Wow, three every other week Fridays from Jeffrey, with each quite different. If this were a Rugby match JW would have scored big time. No puns here, adding "TRY" into known phrases to create new fill clued with lots of visual humor. Structurally, I initially thought the word count and blocks were more reminiscent of an early week puzzle, but then the 16 x 15 grid was revealed. This once again caused cheater squares for the central fill, and allowed the 16 letter grid spanners. There is lots of difficulty and some nice long entries to both slow you down and speed you up when they click. EASTERN, ONENESS , PAL JOEY, TASTING, PIG BARNS, STAMP TAX are fun and many of the 6 letter fill, like NO DISC, TALESE, YE GODS, DOMINO and CITRUS are not overused. With all this practice, I had a quick run with a good deal of the puzzle, with only the SE a bit of a slog. I also appreciated some of the little things, like cluing ____Box, followed by Box___, the CELL semi clecho, and an N.T., O.T. pair. Also the placement of the TRY is consistent, 1/3 end of first word 2/4 end of last word. I will stop talking and get to the puzzle.
19A. Scene when stores open on Black Friday? : ENTRY DASH (9) A quick reprise from yesterday, sort of. When I first started trying to do crossword puzzles on my own, instead of trying to horn in on my parents' solving efforts, ENS, EMS and ERS were very common fill. If you read the LINK it does not add the EN and EM are type face measures, which I would imagine is how the dashes got their name. I did make the mistake of going to a Best Buy one Black Friday morning.
31A. Superhero preparing to cook dinner? : FLASH IN THE PANTRY (16). There is a new TV series which was part of the basis of conflict between Sheldon and Amy. LINK. (1:00) Again, for me the visual is cool, a superhero cooking.
37A. Eclair big enough to share? : PASTRY DE DEUX (12). The 'step of two', or pairs ballet. LINK.(9:02). I wonder how big that eclair would need to be before it would be shared, as I do like a good one.
45A. Efficient wall decor for a steel vault? : MAGNETIC TAPESTRY (16). My favorite because the visual is so appealing with the ornate rug sticking by magnetism
62A. Just tempting enough ... and what 19-, 31-, 37- and 45-Across are? : WORTH A TRY (9). The rare Friday reveal.
Across:
1. Was missing : LACKED. Not the easiest of 1A clues, but very fair.
7. Cell download : APP. If you do not have a smart phone, you probably do not know about the millions of available APPlications.
10. "The Wild Duck" playwright : IBSEN. I filled this confidently, though I have never heard of the play. We get a lot of this prolific Norwegian.
15. Inclusive term : ET ALII. I had the two Is from the perps, so I avoided the alia/alii question.
16. Engage in a bit of self-criticism : RUE. For me, this is one of those clues that ends up making sense, but ruing the day etc. I did not think was always self-criticism. No no? 48D. Rue family tree : CITRUS. This is really obscure, and an odd way clue the fruit especially with RUE as fill. Hopefully JW will let us know where this piece of arcane info came from. "Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae." wiki
17. Word on a résumé : VITAE. There is debate as to whether a CV can be considered a résumé. LINK since a Curriculum Vitae is comprehensive and a résumé by its name is a summary.
18. Item with pips : DOMINO. Since Gladys Knight did not fit, and I already had EINE and DIOS and this game is very popular in South Florida, the NW was going well.
21. "I believe in the absolute __ ... of humanity": Gandhi : ONENESS. The tricky use of ...obscures the entire quotation and any religious implication.
23. Investment initials : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
24. CPR provider : EMT. Emergency Medical Technician.
25. Certain rider : FARE. Do any of you all use UBER?
26. Boost, say : ASSIST.
29. Quill __ : PEN.
35. Yachting, perhaps : ASEA. An acceptable A word, that people actually use.
36. Relies (on) : LEANS.
42. Pub patron's words : A PINT. What musical has refers to a pint?
44. Pole-to-pole link : AXIS.
53. Tirana is its cap. : ALBania.
54. Blu-ray player error message : NO DISC.
55. Sandusky's lake : ERIE. CSO again!
56. N.T. book : JAS. James.
58. Comprehended : GOT. I got it!
59. Winery event : TASTING. It was at such an event that I met in person the irrepressible and golf talented Chairman.
65. "Move it!" : LET'S GO.
66. Principle : TENET.
67. Dickens' "__ Mutual Friend" : OUR. Our Mutual Friend is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. Wikipedia.
68. Fountain offering : MALTED. I have not had one in years.
69. Minor surgery targets : CYSTS.
70. Old spy gp. : OSS. Office of Strategic Services. LINK.
71. Heads (toward) : STEERS.
Down:
1. Started : LED OFF. The downs....
2. Like many Schoenberg compositions : ATONAL.
3. Cell component : CAMERA. I am old enough to still be amazed about the cell/camera and the quality of the immediate image you get.
4. Actors Kevin and Richard : KLINES. LINK 1. Many great comedy movies. LINK 2. Three's Company. Not related.
5. Article in Der Spiegel : EINE. The German newspaper. 34A. Fresh, to a Frau : NEU. German 'NEW.'
6. Spanish deity : DIOS.
7. "__ you kidding?" : ARE.
8. Lock up, say : PUNISH.
9. '60s Moore role : PETRIE.
10. One of an academic octet : IVY. Can you name them all without looking? I bet Bill G. can.
11. Sit tight : BIDE.
12. Subject of a 1765 act : STAMP TAX. Isn't it fun when something you learned a million years ago pops into your brain.
13. Defunct carrier : EASTERN. Living in Florida, this was a gimme.
14. O.T. book : NEHemiah.
20. Woodworking tool : RASP.
22. More practical : SANER.
27. Vacation time : STAY. Not an easy parse for me.
28. "Honor Thy Father" author : TALESE. Guy was a newspaper guy who later wrote books. "News, if unreported, has no impact. It might as well have not happened at all."
Gay Talese
30. FDR was once its governor : NYS. New York State.
32. Move it : HASTEN. Not my favorite word.
Hasten Jason
Get the Basin
Oops slop
Get the mop.
33. Violin attachment? : IST. How many started out thinking, what in the world do you put on a violin?
37. Farm houses : PIG BARNS. I never thought they had them, only a sty. but I grew up in Cow Country.
38. Cape named by Charles I : ANN. Explorer John Smith named all the capes using native American words, his King changed many; one was Cape Ann, which Charles named in honor of his mother Anne of Denmark. Wiki.
39. "__ Love": "Carmen Jones" song : DATS. For marti. Link. A sad story retold many times; Dorothy Dandridge did the 1954 movie.
40. Demand : EXACT. SPOLIER ALERT!!!!!!!
The chief Sparrow exacted a stiff penalty from Cersei.
41. Decline : DIP. TV pundits love to speak of dips in the market.
42. Org. encouraging vaccination : AMA. I was tempted to put CVS, but knew better.
43. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" musical : PAL JOEY.
46. Inedible wrap : TOGA. Sari also fits.
47. Affirming retort : I DO TOO. Back again.
49. Wrap up : SETTLE. Your account?
50. Sibelius' "Valse __" : TRISTE. The Sad Waltz. LISTEN. Classic.
51. Dead __ : RINGER.
52. "Holy moly!" : YE GODS.
57. Cancel the dele : STET. More historical crosswordese.
60. __ box : ALMS.
61. Box __ : SEAT.
62. NYC Freedom Tower locale : WTC. World Trade Center.
63. Nos. on driver's licenses : HTS. As opposed to wts.
64. Anniversary no. : YRS.
In the end, it was a workout but fun and I was pleased I got it all. Thanks again Jeffrey and all of you. Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy Birthday to TTP, who used to be very active on the blog. Busy with your golf league, pal?
2) Happy 21st wedding anniversary to Misty and her husband Rowland! Misty mentioned that she's going to make coq au vin for the special occasion. Let us know how it turns out.
 |
| Misty & Rowland 2009 (15th Anniversary Party) |
Yes HBDTY TTP and many more. Happy Anniversary Misty. Another early day, enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAs usual for a Fri/Sat, I had fewer than 1/3 filled before I gave in (but not up) and turned on red letters. Notable mistakes:
ReplyDelete'60s Moore role: Lone RANGER, Clayton.
Certain rider: EASY > FARE
Inedible wrap: MINK > TOGA.
Crosswordese ADZE > RASP.
AGE > DIP, AGE > HTS, AGE > YRS.
WHO > CDC > NHA > AMA.
Morning, all (and Happy Anniversary, Misty)!
ReplyDeleteToast on this one. Finally figured out the theme, but never got the actual theme reveal due to having PIG STIES and CREED and IDS down in the SW. Ran out of time, but probably wouldn't have guessed PIG BARN in a million years.
I'm a little rusty, so this took longer than usual. I didn't figure out the theme for a while, not finishing any of the long entries. Once that came to me, it helped a lot. Liked the clever theme, especially MAGNETIC TAPESTRY and PASTRY DE DEUX, where the pronunciation is also affected by the addition.
ReplyDeleteOwen, your thought of Clayton Moore (rather than Mary Tyler Moore) was inspired -- a shame it was wrong. I thought of MTM right away but didn't trust it enough to enter until a couple of perps jibed. Misled completely by "cell component", thinking "nucleus", "mitochondria", etc. Oddly, I didn't have a lot of wrong entries -- only ones which come to mind are CDC rather than AMA and WTS for HTS.
Nope. Total fail for me. Only "finished" it by running the alphabet with red letter on. Terrific write up, though, Lemonade!! Oh, and apologies to Steve for giving write up credit to C.C. yesterday. (DOH!!)
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGot the theme early with ENTRY DASH, and that really helped with the rest of the puzzle. I can't hear YE GODS without also hearing Paul Ford, "You watch your phraseology!"
Learning moment: There is a book JAS (James). I only recalled those other guys.
In my ute the best MALTED ever made was available at the counter at Rennebohm's Drug Store. Since Lemon mentioned CVS, I was at Walgreens yesterday and heard the druggist refer a client to CVS for a lower co-pay on their drug plan. My plan is the opposite; I'd pay a co-pay at CVS, but there is none at Walgreens. Ain't Medicare wunnerful?
Happy birthday, TTP, and happy anniversary, Misty.
And... I'm back.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to TTP! Sorry I missed that the first time around. I typically have around 10-15 minutes total to do the puzzle first thing in the morning (including commentary), and on days like today I push it to the limit and sometimes run out of time entirely. Had I known the puzzle was going to be so rough, I probably would have just waited until after I got back from dropping my son off at school to attempt it.
Minor nit (which I may have brought up before): Isn't ET ALII a phrase and not a ?
Hand up for falling into the "wrong cell" trap at 3D. What's really bad is that I didn't fall into the exact same trap at 7A. I guess I just figured the puzzle wouldn't go to the same well twice.
YE GODS, this was a toughie! Until I finally figured out the theme, there was white space everywhere. And even then, I almost turfed it completely in the NW before finally coming up with CAMERA and ET ALII. But that SW corner was a complete and utter disaster. Didn't know ALB. Didn't know PAL JOEY. And, as mentioned earlier, had plenty of wrong answers for the rest of the section. Never heard of "Rue", either, but at least the perps got me to CITRUS without too much effort.
BG, I agree the perps brought CITRUS to light, but I never would have gotten it from the clue. Do we have any botanists out there? Is RUE FAMILY something i should have learned?
ReplyDeleteMary Tyler Moore was my only thought, but I had watched the final episode of HOT in Cleveland a TV Land show where her appearances were reprised. Anyone else watch this homage to 70's TV?
Happy Birthday TTP
ReplyDeleteHappy 21st Anniversary Misty & Rowland
Lemon: Thank you for explaining my Ink Blot DNF.
Fave today, of course, was 42-a, A PINT.
And since I will be visiting my favorite pub today ... I will say that twice.
Cheers!
Too many obscure words and phrases for my liking. Not one of the better puzzles in a while.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthdya, TTP! And Happy Anniversary, Misty! (Can I come over for dinner?)
ReplyDelete¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫
I loved the Carmen Jones link, Lemony - I don't think I had ever heard that version of it. Bizet certainly was talented - turning classic opera into a modern post-war musical!
The puzzle almost did me in today, but I stubbornly persisted and managed to dig myself out of the SW hole that I was in. PIG BARN was my first helpful WAG down there. I managed to get the reveal and the light dawned. That let me work my way back up north to fill in FLASH IN THE PANTRY to finish. Whew!
TGIF!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteHad some trouble here and there but finished w/o help, albeit in more time than usual for a Friday. I caught the theme before the reveal which helped somewhat. CSO to Abejo at Erie (where is he, BTW) and to Tin at A Pint, and to Sheldon at Flash......!
Happy Birthday to TTP; we miss your commentary. Very, very Happy Anniversary wishes to our dear Misty and Rowland. Misty, if you make the Coq Au Vin, make sure Darling Dusty gets a little taste, too!
Did anyone see the movie Love Is Strange, with John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, and Marisa Tomei? The acting was great, but I was a little disappointed with the overall story line. I guess I expected more depth. C'est last vie.
Have a great day.
Whenever I go off topic, I also forget my acknowledgements. Thank you Jeffrey, for a great Friday challenge and thank you, Lemony, for a detailed review. (Only stickler was Rue family tree = citrus.)
ReplyDeleteWhat a puzzle! I had to walk away two times, mow the grass, water the shrubs, and come back to finish this one. The NW was the last to fall. Wanted FAME for FARE and PLASMA for CAMERA- wrong type of cell. I actually thought GLADYS Knight for the PIPS before KLINES, ONENESS, & ATONAL ( all unknowns) finally finished it.
ReplyDeleteSince I never wrote a resume (or needed to), VITAE was all perps in the NE. The them popped out at FLASH IN THE PANTRY when I filled PA........DEUX and realized there would be a TRY in the themed fills. I had already filled ENTRY DASH without thinking about TRY, and honestly I have never seen the word 'endash' except in a crossword puzzle. It's just a long hyphen.
A few other unknowns filled by perps were PAL JOEY, TRISTE, and YE GODS (egads?). Had a little trouble in the SW wanting WARTS for CYSTS, KGB for OSS, NIH for AMA, and PIG STIES for BARNS. DATS love was all perps.
As far as the RUE snafu, I thought RUE was a street and had no idea it was a plant. CITRUS filled nicely and they are trees so that's what I wrote. A ROUX goes in gumbo.
This took longer than I wanted, but did get through. Thanks JW for a great puzzle, and Lemonade for a great expo.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of ENTRYDASH, I worked for a dept store and on New Years Day, all Christmas items were 75% off. I worked that am, and when the doors opened, it was like a herd of elephants stomping through to get to the Christmas items.... not to mention broken display tables!
Have a good weekend, all!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteLemon, I haven't been able to maintain my sales with the store where I did the tasting, but I am still visiting your side of the state. I will be in your neighborhood early next week; pls send an email if you want to do lunch or dinner
Today's puzzle theme came early to me, but my last area to fill was the NW. Just challenging enough without too much frustration to keep me interested in finishing. I had PIG STIES before BARNS - and didn't "get" CITRUS although it revealed itself in perps - a few ink blots here and there, but I didn't have to cheat! DATS and AXIS EXACT were my final fills. YE GODS!
Limerick today is non-puzzle themed, but was part of a link of lim's having to do with electric/battery-powered cars:
Not too sure that I'm ready to bolt
From my Mustang, would be quite a jolt
As I like cars that roar
When the pedal meets floor;
Not too thrilled from the sound of a Volt!
Feeling pretty proud of myself for completing this one. I almost threw in the towel a few times but then another answer would come to me. Needed perps for just about everything.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was against some rule to have an answer appear in the clues (RUE).
I still don't get 27D (STAY).
Happy B-Day TTP.
ReplyDeleteThis one took longer than most Saturday's and some Sunday's! I finished but it was a struggle. I NEVER got the theme until I read it here.
78° yesterday…. 52° today. Crazy!
Beach Bum, how was your STAY at that Club-Med resort?
ReplyDeleteAha (by proxy)! Thanks.
DeleteToo many unknowns for me to do much better than yesterday. I realized the theme only after coming here to cheat and stopping after Lemon's first paragraph reveal of the TRY additions. I already had FLASH IN THE PAN at that point, so that helped get me past that to finish all the theme answers except PASTRY-E-EU-, which wasn't going anywhere. Had lots of blanks in the NE, and was missing PALJO in the SW, so gave it up. I didn't know IBSEN, YE GODS, TALESE OR PAL JOEY, and I had SHAKES for MALTED, which threw the whole SE out of whack.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday TTP and a wonderful anniversary to Misty and Rowland!
and a great weekend to the rest of you!
GRRR DAY,
ReplyDeleteWTS (What Tin said, Including the two pints)
My goodness, what a great morning this has been. For the first time in weeks I sailed through a Friday puzzle--many, many thanks, Jeffrey! I somehow got FLASH IN THE PANTRY early on and that alerted me to a possible TRY theme. Great write-up, Lemonade! In the excitement of getting the puzzle so quickly I didn't think about the anniversary until reading C.C.s note and there it was--our 15th photo! Thank you so much for remembering, C.C., and thank you all for the lovely wishes! And a happy birthday to you, TTP!
ReplyDelete(Irish Miss, Dusty sends you a loving bark!)
Have a great day, everybody!
Happy Friday! I enjoyed that but needed a little help in a couple of places. The theme was fun. WEES about CITRUS/Rue. I didn't know ONENESS. I thought cell was an animal or plant cell, not a phone. For Moore, I was thinking of people other than Mary Tyler. Thanks Jeff and Lemon.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary Misty and Rowland!
Good limerick.
Yes I can name the schools of the Ivy League. The one most people screw up is the University of Pennsylvania called Penn.
I just tried to remember all eight Ivy League schools and stalled for a few moments on the eighth. Which is in the state where I live (the state which has two Ivy League schools) and where two of my friend's three kids went to school. It's funny how the mind can draw a blank sometimes. Anyway, it's the school that used to be called the "back door" into the Ivy League. There's another Ivy League school that's different from the others. Any guesses?
ReplyDeleteI've been to five of the campuses (and my favorite is the one I almost forgot!).
Good and tough - but very fair. I admit to one lookup. I had to crack the NW corner at the end because I had entrenched myself with WALKED for 1A. Once I Googled for "Cell component" and got CAMERA (instead of something starting with an "L") I was home free.
ReplyDeletePAL JOEY was one of my first "gimmes," an easy one for me because I was in that movie many years ago. It was my first shoot as an extra, and I remember floating on a ferry boat all day on San Francisco Bay. For our lunch break, the caterers whipped out a wonderful spread for the herd of extras. I remember sitting with my plate of elegant goodies on my lap and feeling sorry for Frank Sinatra, holed up alone in a separate section, eating a hot dog.
Wow, I thought this was tough. Lots of white space after three passes. Finally sussed it out, but a real grind. I predicted this yesterday but I was still surprised.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait until tomorrow, LOL.
College Guy @12:18 -
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure which Ivy is/was the "back door." Maybe Brown? But you say your state has two, so that would leave out Little Rhody. New York has Cornell and Columbia, so I'll go with Cornell because it is just so isolated.
Funny how the cult of colleges has caught on. I guess we had to develop some early ranking when higher ed began to proliferate in the 19th century. The UK does the same, counting its two "real" universities in Oxford and Cambridge. All the rest fall into what they call the "red brick" lot. There's an old joke, attributed to Mark Twain, about the Ohio businessman in Europe. On hearing that England only counted two universities and France and Germany only one each, he said, "Back home we have a hundred less than an hour apart!"
Ol' Man Keith, good guess re. Cornell. I think it's the prettiest campus too with two deep gorges, a suspension bridge, a lake, a clock tower with a carillon, etc. It's especially beautiful in the fall when the leaves in the gorges turn colors.
ReplyDeleteOMK@1:16
ReplyDeleteI used to think Cornell was called "the backdoor to the Ivy League" because it was the easiest one to get into but a little Googling suggests that it might because it accepts two-year transfer students (or at least more than the other Ivy League schools). It's also unique in that it's New York's Land Grant (Morrill Act) college so it's a public/private hybrid.
Congrats to you who dispatched this puzzle quickly. I felt glad to just git ‘er done and not have to take a DNF! Puzzle, doctor visit, walk the cat, blog…
ReplyDeleteMusings
-EN DASH and PAS DE DEUX were tough theme fills por moi
-5-leter Playwright? Who ya gonna call? IBSEN
-TV series that is looking for a FLASH IN A PAN
-NBA ASSIST leaders
-We had dandelion wine at a TASTING once. Yuk, Ptui, Gag, etc.
-Hmmm…, Lemon, I thought Alfie may have sung of a PINT in Get Me To The Church On Time, but no!
-LET’S GO by Richie Valens (2:05)
-Hudson beats me at PSIII every time because I can’t STEER with this thing
-With his batting average and speed, Rickey Henderson is considered the best ball player who ever LED OFF a batting order
-Cell CAMERAS mean you’re always in jeopardy of being recorded
-Most famous use of HASTEN as a lyric?
-Big time PIG BARN
-Happy Ann. Misty and HBD TTP.
-Do you remember who had a hit song with Vaya Con DIOS?
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteEven after five trips to the Google, I still couldn't get it TITT.
I'm going to chalk it up to 2 hours of sleep - I was online w/ AU until 4:30a and had an 8a meeting.
I'll play again after a nap. Cheers, -T
Oh! AH Misty (share the recipe!) and HBTY TTP (play w/ us more often). C, -T
... oh, and the only Moore I could think of at first was Roger Moore, but Templar didn't fit.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember that show?
Grump - CAMERA isn't a cell download, it's part of the phone. IMHO, of course.
ReplyDeleteNo worries, @unclefred. Happy Birthday TTP! Misty - remember, use a decent bottle of wine!
Don't be grumpy, Steve. Cell download answer was app. Cell component answer was camera. 😉
ReplyDeleteBeach Bum
ReplyDeleteThe Saint books by Leslie Charteris were very popular in my house growing up. I personally questioned a man named Leslie writing tough guy books, but I was young and did not know the British.
I was able to track down JW on the RUE/RUE issues and he was surprised as his clue for Citrus was fruity bit scientific. Puzzles can be confusing
Hard puzzle. Had to look several things up.
ReplyDeleteThree of our neighbors just suggested we celebrate Rowland's and my anniversary at one of their homes in a couple of weeks, so the coq au vin is delayed until then. But if it turns out, I will ask C.C. how to share the recipe. And Steve, I promise I'll use a good bottle of wine! Meanwhile we're enjoying a wonderful day--thanks largely to the great start you all gave me this morning! Thank you again!
ReplyDeletePicture of the highest mileage car ever and like the one the Saint drove. Volvo P1800S.
ReplyDeleteHG, I'm not sure whether to thank you or not for the Red River Valley ear wig!! Loved that song many years (eons) ago! Hasten indeed!
ReplyDeleteAs for Vaya con Dios.....I can hear it....but..... Well, Doris Day sang Que Sera Sera. Did she also sing Vaya con Dios?
Memory is fading.....but thanks for the memories, even if not perfect!
HBD TTP, and happy anniversary Misty!
Puzzle was a DNF, so the less said the better!
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-SwampCat – I’m sorry (or you’re welcome) for the Red River Valley link ;-)
-Here is the Vaya Con Dios link I had in mind
Vaya con Dios
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why people say they don't know something when it's easy enough to find the answer.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteWorked this late at night on an empty stomach. Was a disaster.
Happy birthday TTP!
Happy anniversary, Misty!
Thought of Roger Moore first.
Cheers!
Finally finished! No Googling!! How many days later???
ReplyDelete