Theme: Porcine Palace - I pity the fool that has to tell Miss Piggy she didn't make the cut.
17. *Whom Charlotte saved, in an E.B. White classic : WILBUR
18. *"Animal Farm" tyrant : NAPOLEON
23. *GEICO spokscritter who squeals, "Wee wee wee!" : MAXWELL
39. *"Toy Story" toy bank : HAMM
40. *Stutterer in Looney Tunes sign-offs : PORKY
43. *Unlikely title shepherd in a 1995 film : BABE
53. *40-Across' gal : PETUNIA
65. With 67-Across, annual March 1 event celebrated in the answers to starred clues : NATIONAL
67. See 65-Across : PIG DAY
Rabbit Rabbit or should I say, "Oink, Oink"? Argyle here. This site here has a pretty good explanation of today's celebration. Jeffery is often a Friday constructor so a few crunchy nuggets in the mix can be expected. Plus the theme entries may not be all that familiar but should be found doable. Quite satisfying. I best get busy; a lot of linking to do.
Across:
1. Human rights advocate Jagger : BIANCA. Mick's wife from 1971 to 1979.
7. Leaves in a big hurry : RACES OFF
15. Seductive quality : ALLURE
16. Having the capacity for learning : EDUCABLE. [ej-oo-kuh-buh l] or, educatable
19. Reason-based faith : DEISM. As opposed to THEISM.
20. Self-regard : EGO
21. One-__ jack : EYED. Spades and Hearts.
22. QB's gains : YDs
27. Variety : TYPE
28. More pert : SAUCIER
33. Mets' former stadium : SHEA
36. Singer Yoko : ONO
38. "Ninotchka" star Greta : GARBO
44. Reputed UFO pilot : ALIEN
46. "Golly!" : "GEE!"
47. "Great Taste...__ Filling": Miller Lite slogan : LESS
48. Carter's vice president : MONDALE. Walter.
51. Suffix with novel : ETTE
55. __ Grande : RIO. Photo of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
58. Burn slightly : SEAR
62. Latin art : ARS. M-G-M motto, "Ars Gratia Artis", "Art for art's sake"
63. Doggie : POOCH
68. Biological order including eight-armed creatures : OCTOPODA. lol, ISOPODS yesterday.
69. Waiting one's turn : IN LINE
70. Catching-up query : WHAT'S NEW
71. FBI operatives : AGENTS
Down:
1. Ribald : BAWDY
2. Perjurer's confession : "I LIED"
3. "Silent Night" words before calm and bright : ALL IS
4. Used-up pencils : NUBS
5. Really bad : CRUMMY
6. __ Lingus : AER
,_Dublin,_June_1993.jpg/640px-Aer_Lingus_(EI-CDA),_Dublin,_June_1993.jpg)
7. Take more Time? : RENEW
8. Maxims : ADAGEs
9. Domelike building top : CUPOLA
10. Earth-friendly prefix : ECO. Umberto Eco died last month.
11. Mall event : SALE
12. Do as told : OBEY
13. Arctic chunk : FLOE
14. Provide (for oneself) : FEND
24. Per unit : A POP
25. Strange: Pref. : XENO
26. Tote : LUG
27. Domesticated : TAMED
29. Pay television : CABLE
30. "Dies __": Latin hymn : IRAE
31. Flows back : EBBS
32. Some reddish deer : ROEs
33. Bedding accessory : SHAM
34. Saintly glow : HALO
35. Key with one sharp: Abbr. : E MINor
37. Nonprofit URL ending : .ORG
41. Really eager : KEEN. Yesterday we had [Really into : KEEN ON].
42. Bigfoot kin : YETI
45. Rest of the afternoon : NAP
49. Use as support : LEAN ON
50. Online investment service : E*TRADE
52. Music studio activity : TAPING
54. Amer. attorney's study : U.S. LAW
55. "The Thinker" sculptor : RODIN
56. Words of refusal : "I CAN'T"
57. "I remember now!" : "OH, YES!". So maybe you can now.
58. Skiing surface : SNOW
59. Per unit : EACH
60. "__ girl!" : ATTA
61. Real hoot : RIOT
64. Gawk at : OGLE
66. Photo __: media events : OPS
67. Actress Zadora : PIA
Argyle
43 comments:
Rabbit Rabbit
Rabbit, rabbit, piglet, piglet.
PETUNIA and PORKY went out for a drive,
They sped down the highway at a hundred and five!
They zoomed by some cop-men
Who made no move to stop 'em,
Since in miles per hour, that's just 65!
NAPOLEON Solo thought spying an ART,
Being SAUCY or suave was playing the part.
Only competent guys
Succeeded as spies --
But that was before he met MAXWELL Smart!
WILBUR was looking to have a good TIME,
HAMM went along to keep him in line.
They met a cute BABE
Who slapped them and said,
"You two are the proof that all men are swine!"
Hello Puzzlers -
Easy enough Tuesday project from Jeff Wex. I guess he has been busy! No unknowns except one: I never heard of National Pork Day.
Morning, Argyle, it's been a while since I've heard Linda Ronstadt.
Morning, all!
Figured out pretty quickly that we were dealing with different pigs today, so this one went by pretty smoothly. Hit a wall at the theme reveal, though, since I've never heard of NATIONAL PIG DAY and missed the cross referential part of the clue for 65A (in other words, I thought the entire theme answer was NATIONAL at first). Of course, that didn't last too long as the clue for 67A forced me to look back at the clue for 65A and all became clear. Except for the fact that I've never heard of NATIONAL PIG DAY, that is...
White Rabbit, white rabbit.
Add me to the group that never heard of National Pig Day. I also agree it was unfortunate that Miss Piggy did not get her due. Petunias is just not a star.
Interesting to see ME back on Tuesday and as Santa said some fill was crunchy for an early week puzzle but the perps were all fair and it all filled.
EDUCABLE is a term used in the mental health field to delineate levels of learning disabilities. My undergraduate days including working at a center training young people to be self sufficient.
March has arrived, beware the Ides.
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. National Pig Day? That's a new one on me. Ironically, instead of the unifier helping me with the theme clues, in this puzzle recognizing that all the starred answers were fictional pigs convinced me that NATIONAL PIG DAY was correct.
I initially tired Sassier in lieu of SAUCIER for More Pert.
Rest of the Afternoon = NAP was my favorite clue of the puzzle.
Heavy rains are expected today, so it seems that March may, indeed, come in like a lamb.
QOD: I know my faults, but I’m comfortable with me. ~ Roger Daltrey (b. Mar. 1, 1944)
Good morning!
Nary a write-over in today's outing. Thanks, JW, and thanks to Santa for the elucidation.
Our cats have pretty much decided that we are not EDUCABLE.
Why does RODIN always conjure up images of Tokyo?
Dudley, it's too bad that Linda's Parkinsons forced her into retirement. She used to sing rock, country, Broadway, torch songs, blues, mariachi...you name it. All of it very well done. I've got a fistful of her albums.
Pinch, Pinch ...
Argyle: Wonderful write-up. The NATIONAL PIG DAY link was very informative.
Always thought that National Pig Day had to do with Harley's ... since they rode Hogs.
Hahtoolah: If you are getting storms, wouldn't that mean March is coming-in-like-a-lion?
Here, I'm stuck with temps in the 70's and a beautiful, sunny, probably a walk-on-the-beach day.
Cheers!
If today's puzzle were food, I couldn't say I PIGGED out. Lot of unknowns or vaguely familiar fills made this a slow go. EDUCABLE, BIANCA, MAXWELL, OCTOPODA, NAPOLEON the "headliners".
45D, NAP/Rest of the afternoon, getting to be standard operating procedure for Hondo.
Gotta run...cardio appointment this AM. I'm sure my diet will be a discussion topic. He's told me more then once I have the worst diet of all his patients. I doubt that, but I'm probably pretty close to #1.
Tin: my brain was thinking too fast. I was already at the end of the month by the time I finished typing the sentence!
Thanks Jeff for the pleasant time this morning. Your puzzle gave me the urge to reread Animal Farm and a craving for some BBQ pulled pork.
I started with a sea of white in the north but fortunately things improved. Thanks Jeffrey and Argyle.
I wondered if it was National Pi Day. PIG - really!
I won't before I CAN'T, takes off before RACES OFF, bag before LUG, and hand up for sassiest before SAUCIER
Waited for perps to decide between Atta and ITSA girl.
Fun lyrics today OwenKL. (Noted the km. Vs. Miles)
AER lingus reminds me that March 17 is coming.
Huge snow storm warnings out for our location. March is coming in like a lion apparently!
The Miller's Lite slogan goes "Tastes great, . . . ," not "Great taste, . . . ."
novelETTE? How 'bout novelLA?
Although it's usually spelled CRUMMY, the correct spelling is CRUMBY (and that's the derivation).
And I see that we are taking the Lord's name in vain again, at 46A . . . .
In honor of National Pig Day...
The pigs in the car were not a bit shaken
There was no doubt that they were not to be taken
The pigs on the scene
As cop-men, were keen
That they all were a form of Canadian Bacon!
For Anonymous@8:48
GreatTasteLessFillingCatfight
CrummyCrumby
NovellaNovelette
OMG
Buenos dias!
What a surprise to see Jeff W. again so soon after Sunday. And count me as one who has never heard of NATIONAL PIG DAY. How clever of JW to include seven fictional PIGS in the grid! My fourth graders loved Charlotte's Web and after reading the book we would watch the movie.
Ditto for TAKESOFF/RACESOFF, SORT/TYPE and FIW at USLAW. OCTOPODS seemed right so I didn't bother to look at 54D. Drat!
I see from CanadianEh's link that crumbly is obsolete.
Very nice going, Jeffrey and Argyle. A big thank you to both.
Have a special Tuesday, everyone!
Musings
-I’ve lived in this Hormel processing city for 50 years and never heard of NATIONAL PIG DAY
-A fun puzzle on a day where I now wish I had made some bacon before heading out to sub
-I am in for an English teacher and I did not know one of their vocab words today – DOLOROUS. You? BTW, she told me she had never seen the vocab word that is one of cwd regulars – ACERBIC, so…
-The Geico commercials are funny the first 10 times or so
-Charles is very empathetic towards a stutterer in this M*A*S*H episode. In the last scene we hear him listening to a tape his sister sent him where she too stutters.
-I don’t know much but like to think I am EDUCABLE
-A quote from a very famous American DEIST
-In football, there is a stat called YAC, which means YDS After Contact
-Some critics wondered why in Close Encounters the ALIEN flying the UFO would need landing strip lights
-One of the reasons given for the Mexican-American War was the U.S. claimed land up to the RIO GRANDE not the Nueces as Mexico asserted
-Deer = ROE, horse = ROAN
-Back to Shakespeare!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
I jumped into this thinking it would be easy, being a Tuesday, but it was not. I wound up going to the deep south to get started and then worked my way up.
Got the pig/pork theme easily, but never heard of NATIONAL PIG DAY. New one on me. After I finished I looked it up On Line and, sure enough, it is for sure.
Most of the longer words fell into place after a couple letters to get me started. The puzzle finished easier than I had thought it would.
OCTOPODA is a new word for me. As is EDUCABLE.
Really liked the sway the constructor worked all the porky words into this puzzle. Great job!
Well, we set a record the other day for warmth. Now it is below freezing.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
It's too bad Latin is not included in more curricula. It may be a dead language, but it's influence lives on in much our own language. At least 70% of English words are based on Latin. Knowing that DOLOR, meaning sorrow, would have been an easy way to suss the meaning of dolorous, sorrowful.
I loved this puzzle! Surprised, and as it turned out, pleased, to have a Jeffrey Wechsler work today. A splendid display of porcine personages. I'm still smiling. And, purely coincidentally, we're having roast pork tonight.
By the way, I like Petunia much more than Miss Piggy, who I find to be annoying.
Good verses today, OwenKL. Thank you.
Best wishes to you all.
Today was salty and sweet, because in addition to being National Pig Day, it is National Peanut Butter day. So let's make it Bacon and Fudge.
I got the theme because I checked the National Whatever Day website, and the National Food Holiday website before I did the puzzle, so I knew what day it was. I usually annoy my kids by texting them with the National food of the day or what day it is. They say I have too much time on my hands. So what, I'm retired. (sort of) If you can't annoy your kids, who can you annoy.
At first I thought it was going to be harder than a Tuesday puzzle should be, but once I got to the theme clue(s)I got over the stumbling blocks, and was able to finish the puzzle without too many hitches.
Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle that started out looking like a Thursday puzzle, and thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
Nice day so far in Central PA, but the forecast turns nasty tonight. Have a great one everybody.
Hi Everyone:
This was a fun romp even though I had no clue about the theme until the reveal. Originally spelled Wilbur incorrectly which gave me cremmy until the light bulb went on. No other bumps so it was a typical Tuesday solve.
Thanks, JW, for getting March off to a good start and thanks, Argyle, for the usual fun expo.
Owen, great job today.
Canadian Eh @ 10:03 - Thanks for the subtle rebuttal! 😉
Have a great day.
My heart sank when I saw it was a Jeffrey Wechsler with long across spaces at the top. But I'm glad I tried it because it turned out to be a total delight! How cool that Rich worked with constructors to get us two calendar themed puzzles at the beginning of this week. I loved all the PIG theme clues and answers and did surprisingly well. I clearly know my PIGS better than I do sports figures or other personages. But then I'm an animal lover. Anyway, many thanks, Jeffrey, and you too Santa for the great pics and expo.
Have a wonderful PIG DAY, everybody!
Hi Y'all! I sped through this one in record time since I had a morning rehab appointment for my foot. Enjoyed all the cartoon character theme. Very good, Jeffrey! Lots of fun, Argyle!
Hand up for never hearing of National Pig Day, although I met the state Pork Queen once. She took her title very seriously. Everyone else not associated with the state Pork Council thought it was a joke. She was to promote the product. Bacon promotes itself.
I know children loved the Charlotte's Web story. However, I came away from the movie thinking the theme was even a pig can attain celebrity with a good public relations writer. We are seeing that played out in politics today.
My kids had 4-H pigs and trained them to show. Some had really funny personalities which we all enjoyed. But the hard lesson for a farm kid is pigs are raised to eat. They are not pets forever. My ten-year-old son cut up his pork chop and then sat and looked at it. "I keep thinking who this was," he said. This was a named piggy who would come running whenever he called it. Then he ate his first bite and we never heard any more about it. Every animal or human on a working farm has a purpose and works toward that. No animals are strictly pets ever. Kids grow up working. Makes for a smooth transition to adulthood.
Late today. WEES. Thanks, Jeff and Argyle for a terrific Tuesday. Loved reading all the comments and seeing the links.
Wee. Wee. Wee. All the way home!
PK @ 1:37 PM: I agree with you about farm animals. My kids would go to visit their grandparents on the farm and proceeded to name some of the animals like the pig Elizabeth and the steer they named Ivan. They would come when you called them.
When it came time for butchering, my father-in-law couldn't do it, so the pig and steer were sold. They were still butchered, but not by my FIL. He always said you can't name what you're going to eat. The only ones that he named were the milk cows and horses.
I liked this puzzle quite a lot. It had some snags, but perps were always solid and nary a natick. Hand up for no knowledge of National Pig Day, but I did realize as I solved that all the starred clues were fictional porkers. Thanks Jeffrey, and thank you Argyle.
On naming animals, my dad always maintained the policy that if an animal other than a cat, dog or milk cow was to be named, it would be "Soup Bone". Not one of us kids ever even tried to name one as a result. The intention was obvious and the plan worked.
Well the day is more than half over and no comment on Miss Piggy being excluded because she has "PIG" in her name.
Also, I am sure Argyle had his tongue in his cheek and his sausage on the grill when he made his early morning linking comment. Are you links or patties?
Oh, Lemony.
I'm sure he's got his tongue in someone's cheek, and his sausage on someone's girl, but that is NUNYA!
Rabbits and pigs and whoever...oh my!
I loved this one. Just enough bite to be fun. Loved your links, too, Argyle.
Owen....thanks!!
@CanadianEh - thanks for posting the links to correct the "Anon". It cracks me up when these people think that the constructors, editors and bloggers pull this stuff out of thin air without fact-checking.
Nice puzzle, some lovely stuff for a Tuesday. Spot-on expo, Argyle.
Very late to the 'party' today due to a golf game ( shot an 84- great for me). I found it tougher than a normal Tuesday due to my lack on knowledge on various proper porcine names- MAXWELL, WILBUR, NAPOLEON (been 50 years since I read it), and there was the bonus, HAMM.
I initially filled CAP-CABLE before realizing it wasn't a word and EDUCABLE is a word, IMO, that just doesn't sound right but I let it stand because the perps were solid. So I did complete it.
After reading others comments it seems Jeff seemed to be the only one who knew about NATIONAL PIG day, and obviously:
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".
As PORKY would say go-go-go-go-go-go...that's all folks.
I'm grateful to Mr Wechsler to learn of NATIONAL PIG DAY, and I see I'm not alone in getting the word here for the first time about our country-wide celebration of our porcine friends.
I have always heard that pigs are smart, shrewder than dogs, maybe cleverer than dolphins, and very likely wiser than certain people-- while smart enough to avoid putting themselves forward for political office, even if certain actual candidates avail themselves of some of the worse piggish traits.
I was tickled to see homage paid to Orwell's NAPOLEON and to Oscar-winning BABE among other fictional swine. I was disappointed, however, that my childhood favorite was absent! Where was Freddy the Pig, created by Walter R. Brooks and published in over two dozen novels? I loved those tales with Freddy and his pal, Jinx the Cat, and their arch enemy, Simon the Rat (I suspected a bit of antisemitism there). My companion of those days, Deming, and I enjoyed the novels so much we took to writing and illustrating our own.
Here is just one of the original series, the story of Freddy's newspaper venture--Freddy the Pig and the Bean Town News.
FYI: Tomorrow is National Old Stuff Day and National Banana Creme Pie Day,
'Evening Everyone!
Long day at work today and just a few minutes to unwind before I go back to studying. People think it's a little strange that I do crosswords to take mental breaks from studying but really it's just a good change of subject and a different way of thinking.
I loved this theme! I knew it was National Pig Day because I am a fan of Esther the Wonder Pig on Facebook. Esther was bought as a mini-pig and never stopped growing - she is now almost 700 pounds! Her owners raised her like a dog and she lives in the house. She can open the fridge and the oven is will steal anything within reach. Her antics are hilarious and the videos and pictures they share make me giggle a little too much.
@CED: thanks for the great video! @Canadian Eh: thanks for nicely clarifying for the anon.
Fun puzzle! Great write-up of course! My mom loved Linda Ronstadt - she has such a beautiful voice and range. I was a little surprised Porky's voice Mel Blanc didn't get a SO with all the pig references. And of course this song.
Have a great evening!
tawnya
To give a little insight into the gravity of all of these "National Day of...." celebrations it might be worthwhile to know that in a few days we'll be celebrating National Mourning for Running Boards Day. It's true. You can look it up.
Happy NATIONAL PIG DAY(?) All!
Easy Tues...
OK, I LIED. I messed up a Jef Wex, so WHAT'S NEW?
Jeff, stick to messin' up my Fridays :-). I had to have one lookup today (what's a Ribald?) And miss-WAG'd 9d xing 28a. What's a pert? Like a sluce [sic]? Ah, no. Thanks Argyle. Loved the Looney Tunes finish. Thanks too Jeffery, even if I FIW.
W/o: Brutal b/f CRUMMY, aura b/f HALO, and had it RODaN b/f falling IN LINE [curious, how many of you NYC-ers had it oN LINE?]
ESPs: EMIN (OK, M was ink'd: Maj or Min.), ROES, and EDU-CABLE - is that where you have Pay TV for PBS? :-)
Fav: Hand up for c/a NAP.
MONDALE's '84 opponent who's boat was sunk w/ Monkey Business...
Seriously, after WILBUR & NAPOLEON, who was already thinking of HAMM & Swiss on Rye? I'm going w/ Pork chops for dinner though; they're in the broiler as I type.
Cheers, -T
AveJoe: My darling son got an SUV with running boards thinking of his mother. So I don't have to mourn for them. His last vehicle and several others belonging to relatives, I had a devil of a time hoisting myself into.
Speaking of mourning, I read in some Parkinson's article that Linda Rondstadt lost her voice as a result of the disease. So sad.
My brother who has Parkinson's had a lovely voice also lost to the disease so this really struck me about Linda. It seems to sorta paralyze or freeze the vocal cords.
Republicans should be so proud of our party !
Ed u cate/ ed u ca ble. Same root. Able to be educated. Common word in education circles referring to those with intellectual disabilities who are still capable of being educated to some degree. The story of my life.
PK - your post reminded me of these lyrics from a song that touched me in my ute and makes me sad for folks who's talents slowly fade. To watch the music live Rush's 1st time , that I know of, playing it in concert. Give it a 60 seconds, you may enjoy. If not, at least click the lyrics...
Cheers, -T
I just found my earlier note and realized I didn't thank HG for the great Jeffersonian quote, CED for the PIGs and missed Tawnya's links. C, -T
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