Theme: El Week - Common phrases with letter L inserted after Letter F, followed by different vowel sounds, which remain unchanged after the transformation.
23A. Automatic whipper? : FLOG MACHINE. Fog Machine. Short O.
29A. Early-week occasion for wearing sensible footwear? : FLAT TUESDAY. Fat Tuesday. Short A.
43A. Country with the tastiest cuisine? : MOST FLAVORED NATION. Most Favored Nation. Long A.
67A. Some food fighters? : CHICKEN FLINGERS. Chicken Fingers. Short I.
95A. Line in an admiral's pep talk? : FLEET, DON'T FAIL ME NOW. Feet, Don't Fail Me Now. An unknown album to me. Long E.
111A. Where legendary firefighters are honored? : HALL OF FLAME. Hall of Fame. Long A.
119A. Quartet of couch potatoes? : THE FLAB FOUR. The Fab Four. The Beatles. Short A.
I don't get the title. "El", yes, why "Week"?
111A is basically a repeat of 43A Long A scheme. Maybe Doug can't find a Long I or Long U (or short U) phrase with 11-letters. I can think of Fight Song, Fighting Irish, neither works. In a funk with short U sounds nice. But then flunk is a verb.
Very smooth solving. Some of the long Downs are just awesome. Several baseball and golf references today:
51A. Level just below the majors : AAA. Baseball "level". Sitting atop UMPS (60. Home bodies?). Home plate. And YOGI (4D. Teammate of Mickey and Whitey) and ALOU (14. Jesus of '60s-'70s baseball).
And:
76A. Golf clinic subject : GRIP. Strong or weak.
42D. Golf clinic subjects: STANCES. Can you believe that I actually read Ben Hogan's secret fundamentals on golf?
112D. Duck call? : FORE. You duck when golfer shouts "Fore". I was fooled.
I guess IRON (81. Dietary need) could be clued as golf related too. Maybe CHEATED ON (11D. Was unfaithful to) too. Ha ha, now Tiger can hit his balls in any hazard he wants...
Across:
1. Kids' game for car trips : I SPY
5. River through British Columbia : FRASER. Have never heard of the river.
11. Michael of "Juno" : CERA. Another unknown. Canadian.
15. Hebrew prophet : AMOS. Hebrew meaning "burden".
19. Big Apple neighborhood near Greenwich Village : NOHO (North of Houston Street). SoHo is South of Houston Street.
20. Gun, to a hood : ROSCOE. New slang to me.
21. Truck : HAUL. Verb.
22. Actress Gershon : GINA. Here she is.
25. Gas brand in Canada : ESSO
26. Shangri-la : EDEN
27. Iconic WWII riveter : ROSIE. Rosie the Riveter.
28. "Rock and Roll, Hoochie __": 1974 hit : KOO. What does "Hoochie Koo" mean?
32. Slithery Egyptian : ASP. Wow, can you describe ASP as if it were a person?
33. Tack on : APPEND
36. Colorado natives : UTES
37. __ Cup: chocolate candy : MALLO. Nope. Have never heard of this candy.
38. Language of India : HINDI. Shout-out to Vidwan. So many languages there.
40. Yard neatener : EDGER
42. Sources of wisdom : SAGES
47. Where the source of the Amazon is : PERU
48. Showy lily : SEGO. Sego lily.
49. Words before a kiss : I DO. Wedding.
50. Opposite of bien : MAL
54. Political surprise : U-TURN
56. Subway barrier : STILE
58. It's a gas : NEON. Fun clue.
61. Euro predecessor : PESETA. Spanish currency before Euro.
63. No-goodniks : CADS
65. Business mag : INC. Well, maybe Vidwan reads this magazine.
66. Go after : SEEK
72. Sixth Greek letter : ZETA. Can't remember the order.
75. Louis XIV, par exemple : ROI
77. Shrubs with small, reddish fruit : SUMACS. Fruit & FRUITS (41D) duplication.
82. A8 automaker : AUDI
84. Amherst sch. : UMASS (University of Massachusetts)
87. Tiny South Pacific nation : NAURU. About 8 square miles in area.
88. Jenna's "The Office" role : PAM. No idea. I've never watched "The Office".
89. TiVo precursor : VCR
90. Polynesian paste : POI. Just had some boiled taro the other day.
92. Final Four letters : NCAA
94. News squib : ITEM
100. Increases sharply : SOARS
101. Viz. relative : ID EST. The full form of i.e.. Viz. = That is to say/to wit.
102. NFL Network sportscaster Rich : EISEN. First encounter with this fellow.
103. Fowl quarters : COOPS
104. Grandmotherly nickname : NANA
105. Room for brooms : CLOSET. Ours is in the garage.
108. Photo __ : OPS
114. 1040EZ issuer : IRS
115. Set one's sights on : AIM AT
117. Maker of Karlstad living room furniture : IKEA. Easy guess.
118. Lena of Tinseltown : OLIN
122. Motocross surface : DIRT
123. City with many pits : RENO. Pits here refer to "the pits", the worst, correct? (From Argyle: Wow, PIT can mean a lot of things. In this case it means the area or room of a casino containing gambling tables. In bowling, it is the area where the fallen pins gather. Of course, there are the pits in racing, too. And many more!)
124. Set the dial to : TUNE IN
125. Toni Morrison novel : SULA. What's it about?
126. "Only Time" singer : ENYA
127. Units of work : ERGS
128. __ Fables : AESOP'S
129. Anthem opener : O SAY
Down:
1. Red leader? : INFRA. Leader to the word infrared.
2. Individual efforts : SOLOS
3. Matchmaker's supply : PHOSPHORUS. Was thinking of the marriage matchmaker. Not one who makes real matches.
5. Monastic title : FRA
6. Heaps at a quarry : ROCK PILES
7. "... who lived in __" : A SHOE. "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...".
8. Descendant : SCION
9. Long, long time : EON
10. Yachting hazard : REEF
12. Ohio's time zone : EASTERN
13. Autumn colors : RUSTS. Still hot summer here.
15. In olden days : AGES AGO
16. Hussein in the White House? : MIDDLE NAME. Obama's middle name. The clue somehow bothers me.
17. "Paper Moon" co-stars : O'NEALS. Ryan and Tatum O'Neal.
18. 2009 Panasonic acquisition : SANYO. Unknown trivia to me.
24. Had in mind : MEANT
30. Competed on a sled : LUGED
31. Send with a click : EMAIL. And PDFS (34. Some 31-Down attachments).
35. __ volente: God willing : DEO
39. Confident words : I SURE CAN. Nice entry.
41. Trail mix tidbits : DRIED FRUITS. Crossed three theme entries.
43. Apportion : METE
44. Maxwell Smart's occ. : AGT
45. Mel Blanc's meal ticket : VOICE
46. Together with : AMONG
47. Small seal : PUP
52. Goon : APE. I associate goon with thug.
53. Say "What?" : ASK
55. Ultimate : NTH
57. "Metropolis" director Fritz : LANG. Stumped me last time.
59. Augsburg article : EIN. German "a". Alliteration.
60. 1898 sinker : USS MAINE. Look, there are four ships named USS MAINE.
62. Stars in the sky? : AIR ACES. Nice clue.
64. Like some chances : SLIM
68. Squash venue : COURT. Oh, I was thinking of veggie squash.
69. Poke fun at : KID
70. "It's dandy for your teeth" toothpaste : IPANA. Only familiar with the "Brusha, brusha, brusha" line.
71. Be on the ticket : RUN. Run for the office.
72. USPS acronym : ZIP
73. Time in history : ERA
74. Shenanigans : TOMFOOLERY. Reminded me of Sallie's "shenanigan" remark of Lois. So funny!
78. Self-directed : AUTONOMOUS. Both 74 & 78 intersect two theme entries.
79. Rowers : CREW
80. Adder's target : SUM. Not the snake "adder".
83. Portable music players : IPOD NANOS. Mine is Classic.
85. Course with a fair: Abbr. : SCI. I don't get the "fair" reference here.
86. Register printout : SALES SLIP
89. Left-hand page : VERSO. Recto is right-hand page.
91. Graveyard shift hr. : ONE AM
93. Lille lady friend : AMIE
96. Capital of Buenos Aires Province : LA PLATA. Literally "silver".
97. Ringing up, old-style : DIALING
98. Consumer protection agcy. : FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Not a familiar abbr. to me.
99. Pub sign abbr. : ESTAB. Established I suppose.
100. Absorb deeply : SOAK IN
103. Wag a finger at : CHIDE
104. Panther, Jaguar, or Lion, briefly : NFLER. Good clue for a boring answer.
106. Debt securities : LIENS
107. Monteverdi title character : ORFEO. No idea. Have never hard of this opera. Wikipedia says Orfeo = Orpheus, the Greek myth guy who went to Hades to rescue his wife.
109. Longtime "Idol" name : PAULA (Abdul). Of course, she's not with "Idol" any more.
110. Dogcatcher's pickup : STRAY
113. Blues legend James : ETTA
116. In that case : IF SO
120. Coloration : HUE
121. Ques. response : ANS.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A. Automatic whipper? : FLOG MACHINE. Fog Machine. Short O.
29A. Early-week occasion for wearing sensible footwear? : FLAT TUESDAY. Fat Tuesday. Short A.
43A. Country with the tastiest cuisine? : MOST FLAVORED NATION. Most Favored Nation. Long A.
67A. Some food fighters? : CHICKEN FLINGERS. Chicken Fingers. Short I.
95A. Line in an admiral's pep talk? : FLEET, DON'T FAIL ME NOW. Feet, Don't Fail Me Now. An unknown album to me. Long E.
111A. Where legendary firefighters are honored? : HALL OF FLAME. Hall of Fame. Long A.
119A. Quartet of couch potatoes? : THE FLAB FOUR. The Fab Four. The Beatles. Short A.
I don't get the title. "El", yes, why "Week"?
111A is basically a repeat of 43A Long A scheme. Maybe Doug can't find a Long I or Long U (or short U) phrase with 11-letters. I can think of Fight Song, Fighting Irish, neither works. In a funk with short U sounds nice. But then flunk is a verb.
Very smooth solving. Some of the long Downs are just awesome. Several baseball and golf references today:
51A. Level just below the majors : AAA. Baseball "level". Sitting atop UMPS (60. Home bodies?). Home plate. And YOGI (4D. Teammate of Mickey and Whitey) and ALOU (14. Jesus of '60s-'70s baseball).
And:
76A. Golf clinic subject : GRIP. Strong or weak.
42D. Golf clinic subjects: STANCES. Can you believe that I actually read Ben Hogan's secret fundamentals on golf?
112D. Duck call? : FORE. You duck when golfer shouts "Fore". I was fooled.
I guess IRON (81. Dietary need) could be clued as golf related too. Maybe CHEATED ON (11D. Was unfaithful to) too. Ha ha, now Tiger can hit his balls in any hazard he wants...
Across:
1. Kids' game for car trips : I SPY
5. River through British Columbia : FRASER. Have never heard of the river.
11. Michael of "Juno" : CERA. Another unknown. Canadian.
15. Hebrew prophet : AMOS. Hebrew meaning "burden".
19. Big Apple neighborhood near Greenwich Village : NOHO (North of Houston Street). SoHo is South of Houston Street.
20. Gun, to a hood : ROSCOE. New slang to me.
21. Truck : HAUL. Verb.
22. Actress Gershon : GINA. Here she is.
25. Gas brand in Canada : ESSO
26. Shangri-la : EDEN
27. Iconic WWII riveter : ROSIE. Rosie the Riveter.
28. "Rock and Roll, Hoochie __": 1974 hit : KOO. What does "Hoochie Koo" mean?
32. Slithery Egyptian : ASP. Wow, can you describe ASP as if it were a person?
33. Tack on : APPEND
36. Colorado natives : UTES
37. __ Cup: chocolate candy : MALLO. Nope. Have never heard of this candy.
38. Language of India : HINDI. Shout-out to Vidwan. So many languages there.
40. Yard neatener : EDGER
42. Sources of wisdom : SAGES
47. Where the source of the Amazon is : PERU
48. Showy lily : SEGO. Sego lily.
49. Words before a kiss : I DO. Wedding.
50. Opposite of bien : MAL
54. Political surprise : U-TURN
56. Subway barrier : STILE
58. It's a gas : NEON. Fun clue.
61. Euro predecessor : PESETA. Spanish currency before Euro.
63. No-goodniks : CADS
65. Business mag : INC. Well, maybe Vidwan reads this magazine.
66. Go after : SEEK
72. Sixth Greek letter : ZETA. Can't remember the order.
75. Louis XIV, par exemple : ROI
77. Shrubs with small, reddish fruit : SUMACS. Fruit & FRUITS (41D) duplication.
82. A8 automaker : AUDI
84. Amherst sch. : UMASS (University of Massachusetts)
87. Tiny South Pacific nation : NAURU. About 8 square miles in area.
88. Jenna's "The Office" role : PAM. No idea. I've never watched "The Office".
89. TiVo precursor : VCR
90. Polynesian paste : POI. Just had some boiled taro the other day.
92. Final Four letters : NCAA
94. News squib : ITEM
100. Increases sharply : SOARS
101. Viz. relative : ID EST. The full form of i.e.. Viz. = That is to say/to wit.
102. NFL Network sportscaster Rich : EISEN. First encounter with this fellow.
103. Fowl quarters : COOPS
104. Grandmotherly nickname : NANA
105. Room for brooms : CLOSET. Ours is in the garage.
108. Photo __ : OPS
114. 1040EZ issuer : IRS
115. Set one's sights on : AIM AT
117. Maker of Karlstad living room furniture : IKEA. Easy guess.
118. Lena of Tinseltown : OLIN
122. Motocross surface : DIRT
123. City with many pits : RENO. Pits here refer to "the pits", the worst, correct? (From Argyle: Wow, PIT can mean a lot of things. In this case it means the area or room of a casino containing gambling tables. In bowling, it is the area where the fallen pins gather. Of course, there are the pits in racing, too. And many more!)
124. Set the dial to : TUNE IN
125. Toni Morrison novel : SULA. What's it about?
126. "Only Time" singer : ENYA
127. Units of work : ERGS
128. __ Fables : AESOP'S
129. Anthem opener : O SAY
Down:
1. Red leader? : INFRA. Leader to the word infrared.
2. Individual efforts : SOLOS
3. Matchmaker's supply : PHOSPHORUS. Was thinking of the marriage matchmaker. Not one who makes real matches.
5. Monastic title : FRA
6. Heaps at a quarry : ROCK PILES
7. "... who lived in __" : A SHOE. "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...".
8. Descendant : SCION
9. Long, long time : EON
10. Yachting hazard : REEF
12. Ohio's time zone : EASTERN
13. Autumn colors : RUSTS. Still hot summer here.
15. In olden days : AGES AGO
16. Hussein in the White House? : MIDDLE NAME. Obama's middle name. The clue somehow bothers me.
17. "Paper Moon" co-stars : O'NEALS. Ryan and Tatum O'Neal.
18. 2009 Panasonic acquisition : SANYO. Unknown trivia to me.
24. Had in mind : MEANT
30. Competed on a sled : LUGED
31. Send with a click : EMAIL. And PDFS (34. Some 31-Down attachments).
35. __ volente: God willing : DEO
39. Confident words : I SURE CAN. Nice entry.
41. Trail mix tidbits : DRIED FRUITS. Crossed three theme entries.
43. Apportion : METE
44. Maxwell Smart's occ. : AGT
45. Mel Blanc's meal ticket : VOICE
46. Together with : AMONG
47. Small seal : PUP
52. Goon : APE. I associate goon with thug.
53. Say "What?" : ASK
55. Ultimate : NTH
57. "Metropolis" director Fritz : LANG. Stumped me last time.
59. Augsburg article : EIN. German "a". Alliteration.
60. 1898 sinker : USS MAINE. Look, there are four ships named USS MAINE.
62. Stars in the sky? : AIR ACES. Nice clue.
64. Like some chances : SLIM
68. Squash venue : COURT. Oh, I was thinking of veggie squash.
69. Poke fun at : KID
70. "It's dandy for your teeth" toothpaste : IPANA. Only familiar with the "Brusha, brusha, brusha" line.
71. Be on the ticket : RUN. Run for the office.
72. USPS acronym : ZIP
73. Time in history : ERA
74. Shenanigans : TOMFOOLERY. Reminded me of Sallie's "shenanigan" remark of Lois. So funny!
78. Self-directed : AUTONOMOUS. Both 74 & 78 intersect two theme entries.
79. Rowers : CREW
80. Adder's target : SUM. Not the snake "adder".
83. Portable music players : IPOD NANOS. Mine is Classic.
85. Course with a fair: Abbr. : SCI. I don't get the "fair" reference here.
86. Register printout : SALES SLIP
89. Left-hand page : VERSO. Recto is right-hand page.
91. Graveyard shift hr. : ONE AM
93. Lille lady friend : AMIE
96. Capital of Buenos Aires Province : LA PLATA. Literally "silver".
97. Ringing up, old-style : DIALING
98. Consumer protection agcy. : FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Not a familiar abbr. to me.
99. Pub sign abbr. : ESTAB. Established I suppose.
100. Absorb deeply : SOAK IN
103. Wag a finger at : CHIDE
104. Panther, Jaguar, or Lion, briefly : NFLER. Good clue for a boring answer.
106. Debt securities : LIENS
107. Monteverdi title character : ORFEO. No idea. Have never hard of this opera. Wikipedia says Orfeo = Orpheus, the Greek myth guy who went to Hades to rescue his wife.
109. Longtime "Idol" name : PAULA (Abdul). Of course, she's not with "Idol" any more.
110. Dogcatcher's pickup : STRAY
113. Blues legend James : ETTA
116. In that case : IF SO
120. Coloration : HUE
121. Ques. response : ANS.
Answer grid.
C.C.
44 comments:
Good Morning, CC and all. Interesting theme. Took a while to catch on, though.
Michael Cera was also the son in "Arrested Development".
I've an early flight out of Logan this morning. My week in New England seems all too short.
No QOD today. Today marks the 5th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.
Hello Puzzlers - Not quite a pure solve today, had to cheat on two squares. Had SOHO 'cause I don't know Manhattan that well and never visited Greenwich Village. "Leader" seemed new to me as a clue part, so I didn't see INFRA when it was right there. D'oh! The other boggle-up was somewhere in AUTONOMOUS.
UMASS was a gimme, of course. The other two schools in Amherst are Amherst College and Hampshire College. They're expensive. UMass, not so much.
Mallo Cups were considered third-rate in my grade school. FRASER was a WAG - it fit so I went with it. I assume there is a link with Fraser fir, the desireable Christmas tree variety. KOO/COO slipup.
English must be a BEAR to learn! Singer and ringer vs. finger and linger? Yowza.
@Bill G. from last night: I can picture a young Goldie Hawn in that tent dress! Maybe Twiggy, too.
Later, Dude.
Oh, Hahtool - You picked some good weather days to be 'round here! Come back real soon.
Morning, all!
Nice puzzle with a fun theme. My favorite theme answer by far was "FLEET DON'T FAIL ME NOW" (I'm familiar with the original phrase, but didn't know it came from an album).
Everything was smooth sailing except for the SE corner. SULA was a complete unknown, but I was able to get it via the crosses. I wasn't so lucky with EISEN, however. The S remained a mystery, and it didn't help that I couldn't figure out what E_TAB was supposed to be. I was convinced that TAB referred to a running bill at a bar and the answer was some sort of TAB. EZ TAB? I finally ran through every letter in the alphabet until I got the "TADA!" at "S" (at which point the light bulb finally went off).
Have a great trip home Hahtool! I felt the same way when I left England to return to New England. There's just never enough time to truly enjoy a vacation...
Happy Sunday and thank you Doug and C.C.
I really enjoyed the wit and simplicity of the theme; it is always good to see Doug’s work. There were many fun clues, my favorite being, Adder's target : SUM, totally had me thinking snakes. Also liked the pun in Fowl quarters : COOPS, and the juxtaposition of Sources of wisdom : SAGES and, Where the source of the Amazon is : PERU, showing the complexity of a simple word. Also, 1898 sinker : USS MAINE, was very neat, and while there have been 4 USS MAINE named ships, only one was sunk and led to the Spanish-American War and the rise of Teddy Roosevelt.
Before there was a song or an album, there was a Bob Hope movie, in which comic actor Willie Best says, while running from Zombies, FEETS DON’T FAIL ME NOW .
In addition to his work on Arrested Development (there is a movie in the works) and Juno MICHAEL CERA also was very good in Superbad and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist .
I never have heard of NAURU, has anyone?
Course with a fair: Abbr. : SCI, C.C., every year I n high school, there is a Science Fair, where the kids get their parents to make homemade Volcanoes and Rocket Ships, except for the smart one who make lasers from their toothpaste tubes.
Wiilie Best at his BEST .
C.C.:
El week is probably a reference to Hell week
Good Morning C.C. et al.
Loved this theme - I got it right away in the NW, and it did help to get the other answers which were scattered throughout.
Favorite clues were 123A "RENO" (was thinking of LA with the La Brea Tar Pits, from last week's pics!); 62D "AIR ACES", 85 D "SCI" and 112 D "FORE". Clever clues, which did throw me off for a bit.
My WAG today was 11A CERA and 14D ALOU. Didn't know either one, but "A" sounded like the right letter, and I got the TaDa!!
New word today for me was "SQUIB" at 94A. I looked it up on Wiki and found that it is a small explosive device. Dug deeper, and found another meaning: A brief satirical or witty item in a newspaper which can be used as a filler, and which "can be intended to ignite thinking and discourse on the subject". So in the newspaper sense, it is still a "small bomb", right? I'll just tuck that one away.
Have a great day everyone!
Bon Jour, Messieurs et Mesdames. Hope everyone got ROI and MAL, nice 3 letter words.
Seemed to be about a Wednesday difficulty but longer, of course. Loved the theme words which were easy to get started due to the perps. WAGS included FRASER, ESSO, UTES, MALLO, and NAURU. Thought MIDDLE NAME, UMPS, USS MAINE, AIR ACES, and FORE were quite clever. Had 'bran' before IRON. No look-ups were needed.
On 29a, I think the 'early week' phrase was inserted to help guide you to Tuesday or F(l)at Tuesday, Mardi Gras.
FLEET DONT FAIL ME NOW is something Adm Nelson could have said at Trafalgar. Instead he said by signal: ENGLAND EXPECTS THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY.
Enjoy the day
Hi CC and everybody. Only nine posts so far. I almost feel like a first responder.
The original expression was: "Feets, don't fail me now!" In addition to Willie Best, I think it was also a catch phrase used by Steppin Fetchit, a comic black actor from the 30s or so. Typically, he would be scared by something like a ghost in a haunted house and he uttered the line when he was trying to get away. It wouldn't be OK in our PC environment now.
I taught both math and science in middle school. Science fairs were a chance for the students to show off some of their science knowledge. I would encourage them not to just build something showy (like a volcano) but instead to demonstrate their understanding of the scientific method. Maybe they would investigate which tennis ball kept its bounciness the longest. Or, how plants grew under different colored light. As Lemonade said, the parents often did more than encourage their kids.
After some Googling, it looks as if it was Willie Best and maybe not Steppin Fetchit. Maybe also Amos and Andy?
Thinking about Amos and Andy got me to thinking about Brer Fox and Brer Bear in Song of the South. Those were great old hand-drawn cartoons.
Another possible explanation for the title "El Week" is that Doug was hinting that the letter "L" was weak, so when it dropped off, a new phrase was formed.
FLOG MACHINE was a disturbing entry for me until I got to FLAT TUESDAY and saw the theme.
I enjoyed the theme entries, but the rest of the puzzle was quite a slog for me at times. However, the SW fell quickly, giving me some momentum to finish.
Hello fellow puzzlers.
Nice blog, C.C. I know, 16 down did not sit well with me either.
Quite a slog today only because it seemed so loooooooong. On Sunday I usually start at the bottom because I can find traction quicker; maybe it's a mind set, I don't know.
Anyway, no real issues or problems. I even got all the sports clues and answers without help. I'm learning.
The them answwers were clever, especially CHICKENFLINGERS and MOSTFLAVOREDNATION. Cute.
Must go to church. Later.
Have a fantastic Sunday!
NAURO is familiar only from crosswords.
A high school here makes robots for their science fair and has won many national events. It is located in the inner city which makes it even more significant.
Good day,C.C. and all,
C.C. your write-up is nicely done-
I may agree with your comment on
16d.
I liked the puzzle and the theme;
got that with first one;however,
'week' made me feel 'iffy',because of the tie in to 'Tuesday. I was looking for days to come up and finally forgot it- guess it was a
play on 'Hell Week'.
My longest hang-up was 'Hindi',
because I insisted on using
'Hindu'.
Matchmakers supply was my biggest surprise-especially with the 'p's.
And then,of course,16d, with the double Dds {no pun intended,Lois].
Oh well, envy can take many forms.
Pub sign,abbr was also a bear.
Unknowns were:Eisen,Gina,Mallo,Sula Fraser
and Nauru.
All Wags and perps-no look-ups.
Have a nice day.
Good Morning All, What a nice change today. Yesterday was so difficult for me and I suffered over it. Today took some time (after all it is a big Sunday puzzle), but there were very few stickers and no googling.
I had a couple of vertical problems with (3D)PHOSPHORUS (I was thinking of matchmaker Dolly Levi), (62D) AIR ACES (803D) IPOD NANOS and (78D) AUTONOMOUS. All the perps came to the rescue and helped to finish up.
I caught on to the theme with FLAT TUESDAY, so the rest of them fell pretty easily since I was on the lookout for the FL insert.
When I was a very little girl living in Los Angeles, my aunt worked for an accountant who had business dealings with Willie Best. On one occasion my parents took me to my aunt's office and Mr. Best was there. I was introduced to him and he shook my hand, with a dignified, "How do you do?" I was probably too shy to say anything, but I remember him as a very nice well spoken man.
Good morning, C.C.
I found this one easier than yesterday's, but it took more than a hour to finish. I had no idea what NFLER was until I got here, so I checked ELIN on Google to be sure it was right.
In the end, I still didn't get the TaDa!, so turned on red letter. I was so sure 19A was SoHo, that I couldn't see the error of "isfra." I changed it and got the big congratulations, but I had no idea what NOHO was. Have they banned prostitution there? (Sorry!)
I didn't see any harm in 16D; that is his name, after all. If it bothers him, he should have it changed. In future literature, he will be referred to by all three names. Check the name "Wayne" sometime and see how many killers have had that for a middle name. Doesn't mean a thing.
Our temps are back up into the low 90s, but that is better than 100+.
I loved MALLO cups, but their peanut butter cups didn't measure up to Reese's. They'd stopped making MALLO cups for a while, but seem to have re-started. They're hard to find.
Tripping, man.
3D PHOSPHORUS
67A Nauru's economy depends almost entirely on the phosphate deposits.
Staghorn sumac in fall's rust color.
Image.
Good afternoon, C.C. and gang - I did the puzzle very late last night, but got sucked into a 6am bike ride, so I'm just now getting around to posting.
Doug's puzzles are always worth the wait, and I certainly enjoyed this one. Just a great theme. Had a lot of the same problems that have already been covered here, but my biggest stumbling block was in refusing to come off 'upset' for 'Political surprise', especially with 'pup' in place.
Spitzboov, loved your Adm. Nelson comment; very clever.
The only reason I knew the quote was from Willie Best and not Steppin Fetchit is that I lost a healthy bet over it, years ago.
Had no problem with 16D, but I've learned that my PC and political filters are much less restrictive than others here.
I used to carry Mallow Cups in the candy section at the hobby store, but kids didn't seem to care for them so I stopped. By the way, the best selling candies among kids at the store are two that most of my fellow near-deads should remember: Candy buttons (where you'd eat as much paper as candy) and Nik-L-Nips, the little wax bottles of different-colored sugar water. Did anyone else chew the wax endlessly?
Hopefully, Doug will check in sometime today - I'd like to hear how this one came together.
Enjoy the rest of the day - I hope everybody's out doing something FUN. Damn summer's almost gone already.
Thanks for comments, everyone. C.C. noticed all the different vowel sounds in the theme answers, but that was unintentional on my part. It's always interesting to see what kinds of things solvers/bloggers can find in a puzzle. The first entry I thought of was CHICKEN FLINGERS, and it took off from there.
Hello everybody. Thanks for the humorous and informative writeup today, C.C.
I very much enjoyed the puzzle today; several of the fills made me laugh out loud. A nearly snorted coffee out my nose at THE FLAB FOUR and nearly flung my sausage acroos the room in hilarity at CHICKEN FLINGERS. By the way, it's the only one of the theme fills that causes a change in the G sound when the L is added: fingers vs. flingers.
Adder and Fore fooled me too. But in a nice way. I still can't quite define or explain why I sometimes find being fooled is okay, done in a kindly way, and sometimes find being fooled angers me because I feel it was done with malice or deliberate intent to infuriate. Deception can be done in fun, such as as a game or a joke, and deception can also smell of malicious deceit and intent to degrade the deceived. I dunno, maybe my nose is too sensitive in this regard. I guees one way of distinguishing between the two is by observing whether figuring out the deceit results in me thinking "Aha, cute!" or "Sheesh, WTF."
Today it was all cute and fun and clever and enjoyable :)
Yeah, I pencilled in SOHO and had to change it. Although I've never heard the term NOHO actually used, it makes sense that would be such a thing.
I too have never heard of Michael CERA or of NAURU, and I don't recall ever having heard of a gun referred to as a ROSCOE, but now I have learned. I have also learned of the FRASER River.
Hooray for GINA Gershon, on whom I have had a crush for years. She has an extremely interesting mouth shape.
Some really fun clues today too, a couple of my favorites being "It's a gas" and "Adder's target" and "Squash venue."
Most signs and cornerstones I have seen say "Est." rather than "Estab." but I was okay with that fill. Ya work with what ya got. (Didn't Donald Rumsfeld once say something similar to that? LOL)
I didn't look it up, but to me "Hoochie Koo" conjures up images of a sexy dance, swiveling of hips and so on. Makes me think of the "cootchy cootchy" of Charo.
My sister used to say "Feet, don't fail me now" a lot when we were kids and got into a jam and had to run away. She was also fond of saying "De agony of de feet." No, I don't think she had a foot fetish.
And on that note I wish you all a good day.
daffy dill, a friend and I were once discussing how we noticed a number of murderers had Wayne as a middle name. Funny you should mention it; glad to know you noticed it too. At one point my friend and I looked at each other, paused, then simultaneously shook our heads, "Nah."
Dennis:
What a lovely memory springs to mind thinking of those wax bottles filled with fruit juice! And, yes, it was fun to chew the wax.
Ahh, childhood.
HeartRX:
Thanks for the info on SQUIB. I meant to research it, but had to leave. Puzzles are great for learning, aren't they?
Hi everyone! Loved all the theme answers this week, with "Chicken Flingers" being my favorite. I was also stuck on a few in the bottom left corner. For some reason I thought 89D was 'velum' and 100D was 'took in' so I was thrown off for quite a while. Also I kept thinking 112D was 'lure' and 104D was 'tiger' even though I had the n from 'nana'. Fun none-the-less.
BTW...don't feel bad about 1D. I've lived in and around NYCity all my life and also had SOHO until it finally dawned on me what it was. I guess I'm showing my age. It used to be called 'the warehouse district' when I was younger. They've gone upscale, I guess.
Jayce, if you've never heard of Michael Cera, then you probably haven't seen the movie "Juno." It's a very enjoyable story of a young girl's unexpected pregnancy. One of the reasons I liked that movie so much is the actress playing the leading role, Ellen Page. Her face and personality are very appealing. Rent it or you can often catch it on one of the cable station. Her father is played by the actor who plays Chief Pope on "The Closer." Michael Cera plays her boyfriend.
I too didn't have any problem with 16D. The only time it bothered me was when it was emphasized in a Republican rally before the election in an obvious attempt to roil the troops.
Daffy Dill-
You are exactly right.
However, my 'Maybe' problem stemmed from the ? after the clue,
instead of e.g.
Working across, I caught the theme with 29A FLATTUESDAY and went back to 23A which I filled with FLAXMACHINE. Then when I looked at perps I perceived that 3D was not spelled with an a and who in baseball was Yoxi? Took me awhile to fix that thinking.
My other setback was filling 116D with ERGO.
Also, a UTURN is no "Political Surprise" (54A). After elections u-turns should be expected or, at least, anticipated
C.C. : Little Feat was a southern rock group founded in 1969 by Lowell George. The group's fourth album (1974) was titled "Feats, Don't Fail Me Now. "
Wow, nobody has linked Rick Derringer's Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo from when he was with the Edgar Winter Band.
It amazing how times change. "Hoochie Koo", taken from "hoochie coochie", is definitely a euphemism for sex, or for a variety of sexual acts.
The Hoochie Coochie was a kind of belly dance that was presented at side shows during the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.
What seems odd is that the song Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis referred to the Hoochie Coochie as pretty innocent and was sung by Judy Garland and Lucille Bremmer in 1944's "Meet Me In St. Louis".
BTW, I sang "Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis" in a quartet with our chorus last year. Lots of fun.
CA: you beat me to the Rick Derringer link! i had it all typed out, hit "preview" and there you were!
You are correct that hoochie coochie dates back to 1893, but derringer probably was influenced by Muddy Waters' Hoochie Coochie Man.
also, i wouldn't be a true Buckeye if i failed to mentioned that Rick Derringer was born just up the road from me in the tiny town of Ft. Recovery, OH.
his most successful song is Hang On Sloopy which Ohio State has adopted as a fight song.
Hi gang -
I don't usually track down the Sunday LAT puzzle, but Doug's name in the by-line intrigued me. I wasn't disappointed. Terrific theme and great down fill.
Hand up for SOHO, though I knew there was some risk of NOHO - but then forgot. Daffy - Brilliant!
Re: 16 D - that doesn't bother me at all. Plus, it was a learning moment. I thought the H stood for Hoover! That's as close as I'll get to politics.
You have to love a song that rhymes hootchie-kootchie with tootsie-wootsie. Otherwise your head might explode. Judy Garland actually looks cute in the clip.
I guess the hard life came later.
Speaking of Tiger, STRAY could have been related to CHEATED ON.
C.C. likes "like" clues, so -
11D: Like Elin.
110: Like an ally-cat (or Tiger.)
Cheers!
JzB the TOMFOOLERY trombonist
What a nice relief after the linguistic Armageddon yesterday. No help necessary and like Clear Ayes, FLATTUESDAY got me first.
I did the entire puzzle in the car as Joann drove us home from The Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, NE in about 2h and 15m. As I got each crazy "L" pun, I told Joann and she just rolled her eyes.
This is the first year the fair it has been out of Lincoln and suffice it to say it was very different. There were no urban people who show up just because it is in a town of 300,000. The peeps were very rural, very family oriented and VERY WHITE. That is not good as GI has a large Hispanic/African component in their packing plant. The crowds were very large but uniform. All in all, though, a fun trip and a great time! I learned how to make thread from llama wool and several other useful skills.
I think you will all agree, EVERYONE has a story they are dying to tell if you just take the time to listen and show interest. That 400 pound guy with 5 teeth and dandruff on the bench at Wal Mart will tell you an interesting story and be grateful to tell if you just give him a chance.
My overriding, personal motto is 'Nobody is better than me, and I am no better than anyone!".
What a fun theme! Loved Chicken Flingers. When our younger son was, well, younger and we ate out, he always ordered chicken fingers, no matter what restaurant. He laughed when I told him about the cw clue and answer.
Did a little bit of googling, but I amazed myself with things I didn't know I knew. They just seemed to pop into my head when I needed them.
Jayce, the visual of snorting coffee and flinging sausages was hysterical! Thanks!
Thank you, C.C., for the weekend's great blogs.
Loved the puzzle today! Favorite clue/fill was 112D: Duck call?/FORE.
Thanks, Doug Peterson, for an excellent composition.
So late to the party today. After usual Sunday family activities today, I got caught up in a movie on TV, "Men of Honor", which I thoroughly enjoyed. I rarely sit and watch TV (okay, so I was doing a crossword while watching), but was touched by the theme of dedication, perseverance and honor in the film.
Night, all!
Hello Again Puzzlers - Whereas I posted this morning about the ringer, singer, finger, and linger pronounciation inconsistencies, it's an interesting coincidence that my wife and I were in a whole foods market today to buy--GINGER!
I bet foreign folk HATE to have to learn all those irregular words.
I guess it's G'Night, everbody!
ative8327Yes, Dudley. I can attest to that. Non English speakers have the devil of a time with rule exceptions.
They roll their eyes and ask, why?
I do my best to make it humorous for them.
Good night all.
Good evening/night, CC, et al., What a fun puzzle, just hard enough and so many clever misdirections. Loved those! My favs were 95A Fleet don't..., 60A umps, 3D matchmaker supply and 29A Flat Tuesday. Cute, cute cute! Have yet to make it to Mardi Gras. Bucket list item...maybe this year.
Lemonade: thank you for that clip. That's where I learned that saying. My brother and I would play w/that line frequently in chase to make the other one laugh...and lose. I couldn't remember Willie Best but my brother got it right away. What a hoot! Brought back a lot of memories. Good stuff!
CA: thanks for the Meet Me in St Louis, Louis link. We sang it Meet me in St Louis, Lois...and we got engaged there ....before dirt, but it was wonderfully romantic.
Hands up for Mallo cups and chewing the wax bottles forever. Man, that was good tasting stuff. I'm so glad they're still around.
Doug P: so good of you to drop in. Thank you for today's puzzle and for sharing its inception. It's always fun to hear from the constructors. Good job!
MY first day of school tomorrow. No kids until after Labor Day. Gotta make sure my pencils are sharp 'cause I sure as 'el' won't be. Party time for the family, sending off #1 to Phx Tues. Sad but I'll get to visit Frenchie, and maybe Chuck of the West...where is he anyway???... when I visit out thata way. And then maybe the whole west coast coven one day. This could work. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Changes are upon us.
Enjoy the rest of your night.
I don't know why this is publishing in triplicate, but now I can't even delete the extra entry. Maybe an administrator can clean up my mess for me? I'm sorry. Does anyone know why this is happening? Preview or publish...same thing.
Lois, I'll fix it. No idea why it's happening though.
Isn't 'once is not enough' one of your sayings?
Dennis: LOL that's why I'm a teacher, funny guy. We do it over and over and over and over until we get it just right...then once more just to make sure.
Dennis: forgot to say 'Thank you'.
Good morning - I wanted to tell you that I work in telephone reference for a library, and I use this site to answer crossword questions from callers (our local paper gets the LA crossword). Great blog!
FYI, Orfeo is credited with being one of the first operas, 17th C. It isn't well-known anymore.
Ms. G
Ms. G,
Nice to hear from you. Hope you can join our live conversation soon.
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