Theme: Physical Therapy Session - Each two-word common phrase starts with initials P & T.
23A. It begins with H : PERIODIC TABLE. H = Hydrogen.
29A. Place to take a date? : PALM TREE. Date palm. Medjool dates are the best.
35A. Worker with a fork : PIANO TUNER. Don "Hard G" is one.
46A. Wood shop item : POWER TOOL
57A. One may be used in child support cases : PATERNITY TEST
69A. You can't put it down : PAGE TURNER. What are you reading now?
75A. All-bark, no-bite type : PAPER TIGER
83A. Windshield downer : PARKING TICKET. Good answer/clue.
97A. History feature : PAST TENSE. Needed crossing help.
106A. Intimate exchange : PILLOW TALK. Sweet.
115A. Number that may be shocking : PRICE TAG
126A. Endurance level of a sort : PAIN THRESHOLD. My husband has amazing tolerance for pain. He bowls with painful elbow/wrist all the time.
Simple theme. Nicely executed.
Since no unifier or any specific order is needed for the theme entry placement, Jeff had the freedom to move the phrases (a few are short) around to bring out the smoothest Sunday LAT I've solved this year. The fact that all the answers contain mostly common letters sure helped too.
Thoroughly enjoyable. No obscure words/names to frustrate me.
Across:
1. Target : AIM FOR. Easy start.
7. Zany : MADCAP
13. Standout in a small pond? : BIG FISH. Big fish in a small pond.
20. "Pizza by the slice" chain : SBARRO. The name stumped me last time.
21. Cactus bump : AREOLE. Much prefer "Ring of color" clue.
22. Centers for Disease Control headquarters site : ATLANTA
25. Soaked up, as a spill : BLOTTED
26. Barnyard abode : STY
27. Fit together : MESH
28. Hip-hop doc : DRE. Dr. Dre.
30. Detection device : SENSOR
32. Skipper's direction : ALEE
34. A very long time : EONS
39. Some are narrow : ESCAPES. Narrow escapes.
43. Rice-A-__ : RONI
44. Looked for lampreys : EELED
50. Chopin's Opus 10 works : ETUDES
53. One of seven : ASIA. Seven continents.
55. Video game giant : SEGA
56. NY tech. school since 1824 : RPI. When were you there, Spitzboov?
61. Blotch : STAIN
63. VAIO computer maker : SONY. VAIO = Visual Audio Intelligence Organizer. Learned this name from an old Barry Silk puzzle.
64. Took to the airport, say : SAW OFF
68. Brontë who wrote "Agnes Grey" : ANNE
77. Present-day Persia : IRAN
78. Swarmed : TEEMED
80. U.S. dept. concerned with radioactive waste : ENER
81. "Inception" filmmaker Christopher : NOLAN. Of Batman fame.
90. Actress Thurman : UMA
91. Island at the edge of the Bering Sea : ATTU. Westernmost of the Aleutians.
95. Face-off : DUEL
96. Beethoven's "Waldstein," e.g. : SONATA
100. __ toast : MELBA
103. The toe of an Asian "boot" : OMAN. "Boot" of the Arabian Peninsula? I am ignorant of this reference.
104. From way back when : OLD TIME
109. __ City: Baghdad suburb : SADR
112. "__ said!" : NUFF
114. Essence : NATURE
119. One way to sway : FRO. To and fro.
121. Chapeau site : TETE. "Head" in French.
122. __ tai : MAI
125. 1881 Pasteur vaccine target : ANTHRAX. I remember the scare right after 9/11.
129. Cold War follower : DETENTE
130. Harshly criticize : SCATHE. Scathing remarks.
131. Discordant to many an ear : ATONAL
132. Paris's Champs __ : ELYSEES. More romantic walking along the streets in the evenings.
133. Sommelier, e.g. : SERVER
134. Pestilent fly : TSETSE. Hey, a full fly.
Down:
1. Lethal snakes : ASPS. And 10. Lethal snake : COBRA. Clecho. Please come here and cast your vote.
2. "As if!" : I BET
3. Mrs. Lincoln : MARY
4. Calendar abbr. : FRI
5. Words from a balcony : O ROMEO. By Juliet.
6. Squirrel, for one : RODENT
7. Speed of sound : MACH ONE. First reached by Dennis' idol Chuck Yeager.
8. Pianist Tatum : ART
9. __ in the water : DEAD
11. Gene variant : ALLELE. Can never remember this word.
12. Capital of Poland? : PEE. The capital letter in Poland.
13. Ali the woodcutter : BABA
14. "__ cost you!" : IT'LL
15. Grab, in slang : GLOM. Glom onto.
16. Most plump : FATTEST
17. Preamble : INTRO
18. "Card Players Quarreling" artist : STEEN (Jan). See the painting.
19. Underworld god : HADES
24. Time edition : ISSUE. Do you think Tina Brown will save Newsweek?
29. Cowboy legend __ Bill : PECOS
30. Catty : SNIDE
31. Send along : RELAY
33. Uncanny ability : ESP
35. Get set : PREP
36. Itty-bitty bit : IOTA
37. "Sometimes you feel like __ …" : A NUT. Do you?
38. See 127-Down : REST. And 127. With 38-Down, what's left : THE.
40. Amaze : AWE
41. Cribbage piece : PEG
42. Some are named for presidents : ERAS. We live in the Obama era.
45. "__ Irae" : DIES
47. Borneo rainforest dweller : ORANG
48. Offer a thought : OPINE
49. Big boat : LINER
51. While lead-in : ERST. Erstwhile.
52. Muzzle : SNOUT. Nose.
54. Memo order : ASAP
58. Memo opening : INRE
59. Daly of "Judging Amy" : TYNE
60. It flew its last flight in 2001 : TWA. Oh, I didn't know this.
62. Clavell's "__-Pan" : TAI. Tai = Big. Pan = Boss.
65. Start the bidding : OPEN
66. __ shui : FENG. Feng = Wind. Shui = Water.
67. Worries : FRETS
69. Dorm wall art : PINUP
70. Wavy lines, in comics : AROMA
71. Bashes : GALAS
72. "Bambi" doe : ENA. His aunt.
73. Brit. or Byzantine : EMP (Empire)
74. Pore over : READ
76. The Stooges, e.g. : TRIO
79. Jazz combo member : DRUM
82. Pertaining to all 50 sts. : NATL
84. Opposite of spoil : KEEP
85. Bad, in rap slang : ILLIN. What?
86. 100 simoleons : C-NOTE. So many slang for "dollar": cabbage, clam, buck, etc.
87. __ Sutra : KAMA
88. List-shortening term : ET AL
89. Place to put a tiger, in old ads : TANK. Put a tiger in your tank.
92. Media mogul Turner : TED
93. "Rizzoli & Isles" station : TNT
94. Manipulating : USING
98. Primitive light sources : TORCHES
99. Critter on Australia's coat of arms : EMU. Hey there, Kazie!
101. Gibberish : BLATHER
102. Adjust : ALTER
105. Obliterate : EFFACE
107. Consume more than : OUTEAT
108. Jerks : WRESTS. Oh, not the "jerks" I pictured.
109. "Black bird" pursuer of fiction : SPADE. Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon". Got me.
110. Synthetic fabric : ARNEL. Just refuses to sink into my memory bank.
111. Simple tune : DITTY
113. Brother in a hood? : FRIAR. Saw similar clue before.
116. Eagle by the shore : ERNE
117. Pop __, Chok'lit Shoppe owner in "Archie" comics : TATE. Learning moment to me.
118. Cancels : AXES
120. Airing, as a sitcom : ON TV
122. The Alps' __ Blanc : MONT
123. Regretful word : ALAS
124. Not doing anything : IDLE
126. They're usually under signatures: Abbr. : PSS
128. Work the soil : HOE
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A. It begins with H : PERIODIC TABLE. H = Hydrogen.
29A. Place to take a date? : PALM TREE. Date palm. Medjool dates are the best.
35A. Worker with a fork : PIANO TUNER. Don "Hard G" is one.
46A. Wood shop item : POWER TOOL
57A. One may be used in child support cases : PATERNITY TEST
69A. You can't put it down : PAGE TURNER. What are you reading now?
75A. All-bark, no-bite type : PAPER TIGER
83A. Windshield downer : PARKING TICKET. Good answer/clue.
97A. History feature : PAST TENSE. Needed crossing help.
106A. Intimate exchange : PILLOW TALK. Sweet.
115A. Number that may be shocking : PRICE TAG
126A. Endurance level of a sort : PAIN THRESHOLD. My husband has amazing tolerance for pain. He bowls with painful elbow/wrist all the time.
Simple theme. Nicely executed.
Since no unifier or any specific order is needed for the theme entry placement, Jeff had the freedom to move the phrases (a few are short) around to bring out the smoothest Sunday LAT I've solved this year. The fact that all the answers contain mostly common letters sure helped too.
Thoroughly enjoyable. No obscure words/names to frustrate me.
Across:
1. Target : AIM FOR. Easy start.
7. Zany : MADCAP
13. Standout in a small pond? : BIG FISH. Big fish in a small pond.
20. "Pizza by the slice" chain : SBARRO. The name stumped me last time.
21. Cactus bump : AREOLE. Much prefer "Ring of color" clue.
22. Centers for Disease Control headquarters site : ATLANTA
25. Soaked up, as a spill : BLOTTED
26. Barnyard abode : STY
27. Fit together : MESH
28. Hip-hop doc : DRE. Dr. Dre.
30. Detection device : SENSOR
32. Skipper's direction : ALEE
34. A very long time : EONS
39. Some are narrow : ESCAPES. Narrow escapes.
43. Rice-A-__ : RONI
44. Looked for lampreys : EELED
50. Chopin's Opus 10 works : ETUDES
53. One of seven : ASIA. Seven continents.
55. Video game giant : SEGA
56. NY tech. school since 1824 : RPI. When were you there, Spitzboov?
61. Blotch : STAIN
63. VAIO computer maker : SONY. VAIO = Visual Audio Intelligence Organizer. Learned this name from an old Barry Silk puzzle.
64. Took to the airport, say : SAW OFF
68. Brontë who wrote "Agnes Grey" : ANNE
77. Present-day Persia : IRAN
78. Swarmed : TEEMED
80. U.S. dept. concerned with radioactive waste : ENER
81. "Inception" filmmaker Christopher : NOLAN. Of Batman fame.
90. Actress Thurman : UMA
91. Island at the edge of the Bering Sea : ATTU. Westernmost of the Aleutians.
95. Face-off : DUEL
96. Beethoven's "Waldstein," e.g. : SONATA
100. __ toast : MELBA
103. The toe of an Asian "boot" : OMAN. "Boot" of the Arabian Peninsula? I am ignorant of this reference.
104. From way back when : OLD TIME
109. __ City: Baghdad suburb : SADR
112. "__ said!" : NUFF
114. Essence : NATURE
119. One way to sway : FRO. To and fro.
121. Chapeau site : TETE. "Head" in French.
122. __ tai : MAI
125. 1881 Pasteur vaccine target : ANTHRAX. I remember the scare right after 9/11.
129. Cold War follower : DETENTE
130. Harshly criticize : SCATHE. Scathing remarks.
131. Discordant to many an ear : ATONAL
132. Paris's Champs __ : ELYSEES. More romantic walking along the streets in the evenings.
133. Sommelier, e.g. : SERVER
134. Pestilent fly : TSETSE. Hey, a full fly.
Down:
1. Lethal snakes : ASPS. And 10. Lethal snake : COBRA. Clecho. Please come here and cast your vote.
2. "As if!" : I BET
3. Mrs. Lincoln : MARY
4. Calendar abbr. : FRI
5. Words from a balcony : O ROMEO. By Juliet.
6. Squirrel, for one : RODENT
7. Speed of sound : MACH ONE. First reached by Dennis' idol Chuck Yeager.
8. Pianist Tatum : ART
9. __ in the water : DEAD
11. Gene variant : ALLELE. Can never remember this word.
12. Capital of Poland? : PEE. The capital letter in Poland.
13. Ali the woodcutter : BABA
14. "__ cost you!" : IT'LL
15. Grab, in slang : GLOM. Glom onto.
16. Most plump : FATTEST
17. Preamble : INTRO
18. "Card Players Quarreling" artist : STEEN (Jan). See the painting.
19. Underworld god : HADES
24. Time edition : ISSUE. Do you think Tina Brown will save Newsweek?
29. Cowboy legend __ Bill : PECOS
30. Catty : SNIDE
31. Send along : RELAY
33. Uncanny ability : ESP
35. Get set : PREP
36. Itty-bitty bit : IOTA
37. "Sometimes you feel like __ …" : A NUT. Do you?
38. See 127-Down : REST. And 127. With 38-Down, what's left : THE.
40. Amaze : AWE
41. Cribbage piece : PEG
42. Some are named for presidents : ERAS. We live in the Obama era.
45. "__ Irae" : DIES
47. Borneo rainforest dweller : ORANG
48. Offer a thought : OPINE
49. Big boat : LINER
51. While lead-in : ERST. Erstwhile.
52. Muzzle : SNOUT. Nose.
54. Memo order : ASAP
58. Memo opening : INRE
59. Daly of "Judging Amy" : TYNE
60. It flew its last flight in 2001 : TWA. Oh, I didn't know this.
62. Clavell's "__-Pan" : TAI. Tai = Big. Pan = Boss.
65. Start the bidding : OPEN
66. __ shui : FENG. Feng = Wind. Shui = Water.
67. Worries : FRETS
69. Dorm wall art : PINUP
70. Wavy lines, in comics : AROMA
71. Bashes : GALAS
72. "Bambi" doe : ENA. His aunt.
73. Brit. or Byzantine : EMP (Empire)
74. Pore over : READ
76. The Stooges, e.g. : TRIO
79. Jazz combo member : DRUM
82. Pertaining to all 50 sts. : NATL
84. Opposite of spoil : KEEP
85. Bad, in rap slang : ILLIN. What?
86. 100 simoleons : C-NOTE. So many slang for "dollar": cabbage, clam, buck, etc.
87. __ Sutra : KAMA
88. List-shortening term : ET AL
89. Place to put a tiger, in old ads : TANK. Put a tiger in your tank.
92. Media mogul Turner : TED
93. "Rizzoli & Isles" station : TNT
94. Manipulating : USING
98. Primitive light sources : TORCHES
99. Critter on Australia's coat of arms : EMU. Hey there, Kazie!
101. Gibberish : BLATHER
102. Adjust : ALTER
105. Obliterate : EFFACE
107. Consume more than : OUTEAT
108. Jerks : WRESTS. Oh, not the "jerks" I pictured.
109. "Black bird" pursuer of fiction : SPADE. Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon". Got me.
110. Synthetic fabric : ARNEL. Just refuses to sink into my memory bank.
111. Simple tune : DITTY
113. Brother in a hood? : FRIAR. Saw similar clue before.
116. Eagle by the shore : ERNE
117. Pop __, Chok'lit Shoppe owner in "Archie" comics : TATE. Learning moment to me.
118. Cancels : AXES
120. Airing, as a sitcom : ON TV
122. The Alps' __ Blanc : MONT
123. Regretful word : ALAS
124. Not doing anything : IDLE
126. They're usually under signatures: Abbr. : PSS
128. Work the soil : HOE
Answer grid.
C.C.
33 comments:
Hi all.
Nice puzzle for Sunday.
Finished puzzle, hockey game and
followed the fight at the same time.
Would not have taken that beating for 3 Mil
Bed time. Take care.
Good Morning CC and all,
Fun puzzle. I took advantage of a day off to use the computer and finished in 31 minutes with no g'spot and no red letter help. Once I had done enough verticals to get some traction on the long theme entries I saw the PT pattern pretty soon with PERIODIC TABLE and PALM TREE. Favorite clue was 'number that may be shocking.'
I never had time to comment on yesterday's puzzle, but it was alot harder. Lots of google help.
Best wishes to all recovering from illness and injury. Gunghy, enjoy your time with Joe. Jeannie, I hope your friends are OK.
Enjoy the ride. Chrysler PT Cruiser.
Good Morning C.C. and all,
C.C. Your comments were right on: "Thoroughly enjoyable-Nice Sunday puzzle." Thanks, Jeff.
I had a lot of fun with your blog, also. and your comment at 134A was
a hoot.
Breaking the sound barrier- such a big deal; still get excited about that news so long ago,now.
I think Tina Brown has 'uncanny ability'.
Love my nuts- no question.
Thanks for your notes at 62d&66D- Learning moments for me. If I knew,
the word meanings, I had forgotten
them.
85D Got me?!? {thanks perps}
The theme popped up pretty quickly, and the title told it, if you had any doubt. Funny, how many PTs there are in our daily usage. Jeff has collected some neat ones, too.
Praise Time for Jeff, reading my mood this early a.m..
Jeannie, hope all is better today.
Have a nice day everyone.
Argyle, you are too cool!
Morning, all!
I'm glad you found this a smooth puzzle with no unknowns, C.C.! As for me, well, I was cruising right along without a care in the world when I suddenly drove right into a brick wall in the extreme SE section of the puzzle.
Most of my problems were the self inflicted sort, stemming from a typo in 97A (I had PASS TENSE instead of PAST TENSE). As a result of that mistake, I couldn't see TORCHES to save my life. Add in the facts that I didn't have a clue how to spell ELYSEES (even though I knew what the clue was looking for), didn't know that Pasteur came up with a vaccine for ANTHRAX, had never heard of Pops TATE, couldn't decide between ENTENTE and DETENTE, put in EXES instead of AXES, and couldn't remember SADR or ARNEL... Well, you can see why things were looking a little grim for me.
In the end, I finally found my typo, which gave me TORCHES in short order. Then, I finally guessed ANTHRAX and settled on DETENTE, which was enough to let me [barely] make enough educated guesses muddle through. But it was really touch and go there for awhile. Such a disconcerting experience -- vroom, vroom, vroom, screeeeeeeeech... BAM!!!
Good Morning, CC and friends. This was a fun Sunday puzzle and quite doable. I loved the PT theme. The clues and responses were super. I especially loved It Begins with H = PERIODIC TABLE.
I must admit, I got fooled by Capital of Poland? I knew neither Warsaw nor Euro were correct. PEE! Why, of course, the first letter!
sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't! I prefer the ones with nuts.
I was not aware that Simoleon was a term for Dollar. My learning moment. ENA is another word I have learned from doing crosswords.
I had never heard of the pizza chain Sbarro until i lived in Israel. I had eaten at the one in Jerusalem the day before it was bombed on August 9, 2001. I didn't realize the chain was also in the US.
For readers, may I recommend The PIANO TUNER. I read is a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.
QOD: Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~ Frank Zappa.
Hello Puzzlers -
What a smooth ride today - thanks, Jeff. Good morning C.C., and yes, I feel like a nut much of the time. We keep almonds, walnuts, and peanuts on hand for snacks.
For some reason, Archie comics were the only such magazines around the house when I was a kid. Pop Tate was easy to remember. The "tiger in your tank" phrase from Esso ads was common then; one Archie cartoon panel featured a gag in the form of a background sign reading "PEPTO GAS takes the tiger hairs out of your gas tank". Or something close to that.
Good morning, all~!
I got the theme at "PIANO TUNER", and ran from there. Was looking for a cool unifier, but the puzzle was a smooth run without those nagging names - although I, too, couldn't remember the spelling of ELYSEES, yet knew what the constructor wanted, Barry G.
I attended RPI in 1989, too, thank you....
Here is a good example of 85d,a great song from a great album by a great group RUN-DMC
I thought we could've had a tie-in between POWER TOOL and SAW OFF, and perhaps PAIN THRESHOLD? - I did once take the tip of my pinky off with a circular saw - more embarrassing than harmful.
No links to that image...
Enjoy what's left of your weekend -
Splynter
Good morning, all. Good to see your write-up, C.C.; re: 56a, I graduated in 1959.
Fairly smooth solve, today. Only hiccup was in the SW corner where I had a brain fart and entered entente, at first, before my tongue untied and replaced it with DETENTE. ATTU and PIANO TUNER were WAGs. I thought the clueing for PALM TREE, PERIODIC TABLE, and PAST TENSE was quite clever. Other than place names, TÊTE was about the only foreign word.
Enjoy the day.
Good norning CC and puzzlers all. This was the easiest Sunday puzzle I've done yet... except for one little letter. The intersection of 93a and 93d got me. I knew the island would likely be in the Aleutian chain but had no idea of the name. The name associated with the name of that station was a total unknown also. I finally settled on "O" as a wag (hey, it looks OK to me), then came here to find my error.
There were several clues that didn't register immediately, but a few perps would give me enough to figure them out.
12d was a little tricky since the currency of Poland (the Zlotych) is abbreviated PLN in currency tables. That gave me MADCAP, but messed up that bump (or ring) and the first theme answer. A few more downs took care of that error and I was on my way.
Hand up for another one that knew Elysees but had no idea how to spell it. I sort of wanted Cholera for 125a, but quickly saw that it wouldn't work and let the perps get enough letters so that I could see Anthrax.
Our paper has the Sunday puzzle from the Times on both coasts, although the east one is a week behind. I'll go tax my brain on that one now that this one has fallen.
Well, this was a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. Jeff is part of an awesome stable of constructors assembled by Rich who deliver quality and interesting puzzles.
I would have titled the puzzle, "There is a sucker born every minute," as rather than the Cruiser, this is my favorite P.T. .
Anyway, back to the puzzle; each of the theme clues is witty with PERIODIC TABLE, PALM TREE and PIANO TUNER my faves.
Yes, this is the first AREOLE puzzle, where we did not get to see the pretty Lily.
I remember how to spell CHAMPS-ELYSEES, because it is named after the Greek ELYSIAN FIELDS, as originally the are was open fileds where merchants would set up to sell their wares.
PEE, for Poland, no wonder all us Poles find life so hard. I did not know JAN STEEN, and appreciated the MEMO clecho (keep on voting) and I will not even comment on WORK THE SOIL:HOE.
76 and cloudless, but breezy…so I am going outside, see ya.
Easiest Sunday puzzle for me too.
Zao shang hao (早安, 爸爸) C.C. et al, I got this one very easily before I finished my coffee and of course enjoyed C.C.’s write-up! Any puzzle that starts with the Periodic Table is aces in my book even though the Hindenburg incident showed how dangerous H is. BTW, many rockets burn H and O and make H2O (subscript code did not work) or water. Look for this process very soon in a car near you!
I wanted MALARIA for ANTHRAX (hell of a trade) and ENDS for AXES but not for long. This had a “Tuesday” feel (remember that scene from Seinfeld?) and made for a pleasant solve on a 39 degree day.
I liked Place to take a date and Brother in a hood and I am typing this on my Sony Vaio computer!
Words like "illin" are probably harmless enough (23 skidoo, daddio, cool cat, dude, etc) but seem to persist in a culture where speaking the language is necessary to make a go of it in the real world. Using axin for asking and they for their are also not particularly useful. I am not a big fan of Ebonics and was glad it was dismissed as fast as it emerged into the pseudo-educational lexicon.
Husker Gary,
早安, 爸爸 = Good morning, Dad.
Ha ha!! Where did you get it?
@ Husker Gary
I did a high school science fair project in 1958 on the use of hydrogen as an automotive fuel. I had all of the charts showing the efficiency, the lack of pollution (although that wasn't a big concern then) and other advantages. I had a small electrolytic generator set up that would generate a small quantity of hydrogen from salt water and pipe it to a model airplane engine which would run for a few seconds to demonstrate that it was feasible. The judges weren't impressed enough to give me a "superior" rating, though. I guess they were old enough to remember the Hindenburg as one of them commented that using hydrogen as a fuel was "inherently unsafe". I guess I was a little ahead of the times on that one.
Hi all!
I originally had "Perfect Ten" in mind for this puzzle, i.e. ten PT phrases, but Rich already had a "Perfect Ten" puzzle scheduled for 10/10/10. At which point I kicked myself for not having the idea first!
So Rich was kind enough to throw out the Physical Therapy Session idea, and challenged me to put in even more theme. Gulp. Luckily I had a lot of time at my girlfriend's mom's Indiana lakehouse this summer!
Happy Sunday everyone,
Jeff
C.C., I simply did a search for Good Morning in Chinese (Mandarin) and that is what I got back. I did not know that Dad had been appended. I am always so amazed by your fluency in two languages and cultures that I thought I would try something for you, my online friend!
有好的一天
My prediction on when hydrogen powered vehicles will be in common use can be summed up by the caption of my all-time favorite New Yorker cartoon. A guy sitting at a desk talking on the phone says:
"How about never? Does never work for you?"
Works for me.
Good Morning All, What a pleasant Jeff Chen Sunday puzzle this was. (Thanks for stopping by, Jeff.) It wasn't a walk in the park because (for me) most of the theme answers had to have the cooperation of a few perp letters, in addition to P & T.
Grumpy 1, :o) Thank goodness I didn't know that (12D) the currency of Poland is abbreviated as PLN. I was thinking along Hahtool's line and got fooled for a while by that simple little PEE.
There were a few places where I just had to take the grid's word for it. (85D) ILLIN was a head scratcher. Perhaps it shouldn't be, since (112A) "NUFF said" was easy.
I didn't identify (81A) Inception's NOLAN, although I've seen the movie and enjoyed it.
As with others, the SW was a little sticky. I got SPADE right away, but ARNEL wanted to be NYLON, RAYON or ORLON. I had to get SADR and DITTY for the light bulb to go on in that corner.
Argyle, the PT Cruiser photo got me wondering what that PT stands for. Wikipedia has a couple of answers. It looks to me like a car Sam SPADE might have driven.
Grumpy1, Here is an actual Ideal Solution for Fueling Cars. The solar panels supply the electric energy to rip the water atom H2O into H and O and then the H is captured and put into cars. This utilizes sunlight and the most abundant compound on Earth - water. Not only is water the main source of the H but the combustion returns water back to the atmosphere when it burns. It's coming and will get more and more attractive as people who hate Americans keep jacking up the price of their oil.
We started using oil when Whale Blubber became too expensive!
Husker:
Aside from a little inconvenience aka the Second Law of Thermodynamics, one slight hitch in your perpetual motion machine is the huge amount of very scarce materials needed to manufacture photovoltaic cells on the scale needed to move Americans around the country in their mobile cocoons and keep them cool in summer and warm in winter. Even with the new film imprinting technology for solar collectors, material availability is and will continue to be a limiting (and costly) factor.
And while there is no shortage of people who hate Americans (some no doubt with good cause) there is also the prevailing capitalist idea of reaping as much profit as possible For as long as possible from the depletion of an increasingly scarce resource. Is it all that antisocial for the owners of those resources (Arab oil countries, Kentucky and West Virginia coal mining regions,for example) to balk at taking one for the team when the "team"
already enjoys a profligate lifestyle?
Perfect Ten, C.C.
Pacific Time here, so pretty tardy on posting time.
Today is Remembrance Sunday in the UK, so I changed my avatar to a Poppy Tableau (in Flanders field).
As Per today's puzzle then:
I thought getting "allele" and "paternity test" into the same grid was cute (even if it did cause a moment's reflection...), and with no RNA/DNA fill.
Three Prickly thorns presented themselves:
129A. (Past Tense) In my book, DETENTE did not FOLLOW the Cold War; it was the last phase of the Cold War.
125A. (Pasteur's Target). The vaccine itself was attenuated anthrax (to prevent them from contracting anthrax). So to be pedantic, the vaccine target was the sheep's immune system.
47D. (Part Term) Is "Orang" really a standard abbreviation of "Orang-Utan"? Orang just means "man".
NC
to be pedantic
And there certainly is no one here more pedantic than you.
NC, it has been discussed previously that Orang, Rhino, Croc, Hippo, Chimp and others are so commonly used that they have become acceptable substitutes for the longer names.
This puzzle really made me think. Good for a rainy Sunday! Thanks!
This is the first time in a long time I even attempted the Sunday puzzle, and it appears that I picked the right one! I was able to come up with all the theme answers but had no clue about the "P" and "T". A new one to me was "paper tiger". Another little gripe was "eeled". "Brother in a hood" - Friars was just brilliant. You can find Sbarro's attached to Arby's restaurants. I am not sure if they are affiliated.
It's kind of gloomy here today.
Arby's and Sbarro's are not affiliated, but it appears that the same franchisee has both franchises in many parts of Minnesota as they have many co-located locations in that state.
Windhover,
I appreciate what you are saying but Fuel Cells will be part of the future no matter how the H is generated. The idea is to use untapped and heretofore wasted sunlight falling all around us and that technology for tapping that energy will only get better.
I understand your political point as well but those countries do not sell to us for egalitarian reasons and our profligacy keeps those who control oil, etc. in luxury. unfortunately there are rulers in resource rich countries who do not feel obligated to share wealth with their populace. I enjoy seeing technology pushing to alleviate energy issues and think we are in for exciting times.
Hello everybody. Thank you for a humorous and interesting writeup, C.C.
Yes, sometimes I do feel like a nut. A little bit of being goofy sometimes is good for one's health.
Good puzzle today. I thought it was rather easy overall, but enjoyed it and the PT theme immensely.
Best wishes to you all, and good night, dad!
Husker:
All your points well made (and taken), especially this one:
"unfortunately there are rulers in resource rich countries who do not feel obligated to share wealth with their populace"
This is unfortunately increasingly true right here in the USA.
My point (if I had one) was that we won't see hydrogen powered cars in anything but experimental use for a long time to come, if ever.
As Luddite as I am, I have used photovoltaic and passive solar for 15 years (you're new enough that you may not know that we live "off the grid"), even though Kentucky's coal region begins about 70 miles from here and we have the second lowest electric rates in the country.
I think also that you're on the right track in suggesting that we need to learn to harness the daily solar power that mostly goes to waste. In the last 150 years we've burned millions of years worth of ancient solar power.
As you say, it will be exciting and interesting, both of which can be fun or not so fun.
The company I work for has the business for Burger King, Dairy Queen, Subway, PF Chang's, PeiWei, A&W, Noodles, Zantigo, etc...some of those concepts are regional.
If Arby's and Sbarro share the same franchisee, they share the same distribitor to boot. My company also does a lot of "street business" up scale restaurants, ma & pop's and etc...Betweent DQ, BK, and Subway, we service over 1,000 restaurants.
Jeannie,
Would that company be Twoton?
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