Theme: A Tribute Puzzle - A puzzle dedicated to Roger Ebert on his birthday.
17A. Longtime employer of 44-/49-Down : CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
29A. Award won by 44-/49-Down : PULITZER PRIZE
41A. Signature 44-/49-Down gesture represented by the clusters of black squares bordering this answer : TWO THUMBS UP
44-/49-Down. Late film critic born 6/18/42 : ROGER : EBERT
Argyle here. I missed the portrait until I started my write-up. Then it dawned on me; all those black squares, the unusual left-right mirror image. I didn't include 41-/45-Down as part of the theme, in part, because they didn't conform to normal crossword symmetry. I hope Jeff stops by with some insight into the construction of today's puzzle.
Across:
1. First network to show "The Wizard of Oz" : CBS-TV. (November 3, 1956)
6. Wee, like Abner : LI'L
9. Jeweler's fitting tool : SIZER. A fitting name.
14. "Easy __!": "Piece of cake!" : AS PIE. That's it! Pie with my coffee this morning.
15. Altar consent : "I DO"
16. Ridiculous : INANE
20. Sci-fi pilot Solo : HAN. (Star Wars)
21. Novelist Deighton : LEN. (crossword staple)
22. Geese formation : VEE
23. ASCAP rival : BMI. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music, Inc., if your interested.
24. Ending for smack : EROO
26. Big name in skin care : NIVEA
28. Chow __: noodle dish : MEIN. Mmm, more food.
32. MPAA criteria, e.g. : STDs. Standards used by Motion Picture Association of America.
33. George Strait's "All My __ Live in Texas" : EX'S
34. Both Bushes, college-wise : ELIs. (Yale)
35. Sound of lament : [SOB]
37. __ alai : JAI
38. Like perennial rivals, constantly : AT IT
40. Hypotenuse, e.g. : SIDE. The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides - Pythagoras' theorem.
44. Cox's command : ROW. Short for coxswain, and, according to this LINK, they don't yell "Stroke" all the time.
46. Continue despite adversity : PERSIST
47. Lament : RUE
50. More than portly : OBESE
52. Hoosier St. : IND. (Indiana). Perhaps Gary can elaborate on why it's called the Hoosier state.
53. Dental care brand : ORAL B
55. Mother of the Titans : GAEA. Whoa, that's quite the story about her.
56. Half-mast fliers, at times : FLAGs. At sad times, in remembrance.
58. Berlin article : EINE
59. Ambulance team, briefly : EMTs. (Emergency Medical Technician)
60. Santa's helpers : ELVES
61. Ivan the Terrible, e.g. : TSAR
62. Hasty : RASH
63. Bruce better known as Batman : WAYNE. Shh! That's secret.
64. Bug-bugging compound : DEET
Down:
1. Treasure trove : CACHE
2. Equivalents of C's : B SHARPs
3. Daytona 500 mishap : SPINOUT
4. Muscle spasm : TIC
5. Wiener schnitzel meat : VEAL. Enough with the food.
6. Treat like a king : LIONIZE
7. They may be checked for R-rated movies : IDs
8. Blinds with angled slats : LOUVERS
9. imdb.com, e.g. : SITE. Places to be linked.
10. Pasta suffix : INI. (linguini, i.e.)
11. River along the Zambia-Zimbabwe border : ZAMBEZI. Victoria Falls.
12. Foes : ENEMIES
13. Piny ooze : RESIN
18. Mannerly fellow : GENT
19. Tide type : NEAP. Yeah, not the soap.
25. "A picture is worth ...," e.g. : OLD SAW. Origin: before 950(really old); Middle English; Old English sagu; cognate with German Sage, Old Norse saga saga; akin to say. So just an old saying, I guess.
27. Really irritate : VEX
28. Social sphere : MILIEU
30. Elemental variant : ISOTOPE
31. Entertains, as a tot at bedtime : READS TO
36. Mark from Dracula : BITE
37. Triangular sails : JIBS
39. Manila fight nickname : THRILLA. The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
40. Tiny bit : SMIDGEN
41. "The movies won't be the same without 44-Down" and others : TWEETS and 45D. President who wrote the 41-Down quote : OBAMA
42. SEALs' gp. : U.S. NAVY
43. Eulogize : PRAISE
48. Radii-paralleling bones : ULNAE. Oh, didn't I mention yesterday there would be a quiz.
51. Beauty contest accessory : SASH
54. Collecting a pension: Abbr. : RET'D.
56. Handful : FEW
57. Opposite of NNW : SSE
Argyle
Note from C.C.:
Here are a few more pictures from JD's trip. She also told me "I did learn that only the Highlanders wore kilts, like our tour guide - who was both Irish and Scottish- and the Lowlanders wear tartans, just the slacks made up of their family's plaid."
Note from C.C.:
Here are a few more pictures from JD's trip. She also told me "I did learn that only the Highlanders wore kilts, like our tour guide - who was both Irish and Scottish- and the Lowlanders wear tartans, just the slacks made up of their family's plaid."
Those yellow fields are growing rapeseed which makes canola oil.
We took a
ride in a jaunting car through a beautiful park after a boat ride in one of
the 3 lakes in Killarney.
the 3 lakes in Killarney.
View from the Edinburgh
Castle.
One more picture of the handsome Truman who sometimes plays Scrabble on grandma's iPad. Click here, you'll see all how much Truman has grown.
47 comments:
Morning, all!
I was a big fan of ROGER EBERT and would really love to give this puzzle an enthusiastic THUMBS UP. But... I can't. SIZER crossing ZAMBEZI in the NE really messed me up for awhile, although I did finally guess correctly.
I also had LINE instead of SIDE for the longest time at 40A, which also gummed up the works.
And I sincerely doubted that OBAMA actually tweeted "The movies won't be the same without 44-Down." I mean, how would he have known ROGER was going to be 44-Down in today's puzzle?
[OK, the last one is a joke, but the clue for 41D definitely stopped me cold until I got to 45D and the light bulb went on]
[trtheme]
Happy Tuesday everybody!
LIL did I know how much it would VEX my future EX when I made a FEW INANE remarks about us both being a SMIDGEN overweight. She asked me if I thought she was OBESE; I replied “I DO not!” Seriously, she was quite the CACHE! Anyway, we got into a ROW, had AT IT for a while, and then she started to SOB….
It was one of those defining moments - would I BSHARP and cede to her point or PERSIST with MEIN? I mean, it’s not like I accused her of having STDs or anything! I should have been a GENT and learned to BITE my tongue. But no, despite all the red FLAGS, I stubbornly defended my SIDE of the story, and our “cross words” continued to SPIN OUT of control….
The PRIZE for my insensitive and RASH comment? I reluctantly RETD to the couch….
In hind SITE, I still RUE the day we started to behave like ENEMIES….
On the other hand, I give our eventual split TWO THUMBS UP!
True story....
GRRRR Day,
Two careless mistakes and a Tuesday DNF. For the crossing of 55A & 41D I had an X resulting in GAxA & TWExTS. Had an S for the crossing of 64A & 48D which left me with DEsT & ULNAs. No excuses, just did not review the finished puzzle otherwise I like to think I would have seen the errors.
This wasn't exactly a Tuesday walk in the park, but everything (almost) was successfully solved.
NIVEA a newbie for me. BSHARPS equivalent to C's a learning experience. Wonder how long it will stay with me?
Always chuckle at A TIT until I remember its AT IT. Shows where my mind is occasionally.
Supposed to get big storms today. I'm getting to dislike summers.
icesrri
Good morning everyone.
A wonderful tribute to ROGER EBERT. We enjoyed his movie reviews when it was Siskel and Ebert. Cool the way Jeff worked in the TWO THUMBS UP with the black squares. Thanks for the US NAVY shout-out at 42d, Gung-Ho. 工合.
Lots of other good fill, too. A fun puzzle to return home to after being away a few days. Thanks, Jeff.
Have a great day.
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Today's theme was easy for me as I had already selected my QOD before beginning the puzzle.
Very clever grid pattern with the TWO THUMBS UP. I thought the grid look a bit different, but didn't realize why until I came upon 41-Across.
The TV part of the first clue threw me a bit. I knew that The Wizard of Oz had been broadcast long before the cable channels, so was thinking only of a 3 letter station.
I learned that the piny ooze is not Pitch, but is RESIN.
JIBS made me think of Jeannie. I hope she is doing well.
COX made me think of the internet provider. I was certainly not thinking of Crew.
Equivalents of C's was a good misdirection. I was thinking of C-notes (as in money, not music.)
QOD: No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough. ~ Roger Ebert (June 18, 1942 ~ Apr. 4, 2013)
[vaisedi]
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Chen, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the great review.
Got the TV part of 1A easily. then the B. Then the C and S. Five perps and it was a piece of cake. I was off and running.
With the 1-5 Downs entered, I had most of CHICAGO. Then I read the clue and wrote in SUN TIMES because TRIBUNE would not fit.
ROGER EBERT was easy once I had one letter out of ten.
All the rest just fell together.
GAEA came with TWEETS. ZAMBEZI with a few perps.
I did notice the odd symmetry of the grid, but it made sense with 41A.
Off to my day. Lots to do. One project is to fix my cell phone. It is out to lunch. Got your note TTP. Thanks.
Doha Doc: Enjoyed your post this morning. great job!
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(otsplas)
Two thumbs up to you Jeff ! Fun stuff. Early 80s graphics thrown in to boot !
WBS said about 41D. I've never seen a clue written that way before, but I have only been doing the puzzles for about a year now. Shouldn't the 44-Down part be in parens ?
Doha Doc, nice creativity with today's answers, but sorry to hear that it's a true story. Thought you were funnin' us at first. Is this why you are in Qatar ? Is she vengeful ? All my EXS live in Texas, and that's why I live in Illinois.
Ditto what Abejo said about both the SUN TIMES and ROGER EBERT with just a single letter to prove it. I did not know that EBERT won the PULITZER PRIZE. Didn't watch Siskel and Ebert as I long preferred the movies from the 30s through the 50s.
Abejo, you are welcome, and good luck with your phone.
Hondo, I sped my way through it tout de suite in 12:06 to a single failure that I could not find. Grrr ! EMI instead of correct BMI, and I didn't know the name of the Victoria Falls river. ZAMEEZI looked close enough to me.
Argyle, thank you. Liked hearing George Strait. Made me want to get out on the dance floor and two step. I think you should get the Pulitzer Prize in the crossword puzzle review category !
Good morning!
Argyle, you had me going. I was going to jump in and remind you that Husker is from Nebraska. He's not a Hoosier. Oh, you meant Gary, Indiana.
Easy, fun puzzle this morning. My only write-over was to change ONI to INI. SOZER made no sense.
Gotta walk now, it's already pushin' 80.
YR (from last night): Loved the reading tests. I sure hope you were able to cut/paste 'em. They'd be really tough thing to type -- worse than a captcha. I know when I type I think the word, and my fingers spell it (often incorrectly) automagically. I don't get "involved" with the individual letters.
Hi Argyle and everyone!
Roger Ebert holds a special place in my heart. As a kid I used to look forward to seeing him and Siskel discussing movies in their clever back-and-forth banter. His passing was a huge loss to the world, and I'm glad Rich agreed to do this puzzle with me.
It was a bear to construct! Sorry it's a bit more difficult than a usual Tuesday.
Jeff
Loved the "thumbs up" black squares, which I didn't notice until I came here either.
Sob below "STDs" and above "atit" -- classic.
In my mathematically challenged brain, I don't think hypotenuse could ever be a line (or a ray); rather, it is a segment.
Zambezi crossing both BMI and Mein was challenging.
Thank you Mr. Chen for a relatively easy puzzle. Thank you Argyle for your witty comments.
I thought a jeweler's fitting tool was a mandrel / mandril. I have a couple of those from my hobby days.
REgarding, SEALs, I see women are going to inducted into the SEALs, in a year or so, per the news today.
I wasn't sure of GAEA, ..... also, I didn't know that the POTUS 'tweeted'. Probably, there is a White House job for that.
This BING has messed up my whole life, this week.
Have a nice day, you all.
Vidwan,
Can you check your Gmail account? I sent you a link on how to get your default back to Google.
Easy AS PIE. TWO THUMBS UP for this puzzle, and for Jeff, and Argyle. I loved Siskel and EBERT.
Jewelers have several try-on rings attached to a larger ring to get your size. Then they can insert the proper size stretcher, called a SIZER into your ring to enlarge it. I don't know how they make the ring smaller. Remove a piece?
DOHADOC, clever story.
I knew ZAMBEZI. I have been trying all morning to think of what children's story mentions it.
DO @8:07, I'm glad you enjoyed last night's reading test. It was a cut and paste job. Somehow when I write on paper I can put down the correct letters without thinking about it. When I type I tend to make a lot of mistakes, especially transposing letters.
I thought the many teachers who can read their students' crazy handwriting and spelling might enjoy it.
A Roger Ebert puzzle,, very nice!
But did he ever review Downton Tabby???
Do blind Venetians make better louvers?
Argyle, Pythagoras' theorem applies only for right angled triangles - but you knew that.
For acute angled triangles and obtuse angled triangles, there is a modifier, of the Law of Cosines, which is the general proposition of the Pythagorean theorem.
Thus a*2 = b*2 + c*2 - 2 bc Cos A
If the angle A is = 90, Cos A is zero; if A is < 90, Cos A is a positive fraction; If A is > 90, Cos A is a negative fraction.
BING won't let me sign in.....
Good one, Unknown.
Yes, Vidwan, I lopped off a lot of theorem.
D-O, why of course I meant Gary, Ind. No idea why they haven't checked in.
Yellowrocks, you remember this way of resizing a ring. LINK
Congratulations to Jeff Chen on an outstanding puzzle.
What a terrific puzzle, Jeff--and thank you so much for checking in. I too loved Roger Ebert back in the Siskal and Ebert days. And I couldn't believe his courage and grace when he kept right on working after his horrific surgery. A total inspiration to all of us. This puzzle is a wonderful memorial to him, and I only wish he could have seen it.
I worried only a little about solvers who weren't familiar with him. But so far every blogger seemed fine with the theme.
Nice expo, Argyle, and great Ebert quote, Hahtoolah.
But DohaDoc, you get the prize for brilliance today! Delightful riff on the puzzle.
Have a great Tuesday, everybody!
Good Morning:
This was a crunchy but doable Tuesday offering, which I enjoyed. A nice tribute to a very brave man who dealt with his physical limitations and hardships with dignity and grace.
Kudos, Jeff Chen, and thanks for stopping by, and thanks to Argyle for his usual cogent and concise expo.
Doha Doc - you certainly have a way with words!
Happy Tuesday.
Hola Everyone, With Estee in instead of Nivea, I had a terrible time fixing the top middle section of the puzzle. Once that was fixed with Vex, and Gent I finally got that done.
I wanted Easy Peasy for Piece of cake, but that wouldn't fit. I knew Chicago Sun Times was the newspaper Roger Ebert worked for, so the eraser had a workout today.
The layout and the theme were quite clever. You can even see Eberts face (eyes, nose, and a big grin) and arms--if you squint and look carefully.
I was up earlier than usual and had the puzzle done with my coffee.
Have a great day, everyone.
Good morning Argyle, C.C., and all,
Two thumbs up on this one, Jeff. The tribute was worth any effort I had trying to retrieve words from my brain, like the easy one, sizer.Funny how sometimes those simpler ones can slow me down.
Jeff, this HAD to be a hard one to fill after filling in Roger's picture.He certainly will be missed.
Doha Doc, enjoyed your very creative story.
Bill G. From Yesterday. We've watched Inspector Lewis from the beginning. This is number VI in the group of Lewis episodes on our PBS Station.
If you ever watched Inspector Morse from years back, Lewis was his associate/Gofer. Now Lewis is the top Detective with his very young, handsome associate, Hathaway. We've loved Morse and Lewis and are so glad that there is a new season to enjoy.
the actor who played Morse died in real life and Inspector Lewis was the spinoff to the original series. It is very popular in England.
Musings
-Loved the fill and grid design
-I tend to read reviews AFTER I see a movie and not before
-I saw that Wizard of Oz first run on TV and it was scary. Dang flying monkeys!
-Why is one side of the Goose VEE always longer? More birds ;-)
-The MPAA still has STD’S? Who knew?
-You’re right Otto, this Gary don’t know nothin’ about no Hoosiers except they got beat in the College World Series in Omaha yesterday.
-A lot of FLAGS have been at half-mast lately
-The MILIEU of our town festival has moved to the tattooed, pierced, spiked hair crowd
-The THRILLA in Manila was about as close as two men killing each other as could be imagined. Ali almost threw in the towel before Joe’s corner. He was never “right” after that.
-Marc Antony’s EUOLOGY of Caesar was fraught with subtext
-Equivalent of C’s was not average
-Doha, the list of good outcomes for a discussion of a woman’s weight is very short. Clever story!
Husker, in Omaha they call it the Colllege World Series. :)
Rats! My post just disappeared! I had said that I wanted to write something before reading Argyle's writeup and the other comments. I had said that I enjoyed everything about this puzzle; the unusual grid needed for "two thumbs up," all of the Ebert info and I very much enjoyed the man himself. I finished with a smile. Thanks Jeff, Argyle and Roger. So, NWBS.
Chickie, thanks for your input on Inspector Lewis.
More later.
Chickie, and others--so glad to find other Inspector Lewis fans on the blog. We were devastated when the actor who played Morse died, and relieved and delighted when the series was maintained with Lewis and Hathaway. Solid actors, lovely setting, interesting plots, good mysteries--who could ask for anything more.
In case you are wondering what anon. @ 12:00 p.m. was referencing
Misspelling of College World Series on the dugout in Omaha. Oops!
They should get the “L” out of there ;-)
Also, here is a mean spirited review that would never carry a Siskel or Ebert byline.
Gary, as your posts points out, it seems to be easier to take cheap shots, be snarky and mean-spirited than to be insightful, intelligent and thoughtful as some of our anons demonstrate on a regular basis.
Here's a video of a clever prank in an elevator. May the Force be with you! I'm glad I wasn't on that elevator and in a hurray.
Hi Gang -
Really nice tribute from Jeff today.
I stumbled around quite a bit, and took over 14 minutes to complete the puzzle. Even B SHARPS gave me trouble.
Clever execution, and a fittingly unusual grid.
Cool regards!
JzB
Love Inspector Lewis, a reincarnation of a less drunk John Rebus. I did not realize Hathaway was handsomel triubled yes, intelligent, literate but handsome?
Jeff always delivers fun.
Thanks JC and Argyle.
Argyle @ 10:38, been there, done that. Those were the days. An even bigger thrill was wearing his fraternity pin, engaged to be engaged.
Unknown, one more joke like that and it is curtains for you!
Hi all,
Well, the puzzle wasn't easy but it was fun. I got most of it done but it took awhile. I didn't get the theme for a while. Then I saw 44D and put in Ebert. As time went on I saw 49D and said,aha! Roger. THEN I realized I had it backward. I made it right and wondered how I could be so stupid.
That was also when I realized what 17A was and the rest of the long clues came easy. Back in the late 50'S there was an artical in the Chicago Sun Times about my father. He was in Chicago on a business trip and he got beat up when he was walking down the street. The newspaper wrote an articale about it lamenting that Chicago was no longer a place where people could feel safe.
5D, Wiener schnitzel amazed me. Just last evening we went to a German buffet where they had a great varity of foods and one was wiener schnitzel. I had never had it before.
This is a nice sunny day again.
Have a good evening.
Marge
I thought this one was just about right for early week. I usually don't pay much attention to the theme as prompter but today I did and it was helpful.
Awesome puzzle today, on several levels. This is what makes the L.A. Times the best.
I moved around a bit, but finished with no particular difficulty. Didn't remember GAEA, but perps filled it in.
BMI- means Body Mass Index to me.
EXS- It bugs me when teenagers call their prior boyfriend "their EX."
I have a measuring spoon set that has a pinch, a tad, and a dash, but no SMIDGEN.
ROGER EBERT sure PERSISTed despite adversity. I enjoyed Jeff's puzzle wit a half-mast FLAG in remembrance included.
LIL Abner-Did anyone ever go to the Dog Patch amusement park in Harrison, Arkansas? Wiki say it was open from 1968-1993. I went their once as a child.
Piece of Cake= Easy as PIE- We attended a wedding in a barn. The bride had a variety of pies served instead of cake. It was nice and also less expensive because her friends at church made the pies.
EASY AS PIE, PIECE OF CAKE today. No mistakes, no writeovers. Fun puzzle, Jeff!
A quick scan of clues revealed ROGER EBERT would be the theme, and I even saw the TWO THUMBS UP in the grid. Major speed run for a change.
Hi, all!
Terrific puzzle, Jeff! Swell expo, Argyle! I was a Roger Ebert fan. I cried when I heard of his death. He was a brave man. I always went to "external reviews" on IMDB and hoped to find him there! (Still do.)
It was very depressing when they killed of Morse years ago (The Remorseful Day, I seem to recall). Shortly thereafter, John Thaw (Morse) died in real life.A great actor. I have bought some of the old Morse DVDs. The new series Endeavor about young Morse is rather good. However, I think the Sgt.Lewis episodes are fantastic! (Note that Laurence Fox has been seen before as a Nazi in occupation of a British isle.)
More later!
Blue Iris,
LOL about your BMI comment. That would almost certainty would be the first thing a nurse would equate to BMI.
Marge, sorry to hear about your husband's experience in Chicago.
I was interviewed by a Sun Times reporter and had my pic taken by their photag for one of their "faces on the street" or "people in the crowd" or whatever their feature was back in the early 80s. Got grief from my coworkers when the article was posted. They bought dozens of copies of the paper and had that page posted all over the office.
I love schnitzel. Wiener and Jager are my favorites. Jager the most, mit spaetzle.
Lemonade, great response to Unknown. Both of you were funny.
My neighbor has been power washing his deck all day every Saturday and Sunday AND every evening for the last few weeks. He's passive aggressive. He's not happy about his current station and is making sure that no one else in the immediate area is enjoying their summer. I'm beginning to think that this is one of those, "If you see something, say something" situations. I think the guy is flipping out.
Anybody that truly enjoys food has GOT to have Wiener Schnitzel at least once before they die. It's required. No option!
Good Evening all - Thanks Jeff for a fun puzzle today and Argyle for a THUMBS UP write-up.
Only needed a couple of perps for ZAMBEZI AND GAEA, otherwise pretty straight-forward for me. I usually don't time myself, but I was finished before my second cup of coffee, so that's good.
Haven't been here in a while - everyday duties seem to be taking up most of my time. I usually do the puzzles everyday, but don't get a chance to check in here to see how everyone is doing.
Have a good evening all.
skPadv
What a nice place to come home to, with C.C. guiding the boat and the rest of us rowing. We get great passengers like Jeff Chen to entertain and our own SJSJ stopping by to say hey. It is 11 and time to unwind. Thanks
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