Theme: January First - J sound (first letter in January) is inserted into familiar phrases, resulting in spelling changes in four theme entries, which are symmetrically placed.
23A. Advice to a nervous skier? : KILL THE JUMP. Kill the ump.
25A. Hot air in the conference room? : JARGON GAS. Argon gas.
43A. "Eat my wake!" e.g.? : SWIMMER'S JEER. Swimmer's ear.
69A. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" genre? : JARS POETICA. Ars Poetica.
94A. Halloween carving of a Yankee hero? : PUMPKIN JETER. Pumpkin eater. This answer made me laugh. Jeter, Jeter, Pumpkin eater.
117A. First punch of an old Roman bout? : JAB INITIO. Ab initio. "From the beginning" in Latin.
120A. Northern African quip? : BARBARY JAPE. Barbary ape.
39D. Multitalented court clown? : POLY JESTER. Polyester. This is the only one-word base phrase.
48D. Nattily dressed Broadway character? : JAUNTY MAME. Auntie Mame.
We also have JAY (121D. Loud bird), which could be used as a unifier. The J in JAM UP (1A. Office malfunction) and JOKE (1D. Monologue bit) is the only straying non-theme J in the whole grid, but they're excellent entries.
Gia Christian is an alias name of LA Times crossword editor Rich Norris, anagram of "Again, it's Rich". We haven't seen Rich's byline in quite some time, though every day he's challenging and entertaining us with his clues. Some solvers may not be aware that very often half of the clues we tackle every day are Rich's creation.
Across:
6. Empty the Recycle Bin, e.g. : ERASE. Your computer Recycle Bin.
11. Hit the snooze button too many times : OVERSLEPT
20. Campus town near Bangor : ORONO (Maine)
21. "The Bells of St. __" : MARY'S
22. Persona non grata : BETE NOIRE. I always associate "bete noire" with things, not person.
26. "Don't let it get cold!" : EAT. Yes, Bill G, I cook savoy cabbage occasionally. Their texture is tougher than our normal cabbage. Different taste also.
27. Hi-fi component : PREAMP
28. Where a herd is heard : LEA. Nice clue.
29. H.S. proficiency tests : GEDs
30. Fashion giant : DIOR. And 18D. Big name in fashion : PRADA. The Devil wears them.
31. Prepares, as mussels : STEAMS
35. Crewmate of Spock and Sulu : UHURA. On "Star Trek".
37. Cheats on a test, in a way : COPIES
40. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I
41. Flu 9-Down : AGUE. 9D. Indication : SYMPTOM.
42. Mil. mail drops : APOs
48. Gravy, on menus : JUS. Au jus.
51. High-pitched barks : YELPS
53. Hosp. drama locale, usually : ICU. Reminds me of Buckeye and his Picabo ICU center.
54. Japanese golfer Aoki : ISAO
55. Something in the oven : ROAST. No BREAD.
57. Comparatively crafty : SLYER
58. Bath salt fragrance : LILAC
61. Small-scale : MINIATURE
63. Spokesceleb for Fiat : J LO. Good match?
64. Post-WWI Treasury secretary : MELLON (Andrew). Drew a blank.
66. Girl in a Beach Boys hit : RHONDA. Beach Boys is Dummy Dennis' favorite band.
67. Menlo Park wizard, initially : TAE (Thomas Alva Edison)
73. Wee lad : TAD
74. Not hoodwinked by : WISE TO
77. Big name in little suits : SPEEDO. Look, my favorite! All right, this one for our Saturday guy Splynter.
78. Singer Winehouse : AMY
80. No longer on speaking terms : ESTRANGED
84. Remove paint from : STRIP. Oh, paint.
85. D'Artagnan's chronicler : DUMAS. I only read his "The Count of Monte Cristo".
88. Nicholas Gage bestseller : ELENI. I used to think the book was written by actor Nicolas Cage.
89. "I __ a loss for words!" : AM AT. No Amo, amas, AMAT today.
91. Urgent offshore signal : SOS
92. Barrel support : STAVE
93. "__ Rosenkavalier": Strauss opera : DER
99. "Sounds good to me!" : I'M IN
100. Reject as false : DENY
101. Geometry class calculation : AREA
102. Trojan War warrior : AENEAS. He abandoned poor Dido.
104. "Try to __ my way": Beatles lyric : SEE IT
106. Like some braids : FRENCH. Very pretty.
108. Melbourne greeting : G' DAY. 112A. Eucalyptus lovers : KOALAS. For Kazie, who's probably still in Germany.
109. Resistance units : OHMs
110. Serious conflict : WAR
114. Place to hoist a pint : PUB
122. Covent Garden notable : OPERA STAR. Covent Garden is where the Royal Opera House is. Unknown to me.
123. Concrete hunks : SLABS
124. "Storage Wars" network : A AND E. Got me. "Storage Wars" is a reality show about auctions.
125. Like a couch potato : SEDENTARY
126. Long-eared critters : ASSES
127. Online VIP : SYSOP
Down:
2. Bizet's "Toreador Song," e.g. : ARIA
3. Snakes' renewal process : MOLT. Man, I wish I could renew my skin also.
4. Like some phone nos. : UNL, Alright, unlisted.
5. Comfort food in a deep dish : POT PIE. For me, comfort food is rice congee & freshly steamed bread. How about you?
6. Arabian chief : EMEER. AMEER also, though we see EMIR more often.
7. Rani's spouse : RAJA
8. Skunk cabbage and philodendron : ARUMS
10. Eerie ability, for short : ESP
11. Transitive vb. follower : OBJ (Object)
12. Meat-yielding calves : VEALS
13. To be, in Arles : ETRE. Not to be confused with the Art Deco guy ERTE.
14. Measure again : RE-GAUGE
15. Nestlé's __-Caps : SNO
16. Chaise __ : LONGUE
17. Peak in the 59-Down : EIGER. 59D. European peaks : ALPS
19. Hardy heroine : TESS. Thomas Hardy.
24. Reform Party founder Perot : H ROSS
30. Put to rest, as rumors : DISPEL
32. Ship's hdg. : ENE
33. Atmospheric prefix : AERI
34. "Divine" showbiz nickname : MISS M. Bette Midler.
36. "Yay!" : HURRAH. The feeling I had when Lemonade was back to his blogging seat. Hopefully Melissa will be back in Feb.
37. Low isles : CAYS
38. European automaker : OPEL
41. Quite a long stretch : AEON
44. Fictional Stone Age redhead : WILMA. In "The Flintstones".
45. Not as friendly : ICIER
46. Considers carefully, with "over" : MULLS
47. __ alai : JAI
49. Dietary std. : US RDA
50. Stand in good __ : STEAD
52. "No more seats" sign : SRO (Standing Room Only)
56. Plains Indian : OTO
60. Places for chickens : COOPS. In China, prostitutes are called "wild chickens".
62. Certain tax shelter, for short : IRA
65. Nair rival, once : NEET
67. Rough wool cloth : TWEED
68. Seating request : AISLE
69. Bon Jovi of rock : JON
70. Far from verbose : TERSE. My emails are usually short. Just the way I am. I don't mean to be terse.
71. Village celebrity? : IDIOT. I don't get this clue. Why "celebrity"?
72. Small group of trees : COPSE
75. Bird by the beach : ERN. So what's the difference between ERN and TERN?
76. Eastern island capital : TAIPEI. Where Jayce spent some of his youth. Tasty snacks there.
78. Much junk mail : ADs
79. Kind of conspiracy : MUTINY
81. Like venison : GAMY
82. Ruler of anc. Rome : EMP
83. Port of Senegal : DAKAR. Gimme for Chickie, whose grandson volunteers there for Peace Corps.
86. Saucony rival : AVIA
87. D.C. hundred : SENS
90. Fade : TIRE
95. Work the kinks out of : UNTWIST
96. Former Giants pitcher Robb : NEN. You've got to commit his name into memory. Constructors have no other way to clue NEN but "Pitcher Robb".
97. African scavengers : JACKALS
98. Pitching coach's aid : RADAR
100. Appetite : DESIRE
103. Undemanding classes : EASY A's
104. Mold : SHAPE
105. Nestle securely : EMBED
106. Monastery resident : FRIAR
107. Wedding dances : HORAs. I've never attended a Jewish wedding.
108. "The __ Menagerie" : GLASS
109. Eyes, in Oaxaca : OJOS
111. "__ girl!" : ATTA
113. Songstress Lane : ABBE. Nope. Not familiar with this lady.
114. Two-thumbs-down reviews : PANS
115. Salon style : UPDO
116. Answering machine cue : BEEP
118. Bert Bobbsey's twin : NAN. I like this clue better than "Indian bread", which should be NAAN.
119. Suffix with access : ORY. Accessory.
120. Webelos' org. : BSA
Answer grid.
I wish all of you a happy and healthy 2012!
C.C.
23A. Advice to a nervous skier? : KILL THE JUMP. Kill the ump.
25A. Hot air in the conference room? : JARGON GAS. Argon gas.
43A. "Eat my wake!" e.g.? : SWIMMER'S JEER. Swimmer's ear.
69A. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" genre? : JARS POETICA. Ars Poetica.
94A. Halloween carving of a Yankee hero? : PUMPKIN JETER. Pumpkin eater. This answer made me laugh. Jeter, Jeter, Pumpkin eater.
117A. First punch of an old Roman bout? : JAB INITIO. Ab initio. "From the beginning" in Latin.
120A. Northern African quip? : BARBARY JAPE. Barbary ape.
39D. Multitalented court clown? : POLY JESTER. Polyester. This is the only one-word base phrase.
48D. Nattily dressed Broadway character? : JAUNTY MAME. Auntie Mame.
We also have JAY (121D. Loud bird), which could be used as a unifier. The J in JAM UP (1A. Office malfunction) and JOKE (1D. Monologue bit) is the only straying non-theme J in the whole grid, but they're excellent entries.
Gia Christian is an alias name of LA Times crossword editor Rich Norris, anagram of "Again, it's Rich". We haven't seen Rich's byline in quite some time, though every day he's challenging and entertaining us with his clues. Some solvers may not be aware that very often half of the clues we tackle every day are Rich's creation.
Across:
6. Empty the Recycle Bin, e.g. : ERASE. Your computer Recycle Bin.
11. Hit the snooze button too many times : OVERSLEPT
20. Campus town near Bangor : ORONO (Maine)
21. "The Bells of St. __" : MARY'S
22. Persona non grata : BETE NOIRE. I always associate "bete noire" with things, not person.
26. "Don't let it get cold!" : EAT. Yes, Bill G, I cook savoy cabbage occasionally. Their texture is tougher than our normal cabbage. Different taste also.
27. Hi-fi component : PREAMP
28. Where a herd is heard : LEA. Nice clue.
29. H.S. proficiency tests : GEDs
30. Fashion giant : DIOR. And 18D. Big name in fashion : PRADA. The Devil wears them.
31. Prepares, as mussels : STEAMS
35. Crewmate of Spock and Sulu : UHURA. On "Star Trek".
37. Cheats on a test, in a way : COPIES
40. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I
41. Flu 9-Down : AGUE. 9D. Indication : SYMPTOM.
42. Mil. mail drops : APOs
48. Gravy, on menus : JUS. Au jus.
51. High-pitched barks : YELPS
53. Hosp. drama locale, usually : ICU. Reminds me of Buckeye and his Picabo ICU center.
54. Japanese golfer Aoki : ISAO
55. Something in the oven : ROAST. No BREAD.
57. Comparatively crafty : SLYER
58. Bath salt fragrance : LILAC
61. Small-scale : MINIATURE
63. Spokesceleb for Fiat : J LO. Good match?
64. Post-WWI Treasury secretary : MELLON (Andrew). Drew a blank.
66. Girl in a Beach Boys hit : RHONDA. Beach Boys is Dummy Dennis' favorite band.
67. Menlo Park wizard, initially : TAE (Thomas Alva Edison)
73. Wee lad : TAD
74. Not hoodwinked by : WISE TO
77. Big name in little suits : SPEEDO. Look, my favorite! All right, this one for our Saturday guy Splynter.
78. Singer Winehouse : AMY
80. No longer on speaking terms : ESTRANGED
84. Remove paint from : STRIP. Oh, paint.
85. D'Artagnan's chronicler : DUMAS. I only read his "The Count of Monte Cristo".
88. Nicholas Gage bestseller : ELENI. I used to think the book was written by actor Nicolas Cage.
89. "I __ a loss for words!" : AM AT. No Amo, amas, AMAT today.
91. Urgent offshore signal : SOS
92. Barrel support : STAVE
93. "__ Rosenkavalier": Strauss opera : DER
99. "Sounds good to me!" : I'M IN
100. Reject as false : DENY
101. Geometry class calculation : AREA
102. Trojan War warrior : AENEAS. He abandoned poor Dido.
104. "Try to __ my way": Beatles lyric : SEE IT
106. Like some braids : FRENCH. Very pretty.
108. Melbourne greeting : G' DAY. 112A. Eucalyptus lovers : KOALAS. For Kazie, who's probably still in Germany.
109. Resistance units : OHMs
110. Serious conflict : WAR
114. Place to hoist a pint : PUB
122. Covent Garden notable : OPERA STAR. Covent Garden is where the Royal Opera House is. Unknown to me.
123. Concrete hunks : SLABS
124. "Storage Wars" network : A AND E. Got me. "Storage Wars" is a reality show about auctions.
125. Like a couch potato : SEDENTARY
126. Long-eared critters : ASSES
127. Online VIP : SYSOP
Down:
2. Bizet's "Toreador Song," e.g. : ARIA
3. Snakes' renewal process : MOLT. Man, I wish I could renew my skin also.
4. Like some phone nos. : UNL, Alright, unlisted.
5. Comfort food in a deep dish : POT PIE. For me, comfort food is rice congee & freshly steamed bread. How about you?
6. Arabian chief : EMEER. AMEER also, though we see EMIR more often.
7. Rani's spouse : RAJA
8. Skunk cabbage and philodendron : ARUMS
10. Eerie ability, for short : ESP
11. Transitive vb. follower : OBJ (Object)
12. Meat-yielding calves : VEALS
13. To be, in Arles : ETRE. Not to be confused with the Art Deco guy ERTE.
14. Measure again : RE-GAUGE
15. Nestlé's __-Caps : SNO
16. Chaise __ : LONGUE
17. Peak in the 59-Down : EIGER. 59D. European peaks : ALPS
19. Hardy heroine : TESS. Thomas Hardy.
24. Reform Party founder Perot : H ROSS
30. Put to rest, as rumors : DISPEL
32. Ship's hdg. : ENE
33. Atmospheric prefix : AERI
34. "Divine" showbiz nickname : MISS M. Bette Midler.
36. "Yay!" : HURRAH. The feeling I had when Lemonade was back to his blogging seat. Hopefully Melissa will be back in Feb.
37. Low isles : CAYS
38. European automaker : OPEL
41. Quite a long stretch : AEON
44. Fictional Stone Age redhead : WILMA. In "The Flintstones".
45. Not as friendly : ICIER
46. Considers carefully, with "over" : MULLS
47. __ alai : JAI
49. Dietary std. : US RDA
50. Stand in good __ : STEAD
52. "No more seats" sign : SRO (Standing Room Only)
56. Plains Indian : OTO
60. Places for chickens : COOPS. In China, prostitutes are called "wild chickens".
62. Certain tax shelter, for short : IRA
65. Nair rival, once : NEET
67. Rough wool cloth : TWEED
68. Seating request : AISLE
69. Bon Jovi of rock : JON
70. Far from verbose : TERSE. My emails are usually short. Just the way I am. I don't mean to be terse.
71. Village celebrity? : IDIOT. I don't get this clue. Why "celebrity"?
72. Small group of trees : COPSE
75. Bird by the beach : ERN. So what's the difference between ERN and TERN?
76. Eastern island capital : TAIPEI. Where Jayce spent some of his youth. Tasty snacks there.
78. Much junk mail : ADs
79. Kind of conspiracy : MUTINY
81. Like venison : GAMY
82. Ruler of anc. Rome : EMP
83. Port of Senegal : DAKAR. Gimme for Chickie, whose grandson volunteers there for Peace Corps.
86. Saucony rival : AVIA
87. D.C. hundred : SENS
90. Fade : TIRE
95. Work the kinks out of : UNTWIST
96. Former Giants pitcher Robb : NEN. You've got to commit his name into memory. Constructors have no other way to clue NEN but "Pitcher Robb".
97. African scavengers : JACKALS
98. Pitching coach's aid : RADAR
100. Appetite : DESIRE
103. Undemanding classes : EASY A's
104. Mold : SHAPE
105. Nestle securely : EMBED
106. Monastery resident : FRIAR
107. Wedding dances : HORAs. I've never attended a Jewish wedding.
108. "The __ Menagerie" : GLASS
109. Eyes, in Oaxaca : OJOS
111. "__ girl!" : ATTA
113. Songstress Lane : ABBE. Nope. Not familiar with this lady.
114. Two-thumbs-down reviews : PANS
115. Salon style : UPDO
116. Answering machine cue : BEEP
118. Bert Bobbsey's twin : NAN. I like this clue better than "Indian bread", which should be NAAN.
119. Suffix with access : ORY. Accessory.
120. Webelos' org. : BSA
Answer grid.
I wish all of you a happy and healthy 2012!
C.C.
59 comments:
Rabbit, rabbit.
Happy New Year, C.C. and friends. White Rabbit! I got the theme with the BARBARY JAPES. Good puzzle to start the year, the month, the week and the day.
I liked the shout out to my (and Mainaic's) alma mater.
Big Name in Little Suits = SPEEDO was definitely my favorite clue.
It's a bittersweet beginning to 2012. My DH will be leaving in a few hours for a 5 month sabbatical in another city 900 miles away. He is driving alone today and tomorrow, which has me very worried.
QOD: Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. ~ Mark Twain
The village idiot is an equal opportunity idiot. He sees no distinction in race, creed, colour, social standing or personal finance so therefore he speaks to everyone, local or stranger, real or imaginary. Hence, he is known to all and makes him the village celebrity.
Morning, all -- and Happy New Year!!!
Fun puzzle today. I got the theme early on and was able to get through most of it with little fuss (or muss). Things started out rough in the NW corner, however, when JAM UP didn't seem like a real phrase (I've experience many a paper JAM, but never a JAM UP) and KILL THE JUMP made no sense to me whatsoever. Once I got past that, however, things started flowing smoothly.
The only other hesitation came at NEN. Somebody is really called NEN Robb? Or is that Robb NEN? Either way, it looked crazy and I had to keep double-checking the perps to see where my error was. Of course, there was no error...
MELLON was, I believe, the only other total unknown in the grid today, but unlike NEN it looked like a perfectly valid name when I got it via the perps and I barely even noticed it while solving.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A challenging puzzle Rich! Thanks. Thanks for fine write-up, CC! (But there are more that four theme answers, no?)
Got stuck and had three red letters. Never heard of AVIA or its clue, I think. Otherwise, smooth sailing. Favorite answer also SPEEDO.
Time to pay the year-end bills and charity contributions. Ugh.
Note: 2012 = 4 x p, where p =503 is a prime.
Hi all,
Well, I filled up all the boxes, but no congrats bubble, no bells and whistles. Turned on Regular Solver and discovered KILLTEEJUMP. So starting the New Year with a DNF.
I thought JARS POETICA, JAB INITIO and POLY JESTER were pretty clever. JARGON GAS and SWIMMERS JEER not so much.
This is a purely subjective impression, but I found this CW boring to fill out. Going through the motions. Maybe the previous two CWs were spoilers, too tough an act to follow, especially Marti's.
Or maybe it's just that I haven't gone to bed yet.
Anyway, the CERN guys are trying to prove that you can exceed the speed of light. The way 2011 flew by, I think I already have.
No star for me today. I had AERO and OSAO where AERI and ISAO should have resided. Not an auspicious start to the new year!
Got the theme at KILL THE JUMP, but wasn't enamored with JEER and JETER -- I was expecting a properly SPELT (from yesterday) word when the J was removed.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln loved the play. Happy New Year, All.
Rabbit rabbit? Whatzatmean?
Rabbit, rabbit!!
Happy New Year!
I didn’t even look at the constructor’s name until I had finished the puzzle. Nice theme for January 1, with just enough misdirection to make it challenging. Thanks for the write-up, C.C. You always make everything make sense to me.
I OVERSLEEPT this morning, so I am late to this party. But that didn’t help me at 11A, because I put in OVERSLEep. Once I got that little JAM UP cleared, the rest was a pretty smooth solve.
I’m looking forward to watching the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s concert. My friends have seats in the first row of the balcony, so I hope I can spot them!
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
oops...starting off the year badly. Overslept!
Barry G:
Rob Nen was a closer for the Giants who gave up the go-ahead homer to the Angels's Troy Glaus in the 8th inning of game 6 of the 2002 World Series.
The Angels ended up winning that game, and also game 7 the following day to win the Series.
Ah yes, AERI. I'm sure it's a perfectly valid prefix, but for the life of me I can't think of a single word that starts with AERI and not AERO.
Anybody?
@Ken Adlum: Thanks for the info. If that's Rob NEN, though, who is the Robb NEN mentioned in the puzzle? I've never heard of anybody with the first name Robb, but NEN didn't seem like anybody's first name, either...
@BarryG
You oughta check out this new fangled internet thingy called Google!
Its ROBB NEN. Trust me.
Happy New Year C.C. and all. Thank you for an enjoyable puzzle Rich.
Pretty much what's been said, other than "Rabbit, Rabbit" (today's learning moment). A pretty straight forward puzzle with no major hang ups. I guess I do have minor nits with STAVE and JUS. A stave is certainly barrel component, but for support I think first of a hoop. Jus is a broth rather than a gravy to me, but neither is a true complaint.
On the last post yesterday, Dodo commented on the disparity in solving ability among this group. Personally, I think that's the single best part of it all. Rather than unchecked snobbery, participants, as well as lurkers, encounter an accessibility that they might not find anywhere else on similarly dedicated boards. That can only be a good thing!
Was this wonderful puzzle a “busman’s holiday” for Rich/Gia? Great ab initio for 2012!
Musings
-I stared at KILLTHEJUMP for a while before it yielded the fun theme. How ‘bout you C.C.?
-Someone who can unjam a copier is very popular. Competence is always punished.
-We love Arby’s and hated it when they made their au jus thicker
-My wife’s ROAST in the oven has a heavenly scent
-Very tall athletes Michelle Wei and Blake Griffin make ads for Kias but we never see them in these small cars. J Lo in that car? Yeah, right!
-Funny line about Dumas from Shawshank Redemption. It is a 6:30 clip and Dumas quote is at 5:45, although you’ll enjoy the entire clip.
-MOLT not SHED, LONGUE not LOUNGE, Capital is a city and not money this time
-Mutiny on the Bounty and The Caine Mutiny are both movie fav’s
Happy New Year C.C. and everyone! Thanks for explaining another one of Rich's aliases.
Nice breezy theme and relatively easy solve today. I thought all the 'J' fills were quite clever. 42a, Mil. drops - the Navy's are FPO's, fleet post office. COPSE came up out of the bushes again. Liked seeing ÊTRE. I did not like the clue for STAVE, although the answer was obvious. I think of 'stave' as one of the curved board elements of a barrel which are butted together to form it. The 'support' is gained from the hoops of the barrel. JMHO. BTW, concrete staves (and hoops) are also used in silo construction.
Have a great day and a great start to the year.
Husker, thanks for jogging my memory with that "Shawshank Redemption" clip. I saw it when it first came out, and thought it was one of the best films I had seen in a long time. But I had forgotten the line about Dumas - very funny!
Happy New Year, all. Thanks, C.C., for your blog, your write up and links. I still have mixed feelings about this puzzle. It somehow seemed... forced... is the only way I can describe it. I'm with those that filled STAVE but didn't like the clue.
Sleep before SLEPT, shed before MOLT and lounge before LONGUE, but perps straightened it out.
At least I started the year with a completed puzzle.
Never got the theme but only used a handful of red letters. My first semester of college was at UM when I was stationed at Dow AFB in
Bangor. We now summer in Wells and Ebeemee Lake - near Brownville Junction.
Happy New Year,everyone. Great puzzle and blog. I made a silly mistake so DNF: AERE and ESAO, E instead of I. BTW AERIAL would be AERI word. Like desper-otto said, an inauspicious start to the new year.
Argyle, excellent bit on the viliage IDIOT.
The Devil Wears PRADA is one of my favorite movies. Any thing Streep is in is great by me! Has anyone seen Iron Lady? I hear it is weak conceptually, but is another tour de force for Streep.
Having been raised PA Dutch my POT PIE comfort food is not like yours. It is a thick chicken and corn stew with homemade pasta squares in it, no crust. Have youy ever eaten it?
Link Pot Pie
My first reaction for something in the oven was BUN, obviously not the answer, but the start of a new life.
Hahtool, a tough 5 months for you.
Rabbit, rabbit???
When I was in grammar school I read all 12 of the Bobbsey Twins books and many other novels. I would read 4 or more books a week, sneaking them under the covers with a flashlight, reading in bed by the light of the full moon, propping a book behind the spigots when I washed dishes, dusting with a book in my hand, etc.
PS In those days 10 year olds did chores. We weeded by hand a half acre garedn, shelled beans, peeled tomatoes, pitted cherries, for canning, whatever and was none the worse for it. And still I read night and day.
Addendum: Otis was a different village "celebrity" in Mayberry.
The Hardy Boys were my passion, YR, and I read them in all manner of places as well.
Hello.
Thanks for Shawshank clip. I'll watch the DVD this afternoon.
The world wonders. RR
eddy
The Amy Winehouse answer reminded me that, as with any year, we've suffered losses of talent.
Another loss this year was Phoebe Snow. Here's her take on At Last. Since it's likely we'll lose Etta James this year, it seems that much more apropos.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Gia Christian (aka Rich) for a swell puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the write-up.
I did not know this was you, Rich. You are talented!
Started South today for no particular reason. Filled most of that in and worked North.
The themes appeared after PUMPKIN JETER and KILL THE JUMP.
For all to hear, I got ETRE, right off the bat. I guess my french is finally being developed. One word down and one million to go.
Had LOUNGE first, then I knew there was a problem there, but never figured it all out. Had SATS instead of GEDS. That little area was DNF. I did not know the alps peak, EIGER. Did not know PRADA either.
Got several with perps all over the puzzle. But that is usual on Sunday.
To Yellowrocks: I used to live in southeastern PA as well. Ate much Dutch food. Pot Pie was great. Also had Chicken Corn Soup and Hog Maw. Shoe Fly Pie for dessert. My favorite beer, in that area, at that time was Reading P R. I think they are out of business now.
Happy New Year all. I have now been posting on this Blog for over a year. I have enjoyed this immensely. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Happy New Year to all ~!
This was a cute puzzle to start the new year with, and I think JOKE and JAM-UP were 'forced' to get J to be the 'first' letter in the grid, too.
Boy was I miffed about LONGUE, as I thought for sure there was a TYPO there, and it doesn't appear in my online dictionary, either, but it was there on Wiki - so my learning moments have started right away ~!
I am going to kick back today and watch Avatar, never seen it; yesterday, watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes - well done, IMHO.
Thanks to all for your comments over my first year as your Saturday blogger, and thank you to C.C. for offering me the "job" (and her DF pics to me~!). My best to all the contributors and everyone who stops in, Anons included, for all the AGUE they cause us ~!
Splynter
As for the difference between an "ern" and a "tern", on an ern's wing there are five pinions while the tern has only four. So, the difference is merely a matter of a pinion.
Happy New Year!
I had fun with this puzzle and caught the theme with POLYJESTER. C.C. ~ I liked PUMPKINJETER too! :-) For the second day in a row, the letter "o" kept me from an accurate completion. Maybe now I will remember ISAO. Robb NEN is another one.
~~ Didn't know PREAMP ... started with 'preset.'
~~ I am never sure if it's SLYER or slier. I guess both are correct.
~~ Favorites were 'Big name in little suits' - SPEEDO and 'Village celebrity' - IDIOT ... fun!
~~ All in all, a good start to 2012 ... thanks Rich and C.C!
~~ I hope the five months go quickly for you, Hahtool.
~~ Dodo ~ Your late post last night made me laugh. I love reading your comments!
Have a great day, everyone!
Abejo, a big "yay" for getting ETRE!
(If only I could learn baseball that well...)
Anon at 1:06-- good one! Happy New Year to all. This was a fun and fast puzzle. Great way to start 2012. Thanks to Rich and CC.
Happy New Year to everyone,
I’m with Splynter on longue/lounge which Microsoft Word had no problem with either version.
Found this on World Wide Word:
The original form, chaise longue, is French, meaning “long chair”. Though the chaise lounge form is a classic example of folk etymology’s changing an odd foreign
word into something more meaningful, in one way it’s
hard to criticize — it is, after all, a seat that one lounges on.
Anon 1:06 pm
So, the difference is merely a matter of a pinion.
Great one!! An ern is more a sea eagle where a tern is of the gull family.
Thanks C.C. for the heads up on who the constructor of our first of the year puzzle is, the master! Great write up too.
Love the rabbit rabbit thingee
Earworm of the day: Help me get Rhonda out of my head and there wasn’t even a link just a clue.
NJ IRISH,There's always RED SOLO CUP LOL!!
Sure do miss Amy Winehouse
On second thought put her songs in your head instead.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
thanks for everything
Good luck Hahtool
Happy New Year! C.C. and all my puzzler friends.
Very little time here to read and comment. I just want to say that I recognized Rich's wit in the clues and guessed this was his puzzle.
I love it and sailed right through with a few errors. Drat!
Promised to take my granddaughter shopping as her Christmas money and gift cards are burning a hole in her pocket.
I can't wait to read all your comments and C.C.'s blog. Later.
I hope your New Year's Day is off to a rousing start!
Happy New Year C.C., Rich et al,
By golly Rich...Gia..whomever, YOU ARE the cluemaster! Village celebrity made me laugh out loud.Liked that sedentary was followed by asses too.
The J theme came to life with jauntie mame. Unfortunately, kill the jalp wasn't right, and barbary jape didn't make sense. Loved poly jester!!
I am ashamed to admit that I left a B-Hole for obj/betenoire. Should have come up with object. The abbrs. are still my bugaboohoos. ENE filled only because of The one I love.US RDA -woof!
Which takes me back to dodo's wonderful remark, and Avg Joe's. Keith, do you REALLY wonder why these puzzles are harder for some of us? Have you thought of IQ comprehension, visual memory, or just plain loss of memory with age? I love that we are all different.
This was a great red letter Sunday. Thanks for all the lessons, links, and laughs.
Me again,
Amazing what you learn on this blog!
Couldn't get into the Hardy Boys, but I loved Fu Manchu. Sax Rohmer may not be PC today but Fu Manchu upstaged that snobby Imperialist Nalen Smith every time. (Like Bruce Lee upstaged the Green Hornet.) And what about Doc Savage and Conan the Barbarian! Unlike the movies, the books were magic.
@Husker Gary: Wow! ITALICS!!!
RE: rabbit- Hey, it worked for Hugh Hefner!
HeartRx: AQOD
Morning is when I am awake. (H.D. Thoreau)
C.C., Who is Dummy Dennis to whom you referred in 67A?
Hello everybody, and happy new year greetings.
Hahtool, nice hat. I hope you and Mr. Hahtool get many opportunities to visit one another during these coming months.
Cool puzzle today. A fun start to the jear.
HeartRx, wouldn't it be cool to see your friends on TV, sitting in the front row? LW and I are going to watch that concert tonight.
MELLON was a gimme for me, as the Mellon Bank is well known in the Philadelphia area, as well as in Pittsburgh, of course.
Totally loved the clue for SPEEDO.
Funny, as I began to fill in 16D, the thought "Please don't let it be lounge" kept going through my mind. Reminds me of the old old joke common in Vienna about the composer Richard Wagner: "If it must be Richard, please make it Strauss. Come to think of it, if it must be Strauss, please make it Johann." I heard that from one of our neighbors, who was born and raised in Vienna. Prolly before your time, HeartRx? :)
I wonder if the food in Taipei is as good as it was in the 1960's. (Man, has it been 50 years?!?)
Anonymous @ 1:06 PM, good one!
Best wishes to you all.
POLYJESTER and JARS POETICA could forgive almost anything else in the grid ... except ... STAVE. It's not a support for a barrel, it's part of the barrel itself.
Happy New Year, y'all
Yellowrocks, read your posts and enjoed reminiscing-chicken pot-pie, shoo fly pie, and how about summer sausage or Lebanon baloney. I live near Lancaster,PA. is that considered southeastern Pa?
Also:
HAPPY NEW YEAR
to all!
Mr. Ed and Abejo, Thanks for the memories. With 6 kids we had less chicken and more homemade pasta in our pot pie. Mom drained it, chilled it overnight and fried it. (The Dutch are into frying.) I preferred it left over and fried. I aklways thought, "Don't each so much. Save it for tomorrow, fried."
Yes!!! Hog Maw with smoked sauage and potatoes, Lebanon baloney, summer sausage, pot pudding, scrapple, all farmer made. I like cup cheese. It's not not so good today, even compared to 5 years ago.
My grandmothers made potato dumplings, like potato perogies. They called them boova shenkel, meaning boys' thighs, due to their shape. Dad's mom used mashed potato filling. Mom's mom used diced cooked potatoes. I preferred the mashed, but my mom followed her own mom's tradition.
And that queen of pies, shoofly pie!! I'm in heaven thinking of it.
Rabbit, rabbit.
Hello Puzzlers -
All right, so I overslept a bit. At least I got up in time for a fabulous brunch party.
Figured out the theme early enough to benefit. Not too many unknowns, but quite a few not-so-sures. Saucony was one of those. And once again, I forgot that d@&n golfer's name, ISAO.
Happy New Year C.C., always enjoy your summaries! My hat is off to Argyle for remembering Rabbit, Rabbit in time.
I'll be watching the Vienna Philharmonic as well, at 7:30 Eastern. Mind you, it would be better to be watching over at Marti's, what with the friendly people, lovely cats, and admirable wine cellar...:-)
Welcome to TwentyTwelve!
It would have been funny if Rich changed Gia to Jia. For those of you who don't know, C.C. has a list of Rich's aliases on the front page of this blog, along with a lot of other useful links...found under OLIO.
Speaking of C.C., does Boomer know about those DF pics, Splynter?!
Bryan Ferry did some fantastic solo work after Roxy Music, but 'Boys and Girls' and 'BêTE NOIRE' are my 2 favorites. Here's Limbo (4:54) from the latter album. Very "lounge-y."
And I can't let the JACKALS reference go by without some Jackyl, and their blues-y chainsaw solo.
The Lumberjack (3:43)
Happy New Year!
Argyle/C.C. - help!
It looks like my post is lost in limbo again...
Allright! It's time to take the gloves off. I just can't seem to shake that red cup. If you folks want one of the most pervasive earworms of all time, I offer a bit of the Reverend: Toothbrush.
Take that!!
With all of those J's in this puzzle, I really expected 44D, the fictional stone age redhead, to be Sonja (as in Red Sonja, a comic and movie).
That threw me off until I finally got Wilma.
We don't get too many cartoon or comic characters in these puzzles, so that was a nice change.
Mmmmm, comfort food! Steak and mashed potatoes. Potato chips. Chou and yow tiao (rice congee and oily bread sticks), soup noodles, popcorn, corn on the cob, gumbo, and chicken with dumplings.
Comfort drink. Found a surprisingly good chardonnay recently: Kirkland from Costco. Surprised me, pleasantly. And always good ole Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel.
Comfort clothes. Tshirts. I love tshirts. Sweat pants and loose socks.
Comfort music. Mozart symphony number 40, Beethoven Moonlight Sonata.
Happy 2012, y'all!
Loved the puzzles because for once I solved the theme and got most of the long puns! Auspicious start to the year! Thanks also C.C.
Re: disparity in solving ability. IMHO a lot is like real estate: location, location, location--where your trivia input evolved. What your work background involved. Also what you read and watch on TV. Sheer love of words is a necessity.
Why one does puzzles determines whether how you do it is right or wrong. For me its mental gymnastics an absorbing pastime, and learning experience. CW snob, I sure am not. It's not like a final exam to get your master's degree. No one will come take back your Phi Beta Kappa key if you look something up.
Here's to many enjoyable puzzles and blogs in 2012!
-PK -
Comfort food: ice cream, ice cream, ice cream! Chocolate anything, to which I am allergic!
- PK -
To: Mr Ed and Yellowrocks.
Read your responses regarding the PA Dutch Country and food. I used to live near Lancaster, in York, PA. Did work for York Tel and Tel.
Also lived in Pottstown for a while. Worked in Boyertown, Bally, Sassamansville, and Douglasville.
Worked also for a while in Denver and Ephrata. Also in Terre Hill, PA.
Really enjoyed it around there.
I was in York when Hurricane Agnes hit circa 1973. You could not get from East York to West York. There is a creek in York that turned into a river.
Abejo
By the way, York, PA, was the first capital of the United States.
Abejo
Happy New Year! Thanks C.C. and Rich. Fun puzzle and writeup. Thanks to all the rest of you who make my blog experience so enjoyable and enlightening.
Count me in with the group who initially got screwed up with LOUNGE instead of LONGUE.
C.C., thanks for your input on Savoy cabbage. Do you think I will like it OK as the cabbage part of corned beef and cabbage? Otherwise, I will chalk it up to experience and head off to the supermarket again.
Re: Village idiot. I think he/she is a celebrity because of showing up in so many jokes and riddles. Here's one: In a rural town, there lived a village idiot. He was renowned because whenever a tourist would approach and offer him the choice of two shiny quarters or a crumpled five dollar bill, he would always choose the coins. Why? What's going on with this celebrity?
"Shoofly pie and apple pan dowdy"
Because the first time he chose the $5...no more quarters!
Hey Anon: Liked your Dinah Shore link. Good job.
Abejo
This was great fun reading all the comments and C.C.'s blog.
Hahtool:
I echo Jayce's hope that you and your DH will join each other sometime during the five month separation. That is a long time!
Abejo:
My congratulations, too, and HURRAH for knowing ETRE! I know your frustration as sports clues send me there.
I almost dance a jig when I recall someone like ISAO Aoki, which I did today.
Rich's style is familiar to me because I bought one of his books and all the clues are remarkably witty.
Avg Joe,
Like your snowmen avatar! Is there a story behind this?
- PK -
Yellowrocks @ 10:51 Wow! I read exactly the same way, though never did the Bobbsey Twins, I was Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, then 007 then out into the world. Even today if I'm going to be in line or waiting for someone I have a book ir my iPad with me. I stopped reading at red lights when I rear ended someone on an off-ramp :(
Can't comment on the puzzle today cuz I don't get Sunday puzzles.......yet but it sounds like it was a fun one. Been a great week!
Post a Comment