Theme: Sounds like a letter
Mark Feldman pops up quickly after last Sunday's effort, with the opposite of miss marti's favorite letter-word words. Each of the theme answers undoes a familiar letter-word and creates a new and amusing sound alike two word phrase. The theme answers are short, but there are 8 of them. With stacked 7s in each corner, the third row from the top and from the bottom being part of the theme, this one took some work to get going and must have been a real challenge to build. This was the hardest Friday for me in a very long time. The theme came easily and saved me or I would have never been able to finish.
17A. Call from a collection agency? : OWE RING. (7) (O-ring). Really cute but convoluted image of the phone ringing with a debt collector caller.
18A. Questionable alliance? : WHY AXIS. (7) (Y-axis). Axis being the enemy of the Allies in WWII, the big one.
23A. Social attire? : TEA SHIRT.(8) (T-shirt).
39A. Sheep transport? : EWE BOAT.(7) (U-boat).
41A. Message from the captain? : SEA NOTE. (7) (C-note).
49A. Suggestion from one waiter to another? : QUEUE TIP. (8) (Q-tip).
61A. Hive workers? : BEE TEAM. (7) (B-team).
63A. Lasik ray? : EYE BEAM. (7) (I-beam).
Across:
1. Approaches aggressively : ACCOSTS. A great word, but such a hard way to start.
8. Like some scenic highways : COASTAL. PCH anyone or US1?
15. Avant-garde neighborhood : BOHEMIA. A name taken from the gypsies, I think. LINK.
16. On the line : AT STAKE.
19. Compass pt. : WSW. It is always ENE or WSW, never WNW.
20. Malicious look : LEER.
22. "You __!": Ren, to Stimpy : EEDIOT.
25. Rash symptom : ITCH.
28. Best : TOP. See if you can come up with a better clue.
29. Eastern priest : LAMA. I wonder if anyone ever introduces him with this song playing in the background. LISTEN. (2:29).
33. Playground troublemakers : DARERS. and its counterpart 58D. Bit of derring-do : DEED.
36. Something that's going around : ORBITER. Another nice long fill that really required work to unearth.
42. Internal device on most cellphones : ANTENNA. Ah, anyone still have an old phone somewhere with the outside antenna?
43. German port : BREMEN. In Northern Germany; I will ask our travelers Kazie and marti to discuss.
44. Strong cleaners : LYES.
45. "Keep it down!" : SHH. Really, after all the tryptophan from the turkey, I am sleepy.
48. Stamp of approval letters : USDA. I have no beef with this fill.
53. Agamemnon's father : ATREUS. This KING from ancient GREEK lore is not one of the more famous figures, but his failure to sacrifice a lamb led to much suffering. A Friday clue and the first in our Greek history lessons.
57. Flubs the shot, e.g. : ERRS. We forgive you.
58. Stranded stuff : DNA. Nice play on the fact that DNA is a strand.
65. Humor : INDULGE.
66. Tease mercilessly : TORMENT. What older brothers do.
67. Always-open merchant : ETAILER.
68. New York tribe : ONEIDAS. Not to be confused with the OREIDA potato people.
Down:
1. Take __ : A BOW. If you finished this one unaided in your normal Friday time.
2. Intimidates : COWS. I wonder if this comes kowtow, which may come from the Chinese, Cantonese 叩頭 / 叩头 where one bows so low they touch the forehead to the ground?
3. Enjoy some Trident : CHEW. Finally one I knew.
4. Anthem preposition : O'ER the ramparts we watched...
5. Facial arc : SMILE. What a fun definition.
6. Skin woe : TINEA. Two of our favorite FUNGI jock itch and athlete's foot. More Friday cluing.
7. Most like a guru : SAGEST.
8. Avian cry : CAW.
9. With "The," 1971 best-seller about an evil twin : OTHER. A Tom Tryon novel, that made for a very creepy MOVIE. (3:09)
10. So far : AS YET.
11. Dutch town : STAD. A word in many Germanic languages, probably from the Latin root STATUS from which we get our word Stand.
12. Sitcom set in a garage : TAXI. Did you all like Andy Kaufman?
13. Japanese wrestler Sato : AKIO. Now this made the northeast so hard, who knows this female judo champion?
14. "__ we forget" : LEST.
21. Greek consonant : RHO. Looks like a P sounds like an R.
23. Ancient city whose ruins are in modern Luxor : THEBES. The Greek name for the ancient Egyptian city of antiquity. Greek the language of the day.
24. Wall St. debuts : IPOS. Initial Public Offerings.
25. Perfect : IDEAL.
26. Yellowish-brown : TAWNY. Why do I think of this GIRL (0:52) from the Whitesnake video?
27. Land of the Minotaur : CRETE. The STORY. More Greek.
29. Get in position for the parade, as a band : LINE UP.
30. Proton carriers : ATOMS.
31. Rationed (out) : METED.
32. Amphitheater : ARENA.
34. "Arrested Development" narrator Howard : RON. You can watch new episodes on Netflix.
35. __ Miguel: Cozumel city : SAN.
37. Confederate : REB. Should this be an abbreviation?
38. Musical measure : BAR.
40. Zap, in a way : TASE. Famous FILM. (2:24).
46. Tint : HUE.
47. Contract adverb : HERETO. A nice law word.
49. Put down : QUELL. Like a rebellion.
50. Custom : USAGE.
51. Test, in a way : TRY ON.
52. Rhone feeder : ISERE. marti have you rafted this water in Grenoble, France?
53. Rose's Broadway beau : ABIE. Once the longest running Broadway play.
54. Simple shelter : TENT.
55. Prynne's stigma : RED A. An opposite letter word. Poor Hester; I recently reread the book and it was mostly boring.
56. Holder of needles and such : ETUI.
59. Granny : NANA. I am anxious to learn what Charlotte will call me. She pointed at me during Thanksgiving and said Gigah (or so it sounded) but who knows.
60. Qts. and pts. : AMTS. Amounts.
62. Côte d'Azur view : MER. French for Sea.
64. Ratio involving ht. and wt. : BMI. Body Mass Index. A very misused concept that ignores muscle weight and tells too many they are obese.
Well I am fat and sleepy as everyone went all out on the food, with too much, turkey and fish and mashed potatoes, and corn casserole and green beans, and roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, and ... all tasty and way too many desserts. I hope you received your just ones, and I wish you all a happy holiday season. Now shop! Thanks Mark. Lemonade out.
61 comments:
ATREUS crossed with ABIE and ETUI. Plus I didn't know who Prynne was. I was not happy. I did however get all the theme fills and EEDIOT was a gimme.
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Fun write-up and links today, Lemony. I doubt that the Dalai Lama has ever been introduced with Louie’s song. (I’m still chuckling, though!)
Loved the theme, but I guess I have to throw away the one I was working on with the same idea. Rats!
I did finish in less than my typical Friday time, and only struggled in the SW. I did not know ATREUS, so relied on every single perp for that one.
Lemon, I have never rafted on the Isère, and have never been to Bremen. My German friends tell me that it is a beautiful city that I should visit someday. My rafting these days is limited to a homemade raft that holds about 8 people. Every Fourth of July a bunch of friends load it with a keg and float down the Battenkill River. Pretty tame stuff.
Thank goodness I don't have to venture out today to fight the crowds. All my shopping (what little there is) is done online, and delivered to my door by my sane FedEx guy.
Have a safe Black Friday, everyone!
Morning, all!
Survived yesterday's festivities and now it's on to part two (ah, the joys of having divorced parents...)
I loves me a good punny theme, and this one was a delight. Struggled a bit with ATREUS and AKIO, but zipped through the rest of it.
[unakfar]
Good morning!
This wasn't too tough for a Friday, though I almost DNF'd. I wasn't familiar with TINEA, so I had TINEE and TEE SHIRT. When I came to QUEUE TIP I realized that the symmetric answer had to be part of the theme, so I changed it to TEA SHIRT. Whew!
Many of the German immigrants to the US departed from the port at BREMEN.
I broke with tradition yesterday. DW is out of town, so I fixed myself lobster tails with french fries, acorn squash and a green salad. First time I've ever attempted lobster -- turned out great.
Slight problem with the Japanese Wrestler.(13-Down)
Sato AKIO Pro wrestler.
AIKO Satō Jodo wrestler.
AIKO Sato. Actress.
When I first met Sherlock Holmes, we were in line at the craft shop, where by coincidence we were both purchasing ceramic sheep. I admitted that mine would be a gift for my wife, who had adopted sheep as her totem animal; and he confided that, Maltese Falcon-like, he believed the copy he had contained some sort of secret message. Wishing to become more assimilated into our bohemian seaside community, he invited us visit his home for crumpets the following day at 4. When next we met, the apiarist was examining his hives to see that they were producing a good supply of honey, a sample of which we enjoyed in our beverages as we chatted. He told us the ceramic he had bought had indeed held a message his client had paid him well for, though discretion forbid him from revealing its nature to us. He asked about why we, a couple from bustling London, had decided to retire to this small coastal town. It was a most pleasant afternoon, and now it will be our turn to have him over to our cottage some afternoon soon.
We OWE an invitation to TEA
To our friend with an EYE for a BEE.
We met in a QUEUE
When we each bought a EWE.
He asked WHY we lived by the SEA.
Owen, you outdid yourself today. Great one!
Good morning, everybody!
I am not a Friday shopper, so finished the bottom of the puzzle this morning after doing the majority of it, in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep.
I must say a DNF, but only because I saw a red square on occasion. The perps were in all the right places to help me. M in BEETEAM and MER was my last WAG, and it was correct.
I have never seen the show TAXI.
Have a great day,
Montana
A very clever theme and a lot of fun. SEANOTE was the first to drop, QUEUETIP the last (and most clever, I think). I didn't know the golfer and I'm not up on Ren (or Stimpy) so their mutual "O" was the last fill.
Happy Buy Nothing Day to all.
[10:04]
It's a winter wonderland here...fresh snowfall clinging to every branch and it sure is pretty. Sun is bright and the temps in the teens this morning.
I usually have to use the red letters but I guess things will improve. (?) It is just a hoot to have those eureka moments even so. I caught the crossword bug from my mom.
I am willing to gather that most of you are Mensa. I belong with the functionally fixed but love to hear you all turn a phrase. Continuing to enjoy the CC, and this luxuriously long weekend lingers on!
@ abejo
Please check your e-mail, maybe the Spam or Junk folder.
You recall these? They have been around for generations. Shows that texting today isn't as innovative as the kids think it is.
Alphabetic Love
O, MLE, what XTC
I always feel when U I C,
I used to rave of LN's eyes.
4 IV, I gave countless sighs.
4 KT, 2, and LNR,
I was a keen competitor.
But each now's a non-NTT,
4 U XL them all U C.
This is a composite of several versions I found on the Net and my own memories.
AB C D Bs?
"L, M R nO Bs."
O S A R Bs, C D ET BT wings?
"O I C! M R Bs!"
AB C D Goldfish?
"M R NO Goldfish."
O S A R Goldfish, C D BD I's?
"L I B, I C D Goldfish!"
I always thought A B was just a meaningless lead-in, but my sources today argued AB was either Abby or Baby. So I learned something new, too!
I totally screwed up the NE corner, not knowing either AKIO, or TAXI and having misspelled STED, so AXIS never appeared before I gave up. The rest was a struggle but eventually the other areas dribbled into place.
Bremen is actually a bit upstream on the River Weser from the main port at Bremerhaven. Along with Hamburg and other German and northern European cities, it reached its prime as a Hanseatic city. Its car license plates reflect this with the letters HB for Hansastadt Bremen. Many emigrants to the USA left from its port, and now there is a wonderful museum of emigration there where you can view the shipping records from that period. I haven't yet had the chance to visit the museum, but plan to--it's on our bucket list. Bremen is also known for its statues of the hero Roland and of the Stadtmusikanten, the City Musicians of the fairy tale, even though in the story they never made it to their destination of Bremen.
Not a speed run, but faster and easier than a usual Friday puzzle. The NE corner was last to fall. Didn't know AKIO or EEDIOT. In the SW, didn't know ATREUS. The perps got 'em all.
Remember this?
The Lama
The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*
(to which Nash appended the footnote:
*The author's attention has been called to a type of conflagration known as a three-alarmer. Pooh.)
-- Ogden Nash
I loved this clever puzzle. Starting in the SE I soon had EYE BEAM, which set up the theme and led to an easy solve.
Great blog, Lemonade. Little brothers can be TORMENTORs, too. Just ask me!
ATREUS was all perps.
I wasn't sure how to spell EEDIOT. Perps gave me all but the O. Thinking of Japanese names. AKIO had to end in O, so no Natick for me. AKIO means bright boy and is most commonly a male name. I was surprised to see that an actress was named AKIO. In Japan the surname comes first. The wrestler would be called SATO AKIO at home. SATO is a very common surname like Smith is here.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Two sisters, my brother and his wife visited us so we were six. It was fun to see everyone. I love the very old fashioned traditional meal and will enjoy a repeat of it tonight. One sister and my SIL made delicious pies for us.
I saw my son, DIL and grandson two weeks ago. Kenny was in a high school play, Cheaper by the Dozen. We went out to dinner before the play. It is so different talking with an almost grown grandson. I loved it. I don't see much of him these days because of all his activities.
I forgot to ask about this.
49A. Suggestion from one waiter to another? : QUEUE TIP. (Q-tip).
Why does the clue match the answer? (Other than the obvious sound-alike.)
I thought QUEUE means a line; CUE means a tip, signal, or prompt.
Thoughts?
The waiter is someone in line, not the guy who brings food to your table. The tip is intended to mislead you into thinking about wait staff. Tip here means a piece of advice like a hint. Some of my write up disappeared.
Thanks Argyle, between dyslexia and bad vision I would never get that clue right.
She was prettier, though.
Never had a little brother YR
Lemonade, from last night, if you think that offer was too good to be true, Brandsmart had them as a Thanksgiving evening doorbuster for under $200.
A B C D puppies
L M N O puppies
O S A R puppies
C M P N
I have enjoyed this blog for 2 years have emailed Husker Gary, Steve and C C . Just can't join in. J R
Queue Tip:
Lemonade I agree with you. That seems to be the intention of the clue. But, waiters also give tips to one another about those in the queue, sometimes through the reservation book and sometimes orally. i was a waitress in my college years and when my kids were little and I worked nights.
From Secrets your Waiter Won't Tell You:
"We always check the reservation book, scan the names, and hope for someone recognizable. I’m happy if the notes say something like “Previous number of reservations: 92.” If they say something like “First-time guest, celebrating Grandma’s 80th birthday, need two high chairs, split checks, gluten allergy,” then I start rummaging through my pockets for a crisp bill for the hostess and I make sure to tell her how much I love her hair fixed like that."
@ Lemonade 9:32 a.m.
Oh. D'oh! My mind didn't even go there for some reason. I'm usually pretty good at reading into misdirection, but not this time. Thanks!
I was a bit off before--the emigration museum is actually in Bremerhaven--see below from Wiki.
The German Emigration Center (German: Deutsches Auswandererhaus) is a museum located in Bremerhaven, Germany dedicated to the history of German emigration, especially to the United States. It is Europe's largest theme museum about emigration. Visitors can experience the emigration process through interactive exhibits. The museum also provides access to databases of immigration records.
Good morning all.
Thank you Mark Feldman.
This was hard for me too Lemonade. Especially the SW. Agamemnon crossing with Prynne was the coup de grâce. Won't be taking a BOW here.
I saw the gambit early on, starting with WHY AXIS, then SEA NOTE and then TEA SHIRT. That made getting the other theme answers easier, but not so in the NW. Glossed over the 2D clue, and read it to be imitates rather then intimidates, so had APES there from the beginning until almost the very end. Trying to make some sense or some word out of -ACOSTS and -PHEMIA and -EERING was driving me nuts. D'OH ! The clue is intimidates !
I also took the misdirection bait for waiter's suggestion to another. What kind of -----TIP would one server give to another ? I eventually filled it, but then had to think about it. Very clever. I have a feeling Dennis did not offer any QUEUE TIPs to that 100 yard long line of Target shoppers last evening. I got the impression he never got out of the car.
Can I BEST a better clue for 28A TOP ? Your query is too funny. And hard to do. I stayed up late watching the Ravens BEST the Steelers 22 to 20. Alternate clue for 28A ? First Sergeant
No problem with AKIO. Didn't even need to think about that clue. Filled every vertical word in that corner except that one on the first pass. That made the crosses, like WHY AXIS, very easy to fill.
Still, in the end, it was the intersecting R from the mythological name, and another name that from a book I never had any desire to read, that did me in...
BTW, thanks for the Whitesnake TAWNY video. I think you can almost feel the angst and defiance as he sings. Michale Bolton can sing with a lot passion in his voice, but DW says it's as if he's in excruciating pain in this Honda Ad. As if maybe his underwear is on too tight.
Speaking of getting your shorts in a bunch (or knickers in a twist), the lady in this delayed flight story, and the guy that engaged her, portend why I'm not in favor off cell phone use on flights. Can you imagine having to listen to her if she was on the phone for the duration, or listening to him vocalizing his opinions of her behavior ? Delayed Flight
Good day, all! I'm so glad you survived the gastronomic ordeal, Lemon, and are here to elucidate us!
I loved this puzzle! Thank you, Mark Feldman, this was funny and fun.
CHEW was my first fill and the grid seemed almost like a Saturday one, but then one at a time, they began falling in place.
Take A BOW, COWS and SMILE helped me with ACCOSTS but alas, TINEA did me in and I failed to notice it. Drat!
But I loved the misdirection of the theme clues and others such as:
something that's going around: ORBITER
stranded stuff: DNA
and of course, NANA as my granddaughters call me.
I didn't know ATREUS but the perps did!
For AKIO I had all but the K and then AT STAKE hit me like ton of bricks.
Since I start shopping in October, most of mine is finished. I shall take my S-I-L on Sunday and then buy a few small items and it will be done.
Owen, that's wonderful stuff you pull out of your head.
I hope you have a delightful Friday, everyone!
Every Friday I start the puzzle "knowing" there is going to be something tricky in the theme, & every Friday I am just glad to have finished the puzzle & totally forget to look, or can't figure out what the theme is.... How do you know which lines contain theme answers?
(it always looks easy in retrospect. Thank goodness for the Blog!)
I thought I would just Google Image some of the theme answers without trying to be funny, here is what came up:
Eweboat
Seanote
Teashirt
Whyaxis (There is actually a book?)
But when I couldn't find anything interesting things kind of degenerated, for instance QueueTip morphed into a million people waiting on line?
BeeTeam??? (not funny at all...)
Owe Ring degenerated in to a telemarketer joke.
&, of course you know where Eye Beam ended up...
(Fridays are just plain hard...)
Oh Well....
Hi Everone:
Did the puzzle earlier, then started the Christmas decorating and now taking a little break. (My right foot is quite swollen and very painful to walk and stand on.)
This was a DNF for me due to Stad and Akio, but it was a fun solve, otherwise. Thanks, Mark, and great expo, Lemony.
I hope everyone had a pleasant Turkey Day. I know I did.
Beautiful sunny day here but cold. Yesterday was bitter cold.
Have a nice day.
I, too, had a big problem with the NE, didn't kmow Rem and Skimpy, the Japanese wrestler and didn't totally understand the theme so a DNF. However, I must have been on Mark's wavelenght to get the rest without help.
A Friday toughie, but still fun--many thanks, Mark. The attic did me in, even though I pretty much figured out the theme once I got EWE BOAT, U BOAT, and QUEUE TOP, Q TIP. I really should have gotten TAXI-one of my favorite sit-coms of all time, but I kept picturing a residential two-car garage instead of a business garage. I do remember Andy Kaufman in the show--what was his character's funny name again? Something like Latka or Latke, wasn't it?
Owen, I was riveted by your little story with all the embedded answers, and the limerick climax at the end. Great entertainment for a tough Friday morning.
Loved the write-up, Lemonade, as always.
Sorry to hear about your sore foot, Irish Miss--hope you get relief soon.
Our Thanksgiving began with worry that my little grandson was out with a stomach virus. But he revived enough to introduce me to "Dungeons and Dragons" before dinner, which turned out lovely, thanks to my daughter-in-law's pear pie.
No Black Friday for this Amazon shopper. Just looking forward to a busy but hopefully lovely Advent season.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Mark Feldman, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the excellent review.
Well, I started in the morning in the Dayton Daily News puzzle, which is the same as the LA Times, without the credits to the Constructor and Editor. Took me about two hours, off and on.
Checked my email and received a note from "buckeye bob". He lives in Springboro, OH, and noticed that I was here for the weekend. So, I looked up his address and lives about 500 feet from my daughter. I called buckeye bob and we talked about the puzzle, etc, for a short time. We were unable to get together due to the logistics of the day, but we had a nice conversation. What a small world.
The puzzle was not easy, but the theme answers helped a lot, once I figured them out.
Got it all pretty easy except for the NE and SW corners. Eventually got TAXI for 12D and that was my Rosetta Stone for that corner. They all came together.
The SW was tougher. Got TENT, ETUI, and ABIE easily. Finally got RED A and the rest appeared. ATREUS with a few perps. MER was not easy, but appeared with BEE TEAM, INDULGE, and ETAILER.
Great experience today and fun talking with "Buckeye Bob."
See you tomorrow from Ohio.
Abejo
(Peofnli)
I can do without Ren and Stumpy references. Stupid cartoon show lines? Really?
Hello Puzzlers -
Leftovers mmmmmm!
Theme was fun and helpful after I abandoned only adding WE as the gimmick. I’ll take two bad cells and move on.
Musings
-As a veteran QUEUE waiter at Disney, I loved this clue
-B-Teams of my ute are now JV’s
-Nobody’s LASERING my eyes
-My MIL is Bohemian but definitely not bohemian
-Not much but pride AT STAKE in today’s husker game
-Why is it when Joann has an ITCH, I wind up scratching?
-TOP – Cole Porter pinnacle
-Many a DARER has caused broken bones
-My nine uncles TORMENTED my brother and me mercilessly. Today it might border on abuse
-I saw these ONEIDAS yesterday on 34th Street yesterday
-I have to get used to having kids LINE UP when I sub in grade schools
-Didn’t you make a TENT out of broomstick and blanket as a kid?
-Scarlet letter has a whole different meaning than RED letter to me
-Thanksgiving announcement (@7 pm after they arrived @ 11 am) – Oldest daughter announced she and boyfriend of a year and a half are going to get married. They had to clear it with our granddaughter and his two boys. She spent 10 years in a bad marriage, 10 years single and now she’s found a keeper.
Nice blog Lemonade.
Nice poems owenKl and others... Especially the alphabets ones I couldn't make head nor tail out of.
Cross eyed Dave you just made my day. I thought the piñata one was just right. Kind of a Zen feeling - happy but not too happy. Moderation is everything.
Lemonade, I read all your links intently, and the one on bohemianism, was the most interesting. If you see the related article ---- Romani people in France , another Wiki article. ---- it is just hilarious.
The gypsies from all over Europe, especially from Romania, have figured out how to set up voluntary, do-nothing, camps all over France, .... And become a pest and a nuisance, and wait for hand outs. And then they are repatriated, by air, to their 'home' countries, and get paid for it, 400€ .... And eventually, travel again, and come right back to France, where you started out in the first place.
It's like getting paid to do what you love to do (travel -), and what you do best. What a wonderful life. Liberty, equality, fraternity and minimality. Aaah, that is the life. No money, no shopping, no worries...
Happy Day-After to ALL!
This was a good 'un. Solved it with no cheats, but it made me scratch me noggin & THINK. Not sure what my favorite clue was, but 49A is in contention ("Suggestion from one waiter to another?")
This was a theme that really helped me. Once I saw that homonyms were in play, the leap to answers came much faster.
I hope everyone has recovered from T'giving excesses. I learned my lesson some years ago-- at a feast that's still remembered in our family as Grandpa's "five-pie blowout." Never again. Instead, I had JUST the right amount of everything. No pain, all pleasure-- something for which I can truly be thankful.
Gypsy B., Thanks for the information. I found your link interesting and the tensions it related in Grenoble, which is where the Isere river runs was oddly timely with this puzzle. Do you live in France?
CED, EWE BOAT was my favorite fill and you picture was exactly what I had in my mind when the words were there.
TTP@10:44
What an outrageous passenger! I suspect even her family was sorry she wasn't delayed. People like that are obnoxious anywhere, including among their relatives.
I forgot to mention that I loved TAXI and was so sorry when it ended. Andy Kaufman was hilarious, but then so were they all.
Really interesting information about the Romani people today. All I know is that they are a nuisance to tourists.
hank you, HeartRx!
for tipping me to the meaning of the Satchmo/LAMA connection. It seems so obvious now, but I truly didn't get it until you reminded me of His Holiness' full title.
The Gimmes for me today were "Agamemnon's father" (my field) and "Prynne's stigma" (indirectly my field, as the story has often been adapted). My one write-over was TAWNY - to replace AMBER. The one that held out on me, but shouldn't have, was STAD. I don't know Dutch, but I know enough German to figure that STAD is the same as "Stadt," the German word for city or town. In other words, it's not the name of any particular town. The same root grew into the larger political division which, auf Deutsch, is "Staat" and in English, "State" (not just "Status" and "Stand"), and in French "Etat" and Spanish "Estado."
Keith Fowler, you're welcome! (Still chuckling...)
Hi gang -
The most egregious collection of horrible puns I've ever encountered.
Seriously - I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVED this puzzle.
First theme Ans I got was EWE BOAT, and I thought - hmmm - that's not in the language. Then SEA NOTE made me realize that was the theme. D'OH!
QUEUE TIP is the most outrageous - and of course my fav, though BEE TEAM is a honey and WHY AXIS still has me shaking my head.
Tough puzzle, and without the theme, I would have just stumbled into oblivion. ATREUS/ABIE was a natick, but perps aided and abetted, and A looked good to fill the only blank left.
Had a couple nits, but oh, well.
We slep in then went to breakfast this morning, and lay low the rest of the day.
Had about half the Thanksgiving crowd of last year, bur still a nice time. Unfortunately, the broccoli casserole was in MD not MI, but we made it through on green beans and cranberries.
The pumpkin pie from Costco is awesome and huge.
Sunny today, but not warm.
Cool regards!
JzB
Speaking of fish for Thanksgiving, I thought next year we might strike out in a new direction, but the whole fam shouted me down, and none of my FB friends stood up for me. [sigh]
Such an unadventurous bunch I'm related to.
Cheers!
JzB [thinking it must be the eyes]
My son's father in law is a non meat eater, so there is always fish of some sort at every full family gathering. Since the fishing is still good in the Keys it is often very fresh, as long as I do not have to clean the fish it is great.
DOLLY=DALAI seemed so straightforward to me? I can always depend on miss m to "get" my thought processes.
Anonymous J.R., loved your puppies. You must chime in more often!
CED @ 11:21: "How do you know which lines contain theme answers?"
The theme clues end with a question mark.
[And I said 'golfer '(for AKIO) but, of course, I should have said 'wrestler'.]
Wow, what a toughie today, but enjoyable. I was tempted to turn on the red letter help and consult the Almighty Google but fortunately for me, I held off and finished on my own.
There were a lot of answers I came up with that were almost, but not quite right for the puzzle, such as:
1A first put down ACCUSES but it was ACCOSTS
7D First SERENE, then changed it to SAGEST
23A First had on a TEESHIRT but changed into a TEASHIRT. (That was a fun one!)
51D From a TRIAL to TRY ON
59A, I expected from the clue, "Granny" that it would be KNOT since this was used earlier in the week, but it was a literal granny, or NANA in other words.
49D I went from QUELL to QUIET and finally quieted down this answer with QUELL.
66A TORTURE became TORMENT. Neither one was very pleasant until perps quieted the trouble of this one.
The SW and SE corners were last to fall. I know I had seen the container of needles in crosswords long ago and perps helped me recall it as an ETUI.
Finally, 53A, 53D and 55D (ATREUS, ABIE and REDA) were total WAGS for me. And with a little bit o' luck I made it through today at the end. It is said that sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart. For me today it was juuuust good enough. All in all, very fun and challenging today, thanks for a really good puzzle.
Have a pleasant rest of the Thanksgiving Day weekend, you all.
Burrito34
Al Cyone @ 4:38, maybe you were thinking of Isao AOKI, the golfer? Maybe we can do a theme with Japanese anagrams:
AOKI
AKIO
AIKO
AI-OK (OK, that's a lame one…)
(speaking of lame ones...)
Etui gives me ennui...
Re: Japanese anagrams:
One pond fish: A KOI
CED, in addition to what Al said (4:38), the theme answers are almost always horizontal, are usually the longest answers and are placed symmetrically. They might have Question Marks if they are punny or jokey but not necessarily. If you go back and look at some empty grids, you can probably pick out the theme answers using the above info even before you have filled in anything.
Lucina, we had some nice rain this morning. Maybe it will be in your vicinity tomorrow?
Hi sports fans ! Solving puzzles is a sport, is it not ?
Nice to have a day off with no agenda. Is that what retirement is about ?
DW chose to venture out to the local mall, and I bade her farewell as she left. I opted to putz around the house, watch football and eat leftovers. Probably the biggest and most well rounded lunch I've had for awhile. As good as, if not better, than yesterday's repast.
Did manage to super glue the crack in the water basin of our hand-me-down circa 1960 Rainbow vacuum cleaner. Can't find a replacement basin online. Dxx model basins are available, but not the base D chrome top model. Love that old Rainbow, but am going to have to break down one of these days...
Didn't get caught up in all of the consumerism of Black Friday. Like Misty, most of my shopping has been done online. And as with our (also) dear Lucina, I'm almost done.
Our UPS man of so many years, Carl, has retired, and I'm not so sure the new guy is going to be able to cut the mustard. I know we have a confusing street addressing system in metropolitan Chicago, but you would think he'd quit stopping in front of my house when he needs to deliver to my neighbors house. He looks so frazzled. Part of that might be due to my neighbor. He likes to chat. UPS men, from what I have seen, have no time to chat. Neighbor, if you are listening, let the new guy go about his business !
Lucina, can you imagine being on a flight with those two ?
BTW to all, the Romani are not necessarily Romanians
Late to the party today after working all day.
This puzzle brought a smile to my face as the theme filled in - especially QUEUE TIP!
WEES!
More beautiful snow today (stuck to all the trees again this morning). Ski hills are open already.
Al Cyone @ 5:47, good one!!
Canadian Eh! Have ski boots, will travel…where do I buy my lift ticket???
Lemonade, thanks for the Dolly = Dalai ... (elusion? ) explanation. I was wondering what it was about HeartRx's link to that song, that I could not understand.
I kept wondering why Louie Armstrong would go Buddhist on me ? I can barely figure out the words thru his heavy accent. But his style was definitely unique.
On the Romanis, .... I thought you would have figured out my angle. My emphathies and sympathies are entirely with the Rom / Gypsies / Romanische / Dom / Roma - whatever.
If you believe in karma, and maybe you do .... you have to believe that God gave them a bad deal .... He/She/It gave them a cartful of lemons .... So they listened to their inner soul - and they did the only thing they could .... they made lemonade.
They have always been strangers wherever they go, and have been beaten, discriminated, hated, violated, and exterminated ..... all because of their ethnicity, no matter where they went ... ( hint, hint, wink, wink -sounds familiar ? ) ... And they have learnt to survive. As a part of Gods 'special', chosen people, they are entitled to a life, and to their own concept of happiness. True, they steal and loiter and are lazy good for nothing's, by and large ...... But there are many, many, many, peoples who have done worse to others in the history of mankind. .... So, on the whole, since they never made war, killed other people, caused tremendous suffering or ran concentration camps and did other horrific things, ..... they're not so bad after all.
Anyway, that's the way I look at it.
TTP:
Are you referring to a flight which includes your neighbor and the UPS delivery man? I just hope I don't have the middle seat!
Incidentally, I went to Walgreens on a search for new extension cords and found a great sale there! So now a few more items are checked off my list.
BillG:
No rain the forecast for us. But you never know with nature. It would be welcome, I assure you. Temps are quite balmy now but chilly in the morning and late night.
Lemonade; my sons father in law is a non meat eater so there's always fish of some sort....
Since when did fish become non meat ? Lol. Try telling that to a fish....
I understand, kosher rules consider fish to be 'neutral' - neither meat nor diary, but to goy, like me, it has always been one of life's pleasant conundrums.
Meant strictly in humor. Happy Hanukkah.
Good Eve and Take Heed all who read!
Yep, that's how my puzzle started as I was of an running against the Hare while the crow CAW'd the race...
I had to BOW out before I could get past the REBs and the Mason Dixon line... QUEUETIP was the cut-off line for me, though EYEBEAM was the first of the to fall after my BMI went up from Thanksgiving...
I'll SHH now - I can hear some CHEWing me out for the bad puns... I see the ERRS of my ways - I'm the EEDIOT. (ITCHes, ...).
I could only think of EWEhaul at 39a, but RON Howard saved me...
I did have fun with this, but after spending at least 4 hours on it (I love days off!), I had to throw in the towel. I was doomed in the South. Thanks Mark & LEM!
John28Man - your not missing anything culturally re: Ren & Stimpy unless you like fart jokes. I do and have a Ren doll with a whoopie-cushion inside :-)
HG - Keepers _are_ hard to find. 25 years later, DW is still making up her mind.
Paul - good to see a post from you again. You dropped off soon after going blue. For the record, I'm not Mensa and I doubt many of us are. I wouldn't want to be part of any club who'd have me (Churchill?)
Andy Kaufman's NOT dead! He's hangin' w/ Elvis & Jimmy D.
Cheers, -T
Gypsy, I understood your sympathies but we try to restrain from topics which can be considered political. This is meant be a fun place not a debate hall.
To me, I get your point about my choice of words. I will say he no longer eats animal flesh. It has nothing to with dietary laws but his concept of healthy eating. I always have trouble with these categories like vegan, vegetarian,ovo -lacto.
.
AOKI I.s a common puzzle fill .and A KOI was very witty.
Nice to see new commenters as well as some linfrequenters
JazzB - Just make sure it's not canned salmon.
John28man - Yes, I see I wrote your instead of you're...
@12:55 - There are some of us who know most of what we know about opera, classics (James Cagney quotes, etc), and many other things from cartoons. Heck, I even learned alot from TAXI when I was only 9 or 10. It's not USDA approved, but there it is.
C, -T
This is your idea of fun? Every other clue ending with a question mark, to signal an answer unbearably cute.
And many synonyms are inexact. "Leer" for example
could conceivably mean a malicious look, but I have never heard or seen it used that way--almost every-one understands it to mean a lascivious look. And so on. I think I'll leave LA Times crosswords to the new breed.
I figured COW as a verb had the same origin as chicken as an adjective. Alternatively, it could come from the old French word coart which in turn comes from the Latin word coe meaning "tail".
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=coward
"The word probably reflects an animal metaphoric sense still found in expressions like turning tail and tail between legs."
Ah but it could also come from the old Norse kuga which means "oppress" although the word for the animal COW in Norse was also kyr and maybe kuga comes from that.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=cow&searchmode=none
Robert @4:08 - Yes. It was fun... BEETEAM stumped me and I couldn't finish, but the pzl was still joyous play. It is a puzzle after all...
Martin - COWS, to me, is the intimidated, but I read it as imitated and confidently penned apes. I eventually read it correctly, and the perps helped. FYI if you put a tags around your links, readers can just click instead of cut-and-paste... -T
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