Theme: President Nixon - Rhyme time for cartoon characters.
17A. High-maintenance Gonzales? : NEEDY SPEEDY
62A. Overeating bird tempting Sylvester? : MEATY TWEETY
11D. Bullwinkle pal who's been working out? : STOCKY ROCKY
25D. Fussy Disney mouse? : PICKY MICKEY
Argyle here...with friends. A nice pinwheel puzzle with a pinch of pizazz.
Across:
1. Parking lot attendant : VALET
6. False friends : USERs
11. Brillo competitor : S.O.S
14. St. Teresa's home : ÁVILA. NW of Madrid.
15. Just beginning to learn : NEW AT
16. Demolition need : TNT
19. Native Nebraskan : OTO. Today the Otoe Tribe is based in Red Rock, OK.
20. Power co. service : ELEC.
21. Pitcher Maglie : SAL
22. Dove call : COO
23. Off-the-cuff stuff : IMPROV. (improvisation)
26. Took a chance on : RISKED
28. Cinque e uno : SEI. Italian. (six, we had seven on Sunday)
29. Naps, say : RESTS
33. Versatile bean : SOY
34. Fond du __, Wisconsin : LAC. (bottom of the lake)(the outlet of the lake)
35. Like a blue moon, in old Rome : RARA
36. Hand-holding group dances : HORAs
39. Sacred synagogue cabinets : ARKs
41. Muse of poetry : ERATO
43. Forum robe : TOGA
44. Rahm Emanuel, vis-à-vis Chicago : MAYOR. When you put it that way, I can remember him.
46. Felipe or Matty of baseball : ALOU
47. Outdated PC monitor : CRT. (cathode ray tube)
48. Curly tormentor : MOE. The Three Stooges.
49. December drop-in : SANTA. Who?
51. __ to the city : KEY
52. Bee bites : STINGS. Sign of spring, the wasps are waking up.
55. One in the game : PLAYER
57. Curved part : ARC
58. Feverish : ILL
60. In need of sharpening : DULL
61. Round-bottomed cooker : WOK
67. Eden outcast : EVE
68. Spooky : EERIE
69. "Sesame Street" roommate : ERNIE and Bert.
70. "L.A. Law" co-star Susan : DEY
71. Sports page data : STATS
72. Sporty sunroofs : T-TOPS
Down:
1. Airport shuttle, often : VAN
2. Many a Monopoly prop. : AVE.
3. More than a fib : LIE. Just semantics?
4. Respected village figure : ELDER
5. President after Polk : TAYLOR. Zachary Taylor was our 12th President. He died sixteen months into his term.
6. Like "stewardess" nowadays, briefly : UN-PC
7. "I __ what you did there" : SEE
8. Meadow moms : EWEs
9. Storm-tracking device : RADAR
10. In vogue : STYLISH
12. En pointe, in ballet : ON TOE
13. Waited in line, say : STOOD
18. Harsh : SEVERE
23. Muslim religion : ISLAM
24. Stiller's partner : MEARA
27. Smudge on 49-Across's suit : SOOT
30. Poet Teasdale et al. : SARAs
31. Refrain syllables : TRA LA
32. Kept under wraps : SAT ON
37. Shake hands (on) : AGREE
38. Mythical man-goat : SATYR
40. "It won't be long" : "SOON". "Are we there yet?"
42. Yield : OUTPUT
45. Periods of power : REGIMEs
50. Way off base : ALL WET
52. Cut, as logs : SAWED
53. Valuable stash : TROVE
54. Driving hazard : SLEET
56. Bright-eyed : ALERT
59. Actress __ Flynn Boyle : LARA
60. Salon supplies : DYES
63. __ for tat : TIT
64. Record producer Brian : ENO
65. Gratuity : TIP
66. "Right!" : "YES!"
Argyle
Note from C.C.: Jason is our Friday blogger Lemonade, who just had his IPO (Initial Puzzle Offering, a la Spitzboov) last Sunday. Marti, our Thursday blogger, used HeartRx in her daily blog Comments. Congratulations, you two, sweet puzzle!
65 comments:
Great puzzle! Thanks to two of our own.
Quick solve. Thanks, Argyle, for the expo.
On my way to CT.
Montana
A limerick we've had to extol smarty Marti,
And one sometime soon to laud chi-chi C.C.!
So for now, let us hasten
To fête old friend Jason,
And toast a new crossword by brainy Lemonadey!
Morning, all!
Man, pretty soon the Crossword Corner is going to producing all the L.A. Times puzzles... ^_^
Nice, innocuous Tuesday solve. The theme was cute and very easy to suss out once I got going. Everything else was smooth as well, with no memorable speed bumps along the way.
Hmm, did you notice how many entries were just a letter apart? AVE/EVE, SOS/SOY, SOOT/SOON, KEY/DEY, SEE/SEI, TIT/TIP, RARA/LARA, and with shuffling, EERIE/ERNIE and others. It's like the redoubling of the theme leaked into the rest of the puzzle.
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. How interesting to see how many of our friends here are also creating puzzles for us.
I liked seeing the Ark and Arc.
QOD: It kills you to see [your children] grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn’t. ~ Barbara Kingsolver (Apr. 8, 1955)
Good morning, all!
Almost DNF'd on this one. I saw "Like a blue moon" and immediately penned in RARE. Fortunately, I read the clue for 32d and changed SET ON to SAT ON. Whew! Also had a misstep in Baja when I entered SAW UP for "Cut, as logs." I think of the past tense as SAWN rather than SAWED.
Nice job, you two. And nice shoutout to Argyle!
Off to another taxing day -- only two more after today.
Sunday clues are crispier.
Good morning all !
Smooth solve and rock solid write up.
Jason, who is next ? John, Gareth ? Are you going to complete the daily sweep by the end of the month ?
Owen, I did notice that. What I didn't notice was answer SAL until I read the write up and saw the picture that rock solid Santa embedded.
Spitzboov and CC, I laughed at the new IPO definition.
Have a great day all !
Good Morning Everybody!
Nice puzzle today with a cute theme. This one was a lot easier for me than yesterday's offering. I sped through this one faster than NEEDY SPEEDY.
I liked seeing an alternative clue for SOS at 11A. I also liked 49A: December drop-in: SANTA.
Good to see HeartRX's name in print again.
Have a great day.
Hey gang - had to check in when I saw the byline on today's puzzle. Very nicely done, you two, and congratulations Jason for both today's and Sunday's; both were fun to do.
Off for the dreaded "procedure" I had mentioned earlier. Leave your windows open -- you may hear me.
THEME: President Nixon? Maybe I'm dumb but where did you get that from? Silly ppuzzle anyway.
Anon @ 8:42: Its a play on words that was used as a nickname for Richard Nixon, aka "Tricky Dicky"
Hi All ~~
When I saw the constructors, my thought was like Barry's ~ "The Corner is taking over the puzzle world!" :-) This was fast and fun - a perfect early week puzzle for those new to puzzle solving.
Thanks for the write-up, Argyle - I liked your "drop-in" shout-out.
Still excited after UConn's win last night ~ National Champs! It was a nerve-wracking game and I get too stressed out. Now I get to do it all over again tonight with the UConn women's title game against Notre Dame.
Good luck, Dennis.
Enjoy the day, everyone!
Good Morning:
Another nice surprise to see two of our own again. Nice work, Lemon and Marti. Cute theme and fill. Thanks for the expo, Argyle and a nice shout-out to Santa!
Cloudy and gloomy but mild.
Finally mailed my tax returns yesterday. Talk about procrastinating!
Have a nice day.
Good morning everyone.
A nice Tuesday morning entertainment from 2 of our Corner stalwarts. Thank you both.
Strangely. for me, I got NEEDY SPEEDY right away as my 4th entry, and it set the rhythm for the other theme entries. Hit a speed bump at the top with UNPC and NEW AT, but it got sorted out. Same at the bottom with ILL/SLEET, LARA.
We get a lot of TV ads for "Welcome to MOEs".
Have a great day.
Congratulations to Lemonade714 and HeartRx for a wonderful puzzle and great cooperation. I enjoyed it thoroughly and also Argyle's great blog.
This corner has indeed spawned many wonderful crossword enterprises. May its success (-es), continue forever.
What with the great poet laureate OwenKL and YellowRocks and our master archivist and web searching researcher Cross Eyed Dave. - C.E.D., we have some very talented contributors.
Thanks to all for giving the rest of us, all this pleasure and knowledge.
After I get my eraser out of the shop for INDIA, NAÏVE, DOES, ANAC, etc. I’ll be able to move on! Lots to like today from our two puzzling friends Marti and Lemon. It’s nice to see Marti get a word in with a lawyer!
Musings (Nebraska native)
-Is this Ávila more of a Friday or CC clue?
-Nebraska was featured on Aerial America this week and it was very disappointing in what it left out. A lurker is now hooked on this show and he and I have been emailing about it
-Our Mourning Doves are signaling the start of spring; along with an ALOU in the puzzle
-Disco Take A Chance (4:04)
-Like many big city MAYORS, Rahm is struggling with seemingly intractable problems. Mari?
-Urban Dictionary PLAYER - A male who is skilled at manipulating ("playing") others, and especially at seducing women by pretending to care about them, when in reality they are only interested in sex.
-STAT: As of yesterday, the KC Royals and NY Yankees were the only teams with no home runs yet
-Stewardess/flight attendant, mail man/mail carrier, fireman/fire fighter, secretary/executive assistant, policeman/police officer, penmanship/hand writing, freshman/first year student. More?
-Price Waterhouse has SAT ON the names of Oscar winners until the award show for years
-Isn’t a workout program a REGIMIN and not a REGIME? I hear them used interchangeably
-I am bright-eyed this morning but have not checked my tail for bushiness
-My vanity has not and will not call for DYES
Addendum
-Name the great comic with this from his fabulous weatherman bit: The RADAR is picking up a line of thundershowers which extends from a point 9 miles NNE of Secaucus, New Jersey, along a line and 6 miles either side of the line to a point 5 miles SSW of FOND DU LAC. However, the radar is also picking up a squadron of Russian ICBMs... so I wouldn't sweat the thundershowers.
Nice, fun puzzle, Lemonade & Marti! Very nice expo, too, Argyle.
It's so cool to see our Corner friends creating our puzzles.
Thanks!
Neat puzzle, congrats to Jason and Marti. I found the cute theme very quickly.Thanks for the nice expo. Argyle.
According to The Grammarist:
"A regimen is a systematic approach to diet, medicine, or exercise. The word has other meanings, but this is its most common use. Regime can carry the same meaning, but it has additional definitions—mainly, (1) a form of government, and (2) a government in power—that it doesn’t share with regimen. Keeping the words separate might be a good idea for clarity’s sake, but in practice they are both commonly used in reference to systematic approaches to things."
IMO Regime is not incorrect when used for a systematic approach to diet or exercise in place of regimen, which is more common. But regimen cannot be used to mean ruling power.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Lemonade714 and HeartRx, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the fine review.
Wow. Another great team. I am impressed. Great job!
Puzzle was a solid Tuesday offering. Not too hard. Got through it easily. For once, no ink smudges on my newspaper. That is RARA (Latin) 35A.
Did not know AVILA. Perped it.
You forgot the other ALOU, Moises.
Liked the theme. They all jumped out at me.
Like the IPO term. Very good!
Almost wrote in HEWED for 52D, but held off for a couple crosses. SAWED fit better.
Hey, my home town with an E on the front. EERIE.
I can never remember Brian ENO's last name. Thank goodness for ERNIE and TWEETY.
Lots to do today. I had two good friends die on Saturday. First funeral visitation is tonight in Somonauk.
See you tomorrow,
Abejo
(9959495 281)
Fun puzzle, with one inconsistency. All of the other theme answers had the same middle letters in both words, except for "MeatyTweety." Threw me off for a bit because I wasn't familiar with Lara Flynn Boyle.
What a pleasant surprise this morning!
My only nit was 6D stewardess = un-pc, how could stewardess be not computer friendly? ( I actually had to look it up to realize PC means Politically Correct....)
Did you know that Speedy Gonzales had a cousin named Slowpoke Rodriguez? (More can be found here)
& There actually was a Meaty Tweety! (more can be found here)
I can find no visual evidence that Rocket J. Squirrel ever worked out! (Bullwinkle however...)
It is very difficult to find anything derogatory about Micky Mouse. (& if you do it's going to be pretty lame...)
Need I say more?
Dennis:
Thank you for stopping by and best wishes for an easy procedure. marti and I were thinking in terms of a Monday puzzle, so if it seemed a bit easy for a Tuesday...
There have been 4 Alous- Felipe, Mattie and Jesus were bothers and actually played in a single outfield for the Giants one game. Moises was the son/nephew.
Bobby Avila is a bit too obscure for most, especially for an early week puzzle but I remember his playing days well.
Vidwan, my twin, thank you for dropping by and saying hello.
For all you Teachers on the Blog,
This April Fools Joke is going viral!
What a treat to see a Marti puzzle this morning, and then to learn that Jason is our very own Lemonade! And what a delightful SPEEDY run it turned out to be! I got NEEDY SPEEDY right away and that clued me right into the theme. All my favorite cartoons right there in one puzzle! I love a trip down memory lane anytime, and this was one of the most delightful! Thanks for pointing out the circular pattern, Argyle, and for the pic of AVILA. I almost wish we had gotten this puzzle yesterday--would have gotten our week off to a fabulous start.
We are going to take a rare beach walk today.
Have a wonderful day, everybody!
Picture of Rocky
Link Rocket J. Squirrel
Argyle: Nice write-up. Enjoyed your SANTA "shout-out".
I don't believe "working-out" at the gym makes you STOCKY ... maybe Toned, Slimmer or Bulky (if you use heavier weights) ... but STOCKY ... nah!
Plus ... nothing to drink in the grid.
I hate the Puzzle Prohibition era.
Hello, puzzle people! How very impressive to have another puzzle from Jason with super puzzle creator, Marti! Congratulations yet again!
Quick and simple but fun is how I would describe this. Cute theme. I could barely drink my coffee it was so fast. No STINGS attached and no erasures needed.
Off to my day, to quote Abejo.
Have a delightful Tuesday, everyone!
I found this on the internet which is the has the Jonah skit or part of it.
http://www.edsullivan.com/stiller-mearas-1st-performance-on-ed-sullivan/ text
Husker:
re: STAT ... Brett Gardner of the NY Yankees hit a 2-Run, Home Run on Sunday (against the Blue Jays).
As to the Addendum ... sounds like a George Carlin routine.
Finally, I get a few minutes to drop in and say how fun it was to work with Lemony on this one. He had the original theme idea, which we bounced back and forth to refine. I had a feeling that this was just the fun type of early week puzzle that would appeal to Rich - I'm glad you all enjoyed it.
Now I want to see your first solo, Lemony!!
Husker Gary @9:36 I believe the weather man is George Carlin, the "Hippie Dippy Weatherman".
Nice puzzle Lemony and Marti. Faster than yesterday for me.
Had to link this video. Does this remind you of anyone we know?
Hello everybody. Another fun puzzle. Best wishes to you all.
Hi gang -
Fun puzzle, cute theme.
Nicely done, you two.
Being neither bright nor bushy today, I'll sigh off now.
Cool regards!
JzB
Alternate Avila.
Cheers!
JzB
Congratulation Lemon and Marti and CC's CW Corner for spawning all of this talent.
Is it just me or does Bee Bites seem a bit off? Bees don't bite but use a stinger in their tail end. I figured it out but still... Rich is usually picky about that sort of thing, like Marti's Snake in the Grass puzzle. Where am I off base?
Warm weather out here. Sunny and clear.
Barbara, Bonnie (our daughter) and Jordan headed off for a short trip to Monterrey. They will stop at Hearst Castle, Big Sur, the 17-mile drive, etc. Barbara and I have made that trip many times driving up California 1 along the coast. So with no tutoring this week, it's a little quiet and lonely around here.
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Bill G.
I had the same thought about "Bee Bites" being a bit off.
I'm (unfortunately) too familiar with their stingers ... ouch!
As such, I don't think you're "off base" ...
But then again, I questioned whether going to the gym and "working out" would make ROCKY ... STOCKY.
Maybe, toned, in-shape, muscular or even buffed.
STOCKY is more of a "body-type" ...
I didn't get the Nixon connection either until OC4 drew our attention to the old rhyming slur. It's not a perfect model of course because nobody actually said "Tricky Dicky." Anyway, today's theme was complicated because it required two leaps to solve, the first being to supply the missing sobriquet and the second to match it with a rhyming adjective.
Now two leaps is NOTHING compared to the challenges my bright socii are accustomed to solving, but it is more than we expect on a Tuesday (maugre Barry G, TTP & Mari). Why, I've barely opened my eyes for the week ahead...
Tin what would be your clue to derive STOCKY ROCKY as the fill?
BEE BITES always brings back memories
Related to last night's good times, I found "Arthur" on cable late last night and recorded it. It makes me smile and laugh more than any other movie I can recall.
Tin, I think you're right about STOCKY though it's close enough that I didn't notice it as it went by. How about "A heavy-set version of Bullwinkle's pal?"
Regarding my railroad pocket watch, the stem at the top is only for daily winding. There's a small bar that keeps it from being lifted, though I don't know if that would set the watch either. So how do you think you adjust the time setting? (Until I acquired the watch, I had no idea.)
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Lemon
Bullwinkle's hefty (or sturdy, chunky, heavy, heavyset ... pick-one) pal?
BEE STINGS bring back memories.
BEE BITES ... well I don't think I've ever been bitten ...
I don't think bees bite people.
Oh, earlier I forgot to pick my favorite answer. Yeah! It was TIT ...
Is a bee string really a bite?
Never mind, Tin seems to have covered the bee bite/sting issue
Dennis: Good to hear from you. Hope and pray things go well for your procedure.
Jimbo: If you`re still lurking...please check in.
Great puzzle, you two!
Dennis, you MUST have been worried about the procedure; you didn't make a comment about TIT. Hope all went well.
I am so UNPC...
The point of the bee bite clue was that it is not a bite but a STING. Made sense at the time.
I agree about the hefty pal of Bullwinkle, but as you know clues change. If those two are the only nits I am very pleased with the reaction. Thank you all.
Hey Linda, how are you?
Yes, Dennis please let us know you are fine.
Hi All:
Not being a Sunday solver, I missed LEM's IPO. Thanks for making it up for me with Marti today! Argyle - thanks for the writeup.
What I noticed is all the religions were covered. We had Mythology (SATYR), Judeo-Christian (ARKS count), Jewish (HORAS), ISLAM, Satanism (SANTA)*, Baseball, and Cartoons!
Sorry, was that too UN-PC?
SEE what I did there? :-)
Wonderful perp-able puzzle!
IM - True procrastination: I filed my automatic extension on the way to the airport.
Cheers, -T
*at least that's what mom taught us during her extreme years...
Anon @ 10:26, thanks for pointing that out. But the theme was intended to be FUN-Y, with all the rhymes ending in -Y. One theme entry that we decided not to use was BUGS SHRUGS, since it did not end with the same sound.
I really enjoy comments like that, because it makes me think more about "consistency" in the next puzzle.
Lemony: I had no problem with the bee bites. As an alternative how about "police cons" or "bee attacks" as a clue for "stings"
Glad to hear from you, Dennis...hope all goes well.
Congrats Lemon & Marti on a fun Tuesday puzzle.
WEES. Only partial nit - I consider TNT a short form and clue of "demolition need" did not indicate that to me. I filled in from the perps.
i like the police STING, or even the movie, but remember the final clues are not all ours
Greetings!
Great offering, Marti and Lemon! Thanks! Swell review, Santa!
No nits! Tripped on the RARA at first.
Holy smokes! It's HOT in my room. Hopefully air conditioner still works!
Am listening to the dialogue someone posted. It goes on forever. It is correct about Splenda, Aspartame, etc. Guy uses "for you and I", regrettably. Does it ever end?
Dennis: hope all is well!
Cheers!
Keith, I am interested in your experiences with Noh and would love to hear about them. If you are so inclined and have the time maybe you might email me.
Loved the puzzle today, only the center gave me a few problems. Still don't get the Nixon connection though I see the rhyming of cartoon characters. I think it is great that the bloggers are now writing the puzzles!
Really warm in L.A. Today. Tried to do laundry but the machine died in the rinse cycle. Took it as a sign to do the puzzle and sit by the a/c.
Fermatprime ...
You have my sympathy with the heat... and the hopes that the a/c still works... :) usually I test mine by now... but no.... not this year... :) 76 on my deck right now and 89 in my room.... :) :) counting on it cooling down... :) :)
Enjoyed the puzzle and had to chuckle at the Nixon reference... :) :) hehe
Thanx to Argyle, Marti and Lemonaide...
thelma :)
It reached 94 today. Sigh. It's starting.
kjinkc: You mentioned your old computer last night. I have an iMac that's several years old. It's still perfectly functional but I will have to get a new one before too long. I heard on the news today that your operating system, Windows XP, won't be supported anymore and will become increasingly subject to hacks. I don't know what to suggest but you may have to bite the bullet. I hope you can some help so it won't be too unpleasant.
No A/C here. Thank goodness it's not as hot as where FP lives. It was nice down at the beach for a short bike ride today.
I'm sure enjoying watching "Arthur" again.
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BillG:
Today, for the first time this season, I had to turn on the A/C. It's much too early but I believe it will cool down later this week. For a while anyway. I envy you the cool sea breezes.
Lucina, I think you are right. It's supposed to start cooling off here in a day or so. You won't be far behind.
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Bill G - I did a little research and it appears there is something called 'laplink' that will help me transfer data, so I just need to bite the bullet and go pick something out. Maybe I'll spring for a wireless printer while I'm at it. I just pictured retirement to mean I wouldn't have to do all those annoying tasks anymore...boy did I miss that one.
Glad you're enjoying Arthur. I now need to see it again and have some laughs, maybe while I'm setting up a new computer???
Congrats to our constructors. I did the puzzle late last night and wished I could share with somebody but knew I'd be in a little bit of trouble, so I politely kept quiet. And WEES, how many more of our fellow bloggers are going to join the production line???
Yellowrocks,
I would love to talk about the Noh, but I need to keep it short while I struggle through unfinished chapters of a deadlined book.
I have never been to Japan (on my bucket list!), but I have seen a number of native companies on tour in this country and in Scotland, & researched the theater traditions over several years, starting with an epic drama I staged back in '81 ("Flight of the Sea Warriors") which related parts of the mythic and actual history of Japan over several indoor and outdoor stages, each of several acts staged in Kabuki, Noh, Bunraku, and realistic styles. (Ending with the nightly conflagration of a 14' high Torii gate to represent Hiroshima.)
If I can dig up any photos (in garaged boxes) I may send some via email.
I lived for many years with a lovely Japanese lady. She was involved in the production (and probably intensified my interest in the theme). My theatrical interest is that no other culture seems to have used theater to make romantic idealism into its own style. The rules for Noh make it more a ritual than the typical theater--almost on the same par as a tea ceremony. To perform a Noh is to acknowledge the imperfection of realism, and to do it well can only be judged by the Noh master, not the audience.
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