Theme: H-D - Heavy Duty Harley-Davidson Hot Dogger (Hipster Doofus)
17A. Just swell : HUNKY-DORY. (The Phrase Finder)
21A. Serious romantic outing : HEAVY DATE
28A. Pursue and catch : HUNT DOWN
37A. Stylist's appliance : HAIR DRYER
49A. Yosemite granite formation : HALF DOME. (Photo)
56A. Sitcom with Richie and the Fonz : HAPPY DAYS. (1974 to 1984)
62A. Lowe's rival : HOME DEPOT. (home improvement retailer)
71A. How many TV shows are shown, and a hint to the seven longest across answers' common feature : IN HD. (in High Definition)
Argyle here. What may be lacking in quality is more than made up in quantity. Seven theme entries; an interesting collection. Some fill that might trip up a tyro but veterans should suss easily.
Across:
1. Woman who turns up in Rick's gin joint : ILSA
5. 41st or 43rd president : BUSH
9. National park in the Canadian Rockies : BANFF
14. __-chef : SOUS
15. One of Pittsburgh's three rivers : OHIO. 2 into 1. The Ohio River is formed by the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.
16. Like a loud crowd : AROAR
19. Itsy-__ : BITSY
20. Generous __ fault : TO A
23. Hot beverage server : TEA URN. A change-up from the coffee urn.
26. Personal ad abbr. : SWF. (Single White Female)
27. Sawmill input : LOG. Lumber output.
31. South Seas wrap : SARONG
33. Freshman and sr. : YRs. (years)
34. Aussie hoppers : ROOS
36. Affected coyness, with "the" : CUTES
40. Hot under the collar : HET UP
43. Button pressed for silence : MUTE
44. Pal of Huck : TOM. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
47. Cellphone reminders : ALERTS
52. Dues payer: Abbr. : MEM. (member)
53. Chocolate pooch : LAB
55. Like Huck and Yosemite, nounwise : PROPER names.
60. Hosp. trauma centers : ERs
61. Outwit : ONE-UP
66. Ionian Sea island : CORFU
67. Spellbound : AGOG
68. Mickey and Mighty : MICE
69. Cheez Whiz company : KRAFT
70. Shakespearean villain : IAGO. Iago is Othello's trusted advisor but is not to be trusted.
Down:
1. "More or less" suffix : ISH
2. Gehrig who usually batted after Ruth : LOU. Yankee's
3. Baskers' acquisitions : SUNTANS
4. Invite to the movies, say : ASK OUT
5. Gym specimen : BOD. Both words are shortened.
6. "Oops!" : "UH, OH!"
7. Father : SIRE
8. Georgetown team : HOYAS
9. Youthful countenance : BABYFACE
10. Saharan : ARID
11. Very few : NOT A LOT
12. Slick trick that's "pulled" : FAST ONE
13. Prepare a sunny-side-up breakfast : FRY EGGS
18. Three feet : YARD
22. Bugs and Rabbits, e.g. : VWs. (Volkswagen cars)
23. Your, of yore : THY
24. Where It.'s at : EUR. Italy/Europe
25. More formal "Me neither!" : "NOR I!"
29. Wriggly bait : WORM
30. "Ya think?" : "NO DUH!"
32. 1921 robot play : R.U.R. (Rossum´s Universal Robots)
35. Span. miss : SRTA. Señorita
37. "Ben-__" : HUR
38. "Well said" : "APTLY PUT"
39. Business review website : YELP
40. Pork knuckle : HAM HOCK
41. Rigby of Beatles fame : ELEANOR
42. Egg-based paint : TEMPERA. Don't try to fry it.
44. Some English, at Wimbledon : TOP SPIN
45. Cockney abode : 'OME
46. Body of eau : MER. French water/sea.
48. Unhappy : SAD
50. Mister Rogers : FRED
51. Scale starters : DO RE MI
54. Religion founded in Persia : BAHA'I
57. Drag on a cigar : PUFF ergo 59D. Urban haze : SMOG
58. Flexibility-improving discipline : YOGA
63. Swelled head : EGO
64. Scot's "Oh my!" : "OCH!"
65. Actor Knight : TED. from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Argyle
43 comments:
Morning, all!
No real speed bumps along the way today, but definitely some stuff that made me scratch my head. Never heard of the CUTES before, although it was inferable. Ditto for TEA URN. And HET UP seems awfully old-timey to not include an indication that it is very old slang and not in current usage.
There were a few semi-obscure geographical references today, including BANFF, CORFU and HALF DOME, but fortunately I've seen them all before (in past puzzles, at least) and they didn't trip me up this time.
Good morning!
Well, I've fallen halfway back. Only got up 30 clock-minutes early today. Maybe by Friday I'll make it all the way back.
No problems with today's offering. Like Barry, I'm not familiar with CUTES as a noun, and I haven't heard of a TEA URN. Thought the abbr for Member was MBR. Nope. I'm familiar with "Ya think?", but not "No Duh!" Still there was a lot to like and little to Haight about this one.
Argyle, your pic of CORFU has so many yacht masts that it looked like waterfalls coming down the rocks. Something else to add to the bucket list.
No problems, nothing unfamiliar. I often hear "She has a case of the CUTES." (Pejorative)
There's a David Bowie album, HUNKY DORY. HUNKY DORY is also part of a silly church camp song.
"That is the end of,
The end of my story, story
That is the end of,
The end of my story, story
Everything is hunky dory, dory
Children of the Lord."
Amazon sells TEA URNs and almost everything else.
Link 6th picture down
All HET UP seems very familiar.
I don't like the late afternoon darkness these days. I'd rather have it dark in the morning. The time change does not upset my internal clock, but then I don't get jet lag going to and from Europe or going to Japan. I do get jet lag coming home from Japan. But coming home I've been awake for more than 24 actual hours.
Steady run today - slight hang up when I put NOT MANY instead of NOT A LOT, but corrected by perps. Waited for the perps again as to whether to put W vs B vs A into SWF, and they helped change ALARMS to ALERTS.
Thanks Argyle for the write-up - enjoyed the Bell/Moreno - Eleanor Rigby interlude
and Bruce for the puzzle!
Another gorgeous fall day - perfect for the Royals parade in downtown KC!
Dang! My head hurts from the two (count'em 2!) V-8 Can-Smacks when VW's and TOP-SPIN emerged.
I agree with Argyle, if you don't have the greatest theme, having a lot of them makes a puzzle FUN.
Faves today was that NY Yankee, LOU Gehrig, right next to a personal favorite thing to do here in the Tampa Bay Area, SUN-TANS.
I like the earlier darkness ... since I prefer to do my daily walk early in the morning when it is light out.
My internal clock has already adjusted ... probably since I "Fell-Back" last Thursday night.
Cheers!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bruce Haight, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
Got through this pretty easily. Theme worked. I think we recently had IN HD or ON HD, in a puzzle.
Had NOT I for 25D, then fixed that to NOR I. 1st inkblot.
Had ALARMS for 47A, then that became ALERTS after a couple downs. 2nd inkblot.
Wrote in an S at the end of 51D because it looked plural from the clue. After I got it, DO RE MI, the S became an I. 3rd inkblot.
Only 3, not bad for me.
I remember the BAHA'I religion from Iran. I also remember abejo from Iran.
Looks like another nice day. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Hello Puzzlers -
WBS. Solid theme density today.
From yesterday: my town's hoped-for purchase of neglected railroad land has been impeded by many factors. For one thing, the railroad wanted to pull up the rails, which are worth some good money, and leave us with the ties. Trouble is, creosote soaked ties are hazardous waste, and there are only two places certified to dispose of them. It's really expensive. Paving over them is not an option because they are mostly rotten. Still, I am hopeful that someday I will ride on my town's bike path under my own power.
Good morning everyone.
Good intro by Argyle. Well stated.
Easy one today, When the Humpty-Dumpty theme presented itself,the solve tooled along even faster.
Favorite clue was 'Where It's at' - EUR.
MICE typifies the Germanic roots of English by invoking a vowel shift for the plural:
mouse - mice
Maus - Mäuse German
Muus - Müüs Low German
No vowel shift in Dutch:
Muis - Muizen (other than the s - z elision.)
Good morning all,
Fun puzzle Bruce.Roos is much better than toos...had "not I " in lieu of "nor I". Cutes took me the longest as the perps didn't just slide in. Figured out the theme just in time to wrap it up.
Time for morning walk.
I've had an earwig all morning, after seeing BABY FACE in 9d. Great Barbershop Quartet piece, and entertainingly performed by the group
Mr. Baritone, wowzer wow WOW! Those guys made it look effortless!
Good Morning:
I guess after CC's crunchy Monday, I was a little let down with the bland theme of today's offering. I do enjoy a puzzle when the reveal is at the very end, although the HD referencing was obvious almost immediately.
Thanks to Bruce and Argyle for their fine efforts.
Another beautiful Fall day.
BTW, fans of Madame Secretary: Am I the only one who finds the Mc Cord children annoying and whiny? I suppose their behavior drives a separate story arc, but, to me, less focus on them would be welcomed.
Have a great day.
Got the H-D "theme" early on, which helped a lot. Wasn't overly crazy about some of the cluing though, most of which has already been mentioned. The Some English, at Wimbledon/TOPSPIN was favorite.
The Scots can have their OCH for "Oh My", I'll take my "AW S...!"
New avatar. Casey is growing up, will be nine months in a couple of weeks. He is one stubborn dog, but has a great personality and loves everyone.
I suppose the McCord kids in Madame Secretary are whiny, but the story arc addresses the reality of being a high powered woman at work and having to deal with this kind of thing at home. I do admire the husband-wife relationship in this series.
I have walked on some really neat rail trails in PA, one of them for 26 miles. I don't know what the constructors did with the creosote ties.
Back to work. I am being more productive today. Once I get on a forward roll, the momentum keeps it going.
Hi all. Good morning ! Thanks Bruce, thanks Argyle.
Pittsburgh, OHIO, and FRED Rogers in the puzzle. HAPPY DAYS. No reason to be SAD.
Didn't look for a theme while solving. I was distracted by not sailing through that northeast corner. Then doubly troubled by that southwest corner.
In the end, it was the food references (hi Steve) that cracked the case. EGGS, then FRY EGGS in the NE, and HAMHOCK and KRAFT in the SW. Must not have read the clue for FRY EGGS the first time through.
I was thinking, "Boy, I need to bone up on my Ionian Sea islands" if that's a Tuesday clue. But CORFU did come easily as there is a restaurant with that name nearby. And I know we've had it before.
Egg based paint ? No idea. Of course I knew of oil and water based paints, and food-wise, even know of the more unfamiliar milk paint. But not egg based. Just read the Wiki.
When you are as homely looking as I am, any date was a HEAVY DATE. No case of "the CUTES" here.
Happy national sandwich day! BOGO at Subway. Just don't say, "He went to Jared!"
Casey is a fine looking dog Hondo.
I let my boy get away with his single-minded hardheadedness to a degree, but every once in a while I have tighten the reins a little bit and reel him back in. Especially when we are walking. He too is a funny dog.
Dogs rule ! Cats mewl.
After the HUNKY DORY (macho small boat?) and HEAVY DATE ( I won't talk about women's weight), the 'HD' was fairly obvious. I won't try to pull a FAST ONE but years ago, one of my female employees who was not to 'buxomy' wore a T-shirt with two FRiedEGGS on the front.
HET UP- I wrote FED UP at first; have only seen HET UP in X-word puzzles. Does anybody use that term? The only other change was ACH to OCH; don't know how the Scots pronounce it but probably the same as Germans.
SWF- 'Single White Female'- absolutely the WORST movie that I actually paid money to watch; we walked out about half way through. 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'St. Elmo's Fire' come in 2nd and 3rd.
Barry- BANFF & HALF DOME are not obscure if you have been there. We watched people climbing HALF DOME through telescopes. The found out that you can actually hike up the non-sheer side. CORFU- I've heard the name but Greece has a lot of islands that I don't care to visit.
ELEANOR Rigby- always liked the Ray Charles version, and with that "I'll HIT THE ROAD JACK", but I'll be back.
Barry, D-O, a TEA URN is the device you often see at a conference in a reasonably smart hotel. There is a flame beneath it to keep water (not tea!) at or close to boiling. You cannot make decent CUPPA otherwise. Russia made this into a fine art - they call it a SAMOVAR, which may be more familiar to you - it means literally "self-boiling".
And What's a Grecian Urn?"
About 10 Drachmas a day.
(Pre-Euro joke).
I still don't know the origin of "English" meaning "spin on a ball". Can anyone enlighten me?
Smooth solve today..... Got the theme quickly after Happy Days and Home Depot..... Thanks, Bruce!
Argyle, your pics always interest me. Corfu looks beautiful, as does Banff!
NC, here is an interesting answer. Although not conclusive, it sums up what I have read:
Link English on the ball
Just enough crunch for a Tuesday, so I totally enjoyed this. Many thanks, Bruce and Argyle.
I like your jokes, Nice Cuppa--keep them coming.
Have a great day, everybody!
Nicely challenging in some areas, but no real unknowns except for HOYAS.
Yosemite is on our bucket list--if ever I could get DH to retire and we could take a road trip.
CORFU was one of the fun stops I made when driving all over Europe in 1970. After taking the car ferry from Brindisi in Italy, it was our first landing point in Greece. Didn't know much about it before being there, but we were young, and the locals tried to help us learn their dances at a pub we visited. In those days most youth hostels ran about 50 cents a night. Doesn't seem right that that's grown to over $20 now.
I've been getting a few new pics of Lea and Mila, so have changed my profile photo.
Aloha, everyone! Can you guess where I've been?
What a delight to return to solving puzzles and yesterday's by C.C. was certainly fun but I was much too tired to comment. We came home on the red eye, 11:15 P.M. and arrived in Phoenix at 7:47 A.M. Whew! That's a killer.
Today's by Bruce Haight was also fun, thank you, Bruce and reading Argyle's review with great pics is always a treat.
Ditto for NOT I then NOR I and first filling TEMPURA of which I ate much of in HI (it's yummy) before realizing it's TEMPERA. Children love using that paint. Speaking of children, it was surprising how many school aged children were on vacation. It's still a mystery to me since it was October.
NO DUH? Okay, if you say so. ILSA and IAGO again make an appearance today.
Kazie:
It's lovely to see your two granddaughters. They grow so quickly.
How is everyone? I hope I didn't miss any illnesses or birthdays.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Pretty much WBS except I totally messed up an easy puzzle!
I forgot to go back & do the alphabet run that would have added
the "Y" to Thy/yrs
I never fixed alarms to alerts (apmlyput?)
probably because I was overthinking Corfu...
(It can't be... it must have crept in my mind from all those
pyramid building shows I have been watching...)
combined with never having heard of tAmpera...
Kazie, that picture is precious. Lea certainly portrays the doting big sister.
Lucina, welcome home. Hope you had a wonderful trip!
Hello everyone.
Several challenging entries...CUTES, CORFU, BANFF. HETUP, HALFDOME, TOPSPIN, TEAURN, HOYAS. Ultimately, though, It was all filled in.
I see the beautiful pictures of foreign lands and read about your overseas adventures, and I am aware of my lack of travel. I've been to Canada and some eastern states, but that's about it. Sadly, I cannot go anywhere, so I will have to take pleasure from your stories.
KAZIE...Beautiful grandchildren.
MY only child, my son, is getting married this weekend, after an on and off five year relationship. Unfortunately, I cannot attend due to illness. He will have a taped copy for me made up. To me, even at 38, he'll always be my baby.
Can't believe this year has flew by so fast. It is a little scary to me knowing that there are far more behind me than ahead. Is that a usual feeling as one gets older?
Enough will the melancholy. Everyone have a wonderful day. To your health.
Fun theme. Many 3-letter entries.
Yosemite is magnificently beautiful. Our son hiked (semi-climbed) to the top of Half Dome via the non-sheer side many years ago.
Nice Cuppa, I enjoy reading your remarks.
A very nice puzzle with a theme even I saw. Here’s an HD of my Midwestern yute
Musings
-HDTV vs Std TV
-Freshman spelled out but senior abbreviated?
-That MUTE button is fabulous for commercials
-To be a dues paying MEM. of our local education association, I HAD to join the National Ass. (NEA) that I deplored
-The last ER I was in had two policemen subduing a meth-head trying to break up the place. Cops have my respect!
-Favorite KRAFT product for us non-connoisseurs
-Wally Pipp was a Yankee first baseman who went out of the lineup when he got hit in the head during batting practice. A kid name LOU Gehrig took his place for the next 2,130 games.
-A bad day for BABYFACE!
-Lou pulled a FAST ONE on Bud in a bit called “Ya got two tens for a five?”
-Most sites agree a YARD is also $100
-Because of a feud William Wyler had with Gregory Peck in Big Country, Charlton Heston got the lead in BEN HUR
-The poignant lyrics of ELEANOR Rigby really moved me
-A fabulous example of a cockney accent (:28)
Easy and interesting! Thanks, Bruce and Argyle.
The misdirection on VWs completely fooled me. I finally figured it out because "Bugs Bunny is a rabbit" wouldn't fit.
I also liked "Where It.'s at." Some funny things to enjoy!
DW and I spent my 50th birthday in Yosemite. In those days you could still drive into the park. And with only a week advance notice we were able to reserve one of the park cabins. Beautiful place, Yosemite. I recall vividly that you can't buy underwear in the park. Unfortunate for those who may have packed haphazardly. So each evening there was the ritual laundering in the bathroom sink, and then hanging on the bedroom lampshade to dry. Memorable.
As Argyle said, the theme was just sorta there, but there was a lot of there there. An enjoyable romp, but not as much fun as yesterdays C.C. outing. Finished in the SW and already had One Up, but I really wanted to change that second E in Tempera to a U. Hey, they both involve eggs. But you can fry Tempura.
Agreed on Yosemite. One of the most spectacular places on earth. Nothing I've seen compares in terms of the vertical impression. In the Rockies you can see many a towering peak, several thousand feet above your head, but if you can see it, it's always in the distance. In Yosemite, you can practically stand beside El Capitan and you're looking up approx 4,000' to the top. Half Dome is harder to get to, but it's just as high and just as awesome. D-O, we were there 6 years ago and were able to drive into Yosemite Village. But it was late November, so hardly peak tourist season.
@Big Easy: Yes, that's why I said they were "semi-obscure" (and perhaps only to me, which is all I can really talk about).
@Nice Cuppa: Thanks for the information. I have most definitely heard of a samovar, but I always thought it was to hold coffee. I drink neither tea nor coffee, so I'm not really up on my terminology.
Hi Y'all! Enjoyed this puzzle, Bruce. All the slang was in my growing-up vocabulary. I've been told not to get all "HET UP" a number of times, because I was prone to do so. (Passionate person that I am.)
Argyle, thanks for the expo. Especially enjoyed the ELEANOR version.
BANFF was a gimmee when I got the last "F". Was there on a bus tour of the Canadian Rockies in 2003. We did the town, but didn't go into the park. I remember exchanging for some Loonies and Toonies there. Also strolling through a delightfully blooming garden there where a very rude photographer asked me to "Move out of my picture." I just kept strolling because I wasn't up to rapid movement.
My son's family went to Yosemite this summer. He is always good to come home and verbally share his trip with me. He is always surprised to find I know a lot about places I've never been. Thank you, Ansel Adams & Oprah Winfrey (who did several shows on her camping trip there.) They were disappointed not to be able to drive in to see the big redwood forest which is recovering from a fire and the baby redwoods are being protected.
BAHA'I should have been a gimmee because I read a newspaper article on a local BAHA'I group on Sunday. Nope. I tried to cram in B'nai B'rith, knowing full well that's a Jewish thing. Soon corrected.
I don't know what I thought "nounwise" meant or even if I read it, but PROPER gave me fits for awhile. Of course, not being PROPER always gave me fits in my life.
Lucina: glad to see you're back and okay. I was worrying about whether you were "all shook up" in the earthquakes ABC news said you had in Phoenix.
D-O: Too funny today! If washing your underwear every night was the most memorable part of the trip... Reminded me of a big black company rep who came from a distant city to the car dealership where I kept books in a two-female office. One time he stood back where the older lady couldn't see him and crooked his finger in a "come here gesture" to me. Startled, I went over. He whispered, "Is there any place that sells men's underwear in this town?" Luckily, there was.
Coneyro, honey, you have every right to be melancholy if your son is getting married and you can't go. I hope you have better less painful days ahead. How well I know your feelings.
I don’t know if it’s a topper, but I do have a great underwear story. Instead of having Joann pack for me, I packed for one of my Florida trips with 50 kids. On the first night I realized I hadn’t packed any underwear but I knew I could get to a store across the street from the Ron Jon Shop in
Cocoa Beach that sold such things and did just that.
I made the mistake of telling my fellow sponsors about my negligence. The bus parks very near a porn shop and my compatriots got me an edible version of said apparel and replaced my bag with that one when I was counting noses on the bus. One lady sponsor asked me to show her what I bought and when I pulled out the alternate version, I laughed so hard I nearly cried but of course couldn’t tell the 13 year olds. They waited an hour before giving me my original purchase!
One word: Commando!
Easier solve than yesterday with some fun clues. WEES by this time of the day.
I finally remembered RUR.
I haven't seen Yosemite but BANFF is beautiful. Possibly the most beautiful drive in the world is the stretch between Banff and Jasper.
I was heading out for a bike ride and espresso but I had the presence of mind to check the Doppler radar weather map on my computer. There was a big patch of green and yellow headed this way and almost here. I was going to go anyway but a few drops of rain made me discard the bike ride plan. Then bigger rain drops convinced me to stay indoors. So here I am. Wuss! It won't last long enough to make me happy with the rain; just enough to change my plans.
Hi All!
Late to the party - lots of work today, voting, and DW & I made a date of the latter and had a cocktail (or two) after casting our ballets. Not living in HOU PROPER, we had no say on the HERO prop. (D-O, I've always wanted to ASK, why are we always voting on amendments to the TX constitution; I abstained from one 'cuz I don't live in a <7,500 person town - why would I weigh in on that?)
Oh, the puzzle! Well, DNF. Unlike y'all I didn't know CORFU and TEMPEnA (pronounced in my head as TEM-PeeN-A, like patina) sounded good enough. Latex, the only paint I know, was way out.
W/os - ELEnore, er, ELlenor, 1 more time -T, ELEANOR! Whew. At least I got to sing most of the song while sussing it :-)
I almost linked HAPPY DAYS (Mork v. Fonz ~9min) last night after HG had me binging on sitcoms. Glad ADD kicked in and I found Mork meets Robin otherwise you'd all swear I was a spoiler :-)
NC - funny. Also thanks for posting the question about English, I didn't know Brits don't use it in that context.
YR - thanks for the etymology link. I've learned my new something for today...
Welcome home Lucina!
Funny underwear stories guys. Sorry, I don't have one... I pack in the order I dress, drawers are the 1st things on/in.
HG - Don't try to pull a FAST ONE one on me - Std and IN HD are exactly the same; 400 channels of NOT A LOT on! :-)
Cheers, -T
Anon -T... I don't think I thanked you the other nite for replying to my post ... I appreciate your input.. I haven't tried it yet... I'm afraid I will mess it up if it was as difficult as downloading Yosemite... what a disaster... it also sounds like it will change things so much that I would never find anything... I have enough trouble now... :) and I have no one to straighten my mess out.... so... I will think a bit more about it.... but I do thank you so very much...
thelma :)
Thanks for the welcome! It's good to be home and while the earth shook in our state I was flying high above it. Earthquakes of that magnitude are rare here and I don't recall one in recent memory.
It was a fabulous trip although marred by exceedingly high humidity on the first and last days. It's a phenomenon I had heard about in Hawaii but had never experienced. I guess October is the time for it. Two of my sisters and I went with my late niece's husband who, like our Misty, is still grieving and that is where they usually spent their wedding anniversaries.
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