Theme:
17A. 1987 Cher film : MOONSTRUCK
64A. 1945 Ingrid Bergman film : SPELLBOUND
10D. 2005 Nicole Kidman film : BEWITCHED
37D. 2007 Amy Adams film : ENCHANTED
Argyle not all here. No reveal Monday. A LAT debut constructor but not her first puzzle by any means. I felt this pinwheel grid was a nice fit. Film at eleven.
Across:
1. Vehicles with meters : CABS
5. Give the heave-ho : EJECT
10. Fishhook point : BARB
14. Fabled monster : OGRE
15. South Pacific island studied by Margaret Mead : SAMOA
16. Olympic sword : EPEE
19. Refuses to : WON'T
20. Plain text : PROSE
21. Sophocles character for whom a Freudian complex is named : OEDIPUS
23. Lack of variety : SAMENESS
27. Trail mix tidbit : NUT
28. Gradually become narrower : TAPER
30. Group of eight : OCTET
34. Time co-founder Henry : LUCE
38. Track events : RACES
40. Put on the payroll : HIRE
41. Tehran's country : IRAN
42. Armistice : TRUCE
43. Ireland, to an Irish poet : ERIN crossed by 32D. New York border lake : ERIE
44. Painter Chagall : MARC. Paris par la fenêtre
,_oil_on_canvas,_136_x_141.9_cm,_Solomon_R._Guggenheim_Museum,_New_York.jpg) |
| Guggenheim Museum, NYC |
45. New Testament king : HEROD
46. Monopoly card with mortgage values : DEED
47. __-Bits: letter-shaped cereal : ALPHA
49. Leaf under a petal : SEPAL
51. Escort's offering : ARM
53. Great energy : DYNAMISM. A legitimate words.
58. Capital of Lithuania : VILNIUS
62. Latest craze : MANIA
63. Tinker with text : EDIT
68. "What __ could I do?" : ELSE
69. Spine-tingling : EERIE
70. Latvian capital : RIGA
 |
| food market |
71. Collecting Soc. Sec., maybe : RET'D
72. Threaded fastener : SCREW
73. Tabloid twosome : ITEM
Down:
1. Free tickets, say : COMPS. (complimentary)
2. Marketplace of ancient Greece : AGORA. Agoraphobia - "fear of the marketplace".
3. Dustpan go-with : BROOM
4. Good judgment : SENSE
5. Fla. clock setting : EST. (Eastern Standard Time)
6. Cookie container : JAR
 |
| It's never seen a cookie! |
7. Outback bird : EMU. Not Tweety.
8. Chanel of fashion : COCO
9. Spoken for : TAKEN
11. For each one : A POP
12. Eye care brand : RENU
13. "All __ are off" : BETS
18. Telegraphed : SENT
22. Batman and Robin, e.g. : DUO
24. Word before or after "mother" : EARTH
25. Shows mercy : SPARES
26. Assured payment of, as a loan : SECURED
29. Duplicate again : RECOPY
31. Michelin product : TIRE
33. Watch over, as sheep : TEND
34. Peru's capital : LIMA
 |
| Nightlife |
35. River to the Caspian : URAL
36. Bellyache : CARP. It could have been fish in 35-Down.
39. Family car : SEDAN
48. Tycoon Onassis : ARI
50. Sheepish youngster? : LAMB
52. Inspiration sources : MUSES
54. New Zealand native : MAORI
A strange pairing, 54 and 55.
55. Arctic dweller : INUIT
56. Burn slightly : SINGE
57. Respectful address : MADAM
58. Zig or zag : VEER
59. On a break : IDLE
60. Enumerate : LIST
61. On __: without a contract : SPEC. (on speculation)
65. Flub a line, say : ERR
66. Golf ball position : LIE
67. __ Alcindor: Kareem, formerly : LEW. Basketball. The man has his own web site: kareemabduljabbar.com.
Argyle
Note from C.C.:
Melissa and I had BILBAO in our puzzle yesterday. It turns out JD and her husband Bob were there before. Here are two pictures.
Melissa and I had BILBAO in our puzzle yesterday. It turns out JD and her husband Bob were there before. Here are two pictures.
34 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks, Vivian and Santa! Fun puzzle.
DYNAMISM and RENU were new, but easy to fill in.
NetWord (Gail G.) and USA Today were faster!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Morning, all!
Wow, VILNIUS on a Monday? And DYNAMISM? Perps took care of everything in short order, but still a bit odd...
The monks eschewed names when lay life they recanted
ALPHA BET soup was the meal they'd be granted.
Sigma and Ess
Were assigned to the mess,
Oh played the oboe, to the music, EN CHANTED!
Be got the BROOM, El and Yu stitched;
Em, Que, and Aitch the fences fixed.
But the BROOM still held magic,
The result was most tragic.
A council convened when they saw that BE WITCHED!
Be cast a hex that raised vines from the ground.
The ivy wrapped the council tightly around.
Accusers SECURED,
Be uttered a word,
Then vanished in smoke, left the council SPELL BOUND!
~><~
The Man in the Moon was having no luck
Moving some beams, but his pick-up got stuck!
The TIRE in place is,
The engine just RACES.
Light beams were too heavy, they mucked up MOON'S TRUCK!
{B-, B.}
Good morning!
This one had some unMondayish words, but the perps were kind. Thought it was a speed run, perhaps because it was geography/anthropology-heavy:
US -- ERIE
Polar Region -- INUIT
Europe -- VILNIUS, RIGA and URAL
Middle East -- IRAN
Pacific Ocean -- SAMOA (could also have been PAPUA, as clued) and the MAORI people.
Africa -- SEDAN (just kidding!)
Good job, Vivian and Argyle.
I found this a bit crunchy for a Monday, but maybe that's because I'm not a big movie fan, and there was a lot of movie cluing going on here. All-in-all, still a fun CW, thanx, Vivian, and a terrific write-up, thanx, Argyle! The Tweety and Sylvester cookie jar is very cute, but doesn't seem very practical: too many nooks and crannies to hafta fish the cookies outa. Hope all have a good week!
Good morning all. Thank you Vivian and Argyle.
A Monday failure. Didn't know Luce. Didn't know the Lithuanian capital. Didn't know the Amy Adams film. I guessed UNCHARTED. So the Time founder was LUCu and the Lithuanian capital was VILrIUS.
I will ask my next door neighbor if he knows the capital of Lithuania. His family immigrated from there a couple of generations ago.
Thanks, Vivian. A couple of crunches to keep this morning interesting. Fun start to the week. I really noticed the balance in today's structure. I love the scene in MOONSTRUCK when Cher slaps Nicholas Cage: Snap out of it!! I've used the line many times since then (sans the slap). I was just coming into motherhood of teens at the time, and it was so often appropriate!
Argyle: You seem pretty present to me. Thanks for the tour. The photos are great.
Good Day, all!
Today's puzzle was not on the Mensa site. Oh well, the ad on the LATimes site was cute! I made quick work of this one today. Thanks Vivian and Argyle.
Some familiar crosswordese appeared - EPEE, OGRE, OCTET and the beloved ERIE. I noted the 3 capital cities, RIGA, VILNIUS and LIMA. (d-otto, I enjoyed your geography lesson!)
One small delay when I entered Pain for bellyache. Perps finally gave me CARP (which I wanted yesterday as the Canadian version of AARP!)
67D Speaking of basketball, Toronto Raptors fans are thrilled that they advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 21 years after beating Miami Heat yesterday. Now to meet the Cleveland Cavs (on the other side of Lake Erie)!
Have a great day!
Hello Puzzlers -
Oops, I missed the TaDa by one letter: got the Ural/Aral recollection backwards. Been happening for years.
Morning, Argyle, Samoa looks perfect!
MBee from yesterday: an over scheduled day kept me from the Corner, please accept belated congratulations on your debut! On a Sunday no less!
Good morning everyone.
Easy solve. Good Monday fare. Three capitals today.
ERIE - Of the Great lakes, the 2nd smallest in surface area and the only Gt. Lake whose deepest point is above sea level.
VILNIUS - Capt Ramius' home town.
This one was largely a speed run, but it certainly had some crunch. Not sure I've ever heard of Vilnius, but I have now. Except for Moonstruck, I couldn't name the movies as clued, but they were easy enough to coax out with just a few perps. Thank you Vivian and Argyle.
As Dudley said, I had a full plate yesterday. I did enjoy the Sunday debut, MB. So congratulations and thank you for that, as well as C.C.
On Saturday I was out of town and even though I bought the paper, I didn't get a chance to complete it until evening. That was a bear, but I always enjoy John's puzzles, so I had to get it done.
The Mensa site still had yesterday's puzzle from Melissa B and C.C. so I had to use the LA Times site. It's OK but you have to sit through the commercials. No big deal.
Vivian did a nice job with her Monday level puzzle. Like others I agree that a couple of the words were not Monday words, but the perps filled them in easily.
I did have BRUSH before BROOM, but that only lasted a second or 2 before I changed it. I also knew Henry LUCE, not because of his ties to Time, Life and Fortune magazines, but as the husband of Clare Boothe Luce who was a Congresswoman, Ambassador and politician. After perps filled in SEPAL, I remembered it from high school days, so the V-8 can head slap was applied.
Have a good one today.
FUN Monday puzzle. Nice debut Vivian.
Argyle: Wonderful write-up. Especially enjoyed the Twitterpated link.
Fave today, of course, was A-POP ... I always like A-Pop ... LOL
Another boring, sunny, 80 degree, blue-sky day today in Tampa Bay.
Go Lightning!
Cheers!
Left center block threw me. I had gasp and not carp. Hence I did not get Luce nor Marc.
Ural v. Aral:
I know the Ural Mountains and the Aral Sea. Did not know there was an Aral River. Gotta brush up on my geography.
I had everything else in this puzzle.
What a lovely way to start the week!
Musings
-Rotten tomatoes – BEWITCHED – 25%, MOONSTRUCK – 92%. Seems about right.
-The Yellow CAB Company in San Francisco is filing for bankruptcy due to Uber
-EJECTING from a jet trades almost certain injuries for certain death
-Hmmm… What did OEDIPUS get his mother for Mother’s Day?
-DYNAMISM – There’s this lady in Minneapolis I know…
-Two capitals with no money
-My sister was going to tell and I had the low power BB gun. What ELSE could I do?
-Bad telegraphing
-When a bowler, like our friend Boomer, SPARES, he’s showing the pins no mercy
-Did Bo Peep ever find the sheep she was TENDING?
-Lovely pix, JD!
-I’m making a NASA presentation to 300 fifth graders today! Maybe I can ENCHANT them with the wonders of space and space travel! They’re always a great audience!
Thanks, Vivian, for a fun puzzle. Had some unknowns, as mentioned, but perps to the rescue.
Thanks, Argyle, for the beautiful photos! Never get tired of seeing new places. Samoa looks really nice, as we've got rain in the picture throughout the rest of the week!
Good Morning:
With one or two exceptions, this was an easy, breezy romp. Liked the Erie - eerie twosome. M. Defarge, that scene is one of my favorites, also. Loved that movie! The cast was pitch perfect and the howling dogs were hilarious! Spellbound was great, too, with one of my favorite actors, Gregory Peck. Didn't see Enchanted or Bewitched but I like Amy Adams and Nicole Kidman. In fact, I just saw NK in Paddington; she plays a sinister taxidermist who has her eye on Paddington's unique coat!
Thanks, Vivian, for a delightful start to the week and thanks, Argyle, for the guided tour!
Nice photos, JD.
Have a great day.
Nice puzzle. I liked it. Knew VILNIUS from The Hunt for Red October. Knew RIGA because a friend of ours is from there. Knew LIMA because we have an earthquake detector located there. I can't tell you at this moment what the capital of Estonia is, though. I was enthralled that the movie titles in the theme were all different ways of saying the same thing. Best wishes to you all.
What a lovely sashay through the grid today! Thank you, Vivian! I loved seeing MOONSTRUCK in the puzzle. It's one of my all time favorite movies and one for which Cher earned a well deserved Oscar. The entire supporting cast did an excellent job as well, grandly enhanced by music from La Boheme in the background.
Of the other movies, I've seen only BEWITCHED but they were easily grokked. And yes, VILNIUS required every perp to fill though RIGA is easily recalled.
Back in the days when Life and Time arrived in the mail weekly, Henry LUCE's name was prominently displayed.
Again, thank you, Vivian, for today's trip back in history and geography. I love it!
And thank you, Argyle, for your pictorial tour of remarkable places.
Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!
OwenKL:
I must say that your muses have been magical all week!
JD:
What beautiful photos!
Brilliant Monday puzzle, Vivian--thank you so much! It was a speed run for me, where I was able to work my way from top to bottom with only a little crunch in the bottom south when I got there. But what a delight! I got the movie titles as a theme right away, of course, but didn't get what they had in common, the theme of the magical, until I looked again when I was finished. Lovely!
Thanks too for the expo and pics, Argyle.
Only total unknowns were RENU and VILVIUS, but perps helped. And I only saw MOONSTRUCK of the four movies, but loved it. Had no problem at all with DYNAMISM, for some reason.
Have a great week, everybody!
A very nice Monday puzzle with some crunch but easily solved thanks to really nice clueing. A classic crossword actually, IMHO, with nothing unsolvable.
VILNIUS mentioned at 1:05 in this clip from Hunt for Red October.
Had a few surprising hang-ups for a Monday puzzle. Was not familiar with CARP as a term for a complaint. Also missed ON SPEC for "without a contract," which was rather embarrassing for a lawyer.
If I were a crossword editor this is the kind of Monday puzzle I'd love to publish. To me, it's simply perfectly elegant.
Perfectly ridiculous-
"I'm SPELLBOUND by the senorita's raven hair"
"LUPE'S BLOND, you idiot!"
Hi Y'all! Fun & fast! Really liked this light-hearted theme, Vivian! Thanks, Argyle!
Didn't know VILNIUS, but knew RIGA.
Didn't know what plant part was a SEPAL -- thought it was a reproductive part. Duh!
Never worn contacts so RENU was ESP.
DINAMite before DYNAMISM. New word for me.
LEW was a gimmee and I even knew how he spelled it. Yay me! YAY, Toronto! Yay, Thunder!
It rained all night and is raining still. Thankfully, my yardman got my tall grass mowed on Saturday just before going to his daughter's high school graduation. Hope he had time to clean up himself after mowing six yards.
Did you read where some guy with a hidden gun carry permit shot himself in the foot at a graduation. He had the gun tucked in his sock and was adjusting the sock when the gun accidently discharged. The bullet hit some lady sitting down the row. No serious injuries. Graduation went on while the idiot & lady went to the hospital.
PK......just one more argument for the banning of socks!!!
I thought this might be a good theme for today's puzzle.
Witchcraft
Keep Monday Tough!
- say I!
I am delighted with today's pzl--and every time Monday offers a bit of a challenge. Sure, I'm happy to see weekdays progress in degrees of difficulty, but Mondays shouldn't be flat-out giveaways.
My thanks to Vivian Collins for giving us a "crunchy" and "unMondayish" start to our week!
Let's see now - how tough was this,actually? The trickiest for me was LEW, after misspelling it LOU.
I have been to LIMA, but neither to VILNIUS nor RIGA. I missed seeing both ENCHANTED and BEWITCHED, but enjoyed SPELLBOUND (several times) and MOONSTRUCK. Still, personal experience has little relation to name recognition. There was nothing here that needed looking up.
BTW, I remember being knocked back, in a lovely way, by MOONSTRUCK, a film that dared to play a modern love story with all the Sturm und Drang of grand opera. It was the first film in which many noticed Nicholas Cage. Back then, he was fresh and individual, brilliantly idiosyncratic--before his mannerisms took over.
Hi puzzle-pals!
Wow. I did not think I was going to finish today. Quite crunchy for a Monday w/ nouns (persons/places/& things ) that I donno; see: REGA xing MAORI.
Thank you Argyle for LIST'n' every ITEM and verifying nothing in my grid was aJAR. Thank you Vivian for a Monday noodler with many fun words.
My biggest hang-up was in the center. In retrospect it was easy. Wait, no, it wasn't. Inking peace in for 42a made WAGs even harder. Other WOs: DYNAMo/ic/ISM. Dang, MADAM V.C., couldn't the ball LIE on a tee?
//That's the best my MUSES offered - see OKL's PROSE for being above SPEC.
ESPs: to many nouns to count...
Fav:COCO - my "sister," er, POP's DW's dog's name. I WONT go into it ELSE even the DEED will be in her name. ERIE how some TEND to be the ALPHA dog. ;-)
Enjoy the apropos Eagles' Witchy Woman.
Cheers, -T
I do like our CONSTRUCTOR today. A TMS regular?
Thank you, Lemonade, that's a wonderful article about today's constructor. Too bad a photo wasn't included. That would have been nice.
Her Twitter account picture. Someone with a Twitter account can find more.
Very easy theme led to a quick solve.
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