Theme: A bunch of crazies - Five mad synonyms begin each theme entry:
20A. Toon with the catchphrase "You're despicable!" : DAFFY DUCK. He's evolved a little since 1937:
27A. With "The," Julius Kelp, in a 1963 movie : NUTTY PROFESSOR. Written by, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. I'm guessing there wasn't a lot of argument on the set.
34A. Alfred E. Neuman trademark : SILLY GRIN. Mad Magazine gap-toothed "cover boy".
46A. Dr. Seuss book about an odd time of the week : WACKY WEDNESDAY
56A. Riding crop relative : BUGGY WHIP. Or what you get when you take dessert cream in a can on a picnic?
Morning! A quintet of themers - all adjectives, all five letters and all synonyms. The final BUGGY was new to me, I'd never heard the term used in that context. I'm more familiar with the creaky computer code meaning.
It did cross my mind that a CRAZY entry might be a little more mainstream, but I'm guessing BUGGY must be more in-the-language than I thought.
The NE corner had me stumped for the longest time. I eventually stared it down, but it took way longer than is normal for me; it's always nice to be challenged. Tricky cluing for TEAM USA, APRICOT and SETTERS; indecision between CREEDS and CREDOS and not seeing any of the cross entries had me sweating.
Let's see what else we've got today:
Across:
1. They don't last long : FADS
5. Little biter : GNAT
9. Take the role of : ACT AS. With ACH already in place, I started with ADOPT, which contributed to my NE corner travails.
14. Introductory French infinitive : ÊTRE. To Be. Hamlet's favorite French verb.
15. Girl in a Manilow song with "a dress cut down to there" : LOLA. From the Copacabana Club in New York City, named for the beach in Rio.
16. Left Bank lunch choice : CRÊPE. More uncertainty here. I was ruminating whether another city had a Left Bank (I'm more familiar with the Parisian "Rive Gauche") and if we were in France why neither "soupe" nor "salade" worked with my "ACH". A geographical oddity, the Left Bank is actually on the south side of the river in central Paris.
17. Gas, for one: Abbr. : UTIL
18. Fossey subjects : APES
19. Crux : HEART.
22. Send out : EMIT.
23. Trainer's command : SIT
24. Wing, perhaps : ELL
25. Offer as proof : ADDUCE. I don't think I knew this. The word looks familiar now I see it, but it was my final fill.
31. Restful place : SPA
32. Struggling sea : ARAL. Struggling in the sense that it's disappearing. The same is happening with a number of lakes here in California. Just yesterday, the British "Guardian" newspaper carried this story about Eagle Lake.
33. Cadillac model : ATS. Not STS then.
39. "Shameless" network, in TV listings : SHO. Showtime. I don't think about this any more, it just goes straight in.
42. Old Venetian judge : DOGE. He had a nice, modest abode, the old judge. No over-indulgence here. Two beds, 1 1/2 baths.
43. Special __ : OPS
51. Is of use to : AVAILS
52. Source of confidence : EGO
53. Copyright data: Abbr. : YRS. As in © 2015, 2016
55. Shore bird : TERN. Oh, so not TEAL.
59. "Granted" : SO I DO. "So you think I blog every Thursday? Granted, but I might need a stand-in every now and again".
61. Algerian coastal city : ORAN. Nice looking place. Second largest city after the capital Algiers.
62. __-Tahoe Airport : RENO. I got delayed here on the way back from a meeting in Reno with the manufacturers of most of the video gaming machines you find in Reno, Las Vegas and other gambling resorts. To kill some time I played a few hands of video poker on one of their machines, and before I knew what was happening I'd lost $100. I didn't get the business either, just to add insult to injury.
63. Wing, perhaps : ANNEX
64. Gp. joined by Croatia in 2009 : N.A.T.O.
65. 2012 Best Picture : ARGO
66. Welling up : TEARY
67. Cassini of fashion : OLEG. He created the "Jackie Look" for the First Lady.
68. Glimpse : PEEK
Down:
1. Extended conflicts : FEUDS
2. Gets : ATTAINS
3. Rise slowly, as smoke : DRIFT UP
4. Lifestyle magazine : SELF. I'd never heard of this publication, but then I don't think I'm exactly the target demographic.
5. "With pleasure!" : GLADLY
6. Tropicana option : NO PULP. I like the pulpy grapefruit juice personally.
7. Guinness on screen : ALEC
8. Job : TASK
9. "__ du lieber!" : ACH. My only entry in the NE for some considerable time.
10. Doctrines : CREEDS
11. Stars and Stripes squad : TEAM USA. Tricky.
12. Nectar source : APRICOT. Tricky.
13. British cruciverbalists : SETTERS. Tricky! Usually called "constructors" here in the US. The marquee London Times cryptic puzzle appears anonymously, others newspapers use pseudonyms for the setters.
21. "__ Brutus says he was ambitious": Antony : YET
25. Way off : AFAR
26. Section with a slicer : DELI. I was thinking along the lines of a kitchen tool before the penny dropped.
28. Positions for Ph.D. students : T.A.S
29. Like daisies : RAYED. Crosses filled this in for me. Here's a bee visiting:
30. Cousin of edu : ORG. URL suffix.
35. Pastoral poem : IDYL
36. Some temperature extremes : LOWS
37. Soft drink ord. : LGE.
38. Subtle assent : NOD
39. Goes after, as a fly : SWATS AT
40. Hors d'oeuvres server's suggestion : HAVE ONE! I put in HAVE TWO! initially, I guess a reflection of what I'd like to hear!
41. Ancient instrument with finger holes : OCARINA. I had no idea that this was a thing:
44. Sign at the register : PAY HERE
45. Shot source : SYRINGE
47. More comforting : KINDER. I can't stop seeing the German "child" with this word. It's like the candelabra/kissing picture - once you see one, it's hard to see the other.
48. Void : NEGATE
49. Seasonal quaff : EGG NOG
50. Vegan staple : SOY
54. Frighten, as a horse : SPOOK
56. U2 frontman : BONO. A little late for a musical link, but here's one of my favorite ballads from "The Joshua Tree" album.
57. Russia's __ Mountains : URAL
58. Food truck offering : WRAP
60. Oil giant, on the NYSE : OXY. Occidental Petroleum Corp.
I think that should do it for me today. It's a 56D.
Steve
Oh - and heeeeeere's the grid!
20A. Toon with the catchphrase "You're despicable!" : DAFFY DUCK. He's evolved a little since 1937:
34A. Alfred E. Neuman trademark : SILLY GRIN. Mad Magazine gap-toothed "cover boy".
46A. Dr. Seuss book about an odd time of the week : WACKY WEDNESDAY
56A. Riding crop relative : BUGGY WHIP. Or what you get when you take dessert cream in a can on a picnic?
Morning! A quintet of themers - all adjectives, all five letters and all synonyms. The final BUGGY was new to me, I'd never heard the term used in that context. I'm more familiar with the creaky computer code meaning.
It did cross my mind that a CRAZY entry might be a little more mainstream, but I'm guessing BUGGY must be more in-the-language than I thought.
The NE corner had me stumped for the longest time. I eventually stared it down, but it took way longer than is normal for me; it's always nice to be challenged. Tricky cluing for TEAM USA, APRICOT and SETTERS; indecision between CREEDS and CREDOS and not seeing any of the cross entries had me sweating.
Let's see what else we've got today:
Across:
1. They don't last long : FADS
5. Little biter : GNAT
9. Take the role of : ACT AS. With ACH already in place, I started with ADOPT, which contributed to my NE corner travails.
14. Introductory French infinitive : ÊTRE. To Be. Hamlet's favorite French verb.
15. Girl in a Manilow song with "a dress cut down to there" : LOLA. From the Copacabana Club in New York City, named for the beach in Rio.
16. Left Bank lunch choice : CRÊPE. More uncertainty here. I was ruminating whether another city had a Left Bank (I'm more familiar with the Parisian "Rive Gauche") and if we were in France why neither "soupe" nor "salade" worked with my "ACH". A geographical oddity, the Left Bank is actually on the south side of the river in central Paris.
17. Gas, for one: Abbr. : UTIL
18. Fossey subjects : APES
19. Crux : HEART.
22. Send out : EMIT.
23. Trainer's command : SIT
24. Wing, perhaps : ELL
25. Offer as proof : ADDUCE. I don't think I knew this. The word looks familiar now I see it, but it was my final fill.
31. Restful place : SPA
32. Struggling sea : ARAL. Struggling in the sense that it's disappearing. The same is happening with a number of lakes here in California. Just yesterday, the British "Guardian" newspaper carried this story about Eagle Lake.
33. Cadillac model : ATS. Not STS then.
39. "Shameless" network, in TV listings : SHO. Showtime. I don't think about this any more, it just goes straight in.
42. Old Venetian judge : DOGE. He had a nice, modest abode, the old judge. No over-indulgence here. Two beds, 1 1/2 baths.
51. Is of use to : AVAILS
52. Source of confidence : EGO
53. Copyright data: Abbr. : YRS. As in © 2015, 2016
55. Shore bird : TERN. Oh, so not TEAL.
59. "Granted" : SO I DO. "So you think I blog every Thursday? Granted, but I might need a stand-in every now and again".
61. Algerian coastal city : ORAN. Nice looking place. Second largest city after the capital Algiers.
62. __-Tahoe Airport : RENO. I got delayed here on the way back from a meeting in Reno with the manufacturers of most of the video gaming machines you find in Reno, Las Vegas and other gambling resorts. To kill some time I played a few hands of video poker on one of their machines, and before I knew what was happening I'd lost $100. I didn't get the business either, just to add insult to injury.
63. Wing, perhaps : ANNEX
64. Gp. joined by Croatia in 2009 : N.A.T.O.
65. 2012 Best Picture : ARGO
66. Welling up : TEARY
67. Cassini of fashion : OLEG. He created the "Jackie Look" for the First Lady.
68. Glimpse : PEEK
Down:
1. Extended conflicts : FEUDS
2. Gets : ATTAINS
3. Rise slowly, as smoke : DRIFT UP
4. Lifestyle magazine : SELF. I'd never heard of this publication, but then I don't think I'm exactly the target demographic.
5. "With pleasure!" : GLADLY
6. Tropicana option : NO PULP. I like the pulpy grapefruit juice personally.
7. Guinness on screen : ALEC
8. Job : TASK
9. "__ du lieber!" : ACH. My only entry in the NE for some considerable time.
10. Doctrines : CREEDS
11. Stars and Stripes squad : TEAM USA. Tricky.
12. Nectar source : APRICOT. Tricky.
13. British cruciverbalists : SETTERS. Tricky! Usually called "constructors" here in the US. The marquee London Times cryptic puzzle appears anonymously, others newspapers use pseudonyms for the setters.
21. "__ Brutus says he was ambitious": Antony : YET
25. Way off : AFAR
26. Section with a slicer : DELI. I was thinking along the lines of a kitchen tool before the penny dropped.
28. Positions for Ph.D. students : T.A.S
29. Like daisies : RAYED. Crosses filled this in for me. Here's a bee visiting:
30. Cousin of edu : ORG. URL suffix.
35. Pastoral poem : IDYL
But when that moan had past for evermore,
The stillness of the dead world's winter dawn
Amazed him, and he groan'd, "The King is gone.''
And therewithal came on him the weird rhyme,
"From the great deep to the great deep he goes."
From "Idyls of the King: The Passing of Arthur" - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
36. Some temperature extremes : LOWS
37. Soft drink ord. : LGE.
38. Subtle assent : NOD
39. Goes after, as a fly : SWATS AT
40. Hors d'oeuvres server's suggestion : HAVE ONE! I put in HAVE TWO! initially, I guess a reflection of what I'd like to hear!
41. Ancient instrument with finger holes : OCARINA. I had no idea that this was a thing:
44. Sign at the register : PAY HERE
45. Shot source : SYRINGE
47. More comforting : KINDER. I can't stop seeing the German "child" with this word. It's like the candelabra/kissing picture - once you see one, it's hard to see the other.
48. Void : NEGATE
49. Seasonal quaff : EGG NOG
50. Vegan staple : SOY
54. Frighten, as a horse : SPOOK
56. U2 frontman : BONO. A little late for a musical link, but here's one of my favorite ballads from "The Joshua Tree" album.
57. Russia's __ Mountains : URAL
58. Food truck offering : WRAP
60. Oil giant, on the NYSE : OXY. Occidental Petroleum Corp.
I think that should do it for me today. It's a 56D.
Steve
Oh - and heeeeeere's the grid!
57 comments:
Morning, all!
Well, I managed to get through this one unassisted, but there were definitely some WTF? moments along the way. The last square to get filled was the crossing of SOIDO and OXY. The latter was unknown to me and the former was... WTF?
SETTERS was another complete unknown that required all the perps to accept as a real thing, and even then I was afraid I had a mistake somewhere, and RAYED isn't exactly the first thing that pops into my mind when I think of daisies.
Got off to a bad start when I went with GLAD TO and YON instead of GLADLY and YET, which had me scratching my head at OTL at 24A. Fortunately, the NUTTY PROFESSOR set me straight.
Ah well, all's well that ends well...
Yikes! Got it, but SOIDO was a wag.
Yep, SOIDO and OXY were last for me, too...
Good morning!
OBTAINS crossing FUEL definitely slowed things down up top this morning. Wite-Out to the rescue. Steve had problems in the NE; mine were in the SW. I had already filled all the other theme answers, so I was sure the Seuss title needed a double-letter in the first word. Finally came here expecting to find that my WACKY should'a been WAKKY. Phew! All's well. Thanks, JW and Steve.
SETTERS actually sounded right to me, because Steve has mentioned "setting" a crossword puzzle. Steve, I think you meant 58d in your closing.
Hi Y'all! This puzzle gave us a PEEK at Jeffrey's sense of humor. Should have had it yesterday for WACKY WEDNESDAY. Fun, but a few places drove me BUGGY until I WHIPped them. Thanks, Jeffrey. Always enjoy your expos, Steve!
Learning moments: ADDUCE & SETTERS.
FADS not ices don't last. ATTAINS not Aquires.
APRICOT nectar was a gimmee. Love the stuff. Used to make gallons of it with 13 APRICOT trees in my yard. Alas the store where I used to buy it here in the city no longer have it. They have two aisles of juices/pseudo juices. Waaa!
Ah yes, who'da thought of the ever popular OCARINA? Knew the word but never saw one or heard one played until today when I googled it. I thought it was a kid's toy. Surprisingly melodic.
Have you seen the latest on the ten-yr-old kid who died on the seven-story water slide in Kansas City? They now say the "neck injury" that killed him is decapitation. Since my grandson went on that thing TWICE last week, I have actually been having nightmares ever since I heard. Such a senseless tragedy.
DO, I thought maybe Steve was referring to the song linked at 56D, "Running to Stand Still". But a WRAP sound right.
Steve you weren't alone in being hung up in the NE. The rest of the puzzle went fast but it took me about 10 minutes to finish that section, not knowing Cadillac models or British cruciverbalists. And ADDUCE is a word I might have run across before but I certainly didn't 'have a clue' as to what it meant. And thanks for the picture of the OCARINA because I had heard of one but never really cared to find out what it looked like.
After DAFFY and NUTTY appeared I was fairly certain that this would be a 'crazy' puzzle. WACKY WEDNESDAY was an unknown but an easy guess. The SO I DO for 'granted' just looked strange to me but it worked. And URAL and ARAL were both included today.
But Jeff doesn't let anybody finish easily, which IMHO is what a crossword puzzle is supposed to do- wrack your brain.
JW bedeviling the Thursday solvers, how fun. If you had read the Inspector Morse books, or watched the tv series you would know about crossword setters as they were part of Morse's psyche and a few cases. SOIDO is typical multi-word Jeffrey fill, but only the perps made it appear. I had trouble with RAYED, which seems simple now, but I did know OXY having worked in the stock world for a while. Oleg had a daughter who went by Christina who was called Tini Cassini in high school. Her STORY is not a happy ending.
How many times do we see ARAL and URAL in the same grid? After filling APRICOT and NO PULP I feel I have had my vitamin C for the morning.
Thanks Steve and jeffrey
Rich missed the timely opportunity to reference the Olympics at SETTERS. Certain volleyball players from TEAM USA?
RAYED? SETTERS? SOIDO? ADDUCE? ETRE? Oi vey. I am NEVER on the same wavelength as JW! As soon as I see his name, I think "Oh, no!!" A real struggle today, as always for me with JW. Eventually, hot 'er done, but took 35 minutes of struggle. I'm afraid that while I appreciate JW's skills as a "SETTER", I never get much fun from the results. Oh well. Life's full of sometimes joy, sometimes sorrow, sometimes ease, sometimes struggle. This morning was struggle time.
SOIDO is typical multi-word CRAPPY Jeffrey fill
I think that we shall never see
A lovely limerick writ by me!
A limerick whose lines are dressed
In proper feet of anapest.
Whose verses make such perfect rhymes
They mind of celestial wind-chimes!
A limerick that is so risque
It gets repeated through the day
A rhyme that in some future season
Will be recited beyond reason.
Anyone can limerickize,
But none can do as bad as I'se!
The ocarina is so called due to its resemblance to that crossword veggie, the Andean tuber. (Oca)
Another version; "It was given the name “ocarina” as its shape resembles that of a goose, and “ocarina”is a diminutive word stemming from “oca”, the Italian word for “goose”." ~ BILL BUTLER
Easy Thursday except for northwest corner. As much as I got thru the rest of the puzzle, that section just wasn't clicking for me. Maybe it's too early in the morning. It's almost 10 AM and that's early for this retired guy. ��
Good Morning:
I, for one, like JW's puzzles very much and am willing to accept any less-than-sparking (So I Do) fill any time because it is usually negated by the clever themes, challenges, and execution. (I also like JW's work because he helps to fill the void of Silkie's absence.)
The theme came early (sort of apropos considering the Trump Tower climber), but there were a few bumps in the road. Learning moments were setters (don't remember ever hearing that re crossword constructors) and ocarina which I always thought, for some strange reason, was a miniature accordion! Also not sure of rayed daisies?
In any event, thanks, Jeffrey, for another "wacky" but oh so enjoyable offering and thanks, Steve, for your steady guidance.
I watched "The Danish Girl" last night and was mesmerized by Eddie Redmayne's performance. What a sad story.
Forecast for the next several days: 90's, high humidity, and isolated t-storms. Remedy: stay indoors!
Have a great day.
So, Jeffrey decided to show his goofy side. Nice. Great theme.
Goofy story-
My friend Andrew has a marijuana dispensary. Midweek he always has a sale. He calls it ANDYS WACKY WEED WACKY WEDNESDAY
Steve, Good Job on the write-up & informative links.
NE & SW corners were the last to fall. SO-I-DO = meh.
Didn't write anything last night, and then way overslept this morning, so as soon as I got online I posted one I'd written as a back-up weeks ago. The title was Tree Lims, but I see it fits with IDYL. Unclefred's penultimate line also qualifies as an IDYL (which I thought was only spelt IDYLL). BTW, I might mention it was written before I'd mostly stopped using "limericks" to describe my poems, since my idiosyncratic dis-attention to meter seems to distress some people.
As for the puzzle, FIW. Same place already blamed, the natick OXY. I guessed SOIDO correctly, but TEARs>TEARY.
Steve's comment about a "candelabra/kissing picture" piqued me, so had to look it up. Matt-Damon-Michael-Douglas from the movie Behind-the-Candelabra maybe?
Owen, I appreciate you research but I believe Steve was referencing this famous optical ILLUSION
I almost missed the Shakespeare quote from Julius Caesar, Marc Antony's "eulogy."
"He was my friend, faithful and just to me.
But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man."
Hi gang -
Woke up thinking it was Friday, then saw a Jeffrey puzzle.
Make of it what you will.
NE corner was tough, but my real problems were in the SW. Somehow, I think WHACKY should have an aitch in it, but, alas, it AVAILS not.
Instead of an insect, I wanted to go after a fly ball, but could not HAVE ONE.
Up north I had OBTAINS, then Tried the non-word ABTAINS, and thus ATTAINED a FFIW.
I prefer pulp in my orange juice.
Cool regards!
JzB
I guessed correctly on SOIDO based on the downs. That is a really bad clue and answer.
What a wonderful, wacky J Wechsler! Of course I struggled and he nearly beat me. But I was crazy enough to keep guessing and I finally won. Thanks for the workout, JW.
Strangely enough, FADS and FEUDS were the last to fall as I I couldn't let go of ObTAINS for 2D. The line between perseverance and stubbornness is so hard to see sometimes!
Steve, your walk-through was fun.
Owen, I'm glad this was an old poem. You give us so much pleasure you should never feel bad!
We have storms predicted ...again.... for today. Stay dry everyone.
SwampCat, push 'em west, would ya pleeze.
D-O, that's the problem with weather, isn't it! Too much one place and not enough another place. Wish I could "push 'em west."
Jazz- WACKY is the preferred spelling, but WHACKY is also correct.
How anyone could guess "SOIDO" is beyond me. More power to you. It's still a pretty awful entry. Poor clue for DOGE, IMHO. The Doge was far more than a judge.
"Granted" : SO I DO."
Thank you, but no.
Perseid meteor shower tonite & tomorrow nite!
(as usual, the NE will be cloud covered...)
FIW, managed to get soido,(even tho it was lousy...)
& thanks for splainin' 13d setters.
(that was swell.)
But obtains seemed so right. So much so that I finally
put 1a, they don't last long = fogs?, & 3d smoke that grifts up?
(I dunno,maybe it was an Indian smoke signal thing...)
Oh well, at least I remembered Ocarina from the Legend of Zelda games.
But how do you play it? (so I looked it up.)
& how do you make one? (clay seems easiest, but the wood ones are works of art.)
I was then about to post the 5 videos on playing/sculpting/carving & different types
of Ocarinas,when I realized,
that would just be silly,
(if you really want to know all that crap you could look it up yourself.)
What, me worry? Nah, “me and Alfred E.” did fine on another great JW offering!
Musings
-I thought having a non-PC lisping DAFFY wouldn’t fly today. I was wrong (1:17)
-Jerry Lewis has never been my cup ‘o tea!
-BUGGY WHIP : Transportation = Phone booth : Communication
-Are these the most stupid FAD ever?
-We have some great people who ACT AS our guide here and, oh yeah, Husker Gary too. ☺
-Copacabana and Ipanema Beach are awash in raw sewage these days
-Cats don’t do spoken commands like SIT
-My MIL’s H.S. portrait was 73 years old and Wal Mart refused to make a copy because those Copyrights run 75 years
-In announcing his retirement this week, A-Rod removed his hat so people could see he was becoming TEARY
-I’ll GLADLY pay you later (:06)
-The SLICER at Subway is so good, you can read through the meat
-I had an hors d'oeuvre once that turned out to be bacon wrapped liver not mushroom as I expected. YECH!
Yea! I finished a JW today. The south rose quickly which allowed me to see three theme answers with SILLY, WACKY, and BUGGY. I have no problem with SOIDO because it is well balanced with rock solid fill all the way. One meh is hardly a reason to NEGATE the entire puzzle.
WEES about the NW and hanging on to OBTAIN for too long. I finally saw the light, got ATTAIN, DRIFT UP and the rest. French is not my strong suite. Neither is German for that matter; ACH emerged slowly with CREPE and HEART. I had the same dilemma on CREDO/CREED as others but EMIT solved that for me.
Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for this Thursday challenge and thank you, Steve for your admirable review.
Have a splendid day, everyone! Nail salon day.
Fun theme today. Thanks, JW, for the entertainment.
Also thought SOIDO was weak.... never hear that phrase.
Thanks, Steve, for your guidance today! Great job!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
A DNF for me today as I missed the FADS/FEUDS in 1a/1d. I had several letters (__UDS in 1d) and (__DS) in 1a) but couldn't come up with the answer. So I showed up here and thanks to Steve (great recap) I saw the correct answers
For some reason I thought TROPICANA was also a brand of sunscreen, so NO PABA was inserted where NO PULP belonged. Perps fixed it. I rarely drink OJ (strange for a Floridian?) and can't drink Grapefruit Juice do to the meds I take
Would DAFFY DUCK refer to this puzzle theme as "THILLY THURSDAY"?
I needed ESP (every single perp) to get the NE and SW corners. TEAM USA was cleverly clued; hope the clue for 45d someday will yield the answer "BARKEEP"!
Owen, your poetry and ability to cleverly use the words from the puzzle is obviously appreciated by the Crossword Corner Community. The fact that you use an "AABBA" rhyming scheme (same as limericks) would confuse the true limerists, as your poems rarely follow anapest meter. But don't sweat the details! Use whatever "poetic theme" you like ...
"Argyle, I thought you hated anons?" "Granted...but-"
"Argyle, I thought you hated anons?" "So I do...but-"
(My take on SOIDO.)
Good afternoon everyone.
ACH! Ist das nicht ein verrückt Kreuzworträtsel?
Much of the puzzle had Jeff's smoothness, but the SW seemed a little lumpy - probably my own doing. Most of the SW clues each had several possibilities. Stuck my toe in the water with AVAILS, TEARY and ANNEX, and OCARINA which we've had before, and it finally came home.
ETRE - Our introductory French infinitive was the 1st conjugation regular verb - PARLER. Highly irregular verbs with fractured conjugations like être, avoir, aller were taught more gradually. YMMV.
NO PULP - My OJ of choice is Florida's Natural with MOST PULP. Guess Jeff and I were 180º out today.
Easy, you anons out there, I was only making a point.
I had an especially hard time with this puzzle, harder than I expected even though I expect difficulty from Jeff Wechsler work. My hardest time was in the south-west. After having figured the theme gimmick I wanted CRAZY WEDNESDAY, which of course thwarted my attempts to solve that area. So I finally went on line, to several sites that purportedly offered full listings of every book Dr. Seuss ever wrote. Not a single site mentioned ----- Wednesday. Then, in a flash of something, I thought maybe it's WACKY not CRAZY, due to the alliteration. So I wrote in WACKY but it still took a very long time before OCARINA occurred to me. Having GULL and then ERNE in at 55A hindered me too. It took about 2 hours, yes, 2 hours, I'm not kidding, to finally figure it out, including holding my nose at SO I DO.
So, about that Trump Tower suction cup guy, the police had to destroy property to manhandle the guy "for his own safety"? I seriously doubt they were worried about his safety. I think they thought he had a bomb or something in his backpack. If they wanted to arrest him for committing some sort of crime, they could have waited for him on the roof and grabbed him then. But I'm not a cop, so ...
Then there's the absolutely tragic and needless, preventable accident that killed Mary Knowlton in Punta Gorda yesterday, not to mention various needless and gratuitous shootings of unarmed young men, mostly black ...
I've been feeling very anti-police lately. I have never believed in a policy of shoot first and ask questions later. Seeing so many instances of excessive deadly force makes me sad and angry. I mean, when a guy you are smashing against the pavement cries out "I can't breathe!" ease up, don't smash him even harder. And the excuse "I feared for my life" is totally bogus crap.
On that note, best wishes to you all.
Hello Puzzlers -
Had no trouble with today's Jeff Wex - "So I Do" didn't seem out of bounds to me. Adduce was slow to emerge, but at least it looked vaguely familiar.
Super steamy, Louisiana style weather here today - that made it feel strange taking delivery of a new snow blower, but hey, gotta be prepared.
I was so sure I wouldn't be able to handle this Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle, I actually put an easier puzzle aside to turn to after I gave up. But miraculously things started to fill in, and in the end only the Northwest and the Southwest corners stumped me a little. And then I thought I nailed it--but sadly got whacked by putting WAKKY instead of WACKY--feeling sure that four theme answers would have identical structures, and with Dr. Seuss, crazy spelling wouldn't be out of order. Still, a lot of fun--many thanks, Jeffrey! And you too, Steve, as always.
Loved your puzzle yesterday, C.C., but too busy to post. And I goofed because I didn't get the V in NIVEA. But the theme was a delight.
Appreciate both your thoughts and your sentiments, Jayce. Thanks for posting them.
Have a great day, everybody!
I flubbed the NE corner. I didn't know SETTERS, and something with an "X" in it seemed appropriate, so that threw me off for 16-A because I wanted something French with an "X" in it. I ended up leaving it blank, with a mental reservation favoring something close to "SXTERS." A perfect example of trying too hard.
Loved Steve's quotation from Idyls of the King. 'Tis sad that most of us have lost memory of the musty beauties of Tennyson's time.
As for 42-A, the DOGE, that was a gimme, as I am a great fan of Venetia - and even once played the DOGE in the trial scene of Merchant of Venice. Is it meant to remind us of the flip side of great pomp that Steve's photo displays part of the DOGE's dolorous back door? -- the infamous Ponte dei Sospiri, or Bridge of Sighs?
I suppose that today I have a lot of time on my hands. Yes, so I do. So I do this just for the heck of it-
In order, change 39-, 40-, 41-, 47-, and 60- down to SWATTER, HAVE ONE, O CANADA, KISSER, and TDS (touchdowns)
I have one write over in the puzzle.
Oh, SO I DO.
Awkward, but there it is.
Jayce, you obviously have no loved ones in law enforcement. News flash! Criminals being arrested will lie, cheat, steal, harm and even kill to not be apprehended. Both of my son's say, obey me first and tell me your excuses later. Otherwise they will control the situation however they need to to keep themselves and the public safe. My grandkids need their fathers!
Yes there is the occasional poor judgment that causes harm or death. Even just bad people who should not be cops. Both are EXTREMELY RARE considering the thousands of cop to public interactions every single day.
To realize how great and honorable a profession it really is, consider your angst, fear or safety you feel while you wait those precious seconds for them to arrive to your personal emergency. I've had it. Crying and thinking please hurry, hurry, hurry.
How can anyone possibly be anti-police?!?
And....they're off!
This went fairly quickly for me today despite the late start. A nice Wednesday challenge that I was apparently up to.
My brother is a police officer and he's a good one, but that doesn't blind me to what seems to be the military to police pipeline. What makes a great soldier does not at all translate to a great policeman. Guys coming back from the Mideast are already subject to PTSD among other maladies. I don't believe that enhances their ability to handle a free public citizenry at all, it's almost cross purposes.
Thanks you, J.W., for the challenge. Thank you, Steve, for the tour.
The NW and the SW were my problem areas: fuel/UTIL, den/SPA, espy/PEEK, GLAD to/GLADLY, tAkE one/HAVE ONE. The theme was hard to miss, even for me!
SO I DO? Don't like it, but it fits.
The outdoor sauna continues. Yuck!
Pat
Ginny, thank you for your post. I understand what you are saying. I should have said I'm feeling sort of anti bad cop, not all police. It saddens and angers me to see the damage a bad cop can do. It also upsets me to see how many of them, not all of them, get away with it.
Yeah Jayce. I'm anti bad cop too. But then I'm also anti bad fireman. Anti bad politician. Anti bad doctor. Anti bad teacher. Anti bad nurse. Anti bad husband. Anti bad computer virus giver. Anti bad financial advisor. Even anti bad dog. But I just figured everyone else was too so I didn't go on a two day rant to share that with of you.
Lucina and Jerome... You have a bug on your shoulder! Oh, so I do!
Good evening, Steve and friends. Did anyone else think Let's Go Crazy with this puzzle?
I liked seeing the ELL and the ANNEX for the Wing.
Lots and lots of rain today!
QOD: Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window. ~ Steve Wozniak (b. Aug. 11, 1950)
Hi All!
Close, but no NOD. I was nearly WHIP'd. I had the same issues as Steve in the NE but he had the advantage of ACH while I had to Google to ATTAIN it to finally fix that corner. Thanks Steve - glad I'm not the only one w/ CREdoS and being bemused at ADDUCE. Great expo too.
Thanks JW for a nearly doable brain-bending SELF-indulgent TASK. Fun puzzle, Granted, SO I DO'd it. :-)
Puzzle order of falling: NC, NE, C, SC, SW, SE, NE, then fixed WOs.
WOs: WEES - GLADto, tenets (you have no idea how long that held up me writing ACT AS) -> credos ->creeds, URAL -> ARAL - WACKY...
ESPs - who knows? ETRE, ATS, OLEG, OCARINA and likely others.
Fav: Gotta be the crazy theme. I too liked ARAL /w URAL in the the same pzl.
Re: OXY - got it w/ the Y in place (we're not a "giant" so I knew it wasn't our ticker). I met w/ my counterpart at OXY yesterday to discuss CyberSec tools' pros & cons.
OKL - {Goes to 11!}
CED - LOL Lucy juxtaposed to Clark Kent yesterday. 20 years NEGATEs slang? I find it groovy.
Jayce - Mil surplus going to the local PD adds to the problem IMHO. //end b/f blog-FEUD
Ginny - 'yo lighten up on bad computer virus givers - they're my bread & butter SILLY ;-)
Hahtoolah - Dern, you beat me to Prince's beat.
Thanks for comment on ELL - as soon as you said it I finally "got" it.
Argyle - is bag diminutive of cat, hence? (Williams)
Sugar Land's own Simone Manuel ties for Gold!
Cheers, -T
Steve: I forgot - Your insult to injury story... LOL! I did consulting for a casino in OK & stayed at their hotel for 12 weeks. I refused to gamble knowing they'd "win" my fee back... their pub, though, did take a vig :-)
Cheers, -T
nice thursday puzzle as usual, but it took a couple extra minutes because there was no abbreviated answer implied in the clue for TEAMUSA
I looked and looked for boxes to fill
And there wasn't any
Then lo and behold, there it was
OLEG, as in Casinni
From there I worked backwards and finally reached that NE y'all've been talk'n 'bout
SOIDO might be obscure but it should have been all perps, once WACKY and SHO etc got in there.
Finishing this old 6/6/16 (Sat) had me all psyched. That one had a really nasty NE with TAKES A DIVE the coup de Grace
Oh, btw, Oliver Twist had the Artful Dodger with musical Oliver. Finally came to me, refused to google it.
But no one will read this except possibly the lyricist of writ who says he revisits on occasion.
If, so, there's my little doggerel
The Great Unread one
Btw2. I'm completely stuck on last Saturday. I refuse to give up though
Same for me as for desper-otto: Every theme answer seemed to have a different double letter. So it was the SW that was the most difficult.
WACKY WEDNESDAY was the only theme answer that did not have a double letter in the "crazy" word.
Never heard of "Shameless".
Also I was not getting HAVE. I was thought the server was suggesting to TRY. HAVE is an order (or urging), not a suggestion!
In any case, this was all a challenge that I was glad to have met!
@argyle "Argyle, I thought you hated anons?" "Granted...but-"
"Argyle, I thought you hated anons?" "I do, but adding the word 'so' doesn't help my example, in fact proves the point that it means nothing and adds nothing."
(My take on SOIDO.)
-- Anon
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