Theme: 'Tis Wearin' of the Green Day - Have some Irish items.
16A. Tricky situation to deal with : HOT POTATO. Irish potato.
24A. Salon styling stuff : HAIR CREAM. Irish Cream.
37A. Former NFLer with a season record 23 touchdown receptions : RANDY MOSS. Irish moss.
54A. Flying socialite : JET SETTER. Irish Setter.
64A. Hearty meal often made with mutton, and, in a way, what the ends of 16-, 24-, 37- and 54-Across comprise : IRISH STEW
Argyle here with Charlie. ;~) Top of the mornin' to you, when even an editor is Irish. He has shown us what a Monday puzzle can look like and gave out a few CSO's, too.
(Note from C.C.: As Argyle mentioned, Charlie Riley is the pseudonym of Rich Norris (LA Times Daily Crossword editor). It's an anagram of "i.e., Really Rich")
 |
| Rich and his wife Kim |
Across:
1. Bambi's mom, e.g. : DOE
4. First grade lessons : ABCs
8. Father-son actors Robert and Alan : ALDAs
13. Essence : CRUX
14. Sodium hydroxide, in chem class : NaOH
15. Deserve : MERIT
18. Chicago airport : O'HARE
19. Smitten : IN LOVE
20. Piper's son of rhyme : TOM
22. Radio switch letters : AM/FM
23. End : CEASE
26. Santa's laugh sounds : HOs
27. Victrola corp. : RCA
29. Govt. intelligence gp. : NSA
30. Dr. of rap : DRE
31. Division word : INTO
33. Taiwanese-born director Lee : ANG
35. Asked God for guidance : PRAYED
40. JFK's vessel : PT BOAT. Our "Patrol Torpedo" version of the German S-boat that the English called an E-boat. Got it? U-boat was a submarine.
43. Soft slip-on : MOC
44. Norse trickster : LOKI
48. "I got it!" : "A-HA!"
49. "Norma __" : RAE. (1979)
51. Approves : OKs
53. Flying Peter : PAN
57. Start of a fitness motto : "USE IT....or lose it!"
59. Curved foot part : ARCH
60. Minor league rink org. : AHL. (American Hockey League)
61. "Just watch me!" : "I CAN SO!"
62. "Politically Incorrect" host Bill : MAHER
66. "Not __ out of you!" : A PEEP. Dreaded 5-letter partial.
67. Casino freebie : COMP
68. Chile's Cape __ : HORN
69. Methods: Abbr. : SYSTs
70. "Ghost Hunters" channel : SYFY. (previously the Sci Fi Channel)
71. Two-time loser to DDE : AES. Dwight D. Eisenhower / Adlai E. Stevenson
Down:
1. Talk and talk and ... : DRONE ON
2. Show more staying power than : OUTLAST
3. Old Montreal team : EXPOS. Baseball
4. Poker game starter : ANTE
5. Sheep's sound : [BAA!]
6. Terra __: pottery clay : COTTA
7. Surefire winner : SHOO-IN
8. Latin "I love" : AMO
9. "The Merry Widow" composer Franz : LEHAR. Info on his operetta.
10. Serious-and-funny show : DRAMEDY. (drama/comedy)
11. Orbitz quote : AIR FARE
12. Originated (from) : STEMMED
13. Oh-so-stylish : CHICHI. [shee-shee]
17. Finished for good : OVER
21. Logical guy with pointy ears : MR. SPOCK. Science officer on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
24. Ranch worker : HAND
25. Auto dealer's inventory : CARS
28. Bach composition : CANTATA
32. Gold, to Gomez : ORO
34. Workout place : GYM
36. Communication for the deaf: Abbr. : ASL. (American Sign Language)
38. Swiss river : AARE
39. Othello, for one : MOOR
40. Pillow fight garb : PAJAMAs
41. Psychologist's treatment : THERAPY
42. Cookie dough units : BATCHES
45. Summer shoe style : OPEN-TOE
46. Former German leaders : KAISERS
47. Back home after traveling, say : IN TOWN
50. Moral principles : ETHICS
52. For instance, with "as" : SUCH
55. Piece of paper : SHEET
56. "The Jetsons" boy : ELROY
58. Malia Obama's sister : SASHA
61. Cosby/Culp TV series : "I SPY"
63. Rotation meas. : RPS. (revolutions per second)
65. Global currency org. : IMF. (International Monetary Fund)(Headquartered in Washington, D.C.)
"Kiss me, I'm Irish."
"Kiss me, I'm Irish."
Argyle
50 comments:
A festive holiday time is St. Patrick's Day
When all are happy, even New Yorkers are gay
Time to bring out the Baileys
But mind the shillelaghs,
Leprechauns are making IRISH STEW for the Fay!
IRISH POTATOES can make vodka or poteen,
IRISH CREAM may have a flavor of caffeine,
To brew beer or wine
IRISH MOSS will do fine --
And if you drink all of that, you'll likely turn green!
(Uuuurrrrp!)
Erin is a land of saints, there's none better
Like Saint Kevin, who held a bird of black feather.
It laid three eggs in his hand outstretched,
So he held it out as the chicks' home crèche.
Seated thus for weeks, became the first IRISH SETTER!
[here's the wiki on St. Kevin.]
Top o' the Morning, all!
Fine Monday puzzle today. I misread the theme my first pass through and thought the theme answers all ended with different ingredients in an IRISH STEW (which made sense at first since I didn't realize there was actually a type of potato called an Irish Potato). I then started filling in the theme answers with more and more bemusement. IRISH STEW has CREAM in it? I did not know that. And MOSS? Oh well, to each his own, I guess. Wait, what's that SETTER doing there...
Good morning all, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Ummm…WBS, exactly.
I thought it was a little crunchy for a Monday, with LEHAR, DRAMEDY, DRE, RANDY MOSS, LOKI, MAHER, etc. I looked at the constructor's name again, but didn't recognize the anagram. Thanks for the expo, Argyle and C.C.!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Charlie Riley, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the fine review.
This one was a little tougher than most Mondays, but got through it just fine.
Caught the theme after IRISH STEW fell.
SYFY was unknown, but perped it.
I had RPM at first, but fixed it to RPS.
Had CHIP first, then changed that to COMP.
I do not wear OPEN TOE shoes. Sandals are not my thing.
HOT POTATO was good. I like anything with potatoes in it.
Off to my day. Cooking 60 pounds of corned beef today. I cook it out back. It is pretty cold. Hope I can boil the water. 16 degrees right now.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(62 2828622)
WBS, WMS (Marti) It was fun, not the usual Monday puzzle where most answers pop into my head the second I read the clue, although AARE was filled in before I even got to it. Like Barry, at first I thought the theme would be a list of foods. MOSS? Huh? Ohh, an olio of Irish items. I liked your clips, Argyle.
Owen, I'll have to read your St. Kevin link after the gym. Cool.
I thought NORMA RAE was a great movie. Although Sally Field started as a comic actress, her roles portraying strong, gritty women were her forte. Crystal Lee Sutton, the worker on whom the movie was, based died of fast moving brain cancer in 2009. Her fight with the insurance company over whether to authorize her medication delayed urgently needed treatment for too long.
Good mornin!
If you like your oatmeal crunchy, this one was for you! There were some unknown names today, like DR ONE-ON and DR AMEDY, not to mention PA JAMAS. LEHAR is a name I learned from doing cw's. I wonder if Lucina was able to SASHAy through this one? And just how can you tell if the MOSS is RANDY?
Happy St Patrick's Day, everyone.
Easy today, but a little fast out of the chute on 67a, Casino freebie; and so I had 'chip' before COMP. So not white-out free.. Overall, I enjoyed the puzzle.
CRUX - Is the name for the Southern Cross constellation.
Have a great day.
Hi All ~~
What Barry, Marti and YR said! I, too, thought we were making IRISH STEW, didn't recognize the constructor anagram and thought this had a few tough clues/fill for a Monday. I enjoyed it ~ thanks, Charlie / Rich.
And thanks for the write-up, Argyle ~ CSO at 26A!
Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone!
Good Morning:
I was hoping for an Irish theme and Rich came through with flying color(s) of the Emerald Isle. I, too, thought there were going to be stew ingredients but was shaking my head at Setter. A tad chewy here and there but, overall, a grand start to a special day. Thanks, "Charlie" and thanks, Argyle, for a witty write-up.
I (and 30+ other family members) will celebrate at my sister, Peggy's house. She is cooking 40+ pounds of corned beef and Lord only knows how many pounds of potatoes, cabbage, carrots, etc. Lots of food, music and singing, jigs, and, maybe, a wee dram of the hair of the dog!
Happy St. Paddy's Day to all. Erin Go Bragh.
If DRE, DRAMEDY, MAHER, and KOKI are considered "crunchy", than I say "To death with softness!"
But that's just my opinion.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day everybody!
It is an ugly, dreary day here, but it is above freezing, so we are all smiling!
Thanks, Argyle, for blog comments. I love them.
I awoke sometime after midnight and couldn’t go back to sleep, so decided to try Monday’s crossword. Cruciverb wasn’t working. It’s been over 6 weeks with no problems, so I wasn’t surprised and went to the ‘clunky’ iPad site to work the puzzle. I haven’t used the site in a long time. I found it discouraging to remember how to move around the puzzle. Like others, I also didn’t find the puzzle Monday-easy. I got the theme, but quit working after getting half done.
This morning, Cruciverb works, and I moved right through the puzzle. Since I had over half of it done, it was just filling in a few letters that made me wonder why I didn’t get the answers before.
Nice puzzle for today,
Montana
For heaven’s sake!
The temperature here has dropped to39° and it has started snowing!!!
Ugh!
May the rest of you have a Great Day!
Montana
LaLa Linda - I love your St. Pat's Cat!
Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish American tradition.
Link In North America
Link In Ireland
Thank you for the puzzle, Charlie Rich. Oops! That was a country singer! I meant Charlie / Rich! Thank you for the review, Argyle.
I also did not recognize the anagram. Thank you, Argyle and C.C.
I thought this was basically easy-peasy, although I tried to shoot myself in the foot in several places.
WEES, I solved the unifier and thought we were looking for ingredients in Irish stew. HOT POTATO reinforced that. But no, the theme answers emerged and clarified the theme concept.
I misread 14A. Sodium hydroxide, in chem class, thinking sodium chloride / salt and quickly entered NACL. The perps fixed that one.
At 63D. Rotation meas., I confidently entered RPM, but that gave me 69A. Methods: Abbr.: SYSTM. I thought “That sure looks clunky. It can’t be right.” But I was sure of RPM, so I left it.
When I finished, no ta-da. I re-read the clues and answers, changed SYSTM / RPM to SYSTS / RPS and ta-da! One dumb answer!
Nick @ 9:07, I didn't use "crunchy" in a negative way. I love crunchy. But on Mondays, we are usually served pablum, and this one didn't fit the typical fare.
I hate earthquakes. I think this one screwed up my thinking system. Usually I get Monday puzzles easily. But then I usually don't get up this early. And I mean UP!!
I’m subbing for 5th/6th graders today and I definitely remembered to wear green.
Musings
-Sure and begorra, a just right Monday from Rich O’Norris!
-Kids should know ABC’s a lot sooner than 1st grade but some don’t
-I love OHARE for the Chicago Dogs you can get there
-The car radios of my MISSPENT YOUTH did not have an FM option but did have Conelrad markings. Remember?
-INTO - We math teachers taught GCF with guzzindas – 7 guzzinda 14, 28…
-A PEEP Easter treat
-Captain Queeg fostered a mutiny by insisting on sailing around Cape HORN
-Fr. Jim DRONEd ON yesterday about transfiguration. Yeah, real useful!
-Pursuit of ORO was the undoing of Fred C. Dobbs
-GYM is a chamber of horrors for some kids
-The IRISH POTATO famine of 1845 - 1852 sent many of the residents of that island to America
Argyle, Nice write-up & links.
I'm enjoying some Baileys IRISH CREAM (with my coffee) as I type.
YR, thanks for the "Corned beef and cabbage" info.
I always thought the National Irish Dish was Guinness.
Hmmmm, that gives me an idea ...
Cheers!!!
Hands up for JERRY RICE on 37A. Of course the perps corrected that. A set of Methods could be a SYSTM which works with the more commonly used RPM. I went with SYSTS/RPS. Lucky Guess. The Monday puzzle turned out not to be a SHOO-IN for me. I had SHOE-IN, giving the rhymer his poetic license with TEM. Oh well. Off to find my pot of gold.
Happy St Patrick's Day to all (and especially Irish Miss!).
WEES as I was making Irish stew until I got to the MOSS! I had more difficulty than a usual Monday but it was fun. My problem was in the South-central with not knowing SYFY and COMP.
Eboat and Uboat were one letter short. AHA it's PTBOAT this time!
I wanted AWORD before APEEP and had not heard of DRAMEDY. CHICHI reminds me of OOHLALA from yesterday.
61A JUST WATCH ME clue reminded me of famous 1970 quote from Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau before he invoked the War Measures Act
Trudeau
just watch me
Trudeau
hopefully the link will work this time!
What could be better than a regular Monday speed run? A Rich/Charlie IRISH STEW, like this one! Loved it, and if I sound obnoxious for finding it easy, I have to confess that I found the Saturday Silkie so daunting I didn't even bother to post. So even though I'm actually only adopted Irish (thanks to my work on James Joyce all these years) I felt the luck o' the Irish was with me today!Thanks Rich and Argyle!
Irish Miss, here's a special Irish coffee toast to you on St. Patrick's Day.
Woke up this morning to slide back my closet door and find the clothes pole had collapsed and all my company dresses and outfits were on the floor. According to southern California Facebook friends there was an earthquake during the night. A connection? Sure looks like it. But if that's all the damage there is, I got off easy.
Have a great St. Patrick's Day everybody!
I enjoyed the puzzle. Not quite Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy but not too bad. For anyone keeping score, I didn't turn on the "Regular Skill Level" with red-letter help. I may need it by Friday though.
I was rudely awakened by Misty's earthquake; a jolt, shaking and window rattling at 6:24 this morning by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake centered about 20 miles north of here (closer than for Misty). It lasted about five seconds. As long as I was awake, I got up to go to the bathroom and then went back to sleep for a bit.
I wonder if the market has any more corned beef briskets? I forgot about SP's day when I went shopping last time. We'll see.
Have any of you Pennsylvanians ever eaten Irish potato candy? We used to get it at my grandma's in Bucks Co, PA. From Wiki: "Irish potato candy is a traditional Philadelphia confection that, despite its name, is not from Ireland, nor does it usually contain any potato. The candies have a coconut cream inside (generally made from some blend of coconut, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and cream or cream cheese) and are rolled in cinnamon on the outside, making them look like small potatoes. The treats are about the size of a large marble and are especially popular around St. Patrick's Day."
Hello Puzzlers -
How nice to have a Monday puzzle with a bit more pepper in it. I looked at the constructor's name but didn't suss the anagram.
Irish stew with lamb sounds tasty. We've gone the American Irish route, though, and put a corned beef brisket in a Crock Pot. The whole place smells delicious. I have to wait until supper time...
YR - that's a new one on me, Irish Potato Candy. Sounds good!
Montana - today's file seems to have popped up on Cruciverb during the night. I hope the rest of the month goes smoothly.
Hello everybody. Sort of a schizophrenic puzzle today; crunchy in some spots, easy in others, some nice longish fill such as the downs in the NE and SW corners, and some nose-wrinkling abbreviations (eg, SYSTS and MOC) sprinkled in, too.
Hand up for expecting the theme entries to be stew ingredients.
Bill G, about those steaks from Costco, it turns out my wife didn't buy any beef at all that day; she bought a lot of other stuff but no beef, corned or otherwise. Sigh. Another time, I guess.
After reading about the earthquake this morning I went to check out whether our instruments detected it, but I forgot it takes about a day before the data is retrieved, processed, and presented for display, so we have no data on it yet. Our goal is to reduce that time to as close to "real time" as possible.
Best wishes to you all.
Canadian Eh and Misty - Thank you for your kind thoughts.
Hola Everyone, Happy St. Paddy's Day to you all.
A fun puzzle from "Charlie Riley". I had a bit of a blip in the NW corner so I went clockwise and finished that corner up when I reached it again.
There were enough known clues to fill in some of the perps that I didn't know or couldn't remember--Loki, being one and NAOH for another. I had forgotten that Alan Alda's father was also an actor, but that was the only name that filled in.
Thanks, Owen for those Irish limericks today.
Barry and I had the same idea. I thought that the theme answers were ingredients for Irish Stew. But I've NEVER put an Irish Setter in mine, cream maybe for thickening, but not moss either.
I had chip in at first, but didn't go back to check my work, and so had Elrhi, and IIF. Too certain of chip so didn't go back to read the down answers!!!
Have a great day, everyone. Off to run errands.
I'm not Irish but I like Guinness, so kiss me anyway!
I'm back from the supermarket with two smallish corn beef briskets (that were offered as a loss leader at half off), a big head of cabbage, carrots, red potatoes and some odds and ends.
In turning a corner, my cart almost ran into that of a young woman. I said 'Sorry' and she gave me the biggest smile that would launch 500 ships anyway. When I got to the front, I saw her in line and I managed to get in the same line right behind her. She backed up and bumped into my cart again. Coincidence? Hah!
As you can see, it doesn't take much to provide me with amusement in my later years.
Sure, and it was a fine puzzle! WEES!
Didn't know what CHI CHI meant. Never knew about Alan's father. Dramedy was a WAG.
Randy who? Never heard of Irish Moss except peat. My then little granddaughter's favorite thing in Ireland when they visited was jumping up and down on the peat bog. Go figure!
My grandfather's parents both were born in Ireland, so I can feel the Irish blood coursing through my veins. I don't care what day I get kissed. Just do it!
I once performed a song from Lehar's "Merry Widow" at music club, but had no clue today who wrote it. Took a sec to remember SASHA & ELROY.
Irish - Dublin's founding is commonly attributed to shipwrecked Swedes (aka Vikings.
KAISER - When I was a kid, my Dad would sometimes say he had to go "wo der Kaiser zu Fuß hingeht" (to the bathroom). The phrase in quotes translates to 'where the Kaiser goes by foot'.
I guess in the view of his subjects he was driven or carried everywhere else, so it was their way to bring him down to their level.
But then I have kissed the Blarney Stone. It must be where I got the Gift o’ Gab.
Sláinte!
Good Afternoon all.
Fun Monday Puzzle from Charlie Riley and as always good comments from O'Argyle - everyone is Irish on ST. Patrick's Day.
Only white outs wer for 29 across and 24 across. I wanted CIA rather than No Such Agency. I thought of HANDCREAM before downs gave me HAIRCREAM.
I've got some PEEPs for the grandkids for Easter.
2 Weeks till opening day at Citi Field. Got my tickets and can't wait.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. Enjoy a Green Beer!!
Irish Miss (Lass) maybe when you eat your sister's corned beef tonight you can have Hair of the Cat instead of Hair of the Dog. After all didn't someone put their Irish SETTER in their STEW. Maybe Mrs. Murphy, no wait that was her chowder!
I just came across the second part of "The Notebook" while finishing lunch. I've seen it before. What a great love story. And Rachel McAdams is radiant! If she had seemed interested in me when I was college age, I would have fallen for her like a ton of bricks.
Speaking of HAIRCREAM, does anybody know where I can get some of that goo they used in "There's Something About Mary"? That stuff really seems to do the trick.
Maybe Bill G. would know - sounds like he's hard up for the product, too.
Greetings from the earthquake zone. While St. Patty was driving the snakes out of Ireland, I wish he'd made a stop across the pond and driven the 'quakes out of California!
Thought I was going to whiz right through because it is Monday - not so much.
I was thinking ingredients as well until MOSS and SETTER, at first had LISZT for LEHAR. Also,had PANZER before KAISER. Didn't know CHICHI and SYSTM, and needed some help on the Swiss River. Got corn beef hash at Von's today.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
The Irish and me celebrated at our favorite faux Irish pub, the Paddy Wagon in Richmond, Ky. on Friday, then again yesterday afternoon in Lexington. Most of the time I'm an IPA drinker, but I downed a few Guinness both times.
Speaking of, when we were in Ireland in the late 90's I ordered my favorite stout, Murphy's, in a pub in Galway. "This is a Guinness town", replied the barman, so I went with it.
A nice Monday puzzle, about ten minutes. I'm still in awe of Dennis and others who can whip through one in four. I still have Saturday and Sunday to tackle later.
Looking forward to 3 weeks of March Madness, even though our Wildcats probably won't go too deep this year. With no TV at home we are forced to go to bars to watch the games. A tough row to hoe, but we bear up. :-)
Montana@9:10: "Cruciverb wasn’t working."
Have you tried the Mensa site?
Johnr: You brought it up, but I couldn't recall
Who threw the _____ in Mrs Murphy's chowder? Looked it up and found what else was in Mrs Murphy's chowder!
I can smell the corned beef simmering. Yum!
As always, I enjoyed my students who I tutored today. The first one got a 95 on his last test and seems to give me much of the credit. He enjoys coming because he feels as if he understands things better now. The second student takes great pleasure in discovered new concepts that make sense and fit together with the other stuff he understands rather than viewing algebra as a bunch of disconnected details that he has to learn. Tutoring is providing me with a big sense of satisfaction right now.
Johnr @ 3:57 - Never mind the hair of the dog or the cat, I ate too much of everything, including homemade banana cream pie, chosen over chocolate cream and lemon meringue. Home again, safe, sound, and sated!
Happy St. Pat's Day and puzzle.
WEES - a bit crunchy but doable without a put-down-come-back moment needed. My biggest issue was putting ELROY at SASHA's place creating an inky mess.
I forgot about SYFY's name change until ELROY fixed SciF... oops.
My only other error was SYSTM/RPM. I won't get INTO complaining about the natnik so maybe Rich will COMP me a Friday....
I loved the theme. I was hoping for a St. Pat's pzl as I chose my green neck-tie and off the bat w/ POTATO I knew I had it.
OwenKL - as always... Thanks.
IM - Like my Mom's side of the family, this must be your favorite day. I know the POTATOs are already in the ground this afternoon. You're feast sounds(ed) wonderful.
I'll go try to find me a nip 'o somthin' as I finish work.
Cheers, -T
Al Cyone, the Mensa site doesn't work on an iPad which is what I use now.
Husker, because of that potato famine a whole lot of Irish and Scots immigrated to Australia. My grandson's ancestors were part of that Irish group.
Snow turned to rain this morning, so it didn't end up a bad day after all.
Montana
Montana: What's the iPad site you're referring to? I'd like to try it. Not Mensa, Cruciverb, nor LAT. Yahoo looks to use the same feed as Mensa, so if one's late the other is too. Merriam-Webster always just shows me a blank page on my netbook, so maybe that's it?
Not to be a bore tonight, but has anyone read the poetry of Billy Collins? I'm only part of the way through Aimless Love, but I'm INLOVE with it. I'm not a poetry guy ("no ma'am just a nerd") but I likes me some of this... Just curious what my fellow pzl pals think of the poetry. C, -T
AnonT, I had never heard of Billy Collins but a quick Google took care of that. I came across Aimless Love. I'm usually not a poetry person either but I really liked it.
Bill G. I think it's a hoot... It's the best cerebral comedy I've ever read outside of George Carlin. I'm not sure that was the intent, but I laugh out loud at some of it (other poems are deep about life/death but still good). I must stop reading though; I've got a 7:30a meeting. C, -T
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