LA Times Crossword 1 Nov 18, Thursday

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Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: First of the Month

Themed answers each start with an accepted 3-letter abbreviation for the name of a month:

  • 38A. Today, e.g. … or what is found in 12 puzzle answers : FIRST OF THE MONTH
  • 1A. Keys sound : JANGLE (January)
  • 7A. Running a temperature : FEBRILE (February)
  • 16A. Coldplay lead singer Chris __ : MARTIN (March)
  • 21A. Home Depot employee garb : APRON (April)
  • 25A. Yucatán native : MAYAN (May)
  • 28A. Deep-sixes : JUNKS (June)
  • 45A. Minty cocktail : JULEP (July)
  • 47A. Drilling tool : AUGER (August)
  • 51A. Calyx part : SEPAL (September)
  • 61A. Rating at a pump : OCTANE (October)
  • 66A. Catholic devotions : NOVENAS (November)
  • 67A. Irregular paper edge : DECKLE (December)

Bill’s time: 6m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7. Running a temperature : FEBRILE (February)

The medical symptom of elevated body temperature is called fever, febrile response or pyrexia.

15. Howled : ULULATED

A ululation is a high-pitched trill, and a sound usually practiced by women in ritual situations. I came across the practice not too long ago as an expression of celebration at an Arab-American wedding.

16. Coldplay lead singer Chris __ : MARTIN (March)

Coldplay is a rock band that was formed in London in 1996 by Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland. Chris Martin was married to the American actress Gwyneth Paltrow for twelve years.

17. Lamp fuel : KEROSENE

Kerosene is a mixture of hydrocarbons that is used mainly as a fuel. Kerosene is volatile, but is less flammable than gasoline. Over in the UK and Ireland, we call the same fuel “paraffin”.

18. Dude : BRO

Our term “dude” arose as slang in New York City in the 1880s, when it was used to describe a fastidious man. In the early 1900s, the term was extended to mean “city slickers”, easterners who vacationed in the West. The first use of the term “dude ranch” was recorded in 1921.

21. Home Depot employee garb : APRON (April)

The Home Depot is the largest home improvement retail chain in the US, ahead of Lowe’s. Home Depot opened their first two stores in 1979. The average store size if just over 100,000 square feet. The largest Home Depot outlet is in Union, New Jersey, and it is 225,000 square feet in size. That’s a lot of nuts and bolts …

22. Italian thing : COSA

Apparently, “Cosa Nostra” is the real name for the Italian Mafia. “Cosa Nostra” translates as “our thing” or “this thing of ours”. The term first became public in the US when the FBI managed to turn some members of the American Mafia. The Italian authorities established that “Cosa Nostra” was also used in Sicily when they penetrated the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s. The term “mafia” seems to be just a literary invention that has become popular with the public.

25. Yucatán native : MAYAN (May)

The Maya civilization held sway in Central America and Mexico from about 350 AD, until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

Yucatán is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located in the east of the country, on the northern tip of the Yucatán peninsula.

28. Deep-sixes : JUNKS (June)

To deep-six something is to toss it, possibly overboard, or to completely destroy it. The derivation of this slang term is from “six feet deep”, not the length of a fathom but rather the traditional depth of a grave.

31. “Wayward Pines” actress Melissa __ : LEO

Melissa Leo is an actress from Manhattan, New York who appears in the main cast of the HBO drama series “Treme”.

“Wayward Pines” is Fox TV series that is based on a series of novels by Blake Crouch. Star of the show (for the first season) is actor Matt Dillon, who plays US Secret Service agent Ethan Burke.

42. On the __ vive : QUI

“On the qui vive” is a phrase that means “on the alert”. The term “qui vive?” is French for “(long) live who?” and was used as a challenge by a sentry to determine what loyalty a person had.

44. Govt. prosecutors : AGS

Attorneys General (AGs) head up the Department of Justice (DOJ). When the office of the Attorney General was created in 1789 it was a part-time job, with no departmental support. The Department of Justice came into being in 1870.

45. Minty cocktail : JULEP (July)

The mint julep is a bourbon-based cocktail that is associated with the American South, and with the Kentucky Derby in particular. If you’d like to make yourself a mint julep, one recipe is:

  • 3 oz of Bourbon
  • 4-6 sprigs of mint
  • granulated sugar to taste

47. Drilling tool : AUGER (August)

An auger is a drill, a boring tool [Yawn].

48. Usher family’s creator : POE

“The Fall of the House of Usher” is perhaps the most famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839. The story is a Gothic tale, an interview with Robert Usher in his house which literally “falls”, breaks into two and is swallowed up by a lake. Some believe that the story was inspired by events at a real Usher House that once stood on Boston’s Lewis Wharf. When the Usher House was torn down, the bodies of a man and woman were found embracing in a cavity in the cellar, a fact reflected in the story as Robert Usher’s sister is supposedly buried alive in the crypt.

49. Long-dist. weapon : ICBM

An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with the range necessary to cross between continents. Being ballistic (unlike a cruise missile), an ICBM is guided during the initial launch phase, but later in flight just relies on thrust and gravity to arrive at its target. It is defined as intercontinental as it has a range greater than 3,500 miles. ICBMs are really only used for delivering nuclear warheads. Scary stuff …

51. Calyx part : SEPAL (September)

The calyx is the collective name for the sepals of a flower, which form the outermost whorl that forms the flower (the pretty part!).

In a flower, the sepals are the green, leaf-like structures that are “interleaved” with the petals, providing support. Prior to acting as support for the petals, the sepals protect the flower in bud.

54. Lyft rival : UBER

The rideshare service Uber takes its name from the English colloquial word “uber” meaning “super, topmost”, which in turn comes from the German “über” meaning “above”.

56. Mix with a horse : TOM

Tom Mix was an actor who appeared in a boatload of early Western movies, most of which were made in the Silent Era. In fact, Mix was Hollywood’s first cowboy star. Mix was acquainted with a young Marion Morrison, a football player at the University of California who had to drop out of school after suffering an injury. Mix got John Ford to hire Morrison as a prop boy and extra. Morrison used that first Hollywood job as a springboard into a film career using the stage name John Wayne.

61. Rating at a pump : OCTANE (October)

The difference between a premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. The octane rating is measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. its resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”. We sometimes use the adjective “high-octane” to mean “intense, dynamic, high-powered”

64. Suffered greatly, in Sussex : AGONISED

Sussex is a county in the very southeast of England that lies right on the English Channel. The county of Sussex has about the same boundaries as the ancient Kingdom of Sussex, a Saxon colony that existed for about five hundred years until the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Hastings, a town on the Sussex coast, was the site of the first battle of the Norman Conquest of England.

66. Catholic devotions : NOVENAS (November)

In the Roman Catholic tradition, a novena is a set of prayers or services that are repeated over nine successive days. “Novena” derives from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”.

67. Irregular paper edge : DECKLE (December)

Deckle edge paper is paper with a feathered edge as opposed to a cut edge. Deckle edge paper is used nowadays when producing a book to create a retro feel. Deckle edges were unavoidable in the early days of bookbinding when individual pages were made by hand from a paper pulp slurry in a deckle frame, hence the name.

Down

1. Doorway side : JAMB

A door or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

2. Bio lab gel : AGAR

Agar (also “agar-agar”) is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science, it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

3. Archie’s boss, in detective fiction : NERO

Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective and the hero of many stories published by author Rex Stout. There are 33 Nero Wolfe novels for us to read, and 39 short stories. There are also movie adaptations of two of the novels: “Meet Nero Wolfe” (1936) which features a young Rita Hayworth, and “The League of Frightened Men” (1937). One of Wolfe’s endearing traits is his love of good food and beer, so he is a pretty rotund character.

Archie Goodwin is an important character in the Nero Wolfe mystery novels by Rex Stout. He is a live-in assistant to private investigator Nero Wolfe, and also serves as the narrator for all of the stories. Goodwin is the guy who does all of the investigative work for Wolfe, as the latter rarely leaves his luxurious brownstone house in New York City.

5. That guy, to Guy : LUI

In French, you might want to talk to “lui” (him) and to “elle” (her).

6. Old lab burners : ETNAS

The Bunsen burner is common piece of lab equipment that is used for heating and combustion. The device was invented in 1854 by Robert Bunsen at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. It is sometimes referred to as an “etna”, a nickname coming from the Sicilian volcano.

7. Bug with bounce : FLEA

Fleas are flightless insects, but they sure can jump. Their very specialized hind legs allow them to jump up to 50 times the length of their bodies.

8. U.K. locale : EUR

The terms “United Kingdom”, “Great Britain” and “England” can sometimes be confused. The official use of “United Kingdom” originated in 1707 with the Acts of Union that declared the countries of England and Scotland as “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain”. The name changed again with the Acts of Union 1800 that created the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” (much to the chagrin of most of the Irish population). This was partially reversed in 1927 when the current name was introduced, the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in recognition of an independent Irish Free State in the south of the island of Ireland.

11. Ancient Roman road : ITER

“Iter” is Latin for “road, journey”.

12. Car-collecting comedian : LENO

Jay Leno was born James Leno in New Rochelle, New York. Jay’s father was the son of Italian immigrants, and his mother was from Scotland. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and actually dropped out of school on the advice of a high school guidance counsellor. However, years later he went to Emerson college and earned a Bachelor’s degree in speech therapy. Leno also started a comedy club at Emerson in 1973. Today Jay Leno is a car nut and owns about 200 vehicles of various types. You can check them out on his website: www.jaylenosgarage.com.

13. Early venue for nudists? : EDEN

According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.

15. Luau strings : UKE

The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

20. British rule in India : RAJ

The period of colonial rule by the British in South Asia from 1858 to 1947 is referred to as the British Raj. Prior to 1858, the area was ruled by a private enterprise, the British East India Company. “Raj” is the Hindi word for “reign”.

24. Sport invented by hunters : SKEET

There are three types of competitive shotgun target shooting sports:

  • Skeet shooting
  • Trap shooting
  • Sporting clays

26. Delivering excellent service to? : ACING

That could be tennis, for example.

27. Asian tents : YURTS

A yurt is a wood-framed dwelling that is used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. Although a yurt is a substantial structure, it is also extremely portable.

30. O.T. book : NEH

In the Bible, the Book of Nehemiah is followed by the Book of Esther.

31. Where to claim miscellaneous credits on a W-4 form : LINE G

A W-4 is an IRS tax form that is used by an employer to calculate the appropriate amount of tax withholding from an employee’s wages.

32. __ nous : ENTRE

In French, something might perhaps be discussed “entre deux” (between two) or “entre nous” (between us).

35. Culinary topper : TOQUE

A toque was a brimless style of hat that was very fashionable in Europe in the 13th to 16th centuries. Nowadays we associate toques with chefs, as it is the name given to a chef’s hat (called a “toque blanche” in French, a “white hat”). A chef’s toque is quite interesting. Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, often said to signify the number of ways that an egg can be cooked.

Our word “culinary” means “of the kitchen, of food”. The term derives from the Latin “culina” meaning “kitchen, food”. As an aside, “culina” is also the source of our word “kiln”.

40. Utah city with a Biblical name : MOAB

Moab is a city in eastern Utah that attracts a lot of visitors each year, mainly those heading for Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, which are nearby.

In the Bible, Moab was the first son of Lot, and the founder of the Kingdom of Moab. Moab was located on a plateau above the Dead Sea.

45. Baseball’s __ Joe : JOLTIN’

Joe DiMaggio was born not too far from here, in Martinez, California, the son of Italian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco when Joltin’ Joe was just a baby. Joe’s Dad was a fisherman, and it was his hope that all his sons would follow him into his trade. But Joe always felt sick at the smell of fish, so fishing’s loss was baseball’s gain.

48. “These are the times that try men’s souls” writer : PAINE

Thomas Paine was an English author who achieved incredible success with his pamphlet “Common Sense” published in 1776 which advocated independence of colonial America from Britain. Paine had immigrated to the American colonies just two years before his pamphlet was published, and so was just in time to make a major contribution to the American Revolution.

Thomas Paine’s series of pamphlets called “The American Crisis” starts with the famous words:

These are the times that try men’s souls.

51. Phillips of “I, Claudius” : SIAN

Siân Phillips is an actress from Wales. Phillips was married for twenty years to actor Peter O’Toole.

“I, Claudius” is a 1934 novel penned by Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of Emperor Claudius of Rome. Graves wrote a sequel in 1935 called “Claudius the God”. Both books were adapted by the BBC into a fabulous television series that went by the name of the first book “I, Claudius”.

52. Logician’s word : ERGO

“Ergo” is a Latin word meaning “hence, therefore”, and one that we’ve absorbed directly into English.

53. B.C. or P.E.I. : PROV

The Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) is in the Pacific Northwest. The British referred to the territory drained by the Columbia River as the “Columbia District”. Queen Victoria chose the name “British Columbia” for that section of the Columbia District that fell under British control. The remainder of the Columbia District was referred to as “American Columbia” or “Southern Columbia”, which became the Oregon Territory in 1848.

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a maritime Canadian province. The island at the center of the province was named for Prince Edward, the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria. PEI is the smallest Canadian province, both in terms of land area and population.

54. Sport-__: vehicles : UTES

A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sport-utes and crossover-utes.

56. Propane container : TANK

Propane is a gas with the formula C3H8. It is an abundant byproduct of the refining of petroleum and is used as a fuel. The gas liquefies readily under pressure, and is usually transported in pressurized containers. However, the containers of “propane” that we purchase in stores is actually a mixture of propane and butane, usually in the ratio of about 50:50.

57. Turow memoir : ONE L

Scott Turow is an author and lawyer from Chicago. Turow has had several bestselling novels including “Presumed Innocent”, “The Burden of Proof” and “Reversible Errors”, all three of which were made into films. He also wrote the autobiographical book “One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School”.

60. Simile words : AS A

A simile is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things that are unalike. For example, a person might be described as “cute as a kitten” or as “busy as a bee”.

62. Guerrilla Guevara : CHE

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Argentina, and in 1948 he started to study medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. While at school he satisfied his need to “see the world” by taking two long journeys around South America, the story of which are told in Guevara’s memoir later published as “The Motorcycle Diaries”. While travelling, Guevara was moved by the plight of the people he saw and their working conditions and what he viewed as capitalistic exploitation. In Mexico City he met brothers Raul and Fidel Castro and was persuaded to join their cause, the overthrow of the US-backed government in Cuba. He rose to second-in-command among the Cuban insurgents, and when Castro came to power Guevara was influential in repelling the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing Soviet nuclear missiles to the island. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to continue his work as a revolutionary. He was captured by Bolivian forces in 1967, and was executed. Fidel Castro led the public mourning of Guevara’s death, and soon the revolutionary was an icon for many left-wing movements around the world.

Guerrilla (sometimes “guerilla”) warfare is a type of fighting engaged in by irregular forces using ambushes and sabotage. The term “guerra” is Spanish for war, and “guerrilla” translates as “little war”.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Keys sound : JANGLE (January)
7. Running a temperature : FEBRILE (February)
14. Become too old to qualify : AGE OUT
15. Howled : ULULATED
16. Coldplay lead singer Chris __ : MARTIN (March)
17. Lamp fuel : KEROSENE
18. Dude : BRO
19. Quarter : AREA
21. Home Depot employee garb : APRON (April)
22. Italian thing : COSA
24. Farm enclosure : STY
25. Yucatán native : MAYAN (May)
28. Deep-sixes : JUNKS (June)
31. “Wayward Pines” actress Melissa __ : LEO
34. Cooler in an apt. window : AC UNIT
36. Bridal bio word : NEE
37. Suggestion : HINT
38. Today, e.g. … or what is found in 12 puzzle answers : FIRST OF THE MONTH
41. Having a fancy for : INTO
42. On the __ vive : QUI
43. Just this far : TO HERE
44. Govt. prosecutors : AGS
45. Minty cocktail : JULEP (July)
47. Drilling tool : AUGER (August)
48. Usher family’s creator : POE
49. Long-dist. weapon : ICBM
51. Calyx part : SEPAL (September)
54. Lyft rival : UBER
56. Mix with a horse : TOM
59. Vex : IRRITATE
61. Rating at a pump : OCTANE (October)
64. Suffered greatly, in Sussex : AGONISED
65. Hard-to-take complainer : WHINER
66. Catholic devotions : NOVENAS (November)
67. Irregular paper edge : DECKLE (December)

Down

1. Doorway side : JAMB
2. Bio lab gel : AGAR
3. Archie’s boss, in detective fiction : NERO
4. Understood : GOT
5. That guy, to Guy : LUI
6. Old lab burners : ETNAS
7. Bug with bounce : FLEA
8. U.K. locale : EUR
9. Swells up : BLOATS
10. Hoarse : RASPY
11. Ancient Roman road : ITER
12. Car-collecting comedian : LENO
13. Early venue for nudists? : EDEN
15. Luau strings : UKE
20. British rule in India : RAJ
22. Childish response to a dare : CAN SO!
23. “Will do!” : ON IT!
24. Sport invented by hunters : SKEET
25. Criminal group : MAFIA
26. Delivering excellent service to? : ACING
27. Asian tents : YURTS
29. Loosen, as a bow : UNTIE
30. O.T. book : NEH
31. Where to claim miscellaneous credits on a W-4 form : LINE G
32. __ nous : ENTRE
33. Survey choice : OTHER
35. Culinary topper : TOQUE
37. Hardly stimulating : HO-HUM
39. Ending with hand or fist : -FUL
40. Utah city with a Biblical name : MOAB
45. Baseball’s __ Joe : JOLTIN’
46. Dessert slice : PIE
48. “These are the times that try men’s souls” writer : PAINE
50. Lots of people : CROWD
51. Phillips of “I, Claudius” : SIAN
52. Logician’s word : ERGO
53. B.C. or P.E.I. : PROV
54. Sport-__: vehicles : UTES
55. Garden area : BED
56. Propane container : TANK
57. Turow memoir : ONE L
58. Just : MERE
60. Simile words : AS A
62. Guerrilla Guevara : CHE
63. Little jerk : TIC

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24 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 1 Nov 18, Thursday”

  1. LAT: 8:52, no errors, but I forgot to look for the theme (and I paused for a long time over “DECKLE”, a word utterly new to me). Newsday: 8:41, no errors; lousy online interface. WSJ: 21:24, one (sorta/kinda) error; horrible online interface. BEQ to come …

  2. This was a fun puzzle, but 64 across, suffered in Sussex? Just threw that in, to boggle the brain. I did have agonized for 64 across, but thought it must be wrong. Played around, left it, got it. Also 26 down acing, again got off his wave pattern. I think of tennis, but thats why I love to work them and get into peoples heads. Good one!

  3. I, also, didn;t check out the theme. Googled for MARTIN, SIAN, and PROV. Shoulda known the last, but was hung up on BC meaning Before Christ. Didn’t know LEO. So today was easier than yesterday.

  4. 23 min. with no errors.
    Two Thursday puzzles with no errors (today’s LAT and NYT from 0927)that’s a rare one for me but I will take it.

  5. 56 across – Mix with a horse: TOM. Can someone explain?

    I also have a general question. How did you know that this puzzle has a theme? Is finding the theme part of solving the puzzle?

    1. @Don
      I can’t say I know your first question. That was like a “yeah, whatever” when I saw it. Googling “tom horse” produces horses with “Tom” as part of their names, so that really wasn’t a help either. “Tom” in the dictionary refers to various male animals known by that (like a turkey), but horses aren’t known by that name. So, good question.

      To the general question, every puzzle save some of the weekends have themes. This is told by looking at the longest answers or marked answers for things in common or the like. Or as in the case of this puzzle, there’s a revealer present (38-A). As far as it being part of solving the puzzle, it may be good for some solvers, but about 90% of the time I don’t ever notice them. Sometimes it helps to know the theme and what’s going on to solve (it mildly helped me on this one), so it’s something to be aware of that exists more than a requirement to solve a puzzle.

    2. Tom Mix was a cowboy actor with a horse.

      May have gotten it if they had asked for Tom with a horse. I missed it, though
      I probably saw all of the old cowboy movies when I was a kid.

      I found today’s much harder than yesterday’s and we were only able to get
      70%. Learned a few new words and just did not catch on enough to what
      the author wanted.

      65 across gave me the idea that Bob Cohen had constructed this puzzle. He
      said that he was tired of my whining and complaining. I hadn’t even realized
      I was doing that, just trying to state what I saw and felt. Conspiracy? Surely not
      on my account. Still really enjoy trying them and my real good feeling about
      Wednesday’s puzzle was kinda squelched by Thursday’s. And so it goes.

  6. This was the usual challenge from Wechsler. He can bruise my brain at times. 15A was new to me, and scratched my head forever with “mix with a horse” But finally got TOM.

  7. Tom Mix was a cowboy actor, waaaay back when.
    Clue 38A implies a theme.

    My Home Depot folks wear orange vests or tee shirts, so that one took me awhile. It was the theme that got me the APRon. Ululated crossing Iter was the killer

    For me Thurs is always where the going gets tough. Today’s was worse than usual.

  8. 21:23. This seemed hard for a Thursday. It took me forever to think of TOQUE as I was thinking food. I didn’t notice the theme until late, and that’s how I guessed FEBRILE. I had to get DECKLE entirely via crosses. Had to remember ULULATED from a NYT puzzle a while back. More thought involved with this puzzle than I was ready for today.

    Best –

  9. Exceptionally tough but I waded through with just a couple mistakes. The answer to howled ( 15 across “ululated” was completely unknown to me. Filled all the letters but had to look it up in the dictionary to prove it out.
    I didn’t get started until after the news at noon and here it is 2.15pm.
    Eddie

  10. 13:18 and a rare DNF: 6 unfilled, and three simply incorrect. DECKLE is a totally new one on me, 56 across was a completely disingenuous homo-phonic clue … guess it was my time to get beat…

    And, now I learn that the theme went completely over my head… didn’t even notice the month abbreviations.

    Humbling, this one…

  11. LAT: 19:12, 1 very dumb error. WSJ: 24:50, no errors. Newsday: 8:50, no errors. A Thursday softball, even for them. BEQ: 25:15, 2 errors on intersections I had to guess at. Definitely not “Medium”.

  12. Tom Mix was a cowboy actor with a horse; Tom with a horse. Might have been
    easier if the clue had been Mr. Mix with a horse. I missed this one, even though
    I like Westerns and had seen most of the old cowboy movies when I was a kid.

    We tried hard, but only got about 70% today. Learned some new words and
    amazingly got FEBRILE and ULULATED, just did not do well on the rest. Knew
    some of them, just did not use them as needed.

    65 Across made me think there was a puzzleer conspiracy going on and that
    Bob Cohen had a small part in the construction of this one. He had said that he was getting very tired of my complaining and whining and that fit right in with this clue. The wife wrote in WHINER. And so it goes; you can please some of the people all of the time, etc. and etc. Have not seen any more of his scathing comments since that one time.

    1. Mr Daigle, you’re certainly NOT a whiner! I enjoy your comments! Maybe Bob Cohen realized he’d been rude and has bowed out of our group.

  13. I know a lot of argument would ensue about 8 down “U.K.” locale’s answer of “Eur” (short for Europe). Most people in the U.K. do NOT consider their country to be part of Europe, (and Bill – if you’ll indulge my pedantic side for a minute. Your explanation doesn’t address that issue at all. Sorry for the nit picking! – Tony).

  14. I loved this puzzle- very clever, by my favorite constructor. For some reason I did not find it as difficult as the above commenters. It was an incredible puzzle and a lot of fun.

  15. What happened to no politics? This page is a Republican Ad campaign complete with pictures of the president at his rallies. When does the religious proselytizing, anti LBGT anti-immigrant rhetoric and offers of assault weapons start?

    This is one of the few sites I used to enjoy. No politics…religion etc. Let’s go back to a site SOLELY DEVOTED TO THE PUZZLE!!

  16. Where the hell did this above comment come from? Must be on some bad drugs or ……..just a nut case.

  17. Very fun Wechsler Thursday, done at a leisurely pace, while selling my honey. Finished most everything, outside of 4 squares in the SW corner, in between sales, in pretty good time.

    Fizzled out, though, on SI__ and had ERat instead of ERGO. So, learned a lot today; two new, for me, actors and deckle and novenas.

    @Tony – The UK will be leaving the EU, and I guess Europe, in March and almost no-one will miss them one bit. Its looking like, at least, Scotland might consider leaving the UK and rejoining Europe.

    @Anonymous – I’m guessing that you were fed right wing ads by Google and that is really not a function of the blog or something that anyone else necessarily experienced. I use the Firefox browser, along with Adblock Plus and see absolutely no ads at all.

  18. Hi folks!🙃
    No errors. Really liked this puzzle! Luckily, I got the theme early, and it was super helpful. 😊 Nicely done grid.

    DECKLE is my new favorite word! I like it as a metaphor for my life– the edges are frayed but the overall picture is tidy and logical. I also like that it sounds so much like “heckle.”

    Re: ads — I STILL sometimes get these ads for a manufacturing facility that makes “jib cranes.” Don’t even know what those are. I also get ads for — this is funny — Airbnbs in Los Angeles!! 😆 As an Airbnb host right here in LA, I often check out my competition. So THOSE ads “know” me…but why the JIB cranes??!🤔

    Be well~~✌🏻✌🏾✌🏽✌

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