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$100 bills, slangily / TUE 6-23-26 / Peak in Greek myth / Region of Oakland and Alameda / "Blue" locale in a 1977 Linda Ronstadt classic / "Hyde and ___" (1955 Bugs Bunny short) / Neural signal conductor / Kind of clef used for the viola / The Rev. Leonard Clement, in an Agatha Christie novel / Notable features of the Charleston, S.C. skyline / Most dangerous animal in Maine, it's said
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Constructor: Kathy Bloomer
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- COVER STORY (contains first part of "bent" VERITY)
- TAX SCANDAL (contains first part of "bent" CANDOR)
- FAKE NAME (contains first part of "bent" FACTS)
- PHONE SCAMS (contains first part of "bent" HONESTY) (28D: Bad calls?)
- BENDS THE TR[UTH] (contains "bent" TRUTH)
Comet Hale–Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) is a long-period comet that was one of the most widely observed of the 20th century and one of the brightest seen for many decades.
Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered Comet Hale–Bopp separately on July 23, 1995, before it became visible to the naked eye. It is difficult to predict the maximum brightness of new comets with any degree of certainty, but Hale–Bopp exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997, reaching about magnitude −1.8. Its massive nucleus size made it visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months. This is twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811, the previous record holder. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the Great Comet of 1997. (wikipedia)
• • •
PHONE SCAMS also seemed slightly alien to me, as a phrase, though that one I fully acknowledge is a real thing. I just haven't answered the phone for a number I didn't recognize in eons. But I have (older) family members who were preyed upon by phone scammers, so I'm not sure why my brain blanked there. Oh, right, the "?" clue, that's why (28D: Bad calls?). The theme answers did not appear to cohere to me until I was finished and looking the puzzle over. It's thematically impressive that not only does the puzzle bend "truths," but it does so directly out of theme answers that involve truth-bending. The one incongruity is that some of the themers involve outright lying, so the clue on BENDS THE TRUTH (50A: Doesn't lie, exactly...) seems inapt. But still, structurally, the theme is impressive—and intricate, which likely accounts for some of the subpar fill.
Overall the puzzle was very easy. I had one small and one somewhat larger moment of "???" The first was with VICAR (35A: The Rev. Leonard Clement, in an Agatha Christie novel). Which Agatha Christie novel? I am familiar with the concept of quaint village murder mysteries involving VICARs, but if there's an iconic one, I forgot it. Is it ... Murder at the Vicarage? Is that a thing? Yes! 1930. The first of her novels featuring Miss Marple. I don't think of it as among Christie's more famous titles, but that's probably because they haven't made a movie out of it in my lifetime, or ever (though there have been British and French TV series). Considering how simple all the other answers were to get, the VICAR hit like a very rough road bump. I also, as I said, had some trouble around the PHONE part of PHONE SCAMS, which was exacerbated by the made-up, could-be-anything [Casual greeting] (today, "OH, HEY"), as well as the clue on SHOUT (27D: Big whoop) (I was looking for a word for a "big deal" ... or a "party"? But no, a literal whoop. Fooled me!). Otherwise, not much friction today, which is fine, for a Tuesday.
["Blue" locale in a 1977 Linda Ronstadt classic]
Bullets:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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- 18A: ___ fresca (Latin American refreshment) (AGUA) — I had AGUE here at first because I was on autopilot, saw AGU-, and just wrote in the only answer that seemed to fit. This led me to a brief flirtation with OKEY DOKE at 9D: "All right! Enough already!"). Again, I didn't really read the clue there either. It pays not to be complacent, but good luck telling me that on a Tuesday at 4:15am.
- 43A: Notable features of the Charleston, S.C. skyline (STEEPLES) — having never been to Charleston, and knowing almost nothing about Charleston, I had no idea what this was all about, but between "skyline" and easy-to-get crosses, I could guess. Weirdly, there's nothing on the city's wikipedia page about STEEPLES, but it does have "spires."
Charleston is known as "the Holy City". Despite beliefs that the term dates to the city's earliest days and refers to its religiously tolerant culture, the expression was coined in the 20th century, likely as a mockery of Charlestonians' self-satisfied attitude about their city. Many sources, however, traditionally link the term to the many old church spires dotting the skyline of downtown Charleston. (wikipedia)
- 36A: Hide ___ hair (NOR) — only just now noticing how this clue echoes 53D: "Hyde and ___" (1955 Bugs Bunny short) ("HARE"). Nice.
- 63A: Peak in Greek myth (OSSA) — had the "A" and reflexively wrote in ETNA. But no, it's that even crosswordesier mythological mountain, OSSA (ETNA is in Sicily, whereas OSSA is in Greece, near the coast of the northern Aegean.
- 32D: Most dangerous animal in Maine, it's said (MOOSE) — this sounds like a joke but it is not a joke. I was listening to a podcast about the National Parks and at some point the host asked the guides she was with (who were Native American, I believe) what animals were most dangerous and they did not hesitate. MOOSE. Like bears, they are generally human-averse, but you are much more likely to encounter a MOOSE (if you are in MOOSE country) and their sheer size, and their fierce protectiveness of calves, means that more people are injured by MOOSE than by bears every year (at least in Alaska).
- 38D: Comet discovered in 1995 (HALE-BOPP) — did they have to name yet another comet "HAL-" something? I remembered this comet's name, but was not entirely sure how to spell the HALE part (HAIL?). Of all the names of celestial bodies that I know, this one is the most fun to say.
That's all for today. See you next time.
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65 comments:
Easy but enjoyable Tuesday, with circled letters that actually help the solve instead of creating far-fetched geometric patterns (thanks to the constructor).
Nice puzzle. But, per Rex's comment about PHONESCAMS: the idea that the elderly are more susceptible to phone and other digital scams is not borne out by the data which show that young people are actually more susceptible - - seemingly because they are naively trusting of new technology. Silly things.
Dropping a comment to commend @rex’s reference to Alan Hale.
I thought the puzzle was easy for a Thursday. Seemed a little challenging for a Tuesday to me.
Please cite said data. Meanwhile: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-high-cost-of-forgetting/202309/why-are-older-adults-more-vulnerable-to-scams
And he’s about to “Bopp” Gilligan. Brilliant.
Is neon a color? I would think it describes a color.
Likewise. I had to read all the way to the end before the penny dropped. Now I’m trying to remember the name of the actor who played Gilligan, but all that comes up is “Maynard G. Krebs.”
Oh, the magnitude of what Kathy pulled off today! I'll try to explain...
When you have answers that bend in right angles, as the circled words do, it greatly hampers the word possibilities that can go around them, because it constricts the possibilities in two directions, rather than the usual one. It is challenge enough to create a grid in which this happens five times, as today’s does.
But then, Kathy also had the right-angled answers coming out of other answers – all long! – an addition of complexity which makes building this grid seemingly impossible. And she pulls it off!
PLUS, she had to find four examples of truth-bending in which the beginning of a synonym for “truth” is embedded, such as the first five letters of HONESTY nested in PHONE SCAMS.
What? Really?? Wow!!!
I bow down to you today, Kathy. This puzzle is a triumph, the work of a master. And it was fun to solve for me because the theme’s layers unfolded in stages. Thank you – this was stunning!
I appreciate the effort on the trick early week - but the daily onslaught of circles is really starting to wear me down. It’s a cute idea and well revealed. VERITY, FACTS, CANDOR all solid.
CLARITY
Overall fill is clean enough - the big guy summarizes nicely. HALE-BOPP x STEEPLES is outstanding and I liked seeing EAST BAY.
Stonmilker
TAX SCANDALS, PHONE SCAMS etc were flat no doubt and take up a lot of real estate. Did like the folksy OKAY OKAY and YEESH.
Thistle and Weeds
An enjoyable enough Tuesday morning solve - remove the circles and slide it over to Thursday and we can really have fun.
And I went in seeking CLARITY
@Andy Freude. Bob Denver.
NEON is not a color; it describes a color as you said. In case it's confusing, the clue might as well have read "Like the kind of color of a safety vest" -- the intended meaning is the same.
Apparently Rex manhandled this grid, but to me it seemed like it would feel right at home on a Wednesday. It has a bit of a gimmick in the theme construct (which I did need the circles and the reveal to finally “get”) and some of the marquee stuff like TAX SCANDAL was not intuitive enough without a bunch of crosses.
Agatha Christie and Latin are definitely not in my wheelhouse, so that central section with VICAR and VALE was another section that was touch and go for a while. In the end however, a fun time was had by all (or at least by me).
I was about 3/4 of the way through before I noticed the circles, which made me like the puzzle much more. I go back and forth about the near-identical clues for two theme answers, which struck me as inelegant at first. But the constructor's approach seems to be to get the basic theme and then to keep adding new wrinkles--viz., Hyde and HARE/ hide NOR hair--so I'll take it.
@Rex, I think you're overthinking the Rev. Leonard Clement. He doesn't have to be a famous character, you just have to know that an English Rev. is likely to be a VICAR.
As for the MOOSE, not only are they dangerous when they attack, but moose-automobile collisions are a leading cause of traffic deaths in northern New England.
Cluing OSSA as "Peak in Greek myth" seems off to me. Sure, there's a myth about it, but it's a real mountain.
We're flying to Europe tonight, so I pretty definitely won't be here for the Wednesday puzzle, and sporadically at most for the next two weeks.
Bob Denver!
Easy-Medium. I thought the theme and its execution were pretty neat. HALE-BOPP was also pretty neat.
The expression Hide NOR Hair is new to me. I presume there's supposed to be a "neither" in front of "hide" to make the expression complete (but that would have made it too easy).
From Rex's review "the human capacity for shame seems to be fading into nothingness". I expect that capacity could be revived by actually holding criminals to account, prosecuting them, and jailing them as appropriate. Like other countries still do. Like we (in the USA) used to do in some degree, as for example during the Watergate era. I think a large proportion of the population would support that.
I think I would have given this a full four stars for the theme and simplicity. A couple of proper names I didn’t know fell easily to the crosses. Working down I really wanted Halley for the comet but got BOPP when I entered the B in BENDTHETR as my final letter. Actually paid no attention to the theme until I finished the revealer, which made it more fun for me.
Bob Denver.
Same here, Jay
Hey All !
Appreciate the toughness to fill this grid cleanly, but for some reason, there's something stuck in my craw about the Revealer using the "bend" but not the rest of the Themers. As in, the regular clues for the longer answers don't bend, ala, COVER STORY is COVER STORY, not COVERITY. Do you see what I'm trying to say?
Anyway, had CnoteS for CSPOTS, think that's it for writeovers. Put in ETALI_, and waited on the cross (which was sort of ambiguous, although OSSA seemed more likely than OSSI). Seem to get a brain freeze when I get OK in an answer, then see the full OKAY. It's like the ole brain doesn't want to accept anything after the OK. Silly brain.
Good TuesPuz. No TSKS, no YEESHes,.
Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!
Three F's (with one doing double duty!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
Yes, THAT Alan Hale.
But did he ever punch Gilligan, as the picture shows him ready to? Typically he BOPPed Gilligan over the head with his cap to the extent it was warranted.
Fun fact (if you're unaware, which I was, watching as a kid)... Alan Hale purposefully emulated Oliver Hardy in his role. Very evident watching now.
Took me longer than usual. I know C-note, never heard of C-spot. I think the woman beating guy with the Nazi tattoo, Graham Platner, is the most dangerous animal in Maine. Always nice to see the Notorious RBG.
The TAX SCANDAL that Rex didn't forget, so much as not associate as such, is the preposterous immunity that the Corruptor-in-Chief is seeking through a lawsuit "settlement" as redress for his "injury". The scandal isn't what he's trying to pull...that is exactly on brand. It's that there are still people in positions of power willing to play along at the expense of our money, and our national integrity.
Easy-Medium. Fun Tuesday. Found it a bit more challenging than @Rex did and more enjoyable.
* * * * _
Overwrites:
My 6A clef was bass before it was ALTO.
Off the s in the incorrect bass clef, stop that before OKAY OKAY at 9D.
My 26A bills were C-noteS before they were C-SPOTS.
EAST end before BAY for the Oakland & Alameda area at 42D. Fat lot I know about California geography.
No WOEs.
Every once in a while, the Times prints a wonderful puzzle like this one. Keep ‘em coming. 🎈🎈🎊🎊
Some sects believe that the DEVIL lived backward.
With apologies to Dr. Seuss:
OKAYOKAY I AMOK
I HALEBOPP
I PLOP I STAY
When in the MOOD
I SHOUT OHHEY
(But never while I'm in EASTBAY)
@jberg. I hope that while in Europe you visit Italia ETALIA.
This puzzle has a nice bent to it. Thanks, Kathy Bloomer.
I would actually argue that that works pretty well. It reads to me as “instead a regular green, it’s NEON green, or instead of a regular orange, it’s NEON orange, etc.” The [Like the …] does a lot of heavy lifting to show you that it’s a descriptor rather than a color, something like [Color of a safety vest] would obviously be inaccurate.
I often think late X-ers and early millennials were the most adept generations at adapting to new technology (it’s astounding how little computer competence current students actually have when they start college), so maybe there’s a corollary to adapting to new forms of scams.
I refuse to believe that anyone, anywhere, has ever said "C-Spot."
Hundred dollar bill is a C Note. . C Spot... are you kidding?? Vale was over my head.
Had a weird deja vu moment when I got to MOOSE because it also appeared in the Mini this morning! Whenever that happens, I wonder if it's an intentional nod of acknowledgement between the puzzle editors, a happy accident, an embarrassing mistake, or if I'm the only one who notices.
I’m surprised they put in HALE BOPP as an answer, since to me it is associated with one and only one thing - mass cult suicide.
Enjoyed this one quite a bit! I saw the words for truth, then noticed that they were ironically coming from phrases about untruth, so when I got to the revealer it was a delightful aha! off of the B. I initially wrote BENDS TRUTH since I failed to notice that the revealer had circles as well—the other theme answers, after all, have complete falsehood phrases reading normally in the acrosses. Obviously the inconsistency is fine since it’s the revealer (I think? Rex at least didn’t mention it, and he normally has a sharp eye for inconsistency). Very delightful puzzle.
The B that gave me the whole revealer was from HALE BOPP, which startled me to remember immediately after almost 30 years without ever thinking of it. I was finishing middle school, so I guess it was just an impressionable age. I mean, obviously the whole Heaven’s Gate cult mass suicide stuck in the memory, but I was surprised to remember the name of the comet, and the trip down memory lane endeared me to the puzzle. I assume that one might be difficult for solvers in their 30s and younger?
Just spent a weekend in Charleston, did a walking tour, etc., and never heard or noticed that steeples were an especially prominent part of their skyline compared to other cities. What I remember from the skyline is this massive bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ravenel_Jr._Bridge
I always wonder if it is intentional when a rare word appears in consecutive puzzles here, but it happens all the time with puzzles here having the same word as the NYer or other outlets. Pretty wide conspiracy, if so...
I whooshed through this (except for HALE BOPP) & solved as a themeless. But it's early in the week so I knew it couldn't be. After looking over my completed puzzle, I saw the gimmick & enjoyed it. Thank you, Kathy :)
Madison Avenue directs its ads at the 25-40 age group...because younger adults are in fact more susceptible to persuasion. I'm a senior who knows better than to buy insurance because the company has an emu for a mascot.
I enjoyed waking up in the full dark of a winter morning and looking out the only window we have that face north, watching the Hale-BOPP comet make its way across the sky. So cool.
I didn't look at what filled the circles until after I had finished the puzzle. Very nice! Thanks, Kathy Bloomer.
I was working thru the puzzle thinking "I'm so tired of circles, I want word play wth words, not with contrived things with circles. When I saw the reveal I reversed. That was totally cute and clever and could have worked without circles
Also enjoyed the "hide nor hair" "Hyde and hare" combo Rex commented on..
Medium for me. I ignored the circles and didn’t catch the theme until the reveal.
I needed a lot of crosses for TAX SCANDAL.
I did not know VICAR (as clued) and VALE.
Costly erasure - CnOteS before SPOTS
Two fun long downs, not much junk, cute/clever theme, liked it.
Una diversión tremenda. {I am not sure how to depict "rip-roaring" into any other language. I am not even sure what it even means in English.}
Way over my usual time. Probably a me-thing. Enjoyed the whole journey.
I looked over the aerial shot of Charleston and I am not sure it's any more steeple-y than any other town, but one article reports there are 400 of them. I Go-ogled it for Albuquerque and an article about the Mormon temple and an article about Staples office supply comes up so I'm guessing we have less.
❤️ OKAY OKAY.
People: 6
Places: 4
Products: 8
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 4
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 25 of 78 (32%)
Funny Factor: 2 😕
Tee-Hee: Blah blah blah sexual content, say.
Uniclues:
1 Tepid Amazon review of the Bible.
2 Glee ... when your exiting a full elevator after leaving a noxious goodbye card.
3 Resistant admission you ruined the elevator ride.
4 "These Spanish sailors are never going to touch our beautiful beautiful Empire."
1 DEVIL BOOK TAME
2 HASTY ODOR MOOD (~)
3 OKAY OKAY ... GAS
4 INCA BENDS THE TRUTH
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: What holds up an authentic teenie-weenie bikini. REAL NANO STRAP.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Scandal, properly understood, is any act or omission which leads others into sin. It’s from the Greek skandalon which means stumbling block.
As for the U.S. not jailing people anymore, I’ve heard more incorrect assertions but not many.
The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Yeah, once in a while El Salvador grabs the top spot, but nit for long. It’s the US by miles.
Completely agree. This was a coup. Doesn't matter that it was an easy solve or that some of the fill was necessarily cliche. Should be 4.5 stars. This depth of cleverness needs to be heartily applauded and emulated.
Almost exactly the same reaction as OFL, got it done, thought, OKAYOKAY, pretty nice, then went back and found the connection between the themers and their examples being crossed and the grade went way up. Very cool.
Had VERITY and FACTS filled in and going around corners when I inadvertently noticed the clue for50A, went down and filled that in, which spoiled things a little, but it was still interesting to find the other synonyms for TRUTH getting bent. Seems like the TRUTH is not so much bent but ignored these days, and not enough people care.
ETNA before OSSA, of course, Always forget IDINA, sorry IDINA. IDINA mean to. Agree about CSPOTS, sounds more lascivious than monetary to me, waited for the cross on ALI___ (hi Roo), and was delighted to remember HALEBOPP right away and also how to spell it.
Very impressive Tuesday, KB. Kinda Beats all the recent Tuesdays, or at least the ones I can remember. Thanks for all the fun.
At 11D, CANDOR could go two ways, right angle to the east OR right angle to the west and a quick turn south!
Contrition, CANDOR, seeking forgiveness and redemption go a long way with me. Time will tell.
Old people are more susceptible to PHONE SCAMS because they still use their damn phones as phones. This isn’t an insult against old people. If you don’t know how (phone) scammers prey on people with declining cognitive function, you are out of touch. Or it’s never happened to someone you know/love (it will)
Yes Bob you are immune to ads I’m sure. (That’s exactly what Everyone thinks) (also, ads are not phone scams so what are we even talking about here). “Seniors” who think they can’t be had are Delusional (which is what advertisers AND scammers count on)
Started with False [something] instead oof FAKE; didn't know ACTS / VICAR / VALE right away, went with CNOTE (of course), took a bit to get TAX SCANDAL, etc. . . . so I'm with those who thought this was a crunchier Tuesday than usual. Nice resolution though--nice construction.
I was a kid in the early 60's and Iremember so clearly when Maynard was asked what the "G" stood for. Answer: Walter..
Very nice! An unusually complex treat for so early in the week (see @Lewis 7:11). After I had VERITY and FACTS in place, I saw that truth was being bent, but I still got a little jolt of delight when T-R-U-T-H itself was bent in the reveal (I'd expected the phrase to be on one line....admittedly it was too long for that, though). I really liked how there was partial truth in the COVER STORY et. al. Brilliant construction!
My spouse regularly mangles expressions like "hide nor hair" - for him, it's "I haven't seen head nor hair...." He also has people making money "hand over foot."
I had CNOTE before CSPOT. I have never heard CSPOT. It really threw off that corner for me.
I was looking for a kind of dog barking (hungry? arfarf?) like some roofs. Do we not say rooves? Is it now leafs, not leaves?
Didn't know OSSA so had ETALIi too long. Remembered sALvE, so I waited for VALE to materialize.
Took a while to figure out how Spanish for 10 relates to like a road heh.
I saw HALE-BOPP on my way into an Ultimate [frisbee] party in Italy and it blew my mind. How could I have heard nothing about this incredible comet? Why wasn't everyone going as berserk as I was? I'd glimpsed Haley's the previous decade, and only through a telescope. Heart-breaking disappointment. I aim to live till age 90 to get another chance at a more doomsday-harbinger-ish pass. So, my completely unexpected spotting of HALE-BOPP was one more high point of what was an incredible year, 1997.
@anonymous 10:59 AM: No one believes that. A self described military history buff had a Totenkopf tattoo on his chest for eighteen years and covered it up after it became public and was hurting his Senate campaign. I understand the importance of retaking the Senate but don’t pretend there’s any other reason to vote for this degenerate.
Great TuesPuztheme. Straight-out falsehoods & bent truths. It's like a Trump press conference's greatest hits. Only a lot more fun.
The Circles made it pretty obvious, what was afoot with them bent truths. Didn't quite latch onto the straight falsehoods aspect, until almost finished, tho.
Primo revealer, with bent TR/RUTH finale, of course. [In runtpuz land, we call these runt-rolls.]
staff weeject picks, out of 10 choices: AAS/GAS. ... close.
some fave stuff: HALEBOPP debut. CLARITY with some VERITY in it. OKAYOKAY. CSPOTS [wanted CNOTES first, tho].
Think we drove thru Charleston once, many many years ago. Its many many STEEPLES didn't register with us, I reckon. Cool meaty TOUR-like clue, tho.
Thanx for the fun, Ms. Bloomer darlin. U clearly went on an impressive bender here, today.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
p.s.
Runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Placing politics ahead of… everything. Good for you. Vote for that nazi and abuser of women. Sell your soul for a seat in the Senate.
The irony is, he won’t win and those who voted for him will have to live with the shame of voting gor that creep.
"Pardon" me but white white collar thieves are sentenced to YEARS and are out in DAYS, literally days! BTW, my redundancy above was intentional!!
Yeah I’m surprised they didn’t check with you first.
This one deserves the high rating @Rex gave it. It hit me with the revealer and it was a ton of fun to go back to see what was going on with all the rest. I am over the top impressed with the construction here as well as the theme idea itself. All for the reasons that have already been so eloquently pointed out.
Kathy, all I can say is WOW! Thank you for the very enjoyable ride!
Another way to make money. "Hand over your wallet."
Love those! You married well.
Totally agree that this is a clever, hard to pull off theme. First rate for sure.
There were a few concessions needed to make it all work. The constructor's dear friend, the plural of convenience (POC), played a role in that. The especially helpful two for one POC, where a Down and an Across both get a grid-filling, letter count boost by sharing a single S at their ends assisted YEN/TSK, SR/CSPOT and ACT/STEEPLE in filling their slots. Even two themers, PHONE SCAM and BEND THE TRUTH needed POC help,
OKAY, OKAY, the intricacy of the theme more than justified those, so only minor points off for this otherwise splendid offering.
I did a slight side eye to 37A "Emotional state" for MOOD. I think a MOOD and an "emotion" are distinctly different states. Maybe just me?
Don't know exactly why but 10 Across reminded me of this Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs classic.
Pretty difficult as a downs-only. I found myself wondering if it was actually Wednesday.
TAX SCANDAL was the worst. Just didn’t sound like a thing to me. Everyone tries to take advantage of tax laws even if, like me, they agree that taxes are necessary to keep the country operational. But some ultra rich folk seem to pay disproportianetly low rates (Trump. $750 in 2016 and 2017.) Doesn’t surprise me but I guess you could call it scandalous.
Working downs-only, I ran into a bunch of things I didn’t know like ACTS (Follower of the Gospels). I don’t read the Bible so I just kind of tune out on those clues. VALE was a mystery, as clued. It’s Tuesday, why not go with the landform clue? HALE-BOPP. I knew it but I didn’t know it, if you know what I mean. No idea on Hyde and HARE because I know as little about Bugs Bunny as I know about the Bible. Also no idea on EAST BAY and NOES seems wrong. Why isn’t it just NOS?
So a lot of stumbling, scratching, and clawing, but still fun. It is, after all, a puzzle, and it was a good one. Thanks, Kathy Bloomer.
One more thing: does anyone actually say Geez-o-Pete?
When I opened the puzzle and saw the circles, I groaned and muttered a naughty word. But it turned out okay! This is a rare example of how circles can be used well. The "lie" gets bent to become a "truth"... tricky!
I meant to solve down clues only but forgot. Just as well, as it didn't seem that "easy" to me. A bit too much unnecessary nameification of the clues, eg VICAR, ODOR, STEEPLES, BAYOU, LOGO, MOOSE, HARE are all regular words that don't need to be clued that way. But only a couple of Unknown Names today: IDINA and OSSA.
Embarrassingly, I had GOOSE before MOOSE for the dangerous animal, yikes. I guess I thought the clue was part of a bad joke or something. So I finished with FAKEN AGE at 30 across, which makes no sense. But at least it was easy to find and fix.
M&A. Thanks for reminding me. (I forgot to put it in my original post). When I hit that lower right corner and saw a word ending in TR I was baffled. Words don't end in TR. Unless they're not ending. And that's when I saw how the circles worked. Doh! Lovely theme.
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