday after that. The second half of my life, dominated by a fascination with the plant world, was determined by leaky tent seams...
molar of the sotry...
Accidents can be good things.

I agree with a great deal of what RiA said, specifically about preferring wordplay to gridplay and being surprised (astounded actually) that the constructor had thought of the gridplay aspect first. For me, the gridplay here actually lessened my enjoyment of the puzzle since it caused so much segmentation (especially NW and NE) and didn't allow for smooth flow from one part of the puzzle to another.

Also I didn't see a panda.

I'm also with RiA on wondering why FedEx's logo got dragged into the clue for ARROW. There are so many noncommercial possibilities. And surely there must have been some other possibility for GIRO.

Had a debate between UNO and UNA and didn't know N?DAL, but guessed right.

Like others, went first with LAST LAP. Also, my tent had leaky FLAPS.

I still don't understand how the CAR on a TRAIN is etymologically different from one on a LOT. This site suggests otherwise:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=car

It took me a while to remember GIMBAL, and I didn't know MARIPOSA at all.

An impressive feat of construction, but not entirely my cuppa.

Just after I retired I did some SUBbing in the local school system, but dropped out after getting tired of being awakened at six in the morning. My best gig was one for a music teacher where I got to lead the band. Just like the Sammy Kaye show on ABC (there's a bit of trivia that few of you will get).

No smiling panda seen here, and also no smiling solver till I got past those DUSTY DEATHS, YEW know what I mean?

I think I remembered GIMBAL by way of Macy's, and wound up liking its connection to GyROscope. GIRO/SUB is also cute (as well as easy on those grinder molars). GIRO as a helmet brand did not ring a "Bell" for me.

Ran first with LAST_Lap, of course, and also with MARIgold. MARIPOSA reminded me of the incomparable writing* of Stephen Leacock, who was a prof at the recently engridded MCGILL. Unusual to find so much humour in a political scientist, but, you know... Canadian, eh?
*(My favourite, from Gertrude The Governess: He jumped on his horse and galloped off madly in all directions.)

Also liked the hint of the classical with CARLOTta [SIC] Ashley, soprano; quite possibly, she has sung the  lead in SERGE Prokofiev's Romeo and JULIET. Sadly, not to be found on YEWtube.

Small Bits:
Can't think why a rooster's sound is a CROW. Must not be GULLible.
At one time, MACHU Picchu would've had both one-L and 2-L LAMAS, right?
TEAT 'n' TEETH. An unfortunate combo.

SHERRY, GIN, SCOTCH, PORTER, STOUT and COGNAC... Nicely worked theme, JEB, with nothing to whine about, but likely to bring on a killer hangover. 'SLATER than you think, and all my love To Kay.

Thoroughly enjoyable Tuesday offering. Despite noticing SHERRY at the beginning in the upper left, did not think about the theme while solving and found it a pleasant surprise upon surveying my handiwork at the end. The diagram had to depict something, but what? A bar? No. Finally got the picture: A merrily sozzled sot showing TEETH and with his tongue out! (At least I hope that's a tongue.)

Had LAP before LEG, LOO before LAV, I NEVER before UNREAL. Didn 't know GIRO. Like seeing JAUNT, GIMBAL, MASTIC, and MARIPOSA. Less so EAGEREST, A CAP, HARI, ECOL., MACHU, CRO-, HI- (instead of HIGH-) TECH, and PRE-. (Has anyone else noticed a restaurant menu with a "PREFIX" dinner?) Also wondered why "State of the art" was hyphenated, which I'd do only when this phrase is modifying a noun.

P.S. A few days ago we had a clue "Entre ___" for DEUX. Hadn't heard this phrase before.

P.P.S. Speaking of SUB, the author Nicholson Baker recently described his experiences as one for 28 days in Maine: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/magazine/fortress-of-tedium-what-i-lea....

This is what Wikipedia says about this guy: Herbert Heyes (August 3, 1889 – May 31, 1958) was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1956. He was born in Vader, Washington and died in North Hollywood, California.

How sad is that? The guy appeared in nearly 100 films and on many TV shows and that’s it?!

Well, IMDb has more:

His father was a Liverpool, England sea captain who sailed around Cape Horn. The family moved to Portland, Oregon when he was four. In addition to acting in theater productions, he signed with Fox Films in 1916 and starred in many silent films. He entered radio in 1923 and ventured into many business interests in the 1930's. He returned to movie making in the 1940's and character roles on television programs in the 1950's. In his final years he also had significant film roles in A Place in the Sun (1951), Park Row (1952) and The Seven Little Foys (1955).

He is here today, in all of his glorious anonymity, obscurity and indistinctness, because he played Mr. Gimbel in the 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street. Of course, he was not credited so who knew?

I know, phonetics (GIMBEL for GIMBAL) for a Tuesday is not the norm. But neither are circles.

Teetotaler I may be, but that didn't slow me down with today's potent-potable puzzle. "This ROUND'S ON ME" sounds more natural to my ears, but the reveal is fine for this grid. Back in the early days of my job, if we had an extra blank page in a journal issue, we'd run the TOC of another journal in the same discipline, which we called COGNATE Contents. That helped me get the unfamiliar GIMBAL. I like a puzzle with some TEETH.

The song "Hey BARtender" was first recorded in the early 50s, but burst into public consciousness in 1978 when covered by the Blues Brothers. A couple years later, Johnny Lee scored a #1 country hit with his version. Lee's video features an obvious nod to the Blues Brothers, with a John Belushi look-alike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqGNNC7g2w

Last lap v LAST LEG: subliminally I wanted last lap too. The anchor leg on most, if not all, relay teams is the fastest performer. LAST LEG doesn't quite connote that; that run down jalopy looks as if it's on it's LAST LEG!

The puzzle constructor should have settled for "port" and not used "porter", which means "beer" to almost none of your solvers, thus your need to explain the clue. This is exactly the kind of sloppiness that makes me wish Mr. Shortz would retire and let someone take over who does not allow constructors to take illegitimate shortcuts/make stuff up! It's been getting noticeably worse for about five years now.

The only thing slowing me down was my mistake in LAST LAP, and the resulting conflict with REHASH. What a nice puzzle! Uncharacteristically, I started with 1A/D and the only problem was my slow speed with the pen. Got my high-dose flu shot yesterday, with the resultant reaction, so I'm sitting here quietly watching the room revolve before my eyes, thanks to Benadryl. Hope the boost to my immunity will be equally robust!

Hoping to see more from our constructor!! (Will, please note) and congrats to John Bennett on receiving the coveted POW! Award!

Saw the smiling panda right away too, Deb! A fun Tuesday level puzzle with a few words I didn't know but not hard to get from the crosses. Kudos.

"99 bottles of PORTER on the wall, 99 bottles of PORTER ..." Hmmm, just doesn't have the same ring, does it? The only PORTER I knew until today was the one who carried baggage. Nice to learn a new word.

That and GIMBAL. The theme gave me the "G."

Very ambitious theme, well executed. THEROUNDSONME isn't as much in the language as I'd like, but it definitely works, especially with the "ROUNDS" of drinks served up in the grid. BAR TAB is brilliant!

All in all I'd say this was a way above average Tuesday offering, like an excellent (fill in your favorite drink here) to be savored.

Thanks for the drinks, John E. Bennett!

Done in by UNA and not knowing how to spell NADAL: Insert heavy sigh about here. Only a blue star today.

Then the intoxicated dance number: Did gyre and GIMBLE in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

Wabe: excellent name for a pub.

Nice blend of form and function. Thank you John

...

Macy's might not tell GIMBALs but I'm telling you, I really savored this solve. Talk about an offer you just cannot refuse; you might as well go ahead and make mine a double whilst I drop a quarter in the jukebox...There was a watering hole not far from the Spy House Museum on the Raritan Bay called the Meadowview Inn. Nowadays, having a few at the 'View is a fond memory. The place closed years ago...This is Frank Sinatra singing "Drinking Again." I am a fan of anything Mercer. How 'bout you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4C8_VlGXiw

Completing the twofer is this cut from last years Another Country album, Rod Stewart's 29th studio work, "The Drinking Song."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rV3ZAzlle4

To Your Health,

Bru

As threatened: When I finish a puzzle I usually sit for a while and look at the completed grid in Across Lite before I go here or to Xword Info. I'll review answers or clues, look at the grid pattern, etc. What I ended up thinking about today is that in terms of themes, there is 'wordplay' and there is 'gridplay.' Some themes are a mixture of that (often quite effectively). Today's seemed pretty solidly in the 'gridplay' category.

Anyway, when I read the constructor's comments I was very surprised to see that he had actually designed the grid first and then gone looking for a theme to fit it. I didn't know anyone did that (but then I'm quite ignorant about construction in general). Let me be clear that I recognize that this is a very impressive feat of construction. I can see where it's always tough to try and find a set of theme answers that will fit in a grid, but at least in most cases you can move them around a bit if necessary. Something like this puts a much more severe restriction on that.

There's a mathematician inside of me and this kind of thing is intriguing to that guy. That guy is also a big part of my interest in learning about construction. But it's not my math guy who enjoys solving puzzles.

I'll just conclude by saying that as I learn about this, I am increasingly impressed by those constructors who can make a really fun theme AND still make the grid design essentially invisible.

Still liked the puzzle - it just happened to lead me down this path.

I guess I am over-thinking this one. My dead-tree newspaper came with shaded squares, so I got the theme right away, but I was convinced there was more. I saw a face in the grid, but that led me nowhere. Then I searched for the word ME scattered throughout, thinking that the round might literally be ON the word ME. No such luck. At least I learned what a GIMBAL is. As with many others, it was the last to fall and only because of the alphabet run I did with CO_NATE. When I reached the G, I recalled French teachers using that term to identify words which were similar or the same in French and English.

Not exactly my favorite kind of theme (more on that later), but it did contribute to the solve in a couple of places and it was interesting watching it unfold, so I was fine with it in the end.

I had RUHR before SAAR and was loathe to give it up, so that slowed me down a bit down there. Biggest struggle was in the NE, where I didn't think of SSN or SEAMS and never considered NOOSE and certainly not MASTIC. Finally seeing SCOTCH helped a lot in finishing up. Got GIMBAL with just a couple of crosses, but I don't remember why that's familiar.

My favorite non-theme answer was COGNATE. Nice word and it's only appeared once before in the Shortz era and before that not since 1974. Pre-Shortz it was always clued in its other sense of 'related by birth.' On the other end of that scale was EAGEREST. That's only appeared once before and had a much more interesting clue: 'Like the perfect beaver.'

Was struck by the string of 3's across the mid-south. But BAR TAB is (I assume) part of the theme, and I realized you can't put a six letter answer across the middle of a 15x15 puzzle, so I guess that's what dictated that.

Not fond of gratuitous mentions of brand names - specifically today in the clue for ARROW. If you're going to clue JULIET so obviously, why go so weird on an answer like that, which has a multitude of better options.

Some more general thoughts related to this puzzle in a separate post.

I didn't see a panda, Deb, just a big ol' happy besotted smile. I learned GIMBAL and MARIPOSA, and my only ugh is EAGEREST (has anyone ever said this?). Hand up for LASTlap. Terrific clue, as Deb pointed out, for CAR_LOT.

The puzzle seems to subliminally tell me not to over-drink, with the octagonal shape of those theme answers continually suggesting a stop sign to me.

I got the theme almost immediately and loved it even though the only wine was a SHERRY (not a favorite) I used to be a SCOTCH drinker. So I sailed through this one except for a problem in the SE for two reasons; I was thinking the answers would be continuing the circle and was hard pressed to come up with a drink that started RETR. I also was thinking the Spanish butterfly was similar to the French papillon. Finally remembering MARIPOSA opened up that corner and the rest fell easily. I loved getting in the BAR TAB. This was great construction and fun and deserved Jeff's POW!

I still qualify as a newbie to crosswords, although I have lurked here longer than I care to admit. As such, I end up not trusting my wheelhouse or not recognizing crossword staples. This pair of problems left my right quadrant quite bare -- until I saw the theme emerge. Thank goodness for SCOTCH! Then, completing the puzzle was simple and smooth. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

As the blog's token bartender, as far as I know (is Chaos still lurking?), I just have to say... something. So, my first bartending job was in a dive bar in a rather affluent neighborhood, if you can imagine. Patrons were constantly buying rounds, and we used upside-down shot glasses as markers ( many of you will remember this practice) and everybody would eventually have a prohibitive number of shot glasses lined up and it was just ridiculous - they'd have to leave them and go home. After throwing a bunch of money at me. Those were the days... Fun puzzle. Bourbon is big league nowadays. And wine is huuuuge.

no problem -- gimbal was the last clue. worked quadrant to quadrant. okay Tuesday puzzle.

This is GIMBAL with your compass, kids, not to be confused with gyre and GIMBLE in the wabe or the late GIMBELS department store.

MIJ, Circles.

LASTLEG also tripped me up on the way to what I thought was the LOO.....

I'll bite... how are TRAIN CAR and CAR LOT etymologically very different?

CAR is not a shortening of CARRIAGE in either case, if that's what you might have been thinking.

...they spell out six different types of alcohol: GIN, SCOTCH, PORTER (beer), COGNAC and SHERRY.

That's five. The sixth is STOUT. Speaking of extra entries, everyone should do the very timely "free" puzzle Deb if offering in another Wordplay column. It was fun for me to see it again; if you haven't done it, I think you'll enjoy it.

Just 15 minutes ago I was looking at a photo of the ship's compass Robert Peary used in his attempts to get to the North Pole, and the caption described how the compass was mounted on GIMBALs.

I liked that the shaded squares with the beverages were split into two half-rounds so the names would read left to right for all of them (no trying to read backwards). I decided to interpret that as one person buying a round, and then a second person buying a round. This may be overthinking it, but I enjoyed it.