What a prescient title to our latest puzzle from a friend of the blog - Mark McClain. Mark is one of the many champions of those who want to create crossword puzzles, like our own C.C. and Jeff Chen. He publishes(d?) a blog discussing puzzling - Mark's Blog. As you can see he refers people to facebook collaborative group Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory I applaud this effort and all the help the community gives newcomers.
I, meanwhile, have been off the team all week as I recover from a health issue which when I finally sat down to solve and write this blog did not slow me down. As you see, the letters IR are inserted into various phrases to create new an entertaining fill (the IRs). This is not a typical Friday with no long fill outside of the theme which allowed me to complete in a very reasonable time. The sparkliest others are DAPPER, OTTAWA, PRONTO, WEEDED, MILDEST and the fun NICE DOG. But the theme fits nicely.
20A. Deity worshiped by backyard chefs?: BARBECUE SPIRIT (13). BARBECUE SPIT. Not to be religious, but ancient cultures probably did.
36A. 7-10 split, to a bowler?: IRKING PINS (10). KING PINS. This is all Boomer and TTP.
44A. Distiller Walker's treatise about a whisky grain?: HIRAM ON RYE (10). HAM ON RYE. This may be the hardest of the theme fill as I am not sure how many know HIRAM WALKER the Massachusetts born founder of Canadian whisky brand Canadian Club and so much more. I am sure this was a gimme for Canadian Eh! and our Michigan solvers. It is also the most fun for me.
54A. Hester Prynne's trademark milk-producing farm?: RED LETTER DAIRY (13). RED LETTER DAY. The heroine (?) of the SCARLET LETTER bought a dairy farm- maybe? I reread the book a few years ago, meh.
The reveal:
65D. April 15 org., or, as a plural, a hint to four long puzzle answers: IRS (3).The puzzle would have especially great on 4-15.
On to the rest...
Across:
1. Crossed the mob, in a way: SANG. Sammy "the Bull" Gravano? BETRAY
5. Insignificant points: NITS. A Crossword Shout Out to all the commenters who focus on the minutiae.
9. When repeated, Second British Invasion band: DURAN. Their most famous song...
14. Second person of old?: THOU. Cute.
15. "No problems here": I'M OK. Or at least getting there.
16. "... the __ of defeat": "Wide World of Sports" phrase: AGONY. The skier's name is Vinko Bogataj.
17. Steaming flow: LAVA. Sadly my first thought was completely inappropriate.
18. Casual eatery: CAFE. A quick reappearance.
19. One spun by a juggler: PLATE. Apparently, it is an ART.
23. July 4th show failure: DUD. The term descends from the Middle English dudde, originally meaning worn-out or ragged clothing, and is a cognate of duds (i.e., "clothing") and dowdy. Eventually dud became a general pejorative for something useless, including ammunition or firecrackers. Wiki.
24. Attach, in a way: TIE.
25. NFL scores: FGS. Field Goals.
28. Underground support: ROOT. Not politics, trees.
31. "ASAP!": PRONTO. Italian pronto means ready; Spanish pronto means soon.
39. Exploring toon: DORA. The Nickelodeon cartoon is now a live-action MOVIE.
40. Conceals: VEILS. Such as threats from mob bosses.
41. Support for driving and kicking: TEE. Golf and football in one clue.
42. Flying toys: KITES. Do you think of them as toys?
43. Dumbo's flying aids: EARS. Another live-action version of a famous cartoon character. LINK.
46. Home of the Senators: OTTAWA. A red-letter day for our Canadian players and a hockey reference.
48. Ruckus: STIR.
49. Double curve: ESS. Sounds like golfer Ernie...
50. Two-time U.S. Open champ: ELS.
52. Played the first card: LED.
62. So it could be heard: ALOUD.
63. Where I-90 and I-79 meet: ERIE. How many CSOs do they get?
64. Rock's Bon __: JOVI. The New Jersey band fronted by JON BON JOVI. All you need to know. LINK.
66. Fire sign: SMOKE. Where there is...
67. With 68-Across, words before "easy": EGGS. So much cutesy cross-referencing coming up.
68. See 67- or 69-Across: OVER.
69. With 68-Across, studied: PORED.
70. Army installation: POST.
71. Loch with a legend: NESS.
Down:
1. Baseball Cards: Abbr.: STL.
2. Melville captain: AHAB. Arrgh, ahoy Moby Dick is back.
3. 1960s-'80s Chevy: NOVA. MYTH busted.
4. Bank employee: GUARD.
5. Words to a growler: NICE DOG. I usually make it doggie.
6. Apple on a desk: iMAC.
7. Vegan staple: TOFU. Not for me.
8. Sport with disks: SKEET. Shoot, I should have thought of that.
9. Togged out: DAPPER. So cute next to...
10. Not-cute fruit: UGLI.
11. Large chorus of cheers: ROAR. This reminds me of a very famous PLAY on words.
12. Opposition prefix: ANTI.
13. Duma "Don't think so!": NYET. This is a legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia and of some other republics of the former Soviet Union.
21. Uses for warmth, as wood: BURNS.
22. Dainty drinks: SIPS.
25. Cops as a unit: FIVE-O. It is actually 5-0 which comes from the TV show Hawaii 5-0 which was a cop show in the 1970s brought back to life and just started its 10th season.
26. Marvelous: GREAT.
27. Get around: SKIRT.
29. Eye-related prefix: OPTI. Did I mention my recent sub-conjunctival hemorrhage?
30. Layers: TIERS.
32. Father of Thor: ODIN.
33. French possessive: NOTRE. Damn, that was easy.
34. Low cards: TREYS. Threes.
35. Relief providers: OASES. Not just Tug McGraw
37. To whom Rick says, "We'll always have Paris": ILSA. Or a lion.
38. Orderly: NEAT.
42. Divided land: KOREA.
44. Put a stop to: HALT.
45. Least spicy: MILDEST. The version Oo prepares for me. Not mild, just in comparison to the 5 alarm version she eats.
47. Tidied the garden: WEEDED. What a sweet image.
51. A lot to pay: STEEP.
53. Tangy mustard: DIJON.
54. Filing tool: RASP.
55. Dagwood neighbor: ELMO.
56. Saloon __: DOOR. This is really random, though it is a type of Door. But WHY?
57. Third of four canonical gospels: LUKE. You can read about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John HERE but discuss them and all serious religious topics elsewhere according to the Canon of Zhouqin. Odd to see it so soon after the Coptic Gospels.
58. Thus: ERGO.
59. Fixes on the sly: RIGS. On the sly?
60. Wander: ROVE. I will not fall into the Karl trap.
61. Part of YSL: YVES. Saint-Laurent.
It is really cool to blog a puzzle by Mark as I had the pleasure of his first published PUZZLE which was exactly 5 years and one day ago. He ingratiated himself immediately with me by stopping by and telling us about himself. I always have fun and he is a good guy as well. Lemonade out.
34 comments:
FIRight, but center W nearly did me in. I didn't know if 25a was PTS or TDS, sEEDED instead of WEEDED had me trying to fit Washington DC into ___ASA. and since all other IRs were internal, I had FIRING PINS. A bowler would sure call 7-10 F-ING PINS! FIVE-O was unfair, since it only refers to one specific group of cops.
In other areas where perps cleared things up, wanted JOHNNY, didn't remember HIRAM, fOrT>POST, plieS>TIERS, duceS>TREYS.
The Anon SANG of NITS he found,
Caused AGONY to those around.
He doesn't get
The use of a nit
Is people just like him to confound!
All TOGGED OUT, he looked so DAPPER,
With formal DUDS as a wrapper!
Windsor TIE,
Looking sly --
But his TEE-shirt said, "I'm a Rapper!"
{B+, B+.}
FIR, but erased hides for VEILS and start for SKIRT.
CSO to big easy at ELS, and to C-Eh! at OTTAWA. Hockey season has started! After the Capitals gave up two quick goals in their opener against STL I turned off the TV to read. Found out the Caps won in overtime. Doh!
Anyone else a fan of Firesign Theatre? Hadn't thought of them for years, but they were funny in the day.
I mentioned my landyacht yesterday. In the desert you usually get a lot of wind or none at all. My buddy and I would bring our shotguns and a clay pigeon (SKEET) thrower for the days when the wind was too light to sail. Some folks with more money brought gliders and launched them behind a car. No wind and plenty of sunshine creates great thermals, allowing those folks to soar on high.
Thanks to Mark for the easy-for-Friday puzzle. And thanks to Lemonade for the fun tour. I knew that there must be a crossword creator word resource somewhere, because it is so common for an unusual word to appear here and on other sources at nearly the same time.
Good morning!
Nope, not IRate at all. Liked it, and finished in good time, even with the side trips: FORT/POST, TDS/FGS. STIFF/STEEP. Got the theme early with BARBECUE SPIRITS. But non-theme SKIRT and STIR detract from the purity. First thought was Johnnie rather than Hiram. Thanx for the outing Mark, and for serving while ocularly challenged, Lemonade.
NICE DOG: On my M-o-W routes my standard line is, "Wanna treat?" I always carry a pocketful.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I must have been on the right wavelength for today's puzzle as I pretty much sped through it.
My favorite clue was Second Person of Old = THOU.
I initially thought that the Fire Sign might have something to do with the zodiac.
We saw many very heavily-armed GUARDS at banks (and occasionally churches) in Italy. Considering how difficult it is to get into a bank, I was surprised to see all the guards standing outside the banks. It seems near impossible to execute a bank robbery. To get into a bank, one has to press a button that opens a door to a small chamber. The door closes behind you and you have to press another button to have the bank open the chamber to allow you into the lobby. Only one person can enter at a time. Leaving the bank follows the same procedure. Thus, it takes several minutes to both enter and exit the bank.
QOD: The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn. ~ Alvin Toffler (Oct. 4, 1928 ~ June 27, 2016), American writer and futurist
OKL, 5-0 has been adopted into the language to refer to all police forces. You see it on every police procedural TV show.
Jinx, there are many resources available for constructors and bloggers. I loved FIRESIGN THEATER and especially NICK DANGER.
I forgot to wish you all a very happy 10-4 made popular by BRODERICK CRAWFORD
Yes, if gamblers RIG a game, they fix it on the sly. Otherwise REAL unpleasantries, if not arrests, ensue.
Firesign Theaters The Winning of the West was a different take on How the West Was Won.
Easy add-two-letters puzzle. I quickly had SPIRIT and HIRAM which speeded me along, except for the middle west coast section. When I realized that IR was at the beginning, it gave me skirt and enough perps to finish. I was looking for a general answer to police as a unit. Now Lemonade tells us 5-O is general.
I think it was the Gnostic Gospels rather than the Coptic Gospels. Then, there are the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and LUKE, which describe events from a similar point of view, as contrasted with that of John.
Mark, very enjoyable puzzle. Lemonade, very informative. I especially liked the saloon door article.
I didn't even notice the IR in SKIRT and STIR. Things like that usually don't bother me.
I didn't know Ottawa, but ----WA suggested it. I didn't stop to think that OTTAWA has a senate, too.
I don't know of Firesign Theater, but I was a weekly fan of Fireside Theater in the 50's.
I watched Dora the Explorer in its early days with my toddler grandson who is now 21 and a student at Villanova.How time flies. Dora is still going strong.
Good morning. It took a while to realize what was going on. Mark VEILS the IRKING "IR" today. But the puzzle definitely was not a DUD. Filled BARBECUE SPIRIT (BBQ or BAR-B-QUE OR BAR-B-Q- like kebab, kabab, kebob, kabob-too many ways to spell it) without noticing the IR inserted.
BBQ-SPIRIT for me? A few cold ones.
The extreme west gave me fits. STL was filled before the V8 moment hit me. Couldn't think of FIVE-O due to waffling between TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome?) & FGS. IRK & VEILS were the last fills. I'm sure Boomer has groaned on many 7-10 splits. And the SW wasn't helping as I was stuck oh HERB Woodley before ELMO showed up as Dagwood's nap waking pest. Had to change FORT to POST- my only write over.
A great puzzle by Mark and a rare one for me- no unknowns.
Musings
-Subbing in shop today and he has no pencils. Using ink made for a nightmare in SW corner where I wanted SCARLET somewhere, TDS and Dagwood’s neighbor HERB.
-Loved the gimmick and Mark’s double use of OVER (EASY and PORED)
-Johnny Walker also makes whiskey
-1927 produced THOU Swell from Rodgers and Hart and S’Wonderful, S’Marvelous from the Gershwin brothers. Oh yeah, the Babe hit 60 HR’s and Lindy landed at Le Bourget that year too!
-A CAFÉ in this small town had a sign on the door that it is out of business when I drove by it today
-Dumbo and the Senators are both in a circus
-One of your worst bank GUARDS
-ROAR reminds me of an old joke about a guy who only had one line about a cannon in a play
-We do not WEED the garden, we Preen® it
-Doh! Fixes on the sly, not sky! Chicanery not navigation
Good morning everyone.
Luckily I FIR. But it was an elegant puzzle with a neat theme and nifty cluing with some very clever mis-directions. For example, the clues for FIVE-O, THOU, OTTAWA, and even ERIE. But I must have been on Mark's wave length today, because it all came together nicely.
ERIE - From where 79 TEEs into 90 I have driven south to Pittsburgh and west to Iowa and Wisconsin. CSO to Abejo.
While I like DIJON, my favorite mustard is Plochman's. I think it's a Chicago style.
EGGS - I don't order OVER easy because I don't like runny yolks. I make mine sunny side up but fried under a cover. Just a hint of softness in the center.
Thanks Lemon for another fine lead-in.
Musings
-Is it just a coincidence that I mentioned Niagara Falls and the Baseball Hall of Fame were on my bucket list yesterday morning and then I received info about this trip in the afternoon?
Had I not been Asleep at the Wheel I woudl probably have remembered to link their version of The Letter That Johnny Walker Read.
Good Morning:
This was an easier than usual Friday solve, probably because the theme was obvious early on, but the reveal remained a surprise to the very end. My kind of puzzle. My only w/o was TDS/FGS and my learning moment was Duran Duran being a British band; I always thought they were Hispanic, ala Roberto Duran, the boxer. (My pop music ignorance has been previously noted.) Nice CSOs to Abejo (Erie), Boomer and TTP (Irking strikes), and CanadianEh (Ottawa). I, too, smiled at the Dapper ~ Ugli placement, as well as the Anti ~ Nyet duo.
Thanks, Mark, for making the IRS playful, even if only momentarily and thanks, Lemony, for the lighthearted commentary, especially being in less than ideal physical condition.
I finally watched my recording of the most recent CBS Sunday Morning episode and was deeply moved by the segment featuring Jim Gaffigan and his wife, describing their journey through her diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from a brain tumor. Their narrative was a mixture of bravery, strength, and faith, sprinkled with humor and brimming with love.
Have a great day.
Cute, but too easy for a Friday. Should take double-digit minutes on Friday.
I wanted to squeeze in Johnny (Walker) and Scarlet (letter) somewhere.
Hola!
I echo what most of you have said about this grand puzzle by Mark McClain. My puzzle book contains several of his puzzles, too, and they are always fun to solve.
My trouble was with IRKINGPINS/FIVEO so I finally came here to resolve it. Thank you, Lemonade; I appreciate that you are on duty even with your optical problems.
I love EGGS OVER easy!
I read that a billionaire recently stepped up to fund repairs for NOTRE Dame.
Even at my advanced age I still like to look DAPPER though in a limited way, e.g. no high heels. Bling is my weakness.
I see that some in Kentucky have adopted the slogan "NYET to Moscow Mitch." This is just a statement of fact.
You all have fun this weekend and please stay well, everyone. I'll see you next week.
Hasta la vista, amigos y amigas!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Mark McClain, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
Hope you are feeling better Lemonade.
Puzzle went fine. Caught the theme after I got 65D. Very good theme.
Of course I liked ERIE. I remember when I-79 was built from Erie to Pittsburgh. Now it has been extend north of I-90 and goes all the way through the west side of Erie to the bay, and then curves east and south and goes back to I-90. Makes a loop through Erie and allows people to get into the city much faster. Our former Pennsylvania governor, Tom Ridge, who is from Erie, got that spur road put in. We also named the Erie Airport after Tom Ridge.
Liked IMAC. Was thinking of a real apple for a while.
Tried CLERK before GUARD worked much better.
FIVE O took me a while. After I got VEILS I figured it out.
Never heard of DURAN DURAN. But their music is probably not my music. So be it.
Cold here today. 45 degrees when I went out to guard the crossing. Windy as well.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Delightful Friday puzzle, and once I got the solution in the last word, I started to find the IRs here and there, and had help with more of the answers. So, many thanks, Mark, for helping us have a good end of the week. I don't drink whiskey, as I noted yesterday, but instantly got HIRAM--go figure. IMAC and TOFU both show up in puzzles pretty often, so they come to mind quickly. As soon as I got WEEDED the W gave me OTTOWA. I was actually a little daunted by the sports references, but they all had help to fill them in. But my favorite answer was Hester Prynne's RED LETTER DAIRY. Clever and funny--and probably cheered up poor Hester. And the EGGS OVER easy also cracked me up. So, again, thanks for a fun puzzle, Mark, and thanks for the helpful review, Lemonade.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Thank you, billocohoes for getting RIGS clear in my mind.
HG, we who study psychology call that brochure CONSCIOUS MANIFESTATION. There are no coincidences.
DNF! (sigh)
One lousy letter an Alphabet run could not
tease out of my brain. Baseball abbreviation crossing defunct language...
With the exception of FiveO crossing veil,
the rest of puzzle filled in nicely.
The additional IRs did make for some amusing themers...
Although, I think missing the IRs would not have lasted long...
Hi Y'all! I agree with everyone else that this was fun, Mark! Got the theme early which really helped with the others.
Great expo, Lemonade! Hoping your eyes get better.
"2nd person of old" wasn't Eve but THOU. FGS not TDS. STL was ESP. Cards was thinking Boomer.
Was looking for another term for fOOTings for underground support. Tried fOOT & sIRmised ROOT from that.
Learning moment: Duma was a political thing not some guy's name.
DNK: Senators from OTTAWA, but had a lucky WAG with a few letters.
53* OVERnight. Had to turn on furnace. The heat helped the musty smell. Yay! Don't think my problem is gone though. Biggest worry today: a big dead branch had blown down on my internet server line. I toddled out across the mud with my stoutest grabber and finessed it off with out loss of line. You know you are old when that qualifies as the adventure for the week.
Lemon, I found your conscious manifestation reading interesting. However, it did bring to my mind this demented, Austrian-born madman of the 1930's in Bavaria. :-)
Thanks for the nice write-up of this puzzle, and especially reminding me of my very first published puzzle almost exactly five years ago! That was a lot of puzzles ago. Shameless plug: I'm in USA Today also, with one that's a little easier overall, for those so inclined. Very difficult URL to get there: https://puzzles.usatoday.com/. Hey, I didn't pick that clue for DOOR - Rich just trying to get a little more Friday out of this puzzzle. Coulda been worse ("Thing", or a little easier "Wooden thing") ;)
Fairly straightforward puzzle even without theme. Thought Barbecue was spelled with a Q..but the frequently used apple clue wouldn't fit.
The most difficult time I had with the language when I lived in Italy was phone conversations so instead of answering the phone with the usual "pronto" I would answer "hello" to alert the caller this was not a yet super fluent speaker and maybe they should speak slowly.
I couldn't understand how the "old second person" could be anyone else but "Eve" then finally figured out "Nova" and the rest fell into place. Why did we lose that old second place? Dost thou knowest?
Mark as always I appreciate you stopping by to provide insight from a constructor's perspective to our loyal band of solvers. You are giving an unintentional plug to a fabulous collaboration TTP (Tom) and I are working on for the October 11, 2019 puzzle/write-up. It will provide another peek behind the curtain.
Just in case anyone finds me subtle - do not miss next Friday's Corner.
HG did you intentionally leave out the name?
I liked this puzzle. Yep, I wanted to squeeze JOHNNIE in there until I remembered that other Walker guy, HIRAM, who also has an IR in his name. And yep, I wanted to squeeze SCARLET in there where RED worked very well. I was trying for either EVE, CAIN, ABLE, and even ADAM for the second person of old before the penny dropped. Yep, I entered HERB before ELMO and HIDES before VEILS. Aaaaand finally, yep I put in TDS, which took a lot of sorting out to change it to FGS. At least I knew DURAN, JOVI, and DORA. The EGGS, OVER, PORED construction was interesting.
Speaking of JOHNNIE and Scotch whisky, a few months ago I was having a conversation with family members about what we like to drink and most everybody mentioned some kind of wine or the fact they don't drink anything alcoholic. Then one of my nephews spoke up, proudly announcing that he drinks hard liquor. I asked him what hard liquor. Scotch, he said. What kind of Scotch, I asked. Single malt, he said. Which brand of single malt, I asked. "DeeWARS" he replied with a proud smile. At that point I smiled back, mumbled something like "cool," and terminated the conversation.
Jayce said, "...mentioned some kind of wine or the fact they don't drink anything alcoholic."
Remember. A glass of dinner wine, a bottle of beer, and a shot of spirits are all equivalent in alcohol contents. A standard drink is any of these.
A 12-ounce bottle or can of regular beer.
A 5-ounce glass of dinner wine.
A one and 1/2 ounce of 80 proof distilled spirits. Can be either straight or in a mixed drink.
Jinx @ 0603 ---
Sure ... Radio Free Oz!
Oops, for Radio Free/Firesign almost forgot: "Hello there, Colorful Relic of Americas's Past".
Mark, marvelous offering! I got it all by myself but that’s no tribute. Very clever clueing!!!
Owen, LOL, LOL... so I guess that’s all A’s.
Lemony, good to see you again!! I really do hope your eyes are better. I have macular degeneration and live in fear. My dad was legally blind by the end of his life. He never let it stop him. Cussidly stubborn ole goat. So I guess I’ll just keep on keeping on. Best wishes to you!!
Oh gosh, SwampCat, that is indeed frightening. I trust you are having it treated. The thought of my ever getting it scares me.
Sorry to check in so late today.
Slept most of the day after a weird night in which my wife and I were both struck by mysterious--but different--illnesses. She couldn't stop sneezing for several long attacks one after the other, a respiratory problem. I had a sudden fever and stomach distress, followed all day by depleted energy.
We are both doing better now, but still weak.
We worried that we might be feeling the first stage of the flu. We've planned to get our shots later this month so we're not protected yet!
A good pzl, I thought. I cheated at the very end because, like Owen, I had FIRING PINS--in itself a much better fill than IRKING PINS, doncha think?
But my stubbornness did not pay off.
~ OMK
So sorry to hear you and your wife have been ill today, Ol'Man Keith. Hope all is better soon, and thanks for the reminder about getting flu shots--good idea.
I thought of FIRING PINS,too, but minus the IR, the base could not be FING PINS.
Keith, sorry you and your wife had such a bad night. Glad you are getting better.
Swamp Cat and Lemonade, my thoughts are with you concerning your scary eye problems. I hope the newer therapies they are developing will help.
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