Theme: "Give B's a Chance" - The starting letters P's are replaced by B's in each two-word P*P* theme entry.
25A. Jaded ballplayer? : BITTER BATTER. Pitter-Patter. Fun clue/answer.
27A. Grain of sand? : BEACH BIT. Peach pit.
105A. Sound of Crosby's doorbell? : BING BONG. Ping pong.
109A. Collection of yokels? : BUMPKIN BATCH. Pumpkin patch.
47. Coal receptacle building blocks? : BIN BRICKS. Pinpricks. The only entry where the base phrase is one-word.
51. Steer groups? : BULL BUNCHES. Pull punches.
80. Fish with a bad cold? : BARKING BASS. Parking pass. Dogs bark. Fish?
83. Pointed front of a two-wheeler? : BIKE'S BEAK. Pike's Peak.
Lovely theme. So neat that the 8 theme entries can be placed in 4 rows.
Lots of effort went into this theme. First, the constructors had to first find common P* P* phrases, then picked out the ones that could be converted to B's, making sure no straying P's in the middle/end of the word. Sometimes new phrases have to be discarded as they don't make much surface sense when cluing.
I had a few email exchanges with Alex in the past. He's a computer genius.
Across:
1. Corrupt, in a way : BRIBE. Bribery is quite common in Indian politics, I hear.
6. Ignore : PASS BY
12. Sleeping : AT REST
18. Ayes : YESES
19. "Lady Marmalade" group : LABELLE. I like Christina Aguilera & Pink's version.
20. Caesar salad topper : CROUTON
22. Unpleasant pair to choose from : EVILS. The lesser of two evils.
23. "To reiterate ..." : I REPEAT
24. Deep-fried Japanese dish : TEMPURA. Tasty. All deep-fried foods are.
28. Mocha native : YEMENI. Mocha is the Yemeni port famous for its coffee.
29. Fantastic : SUPERB
31. As well : TOO
32. Vase-shaped pitcher : EWER
33. Drama with two spin-offs : CSI
36. Scarlett, to Rhett, ultimately : MY DEAR. In the end, he said: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".
38. 1983 Keaton title role : MR MOM
42. Tweet : CHIRP
44. Alka-Seltzer sound : PLOP
46. New York college whose team is the Gaels : IONA
54. 2001 French film nominated for five Academy Awards : AMELIE. Very whimsy,
55. One reason to work : SALARY
57. Energy meas. : BTU. I was thinking of calorie.
58. Tell : RAT
59. Stain-removal brand : SHOUT
60. Turning parts : ROTORS
61. Grasps : GETS
62. Sharpen : HONE
63. Family name in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" : SAMSA. No idea. Gregor Samsa.
64. Shark's practice : USURY
66. Tell : BLAB
70. Field division : ACRE
71. They get tipped in lots : VALETS. Parking lots.
73. 1971 Clapton classic : LAYLA
74. Psyche part, to Freud : EGO
77. General at Antietam : LEE
78. White Label Scotch maker : DEWAR'S. For Tinbeni & EddyB. Argyle too. Is the bus story true?
79. Roaches, e.g. : VERMIN
85. Jai __ : ALAI
86. Deserve : EARN
87. Browns : SEARS. And 90. Slightly burned : SINGED
88. Cheers : YELLS
94. Was in charge of : RAN
95. Insect stage after larva : PUPA
99. Morning morsel : OAT. Not for me.
101. "Got me" : NO IDEA
103. Ear problem : OTITIS
112. Kuwait, for one : EMIRATE
113. How a team should work : AS A UNIT. Had trouble parsing my answer.
114. "Love Story" co-star : O'NEAL (Ryan)
115. Timeline divisions : DECADES
116. Reddish-brown horses : SORRELS. Sorrel is also an herb. A bit tangy.
117. Like some mythology : NORSE.
118. Malevolent beings : DEMONS
119. From Aconcagua, say : ANDEAN. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas.
120. Lamb piece : ESSAY. Charles Lamb the Elia.
Down:
1. Parting words : BYE BYE
2. Look over : REVIEW
3. "Am I crazy?" : IS IT ME? My new computer is pretty good. But it drives me crazy at times. Still can't make the Solve/Print buttons of Chicago Tribune's crossword website work in Firefox. Don't think it's the Java problem. I uninstalled it. The puzzle still works fine in Internet Explorer, but not Firefox.
4. Merman, notably : BELTER
5. Museum Folkwang city : ESSEN. Museum about what?
6. Normal opening? : PARA. Paranormal.
7. Stands guard, perhaps : ABETS
8. One may be deviated : SEPTUM. New word to me.
9. Disney dwarf : SLEEPY
10. Played loudly : BLARED. Thought of Ant.
11. Although : YET
12. Entr'__ : ACTE
13. Costumed kid's hope : TREAT. More fun when kids come costumed.
14. "Pretty Woman" genre, briefly : ROMCOM (Romantic comedy)
15. Blissful : EUPHORIC. Sounds sweet.
16. Broadway souvenir : STUB
17. Songwriter Amos : TORI
19. Bldg. with stacks : LIB. OK, Library.
21. Rebellious Turner : NAT
26. Singer Lionel : RICHIE
27. NBAers' game : B-BALL
30. RSVP : REPLY
34. Word seen in brackets : SIC
35. Trying : IRKSOME
37. See 69-Down : ROBBERS. 69. With 37-Down, Bonnie and Clyde : BANK., They were better than those who steal others' ID on line.
39. Comedian Jay : MOHR. LAHR is another name ending in HR.
40. Draft status : ONE A
41. Sail support : MAST
42. Short review? : CRIT. Criticism then. (From Grumpy: It's critique.)
43. H.S. exams : PSATs
45. Crack filler : PUTTY
47. Gala : BASH
48. Letters before an online view : IMHO
49. Krypton relative : NEON. And 60. 49-Down, for example : RARE GAS
50. Word after sky or powder : BLUE
51. Grill partner : BAR
52. Sea witch in "The Little Mermaid" : URSULA (Sorry for the error earlier.)
53. Frat letters : NUs
56. Bakery array : LOAVES
61. Braver : GUTSIER
63. Part of an act : SCENE
65. Southern Slavs : SERBS
66. Zinger : BARB
67. Connecticut town for which a disease is named : LYME. The dreadful Lime disease.
68. Et __ : ALIA
70. Ex-boxer Laila : ALI. LAILA often appears as an answer.
72. Litter reactions : AWs
73. Reduced : LESS
74. Auction site : EBAY
75. __ warning : GALE
76. Like much history : ORAL
78. Steve's sidekick in "Hawaii Five-O" : DANNO. I've seen DANO in crosswords also.
79. Washington's mount? : VERNON. Mount Vernon.
81. About 2.2 pounds : KILOGRAM. Had trouble accepting pounds when I first arrived here.
82. "__ it on!" : BRING
84. Kipling python : KAA. From "The Jungle Book". Unknown to me.
89. Domingo preceder : SABADO. What's this? I don't get this clue/answer.
91. Martini with an onion : GIBSON
92. Einstein's second son : EDUARD. Another no idea. Miserable life.
93. Reserved : DEMURE. JD always appears so.
95. Some uprights : PIANOS
96. Says : UTTERS
97. Web image-viewing software : PICASA. You can create your own Picasa album.
98. Scarlett's love : ASHLEY. Love is so irrational. I don't find Ashley attractive at all.
100. On a scale of one __ : TO TEN
102. Sleep problem : APNEA
104. Beef cut : T-BONE
105. Flower place : BED
106. Wrote online, briefly : IM'ED
107. Pleasing : NICE
108. Storied loch : NESS
110. Potter's oven : KILN
111. "__ a Wonderful Life" : IT'S. Timely.
113. Botanist Gray : ASA
Answer grid.
Here is a photo of our hockey nut eddyB, taken at the game yesterday I think. Great jersey!
C.C.
25A. Jaded ballplayer? : BITTER BATTER. Pitter-Patter. Fun clue/answer.
27A. Grain of sand? : BEACH BIT. Peach pit.
105A. Sound of Crosby's doorbell? : BING BONG. Ping pong.
109A. Collection of yokels? : BUMPKIN BATCH. Pumpkin patch.
47. Coal receptacle building blocks? : BIN BRICKS. Pinpricks. The only entry where the base phrase is one-word.
51. Steer groups? : BULL BUNCHES. Pull punches.
80. Fish with a bad cold? : BARKING BASS. Parking pass. Dogs bark. Fish?
83. Pointed front of a two-wheeler? : BIKE'S BEAK. Pike's Peak.
Lovely theme. So neat that the 8 theme entries can be placed in 4 rows.
Lots of effort went into this theme. First, the constructors had to first find common P* P* phrases, then picked out the ones that could be converted to B's, making sure no straying P's in the middle/end of the word. Sometimes new phrases have to be discarded as they don't make much surface sense when cluing.
I had a few email exchanges with Alex in the past. He's a computer genius.
Across:
1. Corrupt, in a way : BRIBE. Bribery is quite common in Indian politics, I hear.
6. Ignore : PASS BY
12. Sleeping : AT REST
18. Ayes : YESES
19. "Lady Marmalade" group : LABELLE. I like Christina Aguilera & Pink's version.
20. Caesar salad topper : CROUTON
22. Unpleasant pair to choose from : EVILS. The lesser of two evils.
23. "To reiterate ..." : I REPEAT
24. Deep-fried Japanese dish : TEMPURA. Tasty. All deep-fried foods are.
28. Mocha native : YEMENI. Mocha is the Yemeni port famous for its coffee.
29. Fantastic : SUPERB
31. As well : TOO
32. Vase-shaped pitcher : EWER
33. Drama with two spin-offs : CSI
36. Scarlett, to Rhett, ultimately : MY DEAR. In the end, he said: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".
38. 1983 Keaton title role : MR MOM
42. Tweet : CHIRP
44. Alka-Seltzer sound : PLOP
46. New York college whose team is the Gaels : IONA
54. 2001 French film nominated for five Academy Awards : AMELIE. Very whimsy,
55. One reason to work : SALARY
57. Energy meas. : BTU. I was thinking of calorie.
58. Tell : RAT
59. Stain-removal brand : SHOUT
60. Turning parts : ROTORS
61. Grasps : GETS
62. Sharpen : HONE
63. Family name in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" : SAMSA. No idea. Gregor Samsa.
64. Shark's practice : USURY
66. Tell : BLAB
70. Field division : ACRE
71. They get tipped in lots : VALETS. Parking lots.
73. 1971 Clapton classic : LAYLA
74. Psyche part, to Freud : EGO
77. General at Antietam : LEE
78. White Label Scotch maker : DEWAR'S. For Tinbeni & EddyB. Argyle too. Is the bus story true?
79. Roaches, e.g. : VERMIN
85. Jai __ : ALAI
86. Deserve : EARN
87. Browns : SEARS. And 90. Slightly burned : SINGED
88. Cheers : YELLS
94. Was in charge of : RAN
95. Insect stage after larva : PUPA
99. Morning morsel : OAT. Not for me.
101. "Got me" : NO IDEA
103. Ear problem : OTITIS
112. Kuwait, for one : EMIRATE
113. How a team should work : AS A UNIT. Had trouble parsing my answer.
114. "Love Story" co-star : O'NEAL (Ryan)
115. Timeline divisions : DECADES
116. Reddish-brown horses : SORRELS. Sorrel is also an herb. A bit tangy.
117. Like some mythology : NORSE.
118. Malevolent beings : DEMONS
119. From Aconcagua, say : ANDEAN. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas.
120. Lamb piece : ESSAY. Charles Lamb the Elia.
Down:
1. Parting words : BYE BYE
2. Look over : REVIEW
3. "Am I crazy?" : IS IT ME? My new computer is pretty good. But it drives me crazy at times. Still can't make the Solve/Print buttons of Chicago Tribune's crossword website work in Firefox. Don't think it's the Java problem. I uninstalled it. The puzzle still works fine in Internet Explorer, but not Firefox.
4. Merman, notably : BELTER
5. Museum Folkwang city : ESSEN. Museum about what?
6. Normal opening? : PARA. Paranormal.
7. Stands guard, perhaps : ABETS
8. One may be deviated : SEPTUM. New word to me.
9. Disney dwarf : SLEEPY
10. Played loudly : BLARED. Thought of Ant.
11. Although : YET
12. Entr'__ : ACTE
13. Costumed kid's hope : TREAT. More fun when kids come costumed.
14. "Pretty Woman" genre, briefly : ROMCOM (Romantic comedy)
15. Blissful : EUPHORIC. Sounds sweet.
16. Broadway souvenir : STUB
17. Songwriter Amos : TORI
19. Bldg. with stacks : LIB. OK, Library.
21. Rebellious Turner : NAT
26. Singer Lionel : RICHIE
27. NBAers' game : B-BALL
30. RSVP : REPLY
34. Word seen in brackets : SIC
35. Trying : IRKSOME
37. See 69-Down : ROBBERS. 69. With 37-Down, Bonnie and Clyde : BANK., They were better than those who steal others' ID on line.
39. Comedian Jay : MOHR. LAHR is another name ending in HR.
40. Draft status : ONE A
41. Sail support : MAST
42. Short review? : CRIT. Criticism then. (From Grumpy: It's critique.)
43. H.S. exams : PSATs
45. Crack filler : PUTTY
47. Gala : BASH
48. Letters before an online view : IMHO
49. Krypton relative : NEON. And 60. 49-Down, for example : RARE GAS
50. Word after sky or powder : BLUE
51. Grill partner : BAR
52. Sea witch in "The Little Mermaid" : URSULA (Sorry for the error earlier.)
53. Frat letters : NUs
56. Bakery array : LOAVES
61. Braver : GUTSIER
63. Part of an act : SCENE
65. Southern Slavs : SERBS
66. Zinger : BARB
67. Connecticut town for which a disease is named : LYME. The dreadful Lime disease.
68. Et __ : ALIA
70. Ex-boxer Laila : ALI. LAILA often appears as an answer.
72. Litter reactions : AWs
73. Reduced : LESS
74. Auction site : EBAY
75. __ warning : GALE
76. Like much history : ORAL
78. Steve's sidekick in "Hawaii Five-O" : DANNO. I've seen DANO in crosswords also.
79. Washington's mount? : VERNON. Mount Vernon.
81. About 2.2 pounds : KILOGRAM. Had trouble accepting pounds when I first arrived here.
82. "__ it on!" : BRING
84. Kipling python : KAA. From "The Jungle Book". Unknown to me.
89. Domingo preceder : SABADO. What's this? I don't get this clue/answer.
91. Martini with an onion : GIBSON
92. Einstein's second son : EDUARD. Another no idea. Miserable life.
93. Reserved : DEMURE. JD always appears so.
95. Some uprights : PIANOS
96. Says : UTTERS
97. Web image-viewing software : PICASA. You can create your own Picasa album.
98. Scarlett's love : ASHLEY. Love is so irrational. I don't find Ashley attractive at all.
100. On a scale of one __ : TO TEN
102. Sleep problem : APNEA
104. Beef cut : T-BONE
105. Flower place : BED
106. Wrote online, briefly : IM'ED
107. Pleasing : NICE
108. Storied loch : NESS
110. Potter's oven : KILN
111. "__ a Wonderful Life" : IT'S. Timely.
113. Botanist Gray : ASA
Answer grid.
Here is a photo of our hockey nut eddyB, taken at the game yesterday I think. Great jersey!
C.C.
Hi, fellow cruciverbalist (just love that word)!
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, Boisverts; Fine write-up, CC.
It's very late for me, but thought I would blog for a change before sleeping and facing the rigors of the day.
SABADO is Saturday, Domingo is Sunday, in Spanish.
More later, maybe.
A fine Domingo to you all!!
Good Morning C.C. and friends. Today's theme was a play on John Lennon's song, Give Peace a Chance, which is timely since he was assassinated on December 8, 1980.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clue was Bldg with Stacks = LIB. It took a minute before I realized we were looking for the Library.
I initially thought of Erode for Corrupt in a Way. Since two of the letters (the R and E) were in the correct spaces as BRIBE, I had a tad of difficulty getting started in the NW corner.
My mother suffers from Lyme Disease. It took the doctors several months before she was properly diagnosed, which resulted in her suffering nerve damage in her leg. She doesn't let her stop her from enjoying life, however.
QOD: You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job. ~ Laurence J. Peter
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle with a fun theme. I got the theme pretty early on, which helped fill in the theme answers. Most of the puzzle was pretty straightforward, but I got hung up a bit in the extreme N and NW sections.
I've heard of the singer Patti LABELLE but didn't know there was a group named LABELLE, so I really hesitated filling in all the letters at 19A.
The clue for BRIBE at 1A threw me, since I was looking for an adjective instead of a verb.
I knew that 4D was referring to the singer and not the man-fish of myth, but BELTER was not at the forefront of my mind.
I know ESSEN, but couldn't get it from the clue at 5D. Ditto for YEMENI at 28A.
Etc., etc., etc.
C.C.: Re: Firefox problem. Try Google Chrome. Works great for me. Thanks for a wonderful site.
ReplyDeleteCC, thanx for explaining ROMCOM. I was thinking Orbison rather than Roberts for "Pretty Woman" and couldn't see what music genre ROMCOM might be. Never saw the film.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, an easy albeit enjoyable 20-minute romp for a Sunday. Did take awhile for LENO to change to MOHR, though.
@Al Cyone (is that an homage to halcyon?) I, too, browse via Chrome, but I don't do crosswords online, so I don't know if the Print/Solve buttons that are giving CC fits would work for me. (Can you spell run-on sentence?) I have different issues with Chrome.
Fun puzzle. CC--Ursula is the name of the sea witch. The actress who voiced her is (was) Pat Carroll.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, CC and Sunday Solvers, all. Thank's, Hahtool for the explanation of the title. I had thought that there were probably better titles that could be used, but playing off Lennon's song was perfect.
ReplyDeleteCC, a review is a critique, so a short (abbreviation) critique is a CRIT. Yes, some fish do bark. We have one called the dogfish that barks when caught.
Getting the theme early helped the solve. The unknowns filled nicely via perps. Like Barry, i wasn't familiar with the group LaBelle, but unlike Barry, I throw caution to the wind and put it in when it looks like a strong possibility. fortunately MR MOM was already in place or Leno would have been occupying MOHR's seat.
BING BONG works with several other leading letter substitutions: D, K, P and S. Ummm, technically, steer groups are no longer BULL BUNCHES.
Fun puzzle.
Of course, 22A would be WEEVILS, according to Jack Aubrey.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea what the Museum Folkwang had in it (art, it turns out), but I knew it was German, and already had an S and an E, so ESSEN, that ever-popular German city fit, and, happily, worked out.
Like probably every other cruciverbalist today, I had to erase LENO in favor of _OHR, but never got the M (see below).
Some wonderful cluing, with 4D BELTER my favorite, although it was a late Aha! moment when fish became Ethel. An initally tough but not impossible Sunday exercise -- unless, like me, you couldn't decide among the Keatons and wouldn't have known MRMOM even if Michael had been specified.
CC -- you're forgiven re Ursula Andress. She was indeed a memorable Sea Witch as Honey Ryder in Dr No.
Especially enjoyable once I sussed out the theme -- thank you, BUMPKINBATCH.
Hello Everyone,
ReplyDeleteBoomer here. I have not figured out how to get my name on the post, but I just wanted to check in. We have had problems with our old computer and we have replaced it. But it took nearly a week to get the new one up and running. I wanted to give a few public kudos to my wife, C.C. for fighting with the old machine for a week to give everyone the blog that they are used to seeing everyday. Also a tip of the Hatlo Hat to Argyle for helping CC get through last week. Rah Rah Rah for Sky-U-Mah!!!
@Hahtool, thanx for the explanation. Makes good sense,. I too am in favor of whirled peas.
ReplyDelete@Grumpy1, I think you're right. They're bull bunches missing the bunches, aren't they?
Off to walk the "hood."
Good day, C.C. and Sunday puzzlers.
ReplyDeleteA SUPERB write up, C.C. thanks.
And a very entertaining puzzle from the Boisverts. Thank you both.
At first pass I couldn't make headway in the NW so sashayed to NE and filled it though wanted COMEDY before ROMCOM which yielded MRMOM and then LENO could not work though I had not yet written it.
Eventually I recalled Jay MOHR and my only error was LAILA and LIME instead of LAYLA and LYME.
I see Fermat already explained SABADO and domingo, Saturday and Sunday. Domingo is often also a man's given name.
Like Grump 1, I, too, just throw caution to the winds and fill what seems probable then read it over to ensure it's accurate.
I thought Washington's mount, VERNON, was clever.
Would someone please explain BULLBUNCHES. I interpreted steer as controlling since bulls are not steers, well once were. I think.
Have a great domingo, everyone!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHere was that rare puzzle where I caught on to the theme, and used it to advantage in solving. Hand up for LENO, who wouldn't give up his seat, partly because the only Diane Keaton role I could think of was Mr. Goodbar.
What's the connection between Scarlett and Ashley?
Easy
ReplyDeleteWell, at least easier than yesterday.
Good morning C.C. and all.
ReplyDeleteNot much new to add. Sort of got the wprking of the theme before coming here, but only to the extent of knowing that there were two words starting with 'b' in each theme fill. But it all worked out. No searches were needed. I had 'fizz' before PLOP. IONA was a WAG. I liked seeing EUPHORIC and I thought the clueing for PIANOS and ESSAY were very clever. I know YESES and 'yesses' are both correct. I prefer the latter because adding the additional 's' keeps the syllable closed for the short 'e' sound.
Hope every one has a great day and that Lemonade keeps improving. Not fun being in a hospital.
Hmmm, a BAR with DEWAR'S.
ReplyDeleteI'm EUPHORIC.
Roaches aren't VERMIN ... if they're smoked on a timely basis.
Cheers !!!
Dudley: SPOILER ALERT. In the book/movie, Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara thinks she is in love with Ashley Wilkes, but he marries someone else. She spends most of the book trying to get him back, and in the meantime, gets married and widowed twice before marrying Rhett Butler. By the time she realizes that she doesn't want Ashley, but loves Rhett, Rhett has had enough of her antics and walks out on her, hence the movie line, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
ReplyDeleteYou might like this. Anticipating Christmas on a Brit bird farm that had a 7½ month long deployment.
ReplyDeleteHello.
ReplyDeleteLoved this theme.
Photo from Dec 1st game with MTL.
Sharks won in an exciting SO.
Think that Dewars is a third shelf
blend. Sorry. Even Mikey doesn't
like it.
eddy
Hello all. Nice Sunday puzzle, thanks to both Jayne and Alex. And of course to C.C. for the answers.
ReplyDeleteFirst pass thru Across was brutal, but the Downs helped me get through it. The top 1/3 was the hardest for me.
I liked 105A, BING BONG.
For 42A I was thinking of Twitter, not bird. Got me.
Hand up for Fizz before PLOP.
Best to all.
Nice puzzle, Les Boisvertes, and cracking write-up, CC.
ReplyDeletePersonal Natick for ASA and SORRELS, so WAG'd "D" instead for a technical DNF.
Placido Domingo, Amigos!
Thanks, Hahtool. I never watched Gone with the Wind from stem to stern, as far as I can recall. Didn't know that that self-centered little Scarlett chewed up so many men.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, there was some family folklore about my mother having been acquainted with Margaret Mitchell, but it's rather too late to confirm.
Hey - if Jayne and Alex are standing in front of the Ardennes forest, does that mean I can't see the forêt for les boisverts?
ReplyDeleteSteve:
ReplyDeleteLOL! That's a great line.
Hahtool:
I enjoyed your succinct summary of Scarlett and Ashley's relationship. Have you thought of writing for CLIFF notes? You would be good at it.
Hi All ~~
ReplyDeleteWell, this was fun! Hahtool ~ I, too, thought of John Lennon with the puzzle title.
I caught the theme with BIKES BEAK (I was skipping all over) and that helped with the others. I really liked BITTER BATTER and BINGBONG. A most enjoyable puzzle, Jayne & Alex!
~~ I'm with those that had Leno and Fizz to start before MOHR and PLOP.
~~ C.C. ~ Thanks for your great write up and fun comments and for all your extra work this week.
~~ 71A -- 'They get tipped in lots' -- VALETS ... had me going for a while ... very clever, I thought! (For some strange reason I was thinking of something that might be related to "cow-tipping.")
~~ Fermatprime ~ Thanks for explaining SABADO and Domingo ... I had no idea.
Enjoy the evening, everyone!
Greetings. Will someone figure out if Rhett really did say, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." I have read that that's not what he said. And I don't trust Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteThanks. And
Cheers
Fun puzzle. I had trouble making sense out of BARKING BASS but once I got the theme, I enjoyed it and it helped with the solving.
ReplyDeleteI recorded 'Tale of Two Cities' and am almost through watching it. The hero is on his way to the guillotine. Unless something unexpected happens to save him, I might just stop watching where I am. Seeing or even imagining such a fate is very unpleasant for me.
Say, have any of you tried Googling the word TILT? Turns out I found out about this little Easter Egg from doing another Cruciverb crossword puzzle recently. Try a Google search for TILT and notice what happens. Fun I thought. (It might not work on an iPad 'cause I'm guessing it needs Flash.)
Sallie, my recollection is that he said that famous line exactly as you quoted it. I looked it up on YouTube and found this for you.
ReplyDeleteGone with the Wind
You might be getting that line confused with "Play it Again Sam" which isn't said quite that way in Casablanca.
How about a clue using a reverse of today's themeage:
ReplyDeleteBest of Show dog on steroids? Abbr.
PED PUG
Sallie: From the IMDB site:
'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.'
Good afternoon! I second (third? tenth? hundredth?) the shout-out to C.C. for her unwavering dedication to the blog. Hopefully the music isn't too BLARING today.
ReplyDeleteHere's a pretty funky version of BRING It On (7:33) by Seal. I like the camera work, too.
Here's TORI Amos with Scarlet's Walk (5:15). Not Rhett's (or Ashley's) Scarlett, but TORI herself...who wrote this concept album as a response to post-9/11 America.
Sallie, MY DEAR, this one's for you.
Great puzzle! The theme helped tremendously. My only hangups were the inkblots in the NW, but I "got er done" without help. It slowed me down to try to decipher my own writing. I should try using Wite-Out as some of you do.
ReplyDeleteCC, thanks for a great write up and for all the extras this week while you had a bum computer.
Hahtool, "Give B's a Chance" mystified me until your explanation.
My only completely unkown, taken up on faith in the perps, was SAMSA.
Finally a nit with which I whole-heartedly agree, unless someone can persuade me otherwise. A BULL is not a STEER.
In the category of "Isn't the English language odd?" I am flummoxed that, except for BOVINE, there is no singlular, non gender specific for CATTLE.
Nor is there is a gender specific plural for HE or SHE. There is only THEY. And there is no non gender specific singular for HE or SHE, which makes writing awkward. If we do not know the sex, do we use HE? We cannot use THEY as a singular. Many foreign languages have all these forms.
MEA CULPA. I apologize for the overly long blog. I got carried away.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks re: cattle.
ReplyDeleteI have felt the same frustration, but Merriam Webster does permit Cow: see def: 2 below.
Definition of COW
1
a : the mature female of cattle (genus Bos)
b : the mature female of various usually large animals (as an elephant, whale, or moose)
2
: a domestic bovine animal regardless of sex or age
plural of cow: kine
ReplyDeleteDon't have a cow, man!
ReplyDeleteSptitzboov, thanks for the reference. People intuitively use COW as the non gender specific singular of CATTLE and are continually told they are incorrect. According to your source this is a nit picky over correction of the sort I always inveigh against. Cow in this gender neutral sense as the singular of cattle is so ubiquitous that very shortly everyone will deem it correct. English is not a static language.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, yes, kine is the plural of cow. The questiion really was whether cow is gender specific, and if it is how do words like kine and cattle, and bovines indicate the gender?
I believe that Spitzboov hsa the answer. Again, we are too picky.
Late to the party. I was busy making lots of sawdust today.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the puzzle. Thought it was relatively easy, but the theme was clever and it was fun all told.
After most of the day has passed I'm amazed that no one has linked Give Peace a Chance.
I just now had time to check in my copy of Gone with the Wind and Rhett says, "My dear, I don't give a damn."
ReplyDeleteHail, friends,
ReplyDeleteThank you C.C. and Boisverts for an enjoyable puzzle and good conversation. I really really liked it and for the first time I got the theme early and was able to consciously get a lot of help from it! AND I did the Merle Reagel in our local paper, recognized the theme in that one, too. At last I'm catching on.
Since the LAT xword isn't in our paper, I have to do it online and I still haven't figured out how to get it printed without losing it first. Today I accessed it from the Chgo Trib site, where the options ask you if you want to save it, which I clicked. I finished the puzzle all but one square which I decided I would put in on the printed solved copy, but again I was unable to print it. What's the secret combination, anyway? I want to have the whole page when I read the blog so I can refer back and forth!. What in the world do the editors think we're going to do, sell copies, steal the copyright? Now they don't even give you any options the way they used to!
Now that I've had my rant:
ReplyDeleteHand up for Leno and fizz All I could think of for 'before Domingo' was Placido. Perps pulled me through that; even then I was thinking it had to be human so Sabado just didn't parse for me~! ah, well
Eddie b. you look 30 years younger without the beard! Or was that someone else in the pic from last years Pottery Sale?
Spitzboov, that video from HMS Ocean was fabulous. I'm still RLOTF
about to split a gut~! I think I'll try to send it as my Christmas card!
Denver wins on Domingo again!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Love is involved?
Hey Spitz - That HMS Ocean video was brilliant! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood night all.
ReplyDeleteBill G. Thanks for that clip. He surely does say exactly what is so often quoted. And yes, I do know that Casablanca quote that is so often misquoted.
And thanks too to Spitzboov and Ant.
Manhattan Beach opts for a Christmas fireworks display rather than the Fourth of July. We just got back from our vantage point parked on a hill overlooking the pier. Very nice as usual.
ReplyDeleteIn case you are interested, here's a short, partially-historical slide show.
spitzboov:
ReplyDeleteThank you for HMS Ocean. That was fun to watch. what a hoot!
Good evening, folks. Thank you, the Boiverts, for a great puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the swell write-up.
ReplyDeleteWorked on this while at he Shriners Hospital in Chicago, as well as on the train heading for Pennsylvania. I just finished and am in western Ohio on Amtrak.
Saw where the Bears blew another one.
Anyhow, the puzzle was solvable, but not easy. But. More fun than yesterday's, which I did not finish, yet.
My first theme answer was Bing Bong, and then Bikes Beak. That told me what to look for.
My hang-up was in the ENE. Had MAST then SPAR then back to MAST. Of course, had LENO. That whole area was a mess.
For 91D tried GIMLET. No cigar, so Gibson fit. I am not an ace at mixed drinks. Strictly beer.
Got many with perps. Too many to list.
Speaking of beer, I will,have some Yuengling when I get to Pennsylvania. Good stuff.
Dodo1925: I use the Chicago Trib site every day, and print a blank puzzle. No problem. I have never worked a puzzle on line from that site.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Abejo,
ReplyDeleteIf you read the post above you'll see that the Bears didn't blow it. They never had a chance because a higher power is now in control of the NFL. If Las Vegas figures this out they'll be putting a hit out on the Big Football Fan in the sky for favoring Tebow.
Hi C.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteLooks like I missed a couple of great xwds this week...too busy, but I did get a chance to read the comments. CC, it was like ol' times seeing you so often...most enjoyable.
Bill, loved the slide show- great pictures. Liked how you slid in those oldies.
I'll be out of town this next week. We'll see how well I can navigate on the ipad.
Dodo, I think it's still the same format if you go in via Chicago tribune. I'll send that to you.
JD, I wish I could take credit for the slide show but I linked it from the Manhattan Beach home page. I'm glad you liked it. I sure enjoy the old photos too.
ReplyDeleteFireworks for Christmas. Pretty cool, eh?
ok this is frustrating because my Sunday, December 11, 2011 crossword is THE WHOLE NINE YD'S. Where can I find solutions for this particular puzzle. I've searched La. Times website and it sends me here. Your puzzle is different. HELP!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteWe do the syndicated LAT puzzle but the paper publishes the Merl Reagle puzzle. Strange, eh?
Puzzle answers(click).