Tue., 1/13 Uttormark & Burnikel

[magus]

THEME:   famous names with the initials TA
   
GOOD ONES:     
Tie with a cord   BOLO [I thought "tie" was a verb]   
   
BTW:   
Husk-wrapped Mexican dish, and when divided in three parts {theme}   TAMALE [to read TA-MA-LE as it says to do makes no sense, so it must be read T A MALE (which makes sense and is clever, but it is an improper syllabification).  Guess I'm a pedant, but to my mind the clue might better have been related to a Teaching Assistant.]   
   
East, to Ernst   OST [but not to Rossetti]   
   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

I, too, was confused by the suggestion to divide TAMALE into three parts. It might have made more sense to divide it into two parts: TA and MALE. The five theme answers were names of males with the initials TA. Most of us, when asked to divide a word into three parts, will divide it into syllables.

And the tamale is not precisely a Mexican dish. As far back as 5000 BC, tamales were common among the Mayans in what is now Central America. And we "gringos" have anglicized the word. The Spanish word for the food is tamal and the plural is tamales. We mistakenly think that the singular of "tamales" is "tamale." It isn't. Ask for a tamal in Spain and you'll be promptly served...but ask for a tamal in the United States and nobody will know what you're talking about.