Theme: MUSIC, MAN! - Three long theme answers, two of them grid-spanning, employ homophone puns to transform mundane phrases into humorous musical references.
17 A. Songs by German wolves? LIEDER OF THE PACK. Play on "leader of the pack. LIED (pl LIEDER) is the German word for song. So - songs of the pack. This got a chuckle and a groan.
36 A. Obvious melody?: AIR APPARENT. Play on "heir apparent," the most likely successor. An AIR is a melody, obviously.
58 A. Intonations from the monastery locker room?: CHANTS OF SHOWERS. Oh my. "Chance of showers," meaning it's probably going to rain. Or, here, some very clean Gregorian chant.
Each play is on the first word in the phrase, substituting a homophone or near-homophone. Nice and tight. YMMV on puns and their quality. I thought these were rather long stretches; but that doesn't make me like them any less. And I do like them, quite a lot.
Plus, these musical encores:
57 A. Haggard of country music: MERLE
39 D. Roxy Music alum Brian: ENO
53 D. Jerry or Jerry Lee: LEWIS
Not being a country music maven (I'm more of a city boy) I'll leave it someone in the know to find the best links for Merle and Jerry Lee. And, yes, comedian Jerry Lewis did also sing, occasionally. I actually know nothing about Brian ENO, except he's in puzzles a lot.
Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, your humble resident trombonist and music appreciator. I was pretty much in tune with this one, and able to wood-shed it in 15:27. Pancho Harrison has composed a verbal symphony for us today with only a few sour notes. Let's get inside the score.
Across:
1 A. Glass in a frame: PANE. Why is a piece of glass called a pane? I worked in the industry for 17 long, miserable years, and never gave it a thought. We called a piece of glass a "light" which is even ODDER.
5 A. Motivation target, often: SELF. In my 20+ years as a supervisor, I learned that if you won't motivate yourself, nobody can.
9 A. Hold forth: OPINE. I do this rather a lot. Opinions are cheep, or even free.
14 A. Site of a Biblical plot: EDEN. Nice double meaning: plot of land, and site of the Eve-Serpent cabal.
15 A. Flash in the brainpan: IDEA. Another clever clue, playing on "flash in the pan." I first heard this in the context of baseball, meaning a promising rookie who turns out to be a bust. The phrase comes from panning for gold, where sometimes things that glitter are worthless.
16 A. Like some ancient characters: RUNIC. Another great clue. "Characters" here mean letters or other types of symbols. RUNES were characters used in Old Norse. They are composed of straight lines so they can be easily sliced into wood or scratched onto stone.
20 A. Farther out?: ODDER. Farther out, man.
21 A. Like some highways: TWO LANE. Though not necessarily.
22 A. Huaraches, e.g.: SANDALS. Hecho en Mexico. Es verdad!
25 A. Stubborn one: ASS. Yup!
26 A. Blunderer's cry: DOH!
28 A. Final conclusion?: IST. Referring to a finalIST, one of the last standing in a contest. I offer this to the Navajo gods.
29 A. Rational: SANE. Good thinking!
31 A. Motion support: SECOND. From Robert's rules of order. May I have a motion? Second? All in favor, say "DOH!"
33 A. Overhaul: REVAMP. Is something ever VAMPED? If not, how can it be REVAMPED? English is ODDER, sometimes.
35 A. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" author: Jean AUEL.
39 A. Exile isle: ELBA. Napoleon was exiled here, and given the job of cleaning the place. It took a lot of ELBA GREECE. That's when he said, "I may not be Abel, but I do the best I Cain," which is no kind of palindrome.
41 A. Accent: STRESS.
42 A. Loch legend nickname: NESSIE. The Loch Ness Monster, not to be confused with her brother Elliot Ness.
45 A. Reb's opponent: YANK. Short for Yankee. Not necessarily from New York, but we can't rule it out.
46 A. Hoo-ha: ADO. Possibly a reference to Willie Shiverjavelin's play, "Much Hoo-ha About Nothing." What else could it mean?
49 A. Feedbag morsel: OAT. We do eat a lot of these in puzzle land.
50 A. O'Neill's "The Hairy __": APE. The Hairy Ape, a play by Eugene O'Neill, has a character in it called "Yank."
52 A. Wooden in manner: STILTED.
54 A. Tread roughly: TRAMPLE. Don't trample on me!
61 A. Right-hand page: RECTO. What is the left hand page called?
62 A. "An Essay on Man" poet Alexander: POPE. He also translated The Odyssey.
63 A. Horned goddess: ISIS. From ancient Egypt, horns and all.
64 A. Big name in lawn care: ORTHO. They make Scott's Miracle-Gro.
65 A. Notable periods: ERAS.
66 A. Plato's promenade: STOA. In ancient Greece, a public covered walkway or portico. Where you been, Plato? I had to go to the STOA.
Down:
1 D. First female Speaker of the House: PELOSI. Nancy from CA.
2 D. Reebok rival: ADIDAS. We run into these a lot, too.
3 D. "You __ bother": NEEDN'T. I needn't, but I can't resist this link.
4 D. Ran out: ENDED. BP's time ran out, but the oil flow didn't. Also: 7 D. Ran out: LEFT. This is the "I've had enough" kind of ran out, as in exit, stage LEFT.
5 D. Anthony Hopkins, for one: SIR. Aha - Anthony is a knight. My oldest grandson made up this joke: Why could they fight after dark in the middle ages? They had knight lights!
6 D. Tokyo, before 1868: EDO
8 D. Islamic decree: FATWA
9 D. Threat words: OR ELSE
10 D. Insect stage after larva: PUPA. It's when insect pups go through PUPATY .
11 D. Hard to reach at the office, say: IN AND OUT. I used to be in the office every day. Now I'm always out.
12 D. "Good shot!": NICE ONE. A complement on the golf course.
13 D. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK. He defended Catholicism. Turns out, his real name was Maier. What the ECK is that all about?
18 D. Corrective tool: ERASER. Well, nobody's perfect.
19 D. Ben Cartwright's middle son: HOSS. Plus Little Joe and . . . Luke?
23 D. Soap brand with pumice: LAVA. I didn't know this was still around. Lava los manos!
24 D. Goes nuts: SNAPS. Loses it. Goes around the bend. Flips one's lid.
27 D. "Good" cholesterol, for short: HDL. You want your High Density Lipids to be High, and your Low density lipids to be low. Easy mnemonic.
30 D. Totally drained: EMPTY. They way you felt after you RAN OUT.
33 D. Narrow inlets: RIAS. Are they the same as estuaries? I learned the word here at the Corner.
34 D. Legal aides: PARAS. Evidently referring to PARAlegals. Ugly partial. Meh.
36 D. Like a Jackson Pollock painting: ABSTRACT. Could be. I thought this was a wiring diagram.
37 D. Temporary use fee: RENT. I'll do the cookin' honey, I'll pay the rent, if I can use you temporarily.
38 D. Inuit, once: ESKIMO. Not necessarily. Could also be a Yupic or an Aleut.
40 D. Elbow patch material: LEATHER. Especially on tweed jackets.
43 D. Words of agreement: I AM TOO. Are you tired?
44 D. Omar of "House": EPPS. Never watched it.
46 D. Not in motion: AT REST. I had STATIC, which made my hair stand on end.
47 D. Texas border city: DEL RIO.
48 D. Texas oil city: ODESSA. Evidently having been moved there from the Ukraine.
51 D. Run off to join a union?: ELOPE. Very clever.
55 D. Lit. compilation: ANTH. Short for anthology. Abrev. in cl. & ans.
56 D. __ effort: E FOR. I always got an A for effort. Well, not really, but it IS in the language . . .
58 D. Vel attachment?: CRO. Velcro. I'm torn over this one. There's my aversion to affixes, or - as in this case - psuedo-affixes, which are even worse. But, OTOH, VelCRO is an attachment. I'll give in to the cleverness here, and let it go, but not without reservation.
59 D. Relaxing retreat: SPA. Or the kind of whirlpool tub found in my bathroom, and lots of puzzles.
60 D. Dudes: HES. He and he are HES - he he! The musician's first rule is to always end on a good note. Didn't happen here, alas, as this puzzle runs out with a big, flat blat at the end. Wie Shade.
Other than that, though, a fine, harmonious composition, and a fun romp. Hope y'all enjoyed it.
Answer grid.
JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter F.
Cheers!
JzB
17 A. Songs by German wolves? LIEDER OF THE PACK. Play on "leader of the pack. LIED (pl LIEDER) is the German word for song. So - songs of the pack. This got a chuckle and a groan.
36 A. Obvious melody?: AIR APPARENT. Play on "heir apparent," the most likely successor. An AIR is a melody, obviously.
58 A. Intonations from the monastery locker room?: CHANTS OF SHOWERS. Oh my. "Chance of showers," meaning it's probably going to rain. Or, here, some very clean Gregorian chant.
Each play is on the first word in the phrase, substituting a homophone or near-homophone. Nice and tight. YMMV on puns and their quality. I thought these were rather long stretches; but that doesn't make me like them any less. And I do like them, quite a lot.
Plus, these musical encores:
57 A. Haggard of country music: MERLE
39 D. Roxy Music alum Brian: ENO
53 D. Jerry or Jerry Lee: LEWIS
Not being a country music maven (I'm more of a city boy) I'll leave it someone in the know to find the best links for Merle and Jerry Lee. And, yes, comedian Jerry Lewis did also sing, occasionally. I actually know nothing about Brian ENO, except he's in puzzles a lot.
Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, your humble resident trombonist and music appreciator. I was pretty much in tune with this one, and able to wood-shed it in 15:27. Pancho Harrison has composed a verbal symphony for us today with only a few sour notes. Let's get inside the score.
Across:
1 A. Glass in a frame: PANE. Why is a piece of glass called a pane? I worked in the industry for 17 long, miserable years, and never gave it a thought. We called a piece of glass a "light" which is even ODDER.
5 A. Motivation target, often: SELF. In my 20+ years as a supervisor, I learned that if you won't motivate yourself, nobody can.
9 A. Hold forth: OPINE. I do this rather a lot. Opinions are cheep, or even free.
14 A. Site of a Biblical plot: EDEN. Nice double meaning: plot of land, and site of the Eve-Serpent cabal.
15 A. Flash in the brainpan: IDEA. Another clever clue, playing on "flash in the pan." I first heard this in the context of baseball, meaning a promising rookie who turns out to be a bust. The phrase comes from panning for gold, where sometimes things that glitter are worthless.
16 A. Like some ancient characters: RUNIC. Another great clue. "Characters" here mean letters or other types of symbols. RUNES were characters used in Old Norse. They are composed of straight lines so they can be easily sliced into wood or scratched onto stone.
20 A. Farther out?: ODDER. Farther out, man.
21 A. Like some highways: TWO LANE. Though not necessarily.
22 A. Huaraches, e.g.: SANDALS. Hecho en Mexico. Es verdad!
25 A. Stubborn one: ASS. Yup!
26 A. Blunderer's cry: DOH!
28 A. Final conclusion?: IST. Referring to a finalIST, one of the last standing in a contest. I offer this to the Navajo gods.
29 A. Rational: SANE. Good thinking!
31 A. Motion support: SECOND. From Robert's rules of order. May I have a motion? Second? All in favor, say "DOH!"
33 A. Overhaul: REVAMP. Is something ever VAMPED? If not, how can it be REVAMPED? English is ODDER, sometimes.
35 A. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" author: Jean AUEL.
39 A. Exile isle: ELBA. Napoleon was exiled here, and given the job of cleaning the place. It took a lot of ELBA GREECE. That's when he said, "I may not be Abel, but I do the best I Cain," which is no kind of palindrome.
41 A. Accent: STRESS.
42 A. Loch legend nickname: NESSIE. The Loch Ness Monster, not to be confused with her brother Elliot Ness.
45 A. Reb's opponent: YANK. Short for Yankee. Not necessarily from New York, but we can't rule it out.
46 A. Hoo-ha: ADO. Possibly a reference to Willie Shiverjavelin's play, "Much Hoo-ha About Nothing." What else could it mean?
49 A. Feedbag morsel: OAT. We do eat a lot of these in puzzle land.
50 A. O'Neill's "The Hairy __": APE. The Hairy Ape, a play by Eugene O'Neill, has a character in it called "Yank."
52 A. Wooden in manner: STILTED.
54 A. Tread roughly: TRAMPLE. Don't trample on me!
61 A. Right-hand page: RECTO. What is the left hand page called?
62 A. "An Essay on Man" poet Alexander: POPE. He also translated The Odyssey.
63 A. Horned goddess: ISIS. From ancient Egypt, horns and all.
64 A. Big name in lawn care: ORTHO. They make Scott's Miracle-Gro.
65 A. Notable periods: ERAS.
66 A. Plato's promenade: STOA. In ancient Greece, a public covered walkway or portico. Where you been, Plato? I had to go to the STOA.
Down:
1 D. First female Speaker of the House: PELOSI. Nancy from CA.
2 D. Reebok rival: ADIDAS. We run into these a lot, too.
3 D. "You __ bother": NEEDN'T. I needn't, but I can't resist this link.
4 D. Ran out: ENDED. BP's time ran out, but the oil flow didn't. Also: 7 D. Ran out: LEFT. This is the "I've had enough" kind of ran out, as in exit, stage LEFT.
5 D. Anthony Hopkins, for one: SIR. Aha - Anthony is a knight. My oldest grandson made up this joke: Why could they fight after dark in the middle ages? They had knight lights!
6 D. Tokyo, before 1868: EDO
8 D. Islamic decree: FATWA
9 D. Threat words: OR ELSE
10 D. Insect stage after larva: PUPA. It's when insect pups go through PUPATY .
11 D. Hard to reach at the office, say: IN AND OUT. I used to be in the office every day. Now I'm always out.
12 D. "Good shot!": NICE ONE. A complement on the golf course.
13 D. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK. He defended Catholicism. Turns out, his real name was Maier. What the ECK is that all about?
18 D. Corrective tool: ERASER. Well, nobody's perfect.
19 D. Ben Cartwright's middle son: HOSS. Plus Little Joe and . . . Luke?
23 D. Soap brand with pumice: LAVA. I didn't know this was still around. Lava los manos!
24 D. Goes nuts: SNAPS. Loses it. Goes around the bend. Flips one's lid.
27 D. "Good" cholesterol, for short: HDL. You want your High Density Lipids to be High, and your Low density lipids to be low. Easy mnemonic.
30 D. Totally drained: EMPTY. They way you felt after you RAN OUT.
33 D. Narrow inlets: RIAS. Are they the same as estuaries? I learned the word here at the Corner.
34 D. Legal aides: PARAS. Evidently referring to PARAlegals. Ugly partial. Meh.
36 D. Like a Jackson Pollock painting: ABSTRACT. Could be. I thought this was a wiring diagram.
37 D. Temporary use fee: RENT. I'll do the cookin' honey, I'll pay the rent, if I can use you temporarily.
38 D. Inuit, once: ESKIMO. Not necessarily. Could also be a Yupic or an Aleut.
40 D. Elbow patch material: LEATHER. Especially on tweed jackets.
43 D. Words of agreement: I AM TOO. Are you tired?
44 D. Omar of "House": EPPS. Never watched it.
46 D. Not in motion: AT REST. I had STATIC, which made my hair stand on end.
47 D. Texas border city: DEL RIO.
48 D. Texas oil city: ODESSA. Evidently having been moved there from the Ukraine.
51 D. Run off to join a union?: ELOPE. Very clever.
55 D. Lit. compilation: ANTH. Short for anthology. Abrev. in cl. & ans.
56 D. __ effort: E FOR. I always got an A for effort. Well, not really, but it IS in the language . . .
58 D. Vel attachment?: CRO. Velcro. I'm torn over this one. There's my aversion to affixes, or - as in this case - psuedo-affixes, which are even worse. But, OTOH, VelCRO is an attachment. I'll give in to the cleverness here, and let it go, but not without reservation.
59 D. Relaxing retreat: SPA. Or the kind of whirlpool tub found in my bathroom, and lots of puzzles.
60 D. Dudes: HES. He and he are HES - he he! The musician's first rule is to always end on a good note. Didn't happen here, alas, as this puzzle runs out with a big, flat blat at the end. Wie Shade.
Other than that, though, a fine, harmonious composition, and a fun romp. Hope y'all enjoyed it.
Answer grid.
JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter F.
Cheers!
JzB
77 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - for some reason, Pancho and I were on the same wavelength with this one. It went as fast as yesterday's, especially once I realized the theme answers were going to be homophones. Good ones, too.
Perp help was needed to get 'Auel', a name I can never seem to remember. 'Stilted' was the subject of a recent conversation. Pelosi is probably my least favorite politician; nothing to do with the party, just the person. Besides those, lots of typical 'crossword words'. Favorite clues/answers were two of the shortest: 'Final conclusion'/'ist' and 'Vel attachment'/'cro'.
Today is Fresh Veggies Day. Won't be much celebrating on my part.
Late for the gym - haven't had a chance to read the write-up; hope it's a good day for everyone.
61 A. Right-hand page: RECTO. What is the left hand page called?
Verso. LOL at your comments. Thanks.
15A:Flash in the pan originally meant the misfire of a flintlock musket. The pan held the powder and sometimes all you got was a "flash in the pan" with no bullet being fired.
Good morning Jazz and All, a nice walk in the park today. I started in the lower half of the grid today and got “chants of showers” right away and this gave me the theme early on. Having the theme made the remainder of the puzzle a lot easier. I needed perp help to complete, but no other outside help was required.
Jazz, you certainly had your humor hat on this morning and you puns were great. Hope you do another blog soon.
G
Wednesday’s are my donation day to Habitat for Humanity so I will be gone the remainder of the day.
Hope you all have a great Wednesday.
Well, a lot easier than Monday's!
First fills: PUPA, HOSS, LAVA
First theme fill: LIEDEROFTHEPACK (probably all those German lessons)
Brand new to me: FATWA
Favorites: ELOPE, VELCRO, ERASER, ODDER, PANE, SECOND
LEAST FAVORITE: final(IST), HES (dudes)
Embarrassed that I knew: RECTO
JzB: Can't decide which was more entertaining, the puzzle or the write-up: "stoa" and "pupatry"; too funny! Some great links too.
Enjoyed seeing: "Wie Schade"
Good Morning CC and all. I had to complete the puzzle today before I figured out the theme.
I was going to tell you that the left hand side of the page is called VERSO, but I see anon beat me to it.
This is the third time this week we've seen YANK and each time it has been clued differently.
I didn't much like the VEL attachment = CRO. My first thought, there was VET (as in velvet).
Jean AUEL is always clued with "Clan of the Bear Cave." Don't much care for the clue and didn't see the attraction of the book.
I really liked the Biblical Plot = EDEN and Run Off to Join a Union = ELOPE.
Some critics think that Jackson Pollack wrote his name in has ABSTRACT works.
BP gas stations are individual franchises. Still, the big corporation is doing what it can to limit its payouts.
Happy Wednesday, everyone.
QOD: In politics, two wrongs make a precedent. ~ Victor Lasky
Hello all, and an added warm greeting to all the new blues, you are like Geritol to this old mind. I think this was the fastest Wednesday puzzle ever for me, with a tip of the hat to Mr. harrison, who was our very first LATimes constructor, but whom we have not seen much of lately. What is the difference between a homophone and a pun? Am I the only one begining to wonder about CC's powers when she 'randomly' has a musical puzzle guest blogged by JzB? Nice job Mr. Bumpa, you worked hard for that one. I thought VEL CRO was witty as hell, as it is an attachment, but it is only my cheap opinion.
Hello everyone. Great commentary, JazzB. Welcome the new Blue people.
Nice Wednesday challenge. Made 2 passes hor. and vert. before establishing substantial control. Clever clues included those for EDEN, CRO, RUNIC, LIEDEROFTHEPACK, ODDER, and SECOND. Got ECK from the perps (means 'corner' in German although he acquired it from the name of his town: 'Egg"). Also got AUEL from the perps.
Keep your powder dry so it'l 'flash in your brain pan'.
Tschuß
Well this puzzle was a thinker, but I figured everything out except the cross between ECK and RUNIC. I assumed it was a C but didn't know for sure. Also can never remember AUEL and probably never will, although with all those vowels it should register at some point. I thought it was a nice challenge of a puzzle though. I did catch on to the theme after AIR APPARENT was filled in.
I really liked the Vel attachment, as we use Velcro to attach things as a closure. So it came to me right away.
We have a CD of Gregorian Chants that we often listen to Sunday am's before church. My kids think we are crazy, but my husband and I love it.
Hi gang -
Thanks for the nice comments.
Funny thing is, both times I blogged a musical theme, C.C. asked me to do the write up on a certain date, and I asked for a different date - and got the perfect theme handed to me. You really can't plan these things.
C.C. always has to rescue me in some great or small way. A couple of my links got messed up. Here is what I intended for "Don't trample on me."
JRY - Flash in the 49er's pan seemed so right to me - fool's gold, you know. But flash in the flintlock powder pan seems even righter. Thanx!
Park concert season starts this Thus, but I'm missing this one. My granddaughters have their dance banquet. This is Em's first time dancing in front of an audience, and we are all very curious to see how it turns out.
Cheers!
JzB the AT REST (for a while) trombonist
Jazz, Great write-up, loved the clips.
I'm more of a "duh" than "DOH" person. Admit, everything I know about the Simpsons I learned from crosswords.
Also prefer bottles over CANS for my beer.
INANDOUT stacked over AT REST, can't wait to see what Lois does with that one. Will probably involve something LEATHER and a YANK.
It is nice to have this blog ready to go and to check on as soon as I have finished scratching my head and reaching for Carol's V-8 can.
The bottom left corner had me stumped. RECTO and ORTHO kept me from getting CRO. ANTH wasn't a term I knew either.
I understood the second and third theme answers and even though I had it filled in, I didn't know what a LIEDER was.
Thanks to Jazzbumpa it is all clear to me now.
Argyle, I'm glad you liked the Rotel dip. You did say you usually used store bought dips, so I wanted to give you an easy one-step mix.
Jazzbumpa, great write-up. Bet that took the better part of a minute to do!
ALEUT and INUIT with the same letter count has caused me a problem recently. Need to wait for the perps to get it done.
Anon, thanks for VERSO. Couldn't think of it.
Jean Auel's final Earth Children book is due out next year -- in March from what I remember. March 29,
2011.
KQ, have you ever heard of Sandra Boynton's Pigorian Chants? They are fun!
DEERE and ORTHO also have the same number of letters. Had to make a correction there!
Have a great Wednesday. Take a vegetable to lunch!!
I think Clan of the Cave Bear is more (in)famous for the movie version, because of Darryl Hannah as Ayla, than it was for the actual novel.
since no one (that i saw) has chimed in yet, adam was the other cartwright son, the oldest, played by pernell roberts
Good Morning All, NICE ONE, Pancho Harrison. 15 letter entries are always fun to figure out. The only LIEDER I knew about was "hosen", but that is spelled LEDER...no go there. I had to rely on the perps to fill that section for me.
Being a movie fan comes in handy. I had no problem with Pollock (36D)ABSTRACT after seeing the Ed Harris movie. It was a very good movie BTW.
Funny how crosswords remind us of people, places and interesting times. I had a long ago teacher who wore tweed jackets with LEATHER elbow patches. He spoke with a William Buckley Jr.-ish accent and he even smoked a pipe. It wouldn't have been annoying if he had been a good teacher, but I recall we students thought he was pretentious and boring.
LEATHER and ABSTRACT helped me with RECTO and ORTHO in the SW.
Whenever I see "Huaraches" SANDALS (22A) I think of Surfin' USA. Ahh, it was fun to be a California girl!
It's my turn to hostess our cribbage game and we're having turkey salad on croissants. Add dried cranberries to the chopped turkey, onions, celery (oh, there's a veggie or two), pecans. Mix with mayonnaise, serve on croissants...very "ladies lunch" and delicious too.
Good morning JzB, CC and all,
As always, JzB, your write up is ALWAYS more fun than the c/w.Loved Bach link and your explanations of air apparent and runic.Didn't grok either.
I had trouble getting started and looked up huaraches. Ass and d'oh followed , definitely telling me something.Looked up J. Pollock. Yikes! not my kind of "art"..even with it labeled abstract. I wouldn't even rent one.Although I did like the 1943 mural that Hahtool added.Was he sane?
Jry, liked your "flash in the pan" origin.Thanks
favorite clue=run off to join a union
not so good=dudes/he's :-(
Jean Auel is from your neck of the woods, Crockett and Carol. I was really into her 1st 3 novels as the 6th grade curriculum added an Early Man unit.Her saga had mucho research, but it was 5 long years before Plains of Passage arrived and it was boring. I have not read Shelters of Stone because the story didn't seem to be going anywhere. LOL! Who am I to talk?LOL!!!
Bill, was that a good fooey or a baaahhd fooey?
RE: 62A, "Alexander POPE (May 21, 1688 - May 30, 1744), was called "The Wicked Wasp of Twickenham" for his stinging literary satires of his fellow writers. He modeled himself after the great Classical poets, such as Homer and Virgil, and wrote in a highly polished verse, often in satirical vein. He was considered the greatest poet genius of his day. Because of a spinal deformity from childhood, he was only 4'6" tall."
He wrote many lengthy poems, but I laughed at both of the following shorter verses.
Untitled
"Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool.
But you yourself may serve to show it,
Every fool is not a poet."
WARNING..the next Pope poem is a little DF. If you are easily shocked, just skip it. If, on the other hand, you are Dennis, Lois, Carol, Jeannie, Argyle, Lemonade Jazz, and on and on...enjoy.
You Know Where You Did Despise
You know where you did despise
(Tother day) my little Eyes,
Little Legs, and little Thighs,
And some thing, of little Size,
You know where.
You, tis true, have fine black eyes,
Taper legs, and tempting Thighs,
Yet what more than all we prize
Is a Thing of little Size,
You know where.
- Alexander Pope
Good morning everyone.
Great write up, Jazz.
I loved "Clan of the Cave Bear" when it came out. Made me wish I'd gone into anthropology. But was never any good at science, which I think is a necessary part of the discipline.
Having lived in Vienna, and having learned at bit of German, I got lieder of the pack first. The others were harder.
Have a great veggie day. (I like very few.)
Cheers
Hello, Jazzbumpa and fellow puzzlers.
Brilliant blogging, Jazz. Made me laugh.
Good puzzle today, almost as easy as yesterday's with some clever cluing as you mentioned so much wittier than I could.
Laughed over and enjoyed the theme answers.
Later as I must go to the optometrist.
By the way, it's LAS MANOS, feminine.
Have a great day, all!
Merle Haggard -- Hits Medley.
Hi Jazz and all -
Jazz, your write up was way more fun than the puzzle! I didn't even get the theme when you told us what it was! My head must have been up my 25A!!
I stared at 11D, had IN-NDOU- and STILL could not see what it was! Imagine that, not seeing 'In and out'! I hang my DF head in shame.
My V-8 can had a lot more dents in it after I finished and now I have to get another new one...what a PANE.
I have to agree with Jazz and JD on Jackson Pollock's style...not for me, I got a headache looking at that mess. Geez, I could do that too if someone would hold my beer!
CA: LOL great poem! (you know where)
When is Kazie due back?
I was a bit annoyed with "Texas oil city". I only had MERLE, to help me out when I originally looked at it.
Sitting in my office in Houston, the petrochemical capital of the US, my first thought was obvious. Beaumont was fresh on my mind because of a History channel special on Spindletop I saw recently. And the only other "Texas oil city" that came to mind is my hometown, Corsicana, the site of the first oil discovery west of the west of the Mississippi.
I was a bit disappointed to see the answer of ODESSA.
I had TRAIPSE for 54A which caused me all sorts of problems with that corner or the puzzle.
Nice, Jazz... really nice.
Favorite musical saying-
Close, but no sitar.
Favorite musicians-
Montgomery Clef
Efrem Cymbalist
Bow Derek
Harmonica Seles
Luthier Burbank
And... BAROQUE OBAMA
Pane- Pannus. Latin for 'cloth'
Window- Vindauga. Norse for 'wind eye'
Hello all.
Have be waiting eight long years
for the last book. (Shelters of Stone - 2002) It took her a long
time to recover after her husband died.
Buy the V8 in the plastic bottle
with the green cap (lower sodium).
Doesn't hurt as much. Have 4 oz every morning for one serving of veggies.
Grilled some Brats yesterday and added some zucchini spears.
90s are gone and it is back to the 70s.
The race this weekend will be one hugh trafic jam. Iowa is only 7/8
of a mile.
eddyB
Argyle, thanks for the Merle Haggard link. The new breed of country singers can't hold a candle to him in my opinion. It's not that they can't sing but that I don't identify with their choice of songs.
Hello Puzzlers -
A good Wednesday! I'm in my favorite cafe again, where the wonderful waitress knows to hand me the local paper, puzzle section (she solves them too). Loved the puzzle, puns and all. Jazz - good work on the write-up, it's handy to have musicians on hand at times like this.
Favorite fill: D'oh, for sure - love how quickly it has become cemented in our culture. I bet it lasts a long time.
STOA showed up last fall; it was one of the drivers that caused me to discover this blog.
I appreciate the Cave Bear books for what they are: kinda-historical novels. They suggest an interesting portrait of life at the time. I wondered if we'd ever get the last installment.
A few minor false starts but still finished it in 14 minutes. Tried ORATE first at 9A and REVISE at 33A but quickly figured out they wouldn't work. Clever theme.
I loved the "Clan of the Cave Bear" books and have read them all. Only trouble is waiting for years for the next one. I understand the next book is due sometime this year, sure hope so. The deep research that Jean Auel has done is why I enjoy them so much. I love learning about primitive cultures and how they managed to survive all the harshness of their environments.
If I could have a wish, I'd love to study anthropology formally. I do a lot of research about it on the internet, but classes would be so wonderful. What an amazing and complicated species we were and are!
Carol -
Have you ever considered studying anthropology online? Oregon State has an online degree program.
Just wondering since you're already studying it online anyway, you might as well get credit for it.
Or, any community colleges nearby?
Hello again.
Am happy to report that my vision is good, according to my Dr.,her able assistant and all their computerized apparati.
Loved the puzzle today. It filled quickly right across the top with few hiccups; at 28A, END instead of IST then saw PELOSI. I did use my corrective tool, ERASER, at ANTH which took a long while to resgister, oh yes, anthology. Did not even notice DOH until reading the blog. ORTHO popped out because they have so many ads on TV.
I OPINE that Pancho's puzzle makes him the LIEDER OF THE PACK to some degree. No STRESS about it.
CA:
Thank you for interesting info on Alexander Pope. And the cute poem LOL. I wonder, is that why some call it "the thing"?
I saw Jackson Pollack's work in the Metropolitan Museum in NY and while it's not my taste, it makes a huge impression with its sheer intensity. In spite of myself, it pulled me in.
I loved Jean Auel's first three novels for the same reasons as Carol and Sallie. The details are wonderfully intriguing. I hope to read the new one soon.
I hope you are having a fine day!
Oops - Forgot my crossword comment in my earlier post.
Jazz - Great job. Loved the write-up. Never would have grasped how the theme entries tied together without coming here.
New word of the day for me: RUNIC.
Seems we've been seeing a lot of ENO and EDO lately.
Hello everybody, and happy Wednesday.
For the most part 'twas a fun puzzle today, although I really didn't like Dudes = HES. JazzBumpa, thanks ever so much for the delightful writeup and the interesting links. I like your sense of humor a lot. ClearAyes, thanks for the Pope poems; they almost sound Ogden Nashy.
I'm ashamed to say that I put LIEDEROTTWEILER in for 17A at first. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it didn't take me too awfully long to realize that not only didn't it make all that much sense, it was just plain wrong. After figuring that out, AIRAPPARENT and CHANTSOFSHOWERS came rather easily and all of them made me chuckle. Altogether quite a chuckly morning today.
A very good question about REvamp. I wonder what Ockham would have to say about it? LOL
Speaking of panes, why did the Brits used call a bedsheet a counterpane? It was years before I discovered that, which made Robert Louis Stevenson's poem The Land of Counterpane very confusing to me as a child. Well, as a child I was confused a lot, even pronouncing misled as if it were the past tense of "misle," which I now know is not a real word and has nothing to do with isle, aisle, or muzzle.
Best wishes to you all.
here is an interesting article about Velcro.
re Hatool's 6:20 comment: after reading the above article and your comment, can we call it vet-cro or velvetcro, as in veteran velcro?
these coincidences of a clue or a fill appearing in the news or on jeopardy seem to happen all the time. i am surprised a fellow blogger hasn't coined a new word to describe them.(ya know, like blitch or v-8)
i'm trying to come up with something clever but i just look like bp trying to cap a leaking oil well. a swing and a miss!
thought of using serendipity but i don't think that is accurate. btw, according to wiki serendipity is one of the toughest english words to translate.
oh yeah, i shortened my moniker. i figured that since i am no longer a lurker, i also am no longer not heard!
Jerome -
Thanks, amigo. Much appreciated.
Loved your musician friends.
Efrem Cymbalist is especially profound. The guy most of us have heard of - one of the stars of the old 77 Sunset Strip TV series is Jr. Dad, was Sr. - a famous Hungarian concert violinist, in his day. According to the wiki link, he was born in Russia, but my dad assured me that Zimbalist is an ethnically Hungarian name, and I believe he was in the know on such matters.
What makes it especially enriching is that there is a Hungarian musical instrument called the cimbalom, a variety of hammer dulcimer.
So Efrem Cimbalist comes pretty close to squaring the circle.
Cheers!
JzB
Cool new moniker, Seen. Glad your vision is good, Lucina. Tonight we're having fresh broccoli, yellow bell peppers, and tomatoes with our TBD meat, a veritable veggie rainbow. Happy Fresh Veggies Day!
Greetings all:
I haven't caught up on a week of blogs, but it looks like I'll be busy. The sailing was just what I feared: Light fluky winds that required great control of the sails. So, we finished well out of the money, but I had a great time with my daughter. Veggie day sounds great, Montana is a full-on meat and potato kind of place.
It was great to be back doing a crossword that matters. I don't know who syndicates the tiny one that goes into some papers, but I solved every puzzle I saw in Montana in under 5 minutes each. Of course, I returned to a puzzle with 8 name answers and 4 clues that used names to get the answer. (To all the new blues, welcome; and relax, I promise I won't whine about names more than 7 times each week.)
Jazz, great writeup, and I was positively amazed at how closely my reaction to this puzzle matched yours. HES made me gag, by the way.
Okay, here's the very classic Jerry Lee hit Great Balls of Fire!, although not the one where he torched the piano. I just watched a video of his song, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" where the commenters were trying to figure out what he meant by "Shake it, don't break it. Made me wonder how lost they would be with CA's poetic contribution.
Time to check in on the parents.
Good Afternoon, CC and others.
I really messed up the NE corner partly because I also had ORATE noy OPINE. I sometimes check my answers at the LA Times website and that waa the only way I got back on track.
o.k. now this is eerie!
in my attempt to explain crossword coincidences, i realized that synchronicity was the word i was trying to think of(not serendipity).
anyway i went to wiki to check my reasoning and found this.
haven't we had Gustav Jung as a clue/fill many times before? and no, i'm not thinking of erica jong!
now, i think me looking up Syncronicity to explain crossword coincidences, only to find out that Gustav Jung coined the word, is the very definiton of Serendipity!
Seen:
Thanks for the link. What a fascinating article! Synchrinocity, who knew?
Thanks, JAYCE, I'm glad, too.
Here's to JD:
JD is our alphabet maven
It's due to the words she's been savin'
we know adar to eft
and wonder what's left,
that's why it's more stories we're cravin'!
Jimmy B - thanks, I didn't know there were programs for 'real' degrees on the internet, had never thought of getting one, I'll look into the online classes.
Fairly easy puzzle today. Of course 48D was easy for me since I live in Odessa. For some reason, it took a while for Del Rio to click, even though I've been there many times.
I have read all the Auel books and enjoyed all of them except the last one.
I had "orate" instead of "opine" at first and "revise" instead of "revamp."
JzB, I laughed at your take on the ELBA clue - 39A. Amusing.
DrewJ, what do you have against Odessa? We are definitely an "oil city." Our entire economy is based on the oil industry - thus many "boom and bust" cycles. We rode the crest of the high oil prices, maintaining a good economy far longer than many. We have slipped lately, but for a long time, we had a very low unemployment rate while everyone else's was going up.
Are we really Small People, or do you believe that something was lost in translation?
Hello All--I finished the entire puzzle without one lookup. A good day for me. For some reason I was on Pancho Harrison's wavelength today. I loved the musical theme. Thank you Jazz for a great musical writeup and for the enjoyable links. I especially like the Theolonious Monk piece.
My new word for today is Runic. Another one to add to my personal list. I liked the Run away to join the union/Elope clue today. Very clever.
Janet, Anth. short for Anthology. A collection of literary pieces. I still have the English and American literature anthologies from my college days. They are good reference materials, if I ever think to use them!LOL.
Shades of my childhood came back with Lava Soap. My father was a machinist and used lava soap every day to scrub off the grime from his job.
We had a powdered Lava that they put into the soap dispensers at our school! It was rough, and we hated it. They still had it when I started teaching and we groused so much about it that they finally gave us a nicer soap for the faculty restrooms!
I did do yesterday's puzzle and read the blog, but didn't post. I was too tired after a long day putting on a baby shower. Twenty six people here for a tea lunch. Thank goodness for helping hands. I'd never had made it on my own. I'm getting too old for such shindigs anymore.
Is Shelters of StoneBook 5) as good as Jean Auel's first three?And, has Land of the Painted Caves come out? The web says it was due out in March.
CA, your petite poems made me giggle.
Carol, what a thoughtful friend you are. Thanks!
Hatool,
Yes, we are!!
Hatool,
Yes, we are!!
Oops!
Hi all. New glasses today, and the sun is finally out. I'm sort of ashamed to admit that the first word that popped into my head for 50 across was "palm". I believe it to be excellent long term memory of a very old joke. Yah that's it!
Hahtool, I'm sure it was translated incorrectly, but we'll see just how much BP cares.
Loved the song, Gunghy.
'Palm', huh? Hell, Doug, remembering another old saying, it's no wonder you need glasses.
Gunghy: How did you know I'm only 5 feet tall!!! Let me tell you, if BP thinks we're Small People, it underestimates us.
Randy Newman is one of my favorite composers/singers. Louisiana is particularly apt. 80 years later and it's still the same story.
father (walking into his son's room): "son, if you don't stop doing that you'll go blind.
son (waving his arms above his head): "dad...i'm over here!!
Hatool -
21st century international corporate execs have the same attitudes as 14th century French nobility.
Yes, we are small people. Small, insignificant, and marginally useful at times, but ultimately expendable non-members of the elite.
Lo siento,
JzB
Old jokes reminds me of the first time I watched "Home Improvement".
Tim answered the phone, listened for a moment and then said, "And deep, too." Right then I knew I would like the show.
Still catching up on links, of which there were a slew today, good ones, too.
I've especially enjoyed the articles, thanks to all who have posted them.
And the music, ooh, la, la; by minimizing while it's playing, I can continue to enjoy reading.
Jerome, Jerome:
I feel like dubbing you "Lord Jerome" (from The Princess Diaries; can you tell there's a teenager in my house?) since you "lord" it over the witty world of words.
Hahtool:
Thank you for keeping us informed on the Gulf disaster. So sad to see all those resources and peoples' lives ruined. Little people, indeed!
Jazz, That was a super, super writeup! Thanks! Loved your links, too, especially Thelonius and the Bach 'Air'. BTW, when I've looked that up somewhere that I can't remember, it was followed by '(Elvira Madigan)'. I haven't been able to get that movie(?) on Netflix and I didn't see it. Was
'Air on a G String' the score for it? Oh, and please translate YMMV. Thanks.
I have the same positive remarks about the puzzle as most of you. Really enjoyed it, and the JB writeup made it even better.
CA The Pope poems are great! Made me LOL. ANd your menu sounds terrific. I'm such a sucker for croissants, and they couldn't have a better filling!
JD your stories are fantastic. I liked the 'F' one best so far, but probably the next one will be my new fave. I'm making a list for myself and it's enhanced by some of yours. Just looking them up looks daunting but once I get at it, I really love consulting dictionaries! Much better than Jane Auel, no offence intended! I seem to be in the minority there. I guess I find it too hard to identify with the protagonist.
Give me a good whodunit!
Temperature has dropped to the 70s today for a delightful day.
Hahtool, I think we should give the BP guy a break, after all, he's a Swede! Not that I'm not really, really concerned about that spill! ALL the oceans are connected in some way. What will this do if the spewing doesn't stop? I see this as global! It's very scary!
I see I'm still anonymous. I think I signed up again; what's going on?
Best Clue = Motion Support!!
Very clever
Lucina@1:53 "I wonder, is that why some call it "the thing"?
LOL, One person's "it" is another person's "thing". ;o)
Father: (walking into his son's room): "son, if you don't stop doing that you'll go blind.
Son: OK, I'll stop when I need glasses.
Dodo: Consider. The oil spill is already global. The consequences of the spill are already causing concern throughout Europe. This spill will have a massive effect on the global economy.
Granted the chairman is a Swede, but consider ~ His visit to the White House was planned. It wasn't a spur of the moment drop-by. The Chairman had plenty of time to prepare. He has or should have handlers who help him with what to say and what not to say. The past few weeks have made it abundantly clear that the BP is in dire need of a good PR rep. Still, even the worst PR rep would/should have prepped the chairman on what to say. Saying that BP cares about the "small people" demonstrates JazzBumpa's statement that we are inconsequential and insignificant.
do you think our constructor, Pancho, had this song in mind when he clued 57A?
i watched and enjoyed Argyle's clip. then i watched another Merle Haggard song. and when i was done the above song was next in queue.
is this more synchronicity or possibly more serendipity. either way it felt like a deja vu!
p.s. did everyone see that ol' willie cut his famous braids?
Dodo, having just watched the BP Chairman, I agree that the 'small people' comment was more a translation problem than any slur directed at us 'common folk'. Doesn't take away, of course, from the gross incompetence they've displayed thus far.
The next Jean Auel book is due out March 29 2011!
Hello.
Per Amazon.com, The Land of the
Painted Caves (#6) is to be available March 29,2011. Shelters of Stone was worth reading since many loose ends were tidyed up.
Here it comes. IMO someone needs to let it go and get on with their life. It is not doing you any good
to hold on to it. We are all frustrated and disgusted.
My little, green, happy pills came in the mail this morning. I'm taking them again.
eddyB
I had to go back and listen to and read more of the links. I didn't have time this afternoon to do all that I wanted.
Thank you, too, CA for your "little" poems. They made me chuckle.
JD, you must have posted your F story after I was on the blog yesterday. I'll have to go back and re-read. I don't want to miss even one episode of the Alphabet Saga.
eddyB said: "IMO someone needs to let it go and get on with their life. It is not doing you any good
to hold on to it. We are all frustrated and disgusted."
Does everybody understand this but me?
Go Lakers one more time!
dodo -
YMMV: "Your mileage may vary," a general disclaimer along the lines of "different strokes for different folks." The latter, BTW, is intended in all naive innocence.
The Elvira Madigan theme is the slow movement of Mozart's 21st piano concerto.
Cheers!
JzB who occasionally moves slowly
Bill G (9:53) I don't understand (Eddy B) the comment anymore than you do....maybe that is why he needs the little green pills - LOL.
Eddy B - do you want to share them?
Jazz: different strokes can also cause blindness but only in one eye.
No time for the puzzle yesterday and today as I am in an accounting nightmare trying to reconcile the foodshow. Jazz, I did manage to read your write up and it was most entertaining.
I am heading to MI to visit my folks the 25th thru the 28th. The 28th is my Dad's 75th birthday so it should be a special visit that is long over due.
I hope all is well with my blog friends.
JD, love your stories using those words that escape us. You are a very talented and creative writer.
For you newbies bluebies out there, I have been posting here for the better part of two years. You will not find a nicer bunch of folks out there in cyberspace.
7 and a wake up...right Dennis?
hugs to you, dodo- too busy this evening to write.The gous and the gnus can wait.
Thanks Crockett.The web was giving me different dates, and Eddy, I will read the last one to get caught up.I understood your line of thought..even without little happy pills.
CA:
Right back at you, LOL. For some strange reason I hesitated to use "male genitalia" then I remembered where I was.
Good night to all.
Thanks Jeannie, but it is not a talent to write silly stories. Just using those words is fun.I am amazed at the talent of our cruciverbalists, being so creative with their clues, and we get to smile, snicker and even laugh out loud.
@BillG/Carol OK, Maybe this is plainer. I was talking about Hahtool. I think she is obsessing and fixsated on the oil spill. The spill happened, it is a disaster and the flora and fauna will be affected for years.
I'm not saying forget about it because the damage is on-going. There isn't much you or I can do about it.
BP has admitted culpability and is going to pay. If they don't, the prez will KA. NObody just drops in at the WH. It was all one big photo op.
BTW it isn't a LOL situation that I take 20 some pills /day to stay alive. How many and were do I send
them?
eddyB
Forgot to add. Go Celts!
eddyB
Carol and Bill G, I'm with you. Maybe JD can explain it to us. Is he talking about our environmental crisis or something even more esoteric?
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