Theme: Pet Food - Part of a common food/beverage item is substituted with the sound a animal makes and the resulting punny phrase is clued with question marked appropriate animal name and the food/beverage hint.
23A. Duck's snack?: GRAHAM QUACKER. Graham Cracker. Duck quacks. This is the only theme entry where the pun is not really based on the pet sound "quack", but rather the pet itself "quacker".
38A. Canary's cereal?: SHREDDED TWEET. Shredded wheat. Canary tweets.
71A. Dog's creamer?: ARF AND ARF. Half and Half. Arf is the dog bark sound.
101A. Owl's beverage?: HOOT CHOCOLATE. Hot Chocolate. Owl hoots.
122A. Chick's first course?: SPLIT PEEP SOUP. Split Pea Soup. Chick peeps.
3D. Sheep's eggplant dish?: BAA BAA GHANOUJ. Baba Ghanouj (or Ghanoush). A dish I've never heard of. The constructor might have anticipated so, otherwise there would not be a direct "eggplant" hint. Hard to make eggplant taste good. Sheep baas.
59D. Cow's dessert? RASPBERRY MOOS. Raspberry Mousse. Cow moos.
From beverage to food. From first course to dessert. Lovely range of choices. Delicious theme clues too.
More entries for the hungry:
34A. __ Wafers: NILLA
50A. Hog meat: HAM. And PENS (62A. Hog hangouts). Hog echos.
31D. Browns in a pan: SEARS. Love seared tuna.
And of course, being a musician, John always sprinkles a few music references in his puzzle:
47A. B-flat equivalent: A-SHARP
74A. Cavaradossi's lover: TOSCA. The Puccini opera.
116A. Third degree of a musical scale: MEDIANT. New word to me. And PH. D (49D. Third deg.?). Bachelor. Master & Ph.D. Third degree echo.
55D. Vivaldi's hour: ORA. Italian for "hour".
56D. Pachelbel's "__ in D Major": CANON. Waiting for Jazzbumpa to find a perfect link.
114D. "__ in Calico": Crosby song: A GAL. Here is a clip. I was ignorant of the song.
I've highlighted in green all the cross-references and clue echos, John's hallmark. I also noticed that there's not even one cheater/helper square in the whole grid.
Across:
1. Outback developer: SUBARU. Immediately thought of Kazie and Australia.
7. Like students on finals eve: UP LATE
13. Turn over with faith: ENTRUST
20. Pain relief brand: ANACIN. And OTC (90. Like 20-Across, briefly) & ACHE (4D: 20-Across target).
21. Bit of inclemency: SHOWER
22. Have advance knowledge of, as the future: SEE INTO
25. Crossword whose answers contain all 26 letters, e.g.: PANGRAM. We've seen quite a few from Barry Silk.
26. Jeer: GIBE
27. Play narrated by a stage manager: OUR TOWN. The Thornton Wilder play.
28. Half of a Pacific island: BORA. Bora Bora.
29. Supermarket ID: UPC (Universal Product Code). And MDSE (33. Gds). Merchandise. Would prefer "Goods: Abbr.".
30. Ecol. watchdog: EPA
31. Give and take: SWAP. Nice clue.
32. Je t'__: I love you, in France: AIME. Wo Ai Ni, in Chinese.
36. Blind alley: DEAD END. And TOMCATS (19D. Alley prowlers). Alley echo.
42. 1998 biopic about model Carangi: GIA. Played by Angelina Jolie.
43. Camelot charger: STEED. Alliteration.
45. Like sirens: SEXY
46. Long-shot winners defy them: ODDS. Nailed it.
51. Stair posts: NEWELS
53. "Alice in Wonderland" (2010) star Wasikowska: MIA. Total stranger to me. An Aussi.
57. Garden party hiree: CATERER
64. Film with Bond girl Honey Ryder: DR. NO. Honey Ryder sounds very DF.
65. Jason's ship: ARGO
68. 1998 Olympics city: NAGANO. Winter Olympics.
69. Beak: SNOOT
75. Fresh: UNUSED
77. Picked do: AFRO
78. Aptly named beam: Z-BAR. No idea. Shaped like Z?
81. Lounging garb: PAJAMAS
83. Diner on a hill: ANTEATER. Ah, I definitely need a question mark in the clue.
86. NYC subway line named for two boroughs: BMT. Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit. Good to know.
87. Cue: PROMPT
91. __femoris: thigh muscle: BICEPS. See this diagram. I always associate biceps with upper arms. Also QUADS (24D: Thigh muscles). Where are quads, Dennis?
93. It may be filled with Londonderry air: TYRE. British spelling of tire. Londonderry is a new word to me. Adjective of London?
97. Van Gogh's confidant brother: THEO. He died a few months after Van Gogh killed himself.
98. Early Teutons: GOTHS
100. Mastodon preserver: TAR
104. Bunkers and streams, to golfers: HAZARDS. Hmm, it's the lake I fear. You can always pick up your balls along the streams.
108. Actress Rene: RUSSO. Love her in "Tin Cup".
109. Signed note: CHIT
111. Even so: YET
112. Fury: IRE
113. Facetious "Not funny": HA HA. And ROASTS (61D. Facetious tributes). Facetious echos.
119. Uma's role in "The Avengers": EMMA
120. Demand to be free: LET ME GO. I like the answer.
124. Not metaphorical: LITERAL
125. Tube: TEEVEE. Weird to see TV spelled out.
126. Service station feature, briefly: C- STORE. Silly, but I've never heard of Convenience Store abbreviated as C-Store.
127. Regal: STATELY
128. Garden tools: EDGERS
129. Equilibria: STASES. Plural of stasis. Euilibria is plural of equilibrium.
Down:
1. Declined: SAGGED. Not the "Declined" I had in mind.
5. Estuary: RIA
6. Going to seed, as grass: UNMOWN
7. Grab, as power: USURP
8. "Cool" relative: PHAT. And FAT (73. Full of flab). Alliteration.
9. In __ parentis: LOCO. Latin.
10. Like most early adolescents: AWKWARD. Nice clue.
11. __ Beanies: Little stuffed animals: TEENIE
12. Muff a grounder: ERR. Baseball.
13. Hockey's Phil, to fans: ESPO. Finally I remembered his name.
15. One paying a flat fee?: TENANT. Flat = Apartment.
17. Like printer paper: UNRULED. And STAPLED (18. Attached, as paper). Consecutive paper echo.
28. Moisten, poetically: BEDEW
35. Noted WWII photo site, briefly: IWO. Iwo Jima.
37. Diego's day: DIA. Alliteration.
38. Blockade: SEAL OFF
39. Blood: pref.: HEMA. Hemo too.
40. Biz boss: EXEC. Alliteration again. All the last three clues start with B. Not a coincidence. I can assure you.
44. Powerful D.C. lobby: THE NRA. THE got me.
47. Intensifies: AMPS UP
48. Earth shade: SIENNA. Beautiful shade! Sienna Miller has a unique style.
52. ER "Right away!": STAT. And TEMP (70. ER stat). ER echo.
58. They may need stroking: EGOS. Nailed it.
60. Bivouac: ENCAMP
63. Former Cub star: SOSA (Sammy). He spent his best years with the Cubs.
66. Martha's Vineyard paper since 1846: GAZETTE. Easy guess.
67. "Law & Order" actor: ORBACH (Jerry). His son Tony Orbach is a crossword constructor.
72. What the suspicious smell: A RAT
76. Sith lord's title: DARTH. Darth Vader.
79. Lee follower: REB. R. E. Lee.
82. Trendy London area: SOHO
84. Honk: TOOT
85. Posh: RITZY
88. Much-visited place: MECCA
89. Bear in a red shirt: POOH. ''Winnie-the- Pooh".
92. 1880s pres. monogram: CAA (Chester A. Arthur). Stumper.
93. Pulse quickeners: THRILLS
94. Touching comment?: YOU'RE IT. The tag game. Clever clue.
95. Stone name: ROSETTA. Rosetta Stone.
96. Visitors from afar, for short: ETS
98. Drop leaf support: GATE LEG. New word to me. It's defined as "a leg attached to a hinged frame that can be swung out to support a drop leaf table".
99. Stood out: SHONE
102. Stick: COHERE. Tricky clue.
103. Favored a foot: LIMPED
105. Montezuma's people: AZTECS. Montezuma is the last Aztec emperor.
106. Coyly decorous: DEMURE
107. Middle ear bone: STAPES. Also called stirrup.
110. Bull attractors: CAPES. Not interested in bullfighting at all.
115. Blessed: HOLY
117. Ring pretense: DIVE. Not familiar with this boxing term. Dictionary says it's "a false show of being knocked out, usually in a bout whose result has been prearranged: to take a dive in an early round".
118. Old Roman road: ITER
119 ""¿Cómo __?": ESTA
121. Strawberry, in the '80s: MET. Gimme. I have lots of worthless Darryl Strawberry baseball cards.
122. Véronique, e.g.: Abbr.: STE (Sainte). I've never heard of Véronique. French I presume?
Answer grid.
Happy Mother's Day!
C.C.
23A. Duck's snack?: GRAHAM QUACKER. Graham Cracker. Duck quacks. This is the only theme entry where the pun is not really based on the pet sound "quack", but rather the pet itself "quacker".
38A. Canary's cereal?: SHREDDED TWEET. Shredded wheat. Canary tweets.
71A. Dog's creamer?: ARF AND ARF. Half and Half. Arf is the dog bark sound.
101A. Owl's beverage?: HOOT CHOCOLATE. Hot Chocolate. Owl hoots.
122A. Chick's first course?: SPLIT PEEP SOUP. Split Pea Soup. Chick peeps.
3D. Sheep's eggplant dish?: BAA BAA GHANOUJ. Baba Ghanouj (or Ghanoush). A dish I've never heard of. The constructor might have anticipated so, otherwise there would not be a direct "eggplant" hint. Hard to make eggplant taste good. Sheep baas.
59D. Cow's dessert? RASPBERRY MOOS. Raspberry Mousse. Cow moos.
From beverage to food. From first course to dessert. Lovely range of choices. Delicious theme clues too.
More entries for the hungry:
34A. __ Wafers: NILLA
50A. Hog meat: HAM. And PENS (62A. Hog hangouts). Hog echos.
31D. Browns in a pan: SEARS. Love seared tuna.
And of course, being a musician, John always sprinkles a few music references in his puzzle:
47A. B-flat equivalent: A-SHARP
74A. Cavaradossi's lover: TOSCA. The Puccini opera.
116A. Third degree of a musical scale: MEDIANT. New word to me. And PH. D (49D. Third deg.?). Bachelor. Master & Ph.D. Third degree echo.
55D. Vivaldi's hour: ORA. Italian for "hour".
56D. Pachelbel's "__ in D Major": CANON. Waiting for Jazzbumpa to find a perfect link.
114D. "__ in Calico": Crosby song: A GAL. Here is a clip. I was ignorant of the song.
I've highlighted in green all the cross-references and clue echos, John's hallmark. I also noticed that there's not even one cheater/helper square in the whole grid.
Across:
1. Outback developer: SUBARU. Immediately thought of Kazie and Australia.
7. Like students on finals eve: UP LATE
13. Turn over with faith: ENTRUST
20. Pain relief brand: ANACIN. And OTC (90. Like 20-Across, briefly) & ACHE (4D: 20-Across target).
21. Bit of inclemency: SHOWER
22. Have advance knowledge of, as the future: SEE INTO
25. Crossword whose answers contain all 26 letters, e.g.: PANGRAM. We've seen quite a few from Barry Silk.
26. Jeer: GIBE
27. Play narrated by a stage manager: OUR TOWN. The Thornton Wilder play.
28. Half of a Pacific island: BORA. Bora Bora.
29. Supermarket ID: UPC (Universal Product Code). And MDSE (33. Gds). Merchandise. Would prefer "Goods: Abbr.".
30. Ecol. watchdog: EPA
31. Give and take: SWAP. Nice clue.
32. Je t'__: I love you, in France: AIME. Wo Ai Ni, in Chinese.
36. Blind alley: DEAD END. And TOMCATS (19D. Alley prowlers). Alley echo.
42. 1998 biopic about model Carangi: GIA. Played by Angelina Jolie.
43. Camelot charger: STEED. Alliteration.
45. Like sirens: SEXY
46. Long-shot winners defy them: ODDS. Nailed it.
51. Stair posts: NEWELS
53. "Alice in Wonderland" (2010) star Wasikowska: MIA. Total stranger to me. An Aussi.
57. Garden party hiree: CATERER
64. Film with Bond girl Honey Ryder: DR. NO. Honey Ryder sounds very DF.
65. Jason's ship: ARGO
68. 1998 Olympics city: NAGANO. Winter Olympics.
69. Beak: SNOOT
75. Fresh: UNUSED
77. Picked do: AFRO
78. Aptly named beam: Z-BAR. No idea. Shaped like Z?
81. Lounging garb: PAJAMAS
83. Diner on a hill: ANTEATER. Ah, I definitely need a question mark in the clue.
86. NYC subway line named for two boroughs: BMT. Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit. Good to know.
87. Cue: PROMPT
91. __femoris: thigh muscle: BICEPS. See this diagram. I always associate biceps with upper arms. Also QUADS (24D: Thigh muscles). Where are quads, Dennis?
93. It may be filled with Londonderry air: TYRE. British spelling of tire. Londonderry is a new word to me. Adjective of London?
97. Van Gogh's confidant brother: THEO. He died a few months after Van Gogh killed himself.
98. Early Teutons: GOTHS
100. Mastodon preserver: TAR
104. Bunkers and streams, to golfers: HAZARDS. Hmm, it's the lake I fear. You can always pick up your balls along the streams.
108. Actress Rene: RUSSO. Love her in "Tin Cup".
109. Signed note: CHIT
111. Even so: YET
112. Fury: IRE
113. Facetious "Not funny": HA HA. And ROASTS (61D. Facetious tributes). Facetious echos.
119. Uma's role in "The Avengers": EMMA
120. Demand to be free: LET ME GO. I like the answer.
124. Not metaphorical: LITERAL
125. Tube: TEEVEE. Weird to see TV spelled out.
126. Service station feature, briefly: C- STORE. Silly, but I've never heard of Convenience Store abbreviated as C-Store.
127. Regal: STATELY
128. Garden tools: EDGERS
129. Equilibria: STASES. Plural of stasis. Euilibria is plural of equilibrium.
Down:
1. Declined: SAGGED. Not the "Declined" I had in mind.
5. Estuary: RIA
6. Going to seed, as grass: UNMOWN
7. Grab, as power: USURP
8. "Cool" relative: PHAT. And FAT (73. Full of flab). Alliteration.
9. In __ parentis: LOCO. Latin.
10. Like most early adolescents: AWKWARD. Nice clue.
11. __ Beanies: Little stuffed animals: TEENIE
12. Muff a grounder: ERR. Baseball.
13. Hockey's Phil, to fans: ESPO. Finally I remembered his name.
15. One paying a flat fee?: TENANT. Flat = Apartment.
17. Like printer paper: UNRULED. And STAPLED (18. Attached, as paper). Consecutive paper echo.
28. Moisten, poetically: BEDEW
35. Noted WWII photo site, briefly: IWO. Iwo Jima.
37. Diego's day: DIA. Alliteration.
38. Blockade: SEAL OFF
39. Blood: pref.: HEMA. Hemo too.
40. Biz boss: EXEC. Alliteration again. All the last three clues start with B. Not a coincidence. I can assure you.
44. Powerful D.C. lobby: THE NRA. THE got me.
47. Intensifies: AMPS UP
48. Earth shade: SIENNA. Beautiful shade! Sienna Miller has a unique style.
52. ER "Right away!": STAT. And TEMP (70. ER stat). ER echo.
58. They may need stroking: EGOS. Nailed it.
60. Bivouac: ENCAMP
63. Former Cub star: SOSA (Sammy). He spent his best years with the Cubs.
66. Martha's Vineyard paper since 1846: GAZETTE. Easy guess.
67. "Law & Order" actor: ORBACH (Jerry). His son Tony Orbach is a crossword constructor.
72. What the suspicious smell: A RAT
76. Sith lord's title: DARTH. Darth Vader.
79. Lee follower: REB. R. E. Lee.
82. Trendy London area: SOHO
84. Honk: TOOT
85. Posh: RITZY
88. Much-visited place: MECCA
89. Bear in a red shirt: POOH. ''Winnie-the- Pooh".
92. 1880s pres. monogram: CAA (Chester A. Arthur). Stumper.
93. Pulse quickeners: THRILLS
94. Touching comment?: YOU'RE IT. The tag game. Clever clue.
95. Stone name: ROSETTA. Rosetta Stone.
96. Visitors from afar, for short: ETS
98. Drop leaf support: GATE LEG. New word to me. It's defined as "a leg attached to a hinged frame that can be swung out to support a drop leaf table".
99. Stood out: SHONE
102. Stick: COHERE. Tricky clue.
103. Favored a foot: LIMPED
105. Montezuma's people: AZTECS. Montezuma is the last Aztec emperor.
106. Coyly decorous: DEMURE
107. Middle ear bone: STAPES. Also called stirrup.
110. Bull attractors: CAPES. Not interested in bullfighting at all.
115. Blessed: HOLY
117. Ring pretense: DIVE. Not familiar with this boxing term. Dictionary says it's "a false show of being knocked out, usually in a bout whose result has been prearranged: to take a dive in an early round".
118. Old Roman road: ITER
119 ""¿Cómo __?": ESTA
121. Strawberry, in the '80s: MET. Gimme. I have lots of worthless Darryl Strawberry baseball cards.
122. Véronique, e.g.: Abbr.: STE (Sainte). I've never heard of Véronique. French I presume?
Answer grid.
Happy Mother's Day!
C.C.
56 comments:
Well Clearayes, I just finished my stretches and am heading out to the Mall of America for the "race for the cure". Ghungy, Lo-li-ta is in the water and it was a cold day out there on Lake Waconia . We did manage to get some wind and had a blast. She is now nestled on her bouy and "sail ready". CA, I didn't have time to have a t-shirt made with your name on it, but my badge has it displayed proudly on my chest. I will send a pic if I can manage it.
Happy Mother's Day to you all and I will check in later.
BillG, I am sure your omelets can match mine any day of the week. I have to get going if I am going to make it on time. If anything, I will get to do some GREAT window shopping as I walk. I am going by myself so I doubt that as I tend to meet new friends wherever I go.
I will check in later, and I left my credit card at home!!
Morning, all!
Gotta get the family ready to trek over to my mom's house for lunch. At her request, we are doing Chinese buffet.
I made slow, but steady, progress through the puzzle today, with two sticking points. The first was in the West, where AMPS UP, MIA and PENS all collided ungracefully. I stupidly had CSHARP instead of ASHARP for 47D (no excuse for that, really), and that kept AMPS UP from sight for awhile. Plus, I had no idea who MIA Wasikowska is. Oh -- and all I could think of for 62A was STYS, which I knew wasn't the correct spelling but (as I said) was all I could think of.
The other spot was my complete inability to accept that there was actually something called a ZBAR. I'm sure there is, and I think I even recall seeing pictures of one after it appeared in an earlier puzzle, but for some reason I was convinced it had to be IBAR and I just couldn't make sense of the resulting jumble of letters I got for 66D. I really should hold off doing the morning puzzle until after I've had my caffeine infusion...
And in other, unrelated news, it looks like my job situation is still in flux. I signed the official retention agreement that gave me a three months "transition" period and started submitting my resume to various job postings in earnest. I just got an e-mail from the top level VP I met with last week, though, telling me not to sign it since she was still trying to see if I could stick around longer (maybe six months, maybe longer). Oops. Every time I resign myself to my fate, my fate keeps changing...
Good morning, C.C. and all you Moms out there; happy Mothers'Day!
This was a "grind it out" puzzle for me today. The theme was funny but a bit stretched in a few places. I eat a lot of eggplant but never heard of ghanouj or ghanous (nor has my spellchecker). My time was 67 minutes, much of it hard labor, but no look-ups. Favorite theme answer was "arf and arf".
Have a great Lord's Day.
Good Morning, CC and all. This was not a good puzzle for me. I figured out the theme with ARF AND ARF, but had a really hard time with puzzle. There were some good clues, however.
I liked Diner On A Hill = ANTEATER, and
Loose One Can Trip You Up = SHOE LACE
I learned the word PANGRAM only after I joined this blog.
CC, Londonderry is a city in northwest Northern Ireland, as can be seen on this may.
Darryl Strawberry, the MET, is going around to book stores for a book signing. He was recently in a bookstore in Mendham, New Jersey.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, and daughters in the Crossword Corner.
QOD: Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. ~ Henri Bergson
Frank,
Why suddenly "Have a great Lord's Day" rather than a normal "Have a great Sunday"?
HAPPY MOTHER’S day to all of you fortunate enough to still have a mother living, and all of you ladies who have progeny. As a made up celebration, this is a wonderful idea, as celebrating the joy of motherhood should always be a priority.
The puzzle was difficult, with many answers for which I had no knowledge and had to really slog at the perps. Oddly, one of the new words was NEWEL which is my ex-MIL’s maiden name, and my youngest sons middle name. I guess I never thought about the history. She and I did not always get along well, though now we do.
Back to the puzzle, clues like Diner on a hill: ANTEATER, Touching comment?: YOU'RE IT really make you think, and while I did not remember the young Aussie actress who play Alice in the new movie, I was amused by the presence of RIA, DIA, MIA and GIA , I kept waiting for KIA to show up. Speaking of pretty women, I do like a reminder of the movie SIRENS and of course, as C.C. pointed out, Ian Fleming loved his double entendre heroine names, like Pussy Galore (Goldfinger) "Pussy" has several meanings. One is "cat." Dr. Holly Goodhead (Moonraker). Xenia Onatopp and the ridiculous Plenty O'Toole (Diamonds are Forever) In the movie, Bond asks her if she was named after her father.
Speaking of Van Gogh and his brother, there is a wonderful historical novel SUNFLOWERS written by a history professor, that chronicles the last years of his life.
I love the puzzle, and while I never heard the term, when I googled C-STORE it directed me here, so….
LOLITA number 1? Enjoy the walk!
Al, I think the link viewing advice you gave Dodo last night/this morning is browser dependent. I believe it works for Firefox and IE, but I don't have the same result with Chrome.
C.C., I think that's called fishing, or maybe baiting. Either way, I think it should be ignored.
Jeannie, so great to be able to do the walk on Mother's Day. I saw a great sticker on a car this week: the awareness pink ribbon with this caption: Save the Ta Tas! Then another unrelated one: Come to the Dark Side -- we have cookies!
Have a great Mother's Day!
Good morning.
Had pretty much the experience of the earlier posters. Quite a slog, but no lookups needed. Theme fills were great once they became apparent. Favorite clues were for SUBURU and ANTEATER. Liked fresh fill like NEWELS and NAGANO. Did not like AMPSUP or STATELY. BEDEW was labored, too. Many good clues, though, and overall, fun to solve.
Off to a Mother's Day buffet.
C.C., tfrank is being provocative.
For those of you who did not read the wonderful late night post from AL, when you choose to view and imbedded link, right click on the link, and when the drop down menu appears, select Open New Window and then when you are through, just close that window and you are back to where you began. I am sure, knowing that is what made me the serial linker that I have become, and yes KZ, most imbeds are read and not commented on, similar to teaching and suggesting a good book to a class. Many read it, but seldom let you know.
Speaking of reading, C.C., your AUBERGINE prejudice notwithstanding, I have many wonderful eggplant parmesan dishes, as well as Babaganoush which was delicious. I learned all I know about British names of foods from Agatha Christie and POIROT proving , reading anything is educational.
IGNORE the trolls!
PS
AL's advice works for me in Google Chrome, maybe you need to upgrade? One advantage of Chrome is it will spell check as you type your post.
Happy Mother's Day one and all.
As I was sipping my coffee, with sugar and Half & Half, the perps got me the "arf and arf" and until I came here I had no idea how this worked as a theme answer. The other themes were gimmies.
Wrote in -SHARP for the B-Flat. Wanted 'C' but waited for the 'A' to appear.
Learned the 3rd degree musical scale, Mediant, and that stairs post, Newels. Always a plus.
All in all this was a "classic" crossword experience. Get stuck going across, try the downs, and visa-versa.
Fave was the Anteater, and ring pretense, Dive.
C.C.
Sunday for me is the Lord's day. If it offends anyone, I apologize. It is the way most folks down my way greet one another on Sunday.
Have a great Mother's Day.
I must live in a heathen area of the world.
Most people here greet each other on Sunday, or any other day of the week, with ... "Hello."
Of course there is the occasional:
"Good Morning!" (or Afternoon, or Evening)
"How ya doin'?"
"What's up?"
"Long time, no see."
and the simple, "Hi!"
Good Morning All, GAH was very quiet this morning, so I overslept for about an hour. Now that's a great Mother's Day gift! The result though, is that I don't have time to do the Sunday Big Boy. I'll try to get back to it later this evening.
We are heading out to see our daughter and her family for the day. We'll be eating at a restaurant...neither one of us wants to cook today and, as I said a few days ago, we are celebrating.
I really want to give Jeannie a big round of applause for her important activity today. I appreciate it so much. I'm sure her mother is hugely proud her.
Happy Mother's Day to all.
Happy Mother's Day, Puzzlers!
This was an ideal puzzle for me - no rivers, few sports clues, few proper nouns. Filled in using the scattershot method, except 117 and 118 just wouldn't come into focus. Never heard of ITER but I bet it's a staple. DIVE made no sense without CC's explanation.
Dodo from yesterday - I didn't spot an answer to your question about DNF. I assume it's DID NOT FINISH.
Have a nice day all, and thank you C.C.!
Tinbeni, Same here!!!
Tinbeni, I usually get, "Hi, ya big a**hole, how're you doing?".
Rather than finding the "perfect" version of Pachelbel's Cannon, I thought I'd post this one from a different viewpoint instead.
Happy Mother's Day everyone.
A most enjoyable puzzle today -- high degree of cleverness without too many stretches.
I'm with Hahtool, my favorites were ANTEATER, SHOELACE, and BAABAAGHANOUJ (though I have never seen the spelling with a J).
I too learned PANGRAM from the blog and appreciated learning NEWEL (thank you for the link, Lemonade) and MEDIANT.
Lemonade is sharp to notice RIA, DIA, MIA and GIA. I noticed also the strawberry and raspberry connection in this pangram.
Have a wonderful day.
Al
AWESOME hilarious clip. Thx
Hi.
Right. DNF means Did Not Finish as
in people who didn't finish the cross word puzzle. Probably have a few today. Also used in sports for people who didn't finish the contest. (Auto Racing)
To mix metaphors, the Sharks are on
2nd base. (Half way home) Bring on
Chicago! Am getting tired of this beard.
Meeting Brian and Alyson and her parents for dinner tonight.
eddyB 21
Koufaxmaravich:
Thank you; part of what is so awesome about our constructors like Mr. Lampkin, is they have so much going on in their puzzles and their minds. Part of the joy from the blog experience is one does not always pick up on everything, so the recap from C.C. often leads to my going, "oh, yeah, now I see." If I see something not mentioned, I will try and explain what I see. We could have had PIA (Zadora) VIA (Veneto) NIA (Long or Peebles)TIA (Tequila); well wnough, SIA you all later
32A: Thank you John Lampkin for using a French phrase I know and can spell! :-) And for giving us a fun puzzle that challenged me with its cleverness in a fun way and made me laugh! The biggest problem I had was the spelling of BAA BAA GHANOUJ, expecting it to end with an -S or -SH.
I liked DIVE, once I saw C.C.'s explanation for it!
Jeannie: The lake is beautiful. I hope you got a photo of you on or by your boat to share with us.
Barry G: At least it seems to be changing for the better. It must be hard wanting to have your future all neatly planned, yet still remain open to other options. Do these options they're giving you leave room for you to leave earlier if the right job comes along?
tfrank: Baba ghanoush is a very common appetizer on most Middle Eastern menus. It's very similar to Hummus, using eggplant instead of chick peas.
Crockett: I heard there was a lot of uproar over the "Save the Ta-Ta's" bumper stickers. Some people thought they were demeaning.
Viewing imbedded links: Shortly after I joined the blog someone had mentioned that you could also just hold down the SHIFT key when you click on a link. It will then open in it's own separate window that can be closed after viewing, and not affect your position in the blog! It does collapse the blog entry the link was in though, so I usually finish reading that person's entry before I click on the links.
John Lampkin is my favorite Sunday puzzle maker. Thank you for the enjoyment, John.
Anne
Good day, C.C. and puzzlers.
Happy Mothers' Day!
Upon seeing John Lampkin's name I knew this would be interesting and clever. It was.
Some fills were surprisingly straightforward, but most were misleading.
one paying a flat fee: tenant
third degree: phd (I like it, though it's a staple)
touching comment: you're it
diner on hill: anteater
Bedew is used in poetry of the Romantic age; iter and toga have become commonplace in puzzles. Newel is one I learned early on through xwds.
Very clever theme! Although I had no idea about ghanouj, ghanoush and the actresses. Haven't seen those movies so Mia and Gia were unknowns and I had to peek.
Have a wonderful day all. Jeannie congratulations for what you are doing.
There must be a ghost in the computer! My post disappeared and now I have to go. Later.
Happy Mothers' Day
Greetings to all!
Thank you C.C. for the concise and accurate summary, and thank you all for the kind comments and for pointing out the details. My Sunday puzzles tend to be intentionally complex and a lot of thought goes into creating the echoes in their various guises. It is so gratifying to see that the attention to detail is recognized and appreciated. You are a sharp bunch!
For the record, for Sundays I generally try to create a cheater-free pangram as with this puzzle. Rich allows cheaters, but they usually strike me as being visually inelegant. Setting a pangram as one of the goals is insures that there is a good scrabbly letter mix, and those words that use "hard" letters are generally more interesting and lively anyway.
STRAWBERRY MOOS was one of the options that fell on the cutting floor in favor of RASPBERRY MOOS because of entry length considerations. I had clued MET differently, and during clue editing, Rich found a way to get Strawberry in there both as an echo and as a sly wink to me. He gets all the credit for that one!
Thanks again, and happy solving!
Do these options they're giving you leave room for you to leave earlier if the right job comes along?
Well, sure. But I would have to forgo the retention bonus/severance package if I did. For a better-paying, more secure job, I don't think I'd miss it.
CC did not notice the pangram.
Of Course! DID NOT FINISH! Thanks, Dudley. That's a duh for me.
I did today's puzzle online and was so busy correcting typos where I didn't go to the red square to start my entry that I really don't remember whether it was hard or not! I didn't google anything, I know that much. I did like 'diner on a hill' and 'a loose one can trip you up'. Also liked the theme and theme fills. On the whole a good one.
I'm off to my daughter's for dinner this p.m. They are not very good think-aheaders so I wasn't sure what I'd be doing until Friday night. Got two lovely pashmina/silk shawls from Carole, my younger one. What a surprise. Usually she sends flowers and I'm always sad when they're gone. These are perfect for a light summer cover.
I had to sign up with You Tube to email my daughter, the one I'm seeing today, that Pachelbel link, Al, and I lied about my age. The first time in my life! This DD is a cellist and violinist, so I want to be there when she watches the clip! Her name's Molly. We laugh a lot together!
Jeannie, you are just great! I wiah I could join you!
Anon 4:05
When 25A was Pangram, I'm thinking
C.C. is too nice a lady to point out the obvious and redundant to you.
As John Lampkin pointed out in his comment, he likes to make his Sunday puzzle a pangram.
Whether one is, or isn't, doesn't necessarily make it a good puzzle.
"Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs."
The Avatar wants them to be Pinch.
Hi C.C. & gang, an enjoyable if long puzzle today, My wife and I finished it in about 45 minutes I think, I print out the hard copy and answers from online and that way if we get stuck the answers are on the back, that's the only way we can complete a Sunday puzzle in under an hour.
For C.C. and et. al.:
Here's some pictures of what a Z bar looks like.
Hi.
Was watching the NBC feed of the last two holes at The Players. Great finish. Tiger was a DNF.
Chicago game is in about an hour.
eddyB
eddyb, it's a crossword blog.
For Jeannie, FYI, we're making your meat loaf recipe again tonight for dinner and I expect soon it will smell heavenly. I forgot to tell you that I told one of our pottery friends about it and I gave her a copy of the recipe also.
;-)
For those who missed it, "Londonderry air" was also a musical clue. The "Londonderry Air" is an Irish anthem of unknown (or disputed) origin. It is best known as the tune for "Danny Boy."
i grew up with 12 years of catholic education. all my relatives are practicing(for what i dont know) catholics. i am not. however, it does not bother me when someone says "have a great lord's day" or "i'll say a prayer for you" or god forbid "god bless you"(when i sneeze).
for your pleasure, i will also say i was an altar boy for 4 years.(insert abuse joke here)
religion is very important for some people...like my mother! and i would never have a problem with them giving me a kind word. i dont think she is imposing anything or anyone upon me. she is just being nice.
lighten up francis or francises!
i know i'm taking a big chance writing something like that here but, i thought long and hard(that's what she said) about it and deemed it worth the risk.
if you tell me to stay away, i will. i just thought it would be cowardly to do it as a anon.
Good evening CC et al., Cute theme not that it helped me any. One clue at a time with the help of perps and WAGs is my MO, but learn someting new every time. Enjoyed it though...to a point.
What I did 'see into' this puzzle was a 'gibe' at aging and the reminder of the 'hazards' of time. It goes from the 'awkward' and unripe'ned 'teenie' boppers to the 'sexy' 'bedew'ed 'tom cats' with well developed 'quads' and 'biceps' which will not go 'unused' at this stage even with little or no 'prompt'ing.
'Egos' aren't the only things getting stroked here and now. The 'mdse' is 'so-ho't and the 'thrills' are on 'Strawberry' hill and not so much with the 'Met's. If we listened to the 'Dr, -No' 'err'ing in excesses
may help us become 'demure',
'stately, and even 'ritzy' but 'yet' the 'caterer' of age cometh. 'The-n ra'vaged by time our 'steed' becomes a 'dead end', the strong 'biceps' become 'fat', the appendages once as sturdy as 'newels' are 'limped', 'ache'y,
and 'sagged' and we've 'swap'ped the 'thrills' on the hill for a 'cozy' den and 'teevee'. 'Pajamas
are on by 8PM and 'up late' is past 9. Oh, 'Holy' Mama 'Mia', that's a bunch of 'pooh'! I'm goin' to 'z-bar' where the 'phat' band has its 'amps up'. If I have to go, 'Let me go' down swingin'. At 9pm, I'm just warmin' up.
Al: thank you for the link viewing tip. Sure saves a lot of time.
Update on Brooke (Avatar): She's expecting to be discharged on Weds 9 days after a heart transplant. Amazing! Stories about ins. shinanigans and the financial realities are the topics now. One med costs $1200/mo. It's gotta be laced w/some exotic worm crap from the inner reaches of the Amazonian Rainforest to cost that much. Now we go from the sublime to the riduckulous. I'll keep you posted.
Dennis: I doubt very seiously that anybody would ever greet you w/anything but a valiant salute or a sweet kiss.
Happy Mother's Day to all!
We enjoyed a weekend of family fun with my mother and our son from out of town staying with us. It was an extra special time this year as we celebrated DIL's first year as a new mother!
I have finally conceded, and put the puzzle aside for today. It just isn't coming together for me right now. When that happens, I stop for the time being and come back to it another day. So far, I have most of the top half, but very little in the south.
Very clever theme! I do enjoy John Lampkin's puzzles. One of my favorite all-time crosswords ever is his Halloween-themed "Waiting for the Great Pumpkin" puzzle from last October.
Thanks to all of you who know how to embed and share links. I may not read/listen to/watch all of them in their entirety, but when I have the time and the interest, I generally find them informative, entertaining, and at times pleasantly provocative.
Enjoy!
btw i dont have a comment for today's puzzle. our sunday's puzzle(dayton daily news) is different. i don't understand why. i also rarely do saturdays since that is MY day.
i just check in late for your banter.
Seen, Not Heard: Your comments are totally in line here, and I, for one, appreciate that you did not go "anonymous" on us to state your opinion. As a member of a minority religion, I can appreciate when someone says "Bless you" when I sneeze, or says they will keep me in their prayers. When someone knowingly says something to seemingly "promote" their religion as being superior, then I have a problem.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Mothers' Day! Since I was busy enjoying mine, I had no time for the puzzle today.
Seen, not heard,
Our paper has the NYT on Sundays too, so if I want to do the LAT, I do it online, or wait until Wednesday when it appears in the CapTimes insert in our State Journal.
Jeannie,
I hope you finished that race with flying colors and still in one pies. Good on you!!
Lois,
You're right--Brooke is beautiful.
Clearayes, I am alive and kickin' as my Mom would say. The worst part was the drive down there but it was all worth it. As you know I walked alone but it wasn't long until I met "Jen" a 30 yr old young gal that had a fantastic bright red "fake" wig on that is battling this dreaded disease. I told her about you and she sends her best wishes to you. I held her hand through much of the walk, as she tended to be out of breath. I asked her why she was alone and she stated that she is pretty much a street person that is down on her luck. I found it inspiring that she was walking for her mother who died from this dreaded disease. I met a new friend today. Think of "Jen" when you put people into your thoughts. Oh, and I bought her a new pair of tennis shoes. Okay, I lied about leaving my credit card at home. I feel good about my purchase though.
Jen is a trooper!! Maybe I am a softie. If that's the case so be it. I talked to my Mom tonight and she wanted to send me the money for the shoes. As WH pointed out before, the "acorn doesn't fall from another tree". All in all it was a wonderful experience, and I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for what you went through Clearayes. Thank you. I know that sounds weird, but thank you none the less.
LOLITA FIRST IN AND MAYBE LAST OUT.
The senior partner at one of my offices had a kidney transplant and his monthly meds are still $3500 after 5 years. but Brooke is beautiful and money is just fancy paper.
Mr. Lampkin, in addition to being a very skilled builder of puzzles, you are a class guy and a true friend to our group.
Most of us do not get excited by any of the religious or political digressions, people are filled with opinions, but this is C.C.'s blog, so whatever. In the meantime, if you are new and you are not proseltyzing, say what you like and see what comes next/
Ladies, my best to you all
We are a cyber crowd. Crying now and crying before. It's hard to make those emotions show on print.
I am just going to say that this day was one of the most moving days in my life.
The phone call to my Mom tonight that I haven't seen in awhile put a head to it.
Sorry all you men that think I am now sappy. I can't help it. The experience was just that powerful.
Hi gang -
I made it through this puzzle today, but it was tough. Took the whole ride to T-town and then some - well over an hour.
Great puzzle, and very nice visit from John Lampkin.
For anyone who is interested, the degrees of the scale are tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, and leading tone. The next note would be the octave of the tonic, and that's the tonic, too.
I actually prefer my gin ice-cold with olives and a little dry vermouth. But tonic has its fans, as well.
I see quite a few A SHARPs in orchestral music, one a decade in concert band, and none in jazz.
There's a story about the sax player (whose name I've forgotten) who ran rehearsals for the Basie band. They were running some new arrangements, and one had an A# in it. "Aint no such thing as A#," he said in disgust. The arrangement never even got looked at.
AL - the Pachelbel clip is hilarious. That chord progression is so basic, common - and powerful - it's no surprise you can find it in all kinds of music.
As requested, here
is the "perfect" version (or so it is claimed) of the Canon by Pachelbel, whose first name was indeed Johann.
My mom will be 89 next Sunday. She is a treasure.
Cheers!
JzB the UNRIPE trombonist
Both the Freep
and the Blade
had very emotional mother's day stories today.
The one in the Blade is very near to a recent discussion topic here. The one from the Freep touched me, because the little girl has a condition so much more complicated than Nate's. Her surgeries are also at Mott, where Nate and Em were born.
Both have happy endings, but If you click, have a pile of hankies at hand.
Cheers!
JzB who is every bit as sappy as Jeannie
Jeannie and JzB-Wonderful heart-warming stories. Thank you for sharing.
Have plugged in a bit more fill in today's puzzle since my last post, but it's still a slog. Yet some AHA moments make it worth the ride.
Night all!
Nope. Not going there. I'm having fun with tomorrow's puzzle.
eddyB
No time to do today's puzzle, but I'm heading over to cruciverb.com to get an early start.
Jeannie, I'm so glad that today was a good one for you. It is amazing the wonderful people you meet when you get involved in a life affirming cause. Thank for for holding Jen's hand and helping her along. I know what that exhaustion is like and how much comfort a friendly hand can give.
Lois, a lovely photo of Brooke. Wow, going to be going home on Wednesday. That is wonderful!
LOL, Wouldn't you know it? My daughter had a harpist play Pachabel's Canon at her wedding....and somehow, they are still married.
proselytize: verb. :to recruit or convert especially to a new faith, institution, or cause.
wow! that is excactly why i enjoy this blog.
yes, i used goooooogle.
i do not think anyone on this blog could be proselytized. you are a very secured bunch!
Yes, Jeannie and Jazz:
What a warm, fuzzy feeling to take with me to bed, knowing the good that is happening in the world.
May you all have a good night and a good rest!
My first post got lost, so I'll be brief.
This is by far the cleverest puzzle I have seen in years at the LAT. Kudos to the constructor and the editor - the clues were awesome and the answers sometimes made me laugh.
Great puzzle.
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