Theme: (Which) Way to GO
17A: Imagined: THOUGHT UP
58A: Duck product: EIDER DOWN
11D: Without guilt: RIGHTEOUS
33D: Soup ingredients, perhaps: LEFTOVERS
Good puzzle. I like the positon of UP, DOWN, LEFT & RIGHT, very well placed. But I just feel that something is missing at the heart of the grid. I want HERE or ICI (Vous êtes ICI) as an anchor.
I dislike how ELITE (16A: Privileged few) due to FEWER (51D: Not so many), visually very jarring. Tell me how you would clue ELITE.
Had some trouble at the lower right corner. Had to google Philosopher Mach (52D: ERNST).
Across:
1A: Not so much: LESS. And FEWER (51D: Not so many)
5A: Trigger-happy: EDGY. This reminds me of Barry's TENTER (cloth stretcher) &"On tenter hooks" connection explanation last month.
9A: Branchlet: SPRIG. "Branchlet" is a new word to me.
15A: Novelist Morrison: TONI. Nobel Literature winner in 1993. I know her only because of her "our first Black President" comment on Clinton. I've never read her books.
19A: Basketball player: CAGER. My favorite CAGER (KG).
21A: I haven't a clue: SEARCH ME. New phrase to me. I've never heard anyone use SEARCH ME to mean "I haven't a clue".
26A: Lizard with sticky feet: GECKO. Here is GEICO's GECHO.
28A: Still: AT REST
31A: Where van Gogh painted like mad: ARLES. Yes, this is the place where he madly painted all those blooming (and withering) sunflowers, and the beautiful "Starry Night Over the Rhone", and of course, the gorgeous "Bedroom at ARLES". Are you happy with the clue?
34A: Dawson or Gide: ANDRE. Hmm, another Nobel Literature winner (Gide). Do you think ANDRE Dawson will make HOF next year?
38A: Poppy extract: OPIUM. I am addicted to OPIUM.
39A: Sushi choice: TUNA. Delicious! Hot, hot wasabi!
41A: Zest: SPICE. Which one, Dennis?
45A: Group psyche: ETHOS. And 5D: Cultural: ETHNIC
47A: Parts of ranges: OVENS. I was in the mountain range direction.
49A: Western state capital: SANTA FE. I've never been to New Mexico. Do you like Georgia O'Keeffe?
53A: Turns back: REVERSES
56A: Pipe cleaner: REAMER. No idea. Always associate REAMER with citrus juice.
60A: Hold contents: CARGO. Ha, the nautical "Hold" got me again. I kept wanting "Hold" to be a verb.
62A: King toppers: ACES. I was thinking of this King and his wig.
63A: Middle of a tassel?: ESSES
65A: Do a postal job: SORT. Of course, I penned in MAIL first.
Down:
1D: Stop gripping: LET GO
2D" "___ Frome": ETHAN. Learned it from doing Xword. Have never touched any of Edith Wharton's books.
3D: Audible expression of contempt: SNORT. I wrote down SNEER first.
7D: Wildebeests: GNUS
8D: Holy cow!: YIPES. Sometimes this kind of simple exclamation stumps me. YIPES, Yipee, Holy mackerel! Have you ever used "Man alive"?
9D: Hide away: SECRETE
10D: Glacial deposit: PLACER. New to me. It's a "surficial mineral deposit formed by the concentration of small particles of heavy minerals, as gold, rutile, or platinum, in gravel or small sands."
18D: Wounds with a tusk: GORES. What, not us?
22D: Cause anxiety: ALARM
24D: Giraffe relative: OKAPI. I would not have got this one without the across fills. Barb B likes the pantaloons.
27D: Preserved for later: ON ICE. Is this also a hockey term?
32D: Sports zebras: REFS. Hmm, some kind of "striped" under-theme in this puzzle.
39D: Tex-Mex menu items: TOSTADAS. Yummy.
42D: Goofy error: BONER. I should really use this word instead of abusing "faux pas" & "screw-up" all the time.
44D: Even the score: AVENGE
46D: Islamic women's quarters: HAREMS. I was wondering if men really are not allowed to enter HAREMS. Will they be punished if they do?
50D: BP merger partner: AMOCO. They merged in 1998.
52D: Philosopher Mach: ERNST. So the the Mach in "Mach topper" (SST) refers to him?
53D: Chop into small pieces: RICE. Really, not DICE?
C.C.
17A: Imagined: THOUGHT UP
58A: Duck product: EIDER DOWN
11D: Without guilt: RIGHTEOUS
33D: Soup ingredients, perhaps: LEFTOVERS
Good puzzle. I like the positon of UP, DOWN, LEFT & RIGHT, very well placed. But I just feel that something is missing at the heart of the grid. I want HERE or ICI (Vous êtes ICI) as an anchor.
I dislike how ELITE (16A: Privileged few) due to FEWER (51D: Not so many), visually very jarring. Tell me how you would clue ELITE.
Had some trouble at the lower right corner. Had to google Philosopher Mach (52D: ERNST).
Across:
1A: Not so much: LESS. And FEWER (51D: Not so many)
5A: Trigger-happy: EDGY. This reminds me of Barry's TENTER (cloth stretcher) &"On tenter hooks" connection explanation last month.
9A: Branchlet: SPRIG. "Branchlet" is a new word to me.
15A: Novelist Morrison: TONI. Nobel Literature winner in 1993. I know her only because of her "our first Black President" comment on Clinton. I've never read her books.
19A: Basketball player: CAGER. My favorite CAGER (KG).
21A: I haven't a clue: SEARCH ME. New phrase to me. I've never heard anyone use SEARCH ME to mean "I haven't a clue".
26A: Lizard with sticky feet: GECKO. Here is GEICO's GECHO.
28A: Still: AT REST
31A: Where van Gogh painted like mad: ARLES. Yes, this is the place where he madly painted all those blooming (and withering) sunflowers, and the beautiful "Starry Night Over the Rhone", and of course, the gorgeous "Bedroom at ARLES". Are you happy with the clue?
34A: Dawson or Gide: ANDRE. Hmm, another Nobel Literature winner (Gide). Do you think ANDRE Dawson will make HOF next year?
38A: Poppy extract: OPIUM. I am addicted to OPIUM.
39A: Sushi choice: TUNA. Delicious! Hot, hot wasabi!
41A: Zest: SPICE. Which one, Dennis?
45A: Group psyche: ETHOS. And 5D: Cultural: ETHNIC
47A: Parts of ranges: OVENS. I was in the mountain range direction.
49A: Western state capital: SANTA FE. I've never been to New Mexico. Do you like Georgia O'Keeffe?
53A: Turns back: REVERSES
56A: Pipe cleaner: REAMER. No idea. Always associate REAMER with citrus juice.
60A: Hold contents: CARGO. Ha, the nautical "Hold" got me again. I kept wanting "Hold" to be a verb.
62A: King toppers: ACES. I was thinking of this King and his wig.
63A: Middle of a tassel?: ESSES
65A: Do a postal job: SORT. Of course, I penned in MAIL first.
Down:
1D: Stop gripping: LET GO
2D" "___ Frome": ETHAN. Learned it from doing Xword. Have never touched any of Edith Wharton's books.
3D: Audible expression of contempt: SNORT. I wrote down SNEER first.
7D: Wildebeests: GNUS
8D: Holy cow!: YIPES. Sometimes this kind of simple exclamation stumps me. YIPES, Yipee, Holy mackerel! Have you ever used "Man alive"?
9D: Hide away: SECRETE
10D: Glacial deposit: PLACER. New to me. It's a "surficial mineral deposit formed by the concentration of small particles of heavy minerals, as gold, rutile, or platinum, in gravel or small sands."
18D: Wounds with a tusk: GORES. What, not us?
22D: Cause anxiety: ALARM
24D: Giraffe relative: OKAPI. I would not have got this one without the across fills. Barb B likes the pantaloons.
27D: Preserved for later: ON ICE. Is this also a hockey term?
32D: Sports zebras: REFS. Hmm, some kind of "striped" under-theme in this puzzle.
39D: Tex-Mex menu items: TOSTADAS. Yummy.
42D: Goofy error: BONER. I should really use this word instead of abusing "faux pas" & "screw-up" all the time.
44D: Even the score: AVENGE
46D: Islamic women's quarters: HAREMS. I was wondering if men really are not allowed to enter HAREMS. Will they be punished if they do?
50D: BP merger partner: AMOCO. They merged in 1998.
52D: Philosopher Mach: ERNST. So the the Mach in "Mach topper" (SST) refers to him?
53D: Chop into small pieces: RICE. Really, not DICE?
C.C.
92 comments:
Good morning CC and DFs.
Cc to answer your question from yesterday I do not blog on any other site. That might be a fun thing to do during the winter months but I do not have time during the summer.
Todays puzzle was OK but for some reason I had trouble with the NE corner. Once I got 9A and 9D the rest was a snap.
"Search me" is a common term used when some one is asked a question and they have no clue as to the answer.
26A got me for awhile because of the stupid insurance ads. I inserted GEICO in lieu of Gecko. Also, I see our friend the giraffe's cousin Okapa is back.
Make OPAKA read OPAKI
Dick,
Was ERNST (52D) a gimme to you or you got it from the perps?
Good morning, c.c. and fellow DFs - pretty straightforward puzzle today, not much to talk about - at least until I got to the SE corner. Mr. Breward certainly knows how to stir things up on a Monday with the trifecta of 'pipe cleaner', 'reamer' and the always pleasing 'boner'. Our blog may hit 100 by noon...
c.c., "which one?"??? Why one?? Something wrong with a menage au six?
Hope it's a bearable Monday for everyone.
Cc as a student of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering Ernst Mach was a gimme.
Dennis,
My BONER. Sorry, I underestimated you. I forgot what a MOREL guy you are!
Dennis,
Holy Cow! I looked it up, BONER is not simply "a goofy error"!
c.c., well, it can be if you're, say, making a presentation...
Dennis,
Now you piqued my interest. What kind of presentation?
A technical presentation in front of a lot of people, for example.
CC, Re you question to Dennis @6:15
Some things are better left to the imagination!!
ELITE - Upper crust
Got my self in trouble immediately with 9 and 11d. Knew for a FACT that 9d was SECLUDE and 11d was BLAMELESS!! Yeah, right. No wonder the whole NE corner didn't make sense till the end!!
I finally got it but my one track mind just wouldn't let go for the longest time.
Lots of things to think about today. BONER, SAUSAGES, SPICEGIRLS,
OPIUM (wow), ATREST?
Gotta go,
Good morning CC and DF's: A good puzzle, easy and funny. Had to laugh at 'getting "down"' again. And then adding some 'spice' to the day, like Dennis said, here 'comes', boner, reamer, and pipe cleaner (my side job), along with 'search me'. Sprig sometimes fits into this 'righteous' category but so do the 'elite'
'sobs' with their 'cargo'when 'at rest'. But there are 'fewer' of them than the other 'sort'. LOL with the memory of October Fest in Blacksburg when we went as the "Wurst" family. I had Lichen Wurst on my name tag. Great time! What a way to start the day. Even a little 'opium' to deaden the pain of going to work. I'm 'off'!
CC: upper crust = eilite.
Dennis: I'd like to see THAT presentation!
Good morning, C.C. and DF's.
The sirens will be up and about after seeing 42D and 56A. Those two answers will add a lot of 41A to their morning.
Less in the upper left, fewer in the lower right.
Irene is back along with eras, esses, sort, okapi, Arles, aloe, Etna, to name a few. A pretty easy puzzle.
Instead of making opaka read opaki, I would really go for broke and make it okapi. Otherwise you get gecpo for gecko and that certainly is not that dastardly, annoying little creature on the Geico commercials. Also, opium would become okium (sounds like something for a stew - okra).
Dennis - menage au six? I'm in.
C.C. - did you say Yipes and Holy Cow when you looked up boner?
Dennis and C.C. - another type of presentation would be an ORAL presentation.
I've tipped over and am not going to say more at this time except for:
Today is Banana Split Day and Kiss and Make Up Day.
Good morning CC etal,
Not bad today - NE corner was elusive (placer, sprig & cager hid away from me for a while). Agree with upper crust for elite - would also suggest "chosen ones".
To me, rice is not the same as chop - it's more like "mash", but I would defer to xchefwalt's expertise.
Have a great Monday! Hope no one "boner's" their presentation!
OH, I forgot REAMER!!! And EIDER down or up, pick one! RICE and not DICE? What's up with that? I've heard the the term used that way before but not commonly, I think.
drdad, I'm going to suggest that the two holidays be combined...
Bill,
I am a very visual person (like Katherine), and my imaginations really run wild, as you can see from my daily blogging. But sometimes Dennis'/Lois' comments are way too abstract & dysfuntional. I badly need a dictionary to understand what they are bantering about. And thank God now I have Clear Ayes.
Lois,
No comment on my "Way to GO" theme title?
Dr. Dad,
Yes, I did shout "Yipes" when I looked up BONER, and I immediately thought of Dennis' "Pick(ens) the right T Bone (Boone)" remark last week.
Chris,
With TUNA (Sushi choice), you would think the editor would clue RICE as something natural, you know. Wild _ _ _ _!
Doesitinink,
What's the meaning of "It was challenging without being a hair-puller"? What is a "hair-puller"?
Good morning, C.C. and all.
I had just about the same take on this puzzle as the early birds: the upper NE corner took me a bit to tease out, but the rest was fairly easy. I like the theme and lay out. OKAPI fell in place when I got SPICE.
I read GRIPPING as 'griping' for a while....early morning eyes.... and figured it out when I reread the clue.
C.C., maybe you want to stay with 'faux pas.' *G* SEARCH ME was something I said when I was younger. It seems to have dropped out of my vocabulary lately.
As for the Spice Girls, the one in orange actually looks rather normal. What happened there!?
Gotta get my day started. I hope you all have a good one. If it's off to a rocky start, kiss and make up!
Good morning, C.C., et al. Not too many problems today, but they had the day's NYT puzzle to work on, so I kept in shape. Our cruise, up the inland passage to AK ports of Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan was great with lovely weather, a big surprise as it often is rainy wiht overcast and a chill wind.
CC,
Agree - "wild _" would have been more appropriate for "rice", as would "Campbell's Chicken & _ soup" or "mash" (easy girls).
As an aside, my son once explained to his mother that "boner" was the "techical term" for an erection - he was 10 at the time and, now in his 30's, has never been able to live that down. Inside family joke, maybe you needed to be there I guess.
Kids do say the darndest things sometimes, though.
39D. C.C., the tostada that you linked to has a CORN tortilla base. Is it still yummy? ;)
Glad the puzzle was so easy today as I am tired from picking up limbs from Fay's winds. Did have DICE instead of RICE for a while, until I realized Josiah was using a "ricer".....nothing better than riced potatoes!
Morning, all!
Running a bit late today, so this'll be short (shocking, I know!)
Nice, easy puzzle with no major snags. I'm geographically challenged, so I had SEATTLE instead of SANTA FE for 49A, and when that didn't work I tried to fit SALT LAKE there instead. I Finally figured it out, though.
The only word I didn't know this time around was PLACER. It came easily enough via the perps, though.
I would have clued ELITE as "best of the best" or simply "top".
And "Chop into tiny pieces" is just plain wrong for RICE, since ricing involves pushing something through a sieve to reduce it to rice-shaped pieces. No chopping is involved. Awhile back, a NYT puzzle had a similar clue for RICE and it was one of the few times the editor, Will Shortz, admitted to making a mistake.
OK, so maybe this post wasn't all that short. But it was short for me! ^_^
KittyB,
No, I won't give up on BONER.
Ken,
Welcome back!
Der Katze,
Oh, I did not pay attention to that. You are such an incredible man!
Barry,
Thank you for the Shortz link. I laughed so hard at the GOUP & TWOD.
Good morning to all!
Not too many problems. The upper right corner eluded me for a while, but finally got Secrete and then searchme and cager fit right in. I agree with the rest about "rice", should have been clued differently. I only had rice in because of reverses, but I definitely wanted dice in there.
Any words I didn't know filled in nicely from other fills, so pretty easy today.
Barry: Thanks for the link, enjoyed reading it!
Have a great Monday everyone!
Thank heavens today's puzzle was not difficult...I feel so fuzzy-brained! Could be allergies, as temperatures are dropping.
I was confused a bit about the theme at first, focusing on UP, OVER and DOWN and could not understand how RIGHTEOUS fit in. Ah, LEFT, RIGHT, UP, DOWN! All is clear now.
Bill: The answer is AT REST (2 words), not ATREST.
CC: "Hair-puller"...when something is so difficult or frustrating you want to pull your hair out, it is a hair-puller.
I winced at the answer BONER. Though I do not commonly hear the term, when it is used, it is most often NOT used in the sense of "goofy error".
Barry: Thanks from me too for the Will Shortz piece. I really enjoyed reading it.
Good Morning all. I've been busy. Time to brag. Nope, I didn't get the crossword complete. I don't think I've completed one since the snow melted. But I did bowl the first tournament of the season on Saturday. 202-213-248-279-235-216-199-206. Won 5 of 8 matches; good enough for 7th place a little cash. Enough to buy my wife a crossword puzzle book. Have a good day everyone. I'm going bowling.
ink: I was refering to certain body parts being at rest. I just left the answer as it was because...... Oh, I don't even know why! I have moments like that......when I can't figure out if i'm comimg or going!!!!
Lois, leave it alone!!!!!
I was glad of the explanation for "placer". In Alaska in June we visited an old gold mine where reference was made to "placer mining", and I had no idea that the term referred to glacial deposits. But they trace the course of ancient glaciers to try and guess where there might be gold deposits, and until now I didn't grasp that connection.
I got the answer here by guessing the "p" in sprig.
Also, do you sometimes wonder if some of these clues aren't designed just to see what comments they suggest to this group? Today's boner one is a case in point.
This was an easy for me. Dennis time. Had the upper half solved before I picked up a pencil.
Spice Girls: Does Victoria Beckham (AKA Posh Spice) ever smile? Someone find a picture of her smiling.
Morning all,
First, I want to thank Carl for the "Ultimate Margarita" recipe. I never would have thought of adding beer to the mix. Because of our location in PA, Yuengling lager is our usual choice of beers. Not sure that would work in this recipe. Definitely will have to try it.
As a former typing teacher, elite to me usually refers to type size (12 characters per inch). Maybe they could throw that in sometimes.
We are heading out to Arizona in early September, and looking forward to all the beautiful scenery.
Good Morning c.c., DF’s and all!
Wow, is today Monday?? I guess I’m the lone dope of the group because this puzzle gave me fits!! One might say I was 21a for the entire puzzle; I could not get a feel for it, no rhythm. And I very much do x/w’s by feel and momentum. And to think the morning offered so much promise!
I did like the clueing for 31a (ARLES). It’s a very clever clue, as Van Gough was never confined there. His output of work while living there (‘paint like mad’) plus the famous ear-sawing incident (he was mad) make the clue work on multiple levels.
I did NOT like 53d; as barry said, its just plain wrong. It’s like saying that garlic put though a press is ‘chopped’ garlic.
It’s perfect that today is “kiss and make up day”. One usually must start with an ORAL presentation, where a BONER might (and by all means should) occur. And if one is truly repentant, FLOWERS are included in the equation. Also, a nice card to prove the PEN IS mightier than the sword.
Time to go, green beans and French fries beckon.
Good morning everyone! Worked this one down the west, across the sounth and then back north. A bit of a different pattern. New words today were ANDRE, PLACER, ERNST. I had to get these from the perps.
C.C., I agree with your question on RICE. I always think of RICING as forcing food through a RICER to get small homogeneous pieces. Xchef?
@boomer Nice bowling scores! Get her a good book.
As I was filling in 19A, I wondered where the term originated. Here's what Wikipedia says about it: "Cager is a term frequently used for a professional basketball player. The word originated from early professional games (1910-1915) played in a cage to separate the audience from the playing court and speed up the game by keeping the ball in-bounds."
Good Morning All, It looks like almost everyone refreshed themselves yesterday and are right back on track today.
It was an easy puzzle and like most of you, I had to smile to see BONER. No wonder there were so many early posts today.
I didn't like RICE for "chop into tiny pieces". I have a potato ricer and it "squishes" Ricer potatoes through the little holes.
C.C. Always glad to be of help when you need an interpreter. I think you've pretty well got it taken care of today.
Yes, I have said "Man Alive!", although it has been decades. I also used the phrase, "Hubba hubba", a few days ago on a post here. I hadn't used that one for decades either. I guess you all bring out the kid in me.
Here's my favorite Van Gogh painting Irises. He painted it is 1889 and it originally sold for 300 francs. 98 years later it sold again for 54 million dollars. How's that for inflation? I saw it at its permanent home, The Getty Museum, in Los Angeles.
I couldn't resist googling for a smiling Victoria Beckham Hiding a smile. Bea, at least we are treated to her smiling husband in this photo.
Happy Monday, everyone.
RE Posh Spice. Here ya go MH:
Smiley Beckham
Good morning all,
Thanks for the explanations of placer and cager. I refused to change dice to rice; so what if there's no such word as deverses.
So many of the sayings such as "search me" are regional. Up here in the nort'land we use "Uffdah" as an all-purpose expression, no Scandinavian membership required.
Morning C.C. and all,
C.C. Never give up on a boner!! :)
doesitinink: I have heard the word "boner" used as in goofy error:"Boy he sure pulled a boner that time!" Of course, that could be taken the other way as well.:)
Barry and Clear Ayes, I agree on the rice/dice thing...to dice means to chop very fine, to rice means to push through a "ricer" for small elongated pieces.
Dennis, Just think, you could make your "presentation" six times with those girls!!! That could put the wrinkles in it though!
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
Sir Winston Churchill
His quote, although long ago, goes quite nicely with today's problems with Georgia and the oil thirst...
Easy puzzle today so I had to get this quote for our "enjoyment".
Bill @ 8:59am,
(Which) Way go to GO with your dysfunctional comment! You are hopeless!
Xchefwalt,
Of course, and if PEN IS proved to be indeed mightier than the sword, one might be tempted to take out the driver and ask for a mulligan.
Clear Ayes,
Goodness gracious, you actually used "MAN ALIVE" before? "Irises" is one of my bookmarks. Wonderful blue, wonderful yellow, there is never a blue without yellow in van Gogh's paintings.
Crockett1947,
Thanks for the CAGER. Who is your favorite player?
Xchefwalt,
Now, what's behind this "green beans and French fries"?
@c.c.- no mulligan’s for me, I earn all my scores.
“Green beans and French fries” is food sales talk (nothing DF). Sometimes we tend to over complicate our business (as we do our lives), so when we want to simplify thing we say our business is nothing but “selling green beans and French fries”, no matter how complex the situation is.
The restaurant industry has a language all its own. I’ll try to find an article I just read and post it for all to see. It’s quite amazing.
Good afternoon C.C. and all. This is my first try at this. I just wanted to say what a great place this is to visit. I enjoy doing puzzles and it is nice to have someplace to stop by to see how I am doing. Thank you for for allowing me to read over your shoulders. There is always so much to learn, I find I learn many tidbits of information here. I will now go back into hiding, but I will still stop by to learn from every one.
haha enjoyed the commentary (thanks lois and xchef among others) the clues were easy on this beautiful day in chi town...almost feels like sweden...not cool enough for eiderdun...incidentally, the eider is a beautiful duck seen in Scania and Norway...dun (down) is its featherage or rather plumage...
C.C. I am totally guilty of having used outmoded expressions of amazement like "Man Alive", "Heavens to Betsy" and even "Goodness Gracious". {^_^}
Isn't it interesting how famous paintings look so much different when you see them in person, rather than a photograph? "Irises" was overwhelming when I saw it right in front of me. The best example I know of "Man Alive" art is the Mona Lisa. Everyone has seen print copies and I know I thought, "OK, famous painting, not very attractive". When I saw it in person, I was amazed at the delicacy and depth of the portrait.
Thanks for flitting in, Mariposa. We live in Mariposa County, so we know "mariposa" is Spanish for "butterfly".
Thomas, "Uff da" is common in Minnesota. I know it has a Norwegian origin. Our Swedish cousin had never heard of it. Have you even heard it used in Sweden?
mariposa, welcome to the group; don't be a stranger. You can't be any stranger than us, anyway.
Good morning Cc & all
Just a quickie (I know, I know).
This xword was, in my humble opinion, a good one. It was tough but completely solvable with very good clues. But, if any of you got this one in less than four minutes, I stand in AWE. Like many of you, I had problems with the ne. I went the same direction as Crockett from the nw south... around the bottom & back up the eastern side.
Sprig eluded me because I kept thinking of Cate Blanchett(branchlet) for whatever reason instead of a little branch. Elite was a gimme. Being a bball fan, cager was automatic. My big stumble was righteous, the key to it all. The "duh" light finally came on though about half way through the third cup of coffee.
Perhaps someone can clue me in on why the word secrete has two completely divergent meanings. One losely means to emit or give off while the other losely means to hoard. I love this language but there are some words that baffle me.
re: margarita(beer) My suggestion on beer choice would be whatever you are used to. If you like strong beer, you'll probably like the margarita having the strong flavor as well. If you don't like it that way, try a milder beer. After about three of these margaritas, it won't matter what beer you put in because there's enough alcohol content to wipe out any sense of propriety, taste, or common sense.
I've also got a recipe I've developed for fruit margaritas. It does not use beer. I'll pass that along also on a less busy day.
Another rainy day in O... but it beats where I just left.
ciao
Carl: "Perhaps someone can clue me in on why the word secrete has two completely divergent meanings. One losely means to emit or give off while the other losely means to hoard. I love this language but there are some words that baffle me."
...the secret is in the pronounciation. The hoard meaning has the first syllable stressed. The give off meaning has the second syllable stressed.
Chuckle time. At the end of the recent cruise I took, the director asked for any questions we'd not had answered. He also offered a sheet of his favorite questions.
A couple of them I particularly enjoyed.
"Does the TV have cable or satellite?"
Asked near the elevators in the rear of the ship(I know, I know, "stern") "Do these elevators go to the front of the ship?"
And my favorite "Does the crew sleep on board?" Answer: No, ma'am, helicopter come to take them to our shore buildings along the route." Reply: "Aha, those helicopters kept me awake all night."
Lois, I love the "Lichen Wurst" nametag at Octoberfest; I suspect you got a lot of 'attention'.
To add a bit to DoesItinInk's explanation of secrete...
Originally, there was "secrete" (meaning hide) and "secretion" (meaning something that is given off). Both words come from "secret", which in turn comes from a Latin word meaning "to separate or distinguish". To secrete (hide) is something is to "set it apart" from everybody else. A secretion, on the other hand is a substance that is isolated for excretion.
Secrete, meaning to produce a secretion, is a "back formation" from secretion. Originally, there was no verb form -- you just said "produce a secretion." At some point, though, people decided to make a verb out of it.
Good puzzle for a Monday. It had some wonderful words in it today. I thought maybe I had just visited xchefwalts B&B. Sausage, boner, reamer, then secrete!
Then Drdad has to mention it's kiss and make up day and banana split day!
There's a sayinq as you head up north here in MN. You have to go through a couple of towns named Akin and Reamer. I think you can come up with it :)
My favorite cager of all time was Magic Johnson. He sure was fun to watch.
Good Afternoon C.C. and all. Very enjoyable puzzle today. A little trouble on NE corner but it all came together with the perp righteous.
Today in AARP mag, in an article on what is better when you are 50 years old, one of the benefits was being better at crossword puzzles. Having a deeper vocabulary. I also think that expressions like, 21A search me, and countless others that we come across are unknown to younger folks and non-native speakers. Pop culture is always tough to pickup. Especially naughty expressions that you wouldn't see in print, but hear on the street.
I wish that U.S. schools taught foreign language with an eye on the global nature of our world today.
@ barry
Your explanation makes sense to me. The pronunciations I could find seemed identical but I tend to be thick-headed at times ie the "duh" factor. The hoarding aspect seems to be an obsolete variant???? Maybe an obs or var notation on the clue would have helped???
Again, thank you.
finally managed to get around to today's puzzle! had no problems except for that top right quadrant! search me but for some reason that one didn't comes to me and the cager wasn't around either. even tho i knew richard gere was in chicago, that corner was a tuffy for me today! ahhh welll - tomorrow's another day!
mariposa - don't hide. Stick around!
SECRETE is a good example of one of those pesky heteronyms that can make English such a frustrating language. Here's a link Heteronyms that lists some of the most common ones.
SECRETE is also an antagonym. Here's a second link Antagonyms, words that are spelled the same and have contradictory meanings....YIPES!
C.C. and others, we native English speakers have a tough time figuring all this out. You are amazing in your diligence.
Hello mariposa. Please join in whenever you want.
@barry Thanks for the secrete education.
@clearayes When we play Trivial Pursuit, I want to be on YOUR team! Antagonym? Who knows what evil lurks in our English language? Clear ayes (and barry) know!!
clearayes to the rescue!
Arrrrghhh! Can't stand all these secretions. Now I've got a homophonic headache. Or wait, is it an antagonymic one. Barry - clearayes I deeply thank you. I stand in the shadow of your intellect. All this is the reason I love words, wordplay and last but not least, RUM! Now, does anyone happen to know what that word in Spanish was that Elton John sang about???
Welcome, Mariposa! You'll have to hit the deck running to keep up with dennis and his disfunctional band, but C.C. will give you all the help you need.
Thomas, what are you doing in Chi town??
Chef, thanks for the explanation of "green beans and french fries." I was trying to figure out what you were making. *G* Our son managed a Flemings in Winter Park, and "in the weeds" is firmly imbeded in our family vocabulary thanks to him.
Cager: Michael Jordan
Expressions: Good Grief! Hogwash. Horsehockey!
Can't ya all hear C.C. using the word BONER in front of the church ladies??
Dennis: yeah, a lot of attention
standing straight and practically saluting. Gotta love that German fare!
drdad: hilarious! I would simply ask for a repeat performance .even if it was just lip service!
CC: Your theme is hysterically perfect!
Carol: Your advice to CC was great! Words to live by. I would think that six performances (@Dennis) would press the wrinkles out. I would even ask for an encore as a bon-us.
kittyb, that's hilarious: "ladies, I saw the biggest boner today when I was talking to the guys". Pandemonium ensues...
Favorite cager: Clyde Drexler -- a great player and a fantastic human being.
I only know rice as a verb to mean force something through a sieve or strainer but not to cut into small pieces... didn't like that clue.
Today was the first day of school... I'm a senior now, YAY!!! First day of pediatrics. I hate first days when its about introducing yourself and yadda yadda yadda and welcomes and all that stuff... I think by senior year its kind of pointless.
Any-who this puzzle was pretty ok I guess. The top left corner stumped me for a while.
I love Toni Morrison. I read Song of Solomon, Sula, Tar Baby and Beloved in high school. I think Oprah was in the movie version of Beloved... never saw it.
I remember the Opium Wars from history class... I know there were two if them.
I hate tuna sushi... well I don't hate it just not my fave... my favorite roll is inakyu ( don't now if I've spelled it right) but its barbecue eel.
Where my dad is from, the Delta River area of Nigeria, the tribes there use leftovers and mix it to make a stew and eat it with rice. LOVE RICE
FOr 29 down I got TANS but for 36 across I got OUR... so I was stumped
C.C., days ago you asked me if I was familiar with the mint, orange and rose water tisane tea. Are you refering to the one mentioned in 'Le Divorce,' or were you familiar with it from another source?
Does it "sweeten the juices"?? I was surfing on the subject and read that pineapple juice works on men, but they have to drink it for a week or more before a change is noticed.
OH!!!!!! SUNS. I never heard that used as a verb
The talk about things German brought back some good memories: I met my husband in a little tavern called the "Wurst Haus". At the time, these types of taverns were very popular and a lot of them had Swiss or German themes; alpine decor, etc. We also had one by the waterfront called Frank 'n Steins and the pitchers of beer were served in clear glass "bedpan" urinals...looked just like what you would expect in a urinal!!! I couldn't drink the beer poured from it, so would always order a bottle!
Mariposa, welcome and don't keep in hiding. We are not a bad bunch, just sort of naughty sometimes.
Ken, welcome back, glad your trip had nice weather and some cute jokes too. :)
lucid...in Illinois, and probably throughout the Midwest there are pots of "burgoo" being started. Burgoo is made by contributing whatever meat you have to the pot, along with available vegetables. It makes a spicy stew. It's not made from leftovers, but your father's way of using leftovers made me think of it.
How do you find the time to do the crossword. I'd think your schedule would be awful. Or...is this the quiet before the storm?
kittyb I don't know, they are so addictive that I squeeze them in here and there. I use to only do Sundays puzzle but since summer break I need my daily fix. I actually have a couple of New York and Washington crosswords puzzles synced to my PDA each morning just incase.
Welcome mariposa. Is the Gulf Fritillary in your part of the world in the fall? We usually don't see them until Oct. here in the FL panhandle.
This just in: Sales of Pineapple Juice have rocketed in the last hour; stores nationwide running out of stock.
KittyB and Lucid: The Utica, IL Burgoo Festival is on 12 October this year. I will be there with my oldest daughter. I grew up in southern Indiana where Burgoo was and still is common in the old German communities. As a child my parents and I went to church Burgoo dinners every fall.
is burgoo similar to the arabic burgul? I took an arabic class 2 semesters ago and they just seem similar.
Lucid: I do not know what an Arabic 'arabic burgul' is. Burgoo is generally considered to be a harvest stew. It is made of the harvest excess of meats and vegetables, cooked in large vats over wood fires for hours before serving. Is that similar to the burgul?
doesitinink it sounds similar, it has lamb and cracked wheats and veggies. Never had it but heard people talk about it. Maybe there was an encounter between the two and one influenced the other
Clear Ayes,
Ditto your point on seeing great paintings in person. I could not describe to you in words my feelings when I saw Manet's "Olympia". Her eyes are so darling, confrontative & depthless!
KittyB,
"Le Divorce", Yes. Pineapple, Yes too. Watermelon also works for _ _ _ ("All the President's ___").
This just in: Men waiting to buy pineapple juice in supermarkets have been crushed beneath an onslaught of men seeking fresh watermelon.
Carol, beer served in clear glass bedpan urinals? Yipes! Man Alive! Holy Cow! Land O'Goshen!
Did Frank N'Steins stay in business very long. It doesn't sound like they had a good handle on marketing strategies.
Crockett1947, I'll still play Trivial Pursuit with you, but I didn't know about "antagonym" until I read about it on the heteronym link.
KittyB, what does "in the weeds" mean in restaurantese?
Carl, looking forward to the fruit margaritas. Any chance that they contain pineapple juice or watermelon? If not....back to the drawing board!
Oh Dennis, LMAO at those last two comments!!!!! It's a shame it take a week or more to work, all that sweetened juice would have been great on the ol' banana split!!
Clear Ayes, no, Frank 'n Steins was not there all that long! Can't imagine why!! :) I like beer, but that was way over the top, so to speak. These were the urinals that were for the men- in "hospitalize" "vases. You get the "picture"!
OMG!!! I leave for a few and we're now back to the watermelon crawl????
I would think watermelon & pineapple would be possible but probably not in the same drink. I'll have to experiment & get back to ya.
carol, talk about a bad marketing plan.
The rest rooms probably had oversize beer mugs for toilets...
how you would clue ELITE 16A: Privileged few
The privileged
Dennis, puts a whole new meaning on "going to the can" doesn't it????
@clear ayes (if I may).
Being ‘in the weeds’ means being so busy you don’t know what to do next (think ‘seeing the forest through the trees’), being so busy that one more thing will make you crash and burn. Servers who get sat too many tables at one time get ‘in the weeds’ when everyone wants stuff at the same time in different areas of the restaurant.
I have always believed that being in the weeds was a state of mind. If you got in the weeds, you allowed the situation to consume you, therefore it wins. The one thing I tried to teach my extern students was that “dogs smell fear”, or if you got in the weeds and allowed it to control you than (customers/coworkers/managers) will ‘smell’ that and use it against you, and you gave them that excuse.
I hope that helps.
clear ayes, I hope ChefWalt will correct me if I have it wrong, but we understand "in the weeds" to be how a server feels on a night when every table is filled....overwhelmed....running to keep up with the demand.
lucid, I try to squeeze the puzzle in at the start of my day. If I miss it then, I usually don't get back to it until much later in the day, when there are likely to be interruptions. If I had more time, I'd probably subscribe to the NYT puzzle. I understand about them being addictive.
doesitinink, I haven't been to the Burgoo festival in Utica, but my brother-in-law used to enjoy it. If Dear Husband is free that weekend, we'll have to see if we can visit.
@Kittyb: You offered horsehockey as a euphemism for an untrue statement. I've heard horse Puckey in that sense but never horse hockey. Have you been watching horses with sticks and skates?
Xchefwalt and Kittyb, Thanks for the explanation of "in the weeds". I've never worked in a restaurant, so I was scratching my head in puzzlement.
I had only heard a similar phrase, "lurking in the weeds", as in a predator hiding and watching for prey.
Chris in LA, Your earlier post about your son's "medical" term gave me a laugh. That's is something the poor guy will never live down.
doesitinink, kittyB, and lucid
I knew I heard the name burgoo before.
Burgoo King (1929-1946) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series but who did not run in final race, the Belmont Stakes.
Owned by Colonel Edward R. Bradley and foaled at his renowned Idle Hour Stock Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, Burgoo King was named for a local grocer famous for his burgoo stew. Out of the mare Minawand, he was sired by Bradley's 1926 Kentucky Derby winner, Bubbling Over.
Ken, what was it that Henry Morgan would shout on 'Mash?' Was it 'Puckey'? I'm sure I've heard Horsehockey somewhere, but it might be a family variation on a more familiar term.
Thanks, Chef, for the full explanation of "in the weeds." I believe that our son would have agreed with you that you teach your employees to control the situation, rather than letting it control you.
Argyle, one has to hope that Burgoo King didn't end up in the pot when his racing days were over! *G*
quite interesting read. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did anyone hear that some chinese hacker had busted twitter yesterday again.
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