THEME: Acronym meets dyslexia. Each of six theme answers are two part phrases, with the the first part of each answer two letters which are reversed from a common expression. How ironic we have this brilliant offering from our own Batman and Robin, Hard G. and C.C., when I have been commenting on acronyms for the last four weeks. As a left-hander, I am forever reversing letters, so the theme jumped out at me, and off we went. A really clean offering with lots of fresh fill and cluing. Simple but exciting to come up with this many phrases.
17A. Violent comic book protesters?: DC BURNERS. Detective Comics. Like the book burners in Fahrenheit 451, nothing like the CD burners. Compact Disc creators. DC, home of Batman and Superman was the rival of Marvel, where Spiderman, Hulk and X-Men were born in Stan Lee's brain. Marvel lovers would have burned the DCs in the 70's.
26A. The wind at Chi-Town's Wrigley Field?: HR FACTOR. Home Run. Instead of RH factor. RH actually is an abbreviation of RHESUS, the type of monkey used to discover this blood immunity factor, not quite an acronym, but very cute. We humans are 85% RH positive.
33A. Flintstone receivers?: BC RADIOS. Before Christ. Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty lived 65 million BC based on their pets, while CB Radios, Citizen Band radios, did not become popular until the 60's.
17A. Violent comic book protesters?: DC BURNERS. Detective Comics. Like the book burners in Fahrenheit 451, nothing like the CD burners. Compact Disc creators. DC, home of Batman and Superman was the rival of Marvel, where Spiderman, Hulk and X-Men were born in Stan Lee's brain. Marvel lovers would have burned the DCs in the 70's.
26A. The wind at Chi-Town's Wrigley Field?: HR FACTOR. Home Run. Instead of RH factor. RH actually is an abbreviation of RHESUS, the type of monkey used to discover this blood immunity factor, not quite an acronym, but very cute. We humans are 85% RH positive.
33A. Flintstone receivers?: BC RADIOS. Before Christ. Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty lived 65 million BC based on their pets, while CB Radios, Citizen Band radios, did not become popular until the 60's.
45A. News agency's betting method?: AP SYSTEM. Associated Press, is not like a PA System, Public Address.
50A. Where horses box?: KO CORRAL. Knock Out, not the famous shoot out site, OK Corral,
50A. Where horses box?: KO CORRAL. Knock Out, not the famous shoot out site, OK Corral,
Old Kindersley Corral, 326 East Allen Street, Tombstone, AZ85638, which is actually next to the alley where the Earps faced the Clantons etc.
64A. Pleasure craft loaded with Charmin?: TP CRUISER. Toilet Paper filling your craft, sounds pretty funny, as does the Chrysler PT Cruiser. Personal Transport. See above.
Okay let's do it!
Across:
1. Six-time French Open champ: BORG. You really should watch the HBO movie, Fire and Ice, about Borg and McEnroe then and now.
5. Perch, at times: LIMB. Little birdie on the tree limb.
9. Bucks: CLAMS. Supposedly, the ancients really used them as currency.
14. Couples choice: IRON. Really devilishly clever, as the clue refers to Freddy Couples the golfer. He captains the US President's Cup team this fall. They do not use the apostrophe so you know it is a name not something belonging to a couple.
Okay let's do it!
Across:
1. Six-time French Open champ: BORG. You really should watch the HBO movie, Fire and Ice, about Borg and McEnroe then and now.
5. Perch, at times: LIMB. Little birdie on the tree limb.
9. Bucks: CLAMS. Supposedly, the ancients really used them as currency.
14. Couples choice: IRON. Really devilishly clever, as the clue refers to Freddy Couples the golfer. He captains the US President's Cup team this fall. They do not use the apostrophe so you know it is a name not something belonging to a couple.
15. Wells's Upper-worlders: ELOI. From our old favorite, The Time Machine, with Yvette Mimieux as the tasty one.
16. Sister's outfit: HABIT. Did you all watch Sally Field in the Flying Nun?
19. Clinton's boss: OBAMA. Hillary.
20. Pigeon: SAP. People taken advantage of by con-men, because they are plucked like a pigeon. I hear you, silly man.
21. Connection gizmo: ADAPTOR.
23. Country pro: FER. If.n ye ain't fer me, you agin me.
24. Big deer: ELK. In case you did not know it, the Elk, or wapiti, and the Moose, or Eurasian Elk are all in the Deer family.
28. Diet, usually: EAT LESS. It took me a moment to parse this as two words.
32. National Council __ Raza: Hispanic civil rights group: OF LA. A somewhat controversial group, LA RAZA, the Race in Spanish.
35. Bleeping official: CENSOR. I adore this clue, as it is the guy who inserts the bleeps.
39. French bath: BAIN. (rhymes with man, sort of; not rain) Our French lesson, even if we have misplaced Jeannie; salle de bain means bathroom, a phrase you need to know if you travel in certain countries; bring your own TP (see above).
40. Ultracompetitive sort: TYPE A.
42. Gaseous: Pref.: AERI. Be careful. LINK. (0:17)
43. Shout to an awardee: SPEECH. Has everyone seen The King's Speech?
47. Who's sorry now: RUER. I rue the day when they thought of this use.
49. Grand: STATELY. Like in ole Opry.
54. Bring forth, as 59-Acrosses: LAY. and 59A. See 54-Across: EGG. What I may do if I do not get this write up going soon.
55. Kerfuffle: ADO. Scottish in origin.
56. Following: RETINUE. Nowadays we call it our posse.
62. Nick of "Arthur" (2011): NOLTE. Russell Brand is no Dudley Moore. TRAILER (2:33)
66. Rice, for one: GRAIN.
67. Put in a magazine: LOAD. For your automatic weapon.
68. Sushi wrapper: NORI. Seaweed. Yummy.
69. Quarterback's accuracy, say: ASSET.
70. Name meaning "hairy" in Hebrew: ESAU. How Jacob tricked Isaac.
71. Use needles: KNIT. Did you see see the surprising guest on Regis and Kelly who knitted?
Down:
1. Nods, sometimes: BIDS. Auctions.
2. Walrus hunter: ORCA. Killer whales think walrus is sushi, even without the Nori.
3. Fictional writer on the fictional "Alan Brady Show": ROB PETRIE. Carl Reiner, Mary Tyler Moore and the incomparable DICK VAN DYKE.(1:58)
4. Bearded bovine: GNU. Who knew I would look like you?
5. Conditionally give: LEND. "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be."
16. Sister's outfit: HABIT. Did you all watch Sally Field in the Flying Nun?
19. Clinton's boss: OBAMA. Hillary.
20. Pigeon: SAP. People taken advantage of by con-men, because they are plucked like a pigeon. I hear you, silly man.
21. Connection gizmo: ADAPTOR.
23. Country pro: FER. If.n ye ain't fer me, you agin me.
24. Big deer: ELK. In case you did not know it, the Elk, or wapiti, and the Moose, or Eurasian Elk are all in the Deer family.
28. Diet, usually: EAT LESS. It took me a moment to parse this as two words.
32. National Council __ Raza: Hispanic civil rights group: OF LA. A somewhat controversial group, LA RAZA, the Race in Spanish.
35. Bleeping official: CENSOR. I adore this clue, as it is the guy who inserts the bleeps.
39. French bath: BAIN. (rhymes with man, sort of; not rain) Our French lesson, even if we have misplaced Jeannie; salle de bain means bathroom, a phrase you need to know if you travel in certain countries; bring your own TP (see above).
40. Ultracompetitive sort: TYPE A.
42. Gaseous: Pref.: AERI. Be careful. LINK. (0:17)
43. Shout to an awardee: SPEECH. Has everyone seen The King's Speech?
47. Who's sorry now: RUER. I rue the day when they thought of this use.
49. Grand: STATELY. Like in ole Opry.
54. Bring forth, as 59-Acrosses: LAY. and 59A. See 54-Across: EGG. What I may do if I do not get this write up going soon.
55. Kerfuffle: ADO. Scottish in origin.
56. Following: RETINUE. Nowadays we call it our posse.
62. Nick of "Arthur" (2011): NOLTE. Russell Brand is no Dudley Moore. TRAILER (2:33)
66. Rice, for one: GRAIN.
67. Put in a magazine: LOAD. For your automatic weapon.
68. Sushi wrapper: NORI. Seaweed. Yummy.
69. Quarterback's accuracy, say: ASSET.
70. Name meaning "hairy" in Hebrew: ESAU. How Jacob tricked Isaac.
71. Use needles: KNIT. Did you see see the surprising guest on Regis and Kelly who knitted?
Down:
1. Nods, sometimes: BIDS. Auctions.
2. Walrus hunter: ORCA. Killer whales think walrus is sushi, even without the Nori.
3. Fictional writer on the fictional "Alan Brady Show": ROB PETRIE. Carl Reiner, Mary Tyler Moore and the incomparable DICK VAN DYKE.(1:58)
4. Bearded bovine: GNU. Who knew I would look like you?
5. Conditionally give: LEND. "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be."
6. Intestinal section : ILEA. Not to be confused with ilia; we each have only one and it is the terminal portion of the small intestine extending from the jejunum to the cecum. I bet that clears it up.
7. Change, in sci-fi: MORPH. Kafka cockroaches, anyone?
8. Casual eatery: BISTRO. More French, these developed in Paris to serve to not so wealthy.
9. Sunday number: CHORALE. Not numerical, vocal.
10. Hyde's birthplace?: LAB. Dr. Jekyll's to be precise, at least in the mind of RLS.
11. Sailor's back?: ABAFT. Did not know but it was filled by perps so I still do not.
12. Old copy: MIMEO. The lovely blue product of the mimeograph.
13. '60s Green Bay hero Bart: STARR. LINK. (1:24). The first of many great Alabama QBs, Joe Namath included.
18. Did a croupier's job: RAKED. My chips, dammit!
22. Discarded: OFF CAST. Cast off?
25. Venezuelan herder: LLANERO. Learning moment ONE.
27. Game with melding: CANASTA. Pinochle did not fit.
28. Marine retreats?.: EBBS. Nice change up for some crosswordese.
29. Put __ on: limit: A CAP. Whatever couple puts on spending, or every major sport except baseball puts on salaries.
30. Chair patter's words: SIT HERE. Nice visual, sit here my dear, heh, heh.
31. Milk source: SOY. Not COW.
34. Day __: SPA.
36. Catch sight of : SET EYES ON. Sparkly, fresh and visual.
37. '80s-'90s ace Hershiser: OREL. You know C.C.will get her BASEBALL (1:31) in.
38. Frosted: RIMY. Robert Frost liked the Rime in his rhyme.
41. Bottom line for stockholders, briefly: EPS. Earnings Per Share.
44. Juice: CURRENT. AC/DC, alternating or direct, or BOTH?(3:20)
46. Conn. school: YALE U. The abbreviation for Connecticut told you this was going to be different. Yale is in New Haven, and many relatives attended.
48. Disconcert: RATTLE. Orel Hersheiser never looked rattled on the mound.
50. Whence Roo?: KANGA. Mommy?
51. Stable emanations: ODORS. Stable like in Horse poop, not steady.
52. War adversaries since the '70s: COLAS. Pepsi vs. Coke; I am strictly a Coke guy, from my childhood soda fountain days.
53. Procedures involving suction, familiarly: LIPOS. Suctions. ewwww.
57. School sports regulatory org.: NCAA. ooh, another one, National Collegiate Athletic Association, likely to be destroyed by the super conferences.
58. Pakistani language: URDU. The nice man who works at the liquor store across from my apartment is Pakistani. Hamid.
60. Spice Girl Halliwell: GERI. SONG (3:25).
61. Pluck: GRIT. Yes, it is TRUE.
63. Sudden death cause: TIE. No dying, it is just a game; they tried to change it to sudden victory but it never caught on.
65. Publicity: INK. I wonder if LiLo believes any publicity is good publicity?
Answer grid.
A workout, but a really nice ride Time For Me To Go Until Next Friday. Fall fell, 60's at night, 70's daytime and breezy. anyone else want to come and fall in love?
ciao chow, enjoy a few words from our creators.
Lemonade
Constructors' note:
This puzzle branched off from an acronym project Don and I embarked last Thanksgiving. We originally had a few three-letter acronym conversions (PGA CHAMPIONSHIP to GPA CHAMPIONSHIP, e.g.). Rich suggested that we limit to 2-letters since the switch is easier to spot. Don thought it would be fun for solvers to get six entries in the grid by concentrating on short theme answers. The three-letter consonant clusters in DC BURNER & BC RADIOS posed some unexpected challenges in our filling process.
8. Casual eatery: BISTRO. More French, these developed in Paris to serve to not so wealthy.
9. Sunday number: CHORALE. Not numerical, vocal.
10. Hyde's birthplace?: LAB. Dr. Jekyll's to be precise, at least in the mind of RLS.
11. Sailor's back?: ABAFT. Did not know but it was filled by perps so I still do not.
12. Old copy: MIMEO. The lovely blue product of the mimeograph.
13. '60s Green Bay hero Bart: STARR. LINK. (1:24). The first of many great Alabama QBs, Joe Namath included.
18. Did a croupier's job: RAKED. My chips, dammit!
22. Discarded: OFF CAST. Cast off?
25. Venezuelan herder: LLANERO. Learning moment ONE.
27. Game with melding: CANASTA. Pinochle did not fit.
28. Marine retreats?.: EBBS. Nice change up for some crosswordese.
29. Put __ on: limit: A CAP. Whatever couple puts on spending, or every major sport except baseball puts on salaries.
30. Chair patter's words: SIT HERE. Nice visual, sit here my dear, heh, heh.
31. Milk source: SOY. Not COW.
34. Day __: SPA.
36. Catch sight of : SET EYES ON. Sparkly, fresh and visual.
37. '80s-'90s ace Hershiser: OREL. You know C.C.will get her BASEBALL (1:31) in.
38. Frosted: RIMY. Robert Frost liked the Rime in his rhyme.
41. Bottom line for stockholders, briefly: EPS. Earnings Per Share.
44. Juice: CURRENT. AC/DC, alternating or direct, or BOTH?(3:20)
46. Conn. school: YALE U. The abbreviation for Connecticut told you this was going to be different. Yale is in New Haven, and many relatives attended.
48. Disconcert: RATTLE. Orel Hersheiser never looked rattled on the mound.
50. Whence Roo?: KANGA. Mommy?
51. Stable emanations: ODORS. Stable like in Horse poop, not steady.
52. War adversaries since the '70s: COLAS. Pepsi vs. Coke; I am strictly a Coke guy, from my childhood soda fountain days.
53. Procedures involving suction, familiarly: LIPOS. Suctions. ewwww.
57. School sports regulatory org.: NCAA. ooh, another one, National Collegiate Athletic Association, likely to be destroyed by the super conferences.
58. Pakistani language: URDU. The nice man who works at the liquor store across from my apartment is Pakistani. Hamid.
60. Spice Girl Halliwell: GERI. SONG (3:25).
61. Pluck: GRIT. Yes, it is TRUE.
63. Sudden death cause: TIE. No dying, it is just a game; they tried to change it to sudden victory but it never caught on.
65. Publicity: INK. I wonder if LiLo believes any publicity is good publicity?
Answer grid.
A workout, but a really nice ride Time For Me To Go Until Next Friday. Fall fell, 60's at night, 70's daytime and breezy. anyone else want to come and fall in love?
ciao chow, enjoy a few words from our creators.
Lemonade
Constructors' note:
This puzzle branched off from an acronym project Don and I embarked last Thanksgiving. We originally had a few three-letter acronym conversions (PGA CHAMPIONSHIP to GPA CHAMPIONSHIP, e.g.). Rich suggested that we limit to 2-letters since the switch is easier to spot. Don thought it would be fun for solvers to get six entries in the grid by concentrating on short theme answers. The three-letter consonant clusters in DC BURNER & BC RADIOS posed some unexpected challenges in our filling process.
Lemonade,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed write-up. "Killer whales think walrus is sushi, even without nori" is fun.
As I mentioned in our note, the upper left section was a bit tough with the consonant clusters, we hoped LLANERO was intuitive, since LLANO appears in our puzzle often. I learned ABAFT (sternward) purely from doing Xword.
Thanks for explaining what OK stands for in OK Coral. Also the BAIN pronunciation. Made me think of "pain au chocolat".
Hello Puzzlers - A solid workout from the DGCC team! I think I stepped in all the traps, especially having slowed at "Couples choice". Didn't catch on to the theme until I had enough perps for KO CORRAL, then the light came on. That sure helped to fill in some squares!
ReplyDelete"Country pro" had me fooled right to the end, really wanted VET. Never heard of ROB PETRIE, he was all perps.
Enjoyed the writeup, Lemonade, and congratulations to DGCC! I bet you're hitting for the cycle, eh?
Dudley,
ReplyDeleteDon hit for the cycle long time ago.
Lemonade et al,
I'd like to share with you this comment from Argyle on Rich's EBBS clue (28A. Marine retreats?)
"NONE. never didn't fit."
A true Marine!
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Yup, this was definitely a Friday level puzzle. The theme was over my head today. I got the reverse initials when I came upon the PT CRUISER, but the significance of the others eluded me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday, everyone.
QOD: An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a narrow field. ~ Niels Bohr
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteShort on time today. Absolutely brilliant theme. Crossing of LLANERO and BAIN was brutal, although I did guess that crossing N due to LLANO, as C.C. hoped. Still brutal, though. Also not thrilled with RIMY/AERI or OFLA.
The number of tricky clues was insane today, but I guess that's what makes it a Friday...
Great puzzle, Don and CC. I really enjoyed it. And Lemonade, thanks for explaining the OK in corral. I've been there twice, but still didn't know it.
ReplyDeleteA couple of the answers brought back memories. ESAU -- Beyond the Fringe -- "But my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man..." Great comic bit, that one. And GNU reminded me of Tom Smothers and the vicious gnus in the cravesses. If you don't remember Rob Petrie, you probably don't remember those either.
Good morning Lemonade, C.C., Don G. et al.
ReplyDeleteCompletely awesome puzzle today…Thank you GD…ummm, how do I reverse “CC”?
Fun write-up, Lemon. You were in fine form with all your explanations. And thank you for clearing up ILEA for me – I always wanted to know, heh, heh!
I picked and poked, and finally found H.R. FACTOR, which gave me a hint at the theme. Then I started looking at the other theme entries, and realized the first two initials were swapped, to create clever new phrases from common terms. Wonderful!! Who thought of this theme? (I bet it was C.C.??)
I especially like TP CRUISER. What warped mind thought of that one??
The clues were evil – I saw some hints of Don G. here. “Couples choice” for IRONS, “Country Pro” for FER, “Bleeping official” for CENSOR, “Shout to an awardee” for SPEECH – just brilliant!!
This was a perfect Friday puzzle – intricate theme, misleading clues, and wonderful fill…aaaahhhh, I am just basking in the afterglow!!
I had to concede defeat on this one, but it was fun. Got the theme at about the half way point, which helped. But having fATLESS and LLAmaRO did me in in the Oregon area. And I could not let go of Marine instead of marine, leaving EBBS completely off my radar. So...3 wrong cells and one blank. Still, it was a workout that seemed well worth the time spent. Thanks for the great puzzle and write up.
ReplyDeleteLemon's blog is the best.
ReplyDeleteFormer PG follower
Avg.Joe: DNF here also.
ReplyDeleteThemes were the easy part.
Had DC-BURNERS & TP-CRUISER in so quickly I thought it might be (a relative) Friday speed-run.
NOT !!!
Liked how ODORS crossed the KO-CORRAL.
Actually, I enjoy seeing the ELOI show up in our grids. The Morlocks get no respect.
ILEA & OF-LA were learning moments.
Fave today was LAY. It's Friday, I'm DF.
Cheers !!!
Although it seems that Lemonade voted for 20a, we have deemed 69a as this week's FATWA.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the section of the books that got cooked?
Great puzzle DonG and CC. A dnf for us but we enjoyed trying.
Great weather here also in Osceola county. Has Osceola ever been in a puzzle. Seems like it would cause issues.
What a maddening experience that filled a lovely hour for me – probably one of the slower children. Fred’s radio “themed me up” and then became helpful! KOCORRAL elicited a hearty chuckle!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Great effort too, Lemon!
-New to me but found in Perpville (I gotta get out more) – BAIM, NORI, ABAFT, OFFCAST, LLANERO
-EVONNE yesterday and YVETTE today! Egad!
-Oh, THAT Clinton!
-ADAPTORs got a big workout when 3 prong devices had to be plugged into our old wall plugs at school
-My diet was FATLESS first!
-Connie Francis’ taunt to a RUER
-Amen on “new” Arthur. Yech!
-As Sea World found out, there’s a reason they call Orcas KILLER whales.
-Beautiful Morphing (:56)
-I cranked out a lotta MIMEOs while looking for adaptors!
-Closest I came to YALE was locking up my bike!
I'm afraid I helped keep the White-Out folks employed today. Great challenge. I got the theme but tanked on some fill. Had FATless for 28A, tried ICED for 38D, and am still chuckling over 23A FER.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteOff to Albany for the weekend, so this will be brief.
Another terrific offering from CC & DG, thanks to you both.
Loved the theme. Once I figured it out, things began to come into place. But I ended up with two screw ups; 39A & 25D, had BAIR across & LLALERO down. For 68A had NONI and 60D GENI.
Have to go, see you all Monday.
TGIF! Thanks CC/DG for a great puzzle and thanks Lemonade for the commentary.
ReplyDeleteThis one took some jumping around the grid and a couple of swags, but I got it done. Fortunately, I remembered the discussion about the plains in South America and was able to wag the N at the crossing of BAI_/LLA_EROS.
I thought the theme was easy enough to figure out, but it did produce some really clever clue/ fill combos.
Have a great weekend all.
WooWhee, What a fun ride, and Lemonade you did not let me down, although I'm still "abaft"-whatever that is.
ReplyDeleteSo many clever clues C.C. and Don.I especially liked "nods sometimes" and "put in a magazine". Both took time.
Finally got the theme down at the KO corral which helped with TP cruiser and then I backed up to AP System.
Had lots of problems putting on the last letter of many words: rimy, aeri, ruer, ilea, llanero.
We have had Estes Park quite a bit, but today we had elk, so here they are together as I saw them last weekend.
Speaking of elk, a bull elk made it's way into Lincoln yesterday and had to be shot by authorities. We're 550 miles from the mountains and there's only a small population of elk in the Western part of the state, so I don't know how it ended up here. Here's the story in the Journal Star.
ReplyDeleteI saw a Bald Eagle flying above our house on Wednesday. Looks like I'd better keep an eye out for elk as well.
GROSS, Osceola appeared three times in 2008, when we were still doing the TMS puzzles, always clued as Seminole chief. It has not appeared in the NY Times since 2002.
ReplyDeleteHG, the facial morphing was interesting, if a bit creepy.
JD, all you ever wanted to know and more on ABAFT .
Great puzzle and great write-up too.
ReplyDeleteLike others, KO CORRAL fell for me first, then I could see where we were going and got a head of steam.
Some stuff I didn't know, but that's what well-thought-out crosses are for.
The "huh"? I had was the "HR" part of HRFACTOR. Even when I had it I couldn't see what it had to do with the Cubs, Chicago, the Windy City, Lake Michigan, the Cubbie Bear, Illinois, all kinds of stuff going through my head trying to tie it back to Chicago. I felt a little let down when I realized it was just a Home Run and could have been anywhere, so not sure about the clue.
Thanks Lemonade, that is exactly where I went after the fact. BTW, where do you keep all that cw information? Or, is it like you remember those facts?
ReplyDeleteJD:
ReplyDeleteYou can always check the occurence of words on this blog (and hence puzzles blogged) by going to the "search this blog" link below the archive link on the right side of the Home page.
There are a number of sites which track the NY Times puzzles.
@Steve re: HR FACTOR
ReplyDeleteThe wind at Wrigley Field, more than any other ballpark, is a game changing factor.
The first thing pitchers do when arriving at the ballpark is look up at the flags in the outfield. If the wind is blowing out, they know any decent fly ball could become a homerun. If, however, the wind is blowing in, HRs are less likely. They adjust their pitching stratgey accordingly.
Thus, the wind is a huge HR FACTOR.
Awesome clue for this baseball fan.
Btw, both World Series games have been entertaining for baseball purists. Now onto the bandbox, the DH and homeruns. I will watch and enjoy but would rather see NL style ball(3-2 and 2-1.)
Fabulous puzzle, CC and Don. The theme answers and the misdirections were clever. Lemonade, your witty, informative write up was fabulous, too.
ReplyDeleteRob Petrie and the little NW corner were the first to fall. The Dick Van Dyke Show is in reruns here daily. I still enjoy it. After some skipping around,
my key to the theme was BC RADIOS. I started out with CB RADIO, which had nothing to do with the Flinstones, and then the light dawned. It was smooth sailing after that.
Enjoy your Friday. CC, Don, and Lemonade gave our day a delightful start.
AVG JOE, if you see that elk flying over your house, I'll know you took Tinbenie up on his toast at sunset. LOL
uh oh, the teacher is going to put red marks all over that post.
ReplyDeleteNot sure witch breakfast club category(ies) I fit in to; but I know it's not the grammer/spelling/puctuation police!
As soon as I saw BAI-, I recalled BAIN de Soleil - the "sunscreen" popular in the 70s. Is that stuff still around?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the 70s, remember the smell of the handouts from the MIMEOgraph/ditto machines? Mmm...
FER and OFLA were horrible (and I mean that in the nicest way, C.C.), but the rest of the puzzle, and the write-up, was STATELY.
TinB - I was thinking of how "tongue in groove" is a lot like "foot in mouth." Go too far, and you'll end up with EGG on your face.
Seen: thanks for the info about Wriggley Field and the wind factor. I was not aware of that and today's HR Factor didn't make sense to me. You cleared up that mystery.
ReplyDeleteLemonade: Fall has fallen here, too. It was 45 F on my drive into work. Last week was near 90 F.
Marti,
ReplyDeleteDon cooked up today's theme. He's brilliant in turning a clue into a theme or an impossible idea into something feasible.
Seen,
HR FACTOR is Rich's clue. I think he belongs to your baseball purists' club. He's very knowledgeable about golf too. His handicap is 6.
Frank,
Yes, OF LA is bad. We tried to ease the pain with a straightforward "Man __ Mancha" clue. Rich
changed it to make the clue Friday-suitable.
Thanks lemonade for an especially good write-up, and to Hard G and CC for such a fun but doable crossword, despite the (inevitable) baseball clues.
ReplyDeleteGrand to see 49A (answer) and 9A (clue) - the first and 3rd words of the first sentence of JJ's Ulysses:
"Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed." Some Jesuit imagery there.
And ILEA brought to mind Leopold Bloom (who arrives only a little later) describing his love affair with the "inner organs of beasts and fowls....... which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine".
Otherwise, it was smooth sailing/cruising after I got the theme with KO CORRAL. And we've seen ABAFT, FER, URDU (just the other day), and ORCA (as a clue). Old favorites like ELOI. Fresh cluing for TIE, EBBS. Great parsing in SETEYESON.
In re 29 D - the state of California has just enacted the first "CAP and TRADE" policy to reduce air pollutants. Anyone who has driven through LA or the central valley will appreciate that.
NC
...And one last PEDANTIC call for ACRONYMS vis-Ã -vis ABBREVIATIONS:
ReplyDeleteMy dictionary says that an ACRONYM is an abbreviation that can be pronounced like a real word - e.g. NASA, ASCII, LASER, NASCAR. Otherwise, it is just an abbreviation. DC, BC, etc. are abbreviations, not acronyms. I made this comment a while back. Your votes please.
NC
Fun puzzle as the theme started to emerge.
ReplyDeleteOne tricky part that knowing too much was a stumbling block: as a physician I know the difference between ileum (intestine) and Ilia (pelvic bone). But since no one has more than one ileum, I had never heard of the plural--just used Latin rules. Tried to think of a context where it would ever be used as a plural and only came up with anatomy class. "Today everyone will dissect the ilea on your cadavers."
Hello, Weekend Warriors including Lemonade with your ever witty and informative blog. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIn my travels I have always seen Toilet designated as bathroom, never BAIN de salle.
Yowza! For a while I thought this would not be doable but like Marti, I pecked and poked until a few cells started a pattern. KOCORRAL first indicated the theme and then TPCRUISER. That is wickedly amusing.
There is so much to love about the clever cluing in this puzzle. C.C. and D.G., you really outdid yourselves. I loved marine retreats, EBBS though had FATLESS first.
Ultimately a DNF for me because I missed FER, RIMY had AERO not AERI, and KNIT. I can never recall NORI.
Still it was great fun, thank you, a real Friday romp.
Have an afntastic RFiday, everyone!
...and on a much lighter note, talking of COLA, here are the KINKS in 1970 singing LOLA with KARAOKE subtitles, so you can all sing along.
ReplyDeleteSING-ALONG-LOLA
Have fun
NC
@Nice Cuppa--Wow! A Joycean on this blog! And familiar not just with the opening of episode 1 of "Ulysses" but with the opening of episode 4 as well! I'm totally impressed!
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, folks. Thank you DG and C.C. for a great Friday workout. And, I mean workout. Took me a couple hours. Thank you Lemonade for the review.
ReplyDeleteStarted slowly. Bounced around and got a sprinkling of words. My first was LIMB 5A and my second was ESAU 70A.
Got the theme with BC RADIOS and KO CORRAL. That helped with the rest of them.
I wagged GERI 60D and NORI 68A. Lucked out.
Had a tough time with OFFCAST because I had an E in ADAPTER instead of ADAPTOR. Eventually fixed that.
I missed LLANERO and BAIN. I had LLAMERO and BAIM. I was thinking of Llamas and figured the herder would be a LLAMERO. Forget the french word because I do not know french. That always bugs me when foreign words are used in American crosswords.
Eye doctor says I am doing fine. Told me to take 1 tablespoon of flax seed oil daily. Supposewd to help me eyes.
Anyhow, fun puzzle. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Hi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteWow ... what a great Friday puzzle! I expected a challenge from Don and C.C. and I wasn't disappointed. It took me just over an hour and I stumbled around in a number of places, but I really loved the clever theme. I caught on with KO CORRAL having already filled in HR FACTOR but not noticing the RH switch-up. After that the others were a bit easier. Some fantastic cluing ... I especially liked 'Country pro,' "Marine retreats' and "Bleeping official.'
Living in CT, I first had UCONN for the school ... the U at the end of YALE had me fooled.
I remember well the purple fingers from handling MIMEOs and the sniffing 4th-graders as the papers were passed! :-)
A wonderful write-up, Lemonade ... lots of informative and entertaining stuff!
Good afternoon everyone. Thanks Lemon for your usually informative and breezy write-up.
ReplyDeleteGreat but difficult puzzle from Don and C.C. Had to kick in afterburners (red letter help) half way through, but got it done without further lookups. My HS French helped with BAIN making LLANERO a WAG. Most of the theme words came easily enough starting with KO CORRAL. Wanted pinochle before CANASTA because of the 'meld' clue. Square count cinched it. Liked RUER. Got IRONS ok with the Couples clue. New news: I knew not that GNUS were bovine. Great challenge but quite fair.
Today is the anniversary of The Battle of Cape Trafalgar (21 October 1805). It was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was the most decisive British naval victory of the war. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Villeneuve off the south-west coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar.
What a confusion of clues today. The only block I finished was north central. I knew ilea from study of an anatomy book to decipher my written colonoscopy report some time ago.
ReplyDeleteWow, those are seriously horny males in Estes Park. ELK was one of the few things I got. Esau also came easily. (Both are hairy.) OBAMA came too (He's going to have a hairy time in the election.)
Oddly enough, I plugged in ABAFT and erased it twice after getting HABIT. Never heard it before but it sounded nautical.
MIMEO didn't come, although I once got so tipsy running off copies as an office worker, I had to take off my high heels to walk. Then they told me about using the vent fan.
Thursday puzzles are like falling off a horse for me. I just get up and try again.
-PK
My chair patter(30-D) said, "SIT BY ME", which I thought was very clever...but very wrong. Dang it.
ReplyDeleteWow! That was fun but seriously challenging for me. I got 'er done once I sussed out the theme and turned on red letters. Very clever stuff. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm going to sound ignorant here but why doesn't "Couples choice" need an apostrophe? I know of Fred Couples but I still don't get it. Suppose we were talking about the golf club belonging to Fred. Wouldn't we write Couples' club? Somebody explain this to me please.
@Seen - thanks for the Wrigley explanation, I hate it when I think I'm missing something about the clue/answer; that makes perfect sense now.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous (PK) - It's Friday today, don't want you to miss the weekend starting tomorrow :)
@Spitzboov - I was watching a Food Network show where Giada deLaurentis was in London - she had me rolling around laughing with the line "I'm here in Trafalgar Square in London, which commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar Square". It's like saying "I'm here in Washington D.C., which is named for President Washington D.C."
Bill G., the preferred spelling would be "Couples's choice", but "Couples choice" is also an accepted spelling. Because it was such a devilishly misleading clue, that's probably why our constructors opted to go with the "acceptable" one!
ReplyDeleteI remember now the inspiration for this puzzle. I noticed that PGA and GPA had the same letters. I had to do something with that. Rich straightened us out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the solvers who wrote in. We enjoy the communication.
Perhaps the implied article "a," which is dropped in CW cluing, negates the use for possessive.
ReplyDeleteSuch as: (A) Trevino choice would be an IRON or a wood.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteOur original clue for IRON is "Couples' choice".
Since I do these puzzles in INK, how
ReplyDeletedo I "turn-on-red-letter-help" so I can
declare I "got-er-done" instead of
admitting I had a DNF?
Frank:
There was something on-my-face but it wasn't EGG. lol
Yeah, well, I can tell you that a Couples choice should NOT have been Woods - for the Presidents Cup this year. He didn't earn it.
ReplyDeletePGA reversed is AGP.
ReplyDeleteC.C. and Don- Thanks for the ride! KO CORRAL and DC BURNERS made my morning!
ReplyDeleteI tried this theme once with Letters like AA and BB. But no matter how hard I worked at it when I reversed the letters they always came out the same.
I think relating rimy to Robert Frost is just coincidence. Rime (new word for me) actually is a kind of icy frost. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rime?r=75&src=ref&ch=dic
ReplyDeleteTin: I don't like leaving a puzzle unfinished so I like red letters if I need them. You have to do the puzzles online of course. I prefer the LA Times website. Let me know if you have more questions about doing them online.
ReplyDelete~ Bill
Does the name PAVLOV ring a bell?
Frost: rime, hoar, killing, on the pumpkin(Great avatar, Seen), Robert, David, Jack, others?
ReplyDeleteFreond,
ReplyDeletePerhaps Mr Lemonade was thinking of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem not by Frost, but by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Or not. Do not question the instructors of this institution.
10 demerits for you.
Thanks Don and C.C. for a great Fri. puzzle, and a great write-up from Lemonade. Took a little longer but once I got the theme answers all fell in nicely. To Tinbeni: I agree with you I also like to do the puzzle in ink. One of the main reasons for getting the paper everday. Guess I must be old-fashioned like that. R.W.
ReplyDeleteTinbeni:
ReplyDeleteYou might try a pencil, perhaps a red one. For me, erasures are easier to handle than ink blots.
Jerome:
Too funny!!
There was really no way I could ever have finished this one. Yesterday's even stumped me on a few odd letters, but today I got only the SW corner and the far NE, with none of the themes completed--they meant nothing to me. Sorry to be so negative, but it was simply beyond my ken. So much in the clues was unknown--Alan Brady Show for example--unheard of.
ReplyDeleteDH's birthday this week means he's taken off for a few days, and that means no google time for me, maybe that's a factor too, but really, I salute anyone who did this one without help.
Since we're on a tangent regarding teachers, I thought THIS would be appropriate. (Go ahead, take a stroll down memory lane).
ReplyDeleteTin, I'll be thinking of you at sunset. My sister and BIL are visiting and due in any time. He's a scotch aficionado so I bought a bottle of Old Pulteney. I'm purty sure if I drank a glass full of that I would be seeing elk flying over the house....or elephants. Good stuff, but best in moderation fer sure. At any rate, skol!
PGA = GPA as an anagram, not a reversal of letters.
ReplyDeleteI know they were not really acronyms, but abbreviations does not portray the sense of taking the first letter of a word, which was what I wanted to use.
My Robert Frost Rime Rhyme comment was intended to amuse, not educate. I am unaware of any poem other than the Coleridge one, which is not using the word in its coldest sense. I thought the idea of a Frost Rhyme using Rime was funny. When you do these late at night/early in the morning, self-amusement is important.
Which reminds me; the 2nd annual prodigal son/daughter get together here, on the day before thanksgiving, is not far away, so sharpen your keyboards and get ready to say hello to all of our new people and those of us who stayed.
Mr. Hawaii, Dr. Dad, Maniac, have we chased you away? WM, did you read the Robert Parker Jesse Stone continuator? Lolita, you ok? Tarra Jo, Embien, Crockett, Buckeye, KQ, Robin, you all know who you are, but tell us where you are.
Steve, thanks for the calendar update. Worse than getting the puzzle day wrong, I missed trash collection this week. Oh well, I don't generate much trash. If Thursday puzzles are like falling off a horse, Friday's must be getting trampled.
ReplyDelete-PK
PGA GPA: I thoroughly agree with you about Couples choice of Woods. He has played so poorly this year if he played at all, his choice is ludicrous. All I can figure is that Freddie has been on the Champion's Tour and not following PGA as closely as he needs to do. If Tiger cares anything at all for his "team", he will decline. He never played match point golf really well at his best.
ReplyDelete-PK
This week's puzzles have left me wondering if i'm getting stupider by the day! So unlike others here, i won't be giving anyone a piece of my mind cuz i clearly can't spare any at the moment. Today was like pulling teeth until I stumbled on tp cruiser (after trying my hardest to get the word "yacht" to fit somehow...). Once i got the twist i was off and running (well, stumbling) and managed to finish. I'm already dreading tomorrow's puzzle! Warm alohas to you all...
ReplyDeleteKR
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in, and my only suggestion to anyone who wants to be a better solver, is to act like you are blogging the puzzle, even after you use red letters or whatever to get all the answers. This helps to focus on sussing a theme, which really makes a difference. Also, many write down al the new clue/fill in an alphabetic list, which they can look at now and then.
Finally, nobody gets paid for doing them fast or even right, just have fun.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteVery late to the party today. Did the puzzle in the car this a.m. on the way to T-town. Tough go, but I made it - though not until we were well past Monroe.
Great puzzle., great blogging - a big hat tip to C.C., Don, and Lemonade.
Not much else to comment on, so I'll do for the amazingly rich symmetries.
To have a STATELY physique, EAT LESS.
Or MORPH your shape with LIPOS.
Get a LOAD of that ELOI!
Remember the fruity ODORS of MIMEOs?
In the new church, you can year a CURRENT CHORALE.
Remember the 1st Amendment and don't CENSOR SPEECH.
"SIT HERE," I told the OFFCAST guest.
And the ultimate, with reflective symmetry down to the letter level:
Would the IRON chef serve NORI?
Cheers!
JzB I RON-ically
KeaauRich, I always have to cheat a bit to finish C.C. and Don's masterpieces, also Mr. Silk's. Some clues are like Greek, but I sure learn a lot. Our bloggers-of-the-day always seem to explain the "huh?" fills.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, to continue your plea..I miss many of our oldies too.
xchefwalt- deep into hockey?
KittyB- we miss seeing your fabulous quilts
Jeanne- any more grandchildren?
KQ- how is your son doing in college?
MJ- how are the boys and little Drake?
MH- sorry we missed you at Hot August Nights!
Elissa- writing, traveling? more scarves?
Warren- the jelly is gone; we LOVED it!
JzB - I love wordplay & double wordplay. But I bow down to the triple. IRON. Well done.
ReplyDeleteSame to you, PGA (GPA). Throughout your post (including your "name"). The lie was well played.
TinB - check again. That very well may be EGG on your face. And what the #*$! is a Tinbeni, anyway? (I'm somewhat new here. Open mouth - insert foot?)