Constructed by: John Lieb
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: None
Bill’s time: 19m 15s
Bill’s errors: 2
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Major clothing chain : TJ MAXX
TJ Maxx is a chain of department stores in the US, with outlets in Europe as well. Over in the UK however, the stores are known as TK Maxx.
16. Tufted tweeter : TITMOUSE
The birds known as chickadees or titmice in North America, are usually called simply “tits” in the rest of the English-speaking world.
19. “Women and Love” author Shere : HITE
Shere Hite is a German sex educator, although she was born in the US. Hite’s work focuses on sexual experience and what meaning it holds for an individual.
20. Tach readings : RPMS
The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).
22. Norwegian king during the Cold War : OLAV V
Olav V was King of Norway from 1903 until 1991. Tremendously popular and down-to-earth, Olav V was known as “the People’s King” (“Folkekongen” in Norwegian). He was also a grandchild of Edward VII, the British king.
The term “Cold War” was first used by the novelist George Orwell in a 1945 essay about the atomic bomb. Orwell described a world under threat of nuclear war as having a “peace that is no peace”, in a permanent state of “cold war”. The specific use of “cold war” to describe the tension between the Eastern bloc and the Western allies is attributed to a 1947 speech by Bernard Baruch.
23. Serial sequence : ARC
A story arc is a continuing storyline in say a television show that has a number of episodes. Story arcs are also found in comics, books, video games, and other forms of media.
26. Door opener? : DEE
The opening letter in the word “door” is a letter D (dee).
27. Where Martin Scorsese taught Oliver Stone: Abbr. : NYU
New York University (NYU) is comprised of fifteen schools, one of which it the Tisch School of the Arts. The Tisch is famous for its acting program, with notable alumni such as Debra Messing, Christopher Guest and Josh Radnor.
Director Oliver Stone attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University after he returned from Vietnam. Stone’s instructor in Sight and Sound was Martin Scorsese.
28. Rhein tributary : AARE
The Aar (also called the “Aare” in German) is the longest river entirely in Switzerland.
The river running through Europe that we know in English as the Rhine, is called “Rhein” in German, “Rhin” in French and “Rijn” in Dutch.
29. 16th-century rulers : TUDORS
The Wars of the Roses was a series of civil wars fought for the throne of England between the rival Houses of Lancaster and York. Ultimately the Lancastrians emerged victorious after Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry was crowned King Henry VII, and so began the Tudor dynasty. Henry Tudor united the rival houses by marrying his cousin Elizabeth of York. Henry VII had a relatively long reign of 23 years that lasted until his death, after which his son succeeded to the throne as Henry VIII, continuing the relatively short-lived Tudor dynasty. Henry VIII ruled from 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry VIII was the last male to lead the the House of Tudor, as his daughter Queen Elizabeth I died without issue. When Elizabeth died, the Scottish King James VI succeeded to the throne as James I of England and Ireland. James I was the first English monarch of the House of Stuart.
34. Capital of Kazakhstan : ASTANA
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, although only since 1997. Prior to 1997, the nation’s capital was Almaty. The decision to move the capital was made as Almaty is in a part of the country populated by ethnic Russians and the new government wanted to distance itself even further from its Soviet history.
38. Mickey Rooney septet : EX-WIVES
Mickey Rooney was married eight times, divorced seven times, and so had seven ex-wives.
The actor Mickey Rooney first appeared on stage in vaudeville, at the age of six. He was still performing regularly when in his nineties, before passing away at 93 years of age in 2014. Rooney made millions of dollars over his long career, but lost it all. He passed away with assets amounting to merely $18,000.
42. Blue on screen : RATED X
The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) film-rating system (PG-13, R, etc.) is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPAA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.
44. Last Supper query : IS IT I?
At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles that one of them would betray him that day. According to the Gospel of Matthew:
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
48. Revival figs. : EMTS
Emergency medical technician (EMT)
51. I, perhaps : ONE
That would be the Roman numeral I.
54. U.N. ambassador appointed by JFK : AES
Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) in 1952 and in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy (JFK) as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”
55. 2008 Best New Artist Grammy winner : ADELE
Adele is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. More recently, her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US.
58. Sweet sign-off : XOXO
In the sequence XOX, the X represents a kiss, and the O a hug. OOO is a string of hugs, and XXX a string of kisses. Hugs and kisses …
59. King Ahab’s father : OMRI
Omri was the sixth king of Israel, and was succeeded by his son Ahab.
62. Boxer Rebellion setting : PEKING
The city of Beijing in China was given its name in 1403, with “Beijing” chosen as it translates as “Northern Capital”. The name distinguished it from the city of Nanjing, which name translates as “Southern Capital”. Beijing was written in English as Peking for centuries.
The Boxer Rebellion took place in China between 1899 and 1901. It was a violent uprising by nationalists targeting foreigners and Chinese Christians. Leaders of the revolt were the “Yihequan”, known in English as “The Righteous and Harmonious Fists” or “Boxers United in Righteousness” (or simply “Boxers”). The Boxers were typically well-trained, athletic young men who practiced martial arts, hence the moniker. The rebellion was quelled by an international coalition referred to as the Eight Nation Alliance”, comprising military forces from Japan, Russia, Britain, France, the US, Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary.
65. Shady Records co-founder : EMINEM
The Shady Records label was founded by rapper Eminem and his manager in 1999. The label’s name comes from Eminem’s album “The Slim Shady LP” released earlier that year.
67. Event associated with warm climates and big midday meals : SIESTA
We use the word “siesta” to describe a short nap in the early afternoon, taking the word from the Spanish. In turn, the Spanish word is derived from the Latin “hora sexta” meaning “the sixth hour”. The idea is that the nap is taken at “the sixth hour” after dawn.
Down
2. “Star Trek: Voyager” actress : JERI RYAN
Jeri Ryan’s most famous role is that of the de-assimilated Borg known as Seven of Nine, on “Star Trek: Voyager”. I haven’t seen that show, so I know Ryan from a supporting role on the legal drama “Shark”, playing opposite James Woods. She also plays Ronnie Cooke on “Boston Public”.
3. Initial encounter in a romcom : MEET CUTE
“Meet cute” is a term used since the 1930s or 1940s for a scene in a film or TV show in which a future couple have an amusing first encounter.
5. Frat letters : XIS
The Greek letter “xi”, despite the name, is not the precursor of our letter X. Our X comes from the Greek letter “chi”.
6. Former Nissan SUV : XTERRA
The Xterra is a compact SUV built by Nissan in Smyrna, Tennessee (and in Brazil).
7. Hinders : STYMIES
The word “stymie” comes from golf, and is a situation in which one’s approach to the hole is blocked by an opponent’s ball.
8. “Bullets Over Broadway” Oscar winner : WIEST
Dianne Wiest is an actress from Kansas City, Missouri. Wiest has won two Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards, for “Hannah and Her Sisters” in 1987 and for “Bullets over Broadway” in 1995. In both movies, she was directed by Woody Allen.
9. Sci-fi staples : ETS
Extraterrestrial (ET)
12. Katy of “High Noon” : JURADO
Katy Jurado was an actress from Guadalajara, Mexico who made several appearances in Hollywood westerns in the fifties and sixties. Jurado became the first Latin American actress to win a Golden Globe, doing so for her performance in 1952’s hit movie “High Noon”. Her second husband was fellow actor Ernest Borgnine.
14. Player of Kent : REEVES
The actor George Reeves played Superman (aka Clark Kent) on the fifties TV show “Adventures of Superman”. Reeves died from a gunshot wound in the head in 1959. Officially, the death was recorded as suicide, despite a lot of conflicting evidence. The lack of fingerprints on the gun, and lack of gunpowder residue on Reeves’ hands, led to a lot of speculation that the actor might have been murdered.
24. Fiction’s Lord Greystoke : TARZAN
In the stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes was actually Englishman John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke.
25. Pringles alternative : STAX
Stax is a brand of potato snack made by Lay’s. Stax are similar to its famous competitor, Pringles.
Pringles snack chips were introduced in 1967 by Procter & Gamble and were first sold as “Pringles Newfangled Potato Chips”.
31. Stand for 45-Down : DAIS
(45. They involve insult comedy : ROASTS)
Ultimately our word “dais”, meaning “raised platform for a speaker”, comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”.
33. First name in architecture : EERO
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect, renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.
37. “Nos __”: 2000s French-Canadian drama set in a summer home : ETES
“Nos étés” (“Our Summers” in English) is a French-Canadian TV series that originally aired from 2005 until 2008. The story follows the lives of two interconnected families over the course of the twentieth century. One family comprises wealthy merchants from Montreal, the other modest famers from a village on the Saint Lawrence River.
39. Total assets? : VITAMINS
General Mills produces a range of breakfast cereals using the “Total” name. The marketing message for the brand is that one serving provides the total daily allowance of several vitamins and minerals.
40. One way to connect nowadays : ETHERNET
Ethernet is the name given to a standardized configuration of local area networks (LANs). An ethernet cable is that one that has a connector on the end that looks like a regular telephone connector, but is about twice as wide. Ethernet dates back to the mid seventies, when it was developed by the Xerox Corporation.
41. Quality control process with an alphanumeric symbol : SIX SIGMA
Six Sigma is a quality control process that was introduced by Motorola in 1986. The process uses statistical methods to determine when a manufacturing process has strayed from the norm, requiring it to be halted so that the necessary corrections can be made.
47. Superior, vis-à-vis Michigan : DEEPER
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by area. The lake was referred to by the first French explorers as “le lac supérieur”, which translates literally as “the upper lake”. The British anglicized the name to “Lake Superior”.
49. Metaphors, e.g. : TROPES
A “trope” is a figure of speech, from the Greek word “tropos” that has the same meaning.
57. Language that gave us “plaid” : ERSE
There are actually three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be Gaeilge (in Ireland), Gaelg (on the Isle of Man) and Gaidhlig (in Scotland).
Tartan is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland a “plaid” is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.
59. Tom Joad, e.g. : OKIE
“Okies” was a derogatory term used during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s for farming families who migrated from Oklahoma (hence the name), Arkansas, Kansas and Texas in search of agricultural jobs in California. The road used by many of these migrant families was Route 66, which is also called “Mother Road”.
Tom Joad is the protagonist the John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath”. The role of Joad was played by Henry Fonda in the 1940 film adaptation directed by John Ford. Ford’s movie has a place in history, as it was one of the first 25 movies selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
61. Flare producer : SUN
A “solar flare” is a sudden energy release from the surface of the Sun that can be perceived as a flash of brightness and an eruption of magnetic energy. That magnetic energy reaches the Earth about two days after the event, and can disrupt long-range radio communications on our planet. The location of solar flares has been strongly linked to sunspot groups, groups of dark spots on the Sun’s surface.
63. “Big four” record company : EMI
EMI was a British music company, with the abbreviation standing for Electric and Musical Industries.
The Big Four recording labels were (until EMI was broken up in 2012 and absorbed by what became “the Big Three”):
- Universal Music Group
- Sony Music Entertainment
- Warner Music Group
- EMI
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. Major clothing chain : TJ MAXX
7. Free speech inhibitor? : SWEAR JAR
15. Morsel : WEE BIT
16. Tufted tweeter : TITMOUSE
17. Unspecific threat : OR ELSE
18. “Right you are!” : YES SIREE!
19. “Women and Love” author Shere : HITE
20. Tach readings : RPMS
22. Norwegian king during the Cold War : OLAV V
23. Serial sequence : ARC
24. Attributes : TRAITS
26. Door opener? : DEE
27. Where Martin Scorsese taught Oliver Stone: Abbr. : NYU
28. Rhein tributary : AARE
29. 16th-century rulers : TUDORS
32. Archaeologist, at times : DATER
34. Capital of Kazakhstan : ASTANA
36. Disdained, with “at” : SNEEZED
38. Mickey Rooney septet : EX-WIVES
42. Blue on screen : RATED X
44. Last Supper query : IS IT I?
45. Completely overhauled : REDONE
48. Revival figs. : EMTS
50. Texter’s appreciation : THX
51. I, perhaps : ONE
52. Harsh : SEVERE
54. U.N. ambassador appointed by JFK : AES
55. 2008 Best New Artist Grammy winner : ADELE
58. Sweet sign-off : XOXO
59. King Ahab’s father : OMRI
60. Different exercises performed consecutively : SUPERSET
62. Boxer Rebellion setting : PEKING
64. Cherish : TREASURE
65. Shady Records co-founder : EMINEM
66. Snakes : SERPENTS
67. Event associated with warm climates and big midday meals : SIESTA
Down
1. Driving instructor’s reminder : TWO HANDS
2. “Star Trek: Voyager” actress : JERI RYAN
3. Initial encounter in a romcom : MEET CUTE
4. Fit : ABLE
5. Frat letters : XIS
6. Former Nissan SUV : XTERRA
7. Hinders : STYMIES
8. “Bullets Over Broadway” Oscar winner : WIEST
9. Sci-fi staples : ETS
10. Recess rejoinder : AM SO!
11. Stir up : ROIL
12. Katy of “High Noon” : JURADO
13. Sincere sign-off : AS EVER
14. Player of Kent : REEVES
21. Flaunt : PARADE
24. Fiction’s Lord Greystoke : TARZAN
25. Pringles alternative : STAX
30. Ill-conceived : UNWISE
31. Stand for 45-Down : DAIS
33. First name in architecture : EERO
35. Hybrid cuisine : TEX-MEX
37. “Nos __”: 2000s French-Canadian drama set in a summer home : ETES
39. Total assets? : VITAMINS
40. One way to connect nowadays : ETHERNET
41. Quality control process with an alphanumeric symbol : SIX SIGMA
43. Allots : DEVOTES
45. They involve insult comedy : ROASTS
46. Stomach : ENDURE
47. Superior, vis-à-vis Michigan : DEEPER
49. Metaphors, e.g. : TROPES
53. Wield : EXERT
56. Vault : LEAP
57. Language that gave us “plaid” : ERSE
59. Tom Joad, e.g. : OKIE
61. Flare producer : SUN
63. “Big four” record company : EMI
Very tough but very enjoyable puzzle. I at least felt like I had a puncher’s chance in this one the whole way through. Eventually I had to cheat twice to finish. Lots of actor names up at the top did me in.
It occurred to me that it’s a sign I’ve been doing an awful lot of these puzzles when YESSIREE, OLVAVV, ADELE, AARE, and AMSO seemed like “obvious” answers to me. I’m already warped….
Bill thanks for reminding me of the show “Shark”. That’s one of those shows I thoroughly enjoyed, but the ratings weren’t high enough in the 18-49 age group so they took it off the air- even though it had a good sized audience. There are a lot of shows like that, unfortunately. Once we’re over 50, they consider us insusceptible to advertising. Any time I see a beer commercial, I realize how wrong that assumption is….
@ Dave et al –
Regarding yesterday and the trustworthiness of plumbers and other such professionals. This may be common knowledge to others, but it surprised me….a lot. I always assumed plumbers were compensated like auto mechanics – i.e. The company charges for parts and labor of a given job based on standard time estimates. In turn the plumber receives an hourly wage to perform the task. So the plumber works 9 hours and gets paid the same for any given 9 hours of work.
Uh…wrong. I’m certain this varies from state to state, city to city and even company to company – probably depending on the strength of the unions. But plumbers here in Texas are paid largely on commission. Some very high profile and reputable companies pay their plumbers 100% by commission!! So when a plumber is telling you that you need x, y, or z keep in mind that you are, in effect, talking to a salesman – not a technician. His livelihood is directly impacted by how much you “buy” from him. Yikes. Get several estimates if you have the time to do so.
I’ll probably never know if the first plumber’s issue was ignorance or avarice, but one of those caught the attention of my radar, and I’m grateful for that.
@Vidwan
Yes – in effect the man was telling me that what I was proposing was physically impossible. I told him I could see no reason why it would be. He threw a bunch of stats at me, but I was able to refute all of them. He finished the discussion by telling me (more or less) I didn’t know what I was talking about…..I got the last laugh, however.
Cold dark rainy weekend here. Good weekend to be a couch potato…
Best –
@all
One error so far (the terrible 39-Across entry of yesterday). Pretty routine otherwise. Will see how today and tomorrow goes, of course.
Of course, I was kind of surprised at how easy the NYT went for the first half of the week. I know that’ll change once I see the rest, but I guess a sign that I’m getting a little better. Haven’t been commenting on the other blog simply because dwelling on losses really doesn’t serve too well for me at this point.
@David (Fri)
Training and time, usually. Personally, I’ve done it for about 30 years now and would be a marketable typist if the skill was still marketable.
@RestMyCase (Fri)
Not usually. One thing (out of many) I’m trying to do in trying to distract myself from my problems is learning how to do a grid. Basically, one starts with their theme entries or whatever gimmick they are going for, lays them out in more or less even space and then fills in the rest. The rest of the fill is the harder part, but there’s software that will help fit words. Of course when you sit down and think of theme entries, you come up with one or two more than you need for the grid in case you come up with weird letter combinations that you can’t cross and can’t rearrange them so it will work. But more or less, the challenge is coming up with something that’s interesting – i.e. more creative.
@Carrie (Fri)
Always good to ask questions and make sure you are comfortable with whatever the matter is. 🙂
@Bill
You might want to look at the author for the Thursday grid (surprised no one else caught that). Anyhow, thanks, as always, for doing the blogs.
I normally don’t do Saturdays, however I came to read the comments…. Thank you Jeff, for the comment echo to my comment yesterday. That also came from experience. I, once, got a furnace repairman, on a recommendation, from a valued neighbor, who charged me over a thousand dollars for replacing a furnace blower that costs 200 dollars…. It was a 10 inch drum blower with curved flutes on its circumfrence for the forced air. I could have got all the information I needed, from over 12 websites, on the internet….
I think repairmen are paid per hour with additional commissions. The $100 you pay for them, to turn up, covers their pay for 3 hours. The icing on the cake is what they can manage to palm off on you. Probably 50% of the parts and labor.
Have a nice day, and weekend, all.
I realize this is a xword blog, but as a family, I would like to take the liberty of relating a funny story. This is true, and it happened just an hour ago. We are members of a phone text messaging group of indian senior citizens – and we keep in touch on important matters that affect any one of us. One of us, a gentle lady, is very prolific in her messages, and likes to use a lot of emoticons…. She just texted us, to inform, all of us of a death in the family of one of our group.
In her sympathy note, that she wrote, the emoticon, she used, – to signify death – was …. a skull and crossbones.
The next paragraph, she elaborated, with an emoticon icon, of a skull – but it looks very much like the bald headed alien with deep seated ebony eyes – as in most sci-fi movies. This was to present the soul of the departed.
In the last paragraph, she used an icon of a ‘Empire’ stormtrooper, to signify the permamnence of death.
( She had to work with what she had in her icon library ….)
I fell out of my chair laughing.
How do you tell a pious old lady, senior citizen, that her emoticons, may not be having the desired effect ?
Truly, the road to perdition is lined with good intentions.
Over and out.
On my iPad: 40:24, with six letters I either had wrong or simply couldn’t fill in until I cheated by turning on error checking (something I usually won’t do). In the upper left, I was missing the RY of JERI RYAN, an actress of whom I had never heard, and the CU of MEET CUTE, a phrase totally unfamiliar to me. Therefore, I was also missing the RC of ARC and the YU of NYU, both of which I had at least some chance of getting, but … didn’t . Also, in the upper right, I had KEY instead of DEE for “Door opener?”, giving me Katy JURAKO instead of Katy JURADO (another person unknown to me) and REEVYS instead of REEVES, which probably should have led to an “aha” moment, but … didn’t. So … an ignominious defeat … 🙂
Dave- Curious if you noticed Bill’s NYT blog is not up today. Probably the same glitch from a couple of weeks ago…..
@Jeff … I did notice and was going to leave a note here, but ran out of time, as I had to go to a funeral for a guy I used to work with. (My circle of old friends and acquaintances has taken a number of hits in the last month: this was the third funeral in that time … and I’m expecting another one before the end of the year … 🙂 .)
Neither the constructor nor editor should feel any sense of pride in that northeast quad. WEEBIT instead of TIDBIT? An archaeologist is sometimes a DATER? And most godawfully, MEETCUTE?!
Pathetic.
@ Vidwan: Got a kick out of your emoticon story. BTW in the newest version of IOS on Iphone, when you type in a text word, the software suggests an applicable emoticon if there is one. Perhaps you could get your friend to update her phone to avoid future hilarity 🙂
Saturdays are always difficult. But SWEARJAR, DATER, WEEBIT and MEETCUTE – a bridge too far.
22A: Olav V was king from 1957 to his death, not 1903. 🙂
I actually got “meet cute” very early on, but was reluctant to enter it, because it seemed too far fetched. If you’re a fan of romcoms, you know this phrase; if not, you probably don’t.
Otherwise, this grid was very difficult for me. It probably didn’t help that I’m running a fever and did the puzzle at 3:30 am (couldn’t sleep). Hope Sunday’s grid proves a little more friendly!
@Joel … I also thought of MEET CUTE, but wrote it off as ungrammatical and completely improbable.
Bill is also a bit under the weather. (He was actually late in posting his NYT puzzle blog!) Get well, you guys …
This was way over my head, especially proper names.
I did well in the SW chunk, but SWEAR JAR and MEET CUTE were too “out there” for my brain to think of.
Hand up for TIDBIT.
One thing I noticed is the similarity between the puzzle and Mickey Rooney.
They both have seven Xes 🙂
Seven Xes! Great catch, Pookie! That has to be intentional … 🙂
@Bill – I noticed that while you say you had an error for Jeri Ryan (2 down) you don’t show the error you made. I’m going to assume (and I know how dangerous that is!) that you made the same error I did with a “b” in place of the “r” in Ryan. If not please ignore my assumption and let us know what your error was.
That was my one mistake today so I’m feeling reasonably complacent. DNF, but close enough for government work as we used to joke when I worked for Hughes Aircraft back in the day.
Since I have the opportunity: 1 error on this one, a bad guess on 36A-24D. Can’t say after the fact whether it’s of the “stupid” class or the “I just plain got beat” class (SNEERED, instead of SNEEZED). Anyhow, since I didn’t know 24D, can’t say I know if I can tell the difference between the two with the clue at hand. Overall, just a “meh”.
Onward to Sunday, when I can get my hands on it.
Had about twenty or so errors, but way better than yesterday. Would have never got SWEARJAR among a few others. Ironically I saw “High Noon” in the last two years and I remember Katy…sigh.
Oh well, on to Sunday.
wassup y’all?!
@Glenn, thank you! You’re so right.???
@Vidwan, love that emoticon story; so cute!
I didn’t have time today to give this puzzle its due—so I cheated A LOT. Kudos to those of you who came close to finishing.
I shall choose my sign-off emoticons with care….
Be well~~™??????