Four in the language phrases with words beginning with "ST" are transformed by changing the T to N. This is a more traditionally structured Friday, with only 72 words, and average word length in excess of 5 letters. It does have however 10 "cheater squares" and 42 blocks in all which is an awful lot of black in a puzzle. There are three cheaters in the NW and SE corner and 2 at each end of the central answer POTSTICKERS.
JW who has returned to constructing with the enthusiasm of a very young man has me puzzled not by the puzzle but by the grid. The theme answers were not immediately obvious, but SNORES opened the door for me, along with lots of down fill. There was almost none of the usual filler fill with only NEE and ALI very common. The midrange included BLOWS IT, CREEP IN, FUR COATS, PEACE NOW, BYPLAY, TOO LOW and BUMMER. continuing the trend to multiple word fill.
Okay let's solve this.
16A. Why the kids can hardly sleep at night? : MOM AND POP SNORE (14). In So.Fla. there always seem to be new people willing to open a mom and pop store to compete with Walmart and Costco.
25A. With 49-Across, motto for Jessica Fletcher? : SHE SNOOPS. (9). 49A. See 25-Across : TO CONQUER. (9). She Stoops to Conquer. This 1773 PLAY requires some Friday memory, though the perps made it relatively painless. I think my kids studied it in their high school theater; Goldsmith was popular with them.
36A. Chuckles over a small kitty? : POT SNICKERS.(11). This was the tricky, awkward one, having to think of the gambling term "kitty" and its synonym "pot." Pot Stickers became the rage here as appetizers in the 90s. Maybe C.C. will give us more insight. (From C.C.: We call them Jiaozi in Xi'An. Traditional food for Chinese New Year's eve. You can get frozen Jiaozi/Potstickers/Dumplings/Gyoza at Trader Joe's. Their Thai veggie Gyoza are so good.)
59A. Acerbic opinion piece? : SNEERING COLUMN(14). I like the fill, but steering column did not excite.
Across:
1. Chronicles : ANNALS. I wanted Narnia or Riddi[c]k.
7. File extension : TAB.
10. Double Down sandwich maker : KFC. I had forgotten about this monstrosity which uses chicken breasts instead of bread with two kinds of cheese and bacon in the middle.
14. She-bear, in Sevilla : OSA. Spanish A = feminine, O = masculine.
15. Gang leader? : OUR. Fun misdirection, but young solvers may have no idea about this group.
19. Privy to : IN ON.
20. When Iago acquires Desdemona's handkerchief : ACT III. This is the easy one as 6 spaces can only be Act III.
21. Apple's Tim Cook, e.g. : CEO. Chief Executive Officer. Not quite as famous as Jobs. Wonder if he thinks he is one of the...
23. Some intellectuals : NERDS.
27. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" musical : GREASE. The role originated with Carole Demas, but I remember OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN. (2:48). It is interesting to read the list of actors who played DANNY.
29. Net letters : EMAIL.
30. Pampas rider : GAUCHO.
35. 13 for Al, e.g. : AT. NO. Atomic Number.
39. Mensch lead-in : UBER. Wow a discussion of Nietzsche and his PHILOSOPHY should ensue.
41. How some bars may be set : TOO LOW. This so cool because UBERMENSCH challenged man and mankind to strive for more.
42. Commercial center : PLAZA.
44. Skewered fare : KEBABS. My preferred spelling.
54. Malted ingredient : SYRUP. Milk shakes.
55. Come up short : OWE.
56. Beaverlike rodent : NUTRIA. Sounds more like a non-sugar sweetener, but these large river rats have damaged the Louisiana marshlands.
58. Apple or pear : POME. MW says it is a fleshy fruit (as an apple or pear) consisting of an outer thickened fleshy layer and a central core with usually five seeds enclosed in a capsule. From the Latin POMUM (fruit) from which the French get POMME (apple), and of course POMME DE TERRE (fruit of the earth = potato).
62. Bromide, e.g. : ION. You can STUDY this on your own.
63. "The Soul of a Butterfly" memoirist : ALI. Our boxing poet. Some QUOTES.
64. Took out : ERASED. An alternative to rubbing out.
65. Couple : TWO. This seemed almost too easy.
66. Society page word : NEE.
67. Source of much salon noise : DRYERS.
Down:
1. Preparing for combat : ARMING.
2. Lunchtime meeting : NOONER. More like lunchtime assignation.
3. "Uncle!" : NO MORE.
4. Activist/heiress Hearst : AMANDA. How cool the day after the surreal Castle, we get the incredibly lucky great-granddaughter who is not only rich, she went to prep school in Connecticut and is 5'3" and a part-time model
6. "Homicide: Life on the Street" actor Jon : SEDA. He was lucky enough to give up boxing before it rearranged his face. He now works on Chicago PD.
8. Easy __ : AS PIE. This puzzle was not easy as pie, the compound word answers always are a bit of a challenge. ASPIC made no sense.
9. Underpinnings : BASIS.
10. Kitchy-__ : KOO. Again so easy, it was hard.
11. Valuables often stored : FUR COATS. For the three days a year you can wear them in So.Fla.
12. Enter surreptitiously : CREEP IN. Creepy.
17. Lenovo IdeaCentres, e.g. : PCS. Personal Computers.
18. Lowest stripe : NINE. This filled from the perps with both Ns being part of the T to N theme, but it took a few minutes to understand that the clue relates to pool (billiard) balls, where 1-8 are all solid colors and 9-15 are all striped in American pocket billiards.
22. Akershus Fortress city : OSLO. All perps.
24. U.S. Army E-6 : SSGT. Staff Sargent.
26. Co-star of Hugh on "House" : OMAR. Mr. Epps; a Thursday night ritual with many friends.
28. Captain's heading : EAST. Go east young man?
31. 108-card game : UNO. My grandmother loved this game.
32. 1955 labor merger gp. : CIO. Congress of Industrial Organizations merged with American Federation of Labor in 1955, an event I did not understand but recall.
33. Gastric acid component, to a chemist : HCL.
34. "I heard you the first 10 times" : OK OK. Enough already.
36. Antiwar organization based in Tel Aviv : PEACE NOW. This GROUP, has high hope.
37. Rice-shaped pasta : ORZO. A fun food and you can make THIS but use Thai basil for zest.
38. Pastoral moms : EWES. Really fun clue.
39. Not more than : UP TO. I will pay...
40. Fails utterly : BLOWS IT. Blow is such a versatile word, but I could not find the history of this phrase. Often accompanied by 47D. "Sorry, dude" : BUMMER
43. __ of Cleves : ANNE. She was the lucky 4th WIFE of Henry the VIII, whom he found so unattractive he never consummated the marriage, which saved her life.
45. Action on the side : BY PLAY.
46. Shake awake : AROUSE. So which arouses you 1 (4:01) or 2 (4:41)?
48. Whiles away : SPENDS.
50. Arabic religious text : QURAN. Transliterating from a different alphabet is such a slippery slope; I am trying to understand the Thai alphabet, and explain the Hebrew alphabet.
51. Functional : UTILE.
52. Els with tees : ERNIE. The Big Easy from RSA.
53. Oil facility : RIG.
57. Got 100 on, say : ACED.
60. Roxy Music co-founder : ENO. Brian, more known for his elevator music left the GROUP early on.
61. #4 at Boston Garden : ORR. Along with number 4 for the New York baseball Giants (Mel OTT) this name will always be a handy fill word.
Well another Friday in the books, another joyride for me. It was not too easy and not too hard. Thanks Jeffrey, again. This was a fun way to prepare for more parties for sweet Charlotte this weekend. Have a great November all. Lemonade out.
49 comments:
Morning, all!
This one was a lot tougher for me than yesterday's. I could not figure out the theme at first and was sure I had some wrong letters when 16A started out with MOMAN____SNORE. It wasn't until I got POTSNICKERS that the light bulb finally went off.
I think the only total unknown today was SEDA (which is part of the reason I couldn't get MOM AND POP STORE for awhile). But I had no idea what Lenovo IdeaCentres were or why NINE was the lowest anything until I got here to the blog. Actually, AMANDA Hearst was also pretty unknown to me as well (wanted PATTY, which didn't fit, and then tried PATTIE, which fit but was wrong).
Good morning!
Fun write-up Lemony. And what an adorable picture of Charlotte! Is she two already???
I picked up on the theme when I filled MOM AND POP...and realized the last word would have to be SNORE in order to fit the clue. But SHE SNOOPS TO CONQUER took way to long, and way too many perps. I should have remembered it, but high school was a looooong time ago.
Having NOONER almost symmetrical to AROUSE was pretty funny, not a BUMMER at all. Do you think they would have to CREEP IN, so they wouldn't be seen? And how many FUR COATS would he have to buy in order to appease his wife? I bet there won't be any PEACE NOW, if he gets caught!
TGIF - have a great weekend, everyone!
Marti, yes she is two. Time really flies here at the Corner
It is also was fun to see you 'Lois' post. Cute
Good morning!
Got 'er done. I got the theme with Mom and Pop, but was thinking Jessica Fletcher was a real person, so it took time for NITE to change to NINE. Neither made sense with the clue. Oh, pool! Thanks, Lemony.
For some reason, I thought it was QARAN (like Qatar?), and the name of that river rat was slow to come to me.
Marti, did you misspell it as PEACE?
Re: 20 Across: "This is the easy one as 6 spaces can only be Act III."
Well, my first guess was ACT TWO. Then ACT ONE. I needed perps to figure it out and it ended up being one of the last fills.
Morning,
NOONER, AROUSE, & ZIPPER (PART). HMMM, wonder if Jeff had a mid day meeting of sorts on his mmd?
Had a 50/50 day for a big fat DNF. Nailed the NW & SE corners. NE & SW were sea's of white.
Full day in front of me, so talk to you Monday.
Hello Puzzlers -
Much more of a Friday challenge from Jeff Wex today. The top proved hardest, since I didn't know the three names at 4, 5, and 6 down. Sussing the theme down south sped up the Mom and Pop fill a lot. Tried Scene I before Act anything, and bollixed that area. Never heard of a Lenovo PC, so I guess that was meant to be a little harder.
We saw a movie on DVD last night which has an outstanding performance from Emma Thompson. It's a made-for-HBO film titled "Wit". It's a medical drama adapted from a play. I highly recommend this film, but brace yourself, and have tissues nearby. Anyone unmoved by Emma's acting probably doesn't have a pulse!
Al C
Interesting, my brain only has room for ACT followed by a Roman Numeral, so your very valid alternatives never appeared.
D-O, that was my point, there is no 'correct' answer for the transliteration of words from other alphabets, so QARAN KORAN....
This was like a Thursday for me. POT SNICKERS was my first theme answer and helped me with the others. First I thought of kitty cat and had PET, but ORZO corrected that to POT. Oh, poker!
Working from the bottom up TO CONQUER led to SHE SNOOPS. I know little about the play, but the title sticks in my mind. I didn't know LIN, SEDA or PCs, but MOM AND POP perped them for me. I had NINE but didn't know why. Thanks Lemon for your witty and informative blog, as usual.
TGIF. Have a good one.
Another theme that gave me a headache. Don't get me started on some of the clueing. Byplay ? Yeah right.
Good morning all !
After the first two theme answers, I thought I would be looking for something with SNO in 36A and 59A, but SNI and SNE were solid there, And it's the Friday LA Times, so I should have been alert for something along the lines of add-a-letter(s), subtract-a-letter(s), or change-a-letter(s)... Nope. Didn't get it until Lemonade explained it. D'OH !
I wouldn't say this puzzle was easy "AS---", (Hmmm. ABC ? PIE ? 123 ? I had to wait for the perps on that...) because I spent an hour and change on it in my sleep interrupted early morning fog a few hours ago. But, with pause and contemplation, everything filled in rather nicely. For instance, I knew GREASE, but couldn't immediately recall it. Then later it was a no-thought-required fill.
I really had to think about that SSW area. It's all so obvious now, but having --CO--UER, I could not make any across word using the K in KORAN heading down. Adjacent to it, ANNE of Cleves is crosswordese to me, but I couldn't think of it, and I know I have seen NUTRIA in puzzles before, but could recall the NU. Then came the QU V8 can to the forehead... TA DA !
I vaguely recall the reviews of KFC's Double Down when it was first introduced. Not good. I seem to recall that Consumer Reports used "artery clogging" to describe its nutritional value. More recently, they didn't have much good to say about Hardy's / Carl's Jr Monster Burger....
Nailed ATNO. Favorite clue / answer was NINE. Had different thoughts for NOONER. Figured Splynter would try to fit in GARTER for underpinnings.
Gotta run. See all y'all later !
lemony, I've been missing Lois! It's getting close to Christmas and if she doesn't pop in soon, Santa Baby is gonna be miffed and leave her a piece of coal in her stocking.
d-otto - hmmm, depending on whom he's with, it would be either piece or no peace...
Dense, thy name is Gary. Two bad letters because I couldn’t quite get to the gimmick and didn’t know ORZO or get the fabulous clue for a poker kitty or a NINE ball. What a worthy challenge and fabulous puzzle.
Musings
-I wondered a long time how UER was going to finish that two part fill
-I never had a good ROOMIE in college
-I had a 8th grade girl who looked exactly like Sandra Dee last week. I certainly couldn’t tell her the lyrics to Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee sung by ONJ in the movie version of GREASE
-Is not losing a golf ball on a round setting the bar TOO LOW? ;-)
-Spelling KEBABS is like playing vowel roulette
-I hope to OWE some taxes on April 15th. I don’t want D.C. to have my money any longer than legally necessary
-Oops, add eMo and ioM to my “BLOWS IT” list
-My thinning hair obviates (how ‘bout that word?) the need for a DRYER
-Kim Jung Un spends his resources ARMING his military and ignoring the needs of his starving citizens
-Kobe demanded too much money and so LIN and the other Lakers are going to lose big this year. They’re off to an 0 – 5 start.
-_ _ LO = OSLO, ≠ STLO this time
-I forgot to take this on Tuesday and my gastric HCl did a number on me!
I like challenging puzzles and this one really challenged me; I almost gave up. My first pass was mostly blanks with the only sure fills being ACT___, AS___(PIE or ABC),AT NO, POME, ALI, ORR, NEE, and ERNIE (the Real Big Easy). I also had K_B_BS, knowing it could be filled with E, A, and O.
My WAGs sent me in the wrong direction as I had PHOEBE for AMANDA (unknown), KORAN for QURAN, SNOBS for NERDS, and misspelled GOUCHO for GAUCHO. Television actors are always solved by perps due to the fact that I don't watch any drama or comedy shows. SEDA and OMAR were perps.
Other unknowns were PEACE NOW, BYPLAY, NOONER, and NINE, which I looked at and didn't understand until I read Lemonade's write-up.
I enjoy a tough puzzle that can be solved and this was one of those.
I found the clue for POT SNICKERS very sticky indeed and wrote to JW to ask about he came up with that clue, and he told me his original clue which I loved.
Candy bar only available in Colorado? : POT SNICKERS.
Lakers 0-5, Cleveland 1-3....basketball chaos
"Puzzling thoughts":
DNF/FIW - whichever - I couldn't figure 50D or 49A because I couldn't see the Q! I had TOCON_UER/_URAN, and despite three cups of coffee, no clue! I shoulda had a V-8 ...
Other than that, the sheet looked pretty clean - no lookups, cheats or write overs, which is odd for Friday. SW corner was last to fill, with PEACE NOW the only WAG. Used perps in all corners but despite the weird words I was able to complete (save for one letter) in short order
Another limerick-free day ...
Enjoy your weekend, all. My attention tmw night between 8-11:30 pm EST will be the game in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge; Geaux Tigers!!
Husker- I SELL everything that I have capital gains on every year, and buy something similar ( Mutual Funds only- no stocks) because taxes will NEVER go down. Only up.
Good Morning:
This clever offering gave me a run for my money for a while. I caught the theme early on but still had some hang-ups: Koran/Quran, parlay/byplay, kabobs/kebabs, duo/two, etc. Never heard of Amanda Hearst and although I am a big Chicago PD fan, didn't know Jon Seda's name until reading the expo. Also, needed a V8 moment to move on from kittie cat to kitty poker term.
Thanks, JW, for a fun but challenging Friday and thanks to Lemony for the informative, detailed write-up. Look forward to some pictures of Charlotte's party.
Have a great day.
To whom it may concern,
I find these Friday summaries to be condescending. Not enjoyable at all.
This was an easy Friday. What makes them easier for me is the lack of converging proper nouns. I need to get better at spotting the theme though. "She snoops" took m
Hello, passionate puzzlers. Thank you, Lemonade, for lifting the fog and elucidating me on much of this puzzle's obscurity.
Like Big Easy, I enjoy a challenging puzzle and this one took quite a lot of thought but not much enjoyment. I'm unfamiliar with kitchy-KOO, Jon SEDA, AMANDA Hearst (only Patty, Pattie?), PEACE NOW, Lenovo IdeaCentres, and know ORR but #4 at Boston Garden? No.
Finally, I did have SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER and though NITE made no sense I had no idea what NINE referred to.
Marti:
Thanks for referring me to Ginger Roots where I viewed your photos and am vastly impressed! What a lot of work but what amazingly beautiful results. You must be proud.
For me, it's aging appliances replacement time. Last month it was the washer/dryer; this week the dishwasher quit so I'm waiting for the installers.
Have a fun Friday, everyone!
The announcer at the Garden made "Number 4, Bobby Orr" one of the most recognized calls in sports history.
Woohoo! I got a Friday puzzle with very little trouble--Yay! Many thanks, Jeff! Got the theme early with MOM AND POP SNORE, but was stuck with Jessica Fletcher until I got SNOOPS. Funny, funny answer! Like others, the kitty stalled me for a bit--had CAT SNICKERS, which just didn't make sense before I figured out the POT. Anyway, great fun for the end of the week.
Sweet pic of Charlotte, Lemonade!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Appropriately tough for a Friday pzl. I had to look up a coupla things. Toughest of all was AMANDA. (I too tried Pattie, even Tannya.) I mean, who follows the family that closely?! Had to rely on perps entirely for that.
Glad to learn John SEDA's name. I enjoy his work on Chicago PD, but never caught his name before.
Too much Halloween candy for me I guess - I thought that would be the theme when I got snickers.
And I'm with AL on Act TWO/ONE.
A very entertaining puzzle and expo, thank you JW and Lemonade714. Not too crunchy, though I didn't know SEDA, AMANDA, PEACE NOW, the spelling of Koran and remembered ANNE as ANNa. Perps to the rescue!
Thanks to my misspent 'ute, I got NINE right away, LENOVO was a gimme (I'm using a G500 to make this post), and I remembered "She Stoops to Conquer" because it was presented at High School convocation when I was a senior and dinosaurs walked the earth.
I am really impressed with the quotes from Ali. Thanks Lemoney. The top one is almost a mantra for me, much to DW's consternation.
CC, thanks for the potsticker tip.
Have a good weekend everyone!
I forgot to say how much I love POTSTICKERS! I've tried two different brands of frozen ones and they are equally delicious.
I guess if I were a sports fan I would know about the Garden's announcement of #4. I'm not.
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), presided over by Walter Reuther who was also President of the United Auto Workers Union, was organized by industries. It was not liked by the American Federation of Labor, (AFL) presided over by George Meany which was organized by crafts. They decided to bury the hatchet in 1955 and merged with Meany becoming the President of the AFL-CIO.
Hi Y'all! Very amusing and AROUSing theme, Jeffrey, you naughty boy!
NOONER: Ah, those were the days! Newly married. No kids! Alas, NO MORE! BUMMER!
Then we had Monica Lewenski's claim to fame: BLOWS IT!
PEACE NOW reminds me of an early boss I had who was a good-looking CREEP. I was having a bad day and said, "I'm gonna quit and join the PEACE Corps." My boss said, "Oh, who gets the first piece." Believe me it wasn't him.
I, too, had trouble with the kitty. Perps filled in KERS first and I immediately tried "caT whisKERS" not once but several times and couldn't believe it turned red each time. Yeah, I know the definition of insanity.
Great expo, Lemony! WEES about needing some explanations for several unknowns. Great music links too. I'm old. I can't understand what chirpy little girls are saying or singing.
US Army abbreviated E-6 as SSG not the airforce way of SSGT.
Thank you Jeffrey for the puzzle and thank you Lemon for the insight. I found your summary to be invaluable and full of 'ah-ha!' moments. There's a word that describes it that starts with the letter 'c.' Ah yes, 'clever.'
I enjoyed the puzzle, the clever theme and most of the tricky clues. WEES. I never did figure out the "Lowest stripe" clue until I read the writeup. Thanks.
Snarky anons, please disregard the following:
We hadn't been out to lunch in several months so we climbed in the car and drove north along the Pacific to Playa del Rey to a little restaurant we've enjoyed in the past. That's where I always got sand dabs in lemon caper sauce, a long-time favorite. But I could see something was amiss when I pulled into their empty parking lot. I asked a young man who seemed to be working there and he said the restaurant had changed ownership and was no longer open for lunch. So we headed across the street to a little Italian restaurant we'd enjoyed once before, Caffe Pinguini.
I had white bean soup and Chilean sea bass, Barbara had spinach salad and pasta with scallops. Their homemade bread was delicious too. We managed to bring some of everything home. We split an Affogato for dessert; espresso with vanilla ice cream. It was an expensive but enjoyable change of plans.
"All About that Bass" is one of the few popular songs in the modern era that I enjoy. I posted this cover version with Kate Davis and a standup bass a week or so ago but I enjoy it so much that thought you might like hearing it again too. All About That Bass
It's almost five on a blustery day and I tackled this puzzle way too late in the day. My brain was not aroused, most of my answers were bummers, and I came here for my answers. Thanks all for the explanations, eye-openers, and I did like this puzzle, but will no longer attempt them when the brain is uber fried.
Lucina - Which brands of pot stickers do you recommend? I love them but I've only had them in restaurants.
If you make some, I'll volunteer to taste them.
My Japanese DIL makes delicious pot stickers. You can't beat homemade. Yummy. Although they originated in China, they are very popular among the Japanese who call them gyosa. Alan loves them.
I'll bet CC and Jayce's wife make great ones, too.
Good evening corner.
Not much time for puzzles or posting lately and didn't fare too well on this one. Guess I was looking for more to the theme for a Friday.
Don't know why, but I thought of the Corner when I Saw This and I think I now see the attraction some here have to getting the Flu Shot regularly :-)
Not at all a snupid puzzle. I snuck with it with sniffened resolve. No snereotypes to snall me. My brother-in-law Sneven would snake everything he has on me.
Best wishes.
I've always called pot stickers guo tie (鍋貼).
I think the Japanese pronunciation of guo tie is gyoza. Anyway, I love 'em mightily, as I also love jiaozi. LW makes reasonably good ones, but it's a lot of work. I help her; it can be a two-man (two-person) job, for sure. She's the chef; I'm the sous chef.
I used to eat at a certain 'food wagon' (don't know what else to call it) when I was in Taiwan, where I was affectionately known as the 'da fan tong' (big eater, literally big food tub/tank/barrel). Affectionately because I was a darn good customer.
Good evening everyone.
Not too hard for a Friday. Themewordswise, got POTSNICKERS first and parlayed the SN transmogrification to help get the other long acrosses and SHE SNOOPS TO CONQUER. We had 'STOOPS' in HS, too.
OSLO was a gimme. Akershus is an easy walk from downtown. Quisling was executed there after WWII.
ERNIE Els with tees was a great clue.
ÜBER Mensch - In German, Mensch means Human Being. In Yiddish, it means a person of integrity and honor. To be called 'Ein Mensch' by a Yiddish speaker, you are a very special person.
Yes,Jayce, we do pronounce it with a z. Forgive the typo. I am using my tablet.
Manac, I too thought of the blogger today but it was this image that triggered it for me.
(_?_)
Anon, reminds me of the clue for 34d.
Yeah, I thought that also.
'OK, OK', said his victims as he repeatedly stole money from their accounts to fuel his insatiable, deviant lifestyle.
or 'OK,OK' said the inmate in the shower room of the Coleman Federal Prison.
IrishMiss@6:17
I'm so sorry. I just now saw your post on my way to bed and a last look at the Blog. I'll have to check the next time I go shopping as I don't recall the brands which I bought at different stores.
I just finished reading the third book of Ken Follett's trilogy, Edge of Eternity. The man is pure genius. What a magnificent writer.
Lucina, I'll add it to my download list on my Nook. Thanks. It sounds long :>)
Have you or anyone else read two of Grisham's recent books; Calico Joe and Gray Mountain?
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