Title: Sh......
What I perceive is a debut puzzle for Mr. Abrams gives us words beginning with SH (sound)(vowel) in progression. A very straight forward puzzle with a very fast solve time and a mini-theme of Hawaiian words. I know of an Archaeology Professor who wrote about historic architecture in the MAYAN culture. My oldest wrote about ancient architecture in his time studying in that field. Anyway, on to the puzzle...The theme fill except OVERWHELM are all new to the LAT. The rest includes forty-six 3/4 letter fill, many of which are common crossword fodder. I am always impressed with those who grid their own first effort. I enjoyed the puzzle, especially all the Js. After last week's pangram, we are just a Q short this week.
18A. Shaq : EX-NBA CENTER (11). Shaquille is a very entertaining guy.
24A. Sheik : ARAB NOBLE (9).Sheikh, Shaik, Shayk, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and Shekh— is an honorific title in the Arabic language. wiki
37A. Schick : RAZOR BLADE MAKER (15). The "C" makes this the outlier, This may have been his seed entry. If he chose SHI... maybe: Shirk: LIE DOWN ON THE JOB. Of course that would cause a complete rewrite. Life is not easy.
49A. Shock : OVERWHELM (9). All perps
55A. Shuck : OPEN OYSTERS (11).My first thought was corn, but I do not eat shellfish.
Okay on to the meat of the puzzle...
Across:
1. Backtalk : LIP.
4. Went into second, in a way : SLID. A gimme for the baseball crowd.
8. Energy units : JOULES. I love J words: It is equal to the energy transferred (or work done) to an object when a force of one newton acts on that object in the direction of its motion through a distance of one metre (1 newton metre or N·m). It is also the energy dissipated as heat when an electric current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second. It is named after the English physicist James Prescott Joule (1818–1889) wiki.
14. She played Mia in "Pulp Fiction" : UMA. She died and came back.
16. Opposite of down : ACROSS. Crossword inside joke
17. AWOL pursuers : MPS. Military Police. Probably not a legitimate plural.
20. Combat : BATTLE.
22. Long, on Lanai : LOA. Then an immediate clecho 23A. Hi, on Lanai : ALOHA.
30. Exceptional : RARE.
31. Team members : OXEN. Cute yoke.
32. "Darkness at __": Arthur Koestler novel : NOON. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Darkness at Noon number eight on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. I never read it. The novel was written in German. wiki
33. Fortress of Solitude statue honoree : JOR-EL. Since the creators were both Jewish, they named their central family EL אֵל. Did you know Superman had his own WIKI?
35. Formal assessment : REPORT. I am not the report type. Michelle does lots of them for clients.
41. Calls up : EVOKES.
42. Pip : BEAUT.
43. Mudville number : NINE. How many players on the field in baseball.
44. 2015 Emmy winner for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series : VEEP. Not only born into a fabulously wealthy family but in her third Emmy winning series, JULIA is one lucky woman.
45. Wheels : RIDE. Nice ride...
53. It may be humbly held in hand : HAT. Nice cluing.
54. Stumble : FALTER.
61. Nixon admin. creation : EPA. An environmental CRUSADER when politics made some sense.
62. __ effect : RIPPLE. Not to be confused with the butterfly effect.
63. Israeli writer Oz : AMOS. Hid views are not always popular. LINK.
64. Nothing but __ : NET. Steph Curry...Game 1, he was not good but they won.
66. Not for here : TO GO. They added to go service at the Cattleman.
67. Helical strands : DNA. Helix like.
Down:
1. Like the vertebrae directly above the pelvis : LUMBAR. Where by herniated discs live.
2. 1958 Chevy debut : IMPALA. Remember it well.
4. Inscribed stone : STELA. Put in STELE for some reason but ALOHA came along.
5. Elegance : LUXE. adjective: 1. expensive and of high quality; luxurious. "the luxe 65-room Four Seasons hotel" noun: 1. luxury.
6. Comfort __ : INN.
7. Touch : DAB. I have Brylcreem regularly.
8. Biblical twin : JACOB.
9. Large amount : OCEAN. This area was the hardest for me because of this, but I do know thr phrase from books and HEADLINES.
10. "Thou," in the Keats lines "When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain ... a friend to man" : URN. Of the Grecian variety. Most think is it "TO" but is ON.
11. Building site : LOT.
12. End of much language? : ESE. Meh, but I guess better than ease south east.
13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR.
19. Late actor Rickman : ALAN. A recent DEMISE. I loved most of his work, especially Galaxy Quest.
21. 1989 Jack Nicholson role : THE JOKER. Everone thought he was great until Heath Ledger came along.
24. Double __ : AXEL. I do get many figure skating fill.
25. Mark down, perhaps : RE-LABEL. Remarkable, Mabel.
26. Keeping the beat? : ON PATROL. Police walking the neighborhood.
27. Secure, as a room : BOOK. So many ways online now.
28. Past wisdom : LORE.
29. __'acte : ENTR. French for between the Acts, i.e. intermission.
31. Mars and others : ORBS. A simple definition.
34. Vein yield : ORE. Bloody cute clue!
35. Get as a return : REAP. What you sow....
36. Aussie runner : EMU.
37. Nevada city on I-80 : RENO.
38. Tel __ : AVIV.
39. Defense choice : ZONE. Football and basketball.
40. Consider : DEEM. Again.
44. Dachshund docs : VETS. We had dachshunds. One of our wiener dogs ate so much she became a knockwurst.
46. Plan : INTEND.
47. Become more heartfelt : DEEPEN.
48. Printing problems : ERRATA. Placed in a book to apologize for errors.
50. __ milk : WHOLE. Random.
51. Last Reconstruction president : HAYES. Rutherford B. All you need to KNOW.
52. Rodeo rope : LASSO.
54. One that may be transformed by a kiss? : FROG.
55. Scenes of many stitches: Abbr. : ORS. Operating Rooms.
56. Knight supporter? : PIP. Very tricky for me, but not for Gladys.
58. "All Things Considered" home : NPR. National Public Radio.
59. Many a pro athlete's pride : TATtoo. Really?
60. Rock genre : EMOtional.
Always exciting to welcome a new constructor to Friday. Thank you Elliott and I hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lemonade out.
Always exciting to welcome a new constructor to Friday. Thank you Elliott and I hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy Birthday to our talented Owen, who does not celebrate his birthdays. But you're special to us, Owen! So lucky that you found us and continue to entertain us despite your personal struggles.
 |
| Owen & his wife Brenda (Feb 28, 2009) |
2) Indie 500 crossword tournament will be held tomorrow (June 4) in DC. You can click here for details. See here for the constructors. See Angela Olson Halsted, Misty? That's PuzzleGirl. Other constructors include Andy Kravis, Neville Fogarty, Erik Agard, Joanne Sullivan, Lena Webb, Kameron Austin Collins and Sam Trabuccob.
3) The fifth Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held at the Landmark Center in St. Paul on June 12th, 2016 Sunday. Please click here for more details. Here is the direct registration link. Entry fee is only $20 per person.
Don G and I teamed up again this year. Other contributors (all LAT/NYT constructors) include George Barany, Victor Barocas (also our editor), Tom Pepper, Andrea Carla Michaels, David Liben-Lowell, Michael David, Johanna Fenimore, Andrew J Ries, David Steinberg (Yay!) and our own Jeffrey Wechsler, who is flying from New Jersey to volunteer for the event.
Took a few passes, but I got'er done! Top center was last to fall, but REAP+VEEP was a WAG I didn't expect to be correct.
ReplyDelete{A-, A+, B+, B-.}
There once was a babe from Planet Krypton,
Rocketed to space, just his diaper clipped on!
When his RIDE was over,
The orphan LONER
Had a hologram JOR-EL, a dad to be flipped on!
A prince of ARABY, a NOBLE SHEIK,
Dressed to the NINES looking very chic.
In the land of sand
Co-ed dance is banned,
So the men dance together, SHEIK to SHEIK!
While all round about him the BATTLE raged,
The BLADE that he raised was a RAZOR BLADE!
Although it was weird
He was shaving his beard --
"My hairs stand on end when they think I'm afraid!"
If a mesa is pretty, that butte is a BEAUT!
Energy for robbing is JOULES for jewels loot!
A bride may FALTER
When the groom's at the alter,
But the PASTOR will help her get past'er galoot!
Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Owen)!
ReplyDeleteNothing really to report on this one, except that I made slow, but steady, progress throughout and finally got 'er done unassisted, so that was nice. I think the biggest hesitation was trying to figure out whether Shaq qas going to be a PLAYER or a BALLER or what before CENTER came into view.
I was expecting a Friday themeless, so totally missed the fact that the theme clues were a vowel progression.
I thought using PIP in a clue and an answer was a no-no, so I tried for something else until I gave in. Otherwise a typical Friday.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteAll of my WAGs turned to lead this morning: LINKED vertebrae, Shaq was a PLAYER, mark down to REPRICE, the cop was ON THE JOB and DOPPLE effect (yeah, I know it would need to be doppler). This one turned into a Wite-Out workout. But I eventually got 'er done. Whew! Theme? There was a theme?
Good Morning!
ReplyDeleteA slow and steady day for me. I wouldn't exactly say I won the race, but I made it to the finish line. Thanks, Elliott for the challenge. It took me a long time to get to easier answers like DEEM and TAT. Hayes was elected President by a compromise in the House known as the Tilden Hayes compromise. It did end Reconstruction, but opened the door--and widely at that--for Jim Crow to enter.
Lemonade, thanks for the explication. I needed many as I succeeded with perps. Somehow I missed the story of your blue sleeve. Hiding your TATS are you?
Have a fine day today.
Happy Birthday OwenKL
ReplyDelete"Many a pro athlete's pride" I had "ARM" before the TAT write-over.
All-In-All a FUN Friday puzzle. Thanks Elliot.
Cheers!
I had Lat for latissimus dorsi
DeleteI had HAT for what they choose to wear at HOF Induction.
DeleteBlue sleeve was the cast I had for 5 weeks, replaced this morning with a brace for an oblique fracture of my radius. No TATS on this body just age spots.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteIt took awhile to catch the theme but I finally saw the vowel progression. I, too, had player before center and, also, brand before maker with razor blade. Needed some perps here and there but finished w/o help.
Thanks, Elliott, for a fun Friday foray and thanks, Lemony, for the summary.
Happy Birthday, Owen, hope it's a special day. 🎂 🎈🎉🎁🎊
Have a great day.
On the 'scam notice' that Bill. G. posted yesterday -
ReplyDeleteI finally figured out Bill. G.'s 'math' problem with the 'psuedo' two nudie girl windshield wiping and morals suborning robbery scam. It is non-substituted code in an arithmetical formula / formulae? via a geometrical progression with an Euler series precession. The code in simple Gaussian cipher reads '------ is a fool, and is full of ------'. Note : The dashes are not indicative of the number of letters. I am not going to reveal the name(s), as a spoiler, but, I will say, the person referred to is not todays blogman. Cute ? I guess so. If you are into obscure math.
Mr. Abrams. Decent effort.
ReplyDeleteStrengths:
• Original(ish) theme
• PIP-PIP! Not a Dickensian character this time!
• EPI-(Genetics) - very avant-garde science. Lamarckian redemption! - but still on a Darwinian foundation.
• Darkness at Noon was standard reading in my high school in the 1970s. I must have written an essay on it once, which may be in my archives. The original German version (1940) was thought lost until 2015. Fortunately his partner had translated it to English soon after he wrote it (published in Britain in 1941). It was definitely an inspiration for 1984 (written 10 years later when the full extent of Stalin's purges were more widely appreciated) I read that the "old guard" communist scriptwriters in Hollywood suppressed it until the 1950s.
Weaknesses:
• I thought Schuck invented the ELECTRIC RAZOR. I associate "Razor Blades" with a MANUAL razor.
• EX-NBA-CENTER ? - Im-PARSE-able!
• Quite a lot of sub-Friday level fill - ENTR, AVIV. SSR, ALOHA
Easy wasn’t the first adjective that leapt into my feeble skull and the worst of my effort was I was Looking for the theme in all the wrong places as CENTER, NOBLE and MAKER seemed promising. Even Rockefeller CENTER and OYSTERS Rockefeller offered blind alleys before, DUH!, the theme was in the clues. Hey, I know I’m a few peas short of a casserole.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-SHAQ is shown inside and outside the car but the process of entering and exiting is omitted
-Pulp Fiction addendum - John Travolta’s character was named Jules (JOULES)
-The original German title of Darkness at Noon was Sonnenfinsternis which translates to Solar Eclipse
-JOREL was Jerry Seinfeld’s ATM Pin Code
-Also not Sheldon dressed as the Doppler Effect
-When we make our cemetery run, this impressive SPIRE in Humphrey, NE is visible for miles
-I almost once said “TO GO” at a McDonald’s drive thru! See casserole comment above
-“It’s gonna take a large amount of calamine lotion” just doesn’t cut it!
-My good friend just spent $180,000 for his building LOT north of town
-Yeah, Heath took THE JOKER in another direction
-“Hey, let’s RELABEL those used cars as “previously owned””
-Pols who throw mud, usually REAP a reciprocal amount of same
-Is that RECONSTRUCTION job done yet?
Our wonderful limericist named Owen
ReplyDeleteTo our site has been regularly goin’
Tho he eschews celebration
Of his parent’s procreation
We hope his work keeps on flowin’
Didn't like PIP as an answer and a clue
ReplyDeleteFinished in the SW with EPI because I had gotten all the across answers, did not like the clue on that one.
Nice Cuppa, just ask Mr. G about "Schick razor blades." Gillette and Schick were the two major US blade makers.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Owen, even if you don't celebrate 'em. (I don't, either.)
Abrams must be a Niners fan. Kapp was always kissing his TAT-covered Bicep.
ReplyDeleteSadly, no joy for me in this puzzle with too many unknowns, JOREL?, EXNBACENTER, though I had CENTER but wanted Tampa and I really dislike fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteThe western territory lulled me into thinking this would be easy. Not! From the center forward every letter with a few exceptions cost me time and effort. In the end I finished most of it naticked by LUXE/EX and the aforementioned JOREL. Have to find out about that but must go to a funeral now.
I'll read you all later.
Thanks, Lemonade; you make Fridays worthwhile and thank you Mr. Abrams for a mental challenge.
Have a fine day, everyone!
Happy birthday, Owen! You deserve a celebration for bringing us amusement in varying degrees with your poetry.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, a fast solve? Good for you!
HBDTY HBDTY HBDDO and many more
ReplyDeletesounds like lots of fun events ahead...I need to retire and travel
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteMaybe just another day, Owen, but have a happy one.
I was done in by the two X's, and did not suss the theme.
So a baffling DNF.
Happy weekend everyone.
Cool regards!
JzB
I was just not on the right wavelength today. But, thanks for the challenge, Elliot. Your guided tour was fun, as always, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteOwen, I hope you have a good day today, even if it is just an ordinary one. You have certainly made my day delightful with your verses. I'd give them all an A+ today! HG, your tribute was spot on!
Well, I got about three-fourths of this one before I had to start cheating--and sadly this is beginning to be about normal for me on Fridays these days (oddly enough, I sometime do better with the Saturday puzzles). But still fun, Elliot, so, many thanks, and you too, Lemonade!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Owen, keep up the limericks.
Angela Olson Halsted doesn't ring a bell for me, C.C.
Have a great Friday, everybody!
I was whizzing right along at a smart enough pace until getting jammed in the NE and SE sectors. Until then I had only thought of cheating twice, but each time it turned out I was only confirming what I had WAG'd on my own. (These were STELA and JOR-EL. I don't count them as flaws, just as signs of faltering confidence.)
ReplyDeleteBut the NE & SE were tough. My break-through up top came when I flashed on the possibility of JACOB for 8D which instantly gave me JOULES for 8A. Funny, isn't it, how the thought for one can trigger and even stronger thought for another? That led me to the "U" in URN, and that corner became history.
Down in the SE, I had the hardest time getting LOSER out of my head. (It's that #@*! Trump effect, isn't it? [Worse Expletive deleted.]) And I couldn't remember if Nixon was responsible for the EPA or OPA. But it just took time for my grey matter to align itself properly. Sometimes the vibes require patience. GREY VIBES MATTER.
DNF today,
ReplyDeletejust too many learning moments,
plus I could not get any perps to tell me if it was a lasso, or a riata....
Happy Birthday OwenKL,
(& happy every other day.)
I was just really impressed that this is really a cake!
If this olio of far-fetched defs is an example of Mr. Abram's work as a constructor, I suggest he doesn't quit his day job. Silliness personified. Another suggestion to Mr. Abrams: pick up a copy of Roget's - indispensable in your quest to making a solvable puzzle. Otherwise, I liked the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteHappy B'Day, Owen!
ReplyDeleteHere's my favorite rendition of the HAPPY BIRTHDAY song. It's a bit exotic, but give it a listen, and see if you don't find it a lot of fun.
Thanks to Nice Cuppa for my diversion into Lamarckism and Epi-genetics ( the latter word, that I took for granted, during the solve.) I spent a considerable amount of time on Arthur Koestler, he of the noon darkness fame. Then Lamarckism, which I absolutely refuse to link because it gave me a splitting headache. Much, much ado about splitting hairs or heirs.(if you are a nonDNA scientist type person.) I am just amazed at the latent (?) talent and esoteric specialities of some of the blog responders. As for the rest of his comments on the crossword, which I don't necessarily agree with, are, of course, strictly his own.
ReplyDeleteFun Friday solve. I saw the theme early. Thanks Elliott and Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteHand up for Stele before STELA. LIP today instead of the usual Sass. Waited for perps to decide between Riata and NOOSE. My milk was White before WHOLE.
DNF because of the SW corner. Mr G gave me ATC for "All Things Considered" home and I never recovered.
HBD Owen however you don't celebrate it.
Hand up for not getting the theme at all. Duh! But, I suppose I would have put those clues in all caps - would make the theme easier to figure out, but not make the puzzle any easier. Yeah, and Pip clue and entry is a bit of a goof, but what the hey. It was fun, even with a head-slap for not getting the theme.
ReplyDeleteOwen, I hope you have a good day and a good year to follow whatever the occasion. Thanks for your daily input.
ReplyDeleteHi All:
ReplyDeleteI SLID right into a DNF in the Mid-Eastcoast. Mr. Abrams, you OVERWHELM'd me today. Thanks Lem for the expo and Shaq's (An NBA CENTER) drive-time.
The (almost) solve stared in the N. center. SLID, INN, TUNA, DAB/p... Move East; SSR, LOT, and ????CENTER (knew it!) filled. Mmm: U-N; I was thinking a dog to be a friend to man... D'oh! an Ode.
Mars & others were godS too long. ORB finished the whole area. Over the the E. again,... Keeping the beat? Canning for winter(?) - doh! Wrong beet. REview was wrong. Surprisingly, no other WOs to REPORT.
Funny - I saw the clue-as-theme early into this hour+ RIDE through the grid. And yes, I did notice Knight had 2 PIPs.
Fav: J'OREL xing THE JOKER - nerd heaven. Runner up 16a's c/a. I had A-ROSS and got to C on the ABC run; LOL'd (at myself).
Honorable mention: 27d - BOOK. EVOKES a joke:
The Commander-in-Chief orders a building secured.
Navy - Turns out the lights and locks the doors.
Army - Surrounds the building w/ fortifications, tanks, and mortars. No one in - no one out.
Marines - Masts a full assault with night-vision goggles and overlapping fields of fire.
Air Force - Takes a three-year lease with an option to buy.
HBD OKL {A,A,A,C+}. HG {A+}. CED - perfect cake for OKL.
I'm watching 10 13yros in the pool (between thunderstorms) who suck at Marco Polo. It's the "school's out!" Party... So, instead of my Friday nap, I'm on Pool PATROL.
Cheers, -T
Mark McClain thank you for stopping by; when will I get to blog one of yours again?
ReplyDeletePtolemy mode- interesting name
Lemomade- Stela and stele are both correct. Some dictionaries call stele a variant, but many others do not. In light of that, stele is often a crossword entry without the variant tag in the clue.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to discover that most dictionary editors will admit to not being absolutely positive about the correct spelling, or definition, of every word. It varies more than we think. Most simply go with the flow and don't rock the academic boat. Bottom line... If five dictionaries call something "variant", and five do not, who's right?
This is a quote from the introduction to my Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Edition dictionary... "Dictionaries are edited by fallible humans whose best intentions sometimes fall short of the mark"
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteA bit late, busy day today. I find I like these puzzles in which the theme is found in the clues, and the progressions sometimes seen therein. No real problems in the solve.
Happy Birthday Owen!
What a difference a winter makes! Last October, the Danube was so low we had to remain in Passau, Germany, an extra two days for a feeble rise to allow passage. Today, an acquaintance on a similar voyage sent photos of Passau under a few extra meters of water - apparently the Danube hasn't flooded that much in 500 years. Moist!
Shaq?
ReplyDeleteSheik!
Schick? Strangest razor commercial ever...
Shock?
Shucks!
I really wish CED would grade his links.
ReplyDeleteI threw away good time on sub-par wastagement. Four out of 5 dentists recommended eating at Shake Shack over that garbage.
C'mon, man! You've got a reputation to uphold.
Grading on this type of material is in the eye of the beholder. CED does so much work in digging up these links, why should he have to grade them, for pity sakes! Most of them are very funny or thought provoking. Your complaints really aren't justifiable.
ReplyDeleteYou have the option to not look. We're not in grade school. Grading adults on their work is juvenile.
CED:{C,C*,C+,B,R.}
ReplyDelete*C for cute.
I tip my HAT to CED for his efforts and only "grade" OKL 'cuz he'd ask'd for it.
ReplyDeleteRain is still falling and RIP ALI. Cheers, -T
GUR here. I forgot I had Fri half done and started Sat which is always a SLOG(which day was that entry?). HBD Owen
ReplyDeleteI gave you two C's today for chuckles
I had NABOB for NOBLE speaking of chuckles. Anon guy is actually entertaining in a Tickles sort of way. I agree about being a few peas short of a casserole except I'd just as well keep the damn peas out altogether including the abominable Tampa Chinese food. Oh for the days of Boston Chinese lobster sauce laced with MSG which only OCEANS of beer could assuage.
Oops. That should have been Rickles.
Delete