Theme: Opposite Partners - Four common phrases stating diametrical extremes. The verbs are all in third person singular form.
17A. Vacillates : BLOWS HOT AND COLD
25A. Goes out with periodically : DATES OFF AND ON
47A. Acts nervously in the waiting room : PACES TO AND FRO
62A. Searches all over : LOOKS HIGH AND LOW
Argyle here and there. Debut puzzle? A little bland but it has two grid spanners on a Monday, nice. It may have been intentional; some clues are gimmes and some are Thursday. Only eight three-letter words. It doesn't feel like a rookie submission.
Across:
1. Captain after a white whale : AHAB. "Moby Dick or, The Whale" by Herman Melville.
5. Former "Idol" judge Paula : ABDUL. Replaced by Ellen DeGeneres, replaced by J-Lo, replaced by Mariah Carey?
10. Glove compartment items : MAPS
14. Pro __: free, as legal work : BONO
15. Mild cigar : CLARO. Hey, put that out! This is a smoke-free blog.
16. Juan's water : AGUA
20. Gossip spreader : YENTA
21. America's national bird : BALD EAGLE
22. Belief: Suff. : ISM
24. "__ the land of the free ..." : O'ER
32. Make a mistake : ERR
33. "__ be sorry!" : YOU'LL
34. Porcine sniffer : SNOUT. Now, don't be piggy.
37. Name of 12 popes : PIUS
39. Trick alternative : TREAT
41. "The __-bitsy spider ..." : ITSY
42. Florida coastal city : TAMPA
44. "__ at 'em!" : LEMME
46. www connection co. : ISP. (Internet Service Provider)
50. B&O et al. : RR's. (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad)
51. Gun lobby org. : NRA. (National Rifle Association)
52. "A __ Named Desire" : STREETCAR. STELLA!
58. Smells : ODORS
64. Drink buyer's words : ON ME. "I got dozens of friends, and the fun never ends
That is, as long as I'm buying" Too Much Time on My Hands(5:12) By Styx With Lyrics.
65. Use at mealtime, as dishes : EAT ON
66. When tripled, a story shortener : YADA
67. Lay eyes on : ESPY
68. Martini's partner in vermouth : ROSSI.
69. Bakery appliance : OVEN
Down:
1. "Dear" columnist : ABBY
2. Golfer's target : HOLE
3. Soon, to Shakespeare : ANON. It's not what it is to me.
4. Neckwear with a tux : BOW TIE
5. Coblenz complaint : "ACH!". The complaint is "It's spelled with a K". Map.
6. Oozy horror film menace : BLOB (1958)
7. Number-cruncher's input : DATA
8. Russian river : URAL
9. Big Ben's city : LONDON. Boy, is this a gimme or what?
10. Tubes with cheese : MACARONI
11. Eagerly excited : AGOG
12. Yank : PULL
13. One-named Nigerian singer : SADE. Paradise(3:38), filmed in Mexico?
18. Back-talking : SASSY
19. Owners' documents : DEEDS
23. No longer at issue : MOOT
25. Men's or Women's, e.g.: Abbr. : DEPT.
26. Opera highlight : ARIA
27. Noted TV firer : TRUMP. The Donald.
28. Rolls up, as a flag : FURLS
29. Admiral's command : FLEET
30. Car rental giant : ALAMO
31. "__ I have anything to say about it" : NOT IF
35. Cold War country: Abbr. : USSR
36. "Teh" for "The," say : TYPO
38. One may be hidden in a fake rock : SPARE KEY
40. IRS employee : T-MAN
43. Farm size units : ACRES
45. 2000s Houston-based scandal subject : ENRON
48. Bible book named for a woman : ESTHER
49. Bro, to a beatnik : DADDY-O
52. Blackthorn fruit : SLOE
53. Heavy weights : TONS
54. Play friskily : ROMP
55. "So long, signore" : "CIAO!"
56. FBI personnel : AGT's
57. Letters after pis : RHOs
59. Norwegian saint : OLAV
60. Went on horseback : RODE
61. Tchaikovsky's "__ Lake" : SWAN
63. "Star Wars" saga nickname : ANI. From Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Anakin (Ani) Skywalker is set on the road to become Darth Vader.
Argyle
From C.C.:
Here is a wonderful photo of the two cottages Jazzbumpa rented for his family lake vacation last week. It's on the west shore of Black Lake. I think they go there every summer.
From C.C.:
Here is a wonderful photo of the two cottages Jazzbumpa rented for his family lake vacation last week. It's on the west shore of Black Lake. I think they go there every summer.
53 comments:
Morning, all!
Pretty smooth solve for a Monday, which is good because I'm a bit brain dead after staying up late watching the Olympics the last few nights...
A few small stumbling blocks:
* I've never heard of Coblenz before, so it took a bit to figure out that 5D was looking for a German expression.
* "Admiral's command" had me thinking of a command an admiral issues ("Attack!" "Hard to port") instead of the thing under the admiral's command.
* CLARO just refuses to stick in my brain, no matter how many times I see it.
* I wanted SPEAKER instead of SPARE KEY at 38D (especially after getting the first two letters), but, alas, 'twas not to be...
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Easy Monday puzzle to ease into the work week. I enjoyed the fact that Opposite Attractions of this puzzle.
There really is a STREETCAR named Desire in New Orleans.
My initial thought for something hidden under a fake rock was a House Key instead of the SPARE KEY.
I thought that Used at Meal Times, as Dishes = EAT ON was a strange clue.
I have heard of unfurling a flag, but never thought of FURLing the flag.
QOD: History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies. ~ Alexis de Tocqueville
Fun, easy puzzle! Thanks for the links, Argyle!
I'm LOL at myself because the clue I had trouble with was "tubes with cheese". I was thinking something like CheezWhiz in a can. Well, dummy had cAPS in the glove box. I put my maps in a door pocket. DUH!
Hahtoolah, looks like "Desire" is old enough Brando could have ridden on it.
The only flags i know of that are FURLed are drill team flags which roll around the pole for storage--or during exhibitions at the most inopportune time. Nothing more aggravating to a flag twirler.
ANON and TYPO? That's hilaroius!
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
I loved your cat video, Argyle! I didn’t recognize the constructor, either. I wonder if she is Andrea Carla’s baby sister?
This was a really smooth Monday, with two nice pairs of grid-spanners and 14s that are solidly in the lingo. The problem with Mondays is that the clues/answers all have to be fairly straight forward, so nothing really stood out to me in the puzzle as I was solving. I do like those Friday/Saturday ones that make me go “AHA” when an answer finally appears.
Still, kudos to Vanessa for a nice and easy start to the week!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Vanessa Michaels, for a very good puzzle. Easy, but not too easy. thank you, Argyle, for the good review.
Got started easily. The entire North came together. Had to think a little on ACH, BLOB, and URAL.
36D TYPO took me a few perps to get.
I was not thinking of the USSR as a single county, but a group of countries as a Union. However, I am sure Mr Stalin and Mr Khrushchev thought of it as a single large country.
The theme came after PACES TO AND FRO.
Liked MOOT for 23D. Clever.
Did not know ANI for 63D. Perps fixed.
Had to think a bit on 66A YADA.
Supposed to be a bit cooler today. Hope so.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
I kept thinking of manicotti (tubes stuffed with cheese) for 10D, but it wouldn't fit. Otherwise, very smooth sailing. I didn't know CLARO or ANI, but you live and learn.
Looking forward to Tuesday's offering. Let's all have a nice week.
Good morning all. Thanks for the comments, Argyle.
Nice easy run this morning. Paused at ABDUL, but ACH, URAL and LONDON got it. The theme fill was easy and mutually helpful. Guessed right on MACARONI. Chuckled at Barry G's 'Admiral's Command' comment; I briefly thought maybe a tactical command, but quickly went to FLEET because of the 5 letters. No lookups or strikethroughs.
ACRE - equals 43560 ft². Hydrologists use acre feet as a volume unit. One acre one foot high = 43560 ft³; a very convenient unit for designing and operating reservoirs.
Enjoy the day.
Had "up and" before LEMME. Like Mari, didn't know ANI or CLARO, but like a learning experience in my crosswords.
The cat had an expressive tail. What was he/she after?
Imaginary birds, according to the clip.
TTP'er here (Twelfth time. Or am I losing count ?)
Thank you Melissa, and thank you Argyle. Loved the cat movie, and the link to Koblenz. Koln (Cologne) has far more to do and see.
This was a walk in the park. Unlike Saturday's puzzle, it didn't have me climbing any walls. Nor did I have to jump to conclusions. A fun exercise, none the less. OK, not opposites...
5D. Coblenz complaint. ACH ? Ach du lieber ! Ach means OH in my (nicht) hochdeutsch. I defer to Kazie, Spitzboov on this.
36D Teh for the. My most common typo, although I get has/had had/has quite a bit, and spell check won't catch that. Need a spell that czechs context.
66A, When Tripled, Story Shortener... Etc, etc, etc. Until Seinfeld.
All, have a great day. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.
Re: ACH. I think of it as more like the English Oh!
Here some usages:
ach {interj} oh
Ach so! I see!
Ach du liebe Zeit! Dear me!
Ach du meine Güte! Good grief!
Ach nee, sag bloß! [ugs.] Well, duh! [Am.] [slang]
Ach so, ich verstehe! Oh, I see!
Ach wo! Certainly not!
Ach wo! By no means!
mit Ach und Krach by the skin of one's teeth
mit Ach und Weh with doleful outcry
Ach, du auch! Join the club!
Ach, was soll's! Ah, what the heck!
Aha!; Ach so! I see!
Ach, übrigens OBTW : oh, by the way
Ach, jetzt verstehe ich! OIC : Oh, I see!
Maybe Kazie will weigh in on this.
Spitzboov,
My mom used to say,
Ach, du lieber Himmel Oh, good (dear) heavens
She was too delicate to say,
Ach, mein Gott in Himmel My God in Heaven
There is a Bach cantata, Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? (My God, how long, ah, how long).
easy. but to many abbr. (8) for a monday. wtf
Aw, go ahead and name them.
I loved this Monday speed run! Blanched at first when I saw the grid spanners, but they were so much fun to fill in. Many thanks, Vanessa! And you too, Argyle, for the always enjoyable write-up.
My favorite was YADA as a story shortener!
Ach, Spitzboov, many thanks for the list. I can still hear my grandmother saying we accomplished this or that "mit Ach und Krach". Seems we did this a lot.
Have a great Monday, everybody. We're off to the nursery where I hope to pick up lots of pretty flowers for the garden!
This puzzle was easy but not too easy. Nice start for the week.
I had to WAG the C in ACH and CLARO, but first letter I guessed was correct.
I rarely ‘get’ a theme before coming here and reading about it, but I did early on with this puzzle.
Have a good Monday, everyone
Montana
YR and Misty. Somehow it always seemed to take the edge off getting chewed out in German. Many idioms are kind of funny. Low German is particularly rife with such expressions.
Good morning to all and happy Monday . Nice easy puzzle thanks Argyle for your writeup. Using
iPad for first time today .I am watching the Olympics and can not tear myself away. Have a great day to all RJW.
Thank you Vanessa Michaels, for a very nice and easy puzzle, loved it !, and thank you Argyle for your commentary. I am somewhat late to the game - had some urgent work due.
EATON is an auto power transmission giant in Cleveland.
In other news, the Cleveland Browns (football team - ) , -- 15 wins, 129 losses (last 6 years - ) have been sold to a Nashville, Tennessee, businessman for $ 920 million. If they still keep their losing ways, maybe he could 'get' a country music song out of it....
'Take my team, hear my plea, and (please) bring my wife back to meee ' ....
ALT QOD:- There's a special place in hell for murderers and the guy who decided what time breakfast ends at McDonalds. ~ Caprice Crane.
Hi gang -
After a relaxing week at the lake, with neither X-words nor trombone sliding, this nice, easy puzzle was a TREAT and a good way to rejoin the [ACH!] real world. We did have MACARONI a couple of times. Nate and Joe went salmon fishing in the straights of Mackinaw and brought back 5 big ones. We grilled one up on Monday and had left-overs all week.
ACH - the puzzle: Of course, I fell into all the traps - but I'd do that anyway. LET ME at 'em --> ALATO. I'd never rent from them!
Our granddaughter ABBY is in Fla.
I yam cape a bull of ANI TYPO.
Here is a SWAN I know.
CIAO and Cool Regards!
JzB
Hi all,
Fun puzzle today,thanks Vanessa and Argyle!
7A clued me in to the other phrases and they came fairly easy. 69A took awhile as I don't use alcoholic beverages.
On 59D I spelled it with an F first, as I read something in the paper recently about King Olaf becoming a saint.
Actually a nice easy puzzle!
Marge
Spitzboov, you should have heard my father swearing in Finnish. We did't always understand what he was saying, but we sure got the idea!! I don't ever remember him saying a bad word in English, though.
Jazzbumpa @ 11:47, the duck butts are priceless!
I was just unfolding the paper to start and MIL calls and she has water in her basement. We dried it all up and have a plumber coming and finally got home. She’s 90 next week and we’re all she has and is so grateful.
Musings
-I enjoyed the puzzle even with CLARO
-Is this AHAB racist?
-ABDUL’s elevator doesn’t stop at every floor but that makes her interesting
-I can’t remember the last time I used a MAP. MapQuest on iPhone is undefeated.
-¡El AGUA es necesitada por aquÃ!
-Have you ever heard “You’ll be sorry” just before that trip to the emergency room?
-TAMPA is home to our “toaster at sunset” and my fellow Swiss
-I support gun ownership but assault rifles and 100 bullet clips…
-ON ME was a foreign phrase to my former friend.
-I’ve heard ACH de lieber and so…
-Even Steve McQueen had to make schlock movies like The Blob to get started. It’s bad!
-Macaroni Grill makes the best, uh, Mac and Cheese around here.
-We finally found MIL’s DEED for all her line of equity loan
-Does one FURL the wading pool after rolling it up after use?
-Gotta make BLT’s for lunch, read y’all later
Hello everybody. Like Mari, I was thinking of manicotti or cannoli for tubes with cheese, even after I had MAC written in. Funny how the mind doesn't want to let go of what it has already concluded is a correct idea, even though presented with proof that it's not. Only after filling MACAR did I "let go of my desire."
Like Marge, I spelled it OLAF at first.
WBS about admiral's command and CLARO.
Excellent long fill today.
Yes, Argyle, LONDON was definitely a total gimme.
I ESPY with my little eye an ITSY TREAT, and esmell its ODORS with my little SNOUT.
ROSSI is a cool guy on Criminal Minds.
Interesting there's an Agua Fria and an Agua Caliente in California. Both are hot places. I dare say Agua Fria in Arizona is hot, too.
Best wishes to you all.
I don't think there is an Agua Fria in MI but there is a town called Coldwater, and near-by Coldwater Lake where we vacationed for a few years. We outgrew that cottage, and have gone to the place on Black Lake that C.C. linked at the end of today's blog the last two years.
I don't believe there is a Hotwater anywhere in the State.
Arizona once had a Goldwater, but that is getting dangerously close to politics.
Cheers!
JzB
Vanessa Michaels: Wonderful debut. FUN Monday.
Marge @11:49: I don't "use" alcoholic beverages either.
(Have been known to consume them, lol).
Had a hard time "Remembering" the Car Rental company, ALAMO. (another, lol!)
Is it true the NRA is considering a "name change" to "N-AK47-A" ???
A "toast" to all at SUNSET (not AT-SIX).
Cheers!!!
Hello, cyber friends. Thank you, Argyle, for today's review.
Fastest sashay for me in a long while as they filled quickly and easily. For a mental image, think of CLARA smoking a CLARO in LONDON.
I really like the long opposites but got ahead of myself and had PACES UP AND DOWN until the downs settled the matter.
Also, LOOKS FAR AND WIDE but then ESTHER entered the picture to change it.
Jazz:
That looks like a great place to spend a week. Thank you for sharing.
Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!
Forgot to mention that we have received much AGUA this weekend. Ole! Ole! for rain!
I've been in hot water! Many times! And my dad used to call me a tall drink of water. Let's see, there's a Silverwater in Australia, a Badwater in Death Valley, Sweetwater someplace, Clearwater in Florida ... Okay, I won't milk this any further.
By the way, Clearwater, FL, is the locale of the Scientology guys who ripped my mother off for $15,000.
Okay, Jayce, time to shut up now.
Jazzbumpa, you're funny :)
Tinbini: you are too funny!
Musings
-I sincerely doubt any of the Tajiks, Georgians, Ukranians, etc. ever thought of themselves as Soviets just as Tuscans are only reluctantly Italians. Texans, hmmm…?
-Jordan Larson from Hooper, NE (pop. 1,100) is playing great for USA volleyball with so many girls (gotta love this incredible girl with the equally incredible name) she opposed at UNL and they just beat Brazil. Brazilians gave away game 4 with bad serving.
-Fla. peeps, do you remember when rental cars in Florida all had the same letter in the license plate and tourist’s cars were being targeted for thieves?
-Off to see the plumber!
Gotta Add
-OMG, I just saw honest to goodness EPEE competition in the Olympics with high tech helmets. They do exist outside crossword puzzles! Epee terms including our recently visited Flèche.
Didn't notice SADE before perps filled in. I don't think I have listened to her music before this. Argyle, enjoyed link and went on to listen to several more of her videos.
Anony-mouse @11;42, enjoyed your take on country music. LOL
CLARO was my last fill. I know nothing about cigars. When my twins were born my husband passed out tootsie rolls with pink and blue ribbons attached. Noticed AQUA put out the cigar after Argyle announced non-smoking site.
ACH - Seems to be quite a bit of German heritage on the blog. Like Marge, I don't drink. My Irish roots make this an absurdity!
Hi everyone:
Good job, Vanessa; clever and easy Monday offering. nice expo, Argyle.
Didn't get to post yesterday as I was too busy traveling to Maine and getting settled in. I didn't have time to even do the puzzle but I did read the blog. When we arrived, we had lunch and when we came out of the restaurant, the car was d-e-a-d. AAA came, couldn't find any problems and decided it was a "hiccup, whatever that means. It started right up so I hope we don't have any reoccurrences.
As I type this, I am looking out on the beautiful blue Atlantic. Today was picture perfect; sunny, just-right temp, and a slight ocean breeze. What more could you ask for?
There is a family get-together at my niece's house in Kennebunk. There are 17 family members all vacationing at the same time, including a nephew and his SO who came up from Florida. Should be fun, unless my niece's two labs and Bernese Mountain Dog decide to crash the party!
Happy Monday to all.
Irish Miss said: As I type this, I am looking out on the beautiful blue Atlantic. Today was picture perfect; sunny, just-right temp, and a slight ocean breeze. What more could you ask for?
Sounds great. I think I'll get the west coast version and head out for a short bike ride and a macchiato.
GARY!!!!
Spoiler alert for those of us who have to work and are DVRing the match to watch later, por favor.
DITTO, DAMMIT!
-Oops, sorry!! I thought NBC either showed events live OR on tape delay. My bad! As far as women’s beach VB, I wasn’t sure they even kept score but I’ll stay mum on that too.
-We got MIL’s basement dried up this morning and I told her that her basement drain probably had a clog and had backed up when her washer emptied. We set up an appointment with the plumber, went home and what did she do? Right! She ran another load before the plumber got there and we had another mess to mop up. It covered a much smaller area so we got it dried up and the plumber snaked it out and we’re all good now.
Hi again,
Back to agua:in Northern New Mexico there's a small town named Ojo Caliente. It has only about 350 people but has a resort and people come there for the hot springs. We used to go up there to swim in the warm pool.
Irish Miss: speaking of blue water, we live a few miles from Wisconsin Dells,a large tourist area. Lake Delton is in that area and it has a lot of algae this year. So they dyed the lake blue so it would be more atractive to look at. $30,000 worth of blue dye. So if we can't get to the east or west coast,we can look at blue Lake Delton.
Good evening all.
Marge
PS: This is the same lake where the dam broke a couple years ago and all the water drained out and a large house was swooped into the water as it all drained into the river. That picture got on the national news and also got shown all around the world.
My bike ride had to be postponed for an hour or so 'cause my old car battery decided this was the day to give up. AAA to the rescue. It's just a bit of money. Well worth avoiding the hassle.
I'm always surprised when people are very upset finding out the result of something ahead of time. I'm sure it was unintentional. For me, I sometimes find that knowing something about the plot of a complicated movie adds to my enjoyment because I understand it better. But that's just me.
"But that's just me."
Exactly.
Bill G.
What if it was your Bookie that knew
the results ahead of time?
Just joking of course..
Marge, dying the lake blue makes me think of how they dye the rivers green in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day.
Opposites,,, Itsy? Big Ben town???
Slow puzzle day...
(This is going to be tough to find funny links for, i think i will take the opposite approach!)
Shoe
Non Sequitur
& a little Rhymes With Orange for you English teachers out there!
(note, these are the 7/30 comics, they may all be different if you look at these links tomorrow...)
Marge, that Lake Delton Dye Job was interesting enough to look it up on YouTube.
Here in New Jersey, i think they just use Ty-D-Bowl.
BillG, since you don't get it, I'll attempt to explain.
You've evidentily lived most of your life in densely populated urban areas. Places where you have no sense of community, but simply blend in with a few hundred thousand, or millions of other humans. I get that.
I grew up in a town of less than 1,500 . A place where the idea of a local hero carried enormous weight. This, in part, is why I'm an average Joe.. That notwithstanding, I've spent most of my adult life in urban environs, but not as large as what you're used to. Denver, Tampa, Omaha and Lincoln. Regardless, when I see a small town athlete that comes from a background similar to my own in a position to shine on the world stage, it pushes my buttons. A lot!
I'm no Man of La Mancha, but it's never entirely a flight of fantasy to dream the impossible dream. Maybe you'll have the opportunity to feel that someday.
Out.
I don't know if this counts as a personal attack but DADDYO vs. DADDIO? This drove me crazy. I've always seen in the second way!
M.C.
Whatever fills the grid I guess...
Sorry, I left out the hyphen. Does DADDY-O look better?
MC, I also had “DADDiO" until perps showed me the error of my ways!
I have to link this clip, because I know exactly how that cat feels. I have a pair of mourning doves who have taken up residence outside my bedroom window . Every morning, same thing...("Just let me sleeeepppp!!")
Marti, very enjoyable video. That is a very tolerant cat.
Avg Joe, I think Manhattan Beach has a sense of community. And I love the 'impossible' dream of an underdog succeeding on a world stage. Here's an underdog Olympic story we all can enjoy. Last place Niger rower.
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