Theme: "All for one, and one for all!"
Follow the bold red letters to see the stars in the different rows of this puzzle:
1. The "u" sound in "circus" : SCHWA 6. Even if, for short : THO 9. Ladle cousin : SPOON ("Athos")
20. Rotterdam, for one : SEAPORT 22. Party person : HOSTESS ("Porthos")
54. Boxer from California : BARBARA (U.S. Senator) 58. Letter : MISSIVE ("Aramis")
69. Control tower tracker : RADAR 70. Game for it? : TAG (I thought this was a great clue - You are "It" in the game of tag!) 71. Some iPods : NANOS ("D'Artagnan")
And the unifier:
40. With "The", classic novel, each of whose major characters is hiding in a row of this puzzle : THREE MUSKETEERS
"The Three Musketeers", by Alexander Dumas, portrays the life of a young man named D'Artagnan who travels to Paris to join the other three adventurers of the title.
I thought this was a brilliantly executed puzzle. Did you find the hidden characters before coming here?
Marti here, with your Thursday entertainment from Victor Barocas. We just saw his work in late December, with his "Bill of Rights" puzzle. But I thought this was a step up in the difficulty level. So let's see what he has to offer:
Across:
14. "Yond Cassius has ___ and hungry look" : A LEAN. From Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
15. Water in Côte d'Ivoire : EAU. Abejo, you nailed it, right?
16. Dispute : ARGUE
17. Spicy Indian dish : CURRY. Also Thai, right?
18. One side of the GW bridge : NYC . George Washington Bridge is not always easy to get to New York City...
19. Preserves, in a way : SALTS
24. Schnozzola : SNOOT. Funny clue/answer for "nose"
26. Tell it like it isn't : LIE. Clever.
27. TV's Dr. House, e.g. : LIMPER. Oooh, I thought this was an un-PC clue!
30. Enjoy a kiddie pool : WADE
32. Many a GI : PVT. Private.
35. Plains native : OTOE
36. "...from my snow-white pen the ___-colored ink": Shak. : EBON Nice to see a quote for this answer.
38. Bender : SPREE. I went on a shopping bender the other day, and bought five pairs of shoes.
43. Thrift, briefly : S AND L. Short for "Savings and Loan". With this economy, it seems like I have been more "loan" than "savings". Maybe I should cut out buying so many shoes...
44. Crack : STAB. I took a stab at this answer.
45. Snug retreat : NEST.
46. Super Bowl highlights, for many : ADS . One of my favorites (0:30)...
47. Luncheon follower? : ETTE. Luncheonette...
49. Takes a position : OPINES. I often opine on this blog, but please don't take me seriously!
51. Eggs, biologically : OVA
52. Biden's 2008 counterpart : PALIN. I just finished reading Tina Fey's book "Bossypants". She did a great Palin on SNL (2:18).
62. ___ a time : ONE AT
63. One in an unhappy chorus : BOO
65. Shroud city : TURIN
66. Wind: Pref. : ANEMO. ...meter
67. Coffee holder : URN. Mine would be a "mug".
68. '30s Chan portrayer : OLAND. Do you remember him in "The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu"? Then you are a classic B&W oldies movie buff like me!!
And now, let's all settle...
Down:
1. Pouches : SACS . My favorite Saks purchases are Jimmy Choo and Prada... (C.C. would be proud of me!)
2. This is one : CLUE. HaHa. Funny clue!
3. A sister of Demeter : HERA. OK, I will 'fess up...this is the one I actually had to gg... (Oh the horror!)
4. "Star Trek" measure : WARP SPEED. And, why did I know this one without gg????
5. Whomever : ANYONE
6. Nearing the hour : TEN TO. Or long odds...ten to one.
7. Farm gathering : HAY. Hey! I bet Windhover got this one!
8. Pained interjection : OUCH.
9. As fresh as they come : SASSIEST.
10. Chatter : PRATE. From German "pratten", to pout.
11. Seriously check out : OGLE. Seriously, do you ogle the check-out lady at Wal-Mart?
12. Inning enders : OUTS. Hah! Nailed this one! (I'm dancin', I'm dancin', I'm doin' the victory dancin' !!!)
13. Largest Scottish Loch by volume : NESS. Largest monster, too!
21. Composer of the 2005 opera "Our Town" : ROREM. Ned Rorem. Adapted from the Thornton Wilder play "Our Town", which was first performed by the Indiana University Opera in 2006.
23. Word with man or maid : OLD. Did you play Old Maid when you were kids? My old man did!!
25. Texas dance : TWO-STEP. Here is a perfect version (2:03) of this classic Texas dance.
27. Many, informally : LOTSA.
28. "___ to Be You" : IT HAD. First chance to link music. The original version by Priscilla Lane wasn't a winner, IMHO. But Billie Holiday (4:04) nailed it!
29. E'ens' counterparts : MORNS
31. "Puppy Love" singer : ANKA. Another chance to link music. Wow! I feel inspired (2:45)...
32. Get ready for the prom, say : PREEN. I think of parrots and cockatoos when I think of "preening". But I guess this also qualifies (3:50)...
33. Frost product : VERSE . Cold cheek? Nipped nose? Nope!
34. Medical battery : TESTS. As in, a battery of tests.
37. Exceed 21, in a way : BUST. OK, I guess these exceed 21"
39. The Crimea, e.g. : PENINSULA. Geography lesson of the day.
41. Car in a shaft : ELEVATOR
42. Where Christ stopped, in a Carlo Levi title : EBOLI . Memoir published in 1945. His anti-fascist beliefs led to his banishment by Benito Mussolini, to this remote southern Italian town.
48. La Brea goo : TAR
50. One of six in a V-6 engine : PISTON
51. "Dreams From My Father" memoirist : OBAMA
53. Surrounded by : AMONG
54. Tusked mammal : BOAR
55. Alexi Karenin's wife : ANNA . You do remember Anna Karenina? She was most likely inspired by Maria Hartung, who is the oldest daughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (what a small world!!)
56. English horn, for one : REED. This instrument:
57. Lie alongside : ABUT
59. Caspian Sea country : IRAN
60. Rosso o bianco : VINO . Vin rouge ou blanc, for those non-Italians out there...
61. Closes : ENDS ...We're almost there!
64. Tuscan time period : ORA.
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his ORA upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing..."
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing..."
Hugs,
Marti
Good Morning, Marti and friends. I though this puzzle was a tad easier than the usual Thursday fare, but found the theme interesting. The theme answers don't generally cross over onto multiple clues. Once I found the THREE MUSKETEERS, I realized that the hidden pals had to be formed in two adjacent answers.
ReplyDeleteI first tried both SEA Town and SEA City before it dawned on me that Rotterdam was a SEA PORT (and part of a musketeer)!
I have an iPod NANO, which I love.
My favorite clue was Car in a Shaft = ELEVATOR.
I knew the Frost Product referred to Robert Frost, but VERSE didn't immediately come to me.
It Suck to Be You was my first thought for 28-Down.
QOD: As a teenager you are at the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you. ~ Fran Lebowitz
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteThis one started out ridiculously easy for a Thursday, but that changed about halfway through the puzzle.
I suspected that 27A might be LIMPER, but I resisted putting it in until I had every single perp. I don't know if it's non PC or what, but I really hated it.
In that same section, it took forever to get SANDL. I finally got it and assumed that it stood for Savings and Loan, but I've never heard of a "thrift" before. I originally had LOTTA instead of LOTSA for 27D, and it was only at the end when I had TANDL with no *TADA* that I tried SANDL instead.
The east coast caused me some grief as well after I put in DRESS instead of PREEN at 32D and OPTS TO at 49A.
Elsewhere in the puzzle, I was hampered by not knowing who Senator BOXER is and OLAND is a name I can just never remember for some reason despite having seen it before.
Overall, a fine challenge for a Thursday. I got the theme reveal and then totally forgot about it and never saw the hidden MUSKETEERS until coming here, though...
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteNo Marti, I never found the three names because I never thought of the two word angle.
I liked this puzzle, found the cluing to be a challenge, especially the NW corner. SCHWA for 1A , which I was sure would be wrong, I still don't get.
Started with SNOUT for 24A, but TENTU made me change to SNOOT, which I can't ever recall using.
Favorites were 26A, LIE 46A ADS & 37D, ELEVATOR.
Learning moment was ENGLISH HORN/REED.
I've ogled some pretty foxy looking check out gals over the years, but never at Wal Mart because I have never shopped there.
Bonjour all,
ReplyDeleteI loved this CW, even tho it took me 30 mins. to finish it. Got off to a flying start in the NW corner and the rest was just plain fun. The only thing I couldn't figure out was LIMPER, having never seen Dr. House. Thought it might be a tool I'd never heard of but it was the only thing that fit. And no, I didn't find the 3M's, but who cares! It was lots of fun. Oh, and I thought medical battery/TESTS was pretty good, along with car in a shaft/ELEVATOR. REED a gimme thanx to French English horn discussion from a few puzzles agol
So-to celebrate and also segue from the Chinese riff on 'Chinese' on yesterday's blog:
CoolChineseGirl
Good Morning All,
ReplyDelete(32D) Instead of PREEN, my first thought was TITIVATE. Hmmm.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteZoomed right through, the few unknowns and misunderstoods having been well covered by perps. Wanted WARP FACTOR and EPISTLE in their respective places, but neither would fit.
Morning, Marti, love your style! No, I didn't find the three names before coming here. I just forgot. And our local Wal-Mart rarely has any checkout girls, or customers for that matter, worth an OGLE. The nearby café, now, that's a different matter!
I think they switched wednesdays and thursdays puzzle this one was a lot easier than yesterdays puzzle. The clues I did not get on first blush came to me via the fill from other clues. I was not thinking of the novel by Dumas so I did not see the characters(though I was looking) in the puzzle answers but figured they were their once the 3 musketeers came clear.
ReplyDeleteHondo,
ReplyDeleteThe schwa is the upside down "e" you find in the phonetic pronunciation in a dictionary. Sorry, I don't have it on my keyboard. But, roughly, it represents an "UH" sound. As in the "cus" part of "circus".
Nice puzzle today and very doable although it took a couple of passes to complete. I did not get the names, but as said earlier "who cares it was fun".
ReplyDeleteMarti your picture for 37 D BUST sure exceeded a 10 and if our Wal Mart had check out clerks like that I sure would ogle her.
Thanks for the BD wishes yesterday.
Nice write-up, Marti. Sorry about the confusion yesterday over the abacus.
ReplyDeleteThe west almost did me in. Don't know who Dr. House is, and had TDS instead of ADS. Took quite a while looking at _OTSD and _IMPER before LOTSA and LIMPER appeared.
Thanks for explaining where the names were hidden. I looked but didn't see.
Anybody else have trouble keeping EBOLA, EBOLI and ECOLI straight?
Lots of check-out girls at our local Walmart. I'm told it does more business than any other Walmart in the state. Perhaps that's because it's 7 miles from any competitor.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Victor, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the equally fine review. Your 37D was was worth an 11D. Yes, I did get EAU for 15A. I am familiar with Eau Claire, WI, so the word was in my head.
ReplyDeleteI took a look at 1A and boldly entered SHORT. I violated my cardinal rule of always checking a crossword before writing an answer. I soon discovered I had erred. Fixed that with perps, and scratched in SCHWA.
Got ANKA for 31D, then entered AJAR for 44A (crack). EBOLI corrected my error and entered STAB.
The rest of the puzzle came together quite easily. Only took me two cups of Earl Grey to finish. Not bad for a Thursday.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Very enjoyable puzzle and write up. Thanks Marti.
ReplyDeleteI solved the unifier early, but it didn't help with the rest of the fill and never did find the Meeses. I guess I got bored too quickly.
I agree that Billie nailed "It had to be you". Her's is the version by which all others are judged. Harry Nilsson did a fun cover with a wry twist at the end. Harry. I first owned this album on 8-track and loaned it to a friend. It was his Mom that made us aware the song wasn't exactly written with those lyrics (around the 1:50 mark).
It's clear that the person in your link for 37D is a very capable crossword solver. Those erasers look brand new.
Avg Joe, I must admit, I had never heard the song sung quite that way - funny stuff1
ReplyDeleteNot that anyone is going to care, but I forgot to mention that BUST as clued actually refers to Blackjack. If you draw cards that exceed 21 in value, then you go "bust".
No LIMPER and more than just a TWOSTEP, here are a couple of iconic movie opening walks:
ReplyDeleteCar in a Shaft (4:56)
The ultimate PREENer:
Saturday Night Fever (3:02)
More PREENing (for the ladies):
Night Fever (3:44)
Wow - Lots of fun clues today! I liked 63A "One in an unhappy chorus" BOO, 70A "Game for it?" TAG, 34D "Medical battery" TESTS, and 41D "Car in a shaft" ELEVATOR. And especially: 2D "This is one" CLUE!
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to put IT SUX "to be you" in 28D!
And finally, I had LIGHT YEAR for 4D, which initially screwed up my grid. I guess I lost my Trek card.
The schwa is the "uh" sound in the unaccented syllable.. as the "uh" sound at the beginning of "about."
ReplyDeleteI started much the same as Barry, but had different hang-ups afterwards. I enjoyed this one despite my not knowing many of the names.
ReplyDeleteWARPSPEED came fast--when our kids were small, traveling in a blizzard, they said the snow coming at us was doing "warpspeed", so I always remember it that way.
I just saw the new THREE MUSKETEERS movie on the plane coming home. Didn't know ROREM, ANEMO or OLAND, S AND L did not emerge from SANDL, and always get EBOLI's vowels messed up, but they perped themselves. The rest came easily for a Thursday.
Desperotto,
Our Walmart is about 30 miles from any competitor of like size--actually another Walmart.
SCHWA is a neutral sound so indistinct it cannot really be represented by any one letter, so it can be any vowel. I searched for the symbol in my character map, but it was elusive even there.
Thanks for the welcome backs yesterday!
Good morning all. Thanks for the commentary, Marti.
ReplyDeleteVictor, great puzzle. Except for SACS and SEAPORT, I worked the solve from East to West. Thanks to the ANKA cross, I entered THREE MUSKETEERS without further aid after espying PORT HOS above. DAR TAG NAN helped get 69a, RADAR. Last fill was LIMPER for 'House'. Many clues were secondary and tertiary definitions like 44a, 'crack' - STAB, and 34d, TESTS. But this is Thursday's wont. Fortunately I was on Victor's wavelength for most of it, so Thank You. No lookups were needed.
Enjoy the day.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteWow, a Thursday puzzle that I could actually do 85% of. I'm thrilled :)
Loved 2D (CLUE) and 70A (TAG)
I never knew the names of the Musketeers, but did get the long clue.
I have never heard the word SCHWA. I don't think I'll forget it now.
I always thought CURRY was just a spice. I didn't realize (until I looked it up) that is can also be a 'dish' ie, any food with curry powder in it can be referred to as a curry. (can't eat the stuff)
I am a bit embarrassed to say I thought the clue for 54A referred to a boxer (fighter).
D.Otto (7:30) Yes, I'm with you on the EBOLI, EBOLA etc.
What is a LIMPER....well, you know what I mean ;)
Marti: Funny write-up & links !!!
ReplyDeleteWMS (What Mari Said) and let me tell you, correcting that LIGHT YEAR was NOT done at WARP SPEED.
At 2-D, This is one, I had "down" before CLUE.
(Yup, a mini-Ink-Blot in the NW).
As for the theme THREE MUSKETEERS ... I found all FOUR of them hidden in the rows.
Very well done Victor.
OK, a nit, 30-A Enjoy a kiddie pool ... WADE?
Geez, a kiddie pool is only about a foot-and-a-half deep. That's some really shallow wading.
Fave (of course) was SPREE ... and were not talking shoes around here.
A "tip of some Pinch" to all at Sunset!
I tentatively tried Light Year at first, but the perps led me to believe that could not be correct. Finally I got enough letters to fill in WARP SPEED. That is also when the SCHWA made its appearance.
ReplyDeleteGood day, Marti, C.C. and all friends.
ReplyDeleteNice challenge from Victor BArocas, thank you.
I, too, confidently filled SHORT before SCHWA set in with CLUE and HERA.
The entire upper section flew by until Dr. House stopped me as I don't watch it. Finally towards the end, LIMPER emerged but OUCH, I failed to see SANDL as LOTTA got in the way. Hand up for SNOUT before SNOOT, though.
No, I didn't find the names as it didn't occur to me to skip over some cells. Great job, Victor!
I loved the clues for TAG, ELEVATOR, and TESTS.
Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!
I love curry. Since my grandmother had spent much of her youth in Ceylon, it was a favorite of my mother's and I got used to it at a young age. One tip for those afraid of its heat: you can lessen the fire by adding lemon juice to it, so if you accidentally get it too hot, just squeeze (or pour) some into the mix. It adds a nice tangy flavor too. You can also cut the heat by serving sambals--sweet side dishes--with it such as yogurt, chutney or sliced bananas or apples. You can also add raisins, banana or pineapple pieces to the curry itself when almost done.
ReplyDeleteThese days all too often, I forget to use it. Hmmm, what about a curried stew for dinner tonight?
This one's for C.C., to add to her collection of terms for drunk.
ReplyDeleteSnootful - a sufficient amount of liquor to cause intoxication.
Anice puzzle Mr. Victor Barocas ( per the Clev. Plain Dealer - Don Gagliardo the 4th or 5th ..... I am sounding like a broken record here.)
ReplyDeleteI did finish, got the 'classic' novel grid spanner - but did not understand until I read the blog. Marti, you are a wonderful blogger - and you sound so genial - how do you manage to do IT - other than play TAG ?
Curry is not a spice but a dish, much like a stew, found in a generic sense all over East Asia, Thai, Indonesia - and whereever Indians were 'imported' like Fiji, Trinidad, Bahamas, Br. Guyana, So. Africa etc.
ALT QOD;- Why does man kill ? He kills for food. And not only food. Frequently there must also be a beverage. ~ Woody Allen.
Have a good week, you all.
Wow, Marti, only ONE step up in difficulty? I'm with Carol; it was a DNF for me.
ReplyDeleteYup, Lucina, I also had SNOUT instead of SNOOT.
I got the WARPSPEED right away, since Star Trek was one of my favorite shows as a teenager. I remember putting my hair up on soup can sized rollers while watching it. Blast from the past. Harry Nilsson was another favorite! Thanks for the goofy link, Avg Joe.
I have to say I didn't like the clue for HAY. Who gathers hay? Stack hay, bale hay, put up hay, but gather? Is Victor a city person? He is a brilliant puzzle constructor, though.
O.K. The answer to Thrift was SANDL. O.K. Really? REALLY? O.K. Whatever.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Thanks for the write up, Marti. Nothing too difficult in this one.
ReplyDeleteMy LW likes to watch medical shows and House,M.D. will sometimes show up when she's channel surfing. It was easy to picture him LIMPing along with his cane on the same side as his "bad" leg, contrary to most cane users are taught. As to whether or not the term LIMPER is PC or not I'll let others decide. To me it's an accurate description. Dr. House has appeared in crosswords often enough that I can even remember that he's played by Omar Epps.
As soon as I saw that NDL ending, I knew it was going to be parsed into ? AND L. I recall S AND L's being refered to as 'thrifts' back in the day, so that came easily.
OLAND was all perps. SCHWA has been discussed here on the blog many times and as recently as last month. I don't recall my English teacher tryiing to drum that one into my thick skull, but I've learned it here and only needed a couple of perps to dredge it up.
I didn't bother to look for the hidden names since they weren't needed for the solve and I could only recall two of the four, Athos and D'artagnan.
We went through a shop in India where the currys were displayed in kegs with signs above them to indicate the contents. "Mother-in-law killer" is the one that I remember. Didn't sample it, though.
xxpossum, The term "thrift" is common in the financial industry to indicate an institution that takes deposits from the public and then makes loans with those deposits. The abbreviated S & L, for Savings and Loan, is equally common. It's not as frequently seen in names as it used to be since the meltdown of the mid 80s, in part because FSLIC was scrapped and anybody that wanted to survive had to re-charter under FDIC regs. It might be hard to parse in a puzzle, but it's very much in the language.
ReplyDeleteGrumpy : My husband is a big House fan. He is actually played by Hugh Laurie, who also portrayed a character in the British show, Black Adder. Omar Epps plays another doctor on House.
ReplyDeleteThanks for contributing to my further education, Hahtool. I guess I've seen Omar Epps clued as 'House actor' so often that I had started associating the name with the wrong character.
ReplyDeleteTeaching primary school reading for so many years, I was onto the schwa. It is a neutral or reduced vowel sound.
ReplyDeletelike the 'a' in about
like the 'e' in taken
like the 'i' in pencil
like the 'o' in eloquent
like the 'u' in supply
like the 'y' in sibyl
Its symbol: ə (upside down e)
I remember Eboli because it sounds like a disease, e coli or ebola.
SNOOTY = nose in the air.
Argyle, we should all rememebr your titivate for a Saturday puzzle. The PA Dutch say they are going to "change around" when they change clothing. When the dress up, as for the prom, they "dress around." Word for word translation.
Marti, humorous write up.Victor, clever puzzle. Easy for a Thur. I found the 4 characters.
I parsed SANDL as sandal, being a thrifty spelling of the word, and a sandal being a thrifty version of a complete shoe.
ReplyDeleteOmar Epps portrays Dr. Eric Foreman who used to be part of Dr. House's team but now is his boss.
ReplyDeleteForeman took over for Cuddy as adminstrator when she left while House was in jail. It is a medical soap opera.
Grumpy (10:46) Thanks for defining 'LIMPER' in your remarks...I never have seen the show so didn't think of anyone with a limp. I don't think that word is 'un-PC'. The whole PC thing is distasteful to me...just tell it like it is, too many people are wearing all their feelings on their sleeves these day.
ReplyDeleteAnony-Mouse: Curry IS a spice (too)...see Grumpy's last paragraph. I think that was a good description. I also looked it up on Google and it said it was both a spice (curry powder) and a dish.
I tried to eat something with curry in it once and got sick.
Let's just tie this Limper discussion into a neat little package. He could have just clued it as What you get when you ogle at Wal-Mart. :-)
ReplyDeleteTo my taste, my Japanese DIL makes the best CURRY. Surprisingly it has become a Japanese dish. When my grandson was little, DIL made his with less spice. Now we all like it hot.
ReplyDeleteCurry was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1868–1912) by the British, at a time when India was under the administration of the British. The dish became popular and available for purchase in supermarkets and restaurants in the late 1960s. It has been adapted since its introduction to Japan, and is so widely consumed that it can be called a national dish.
Another borrowed dish, gyosa, came from the Chinese. Gyosa, a type of dumpling, and one of our favorites, is sold in most Japanese reataurants.
The traditional Japanese have borrowed very little cuisine from other lands, but apparently they have adopted these 2 dishes as their own.
Re: 37d pic
ReplyDeleteTurkey's done!
Great puzzle for a Thursday--thanks Mr. Barocas! I surprisingly sailed through this one, which was a good thing since I messed up on both Sudoku and Kenken this morning. Loved the theme, although I had trouble remembering the three musketeer names, let alone that there was a fourth protagonist. So thanks, Marti, could not have gotten two of the fellas without your help.
ReplyDeleteSANDL was the biggest challenge for me--what word would possibly end in a DL except that tennis player who pops up every so often? But finally figured it out. 'Boxer' no problem for a Californian--she e-mails me pretty regularly.
Anyway, great fun and have a good day everybody!
Currywurst sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteA.
ReplyDeleteFunny you mention Currywurst, I have a lady friend from Berlin who wanted to open in the US, in Miami and franchise, but it looks like someone else has done so at CURRYWURST . With the popularity of food trucks, I wonder how this place is doing?
marti: fun as always; Victor, a puzzle where the theme is separated by black squares, hmmm.
thanks
enjoy all
Good morning all,
ReplyDeleteLoved this puzzle, although I have to admit to leaving a few holes. S and L crossing morns left me without the N.When I saw that it was morns, I felt very stupid.
Ave Joe, I appreciated your take on S and L's..very brief indeed.Also enjoyed Harry's spoof. Good stuff.
I also had trouble with orland and nanos (so out of touch). I had wine, not vino, but missive made me change it. Then the mind went blank. D'oh.So simple.
nano-multi touch, multitalented. Why does this make me think of Lois?
Hahtool- great quote today
Marti,loved your write up. Since I have a hard time remembering names, those guys never popped out. Your Preen ad was timely. Since I've gotten rid of the leaves, and we're having warm days, it's time to preen.
Being a Limper myself, I wouldn't hesitate to use the term. Nevertheless it came late for me because, in my non-PC fashion, I had GIMPER before needing the "L" for LOTSA.
ReplyDeleteA fairly easy puzzle, more like a Tuesday than a Wednesday.
I remember Commonwealth Savings and Loan Association. Whatever happened to it?
ReplyDeleteHello.
ReplyDeleteCrusier paid a visit to Rotterdam
via the canal. Quite away from sea.
Oland was a gimme. Was Swedish.
Have the complete set.
Didn't get the theme. Watching the Sharks. They play Columbus tonight.
Cover ordered. Account balance zero. Maybe someone else can do this next year. Was fun.
Take care. eddy
Several of you bloggers were interested in the headline saying CERN reported that neutrinos in their experiment exceeded the speed of light.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew is working for the U. of Penn. particle physics department and has participated in projects with CERN and the Large Hadron Collider.
Cern is far too respectable a scientific community to make such a bald faced statement. The last paragraph of their journal article concerning the findings was more circumspect.
Despite the large significance of the measurement reported here and the stability of the analysis, the potential great impact of the results motivates the continuation of our studies in order to investigate possible still unknown systematic effects that could explain the observed anomaly. We deliberately do not attempt any theoretical or phenomenological interpretation of the results.
My brother sent me the following update.
Link Neurinos
Really slick puzzle and theme. Great write-up too, Marti.
ReplyDeleteI liked the subtle "Shak." cluing the poetic shortening of EBONy.
I've been told that CURRY doesn't exist as a word in any of the languages spoken in India. Maybe Anony-mouse can confirm or deny this. I was led to believe that it possibly comes from "karahi", the wok-like cooking pan .
Ah, Food!
That clears up the Dr. House/LIMPER mystery. I had assumed it was a home repair show.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I read a Playboy interview with Yale chaplain William Sloane Coffin. Yes, some of us did actually read the interviews and that was really his name.
The interviewer decided to challenge him by asking: How do you respond to people who say that religion is (just a) crutch?
His answer: What makes you think you don't limp?
Thanks, Marti for enlightenment and links! Liked the puzzle despite problems. Fun anyway.
ReplyDeleteSCHWA isn't in my vocabulary. WARPSPEED I don't go. So I didn't have a CLUE about a SEAPORT. Don't watch House--didn't know he was a LIMPER--knew he was a Limey. Forgot they called S & L's thrifts. So this area DNF.
Got every other single square right, even THREE MUSKETEERS. Couldn't see the single hidden names without Marti's help.
-PK -
Qli,
ReplyDeleteWhat about gathering in the sheaves?
Lemonade,
Nice CURRYWURST link. You have to go about a quarter of the way down the page to see the picture of it. It's basically a kind of bratwurst cut up and served with Curry flavored ketchup and extra curry powder over it. Herbert Grönemeyer (of Das Boot fame) sings a humorous song called Currywurst, but I can't find it quickly to link.
To South Asians in general, I'm sure curry doesn't exist as a single spice, since it consists of a blend of spices, and different ones are used for different dishes by the experts.
A fun and surprisingly easy Thursday, but a DNF thanks to MORNS and LIMPER. I tried to make LISPER work, having never seen the show, and SORNS just wasn't going anywhere. Favorite answer was BOO, bringing back memories of the song recorded by Guy Lombardo, and, less famously, but with more soul, Tony Randall.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon to all,thanks Marti for the fun write-up and links especialy the one to 37d much better than any Wal-Mart checker or blackjack game. Very smooth puzzle for a Thur. Warming up here today almost 70,last 2 days were chilly but lots of sun today more like Fla. should be. Have a great day to all, RJW.
ReplyDeleteMike-
ReplyDeleteI was actually thinking of this song.
I liked it. I caught onto the theme when I got to the middle and was able to find the four names. I like when that happens. SANDL didn't make sense to me either at first.
ReplyDeleteHaiku sounds like I'm
Saying hi to someone named
Ku. Hi Ku. Hello
Hola Everyone, I thought this was a very clever puzzle, but the answers strung across two or three words did not help in finding the answers to clues. I missed the last D'Artagnan thinking I'd found the three I needed. Also, I started out with the word Short for the vowel sound in circus. Schwa finally came as I realized nothing would fit.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking mining car or tram for the elevator, but I couldn't get any logical group of words to fit those 8 empty squares. When I finally realized it was elevator, the V-8 can came right up and smacked me in the head!
I also put in Lotta for Lotsa so, of course, T and L didn't make sense. Thanks Marti for straightening things out for me today. Great writeup, as usual. So a DNF for me today, but I did learn some things along the way.
My favoriate today was Game for it?
I see that I wasn't the only one who thought this was a fun clue.
XXPossum@, My very THRIFTY mother had me open my first bank account at a Savings and Loan (S&L). I had to put in part of my allowance every week and most of my summer earnings. I didn't always like being thrifty, but it paid off in the end.
ReplyDeleteAvg Joe @ 11:25, I was just waiting for someone to take that answer all DF on us…
ReplyDeleteBillG @2:36, clever Haiku!
Chickie, I almost missed D'Artagnan, too! But then I looked at the grid and realized there had to be an entry that was in the same symmetrical position as ATHOS...so I went hunting him down!!
Can someone please explain 29D E'ens' counterpart / MORNS? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteThanks
'Game for it' reminds me of an old joke:
ReplyDeleteA hunter of a certain ethnic background was walking through the woods when he espied the model from Marti's 37d link sitting on a log. After a long ogle or two, he asked her "Are you game?" "Sure" she replied. So he shot her.
E'en is often clued as 'Bard's late day contraction' or similar, and Morn is often clued as 'Bards early day abbreviation'. Thus, they would be counterparts.
ReplyDeleteOh, I thought the counterparts were based on EENy, meeny, miny, MORN.
ReplyDeleteBoy, do I feel dumb!
I always thought MORNS was what ya did when someone died.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not nearly as cold today as I expected and you should see all the sweaters and scarves I packed!
ReplyDeleteOne of my nephews took me out to lunch and that was a pleasant experience. I had a turkey sandwich with bacon and provolone on a croisant. Nice.
Went back to check Marti's links and thought I had stumbled on Dennis's business poster at 37D!
Joe Bob Buzz:
ReplyDeleteThat would be MOURNS.
Thanks, I get it now. Always a pleasure to read the blog and know help is just a post away.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a poll by Vanity Fair, 2% of those who responded that Romney's first name was Mittens. Only 6% knew ( or guessed ) his real first name. Do you know what Romney's first name? No cheating by looking it up in google or any other search engine.
ReplyDeleteMittens:
ReplyDeleteThat would be Willard Mitt Romney.
Running against Newton Leroy Gingrich.
I guess, unless you're Willard Scott, announcing a Smucker 100 year old, on the Today show, Willard isn't too popular.
HI, I really enjoyed this puzzle and loved the write up. Thanks
ReplyDeleteAnybody seen my erasers?
Great CW and commentary from Marti! Even though I never read The Three Musketeers, and so did not know the four names, I still enjoyed this puzzle. My favorite misdirection was frost = verse.
ReplyDeleteNow, who can tell me where the second Shakespearean quote came from regarding the ebon ink from the snow-white pen?
Marti, was the end of your blog a takeoff of Hamlet's famous soliloquy? All the world's a stage, and we are mere players, etc.. signifying nothing. I always loved that... so true. Nice to see Shakespeare in a CW. Now I must read the Three M's!
Have a great evening all!
crossword girl, sorry, your erasers have been "rubbed out"...
ReplyDeleteLA CW ADDICT, yes, it was my "tongue in cheek" parody of W.S.'s famous soliloquy...my apologies to the bard!
But, you needn't read the book, just see the 3-D version released in October. It takes a few liberties, but the basic story is the same...
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteEventful day. We admitted my M-I-L to the hospital. Looks like she'll get the care she needs there, then have a good plan for recovery.
I worked the puzzle - sort of - but was pretty distracted.
Not real happy with the split-up theme names, but how else would you get D'Artagnon into the grid?
Well executed puzzle. Great write up Marti.
Cheers!
JzB
Good evening from 55-degrees North Dakota. It's wonderful but we are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, just challenging enough for a Thursday.
Curry is a combination of spices and it's my understanding that each cook creates a curry favored by the family. Curries can be sweet, hot, hot & sweet, or just plain loaded with flavor, and will vary from dish to dish, region to region. Penzeys Spices has a nice selection.
I'm bored with "House," but Hugh Laurie fans should check out "Jeeves and Wooster," based on the PG Wodehouse stories. You can probably get the series at the library, or it may show up on your local PBS station. Hugh Laurie is Wooster with Stephen Fry as Jeeves. Hilarious. They also worked together on "A Bit of Fry & Laurie."
Go Bison.
JzBmp,
ReplyDeleteVery late, but prayers for your MIL!
- PK -