Joe E. Ross's signature phrase as Gunther Toody from Car 54 Where Are You? serves as prolog for Jeff's wonderful Wednesday puzzle where he has six entries that start with OO, four across and two down. Jeff's amazing incorporation of six of them at a Wednesday level further impresses this humble blogger.
Jeff Wex has also requested "that this puzzle, based on its theme, should be dedicated to Lemonade's wife, Oo". I am happy to do so!!
Husker Gary here, gladly summarizing a puzzle with a lot of OOMPH!
Theme Entries
17. Butterfingers' comment : OOPSY DAISY - A variant of Upsy Daisy that is said when a child stumbles or is being lifted. Or before and after this...
23. Comet-filled region of space : OORT CLOUD - Far out, man!
48. Chinese beverage literally meaning "black dragon" : OOLONG TEA - After withering, rolling, shaping and firing
54. Plays it like Cary Grant : OOZES CHARM - Of Zoltan Karpathy, Professor Higgins proclaimed, "OOZING charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor"
11. Wonka worker : OOMPA LOOMPA - Don't they seem to be a little creepy?
23. Expressions of delight : OOHS AND AAHS - C'mon, you know you say it!
Across
1. Fast-arriving letter : E-MAIL - After face-to-face, my preferred method of communicating
6. Leaping parasite : FLEA
10. Verne protagonist : FOGG - Nemo in the sub, FOGG in the balloon
14. "It Happened One Night" director : CAPRA - I could watch it again today!
15. Equestrian strap : REIN
16. Collected knowledge : LORE
19. See 22-Down : AMIN and 22. With 19-Across, Oscar-winning Forest Whitaker role : IDI - A completely despicable man
21. "Win one for the __": Reagan : GIPPER
27. Have more birthdays : AGE - The only thing worse than AGING is not AGING
28. Circuit components : DIODES
30. "Ah, Wilderness!" playwright : O'NEILL - Notice the top-billed actor in this Broadway cast
32. Needed Advil, say : ACHED
33. Investor's concern : LOSS
34. Little bit : IOTA
37. Interfere (with) : MESS
38. Soda purchases : COKES
39. 1980s surgeon general : KOOP - Apropos on an OO day!
40. Education orgs. : PTA'S
41. Take ten : REST
42. "Philadelphia" director Jonathan : DEMME - Stereotypical director activity where DEMME is setting up a shot for Philadelphia
43. "Whatever your heart desires!" : NAME IT
45. "Always," in a military slogan : SEMPER
46. Imogene's comedy partner : SID
50. Saws : ADAGES
52. Juillet's season : ETE
53. Brunch, e.g. : MEAL - As long as there's bacon...
61. Pearl Harbor site : OAHU
62. Headed for overtime : TIED - Talk about your overtimes!
64. Staff mem. : ASST
65. Bit of river turbulence : EDDY
66. The Washington Monument's 897 : STEPS - Climbing these is no longer permitted but the record is 6.7 minutes set in 2007
Down
1. Green start? : ECO
2. Red Guard leader : MAO
3. Waze or Uber : APP
4. Agcy. with collectors : IRS
5. Like a parfait : LAYERED - Poirot often uses the word "Parfait" (Perfect) on the eponymous British TV Series when his "little grey cells" have made a discovery
6. Old Belgian currency : FRANC
7. Tourist gift on 61-Across : LEI
8. Stuttgart cubes : EIS
9. "Care to take a stab at the answer?" : ANY GUESS - Can you guess the 6-letter word (not 5-letter as posted earlier) that connects these four pix? (*Answer below by grid)
10. Kerfuffle : FLAP
12. "Peer Gynt Suite" composer : GRIEG
13. Bromance or romcom : GENRE
18. Fiji has three : DOTS - Or tittles
24. Ukrainian port : ODESSA
25. Regards with anticipation : LOOKS TO
26. Starting point : ONSET
28. Soggy : DAMP
29. "O.G. Original Gangster" rapper : ICE-T - First hip-hop album with the warning you see
31. "... just as I am" : LIKE ME
33. Trompe __ : L'OEIL - French for Trick the eye. I love these chalk drawings that do just that
35. Weighty volume : TOME
36. Mimic : APER
38. Chimney cleaner's target : CREOSOTE
42. Becomes aware of : DETECTS
44. "The Simpsons" beer server : MOE
45. PD ranks : SGTS - It was interesting to see SGT Joe Friday pre and post Miranda Rights
46. Polynesian nation : SAMOA
47. Planning session fodder : IDEAS
49. Hard up : NEEDY
51. Excess : GLUT
55. Suffix with fact : OID - Here's one from the King Of FACTOIDS!
56. Zoo opening in London? : ZED
57. What a red "H" often indicates : HOT
58. Bunyan tool : AXE
59. __ Van Winkle : RIP
60. Mic wielders : MCS
A scout troop's short a child, Krushchev due at Idewild, LA Crossword comments where are you?
*CHANGE
THE GRID
42 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks Jeff and Gary!
Swell theme!
No problems!
What is in lower right picture? (I guessed change anyway.)
Cheers!
Change is a 6 letter word, not 5.
Error! CHANGE is 6 letters, you said 5! (Like fermat', it was my guess, too, but I still kept DETECTing.) Hope it gets corrected before anyone else reads this!
Misty (from yesterday) I looked up that article on brain games, the first sentence was "If you’re intent on keeping dementia at bay, new research suggests you’ll need more than crossword puzzles..." The particular game used in the study was from Posit Science. But later the article says "For companies marketing computer-based brain-training programs, now a multimillion industry, claims of such generalized cognitive benefits have generated criticism and controversy."
Morning, all!
Fun puzzle today. Impressive that the constructor was able to think of so many phrases beginning with OO!
Really wanted TAKE ME instead of LIKE ME. Other than that, smooooth sailing!
Hello Puzzlers -
WBS. Exactly.
For some reason, I never seem to be on the same wavelength as JW, and always struggle with his CWs. No different today: took me 29 minutes! But I did manage to get 'er done. And have to say it is a terrific CW, too. Thanx, JW!! Terrific write-up, too, HG, thanx!!
Kupier Belt or OORT CLOUD --
Keeping them straight would do me proud!
The Belt's on the plane
Where the planets range,
The Cloud is a globe, around all like a shroud!
Which relates more to a hip-hop song,
Is it ICE T, or is it OOLONG?
The GENRE of rap
Is mainly Black,
And the TEA is blacker, so EIS is wrong!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
Nice evening for sleeping last night. Down to 57 degrees in Elk County, PA. Heavy fog again this morning.
Got up worked the puzzle. Cruciverb was active today.
Started real easy in the NW corner, but that changed quickly. Bounced around and got it done with perps and wags.
Not sure who FOGG is.
I am guessing the OORT CLOUD is named after a guy named OORT. Maybe Dutch?
Interesting fact about OOLONG TEA. Black Dragon. I have had it. It is OK. Not as good as Earl Grey IMHO.
Not sure who OOMPA LOOMPA is. Does he play the tuba?
ADAGES had me fooled for a while. Then I saw the light. Good clue/word.
DEMME was unknown. Five perps and it was mine.
Isn't ICE T the guy on NCIS LA? Plays a good part.
Good theme. Good puzzle. Good start of the day.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Another fun puzzle from JW - I thought there might be 7 theme answers - but hard to fit on a weekday - then it would have been OO7!
@abejo - Phileas Fogg was the main character in "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne - I started out with NEMO and switched with perps.
Also ICE T - is one of the actors on "Law and Order SVU" , the actor in NCIS LA is LL Cool J - I used to get them confused too since they are both rappers as well as actors.
Thanks HG!
Thanks, Jeff, for the fun today. I wanted a tagline for Butterfingers instead of OOPSY DAISY. Ah ha--a V-8 moments. Caught the theme at OOLONG TEA. After that, a lovely breeze.
Thanks, Gary, for another fine tour with very interesting links. Watching the model walk the runway was painful. Watching more than once is the definition of shadenfreude!
Have a sunny day. Stay cool.
Good morning all. Thank you Jeffrey and Husker Gary.
Kept having a background thought that the puzzle was difficult because of some of the vague cluing, and was surprised when I looked at the clock when the TADA came. Very fast.
Fermat Prime, looks like railroad switching tracks to me.
Good Morning:
It's always a treat to see JW's byline as it means a fun, clever puzzle with a few shenanigans thrown in for good measure, depending on the difficulty level, of course. Today's was a "parfait" Wednesday. Only w/o was Nemo before Fogg. The cherry on the top of the parfait, for me, was seeing my ooh so handsome and suave Cary Grant. [sigh]
Thanks, Jeffrey, for never disappointing this solver and thanks, HG, for being such a humorous and dedicated explainer!
Misty, to expand on Owen's post, go to BrainHQ.com and you'll see all of the different exercise options. The one I saw on NBC Nightly News may be the one you read about; it's Double Decision Exercise. Good luck.
Have a great day.
Just yesterday we had "Tuba sound"
Thought the lyric was "Krushchev's STILL at Idlewild" but may have been a poor sound track, or a word change after the first season.
Jeff and HG did remarkable jobs today. Jeff's puzzle was unique and HG's write-up and inserts were very entertaining.
In addition to the leading OOs I liked the extra OOs buried in some of the clues.
I didn't know CAPRA and ONEILL at first, but perps made them evident.
On my senior high school trip to DC, a group of us had to race up the Washington Monument's 897 steps. I wasn't first, but I wasn't last either. One classmate made it to the top and promptly passed out. We thought he died. Just overexertion. A Park Service Ranger revived him with smelling salts. Our teachers were on our case for the rest of the trip trying to keep us REINed in. Two flights of stairs is about all I can handle these days.
Have a great day everyone.
Good morning, a little late!
Today was Phisohex shampoo day for the pooch, so I'm a little late to the party. I liked your puzzle, JW. My first thought for 9d was ANY TAKERS...and then I ran out of room. My first thought for the them was Arnold Horshack (:05).
Hand up for NEMO.
I thought Cary Grant was an OOzer of swayve and de-bone-air rather than CHARM.
Inanehiker, yesterday's Bruce Haight puzzle at that other place had 10 theme answers -- 6 across and 4
down. I was impressed! 15X15, and on a Tuesday!
TTP, I agree, looks like a rail switching yard.
I always get a strange feeling when I think about Oompa-Loompas. It was written in 1964, in the short window of British post-colonial, but pre-PC, world.
“In the first published version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factor , the Oompa-Loompas were a tribe of "amiable black pygmies imported by Mr. Willy Wonka from ‘the very deepest and darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before. Mr. Wonka kept them in the factory, where they replaced the sacked white workers. Wonka’s little slaves are delighted with their new circumstances, and particularly with their diet of chocolate. Before they lived on green caterpillars, beetles, eucalyptus leaves, and the bark of the bong-bong tree.”
While it might be tempting to draw modern parallels here, that would be political and so verboten on this blog. So I won't.
By 1972, Dahl’s publishers decided that “to those growing up in a racially mixed society, the Oompa-Loompas were no longer acceptable as originally written." A revised edition appeared, in which the Oompa-Loompas had become dwarfish hippies with long ‘golden-brown hair’ and ‘rosy-white’ skin.” [from Jeremy Treglown’s Roald Dahl: A Biography].
Still creepy.
The only venue for OOPSY-DAISY as a variant of UPSY-DAISY is in a crossword puzzle with an OO OO OO OO OO OO theme.
A "mimic" is an APE (APER converts a noun to a verb and then back to a noun).
After the first two 'OO' fills it was obvious that there would be OOdles of Os to be filled. I can't say I ever heard anybody say OOPSY DAISY but the perps were solid and really didn't take ANY GUESSing. I only know OOMPA LOOMPA because my son was telling me about a con artist he arrested that looked like OOMA LOOMPA and I told him I had no idea what he was talking about.
The rest of the puzzle was a speed run, with DEMME as the unknown and ICE-T (and all rappers) being filled by perps.
My regular golf partner called Sunday and said he couldn't play Monday because the telephone/power pole that was in his back yard broke in half and the electric company had to come and replace it. I asked if it was one of the newer ones that didn't contain CREOSOTE and he said he didn't know. Termites probably ate through it.
This was oodles of fun, thank you, Jeff Wex! Unlike JW's weekend puzzles this one was a delightful romp. Hand up for starting with NEMO but prior to that I confused my Norwegians and had IBSEN though I know full well GRIEG composed Peer Gynt which I love. After erasing all that the FOGG lifted and the eastern coast filled like a flood. OOMPALOOMPA is just fun to say!
Working my way downward then upward OORT perped its way in and I learned that Waze or Uber are not cabs but APPs.
This is a well LAYERED puzzle which merits OOHSANDAAHS! That and Gary's detailed analysis was icing on the cake.
Have a fabulous day, everyone!
Husker: Outstanding write-up!
Jeffrey: Thank You for a FUN Wednesday puzzle (that I solved in "Friday-Time").
EIS & ICE-T both in my grid ... but my Scotch is still NEAT!
Needed ESP to get GRIEG and DEMME ... thanks perps!
Well "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere" ...
Cheers!
Unfortunate OO! pics:
"OO"
O_o
Whoo?
Fortunate OO!pic:
OO Yeah!
+side:you can see your feet...
-side:you can't pee in the water...
I only ever knew it as OOPSY or OOPSIE. Upsy is new to me.
Thanks, JW, for a fun Wednesday outing. Lots of perp help and some WAGS helped get it done!
HG, again, a great write-up with lots of pics. Thank you!
Sooper dooper puzzle today. I loved seeing CREOSOTE; cool word. I have enjoyed oolong tea many times; some of the greatest masters at preparing it are in Taiwan. I do prefer "flower tea" though; it is a kind of Jasmine tea that actually has tiny flower blossoms in it. Delicious. I am lucky to have had that experience, and many others, when I was there way back in the early 60's when Taipei was still small enough to walk from one end of it to the other along the Dan Shui river in less than a day.
OO - that was fun. DO - yep, I was thinking Horshack too.
Thanks Jeff Wex for a Wed puzzle I could (almost) do. Today the NE was the bugger but I nailed it. But (there's always a big butt), I finally had to lookup Imogene on wiki; as soon as I saw her face, I knew Show of Shows. (12min or so)
HG - always a fun expo. C.C. picked the cream-of-the-Corner for our daily expos. Thanks. Got 'Change' from the pennies and track interchange. Cute.
WO: Colas b/f COKEs and I spelled C.E. KOOP as cOOP. Anyone else do LIKE ME?
ESPs: How many proper names & places do I need to know?!? [SID finally gave me SAMOA]
Near Fav: SEMPER. OO-Rah!
Fav: I gots to go w/ having Imogene Cola w/ Cokes. I don't know why; it just tickles me.
{B+, A}
@9:47a - I only heard OOPSY-DAISY when I klutz'd growing up in the Midwest.
Nice Cuppa - I did not know that re: the OOMPA LOOMPAs. I saw the movie with Gene Wilder and never wanted to spoil, er MESS with, it by reading the original (the Depp version almost did but the kids loved it). Post war, it all kinda makes sense.
Talk about a malapropism: I read 12d as as Peter Gunn (Blues Brothers' band performing). How I got GREIG out of that is ANY one's GUESS.*
Cheers, -T
*Try perps ;-)
Brilliant Wednesday puzzle, Jeffrey--not just for all those OOs, but also for all the references to movies and theater and television! That may be why I just sailed through this puzzle--Yay! And fun expo, Husker Gary.
Owen K and Irish Miss thanks for the follow up on my question yesterday. I hardly have time to do more puzzles in my day, but will check some of these games out when I have a chance. I just want to see how they work.
Have a great day, everybody!
Dern - I forgot the CSO to C. MOE! (@44d)
Jayce - In Maadi, we had Hibiscus tea over ICE everyday after lunch. Mom had something at her shop that I'm not sure of - it was a dried flower-crown (looked like a burr) that "grew" in hot water. Eldest loved watching and the flavor of it. Is that the same as Jasmine TEA? C, -T
A bit of crunch today which is fine for Wednesday. Nicely done.
OOPSY DAiISY for me today. Plenty of ink blots before I finished. But I appreciated the brilliant work Jeffrey and the explanations HuskerG.
Hand up for wanting Any Takers before ANY GUESS, Ibsen before GREIGl, and Take me before LIKE ME.
Never heard of OORT CLOUD. Learning moment.
We have ZEDS in Canada just like in London.
Enjoy the day.
Good afternoon everyone.
WEES. The OO gimmick helped drag OOLONG TEA out of my brain. No solving OOPSes.
Rip van Winkle - translates to Rip of the store.
EDDY - The Niagara River has large upstream eddies near its mouth at Niagara-on-the-Lake, which are more noticeable if ice floes are present.
Thanks, Jeffrey for a fun, doable Wednesday puzzle and Husker Gary for the write up and moving pictures.
OwenKL, thanks for helping me keep my Kuiper Belt and OORT CLOUD separate. And HG for the illustrative short film. What is Sedna in the furthest orbit?
Nice Cuppa, yes Dahl's books have a dark side to their humor. I recall my boys read them all avidly in 6th grade when they were "sophisticated" and not babies any more.
Here is the old trailer with the theme song and opening credits:
CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU?
Inanehiker @7:51, I also had NEMO until perps showed it to be FOGG.
This movie was a real extravaganza. Produced by Mike Todd and starring David Niven and many celebrities of the day. I especially like the appearance of the Mexican comedian CANTINFLAS as the man servant to FOGG. When I am bored on Saturday nights I watch one of his comedies on UNIMAS with the CC on and try to follow the Spanish. It often is impossible since his word play is like Groucho Marx and flows way too fast to get.
Here is the original trailer:
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
Live Well and Prosper,
VS
Anonymous Tony, I suspect that tea you're talking about was something like this.
Lucina "... I confused my Norwegians..." Don't worry about that. We've been confused for a very long time.
Interesting that we have ONEILL in the puzzle. His daughter could have been a themer. Oona O'neill.
Totally uninteresting-
"If you think you can name the unnamed person in OOHS AND AAHS, NAME IT"
"SO AND SO. HA! HA!"
Fun puzzle. I enjoyed the theme.
OOPSY DAISY
A popular brand of children's wall art and deco. Sold at Target Stores and online at Amazon and Oopsy Daisy websites.
Anon @ 9:47
APER: Noun
One who apes, a mimic. From Collins English Dictionary. No problem.
Ooooh!
So yooooouser friendly!!
Jeopardy alert!
I've mentioned a few times that there are words, phrases and names that cannot be spoken in a normal tone of voice due to their iconic status gained from popular culture. "Nevertheless" is one such word. You can't say it without sounding like Kate Hepburn. You just can't. "I could'a been a contender." is another.
Today on Jeopardy, one question pertained to "Streetcar.." The answer is hardly difficult, but the delivery alone is worth the price of admission. I cheered! Right out loud!
AvgJoe, I saw that Jeopardy and got a good laugh at the "Streetcar" answer. This was a good Jeopardy-watching day for me. I knew three of the answers that the contestants didn't, including Final Jeopardy. "I could'a been a contender." LOL. Of course, there were some answers they got that I couldn't. Forget 'em.
I enjoyed the puzzle today, Jeff! Good expo, Gary, as always!
Speaking of dementia as someone did, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" falls in that category. My grandsons were in that play at their school several years ago. Insane! But fun.
Phileas FOGG is quite an adventurer.
The puzzle is awesome and thank you JW for paying tribute to my wife. The fact the theme did not occur to me is a little sad...
Jan OORT is likely the most important astronomer of our time.
Thanks HG and Jeffrey
By the way th a name Oo is pronounced with the long O.
I wonder if the recent Pixar clue/answer which had NEMO was in our collective minds, add me to the list
Do folks remember where the Car 54 cops came from? ie. Their previous sitcom?
Of course, we just called them shows back then.
Both Toody and Muldoon appeared on Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko show, though only Toody was a regular.
Lemony, I think Muldoon was corporal Henshaw. And of course, the inimitable Doberman.
For all his popularity, I don't think Silvers ever had any success outside of Bilko. That was a great show, though
Of course, we had something similar in Nam. For a deal, or favor, we'd say "Cut me a huss". I've, got a cute "huss" story if you want to hear it post back
I'll check, later
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