This is #4 of our "Curious Conundrums" series.
Don (his idea and grid) and I thought some of you (esp you, Tinbeni, Happy Birthday!) might be amused by this punny theme. I don't recall seeing similar gimmick in any major newspaper before. The fact that the answers sound too much alike makes it unsuitable for publication.
Our clue for 16-Across is rather long and Across Lite can't handle it. Just click View, then Notepad. You should be able to read the whole clue.
Puzzle:
Here is puz file (Across Lite).
Here is PDF.
Spoiler: Here is the answer grid.
Thanks for solving and do let us have your comments.
C.C.
Don (his idea and grid) and I thought some of you (esp you, Tinbeni, Happy Birthday!) might be amused by this punny theme. I don't recall seeing similar gimmick in any major newspaper before. The fact that the answers sound too much alike makes it unsuitable for publication.
Our clue for 16-Across is rather long and Across Lite can't handle it. Just click View, then Notepad. You should be able to read the whole clue.
Puzzle:
Here is puz file (Across Lite).
Here is PDF.
Spoiler: Here is the answer grid.
Thanks for solving and do let us have your comments.
C.C.
11 comments:
across lite link doesn't load I wasn't able to do this puzzle and I'm unable to print it out since my printer has black ink but the colour cartridge is out and it won't print w/o a new colour cartridge even though I have told it to print colour as b & w.
I usually feel puzzle-deprived when one of mine is published. However, today C.C. gave me a nice present by posting a Curious Conundrum puzzle for me to solve! (Thanks, C.C.!)
I had a blast with this one, and loved parsing all the theme entries. After I finished, I just had to go back over them and say each one out loud - try it, it's fun!
My head is dented, but the V8 can got the worst of it on this one. Favs were "Like some chemistry" for ON SCREEN, and "There is a bar for it" for SPACE.
Too bad this one was rejected - I loved that they all "kinda" sounded alike.
Great Job, Don and C.C.
Don G. & C.C.
Very punny. Each and every theme got a groan (in a good way) as I said them out-loud.
Had a HAR-HAR at Greek philosopher, ARI. Those are my real initials.
Didn't understand how Sand. to the gladiators was ARENA. All perps. Come to think of it, I practically did the whole puzzle using the "Down-clues" ...
CC
I thought it was great fun, although SHERLOCK HOLMES was an immediate write-in, which helped, and I more or less guessed the ELEMENTARY theme before going further.
I don't see why "sound[ing] too much alike" makes it unsuitable for publication. Sounding alike WAS the theme after all.
ALIMONY TORY and A LA MONTEREY were guessable, but unlike the other 3, are not standard phrases IMO (but please correct me).
I thought 42A needed a Brit-indicator - or is a TORY well-known in the US as a member of the British Conservative Party?
How I YEARN for an E-TYPE, the most elegant sports car of its time - maybe all time, IMHO.
NC
Great fun, C.C. and Don. Some rather unusual pronunciations of 'elementary' and not really 'in the language' but very getable or sussable or whatever. There were some really clever clues, too.
One little lapse kept me from getting Mr Happy Pencil. I had HiP, filled the next two lines and never went back to check the down clue so iCO stayed in. D'OH! Pass that well dented V8 can please.
I was going to complain about NOV when the clue suggested a Spanish abbreviation, but then I realized that NOV is the proper abbreviation in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and probably some other languages as well.
We see TORY=conservative often enough that I didn't need it clued as British.
Too bad it wasn't published more widely, but it was a nice Conundrum Corner entry.
Forgot to come back, til I read Abejo's remark on the other blog.
Puzzle was fun. Had Mat for 1A, so missed iD and 2D.55D, I had 'ETY--', so missed 67A and 70A. I thought 70A was SEE, but...
Like Marti, I practiced saying theme out loud. Very creative idea.
Oh,also didn't know MAX and wanted 'map' for 34D.
Marti's favs were mine also.
Thanks, CC and Don.
Well, I put my comments in the other section for today. I goofed. Apologize.
Abejo
Hey C.C. and Hard G.,
I really enjoyed this puzzle, and if it had been published on a Thursday or so, I would have thought it fit in well with the LAT standards and style. The cluing was excellent and the theme was very clever and appealing.
~ Bill
It was hard to duplicate the impact that these puns delivered in the movie. Each time they zinged the viewer with a groaner pun, the camera cut away to the scene of a horrible murder. How appropriate! These phrases were never meant to be "in the language". It was just a funny way to put words together in an unexpected way.
I am not certain how the idea of answers sounding alike is undesirable. Perhaps it is too much of a hint or too boring. Anyway, I couldn't let this one go totally to waste, and I am so glad that I could share it with someone.
Don G. and C.C.:
I'm glad you decided to share this puzzle with us. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I did try pronouncing the theme answers. Fun!
I found the NW corner tough because 1D, elbows, was so devilishly misdirectional. Good job.
Also HAR and YIN eluded me completely.
Thank you for some fun and please continue with your Curious Conundrums.
Don G and CC: Thoroughly enjoyed this 'curious' puzzle.
The theme clues didn't come so easily even after getting the first one, but I had lots of fun trudging through. Amazingly, at the finish, I had no errors!
Liked "lighten up" ENHALO, "there's a bar for it" SPACE (I kept thinking -- beer bar? sports bar?, etc. lol
Also liked "heat source" MIAMI.
I assumed the connection of "sand for gladiators" was ARENA, thinking that's what the ground surface comprised, but I didn't know YIN meant "shade" in Chinese. (I took two years of Mandarin in college, go figure".)
I took up Heart's suggestion and went back and read all the theme out loud. It was fun, made me lol...
I did this cw before SSS because the name, My Dear Watson, appealed. Now I'll go back and try #3. Thanks Don & CC for all the fun today.
Eileen
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