Theme: PRO (18D: Word before 17A, 57A, 11D and 25D) & CON (52D: Word before 17A, 57A, 11D and 25D)
17A: Davy Crockett portrayer: FESS PARKER
57A: Certain nuclear weapon: FUSION BOMB
11D:Early TV transmission: TEST PATTERN
25D: Plot: TRACT OF LAND
The clues for 18D & 52D are inaccurate. They are the words before the first word of above 4 theme entries.
I wonder if Mr. Parrish thought of extending CLAIM (10D: State as true) into CLAIM TO FAME (clued as EDMUND Hillary & Mt. Everest related), then we would have a PROCLAIM. Don't you think "Explorer Hillary" is a better clue for EMDUND (34D: Novelist White)? I've never heard of White before. Does he compare his works to Proust's?
I thought of 4 more phrases for another PRO themed puzzle: DUCT*, GRAM*, POSE* and FILE*. And BODY*, DOTE*, TRUST* and QUE* for an ANTI grid. "QUE será, será" will be an awesome theme answer.
(Addendum: Please ignore the above two paragraphs. I failed to see 52D clue and misread the whole theme of this creative puzzle).
Before I forget, do you know why "Pinkie" is cited as an example for visual pun? I can not grok it.
Across:
1A: "The Grapes of Wrath" family: JOAD. Without J from JIF (1D: Peter Pan rival), I would not have got this one. Can never remember this name.
5A: Clever remarks: QUIPS. I really have difficulty in understanding the cleverness in Allan P. Olschwang's QUIPS.
10A: Keyboard key: CTRL. Wish it were clued as "PC Key" to indicate an abbreviation, but theoretically the clue is flawless.
16A: "Star War" princess: LEIA. Carrie Fisher co-hosted TCM's "The Essentials" with Robert Osbourne for a short period of time. TCM should be a solid answer for clue 30A: "All-films stn. " (AMC), right?
19A: Author of "The Nazarene": ASCH (Sholem). I forgot. He appeared in our puzzle before. He wrote in Yiddish. Is "Sholem" the same as "Shalom"?
21A: Paper boss: EDITOR. It's sad that the NY Sun newspaper was shut down. I seldom solved their puzzles though, too hard for me.
23A: Beat circuits: PATROLS. I would prefer PATROLS clued as a verb.
27A: Dublin's land: EIRE. Have not seen ERIN for a long time.
38A: ASCAP's counterpart: BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). I am more familiar with Body Mass Index.
41A: Letters for shock treatment: ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy). Absolutely no idea.
45A: 1904 roadster: REO. I did not know it was introduced in 1904.
51A: Legal go-ahead: LICENSE
55A: "Tuesdays with Morrie": ALBOM (Mitch). He also wrote "The Five People You Meet in Heaven".
62A: Brass element: ZINC. Do multivitamins really help? What's your favorite brand? I have a hard time swallowing those big pills.
63A: "The Maltese Falcon" co-star: ASTOR (Mary). Have never seen this movie.
64A: Pasternak character: LARA. Refreshing clue. Our editor likes cluing LARA as "Dr. Zhivago's love". Yuri is also 4-letter. Nice pictures for "LARA's Theme". Simple, beautiful music, probably one of the best movie theme music.
Down:
3D: __ longa, vita brevis: ARS. It's clued as "___ gratia artis" last time.
4D: Identifiable as a unit: DISCRETE. The clue feels odd to me.
5D: Shrank in fear: QUAILED. I only know QUAIL as birds.
9D: Final run: STRETCH. I would love STRETCH to be clued as seventh-inning related to pair up with HOMER (29D: Round-tripper). I am rooting for Phillies and Rays. How about you?
13D: Lion of Oz: LAHR (Bert). Very strange surname, hard to remember.
24D: Top flier: AIR ACE. "Take My Breath Away" popped into my mind.
32D: La ___, WI: CROSSE. I wonder if the constructor considered putting in LACROSSE as a fill.
38D: A/C figures: BTUS
40D: Matched outfit: ENSEMBLE
43D: Singer Gloria: ESTEFAN. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".
44D: ___ Bridge (NYC span): TRIBORO. When will it officially become RFK Bridge?
47D: "Billy __ ": ELLIOT. No, I've never heard of the movie or the musical. Only know "Mama" Cass ELLIOT.
53D: Haagen- ___: DAZS. I really like mochi ice cream.
55D: Hammett's terrier: ASTA. Toto is probably jealous of ASTA's status in our crossword world. He also has two vowels in his name.
59D: Single grain: OAT. I don't understand this clue. Why "Single grain"?
60D: Richie's father, to Fonzie: MR. C
C.C.
17A: Davy Crockett portrayer: FESS PARKER
57A: Certain nuclear weapon: FUSION BOMB
11D:Early TV transmission: TEST PATTERN
25D: Plot: TRACT OF LAND
The clues for 18D & 52D are inaccurate. They are the words before the first word of above 4 theme entries.
I wonder if Mr. Parrish thought of extending CLAIM (10D: State as true) into CLAIM TO FAME (clued as EDMUND Hillary & Mt. Everest related), then we would have a PROCLAIM. Don't you think "Explorer Hillary" is a better clue for EMDUND (34D: Novelist White)? I've never heard of White before. Does he compare his works to Proust's?
I thought of 4 more phrases for another PRO themed puzzle: DUCT*, GRAM*, POSE* and FILE*. And BODY*, DOTE*, TRUST* and QUE* for an ANTI grid. "QUE será, será" will be an awesome theme answer.
(Addendum: Please ignore the above two paragraphs. I failed to see 52D clue and misread the whole theme of this creative puzzle).
Before I forget, do you know why "Pinkie" is cited as an example for visual pun? I can not grok it.
Across:
1A: "The Grapes of Wrath" family: JOAD. Without J from JIF (1D: Peter Pan rival), I would not have got this one. Can never remember this name.
5A: Clever remarks: QUIPS. I really have difficulty in understanding the cleverness in Allan P. Olschwang's QUIPS.
10A: Keyboard key: CTRL. Wish it were clued as "PC Key" to indicate an abbreviation, but theoretically the clue is flawless.
16A: "Star War" princess: LEIA. Carrie Fisher co-hosted TCM's "The Essentials" with Robert Osbourne for a short period of time. TCM should be a solid answer for clue 30A: "All-films stn. " (AMC), right?
19A: Author of "The Nazarene": ASCH (Sholem). I forgot. He appeared in our puzzle before. He wrote in Yiddish. Is "Sholem" the same as "Shalom"?
21A: Paper boss: EDITOR. It's sad that the NY Sun newspaper was shut down. I seldom solved their puzzles though, too hard for me.
23A: Beat circuits: PATROLS. I would prefer PATROLS clued as a verb.
27A: Dublin's land: EIRE. Have not seen ERIN for a long time.
38A: ASCAP's counterpart: BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). I am more familiar with Body Mass Index.
41A: Letters for shock treatment: ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy). Absolutely no idea.
45A: 1904 roadster: REO. I did not know it was introduced in 1904.
51A: Legal go-ahead: LICENSE
55A: "Tuesdays with Morrie": ALBOM (Mitch). He also wrote "The Five People You Meet in Heaven".
62A: Brass element: ZINC. Do multivitamins really help? What's your favorite brand? I have a hard time swallowing those big pills.
63A: "The Maltese Falcon" co-star: ASTOR (Mary). Have never seen this movie.
64A: Pasternak character: LARA. Refreshing clue. Our editor likes cluing LARA as "Dr. Zhivago's love". Yuri is also 4-letter. Nice pictures for "LARA's Theme". Simple, beautiful music, probably one of the best movie theme music.
Down:
3D: __ longa, vita brevis: ARS. It's clued as "___ gratia artis" last time.
4D: Identifiable as a unit: DISCRETE. The clue feels odd to me.
5D: Shrank in fear: QUAILED. I only know QUAIL as birds.
9D: Final run: STRETCH. I would love STRETCH to be clued as seventh-inning related to pair up with HOMER (29D: Round-tripper). I am rooting for Phillies and Rays. How about you?
13D: Lion of Oz: LAHR (Bert). Very strange surname, hard to remember.
24D: Top flier: AIR ACE. "Take My Breath Away" popped into my mind.
32D: La ___, WI: CROSSE. I wonder if the constructor considered putting in LACROSSE as a fill.
38D: A/C figures: BTUS
40D: Matched outfit: ENSEMBLE
43D: Singer Gloria: ESTEFAN. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".
44D: ___ Bridge (NYC span): TRIBORO. When will it officially become RFK Bridge?
47D: "Billy __ ": ELLIOT. No, I've never heard of the movie or the musical. Only know "Mama" Cass ELLIOT.
53D: Haagen- ___: DAZS. I really like mochi ice cream.
55D: Hammett's terrier: ASTA. Toto is probably jealous of ASTA's status in our crossword world. He also has two vowels in his name.
59D: Single grain: OAT. I don't understand this clue. Why "Single grain"?
60D: Richie's father, to Fonzie: MR. C
C.C.
56 comments:
Good morning Cc, DFs and DFettes...I liked this puzzle better than yesterday as it forced my mind to operate. I think we recently had the Joad family clue no too long ago. I did not know 55a Albom but managed to get it from the perps. Every time I see the clue A/C I think electrical alternating circuit and try to get amp, watt or some other electrical term to fit and then the DOH moment when you see A/C is air conditioner. I liked the connection words in 18d and 52d, pro and con, and it took a while to see this.
Dick,
Holy hot wick! I completely missed 52D. And PRO & CON are so symmetrically positioned. What a great puzzle this is!
Xchefwalt,
Did you play trombone before? Were you good at triple tonguing?
Bill, Carl, Arygle et al,
Tell me what's your take on "All I Want is Food and Creative Love"? What does "Big hand" refer to?
Jimbo,
I've changed yesterday's theme title into "Types of Lumber". I like your suggestion.
I liked yesterday's puzzle better becasue I didn't have to google: I had to google ALBON and ASCH and I probably would have had to google ASTOR too if I hadn't got it from the perps. I did this online so I had the benefit of knowing that WARRANT was wrong for 51A, PANT SUIT was wrong for 40D and THE KID was wrong for 47D.
C.C., "Identifiable as a unit" is an acceptable clue for DISCRETE because, in mathematics, a discrete set is a set with a finite number of elements. You could say, for example, that individual points on a grid form a discrete set. Also, yesterday's clue "rings out" is fine: if it were "rings" then you'd be looking for a word that means "circles".
Good Morning, C.C. and all.
This was more like it! I was challenged by the west section. I got hung up on ECT and needed help, but once I had those letters, the rest fell in place.
I didn't know ASCH, and I've never heard of a round-tripper being called a HOMER, but they came through the fills.
About the visual pun, is it that her pose puts her hand in the central position in the picture, with her smallest finger (her "pinkie") toward the viewer? That, and the contrast of the pink ribbons against the blue sky, were all I could think of. I could use another mug of tea. *G*
We have a busy day, today, filled with dull things like cleaning and office work. I hope you all have a more exciting day!
Good morning to all.
Not a hammer but at least a thinker today.
I really liked Princess Leia in her Metal Bikini.
I'm with Dick on A/C = never think of air conditioning, always alternating current.
Fess Parker played both Davey Crockett and Daniel (Dan'l) Boone.
Could also clue 47D as "Actor Sam."
It would have been nice if they could have kept the theme answers as two words. Tract of Land was out of sync as a three word answer.
The largest fusion bomb was the one built by the USSR. It was originally designed at 100 megatons of TNT but was reduced by half in order to limit the nuclear fallout. Ladies and gentlemen - The Tsar Bomba!
On that note - today is National Grouch Day, National Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day, National Poetry Day, White Cane Safety Day, and finally BLOG ACTION DAY!!!
Have a great Wednesday.
oh, duh! a ROUND TRIPPER/HOMER....he's talking about baseball, isn't he!??
kittyb - yep, he's talking about baseball unless you envision getting to first base, second base, third base, and then all the way home as that other great pasttime (one that I enjoy more than baseball).
Morning, all!
A bit thornier in spots than yesterday's puzzle, but still relatively easy. Today's list of unknowns includes ASCH, EDMOND, LARA, ALBOM and CROSSE. Hmmmm... all proper names. Remember when crosswords were about, you know, words? Well, neither do I, but still... ^_^
As for "Pinkie", I believe it is a pun because the word is usually used solely to refer to the little finger, but in this case it's referring to a woman dressed all in pink. Sort of like if you had a picture of a country where everybody owned a red car and called it "Red Car Nation".
drdad I also like your pass time better than baseball. Guess that puts us on the dark side this morning.
Barry, I liked your "Red Car Nation" Good pun!
Glad you liked it!
good morning c.c. and all,
ew. maybe i woke up on the wrong side of the bed .. but i just didn't like this one. discrete gave me trouble (thanks martin, for the explanation), as did quailed. didn't know asch ect, usurer or rico. also didn't like that pro and con were clued as 'words before..'. they're prefixes.
i did note that pro was on the left, and con on the right .. like yesterday.
I like Barry's idea of crosswords being about words. I hate these ones that have so many proper nouns. Although I knew LaCrosse, since it's only 65 miles from here. But I had to google big-time today. Nuff said.
Good morning, C.C. et al. I forgot 1A first letter and was thinking "Peter Pan" the movie. I didn't know Haagen-Dazs. I learned it's an ice cream. How about that!
Word-of-the-Day: Palmary (PAL muh ree) doesn't pronounce like it is spelled
outstanding; best.
The Romans use of "palmarius" came from giving a palm leaf to the victor in a sport competition.
Hmmm...I wonder if they gave one to the lion after he whupped a christian?
Thomas Edison made palmary contributions to American culture.
C.C.
I interpret Big Hand to mean God. It comes from El Salvador, which is Spanish for The Saviour, i.e. Jesus. To me the song says the singer received a harsh punishment from God.
Calef
Good Morning All!
I liked today's puzzle. I was thinking the musical Peter Pan but just could not fit Captain Hook in just three spaces.
I think For One More Day is the best book Mitch Albom has written, all though I do like Tuesdays with Morrie and 5 people you meet in heaven.
Hi c.c. and all,
As Kittyb did, I also had trouble with the west. I could not remember Albom, Triboro or Astor. After I googled Albom, I guessed on Astor and everything then fit. Triboro threw me off as I only remembered Triborough, but I guess that is the more common name for it. This one was at least a "thinker".
c.c.: I agree with you should have been clued as prefixes and Drdad also about 25D. I was looking for two words, not three.
Have a great day everyone!
Good Morning All, I liked the way this theme was clued. The names I didn't know like ASCH and EDMUND were taken care of with the surrounds.
For 63A I had (Peter) LORRE, but quickly found out that was wrong. "BOGIE" was a nickname, so I finally filled in (Mary) ASTOR.
When I filled in EDMUND, I thought it might be E.B. White's first name. E.B. White wrote "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little". I "G'd" EDMUND White post puzzle and found out I had never heard of him or read any of his books. I also found out that E.B.'s first name was Elwyn.
"Billy ELLIOT" is a terrific movie to see with your older kids....No kids?...It is still a terrific movie. It teaches some excellent lessons about tolerance and acceptance of people's differences. Beside that, it is very entertaining.
I'm not very scientific like Drdad or Dick, so "A/C figures" made me think of an air conditioner. BTUS was the first answer I came up with.
Kittyb, Good observation about "Pinkie". I had never really paid attention to the position of her little finger before.
BTW, "Pinkie" and Gainsborough's "The Blue Boy" are both at the Huntington Library museum in Southern California. If you ever get a chance to visit, the Huntington is a wonderful art museum.
Argyle, Lovely to see "The Owl and the Pussycat" yesterday. It was a favorite of my father. He often enjoined us to eat a meal with a "runcible spoon". When we protested that we didn't know what that was, he would exclaim, "You mean you lost it? That spoon was very valuable. It's coming out of your allowance!"
Cribbage this afternoon. I'll check in later to see what you have been up to.
Good morning C.C. and all,
a bit harder today, but enjoyable.There were lots of new words( quailed, usurer,and fusion bombs)but they fell into place.Martin, I liked your explanation of discrete; figured it was an obscure definition. I thought the pro/con (after the fact) was clever.I like having a few proper nouns in a puzzle because for me they are not a guess, but I did spell Estefan with a b(f) so fusion had a hard time falling into place.I did not like neato for peachy.I remember the Triboro Bridge because my sister lived in NYC. Each time I'd visit she'd always warn me to tell the taxi driver, "Take the Triboro Br." so I wouldn't get overcharged.
Did anyone ever collect "trading cards"? You could buy them or collect your neighbors' old decks of cards. We organized them into categories: dogs, cats, pin-ups, scenes, kids,etc. Pinkie and Blueboy were my favorite cards in the"paintings", so they were on top when you showed your collection to friends.heh,heh I doubt that our youngsters know much about art fom this period."Lassie at the Gate" was my fav. dog card.
C.C., I agree with you about Lara's Theme. It is beautiful; so is Dancing with Wolves.
Argyle: Thanks for sharing "The Owl and The Pussycat". That was one we all recited at the dinnertable when my Grandfather was living with us.
Cokato: recipe looks goooood;will try.
Mark - Buenos Aires
A bad day, one third was general knowledege of names, not my idea of a crossword, and I had plenty of cross words for the setter.
hi everyone! i have been following this blog for about a month since i started doing my college paper's crossword on a daily basis. it's is a huge help! i typically cannot get the theme clues though, but i am getting much better. i finished the entire crossword yesterday and only googled two or three things...hooray! i agree with melissa bee, i didn't like today's puzzle much.
i am absolutely baffled by 38D. it isn't btus? i have no idea! :[
ignore the last line about btus. i am having an airhead day!
Martin,
Thanks for DISCRETE. I did not know it's a math term.
Kittyb & Barry & Clear Ayes,
I just found out that the girl's name is called Pinkie and she died shortly after the painting was finished. Does that count as part of the visual pun?
Dr. Dad,
I ditto your point of TRACT OF LAND. I did not know Sam ELLIOT before. Do multivitamins really work? Do you take it daily?
JD,
I only collect baseball cards.
Mark,
No cryptic today? Who is "the setter"?
Melissa,
You are right about prefixes. It's no accident that PRO is on the upper left and CON is on the lower right. Just some of the basic construction common sense (aethetics demands so too). Similarly, you will never find quip theme entries structured in DOWN clues. FYI, there are only 34 blocks today. Most of the time we get 38.
Calef,
From whom do "I" want "food and creative love"? What exactly is "creative love"?
Kelly,
Hey! I am impressed by the progress you've made.
Dennis,
"Today is the day..."???
Argyle,
I really loved your Egyptian mythical take on "Year of the Cat". You have a fine mind.
Night Owl,
I hope you upgrade your internet connection soon.
Jvj24601,
Thanks for the link last week.
This one really made me work. Since I do it online, I had the advantage of being instantly corrected, and that made it possible for me to work it through without Google. All except Jif and Joad. I couldn’t remember Joad, and totally missed the meaning of Jif. Never once thought of peanut butter. Good one.
I liked the theme, but didn’t appreciate it till I finished and could look it over. I kept wondering what Pro had to do with Davy Crockett and test pattern. Finally had an aha moment, then saw the cleverness of pro and con, which are words in their own right, as well as prefixes. Only made it seem more creative, IMHO.
I also prefer Sam Elliot to Billie Elliot. Probably because I think he’s so cute. It was a treat to see him in The Golden Compass.
I have no idea what Big Hand is supposed to mean. I am severely poetically challenged. Obscure meanings annoy me, probably because they make me feel stupid.
Kelly, Welcome.
I think multivitamins are a good idea. I don't take them but probably should.
Hi C.C. and all, clever puzzle today, and even if I had to hit Mr.G a lot for the names of people, I still enjoyed it. I did not know 4D "descrete" and appreciated the explanation (thanks Martin).
Do they still make Peter Pan peanut butter?? I never see it anymore.(maybe I just don't look as I always buy reduced fat Skippy)
Kelly, welcome, hope you stay!
Now, about visual puns - I guess I am just dense, but they make no sense at all, even when I read the link C.C. provided, I could not understand what they meant. I guess I am with Barb b, if it is obscure, I don't like it and for the same reason.
Clear ayes, hope your cribbage game went better than the first one I played with Joe last night...I was sooo behind all through the game,and was hoping I wouldn't get skunked. He was so close to going out, and I got a 24 point hand (I think these hands are bad luck for me because the last time I had 2 of them and STILL lost the game) but could not count it, as he had first count and went out. I beat him soundly the next 2 games though, so I felt better. :)
Barb B,
I think this is one of the most creative puzzles I've solved. Very unique theme concept and wonderfully executed, not to mention the higher word count.
Argyle et al,
RE: The Owl and the Pussy Cat: "They sailed away, for a year and a day/To the land where the Bong-tree grows/And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood/With a ring at the end of his nose". What are "Bong-tree" and "Piggy-wig"?
Melissa & Clear Ayes,
Let me have your take on the big hand ("All I Want is Food & Creative Love") as well.
C.C.
Well, going along with my earlier interpretation I would suggest that creative love may mean the love given by the Creator (God).
I am surprised no one else has given a different interpretation of the song.
Calef
Cc I agree with Calef that "The Hand" is the hand of the Lord and the "Creative Love" is his unwavering love for his people. Just my humble opinion.
Today’s puzzle was more challenging than recent ones but still workable. No Google and no red squares! I liked the theme too, each beginning with a word that could accommodate a prefix of “pro” or “con”.
I loved the Davy Crockett tv series when I was young and knew could sing the entire theme song by heart.
Today is hectic day at work, so I will have to wait until this evening to read others’ comments.
TTFN.
Hi CC and all
Today was difficult, but i finished without Mr. G. I don't post often because you people are so smart and clever.
Night Owl
So glad someone else is still in dial up world!
Good day c.c., DF’s and all! I thought today’s PRO and CON theme was very creative and today’s puzzle challenging (and a little homesick inducing TRIBORO bridge).
@c.c. and kittb- c.c., I had to research your question before answering, as ‘trombone playing’ can have negative connotations. That being said- I am sad to report that I can am a guitar, bass and drum player (strong fingers, rhythmic hands) and only dabbled a little with the saxophone. I would still put my triple tongue-ing and muffin making skills up against anyone’s though- tuba playing or not.
10:50 today. I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to spell Haagen-DAZS (never would have known the "Z" and ZINC never came to mind). Can you tell I'm not a big ice cream fan (or desserts in general, for that matter)? My wife likes Haagen-Dazs, though (her favorite was Godiva Belgian Chocolate ice cream until they stopped making it--or at least stopped selling it around here).
A couple of unknowns, gotten via the crosses: ASCH and ALBOM. I don't do so well with names, it seems.
I didn't much care for the cluing for 46a: Moneylender (USERER). I tend to associate usury with charging exorbitant interest rates and not the mere act of lending. Of course dictionary.com disagrees, so I'm wrong (again).
C.C., you are not old enough to collect the cards we collected from decks of playing cards.Just wondered if it was only a California thing when we were kids.
Oh, by the way, that pony has finally made its way to San Jose. I saw it last weekend on the corner with a photographer.It must be pretty old and tired by now.
I forgot to mention that Haagen Dazs is a "made-up" word. I watched "America Eats" on the History channel not too long ago, and the person who started that company (sorry, forgot his name), said that they just made up a word that sounded a little "foreign",something to make people think "Dutch" or "Swiss". It sure worked! Wonderful stuff, my hips just love it!! :)My favorite is the Coffee flavor, but I buy the fat-free frozen yogurt.
@c.c.: i like rusted root, but don't think i have ever heard 'all i want is food and creative love.' i will give my two cents after i listen.
It's no accident that PRO is on the upper left and CON is on the lower right. Just some of the basic construction common sense (aethetics demands so too).
that makes sense. all the more interesting to me yesterday's left=good/right=evil positioning.
i had a client tell me yesterday that she thinks massage is more beneficial than taking vitamins. certainly more enjoyable.
@kelly: welcome.
@kittyb: what exactly is triple tonguing?
All righty, then, I'm caught up and will start investigating the questions.
Inre: Repo Man the other day. There were no product placements in the movie, all props consisted of generic labels. A bottle of brew was labled BEER, in the grocery store, the shelves were stocked with BREAD, PEANUT BUTTER, MILK, etc.. Not a brand name in sight. Anybody know why they did that?
C.C.: Discrete is not just used in math. It means separate in almost any sentence construction. "Those ideas have discrete meanings. Do not try to put them together."
Also, unique is either unique or not; it's like you're pregnant or not. No qualifier such as very.
I have just spent half an hour trying to post; changed the password and retyped several times. No go. It's maddening.
What are "Bong-tree" and "Piggy-wig"?
I'm pretty sure, just like the "runcible spoon", that Mr. Lear liked the sound of made-up words; a version of poetic license.
(It did seem that Al Stewart was very interested in Edward Lear.)
c.c.
I just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the santana videos yesterday. Smoooooooooooooth was so coooooooool, I watched it 3 times. I still think he is one of the premier guitar players ever.
HI to everyone!
Whoo
C.C. I should have checked in with my 18 year old grandson about Rusted Root and "Food and Creative Love".
I listened to it on You Tube and read the lyrics. It doesn't sound like anything God-like to me.
It sounds like either an abused child or woman describing their life.
"Big Hand" is the father/husband. His hands look very big when they are aimed at a child or woman. He is from El Salvador. His way of dealing with problems is to hit his kids and/or woman. The family is poor. They don't have enough to eat. All the singer wants is enough food to eat and being loved in a way that isn't destructive. All Big Hand can express himself is in violence toward his family.
It might have sounded like I meant if you are from El Salvador, you are violent toward your family. Sorry, that wasn't what I meant at all. It was just the one person, "Big Hand", who happened to come from El Salvador, beats his kid(s) or wife.
Argyle, I think you are right about Edward Lear. Most of his poems are nonsensical verse with made-up words.
Embien, I didn't like USURER for "Moneylender" either. I always thought of usury as a loan with excessive interest. I would have clued it as "Loan Shark". But I guess banks and our fathers-in-law are usurers too.
JD., Laughed about you seeing that poor bedraggled pony.
Sallie, don't forget when you are logging in that your User Name is your email address. As Dennis recently recommended, Copy your Comment before you key Publish, so if it is lost you can retrieve it and Past in the Comment section.
I shall try using my email address, Clear Eyes. It would be nice if Posted As just appeared as it used to sometimes. Thanks for your help.
Greetings C.C. and all –
C.C.
Thanks for your comment – “I hope you upgrade you internet connection soon.” I thought once I retired I would have all kinds of time to do everything I wanted and needed to do; however, it seems that there are never enough hours in the day. I don’t know how I did everything I did when I was working. BTW my newspaper has listed Allan E. Parrish as the constructor for three days in a row – well, I guess they finally got it right today. Anxious to see who (whom) the constructor is tomorrow – according to my newspaper.
C.C. – I believe you said you are rooting for the Phillies and the Rays. Since I am a native Floridian I am also rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays. (It would be awesome to have part of the World Series played not 50 miles from where I live.) Not really sure who I am rooting for in the NLCS. If the Phillies and the Rays make it to the World Series who would you be rooting for then?
Kelly – Welcome to the group. Hope you continue to comment.
Crazyhorse - I think we are the only two that have remarked that we still only have dial up. I agree with you – it does seem that the other commenters are so smart and clever. I don’t feel as though I’m quite in their league.
Everyone else has already made just about the same comments I would. I was surprised when I saw the moneylender clue because usurer was the first thing that came to mind. Today’s puzzle was difficult in spots and easy in spots. I did like the PRO and CON theme.
Have a great day and keep on puzzling!
Night Owl Go Rays!
Since taking your advice and using my email for user, thanks to both Clear Ayes and Bill, when I opened this time the Posting As appeared again. It's either voodoo electronics or magic I guess. Thank you. And I shall take someone's advice and go get the "ivory" cribbage board evaluated. Just so one of my sons' wives will appreciate it. There is also a pipe of some sort. And I shall change the picture as soon as I find one.
I just found out that the girl's name is called Pinkie and she died shortly after the painting was finished. Does that count as part of the visual pun?
The fact that she died soon after? Probably not. But that fact that her name was actually Pinkie? Definitely, since "Pinkie" could also refer to her outfit.
Hello C.C. and everyone,
I had a lot of trouble with this puzzle. The names are not a problem as much as the very unusual words. Mitch Albom is familiar, being a Detroit Free Press sports writer and a well known author.
I disliked 10A
ctrl's clue not being an abbreviation. Hated 24D. 25D I had piece of land, so I had trouble with the west.
Clear ayes, I thought the same way as you did about the poem.
We needed a hard puzzle to appreciate the easy ones.
Everyone, please have a nice evening...even with the debate!
On the subject of triple tonguing...
I should have been more specific when I mentioned baritone, trombone and tuba players, and their capabilities as lovers due to their experience with triple tonguing. It has to do with the size of the mouthpiece, and not whether the instrument has valves or a slide.
It's very possible that this extends to those who play French horn and trumpet, but that's outside the range of my experience.
Xchef, no implication concerning how a trombone is played was intended. Just the mouthpiece, sir, just the mouthpiece.
Melissa bee, when a brass student is taught to double tongue, they are told to say the syllables "Too-ka too-ka too-ka" rapidly. Eventually they apply that articulation while they play. To triple-tongue, the syllables are "Too-ka-ta too-ka-ta too-ka-ta." Brass players can also flutter tongue to create certain sounds.
The point of all this is that they develop very agile tongues. Reed players can double tongue, but it's rarely required, so they have less need to develop the technique.
It was not my intent to suggest that only lower brass players make good lovers. I was simply speaking from my experience.
Melissa bee, I hope that helped.
crazyhorse and nightowl, you have nothing to be concerned about. We enjoy your posts, and hope you'll jump in with your thoughts.
Hey, Whoo....it's nice to see you posting.
"....all through the house, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse."
And so, it's time for me to call it a day. Have a good evening, all.
I could be way off on my interpetation of Food and Creative Love but I get the feeling that is about menstruation. It is a woman's plaint that all she wants is food and good sex but "big hand" (euphemism for a sanitary pad?) keeps coming back to strike her down. Paradoxically, big hand (her period) is also her savior.
I am not responable for my thoughts. Comments?
Carol, Cribbage went well this afternoon. My partner and I lost the first two games. Neither one of us had a hand pegged for more than eight points and most of our cribs were two or four points. But we hung in there and our luck changed. We won the last three games. I hope our slump is finally over!
C.C. I think the visual pun with "Pinkie" is that the artist posed the girl, whose nickname was Pinkie, in a pink hat and ribbons and had her extend her little finger into the foreground of her pose. Her subsequent death had nothing to do with it.
Crazyhorse and Nightowl, It isn't that anyone on this site is more clever than you. It is just that we post a lot and the odds are in favor of being clever at least once in a while :o) It definitely is tougher when you are on dial-up. You can't check the links, so you are at a disadvantage when it comes to making comments. We finally got high-speed in our area and it really makes posting so much easier. Keep posting, even with dial-up it is fun to interact with the people here.
Kittyb, You are quite the teacher! I now know more about triple-tonguing than I ever thought I would LOL
Argyle, Having been there, done that, I don't think so. Her period?? I never knew a woman who thought of it as a "savior"...a necessary nuisance at best, and certainly not "a wound". Sanitary pad?? I know they still make them, but I venture to say the majority of women, at least the ones I've known, don't use them.
Don't the most interesting comments pop up later in the evening?
Clear Ayes, I swear I've heard women who said, "Oh, thank God!" when they finally got their period. And, from doing store inventories, there must be quite a few pad users still out there, judging by the quanity available.
But still, it would be an awful odd subject to sing about, eh?
Argyle, If your lady friends were that relieved, you must have been hanging out with some mighty careless ladies.
You're right that pads are readily available and they certainly have their place in the scheme of things.
You're also right that the whole subject would be a very strange subject for a popular song.
Buckeye, you've been a DJ. Can you see Argyle's version getting big radio play or into "The Top Ten Hit Parade"? Of course, nowadays anything can happen!
Have a good night all.
@kitty and milissa b thanks for the explanation on triple tonguing. I am a great musician and never knew it.
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