Theme: All Ears - EAR is in the exact middle of each odd-lettered theme entry.
17. *"The San Francisco Treat" : RICE-A-RONI
38. *Decor for part of a floor : AREA RUG
11. *Question to a stranded driver : WHERE ARE YOU
26. *Confinement that might involve an ankle monitor : HOUSE ARREST
58. Site of the hammer, anvil and stirrup ... and a hint to the hidden word in the answers to starred clues : MIDDLE EAR
Melissa here. I found this a Tuesday-plus, or Wednesday level. Did not get the theme until it was over - was looking for something to connect the last words instead of the hidden word gimmick. Very clever MIDDLE EAR reveal.
Across
1. Accessory for Batman or Robin : CAPE
. Got off on the wrong foot right away by plugging in MASK here.
5. Bleating babies : KIDS
9. Nasty marketing campaign : AD WAR. Needed perps for this one - all I could think of was SMEAR.
14. "Jeopardy!" first name : ALEX
. What is a gimme?
15. Run __: go haywire : AMOK
16. Kind of jacket named for a Hindu leader : NEHRU
. The jacket takes its name from India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. A profile of the Nehru jacket.
19. Ordered pizza, say : ATE IN
20. Covert fed. group : CIA
. Tried FBI first.
21. Current "American Dad!" network : TBS
. Had to guess.
23. Slices of history : ERAS
24. "Ouch!" : IT HURTS
28. Makes up (for) : ATONES
30. Life-of-the-party types : RIOTS
. Needed perps here, too.
31. Color in four-color printing : MAGENTA
33. Fever and chills : AGUE
34. Spider trap : WEB
35. Jury makeup : PEERS
37. Super __: game console : NES
. Nintendo Entertainment Center.
40. Moose kin : ELK
42. Actress Witherspoon : REESE
44. Half-pint : CUP. Or her nickname.
45. Color in four-color printing : CYAN
46. "This bears repeating ... " : AS I SAID
48. Solitary : ALONE
49. Zagreb natives : CROATS
50. On the way : EN ROUTE
52. Sharp comment : BARB
53. Taste : SIP
55. Batteries in TV remotes : AA'S
56. Frozen pop treats : ICEES
63. Deep opera voice : BASSO
64. Ronny Howard role : OPIE
65. Category : TYPE
66. Anti-wrinkle treatment : BOTOX
67. Swerve : VEER
68. Start of an idea : SEED
Down
1. Jaguar, e.g. : CAR
. Sometimes the simplest ones are the hardest. D'oh.
2. "Rumble in the Jungle" champ : ALI. From Wikipedia: "Attendance was about 60,000. Ali won by knockout,
putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round. It has
been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century." Rumble in the Jungle in pictures.
3. Bench press target, briefly : PEC
4. Carry out, as a task : EXECUTE
5. Gold purity unit : KARAT
6. Texter's "I feel" : IMO
. In My Opinion.
7. "Please stop!" : DON'T
8. Commonly seen Colorado airport luggage : SKI BAG
9. Santa __ winds : ANA
10. Cold War thaw : DETENTE
. Definition: "The easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries."
12. Operatic solos : ARIAS. Can't wait to the movie based on this true story, trailer below.
13. Stocking woes : RUNS
18. Makes public : AIRS
22. Take on a challenge : STEP UP
24. Shah's realm, once : IRAN
25. Kellogg's Tony, e.g. : TIGER
27. Neverland pirate : SMEE
29. 10 C-notes : ONE G
. One Grand, or a thousand dollars. The word detective.
32. Ancient counters : ABACI
34. Takes forcibly (from) : WRESTS
. Not STEALS.
36. Slope : SLANT
. Not ANGLE.
38. Home to billions : ASIA
39. Short on manners : RUDE
41. Leg joint : KNEE
43. Paul Anka title meaning "That Kiss" : ESO BESO
45. Hanger hangouts : CLOSETS
47. "I, Robot" author Isaac : ASIMOV
48. Severely damaged sea : ARAL
. From Wikipedia: Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 km2 (26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects.
49. Chocolate source : CACAO
51. Consumer advocate Ralph : NADER
52. Tender lettuce : BIBB
54. Sherlock Holmes' smoke : PIPE
57. Chicago team, for short : SOX
59. Yahtzee cube : DIE
60. Hurricane center : EYE
61. Gorilla, for one : APE
62. Embarrassed : RED
44 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks, CC, Tony and mb.
No problems. Needed perps for NES and TBS.
Very fast!
Time for bed! Cheers!
A BASSO is low, for a sepulchral ARIA,
A soprano flies high, and is much airier!
Tenor and alto
Can get noisy also,
Together they're heard o'er a very wide AREA!
A love for opera may some people bug,
A musical Aladdin makes us comfy and snug.
On a flying carpet
From parapet to parapet,
Singing along on an ARIA RUG!
CAR 54, in blazes WHERE ARE YOU?
There's a felon loose who's dressed like NEHRU!
He was in HOUSE ARREST
Till the keys he did WREST,
Then he was "odor" there, like Pepe Le Pew!
BTW, desper-otto & tawnya asked about Japanese street names -- briefly, the neighborhoods are named instead of the streets.
{C+, B+, B.}
Morning, all!
No problems for me, either. Got the theme at the end, but didn't see it during the solve. I think my only hesitation was at SOX, but only because it was clued as the "wrong" city... ^_^
This CW must have been right on my wavelength, as I zoomed right through it. Perps for NES and TBS; otherwise everything went in as fast as I could write it. Faster solve time than yesterday! Thanx for the entertaining CW, T.C. and C.C.!! And thanx for the terrific write-up, M.B.!!
Thank you Tony Caruso, CC Burnikel, and Melissa Bee. Got my internet fixed yesterday. Can you 'EAR me now ?
What Fermat Prime said. Very quick. Nary a pause filling from the SW to the NE, and then the corners. Didn't see a number of clues until reading the write up.
Good morning!
Nice one, Anon-T and C.C. Thanks for the recap, Melissa -- hand up for SMEAR.
Jaguar: is it a CAr or a CAt? Only the perps know for sure.
Did you notice that EAR is in the exact center (middle) of each theme answer?
With the echoes for CYAN and MAGENTA, it would have been nice if Tony and C.C. could have worked the other two ink colors -- Black and Yellow -- into the puzzle.
Hey, I guessed right on KARAT! Maybe I can still learn something new.
Very interesting about the Japanese addresses, OKL. Glad I don't have to learn that system.
Anonymous T is certainly not anonymous any more. I love the reveal! I love the clecho 31. Color in four-color printing : MAGENTA ; 45. Color in four-color printing : CYAN
SKI BAG mean nothing to me. SMEE CACAO ASIMOV all good memories.
thanks all
Good Morning!
Thanks, C.C. and Tony for a Tuesday puzzle packed with fun clues and answers. I like the theme and the way the construction worked--especially the EAR smack dab in the middle of the puzzle. Since I seldom see the themes as I work entry by entry, reviewing it in the end provided additional entertainment for me! My favorite was half pint. I tried tot before CUP.
Thanks, Melissa for the tour and the links. I knit a slouchy hat from a pattern called Sisak--now I know the source of the name.
Have a great day everyone!
Quick run - WEES about not getting the theme until the reveal clue - Very clever!
Thanks Tony, CC and Melissa for a good way to wake up the brain today!
Good Morning:
As usual, any puzzle with CC's byline is going to have a few twists and turns and this one certainly did. The theme was a complete mystery until the reveal. I had ewes/kids and carob/cacao. Needed perps for TBS but knew NES from previous solves. Thought of Tin at Zagreb.
Thanks, Tony, CC, and MB for an entertaining challenge and recap.
Later, I'm off to the farm stand to get the first 🌽 🌽 🌽 of the season! Can't wait.
Have a great day.
Another great Sino-Italian collaboration by our own C.C. and Anon-T. JÄ«ngcÇŽi and meraviglioso!
Musings
-We considered an AREA RUG where my MIL spilt red wine on Easter
-These vehicles can cause temporary pain and damage to your inner EAR
-A very clever AD WAR (:30) commercial
-ALEX Trebek, Alec Baldwin, Smart ALECK
-Which is worse, that the CIA killed JFK or faked the Moon landing?
-Neil Diamond’s first #1 hit (2:46) that uses a fill from Tony and C.C.’s puzzle
-Using GPS parents can really tell if their kid is ENROUTE to home
-Be careful opening attachments with EXE.(cute) at the end
-Bush II won pivotal Florida by 537 votes where NADER got 97,421 votes. Some think that cost Gore the election.
-Test yesterday went well and so, FORE!
Melissa: Good Job on the write-up & links.
C.C. & Tony: Thank You for a FUN Tuesday puzzle with a nice MIDDLE EAR theme.
EXECUTE ... then later in the grid ... DIE ... mini-theme???
Cheers!
Nice and easy Tuesday for me. Thanks to all involved. Thanks also, Melissa for the map...it was all Yugoslavia when I went through that area in 1970. Zagreb was a big cosmopolitan city even then, compared with others we were in.
Thanks, Tony and C.C., for a great start to the day. I loved the theme...so clever that EAR was smack-dab in the MIDDLE. How did you do that? MB the tour was fun.
The news from Baton Rouge (and Dallas) has us all so unhappy and on edge down here it was a welcome relief to laugh at some of the clues/fill. Thanks!
Owen, I laughed also at your rhymes today. Thanks for the diversion.
Melissa- I never got the theme until I filled 58A by the downs, never having read the clue. I always try to solve the short answers first. As for the American Dad and Super ____ clues, TBS and NES were from perps, same as 'fermatprime'. The only other 'maybes' were CIA or NSA, THOU or One-G, and BARK or BARB.
CYAN & MAGENTA- my first printer was color and with the cost of color cartridges I never made that mistake again. My last three have been B&W laser printers.
CROATS- beat the USA this weekend in Davis Cup matches.
KARAT-1 part gold & 23 parts copper; 18K- 18 gold & 6 copper; etc. CARAT-200mg of diamond. CARROT- something to eat.
Don't EXECUTE me, just put me under HOUSE ARREST.
Enjoyed the puzzle, CC and Tony, and also the recap, mb. Quick and easy. I needed the reveal to look for EAR in the middle. Clever.
HG, my son and DIL and I have removed many a red wine stain from carpets using Resolve, High Traffic Area, Carpet Foam. Let it sit for a little while and wipe it with a clean white cloth. It works on upholstery and clothing, too.
Irish Miss, enjoy your corn. We have been getting Jersey corn picked in our neighboring town for three weeks now. Delish! I will buy some again today. Not so with "Jersey" tomatoes. I bought just one at our local farm at $3.99 a pound. It was so terrible I didn't finish it. It obviously was not sun ripened, even if it was shipped in from South Jersey. The less expensive supermarket tomatoes are better, but, of course, not of summer quality.
When my kids were babies I worked the 3 to 12 shift in a TV parts factory forming supports for the heaters in electron guns for color TV. I suppose this is no longer hand work.
Nice Tuesday puzzle by CC and Tony. Actually it may have been a Monday level puzzle because I was finished before going through all of the clues. MB did her usual great write-up, an A+.
For a minute or so I had CREAM before BOTOX, but SOM didn't make sense for a ball team. Also, WEES about not getting the theme until the reveal.
Going for a ride to check out the hospital for DW's upcoming operation. Even though I can see a hospital from my kitchen window we are traveling 90 miles to a larger regional medical center.
Have a good one.
12D: Jenkins must have been the inspiration for Jo Stafford's Darlene Edwards.
https://youtu.be/R_VJ6dRCoq4
Hi Y'all! Fast & fun with a touch of color. Thanks, Tony, C.C. & melissa b.!
Hand up for CAt before CAr.
Proud to get DETENTE after all these years.
Had trouble with "stocking woes" = RUNS. Haven't worn panty hose, etc. since my son's wedding in 1998. Forgot those little zippers.
Gary, glad your test went well.
Swampcat: I think we are all nervous about the horrible shootings. My BFF had a close friend who she taught in kindergarten and is now a Dallas cop. She had some anxious hours until his parents heard he was okay. He was off duty and called in after the gunman was dead.
Looking at a map: Good friends of mine financially adopted a young woman and her child after the husband/father was killed in the war in Bosnia. I think they were serbs. The stress of living in a war zone cause the woman to develop alopecia. My friends went over there twice a year and took her a much appreciated wig among other hard-to-get items. They couldn't mail her anything of value or it was stolen. They spent a bundle keeping her alive and thought every penny was worth the relationship that developed.
Thanks, C.C. and Tony for a smooth puzzle on Tuesday! Loved the Clecho MAGENTA and CYAN.
Thanks, Miss B, for a fine write-up. Loved the pics on the Aral Sea! Thank you!
Good morning everyone.
Kudos to Anon -T and C.C. on another sparkling puzzle. We'll have to see about getting you a CAPE, too.
Good intro, Melissa; agree with your difficulty rating.
First fill was EXECUTE followed by ALEX. Liked the theme which was easy to get. Clever choices, though, to display the MIDDLE EAR.
AMOK - I believe it's from the MALAY, meaning about the same thing.
Kellogg's Tony - A CSO to our co-author?
Bravo Zulu
An Icee is not a pop.
Thank you Melissa B. for the writeup! And thanks to C.C. for helping an aspiring constructor; C.C. is the real brains behind this KID. Thanks too to Rich for some of the clues - made me pause at a few c/as :-)
My brother went to the C-store this morning and got 5 Tribs so we could all do the puzzle. I won :-)
WO: (yes, I know) I put COAL in the stocking at 13d.
Inside baseball - I can't recall if it made it past C.C., but I really wanted Scooby Doo _ for 11d's clue.
{A, B, B+}
IM & YR - Pop fed us fresh Illini Super-sweet on the cob Sunday; like eating a candy-bar. TTP & Abejo - y'all should be able to find it.
Spitz - You found the Easter egg. I always get Anon as the CSO; so I gots to write my own :-)
Seareeferd: Never had a cola (aka soda-pop) frozen treat?
Cheers, -T
Always a fun day when you see friends on the crossword page.
(It's the only time I enjoy seeing friends in the newspaper...)
Are you listening to me?
Are you listening to me?
Hello?
OK, That explains it...
Fun puzzle today, beautifully executed theme. Thank you, Tony and C.C.! And Thank you Melissa for the fine expo and links. Fascinating story about Florence Foster Jenkins. Meryl Streep is one of my favorite actresses, so I will look forward to seeing the movie when it comes out.
Hand up for wanting smear before AD WAR. And I will not have a SKIBAG with me when I land in Colorado later this month, opting instead for a good pair of hiking shoes.
Enjoy the day!
Lots of fun today. Thanks AnonT, C.C. and melissa bee.
Like others, I saw the theme late but then enjoyed the clever construction.
I thought C.C. would have used a baseball clue for 13D RUNS.
NES stands for Nintendo Entertainment SYSTEM not Center.
Loved the Garfield cartoon. Thanks CED.
OwenKL, Japanese addresses sound similar to those in S. Korea. When my daughter was teaching there, she told us that she had to learn to direct a taxi to her apartment by naming the closest well-known building and then giving the turns from there.
Such a well-designed puzzle. Straightforward and clever too. I had fun doing it, albeit quickly. Hand up for SMEAR before AD WAR. I also had NSA before CIA. Melissa, good question -- "What is a gimme?" Excellent!
Best wishes to you all.
I loved this puzzle, especially after I saw all those MIDDLE EARS after getting the reveal! Many thanks, Tony and C.C.! Only one small goof-up--I put IRAQ instead of IRAN. That overturn of the Shah was so long ago, I couldn't remember the country and since I don't know game consoles, I didn't get NES. But never mind, I still loved this Tuesday speed-run.
Darling picture of OPIE, Melissa. Was that the little girl from "Little House on the Prairie?"
Fun poems, Owen.
Have a great Tuesday, everybody!
Hi everybody. I enjoyed that very much. A treat from my pal Tony. Also thanks to CC and Melissa.
I enjoyed the Garfield cartoon. Thanks CED. I can't help but notice the difference in quality of that artwork and that of Calvin and Hobbes. It was sad for me that I didn't really appreciate Calvin and Hobbes at the time. Jordan and I like reading the old strips to each other these days; that is, when I can pry him away from Minecraft on his phone.
If you like to laugh, get a Dave Barry book. A very good one I'm enjoying at the moment is "Dave Barry Talks Back." I have to pick up a couple of extra napkins at the coffee shop so I can keep wiping the tears of laughter off of my face.
Irish Miss, what was that kerfuffle you mentioned yesterday? Or alternatively, what is the address (URL) to that webpage. Thanks.
Bluehen, yesterday you mentioned how much you liked Danny Boy by Elvis. I found it on YouTube. Here it is. DANNY BOY
Thank you Tony, C.C. and Melissa B. Fun puzzle and great expo!
My only write-over was ONE k before ONE G. Math is not a strong suit for me.
Here's an article several here may enjoy:11 Words that started out as spelling mistakes
Happy Tuesday!
Pat
Ran through it with some write overs. Do you know there are 650 write over possibilities? Changed the N to a P cleverly for STEPIn and Ihad SKITAG and the B from T is artistry.
How about Car 54 for 11 down?
I liked Owen's first, best
Anonymous T, I would hope that you were the fastest to solve a puzzle that you co-created !
So I got my new FireTv Stick and connected it to the big screen. That was (sheepishly, he added, more than) a few hours ago.
Connected it to my wireless network and couldn't watch any TV shows or Movies. Not even the trailers. Kept getting a "Network Error" message. What ? Why ?
Started watching help videos and playing with all of the options. No worky.
Finally tried Music and it worked just fine.
Found an option under settings to contact Amazon support. Pretty slick. Press a button and they call you on your phone.
Turns out they are having "server problems" and are having problems delivering TV and Movie content today.
Is it Talk Like a Pirate Day ? I just want to go ARRR ! Or perhaps ARRGH like Charlie Brown...
Technology is wonderful when it works. Frustrating when it doesn't.
pje, very interesting. It is easy to see how this happens. Many words, meanings, spellings that were looked down in our youth are now becoming acceptable on their way to becoming standard. Some are standard already. This is the way English evolves. IMO it is not the cheapening or bastardization of language.
As usual, I didn't see a theme until I was completely finished. I had a few erasures today, CUB before CUP and HOOK before SMEE, that sort of thing.
I spent a lovely week once in Croatia, in central Dubrovnik, back when it was in Yugoslavia. We were in a suite in the Grand Hotel for our first couple of nights, then moved down to ground level when we decided to linger in the beautiful old town. Both the fancy rooms upstairs and the coach class cubbyhole downstairs were lovely, but downstairs we were adjacent to the beer-garden right next to the band stage. We tried to spend our evenings out, but when we were caught in our room at 9:30 on any weeknight, it was time for the band to strike up with the pop hit of the season, "Mendocino"!
That should date me.
From time to time our square dance clubs "raid" one another. We bring at least 8 dancers to attend another club's dance. There we put on a mini parade, like a mini half time show. Because we are Lakeland, we pretend we are rowing a boat and wear sailor hats as we paddle to the tune of Anchors Aweigh. Here is this past Sunday's raid.
Link Row, row, row your boat
So, YR, which one are you? I was waiting for the fish hook guy to accidentally on purpose hook one of the dancing girls' dirndls.
The fisherman, Steve, who with his wife is our raid chair, is quite a playful character. He often waves the fish close to the audience and they try to catch it. Sometimes he dangles it in a lap or face for a second and the audience eats it up. Steve has never tried to catch a girl. HA HA We have the most appreciated shtick of all the clubs, so it seems.
I am the last in the line. The leader of the line with our banner for a sail is my co-president.
Yellowrocks to all my virtual friends.
Time to get ready for tonight's dance.
Is "all right" now "alright?" Should I stop my pedantry?
All Right Now was a hit by the English rock band Free.
One of the writers of the song, as well as being the lead singer was Paul Rodgers, who went on to further fame as the lead singer and driving force behind the band Bad Company.
One of their first hits was Can't Get Enough, which could never be confused with Barry White and his Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Baby
@6:19 - I distinguish the two as in the following... Alright, so, I tonight I had a BLT w/ Pop's garden-fresh tomatoes I picked yesterday. It was more than all right.
That's probably not right but it seems to fall into my contemporaries' usage.
YR - You squares sound like fun! Your hips seem to be in good shape.
TTP - Love the music from Free. Thanks.
CED - LOL on the comics. And, re: Pop's pets, I sent you a picture of Newman the cat nuzzling Tinker the lab. See, you & Manac can get along :-)
Cheers, -T
Posting late just to say "good job" Tony and CC; enjoyed today's puzzle immensely
Good Wednesday morning, folks. Thank you Tony Caruso (Anonymous T) and C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review.
I am a day late in checking in. Did the puzzle yesterday, but had no time to report in to the Blog. So, here I am.
The easy one right off the bat was RICE A RONI. I really do not eat the stuff, but we have had it in crosswords for a long time.
Off course I spelled KARAT with a C. Only ink blot.
Two colors in the same puzzle. Great! MAGENTA and CYAN.
We have had MIDDLE EAR before with the same clues. No problem with that.
ABACI was just recently.
Anyhow, have to go out and cut the grass. Heading to PA tomorrow night.
See you on Thursday.
Abejo
( )
Usually I just do Wednesday through Sunday puzzles. But when I saw CC's name I had to check it out!
I usually search for a reveal and was impressed with the challenge to make this work. The answers had to have an odd number of letters and have EAR exactly in the middle, straddling two or more different words.
Fast and fun solve!
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