Theme: DIETARY DUOS - Food pairings you might consume in the course of a day.
16A: Breakfast pair: COFFEE AND DONUTS
24A: Lunch pair: SOUP AND SANDWICH
41A: Dinner pair: MEAT AND POTATOES
54A: Evening ball game snack pair: BEER AND PRETZELS
Argyle again. Today's Dan Naddor Index (total non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 12, lower than last week's. Similar stacks of 6's on the left and right edges of the grid.
Besides the above theme entries, we also have:
9A: Saran, for one: WRAP. Or a type of sandwich you might have with your SOUP.
13A: Layered cookie: OREO. Good anytime (with milk).
40A: Pilot light site: STOVE. Cooking!
46A: Fancy burger beef: ANGUS. Strictly a beef breed (Their meat would go well with those potatoes).
30D: Want badly, as chocolate: CRAVE. Have some dark one. It's healthy.
52D: Diner orders, for short: BLTS. Crossing the last theme answer.
Very tasty Tuesday treat Dan has served up for us. All the four grid spanning theme answers are delicious!
Across:
1A: Leaders in the dugout: Abbr.: MGRS. Managers. It's about this time of year when heads start to roll in the dugouts.
5A: Univ. hot shot: BMOC. Big Man On Campus
14A: Dainty embroidered mat: DOILY.
15A: McKellen and Fleming: IANS. Sir Ian McKellen, English actor and Ian Fleming, English author.
19A: Apt to shy, as a horse: SKITTISH. Don't spook the horse. Shy – verb (used without object) (esp. of a horse) to start back or aside, as in fear.
20A: Like a dark room: UNLIT.
21A: HBO competitor: SHO. Trademarks. Home Box Office and SHOwtime: cable channels
22A: Japanese sleuth Mr. __: MOTO. Mr. MOTO is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand
32A: Don, as apparel: PUT ON.
33A: Keep one's __ the ground: EAR TO. Try to keep informed about something, especially if there are rumours or uncertainties. The expression "keep your Ear To the ground" comes from the way American Indians did this action to feel for the vibrations of herds of animals on the run so they would hear the vibration of hooves(at least, in the movies).
34A: Miracle-__: garden product: GRO. Plant food. Not for use on zucchinis.
35A: Bickering: AT IT. Again.
36A: When Juliet drinks the potion: ACT IV. Clever & tricky clue.
37A: Former Fed chairman Greenspan: ALAN.
38A: Incite to attack, with "on": SIC. You would SIC a dog on something with the command, "SIC 'em".
39A: Rocket engineer Wernher von __: BRAUN.
49A: Just in case: IF NEED BE.
59A: Feedbag fill: OATS. More food.
60A: "Benevolent" fraternal order: ELKS. The Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.
61A: Orchestral reed: OBOE.
62A: Estimate phrase: OR SO.
Down:
1D: Comfy soft shoes: MOCS. What Santa wants.
2D: Understand, in slang: GROK. Origin: coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961).
3D: Mortgage payment-lowering strategy, briefly: REFI. Shortening of refinance.
4D: Sentimental place in the heart: SOFT SPOT.
5D: Fluffy stoles: BOAS.
6D: Ho Chi __: MINH.
8D: Dancer Charisse: CYD. How 'bout them gams? Her nickname "Sid" was taken from a sibling trying to say "Sis". (It was later spelled "Cyd" at MGM to give her an air of mystery.) From Wikipedia.
9D: Separate grain from chaff: WINNOW. WH, you explain it.
10D: __ Julia, who played Gomez Addams: RAUL. Take a call on the Addams Family.
14D: Football's "Prime Time" Sanders: DEION. His Rookie Card doesn't look like he was ready for "Prime Time".
17D: Wharton's "__ Frome": ETHAN. Ethan Frome is a novel set in turn-of-the-century New England in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. It was published in 1911 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton.
22D: Former quarterback Dan: MARINO. American Hall of Famer played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. 1983–1999
23D: Being aired, as a sitcom: ON TV.
24D: Muscle cramp, e.g.: SPASM.
25D: Noticeable navel: OUTIE. Hmm, another quarterback.
26D: City near Syracuse: UTICA.
28D: Stopped slouching: SAT UP.
29D: Domed Arctic home: IGLOO.
36D: River of Florence: ARNO. Ah, the flower of Florence.
37D: Where to see wild animals in cages: AT THE ZOO. Simon and Garfunkel
39D: Modeler's wood: BALSA. Light weight and easy to carve.
40D: "America's Funniest Home Videos" host Bob: SAGET. FYI: Former "America's Funniest Home Videos" host Bob Saget is returning to the show as a guest co-host for an episode to film in October.
42D: Zodiac bull: TAURUS. Also, the Ford Taurus, an automobile manufactured by Ford introduced in the 1986.
43D: Adjusted the pitch of, as a piano: TUNED.
47D: Armstrong in space: NEIL. The first human to set foot on the Moon back in July 1969.
48D: Nerd: GEEK.
49D: __ facto: IPSO. By the fact itself.
50D: Gratis: FREE.
51D: Start of many a letter: DEAR.
53D: Old U.S. gas: ESSO.
55D: Prefix with natal: NEO.
56D: Brylcreem bit: DAB. In this ad, catch the phrase "disturbingly healthy".
Answer grid.
Argyle
16A: Breakfast pair: COFFEE AND DONUTS
24A: Lunch pair: SOUP AND SANDWICH
41A: Dinner pair: MEAT AND POTATOES
54A: Evening ball game snack pair: BEER AND PRETZELS
Argyle again. Today's Dan Naddor Index (total non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 12, lower than last week's. Similar stacks of 6's on the left and right edges of the grid.
Besides the above theme entries, we also have:
9A: Saran, for one: WRAP. Or a type of sandwich you might have with your SOUP.
13A: Layered cookie: OREO. Good anytime (with milk).
40A: Pilot light site: STOVE. Cooking!
46A: Fancy burger beef: ANGUS. Strictly a beef breed (Their meat would go well with those potatoes).
30D: Want badly, as chocolate: CRAVE. Have some dark one. It's healthy.
52D: Diner orders, for short: BLTS. Crossing the last theme answer.
Very tasty Tuesday treat Dan has served up for us. All the four grid spanning theme answers are delicious!
Across:
1A: Leaders in the dugout: Abbr.: MGRS. Managers. It's about this time of year when heads start to roll in the dugouts.
5A: Univ. hot shot: BMOC. Big Man On Campus
14A: Dainty embroidered mat: DOILY.
15A: McKellen and Fleming: IANS. Sir Ian McKellen, English actor and Ian Fleming, English author.
19A: Apt to shy, as a horse: SKITTISH. Don't spook the horse. Shy – verb (used without object) (esp. of a horse) to start back or aside, as in fear.
20A: Like a dark room: UNLIT.
21A: HBO competitor: SHO. Trademarks. Home Box Office and SHOwtime: cable channels
22A: Japanese sleuth Mr. __: MOTO. Mr. MOTO is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand
32A: Don, as apparel: PUT ON.
33A: Keep one's __ the ground: EAR TO. Try to keep informed about something, especially if there are rumours or uncertainties. The expression "keep your Ear To the ground" comes from the way American Indians did this action to feel for the vibrations of herds of animals on the run so they would hear the vibration of hooves(at least, in the movies).
34A: Miracle-__: garden product: GRO. Plant food. Not for use on zucchinis.
35A: Bickering: AT IT. Again.
36A: When Juliet drinks the potion: ACT IV. Clever & tricky clue.
37A: Former Fed chairman Greenspan: ALAN.
38A: Incite to attack, with "on": SIC. You would SIC a dog on something with the command, "SIC 'em".
39A: Rocket engineer Wernher von __: BRAUN.
49A: Just in case: IF NEED BE.
59A: Feedbag fill: OATS. More food.
60A: "Benevolent" fraternal order: ELKS. The Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.
61A: Orchestral reed: OBOE.
62A: Estimate phrase: OR SO.
Down:
1D: Comfy soft shoes: MOCS. What Santa wants.
2D: Understand, in slang: GROK. Origin: coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961).
3D: Mortgage payment-lowering strategy, briefly: REFI. Shortening of refinance.
4D: Sentimental place in the heart: SOFT SPOT.
5D: Fluffy stoles: BOAS.
6D: Ho Chi __: MINH.
8D: Dancer Charisse: CYD. How 'bout them gams? Her nickname "Sid" was taken from a sibling trying to say "Sis". (It was later spelled "Cyd" at MGM to give her an air of mystery.) From Wikipedia.
9D: Separate grain from chaff: WINNOW. WH, you explain it.
10D: __ Julia, who played Gomez Addams: RAUL. Take a call on the Addams Family.
14D: Football's "Prime Time" Sanders: DEION. His Rookie Card doesn't look like he was ready for "Prime Time".
17D: Wharton's "__ Frome": ETHAN. Ethan Frome is a novel set in turn-of-the-century New England in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. It was published in 1911 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton.
22D: Former quarterback Dan: MARINO. American Hall of Famer played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. 1983–1999
23D: Being aired, as a sitcom: ON TV.
24D: Muscle cramp, e.g.: SPASM.
25D: Noticeable navel: OUTIE. Hmm, another quarterback.
26D: City near Syracuse: UTICA.
28D: Stopped slouching: SAT UP.
29D: Domed Arctic home: IGLOO.
36D: River of Florence: ARNO. Ah, the flower of Florence.
37D: Where to see wild animals in cages: AT THE ZOO. Simon and Garfunkel
39D: Modeler's wood: BALSA. Light weight and easy to carve.
40D: "America's Funniest Home Videos" host Bob: SAGET. FYI: Former "America's Funniest Home Videos" host Bob Saget is returning to the show as a guest co-host for an episode to film in October.
42D: Zodiac bull: TAURUS. Also, the Ford Taurus, an automobile manufactured by Ford introduced in the 1986.
43D: Adjusted the pitch of, as a piano: TUNED.
47D: Armstrong in space: NEIL. The first human to set foot on the Moon back in July 1969.
48D: Nerd: GEEK.
49D: __ facto: IPSO. By the fact itself.
50D: Gratis: FREE.
51D: Start of many a letter: DEAR.
53D: Old U.S. gas: ESSO.
55D: Prefix with natal: NEO.
56D: Brylcreem bit: DAB. In this ad, catch the phrase "disturbingly healthy".
Answer grid.
Argyle
76 comments:
Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - always nice to have one of Dan's puzzles to start the day, and today was no exception. Clever theme, lots of fresh cluing. Easy, yes, but enjoyable.
As Argyle pointed out, a definite food theme throughout the puzzle. Nice to see 'Brylcreem' again; it was a staple for a lot of us back in the day. And the only clue that threw me off was 'Incite to attack, with "on"' - I put 'egg' initially. I usually think of 'sic em' more than 'sic on'.
Argyle, nice job, and thanks for the QB picture.
Today is Confucius Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." -- Winston Churchill
A couple definitions:
- Vegetarian: a person who won't eat anything that can have children.
- Victim: a person to whom life happens.
Dennis,
I also wrote down EGG first. Have never heard of Brylcreem. I remember seeing DEION Sanders' baseball cards, not football cards as in Argyle's link. Do you have Michael Jordan's rookie baseball card also? I do.
Argyle,
Fantastic write-up. Wish MEAT AND POTATO were RED WINE AND STEAK as you suggested in the email, then every entry would have drink & food.
Dan Naddor,
Was this puzzle initially intended as a Tuesday?
Linda,
Maybe Jerome can correct me, but Patrick Berry's "dodgy" means "questionable". Our DFness has a sexual connotation.
Argyle,
On a second thought, maybe RED WINE AND STEAK is not "in the language". MEAT AND POTATO definitely is.
Good point.
Morning:
This was a fun puzzle, with some blast from the past clues, like BRYLCREEM and MR. MOTO. Argyle, I am sure the slippers are comfy, but I see Santa needing more helpers like these, SANTA'S ELVES
Well, now I am hungry, so off to get my coffee and donuts...
Good Morning Argyle, CC and All,
Nice write up Argyle as usual.
This was a fun quick run. I'm a broken record here having the only erasure being EGG instead up SIC. Cruised right through it and now I'm hungry. I should eat breakfast.
We're getting some rain which we needed to get the fire danger down.
I've got a pre-bid walk through today so it will a busy one. It'll be interesting to see what kind of mood the contractors are in.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Fun puzzle in zip time. Only troubles were misspelling Sanders' name, questioning 'doily' as being embroidered rather than crocheted and thinking WTF for 9D Winnow? Great perpability - took care of all my doubts. Loved seeing Grok too.
Great job, Argyle, as usual. Hope you get your 'mocs'.
I'll be back. Am 'at the zoo'.
Enjoy your day.
Lemonade714, that 'helper' holding a gun brings back bad memories; I'll stick with the little guys with pointed ears.
Morning, All! A nice "foodie" puzzle today, with both the main theme and the auxiliary clues. COFFEE AND DONUTS came to me immediately, so I knew to look for an "and" phrase for the other three clues.
SIC also came to me quickly. Never even thought of anything else.
I never heard of GROK and wasn't thinking of REFI, so the NW corner gave me a spot of trouble.
I never read the MR. MOTO series, so when I read your commentary, Argyle, I was surprised to see Marquand was the author. His most famous book is "The Late George Apley, for which he won a Pulitzer in the 1930s.
Favorite clue: Start of many letters (51D): DEAR
Running late today, so have to run and get ready for the work day.
Good morning CC and everyone. It's funny how a puzzle evolves. It started out as a liquid/solid food pairing theme -- COFFEE AND DONUTS, MILK AND COOKIES, WINE AND CHEESE, TEA AND CRUMPETS, BEER AND PRETZELS. It morphed from there into a time sequential menu. I don't target a particular day when I construct; Rich selects the day once the puzzle is finished based not only on theme but on the difficulty of the fill. Had we gone with the initial approach, I suspect it would've run later in the week. The more the themage, the more difficult the fill. But with only 4 theme entries in today's puzzle, it was pretty easy to fill with clean, easy words, few abbrs., etc. Ergo Tuesday.
I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy the solve.
Nice job once again Argyle. I loved the Brylcreem commercial. Wow, that was very racy for its time wasn't it?
Liked this puzzle. Again, I thought a little more difficult than the last few weeks were. Never remember how CYD spells her name. For some reason I was sure that it was SAGAT so IF NEED BE was looking a little weird for awhile. Some great fills though. We are having some ANGUS burgers on the grill tonight. Have to use that grill while we still can. Too cold in the dead of winter.
My only comment, I think of Beer and Pretzels as card playing food, not ballpark. I would get peanuts or cracker jack there.
Kids off to school. Gotta get somethings done. Went in to school to work at the spirit shop for an hour or two yesterday, and ended up spending the entire day. Now I have to get the house ready as I am hosting a BUNCO game later this week. Work calls!
Good morning all! Thanks Argyle for a great job. Love this puzzle and also got through it in record time - perps helped. I agree, never heard of sic on - only sic em. While this was fun, I really like Dan's more difficult puzzles. I really got hooked on them.
But onto more important topics - is anyone out there worried about the Phillies? I'm getting a little nervous!
Well, off to my Aunt's 100th birthday party! Won't be anything like yours Dennis!! Just a sober lunch. By the way hope it was a happy one!!
I enjoyed this one immensely--thanks Dan, Argyle and C.C.
However I did slip in a couple of places--I misspelled CYD as SYD, having never heard of a BMOC it meant nothing to me. Also, because I'm rushing to get away today. I never checked the perp at ACT IV/ON TV and had ACT II, and didn't know mOto.
I know GROK only from seeing it used here. This went as fast as I could write, but I may have got everything right if I had taken more time. Even the other names all were at least vaguely familiar.
Have a great day everyone!
Good Morning All -
Enjoyed today's puzzle. Now I'll be craving coffee and donuts all day - thanks, Dan... I recently switched from coffee to tea, and sometimes REALLY long for a big cup of joe. It's going to be another windy chilly day here, so may through some meat and potatoes in the crock pot for dinner. Nice to have my meal planning done so early!
Enjoy the day.
Andrea
Oops... I'll be throwing the stuff in the crock pot...
Per Dunn Brothers, it is National Coffee Day. I got a coupon in my email box for a free cup. I think it is legit, so I am off to wake up!!!
Argyle,
Nice job, as always.
As for winnow, I'm not sure about the derivation of the word, and too lazy to look it up. But the process describes the old way to separate grain from its outer husk. Back when grain was harvested by hand (and unemployment was unknown), the kernel of grain (wheat, oats, barley {my favorite}, triticale, etc.), which is covered by a protective husk that is unedible, was beaten (or threshed) to remove the husk. The grain was then separated from this chaff by various methods, often just by tossing in the air, as the chaff is lighter than the grain and blows away.
The early "threshing machines" were stationary, and required the grain to be cut by another means and brought to them. When a machine that combined these functions was built, it became known, eponymously, as a "combine". Modern combines cost up to a quarter of a million dollars, but what they do is exactly what was done by hand for several thousand years.
Dennis:
What Churchill defined as success I have heard as the definition of insanity - repeating the same action expecting a different result.
Lois:
are the animals in the zoo a little restless these days?
To all, re: 46A, Angus.
The marketing ploy known as "Certified Angus Beef" is just that, a marketing tool. The primary criteria required to gain this label status is that the animal had a black hide. It can be, but does have to be, part Aberdeen Angus, but can also be one of several other breeds. When you think "branded beef", think of expensive advertising campaigns, a la Budweiser beer and Clydesdales. The product is not always what is being sold, it's often the illusion.
As for this puzzle, it was interesting but easy. Niether the editor nor the constructors can be very happy about this, but I think I understand. There was a letter to the editor in the Lexington Herald-Liar recently complaining about the difficulty of the LAT puzzle and asking for the return of the former puzzle, which was the damnable brain neutralizing Commuter puzzle. They're caught in the middle of people who want a mental challenge and those who a feel good fill in the blank experience. One good thing about Mr Norris and his stable of constructors , Dan Naddor, Jerome, Fred, et al, is that they can make even an
easy puzzle interesting. Maybe we could get just a little more of a challenge now and then?
The iPhone won't let me proofread a long comment, so I apologize in advance for typos.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. and all -
Argyle, great job as usual! Just one question; are those 'Mocs' what Santa REALLY wants for Christmas??? Somehow, I had something else pictured.
I also put EGG in 38A. I've never heard the expression 'Sic on'.
I thought all doilies were crocheted. Dish towels, pillow cases etc are embroidered.
One more odd thing: Yesterday I solved the Universal Crossword by Jill Pepper, edited by Timothy Parker and the clue (38A) was 'Dinner Combo' - the answer was 'Meat and Potatoes'. When I did the puzzle today, I thought I was experiencing deja-vu. :)
I put in 'Feet on' for the answer to 33A at first, so I had to correct that.
All in all an enjoyable puzzle!
Hi C.C., Argyl, Dan, et al.
Wow - four 15 letter theme answers! I like the long D fills, especially WINNOW, and the six stacks.
Has my COFFEE first (no DONUTS - I'm tryng to quit) but still took 12 minutes. I am not a speed solver. 37D had me thinking of Simon and Garfunkle right away. Didn't think I'd ever see a Brycream reference. That ad isn't so much racy as AT IT in a sexist way.
Werner von BRAUN developed the V2 rocket, reponsible for over 7000 military and civilian deaths - but only a fraction of the 20,000 Mittelbau-Dora inmates who died or were killed building them. I'd rather see BRAUN clued as a shaver or coffee maker.
Ancient had me thinking ELD for OLD, and I had SID for CYD, so I didn't get BMOC
(and I never was one.)
Tigers and Twins will be AT IT twice today, if all goes well. Still mid 50's and breezy here, but brighter than yesterday. Sky looks less threatening.
Cheers!
JzB the hopeful trombonist
"I don’t say all of those things,
People say I do."
-- Confucius
(Perhaps not an accurate attribution)
Born in 551 BC, if he was alive today, he'd be more than 2500 years old. I seriously doubt he said any of these things.
Here's Tom Lehrer on Werner von Braun.
Carol: you may have experienced Deja vu but with all the fresh cluing and thanks to Gge Carlin, I experienced Vuja De...an experience that I had never had before. It was great!
WH: the critters are good today altho' yesterday the same girl who called me a F%$%kin' B*&^% and got suspended for 10 days returned yesterday only to call me just a
B(*&^. I figured our relationship is on an upswing and improving. She's out for another 10 days. Never a dull moment. Time for round 2. Fun times.
Dan Naddor: fThanks for stopping in. So nice to hear from you. Love hearing your side of the story.
Good morning CC, Argyle, Mr. Naddor and friends:
Thanks, CC, for your response to my question.
Argyle; Fine job as always.
Completed the puzzle in under 10 minutes while eating Kazie`s griddle cakes! Favorite fill was the cross with "ontv" and "activ."
There`s enough fall today to warrant a throw around my shoulders when I got up. Love it!
A "funny?" for the day:
The gallery thief ran out of gas and was caught. When asked why he did not plan better he said, "I had no Monet to buy Degas to make my Van Gough." And I had De Gaulle to post this!
The "other shoe" finally dropped in one family problem yesterday...At least we know how to proceed , now.
Windhover: Scholarly posts, as usual. Good info.
Jeannie: Recipe sounds really tasty, and a little like deep-dish pizza!
Argyle:
Sorry about any bad memories, but I did not see the sidearm until further review.
I wonder if it is necessarily true that either a) constructors prefer harder puzzles; or b) that more difficult puzzles are harder to build. While this effort does not have some of the sadistic trickiness of Mr. Naddor's end of the week puzzles, it really is a nicely woven tapestry. So, Mr. Naddor, Jerome, Fred, is it always more fun to do the harder puzzles? Now of course, I am curious about the original version, as TEA AND CRUMPETS beg to be stars.
JB, thanks for the cheeky approach to puzzle solving.
Hi Argyle, C.C. and everyone, nice to see Mr. Naddor pop in too. We had no trouble in finishing today's puzzle without any online help before my wife left for work. I was doing some other puzzles yesterday with a similar theme so it was easier than usual. I agree that the only ? was the clue for sic em.
Here's a description of a Farm scale winnower
"The winnower separates grains from chaff by density difference; the greater the differences in density, the more complete the separation."
Here's a good country western song about grain harvesting?
international harvester
Dan, I thoroughly enjoyed your puzzle today and being a “foodie” enjoyed your theme immensely. The only perp help I got was Cyd, and Ians. I thought the clue “when Juliet drinks the potion” – ActIV was very clever. I had to smile seeing Grok again. I saw Bob Sagat in a stand up routine and you wouldn’t believe how “blue” he was. Funny, but “blue”.
Lemonade, if that’s what you want for Hanukkah that’s a mighty big request.
Oh, and Confucius say, “It’s okay to let a fool kiss you, but don’t let a kiss fool you.”
Good Morning All, I went through all the Downs first, so I had SIC filled in before I even read the clue. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have thought of EGG.
RAUL Julia was a favorite in the Addams family movies. I have a photo of my granddaughter when she was a baby with a "Pubert Addams" mustache drawn on with mascara. I'll try to find it and scan it. Shame on Grandma! Her mother didn't think it was funny at all.
Art-wise there is lots of WINNOWing going on. Here are just a couple of them, Gustave Courbet's Winnowers and Jean Francois Millet's Winnower.
It's too bad DAB wasn't next to ESSO. Even after many years, I still have a "sense memory" of the slightly sweet smell and greasy feel of Brylcreem...all that running my fingers through their hair!
Hi everybody. Not much to contribute that hasn't already been said by somebody else already. I enjoyed the puzzle with lots of new (to me) words and clues. The level of difficulty seemed about right for a Tuesday.
Carol2 is worried about the Phillies. I'm worried about the Dodgers. Their magic number has been one for two days and they have looked terrible.
Puzzle should have come with a warning: "Do not solve on an empty stomach." Lots of comfort food, including the Oreo reference. Don't much care for the latter, prefer cheese to most desserts.
It's a solid Tuesday entry, with fun, sort of retro-cool fill, with Brylcreem, doily, BMOC (a slightly outdated word even when I was in college, '80-'83), Cyd Charisse, ESSO, and space-y people Neil Armstrong and Werhner von Braun. [Got his autograph when I was kid, and one from Prince Ranier and Princess Grace too, although the latter ones may have been autopen....]
"Meat and Potatoes" describes 1970s midwest suburban dinner 7 days a week at my house, except for Fridays during Lent--a word undistinguishable from "lint" in some local accents. "Melk" = milk, "Pellow" = pillow." "Pin" and "pen" are homophones.
26D "Utica" sounds like it should be a body part, doesn't it? Something you could break, bruise, or donate to science.
My "dunno" pile was Moto, Grok, (thought it was unique to this blog) and the "on" relation with "Sic." Knew footballer Sanders but where oh where did his folks come up with that spelling of "Deion." Does he have a brother named "Daunte"? A cousin called Airiq?
@KQ: what is a "spirit shop?" Do you sell liquor to minors?! Or ouija boards to aspiring pagans and wanna-be mediums? just joshin' you.
Trying to track down the right person/editor at the Chicago Tribune so I can send out my complaint letter to someone who might actually care. They have started placing the puzzles right before the obituaries, which strikes me as a bad sign or a cruel joke--or both!
Keeping in my Basil/Tomato theme here is a wonderful creamy tomato soup recipe:
Roast some garlic:
Take a whole head of garlic, remove the excess skins and cut the very top off to expose the cloves; wrap it in foil after dousing it with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45min until tender. Let cool and simply squeeze the garlic out of the cloves.
Blanch about 15 tomatoes in boiling water to loosen the skins and peel. Place the tomatoes with the roasted garlic and a handful of basil and a tblspn of olive oil in a food processor or a soup pot if you are using your emersion blender and blend away. Add to the pot the tomato mixture and one cup of heavy whipping cream and a few sprigs of thyme. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer to thicken and remember to remove the thyme sprigs before serving. I serve this with grilled provolone cheese sandwiches on a rustic Italian bread.
As far as I know Confucius didn't write poems. Since this is his Day, I thought a poem by a Chinese poet would come the closest. This one is by Wang Wei who was an 8th century Chinese poet and painter.
Although separated by over a thousand years and thousands of miles, I thought of Windhover Farm when I read it.
A Farmhouse on the Wei River
In the slant of the sun on the country-side,
Cattle and sheep trail home along the lane;
And a rugged old man in a thatch door
Leans on a staff and thinks of his son, the herdboy.
There are whirring pheasants, full wheat-ears,
Silk-worms asleep, pared mulberry-leaves.
And the farmers, returning with hoes on their shoulders,
Hail one another familiarly.
…No wonder I long for the simple life
And am sighing the old song, Oh, to go Back Again!
PJB - Hilarious. We don't sell the spirits, the mom's just come in to drink. The only way to survive raising teens. Just joshin' too.
Here is a fun little Color test to do. I got it in two tries. See how long it takes you to do it.
Gotta turn on the TV and watch the game. Tigers ahead. Twins need my support!
ClearAyes:
was it the " cattle and sheep" or the "rugged old man"?
And at this age, if I was going to carry a hoe on my shoulders, she would have to be very petite, and
with a farmer's income, cheap.
I have, it seems, been singing that song all my life. The question is, back to where, or more accurately, when?
The only thing I would miss is my iPhone.
I loved the poem. Thanks.
Straight forward etymology for WINNOW: Middle English winewen, from Old English windwian to fan, winnow; akin to Old High German wintōn to fan, Latin vannus winnowing fan, ventus wind. Date: before 12th century.
But before you can winnow, you have to separate the grain from the stalk. You do this by beating the stalks with flails. Threshing with flails, close-up of a flail.
If you're going to do a food puzzle you might as well stuff it with lots of theme. Mr. Naddor is like my local pizza guy, he delivers. But I hate it when he says things like "... only 4 theme entries in today's puzzle." Sheesh, it's a Tuesday for cryin' out loud! "only" 4, 15 letter theme answers! "only" 60 theme squares! Actually, Dan's my pal, but I reserve the right to be envious of his talent.
Gracious goodness- SOFT SPOT, AT THE ZOO, IF NEED BE, GROK, and WINNOW (Which I see as WIN NOW!) GROK is in many dictionaries, including the Oxford English Dictionary.
Horrible anagram for MEAT AND POTATOES- I was once asked, "What do you like most about Dan?" Startled, I responded, "ME? DAN'S APE TATTOO"
Speaking of food- What kind of deep-fried Mexican food do you get from Donald, Jim, Orson, Raymond, and Lance?
Crisp, brown, bean burrito.
Names are important- Naddor is pronounced Nuh-Door.
C.C.- I don't get the sexual connotation of dodgy. It simply means tricky. What am I missing here?
Dan,
Thanks for the behind-the-scene puzzle evolution. TEA AND CRUMPETS (liquid/food) sounds delicious. But time sequential connects everything tightly too.
Jeannie,
Your posts make me hungry.
Jerome,
Linda asked me yesterday: "... am I to understand that his term "dodgy" is the same as your term "df-ness?". Our DFness definitely has sexual connotation.
Clear Ayes,
Beautiful poem. The "silk-worms asleep, pared mulberry-leaves" brought to mind my childhood. We liked to climb our neighbor's tree when he was not at home and stole those perfectly ripe mulberries, very sweet. You can still see farmers "returning with hoes on their shoulders" in Chinese countryside now.
I came across a clever clue in the USA Today crossword. A four-letter word for "A whole one has no stem."
Of all the crosswords sources I've tried, the LAT crosswords are not the hardest or the easiest but they are consistently clever and fun.
Jerome and CC,
it is possible that dodgy is DF, after all.
In Certain parts of Tennessee and Georgia, young girls, until they are old enough and fast enough to outrun their brothers and male cousins, have to rely on being "dodgy" to retain their virtue.
:-)
C.C. I'm glad you and Windhover enjoyed the poem.
Windhover seems to be in a "mood". There must be a lot of pheromones floating around the hills of Kentucky today.
WH, Is TN or GA where the game dodge-ball originated?
2D: Understand, in slang: GROK
I wanted I DIG
As in say blood, can you dig it? I can dig it what it is man yea!
CC,
You can make vodka from potatoes. Russians came up with that idea.
This has nothing to do with today's puzzle but I felt like sharing some AC/DC from the 2008 CD Black Ice.
AC/DC
Hello All--A clever food puzzle today. I did finish it just before lunch and my stomach was rumbling the whole time.
I enjoyed the clues, When Juliet drinks the potion and Start of many a letter. Some of the names were unknown--Moto and Sauget, but both were obtained with surrounding fills.
Clear Ayes, thank you for the lovely poem today. I have raised many silk worms over the years as part of the science curriculum at our school. Thank goodness for my neighbors mulberry tree or I would have had to skulk at night to find some in the area. Those worms are greedy eaters.
Bill, what is the answer for A four-letter word for "A whole one has no stem."?
@Anon, a musical note.
for Anon @15:46 Here's the URL to USA Today crossword
BTW 'note' was the answer...
Yes, a whole note has no stem. Clever clue I thought. I'm guessing it would be a stumbling block for people with no experience reading or playing music.
Thank you.
Anon @ 3:46pm
The reference to Cyd Charisse reminded me of El Cid, a Spanish military leader who lived in the late 1000s. El Cid may have been the inspiration for Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha, a novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547), whose birthday it is today.
5:03 today. One of my faster solves, maybe because it was so delicious.
We raised hereford cattle when I was a kid (some folks call them "whiteface"), like this one Hereford bull. At that time herefords were the leading beef cattle, but Angus is undoubtedly the most prevalent these days (I have no statistics to back this up).
RED WINE AND STEAK is definitely in my language. I have some variant of that meal three times a week, on average.
CA: Loved your poem! I could just picture it and it made me with I had the artistic talent to paint what was in my mind's eye.
WH: (11:59) Whoa boy, LOL...'The Irish' would probably kill you with a real hoe!
CA: If 'dodge-ball' was invented in KY or TN, now we know why according to WH :)
I just have to pop in here with Richard Kiley's version of The Impossible Dream. I've mentioned in the past that I saw Mr. Kiley perform the Man of La Mancha role in Los Angeles in 1966 or 1967. He was terrific. He really got robbed of the movie lead. Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren are excellent actors, but they were sadly miscast in the movie.
According to our old friend Wikipedia, the movie "Man of La Mancha received overwhelmingly negative reviews, notably from Time Magazine, which not only did not consider the film worthy of a full-length review, but even threw in some criticism of the original stage production into the bargain. They referred to the film as being "epically vulgar", and called the song The Impossible Dream "surely the most mercilessly lachrymose hymn to empty-headed optimism since "Carousel" 's ' You'll Never Walk Alone"."
Ouch!
Oh, well, I deleted my link to the Crossword Resources once I saw the link to it is on the main blog page and I never noticed until now...
;-(
Here, Embien.
I clipped off the blog part and got your pic. Of the Hereford, that is. ;~)
Hi,
Lately I've been getting a security warning before I am able to post and have to enter my passcode twice. ???
Argyle, I had a little chuckle when I got to 46D on the Universal puzzle in the SF Chronicle.
There is a 351 Cobra for sale on the corner. When I stopped to look
ATIT, three other people stopped.
Sweet, and only $32K.
Tried doing one on line and was
going nuts following the colored square around the grid. I'm much faster with paper and pencil as my
two finger typing technique isn't
very efficient.
Had to put on socks and a sweat shirt this morning. This is how
I tell it is Fall/Winter. We are down 25 degrees from Sunday's high.
I'll log in tomorrow before goin to Campbell.
eddyB.
Hey All, I am sure yu do not remember me, as I was new to this site when I stopped checking in. I have not had any time lately, because I have returned to college to finsih a degree that I started back in '93. To hahtool, I just looked in on my blog site, which had been sitting idle since I attempted to create it in July '09 and I noticed that you had left a comment for me, and I wanted to say sorry for not responding. I am not very computer literate, and hadn't looked at my blog site since the day I tried to make it. Anyway I just wanted to say hi and thank you. Also I have never in my life heard the word grok, is anyone else familiar with this word?
I was late getting to the puzzle today. We are remodeling our kitchen. It has been on hold for several months because of various illnesses and broken limbs. It is good to get back to it; I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Didn't know "grok." Never heard it. I guess it is unanimous for "egg" instead of "sic." I remember using the term as a kid "Sic the dog on him." I rejected "coffee and donuts" at first because I wanted "doughnuts."
My ex-BIL's middle name is "DeAun" pronounced the same as "Deion." "Ethnan Frome" is one of my favorite books; I've read it many times. There is so much symbolism in it.
Thanks for the poem, Clear Ayes.
for JoJo:
I guess you've never read Heinlein? He was my favorite author until he passed but his books are still in print.
Grok:
To grok (pronounced /ˈɡrɒk/) is to share the same reality or line of thinking with another physical or conceptual entity. Author Robert A. Heinlein coined the term in his best-selling 1961 book Stranger in a Strange Land. In Heinlein's view, grokking is the intermingling of intelligence that necessarily affects both the observer and the observed.
From the novel:
“ Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthly assumptions) as color means to a blind man. ”
Looks like you got a new job Argyle. You do it very well too. You should put in for a raise (heh heh).
For sure Dennis knew the answer to 39D-modelers wood. I guess you sell a lot of it your hobby shops.
did dan quale spell potato or potatoe?
@Lemonade714
I don't know if constructors in general prefer solving harder puzzles. Speaking for myself,I prefer solving middle of the week puzzles. I've never been a fan of the really hard puzzles.
Constructing is another matter, I have the most fun constructing middle, and end-of-the-week puzzles.That's because I love creating tricky, misleading clues which you can't really do on Mondays and Tuesdays. Creating clues is the favorite part of the creation process for me.
I don't really find a relationship between difficulty in constructing and day of the week. A Monday puzzle can be just as easy/hard to construct as a Friday puzzle.
@Argyle
I never read the Mr. Moto books (although I was aware of them). But I have seen the complete Mr. Moto movie series from the 30s (and early 40s) starring Peter Lorre as Moto. It was a popular series only canceled because Mr. Moto was japanese and a japanese hero wasn't allowed when WWII was declared.
The Charlie Chan movies didn't have that problem so it flourished. I still love the Chan movies and watch them whenever I can.
JoJp: Congrats on going back to school.
Fred, thanks for stopping by and for your comments about constructing versus solving puzzles.
We are a very diverse and opinionated group of solvers, but we all seem to like puzzles which somehow offer some challenge, a few AHAs, and perhaps a grin or two. We, for the most part, solve often enough to know when a clue or an answer is new/fresh, or a tired retread. We don't take ourselves too too seriously. And the interviews and visits from constructors--and our "home team" guy Jerome--show us how much thought, sweat, and patience go into constructors' work. So, thanks!
pjb
Luxor said...did dan quale spell potato or potatoe?
I think I have the rest of the story.
VP Quayle was at a photo op spelling bee. He would give the children a word from the set of cards he had been given.
The word was 'potato', which the boy spelled correctly, BUT the card the Veep had, showed the spelling as 'potatoe' and he told the boy he had left out a little something at the end. The boy added the E and that was that...but, of course, it wasn't and by the evening news, the whole nation knew about it. (If it is plural, then there is an E, potatoes.)
Hello,
Fred and others, The first Chan,
Warner Oland, was Swedish and the second Chan,Sidney Toler, was an American. No WWII problems there.
I wore out my tape copies, so I replaced all of the movies with
DVD copies. I also play them over and over.
eddyB
You find another usage for winnowing in the famous Univ. of Wis. motto which dates back to 1894
"The great state Univ. of Wisc. should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing of ideas by which alone the truth can be found." Today, too many ideas are sifted through a political sieve rather than through an unbiased search for truth.
Dot
Phew!
Tigers blew the first game in the 10th. Almost blew the 2nd game, after leading 5-0.
For a net gain of -- not much.
Can never count the Twins down and out. Too much Fire power.
Magic number is 4.
Very tense - which is probably as it should be.
Spent some time today writng music. Very slow and laborious for me.
Cheers!
JzB the slow and laborious trombonist
Dot,
Your comment after the Wisconsin motto quotation is very well stated. It seems we as a nation and society have adopted as our guide the question of Pontius Pilate, "What is Truth?"
Fred:
I really, really appreciate your comments. The process really fascinates me, especially the attitude some constructors have about others puzzles. I can see it as a bigger challenge to make an interesting Monday/Tuesday puzzle.
What, no one besides C.C. and Kazie appreciated my tomato/basil soup recipe? Comeone you folks, even if you don't cook this one is a powerhouse of good vitamins and relatively easy to make. Plus it's all natural ingredients.
I am thinking you don't deserve my Butternut squash soup recipe forthcoming....
Wolfmom, how are my daisies coming? I could use them.
Windhover, you are definitely on a roll here, or there...hopefully it's there, and not in a scratchy pile of hay.
I love, LOVE, LOVE your tomato/basil soup! And I'm sure I will be fond of your Butternut squash soup recipe.
Please, Sir, can I have some more?
Jeannie said: "What, no one besides C.C. and Kazie appreciated my tomato/basil soup recipe? Comeone you folks, even if you don't cook this one is a powerhouse of good vitamins and relatively easy to make. Plus it's all natural ingredients. I am thinking you don't deserve my Butternut squash soup recipe forthcoming..."
It sounds great. After raising (and feeding) three kids, cooking has become more of a chore than a pleasure. I would like to try your recipe anyway. There is a little bistro near here that make a delicious cream of carrot soup. That would be worth a try too. Barbara used to make cold vichyssoise. Delicious!
KQ: That color test is pretty funny. I got 75% only after four tries!
Jeannie: I liked reading your tomato soup recipe so much that I printed it for my DH (who does the cooking), and he thinks it sounds good enough to make. The best tomato soup we've had (so far) was in Peru. We couldn't figure out what make it so extraordinary.
Good night all.
Jeannie, you sure know how to wear good men down! Yes it looks delectable and tomatoes (but not potatoes) contain lots of lycopene which is very healthful for XY people, which is to say those of us who have prostates. Anything with garlic gets my vote. I almost married a (lady) Rabbi once because she made such good, hearty soup. Don't be shocked. Every time I make pumpkin soup with drunken cranberries, or challah-based french toast , I get proposals of a marital nature from women who are already married to some poor slob who can only barbeque burgers on the Weber grill.
Mathematicians can prove that food = aphrodisiac.
Be well, all.
The3 only word I googled was SKITTISH and that's because I didn't know how to spell MINH.
The theme today reminded me of a question a Chinese friend of mine asked me when I was a student at McGill: we went to a wine and cheese party and there was, of course, wine, cheese and crackers. She asked me if Canadians really ate like this and I explained, yes, but cheese and crackers are a snack, not a meal: this is something you eat standing up. I wonder what she would have said about today's theme fills! A very unhealthy way to start and end the day indeed!
Martin
Argyle, take the position...
Embien...I implore you to cook again!!
BillG, don't steal my secret on the carrot soup as that is in my arsenal...this one is easy and nutrituous. Give it a go.
Sallie...good to hear your DH likes to cook and takes that chore over for you; and am flattered that he finds this recipe worthy.
Jeannie the DF Gourmet....
Thank you! Can I have another?
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