Theme: Do En Do Do - Clip(3:05) I hope it shines on all of you.
17A. Hexes : PUTS UNDER A SPELL
27A. Surprised party, metaphorically : MONKEY'S UNCLE
44A. Destination not yet determined : PARTS UNKNOWN
58A. Beatles song, and a hint to the hidden word in 17-, 27- and 44-Across : "HERE COMES THE SUN"
Argyle here with your earworm for a Monday. I believe this is our constructor's first LAT puzzle. She has collaborated with Andrea Carla Michaels on several other puzzles and Andrea had her own solo effort here last September. Two full length themes anchor the grid firmly and aside from a shortstop, the fill is pleasant.
Across:
1. Thumbs-way-up reviews : RAVES. "Have you ever been to a rave?" (quote from a really strange PSA.)
6. Knocks with one's knuckles : RAPS
10. Not feral : TAME
14. Low-budget, in company names : ECONO
15. Happily __ after : EVER
16. October birthstone : OPAL
20. Dined : ATE
21. Twosome : PAIR
22. Heart chambers : ATRIA
23. Positive thinker's assertion : "YES I CAN!"
25. Cleopatra's river : NILE
32. Beelzebub : SATAN
35. Oboe or bassoon : REED
36. Baled grass : HAY
37. "Jurassic Park" terror, for short : T-REX
38. Meanspiritedness : SPITE
40. Home plate, e.g. : BASE
41. Above, in verse : O'ER
42. Apple computer : IMAC
43. Showed on television : AIRED
48. Detest : HATE
49. Oscar-winning film about Mozart : "AMADEUS"
53. End of __ : AN ERA
56. Yard sale warning : AS IS
57. British mil. award : DSO. Distinguished Service Order.
62. Opera solo : ARIA
63. Like a steak with a red center : RARE
64. "That is to say ..." : "I MEAN ..."
65. Double O Seven : BOND, James BOND.
66. "P.U.!" inducer : ODOR
67. Willy-__: sloppily : NILLY
Down:
1. Satisfy, as a loan : REPAY
2. Like most triangle angles : ACUTE. (less than 90°)
3. Chooses at the polls : VOTES
4. USNA grad : ENS.ign
5. Slight trace : SOUPÇON. Origin: 1760–70; < French: a suspicion, Middle French sospeçon < Late Latin suspectiōn- (stem of suspectiō ), for Latin suspīciō suspicion. What is that little mark under the C? Cedilla, a character ( ¸ ) placed underneath a c before a, o, or u, esp in French, Portuguese, or Catalan, denoting that it is to be pronounced (s), not (k). The same character is used in the scripts of other languages, as in Turkish under s
6. Symbol of financial losses : RED INK
7. State firmly : AVER
8. For each : PER
9. Málaga Mrs. : SRA. Map of Spain showing Málaga.
10. Best-seller list : TOP TEN
11. Mimic : APER
12. West African country : MALI
13. Jazzy Fitzgerald : ELLA
18. Indian bread : NAAN
19. "To your health," to José : "¡SALUD!"
24. Big-screen format : IMAX. No connection to 42-Across : IMAC
25. Russian rejection : NYET
26. "That's clear now" : "I SEE"
28. Angels shortstop Aybar : ERICK. This guy.
29. Sear : CHAR
30. Operate with a beam : LASE
31. Kept in view : EYED
32. Halt : STOP
33. Zone : AREA
34. Alaska, once: Abbr. : TERR.
38. Obscene material : SMUT
39. Glazier's fitting : PANE. (window)
40. Tough spot : BIND
42. Newton or Stern : ISAAC
43. Inundated with : AWASH IN
45. Needle's partner : THREAD
46. Sadat's predecessor : NASSER. He was the leader of a successful military coup to depose King Farouk in 1952. Nasser became the president of Egypt in 1956 and remained president until his death in 1970.
47. Leave out : OMIT
50. '50s Ford flop : EDSEL
51. Typical : USUAL
52. Hot-headed Corleone brother in "The Godfather" : SONNY
53. Moby Dick chaser : AHAB
54. Fiddling emperor : NERO
55. "__ Brockovich" : ERIN. "Erin Brockovich" is a 2000 biographical film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Julia Roberts won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors' Guild Award and BAFTA for Best Actress
56. Flying prefix : AERO
59. Gold, in Granada : ORO
60. Insane : MAD
61. Record label initials across the pond : EMI. (Electric and Musical Industries)
Argyle
Note from C.C.:
JD and her family went to San Diego to celebrate her birthday last Saturday (Jan 14). Here is a beautiful picture of the happy family. Let's see if I get the order right.
Back row from left to right: Bob (JD's husband), JD, Shelby (JD's oldest daughter) and Shelby's husband Joe, who is holding their handsome son Cameron.
Front row from left to right: Derek (Corie's husband, a Welsh) and son Grady, Corie (JD's younger daughter) is holding her son Truman. Grady is Truman's little brother.
JD said "We saw the zoo on Fri. Sea World on Sat and the Safari Park on Sunday. It was my best birthday ever, and we didn't even have time for cake."
Note from C.C.:
JD and her family went to San Diego to celebrate her birthday last Saturday (Jan 14). Here is a beautiful picture of the happy family. Let's see if I get the order right.
Back row from left to right: Bob (JD's husband), JD, Shelby (JD's oldest daughter) and Shelby's husband Joe, who is holding their handsome son Cameron.
Front row from left to right: Derek (Corie's husband, a Welsh) and son Grady, Corie (JD's younger daughter) is holding her son Truman. Grady is Truman's little brother.
JD said "We saw the zoo on Fri. Sea World on Sat and the Safari Park on Sunday. It was my best birthday ever, and we didn't even have time for cake."
Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - very straightforward solve today, with the exception of 28D. I'm a huge baseball fan, but that was a most incongruous clue in a Monday puzzle. However, the perps quickly took care of it.
ReplyDeleteNot much else to comment on - everything seemed very familiar, although I didn't catch the theme until the unifier. Nice constructing job for a Monday-level.
I was 0-2 yesterday in the football games; congratulations to the winners. Should be a good rematch.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteBit brain dead this morning thanks to watching the late night game, but I still managed to breeze through most of the puzzle. As with Dennis, I didn't know ERICK and that forced me to rely on the perps.
Strangely enough for a Monday, I almost had a DNF at the very end, however, in the SE corner. The crossing of DSO and SONNY just flummoxed me for some reason. I know we've had DSO before, but all I could think of was OBE. And I haven't seen The Godfather for many years and couldn't recall the character in question. A moment's thought led me to realize that it pretty much had to be SONNY, but I still feel it wasn't exactly a Monday-friendly corner.
Go Pats! w00t!
Forgot to mention - JD, what a great-looking family! You guys always look really happy. Thanks for sharing the picture.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Argyle and friends. This was a good Monday puzzle. I smiled when I came to HERE COMES THE SUN. It certainly did help me with the other theme clues. Once I knew to look for the SUN, all the other spaces just filled themselves in.
ReplyDeleteSOUPCON is a new word for me. It certainly isn't the usual Monday fair. I knew it had to be correct, though, since the perps filled in the spaces for this word.
JD: Great family photo! Thanks for sharing.
QOD: The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out. ~ Voltaire
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteNice start to the week with only one or two hesitations.
I knew ERICK Aybar, but I kept trying to make Erich work. Interestingly enough, Erick's photo looks like it was taken at Target Field, CC's favorite ballpark I'd guess. My other hang up was SOUPCON. Never heard the expression before and I kept thinking it should be Soupcan, but the what the Hell is a Mankey?
Argyle, thanks for the write up and the SOUPCON explanation. Hope I remember it for the next time.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Johanna, for a swell Monday puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the review.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle went easily. Good for a Monday.
Took me a minute to get MONKEYS UNCLE. I kept trying to put the S before the UNCLE instead of after the MONKEY. It appeared.
Put WIND first instead of REED. NYET fixed that. They are both double reeds, too.
Did not know ERICK but perps defined it.
My real hangup was SOUPCON. I got it with perps, but could not for the life of me figure that one out. All then horizontals looked good so I went with it. Turns out it is french. That explains why I could not even start to know that word.
It's all done and I am a happy camper. Fun puzzle.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Thanks for the write up, Argyle; always smooth. Harder than usual Monday, Johanna, but good!
ReplyDeleteA friend in high school named their tiny dog SOUPCON and I haven’t thought of it since. However, that and ERICK put this past a Monday. IMO.
Have a nice day everyone.
Argyle: Thank you for explaining SOUPCON.
ReplyDeleteLike others, ERICK was all perps.
But if you are going to insert an earworm, per the HERE COMES THE SUN lyrics, it is spelled:
" du dn du du" ...
I think a little SMUT, to start the week, is perfect.
Creature: Always great to see you.
A SALUD to yesterdays winners at SUNset.
Cheers!
Creature: Good to see you. I hope you are doing well.
ReplyDeleteMornin', All. (Not to be confused with awl which some mispronounce as oyl.)
ReplyDeleteSOUPÇON on a Monday! Wow! I'd consider that to be a Saturday-level word. Nevertheless, this turned out to be one of my fastest solves ever.
Didn't look for the theme until after getting the unifier, and by then all the theme answers were already present and accounted for.
Reading Argyle's write-up, I realized that I'd zipped through it so fast that I'd totally missed half of the clues -- they weren't necessary.
JD, great looking family, and it looks like you all had a great time in San Diego.
JDI forgot to tell you how super your photo is! This is certainly one you will cherish.Thanks or sharing.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Argyle and Monday peeps. I have to go along with the others that were surprised to see ERICK in a Monday puzzle, but it filled easily enough.
ReplyDeleteI tried to make this one harder by looking at the downs off of RAVES and putting in SmidgeN. That gave me a duet instead of a PAIR, but it wasn't long before other entries forced a change. I don't know where, but I've seen SOUPCON somewhere before, so I was OK with it when it emerged.
I already had the three theme entries before I got to the theme clue and hadn't found anything to tie them together, but it was pretty obvious once HERE COMES THE SUN was in place.
Nice start to the week.
Before I forget, this seems to be the day for Smut! (3:16) by Tom Lehrer. Who else would rhyme quibbled with ribald or uncut with unsub-tle?
ReplyDeletedesper-otto:
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Finally a "link" for my sensibilities ...
Just read "on-the-net" that the Capitain claims he was following Corporate Instructions when he steered near the island.
Personally, I think he just ordered a Scotch.
When asked how he wanted it, he replied:
"On the rocks."
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteI had the theme after the first two, but only because I was looking for it so that I could figure out the third one. I liked seeing HERE COMES THE SUN, but it didn't make much sense in relation to the theme. I thought a better unifier would have been "Hidden Sun" by Barenaked Ladies. But that would be even more obscure than ERICK Aybar, right?
All the rest was lovely Monday level fill. I am going to make a pledge to use SOUPCON in a sentence today. Since the only ones I will be talking to are the cats and the mailman, I don't think there will be a whole lot of opportunities, though. (Could you just leave a soupçon of bills today, please?) (Would you girls like a soupçon of tuna fish?)
Hmmm... Strangely enough, despite my normal struggle with French words, I didn't even hesitate at SOUPÇON today. Not sure where or when I picked that up, but it's just something lodged in my vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteNow here is a funny thing. I put SOUPÇON in the search box at Dictionary.com and it tells me "no dictionary results" but when I replace Ç with C it comes up with ... SOUPÇON!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet Julia Childs used the word more than once.
Tinbeni - that little "dut'en do do" is open to interpetation, I'm sure. Some lyric sites show a rather unimaginative "do do do do".
JD, really beautiful family!
ReplyDeleteArgyle, Johanna a fine start to the week, no pitfalls at all.
I will always remember Richie Havens playing for hours to open Woodstock, where he played HERE COMES THE SUN which became his first hit song, as a cover of George Harrison and the Beatles.
Have a great week all. Creature good to see you.
Pretty easy for me today. One erasure--PORN/SMUT.
ReplyDeleteArgyle,
I thought that was a pretty full explanation of the French cedilla. Only some people might be wondering why it's only used before a,o,u, and not e or i. The reason is that e and i both make c sound like s automatically, and when c has no cedilla before a, o or u, then it does sound like a k.
JD,
Great family pic. Your girls both have your smile!
Erick Aybar stumpped me as well. I also perped soupcon. (At first I thought "Erich" and "soup can"?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun puzzle and enlightening writeup.
JD: Glad you had fun, but there's always time for cake!
Good morning to all. Fun puzzle, nice write-up, Argyle. I have seen soupçon before but wasn't sure of the meaning or the correct pronounciation. Learned something new. Congrats to Eil and Big Blue! Happy Monday, all.
ReplyDeletecreature, great to see you stopping in more frequently; you've been missed.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone. Great write-up and explanations, Argyle.
ReplyDeleteI got 'here comes the SUN' before I saw it sitting in the other theme phrases which were already filled. Sigh. But at least they came easily. I have ATRIAl fibrillation but with daily doses of rat poison (warfarin), and Toprol, it's not a problem. I guess it is fairly common in my age group. I always thought SOUPÇON was a little haughty on restaurant menus. SONNY/DSO cross was a WAG. No lookups needed. Nice offering from Johanna.
Have a great day.
Nice Monday puzzle. SALUD has me remembering my first trip to Europe in the 80's. We traveled for 5 weeks and visited many countries. We were committed to finding out how to toast in every country we visited. It was such fun. I want to watch AMADEUS again. Was stumped with ERICK and SOUPCON, but the rest came easy.
ReplyDeleteGreat pic JD. San Diego is my second home. My husband spends half his time there. What a fabulous city. Glad you had a great time.
Third day down with the flu. Uggggggh. Need to get some stuff done.
My search for the theme was futile until the reveal but I thought this was a great Monday puzzle with SOUPCON added as a little spice! Yes, Lemon, when I think of Here Comes the Sun, I think Richie Havens too, who is the only guitarist I know who puts his thumb over the fret board.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Great picture JD!!
-John Scopes got in trouble teaching that we are all a Monkey’s Uncle
-Our grade school home plate was concrete. The rest of the bases were dirt.
-My iMac has run for 5 years without a hiccup
-Who’s the best Bond AFTER Sean Connery?
-Feds have lots of RED INK but states can’t print money
-SALUD at sunset, Tin!
-Top major league shortstops in 2011
-Eulalie Shin thought The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was SMUT
Thank you Ms. Fenimore, (any relation to the 'Mohicans' ? ) for a wonderful puzzle - really enjoyed it. Thank you Argyle for the Soup c(s)on explanation, love your blogging.
ReplyDeleteCreature, so very gracious to hear from you. Having gone thru a double tragedy, myself, recently, I can relate, a little bit now.
Desper-otto thanks for the SMUT! I clicked on, despite my initial reservations, and Mr. Lehrer is really funny and a charm. I had forgotten all about him. I also watched 'All I want for Xmas ... is Jews'. I must admit my mistake, and I stand corrected, you CAN parody semitism, and it can be hilarious. Just my humble opinion.
Tinbeni, the 'On the rocks' joke is a real hoot. I'll bet Carnival Cruise Lines (U.S.) lawyers are burning midnight oil, to ensure that the Italian subsidiary corporate veil is not 'pierced' - although the ship probably was.
Have a good week, you all.
Good morning, all.
ReplyDeleteI hope those cats get more than a soupcon (just a dash) of tuna. LOL We add a soupcon of salt to the soup, a soupcon of brandy to the coffee, a soupcon of humor to a tense situation, etc. I heard this word a long time ago and loved it.
This was a smooth, quick puzzle. I didn't know Erick, but wagged it from the perps.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteSOUPCON?????? Geez, and on a Monday too. I'm with Barry G on the SE corner. I didn't know (couldn't remember) SONNY and EMI (kept thinking EMU)
Other than that 'the rest of the play' went well .... oh, all except that pesky 28D. Geez again, even baseball fans would trip on that and I am not one.
Also had trouble with that *&$@ Indian bread again. NAAAAAAAAAN, guess now I will remember it.
More later.
JD....love the picture, you all look so happy. Glad you could all take the trip together. Great way to celebrate a birthday, cake or not :)
ReplyDeleteCreature, so nice to see you back. You have been in our thoughts and your fun comments have been missed.
Husker, wasn't Hermione Gingold (as Eulalie) a hoot? The way she enunciated "Balzac!", you just knew it had to be naughty. I also used to love her cello skits on TV.
ReplyDeleteAnd I believe the "P" in Soupçon is silent, so the word sounds almost like DW's name. Silent like the "P" in coup, or the "3" in Fi3fi.
Tin, your "on the rocks" was hilarious. Reminds me of the guy with the light-wand directing the taxiing 747 in "Airplane!"
Hi All ~~
ReplyDeleteA fun, fast Monday puzzle. Thanks for the explanations and links, Argyle. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had no idea about SOUPCAN. I usually do OK with baseball clues and ERICK was easy for me. There is also a Willy Aybar in baseball ... his brother. I don't know why I remember such things.
Such a beautiful family, JD ... wonderful smiles!
So good to "see" you here, creature ... my best to you.
Enjoy the day ~~
Creature, so nice to see you today. Do join us more often...laughter is a great healer.
ReplyDeleteJD, loved the picture of you and your family. What a great looking bunch. And I loved Bob's T-shirt. Too funny!
Desperotto,
ReplyDeleteNo, the "p" in soupçon is pronounced. Usually only final consonants are silent. But the key is the FINAL--they can't be followed by another syllable or even a silent "e" at the end. In fact that's what makes them sounded, as in the feminine forms where the added "e" is what shows the difference in sound.
Nice solo debut Johanna, thanks for the write-up, Lemonade!
ReplyDeleteDidn't have a problem with SOUPCON, I've always used it in almost a tongue-in-cheek fashion and delivered in an aloof "French" accent; as @Spitzboov says, it seems always a little haughty when used on a menu.
No clue about ERICK, but the crosses were fine to take care of that for me.
Just wanted to mention something if anyone isn't aware of it, but Wikipedia is a user-created and user-edited reference site, and by user I mean people like you and me. Anyone can post a contribution to a Wikipedia entry, so it's not necessarily an irrefutable reference source.
Have a good Monday, y'all. Raining in SoCal today, looks like winter has finally arrived!
FermatPrime@12:19am
ReplyDeletei always start my day by checking the end of yesterdays blog, i would hate to miss anything!
Richie Havens, never saw that performance, thanks, i wonder what open tuning he was using?
Fun puzzle, when "awashin" 43D came out of the perps, i could not get the picture of a redneck in an outdoor bathtub out of my head until i reread the clue.
aside from soupcon, my only soupcon of a gripe was the clue "mimic" 11D. I felt it should be "mimicker" (is that a word?) but when i came to the blog i had that V8 moment.
Could it have been clued "a mimic", or am i hoisting my own petard?
JD, what a good-looking group!
ReplyDeleteHi Creature!
I enjoyed this pleasant Monday romp. I hardly needed any Down clues. Pleasant theme. I knew the word SOUPÇON. I've never uttered it that I know of. I think it would sound a bit pretentious.
It's been a rainy morning around here but as usual, not quite enough to suit me.
Thoroughly enjoyed today's puzzle and blog. Like many others, just scribbled right (write?) through soupcon, not sure where I learned it but apparently I did.
ReplyDeleteLookingforward to tomorrow.
Oh, just a quick add to the French pronunciation sidebar - if you've got a compound noun each component follows the "final letter" rule - for example, you don't pronounce the "T" in "Montparnasse" railway station in Paris, you treat the "Mont" as you would in "Mont Blanc".
ReplyDeleteI'm sure C.C. can regale us all with many stories of trying to get to grips with the vagarities of English pronunciation, at least French does seem to be vaguely consistent!
Otto, the ultimate test of a musical is watching remakes and seeing others not come up to the standard. I saw a TV edition of Music Man with Matthew Broderick as Harold Hill and he was beyond horrible but he was a great Leo Bloom. Robert Preston IS Harold Hill.
ReplyDeleteTin, great line about Captain Coward! He was more concerned about his 20 something girlfriend, showing off his boat and getting the hell out of an aquatic Dodge!
I wonder if an APER ever EKED out a living by HIEing to gather ORTS during TET after reading TYPEE.
Steve, thanks for the shout out, but Monday/Tuesday are Argyle's domain and he deserves the credit.
ReplyDeleteFermatprime, many of us read the late posts, so never worry about the time.
HG, Your article was written before the 2011 season; AYBAR has had some productive years. Now the "MIAMI MARLINS" (offending all the Broward and Palm Beach fans) have Reyes and Hanley Ramirez. A surfeit of short stops.
love this puzzle! raining in virginia and foggy! makes "arthur" hurt! no french for me just latin and spanish for 5 years.Latin teacher married to spanish teacher! loved spanish teach but not latin one!!the ship on the rocks was right spot on!!
ReplyDeleteKazie, then I guess that's what my mom used to holler out the back door at noontime: Soup's On! I wasn't aware she knew French! :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent Monday, but I put PORN in (wondering) before getting SMUT as I started with down clues today.
ReplyDeleteNot much of a theme, but very light on junk fill, so I forgive.
Wife is niners fan, that sloppy, ugly game was four hours of torture since I don't A) Watch sports without TiVO and B)loathe most things NYC.
Not much to add to everybody's comments this morning--not even a soupcon! Thanks, Argyle, for the helpful explanations, and to Ms. Fenimore for a fun Monday puzzle. Not a speed run, but I did get it all. And on a rare morning of rain in California, I'm going to just go off and hum "Here comes the Sun" to myself all day in a hopeful voice.
ReplyDeletemorning all -
ReplyDeleteloved the puzzle today - solved in record time even though i didn't know soupcon or erick like everyone else. fun fun!
@heartrx - you crack me up! i, too, will try to use soupcon in a sentence while speaking with the cats, dogs and hopefully the mailman!
@husker gary - jimi hendrix also used his thumb over the frets. gotta be honest tho, his giant hands kind of freak me out. here he is at Woodstock.
here is another ear worm for all you punkers. this is the only reason i know the answer to "record label across the pond" is EMI. and now i will sing it all day long.
good day everyone :)
t.
Song sung by African exiles-
ReplyDelete"Good Golly, Miss Mali!"
Good day, Argyle, C.C. and fellow puzzlers.
ReplyDeleteNot much time to comment as I overslept today. Thanks, Argyle, for SOUPCON explanation.
Good thing it's an easy puzzle as I'm off to the gym. RAVES, all the way, thank you Johanna.
Until later.
Have a happy Monday, everyone!
Tawnya, I still get goosebumps closing my eyes and remembering Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve--good point about the compounds, which I'd overlooked.
ReplyDeleteDesperotto,
Cute soup comment!
We had an icy mist yesterday and light snow today. Nice and crunchy underfoot, but I have to go downtown later, so hoping it isn't too slippery on the roads. Stay safe everyone!
Hi Gang -
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo JD. Love Bob's shirt!
OK puzzle today, OK theme. More than a SOUPÇON of fun. I was clueless on the theme until the unifier. PORN, ERICH, SUNNY - got all the USUAL mistakes.
This is a bit too invisible for a theme song, but oh well.
Here's one for 17A.
Cheers!
JzB
Hello everybody. I laughed out loud when I filled in SOUPCON because I could hear Niles saying it on the TV show "Fraser."
ReplyDeleteJD, a great photo. Like HeartRx, I love Bob's T-shirt.
Hi, creature. Good to hear from you.
Husker Gary, George Lazenby.
Gonna go fire up Turbo-Tax and get started today.
Best wishes to you all.
Tawnya and Lemon, oh yeah, Jimmy too. Too many artists flame out and die too soon.
ReplyDeleteJayce, I remembered Niles but here is the pretentious Diane from Cheers describing the play she wrote
Diane: Oh, my most recent work. It's a sort of feminist odyssey, experimental in places, in tone akin to Saroyan, with a soupcon of Gide, and a hearty nod to Clifford Odets!
Off to the Y!
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteThe blog is getting fancier. Italics, diacritical marks. Can't wait for the smiley icons to start popping up.
9:09! Would have broken 9 minutes but for my hesitation over MONKEY's UNCLE, an expression I've heard of but never actually used, or heard anybody use.
Here in CWLand we have ape (lug, oaf, lout) aper (monkey see, monkey do). We are involved in monkey business when we make a monkey out of others. We have Tarzan and King Kong and we are a Planet of the Apes who go to great lengths to pretend we're not.
But my all time favorite is the mind blowing gorilla narrator of Daniel Quinn's book, Ishmael.
Here's a partial list. Is anybody else into this stuff?
Deep Ecology
Len,
ReplyDeleteDerrick Jensen
Wendell Berry
@Husker Gary 1:14pm, that quote from Diane in 'Cheers' is absolutely priceless. Reminds me of what a terrific comedy that was!
ReplyDeleteJayce @12:34 pm
ReplyDeleteI think Daniel Craig has pulled it off. But I thought of George Lazenby when the Avengers/Dianna Rigg discussion came up awhile back. He wishes now that he had made a second one.
GL
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture JD. Your family is most handsome. and you look pretty good too.
Belated Happy Birthday to Marge and John Lampkin.
I knew soupçon from all those French classes so many years ago, but I misspelled it until perps correctted me. (Spell check added the cedilla for me.) And Erick from perps also. Spent a long time figuring out bases. Don't know why. Don't know Beatles songs; spent time getting my sons from being so engrossed in them.
Thanks for great write up, Argyle and good puzzle Ms Fenimore.
Off for my 1¼ mile walk at the mall.
Cheers
windhover @ 1:21 pm
ReplyDeleteThanks, wh. What I actually meant to say was, is anybody else ON THE BLOG into it? So far, you're the only one. But we'll see at the end of the day.
Too bad. If you haven't read Ishmael, you don't know what you're missing.
@lemon - i think you are the first person i've "met" that was actually there! my family is from the west coast so didn't go and it was just a few years before i was around. funny, i almost chose this song to play in the first post (but it didn't show his thumb well enough.) i think it's beautiful and get chills every time i hear it. can't imagine what it was like to have been witness to the magic.
ReplyDeletet.
Readers are probably saying to themselves: Gawd, what's he on about now!??
ReplyDeleteI should have added this. And it probably uses up my posting limit for the day.(APPLAUSE!)
ISHMAEL
JD:
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that beautiful photo of you and your family. They are a handsome group! Your daughters resemble you and do have your smile.
Tinbeni:
LOL! On the rocks!
HuskerG:
Funny story using all that cosswordese. It reminds me of JD's tales which she wrote some time ago.
You people are all funny. SALUD to you all.
And my lessons today, the French cedilla. Thanks, Kazie et al. Is the double "l" pronounced like "y" as in Spanish?
On the topic of Woodstock, I was just a tad too young. But I did go to the Ozark Music Festival in Sedalia, MO 5 years later in July 1974. It's not widely known about, but it wasn't entirely unlike Woodstock. Lots of great talent: Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh, Ted Nugent, The Eagles, Flat and Scruggs and many others. And there were 1/4 million people there by some estimates. Was anyone else from the blog at that one?
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I knew Soupçon, so the only thing that screamed for perpage was ERICK.
Here Comes the Sun is my favorite Abbey Road track.
Since we're trotting out cedillas today: years ago a Turkish friend taught me a few bits of her language, including şiş kebab. The cedilla turns a Turkish S into a SH sound. The name translates to "skewered meat", logically enough.
Have never been to this blog before but wanted to say what a great puzzle. Good work Johanna. Thought I would see more familiar "faces" here.
ReplyDeletechefbea, thanks for checking us out; stick around, you may like it here.
ReplyDeleteHa Ha! I'm back again!
ReplyDeleteSince there are so many linguists on the blog today, what are the pronunciation rules for "tous"?
Len - tous is pronounced like the English two, too, or to
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteJD-what a nice picture, especialy those beautiful babies. Thank you to all who said Happy Birthday yesterday!
It took me a long time to accept the word Soupcon as answer to 5D. I had neve heard it before either.
I didn't like the word porn at 38 D and I was glad it was wrong and I could change it to smut. I never heard of Aybar either and it was one answer I didn't have. Erick is a different spelling for that name.
We had the football games on for short periods of time yesterday but my heart wasn't in it since the Packer were not playing.
I also wanted 27 across to have the S attached to the second word. I only got it right when I read Argyle's comments.
A good week to all!
Marge
Hola Everyone, Hands up for the unknown Erick. Anyone else put in porn at first for smut? Other than that I fairly breezed through this puzzle. I didn't see the connection to the long answers until I put in "Here Comes the Sun".
ReplyDeleteThanks, Argyle for linking that Beetles' favorite right off, as I listenend to that while I read the rest of your post. Now it's playing over and over in my head!
My learning moment for today was soupcon. Thanks to Argyle I know a lot about that word that was also an unknown today.
I loved your family picture JD. I hope you'll share more of the trip with us when the mini-coven gets together for coffee on the 31st.
Have a great day everyone.
Anony-Mouse @ 9:49a
ReplyDeleteCosta Cruise Lines is NOT a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise Lines. Costa Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines are both (along with several other cruise lines) subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation & PLC. I've heard many news reports with that same error, though. Even the 'always right about everything' Geraldo Rivera made that same error in his report the other day. The only fallout for Carnival Cruise Lines would be a dropoff in bookings because of the stupidity of the Chicken of the Seas. Carnival Corporation expects about a 10 to 15 per cent drop in earnings. I don't know what that will translate to in terms of my quarterly stock dividends.
Spitzboov @3:13
ReplyDeleteMerci. Are there any exceptions? For example, what happens when there is elision? Or is there, with the word "tous"?
len, just a heads-up: there's a 5-post-per-day limit.
ReplyDeleteLen - I believe if there were an elision, the s sound would carry forward ; more like a z. In 'mes amis' the s would carry forward. Mes alone is pronounced 'May". If I'm wrong, Kazie will probably jump in.
ReplyDeleteHi Creature. It is good to see your smiling face today. You have been in my thoughts lately.
ReplyDeleteTinbeni, Great on the rocks joke.
Husker Gary, Good use of common crosswordese. Enjoyed that little sentence.
Chefbea, Come and stay awhile.
Thanks for all of your kind comments. You are a lively, interesting bunch!
ReplyDeleteIt was great having my first solo puzzle published ... and I hope to see you all here again one day.
Johanna
(Not related to James Fenimore Cooper, but my mini Cooper is named James F C.)
I first posted late on Saturday. When filled-in (3D)votes, I realized I can't get away from election coverage even while doing crossword. I still don't quite get monkey's uncle answer. I don't think I ever used or heard "soupcon", but Cheers Diane quote will sure help me to remember(LOL). I realized my twins (24 years old) had never seen the Godfather movies so when both came home we had a movie marathon, so Sonny came easily.
ReplyDeletelen @2:27
ReplyDeleteI googled "Ishmael Summary" (per Wiki).
Intersting stuff and WAY more informative than your link to Amazon.com.
Maybe I'll put it on my "Library list."
(Maybe it's time to "Go-Blue" so you can leave an email for personal questions).
Ed.note: I correspond with several people on a regular basis. Off-Blog.
Grumpy 1
I think the $.25 Qtr.Div. is safe.
Stk.Price will probably rebound back to "pre-wreck" level in a few months.
And NOW y'all know why I never get into that is it "Iced-Tea" or "Ice-Tea" debate (when it comes up on our grids).
Titanic hit an Ice Berg.
Costa Concordia went "On-the-Rocks" ugh!
Ice is verboten at Villa Incognito.
NEAT is the only way to enjoy Avatar.
Cheers!!!
len,
ReplyDeleteI meant those as further reading, and yes, I have read Ishmael, 'though it's been awhile.
And while we're discussing books, has anyone read the Ozark-based novels of the late Donald Harington?
joho, good of you to stop by but enough about you; who's the dog?
ReplyDeleteDennis @ 3:51
ReplyDeleteNot to worry. I'm done!
Joho, Ms. Fenimore, thanks for stopping by... atleast somebody got my (poor) joke, and mentioned it..... Tyros, like me love Monday puzzles, and yours was way exceptional and even more lovable. Best of luck for future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteThe dog, Black Beauty (?), seems to be like one of my neighbors dogs, Portuguese Water Dog, ( aka, now, as the 'Presidential breed', from the current First Pet, 'Bo' ? ... ). Canis lupus subsp. familiaris ... If so, you know they don't shed, and are ( supposedly - ) non-hypo-allergenic...
Thank you, Grumpy 1, for the information on the Carnival Cruise corporate tree. ..( not really my stock of interest.)
Dudley, re:Kebabs. There are probably 50 different kinds of Kebabs. Kebab just means grilled, roasted or sauteed meat. Shish Kebab, grilled meat in cubes, is prob. the most common. About 30 diff. countries have their own specialities. See Wiki, for more info.
To Argyle: Please explain to us non-constructors what you mean when you write "Two full length themes anchor the grid firmly"...? I got one theme, the sun, what was the other?
ReplyDeleteTo all: Years ago, in Hull Quebec, there was a french restaurant called Le Soupcon. Does anybody know if it is still there? If so, dining there is well worthwhile. The food was tres delicieux! Unfortunately, I only got to eat there once.
Sorry, I just meant two of the theme entries were 15 letters long, also called grid spanners.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to ask anything you like.
Good evening all,
ReplyDeleteAnother fun Monday with a few sticky spots. Wish I knew more than the 1st 2 lines of Here Comes the Sun because it's playing over 'n over in my head.
Monkey's uncle really slowed me down. It fit,but I refused to fill it until the very end because of that clever clue (throw me a can. Soupcon and Erick passing through didn't help.
Argyle, lots of good info today..thanks!
KQ, I did think of you while in S.D.I lived in Carlsbad for a few years before it was a vacation spot.The freeway ate my house.
Thanks for the many compliments on my family.(oldest daughter, Shelby, is next to me) They are all pretty special, and I am very lucky to have them so close.Sunday is my favorite day of the week.BTW, we had belated cake last night. Chocolate helped with the 49er loss.
Good evening to all, rather late for me but a busy day today. Great write-up Argyle and nice Mon.puzzle Thanks JoHo. To J.D. Nice family pic and for you Little darlin its been a long cold lonely winter,Little darlin it seems like years since its been here,here comes the sun.....RJW
ReplyDeleteLet the quintessential tea expert decide the matter! I made tea today...and right on the Lipton box it said "iced tea!"
ReplyDeleteLen @3:08,
ReplyDeleteSpitz is mostly right about tous--the 's' is usually silent, and I can't think of an instance where the 's' would be elided because it's always followed by "les", as in "tous les automnes" = every autumn. but there are some situation where it's used as a pronoun and I think you can then pronounce the 's' as a sibilant ss sound.
Lucina @2:33,
The 'll' in French can be pronounced as a 'y' sound, usually in the combination "ille". Otherwise it's like the English 'll'. But there are some words, notably some town names too, like Lille, where it's pronounced like "Leell".
Bill G:
ReplyDeleteI just noticed your cute little guy. (My eyesight is quite weak.) Is that Jordan?
Kazie:
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm thinking about taking a French class. It's offered at our local community college and I can take it tuition-free because I'm in the system. Then I would plan a trip to France!
Greetings, Earthlings!'
ReplyDeleteWow, has this blog grown. Since I read everything before I post, I am always pretty late.
Great puzzle, JoJo; swell write-up, Argyle!
Only unknown was ERICK. Went pretty fast.
I spent several hours trying to cancel products that I acquired as a result of the "five hundred dollar Outback scam" that I mentioned before. Quite a chore. Some of these outfits have been accused of scamming, also! Had to call each of 6 places twice to get all of the info I needed, after reading on the net that return addresses are in general are different from those on the packages. (I have never been in such a situation before and have certainly learned my lesson. Next, friend Harvey will glue on the labels with RMA numbers that I have typed and hopefully get them to the PO.) NOTE: The money I am saving on home, car, and earthquake insurance will more than compensate for the pesky postage fees both ways. Part of the Outback thing caused a zillion insurance companies to contact me. One Farmer's agent appears to be PURE GOLD!
TBC...
Hi Y'all! I just stopped in to say that I think I've turned a corner! The theme was a little clearer to me today.
ReplyDeleteBTW I was "mom speaks out", but with a new e-mail I am now Memphisbelle. Who knew?
Great picture JD and a belated Happy Birthday!
Monday puzzles allow me think that I might have a brain, but by Saturday's I am reduced to dingy status again! Not to worry, I am beating (at least sometimes) my friends in "Words with Friends" .
Good to see you all again!
creature--so glad to have you back!
ReplyDeleteCA--hope your move is soon finished!
desper-otto--I cannot believe it! A juicy Tom Lehrer that I had not heard! Many thanks!
JD--As usual, swell pictures! Since I have virtually no family, I am insanely jealous!
Lucina: Yes, the little guy is Jordan. That photo was taken several years ago on a trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine. He is several years older now but that picture of one of my favorites so I stuck it there anyway.
ReplyDeleteLucina said, I just noticed your cute little guy.
ReplyDeleteI've always hated when someone said that to me...
Ron...hugs
ReplyDeletejoho, thanks for stopping by the corner and bringing your cute pup too. Hope to see more of you.
fermatprime...great avatar. So sorry about the scam.
Blue Iris, have you ever heard anybody exclaim, "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!"? It took me awhile to see that as a 'surprised party",. Clever, don't you think?
oooo Lucina, you got a little rise out of Dennis.....
ReplyDeleteBetter than, "get that monster away from me".
ReplyDeleteNot that I've ever heard either......
Last post for sure, Dennis!
ReplyDeleteKazie @ 7:40 pm
Thank you so very much! That has got to be it. I couldn't find them today, but I was absolutely positive I'd heard it pronounced "toos" in some French rap videos, which confused the heck out of me and has been bugging me ever since! So, merci! Merci! Merci beaucoup! Je t'aime!!!
Johanna, thanks for stopping by; come by whenever you like and tell us your style and interests. We are generally nice and greedy for information. Though I am not sure JoHo (not to be confused with HoHo cakes) is a safe nickname with our rowdy bunch of salacious misfits.
ReplyDeleteTawny, it was beyond amazing, muddy, but so much music. Sadly nobody brought cameras, or tape recorders; we just had a blast, except for buying water.
ReplyDeleteChefbea, each day here is different, people write when they want so I am sure there are amny who visit with whom you would be familiar, just keep coming back to see
Lemon:
ReplyDeleteAnd at what time did Jimi come on the stage???
Didja know that Malaga, Spain is on the same latitude as Malaga, California? Steve
ReplyDeleteDennis:
ReplyDeleteI am certain that no one would ever say that to you!!!!!!!!!!!!