Theme: A becomes Z.
The "A" in a familiar word or phrase in the 4 theme answers, becomes a "Z" creating a new word or phrase which is clued in a witty fashion, with a unifier to help if you get lost. I almost got lost with the days of the week, the holiday confusing me on the day of the week. But here we are, with a debut LA Times puzzle from a young Indiana college student who already has NY Times published. He used two across and two down for this theme fill and hides his unifier in the corner. There is more to it than that including a pangram and lots of other Zs.
18A. *Serious problem when planning an air force? : ZERO (AERO) PLANES (10). My first thought was we going for some complicated theme involving the Japanese air force.
62A. *Alluring Piccadilly hotel? : LOVELY RITZ (RITA) (10). The hotel born out of The Meter Maid.(2:43).
4D. *Malfunctioning candy dispensers? : PEZ (PEA) SHOOTERS(11). My favorite visual, with the candy flying everywhere
27D. *Game of nothing but pop flies and walks? : ZZZ (AAA)BASEBALL(11). This was my sticking point until I realized he was referencing minor league (AAA) baseball.
the unifier
65A. The whole nine yards, or a hint about how the starred answers were formed : A TO Z.
I like seeing ARIZ and ANTZ also in the grid.
Across:
1. Short distance : STEP. Just a step away.
5. Corsica neighbor : ELBA. I am sure you all were ABLE to get this word clued in a fresh fashion.
9. Den purchase : LCD TV. All perps, so many kinds of TVs.
14. Soccer legend : PELE. We keep kicking around this famous footballer.
15. Conan of NPR : NEAL. The award winning JOURNALIST who host TALK OF THE NATION for NPR.
16. 1939 Leigh role : O'HARA. Scarlett of course. She has been in many of the Fir-days this year.
17. MLB spring training locale : ARIZona. The first of three four- letter fill beginning in A and ending in Z; this one is the mirror fill with the reveal. We also have 26A. Film in which Woody Allen voices Z : ANTZ.
20. Inferior : TRASHY. And its companion 41D. Foul : SKANKY. Any thoughts Lois, Carol?
22. Feng ___ : SHUI. A shout out to our fearless leader who I am sure understands the dynamics of this ancient system of organization and design. Literally Wind and Water.
23. Unilever men's brand : AXE. My favorite never successful BAND.(4:57) This was put together by the drummer Teddy Mueller, after a tour with Cheap Trick. Sadly, Teddy just died in an accident.
24. Raw fish dish : SASHIMI. This gives me the SASHAKES.
28. Printer's extras : OVERS. Overruns, when too many are printed.
30. Stoked : JAZZED. The only J and more Z's.
34. It might be hooked to an outrigger : CANOE.
37. "Manhattan Murder Mystery" actor : ALDA. More Woody Allen, the TRAILER.(1:54)
39. Writer ___ Neale Hurston : ZORA. I was introduced to this AUTHOR by my son's 11th grade English teacher.Her books are well written and insightful.
40. Piles : A LOT.
41. Avian delicacy : SQUAB. UNDER GLASS this was considered a delicacy by many who did not know it is just a pigeon. Not much meat on those bones.
42. Bubble, perhaps : BOIL. Toil and trouble?
43. Piece of glass : PANE.
44. Diamondbacks manager Gibson : KIRK. An old Detroit Tiger who reemerged as a HERO (1:54) in LA.
45. Kosher deli offering : LATKE. Makes me feel at home, even if it is only a pancake or a troubled MIND (1:32).
46. Mountain chain : SIERRA.
48. Haydn and : PAPAS. Papa Hemingway was also in Midnight in Paris, to keep our Woody Allen sub plot going.
50. Grains at the shore : SAND. Oats and corn do not grow well at the beach.
52. Roller on a track : RACE CAR.
56. MLB spring training locale : FLA. Though no longer any teams in South Florida.
59. "___ You Not": Jack Paar book : I KID. You can buy it cheap at ALIBRIS.
61. Space cloud : NEBULA.
66. Too honorable for : ABOVE. Suspicion.
67. Lap edge : KNEE. I really like this clue/fill even if mine are shot.
68. Finish finish? : LINE. Or MAALIN?
69. Played, as a cello : BOWED.
70. Mariner's guide : STAR. Star light, star bright; first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.
71. Ability to last : LEGS. Man this puzzle has lots of them, but I am suffering from double Monday disease.
Down:
1. Fancy footwear : SPATS. I always think of George Raft. And then of ZOOT SUITS like Carrey wore in Mask. Which fits with 31D. Muppet sax player : ZOOT.
2. Land at the Forum? : TERRA. Latin for land.
3. St. ___ Mountains: Alaska/Canada range : ELIAS. This PARK.
5. It often ends in "ase" : ENZYME. Another Z word.
6. Jamie or Kathie follower : LEE. CURTIS and GIFFORD.
7. Prevents : BARS.
8. Hana airport hello : ALOHA. How you land in Maui.
9. Nabokov classic : LOLITA. Jeannie, where are you?
10. Chinese tea : CHA. More HISTORY from China. Coincidence?
11. Fox's partner on "The X-Files" : DANA. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were the two FBI agents. Remember who was the sceptic?
12. Creature that fought King Kong, familiarly : T-REX. Tyrannosaurus Rex. The ORIGINAL(2:57).
13. Centerpiece piece : VASE.
19. Kashmir neighbor : PUNJAB. Not far from Left.
21. Bee complex : HIVE. Nice vitamin pun.
25. President Jalal Talabani, for one : IRAQI. This MAN.
29. Sucking sound : SLURP.
32. Actor Estrada : ERIK. Any of the ladies hungry for some chips?
33. Low-lying area : DALE, not to be confused with Chip 'n Dale.
34. They may be locked on a computer : CAPS. Don't you yell at me!
35. Jai ___ : ALAI.
36. Less than slim, chancewise : NONE.
38. Senegal's capital : DAKAR. West African nation.
45. Tie, in a way : LACE. Your shoes.
47. Complained bitterly : RAILED.
49. German for "armor" : PANZER. Not related to Saul from Nero Wolfe books.
51. Highlands daggers : DIRKS. Not related to Mav Nowitski.
53. Doll : CUTIE. Pie.
54. Go-with go-between : ALONG. I do not go along with these connector clues.
55. Levels : RAZES. Ironic when it goes up it raises and then when it comes down....
56. Middle management problem : FLAB. Really excellent clue, except as a reminder of the the ongoing battle.
57. University of New Mexico mascot : LOBO. Wolf, but not Nero.
58. Admit openly : AVOW. Finally snuck in a legal one.
60. By ___ of: due to : DINT.
63. Three-faced woman of film : EVE. Based on a true psychology write up of a victim of DID, brilliantly played by Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman's wife.
64D. Spot in a pot : TEA. Well with 10D, Chinese TEA, this seems wrong, but it ends my run anyway, so you all decide. I am out of here for now.
Answer grid.
Lemonade out.
1. Short distance : STEP. Just a step away.
5. Corsica neighbor : ELBA. I am sure you all were ABLE to get this word clued in a fresh fashion.
9. Den purchase : LCD TV. All perps, so many kinds of TVs.
14. Soccer legend : PELE. We keep kicking around this famous footballer.
15. Conan of NPR : NEAL. The award winning JOURNALIST who host TALK OF THE NATION for NPR.
16. 1939 Leigh role : O'HARA. Scarlett of course. She has been in many of the Fir-days this year.
17. MLB spring training locale : ARIZona. The first of three four- letter fill beginning in A and ending in Z; this one is the mirror fill with the reveal. We also have 26A. Film in which Woody Allen voices Z : ANTZ.
20. Inferior : TRASHY. And its companion 41D. Foul : SKANKY. Any thoughts Lois, Carol?
22. Feng ___ : SHUI. A shout out to our fearless leader who I am sure understands the dynamics of this ancient system of organization and design. Literally Wind and Water.
23. Unilever men's brand : AXE. My favorite never successful BAND.(4:57) This was put together by the drummer Teddy Mueller, after a tour with Cheap Trick. Sadly, Teddy just died in an accident.
24. Raw fish dish : SASHIMI. This gives me the SASHAKES.
28. Printer's extras : OVERS. Overruns, when too many are printed.
30. Stoked : JAZZED. The only J and more Z's.
34. It might be hooked to an outrigger : CANOE.
37. "Manhattan Murder Mystery" actor : ALDA. More Woody Allen, the TRAILER.(1:54)
39. Writer ___ Neale Hurston : ZORA. I was introduced to this AUTHOR by my son's 11th grade English teacher.Her books are well written and insightful.
40. Piles : A LOT.
41. Avian delicacy : SQUAB. UNDER GLASS this was considered a delicacy by many who did not know it is just a pigeon. Not much meat on those bones.
42. Bubble, perhaps : BOIL. Toil and trouble?
43. Piece of glass : PANE.
44. Diamondbacks manager Gibson : KIRK. An old Detroit Tiger who reemerged as a HERO (1:54) in LA.
45. Kosher deli offering : LATKE. Makes me feel at home, even if it is only a pancake or a troubled MIND (1:32).
46. Mountain chain : SIERRA.
48. Haydn and : PAPAS. Papa Hemingway was also in Midnight in Paris, to keep our Woody Allen sub plot going.
50. Grains at the shore : SAND. Oats and corn do not grow well at the beach.
52. Roller on a track : RACE CAR.
56. MLB spring training locale : FLA. Though no longer any teams in South Florida.
59. "___ You Not": Jack Paar book : I KID. You can buy it cheap at ALIBRIS.
61. Space cloud : NEBULA.
66. Too honorable for : ABOVE. Suspicion.
67. Lap edge : KNEE. I really like this clue/fill even if mine are shot.
68. Finish finish? : LINE. Or MAALIN?
69. Played, as a cello : BOWED.
70. Mariner's guide : STAR. Star light, star bright; first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.
71. Ability to last : LEGS. Man this puzzle has lots of them, but I am suffering from double Monday disease.
Down:
1. Fancy footwear : SPATS. I always think of George Raft. And then of ZOOT SUITS like Carrey wore in Mask. Which fits with 31D. Muppet sax player : ZOOT.
2. Land at the Forum? : TERRA. Latin for land.
3. St. ___ Mountains: Alaska/Canada range : ELIAS. This PARK.
5. It often ends in "ase" : ENZYME. Another Z word.
7. Prevents : BARS.
8. Hana airport hello : ALOHA. How you land in Maui.
9. Nabokov classic : LOLITA. Jeannie, where are you?
10. Chinese tea : CHA. More HISTORY from China. Coincidence?
11. Fox's partner on "The X-Files" : DANA. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were the two FBI agents. Remember who was the sceptic?
12. Creature that fought King Kong, familiarly : T-REX. Tyrannosaurus Rex. The ORIGINAL(2:57).
13. Centerpiece piece : VASE.
19. Kashmir neighbor : PUNJAB. Not far from Left.
21. Bee complex : HIVE. Nice vitamin pun.
25. President Jalal Talabani, for one : IRAQI. This MAN.
29. Sucking sound : SLURP.
33. Low-lying area : DALE, not to be confused with Chip 'n Dale.
34. They may be locked on a computer : CAPS. Don't you yell at me!
35. Jai ___ : ALAI.
36. Less than slim, chancewise : NONE.
38. Senegal's capital : DAKAR. West African nation.
45. Tie, in a way : LACE. Your shoes.
47. Complained bitterly : RAILED.
49. German for "armor" : PANZER. Not related to Saul from Nero Wolfe books.
51. Highlands daggers : DIRKS. Not related to Mav Nowitski.
53. Doll : CUTIE. Pie.
54. Go-with go-between : ALONG. I do not go along with these connector clues.
55. Levels : RAZES. Ironic when it goes up it raises and then when it comes down....
56. Middle management problem : FLAB. Really excellent clue, except as a reminder of the the ongoing battle.
57. University of New Mexico mascot : LOBO. Wolf, but not Nero.
58. Admit openly : AVOW. Finally snuck in a legal one.
60. By ___ of: due to : DINT.
63. Three-faced woman of film : EVE. Based on a true psychology write up of a victim of DID, brilliantly played by Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman's wife.
64D. Spot in a pot : TEA. Well with 10D, Chinese TEA, this seems wrong, but it ends my run anyway, so you all decide. I am out of here for now.
Answer grid.
Lemonade out.
From C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Clear Ayes! Your fighting spirit and optimism are truly inspiring. And your presence and warmth are sorely missed on the blog.
Happy Birthday to dear Clear Ayes! Your fighting spirit and optimism are truly inspiring. And your presence and warmth are sorely missed on the blog.
57 comments:
Morning, all (and Happy Birthday to Clear Ayes)!
Took me far too long to figure out what was going on, even after getting the theme reveal at 65A. For awhile, I was looking for phrases that began with an A and ended with a Z. Once I finally had my V8 moment, however, things became very enjoyable.
As with Lemonade, I struggled with ZZZBASEBALL. I just wasn't familiar with the original phrase and it took me awhile to accept the multiple Zs (especially since I initially went with NORA instead of ZORA at 39A).
St. ELIAS Mountains? Maybe I'll remember it for next time. Ditto for ZOOT, CHA, KIRK Gibson and NEAL Conan (or is that Conan NEAL?)
Had STINKY for awhile at 41D. Thought it was a bit too colloquial, but not sure I like SKANKY any better...
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. What a fun Friday puzzle! The light went on with ZERO PLANES on the second pass.
I really wanted Skip for Short Distance, as in something being just a Hop, Skip and a Jump away.
My favorite clues were Grains on the Shore = SAND and Middle Management Problem = FLAB.
The X-Files clue was fun because the show was aired on Fox, as well as Fox being the first name of the lead male character.
I liked seeing both ARIZ and FLA for the MBA Spring Training Sites.
Lemonade, you'll appreciate this: During Passover, our local Whole Foods grocery store sells LATKES!
Happy Birthday, Clear Ayes. I hope you have a wonderful day. We miss you.
QOD: No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Funny, after yesterday's multiple letters you would think I would catch on to the AAA to ZZZ switch sooner.
Since they made Pez shooters, I don't understand why 4D is "Malfunctioning".
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Lemon, I also had trouble with the AAA to ZZZ switch, mainly because of my ignorance of baseball. But I thought the other theme answers were really fun. Like you, I could just picture the pez candies flying all over the room!
The fill was really great, and it's amazing that he made no compromises to get a pangram out of it. Loved seeing SQUAB, PUNJAB, TRASHY and SKANKY.
TGIF!!
Happy Birthday Clear Ayes! I hope it's a good day for you.
There were too many unfamiliarities for me today: AAA BASEBALL, ZORA, ZOOT, LATKE (I've never even seen a Kosher deli, much less been in one), MLB (2 clues), AXE-I've heard of Unilever, but don't they make soap, so what is AXE? And I don't remember T-REX having any part in King Kong, but then I don't go for classic movies or re-runs.
Clever puzzle if you know what's going on with it. I didn't.
Hi Everyone ~~
I'm up early (for me) today - lots to get ready for our beach vacation that starts tomorrow.
It took me some time to figure out what was going on here - with my second mug of coffee I finally caught on with ZEROPLANES. I actually got the unifier, ATOZ first and like Barry was looking for words like ARIZ. A really clever theme! Thanks, ERIK Wennstrom for a challenging but very enjoyable puzzle.
~~ Needed perps for DINT, NEAL, and ZORA.
~~ Favorites were Spot in a pot / TEA and Lap edge / KNEE - that one took me a while until I looked down at my lap and - DUH. :-)
~~ I liked having ENZYME instead of the 'Ase' that we usually need in puzzles.
~~ I'm not sure I've ever seen SKANKY in a puzzle before ... never really thought of it as 'foul.'
~~ I actually realized this was a pangram before Lemonade mentioned it. I usually miss it. Thanks, Lemon for a really good write-up - loved your comments, pics and links.
Happy Birthday, Clear Ayes ~ I hope you enjoy your day!
Off to try to get organized ~~
Great Friday puzzle. Interesting blog, Lemonade.
I liked FLAB, KNEE, spot in a pot=TEA.
First I filled a 4 block wide strip going all down the west edge, getting PEZSHOOTERS mostly from perps, and thus the theme. PEZSHOOTERS seemed fair to me because the common PEZ dispensers are not shooters. I, too, had the funny image of Pez pellets going wild.
I thought about STINKY for a little while, but I needed to keep the A in SIERRA and TIRK was not a name.
I had ANTZ and JAZZED and was sure they were correct. AA- BASEBALL had to be AAABASEBALL and so ZZZBASEBALL. Clever one.
We had potato pancakes for dinner last night, a favorite since childhood. We use flour instead of matzo meal. I add grated onions. Growing up where there were no Jewish people, I didn't know some called them LATKES until college. They are also PA German.
Good morning all:
Happy Birthday, Clear Ayes; I hope you have a great day.
Congrats, Eric W for a good, Friday challenge. Finished w/o help but didn't get the theme until coming here.
Fresh and really clever! Thanks to Lemon for the usual fun expo.
Loved the clue for flab. Did anyone notice the way 66, 67, 68 Across, and 69, 70, 71, Across read?
Happy Friday.
Sorry, that should be Erik.
Morning, all.
Tough puzzle for me today. Thanks, Lemon, for all the help. Happy birthday Clear Ayes! Hope you have a great day.
Hope everyone is keeping cool. This has been a great summer to have a pool!
Whew! I barely escaped the dreaded DNF today. The mid-Atlantic region almost did me in.
I had never heard of a Muppet named ZOOT or author ZORA or AAA Baseball. But with two Z's from ANTZ and JAZZED, I wagged the third one, and correctly guessed the O in ZORA. Close call.
There were lots of clever clues today. Great job, Erik.
HBD Clear Ayes, wherever you are.
Happy birthday, Clear Ayes. I hope you have a delightful day. This quote expresses part of your valuable contribution to this blog:
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. Albert Schweitzer
I miss your sweet presence and your poetry.
SKANKY is slang and can mean of a sleazy character, but it can also mean filthy or squalid.
The scientists working with the Hadron Collider at CERN think they have found the Higgs boson or God Particle. Some say it should be called the GODDAMN particle because it is so elusive and expensive to pin down. My nephew was part of this project for U. Penn.
Link God particle
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday Clear Ayes. We miss you here.
Interesting theme. Got the western ⅔'s without trouble but the east became slow going. Finally understood how to sequence ZZZBASEBALL from AAA. Very clever. LEGS was a little obscure but it is Friday. Liked ELBA where NAPOLEON pulled his bone apart. Mts. today - St ELIAS and SIERRA. Favorite clue was 64d, Spot in a pot - TEA. Overall, a fair and fun puzzle.
This is what I intended (I hope.)
Link God particle
Hello, everyone. This is Erik Wennstrom, the author of this crossword. I'm glad to see this one was less controversial than my last one (the astronomy-based-wordplay).
I'd like to give credit for some of the amusing hints to the editor Rich Norris. He was solely responsible for the clever hints to SAND, TEA, FLAB (which I thought was hilarious), ELBA, ZEROPLANES (the original hint was a too-clever reference to the Guggenheim), and LOVELYRITZ. I'm not so modest that I won't take credit/blame for the clues for KNEE, ARIZ and FLA, ENZYME, ZOOT, and PEZSHOOTERS.
I've only done this a few times, but my favorite part about the huge delay between submission and publication is that by the time my puzzle is published, I've forgotten all the fill, and it's not always trivial to solve again. The upper right-hand corner gave me some trouble. All those consonants in a row!
Argyle: Are you saying that they actually make Pez shooters?! That's would be awesome!
Kazie: Axe is a brand of "body spray". I guess that's some kind of full-body perfume for men? I only know it from the over-the-top weird commercials that they have.
Yellowrocks: Growing up in a (half) Jewish household and then moving out to the Midwest US, I had a similar but inverted experience with potato-pancakes/latkes. Never had them from a deli. They were always a homemade Chanukah dish for us.
Irish Miss: ABOVE KNEE LINE and BOWED STAR LEGS... Cute! Completely unintentional, of course.
Re: SKANKY. When I first filled this one in, I was a little leery about including it. Most of the time when I've heard the word, it occurs with other, much more obnoxious words. I always thought of it as being closer to "trashy" (when applied to a person), but then I realized that it's also often used to describe things, where it really just means that it smells bad.
Thanks to everyone for playing and writing comments. I really enjoy reading them (even the criticisms)!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Erik Wennstrom, for a very good, but tough, puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for an excellent write-up.
Started in the NW with STEP, PELE, SPATS, and TERRA. That's where I stopped.
Got nothing in the North Center except ALOHA.
Only got OHARA in the NE. Plugged in RCA TV for a while. Nothing clicked. Finally LOLITA gave me LCD TV. That corner fell.
Bounced around all over with a word here and there. Amazingly was able to nail A TO Z for 65A right off the bat. That helped a lot with the theme answers.
LOVELY RITZ was my first theme answer.
Had AURORA for 61A for a long time. I knew PANZER had to be 49D, so I fixed AURORA to NEBULA. That fixed that whole SE corner.
We just had SASHIMI the other day. Otherwise I would not have known that one.
Never heard of "by DINT of." Had the perps so I went with it.
One tough puzzle.
Let's see if it hits a hundred again today.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Clear Ayes: Happy Birthday, Friend!
Abejo
Thank you Lemon, for a wonderful blog. I was somewhat hesitant in whether to attempt today's puzzle, but some of it seemed remarkably doable... so I plugged on. Your blog solved the rest of the mystery.
Some clues like FLAB and TEA were cute, but alas, beyond my comprehension.
'Cha' and 'Chai' are for the most part, synonymous in most Indian languages, although 'Chai' has developed a special connotation in the western mind of tea with extra milk, extra sugar and lots of cardamom. Cha is the tea for the common man. Ironically, the Hindi word for sugar is 'Chini' - which in context can also mean ' - Chinese'. Since sugarcane was originally endemic in India, I wonder how that word, the Chinese association, got started.
ALT QOD: It's always good to remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. ~ Margaret Mead.
Erik, nice of you to drop in! Rich is always great when it comes to improving the clues we submit with puzzles, so it doesn't surprise me to hear that he did the SAND TEA and FLAB ones. But I absolutely loved the one for PEZ SHOOTERS. Fun stuff!
I forgot to wish Clear Ayes a happy, happy birthday today!! You deserve to do something special in celebration. We are all thinking of you!
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._
Punjab, now 2 states, (West) Punjab in Pakistan and (East) Punjab in India, are the richest states, by per capita income in their respective countries, primarily because of their enormously fertile wheat fields and great infrastructure of irrigation canals.
West P. is due south-west of erstwhile Kashmir ( now divided - ) , and the Indian state is due south. It was the richest state during the British Raj, and was bifurcated, based on religious demographics, during the 'Great Partition', the culmination of the freedom for Indo-Pak and the creation of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the British abdicated their responsibility and their absolute control of the army and the security forces, and the award of the boundary line was purposely declared 3 days after Independence, ( so as to absolve the Br. of all responsibility - ) and the result was murder, rape, looting, mayhem and ( may I add very hesitantly --- ) an 'Indo-Pak holocaust', in which over 2 mill. people were killed.
Refer to Wiki, if you are further interested.
Clear Ayes: Happy Birthday !!!
I miss seeing you here and your wonderful poems.
Erik: I liked how you got your name in the grid at 32-D.
CA gets my first Sunset toast ...
But I'm sure I'll get around to 'toasting' y'all also.
Cheers !!!
I did it! I solved a Friday puzzle! I think today is only the second time I have ever done that.
Grandsons like to find AXE products in their Christmas stockings. SKANKY is an adjective I heard in the halls of the high school where I taught. Words I didn’t know emerged with perps.
I didn’t get the clever theme until reading the blog. Thanks, Lemonade, for the excellent write-up, and Erik, for a tough, but doable puzzle.
Have a good weekend everyone,
Montana
Wonderful Friday puzzle, even though I once again got everything without 'getting' the A TO Z switch in the words. That's where you came in, Lemonade--many thanks! After the Friday NATO disaster (was it a week ago), this felt like redemption for me. And having you tell us about it, was a real bonus, Erik (any relation to 32D?).
I've taught Zora Neal Hurston's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' and think it's quite a wonderful book. And I'm totally delighted I got the two spring training answers even though I know zip about baseball (is it?)--ZZZ or otherwise.
So thanks for a great Friday morning, everybody! And have a wonderful birthday, Clear Ayes!
This must be clever puzzle week! Thanks, Erik! Fun, as always, Lemonade!
I didn't get the ZZZBASEBALL connection to triple A until Lemon said it. However, I got a big laugh, because that type of game would be a real snorer. I dated a baseball player (small town team) in high school and his games bored me to death (of the relationship).
With all the "Z's" I was trying to cram Godzilla into 12a, not T-Rex. I don't know my monsters.
SKuNKY for me, since I thought the other word was a promiscuous teenager. So I got skunked on SIERRA since I'd put in NONn for some dumb reason. Tried to find Sinrru mountain range in the Atlas.
YR: Now I'm hungry for LATKE. Who knew deli's served them? Thought that was a sandwich place.
Hey, I feel better: I'm not fat, just have a middle management problem. (Current jargon, say "issue".)
First heard of ZORA watching Oprah. I think Oprah may have helped produce the movie of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" which I saw. I read the book a few months ago. Interesting.
To continue the silliness from yesterday:
M R ducks.
M R not ducks!
O S A R!
L I B! M R ducks!
Who would have thought that I'd come back from the heat and fire of the Colorado Rockies to the lovely June gloom of the San Fernando Valley? And back to the wonderful Friday puzzle. Did better than usual but so did not get the theme. Even with the A to Z. Duh. Good job, Erik with a K! How you all do it is beyond me.
Erik,
Thanks for explaining AXE. I'd never heard of it. I hope you didn't take my sour grapes over my failure to do well on this as criticism. I just don't like to fail.
I tried TAWDRY before TRASHY appeared, and SKANKY doesn't bother me a bit. You need words like that once in a while. I don't pull my punches! Colorful language gets more attention.
Link for Pez shooters.
Hello everybody. Pretty much What Hahtoolah Said, except PEZ SHOOTERS was my Rosetta stone.
Liked ARIZ, ANTZ, ATOZ, and their reverse, ZORA.
I agree with HeartRx that SQUAB, PUNJAB, TRASHY, and SKANKY are terrific fill. I also liked ENZYME and NEBULA. Skanky is not a compliment.
The clue for CANOE was good.
For a guy whose native language was not English, Nabokov's book LOLITA displays an amazing command of the language.
Bill G, thank you for posting that flash mob link last night.
More letter silliness:
ABCD goldfish?
L, MNO goldfish.
OSAR goldfish!
OK, ABCD goldfish.
The theme was helpful and fun, Erik. ZZZ BASEBALL was the coup de grace as I have seen a lot of that in my lifetime! I first thought he was going for boring (ZZZ) baseball but the actual answer was so great! Very Friday worthy and entertaining. The east with ZOOT, ZORA, and LATKE had to work themselves out.
Musings
-The one boy in Stand By Me avowed that Cherry PEZ was the best food ever.
-PELE’s sport is very popular among kids but TV ratings, not so much.
-Don’t know NEAL but he’s got to be better than that other Conan
-I’m sure our FENG is not very SHUI
-That AXE Spray must be something!
-I well remember Kirk’s one-legged home run.
-The flash mob linked in yesterday’s blog started with one man BOWing a string bass and winding up with Beethoven’s ninth replete with a big chorus. Wow!
-The new Army Song is no longer marching “over hill, over dale”.
-Thanks for the visit and insight, Erik!
-One more 100°F day and then wind goes to the north and temps drop! 75% of Nebraska corn is under irrigation and so there will be grain here and it could be very valuable if the rest of the corn belt sees no rain.
HELP: Where is the pangram? Forgive me for suounding like a dodo for not seeing it.
Good afternoon to all and happy Friday.Thank you Erik for the puzzle and the blog response. Great to hear from the author. Thanks Lemon and happy birthday Clear-Ayes Hope you have a good day. Liked jazzed and bowed. Never had squab and don't think I ever will. Getting ready for our little jaunt to Orlando and then Daytona on Sun. and Mon. Have a great weekend to all.RJW
I thought this was easy for a friday. never heard of latke dont understand dint. didnt get lovely rita connection since the song was about an american meter maid, do we have an area called piccadilly in the U.S.? Papa Haydn, Hemmingway? kind of stretching it arent you? What I really liked was there were not many abbrs. great job! love raw fish. see ya
10-down (CHA): Took me a while to get this one when I tried it myself. The original hint was "With 10-down, a dance", but I presume Rich deemed the self-reference too smart-alecky.
32-down (ERIK): I'm just doing my job to get the K-spelling more coverage. It's amazing how often people mess up the spelling, even when transcribing it from one place to another. At a university department I once worked for, some helpful administrator actually went into the system and changed my name from "Erik" to "Eric". At least with my last name, people know that they're not going to get it right on the first try.
ZORA: When I filled this out, I thought I was so clever, fitting in ZORA at 39-across and NEAL at 15-across. It wasn't until I started writing the clues that I realized that it was spelled Zora Neale Hurston.
Kazie (re: sour grapes): No offense taken at all! To be honest, I'd never heard of Unilever until I saw Rich's version of the hint. The original clue was "Tag competitor", which might've been way too difficult, especially if you haven't heard of either Axe or Tag. There's nothing that drives me crazy more than a clue that I know has wordplay in it, but that I can't get because I've never heard of the thing in the first place.
Argyle: Thank you for the link. My life is now complete... You know, I've seen a lot of kids' toys that might warrant choking warnings, but this one takes the cake (and chokes on it too?).
Anon @1:22, If Rita is American, there's no mention in the song.
Enjoyable puzzle Erik. It kicked my butt, but with several Googles, I did complete it. And thanks for visiting. That's always fun.
CA, I too want to wish you a happy birthday and many, many more.
That was a very enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Erik. I'm glad you stopped by. I enjoyed seeing 'by DINT of' in a crossword. You don't see or hear that much anymore.
CA, Happy Birthday! I miss your poetry around here but I especially miss you. Best wishes heading your way.
Jayce, you are welcome. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. I always like it when something I find and enjoy is appreciated by others. What is it that makes a flash mob so appealing? I'm guessing part of it is watching it begin and then build into something really big and fun. I've never seen one in person but I sure do like their videos. Aren't YouTube and the Internet amazing?
sorry the TERM "meter maid" is american. Its named after a female "traffic warden" (thats what they called them in England) who gave paul a ticket one day. And Paul saw a meter maid on his trip to the us. so hense Lovely Rita! awesome song. like johns back ground voice.
A few days back I recorded The Music Man from TCM. I'm about two-thirds of the way through and enjoying the music as much as I always have. I came across this line from Professor Harold Hill.
"Oh Miss Marian, I'm not suggesting that your invitation inferred anything but academic enlightenment..."
Oh well, it's still my favorite play.
Armand S. @ 1:16, it is a pangram, because he used every letter of the alphabet at least once in the grid.
Hey guys, (& Gals)
Sorry Erik Wennstrom, but i had to cheat to get here. (tough, it put the ZZ's in "puzzle")
Clear Ayes
Forgive me, but i am a bit foggy after reading 2 weeks worth of Blogs. I believe i missed Linda & Spitzboov's birthday, & i intend to research some links ASAP. (correct me if i am wrong, or missed somebody.)
I could never do Bill G's math puzzles, so i give you my own. I spent 4 days in the most crowded place on Earth, then 4 days without any internet access at all... Where was I?
CrossEyedDave, were you in and near Mumbai?
Great puzzle Erik.
SQUAB and SASHIMI? At least he didn't get a chance to SLURP his spaghetti.
Careful with this AXE commercial. Its a little SKANKY. Notice the guy with the blue ones near the pretty girl?
Clear Ayes, Sorry, but after 2 weeks i guess i got rusty. I could not get the Link to work for about a 1/2 hour, & i left out the "Happy Birthday!"
Jayce, Continental USA only, while the 1st part is easy, the 2nd 4 days is totally unfair... Sort of like French in Crosswords, or math in problems. (forgive me Bill G!)
CED: Disney World and then the Everglades National Park?
Skanky is one of those adjectives that seems mostly to appear with a few specific nouns, such as skanky ho. Sorta like bosoms: they're always ample. And, nowadays, gas prices are always "skyrocketing," never simply rising or increasing or going up. And politicians are always "embattled." Gotta love today's media. Hardly any more real reporting, just hype and exaggeration, even to the point of making statements that are blatantly untrue, just for the sake of sounding more sensational.
Squab!
Seen, You R right,,, Disney World!
& Everglades was REALLY Close!
I was at my sister in laws house...
I just bought a summer (winter in Fla) house in Naples Fla! WooHoo!
I'm convinced. Goin' to go out and get me some AXE right now, right after a macchiato, that is.
Zipped thru this puppy 'till the middle East. DIdn't know ZORA or ZOOT and JAZZED wouldn't come. Finally Googled for ZORA and, bam, the puzzle was over... but with a (sob) DNF.
A fine, fun puzzle but nothing really stands out, except for maybe SKANKY. I think of a skank as @Jayce says, like a "skanky ho". Skunky, as in the (Budweiser?) beer commercials of a few years back, is more along the lines of "foul", IMO.
... SQUAB!
First, CA, HBDTY and many more.
Hey, sorry I am late to my own party, but I have been buried in banker's boxes sifting through 40 or so looking for exciting (not) construction stuff.
You all have been so entertaining, and thank you Erik with a K for stopping by, you are welcome here anytime. We have a ggod time with puzzles and puzzlers.
You also keep reminding me how much there can be in a puzzle, as I missed the ZORA being readable as Z or A compared to A to Z. Fabuloso.
Kazie, if you clicked my King Kong link you would see the wepic battle of T-Rex and the G man.
After hiking in Scotland in the summertime, I stuffed all my sweaty hiking clothes and underwear into a carry-on bag. That bag was chosen for closer inspection at the airport. The attendant gingerly moved aside a few itmes, made a face, and quickly zipped up the bag. EEEW! SKANKY!
If I were to smuggle anything......
This puzzle almost did me in, too. I couldn't finish this morning, went to work, but was able to figure it out after lunch. Whew! Great fun, Erik.
Bill G - Axe is the scent of choice of 7th and 8th grade boys. This according to a friend who teaches middle school and finally had to ban it from her classroom. I guess they think "if a little is good, a lot is better".
Happy Happy Birthday to CA. Hope you can make the next Coven get-together!
HaHa, Yellowrocks,
I hiked the mountains in Vermont, & after a week, i found a horse shoe. Rusty, & about 100 years old, i picked it up & put it in my pack, thinking i could use it for a decoration somewhere. I totally forgot, & when i tried to pass the airport inspection, this old lady freaked out! called the FBI! Thought i was a terrorist smuggling bombs!
I really thought i was a goner!
(P.s. - they took me horse shoe, dang it!)
GarlicGal, I know what you mean. Years ago, my daughter had a boy friend like that. I don't know what brand of cologne he used but I could tell when he came in the house even if I was upstairs.
Seen, I loved the AXE commercial. I wouldn't have noticed the guy with the blue balls if you hadn't mentioned it. Heh heh.
I just finished The Music Man. It has a pretty good story and so many singable and memorable songs. Also, like Oklahoma, Guy and Dolls, South Pacific... It's a shame that Meredith Wilson never wrote another play like that.
CED: Shut the front door!
Forgot to wish ClearAyes a happy birthday. CA, I believe you were the first to welcome me to The Corner. Have a great one!
GarlicGal & BillG: My nephews love the stuff(Axe). It is not that they use so much, its just that strong! I've used it in a pinch. It made me woozy.
CED: Congratulations on the new house.
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