Oh, Jeffrey Wechsler, what did you do to me? When a puzzle begins with 1A as part of the theme you know you are going to have to work for your supper. Confidently putting in AMERICAN (the airline of the Admirals Club) and then ATL as 1D and MAD as 2D, I got slapped in the face with 3D which had to be RET(ired). Scuttling along like a beetle, I went to the next starred clue and knew Centurion was one of many AmEx cards, which gave me the theme; revived, I went back and fixed the beginning and had a mostly smooth solve. I loved the theme for this holiday with AMERICAN the unsaid beginning to each starred answer. The thought of the invisible American in each answer brought me to Mr. Ellison. Without any politics or religion subplot, there are so many reasons I am proud to be an American and proud to blog this fun work from JW. A few unknowns and some distant memories, but it all filled. Aside from the 9 short theme fill (if you see asterisks you know there are fill longer than the designated theme fill in the grid) there are some crunchy, yummy fill. INGENUE, PUMMELS, SNEERED, TIEPOLO, UNTAMED, BIO-DOME, LET ME TRY, LUTENIST, TREE BARK all are great. Of course to get this many interesting things in the fill, you are going to need some short fill and JW goes the acronym route, I hope that does not make you acrimonious. So let's get to the fireworks.
1A. *Admirals Club carrier : AIRLINES. (8). American Airlines.
9A. *Rose variety : BEAUTY. (6). American Beauty.
29A. *Centurion card issuer : EXPRESS. (7). American Express. Worked for them for a while.
37A. *Entertainment phenomenon since 2002 : IDOL. (4). American Idol.
38A. *TV show that had a 50th anniversary celebration in 2002 : BANDSTAND. (9). American Bandstand.
41A. *Line of 18-inch dolls : GIRL. (4). American Girl. This was 4 letters but the one I needed the most help on.
51A. *PBS cultural documentary series : MASTERS. (7). American Masters. I do appreciate PBS.
70A. *Armed forces support group : LEGION. (6). American Legion. Very important in New England where I grew up.
and the reveal
71A. Apt adjective for today that's needed to make sense of eight puzzle answers : AMERICAN. (8).
Across:
15. Cork, essentially : TREE BARK. I bet you did not know all of THIS.
16. "Right away, boss!" : I'M ON IT. An interesting vowel consonant progression, with its partner...
17. "I'd like a shot" : LET ME TRY.
18. Like some windshields : TINTED.
19. Condescends : STOOPS. These are not synonymous for me at all. How could you STOOP so low, does not equate to he CONDESCENDED to speak to the crowd. IMO.
21. __ tide : NEAP.
22. Toot : JAG. A bender.
25. River in Hades : LETHE. For Greek scholars, I guess I forgot about this ONE, not as famous as STYX. (4:28).
27. Stylish '60s Londoner : MOD. The mods and the rockers ruled my teen age years.
33. Beats badly : PUMMELS. Not to be confused with Pommel.
35. Know : BE SURE. My mind went here....
36. Kitchen spray : PAM. Did you this is an acronym for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff?
44. Word with job or laborer : DAY.
45. Bahamian capital : NASSAU. A real gimme for us here in So.Fla.
49. Showed contempt : SNEERED.
52. Turkish honorific : AGA. Not a British cook stove.
53. Speak : ORATE. Not related to O Ration the favorite food for Orangutans.
55. Woven thing : WEB. Tangled usually...
56. Wax-wrapped import : EDAM. Cheesy. Sub theme? 50D. Parmesan alternative : ROMANO. I get them together.
58. Wiser partner? : SADDER. There are many things we all learn the hard way.
62. The NFL's "Golden Arm" : UNITAS. Loved those high tops.
64. Closed ecosystems : BIODOMES.
68. They're likely to be edited : RUN-ONS.
69. Renaissance musician : LUTENIST. New word for me. Just don't see that many Lutes outside of GOT.
Down:
1. N.L. East team : ATLanta Braves. Are they and Cleveland next after the Washington Redskins?
2. Choler : IRE.
3. Like Gen. Powell : RETired.
4. NASA moon landers : LEMS. An unintentional SO to this blogger, and a reference to a junked name for the Lunar Excursion Module which is apparently now just LM.
5. "That's doubtful" : I BET. She asked you out?
6. Intl. alliance since 1949 : NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Acronym time. part II ( I do not count PAM as so few know this is an acronym).
7. Director Morris et al. : ERROLS. Flynn is too easy but is this one too HARD?
8. Video chat choice : SKYPE. Great tool for overseas business. Not an acronym, not a portmanteau, but close.
9. Small amount : BIT.
10. "8 Mile" star : EMINEM. Marshall Bruce Mathers, III is among the top ten in career album sales. He is an twisted acronym.
11. Top-notch : A-ONE. Do you like their steak sauce?
12. Wild : UNTAMED.
13. 18th-century Venetian painter : TIEPOLO. Just as Erroll Morris is arguably the greatest documentary director, this prolific PAINTER may be the best of his time, but is also not a household name.
14. Until now, to CPAs : YTD. Year To Date.
20. Mar. honoree : ST. PATrick.
22. Son and brother of George : JEB. Clearly Bush league cluing here. John Ellis Bush.
23. Tool for fellers? : AXE. More SSO here.
24. Tracking aid: Abbr. : GPS. Global Positioning System.
26. Wellpoint competitor : HUMANA. Health care giants.
28. Broadband letters : DSL. Digital Subscriber Line. Beginning to see red? 48D. PC port : USB. Universal Serial Bus. 62D. High-tech address : URL. Uniform Resource Locator.
30. Belarus currency : RUBLE. A lucky guess.
31. Historical period : ERA.
32. Shipping worker : SENDER.
34. Core : MIDST.
36. Korean musician with the hit "Gangnam Style" : PSY. 15 minutes over? Do you want a Link?
39. Certain parents, to their tots : DADAS.
40. __ in November : N AS.
41. Fed. procurement agency : GSA. General Services Administration.
42. Vamp opposite : INGENUE. Ah, all the poor ingenues who flocked to Hollywood.
43. Grade school focus : READING. 'Riting and 'Rithmatic.
46. Darn, say : SEW. Socks, not curses.
47. "There you __!" : ARE. Yes I am right here.
51. Pizza order : MEDIUM. Not in my house.
54. Drum with a sitar : TABLA. A total learning experience. Join and READ.
57. Yours, in Tours : A TOI.
59. Lavish attention : DOTE.
60. Linda of Broadway's "Jekyll & Hyde" : EDER.
61. Rice-A-__ : RONI. Still a San Francisco treat.
63. Federal ID : SSN. Social Security Number.
65. Karaoke need, briefly : MICrophone. Not always are you told it is an abbreviation.
66. That: Sp. : ESA.
67. Where many stand and wait: Abbr. : STN. Station. A little POETRY dear to me to end the day. MILTON.
A Happy Fourth of July to all of you, happy birthday America and many more; 238 candles! and thank you JW for another challenge which both suits the day but also shows the diversity of clues and life. Lemonade out.
44 comments:
Today's Cryptic clue for an answer in the current puzzle:
Pirate's lair where rockets are heard (6)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Independence Day is the fourth of July
In celebration sky rockets will fly.
The night sky will bloom
As the fireworks boom
And dogs hide under beds where they cry!
Free from that nutty King George,
No more will his tax raise our gorge
By democracy lighted,
Thirteen states, all united,
With taxes of our own now to forge!
This day let us have our flag wave
In honor of past patriots brave
In this land of the free
We can anything be,
And at holiday sales we can save!
Morning, all!
Filled in AIRLINES based on the perps without understanding what it meant, but got the theme with EXPRESS. That let me zoom through the rest of the puzzle with ease.
Minor speedbumps in the SE corner with TABLA (I had TABOR) and EDER (who?), but that was really it.
Moving the family barbecue to tomorrow due to the impending approach of Hurricane Aurthur. It's so bright and sunny outside right now, but that's not going to last very long...
Happy 4th of July, everyone!
I thoroughly enjoyed this Friday offering from Jeffrey and splendid write-up from Lemony. Believe it or not, I found the article on cork to be very interesting. Now I know how my wine stoppers are made!
I had most of AIRLINES and BEAUTY filled in at 1- and 9-Across, when it dawned on me that they were both missing AMERICAN. So the rest of the grid filled fairly easily.
I did a double and triple take when I saw SENDER for "Shipping worker." Huh? Is that a real job title?
"What do you do?"
"I work in shipping. I'm a SENDER..."
("Ohhh-kay....")
LUTENIST was a learning moment and total WAG. Thank goodness I guessed correctly on the "E" because I did not know Linda EDER.
Stay safe, those of you in Arthur's path!
I didn't get to yesterday's puzzle until late. My state is Missouri, so my entry for @HeartRx is:
almond....AL MO ND!
This is my holiday to be on call, so I'll have to tackle today's puzzle later. I live in a small city, so no paper today for the holiday. I'll have to find it on the web. Happy July 4th to the corner and thanks to all who have served in the military to protect our freedoms!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
No cruciverb again today, so used he Trib site.
Of course I entered AMERICAN for 1A. ATL worked for 1D. Thought I was on a roll. That changed quickly.
I noticed the asterisks and then EXPRESS without AMERICAN made me stop for a minute. I looked around and figured 1A must be AIRLINES and AMERICAN was the missing word in the asterisked words. OK, that helped.
LETHE was slow in coming.
TREE BARK was easy once Imhad a few perps.
TIEPOLO was unknown. Perped.
I even got A TOI once I had the A TI. The O was an easy wag.
We a leaving shortly for the Erie area. See you tomorrow from Edinboro. PA.
Abejo
(404)
Kaboom! And all that jazz....
Back from our Austin adventure, and exhausted after walking the full length of Texas State Highway 165 -- all 0.51 miles of it. Visited the graves of several Texas luminaries: Stephen F. Austin (father of Texas), former governor Ann Richards ("Poor George, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth."), former governor John Connally (remember Nov 22, 1963?) and Barbara Jordan (first African American Congresswoman to come from the deep south. Remember that booming voice?). Velly intellesting.
Got the missing American theme early on, and that helped with the solve. Everything I know about cork I learned from a Walt Disney cartoon about Fredinand the bull. A-One sauce? Only if the steak is otherwise inedible. SADDER, Budweiser reminds me of "I hope, and I pray, for Hester to win just one more A." Husker?
Our little town's planning a flag ceremony, parade (lots of folks in golf carts), and a fireworks extravaganza to celebrate the day. Should be nice.
Hi Y'all! This turned out fun although a bit frustrating in places. Thanks Jeffrey. I had a rough start since I thought an "Admiral's Club carrier" was "flagship". Finally perped LINES and WAG'd AIR. Astonished to find it right. I filled it but the whole puzzle was perp & WAG with two red-letter runs.
Lemonade, Very interesting expo, especially the cork talk. Chuckled at the acronym/acrimonious play on words.
I confidently wrote in GIRL and got my first hint of the theme. One of my nieces collected these dolls and had matching outfits for herself. Oddly, she didn't like Barbie Dolls.
"I'd like a shot" wasn't Scotch or tequila or anything else alcoholic.
Didn't know EDER or ERROL or TIEPOLO and had never heard of Wellpoint.
Another learning moment among many was finally seeing the name of the "Gangnam Guy". Never could get what they were calling him.
My flag is flying on my front porch. As a woman, I'm glad to be living in America where we have some rights and freedoms not afforded to some women in other countries. Happy Fourth everyone.
Happy 4th of July.
I zoomed along with this, perping PSY, until I came to the SE corner.
I WAGged TABLA and LUTENIST. I had bioNome,doubted it, but let it stand. I didn't know EDER, so I missed the D cell. I should have done an alphabet run in my head for the D.
Marti, after your post last night I realized I missed the Boston Pops for the first time in years.Drat! It's always lovely.
CONDESCEND has more than one meaning
-to behave patronizingly
I hated it when waitresses would condescend to my blind friend by asking me what my friend would like to order, as if she were a toddler.
-to do something that one regards as below one's dignity
The male chauvinist would never condescend(stoop)to do anything he regarded as "women's work."
Good morning everyone.
Happy Fourth. Enjoyed this AMERICAN puzzle. Had the same NW experience as Lemonade. NATO seemed solid, so when the unifier fell, this area was quickly filled in.
I had no trouble with STOOPS. Only white-out was to unravel the IDOL/TIEPOLO sector. Nice challenging but doable puzzle today. No searches needed. Good job, Jeffrey.
BTW - A LUTENIST may also be called a lutist, which is what most of us would do.
Tye-paw-law, correct for Tiepolo?
Good morning all. Happy Fourth of July !
Must be brief for now.
Nice theme for the day. Thank you Jeffrey and thank you Lemonade.
My GSD does not like fireworks. It may be a looooong day.
See you all later.
Very apropos theme for today's puzzle, 'Murica! as we Southerners tend to say.
I almost got it all done but I was PUMMELED by 33 across. I went with HAMMERED until the red letters helped me out.
Happy 4th of July to all my fellow countrymen and women!
I thought this puzzle was being awfully casual with the names of TV shows (though apparently a lot of people refer to "American Idol" as "Idol") until I got down to the reveal (why did it have to be the last word) and the scales fell from my eyes.
I'm trying to decide if my new pet peeve will be people who refer to today as The Fourth of July (or even worse, July 4th) instead of Independence Day. An announcer on the radio this morning said that, 138 years ago, today became the 4th of July. As if it hadn't been the 4th of July the year before? The only problem with this peeve is that I tend to refer to today as "The Fourth" too.
So . . . Happy Independence Day to all of US.
[11:02]
What an appropriate, fun puzzle with some upscale fill to work on the Fourth! If TABLA, LUTENIST and EDER turn out to be right, I’m ecstatic!
Musings
-I’ve never flown an AIRLINE for any reason but price and have never used a credit card for bonus points
-BANDSTAND was an after-school staple at Grandma Opal’s. We didn’t have a CRT.
-Granddaughter Elise on her 9th BD with AMERICAN GIRL doll in matching outfit and mom
-Every man would say LET ME TRY IT in this situation
-Poor Bob STOOPS can’t get clued or win many BCS bowl games
-Yeah, I’d call this a NEAP tide
-A lawyer should BE SURE before… – “I BET these gloves will fit OJ perfectly”
-EDAM and ROMANO? That’s casting pearls before this Velveeta swine
-We had to SKYPE our classmate in Florida during our 50th last week because she must stay there and take care of her mother who has multiple health issues
-Portmanteau? Imagine my surprise when I heard W.C. Fields use that word for this item in his left hand in My Little Chickadee
-PSY hated America until he started selling records here
-You bet Otto, I remember Robert Preston’s AVOWING/AVERING his preferences to Buddy Hackett!
Happy Independence Day, my fellow AMERICANS! (I'm with you, Al Cyone).
I love a parade and this puzzle felt like a parade of AMERICAN EXPRESSions. WEES. Of course Admirals' Club meant I started with AMERICAN and I thought, how appropriate of Jeffrey. Wrong! As soon as I read the downs I was SURE that meant trouble but it was soon corrected.
On my first trip to Portugal I learned about CORK bark and the numerous products made from it. The most surprising was the shoes.
But draaaaaat! POMMEL not PUMMEL raised my IRE and gave me a DNF. Wellpoint is completely off my radar.
Otherwise this was completely doable and enjoyable. Thank you, Jeffrey and LEM!
Have a wonderful holiday, everyone! Stay safe. Happy 248th, U.S.A. and thank you to all service men and women for safekeeping our freedoms!
My Citi Card with AAdvantage miles has afforded me at least a dozen free trips. I love it!
My IRE is up as well for missing the PBS concert while I waited and waited and waited for Jeopardy which never aired. Instead a 5 hour babbling about the monsoon storm ensued. Yes, I'm upset. Can anyone tell me who won last night?
Have a great day, everybody!
Montana
Well, my friends and countrymen, it seem you need to go back to school for either math lessons or history lessons. We declared our independence from England when the 2nd Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on this date in 1776. That was 238 years ago. Not 138 or 248 years ago as some of you think.
Happy Independence Day. Or happy 4th
Lucina -- Try this link.t
Oops! That was a typo and should have been 238. My mistake.
Thank you, desper-otto.
The cryptic clue seems very, er, cryptic but I have two possibilities.
Inanehiker @ 7:25, good one! (I’m still trying to think of one for TX…)
YR, I ended up missing a lot of the Pops, too. We had torrential rain and the TV went out, along with our internet. Bah humbug. But we have tickets on Sunday afternoon for Tanglewood, so I will end up getting my fix after all.
HG, I was curious about your link to the NEAP tide image. It was Gorey Harbour, on the Isle of Jersey off the coast of France. Here’s another place that has amazing tides. Can you guess where?
Argyle, TIEPOLO = tee-EP-uh-low, although I have heard his name pronounced the way you did.
Lucina - re: Jeopard. I believe it was the previous winner. Had to do with in 1950 Scotland -England border was closed 1st time in 400 years to recover this object. Ans. Stone of Scone.
Heart Rx - Looks like Bay of Fundy. St. John, NB area?
Spitz, yep! I went there as a teen with my parents, and we saw the tidal bore one day in Moncton. Amazing!
Good Morning:
I guess I was just not thinking clearly because I didn't get the theme until the reveal. (Shame on me.). In my defense, though, perhaps I was still shell-shocked from my ill-advised foray yesterday to the Bronx Zoo, AKA, my local supermarket. When will I ever learn not to risk life and limb grocery shopping the day before a major holiday?
I found the puzzle crunchy in several areas, even for a Friday. So many unknowns, at least to me: Tiepolo, Eder, Tabla, Morris, etc. Fortunately, the perps and a wag or two saved the day and I managed to finish w/o help. No problem with St. Pat, though! Thanks, Jeffry, for a real work-out, and thanks, Lemony, for an excellent expo.
Happy Independence Day to all. Stay safe everyone. PK, any updates on your brother?
Fun, appropriate and easy theme for the day. Happy 4th to you all!
The theme was so obvious to me, that I grokked it early enough for it to help a lot with other areas I didn't know, like TIEPOLO and LUTENIST even though those may not have crossed theme entries, they were in turn helped by things that did.
One area that took a while to correct was THREE RS for READING. That corner brightened immensely once I let go of that error. I also had ERRORS for RUN-ONS until that was fixed.
Enjoy the weekend!
Irish Miss, Thank you for asking about my brother. After saying they were to do brain surgery yesterday evening, the surgeon then postponed it until Monday when all of his team can be present. I don't know if we are more nervous about the surgery or the decision to postpone now that we know he needs surgery. They woke him up every hour last night to see if he'd had any more strokes and he is very tired. I am currently awaiting word about his condition before traveling an hour to see him.
Wow. A Friday puzzle I could actually finish. Great. Thanks Jeff and Lemonade.
For 43D, I wanted THREE Rs. It fits.
And for 33A, Do vaulters pummel the pommel horse?
Greg
Oops. Forgot about the NEAP tide.
It reminds me of the fictional town of Portwenn (actually Port Isasc in Corwsall) on PBS "Doc Martin". Love the time lapse used during the intro. You see all the boats beached.
Greg
A good way to sing The Star Spangled Banner
Lemon: Nice write-up & informative links.
WOW !!! An AMERICAN theme on the 4th of July. What a concept ...
Only needed "Every-Single-Perp" for ERROLS, TIEPOLO, TABLA, LUTENIST and EDER.
Fave today, of course, was the "clue" for 17-A. "I'd like a shot"...
That also gave me an idea ... and I got diverted (and it wasn't even Sunset yet).
Cheers!!!
A delightful theme for this special day--many thanks, Jeffrey. Didn't get it until the reveal but it sure helped when I did. But this was still a real Friday challenge for me. Had DEIGNS before STOOPS for the longest time, and GEODOMES instead of BIODOMES. Kept thinking that CORK might have to do with Ireland (okay, so I love Ireland). But I did get INGENUE right away, and that helped. Still, one goof-up in the end that I'm too embarrassed to report.
Owen, wonderful limerick for today (would love to call it "The Fourth" but is that still okay?).
PK, sorry to hear about the postponement. I was hoping to hear the surgery was over and successful. Will keep praying for your brother over the weekend.
Have a wonderful Independence Day, everybody!
PK, thanks for the update. Please keep us informed, when it's convenient for you. Will continue prayers and positive thoughts.
Happy Friday everybody!
Found myself scratching my head at the starred clues until I got to 71A. Then went back and confidently filled in most of the All American answers (all but GIRL. Had KENS at first for some scary reason....)
LUTENIST somehow looks better to me without the N....
BIODOME - absolutely horrible movie starring (?) Pauly Shore...
Bill G - I have to somewhat disagree. That's a GREAT way to sing the Star Spangled Banner!
Don't know if they're American BEAUTYS, but the roses have bloomed in the back yard....
Finally, I love the new house, except for one thing. There's no place to fly my flag off the house (gutters extend too far out over the wooden eaves). Considering buying a pole....
Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.
When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift—that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies—that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter—that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body—it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed—that's the finest I know.
So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.
—Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939
OwenKL, I think I figured out the cryptic clue answer. It has 6 letters, right? ;-)
Outstanding puzzle today! Really hard but not a buster.
I liked this puzzle a lot, and it was so appropriate for this day. I had one write-over: GOA before GSA. Answers solved by perps were ERROLS, TIEPOLO, EDER, AND LUTENIST.
I really liked your limerick Owen.
Have a safe and happy 4th.
Easy but fun. Fridays are usually harder.
I agree, I really enjoyed this puzzle and its theme.
I've always liked that Lou Gehrig speech. Thanks.
Hola Everyone, With all the short word fills, I was able to get most of this Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle. That isn't always the case. I did have to look up Centurian card issuer. But with American in for the unifier, I was able to fill in the last half of the themes with no help.
We heard the Lou Gehrig speech on TV news this morning. For someone who knew he had a fatal disease he was ever upbeat and positive to the end.
A great puzzle for our country's birthday day.
It is also my oldest grandson's birthday. He has had fireworks on his birthday every year since he was born.
Have a great 4th, everyone.
Cryptic solution, notice how the breaks between the parts are not where the surface sentence would suggest they were:
Pirate's lair | where rockets are | heard (6)
(NASSAU) = (NASA) (is a homophone)
YR: Re condescending waitrons, they amused me a bit. My LW used to be so nearsighted she would use a long white cane. She could read menus held close enough, and has a more adventurous palate than I. But servers would start out talking only to me, practically ignoring her. Since I'm nearly deaf, that was always a wasted effort on their part. I think she enjoyed politely setting them straight on preconceived assumptions.
Thanks for sharing your similar experience with wait staff.
I am sorry to disagree about Nassau.
The second syllable is pronounced SAW, so not a homophone. IMHO kinda unfair.
Yellowrocks
Amazingly easy today - but almost everything came through on perps.
Hi All:
Late to the puzzle today. I started this morning, then the festivities, and fell asleep on the couch at eight-ish. Family played scrabble w/o me :-(
I tried to finish tonight, but still a DNF in the south. I had THREE Rs for 43d and thought it was so cute it must be right. So, Goth for 41a (they had Bratz, why not), ReruNS for 68a (to fit more commercials maybe?).
Long and short of it, I finally got AMERICAN and had too much over-inking.
Marti - you didn't like LAT X-GAMEs - Extreme cruciverbalists or my other suggestions yesterday? Me either, but I'M (still) ON IT :-)
I hope everyone had a happy 4th, er, Independence Day.
Cheers, -T
Post a Comment