Theme: Double ZZs top double DDs - DD in the first part of well-known phrases are changed into ZZs. A somewhat new fun way to do a "replace the letter" puddle, I mean puzzle. We do not need any pics of double ZZs, do we?
More specifically:
17A. Moving like a dog in a narrow tube?: MUZZLING THROUGH. MUDDLING THROUGH, is where you plod along.
27A. Dud sparklers?: FIZZLE STICKS. FIDDLE STICKS probably originated from the violin playing in the street, which did not include high class music. It is why we have fiddling around.
41A. One solving several crosswords simultaneously?: PUZZLE JUMPER. PUDDLE JUMPER is an expression for a plane which goes on a short flight.
50A. Brilliant bees?: BUZZING GENIUSES. BUDDING GENIUSES, is used to describe young people who show extreme potential early in life.
Hi everyone, lemonade back with another new constructor, who has given us a puzzle with a little bit of everything, puns, tricks, obscurities, music and more.
So let's see what Peter picked....
ACROSS:
1. Make sound: HEAL. Boom we start with trickery, sound not being related to noise, but to hale and hearty. Nice.
5. Fictional elephant: BABAR. Aww, and I get my favorite elephant again this week; read the books to your grandkids.
10. Pine: ACHE. Deception number two, not a tree, but pining away, extra nice.
14. Capital at the foot of Mount Entoto: ADDIS ABABA. We have often discussed this Ethiopian CAPITAL at the base of Mount Entoto, which is not to be confused with the dog, or the BAND which did have a song about Africa.
16. Gambler's marker: CHIT. The sophisticated IOU.
19. Spots on cartes: ILES. Okay Jeannie, we get our French lesson today- cartes= maps and iles=islands.
Okay on to part two!
20. Straight opening?: ORTHO. My favorite clue, because it is a double cross, unlike all of our other opening clue, which means you are to create a word beginning with the clue, this is the literal definition of Ortho, which is a prefix meaning STRAIGHT, like ORTHODONIST, tooth straightener.
21. Kennel worker: GROOMER. Well, you hope they keep the big sweeties groomed.
25. Greek sphinx, from the neck down: LIONESS. This is as opposed to the Egyptian Spinx, which is masculine and nice, the Greek being feminine and nasty. If you want more information you can read this LINK.
29. Good for growing, as soil: LOAMY. Nice black dirt, unlike the sand we have in Florida.
30. Traps: WEBS. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
31. Pick up: GET. When you are the store, I need some milk.
34. Razor brand: ATRA. There you go, last week's AFTA has morphed into the razor, everyone happy?
35. Contempt: ODIUM. A simple Latin word meaning hate.
37. Stadium level: LOGE. We have had this recently; just think sky boxes at the ball park.
38. Sigh relative: TSK. Oh goody, our word of the week, with yet a different slant.
39. Othello, for one: MOOR. Speaking of deceit, poor moor.
40. Wonder Woman weapon: TIARA. She had her lasso, her wrist bands and her invisible plane.
44. Anniversary gala: JUBILEE.
47. Häagen-Dazs array: SORBETS. Of course this is accurate, but not my first thought; by now I assume everyone knows this company was from Brooklyn and used the fancy foreign name to justify their higher prices.
48. Words after take or save: A SEAT. back to the ball park, go marlins.
49. Z-zebra link: AS IN. Z as in Zebra.
57. Performer of many Dylan songs: BAEZ. I have seen her perform at Woodstock, in Lennox Mass., many times, and always loved her VOICE
58. San Diego Zoo attraction: GIANT PANDA.
59. __ breve: ALLA, means all brief or quick in Italian (like our word brevity), and in musical notation I believe means a faster tempo, but I will defer to JzB to give you the full scoop on this one.
60. Folklore threats: OGRES. They get such a bad rep, but Shrek is a pussycat, sort of.
61. Not at all bleak: ROSY. Just like this puzzle, not at all bleak, but rather fun so far, no big holes.
Okay on to part two!
DOWN:
1. It may be glazed: HAM. Or my eyes after doing the blog.
2. URL ending: EDU.
3. Woodworking tool: ADZ. This is the second puzzle which I blogged with lots of ZZZZZs.
4. Songwriter Phair: LIZ. One of many female singers who started about the same time, but I do not think she ever sang at the Lilith FAIR
5. One holding property in trust: BAILEE. Out token legal term, used for the hat check girl, the parking attendant and the pawn shop
6. Li'l __: old-themed restaurant: ABNERS. Never heard of this chain.
7. Traveling companions?: BAGS. Nice misdirection here as well, and those of you with mothers in law, be nice it is Mother's Day Sunday.
9. Word of support: RAH. Rah rah sis boom bah. Rah Rah ree, kick em in the knee, Rah Rah rass, kick em in the other knee.
10. Cache crop?: ACORNS. Nice cash/cache sound alike.
11. Laundry conveyor: CHUTE. I have never had a laundry chute, only garbage ones.
12. Good times: HIGHS. Well, what a controversial clue, I mean admittedly lots of people smoke pot, but...oh he just means emotional highs. Never mind.
13. Group values: ETHOS. A bit more Greek today.
15. By a narrow margin: SLIMLY. A bit of a stretch as a word, but I guess better than nonely.
18. Rank and file movers: ROOKS. A nice chess clue, describing the movement of the piece.
21. Key of Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90, No. 3: G FLAT. If it has five letters it will be something flat, then wait and see the perp.
22. Popular party people: RIOTS. Oh man get a couple of drinks in him, and he is a riot!
23. Arkansas's ___ National Forest: OZARK.
24. Baum princess: OZMA. Many of you may not know how many books Mr. Baum wrote about OZ, and all of the characters not in the movie, but they even have their own wiki sight where you can learn. PS welcome back KAZIE.
25. Stead: LIEU. These days in my world, this attached DEED IN....
26. Warhead vehicle, briefly: ICBM. InterContinentalBallisticMissile.
31. Blow one's top: GO APE. I seldom see this without a third word modifier.
32. Coastal wader: EGRET. They love Florida.
33. They may signify joy: TEARS. But not when you have to sign the DEED IN LIEU.
35. Exude: OOZE. Seems like it fits with this puzzle, which is oozing zzzz.
36. Nap: DOZE. Hopefully no one is sleeping through my efforts.
37. Branch: LIMB.
39. Media lead-in: MULTI. See, there is the standard cluing for an opening or lead-in.
40. Source of some greens: TURNIP. For Thelma and the other Southern Belles who cook with Turnip Greens.
41. Italian square: PIAZZA. Not to be confused with the ex-Met Mike, who was Italian, but fairly hip, though the bleach blond look was not a good move.
42. Ascetic of yore: ESSENE. A biblical reference, appropriate for this season.
43. Articulations: JOINTS. More confusion, and the less common use of articulation, not words, but separations.
44. Sluglike alien strangled by Leia: JABBA. Yes, she was ANGRY
45. Standard: USUAL.
46. Chisel's edge: BEZEL. Sounds so much like Bevel and they are related.
49. Bacteriologist's supply: AGAR. For their Petri dishes.
51. IHOP '__: takeout food program: N'GO. Well I already told my IHOP wrestling story, so it is up to you to comment, though if only this had been worked into the ROO puzzle....
52. Short job: GIG. Devin's band played a GIG at Uncle Lou's; he did not want me to go, because the place was a little sketchy, Great to be a dad.
53. Syr. seceded from it in 1961: UAR. United Arab Republic; not much on being united.
54. __-cone: SNO. Don't eat the yellow ones.
55. Money VIPs: EDS. Cannot fool me twice, the magazines editors! Ha!
56. Mention: SAY. Say good night Gracie. Good night Gracie.
Lemonade
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a ridiculously easy "puddle" for a Friday. Probably no harder than the average Wednesday. I blew through most of it with little hesitation, only getting stuck for awhile in the SE where I initially had LASSO for TIARA and TIER for LOGE. When nothing else in that section fit, I finally deleted the only two entries I had and worked the perps instead.
I got the theme early on, which helped fill in all the Z's. Unlike our fearless blogger, I didn't remember that "Money" was referring to the magazine and therefore had no idea why 55 was EDS, but it didn't matters since all the perps worked. I also had a brief hiccough at the end when I realized I had (once again) misspelled ADDIS ABIBA as ADDIS ABABA, leading me to briefly wonder why a BIG was a "traveling companion."
Ah well, I haven't been getting much sleep lately and my brain has been awfully fried in the morning as a result, so I'm grateful for the lesser challenge this morning. Challenging or not, it was still fun!
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This was a fun Friday puzzle and much easier than the one we did yesterday. I caught on to the theme fairly early. Nice to see all the ZZZZs in the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned from this puzzle:
Pine is not a Tree, it's an ACHE
Haggen-Daz Array is not FLAVORS, it's SORBETS
Statium Level is not a TIER, its LOGE
Lemon, your Tangled Web quote is attributed to Sir Walter Scott.
EGRETS love Louisiana, too, and we are so happy to see them nesting again this year (their return after last year's oil spill). In honor of the egrets, I've changed my avatar to one I saw near my house.
QOD: Dear Future Generations: Please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum. ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Hello Puzzlers - What Barry said. In its entirety. Including the low sleep/fried brain part.
ReplyDeleteExcept that I did spell Ababa right.
ReplyDeleteDoes Lemonade's write-up look complete in your screen?
ReplyDeleteC.C.: Yes. I think I got Lemonade's full write-up.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hahtool, this blog has been giving us troubles lately.
ReplyDeleteGood morning.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad puzzle but I didn't get the theme for some time.
AAAHHH!!! Mr. Luthor, are we going to Addis Ababa?! (that's where Lex Luthor went to get the kryptonite to use against Superman). Spoken by Ned Beatty of "Deliverance" fame.
There's tsk again with what I think has a better clue than the previous one.
Write up looked okay, C.C.
This might get some of the DF's going because today is NO PANTS DAY! So drop your drawers today and flash those boxers, briefs, bloomers, thongs and panties!
The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters is its plural, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses.
Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone and hydroxydeoxycorticosterones are the largest anagrams.
Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula."
Have a Great Friday!!!!!!
Good Morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I could not see the entire write-up. It stopped at 19A. But when I left the blog and went back, the rest “magically” appeared.
When I finally got the whole thing, I really enjoyed your write-up Lemonade, thanks! I agree with you on 1D for “It may be glazed” – I had “eye” at first…
And geez, I must be in some alternate universe than you, Barry. I had a really tough time with this one. On my first pass I only had three entries, and even questioned whether those were correct (BABAR, BAEZ and AGAR).
I finally pecked and poked, and looked up LIZ Phair and Mount Entoto to get some kind of foothold. Once I figured out MUZZLING THROUGH, though, things finally started to click. But even the clue for that one threw me off – I don’t think of a “narrow tube” as a MUZZLE. Maybe a “face mask”?
So for me it’s a DNF because of the look-ups. TSK !
TGIF – have a great day everyone!
HeartRx,
ReplyDeleteI fixed the problem earlier.
Dr. Dad,
So happy to see you back regularly.
Lemon, Nice write-up.
ReplyDeleteHeartRx; Obviously I was on your wave-length with this one. First time through I had ADDIS ABABA, CHIT, JABBA, BAEZ & SNO.
Fell for the tier/LOGE & lasso/TIARA ... how is her tiara a weapon?
TEARS (my favorite expression of angst).
Another "Ink-Blot Test" without many HIGHS along my slog.
3rd DNF in-a-row.
Cheers to all at Sunset.
Morning Lemonade, CC and All,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the entire write up which explained some of my problem areas. Pine meaning Ache is new to me. I'm never much on themes that have letters replaced. I muzzled my way through looking for double Zs after 17A fell. This was definitely easier than yesterday's.
We're finally seeing the sun today. Hopefully it will change my mood.
TGIF
"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is actually a favorite word of mine. I learned it from a neighbor when I was a kid, and now I'm trying to teach it to my son and his friends (one of his friends bragged that he knew "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," so I had to up the ante a bit). It is supposedly the scientific name for "black lung disease" that afflicts coal miners, but there is some debate as to whether it is a "real" word that anybody actually uses or just something made up for the sake of its length.
ReplyDeleteFor years, btw, the longest word in the OED was "floccinaucinihilipilification," which means "the act of esteeming something as worthless." Again, though, it's not a natural word but instead something cobbled together by English school students by combining various prefixes and suffixes all meaning "nothing". Or so I've heard...
Dr Dad,,,,,,,Hmmmmmmmmmm, No pants day. And for those who go commando?!
ReplyDeleteLemon, et al, Let me in! Unlike Barry, I spent about 10 minutes puddle jumping around to even get started and then all of sudden the top half was done, my ego was HEALed and I was done muy rápidamente (late homage to Cinco de Mayo). Fun Friday!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-I first suspected theme had to do with TWIZZLE/SWIZZLE sticks. Fiddle dee dee!
-Heads – Dumbo. Tails – Babar! Same with Chip/Chit and Bevel/Bezel
-_ _ _ _ _ B_BA greatly restricts city candidates.
-We have LOGE seats for Jersey Boys in Omaha this September!
-I glazed my YAMS first! Ouch!
-I love the bailees on Pawn Stars! Go Chumlee!
-Never heard of L’il Abner’s restaurants
-Local gardening firm has a new TV ad campaign proclaiming “We have been high on grass for 50 years!” Gasp, right here in the Bible belt!
Heart:
ReplyDeleteI thought the imagery of MUZZLING was the dog put his snout into the tube and then muzzling (pushing with his muzzle) through. I saw another puzzle by Mr. Koettters that he self published on his own blog that I thought was fun, but was a tad easier than he thought.
Sorry for anyone who had problems with the write up, but I can assure you, it drives us crazy as we do it and later.
H. I did not attribute SWS to see who would present the info first, you win, but as an east coaster you do have an edge.
It is great to see Dr. D daily, and now if we could inspire one comment a week from all of our loyal but quiet commenters, we would have an even better party here at the corner.
Well, Maniac. If they go commando, so be it.
ReplyDeleteAddendum to yesterday’s post about Rashard Mendenhall’s comments about the killing of bin Laden. Tweeting first and asking questions later can be embarrassing and expensive! Gotta love that first amendment but as Sir Isaac said, “For every action…” Nouveau riche young athletes can get the feeling that everyone is waiting for their opinions.
ReplyDeleteHusker Gary, as proof of that, he lost his long-term deal with Champion that had just been extended to run through 2015. I can't wait to see how he handles the backlash.
ReplyDeleteTrivia regarding 24-down and L. Frank Baum. He died on this date, May 6 in 1919. He was born in 1856.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone. Nice write-up, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteHad to probe here and there to get a foothold. Got the NE and then the South. BAEZ, PIAZZA, and BEZEL set me onto all the ZZ's. FIZZLE STICKS confirmed the theme. In the East I had 'heron' crossing 'tier' which were Wite®ed Out to give EGRET/LOGE with perp help; the only changes needed. I did not know Mt. Entoto, but guessed Africa. After DD and a bunch of A's appeared, ADDIS ABABA became obvious. No searches needed. Nice job, Peter.
Kazie - Welcome back. The cadence of discourse here suffered during your absence.
Enjoy the day.
Sorry to say, I could not find Mt. Entoto in a major standard atlas - though it is mentioned in the Wiki article on Addis Ababa, linked by Lemonade. ( Couldn't have been much of a mount - )
ReplyDeleteLemonade, very nice writeup and your tongue in cheek humor is greatly appreciated. The puzzle was difficult, but your blog commentary gave me much to chuckle and smile about. Representing some very witty artistes in your business - may have caused some of their expertise to rub off on you.
Lemonade,
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up. When I went through it at first, it only went to 59A, but on refreshing the page, I got the whole thing.
Spitz,
Careful, or your flattery will get results!
Mainiac,
Love your sunset picture. I ACHE/PINE for such photographic opportunities.
I took a while to get started too. Actually started making headway only after getting the last two theme answers, and chancing a few WAGS. Thought first of dog PADDLING, but PAZZLING made no sense. G'spotted OZMA and G-flat.
Yesterday's was much harder for me because of the many names.
Jeannie,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I didn't commiserate on your tooth issue last night. I hope the second opinion brings a happier solution. I've got several crowns, including a couple of root canals, and they give me no trouble at all. That would be my preferred choice too. Good luck with it! On another matter, I took a photo of a Burger King Menu in Chemnitz just for you. Email me so I can send it to you. I thought it might be of interest if you can zoom in enough to read what things are called/offered there.
Good Morning All, I got on the FIZZLE=SWIZZLE train when I filled in 27A. I also spent a lot of time going back over 17A/MUZZLING THROUGH trying to figure out how it fit in. It didn't...onward and downward.
ReplyDeleteAt least I figured out that the third and fourth letters of the theme phrases were double ZZs. That made it easier, once those were filled in.
I had no idea that her TIARA was a Wonder Woman weapon. I also zeroed on IHOP's N'GO.
I did know OZMA. The OZ series was one of the sets of books I learned to read on.
I loved Lemonade's explanation of 21D/G FLAT. Yep, that's how I get them too.
I found out last night that I must spend a lot more time practicing the songs for our chorus concerts in a couple of weeks. I goofed up on just about all selections. This may be where I tell myself the audience won't know the difference anyway....I hope.
Fun matrix today. I wanted Dumbo, flavors and tier. Had no idea about Addisababa, alla (breve), essene and 'n go, but got it all without any help.
ReplyDeleteReally fun write-up, Lemonade. I have no problem with slimly, since I frequently use "slim lead", "slim chance" and "slim advantage".
My li'l town had a Li'l Abner's - didn't know it was a chain. First place I ever saw the teaser "eat it all in an hour and it's free". If memory serves, they called it the "Big Stanislouse". That was nearly half a century ago.
Hi all - I thought I'd be brave and try a Friday puzzle. Glad I did, because even though I dented a few V-8 cans, I finished it. I was much easier than that 'b-buster' we had yesterday!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of made-up words; Haagen-Dazs is one of those. Saw a program a few years ago where the founder of the company explained the name and how they thought it up...good idea for getting a higher price for ordinary ice cream. We consumers do fall for those tricks!!
Welcome back Kazie, glad you had a good trip, you were missed!!
DrDad and Barry G, I have lost the feeling in my tongue after trying to pronounce those words.
Wonder how No Pants Day will turn out? The way the teen-age boys look, it shouldn't be a problem for them :)
Hi There ~!
ReplyDeleteI, too, was thinking lasso for the Wonder Woman clue - found this link for those who didn't know the tiara was a boomerang.
Splynter
Just wondering, Counselor... Do you convey messages to your assistants via parachutes?
ReplyDeleteHi all...and especially LEMONADE714 who suggested "one comment a week from all of our loyal but quiet commenters"!! ...a welcome surprise to be asked for a comment. I loved today's ZZZZs, but found it difficult to finish without your help!! so...thanks...and have a quality weekend!!!
ReplyDeleteI really wanted PEAL for 'Make Sound' and PAM for 'It May Be Glazed.'
ReplyDeleteAnybody else get that...?
Good morning Lemonade, CC, et al., Another slog but easier than yesterday's. LOVED your write up, Lemonade. LOL many times from your comments. Cute, cute, cute, funny guy.
ReplyDeleteAm in the same orbit as HeartRx.
It's all good. Plus it's Friday AND NO PANTS DAY!!! What a hoot! yeah, baby! I feel a draft! Cheers!
Good day, C.C., Lemonade and all.
ReplyDeleteZ is for zesty! Nice blogging, L714 and I,too, liked your description of 12D, that's my method as well.
ORTHO didn't make sense, either, until the blog. Thanks.
Hand up for DUMBO or BABAR, PAN or EYE, but after reading the book, Cutting for Stone, ADDISABABA, was clearly the choice and I had PAN, PEAL, and NUZZLINGTHROUGH until the blog set me straight. HEAL completely escaped me; what a clever misdirection.
I've not heard of L'il Abner's nor N'GO, but they emerged nicely. Very few WAGS in this PUZZLE and I recall reading about the ESSENES when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered many years ago.
Peter, thank you for a lovely hour of entertainment. Come again.
I hope you are all having a super Friday!
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was much easier than yesterday's, but I did look up Mt. Entoto to get some traction.
Lemonade, as usual, a fun savy write up, clearing up rooks, ortho, joints, essene, and heal. They were all perps or WAGS, ending in huh?
Favorite? cache crop = acorns
Splynter, love loved the WW clip.My girls and I were big fans.
chute: When I was in H.S. I had a good friend whose family was very rich. Their home was amazing with a wrap around porch and living quarters for the cook (I think).It is the only time that I have seen a laundry chute in someone's home. Oh, she also had a pink princess phone in her room.
Anon@12:09:
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on PEAL but HEAL is a lovely misdirection, don't you think?
No way you can ZZZZZ through this one! Only thing missing was Shizzle my Nizzle. Wait, that wouldn’t make any sense, shiddle my niddle. Anyway, I thought this was a lot easier than yesterday. I did have to hit the g-spot for Addis Ababa and Ozma. I got perp help with Iles as I had no idea what cartes were. Thanks for the French lesson MFCounselor. More perp help with loge (new word for me) and ICBM, which made me chuckle thinking, “ I see bowel movement”. Sorry, couldn’t help it! Turnip greens are really good with bacon, just like Thelma makes. All in all a fun puddle to jump through.
ReplyDeleteWow, Dr. Dad, who knew? I am not wearing any pants today….but a skirt!
Everyone have a nice weekend.
Kazie check your e-mail.
BTW, around here we have the longest name for a lake:
ReplyDeleteChargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
...Otherwise known as "Lake Webster", and is humorously said to be Algonquin for, "You fish on your side, I'll fish on my side, and nobody will fish in the middle".
Next week I hope to see a humuhumunukUnukuapuaa(a trigger fish) or a lauwiliwilinukunukuoioi, a longnose butterfly fish.Time to do some snorkeling.
ReplyDeleteI remember turnip greens from when I was a kid in Virginia. Later, when I had a plot in a local community garden, I tried growing turnips. They did OK but I didn't like them very much. Maybe I didn't know how to cook them well but I didn't care for the greens much either. They were strong-tasting and bitter. I guess I need to try Jeannie's recipe. (Anything is good with bacon in it.) I much prefer beet greens.
ReplyDeleteFun discussion on sesquipedalian words.
Speaking about bacon and thinking about Jeannie's field of endeavor, I thought about this great sandwich from Subway we had a few days ago. Turkey, bacon, avocado, a little mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, green pepper slivers, black olives and with a splash of oil and vinegar. Again, anything is good with bacon and avocado.
No Jerome, we are a small office, but I do have them create paragraphs to track the files.
ReplyDeleteHeart, you have missed all prior references to Websta Lake; I refer you to the April 16, 2009 and Mrch 9, 2010 blogs.
Speaking of references, Grumpy, your late night comment that binder clips, are know as Lois clips was really funny; if you have not read last nights comments, do so.
Lois is one of our treasures.
Erieruth, thank you for getting the spirit!
My cousin says they have a Lil Abner's steakhouse in Arizona, ladies? Robin you still in AZ?
Thanks anon 9:37, why not make up a name and jump in the pool?
Kazie, you are back in stride
Lemon:
ReplyDeleteI'm in Arizona and I've never heard of a Li'l Abner's. I'll have to google that.
BillG, my company also distributes to about 450 Subways. The sandwich you just described is the featured sandwich of the month. The chicken, bacon, avocado sub. It does sound yummy! The only thing I buy for Subway is their cups as they come from the same supplier as Burger King.
ReplyDeleteI found three Li'l Abner's, one in Tucson, one in Marana (near Tucson) and one in downtown Phoenix. I may have to go although I rarely venture into downtown anymore. Do you, Frenchie? It's near the Orpheum Theatre.
ReplyDeleteThought I'd check in today as one who always reads the blog, but seldom writes. I found yesterday and todays puddles difficult without outside help. Fun, but hard. I lived in Arizona for 20 years and never heard of Lil Abner's restaurant.
ReplyDeletefrom a few days ago, Lady Perky Edna of Converse.
See you all later!
Welcome back and comment often, Crazyhorse!
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle took me over an hour but I found it to be very enjoyable. The DD ---> ZZ theme was fun ... my first was BUZZING GENIUSES and last was MUZZLING THROUGH. The whole NW corner slowed me down. I needed the vowel crossing 4D and 14A. I guessed 'A' and I was wrong. I came here and everything was cleared up with Lemonade's great write-up. Thank you for that!
Spring has finally come to CT. Everything is blooming and the sun is shining. Time to get some fresh air!
Enjoy the evening ~~
Thelma’s Turnip Greens
ReplyDelete1lb fresh turnip greens
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1/3 cup minced green pepper
1/3 cup minced chopped onion
2 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp sugar
3 strips of bacon
Wash the greens and trim off the coarse stems. Fry the bacon and let drain on paper towel. Add the onions and the green peppers to the bacon fat and sauté until translucent. Coarsely chop the greens and add to the onions and the peppers. Stir to mix well. Cover tightly and let cook 10-15 min or until tender. Add salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice. Toss lightly. Turn into a serving dish and incorporate the crumbled cooked bacon. Scrumptious!!
Crazyhorse and LaLaLinda, thanks for commenting, in fact thank you each and every one of you. I know how busy life gets and how there are days it is impossible to find uninterrupted time to post.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know our constructor?
Good afternoon Lemonade and all, this was somewhat of a slog getting started, but once I got a few ZZZ’s things started to fall into place. Hand up for yam and not ham and then eye and not ham and finally a guess with edu and that corner fell. Also, lasso for tiara, tier for loge and flavors for sorbets, but then the perps came to the rescue. Overall it was a fun and not too difficult puzzle for a Friday.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know where Li’l Abner’s restaurants are/were, but I have never seen or heard of them. In our area pine has been used for ache so that was an easy one for me.
My only experience with a laundry chute was when my friend used a clothes basket to catch the clothes as they exited the chute. Seems the basket overflowed and it was next to the gas hot water heater which allowed the clothes to pile up against the gas water heater an then ignited. Fortunately they were home and managed to extinguish the fire with minimal damage.
It was another nice write up Lemon. I really like you wit.
Have a great day.
Splynter
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Wonder Woman, TIARA as a boomerang link.
Next thing, we'll learn a certain "Super-Hero's" weapon was "Bat-Guano" ...
(That was for you Jeannie and your ICBM comment ...)
Jeannie and Tinbeni:
ReplyDeleteReally funny!!
I've had enough tra-la practice for today. "Fascinatin' Rhythm" isn't quite so fascinating right now.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few references I could find for L'il ABNER'S restaurant was at Trip Advisor reviews for one Tuscon Arizona steakhouse location.
So, L'il Abner's is a single BBQ restaurant in the 30-something largest US city. Maybe a little too obscure even for a Friday puzzle? On the other hand, most of us got it via the perps and maybe with a little WAG-ing.
I wagged...not scientifically
ReplyDeleteWhen we were first in this town, we weren't ready to build at the onset of winter, so rented a house, which happened to have a laundry chute. I found it so convenient, that when we did build, we had one put in. It was in the linen closet and right above the basket in the laundry. I have one in the second house we built too, where we now live. I love that you can just toss everything down and I actually find it easier walking upstairs with a full basket of clean clothes, than trying to see where my feet are over the basket going downstairs.
ReplyDeleteI saw this video and it made me smile and laugh. Simple-minded but very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteGood Evening All,
ReplyDeleteHad the same problems that many had : peal/pam for HEAL/HAM; Looked up LIZ Phair;. Took a while to get that far. Enjoyed Peter’s challenge, even though DNF.
Good write-up, Lemonade; thanks.
Tedious day for me, glad to be home.
HeartRx, funny quip re: Webster Lake.
Erieruth, its always good to hear from you.
Crazyhorse, good to see you again. we’re almost neighbors..
Have a nice evening everyone.
Bill G:
ReplyDeleteThat's very funny and creative. Thanks.
Creature
ReplyDeleteI live in a very small town in northwest Indiana. I understand you have horses or board. I did too until my buddy died suddenly about two years ago. I'm still looking for another or two.
Wow, what a cool blogsite.
ReplyDeleteI'm the auhor of today's puzzle. I just decided to chime in and say hi. This is my first published puzzle, though I promise there will be more!
Constructing has been a closet hobby of mine for a couple of years, just honing my skills like an ADZ until I got this one accepted. In real life I am an L.A.-based pediatrician with too much time on my hands such that I have time to do this as a hobby (according to my wife). I was born during the Joan BAEZ era.
Thought of this theme while walking my dog. Nothing about muzzles, just how Z's are always fun in crosswords and wonderes if I could make a theme around substituting doubled consonants for them...
I love the feedback. It's really interesting to see what sticks to the brain from the solving experience. As most are probably aware, editors change a lot of the clues. Rich Norris edited these ones a lot, mostly to make it harder as I had originally clued it as more like a Thursday level. So I can't take credit for everything.
For instance, I am glad some liked "Cache crop" and that Wonder Woman's TIARA generated interest. At the same time, Lil' Abner's is new to me, too (I submitted it as "Doubleday and Yokum," but I think that was too easy for a Friday).
Thanks again. What a great group!
- Peter Koetters, MD
Peter, great of you to check in -- keep up the good work! Looking forward to more of your creations.
ReplyDeletePeter K., thanks for your post. It is always a pleasure to hear from the constructors.
ReplyDeleteI laughed to see that you didn't know about L'il Abner's restaurant either. I'm guessing Rich Norris is either a Tucson guy, or had a great steak there once.
Bill G. Both GAH and I laughed at the talking dog video. It reminded us of every dog we've ever had when we didn't share a treat he thought he had coming.
Peter, I enjoyed your puzzle. I like your clue for ABNERS. Thanks for stopping by. What kind of a doctor? Where in LA? (I'm in Manhattan Beach.)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad some of you enjoyed the video. I've watched it several more times and it still makes me smile.
Thanks, Lemonade for a fun Friday writeup.
ReplyDeleteI floundered a bit at first but finally got enough perps to see FIZZLE STICKS. Wait a minute, the phrase is fiddle sticks! AHA! The theme has been revealed! I wasn't real thrilled with the clue for MUZZLING THROUGH, but I was very impressed with the constructor's ability to find four words that could be spelled with either a ZZ or a DD and then find four words that either spelling could be paired with and make sense. Well done, Mr Koetters.
I tried tier at first but was thinking LOGE as a fallback, since it showed up in another puddle, er puzzle recently.
Speaking of budding, not buzzing geniuses, my grand daughter, an advanced placement junior in high school, just got her ACT scores back. A solid 32, with a 33 in math. Her dad is sure hoping that translates to some free ride offers. She wants to be a radiologist.
Re, last night's quip, Lemonade, binder? Well, if that's the way she wants to play...
Kazie, you're description of the laundry chute you had built sounded exactly like mine. It wasn't in the original plans, but when I saw that the linen closet for the master bath was directly above a counter in the laundry room, it seemed like an obvious thing to do. I briefly toyed with the idea of a dumb waiter instead of a chute so the laundry could make a round trip, but settled on the chute.
ReplyDeleteDoctor Peter, how nice of you to stop by; I can assure you we are not a shy group, have
ReplyDeletemade friends with a few, and we love words and puzzle. I did locate your blog with your Vine puzzle- pun, I mean fun.
You all have been very kind, and I do enjoy entertaining. It is a bit of a struggle with me eye stuff, but you all make it worth it.
Peter
ReplyDeleteI looked you up and saw you are a pediatric intensivist. Most of my Rn career was an rn in pediatric intensive care. I loved every day.
Good Evening, folks. Thank you, Peter, for a great puzzle. I understand this is your first published. Congrats! Thank you Lemonade for the swell write-up. Glad you spelled out ortho. I got the word with perps, but could not figure it out.
ReplyDeleteThe theme came easily and helped a lot with the whole puzzle. I plugged in zz's all over the square and helped me with many words. Of course, I had DUMBO instead of BABAR. Perps fixed that. Had TIER instead of LOGE for a short while. Had BARELY instead of SLIMLY. Fixed that.
My last holdout was the NE corner. That had me stumped for quite a while. Finally, CHUTE came to light. That gave me ACHE, CHIT, and MUZZLING THROUGH.
We do have a laundry chute in out house. My wife would like to move the washer and dryer to the second floor so we do not have to carry up all the clean clothes. Do it all on the second floor. Not a bad idea.
Thought 18D Rank and File Movers/ROOKS was a great clue/word. I do play chess and it hit me after some thought.
Yesterday, I did not get the puzzle done. I started but had no time to deliberate. had a funeral of an old friend to attend.
See you all tomorrow.
Abejo
Peter, what a neat sounding guy you are. Thanks for your upbeat post.
ReplyDeleteIt makes it fun to hear what was on your mind in the constructing.
Bring it on.
Crazyhorse,I am down to one boarder and our little old mule. I used to enjoy the riding company, but I retired from riding a while ago. Just one day, when we road back in, I knew I had had my last ride. Since then my two old stand-bys died, and I'm still grieving -long time pals; the last one really grieved for his old friend; crying out for the longest time.
Email me, if you'd like. I'd like to stay in touch, since we have so much in common.
BillG, great talking dog video. I. too, shared with DH.
Dr Peter, thank you for a Friday puzzle that I actually enjoyed (in a solving kind of way)
ReplyDeleteBill G - LOL on the clip of the dog...too funny, I've never owned 'man's best friend', but I am fond of dogs.
Laundry chutes brings back some memories. As a teenager, our house had a 'clothes chute' located in the bathroom. It was in the bottom of the linen closet and went directly to the clothes basket in the basement.
In our house now, we use an old heating duct that is in our bedroom,it is covered with a carpeted wooden 'cover'. I just lift the cover and toss the dirty clothes in, it empties into the top shelf of a linen closet in the bathroom in our basement. Very convenient. I just place a clothes basket beneath the linen closet and 'sweep' the clothes out into the basket.
Carol,
ReplyDeleteYour camouflaged laundry chute should be patented. Seriously!
Peter, so nice to have you pop into our corner. Hope to see/hear more from you.
ReplyDeleteBill, your video made us all smile!
Congrats to your granddaughter, Grumpy. She's smart to go into radiology -- maybe she saw the most recent survey of physician salaries here. Note that while radiology and ORTHOpedics (latin for straightening children, by the way, in reference to scoliosis) are paid the most, lowly pediatricians (yours truly) are paid the least. You might actually feel sorry for me unless you look at the y axis.
ReplyDeleteGood night all.
ReplyDeleteI must tell you that my family had a laundry chute that emptied on the basement floor. When I was about 4 I heard my mother say the dog needed a bath. Rusty was a cocker spaniel. I picked her up and tossed her down the chute. Could hear her scrabbling all the way down. Fortunately there was a large pile of clothes for her to land on.
Yip,yip.
Hello C.C., Argyle and folk,
ReplyDeleteLoved all the ZZZs and loved the way this guy tried a melange of fun things all willy-nilly!
Lemonade, thanks for the spunk you added to it...the spark...the pizazz! If not for your amusing offerings, I just couldn't have made it this far. I would have been catching some z's
I'm out.
I still do not understand what kind of woodworking tool an ADZ is. Between my wife and I we completed most of the puzzle but still have no idea what a ADZ is.Can anyone help me? I looked up woodworking tool in my three puzzle dictionary and there it is ADZ but no explanation as to what it is.
ReplyDelete