17. *Programs that generate hardware sales : KILLER APPS.
26. *Certain repair site : BODY SHOP.
40. *Brings up to speed : CLUES IN.
52. *Bargain for less jail time : COP A PLEA.
At first, I thought that the first words formed a headline in the morning paper:
"KILLER BODY CLUES [IN] COP." Hence, my idea of the theme.
But it is just things that one might find on any NCIS episode, and they always figure it out, as in the reveal here:
62. Climactic announcement suggested by the starts of the answers to starred clues : CASE SOLVED.
Across
1. Dangler on a dog : ID TAG. Hmmm, I just submitted a puzzle to Rich with this same entry, and the same clue. So needless to say, it was a gimme.
6. D-Day city : ST. LÔ. It was 95% destroyed during the Battle of Normandy in WWII.
10. "A likely story!" : AS IF.
14. 19th-century English novelist Charles : READE. Appropriate name for an author!
15. Greenish-blue : CYAN. And 33-Across. Greenish-blue : AQUA. Another name for CYAN. Both are RGB: 0, 255, 255
19. Religious offshoot : CULT. I wanted "sect" at first.
20. Paperless publication : EZINE.
21. "Ditto!" : I DO TOO.
23. Having "but one life to give for my country," to Hale : REGRET. Nathan Hale, American patriot during the Revolutionary War. He was captured and convicted of spying on the British, and was hanged. His last words were "I only regret that I have but one life to give to this country."
28. "__ you finished?" : ARE.
29. Feel sorry about : RUE.
31. Gael or Druid : CELT.
32. Retin-A target : ZIT.
35. __ Martin: flashy car : ASTON. You can have one that skids for a mere $300,000.
39. LAX listing : ETA.
42. "Surfin' __" : USA. The Beach Boys.
43. Like painter Jan Steen : DUTCH.
45. Assents at sea : AYES.
46. Capture : NAB. And when they do, CASE SOLVED!
47. Extremely attentive : RAPT.
49. Big laugh : YUK.
51. It may need boosting : EGO.
56. Capital on the Sava River : ZAGREB.
58. José's "Moulin Rouge" co-star : ZSA ZSA. Ferrer and Gabor starred in the 1952 movie, directed by John Huston. Nicole Kidman revised the role of Satine in 2001.
59. Salvage crew acronym : SCUBA.
61. Literary bell town : ATRI. Do not confuse Longfellow's bell with Hersey's bell, which we just had yesterday!
67. Shed tool : RAKE. Ugh. Time to get them out of the shed.
68. Quaint oath : EGAD.
69. Antipasto ingredient : OLIVE. I like mine surrounded by vodka.
70. Span. ladies : SRAs. Señoras.
71. Feature of some stadiums : DOME.
72. Green : MONEY. Moola, cabbage, dough, smackers....
Down
1. Aggravate : IRK.
2. Agnus __ : DEI. Latin for "Lamb of God."
3. Latvian chess champ of 1960-'61 : TAL. Mikhail, often called "The Magician From Riga."
4. Only woman to outwit Holmes : ADLER. Irene Adler, the opera singer in "Scandal in Bohemia." I just watched this the other night, for about the fifth time!
5. Eccentric sort : GEEZER. Usually with "old."
6. Reading at the checkout counter : SCAN.
7. Laid-back sort : TYPE B. What's your type?
8. Indy circuit : LAP.
9. Kind of surprise kick : ONSIDE. Fantastic example in the Colts-Texans game last week.
10. Confronts rudely : ACCOSTS.
11. Word in two state names : SOUTH. Dakota and Carolina.
12. White house? : IGLOO. Cute clue!
13. Lens setting : F-STOP.
18. Ceremony : RITUAL.
22. "Lay Lady Lay" singer : DYLAN.
23. Knocked down : RAZED.
24. "Un Ballo in Maschera" aria : ERI TU. Verdi's "A Masked Ball" is one of my favorite operas, and has a fascinating history.
25. Imply : GET AT.
27. Dublin-born playwright : O'CASEY. Sean O'CASEY wrote plays that were often about the Dublin slums. I don't think I have ever read any of them.
30. Consider identical : EQUATE.
34. Chase scene maneuver, slangily : UEY.
36. One working on pitches : TUNER. Oh no! Baseball!! Oh, how will I ever...oh, never mind. It's a piano tuner. (Whew!)
37. Missouri river or county : OSAGE.
38. Mover and shaker : NABOB. Are they usually nattering?
40. Blokes : CHAPS.
41. Troopers, e.g. : ISUZUS. Great misdirection.
44. Extreme jitters, with "the" : CRAZIES. "The Crazies" was also a 1973 horror movie, remade in 2010.
48. Put : PLACED.
50. Explosive sound : KA-BOOM.
52. Business magnates : CZARS.
53. Very hot celestial orb : O STAR.
54. Arctic garb : PARKA.
55. Tea-producing Indian state : ASSAM. Abejo, did you ever try ASSAM tea?
57. Big name in wine : GALLO. Ernest
60. Give up : CEDE.
63. Earlier : AGO.
64. Rouge or blanc : VIN. French wine, anyone?
65. Eden dweller : EVE.
66. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY. Susan.
That's all for now!
Marti
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to CrossEyedDave, who has brought so much joy to the
blog. It's easy to link a fun picture/clip once in a while, but to do it
day after day and tying all the pictures to theme entries is hard work!
Thanks for the time and effort, Dave! Click
here for a few more pictures of young Dave and his beloved cat PK. Are you getting a new cat?
Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Dave)!
ReplyDeleteBlew through most of this one in near record time for a Thursday. Really wanted SECT at 19A, since CULTs aren't necessarily (or even usually) "offshoots" of any particular religion. All you need is a charismatic leader and off you go...
Only place I struggled a bit was down in the SW. Never heard of having the CRAZIES, didn't know ZSA ZSA Gabor was in a version of "Moulin Rouge", didn't know what type of STAR the clue was looking for, and really only associate CZARS with old Russian rulers or modern political appointees. Oh yeah -- and as always, I could only think of ADANO when I saw the "bell town" clue.
None of that was fatal, however, as my brain cells eventually kicked into gear and I was able to WAG my way though unassisted.
Good Morning, Marti and friends. This puzzle's theme made me think of Sherlock Holmes. It must have been 4-Down.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clue was White House = IGLOO.
Hand up for wanting Sect before CULT.
A nice shout-out to Tinbini with Zagreb. He made me become aware of Croatia and the cities there.
Happy Birthday, Crosseyed Dave. Hope you have a good one.
QOD: If an expert says it can’t be done, get another expert. ~ David Ben-Gurion. (Oct. 16, 1896 ~ Dec. 1, 1973)
Wags at Reade, Tal, Adler got me through.
ReplyDeleteThe playwright labored his script to revise,
ReplyDeleteIn hopes that the critics would give a reprieve.
The first run was a bomb
But he still scribbled on --
No use, it was panned as just a reprise.
One of the dangers of learning my vocabulary from reading rather than conversation. I thought reprieve rhymed with reprise and revise, but I see now that it doesn't. Ah, well, it's just a dumb limerick anyway.
My stumbles today were pretty much the same as already noted, plus ACCUSES for 10d, long before I saw the theme. With Adler and Nab (and Sherlock's deerstalker in the ST), and a nod to the first "modern" detective story, Murder in the RUE Morgue, I had guessed the theme was the Clue game. Not quite right, but close enough to be helpful.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteLots of stumbles today, such as Aqua before Teal before Cyan up top. What Marti said about the theme: I thought it would shape a news headline.
HBTY, CED! Anybody who likes cats rates higher in my book.
what a downer puzzle.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGood morning,
Happy birthday Dave.
I've never watched an episode of NCIS so the theme fills and reveal did not mean a thing to me. A strong dose of perp assistance helped immensely along with a lucky wag or two.
Sect/CULT for me too.
Not crazy about seeing Greenish-blue clued twice. Really liked 9D ONSIDE kick. Had me going for a bit.
Central west last too fall today. Needed to recite the alphabet to come up with RAZED. GET AT/ Imply sort of weak and ERITU was a total unknown. Glad to know that Retin-A is on the market. Wish I had known about it many moons ago.
Hope the Giants have another win over St Louis in them. KC will be tough for either NL team.
Happy birthday, Crosseyed Dave!
ReplyDeleteYou are a super addition to this blog.
This was a Thursday puzzle I could solve.
Who is going to link a cake for CED?
I wagged most of what I got here, and still didn't get it finished. I was married to CASE CLOSED and couldn't get anything to fit the perps there so gave up.YUK isn't in my vocabulary, and I couldn't think of anything as long as KABOOM for a loud noise. Green?--naive, raw, undeveloped, wet behind the ears? I guess not. They never had a treatment for zits when I had a few, so Retin-A only meant possibly wrinkles to me. No luck there either.
ReplyDeleteBetter luck next time!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CrossEyedDave!
ReplyDelete¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫
Happy birthday Dave! Thank you Marti for the write up!
ReplyDeleteNow to change the mood just a bit... did anyone else see the quote attributed to Hale and blindly write in NATHAN? Sakes... that was just the start of my troubles.
The NW and mid West had me so baffled that I waved the white flag after one setting.
Oh well. As a former coworker used to say: "There is no such thing as perfection, but there are standards of excellence." I wish he had another quote for days like today.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem lately seems to be 1a. Today it was LEASH before ID TAG. Hand up for SECT before CULT. Anybody else try KABANG?
Marti, loved your olive comment. I'm definitely a TYPE B GEEZER. That reminds me, I watched a BBC science show recently and was surprise that the host, a renowned scientist in his own right, pronounced "geyser" as we'd say GEEZER. Owen KL, welcome back; actually "revise" was the odd man out in your limerick.
Happy birthday, CED. Here's a piece of cake for you.
I loved the way the theme fit together. Marti,I always enjoy your funny and informative blogging. Thanks for the interesting history of A Masked Ball.
ReplyDeleteNABOB always brings to mind "nattering."
SECT before CULT. Marti I agree that cults are not usually offshoots.
When my grandson was little I used to lift him horizontally a little off the bed and drop him, saying, "KABOOM!" Much giggling ensued, along with cries of "Again, again!"
Happy birthday, Dave. Thanks for all the fun you contribute to the blog. Enjoy your day. Your camping picture made me nostalgic for my camping days.
Ergo: I, too, confidently wrote in Nathan, without reading the full clue. The perps confused me when they wouldn't accept the letters I had already filled in.
ReplyDeleteBoo: south Louisiana.
Yes I know used to read your comments before I started commenting. Eunice La. Here
DeleteGood morning, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, CED, and many more. I always enjoy your posts.
Marti: Yes, I have had ASSAM tea. Pretty much like any black tea. My recollection is that is was pretty good. Of course I always drink Earl Grey type tea and I carry bags of it with me wherever I go, just in case.
This was was very good, however, I have many inkblots, somewhat due to my haste and also due to difficult clue/answers.
15A had TEAL, became CYAN. 10D had ACCUSES, became ACCOSTS. 66D had REY, became DEY. 53D had COMET, became O STAR.
Never heard of an O STAR.
Wanted LEASH for 1A, but held off until I had a cross. ID TAG appeared.
Never heard of ADLER. Have not read a lot of Sherlock Holmes in the last bunch of decades.
Really liked the theme. I am guessing that KILLER APPS ruin your computer, so that you have to buy another? Never heard of that term.
F STOP was good. I take a lot of photos, but now use the auto focus and light entry. I am looking for a newer camera.
IGLOO was a great answer and clue.
Anyhow, I have lots to do, including blogging yesterday's puzzle. I got it done, but had no time to visit the blog. Was gone from 8:30 AM to 10:00 PM, and then went to bed.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(569)
Abejo, a "killer app" is an app that's so good, so useful, so entertaining that e*v*e*r*y*b*o*d*y just has to have it. Personally, I've never seen one.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteA very Happy Birthday to you, Dave and a very big Thank You for all of the humourous, informative, and special links you so thoughtfully and regularly provide to the Corner.
Hand up for sect/cult and Nathan/regret and, for some unknown reason, I always want to spell Aston with an i or an e, never an o. As Tin would say, Go Figure!
Thanks Gail and Bruce for a just right Thursday and thanks, Marti for a dandy expo. Believe it or not, Marti, when I filled in rake, I thought of you immediately; maybe because of all the hard work you put in on the house next door!
Have a great day. BTW, I'm still signed in but have little faith that it's permanent. We shall see. Keep your fingers crossed, Thelma!
A pretty challenging outing for a Thu, IMO. Couldn't figure out the theme without the reveal, but that's pretty typical. Didn't fall into the sect/cult trap since I already had several crosses. I even remembered Tal for the first time with only the T in place. About time.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful birthday Dave. I suggest you have some cake :-)
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteDNF. Thursdays are too hard for me to spend much time on.
I too put in Nathan and sect.
Happy birthday, CE Dave. I too look forward to your posts. Hope you have a very special celebration.
Cheers
That was a very enjoyable puzzle for me. Appropriately tough for a Thursday I thought.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday CED! Did you see my cake decorating fails video from two days ago?
Speaking of "Surfin' USA" by The Beach Boys, one of my favorites. Have you noticed they refer to this locale twice in the song? They mention 'all over Manhattan' and 'Redondo Beach LA' in the song.
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Gail & Bruce! Great expo, Marti!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Dave and best wishes for many more cakes in your future & ours.
ReplyDeleteDelightful Thursday puzzle--many thanks, Gail and Bruce! And you too, Marti, for your always fun expo.
Had many of the same false starts as others, ADANO (oops, not enough letters) TEAL, etc. NABOB will always be associated with Spiro Agnew, won't it? The guy may have been a crook and a jerk, but he sure knew how to alliterate!
Didn't know that GEEZER implied an eccentric sort--thought it was just somebody a little decrepit. Doesn't apply to women, does it?
Have a terrific birthday, Dave!
And have a great Thursday, everybody!
Good morning all,
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, Marti ... always fun to read, even when I don't comment. Had more problems with today's puzzle than usual. Hand up for leash, teal, sect, accuses... lots of erasing and wagging. A few spelling errors didn't help either. Overall, very enjoyable. Loved white house? yuk,yuk
Had no idea that geezer was a synonym for eccentric.
Happy Birthday Dave...always enjoy your great additions to the blog.
Thank you all for the wonderful Birthday wishes! You made my day:)
ReplyDeleteMy solving experience with this puzzle was a lot like one of these characters... (I'm thinking Dryfus...) I had fat for zit, & Isusu with an S. And "killer" escaped me completely... (Eri Tu? I'm a TBBT fan, opera,,, not so much...)
Learning moment: Cogs = gear teeth (I had been wondering about that ever since The Jetsons.)
Yes Bill G. Loved the cake fails.
Speaking of Birthday wishes, I saw this under "case solved," CC, can we get one for the Blog!
Greetings, Puzzle People!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Dave! I hope you celebrate in style.
Thanks Marti, Gail and Bruce for a fun morning today which started promisingly with ID TAG and ST LO but then NATHAN interfered until I read the clue more carefully.
So then off I went but couldn't make CULT work, slid downward and finished the bottom. ZSAZSA surprised me as correct. Like others I didn't know about the first Moulin Rouge.
Still, I couldn't suss DYLAN though I could hear the song in my head but not the singer. Then BODY lit up CELT.
Finally, ZAGREB got me and I should recall it as Tinbeni has mentioned it a number of times but had NAGREB instead.
Still, it was a great effort and quite though not 100% satisfying.
Saw rows and rows of GALLOs and other brands yesterday at Total Wine which just opened in our area. I'm stocked up for holiday baking.
Have a very special Thursday, everyone!
Marti: Thank you for a wonderful write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteOnly needed ESP to get ADLER, O'CASEY, ERI-TU and ATRI (a bell-town I probably already forgot).
My favorite clue/answers usually have to do with something to drink (go figure).
But today's fave was ZAGREB the Capital on the Sava River where I lived for 2 years as an Ex-Pat in 2005 & 2006.
It is a beautiful shade of CYAN ... damn near jade when it flows into Bosnia.
Happy Birthday to CED ... my first "Sunset Toast" tonight is to you.
Cheers!!!
Ed.Note ... I'm still holding out for Pinch to properly make a grid someday. ie, Clued as 15yo scotch.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Our kitty’s ID TAG is on a chip in her shoulder
- AS IF – Valley Girl speak
-We’re going to a paperless/wireless Omaha World Herald next month
-Can you think of a movie where DITTO was an important word before you click the link?
-C.C.’s Twins have eschewed the Humphrey DOME and play outside now
-How ‘bout dem Royals!
-The older I get, the higher that GEEZER line gets
-A LAP at Indy is 2.5 miles (200 laps for the 500) and they go just over 200 mph (3.3 miles per minute). So to do one lap would take…
-A silly, harmless identical movie we saw a month ago
-I wonder if Steve calls anyone a BLOKE or CHAP
-Practicing his one line – “Hark I hear the cannon roar”. “Hark I hear the cannon roar”. “Hark I hear the cannon roar”. Opening night - KA-BOOM. “What the hell was that?”
-The Otoes, Omahas, Pawnees, etc did CEDE a lot of Nebraska land to the great white father in Washington in the 19th century
-HBD Dave (the only image that got through the school filter) from me and our new kitty, Lily!
Happy birthday, Dave. I, too, enjoy reading your comments.
ReplyDeleteA very Thursday-like puzzle, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteCrunchy but doable. I always like the puzzles from this duo, and this one was no exception. Very entertaining expo, Marti, thank you. Happy mutual birthday to you, CED! Your posts are fun.
The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday puzzles were typically easy. Today I sat down after walking the dog and confidently entered "leash" for 1A. And that was indicative of how the rest of the puzzle was for me. After two passes and a dozen answers, I checked here and half the answers were wrong. I took a DNF and moved on with my day. Thank you, Gail and Bruce, for the challenge. Thanks, Marti, for explaining it to me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Dave! May you enjoy many more. I always enjoy your links--keep 'em coming.
Hahtoolah, it's good to see you're back!
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Pat
A birthday greeting for Dave that didn’t make it through the school filter.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff today! (except I keep rereading the Blog,,,Help!)
ReplyDeleteLooking at this puzzle a little differently ( ALA CED :)
Now this would be a killer App.
why plastic surgeons do not provide guarantees...
Ignorance is bliss (or why you are not clued in...)
How to cop a plea...
CC, I would love to get another cat, but I am waiting to be adopted...
Bluehen, today is your birthday, too??? You must send an email to C.C. so that we can celebrate next year. Meanwhile, this will have to do:
ReplyDeleteFrom University of Delaware?
Happy birthday, BlueHen!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthdays, CED and Bluehen!
ReplyDeleteNicely put-together puzzle - looks like it's just missing a "J" for a pangram too, unless I can't see straight.
Pretty clever. I got hung up on the answer to "Troopers, e.g." Until I flashed on the real answer, I had the cross at 62A fighting for most of my attention. I was flirting with something as weird as CAS EVOLVED for the longest time. I can't tell you how many explanations I was giving myself for the initials C,A, and S -- and trying to figure out why such an acronym would be subject to evolution. Confederated Albanian States? Criminal Apian System? Candy Apple Sticks?
ReplyDeleteHands up if you find yourself going so far afield at times, only to see the clouds of confusion dissipate when the simplest answer clicks in!
Oh, and HBD! to BH and CED!
ReplyDeleteC.C. that is a terrific photograph of you (assuming it is of you). Thank you for letting us see it.
ReplyDeleteAnd happy birthday to you, BlueHen.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteNo finish for me today, too many look UPS on google. Didn't know Zsa Zsa was in the movie, and Zagreb was an unknown. Didn't see cult it was filled in automatically with downs.
17 a. Huh I was thinking about hardware stores with gardening equipment lol.
Bon Fete to all !!
Bon Jeudi mes amis from Cajun Country !!!
Happy Birthday, Bluehen.
ReplyDeleteIf I could link from my iPad, I would link the clip showing the baby bear trapped in a dumpster, while the frantic mama bear looks on helplessly. There is a happy ending, though, with bears and humans all safe and sound.
I have my fingers crossed Irish Miss.... but it is real hard to type that way.... :) :) keep the faith... and I will keep them crossed....... :) :)
ReplyDeleteHaven't read all the comments yet... but I do want to say Happy Birthday CED... hope your day and your evening are grand.... thanx for the effort you put into all of your posts...
thelma :)
finished this puzzle, looked it over and it just kinda sat there.
ReplyDeletesaw earlier dudley gave us another entry into his book of snobbery.
steve, i was wondering when a brit complains about his bloody nose, does that mean he hates his nose or is he having a vascular event...
ACK! (& Dang!)
ReplyDeleteI was so full of myself I almost missed it....
HBD Bluehen!
Happy Birthday, Blue Hen! I hope you have many more!
ReplyDeletePat
Rufus Said @ 7:32 - Could you please enlighten us as to Dudley's snobbery? Is it because of his bias towards cats? Some how I don't think that qualifies as snobbery. I, personally, am a dog lover. Woof, woof!
ReplyDeleteBluehen,
ReplyDeleteI've put in your name in my Blog Birthday list. We'll celebrate next year
Jayce,
Thanks! It's my earliest photo.