Title: STAND what's going on?
DO YOU
Remember those Wacky Wordies we all have solved over the years like:
Husker Gary here pinch-hitting for Lemon and I give this puzzle
Theme Entries:
#1 GETS UNDER FOOT
18. Literally, forms an obstruction : GETS
FOOT
GETS
Yes, he "Literally" can!!
#2 THROWS UNDER THE BUS
19. See 23-Across : THE BUS
23. Literally, sacrifices to save one's own neck : THROWS
THE BUS
THROWS
With Photoshop, you can do this figuratively, uh, not "Literally"!
#3 PLACES UNDER ARREST
56. See 61-Across : ARREST
61. Literally, books : PLACES
ARREST
PLACES
The most famous in moviedom?
Didn't Dirty Harry also
COVER
WORK
#4 LIES UNDER OATH
62. See 66-Across : OATH
66. Literally, commits perjury : LIES
OATH
LIES
You ain't foolin' her!
...and the reveal:
36. Toaster's words, and a hint to solving eight puzzle answers : BOTTOMS UP - Meryl probably got an Academy Award Nomination for this line!
1. Liner : SHIP - Some captains don't like it when they are called boats. Spitz?
5. Hope __ : CHEST
10. Shred of evidence? : DNA
13. A, to Bach : EINE - Even a cultural philistine such as I knows EINE kleine Nachtmusik
14. "I wanna do it" : LEMME
16. Turkish warlord : AGHA
17. Physicist's proposed particle : AXION - Count me as physics teacher who has never heard of this word
21. Camps : ROUGHS IT - Holiday Inn Express is ROUGHING IT for us
24. Pod opener : TRI
25. RV chain : KOA
26. Chou En-__ : LAI
27. Like adobe : EARTHEN
30. Publicity : INK - "Say whatever you want, just spell my name right!"
31. Sundance's love : ETTA - The real ETTA Place and Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh)
33. Blackguard : CUR
34. Touch, for example : SENSE - My iMacPro can SENSE how many fingers are on the TOUCHpad
40. Fills : SATES
43. __ grass : OAT
44. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki : ISAO - He's got a lovely bunch of vowels!
48. Soul seller : KIA - When visiting South Korea, the Pope chose a modest, made-in Korea KIA Soul and admonished clergy who drive big, expensive vehicles
49. 1972 Olympics city : SAPPORO - The last Olympics where wooden skis were used to win a gold medal
53. Beantown landmark, with "the" : PRU - The 52-story PRUdential building's parking is much cheaper, a 20 min. walk to Fenway and easy to find after the game
54. Rile : IRK
55. End of August? : INE
58. Blocks : PREVENTS
63. Tin Pan Alley gp. : ASCAP
65. Mr. Bean's car : MINI - Mr. Bean, his MINI and Teddy!
67. Onetime NPR host Hansen : LIANE
68. Settled : PAID
69. "The Conspiracy Against Childhood" author LeShan : EDA
70. Itzhak Perlman choice : STRAD
71. Tart fruit : SLOE
Down
1. City named for a Duwamish chief : SEATTLE - Wise words from Chief SEATTLE
3. Come into : INHERIT - He that troubles his own house shall INHERIT the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:9
4. R&B singer Bryson : PEABO - Definitely worth a "google"
5. One to admire : CLASS ACT - C.C. is the embodiment of this sentiment
6. Spell : HEX
7. Mideast monarch : EMIR
8. Like some operators : SMOOTH
9. Academic status : TENURE - A teacher with TENURE is hard to fire
10. Supple leather : DOESKIN
11. Whims : NOTIONS - "The Witt Store." Your place for notions, sundries, gewgaws and baubles Columbus, GA, c. 1953 . Who's says no one ever uses the word gewgaws?
12. On the line : AT STAKE
15. String next to E? : FGH - String of letters in the first song for many of us. I had the fill correct but struggled before I understood it!
20. Former NHL defenseman Krupp : UWE - UWE Von Schamann was a Sooner field goal kicker that never failed against the Huskers
22. Infomercial cutlery brand : GINSU - I never liked that shoe!
28. It's frustrating to be in one : RUT
29. Scout group : TROOP
32. Actor Vigoda : ABE - Barney Miller's Phil Fish and The Godfather's Salvatore Tessio
35. Center opening : EPI
37. Davis of "Do the Right Thing" : OSSIE
38. Tiananmen Square honoree : MAO - Translation of the writings?
39. Lacking, with "for" : STRAPPED
40. Stick on a slope : SKI POLE
41. Blitz : AIR RAID
42. Break on "Downton Abbey" : TAKE TEA - What?? TEA TIME is not right?
45. Reduced-price offering : SPECIAL
46. Hall of "Coming to America" : ARSENIO - 69% on Rotten Tomatoes
47. Unlikely, as a chance : OUTSIDE - or a variation using the theme
50. Historical records : ANNALS
51. Watch a friend's dog, say : PET SIT
52. The NBA's Magic : ORL
57. Cloverleaf branches : RAMPS - The Pregerson Interchange in L.A.
59. Old tape type : VHS
60. Bad mark? : SCAR
64. Santa __, California : ANA
Now it's time for others to comment, so they shouldn't delay and get (yes this is addictive)
This puzzle by @James Sajdak was tough, made more so by the fact that it took me another 5 minutes of staring at the completely correct answer grid before I was able to fully appreciate the theme. This must have been really tough to construct! I also want to express my appreciation to @Husker Gary for the lively writeup, from which I learned a lot (count me in as a science guy who never heard of AXION).
ReplyDeleteOn other fronts, kudos to C.C. who has a themeless puzzle today over at the other paper. Check it out!
Also, today remains part of a relatively small window this year during which @Tim Croce's wonderfully impressive Look Both Ways is relevant, and the exciting ongoing NBA playoff finals reminds me of King James Version from two years ago.
FIR! Also got the theme before the reveal!
ReplyDelete{A, B, C, C.}
You/heard, so stand/I,
taking/My to take/this land!
With the arrest/king
We'll/throw the rest
Of the/seers, my/all command!
Thomas was destitute, his money used up,
When he was befriended by an eloquent pup.
"Name's Toast," the dog said,
"Because I'm, well, bred."
A well-heeled dog, Toast BOUGHT TOM SUP!
Retirees in an RV were Lenny and Leah,
Whose custom-made vehicle came from Korea!
They won't stay home and PET SIT,
They go camping and ROUGH IT,
Well, such as they can in a K.O.A. KIA!
The AGHA and EMIR were having a feud
They each questioned the other's rectitude!
Each put on his HIGH HAT
To settle their spat
Of whose turban, upright, had the most altitude!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteSussed the theme early on, and thus made good time through this seriously clever puzzle. High Hat is all new to me in this context.
Morning Husker, I never heard of an Axion either.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks, James and Husker!
Fun theme, once I caught the gist!
OWE was perped. Took awhile!
Cheers!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteGot the theme early on, but it didn't really help me all that much with this one. Really struggled with stuff like UWE, HIGH HAT (as clued), AXION and PEABO. Plus, I was convinced that "RV Chain" was a tricky clue for the alphabet run STU and I really thought that Mr. BEAN drove a Reliant Robin 3-wheel car. Maybe that was only in once episode?
Anyway, I eventually got 'er done unassisted, but I wouldn't call it a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination...
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWhen am I gonna learn to read the entire clues? Apparently never. Blew right past the reveal and didn't get the theme until PLACES (under) ARREST. But that was enough to allow me to go back and finish the missing letters in the other three theme entries. Cute. Tough, but cute. Just one over-write this morning: ALIT before PAID showed up. Well done, James.
Husker, you were in fine form this morning. I was hoping you'd provide an answer key to those posers you posted. Either I'm slow or it's too early in the morning. I'm slow.
Forgot to mention, PEABO (????) adjacent to UWE (????) was particularly cruel.
ReplyDeleteTHROWS under THEBUS took me the longest time from THR__S under THE__S. Blind spot, I guess. I finally saw it and finished.
ReplyDeleteVery clever and quite crunchy. I loved this puzzle. Wonderful review, Gary. What an adorable puppy!
ReplyDeleteWhile skipping around to get a toe hold, BOTTOMS UP from just the ---UP was one of my first fills. Then I skipped to the SW and LIES UNDER OATH became easily apparent. Having the theme helped tremendously. Perps were very useful. The only totally unknowns were PEABO and UWE, and they crossed. Glad I left them in. It had to be THROWS UNDER THE BUS, a very common phrase.
Busy day. I'll check in later.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI must admit that this gave me fits until I (FINALLY) understood the theme. Whew! But the cleverness and execution and satisfying solve were worth the frustration. Uwe was tough but I knew Peabo. The Bottoms Up brings a certain Floridian to mind. Anyway, I finished w/o help and was a happy KOA camper!
Very well done, James S. and nice subbing job, HG.
I had the worst nightmares last night and one seemed to go on forever. It wasn't gory or scary, just very disturbing. Is there any correlation between strange dreams and what you eat or drink before you go to bed?
Have a great day
This was my first puzzle in three weeks and I was rusty but got it done. Lots of unknowns filled by the perps- Mr. Bean, AXION, LIANE, UWE, OSSIE & Duwamish and mis-starts. RTY were next to E before I thought about the alphabet instead of the keyboard. And with AIR becoming INK and TEA TIME morphing into TAKE TEA. And I can never remember if it's 'PIEBO' or 'PEABO', 'ADA' or 'EDA', or the correct spelling of ISAO or Chou En LAI.
ReplyDeleteI thought the theme was neat but I figured it out before I completed BOTTOMS UP. HIGH HAT is an unfamiliar term for 'snub' as 'cold shoulder' is used more around here. I've always heard HIGH HAT used for 'snob', not 'snub'.
Very good write up HG and add me to the list of science guys who have never heard of AXION. But I was pretty sure it ended in 'ON'.
Husker: Outstanding write-up and links.
ReplyDeleteJames: Thank You for my New Favorite Puzzle of 2016.
Fave today, of course, was BOTTOMS-UP ... it will probably be said a few time later today at Villa Incognito.
Go hell ... "It's Five O'clock Somewhere!" already ... Why should I wait?
Bottoms-Up! ... and Cheers!
Just home from 18 holes – 7:30 am to 9:30 am!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-My guesses on the Wacky Wordies in my write-up are
1. A house divided
2. Crossed wires
3. Mind’s eye
4. High seas
5. Wide-awake
6. Unbalanced (that took me some time!)
7. Tilting at windmills
8. Jailbreak
-If you want more, have at these!
-I imagine our Lake Erie contingent really liked last night’s wrestling match, er, NBA game 6. I want the Cavs to win too!
-Steve, I am always paranoid about something missing from my write-ups too. The html stuff can be tricky!
-Off to do my vacuuming!
I am sure somebody must have heard my groaning when I saw those "see whatever across" clues...
ReplyDeleteBut I am sure glad I stuck with it to uncover this marvelous construction!
Friday hard, but well worth it. Thank you James Sajdak!
Under foot?
I had too much trouble "on" the bus to look what's going on under it...
You Liar!
Under arrest?
Bottoms up? I think it's all in the timing...
ReplyDeleteReally puzzling puzzle today. A Friday puzzle that I was able to finish but only because of perps. I did not UNDERstand JS's theme until HG 'splained it admirably.
Like others, I didn't know UWE, PEABO, and LIANE. Perps and a WAG or two filled them in.
I thought a LIME was the tart fruit. In my early college days I did have a few SLOE gin fizzes because Sloe Gin was one of the few available sources of alcohol that we could get. Plus maybe a little Vodka from our over 21 friends.
Have a great weekend.
What a fiendishly satisfying puzzle from James Sajdak! Thank you, for the mental challenge. I caught the theme at THEBUS
ReplyDeleteTHROWS and slogged forward through the western hemisphere but also was caught at TEATIME before TAKETEA then all fell in place. AXION is completely new to me but then physics has never been in my wheelhouse. TENURE clinched it. UWE took all perps though I knew PEABO Bryson. A name like that sticks to the memory.
The SE corner bound me and gagged me for the longest time since I was looking for books to read, tried PRIMER which made LIMBS seem right. So a full erasure was called for though I was sure about ARSENIO and finally after looking up PRU the blocks filled up. Oh, that kind of booking.
Thank you, again Mr. Sajdak and also Gary who really entertained today.
Have a splendid day, everyone!
Great theme and puzzle today for a nice Friday challenge. Like most, didn't understand what was going on with the reference clues, but finally got a hold of it! Thanks, James!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, HG, on your continued theme entries. When will we be finding you in the constructor's name?
Very clever these oh-so-foxy Xwd-ers!
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't get a kick out of such devilish word play? Sure, it adds to our initial puzzlement, as we see we must satisfy more than one SENSE with several of the linked answers, but the amusement factor soars much higher than the usual fare.
Nothing stood out as particularly difficult--just a couple of obscure items, one of which caused me to Google my way into the NE corner. That was DOE SKIN, a form of leather that I haven't come across before. And, given its origin (at least if we're to take it literally), I would rather not encounter it in future.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteA little crunchy today; missed a couple so I FIW. I actually got the theme answer and then noticed the solves using the word UNDER. LIES under OATH was first; PLACES under ARREST was next, and GETS under FOOT was last to fall. I totally screwed up CLASS ACT as I had no clue about Blackguard = CUR. I think I had RUR for this which led me to CLASS ART - which of course was wrong. Oh well; didn't have to GOOGLE a Friday for a change.
I wasn't paying much attention to the theme, and plus I don't usually care for when one clue references another. But I saw it when I got "arrest" and "places". And then I thought it rather clever in spite of myself. The only write over was "pole" for "gate" with ski, but I also had "axiom" until it changed to "axion".
ReplyDeleteSaturday awaits.
I liked this puzzle a lot. The cleverness of it astounds me. A pleasant mental workout that was hard and satisfying. My gratitude to all.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteI usually like James' puzzles and I liked this one. After I sussed out PLACES under ARREST, the other sets of 'under' fill came easily, making this a relatively easy Friday puzzle. Only wite-out occurred where I had kidskin before DOESKIN. Got EINE right away. No searches today.
SHIP - Gary, it isn't just the captains. It's like dragging your nails across a chalkboard. Submarines are often referred to as 'boats', but I call them Subs.
Adding to what Spitz said: a buddy of mine served on diesel submarines back in the day. He made sure I knew they were "boats", because they carried no smaller boats aboard (dinghies and/or life rafts didn't count, apparently).
ReplyDeleteHe wouldn't allow the pronounciation "sub-marron-urz" either. It had to be "sub-marreen-urz".
There were some fun stories, such as how every submarine carried a bootleg stash of hootch - everybody knew it, but not officially, of course.
From Wikipedia, FWIW:
ReplyDelete"The axion is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interest as a possible component of cold dark matter."
Perfectly clear, no? (I always thought it was a "cold, dark, night" ... but I guess not in physics.)
Michael, your post is all Greek to me. Somehow I got AXION from just the X. I don't know where the word came from. I am not into physics. In high school the physics teacher droned on with an expressionless voice and affect. I tuned out and hated physics. I studied and outlined the text to ace the tests but remember nothing. My nephew works at Cern from time to time. Maybe I picked axion up from him without understanding it.
ReplyDeleteI was completely befuddled after getting FOOT over GETS and failed to GET it. Thankfully, I solved the Theme'er early and nearly finished (filed THEBUS THROWS b/f any of the NW). FIW - End of August? is TEE in my pzl. It was so much fun James. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHG - Great writeup thank you for
G
N
I
P
P
E
T
S
WOs: 53a - I was double-wrong. Somewhere I've seen a giant coffee uRn, but it wasn't in Boston, that's a TEApot. I also PLACEd Mr. Bean in a Benz b/f MINI.
ESP: SAPPORO - and I put a T where it x'd 37d. Dern.
Fav - Gotta be the theme. I though KIA and KOA in the same pzl is cute too.
I've not read everyone yet, but IM, yes - when I finished my 1st corner and didn't "get it" I thought I'd never finish. Well, I did; only wrong :-)
Friday nap time. Cheers, -T
Michael, et.al.: I knew AXION from just the I in EMIR. I was listening to NPR and caught this story about Hippies and Physics and LSD*. Quantum Mechanics makes perfect SENSE now.
ReplyDeleteAbout that nap, I need to sleep. But how? Oh! BOTTOMS UP!
(Turn down your speakers b/f clicking).
Cheers, -T
*That's not the interview I heard, but you get the gist.
C.C., Excellent work on the NYT crossword today; I greatly enjoyed it. Even Rex Parker praised it for being "a wonderful themeless puzzle. Shimmering and clean." While I am not necessarily a fan of said cynical crossword critic, I cannot remember the last time he actually fully enjoyed a puzzle, so I guess that is some kind of a feat in of itself. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteWow, a "shimmering and clean" critique from Rex Parker? That is definitely something to be proud of! C.C. you rock!
ReplyDeleteThe Great Unread here. Started about ten am and slogged. Picked it up later and grasped the themes after BOTTOMSUP and BUS which made sense of previous fill. BEABO, BEAN?? Finally got to NE. Refused to DNF but got hung up on danSKIN. Just couldn't recall KOA. But I did finish.
ReplyDeleteYes, PRU was always the place to park for Fenway. Be careful on the walk crossing those streets, pedestrianns are considered mortal enemies of Boston drivers. Let's see if I can recall my old 1980s golf poem:
Oops later. ALICE was my inspiration. There's a golf answer, CC, if you can frame a clever clue.
The Great Unread here. Started about ten am and slogged. Picked it up later and grasped the themes after BOTTOMSUP and BUS which made sense of previous fill. BEABO, BEAN?? Finally got to NE. Refused to DNF but got hung up on danSKIN. Just couldn't recall KOA. But I did finish.
ReplyDeleteYes, PRU was always the place to park for Fenway. Be careful on the walk crossing those streets, pedestrianns are considered mortal enemies of Boston drivers. Let's see if I can recall my old 1980s golf poem:
Oops later. ALICE was my inspiration. There's a golf answer, CC, if you can frame a clever clue.