A fun letter addition puzzle from what appears to be a first time constructor. DD is inserted into in the last word of an in the language phrase (2 three word phrases and 1 two word phrase) and is often the case when double Ds are introduced, the fun ensues. As with many Fridays these days, lots of 4 letter words, though ADDED UP, FT. DIX, NJ, KIDNEYS, SANTA FE, TSETSES offer some sparkle. Always nice to welcome a new creative mind.
17A. Duck royalty? : PRINCE OF WADDLES. Really cute visual, as the Prince of Wales morphs into a duck. Can you see George's daddy waddling about? Steve. NC?
26A. Heck of a pop? : ONE FINE DADDY. One fine day...LINK. (2:15)
48A. Trader who doesn't take the market seriously? : STOCK PIDDLER. Another great visual; the word is synonymous with DIDDLE.
63A. Classified instrument? : TOP SECRET FIDDLE. Another really fun fill.
Across:
1. Wine order : GLASS. I tend to drink by the glass, though most real wine drinkers order the bottle.
22A. In the cooler : ON ICE, most whites are chilled. 29D. Quaff : DRINK. 58D. Wine opener? : OENOphile.
6. NFL linemen : CTRS. CenTeRS.
10. European capital : KIEV. Capital of the troubled Ukraine.
14. Kind of comprehension : AURAL. We know AURAL relates to the ear, so this THEORY of learning makes sense.
15. Basket : HOOP. Sports terminology from basketball.
16. Land in un lago : ISLA. An island in a Spanish Lake.
20. It may be taken : SEAT. Teachers always want students to take these.
21. French 101 pronoun : VOUS. The less intimate you.
23. Iowa city on I-35 : AMES.
25. Highly skilled ones : ADEPTS. A little stretch here..."oh here come the adepts."
31. Symbol seen in viola music : C CLEF. I defer to anyone and everyone on musical information.
32. Parisian map line : RUE. French for Street.
33. Oracle : SEER.
37. Edinburgh souvenir : TAM o shanter, the cap.
38. Army post merged with McGuire AFB and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst : FT DIX NJ. Obscure fact but great consonants.
42. Youngest goal scorer in MLS history : ADU.
43. Hops kiln : OAST. By now everyone should be familiar with this brewery necessity.
45. Took top honors : WON.
46. Exasperated cry : AARGH.
52. Some runners : MILERS. So?
55. Betrayed, in a way : USED.
56. Like most tupelo leaves : OVATE. It means egg shaped, but I could not find any pictures.
57. His epitaph reads "And the beat goes on" : BONO. Sonny
59. Part of a roof : EAVE.
66. Language that gave us "plaid" : ERSE. Since they wear it, I guess it makes sense.
67. Green Gables girl : ANNE. Published: June 1908, Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery, Preceded by: Before Green Gables, Followed by: Anne of Avonlea, Characters: Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe, Marilla Cuthbert (per wiki).
68. Provider of store melodies : MUZAK. HISTORY.
69. Caustic cleaners : LYES.
70. __ swings : MOOD. Be happy, therefore...
71. Slanted columns : OP-EDS. No arguments this time, okay?
Down:
1. Mountain passes : GAPS. Isn't amazing how much Michael Strahan we get on TV these days.
2. Angler's item : LURE.
3. The "Toreador Song," for one : ARIA. From Carmen. LINK. (5:47).
4. 19th-century trail terminus : SANTA FE. It started in Franklin Missouri.
5. Utah luggage tag initials : SLC. Salt Lake City. A correct airport code.
6. Pick : CHOOSE.
7. Vegan menu item : TOFU. Soy or no soy? Lucina?
8. Garden divisions : ROWS.
9. Spring resort : SPA. Hot springs, perhaps.
10. Vital pair : KIDNEYS.
11. Town including part of Fire Island : ISLIP. Also home of an airport.
12. Pick : ELECT.
13. Florist's inventory : VASES.
18. Not-one link : EVEN. Not even one person came to the yard sale.
19. Longtime Connecticut senator : DODD. A bonus DD. He was CONTROVERSIAL but his son went on and became a senator also. He only served two terms, so long time is an exaggeration. He initially lost to George HW Bush's father Prescott in a race for senate. My childhood was in Connecticut. (From C.C.: I think the clue refers to Chris Dodd.)
24. Offend : MIFF.
25. Gulf of __ : ADEN.
26. Numerical prefix : OCTO. Like doc ock, 8.
27. Sports regulatory org. : NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
28. Canopy components at the Mall in Central Park : ELMS. They are really impressive. READ.
30. Verb type: Abbr. : AUX. Teachers, we have Action, Linking and Auxiliary Verbs, correct?
34. One titled "Lord" : EARL.
36. River past Duisburg : RUHR. A name you need to memorize.
39. Uncommon bills : TWOS. We have a young man at work who always carries them.
40. Bashful companion? : DOC. The Seven Dwarfs. Did this fool you?
41. Green stone : JADE.
44. Sleeping sickness carriers : TSETSES.
47. Seemed logical : ADDED UP.
49. Place for a nest egg : TREE. Nice misdirection with a very literal clue/fill.
50. Gave up the ball : PUNTED. Football.
51. "Time __ the essence" : IS OF. Never when I am blogging.
52. Roadside business : MOTEL. $40.00 a night, or $20.00 if you make your own bed.
53. Creamy white : IVORY. Like the soap, or the wedding dress?
54. Memory problem : LAPSE.
57. Czech Republic's second-largest city : BRNO. A name you need to memorize.
60. Carving tool : ADZE.
61. Historic "Impaler" : VLAD. Dracula.
62. Comics screams : EEKS.
64. Carolina quarterback Newton : CAM. Carolina Panther quarterback out of Auburn. Was initially a Gator along with Tim Tebow.
65. Letters before a view, maybe : IMO. In my opinion it is time to go.
Wow another new constructor starting here, and another new month, this one will feature another 25 hour fast (starting sundown tonight) my Charlotte's second birthday and maybe a hint of fall in the air. Enjoy all. Lemonade out.
41 comments:
Greetings!
This took a long time, but finally prevailed with no cheats!
Thanks, Mark and Lemon!
Really late fr bed!
Cheers!
Morning, all!
This one started out on the easy side but it didn't stay that way for long. I felt the cluing was tough all over (although I did appreciate many of the tricky ones like "Bashful companion" for DOC and "Slanted columns" for OPED).
I almost turfed it at the crossing of BONO and BRNO, but I finally remembered there was a city of that name even though I had no idea where it was. Much harder was the crossing of ADU and RUHR. Never heard of the former and had to guess at the latter. RUHR seemed more likely that ROHR (and also sounded familiar, but as a valley or region, not as a river).
In the end, I finished unassisted, but wouldn't have been surprised of the ADU/RUHR crossing was incorrect. If it weren't for the *TADA* I'd still be wondering...
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Mark McClain, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
Could not really get started in the NW, so I just bounced around and got a word here and there. Typical Friday. Slowly got through the puzzle and finished.
The theme appeared and the DDs became apparent.
Wagged KIEV and it worked. With a couple perps FT DIX NJ became an answer.
MUZAK was easy. Been around for decades.
I haven't been in a $40 motel in ages. I would like to be though. I remember when the Motel 6 was $6.00. If you wanted something like a TV, you paid extra.
I wonder how you pronounce BRNO?
See you tomorrow, probably late, from Edinboro, PA.
Abejo
(109)
Good morning!
I liked this one, even if I did stumble around a lot. AARGH! This would have been a good one for "Talk Like A Pirate" day. Yes, DOC got me; I had SHY for too long. I had (and still have) no idea what MLS is, and don't recall hearing of ADU. I wanted JADE for the green stone, but held off for for a long time, because what word could possibly end in a J? Oh, it's an abbreviation. D'oh!
Cso to Owen with SANTA FE.
Time to march...
Good morning!
Fun and informative write-up, as always, Lemony. Thanks for the two disparate links: The Toreador ARIA and “And the Beat Goes On.”
I didn’t have a lot filled in at the top – I just put the S at the end of 6- and 25-Across and 1-Down. When I filled in VOUS, it opened up the whole area and it was off to the races.
I loved seeing BONO crossing BRNO. In the Czech Republic, they say BRNO kind of like shivering: Brr-no. Anglicized, it sounds more like “Bur-no.”
Here is an image of tupelo leaves. It is also known as the gum tree. Tupelo, MS (home of Elvis, and more famously, where DH spent his misspent ute) is named for these trees.
d-otto, MLS = Major League Soccer.
Have a great day, everyone - TGIF!
I tore through this one like a herd of turtles. Tough from the get go, and never did pick any real speed. But it did accelerate once I figured out the gimmick with Prince of Waddles. Prevailed in the end and especially liked the curve ball of Ft Dix NJ
Not related to the theme, but I can't pass up a chance to link Tupelo Honey
Seriously there was a theme? Kinda silly. Not too tough for a Friday but just right.
Wine opener? Oeno? Huh?
OENO : A prefix meaning wine.
Good morning, gang - this was certainly a fun solve for me today. I love Friday and Saturday puzzles anyway and coupled with a double-D theme, well, it made for a happy experience.
My one stumble was in refusing to accept ADEPTS, but it's obviously correct. Needed the perps to get C CLEF and BRNO, but other than those I got through it pretty smoothly.
Lemonade, loved the introduction; I'm here to serve. Great write-up as well. Mark McClain, nice debut!
I think I read that Yom Kippur starts soon. I wonder who the brain surgeon was that had the Boca Bacon Bash start at the same time. Anyway, just means more for me...
Have a great weekend; do something fun!
Other than having to come here and cheat to get all but the third theme answer in order to get it finished, I was stopped by having STALL for MOTEL, ONLY/EVEN and hence NOUS/VOUS, and all the blanks those errors caused. Filling in the new possibilities after my cheat, got the whole thing out.
I wondered about the type of verb: trans.? intr.? pass.? act.? past? pres.? Of those only act(ive) would have fit, and I still know nothing of Fort Dix other than the name, so lack of knowledge was my downfall today.
Aural comprehension is one exercise used extensively in the teaching of foreign languages. I used to have upper level kids try to transcribe lines of songs sometimes to make it more fun. Having cassette tapes made it easy to scroll back over the last few words of each line several times to make it easier for them.
Dennis, since observant Jews do not eat bacon, I guess the festival down town is not really a conflict with our fast day which does start about the same time.
I thought you might enjoy this puzzle.I hope Lois stops by today also.
Of course C.C. is correct, it must have referred to Chris Dodd, I was letting my age prejudice my interpretation; Chris was just Tom's kid to me.
Lemon, I'm curious then - do observant Jews find the aroma of bacon as alluring as those of us who eat bacon do, or do they find it repugnant?
Good Morning:
Had a few hiccups here and there, but, overall, a smooth solve. Clever theme with some fun cluing. (Tin, I think your nemesis has reared its ugly head at least 3 Times this week, either in the clues or fill! Brr!)
Thanks to Mr. McClain for a Friday challenge and to Lemony for 'splainin' it so well.
My captcha is letters rather than numbers-it's been ages since that has happened.
Have a great day
On this blog you find adepts at cruciverbaism.
Very enjoyable puzzle today, the theme helped a lot!
Speaking of Theme, I was wondering what Lemony was going to come up with. I was thinking "Shakyspeare!"
(You know, two Ds, or not two Ds. Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous CWs...)
Every section of Mark’s puzzle took time and yielded much fun. Lemon’s erudite recap replete with two 60’s tunes was a nice accompaniment.
Musings
-Hmmm… Royalty, oh yeah, PRINCE, Duck, oh yeah, WADDLES, oh yeah, PRINCE OF WALES yielded the theme
-An apt song for 1776 and 2014 with PIDDLE in the title (2:45)
-A nice meal without WINE, appetizers or dessert can still be over $60, ARRGH!
-The fate of MOTELS the interstate bypasses
-_OOP, Hmmm… B, C, G, H, J, L, M (Seinfeld), P? Oh, that basket
-I used to think The Murders In The RUE Morgue was about a murder IN a morgue and not ON a street named morgue. Dern French!
-To allay his mother’s fears, Klinger had this sign added to a picture of him in Korea
-Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison must roll over in their graves when they hear MUZAK versions of their rock anthems
-The Kearney GAP is on the SANTA FE Trail near Las Vegas, NM
-My first trail terminus was ASTORIA, verb type IRR and floral inventory was ROSES
-What happens if your EDGER hits a sprinkler head
-Interesting auperstitions about the TWO dollar bill
Hello Puzzlers -
The theme popped out early on, and with that in hand the whole solve went by in record time for a Friday. How interesting to have Islip twice in a week. No idea who Adu is, that was all perps. Never heard of aux verbs, either.
Good morning everyone.
Nice of Mark to select Avatar for today's theme; DD's are usually in the middle of all the important action at sea. :-)
It was actually fun sussing out the theme fill.
Tough slogging at first but gradually got the bottom to fill in. The solve bloomed upward from there.
At 38a, went first to Fort Dix but no green stone seemed to start with 'x'. Accepting J ADE, 38a was finally parsed back to FT DIX NJ.
Knew Duisberg was an industrial town but took awhile to settle on RUHR.
TWOs - I keep a strap of twos in my desk drawer and a couple twos in my wallet. If Canada can do the loonie and the toonie, I don;t see what the aversion to twos is in the US. We give the grand kids 2's on special occasions, and I pay out bridge losses in 2's. When buying goods or services, if the amount is $2 ± a few ¢, I use a $2 bill. I guess there's no special room in the cash register for them. BTW I also keep $1 coins handy.
Dennis:
Jews loved smoked meat and fish, so the smell of bacon is quite enjoyable. There are many variations made with turkey or beef which approximate the smell and taste of bacon when grilled, and there are countless Jews who think dietary laws made sense when pork was filled with danger, but are no longer relevant. Similar to the fish on Fridays for Catholics.
Prof T, when something is clued with the word "opener" it suggests we are looking for a prefix; the word "end" suggests a suffix. This is one of many little things which become second nature from solving regularly, such as an abbreviation in the clue suggests an abbreviation as fill.
Spitz, only you would see Double-D and think of a destroyer!
Hi everybody! I really enjoyed this puzzle. I couldn't help thinking of Lucina and Lois after I tumbled to the theme. Hi ladies!
Barbara and I really like jade.
Here's a funny video I've seen several times in the past. The setup is, two guys each hold a spoon in their mouth and hit the other guy on the head with it. Only one guy isn't in on the joke and is definitely getting the worst of it. Two spoons
I got practically nothing on my first run-though until the bottom and then slowly worked my way up. What a delight it turned out to be, as all those DDs began to appear. And it wasn't until WADDLE that I figured out the theme and cracked up. A brilliant debut, Mark--congratulations!
Thought of Tinbeni right away with all the wine references, but figured he'd hate ON ICE.
Lemonade, great EARL of Grantham pic. Can't wait for the new season of "Downton" to begin.
Can't imagine how I instantly got DOC for 'bashful companion' (rather than SHY, for example). Loved my Disney movies, I guess.
Have a great Friday, everybody!
I enjoyed this very much. It made me reach two or three removes beyond a "normal" pzl's demands. Yet everything seemed fair and doable.
TaDA!
Great, fun puzzle. Went through the first pass with only a few fills, then ran some errands and continued in earnest. ONE FINE DADDY revealed the theme, and after a couple missteps (LINE/LURE, FIDDLER/PIDDLER), I emerged victorious. No "tada" since I prefer ink on paper.
Mikey,
Just for you
TA_DAH!!!!!
@Paul Hewson - Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. told Rich they'd quit doing crosswords unless he found space for them too :)
Actually, you couldn't clue "Edge" as a U2 member unless you included a fill-in-the-blank for "The", and "The Bono" doesn't work.
Enjoyed the puzzle - had to go kinda bottom-up as the top was a sea of white after the first pass. Had fun with the challenge.
Thanks for expo, Lemony.
Since my chosen DRINK, in a GLASS, would not be "ON _ _ _" ... this was yet again another DNF.
(Hey, I have my scruples ... they're low ... but they are there.)
Isn't a STOCK PIDDLER just someone who is pissed at their market results?
Well I got to do something at Sunset ...
Cheers!
Lemon, thanks for the explanation. I'm now just a little bit less dumb than I was before this.
Spitz, I forgot all about thoseDD's.
Okay, this puzzle actually let a lot of secrets out of the bag. (hopefully not a lot of people read the Blog this late...)
So, starting from the bottom up:
Shh, don't let it get out, but they are trying to add more violin to rock music... (Top Secret Fiddle)
Also, (Shh) the inside scoop on how wall street gets such high bonuses. (Stock Piddler...)
one fine daddy (Sigh,, if only I had more money...)
& the most disturbing secret of all... Prince Williams wedgie that forever after gave him the nickname Prince of Waddles..
Of course Charles is still the Prince of Wales. After waiting his entire life to be king it is sad to forget him but even though we were born the same year. He was the Prince to my pauper
Here's one heck of a top (secret?) fiddle. 3:31
Really struggled with this one from the start. When the magic door opened on PRINCEOFWADDLES I thought, 'Eureka! Now the whole puzzle will fill by itself!'
Not so much.
The theme answers came easily but I still ended up with a dozen empty (or incorrect) boxes scattered around.
I too found it interesting that we had ISLIP twice in the same week.
Spitz:
I also like the $2's, with Jefferson on the front. They make nice tips for a $10 tab, and I've been told by those more knowledgeable than myself that in the dim light of certain establishments they can be folded so that the recipient thinks it's a $20. I'm sure TJ would be proud.
It's not unusual for it to hit 100 where FP lives but it got to a little over 90 here near the coast, almost unheard of. I decided to brave the hot weather and headed off to the bike path with my bike on the bike rack. I got about two minutes away from home and I noticed the temperature gauge almost to the max. I got towed to the local independent mechanic and I'm waiting for the news.
Meanwhile, one of the Dodgers got plunked but they're off to a small early lead. One of the Dodgers starters got hit last year and ended up with a fractured rib.
Yeah! Clap clap clap clap clap.
Welcome back old friend!
So I'm peacefully watching the NLCS and enjoying the Dodgers success when the TV stutters and goes blank. The DVR box started blinking. I couldn't connect to the Internet from my computer. Rats! After about a 30 minute phone call to Verizon, the tech support guy was very patient and helpful and we got everything reset again. It's almost embarrassing how lost I felt with no TV and no Internet. No Crossword Corner. But I'm OK though I guess my car's going to be in the shop until Monday. Oh well...
Glad you enjoyed it! This was my first published Xword. Look for more later this month in Newsday and December in Chronicle of Higher Ed.
Mark cool, thanks for stopping by. Tell us about yourself.
About myself? I've enjoyed xwords for many years, but just started tinkering around with constructing late in 2013 and started submitting puzzles early this year. This puzzle was actually made in March 2013, but went through a revision with Rich and was finally approved in June. I've had 8 puzzles approved for publication, including one in collaboration with Brad Wilber, who has been a great source of encouragement and knowledge. We started our dialog a few months ago when he approved one of my puzzles (scheduled for December). I live in Salem, Virginia, in the mountains near the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway. Both my long-time partner Diana Christopulos and I and do volunteer work for a number of local organizations.
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