Theme: Three letter scramble - Janice OPTed to Stir the POT, not Spin the TOP.
17A. Dice roller's exhortation: COME TO PAPA
40A. Actor with near-synonymous first and last names: RIP TORN
11D. Pretty darn simple: IDIOT PROOF
25D. Toaster snack: POP TART
29D. Verses by Allen Ginsberg, e.g.: BEAT POETRY
61A. Cause trouble ... and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters: STIR THE POT
Argyle here. Puzzle has both 90- and 180-degree crossword symmetry. I'm not sure what that means; I just cut and paste what they tell me. Not having circles shouldn't have been much of a detriment to the solve.
Across:
1. Doofus: DOLT
5. Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant: K-CARS. Trivia - First Chrysler car to be produced in the metric system with metric screw threads and components.
10. Smack on the mouth: KISS
14. Letter-shaped support piece: I-BAR. The real deal, 46D. Steel girders: I-BEAMS
15. "For real!": "NO LIE!"
16. Pop singer Brickell: EDIE. Easy listening.
19. Scrabble piece: TILE
20. TV preview: TEASER
21. Taken as a whole: ALL TOLD
23. Satchel feature: STRAP
26. Margarita glass rim coating: SALT. Where is my lost shaker of salt?
27. Curved sword: SABER and CW sword of choice, 57D. Weapon with a tip guard: EPEE
30. Application info: Abbr.: DOB. (date of birth)
32. Pool measure: DEPTH
35. What soccer shootouts resolve: TIES
36. Peaceful state: REPOSE
38. P-like Greek letter: RHO
39. Actress Thurman: UMA
41. Museum hanging: OIL
42. Amount after costs: NET
43. Suitcase attachments: ID TAGS
44. Yuletide: NOEL
45. Not so hot?: TEPID
47. __ Lanka: SRI. Was there a bridge to Sri Lanka? Link
48. Swollen: PUFFY
49. Upper, in Ulm: OBER. Ulm is a German city on the River Danube.
51. Male voice range: TENOR
53. "Toodle-oo!": "CHEERIO!"
56. Evaluate for tax purposes: ASSESS
60. Wee bit: IOTA
64. Time in office: TERM
65. Emulate Vesuvius: ERUPT
66. Scarlet letter of fiction: RED 'A'
67. Slow Churned ice cream brand: EDY'S
68. Hagar of Van Halen: SAMMY. Funny video.
69. Wine bottle number: YEAR
Down:
1. Random House vol.: DICTionary
2. Woodwind instrument: OBOE
3. Dalai __: LAMA
4. Locks on heads: TRESSES
5. Soup mix brand: KNORR
6. "Blue Bloods" extra: COP. Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan, New York City Police Commissioner.
7. Pie-mode connection: À LA
8. TV host Kelly: RIPA. With hubby.
9. Applies weatherstripping to: SEALS
10. Stovetop whistler: KETTLE
12. Housecat's perch: SILL
13. Watermelon eater's discard: SEED
18. Four: Pref.: TETR. From the Greek word for four.
22. Saddled (with): LADEN
24. People with skill: ADEPTS
27. Publicity ploy: STUNT
28. Evangelist __ Semple McPherson: AIMEE. Maybe this clip will help me remember her but I doubt it.
31. Shake it on the dance floor: BOOGIE
33. Burglar: THIEF
34. "Deck the Halls" greenery: HOLLY
36. Free (of): RID
37. Yearbook gp.: SRs. (seniors)
40. One on horseback: RIDER
44. Room with a crib: NURSERY
48. Luxurious: POSH
50. Greets the judge: RISES
52. Well-dressed: NATTY
53. Mention in a footnote: CITE
54. Broke up some clods: HOED
55. Senorita's "other": OTRA
58. Scotch go-with: SODA. Ironic; a manhattan singing about a scotch
59. Walk of Fame figure: STAR
62. Periodic table suffix: IUM. lol, where'd that come from? I didn't see it when solving.
63. Turntable no.: RPM. (revolutions per minute)
Argyle
35 comments:
FIR and guessed where the circles were! Well, once I had the reveal, it wasn't too difficult to figure out, even on the Mensa site. When I looked at the Across Lite version later, I was surprised the POT in the reveal didn't have circles too, since it was needed to have a complete set of all 6 permutations of the letters.
Most vexing misstep: (scotch) TAPE > (scotch &) SODA.
{C, C-, C-.}
Tempers would ERUPT, even vile threats were made,
On bystanders, DOLTS and IDIOTS would violence LADE!
Them: "P is a Greek letter!"
Us: "P is Pound unit measure!"
Who imagined so much dispute over RHO vs. weighed!
Some prefer their beverage to be icy cold
Some like their SODA undiluted and bold.
Save those packets of catsup
From fries, as a back-up.
Freeze them for drink chillers, moisture controlled!
"I'm strong, as an I-BAR," IOTA bragged!
"RHO may be buxom, but in time they'll have sagged!"
Said RHO, "keep your coat on,
>:-P . I'll be an emoticon.
Then whatever you say, I'll see that you're razzed!"
Greetings!
Thanks, Janice and Santa!
Only hangup was SAMMY.
Rain kept me awake last night and morning. Now everything is out of whack. I just got to the puzzle.
Special effects on were good. Love John Larroquette!
Have a great day!
Good morning!
Zipped through this one like I had a PTO -- power take-off. No write-overs. I even noticed the theme...sort of. Hand up for spinning top. Guess I should have noticed the TOP up TOP and realized that couldn't be it. Thanks, Janet and Argyle.
KCARS: Your comment about the metric system reminded me of an incident at the crane factory back in the 70's. We were setting pressures on the hydraulics of a small backhoe imported from Japan, and we needed a 10-mm wrench -- that's one centimeter, pretty small. I went out onto the shop floor to see if one of the workers had one that he'd lend. This guy pulls out a monster wrench and says, "Well, it's the only millimeter wrench I've got." He thought you used the wrench to tighten a millimeter.
KNORR: Never had their soup mix, but I do rely on their Classic Brown Gravy Mix when I need to stretch a recipe.
Loved the CW, thanx, Janice! Excellent write-up, too, thanx, Argyle! Only write-over: ÜBER-OBER. KCAR needed the perp of KNORR. Other than that, pretty smooth sailing, my usual Tuesday time. STILL struggling with this damn cold, can't seem to shake it. Fair limericks today, Owen, all Cs. Still better than I can manage. Thanx for the grins.
Good Morning:
A typical fun and fast Tuesday solve. I, too, thought Top would be the theme but Janice gave us a nice surprise with Pot. Am I the only one would filled in Bootie with a moment's hesitation, then had to change it to Boogie? It didn't occur to me that that Booty is spelled this way. Oh well, it gave me a chuckle.
Thanks, Janice and Argyle, for an easy and entertaining exercise.
Trubrit from last night: Do you know when your daughter will be on with Pride? Congrats to her, BTW.
My experience with the ice cube trays was not pleasant, to be polite! I can hardly wait for the you-know-what to be fixed!
We're supposed to have some nasty weather later today: snow, rain, icy conditions, but tomorrow and Thursday temps will be close to 40. As Tin would say, "Go figure."
Unclefred, according to our local newspaper, this season is bringing colds that just will not go away. It sounds like you are one of the unlucky sufferers. I hope you turn the corner soon.
Have a great day.
Of course, that should read "without a moment's hesitation." Sorry.
Good day to all!
As Irish Miss said, a typical fun and fast solve today. Clever theme. SAMMY Hagar was the only unknown. Thanks for the expo, Argyle.
Enjoy the day!
Got the fill first, then used the circles as a sanity check. Erased art for OIL for museum hanging and teapot for KETTLE for stovetop whistler. I have spent way too many hours at craps tables, and have never heard anyone say "come to papa". Maybe it's a Monopoly cry. I have heard "baby needs new shoes", but only as parody of that hackneyed phrase.
Didn't know OBER, Blue Bloods extras or AIMEE Semple but the perps easily took care of those. Favorite today was "pretty darn simple" for IDIOT PROOF. As they say in the IT world, nothing is idiot proof to a sufficiently talented idiot. Least favorite was "application info" for DOB. It had better be a credit application; if you are asked for your DOB on most housing or employment applications, you can likely sue their ASSES(S) off if it doesn't go your way.
Thanks for a fun puzzle with a little crunch, Janis. And thanks to Argyle for the fun write-up.
IM - Good luck with your IM. The Whirlpool unit in our motor home broke last year. Fortunately I was able to fix it myself. Four screws and an electrical plug-in later I was good to go in less than an hour for less than $75. I was surprised that no plumbing was involved - my unit got water from a tube that was controlled by other parts of the refrigerator. That tube just slipped into the tray that holds the water that will become cubes. I hope your fix is just as easy.
With only three circled letters it had to be either POT or TOP. But STIR THE POT was filled by the down perps before I even looked at the clue. I've never played ( or ever will play) craps but COME TO PAPA was an easy guess. No problems with the puzzle.
ADEPT(S)- never heard of it used as a noun.
fermatprime- SAMMY replace DAVID LEE ROTH in Van Halen's band.
As the ALA-CLEM football game was on last night I was reading the WSJ and came across C.C.'s puzzle- 'Busy Time'. So I decided to work it at halftime. The BZ theme came out early, withe the unknowns BARRY ZITO and BRIT POP crossing and solve by perps. Only one write over- GAZES to GAPES She managed to get three baseball clues worked in. But since BELOW ZERO was the first them fill, I hope some of you up north have thawed out.
Thanks Janice, Argyle, & C.C.
Argyle, Informative write-up. Good Job!
Janice: Thank You for a FUN Tuesday puzzle. Enjoyed the "STIR-THE_POT" theme.
OK, at 58-d, Scotch go-with, I really wanted SUNSET ... but didn't have room, and SODA went in. LOL
Fave today was the "near-synonymous" actor RIP TORN. What a great name.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset ... especially to the Clemson Fans. GREAT GAME!
heers!
When the musical couple did breed,
Had two kids. And for names, they agreed
On Bassoon and OBOE.
And wouldn't you know,
That the family's last name is Reed.
Hello Puzzlers -
A total speed-fest. Unknowns were cleared up by perps right away. See the letters T O P in the first set of circles, I guessed the theme would be about a spinning top or something. Not quite.
Argyle, thanks for the beautiful Scotch and Soda! That was my favorite work of Laurel Massé, the alto who was a founding member of Manhattan Transfer. She left the group after a car accident, and was replaced by the dazzling soprano Cheryl Bentyne. I gather Laurel has long regretted that decision. Even so, she kept a music career alive, and in recent times she teamed up with her old friend and band mate Janis Siegel plus Lauren Kinhan to form JaLaLa.
Bill G from yesterday - smiled right out loud at the pizza! It reminds me of another diet-related joke: "Celery is 90% water, and 100% not pizza." Fun stuff.
Good morning everyone.
Got the solve with only minor hiccups. Couldn't spell BOOGIE at first but perps straightened that out.
OBER and über have somewhat similar denotations. For me, personally, their Low German cognates can be synonyms in certain contexts. So, without thinking, initially wrote in über, whereas perp pointed toward OBER. Dictionaries are unequivocal that OBER means upper as the clue states. A case of TMI. Notwithstanding the above, über is a preposition; OBER is an adjective.
Thank you Janice for a fine puzzle and Argyle for the excellent write up.
While everyone is getting colds and pneumonia, I seem to have a stomach bug that won’t go away. A good day to stay in and do the crossword.
OwenKL @ 4:14 am, I loved your limerick.
RHO vs weighed is a pun I have never heard before.
Also using frozen catsup packets as non-diluting ice cubes.
An odd icing use that my physical therapist has told me is to freeze ziploc bags with dishwashing detergent in them to ice aches.
I was hoping to add a Rip Torn link from Dr. Strangelove, but the actor riding the bomb is Slim Pickins, not Rip Torn. But, hey, it is a good clip, so here is the link:SLIM_ON_BOMB
I looked up the Wiki on Rip Torn and he has had a long and sometimes contentious career, once hitting Norman Mailer with a hammer on screen, etc. RIP_TORN_WIKI
Live Well and Prosper,
VS
Good morning all! Fun, easy, breezy puzzle today. Loved the theme; also thought it would be "spin the top". Thanks Janice and thanks Argyle- nice to see you again today :)
I didn't know AIMEE and wanted Uber for OBER but perps took care of those.
Liked seeing SABER/EPEE and IBAR/IBEAMS and always get a chuckle out of the name RIPTORN
Uncle Fred- sorry about the nasty cold that is still lingering. DH is slowly getting over his after more than a week. I'm slowly getting worse with mine. Do hope you feel better soon!
Quite windy here today- makes me nervous with all of the trees surrounding our house. However, my wind chimes are singing a lovely tune.
Have a great day everyone - CHEERIO!
🐇
Musings
-IBAR/IBEAM and EDY’S/EDIE were part of a fun puzzle
-We had a DOLT of a colleague who came in the lounge just to STIR THE POT and we all just got tired of it and didn’t even acknowledge him
-We called these IDIOT STRAPS
-I forced myself to sit through granddaughter’s SLAM POETRY competition
-Alabama got beat last night! NO LIE!
-“A good TEASE(R) in TV is like dating – Enough to keep you interested but not giving it away”
-I had to give my DOB dozens of times per day in the hospital
-Soccer shootouts to resolve TIES are pure chance but since there is so little scoring anyway…
-Tax rate goes down, ASSESSED value goes up. NET – Tax Increase
-A fabulous TENOR (4:10) and a lesson about judging books by their covers
-Our kitty has four perches and no need for SILLS
-SAMMY and Van Halen had a contract RIDER demanding M&M’s with brown ones removed
-Office Bird will be irate if you don’t RISE when Judge Judy enters
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Janice Luttrell, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
Started with K CARS. I drove one of those in California when I lived there. I liked it. Pretty light weight. Stick shift. Pretty good mileage.
I really do not roll dice, but COME TO PAPA was easy.
AIMEE was unknown as was HAGAR. Even though HAGAR THE HORRIBLE is my favorite comic strip.
Like EDYS Ice Cream. I actually like all ice cream. Especially Chocolate Chip.
Had I BAR and I BEAMS.
I do not think there is anything that is IDIOT PROOF.
Anyhow, have to run. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
SABER and EPEE, IBAR and IBEAMS, RIPA and RIPTORN gave us this amusing grid today. Thank you to Janice Luttrell! She can STIR THE POT in more ways than one.
Hand up for ART/OIL change and a sheer guess on SAMMY.
It was all very straight forward and a smooth sashay.
Thanks as well to Argyle, our dependable guide. And Sptiz, I waited for your take on uber/OBER; thank you for that.
Have a special day, everyone and stay warm!
Hi everybody. Thanks for the fun puzzle, Janice. Also, thanks to Argyle for his excellent write up as usual.
I'm glad some of you enjoyed my small attempt at humor late yesterday.
Dudley, I totally agree with you. I LOVE Scotch and Soda and The Manhattan Transfer. They are talented singers and entertainers and they obviously put a lot of effort into their arrangements.
Bill G out...
Janice did a great job today. I used the MENSA site, so, as usual no circles. I didn't get the theme until Argyle explained it, but didn't need the circles to solve the puzzle.
Only a few stumbles along the way but they were quickly resolved by perps.
DOPE before DOLT.
COMEONBABY before COMETOPAPA.
SSN before DOB (and Jinx is right about what can be asked legally)
ART before OIL (but I figured it would be one or the other)
SAMMY was a complete unknown to me.
OBER was a gimme from all of the WWII movies and documentaries I've watched on cable. I didn't even need to use ITranslate. The Ober gruppenführer was a rank that literally meant "Over group leader" ie. the top dog.
It's snowing here and is supposed to switch to sleet and freezing rain later today. Lots of accidents on the local highways, so I think I'll stay home today.
I hope everyone stays warm today.
Thanks for today's puzzle, pretty much breezed through it.
Irish Mist, not sure of the dates but I know she will be in episodes 15 - 17 - and 19.
Trubrit @ 12:15 - Tonight's episode is a repeat but next week is episode 12, so I can keep track from then on. Thanks for the info and I'll be sure to watch.
HG @ 10:25 - I want you to know that you added more chills to my day (in a good way, of course) with the Nessun Dorma clip which, naturally, led me to a Pavarotti solo rendition and then to The Three Tenors rendition, with the bonus of Zubin Mehta conducting. You made my day, thank you!
I love Janice Luttrell puzzles, and this one was a lot of fun. Also, clever opening to your expo, Argyle. I figured out the TOP circles right away and was amused to get the POT reveal at the end. My only goof up was putting SASSY instead of SAMMY (figured RP seconds rather than RP minutes--dumb). But no big deal with all the fun to be had. So, many thanks, Janice and Argyle.
I have relatives living in ULM, so no problem with OBER.
Finally got around to watching the recent Sherlock Holmes series and am not crazy about it. Too much emphasis on special effects rather than the logic that makes the stories so complicatedly interesting. Too bad, I like the actors in the roles and had been looking forward to this--especially with a new Watson wife as part of the team. But not sure I'll watch any more of them.
Have a great Tuesday, everybody!
Misty,
I watched the two new SHERLOCK last night and I intend to keep watching them as I saw the logic part presented in a 21st century way, just as the entire series has been morphed from the 19th to the 21st. The thought process he used to anticipate where people would be and why I found quite entertaining. What I have never understood is why Mark Gatiss who is co-creator of this incarnation, has chosen to make Mycroft such a despicable character as well as playing the part himself. I have no desire to spoil the plots anyone who might watch but....
There are only 3 "new" SHERLOCK's on PBS this season.
Since they have already shown the 1st two .... this Sunday's is the season's final.
Though a "bit different' from prior years ... I have enjoyed them.
Tinbeni and Lemonade, well, maybe I've been a bit too harsh to judge and haven't paid enough attention to the logic what with all the complicated changes on the screen throughout. I also didn't realize there's only one more episode left for this season. Anyway, you've convinced me to be a little more open-minded and attentive when I watch the last episode this coming Sunday (is that when it's coming on?). Thanks for your thoughts, in any case.
Misty
The final SHERLOCK is this Sunday and will be 2 hour episode starting at 7:00 pm.
Masterpiece is beginning a "new" series about Queen Victoria at 9:00 pm.
(I'm hoping it will help me get over the Downton Abbey withdrawl).
Cheers!
A fairly straightforward Tuesday puzzle, cleverly clued. Enjoyable
Fun puzzle, I enjoyed it. Like Misty, I also like Janice Luttrell's work. BEAT POETRY, COME TO PAPA, and KNORR are excellent. I have always gotten a kick out of the name RIP TORN. SLIM PICKENS is pretty darn good, too.
Every time LW and I watch Sherlock we are very confused while it is going on. Most of the time, though, we come away from it thinking, "Well, that was weird" and "Ohhhh, I get it now." We definitely will watch it this coming Sunday, as well as Victoria. And NCIS: New Orleans next week and every week.
I don't know if they were K-cars, but an old (and bad) joke we used to make was: "What do you get when you cross a Valient with a Comet?" ... "A Vomet."
Bye now.
The Cumberbatch/Freeman Sherlock is taking fanfic to new extremes.
- SPOILER -
Now Dr Watson is in the pained but proud possession of the spirit of his departed wife. She haunts him in a most natural, conversational manner. We don't know yet if she is a permanent part of his profile or a passing quirk to be dislodged by his therapist.
- END of SPOILER -
A pleasant pzl today from Ms Luttrell, although I expected something a bit more obscene in response to the Allen Ginsberg clue.
Argyle, thanks for the link to Sister AIMEE. I never heard her speak before, so her joke/sermon is an eye-(ear?)opener.
About Sherlock: I've just re-watched the second episode of this season. Really had to, because it was complicated in its details. Things make a little more sense now.
Also, there is something about Mary's (Amanda Abbington's) face I find simply magical.
Hi All!
Thank you Janice for a fun-theme'd puzzle. Argyle - thanks for the expo and more music!
NO LIE - I was saved by SAMMY, AKA, the RED rocker. OTRA was never going to come to me and I wanted ITE for 62d. Here's Hagar w/ Montrose. [Bad Motor Scooter - wander if it's a YAMAHA?]
WO: hand-up for teapot b/f KETTLE.
ESPs: OBER, OTRA.
Sparkle: Theme, IDIOT PROOF, and CHEERIO stand out.
Fav: (Bobby) BOOGIE. [well, BOOGIE made me think of WKRP S1E5]
{B+,B,C+} {Cute}
VS - Doesn't matter it's not RIP TORN, a Dr. Strangelove clip is always appreciated.
I enjoyed SHERLOCK DVR-delayed last night. ALL TOLD, I hope they move past Mary and to the game afoot (Miss Me?)
HG - It was Diamond Dave that added No Brown M&M's to the contract RIDER [the reason behind it].
If you make something IDIOT PROOF... The world will build a bigger IDIOT.
Cheers, -T
Actually, the Brown M&Ms were my favorite. They were removed by my nemesis, who wanders the world seeking the ruin of Wilbur.
The pedestrian jobs report had the effect of bringing down the price of gas a dime(and falling).
Owen, I definitely liked your first. Exactly what did that emoji translate to??
I guess I'll have to watch Sherlock. The first Seinfeld I ever watched was the finale.
In Doyle's SH, if he gave a date and it translated numerologically to six, there was a murder. I also think he was conveying secret information in the tales(In plain sight, as Poe's Dupin said)
This is all Wilbur theory, but it might explain why Doyle had to cancel the stories.
WC
WC: >:-P is 'angry stuck-out tongue' me thinks. -T
I found where I first heard the M&M story... A mashup of a few of my favorite things... Van Halen, They Might Be Giants, and NPR's This American Life. That's your TEASER. Cheers, -T
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