Theme: Lettering in Wheel. Of. Fortune. Or: And sometimes Y -- but not this time. The final letters of the final word of each asterisked theme answer is An/A + vowel, the item bought on that TV Game Show that I never watched. And, at no extra charge, they're presented in alphabetical order!
And the unifier -- 62. Words in a classic game show that can be followed by the ends of the answers to starred clues : I'D LIKE TO BUY . . . all of the above.
Hi, gang - JazzBumpa here. Quite a technical tour de force by our prolific and dynamic duo. Six theme entries, with the unifier, all of 10 or 11 letters. Lots of music to link, too.
Let's have AT IT!
Across:
1. Wasn't renewed : LAPSED. Like a magazine subscription. Anybody remember them?
7. Fiend's tail? : ISH. A feindISHly clever affix clue.
10. Biographical datum : AGE. Or a closely guarded secret. I'm 39 for the 25th time.
13. World Cup chant : OLE! OLE! The old corrida cheer doubled. Evidently, it is not derived from the Spanish verb OLER, meaning "to smell;" else it would mean, "You smell! You smell!" Lucina?
14. They're "high" but not dry : SEAS. Clever clue for the high SEAS.
16. Little shaver : LAD. I didn't shave until I was in the 8th grade.
19. Ginormous : BIG. The LW uses this word to describe really amazingly, hugely big things, like that spider she saw in the garage yesterday.
20. Early computer : ENIAC. Developed in WW II to compute trajectories for ordnance.
23. Not quite a compulsion : ITCH. I thought about going to Japan, but didn't have the Yen to travel.
25. W-2 info: Abbr. : SSN. Social Security Number. Keep it secure from identity thieves.
26. Perceptive : ASTUTE.
30. Predecessor of 33-Down : JOHNSON. Robert JOHNSON, b 1911, was a blues singer before Marnie Nixon was even born (1930).
37. Bee fore? : API. Clever word play in another devious affix clue. API is found at the beginning of words like APIARY, which is home to bees, not apes.
38. Plate in a park : HOME. Baseball, of course. Hi-ya, C.C. I'm watching the Tigers flatten the White Sox - again! 5-0 final, and another win for Verlander.
39. Took by the hand : LED. Astray, for example.
40. Aptly named movie channel : FLIX. A cable channel brought to you by Showtime.
41. Ernst contemporary : ARP. Someday, I will remember him.
46. Grab ahold of, as an idea : SEIZE ON. Carpe brainstorm.
48. Cross to bear : BURDEN. That's a load.
49. Trivial amount : SOU. An old French coin. Must not have been worth much.
50. Sandbox sight : PAIL.
56. Tibetan capital : LHASA
61. Showy wrap : BOA. A long skinny scarf.
64. Lumber tree : ELM. In days of yore.
65. Geological time division : AEON. Rocks are very patient.
66. Fare-minded one? : CABBIE. The charge for riding in a cab is a fare. More cleverness
67. Family pooch : LAB. One possibility among many.
68. Command to a 67-Across : SIT. Stay. Shake. Roll over.
69. WWII fleet : U-BOATS. German submarines - Untersee Boots.
Down:
1. Prime seating : LOGE. A theater box, and a learning moment for me
2. Rickman of Harry Potter films : ALAN. Professor Severus Snape. Complex character.
3. Prefix with meter : PERI. A straight-forward affix clue. No beating around the PERIMETER here.
4. Miso bean : SOYA. Simply soy beans to us 'Muricuns
5. Extracts : ELICITS. Draws out a comment or response.
6. Place to relax : DEN. As long as there are no lions - and that's the truth!
7. Hoops legend Thomas : ISIAH. Of the Detroit Pistons
8. Penn of "Milk" : SEAN. Movie about a murdered politician
9. Like computer lab learning : HANDS ON. As opposed to book larnin'
10. Goya's "Duchess of __" : ALBA. Sorry. Can't resist.
11. Put on a spare tire? : GAIN. Very clever. Not those round Dunlops on your car, but that other round thing that done lops over your belt.
12. Upper hand : EDGE
15. Greets someone with more than a nod : SAYS "HI"
18. LXX x X : DCC. The old Roman 700 club. Or, initially speaking, our dynamic duo, in an Alfred Hitchcock moment.
22. MSNBC rival : CNN. Cable TV news channels.
24. Vietnamese holiday marking the arrival of spring : TET.
26. Ottoman big shots : AGHAS. The H threw me.
27. Talked a blue streak? : SWORE. A fast string of blue words, no doubt. More cleverness.
28. Musical speeds : TEMPI. Presto, larghetto, etc.
29. French article : UNE.
30. Shade of green : JADE.
31. Leaves for lunch? : SALAD. I love this clue. Lettuce have more cleverness!
32. Speak one's mind : OPINE. Which I do occasionally all the time.
33. Successor to 30-Across : NIXON. Marnie Nixon was a singer who's voice was dubbed in for actresses of lesser vocal ability, like Marilyn Monroe, Debra Kerr, and Audrey Hepburn. Actually, though they were both singers, it's kind of hard to understand in what sense Robert Johnson was Marnie Nixon's predecessor. Maybe it's supposed to be these happy fellows.
35. Pizazz : ELAN. Lots of ELAN in this puzzle.
36. Tina of "30 Rock" : FEY. Funny Lady.
40. Tree often brought into the house : FIR. At Christmas time.
42. Illinois River port : PEORIA. A city 161 Mi (260km) from GARY, INDIANA
43. French pilgrimage site : LOURDES. The site of miraculous cures.
44. DH's stat : RBI. Runs Batted In. Victor Martinez is close to 100.
45. Can opener : PULL TAB. Pop, pop - fizz, fizz.
47. When doubled, sister of Eva : ZSA. Not my favorite Hungarian girl, by half.
50. A stripper takes it off : PAINT. I love this clue, but hate using the nasty stuff.
51. Arctic diver : AUK. If a penguin could fly, it would be an AUK. Actually, they are not closely related.
52. Genesis shepherd : ABEL. He annoyed his older brother, a farmer, and was then fatally Cained.
53. 1970 Kinks classic : LOLA. Things got a bit crossed up.
54. It's perpendicular to a threshold : JAMB. The side of a door frame.
55. "The Time Machine" race : ELOI. Always a favorite here at The Corner.
57. Vagabond : HOBO. From the other great depression.
58. "Take a Chance on Me" quartet : ABBA. Take a chance on a link.
59. Dressy duds : SUIT. Except on your birthday.
60. Thumbs-up votes : AYES. Any thumbs-up for this puzzle?
63. Former French coin : ECU. Of more value than a SOU, I suppose.
Fun romp, IMHO, worth a thumbs up and an ECU or two.
Jazzbumpa
Jazzbumpa
Constructors' notes from C.C. and Don:
Don came up with this theme. Our original unifier is PURCHASE, partnering up with a 9-letter TOP BANANA. Rich did not feel PURCHASE is a strong closer and suggested a more proper 11-letter I'D LIKE TO BUY. Then we made a wholesale change of all our theme entries. We tried but failed to find a short and common ANI ending phrase, so we settled down on GWEN STEFANI. It was a fun challenge to see if we could arrange six theme entries with four 11-letters long. We hope you enjoy our work.
Don came up with this theme. Our original unifier is PURCHASE, partnering up with a 9-letter TOP BANANA. Rich did not feel PURCHASE is a strong closer and suggested a more proper 11-letter I'D LIKE TO BUY. Then we made a wholesale change of all our theme entries. We tried but failed to find a short and common ANI ending phrase, so we settled down on GWEN STEFANI. It was a fun challenge to see if we could arrange six theme entries with four 11-letters long. We hope you enjoy our work.
88 comments:
Boy, what a run through the park for a Wednesday! Started in the NW, went around clockwise hitchless without a hitch... until I got to the last part to fill (due west).
THUD! (That's me, hitting the brick wall, and I deserved it for getting so cocky before I was done.)
Got STEFANI but couldn't remember GWEN to save my soul; ARP was a no-show from the get-go; and I SWORE that "swore" couldn't possibly fit for "talking a blue streak." (Going out for some V8 now.)
What a great puzzle, and made even better by being from Don and C.C.
JazzB, I always love your writeups but I'm usually so late getting to the blog that I figure what's the use; nobody's going to read the 85th entry or whatever, but this time I'm so late I'm early, so here's a well-deserved shout out to you!
Hello All,
What a nice, easy puzzle. Almost a runaway. Thanks, dynamic duo. Great, funny write-up, Jazz!
Favorite answers: SWORE, SALAD.
Can't believe this appeared so early!
Finally got to swim today. It's been so long that I hurt all over. Also, need to find a wetsuit. Doesn't look possible so far, as I am almost 6' tall and rather overweight, despite the fact that I eat practically nothing.
Time to attempt sleep! Cheers!
Good morning! Great blog, JzB. Very clever puzzle, C.C.& Don. I'D LIKE TO BUY you all a drink if you happen to find yourselves in Naples.
I thought the clues were vere clever. This one definitely plays in PEORIA, as the old saw goes.
Like WikWak, I was almost left wailing at the western wall of the puzzle, mostly because I SWORE that AGHAS was spelled AGahS and I wasn't very ASTUTE when I put in les instead of UNE. I just had to pick around that area until I realized the errors of my ways.
I spotted the vowel progression after the first four theme entries and put in the 'U', but had to wait for perp help to get the rest of AL JARREAU.
Only JzB could have found that other JOHNSON/NIXON pair. LOL
I liked the way our constructors managed to sign the puzzle... in Latin, no less!
This was a very enjoyable Wednesday solve. Thanks.
Good day folks,
Another fun romp from CC & Don G. The A, E, I ,O ,U theme was really clever. My only slowdown was the midwest because Gwen Stefani was an unknown and Arp was a "not too sure about." Eventually the perps began to fit in and that kept me on track.
Many favorite clues. Fiends tail/ish; leaves for lunch/salad; stripper takes it off/paint; & talked a blue streak/swore.
JazzB, terrific write up and a special thanks for the ABBA link. Mamma Mia! Still my favorite group.
Jazzbumpa,
As Grumpy said, only you could make the other JOHNSON & NIXON pair. I was fooled until I saw your "happy fellow" picture. Had to read your explanation for the GAIN clue, which is Rich's brainchild, so are SALAD, PAINT & SWORE. Awe-inspiring mind! Thanks for the brilliant post. Fun to read your unique de-construction and musician's take on our puzzle.
WikWak,
Nice to hear from you again. Trust me, not every post is commented on, but every post is read.
Grumpy,
I'D LIKE TO meet you someday!. What do you mean by "I liked the way our constructors managed to sign the puzzle... in Latin, no less!"?
Mom speaks out,
A belated Happy Birthday! I just added you to Dennis' Birthday List and we'll celebrate together next year.
Morning, all!
Brilliant theme and well executed. I could have done without the self-referential clues in 30A and 33D, but I was able to get them via the perps without too much trouble. The clue for 37A, however, completely boggled my mind...
Wonderful puzzle; not only lots of themeage in alphabetical order, but the added consistency of the AN and then only A for U; well done. Also, to put both SOU and ECU in the same puzzle was awesome.
JzB, it is good to see your wit as this puzzle was meant for you.
Thanks C.C. and Don and JzB; now if we get Grumpy to explain...
You mean 18d, D CC, wasn't meant to be your signature? I figured you were trying to fool us by pretending it was Roman (Latin) numerals. The Hard G on each end of the line with the D works as a signature for Don too.
I think Grumpy was referring to 18D DCC = Don and C.C, initially speaking, in a Roman numeral fill.
Thanks for the nice comments folks. They really mean a lot.
And even more to the constructors, I'll bet. Lots and lot of time and effort go into making a puzzle, and this one is a gem.
Cheers!
JzB
I'm mad at all of you that thought this was easy. I really struggled with it, but did prevail and enjoyed the fight when it was over.
Clever theme, great execution and hilarious write up. Thank you all.
Jazz: Outstanding write-up!
5 themes plus the reveal is impressive.
Last to fall, SEIZE-ON. (WTH is 'seoze-on'?).
I had tempo before noticing the 's' on 28-D, "Musical speed(s)" made it TEMPI.
I had a note in the margin:
Clever Roman numeral, DCC (700) for Don & CC.
Grumpy1 you-da-man for getting to HOME first.
Fave was that "Leaves for lunch" SALAD.
(Margin note, WOW!)
Mea-Culpa to 10 seconds yesterday.
Wasn't thinking "out-side the box."
Cheers to all at Sunset.
JzB, Don, and CC, This truly was a gem in construction and in your blog. I second all the wonderful comments. You deserve them.
I wrote LOGE, but doubted its definiton. I am accustomed to LOGE meaning the front rows of a mezzanine in a theater, okay seating, but not prime. After finishing and looking it up, I found another meaning is prime box seats.
The L at52A and 53D was a difficult WAG because I had not heard of either entry. You had to assume that JARREAU was a last name and that the likely first name beginning with A was AL.
HANDS ON in computer lab: Don't you hate when someone thinks to teach you by flashing their hands over the keys, not even givng you time to read the choices? That way I remember nothing.
I only thought Johnson & Nixon meant the presidents, didn't know about the singers
I am not worthy! I am not worthy! What an amazing puzzle with wonderful fill, things I didn’t know, clever cluing and a great unifier! Batman and Robin, move over, there’s a new dynamic duo in town!
Musings
-“Leaves for lunch” and “Stripper takes it off” made me laugh out loud!
-Cross references are fine with me and Johnson/Nixon came easily. Great variation, Jazz, along with your wonderful write-up!!
-I had to make sure my health insurance didn’t LAPSE as I turned 65 and went to Medicareland!
- My wife has informed me she keeps me around to kill ginormous spiders and keep the computer running!
-Golf a compulsion? Nah! Maybe. Okay, YES!
-I wonder if the baseball references are all C.C.?
-Dutch ELM disease devastated my home town
-Maybe we can figure the perimeter of that Ferris wheel today!
-Isiah? Great player, horrible GM!
-Does TET resonate as the “Tet offensive” to you?
-You could always buy a vowel from an ELOI!
-Great DCC catch Grumpy! OMG there are smart people on this blog!
Good Morning Jazzbumpa, C.C., Don et al.
What a clever theme - and alphabetically, to boot. Having 6 theme entries in a rigid "pre-arranged" order makes it extremely difficult to get good fill. But C.C. and Don, you pulled it off just fine! I don't mind a little crosswordese when the theme itself is so satisfying...and maddeningly elusive as I am solving the puzzle!
I would have finished a lot sooner, but it was that darned 3-letter SW corner that did me in, believe it or not. I did not know AL JARREAU, had "fur" instead of BOA, "oak" and "ash", then "fir" before ELM, and "pet", "dog", and "pup" before LAB. Grrrr...
I, too thought the DCC was your clever "signature" Don and CC!! Thanks for a fun Wednesday, and happy hump day to everyone!
Great challenging Wednesday. I got it all unassisted, but made an error with LADY/GARY. Had no idea about that song, not being much of a fan of musicals.
I too had trouble in the midwest, not knowing GWEN, misspelling AGAR, and confusing myself on the spelling of SEIZE, thinking I was mixing it up with the French for 16 (seize), and deciding at first to stick with the old "i before e" rule. Both looked correst to me. But I finally scrubbed all that and concentrated on the perps which got me out of hot water.
I've never heard of JARREAU or the singers NIXON and JOHNSON either.
It seems the French never stayed with a fixed value for those two old coins. the SOU was "either worth 5 or 10 centimes" according to Dictionary.com, and here is WIKI on the écu.
Good morning everyone. Really liked your blog, JazzB.
C.C.'s note: There's always GuiliANI if you need an I.
Great Wednesday challenge, Theme fills were easy enough, but I never figured how to integrate it with the unifier before coming here. Finally, an AUK. Not seen much but a great 3 letter fill. Favorite clue was for SWORE. And SOU and ECU in the same puzzle!. Jazz thanks for the ABBA link. Made my morning. Are baseball terms (see HOME and RBI) now a hallmark of C.C.'s puzzles? Cool. Overall, a great job by the constructors. BZ.
Enjoy the day
Of course I second all the flattery on our construction team. Maybe the DCC signature was unintentional or a Freudian slip, but sublime in any case. I have rarely enjoyed your CWs as much--this one I felt I could do!
Jazz,
I also really enjoyed your fun write-up and the links today.
HG:
Hmmm, 20yd Radius
125.6 yd perimeter
Good morning, folks. Thank you, C.C. and Don for a great puzzle. A special thanks to Jazzbumpa for an equally great write-up.
Enjoyed this. Jumped around quite a bit. My last to fill was the NW corner. I should have known ENIAC right away since we had that recently.
I must confess, my daughter helped me with GWEN STEFANI. She was standing in the kitchen and I just asked her if she knew that singer. She winged it right off the top of her head.
I did not know AL JARREAU. Perps helped.
ELOI seems to be used a lot. That was easy.
My hat off to all the 10 seconders from yesterday. I was too quick to react and did not give the problem due diligence. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Garage Sale Musings (from last weekend)-
-The Hispanics in this town are your best customers and show up a half hour before you open
-A lovely lady down the street who lives in a half million dollar house said, “I have to sit by the door and watch the Mexicans at my sales. They steal, you know!” She was already walking down the drive and I couldn’t say anything, but we were stunned!
-People actually offer 25¢ for a 50¢ shirt
-Some parents just turn their kids loose
-I sold a lot of my NASA caps that I don’t wear but thought I couldn’t give up. Joann finally sold about 1/3 of all her holiday decorations (plenty left). Ain’t it amazin’ what we accumulate and think we need to keep but really don’t?
-Where were garage sales when our kids were little?
-Every other person was a former student (of 14,000) who wanted to know if I remembered them when we were both 30 years younger and 50 pounds lighter. Do you former teachers have that issue?
-If you engage some people in casual conversation, you might find out a lot more about their aches, pains, problems, family, etc. than you want.
-Goodwill is glad to take what's left!
-There is a lot of time to finish the Friday and Saturday LA Times puzzle!
Hi There ~!
Excellent puzzle, well constructed, and I, too, liked seeing "A" U as well as the "AN" A, E, I, O.
I think "I'D LIKE TO BUY" was a good closing entry for the whole thing.
I put my vote in for D CC and the two hard G's as a signature, too.
Splynter
Grumpy,
Fun DCC observation. Alas, with DC? fixed for 18D, we did not have many options. Last time's HARD G, on the other hand, is an intentional choice on my part.
Spitzboov,
Giuliani (8) alone won't work. All our theme entries are 2-word common phrases/names. Rudy Giuliani (12) is one of the candidates we considered.
Husker Gary,
I love your musings, but do adhere to the 20-line limit, OK?
Actually, I found this puzzle to be extremely challenging. I did it at the LA Times site, because it's available there earlier than at Cruciveb. (Thanks, C.C.!)
I had a couple of distractions, and was watching the Tigers game, but it took me over 1/2 hour to complete.
My first though on PLAYER PIANO was this, which seems pretty scary now.
GARY (not INDIANA)
Couldn't say for sure that C.C. always has a baseball link, but there is a strong tendency, at least.
The words "Tet" and "offensive" are forever linked in my mind.
In other news, I just killed another ginormous spider - this one lurking in our mail box. Ugh!
In other other news, my baseball-playing grandson Nate misjudged a fly ball, stepped on the ball ROLLED his ankle and broke both his fibula and tibia. He's in a hard cast, up to his knee.
Pretty inconvenient, but he'll be OK.
Cheers!
JzB
C.C. I was just spitballing. I liked your theme words just fine. RudolphGiuliani is 15 letters and would have been a grid spanner. Might have created an undo BURDEN on the rest of the construction and perhaps an unwanted emphasis on Mr. Giuliani. STEFANI seems to give more of a Wednesday 'feel'.
Oops! Stupidity is just a hobby, C.C. I'll be a better blog citizen from now on and stay "about 20". I can do math but when I ORATE and OPINE, I can get carried away! Thanks for the gentle kick in the caboose!
Jazz, sorry to hear about Nate! My neighbor is 50 and broke both her leg bones in May and is back to the Y this month! Nate'll heal faster!
I have an ITCH and so "FORE" on this cool (frost tomorrow?), windy day!
Most favorite puzzle in a long time. Theme was dynamite. Fill was fun. Loved Grumpy's D CC discovery.
Add Jazz's write-up and it doesn't get any better; Nixon-Johnson!
Thanks and congratulations.
Please keep it up, CC and Don. It really lifted my spirits this AM.
Great blog, JazzB. Especially liked the clever (as usual) musical twist on JOHNSON-NIXON.
Maybe someone has said this before, but whenever I do one of C.C. and Don's collaborations, I can't help but think of Dan Naddor. I get the same early frustration I used to get with Dan's puzzles, followed by several "Aha!" moments, and then finish with an ultimate personal satisfaction in being able to solve something so genius. Thanks to you both!
Yes, I enjoyed your work; C.C., Don and JzB. It was a red-letter day for me 'cause I didn't need 'em. Google neither.
I enjoyed the reference to The Music Man, my favorite musical. Surely Johnson and Nixon referred to our past presidents, not Robert and Marni. Good catch on DCC. I wish I had noticed it!
I'm not a fan of 'ginormous.' It's a combination of gigantic and enormous, two perfectly good words for something really big. So it adds nothing to our vocabulary. It's just used by youngish people much cooler than I am.
Our new kitchen floor is in. Looks great. Our second new refrigerator is being delivered Friday replacing the new refrigerator that doesn't work properly. Then things will be back to normal and boring.
Well done, Hard G , CC and JB
Yes that was fun - a pity, though, that the theme clues were mostly obscure (to me). Even "Player Piano" is a Pianola to me.
I thought of LUGE at first for 1D. Prime seating, but of an altogether different nature.
JB, thanks for the KINKS links. It's remarkable how many of their songs survive as anthems - "Wild Thing"; "Sunny Afternoon", or silly ditties like "Dedicated follower of fashion". And they all pass what we used to call the "Old Grey Whistle Test".
31D. "Leaves for lunch" immediately triggered the old joke about the hungry bear with a gun and no money who goes to a restaurant. Headline: "PANDA EATS, SHOOTS, AND LEAVES".
Clues I did not like:
64A ELM - Lumber tree? Good luck finding some. Surely this is historical and should be marked as such.
26D AGHAS - it would have been nice to alert us to an alternative spelling.
11D - GAIN. I appreciate the misdirection, but a correct answer is "GAIN WEIGHT". "I've gained" usually needs some object or context - "a few pounds", etc.
19A BIG. "Ginormous" points to a slang term. Clues normally go in the other direction - A straight clue leading to a slangy answer.
Otherwise
Great stuff. I'll give it an A.
NC
So much for C.C.'s caution about line limit.
Tweeeeeet!!
Gotta throw a penalty flag on "Wild Thing", Nice Cuppa.
That was the Troggs.
The sucessor-one who succeeds to another-as in office, such as Lyndon JOHNSON...succeeded by Richard NIXON.
GET IT??
An other great puzzle from Don and C.C.
A nother great write up from Jzb.
Another personal shout out for me.
Perfect Wednesday level, IMHO.
Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy! episodes usually run back to back. A comedian once said "I go from thinking I know everything to realizing I know nothing in less than an hour!"
Anytime I hear "Take a Chance On Me" the sitcom The Office comes to mind.
Good day, Jazz, C.C. and Don. What a brilliant puzzle and blog. JZ, you are so funny! OLE, OLE, indeed.
Actually, "I smell" would be "yo huelo" as the verb, oler, takes a radical change in conjugation. But it's a great play on words.
Ditto, ditto, ditto on all the praises heaped on this puzzle. And sorry, Joe, I found it easy, too. My only change was TEMPO to TEMPI.
Sometimes I listen to the jazz station so ALJARREAU is familiar and GWENSTEFANI just jumped out.
I loved so much of this but leaves for lunch, SALAD, is outstanding.
Also, put on a spare tire, GAIN.
NC, your attention to detail is exemplary, but this is a PUZZLE with cryptic clues and play on words. That is what makes it enjoyable.
Grumpy 1, DCC as a signature for Don and C.C., brilliant.
Have a beautiful Wednesday, everyone! It rained last night, first time in three months.
One of the best of the last few months! I'd like to buy you guys a beer.
(with ANI and EAU, thank goodness for OneLook, huh)... :)
Jerome! I have missed you. Welcome back.
Jazz:
Even "you smell, you smell" would be "tu hueles, tu hueles" with silent "h." Still laughing.
Hello.
What was the answer to yesterday's
ferris wheel problem? I got 10.57 sec and an elevation of 63.43 degrees using tangents. The car would be following an arc instead of a straight line.
eddy
Good Morning All, Before I forget, I want to compliment Jazz on his cleverly skewed JOHNSON/NIXON comments. Fitting in "Robert" and "Marnie" was a stroke of comic genius. I loved all the musical links too. Your comments were the perfect accompanyment to Don's and C.C.'s puzzle.
The puzzle was terrific Wednesday fare. Even though all the theme phrases and names came easily, I didn't get the "vowel" connection until I hit the unifier at 62A. Just enough of a brain teaser for a nice little tap with the V-8 can.
Liked 27D)"Talked a blue streak/SWORE and 45D)Can opener/PULL TAB.
And only three little often used French words, UNE, SOU and ECU
Good afternoon everyone.
I also ditto all the praise and compliments for this outstanding puzzle and Jazz's write up.
I didn't identify the theme until I came here. Missed 62A because I couldn't spell the capital of Tibet, and had SOU (twice, but I didn't notice.)
Also agree that it was agreeable to have "an" before all the vowels except u.
Jazz, hope your grandson Nate feels good and heals quickly. That's a shame.
Cheers
EddyB, the answer was exactly 10 seconds. The angle is exactly 60 degrees.
Since several of you enjoyed the math puzzle from yesterday, here's another.
Gummy worms:
On the last day of school, professor emeritus Graham gave gummy worms to his class. He gave each boy as many gummy worms as there were boys in the class. He gave each girl as many gummy worms as there were girls in the class. He brought 400 gummy worms, and when he was finished, he had six gummy worms left. There were two more boys than girls in his class. How many students were in his class? (I’m guessing the girls were displeased.)
Ermal Fraze of Dayton, Oh invented the pull tab for cans eliminating the need for a "church key".
Jzb: I got your Hitchcock reference for DCC!
15 boys, 13 girls. 28 Total
Oh, I forgot to mention one thing that turned out to be a misdirect for me (though I doubt it was intentional). I had the most trouble in the NW corner and left it blank til the end. That resulted in my having only the last 5 letters of the answer to 17 across....Diana. (Well, OK, I had 6, but the N from Den didn't help me much. So I'm all: "I know the song about a woman was 'Marion Librarian'. What's this about Diana??"
That confused me, but I guess that's normal. :-)
I didn't get the answer to the Gummy Bears problem. My excuse? I ate my homework and didn't have any gummy Bears left to count.
Bill G. Sorry to disagree. Angle >
60 degrees or I don't understand problem. Used arc tan 2 or arc sine
0.896 to get 63+ degrees.
Agree if angle were 60 degrees, time would be 10 sec. It is not a 30-60 rt triangle. Hyp is 10 x sq rt 5.
ferm. Try wetsuitsdirect.net. Heaven sakes lady be careful.
seems like eddyb won't let it go :)
Hello everybody. Fabulous puzzle today. I second the comments of praise made by most of you. I couldn't break into the SW corner until I looked up Al Jarreau. I had guessed JAMB but couldn't confirm it because I wanted ASH, not ELM, as the lumber tree and couldn't get REX out of my mind for the family pooch. The J in Jarreau tipped the scales in favor of JAMB, but I wrote in LOLO for 53D, causing me to wonder what heck kind of dog a LOB was. V-8 time!
@ Kazie,
Sublime, indeed, girl. Sublime, indeed.
As was the write-up, JzB! Keep it up and extended!
Woo-hoo! Great puzzle, CC and Don! Thanks, Jazz for the funny as well as informative blog.
Ave Joe beat me to the correction of "Wild Thing"
The clever clues kept me hopping today. I did, however, bet "salad" right off the bat. Gwen Stefani crossed with elan was cute.
Last week the Brazilian Hurricane found a feather boa upstairs in the ancient dress-up box. I wish I' taken a picture! She was so adorable.
CC, fear not, my real birthday is Sept. 18. Shhhh, no bad juju this year, so far. For more protection we "planted" a bottle tree in the garden this summer.
Keep on keeping on, smart people!
Hi All ~~
Wow ... such greatness today! Great puzzle, C.C. and Don and great write-up, Jazz! So many fantastic clues ... I have many favorites.
I didn't catch the theme, even with the unifier, until I wrote down all the last words of the starred clues. Duh. I don't know how I missed it.
~~ Loved listening to AL JARREAU in the 80s.
~~ Fun baseball clues -- 'Plate in a park' and 'DH's stat.'
~~ Jazz ~ My husband is a Tigers fan (complete with Verlander shirt - a gift) and we follow all the games, mostly online. *Hey ... they just now came from behind to win in the 10th inning. Twelve in a row!
Lots of interesting comments today ~~ fun to read.
More puzzles like this one, please!
OK, you all know that I am a total baseball ignoramus, so I don't mind asking:
Who (or what) is DH?? ("DH's stat" for the answer RBI)??? I always use DH for "Dear Husband" when I blog. But no, I don't think Boomer plays professional baseball - he is a bowler, right? And I'm quite sure Don has a "Dear Wife"...
Marti,
The DH is the Designated Hitter in the American League. We take the pitcher's spot in the lineup because, though they may be able to throw the ball well, they can't necessarily hit it well.
In the National League, the pitchers stand in there just like one of the boys...
Don't be so sure. MSO. We've have this Shel Silverstein before, but the math teasers seem to call out.
Smart
My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes -- I guess he don't know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head--
Too proud of me to speak!
Bill G.thanks for the mind games.
I had 7.5 sec. originally for yesterday’s problem. Seeing that was incorrect and realizing why, and having forgotten my trig learned more than 50 years ago, I tried again. I used lined paper and let each horizontal row represent 10 ft. I drew and cut out a circle 4 units (rows) in diameter on the same lined paper. I folded the circle in half vertically and set the folded diameter line perpendicular to the first (zero) line of my home made graph. I marked the place where the first line (representing 10 feet) touched the circle. Then using this mark I folded the half circle. It made exact thirds. Aha ! 10 feet appeared at 1/6 of the way around the circle. So I divided 60 sec. by six, resulting in ten seconds.
Today within a minute or so I found 15 boys and 13 girls by “Guess and check”. I then read the blog and saw I agreed with Spitzbov . I am trying to solve the problem by using an equation and have not yet given up.
Sometimes unsophisticated methods work okay. Remember, I taught elementary school.
BTW, I was only referring to my own "smartness" with the Shel Silverstein poem. It is no big news that math isn't my strong suit. But there are many mathematically gifted people around this blog.
I had to smile at Yellowrock's solutions. That is undoubtedly the way I would have approached the problems, had I even started. That's "whatever works" smarts. You go, girl!
How ‘bout
g = # of girls
b = # of boys
b – g = 2
b^2 + g^2 = 400 – 6
b^2 + g^2 = 394
Since b – g = 2, b = g + 2
Substitute
(g + 2)^2 + g^2 = 394
g^2 + 4g + 4 + g^2 = 394
2g^2 + 4g – 390 = 0
g^2 + 2g – 195 = 0
(g + 15)(g – 13) = 0
g = -15 (discard) or g = 13!
Therefore g = 13 and b = 15
Jim, big thanks for shedding light on this one!! So, I'll tell my dear husband that he is the "designated hitter" for tonight? LOL!!
HeartRX:
Thank you for asking about DH as I meant to but then forgot about it and RBI simply emerged. I also think of dear or darling husband.
I let it go because it isn't that important to me. I don't know where the 60 degrees comes from
and we can't trade diagrams.
Problem with folding a circle into 6 segments is C = 2 pi r and two pi is 6.28+.
Next problem. Even Mikie likes them.
eddy
Solution:
Let x = # boys
then x-2 = # girls
Then equation for # of Gummy worms:
x • x + (x-2) • (x-2) = 400 - 6
Combining: x² + (x² -4x +4) = 394
Rearranging: x² + x² -4x = 390
or: 2x² -4x = 390
÷2: x² -2x = 195
Factoring: x(x-2) = 195
We know that 14 times 14 = 196
Therefore 15 times 13 = 195
and so: x = 15, and x-2 = 13.
Proof: Gummy worms = 15(15) + 13(13) +6 = 400
225 + 169 + 6 = 400
394 +6 = 400
QED
eddyB,
A right angle is 90 degrees and a straight line is 180 degrees; a circle is 360 degrees. So if you divide the circle into 6 equal parts, each angle will be 60 degrees.
A more interesting question from BillG, and one you might be trying to solve, would be: how many seconds would it take to travel 10 yards along the circumference of the Ferris wheel.
Greta puzzle and writeup. I was smiling as I did this one.
For 66A, Fare-minded one? - While the fare is what you pay, I think it also refers to the person riding in the cab.
For 3D, I kept looking a PERI Meter and thinking, what the heck is a peri meter? Duh!!!
They also got me with 6D, we all know the place to relax is a SPA. NOT!
Greg
Lets not go crazy with the math problems. There are other blogs for that. A problem every once in a while is good. Too much of a good thing is not. Everything in moderation.
Good evening, all.
Don and C.C., this is my favorite, yet, of your collaborative puzzles! You are a great "dynamic duo."
JazzB, as soon as I started reading the write-up I knew it was you. I hope you had as much fun writing it as I had fun reading it and following the links. Best wishes to Nate.
Enjoy the night!
Yellowrocks, I'm impressed with your two solutions; both that you were willing to try something out of your comfort zone and that you figured out a way to approach the problem using things that made sense to you. Excellent!
EddyB, I e-mailed you a diagram and a solution to the Ferris wheel problem. Did you not get it?
Everything in moderation eh? Two problems in two days seems moderate to me (having already commented on the excellent crossword). Here is a word puzzle some might enjoy.
Write a type of bird in each set of blanks from left to right, one letter per blank, to complete the longer word. For example, _ NO_B_ _ K, you would stuff SWAN into the blanks to make SNOWBANK. If all else fails, wing it!
R _ CT _ N _ _ _
P _ _ HI _ _ TIO _
_ _ _ SS _ ORD
CC, can you do anything?
Blue whales are delighting whale watchers in southern California.
rectangle eagle
prohibition robin
crossword crow
Two of my favorite sayings are: "Everything in moderation. Including Moderation." and "Eschew obfuscation."
Hola Everyone, I did do the puzzle, but had one empty square. I've never seen the Music Man, though I recognize some of the songs. Gary Indiana came very slowly and I didn't sus the theme until I read Jazz's writeup.
Another bang up job, DonG. and C.C. It is always fun to do one of your puzzle--even if I don't finish all.
It's been a very busy week and especially busy day today, so I'll have to read the blog entries later this evening.
Off to another meeting.
One of my favorite sayings, and words to live by is:
Too much is not enough.
A corollary is ?$@& moderation, but I won't go that far.
On 2nd thought, Sure I will.
Sure. Why drop the macho act now?
Good night all.
Just stopping by to say it's good to hear from you Jerome. We've been wondering where you are.
Why do you even bother? It's not an act, sweetheart; it's the real deal. Like to try some? ;-}
Takes the bait every time. Too easy.
Windover could probably say the same, anon... I think you took HIS bait!
Annette@10:15, you are very perceptive! BTW, I agree with your profile comment about the pepperoni pizza. Pepperoni and mushroom combo was the first pizza I ever had. Fifty-five years later it is still the best of all.
WH, my apologies for the typo in your name earlier!
CA, that must be the most perfect food - or mac and cheese. Pretty close call... And I'm not good at math problems either. I wouldn't even enjoy trying them. But I have no problem just scrolling past them and picking up on the comments I can relate to.
Hi All,
What Wik Wak said in his last paragraph.
Fun puzzle Was mystified as to the theme but aftertwo or three readings I got it!
Bill G. Got the email and found my mistake. Thank you.
eddy
Great work, DD&DG. Love your writeups, JazzB.
Oops, I meant C.C. & DhardG! Sorry
Pepperoni and mushroom with extra cheese!
The singer's name is "Marni" Nixon, not "Marnie" as misspelled in the clue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marni_Nixon
Sorry - wrong puzzle.
Marni wasn't in the clue. It was just Jazzbumpa kiddin us anyway.
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