Theme: Never Give Up - Six symmetrically placed theme entries all begin with synonyms for the key word, TRY
17A. *Prepare to drink, as a can of beer : CRACK OPEN. Have a CRACK at it.
21A. *Say goodbye, quaintly : BID ADIEU. Place one's BID, I suppose. Or issue a command or invitation. Doesn't seem as tight a fit as the others. Am I missing something?
26A. *Betrayal : STAB IN THE BACK. Take a STAB at it.
49A. *Nixed : SHOT DOWN. Have a SHOT at it.
44A. *Do what others prefer : GO WITH THE FLOW. Have a GO at it.
59A. *It involves a lot of writing : ESSAY TEST. ESSAY the possibilities of it. And
61A. Synonym for the starts of the answers to starred clues : TRY. If at first you don't succeed, have a beer and call it a night. TRY, TRY again.
With six theme answers and a key word entry, this is a very thematically rich and persistently active puzzle.
Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, your humble trombonist. I BID us to have a STAB at CRACKING this puzzle.
Across:
1. Perching on : ATOP
5. Coated with a precious metal : GILT. From 14th Century Middle English, for the color of gold.
9. Hekzebiah Hawkins's daughter : SADIE. From Al Kapp's Li'l Abner comic. Lovely girl.
14. Cotton field sight : BALE. Bales of cotton. My baleful look is because I wanted BOLL.
15. Melville novel : OMOO. Well known to crossword solvers. Has anyone ever read it?
16. Phillips et al.: Abbr. : ACADS. Phillips Academy, a secondary school in Andover, Mass.
19. Revolutionary Pancho : VILLA. Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula, a real person and Mexican folk hero. Like Robin Hood, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. (See 12D.)
20. Moppets : TYKES. Sometimes they're cute.
23. Affirmative answer : YES. I agree
25. Priest in I Samuel : ELI. Much later, the lesser of two famous siblings.
33. They lack Y chromosomes : WOMEN. But men are willing to share, up to 50 times a day.
34. Agitated speeches : RANTS. Or blog posts. I have a few.
35. GP's soc. : AMA. American Medical Association.
38. Like "Beowulf," e.g.: Abbr. : ANON. Shouldn't this be, like the AUTHOR of Beowulf?
39. Shire horses' burdens : CARTS. I wanted Hobbits.
40. Israeli statesman Abba : EBAN. South African born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban spent three decades in the Israeli Knesset.
41. When doubled, a number puzzle : KEN. KEN KEN puzzles are almost as much fun as crosswords.
42. "__ Swear": 1959 Skyliners hit : THIS I. THIS I swear. I swear, I could listen to this 50 time as day,
43. Lucky shot : FLUKE. I once sank a long, downhill, curving putt. (For a triple bogey, alas.) That must have been some sort of FLUKE.
47. Recycle receptacle : BIN. We bin recyclin' fer years.
48. "__-haw!" : YEE. Cry of excitement from down on the farm. Perhaps Windhover can elaborate.
54. Caught a few z's : SLEPT. I did that this afternoon. It was good.
58. Itinerant : NOMAD. People who are on the move, rather than settled in one spot. There are estimated to be 30 to 40 million in the world, of three types: hunter gatherers, pastoral nomads, and paripatetic nomads.
62. Be of use : AVAIL
63. Moore of "G.I. Jane" : DEMI. Not a favorite of mine
64. Intro for John? : DEAR. DEAR John letters - long distance breakup notices. Now, just text: "U R DUN!"
65. Ziti cousin : PENNE. Two kinds of pasta pipes.
66. Scoot along, as clouds : SCUD. A SCUD cloud looks dangerous.
67. Showing no sign of slowing down : SPRY. I'm not very SPRY this week. It's the heat. Yeah - that's the ticket.
Down:
1. Start of a learning song : ABC. Should need no explanation.
2. Sharp-tasting : TART. Sharp tasting from natural acidity, like baking apples. And 10. Like orange juice : ACIDIC.
3. Skin care brand : OLAY. Oil of OLAY. No bull.
4. Eat like a bird : PECK.
5. Two-time U.S. Open winner Retief : GOOSEN. I have no idea.
6. Little devil : IMP. Typical grandson. and 40. Little trickster : ELF. I thought they made cookies!
7. 1924 co-defendant : LOEB. Very strange case. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks, in an attempt to commit the perfect crime.
8. Singer Braxton : TONI. Seriously beautiful, Multiple award winner, not to be confused with Anthony Braxton.
9. Telly on the telly : SAVALAS. Nice echo clue for Kojak, the lollipop kid. Who loves ya, baby?
11. Spanish surrealist : DALI. Salvador. We see him often.
12. Just hanging, so to speak : IDLE. So if we have the IDLE rich . . . never mind.
13. Birthright-for-pottage trader : ESAU. From Genesis. Esau was hungry. Jacob drove a hard bargain. I think it was a bad deal.
18. Enter, as data : KEY IN.
22. Obligations : DEBTS. Pay up! (See 30 D.)
24. The Dardanelles, e.g. : STRAIT. A narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water.
26. Billet-doux letters : SWAK. Sealed With A Kiss. A "billet" is a short note. "Doux" is "sweet." Short, sweet, sealed with a kiss. The very antithesis of a Dear John letter.
27. Work on, as abs : TONE. You might have a GO at it.
28. In the thick of : AMONG. I think AMIDST fits the clue better.
29. 1972 Michael Jackson hit : BEN. I have no recollection of this song, but recognize the melody.
30. Draconian : HARSH. Draco was the first legislator of ancient Greece, who had the laws written on wooden tablets so they could be openly displayed. Any debtor with lower status than his creditor became a slave. Draconian law included the death penalty for even minor offenses.
31. Thing : ENTITY.
32. Capital WNW of Islamabad : KABUL. The capital and largest city in Afghanistan.
36. Powerful shark : MAKO. I guess.
37. Freshly : ANEW
39. Twilled pants material : CHINO
42. Move about absently, as one's thumbs : TWIDDLE
43. Touchy-__ : FEELY. Based on emotion and sentiment, to the detriment of rational analysis.
45. Get hold of : OBTAIN
46. One half of a tiff : HE SAID. From HE SAID, she said - who can figure it out? Draco, I suppose.
49. Clicking fastener : SNAP. I'm sure it's here somewhere.
50. __ to: halted, nautically : HOVE. Past tense of "heave" to. The sailors here can explain how heaving slows a boat.
51. Asian sultanate : OMAN
52. Gets hitched : WEDS
53. Infinitesimal time period: Abbr. : NSEC. Nanosecond. One billionth of a second. Probably the time frame for something done 50 times per day.
55. Data on airport skeds : ETDS. Estimated Times of Departure.
56. Bo follower? : PEEP. She lost her sheep. Windhover - help!
57. Ivan IV, for one : TSAR. The former royal rulers of pre-soviet Russia, Spelt CZAR everywhere but in puzzles.
60. Dallas sch. : SMU. Southern Methodist University.
Answer grid.
There you have it folks, a fine, dross-free Wednesday offering from Gareth, with a nice mix of the familiar with the not-so-common. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Picture of the Day: Here is a sweet picture of JD's three grandsons. The smiling boy is 3-year-old Truman. In his arms is 2-week-old Cameron. 11-month-old Grady seems to have something else in his mind.
Cheers!
JzB
17A. *Prepare to drink, as a can of beer : CRACK OPEN. Have a CRACK at it.
21A. *Say goodbye, quaintly : BID ADIEU. Place one's BID, I suppose. Or issue a command or invitation. Doesn't seem as tight a fit as the others. Am I missing something?
26A. *Betrayal : STAB IN THE BACK. Take a STAB at it.
49A. *Nixed : SHOT DOWN. Have a SHOT at it.
44A. *Do what others prefer : GO WITH THE FLOW. Have a GO at it.
59A. *It involves a lot of writing : ESSAY TEST. ESSAY the possibilities of it. And
61A. Synonym for the starts of the answers to starred clues : TRY. If at first you don't succeed,
With six theme answers and a key word entry, this is a very thematically rich and persistently active puzzle.
Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, your humble trombonist. I BID us to have a STAB at CRACKING this puzzle.
Across:
1. Perching on : ATOP
5. Coated with a precious metal : GILT. From 14th Century Middle English, for the color of gold.
9. Hekzebiah Hawkins's daughter : SADIE. From Al Kapp's Li'l Abner comic. Lovely girl.
14. Cotton field sight : BALE. Bales of cotton. My baleful look is because I wanted BOLL.
15. Melville novel : OMOO. Well known to crossword solvers. Has anyone ever read it?
16. Phillips et al.: Abbr. : ACADS. Phillips Academy, a secondary school in Andover, Mass.
19. Revolutionary Pancho : VILLA. Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula, a real person and Mexican folk hero. Like Robin Hood, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. (See 12D.)
20. Moppets : TYKES. Sometimes they're cute.
23. Affirmative answer : YES. I agree
25. Priest in I Samuel : ELI. Much later, the lesser of two famous siblings.
33. They lack Y chromosomes : WOMEN. But men are willing to share, up to 50 times a day.
34. Agitated speeches : RANTS. Or blog posts. I have a few.
35. GP's soc. : AMA. American Medical Association.
38. Like "Beowulf," e.g.: Abbr. : ANON. Shouldn't this be, like the AUTHOR of Beowulf?
39. Shire horses' burdens : CARTS. I wanted Hobbits.
40. Israeli statesman Abba : EBAN. South African born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban spent three decades in the Israeli Knesset.
41. When doubled, a number puzzle : KEN. KEN KEN puzzles are almost as much fun as crosswords.
42. "__ Swear": 1959 Skyliners hit : THIS I. THIS I swear. I swear, I could listen to this 50 time as day,
43. Lucky shot : FLUKE. I once sank a long, downhill, curving putt. (For a triple bogey, alas.) That must have been some sort of FLUKE.
47. Recycle receptacle : BIN. We bin recyclin' fer years.
48. "__-haw!" : YEE. Cry of excitement from down on the farm. Perhaps Windhover can elaborate.
54. Caught a few z's : SLEPT. I did that this afternoon. It was good.
58. Itinerant : NOMAD. People who are on the move, rather than settled in one spot. There are estimated to be 30 to 40 million in the world, of three types: hunter gatherers, pastoral nomads, and paripatetic nomads.
62. Be of use : AVAIL
63. Moore of "G.I. Jane" : DEMI. Not a favorite of mine
64. Intro for John? : DEAR. DEAR John letters - long distance breakup notices. Now, just text: "U R DUN!"
65. Ziti cousin : PENNE. Two kinds of pasta pipes.
66. Scoot along, as clouds : SCUD. A SCUD cloud looks dangerous.
67. Showing no sign of slowing down : SPRY. I'm not very SPRY this week. It's the heat. Yeah - that's the ticket.
Down:
1. Start of a learning song : ABC. Should need no explanation.
2. Sharp-tasting : TART. Sharp tasting from natural acidity, like baking apples. And 10. Like orange juice : ACIDIC.
3. Skin care brand : OLAY. Oil of OLAY. No bull.
4. Eat like a bird : PECK.
5. Two-time U.S. Open winner Retief : GOOSEN. I have no idea.
6. Little devil : IMP. Typical grandson. and 40. Little trickster : ELF. I thought they made cookies!
7. 1924 co-defendant : LOEB. Very strange case. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks, in an attempt to commit the perfect crime.
8. Singer Braxton : TONI. Seriously beautiful, Multiple award winner, not to be confused with Anthony Braxton.
9. Telly on the telly : SAVALAS. Nice echo clue for Kojak, the lollipop kid. Who loves ya, baby?
11. Spanish surrealist : DALI. Salvador. We see him often.
12. Just hanging, so to speak : IDLE. So if we have the IDLE rich . . . never mind.
13. Birthright-for-pottage trader : ESAU. From Genesis. Esau was hungry. Jacob drove a hard bargain. I think it was a bad deal.
18. Enter, as data : KEY IN.
22. Obligations : DEBTS. Pay up! (See 30 D.)
24. The Dardanelles, e.g. : STRAIT. A narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water.
26. Billet-doux letters : SWAK. Sealed With A Kiss. A "billet" is a short note. "Doux" is "sweet." Short, sweet, sealed with a kiss. The very antithesis of a Dear John letter.
27. Work on, as abs : TONE. You might have a GO at it.
28. In the thick of : AMONG. I think AMIDST fits the clue better.
29. 1972 Michael Jackson hit : BEN. I have no recollection of this song, but recognize the melody.
30. Draconian : HARSH. Draco was the first legislator of ancient Greece, who had the laws written on wooden tablets so they could be openly displayed. Any debtor with lower status than his creditor became a slave. Draconian law included the death penalty for even minor offenses.
31. Thing : ENTITY.
32. Capital WNW of Islamabad : KABUL. The capital and largest city in Afghanistan.
36. Powerful shark : MAKO. I guess.
37. Freshly : ANEW
39. Twilled pants material : CHINO
42. Move about absently, as one's thumbs : TWIDDLE
43. Touchy-__ : FEELY. Based on emotion and sentiment, to the detriment of rational analysis.
45. Get hold of : OBTAIN
46. One half of a tiff : HE SAID. From HE SAID, she said - who can figure it out? Draco, I suppose.
49. Clicking fastener : SNAP. I'm sure it's here somewhere.
50. __ to: halted, nautically : HOVE. Past tense of "heave" to. The sailors here can explain how heaving slows a boat.
51. Asian sultanate : OMAN
52. Gets hitched : WEDS
53. Infinitesimal time period: Abbr. : NSEC. Nanosecond. One billionth of a second. Probably the time frame for something done 50 times per day.
55. Data on airport skeds : ETDS. Estimated Times of Departure.
56. Bo follower? : PEEP. She lost her sheep. Windhover - help!
57. Ivan IV, for one : TSAR. The former royal rulers of pre-soviet Russia, Spelt CZAR everywhere but in puzzles.
60. Dallas sch. : SMU. Southern Methodist University.
Answer grid.
There you have it folks, a fine, dross-free Wednesday offering from Gareth, with a nice mix of the familiar with the not-so-common. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Picture of the Day: Here is a sweet picture of JD's three grandsons. The smiling boy is 3-year-old Truman. In his arms is 2-week-old Cameron. 11-month-old Grady seems to have something else in his mind.
Cheers!
JzB
57 comments:
Good morning, Jazzbumpa, C.C. and gang - this'll be quick, 'cause I'm late for the gym.
I ended up working this one clockwise from the NW, and was making steady progress until I hit the center West. Didn't know 'Ben', went blank on 'Beowulf', and couldn't for the life of me figure out how 'Ken' doubled was a number puzzle; I do any puzzle I can get my hands on, but I've never heard of KenKen puzzles. I'm looking forward to trying them.
The theme wasn't bad, I guess, but personally I wasn't thrilled with it. On the other hand, I enjoyed the cluing, including some of the more obscure ones, i.e., 'The Dardanelles'. Regarding a nanosecond, I think I mentioned this before, but it's an amazing fact: a nanosecond is to a second what a second is to thirty years.
Today is Chocolate Day, and National Strawberry Sundae Day. Is this a great country or what?
Did you know:
- Desi Arnaz's mother was one of the heirs to the Bacardi Rum fortune.
- The last cigarette ad on TV appeared on The Tonight Show, December 31, 1970.
- The blood vessels of a blue whale are so wide that an adult trout could swim through them.
Hopefully more later - have a great one.
Good Morning, all. This was a good puzzle. I never thought that ESSAY was synonymous with TRY, however. I also wanted TURN DOWN instead of SHOT DOWN. At least I was half right!
I also thought of Tang instead of TART.
My favorite clue was Bo Follower = PEEP. I don't usually like clues that end in a question mark, but I nailed this one.
SADIE, SADIE was a married lady who was WED.
I was not familiar with clouds being scuds. I only remembered this SCUD.
I hope all the glitches, blitches, and other nasty computer bugs have been rectified today and we can see everyone's comments. I burned up all my posts on the problems yesterday that I couldn't tell Clear Ayes that hope she enjoys seeing Lewis Black in person. And yes, Lucina, I was indeed thinking of the Gaudi park, not Miro.
JD: Absolutely adorable grandsons!
QOD: Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
Good morning all,
CA--Have a happy Friday birthday!!
Evidently, ESSAY can be used as a synonym for ASSAY.
Gareth--Thanks for cool puzzle!
Jzb, argyle, etc., thanks for solutions.
Way past bedtime!
CA--Forgot to answer your pi question. Since dividing circumference by diameter always yields pi, the clue is "sorta" OK. However, I am incensed that I stupidly watched Night At the Museum 2, wherein the Einstein bobble heads defined pi as having a finite decimal expansion!!!
Morning all,
Fun puzzle this a.m. and thanks Jazz for a great write up. Just heard about KenKen puzzles about two weeks ago. Looked at them and decided I needed more time to try to understand how they work. This might be a good week for indoor activities since we are again aiming for 100+ deg.
Had a wonderful 4th with all the family together. Still didn't do the Sunday puzzle but the temps may allow time to complete it later this p.m. since I don't plan on being outside.
CA, belated happy birthday and enjoy your show. JD, beautiful grandchildren and I'm soooo jealous since I still have only one precious grandson. He is only 20 mos. and flips through an Iphone to find the apps his parents have downloaded for a little tyke to use. So many fun apps and "you tube" videos singing children's songs kept him busy and quiet in the car and restaurant.
Dennis, did you lose electric on Monday? My son and family arrived home in NJ about 7 p.m. Mon. night to no electric. Actually spent the night in a Howard Johnson's. Dear PSE&G said it can happen again because of the usage demand.
Have a great day all.
JzB a wonderful job with a tough puzzle to blog; I think BID refers more to a situation like Michael Phelps BID to break Mark Spitz' records at the Olympics.
Funny, the book I am reading has lots of characters from Phillips Andover, and I was thinking what nice job as Batman was done by Christian BALE .
My mind also went in a different direction for FLUKE .
Good morning JzB and all. Nice write-up.
Belated Happy Birthday greetings to Clear Ayes and Linda.
Nice bright little puzzle today. Had IMP and ELF in the same cw. Interesting words included TWIDDLE, CHINO, and FLUKE and proper names GOOSEN and SAVALAS. I thought HESAID was clever. Did not know KEN
'The ship HOVEd to to pick up the pilot.'
Now I BID you all ADIEU
Hello Puzzlers - Quite a few unknowns today. I never heard of OMOO, this particular ELI, EBAN, "THIS I Swear", GOOSEN, LOEB, ESAU, BEN, or billet-doux. I'm having trouble connecting TRY with ESSAY, and it seems like a stretch to link Beowulf to ANON, unless there's more to the story than I remember from high school.
I was unaware that Sadie Hawkins was a Li'l Abner character, as the strip was before my time. Is that where Sadie Hawkins Day comes from, too?
For some reason I like the phrase "HOVE to", having seen it enough to have sussed its past tense-ness. I suppose a further conjugation would involve "hoven"...
Good work, JazzB, and I'm with you: Demi Moore is simply not appealing.
Essay for try was confusing me also. But I just looked up on dictionary.com and a third definition was "an effort to perform or accomplish something; attempt." Never connected the two words.
Re: ESSAY
Essayer is the French infinitive for "to try". The motto of the US Army Corps of Engineers is "Essayons" meaning 'Let us try'.
Along with Lemonade714's sports record example, other bids as idiomatic phrases that mean to make a try at something include a bid for re-election, or victory, or glory, or to make a bid to be the host city of the next Olympic games.
Morning all -
I got a bit tangled up on this one, with Vilas instead of Villa, and Adios instead of Adieu... Had to come here to get it sorted out. Essay was the answer that revealed the theme for me - Essayer is french for to try.
JD - adorable grandsons. CA - hope you had a great birthday.
Hope everyone is keeping cool. We finally broke down and turned on the AC yesterday. More for the humidity than the heat. The inside of our house felt like a sponge.
Thanks all for the anniversary wishes last week. We had a terrific day. I didn't golf well, but the course was beautiful, and I hit just enough decent shots to want to go back and try again. Then we had just enough time for a visit to the garden where we were married before going out for a delicious dinner. The best part: Zoe had a sleepover at her cousin's house, so we got to sleep in til 9:30 - can't tell you the last time we got to do that. All in all, a great celebration.
Enjoy the day.
Morning Jazz, CC and All,
Fluke, Ken and Scuds were all that required red letter help. I picked and poked all around this one which took some time but perps started filling and then my time was up. My starred clues didn't print. Good workout this AM.
Excellent write up Jazz!!
JD, those boys look like quite the handful!! Good looking gents also.
If the 3 1/2-4 pound trout we catch can swim through a blue whale's blood vessels, that puts the veins approximately 4-6 inch diameter. Thems some pipes!!
Dennis, (from yesterday) We call it a Noonah!
Have a good one!
Good Morning Everyone: This puzzle started so easy. Knew the theme, but still didn't get SHOTDOWN until the end. Wanted TURNDOWN, but knew it wasn't past tense.. Finally saw SHOT after I decided SNAP had to be an answer. I have never heard of a KENKEN puzzle, and didn't understand SWAK until l I read the blog. Everyone have a good day.
Hi gang -
Thanks for the kind words.
Thanks, also, for the help on BID. Those explanations all seem right on.
JD - Are those cute little TYKES IMPS?
There are two KEN KEN puzzles in the Freep each day. An easy 4x4 to warm up on, and a challenging 6x6.
This is my 10th puzzle blog. I'm clearly not making a BID to top Argyles's 100+, though will ESSAY doing 50 (however, not in one day.)
I must have some sort of karmic konnexion with Gareth. This is the 4th time Ive done one of his. My other constructors, at 1 each are (in reverse chronological order) Pancho Hamilton (not VILLA), Our late friend Dan Naddor, Brad Wilbur, Doug Peterson, Charles Barasch, and my first, Gail Grabowski.
What a great line up, and what an honor and great fun to be able to do this, and share it with a wonderful group of virtual friends.
Cheers!
JzB the touchy-FEELY tromboist
Not really difficult. Just took some patience. 20 minutes. Last fills were SWAK at 26D and ANON at 38A.
I love Jazzbumpa.
I had no idea about the theme until I came here. Fun write-up JB!
I used to do Sudoku puzzles but eventually got tired of them. I stumbled on KENKEN and enjoyed them for a while too.
Perfect except for Al Kapp. Should
be Al Capp.
Jazzbumpa a most excellent write-up.
Thank You for all the links.
Searched out the theme reveal, TRY, early. Like many others wondered how it was a synonym when ESSAY TEST fell in early. Six themes was impressive.
Good job Gareth.
Nice Wednesday offering though I had a few write-overs. Hee for YEE (What is an entith? Nothing! But an ENTITY is something.) Came to for HOVE to (Namad makes no sense, NOMAD for itinerant does).
Like Dennis I have never heard of KENken puzzles but SWAK, Sealed With A Kiss is familiar.
As for how I prepare to drink a can of beer, I OPEN it more than a CRACK!
Faves were HE SAID for half a tiff and TWIDDLE my thumbs for what I'm doing somethimes on the Saturday puzzles.
Hello everybody. Thanks for the wonderful writeup, JzB. Loved it and love your sense of humor.
I wanted BOLL too, which I eventually realized wouldn't work. I've never heard of KENKEN puzzles, so I put in TEN for 41A, thinking the "game" in the clue would be TWENTY questions. If kenken puzzles are like sudoku puzzles, I'll probably tire of them too. The big flaw, IMO, with sudokus is that inevitably at some point, with the harder ones, it comes down to making a guess and logic goes out the window. IE, they are logically unsolvable.
Lemonade, you are right, of course it was Gone With The Wind that was the first hollywood movie to have the word "damn" spoken in it. I guess the reason Picnic stood out in my memory so starkly is that "damn" was used more overtly as a swear word. And William Holden seemed genuinely self-conscious when he said it. Anyway ...
So, KEN and BEN both were unknowns to me. I also faltered on ACADS and EBAN. Wanted HEE at first instead of YEE. Knew SADIE and VILLA and PENNE, and DEMI and WOMEN right off the bat. As C.C. likes to say, nailed them.
Congratulations to all of you who have had or are having birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, grandchildren, and other festive milestones in your lives.
Best wishes to you all.
I got the theme right away with the exception of “essay” the possibilities of. No wonder, if it comes from a French background. We all know how well I do with the French language. I wanted “hee-haw”
instead of “yee-haw”, and I have never heard of the puzzle ken ken. I will have to look into that one as I enjoy number puzzles. I had to hit the g-spot to find out what the Dardanelles were, and figured out it was a strait. Scoot along as a cloud-scud was a learning experience as well. I got Omoo, Eli, Eban, and Goosen via perp and a little red letter help. My favorite clue today was Telly on the telly – Savalas. In high school we had a Sadie Hawkins dance where the girls asked the boys to be their dates.
JD, you have some good looking young grandsons there!
Jazz, thanks for the very good job blogging and also for the abs pic, you know how I enjoy those.
Everyone enjoy your day, I am off to chase down a missing load of Whoppers.
Good Morning All, Good job as usual, Jazz.
33A, "They lack Y chromosomes" for WOMEN. Hmmm..sounds a little misogynistic. I don't think we "lack" anything. Why not "XX fortunate", or "Don't spend time thinking about having sex 50 times a day"?
Like others, I learned a couple of new somethings new today. I didn't know that ESSAY was a definition for TRY.
Of course I wanted SAGA or maybe EPIC for 38A. ANON was definitely a last choice, particularly since perp SWAK was slow in coming and I have never heard of underling 41A KEN(ken).
I had to come here for the meanings of both ESSAY and KEN.
I have read OMOO, which is subtitled "A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas". The 1300+ page book I have has OMOO, TYPEE, "A Peep at Polynesian Life" and MARDI, "A Voyage Thither". We see OMOO most often in crosswords. It must be all those Os.
GAH would have been disappointed if 5D golfer Retief GOOSEN hadn't been a gimme.
I liked 42A THIS I Swear", but it was the Skyliners "Since I Don't Have You" that I spent hours crying to, after breaking up (OK, he dumped me) with my first steady boyfriend. (Larry....you rat!)
fermatprime Thanks for the information. Sometimes it must be tough to be an expert. Happily, I never have that problem! :o)
PJB, thanks for stopping by yesterday. We were glad to see you are still around, but you should check in more often.
Here are some SCUDding Clouds
Forgot to mention that after I CRACK OPEN that beer I like to pour it STRAIGHT into a chilled glass, nice and foamy, before it is enjoyed. A little head never hurt anybody.
(Life isn't only about Avatar! I have secondary interests.)
Also liked WOMEN; They lack Y chromosomes.
I have always contended that DOS Equis (XX) was more suited for the ladies.
Good afternoon Jazz,C.C. and everyone.
Nice going,Jazz. I've always enjoyed your blogging.Had a good chuckle on your take for 33A and
53D. So true during the younger days when being SPO was on the daily menu.
A good Wednesday offering tho' a bit more difficult for me than usual.Did some guessing here and there, fortunately they were right.
Finished in 23 mins.
Have a good day everyone.
August
"Ben" is a 1972 movie release best known for Michael Jackson's theme song performance. A loving song dedicated to a rat.
Good day, puzzlers.
Terrific blogging, Jazzbumpa!
This started easily enough with many knowns and a little WAGGING.
GOOSEN was completely off my radar, but guessed it, managed to fill in my usual way of up then down.
And then, the telephone rang so I was distracted from there on and forgot to finish TONE, KEN, and ENTITIY where I had HEE not YEE.
We, my sisters and I, are in the throes of planning some future trips including a wedding in Hawaii so my mind was not engaged on this as it should be.
It's a lovely puzzle from Gareth Bain, though I, too wondered about ESSAY being synonymous with TRY and thought he might have meant assay. Thank you for all the explanations.
Andrea:
I'm so happy that your celebration turned out well.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!
Hi gang, is it really Wednesday??
This puzzle's NW corner had me feeling quite smug, and I thought, boy, this is like Monday....HAH! That lasted until 8D, 9A, 16A 21A....need I go on?? Blahh.
I remember Sadie Hawkins, but sure had never heard of her father, so I didn't get that one. Took a WAG at 13D. I did hang in there though and so what if I went through a few V-8 cans?
Back in a little while...have to check something so I can ask a question.
Does anyone else think the picture link to 49D is a guy in drag??? If not, 'she' is one homely woman!! Yikes!
Jazz, meant to say how much I enjoyed your write up, lots of great links and funny comments, as usual.
Never heard of KenKen puzzles either and since math is something I never understood, I won't be doing one anytime soon.
JD:
I forgot to mention your adorable grandchildren. They surely must bring you joy!
A "billet-doux" is French for "love letter." We use the same expression in English; however, like many other words, it's fading from the language.
Doreen
Carol - 49d: you're right, could go either way with that one...!
August@12:21pm,
What does SPO mean in your "being SPO was on the daily menu" comment? Also, are you a he or a she?
Hello All--I was seriously hung up in the West Central section. There were too many unknowns. I didn't know Ben, Ken (Ken), or This I (Swear). I put in drays at first for carts, then plows, and when neither fit, I had to leave it blank.
For "Beowulf" I put in Epic, then Poem, and finally left it blank, so all in all the white areas were filled in after I came to the blog.
I had most of the theme answers, but didn't really understand them until Jazz explained it all. Thanks for another enlightening blog.
I enjoyed Bo follower/Peep, and Clicking fastener/Snap. Both were clever and did give me a toe hold here and there.
I think I'll go have some chocolate and a cup of coffee to get over my failed attempt today.
Hey Puzzlers, a question came up at my CW-solving cafe today (due to a recent World Cup victory), and I'd like to pose it to your intelligent selves. How is it that Holland and The Netherlands are interchangeable names for the same country? Similarly, how did the people and the language thereof come to be called Dutch, rather than, say, Hollandaise :-) ?
Dudley, I've often wondered the same thing, because the name 'Holland' actually applies to North Holland and South Holland, two provinces (I think) within the Netherlands.
C.C., I'm a he. Regarding SPO, I hope I won't be chastised. It stands for Sexually PreOccupied. My apologies if this is inappropriate for the blog.
August
Yes, August, it is inappropriate.
Way too tame.
Re Dudley's question. You might want to visit this site .
They're not really interchangeable except, perhaps, in very informal speech. The official name is Kingdom of the Netherlands. Holland was one of the seven founding entities.
Don't really know where 'Dutch' originated. Their name for themselves is Duits - per lyrics of their anthem. Since WWII, they prefer to think of themselves as Nederlandse because Duits also means 'German'.
Hope this helps.
Dudley- The short answer-
As Dennis said, Holland is two provinces of the Netherlands(low lands) republic. North and South Holland.
The majority of Netherlands people are Dutch and speak Dutch. Ancestors of old Germanic tribes.
Calling the Netherlands Holland is simply a mistake and the people of the Netherlands resent it. It would be a little like calling America New York.
Way, way oversimplified-
Netherlands, Holland, Dutch=
America, New York, English
Dennis, you got me there for a while. I promise to do better next time:)
August
Hi, all, Oh, JD, what a darling trio! Those expressions! Seems like a handful; is there a Nanny? Is it you?
Loved your write up,Jazz, great links and your wonderful sense of humor! Anon, I love Jazzbumpa, too. I think we all do!
August, on a blog where the sumptuous morel has become a code word for male genitalia, just about anything goes, I should think. Thankx for the explanation of SPO. I'm so bad at acronyms, I'd like to have them ALL explained!
ClearAyes, what an honor to have Buckeye show up for your birthday! You really rate!
Hahtool, I think 'scud' in the context here is a verb. Speaking of verbs, Spitzboov (not bumpa),
if 'hove' is the past of 'heave', why would you add a 'd'? In another context, if you said someone barfed, would you say "he hove up" or he "heaved up?" Just askin'?
I guess I really didn't much like this puzzle. I bogged down in the middleeast,same as you, Dennis. Didn't go for 'anon' for like Beowulf, didn't get the theme even though I got the theme fills all but one, and when I did get the theme I had a hard time accepting it and its long fills. Sorry, Gareth. I'm sure I've liked others of yours. Also there were a number that I just plain didn't know even after they fit their spots, like ken, Goosen, Ben and I guess the others some of you mentioned. Nuf said.
dodo said: "if you said someone barfed, would you say "he hove up" or he "heaved up?"
I would probably say "he puked."
Now, I do remember my Mom telling me "don't say puke, say regurgitate."
To wit I replied "But Mom, you can't say regurgitate when you're puking!"
Tinbeni said, " A little head never hurt anybody." Not going to go there. Nope. No way.
Dennis I concur on SPO.
Jerome, thanks for the clarification.
Am home...almost unpacked...needed a break so I`m here. Haven`t puzzled in a few days...but Happy birthday, CA..a little late but none-the-less sincere. I too loved your poem.
I have a question for "garlic girl." How did you get the musical notes and other symbols in your post the other day? It was totally cool!
The one I drive for gave me a beautiful bronze sun medallion for the patio, took me for REAL Mexican (not tex/mex), to see an awesome fireworks display (put on at an airbase so I`m sure no expense was spared since it was tax-payer money) and to see Toy Story 3...which was wonderful...and so spot on with the characters. Not to spoil it for anyone but Buzz gets "changed" to a Spanish-speaking Buzz and romantic mayhem ensues. Pixar animated movies always have such good moral lessons such as faithfulness and doing what`s right, period. Love them. The "Day vs Night" short at the beginning was worth the admission price. The only draw-back (or perk) to seeing animated movies at a theater are the plethora of munchkins. The sound of their laughter is sweet music.
Wow! We just experienced a pretty big earthquake (5.9). It wasn't too bad here because it was centered out toward Palm Springs, maybe about 90 miles away. Our hanging lamps are all swinging.
Dodo: You are so funny! Heaving, Hoving, and Barfing, Indeed!!! Made me laugh out loud, you did! YEE HAW!
So what ever happened to Arthur Kent, anyway?
Lemonade: What are you reading that involves Phillips Andover Academy characters?
August: Dennis is right, SPO was new to me but very tame...as Dodo mentioned, we use MOREL as our signature 'dish'...so to speak. We can (and have) been naughty around here.
Dodo: LOL - love 'hoved up'... and I thought 'hurled' was funny. Like yours better :)
(as the old song lyric goes; "with a heave and a ho, he just couldn't let her go"
All you California folks OK???? What a swingin' place.
Several of you expressed an interest in KENKEN puzzles. I grew tired of Sudoku and preferred KENKEN though I eventually tired of them too. Here's a link for six graded puzzles a day from the NYT. KENKEN Let me know what you think.
Spitzboov, Dennis, and Jerome - Thanks for your input on the Netherlands question. I now see that I have been one of the non-cognoscenti, putting Holland and Netherlands as equal when they are not. At least I'm not the only unenlightened one!
Since Robert Parker died, I am rereading some of the Spenser novels, the particular one is Small Vices .
Finally...good evening Jzb,C.C.et al,
Maybe I should "have a beer and call it a night", but had to tell you Bumpa, that I have enjoyed all ten of your Wed. bloggings, especially when I get completely lost, like today. Actually, that cute little imp, Truman, was to blame today. He was a busy guy.After reading The Gingerbread Man to him he was intrigued, especially with the sprinkles that the Grandma put on the cookies. So that is what we did today. I ask to watch him about once a week, and when I get another car seat, Grady will come too.I'm lucky to have the whole family here every Sunday.
So many unknowns for me in this one: Ken, Goosen, Loeb,and I did not grok many of the clues, like billet-doux,draconian..feeling very dumb as the list is a bit longer. By the time I got to the SW corner, I was done.., more like undone.
Phillips- I had no idea Andover was also known as Phillips. I thought screwdrivers, or stool softeners!
Tinbeni, regurgitating is for the birds.
Jeanne, I'm so impressed that your grandson can maneuver thru an iphone at 20 months.Smart parents, smart boy.We are lucky grandmas.
Spitzboov, what a find-scudding clouds-who knew...ok,ok,all of you did. I thought a scud was a missile.Ah, to act or run swiftly.Now I'm in the loop.
Dudley- Do not fear, we're all non-cognoscenti about most things. I'm lucky if I'm cognizant of the most basic of Latin terms.
Wow. Come for the puzzles, stay for the billet-doux. You are all much too kind.
But, please don't stop.
A gentleman I met from Niederland informed me that Holland is a region not the name of the country. We had some beers together, so everything was OK. The German word for German is Deutsch (pronounced Doitch, more or less) so similar to Duits.
We got some rain here this evening. My front lawn slopes to the south and was getting badly heat stressed, despite daily waterings at an expense I don't even want to think about. June was very wet, but July bone dry until today.
Welcome rain - hope it helps.
Cheers!
JzB the trombone ENTITY
JzB
JD, your grandsons are so cute! Thanks for sharing the photo with us. You are so lucky to have them so near, and be able to spend so much time with them! It sounds like you take great care in making special memories with them.
I tried a KenKen puzzle in the NYT the other day. The 4x4 was ridiculously easy, since I do Sudoku when I have time. But I gave up on the 6x6 quickly. I may have been able to do it if I'd stayed with it, but it wasn't FUN for me. I've heard some people say they see meaning in numbers, but they're just boring numbers to me.
August, SPO seems to be similar to how DF is used on the blog.
There were two prep schools founded in the late 1700's by a man named Phillips, one in Andover Massachusetts, one in Exeter, New Hampshire. They are both known as Phillips Academy, followed by the location. They are remarkable in many ways and hossible in others.
I learned something today in the Netherlands, Dutch, Holland discussion. Thanks Spitzboov for the site that gave a great explanation. So I am correct when I say that I received a gift from my Dutch friend, but incorrect when I say she is from Holland.
The correct answer would be she is from the Netherlands.
While typing this the World Cup finals are being discussed between Spain and Netherlands. Interesting.
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