Theme: Bullseye - Five compound words that start with a synonym for omphalos.
22A. Acid indigestion, familiarly : HEARTBURN
38A. Auto wheel covers : HUBCAPS
51A. Go-between : MIDDLEMAN
3D. Stripe that equally divides the road : CENTERLINE
30D. Early computer data storage term : CORE MEMORY
Argyle here. The first four are closed compound words while 30-Down is an open compound word. Still a tight theme though not much zest. We don't get to see Mr. Meaker that often. I do like the pinwheel with an entry in the bullseye.
Across:
1. Physicist for whom a speed-of-sound ratio is named : MACH. Ernst Mach (1838–1916)
5. Steamers in a pot : CLAMS
10. Post-WWII commerce agreement acronym : GATT. (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) This entry has been around before...but not lately.
14. Toast topping : OLEO
15. Lose one's cool : PANIC
16. Eight, in Tijuana : OCHO
17. __ and rave : RANT
18. Stars, in Latin : ASTRA. Fly on an astral plane.
19. What winds do : BLOW
20. Book spine info : TITLE
24. Snigglers' catch : EELS
26. Not feel well : AIL
27. Serious play : DRAMA
28. San Francisco transport : CABLE CAR
33. Daring : BOLD
34. Ottoman governors : BEYs. Not a Monday word?
36. Chip away at : ERODE
37. Prefix with lateral : UNI
40. Fishing tool : ROD
41. Henry or Jane of "On Golden Pond" : FONDA
43. Kal Kan alternative : ALPO Pet food.
44. 0 : ZERO
45. Area where goods may be stored without customs payments : FREE ZONE. And then what?
47. Oozy stuff : SLIME
49. NRC predecessor : AEC. (Nuclear Regulatory Commission/Atomic Energy Commission)
50. Scotch __ : TAPE. and for Tin; 56D. "No ice, please" : NEAT
57. Performed without words : MIMED
60. Mesozoic and Paleozoic : ERAs
61. More pathetic, as an excuse : LAMER
63. Four-legged Oz visitor : TOTO
64. No longer here : GONE
65. Pacific, for one : OCEAN
66. Russia's __ Mountains : URAL
67. "Puppy Love" singer Paul : ANKA. "Puppy Love" is a popular song written by Paul Anka in 1960 for Annette Funicello, whom he was dating at the time. Clip
68. Campground sights : TENTS
69. War journalist Ernie : PYLE
Down:
1. Satirist Sahl : MORT
2. Jai __ : ALAI
4. Detective's breakthrough : HOT LEAD
5. Tax season VIP : CPA
6. Mascara target : LASH
7. Start the poker pot : ANTE
8. Actress Sorvino : MIRA
9. Sacred Egyptian beetle : SCARAB
10. Male turkey : GOBBLER
11. Rights org. : ACLU. (American Civil Liberties Union)
12. Son of Odin : THOR
13. Chrysler __ & Country : TOWN. Van.
21. Nightmare street of film : ELM
23. Mah-jongg pieces : TILES
25. "Elephant Boy" actor : SABU. India-born actor of 1940's movie fame making a rare Monday appearance.
27. Blood bank participant : DONOR
28. Washer phase : CYCLE
29. Manager's "Now!" : "ASAP!". (As soon as possible)
31. Be wild about : ADORE
32. Update, as a kitchen : REDO
33. Physically fit : BUFF
35. Israeli diplomat Abba : EBAN
38. Brownish-green eye color : HAZEL
39. Blog update : POST
42. Scrolls source : DEAD SEA
44. "Pipe down!" : "ZIP IT UP!". (snicker)
46. Spotted wildcat : OCELOT
48. Hightail it : LAM
51. Million: Pref. : MEGA
52. Golfer's choice : IRON
53. Unpleasantly moist : DANK
54. Medieval spiked club : MACE
55. Prayer finish : "AMEN"
58. And others: Lat. : ET AL.
59. Clinton's 1996 opponent : DOLE. Bob Dole.
62. BP checkers : RNs. (blood pressure/registered nurse)
Argyle
56 comments:
Good morning!
OK Argyle, you sent me scurrying to the dictionary with omphalos. Another one to keep in my back pocket! Google fight shows that CENTER LINE is also an open compound word, making the score 3-2.
I finished this puzzle in a little over 4 minutes. It would have been faster if I hadn’t fat-fingered a couple entries and had to backspace. After I finished, I was thrown off by thinking that 28- and 45-Across were part of the theme. Bzzt! (Look harder, Marti!) Oh…3- and 30-Down. Got it!
Bill G., from last night @ 11:11, what a fantastic way to lower stress! Even better than seeing the kittens paly, was watching the people interact with them. A burly construction guy blowing bubbles? Priceless!! The Sequoia and Milky Way links were also beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
Morning, all!
Pretty straightforward Monday solve, which is a good thing since my brain is fried from staying up late to watch the Pats play.
Still, as easy as the puzzle was, there were a few odd spots along the way. GATT was completely unknown/unremembered, but fortunately the perps were rock solid. ZIP IT UP seemed forced (I've only ever heard ZIP IT). And FREE ZONE is a term I've just never heard before, at least not in that context. Again, easy enough to get from the perps, but strange to see on a Monday...
I don't trust that Google fight site. Even Google itself prefers "centerline".
Where did you come up with OMPHALOS?
GATT? My research says it was last in the LAT in 2007 and the NYT 2011. You know it is obscure when the clue tells you it is an acronym.
There are FREE ZONES at all international airports, and it and CABLE CAR were nice along with TOTO and PUPPY LOVE.
I wonder how long Mort Sahl will survive in puzzles. Have a great week all, Thanksgiving is coming.
GATT was replaced by WTO in the '90s. We studied it in macroeconomics. I make use of a FREE ZONE every week at Logan, when we are preparing our shipments for export. Although we call it a "foreign trade zone," or FTZ. But they are basically the same thing.
Argyle, I don't put all my faith in the fight site, but it is fun to watch. I'm guessing that either spelling is acceptable.
Re Googlefight: If you put "center line" in quotation marks the balance shifts.
Good day,
Nice puzzle to start a very rainy day. At least the temps stayed above freezing, so we avoided icing.
No issues today in achieving the solve, but a couple that brought to mind some other thoughts.
Let's see..NEAT. HMMMM, isn't a certain Floridian.,,? LASH..Old oater favorite, LASH LaRue. Sorvino.... always want to enter Paul before MIRA pushes herself in. Maybe if I read the clue and determined the gender.........
GATT... have no recall of it. ACLU,... have no wishes to be booted off this blog, so I'll keep my comments to myself.
Until Tuesday.... see ya!
For some unknown reason, our local paper (Times-Picayune) decided to start printing on Monday during football season. But Monday and Tuesday puzzles are rarely challenging.
I have always heard ZIP IT; ZIP IT UP is used when your fly is open.
SABU was the only unknown in this Monday puzzle.
Good morning!
Zip/Zip/Done. No pause that refreshes, just a mad dash to the bottom. At first I thought we were going to have a transportation theme when Centerline, Cable Car and Hubcaps showed up. I did skip over 42D and let the perps fill it, because I misread the clue as "Scroll down." Eye exam is in order.
Argyle, your omphalos theme reminds me of that old joke from the 50's: What do you call a hula hoop with a nail in it? (answer below)
Interesting discussion of up/down on America's Test Kitchen this past weekend A viewer complained of them saying "cool down" or "heat up." Her argument: You shouldn't use up or down unless both are appropriate. Since you down "cool up" or "heat down," you shouldn't use it there. Ok class, discuss.....
(a navel destroyer)
Wow, my captcha this morning is also my street number.
Good morning everyone.
No muss, no fuss, but I didn't do it in the BUFF. When they're easy like this, I spend more time trying to suss the theme. But, alas, I had to come here to read Argyle's intro to get it.
Haven't seen OCELOT in a while.
NEAT - Shout out to our Tinman.
OLEO - Refuse to use. Only use butter. (May be a holdover from Navy service. We were told butter was required to be served by law.) I suppose some loyalty to the product is rooted in youth spent on a dairy farm.
Belated birthday greetings to Ergo.
Yes, zip, zip and done.
D/O the captcha was my house number 3 times this week.
I suspected PIPE DOWN came from the navy.
Link pipe down
I think my parents used it a little differently from the accepted meaning. Pipe down didn't demand silence, but just lowering the decibels.
It is interesting that PIPE UP,meaning to speak up, comes from a musical term for start singing or playing.
COOL DOWN means bringing the temperature DOWN and HEAT UP means bringing the temperature up. For me these are the opposites. COOL DOWN does not need to be paired with COOL UP. It is not like STEP UP and STEP DOWN.
Pretty silly up/down "argument". One glance at a thermometer shows that heat is up and cool is down.
Hello Puzzlers -
Well, I'm just humbled today. I plum didn't know Sabu or Beys, and since they cross, I found myself Naticked. TDNF.
Lime Rickey,
You mean like this or this?
In that first image I can see the rump roast heated down from 80 to 100 degrees!
Hi gang -
Nice pinwheel, and an easy start to the week.
Heat up and cool down are in the language phrases with clear meanings. The carping is pedantic and silly.
Happy Monday and
Cool regards!
JzB
Good morning, everybody.
I didn't know SABU or BEYS, so like Dudley, a DNF on a Monday!
Keep warm,
Montana
Good morning all !
Like Marti, I too went running for the dictionary.
Had BROW before LASH. What do I know about mascara ? Apparently nothing. So what is it that goes on the brows ?
On Golden Pond in DEC 81 in Houston. Then, The Expendables 2 in Aug 2012 in San Jose. I don't go to movies very often. Almost a 31 year gap.
What Dudley said. But I kinda, sorta thought I remembered SABU from somewhere deep in my CORE MEMORY, so I guessed the B.
Desper-otto, I'm missing her point, "You shouldn't use up or down unless both are appropriate." As in "shut down" or "shut up' ? I'm with JzB on that.
Having connectivity and responsiveness issues with my ISP since yesterday afternoon. Finally got to read the comments from yesterday afternoon and last night.
Marti, from yesterday, I bought that pit smoker about 23 years ago, and it has been outside ever since. He deserves one !
Well, I better go focus on the connection issues so I can be productive.
Thanks Timothy, Thanks Argyle !
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you. And I don't know what it is I should do.
See all y'all later n'at !
Musings
-My only previous encounter with LAM was as a noun - “He’s on the LAM” in LAMER gangster movies
-When I tried one of these devices, my acid reflux/HEARTBURN started up my esophagus, so…
-I have had to be the MIDDLEMAN in some contentious family issues
-Does your state have these on the CENTER LINE?
-The fastest airplane was the SR-71 Blackbird at MACH 3.2. Flying in space has no max speed.
-Most famous BLOWING wind? (4:17). Our Illinois peeps might want that one from Winnetka ;-)
-On Friday “Book” would not be in “Book spine info” clue
-Remember live TV DRAMA on Playhouse 90?
-O wasn’t Jackie or Oprah
-Ghostbusters 3 with an all female cast is reportedly in the works. I’ll bet they get SLIMED
-1951 MIME (29:22) TV show and time capsule
-A PI’s HOT LEAD might get him shot with HOT LEAD
-A tax code even CPA’s aren’t sure about. Yeah, that’s a good policy.
-Great links yesterday, Bill
-Do you remember this TV “elephant boy” and what big career he had later?
Good morning all,
a typical easy Monday with the exception of beys crossing eban..wagged the e. Luckily Gatt filled with all perps.
I always thought that it was so interesting that the scarab was viewed as a symbol of the cycle of life. Kids always said "wwww" and then became enamored. It was their first choice for a memento when visiting our local Egyptian Museum.
ah Puppy Love, Anka's song to Annette.
Off to "play"in grandson's kindergarten...no homework for me anymore.
Addendum
-A recurring nightmare for the Tinman
-Lemon, at least Mort Sahl earned his way into the culture and puzzles unlike Mrs. John Lennon.
That was" eww.".oops
HG,
at least she isn't wearing a wedding ring.
I love Mort Sahl I just wonder about continuing relevance for new solvers
Nice comforting puzzle today. Only unknown was GATT, but the perps were solid. Thank you Mr. Meaker, and thank you, Argyle, for the omphalos learning moment.
DO, I haven't seen that episode of ATC yet, but it seems to me that the viewer is protesting the redundancy of those phrases. Back in my salad days we were taught to avoid such literary taboos. "Writers should avoid redundancies like grim death". That statement came from a well-known writer, and without quotation marks around "grim death" I found it lol ironic.
HG, is that Mickey Dolenz?
To: Timothy L. Meaker
With your 50-A clue: "Scotch __ " ... and
Your 56-D clue: "No ice, please" ... answer ... NEAT ...
You are NOW my favorite crossword constructor of all-time !!!
Husker @9:35
That must be a very old Pinch Advert. Photo ... since IT is now a 15 year-old Scotch.
But you are correct ... seeing it poured over "_ _ _" would give me a nightmare. lol
Cheers!!!
-You got it, BH. This was Mickey’s later gig. I loved their “bubble gum” music that made them big bucks. Of course when they wanted artistic freedom and solo careers – Bye, Bye.
-Now they’re doing this.
Thanks so much everyone for the swell birthday greetings yesterday. I'm so grateful for the day I happened to stumble upon this site.
CrossEyedDave --> The cake image was a hoot! And darn near appropriate.
AnonymousT --> I'm flattered that you're ordering my book of one-liners. Please don't be disappointed in the value though. The publisher controls the price and gets the vast majority of the proceeds. If it were me, I'd set it at $5. I switched publishers when I completed the novel: A 400 page tome that is comparable in price to my quick-reads in humor. Go figure.
I plowed through this one thinking it was a little crunchy for a Monday. Not familiar with ACLU, GATT, SABU, MIRA and wanted OTHO instead of OCHO. So actually a DNF (on a Monday!) as I required red letter help.
Didn't see the theme either until I came here. Thanks Argyle.
Agree with HG@926 about LAM. Smiled at CSO to Tin at 56D. Always glad to see Ottawa native ANKA.
DH is outside shoveling snow - about 3 inches and still falling. It seems to come earlier every year. Sigh!
Bluehen, I think that was her point. You can put the pan on the stove to heat, but not to heat up. You can put the pie on the window ledge to cool, but not to cool down. However, as TTP pointed out some valid up/down phrases aren't opposites, such as with SHUT. Also with KNOCK.
Good Morning:
Omphalos? Omphalos? (My autocorrect changed it to Mop Halos!). Santa is full of mischief this morning!
No real problems; didn't know GATT but perps were solid. Caught the relationship of the theme words but Omphalos tied it all together.! Thanks, Timothy, and thanks to Argyle for sending so many of us to the dictionary.
Tin may not have gotten a Pinch but he's still Neat, anyway.
We had a mixture of snow and rain overnight and chilly temps; not a pleasant day, at all. Oh, well, it is November. On the bright side, "Gobbler Day" is next week.
Have a great day.
A fun Monday romp with some crunch added. Nearly got stuck at the cross of Beys and Sabu, but did manage to dredge up Beys, so all's well that ends.
Hadn't really noticed the Scotch___, but smiled broadly at Neat.
And I can't believe I've never encountered omphalos. Not once. Very interesting topic.
-Here is a Galilean thermometer that sat on my desk for decades. Heat makes the fluid less dense and the bulbs go down. Taking away heat (cold is the absence of heat) makes the fluid denser and the bulbs rise.
Good-hearted discussion and gentle corrections are valued parts of this blog that accompany the word play and academic discussions. Nitpickery and other “You kids get off my lawn” contributions miss the tenor of the site.
Well said, HG.
What about a business; it can be closed down or closed up?
TTP, thanks for the ear worm. I'll share.
Stealers Wheel(3:27)
I would say that you close up the business each night and return the next day or so to open it up again. I would say you close down a business when you terminate it. I agree with the following explanation:
Link close up-close down
A little crunchy for a Monday, I thought. Had the same worry about the SABU/BEY cross as others, and am relieved I got it--messing up a Monday puzzle would get my week off to a rotten start. But all is well, thank goodness, and thanks for explaining the theme, Argyle. Loved the stroll down memory lane with TOTO and PAUL ANKA and ON GOLDEN POND.
Happy belated birthday, Ergo.
Have a great week, everybody!
That was a pleasant solve with a hangup at BEYS. I LOVE cable cars when I can hang on the outside. They are fun, sound good and even smell good. (The smell is charring wood used as downhill brakes.)
Canadian Eh and others, your posts about weather would be more interesting for me if you would include where you live in your Profile or your post. I'm near the coast in southern California.
Gary, no, I don't remember those center-line avoidance designs on local freeways. They do have "Botts' dots" all over though, even on local streets like outside my house.
Here's a thought. I find I sometimes miss a link in blue when it's just one small word imbedded in a post. In that case, how about putting the link word in all caps? It will stand out much better.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed the links late last night.
The humidity is down in Lucina territory, probably about 20 percent today.
Gary again, I've got a slightly larger Galilean thermometer sitting on the counter behind me right now. I've had it for close to 10 years. (My cleaning lady broke my first one.) It's very accurate. Also, old and slow, just like me. (Yes, I agree with you and Marti; well said.)
I put water on the stove to HEAT UP. I heat up the water, not the pan. And allow the soup to COOL DOWN a bit so I won't burn my mouth. I also allow my pies to cool down.
BTW I have never in my life put a pie on the proverbial windowsill. Have you? The modern windows don't allow for that. There's the metal track between the inside and the outside sills.
BEYS, SABU, EBAN. Definitely NOT Monday words.
Bill G. said . . . "how about putting the link word in all caps?"
I think all caps is best reserved for words that appear in the puzzle. Link text is traditionally blue and underlined but the underline tag is not allowed here. Does bold help? Italics? Both?
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Timothy Meaker, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for fine review.
Happy Birthday, Yesterday, Ergo, and many more.
Today is one of my sisters' birthdays. She is the middle person in my avatar. Funny lady.
This puzzle worked quickly, but not in 4 minutes like Marti. Took me about a half hour with pen and paper.
I remembered BEYS, so SABU was a snap.
Liked the theme.
CABLE CAR brought back memories, I worked for a short while in San Francisco and took the CABLE CAR to work. Thought it was neat.
What a terrific find the DEAD SEA scrolls were.
I agree with what someone else said about ZIP IT UP. Refers to a fly.
Abba EBAN was easy. We have had him many times before, and I remember him in the news.
We used a lot of CORE MEMORY in our first electronic telephone exchange that our company manufactured. #1 EAX.
11 Degrees when I got up this morning.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(357)
Re. links again. Bold or italics would be good. All caps will work fine also since blue all caps won't got confused with words that appear as answers in the puzzle. Or 'stand alone' as my link below. But lower case one word links embedded in a sentence are often hard to notice.
Inept cat jumping
Checking in while having a late lunch and rebooting my other system.
Argyle @ 10:57 AM, Thanks. I left that Easter egg thinking AG or Manac (later) would surely get it.
As far as the intersection of SABU and BEYS, and my earlier statement "...thought I remembered SABU from somewhere deep..." Likely not. I just read the Wiki. I was somehow recalling the name of the boy as Sabu, or perhaps rationalizing that it made just as good sense as anything else, but his name was Mowgli. Got the correct answer for the wrong reason...
I noticed North America is experiencing some very interesting Global Warming weather.
Apparently some of you are getting a lot of snow and unseasonable low temperatures.
Well, here in the Tampa Bay Area ... it turns out, we are NOT immune ...
Oh, we aren't anywhere close to getting snow ... LOL
Jackson Browne said it best ... we're getting Before the Deluge (6:29)
Sadly ...my Sunset will only be "in-my-mind."
Cheers!
Bill G. said . . . "But lower case one word links embedded in a sentence are often hard to notice."
If you say so. I think, for most people, a blue word on a white page with black text stands out like the proverbial sore thumb.
But I think this poor horse has been beaten enough for today.
Ditto on the Sabu/bey thing...
I thought I was going to have nothing to link today, but I kept looking. (but you don't have to...)
HEARTBURN SOLUTION?
HUBCAPS?
MIDDLEMAN?
CENTERLINE?
CORE MEMORY?
Hmm, on second thought, my 1st thought may have been right...
Hello everybody. That BEYS SABU area almost got me, too. Had AGAS at first, but CYCLE and ASAP put the kibosh on that. Then BEYS got me SABU and EBAN. That area was the hardest part of the puzzle.
Argyle, I love your write-ups. Thanks.
I smiled at Scotch and NEAT.
CrossEyedDave, those links are cool.
Hello, friends!
Almost missed the party altogether today; it was a day trip to beautiful Gilbert, AZ where my niece lives. We sorted family pictures to give away, discard, etc. Some will be digitized.
49 comments! All I can say is it's a good thing today's solve was in minutes because it's almost time to prepare dinner.
GOBBLER foretells the upcoming Thanksgiving feast and NEAT finally gives Tinbeni something to like.
I'll say AMEN and come later to read your POSTs.
I truly hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Monday!
DH and I started out today by shoveling snow. It's too early for that!
I had a yellow LINE until nothing else fit, then perps gave me CENTER LINE. A nice ink blot in that section. Somehow I knew SABU, but spelled BEYS as BaYS. FIW. Still, it was fun and a good start to the week.
Nice to see someone respect Tin and give him his SCOTCH ---- NEAT!
I know OCHO from having Chad "OCHO0 Cinco" Johnson on the Bengals team.
Fruitcake batch #1 of 2 is baked and in the refrigerator. So the season begins.
Belated birthday greetings, Ergo!
Have a good week.
Pat
CED, I liked all of your links. The Centerline link is hard to believe...
Hi All!
A fun Monday DNF :-( BEYS/EBAN got me too. I had most of it done on the flight UP, but then left my paper in the aircraft. Fortunately, this hotel doesn't charge $5 for a print out. I looked like a genius at the bar tearing through what I'd already solved :-)
Thanks Timothy for a fine puzzle and Argyle for the writeup.
Fav. Gotta be MEGA CORE MEMORY. NEAT is close second. ZERO is OCHO.
Re: RANTs / DRAMA about up/down. I thought 44d was stretched, but won't cause me any HEARTBURN.
CED - you always find the best links.
HG - In N. Louisiana, they have the ruble strips on the sides of the roads. I always thought they were for brail-drivers.
Cheers, -T
oops, rumble strips... C, -T
Clunked with me right of the bat. 1a [African grazer] for OKAPI? It’s a forest dweller, a browser with a highly prehensile tongue. A stranger to the savanna. 7d [Those muchachas] ESAS? No, they’re people; it’s ELLAS. What j. black@11:46 said. Poor effort by Rich to skew for a Monday. Timothy Parker would have done better for Timothy Meaker.
Um, Jason - Did we work the same puzzles? 1a = MACH USAT 1a = SCORE. Yes, I worked the USAT because I'm at a hotel and bored at the bar. I'll CLAM UP before I snark.
Argyle. Delete me if/when you BLOW away Jason's POST. C, -T
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