Theme: The Long and Short of It - Long E sound in EE/EA + LL(s) combination in the last word of each familiar phrase is changed into short I.
25A. Wiring woes? : ELECTRIC ILLS. Electric eels.
30A. Pickle processor's invitation? : LET'S MAKE A DILL. Let's make a deal. Awesome entry.
49A. Fruity medication? : BANANA PILL. Banana peels.
61A. Black, gooey knolls near Charlotte? : NORTH CAROLINA TAR HILLS. North Carolina Tar Heels. Nice grid-spanner. But clue/answer duplication with BRAGG (100A. North Carolina fort). I guess there's no other easy way to clue the latter. Still, very bad.
78A. Factories with good morale? : HAPPY MILLS. Happy Meals.
94A. Moonshine equipment that's frozen solid? : COLD HARD STILL. Cold Hard Steel.
103A. Documents bequeathing tiny exercise devices? : HAMSTER WILLS. Hamster Wheels.
Very consistent theme pattern. All the last words have one syllable. I can't think of a good phrase with possible feel/fill & keel/kill transformation. You?
This might be Scott's first Sunday puzzle. If so, congratulations! Fun theme and plenty of entertaining clues. One X away from a pangram.
Across:
1. Cuba libre ingredient : COLA. Lime too.
5. Grocery unit : BAG
8. Govt. securities : T-BONDS. Could be T-BILLS also.
14. Pester : NAG AT
19. Former Israeli president Weizman : EZER. Wanted EZRA.
20. Flabbergast : AWE
21. Greek sun god : HELIOS. S ending in Greek always suggests a male figure. As in Zeus.
22. Steer clear of : AVOID
23. Place to park a parka : COAT TREE. Didn't come to me readily.
27. Like Humpty Dumpty, ultimately : IN PIECES. He fell to pieces.
28. Places to go in Gloucester? : LOOS. Gloucester is for alliteration purpose. Great clue.
29. Ballot fallout : CHADS
33. British pop singer Lewis : LEONA. No idea. Looks pretty.
34. Spring mo. : APR
35. Constitutional aid? : CANE. Was thinking of US Constitution rather than physical health.
36. Holiday veggies : YAMS
37. Denali et al.: Abbr. : MTS
40. Disguise for illegal activities : FRONT. Mostly. The ones for FBI/CIA are legal, aren't they?
43. Eponymous dish inventor : PETRI
45. Hi from a float : WAVE. Nice clue.
46. Duff : SEAT
47. Common Market inits. : EEC (European Economic Community)
48. Bobby Orr, once : BRUIN. Boston Bruins.
51. Uneasy desire : ITCH
53. 1953 Leslie Caron film : LILI. Gigi is 1958.
54. Malarkey : BUNK
55. Prefix with trafficker : NARCO. Drew a blank. Narco-trafficker.
56. Hideous : GRUESOME
58. Foot specialist? : BARD. Metrical foot.
59. Toll rd. : TPK (Turnpike)
68. Nonverbal syst. : ASL (American Sign Language)
69. Christmas setups : FIRS
70. "Émile, or On Education" author : ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Not familiar with the book.
71. Lieu : STEAD
75. Cap'n's crew member : BO'S'N
76. "You're So __": Carly Simon hit : VAIN. Whom is it about again?
77. Ten percenters: Abbr. : AGTS
81. __ State Broncos: Western Athletic Conf. team : BOISE. I know nothing about college sports.
82. "__ du lieber!" : ACH
83. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit : AMIE. First encounter with the band, and the song.
84. Apple with tunes : IPOD. Mine is full of podcast.
85. Soldier, in slang : GRUNT
86. Site of India's Red Fort : DELHI. Pure guess.
88. Math proof letters : Q.E.D.
89. Sweat spot : BROW
90. Support gp. created in 1942 : WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps)
91. RVer's refuge : KOA
92. Disney's middle name : ELIAS. I forgot.
101. Doughnut shapes : TORI. Plural of torus. Stumped many last time. It looks like this.
102. Chosen one : SELECTEE
106. Rocky address : YO ADRIAN. Great entry.
107. Justice since 2006 : ALITO (Samuel)
108. "Mas Que Nada" bandleader : MENDES. Peeked at the answer sheet.
109. Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect : LIN (Maya)
110. One way to store data : ON CD
111. Eponymous scout Chisholm : JESSE. No idea. Wikipedia says the Chisholm Trail is named after him.
112. Elusive big Scot? : NESSIE. Lock Ness Monster.
113. Calculus prereq. : ALG
114. Ken of "Wiseguy" : WAHL. Nope. He looks familiar though.
Down:
1. Mining magnate Rhodes : CECIL. Of Rhodes Scholar fame.
2. Triatomic pollutant : OZONE
3. Bounded : LEAPT
4. Old guild member : ARTISAN
5. Rail amenity : BAR CAR. Have never been to one.
6. "Eight Days __" : A WEEK
7. Skein fliers : GEESE
8. It's usually disregarded when alphabetizing : THE. Fresh clue.
9. "I puritani" composer : BELLINI. Gimme for Jayce.
10. Fútbol shout : OLE OLE. Fútbol is Spanish for football.
11. Williamson of "Excalibur" : NICOL. About King Arthur I presume.
12. Things to connect : DOTS. Connect the dots.
13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR
14. Football party munchies : NACHOS. So messy.
15. Winged, perhaps : AVIAN
16. Yitzhak Rabin's predecessor : GOLDA MEIR. Full name in clue. Full name in answer.
17. Has a cold : AILS
18. Jerry Rice's 208, briefly : TDS. Is that a record?
24. Offer chocolates to, as a dieter : TEMPT
26. Bygone deliverers : ICEMEN
31. In "Rent," it starts with "Seasons of Love" : ACT II. Needed crossing help.
32. "Aw, phooey!" : DARN
33. Hot flower : LAVA. Flower = Thing that flows. Can't fool me.
36. Tug : YANK
38. Rash protection : TALC
39. D-Day target city : ST LO. Also CAEN.
40. Simulate : FEIGN
41. Rocket opening : RETRO. Retrorocket.
42. Come to pass : OCCUR
43. Original : PRIMAL
44. Basel-born mathematician : EULER. OK, Bill G, tell us the highlight of this guy's career.
45. Movie fish : WANDA
46. New Age music player, often : SPA. I've never heard of New Age Health Spa. So the cleverness of the clue is lost on me.
48. Voting groups : BLOCS
49. "I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age" speaker : BURNS (George). So he kept dating younger women?
50. Egyptian crosses : ANKHS. Always have trouble remembering the spelling.
52. Riled (up) : HET. Het up.
54. Scot's tot : BAIRN. Literally "child".
57. Like groves : SHADY
58. Euphoria : BLISS
59. One looking for the way? : TAOIST. Tao = Way (in Chinese).
60. Compote fruit : PRUNE
62. From way back when : OF OLD
63. Prepare for a run : TRAIN. I find running makes my legs thick.
64. Metaphor words : IS A
65. By the book : LEGAL
66. Gate fastener : LATCH
67. It's often served with ginger and wasabi : SUSHI. Wasbi is really hot!
71. Celt since 8/4/2010 : SHAQ. Man, I thought he's still in Cleveland.
72. Lacking spice : TAME. Does this refer to food?
73. Skin graft material : EPIDERMIS. such a sophisticated word.
74. Galoot : APE
75. Karate chop, e.g. : BLOW
76. Speak (for) : VOUCH
79. Desert illusion : MIRAGE. Loved "The English Patient".
80. NYSE events : IPOS
81. Thin nail : BRAD. Learned from doing Xword.
85. Pisa airport name : GALILEI. Named after Galileo Galilei.
86. Took two pills, say : DOSED
87. Have humble pie : EAT CROW. Worse than EAT DIRT.
89. Hallux : BIG TOE. Did not know the meaning of hallux.
90. __ Fair : WORLD'S
91. "Constant Craving" vocalist : K. D. LANG. Lois loves her.
93. Endures : LASTS
94. Fountain contents, often : COINS
95. Sanctuaries : ASYLA. Plural for asylum I infer.
96. Try to quiet, as a persistent squeak : REOIL
97. Turner memoir : I, TINA. We had this clue before.
98. Percolate : LEACH
99. 1985-'87 U.S. Open champ : LENDL (Ivan). Nadal today.
100. Loft bundle : BALE. Hi, there, Windhover!
101. Hardly macho, in Manchester : TWEE. Another alliteration.
103. Pilgrimage to Mecca : HAJ
104. LBJ successor : RMN. Can never remember Nixon's middle name. Milhous.
105. Bakersfield-to-L.A. heading : SSE. Educated guess.
Answer grid.
C.C.
25A. Wiring woes? : ELECTRIC ILLS. Electric eels.
30A. Pickle processor's invitation? : LET'S MAKE A DILL. Let's make a deal. Awesome entry.
49A. Fruity medication? : BANANA PILL. Banana peels.
61A. Black, gooey knolls near Charlotte? : NORTH CAROLINA TAR HILLS. North Carolina Tar Heels. Nice grid-spanner. But clue/answer duplication with BRAGG (100A. North Carolina fort). I guess there's no other easy way to clue the latter. Still, very bad.
78A. Factories with good morale? : HAPPY MILLS. Happy Meals.
94A. Moonshine equipment that's frozen solid? : COLD HARD STILL. Cold Hard Steel.
103A. Documents bequeathing tiny exercise devices? : HAMSTER WILLS. Hamster Wheels.
Very consistent theme pattern. All the last words have one syllable. I can't think of a good phrase with possible feel/fill & keel/kill transformation. You?
This might be Scott's first Sunday puzzle. If so, congratulations! Fun theme and plenty of entertaining clues. One X away from a pangram.
Across:
1. Cuba libre ingredient : COLA. Lime too.
5. Grocery unit : BAG
8. Govt. securities : T-BONDS. Could be T-BILLS also.
14. Pester : NAG AT
19. Former Israeli president Weizman : EZER. Wanted EZRA.
20. Flabbergast : AWE
21. Greek sun god : HELIOS. S ending in Greek always suggests a male figure. As in Zeus.
22. Steer clear of : AVOID
23. Place to park a parka : COAT TREE. Didn't come to me readily.
27. Like Humpty Dumpty, ultimately : IN PIECES. He fell to pieces.
28. Places to go in Gloucester? : LOOS. Gloucester is for alliteration purpose. Great clue.
29. Ballot fallout : CHADS
33. British pop singer Lewis : LEONA. No idea. Looks pretty.
34. Spring mo. : APR
35. Constitutional aid? : CANE. Was thinking of US Constitution rather than physical health.
36. Holiday veggies : YAMS
37. Denali et al.: Abbr. : MTS
40. Disguise for illegal activities : FRONT. Mostly. The ones for FBI/CIA are legal, aren't they?
43. Eponymous dish inventor : PETRI
45. Hi from a float : WAVE. Nice clue.
46. Duff : SEAT
47. Common Market inits. : EEC (European Economic Community)
48. Bobby Orr, once : BRUIN. Boston Bruins.
51. Uneasy desire : ITCH
53. 1953 Leslie Caron film : LILI. Gigi is 1958.
54. Malarkey : BUNK
55. Prefix with trafficker : NARCO. Drew a blank. Narco-trafficker.
56. Hideous : GRUESOME
58. Foot specialist? : BARD. Metrical foot.
59. Toll rd. : TPK (Turnpike)
68. Nonverbal syst. : ASL (American Sign Language)
69. Christmas setups : FIRS
70. "Émile, or On Education" author : ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Not familiar with the book.
71. Lieu : STEAD
75. Cap'n's crew member : BO'S'N
76. "You're So __": Carly Simon hit : VAIN. Whom is it about again?
77. Ten percenters: Abbr. : AGTS
81. __ State Broncos: Western Athletic Conf. team : BOISE. I know nothing about college sports.
82. "__ du lieber!" : ACH
83. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit : AMIE. First encounter with the band, and the song.
84. Apple with tunes : IPOD. Mine is full of podcast.
85. Soldier, in slang : GRUNT
86. Site of India's Red Fort : DELHI. Pure guess.
88. Math proof letters : Q.E.D.
89. Sweat spot : BROW
90. Support gp. created in 1942 : WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps)
91. RVer's refuge : KOA
92. Disney's middle name : ELIAS. I forgot.
101. Doughnut shapes : TORI. Plural of torus. Stumped many last time. It looks like this.
102. Chosen one : SELECTEE
106. Rocky address : YO ADRIAN. Great entry.
107. Justice since 2006 : ALITO (Samuel)
108. "Mas Que Nada" bandleader : MENDES. Peeked at the answer sheet.
109. Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect : LIN (Maya)
110. One way to store data : ON CD
111. Eponymous scout Chisholm : JESSE. No idea. Wikipedia says the Chisholm Trail is named after him.
112. Elusive big Scot? : NESSIE. Lock Ness Monster.
113. Calculus prereq. : ALG
114. Ken of "Wiseguy" : WAHL. Nope. He looks familiar though.
Down:
1. Mining magnate Rhodes : CECIL. Of Rhodes Scholar fame.
2. Triatomic pollutant : OZONE
3. Bounded : LEAPT
4. Old guild member : ARTISAN
5. Rail amenity : BAR CAR. Have never been to one.
6. "Eight Days __" : A WEEK
7. Skein fliers : GEESE
8. It's usually disregarded when alphabetizing : THE. Fresh clue.
9. "I puritani" composer : BELLINI. Gimme for Jayce.
10. Fútbol shout : OLE OLE. Fútbol is Spanish for football.
11. Williamson of "Excalibur" : NICOL. About King Arthur I presume.
12. Things to connect : DOTS. Connect the dots.
13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR
14. Football party munchies : NACHOS. So messy.
15. Winged, perhaps : AVIAN
16. Yitzhak Rabin's predecessor : GOLDA MEIR. Full name in clue. Full name in answer.
17. Has a cold : AILS
18. Jerry Rice's 208, briefly : TDS. Is that a record?
24. Offer chocolates to, as a dieter : TEMPT
26. Bygone deliverers : ICEMEN
31. In "Rent," it starts with "Seasons of Love" : ACT II. Needed crossing help.
32. "Aw, phooey!" : DARN
33. Hot flower : LAVA. Flower = Thing that flows. Can't fool me.
36. Tug : YANK
38. Rash protection : TALC
39. D-Day target city : ST LO. Also CAEN.
40. Simulate : FEIGN
41. Rocket opening : RETRO. Retrorocket.
42. Come to pass : OCCUR
43. Original : PRIMAL
44. Basel-born mathematician : EULER. OK, Bill G, tell us the highlight of this guy's career.
45. Movie fish : WANDA
46. New Age music player, often : SPA. I've never heard of New Age Health Spa. So the cleverness of the clue is lost on me.
48. Voting groups : BLOCS
49. "I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age" speaker : BURNS (George). So he kept dating younger women?
50. Egyptian crosses : ANKHS. Always have trouble remembering the spelling.
52. Riled (up) : HET. Het up.
54. Scot's tot : BAIRN. Literally "child".
57. Like groves : SHADY
58. Euphoria : BLISS
59. One looking for the way? : TAOIST. Tao = Way (in Chinese).
60. Compote fruit : PRUNE
62. From way back when : OF OLD
63. Prepare for a run : TRAIN. I find running makes my legs thick.
64. Metaphor words : IS A
65. By the book : LEGAL
66. Gate fastener : LATCH
67. It's often served with ginger and wasabi : SUSHI. Wasbi is really hot!
71. Celt since 8/4/2010 : SHAQ. Man, I thought he's still in Cleveland.
72. Lacking spice : TAME. Does this refer to food?
73. Skin graft material : EPIDERMIS. such a sophisticated word.
74. Galoot : APE
75. Karate chop, e.g. : BLOW
76. Speak (for) : VOUCH
79. Desert illusion : MIRAGE. Loved "The English Patient".
80. NYSE events : IPOS
81. Thin nail : BRAD. Learned from doing Xword.
85. Pisa airport name : GALILEI. Named after Galileo Galilei.
86. Took two pills, say : DOSED
87. Have humble pie : EAT CROW. Worse than EAT DIRT.
89. Hallux : BIG TOE. Did not know the meaning of hallux.
90. __ Fair : WORLD'S
91. "Constant Craving" vocalist : K. D. LANG. Lois loves her.
93. Endures : LASTS
94. Fountain contents, often : COINS
95. Sanctuaries : ASYLA. Plural for asylum I infer.
96. Try to quiet, as a persistent squeak : REOIL
97. Turner memoir : I, TINA. We had this clue before.
98. Percolate : LEACH
99. 1985-'87 U.S. Open champ : LENDL (Ivan). Nadal today.
100. Loft bundle : BALE. Hi, there, Windhover!
101. Hardly macho, in Manchester : TWEE. Another alliteration.
103. Pilgrimage to Mecca : HAJ
104. LBJ successor : RMN. Can never remember Nixon's middle name. Milhous.
105. Bakersfield-to-L.A. heading : SSE. Educated guess.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Hi. I got a little impatient and went to the Fredericksburg.com site
ReplyDeleteto copy the cw. Is cruciverb.com still down?
My copy had four missing down clues
in the SW which made it harder to solve. But, I loved the funny puns.
Have a nice day.
Dilbert,
ReplyDeleteJust checked. Cruciverb is still down.
Jerome,
Regarding yesterday's "Men-on-base gp.?" for US NAVY. It's like cluing APPLE simply as "Fruit". Too vague. I need specificity with the clue. "Pie fruit", yes.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle, nice theme. Challenging, but not annoyingly so. I got bogged down in a few places (NARCO/SPA/MTS/SEAT and ALITO/BRAGG/JESSE/BIGTOE, for example), but overall it was a pretty smooth experience. I was all prepared to come here and complain that WILLIE was a whale and not a fish when I got the first letter of 45D, but then it turned out to be WANDA instead...
Have a great one!
Good Morning, CC and all. I found this puzzle to be quite a challenge. My first theme response was: LET'S MAKE A DILL. From there, I realized that the theme's title referred to vowel sounds.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clues were: Place to Park a Parka = COAT TREE
I was also amused by Places to Go in Gloucester = LOOS.
I was not familiar with the Red Fort. Maybe Vidwan can enlighten up about its history.
QOD: It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business. ~ Gertrude Stein
C.C., many spas play New Age music as it tends to be relaxing.
ReplyDeleteGood morning C.C. and all.
ReplyDeleteACH, todays puzzle seemed somewhat tougher than last Sundays, but still was able to finish with a little red letter help in the SE -ASYLA.. The theme became clear early and helped anchor many areas. Especially liked the 21 ltr cross in the middle which fell easily. DELHI, ANKHS, and WAAC were WAGs. Liked some of the fresh new fill like FEIGN and GALILEI. Scott did a pretty good job and can come back anytime.
'hot flower' - LAVA - 33d. Had an audible chuckle to C.C.'s "can't fool me" comment.
Hardly macho - TWEE- . 'twee' is Dutch and Low German for 'two'. The 'ee' has the sound of the 'a' in BALE.
Enjoy what is left of the weekend.
Hahtool: The Red Fort was built by Shahjahan ( 5th of the 6 big mughals...) ... builder of the Taj Mahal. Although built as a strategic defensive measure ... it is now only a symbolic platform used by politicians.. last used in 1857 - when the british captured it ... the 1857 'sepoy mutiny'. It is a prominient landmark in Delhi... ( I have not been to Delhi in 20 years...).
ReplyDeleteI am really, really tired ... have been behind the 8 ball ... and too much work to finish.
Good Morning! Well after yesterday my wife can start answering my musical Beatle's question, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?"
ReplyDeleteFun exercise today but 101 A/D kept me from 100%. Did not know TORI and put in SWEE as some cockney crap for British not macho.
The play on Monte Hall's LET'S MAKE A DILL gave the theme and a handy device to get partial fills on other big runs. Fun!
Putting SOUTH instead of NORTH Carolina held me up as did NOGS for Xmas setups and MATE for Cap'n's crew member. Perps gave me GEESE.
Having been to Disney 42 times gave me ELIAS very fast as they use WED a lot around the company.
Being Mr. NASA, I thought RETRO was a little esoteric for the puzzle but was happy to put it in.
I have images of GALILEO flying masses off the leaning tower (apocryphal?) rather than lending his surname to an airport. I can still remembering walking around the wall in Pisa and seeing the Tower I had taught about for 40 years for the first time!!
YO ADRIAN was my favorite!
Sense of the ground - LANDFEEL
ReplyDeleteVantage point to the boat bottom - AVIEWTOAKEEL
C.C., I am no expert on Euler but I know he was a well-respected mathematician. Among many other things, he came up with this formula.
ReplyDeletee^(iπ) + 1 = 0
It has been called the most remarkable formula in mathematics. He also solved the "Seven Bridges of Konigsberg" problem. One of his discoveries that we can all understand is a formula that connects the faces of all polyhedrons with their edges and vertices (corners).
V - E + F = 2
For example, for a cube, it has eight vertices, 12 edges and six faces. 8 - 12 + 6 = 2.
For anyone who is interested, Wiki has lots more of the sophisticated stuff.
Good Morning C.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteC.C., Thanks for the 'clues clues'.
I don't get the 61a & 100a part- why did you say 'very bad'? My finesse on cluing is lacking in this area.
Well, Scott Atkinson,you got my attention- of course, Sunday's puzzle comes in miniature in our paper and I'm blind as a bat, and my extra strong Sunday crossword glasses hardly helped.
I got your theme,fairly quickly- its just that it was annoying to read the 'ill' sound in place of the 'eel' sound. Asit happens, I know far too many people that actually talk this way and it irks my soul.
Now to the puzzle- and in spite of the above- Your effort was definitely appreciated ! Some things seemed to be 'somewhat' remote['perp'able] and some went right over my head, even after the 'perps'.[My son said he was going to strap me to a chair, rent the Rocky movie,and make me watch it].After C.C. remarked "nice clue".I realize I'm going to have to bend.
Also remote, where I'm not so remote,[but then that what makes it fun] was 41d rocket opening, and 55a narco trafficker.
You mention 2 of my favorite singers: Tina and K.D.Lang ;BIG GRIN!
'Duff and Loos: BIG GRIN!
Carly Simon:SMALL SONG OUTBURST!
Fairly hard puzzle;Most fun! Thanks.
Good morning, C.C. and puzzlers.
ReplyDeleteShort comment now as it's almost time for church.
Clever puzzle from Scott Atkinson! Loved the theme naswers, especilly MAKEADILL and NORTHCAROLINATARHILLS but all were fun.
My sister lives in Charlotte so that answer came readily.
Missed out on NESSIE, though it was in my mind, but I had GALILEO and WORLDS did not even appear in my mind's eye. Thanks for the blog, C.C. and that finished it.
Some really smart clues and fills,
foot specialist, BARD
George Burns was determined to live to 100 years and died shortly after reaching that age.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
Good Morning All, Phew! Finally after two days of DNF, there was a puzzle I completed.
ReplyDeleteI was sorry I couldn't start it last night because of cruciverb's problems. When I can I like to unwind with the puzzle before bedtime.
I caught the theme fairly quickly. It helped knowing that ILL or ILLS was coming at the tail end of the phrases.
C.C. would simply "Fort ____" have worked for you at 100A, instead of "North Carolina fort", or would it have been too vague like your example "Fruit" for APPLE? I got it with help of perps like BALE, LASTS and MIRAGE, even though I didn't know it was located in North Carolina.
C.C. Re: BRAGG. How about clueing it as 'Fort named for Confederate General Braxton' or some such?
ReplyDelete@Creature, as a rule, no answer from the puzzle should be used in any of the clues, except common words like ON, IN, THE, OF, AND, etc.
ReplyDeleteHusker Gary,
ReplyDeleteYou really have a gift for cluing. I was impressed by all the AUTO REVERSE list you had last time also. However, you need to have familiar long E phrases and change them into short I. All your 10:29am list have the long E sounds. Try again.
Creature,
What Jim said. It's OK to repeat on, in, of and other small prepositions and conjunctions, not long phrase like North Carolina.
Clear Ayes & Spitzboov,
Both of your clues would work, though both would have stumped me. Still better than the duplication.
Hello C.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed today's puzzle. The theme revealed itself to me early on and made the rest of the puzzle go easily. My favorite (once I finally got it) was HAPPYMILLS.
Today's learning moments: TORI and hallux were both new words to me.
I also had TBILLS for 8A. It took me a long time to let go of that wrong answer. It was a V8 moment when I connected the DOTS!
How about this for an additional theme clue? Permit to expire = LICENSETOKILL Okay, now that I thought it through, it's a bit of a stretch.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Clue: Good way to finish my crossword?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Think how I fill
Clue: Shoot'em by the brace?
Answer: Keep an even kill
Hello everybody. Thanks for the writeup, C.C. I like the little comments you make such as "Can't fool me."
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, perhaps because my nephew went to Duke University, NORTHCAROLINA TARHILLS came to me easily, after which I guessed that the other long entries ended with ILL or ILLS. Very clever. I liked the wordplay.
Darn it all, though, I just couldn't think of BELLINI, so it was not a gimme. I did remember his name after I filled in a couple of the perps.
When APOLLO didn't work, it was not difficult for me to change it to HELIOS.
I knew rum was an ingredient in the Cuba Libre cocktail, but not cola. It sounds cloyingly sweet. Is a Cuba Libre the same thing as a plain ol' rum 'n' Coke? I guess it isn't (say I, answering my own question) because it also has lime.
I pencilled in CANE for Constitutional aid, then had self doubts and erased it. "Naw, it can't be that easy." Well, sure enough, I had to unerase it later. I gotta learn to trust my instincts more; they serve me well as an engineer.
I dare say FRONTs set up by the FBI are legal. But they can certainly serve as a means to disguise illegal activities too. (Don't get me started on whether much of what the FBI, the CIA, and other agencies do is legal or not. Legal is not always right or moral:)
The only reason I got DELHI is because I got SUSHI first, and Delhi is the only place in India I know of that is 5 letters long and ends with I.
Did you know a coffee mug or teacup is also basically a torus? A very stretched out of shape one.
Oh, and I knew Sergio MENDES because our Brazilian former-neighbors used to play his music often and loudly. MAS is pronounced sort of like MAHSH.
Holy cow, I'd better shut up now. Best wishes to you all.
An Extraordinary Window Treatment? = THE GREAT SILL.
ReplyDeleteCorrection:
ReplyDeleteClue: Shooting them by the brace?
Ans: On an even kill
Where the golfer's last drive on the last hole landed: IN THE FINAL RILL
ReplyDeleteHigh-tech gas station?
ReplyDeleteTOUCH AND FILL
Those last two make no sense at all.
ReplyDeleteClue: Seek spiritual support for the eskimo.
ReplyDeleteAns: GOD SAVE THE QUINN
That's my last post today - I maxed out.
NC
Lazy, lazy day. Finally! Got the cabin septic system up and working, paneled the walls and insulated under the flooring. Left the vacation area so that I could rest. Thursday morning, I woke up to 31 degrees and puddles from the night before that were frozen. I'll be headed back up soon to chop and stack firewood for the winter. Local prediction is for drier and colder than normal.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason to return: Last year, a lady helped me with a recalcitrant motorcycle. It took her a year to share her big secret, but it turns out she loves to work crosswords. I solved this one, but I'm saving the NY Times as an enticement to get her to come over. I didn't realize that sharing the work could be so much fun.
When I got Electric ills, I thought it was drop a letter as in (B)ills. Tar hills fixed that and the rest went in easily. In spite of that, I couldn't solve the south without Google.
Alito, Jesse -
Mendes, Nessie -
Lin, Lendl -
I hit the Wahl.
Regardless of my problems, Scott is welcome back any time.
C.C., regarding the Men-on-base clue from yesterday. My son is the only medic on a forward Marine aviation base in Afghanistan. The Marines won't let him leave the base. They are very protective of their Navy 'Docs.' I had the answer in almost before I finished reading the clue.
Oops, the Niners are on. More later, maybe.
Gunghy, you might not want to let your son hear you call him a 'medic'. Our 'Docs' are called 'corpsmen', and they, along with chopper pilots, are the finest human beings alive. Many of us would not be here today were it not for corpsmen and/or helicopter pilots. I don't blame the Marines over there for being protective.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the military, I had a problem with 85A, 'Soldier, in slang'. 'Grunts' are strictly infantry, and we wear that title as a badge of honor. While every Occupational Specialty in the military is vitally important, and I'm not diminishing the importance of any of them, there are specific nicknames for most types of servicemen and servicewomen, many of which can't be repeated here.
C.C. and gang, my mistake on cluing came to me as I was driving to Lincoln today and had made it to Wahoo, NE (Yes, Virginia, there is a Wahoo, NE). Here is what I came up with:
ReplyDeleteAddicted to amalgam - HOOKED ON A FILLING
Retaining every other bagged deer - KEEPING AN EVEN KILL
I knew I couldn't blow that by this group! Better?
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteDefeated today by this puzzle and the lack of availability at Cruciverb. Still no go.
Trying to negotiate the puzzle at the L.A. Times site was driving me nuts, and I was struggling anyway. So I gave up.
Sad, sad loss for the Lions today. Some of the rules of football make no sense whatsoever.
Ah, well . . .
JzB
@Husker Gary
ReplyDeleteI think I beat you to the kill, but a great fill!
NC
My son and daughter went whale watching yesterday. They saw a lot of blue whales and came within 100 feet of many. Good photos.
ReplyDeleteI just finished off a perfectly ripe white peach. Wonderfully sweet!
I just played a game of "Go Fish" with grandson Jordan. He doesn't like it when Grandpa gets lucky and can ask for something he has three of. I don't know whether to keep peace (which I did) or to help him realize that it's not reasonable for him to expect to win all the time and get upset when he doesn't.
Dennis, Corpsman confuses some, that's why I used medic. He is technically a Hospitalman. I've never heard any Marine refer to him as anything but Doc. Actually, the company he was assigned to at Pendleton called him 'Doctimus Prime' and bragged because their doc could kick their butts.
ReplyDeleteHe wants SAR, but I am selfishly glad he is confined to base. Hospitalmen have more Silver stars and Medals of Honor than any other branch of service and most are awarded posthumously.
Go niners, Rah, Rah! Gag!!!
From the Navy's website:
ReplyDeleteHospital Corpsman (HM): HMs assist medical professionals in providing health care to service people and their families. They serve as pharmacists, medical technicians, food service personnel, nurse's aids, physician's or dentist's assistants, battlefield medics, X-ray technicians and more. An HM's work falls into several categories: first aid and minor surgery, patient transportation, patient care, prescriptions and laboratory work, food service inspections and clerical duties.
The HM2 on our destroyer was held in very high esteem. (Among his duties was to facilitate the monthly audit of the medicinal liquor.)
Nicecuppa, I enjoyed yours as well (brace is much more elegant). I was tormented all the way down to Lincoln and back because I knew I blew it on the first post. The old BJ Thomas song came back to me for feeling and off I went.
ReplyDeleteWhy am I subbing tomorrow when I want to play golf??
Gunghy, I can understand his wanting SAR and your hope that he remains on base. I do hope you'll keep us up to date on how he's doing. You should (and I'm sure you are) be justifiably proud.
ReplyDeleteYesterday in a book I was reading I came across the word TWEE for the first time in my well over 6 decades of reading. Today I looked at 101D and thought, "No way!"
ReplyDeleteBut, "Way!" There it was, plain as plain... who'da thunkit?
Husker Gary, I'm curious about your subbing. It sounds as if you don't really want to. Is it an obligation? Do you need the spare cash? Do you enjoy it? My wife and I decided not to sub for a variety of reasons. Most of all I think we felt we wouldn't be teaching much, just passing out Xeroxes or supervising busy work. So we decided to tutor instead. That has worked out very well.
ReplyDeleteBill G., Thanks for the inquiry but subbing is okay but just not as attractive in this great Nebraska fall weather!
ReplyDeleteWe have enough money to last a lifetime but there are still 24 hours in a day, especially in the winter! If you turn down sub jobs they quit calling you. The subbing ranks are overflowing because of all the early buyouts and the great Nebraska retirement system that is fully funded and SECURE!!