JW is back with one of his whimsical puzzles. There is no conventional theme, but a common denominator. The clues all reference noisy dogs. Each in the language phrase has one word changed. The changes are simple and the results fun. If you do not see the humor you will not enjoy the puzzle. Some of the clues are not easily sussed, but this is a Friday puzzle. Also, before excoriating the constructor, bear in mind that a large percentage of clues are changed by the editors. Meanwhile Jeffrey did include the very sparkly fill -BELLY RUB, QUICK SET, RAN AFTER, TOM JONES, I'M NOT READY. The theme:
21A. Hogwarts chronicler imitating noisy dogs? : J.K. GROWLING (10). Gee, this is the simplest one to grok.
26A. Devices that record data on noisy dogs? : BARKING METERS (13). My favorite change - parking meters - where doggies mark their territory.
47A. Photographer of noisy dogs? : YIPPER SNAPPER (13). I heard the term whipper snapper often as a child.
52A. Paintings depicting noisy dogs? : WORKS OF ARF (10). The ART of the woof woof.
Across:
1. Hubbub : STIR.
5. Thompson of "Westworld" : TESSA. Not a great start for me as I never have watched that series. She has had a busy CAREER and is pretty.
10. One way to lean : BACK. Not a political comment. Hmm, 19A. Reclined : LAIN.
14. Stephen Hawking subject : TIME. He has persevered in life despite the effects of ALS. READ.
15. Tough tests of knowledge : ORALS.
16. Offer the same opinion as : ECHO. I think they must now pay a royalty to Amazon.
17. Princess Royal of Britain : ANNE.This is a formal title which she received in 1987. LINK.
18. -, at times : MINUS.
20. Setup provider's abbr. : BYOB. Bring Your Own Bottle.
23. Like many deli orders : TO GO.
25. Western peer of Tex and Gene : ROY. Rogers.
32. Part of XL: Abbr. : LGE.
33. Toon cat since the silent era : FELIX. The first animated STAR with an amazing history.
34. Reacts to bad news, perhaps : SULKS.
37. War-torn land : IRAQ. There are many such lands, sadly.
39. More rational : SANER.
41. All in : BEAT. Not an easy meaning to suss, the poker implications kept invading my thought.
42. St. Anthony's home : PADUA. You can read about this MAN. The first Catholic school in Fort Lauderdale is St. Anthony's.
44. It's not exactly a pick-me-up : DECAF.
46. Airport approx. : ETA.
50. Disney Store collectible : CEL.
51. Semi bar : AXLE. Semi truck.
58. First name in folk : ARLO. Hasn't he faded into oblivion yet?
61. Choppers : AXES.
62. Stop by : VISIT.
63. Printer function : SCAN. Copy, scan, fax and print - an all in one work station.
64. News article intro : LEDE. A total learning moment. LINK.
65. Gradually weaken : ERODE. Another correct answer but difficult to suss.
66. It can be hard to get out of : MAZE. I like the combination with the clecho....
67. It can be hard to get out : KNOT.
68. Call attention (to) : REFER.
69. Bellicose god : ARES.
Down:
1. Attempt : STAB. C'mon take a chance.
2. Like a mite : TINY.
3. "Give me a few minutes" : I'M NOT READY. How many couples argue over the time it takes to get ready?
4. Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK. I linked the purchase of Reebok before.
5. He beat out Sonny and Cher and Herman's Hermits, among others, for the Best New Artist Grammy : TOM JONES. An interesting LIST. We watched Peter Noone in concert last year and he was great.
6. Christine's phantom admirer : ERIK. The popularity of the play and musical has inspired people to write their own ENDING.
7. Emulated 5-Down : SANG.
8. Nasty comment : SLUR. Comes, I believe, from the slurry left over from coal etc.
9. Categorize : ASSORT. In 2017 we mostly sort, but we still buy assorted cookies etc.
10. Source of much canine delight : BELLY RUB. A bonus doggy fill. And a classic example of a gif. See 24D.
12. Gym exercise : CHIN. verb 1. draw one's body up so as to bring one's chin level with or above (a horizontal bar) with one's feet off the ground, as an exercise. I always add the "UP."
13. Giant film primate : KONG. The King.
22. Burdens : WOES.
24. Desktop animation image suffix : GIF. HG introduced this handy link style to our blog.
26. Control tower signal : BLIP. On the radar screen.
27. Indian shrine site : AGRA. Taj Mahal anyone? LINK.
28. Forest clearing : GLADE.
29. Member of the underground economy? : MINER. This clue/fill sounds like JW's wit. My favorite in this puzzle.
30. CFOs, e.g. : EXECS.
31. Orient Express feature : SLEEPER CAR. As I mentioned, another movie based on Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. I do not know why because you cannot beat David Suchet.
35. Shakespeare's shrew : KATE. Very un-pc to talk of taming one's wife now.
36. Vega, for one : STAR. Or a Chevrolet.
38. Cement type for home repairs : QUICK SET. My Uncle Harold was a mason, and taught masonry at the local trade school. He showed me how to use this product on the small jobs, as well as the difference between cement and concrete..
40. Pursued vigorously : RAN AFTER.
43. Homo sapiens relatives : APES. Do you like the re-imagination of the Planet of the Apes movies?
45. 63-Across alternative : FAX.
(space left intentionally blank)
48. Small wading bird : PLOVER.
49. State of matter : PLASMA.
52. Constitutional : WALK.
53. Strong farm team : OXEN.
54. Overhaul : REDO.
55. Gift from Prometheus : FIRE. Prometheus (/prəˈmiːθiəs/ prə-MEE-thee-əs; Greek: Προμηθεύς [promɛːtʰeús], meaning "forethought") is a Titan in Greek mythology, best known as the deity in Greek mythology who was the creator of mankind and its greatest benefactor, who stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to mankind. wiki.
56. Beginning : AS OF.
57. Play polo, say : RIDE.
59. Relax : LAZE.
60. Word that can replace "your" : ONES. I hear that use with "opinions."
A different offering, with lots of JW's wit on display. I am curious how those who don't like themes which are hard to grasp will react to this effort. I had fun, hope you all did. I think of crosswords as entertainment. L'shanah tovah -Happy New Year to those who celebrate the coming of year 5778. Lemonade out.
Here is the latest picture of Lemonade's cute grand-kids at the grocery store:
Harper, Owen and Charlotte
56 comments:
Can't quite put my finger on in it,
but I liked this theme:-)
Hi Y'all! Doggone funny theme & puzzle, Jeffrey! Great expo, Lemonade!
BELLY RUB isn't the only other entry pertaining to dogs. RUN AFTER is also a game dogs play with you that you won't win unless they let you.
Did anyone notice this is a Pangram?
Last to fill was the "Z" in LAZE/MAZE cross because my brain was in a LAZE and failed to get out of the MAZE of words.
Forgot REEBOK was a subsidiary of ADIDAS. I have a new pair of the latter.
News article intro = LEDE? Really? I wrote many of them in my 20 years of newspaper work and never saw this word anywhere. Of course, we weren't very sophisticated out in the boonies. A lead paragraph is pretty much a summary of the article that students would put at the end of an essay. In a sea of newsprint, it goes first to grab the attention of SCANning readers who think they have better things to do than read the whole paper. (LAZy buggers!)
Lemonade: cute picture of your grandkids. Looks like my trips to the grocery after my third child & first son was born. Precious little space left for groceries.
JW knows a theme that will wag your tail Manac. Good to see you. Now we wait to see if CED appears.
PK thank you for pointing out the pangram. Flew right by me.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This puzzle was no DOG! Fun puns.
LEDE is a new word for me.
Padua is a beautiful hidden gem in Italy.
There are several species of PLOVER in Louisiana. Their nesting habits must be taken into consideration as the State tries its coastal restoration efforts.
Mark from the other day: "That's what the perps are for" means that the answer will filled by all the intersecting or perpendicular clues and answers.
Cute grandchildren, Lemon.
QOD: I’d like to be just a little bit more open to making mistakes and not worrying about it so much. Joan Jett (b. Sept. 22, 1958)
Good morning!
Once my Petrel morphed into a PLOVER, this one was finished. I liked it. Even got the theme! Thanx, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
So what's the significance of 5778...what happened that many years ago?
I've heard of "burying the lead," but I've never seen it spelled LEDE. Apparently it's a news thing, but is it a new thing?
Had "lede" from the perps for a long time, kept trying to find the error in my perps. Gave up and left it.
Fun puzzle. It took awhile to get started, but then it moved along apace.
My grandson has trouble writing, but can talk cogently in detail about the very same subject. He is better at ORALS.
We had a great deal of writing in college, grad and undergrad levels: essays, term papers and tests. I loved it. We had a test that consisted of one question to be answered at great length in one hour.
Our Master's degree test consisted of answering 3 out of 4 given questions at great length, citing names, dates, evidence, etc.in three hours. The questions could be on any topic from the entire masters program.
TESSA and ERIK were guesses and perps.
Bob, me too.I was sure news article LEDE was spelled LEAD, but I let LEDE stand. Lemon, your article was interesting. The spelling seems to have come from the 70's. I have seen LEAD in writing in this sense, but not LEDE.
One day this week I mentioned that my science education is now obsolete. PLASMA as a state of matter was not taught in those days.
We have another scan this afternoon, visits to two different doctors early next week, and we are awaiting results from blood cultures ordered by a third doctor. Thank goodness for Medicaid.
Still not understanding two of these:
20A: Setup provider's abbr. = BYOB. I understand BYOB; what is a "setup provider"?
41A: All in = BEAT. OK, so if "all in" doesn't refer to poker here, what *does* it mean?
Good morning everyone.
Agree with Lemon's comments about JW. I enjoyed this puzzle although I was flummoxed with the top half, at first. The bottom was relatively easy and helped me grok the theme early on which was helpful at the top. LEDE was a learning. TESSA and TOM JONES were WAGS, but ORALS and MINUS seemed right. After guessing at ANNE for PR, the NW was done.
Thanks to JW for a challenging puzzle that pushed me just right to my solving limits.
Good Morning:
I like all of JW's creations but this one I absolutely love! All of the themers were cute but my favorite was "Yipper Snapper." I actually laughed out loud when I filled that in. Big CSO to Misty's Dusty at Belly Rub. I knew Lede as I have seen it used often but I went astray by misreading A way to lean as learn and had Rote before Back, for awhile. Liked seeing Apes and Kong together. Constitutional=Walk was an Aha moment and like, Lemony, my favorite was Member of the underground economy=Miner.
Thank you, Jeffrey W, for "putting on the dog" in the best way possible and thanks, Lemony, for being such a good guide! Great photo of the three grands!
Have a great day.
For Anon at 8:13:
20A: Setup provider's abbr. = BYOB. I understand BYOB; what is a "setup provider"?
-- Set up as in soft drinks as an ingredient for cocktails. So, a host, say, who provides set ups may ask his guests to BYOB.
41A: All in = BEAT. OK, so if "all in" doesn't refer to poker here, what *does* it mean?
-- All in as in "tired". So, beat. "I'm all in" = "I'm tuckered out".
For desper-otto:
So what's the significance of 5778...what happened that many years ago?
-- Biblically speaking, the creation of the world. (Genesis, "Let there be light", etc.)
ALL In and BEAT can both mean exhausted, extremely tired. After running two miles he was all in. He was beat.
BYOB and we will provide the setups, i.e. ice and mixers like soda water, tonic, ginger ale, etc.
Barry T.: Thank you for your takes on "setup" and "all in", but I'd have to say that neither of those seem in the language to me - too obscure for my taste. YMMV.
AFTER the first pass on this puzzle, my first thought was I'M NOT READY. Hard clues and unknowns combined with an inconsistent letter change. Wow. NW- I had REEBOK because TAYLOR-MADE wouldn't fit. NE- I had KONG & ACAI because I haven't been able to do a CHIN-up in at least 40 years. I'm no YIPPER SNAPPER, so ROY was a gimme.
But I gradually made my way, filling it in and made a WAG at the cross of WALK and LEDE (which I'd never heard of) to finish the puzzle in less than record time, and after seeing your LINK, hopes it goes away. I had in mind some other four letter word for "Constitutional" but I don't think it would be allowed.
The cross of TESSA & ERIK was just a WAG as both were unknowns. Never seen either the 'Phantom' or 'Westworld'(even the one with Yul Brenner).
Even though I have a multi-function laser printer with a flat-bed SCANner, not all printers have a SCAN option.
QUICKSET- I used some this summer to help a neighbor with three fence posts, but I didn't even know it existed before then.
ARLO faded because he was hungry; he just went to eat at Alice's.
Anon@8:13---BYOB or BYOL means bring your own booze, usually to a dance in a place that does not have a liquor license. They provide the 'set ups'- cokes, 7up, tonic water, & ice.
Thank you, JW! I have ambivalent feelings about this puzzle because though I like dogs and prefer them to cats (sorry cat lovers) they often rudely interrupt my sleep and violent feelings about them arise. Excellent puzzle, though.
ANNE, the Princess Royal, started me on this sojourn and the entire western end filled quickly. With YIPPER SNAPPER the bottom also came alive. Thank you for enlightening us on LEDE. It looked wrong but the surrounding words solidly backed it.
I really liked the clue for MINER. All in commonly refers to being tired so BEAT made sense.
Yea! TOM JONES. What a voice when he SANG and what a hunk he was at the time.
Thank you, Lemonade. I appreciate all your efforts and learn from you.
Have a fabulous day, everyone!
Obscure all depends on what is in your wheelhouse. Obscure is in the eye of the beholder . Around here we say, "I'm beat," or "I'm all in," frequently. Hmmm. It sounds like we are always tired. LOL
Some of our organizations sponsor dinners where the meal and the setups are included in the price of admission, but no alcohol is provided. BYOB.
In restaurants here, BYOB mostly refers to wine. Stemware and ice buckets are provided.
The latest on Arlo -
Arlo mostly tours with other musicians, including various members of his extended family, with rich collaborations and lively sing-alongs.
In 2017 Arlo will happily perform Alice in honor of the anniversary, with tour dates in Wilmington, Princeton, Newark and New York City's Carnegie Hall. He also has a tour booked for 2018.
These days, Arlo splits his time between his family's home in western Massachusetts and a second home in Florida. His Guthrie Center is in the church celebrated in the song, and from there the Guthrie tradition of community outreach and social justice continues.
Musings
-LEDE for the win. Yay me! A fun Jeff Wex Friday exercise!
-I know only Harry and the author JK and so I was good here
-LAIN and WHOM are two words that can make you sound pretentious
-No ECHO here
-Recently I caught myself before I said “TO GO” at the McDonald’s Drive Thru
-Ah, another vestige of my yute! (:26)
-A favorite saying around here is, “ALL IN but your shoelaces”
-The weight on each AXLE measured at a weigh station
-Cornfield MAZES abound around here this time of year
-Beware of saying, “C’mon take a STAB at old I am!”
-We don’t argue about getting ready, I just wait in the car
-The BBC version of Murder On The Orient Express is the only episode that emphasized Poirot’s (Suchet) dogmatic Catholic faith. It shocked me and it was off-putting to many critics
-My copier, fax machine and camera all reside in my iPhone
Worthy Friday puzzle and I got it but still not a theme fan. Good write up by Lemon as per usual. Where I am, byob often refers to wine or beer and the facility provides glasses, corkage, etc. Lede - learning moment. Several unknowns - thanks perps. Hot as blazes here. Have a great Friday everyone!
JB2
Greetings to all!
Thanks, JW, for the punny puzzle. My first thought was that it was an "Add a Letter" gimmick after getting JK GROWLING. But no, just a lot of cleverly twisted phrases resulting in dog sounds. Hand up for not knowing TESSA Thompson or LEDE. "Member of the underground economy?" for MINER was my favorite clue, as well. Thanks for a great write-up and interesting/entertaining links, Lemonade.
Enjoy the day!
Like IM, I read the clue word "learning" and had to erase rote. Big E - I knew about Quikrete, but didn't know about the variety that doesn't require mixing - just dump it in the hole and pour in water - until I set a pole at my Atlanta house.
As a lifelong dog lover I LOVED today's puzzle. You should have seen my tail wagging when I FIR. This is my third or fourth FIR of a JW puzzle, which I hope means I'm still getting better at this crossword thing. I should stop thinking of it as a rare accomplishment and start thinking "of course I finished it right".
I'm testing for another project management certification tomorrow, so I'll print the puzzle and save it for some future slack time.
Thanks to Jeffrey and Lemonaide for a great Friday.
Really enjoyed the puzzle.................
Hi guys & gals
Thought I'd stop by after a year or so on the road. This seemed much easier than Fridays of yore.
• As a Brit, even I hesitated for a moment over whether Anne or Kate was the Princess Royal, before the coffee kicked in. But then Kate did show up later, albeit clued as a different Royal.
• This is the first time in history that there are 3 generations "waiting in line" for succession. Incidentally, the gender (male) succession law has recently been abandoned, but it only applies to children born after 2011. So Kate's daughter, Charlotte, will hold her position, currently 4th in line, for quite a while, even if Kate has more sons (she will lose ground only when/if her older brother, George, has children of his own). Fascinating, I know.
• FYI PLASMA is the 4th state of matter, recently defined, comprising hot ionized particles distinct from ordinary gases. It comprises 99% of the KNOWN universe.
• And after spending all of those billions of dollars (and Euros) building particle colliders, physicists recently admitted that they had only been studying 10% of the known universe - the other 90% comprises DARK matter and energy about which they know nothing. So they have some explaining to do.... .
• All this means is that the solids, liquids and gases familiar to us that make up the planets, stars, and our bodies, comprise 0.1% of the universe. So we were born of the 0.1% ! How did we fall so far? .
• And indeed, Homo sapiens ARE APES , famously ones NAKED ones.
Bottoms up!
NC
Loved, loved this puzzle! Enjoyed all of the doggy puns, and even my former cat Felix was in it!
Got nervous over LEDE, but went with it, and it all worked out in the end.
I appreciate all of Mr. Wechsler's creations! Thank you so much for a fun solve.
Lemonade,
I'm curious to know why you thought we would "not see the humor" in this grid, and why you felt some of us would "excoriat(e) the constructor" due to the cluing.
I also find your justifying comment "I think of crosswords as entertainment" puzzling. Do you think we do not?
No Comment...
Hi everybody. I enjoyed this too. The fill was fun, some of which I'd never seen in a puzzle before. (LEDE was new to me.) Also I liked the clever little wordplay in the themers.
Our bedroom window faces due east. At today's equinox, the sun rose due east, perpendicular to the plane of the wall, whereas in the middle of winter, the sun rises far around to the right (SE) and far to the left (NE) in the middle of summer.
LEDE must be a northeastern word invention if IM is the only one who has heard of it.
Nice Cuppa: welcome back. Someone was asking about you recently. Interesting about the Royalty.
Manac: also welcome back.
PK, see Lemonade's Link for LEDE in his original post.
I worked a Jeff Wex puzzle. I kept at it because of the dog theme, but needed lots of peeks at the grid. Thanks, JW. I needed your help, Lemonade. Thanks for the aid.
1a todo/STIR, so my 3d was don't rush me. That took a while to clean up. In the southeast I had copy/SCAN, OurS/ONES so that was another mess that needed help to clean up.
DH and I are in a Couples Euchre group that meets once a month. The email reminder says that each couple brings an appetizer to share, and if you want alcohol, BYOB. The host/hostess will provide dessert and SET UPS.
Jayce: FLN, I hope the Tylenol helps with the gout and arthritis.
Cute grands, Lemonade!
Happy first day of Fall!
BELLY RUBbing my 3 guys today.
It's Friday morn, and I needed to distract them from yowling while the gardener ran his way-too-noisy machinery. (Isn't it the little ones who raise the biggest racket? Our Golden lady stays cool & poised while the juvie bad boys, the Yorkie & Chihuahua, blow their stacks!)
A happy JW Day! Mr. Wechsler's pzls can be daunting but are always well crafted. As usual I feared I'd need a couple of cheats at least, but P+P prevailed. When I reached my Ta- DA! point w/o a single verboten peek, I was worried about one thing only before signing on to the Corner.
Yep, you guessed it: LEDE.
Never having worked on a paper, this bizarro spelling was unknown to me (and, it seems, to PK @6:13, who has had years of news experience!).
I used to write press releases for my undergrad school's arts division, and I thought I was in-the-know & super cool that I ended each piece with "-30-" from the old journeyman writer's phrase, "That's thirty!" But beyond that I ne'er had ventured. So before reading Lemonade's explanatory link I told myself there was maybe a one-in-a-thousand chance that there would be some weird justification for LEDE, and I would be OK.
But I didn't really believe myself. And then - Lo! LOL.
Well, a Friday Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle is bound to be a toughie, and this one sure was. At first I got less than half and was ready to give up, but kept at it. In the end I thought I might actually have gotten the whole thing with just one cheat, but was surprised to find I goofed up a letter here and there, so not as great as it might have been. But with that delightful doggie theme, no complaints whatsoever. So, many thanks, Jeffrey, for a challenging and very fun Friday morning! And thank you, Lemonade, as always, for a great expo.
Irish Miss, Dusty thanks you not only for all the BELLYRUBs you've sent him, but for giving him a little shout-out this morning!
Nice to see some new names this morning: welcome, Manac, Bob Niles, LACW Addict, and, welcome back, Nice Cuppa!
I'm heading off to my 55th High School reunion in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and this morning found a bunch of e-mails from high school friends suggesting get-togethers. Hope it won't be too cold and that we'll all have a good time. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the worst dressed in the group, but hey, I'm over 70, who cares.
Have a great day, everybody!
I did it! I finished a Jeffrey Wechsler ...and on a Friday!! Of course it took me all morning to get it done, but I did it! And what a treat it was. Well worth the struggle! I Ioved punny themes. WORKS OF ARF was the first to fall but my favorite was BARKING METERS.
And the rest was just as delightful. MINERS was a belly laugh. One way to lean for BACK seemed so obvious ....after I got it. But that's the beauty of JW's wit. It's all so beautiful....afterward. Thanks, Lemon, for 'splaining it. And L'shanah Tovah to you,too.
Just thought of another favorite clue. - for MINUS. Of course! Why did it take half the day to dawn on me?
I'm enjoying the discussion over LEDE. Lemonade's link explains it completely . I was submitting copy in the "hot lead" era and it was just a way to distinguish between the first paragraph and the type setting (lead pronounced "led" and lead pronounced "lede." ) I never thought of it as journalistic snobbery. We also abbreviated "headline" as HED. I have no idea why! When the story was ready to be typeset but had no headline, it was marked, HTK for "hed to kum." Just a shorthand.
All this faded with the demise of hot lead type as computers took over publishing.
Fun puzzle and cute doggie stuff. I agree that JW's puzzles are always well crafted. Hand up for doing a double-take on LEDE. When I saw the clue referencing Hogwarts, I thought, "Oh jeez, another damn Harry Potter clue," but then laughed out loud when I got JK GROWLING. The rest was uphill from there. Didn't think of PLASMA at first, and entered LIQUID, which, of course, threw a monkey wrench into that area for too long. Also had KATE at 17a at first, but later the shrew KATE showed me I was in error there. That, plus TODO at 1a messed me up for a while. And PHYSICS didn't fit at 14a.
Nice Cuppa and Manac, good to see you again!
My wife and I like dogs, and she often goes to the nearby dog park to VISIT the people and dogs there. There is one dog, a gorgeous Weimaraner, that we both are fond of, and he has learned he'll get a nice BELLY RUB from my wife if he rolls over.
Interesting about your bedroom window, Bill G. I sometimes joke that an Equinox is what you get when you breed a horse with an ox. Yeah, silly, I know.
Yanno, if dogs barking at night would only bark in a perfectly timed cadence, a rhythm, I might be able to sleep, maybe even be lulled to sleep, but their barking is always random and arrhythmic, which is what keeps me awake.
Tom Jones sure could sing!
Didn't realize that Christine and Erik were characters in The Phantom of the Opera. After reading Lemonade's write-up I still didn't. By the way, didja ever notice most of Andrew Lloyd Webber's works really have only one or two good songs in them (and are otherwise not worth watching or listening to)? The only work of his I can think of that had many good songs was Jesus Christ Superstar.
This dotard shall now sign off and wish you all a good day.
Hi All!
I could not get a toe-hold outside of the NE and SE. I googled TESSA and ANNE; apparently they were the Rosetta Stone(s); I could crack JW's cluing from there and finish the grid.
It's not that I didn't think of STAB, but also thought "go at." There were just so many possible "stretches" for c/a's that I needed a solid. Even GIF coulda been PNG.
And, to finally finish --- Google the PLOVER...; OK, it's not Anew @56d.
Thanks JW for a giggly puzzle. Once I figured out 'twasn't an "add a letter" puzzle I groked the wordplay. Fav YIPPER SNAPPER; got it with just the Y.
Thanks Lem for the expo and link to LEDE. DW, The Dr. of English used "buried the 'lead'" the other day in a Harvey response critique. I sent her the link so she gets learnt too :-)
Berry T (and YR too!) - thanks for the Setup/BYOB 'splainin'
Manac & Cuppa! Good to see you both back today!
Jayce - LOL! We now know who you secretly are; Stop with the Rockets, Man.
Play later. Cheers, -T
BYOB ... my favorite answer of the year.
Thanks Lemon for explaining my D-N-F.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Cheers!
LEDE seemed vaguely familiar to me without any knowledge of the meaning. Otherwise I would have burned the puzzle alive. Very entertaining and challenging solve today. I don’t think Petrels wade; rather, they hover with their feet touching the water. Hence they are named for Saint Peter, who saw Jesus walk on water. Nice photo of a Piping Plover; I heard from my surf fishing buddies that they taste like chicken.
Let's not overlook that in keeping with the puzzle theme there's been much talk of "Barking dog" lately.
Just sayin....
JK Growling?
Well, what do you know, There is a barking meter...
Although, be careful when approaching a dog with a meter...
YipperSnapper?
A work of Arf...
& here he is in action!
Swamp Cat: a member of the tribe? hadassah?
Today was like quicksand...but PLOVER threw me a life line. Favorite clue was 20A: "setup providers abbr.". Could be regional...I'm from the Cincinnati area and most party invitations read, "snacks and setups provided". Thanks for bringing back some memories. Took me longer than usual, but that just means the fun lasted longer..
With Stephen King on my mind from an earlier puzzle this week, I was thinking "Christine" was a reference to a phantom car.
Two "dotard" references would seem to exceed the normal usage of the word for a single day.
Jayce was the first to jump in, using it in a gentle self-effacing manner in his valediction. Then along comes "Dotard in waiting" @ 3:43, and I wonder what's behind the spike in popularity.
Could it be that its presence in today's news cycle hath inspired our colleagues to return the word to regular employment?
We all love a good word!
Sorry if I was not explicit enough in discussing Christine and Erik. My write-up was intended to be tongue in cheek in places...ah well, I will leave the humor to JW and CED with his links.
Glad to see you NC, hope your travels have been productive. CW Addict, welcome. Bob Miles thanks for stopping by.
Manac and Cuppa:
Welcome back! It's so good to see you both.
Jayce:
LOL at equinox joke.
CED:
Only one of your links opened, Yipper Snapper. All the rest were blank pages.
I thought this tough, my grid was a blizzard of white spaces after the first pass. Just kept at it. FINALLY got the solve.
Not a theme fan, this didn’t help, as puns in themes are even worse. IMHO.
Hmm, Lucina, all of CED's links opened for me.
Lemonade,
I'm the Anonymous from 11:44 AM.
I am disappointed you did not answer my questions. What I really wanted to know was what you saw in the clues that made you think we all would "excoriate" Jeff. Did I miss something?
Happy New Year!
Gladly. Frank, I was not being serious. There are times many of the comments seem to me to be so out of proportion with what we are doing here. I have seen direct attacks against constructors and editors. Many of these relate to the themes. Many relate to puns and other forms of humor. They are not nice, nor constructive criticism. Since Jeffrey created an unconventional theme/puzzle, I thought I would have fun with my own unconventional write-up.
This led to my final comment about having fun.
Hahtoolah, I taught nursery school at JCC for years ( you never really recover! ) and I have grandchildren who are members of the tribe. I, alas, am not.
Lemon, your humor and fun are greatly appreciated!! Jeffrey is a master!! And anyone who attacks our constructors doesn't understand why we are here.
LEDE got me. Someone (Jayce?) said " If it seems wrong it probably is wrong". QUICKSDP was obviously wrong. REAO also.
I'm such a DOTARD.
Did anyone think of MATE before MAZE?
Misty, my 55th is next weekend up in Boston, near NATICK btw. Have a great time with the class of '62.
I may not go. As evinced* by three FIW's in a row I'm not 100%.
This was a great xword: humor, clever cluing.. Right on top of CC's tour de force. What's on tap for Saturday: The return of Jeremy Lin( shudder)
Lemonade: always great write-ups. Jeff missed Archie Goodwin's detective boss?
NERO WOOF
IM, I seem to be exactly on your solving and commenting page. Except, you're NO Dotard.
I wonder if The DIC does xwords?
Fear not. Despite Owen and C-Moe taking the day off there'll be no Wilbur verse.
WC
Okay. I saw the disappointed looks
A bright idea STIRed the Shelter's staff
No more Hi-test for FELIX. Just DECAF
We'll cut back the howling
No more alley prowling
And less of that maniacal laugh
Wilburforce Charlesley
Wilbur, have a great 55th reunion in Boston. My computer heated up today and may be on its way out--so if you all don't hear from me for a while, it may be a combination of computer crisis and college reunion. Am keeping my fingers crossed I can still check in before I leave.
If I wasn't such a slow reader 64a wouldn't have given me such pause...
I'm reading "Who Thought this Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When you Work in The White House" by Alyssa Mastromonaco w/ Lauren Oyler. Why? I donno... Probably heard it on Terry Gross' Fresh Air and Amazon One-Click is too easy...
Anyway, p. 203: "To add insult to injury [...] my becoming a contributing editor at Marie Claire was the LEDE - and she [...]"
Synchronicity...
-T
Hand up for the LEDE learning moment. I, too, worked as a reporter for quite a few years and never saw this spelling of LEAD. After finishing the puzzle I Googled it and got the exact same article Lemonade showed us.
In high school industrial arts in the 70s we had to learn to print with movable LEAD type. But that era ended soon after.
TESSA unknown, but quite a beauty indeed.
I am very averse to any unnecessary noise, so the theme was a bit painful to think about. But it was amusing. I got it right away with BARKING METERS with only a few fills at that point.
ERIC unknown, so the first bit of JC GROWLING looked questionable.
Never heard ASSORT used that way. The dictionary lists it as an archaic usage.
Agree with Big Easy regarding printer functions. I always buy the right tool for each job. I was mystified by the concept of printer functions other than printing. I realize that most people take photos now with a tea kettle or a telephone or some such unrelated object. I will stick with using the right tool for the right job.
Hand up with Anonymous that "Setup provider" is utterly unknown. BYOB filled w ESP.
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