Theme: Send in the Cons - Take a word starting with C O N and parse it as two words with 'con' meaning to scam.
18A. Fool check writers? : CON SIGNERS. Consigners - Those that hand over, such as goods, to another's care as in a consignment shop.
23A. Hoodwink companies? : CON FIRMS. Confirms - Verifies.
36A. Swindle court appointees? : CON JURORS. Conjurors - Ones who practice magic.
52A. Mislead groups of vacationers? : CON TOURS. Contours - The outlines of an object.
57A. Pull a fast one on proctors? : CON TESTERS. Contesters - Ones who dispute an issue.
Argyle here, no lie. I like the five synonyms Jerry came up with for "con". Very similar to last fall's puzzle gimmick except for that. (Sept.)
Across:
1. Corp.-partnership hybrids : LLCs. (Limited Liability Company )
5. Turkish title : AGA
8. Prepare for a trip : PACK
12. Icy-road application : SALT. related; 68A. Word before fall or ball : SNOW
13. Intravenous substance : FLUID
16. Final or midterm : EXAM
17. Reader of product instructions : USER
20. Verbalized : SAID
22. "Do unto __ ..." : OTHERS
25. High spirits : GAIETY
29. Take out, as text : DELETE
30. Award recipient : HONOREE
31. "Give it a shot" : "TRY"
32. Papal crown : TIARA
35. Bank teller's call : "NEXT!"
39. Pail-of-water fetcher of rhyme : JILL
42. Japanese cartoon art : ANIME
43. Kenny G's horn : SAX
46. Como or Crosby, notably : CROONER. Perry or Bing.
49. Infuriate : ENRAGE
51. Prom attendee : SENIOR
54. Visit briefly : STOP IN
56. Certain : SURE
61. Evens up : TIES
63. Away from the wind : ALEE
64. Dog-__: folded at the corner : EARED
65. Grabs a bite : EATS
66. Change direction : VEER
67. Classified messages : ADS
Down:
1. Pelican State sch. : LSU. (Louisiana State University)
2. Cowboy using a rope : LASSOER
3. In a tidy way : CLEANLY
4. Bitter discord : STRIFE
5. Org. with Titans and Chiefs : AFC. (American Football Conference)
6. Doom partner : GLOOM
7. Em and Bee : AUNTS
8. Income sources for retirees : PENSIONS
9. Cut with a pink slip : AXE. Whoa! Don't like seeing cuts and pensions so close together.
10. 52-Down, for one : CAR. 52D. 1980s-'90s Olds : CIERA
11. Metric measures: Abbr. : KMs
14. "Kinda" suffix : ISH
15. California's San __ Padres : DIEGO. Baseball team in the National League Western Division. (fourth place)
19. Nana : GRAN
21. "Me, too" : "DITTO"
23. Ill. summer hrs. : CDT. (Central Daylight Time)
24. Jockey's strap : REIN
26. Before, to Byron : ERE
27. Nickname on the range : TEX
28. Nevertheless : YET
30. Big name in spydom : HARI
33. Partly open : AJAR
34. Hosiery mishap : RUN
36. Religious place of seclusion : CLOISTER
37. Black cat crossing one's path, to some : OMEN
38. Rates on Monopoly deeds : RENTS
39. Store founder Penney and golfer Snead : JCs. Snead is the nephew of the legendary Sam Snead.
40. Wrath : IRE
41. Actor Chaney : LON
43. Lizardlike : SAURIAN. from Greek (and still Greek to me.)
44. Go along with : AGREE TO
45. Ballot box fillers? : Xes
47. Quick message : NOTE
48. Unevenly notched, as leaves : EROSE
50. Paths to take : ROUTES
53. When right turns may be allowed : ON RED
55. Educ. fundraiser : PTA
57. Ohio NBAer : CAV. (Cleveland Cavaliers)
58. Cheer for a matador : ¡OLÉ!
59. Born, in wedding announcements : NÉE
60. '60s activist gp. : SDS. (Students for a Democratic Society)
62. U-turn from NNE : SSW
Argyle
Writing limericks can be a curse.
ReplyDeleteWith only five lines, must be terse.
Some readers woefully
Deny that it's poetry,
While others claim it's CON verse!
Some say limericks are just an attempt
To write verse that from sense is exempt.
They say it's a tease
Written only to please,
It's enticing, but really CON tempt!
What an interesting theme from Jerry Edelstein, and thanks Argyle for your clear explanation.
ReplyDeleteHere in Minnesota, it's less than two weeks to go before our tournament. Click on the link for more details; I bet you'll recognize the names of most of the constructors!
I also want to share with you a show biz-themed tribute puzzle, larger than usual (19x), called Give Our Regards to a Broad .... After completing the puzzle, you may want to check out its "midrash." My friend Ellen Ross and I hope you like this!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteVery enjoyable punny puzzle for me. Never heard of JC Snead, but fortunately I'm aware of the department store. Everything else was smooth sailing today!
Really witty theme, and write up.
ReplyDeleteI see a resurgence in MATA HARI and SDS as fill.
SAURIAN is easy to remember if you like DINOSAURS the big lizards.
I liked the alliteration of Crosby Como as Crooners.
Happy Tuesday
CONTESTERS might also be people who repeatedly enter contests.
ReplyDeleteDinosaurs are lizard-like. Ones with good vocabularies are thesaurians.
There once was a contrary Rastafarian
His restaurant was anti-vegetarian.
The meals, al fresco
Featured snake tails and gecko,
And other lizards at the diner saurian!
Good morning everybody,
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle was pretty easy for me. I didn't know SAURIAN or EROSE, but the PERPS took care of that.
Off to read your comments. Have a great day!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jerry Edelstein, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle for the fine review.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the HEE HAW bit, Argyle. I always liked that show, way back when.
Got through most of this easily. The CON theme was good. Very clever.
ON RED for cars turning right is dangerous for a pedestrian coming from the right. The car drivers seem to look left for oncoming traffic, but seldom look right for pedestrians. After almost being hit by a school bus once, I am really careful.
SAURIAN was arrived at with some perps. That's OK.
We are getting SDS a lot lately.
Nice to see Mata HARI again. I miss her.
Well, I am back in Johnsonburg. Hope to get all my planting done this week, and some other jobs as well. Then off to New York City for a Mission Trip with our church.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(198)
Musings
ReplyDelete-I first thought the trick was adding an “N” and making a silly definition like morphing COSIGNER (see second musing) into CONSIGNER but then CONFIRMS cured me of that. Very nice puzzle.
-We cosigned a huge loan to bring our niece over here from China and then fought like hell to get it back. NEVERTHELESS, Catherine has just graduated with honors and is a lovely young lady.
-I forgot to PACK underwear on a Florida trip with 50 kids and made the mistake of telling the another sponsor. In Cocoa Beach we always parked near a porno shop across the street from the Ron Jon SHop and I found some strawberry flavored substitutes on my seat when I got back to the bus.
-A lotta snow melting SALT come from this mine 600’ under Hutchinson, KS
-Instructions? Products come with instructions?
-“Give it a try, it’s not as bad as you think”, was advice I gave often at roller coasters
-AUNT Bee was a NY-trained actress known for being very difficult on the Mayberry set and she died as a recluse. So sad.
-I’ve taken to saying I’ll be home at 11:30 ISH to give me some wiggle room
-Playing Monopoly can really test a friendship!
-SAURIAN – duh! Tyrannosaurus = terrible lizard.
-My paper ROUTE was a 50’s equivalent of a McJob and I learned a lot from that experience
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteEasy today although I skipped the NW until halfway through. After the second 'CON', I went and pre-filled the rest of the first 3 letters of the theme words. Luckily I made the leap from dinosaurs to lizards and got SAURIANS easily.
A few prickly fills like LLC'S and EROSE were easily gotten from the perps.
I agree with Abejo on the special need for caution regarding pedestrians during right ON RED turns.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI found this a tad crunchy for a Tuesday but the perps saved the day and the TADA. Had Hale (Nathan) before Hari and gram before gran. Saurian was an unknown.
Thanks, Jerry, and thanks Argyle for a "con-cise" expo.
Off to the opthamologist for biannual check- up and the dreaded dilating drops!
Have a great day.
The only reason I got SAURIAN without first getting all the perps, was realizing the connection to -SAURUS as a suffix on most dinosaur names. The theme came early, after the second one appeared.
ReplyDeleteA pretty satisfying quickie today.
I do like the shorter more legible robot tests this week too.
Good morning all.
ReplyDeleteI've been at the millstone all morning and am taking a break now.
Nice puzzle and nice write up. I finished around 4:30 AM, and didn't jot down any notes in notepad.
However, I do recall a couple of errors. I had the teams in the NFL (accurate) but not specifically in the AFC (precise). That one took very little time to find, because the perps weren't coming.
Not so lucky on the second one. In spite of the theme, I first entered the Pontiac fIERo instead of the Olds CIERA. I changed to a C as I entered CONTOURS, but never changed that o.
Couldn't find my error when I didn't get the TADA, and eventually had to change the game to regular.
2 silly mistakes and 2 failures this week.
Back to the grind.
A fun romp this morning. Liked the theme and it did help to figure it out early. Also nice to see the CSO to Katherine Hepburn :-)
ReplyDeleteThe local paper did print Saturday's puzzle with the correct grid in today's paper. No apology for the dastardly act, however.
TTP, I remember the Fiero well. I especially remember one of the trade rags calling it "A sheep in wolf's clothing." Pretty accurate, IMO.
Grrrr. I rarely goof up this early in the week, but that first corner initial thing just didn't work for me. I couldn't remember which state had Pelicans and so put FSU. The trouble I had not getting EROSE was more my own fault. Gloomy weather outside didn't help. But hey, the sun will come out tomorrow--right, Annie?
ReplyDeleteOwen, your limericks gave me a chuckle, at any rate.
Have a good Tuesday, everybody!
Morning everyone!
ReplyDeleteI made the same error as TTP with NFL before AFC - thank goodness for the theme. Thank you Jerry for the puzzle. Argyle - I forgot that Hee Haw song until the link. Thanks for bringing back memories of GRAN & Gramps living room on Saturdays.
I still have two things to look up, EROSE and HARI. Perps helped, but I still don't know the full CONtext of either.
Owen #1 - very nice. LLOL (literally LOL).
Fav was GAIETY - I don't get to hear it enough.
While in Scotland last week, I wondered if we could turn left ON RED. Steve? The other thing I noticed was round-a-bouts went clockwise while those in Boston go counter-clockwise. Everything changes when you drive on the other side of the road...
Cheers, -T
A very pleasant puzzle. I enjoyed the theme. Thanks Jerry and Argyle.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were visiting in Scotland, we were crossing the street in Edinburgh. Buses were lined up along the curb. Barbara stepped out from between two of them ready to walk across the street. A man grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back. She was looking left just as a taxi zoomed by from the right. Her savior knew we were tourists and knew what to expect.
We just had our second power failure of the week. It only lasted a couple of minutes. A power failure always reminds me of how dependent I've become on the old AC.
Hello, puzzlers.
ReplyDeleteWBS. A very enjoyable puzzle today and my pencil sashayed right along, across then down. Argyle, thank you for explaining JC Snead as the only one I know of is Sam.
I picked up on the theme after the second one and that helped.
GAIETY reminded me of the good times I had last week with both the CA Coven and my friends. At times I laughed until my sides hurt.
Have a delightful Tuesday, everyone!
Hi Y'all! Fun, clever puzzle, Jerry! Fun songs, Argyle! Everyone needs a bit of silliness in their lives.
ReplyDeleteAfter yesterdays plethora of names, only one today. Only unknown was SAURIAN.
We had a very unusual steady heavy rain from noon yesterday until well after 3 a.m. I think it rained more after that, but I was oblivious. No wind, thank goodness. Having been in drouth state, this is welcome, but I was wondering if I shoulda built an ark.
Lately, Ive seen the answer "SDS" (60's radical group) appear. Every time I see that I think of 2 things:
ReplyDelete1. My Dad was a delegate at the '68 Chicago Democratic Convention and would tell us what was happening there that TV wasn't showing.
2. When I was in my middle 20's I met a guy who was 10 years older than me and was the leader of the Chicago faction of SDS. Great guy as well. Became very successful financially in life, yet never lost his Liberal views.
Life's Funny sometimes.
Well, it seems like EROSE is close to erode and erosion, but applies to botany only. YR?
ReplyDeleteThe left-side-of-the-road thing seems to date to the 1300's and keeping potential threats on the right - your sward swinging side for most of us (sorry lefties, you're on your own). In Cairo I found they'd mostly drive on the right but going clockwise in a turnabout was not uncommon and a RED light was a suggestion, not a rule.
HG - have you read SALT: A World History by Kurlansky? It looks at history via the SALT trade. I found it fun and interesting.
I pulled a 2+ lb zucchini out of the garden. The thing is the size of my thigh. Anyone have a good recipe for zucchini bread?
Cheers, -T
Good morning all,
ReplyDeleteClever theme, but of course I saw nothing except the cons which added a few letters. The downs came much faster that treading across. Had never heard of saurian, and was surprised that the papal crown was called a tiara. True?Easily wagged my last hole: erode crossing contesters.
Heat wave is slowly subsiding. Love that fog that rolls over our mts each evening. Have a wonderful day.
Anonymous T
ReplyDeleteHere's an old recipe that we used when my garden had sun and veggies were plentiful. Now the trees give me too much shade.
Zucchini Bread
3 eggs beaten 'til frothy
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. veg oil
1 T. vanilla
Beat these ingredients 'til thick and lemon colored.
Add: 2 c. grated zuc.
2 c. sifted flour (does anyone sift anymore?)
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
opt.-add 1c. raisins, walnuts or currents( we add cut up apricots)
Pour into a well oiled lg. tube pan or 2 loaf pans. Bake at 350-60 min
My favorite zuke recipe is the old Chocolate cake recipe I found in Sunset Mag years ago.
Thanks for the expo, Argyle.
ReplyDeleteOoops!
Had SAURIAL rather than SAURIAN. SLOW BALL and SLOW FALL kinda-sorta made sense, until they didn't.
@Anonymous T - concur about the "Salt" book. highly entertaining for what would seem to be a very limited subject matter.
JD - Thanks - it sounds tasty. I'll give that a TRY and report back.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I sift flour every Christmas for my pizzelles. That's what GRAN AUNT Jessie SAID; that's what I do.
Cheers, -T
Hola Everyone, Another quick solve today. I had some of the answers filled in and hadn't even read the clues yet.
ReplyDeleteSaurian was a new word for me. I'm always learning something by doing crossword puzzles. But it filled in with the perps.
My only nit today was the fill of Kindaish. Spell check doesn't like it either!!
Thanks, Argyle for a great expo today. I'll have to go back to look at the links later today. Have a lot to get caught up on after being away for four days.
Have a great day, everyone.
I was ready to post very early today, but for some reason my PC did not like the links I found, & crashed twice.
ReplyDeleteSo here goes, piecemeal, with a different set of links:
Sign seen in a Consignment store.
Avg Joe@9:35 This paper CONfirmed their error with an apology!
CED - Just a PSA - Cyrptolocker and Cryptowall are nasty ransome-wares that are recirculating with a vengeance via email and drive-by ad placements.
ReplyDeleteIf you see a pop-up that says pay money, unplug your PC at once. There's about a 80% chance you can get most data back without paying the ransome (do not turn it back on, take out the hard drive and put it into another box).
Though the tech guy might cost more, at least he is an honest hard-worker and not some Uzbekistan scum.*
C, -T
*not saying Uzbekistanies are scum, just the criminal types making $1M / week on this.
Japanese Conjurors.
ReplyDeleteFunny Contours (Well that was anti-climatic...)
Old Contesters
OK, lets see who wins this staring contest...
Anonymous T, nothing like that, just a blue screen saying my computer encountered an error & had to restart...
ReplyDeleteHe took one quick reCON, then CONtributed, CONcisely and with CONviction, "I CON do it."
ReplyDeleteCONtentedly CONfirming the CONsequences of his CONquest of today's CONtest...
CED, I had never heard of ransomware. That is nasty stuff. I hope the originators spend some time in jail.
ReplyDeleteAnonT, I LOVED the Japanese magicians! Thanks. Where did you find that video? I've always preferred magic with a sense of humor rather than some guy who makes an elephant disappear.
WEES.
ReplyDeleteChickie@1:54: "ish" isn't a suffix added to "kinda" (i.e. kindaish), "ish" is a suffix that means "kinda". As in, "We should be there around six-ish".
ReplyDeleteBill G, you are CONverse, (as a noun...)
ReplyDeleteOops, maybe it was as an adjective...
ReplyDeleteAvg Joe,
ReplyDeleteThat's a funny quip about the Fiero. "A sheep in wolf's clothing" indeed.
Take a look at what this guy in Canada did to his Fiero ?
Hey Bill G, one day after you brought it up.
ReplyDeleteIs Jef Mallett getting his inspiration from the Blog?
TTP, that's pretty amazing! I can't help but wonder what the handling will be like with a mid-ship engine and chassis that was never intended to handle any kind of power. But the guy obviously knows a hell of a lot more about cars than the avg shade tree mechanic, so it will probably be a fun ride. An attention getter, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Cons...
ReplyDeleteSeven posts, CED?
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder if even CC has abandoned this blog. That write-up on Sunday was the definition of "mailing it in."
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling she may be going down the route Angela took.
Bill G. - While I don't mind being CONfused with the much wittier and entertaining CED, I'd still like (even as an 8th post) to know how he finds this stuff. The CONJURORS were amazingly funny as was the CON conning the CON (telemarketer).
ReplyDeleteRansomeware has been around for about 4 or so years. The 1st ransome ware was fairly easy to crack, however Cryptolocker, introduced lated last year) uses good encryption and until recently if you didn't pay (in BitCoins) there was no hope for your data (there's one little flaw in the code that allows you to find the key if you're lucky). Cryptowall seems to be Cryptolocker with worm ability to infect other computers on the network.
I just watched Lego the Movie with the kids. I won't say run out and get it, but if you want something entertaining to watch with teens or younger, this is a good one. The humor is subtle and the story poignant.
I hope C.C. doesn't close this down like Angela did (I read Angela's blog before finding C.C.), but if she and Argyle have to put up with constant crud it may no longer be worth their while OR they may insist on non-anon (i.e. blue) postings. So please stop.
Time to make my to-do list for tomorrow; my mini stay-cation is over.
Cheers, -T
Where is Desper-Otto? Did I miss his vacation post?
ReplyDeleteThere is one on Monday@6:45am.
ReplyDelete