Theme: Homophones
17A: Doe: ANONYMOUS PERSON. John/Jane Doe. "A DEER, A FEMALE DEER" won't fit. It has 16 letters.
27A: Do: KEY NOTE IN A SCALE. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti.
49A: Dough: BREAD BAKING NEED. Chinese don't bake. We steam our buns. Milk is not an ingredient in our dough either. Only flour, water and yeast.
65A: D'oh: HOMER SIMPSON CRY. Yep, D'oh is Homer's catch phrase.
Words are homophones if they have the same pronunciation but different spelling/meaning.
Words are homonyms if they have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning, such as left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).
Also a bit of animal sub-theme:
71A: Animal: BEAST
72A. She-bears, in Seville: OSAS. He-bears is OSOS.
50D. White 66-Down, e.g.: ALBINO. And RAT (66D: Pied Piper follower).
51D. Cat, in Cancún: GATO. Netflix is headquartered in Los GATOS (the cats), CA.
Nice puzzle. Nice grid-spanning theme answers. The concept is quite original.
Across:
1. Gillette's __ II razor: TRAC. Not ATRA today.
5. Young reporters: CUBS. Cub reporter.
9. Half-and-half half: CREAM. The other half is MILK. Delicious clue.
14. __ sapiens: HOMO. Our genus.
15. European capital: OSLO. Four-letter capital. What else could it be?
16. Speed: HASTE. It makes waste.
20. Get loose for the game: WARM UP
21. French monarch: ROI. Louis XIV is the Le ROI Soleil (the Sun King).
25. Maker of ergonomic kitchenware: OXO. The cushioned rubber grips are definitely ergonomic.
35. Suffix with ranch: ERO. Ranchero (rancher). Spanish for ranch is "rancho".
36. Coastal bird: ERN. Or ERNE, the sea eagle. TERN is "Coastal bird" too, with a forked tail.
37. Curb, as spending: REIN IN. Tell the Congress.
38. Dentist's directive: BRUSH. FLOSS is five letter too.
43. Nearly boil: SCALD. My goodness. I had the wrong idea of SCALD then. I thought it more than boils.
44. Relating to the body's main blood line: AORTIC. From Kazie yesterday: The phrase "there oughta be A LAW" reminded me of the tongue-in-cheek Oz reference to people always saying "they oughta...", which is then shortened to "aorta" to refer to such people: "the great aorta".
46. Laddie's negative: NAES. Scottish for "no".
48. Indians, on scoreboards: CLE. Cleveland Indians. And another baseball term RBI (59A. Hitter's stat). Twins have to win tomorrow, otherwise, they are done.
53. Sushi fish: EEL. Hmmm, unagi.
54. Final Four initials: NCAA
55. __ acetate: banana oil: AMYL (AM-il). Rooted in Latin amylum, "starch". Unknown to me.
61. Duke Ellington's "Take the __": A TRAIN. Have never been to NY. Don't know where A TRAIN runs.
68. Big name in kitchen foil: ALCOA. They make the Reynolds Wrap. Dow 30 component.
69. Sculptor's subject: NUDE. Wanted BODY.
73. Promgoer's concern, maybe: ACNE
Down:
2. Gossipy Barrett: RONA. She is still alive.
3. Passionate deity: AMOR. Love god.
4. Hustler: CON MAN. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" is probably the best film on pool.
5. Vie: COMPETE
6. Military morale-boosting gp.: USO (United Service Organizations)
8. "Already?": SO SOON
9. "Evita" narrator: CHE. Learned from doing Xword. Have never seen "Evita".
11. Canadian gas sign: ESSO. Yep, they still call ESSO in Canana.
13. Clothing store section: MEN'S
18. Bygone Serbian auto: YUGO. No idea. Does YUGO stand for Yugoslavia?
19. "Finding Nemo" studio: PIXAR. It belongs to Disney now.
24. Laura of "Jurassic Park": DERN
26. Plural ending for neur-: OSES. Neuroses. Plural of neurosis. The clue doesn't sound natural to me.
27. Meal on a skewer: KEBAB. Shish KEBAB. KEBAB = roasted meat. Shish = spit. Turkish origin.
28. 1 + 1 = 3, for example: ERROR
29. "__ a Good Man, Charlie Brown": YOU'RE. Have never heard of this Broadway musical.
30. How contracts are usually signed: IN INK
31. Pres., vis-à--vis the armed forces: CIC (Commander in Chief)
32. Has __ up one's sleeve: AN ACE
33. City in which de Gaulle was born: LILLE. The French textile city. Eat worms if you missed this one. I mentioned LILLE & de Gaulle connection before. Close to the Belgium border.
34. Rear-__: hit from behind: ENDED
39. Grand Central, e.g.: Abbr.: STA (Station)
40. Sweep under the rug: HIDE
45. "Good buddies": CB'ER. "Good buddy" on the road.
47. Sheathes: ENCASES
52. Land chronicled by C.S. Lewis: NARNIA. "The Chronicles of NARNIA".
55. One giving Starbuck orders?: AHAB. From "Moby-Dick". Starbuck is AHAB's first mate. I fell into the constructor's trap and misread the clue as "Starbucks orders". The Starbucks Coffee is named in part after Starbuck.
56. Double agent: MOLE
57. Pantomimed disco song title: YMCA
58. Many August babies: LEOS
60. Don of talk radio: IMUS. Did not know that "nappy" has a racism connotation until the Don IMUS incident.
62. Outlet letters: AC/DC. Oh, power outlet.
63. Golfer's choice: IRON. Or driver/putter, etc.
64. AMEX rival: NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). I tried VISA first, thinking of credit card.
67. BlackBerry or Sidekick, briefly: PDA. Not familiar with Sidekick, the gadget from T-Mobile.
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: Doe: ANONYMOUS PERSON. John/Jane Doe. "A DEER, A FEMALE DEER" won't fit. It has 16 letters.
27A: Do: KEY NOTE IN A SCALE. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti.
49A: Dough: BREAD BAKING NEED. Chinese don't bake. We steam our buns. Milk is not an ingredient in our dough either. Only flour, water and yeast.
65A: D'oh: HOMER SIMPSON CRY. Yep, D'oh is Homer's catch phrase.
Words are homophones if they have the same pronunciation but different spelling/meaning.
Words are homonyms if they have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning, such as left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).
Also a bit of animal sub-theme:
71A: Animal: BEAST
72A. She-bears, in Seville: OSAS. He-bears is OSOS.
50D. White 66-Down, e.g.: ALBINO. And RAT (66D: Pied Piper follower).
51D. Cat, in Cancún: GATO. Netflix is headquartered in Los GATOS (the cats), CA.
Nice puzzle. Nice grid-spanning theme answers. The concept is quite original.
Across:
1. Gillette's __ II razor: TRAC. Not ATRA today.
5. Young reporters: CUBS. Cub reporter.
9. Half-and-half half: CREAM. The other half is MILK. Delicious clue.
14. __ sapiens: HOMO. Our genus.
15. European capital: OSLO. Four-letter capital. What else could it be?
16. Speed: HASTE. It makes waste.
20. Get loose for the game: WARM UP
21. French monarch: ROI. Louis XIV is the Le ROI Soleil (the Sun King).
25. Maker of ergonomic kitchenware: OXO. The cushioned rubber grips are definitely ergonomic.
35. Suffix with ranch: ERO. Ranchero (rancher). Spanish for ranch is "rancho".
36. Coastal bird: ERN. Or ERNE, the sea eagle. TERN is "Coastal bird" too, with a forked tail.
37. Curb, as spending: REIN IN. Tell the Congress.
38. Dentist's directive: BRUSH. FLOSS is five letter too.
43. Nearly boil: SCALD. My goodness. I had the wrong idea of SCALD then. I thought it more than boils.
44. Relating to the body's main blood line: AORTIC. From Kazie yesterday: The phrase "there oughta be A LAW" reminded me of the tongue-in-cheek Oz reference to people always saying "they oughta...", which is then shortened to "aorta" to refer to such people: "the great aorta".
46. Laddie's negative: NAES. Scottish for "no".
48. Indians, on scoreboards: CLE. Cleveland Indians. And another baseball term RBI (59A. Hitter's stat). Twins have to win tomorrow, otherwise, they are done.
53. Sushi fish: EEL. Hmmm, unagi.
54. Final Four initials: NCAA
55. __ acetate: banana oil: AMYL (AM-il). Rooted in Latin amylum, "starch". Unknown to me.
61. Duke Ellington's "Take the __": A TRAIN. Have never been to NY. Don't know where A TRAIN runs.
68. Big name in kitchen foil: ALCOA. They make the Reynolds Wrap. Dow 30 component.
69. Sculptor's subject: NUDE. Wanted BODY.
73. Promgoer's concern, maybe: ACNE
Down:
2. Gossipy Barrett: RONA. She is still alive.
3. Passionate deity: AMOR. Love god.
4. Hustler: CON MAN. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" is probably the best film on pool.
5. Vie: COMPETE
6. Military morale-boosting gp.: USO (United Service Organizations)
8. "Already?": SO SOON
9. "Evita" narrator: CHE. Learned from doing Xword. Have never seen "Evita".
11. Canadian gas sign: ESSO. Yep, they still call ESSO in Canana.
13. Clothing store section: MEN'S
18. Bygone Serbian auto: YUGO. No idea. Does YUGO stand for Yugoslavia?
19. "Finding Nemo" studio: PIXAR. It belongs to Disney now.
24. Laura of "Jurassic Park": DERN
26. Plural ending for neur-: OSES. Neuroses. Plural of neurosis. The clue doesn't sound natural to me.
27. Meal on a skewer: KEBAB. Shish KEBAB. KEBAB = roasted meat. Shish = spit. Turkish origin.
28. 1 + 1 = 3, for example: ERROR
29. "__ a Good Man, Charlie Brown": YOU'RE. Have never heard of this Broadway musical.
30. How contracts are usually signed: IN INK
31. Pres., vis-à--vis the armed forces: CIC (Commander in Chief)
32. Has __ up one's sleeve: AN ACE
33. City in which de Gaulle was born: LILLE. The French textile city. Eat worms if you missed this one. I mentioned LILLE & de Gaulle connection before. Close to the Belgium border.
34. Rear-__: hit from behind: ENDED
39. Grand Central, e.g.: Abbr.: STA (Station)
40. Sweep under the rug: HIDE
45. "Good buddies": CB'ER. "Good buddy" on the road.
47. Sheathes: ENCASES
52. Land chronicled by C.S. Lewis: NARNIA. "The Chronicles of NARNIA".
55. One giving Starbuck orders?: AHAB. From "Moby-Dick". Starbuck is AHAB's first mate. I fell into the constructor's trap and misread the clue as "Starbucks orders". The Starbucks Coffee is named in part after Starbuck.
56. Double agent: MOLE
57. Pantomimed disco song title: YMCA
58. Many August babies: LEOS
60. Don of talk radio: IMUS. Did not know that "nappy" has a racism connotation until the Don IMUS incident.
62. Outlet letters: AC/DC. Oh, power outlet.
63. Golfer's choice: IRON. Or driver/putter, etc.
64. AMEX rival: NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). I tried VISA first, thinking of credit card.
67. BlackBerry or Sidekick, briefly: PDA. Not familiar with Sidekick, the gadget from T-Mobile.
Answer grid.
C.C.
56 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - great, fun puzzle today, even if it was still too easy for a Wednesday. Loved the homophone theme, loved the cluing.
I had a some of the same hesitations as C.C. - I'm so used to dealing w/credit cards at the hobby store that I saw 'AMEX' and immediately thought of 'Visa'; 'Outlet letters' had me thinking outlet stores; and I too saw 'StarbuckS' instead of 'Starbuck'. Nice deception.
Today is World Vegetarian Day. I'll celebrate with a nice ribeye tonight. If I had to live on vegetables, I'd be dead. I can count the vegetables I really love on one finger.
Today's Words of Wisdom etc., have been preempted by the following:
PHILLIES WIN!
PHILLIES WIN!
PHILLIES WIN!
We now return to your regular programming.
Good morning C.C. et al, I really liked today’s puzzle. I found it more difficult than those we have been experiencing lately. Only one hang up again today; I could not get the cross of 19D (Pixar) and 25A (OXO). These were complete unknowns to me. One other problem area was misspelling “Yugo” as Hugo, UGH. Otherwise this puzzle was a fun solve today.
Off to the golf course today. Not many good days left for the remainder of the year.
Hope you all have a great Thursday.
15Across. European capital: OSLO. Four-letter capital. What else could it be?
I'm sure I'm not the only one that will tell you, it could be EURO.
61Across. Duke Ellington's "Take the __": A TRAIN. Have never been to NY. Don't know where A TRAIN runs.
Sugar Hill, up in Harlem.
Morning, All! Another fun puzzle. I don't generally like the homophone puzzles, but I loved all the clever clues in this one. Loved seeing the literary reference to Herman Melville's characters: Starbuck: AHAB (55D).
New Reporter's: CUBS (5A) made me think of the Superman comics characters.
I thought Outlet Letters (62D) referred to outlet stores, so initially put in AS IS. Ah well ...
Half-and-half half (9A): CREAM was my favorite clue.
October 1 Birthdays:
1935 ~ Julie Andrews, the original Mary Poppins.
1924 ~ former President Jimmy Carter.
1924 ~ William Rehnquist (d. 2005), Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. He had a summer home in northern Vermont and was even listed in the phone book. I took a course in Constitutional Law from him one summer while I was in law school. I disagreed with many of his decisions, but he was a very nice person.
1920 ~ Walter Matthau (d. 2000), Actor who was the original slobby Oscar Madison in the Odd Couple.
1910 ~ Bonnie Parker (d. 1934), outlaw of Bonnie and Clyde fame. She and Clyde were killed by a police posse in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
1881 ~ William Boeing (d. 1965), aviator and founder of The Boeing Company. He died 2 days after his 83rd birthday.
QOD: All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others. ~ Cyril Connolly.
A very nice puzzle, and the STARBUCK deception was wonderful; perception is so interesting, I saw AMEX as the stock exchange and OUTLET as electric, but did not grok the CB'er reference until the perps were in.
It was a fair Wednesday puzzle Dennis, but today is Thursday. I guess the birthday celebration is lasting.
EVITA was entertaining, if not great, and the YUGO was the worst car ever made.
enjoy all.
Hi Everyone,
Good day today, albeit a little slow.
Stumbled for a few minutes longer than I should have. The theme came pretty easily, but KABAB started out as kabOb, BRUSH started as RINSE, and that made AORTIC, OORTIC. So I poured another coffee, put clothes from the washer to the dryer, started another load, had a cig, and finally my head turned around in the right direction!!!
Too bad 45d clue has denigrated into a slur to the people who actually use CB radios the most. To the most of the users "Good Buddy" is a negative reference to a gay person. Sometimes I don't mind it a bit that I'm not on the road anymore.
CY'all Later
I had touble parsing the last theme entry: I had HOMER'S I*PS*NCRY and ended up googling GATO and IMUS. D'oh indeed!
I also had SHOT instead of IRON and DATE instead of ACNE. Luckily, I had perps that helped.
Martin
If I were to use the word "Kabob" in a sentence, I would use the "Kebab" spelling. My Webster's dictionary tells me that there are various spellings of the word: Kebab, Kebob, etc., because it is a transliteration from Arabic.
Lemonade, thanks for the correction - some friends dropped over to watch the end of the game, and it turned into a rather late night. Still no excuse for stupidity...
62. Outlet letters: AC/DC. Oh, power outlet.
Should've been clued as Australian rock band.
Enjoy this AC/DC hit
You Shook Me all Night Long
AC/DC
64. AMEX rival: NYSE
I tried VISA first I was thinking AMEX as in American Express "Don't leave home without it"
Argyle,
A train is the quickest way to Harlem.
I struggled a bit this time. I had KABAB, OMO/PIMAR (never even thought about that studio name) and bread Making need--didn't think much about the down CB perp either.
I googled Amex rival because my brain was also stuck on credit cards. I took far too long to think of HASTE, and tried various things before coming up with PERSON (CORPSE, CARION). You can see how negatively I was thinking from that!
Then in the SE, I had no idea what to put after Homer Simpson or for ACNE until after I googled to get NYSE.
C.C.,
I always assumed Yugo was from the country name Yugoslavia.
45 Down. CB'ers
CB = citizen's band. radio communication between truckers before the cell phone.
PDA need an explanation. I had to look it up. Personal Data Assistant.
Good puzzle today.
Dennis
Good Morning All, shame on me. I've read Moby Dick three or four times and I was still confused by the Starbuck reference. AHAB nicely crossed with HOMER SIMPSON CRY. AHAB was my "D'oh!".
Kabab, kebob, kabob, KEBAB, which one of these? I usually pick the wrong one, as I did this morning and that gave me trouble with the perps. RanchERO finally came to me, but it wasn't as easy as it should have been.
I love worms for breakfast! I got stuck on the cross of LILLE and CLE. Why would anybody know where DeGaulle was born? I must have missed C.C.'s previous post. GAH (yesterday's cool dude...thanks, Buckeye) is the fan and would know the scoreboard abbreviations.
Dennis, easy mistake, I lose days all the time. As we all know from reading the news and watching TV, there is ALWAYS an excuse for stupidity. "Just think how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider!" -George Carlin.
Good Morning!
Started with ATRA, EROS in red and realized I need to start elsewhere.
Never heard of TRAC razors. I do know Mac and Fusion though, as that's what the DH uses.
Like many of you, put VISA for Amex rival...I use Amex cards for eating out and forgot that AMEX also stands for American Stock Exchange.
Didnt know LILLE (Sorry CC, I must have missed the discussion) and got it from perps.
My D'OH moment was GATO for Cat: I've been to Los Gatos and they have the pics of two cats...How could I forget? (Maybe the coffee wasnt strong enough)
Overall, a good puzzle though it did take longer.
Dennis, the DH is like you..cant eat vegetables. Its very hard to cook at home as I love them and I'm too lazy to cook two dishes.
For now, vegetables is only potatoes and onions :)
I stumbled all over this one today. I wanted floss for brush, and kabob for kebab. It was just one of those days that wouldn’t come together for me. I have never heard a young reporter referred to as cubs either. I wouldn’t have gotten “roi” had it not been for the perps.
Between KQ thinking yesterday was Thursday and Dennis thinking today is Wednesday I am not sure what day it is! Just kidding you guys.
Dennis, I guarantee you would love the butternut squash and apple soup. I am pretty sure I could get you to eat your vegetables.
For those of you with an excess of green tomatoes try this tasty pie. You would swear it was apple pie.
Green Tomato Pie
3 1/2 c. peeled and sliced green tomatoes
3 tbsp. butter or margarine
6 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
Saute the tomatoes in the butter and lemon juice until just tender. Combine tomatoes with sugar, flour, salt and spices. Line 9" pie pan with pastry, pour in filling, dot with butter and cover with top crust. Bake at 450 degrees 10 minutes then reduce to 350 degrees and bake until crust is brown (about 35-40 minutes).
Jeannie,
Boy, we'd never need to think of what to make for supper if we just had ingredients for all your delicious recipes! Thanks for sharing them.
Dennis,
I knew what CB'ers were, but simply didn't look back at it after putting the M instead of B. I realized my error once here. Thanks anyway.
Hi C.C. and gang, a good puzzle today, I finished it in 2 minutes after looking up the unknown Amyl
"also pentyl ethanoate, pentyl acetate"
I think that this was the first time a puzzle razor wasn't ATRA? I remembered the TRAC II but currently I'm using the Mach III.
Are there two Dennis's now or? There was a 9:14 Dennis without a picture?
The 'Dennis' at 9:14 isn't me.
To Dennis@9:14, would you mind adding a '2' to the end of your name for this blog, to avoid confusion? Thanks.
When I think RANCHERO, I think Ford.
Red state DEMOCRAT said @ 8:29 AM "Argyle, A train is the quickest way to Harlem."
Argyle said @ 6:00 AM "Sugar Hill, up in Harlem."
See, I was answering where the "A" Train goes, per Duke Ellington.
C.C., regarding SCALD, I've mostly seen it referring to milk. You heat milk up to just less than boiling until it forms a 'skin' on top.
For those wanting more challenging puzzles, I am certainly being challenged by Sylvia Burzstyn's last Sunday Calendar puzzle.
The Dodgers look sad and bedraggled. Woe is us.
Another Dennis? How's about we call everyone Bruce just to keep things clear?
Thanks,
-- Bruce
Good Day CC and All,
Started the puzzle this morning in Haste because I was scheduled to shoot some grades in the field. Just finished it. My biggest problem was putting Atra in for Trac. Duh! I've used both. I've been catching onto the theme answers lately which has helped tremendously. Kebab gave me fits, truly deceived by Starbuck but I got NYSE. (I despise credit cards even though we have one) Favorite clue was Good Buddies.
Thanks again for the AC/DC RSD!
Jeannie, Nice recipes! My butternuts failed and I only got about 6 summer squash this year. I may go out and buy some tomatoes from the farm stand to try that one. Being a cook that make things up as I go along, following a recipe takes a lot of discipline for me. I'll have my wife slap my hand if I go off track. She enjoys that!
About the only thing that did well in the garden this year was Jalapeno peppers. I'm going to pickle them because my oldest and I are the only ones who like them. We've got A TON.
All this talk of food....I'm stahvin'!
Enjoy the afternoon.
Hi gang -
It was 38 degrees here at 7:00 a.m. and there was FROST on my lawn. Still only about 50, and it's a little over an hour before game. We saw Eddie Bonine, last night winning pitcher, get hammered on night earlier this season when he was with the Mud Hens. Sounds more like a NASCAR than a baseball name to me. I think Robertson is on the mound today. Exciting late season action for Twins and Tigers fans.
Liked the homophone theme. Too bad PHONE wasn't a fill to go with 14A HOMO.
Gotta run. Lunch is being served.
Cheers?
JzB the hungry trombonist
I really loved the Melville reference, but it all this talk, brought back memories of Terry Bradshaw’s second wife, Jojo STARBUCK .
Apparently I was wrong, about the worst cars of all time, but the YUGO did make the list.
Anyone who read SUPERMAN COMICS, is familiar with the term CUB REPORTER as it was Jimmy Olsen’s goal.
Dennis, do not be so hard on yourself about the days of the week, though having a clone was confusing; especially as I see you as the PDA type.
Or to do her a little justice, JOJO .
Wow, Dennis, I guess I am in good company. I didn't even realize that I thought yesterday was Thursday until Jeannie pointed it out. I guess I am in the bottom half of the stupidity scale per George Carlin, or just very hopeful and looking forward to the weekend. My husband has been out of town since last Friday. That might be part of it.
I loved this puzzle and thought it was more challenging again, but certainly doable. I loved how so many clues led you to an fill that was different from what we would normally expect (TRAC, NYSE are examples). I couldn't finish the SE corner without help as I forgot the S in SIMPSON and wasn't seeing the omission. That goofed everything up. Hmmm, I am a little distracted as I am hosting BUNCO tonight and have a sick kid at home.
Therefore, gotta go and prepare. I am sad about my Twins. Will take a minor miracle to get them in the playoffs, but love them anyway.
Best news of my day was Jimmy John's sandwiches for $1 from 11-3. I had a nice lunch for a low price.
Got "aortic" on first time across, but when I went back to do the downs, I was determined 27d was kabob. That threw me off for a while with "oortic." Also, all I could think of for "doe" was a female deer, so it was not until I had most of anonymous that it dawned on me. Did have to look up "amyl." Had "mule" instead of "mole" for a while. "Mule" is someone who carries dope shipments, usually on their persons.
It took a little longer today. Several interruptions and a break to email son.
Had some very welcome rain last night, but not enough.
KQ, I'm sad about the Texas Rangers. They had a good chance to get into the playoffs this year, but really stumbled the last few weeks. They are out of it completely. Bless their hearts, they tried so hard.
Good afternoon C.C. and all
Kazie, if it makes you feel any better, my fill for 17A. was Anonymouscorpse , what fun, LoL
but i soon saw the error of my ways and corrected it.
Very fun puzzle
Interesting juxtaposition of Texas Rangers and Anonymouscorpse; I really hope Texas keeps progressing, they have suffered for their entire existence
Greetings all -
I loved this puzzle! Very nice brain teaser today with great cluing. Had to really work through all the same clues as everyone else. Had a partial fill on Homer Simpson cry and lots of blanks down in that southern region. As I was booting up the computer for help here, Homer Simpson cry came to me, and all the rest fell easily.
My only misstep was putting Ville for de Gaulle's birthplace instead of Lille, although I knew that "Keynote in a scave" made absolutely no sense... forgot to go back and double check it until I saw cc's answers.
Summer is officially over - we closed our pool this morning. Should have done it weeks ago, but finally got it scheduled for today. In the rain... It's quite chilly again today, so the crockpot is getting another workout.
I didn't catch the two Dennis's at first - thought it was wierd that Dennis I would have to look up PDA. Not a knock against Dennis II, just out of character for Dennis I. Now it makes sense. :)
Andrea
Thanks to all the posters...it's fascinating to read people discussing my puzzle :)
As you know, puzzle editors change clues to make them fit with the difficulty and day of the puzzle. I honestly don't remember which ones Rich changed, especially because I submitted it more than four month ago (I know it's been that long because our twins were born at the end of May, and I definitely did it before then).
Hi C.C. and everyone -
Not bad for a Thursday but I did trip up in several places.
C.C., thank you for the explanation on 55D, I had no idea. I have read 'Moby Dick' too and still it did not click.
62D got me too...I was also thinking of outlet stores.
I had to laugh when I saw BRUSH as the answer to 38A...I was thinking of sitting in the dental chair.
Why is 'Kabob' spelled so many ways, drives me nuts!! But then that is a short drive.
Carol: Kebob/kebab has so many spellings because it is derived from an Arabic word. The Arabic alphabet is different from the one we use. The "English" spelling is a transliteration from the arabic. It is spelled into English phonetically.
Jon, thanks for stopping by, and keep up the good work; it really was a fun solve this morning.
Oh, and congratulations on the twins.
Jon,
I second those congrats on the twins. Are they teething and keeping you up at night yet? We have at least one blogger here who is a twin, if you ever need any insight into the situation.
Your cluing on this puzzle was fresh and a little different from what we're used to--a nice change.
Maria,
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought of corpse!
Jon - thanks for a clever puzzle today and for your comments. Let me add my congratulations on your twins. Twice the fun (among other things) :)
Kelev - thank you for the info on kebab/bob.
Oxo is one of my favorite brands. Their products are great and long-lasting.
3 1/2 hours later Tigers and Twins are still ATIT. Got ugly late in the game. Not exactly sure what happened. With the Twins up 8-1 (now 8-3, bottom of the 9th)I wasn't paying much attention. A couple of hit batters, some horrible umpiring, and The Tiger's manager ejected for some unknown reason. I don't think the Tigers and Twins have historically had bad blood - maybe the tension is getting to them.
A Tigers win today would have ended the mystery (or is it misery). But what fun is that?
Magic number is still 2. Twins get to finish against K.C., but have to face Greinke on Saturday. Tiger's get the ChiSox at home. When the plot thickened it didn't know it would turn into oatmeal.
Game's over. Twins won.
Cheers, I guess . . .
JzB the Tiger fan trombonist
Vegetarian Day?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
I must be off!
Hmmmmm. Jon has twins and the Twins win the day we get his puzzle. Coincidence? I don't think so!
Buckeye -
Hence the Tome "How to Serve Man" which is a cookbook. (I think it calls for Castor and Pollux oil)
Twin Cheers!
JzB the suddenly not hungry trombonist
(OK - full disclosure: I already had dinner - and a nice martini)
10:24 today. Loved the puzzle, especially the theme entries. Homophones are probably my favorite theme.
I know c.c. doesn't especially care for this (multiple clues with the same sound), but I love it. Doe, do, dough, d'oh--bring it on! Now we need dew, do, dieux, etc.
Oh, and for another four-letter European capital, there's always ROME and BERN (probably others, as well).
There are some words I see only in crossword puzzles; words like ABOIL or AROAR. In the real world, I would see boiling or roaring instead. What do you think?
And, whenever I see PDA, I can't help but think of Public Displays of Affection.
Hello All--A really fun puzzle today. The homophones were very cleverly clued.
I did have the same troubles as almost everyone else. I wanted club for iron, Atra for Trac and of course, misspelled kebab--I chose one of the other alternatives. The perps straighted those out and it was pretty much smooth sailing the rest of the way.
I did have to look up A-train and Amyl, but once I had those two answers in, I was able to finish the bottom portion of the puzzle without any other help.
I had to use my "outside the box" thinking today which made me work a little harder. I liked the challenge.
Jon, Thank you for commenting today. It is always nice when a constructor joins in our banter. Also, congratulations on your twins. They must be just at the age to begin to find their personalities.
Buckeye! Buckeye! Humanitarian indeed. LOL.
Kazie:
I don't believe the country of Yugoslavia exists today.
Jon -
Thanks for stopping by. Based on your comment about the timing of your submission being pre-twins, I'm guessing we won't be seeing another puzzle for awhile? I really enjoyed this one, and definitely look forward to your next one!
Hope you're enjoying every minute with the twins!
Andrea
CC - I forgot to mention Thanks for the link to unagi, my all time favorite sushi. Interesting, given that I am deathly afraid of snakes.. I've been craving sushi all day.
Hi again, back from a day of shopping and other errands. Managed to get home for under $400 bucks. Lately it seems like there is alway one or two extra $100 items that have to taken care of right away.
WM, picked up several bottles of Ménage à Trois red. It is getting to be my favorite reasonably priced wine. For variety, there is Toasted Head chardonnay.
One disappointment..we bought a dozen Washington state Honeycrisp apples and paid about 1/3 more than for the Pink Ladies I usually buy. I think our blog Minnesotans were recently saying how good Honeycrisps are. I had one for lunch and although it was crispy and juicy, it was remarkably bland tasting. Are Honeycrisps just not as sweet/tart if they aren't grown in the northern mid-west?
Is it OK to be a lacto-vegetarian today? We're having tomato-basil pizza for dinner, but I wouldn't bother if there wasn't lots of gooey cheese involved.
Symmetries:
Anyone for CREAMed BEAST on vegetarian day?
Be careful with that TRAC II if you have ACNE.
Because of Prop 8, no HOMO I DO'S.
Nor AC/DC AMOR, I suppose.
Ellington could sure WARM UP the A TRAIN!
OSAS have CUBS.
Google OSLO NUDE, if you dare.
Is there a CON MAN in NARNIA?
The LW is of the LEOS; they're not RARE.
Would the ROI des bâtons have lots of RBIs?
Worms notwithstanding, there was more than one LILLE ERROR today.
Was nappy IMUS in a BLUR that fateful day?
I RON. Am I RON "A", or just a Ron?
And the center cross of a NIP IN INK.
Cheers! (#4)
JzB the ANONYMOUS PERSON trombonist
Evening CC and fellow bloggers: Had to finally come here to get the extreme se corner...amex threw me too, tried so hard to fit VISA in there...(which is what Mr.Seff intended, I`m sure...) got "homersimpson" but couldn`t get cry...even after acdc (which BTW meant bi-sexual in my younger days.) The rest I worked on little by little as I put the finishing touches on that "Mother of all yard sales" starting in the AM for two days. They are all over town this weekend.
dccannon: You must be from the south, bless your heart. They say you can malign anyone all you want, in the south, as long as you say, "bless their hearts" after you say it. :)
BTW: Making mistakes does not indicate stupidity...
just too much on your mind or too much haste, usually...Just remember, please, stupidity is congenital, it`s ignorance that`s voluntary! I don`t think anyone here is ignorant...if we are, about anything, keeping up with this blog will solve that!
Linda, the comma-use queen signing off because yard sale shoppers come bright and early!
Linda, Good luck with the yard sale. Don't you just grit your teeth at the folks (bless their hearts!) who start poking around at 6:30 AM, when your signs or ads say "Open at 7:00 AM"?
I hope you can keep your husband at home, selling your stuff, so he won't be tempted to check out any of the other sales going on in your town this weekend.
WH,
The Yugos lasted over four decades, according to this article, and were only introduced here in 1986, so Yugoslavia would have been in existence when they were "born". I'm not sure, but I think it began breaking up only in 1991.
Hello, puzzle-friends.
Foggy brain today, possibly due to chilly weather or my stint "child sitting" yesterday evening. Almost got off the train this a.m. at the wrong stop. D'oh!
Puzzle was slow to yield to my attempts to solve it. Had a tomato/basil/ mozzarella sandwich for lunch, slapped together this morning with day-old bread that somehow perked up between 7:00 and noon, Turned ino a "brain defogger" so the puzzle fell together.
Anyone else try to end NEUR with OTIC? My bad. Laura Dern could have won a prize for "worst actor, ever" in Jurassic Park. #2?? Remember when she was digging through dung and one of the creatures showed up and she reacted two seconds BEFORE it made its appearance? Jeff Goldblum was good, though.
OXO makes a wonderful vegetable peeler. Watch your fingers with that thing--very sharp!
AMYL threw me for a loop! I had "Sound of Music" songs running through my head after the puzzle. "Doe, a deer, a female deer; Re, a drop of golden sun...."
C. C., Since I was at work, I was very hesitant to cick on a link entitled "our buns"!
We have a few restaurants here that make wonderful steamed Chinese buns, that I think are called "Bao." Tasty and cheap and filling.
The "A train" goes into Harlem in NYC. My Mom's mother grew up near there in a neighborhood that was a mix of Irish, African American, and Eastern European Jews. She finished school in 8th grade (not uncommon in that era) but read about 5 books a week for most of her life, remembered much of what she read, could speak some Yiddish, and taught me to love puzzles. Miss her every day.
To get to the famed Apollo theater to attend a show or to perform, take the A train and "dress nice." That's what the instructions they sent me said, along with a map. Didn't get lost, for a change.
Grandma's advice? "Close with a song," so...
"Adieu, to yeux and yeux and yeux"
PJB:Chicago. Sound of music is good because it is Julie Andrews' birthday today.
I can only hope the absence of WM is that she is busy painting my daisies...
Linda, sorry to hear about your losses of late. Hopefully they have found peace and are in a better place.
PJB...one of my favorite sandwiches...fresh mozz? Toasted? What kind of day old bread?
Jeannie the DF gourmet.
@Jeannie, will be making your tomato recipe tomorrow with the "heirloom" tomatoes I earned in exchange for child minding yesterday.
My "sammy" (one of the 6,000 annoying words Oprah uses) was on ciabatta bread, which is slightly sour and full of holes (bubbles?), the basil was Thai, the mozz was fresh--buffalo, the kind that swims in brine, and that you need to towel off a bit before it communes with bread--and it went, sadly, untoasted because all we have at that office is a microwave and I'm not a huge fan of nuking bread or cheese. Wishing I'd thrown a little black pepper on it, though.
People at the three offices i work at, actually follow me into the "kitchenette" to spy on my lunch. Sort of unnerving, no?
Last time I made lemony hummus, people acted like I brought the dead to life, not kidding.
Everything I know about food I learned from my friend D****. A really back-to-basics chef who made me taste spices/herbs blindfolded until I could name them! Funner than it sounds....I was the best man at her wedding. Well, I was the ONLY man at her wedding other than the caterer and her Dad, because she "married" a woman. Needless to say, we ate well.
Keep the recipes coming! Maybe you could start a "flog" [food blog]?
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