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Liveliness / TUES 2-25-20 / Place for tugboats / Japanese cartoon style / Rave's partner
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Hello, everyone! It's Clare — back for the last Tuesday in February. I swear this month has flown by, and I have no idea where the time went. Here in D.C., it's already starting to feel like spring because the weather has been so warm lately. Though, when I tell my family this, they like to remind me that it's already in the 70s out in California. Anyway, I hope you all have had a great month of February and enjoy the extra day in this leap year! Now on to the puzzle...
Constructor: Peter Gordon
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- FRIENDSHIP GAMES (21A: International competition for countries that boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics [Texas])
- HOPE DIAMOND (31A: 45 1/2-carat gem at the National Museum of Natural History [New Hampshire])
- FORWARD PASS (43A: QB's downfield throw [Wisconsin])
- INDUSTRY LEADERS (57A: Companies that have big market shares [Utah])
The Gila monster (HEE-lə) is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. A heavy, typically slow-moving lizard, up to 2 feet long, the Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to the United States and one of only two known species of venomous lizards in North America. Although the Gila monster is venomous, its sluggish nature means it represents little threat to humans. However, it has acquired a fearsome reputation, and is sometimes killed despite being protected by state law in Arizona. In 2019, the state of Utah made the Gila monster its official state reptile, despite the very small range of the Gila monster in the state. (Wiki)
• • •
Clue: What I said when I got to the end of the puzzle and realized the theme [California] --> Answer: "Eureka!"Dumb joke aside, I mostly didn't find much PEP (33A: Liveliness) in the puzzle. I also felt like the theme was an afterthought to my solve — I was mainly confused by the brackets as I did the crossword and only at the very end did I understand why there were there. While I was solving, I kept trying to think how FORWARD PASS might relate to Wisconsin or wondering what relation the HOPE DIAMOND could have to New Hampshire. I guess, on the plus side of all this, I learned some state mottos? ('Cause that's definitely going to help me in the future...)
As I'm trying to write about the puzzle, I'm realizing that not much of the puzzle is sticking with me, as I didn't find really any of the clues to be particularly clever or fun. A lot of the answers seemed like they could be clued in fresher ways, like HYDRA (maybe something with Marvel); LEVY (Schitt's Creek, anyone); ERROR (something maybe baseball-related — like, say, the Astros' past few seasons); etc... I just get tired of seeing the same answer clued in almost the same way every time. Like in this puzzle, NARC at 61A is in essentially the exact same place as it was for Monday's puzzle (at 58A). This time it was clued as "drug cop." Yesterday, the clue was "antidrug agent, informally." If I never saw another AIDED; ORB; NARC; or APNEA in a puzzle, I would be a happy camper.
I did mostly enjoy the downs, particularly LAVA LAMP, TRIPOLI, AW SHUCKS, and GILAS. Though, from my deep dive into researching these Gila Monsters, I'm now a bit terrified of them.
Misc.:
- I know LAVA LAMPS were mainly popular in the '60s-'70s, but they definitely had a resurgence sometime in the late '90s/early 2000s. Growing up, I was definitely obsessed with having one.
- 22D definitely had the potential to be a stumper, but, luckily, I'd read the book, "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" as part of a sixth grade project that involved making it into a picture book for little kids. The book was fine, but it's stuck with me because of how much I managed to procrastinate on the assignment. I remember my mom had to stay up very late finishing this assignment with me. I'd love to say it taught me a lesson, but I definitely still put the 'pro' in 'procrastination."
- All I can think of when I see HEATS (63A: Preliminary races) is how many stupid heats there were in track for the 100m and 200m in high school. Seriously, it seemed like everyone competed in these two events, and they took absolutely forever to get through. It made trying to figure out when to warm up for the mile or 2-mile near impossible.
- If someone wants to watch a movie about a "Glasgow Gal" (11A), I recommend watching "Wild Rose." She's a LASS but also loves to sing country music and wants to make it to Nashville. I saw it and loved it. And everyone needs to at least hear her sing this song that should've been nominated for (and probably won) an Oscar:
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80 comments:
Easy and easier than yesterday’s. So this was basically a themeless Tues. for me because I’ve forgotten all the state mottos I had to memorize in junior high (there is a chance that didn’t happen as junior high is somewhat of a blur).
Smooth with a couple of nice long downs, liked it, but I agree with Claire on some of the cluing. Speaking of which, I love Schitt’s Creek, but if you really want to be up to the minute, how about Jane LEVY from “Zoey’s Extrodinary Playlist”.
I'm confused. Live Free or Die is the New Hampshire motto. What is "hope"?
@nosepail - That’s because Clare wrote New Hampshire but my puzzle says Rhode Island.
What @jae said (except for memorizing mottos). There’s a reason good state motto’s are in Latin. Si Quæris Peninsulam Amœnam Circumspice is so much better than HOPE.
@Anon late yesterday - BTW = By The Way, SMH = Shake My Head, IMHO = In My Humble Opinion (sometimes Honest), IMED = Instant MessagED, IMO = In My Opinion, and LOL = Laugh Out Loud (not Lots Of Love). Most of these initialisms can be inferred from context and when that doesn’t work Uncle Google can help.
Why don't cannibals eat clowns?
Because they taste funny.
Ha ha. And all this time I thought PRISS was a tart.
Well it is Tuesday.
Where is Jonas now when we need him for the corona?
The DEMS STATE MOTTO......a "Better Deal."
I loved this puzzle! I thought the fill was really interesting (NIHM, HOPEDIAMOND, ORCHID, LICHEN, HYDRA, LAVALAMPS) although it definitely felt easier than yesterday (which, honestly, I love a puzzle that makes me feel smart, so might be another reason I enjoyed this so much). Great write up!!
It’s Rhode Island, not New Hampshire — was confused as well before I double checked the puzzle 😂
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi (Alaska)
Preferably thermal
Faster than usual, but a bit sticky. I thought state mottos were in Latin, but I ignored the theme in any case.
@clare -- I second your recommendation of "Wild Rose".
As usual with Peter, this is excellently crafted; as unusual with Peter, not a prolific pool of pop culture. The zippy solve revved up my brain, even as it missed having wordplay to wrangle with. State mottos are not an area of interest, but post-solve perusing of puzzles is, so:
* Every time I look at that LORRY right above STATE, my brain sees SORRY STATE.
* NITTI / VIDI / ROTI / TRIPOLI
* Because we have the Edmonton OILERS in the puzzle, when I see HEATS I think of the Miami basketball team, and even though it's an S more than the real name, I love saying it with that S.
* SWISS / PRISS / LASS / PASS
* SPREE / SKEE / See ya!
I enjoyed this one, but it reminded me of the puzzles I first started solving as a kid, back in the Maleska era. I wonder how long this one sat in WIll's desk drawer? Lots of OLDE stuff like NAIR, LAVALAMP, CBER, NEHI, CDROM.
I was wondering what those state names in brackets were doing there, so that was fun to find out. And I don't mind learning what a state's motto is, even if it is useless information. Still kind of fun. Also, the clue for LEVY was just fine with me. The pop culture references would have been indecipherable, and we're all always complaining about those imposed taxes, so, common knowledge.
NH's unofficial motto, BTW, is "Live freeze and die".
Nice puzzle, Mr. Gordon. Still wish your middle name was And.
Much easier than yesterday. Actually, this would have been an easy Monday, so way out of place on a Tuesday.
SUV I learned as Suburban Utility Vehicle, and I refuse to accept any other answer.
LICHENs are very cool. In Namibia, on the salt road heading north from Swakopmund, there is an honest-to-goodness, signposted from the road, free tourist attraction called the Wlotzkasbaken Lichen Field that is every bit as impressive as it sounds.
Half usual Tuesday time, also don't remember much standing out from it except how dated the idea of a CDROM is, but I work in the field. Missed a non trivial portion of the down answers because of full across solves before getting to them. Theme was post facto understood as well.
Agree with Clare about the theme--I had no idea what the theme clues meant until I was finished and able to suss it all out. Unlike @jae, I never had to learn state mottoes in school.
Found the puzzle easy except that I got stuck on 7D where I'd confidently entered PRUDE, and PRISS eluded me. But overall, meh.
@W. Seward 6:19 Thanks for the laugh!
Kind of boring except for the egg joke.
The intersection of orchid and orch. looks odd.
Meh.
Exceptionally fine write up, Clare! (Except for that little NH/RI mixup—HOPE it can be fixed online).
Found this on the easy side. Got the [State] trope about midway through, but can’t say it helped much.
Did not know 22D but remember a movie called The Secret of NIMH, apparently based on this book; never saw it but recall being surprised that the acronym for one of NIH’s institutes made it into the title of a film for kids.
I breezed through this at a Monday pace, didn’t bother trying to discern a theme - got to the revealer and it was like “oh, ok - if you say so”.
NIMH means nothing with me, so took it on faith from the crosses. I struggled with PRISS just a tad because I didn’t know the gangster’s name.
I think it is really foolish to have us conjugating latin verbs (I’m definitely swimming upstream on that one though), but the VENI, VIDI, VICI triplet appear so frequently that I have no choice but to get used to it.
@pabloinnh That made me LOL for at least 30 seconds. Thank you! I need that on a workday.
@w.seward ditto
Was kind of meh about the puzzle, but the combo of friendship and hope in relation to the states made me think of something motto-like. (Note that I coined a new word here!)
Was looking for minor league teams in relation to the states. Not that I know any, except the Mud Hens. Who could forget a name like that? Someone who lived in Natick.
Glad that I finished the puz early enough for once to join in with the comments.
HAGD all!
Monday easy, certainly less resistant than yesterday. A bit of -ese in there ...
Nice one, Clare, on "Eureka!"
An unusually crunchy Tuesday that made me happy. Skimming the convoluted theme clues, and therefore not really getting the gist, made the puzzle harder -- so that was a good thing. When I don't need a theme to solve, I usually ignore it, or as in this case, semi-ignore it.
Then I initially misinterpreted, thinking it was The Friendship State and The Hope State and The Forward State (that one really sounded peculiar) and The Industry State. Sort of like The Empire State where I live -- only the ones in the puzzle were ones I never heard of. Then -- big Aha -- it dawned on me. MOTTOS. Friendship! Hope! Forward! Industry! So much better this way. So this is what I say. Nice!
Lewis has mastered the art of damning with faint praise.
Pretty good puzzle with a nice theme.
Was stuck between sRS and JRS at 1-D, and couldn't divine OEUF until I had all the crossings. Had "ACT one" at 4-D, so I just abandoned the NW and worked south pretty quickly. Getting the STATE MOTTO revealer helped immensely, and as a native Texan I immediately put in FRIENDSHIP---- at 21-A. All of the theme answers turned out to be common phrases or gettable proper nouns, so that was nice.
Narrowly avoided a NATICK at the NETTI / ROTI crossing thanks to the appearance of ROTI in Saturday's NYTXW. Wasn't crazy about the ORCH / ORCHID crossing. NIMH and SOBA were both new to me.
Once I was finished, I kept misreading my own answer for 56-D as "RED EYE" instead of REDYE, so I had no idea what that had to do with the clue.
13 minutes. No mistakes.
I hate this puzzle for getting that stupid NAIR jingle in my head
Hey All !
Nevada's state motto is "All For Our Country". It should be "All For Your Money".
16 wide today, which I saw as soon as I looked at puz. Apparently, the ole brain has decided to work today.
Pretty good puz today, we all know that TuePuzs are the runts of the week (no offense to your runtz, @M&A). This one was good, even as Clare et alii have mentioned the lack of clever clues. But it did it's job. Not sure (again) why the puz is 16 wide, would've been perfectly fine as a regular size. Two of the themers are 15's. Oh well.
Not thrilled with the ORCH cross, but that little section is hard to fill with anything else that makes sense. So, OK. :-)
Two F's (Themers)
SHEETS! AW SHUCKS
RooMonster
DarrinV
@SouthsideJohnny
FYI, Julius Caesar (Latin 101): Veni, VIDI, Vici = I came, I saw, I conquered.
CREEPO SICKO and CHEAPO walked into a bar. Who paid?
Strange, this one took me almost a bit longer than my imaginary Tuesday average and seemed even slower. Hand up for PRude first. Misread 2 clues. But not sure where else the time went.
Clare apparently likes pop culture clues. I was just reading Nick Fury and his agents of Shield #2 with the return of HYDRA. but I prefer the somewhat obscure science clue that I needed crosses to get. Otherwise mostly agreed with Clare about the low points of the puzzle and with @Gill I about the high points and enjoying the puzzle.
Glad I never had to memorize state mottos. Were those Catholic schools sneaking in Latin?
Hard enough doing the capitals and civil war battles. The presidents not so bad, but I guess that gets worse every century.
Thanks Clare. I totally agree with you that today was at best “meh.” Never expect much from a Tuesday and usually skip them; today reminded me why. Now I’ll backtrack to see how @Lewis finds merit amongst the dross!
@Southside, for the record, "Veni,vidi,vici" is not a conjugation. It is the opening statement of Caesars' Gallic Wars. "I came, I saw, I conquered."
I felt no sense of accomplishment from this puzzle, but it is a Tuesday. Another "Thank God for the archive" day.
Forgot to mention, I loved the "Glasgow" song. I will definitely be checking out "Wild Rose". Thanks, Clare.
If our nation’s elected leaders from each STATE would try a little FRIENDSHIP in the INDUSTRY of running our country, there might be greater HOPE for America moving FORWARD.
Very nice puzzle and writeup today. Thanks Peter, Will and Clare.
♪ The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast ♪
Gotta agree the theme here seemed like an afterthought, but that didn't make the puzzle unenjoyable. (@Lewis – the Four Questions! Ma Nishtana!) Some nice fill with LICHEN, OEUF (cute joke), PRISS, AW SHUCKS. Though I think of "Aw, shoot!" as closer to "Darn it all!" in expressing exasperation, whereas "Aw, shucks" connotes more a state of abashment or feeling awkward.
I think that's my only nit(ti).
p.s. @pablo – love the unofficial motto. Here's one for you, about a possibly freezing young lass.
I came, I froze, I shoveled! Wait, that's Michigan!
This & that;
FRIENDSHIP GAMES sounds like a Facebook phenomenon of some kind.
FORWARD PASS, Weinstein move. GLAD HE'S CONVICTED AND LOCKED UP.
Mid-solve I found I was LICHEN it.
By the time I remember ROTI, I'll forget naan.
Happy there was no ORCHiectomy.
Speaking of Weinstein et.al., See 50D.
Have a good day, don't be a PRISS.
@TJS
I took Latin in high school 60+ years ago, so my memory may not serve, but I thought Caesars' Gallic Wars started "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres" (All Gaul is divided into three parts).
@JoeD-Thanks for the link. Nice to see someone else remembers P&G. Also, always thought "the jester" was a Dylan reference. You? I can do all of A. Pie but folks tend to lose interest somewhere around verse eleven.
Like Clare said - I learned some State mottos.
@JC66...Wow,you might be right. I will check later. About 58 tears ago for my Latin classes.
@lokischef
Strait-laced
As someone who can’t tell one NE state from another, I’ll give Clare a pass on this one. I also think it may have been an intentional “goof” to test our puzzle solving mettle one more time. Clare, nice write up, perhaps your best ever. Enjoyed the subtle humor and it was quite clear you didn’t find too many redeeming features in the puzzle. You also didn’t resort to Rex’s snarkiness. Refreshing!
I mostly grew up in Wisconsin, and sort of vaguely remember "Forward!" -- but with the Packers and the Badgers, it could just as well be "FORWARD PASS." Now I live in Massachusetts, where it's "By the sword we seek peace, but only under liberty." Now, there's a catchy phrase for you.
8D should be "big name in lawn poisons." And I think of SKEE-ball as more of an arcade game, but I guess it's probably in carnivals, too.
Nice misleading at LORRY instead of truck; only at the last minute did I notice it had tyres.
I spent way too much time puzzling over the hairdressing clue: if you change from artificial blond, then presumably the brunet is natural -- so I put in unDYE, but of course artificial blond would actually be achieved by bleaching, so to get back to brunet you'd be dying for the first time, not REDYEing. At that point I had to take an ibuprofen and a short nap, then just write in what was obviously wanted.
The puzgrid is 16-wide, but the longest themers are 15-long? Constructioneerin choice confuses the M&A. Maybe U had to be there.
Liked the theme. Different. Thanx, Mr. Gordonmeister.
fave fillins included: AWSHUCKS. LAVALAMP. ORCHID. NIMH.
staff weeject pick: JRS. Sets the puz off on a scrabbly note. Also, needed to help preserve OEUF & NAIR.
REDYE … har
Here's a case where the revealer is almost essential, to avoid impeachment. Unless it was a Fireball contest puz, of course. At xwordinfo.chen, our guest constructioneer mentions that the puztitle oughta be "Eureka Moment". He saved that moment for about as long as possible, this time [at the last two Across words]. Guess he coulda also scrambled them up, to be TASTE TO TOM, just to add to the suspense …? nah, didn't think so. It's only a TuesPuz, after all.
Masked & AnonymoUUs
p.s. Thanx, Kansas Clare. Nice Misc. bullets.
**gruntz**
@TJS and @JC66 - Apparently, we only know it through hearsay. I learn something new everyday.
Wisconsinite here, so with FORWARD I got the STATE MOTTO idea (@jberg, you're so right about the PASS! I've been wondering how the UW Chancellor is weighing Badger pride against CTE...).
"...with Bruce Gordon as Frank NITTI": gosh, I loved that show
One do-over. I misremembered the rats belonging to NIMm, giving me the "mOPE" DIAMOND. Nope.
@Joe Dipinto 1023am
Wow! Talk about songs I've not thought of in 50 years and just about forgot ever existed. Peter and Gordon.
@GILL:
And all this time I thought PRISS was a tart.
if memory serves, Priss was one of the rogue androids in 'Blade Runner'
as to the gaggle of 100/200 meter/yard runners in school: sprints (these are) require no stamina, you're running on stored oxygen the whole way, so anyone can make it to the end. there's a geezer who was winning the 60 meter dash (not sure how many meets had same, or still do); let's see if I can find him.... no luck. within the last decade or two, and was in his 40s. IIRC.
@pablo – I know all the lyrics to American Pie too. Most people read the jester as Dylan, the quartet and the Sergeants as the Beatles, Jack Flash as Mick Jagger (obviously), and try to pin down every single other thing in the song as being representative of someone or something. But I don't believe Don McLean intended it all to be checked off so literally.
Aside from the fact that I thought it was twoAM in Boston when it was midnight in Austin, and the fact that I thought someone could be prissy but not a PRISS (nevermind that for too long I thought it was Frank NeTTI, despite loving The Untouchables), I thought this was a fun Tuesday, and yeah, learned some state mottos.
@*me 1000am
Apology to @Gill I.
It was @Abigail who listed the high points of the puzzle and enjoyed it.
It is clearly printed on the RI flag. Nice and short, and in this century,refreshing at this time!
The phrase veni, vidi, vici is attributed to Caesar in a report to the Senate after a major victory in Asia Minor.
Caesar wrote his commentaries "Commentarii Rerum Gestarum" about the Gallic and Civil War. Gallia est omnis... refers to Gaul as a whole,not all Gaul, including the other tribes, in contrast to Gallia which signified Celtic Gaul only.
Add IMHO to the list. On My Humble Opinion.
What @ Lewis said. It was elusive (Prude before Priss, Orkin before Ortho, ACT two and then ACT one before ACTIII, so I was seriously in the weeds for a while) until it wasn't. Smiled at the mottos.
Margaret, Leo's assistant on West Wing so many years ago, made the egg joke in one episode. So I got both a chuckle and a little trip down memory lane while I tried to remember where I'd heard it.
I think I'll go listen to whatever the song is that Claire linked to.
They're predicting 3-6 inches of snow here; it was sunny and 50 two days ago. We have seriously screwed up weather. "Live, Freeze, and die" indeed.
I remember the Julius Caesar Gallic Wars quote as “Omnia Gallia in tres partes est divisa.” “Veni, vidi, vici” is what Caesar supposedly wrote to the Roman Senate after the Battle of Zela.
I finished this one in Monday time without really knowing any of the state mottos. I still don’t get how “Upper class members” = JRS. That was my last fill.
“I, Alphonse Capone, hereby issue pardons to Frank Nitti, Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger. I have also instructed the Attorney General to hereby immediately open an investigation into Eliot Ness.”
@Anonymous at 8:52 - My thought exactly.
@Anonymous at 9:27 - Same here, except that I am a little bit thankful for it. Ever since the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, I have had “We Are The Champions” running on an endless track in my head. Hoping short shorts will finally make it stop.
I grew up mostly in Maryland and Virginia. Both those mottoes could use some revising. Maryland "manly deeds, womanly words". Virginia "sic simper tyrranis" sounds OK ("thus ever to tyrants"), but is mostly known now as the words John Wilkes Booth said just before assassinating Lincoln.
I couldn't find any phrases with "L'Etoile" in them besides Minnesota's motto itself so that's one explanation why it didn't make the cut.
I found the theme rather ho-hum but overall, the puzzle had nice fill for a Tuesday. I was amused by the SWISS PRISS, the SKEE SPREE and the crossing ORCH-ORCH[ID}.
LAVA LAMP - Clare's right - they did make a comeback in the 90s. My husband's niece got married and the couple had one on their wedding gift registry. So that's what we gave them, along with the lyrics to the B52's Lava. Unfortunately the marriage didn't last and it ended up more like Johnny Cash's Jackson.
Thanks, Peter Gordon and Clare.
Had DAD GUM IT for DARN IT ALL, both of which connote rueful anger. AW SHUCKS seems to be a humble response of sorts.
@pabloinnh -- "Live, freeze, and die", indeed! That's really funny! Is it yours?
The reason why there are multiple heats for the 100 and 200 is because most tracks have 6 or 8 lanes at most. So you're limited to 6 - 8 runners per heat. Whereas 20+ runners could contest a heat of the 2 miler.
@Nancy-Alas, I did not come up with the alternate state motto. I'd be a wealthy man, as you can find it on t-shirts and sweatshirts and bumper stickers and so on. I guess not too many people get up this way or more folks would be familiar with it. The novelty factor has long worn off for us locals.
I like the puzzle fine, but thought the theme was kinda dull. I guess it's interesting that a bunch of states have one word mottos?
I liked this one a lot. I had to jump around a bit, but found fair crosses to keep going.
My only real hold up was 19A, the Capone henchman. Took a while to get downs to make sense. I kept trying various spellings of Orkin to make sense until ORTHO came into view. I'd have clued 19A as _____ gritti or misspelled part of a Dirt Band. Now that's a boomer clue.
As they say in Michigan, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
Anybody else microagressed by Frank Nitti ?
@Caryinboulder (12:27) JRS are no longer sophomores so they have joined the upper class. Sorry no one responded sooner🥴
Hey PJ - no
No one's mentioned it, so I looked at New York's State Motto, and it's "Excelsior!" complete with the exclamation point. Tres cool.
RooMonster Excelsior! Guy
Roo,
Spend two hours watchibg Silver Linings Playbook. Pretty sure you'll like it. Especially the excelsior scene.
Anonymous TJS said...
@Southside, for the record, "Veni,vidi,vici" is not a conjugation. It is the opening statement of Caesars' Gallic Wars. "I came, I saw, I conquered."
In addition to the other corrections already posted, I'll add that the Gallic Wars was written entirely in the third person.
Excelsior you fathead! as Shep use to say. Then there is James Thurber illustration of a parody Fables for our Time. And of course Longfellow. Stan Lee adapted it as a catchphrase.
Jean Shepherd was the likely source for Murray the Robards character in A Thousand Clowns and the source for the idea of yelling "...and I won't take it any more" out the window.
Did someone ask for Excelsior?
WHY am I anonymous if I write "TJS" ?
And I was wrong about VVV being i\the start of the Gallic Wars.@JC66 was on the money.
Not very exciting. Next!
SWISS PRISS ALERT
I HOPE my FRIENDSHIP with that SUITE LASS
MAKES her a-LICHEN’ my FORWARDPASS.
--- JONAS “CREEPO” NITTI
Interesting theme, in these times.
--> FRIENDSHIP: Essential to maintain despite physical isolation.
--> HOPE: That we're going to get out of this before we go bonkers.
--> FORWARD: Kind of ties in with the previous one--and also with the next:
--> INDUSTRY: C'mon, Yankee ingenuity! Let's get those ventilators built!
I just read an article about a plan to stockpile ventilators YEARS AGO that fell through because a big cap company bought out the factory where they were contracted and killed the deal (not profitable enough). Makes me sick.
At least I have plenty of time to do these, and today's was fairly good. There is some stuff here that's definitely NON-Tuesday (looking at you, NIMH), and seeing GILAS without their monstrous ending is a rarity, but also some lively downs. AWSHUCKS, I'll even forgive ACTIII. I can't "by opposing, end them," so give that stack of I's a PASS. With ELLA back for an nth DOD sash, let's say birdie.
Nice account of the themers by @spacecraft.
Some of the fill required a second look:
NIMH, SKEE, SOBA, and LORRY (cued by "tyre").
Looking back only a month of two ago, it's shocking how fast the pandemic has grown.
I did not know or had forgotten the one word STATE MOTTOs. A FORWARDPASS can be exciting in football, but in baseball you can REACH on an ERROR.
Right there in the middle is perhaps the most desperate of housewives, EVA Longoria. Yeah baby! No PRISS there.
Pretty good Tues-puz.
Rough start after I couldn't remember Jonas' name and knew the French joke but couldn't recall the spelling. DNF due to the proper noun crossings of Ortho/Nitti and Nehi/Che. I hate that Nehi is clued as "fruity soda brand" like it's Sprite or Fanta or some other drink that's been found outside of specialty stores in the last 60 years. Crossing it with someone from a show no one watches is downright mean for a Tuesday.
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