(Note to late visitors: Due to computer error, we lost both the write-up and comments. This version is a recovered one. )
Theme: Vowel Quintet - A, E, I, O & U are orderly added to the start of the first word of each two-word familiar phrase.
20A. Proof of quartz sales? : AGATE RECEIPTS. Gate receipts.
30A. Brewery's best? : ELITE BEER. Lite beer.
38A. "Mad Max" and "Twelve Angry Men"? : IRATE MOVIES. Rated movies might be a better base phrase, but then, irated is not a word.
46A. One of many at a Syracuse University football game? : ORANGE TOP. Range top. Here is their mascot Otto the Orange.
58A. Making a mess at the warehouse? : UPENDING CASES. Pending cases.
C.C. here, pinch-hitting for Lemonade, whose computer is sick.
Great to see Gary Steinmehl's by-line. He's a real pro and always comes up with something unique in his theme approach. Read my interview with him if you haven't heard of him before.
Quite a few clechos in his grid today. As usual, I highlighted them in green colors.
Across:
1. Lip : BRIM. One-word clue is always tricky, esp if the word has various meanings.
5. One usually includes an aria and a recitative : SCENA. I wanted OPERA.
10. Rhode Island's motto : HOPE. Wow, so simple. No Latin/French.
14. Jim-dandy : A ONE
15. Kachina carvers : HOPIS. I've never understood the appeal of Kachina dolls.
16. Clue in a hunt : ODOR. Then 18. "Give me __" : A HINT.
17. Amounting to nothing : NULL
19. Texters do it : TYPE
23. __ moon : NEW
24. Ballot marker : X'ER. Every puzzle needs a few abbreviations to glue things together.
25. "One Good Cop" actress : RUSSO (Rene). I've never seen the movie. Rene Russo is awesome in "Tin Cup".
28. Money in the bank, e.g. : ASSET
34. Is after you? : ARE. As in "You are so hot!". So literally are is "after you".
36. Oscar-winning role for Forest : IDI (Amin). "The Last King of Scotland". Forest Whitaker.
37. However : YET. BUT, anyone?
42. Self-realization sect : ZEN
44. Bill : TAB
45. Sweet ending : OSE. As in glucose.
50. Lit up : AGLOW
54. Resort area near Reno : TAHOE
55. Org. offering jumps : AAA. They give cars a jump in cold weather, a la Argyle.
57. First mate? : EVE. Of Adam.
63. Pure and simple : MERE
65. Law partner : ORDER. Law and order.
66. Some are noble : FIRS. Did you want SIRS?
67. Head line : PART. Then 41D. Head lines? : EEG. Brain scan.
68. City where de Gaulle was born : LILLE. Learned this trivia a while ago.
69. Cameo, maybe : ROLE. 72. Cameo material : ONYX. Not the same "cameo" of course.
70. Fellows : GUYS
71. Like Falstaff : OBESE. Shakespeare's Falstaff.
Down:
1. Yogurt flavor : BANANA. Don't eat dairy.
2. They make you red in the face : ROUGES. ERRORS jumped to my mind first.
3. Wedding creations : IN-LAWS. Nice clue.
4. Get all mushy : MELT
5. Slice : SHARE. I don't get how these two are interchangeable.
6. Hold together : COHERE
7. Work with a wide scope : EPIC. Noun "Work" here.
8. Roger Maris wore it : NINE. Loved the movie "61". It's about Maris and Mantle (#7) trying to break the 60 home run record set by Ruth (#3) in 1961. So good.
9. Wine town near Turin : ASTI
10. Place to chill : HOT TUB
11. Adventures : ODYSSEYS
12. Top 40 genre : POP
13. Before : ERE. 22. Before, before? : PRE.
21. Hollywood "spear carrier" : EXTRA
26. Take in : SEE
27. Scrap : ORT
29. Stirrup site : EAR
31. People bend over backwards for it : LIMBO. Oh, this limbo.
32. Promising words : I DO
33. Save for later viewing : TiVO
35. Feminizing ending : ETTE
38. Rushed : IN A HURRY
39. Put away : EAT
40. Composer Albéniz : ISAAC. Onager guess. Not familiar with this Spanish fellow. He died in 1909.
42. Anteater's sound effect in the comic "B.C." : ZOT. Got the answer via crossings. What does ZOT connote? Like "Bam!"?
43. Chunk of time : ERA
47. Apartment caveat : NO PETS. Not a caveat to me. Never a pet person.
48. "My stars!" : GEE
49. Some judges sit on them : PANELS. Great clue. Not BENCHES.
51. Skin wound : LESION
52. Too : OVERLY
53. Setting for many Thomas Hardy novels : WESSEX. I've only read his "Tess of the d'Urbervilles".
56. Go along : AGREE
59. __ contendere : NOLO
60. Small quantity : DRIB
61. Like doodling : IDLE
62. Full coif : AFRO.
63. Automaker's concern, briefly : MPG
64. Water under le pont : EAU. Pont is French for "bridge". I had thought it's "pond".
Answer grid.
C.C.
Good morning, C.C. and gang - took me a while to catch the theme on this one, and I'm still not real thrilled with 'Irate movies'; all the other phrases are common, but 'rate movies' just doesn't ring right (to me, anyway).
ReplyDeleteI loved the rest of the puzzle -- lots of fresh cluing, good misdirection. Took me almost 15 minutes and I needed perp help for a couple, such as 'Isaac' Albeniz and 'Wessex'. I was surprised 'Zot' popped into my head immediately for 42D; always loved the "B.C." comic strip. 'Drib' threw me for a while, as I couldn't remember it used in the singular before -- only as 'dribs and drabs'. And I had several different answers for 2D, none of which are appropriate for mention here.
C.C., great write-up. regarding 'share'/'slice', think a slice of pie, which is your share. Oh, and thanks for the limbo picture. Today is Old Rock and Fossil Day. Fellow fossils, let's make the most of it!
Did You Know?: - Civet, a honey-like secretion from a civet cat's genitals, gives off an unpleasant fecal order, but in the right proportion transforms perfume into an aphrodisiac. Civet helped create the allure of the original Chanel No. 5. - The steam rising from a cup of coffee contains the same amount of antioxidants as three oranges. - The world's oldest surviving recipe is a formula for making beer. It was discovered outside Baghdad in 1850 on a 3,800-year-old Sumerian clay tablet. Two other tablets contain what are believed to be drinking songs.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteReal brutal puzzle today. I struggled throughout, but managed to muddle through somehow. Except, of course, for the NE corner where I couldn't get any traction whatsoever. I could only think of SASS or EDGE for 1A and FINE for 14A. I finally had to turn on the red-letter help to get BRIM, after which the other answers fell into place.
Good Morning C.C. et al. I agree with Dennis about the theme fill IRATE MOVIES. “Rate movies” is just not a common phrase. Why not ICON ARTISTS [“Religious RussiaIn craftsmen”]?? Other than that, I really enjoyed this Friday challenge. I has sass at 1A, so that really started me out of a bad foot. Hand up for wanting opera instead of SCENA at 5A and sirs instead of FIRS at 66A. "Wedding creations" had me going for a while, but when I finally got the answer IN-LAWS, I thought it was a brilliant clue. 5D SHARE for “Slice” was also a neat clue. Another great one that had me going was EPIC for “Work with a wide scope – clever!! Have a great Friday, everyone!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, CC and friends. Good to see you here, CC. I do hope, however, that Lemonade is okay. Boy, did I need a HINT today. I had a hard time getting my head around this puzzle. I did, however, figure out that the unifying theme was the addition of the vowel, in sequential order, at the beginning of the response. I got off on the wrong foot thinking that Lip = SASS. I must have still been on yesterday's theme! Hand up for OPERA (not familiar with SCENA) and BUT in lieu of YET. My favorite clue was the first Head Line = PART. The Mardi Gras season was officially kicked off last night with the Phunny Phorty Phellows parade. QOD: If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never have gotten anywhere. ~ Marilyn Monroe
ReplyDeleteBuon giorno tutti! Jumped in at the NE corner with HOPE (which was a gimme for me). EAU in the SW got me started in that area. Worked from those corners to the middle where IRATEMOVIES really annoyed me. Fav today: INLAWS
ReplyDeleteC.C. Great job "filling in" for Lemon. Though I RATE you a TEN, over Roger's NINE. DNF ... But a FUN puzzle. SCENA, was a learning moment, always a PLUS. My WOD. Give "A hand" before I got A HINT. For "Place to chill" ... well, of course I wanted "The Pub" before HOT TUB. OK, now for some 'catching-up' info.
ReplyDeleteAs to Zagreb: When I was waiting to catch the connecting flight in Germany ... I looked across the room and there was my Dallas friend, Russell. He had set up the "interview" when we were in Muscat a few weeks back and was "going to the Z" to visit some mutual friends on his way back to Oman. Negotiations are going great. Looks like I can stay here in Dunedin for a while and do the work via-the-net (My real preference). If it goes well, then I would move for a 2 year Ex-Pat contract. Well the Scion Tc was "totalled" by my Ins. Co. All 3 airbags went off, I got a scraped knee. (Yup, it isn't fun being the middle car in a "3 car crash-sandwich"). SOOOO I was tied up with See more... that and car shopping yesterday. Looks like the new vehicle w/b a Honda CRZ Hybrid ... Go Green! Kazie, I never made that Wednesday "Sunset Toast" ... nor yesterdays. Tonight will be my first "Toast-to-All" from Dunedin this year. Cheer's !!!
HeartRx, 'icon artists' is an outstanding replacement; nicely done. Paolo, good of you to join us again.
ReplyDeleteYes, there was some ingenious cluing today and some unusual words as well. By the time I figured out the theme it was pretty much too late to provide any help. Had the same trouble in the NW that everyone else mentioned wanting SASS which didn't help any of the perps. Same problem with the upper middle wanting OPERA. Finally got launched in the NE with ODOR and worked from there back and down. Good blog today, CC. Hope your computer gets well soon, Lemonade. Sounds like you need a spare ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood Morning C.C. and all, Nice job, C.C.; thanks so much. We're so lucky to have you. I think that all the time. This was a Friday puzzle, for sure; yet,I usually crawl around,so I crawled a lot slower today. I started at the bottom and filled it completely through the middle.. By then, I could see the theme and got my 'a' and 'e'. The NE had that wonderful 'place to chill'; 'b' was the giveaway. I really liked filling that in, for some reason; 'odysseys', too. Yes,on 'sass', 'opera'. My fav was 'inlaws'- lovely. HeartRx, you're a genius! I couldn't believe it. We'll be working these with your name on it. Late for appt. Have a nice day everyone.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all. Thanks for the commentary, C.C. Good thing I wasn't IN A HURRY today. Couldn't get a footing until 'ZEN' then ORANGE___ and TAHOE, and this area became the 'seed' for the solve. NINE and the WESSEX/ONYX cross also were WAGs. Much of the clueing was quite oblique, but also generated many aha moments; such as the clues for AAA and INLAWS. I didn't get the full impact of the themes before coming here, but they loomed easily enough once sufficient perps were identified. Great job, Gary. Civet - When I remind BH and her friends about the ingredients in perfume, I get a "deer in headlights" look. LOL Enjoy the day.
ReplyDeleteDennis and Creature, Thanks. But "even a blind pig finds an ear of corn once in a while". BTW, it's great to have you back "on top", Dennis! C.C., I forgot to thank you for filling in for Lemonade. It must be quite a challenge to keep this blog so sparkling every day of the year, but somehow you manage ! And welcome back to Tinbeni - sounds like you have had some real highs (contract negotiations) and lows (car crash) this week. So, on average you are doing OK?
ReplyDeleteHeartRx: "Even a blind pig......" One of my favorite sayings. Love it! Thank you. (But you are too modest. A variation: squirrel - acorn. All good. Kazie: Tin lives in sunny Florida. The real question: Why does he want to be Adam? (Leaving Paradise) Maybe he's taking Eve with him.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all. Nice job, CC. Substituting for Lemonade... does that make you a Lemon aide? Hand up for Sass, Opera, But and Sirs. This was a bottom up puzzle. My theory is that the constructors get all of their really clever stuff in early and and have to settle for more mundane stuff for the bottom downs. I wasn't sure if it was a Drib or a Drab, but I've heard of LILLE but not Lalle and made my choice on that basis. I had UPENDING and ORANGE and figured out the theme from there. Agree that IRATE MOVIES is weak when the "I" is removed. I thought the rest were pretty clever. I like HeartRx's alternate. Very clever! Now if you can just fix all of the perps so they fit... I really enjoyed the Friday level misdirections and clever cluing.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning All, tough going from the beginning. 1A might just as well have been "a flavor". "Yogurt" was no help at all. Has anybody checked the dozens of yogurt flavors out there? At least "fruit flavor" would have taken chocolate, vanilla, peppermint and maple off the table. (I know...Friday level...but I don't have to like it.) (I)RATE MOVIES was one of the easier theme phrases after I had some of the perps filled in. That's how critics make their money. GAH and I always check out movie ratings at Yahoo or Roger Ebert's site. They are pretty dependable for our movie tastes. Since we have to drive for an hour to see a movie, we don't waste our money on less than a "B-" rating. We don't go to as many movies as we might, but at least we usually don't feel ripped off. I admit, on Friday and Saturday I turn on the Cruciverb "X" help, so I know right away when I am steering into the "slough of despond"....well, maybe not that bad. It could be the "slough of V-8 cans". I'd See more... still be bashing my head if I refused the "X" help. Sorry your computer is not well, Lemonade. I hope it recovers without too much time or money spent. Nice fill-in, C.C. you always do a good job! Keep getting "weller", fermtprime. Time to get ready for our cribbage game. We postponed for November and December because of all the family stuff, but we are picking up where we left off. See you all later.
ReplyDeleteHeartRx- ICON ARTISTS... very good! Right letter count, too. C.C.- Kachina dolls are made as gifts for children. They represent Pueblo Indian beliefs about creation, life, death, history, the seasons, etc. They are not made just willy-nilly. Each one has a specific purpose and there are hundreds of different kinds. Giving these dolls to the children is a major way of introducing them to tribal philosophy. They are never meant for the enjoyment or pleasure of non-Indians. Nor ever to appeal to them.
ReplyDeleteI just got a mailing advertising a "Malt Shop Memories" cruise on Carnival, leaving Tampa October 27th, going to the Grand Bahamas, and returning October 31st. Features shows every night with a ton of oldies groups on board including the Beach Boys, Chubby Checker, Lou Christie, the Shirelles, Skyliners and several others. Here's the link should any of my fellow fossils be curious. Would make an interesting way to have a blog get-together, huh?
ReplyDeleteHi everyone: WOW, this one was a killer...I did manage to complete it, but sure needed to 'cheat' a bit. I usually just use the solve arrow for letters but this morning, I needed to find the whole word in several cases. I think the misdirections were very clever!! Favorites: Is after you?/Are, People bend over backwards for it/Limbo, Head lines/EEG. 54A TAHOE....that is where we are heading in August. Should be fun with JD and her LH, Dick and his LW. I always learn new things doing the crosswords...this time it was SCENA, I had never heard it before. How many times have any of you just stared at an almost completed word, say 1 or 2 letters short and could NOT think of the word? I really slammed the ol' V-8 can into my head on 51D. I had LE-ION and nothing occurred to me! DUHHH! I shall now press cool cloths to my head and wait for the swelling to go down.
ReplyDeleteThanks CC. Yup, ICON ARTISTS is a tough one to follow - there are not many suitable I-words, and sticking to the 2-word format and 11 letters, the best I could come up with was: Sunni-Baptist? = ISLAM-DUNKER NC
ReplyDeleteHi C.C. and gang - Tough go today. I really wanted SAUCE, but it didn't fit, so settled for SASS. That worked out well. OPERA, BUT . . . I think ODYSSEBS would be a great name for an ELITE BEER. Shame about RATE MOVIES, when the rest of the puzzle is so exquisite. Hart - Love ICON ARTISTS! Also love Albinez. He wrote very, very Spanish music filled with folk idioms. He composed for piano in imitation of the guitar, so naturally guitarists have latched onto his music with great passion and verve. Here is every classical guitarist's grandfather playing a piece that is every serious guitarist's right of passage.
ReplyDeleteCheers! JzB who fought the guitar and was utterly defeated
Good afternoon everybody. Nice job, C.C. Glad it's only Lemonade's computer that is ill. Tinbeni, so sorry to hear of your three car crash sandwich. Sounds dreadful! Hope your insurance is good. I too had opera, sass, and but. Of the very few answers I did manage. I am red in the face for not getting after you. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteC.C. and tgifer’s, what a nice challenge today. I had to do it in the dark while showing a Nat Geo video to 6th graders today. I was in the dark on the puzzle for a while as well but made it through working from the SW and up. The theme really helped as well. My computer is also sick and so I am doing this on a student computer. I should have gotten a Mac Laptop instead of a PC! Musings -This took me a heck of a lot longer than 15 minutes! -Wedding creations? BABIES -OPERA? Me too. -Paolo, I have not seen you here before but love your avatar! If you’re new, Welcome. If I just missed you, Hey, I’m 64. -Sorry C.C., I am a big baseball fan and thought the Maris movie was cloying and very unrealistic. I suspect if it were more true-to-life, it would have been at least R rated! -ORANGEMEN? Nope! However? BUT? Nope! -New group coming in, see you tomorrow! -BTW, if you saw the story about the school shooting in Omaha on Wednesday, that happened about 4 miles from here and every school See more... person in the area is talking about it and getting ready to run lock-down drills. See y’all tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, I had a little trouble with today's puzzle because I couldn't grasp the theme. Happy to see Syracuse in there though, the old alma mater.
ReplyDeleteHello Everyone ~~ A tough one to be sure but clever and enjoyable. I got the vowel progression early on. I filled them in, but they weren't much help. I had to give in to Google for a few answers and then after some time, I was able to finish. I don't like to come here without completing the puzzle first. My missteps: opera for SCENA, give a hand for HINT, but for YET, adhere for COHERE, and bruise for LESION. Jazz ~~ thanks for the Albeniz link. My father played classical guitar and listening to this brought back many memories. I once took him to hear Segovia play and it is an experience I cherish. Enjoy the day!
ReplyDeleteGood day, puzzlers. Lovely blogging, C.C. I love how you are so passionate about sports, even the movies about it! I'm late to this party because I took one of my "fossil" friends for a birthday breakfast. I had most of this finished when I left, but the NW kicked me but hard because I refused to give up SHALERECEIPTS. Finally, resorting to the blog, it all fell in place and I saw the error of my ways. Never thought of the a,e,i,o,u connection. I loved the deceitful and beguiling clues of this one. I am inexorably committed to not looking anything up until I absolutely cannot reason it out and this was particularly fun in that respect. ZOT jumped right out and I vaguely recall having seen ISAAC Albeniz before. NOLO is a xwd staple and NULL was easy. I wagged ORANGETOP and ELITEBEER. Made me smile: place to chill: HOTTUB headlines: EEG headline: PART wedding creations: INLAWS Kachina dolls are ceremonial and used by the HOPI people in their many rituals and dances. See more... Each one has a special meaning. Some are extremely valuable, especially if their authenticity can be proven. Have a fantastic Friday. I'll return to read your comments later.
ReplyDeleteGood day folks, Well to quote Charley Brown, "Good Grief." I spent an hour plus on this doozie and ended with a DNF. The NW and N Central were my downfall. I had cash receipts instead of Gate and adhere instead of cohere. Adding to the confusion, 5A & 15A were unknown to me. My hand is up for Sass too. I eventually erased it though when I entered Banana for 1D. Never thought of Brim. Oh, and I started with Orangemen for Syracuse FB fan, bur perps eventually straightened the mistake out. Overall, a fun puzzle which would have been more enjoyable if I had finished. The weather prognosticators are predicting a storm coming in tonight with the snowfall amounts varying from not much to a lot. Our new puppy has been raising Cain all day.... he's usually full of it, but today he's completely ballistic. If he's as good as my past dogs, this storm could be a lulu. Have a good weekend everyone.
ReplyDeletegood morning c.c. and all, had to pop in to say i LOVED this puzzle - exceedingly clever cluing, just perfect for a friday. was particularly fond of (italian) scena, get all mushy/melt, and law partner/order, among others. odysseys is a great word. giggled at pure and simple/mere, stacked on top of part and guys. hope your 'pooter issues are resolved soon lemonade, i spent half my morning online with tech support myself. interesting did-you-know about the oldest recipe. for beer lovers, dogfish head (my favorite craft brewer) makes midas touch from an ancient turkish recipe. (the palo santo marron is my favorite - if you like the aroma of burning palo santo, you'll love it.)
ReplyDeleteGrumpy, LOL at your “Lemon aide” comment. And yes: just for giggles, I copied the crossword and put the icon artists clue instead of the irate movies one. I did get it filled, but the entries were not nearly as nice as the ones we have from Mr. Steinmehl. I know it would be great if we could always have all theme entries “solid”, and all fill “sparkling”. But here’s my question: If you HAD to choose, which would you rather see in a puzzle: A. Solid themes, but one or (GASP) two “iffy” fills, –Or- B. One “iffy” theme entry, but otherwise sparkling fills ?
ReplyDeleteGood morning, C.C. Thanks for the great blog. LOL, Grumpy for "Lemon aide" comment. Ouch! Harder than usual puzzle, even for a Friday. It took an hour and 17 minutes, but I did finish! Hand up for sass and opera. My first correct entry in NW was NEW at 23A. That gave me a "w" in the next to last position at 3D, so I was sure it would something about a "gown." I did think INLAWS was clever once it appeared. I wanted okay for 14A instead of AONE. I had to "G" ISAAC and RUSSO and at the end, I had to turn on red letter help for a couple of errors. I had NiLL instead of NULL. In all the changes from opera to scene to SCENA, I had eSTI instead of ASTI, although I knew the correct spelling. After all was said and done, it was a satisfying effort. We still need rain if anybody has some extra. Snow would be OK.
ReplyDeleteeannie: From yesterday: you may already know that census records are now available on the internet. You could at least trace the existence of relatives and when they began living here. I was fortunate to have known both paternal great-greatgrandparents. He was in the Spanish-American War and she was an avid reader and knitter. They died when I was in my 20s and always lived near us so visiting was frequent. Further on Kachina dolls: they are intended to be educational and tell a story. The adult uses it to explain culture and tradition to the children.
ReplyDeleteHeartRX ~~ I would take (B) ~~ I love "sparkling fills!"
ReplyDeleteC.C. What does a catapult have to do with guessing? I refused to put in sass and opera, but couldn't come up with replacements. I got SCENA from perps, but finally came here for brim and that allowed me to finish the NW. I'm appalled that I couldn't fill in ---ANA, although I've never had or seen banana yogurt. Hand up for DRAB. I had RECEIPTS and BEER, then got IRATEMOVIES. It had me really looking for words missing a P. ORANGE--- straightened that up, and I don't like the missing D either. I had AFRO early, so I escaped the SIRS trap. HeartRX, I think I'd prefer the theme answers to be top rate. Off to visit some really old fossils, my parents.
ReplyDeleteGrumpy 1- Your theory doesn't make any sense. There's usually no reason why fill at the bottom of a puzzle should be less sparkling than the fill at the top. Besides that, Gary could have started with the fill at the bottom. Almost always, after placing the theme entries, a constructor will enter the longer non-theme words or phrases, and fill the areas that will be the toughest. I have no idea how Gary approached filling this grid, but I could see doing it this way- Entering INAHURRY/NOPETS, ODYSSEYS/HOTTUB, then filling the rest of those areas. Top left- Getting my BANANA/ROUGES/INLAWS out of the way. Lower right- Getting my LESION/OVERLY/WESSEX out of the way. Filling bottom middle/top middle. Filling the center of the grid. There's a lot of room for variation here, but it's a logical approach.
ReplyDelete36across , I think means the movies themselves are irate...mad and angry. 34across is not clear even with the explanation. ..*are* is after you...guess I'm just not overly aone today and need ahint. Nice *talking* with ya'll....
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, C.C. and all - this was a tough one for me. Hand up for sass, opera and but. 34A Is after you? had me going in circles for a while. I kept thinking the letter "u" instead of "you" and confidently put in "vee". When I finally got the theme, I thought it was extremely clever. Favorite clue was wedding creations - inlaws. All in all, a little tougher than the normal Friday puzzle (IMHO). Cheers for a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteErieruth, 'You is' makes for bad grammar. One must change an 'is' to an 'are' after the word you. C.C., before you reply, I know what the other meaning of Onager is, but I'd love for someone to explain why the Romans named their catapult after an ass.
ReplyDeleteerieruth. You wouldn't say 'you is' but 'you are'. Virtually every english speaker knows how to conjugate 'to be'. But a direct clue would have made it way too easy. Probably why he chose the vague sounding clue.
ReplyDeleteGunghy - It is due to the 'kicking' action of the catapult, similar to that of a wild ass.
ReplyDeleterieruth, think of the clue this way: (blank) is/comes after you so, just as you wrote: *are* is after you. make sense?
ReplyDeleteMelissaBee: Whatever "it" is, don't stop doing it. The avatar pics just keep getting more striking all the time, even though on the iPhone they're about 3/8x1/2 inches. If "wow" was a word I ever used in real life, I'd say it about now. What year was that Mustang? (Hi, Barb)
ReplyDeleteRegarding SCENA/OPERA: I, too, went with OPERA (until NINE for Roger Maris straightened me out). But taking another look at the clue: [ONE usually includes AN aria and A recitative] clearly eliminates OPERA as an opera would never consist of ONE aria and ONE recitative. Only a SCENE/SCENA could ever consist of a single aria and a single recitative. So, although I wanted OPERA, I have to now admit that it was a well written clue (and entry).
ReplyDeletePaolo, well spoken! I think the constructors give much more thought to each clue than we solvers do. So if you REALLY read them carefully (as you did, obviously), there is always a hint to the answer in there somewhere! Same goes for "Is after you?" - after "you", one would HAVE to put "ARE" instead of "is". Such devious minds this cruciverb bunch, LOL
ReplyDelete@ Jerome My previous post should have been typed with that special 'tongue in cheek font' but I couldn't find that option. Whether it makes sense or not, in almost all puzzles where I find the top portion to be tough going, I can drop down to the bottom, find easy fill, especially downs, and work back from there. Others have mentioned doing the same thing. Of course, I did say it was my theory, and theories may or may not have a basis in fact. Most of mine probably fall into that special category of cockeyed theories... something tossed into the ring to see what happens. I figured at least one constructor would take the bait to defend his/her craft. For some reason, I had no problem grasping the meaning of the "Is after you" clue. ARE was probably the quickest fill of the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably the last to post today. I usually do these at work and for this week I've been doing the swing shift, so I didn't plan to comment. But today's puzzle was a tough nut and finally managed to finish with a lot of red-letter checking and two trips to the Almighty Google. Enjoyable Xword with some pretty clever clues. Notes: (4D) Get all mushy: I first thought, "weep" but when (1A) "brim" fell into place, "melt"came to mind. (5A) Thought it was "opera", but was "scena". New one for me. (18A) Give me: a hint. I needed many on this puzzle. (20A) Once "receipts" appeared it began to open up. Agate? I didn't connect that with quartz. (34A) Is after you? : are (46A) I thought it was "orangemen" but finally got "orangetop". (60D) Small quantity: drib? Guess that's where dribbles start. (68A) De Gaulle's birthplace: Lille (google) (53D) Thomas Hardy novels settings: Wessex (google) (57A) First mate? : Eve (favorite clue) Last to fall was the upper left (NE? or NW?) See more... corner. I need to get an xword sense of direction. I really liked (3D) "Wedding Creations" - in laws. Gonna get cold and snowy in Oklahoma soon. I hope you all have a great weekend! :-) Burrito34
ReplyDeleteturns out I was correct afterall.
ReplyDeleteBurrito34: Think of a xwd as a map: N is upper, S is lower, W is left and E is right. At least that's how I see it. I thought 34A is after you? an exceedingly clever clue. Since "is" is a form of the verb "to be" it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteThere is one thing that I am unsettled about in this puzzle. I filled it in correctly, because of perps, but I don't get it;29d stirrup site and the answer is ear. What?an earring?
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 5:42, I know exactly what you mean. Once, long ago, I thought I was wrong about something, but it turned out I was right after all. The only error I've ever made. But I didn't brag about it (until now), and you shouldn't either. Snowin' & blowin' in the Outer Bluegrass. (That's a weather report, not a status update. Laissez les Bon temps roulez.
ReplyDeleteWhy the question mark? Is after you is are, correct? Is after I is am...an' I yam what I yam.
ReplyDeleteBy Argyle on Friday January 7, 2011 Gary Steinmehl on 1/7/11
Grumpy- You sneaky devil! But... There are folks who do think along the lines of your tongue in cheek statement. However, most solvers here are way too hip about puzzle construction. (I do wish I could stop people from using "fills" though.
ReplyDelete"fills are silly, yes?" get it, Jerome? s...e...y
ReplyDeleteThere is one thing that I am unsettled about in this puzzle. I filled it in correctly, because of perps, but I don't get it;29d stirrup site and the answer is ear. What?an earring? Creature, the stirrup is one of the tiny bones in the middle ear. The other two are the hammer and anvil.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, thanks so much! New to my brain-I feel so much better. Apparently everyone knew this but me. You are dear to pick up my plea.
ReplyDeleteJerome, I may make a slew of other mistakes, but I've learned my "fill" lesson. Singular or plural, it is "fill". Good cribbage day, my partner and I won two games out of three. Usually we play one or two more, but we spent a lot of time on game delaying talk. Then, there were the turkey/cranberry croissant sandwiches and dutch apple pie. I definitely had my fill.
ReplyDeleteJerome: Why do you object to "fills"? I can respect your wishes, just would like to know the reason. It makes sense to me as I "fill" each cell with a letter.
ReplyDeleteJerome, yeah, I'm curious about that one too. It isn't a common term among constructors?
ReplyDeleteBecause I never seem to get Friday puzzle themes, i checked this blod first to find out what the theme is. And I still had trouble. Most of my problems were the sme ones that have been mentioned. However, (not yet) I did not know scena at all. Nor do I remember hearing the word drib for a small quantity. All in all, it was a real challenge. C.C., It was good seeing your comments. Dot
ReplyDeleteDot - Sometimes - like today, the fill is entered in dribs and drabs. Uh-oh - spell check doesn't like "drib." But without them, things would just be . . . drab. Cheers! JzB
ReplyDeleteJerome, you are right - if referring to the entire puzzle, it would be correct to refer to "sparkling fill", because the puzzle is a "unit". But, if referring to specific across or down clues, wouldn't it be correct to say "fills", since they are multiple items? So far, I have one vote for "Solid theme" and one vote for "Sparkling fill". Sigggghhhhh...I may never know.
ReplyDeleteFor sparkling fill, we usually purchase Cava.
ReplyDeleteHey Had to hook up the old (2003?) dell laptop; maybe my eye has told the computer to rest so I can heal, but I am soooo nosy. I really liked the puzzle and the comments, with IN LAWS also my favorite. MB, you looking mighty fine, and speaking so authoritatively about craft beer, my unexpected area of forced expertise as I went shopping yesterday with son one for plumbing supplies to add to his home brewing capabilities. Never had the pleasure of burning PALO SANTO which just sounds like a disrespectful opinion of an Hispanic holiday gift giver; 2 alliterations, on sale! The brew is 12% alcohol, mmm. Rock of Ages is the musical playing at the Broward Center which I guess makes sense on Rock and Fossil day. And since Jim Harbaugh is leaving PALO ALTO for SF, there is symmetry to life. You newbies are pretty funny, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of one time, I can only say this- In hundreds of 'conversations' with dozens of constructors, and a few editors, I've never heard the term "fills" used to define the non-theme words in a puzzle. It is always "fill". Whether describing one word or many. Ditto for dozens of books, essays, articles, crossword glossaries, etc. You won't find a definition for "fill" in a dictionary as it applies to crosswords, but you will find this (and I believe it's why constructors use the word "fill" for multiple entries as well as a singular one)- "Fill: Something that fills: as material used to fill a receptacle, cavity..." Merriam Webster. When speaking of puzzles, that "material" is words. I bring this up because a lot of people at the Corner are interested in puzzles beyond just solving them. Besides other things, they want to know and understand construction lingo as well. I'm not a language cop. God knows I mince the king's English with the best of 'em. Just not "fill" See more... :)
ReplyDeleteOk, I misunderstood - I thought you were saying fill/fills were both incorrect.
ReplyDeleteI want to see a puzzle where two of the clues are "Phil _______" and "Phil _______" and the answers are RIZUTTO and SILVERS. At 7 letters each, they could even be symmetries! Then we would have Phils in the clues, and Phils in the fill. Cheers! JzB wondering if you've had your fill?
ReplyDeleteIt's Rizzuto.
ReplyDeleteJazz- That's funny. Hey, maybe we could combine Phil Rizzuto with Jim Rice and make a Risotto.
ReplyDeleteCan you dispute a word that does not exist? It's like that tree in the forest. Even a broken clock...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help with *are* after you....makes perfect sense now...and a very clever clue!! *See* *you* tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteLate greetings to all the crossword folks. A special acknowledgement to our constructor, Gary Steinmehl. This was quite a puzzle. Also, thanks to C.C. for a nice write-up. This puzzle was really tough for me. I started at 4:00 AM. Did not get far when I left for work. Worked on it on the bus. Still no cigar. Continued at work, off and on all day. Still could not get the whole north section. the bottom 75 percent came quite easily. I never had a problem with 34A, because I got all the down words and ARE just appeared. After getting home from work I checked a Rhode Island reference and found HOPE. That got me started. After that I was able to get AGATERECEIPTS and everything else fell into place. This was a tough puzzle. I normally try to respond early, but today it was a lost cause. I did not catch the theme, AEIOU, until I was totally finished and had a chance to review the entire puzzle. Very clever, Gary. To: Melissa Bee. I will check out your "Midas Touch." See more... I am sure I can find it in Chicago, somewhere. I enjoy beer and was a home-brewer back in the early 1980's when I lived in California and had a little more time than I do now. I will let you know how I rate it. See you all on Saturday. Abejo
ReplyDeleteHi all, late to the party tonight. I didn't get a chance to solve the puzzle, but read the write up and all your posts. C.c. although it's great to "see" you post today, I must admit I missed my favorite counselor's "take" on the puzzle. I hope your "pooter" is on the mend counselor. I see we had a shout out to DrDad...re: the Rhode Island motto. Here's hoping you got a better "loaner" than I did after your mishap with your truck. Speaking about crashes...Tinbeni, all three air bags? Jeez...I am glad you only walked away with a scraped knee. I am glad you only got away with a "Pinch":) Dennis, I wonder what kind of guy decided, "hey, let's excrete some fluid off the genitals of a Civet cat that smell like fecal matter and make a perfume!" It's really cold, and blowing here in the upper midwest. Everyone enjoy your night!!
ReplyDeleteBart - Sorry for the mis-Phil. Bad speling. Wers proof reding. Happy weekend everyone. Off to T-Town tomorrow. See Y'all on Monday. Cheers! JzB
ReplyDeleteJazz, how about kicking it up a notch and throwing Phil DONAHUE into the mix too? At the risk of using an sports term, it'd be a triple play! I had similar experiences as everyone else. It was not a good day for me to be solving on paper! It was a DNF for me, but I still feel good about how close I got, and the tricky ones I did solve. After doing puzzles all this time, I can't believe I still forget to even look at the theme as often as I do... Grumpy1, I've had the same thought a few times, also tongue-in-cheek. I'm glad you voiced it though, so we got to hear more insight into Jerome's fill process. Thanks for sharing, Jerome. I wish I could get to that point in the process... If I recall, you do your fill design on paper, not using any software, don't you?
ReplyDeleteAnnette- Yes. I fill my grids with a pencil... and ten pounds of erasers. But don't tell anyone. They may think I'm a bullheaded Norwegian. And don't forget... software takes a lot of the physical drudge work out of constructing. It doesn't in any way, not even for a nano second, replace human creativity.
ReplyDeleteHello fellow solvers, Hand up for opera, sass,but. Maybe some others, have to look again. I had to look up Albeniz first name. I was glad when it turned out to be Isaac, because I had not known it and forgotten it. I just never knew it. For me, that's a relief! I guess my favorite clue (and there were so many good ones!) was "is after you". I wanted something like "chase", but 3 letters? no way! It finally came from the perps and it still took a minute to get my mind around that. Maybe a comma after "is"? Too easy?. I also liked "wedding creation"/inlaws. But this puzzle was bursting with terrific clues. Very, very clever. Thank you, Gary. C.C. your writeup was outstanding! It's great that you could fill in for Lemonade714. MB, My vote goes to B, sparkling fill. Half the time I don't get the theme anyway! This time I did get the vowel sequence okay, but I had trouble with the second words for 38A & 46A. Tinbeni, your life is so esoteric! You could be a character in See more... one of LeCarre's books. Are we sure you're not with the CIA or Mi5? Please keep thrilling us with your ODYSSEYS! Jaxxbumpa, thank you for the Segovia/Albeniz link. For once the video played without stopping ever 30 seconds. It was perfect! Spanish guitar gives me gooseflesh! Flemenco puts me into a trance! BTW I may have asked this before: Was it Albeniz who wrote "Nights in the Gardens of Spain"? If no he, who?
ReplyDeleteBarbara is at a quilting group for most of the evening so I decided to get both of us some take out tonight. I went to Flossie's. It's a hold-in-the-wall southern soul food eatery. They must be doing something right 'cause they've been doing it for 20 years. I got fried chicken, fried catfish filets, collard greens, black-eyed peas, potatoes and gravy, yams, biscuits and sweet tea. I haven't eaten yet but I am getting hungrier.
ReplyDeleteTooooo hard today...had to have a lot of help! You all as usual are very clever and informative...CA time here
ReplyDeleteKath
Jeannie, What kind of comment is that? Damn with faint praise?
ReplyDeleteOne question: I saw Lemonade post under C.C.'s login the other day. Today it seems mb posted under lemonade's login. Does any of this make sense?
ReplyDeleteAhhh, my dear C.C. I didn't mean to disrespect you. I am sorry if you took it that way. I was one of the peeps that complained when you took "some days off". You know I have a soft spot for Lemonade, that's all I meant by it. You are still the "Queen Bee" of all blog sites in my mind. It was an added treat to see your Boomer wite the blog this week as well. Please know that I am sincere in stating this. Your adoring fan, Jeannie.
ReplyDeleteNote to late visitors:
ReplyDeleteDue to computer error, we lost both the write-up and comments. This version is a recovered one.