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Relative difficulty: Easy (closer to a Wednesday time, and that's with rebus squares)
THEME: JAM PACKED — The puzzle contains three rebus squares that contain the word "JAM." The down entries for these squares is a food that can contain jam, with the rebus square breaking it apart in the center.
Word of the Day: ELENA (33A: ___ Ferrante, author of the "Neapolitan Novels") —
Elena Ferrante (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɛːlena ferˈrante]) is a pseudonymous Italian novelist. Ferrante's books, originally published in Italian, have been translated into many languages. Her four-book series of Neapolitan Novels are her most widely known works.[1][2] Time magazine called Ferrante one of the 100 most influential people in 2016.[3]
Ferrante has kept her identity secret since her 1992 debut, stating that anonymity is key to her writing process and that "books, once they are written, have no need of their authors". Speculation and several theories as to her true identity, based on information Ferrante has given in interviews as well as analysis drawn from the content of her novels, have been put forth, and routinely denied.• • •
Hello again, it's Eli back after our regular Malaika MWednesday. I always enjoy reading her posts, and I hope you do to. We've got a pretty simple rebus today, so after a puzzle yesterday that maybe felt more like a Thursday, today we have a Wednesday puzzle with a Thursday style gimmick. |
| No jammie dodger today? |
Theme answers:
- [JAM]AICAN RUM / TA[JAM]RT (17A: Spirit of the Caribeean / 1D: Fruity pastry)
- LEBRON [JAM]ES / DOUG[JAM]HNUT (23A: Four-time N.B.A. M.V.P. / 11D: Temptation for Homer Simpson)
- PA[JAM]A PARTY / SAND[JAM]WICH (46A: Pillow fight setting / 34D: Brown-bag item)
- JAM PACKED (60A: Chock-full ... like three squares (and foods) in this puzzle)
 |
| Speaking of high tea... |
 |
| Pretty much the opposite of 26D, and a good representation of 11D. Mmmmm, forbidden donut. |
Not sure what is going on with the two White Lotus clues. I adore AIMEE (49D: "The White Lotus" acress ___ Lou Wood) but there's no reason that ETNA has to be clued to the show (66A: Volcano seen on HBO's "The White Lotus") without there being a specific cross-reference. It's also interesting that Aimee Lou Wood is not in the season of the show with Mount Etna. And why did they specify it was an HBO show in one of the clues but not the other? Interesting editorial choices there. For more HBO content in today's puzzle, you can watch My Brilliant Friend, the adaptation of Elena (33A) Ferrante's Neapolitan Trilogy.
Mein 39D
 |
| The only way I'd clue "Sesame" |
Stray Thoughts:
- 50D: Arabia Felix, now (YEMEN) — I probably haven't watched an episode of Friends in decades, but my first thought when I hear Yemen is still that Chandler lied about moving to in order to get away from Janice. I even remember the fake address he gave her (15 Yemen Road, Yemen). Memory is weird.
- 21D: Not accept an outrade, say (PROTEST) — Like posting about a subject you find objectionable when you substitute on a crossword blog on Tuesday, maybe?
- 65A: Feelings of getting older (ACHES) — I turn 44 in a couple of weeks, and I'm definitely starting to feel this one.
Thanks for reading! I'll be back again for one more spin this weekend. See you then!
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- Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)
A tad easier than medium for me. I caught the rebus at PAJAMA PARTY and went straight to revealer which saved me from looking for non-existent JAMs.
ReplyDeleteI did not know ECHODOT, AIMEE, and YEMEN (as clued).
Costly erasure - EGGsoup before ROLL.
@Eli - Me too for the wrong definition of enervate at first.
Clever, fun, and tasty, liked it.
One more with the 180-degree wrong misunderstanding of enervate; love having esteemed company!
Delete@jae etc, ditto for enervate.
DeleteMe too with enervate. I sat and stared at that for many nanoseconds trying to think of a 5 letter word that was a synonym of energize. Settled on drive, which further screwed me up because the first 2 letters worked with crosses. Oh, the joy of crosswords.
Delete
ReplyDeleteEasy. Got the theme at LEBRON [JAM]ES x DOUG[JAM]HNUT. Not bad, for a rebus.
* * * _ _
Overwrites:
For at the helm (4D) I had IN COntrol before IN COMMAND.
How many times have I seen the name LEBRON [JAM]ES (23A)? A lot. So why did I initially spell it LaBRON?!?
WOEs:
I didn't know that Chả giò is an EGG ROLL (9D), nor that YEMEN (50D) used to be called Arabia Felix.
Cute but just so straightforward - @Gary will be dealing with the adverbs again today. Eli pretty much nails it - I’d put it early rather than midweek difficulty. Don’t know if I like the JAM stuck into the down entry or not - I do appreciate a two way rebus typically.
ReplyDeleteJAMAICA Say You Will
Overall fill is fine. IN COMMAND, EGG ROLL, AH I GOTCHA are all solid. Huge product placement dead center is questionable. Another Office reference I didn’t know - along with ELENA. The crosses helped. Love Appleton with some lime and a splash of ginger beer. Walk the Mall in the park whenever I get the chance - the ELMs are magical.
Roy Buchanan
Enjoyable - but far too easy Thursday morning solve.
HOT ‘LANTA
Certainly not easy today IMO. Finished it quicker than usual but that got a little tricky at times. Really enjoyed the construction though.
ReplyDeleteJam EGGROLL, anyone?
ReplyDeleteEasy except for the NE. Got the rebus trick quickly with LEBRON(JAM)ES, but needed cheat for EDDIE (Bauer)/EGGROLL cross (Didn't see GROOM...my bad).
ReplyDeleteWe entered Larry Bird (with the starting L, but before getting the rebus), even though I knew he was "only" a 3-time MVP (though 2 more in NBA Finals).
DeleteI had season tickets during his career span (ticket prices were laughably less expensive then; my roommate and I were poor, but we shelled out the (did the math) $342 per ticket PER YEAR!
Psychologically hurt to had to erase LB and correctly enter LJ.
Eddie a gimme for a Seattleite! I mourn the old store, they had wonderful winter jackets....
DeleteI did the same with Larry Bird. I had the L and the R. Nothing else fit so I wondered if he somehow won a 4th MVP...
DeleteDidn't see the rebus at first, so that was a minor hiccup. I know my StarWars, but I really think I need to know The Office. It seems to pop up quite often nowadays!
ReplyDeleteVery nice touch to have the theme answers placed vertically, with the JAM packed right in the middle – the perfect visual, as sandwiches, doughnuts, and tarts have a top and bottom, with the jam in the center.
ReplyDeleteWell, Dena and John had me right at the start, in the NW, with [Number for December] for CAROL, [Spirit of the Caribbean] for JAMAICAN RUM, and [Short blue person] for DEM (where I really wanted to squeeze in “Smurf” somehow).
ReplyDeleteClever, clever, and clever. And then they clinched it in the SE with [Make out, perhaps], where I was looking for synonyms for “snog”, or words meaning “see”, but TAG turned what I thought was a direct clue into a magnificent misdirect.
I liked seeing GAUNT, a great word, encored after its appearance on Tuesday. I also liked seeing a rare-in-crosswords semordnilap (ELENA). And the mini-theme of long-E enders, with an impressive eleven: TONI, EDDIE, TRY ME, SESAME, ELMTREE, DICEY, NOISY, ONE G, AIMEE, EATME, and EMT.
Fun to uncover the theme and all these extras, a sparkling start to the day. Dena and John, thank you, and how about putting together some more?
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteQuick Rebus ThursPuz. Got the Revealer first, then saw LEBRON (JAM)ES, and the gig was up.
Writeovers were parts - SCRAP, Torte - TA(JAM)RT, EelROLL - EGGROLL. Tricky clue for SEDAN.
Interesting puz. Some tough-ish cluing that I managed to see through, after a few rereads, mind you. Wouldn't call it PRIMO, wouldn't call it DICEY.
COOL above HOT was neat.
Welp, hope y'all have a great Thursday!
No F's - O, NEG!
RooMonster
DarrinV
How is "sedan" answer for civics course?
ReplyDeleteHonda Civic automobile type
DeleteThe car!
DeleteThe clue is Civic’s (possessive) class (not course) referring to the Honda Civic.
DeleteAnonymous: the clue is Civic's class hence sedan is the class of Honda civics.
DeleteCivics class = Honda Civic
Delete@anon7:41, a Honda Civic is considered a SEDAN class of cars; our favorite clue in the puzzle.
DeleteAs in Honda Civic
DeleteAs in Honda Civic
Delete"Civic's class": the class of automobile for the Honda Civic.
DeleteThink Honda Civic. The misdirection works because the first letters of the clues are always capitalized . The apostrophe also helps give it away (the clue is actually Civic’s class, not course).
DeleteHonda us offers the Civic as a sedan for a while, but for most of its half century Production run it was a hatchback. The new civic was ment to invoke citizens and cities. But in ‘74 or ‘75 Honda redesigned the engine to meet new emissions standards. They called their design CVCCC—- Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion. Really clever name and terrific engineering that allowed them to skip the catalytic converters other manufacturers were using to mer the new standards and brutalizing power and performance.
DeleteDoing my civic Atlien duty: We don't say Hotlanta. See, also (I hear): Frisco, Nola, Chitown.
ReplyDeleteAt best, Atlanna. Lemon pepper wet city.
Never heard of an ATlien until today, but I have definitely heard Atlanta referred to as Hotlanta (I’m in NY)
DeleteNOLA (all caps) is OK written, but not spoken, usually.
DeleteYes but nobody in Atlanta calls it Hotlanta just like nobody in San Francisco calls it Frisco. ATLien is from Outkast
DeleteIf you create JAMtart for 1d, you’re screwed. Believe me, I tried it. Sticky to undo.
DeleteIf you create JAMtart for 1d, you’re screwed. Believe me, I tried it. Sticky to undo.
DeleteMy kind of a Thursday, with a discernible theme and a reveal that is a nice cherry on top (the somewhat unpleasant thought of a JAM SANDWICH notwithstanding).
ReplyDeleteI hope I am missing something re “Make out, perhaps?” for TAG. At first I was wondering if the Brits had some slang that I wasn’t aware of (think SNOG) but that doesn’t appear to be the case. I still don’t see where the constructor was going with that one.
When a player is tagged they are then “out,” as in, “you’re out!”
Delete@Southside, in baseball for example, when you TAG the runner they are out. So you make them out... kinda...
Delete"TAG out" in baseball (when it isn't a force out).
DeleteDuh ! Thanks all, I’m usually pretty good with sports related clues. I missed the connection today.
Delete@Southside. I'm going to ignore the TAGging discussion and go right to the important stuff. Your disparaging of jam SANDWICHes got me thinking. I grew up on simple jam sandwiches - essentially a piece of Wonder Bread, or equivalent, spread with margarine and cheap, sugary strawberry jam, usually folded over so as not to use up too much bread - but your remark got me thinking; could there be a good jam sandwich? I imagine fresh sourdough (my daughter-in-law makes this) cut not too thick, smeared with cultured or sweet butter (your choice), a thin layer of fresh arugula (the perennial kind - stronger flavour) for a bit of bitterness and spice, and a layer of caramelized onions on one slice. On the other buttered slice you pile up some apricot or peach jam for sweetness. I think I'm gonna have to try this. (Maybe put the arugula between the sweetened onions and the sweet jam. It' a work in progress.)
DeleteThis was kind of hard for me. I liked the theme and got it pretty easily, but in general the cluing was just not in my wheelhouse. I forgot about LEBRONJAMES (sorry, not a sports person) and several things in that area were WoEs: EGGROLL (had soup at first), HOTLANTA (did not know there even was a “Hollywood of the South”), ECHODOT (I know ECHO, but the DOT part?)
ReplyDeleteAnd, I really hate modern slang clues because I rarely know them - getting old, I guess, with the ACHES to prove it.
I understood the theme by reading the downs as, e.g., JAM-filled TART, but Lewis's physical description of them is even better. Pretty original way of treating a rebus, I think. And lots of nice clues, like "Civic's class." I had PRIMe before PRIMO, but that's what crosses are for.
ReplyDeleteIt is always called a jelly doughnut, in my experience. I have never ever heard it called a “jam doughnut” in all my 57 years.
ReplyDeleteYes!! I put "jelly" in the rebus square at first, until I saw that LEBRONJellyES didn't exactly work.
DeleteAgreed. That one clanged for me.
DeleteAgreed. But, in truth, the filling is neither jam nor jelly. It's more like a semi-jelled sugar syrup with artificial flavour and red food colour.
DeleteWhen Alice Kramden got a job at Krauschmeyer's Bakery, her job was to remove the jelly from the old donuts and put them in the new ones. Ralph referred to her as a "career girl," and she described that as her "career."
DeleteDoctor: You seem to have food poisoning. What'd you eat for dinner.
ReplyDeleteEgs: Just a bunch of tuna at a sushi place.
Doctor: AHIGOTCHA.
I'm flabbergasted that the anti-abortion movement has taken things so far that they're trying to outlaw pregnancy tests. So I went to a PROTEST rally, like a good DEM.
My Caribbean friend was distilling something the other day so I asked him, "What JAMAICANRUM?"
Easy puzzle, but JAMPACKED with nice cluing. Thanks, Dena R. Verkuil and John Kugelman.
"I had a date with a pretty girl in Kingston."
Delete"Jamaica?"
"No. We just held hands. But I'm seeing her again tonight."
In case you were wondering, the anonymous commenter above was me.
DeleteI enjoy a puzzle that starts out properly difficult and then turns into a whoosh as soon as I figure out what's going on. This happened today.
ReplyDeleteI figured Rebus early on but things didn't click until SAND[JAM]WICH. Then it was all go, go, go.
What stood out for me today was the treasure chest of brilliant cluing and mis-directs that made some short fill a *lot* of fun. I'm looking at you CAROL, DEM, TAG, JOE, COOL, and SEDAN (my favorite of the day).
I'm with Eli on the whole Enervate thing, I too always think it means the opposite of its definition and needed crosses.
Fun theme with great cluing, what's not to like? Thank you Dena and John!
I thought “uh oh… sportsball at the LEBRONJAMES clue and skipped past it, then later cracked up when I plugged the JAM in the doughnut and doh!
ReplyDeleteAnd yep! I absolutely think of Chandler when Yemen comes into play!
How did you do on the links today, Son? PARMA.
ReplyDeleteBack in college if it came down to a choice between essay or exam, I was always PROTEST.
Happy to learn about King Tut's SESAME seeds. It seems like useless knowledge, but I'm going to tuck it in there somewhere. You never know when it may come in handy. (You're telling the cute bagel girl how you want your dozen made up: ". . . and 3 sesame -- hey did you know . . . .?")
Thanks for Chandler's Yemen line, Eli -- very funny!
The misdirects were coming at me like missles. Loved them plus the jam rebus.🎈🎈🎊🎊
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that a jam sandwich is fare for an afternoon tea vs hearty supper type fare for a high tea. The high refers to table height.
ReplyDeleteNo the high refers to the fact it’s a full evening meal. It’s a working class thing in England, for folks who almost never have afternoon tea with jam tarts and dainty little sandwiches.
DeleteAnon has it correct. Afternoon Tea (tea, crumpets, cuke/jam sandwiches) is taken at the tea table, i.e. the low table.
DeleteHigh tea is the tins of sardines taken at the kitchen table, the high table, thus "high tea".
Yanks just think "high" means fancy or snooty, as if the English upper classes would have anything but the fancy tea so why would they distinguish it. They don't, which is why Yanks who go in for a fancy High Tea get snickered at.
“Make out” refers to tagging the runner out in baseball.
ReplyDeleteThat is also where my head goes when I read, hear or think of YEMEN. See also "pivot!" and "he's her lobster" and many other Friends references that will live rent-free and unevictable in my head.
ReplyDeleteAgree that the White Lotus dupe was very odd. I double-taked (double-took? doubled-take?) when I got to ETNA.
I liked this puzzle
ReplyDeleteEli, I loved the EAT ME / Do not eat Disney Alice / Homer juxtaposition. That made my morning.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/KAQyt79OHdg?is=rLkvqttnJ96-Aa9m>https://youtu.be/KAQyt79OHdg?is=rLkvqttnJ96-Aa9m
Only now, at this late hour (decades later) did I notice that the angry devil is taken from the Night on Bald Mountain section of Fantasia. Golden age Simpsons, a real classic.
And oh yeah, I enjoyed the puzzle, too. I liked figuring out the theme, and the revealer was solid (well, as solid as jelly can be).
perfectly suitable for a wednesday (more so than yeaterday's tuesday-level "puzzle") but a waste of a thursday.
ReplyDeleteGood one! On the easy side, but I went all the way down on the left and halfway up the right before I saw Jamaican and could fill in the empty rebus squares and saw the visuals on the tart, sandwich and doughnut. It may be the first time I ever thought “adorbs” about a rebus. Nice start to the day!
ReplyDelete“Civic’s class” refers to a Honda Civic’s class: sedan.
ReplyDeleteLots of fun, and I sailed through it, because as soon as I saw the JAM in PAJAMA PARTY, I looked back up at 17A and knew it had to be JAMAICAN RUM.
ReplyDeleteGreat clue for TAG...but I'm not sure I like the clue for THOSE ("Unspecified ones"), because, in a way, when you point to THOSE, you are exactly specifying which ones.
Wish all the themers could have been foot items like TART, SANDWICH, and DOUGHNUT, but I liked it anyway. Thanks for a fun Thursday, Dena and John!
Eli, I can relate to your feelings about ENERVATE; I think most people think it means energize. The word that hangs me up in that same way is temerity. To me it sounds as though it should mean timidity. But it means just the opposite, recklessness or boldness. I'm sure there are other words that bring to mind the opposite of what they mean.
ReplyDeleteNonplussed
DeleteAnon 9:30 - Yes. That word has been misused so much that often the "new" meaning (unsurprised, unimpressed) is considered acceptable.
DeleteStarted with EDDIE Bauer and went straight down with the DOUGHNUT, ran into LEBRON and the rebus made it a JAM DOUGHNUT, which I entered under PROTEST. as I am with Anon 8:22 that this is always a jelly DOUGHNUT, and I even have a few more years of experience. I'm not crazy about a JAMTART either, and a JAMSANDWICH without the peanut butter may exist, but who wants one?
ReplyDeleteNames and pop stuff the unknowns again today. Knew SLAYS right away but it was wrong, hooray for HUMP day which made it into the unknown SLAPS. Sort of knew TONI after the name went in, no clue on The Office person, hello to AIMEE and ELENA and ECHODOT, and nice to know how to say EGGROLL in Vietnamese, I guess.
Nice breezy Thursday, DVR and JK. Some Dubious Variations Resulted in my nit picking, Jelly Rolls also comes to mind but not Jam Rolls--anyway, thanks for a fun Thursdecito.
I'm sure there were many wry smiles among this group in response to Eli's feeling rather glum about turning (gasp!) 44. I have 70 coming up in a few weeks. That feels like a big one.
ReplyDeleteWait till it's 85, I hit that last month and am still recovering from the awe.
DeleteMaybe not so much smiles, but resignation.
DeleteSuitable responses to Eli;
"When you're 43, it's better to turn 44 than not turn 44""."
"I'm so old I don't remember being 44."
But birthday wishes!!!
Hitting 85 is awe-inspiring indeed. Glad you're still "puzzling"!
DeleteI entered ERNIE [Bauer], with Ernie Ball in the back of my guitar-string brain. Then, when RRAIN didn't make sense, I escaped that corner and moved south of HOTLANTA. Finally, EDDIE slid home.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think it was so easy. Maybe a lot of stuff not on my wavelength. And the placing of JAM? Does anyone put jam in a doughnut? Or in a tart? Or a sandwich, unless its PB and J?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though you've missed out on a lot of good eats in your lifetime!
DeleteI needed to fill in a lot of the grid before I saw the JAM rebus. It took some work. When I saw one at JAMAICANRUM, I started looking for the other two and found them rather quickly. Not easy and quite enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteAlways am on guard for a possible ThursPuz rebus, so caught on to the puztheme pretty darn fast. JAM on yer TART, DOUGHNUT, and SANDWICH. Great. Not real sold, re: JAM on my pajamas, tho. Messy, dude.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject picks: TAG & DEM, cuz of their clues -- the puz's sole two shots at a ?-marker clue.
some fave stuff: HOTLANTA with COOL on it. AHIGOTCHA. SEDAN clue [Honda Civic, I presume].
Not so HOT and ain't real COOL: Startin the puz out with a no-know name [TONI], at our house.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Ms. Verkuil darlin & Mr. Kugelman dude. Nice JAMfest.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
p.s.
**gruntz**
M&A
I thought the JAMmy centers were very clever, and I really liked the meaning change of JAM-PACKED in the reveal. Thanks to @Eli for pointing out the nice complement of EAT ME. Even though I saw the JAM in JAMAICAN and TA[JAM]RT right off, I managed to forget all about the JAM when I wrote in DOUGHNUTs and wondered why SANDWICH had an extra letter. Fortunately, LEBRON JAMES and PAJAMA PARTY set me right.
ReplyDeleteThought this was easier than yesterday’s puzzle. Had a tough time yesterday,
ReplyDeleteSE_AM_, That's what I had in place at 32A for a while. I thought to myself, "Really? Succulent seeds in Tut's tomb?!" because I was mentally misspelling SEDuM. The jam-packed SANDWICH had me rethink that one.
ReplyDeleteI like that the down theme answers were items that have jam in them and the acrosses are just words/phrases/names that have the letters JAM in them. A nice touch.
Not knowing Vietnamese, I threw in EGG sOup for a while but 30A ending in U wasn't working. No idea on PRIG.
Nice Thursday puzzle, Dena and John!
Well put together, easy for a Thursday, but 30 seconds over my average Wednesday time so seems appropriate for today. Nice cluing made fill above average.3 1/2 stars.
ReplyDeleteToo easy for a Thursday, but a fun rebus. JAMPACKED with decent fill.
ReplyDelete59d: nickname that drops "hard" ???
ReplyDeleteRIChard
Delete“Richard” without the “hard” is “ric”. Not saying I like it as I’ve never seen someone spell their nickname as ric but I guess it’s okay.
DeleteRic Ocasek of The Cars
Deletethanks
DeleteI just happened to get the rebus trick right away at square 17, when TORTE for 1 down didn't work with the crosses, and 17 across "Caribbean" suggested JAMAICA. Woohoo! Actually it was nice that there are only 3 total rebii (sp?), and that the down themers are the "packed" things (foods). Nice Thursday, not too tough.
ReplyDeleteWay too many names though. TONI EDDIE LEBRON HAL HOTLANTA ECHODOT ELENA MIRO AIMEE PARMA YEMEN ETNA LPGA DEERE HERA ADEN!!! That's 16, and I'm not even counting JAMAICA.
Agree!!
DeleteAn entertaining but quite easy Thursday.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple of things: First, thanks, Eli, for the Cabaret clip. I'm not a big musical fan but I do love Cabaret. I think it must be the darkness. And, second, I got tripped up by TA(JAM)RT for a while because the other rebuses featured JAM enclosed in things and TARTs are almost always open-topped. Just a nit, but the inconsistency held me up for a sec. We bake a tart sized tortiere at our place, with a top crust, but that's different. It's not a sweet.
Another puzzle where my first thought was oh no, all those names, but I plugged away at and it all emerged. Very satisfying, not easy for me. Enjoyed it! Thanks Eli for Rhea, Lewis for DEM and others for TAG explanations.. TIL ECHODOT, SLAPS, ELENA and SPITES. Did not enjoy thinking about RENDERED fat but that’s me. Loved the JAM and the puzzle
ReplyDeleteOh Eli, thanks for the nostalgic pic of the SESAME Street picture! I have such wonderful memories of Sesame Street. My daughter, born in 1979 lacked immunity to all H-strain bacteria and spent her first few years of her life in and out of hospital, and incredibly vulnerable. We learned during my pregnancy that she physically responded to music, and music became such an important part of our daily healing environment as well as our professions at that time.
ReplyDeleteI was teaching flute and voice students five days a week and she was one busy little fetus from the 4th month on. But I discovered that she enjoyed music and became much quieter once I started teaching every day. That led to playing records for her at night since as soon as I was lying down she started a dance party.
She loved Bach, Mozart and at about 4 months old discovered Sesame Street. We had purchased lots of books and records during my high risk pregnancy, trying to be ready for anything.
My husband, as a typical proud papa and a teacher, put on one of the Sesame records one evening during a particularly bad bout of asthma when the medicated nebulizer mist was just making things worse and neither JS nor Amadeus were doing their job. He also joked that she might come out singing Big Bird’s “abc song in which he pronounces the alphabet as if it’s a word.
Like magic, the songs got her attention. and what she in a few short months following her “world premier” started calling it Gold Record became one we actually wore out and had to buy again.
Her doting daddy started calling her “SB” on nights when he carried her around the dining room table and up and down the short hall to calm her after the tedious and for her frustratingly lengthy chest/back percussive therapy treatment. I didn’t get it, and had to ask what “SB” meant. He said it was obvious: Savage Beast (as in music soothes the Savage Beast).
Fast Forward to her teens and the inevitable (and for us thankfully fairly rare) teenage girl attitude. Her dad could always get her to settle down and just talk to him about whatever was causing the attitude. He’d put his hands on her shoulders and look into her eyes and say, “I’m right here, I love you and I’m listening so you don’t need to go all SB to get my attention.” He was such a great dad. So thanks Eli for bringing that old memory to the surface even though it came via some SESAME seeds in Tut’s tomb.
I found the puzzle easy and the Wednesday I felt cheated of yesterday.
Brainfart - initially entered answer as FATLANTA
ReplyDeleteVale, eso tiene sentido.
ReplyDeleteLovely and fun.
They've added a pop-up ad to my Android app telling me over and over the puzzles get more difficult as the week goes on. There's a picture of Will on it. It pops up over and over and over again. That's not annoying at all NYTXW programmers. Not annoying at all.
People: 8
Places: 5
Products: 5
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 26 of 74 (35%)
Funny Factor: 1 🤨
Uniclues:
1 One haughtily eschewing spaghetti.
2 How the sleep over became a rage over.
3 Uncooked turkey on rye ... gobble gobble.
4 Peeved pastry.
1 RISOTTO PRIG
2 PAJAMA PARTY ROIDS
3 NOISY SANDWICH
4 DOUGHNUT IRKED
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Uses the dictionary to find out where babies come from. LOOK UP UNDRESS.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯