Theme: Tales from the Grid - First word of the reveal followed by the first word of the starred clue answers.
17A. *Sentry : GATE KEEPER. Tail Gate
11D. *Wishful thinking : PIPE DREAM. Tail Pipe
41A. Caboose locale ... and a hint to what the first word of the answers to starred clues can be : TAIL END
64A. *Crafty press agent : SPIN DOCTOR. Tail Spin
34D. *Music-maker activated by a breeze : WIND CHIME. Tail Wind
Argyle here. We haven't seen a puzzle from Janice in sometime. A pretty pinwheel grid to start our week and end our month.
Across:
1. Tiny insect : MITE
5. Road trip stop : MOTEL. What's your favorite?
10. Zipped : SPED
14. Indigo dye source : ANIL.
15. Solo : ALONE
16. Fillable bread : PITA
19. Apple tablet : iPAD
20. City with Heat and Hurricanes : MIAMI
21. Copter's forerunner : GIRO. Yes, I tried it with a Y first.
22. Strike from the text : DELE
23. Gulf War journalist Peter : ARNETT
25. Invented, as a word : COINED
27. Light on the Vegas strip : NEON
29. Made a boo-boo : ERRED
32. Grocery box amt. : NT.WT. (net weight)
35. Electrician on a film set : GAFFER
39. Academic URL suffix : .EDU
40. Sushi tuna : AHI
42. Wolfed down : ATE
43. Transgress : SIN
44. Staten or Manhattan : ISLAND. Two of the five boroughs of NYC.
45. License-issuing agcys. : DMVs. (Department of Motor Vehicles)
46. Tennis great Agassi : ANDRE. US Open this week.
48. Info : DOPE
50. Show with clowns : CIRCUS
54. Skype need : WEBCAM
58. "Come Fly With Me" lyricist Sammy : CAHN
60. Poker stake : ANTE
62. Spaghetti topper : SAUCE. What's your favorite?
63. Copies are made from one: Abbr. : ORIGnal
66. Street artist in a striped shirt, stereotypically : MIME
67. Mombasa's country : KENYA
68. Penn Sta.-to-Suffolk County train system : LIRR. Get out of NYC on the Long Island Rail Road.
69. Tapped brew : BEER
70. Golf's Slammin' Sammy : SNEAD
71. __, meeny ... : EENY
Down:
1. Molten rock : MAGMA
2. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR
3. Business big shot : TITAN
4. Periodic table item : ELEMENT
5. West of "My Little Chickadee" : MAE
6. Couturier Cassini : OLEG
7. Subject matter : TOPIC
8. Warm month in Chile : ENERO. January is mid-summer remember.
9. "Vive __!": "Long live the king!" : LE ROI
10. Kiddie-lit's Charlotte, e.g. : SPIDER
12. And others, in Lat. : ET AL.
13. 20-Across' former county : DADE. Former?
18. Toy on a string : KITE
24. Frat party robes : TOGAs
26. Unhip sort : NERD
28. Finger or toe part : NAIL
30. 1999 Ron Howard satire : "ED TV"
31. Association fees : DUES
32. Astronaut's org. : NASA
33. Like wafers : THIN
36. St. Augustine's state: Abbr. : FLA. (Florida) oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the US.
37. Ward (off) : FEND
38. Provide with funds : ENDOW
41. Tall-cake layer : TIER
45. Complete failure : DEBACLE
47. Pro pretending to be an amateur : RINGER
49. Tijuana money : PESO
51. Winery containers : CASKS
52. Set free, as pigs : UNPEN
53. "Goosebumps" author R.L. : STINE
55. Term of affection : CUTIE
56. Nut under an oak : ACORN
57. "__ Christmas!" : MERRY
58. Hair-parting tool : COMB
59. Singer India.__ : ARIE. (India.Arie for style)
61. Irish folk singer : ENYA
65. Family guy : DAD
Argyle
Fun romp this morning, thanks Janice! No slowdowns along the way. Thanks for your usual terrific write up, Argyle!! Guess I'll have to come back later for Owen's limerick. ;-))
ReplyDeleteCouldn't remember Cahn or Cohn and didn't know perp. An almost today for me.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDeleteTypical Monday solve time for me, but there were a few minor bumps in the road along the way. Hand up for GYRO before GIRO. Just looked it up and apparently GIRO is short for Autogiro, which is another name for the gyrocopter. Live and learn. Also hesitated with TITAN, since it seems a much grander word than simply a "big shot". I almost fell into the COHN/CAHN trap, except that I remembered India.ARIE from previous puzzles. Silly name, if you ask me, but memorable...
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteVery nice puzzle from Janice with some nice breakfast crunch. Hand up for GYRO and also DATA before DOPE. Otherwise it was a smooth ride. Barry, apparently it's not so memorable for me. I didn't remember.
Argyle, it used to be DADE county. Now it's MIAMI-DADE county. In Texas we have Houston and Austin counties, but neither city is located in its namesake county.
DMVS was a gimme. I had to renew my driver license this year. I gladly paid the extra buck to do it online rather than wait in the long lines at the DMV. On the other hand, I refuse to pay the extra buck to register my vehicles. That can be done in about a minute at the nearby courthouse, and there's plenty of free parking out front. Go ahead, call me cheap. I consider myself to be frugal. I still don't understand why either process should cost more online. It seems unAmerican, somehow.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHand up for Gyro. I think I sorta recall Giro or even Autogiro from some earlier puzzle, so it was easier to accept when required by perps.
What's an India.Arie?
Hubgry Mother, a DNF for me as well, thanks to the CAHN / ARIE cross. :-(
ReplyDeleteThank you Janice and thank you Argyle.
ReplyDeleteFirst puzzle in a few days. FIW. I fell on my TAILbone entering CoHN in the SW.
Favorite motel ? We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington IN this weekend. We were on the 6th floor. I guess that makes it a hotel ?
Argyle, you made me look. 13. 20-Across' former county : DADE. Former?
Had the same issues as already discussed, but didn't make any erasures since I was checking crosses all the way. Wanted Gyro, but topic wouldn't allow it. Liked Data, but Endow insisted otherwise. And really, really wanted Cohn, but vaguely remembered Arie and could not reconcile Orie. Then there's Miami-Dade. Got it easily, but totally out of the loop on that change in naming rights. What's next? Will they demote Pluto?
ReplyDelete21A: "Copter's forerunner" for GIRO is a lame clue any way you look at it. "Short for copter's forerunner," maybe. But the gyro ("giro") part of "helicopter" is the "heli," not the "copter" (which comes from "pteron," Greek for "wing"). And "Autogiro" was a misspelling to begin with; it's a brand name ("gyroplane" is spelled with a y, not an i). Sorry, Yellowrocks, that's my st-story, and I'm st-stickin' t-to it.
ReplyDelete20A, 13D: Thanks, Avg Joe, for your thoughts on Miami, Dade and Pluto. Shouldn't the city be Miami-Dade now also? Or maybe it should all be Miami-Dade-Beach, while we're at it.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteA little choppy for a Monday. Initially bypassed the NW. Began in the center and built it out. Finally saw the tiny insect was a MITE; not a gnat, and that the molten rock would be MAGMA today. CAHN with an a was a good guess @ 58a. Liked the TAIL theme.
Have a great day.
You don't need a WEBCAM to use Skype.
ReplyDeleteTTP, thanks for the Link to the Miami-DADE name change. I did the Wiki chain and yeah, DADE is sorta lame because it is the name of a Major Dade, killed in a Seminole attack in the 1830s. Eeyou. At least Cuyahoga County, here in Cleveland is named after a river.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anonymous @8:49. The 54A Skype clue is misleading. You CAN just Phone on Skype, without a web cam, you just can't do face-to-face.
Re 47D, My favorite line about ringers is near the end of the movie, MASH. There is a VERY dirty football game. I believe the line is "Their RINGER has spotted our RINGER", which I believe was spoken by Radar O'Reilly.
ReplyDeleteLike Hungry Mother, HeartRX and others I had the same problem with COHN/CAHN and didn't know about INDIA.ARIE, so today was a FIW. Oh well, in the bigger scheme of things, it's not that big a deal. However, I think I will remember it from now on, because we will undoubtedly see it again in the near future.
Is it just me, or does it seem like some "new" words get beaten to death by constructors after they first appear in a puzzle? Of course there are always the old standbys like ALOE, ANTE, CAIN and ABEL, etc. I'm not complaining because I think it is amazing how the constructors can put together a crossword puzzle.
A little trivia about Miami-Dade county. It is a few square miles more than twice as large as Rhode Island. 1,212 square miles vs. 2,431 square miles.
Have a nice day.
I finished in good time, but can't say I enjoyed this one. Strange clung...not clever, just strange, I thought. Most have been mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThe write up, was fun, though! Thanks, Argyle.
Good morning all,
ReplyDeleteThanks for a fun romp Janice, although I didn't catch the theme AGAIN until Argylegave us the dope.I can see where I'd have less write overs if I'd cross check more often. Window would have easily been webcam after filling the downs.I usually come across several new words in every puzzle I do, and I rarely remember them when we see them 3 months later. Liar and arie are my today's examples. both perp able.
Favorite motel? Although I've never stayed there, in Soth Lake Tahoe there is a lovely Best Western that has gardens full of colorful flowers..looks inviting, and it is just a few short blocks from the lake...and the casinos.
Sears is coming by this morning(hopefully) to check out the damaged doors on our new frig. The deliverers changed the door opening from left to right out in the street and scraped the edges. After waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive, this does not sit well..It' just a basic simple model.
LIRR, not liar...grrr
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of others, crossing of ARIE and CAHN did me in. Otherwise, a speed run. Thanks, Janice.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the pic of St. Augustine, Argyle. You never fail to disappoint me in your pics. Thanks!
A fun speed run today. Thanks, Janice. As always, an entertaining Argyle expo. I'm glad I occasionally glanced at the perps. That saved me from entering Shut before SPED, GyRO b4 GIRO, Data b4 DOPE, and kAHN b4 CAHN. Also glad I didn't need the down clues because some of them seemed a little crunchier in Argyles expo.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to Google it later, but Miami Dade County may be larger than Delaware. Delaware only has three counties, two when the tide is in.
Cya.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was an easy, breezy Monday outing. Only w/o was data/dope. I knew Cahn but for some reason, I'm never sure whether it's C or K, but comb solved that question. Needed the reveal to get the theme but that filled quickly enough.
Thank you, Janice, for easing us into a new week and month, and thanks, Argyle, for a smooth expo.
The 3 H's are back; today and tomorrow 90 and Wednesday 89. Hard to believe Labor Day is next Monday.
Lucina, I hope your friend has a speedy recovery.
Have a great day.
Whew! I got CAHN and so ended up with a totally successful speed run this morning. Many thanks, Janice! Great way to start the week.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day, everybody!
Good morning to all.
ReplyDeleteFast easy romp today. Had same issues as everyone else, but waited for perps, so no writeovers.
I have never Skyped. Never used a WEBCAM. No video chatting or face time(is that what you call it?) In fact. I just started texting this year. Honestly, though, if I can relay all in a two minute verbal telephone call, why am I wasting twice as much time on messaging? Could someone explain this complete stupidity? For deaf people, it's wonderful, but for the rest of us, no clue. I feel so old and outdated.
Nothing else comes to mind. A good day to you all.
"puzzling thoughts":
ReplyDeleteWEES, this was a pretty easy Monday puzzle, although it had a decent theme along with good clueing. Nothing too difficult other than to make sure the words and names were spelled correctly
My only write-over was when I put YOYO into 18d before I realized that they wanted me to "go fly a KITE!"
TTP @ 7:21 - I am a long-time Hilton Honors member so I am very familiar with the HGI properties. I also like Hampton Inns when looking for good value. I did a google check on the word "MOTEL" and it confirmed to me that it is a portmanteau of the words MOTOR and HOTEL. I always thought of a MOTEL as an Inn where you could pull your car up to your room, and a HOTEL as one with a parking lot, parking garage, or valet. I remember as a kid, my folks always liked staying at MOTELS that were recommended by AAA . . . I guess TripAdvisor has "usurped" AAA as the family guide for travel. BTW, our Steelers are looking really bad this pre-season . . .
VirginiaSycamore @ 9:15 - my favorite new product that comes from the banks of the Cuyahoga is Great Lakes Brewing Co "Burning River Pale Ale", along with their other offerings. I wish it were available here in Florida as they are one of my favorite Craft Beer producers
ReplyDeleteOther then the NW corner, no issues or slowdowns today.
The NW was dicey because of an unknown or two and a couple of fills I did not agree with.
ARNETT & MAGMA were not familiar to me. I felt ELEMENT & TITAN were inappropriately clued.
Wife was a STATEN Island gal. Loved going there when we were courting, plenty of nice watering holes and restaurants. Today a pack of wild horses couldn't get me onto that Island.
I have always felt Sam SNEAD has never gotten the fame and recognition he deserves.
He certainly was a consistent golfer and usually challenging for the lead. Would liked to have seen his game using today's equipment.
Hello Everyone, Didn't know Arie so Cohn/Orie looked ok to me. I had a DNF today. It's been a long time since I haven't finished a Monday puzzle correctly. I also had Game Keeper instead of Gate Keeper. Timan/Titan didn't come to me either and I fell into some of the same traps as others. For me this was a bit harder than the usual Monday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI think my coffee wasn't strong enough this morning!!
My grandson has been working as a Gaffer in New York and enjoys the job. He gets to see some wonderful plays and meet some great people.
the Miami Herald was our English Language newspaper when we lived in Colombia. The Herald was published in Dade County way back then.
Have a great day, everyone.
Greetings, friends!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun romp today, thank you, Janice and lovely review from Argyle, thank you.
I'm surprised so many don't recall India ARIE as she has appeared in numerous puzzles. She is a singer and song writer though I don't know her work.
This puzzle filled as quickly as my pencil could move so I didn't even see some of the downs including GIRO.
As for spaghetti SAUCE, I make my own and have to say, it's delicious. It takes some work, but it's worth it. As for MOTELS, Regency Inn Suites are my favorite for comfort, spaciousness, great breakfast, shuttle service, etc.
IrishMiss:
Thank you. I'm afraid that Annie, my friend, has a long, hard recovery ahead. She will go to a convalescent home for two months.
I hope you are all having a peaceful last day of August!
For those interested in such trivia, Delaware is exactly 58 square miles bigger than Miami-Dade county. . . when the tide is out, that is. I looked it up because, as DW has said many times, I have a trivial brain.
ReplyDeleteLucina, so sorry to read about your friend. Prayers and healing thoughts headed her way.
Cya.
Tail End?
ReplyDeleteNice Monday, Janice , and thanks for the write-up Argyle!
ReplyDelete@oc4beach - regarding the popularity upsurge in certain words, it's worth remembering that it probably takes at least six months on average for a puzzle to appear in the LAT after it's been submitted in the first instance. what that means is that if I think I'm being super-original using a word that's recently achieved "common usage" status, there's a long window of time when everyone else who is submitting puzzles thinks the same thing. When a word also falls into the "handy letter progression" category, like ARIE, it's going to get a lot of attention from constructors.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Most cabooses today are situated thusly
-Spider MITES had our locust on the ropes until we sprayed
-TAILWINDS make the trip from LA to Honolulu longer than the return trip
-The soon-to-be-jilted groom (she chose Clark Gable, duh!)arriving in an AUTO GYRO (1:03) in 1934’s It Happened One Night”. I asked this as trivia once but got no takers.
-The minister ERRED Saturday by asking David if he took Elizabeth to be his husband. Elizabeth’s gay sister thought that was ironic!
-Getting my license renewed online keeps me out of the DMV
-Chile weather last ENERO
-This Old Dominion Frat got suspended and won’t be having TOGA parties this year
-Spearchucker Jones was M*A*S*H’s ringer and Super Bug was the 325th’s in the FB game
-What movie had Zuul, the GATEKEEPER of Gozer, a demigod and minion of Gozer?
HG: "TAILWINDS make the trip from LA to Honolulu longer than the return trip"
ReplyDeleteHow odd. I would have thought that headwinds would make the trip from LA to Honolulu longer than the return trip.
Argyle, Great write-up, as always!
ReplyDeleteJanice, Thank You for a FUN Monday puzzle with a nice theme.
Also enjoyed the "Mini-Florida" theme with MIAMI-DADE FLA ... MOTEL and BEER, lol
Can't wait until the next rain storm.
A "Toast-To-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Fun puzzle but a little crunchy for a Monday, I thought. But not a DEBACLE!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know LIRR.
WEES re data and gnat.
Did anybody else notice ENYA crossing KENYA?
I don't want to hear about MERRY Christmas just yet. I hear that Costco has Christmas merchandise for sale already!
This was my bumper sticker for many years, right next to "do not wash, undergoing scientific dirt test."
ReplyDeleteTailspin? Whoa! cut engine to idle, ailerons neutral, and hard left rudder!
Cute Tailpipe! Uh,,, Not so much.... (but we have all been there....)
& finally, The tail windchime...
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteNice work, Janice and Santa!
A few re-types as mentioned above made this a few minutes longer than usual Monday breeze. We have had ARIE before.
No cheats.
They say it's only going to rise to 90 degrees today!
Cheers!
Happy Monday.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I began to wonder why multi-story buildings described themselves as motels, without the possibility of parking right outside your door. I have found that most establishments calling themselves motels are less expensive and more convenient to highway interchanges. Mostly for a one night night stay all I need is a clean comfortable bed with not too much noise. I don't need luxury.
Bluehen @ 1356
ReplyDeleteThat's a close call as you cite. Delaware's boundary extends across the Delaware River and Bay to the NJ shore. I sometimes wonder if the official figures include all that water area.
Husker, you sly dog. Chile weather last ENERO but in Fahrenheit.
ReplyDeleteSPITZBOOV, what you say is true, often to the chagrin of New Jerseyites. I doubt that riparian rights have much to do with the final figure, however. Have you ever watched a program called "How the States Got Their Shapes"? Interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteBluehen: I've read the book. Lots of good quirky stuff.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteWEES - a wee bit of bite on a Monday. NW took me the longest to crack and CAHN / ARIE crossing was a wag (A or I, ChaN or ChiN - since ChaN seemed like a better name...) Only until reading Argyle's WO did I realize I was saved by dyslexia!
Thanks Janice & Argyle!
W/o - EnNY b/f CUTIE (DW's petname) fixed it; ESP-14a.
Hated: SPED & DMVS! I spent part of the weekend taking an online defensive driving course 'cuz I SPED. Also, I need to register my Alfa with the DMV but I can't until a safety inspection which I failed Sat because I need new wiper blades which have to be ordered... What a P.I.T.A.!
Nope, no WEBCAM needed for Skype. Microsoft renamed Lync to Skype for Business. I use it daily w/o a WEB CAM.
Fav: NASA - JSC is just down the road. Still coming HG?
Ave Joe - I've got bad news re: Pluto...
Re: BEER - C. Moe, have you had He'Brew BEER? (read their labels, pretty funny). I saw them mentioned on PBS last night and wondered if it was worth seeking out (it's not available in TX).
Here's The SPIN DOCTORs for your musical interlude.
HG - If some asks if you're a god, you say YES!
Cheers, -T
Good early evening, folks. Thank you, Janice Luttrell, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for afire review.
ReplyDeleteStarted on this late today. Was still working on Sunday's puzzle this morning, which I still have not completed.
This was easier than most Mondays. Only real hangup was ARIE crossing CAHN.
I even got that french term LE ROI. We have a Leroy, IL, down by Bloomington. I am sure it was originally named for LE ROI. Lot of french influence in Illinois.
I really like the IPAD I use. It actually is my wife's, but I use it all the time.
Getting set to cook some bratwurst out on the grill. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
AnonT, you mean to tell me that........? (There's no justice)
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of available in TX, I see Blue Bell is back on the shelves. The disruption in the force has been eased.
I haven't heard of or read the book about how states got their shapes, but do have one curiosity I've noticed for years. At the extreme NW corner of Missouri, there's this little oxbow loop, extending into what would otherwise be Nebraska. Since it's an oxbow, I understand how it happened. But it's so small that I'd like to take a destination drive some Sunday and go there just to say I've been there, done that. It's prolly about a square mile, and there might not even be any roads. But it beckons.....
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Dang, somebody read what I typed and not what I meant. I had the LA to Honolulu time differential backwards. I don’t know why you had to be Anonymous to call me on it, as I admit mistakes without rancor!
-Si Argyle, I went with Fahrenheit because it seemed to make more sense for us here in the USA, Liberia and Burma (Myanmar)
-Got it, Tony. If Gozer says I’m a God, I’m gonna say yes!
-I’m still working on touring the Lone Star State. Would you spring for a large Sprite at JSC? ;-)
-You’re right, Joe, to get to Eppley Airfield from downtown Omaha, you have to drive through the small city of Carter Lake, Iowa whose city limits looks to have been formed by an oxbow. No passport necessary!
Chairman Moe, thanks for the explanation on motel versus hotel. Hand up for HHONORS member. Thought DW said she booked a Holiday Inn hotel. Got the points added when we checked in.
ReplyDeleteFirst time to Bloomington, IN. Vibrant college town. Drove down via I-65, and back up on country roads through Indiana and Illinois past miles and miles of long stretches of cornfields on one side, and soybean fields on the other, dotted occasionally by small town USA. John Mellencamp captured the essence for a generation in "Pink Houses" and "Small Town" and others. A lyrical Normal Rockwell, if you will.
True, the Steelers don't seem to be showing a lot of their hole cards during the preseason. Got talked into joining a fantasy football league this year. Draft is tomorrow night. All I know about fantasy football is the name and a very vague concept.
Bluehen and Spitzboov, I really enjoyed ""How the States Got Their Shapes" programs, but never knew there was a book.
Husker, as a railfan, I weep over the demise of the caboose. I guess it should be some solace that they end up as diners!!
ReplyDeleteMy house is a former RR cabin, used to house "section men" in the days before cars were plentiful, and the section men actually walked their section of the track to look for problems. They lived for a week at a time in the section house. Later, these section houses, RR cabins, were sold to the public. Mine was 135 years old.
Mmm, Bratwurst...
ReplyDeleteA late post, but I feel obliged to point out that 1A is in error:
ReplyDeleteMITES are ARACHNIDS, not INSECTS
NC
Incidentally, the quintessential SPIN DOCTORS song is "TWO PRINCES".
ReplyDeleteSPIN DOCTORS -ESSENTIAL LISTENING
NC
Aww yes TTP, I remember when you could stop a plow with the videos of Mtv. But how dare you mention them without links for the lazy!
ReplyDeletePink Houses
and
Small Town
Your short story:
"First time to Bloomington, IN. Vibrant college town. Drove down via I-65, and back up on country roads through Indiana and Illinois past miles and miles of long stretches of cornfields on one side, and soybean fields on the other, dotted occasionally by small town USA. John Mellencamp captured the essence for a generation in "Pink Houses" and "Small Town" and others. A lyrical Normal Rockwell, if you will. "
evoked images, memories and much nostalgia of driving through the Midwest. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa and such are exactly how they are depicted in word and video. If you have only visited the coasts, I can't describe the 'deep down in the gut' places you are missing.
Is Creature still out there?
ReplyDeleteSouthern Indiana life as I knew it.
Merriam-Webster dict. agrees with the clue to 1a.
ReplyDeleteHG
ReplyDeleteWould that movie be Ghostbusters?
Lucina - yep. Scroll back for "Are you a god?" I link'd. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnon @9:30p and Seymour - I grew up in SPI during the collapse of the family farmer. My fav JCM song: Rain on a Scarecrow . Vivid description of the devastation. My BIL's family were fortunate to keep their farm where my Sis now lives.
Cheers, -T
Oh, and HG, yes; all the Sprite you can consume is on me at JSC. C, -T
ReplyDeleteAnonT:
ReplyDeleteThank you. I had not yet opened that link.
Mites are not insects. Not a good start.
ReplyDelete