Theme: Spicy puns make the medicine go down. A vibrant witty romp, with four fun punishing theme answers all herbs from the garden replacing similar, or exact sounding words in in the language expressions to create a new and twisted phrase.
Lemonade back again, and well pleased with my latest assignment; yes Mr. Phelps, let's do it! Our 25th GB puzzle, and my second effort at explicating and entering into his mind.
17A. Means of turning an herb into energy?: BASIL (BASAL) METABOLISM. BASAL METABOLISM means the basic or essential activity of the body, coming from the root word basic. A perfect sound alike pun.
29A. Herb lovers' chat organized by Sarah Palin?: CHIVE (JIVE) TALKIN. Do you like the SONG ? I am sure there is some political joke involved here, but my complete avoidance of politics and politicians, leaves me not getting the joke. I wonder if this was the original clue for 27D. John's (McCain) running mate: SARAH (Palin) ?
47A. Herb eaten with a nightcap?: THYME (TIME) FOR BED. My favorite of the theme answers, as I can picture Lolita sprinkling some thyme on her hot TODDY.
63A. Remark on another encounter with an herb?: DILL, (TILL) WE MEET AGAIN. How many of you immediately thought of this SONG ?
So there we have the theme, two homophones (NOT HOMOPHOBES!) and two sound-alikes, pretty fun stuff from one of the consistent, productive and entertaining constructors helping to make this for me the golden age of crosswords, with many old masters still producing and so many wonderful minds out there. Where are you JL? Jerome you okay? If only Dan Naddor were still around...
Across:
1. Pelican State inst.: LSU. We begin with a mini-shout out to our Pelican Stater, Hahtool, and the ex-home of Nick Satan.
4. Oration setting: DAIS. This word actually has its root in DISCUS which in Latin does not mean something you throw, but a high table, shaped like something you throw.
8. Common slogan spot: T-SHIRT. Also we have 66D. Ball balancer: TEE, now if only we had some Earl Grey...
14. It has many fighters: AIR FORCE. Not my first thought, i was trying to recall Strike Force or some other MMA name.
16. Layette item: ONESIE. Don't you just love babies in their little outfits, especially when they go home with their parents?
19. Chaotic situation: SNAFU. No comment.
20. Garbage tower: SCOW. A large flat bottomed boat. from the Dutch schouw. In South Florida, we have only one hill called Mount Trashmore, a landfill on steroids. My first thought was tower not tow-er.
21. Mo. when asters usually flower: SEP. Month is abbreviated both in clue and answer. Pretty PERENNIALS .
22. Stormers of Saruman's fortress, in "The Lord of the Rings": ENTS. The tree creatures in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Did we love the movie? New Zealand looked gorgeous.
25. Labor party?: MOM. GB, you witty man, the mother being the only one who actually goes through labor, though the three months it took for the fingernail marks to come out of my arm from the birth of my oldest, was a strong memory.
26. Snake's warning: SSS. I like the word sibilant, like the accent of Highlanders.
35. "The gods Must Be Crazy" setting: KALAHARI. A most amusing MOVIE and a great Coke bottle.
37. Care for: NURSE. My mother was a nurse.
38. Q.E.D. word: ERAT. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. That which was demonstrated. Used in logic and in law. Misspelled as Demonstratum.
39. Synopsis: RECAP. I have a tooth...well anyway too early for a recap here.
42. Reclined: LAIN. One of those 'be careful' words, that reminds of Lois Lane and what sex with Superman must have been like; would he be layin' Lane?
43. One putting away groceries: EATER.
45. Unrestricted: ABSOLUTE. Synonyms? Corrupts absolutely? Vodka?
50. Quaint contraction: TIS. Aye it tis, it tis.
51. Negative link: NOR.
52. "High Voltage" rockers: AC/DC. How many BANDS can you name who have hits with different lead singers?
54. __ dye: methyl orange, e.g.: AZO. CHEMISTRY LESSON .
57. Eagle's tail?: EYED. No they do not have eyes in their tails, they are just Eagle-eyed.
59. Iraqi port: BASRA.Their main port city, also spelled with an H at the end, in southeastern Iraq, near Kuwait.
67. Sign of a page-turner?: DOG EAR. if you borrow a book from me, please do not do this.
68. Secret metaphor: SKELETON. In the closet; good thing we have no secrets here. The closet gets a bad rap in language, as the place where people hide their embarrassing secrets and their sexuality. I don't think I have ever had sex in a closet, not even a water closet, but then I have never been to England except in my mind.
69. Slug relatives: SNAILS. Yes, when they come to visit, and take off their shells off to relax, they look just like their cousins.
70. Naval backbone?: KEEL.The 'backbone' of the ship.
71. Two before iota: ETA. I took Greek years ago and I had no idea, but it perped out quickly.
Gasp, time for
Down:
1. They may be chocolate: LABS. Remember my pics of my romp with the Lab puppies?
2. Phillips of "I, Claudius": SIAN. I Claudius is one of the all time best TV mini-series with the incomparable Derek Jacobi as Claudius and Ms. Phillips as LIVIA . Do you recognize Patrick Stewart with hair?
3. __ Minor: URSA.
4. Discuss business, in a way: DO LUNCH. Gag me with a spoon.
5. Starfish appendage: ARM. Really, how can you tell?
6. Party host's bagful: ICE. Gee POT fit as well.
7. Gig arrangements: SETS. My youngest has two more GIGS this month, but they do not know where the word comes from. You think it is related to GIGOLO?
8. In addition: TO BOOT. Sounds great when said by a Canadian; I gave him money for gas and my coat to boot.
9. Single white male who likes the cold?: SNOWMAN. Or as hearti pointed out, an 8 in golf.
10. Norse underworld goddess: HEL. Back to back with 11D. Goddess with cow's horns: ISIS, the Egyptian.
12. Intentionally provoked reaction: RISE. I sometimes include comments in the blog hoping to get a rise out of some of you.
13. Fill-in: TEMP. MOVIE.
15. Military wind: FIFE. Like the fife and drum corps.
18. Wile E. Coyote's supplier: ACME. Wile E. is a semi-regular.
23. Whaling adverb: THAR. SHE BLOWS. Please Carol, Lois, control yourselves, there are youngins around.
24. Arab's father: SIRE. The horse, not Sheik Chic.
26. Olympic event since 1968: SKEET. What has a skeet even done to deserve to be shot at all the time?
28. Like the color of some roofing: SLATY. Don't get your picker picked HR, this is a perfectly legitimate word for something Slate colored.
30. Goldsmith's "The __ of Wakefield": VICAR. This old CLASSIC novel did not come across well in the comic book version, but the book was worth reading and was well received by all of his contemporaries.
31. Break: LULL. Whew, a break in the action.
32. Frank covering: KRAUT. This clues always dogs me when I blog. I am always afraid to offend our Germanic brethren.
33. Last Supper query: IS IT I?
34. Tijuana toddlers: NENES. This means baby literally, but like the English version, it can be used as a term of affection for a boyfriend.
36. "Up and __!": AT 'EM. There was a world before CGI.
40. Swedish group that won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest: ABBA. Not to be confused with the Israeli statesman.
41. Tiny time meas.: P SEC. PICOSECOND, which is one trillionth of a second. Learning moment?
44. Decision about issues: RENEWAL. Okay for all the pseudo-loggers out there, I leave this to you because I have no clue what these have in common. All perps. (Note from C.C.: Magazine issues here.)
46. Flake: ODDBALL. Flake comes from baseball, where odd players were considered "flaky' perhaps because of the prevalence of drugs in baseball in the 50's and 60's (amphetamines, 'greenies,' and became popular in culture with the books of Jim Brosnan (the Long Season and The Pennant Race, which I recommend to anyone who loves baseball, they helped me through my freshman year in high school) and Jim Bouton's Ball Four.
48. Lobbies: FOYERS. From the French, literally the hearth, or fireplace.
49. City near Provo: OREM. Devin dated a girl name Orem, so I will never forget this one.
53. Batting __ : CAGE. No relation to Nicholas.
54. Puts in: ADDS. No we come full CIRCLE.
55. Horse Ranch Mountain's national park: ZION.
56. Gymnast Korbut: OLGA. The Russian Gymnast who was the first to ever receive a perfect score (10) in competition; revolutionized women's gymnastics and captured the hearts of the world.
58. Computer support?: DESK. Tricky, the literal support.
60. Fill: SATE.
61. Reaction from a bad crowd?: RIOT. Hopefully not at a GIG.
62. Tolstoy's Karenina: ANNA.They are remaking the movie version of Tolstoy's novel next year with Keira Knightly and Jude Law.
64. Ring of shells, perhaps: LEI. Did not know it could be other than flowers.
65. __ out a living: EKE. EEK, my time is over and I must go and rest my weary bones and mutinous eye. Aye, and I enjoyed the trip, I hope you all did; until next time, I remain your humble man Friday.
Answer grid.
Lemonade
Lemonade back again, and well pleased with my latest assignment; yes Mr. Phelps, let's do it! Our 25th GB puzzle, and my second effort at explicating and entering into his mind.
17A. Means of turning an herb into energy?: BASIL (BASAL) METABOLISM. BASAL METABOLISM means the basic or essential activity of the body, coming from the root word basic. A perfect sound alike pun.
29A. Herb lovers' chat organized by Sarah Palin?: CHIVE (JIVE) TALKIN. Do you like the SONG ? I am sure there is some political joke involved here, but my complete avoidance of politics and politicians, leaves me not getting the joke. I wonder if this was the original clue for 27D. John's (McCain) running mate: SARAH (Palin) ?
47A. Herb eaten with a nightcap?: THYME (TIME) FOR BED. My favorite of the theme answers, as I can picture Lolita sprinkling some thyme on her hot TODDY.
63A. Remark on another encounter with an herb?: DILL, (TILL) WE MEET AGAIN. How many of you immediately thought of this SONG ?
So there we have the theme, two homophones (NOT HOMOPHOBES!) and two sound-alikes, pretty fun stuff from one of the consistent, productive and entertaining constructors helping to make this for me the golden age of crosswords, with many old masters still producing and so many wonderful minds out there. Where are you JL? Jerome you okay? If only Dan Naddor were still around...
Across:
1. Pelican State inst.: LSU. We begin with a mini-shout out to our Pelican Stater, Hahtool, and the ex-home of Nick Satan.
4. Oration setting: DAIS. This word actually has its root in DISCUS which in Latin does not mean something you throw, but a high table, shaped like something you throw.
8. Common slogan spot: T-SHIRT. Also we have 66D. Ball balancer: TEE, now if only we had some Earl Grey...
14. It has many fighters: AIR FORCE. Not my first thought, i was trying to recall Strike Force or some other MMA name.
16. Layette item: ONESIE. Don't you just love babies in their little outfits, especially when they go home with their parents?
19. Chaotic situation: SNAFU. No comment.
20. Garbage tower: SCOW. A large flat bottomed boat. from the Dutch schouw. In South Florida, we have only one hill called Mount Trashmore, a landfill on steroids. My first thought was tower not tow-er.
21. Mo. when asters usually flower: SEP. Month is abbreviated both in clue and answer. Pretty PERENNIALS .
22. Stormers of Saruman's fortress, in "The Lord of the Rings": ENTS. The tree creatures in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Did we love the movie? New Zealand looked gorgeous.
25. Labor party?: MOM. GB, you witty man, the mother being the only one who actually goes through labor, though the three months it took for the fingernail marks to come out of my arm from the birth of my oldest, was a strong memory.
26. Snake's warning: SSS. I like the word sibilant, like the accent of Highlanders.
35. "The gods Must Be Crazy" setting: KALAHARI. A most amusing MOVIE and a great Coke bottle.
37. Care for: NURSE. My mother was a nurse.
38. Q.E.D. word: ERAT. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. That which was demonstrated. Used in logic and in law. Misspelled as Demonstratum.
39. Synopsis: RECAP. I have a tooth...well anyway too early for a recap here.
42. Reclined: LAIN. One of those 'be careful' words, that reminds of Lois Lane and what sex with Superman must have been like; would he be layin' Lane?
43. One putting away groceries: EATER.
45. Unrestricted: ABSOLUTE. Synonyms? Corrupts absolutely? Vodka?
50. Quaint contraction: TIS. Aye it tis, it tis.
51. Negative link: NOR.
52. "High Voltage" rockers: AC/DC. How many BANDS can you name who have hits with different lead singers?
54. __ dye: methyl orange, e.g.: AZO. CHEMISTRY LESSON .
57. Eagle's tail?: EYED. No they do not have eyes in their tails, they are just Eagle-eyed.
59. Iraqi port: BASRA.Their main port city, also spelled with an H at the end, in southeastern Iraq, near Kuwait.
67. Sign of a page-turner?: DOG EAR. if you borrow a book from me, please do not do this.
68. Secret metaphor: SKELETON. In the closet; good thing we have no secrets here. The closet gets a bad rap in language, as the place where people hide their embarrassing secrets and their sexuality. I don't think I have ever had sex in a closet, not even a water closet, but then I have never been to England except in my mind.
69. Slug relatives: SNAILS. Yes, when they come to visit, and take off their shells off to relax, they look just like their cousins.
70. Naval backbone?: KEEL.The 'backbone' of the ship.
71. Two before iota: ETA. I took Greek years ago and I had no idea, but it perped out quickly.
Gasp, time for
Down:
1. They may be chocolate: LABS. Remember my pics of my romp with the Lab puppies?
2. Phillips of "I, Claudius": SIAN. I Claudius is one of the all time best TV mini-series with the incomparable Derek Jacobi as Claudius and Ms. Phillips as LIVIA . Do you recognize Patrick Stewart with hair?
3. __ Minor: URSA.
4. Discuss business, in a way: DO LUNCH. Gag me with a spoon.
5. Starfish appendage: ARM. Really, how can you tell?
6. Party host's bagful: ICE. Gee POT fit as well.
7. Gig arrangements: SETS. My youngest has two more GIGS this month, but they do not know where the word comes from. You think it is related to GIGOLO?
8. In addition: TO BOOT. Sounds great when said by a Canadian; I gave him money for gas and my coat to boot.
9. Single white male who likes the cold?: SNOWMAN. Or as hearti pointed out, an 8 in golf.
10. Norse underworld goddess: HEL. Back to back with 11D. Goddess with cow's horns: ISIS, the Egyptian.
12. Intentionally provoked reaction: RISE. I sometimes include comments in the blog hoping to get a rise out of some of you.
13. Fill-in: TEMP. MOVIE.
15. Military wind: FIFE. Like the fife and drum corps.
18. Wile E. Coyote's supplier: ACME. Wile E. is a semi-regular.
23. Whaling adverb: THAR. SHE BLOWS. Please Carol, Lois, control yourselves, there are youngins around.
24. Arab's father: SIRE. The horse, not Sheik Chic.
26. Olympic event since 1968: SKEET. What has a skeet even done to deserve to be shot at all the time?
28. Like the color of some roofing: SLATY. Don't get your picker picked HR, this is a perfectly legitimate word for something Slate colored.
30. Goldsmith's "The __ of Wakefield": VICAR. This old CLASSIC novel did not come across well in the comic book version, but the book was worth reading and was well received by all of his contemporaries.
31. Break: LULL. Whew, a break in the action.
32. Frank covering: KRAUT. This clues always dogs me when I blog. I am always afraid to offend our Germanic brethren.
33. Last Supper query: IS IT I?
34. Tijuana toddlers: NENES. This means baby literally, but like the English version, it can be used as a term of affection for a boyfriend.
36. "Up and __!": AT 'EM. There was a world before CGI.
40. Swedish group that won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest: ABBA. Not to be confused with the Israeli statesman.
41. Tiny time meas.: P SEC. PICOSECOND, which is one trillionth of a second. Learning moment?
44. Decision about issues: RENEWAL. Okay for all the pseudo-loggers out there, I leave this to you because I have no clue what these have in common. All perps. (Note from C.C.: Magazine issues here.)
46. Flake: ODDBALL. Flake comes from baseball, where odd players were considered "flaky' perhaps because of the prevalence of drugs in baseball in the 50's and 60's (amphetamines, 'greenies,' and became popular in culture with the books of Jim Brosnan (the Long Season and The Pennant Race, which I recommend to anyone who loves baseball, they helped me through my freshman year in high school) and Jim Bouton's Ball Four.
48. Lobbies: FOYERS. From the French, literally the hearth, or fireplace.
49. City near Provo: OREM. Devin dated a girl name Orem, so I will never forget this one.
53. Batting __ : CAGE. No relation to Nicholas.
54. Puts in: ADDS. No we come full CIRCLE.
55. Horse Ranch Mountain's national park: ZION.
56. Gymnast Korbut: OLGA. The Russian Gymnast who was the first to ever receive a perfect score (10) in competition; revolutionized women's gymnastics and captured the hearts of the world.
58. Computer support?: DESK. Tricky, the literal support.
60. Fill: SATE.
61. Reaction from a bad crowd?: RIOT. Hopefully not at a GIG.
62. Tolstoy's Karenina: ANNA.They are remaking the movie version of Tolstoy's novel next year with Keira Knightly and Jude Law.
64. Ring of shells, perhaps: LEI. Did not know it could be other than flowers.
65. __ out a living: EKE. EEK, my time is over and I must go and rest my weary bones and mutinous eye. Aye, and I enjoyed the trip, I hope you all did; until next time, I remain your humble man Friday.
Answer grid.
Lemonade
76 comments:
Morning, all!
A fine Friday puzzle. Crunchy enough to be enjoyable, but still doable. I loved the punny theme answers, and knowing the theme helped quite a bit.
I struggled in the NW corner, since I mistakenly thought the Pelican State was Florida and therefore put in FSU for 1A. Then, I had no idea who SIAN Phillips was. I finally fixed my mistake when I realized that 1D referred to dogs, but I still had no idea who SIAN was...
I also had trouble understanding RISE even after getting it. It wasn't until I read Lemonade's comments that I realized that RISE was a noun and not a verb and then it made sense.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Any puzzle that starts off with LSU is good in my book. (Thanks for the shout-out, Lemon.)
My first thought for Up And AT 'EM was Up and Away, but ERAT reminded me it is actually Up, Up and Away.
My favorite clue was Naval backbone = KEEL.
I laughed at Garbage Tower = SKOW, as I could picture a huge tower of stinky garbage.
Labor Party = MOM was another good mislead.
Computer Support was also a good mislead, since an E and K worked for the word Geek as well as DESK.
QOD: The real menace in dealing with a 5-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a 5-year-old. ~ Jean Kerr.
Good morning!
Not too bad on the chemistry lesson Lemonade. The article failed to point out that the N=N in the molecule is referred to as an "azo" bond and thus the term "azo" dye arises.
This puzzle took awhile but perps helped. Overall, I thought the theme was a bit lame but interesting.
Hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend. Off to Cleveland next week.
Good Morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
What a fun and informative write-up, Lemon! You always crack me up, but never get a RISE out of me!
This theme and all the fill were just up my alley - I love puns, and love the misdirection in clues that gets me thinking on a Friday. Gareth certainly coved both of those bases well today, IMO. Loved "They may be chocolate" for LABS and "Single white male who loves the cold" for SNOWMAN.
If it weren't for my questioning LSU at 1A, it would have been a speed run equal to a Tuesday for me.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Morning CC, Lemonade and All,
Really liked this one. Caught the theme with Basil Metabolism and things really rolled from there. Same problem as Barry in the NW but Labs fixed it.
Our basil has huge leaves. Can't wait Dill the tomatoes come to have mozzarella, tomato and basil salad. Yum! I have to go eat my lunch now.
TGIF
Re: 35. "The Gods Must Be Crazy" setting: KALAHARI.
I was a little confused so I looked it up. Kalahari is a desert covering several countries. Great movie. How the Land Rover ends up in the tree is hilarious.
Snake's warning: SSS.
Metallica
Slither
Fun Facts by Dave Letterman
Contrary to the popular slogan, 68 percent of what happens in Vegas ends in bankruptcy and divorce.
The favourite rock band of 61 percent of electricians is AC/DC.
Almost too many unknowns today. I thought it would be a DNF, but ended up WAGS and perps did it for me other than looking up BASRA. Should have guessed that too, were it not for sticking with STAT for CAGE for so long.
I had a really hard time with the theme, since I've never heard of BASAL metabolism and had SLATE, giving me THEME instead of THYME. And then there was DILLWEED...I was sure it would be the whole herb there. I also thought the homophones confusing, since there was no single feature involved in them all.
Fun blog today Lemonade!
Thanks--it made up for the CW being not so much fun.
Stuart Whitman also starred in a movie a long time ago entitled "Sands of the Kalahari."
Sands of the Kalahari
People here seem to like elephants. Maybe you should find a different room? You don't seem to be having much of an impact.
Hi, everyone. I sneak in here after I solve the puzzle in NE Ohio (in our Cleveland Plain Dealer) to see if anyone else had similar snags.
Regarding the "chive talkin" answer at 29A: S.Palin is known for dropping her g's as part of her "down home, folksy I'm-just-like-you" political approach. Part of it is rather dialectical as well.
Loved that this was an herb-themed puzzle. I've had an herb garden for dozens of years and make a mean basil pesto.
Good morning all. Nice informative write-up, Lemon.
Daunting enough to be exasperating, but ultimately, doable, and quite clever. Loved the theme. Had to dribble all the way down to the bottom to get a toe hold, but then the solve was able to build on itself, ending in the NW corner. First wanted 'Asia' Minor but then thought of URSA which fit in nicely. Wanted garbage 'pile' for tower, but ACME showed the way to SCOW. Many clever clues; especially liked those for SNOWMAN, RENEWAL, KRAUT, and DO LUNCH. Nice job, Gareth.
Have a great day and weekend.
Which slate color is slaty (28D)?
Anon @8:32: When a person has paid his/her debt to society, why do you and your ilk keep harping on it?! You WILL need mercy and forgiveness at some point in your life...so you`d best start sowing some!
Lemonade, I just came here to see what the solution looks like. I learnt a lot - and I must see the movie , 'The gods must be crazy' ! Thank you for a very nice blog.
I used Methyl Orange, the AZO dye,extensively, in my 'titration' days, to measure the strengths of Acids and Bases (Alkalis).... but Phenophthalien was a more preferred reagent - because the color changes were more recognizable.(Red - to - Blue.)
What a coincidence (!), Nance, I'm also from Cleveland, OH.
Unfortunately, our thoughts on the Clev Plain Dealer are exactly the opposite. I am and have been convinced for a long time, that the Plain Dealer is one the worst newspapers in the country - and my biggest misfortune is that this is a one-newspaper-town. It should not however faze me to the fact that crossword puzzlers can be so diverse and contrarian in their opinions.
Have a good weekend all.
Top O' The Mornin' everyone. Thanks, Lemonade, for an excellent blog. Some of the puns took a while to sink in, others were obvious. SCOW was my first entry, after LSU, that I put in with confidence.
ONESIE was slow coming around. TisSuE crossed by RuSE seemed like a good choice, but it sure messed up that corner. Like Hahtool, 'geek' seemed like a good choice to me. Up and 'away', 'over'? Nope, AT 'EM.
Dr. Dad, "off to Cleveland"... my condolences.
I had a lot of SNAFUs in this one, but managed to pick and shovel my way through. Great puzzle, Gareth.
Here are some pithy sayings, some may enjoy .....
1. The quickest way to make tossed salad is to give fresh vegetables to a 18 month child.
2. A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.
3. Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual and the obligation reciprocal.
4. An engineer thinks that his equations are an approximation to reality.
A physicist thinks reality is an approximation to his equations.
A mathematician doesn't care.
Issues in a magazine subscription, man do I feel foolish. Just when you think you have this stuff down your brain latched on to a sngle meaning of a word and it is the worng meaning.
Speaking of towers of garbage, you should read this article of what can happen when you plant grass on top of a LANDFILL
Maniac @ 8:02, LOL at your "Dill" pun...
But I do love a salad with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella..just a drizzle of EVOO and balsamic vinegar, a little salt and pepper, and I'm good to go!
Then there is the other kind of salad as prepared ala #1 in A Nicer Anon's post at 10:33...but, I think I'll pass on that one!
FUN Friday !!!
For whatever reason I worked this from the 'bottom-UP.'
Have not a clue why I do this.
Especially when I-A, LSU was a gimmie.
DILL-WE-MEET-AGAIN was the first theme to fall.
The other Herbs just fell into place.
Hmmm, we had KEEL, Naval backbone clued as naval-spine recently.
Thought THAR, as in "Thar SHE blows!" was an adjective not an adverb.
And SSS, for Snake's warning, is our summer lilt.
Fave was MOM for "Labor party?" Clever cluing.
Believe it or not, I tend to NURSE my Avatar.
As such, I've never been asked to leave the bar ...
Cheers to all at Sunset.
T-shirts aren't a part of my wearobe, so the common logo spot threw me for a moment. I knew Hel, Isis, and Temp ( you are missing the P, Lemon) so the light bulb there finally went on.
Thanks Lemonade! Your write up was not only entertaining but informative. I LOVE your comments! I like laughing after working hard on the puzzle.
Anons who make personal attacks aren't supposed to be welcome on this blog. Why are his/her posts still here?
Anon, do you not agree that you are beating a dead horse? Blog members have already been given your one-sided information, more than once, and have made their choices.
Do you not agree that you are really boring everyone with your obsession?
Lemonade, you dribbled a P in your 13D. Don't worry, that's normal as you get older. 41D, PSEC is actually a picosecond, whose correct abbreviation is ps. I guess a pilosec would be a whole lot of seconds in a haphazard arrangement. And lastly, a SCOW doesn't usually tow anything, so given how high they pile garbage on them, your initial interpretation of "tower" might be more appropriate. We're building a mini-Mount Trashmore up here in central FL, but it pales compared with the real thing.
A fun puzzle, felt more like Wednesday than Friday, but I did get lucky with DILLWEMEETAGAIN early on, which helped considerably.
Please refrain from engaging in back and forth talk with anonymous. Argyle and I try our best to remove those posts as soon as we can.
Hi All ~~
This was a Friday challenge but a fun one. I was determined to finish it with no look-ups but it almost didn't happen. Then I FINALLY got DO LUNCH! I loved the theme and caught it with DILL WE MEET AGAIN, although like Kazie, I started with 'dillweed.'
~~ Favorites were 'Labor party' -- MOM and the clue for SNOWMAN.
~~ It took a while to get 1D -- LABS because I couldn't get the other chocolate out of my head!
~~Thanks for a wonderful write-up, Lemonade ... the links were great ... I love all things BEEGEES!
Red Sox -- Yankees tonight ... right now tied for 1st!
LaLaLinda: as we say in Louisiana - Geaux Sox!
Good Morning All, The first theme answer I got was CHIVE TALKIN'. Lemonade was probably correct about the political intent, but that would be up to Gareth Bain to let us in on the joke. The rest of the theme phrases came pretty easily. That in turn made entering the perp fill easier too.
I didn't know SIAN, HEL or NENES (I entered NINOS at first.).
I loved seeing 16A)ONESIE. It brought back a lot of memories of cuddling my grand babies. They smelled so sweet...that is...until they didn't.
I also enjoyed KALAHARI. "The Gods Must Be Crazy" was a terrific movie.
SSS, I once fell in love with a guy who knew what onomatopoeia was...really, that was the reason!
Roy and Dale came in third. The first song I thought of was Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again. Then, "Till We Meet Again" Doris & Gordon..sigh.
Mike
According to my MacDictionary, a SCOW is a boat used in "dredging and other harbor services", so towing trash does not seem unlikely.
Agree about psec - ps it the standard abbreviation. But since we see nsec all the time in crosswords, psec was a piece o' cake (both puns intended).
NC
Sorry about the typo on picosecond.
CA, loved the links, Gordon was quite popular when I was little, and Doris Day is the all time favorite demi-virgin in movies.
Knowing this crowd, I am sure many will want to know more about LEIS .
Thank you Dr. Dad and Vidwan for you AZO, methyl orange information; one the many wonderful things about the corner is we often have individuals who have practical knowledge abd can expand on what we blog.
hello.
Blog fan said it for me.
OK. Nene is is my Spanish dictionary. Thought it was a goose.
Mid-Ohio race this Sunday.
Lemonade, enjoyed the write-up enormously, by the way.
My natural pronunciation of "BASIL" is decidedly "FAWLTY", as you may know, but got there in the end (I could extend this joke to TOWERS, but will refrain).
With regard the ISSUE issue, I also spent some time looking for a misdirection, such as ISSUES = CHILDREN; so was looking for something like GROUNDING or CURFEW, or some word that describes the decision about whether or not to have a family; but the literal meaning finally arose from the perps.
One more comment: "SKELETON". The original phrase is "SKELETON IN THE CLOSET". I have not heard this abbreviated to just "SKELETON".
NC
LaLaLinda,
I thought we were up 1 game?
To the recent negative anons, if you have a problem with Lemonade, take it up with him through email (which is readily available) rather than on here, 'cause you're never going to get a response here. Everybody's formed their own opinion, and nothing you post is going to change that. Additionally, your posts are being deleted probably before he even sees them, so it's wasted effort.
NC:
I do not believe GB was suggesting SKELETON alone means SKELETON IN THE CLOSET, just the word SKELETON refers to, or is equivalent to SECRET, in the closet is what makes it a drity little secret. In a metaphorical sense.
Dennis:
Right on!
And:
I haven't worn a tux since the Senior Prom (and JFK was President), but might consider it if I could wear shorts. What was the occasion?
Maniac~~
We were up one game until last night. We lost and they won. :-(
Hope we can fix that tonight!
Started at 8:30 am and left with many holes (in puzzle not teeth) for a dental checkup and the Y and just finished now. A lovely, big boy puzzle on a cool, rainy Friday!
Musings
-Thought the slogan was on a BUMPER first
-I was proud I grokked tower as NOT the one in Pisa
-Always mess up on ARAB and not ARABIAN mount
-Joann always gets KRAUT on her dogs, I never do!
-NINOS? Nope, NENES (ain’t those Hawaiian geese?)
-Up and OVER, AWAY, DOWN? Nope!
-I put ORUM and not OREM after a town 30 miles from here.
-Argyle, a land rover winds up in a tree in Jurassic Park too!
-Mount Trashmores here are being “mined” for methane gas. We are a nation of wasters!
-Tin, me too on THAR
Windhover, it was a party at our house the day after our wedding. My wife thought it would be nice if the guys in the wedding wore their tuxes for pictures. Her husband thought it was too hot, and you see the result.
Another learning experience. DNF but enjoyed the write up and the BLOGS
Connell, I did not recognize your avatar - are you new here? If so, welcome!! If not, mea culpa for not seeing you before...
What was your sticking point for a "DNF"?
Still trying to get my picture on.
Connell, welcome.
Susan, you too; what kind of problem are you having?
I click on my blue name and nothing happens.
And you signed into Google?
Testing
Great - now you can edit your profile and upload a picture/add some info about yourself.
Good to see you Dennis. You add integrity to the blog.
The other guy, not so much.
I would send the crook an e-mail but I don't want him to have my address.
I re-read the comments and noticed you only censored anit-lemmony posts and left other anons.
This blog is anti-
Is this China?
anon@6:08, the other 'anons' didn't engage in personal attacks. Let it go.
Captain Obvious, thanks, but you too need to let it go. There's a way to address it directly and you've chosen not to. This great creation of C.C.'s doesn't deserve this.
you forgot to remove my post @ 8:32a
Thanks; I didn't read back that far.
I have mucho respect for you Dennis...
Can you pass on my concerns to C.C.?
Thank You.
This morning I forgot to add that I really liked Gareth's puzzle, in spite of a few problems along the way. Thanks to Lemonade for blogging.
Welcome to all our new "Blues", erocchio, Nance, Connell and Susan. If I missed anyone, welcome to you too :o) It's always nice to see new friendly folks and to see old favorites too..."Hi" to Dennis (nice knees!) and Windhover (yours aren't bad either!).
I may have made a mistake cleaning the pantry yesterday. Now I've started on the kitchen cabinets. Our neighbor is organizing a neighborhood yard sale next month and I'm going to fling myself into it. If I have never used the panini press, and it has been three years since I made a loaf of bread in the breadmaker, it is time to pass the "treasures" on. I have a lot of "treasures"!
Why do you suppose I can't get to the crossword of The Chronicle of Higher Education anymore? Where have they hidden it? Village Voice doesn't seem to work either.
I very much enjoyed the Vera Lynn link. WW II era seems like a very nostalgic period though I really didn't live through most of it. I mostly experienced it by way of movies, music, etc.
We had a nice lunch at a new restaurant today. We split a Cobb salad and a pasta dish with shrimp and pesto. Good enough but not worth a return trip.
I have been enjoying Memphis Beat lately.
I'm here because of C.C., so rest assured she knows.
This ends now.
Means of turning an herb... a herb or an?
Hi gang -
I love Gareth's puzzles, but today I feel as if he has beaten me severely about the head and shoulders.
I haven't read the post or the comments, because I hope to continue working on this puzzle.
Maybe I'll even finish it.
Hope springs eternal.
Cheers!
JzB
Testing
Yay, Susan! Good to finally "see" you!
Bill, I'm still able to get to the Chronicle of Higher Learning puzzle using my same old link...
Susan,
Well, that was worth waiting for. It's always nice to see a classy pearl necklace.
Thanks Dennis, Clear Ayes, and Annette for your words of welcome.
And Windhover.
Susan, hi from me too. What I want to know is, are you a real-tor or a real-a-tor? :>)
What did you used to teach? I am a retired math teacher.
Down boys...
Hi Bill G, I taught drama and creative writing for over twenty years. Also a few years of gifted English. I substituted for a math teacher for one period a day for a month when he went to NYC after 9/11. I had to study every night to keep up with the next day's assignment.
I'm a real-tor.
Hello!
I just returned from a tiring four hour ride, each way, but had to say how much I enjoyed this puzzle from Gareth Bain.
I worked it in the car on the way and that helped to while away the time. It was scrabbled at first but once I had THYMEFORBED I realized what the theme was. I loved it.
I hope you all had a wonderful Friday!
Just in case there's a single soul in the country that doesn't know it yet, Realtor is a registered trademark and it is NOT pronounced real-a-tor. It's really quite easy. Pronounce it like it's spelled.
Late to the party due to a hectic day. Enjoyed the puzzle. Gareth is a class act and I appreciate his work, his sense of humor, and in this case, his punnishment. Ya done good, Guy.
We can always use some drama around here, and hopefully it will be more creative that the recent garden variety.
In all seriousness, Susan, welcome.
Hey Joe,
Here in the South we don't just pronounce syllables, we give every single letter its due; I have heard the word 'oil' spoken as three syllables, and 'realtor' has at least four, after you add the invisible but spoken 'i' after the 't'.
I'm pretty sure Hahtool and others will back me up on this.
You Midwesterners all sound like Tom Brokaw, although unlike your average news reader, you probably can't lie with a straight face.
Just a little Friday night cynicism, I'll be all better tomorrow.
it was nice that susan ignored windhover's crass comment.
Windhover can ogle my pearls any time. What's left of 'em is 100% natural.
Bill G., wasn't Vera Lynn wonderful? I'm glad you and Lemonade enjoyed listening to her. If Argyle finds a radio station that plays music like that, please let us all know.
Susan, I understand the realtor business is pretty rough right now. Hope you are treading water.
Lucina, take it easy tomorrow.
Last to Hahtool, if I haven't said it before, I really enjoy the QOD's.
Welcome Susan.
everytime i think im out, they pull me back in
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