Theme: Edit - ED is added to the first part of each plural compound noun and formed three synonyms for "tired". Each new entry is then clued humorously.
20. Tired bowling groups? : BUSHED LEAGUES. Bush Leagues
38. Tired janitors? : DRAINED CLEANERS. Drain Cleaners
56. Tired groupies? : EXHAUSTED FANS. Exhaust Fans
Argyle here. A few trouble spots but an amusing theme. Seven X's on the way to a pangram.
Across:
1. Alter, as a pet : SPAY
5. Coif adjusted with a pick : AFRO
9. Less uncertain : SURER. More certain.
14. Bring under control : TAME
15. Bar sign light : NEON
16. Goodnight girl of song : IRENE. Recorded under one of those bar lights.
17. Poolside hue : AQUA
18. Big reference vols. : OEDs
19. Utah city near the Golden Spike : OGDEN
23. Unconvincing excuse, probably : LIE
24. Ballot markings : Xes
25. Not strict at all : LAX
26. __ Mahal : TAJ
29. Go on until : END AT
31. Buzzers around blossoms : BEEs
33. Cornfield construction : MAZE. They are very creative.
34. Antianxiety drug : XANAX. First released by Upjohn and now a part of Pfizer.
36. Relationship __: Facebook feature : STATUS
42. Automatons : ROBOTS
43. Refuge in a desert : OASIS
44. Physics particle : ATOM
45. It's pitched at camp : TENT
47. Security concerns : LEAKS
51. Beer, to a Brit : BEV. Short for Beverage.
52. Driver's license datum : SEX
53. Cooler in a cooler : ICE
55. Lucy of "Elementary" : LIU. On CBS.
60. Plastic alternative : PAPER
62. Give kudos to : LAUD
63. Common conjunctions : ANDs
64. Construction site sight : CRANE
65. Shoreline-altering phenomenon : TIDE
66. Item on an actor's résumé : ROLE
67. Scarecrow stuffing : STRAW
68. Vehicle in many a Jack London story : SLED
69. Black gem : ONYX
Down:
1. Place for ponies : STABLE
2. Anna of "True Blood" : PAQUIN. Canadian-born New Zealand actress. "True Blood" is on HBO.
3. Brought a smile to : AMUSED
4. Slangy assent : "YEAH"
5. Battery pole : ANODE
6. Experiences regret : FEELS BAD
7. Biked : RODE
8. Marked down : ON SALE
9. Sitting Bull's tribe : SIOUX
10. Hard-to-resist impulse : URGE
11. Republican-voting area, on an election map : RED STATE
12. Peoria-to-Detroit dir. : ENE
13. Neurotic toon dog : REN and Stimpy.
21. Not destroyed or lost, as an old document : EXTANT
22. Fuels (up) : GASSES
27. France's Cote d'__ : AZUR
28. Zooey's "New Girl" role : JESS. Zooey Deschanel / Jessica Day
30. Geometric truth : AXIOM
32. Prior prisoner, for short : EX-CON. (convict)
33. Pastor's abode : MANSE. Echo of Sunday.
35. Lipton rival : NESTEA
37. Kept tabs on from behind : TAILED
38. Hardly eye-catching : DRAB
39. Repetitive learning technique : ROTE
40. Better than expected : ABOVE PAR
41. North-south coordinate : LATITUDE. Partnered with longitude.
46. Rejoices : EXULTS. Exalt is to hold in high esteem.
48. Post-rehab support group : AL-ANON
49. "Thank you __, ma'am" : KINDLY
50. English Channel county : SUSSEX
52. "The Taming of the __" : SHREW
54. Formally gave up : CEDED
57. Powerful TV princess : XENA
58. Breeze (along) : SAIL
59. Casino game : FARO. An old card game but casinos probably have figured a way to increase the house cut.
60. HP products : PCs
61. Word after clip or pop : ART
Argyle
56 comments:
Morning, all!
Mostly brain dead after catching the late Pats game last night, but I guess I still had enough functioning brain cells to get this one done in short order. Got the theme early on and that helped. Lots of X's in the grid! Curious -- is BEV specifically used to refer to beer in the U.K., or is it used to refer to any beverage whatsoever?
Gonna be a looooong day...
Greetings!
Thanks, Gail, Bruce and Santa!
Fun puzzle. Only BEV and JESS were perped.
Yesterday's offering good also. (Went to bed early.)
Liked Castle Monday. Now have to wait umpteen weeks for another episode. (Sigh!)
Cheers!
Well, Gail, Bruce, or Argyle, if any of you three FEELS BAD or are mad and in a RED STATE or feeling AZUR or OVER PAR (that's WORSE than expected in golf), take a XANAX. Or a change in LATITUDE will provide a change in ATTITUDE according to Mr. Buffet.
Nice easy Tuesday with only EXTANT, BEV, PAQUIN, and JESS being new words to me. The theme came at BUSHED LEAGUES making the others easily guessed.
52A- Driver's license datum-SEX. There is a less than intelligent MAN who 'claims' that he really is a WOMAN who was DENIED a driver's license in out state because he made himself up to look feminine; state law forbids portraying yourself as someone different on the driver's license picture. The PC silliness in this country is getting ridiculous.
As for being UNDER PAR on a golf course, I stood on the 5th tee box ONCE and only once with that score. Downhill from there. As a matter of fact, other than the PGA TOUR players, I have never seen or played with anybody who finished 18 holes at or under par.
Interesting to see all the Xs and a Tuesday pangram. ABOVE PAR a phrase which can mean both God and bad things depending on the context.
Thanks for the entertainment
Good morning!
Must've caught a bug yesterday, which is something I seldom do. It was very un-PAR. Orange juice and ibuprofen (not XANAX) got me through the day. Had been planning to attend an open house at City Hall to discuss the plans for road and ditch improvements -- bound to be a light-hearted conversation. Had to bail. Today is much better.
Bruce and Gail, I'm impressed. Easy enough for a Tuesday, not a clinker in the bunch, and a pangram to boot. Wow!
Argyle, I think the Yard Dogs may have been left under the lights too long.
Learning moment: EXTANT = "in existence," thought it just meant "out there somewhere, maybe."
I didn't get my 2¢ in yesterday, so here it is today in limerickian form.
When searching a dungeon for monstrous foe
There's a fork in the tunnel, which way to go?
A coin would be nice
To give some advice --
Well, there's EVENS or odds on a d20 throw!
A d20 is a 20-sided die, though all sizes (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) have equal EVENS and odds. And yes, that is indeed how RPG players "flip a coin"!
Traumatic day yesterday. I've mentioned before I'm obese and often use a walker (good genes have protected me from diabetes so far, though Doc says next visit...). Yesterday I fell in the parking lot here at my condo. No injury, but had to call 911 for help getting back on my feet, with some of my neighbors gathered around. This isn't the first time I've fallen, but it seems to be happening more often. Starting last winter, I absolutely refuse to leave the apartment if there is any snow on the ground!
Owen KL, so sorry to hear of your fall. Please, take care.
Enjoyable puzzle.
Big Easy. I have a trans relative so I can tell you just don't understand. It's far deeper than PC. You opened up another can of worms.
Lucina, I understand your concern over diabetes 2. I was diagnosed in Oct. 2014. The Cornerites gave you good advice. I would add that portion control is key. I was very hungry for the first 4 days, but not so much after that. These four days teach need vs. want, hunger vs, appetite/habit. If I go off my diet for 3 days, it is very difficult to start up again. I need to relearn hunger vs. appetite, so don't cheat for more than one day or so. I find drinking a glass of water, non sodium seltzer or unsweet iced tea suffices when I feel hungry or just have the need to HAVE something and my diet says no. Also, waiting 20 minutes before having another helping kills the urge.
I take just one Metformin every day. My A1C dropped to 5.3 almost immediately. I get plenty of exercise which helps with glucose, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and heart health.
Good morning Puzzle Pals!
Ah, a nice easy puzzle for a "mental day." After the trebuchet adventure & Anonymous' threats*, I'm DRAINED. Today is daddy's day. I may even have a BEV at 10:30a :-)
Thank you Gail & Bruce. The NE was my only problem area, I was less SURER about _RENE & _GDEN until LAX gave me SIOUX. The theme was cute and well executed.
Thanks Argyle for kicking off the after-party and confirming SUSSEX and not SeSSEX.
W/os: SSN b/f SEX @52a and I had Zs in 3d & 57d at 1st. (YEAH, I still make those errors).
ESPs - FARO(? never heard of it), 16, 19, 51a.
Fav: ROTE xing ROBOTS; AI Singularity ain't here yet (shutta up, Watson).
OKL - sorry to hear about your fall. Do take care; anyone who uses d20 in a limerick is a gem (ONYX?).
Musical interludes:
King Killer BEES from SNL.
AND, since to day is the anniversary of the discovery of the EXTANT Lucy (I got to see her at a HMoNS a few years back with the kids) - The Beatles Song the archeologists were listening to during the eXpedition (is that enough XES for the day?), hence her name.
Cheers, -T
On 11/29 Anon plans to protest carbon-co's - Shields Up.
Good morning everyone.
Argyle - Good intro, as always.
Enjoyed the theme - synonyms for tired found in well known phrases. Struck by all the X's; wondered about a sub-theme.
The solve was easy; no look-ups or erasures.
Goodnight IRENE was popular when I was a teen. Still like it.
Anon -T - Glad your project worked out.
Good Morning:
Bruce and Gail never disappoint, IMO. Really liked today's theme; thought of Boomer at Tired bowling groups. And with the dreaded _ _ _ appearing TWO days in a row, someone (won't mention any names) must be a teensy, weensy grumpy!
Thanks, B and G, for the enjoyable Tuesday treat, and thanks, Argyle, for the neat commentary.
Another beautiful fall day: chilly, but no wind and brilliant sunshine.
DO, glad you're feeling better. I guess we're into the "germy" time of the year, what with shopping and crowds of people.
I had a grocery ordered delivered yesterday and, surprisingly, I qualified for either a 21 lb. turkey, a 12 lb. ham, or a 7 lb. turkey breast. I gave the coupon to my sister, Peggy, for future use as she already has all of her Thanksgiving dinner food planned. I just love the home delivery service, especially not having to lug all sorts of heavy or bulky items. The delivery person brings everything right into my kitchen, so all I have to do is put it away. Easy, peasy!
Owen, I'm sorry to hear of your fall but glad you weren't hurt.
Have a great day.
EXTREME X-STREAM. It helped with EXTANT and SUSSEX as I navigated my way around the channel.
In answer to Barry's question about BEV. No! Never heard of it in reference to beer.
BEVVY Is OK (meaning alcoholic drink in general), but the generic form of beer is PINT, as in
"Fancy a(nother) pint, mate?" (when talking to another guy).
"Fancy a pint, love?" (when talking to a girlfriend/wife).
OWEN, sorry to hear about your problems. You told us you were nearly deaf the other day. Your ears provide you with balance, of course, so I would check with the doc. S(he) may be able to help with one or the other.
Hello, friends!
A puzzle containing so many Xes and Ys is really fun! Thank you, Bruce and Gail! I cottoned on to the theme quickly and really enjoyed all the fill. No clunkers in the bunch and that's no LIE.
I don't have HBO so JESS was completely perped but I recall Anna PAQUIN very well.
Argyle, I LAUD you, as well for keeping us well informed.
YR:
Thank you for your advice. What a privilege to have such a fountain of information from all of you.
Owen:
Well done. Please take care.
Have a splendid Tuesday, everyone!
A brilliant Tuesday speed run, Gail and Bruce--I loved it! The theme was funny and cute, and it was neat to keep running into all those X es. Thanks for the write up, too, Argyle.
So sorry to hear about your fall, Owen, but what a relief that you're okay.
Family coming this evening. Hope they don't have a nightmare when they change planes in Chicago. It'll be so nice to see everybody!
Very nice puzzle by Gail & Bruce. Cute theme, and noticed right away all the X's. Great Job!
Nice write-up, Argyle. Thank you!
Hello Puzzlers -
Another easy solve. For those who keep track, Cruciverb has been out to lunch for a couple of days. I've been trying out the new and improved LA Times puzzle interface instead; so far, it's much improved over the old one, and it works quite a lot better on iPads.
Morning, Argyle, thanks for 'splaining!
Thanks for the fun, Gail, Bruce and Argyle.
Best wishes Owen!
I agree with Spitz about Goodnight Irene. The first time I remember hearing it was in a concert by the Weavers at Cornell attended by both Barbara and me. The Weavers sung like the songs made them happy. I always thought of them as the original folkies; less commercial but more authentic.
Really slowed up in the SE corner. Reading groupie and thinking hippie, so FAN wasn't on my radar ... even though exhaust fan is the logical choice. Did the same thing with conjunction/contraction, so ANDS was not easy. Need to slow down and read each clue. Saw the documentary "Slingshot" about the Segway inventor. He describes having to read the same paragraph over and over until the words stop swimming around and fall into place. I can relate. BTW ... great documentary and quite inspiring. On Netflix.
Hi Y'all! Well done, Bruce & Gail! I managed to fill everything in 8 sec. less than Monday, so I believe that is under PAR for me, of course. I got the theme and even realized it was a pangram. The puzzle exudes Xes. Fun & amusing.
Argyle, we are so thankful for you and C.C. and all the other contributors.
Take care, Owen, we don't want you to fracture your marvelous "funny bone". I know what you mean about not going out in slick weather -- too scary. I had falls on the ice in 1993 & '95 and still have problems from those. I don't even go out in the rain.
AnonT: I'd guess the best thing about the trebuchet for your daughter, was the great interaction with dad.
This just in... Eldest got an 80/100 on the trebuchete. I'm so proud of her not letting setbacks be the STRAW breaking her back. She made every design decision while I played Socrates (and working the nail gun/saw) asking the why. EXULTS for her! Cheers, -T
A jaunt with my dear friend Melissa
Had left me in a bit of a twista
My Life Alert badges
Were over at Madge's
So I spent time on the lot of Zee Vista!
A fun theme that presages how we all feel after the tryptophan feast on Thursday.
Musings
-PE subbing today. The music is loud but its 60’s and 70’s rock and roll!
-Game 1 in the WS had EXHAUSETED FANS until this happened in the 14th inning
-It breaks your heart when you catch your child in his first LIE
-I’ll bet the security at LAX is not LAX these days
-Céline Dion sang My Heart Will Go On despite the iceberg
-Some of us are already eager for pitching at this camp
-One August day I put Dry ICE in our cooler to keep a cake fresh. Oops, we had cake sicles!
-LEAKS usually happen when someone wants that info leaked
-Until I needed a jump start, I didn’t realize my car battery (ANODE and all) was under the backseat floorboard
-This Pawn Stars expert bought Joseph’s Mengelev’s EXTANT passport
-I still hear “take the NESTEA plunge” at the swimming pool
-DRAB and ROTE near each other – tomayto/tomahto
-SEX identification ain’t as easy “as it used to was”
Smooth SAILing EXept for the X in EXES or XES. My only nit. I had to turn on red letters I had a N but NES didn't look right at all ~!~!
AnonT:
Congratulations to your daughter and also to you for your assistance.
Argyle: Excellent write-up & links.
Gail & Bruce: Thank You for a FUN Tuesday puzzle.
D N F ... Again, Self-Imposed, due to a certain 3-letter word I NEVER fill in.
Kinda wished (was hoping for) something a little stronger than NESTEA, in the grid, to drink.
Stuck with a beautiful, sunny, 75 degree day.
(Jeez, the weather here in the Tampa Bay Area is truly boring!)
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Hmm, I think I can sum up the theme in one pic...
Cool puzzle; enjoyed it. Quite different from Bruce's puzzle of last Saturday!
Speaking of alcoholic BEVerages, I have recently discovered "Not Your Father's Root Beer." I think it is delicious, and didn't realize it has more alcohol than beer. It also has sugar in it, so I limit myself to two a week maximum. Definitely not your "Dad's" root beer!
Good job on that trebuchet, T!
Take care, Owen.
Best wishes to you all.
Anon-T, congrats to you and your daughter. That should be worth a "P" for perseverance.
Bill-G, you must have missed Goodnight, Irene the first time around. When I was a wee lad my bedroom was on Main Street and Slim's Bar was right across the street. If Irene wasn't going to bed, Johnny Ray was Crying or Frankie Laine was looking for Jezebel.
Husker, weird location for the battery. I remember my first VW Beetle -- the windshield washer was air-powered, by a hose from the over-inflated spare tire.
I thought a theme might have been "X Marks the Spot". Not used to seeing that many "X"s in one grid. Nicely done.
Seemed like a somewhat easy puzzle, even for a Tuesday. That's not a complaint.
This puzzle is a great example of why you don't have to stuff a grid with theme entries to create a superior work. There's 18 fill words and phrases 6 letters or longer. That's a bit remarkable. Something you couldn't achieve with a lot of themers.
Frankly, I think too often crosswords heavy on the theme side is the constructor saying, "Look at what I can do!" That may rankle some folks, but I'm really getting tired of puzzles loaded with dreck because the only thing that's important to the writer is how much I can impress the puzzle world with my ability to cram a grid with theme.
Thanks Gail and Bruce for this one... it's beautiful.
Regarding Goodnight, Irene: Lead Belly had heard the song and "made it his own" in the 1930s including while being incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. In 1950, one year after his death, The Weavers recorded their version and it became a best seller for 25 weeks. I heard them sing it at Cornell about 1962.
My parents' first VW didn't have a gas gauge. Instead, it had a lever on the firewall to switch to a small reserve gas tank, about one gallon. That worked OK until you ran out, reached down to flip to the reserve tank and found that somebody had already run out and had forgotten to fill up again. My first VW had the windshield washer run by putting compressed air in the water tank like putting air in a tire. D-O's version was a later improvement.
BTW, I use Wikipedia often. I'm guessing many of us do as well. They are having their modest fundraising drive. I am getting out my credit card to contribute the pittance they ask for to help keep them afloat.
Cruciverb down again so I started on the LA Crossword site on my iPad. But I closed it up without remembering to save (I assume you can save?) and lost everything when I had to go to an appointment this morning. So once again, I fired up my laptop and went to the Mensa site to start over.
Straightforward Tuesday with lots of fun. I thought the British beer might be ALE and have not heard BEV used. Thought Tin would be AMUSED but then I reached ICE!
Thanks Bruce, Gail and Argyle.
Kind of an easy puzzle for a Tuesday, I managed to start at the top left corner and finish at the lower right, without having to go back and fill anything in, usually only do that on Mondays.
oops, I forgot that BEV was the answer to 51-a, Beer to a Brit.
OTOH, Had the question been ... "Beer to a Floridian" the proper answer ... I'll-HAVE-ANOTHER ... wouldn't have fit.
Hmmm, that gives me and idea ... LOL
Cheers!
Every letter of the alphabet appeared in today's answers. How often does that happen? Just wonderin'...
Special for Tinbeni!
TX Ms, it's often a goal of the constructor(s), but usually not the overriding one. When it does happen it's called a pangram, as Argyle mentioned in his write-up.
D-O - Thanks! I meant to google the definition of a pangram - wish I had before posting, now I'm red-faced, especially since several regulars commented on it after Argyle's write-up. I've learned so much from the Cornerites-thanks to you all!
WEES.....lovely theme and fun Xs. Argyle you were in fine form.
Owen, be well. And your advice to Tinbini was spot on!
Tx Ms, welcome to the blog. Many people lurk here, but only a few get the courage to speak up. We're a friendly bunch, and we don't bite. Much. Feel free to join the party.
Ya'll may not bite much, but just once, just once, try to blow an egg and all of a sudden........
Avg Joe, the yolk hits the fan? :-) This lurker read the comments to your previous hint on how to peel a hard-boiled egg, and I couldn't resist - sorry!
I don't know about Y'all, but I have to admit I'm thankful Joe gave us the spit on the eggs hint. Because of it, I told the family I would be bringing the defiled eggs this year.
Sorry. Fat fingers. Deviled eggs.
No problem. I understand.
Defiled eggs sound interesting...
Avg Joe, not I! Count me in for your deviled eggs. I don't know what my limit is 'cause I've never reached it; maybe more than 10?
AnotT, any photos of your completed science project?
I stumbled across reruns of Friday Night Lights on cable. Geez, I used to love that show. Maybe I'll record the reruns on the DVR and watch them again as I'm doing with reruns of Boston Legal. Or, maybe not...
Yup, just checked for the Wednesday puzzle...Cruciverb is still broken.
Nice puzzle and also a great commentary by our lovable Argyle. Thank you for all you do.
I am surprised nobody made any jokes on SEX. My first comment on the clue was - now who has to provide the sex to get a drivers license ? -
Anyway, there is this story about 2 elderly folks ( - like most of the people on this blog ) - a single guy and a single woman. ( I'm going to keep this STRAIGHT). Anyway, they met each other and really hit it off. The chemistry between them is fantastic, and they rapidly fall in love. And then their thoughts naturally turn towards marriage.
So, the guy says,' You know, sex is an important part of marriage. What are your thoughts about sex and physical intimacy ?'
And the gal goes, slowly, ' You know, I'd like it infrequently ...'
And the guy thinks for a moment, and leans over and asks, carefully, 'Is that one word or two words ?'.
Have a great Thanksgiving weekend, and each of us, have so much to be thankful for ...
Like, we don't have any terrorists taking potshots at people in restaurants and opera houses ... yet.
... HAS so much to be thankful for ...
PK: Yes, the 3 trips to the hardware store, deli-lunch while she's skipping school, and building a STABLE trebuchet will stick with her, me hopes. I had fun too - watching a ping-pong ball nail the chandelier is giggly.
We just got back from Houston Ballet's Nutcracker dressed rehearsal. Eldest (YEAH, the one w/ a trebuchet) sings the "ah, ah, ah, aaah, ah, ah, aahhh, a, ahh" at the end of Act I. I must say while the dancing technical is very good, the Ft. Bend Ballet w/ <= HS kids has better choreography - Mr. Michael is that good. I am biased, my kids have danced for him for 13 years.
D-O: at least an E for effort. We have two trebuchets now and plans to build one to launch a pumpkin. Ain't YouTube great? BTW, I'll back you up on VW's using the spare's air on wipers... I heard it on Click & Clack years back and so the Book of Carmaments verses 7-19 is written.
Bill G: I just sent you trial trebuchet and final pics. Feel free to share w/ the Cornerites if you have an easy way to do it.
Welcome Tx Ms! Come play in our little sandbox (yolk hit the FAN... LOL!).
Ave Joe, I live by what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, I'll partake of the blown eggs. 3p Thursday, right? :-)
Cheers, -T
Word loving pals, Here's a new (to me) one I just encountered in the paper - barratry. Apparently it means being an "ambulance chasing" lawyer and a state rep from D-O's neck of the woods is going to jail for it (pending re-trial of course). Anyone hear "barratry" before? If so in what context? C, -T
-T: Without looking it up (you could have done that easier than asking us, so I'm guessing you're presenting this as a challenge) I think barratry has the same relation to lawyers as usury has to bankers. Using the courts in a manner that is excessive, such as a pattern of nuisance suits just to get paid off by deep-pocket corporations.
Good Wednesday morning, folks. Thank you, Bruce and Gail, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
Irish Miss: Curious, what does that cost for grocery deliveries. Assume they shop for you as well, from a list you send them?
Got home from Pennsylvania yesterday (Tuesday). Could not to do the puzzle because no crucuverb. So, did it last night, late. After finishing, I went to bed. So, here I am.
Puzzle was quite easy.
Triued ALE for 51A. BEV woin that battle.
Also tried SSN for 52A. SEX became obvious. So, two inkblots for me.
46D, held off on the U because I thought it might be an A. U worked.
ANODE was easy. Have hooked many of those up through the years. Big ones. Where the battery cell was good for thousands of amps. Even though the cell was only 2.17 volts.
40D works except for golf. Better than expected is BELOW PAR.
Anyhow, I have to run. Heading to Ohio later today for Thanksgiving with my oldest daughter in SW Ohio. Same town as that guy lived from our Blog that we have not seen in a couple years. Can't remember his name.
See you later today.
Abejo
( )
For the record, the old guy's name was BUCKEYE. The state nut / fruit of Ohio. The Ohio Buckeyes is the Oh St Univ football team.
Abejo, Was that Buckeye Bob ? Also, there was Seen, but I seem to recall you mentioning that you met Buckeye Bob while you were visiting your daughter one year...
Thank you for making "driver's license datum" SEX and not GENDER.
GASES has only two s's (yes, Yellowrocks, I know, I know, many, many uncaring, incompetent lexicographers give it three).
The Grammarist disagrees with you and so do I.
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