Theme: Jump Back Jack - "Are you ready for some football?"
33. Returning to action, and, on a gridiron, what each first word of 17-, 24-, 47- and 55-Across is : BACK IN THE GAME
17. Soccer scoring opportunity : CORNER KICK. Cornerback, defensive position.
24. Vice presidential hopeful : RUNNING MATE. Running back, ball carrier and blocker.
47. Musical symbol : QUARTER NOTE. Quarterback, the field general.
55. Hold that's illegal in amateur wrestling : FULL NELSON. Fullback, blocking and taking the ball straight ahead,.
Argyle here. Are we ramping up for the Superbowl or what? I wouldn't be surprised to find this theme has been done before but it wouldn't detract any of my enjoyment of solving this one. Some other football references included.
Across:
1. PBS science series since 1974 : "NOVA"
5. Barton of the Red Cross : CLARA
10. Secret language : CODE. That seems a little off.
14. Fictional rabbit's title : BR'ER
15. Persian Gulf tanker : OILER
16. __ about: roughly : ON OR
19. Lang of Smallville : LANA. Superman's boyhood friend.
20. Hairpiece : TOUPÉE
21. How French dip sandwiches are served : AU JUS
22. Neruda's "__ to Wine" : ODE
27. Cultural no-nos : TABOOs
29. Goings-on : DOINGS
30. Hamilton opponent : BURR. Backstory
31. NFL Hall of Famer Lynn : SWANN. Wide receiver.
39. "Am not!" reply : "ARE SO!". Age old argument over who's a booger.
40. Whacked arcade critter : MOLE. Whac-A-Mole
42. Greek markets : AGORAE
45. Between-meals meals : SNACKS
50. Disney frame : CEL
51. Vaulted church areas : APSEs
52. Singer Newton-John : OLIVIA
54. Table salt, to a chemist : NaCl
59. "Buenos __" : DIAS. "Good Morning"
60. Characteristic : TRAIT
61. Frustrating toy for Charlie Brown : KITE
62. "Rule, Britannia" composer Thomas : ARNE
63. Breaks bread : DINES
64. Shoveled precipitation : SNOW
Down:
1. "Football Night in America" network : NBC
2. Guatemala gold : ORO
3. Spinal bone : VERTEBRA
4. River of Pisa : ARNO. Haven't seen this flower in awhile.
5. Habeas __ : CORPUS. "you [shall] have the body"
6. Compare : LIKEN
7. From another planet : ALIEN
8. Camcorder button : REC
9. "Raiders of the Lost __" : ARK
10. Op-Ed piece : COLUMN
11. Deep into the pub crawl, say : ON A JAG
12. Dunkin' __ : DONUTS
13. Take off the board : ERASE
18. Currency since 1999 : EURO
21. Winery process that can take years : AGING
22. Wagering letters : OTB
23. Apply haphazardly : DAUB
25. Potato state : IDAHO
26. __ of the above : NONE
28. Tolkien monster : ORC
31. Look of disdain : SNEER
32. Scale amts. : WTs. (weights)
34. Wii game rides for Mario and Luigi : KARTS
35. "Dies __": hymn : IRAE. (Day of Wrath)
36. Physicians' org. : AMA. (American Medical Association)
37. Soft shoe : MOCCASIN
38. Sommer of films : ELKE
41. Immigrant's class: Abbr. : ESL. (English as a Second Language)
42. Live-in nanny : AU PAIR
43. Stranded motorist's aid : GAS CAN
44. Threat-ending words : OR ELSE
45. Tours of duty : STINTS
46. Campbell of "Scream" : NEVE
47. Info-gathering exchange : Q AND A
48. Ryan with a record seven no-hitters : NOLAN. Some baseball slipped in.
49. Hardy of Laurel & Hardy : OLLIE
53. Classes : ILKs. That seems a little off also.
55. Teleflora rival : FTD. (Florists' Transworld Delivery)
56. Sch. in the smallest state : URI. (University of Rhode Island)
57. Oklahoma tribe : OTO
58. Cutting-edge : NEW
Argyle
He sought advice from a crystal-ball gazer.
ReplyDeleteIt was worth every cent that he paid her.
Whatever he'd ask,
"This too shall pass."
It made him a great football player!
And one with no connection to the puzzle, but maybe to a fifth of scotch.
A limerick's a story in rhymes,
It's told in only five lines.
Four lines may be dull,
They're just there to lull
While the fifths perPUNtrate the crimes
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteAhh, it's nice to have Cruciverb back. Using my familiar Crosswords app, I was able to zip right through the solution in order, using only the Across clues. Had to guess at Swann, but the name sounded vaguely familiar.
Morning Argyle, I'm still in awe over that tank drop from yesterday!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Michael Dewey, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dudley, nice to have cruciverb back. I went three days in a row without a puzzle. Fri, Sat, and Sun.
Never heard of NOVA for 1A. Got it with Downs.
Same for LANA Lang. Perped it.
Never heard of an AU PAIR. OK.
Liked ARNE, that was easy. I really like his song, Rule Britannia. Thanks, Argyle, for including it.
GAS CAN brings back many memories through the years. I was famous for running out of gas a long time ago. Of course, my wife holds the prize. She ran out of gas in her grandfather's funeral procession.
I kept trying to fit OLIVER into 49D. Finally saw the light and OLLIE won.
NEVE Campbell was a new one. Perped.
Since it is now 6:00 AM, I will run for the day. Lots to do.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteStill feeling cruddy today. Think I'll take my son to school and then try to go back to be for awhile. Working from home does have its advantages...
Easy puzzle today, fortunately. I thought the clue for NOVA was a bit odd, however, since I believe it only ran for on season on PBS and the clue makes it sound like it has been running ever since. And I just remembered that I'm actually thinking of Cosmos, not NOVA, so never mind...
Nova - First episode date: March 3, 1974
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Argyle and friends. Interesting Tuesday puzzle and one I could easily complete without knowing a ton about football. And, I actually knew the name Lynn SWANN.
ReplyDeleteImmigrant's Class = ESL was my favorite clue.
I also was amused by Hairpiece = TOUPEE. Nothing is worse than a bad Toupee.
I thought the Soft Shoe might be referring to dancing.
NOVA has a lot of interesting programs on a wide variety of science matters. We recently saw a NOVA on Machu Picchu.
QOD: I look to the future because that’s were I’m going to spend the rest of my life. ~ George Burns (Jan. 20, 1896 ~ Mar. 9, 1996)
Abejo, you've never heard of NOVA, LANA Lang, or AU PAIR?!
ReplyDeleteUsually the few times I've run out of gas it was because I forgot to watch the gauge, but the first time, ~1971, I'd been driving less than a year and was moving across country with my new bride. Stopped at a service station, saw the pumps were something like 40¢, which was so much higher than the 25¢ I was used to that I was sure I was being gouged by the freeway station. I didn't pay much attention then to the news that the first "gas crisis" was just starting. Had to have AAA rescue me from my stubbornness.
Interesting selections: ARNO & ARNE, AU JUS & AU PAIR, TOUPEE & TABOOS.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteNo problems with this one. I didn't know all of the "back" positions, but it wasn't necessary for the solve.
Nova is an excellent program. I've got a season pass for it on my DVR. If it weren't for WGBH and WNET, public TV would be a wasteland.
Hahtoolah, didn't you mean "Nothing is better than a bad toupee?
I feel (because I'm a hunchback) that if you have a whale of a time playing football you're a humpback.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and if you're a ball boy for the New England Patriots they call you a pumpback.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not by any means a football fan I am surrounded by fans and sports talk. I knew all the BACKs and Lynn SWANN. I watch the sports segment on the news to stay au courant.
ReplyDeleteI filled in the across answers quickly and now I see there are many downs that I didn't notice, but are correct.
Quite a few of my former students had AU PAIRs well as other household employees.
I have watched NOVA off and on since its inception in 1974. It is still showing new episodes.
With friends and family members we sometimes talk to each other in a kind of CODE, not using cyphers, but using allusions others can't catch. We are careful not to let the others feel left out.
I took CLASS to mean type or kind, so ILK would be a reasonable synonym.
I hope you feel better soon, Barry,
Everything Dudley said!!!
ReplyDelete*Except I knew Swann*
When 10a CODE filled itself, I immediately thought of the Navajo Marines during WWII.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning,
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr. Dewey for a mostly straight forward run. Thanks, Argyle, for taking us down the field.
Most of my errors were easily redone with perps. I always like AGORAe and APSE/nave, but I almost always forget ARNE.
Feel better Barry G. You are not alone since this year's vaccine wasn't on spot--not that info helps reduce your fever. Take care.
Have a good day everyone.
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteNice Tuesday puzzle. No problem in solving thanks to the football theme. Not into wrestling much, but surprised that a FULL NELSON is not legit.
TTP from last night............ really liked your Before & After pics. During her recent trip to Paris, wife spent a day at Normandy. She becomes very emotional discussing the area.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was an easy, peasy stroll through the park. After Sunday's show-downs, the theme was quite fitting. Well done, Michael, and ditto, Argyle.
Barry, feel better soon.
Bluehen, how is your wife coming along?
Have a great day.
Feeling like BG today also--uncontrollable coughing and sore throat, but no fever, so I don't know if it's really flu, but there's no comfort in knowing the vaccine was useless this year.
ReplyDeleteNot knowing a thing about grid-iron, I didn't even stop to think about the theme, but everything I didn't know perped itself anyway, and it all came out OK. Many unknowns among the names too, but no blanks.
I still can't stand it when I see "with au jus" on restaurant menus. if they must sound snobbish using French, don't they know they are saying "with with juice"?
On another language theme, and with no formal background in Spanish, I wonder about the masculine -os ending on BUENOS when used with DIAS, which looks feminine. Any thoughts from those who do know?
DO: you are so right.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteWhat Irish Miss said. Easy, timely theme. No conundrums. Liked Q AND A at 47d.
TTP @ 2053 yesterday. Liked your overview of puzzle solving philosophy. Thanks.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle a lot. Thanks for the write-up and links, Argyle!
I actually remembered NOLAN Ryan, but forgot Lynn SWANN. The W was a total wag.
Dunkin' DONUTS stores are ubiquitous in this part of the country. You cannot go more than 2 miles without seeing at least one. The only product of theirs that I like is the maple glazed donut, which I indulge in about once a year.
Feel better, Barry G.!
Musings
ReplyDelete-No one bends a CORNER KICK like Beckham (:42)
-The NFL’s concussion protocol now makes it tougher to get BACK IN THE GAME unlike past years
-We never corrected our friend’s mispronunciation of AU JUS
-NOVA videos have provided a lot of subs with an activity
-AGORAE – What, AGORAS ain’t good enough for Athens?
-OLIVIA and John Travolta reprise 31 years later (2:59) Waddaya think?
-Las Vegas will “take a game off the board” (not take any bets) if one team is certain to win by a huge margin.
-I hated m/c questions with these answer options: A, B, C, D, A and B, B and D, All of the above, NONE of the above
-Wouldn’t you give her and her GAS CAN a cut in line?
-OLLIE and Stan had a good run on screen but as soon as a picture wrapped, they never saw each other socially
-With all these FB “backs” going away in two weeks, I enter the Death Valley of TV sports until the Husker spring game and spring training.
-BTW, I won’t watch 1 second of Super Bowl pre-game and would never miss the halftime show. Okay, the commercials are fun…
Argyle: Great write-up and I especially enjoyed the "Rule, Britannia" link.
ReplyDeleteHusker: I'm with you on not watching the Super Bowl "pre-game" shows.
But I'll probably "take-a-pass" on the halftime Show.
And if Downton Abbey is a new episode I'll probably switch over to that (from the game).
Fave today (of course) was ON-A-JAG though I tend to walk between Pubs.
Our precipitation never gets shoveled. Such a downer living in Florida.
Cheers!
Thanks to Michael & Argyle for an enjoyable puzzle and explanation.
ReplyDeleteI can never remember the difference between NAVE and APSE. Changed AGORAS to AE with perps.
I didn't know SWANN and wanted BURE for BURR so that section slowed me down.
We have had less SNOW this year and that is fine with me!
Husker, by now you should be enjoying that new HD flat-screen TV. Soon you'll be noticing important stuff that you totally missed before. For example, all the acoustic tiles in the Castle interrogation room have the same hole pattern.
ReplyDeleteI may be losing my mind (DW swears to it), but I think there was a SWANN music catalog back in my ute. But Mr. G is unaware of such a thing. Anybody else remember it?
FYI, this immigrant does not come from another planet and did not attend ESL classes. And he will keep mum about the recent history of habeas corpus in the U.S., as politics is taboo on this site.
ReplyDeleteWhat he needed was ASL - American as a Second Language - which is one reason for doing the LAT crossword.
After 24 years in this country, this site is his still major source of information on U.S. sports, notably baseball (thanks CC) and American Rules Football (the one played mostly with the hands).
[Note: In Soccer/Association Football (the one played mostly with the feet), a Corner Kick is as much a goal-scoring opportunity as any ball kicked into the penalty area.}
He has also learned quite a bit of Spanish - Frawnch was never a problemo.
American vowel sounds, and glottal and nasal stops, are all just about there, too. He can now pronounce "water" comprehensibly to an American Waiter/Waitress.
And his musical annotation is now improving:
American = British
Full Note Breve
Half note Semi-Breve
Quarter Note Crotchet (maybe sounds too rude?)
Eight Note Quaver
Sixteenth Semiquaver
32nd Demisemiquaver
64th Hemidemisemiquaver
Love the last one - shame to have lost it.
NC
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna spend the rest of the day mumbling to myself:
"Q AND A"
"Q AND A"
"Q AND A"
What a doh moment! Even after coming here to cheat, I sat staring at that string of letters wondering if it was a misprint.
Oh well. I'm protesting my property tax assessment this afternoon. A good chance to practice some "Q AND A."
I've enjoyed working the puzzles the last two days. There was a lot of fresh fill and cluing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael and Argyle!
Unfortunately, this puzzle brings back reminders to us "football widows" what we go through all season. Personally, I don't get it, will never understand it(though I did give it a good try) and cringe everytime I hear the screaming from the TV. This week a more "civilized" tournament is afoot. The Australian Open of tennis. Hope my favorite Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, kills it. He's due after recent injuries sidelined him a bit. Anyway, whatever sport you're rooting for, Good Luck to your team or player.
ReplyDeleteKeep warm and safe guys!
ReplyDeleteGreat Tuesday speed run, many thanks, Michael. And I even got the theme, even though I'm one of the least sporty people on the blog. This puzzle had so much variety: literature(BRER, ODE), history (CLARA, BURR),film (OLLIE, ELKE), music(OLIVIA,ARNE),cartoons (CEL,KITE[Peanuts])food(DONUT,SNACKS,DINES), French (AU JUS, AU PAIR), Spanish (DIAS, ORO), of course sports, and much more. I really liked that.
Nice pics, Argyle.
Feel better soon, Barry.
Have a great day, everybody!
I checked DH's Spanish dictionary--turns out DIAS is masculine! How inappropriate for Spanish--the easy language!
ReplyDeleteconeryo @11:45
ReplyDeletedon't forget to watch for our Canadians Eugenie Bouchard (7th seed) and Milos Raonic (8th seed) in Australian Open!!
D-otto @ 10:41
ReplyDelete"I may be losing my mind (DW swears to it), but I think there was a SWANN music catalog back in my ute. But Mr. G is unaware of such a thing. Anybody else remember it?"
You're not losing it. It was the Schwann catalog of music recording found in every record store back in the day. You could look up titles and/or composers to find recordings.
It was huge, probably more than 1,00 pages.
Does that help?
What Nice Cuppa said. All of it!
ReplyDeleteI'm still learning the linguistic differences after 20 years here. Interestingly, C.C. and I recently had a puzzle rejection from Will Shortz over at the NYT because he didn't agree with our pronunciation of some of the words in our theme - apparently our Chinese/British coalition don't pronounce words with enough of a Noo Yoik drawl.
Apparently, you still need more American English lessons. NOO YOIK?? Good heavens!!
ReplyDeleteLP Owner, thanks for that. Now I'll be able to get to sleep tonight. I didn't lose it after all. I was just a CH short of a load.
ReplyDeleteHe wrote:
ReplyDelete"[Note: In Soccer/Association Football (the one played mostly with the feet), a Corner Kick is as much a goal-scoring opportunity as any ball kicked into the penalty area.}"
Sorry, but it has been my experience that, in most games, half time presents as much of a goal-scoring opportunity as any ball kicked into the penalty area.
JC Thring, said like a true American Football fan. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was fun, watching the games- not so much anymore
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Quavers and semiquavers in a fabulous movie scene (2:40) Could music be the truly intergalactic language?
-Yes, Otto, our new TV is here and functioning and our old but decent TV is headed for a Care Corps family as soon as they get moved in.
-HDTV vs Regular
Jay Leno's got too many pimples and wrinkles.
ReplyDeleteMaybe HD should show his aft end.
I am a robot - lets see if this reCAPTCHA is able to actually decipher and actually read our emails .....
Hi all!
ReplyDeleteWhat Misty said - so much fun pulled from all of the knowledge-map! Thanks Michael and Argyle.
I had CaReeR KICK until 33a revealed all.
Fav: DONUTS SNACKS - Homer Simpson: 'Is there anything modern science can't do?" You won't see that on NOVA.
HOU used to have the OILERs, now we have the TEXANS.
Owen - #2, funny.
Steve & Cuppa - I've got buddies in AU, Scotland and UK proper. When everyone's on a conf. call, it takes every CEL(L) in my head to switch CODE. Always a laugh-riot with those mates.
From last night... They ARE SO emulsion blenders Betty C.!
TTP - I do enjoy the multi-pseudonym anon's posts even it's my CORPUS.
Cheers, -T
Windtalker @ 7:47
ReplyDeleteIf you are still here, or back again, I thank you for mentioning the Navaho Codetalkers. What a fantastic bunch. Some people think they won the war in the Pacific because the code was never broken and messages could none sent so rapidly. I work at the national WWII museum, where they are duly honored.
I, too, liked the CW today, and thank all involved!
English has so many variants; it's all about code switching. In American English, we have so many vernaculars that when we travel we need to have a good ear wherever we go.
ReplyDeleteActually, among linguists it's known as AME--American English Vernacular. BEV is Black English Vernacular. For linguists nothing is superior, these are just the "languages" we speak locally. It's a cool study of our language and culture in the US.
And this doesn't even include British English! I DO love language, which of course, is how I ended up in this CORNER. Thanks, all.
SwampCat - Then you are no doubt familiar with the Tuskegee Airmen. I got to meet many of the AGING heros at this event . I was saddened when I read two passed on the the same day - Jan 12, 2015 LAT . C, -T
ReplyDeleteAnonT, thanks for reminding us all of these airmen.
ReplyDeleteSo many "special" groups of people gave their special talents to WWII. And all of the veterans of that war are dying so fast.
Here iin New Orleans many of them come to volunteer at the Museum...their museum!.... and tell their stories. They are the most valuable artifacts In the museum.
Madam DeF, you are so right about language. Isn't it interesting that we all think "our" version is the right one. One of the great be benefits of this Corner, is the variation of experience and background and hence the different "Languages" we all speak...and I don't mean Frawnch!!
SwampCat,
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Thanks to all who partcipate here. HeartRx "talked" me into to becoming more involved in the discussion. She was quite right. Being in this Corner is enriching. I learn so much every day-- from the constructor, the explicator, and the commentors.
Best, Madame D
SwampCat:
ReplyDeleteI looked up the WWII museum. - I had no idea it was there! I'll see you next time the family and I visit NOLA. It looks like it only takes two trollies from the Quarter (no TABOOS there) to get there.
Madam DeF - I was guilted into going blue two years ago. Glad you joined us Smurfs :-) I too love love language just because it's so silly-crazy. DW seems to know all the rules, but to me they are totally arbitrary; very much unlike C*. Word play abounds (see OwenKL).
State of the Union, Baby! How many played The Drinking GAME?
Cheers, -T
*C - an artificial language for programming - I'm good with those.
AnonT,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the welcome! Your wife is right: there are lots of rules; they are useful for SWE--Standard Written English (US). I suppose it also applies to spoken English on formal occasions.
Have a good day today. I'm over to the puzzle now. Best, Mme Defrage