Theme: Air-raising. All four theme answers are in turn clue definitions for the (same) answer to 53 Down: Clue for 17-, 26-, 45- and 60-Across: LIFT.
17A. BRITISH ELEVATOR.
26A. FOOTWEAR INSERT.
45A. BOOST IN SPIRITS.
60A. HITCHHIKERS RIDE.
Hi all, Al here. I guess this makes it as a Thursday crossword because it contains a second, third, and fourth meaning of a word, which you usually see late in the week as a clue, one where you can't just pop in the first answer that comes to mind. I started writing this explanation and struggled with it to the point where I started confusing myself in the attempt to be clear. Let's hope I got this right:
HOMONYMS sound alike, spelling may be either the same or different.
HOMOGRAPHS are spelled alike, sound may be either the same or different.
HOMOPHONES sound alike but have different spellings.
HETERONYMS are spelled alike but sound different.
So, In the theme today for all four cases, LIFT is both a homonym and a homograph, but not a homophone, nor a heteronym. As a side note, heist is related to hoist, because both are the action of something being LIFTed.
ACROSS:
1. Bingo call: B-TEN. Typically there are 75 numbers in play so, "under the B" could be 1-15. However there is a 90 number variant that would make it be between 1-18.
5. Gordon __: Michael Douglas's "Wall Street" role: GEKKO. 1987 Best Actor Oscar.
10. One may require stitches: GASH.
14. German import: AUDI.
15. Slangy negative: IXNAY. Pig Latin for NIX.
16. Control: RULE. The measuring stick is the source for the verb in the sense of to "guide on the straight correct path", with "rule of thumb" appearing somewhere along the way.
20. Fairy tale ender: AFTER. As in "and they all lived happily ever after."
21. Amazement: AWE. From Old Norse agi "fright".
22. Early surgery aid: ETHER. But highly flammable, and with side effects such as nausea and vomiting.
23. Talking with one's hands?: Abbr.: ASL. American Sign Language. Those with delicate sensibilities about language should not click this link, but it is quite well done, with over 1.5 million views and only 207 dislikes.
25. Ante-: PRE. A prefix for a prefix, for example: antecedent (to go before).
34. Washington's Grand __ Dam: COULEE. Here's a crossword staple, Arlo Guthrie.
35. Fierce anger: RAGE.
36. Carnival city: RIO. I'll spare you from linking to Duran Duran...
37. Old, in Oberhausen: ALTE. German.
38. "Good heavens!": EGADS. and 51D. "Gadzooks!": YIPE. Gad being a euphemism for God.
40. Humdinger: LULU.
41. Relieve (of): RID.
42. Pencil remnant: STUB.
43. Legal-sized fish: KEEPER. Take your pick.
48. Neighbor of Nev.: ORE. Nevada, Oregon. Pronounced like "Or-ee-gn", and the locals appear to get a bit territorial if you pronounce it like the ending of a geometric shape.
49. Reggae singer Kamoze: INI. New to me...
50. Big name in food service: SYSCO. Restaraunt supplier.
53. Brine-cured delicacy: LOX. Smoked salmon.
55. Remove forcibly: EXPEL. Related: repel, dispel, propel, from latin pellere "drive".
63. Andy Taylor's son: OPIE. Little Ronnie Howard from Mayberry, RFD.
64. Submit taxes, nowadays: E-FILE.
65. Kong's kin: APES.
66. Guam, for one: Abbr.: TERRitory. Today's geography lesson. Very close to the center of the map, you can see the Caroline Islands. Guam is just above that.
67. 50s experiment, briefly: H-TEST. Off to the right on the same map as Guam are the Marshall Islands. Look just above that to see Bikini. The Bikini Atoll is where the test was detonated.
68. Longings: YENS.
DOWN:.
1. Cake with a kick: BABA. au Rhum.
2. Horse racing surface: TURF.
3. Cut, perhaps: EDIT.
4. Nick at __: NITE. "Family" cable channel, reruns and sitcoms.
5. Dogfaces, briefly: GIS. Usually only infantrymen were called that. Slept in pup tents, stayed in foxholes, wore dog tags, ordered around like a dog.
6. Yoga instruction: EXHALE.
7. Had no doubts about: KNEW.
8. Leafy vegetable: KALE.
9. Santana's "__ Como Va": OYE.
10. Irritates, with "on": GRATES.
11. One may have an agt.: AUTHor.
12. Fruit used to flavor gin: SLOE.
13. Bavarian mister: HERR.
18. Really peeved: IRATE.
19. Fogg's creator: VERNE. Phileas Fogg, Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne.
24. Honeybunch: SWEETIE. What my wife calls me when she is not happy.
25. What might be used when a bomb is hurled on a field?: PIGSKIN. A long pass in football, or a scene from The Mouse That Roared.
26. Port closing?: FOLIO. All your personal investments summarized in a portfolio.
27. Show up: OUT-DO.
28. Flamenco exclamation: OLE. Bravo.
29. Bedouins, e.g.: ARABS. Arabic badawin "desert-dwellers," an already pluralized form of badawi. Silly to pluralize it again, but that's English for you.
30. "Really cool!": RAD. Shortening of "radical".
31. Break out, as violence: ERUPT.
32. Ticks off: RILES.
33. Organized string of gigs: TOUR.
34. Atkins diet taboo: CARB. So close, but too far in the wrong direction with meat. Excess protein is broken down into sugar and urea, which places stress on the kidneys and doesn't really solve the stored fat problem long term.
39. Pistol: GUN. and 50D. Used a 39-Down: SHOT.
40. Island welcome: LEI.
42. Old Detroit brewery name: STROH. Bottoms up on St. Paddy's Day. (Link wasn't working, so I replaced it. And yes, I know the new one isn't Stroh's)
44. Lakeshore natives: ERIES.
46. World Cup sport: SOCCER.
47. Digital dots: PIXELS. Individual component makeup of pictures, shortened to pics, then pix, a Variety magazine word.
52. Swizzle: STIR. Swizzle of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of switchel "a drink of molasses and water" (often mixed with rum.)
54. Haggard's "__ from Muskogee": OKIE. Even back when times were simpler, people were still resisting change.
56. See-through, in comics: X-RAY. An old advertisement for the unwary, whose money would soon be departed.
57. Meerschaum or brier: PIPE.
58. Genesis locale: EDEN.
59. Subtraction word: LESS.
61. Half a devious laugh: HEH.
62. Living in Ariz., maybe: RETired.
Al
Good morning, Al, C.C. and gang - another fun puzzle, and one that seemed simpler than the normal Thursday offerings.
ReplyDeleteI got off to a good start figuring 1A had to be 'B' something, and there's only four possibilities. 'Nick at Nite' took care of that. The first theme answer fell pretty quickly, and the reference to the unifier made the rest of the theme answers easier. The rest of the puzzle was a lot of fun to solve; only needed perp help for 'Ini' Kamoze. I don't necessarily think 'show up' and 'outdo' are synonymous, and of course, I noticed the crossing of 'insert' and 'erupt'.
Al, great job with the blog. I loved the old 'x-ray specs' ad, hell, I probably sent for them. And the big fish pics had me wanting to get the rod out.
Today, in addition to St. Patrick's Day, is Submarine Day. Anybody else spend a lot of time at the submarine races?
Did You Know?:
- Statistically, you're more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider. Incidentally, should you survive the cork, the odds of being killed from falling out of bed are one in two million.
Also, I just heard that the earthquake moved Japan eight feet and the Earth's axis ten inches. Unbelievable.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteI breezed through this puzzle fairly quickly, all things considered. On the first pass through the acrosses, I simply ignored the theme answers but got most of the rest. The first pass through the downs filled in almost everything else and, of course, got me the theme revealer. All that was left was a quick trip back through the accrosses, and voila!
Random musings of the day:
I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know that Oregon shared a border with Nevada. I lived in that part of the U.S. for years and always thought of Oregon being way up north and Nevada being way down south and never the twain meeting. Or never Mark Twain meeting. Something like that.
I didn't get the FOLIO clue. Still don't, in fact.
For "German import" I was trying to think of something that is brought into Germany...
SMARTIE bugged me yesterday. Ironically, today we had SWEETIE and it was just fine. Go figure.
Good Morning Al, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the blog, Al. I loved the COULEE dam video – ahh, the memories!
This puzzle seemed quite hostile to me. We had RAGE, GRATES, IRATE, ERUPT (in violence), RILES…and finally, they used a GUN and SHOT.
(YIPE !!!)
I think we should all take a deep breath, EXHALE and get back to our Zen place.
Dennis, when I was at the submarine races last week, I thought I felt the earth move !
Have a great day, everyone!
Hello All,
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle, Bruce; Fine write-up, Al. Yes, relatively simple for Thursday. The sudoku at the upuzzles site made up for that.
Unknowns--SYSCO and INI perped out! No special favorites today.
Dennis--I must pass your cork comment around. I know a lot of really dedicated arachnophobes. (My "happy acre" is evidently crawling with black widows, which I mostly ignore. Got sick from a brown recluse up north sleeping on the floor aeons ago, though.
Happy St. Pat's, to all who are inclined to celebrate!
Barry--have a portfolio for you to look at!
ReplyDeleteHappy St. Paddy's Day, Everyone! This was a tricky one. Don't generally like cross-reference puzzles (especially when the unifier is also a cross-reference), but like Barry G, I ignored the theme clues and soldiered on.
ReplyDeleteI initially had Roe instead of LOX for 53-Across, and since I also filled in E-FILE and H-TEST, I thought the unifier was RAFT. BRITISH ELEVATOR was the only logical answer for 17-Across which made me realize the theme was LIFT. Than everything else fell into place.
I hope that young girl got a good grade for her rendition of the Cee Lo Green song! It's a catchy tune and has been sanitized for play on the radio.
QOD: If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky? ~ Stanislaw J. Lec
Lucina--Re Jeopardy. Just skipped through the show rapidly to see what you meant yesterday. I had always wondered about that happening! (The question was easy for me also. $600--what a waste! But on Tuesday, I had no clue about "Bambi.")
ReplyDeleteAfter the devastation of last week, I thought of old Japanese prints. I wonder if some of these were really depicting tidal waves that had to be expressed in art, because the force of them was too difficult to express words?
ReplyDeleteHappy Thursday,
ReplyDeleteBetween Dennis ("pics had me wanting to get the rod out") and Marti ("I thought I felt the earth move") we are starting the day with out own theme.
No holiday theme, but I was impressed the puzzle began with a Bingo clue (John!).
Never heard of INI ; reminds me of OUTIE Lewis and the News/
Speaking of all the violent clues, there also was H TEST, the most violent of all.
Annette, let me know what you think of ROKBRGR.
Barry--have a portfolio for you to look at!
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks. I totally didn't get the trickiness of "closing" in this context.
20
ReplyDeletelines
who
cares
?
Good Morning C.C.,Al and all,
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, Al. Good links, as well.
The puzzle was smooth, with perp help for my unknown:INI .
My favorite word today was IXNAY.
The theme was fairly easy to get and fell pretty quickly.
Thanks, Bruce.
I wish I knew what happened on Jeopardy yesterday or would it take too long to tell.
With that shift in the axis, what will it do to our normal night and day time? Temperatures-seasons?
Hahtool, why the shift from your pic avater? Really enjoyed it.
Have a nice day everyone.
Good morning Al and all.
ReplyDeleteAt first the puzzle appeared daunting. Started out in the SE, then nibbled around the edges. Frustrated by the toggle between 53d , the unifier, and the theme phrases. Then had enough to get BRITISH ELEVATOR, and thus, LIFT. The other long fills rapidly became obvious. Did not know GEKKO and OYE, but the 'O' was a lucky guess. Gimme's included HERR 'und' ALTE. All in all, a fun romp. Thanks Bruce for a masterful construction.
COULEE - Peculiar channel-like cuts in the landscape of eastern Washington. They are a result of a natural dam burst of a proglacial lake in western Montana at the end of the last Ice Age. See Lake Missoula and map .
Have a nice day.
A - Puzzle where you guess less than 5 pct. of the answers.
ReplyDeleteB - guesses less than 15 pct.
C - guesses less than 25 pct.
Bear - more than C.
Nirvana - coming to the blog.
Alternate QOD: I asked the bookstore salesgirl, "Where's the self-help section ?". She said "My telling you defeats the purpose". - George Carlin.
RE:- Hahtool's ( late yesterday's ) posting of a 'gaffe' mug with Prince Harry and Kate Middleton - it is now universally believed in the British isles, that Harry's putative father may very well have been Captain James Hewitt; so with the Royals, anything is possible.
ReplyDeleteI just saw 'The Kings speech', last weekend. Very great acting and fantastic movie !! But, the corollary is, I realized that the Royals are just like you and me, - only their hubris heightens their stupidity.
Al,
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog and music today. thank you!
I too found this daunting at first, both north and south. Tackled it like Hahtool until enough perps suggested possible words. Then by the time I found the unifier even it was obvious and it helped the rest. I did struggle with spelling SYSCO. I get all those confused: CISCO, COSTCO, also OPIE, OTIE, ODIE, INNIES, OUTIES never heard of INI. I've never seen the HEE of 'HEE-HEE' or 'TEE-HEE' spelled HEH.
Other than that, I WAGged my way through it.
Unclued clues and unifiers do make for feeling blind.
Good morning, all. This was certainly an uplifting puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree this seemed easier than most Thursday puzzles. I must have been on the right wavelength as there were several entries that I filled, paused as I realized there were a couple of possibilities that would work, and verified my first choice was right via perps.
The theme entries mostly filled themselves from the perps, so the circular references didn't bother me.
Ah, yes, watching the submarine races at the city reservoir from the backseat of a '52 Chevy. Great memories.
Hi all -
ReplyDeleteThis was doable for me but just barely! I agree with Hahtool about cross-reference clue/answer type puzzles. I did get the unifier so it made the long answers easier.
Al, thanks for the words on the Atkins diet. I knew people that swore by it, and later really regretted not listening about what it could / would do to their kidneys. Also the weight is rapidly put back on because the body has been in a 'starvation' mode.
Remember: "If it sounds to good to be true....."
Barry G: don't be embarrassed about not knowing my state (Oregon) borders on Nevada...although I knew that, I didn't realize it was 1/3 of our southern border. Thought it was only a tiny corner.
Oh, it is pronounced OR E GUN. Not GONE. :)
Al, et al, a fun solve and write-up on a clever puzzle that despite seeming to be full of anger!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-GEKKO not that ubiquitous insurance reptile shill
-I had I_NA_ and just about exhausted the alphabet when the pig latin appeared.
-River Monsters on Animal Planet is a real “lure” for me. Not sure why
-I thought yoga instruction would be more exotic like some of the positions that Marti assumes
-Grate/Grind on
-Friends of mine have had medical issues with fen fen and Atkins diets. One got thousands of dollars fro heart problems from the former plan. BTW, he is still 150 lbs overweight!
-ST _ _ _ beer could have been STORZ here in Nebraska
-No idea on INI but was all over OKIE!
-My old comics (pitched long ago by mom) all had ads for X-ray specs and Charles Atlas remedies for 98 pound weaklings
-What happened on Jeopardy?
Thought of ( shout out to - ) Jeannie when I saw SYSCO.
ReplyDeleteKazie, 'Hee-hee' or 'Tee-hee' is a giggle, not devious. Heh-heh is more like "let's go watch the submarine races, heh-heh".
ReplyDeleteAl, Great write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteNot a big fan of cross-referenced themes.
Especially when the reveal is all perps.
But I stuck with it and "got-er-done!"
FOLIO & OUT-DO both got a V-8 head slap.
Nowdays I still mail-in my Tax Return, certified.
Would E-FILE if there weren't so many Forms.
Hmmm, I think I will have a "Green-Beer" later.
Followed by some Avatar.
Off to wander on the beach.
Cheers !!!
Hi Gang -
ReplyDeleteAnd a Happy St. Paddy's Day, Y'all.
No green beer for me, but I will have a Guinness. And I do lament the long-since IXNAYed STROHs. During Prohibition, STROH shifted to making ice cream, and it still is a top notch brand.
I found this zero-theme-clue puzzle to be the very antithesis of uplifting, and will just let it go at that. LESS said, the better.
OYA Como Va is becoming a crossword stalwart. I had the joy of performing it just last Saturday.
We do E-FILE.
Very much enjoyed the ASL link. Really well done.
Cheers!
JzB
surprisingly I only had two letters off. Either I'm improving or it was fairly easy for a Thurs.
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers - Seemed to be on the right wavelength with this one, zipped right through it. However there was a bit of a shock upon learning that the Grand Coulee Dam is in Washington - I just assumed it was the dam that created Lake Powell in Utah. Oops! Thanks Spitz for the coulee definition - didn't know it was a geology term.
ReplyDeleteThat girl dancing in sign language was impressive. Al, did you simply stumble onto that video?
Cheers -
SYSCO must own a huge fleet of refrigerated semi-trailers, especially the short ones. I see them parked near all manner of restaurants around here, delivering bulk food items. I don't know much about the food industry, but get the impression that SYSCO is the 800-pound gorilla.
ReplyDeleteGood day folks,
ReplyDeleteI also do not like this kind of puzzle where you have to rely heavily on perps to solve the theme and theme clues.My disappointment/dislike was heightened when the St Patty's Day theme I was expecting didn't materialize. But I do agree that it was not a very difficult Thursday offering.
The Y for ixnay and oye was a wag although I felt comfortable with Oye. I'm not much into Pig Latin. Pigskin was a clever clue and ini brought a chuckle.
Time to start the yard work......... at last. Going to be in the 60's today and Friday. Back to the low 50's for the weekend which will be good for business.
ERIN Go Bragh(less).
Al
ReplyDeleteGreat job. But are these words/phrases not just SYNONYMS for the single word LIFT (with the same sense, same part of speech) - i.e., they all originate from the same sense of being LIFTED (UP)?
NC
@Dudley, here I go revealing secrets again. I always start or end the day (sometimes both) keeping up to date with internet memes, fads, and current news events by visiting The Daily What. That vid was featured quite a while ago, but seeing ASL in the puzzle triggered the memory, so I knew what to search for quickly on youtube.
ReplyDeleteOne picture on TDW that I found particularly poignant was this one comparing the Sendai Earthquake to the Nagasaki bombing aftermath.
If you're easily amused, you can waste a lot of time on all the associated Cheezburger sites. I do find that using the Firefox browser and installing AdBlock Plus add-on makes for a much better surfing experience with them, though.
@NC, I wasn't going to include this, but since you asked, I ran into this definition on Wiki last night. It seems to me that hairs are being quite finely divided...
ReplyDeletePolysemes are words with the same spelling and related meanings. The distinction is often subtle and subjective, and not all sources consider polysemous words to be homonyms. Words such as mouth, meaning either the orifice on one's face, or the opening of a cave or river, may or may not be considered homonyms.
While we're on the subject, and related to tricky crossword clues, Capitonyms are words that share the same spelling but have different meanings when capitalized (and may or may not have different pronunciations) like polish (to make shiny) and Polish (from Poland).
Hello.
ReplyDeleteFairly easy Thursday puzzle.
Just started the Corned Beef in the slow cooker.
Earthquake also shortened the day
by 1.8 micro sec. Center of mass changed and we are spinning faster.
I'll stick with the Guinness.
Take care.
FYI all, sorry for the linking gaffe on 42D. I had to change the "bottoms up" pic to something else. It's frustrating how sometimes a link you find somehow only works for you, and so you don't notice that it isn't working for others. Yes, I know the new pic isn't Stroh's, but still clever, no?
ReplyDeleteGood Morning All, I seemed to be on Bruce Venzke's wavelength this morning. BABA(au rum) was the first word that came to mind for 1D and I went through the top 1/3 pretty quickly. When I finished BRITISH ELEVATOR and entered LIFT at 53D, I knew what I was looking for. That made it pretty smooth sailing for the other theme answers.
ReplyDeleteI did some head scratching at 26D/PortFOLIO, 42D/STROH, 50A/SYSCO and I wanted EVICT for 55A. The perps got me through all those trouble spots.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all who are Irish, or who enjoy pretending at least one day a year. (Count me in!)
Re: Jeopardy
ReplyDeleteTwo of the contestants finished the second round with a negative score and were not eligible for final jeopardy.
So the remaining contestant had to play with himself.
He had 29,800(I think) and only risked 800.
So the remaining contestant had to play with himself.
ReplyDeleteHell, I probably would too if I knew I was gonna win Jeopardy.
Al
ReplyDeleteThanks for the language polish .
My MacDictionary says:
HOMONYM:
• each of two words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling (e.g., to , too , and two ); a homophone.
• each of two or more words having the same spelling but different meanings and origins (e.g., pole and pole ); a homograph.
HOMOGRAPH:
• each of two or more words spelled the same but not necessarily pronounced the same and having different meanings and origins (e.g., bow and bow).
I don’t think LIFT comes into either of those 2 categories. Now that you have pointed me to it, I would agree that LIFT is a POLYSEME – i.e. a word with different but related meanings (and from the same origin in this case - most likely).
P.S. What would you call “flower” as in the clue:
Clue: Blue and white African flower. Answer: NILE.
There must be a better term than “Homographic misdirection”. Anyone?
NC
Happy St. Pat's Day, everyone! Al, wonderful blogging as usual
ReplyDeleteFirst, on Jeopardy! at the end two contestants were in the red so the only one left was the previous day's winner who was relentless on both days. i just didn't want to spoil it for anyone else.
This puzzle had me take a downward HIKE and most were quite doable then on reaching LIFT the light went on. Very nice, Bruce VEnzke, who is always creative in his puzzles.
IXNAY was clever
The computer speakers are not functioning so I must find out what is the problem.
Dennis, I heard yesterday that the Earth's axis moved ten centimeters which equals about four inches.
Have a great St. Pat's day everyone!
Sorry, Seen, I hadn't read all the posts before mine. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteToday is also my SIL's birthday so great doings tonight.
I liked seeing HERR and TERR in opposite corners and directions.
ReplyDeleteNot only are "bow" and "bow" homographs, they are also heteronyms
Sometimes my heart goes out to those Jeopardy contestants who just freeze up and start making wild guesses when they get on camera. It looked like that's what happened yesterday. I had no trouble with the unseen villain in "Bambi" on Tuesday, but yesterday's final "invalid" heteronym caught me off guard...and I wasn't even on camera.
Ah yes...submarine races. The beach at Dana Point in SoCal was gorgeous in the early 60's. You could actually drive your car onto the beach (well, as long as you didn't get caught). I doubt that anyone could get away with that today. Nice photo, but these days I'd probably be more interested in the Senior Services link on the left of the page.
Happy St. Patty’s Day everyone. I thought this was relatively doable for a Thursday. I didn’t get the theme at all but the clues both crosses and downs were all pretty much gotten without help. I did have to hit the g-spot for Gekko however. I loved seeing ixnay in the puzzle as well as “lulu” for a humdinger. I see we had a shout out to Carol too. I kind of have a problem with turf being a horse racing surface. Aren’t most race tracks dirt? Another learning moment today was GI’s being called “dogfaces”. It sounds kind of degrading.
ReplyDeleteSysco was a gimmee. They are our biggest competitor. I work for Reinhart Foodservice. Some of you in the south and east have probably seen one of our trucks.
Al, thanks for the language lesson today and also your fine blogging.
August 1
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle and the writeup. I got stuck where EXHALE and IXNAY crossed. I just couldn't visualize the X.
ReplyDeleteI did watch Jeopardy last night after Lucina's comment. The winner was clearly the sharpest and the fastest contestant. Having two contestants finish in the red sure doesn't happen very often.
Here's a really good animal slide show from MSNBC called Animal Tracks. It's a regular weekly feature. BTW, if you don't have a homepage you're especially fond of, you might give MSNBC.com a try. I like it a lot, for its news coverage and its other features.
If you didn't watch Letterman last night, here's a fun video of Steve Martin pulling a LiLo and pretending to shoplift a ham.
Have a nice Thursday!
In prophetic scripture concerning the last days...it speaks of horrendous earthquakes with the "stars falling and the heavens rolling back as a scroll." To a first century writer...the repositioning of the stars, ala wobbling earth axis...might be described as such.
ReplyDelete@NC, I would call those two forms of "flower" heteronyms. Spelled the same, sound different, mean different things.
ReplyDeleteHola Everyone, My first thoughts about this puzzle when I had the "See 53 down" clue four times was that I was "Peeved," and had thoughts of "Anger" and "Violence." All of the above words were in the clues today! Nothing "Ticks me off " or "Irritates" me more than a reference clue. That said, I actually finished the puzzle, but not until I had Hitch Hikers Ride in so that L-ft became lift.
ReplyDeleteWhew I almost "Shot" myself in the foot by giving up. But with the help of my CW Dictionary for answers to Dogfaces, the spelling of Coulee, and Alte, I managed to complete the puzzle.
Enough whining. In retrospect this was a well contructed puzzle and the Pigskin/for What might be used when a bomb is hurled on a field was my favorite clue today.
Busy day again today, so I will have to come back and read the blog later.
Does anyone remember the HONEY BUNCH series of books? They were written in the 1920s and '30s. My mother had an older cousin who read these books, and they were passed to my mom and then to me. Honey Bunch was a goody-two shoes, but for a beginning reader, they were fun.
ReplyDeleteSeen: I think it's illegal to play with yourself on network TV. Cable channels, maybe...
It's not widely known that the Vikings founded Dublin. No reason to bring it up really. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteJerome:
ReplyDeleteThe Vikings can't even find the goal posts in the Metrodome. How could they find Dublin?
The Irish wrote that, didn't she. :)
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? If I let the woman read and write and bought her a pair of shoes, she'd leave this old man in a heartbeat. But I'll pass on the compliment.
ReplyDeleteAnd just so you know, out here in flyover country "founded" is the past tense of find. Find, found, founded. "His coon dog was lost, but he founded him over in Madison County".
Didn't St. Patrick drive all the vikings out of Ireland?
ReplyDeleteThat's odd. I let my wife read once in awhile and I did buy her some shoes a couple of years ago, but she stays anyway.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, does Madison County have a pampa.
Homonyn and polyseme? Either way, this is a funny cartoon. St. Patrick regrets his decision to drive the snakes out of Ireland.
ReplyDeleteBill G. very funny Steve Martin video.
Three spit takes in a row, WH.
Windhover, I beg to differ. Being a long time Viking's fan, it's the end zone they have trouble finding. We have had several good kickers here so finding the goal posts isn't their problem.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I know for a fact the Irish can do the three R's. You wouldn't put up with "stupid". In fact, I believe she is probably as well read as you are. But do the lady a favor and at least buy her some shoes.
Dennis, did you get your rod out today and catch anything?
MFCounselor, how are your eyes holding up after your procedure yesterday?
Too busy today to even try the puzzle, but had to read the blog!
ReplyDeleteMy mother's birthday was March 17 and mine is July 12. Everyone knows what March 17 represents, but it's only the Catholic Irish. July 12 is Orangeman's Day - for the protestants.
I always wear orange on the 17th and the 12th. Am not even Irish, but I resent people who believe that all the Irish are Catholic. Pay attention to news from Ireland on July 12, and you'll see.
Cheers anyway.
Sallie: You go,girl.
ReplyDeleteThe date of the full moon this month coincides with its perigee, the moon's closest approach to the earth in its elliptical orbit. It's called a super-perigee moon. So the next few days, when the moon rises in the east early in the evening, it will appear extra-large. It should be very pretty. I hope it's not cloudy here.
ReplyDeleteSallie, ironically my MOM Thelma is my Irish blood and she was born and raised Southern Baptist. I don't know if living in KY was the key. My Dad was from a Polish/CheK mix that were Catholic. My Granny (Thelma's Mom) was upset she "married outside of her faith". 51 years later on the 19th of March proves her wrong. They have the marriage that all hope to have. I had to laugh at the woes of Dennis and others that had to take up the cooking and laundry duties. My Mom has had numerous surgeries on her back and we had to teach Dad how to work the oven/washer/dryer/microwave to get them by when we couldn't be there. Surprisingly you can teach an old Dog new tricks. Then again my Dad loves his Thelm's. Cute.
ReplyDeleteCute story...My parents were taking the "scenic route" from MI to MN around Lake Superior and were going to stay a weekend in Duluth, MN. I went up to meet them. I stayed in the same hotel room and woke up earlier than them to see Nick all wrapped up with Thelma. It brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteIt was a far different reaction 35yrs ago when I walked into their room early one morning after being frightened by a storm....If you know what I mean.
Jeannie:
ReplyDeletePaddy Wagon Pub, Richmond, Ky. You should be here.
WH, Is Thelma's name/pic etched on the wall...could be (she was a looker) though I doubt she was a regular. I would love to be there. The home she grew up in is long gone. I saw it once when I was really young 3-5.
ReplyDeleteGood Evening, Folks: Thank you Bruce for a swell puzzle. Thanks Al and C.C. for write-up and posting.
ReplyDeleteI had a tough day today. Finished the puzzle after work. Went to my lodge meeting, came home, had a couple beers, and am now writing to the blog.
Enjoyed this puzzle. Got the unifier, LIFT, before any of the theme answers. FOOTWEARINSERT was my last. I misspelled COULEE, so that slowed things down.
Liked ETHER. I think I reported before that I have paid a medical provider who's business is called "The Ether Bunny." He is an anesthesiologist. Always thought that was a riot.
Great puzzle. I really did not have time to read all the other blog entrants. I am now going to enter my thoughts on yesterday's puzzle.
Abejo
Sallie,
ReplyDeleteMy Dad's birthday was July 12 too, so I always knew what it meant. But my Irish blood is from Mum's side, and they were Baptist missionaries, so no Catholics there either.
Good Evening, folks: This is a day late. Thank you John for a nice puzzle and Al and C.C. for all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteGot POSITIVE quite easily. This helped with all the theme clue/answers.
I had a problem in the NE corner. I thought of HISSAT, HISSED, and HISSES. Chose HISSAT. The perps did not help.
Did not know TYBALT. I had TYWALT.
Everything else was pretty straight forward.
See you all on Friday.
Abejo
"The Ether Bunny." Good one for an old number.
ReplyDeleteJeannie, good story about your parents.
C.C., Argyle and folk,
ReplyDeleteOver the weekend, I mentioned this book. After turning off my light that night, it occurred to me that I listed the wrong author. This is the correct one.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson (2010)
15. Slangy negative: IXNAY. Pig Latin for NIX. Interesting...
@Lemonade...what happened with the material written for a client on your personal computer?
The blog is very educational today. I've learned a lot.
Thanks, love you guys!
And I'm Out.
Jeannie, Frenchie, Lemon et al
ReplyDeleteIt's all good.
Happy St. Patrick's day.