Theme: Knock 'Em Dead - Letter M at the beginning of one of the words in each of these familiar phrases is dropped. The vowel sound remains the same.
23A. What would trouble Trixie if the Kramdens moved away? : ABSENCE OF (M)ALICE. The base phrase is Absence of Malice. Alice Kramdens is from "The Honeymooners". Trixie is her best friend. M precedes short A.
51A. Parallel world? : (M)OTHER EARTH. Mother Earth. Short O.
69A. Badly burned British dish? : BANGERS AND (M)ASH. Bangers and Mash. Bangers = Sausages. Lois probably still could taste them. Short A. Triple B alliteration in the clue.
85A. Pint-drinking buddies' experience? : (M)ALE BONDING. Male Bonding. Long A.
117A. 19th-century queen's tough tests? : VICTORIAN (M)ORALS. Victorian Morals. Short O. Or is it "aw" sound?
14D. "Wiggly dessert stale, kemosabe" : JELLO (M)OLD. Jello Mold. The only theme entry without a question mark. Tonto is speaking ungrammatically, telling the Lone Ranger that jellos is old. Long O.
17D. Religious dissenters? : PRAYING (M)ANTIS. Praying Mantis. Dissenter = Anti. Short A.
61D. Type that regularly visits Willy Wonka's factory? : CHOCOLATE (M)ILK. Chocolate Milk. Type = Ilk. Short I.
83. Mischievous long-eared critter? : (M)ARCH HARE. March Hare. Mad as a march hare. Arch = Mischievous. I am only familiar with the "roguish/sly" meaning of arch. AR combination.
Fun puzzle from Rich Norris. Gia Christian is his alias name, an anagram of "Again, it's Rich".
No E or U is in play. I can think of (M)EAT BALL or (M)UTE POINT/BUTTON. Rich might have considered other ME* and MU* options and did not think the phrases are sparkly enough. Or sometimes the transformed phrases do not lend themselves to easy clues. Another reason for the discard.
Rich divided his upper and lower edges into three rather than standard Sunday four sections, so quite a few long words there. No helper/cheater square in this puppy either.
Very neat theme answer placement. Noticed how none of the theme entries (with four Downs) crosses each other? Artful! Rich evenly spread them in every part of the grid and gave solvers something theme-y to nibble everywhere.
On Sunday grids, we sometimes see all the theme answers placed in Across. More often two are placed in Down and intersected by some Across theme entries.
Total 13 Fill-in-the-Blank answers. Made the solving easier. Four entries with individual A as the start. A bit too much. Most of the other multi-words are quite interesting.
Across:
1. Citrus source : LIME TREE. Wish we had a lemon tree in our yard.
9. __-Turkish War : ITALO. 1911-1912. Fought between Ottoman Empire and Italy. Unknown to me.
14. Quartz variety : JASPER. Usually red. And usually our answer is ONYX.
20. Boss's okays, often : INITIALS
21. Twangy : NASAL
22. Duck à l'orange, e.g. : ENTREE. Have never had the dish.
25. "Gil Blas" novelist : LESAGE (Alain). I remember we had LESAGE as the answer before. And I tried to remember it as LE SAGE.
26. __-jongg : MAH
27. Half a dance : CHA. Cha Cha.
28. Daily opinion page, briefly : OP ED
29. Van Gogh works : OILS
31. Designer monogram : YSL
32. Whacked, biblically : SMOTE
34. Key of Brahms's Symphony No. 4 : E MINOR. Used Spitzboov's either MINOR or SHARP theory.
36. Notorious '80s-'90s crime boss : GOTTI. The Dapper Don.
38. Three-handed card game : SKAT. And WAR (84D. Simple card game). Card game echo.
39. Regret deeply : LAMENT
41. Maker of Nutri-Grain Waffles : EGGO. Crossing IGGY (30D. Pop of rock). Double Gs.
43. Cell messengers : RNAS. Thought of cell phone first.
46. Roman holiday : FESTA. Literally "holiday" in Italian. Nice play on the movie title "Roman Holiday". "Italian holiday" clue would not be so evocative.
48. "The Mod Squad" role : LINC
49. Record material : VINYL
50. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE
53. Onetime Burmese statesman : U NU. Burma's first prime minister. U = Mr. Same as the U in U Thant.
54. Go : DEPART. Al was probably thinking of the game GO.
56. Picnic spoiler : RAIN. Sorry ANTS. Next time.
57. Cars over the road : ELS. I need a train/rail reference.
58. Rocking Turner : TINA
59. Sonoma and Safari : GMCS
62. Mauna __ : LOA
64. Computer acronym : ASCII
66. Customer file ID : ACCT NO
68. Fed. medical org. : NIH (National Institutes of Health)
72. Red-and-white supermarket logo : IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Can never remember the name.
73. Bottom line, ideally : PROFIT
75. When gluttons eat : OFTEN. "When" made me think of a specific time. Then I parsed the answer as OF TEN.
76. Tick off : IRK
77. Rehab admission : USER. Or abuser.
78. Hail __ : A CAB. I wanted MARY.
79. Get to work again : FIX. Hey, no RE in the answer. Nice!
80. "Take __ from me": A TIP
82. Nova __ : SCOTIA
84. Bentley of "American Beauty" : WES. Saw the movie. Don't remember him.
91. Jazz immortal : ELLA. Sure immortal in Xword. And SET (45D. Jazz group?). Jazz echo. The latter refers to Utah Jazz, correct?
92. Do a double take, say : REACT
94. Wool: Pref. : LANI. Who knows?
95. Addition symbol : CARET. Like ^ . Editing addition.
96. Fanaticism : ZEAL
97. Golfer's option : CART. Many of the senior PGA guys take cart.
98. From the heart? : AORTAL. Superb clue.
100. "Soap" family name : TATE. I peeked at the answer sheet. The names are killing me.
101. PC troubleshooters : TECHS
103. Courses at bars : SALADS. Very rewarding to make salad out of our own garden now.
105. Idyllic spots : EDENS
107. Own, to a Glaswegian : HAE. Have.
109. "Excuse me ..." : AHEM
111. Store of ore : LODE. Nice rhyme.
112. Cheerleader's word : RAH
113. Space : GAP
115. Richards of "Jurassic Park" : ARIANA. First encounter with this actress.
121. Not as chilly : MILDER
122. Prosecutor's burden : PROOF
123. Perturbs : AGITATES
124. Bully's dare : MAKE ME. I hope the bully in our school is in jail now. Very bad guy.
125. Personnel : STAFF
126. Ship's cargo list : MANIFEST. Good word.
Down:
1. Neeson of "The A-Team" : LIAM. Liked his Oskar.
2. To-do pile site : IN BASKET. I only have IN TRAY.
3. Hodgepodge : MISHMASH
4. Automne preceder : ETE. Automne = Autumn. French.
5. Touch of color : TINCT
6. "The Sea Around Us" author Carson : RACHEL. Nope. Complete stranger. Marine biologist and nature writer. Must be very famous to be on the stamps.
7. Zeno's home : ELEA. Zeno of Elea.
8. That, in Tijuana : ESO
9. If nothing else works : IN A PINCH. Awesome fill.
10. Scout's discovery : TALENT
11. "... say, and not __" : AS I DO
12. Europe's __ de Genève : LAC. Lake. LPGA's annual Evian Masters is played around that area.
13. Dairy case item : OLEO
15. "__ of robins ..." : A NEST. No idea. "... A nest of robins in her hair...___ of robins ...". From Kilmer's poem "Trees".
16. OK and others : STS (States). OK = Oklahoma.
18. Bean measures? : EEGS. Bean = Head.
19. Virginia __ : REEL
24. Instigate : FOMENT
33. Aquatic frolickers : OTTERS
34. Middle East VIP : EMIR
35. Restrains : REINS IN
37. Torrid Zone boundary : TROPIC. I only know tropical zone.
38. Bay Area hub: Abbr. : SFO
40. Friends-and-family support group : AL-ANON. Used to stump me.
42. Safari sighting : GNU. Alliteration.
44. Adapt musically : ARRANGE
23A. What would trouble Trixie if the Kramdens moved away? : ABSENCE OF (M)ALICE. The base phrase is Absence of Malice. Alice Kramdens is from "The Honeymooners". Trixie is her best friend. M precedes short A.
51A. Parallel world? : (M)OTHER EARTH. Mother Earth. Short O.
69A. Badly burned British dish? : BANGERS AND (M)ASH. Bangers and Mash. Bangers = Sausages. Lois probably still could taste them. Short A. Triple B alliteration in the clue.
85A. Pint-drinking buddies' experience? : (M)ALE BONDING. Male Bonding. Long A.
117A. 19th-century queen's tough tests? : VICTORIAN (M)ORALS. Victorian Morals. Short O. Or is it "aw" sound?
14D. "Wiggly dessert stale, kemosabe" : JELLO (M)OLD. Jello Mold. The only theme entry without a question mark. Tonto is speaking ungrammatically, telling the Lone Ranger that jellos is old. Long O.
17D. Religious dissenters? : PRAYING (M)ANTIS. Praying Mantis. Dissenter = Anti. Short A.
61D. Type that regularly visits Willy Wonka's factory? : CHOCOLATE (M)ILK. Chocolate Milk. Type = Ilk. Short I.
83. Mischievous long-eared critter? : (M)ARCH HARE. March Hare. Mad as a march hare. Arch = Mischievous. I am only familiar with the "roguish/sly" meaning of arch. AR combination.
Fun puzzle from Rich Norris. Gia Christian is his alias name, an anagram of "Again, it's Rich".
No E or U is in play. I can think of (M)EAT BALL or (M)UTE POINT/BUTTON. Rich might have considered other ME* and MU* options and did not think the phrases are sparkly enough. Or sometimes the transformed phrases do not lend themselves to easy clues. Another reason for the discard.
Rich divided his upper and lower edges into three rather than standard Sunday four sections, so quite a few long words there. No helper/cheater square in this puppy either.
Very neat theme answer placement. Noticed how none of the theme entries (with four Downs) crosses each other? Artful! Rich evenly spread them in every part of the grid and gave solvers something theme-y to nibble everywhere.
On Sunday grids, we sometimes see all the theme answers placed in Across. More often two are placed in Down and intersected by some Across theme entries.
Total 13 Fill-in-the-Blank answers. Made the solving easier. Four entries with individual A as the start. A bit too much. Most of the other multi-words are quite interesting.
Across:
1. Citrus source : LIME TREE. Wish we had a lemon tree in our yard.
9. __-Turkish War : ITALO. 1911-1912. Fought between Ottoman Empire and Italy. Unknown to me.
14. Quartz variety : JASPER. Usually red. And usually our answer is ONYX.
20. Boss's okays, often : INITIALS
21. Twangy : NASAL
22. Duck à l'orange, e.g. : ENTREE. Have never had the dish.
25. "Gil Blas" novelist : LESAGE (Alain). I remember we had LESAGE as the answer before. And I tried to remember it as LE SAGE.
26. __-jongg : MAH
27. Half a dance : CHA. Cha Cha.
28. Daily opinion page, briefly : OP ED
29. Van Gogh works : OILS
31. Designer monogram : YSL
32. Whacked, biblically : SMOTE
34. Key of Brahms's Symphony No. 4 : E MINOR. Used Spitzboov's either MINOR or SHARP theory.
36. Notorious '80s-'90s crime boss : GOTTI. The Dapper Don.
38. Three-handed card game : SKAT. And WAR (84D. Simple card game). Card game echo.
39. Regret deeply : LAMENT
41. Maker of Nutri-Grain Waffles : EGGO. Crossing IGGY (30D. Pop of rock). Double Gs.
43. Cell messengers : RNAS. Thought of cell phone first.
46. Roman holiday : FESTA. Literally "holiday" in Italian. Nice play on the movie title "Roman Holiday". "Italian holiday" clue would not be so evocative.
48. "The Mod Squad" role : LINC
49. Record material : VINYL
50. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE
53. Onetime Burmese statesman : U NU. Burma's first prime minister. U = Mr. Same as the U in U Thant.
54. Go : DEPART. Al was probably thinking of the game GO.
56. Picnic spoiler : RAIN. Sorry ANTS. Next time.
57. Cars over the road : ELS. I need a train/rail reference.
58. Rocking Turner : TINA
59. Sonoma and Safari : GMCS
62. Mauna __ : LOA
64. Computer acronym : ASCII
66. Customer file ID : ACCT NO
68. Fed. medical org. : NIH (National Institutes of Health)
72. Red-and-white supermarket logo : IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Can never remember the name.
73. Bottom line, ideally : PROFIT
75. When gluttons eat : OFTEN. "When" made me think of a specific time. Then I parsed the answer as OF TEN.
76. Tick off : IRK
77. Rehab admission : USER. Or abuser.
78. Hail __ : A CAB. I wanted MARY.
79. Get to work again : FIX. Hey, no RE in the answer. Nice!
80. "Take __ from me": A TIP
82. Nova __ : SCOTIA
84. Bentley of "American Beauty" : WES. Saw the movie. Don't remember him.
91. Jazz immortal : ELLA. Sure immortal in Xword. And SET (45D. Jazz group?). Jazz echo. The latter refers to Utah Jazz, correct?
92. Do a double take, say : REACT
94. Wool: Pref. : LANI. Who knows?
95. Addition symbol : CARET. Like ^ . Editing addition.
96. Fanaticism : ZEAL
97. Golfer's option : CART. Many of the senior PGA guys take cart.
98. From the heart? : AORTAL. Superb clue.
100. "Soap" family name : TATE. I peeked at the answer sheet. The names are killing me.
101. PC troubleshooters : TECHS
103. Courses at bars : SALADS. Very rewarding to make salad out of our own garden now.
105. Idyllic spots : EDENS
107. Own, to a Glaswegian : HAE. Have.
109. "Excuse me ..." : AHEM
111. Store of ore : LODE. Nice rhyme.
112. Cheerleader's word : RAH
113. Space : GAP
115. Richards of "Jurassic Park" : ARIANA. First encounter with this actress.
121. Not as chilly : MILDER
122. Prosecutor's burden : PROOF
123. Perturbs : AGITATES
124. Bully's dare : MAKE ME. I hope the bully in our school is in jail now. Very bad guy.
125. Personnel : STAFF
126. Ship's cargo list : MANIFEST. Good word.
Down:
1. Neeson of "The A-Team" : LIAM. Liked his Oskar.
2. To-do pile site : IN BASKET. I only have IN TRAY.
3. Hodgepodge : MISHMASH
4. Automne preceder : ETE. Automne = Autumn. French.
5. Touch of color : TINCT
6. "The Sea Around Us" author Carson : RACHEL. Nope. Complete stranger. Marine biologist and nature writer. Must be very famous to be on the stamps.
7. Zeno's home : ELEA. Zeno of Elea.
8. That, in Tijuana : ESO
9. If nothing else works : IN A PINCH. Awesome fill.
10. Scout's discovery : TALENT
11. "... say, and not __" : AS I DO
12. Europe's __ de Genève : LAC. Lake. LPGA's annual Evian Masters is played around that area.
13. Dairy case item : OLEO
15. "__ of robins ..." : A NEST. No idea. "... A nest of robins in her hair...___ of robins ...". From Kilmer's poem "Trees".
16. OK and others : STS (States). OK = Oklahoma.
18. Bean measures? : EEGS. Bean = Head.
19. Virginia __ : REEL
24. Instigate : FOMENT
33. Aquatic frolickers : OTTERS
34. Middle East VIP : EMIR
35. Restrains : REINS IN
37. Torrid Zone boundary : TROPIC. I only know tropical zone.
38. Bay Area hub: Abbr. : SFO
40. Friends-and-family support group : AL-ANON. Used to stump me.
42. Safari sighting : GNU. Alliteration.
44. Adapt musically : ARRANGE
45. Jazz group? : SET
47. Notre Dame's Parseghian : ARA
49. Spock, partly : VULCAN. "Live long and prosper".
52. Israeli port city : EILAT. Always wanted HAIFA.
55. Inscribe : ETCH
57. Southend-on-Sea's county : ESSEX. Not familiar with Southend-on-Sea. A seaside resort in Essex.
59. Econ. measure : GNP (Gross National Product)
60. Word with drug or mile : MIRACLE. Didn't jump out to me immediately.
63. Previously : AGO
64. Museum exhibitor : ARTIST
65. Uganda's Amin : IDI
66. Invite as one's date for : ASK TO
67. Wake maker : OAR. The wave behind boat "wake".
69. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly : BIBI. Used to have a crush on him.
70. Results : EFFECTS
71. Lawrence's land : ARABIA. "Lawrence of Arabia".
74. Femme __ : FATALE
77. Keep current : UPDATE. Nice alliteration too.
81. Business mag : INC. OK, has anyone actually read the INC magazine?
82. Speaks in slang? : SEZ
85. What you might take if you're tired? : A LOAD OFF. Another gorgeous answer.
86. Food storage area : LARDER
87. Sinus specialists, briefly : ENTS. ENT = Ear, Nose, and Throat
88. Reagan-era scandal : IRAN GATE
89. Proprietor's calculation : NET SALES
90. Onetime AT&T rival : GTE
93. Relax : EASE
98. Many : A LOT OF
99. Get closer, as to hear better : LEAN IN. Not a phrase I use.
102. Cave __: beware of the dog : CANEM. This cave and the caveat in "Caveat Emptor" is the same root I presume?
104. Foil maker : ALCOA
106. Hindu loincloth : DHOTI. Like this, Vidwan? We also have RAGA (112. Hindu music style).
107. "Go for the Goal" autobiographer : HAMM (Mia). Easy guess.
108. Operatic highlight : ARIA
110. MLB honorees : MVPS. My avatar was MVP once. Still on DL due to concussion.
114. It ain't quite "Hey!" : PSST
116. Drink stand buy : ADE. Meh!
118. NYC subway : IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit)
119. "__ Sam": "Green Eggs and Ham" opening : I AM
120. U.K. defense arm : RAF (Royal Air Force)
Answer grid.
Here are a few beautiful scenic pictures from JD's recent Oregon gathering with Dick, Carol and their spouses. What is that stuff in Picture #1?
C.C.
38 comments:
This is only a test.
TEST
Morning, all!
Nice puzzle, overall. Loved the theme, and most of the fill was very smooth. At the end, however, I didn't get the "TADA!" and I spent the next 5 minutes trying to figure out what my error was. I never did find it, and eventually had to change the difficulty level to see that AMIN/AMINOR was incorrect...
Good Morning, CC and all. After getting BANGERS AND ASH, I realized that the theme was to get rid of an "M" in the responses. (BTW, I thought of Barry G when I got this fill. Did you try Banger and Mash on your recent trip?)
This was largely a puzzle of: I wanted any answer but the correct one as I went through this puzzle ~
I wanted Hail Mary instead of A CAB
I wanted Warmer instead of MILDER
I wanted Haifa instead of EILAT. Tricky clue, because Eilat is on the Red Sea, and not the Mediterranean Sea.
I wanted Greco-Turkish War instead of ITALO-Turkish War.
I wanted Virginia Dare instead of REEL. (Virginia Dare was supposedly the first child born in the Americas of European parents.
Did anyone else A and P for the Red and White Supermarket Logo?
I knew Rachel Carson. She has a state park named for her in southern Maine. I will be visiting there (as well as further north in Bar Harbor) in a week or so.
Favorite clues were : Bottom Line = Profit
From the Heart = AORTAL
QOD: Without promotion something terrible happens: Nothing. ~ P.T. Barnum.
I guess that the spam blocker is still thinking I am spam. Maybe Argyle or CC will un-spam me.
Good Morning C.C. et al.
I had a really fun time with this gem from Rich Norris, and had quite a few chuckles over his clever theme. No lookups needed, but it did take me a while to fill in some gaps in the NE. Can never remember if the “Quartz variety” is spelled “JASPAR” or “JASPER”. I have seen it both ways in rock shops…sigggghhh.
C.C., there are two delineations of the tropic zones. The northern tropic is called the "Tropic of Cancer", and the southern tropic is the “Tropic of Capricorn”. But I always get this clue immediately because of the 1934 and 1938 novels of the same names by Henry Miller, which tested pornography laws in the US and were actually banned. Of course, that made them “required” reading for every teenager in the US!
Have a great day everyone!
picture #1: drift wood?
CC- the 'dhoti'... Indian loincloth,, that shows up in the linkup you so generously provided, is the 'top of the line'.
The ivory color suggests raw unbleached silk, ( as tussore... ), and the borders are embroidered in 'Zari' ... a real or simulated gold and/or silver filigree threads. The copious amount of the ( area of ) material itself, together with the pleats in front, suggests that the dhoti would be worn during a religious ceremony or a 'showy' formal occasion, like a marriage. A priest would not wear such a dhoti ( he couldnt afford it)... their garments tend to be more plain, cotton with a thin, simple selvedge. This is definitely South Indian. In the north, where some people wear dhotis as 'everyday' wear ... they are much smaller and sparse and the cotton material is thin enough to be more translucent and the garment itself tucks around, between the 2 feet ... and shows a better part of the lower legs...like Gandhi is always shown wearing.
I hope you had your breakfast, at least 2 hours ago ...
Today is Indian independence day ... Aug 15, 1947. Yesterday was Pakistan independence day, August 14th 1947 (... M. A. Jinnah, the 'founder' of Pak., alway wanted priority...)
Good morning ~!
I do believe the reference to a JAZZ SET is the 'group' of songs played, then the members usually take a break. I managed a night club where the cover bands usually did two "sets".
Glad I did not think of hail MARY first, would have gotten me good. I had "Jell-O Old" before I got the theme of the puzzle. It was "Chocolate Ilk" that gave me my "a-ha" moment. Seems a bit silly now, since the title literally spells it out....must be tired....
"A lot of" and "A load OFF" next to each other is interesting.
Yes, lots of "a" clues today, but the funny thing is, Barry, I had the exact same problem - not solved because I "pre-answered" 'A-minor' and couldn't see the problem....
Enjoy the day, much cooler in my neck of the woods
Splynter
CC:
Rachel Carson's more famous book was "Silent Spring", published I believe in the early 1960's. In the book she exposed the effect of the pesticide DDT on the reproductive cycle of avian species. The publicity eventually led to the ban on the use of DDT in the US, although it's use has continued elsewhere.
Carson and her book are often credited with launching the modern environmental movement, or at least giving it broad public acceptance. There were of course, others, including the crossword staple Muir.
With only one vowel, I don't have a chance.
Re: Indian and Pakistani Independence:
I have a regular lamb customer at farmers market who is originally from Bangladesh; he and I were discussing these dates yesterday morning.
Enjoy the day, 95 here again today, potentially the coolest day in a week of 97-99. Hunting for (Green, not Red) October.
Hello Puzzlers -
Good Morning, C.C., and thanks for another helpful synopsis. I noticed within your E and U samples the phrase "mute point" - I can't tell whether that was meant as a joke, but if not, I hope you'll allow me to correct the phrase to "moot point". It is pronounced as written, not as "myoot". For some reason Americans are having trouble with "moot", and are saying "mute point" all over the place.
About Rachel Carson: she was most famous for her book "Silent Spring", in which she had the courage to suggest that we were harming our environment with man-made chemicals, especially pesticides. She was subjected to withering criticism across the nation, which she endured bravely; it seems the chemical companies didn't like such press, and they raised quite a stink. She is closely associated with the banning of DDT.
Cheers!
Man, I gotta learn to type faster!
Happy Sunday, Solvers all.
Hatool, we were on the same wavelength today. Your "wanteds" were the same as mine and Rachel Carson was a "gimme" for me too.
As usual, I found it easier to work up from the bottom. I confirmed the theme from the (m)ale bonding having already gotten Victorian (m)orals. That gave me the other theme entries without much difficulty and those entries straightened out some of my erroneous "wants".
I got (M)arch Hare, but couldn't get the connection to the clue. I've never seen mischevious associated with arch. Arch rival and arch enemy always seem to denote a more serious association. I came here for the learning experience. Thanks to all that educate me on a daily basis.
UNU and LESAGE were total unknowns, but the perps filled them in. There were a few times that I was tempted to go Googleing, but I managed to tease out the last of the answers without help.
Off to London and points beyond in less than two weeks. I'll have to drop into a local pub for some ale bonding with bangers and mash.
Fav entry: mishmash
@ Dudley, I've also noticed the tendency of many people to say "mute point" instead of "moot". In one sense, there is a similarity of meaning that could lead to the incorrect usage. When a point that has been argued is withdrawn it becomes moot. When audio is silenced it becomes mute. Most of us are more likely to use mute or muted in our normal conversations (unless we're law students) so it may be just a lazy choice of words when mute is used instead of moot.
Good Day C.C. and all,
Got the theme from 23a.-that helped immensely. SE corner was the last to fall,other than {3} G spots:Dhoti,Lesage,Eilat; a few wags and perps to smooth out the solving.
Definitely not a gimme, which made it fun.
Of course, this blog is what really makes it fun. I need to say this every so often, just to let it out. I've learned so much,I only hope my retentive powers can keep up with you-at least to some degree.
The comraderie in the group is infecteous and I think I am a nicer person, because of it.
Hope all have a good day.
Good morning C.C. and all,
I was not on Rich's wavelength, so by the time I finally reached 115A, I came here and filled in my GAPS.Hand up for "Hail Mary". With each fill I asked myself, "Why didn't I see that?" sigh
pictures:
1st picture was taken in Timber Cove, just north of Jenner, CA...lots of driftwood, and beautiful smooth round rocks.
The next 4 were in or near Bandon,OR. We had lots of fog, but what a gorgeous coastline!
Last one is Mt Shasta, taken as we were driving back home.
Good afternoon. Not too difficult - liked the theme with the missing 'm's'.
Favorite clue was for CHOCOLATE ILK. Also liked EEGS. WAGS included ELLA, HAE, and ESSEX. No lookups needed. Believe U NU was UN Secretary General for a number of years. 'Who knew?'
Enjoy the day
Sorry about U Nu. U Thant was a former UB Secretary General.
Hello everybody. Thank you for the informative and interesting writeup, C.C.
Well, it looks like this puzzle was easier for some of you than for others. Much easier for me today than yesterday's was!
I caught onto the omitted M theme with JELLO OLD, which brought a big smile to my face. ABSENCE OF ALICE made me laugh out loud. And the DF side of my mind had fun seeing VICTORIAN and ORAL together.
Hand up for wanting Hail MARY, Virginia DARE, and WARMER. And yes, I also used the knowledge that the key of Brahms's symphony had to be something MINOR, MAJOR, or SHARP because of the six letters.
Since RACHEL Carson, MAH jongg, VINYL, VULCAN, AS I DO, SCOTIA, and some others were gimmes, it was possible, and fun, to work on and finish the entire puzzle without having to look anything up.
creature, I agree with you that "The comraderie in the group is infecteous and I think I am a nicer person, because of it." I have learned that I'm a poor loser (hence my negativity yesterday) and am motivated to overcome it. I sure don't want to be a grumpy old man; I like being a cheerful old man :)
JD, thanks so much for sharing your photos of the Oregon coast! It is by far one of my most favorite places.
Best wishes to you all.
Good day, C.C. and cyber friends.
Great information and write up, C.C.
I believe you wondered about LANI and that is usually associated with lanolin, but in Spanish as well as Latin LANA means wool.
What a great Sunday puzzle which I worked on leisurely before and after church services. Many clues caused me to think and think again, but it all filled nicely.
CHOCOLATEILK was my fav of the them answers, but they all were clever. You go, Rich!
HAIL Mary never ocurred to me because I alredy had GNP and MIRACLE as well as femme FATALE.
Hand up for GRECO Turkish war.
LINC, Clarence Williams III, was one of my favorite actors in Mod Squad and I have seen him recently in other shows, namely, Memphis Beat and some Hallmark movies. He is also a wicked singer!
My oops were in EILAT, ALANON and WAR where I did not check my original spelling and only noticed upon reading the blog that HILAT, ALONON and LAR were incorrect.
Great learning and recalling on the blog today. Thank you all.
Yes, I totally agree, the comraderie of this blog is infectious!
I hope your Sunday is going well.
16 down I think refers to tire stores...OK and STS...thanks for all the info...i am new to crosswords and found this site when looking for help for 14 down
I thought of Barry G when I got this fill. Did you try Banger and Mash on your recent trip?
Well, assuming a banger is a sausage, that's what my in-flight meal on the way home was, believe it or not. But, while in London, I did try fish & chips, steak & ale pie and had a sausage and leek roll. The best food I had there, though, was Indian. I've never heard of "Balti" style here in the U.S., but it was very tasty.
Anon @ 4:28,
Are you Canadian?
OK is a chain of tire stores(sts) in Canada.
C.C.:
I didn't notice if anyone responded to your question about the pronunciation of MORALS in VICTORIAN(M)ORALS.
It is a long sound mo-rals (moh-rawls)
Ahhhh - I should have realized this was Rich Norris! I knew it was good, but forgot about the aliases...
I'm doing a big "happy dance" today! I usually do the Sunday puzzle online with red letters. Today I had an appt. to get to this morning, so I printed the puzzle and brought it with me. I finished on my own with no outside help! What I didn't know, the perps helped with.
I did have 2 letters to correct once I came here though: I'd guessed at LASALE for LASAGE; and thought the quartz variety was spelled with an "A" - JASPAR. Luckily, I've never had any EEGS, so sadly I always miss that one, which was the perp for both of those entries!
JASPER does bring to mind my favorite vacation site - The Canadian Rockies in Alberta. JD's photo of Mt. Shasta (Very nice, JD!)reminded me of photos I'd taken in Jasper. I've always wanted to get to the OR/WA area some day.
Lucina, I just watched that episode of Memphis Beat last night. I thought "Linc" gave his best performance ever! But I thoght he was lip-synching...and faking the piano-playing. I love the music on that show!
Argyle, I remember seeing OK stores in the states, albeit many years ago.
Long slog and two blanks at the end on 35D - Restrains. Heard of Bangers (anybody remember a great line from the TV show Frazier - Dad was nervous about being caught sleeping with new girl friend and Frazier offered him a sausage made by English maid, Daphne, and said, "Banger, Dad?") but never heard of bangers and mash and tried to make REINSIN one plural word.
Oh well, I enjoyed the effort and watch the PGA tournament in the background which had a heartbreaking penalty on the last hole.
References to The Honeymooners and Uncle Milty were fun this week.
Some very astute observations C.C.
Now we all know for sure that puzzle editors are as whacky and zany as the rest of us. JELLO OLD and its clue prove that.
Great theme. Clever grid design. A lot of fun.
Windhover - You mentioned you have a customer, originally from Bangladesh, - who buys lamb from you ... I'm assuming he/she is more likely muslim, and would therefore be eating 'halal' meat ( equi to Jewish 'kosher') ... so he probably would want to arrange for the butchering, and dressing of the meat himself ?
I have a friend, who is from Pakistan, who wanted a whole goat spit-roasted, but found out , once he bought the goat, that he was also responsible to arrange for a USDA inspection, before he could invite others to partake of it.
Most people from the sub-continent who do eat red meat, prefer goat meat to lamb meat, and this has encouraged some of the local farmers in No. East Ohio to start/ get into Goat farming/husbandry - and a 'Goat' e-market. Sorry, Tinbeni - who hates e-anything !
We are on the road a lot...we see as many goats and sheep in pastures as we do cows. "The times they are a-changin` "
V. :
My lamb customer, in response to my question, told me that his religious heritage is indeed Muslim. My lamb is processed under USDA inspection, but is neither Halal nor Kosher. He has purchased from me several times previously, and the subject has not come up. The sense I got during our discussion of Partition was that he had a bemused lack of tolerance/interest regarding religious sectarianism, and that he, like I, finds his birth religion no longer relevant to his life, although it still is part of his identity.
To the later Anon:
You are correct. Here in Kentucky the goat population (not to be confused with the two legged variety, the "old goat") has increased from a few thousand to around 70,000 in about 10 years. I have about 60 myself, and in the spring about 125. They aren't going to crowd out the cows anytime soon, though. Goat production just isn't considered manly enough, never mind that they're more profitable than cows.
Very interesting about the goats. Oprah had a discussion on food (I believe it was a rerun) and stated that goat is the most consumed meat in the world!
Annette:
Well, there goes another illusion! But I still like his acting.
I enjoyed today's puzzle. How many other editors also are such clever constructors?
I'm guessing most of us have turned in by now but I'm going to ask a question that I'll probably repeat tomorrow. Did any of you do a recent Boston Globe c/w by Henry Hook called 'Double Features'? Doing it online, I figured out the theme early on. It was two movies with a common linking word such as SEXINTHECITYSLICKERS. But the last two theme answers didn't make sense to me. One was clued "Film about a sleuthing trio at the Vatican" yielding CHARLIESANGELSADEMONS and the other was "Leto/Heigl movie" yielding CHAPTER2SDRESSES." Maybe the trouble was doing it online but I can't figure out the right answers even it I had been doing it in pencil. I would appreciate your input.
CC, I heard the Twins pitcher didn't get a chance to finish his no hit bid. What was your take on that? I've almost given up on the Dodgers. They lost 13 to one.
Re: goats. I have contributed to Heifer a couple of times to buy a goat for a poor family in Africa. It seems like a good way to help people with an animal that can help them to earn money by selling milk, breeding, etc. I hope it's a good charitable act.
BillG:
Yes, HPI is a good organization. I have a couple of friends who work for HPI, and I also have supported their work. They have projects in poorer areas of the USA, not just in the Third World. Good for you!
Lucina said: I believe you wondered about LANI and that is usually associated with lanolin, but in Spanish as well as Latin LANA means wool.
Lanolin is made from the grease in sheep's wool, hence the connection to wool.
I didn't get time to look at today's puzzle. Just checked in late to see what was happening here.
JD,
Wonderful photos of what is one of my favorite coastlines anywhere! It is one of the few areas that I really remember from our 30 day Greyhound bus trip in '74.
Hi to anyone that's still up. I just gopt back from a weekend in the with my cousin. I hadn't seen here in 4 years. Nothing to add to the comments, same problems and triumphs as already mentioned.
BillG,
"Charlie's Angels" and "Angels and Demons" (From a Dan Brown Book) are the 2 movies in the first one.
For the second, Jared Leto starred in "Chapter 27" about the murder of John Lennon. Katherine Heigl was in "27 Dresses."
Kazie said: Wonderful photos of what is one of my favorite coastlines anywhere! It is one of the few areas that I really remember from our 30 day Greyhound bus trip in '74.
Have you had a chance to drive along the Big Sur area in California? That's another wonderful coastline.
Say, I think some of you have mentioned a new TV show called Memphis Beat. I recorded and watched one episode. I really liked it.
Good Morning (1:42am, it's technically Monday!) C.C., Argyle and Folk,
5d. touch of color, tinct? Like tincture? I wasn't aware of this. It isn't a term or practice used in my art studio.
82d. tricky one, depends on what kind of accent: says with an accent/SEZ
83d. arch hare...Once I discovered the theme pattern, I laughed at myself for googling arch hare vs. March hair! March Hare
33d.I wanted to put OATER (grin!) but that would have made 38a SKAA instead of SKAT/three handed card game. I belabor this point by bringing up the word 'scat' which is animal feces identified by content of the fur, bones, etc. of the prey they eat. 33d. is 'otter' and there is a pic. of otter scat among that of other animals. (grin!)ANIMAL POOPOO I became aware of this scat tracking practice when my son, Calder spent his summers as director of the nature lodge at summer camps. One of the activities he did with the campers was hiking and identifying scat thus discovering what kind of animals were in the area. There is scat singing, also. Though, I know the spelling isn't thesame as the answer, 'skat' with a k which refers to a card game...skat is my new word for the day!
94a. wool: pref/ LANI- lamb's wool has lanolin...does anyone have info on this? I sometimes knit or crochet with wool and never came across lani wool.
Hope a good weekend was had by all!
I'm out.
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