Theme: "Watch the Birdie" - ONE UNDER PAR (69A: Birdie that's hidden literally in 10 pairs of puzzle answers). ONE is placed under PAR in 10 different places. See this grid. I've circled all the PARs and ONEs.
20A: Fortified: RAMPARTED
23A: Cather novel set in Nebraska: O PIONEERS!
21A: Convey: IMPART
24A: __ Tunes: LOONEY
36A: Not up to stuff: SUBPAR
43A: Nary a soul: NO ONE
44A: Peeled strip: PARING
50A: Year in Augustus's reign: ONE BC
61A: Cowpoke's pal: PARD
61A: Birdie that's hidden literally in 10 pairs of puzzle answers: ONE UNDER PAR
76A: Skye of "Say Anything": IONE
88A: Like some stock: NO-PAR
93A: Philosopher __ de Beauvoir: SIMONE
94A: Arctic garb: PARKA
99A: Tip of Massachusetts: ONEILL
115A: Ancient Athens rival: SPARTA
120A: Complexion aides: TONERS
117A: California shrubland: CHAPARRAL
121A: Time long past: BYGONE ERA
I watch Chris Matthews's "Hardball" every day, yet I missed O'NEILL earlier. Chris was a long time aide to Tip O'NEIL and he speaks of his name often.
Very creative theme. I liked how the constructor placed ONE UNDER PAR in the very middle of the grid and paralleled two more theme answers at each end. Total 19 theme answers, heavy!
Quality non-theme fills also. Some are quite scrabbly. Some are very clever. Below are my favorite:
55A: HI and OK: STS (States)
72A: Priceless? FREE
16D: Delivery notice?: IT'S A BOY
5D: High point of a European vacation?: ALP
Unfortunately I had a triple-bogey round. I actually teed off very nicely, then I lost my ball. The rough was not that tough, but I did not have enough clubs in my bag.
Across:
1A: Hardly a knockout: PLAIN JANE. And STARES (123A: Knockouts attract them). Nice "knockout" pair.
10A: Imported roadsters: MIATAS. Wrote down MAZDAS.
16A: Schools of thought: ISMS
22A: Via, to Burns: THRO. Poetic "through". Mine was THRU.
26A: Mind the store: VEND. Kept trying TEND. But the intersecting PROVE (1D: Leave no doubt) says no.
27A: Large currency unit?: WAD. Nice clue.
28D: Ancient France: GAUL. Adjective Gallic. Not to be confused with Gaelic.
31A: Bev Bevan's band, briefly: ELO. Easy guess.
32A: "The Life Aquatic with Steve __": Bill Murray film: ZISSOU. Nope. Not familiar with this movie. Bill Murray loves golf. He is in "Caddyshack".
34A: Dr. Mom's remedy: TLC
38D: Pickup trick: LINE. Pickup LINE.
39A: "Great Expectations" hero: PIP. Unknown figure to me.
41A: Iowa's state tree: OAK
47A: Chilling order? SEDATIVE. I was thinking of torture.
51A: Three-part European union: BENELUX. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The union began on January 1, 1948.
52A: Houston-to-Dallas dir.: NNW
56A: "Come Back, Little Sheba" playwright: INGE. Also the playwright for "Picnic" & "Bus Stop".
57A: Further shorten: RE-EDIT
58A: Cybercommerce: E-TAIL
60A: "Hud" Oscar winner: NEAL (Patricia). She won best actress for the movie.
62A: Brings home: NETS
64A: Brno-born people: CZECHS. Last time CZECH was clued as "Brno native". See this map of Brno. It's to the southeast of Prague.
68A: Starbucks order: TALL
73A: Scandalous stuff: SLEAZE
75A: Plant reproduction prefix: SPOR. For spore.
77A: Stretch: TERM. Noun. I was thinking of verb.
78A: Development sites: WOMBS. Couldn't get LABS out of my mind.
80A: Kid's shooter: POP GUN
82A: Burlap source: HEMP
86A: Boo Boo, in Barcelona?: OSO. Spanish for bear. Boo Boo & Yogi Bear.
87A: Sorrow: REMORSE
89A: Net grazers: LETS. Tennis.
91A: Judgment Day hymn: DIES IRAE
96A: Small wrapper?: ELF. Santa's little helper. I thought of the awful ASP.
97A: One whose tickets are often expensive: COP. I liked this clue too.
98A: Hit the sauce: TOPE. Sauce is slang for liquor.
101A: Big cat sign: LEO
103A: Dig discoveries: Var.: SHERDS. Variant of SHARDS.
108A: Most of Uruguay: PAMPAS
110A: Hayseed: RUBE
113A: Either director of "No Country for Old Men": COEN. The Coen brothers.
114A: Capitale south of San Marino: ROMA. See this map.
119A: They may be pale: ALES. Pale ALE.
122A: Clunkhead: JERK
124A: Didn't worry a bit: SLEPT EASY
Down:
2D: Carnation locale: LAPEL
4D: Nano or shuffle: IPOD. Mine is classic.
5D: Pita look-like: NAN. I have not eaten any NAN for ages.
6D: TV shooting victim of 3/21/1980: J.R. EWING. I was picturing John Lennon then Ronald Reagan, completely ignoring the clue "TV".
7D: Far from frenzied: AT EASE
9D: MS. fixers: EDS (Editors). They fix the manuscripts (MS).
10D: "__ 18" (Uris novel): MILA. Here is the book cover. I learned the title from doing Xword.
11D: "Too rich for my blood": I'M OUT. Had trouble with this one. I did not know the meaning of "Too rich for my blood".
12D: Lunar Module test mission: APOLLO IX. Interesting trivia: Wikipidia says Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the lunar surface during Apollo 14.
13D: One of two Crayola colors with the shortest name: TAN. The other is RED?
14D: Bellicose god: ARES. Roman Mars. The Norse equivalent is THOR, correct?
17D: Garnier products: SHAMPOOS. Not a Garnier fan.
18D: Monocled food mascot: MR. PEANUT
19D: 2009 Rihanna hit: SOS. Not familiar with the song. What a poignant title, considering how she was beat up by her boyfriend.
32D: Mineral in oysters: ZINC. Oh, I did not know oysters contain ZINC.
33D: Bared one's soul: OPENED UP
35D: LeBron James, e.g., briefly: CAV(Cavalier)
37D: Cabs on the table: REDS. Wine.
38D: Attorney's specialty: LIBEL LAW
40D: The same either way: PALINDROMIC. Toughie.
42D: Lane partner: KENT. "Superman".
44D: APB part: POINTS
45D: Temper: ANNEAL. Verb.
46D: Lavishly entertain: REGALE
47D: Cassandra, for one: SEERESS. But nobody believes in Cassandra's prophecy. Apollo is a vengeful guy. He put such curse on Cassandra when she did not return his love.
48D: Private pupil: TUTEE. You would think the word is TUTOREE, as tutor is the verb.
51D: Breakfast staple: BRAN. Rice for me.
53D: Abalone product: NACRE. Mother-of-pearl.
54D: Virtuoso: WIZ. No abbreviation hint?
58D: Adopt, as a cause: ESPOUSE
59D: Moved out: LEFT HOME
61D: Pope's work: POEMS. Alexander Pope. Nice clue.
63D: Three letters forming a single sound: TRIGRAPH. New word to me. Dictionary gives an example: eau in beau.
65D: Obnoxious sort, in slang: CREEPO
66D: Jazzman Woody: HERMAN. No idea. He does not look like a jazzman. I thought of Woody Allen.
67D: Throughout, in music: SEMPRE. No idea. Same root as Marine's "Semper Fi" motto I suppose.
71D: Either of two Henry VIII wives: ANNE. I only know ANNE Boleyn.
74D: Moat site: ZOO
79D: Presage: BODE
81D: Like pumice: Var.: POROSE. No idea. Variant of porous I guess.
83D: Classic Chunky brand: ALPO. I thought of chunky peanut butter.
84D: Ecotomorph: BEANPOLE. Did not know the meaning of ecotomorph. It sounds like a verb.
85D: Newlyweds' car decoration: STREAMER
87D: Doctor, at times: REFERRER
88D: Barely beats: NIPS. New meaning of NIP to me.
90D: Holdup cover-up: SKI MASK
92D: Peaked: ILL. Not familiar with this definition of "peaked".
93D: Fountain drink: SODA POP
98D: Army medic's system: TRIAGE
100D: Doesn't die out: LASTS
102D: Eccentric: OUTRE
104D: Type of alcohol: ETHYL
105D: Jazz pianist Chick: COREA. Him I know.
107D: Driller's filling: INLAY
109D: Obsession for Lady Macbeth: SPOT. I got the answer from Across fills.
111D: Doo-wop group anchor: BASS. Strung this answer together from Across fills as well.
113D: Hudson Bay tribe: CREE. Canadian tribe answer is always CREE.
114D: British rule in India: RAJ
116D: TV wheel spinner's purchase: AN A. "Wheel of Fortune". AN E, AN I, AN O all can be clued as "TV wheel spinner's purchase".
117D: "Criminal Minds" network: CBS. Easy guess.
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: Fortified: RAMPARTED
23A: Cather novel set in Nebraska: O PIONEERS!
21A: Convey: IMPART
24A: __ Tunes: LOONEY
36A: Not up to stuff: SUBPAR
43A: Nary a soul: NO ONE
44A: Peeled strip: PARING
50A: Year in Augustus's reign: ONE BC
61A: Cowpoke's pal: PARD
61A: Birdie that's hidden literally in 10 pairs of puzzle answers: ONE UNDER PAR
76A: Skye of "Say Anything": IONE
88A: Like some stock: NO-PAR
93A: Philosopher __ de Beauvoir: SIMONE
94A: Arctic garb: PARKA
99A: Tip of Massachusetts: ONEILL
115A: Ancient Athens rival: SPARTA
120A: Complexion aides: TONERS
117A: California shrubland: CHAPARRAL
121A: Time long past: BYGONE ERA
I watch Chris Matthews's "Hardball" every day, yet I missed O'NEILL earlier. Chris was a long time aide to Tip O'NEIL and he speaks of his name often.
Very creative theme. I liked how the constructor placed ONE UNDER PAR in the very middle of the grid and paralleled two more theme answers at each end. Total 19 theme answers, heavy!
Quality non-theme fills also. Some are quite scrabbly. Some are very clever. Below are my favorite:
55A: HI and OK: STS (States)
72A: Priceless? FREE
16D: Delivery notice?: IT'S A BOY
5D: High point of a European vacation?: ALP
Unfortunately I had a triple-bogey round. I actually teed off very nicely, then I lost my ball. The rough was not that tough, but I did not have enough clubs in my bag.
Across:
1A: Hardly a knockout: PLAIN JANE. And STARES (123A: Knockouts attract them). Nice "knockout" pair.
10A: Imported roadsters: MIATAS. Wrote down MAZDAS.
16A: Schools of thought: ISMS
22A: Via, to Burns: THRO. Poetic "through". Mine was THRU.
26A: Mind the store: VEND. Kept trying TEND. But the intersecting PROVE (1D: Leave no doubt) says no.
27A: Large currency unit?: WAD. Nice clue.
28D: Ancient France: GAUL. Adjective Gallic. Not to be confused with Gaelic.
31A: Bev Bevan's band, briefly: ELO. Easy guess.
32A: "The Life Aquatic with Steve __": Bill Murray film: ZISSOU. Nope. Not familiar with this movie. Bill Murray loves golf. He is in "Caddyshack".
34A: Dr. Mom's remedy: TLC
38D: Pickup trick: LINE. Pickup LINE.
39A: "Great Expectations" hero: PIP. Unknown figure to me.
41A: Iowa's state tree: OAK
47A: Chilling order? SEDATIVE. I was thinking of torture.
51A: Three-part European union: BENELUX. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The union began on January 1, 1948.
52A: Houston-to-Dallas dir.: NNW
56A: "Come Back, Little Sheba" playwright: INGE. Also the playwright for "Picnic" & "Bus Stop".
57A: Further shorten: RE-EDIT
58A: Cybercommerce: E-TAIL
60A: "Hud" Oscar winner: NEAL (Patricia). She won best actress for the movie.
62A: Brings home: NETS
64A: Brno-born people: CZECHS. Last time CZECH was clued as "Brno native". See this map of Brno. It's to the southeast of Prague.
68A: Starbucks order: TALL
73A: Scandalous stuff: SLEAZE
75A: Plant reproduction prefix: SPOR. For spore.
77A: Stretch: TERM. Noun. I was thinking of verb.
78A: Development sites: WOMBS. Couldn't get LABS out of my mind.
80A: Kid's shooter: POP GUN
82A: Burlap source: HEMP
86A: Boo Boo, in Barcelona?: OSO. Spanish for bear. Boo Boo & Yogi Bear.
87A: Sorrow: REMORSE
89A: Net grazers: LETS. Tennis.
91A: Judgment Day hymn: DIES IRAE
96A: Small wrapper?: ELF. Santa's little helper. I thought of the awful ASP.
97A: One whose tickets are often expensive: COP. I liked this clue too.
98A: Hit the sauce: TOPE. Sauce is slang for liquor.
101A: Big cat sign: LEO
103A: Dig discoveries: Var.: SHERDS. Variant of SHARDS.
108A: Most of Uruguay: PAMPAS
110A: Hayseed: RUBE
113A: Either director of "No Country for Old Men": COEN. The Coen brothers.
114A: Capitale south of San Marino: ROMA. See this map.
119A: They may be pale: ALES. Pale ALE.
122A: Clunkhead: JERK
124A: Didn't worry a bit: SLEPT EASY
Down:
2D: Carnation locale: LAPEL
4D: Nano or shuffle: IPOD. Mine is classic.
5D: Pita look-like: NAN. I have not eaten any NAN for ages.
6D: TV shooting victim of 3/21/1980: J.R. EWING. I was picturing John Lennon then Ronald Reagan, completely ignoring the clue "TV".
7D: Far from frenzied: AT EASE
9D: MS. fixers: EDS (Editors). They fix the manuscripts (MS).
10D: "__ 18" (Uris novel): MILA. Here is the book cover. I learned the title from doing Xword.
11D: "Too rich for my blood": I'M OUT. Had trouble with this one. I did not know the meaning of "Too rich for my blood".
12D: Lunar Module test mission: APOLLO IX. Interesting trivia: Wikipidia says Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the lunar surface during Apollo 14.
13D: One of two Crayola colors with the shortest name: TAN. The other is RED?
14D: Bellicose god: ARES. Roman Mars. The Norse equivalent is THOR, correct?
17D: Garnier products: SHAMPOOS. Not a Garnier fan.
18D: Monocled food mascot: MR. PEANUT
19D: 2009 Rihanna hit: SOS. Not familiar with the song. What a poignant title, considering how she was beat up by her boyfriend.
32D: Mineral in oysters: ZINC. Oh, I did not know oysters contain ZINC.
33D: Bared one's soul: OPENED UP
35D: LeBron James, e.g., briefly: CAV(Cavalier)
37D: Cabs on the table: REDS. Wine.
38D: Attorney's specialty: LIBEL LAW
40D: The same either way: PALINDROMIC. Toughie.
42D: Lane partner: KENT. "Superman".
44D: APB part: POINTS
45D: Temper: ANNEAL. Verb.
46D: Lavishly entertain: REGALE
47D: Cassandra, for one: SEERESS. But nobody believes in Cassandra's prophecy. Apollo is a vengeful guy. He put such curse on Cassandra when she did not return his love.
48D: Private pupil: TUTEE. You would think the word is TUTOREE, as tutor is the verb.
51D: Breakfast staple: BRAN. Rice for me.
53D: Abalone product: NACRE. Mother-of-pearl.
54D: Virtuoso: WIZ. No abbreviation hint?
58D: Adopt, as a cause: ESPOUSE
59D: Moved out: LEFT HOME
61D: Pope's work: POEMS. Alexander Pope. Nice clue.
63D: Three letters forming a single sound: TRIGRAPH. New word to me. Dictionary gives an example: eau in beau.
65D: Obnoxious sort, in slang: CREEPO
66D: Jazzman Woody: HERMAN. No idea. He does not look like a jazzman. I thought of Woody Allen.
67D: Throughout, in music: SEMPRE. No idea. Same root as Marine's "Semper Fi" motto I suppose.
71D: Either of two Henry VIII wives: ANNE. I only know ANNE Boleyn.
74D: Moat site: ZOO
79D: Presage: BODE
81D: Like pumice: Var.: POROSE. No idea. Variant of porous I guess.
83D: Classic Chunky brand: ALPO. I thought of chunky peanut butter.
84D: Ecotomorph: BEANPOLE. Did not know the meaning of ecotomorph. It sounds like a verb.
85D: Newlyweds' car decoration: STREAMER
87D: Doctor, at times: REFERRER
88D: Barely beats: NIPS. New meaning of NIP to me.
90D: Holdup cover-up: SKI MASK
92D: Peaked: ILL. Not familiar with this definition of "peaked".
93D: Fountain drink: SODA POP
98D: Army medic's system: TRIAGE
100D: Doesn't die out: LASTS
102D: Eccentric: OUTRE
104D: Type of alcohol: ETHYL
105D: Jazz pianist Chick: COREA. Him I know.
107D: Driller's filling: INLAY
109D: Obsession for Lady Macbeth: SPOT. I got the answer from Across fills.
111D: Doo-wop group anchor: BASS. Strung this answer together from Across fills as well.
113D: Hudson Bay tribe: CREE. Canadian tribe answer is always CREE.
114D: British rule in India: RAJ
116D: TV wheel spinner's purchase: AN A. "Wheel of Fortune". AN E, AN I, AN O all can be clued as "TV wheel spinner's purchase".
117D: "Criminal Minds" network: CBS. Easy guess.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Thanks for explaining the theme.
ReplyDeleteWell!!! I bombed out or double bogied this one. Is it just me or the puzzles getting harder or more obtruce. It seems that some of the clues are real stretch to come up with the right answer. Quite frankly, some of them do not make sense even with secondary or useage meanings. What about it folks? Are I right or just getting older with less brain cells.
ReplyDeleteabogato in Alabama
I guess everyone is sleeping late; I was impressed with the care and the number of theme related answers, though I had no clue about the theme until I was done, even after putting in ONE UNDER PAR. I just never saw the spatial relation. The ability to not only think of all those clues, but place them so they are all balanced to each other is most amazing to me.
ReplyDeleteClues I enjoyed: Year in Augustus's reign: ONE BC , after all the complaining about Roman Numerals, we get this nice twist.
Tip of Massachusetts: ONEILL , just begs you to picture Cape Cod.
Boo Boo, in Barcelona?: OSO, a Yogi bear reference hidden really well.
High point of a European vacation?: ALP, nice misdirection again.
Small wrapper?: ELF, I like it better than NAS.
And my favorite, Monocled food mascot: MR. PEANUT; a puzzle that includes an ageless icon is wonderful.
The life of PATRICIA NEAL is a very interesting story, filled with joy and tragedy. She was married to puzzledom’s old friend Roald Dahl.
SEMPRE is the Italian from the Latin SEMPER.
Henry VIII had a difficult time loving ANNE of CLEVES but was very nice to her after their annulment. You should watch the Showtime series, THE TUDORS which gives a very complete look at the life of this most influential English King.
Finally, my oldest son loves the Bill Murray performance in Life Aquatic though I found the movie really bizarre and hard to follow.
I found this very tough, mainly because of weird clues. I got "palindromic" right away but could not get things like "spot" for lady Macbeth (sleepwalking scene "Out out damned spot!"). I am very suspicious of words like "sherds" and "porose" (it should be "porous").
ReplyDeletePrakash
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteCC..... You & I must have been on the same wave length this AM. I too, put tend for vend & then couldn't figure out what 1-D would be. My mind was stuck on peanut butter too & thru for thro. Wasn't familiar with a song named SUS. Not familiar with the song SOS either. I'll have to look it up on ITunes. Also, was thinking of the verb "stretch" & wanted something ending with ICE for the "Chilling order".
I had MILO instead of MILA, DORK for JERK & AT PAR for NO PAR. Got the theme pretty easily in that PAR was in all those answers but didn't even notice that ONE was under it until I read your post. DUH!!!!
All in all a good puzzle. There were several I didn't know but most worked themselves out from perps.
Have a good day!!
I have recently shared 'abogato's thoughts: 'Is it me or are the puzzles getting tougher?'
ReplyDeleteSome of the answers are a bit of a stretch: porose? sherds? Not familiar with those variations. 'Sauce' meaning liquor is common, but where does 'tope' come from?
Thanks.
Derek Campbell
Thanks for your work on this. For once I can assist - if you consider 92D as "peak-ed", then ill makes sense.
ReplyDeleteGood morning C.C. and all,..pretty hard one this morning. Like others I had tend for 23A which caused me to miss seeing 1D as prove. Once I found "plain Jane" for 1A that section filled easily.
ReplyDelete100D caused some problems because I had lives in lieu of lasts, but again once I got Sparta that area filled easily. I did not know Jazz pianist Chick, but was able to get it from the perps. For 48D I put tutee, but could not believe that was the answer. And, finally 61D poems was sure a misleading clue for me. My mind was firmly fixed on religion.
I was very impressed with the theme and the locations of one under par. I thought this was very creative and must have been very difficult to construct with all the symmetry. Overall I really like the puzzle, but it was difficuly.
Good Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteI finished the puzzle on line this morning, with some red letter help, but no googling. My response to it was very similar to Lemonade's.
C.C., I would never have seen the pairs of "over" and "par" without your guidance. This puzzle is an amazing piece of construction. I wonder how long it took Mr. Nediger to complete it?
ANNEAL, REGALE, LIBELLAW, SLEAZE AND WOMBS were the last to fall for me. For some reason I have a terrible time remembering that there are moats in zoos. 'Development sites' was very devious. And, I'll have to remember 'Small wrapper' for ELF.
It's a glorious, sunny day in Chicago, following two rainy days. I'm going to go play in the gardens, and then start piecing a scrap quilt. I hope you all have a relaxing day.
Good morning, everyone! Well, I got the PAR part but missed that there was a ONE under each of them. Thanks for the heads up, C.C.
ReplyDeleteStrange solve to this one. I first got foothold in the N, then the S, then worked my way all around the central part, which was the last to fall. A few red letter helps and some g spot visits (ZISSOU, APOLLOIX, etc.), but ultimately finished it. ECTOMORPH, WTF?
I still don't see how SEDATIVE and Chilling order? are related. Help.
Thanks for the OSO explantion. Where are the worms?
Interesting that WIZ is not listed as an abbreviation in Merriam-Webster online.
Like others have said, I was very impressed with the construction. This one must have taken ages to craft. Well done!
Have a great Sunday all. Remember that it's Flag Day and fly it if you have it!!
SEDATIVE is a Doctor's order, for chilling.
ReplyDeleteFlag Day was a big deal growing up in New England, not so much in Florida. Also, Bunker Hill Day never made it South.
A most excellent puzzle. I think I rated a B. I circled around, working one section at a time, but the center section defeated me. One under par was unreachable, and I never saw the pattern until CC showed us. If I have to strike out, this is a worthy cause. I guess.
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t think of BENELUX, but I think it will be etched in my brain from now on, and BRNO BORN PEOPLE (czechs) was so confusing – and such a head slapper – that I’ll remember that too, although I doubt I’ll ever see it again. Bran is not a staple at my house. ECTOMORPH had me thinking of ghost busters.
My favorite clue was ‘development sites’, WOMB.
Good morning all,
ReplyDeleteHave not yet finished c/w, but will take it on our 1 day "mini moon" to celebrate our 40th ann.
Fly your flag today if you've got one. Kitty should appreciate this: our flag is the most complicated one in the world. It takes 64 pieces of fabric to make one.
"We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separate it by white in stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her..."
Good Morning All, Before I comment on today's puzzle, I wanted to share something with you. Do you remember about six weeks ago when I provided some information about Jack Hall, the wonderful craftsman and artist, who created musical instruments from matchsticks?
ReplyDeleteWhat a surprise it was when I received the following email this morning.
"Hello Clearayes, Greetings from Tony Hall in England, U.K.! I have by chance googled the May 1, 2009 LA Times Daily Crossword Blog and viewed your comments about my late father Jack Hall. Thanks for the nice things you said and the links. Have a lovely day, From sunny Sussex by the sea over the Atlantic! - Tony Hall"
I am constantly amazed at the internet's ability to shrink our world. People we have never met, from halfway around the planet are no more that a few keystrokes away. What a fascinating time we live in.
Good ol' DIES IRAE. The words have bailed out many a constructor in a tough SPOT. It's Latin for 'day of wrath'. Very vowel friendly too. Vowels being a puzzle makers best friends.
ReplyDeletePLAINJANE, MRPEANUT, CZECHS, BEANPOLE... good stuff. SLEAZE, CREEPO and JERK... even better. The repeated POP in POPGUN and SODAPOP is not a problem. Minor thing when weighing the value of those two excellent words.
I loved how PALINDROMIC begins with the P from PIP since PIP is PALINDROMIC (repeat that after a few POPs). Numbers can also be palindromic. 1661, for example. I live in NorCal. Small town called Healdsburg, an hour north of San Francisco. Further north is a town named Yreka. The Yreka Bakery is a wonderful palindrome. I'd love to clue Palindrome as "Alaskan Governor's mansion".
Great puzzle, Will. You aced it!
Hi C.C. & gang, I print out the blank puzzle and the answers too for Sunday's puzzle. Very clever how they managed to get one under par!
ReplyDeleteRe: 47A:Chilling order?
I think that I finally got it, take a chill pill
Barb B, I too, thought of Ghostbusters first. What does that say about us?
ReplyDeleteCrockett, I must have gotten ZISSOU from the fills, because I don't have a clue what that is. I know....the dictionary is my friend....
JD, Happy Anniversary! What an accomplishment to have been married 40 years to the same man. My hat's off to you. Enjoy that 'mini moon.'
Betsy must have thanked her stars that there were only 13 of them to appliqué on that first flag!
Clear Ayes, how cool that Tony Hall contacted you about the information you shared with us. Thanks for letting us know that he contacted you. "Global" is no longer a word of the future.
Jerome....CREEPO?? Come onnnnnnnn! That's gotta be a guy thang....I've never heard it used, or read it. 'Sleezoid,' I might accept. lol
I've seen DIES IRAE in innumerable puzzles, but it seems as though I haven't seen it much recently. Perhaps it's popping up at other sites.
Yreka Bakery...how very clever to have seen that it's a palindrome. I catch the short ones, but I wouldn't have realized this was a palindrome.
A very enjoyable Sunday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I liked the theater, movie and literature clues/answers. Willa Cather is a favorite author. William INGE's plays are wonderful and the COEN brothers haven't made a movie I didn't liked.
I had a problem with the clue for 64A. Online it looked like "Bmo-born people". It took a while to realize what was really being asked for.
This puzzle was like a bullseye pattern for me. I filled in everything but most of the center area and then had to pick away one perp at a time.
BENELUX, SPOR, TRIGRAPH and POROSE were all newbies for me.
I'm rather iffy about "Sorrow" and REMORSE being close enough. I think you can be sorrowful without being remorseful.
I particularly enjoyed the great long one word fills PALINDROMIC and CHAPARRAL.
A huge D'oh moment with the reveal of ONE UNDER PAR. After going back through the puzzle I looked for the 10 pairs and missed SPARTA and TONERS. Thanks C.C. for showing all of them.
Lemonade714 is right about The Life Aquatic With ZISSOU being bizarre. Bill Murray has made quite a few quirky movies. But I'm with eldest son on this one. I liked it.
Also right on with the Showtime series The Tudors. Sure, Henry VIII is played by a very hot Jonathan Rhys Meyers, rather than as an overweight aging blowhard, but the historical tidbits are pretty much on track. Some liberties have been taken, but if nothing else, it is a great soap opera and nurtures an interest in reading more accurate historical accounts.
Happy 40th Day, JD!
Good Morning Fellow Head-Scratchers!
ReplyDeleteI actually filled in more of this one than I expected to when I first saw it. I too worked all around the edges, which left the middle with a big blank hole in it. Benelux never came to me. Though I wrote tutee , it seemed like a made up word. Sherds and porose were also out there. I wanted eggs or oats for breakfast staple. Even though I didn't fill in all the blanks, it was still an enjoyable exercise. I'm looking forward to a breather tomorrow.
Hasta Luego
As is usual for me on Sundays, when I don't get it in my paper, I did this online with some but not a huge amount of red help.
ReplyDeleteI like the same clues as c.c., but wanted to comment on a few others: I didn't make the full golf connection other than PAR, not knowing what a birdie is. I still object to spelling PIQUED as PEAKED, so I had no clue as to the connection there even after getting it in. Also CABS/REDS meant nothing to me, not being a big wine drinker.
I think the cultural references can be very tricky, depending on one's lifestyle. I've never been to a Starbucks either. But this was emminently doable compared with yesterday's.
Clear Ayes, I had the same problem with the "B r n o" looking like Bmo. I had to wait for enough fills to get CZECH.
ReplyDeleteAh HAH!...the dictionary wouldn't have given me ZISSOU! There are some very odd movies out there. As I recall, there's one about being inside John Malkovich's head. I went for the action movie instead, and saw "Angels and Demons" last night. It's fairly faithful to the book, and had stunning shots of Rome.
Your comment reminded me that I didn't know TRIGRAPH.
I'll have to look for "The Tudors." I generally enjoy historic shows and Dear Husband might be persuaded to watch with me.
Kazie, when I go to Starbuck's, I order a 'Venti' iced tea, which is the largest size. The medium size is 'Grande.' I had to guess at the answer in the c/w, because I've never looked at the smallest size cup. Who'd have guessed they'd call it TALL?
The iris and peonies have been dead headed, and I pulled some weeds. I cut spinach and lettuce from the garden for dinner tonight. What a satisfying feeling to have grown my own. Too bad there isn't some way to do crosswords and pull weeds at the same time! (grins)
@kazie: i don't think it's meant to be an alternate spelling of 'piqued,' but peak-ed, two syllables, meaning sickly. anon@10:35 mentioned also.
ReplyDelete30:00 on the nose today. I thought the theme was cute and clever, being a former golfer (shoulder injury has curtailed my golfing, though I still have my clubs). I saw the theme when I got 69a: Birdie that's hidden ... and that did help me fill in a few ONEs where I already had PARs.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know POROSE, but it seems to be a word (not sure how the definition fits with pumice, however. porose.
I filled in PALINDROMIC immediately with only a couple of crosses, but then got beat up with PIP and ELF, neither of which came to me.
I also thought the hymn was DEUS IRAE (instead of DIES), so that slowed me down immeasurably in that area. I now see that the song I was thinking of is Mr. Mister Kyrie Eleison. The mind plays strange tricks on one, doesn't it?
ZISSOU was a complete unknown, even though I always thought I was a Bill Murray fan (I don't see many movies).
@jerome: Yreka Bakery!!! Wow!
I ditto abogato's & Derek's comments about the difficulty. I haven't been able to finish the puzzles lately. Would someone explain a couple of terms used in the comments? 1. "perps" 2. Did on line with some "red help".
ReplyDelete@Donnie, "perps" are just perpendicular across or down answers that help fill in letters you don't know for the word you are working on.
ReplyDeleteRed Lettters online are when you do the crossword at the La T. site in "Regular" skill level instead of master skill level. When you enter an incorrect letter it shows up in red, so you get feedback right away if you are wrong. You can sit on a square and type a-z one at a time until it turns black, thus a "help".
Hi, C.C. & gang,
ReplyDeleteLate start today due to Sunday obligations.
My printout of the downloaded version from the LAT website had the clue for 69A as "Birdie that's hidden literally in 10" and that's all. I thus found it impossible to snoop out the theme and was unable to finish. Lots of good clues and some impossible ones, too.
I spent most of the golf match trying to make some sense out of things, but finally gave up with about 20 answers unsolved. Jean was listening to sermon CDs on my PC, so I had no recourse to help. Considering these hindrances, I don't feel too bad.
As Scarlet said, "Tomorrow is another day".
Lots of family stuff gong on the last few days. Today was a B-day party for my 11-yr-old grandson.
ReplyDeleteLike many, I worked today's puzzle outside in. Never got ELF, COP, or SHERDS.
Nor the theme. I could probably stare at the completed grid forever and never get it, even with the 69A explanation.
Had to G-spot Cassandra and TRIGRAPH, which I still got wrong as TRIGRAMS.
A stunning WIZ of a puzzle, with a lot of great words, and clever and/or misleading clues. It was fun to slowly suss it out, tho I wasn't quite able to get it all.
But there are a few imperfections. REEDIT for further shorten? Not necessarily. There is more to editing than taking words out.
I don't think the POROSE that embien discovered is what was intended. If, so, I would say, "OK" though it's a pretty obscure word. But it is clued as a variant spelling, presumably of POROUS. Crossing it with another variant is inelegant and unfair. Even having two vars in one puzzle is pushing it.
But worst is 45D temper = ANNEAL. I know the dictionary is your friend, but like any other work of human hands it is imperfect. Here from Merriam-Webster definition 4b is flat out wrong. If you anneal glass, you remove its temper. If you temper glass, it is no longer annealed.
End of rant.
Cheers!
No time for the puzzle today... I let Littleguyjo go out on his roller blades this afernoon. Only 'cause he's really good on them. His stitches come out tomorrow. We went fishing today in our canoe and of course he out fished me once again. Now if he'll figure out how to filet...
ReplyDeleteTfrank,
ReplyDeleteI always check the printout before leaving the website, because it usually omits the bottom line of the clues, whatever it is. If you look at the screen before leaving, you could write it in.
KittyB,
Thanks for your insight on Starbucks. Who'd a thunk it?
Melissa Bee,
I stand corrected, thanks. I guess I had always just thought that when I heard the word peak-ed, that people were just being cute, pronouncing the syllables separately like I often do, when saying picture-skew for picturesque. I had always pictured it with the "piqued" spelling.
Tarrajo,
Have you had a chance to check the mirror twin website I posted Friday night after your last post? And did you see the comments from Jacktwin there too?
Kazie...yes I read your thread and that's where I came into trouble with overposting. Tashajo and I must be mirror twins. There are too many "coincidences" to not be. We got pregnant two weeks apart. She had a girl, and I had Littleguyjo...Oh by the way, her gal is Zoe-Jo...Littleguyjo and her have the love/hate relationship right now.
ReplyDeleteTarrajo,
ReplyDeleteI thought the comments from Jacktwin were interesting too--how neat to be 70 and aware of all those twin things all your life like that--something for you and Tashajo to look forward to as well. I was glad to hear Littleguyjo survived his stitches-in-time and will get them out tomorrow! Good night for now!
sherds is short for potsherds, archeological term for pottery fragments.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, Fine job!
ReplyDeleteTRIGRAPH was totally new. TRIPTHONG is also three sounds composing one - "ire" in Fire and "ower" in Flower. (in Phonetics) Too many letters, but couldn't get it out of my head, either.
ReplyDelete