Theme: Idiom Antonyms - The starting positional prepositions in familiar phrases are flip-flopped and the resulting phrases are humorously reinterpreted and clued with question marked one-word adjectives.
17A. Dishonest?: BELOWBOARD. When you are honest, you are said to be aboveboard in your dealings.
26A. Happy?: UP IN THE MOUTH. Sad = down in the mouth.
42A. Sick?: OUT OF THE PINK. Healthy = in the pink.
56A. Incompetent?: OFF THE BALL. Competent = on the ball.
This theme is similar to neagative (in-/im-/un-/dis-/non-/extra-) words that no longer have a corresponding positive in the language, as in this poem, A Very Descript Man, attributed to J. H. Parker, one day late for bad poetry day:
17A. Dishonest?: BELOWBOARD. When you are honest, you are said to be aboveboard in your dealings.
26A. Happy?: UP IN THE MOUTH. Sad = down in the mouth.
42A. Sick?: OUT OF THE PINK. Healthy = in the pink.
56A. Incompetent?: OFF THE BALL. Competent = on the ball.
This theme is similar to neagative (in-/im-/un-/dis-/non-/extra-) words that no longer have a corresponding positive in the language, as in this poem, A Very Descript Man, attributed to J. H. Parker, one day late for bad poetry day:
I am such a dolent man, / I eptly work each day; / My acts are all becilic, / I've just ane things to say. / My nerves are strung, my hair is kempt, / I'm gusting and I'm span:/ I look with dain on everyone / And am a pudent man. / I travel cognito and make A delible impression: / I overcome a slight chalance, / With gruntled self-possesion. / My, dignation would be great / If I should digent be:/ I trust my vagance will bring / An astrous life for me.
Al here, with a fun Thursday. I think I might have gotten this without the theme, but figuring that out sure sped things up. I think this is a first for me, no links today...
Cross:
1. Boot's meal: MESS. Boot camp, I suppose...
5. What houses may be built on: SPEC. Speculation that if you build it, it will sell.
9. Li'l Abner's creator: CAPP. Al Capp, born: Alfred Gerald Caplin.
13. Some finals: ORALS. Final tests for graduate college/university degrees.
15. Machu Picchu's land: PERU. Translates to "old mountain".
16. Jewish youth org.: YMHA. Young Men's Hebrew Association.
19. Baseball Triple Crown component: RBIS. Runs Batted In. Also Home Runs and batting average, three statistics required for batters. Pitchers must lead in wins, strikeouts and Earned Run Average (ERA).
20. Winter sailcraft: ICE BOATS.
21. Locks up: JAILS.
22. Sgts.' superiors: LTS. Sergeants, lieutenants.
23. Galeón booty: ORO. Spanish gold. Galeón is Spanish for galleon.
24. Specialty, informally: THING. It's your/my thing to solve crossword puzzles.
30. Coach in the air?: CLASS. Coach class is the cheapest way to travel by plane, train, etc.
33. Tries to sink, perhaps: RAMS. Battleship collisions, also the part of the ship specifically designed to do such damage.
34. "Now I get it!": OHO.
35. Journalist Clare Boothe __: LUCE. Busy lady for an illegitimate child: Playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and US Congresswoman.
36. Teases maliciously: BAITS.
38. MLB All-Star Game day: TUES. Baseball season approximate mid-point, played usually on the second Tuesday of July.
39. ___-de-France: ILE. The most populous region of France, contains most of metropolitan Paris.
40. War ender: PACT. Latin pactum, covenant, contract.
41. Serious borders?: ESSES. The letter "S" is first and last in the word SeriouS. Was anyone fooled?
46. America's Cup entry: YACHT.
47. Bank book no.: INT. Interest.
48. Asian title of respect: SRI. Sanskrit for "beauty", especially of divinities and kings.
51. Illegal pickoff moves, e.g.: BALKS. A few baseball terms in the puzzle... This is when a pitcher makes a move as if to throw, but instead interrupts his motion. If he can make a smooth throwing motion to the base instead, then it isn't a balk and a runner with too far of a lead-off can possibly be tagged out.
53. Out of the box: UNCRATED.
55. Russian city on the Oka: OREL. A geographical answer to confuse you along with the Ural Mountains and the Aral Sea.
58. First name in Old West fiction: ZANE. Grey. Roughly 90 books with 110 movies made from his work.
59. "Go away!": SHOO.
60. Like Serling stories: EERIE. Rod Serling, narrator of the Twilight Zone.
61. Be compliant: OBEY.
62. Get wise with: SASS.
63. U.S. Army decorations: DSCS. Distinguished Service Cross. One step below the Medal of Honor.
Down:
1. Gas brand with a red "o" in its logo: MOBIL.
2. Upright: ERECT.
3. Rep's work: SALES. I guess REP isn't considered an abbrev. in this context...
4. Schulz's Pig-Pen, e.g.: SLOB. Charles Schulz, Peanuts comic. Pig-Pen is the one constantly in a cloud of dust, even when it rains or snows.
5. Exact, to a Brit: SPOT ON.
6. Porridge morsels: PEAS.
7. Goof: ERR.
8. Ruminant's mouthful: CUD. To ruminate is to turn something over in your mind, or as a cow, chew cud.
9. Rostand's long-nosed lover: CYRANO. Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, who actually existed, however, the play's plotline involving Roxane and Christian is almost entirely fictional — the real Cyrano did not write the Baron's love letters for him
10. Equivocal: AMBIGUOUS.
11. Punxsutawney predictor: PHIL. Groundhog day.
12. Coquette's wink, say: PASS. The word pass has been associated with a fencing move definition, to lunge at, also to make an attempt or try, or to make a "play" for.
14. Eagles' attacks: SWOOPS.
18. Adriatic port: BARI. Italy. Only got it through perp fills...
21. Slim __: snack items: JIMS. So greasy. I suppose they help wash the beer down...
24. One of those things: THAT
25. Bottom lines?: HEMS. Was not thinking sewing here, wanted NETS for the profit sense.
26. Take habitually: USE. Addiction.
27. Like overused crossword clues: TRITE.
28. Biblical pronoun: THEE.
29. Ponderosa heavyweight: HOSS. Dan Blocker was a large man.
30. Adman's award: CLIO. Named for the Greek muse of history, Clio is known as The Proclaimer; the name is from a root word that means "recount" (narrate) or "make famous".
31. Beaut: LULU. Bret Favre, for example.
32. Welder's need: ACETYLENE.
36. British spa town: BATH. Aptly named.
37. Sieben follower: ACHT. Seven, eight in German.
38. Sound made with a head shake: TSK. Made along with the shake, as opposed to an actual noise generated by having loose screws or missing marbles.
40. U.S. Army E-3s: PFCS. Privates, First Class. Technically the abbreviation is contained internally either singular or plural with the first word, so it shouldn't really have an "S" at the end, but this rule is broken a lot in everyday use.
41. Early bird special item: ENTREE. Extended early restaurant hours where the price can be cheaper to generate additional business off-peak.
43. "Little Sure Shot": OAKLEY. Annie.
44. Mottled horses: PINTOS. Large patches of white plus any other color.
45. Move furtively: INCH. Little by little.
48. Oscar Night assembly: STARS.
49. Dig find: RELIC. Archaeology.
50. What a slacker does: IDLES. Slack as in lax, limp, unmoving.
51. Oaf: BOZO. Oaf is related to elf, and comes from a changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies. Some dictionaries still give the plural as oaves. Bozo perhaps from Sp. bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly."
52. Certain Semite: ARAB. Semite from Shem, one of the three sons of Noah.
53. Area 51 sightings: UFOS. I have it on pretty good authority that this is really much ado about nothing. I'd tell you how I know, but then I'd have to have you taken care of...
54. Reading by a night light, perhaps: ABED. I will be doing this soon, I hope. I think words like these were made up by poets to stretch out the number of syllables.
56. WWII spy org.: OSS. Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA.
57. Govt. loan insurer: FHA. Federal Housing Administration.
Answer Grid,
Al
Cross:
1. Boot's meal: MESS. Boot camp, I suppose...
5. What houses may be built on: SPEC. Speculation that if you build it, it will sell.
9. Li'l Abner's creator: CAPP. Al Capp, born: Alfred Gerald Caplin.
13. Some finals: ORALS. Final tests for graduate college/university degrees.
15. Machu Picchu's land: PERU. Translates to "old mountain".
16. Jewish youth org.: YMHA. Young Men's Hebrew Association.
19. Baseball Triple Crown component: RBIS. Runs Batted In. Also Home Runs and batting average, three statistics required for batters. Pitchers must lead in wins, strikeouts and Earned Run Average (ERA).
20. Winter sailcraft: ICE BOATS.
21. Locks up: JAILS.
22. Sgts.' superiors: LTS. Sergeants, lieutenants.
23. Galeón booty: ORO. Spanish gold. Galeón is Spanish for galleon.
24. Specialty, informally: THING. It's your/my thing to solve crossword puzzles.
30. Coach in the air?: CLASS. Coach class is the cheapest way to travel by plane, train, etc.
33. Tries to sink, perhaps: RAMS. Battleship collisions, also the part of the ship specifically designed to do such damage.
34. "Now I get it!": OHO.
35. Journalist Clare Boothe __: LUCE. Busy lady for an illegitimate child: Playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and US Congresswoman.
36. Teases maliciously: BAITS.
38. MLB All-Star Game day: TUES. Baseball season approximate mid-point, played usually on the second Tuesday of July.
39. ___-de-France: ILE. The most populous region of France, contains most of metropolitan Paris.
40. War ender: PACT. Latin pactum, covenant, contract.
41. Serious borders?: ESSES. The letter "S" is first and last in the word SeriouS. Was anyone fooled?
46. America's Cup entry: YACHT.
47. Bank book no.: INT. Interest.
48. Asian title of respect: SRI. Sanskrit for "beauty", especially of divinities and kings.
51. Illegal pickoff moves, e.g.: BALKS. A few baseball terms in the puzzle... This is when a pitcher makes a move as if to throw, but instead interrupts his motion. If he can make a smooth throwing motion to the base instead, then it isn't a balk and a runner with too far of a lead-off can possibly be tagged out.
53. Out of the box: UNCRATED.
55. Russian city on the Oka: OREL. A geographical answer to confuse you along with the Ural Mountains and the Aral Sea.
58. First name in Old West fiction: ZANE. Grey. Roughly 90 books with 110 movies made from his work.
59. "Go away!": SHOO.
60. Like Serling stories: EERIE. Rod Serling, narrator of the Twilight Zone.
61. Be compliant: OBEY.
62. Get wise with: SASS.
63. U.S. Army decorations: DSCS. Distinguished Service Cross. One step below the Medal of Honor.
Down:
1. Gas brand with a red "o" in its logo: MOBIL.
2. Upright: ERECT.
3. Rep's work: SALES. I guess REP isn't considered an abbrev. in this context...
4. Schulz's Pig-Pen, e.g.: SLOB. Charles Schulz, Peanuts comic. Pig-Pen is the one constantly in a cloud of dust, even when it rains or snows.
5. Exact, to a Brit: SPOT ON.
6. Porridge morsels: PEAS.
7. Goof: ERR.
8. Ruminant's mouthful: CUD. To ruminate is to turn something over in your mind, or as a cow, chew cud.
9. Rostand's long-nosed lover: CYRANO. Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, who actually existed, however, the play's plotline involving Roxane and Christian is almost entirely fictional — the real Cyrano did not write the Baron's love letters for him
10. Equivocal: AMBIGUOUS.
11. Punxsutawney predictor: PHIL. Groundhog day.
12. Coquette's wink, say: PASS. The word pass has been associated with a fencing move definition, to lunge at, also to make an attempt or try, or to make a "play" for.
14. Eagles' attacks: SWOOPS.
18. Adriatic port: BARI. Italy. Only got it through perp fills...
21. Slim __: snack items: JIMS. So greasy. I suppose they help wash the beer down...
24. One of those things: THAT
25. Bottom lines?: HEMS. Was not thinking sewing here, wanted NETS for the profit sense.
26. Take habitually: USE. Addiction.
27. Like overused crossword clues: TRITE.
28. Biblical pronoun: THEE.
29. Ponderosa heavyweight: HOSS. Dan Blocker was a large man.
30. Adman's award: CLIO. Named for the Greek muse of history, Clio is known as The Proclaimer; the name is from a root word that means "recount" (narrate) or "make famous".
31. Beaut: LULU. Bret Favre, for example.
32. Welder's need: ACETYLENE.
36. British spa town: BATH. Aptly named.
37. Sieben follower: ACHT. Seven, eight in German.
38. Sound made with a head shake: TSK. Made along with the shake, as opposed to an actual noise generated by having loose screws or missing marbles.
40. U.S. Army E-3s: PFCS. Privates, First Class. Technically the abbreviation is contained internally either singular or plural with the first word, so it shouldn't really have an "S" at the end, but this rule is broken a lot in everyday use.
41. Early bird special item: ENTREE. Extended early restaurant hours where the price can be cheaper to generate additional business off-peak.
43. "Little Sure Shot": OAKLEY. Annie.
44. Mottled horses: PINTOS. Large patches of white plus any other color.
45. Move furtively: INCH. Little by little.
48. Oscar Night assembly: STARS.
49. Dig find: RELIC. Archaeology.
50. What a slacker does: IDLES. Slack as in lax, limp, unmoving.
51. Oaf: BOZO. Oaf is related to elf, and comes from a changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies. Some dictionaries still give the plural as oaves. Bozo perhaps from Sp. bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly."
52. Certain Semite: ARAB. Semite from Shem, one of the three sons of Noah.
53. Area 51 sightings: UFOS. I have it on pretty good authority that this is really much ado about nothing. I'd tell you how I know, but then I'd have to have you taken care of...
54. Reading by a night light, perhaps: ABED. I will be doing this soon, I hope. I think words like these were made up by poets to stretch out the number of syllables.
56. WWII spy org.: OSS. Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA.
57. Govt. loan insurer: FHA. Federal Housing Administration.
Answer Grid,
Al
Good morning, Al, C.C. and gang - I wonder if I'm the only one who found today's puzzle easier than most Thursday offerings. Even the theme became obvious with the first theme answer.
ReplyDeleteI thought 'Coach in the air?' was one of the cleverest clues I've seen in a while. 'Serious borders?' was also very good, and yes, Al, I was fooled. Also, one of these times, I'll guess right between 'oho' and 'aha'. And for some reason, I found a certain crossing in the NW most enjoyable.
Al, as always, a very informative, entertaining blog.
Today is National Aviation Day, selected because it's Orville Wright's birthday.
Here's some very creative signs:
Sign over a Gynecologist's Office: "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."
On a Septic Tank Truck: "Yesterday's Meals on Wheels"
At a Proctologist's door: "To expedite your visit, please back in."
On an Electrician's truck: "Let us remove your shorts."
In a Nonsmoking Area: "If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action."
On a Maternity Room door: "Push. Push. Push."
Good Morning, All. I loved this puzzle. I don't recall seeing this constructor before, but I hope we see more of his creations. As soon as I saw Boot's Meal (MESS), I knew I was in for a fun ride.
ReplyDeleteI thought the theme was very clever and loved the puns. (Maybe I was just missing them from Dan Naddor's puzzle yesterday.)
What a sense of humor to include this clue: Like Over Used Crossword Clues = TRITE!
I was amused by Serious Borders? = ESSES There were also a lot of "Ss" in this puzzle.
Bottom Lines = HEMS was also clever, although as soon as the answer dawned on me, I realized we have seen it before (but it was NOT trite!).
Out of the Box = UNCRATED was fun after all the "out of the box" theme clues.
Jeannie: I loved your new avatar and always enjoy your comments.
Today's QOD is from Act I of the play, "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand ~ He's famous for his long--sword.
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteNot bad for Thur. (And, yes, Dennis, I think a little easier than most Thur's)
It wasn't a gimme by any means. I liked the upside down, backwards, theme. UPINTHEMOUTH fell first and then I caught on and was able to cipher the rest. ESSES and TSK were the last to fall. And, yes, I wanted something to be loose and rattle like it does when I shake my head!!!!
CY'All Later
Good morning Al and all, a very interesting puzzle this morning. I did not seem to have any problems until the SW corner. Bozo would not show up for me even though I had all of the perps except the Z in Zane. Wow! Some mornings the brain does not get up with the body. Other than that section I found the puzzle to be fun and very creative with some fresh cluing. The theme came early to me and this really helped with the fill.
ReplyDeleteNice write up Al
Favorite clues were: 41 A SeriouS borders? And 25 D Bottom Lines for which I tried to force nets.
Hope you all have a great Thursday.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful theme! I really, really enjoyed this puzzle, although I actually found it to be more challenging than a typical Thursday. It certainly took longer than usual to solve.
As with Dick, the SW corner was the hardest for me. Neither OAKLEY nor BALK sprung immediately to mind, and even when they did, I misspelled ACETYLENE as ACETYLINE and was left staring at ORIL for 55A. I knew it looked wrong, but it took awhile to come up with the correct answer...
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteGreat work Al. Nice puzzle, Mr. Newman!
CC--Love the Chinese outfit. Very chic!
So happy that you are back, CLEAR AYES! Hope that you will continue your recovery.
Still suffer greatly from insomnia, so I don't get to post very often. The HEAT in the San Fernando Valley has been excruciating. My room air conditioner just does not do the job. Also, running it is very expensive and clogs my sinuses.
I really miss my former colleague from the Math Dept. at CSUN (who, as I mentioned before, was staying here with his two young daughters while he worked with analysts at Edwards AFB). He provided me with nice meals, among other things e.g., I was able to have him push me around in my wheelchair to go out and purchase things that I needed.
I have several papers that I left unfinished when I retired that are eating at me. Never seem to have time. (Research is not conducive to sleeping, also.)
If I can think of a bad poem, I will post it later. I loved those from yesterday. Is that OK, Dennis?
Cheers all!
Good morning. A bit of a struggle until I got the theme. Sad to say it took about a half hour to get this one done.
ReplyDeleteNice sayings for the signs, Dennis.
The best Bozo.
The longest name to date is Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Jack Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorft Senior
Have a great Thursday. I'm off to the White Mountains to go camping this weekend.
Good morning all. A very informative write-up, Al.
ReplyDeleteLike Dennis and Bill, I found the puzzle on the easier side. No look-ups needed. Words like ACHT, BARI and CUD were gimmes. Clever fill included ESSES, CLASS, and HEMS. Do they INCH along in the metric countries? Perhaps they are not furtive there. Our friends ÎLE and ABED are back. Didn't really get the theme, but the gist of it helped with the long fills.
A pleasant solve.
Have a good day.
Good morning all; I finished all but 4 clues ... pretty good for a Thurs puzzle. The theme was vaguely familiar. Al ... your blog was very interesting and informative. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was pleasingly difficult - and I was not familiar with 2 of the idioms. 'Below Board' gave me a crucial insight, onto what was going on.
I had 'unpacked' and that messed up that corner....instead of 'entree' .. I was thinking 'unadvertised'. Instead of 'hems', I had 'nets'.
But a fun puzzle, nevertheless.
I knew ambiguous meant undecided or confused ... but I though equivocal meant unanimous !
equivocal = with an even, 'equi' (equal ) voice ? ... like equilateral triangle - equal sides ... Now, I realize ... it is 'un' thats makes it 'equal'.
Your passage by J. H. Parker on 'A very descript man' ... is so very relevant. I must print it, and try to understand it all, at leisure.
Good Morning Al et al.
ReplyDeleteAl, great write-up. I was whelmed by the Parker poem, BTW.
Several "oater" references today - HOSS, OAKLEY and ZANE, which were all easy fills for me. Yee-haw!
But I didn't quite dig out the theme until I cam here. I kept scratching my head, thinking "Gee, that's not the way I remember that phrase..." DUH !!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteI'd say easy for a Thursday, but by no means a cakewalk. When BELOWBOARD filled itself I was sufficiently "off the ball" to fail to realize it was a theme answer. Ooops. Clever theme, though, which reminds me of some words we use around the house for fun: overwhelmed, underwhelmed, and just plain whelmed. (I guess whelmed=meh.)
OREL? Oh great, another confuser.
Sailed an ICEBOAT in the winter of '79. Fast and fun!
ACETYLENE, when mixed with just the right amount of oxygen, produces the hottest known flame, roughly 6000°F. It's very useful for welding, since that temperature is well above the melting point of many metals, especially steel.
Dennis, I also chuckled at that certain crossing in the NW... especially if you tie it to 26A and maybe 42A.
ReplyDeletehand up for AHA. Also didn't know YMHA, BALKS, BOZO, LUCE, (thought it was Luth for some reason), couldn't come up with PASS, ACETYLENE or AMBIGUOUS--wanted ARGUABLE but couldn't make it work. Haven't heard of Serling, so that was a WAG, and had no clue as to what a MLB all star game day meant. (sport is one of my many weaknesses.)
ReplyDeleteBut I did appreciate the fun theme answers, which helped quite a bit.
Good Morning Puzzlers! This was also about a half hour for me but a nice time. Dennis, I saw your enjoyable crossing and concur.
ReplyDeleteToday is the first day of school and for the first time since 1950, "I ain't agoin!". I threw in that "a" on goin' as a homage to our constructors' penchant for doing the same! I am currently areclinered!
I was slowed by putting ARBITRARY for AMBIGUOUS but perps corrected me.
The theme helped me a lot as I was pretty well south before BELOWBOARD jumped out at me. The others all then fell quickly as I had enough letters to get them. Those are the moments for which we do these activities. (Are you former teachers glad I didn't end that sentence in a preposition?)
I have no idea where BARI or ILE de France are but will do my due diligence to learn. Hey, I learned what an OCA is, didn't I?
Josh Hamilton is the "feel good" baseball story of the year as he may win Baseball's Triple Crown after a horrible bout with addictions!
Al: Regarding the clue - 'Sri'
ReplyDeleteThis clue has been there before, and seems to be getting popular. I did not know it meant 'beauty' ... but you seem to have done your research well,and I have learnt something... I have not commonly seen it as used for divinities or kings. (Most kings were far more pompous, and used 'Deo' or 'Dev' - meaning God, himself/herself/itself. )
The word 'Sri' ( or more commonly, 'Shri' ) is far more commonly used as 'Mister, or Mr.'. It used as a polite form of referring to 'ordinary people' ... more common, in letters and spoken address. The use is irrespective of the man's actual marital status. Married women ( Mrs.) are called 'Shrimati ' or 'Srimati'... 'Kumari' or 'Kum.', would be 'Miss'.
As far as, 'Sri' meaning beauty - I was not aware of there being so many 'beautiful' people in India ... all in all, not a bad thing ... if that is the face you are born with ( plastic surgery not being a viable alternative ... ) ... you might as well learn to respect it, honor it and LOVE it ... it is the only one you will ever have ...
This just in - Bari is on a promontory that serves as the dividing line for the Adriatic to the North and the Mediterranean to the South.
ReplyDeleteThe closest I came to the Adriatic was on a gondola ride in Venice. It was 4 pm, 95 degrees and our gondolier was on his cell phone most of the time. Romantic for me and my wife, it wasn't! (I did see where the first female gondoliers are now working!)
Can't resist commenting about BARI:
ReplyDeleteI visited that city in the summer of '83. As with most old Italian places, it was full of beautiful buildings, but for me the strong memory has to do with the driving.
I was traveling by ferry from Greece with a new aquaintance, an Italian man who spoke superb English, en route to Rome. It happened that he had a cousin in Bari he wished to visit, and I tagged along. Said cousin turned out to be a stunning twenty-something Italian beauty with a brand new Citroën Deux Chevaux - you know, those timeless, funny-looking French cars with the bug eyes and the roll-back roofs - and she expertly zoomed us around Bari in what was definitely the most hair-raising ride I have ever had in an automobile. Let's face it, urban European driving is barely-controlled chaos!
Good morning Al, CC, et al.,What a puzzle! Loved it! Fun times are here again!
ReplyDeleteNot a speed run but for once the theme helped me. 'Below Board' was the give away but then....
Holy 'Mobil'e 'erect' 'mess'in' around Hotwick! 'Phil' and 'Cyrano' have a 'spec'ial
'inch' 'thing' goin' on. Phil is a 'hoss' and a 'relic' who never 'idles'. He makes a blow torch w/'acetylene' look like a bubble 'bath'. When he's 'out of the pink', he's 'below board' on a 'yacht', 'abed on 'ice boats', and/or making ‘pass’es ‘off the ball’room floor . He 'baits','rams', ‘shoo’ts straight and never 'balks'. He has traveled from 'Peru' to 'Sri Lanka' successfully making ‘oral’ 'pact's for the 'sales' of PFCs...Perfect Fitting Capes (AKA raincoats; old topic). He's in a 'class' all to himself! He certainly catapults 'distinguished service' and ‘up in the mouth’ to new levels but perhaps for an award, a CLIO is in order. Afterall he takes being an 'ad-man' (AKA cape crusader)to the 'stars'. He knows 'sales'!
Good job, Al, a very enjoyable, entertaining, enlightening read. Well done! I loved that Parker bit. Really cute!
DrDad: Good to see you again. Have a great trip. Watch out for bears.
Bill: Good to see you too. I'm with you on the head shake 'rattle and roll'. Tell Nancy 'Hi' for me/us. Did you make it to Amelia this year?
Enjoy your day.
Al, Great write-up, even if the links be damned.
ReplyDeleteTheme easier to get than normal (or was it harder?).
On the 'tightness scale' why do three have 'the' in the middle and the first one doesn't?
I like the Mini-Military theme, MESS, LTS, PFCS & DSC'S.
Are ENTREE's not offered after 'Early bird special' time?
Did the Village People also sing YMHA?
Do I say, OHO! when I get something?
How does NOTHING fit in 5 blocks to explain what a Slacker really does (IDLES?).
Is PACT really a War ender? My first thought (as I gave in to the 'Dark Side') was to think 'A-Bomb.' Then I went off on a tangent thinking about all the waste of arming/disarming and how those funds could have been better used to benefit human-kind. (Almost said mankind, but I strive to be PC).
Like how TRITE for 'Overused crossword clues' could have also been clued as 'Overused crossword answers.'
FUN Thursday.
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteAl,thee did a good job! Thx for explaining the theme..thought I knew those phrases, but they did seem rather odd, especially "up in the mouth". Carol, give me a V-8!
Ambiguous was a gimme..such a great word, BUT acetylene..well, after the perps filled it, It looked strange. Thanks Dudley for the info.
Porridge=peas...perps filled it and then I laughed as I remembered "peas porridge hot/peas porridge cold/peas porridge in the pot/9 days old" I didn't really think people put peas in their hot cereal!Ewwww!Of course, all of those nurury rhymes are a tad sadistic.
Love geography, so I hit the G spot for Bari.Also loved the clue for Bath,"British spa town." As you are driving down into it, it really still looks like an old Roman village, all off white, very picturesque.
Got them all in 26 minutes. A few tricky clues like 41A (ESSES), and I only gradually stumbled across the theme. Appropriate difficulty level for a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning All, For me some more obscure clues are what added to the difficulty of this Thursday puzzle. Of course it may very well have more to do with my lack of baseball knowledge. We've seen (19A) RBIS many times, but I certainly didn't know it is a "Baseball Triple Crown component". The same thing goes for (38A) "MLB All-Star Game day" for TUES. Strangely I did know (51A) "Illegal pickoff moves, e.g." was BALKS.
ReplyDeleteI loved both AMBIGUOUS and ACETYLENE...very Thurday-ish words.
I had the same "D'oh" moment as JD with (6D) "Porridge morsels" PEAS. I remember the old nursery rhyme went along with a simple hand clapping game to teach toddlers hand/eye coordination.
Al, interesting information about (35A)Clare Boothe LUCE. Illegitimacy was quite a stigma in the early 20th century.
Dennis, about funny signs.. I may have mentioned this before, but we have a neighbor who is a plumber. His business name/motto is emblazoned on the side of his service van, "Schitt Happens". Absolutely true!
PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL is the theme of a 'legendary' puzzle by Bob Klahn. The amazing thing about it is that the puzzle was created by making a horrendous mistake! For those of you who haven't seen or read about it, click on C.C.'s interview with Bob.
ReplyDeleteJD to clear up some confusion...Porridge was more likely pottage and it was an amalgamation of food that was collected and put into a single pot, which was hung in the fireplace, for cooking. The food that was left in the pot was allowed to cool down over night and then the fire was was relit and more vegetables, grains, and whatever could be found was added to the pot, along with some water, and allowed to cook during the day.
ReplyDeleteIt was probably rarely 9 days old as a poor family would be eating most of what was in the pot.
The baseball references and the theme answers popped out quickly, but the rest of it was a slog. I went for the noun "ambiguity" at 10D instead of the adjective AMBIGUOUS and had a hard time talking myself out of it. It didn't help that I had "thou" instead of THEE at 28D. Those errors kept the east central region deadlocked until the bitter end. Did not know OREL, but the perps took care of it. Also had "lazes" instead of IDLE for a while. Excuse: I think I slept too long last night!
ReplyDeleteHusker Gary, thanks for the shoutout for Josh Hamilton. I am a huge Texas Rangers fan and am heartbroken over their poor performance against Tampa Bay the last three days. They have been doing so well this year. Even the usually deficient pitching staff has been so much better.
Sign on window covering van: "Caution: A blind man is driving this truck."
I'm off to take a shower and get comfortable before I get back to my study of Isaiah. Going out for dinner this evening.
Easy fill. Like Dennis, I thought the theme was obvious with BELOWBOARD.
ReplyDeleteAl, you BALKed at providing any links today, especially to 52A. Here's the official rule (8.05). It's a bit more complex than your brief explanation.
The problem that I had with this puzzle is that I've actually heard and used the term BELOW BOARD. Since that fell first, I could only notice the directional words for a theme. I came here thinking that the phrases must be very regional. Slap me upside the head with a case of V8!!
ReplyDeleteABED struck me as rather TRITE. Not bad though, if that is the only nit-pick I can come up with. I hope Mr. Newman checks in.
YMHA was a WAG put in almost as a joke, then I just couldn't get it out.
40A --> fare/path/pact
JD, porridge is a dish made by boiling oats (rolled, crushed, or steel cut) or other grains or legumes in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish. Per Wiki.
My favorite sign was mounted on a trailer hauling a steam powered boat: "WARNING!! This vessel is powered by Dihydrogen Oxide. Extremely explosive under pressure." I had to slow down, I was laughing so hard at all the cars INCHing past and zooming away.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteI thought this was quite hard for a Thus. Love the theme. BELOW BOARD made the concept obvious, but the others were still slow to fill in. Very high quality puzzle with great fill, IMHO. Nice ORALS - OREL echo and SLOB - MESS cross. But I absolutely hate the sneaky, self-referential "Serious borders." ESSES are features of the roads to my recent vacation spot.
If dentists have to PASS their ORALS, what do proctologists have to PASS?
A traveler can SHOO to PERU.
If your car IDLES rough, switch to MOBIL.
There's more than one SPOT ON every PINTO.
The Museum UNCRATED an ERECT RELIC.
Has some BOZO ever made a PASS at you?
There's a sign on the sidwalk in Gatlinburg indicating the features of a near-by cul-de-sac with several shops (including the moonshine tasting room) and other facilities. The first two listings are
Public Restrooms
Beef Jerky Outlet
Enough SASS. I must SHOO.
Cheers!
JzB - oh, THAT trombonist
Hi everybody. A lovely puzzle today. I had pretty much the same experiences and feelings about it that many of you have already expressed.
ReplyDeleteAl, thanks for the writeup. Dennis, thanks for the creative signs. Hahtool, thanks for the QOD. Clear Ayes, it's good to have you back.
Best wishes to you all.
I immediately thought of this poem by Robert Louis Stevenson when I saw (54D) ABED. I love his "A Child's Garden of Verses", a collection of poems for children. They, along with the A.A. Milne books, were standard bedtime reading for my daughter when she was very young.
ReplyDeleteI think Al may be correct in his syllable stretching theory.
The Land of Counterpane
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Husker Gary,
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to a map and info onÎle-de-France. It is the area surrounding Paris, comprising 8 départements, including the city of Paris itself.
Dudley,
I know what you mean about Italian drivers (over and above other Europeans!). On arriving in Genoa, we were given a motorcycle escort to the youth hostel by some lads who offered to assist when they saw us stopped to study the map. We could hardly keep up with them.
Somewhere else, leaving Naples, I think, we had to swerve to avoid being hit by a car coming the opposite direction. In the process we scraped the side of a parked vehicle. On stopping to examine the damage and assess what we should do, another guy came and waved us on, indicating that we shouldn't give it a thought. We left, but I've always wondered what the owner thought when he returned.
Clear Ayes, thanks for posting The Land of Counterpane. It's an enjoyable poem. My dad used to read it to me when I was kid sick in bed. Back then I always thought "counterpane" had something to do with window panes. Wasn't until maybe highschool that I learned what a conterpane is.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Kazie: Thanks for the information about the Ile-de-France. I always thought it was the island in the Seine on which Notre Dame is situated.
ReplyDeleteDoreen
Kazie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the enlightenment about Ile de Paris. My wife and I sometimes watch HGTV to see what people are paying for housing and last night they had an Asian couple looking at "housing" in Paris. A squalid, 1 bedroom, 1 bath with 450 sq. ft was going for $290,000. A slightly bigger "fixer upper" was going for $309,000. The rooms looked like a doll house in size and like the remnants of Hurricane Katrina in decor and appliances that had Thomas Edison's autograph on them.
Perhaps Gay Paree is not for moi!
Dr. Dad
Thanks for the nice note to my personal address. Nebraskans are everywhere and anxious for the Huskers to be in the Big 10 next year!
Doreen,
ReplyDeleteThe island Notre Dame is on is called Île de la Cité. In French, cité is a term meaning citadel, or a walled city. That was all there was of Paris when the Romans first arrived. the local tribe was holed up on the island with the river as a natural barrier for protection. Several important buildings of Paris are here: Palais de Justice, Conciergerie, Sainte-Chapelle.
The other smaller island is called Île Saint Louis, and has been the home of many famous French people, Georges Moustaki among them.
The rents and purchase prices of places in Paris have always been horrendous. Most ordinary folks live in the "banlieu" or suburbs for that reason.
When I was a child, I learned the rhyme as "Pease Porridge". According to the Wise Geek description, what we have is basically pea soup.
ReplyDeletefermatprime, I'm sorry to hear that this summer has been a difficult one for you. Living with illness is tough enough without having to deal with our California heat.
Dudley and Kazie, one of the more frightening experiences of my life was riding around Rome in one of those "roller skate" cars. The driver was a local who just laughed off the zipping and zooming and joined in "the fun" himself.
Thanks again for all the nice comments. They are truly appreciated. (LOL....Now, if I can just get each of you to send me $10.00..!)
This was a typical Thursday puzzle in my opinion. I caught onto the theme with “belowboard” as that is a term I use when going down below deck on the boat. I did have to visit the g-spot for Zane and Luce however. I hadn’t heard of either of those names. For once I knew all the baseball terms, it’s got to be because of doing the puzzles as I don’t follow baseball at all. I thought “serious borders” – esses was a stretch. I got perp help with Sri, DSCS, and Clio. I was on an ice boat a few years back and it scared the heck out of me. Man those can fly. How about you Gunghy?
ReplyDeleteAnyone else notice a somewhat DF undertone with orals, erect, abed, pass, rams or was it just my mindset today?!
Here’s a sign I saw on a sanitation truck: “Satisfaction guaranteed or double your garbage back.”
Jeannie: Why is your photo so blurry?
ReplyDeleteAfternoon Al, CC and all you Puzzleheads,
ReplyDeleteMy experience was of a typical Thursday difficulty. I did a bunch of erasing. Exams instead of Orals, Slab instead of Spec and I spelled Cyrano with a Ci the first time. I liked the long down fills.
Maybe I'm being picky but I do have a problem with Acetylene having welded above and below the waterline. Acetylene is used for cutting and burning metals, as Dudley mentioned. If a welder is fabricating, he/she would cut pieces and then weld together, using welding rods. Tungsten used to be widely used in welding rods. These days all kinds of different elements are used in welding depending upon the application. You can weld with acetylene using a braising rod, but this is called "braising". Not a widely used method anymore do to the new variety of welding rods. I did braise our hand water pump (which I broke) at camp. Its made of cast iron which can't be welded any other way.
I know, picky, picky.
Have a great day.
I loved today’s theme!
ReplyDeleteEven after I had ESSES filled in, I still didn’t get it.
I think I finally have ARAL and URAL straightened out, just in time to have OREL thrown at us… Are there any IRALs, ERELs, or YRELS I should come up with a memory aid for while I’m at it? It could be worse – I could be dealing with numbers that are all similar…
Daffy Dill, it’s funny how sleeping too much can mess you up even more than getting too little sleep, not counting fermatprime’s insomnia!
JzB asked: If dentists have to PASS their ORALS, what do proctologists have to PASS? - How about their URALS?
Well, my new word for the day is counterpane.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that it is derived from counterpoint.
If the animation at the link doesn't start, click the yellow bar under
Exposition
1.
Cheers!
JzB the UP ON THE MOUTH trombonist
Annette -
ReplyDeleteI believe you are thinking of Urologists.
Cheers!
JzB
DUH!!
ReplyDelete@ Maniac, I have to take issue with your comments on welding with acetylene. I have done it many many times. Welding is the fusion of a metal. If a "filler rod" of the same or similar metal is used, or if the metal is simply heated to the liquid point so that it flows together without a filler, that is a weld. If a filler that melts at a lower temperature than the metal being fabricated is used, that is brazing. Brazing is more commonly used with acetylene and welding is most commonly done with an electric arc. An experienced welder can weld two pieces of steel together with acetylene (and oxygen) with no filler rod or by using a wire coat hanger as the filler.
ReplyDeleteC.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion on welding. The kind I would chime in on if I knew anything at all about welding. If you remember, I am all about the minute details.
C.C. Your pic's were great.
Jeannie, Sailing has been great this year. I have skippered in 6 regattas and have 3 first place and 3 second place finishes. I also liked your back of the ship pic. Not to keen on seeing you trapped behind your desk though.
I haven't written to the Blog in a while, but read it quite often. Sure like the insightful comments by all.
Everyone have a great weekend. Its back to school for my family this next week (my wife teaches 5th grade and daughter is in 8th).
A.R.E.
Happy V-8 Day!!
ReplyDeleteI now have 3 little crushed cans sitting on the floor...my head hurts.
It would have been helpful if I could have spelled some of the answers I actually got.
My hat and what's left of my hair is off to all you smarties that had little trouble with this puzzle.
The nursery rhyme 'pease porridge' came from the middle ages and WM is correct, they really did add anything they could find to the pot daily. It was not a fun time to be alive. (and they did not live long)
CA (1:52) thanks for the poem, it was a childhood favorite. I think my Dad read me every poem in the ChildCraft books - over and over. I still can recite a lot of them. Amazing what one remembers yet I couldn't tell you what I had for lunch on Tuesday. :)
DrDad, good to 'see' you again!
Bill, you too!!!
Dennis, thanks for the belly laugh at all the signs this morning.
Todays puzzle took me forever! I wasn't anywhere close to Newman's wave length.
ReplyDelete@Clear Ayes. Come on and get with the 21st century. You don't ask for $10.00, you set up a PayPal account, silly!!! It's sooooo easy.
GarlicGal
ReplyDeleteSet up a PayPal account?
Everyone here knows I hate E-cash.
Right Lucina?
Xtulmkr
Enjoyed reading the MLB rule 8.05 regarding BALKS.
Noticed their wasn't anything in there to catch Andy Petite (lol).
Lemonade
Thanks for the link to States Elevation's yesterday.
Man it's scary, I told Hahtool the highest point in Florida was 345 feet, then learned I was right.
Yeah, this state is 'as flat as a pancake' ...
Glad that only applies to the land, not the ladies.
(Villa Incognito is at least 100' above Sea Level).
OHO! The rest of my Bad Poetry Day entry:
(I know, I know, a day late, an E-cash dollar short).
"There once was a guy with some Scotch ...
So he got out his snifter,
And sipped it all down.
Went to the liquor store,
And bought a Case of PINCH.
Now the guy with the Scotch ...
Is very well stocked.
At least through Labor Day.
Cheers !!!"
(OK, I know that Labor Day thingy is a close call).
Jazzbumpa - yep, that's exactly who I was alluding to!
ReplyDeleteHello All--I finished all but the upper NE corner of the puzzle. YMHA was unknown as was RBIS. RBIS we see quite often, but I've never seen it in this context. Another item to add to my personal CW dictionary.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the theme and had all the sayings done, but some of the shorter answers like esses, and Tues. gave me a hard time.
Carol, any of those V-8 cans left?
I enjoyed Ponderosa heavyweight/Hoss, and Bottom lines?/hems. Both very clever clues, IMO.
Husker Gary, My first year of retirement, two other retirees and I went out to lunch on the first day of school. We were so giddy that the waitress asked what we were celebrating. We all answered, "The first day of school". Of course, we had to explain!
Pease porridge was a middle ages staple. Even in the Americas during Colonial times, dried peas were a staple as they would keep on the long voyage to the new land. Sometimes, all that was in the pot was Pease, and one would become very tired of eating hot pease in the daytime (when the fire was going) and cold pease for breakfast after the fire had died down during the night.
Thx for all the inciteful information on pease (British spelling) porridge.
ReplyDeleteCA, enjoyed Land of Counterpane.Could always picture that little boy, but had never given much thought to what counterpane was. I'm sure I thought it was an imaginary city, so thx JzB
Yesterday's poetry was truly a fun read of bad poems, including yours, Tinbeni.
A.R.E., I am glad to hear from a seasoned sailor. I am more of a "leisure" sailor, but Gunghy could probably respond to you verses racing. As I said today, the only racing I did was on an iceboat and it scared the crap out of me as I didn't feel I was in control.
ReplyDeleteAnon, my admirer, that pic was taken by a co-worker trying to learn how to take a pic from her cell phone, hence the blurryness.
I still don't think it looks that bad.
CA, so good to see you back and in rare form as always.
Wolfmom, good to see you too. I awaken to my "Jeannie's Daisies" picture every day. It truly is a work of art that I cherish, almost as much as CA.
Jeannie, I liked your new photo. It looks like you're just about ready to jump up and run out to a meeting or maybe a food show. Busy lady! But we already knew that.
ReplyDeleteGarlicGal, Dagnabit! I knew my 1950's upbringing would keep me from thinking outside the 20th century box.
Have a good evening everyone.
Hi all!
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was difficult but fun. I used to read Zane Grey books, so did my Dad. we both liked history and the Wild West.
We have our own version of Phil in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin- Jimmy the groundhog tells us every year how long winter will last.
JZZ and Annette- a proctologist is a colorectal surgeon. He sometimes works with a Urologist who cares for the urinary tract.
A good evening to all. I never can see how some of you are up so early in the morning that you start posting at 5:30AM.
Marge
Jeannie
ReplyDeleteAbout the new Avatar.
That office reminds me of the Hell I left years ago.
How about some color (OK, I know drab white is a color) and some Art on the walls?
For 30ish years I worked in "the real world" but at the end of the day, my desk was clear. No piles of the great "paper chase."
Grab the next "ASAP, to do thingy, handle it, file it ... get rid of it!"
(Not always easy when you're dealing with Intl.Tax stuff but that's part of the fun ...).
Felix Unger was Pig-Pen compared to me. And that reminds me, he really wasn't a SLOB, just eco-friendly.
But getting back to the Avatar, sometimes they really don't show up too well here.
That's why I like my self-portrait.
CC: re : sleep.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. You can sleep when they chuck you in
the clay.
A rare day for me. I didn't have time to read the comments early in the day. The Irish was able to download thebpuzzle and bring it to me about 6:00. It took about 15 minutes, but I knocked it right out in about 15 minutes or less, then came here to get the low down.
First time in many months ive been able
to do so.
Isn't anybody asleep? OMG!
ReplyDeleteHeck, Argyle It isn't even bedtime yet. In fact it just turned dark!!
ReplyDeleteArgyle
ReplyDeleteI'm with Windhover on this one.
Sleep is way over-rated.
There's time enough for that later.
Now that 'Sleeping with someone' never involves any sleep and earns the check mark everytime.
(Maybe Fermatprime insomnia isn't so bad???)
I'm watching the local "kids" (the Tampa Bay Rays @ Oakland A's) not my Yankee's, but a moderately OK team in the overall on the tube.
If I ever slept more than 5 hours a night (4 actually) I would probably consider it "sleepin' in."
Plus, there is that PINCH I have to tend to ...
With apologies to C.C., the "sleep is overrated" post was mine; I was in 'C.C. mode' deleting an dolt anon post and forgot to switch back.
ReplyDelete