Theme: SHHH! Get the "H" out of my pun! This is not a letter removal puzzle, but a classic sound alike punfest, where a word, name or phrase which starts with the "SH" sound is replaced with a word place or phrase with the just the "S" sound. 65 letters in themeage and lots of two word fill, and what seems to be the first publication of Mr. Yanagisawa brings flashes of Dan Naddor to mind. Once you see his game this flowed pretty well with an emphasis on humor and not obscurity. Let's see how it all worked.
18A. Restraints to prevent the eating of forbidden fruit?: SIN SPLINTS. Those annoying pains in the front of your leg are SHIN SPLINTS, but it took the next answer for me to see the H disappear. SIN I got; the splint and forbidden fruit, still does not resonate.
23A. Crooned while tipsy?: SANG HIGH. This gave me the theme as I heard SHANGHAI in my brain. Maybe that damn lisp is coming back; hmm. Foreshadowing?
29A. Resistant to punches : SOCK PROOF. A real Joe Palooka; who probably wore an Timex watch which was SHOCK PROOF.
36A. Scary place to pray?: SURLY TEMPLE. Well if you ever prayed with a bunch of old Jewish men, early in the day...Better to remember SHIRLEY TEMPLE.
18A. Restraints to prevent the eating of forbidden fruit?: SIN SPLINTS. Those annoying pains in the front of your leg are SHIN SPLINTS, but it took the next answer for me to see the H disappear. SIN I got; the splint and forbidden fruit, still does not resonate.
23A. Crooned while tipsy?: SANG HIGH. This gave me the theme as I heard SHANGHAI in my brain. Maybe that damn lisp is coming back; hmm. Foreshadowing?
29A. Resistant to punches : SOCK PROOF. A real Joe Palooka; who probably wore an Timex watch which was SHOCK PROOF.
36A. Scary place to pray?: SURLY TEMPLE. Well if you ever prayed with a bunch of old Jewish men, early in the day...Better to remember SHIRLEY TEMPLE.
44A. Actor Holbrook under the weather?: SALLOW HAL. Hal is a wonderful actor who is most famous for his performances as Mark Twain, but also was a television regular. This clue came form the movie SHALLOW HAL (2:00), Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow and her panties. I was just speaking of this film and Tony Robbins at work today.
53A. Underwater menace? : SEA DEVIL. Not to be confused with this SHE DEVIL (2:58).
60A. Rooster that doesn't wake you up?: SUBTLE COCK. Oh Carol, Lois and Jeannie, where are you all when I need you? This is the new version of the old badminton favorite the SHUTTLE COCK. I cannot think of a single safe thing to say about this, except help Buckeye! so on to the rest....
Across:
1. Family nickname: MAMA. This was very hard because we never called our mother anything like that, instead she was Tick Tock Tarquinne, or other sensible names.
5. Turkeys: BOMBS. Ishtar? Pluto Nash? Your favorites?
10. Together, in scores: A DUE. From two in Italian.
14. Say and mean : AVER. My father always said, Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
15. "Star Wars" name: ARTOO.
16. Locks that are hard to manage: MOPS. Remember when the Beatles were the MOP TOPS?
17. Shed tool: RAKE. Where you store your implements, though oddly RAKES are often proud of their tools.
20. "Who am __ judge?": I TO. This is where I think I began to understand the mind of our new constructor; not only does he do puns and heavy themeage, but he hides puns. I think it is no coincidence this fill also spells ITO, as in Judge LANCE.
21. ID theft target: SSN. Social Security Number.
22. Eastern faith: SHINTO. The soul of the Japanese, but it seemed odd near the SIN/SHIN and the visit to China.
26. Sleep: Pref.: SOMNI. From the Latin SOMNUS, sleep, from which we get somnambulism (I walked right into that one) and INSOMNIA, not sleeping, like me right now.
28. Present in court: ARGUE. Each side has an opportunity to present their argument.
32. Officiate: REF. EREE.
34. Word often ignored in alphabetizing: THE. Like movie titles.
35. Golfs, e.g.: VWS. The cars.
40. Thickness: PLY. Not again, think toilet paper and tires.
42. Wide size: EEE. EEK!
43. Big-league: PRO. Fessional.
48. Island mentioned in the Beach Boys' "Kokomo": ARUBA. The first word in the SONG (3:34). What woman will go there with a boyfriend now?
52. At __: in one go : A CLIP. Hmm, a two word partial.
55. Doha resident: QATARI. I knew the country, but if it is pronounced "CUTTER" according to golf announcers, how is this word said?
58. Patience-virtue link: IS A. You think?
59. Regulus's constellation : LEO. If you like astronomy this bright star also known as Alpha Leonis is observable.
62. End of school?: MARM. She's back, from the old west.
63. Rhode Island senator for whom an education grant is named: PELL. His name was CLAIBORNE de Borda Pell, and was the senator from Rhode Island while I was growing up on de border in Connecticut. Though he came from a long line of rich politicians, and married the heiress to the A&P fortune, he really championed the poor. Maybe he was mad they named him Claiborne.
64. Struggling with: BAD AT. I hope you are not struggling with this Friday offering.
65. Community service org : YMCA. Young Men's Christian Association. You want to SING(3:22)?
66. Escaped: FREE.
67. "Then ...": AND SO. Like our dear departed Dan, Michael likes his partials.
68. One good at takeoffs: APER. Not to be confused with a MONKEYER. Well speaking of take offs, Dennis needs those clothes gone for his examinations, and I need to get to the next set.
Down:
1. Model/actress Berenson: MARISA. A model actress with an impressive bloodline, who was quite good in Cabaret. Her sister Berry was married to Tony Perkins until his death. Berry died in the WTC 9/11.
2. Online image: AVATAR. I like changing mine so I can show all my boys.
3. Vietnam's __ Delta: MEKONG. Not many happy memories for Americans.
4. Exist: ARE. Not art anymore.
5. Met villains, perhaps: BASSI. Do opera villains all have deep voices?
6. Round gaskets: O RINGS.
7. McKinley, e.g.: Abbr.: MTN. Named for one of our assassinated presidents.
8. Leader: BOSS. LINK. 'Nuff said.
9. Junior-to-be: SOPH. Where is the abbreviation hint?
10. Key related to C : A MINOR. JzB, expliquez, s'il vous plait.
11. Cop's order: DON'T MOVE. Or I will shoot.
12. Thus far: UP TO NOW. You all keeping up?
13. Twisting shape: ESS. Look at the ESS on that girl!
19. Struggle with sassafras?: LISP. My favorite LISP(0:03). Ah, here is the reference.
21. Absolute: SHEER. Nonsense.
24. Sage: GURU.
25. Restaurant pots: HOT TEAS. Rhymes with HOTTIES and HOT TEASE, hmmm.
27. They might happen: IFS. It could happen to you.
30. "The Motorcycle Diaries" subject: CHE. The road trip of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, which opened his eyes. Anyone read the book or seen the movie?
31. McCain : Palin:: Dole : __: KEMP. Jack, ex-Buffalo Bill quarterback.
33. Went up: FLEW. My take, great MOVIE(1:10).
36. One of seven in this clue: SYLLABLE.Very tricky, a new variation on the noun clue.
37. Casual "Sure : YEH. I always thought it was YEAH.
38. Italian luxury label: PRADA.. Do wear this LABEL(2:04)?
39. Legendary accounts: LORE. From days of yore.
40. Free TV ad: PSA. Public Service Announcement.
41. Strong finish? : LACQUER. I was lucky I had the Q, because I was looking for a long suffix. In GB it is nail varnish or lacquer, not polish.
45. Younger, as a sister: LITTLE. Even when she grows to be the tallest, right ladies?
46. Play-of-color gem: OPAL. how perfect to have a play of color stone in a play of words puzzle.
47. Camera store choices: LEICAS. Along with Nikon a very well respected camera, now made by three different companies, 2 German and one Swiss.
49. Tanning booth item, briefly: UV LAMP. Ultra Violet. Not used by 60D. Basker's abbr: SPF. For those of us who bask in the sun, not in Sherlock Holmes novels, we have Sun Protection Factor.
50. "The Devil's Dictionary" author: BIERCE. Ambrose Bierce was one of the true original wits in America, and can see him as well admired by our constructor. Read the book. Bierce disappeared while riding to observe Panch Villa in Mexico at age 71. he got in serious trouble for writing a satiric poem about assassination before McKinley was shot.
51. 12-time All-Star Roberto: ALOMAR. Son of a major leaguer, brother of a major leaguer (both named Sandy) many believe this recent Hall of Fame inductee is the best second basemen of all time. Not me, I still go for my golden oldie Nellie Fox.
54. Invite as one's date for: ASK TO. The first girl to ask me to a prom was named Temple Houston, not Shirley Temple, I wonder who ended up worshiping there.
56. Self-titled 2000s sitcom: REBA. Do you all like redheads?
57. Self-assured statement: I CAN. Am I the only one who thought of the little train?
61. A little off: ODD. Are you talking about me?
62. One-named R&B singer: MYA. I was not familiar with this ARTIST (3:04) but she certainly sounds and looks interesting. My thought was however, that our new constructor was using her as his sign off, as his initials are M YA, and based on his love of puns and misdirection, I think he has hiding himself here.
Answer grid.
In any event welcome Michael; keep up the positive attitude Creature and Ron and CA and the rest of us all, and to all a good night.
Lemonade
81 comments:
Morning, all!
Very crunchy Friday puzzle! Great theme and execution. I struggled a bit with unknowns like MYA, ALOMAR and MARISA. I'm also not familiar with strong LACQUER, so that took awhile (especially since it crossed QATARI, which was only vaguely familiar to me and not easily gettable by the clue).
HOT TEAS took forever to get, since I was trying to think of a type of pot (OLLA, SAUCEPAN, CROCK, etc.)
The hardest spot by far was the SE corner. The aforementioned MYA and ALOMAR didn't help, but it also took awhile to pull Mr. BIERCE out of the musty basement of my brain and neither MARM nor YMCA sprung immediately to mind. And then, of course, was the deliciously tricky clue for APER...
Well done, Mr. Yanagisawa!
Good day folks,
Got through the North but the Central and South kicked my butt. Sallow Hal, Subtle Cock, Surly Temple were not close to appearing. For 62A had Term rather than Marm, and Fled instead of Free for 66A. Those errors didn't help!
I usually struggle with Puns, but manage to eventually find my way. Today i was not even close for the lower sections.
Favorite was 36D, Syllable. This was a gimme for me after yesterday's comments about Haiku.
Even though I blew it, I like Mike's approach. It was clever and would have been doable if I had my brain in gear. Hope to see more of him.
Won't be around for the weekend so I'll "talk" to all you good people on Monday. Have fun and be safe,
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Interesting puzzle and theme today. I thought some of the puns were a stretch, though. S(H)ALLOW HAL? Really?
On the other hand, there were lots of fun clues. My favorite was Met Villians = BASSI. Definitely a Friday clue, but well worth the price!
I hope all of you in California are safe. Wow! What strong winds. Sounds like a hurricane without the rain.
Although I never read the book, I did see the movie, The Motorcycle Diaries. It is definitely worth seeing.
In honor of 50-Down, today's QOD is an entry from The Devil's Dictionary: Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. ~ Ambrose Bierce
Splints are restraints that keep one from doing something.
Carpal tunnel splints prevent you from bending your wrists.
Sin splints prevent one from eating forbidden fruit.
Not a big fan of the inconsistency here - some theme answers were just a dropped letter, others were homophones (SIN SPLINTS vs SANGHIGH, SOCK PROOF vs SUBTLE COCK).
Punning puzzles aren't my favorite, but I like them to at least be consistent.
Whew! Toughie! I got the theme at SANG HIGH, but really struggled in the southeast. Nothing seemed to work until ARUBA finally led me to UVLAMP. Should have known BIERCE, but didn't. He perped up.
Lemon, my guess is that QATARI should rhyme with safari. But I've been wrong before.
Did Tarzan ever meet King Kong?
I imagine it went something like this:
"Hi, Me Tarzan."
"Hello, Me Kong. I am not a monkey"
Ooof da! What a slog. Like most, I got the theme at SangHigh, but was thrown by the ruse of losing the h sound rather than simply dropping it. Clue for syllable was diabolic, but great.
But! With about a half an hours effort I finished. As they say, patience is a fur chew.
Well AVATAR wanted Absolute to be Vodka.
I'm with you, Hondo. After yesterdays Haiku comments, SYLLABLE was a gimmie.
To many weird things happen in ARUBA.
And for "One good at takeoffs" I wanted Stripper but it wouldn't fit.
All-in-all a DNF ...
Cheers !!!
Good morning Lemonade and all.
Interesting theme. Did not get it at first but then I saw the missing h-pun connection. Really did not like the SYLLABLE clue, but I guess it was fair for a Friday. Favorite clue was for VWS. A little heavy on the names: MARISA, BIERCE, ALOMAR, etc., but there were no foreign words. We had the A MINOR connection the other day. Thanks Michael for the challenge; I guess I was not enough on your wavelength, today.
Dennis: Congratulations on your situation. In your writings, you always seemed to have a fondness for SE Florida, so I hope everything goes well and it works out for you. Thanks for sharing.
Have a great day.
Thank you Lemonade for a very nice blog, and Mr. Yanagisawa for a very complex and clever puzzle. The puns were beyond my ken. I got about 50 percent, so I guess thats progress.
Alt QOD:- I scored a sixty-six on my real estate license test and flunked. I answered everything "location, location". ~ Tim Siedell.
Yikes! This one was too rich for my blood. A good challenge, but I wasn't able to finish it in my allotted time (before the boss got to the office).
Mornin' to all,
Had a really tough time today. Seemed more like a Saturday puzzle....today is Friday, right?
I heard the this joke, last night, and I thought it was funny - and I am going to see whether the censor will allow it.... If not, then its history.
A cop is monitoring a parking lot in a busy mall, and he notices a car pulling into a 'handicapped' parking space. The car has the 'handicapped' sticker, but the driver seems anything but disabled, as he saunters towards the store. So, the cop decides to confront him....
Cop: Sir, I noticed you parked in the handicapped parking spot, and I know you have the requisite sticker - but what is your disability ?
Driver: Tourette's syndrome.
Now, f--- o--, a--h---.
I lost this one at the SE corner, starting with SURLYTE---LE and zigzagging down from there with all those names: ----A, -E---, -----P, -----E, -----R. MARM and YMCA never would have occurred to me either, either as an ending for school or as a community service org. respectively. Everything else fell into place easily and amusingly.
Caught the theme early, but hadn't heard of Shallow Hal, so when it was revealed I just went with it. Also didn't know of MYA. I loved the first Dirty Dancing movie, but hadn't seen the #2 one.
Dennis,
Congrats! Sounds like you're getting what you've craved for a while. I hope you find the home you need there too. It is amazing what some companies will spend to keep good people they don't want to lose.
Great puzzle. I liked that some of the theme answers dropped the H and others dropped the H and changed the spelling, too. More complicated. Fun write up, Lemonade.
Tinbeni, my first thought for ONE GOOD AT TAKEOFFS was stripper. I thought of you and would have disappointed had you not noticed, too.
I like the Movie the Devil Wears Prada. Anything with Meyl Streep is my cup of tea. Her character was truly self centered and evil.
I couldn't remember KOKOMO. After looking it up the song kept playing in my head. Where is the
V8 can? Also ROBERTO triggered CLEMENTI and I could not move beyond that thought. So I cheated twice.
I got SALLOW HAL and crossed my fingers, because I never heard of SHALLOW HAL.
Good hard Friday workout, never-the-less.
To me, a fowl mouth is one shavoring buffalo wings.
Shpeaking of fowl humor-
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: It's none of your f'n business!
Shomewhat of a bonus theme answer at 21D-
Q: What Houdini tried to prove?
A: SEER Nonsense
Lemonade, thanks for a great write-up as usual. I'm looking forward to coming back later and playing all the links.
I was not on Mr. Y's wave length today. Did get SALLOW HAL and SUBTLE COCK (no such thing IMHO), but didn't have enough perps to get much else.
Partly I'm blaming lack of sleep. Worked up a sweat grocery shopping yesterday and slogged back and forth in a cold wind hauling them to the car then to the house. Coughed all night! So I have a SURLYTEMPer today. My usual soprano is very BASSI.
Think my meds have kicked in so I'll try some more SOMNI now.
- PK
Wonderful write-up but the puzzle kicked my butt! Way too many names me and, tho I love puns, somehow this whole thing just didn't click for me. Must need more sleep,
A DNF for me today, but any excuse to check out the blog and comments works.
I liked Lemonade's Meryl Streep theme, and the puns (lord help me, I did like the puns)
I had SEADEVIL and SINSPLINTS, which helped with the theme, but got hung up on 33D. I wanted "rose" which goofed up SALLOWHAL and SURLYTEMPLE. Loved the clue for SYLLABLE.
Mari, nice to see that someone else besides me says Yikes!
Hi gang -
Now mouse works fine, modem is behaving, getting a new sump pump tday, too. It'$ all good, I gue$$.
Real workout today. Took forever to suss the theme. Needed some G-spotting. Oh well, I was BAD AT it. Still fun, though - mostly.
10 D should say "Key related to C MAJOR." Details are important. A MINOR is the relative minor key to C Major. They have the same notes, but a different key center.
The rel min scale of any MAJ, can be played by starting on the 6th scale step. If this is confusing, get ye to a piano keyboard.
RE: 36D
Self-referential:
"One of seven in this clue."
I HATE clues like that!
Cheers!
JzB thinking varnish is a stronger finish.
Well, it's a relief that I'm not the only DNF on what I too felt was more a Saturday than a Friday puzzle. But Lemonade's comments made its 'subtle'ty come so brilliantly to life that I'm forgiving that I was so "bad at" this one.
Remembered "Marisa" and "Bierce." Never read him, but my husband is a huge "Devil's Dictionary" fan (oops, forgot the "The," didn't I?). Had the most trouble with Hal Holbrook. Since I got "Syllable" right away I was convinced that one had to start with "Hal," and so never got past that.
Anyway, thanks for the challenge, Mr. Y, and have a good Friday, everybody.
Good afternoon everyone.
Didn't even come close to finishing. Did get thirteen(!) correct ones. Wow.
Wanted SANG off key, but couldn't make it work.
Thanks for the write up, Lemon. Obviously I needed it badly. I never glocked to the puns, and don't like these (except for SUBTLE COCK).
Such good news for Florida, Dennis. Best wishes on your move and store sale. As you know by now, you need $$ in FL.
Cheers
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al,
I completely bombed on this one. Couldn't suss out Mr. Y's clever clues. Hahtool's favorite, bassi, still puzzles me???? My favorite was strong finish?-lacquer.
Got partial puns, but many of the "downs" were not in my wheelhouse this morning. Would like to blame it on a blasted head cold.
Yesterday was a wind fest here in CA. Our power went on and off so many times that I closed down my computer.
eddyB, you brought luck to our team!Hip Hip!
Dennis, good news for you both. Glad you weren't relocated somewhere where boobalicious men are frowned on. Boca is perfect for you and you new hobby.
Good afternoon all:
Misty, when were you in gainesville? That is where I attended law school, and taught for a while.
QLi, thanks for noticing the Meryl Streep Day here at the corner.
JzB, as always appreciate the musical expertise.
D-O, when the European Golf Tour plays a course in Doha, Qatar, the announcers say(phonetically) "Here we are in Cutter." Anyone been?
Shallow Hal is really not a bad movie.
TGIF and all that happy stuff. Thanks for the great write up, Lemonade.
The fill that some others had trouble with were my gimmes. QATARI, MARM, APER have been seen often enough that they finally have stuck. I had SUBTLE Crow first, but couldn't make anything else fit, got ASK TO and straightened out the mess.
The theme revealed with SOCK PROOF. The inconsistancy of the spelling changes didn't bother me. Thursdays, I might expect consistancy, Fridays are more of a free for all and more fun.
HOT TEAS needed lots of perp help. I tried 'kettles' on the first pass, but discarded it quickly.
I hope we see more from this constructor.
JD:
BASSI is just the plural from of BASS, for the deep voiced singers who play the bad guys in Opera, harassing the poor SOPRANO victims. I also doubt that hobby is NEW for Dennis; I am sure he is working on post-doctoral investigations.
I don't know musical terms, but on a purely Latin or Italian basis, bassi would be the plural of basso as well.
Hello, Lemonade, C.C. and all puzzle lovers. Again, thank you, L, for your detailed and amusing explanations.
MAMA mia! Yowza! I love this man, Michael Yanagisawa, though it took me a looooong time to get on his wave length.
Ambrose BIERCE is fascinating. I first learned of him when I saw "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."
And ALOMAR was a pure WAG after filling ARUBA and YMCA.
Did have to search for MARISA Berenson as she was not familiar. Once she was there, the NW corner lit up for me.
I loved, loved the puns! Thank you, Michael. Even if they are not consistently written, the sound they make is humorous. I love that.
There were many favorites here but I believe strong finish, LACQUER is the best.
Not a big fan of school MARM.
JD:
I believe BASSI is the plural of BASSO.
Have a joyful Friday, everyone!
A friend's daughter was stationed in Qatar and she pronounces it "cutter."
I also highly recommend "The Motorcycle Diaries."
Good puzzle---and I like your humor, Lemonade!
Was in a bit of a hurry this morning, but wanted to come back and
Agree @Lemonade about the missing abbreviation hint for SOPH.
And - can someone explain (rationally) how "HOT TEAS" are "Restaurant Pots?" Something a little more believable than "well, you serve tea in a restaurant, and the pots get hot, so you've got "HOT TEAS"?
Ah - no. What am I missing?
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Michael, for a tough puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade for the write-up.
This was a tough puzzle. Got through it slowly. Was stuck for a while on SYLLABLE, then it fell.
The SE corner was my eternal hangup. Had VTOL instead of APER and ARA instead of LEO. That put things in disarray for quite a while. Finally UV LAMP straightened things out. Wow!
Off to a dinner in Chicago tonight at the U L Club.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
QLI @ 10:37: We've got to stick with "Yikes" as "EGAD" shows up in too many puzzles :)
Lemon, Qatar Airways began flying into Houston a little over a year ago and the company launched a major radio ad campaign promoting the flights. The announcer, and I'm assuming he'd say it correctly, pronounced it "Kah-tar" with neither SYLLABLE emphasized.
But, once you stick that "i" on the end, all bets are off. I still think it should rhyme with safari rather than cottery or cutlery or cauterize.
Good afternoon to all and happy Friday. Great write-up Lemonade and thank you for the shout out. Everything is going great almost all healed and going to prosthetist on Mon. I finished the puzzle, but it took a little longer than usual. I had basso at first but then sanghigh revealed itself then the theme fell into place.
Not one for remembering jokes but here's one
Q. Why don't chickens wear underwear?
A. Because their peckers on their face. Have a great Fri.to all RJW.
Good Morning All, Yup, the SE was my downfall. The crossings of SYLLABLE with PLY (I only knew that as layers of toilet paper.), along with LACQUER, ACLIP, QATARI (maybe "Cutter-ee") and PELL were more than my Friday morning brain could sort out.
5A)Turkeys/BOMBS. Daughter and I were recently talking about how "Ishtar" is our joint guilty pleasure. Forget the plot, dopey Dustin Hoffman and doofus Warren Beatty just always make us laugh.
14A)Say and mean/AVER. My father always said, "The end doesn't justifies the means." He was a very ethical guy. Once in a while he would soften it with, "Do as I say, not as I do". Phew, that left us some wiggle room.
MARISA Berenson was an ethereal beauty in "Cabaret". She looked even more so when she was in the same scene with Liza Minelli as the over-the-top Sally Bowles.
Agree with Hahtool and Lucina about "The Motorcycle Diaries". You have to be able to get past the subtitles though...or be able to speak Spanish.
@Lemonade714--great to hear about your Gainesville experience! Hope you liked it as much as I did. I was an English major there in the mid-1960s (can't believe I'm that old!)--probably long before your time. Newly married with a baby, and dirt poor. But the place was wonderful. Tuition was $135 per quarter. They had great student housing for graduate students. And a professor in a large English class noticed how well I did on the exams and recommended me for Phi Beta Kappa. And this was in the days when there wasn't much support for women students. So I'll always be a Gator at heart.
I have flown Qatar Airlines to 'points East', and I can authoritatively say that 'Qatar' is pronounced , 'cutter', and their residents (who are outnumbered 2 to 1 by non-residents - ), are referred to as Qataris. ( pronounced 'cut-trees' ).
Of course, this is in the native Arabic - I honestly cant say what the equivalent English word would be, since there are not enough of them to have any major impact on English literature or world history, and are rarely in the news. Qatarians ?, Qatarites ?, Qatarese's ?
The good news is that the Qatar airline 'offers' you, a mandatory layover, in Doha, for 8 hours, and that increases to one day, if the (onward bound ) pilots dont report to work, on time. If wandering in the sand dunes is your idea of fun, it is serendipity itself.
Whew, it seemed like I got all the fill except the theme. I literally had every letter filled on two theme answers and still couldn't see it. I finally broke it open with SURLY TEMPLE and was able to limp home. I blame the tough going on doing this at work as I was trying to multi-task, who knows? I always have a hard time with the phonetic puzzles, I feel like I have to say them aloud as I do them. For a debut puzzle, it was pretty ambitious.
JD: the Met refers to the Metropolitan Opera and the villains in operas always those who sing Bass, while the heros are generally the tenors.
You know how Ghaddafi is sometimes spelled Kaddafi, Qaddafi, or some variation? My Arabic-speaking Egyptian friend says it's because of different accents spoken by Arabs from different places. Some pronounce it like a hard g, some pronounce it like a k. The same is true when pronouncing Qatar; some say Cutter and some say Gutter. My friend says a resident of Qatar is called a "Kuttery" just like a Yemeni, Omani, Saudi, or Iraqi. Just add "ee" to the end of the country name. The Roman letter "q" is used to represent one of two allophones of the Arabic "k", namely the back of the throat (waaay back!) "k" as opposed to the more English-like middle of the throat (epiglottal) "k".
Musings while getting ready to teach calculus
-Nice write-up Lemon. Do you agree that MOOT was not quite clued correctly yesterday, counselor?
-Loved the theme and made allowances for the difficulty of being somewhat true to the idea. Straight forward ain’t all it’s cracked up to be sometimes
-ORINGS in shuttles external tanks doomed the Challenger. There were design flaws and it was too darn cold that January morning
-Couldn’t get my KETTLE in there either
-APE as a verb (and its derivative noun) is still new to me
-Shin splints kill me on the tread mill and sin splints probably wouldn’t work on me
-Roberto Alomar did one stupid thing in his career that is all some peeps remember about him
-Oops, here come kids thirsting for knowledge – or something.
Husker, what was wrong with the cluing for MOOT? I took it to be "subject to debate" as in "debatable" similar to "subject to question" as in "questionable".
Hello everybody. Thanks for the excellent wrtie-up, Lemonade, and bringing to light your appreciation of the fine nuances of this puzzle. I actually appreciated this puzzle today, more than I already did, because of your comments.
I did chcukle when I filled in ITO and it jumped out at me as being the name of Judge Lance Ito. Didn't pick up on the MYA, though.
I see I wrote "abbr?" in the margin next to the 9D clue. I also drew a big smiley face next to the "sassafras" clue.
Put in and took out and put in EEE several times at 42A.
Dunno why, but MARM was the first thing I thought of for 62A, but I had trouble with the two proper names at 50D and 51D.
Thank goodness for good people like Claiborne Pell.
Best wishes to you all.
Hey, thanks for all the Qatar information.
Misty: tuition was 190.00 a quarter for law school beginning in 1971; did you live in Cin City or near lake Alice?
MOOT is a very odd word as it can mean one thing and its opposite. Generally used to mean debatable when referencing mock trials or arguments, and to mean settled, not-debatable when referring to actuall points.
@Lemonade--I had to google the answer to your question. My (first) husband was a graduate student, so we lived in Corry Village--graduate family housing on campus. Looks pretty much the same as it did then, according to the web site photo. Cin City and Lake Alice no longer ring a bell. Have never been back to UF since my time. Have you?
Husker:
Yesterday I had the same thought about MOOT.
The definition at dictionary.reference.com:
adjective 1. open to discussion or debate; debatable; doubtful: a MOOT point.
Another referense said:
MOOT refers to a subject for academic argument. It is an abstract question that does not arise from existing facts or rights.
Ergo, the clue "Subject to debate" for MOOT was accurate. (as Lemon said).
Today I'm having a difficult time understanding
how 21-D, Absolute clues the answer SHEER.
But I always like learning moments.
And it I have to watch "takeoffs" I'd rather see it done by a Stripper (or a jet) than by an APER.
Cheers !!!
Tinbeni re: sheer: when used as an adjective to mean:
▪ sheer [=utter] nonsense ▪ sheer [=pure] luck/coincidence/joy
I think it's a synonym for 'absolute'.
Lemonade--thank you for shedding light on my unknowns.
Guess I have to like redheads since I'm one of five--three cousins and a sister.
My grandmother hated red hair. When I was a teenager my mom and I went to Idaho to see her. I said to her, "Guess what, Miss California is a redhead this year." She said, "Well, dear maybe she was really talented."
Sin splints do not resonate with you; funny, funny stuff.
Here is an example of what I thought MOOT was
If something's a moot point, there's some disagreement about it: a debatable point. In the U.S., this expression usually means that there is no point in debating something, because it just doesn't matter. An example: If you are arguing over whether to go the beach or to the park, but you find out the car won't start and you can't go anywhere, then the destination is said to be a moot point.
Husker
You oughta know!
Discussing the meaning of moot; funny, funny stuff.
Sing for us Ms. Morissette, you seem so cheerful and pleasant, I loved you in DOGMA . Our topics are as lively as anyone wants to make them.
Misty, Corry Village is over near the law school; quite scandalous during the 70's with wife swapping parties. I go back to G-ville often, friends, a nephew, cousins and my parents are buried there. Only a 4.5 hour drive. Did you feed alligators near your apartment?
Susan, glad I could help. I find people are very polarized by red hair.
C'mon folks, give me a reason for "Restaurant Pots" = "HOT TEAS", or I'll just assume that no-one knows why and I'll throw the yellow flag:
"On the Editor/Constructor - Illegal Clue/Meaningless Answer Combination - 1 word penalty, redo 25 Down"
So - anyone?
Thanks for the compliment JCh. Isn't your conversation with Misty over? You should move it to e-mail. Thank You.
whew!! Great puzzle!
I remember Mya from the Moulin Rouge video but didn't realize she was an R/B singer.
Thanks for everything
Later
@Steve: Good point. Maybe like hot coffee pots there are hot tea pots. Maybe even HOT TEAS. Buying it?
@Lemonade714: Loved your write up.
Steve-
HOT-TEAS® is a brand of cookware/bakeware especially developed to be used in restaurants with scantily-clad servers (such as Hooters & Tilted Kilt). They are designed to protect distracted chefs, as well as the servers themselves, from accidental scalding/burning.
Steve--I'm not sure but it may be he is after the opposite of iced teas. And hot tea often comes in a metal pot.
Thumbs up for The Motorcycle Diaries. Really enjoyed.
Steve, I got no answer for ya.
Ron, laughed at your chicken joke.
Lemonade and Hahtool, mucho thanks for clearing up basso. a-ha...
met=Met.Opera. Love your brains!
Lemon, IMHO Shallow hal was a horrible film.
Steve: When I go to a Chinese restaurant, for a beverage I order hot tea. It usually comes in a porcelain pot and has sufficient hot tea to sip or drink for the whole meal. Simple as that.
Re the HOT TEAS, most restaurants serve a small pot, either metal or ceramic filled with hot water. The tea bag is on the side. The customer can steep the tea to the desired strength, either in the pot or in the cup. I've been in oriental restaurants that serve a larger pot of already brewed hot tea for everyone at the table. Given the name of our constructor, that may be the Hot Teas he is refering to.
Hey Dennis-
Looks like the competition in your new home & line of work just got smaller.
Lovely line that you've drawn.
Big doin's here. Jordan and I played Go Fish, War, Boggle, constructed stuff with magnets, played bouncy catch with a super ball and watched Wile E. Coyote try in vain to use Acme hardware to catch the Roadrunner. I'm exhausted.
Funny, we did the same here.
Dr. Turner Hedinkoff (great name), thanks for that. They need to get rid of the posers before I get there.
Susan, glad I could help. I find people are very polarized by red hair.
What!??!
If the breast exams were fake, why did he get arrested? It sounds like he was really examining them. Dennis, make them sign waivers. Even Tiger Woods found out some women have afterthoughts.
-PK
It is too bad that all of our banter can't be saved for posterity.
A lot of hilarious stuff has been censored...
See, i told ya! Anyway...
I think that just as cup and cupful can sometimes be used interchangeably, pot and potful also can be used interchangeably. Restaurant potfuls could be hot teas. Before questioning the plural, teas, think that there are many teas offered, pekoe, green tea, herbal, etc. Looked at this way, using potfuls for pots,the clue does not strike me as awkward.
Lemonade, I have frequently researched MOOT over the years, and I agree with. Moot has two opposite meanings which causes all the confusion.
-from the Night Owl
I just arrived home from Carnegy Hall in NYC and can't sleep.
Carnegie Hall.
Andrew, I know, I know. It's after 1:00 AM here and I am tired. Everyone is a critc. Have a heart.
Now I spelled critic wrong, too. Jump on it if you will.
I forgive you.
Yellowrock, ever hear of a sense of humor? Why are you always so serious?
Oh, I don't know about that. She misspelled critic, and rather than correcting it in her post, she left it alone and dared you to call her out on it.
Sounds like a pretty decent sense of humor to me.
@All-Clad re HOTTEAS - THANK YOU!
@The rest of us - wildly hopeless guesses all round. Penalty Flag - on the solvers - totally speculative and inaccurate hypotheses - Automatic time-out from further comments.
:)
Ginger!!! Shame on you.. It should be "Too bad all our HILARITY can't be saved for Posterity"
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