google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, January 14, 2011 Dan Naddor

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Jan 14, 2011

Friday, January 14, 2011 Dan Naddor

Theme: No K, OK? A two word common phrase in which the first word ends in CK, has the K removed to reveal a new and humorous phrase.

18A. Apple delivery vehicle?: MAC(K) TRUCK. MAC being your Apple computer product, not edible fruit. MACK TRUCKS have been the premier manufacturer of heavy trucks for years, though the company is now owned by Volvo, it is a classic American success story.

19A. Lobbying gp. bigwig?: PAC(K) LEADER. Political Action Committee (PAC) is our modern organized lobbying group, not to be confused with the LEADER OF THE PACK .

39A. Trap for large reptiles?: CROC(K) POT. I use a crock pot to cook stews so they are ready when I get home from work; I do not recommend giving a crocodile any weed, because we are what they eat when they have the munchies.

58A. Coalition celebration?: BLOC(K)PARTY. The Soviet Bloc did not last very long, did it? Are BLOCK PARTIES popular anymore, now that we do not know our neighbors? I went to one on the 4th of July.

61A. Court dispute over footwear?: MOC(K)TRIAL. Oh what fun, as always the puzzle I blog has some law to explain. A MOCK TRIAL is the playing out of a trial, where the lawyers examine witnesses in front of a make believe jury, to practice for a real trial. MOOT COURT is where make believe appellate court arguments are presented to a panel. Trial court is where evidence is put in and appellate court is where the results of a trial are reviewed by one or more judges. We have had MOC for Moccasin often.

3D. Movie with style?: CHIC(K) FLICK. This is perhaps the trickiest because CHIC, meaning stylish is from the French and is pronounced sheek, unlike all the other clues where removing the “K” did not alter the sound of the word.

35D. Employee using a word processor?: DOC(K)WORKER. Brilliant, recognizing that WORD documents are designated DOC. I will always think of this DOCK WORKER .

Happy Friday all, Lemonade here, back in the saddle and blessed with a Dan Naddor (who says wishes do not come true, right MTNEST995). This is so wonderful and a great example of his heavy themeage, his originality and his wit. On with the show:

ACROSS:

1. Illustrative words: SUCH AS. Dan loved his two and three word answers, so visually challenging.

7. Burst: RUPTURED. I never realized how many meanings this word has; made me think of an appendix.

15. Casual top: T SHIRT. Do you really think they look like “T” when they are laid out flat?

16. Intimate meeting: ONE ON ONE. Or perhaps you like the more romantic sounding tête-à-tête?

17. Baroque composer Cavalieri: EMILIO. No familiarity at all with this COMPOSER .

21. Great Seal symbol: EAGLE. Designed by Charles Thompson from written instructions from Congress. It said Ben Franklin preferred the Wild Turkey as the symbol of our new nation. Of course, if you read Dan Brown, you know it is all mysticism.

22. Lab complaints: ARFS. In honor of our recent dog puzzle, Dan deceives with a quick misdirection.

23. CD-__: ROMS. Compact Disc- Read Only Medium.

25. Hardy's "Pure Woman": TESS. Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a very sad book about rape and murder, ironically.

26. "S" on an invitation: SIL. Okay, RSVP, Respondez SIL Vous Plait. Man this filled from the perps but my brain did not see why for a long while.

27. Label for many Elton John hits: MCA. Another handy reference for me, as MCA signed the first band I negotiated a record deal for, and I got to visit the Black Tower often, and go to their parties.

29. Ready-to-mail item: Abbr.: SASE. Self-addressed stamped envelope. Often used as 13D. Things with ltrs.: ENCLS. The enclosure in a letter.

31. Ristorante suffix: INI. Rotini, linguini, all merely the Italian suffix meaning little.

32. Pittypat, in "Gone With the Wind": AUNT. An obscure character in the book, the maiden aunt of Scarlett’s first husband, Charles Hamilton. It is at aunt Pittypat’s house that the famous, "Oh, Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies." is uttered by Miss Prissy.

34. Aiming aid in some gun sights: RED DOT. The laser pointer indicator; do not sit still if a red dot appears on your forehead.

38. Fourth-qtr. month: DEC.

41. Reveal, poetically: OPE. Open.

42. Glacial ridges: ESKERS. Remarkably all the words I had trouble with were revealed from the same perps, as I know nothing of these DEPOSITS .

44. It parallels the radius: ULNA. The bones in your forearm.

45. Radar's rank: Abbr.: CPL. Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly who loved his grape Nehi and could predict the future.

46. Fish-eating bird: LOON. No doubt, Dan’s shout out to C.C. for her Minnesota connection, and the decision made on the corner to adopt the Loon.

48. Pollster's query: AGE.

49. Heartache: WOE.

50. Homer Simpson's mom: MONA. Poor Homer had been lead to believe his MOTHER was dead, when she was on the run from the law.

53. Chestnut horse: ROAN.

55. Cartoonist Walker: MORT. This amazing 87 year old cartoonist still draws Beetle Bailey, with his sons writing the words. He also created Hi and Lois, a rare comic strip spinoff featuring Beetle’s sister Lois

56. Nailing, as a test: ACING. The very words we all say.

63. Prepare for a break: RACK UP. When playing pocket billiards (pool) you put the balls in the rack, not to be confused with Torquemeda and his games.

64. Texas city on I-40: AMARILLO. I guess Dan was going though Texas because he added 40D. Dallas suburb: PLANO.

65. Colorless gas: ETHENE. There are so many, this also waited for perps.

66. With composure: SEDATELY. Hmm, I think of sedate as more depressing and formal, but I know it is accurate.

67. "__ Waldo?": WHERE'S. And why do we care?

Okay, time for a rest, the on to the

Down:

1. Make way : STEP ASIDE. Again, Dan begins with a two word answer.

2. Dept. of the Navy component: US MARINES. A shout out to our own Dennis and others.

4. Black __: HILLS. South Dakota home of the BADLANDS .

5. Luyendyk of auto racing: ARIE. A Dutch race car driver who has won the Indianapolis 500 twice.

6. Greek colonnade: STOA. We have this word periodically, I guess it is crosswordese.

7. Rival of Paris: ROMEO. Very tricky, as we forget Paris was the prince Juliet’s father had arranged to be her husband. Paris who took Helen to Troy and even Paris Hilton came to mind along with the city.

8. Takes pieces from?: UNARMS. Pieces meaning weapons, firearma.

9. Workout target: PEC. Like this IMAGE of the Pectoral, chest muscles.

10. Carry: TOTE.

11. Like some films: UNRATED.

12. Compact item: ROUGE. Do women still carry Rouge? A cousin to our friend from yesterday, RHODO, from the French for RED.

14. Hockey ploys: DEKES. This comes from the Canadian twisting of the word DECOY.

20. Pipe cleaner: DRANO. Not what you had in mind when you wanted your pipes clean was it Dennis, WH?

24. Wrapped garment: SARONG. A skill for all to learn HOW TO TIE .

27. Prefix with economics: MACRO.

28. Insertion point indicator: CURSOR. The boobly thing that moves where you send it.

30. Biological bristles: SETAE. Our Latin lesson for the day, from the word which means bristle.

33. Mountain West Conf. team: TCU. Since Dan created this TCU after their recent undefeated season, have joined the Big East, to compete for the automatice BCS Bowl bid which went this year to UConn.

36. Auspicious: OPPORTUNE.

37. Sends, obsolescently: TELETYPES. Love the clue, as trying to figure out an obsolete, out of date way of sending something was a fun challenge.

43. Hyundai model: ELANTRA.

47. Cricket violation: NO BALL. Way too COMPLICATED for me; help Nice Cuppa? Kazie?

50. Family nicknames: MAMAS. I never called my mother that.

51. Carol opening: O COME. All ye faithful…

52. Battery acronym: NICAD. I think it is actually more a portmanteau of Nickel and Cadmium.

54. Magnalium, e.g.: ALLOY. I know this is a portmanteau of Magnesium and Aluminium.

55. Papier-__: MACHE. Do mothers still make Papier Mache stuff for their children to take to school.

57. Pluck: GRIT. I remind you all how much I enjoyed the movie, no takers for the Jeff Bridges’ True Grit ?

59. Captain's underlings: CREW. James T. Kirk?

60. Step on it: PATH.The puzzle is all done, and I did not even see this clue, which is my favorite, what classic misdirection, calling up images of speeding or hurrying up, but filled by the perps, drat.

62. __ du Diable: former French penal colony: ILE. We finish with the Devil’s Island .

Answer grid.

Well good to be home and a joy to have another Dan under my belt, as previously stated, what a week from Don G., John L and Dan. Peace out all.

Lemonade

65 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Lemonade, C.C. and gang - jeez, I'm having one of those weeks. This was a Friday Naddor, and I got through it in a bit over 12 minutes. Everything just clic_ed. 'Tshirt' was my first fill in the NW followed by 'Arie', 'Sil', 'ini' and 'Esker' (which is one of those crossword words that stuck in my head.) That got me 'US Marines', then 'Chic flick', which gave away the theme. Needed all that to get my one unknown, 'Emilio' Cavalieri. From there on, it was pretty smooth sailing, much to my surprise.

I loved the cluing, replete with misdirection; my favorite, as with Lemonade, was 'Step on it'/'path'. Dan at his best. And yes, Lemonade, 'Pipe cleaner' had me off in an entirely different direction. Great job blogging, by the way; an enjoyable read.

I have such mixed emotions when one of Dan's puzzles comes up; on the one hand, I savor each and every clue, and on the other, that feeling of impending loss, knowing that the final one isn't all that far down the road. He's given us a great ride, hasn't he?

Today is Dress Up Your Pet Day, and......it's also J.D.'s birthday! A very Happy Birthday to a long-time member of our blog family. Hope it's an outstanding one for you.

Did You Know?:

- Charlie Chaplin once lost a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest. He failed to even make it to the finals.

- A cockroach's brain is spread throughout its body. If you chop off its head, it can still live for up to a week. It finally dies because it can't eat.

- If you are locked in a sealed room, you will die of carbon dioxide poisoning before your brain starves from oxygen deprivation.

Richard Johnson said...

In baseball you have a pitcher.
In cricket you have a bowler.
Both 'throw' the ball at a batsman.
In cricket the umpire can call a 'no ball' if the bowler oversteps the 'crease' in his run up.
The batsman's team has a run added to the teams score.
Hope that you can understand the explanation.
Richard Johnson.
Bermuda

Lemonade714 said...

Thanks Mr. Johnson, I guess it is somewhat like a balk in baseball.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Lemondae, C.C. et al.

What a great puzzle, and a nice finish for this week’s outstanding offerings. Thanks for the write-up and explanations, Lemonade! It’s always funny to see which words gave people fits. I got S’IL and EMILIO immediately, but had a hard time with MCA and TCU, just the opposite of your experience! There were other unknowns for me like ARIE, MORT, but perps filled those without too much trouble. Other than that it was pretty much a speed run (for a Friday, that is).

The first theme I got was 16A MAC TRUCK, so I knew it was a “take off the K from familiar phrases” theme. But PAC LEADER just wouldn’t come to me right away . “Leader of the pac” sounded better, but didn’t match the first word having the missing K. My favorite one, though, was CHIC FLICK.

There was some clever cluing as well:
8D “Takes pieces from” for UNARMS
44A “It parallels the radius” for ULNA
63A “Prepare for a break” for RACK UP

But I didn’t get 60D “Step on it” for PATH? Huh, someone explain? (I know I am going to have a big V8 dent when this is over).

I’ll chime in for a great big “Happy Birthday”, J.D. !

I hope to get in some more cross country today. In honor of "Dress Up Your Pet Day", maybe I’ll dress up the cats in their little snow suits so they can tag along! Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous out, temps in the upper 20s, brilliant sun and the snow on all the trees. Someone had already used snowshoes on the trail, so I didn’t have to blaze it with my skis, but it was still a good workout. Have a great day everyone!

Dennis said...

HeartRx, I believe it's as simple as a path being something you walk (step) on.

HeartRx said...

DENT !!!

Tinbeni said...

Lemonade, Great write-up !
Loved the links ...

Well, Dan got me today. DNF again.

Maybe my mind just isn't into the puzzle framework since they have been "hit-or-miss" over the last three weeks.

Really liked the theme, even though I did not get them all.

Write-overs:
Widow for those Black HILLS.
Abs for the PEC.
Again, I do not know the Simpson.
(Maybe I should watch it ... once).

Even had a hard time remembering AMARILLO and I once went to that fair city.

But it was a FUN experience.

Today is perfect. Already went to the gym.
About to wash my new car for the first time.
And even though it is a bit nippy for this Floridian (currently 44 at 7:54 am) I am going to Honeymoon Island to watch the Sunset at 5:55 pm ...

Of course, a Toast will be made to ALL the wonderful people here.

creature said...

Good Morning C.C.,Lemon and all,

Nice write-up, Lemonade; thanks!

This puzzle unfolded, from my toehold:'Where's', and pretty much flowed for me. The theme is very clever and was fun to unravel. I like the 'intimate meeting'-'one on one'. We've had it before, but it tricked me for a bit.

Perps really were in my favor, today;'Mona','ethene','plano',
'dekes','emilio','nicad','no ball'.

Good Dan Naddor puzzle.

CA, forgot to tell you how much I enjoyed "Snow Day". Thanks-so dear.

JD, Happy Birthday and many more!

Have a nice day everyone.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day everyone,

Finished today with no dumb mistakes like yesterday.I made steady progress , but with a lot of jumping from one section to another. There were two words I wasn't sure about the spelling, mache and ethene. Mache didn't look "French" enough and I spelled ethene ethane, but docworker solved that dilemma. Overall, not too difficult for a Friday.

Favorite clues were Lab complaints and Apple delivery vehicle.

Lemonade, thank you for the write up and links. Happy birthday JD.

Peace

Nice Cuppa said...

CRICKET vs BASEBALL

Richard from Bermuda, you are of course correct. I think a few more comments might help though (or might backfire), but here goes:

Lemonade - yes, you are correct: a BALK in baseball is the closest thing to a "NO BALL" in cricket; and it is nearly always caused by an illegal or errant act by the pitcher/bowler. Both are penalized thus:

In BASEBALL - all runners advance to next base.
In CRICKET - an extra "RUN" or POINT is given to the batting team.**

ONE possible source of confusion is that:

In BASEBALL: A "BALL" is a pitch which does NOT enter the strike zone (i.e. inaccurate)
In CRICKET: A "BALL" is a GOOD, accurate pitch. A "NO BALL" is an inaccurate or illegal pitch.

FURTHE EXPLANATORY NOTES:

In CRICKET, one RUN or POINT is awarded to the team every time they run from BASE to BASE (there are just 2 bases in cricket). It would be as if the BASEBALL BATTER scored a POINT for his team by getting legally to first base; and a second point for getting to second base, etc., finally scoring 4 points for getting back to Home base (instead of just the 1 that he actually gets).

In CRICKET, if the batter hits the ball out of the ground - like a baseball HOME RUN - he scores either 4 or 6 points, BUT HE CONTINUES BATTING until he is out.

**[There are some further similarities, in that the batter is allowed under some circumstances to (try to hit) an illegal pitch/"NO BALL" with the chance to score runs without without fear of being called out (cannot be caught, etc., but can be run out]

Best to stop there for today.

NC

kazie said...

JD,
Happy Birthday!

Lemonade,
Since my one area of difficulty was the SE, due to not knowing NO BALL, I'm not sure I can be much help on the cricket question. But from what was in the link, it sounds like a fault of any sort where the bowler throws the ball in an unacceptable way, causing it not to be counted as a ball or "bowl". I see someone with more knowledge/interest in cricket has stepped in.

Also, 'répondez s'il vous plaît' is a good example of the spelling shift that occurs in a lot of French to English words, where 'é' in a first syllable in French is changed to 's', 'es-' or 'is-' in English. Compare the following:
école--school
écaille--scale
échapper--escape
Écosse--Scotland
déloger--to dislodge

Not only did I have CLIC party (thinking of clique), but also PUSH for PATH, so RACK UP and ETHENE were ruined. But all in all, this was one of my more successful bouts with a Dan Naddor for a Friday. I enjoyed the theme which came to me quickly with PAC LEADER and CROCPOT.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Wow - somebody yesterday wished for a Dan to fill out the week, and we got it!

Haven't done the puzzle or read comments yet. We're off to T-Town today instead of tomorrow.

I'll check back this evening.

Cheers!
JzB

Tinbeni said...

Nice Cuppa & Richard Johnson:
Thank you very much for the CRICKET explanations.

I once played in a "game" in Jamaica, an afternoon diversion when on "Holiday".
(Hardly like a real Match).

JD, Happy Birthday !!!
Hope it's a GREAT one.

Just got the "contract" emailed to me from Zagreb.
Decision by Monday.

(Hint, I'm leaning on staying here in Tampa Bay. That "total the car on January 4th" made me realize there are more important things (many!) way more valuable than money).

Splynter said...

Hi All ~!!

Loved this Dan puzzle, looked like a Saturday, but still had a theme, which I should have gathered from the "?" clues, but didn't appear til I had MAC TRUCK - then I was hip to Dan's thinking, and I think my favorite was CROC POT, although CHIC FLICK was pretty good, too.

Unfortunately, I never actually saw the answer PATH - it filled in via perps.

OK, I'm the hockey fan, so here's a quick look at a DEKE

PHEW~! Glad this week is over, and I get this weekend to relax for a change...

Splynter

MH said...

A worthy Friday puzzle. I got the theme fairly early on but still struggled with the theme answers.

There's a great book about diamond hunting in North America where I learned the word ESKER: "Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic". Very entertaining and factual.

Lemonade: thanks for a great writeup!

MH said...

Oh, yes, and I forgot to mention that it's so difficult to see that red dot on your own forehead ;-)

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Thanks for the informative write-up, Lemonade.

STEP ASIDE, here come the US MARINES. Snappy hand salute to Dennis. Nice 1&2 down touch. I'm thankful for one more experience with Dan's puzzles. Always bright and interesting. I got the theme early with PACLEADER. SETAE and MACRO were WAGs. I liked the clueing for MACTRUCK and DOCWORKER. No lookups needed. A fun puzzle to do.

ESKERS - Wisconsin is also known for its eskers. They are not a ridge on (or of) a glacier, per se, but rather a deposit left by the meltwater of the glacier during its ablation phase. It becomes a 'feature' after the glacier is gone.

Have a good day.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning friends. Lemonade, you are so lucky to get to blog on a Dan Naddor. I knew we were due for one, even though we are running low.

There were some great misdirections. I especially liked It Parallels the Radius = ULNA.

My favorite theme clue/response was CROC POT.

My in-laws lived for a while in PLANO when they first moved to the Dallas area, to that was a gimmie.

For Pipe Cleaner, I was thinking of that little devices that my grandfather used when cleaning out the piles he smoked.

I knew the cricket reference from having to watch the movie Lagaan. Everything you want to know about cricket and more.

Happy Birthday to you, JD. Hope it's a great one and you get to spend it with your grandchildren.

kazie said...

Spitzboov,
Is an esker the same as a moraine then? I'm in the SW unglaciated portion of WI known locally as the Kickapoo Mountains--hills would be more like it--but I hadn't known the term ESKER until living here. In HS geology I only learned of moraines.

Nice Cuppa said...

Kazie

And the circumflex does a similar job too I guess, although it may also be a guide to pronunciation.

In RSVP, plaît from plaisir => please
fenêtre => defenestrate (fabulous verb)
être does it by itself in declension - es, est => is
forêt => forest
hôpital => hospital

À bientôt

NC

kazie said...

NC,
Thanks for the additional info. The circumflex appears in different parts of the word, often towards the end of a syllable, whereas the acute typically does its thing at the beginning. Often in both cases, the process involved dropping the original 's' from the Latin in French and then reinstating it in English.

I find it interesting that the French-influenced '-our' British spelled endings revert to the Latin for the American '-or' endings too.

JimmyB said...

Great write up, Lemonade.

What I love about Dan Naddor's puzzles is that they are never as difficult as I first think. Perseverance pays off, and thus the sense of accomplishment is high. I struggled in the SE, but looking up MORT Walker bailed me out, although PATH didn't seem right at first.

JD - What a treat to have a Dan Naddor puzzle for a birthday present! Hope you have a memorable day.

Spitzboov said...

Kazie: I was aware that SW Wisconsin was deemed to be glacier free at least through the Pleistocene epoch. I think Spring Green is in this area.

Moraines are deposits made by the melting glacier, much like the cinders/sand/dirt debris that you have by the side of the roads each spring. They are more prominent at the points of farthest advancement (terminal moraine). Between the glacier and a mountainside, you can get a lateral moraine, and where two glaciers merge, an interlobate moraine. Eskers and kames are in a sense a special case resulting from washing and sorting the debris by flowing water as the glacier melts. Eskers are associated with horizontal flow of streams beneath the glacier; kames more with vertical flow of the water usually at the sides. Many gravel deposits found in northern states are kames, typically nestled along a hillside.

Lucina said...

Good day, fellow puzzlers.

Not too much time as I have a lunch date. Just wanted to chime in and say how much I enjoyed a Dan Naddor today! So much fun! Thanks for wishing this whoever did so yesterday.

I loved the cluing and the thought process working this out. Dan was a genius, no doubt.

DOCWORKER gave me problems but more on that later.

I hope you are having a super Friday and not shoveling too much snow. In the 70s here.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good Morning Lemonade, CC and the gang of Naddor devotees. As soon as I saw Devious Don's name on the puzzle, and a Friday to boot, I figured I'd better buckle up for a bumpy ride. It was a great one!

Happy happy Bday, JD.

Very informative blog, Lemonade.

MAC TRUCK was my first theme fill and told me what to look for. There were quite a few places that needed perp help. LOON or COOT? SERENELY or SEDATELY? RACK UP or PACK UP? It took a while, but finally got it all straightened out. Last to fall was the cross of SUCH AS/HILLS. I forgot about Dan's love of multi word entries and the only thing that looked plausible for 1a was SUPRAS. CHIC FLICK (great clue!) changed it to SUCRAS/RILLS which didn't look right either. Black HILLS finally smacked me upside the head and then SUCH AS walloped me from the other side.

Tinbeni... NO.NO.NO! Do NOT watch an episode of the Simpsons! Just read the Wikipedia article, remember about six or seven names and you'll have learned all you need to know. I'm a proud member of the "Never watched that show" club.

Ummm, yes, "pipe cleaner" coupled with 51d sure had me thinking in a different direction.

Devil's Island is another of those out of the way places that I've had the privelege of visiting on one of our many cruises in the past few years. "Interesting place to visit but I wouldn't care to live there" is a phrase that describes a lot of them.

Jeannie, from late last night... you're right, Rome wasn't built in a day. My dad's response to that was always "You're right, but if I'd been the foreman we sure would have tried".

As other's have mentioned, this has been a spectacular week for puzzles.

carol said...

Hi all - just checking in to wish JD the best birthday ever!!! Hope you have a wonderful day...eat cake and enjoy it! Have that 3rd or 4th glass of wine, gobble down the lasagna! Celebrate, celebrate...I'll be with you in thought. :)

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - A Friday Naddor, just the thing! First fill was sparse, but as I got warmed up, it all made more sense. One the theme was revealed I wrapped it up - except for that unfamiliar Dutch driver's name. That needed Goog.

"Defenestrate": yes, NC, it's a spectacular verb! Calvin and Hobbes fans may remember the poem in which Calvin, scared by a monster in his room, suddenly realizes he has just the asset he needs to scare the monster away - a tiger! The monster realizes he is outmatched and performs a "defenestration". Great stuff.

*sigh* I miss Calvin and Hobbes.

Dennis said...

Dudley, you're not alone. I still go back from time to time and re-read the Anthologies I have. Pearls Before Swine I find equally brilliant. It's a great way to start the morning, laughing like a loon.

Jerome said...

I've done every puzzle Dan ever published. Even a few that weren't. To me, this is the best of all. And after forty years of solving I don't think I've seen a better illustration of the Cruciverbalist's craft.

Great puzzle, Duck! By the way, you're not as tricky or half as sly as you think: 20 down, DRANO. DAN NADDOR, indeed!

Dudley said...

I found the Calvin & Hobbes poem, "A Nauseous Nocturne".

It's more fun with the illustrations, available here.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Great write up, Lemonade. Mr. Naddor was a bit too clever for me. I missed many, but am proud of the ones I did get.

Happy birthday J.D. Hope it is a memorable one.

It's only 64 on our lanai. I do my 1¼ daily walk at the mall, usually because it's too hot. But this past few weeks, it's been too cold to walk outside in comfort.

Cheers

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I struggled over MAC TRUCK. I was trying to find a word to go with MAC that represented the computer. I didn't find one and went back to some of that area's perps. After getting TOTE and ROUGE, the lightbulb went on and I finished up the K with DEKES...even though I had no idea what DEKEs were.

After that, Dan Naddor became my friend again. He always seems to give us just enough, so we aren't left out there in the crossword wilderness for too long.

I didn't know (5D) ARIE, (17A) EMILIO, or (57D) No BALL. I thought ARETES was the go-to word for "mountain ridges". Now I find out that ESKERS works too. They all filled in with help from the perps.

My favorite was (22A) Lab complaints/ARFS. LOL, maybe that is because I was on Dan's wavelength by then and got it right away.

Seeing the rhyming "almost neighbors" DRANO and PLANO made me laugh.

Creature, I'm glad you liked the poem. Billy Collins is a favorite poet.

Either you love The Simpsons, or you don't. It no longer airs conveniently for us, but I've never seen an episode that I didn't have a least one true LOL moment. It may have faded by now, but the satire was always needle sharp. I don't think there has been a world leader, politician, movie star, rocker or religionist who has escaped. From Wikipedia, "The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, 27 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series". Hard to argue with that resume.

Great blogging, Lemonade. Just one little point (soooo picky, I know). Prissy was a slave, and so was just "Prissy", no "Miss" there. Her portrayer Butterfly McQueen was an interesting lady.

A big Happy Birthday to JD! You know I wish the very best for you.

Bill G. said...

That's a really good puzzle, but hard. That's OK for a Friday. For me, much more enjoyable tham the themeless puzzle coming up.

Dudley said: Calvin and Hobbes fans may remember the poem in which Calvin, scared by a monster in his room, suddenly realizes he has just the asset he needs to scare the monster away - a tiger! The monster realizes he is outmatched and performs a "defenestration". Great stuff.
*sigh* I miss Calvin and Hobbes.

Dudley, I agree. I enjoy reading it with my six-year-old grandson. He enjoys muddling through the big words with a little help from Grandpa. Say, get a family member to get you the three-volume anthology of Calvin and Hobbes. I got mine at Costco several years ago. I loved the Nauseous Nocture link. Maybe Jordan and I will read it tonight.

CA, thanks for the Butterfly McQueen link. Very enjoyable and informative.

As a teacher, I was predisposed to dislike the Simpsons. Whenever I watch it though, I find myself smiling or laughing.

melissa bee said...

good afternoon c.c., lemonade and all,

another brilliant naddor puzzle, always brings mixed feelings. interesting grid pattern, the way the double black squares march up the diagonal, and filled with all the trademark clever cluing that is dan's hallmark. nice job blogging lemonade - very informative, as always.

happy, happy, jd!

speaking of laughing like a loon, here's a good friday link. i laughed so hard i thought i might have a stroke.

WM said...

Happy Birthday JD!!!

Lemonade...great write up for a terrific puzzle. Caught onto the theme but still had to correct a few things and finish up this morning.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

I've learned from this blog that Dan Naddor puzzles are special. I was excited to get started on this one as soon as I saw his name. I filled in TSHIRT and then just sat and hunted for something else I knew. It took a while. Then I caught on to the theme with MACTRUCK and that helped with some of the other theme answers. I struggled with the names and had to look up many of them. Having ethene for ETHANE and serenely for SEDATELY were just a couple of my slip-ups. Now that it's completed I can see just how very clever this puzzle is. Even though it took quite some time to work through it, it was very enjoyable!

Thanks for the great write-up Lemonade. It explained so much.

As far as women using ROUGE these days, I think it is now called "blush."

Happy Birthday, JD ~~

Have a good evening!

Tinbeni said...

Grumpy 1
Everything I know about the Simpson's, other than when Bart was hawking 'Butterfingers', I learned doing crosswords.

After all these years ... I don't think I'll start watching now.

As for Calvin & Hobbes:
My favorite was the one where Calvin was sitting behind a cardboard box with the sign reading:
"Swift kick in the pants, $ 1.00"
Hobbes asks him: "How's business?"
Calvin replies: "Lousy ... and I don't understand it.
It's the one thing that everybody needs."

eddyB said...

Hi ALL.

Also a hockey fan. Sharks six game losing streak is the longest in 15
yrs. Love seeeing a player shift from his fore-hand to his back-hand
when shooting on goal. (Deke).

Three white dots for my gun sight.
Also use hollow points. (Win 45 Auto)

Arie Sr lives in Fountian Hills, AZ. Arie Jr lives in Scottsdale, Az. Met them both at Indy.

Just back from eye exam. Retinopathy much worse.

Take care.

Jeanne said...

@melissabee, thank you so much for that link--I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. So, so funny.

@JD, Happy Birthday and a wonderful year ahead. Wishing you the very best.

carol said...

Melissa: thanks for the wonderfully funny link! Haven't had that good a laugh for quite a while. I have never sent a text message so didn't know about 'auto correct'...what a hoot!

Anonymous said...

Melissa Bee:

Thank you for the FUNNIEST website in my life !

I laughed soo hard, my stomach hurts.

What a vag ... err, I mean gag.

JD said...

Good afternoon Lemonade, C.C. and friends,

Thanks for all of the b'day greetings.My DH and I had a terrific 3 days in L.V. Outstanding dinners, saw a great show,and Bellagio's art exhibit had paintings of Renoir and Picasso that I had not seen before.Best of all, didn't lose my shirt.Saved the weekend to be with 3 grandsons. Nothing could be better except cooking/wine tasting with my girls.

What a gift- a Naddor puzzle, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to complete it. I LOVE LOVE LOVED his theme.Eskers was a gimme, but Splynter, kames is one I'll add to my new word list. Loved the deke clip!

There is always so much information here.

Melissa, I too died laughing over that link.

CA, when I saw Butterfly's photo, I could clearly hear her shrill voice in my head saying:"I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!"

Kazie, interesting French to English info. Had never given it a thought before.

Loved the salute to Dennis;could have done without that cockroach info-yuk!
and Carol, do you think that carol was for you?? Wonder why he chose that carol?? hmmmmm

Lemonade, so enjoyed your commentary. You had me at "suchas"

mtnest995 said...

Be careful what you wish for, indeed! When I opened the paper this morning and saw Dan's name, I chuckled to myself, expecially since yesterday was "Make your dreams come true" day.

I struggled as some others did, but was finally able to finish in about an hour. I too, had aretes for eskers and abs for pec. On the first pass, I got Tshirt, s'il, and where's. I just kept plugging away, and once step aside clicked, I was off and running. Chic flick was the first theme answer to fall - and the rest is history.

In the few months that I've been "lurking" around this blog, I've come to love Dan's puzzles and when they come up, I print a copy from the website so I can savor it a second time some time down the road!

Happy, happy birthday, JD.

Thank you Lemonade for a wonderful write-up. And of course, C.C. for creating this amazing blog!

Cheers to one and all.

Nice Cuppa said...

Dudley

Thanks so much for finding that. I shall commit that verse to memory -

"The monster in his consternation
Demonstrates defenestration

And runs and runs and runs and runs away".

What a great adventure, from French diacritical marks to Calvin & Hobbes! And thanks to Kazie for starting the process. Brilliant!


NC

Lucina said...

J.D.
Happy, happy birthday, dear blogger friend. Earlier I had not read the comments so did not know.

I hope you've had a marvelous day!

Lucina said...

It sounds to me that many of you had the same problem as I with ETHENE, knowing nothing about it. That created trouble for me in the SE. PATH is so clever, but did n't see it nor RACKUP. I had a little cleanup to do when reading the blog.

Loved CHICFLICK and CROCPOT! ESKERS was slow in filling because the NW corner had already given me ESK. . .

Thank you Lemonade for your informative remarks as always.

What a lovely way to close out the week with Dan Naddor.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Just a quick in'n'out to CHEC in and say hi.

So, hi!

Bye all. Best wishes.

creature said...

Don G, John L and Dan, I must add
Bruce V and Gail G[from Monday] and Ken Bessette from Wednesday].

You have all been a treat for me this week. Thank you for your stellar puzzles.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I wish I could say that I completed this puzzle without any errors, but that isn't the case. This was very hard for me today.

I gave my CW dictionary and Google a workout, but did manage to get all but the NE corner completed. I had an error in SW corner also. Mock trial just would not come to me and I had to leave out the M.

Even though I worked very long on this, I found that each small success was a coup for me. At first I thought the theme words would all have oc(k), but that was not the case when I filled in PAC Leader.

By the way, PAC is an acronym for Political Action Committee and some lobbyists are funded by PAC funds. So, this clue has a double meaning for me.

I haven't had time, yet to read all the comments, but will do so later.

Thanks Lemonade for an excellent writeup. Explanations for things like Rack up helped me make sense of some of my answers.

windhover said...

Not much time, but had to say HBTY to JD.
MelissaB:
My side is aching from laughing, and I've been there, done that.

Chickie said...

I wanted to wish JD the best birthday ever. Enjoy your weekend with the boys.

Also, the Cricket comments were very helpful as I don't know anything about the game.

Lemonade714 said...

JD HBDTY and many more; WM you honor me with your visit and comments; all of you are fun to work with and entertain. MB nice additions to the insanity, Calvin and Hobbes rule! I wondered if SUCHAS rhymed with TUCHAS, no one going to touch my random Torquemeda reference? Fishy, you okaaaaaaaaaaaaY?Lo li ta? Frenchie you coming back?
Do you all remember the Crossword Corner Loon?

Jayce said...

Lemonade:

Saw it, ain't gonna touch it :)

Not familiar with the Corner Loon.

Dudley said...

Lemonade - Saw your Torqued Tomato, or similar, reference but didn't dare touch it. Until now. So - ?

As for LOON: I've been in the Corner for a year now, haven't gotten the T-SHIRT yet, but anyway that's not long enough to know about the loon. So - ?

dodo said...

Hello, everybody,

Haven't read the comments yet so forgive me if I repeat. Just wanted to say that even tho I didn't finish this one, I got a lot more than usual in a Dan Naddor challenge. I threw in the towel after messing up the NE corner. Pretty much of the rest was filled, but I had to have help from Mr. G. here and there!

nuf said, for now.

Dennis said...

Just now reading the afternoon postings - MelBee, I had a stroke or two right along with you -- one of the funniest things I've read. Thanks for sharing.

carol said...

Lemonade: since I've been here 2 1/2 years, yes, I do remember that beautiful Crossword Corner loon. I didn't realize they were patterned that way...very close to a crossword puzzle grid. We had a good picture of it at one time...do you still have that???

Lemonade714 said...

Random Friday thoughts,

I never ceased to be amazed at the depth of knowledge on so many topics by our cast of characters. No one knows eveything but between us we cover an awful lot of specialized knowledge. Maybe we could do Jeopardy.

I am loonless, though I do remember the topic.

I mentioned TORQUEMADA because when the Water Cure failed to result in a confession, the rack was next, and my twisted mind thought of him when racking balls was mentioned un the puzzle, and more significantly my mind went to MONTY PYTHON a group which found humor even in the Inquisition.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

HBD, JD.

Excellent presentation, Counselor.

I know nothing of the corner LOON.

What a terrifying expanse of white space in today's puzzle. It left Eskers on my brain. As Splynter mentioned, like a Saturday with a theme. What brilliant execution.

Worked on it for over an hour in the car, and the NW Territory was still bare and bleak. Gave it another shot on the ride across town from my M-I-L's to my mom's. CHIC FLICK followed ARF, and the rest fell from chipping away. Thought I would get a DNF, but wound up ACING.

Tough drive home. Traffic on I-75 N-bound from Toledo was stopped - wall to wall semis. We got off, wound a long way around, took back roads into MI, and got back on at Exit 6. Make that entrance 6, though that's not exactly in the language.

What a magnificent week of puzzles. Can't recall such an extended string of excellence.

Big, big thanks to Rich and all the constructors and conjurers.

Cheers!
JzB

Hahtoolah said...

MelissaBee: Your autocorrect link is hilarious! I was in a public space when I checked it out and was nearly on the floor I was laughing so hard! Those "corrections" were perfect! I once had a boss named Darryl, and the auto-correct always wanted to change his name to diarrhea, so I had to be really careful when sending him any messages!

dodo said...

Hi, again. Just finished reading all your comments. I'll try and remember some.. Tinbeni, I'll sign on for the 'I'll never watch The Simpsons club'. Never did like animated movies, etc., even as a kid. I think I must have been frightened by Mickey Mouse!

Lemonade, between you and Dan I think I've learned as much or more today than in some of my college classes.
Being a native North Dakotan, I was fascinated by all the 'esker' business. I never knew all that. But we are very modest up there,and rightly so!

And Clearayes, you read the clue for 'esker' wrongly, I think. Because it didn't say 'mountain ridges', it was 'glacial ridges'. Believe me, any mountains in N.D. are an anomaly! The Turtle Mountains, mentioned in the article, are nice little rolling hills. That's a N. D. mountain!
Now, I'm the nitpicker!

JD, I hope it's not too late to wish you a happy birthday! It does sound like an ideal one, the way you are celebrating it! Many, many more! Oh, BTW Did you happen to see in today's news that almost all of us will be changing our 'signs'? The stars are such that the zodiac is changing. You are now a Sagittatius instead of a Capricorn. I have turned into a Libra; I used to be a Scorpio. Do you think we'll feel different? Our horoscopes are out of date.What next?

Hand up for not having heard anything about a Corner Loon. Clue us in, someone!

I'll say again (or may be I didn't say it yet) I did enjoy this puzzle. I filled in all the theme answers but as usual didn't cotton to the theme until after I looked at the finished (almost) puzzle!
Oh, woe!

Melissa Bee, I have yet to scrutinize the link you entered, just a look at the title. I go now to be entertained!

Grumpy 1 said...

Lemonade, how about these Torquemada Games?

MB, those mangled message screen shots were hilarious! All 39 pages of them!

Annette said...

Not noticing the slight difference in spelling, I was trying to fit FELIX Cavaliere of The Rascals in, instead of EMILIO Cavalieri, since I'd never heard of the latter.

Happy Birthday, JD!

Annette said...

EddyB, I'm sorry to hear of the worsening of your Retinopathy. That must be scary.

I don't carry rouge (or blush) in my purse.

Tinbeni, don't you just love Florida drivers...? I was rear-ended (no DF-ness intended) by a pick-up truck tonight, which pushed me into a mini-van. I'm fine, just getting achy now. I can't wait to see what they have to say about my car though. It was a 10-year old Honda Accord that had been in great shape, but the trunk is smashed in now.

The Loon must've been before my time on the blog too.

Lemonade714 said...

G1, all I can say is the world is a very odd place, and to play strip poker with images on a computer screen is rather sad.

But it has been a fun day which is just now becoming tomorrow, night all.