Theme: Boxer set?
No...Boxing set??
Uhhh.. "Boxed"set?
...sorry, I got distracted with the theme today. AHEM!!
(On to the regular program....)
65A. With 1-Across, Time-Life Records product...and in a way, what each of the answers to the starred clues is : BOX, and 1-Across: See 65-Across : SET.
Aha! BOX SET !!
So how does that relate? Each of the theme entries begins and ends with a word that could be "boxed", making a "set":
17A. *Ongoing saga : SOAP OPERA. SOAP box is what a politician uses to express his views...and an OPERA box is my favorite place to be in Vienna.
29A. *Focaccia-like treat : PIZZA BREAD. PIZZA box is what I always wonder, "Can I recycle this???", and a BREAD box is where .... the bread gets green.
43A. *Kitchen extraction gadget : JUICE PRESS. JUICE box is what I wish my wine came in, so I wouldn't spill it... or, it might describe the coverage at OJ's trial? And a PRESS box is where all those pundits sit.
56A. *Barely find room for : SQUEEZE IN. A SQUEEZE box is another name for an accordion. My daddy used to play one (with mummy on the violin...). And an IN box is what I look forward to every Monday morning....(Not!!!)
Put them all together, and they make four "box set"s! Brilliant!
Marti here, to wend our way through the rest of the entries:
Across:
4. "My Cousin Vinny" star : PESCI. "What's a 'ute'?" Great flick!!
9. Mar. parade VIP : ST PAT.rick
14. Bio stat : AGE
15. Abbr. seen before a year : ESTAB.lished
16. Ad : PROMO. tion
19. Cougar and Impala : AUTOS. And a clecho with 7-down. Cougar or Impala : CAR. Take me for a ride in your car, car...1:50
20. Grammar class no-no : RUNON. Likethisanswer?
21. They're unbeatable : NEMESES
23. Prolonged suffering : AGONY
25. City on the Orne : CAEN. In Normandy, northwestern France. Image.
27. Cutting remark : GIBE
28. Broke down : WEPT
31. Vein pursuit? : ORE.
32. Brewer's need : MALT
33. "Surely you don't mean me?!" : MOI. Who...moi??? 4:47
34. 60-Across with heart-shaped leaves : LINDENS. (Why yes, they are...)
36. Set-up punch : LEFT JAB (...see second image, at top of page.) (Or, is that a right jab?) (I don't know my right from my left tonight!!)
40. Poet-punk music genre : EMO. Such drama!! 3:49
41. Ill-gotten gains : PELF. It took a while for this word to come to me, but I am resolved to use it in a sentence today! pelf...Pelf...PELF!!
42. Before now : AGO. How would you clue this one? (...not as easy as you thought, is it??)
47. Bikini specification : B CUP. OK, how about a few cups here? (I think we need Dennis's expert measurements here...)
48. In another life : ONCE...upon a time
49. Fireside stack : LOGS
50. Concession stand drinks : COKES
51. "True dat!" : I HEAR YA
53. Bovine bedding : STRAW
55. Off one's rocker : NUTSO (Thanks for catching that one, Anony-Mouse!)
60. "A nest of robins in her hair" poem : TREES. Joyce Kilmer (Where is Clear Ayes??):
"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
61. Players take them : TURNS
62. Music-licensing org. : BMI. "Broadcast Music, Inc."
63. ___ de France: sports venue near Paris : STADE. Football and rugby stadium.
64. Sprouts-to-be : SEEDS
Down:
1. KLM rival : SAS. Can you say Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.? (Jerome?) And, Scandanavian Airlines System (OK, I can say that one!!)
2. Centrist leader? : EGO.
3. Eagerly deal with, as an envelope : TEAR OPEN. (Oh yes, I just "tear open" all those bills!!)
4. Indiana state flower : PEONY. Beautiful.
17A. *Ongoing saga : SOAP OPERA. SOAP box is what a politician uses to express his views...and an OPERA box is my favorite place to be in Vienna.
29A. *Focaccia-like treat : PIZZA BREAD. PIZZA box is what I always wonder, "Can I recycle this???", and a BREAD box is where .... the bread gets green.
43A. *Kitchen extraction gadget : JUICE PRESS. JUICE box is what I wish my wine came in, so I wouldn't spill it... or, it might describe the coverage at OJ's trial? And a PRESS box is where all those pundits sit.
56A. *Barely find room for : SQUEEZE IN. A SQUEEZE box is another name for an accordion. My daddy used to play one (with mummy on the violin...). And an IN box is what I look forward to every Monday morning....(Not!!!)
Put them all together, and they make four "box set"s! Brilliant!
Marti here, to wend our way through the rest of the entries:
Across:
4. "My Cousin Vinny" star : PESCI. "What's a 'ute'?" Great flick!!
9. Mar. parade VIP : ST PAT.rick
14. Bio stat : AGE
15. Abbr. seen before a year : ESTAB.lished
16. Ad : PROMO. tion
19. Cougar and Impala : AUTOS. And a clecho with 7-down. Cougar or Impala : CAR. Take me for a ride in your car, car...1:50
20. Grammar class no-no : RUNON. Likethisanswer?
21. They're unbeatable : NEMESES
23. Prolonged suffering : AGONY
25. City on the Orne : CAEN. In Normandy, northwestern France. Image.
27. Cutting remark : GIBE
28. Broke down : WEPT
31. Vein pursuit? : ORE.
32. Brewer's need : MALT
33. "Surely you don't mean me?!" : MOI. Who...moi??? 4:47
34. 60-Across with heart-shaped leaves : LINDENS. (Why yes, they are...)
36. Set-up punch : LEFT JAB (...see second image, at top of page.) (Or, is that a right jab?) (I don't know my right from my left tonight!!)
40. Poet-punk music genre : EMO. Such drama!! 3:49
41. Ill-gotten gains : PELF. It took a while for this word to come to me, but I am resolved to use it in a sentence today! pelf...Pelf...PELF!!
42. Before now : AGO. How would you clue this one? (...not as easy as you thought, is it??)
47. Bikini specification : B CUP. OK, how about a few cups here? (I think we need Dennis's expert measurements here...)
48. In another life : ONCE...upon a time
49. Fireside stack : LOGS
50. Concession stand drinks : COKES
51. "True dat!" : I HEAR YA
53. Bovine bedding : STRAW
55. Off one's rocker : NUTSO (Thanks for catching that one, Anony-Mouse!)
60. "A nest of robins in her hair" poem : TREES. Joyce Kilmer (Where is Clear Ayes??):
"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
61. Players take them : TURNS
62. Music-licensing org. : BMI. "Broadcast Music, Inc."
63. ___ de France: sports venue near Paris : STADE. Football and rugby stadium.
64. Sprouts-to-be : SEEDS
Down:
1. KLM rival : SAS. Can you say Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.? (Jerome?) And, Scandanavian Airlines System (OK, I can say that one!!)
2. Centrist leader? : EGO.
3. Eagerly deal with, as an envelope : TEAR OPEN. (Oh yes, I just "tear open" all those bills!!)
4. Indiana state flower : PEONY. Beautiful.
5. Hockey nickname : ESPO. Phil Esposito, from the Boston Bruins and (ack!) New York Rangers.
6. Sign-making aids : STENCILS
8. Spanish writer Blasco ___ : IBANEZ. Best known for his novel "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
9. Cyberjunk : SPAM. I get about 100 spam emails a day....fortunately, I have a program that filters them to a "junk mail" box...
10. 2010 Coen brothers Western : TRUE GRIT. Do you think Jeff Bridges lived up to John Wayne's original portrayal?
11. "Happy Days" pal of Richie : POTSIE
12. It divides to multiply : AMOEBA. Opposite of "E pluribus unum"?
13. Threw easily : TOSSED (Somehow, this had a really bad vision of leaning over a toilet...ewww)
18. Kick with a "hang time" : PUNT. I got a kick out of this clue!
22. Glossy coats : ENAMELS
23. Illegally off base : AWOL. Absent WithOut Leave
24. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI
26. HIV-treating drug : AZT. Azidothymidine. (But you knew that, right??)
29. Impressive display : PANOPLY.
"Thee for my recitative,
Thee in the driving storm even as now, the snow, the winter-day declining,
Thee in thy panoply, thy measur'd dual throbbing and thy beat
convulsive,
Thy black cylindric body, golden brass and silvery steel..."
- Walt Whitman
(...where is ClearAyes??)
30. Box office smash : BOFF. From the British "boffin", meaning a scientist or technical expert. Not sure how that translates to a "box office smash".
32. Internet ___: fast-spreading item : MEME. Nonsensical internet clips that go viral, like this one. Why?
35. "That parrot is definitely ___": line from a Monty Python sketch : DECEASED. Funny clip. 5:34
36. Not as confident : LESS SURE
37. Friday guy? : JACK WEBB. Who remembers him? "Just the facts, ma'am..." 2:21
38. Feverish chills : AGUE
39. Conks on the head : BOPS
41. Throw hard : PEG
43. Ace bandage sites : JOINTS
44. Injury-free : UNHURT
45. Picnic pitcher filler : ICE TEA. No, no, no...IT IS ICED TEA!!
46. Friars Club events : ROASTS
47. Ruth's husband : BOAZ
50. Mustard family plant : CRESS
52. Lost a lap? : ROSE. (Stood up)
54. Serve behind bars : TEND. "Two termites walk into a bar..."
57. José's "Huh?" : QUE. And here is how to pronounce it. 0:01
58. "As I see it", in email : IMO. "In My Opinion", or, more politely: "IMHO" ("In my humble opinion").
59. Quash : NIX. Ix-Nay!
Answer grid.
That's all for tonight. See you next week!
Hugs,
Marti
74 comments:
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bill Thompson, for a very good puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the excellent write-up.
Of course, I could not get 1A to start. So I settled for 2D EGO and 14A AGE.
Thought the 7D and 19A, CAR and AUTOS was clever.
LEFT JAB was easy, even though I am not a boxer.
Thought 63A was TOURE, but that changed quickly once I got a few Downs. STADE appeared.
Caught the theme after I was all done.
No idea what MEME is for 32D. Never heard of EMO either. They were wags.
We had something about POTSIE the other day. That one came easily.
Off to my tasks.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Morning, all!
Great themage today, but I struggled with this one. I didn't realize that PIZZA BREAD was a thing, let alone related to Focaccia. STADE and IBANEZ were complete unknowns, but I eventually got them via the perps (once I finally remembered CAEN, that is). The crossing of BOFF and PELF was rough, especially since I originally had LOOT and I'm not familiar with BOFF (although I've heard of BOFFO).
B-CUP and BOAZ nearly proved to be my NEMESIS in the end. I guess I'm just not up on my Old Testament husbands, although I dimly remember something about him being a bad guy and Ruth killing him or something. Is that what the holiday Purim is all about? Anyway, BOAZ seemed more reasonable than AOAZ, COAZ of DOAZ, so I went with it.
Loved seeing PANOPLY in the grid today. A fantastic word that we don't see often enough, if you ask me.
Nice Puzzl Bill. Great write up Marti. This was another toughie for me but I got through it. My set up punch was always the right jab as I'm left handed.
For Barry: Purim is about Haman being offed and the freeing of the Persian Jews as told in the Book of Esther. The book of Ruth like the book of Esther are both Megilla scrolls. Historically Ruth and Boaz were the great grandparents of King David.
Boaz was a great guy and Theyloved each other dearly. Read Ruth's book in the Old Testament. It's an inspiring true history. Flyiingears
Another theme heavy offering with 8 words plus the reveal making this a challenge to build and a challenge to unravel. hearti as always, you do it with such style and wit, even the minefield of BOAZ and PELF. I recall pelf because of pilfer, another word from French dealing with ill gotten gains.
For you and your daddy SQUEEZE BOX .
My father grew double peonies in the front garden, and this time of year they drew admiring onlookers from all over the area. Nice memory.
Joyeuse jeudi
Barry G, I thought you were Jewish. I guess not - I happen to know quite a lot about Purim, and I'm not even close to being Jewish.... I guess - so much for last names. (lol)
Marti. LOVED your blog. a small nit 55 Acr. is Nutso - 5 letters, finally figured that out.... is the blog so totally complete ? (Nutso - ).
But that does not detract in the LEAST, from a lovely, lovely blog with your signature wit and humor as inimitable as .... the great Miss Piggy ! I loved Miss Piggy in her signature plug for her signature perfume, MOI ... wasn't, isn't she AWESOME ? ... ( and her writers aren't too shabby either ...).
Finally, madame, - Good night ? ... Marti, you've just started - we hardly knew ya.
Have a good week, you all.
Good day folks,
First, new. temporary avatar of a baby Hawaiian donkey taking care of business and expressing my thoughts about todays puzzle .... Piss on it!
In all fairness, there was a lot to like today, but using the same clue.,.. 19A & 7D turned me off right away. And I do appreciate the difficulty constructors face when creating a puzzle.
There was a lot of good stuff too, 21A & 61A were fav.s.
Besides the aforementioned, 51A , 33A, 40A, & 30D were pretty weak. I wanted Garlic Press instead of Juice Press, but wouldn't fit.
We have a family get together his week end, so I will have avatar changed by Monday & will only be used when a puzzle turns me off, which doesn't happen often. Now if my sullen mood can improve before our guests arrive. It will when they leave!
I apologize to anyone who I may have offended with the avatar.
Anony-Mouse - It has been fixed! We always do the blog the night before, so it was quite late when I finished. Anyway, I'm baaaaaack!
Thanks for the great clip, Lemonade - love that song, for obvious reasons...
Interesting puzzle. I have no nits. I liked the repetition of the clue for CAR and AUTO. Delightfully witty write up, Marti.
HH, it seems some of the clues stuck in your INGLUVIES(craw), a word from yesterday's spelling bee. There was a cute 6 year old trying to spell it. She substituted e for the initial i. It begins with an indistinct schwa sound. You either had to know it or WAG it. Imagine a 6 year old getting as far as the finals!
Link text
Oh, THOSE boxes! It’s bad enough I worked hard to get through this great puzzle but then I had to have my friend Marti hit me over the head with the clever theme and incredible write-up (I’m a visual person!)
Musings
-Sheldon says keeping bread in the fridge accelerates that green growth
-Joann’s Czech uncles all played the concertina/squeeze box
-ESTAB/CIRCA, GIBE/JIBE, PELF/PILF (pilfer?), MALT/OAST, EGO/CEE, PESCI/TOMEI (did you see her in The Wrestler? She’s still gettin’ it done!
-Shortest verse in the bible is “Jesus WEPT”. In what TV series was this verse used in its 1971 Christmas episode?
-I spent some lovely moments in some STRAW on church hay rack rides! We weren’t readin’ scripture!
-During what famous battle did a general reply to a demand of surrender with, “NUTS!”
-Peonies are a typical harbinger of Memorial Day here but were weeks early this year. I say PEE uh nees and dad always said Pee OH nees. You?
-Is M*A*S*H the most famous stencil result?
-I live in the SPAM capital of the world and you’d better not get that Hormel product in your computer!
-Waiting under a PUNT with long hang time can put a crimp in your colon!
-I remember Jack in Dragnet and Sunset Boulevard
-Biography of an EGOTISTICAL OPERA STAR? ME ME ME ME ME!
Waltons/Bastogne.
-John
Good morning all! I surprised myself when I remembered Ruth's husband's name was BOAZ.
I never knew what MEME meant. That and MEH. It took me a while to figure out IMO and IMHO too. I guess I'm older than I thought.
Unfortunately, now that I know what a MEME is I can't get that earworm out of my head "mushroommushroomm...." AGH! Interesting site in your link though, Marti. I chuckled and passed along to a few friends.
Favorite words were PANOPLY (great one) and NUTSO. Speaking of NUTSO, I also have some family obligations this weekend. I took Monday off from work so I can recuperate. (Hondo: I'd change my avatar but I'm too lazy.)
Have a happy one! mushroommushroom....
My home-made whole wheat bread has no preservatives, and never lasts long enough to go green. We thawed a loaf last Sunday and it will be gone later today. I just keep it in a plastic bag in a kitchen drawer.
The CW beat me up today. I DNF with blanks in E-O, -EL-, -MI and WE-B. The SET BOX thing only came to me at the end, since I had Née for AGE until almost giving up on the NW. The only names I knew were PESCI and POTSIE. I've never heard of PIZZA BREAD either.
Oh well, it is Thursday after all, and as has already been noted, there was a lot to like here.
Great blog, Marti!
PS: I wouldn't change my avatar because I didn't like the puzzle, I'd change it because I'm in a surly mood about my weekend plans. The puzzle was fine in my book. :)
Marti, thanks for your correction. I am aware of the heroic efforts that you blog masters have to go through, so I posted the small nit, most reluctantly.
Another tree with heart shaped leaves is the Peepal ( alt. Pipal Peepul, Ashwatta etc.) - botanical name "Ficus Religiosa". It is a variety of a fig tree, fast growing, very long lived - very common in the Indian subcontinent, among other places. It has great religious significance among Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Hindus. Its leaves are heart shaped with a long tail, more like the Spades, at cards rather than a conventional heart. Reputedly, Prince Siddhartha, the Gautam Buddha received his enlightenment while meditating under such a tree ( the 'Bodhisatva' ), hence the tree is also called the 'tree of supreme knowledge' or the 'tree of eternal life'.
The Peepal leaves, if carefully dried, tend to erode, leaving behind a fine veined filigree of the skeletal structure, which is commonly used as a backdrop for hand paintings, as a cover for greeting cards, and other art. You can google 'peepal tree leaves' if further interested.
Good morning, all. Great write up, Marti.
I'm not sure if I finished this one or not. I have so many write-overs in the SW corner, I think all of the correct letters are in there somewhere but I made so many changes I'm not really sure what order they are in.
I got hung up on Monty's parrot being DEmEntED which led to NUTty and by the time I decided those had to go, that corner was one of Tenbini's famous inkblots.
In spite of my problems, I thought it was a great puzzle with some really clever cluing.
A serious workout for me. Started out with Ace bandages on wrists, had EMI instead of BMI and couldn't believe that True Grit wasn't released in 2011 (much better than the first version, IMO). But in the end it all came together with that B in Boaz being the final letter. Took some serious wagging, but it was enjoyable.
Here is Sheldon’s analysis of keeping bread in the fridge. It was in an episode entitled Cornhusker Vortex. Notice all the Husker gear being worn.
Yellowrocks, thank you for the link to the Six yr old, Lori Anne Madison, the spelling bee phenomena ! Her confidence is incredible !!!
also if you have the time, see the next clip on NBC today, the 'Turtleman' ... rip roaring funny and blows your mind !
Husker G., it's PEE-on-ies for me, too. But I have friends from around here who pronounce it pee_OH-nies, so I don't think it's a regional thing.
Mari, and that's exactly how MEMEs are spread...
Anony Mouse, here is an example of a beautiful hand-painted peepal leaf.
And here is an example of
peepals.
Fun puzzle today with some really nice fill, even if I didn't get the theme.
Marti, I chortled at your Boxed Set. And even after all these years, Monty Python is still funny.
Lemon, at first misreading that line about your father sounded absolutely DF.
Anony-Mouse, "Ficus Religiosa" sounds like something Hermione Granger would say.
Little Lori Anne sure is a cute kid. Great stage presence. I'm not sure I could spell dirigible under pressure.
I do remember Jack Webb, and Harry Morgan wasn't his original partner. Jack also had a short-lived TV series, Project UFO that started out each episode with some quote about Ezekiel seeing the wheel.
This puzzle looks like a date with a COUGAR that went haywire , first , we hop in my IMPALA and go to the OPERA , we grab some PIZZA afterwards , have some JUICE or some ICE TEA by the FIRESIDE , light a JOINT, I decide to go for broke and SQUEEZE her BCUP, she calls me NUTSO and hits me with a LEFT JAB , so I RUNON , UNHURT but in AGONY and I feel like a JACK ....!
I can't believe i wagged my way through this minefield, & on a Thursday! Meme, pelf, boff, panapoly, dead parrots? I hear ya on top of nutso?
I had no clue what the theme was until i came here. What great links today. Unfortunately i am so confused that i got this puzzle right, i have no idea what to link today???
DNF DNlike
Did not know:BOP BOFF PEG STADE GERI MEME IBANEZ JUICEPRESS.
However, have learned ESPO and EMO
ICETEA? If that's all they had at a picnic, I'd have to bring my own anything else. And I'm an old f--t of the school that would write iceD tea.
In general, too much guy stuff, anyway.
@Yellowrocks - saw the brainy little one. Wow!
@Husker Gary - I was told more than a half century ago by my grandfather that his Catskill relatives said "piney" for peony. They also said "a-lookin" to mean pregnant. So, I guess they were mountain folk.
@Husker Gary - When one Smothers brother asked the other for a quote from the Bible, he said, "My brother was a hairy man, I was a smooth," thus earning a BOP or JAB.
When Larry King asked Paris Hilton for her favorite quote, she drew a blank; not even a "Jesus wept."
However, "Whither thou goest, I will go," crosswords. (Perry Como sang it to people my age.)
To be a bit of a music pedant, EMO is not, exactly, a "post-punk" genre. Post-punk is a genre itself that arose in Britain from punk-rock in the late 70s. Bands like Gang of Four, The Fall and Joy Division. It spawned sub-genres like No Wave (Sonic Youth for example) and Goth Rock (like The Cure).
EMO arose from a different punk-rock offshoot; Hardcore Punk (Black Flag being the ur-example). Hardcore bands with a more emotional and less confrontational focus (like Rites of Spring) evolved into the EMO genre in the early 90s as exmplified by bands like Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate.
30. Box office smash : BOFF. From the British "boffin", meaning a scientist or technical expert. Not sure how that translates to a "box office smash".
I believe it's Best OF Film?
Not a speed run, for sure, but still fun and rewarding--so thanks, Bill. And Marti, what a write-up with all those boxers and peonies and the poems!Wonderful!
I got really stuck on that focaccia clue and decided I had to resort to the alphabet to figure out the p---abread word. Yep, it took a while to get to ZZ. After that I got everything but MEME and EMO. Not bad for a Thursday!
Have a good one, everybody!
Tuttle:
Why do you know so much about music?
SL Zalameh, nice car.
Hello, Cyber friends. Thanks for your engaging writing, Marti, with chuckles and good links.
QUE pasa, amigos?
I was surprised to see Blanco IBANEZ today and that was my first fill. As you can imagine, he's a big one in Spanish literature.
This was by no means easy, but a great and entertaining challenge. It took one across and one down every step of the way. Some fill, such as PESCI, ST PAT, AGONY, ESPO and others came easily.
But I did not realize PIZZA BREAD existed, wanted GARLIC PRESS and my Natick was PEG/PELF. I still don't see PEG as throw hard.
A neighbor of one of my nieces is surnamed BOAS SO I QUICKLY filled that then SQUEEZE came along to change S to Z.
Liked the CAR/AUTO clecho and MEME will now be firmly embedded with other crossword trivia.
Nice one, Bill Thompson, thank you.
Everyone, have a happy Thursday!
Oops, misspelled BLASCO.
Would you have a bowl of iceD CREAM
with your glass of IceD TEA or iceD WATER?
DNF ... off of *C*T**, for my "Picnic pitcher filler", I put in SCOTCH !!!
ICE-tea (or ICED-tea) would never be at MOI's picnic.
Sorry Barry, but DOAZ (and D-CUP) looked OK to me.
What a surprise, Lemon provided the explanation of PELF.
Cheers!
Is Tinbitty off his meds, AGAIN?
Hi gang -
Tough puzzle today, but I managed to finish. Theme was totally opaque until I cam ehere for Marti's fine write up. (BTW - boo, hiss on your CUP link.)
Yes, I had DEMENTED and fell into most of the other traps. Sussed BOX SET pretty early on, but still couldn't grasp the theme. Marti's explanation was a LEFT JAB to the brain.
In honor of Hondo's avatar, I pronounce it pee-on-knee.
I though PELF was PILF. Ah, well.
IMBO.
Cool regards!
JzB
I would love some iced cream.
I knew oldtimers who said vacuum with 3 syllables - in the way we say continuum with 4.
For some reason I had no trouble with the CAEN/IBANEZ/AZT part of the puzzle, though those were certainly obscurities. I don't remember seeing AZT in a puzzle before but IMO that's a fine entry. Part of the reason you hear less about it these days is because it is such an effective treatment.
Good theme, and ambitious, considering theme answers hit all the tough letters (BOX, PIZZA, JUICE, SQUEEZE). Nice feat of construction, and still a low black square count (33).
DNF here though... pelf and the SW got me (though DECEASED was cutely clued - wish I'd gotten that).
Hi,
i thought that BOFF for "box office smash" was a lame way to "smash" box and office together, ala the ways some kids are amking up words lately...
Hello everybody.
First of all, for the first time I noticed JzB's signoff (IMBO) is only one letter different from IMHO, yet totally different in meaning. Not at all unusual, of course, but for some NUTSO reason it struck me today.
Damn hard puzzle today. I had the same difficulty with PELF and BOFF. Putting EXPO in at 5D messed me up at the top. IBANEZ came easily, though.
Didn't see the Coen version of TRUE GRIT, so I can't compare.
LINDEN trees must be quite widespread. Sigfried, a hero in The Ring of the Niebelungs operas, was left sitting under a linden tree while the composer, Wagner, went off to write other music for something like 15 years before returning to it, because he didn't know what the heck to do with the story from that point. A classic case of writer's block, I guess. I can imagine Wagner's friends urging him, "Get him up off his ass to go rescue Brunhilde, silly man!"
Marti, thank you for your lively, humorous, and interesting writeup.
I say PEE-uh-nee and my wife says pee-OH-nee. I say to-MAY-to and my wife says to-MAH-to. Really. We both say VACK-yoom, though. Neither of us has ever said "True dat" that I'm aware of :)
My thick unabridged Webster's pronounces PEONY as PEE-uh-nee, as I do. It lists pee-OH-nee, piney, and PEE-nee as dialect. My inlaws from Phila. said PINEY. They also called forsythia, yellow bells.
Some recipes for pizza bread add tomato sauce, cheese, and Italian seasonings to yeast bread dough before baking it.
I enjoyed the puzzle just fine. A really enjoyable writeup as usual. Thanks. Everything else about the puzzle has been pretty much covered by now.
Yesterday we were talking about Gordon Lightfoot, I used to really enjoy Ian and Sylvia who sang many of his songs.
A standing ovation has been devalued I think. Almost everybody gets one these days. They used to be reserved for an outstanding performance or entertainment icons. Now they just occur for every performer on TV talk shows.
I agree with Jayce. I've never said (or heard) "True dat." I have never said "My bad" either. I think I would says "Oops" instead.
If you enjoy animals, you will certainly enjoy this slide show from MSNBC. Animal Tracks.
A puzzle for you: You are given two things in the same category. You name the only other thing in the same category that fits between the given things alphabetically. For example, given Mars/Saturn the answer would be “Mercury.”
May/June, Alberta/Manitoba, Left Fielder/Right Fielder, Happy/Sneezy, Education/Health and Human Services, High Jump/Long Jump, Obama/Polk, Costume Design/Documentary Feature, Rational/Whole, Euclid/Gauss, He/Ne.
ha ha ha ha ha *snort* ha ha ha, I just got it :)
The only person/character I've ever heard say "True dat" is Leonard on Big Bang Theory.
Bill G @ 2:27 -- I'll give it a shot:
July, British Columbia, Pitcher, Sleepy, Energy, Javelin, Pierce, Director, Real, Euler, I
I'll give an A+ to any puzzle that has the full name JACK WEBB.
Marti- Hell, I have a difficult time pronouncing 'alumanum'. Can't spell it either.
Spitz@3:18 -- I understand the logic in Krypton gas, making it a better answer than Iodine. Bill G says "the only other thing in the same category". I don't understand what the category for May/June can be except for the months of the year...oh wait...I just got it. They're also names for girls -- January is, July isn't. D'oh!
CED, he is looking for the only thing that fits "alphabetically" between the two given answers, in the same category.
i deleted my Bill G. quiz answer cause i ca';t spell, so i decided to
be gone fishin
Jerome,
Jerome, would you believe, that "aluminum" is the word that made me lose the spelling bee championship in my state when I was a kid? I got nervous, and got hung up on how many syllables I had already spelled, so it came out something like this:
ALU-MIN-IMIN-IMUM
(Mom and dad were still proud of me, and took me out for an ICED cream anyway, even though I lost.
Here's another quiz problem. What is the significance of the following number sequences?
142857
285714
428571
571428
714285
857142
Bill G @2:27 What DO said except Kr for the He/Ne segment. Assuming May/June should be reversed, to June/May, I would suggest March?
I forgot to say that I believe the PEONY (PEE-o-ny to me) is absolutely beautiful, second to the ROSE and just above orchid.
You who live in places with abundant rain are sooooo lucky that way because flowers are prolific. As for me, I just couldn't tolerate the mosquitoes.
Marti, I too was in a state spelling bee - it was actually televised (I was in the third grade, had to wear this stupid-ass cardboard sign around my neck that said 'Denny').
Came in third -- went down on 'arithmetic'. I had an 'i' instead of the 'e'. Got a set of World Book Encyclopedias and a hearty handshake.
DO @ 3:59, ummm, are they the ID #s in your mug shots?
Dennis, I am sure I received some kind of prize, but I don't remememember it. I was just too humiliated that I didn't win!
DO: they are all succeeding multiples of the 1st number.
Here is some SQUEEZE BOX training.
Hi all,
I haven't finished a puzzle since Monday but decided to post today. It looks like a fun puzzle but I ran out of time.
One comment-Marti, you asked about John Wayne and Jeff Bridges. I expected to find the characters to not be as good as the original but I thought they did a really good job, both for Rooster and Mattie. The girl was young, too.
The rest of this weekend will be spent at the Conference our church has every year (on the state level)for the UMC and I am a delegate. I kind of think I'm old enough to retire now.
Have a good weekend all.
Marge
desper-otto, they are the decimal equivalents for 1/7, 2/7, 3/7, 4/7, 5/7 and 6/7. The next number in the list would be 1.
Here's a cute little link. When the guy stops running, place the cursor about one inch above his head. Cursor thief.
Not enough patience today to fill all the squares. Got a little more than a third done before giving up and coming to Marti for help. Only theme I got was SQUEEZE IN. I've sure done that a lot.
My bread doesn't turn green. I freeze it and take out a couple slices at a time. Benefit: ICEd bread is stiff and holds up under ham salad better. Don't mind the cold taste. Takes me months to eat a loaf living alone.
Hearty laugh for "peepals".
Spitz: thanks for the polka band. Used to do some heavy breathing after a good polka romp.
My husbands grandmother was born in Chemnitz.
Speaking of Polka...It's time you folks were introduced to Brave Combo
This is polka like your Daddy never danced to. Brace yourself before clicking.
HG: Jesus Wept is from The Homecoming, a Christmas Story, which was the pilot movie made for the series The Waltons. I have the DVD of it. Richard Thomas was the star and it also had Patricia Neal and Ellen Corby in it, among some other well-knowns. This is one of my favorite made-for-TV flicks.
Bill G@5:31 -- Absolutely correct. I find it interesting that if you wrote those numbers in a circular pattern, you find that each sequence contains the same six digits, in the same order, just beginning at a different point on the circle. And if you carried the 7ths out to more than 6 decimal places, those sequences would just keep repeating. Maybe that's what makes 7 a lucky number. (And no, Marti, those aren't the ID numbers on my mug shots. Those all look like random numbers.)
So, Bill G, what's the answer to the problem you posted? Did we finally get it right...or more correctly, did Spitz get it right?
Yep, you and Spitz made a good team. I thought the last six were the hardest.
Did you try the link?
When teaching my seventh-grade students about fractions and rational numbers, I would give each row a fraction to change into a decimal. The first row got 1/7, the second row got 2/7, etc. After a couple of minutes, I would have them check with the other rows to see if they saw a pattern and a connection. The hard thing was to convince them that ALL repeating decimals were rational numbers.
Each row adds up to be 27, and each columnn also totals 27.
Did most of the puzzle...when I have to come here to finish...I don`t enjoy it as much...I chose "Fonzie" at first (aaaaaey!) and it threw me off. Where I live part of the year it`s "sweet tea" or "unsweet"...it`s a given that it`s iced unless it`s a Chinese restaurant. Wanted "juicer..." but couldn`t come up with an ending.
Someone asked if anyone watched the "Hatfield and McCoy" saga on the History channel. It was bloody and the language was offensive but it was so fascinating I couldn`t not watch it. Did I enjoy it? No, but I`m glad I watched it for the history. The Geico commercials about them were hysterical, too!
For your utter enjoyment!
OOOps!Try this
I thought this was a toughy, but was so glad that I at least did finish despite three errors. I had PESCO instead of PESCI, and then the natick MEME with EMO. I now see why I did not know EMO. MEME should be easy to remember. It means "same" in French, and Marti's example illustrated that. Who can sit and watch that garbage unless you are under five yrs old?
Anyway, new words for today were MEME, EMO, PELF, PANOPLY and BOFF. Panoply is my new favorite. Marti's example in the poem was different from the one that was clued! The clue had to do with a display, whereas the poetry example had to do with protective covering. The word has several meanings - interesting! That lovely poem was from To A Locomotive in Winter. I also enjoyed the TREES poem.
Enough of me for tonight. Sweet dreams!
Hola Everyone, I was only able to finish about 80% of the puzzle today. There were too many unknowns for me.
Stade,Ibnaez, and Pizza Bread, were all unfinished. I also had Boasts, Toasts, then Roasts for Friars Club event. Oh well, an "almost finished" is better than just a "hardly any done" puzzle.
I also had a hard time with Linden(s) trees. I guess it should have been plural, but that sounded odd with trees already in place.
Thanks Marti for filling in all my blanks today. I didn't catch onto the theme at all.
Have a great evening, everyone.
Pe-o-neys are such beautiful flowers. At a meeting last week the hostess had 6 large peonies on her kitchen counter. She had picked them from her garden.
She says that she doesn't do anything special to get them to grow, but they won't grow at all in my garden. I'm so envious.
Lucina. Come to Seattle. We have lots of rain and no mosquitoes. They have all drowned.
I just finished watching Person of Interest. That's a very strange show, but one of the most intriguing I've seen in recent years. I'm hopelessly hooked on it.
Oh. And to DesperOtto: I couldn't help but notice your new avatar. My first thought was "That cat needs a crossword puzzle to solve." So, I took matters into my own hands and set up my version. If it matters, she couldn't solve it all, but it was a Thursday puzzle, so I give her a pass....she's only 2 1/2. She's smart enough that she'll be doing Saturday Silkie's in a year or two.
Hi everyone:
I wrote my post at 2:00 pm but just as I hit the Preview button, I lost my cable/Internet connection. Service was just restored so here I am, late, late late!
Great puzzle, Mr. T and super write-up, Marti. Finished w/o help but wasn't a speed run. Liked Linden trees reference as I am surrounded by them; my development is called Linden Hills.
Due to loss of cable, I missed my nightly dose of Sheldon and friends, not to mention Person of Interest.
Goodnight to all.
Hutch:
Thank you! Seattle is on my bucket list of major cities in the U. S. to visit. Probably not this year, though because the Twin Cities are on schedule for me in October.
Irish Miss:
I, too, love Person of Interest but started recording it late in the season so these first ones are new to me. I teach on Thursday nights so am not normally home. It will be on in a few minutes.
Post a Comment