Theme: R&DXTOO - Not Research and Development but 2(too) R's in the first word and 2(too) D's in the second word.
17A. Dangerously sharp : RAZOR-EDGED
22A. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator : LARRY DAVID. This guy.
35A. Common pump choice : REGULAR UNLEADED
47A. Gnarly one on the waves : SURFER DUDE
56A. "Star Wars" droid, and a hint to letters shared by 17-, 22-, 35- and 47-Across : ARTOO-DETOO. (phonetically spelling of R2-D2)
Argyle here. Anchored by a grid spanner and some interesting fill; a decent Tuesday.
Across:
1. Lunchbox staple, initially : PBJ. Travels better than BLT.
4. Handy, say : ABLE
8. Hatcher of "Lois & Clark" : TERI
12. Pakistani language : URDU
14. Pakistan neighbor : IRAN
15. Tablecloth fabric : LINEN. Who had to get up because "We need the sheets for the table"?
16. Striped fish : BASS
19. Ranch nightmare : STAMPEDE
21. "Wake Up Little Susie" singer Don or Phil : EVERLY. Phil passed away in January.
24. Next-to-last Greek letter : PSI
26. Difficult turn on the slopes : ESS
27. Fellows : MEN
28. Cape Town's land: Abbr. : RSA. (Republic of South Africa)
31. 1983 Streisand film : "YENTL"
33. "From __ to shining ..." : SEA
34. Has-__ : BEEN
39. Early garden : EDEN
40. La-Z-Boy room : DEN
41. Very unpleasant, weather-wise : NASTY
42. Country south of Turk. : SYR. Turkey/Syria
43. Costly cracker-topper : ROE
44. 35-Across, e.g. : GAS. (35A Common pump choice)
46. Boxer's stat : KOs. (knock out)
50. "Beat it, kid!" : "GO HOME!"
53. "I'm serious!" : "NO, REALLY!". Cute string.
58. Eyelid trouble : STYE
59. Taxi fixture : METER
60. Clothier Strauss : LEVI
61. Traffic sound : HORN
62. Glimpse : ESPY
63. Lose sleep (over) : FRET
64. Mario Brothers console : NES. (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Down:
1. Stout servers : PUBS
2. Unruly kid : BRAT
3. Holden Caulfield creator : J.D. SALINGER. The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
4. Cable stations, e.g. : AIRERs
5. Vintage sitcom stepfamily : BRADYs. The Brady Bunch (TV Series 1969–1974)
6. Vegged out : LAZED
7. Ambient music pioneer Brian : ENO
8. Assisted through a tough time, with "over" : TIDED. Verb phrase: 15. tide over, to assist in getting over a period of difficulty or distress. Dictionary.com
9. Caltech grad, often: Abbr. : ENGR.
10. Hose holder : REEL
11. Race nickname : INDY. (Indianapoli) Big racing news: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Daytona 500!
13. West Point letters : USMA. (United States Military Academy)
15. "Deathtrap" playwright Ira : LEVIN
18. Disclose : REVEAL
20. Suave shelfmate : PRELL. Hair care.
23. "So true!" : "AMEN!"
24. Funereal piles : PYREs
25. Like some rye bread : SEEDY
28. Comedian who ended his show with "... and may God bless" : RED SKELTON
29. Make arrangements for : SEE TO
30. Raggedy dolls : ANDYs. (brother to Raggedy Ann)
32. Winery cask : TUN
33. Baltimore daily : SUN
34. Cry from a flock : [BAA!]. A bit down on the farm today. 47D. "Here, piggies!" : "SOOEY!"
36. Loved to pieces : ADORED
37. Scuba spot : REEF
38. Come after : ENSUE
43. Gossip fodder : RUMOR
44. Vinyl record feature : GROOVE
45. Cleverly skillful : ADROIT
48. "It's open!" : "ENTER!"
49. Imprecise cooking measure : DASH
50. Pool or polo : GAME
51. Raw rocks : OREs
52. Web address opening : HTTP
54. Harp kin : LYRE
55. Strong urges : YENS
57. Pixie : ELF
Argyle
55 comments:
The heterosexual, man-eating feline
Wasn't funny, cause he was the straight lion.
To get his heartburn to stop
He ate at the bookshop,
Because a ReadeR DigesteD just fine!
R2-D2 from the cantina was ejected.
Patron's privacy he hadn't respected.
Some sweet girls he harried
From men who were married --
When rings in pockets he RadaR DetecteD!
Misspelled PRELL as PREAL (I thought it only had 1 L, so needed to stick another letter in somewhere) and SOOEY as SOOIE, but otherwise a nice and easy run.
Morning, all!
Very smooth solve today. The only wounds were self-inflicted (I misread the clue to 10D as "horse holder" and stuck in REIN instead of REEL, for example).
testing
Good morning!
This was a nice softball from C.C., just right for a Tuesday.
I always associated TIDED over with loaned money to.
Bobby Vee came on the scene around the time of Buddy Holly's plane crash. He sounded sort of like Buddy, so he got a lot of airplay. Not nearly as talented, though, IMHO.
Argyle, that was a toughie. I had to sing most of the song in my head before stumbling across the title Lazy Mary.
Good day to all,
In honor of 5d BRADY'S , new profile pix. Meet Patrick & Brady, Riley's predecessors. Brady is the sable, Patrick the Tri-color. They've been gone four + years, but not forgotten. Suffice it to say, together, they were Hell on paws.
Fun offering from CC. As usual, never had a clue what the theme was, bur did not need it.
Never knew the Everly Bros were estranged until I read Phil's recent obituary. Always liked their music.
Knew 1a immediately, but kept wanting to insert &. Can;t recall ever hearing it referred to as PBJ.
Nice shout out to Red Skelton. He always looked like he was truly enjoying himself. Some of the skits with Tim Conway or Carol Burnett were priceless.
Good morning everybody. What a clever theme today! Knowing I had to look for two Rs and two Ds in each theme clue helped a bit, once I learned that was what I was looking for.
No complants. My learning moment was 32D: Winery cask: TUN.
Have a great day!
PS: Maybe I should try playing my numeric captcha in the lottery.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
Thanks for a really fun Tuesday puzzle, C.C. and for an entertaining and informative write-up, Argyle!
I flew through, but put USMC instead of USMA at 13-Down. I noticed J D SALINGER crossed what was then L C something, and wondered if they were part of the theme with authors known for two initials in their name.
I finally straightened out the NW passage and saw the theme at last. But I never would have without the unifier ARTOO-DETOO. Fun stuff!
Hello Puzzlers -
As usual, I'm just amazed that C.C. thought up the theme, then came up with balanced phrases with two R's in the first word, two D's in the second, and fit it all together. Nicely done!
Good morning everyone.
Got TERI, URDU, and IRAN in the North but then dropped down to fill up from the bottom. Interesting theme, but recognizing how it worked came too late to be of help. Favorite fills were SURFER DUDE and the grid spanner REGULAR UNLEADED. Had 'toot' before HORN. At 50d, wondered whether the fill had something to do with anagrams, but since abbr. wasn't indicated, I held on for GAME.
Nice fresh puzzle, C.C.. Thank you.
Have a great day.
Musings
-I agree with Argyle’s summative sentence and LAZED by using him for the REVEAL
-SURFER DUDE who drives an Escalade and buys lobster with food stamps was on TV last night
-The lyrics and vocal range make me want American the Beautiful as our anthem
-KO’s? 90% of boxers will sustain brain damage, eye problems and/or dementia after their career
-Would you like to be TIDED over by these people?
-Seinfeld – “Who needs that misty herbal rain water crap they sell in the health food store. I use PRELL, the hard stuff. Hundred proof - takes your roots out”
-Button-downed Nebraska boy Dana Altman had great success coaching Creighton basketball in Omaha and used that success to get a big job as an Arkansas Razorback. After being forced to yell SOOEY at a press conference, he knew he was a fish out of water and returned to Omaha post-haste.
-Subbing with former colleagues yesterday (no access to blogs) got me caught up on all RUMORS
-John Lennon, “Without the Everly Brothers, there would have been no Beatles” Example (1:01)
-Quiz question I saw – Is “lovely lady” or “man named Brady” first in show’s theme song?
-Do you know the silly old joke about the hunter who asks a beautiful woman if she’s GAME?
Hi All ~~
C.C.'s puzzles always have a little something special, even the early week ones. I couldn't pick up on the theme until the unifier and then looked back was impressed. But not impressed enough. How did I miss the fact that the two Rs were in the first word and the two Ds in the second? Thanks, Argyle!
~ My only write-over was Honk before HORN.
~ I liked the long entries with full names.
~ Only because I like to study C.C.'s puzzles for fun stuff, I noticed a number of similar entries: SUN-TUN, MEN-DEN-EDEN, LEVI-LEVIN, REEL-REEF, and SEE TO-SEEDY.
~ Hondo ~ Patrick, Brady and and Riley - what beautiful dogs! Almost seems like the names could be sports related.
3 cheers to C.C. for a fun Tuesday puzzle. Is it just me or are Tuesdays' always easier then Mondays' or is it taking me loner to r ecover from the weekend?
One problem on 46 across. I used TKO instead of KOS - I thought simgular due to use of stat rather than stats in clue.
I agree with Argyle A PBJ is better in a lunchbox/sandwich bag than a BLT. BLT is for lunch at home.
If you want to become familiar with Lazy Mary go to Citi Field for a METS game. Played in both Italian ande English. I have tickets for opening day March 31.
Good Morning:
I never cease to be amazed by CC's imagination and creativeness in constructing such fun and fresh puzzles. Brava, CC, and cheers to Argyle, as well.
The Arctic air is back but no sign of any snow. Yet.
Hondo, Patrick and Brady are handsome, just like Riley. (I like their Irish names!)
Did anyone watch the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding interview? I had forgotten a lot of what actually transpired and some questions remain unanswered, but the extreme character/personality differences between these two women, then and now, are enormous.
Have a terrific Tuesday.
Hello, puzzlers!
Another triumph, C.C.! What an impressive grid and how in the world do you know about RED SKELTON?
ROE, PUBS, and ORES were cleverly clued.
Ditto for HONK before HORN and REIN before REEL because I read hose as horse and I started with IDLED then LAZED and RAZOR REVEALed itself.
SURFER DUDE crossing GROOVE sounds very like the 60s.
Shout out to the ENGRs on the Blog!
Have a stupendous Tuesday, everyone!
IrishMiss:
I watched that interview and agree with you. Their personalities are so opposite and so is their perspective on their past, one is forgiving and moving on, the other can't.
Thank you for the fun puzzle, C.C. Thank you for the fine review, Argyle.
This puzzle took me longer than my usual Tuesday puzzle, but looking back at it, I don’t know why. My only unknowns were LARRY DAVID, LEVIN, and TUN, but the perps got them. Maybe I’m just slow today. Again!
I wanted REGULAR GASOLINE until I got the theme and a couple of perps, then changed to REGULAR UNLEADED.
This puzzle reminded me of a lot of things from my youth, such as PB&J, EVERLYs, DEN, J.D. SALINGER, PRELL, RED SKELTON. (I didn’t watch the BRADYS.) I still love PB&J. My parents converted a first-floor bedroom into a DEN when they bought our first TV. Mom used to buy PRELL shampoo for the family. Red Skelton was one of my favorite comedians, along with Jonathan Winters, Tim Conway, and Robin Williams.
I agree with Lucina, it is amazing what cultural things C.C. has learned!
Favorite clue was 39A Early Garden: EDEN.
Another amusing and creative puzzle by C.C. Love her ingenuity! And a great expo by Argle, as usual.
Agreed with Marti, had USMC before USMA.
Otherwise smooth solve!
Good morning everyone.
I am the grumpy one this morning. I DNF, and got only 30 answers. Names elude me; I got only J.D. SALINGER. Did get ARTOODETOO, but couldn't figure out what it meant. And, of course, I was thinking shoes for pumps. Not much help there! Too crunchy for a Tuesday for me.
But thanks to Argyle and CC for their hard work.
Now to finish my book and cheer up.
Cheers
CC, great puzzle. I always wondered how you developed your extensive and varied English vocabulary which covers so many areas. Many of my ESL students learned everyday English and slang, especially by having many English speaking friends and watching TV. They learned more cultural and esoteric words by reading widely after they had their basic English down. But you surpass them all in such a short period of time.
The Everly Brothers look so youg, It brings back memories.
I saw the Nancy/Tonya interview. I agree with Irish Miss and Lucina about how different they are from each other.
BB, I was/am a fan of Red, Jonathan, Tim and Robin, too. I watched the Brady Bunch with my kids. We had a blended family and my older son thought it was a "fairy tale."
HG, I agree that America the Beautiful would be more suitable as our national anthem, and also more singable.
TOO EASY.
Husker: “lovely lady” is first in the Brady Bunch theme song.
Argyle, nice write-up. C.C. thanks for a FUN Tuesday puzzle.
Fave today (of course) was 1-D, PUBS.
Hmmm, that gives me an idea ... Cheers!!!
Here's the story of a lovely lady
who was bringing up three very lovely girls
all of them had hair of gold, like their mother.
the youngest one in curls.
Here's the story of a man named Brady
Who was busy with three boys of his own.
They were four men living all together
yet they were all alone
Till the one day when the lady met this fellow.
And they knew that it was much more than a hunch,
That this group must somehow form a family,
That's the way we all became the Brady bunch.
The Brady bunch, the Brady bunch.
That's the way we became the Brady bunch.
Thanks CC, the puzzle was just right for the amount of time it took the repair shop to tell me they did not have my replacement part. (They said come back tomorrow, & gave me a loaner...)
Tides b/4 tided, but that was before I grokked the theme. (I have no excuse for honks b/4 horn...)
The puzzle does reveal some strange imagery, for instance, this is a German advertisement, for a sharp razor, complete with fake sliced pidgeons...
I prefer Red Skelton over Larry David.
I got regular unlead,,, that was easy...
Did you know that Argyle used to be a Surfer Dude.
Surfer Dude!
Surfer Dude? (Now that's awesome!)
& finally, things you did not know about ArTooDeeToo
Nothing makes me happier on a weekday morning than opening the paper and finding a C.C. puzzle! Yay! And I marvel with everyone at the variety of the content, which just makes the puzzle sparkle and come to life. So, as always, a million thanks, C.C., and you too, Argyle, for the fun expo.
WBBS (What Buckeye Bob said) about the trip down popular culture memory lane. Only I had a senior moment with LARRY DAVID. I could picture him, his expressions, remember some of the episodes, even his first name, but needed perps to fill in the DAVID.
My favorite clue: "Gnarly one on the waves" for SURFER DUDE. Hey, I live in a place that has a lot of surfers.
Have a great Tuesday, everybody!
A fine pzl from C.C. My only error was the same as Owen's-- PREAL instead of PRELL. I should have caught it but, having passed it by, I just forgot to go back.
Forgetting is the thing we ol' folks get alarmed over. Every time we blank on a name or forget where we left our glasses/keys/wallet we're apt to wonder if we're losing more than that momentary thing. For an aging actor it can mean losing the ability to learn lines. The last role of substance that I played was Prospero in THE TEMPEST, and it was touch-and-go until dress rehearsal.
But after a time, you recognize that a certain loss of ability is not necessarily a dire sign.
We don't always need to be sharp as a tack, just sharp enough to penetrate.
Good Tuesday, Puzzlers.
A C.C. puzzle with NO baseball/sports clues? How did that happen? (I'm not counting "game").
Hello and a really fun Tuesday both puzzle and write up. For some reason I saw the theme early on, but it all filled very quickly. Like the others, I am amazed at all of the layers of Americana C.C. uses coming form many different eras. The good news (?) is that I have been alive for most of them so I can answer most clues.
I think the reality of Nancy/Tonya is that to move on in life you need to have some place to go.
Tinman, you okay? You seem awfully quiet?
What day of the week is joke day here? With Dennis not a regular giving us information of the day, and Hahtoolah not always here for a quote....
“We can destroy what we have written, but we cannot unwrite it.”
― A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess (February 25, 1917 – November 22, 1993)
CC: I join Yellowrocks in being amazed and your ability to compose clever puzzles in English. Did you start doing puzzles as a way to improve your usage of English.
I completely forgot about the theme, I guess, because I was intent on solving individual entries.
QOD:
But if you don’t enjoy doing something, you’ll be miserable no matter how much money you make. ~ Bob Schieffer (Feb. 25, 1937)
I appreciate the reassurance, Keith--many thanks
Hi Y'all! Great fun puzzle, C.C.! Always amazing! But you gave one clue to your Chinese heritage with YEN!
Great one, Argyle!
Happy Tuesday everybody!
All smooth except for Seattle today. Had IRDU, which made a stout server “_ IBS” (blank - Irritable Bowel Syndrome – huh?), which of course made no sense. Finally erased the “I” and got the Ta-Da….
Real reason to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, imho, was Cheryl Hines. No YENTL she….
Decaf coffee is sometimes referred to as “unleaded”…. NO, REALLY….
Name of the 49ers new home is LEVIs Stadium….
CED, that razor ad is definitely “EDGY”….
Finally, one of my favorite CDs, The Lost GROOVES, is a compilation of “rare and previously unissued slices of funk from the vaults of Blue Note (records).” Here’s a sample, Reuben Wilson’s version of Hold On, I’m Comin’ (7:52). Enjoy!
PK 2:23
Why would Japanese Yen reveal Chinese heritage?
CC, such aclever idea!
And loved seeing everyone from JDSalinger to Larry David to Red Skelton.
Point of order,
Perhaps a more edifying way to "correct" another commenter might be to point out that the Japanese word Yen comes from the Chinese word Yuan! ;)
It won't affect any of our regular commenters here, but might be of interest to some lurker. My local paper, the Santa Fe New Mexican, has dropped the LAT crossword and replaced it with the NYT crossword effective yesterday. They've also dropped a few comic strips (but the ones that are left are nice and big). I've gotten used to doing the cws online, and likewise reading comics there, so the change doesn't do much to me. If there are any who want to check up on their favorite newspaper comic strips, I've been working lately on updating my personal/private comics website that you're welcome to take a look at Comics.OwenKL.com.
That was a very pleasant early-week puzzle. I got the theme OK but I've always wondered why R2-D2 is written as ARTOO-DETOO rather than ARTWO-DETWO?
Joke: Harry removes the cover from the box that contains the talking millipede he recently purchased from his local "Terrestrial Arthropods R Us" store. Wanting to show off his new pet, he asks "How would you like to go for a walk"? No answer. He repeats "How about going for a walk"? Nothing. Impatiently, he repeats his request. "I said, how about we go for a walk"? A small voice from within the box says "Hold your horses, I'm putting my shoes on".
I record and watch a couple of talk shows from time to time. If you are looking for talk show entertainment, I would suggest watching Ellen or Craig Ferguson. Their shows are imaginative and mostly funny. I've tried Letterman, Fallon, Kimmel and the new Seth Meyers show. They seem to have been created with the same cookie cutter. For me, their laughs are infrequent.
A man with a flair for description
Owen'd a website lacking encryption
He offered up funnies
Though NYT takes monies
The crossword you get with $ub$cription
George Lucas came up with the name R2-D2 during post-production of American Graffiti (1973). One of the sound crew wanted Lucas to retrieve Reel #2 of the Second Dialogue track. In post-production parlance, this came out as "could you get R2-D2 for me?". Lucas liked the sound of that and noted it down for future use.
W/R/T 11A: You do realize that the Daytona 500 is not Indy car racing, don't you?
I didn't realize it was one of C.C.'s puzzles 'til I came here. What? No Sports answers…. very, very unlike C.C. But lots of Americana, which I like. What's more American than the Brady Bunch, Surfing, Star Wars, Larry David, or J.D. Salinger? Didn't we all have to read that in HS during the 70's?
I recently saw a video bio on Salinger (I think it was American Masters)…. strange guy.
Of course, you gorilla.
JJM: In calling JD Salinger a "strange guy", do you mean child predator?
I saw that same documentary. Nowadays, if a celebrity was seen at a Forida beach resort picking up 15 and 16 year old girls year after year after year, I think we would have a different opinion of him other than "strange guy".
I wonder what happened up in that cabin where he secluded himself.
Wonder why artist types seem to get a free pass ala Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Salinger et al. Yet if a politician, sports star, teacher or even everyone else commited these acts, they would rightfully lose their careers and their short term freedom and forever be known as a tier 1 sex offender.
Yen? Yuan? Apparently all my synapses aren't snapping like they should this week. I have a YEN to get a better memory bank.
Hello everybody. Super puzzle today, thank you. Bye everybody.
Bye, Jayce.
Enjoyed today's' puzzle, had to wait for URDO to reveal itself; had HONK instead of HORN. Saw Don and Phil EVERLY at Pontchartrain Beach back in the day....
He: Nice dogs. What do you call them?
She: Patek Philippe and TAG Heuer.
He: Why would pick such names?
She: They are watch dogs, silly.
Funny, Argyle!
Hi all:
A C.C. Tuesday chock-full-o'- generational divide references!
I stared this before our global meeting at 8a and breezed through 70% of it. After entertaining re-pats and a folks from CA, AU, & UK, I finished another 25% before coming here just throwing in the towel on the mid-atlantic. DNF /sigh
Thanks for wrapping this up for me Argyle.
River Doc - we have TOO (two) urns in the office labeled leaded and turbo (2-bagger) coffee at the office. Anyone who uses the "green" "unleaded" decaf is summarily tried and hanged for all to witness.
Cheers, -T
Greetings!
Thanks so much for very interesting puzzle, CC, and swell write-up, Santa.
Great theme!
Bill: I, too, have wondered about that.
Was in awful pain today. CVS mail order hasn't bothered to cough up my pain medication, even after I jumped through hoops.
Cheers!
john28man,
I think solving crossword is the most effective & fun way to learn English, esp slang and idioms.
Yellowrocks et al,
Thanks for the sweet comments. I become a better constructor because of your constructive feedback and encouragement.
Anon @4:27pm: Thank you so much for the fun limerick! I loved it!
Good Wednesday morning, folks. Thank you, C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the fine review.
As a youth I took PB sandwiches to school every day. I did not use the jelly.
Theme was clever. Very good!
Was not sure how to spell SOOEY. Worked.
RED SKELTON was one of my all-time favorites. Great entertainer and person.
Always enjoyed the EVERLY Bros.
Well, I am a day late here. Better late than never.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(24335386 4400)
Inquiring Minds….
You hit the nail on the head!
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