Theme: Magic Transformations, spelled out in 15A and 17A, illusionist's act, and this puzzle's title. Words associated with a magic presentation are paired with an anagrammed form to make a wacky new phrase.
26A and 28A: "Presenting: Info!": TA-DA DATA.
47A and 49A: "Presenting: Instrument!": VOILA VIOLA.
56A and 57A: "Presenting: Wall hanging!": PRESTO POSTER.
Hi all, Al here.
Tricky today, last to fall for me was the SE corner, mostly due to stubbornness. This puzzle has an odd symmetry from left to right, folded like a book, but not top to bottom or diagonally. John has been really productive lately, conjuring up puzzles for three of the last five Thursdays.
ACROSS:
1. Hand mop?: SWAB. For cleaning a ship's deck
5. Siren, for one: ALARM.
10. Sound rebound: ECHO.
14. Corny state?: IOWA. Heywood Banks.
16. Unit of loudness: PHON. One SONE = 40 PHONs. They are subjective measures of perceived loudness. A decibel is the actual measured sound pressure and can be the same as a phon at times, but at different frequencies, the same pressure can seem to be louder or softer.
20. Playwright's device: ASIDE. Breaking the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience.
21. Sib, either way: SIS. Palindromic sibling.
22. Coincide: AGREE. I agree, when it snows as much as it has been lately we should all coincide and stay warm.
23. Turn in: RETIRE. The sooner, the better...
25. Most dependable: SUREST. Sure from Old French seur from Latin securus (secure).
29. Track figures: ODDS. Likeliest explanation is that odd meant "constituting a unit in excess of an even number", and odds followed with the general meaning of "amount by which one thing exceeds or falls short of another".
32. Start of a confession, maybe: I LIED.
34. Waste time, with "around": MUCK. I had _ _ C K staring at me for the longest time. A few other words came to mind first, but there was no way...
38. Louvre Pyramid architect: PEI. Ieoh Ming (I.M.)
39. Aptly named lab apparatus: BELL JAR.
41. Zip: NIL. Nada, zilch, naught.
42. '80s-'90s entertainment combo: TV-VCR. Convenient for small spaces, but inconvenient if the VCR needed to be fixed, then you were without the TV, too.
44. Gp. with big busts: DEA. Drug busts, Drug Enforcement Administration. This kind of bust comes from the word burst. The partial statue and f. anatomy meaning from Italian busto, upper body, which oddly comes from Latin bustum, a funeral monument or tomb...
45. Aptly named girder: H-BEAM.
51. Holy: SAINTLY. With clecho 46D. Holy: BLESSED.
53. Experience: UNDERGO.
58. Approximately: OR SO.
59. Mountain air: YODEL. Air (from Italian "aria") in the sense of a "song". Putting on airs (aura)
63. Wood site: SHED. I wanted to make GOLF or HOLE work here somehow.
64. Julia in films: RAUL. Best known for playing Gomez in the Addams Family movies.
65. Clinton Cabinet member Shalala: DONNA. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
66. Further: ELSE. I really didn't want to give up ALSO for this one.
67. Kind: TYPE.
68. Not on the level: SHADY.
69. Batik artist: DYER. Linen soaked in wax, then scratched with a sharp tool to allow limited areas to be dyed. Slightly akin to tie-dying.
DOWN:
1. George Harrison played one in "Norwegian Wood": SITAR. Couldn't find actual (real) live footage, so here's the Rock Band game version.
2. In a sorrier state: WORSE.
3. Be ready for: AWAIT.
4. Desperados: BANDITS. Banditos, outlaws, related word: banish.
5. Bowling initials: AMF. American Machine and Foundry. Competition: Brunswick.
6. China neighbor: LAOS. Landlocked between Thailand and Vietnam.
7. Cultural opening?: AGRI. Opening = prefix.
8. Rounded edges, usually: RIMS.
9. Label for many Tom Petty hits: MCA. Music Corporation of America.
10. Dorothy Parker forte: EPIGRAM. Short pithy, usually snide "verbal wallops" like: "Brevity is the soul of lingerie" or "Look at him, a rhinestone in the rough!"
11. Job: CHORE.
12. Perfects: HONES. As in "sharpens ones skills".
13. Advent: ONSET. Start up.
18. Day's "will be": SERA. Que Sera, Sera. Doris Day.
19. Stretched tight: TAUT. (for the ladies)
24. Pop singer Brickell: EDIE. What does she mean?
25. Emmy winner Thompson: SADA.
27. From dawn to dusk: ALL DAY.
28. Illusion of familiarity: DEJA VU.
29. Back (out): OPT.
30. Part of R & D: Abbr.: DEV. Research and Development.
31. Distributes, as the loot: DIVVIES UP.
33. Land in la mer: ILE. French: sea, island
35. Ethereal: UNEARTHLY.
36. Org. with covert ops: CIA.
37. It merged with Air France in 2004: KLM. Royal Dutch Airlines: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij
39. Bond girl Ekland: BRITT. Mary Goodnight.
40. Rose: Pref.: RHODO. Directly from Greek rhodon for rose.
43. Give comfort to: CONSOLE.
48. Insurer at One Lime Street, London: LLOYDS.
50. Needing to be fielded, as a baseball: IN PLAY. Partial clecho with 51D. Baseball, for one: SPORT.
52. Striking grouping: ARRAY.
54. Sixth-day Christmas gift: GEESE. a-laying. The price index for all 12 days: currently $96,824
55. It might be tall: ORDER. Tall is a funny word that has evolved through many meanings over time. In Old English, it meant: prompt, active. It changed to mean brave, valiant, seemly, proper, and then to more than average height. From there it was extended to mean something grandly exaggerated, or lofty, and then to a general purpose intensifier as in tall tales or stories, and this clue: a tall order.
60. "Nice!": OOH.
61. "CSI" sample: DNA. DeoxyriboNucleic Acid
62. You've just reached it: END.
Answer Grid.
Al
26A and 28A: "Presenting: Info!": TA-DA DATA.
47A and 49A: "Presenting: Instrument!": VOILA VIOLA.
56A and 57A: "Presenting: Wall hanging!": PRESTO POSTER.
Hi all, Al here.
Tricky today, last to fall for me was the SE corner, mostly due to stubbornness. This puzzle has an odd symmetry from left to right, folded like a book, but not top to bottom or diagonally. John has been really productive lately, conjuring up puzzles for three of the last five Thursdays.
ACROSS:
1. Hand mop?: SWAB. For cleaning a ship's deck
5. Siren, for one: ALARM.
10. Sound rebound: ECHO.
14. Corny state?: IOWA. Heywood Banks.
16. Unit of loudness: PHON. One SONE = 40 PHONs. They are subjective measures of perceived loudness. A decibel is the actual measured sound pressure and can be the same as a phon at times, but at different frequencies, the same pressure can seem to be louder or softer.
20. Playwright's device: ASIDE. Breaking the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience.
21. Sib, either way: SIS. Palindromic sibling.
22. Coincide: AGREE. I agree, when it snows as much as it has been lately we should all coincide and stay warm.
23. Turn in: RETIRE. The sooner, the better...
25. Most dependable: SUREST. Sure from Old French seur from Latin securus (secure).
29. Track figures: ODDS. Likeliest explanation is that odd meant "constituting a unit in excess of an even number", and odds followed with the general meaning of "amount by which one thing exceeds or falls short of another".
32. Start of a confession, maybe: I LIED.
34. Waste time, with "around": MUCK. I had _ _ C K staring at me for the longest time. A few other words came to mind first, but there was no way...
38. Louvre Pyramid architect: PEI. Ieoh Ming (I.M.)
39. Aptly named lab apparatus: BELL JAR.
41. Zip: NIL. Nada, zilch, naught.
42. '80s-'90s entertainment combo: TV-VCR. Convenient for small spaces, but inconvenient if the VCR needed to be fixed, then you were without the TV, too.
44. Gp. with big busts: DEA. Drug busts, Drug Enforcement Administration. This kind of bust comes from the word burst. The partial statue and f. anatomy meaning from Italian busto, upper body, which oddly comes from Latin bustum, a funeral monument or tomb...
45. Aptly named girder: H-BEAM.
51. Holy: SAINTLY. With clecho 46D. Holy: BLESSED.
53. Experience: UNDERGO.
58. Approximately: OR SO.
59. Mountain air: YODEL. Air (from Italian "aria") in the sense of a "song". Putting on airs (aura)
63. Wood site: SHED. I wanted to make GOLF or HOLE work here somehow.
64. Julia in films: RAUL. Best known for playing Gomez in the Addams Family movies.
65. Clinton Cabinet member Shalala: DONNA. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
66. Further: ELSE. I really didn't want to give up ALSO for this one.
67. Kind: TYPE.
68. Not on the level: SHADY.
69. Batik artist: DYER. Linen soaked in wax, then scratched with a sharp tool to allow limited areas to be dyed. Slightly akin to tie-dying.
DOWN:
1. George Harrison played one in "Norwegian Wood": SITAR. Couldn't find actual (real) live footage, so here's the Rock Band game version.
2. In a sorrier state: WORSE.
3. Be ready for: AWAIT.
4. Desperados: BANDITS. Banditos, outlaws, related word: banish.
5. Bowling initials: AMF. American Machine and Foundry. Competition: Brunswick.
6. China neighbor: LAOS. Landlocked between Thailand and Vietnam.
7. Cultural opening?: AGRI. Opening = prefix.
8. Rounded edges, usually: RIMS.
9. Label for many Tom Petty hits: MCA. Music Corporation of America.
10. Dorothy Parker forte: EPIGRAM. Short pithy, usually snide "verbal wallops" like: "Brevity is the soul of lingerie" or "Look at him, a rhinestone in the rough!"
11. Job: CHORE.
12. Perfects: HONES. As in "sharpens ones skills".
13. Advent: ONSET. Start up.
18. Day's "will be": SERA. Que Sera, Sera. Doris Day.
19. Stretched tight: TAUT. (for the ladies)
24. Pop singer Brickell: EDIE. What does she mean?
25. Emmy winner Thompson: SADA.
27. From dawn to dusk: ALL DAY.
28. Illusion of familiarity: DEJA VU.
29. Back (out): OPT.
30. Part of R & D: Abbr.: DEV. Research and Development.
31. Distributes, as the loot: DIVVIES UP.
33. Land in la mer: ILE. French: sea, island
35. Ethereal: UNEARTHLY.
36. Org. with covert ops: CIA.
37. It merged with Air France in 2004: KLM. Royal Dutch Airlines: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij
39. Bond girl Ekland: BRITT. Mary Goodnight.
40. Rose: Pref.: RHODO. Directly from Greek rhodon for rose.
43. Give comfort to: CONSOLE.
48. Insurer at One Lime Street, London: LLOYDS.
50. Needing to be fielded, as a baseball: IN PLAY. Partial clecho with 51D. Baseball, for one: SPORT.
52. Striking grouping: ARRAY.
54. Sixth-day Christmas gift: GEESE. a-laying. The price index for all 12 days: currently $96,824
55. It might be tall: ORDER. Tall is a funny word that has evolved through many meanings over time. In Old English, it meant: prompt, active. It changed to mean brave, valiant, seemly, proper, and then to more than average height. From there it was extended to mean something grandly exaggerated, or lofty, and then to a general purpose intensifier as in tall tales or stories, and this clue: a tall order.
60. "Nice!": OOH.
61. "CSI" sample: DNA. DeoxyriboNucleic Acid
62. You've just reached it: END.
Answer Grid.
Al
Good morning, Al, C.C. and gang - it's always a treat to get one of John Lampkin's puzzles because I know I'm in for a challenge, but I must've been on his wave length today, because I finished in about eight minutes. Loved the cluing, and I'm really surprised that everything came so quickly. Maybe all the synapses have decided to work this week.
ReplyDeleteI got off to a good start by recognizing that 'swab' lined up with the perps, and that helped get me the top section. The unifier at the top also helped me understand the theme answers. As with Al, I had other alternatives to 'muck' around. Fortunately, 'epigraf' isn't a word. Had a similar problem with 'wood site'; 'shed' sure wasn't my first thought. All in all, I really enjoyed the puzzle, especially the fresh cluing and the long 'fills'. (Sorry, Jerome.)
Al, great job as always -- very informative.
Today is supposedly Make Your Dream Come True Day; however, it's also International Skeptics Day, so your guess is as good as mine.
Did You Know?:
- Crocodiles do in fact produce tears. They have lacrimal glands, just like humans.
- Monkeys don't have feet. Since they have opposable thumbs instead of big toes, they are classified as being four-handed.
- Prosopagnosia is the inability to recognize faces, including one's own image in a mirror. Sufferers of this rare disorder know that they are looking at a face but they cannot say to whom the face belongs.
Good Morning, Al, C.C., and Dennis,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't open 39-Down...and I really want to.
Great puzzle and blog.
I couldn't either; thought it was just me.
ReplyDeleteAl et al, well this is our week for new experiences. John L. putting his theme title right smack dab in the top of the puzzle (5 and grid spanning 15) and then crafting three anagram sets for common illusionist words. 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 via the Presenting clecho. So many fun things, including the cousin of the anagram, the EPIGRAM which is clearly Jerome’s ideal idol when idle.
ReplyDeleteEPIGRAF actually is an alternative spelling for EPIGRAPH.
We also have the Holy clecho of SAINTLY and then BLESSED right next to UNEARTHLY, and “Aptly named…” partial clecho, RHODO a wonderful word, both in medicine and plant life. We grew up with beautiful rhododendrons flourishing with all the other things my father planted.
Thanks for the Heywood Banks link, he is one of the many joys gleaned from the radio and Bob and Tom.
I struggled before lighting on DORIS being the day who sand SERA, loved Sada Thompson in Family and questioned MUCK AROUND as I always have heard the expression MUCK ABOUT, but John was correct, as always. Liked DIVVIES UP and the misleading BIG BUSTS, sorry Dennis, WH and Buckeye wherever you are.
39D is working now
ciao
39D is working now
ReplyDeleteBoy, is it ever.
Good morning Al and all, a very difficult puzzle for me today. On the first pass I got only a few words. However, as I slowed down and studied the clues things began to get better. I had a lot of answers that I had to change as the puzzle progressed. I wanted vixen for siren, alert for alarm, divides up for divvies up and I beam for H beam. The above made an easy solve impossible.
ReplyDeletePerseverance and stubbornness made me stick to the puzzle until it was completed, but it took me an hour to complete.
Favorite clue was “sib either way” “sis.”
Al, again a very informative write up.
It is time to go out and get the plow going again. I don’t think we got much snow last night, but the drifting was heavy and the snow is piled against the garage doors
Hope you all have a great Thursday.
Good morning Al, CC and magic puzzle solvers all.
ReplyDeleteSure Happy It's Thursday!
Like Dennis, I seemed to be on John's wavelength on this one. He did get me on SIS though. I was looking for a non-gender specific three letter word for sibling. When the perps filled it, it still took a little bit before it sank in.
I knew that girder was a BEAM of some sort, but I,C, L or H needed perp help.
Wanted MESS not MUCK, ALSO not ELSE. Wasn't familiar with PHON, but perps got it.
Nailing DIVVIES UP made easy work of the SW.
All in all, it seemed easier than yesterday but I liked it a lot.
Thanks, John for a fun puzzle and Al for an excellent write-up.
Since I'm somewhat skeptical by nature, I won't plan on making dreams come true today.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteWell, I managed to survive the shoveling (had to go back out this morning and deal with another foot of ice at the bottom of the driveway courtesy of the city plows). Not surprisingly, everything hurts right now, including parts of my body I didn't even know could hurt...
Fun puzzle today! It sure would have helped had I been able to get the main theme at the beginning, but by the time I got 17A I had already figured things out. In the end, I couldn't get the crossing of HBEAM and RHODO (I had IBEAM and RIODO), although in retrospect I should have been able to guess RHODO from rhododendron (which does actually have rose-like flowers, I guess).
Have a great one!
Nice links, Al. But I'm still skeptical about my chances of making dreams come true as far as 39d is concerned.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the puzzle was very nice - it was just too difficult for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks to this web site - I at least know, what the puzzle shoulda/woulda looked like - without waiting another day.
Al, your blog and commentary was/were Simply Wonderful - I really enjoyed it and all the linkups - and the quaint word meanings -( which I'll probably, promptly forget - ). Sometimes I marvel at all the knowledge in this world.
Have a nice day.
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteLack of concentration on my part caused a lot of erroneous starts today. Dali/ Dyer, Mope/Muck, Ibeam/Hbeam, aware/await, res/dev, & Riodo/Rhodo. Applying a little thought straightened everything out eventually at the mere cost of an eraser.
Al, thanks for the informative write up. Glad you cleared up yodel. And thanks for the links. Britt was an eye opener and Doris Day was a nice trip back in time. She had a rough personal life for a while, but I can't remember the specifics.
Well, the storm has gone, but the town hasn't plowed our street which means my plow service hasn't cleared the driveway. We've been here ten years and this delay in service is a first, but it sure makes you feel stranded. Living in a rural area can be trying at times.
Not much time today, but I got it all with the exception of SADA and RHODO--both unknowns. Purest for Surest, and Ibeam for Hbeam did me in.
ReplyDeleteThe SE was also my slowest to fall. But a fun theme, knowing John's propensity for anagrams was what helped the most and made it lots of fun if a bit challenging. But what are Thursdays for?
Have a good day all of you!
John, you have absolutely outdone yourself on this puzzle! I loved it. I got the MAGIC TRANSFORMATIONS easily because i remembered your hint from yesterday that this puzzle was "Conjured, not Constructed."
ReplyDeleteThere were some great clues that really made me smile:
Corny State? = IOWA
Sib either way = SIS
Mountain Air = YODEL
You've Just Reached it = END
I tried FBI for Gp. with Big Busts
RAUL Julia was one of my favorite actors. He was very talented and died all too young from a stroke. I remember him best from Kiss of the Spider Woman. It is unfortunate that he is remembered for the Addam's family.
For some reason, I always like seeing ECHO in a puzzle. I think it goes well with YODEL, too.
In honor of 10-Down, here is today's QOD: Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone. ~ Dorothy Parker
'Que sera sera' brought back a lot of memories - from the Alfred Hitchcock thriller - " The man who knew too much"- sung by Doris Day, also starring James Stewart (?) . The song was probably the highlight of the movie.
ReplyDeleteRhodochrosite is a beautiful ruby red colored crystalline mineral - the state mineral of Colorado - a pure form of manganese carbonate - also commonly found as pink colored ( because of a solid solution with Iron carbonate, contamination - ). Because of its low Moh's hardness, it is not often used for faceting - or as a gem stone - but it is still avidly sought after by collectors.
Good morning, all. Terrific write up, Al. What a treat this puzzle was! The only thing missing for a perfect week is an offering by dear Dan Naddor!
ReplyDeleteI struggled just enough to make it fun and finished in about 25 minutes.
Thanks, John, for delivering on your promise from yesterday.
I hope you are all able to make your dreams come true today!
Hi ALL ~!
ReplyDeleteIt was cool to see a "half-symmetric" puzzle to break up the week.
Took about 13mins, got slowed down not grasping the theme - I tried "TA DA DATA", and then it crept in...but had VOICE for an instrument, and so I tripped myself up.
Double V-V in two places is rare, too...
Uh, I am sure there is a difference between I-beam and H-beam, must be in the way it's installed - any iron workers who can explain it to me?
One of my favorite SITAR songs
Enjoy!
Splynter
Hi everyone:
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, I was on John's wave length and completed the puzzle with very little help. That's unusual for me on a Thursday.
Unknowns: 10D Dorothy Parker (also didn't know what an EPIGRAM was)
31D DIVVIES UP (don't think I've ever seen that word spelled out, didn't know it had 2 V's)
40D RHODO (we have Rhododendron's in our yard, they beautiful but I didn't associate their flower with a rose for some reason)
38A PEI (no idea)
Dennis: LOL at your 'near miss' on 34A. I wanted FOOL, but that didn't work either.
I have a little bit of Prosopagnosia, I have trouble recognizing faces but not to the degree that I don't know myself in the mirror! Sometimes I WISH I didn't know who that was, yikes!
Good Morning C.C.,Al and all,
ReplyDeleteAl, really enjoyed your write-up. Funny that you found that link for I-80 Iowa and funny: your
'coincide' humor. Thanks.
The puzzle was a treat,yet my hang up was the same as Barry's:I beam instead of 'H'. After the solve I realized I should have focused on the 'Rose pref' and would have probably reached 'Rhodo'.
My fav was my first fill; You've just reached it; end.
I got the gist of the theme with my first theme fill: 47A & 49A. The theme title was the last of the theme for me.
Interesting, how John changed the top of the grid to accomodate the 15 letter fill and then center the beginning of the title. Neat planning- er,uh conjuring.
Thanks, John.
If I can make it down the driveway,in DH's tracks, I will be
getting out of here for a while.
Have a nive day everyone.
Good Morning Al, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, Al! Thanks for all the special links. LOL at the one for Iowa!
The first thing that struck me when I opened the puzzle was the unusual symmetry. There were too many OPTions for each clue, so I really didn't put anything in until I got to 15A. I remembered John's "hint" yesterday, and filled in MAGIC, but then wasn't sure if 17A would be "prestidigitation" (nope - too long!), "illusion" (nope - too short!), or TRANSFORMATIONS (ahhh - juuust right!!).
Most of my experiences with this one have already been said. Hand up for favorite clue: SIS, for "sib either way". Clever!
Dennis, I doubt if I'll make my dream come true today. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe not !
Have a great day everyone - we are all dug out, and the sun is brilliant, so I am off to go cross-country skiing around the reservoir.
Splynter, in construction work we usually used the following description that I found:
ReplyDelete"It is the difference between the width by height ratio. In the case of H beams the width of the flange would be equal to or more than the height of the cross section. In the case of I section, the height of the cross section would be heigher than the width of the flange.
The flexural strength of a cross section (the strength to take bending load) is more when the height of the cross section is more.
The shear strength is better in the case of H beams."
There were some prints that I worked with that referred to a beam with flanges that tapered from the web to the edge as 'I beams' and ones that had flanges of uniform thickness as 'H beams', but I found the first explanation to be the most common.
Wow awesome today. Bring on friday. Very fun (is that bad grammar). Might rain here in sunny northern California today. yesterday it was almost clear and over 60 degrees and did my puzzle outside with my tea. Inside today though. Favorite clue today 42a. I new it from the start, not fooled. Task
ReplyDeleteI ment Ta.
ReplyDeleteHi gang -
ReplyDeleteJohn - you conjured up something pretty special this time.
Al - I love the way you probe into the nooks and crannies of language.
I was stuck on I-BEAM. RIODO could be a word, and "H" never occurred to me.
Had the initial M so alternate _ _CK words were not IN PLAY. Instead, I OPTed for MESS.
Wanted EMMA, who does have an EMMY, for SADA.
Coming up with a word starting with UN for "experience" was tough.
Though we don't have the usual rotational symmetry, the BLESSED BANDITS may CONSOLE us with an EPIGRAM.
Such TRANSFORMATIONS must the SAINTLY UNDERGO.
The not-so-saintly? Well, I guess I'm that TYPE.
Cheers!
JzB
Hello Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteI knew today would bring a John Lampkin puzzle and I knew that meant a challenge. But what a fun challenge! After getting TADA and DATA I was able to get the other "magical" answers. My unknowns were RHODO and the H in HBEAM. It all came together and TADA ... Done!
After all the snow, the day is bright and sunny.
Enjoy the day!
I forgot to say your write-up was great, Al. Always so informative! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAl, et al, What a nice ride today! Seeking out those anagrams could not be easy and delivered a very nice payoff!
ReplyDeleteI am subbing today and so the youtubes won’t open here. Barry G., you must not have gotten the plow to help out. I am embarrassed to show you
My House as our snow has been pretty minimal.
I am off to Orlando with 40 kids tomorrow. Disney jerked us around on our rooms at All Star Sports and so our bulldog of a travel agent made them upgrade us to the Caribbean Beach Resort. Cool!
Musings
-Britt Ekland opened for me! Yowsir!
-I had Muck About as well (mess around, fool around)
-Divvying up is a tradition at our house after family gatherings where everyone makes more food than could ever be consumed in one day
-I am going to spring VIOLA on my VIOLA playing granddaughter
-I have no favorite Sitar song but defer to our cultured friend Splynter
-RPMS for track figures
-I looked for something more “arty” for the anagram for PRESTO.
Good Morning All, I started out pretty well, but for some reason I filled in (5D) as AMC, instead of AMF. Who knew that it stood for American Machine and Foundry...OK, Al and Boomer, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI got ECHO, didn't know PHON, and wanted PRESTIDIGITATION for 17D, which as HeartRx said was too long and PRESTIDIGITATE was too short.
Trying for the Downs (again), RIMS was sticky as was EPIGRAM. I was looking for something like SATIRE or IRONY.
Time to switch to the bottom and work my way up. That seemed to help and I slowly climbed back up the ladder. It took a while, but I finally made it.
Lots of great clechos here and I really liked (31D) DIVVIES UP and (35D) UNEARTHLY.
Purposeful or not, I enjoyed the cross of (42A) TV VCR and (43D) CONSOLE. It was used differently, but I thought of it as "a custom-built walnut console holds all of their home-theater components".
I also like the grid, not the usual top-bottom, side to side mirror setup. It made for a particularly interesting and (for me) difficult solve.
Thanks to John L. for a fun and challenging puzzle. It was perfect for a Thursday as far as I was concerned.
Thanks to Al also, who always furnishes great explanations and links.
Hi everybody. A fun puzzle and an enjoyable writeup as usual. Thank you to all the constructors, Rich and the guest bloggers.
ReplyDeleteNobody has commented on SWAB for hand mop? I thought the clue might have been cleverer than it looked. I'm thinking 'hand' might be referring to a sailor as a deck hand on a ship. So maybe I'm wrong or maybe everybody else understood that so easily they didn't feel that it needed a comment.
Don't agree with anon 9:10. While Doris Day's song was enjoyable, I thought the whole movie was great, especially the suspense waiting for the cymbal crash that covered up the gunshot.
The broadway play "Spider Man" is getting a lot of press, maybe just because of the 'flying' accident. If I were in New York and were offered free tickets to 'Spider Man', I would turn them down in favor of a remake of an old classic like 'The Music Man.'
Jordan (grandson) spent the evening here last night and didn't want to go to bed. So, I read him a bedtime story. I hunted through a pile of books and came up with "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. It's a lovely book and I have a hard time reading the last part without tearing up. Unfortunately, Jordan enjoyed it so much that he stayed awake for another half hour.
Great job, Al.
ReplyDeleteI too had I BEAM, so as is often the case with me: "What Barry G said".
The theme pairs came easily enough, I just couldn't get MAGIC to come together, since I was sure the bowling initials were first PBA, and then ABA (which made ALARM work). So then BASIC transformations seemed close enough, but I had no idea what ASRI-cultural meant. Finally grasping MAGIC felt more like a 2x4 than a V8 can. Another great puzzle by John Lampkin.
Good luck to all those who are still struggling under the thumb of the tyrannical weather.
ReplyDeleteSnow Day
Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows
the government buildings smothered,
schools and libraries buried, the post office lost
under the noiseless drift,
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.
In a while I will put on some boots
and step out like someone walking in water,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,
and I will shake a laden branch,
sending a cold shower down on us both.
But for now I am a willing prisoner in this house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news
that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
the Ding-Dong School, closed,
the All Aboard Children's School, closed,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
along with -- some will be delighted to hear --
the Toadstool School, the Little School,
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots Day School,
the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
and -- clap your hands -- the Peanuts Play School.
So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and draw,
where they put on their bright miniature jackets,
all darting and climbing and sliding,
all but the few girls whispering by the fence.
And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought down.
- Billy Collins
Grumpy1 -
ReplyDeleteGot it; I can see how a difference can be considered.
Thanks for the explanation ~!
Splynter
John dares to be different. It's one of many things that make him a great crossword writer. "Magic Transformations" from the theme, fill, clueing, and grid layout is simply wonderful. And a really cool thing is is that because he's so prolific it won't be long before we get to see what else is in his bag of tricks.
ReplyDeleteKinda fun- EPIGRAM transforms to MAGI REP
Hello magical puzzlers!
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up as always, Al. I'll have to return for all the links, however, enjoyed the TAUT man.
This was fun! From yesterday I anticipated John Lampkin's opus and so was on his wavelength through most of it. I ECHO what you all have said; AGRI gave me MAGIC and since all the top was filled, TRANSFORMATIONS emerged. RETIRE (yea!) yielded EDIE but I did have to resort to the big G for SADA, just knew Emma.
The many clechos were fun, too, SAINTLY, BLESSED next to UNEARTHLY.
Stumbled at MUCK as HUNG around seemed more familiar, IBEAM stayed until corrected by the blog; loved DEJAVU and of course all the anagrams!
RHODO is my new learning for today and I have written it in my crossword notebook.
Fave clues:
you've just reached it, END
sib, either way, SIS (I have three)
wood site, SHED
Have a great Thursday, everyone!
Hahtool:
ReplyDeleteI love Dorothy Parker; bring her anytime.
Carol: The guy in my mirror is increasingly unrecognizable.
Dennis:
If monkeys are truly "four-handed", then I presume that unlike humans, it would only take one of them to perform the "fastest four -handed move in the world"?
Greetings all you dreamers and skeptics with thanks for your words of appreciation.
ReplyDeleteAl, your "...coincide and stay warm" elicited a belly laugh. That belongs aside one my high school English teacher taught, "I had a hen named ACCO, and ACCOLADE an egg."
Also loved the Corny Iowa clip. Perfect complement! And BRITT looked lovely. Photo tip for the day: Notice how effectively the photographer played with the shadows. The pic deserves closer study. Ahem.
RHODO has generated some angst. Since I have Rhodochrosite in my mineral collection (thanks Anon 2 9:10), and 30 Rhododendrons in my yard I didn't think twice about using it. In retrospect, crossing it with HBEAM was a bit too challenging, even for a Thursday.
Regarding the left-right symmetry, I didn't even consider any other option. This is a case where the content demanded and defined the form. In that way, it's similar to my Great Pumpkin puzzle from '09.
For all those who care about such things, saying "Viola!" instead of "Voila!" when I present something with a flourish has long been one of my stupid gags. Thus, that was my seed entry.
Constructing this fete of magic was tremendously satisfying. The pleasure is magnified by knowing that you have enjoyed the show.
Al, Wonderful write-up.
ReplyDeleteNice links ...
John, you got me ... DNF.
Liked the themes alot. Got them OK.
But down in that Florida area (the only state without snow) ... well I just would not let go of Also for ELSE.
Plus, what the hell do I know SHED's being a "Wood site."
Yeah, it was 34 degrees this morning ... but I didn't even turn on the central heatng.
My buddy, E.T., was in town from Sun.until yesterday. He got bumped off 4 flights trying to get back to Salisbury, MD.
Best part of that, we got an extra day to visit "the old-haunts" and put 199.2 miles on my new CRZ.
Today will be a chilly but clear Sunset toast at 5:53pm.
Cheer's to All !!!
John -
ReplyDeleteThere's a shadow?
The things you learn . . .
Cheers!
JzB
Hello fellow solvers!
ReplyDeleteI have been not sleeping for past two nights. For I can't seem to control acid reflux!
I wrote the other night (too late I guess), about the strange things I found on Sylvia Burstyn's image page on Google.
Last night Sylvia's picture and other related pictures had disappeared! It seems that the family is eradicating her.
Today's puzzle was difficult as I am very sleepy. Too late to sleep though as people coming.
Would have liked more anagrams.
Good work Al and John.
I am really beginning to hate Dennis. This one took me about an hour. I loved every minute of it, mind you, but very little came quickly. And boy, did I ruin a case of V8!
ReplyDeleteHand up for RIODO.
Al, I started out 34A with FOOL. In INK. Then I filled in 35, 36 and 37 down. So I spent a lot of time staring at that wrong answer.
Extreme cases of prosopagnosia do not recognize a face at all. The book to read is "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales" by Oliver Sacks. Interestingly, if one can't recognize a face, you have a psychological disease; but if you can't attach a name to that face, you are just lazy.
Hello again.
ReplyDeleteCan someone help a computer ignoramus ... me? How do I post a picture ?
Thanks
Hondo,
ReplyDeleteGo to Picasa. It's a Google company, so if you are logged in here, you are logged in there. You can set up an account and store pictures there. Then link to them like any other link.
Or, get your own website and maintain it. Not an option in my life.
Thank you for the links, Al. I love Doris Day and her rendition of Que Sera, Sera.
ReplyDeleteClever cluing, too, Day's "will be."
John, thank you for stopping by and for myself, no apologies needed on RHODO; it's how I learn. Next time you use it, I'll know! LOL
Thanks, again, for a most enjoyable puzzle.
Hola Everyone, A great puzzle Mr. Lampkin, and a great writeup, Al.
ReplyDeleteI must have been on John Lampkin's wave length, at least for the top part of the puzzle. I got everything down to Tada. The anagram idea then hit--Transformations--and I was off and running.
Hands up though, for I beam, Divides up and FBI. All of these errors kept me working a lot longer than I would have liked this morning. Riodo looked ok!
Lucina, I've also put Rhodo into my notebook.
I thought the Sib, either way/Sis, and Not on the level/Shady were fun clues. (I had put in slant to begin with). Just another one of those lower half of the puzzle words that had to be erased and changed.
All in all, though, a very satisfying solve, because I caught onto the theme.
It is raining here, again today, but nothing compared to all the snow that everyone is contending with.
Have a great afternoon, everyone.
LOVED today's puzzle...soooo clever...got it all...hi to all.
ReplyDeleteGood day to all!
ReplyDeleteI so appreciate all of you who parse the daily crosswords from LAT. Although I haven't posted often lately, I do read most of the blogs, and many of the comments.
What a delightful puzzle today. I always check the constructor's name first, and then assess the grid before I begin. Seeing John Lampkin's name, and then the unique grid, I was so excited!
My first thought was that this might have something to do with animals, perhaps dogs, as the grid looked like an animal's face to me.
I quickly learned the error in my judgement, and had a great time solving. Thank you John Lampkin for a very enjoyable ride.
Enjoy the night!
I was able to open 39D, it's a fully clad girl sitting down holding her knees.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ed,
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, that is definitely not a girl.
Nor is it the same picture that was there this morning.
ReplyDeleteWonderful puzzle, John! I love the non-conformity of it. I don't care for magic acts, but I enjoyed the MAGIC of this puzzle! I did miss seeing ABRACADABRA in it though... ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe only real problem I had was 37D. NIL didn't come to me readily, so when I looked at the perps, I had K_M, but couldn't remember the middle letter for the life of me!
Al, thanks for explaining PHON, in particular. So nice of you to include BRITT for the men and TAUT for the ladies viewing pleasures.
And thanks to Grumpy1 for sharing the difference between I- and H-BEAMS.
Thanks to my co-workers, my dream didn't come true today, so I became skeptical for the rest of the day. (Well, I'm sure they both wish I was only skeptical!)
No time today to work on the puzzle until tonight...Just a couple of thoughts...
ReplyDeleteJohn, I loved this puzzle and didn't have any trouble completing it. The only hiccups were I wanted "mess" around instead of "muck" and immediately thought of "bra" for a grp w/ big busts. I will say though, that I don't like those clues that say "see whatever across/down". Just my preference.
Al, I always enjoy your Thursday offering on the blog and today's didn't disappoint.
Husker Gary, enjoy your time in Florida with those kids. I know you look forward to this every year. It's fabulous that you got such a great upgrade.
Fermatprime, I too, suffer from acid reflux. Do you take anything for it? Zantac 150mg seems to do the trick for me, and you can now even buy it over the counter.
MFcounselor...ideal, idol, idle...clever!
WH, what's your snow situation? I guess Drdad was in your area (Louisville) did you happen to get a chance to meet for a beer or two?
For those of you still digging out...take your time. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Jeannie:
ReplyDeleteNo we didn't. I'm actually 100 miles from Louisville.
To answer your earlier question, the first goat kid was born this morning. There should eventually be about 60 more.
Lambing starts in about 30 days. There should be about 60'of those as well. The air will be full of baby cries for at least 90 days.
Hi, John, Al and you other guys,
ReplyDeleteThis was a real goodie, John. I loved it, And Al, as usual your blog was not only informative but useful....with humor, too.
Hbeam was my one mistake, but perps caught it. Lovely Thursday puzzle.
I once walked out of a store and walked right into myself, said, "Oh, I'm sorry!" and then realizsed that that 'flat' person was familiar: ME!