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Rose oil / MON 8-1-2016 / Big band trombonist / IV units / One doing carbon 14 testing / America's Cup sport / Game piece with pips
Monday, August 1, 2016
Welcome back to another Annabel Monday!!!!!
Constructors: Kurt Mengel and Jan-Michele Gianette
Relative difficulty: Easy, actually. Weird, right? Like this took me 10 minutes less than usual. I'm so proud of myself.
THEME: TO-DO — Theme answers contained "to" and "do".
Theme answers:
- TOY DOLLS (17A: Barbies, e.g.)
- TOUCH DOWN (25A: Land, as a plane)
- TOMMY DORSEY (36A: Big band trombonist)
- TOP DOLLAR (49A: The highest price)
- TO DO LIST (59A: Planner's aid ... or what 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across are?)
Rose oil (rose otto, attar of rose, attar of roses or rose essence) is the essential oil extracted from the petals of various types of rose. Rose ottos are extracted through steam distillation, while rose absolutes are obtained through solvent extraction or supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, with the absolute being used more commonly in perfumery. Even with their high price and the advent of organic synthesis, rose oils are still perhaps the most widely used essential oil in perfumery.
...It takes many pounds of rose petals to distill one ounce of essential oil. Depending on extraction method and plant species, the average yield can range from 1:1,500 to 1:10,000.
(Wikipedia)
• • •
This is probably my favorite puzzle so far, actually. I dunno, something about the clues and how it's laid out just work really well, and there's a lot of fun in it! There's LATEST - ASAP - NOW, which reads like a three-word short story about a frenzied news reporter. There's the fact that TOUCHDOWN doesn't have the obvious football clue. There's the way the constructors somehow managed to make DOT, of all things, into an interesting clue. Rex, you can't be totally grumpy about this one, right?!? I did get stuck in the lower left corner for a while, mostly out of a stubborn refusal to admit that ATTAR is a real word (which might or might not be why I made it word of the day). Also, I had DNA for 31A for like a million years. Again, this is why I'm an English major, not a bio major.
The theme was...eh. I'm actually great at checking off everything on a TO DO LIST, but the hard part is making one in the first place! I never know what I actually need TO DO, or what I just want TO DO, or what I should DO later rather than sooner, and in the end I just end up kind of going with everything as it comes. But for those of you who live by them, it's a great Monday theme! You can check off "do the first crossword puzzle of the week." :D
Bullets:
- TEPEE (39D: Conical home for a Plains Indian) — Uh...do you mean TEEPEE? Or TIPI? I've genuinely never seen it spelled this way, and I was very confused.
- DIP (1A: Guacamole, e.g.) — Oh my God I know I already wrote about the cool parts of this puzzle, but I just realize this combines with the corner to make DIP and DOT. Dippin' Dots. Like the ice cream. I love this puzzle.
- YACHTING (38D: America's Cup sport) — As a sailor, I believe I know what I am talking about when I say the America's Cup cannot accurately be described as yachting. The word "yachting" evokes peacefulness and leisure. The America's Cup is about FEAR AND DANGER.
- OTTER (8A: Playful animal on a stream bank) — Otters have been my favorite aquatic mammal since the third grade. Here is why.
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| Picture only slightly related. |
Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired college student.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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68 comments:
Great write up Annabel. Welcome back! I agree with you about otters. Did you see this video? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoCulItdxg
@Nancy...You're a hoot.
@Annabel...So are you.
Yes... OTTERs hold hands. I saw that clip on YouTube and I "shared" with everyone in the whole world.
The puzzle...Dang. I finished it before I could take another sip of a very good La Playa Cabernet Sauvignon Rose.
Signed....DONNA COOLEST CARROT.
Medium for me partly because I had trouble reading my own printing. It's probably easy-medium. I liked it too Annabel, cute theme, smooth grid, hard not to like. Plus, hand holding OTTERS...
An answer in this puzzle reminded me of a clue I ran across recently... "The Sultan of Sulu" author... Evil clue!
Yay, it's @Annabel Monday, and lucky for @Jan-Michele Gianette and @Kurt Mengel because today's offering strikes me as the sort of construction that @Rex would pounce all over (theme, fill, large number of 3-letter words, number of black squares exceeding the usual specs, isolated corners not "flowing," ...)
Then again, who knows, maybe the vacation/hiatus might have done wonders for OFL's spirits and temperament?! But I am concerned, @Annabel, what makes you so tired in the middle of summer break? Hope there's still time to do something relaxing before resuming the academic slog come fall!
Delightful writeup, @Annabel, and fun choices of video clips. Your TEPEE comment reminds me of the joke about the guy who goes to a shrink and says, sometimes I dream that I'm a teepee, and other times, a wigwam, and the response is, that's easy to explain, you're two tents (say it out loud).
ATTAR reminds me of that period some 40 years ago when my brother and I roomed together in graduate school in New York City. We bought a bottle of 2-phenylethyl alcohol, aka rose oil, and portioned it out into dozens of small vials. It was a great first-date gift, and believe me, in those days, there were a lot of first dates, not that many second and third dates ...
I do hope that when @Rex retakes the reins, he will continue to leave the moderation off ... perhaps the community can self-organize for some sort of early-warning system in the unhappy case any trolls or spirit casters reappear. The past week or so, with controls off and @Matt Gaffney as Regent, has been quite refreshing, as per @Whirred Whacks' "Awakenings" analogy.
Finally, ICYMI, my friends and I were inspired by recent historic events to construct Stronger Together!, a counterpoint to our earlier An Embarrassment of Riches. We hope that, regardless of your political leanings, you add both these puzzles to your TO-DO_LIST.
Happy First Monday Annabel.
This one went so quickly I didn't see most of the down clues. The only pause I had was at 57A LESTER Holt. Downs helped me out there.
Never even entered my mind to look for a theme until I arrived at 59A. Oh yeah, I see all the to dos. Cute. Onward!
A Monday with even a couple of tricky-sorta clues, like "i completer" and "Tango requirement". My only nit was TOYDOLLS; DOLLS is sufficient, and I don't think people say the former, as in "Angie, pick up those toy dolls!" The theme was decent Mondayish and I didn't feel like my intelligence was being insulted. Clean grid. Some beyond-Monday answers (GESSO, ARIOSO). And an unusually high number of double letters: 22.
Cool but I'm sure unintended: In the NW corner, starting with the D in DOT and turning right at the T in TOY, you get DOTO.
I shook this one and tossed it out with pleasure, like my mutt does with his DOg TOy.
Okay, so I'm stuck on DOTO today.
Loved Alvin singing "hey joe" but can't figure out why singing chipmunks make otters your favorite.
Hey, Annabel – thanks for the cuppa nice this morning! You speaka my language.
I liked the theme, too. One of those why the heck didn't I think of this? themes. Once in a while, I try a TO DO LIST and actually add stuff like
1. Make a list
6. Eat lunch
7. Be sure to check things off list
9. Get a snack
13. Double check list
so I can feel like I'm checking things off. I swear.
Too bad TOOTH PASTE begins with TO – I very very briefly thought we'd have 6 themers.
Anyway, didn't it used to be on Mondays that solvers knew which where the theme answers by just their length and position? Seems they always list the entries in the reveal these days, lots of times even starring the clues.
Hey, @George – Hah! I did a Schrödinger runt puzzle for that joke: TWO TENTS/ TOO TENSE were the reveals. It actually wasn't that great of a puzzle, now that I think about it.
Gotta go – first thing on my list is to take a truck in for service.
Actually, it was the second thing. First thing was to get out of bed.
Annabel,
Glad to read your review this morning and the darling image of young otters. It all put a smile on my face.
The fact that even I have finally learned GESSO does not make it OK for a Monday. Ditto for ARIOSO. Not for a theme this thin.
First Monday of the month means (in addition to Annabel) an attempt, and usually a failure, at an across-only solve. Undone by Dts/DdT/ItO and 54A, where I could not see it from (o/s)LI--eT.
Yay, Annabel! I agree with GB that Mr. Grumpypants might have found stuff to grumble about. Especially on a Monday, I like Annabel's spirit much better. But I wouldn't want youthful enthusiasm every day. I'm looking forward to your return, Rex. Hope you had a restorative break.
@GB, are you seriously asking why a college sophomore is tired at the end of a weekend? or indeed on any summer morning? I'm old, but I remember.
TO DOs are everywhere in this puzzle for extra theme credit. DO T, DO E, TO OTHPASTE crosses DO MINO, SLI DO UT, TO RTE, YOU TOO, TwO, DO NNA. Fun Monday.
Thanks, KM, JMG and Annabel!
It's weird to be counting women since there are more of us on the planet, but today is Day Three with a female as a constructor! Will must be making an effort on the distaff side since I've never seen this before. Add in Annabel and it's girls, girls, girls!
@Lewis will be having a double blast today.
This was an easy Monday with some zippy clues. Not too shabby! I thought I'd give @Lewis a few more even if they don't count.
An easy Monday puzzle and a great first Monday review...thanks Annbel!! From Dip to Torte...loved the puzzle. Now to make my to do list for the week
@Lewis, I S[EE] that the 22 (double TWO) count of double le[TT] that I wanted yesterday, showed up today. There was more consonant diversity today with 9 different consonants doubled versus only 6 yesterday.
Now thanks to your DO TO I have discovered YOU TOO DO TWO which has become an ear worm to which I want to say SHOO.
Yay! I wake up, pour a cup of coffee, do a delightful crossword, and then discover it's an Annabelle Monday!! Hows' that for a great start of the day?
Loved the TOMMYDORSEY video, for some reason he always makes me smile.
Also love OTTERs, who doesn't? But I think OTTERs are about the only animal that are cuter as adults than babies.
But, not to be a buzzkill, a TURBO ain't a jet engine. A TURBO is a turbocharger, which is a turbine that is powered by exhaust gases to compress intake air (or fuel/air mixture) in an internal combustion engine. Some jet engines are indeed classified as TURBOjets or TURBOfans, but TURBO (as in stand alone,) is short for TURBOcharger.
@hartley -- Lewis did
@aketi -- Due to your you too do two, I'm ear worming Artoo Detoo.
Great job, Annabel! But that "Dip in Road" cartoon is a direct rip-off of one Johnny Hart did for his B.C. comic strip in the 70s or 80s.
I was going to write a list of things I found offensive in the puzzle but I decided that would be just trolling so I decided against it. I also don't want to jinx the chance, however small, that moderating will remain off in the future. Also, I thought this puzzle was great. I zipped through it and didn't notice the theme until I was done, but it is really well done. I agree GESSO and ARIOSO aren't the best for a Monday, but the crosses are all manageable. Well, maybe HOWE would be a stretch for some people, but there are only ways a proper name that starts HOW_ can end.
TOY DOLLS are different from actual living, breathing, life-size dolls. They are also different from living, breathing, life-size Maltese. They are Maltese dolls.
But seriously folks, TOY DOLLS would have been better as TOY DOggy. It would have also been better if two DOs and two TOs did not appear in the same puzzle: TO DO LIST, OPTS TO and I DO. Duplicates like SLID OUT and PSYCH OUT should also be TOned DOwn a bit. But what is 1-2 do?
Otherwise a pleasant enough, if overcast, Monday morning. And a terrific write-up by Annabel, as always.
Am I the only one who thought the ARIOSO/ROYS cross was unfair? Since both were WOEs for me, it was a coin flip between the correct answers and ARIOSa/RaYS, and (of course) I guessed wrong. Not OK for a Monday.
A fun 7 minute solve. Now back to my to do list!
@Hartley70 - I remember a little back and forth about the dearth of women constructors. Nice to see some balance returning.
@Lobstrr11 - I've never quite understood the vagaries of 20th century art trends, but I did know that ROY Lichtenstein was a big deal for his distinctive style. Crossworthy for sure, but maybe a stretch for a Monday.
Anyone notice the PPP otherwise? No? I counted just 18 out of 76, several coming from the cluing. This is about as little pop culture as we ever see in a NYTX.
@da kine - I don't think there has ever been a problem with being critical. It's all about disagreeing without being disagreeable. I often find that going through a rant and rewriting any sentence with a "you" in it flips it from the latter to just the former.
I'd rate this puzzle NTR. No Thinking Required. But, like @Hartley, I'm glad to see the plethora of women constructors appearing in the Times lately. And, like @Z, I'm also pleased to see the almost complete absence of PPP.
Thanks, GILL, for this morning's comment. And to Mohair from very late yesterday -- I really cracked up at your post!
Nice Monday.
Thanks Annabel
Enjoyed the Annabel review more than the puzzle . Puzzle was quite easy and not much new material.
Liked the fact I knew RAP and two good friends just returned from the TETONs with their grandchildren-- both loved the experience.
Agree with Prof. George about Rex needing to let the comments fly.
Also go to George's site and try his latest puzzle--it's top notch.
Thanks KM and JMG.
And to think, Annabel, that I almost went out today without checking the OTTER video. What a mistake that would have been! OMG, it's made my entire morning! I want one. (An OTTER, not a video of an OTTER.) Actually, I want . Plus a large body of water for them to frolic in. Thank you, Annabel!
I was going to complain that this one was too easy -- but then I got the revealer, and saw that I'd grasped the theme only incompletely: I saw the T D (and hoped the revealer would be 'tedious') but not the TO DO. So now I like it better.
Welcome back, Anabel! Great writeup, as always!
Shoulda said "I want two. Guess I don't have this italics thing completely mastered yet. Let's try again, now...
Just checking to see if this comment will be posted immediately. As @Nancy commented, the puzzle was NTR.
This would have worked better for me if the themers were Downs instead of Acrosses to emulate a list. And the abundance of three-letter words (36% of the grid) didn't help.
My favorite part of this was the otter video. Thanks, Annabelle, for sharing.
Easy stuff but thought that LESTER/OPTSTO cross was a bit clunky.
I loathe cute furry creature videos! But I do enjoy your write-ups and your boundless enthusiasm for doing puzzles, Annabel.
Any one notice the double lettering, i.e. oo, ll, tt, cc, etc both across and down? Hidden meaning.
Bet not many ever heard of Arioso.
Terrific to get my TO-DO LIST polished off first thing, so that I have the rest of the day to LOLL. I enjoyed solving this TOOTHsome Monday, with its DOMINO, YACHTING, PSYCHOUT, and TOMMY DORSEY as the headliner.
I agree about the OTTER cuteness, but how about some OWLETS love, too?
@Nancy and @Hartley70 from yesterday - Awesome!
Thanks for the cheery write-up, Annabel, and enjoy the rest of your summer.
Hey All !
What TO DO? Oh, yes, comment on puz. :-)
First, always nice and refreshing to read Annabel. Second, look out for @Nancy, soon she'll be doing this and embedding! :-) Good on ya, Nancy, as the (Brits?)(Australians?) say.
Liked this puz. Simple theme, decent fill. The two OUTs kinda grate, but there is also a COP CHOP, which is neat. Agree with the Natick-able ROYS-RaYS part. Happened to put in the correct O as I figured most musical things seem to end in O. Always want to pronounce YACHT as "yatched". Did like how LATEST wasn't clued with a Most or Least clue.
"I'm LOADED. YOU TOO? Let's not ODS NOW!" What one drunkard said to the other...
RENOWN looks like a misspelling.
SHOO
RooMonster
DarrinV
The usual mix of hard to easy ratings; I liked the puzzle but I'm with Lobster and others who think arioso and gesso do not belong in a Monday puzzle. I got them but not without an un-Monday like wrestling match.I also found slid out to be a crosswordese phrase which is never a good thing in any puzzle much less a Monday one.
Beyond that, it is always fun to get 'Annabeled' on the first Monday. If Rex ever put down that a puzzle took him 10 minutes less than usual, the bloggers would collectively pass out!
The usual mix of hard to easy ratings; I liked the puzzle but I'm with Lobster and others who think arioso and gesso do not belong in a Monday puzzle. I got them but not without an un-Monday like wrestling match.I also found slid out to be a crosswordese phrase which is never a good thing in any puzzle much less a Monday one.
Beyond that, it is always fun to get 'Annabeled' on the first Monday. If Rex ever put down that a puzzle took him 10 minutes less than usual, the bloggers would collectively pass out!
My TODO list this am, with revisions. Get out of bed (Hi @LMS). Feed dogs. Wonder why constantly starving female malamute takes longer to eat than her laid-back uncle who nibbles kibble bit by bit. Pour coffee. Look at deck. OMG! Female malamute made her own breakfast this am and left the dishes for me, in this case, a fawn. Clean deck. Revise schedule to include long walk with stuffed malamute.
Puzzle was fine, write-up terrific, Annabel; otter video was a good antidote to dead fawn. And I echo everyone; please keep moderation off. I seldom post because i KNOW I'm going to repeat whatever a bazillion others have already said.
Congrats, Nancy, fo sticking with the tech learning. It's much easier to cave; you've got gumption.
Dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s! Of course,always. But what do you dot your i with? You do it with a tittle. Okay, okay, the word is archaic and fully out of use but I love this stuff.
My first in-laws were both painters, that is to say artists. Well, my first wife is an artist too but she makes pottery. Anyway, GESSO is immediately in my vocabulary. So, I thought it was fine for a Monday. Hah. ARIOSO is the one I find hard to remember but remember it, I did.
@Annabel, I suspect when you say you finished in ten minutes under your average Monday time what you are saying is under your average time of 14:37. My Monday time is right around ten minutes and I got this one in 9:02. I always enjoy your write-ups (or would that be writes-up to go along with hands-full?). I no longer need TO DO LISTS. I'm old and the only thing that would be on it, as a rule is the NYTX. The rest of the day I can just hang out and do whatever. I miss my. College days though and remember never being rested. I can even recall typing papers I'd been working on all night and then racing to class to beat the "No Paper Will Be Turned In Ten Minutes After The Start Of Class" rule. That used to involve sprinting sometimes.
Before I go, I OTTER thank you for the charming video.
More like a Tuesday than a Monday, reflected in my 17 minute time. I thought it was kida boring and clunky. Part of my problem was I also could not read my own printing, and thought the Y up top was an I, and groaned at "PitCHOUT" which would have been just wrong. In a pitchout you throw nowhere near the batter. PSYCHOUT was very well clued. And TOYDOLL, though lamentable, was better than the 'tot DOLL" I had. Barbies are for girls a bit older than tots.
As Annabel commented, the America's Cup is indeed a dangerous and difficult sport. It also takes up many millions to create and man the boat. Ellison, the current owner of the Cup, estimates he puts $80 to $100 million into each America's Cup boat. I preferred it when they were real boats and not aerofoils. But, that is progress, I guess.
love your write-up, Annabel - thanks for hitting the high notes!
@RP should be proud, that his NYT S-O-S themed puz has spawned so many creative clones.
Comin soon … WI-KI Dictionary entries. (Examples: WILDKITTY, WIMPYKID, etc.)
Also see some potential in TEPEE, as a similar theme revealer. And let's definitely find a way for YOUTOO to work into the theme mix.
@Blu'Bel: Extra-good write-up, utilizin the almost lost art of bullet-points. Yer writin is so lively -- would never suspect that U are so tired out. Cute otter runtz.
fave weeject: CCS. Everybody's happy: @Anoa dude, becuz of the -S, @Lewis becuz of the double-CC, and M&A due to desperation appeal.
Thanx, M&G Constructo-Team. U sure like them O's.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
LOVE seeing your Monday posts... wonderful, cheerful and insightful write up. Thanks..
@Lewis U2DO2 is the new R2D2.
@M@A, does a YOU U count? Or only a U U? If you take both Us out of a W, then you have a YOYO.
@Malsdemare, that has to be the worst start to a day I could imagine. Bambi! I hope your day has improved since.
WINOKIDNEYS. WILEYKIYOTE. WIDEKIMONO. WINTERKILL. WINDYKITEDAY.
WINDOWSKIT. WIGKIOSK. WICKEDKING. WINNERSKISS. WIZARDKID. WITCHKIND.
WINNINGKIWI.
Wow this idea really has some legs ...
(Will swap all rights for cinnamon rolls.)
M&Also
Glad I was not the only one running into difficulty with Ray/Roy and arioso/ariosa. I had no idea what Lichtenstein's first name was, but Arioso has been in puzzles before, I think, so I guessed correctly.
Perfectly fine Monday puzzle, and if as @Nancy noted, not much thinking was required - it's Monday.
I met Roy Lichtenstein and his wife many years ago. Even owned one of his paintings!!!
@Hartley70. Well, once I paid for the $100 xray to be sure she wasn't going to die on me, things started looking up. And for once, my pet emergency wasn't on a Friday night in the middle of a blizzard. Still, I'm grateful for the otter video.
@Malsdemare -- I hope that your TO DO list tomorrow morning will be a lot less harrowing. As you know, I'm a lifelong New Yorker and I find myself from time to time envying the many people on this blog who seem to live remarkably close to Nature. They just open their front doors and there it is. Your post today serves to remind me that there is Good Nature (those OTTERS, for example) and Not-So-Good-Nature (red in tooth and claw, as someone said. Was it Hobbes?) And then you have @Teedmn, who, if memory serves, encountered a bear, or ran from a bear, or stared down a bear, or something like that. Which makes me think that my being in what I refer to as controlled Nature, i.e. Central Park, is a very good thing.
Yikes. Ate and eat in the same grid, and psych out and slid out in the same grid. Seems subpar to me...
Finally caught up from the weekend and enjoyed following yesterday's italics tutorial session. I think that's an example of something that would never have happened with comment moderation as it took some back-and-forth to get there. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
@Nancy -- I read your italics adventure a day after it happened. I was rooting for you: Now she's up, now she's down, now she's back up again . . . . How delightful when you succeeded in the end! I always enjoy your comments.
@Malsdemare, glad the X-rays came out OK.
@Nancy, clearly you have not yet had a Central Patk squirrel steal a brownie straight out of your hand (of course I confess I was talking on a cell phone when the little bugger snuck up behind me and snatched it out of my hand. There are also cute, but potentially dangerous raccoons in the Park.
@Clark (7:45 p.m.) -- That's so nice of you to say! Thank you.
@Aketi (8:38)-- Aw shucks. Have you ever seen a squirrel stand on its hind legs and rub its stomach while begging for food? I have --many times in fact. I've always wondered where on earth it could have learned such a thing. But, for that reason, squirrels have always seemed pretty tame to me, as wild critters go. I think it's terrible that you were robbed by one, but you shouldn't have been on a cell phone. You should have been fully focused on protecting your brownie. Just like squirrels are fully focused on protecting their acorns.
Oh @Malsdemare, I feel your pain! Might I suggest some fillet mignon to help her forget her new found taste for venison. I find the styrofoam tray from the market easier to deal with postprandially than a carcass, and you might save some money to boot.
ROYS TODOLIST
I’ll pay TOPDOLLAR for the COOLEST woman to WOO,
if she’ll COMPEL me to DATER for an evening or TWO,
and the LATEST TOUCHDOWN there, if she OPTSTO,
until ASAP she YELLS, “ HOWE I ACHE for YOUTOO!”
NOW I’ll have ATTAR, until she YELLS at me, “SHOO!”
when this OLD man’s COMETOREST and SLIDOUT like IDO.
--- LESTER ABRAM
LOADED with 3s, at least 21 by my count, and 2 rows of 4 of ‘em. Missing Mel OTT but got OTTER and OTTAWA. And a coupla OUTs in PSYCHOUT and SLIDOUT (and TETON and NOTEAT). But not a SLOG.
If going to the Grand TETONs is on your TODOLIST, keep your eyes on the road when you get there. They are the COOLEST peaks and COMPEL you to stare at ‘em. A real distraction for driving.
Mills, Reed, Dixon, o Douglas – selezionare il proprio bella DONNA.
Nice easy puz for a Monday and/or holiday. Should the EDITOR sharpen things up a little? I so GESSO.
Starting out, I soon ran into a big problem: 17-across. That clue should have mentioned, say, Shrek and Fiona--because those TOYDOLLS would at least be covered in green paint! So, I knew I was dealing with rookies. Then with TOUCHDOWN, I got the TD connection, but thought: surely they can't use that as a reveal--but then what? And here we are (in Syndiland, anyway), right at the opening of football season.
See, I had yet to suss out that those letters were followed by O's every time, so when I got to 59-across I was, I have to say pleasantly, surprised. This is a good reveal line and carries the theme from "meh" to "pretty neat." But ginormous points off for that first one.
I [really] had a girl; DONNA [really] WAS her name. Since she [really] left me, I've [really] never been the same. And I do actually wonder: DONNA, oh where can you be? But private DOD's are not allowed, so I'll have to go with Bond girl Claudine Auger who played DOMINO. Indeed, she induces "Thunderballs."
Seeing this word list, I anticipated a hot entry from @Burma Shave, culminating in SLIDOUT (ew!)--and he didn't disappoint. There's some rough fill; I don't recognize the constructor names so am assuming they're relatively new at this; as such...well, it could be worse. Par.
Texas 50, Notre Dame 47 in double-OT: this promises to be a HOOT of a season!
@spacey - excellent call on Claudine Auger as DOMINO!!! HOWE did I let a Bond girl slip past??
Theme: Simple but nice.
Pausers: ARIOSO, TORTE (as clued)
Cute: DOT
Annabel's review: Bright and cheery.
After my first dozen entries, I mentioned to Lambo, the cat in my lap, that this was going to be super easy. He purred.
However, there were some Tuesdayish answers - you know the ones. At first I thought Rex would rant about those items having nothing to do with a to do list, but then I saw the oos. 'K, now I get it. Overall a good puzzle for newbies to learn the ropes. I, of course, knew GESSO as I'm in fourth grade.
I belong to the Monterey Aquarium. Last year, when I renewed my membership, I went in to get my "gift" for responding in a timely manner. The volunteer at the front desk asked, "Are you ready for cute?" and brought out the cutest otter stuffed toy, holding his own toy star in his paws. He like hanging around the house with the little reindeer Mr. W bought at Christmas and the little hedgehog I gave him for Valentine's Day. Like at the dentist, say "Aww."
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
PS - The squirrels in our yard like to eat our sprinkler heads. Maybe I should leave out some brownies.
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