Theme: Help - The start of the unifier can also precede the first word of the themes.
20A. Behavior of a community : GROUP DYNAMICS. SUPPORT GROUP.
30A. "Star Trek" catchphrase : "BEAM ME UP". SUPPORT BEAM.
36A. Storage items near outdoor faucets : HOSE REELS. SUPPORT HOSE. (my favorite)
48A. Military officer's ride : STAFF CAR. SUPPORT STAFF.
55A. Nurturing network of family and friends, and a hint to the starts of 20-, 30-, 36- and 48-Across : SUPPORT SYSTEM
Argyle here. A Monday debut for Drew, gender unknown. I hope Splynter may find a suitable pic for SUPPORT HOSE. Two corners with 7-letter vertical stacks with the long themes connected to them. All-in-all, a good Monday debut puzzle. I hope Drew will drop by.
Across:
1. Switchblade : SHIV
5. French revolutionary who was murdered in a tub : MARAT. (Jean-Paul Marat) More of a Tuesday entry.
10. Hard to outwit : WILY. Wile E. Coyote
14. Trumpet muffler : MUTE
15. Rolled out of bed : AROSE
16. One-named Gaelic folk singer : ENYA. I'll come back and link her song if I don't find anything else.
17. Bear in two constellations : URSA. Major and minor.
18. Pro cager : NBAer
19. Folksy Joan : BAEZ. I like Joan.
23. Martini liquor : GIN. Or...
24. AOL chat components : IM's. (Instant Messages)
25. Turkish __: spas : BATHS
28. 24-hour auto race city : LE MANS. South-west of Paris. 67A. 500-mile race, familiarly : INDY. Indianapolis, Indiana, a long way from France.
33. Standing straight : ERECT
34. Aim for pins : BOWL. Get 'em all, Boomer.
35. "How come?" : "WHY?". It comes after the "NO!"s of the terrible twos.
40. Satisfied sigh : "AAH!"
43. Sox player, e.g. : ALer. First basketball, now baseball.
44. Preface, briefly : INTRO
51. Attempt to cool, as steaming hot soup : BLOW ON
52. Prefix with foam : STYRO
53. Maglie or Mineo : SAL. Ball player or actor.
54. Unlock, poetically : OPE
60. Corncob pipe part : STEM
62. "The First Time __ Saw Your Face" : EVER I. Forget Enya.
63. Speech problem : LISP
64. Stay fresh : KEEP
65. Dig artifact : RELIC
66. Send out, as rays : EMIT
68. Phones on stage, e.g. : PROPS. Maybe we can get some links to when props fail. I'd look now but I probably wouldn't come back.
69. Contradict : DENY
Down:
1. Bring across the border illegally : SMUGGLE. There have been some horror stories about smuggling people.
2. One in a rush : HURRIER. Clunk! We were doing so good. Why not HARRIER?
3. "Your money's no good here!" : "IT'S ON ME!"
4. Calf meat, in Provence : VEAU. French veal.
5. Coated buttonlike candies : M AND Ms. I read it as candles; that gave me a pause!
6. "Slicing Up Freshness" fast-food chain : ARBY'S
7. Reddish horse : ROAN. 21D. Ford named for a horse : PINTO
8. On the ocean : ASEA
9. __ paper: school composition : TERM
10. Device for a Skype chat : WEBCAM. Marvelous device, I understand.
11. Very agitated : IN A STEW
12. Soap ingredient : LYE
13. '60s-'80s Red Sox legend, familiarly : YAZ. Carl Yastrzemski, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
22. Selectric maker : IBM
26. "Whadja say?" : "HUH?"
27. Double agent : SPY
29. "Oh" de Cologne? : "ACH". Cute clue but doesn't make up for HURRIER.
30. Drilling tool : BORER
31. Potter's pitcher : EWER. Alliteration.
32. Tavern brew : ALE
34. Lugosi who played Dracula : BELA
37. Cul-de-__ : SAC
38. Pharmaceutical giant Eli : LILLY
39. __-Globe: shakable collectible : SNO. I remember Grandma's. Today's don't cut it.
40. Balaam's mount : ASS
41. Lawyer: Abbr. : ATT.
42. Country bumpkin : HAYSEED
45. Double-cross : TWO-TIME
46. Lures by phishing, say : ROPES IN
47. Afraid of running out, gas gauge-wise : ON EMPTY
49. Drably unattractive : FRUMPY. A descriptive word.
50. Ascot wearer : FOP. FOP-a man who is excessively concerned with fashion and elegance.
51. Fundamentals : BASICS
53. Word after comic or landing : STRIP
56. Cop's suspect : PERP. Perpetrator, to a cop; perpendicular, to us.
57. Eggs __ easy : OVER
58. Move, in brokerese : RELO
59. Winter toy : SLED. Sledding is a gateway sport to skiing?
60. Tackle a slope : SKI
61. Olympic diver's perfection : TEN. On a one to ten scale.
Argyle
55 comments:
Morning, all!
Had trouble getting started this morning. Neither SHIV nor MARAT nor WILY sprung immediately to mind and I had to quickly shift to the perps to get a foothold. And then the perps included VEAU, which was a complete unknown, and HURRIER, which was, well, let's just say "less than optimal."
The rest of the puzzle was pretty straightforward. When I got to the theme reveal, however, I got a bit stuck since all I could think of was SUPPORT GROUP, which (a) didn't fit and (b) couldn't be right because there was already a GROUP in 20A. Took more perps to finally get SYSTEM.
[dsheza]
Welcome Drew,
A nice Monday with some fresh clues. I liked seeing FRUMPY and FOP next to each other.
Thanks as always for the words and pics
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. What a fun Monday puzzle from a new constructor.
I of Jean Paul Marat from art class and the famous painting by Jaques-Louis David. Marat had a skin condition and he spent a lot of time soaking in the bath. Charlotte Corday broke in and stabbed him.
QOD: The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. ~ Vladimir Nabokov (Apr. 22, 1899 ~ July 2, 1977)
[dstdenc]
Good morning.
Those stacked sevens in the corner look late-weekish, don't they? Reviewing the grid after finishing, I had trouble parsing MANDMS and wondered what a ROPE SIN could be...S&M, maybe? This puzzle has lots of material for Lois to work with.
BEAM ME UP has become part of the vernacular, but was never spoken on the original Star Trek.
Unlike Argyle, I had no problem with HURRIER. But I also read candies as candles, and fell, AGAIN, for the word AND separating the two M's. Also had IN A Snit for IN A STEW, but the perps fixed that. Had to change VEAl to VEAU. More difficult for a Monday than I would think, but still a decent puzzle.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Drew Banneman, for an excellent Monday puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the swell review.
Got started in the NW with MUTE and URSA. Then got GIN, LEMANS, and ERECT. That gave me the verticals, which gave me SHIV. I always thought of a SHIV as kind of a homemade knife, not A switchblade. I could be wrong.
M AND MS was easy. I love the M and Ms with peanuts. Big Mars plant in Chicago.
Caught the theme after I finished.
PERP at 56D was great. We all look at a different use of the word, but it is a favorite.
STAFF CAR reminded me of a German car in WW-II with some high ranking officers approaching.
Enjoyed the puzzle. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(duchnin)
(xekles)
Good morning everybody. I didn't know MARAT, YAZ or VEAU, but they were PERPed.
I generally don't like clues like: NBAER and ALER, but that's just my opinion.
Seeing FRUMP and ASS together reminds me of my mirror reflection ;)
May your week be much better than last week!
Good morning everyone. Nice INTRO, Argyle.
Had to skip around a little, but BASICally, easy. Stared at MANDMS; didn't know what a mandm was and then the little light went on and I said "Oho, it's M AND M'S". No lookups or searches were needed.
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone,
I also had trouble with mandm, kept thinking of those candies on my grandmother's coffee table. They were chocolate buttons with white sprinkles. Maybe they were called nonpareils? Of course that didn't fit! Good puzzle. I'm off to study some French in preparation for our trip to Paris/Lyon next month. I hope that high school vocab will kick in.
Might today's constructor be related to Andrew Bannem who constructed a puzzle back in August 2011.
Since the last names are different, I doubt there is any connection. ;~0
Rich Norris--"BRAND NEW NAME"? I wonder...
VEAU? Just a Monday walk in the park otherwise after erasing an L
Musings
-Observing GROUP DYNAMICS is easier as a sub because none of the teachers even acknowledge you exist as they interact in their own groups
-I said “BEAM ME UP, Scotty” as the 20 something at the Y desk swiped my card and she gave me that “whatever” look
-Bender brandished a SHIV (shank in prison) in Breakfast Club and stuck it in the library table
-If you’re telling a 10-year-old WHY, you’d better be quick about it
-I’m surprised that a SUPPORT GROUP doesn’t protest Kripke’s comedic LISP on TBBT
-The Terminator attraction at Universal Studios has a PROP motorcycle that the Ahhnold character seems to ride up a ramp. One day it wasn’t working and the actor had to run up the ramp to the sound of the motorcycle.
-The HURRIEDER I go, the behinder I get
-WEBCAM? Dang, now I have to go comb my hair.
-Grandma had a SNO globe and a slinky for us kids. Nothing that needed batteries
-You mean that Nigerian Prince was just PHISHING?
Good Morning all - Thanks Drew for a great start to the week. It was a fun puzzle. This was easy peasy for me today, except for the first M in MANDMS. It was my last fill-in. Unfamiliar with MARAT and went thru all the letters until I got to the M - then it was an 'ah ha' moment. Nice write-up Argyle. Listened to Roberta while reading all of your expos. Nice song.
No lookups, red letter help was off. (I always try it off at first to see how far I can get.) YAZ was easy as I already had BAEZ and remembered him from baseball. Also knew of ENYA.
Liked SKI following SLED.
Another beautiful day here. Do I get tired of saying that? Nope!
Happy Monday everyone!
Homfica
Was slowed down by the 6 sports clues.
Liked the sound of that word HURRIER. Don't think I've ever used it.
Famous picture by David, Death of MARAT with Marat dead and draped over tub edge with letter in one hand and feather pen in other. I always drop my pen when I fall asleep doing puzzles, but if he were electrocuted, he could have had instant rigor mortis, but it's 1793. It's taller than I am at 65" and I wouldn't want it in my living room.
MJ@8:43
I'll bet you are right. A new alias for our editor.
I see the Boston PERP now has the ACLU on his side. Predictable and sad.
Hi there~!
Thanks for the opportunity, Argyle~1
So many to choose from, so little time....
Here's to hosiery~!!!
Splynter
Thank you Drew Banneman, whosoever you are, or whomsoever you may be. The puzzle was relatively easy, (hence a lot of fun - ). I got the theme and all. I had MULE before MUTE, as the trumpet muffler, because I kept thinking of JazzB.
Thank you Argyle, for your always delightful and charming commentary. Its always worth coming to the Corner, just to hear your version of things. (lol).
Happy Earth day, all, and try stepping lightly when you tread on her today .....
Enjoyed the puzzle. Loved seeing my last name lilly in the puzzle. Unfortunately in all my genology research I don't believe I am related to Eli or all of his money. It is usually lily pad that you see in crosswords.
Enjoyed wily and beam me up. William Shatner endures. Loved him on Boston legal.
MJ, You could be right!
Husker: I’m surprised that a SUPPORT GROUP doesn’t protest Kripke’s comedic LISP on TBBT.---They probably don't have enough of a sense of humor to even watch TBBT!
No probs today for me.
Nice Mon puzzle. Longer than usual fill words.Very enjoyable, think I'll go get myself a bag of M&M's.
I also thought a shiv was an improvised weapon, a "switchblade" just doesn't seem "improvised."
Argyle, you were right, I went looking for that classic soap opera prop fail where the alarm clock went off during a live performance, & they could not shut it off. So the actor opens the fridge, tosses it in, & slams the door. Problem solved!
An hour later,,,, I still can't find it. This will have to do! (but there were a few good prop fails when "Dark Shadows" was live...)
I also went looking for some funny support hose, but only came close.
57D eggs over easy, hmm, I have seen eggs made every which way, but on a stick???
Good morning:
A fun and easy start to the week, although there were a couple of "bitey" clues. But, as usual, perps to the rescue!
Thanks, Drew (Rich?) and nice expo, Argyle.
Have a great Monday.
Good Morning! Thoroughly enjoyed this one and Argyle's write-up. Thanks. I agree with cross-eyed Dave on the Shiv and just coildn't figure out the MANDMS. You think I would after replacing cigarettes with the peanut ones years ago and gaining 30 pounds!
Oh, Argyle, 23A Martini Liquor - you have written " Gin or..." If you are a true martini drinker, there is no "or"! Those flavored vodka things are just soda pop. :-). or gimlets.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
I'm really late this morning - work got in my way :-p
Fun puzzle, and I didn't even see many of the downs (including HURRIER) until I cam here. Whoever the constructor is, it seemed fresh with nice fill for what is usually pretty boring Monday fare.
I knew Marat Sade mostly from this great song.
Have a great rest of the day, everyone!
Vesper Martini
Good day! Argyle, thank you for linking Roberta Flack's song. I absolutely love it!
Ditto on the remarks about SHIV which I reluctantly filled after SMUGGLE and VEAL (later changed to VEAU)made it imperative.
MARAT AROSE slowly from my not yet fully awake brain. I had no idea about YAZ but WILY completed it with the Y.
No need to get IN A STEW over this puzzle as it was almost a speed run. Like Lemonade I laughed at seeing FOP and FRUMPY side by side.
Have yourselves a wonderful Monday, everyone!
In 1955 when I was a teen, I learned SHIV as a switchblade from the novel, "Blacknoard Jungle." In 1950s NYC a shiv was specifically a switchblade used by gangs.
I didn't learn SHIV as an improvised knife made by prisoners until much later.
Sfingi, I am still curious about a phrase you used yesterday. "Sie essen ein bischen ashen." Please enlighten me.
Marti, thanks for reminding me of that song. I dialed up In My Life on my music server, and I've got it playing as I write this. Haven't heard that album in several years. Great stuff!
Happy Monday everyone!
Hands up for the inability to see MANDMS for what they were....
Sal "The Barber" Maglie, Giant pitcher known for giving batters a close shave....
The First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face, from the classic Clint Eastwood movie Play Misty For Me....
Argyle, I've been studying your Avatar and it appears that you are praying. Is that right?
In 1970 I was listening to a Baez album, when she hit a high note my cat pissed on the speaker!
Lucina@12:18
Yes, I'm praying for my safety. I'll send you an email to explain.
Also hands up for not getting MANDMS. I always have trouble with XANDY and a team or persons er(s) such as NLER.
Hello everybody. I think this is a very well-constructed puzzle, and I found it harder than I expected it to be. With the exception of ALER and NBAER (Hi, Mari!), I thought most of the fill was pretty good. Agree about HURRIER.
Argyle, excellent link about Vesper Martini. I read the book and saw the movie Casino Royale but don't remember those details. Of course I had to follow the links to Kina Lillet and Gordon's. My dad used to prefer Gordon's and I never knew it was anything special (never tasted it), especially since dad also stocked Smirnoff's vodka, which I understand is among the cheaper brands. Unlike Mr. Bond, I prefer potato vodka over grain-based vodka. I guess he won't call me, maybe.
Hahtoolah, good catch re Drew Banneman and Andrew Bannem.
Best wishes to you all.
Oh, and I read the 16A clue as "One-armed Gaelic folk singer" which inhibited me from immediately entering ENYA. After the perps forced ENYA into that space, I went back, reread the clue correctly, and sighed a little sigh of relief that I wasn't losing my eyesight or my mind after all and that ENYA does indeed have both of her arms.
Good morning/afternoon. I got stuck on VEAU and had the same questions about SHIV as many others. I didn't know MARAT and MANDMS sure looked confusing at first.
I went to lie down for a nap and couldn't get to sleep because of constant coughing. After the third dose of OTC cough medicine, the cough has subsided.
Years ago I enjoyed the early James Bond books and read all of them; even the crappy later ones. I even bought Barbara a perfume because he liked it. (Vent Vert it was.)
I see where Reese Witherspoon (and many others over the years) couldn't help letting a policeman know she was a celebrity when her husband was pulled over.
I believe Drew Banneman and AnDrew Bannem are the same person and neither is his/her real name. I think they're anagrams. Maybe her name is Ann Warden Bem? Puzzlers like puzzles.
Bill G., I know what you are saying about Reese Witherspoon, but a thought occurred to me: if I were in a situation where I didn't know what was going on with a member of my family, I would feel a strong desire to ask "What is going on?" and I would feel angry if the only reply I got was "Sit down and shut up." So I sorta kinda empathize with her. It just seems to me the cop could have taken 15 seconds to at least tell her, in brief, what he was doing to her husband.
Karl: that is precisely why I noted there was probably a "relationship" between the two constructors, Argyle's comments about different last names notwithstanding. I figured others would immediately see the connection, too, where the "an" of Andrew was moved to the end of the last name.
Hatoolah:
Good catch on the name! I have missed you this past week. Welcome back!
Yes, good catch.
Fun Monday puzzle!
Fop/ass/frumpy! Woohoo!
Jayce, right, that makes sense to me too. I think where she started to get herself in trouble is when she supposedly said, "Do you know my name?" The officer says he answered that he didn't need to know her name "right now," and she told him, "You're about to find out who I am," later adding, "You are going to be on national news." Anyway, apparently she had one too many drinks and has apologized for her behavior, so she's still OK in my book.
Linda said: Fop/ass/frumpy! Woohoo! Right you are and don't forget about ERECT. Lots of good stuff for Lois!
I think my brain was muddled after yesterday's crossword tourney - this definitely didn't feel like a Monday.
Nice write-up Argyle and WES about Drew's name.
[meflick]
Hi SUPPORT GROUP! With the SHIV poised at the back of MARAT by our WILY constructor, whomever it is, thus begins our Monday adventure. AAH! what a relief it is to romp through a puzzle after the mind-taxing weekend!
Very nice, Argyle! "The First Time EVER I Saw Your Face" speaks to the heart so poignantly. Many thanks for all you do.
53D STRIP search the 56D PERP?
I feel like I'm running ON EMPTY much of the time and I sho' 'nuff look FRUMPY. My yard man showed up while I was feeding my cat on the front porch. I talked to him for 15 minutes before I realized I hadn't combed my frowsy hair yet because my next planned act was to wash & style it. He was looking at me funny so I explained.
Re: Hollywood elite
Police officers face unpredictable people everyday. Therefore, they are trained to isolate and control combative persons no matter their heritage or attractiveness. Reese should have shut her piehole and obeyed the officers requests. The officer was not out to harm her or her husband.
These people do not wait in lines or conform to normal societal protocol. They feel they shouldn't have to. Her publicist crafted and released a nice mea culpa but it rings hollow to this servant. It reminded me of when Alec Baldwin felt he shouldn't have to conform to FAA/TSA rules earlier this year because of "what my name is".
Attn: Reese Witherspoon
You and your husband were a menace to society and could have killed someone's mother or child! Driving with a bac of more than TWICE the legal limit is like a unguided missle going down the road. You should be ashamed not matter what your name is. Instead she put "on" someone we mere mortal cannot afford and went to another elitist party. You are a joke.
This was a good Monday puzzle. Easy for us neophytes with a few harder clues. Thanks Drew Banneman and thanks Argyle for the write-up.
I don't think I've ever heard Enya, just know the name from crosswords. Love Roberta Flack.
MUTES are used on lots of instruments, including the stringed ones.
We live on a cul de SAC.
47D Afraid of running out, gas gauge-wise reminds me of my first car. It was a VW Bug, built the last year before they put in gas gauges. I had to figure the next mileage for fill-up and write that number on the dashboard. Only ran out of gas once in 3 years.
It's a beautiful spring day here. Hope it stays.
Have a great week.
Pat
Good afternoon Argyle, C.C., et al,
Not the most exciting puzzle, but definitely an enjoyable mellow Monday. After leaving marat, wily, and nbaer empty, I switched to the DOWN mode.Would not have gotten the theme fills otherwise. When I got to Lilly, I switched back to get a clue for hayseed and frumpy.
Had a hard time seeing KEEP for stay fresh.Nothing else made sense for KEE-.
On the other hand, I always enjoy seeing/listening to ENYA any time.
Thanks Drew and Argyle.
RIP Richie Havens
Well sais Frank. And for the more inspirational side of the human race, I give you this.
Thanks for swell puzzle and write-up, Andrew and Argyle! Had no trouble with MARAT as I watched Marat Sade with Geoffrey Rush eons ago. Also, filled in MANDMS from scratch.
Being pushed around the Green Arrow Nursery in my wheelchair was a killer. But was able to get a few grafted tomato plants. One already has 8 tomatoes!
Summer has come early today. It was 94º. Too much heat, too soon.
Was able to catch 2 movies that I wanted to see on satellite: ...Marigold Hotel and Dark Shadows.The former excellent and the latter good. (I watched the soaper of the latter religiously years ago.)
Cheers!
PS Am glad that I had copied this! (Not that my musings are worth much.) When I went to preview to put in my password and returned, it had disappeared!
Wile E. Coyote actually caught the The Road Runner
WEES- I found today's puzzle somewhat harder than most Monday offering, but enjoyed the fresh cluing.
Read more about MARAT. Thought Joan Baez song being associated with Occupy Wall Street was a stretch.
Also read Wiki's info on Nobokov- QOD intrigued me since it sounded so hopeless.
USMC- Thank you for inspirational hospital visit video. I have such admiration for our military and their leadership abilities that carry over into civilian life. Celeste and her no shin splints...what a message of hope!
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