Theme: Countdown
Be careful what you wish for! Last week I said I'd like to leave the circles out of the puzzle and let us go theme-hunting on our own, this week was a Snark-hunting exercise of the highest order!
I was bothered when I'd completed the puzzle - I saw that the theme entries were clued with a similar structure, they were all game-related, but ... what was I missing? The theme entries ran north-south and not the customary west-east, and with no real need to do so - no above/below clues, no up/down, what was I missing? I went anagram-hunting, I looked at the placement of the theme entries, I read the entries upwards and downwards - what was it? What was I missing?
Then the penny dropped, and my blog title gives an additional clue.
I think this is Joseph's debut across all the major publications, so congratulations on that. Two first-timers in a row for LAT Thursdays, here's to many more if they bring puzzles of this quality.
Let's go look at the theme entries and the fill, and if you missed the hidden unifier, I'll "reveal" at the bottom.
6D ... in a board game: CLUE WEAPONS. "Clue" murders tend towards the gruesome blunt-force trauma end of the scale. You can be shot or stabbed, but then you get wrenched, candlesticked, lead piped or - blessfully - hanged. It's all very messy. Give me murdered by anyone, in the Library (reading a book) with the revolver. I'm not keen on being beaten to death with a wrench in the hall by the cook. It just seems very - unseemly.
10D. ... in a ball game: BOWLING PINS. Boomer gets this in a heartbeat. He's not doing so well right now, a Corner shout-out to him. We're rooting for you.
24D. ... on a game mat: TWISTER DOTS. Big dots. Can you name the colors?
25D. ... on a game card: BINGO SPACES. We played Bingo in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. What a fun game! We won $160 too, so nothing not to like! I've lost that in two minutes playing Craps on the Strip. Live and learn.
Still theme-challenged? Mull it over awhile while (!) we go and look at the fill.
Across:
1. Co. with brown trucks: U.P.S. My brother is a UPS driver in the UK, he'd be getting ready for the busy Christmas period but sadly is laid up post-surgery at home this year. Get well, Bruv!
4. Fearsome Tolkien beasts: ORCS
8. Run off at the mouth: BABBLE. Testing the waters with an unruly mob who can't keep quiet? Dabbling with a babbling rabble.
14. New Deal prog.: N.R.A.
15. Guthrie genre: FOLK
16. Unprincipled: AMORAL
17. Rapper __-Z: JAY
18. Fireplace outlet: FLUE
19. Accompany: GO WITH
20. Yellowfin tuna: AHI
21. Great quantity: SLEW
22. Highest-ranking elected woman in U.S. history: PELOSI. A name in the news, a couple of these topical entries today.
23. McConaughey of "True Detective": MATTHEW
25. Nickname for Israel's Netanyahu: BIBI. New to me, thank you, crosses.
26. Sported: WORE
27. Beach in a 1964 hit song: IPANEMA. We chatted about Ipanema Beach a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I'd get in the water there though. I've seen the outfalls.
31. Start of a Poitier film title: TO SIR, With Love. Sidney teaching at an inner-city comprehensive school in east London.
34. Author/aviator __ Morrow Lindbergh: ANNE
36. Film crew member: GRIP
37. V-formation flier: GOOSE
38. '90s game disc: POG
39. Pipe up: OPINE
40. __ the finish: IN AT
41. Snapchat's ghost, e.g.: LOGO. And here's a very famous logo ....
42. Shoes with swooshes: NIKES. There's currently an investigation by the "International Athletics something-or-other We're Here for your Benefit and our Fat Salaries Committee Federation" aimed at banning certain Nike shoes because they're "too good". Simple solution - everyone runs barefoot. There, I just saved us all millions. You're welcome.
43. Color from a bottle: FAKE TAN
45. British WWII gun: STEN. According to the people tasked with firing the weapon, more dangerous to the user than the intended target, they had a habit of blowing up. I hauled around a Bren gun as an army reservist for a while, then I got my sniper's badge and they gave me a much lighter deliverer of doom, which thankfully I never had to actually use in anger. On the range, it was pretty accurate - I think my best was an 8" grouping of six rounds at 300 yards. The range was in a rural setting in Cornwall with sheep grazing the adjacent fields. We were informed in no uncertain terms that picking off an unsuspecting future leg of lamb would NOT BE TOLERATED!
47. Magician Weasley and anchorman Burgundy: RONS. Hmmm, I think Ron Weasley might turn you into a toad or a Ford Anglia if you described him as a "magician". Harry Potter's chum is a wizard, there's a significant difference, I'd say.
48. Have: POSSESS
52. Like some wedding photos: CANDID. With the advent of camera phones, there are now many more candid photos than "official" ones.
55. Hook or Cook: Abbr.: CAPT.
56. Quid pro __: QUO. "In the news" phrase at the moment. I'm not sure why, it just rings a bell.
57. Maryland state bird, e.g.: ORIOLE
58. Dos cubed: OCHO
59. Lines at a checkout counter?: UPC, The bar code that you scan when you (increasingly) self-check your stuff.
60. Money maker: MINTER
61. Not nice at all: MEAN
62. Bother a great deal: IRK
63. Great times: BLASTS
64. Uruguay's Punta del __: ESTE. Home of the sculpture "La Mano".
65. __ de deux: PAS. A ballet term when two dancers perform identical steps together. What's the plural? The same as the singular. I'd have gone for "pas des deuxes" and lost all my money on "Jeopardy".
Down:
1. Clear, as a printer: UNJAM.
2. Czech Republic capital, to Czechs: PRAHA. "The City of a Hundred Spires". The much lesser-known name is the westernized "Prague". I'm not sure how many people have heard of Prague, though. The famous Athletic Club Sparta Praha play that well-known sport "Fotbal".
3. "Don't beat around the bush!": SAY IT! OK, I'll say it - "PRAHA"? Really? Worst fill of the day.
4. A bit out in the ocean: OFFSHORE
5. Painter's tool: ROLLER
7. Present in a biased way: SKEW
8. Reed instrument: BAGPIPE. Singular/plural conundrum for me. I always use the plural "a set of bagpipes" or "she plays the bagpipes". One bagpipe? "Bagpipe music". While we're on the subject, can I plead with any bagpipe band not to play "Scotland the Brave" on St. Patrick's Day? It's really annoying
9. Pond protozoan: AMOEBA. I'll give you this as I prefer it to "AMEBA", but really the OE is a dipthong, so one letter, not two.
11. Gusto: BRIO
12. Back muscles, briefly: LATS
13. K-12 appropriate: EL-HI
28. Actor Estrada: ERIK
29. "Dibs!": MINE!
30. Long-limbed beasts: APES
31. "So ready for the weekend!": TGIF!
32. Chaplin named for her grandmother: OONA
33. Relax in the hot tub: SOAK
35. Yuletide libation: NOG. Why do we (not me) only drink egg nog at Christmas? It's a pretty horrible idea in the first place, but to reserve it for an ostensibly happy period is clearly strange.
39. 14 British pounds: ONE STONE. No, 14 pounds in any country is a British stone. Unlike the fact that 16 oz is usually an imperial pint, except in Britain, where you get 20 oz to your pint. You've got to admire those pint-swilling Brits. And then they sell petrol in litres, the temperatures are now in centigrade, the weight measures are in grams, but the distances are still in miles. Someone needs to have a quiet word regarding "standardization" with that lot over there. And drive on the right, while you're about it. Honestly, some people.
41. Big name in advice: LANDERS
44. __ training: TOILET. Another jolly British word.
46. Tails partner: TOP HAT, along with a white tie.
49. Furnish with gear: EQUIP
50. Sporty Toyota until 2002: SUPRA
51. Laundry day casualties: SOCKS. I've got a singleton on my dresser right now. What is it with socks?
52. Rooster topper: COMB
53. Seed covering: ARIL
54. Jazz singer Simone: NINA. It's a little late for a music link, but no matter. Here's one of my favorites. Too good to waste.
55. Show up: COME
And now we come to the denouement.
So what is it with the theme? When bloggers quote the theme entries, the tradition is to add the "A" or "D" to the number to identify whether we're talking about the across or the down entry, as I did at the top of the page. Let's see what happens if we take the first theme entry, identify it by the number only and eliminate the ellipses:
"6 in a board game". Six Clue Weapons.
and the next:
"10 in a ball game". Ten Bowling Pins ...
... and so we go. The number of the theme entry in the grid describes the solution. There are 24 dots on a Twister mat, 25 spaces on a bingo card. Very neat!
The reason the theme entries are in the downs is because you can't cram them in the acrosses - you'd be four of them into the puzzle before you even got halfway-down the grid, and facing an impossible constructing task.
So here's the grid, hats off to Joseph, and I'll be on my way.
Steve
Be careful what you wish for! Last week I said I'd like to leave the circles out of the puzzle and let us go theme-hunting on our own, this week was a Snark-hunting exercise of the highest order!
"'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
And never be met with again!'"
I was bothered when I'd completed the puzzle - I saw that the theme entries were clued with a similar structure, they were all game-related, but ... what was I missing? The theme entries ran north-south and not the customary west-east, and with no real need to do so - no above/below clues, no up/down, what was I missing? I went anagram-hunting, I looked at the placement of the theme entries, I read the entries upwards and downwards - what was it? What was I missing?
Then the penny dropped, and my blog title gives an additional clue.
I think this is Joseph's debut across all the major publications, so congratulations on that. Two first-timers in a row for LAT Thursdays, here's to many more if they bring puzzles of this quality.
Let's go look at the theme entries and the fill, and if you missed the hidden unifier, I'll "reveal" at the bottom.
6D ... in a board game: CLUE WEAPONS. "Clue" murders tend towards the gruesome blunt-force trauma end of the scale. You can be shot or stabbed, but then you get wrenched, candlesticked, lead piped or - blessfully - hanged. It's all very messy. Give me murdered by anyone, in the Library (reading a book) with the revolver. I'm not keen on being beaten to death with a wrench in the hall by the cook. It just seems very - unseemly.
10D. ... in a ball game: BOWLING PINS. Boomer gets this in a heartbeat. He's not doing so well right now, a Corner shout-out to him. We're rooting for you.
24D. ... on a game mat: TWISTER DOTS. Big dots. Can you name the colors?
25D. ... on a game card: BINGO SPACES. We played Bingo in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. What a fun game! We won $160 too, so nothing not to like! I've lost that in two minutes playing Craps on the Strip. Live and learn.
Still theme-challenged? Mull it over awhile while (!) we go and look at the fill.
Across:
1. Co. with brown trucks: U.P.S. My brother is a UPS driver in the UK, he'd be getting ready for the busy Christmas period but sadly is laid up post-surgery at home this year. Get well, Bruv!
4. Fearsome Tolkien beasts: ORCS
8. Run off at the mouth: BABBLE. Testing the waters with an unruly mob who can't keep quiet? Dabbling with a babbling rabble.
14. New Deal prog.: N.R.A.
15. Guthrie genre: FOLK
16. Unprincipled: AMORAL
17. Rapper __-Z: JAY
18. Fireplace outlet: FLUE
19. Accompany: GO WITH
20. Yellowfin tuna: AHI
21. Great quantity: SLEW
22. Highest-ranking elected woman in U.S. history: PELOSI. A name in the news, a couple of these topical entries today.
23. McConaughey of "True Detective": MATTHEW
25. Nickname for Israel's Netanyahu: BIBI. New to me, thank you, crosses.
26. Sported: WORE
27. Beach in a 1964 hit song: IPANEMA. We chatted about Ipanema Beach a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I'd get in the water there though. I've seen the outfalls.
31. Start of a Poitier film title: TO SIR, With Love. Sidney teaching at an inner-city comprehensive school in east London.
34. Author/aviator __ Morrow Lindbergh: ANNE
36. Film crew member: GRIP
37. V-formation flier: GOOSE
38. '90s game disc: POG
39. Pipe up: OPINE
40. __ the finish: IN AT
41. Snapchat's ghost, e.g.: LOGO. And here's a very famous logo ....
42. Shoes with swooshes: NIKES. There's currently an investigation by the "International Athletics something-or-other We're Here for your Benefit and our Fat Salaries Committee Federation" aimed at banning certain Nike shoes because they're "too good". Simple solution - everyone runs barefoot. There, I just saved us all millions. You're welcome.
43. Color from a bottle: FAKE TAN
45. British WWII gun: STEN. According to the people tasked with firing the weapon, more dangerous to the user than the intended target, they had a habit of blowing up. I hauled around a Bren gun as an army reservist for a while, then I got my sniper's badge and they gave me a much lighter deliverer of doom, which thankfully I never had to actually use in anger. On the range, it was pretty accurate - I think my best was an 8" grouping of six rounds at 300 yards. The range was in a rural setting in Cornwall with sheep grazing the adjacent fields. We were informed in no uncertain terms that picking off an unsuspecting future leg of lamb would NOT BE TOLERATED!
47. Magician Weasley and anchorman Burgundy: RONS. Hmmm, I think Ron Weasley might turn you into a toad or a Ford Anglia if you described him as a "magician". Harry Potter's chum is a wizard, there's a significant difference, I'd say.
48. Have: POSSESS
52. Like some wedding photos: CANDID. With the advent of camera phones, there are now many more candid photos than "official" ones.
55. Hook or Cook: Abbr.: CAPT.
56. Quid pro __: QUO. "In the news" phrase at the moment. I'm not sure why, it just rings a bell.
57. Maryland state bird, e.g.: ORIOLE
58. Dos cubed: OCHO
59. Lines at a checkout counter?: UPC, The bar code that you scan when you (increasingly) self-check your stuff.
60. Money maker: MINTER
61. Not nice at all: MEAN
62. Bother a great deal: IRK
63. Great times: BLASTS
64. Uruguay's Punta del __: ESTE. Home of the sculpture "La Mano".
65. __ de deux: PAS. A ballet term when two dancers perform identical steps together. What's the plural? The same as the singular. I'd have gone for "pas des deuxes" and lost all my money on "Jeopardy".
Down:
1. Clear, as a printer: UNJAM.
2. Czech Republic capital, to Czechs: PRAHA. "The City of a Hundred Spires". The much lesser-known name is the westernized "Prague". I'm not sure how many people have heard of Prague, though. The famous Athletic Club Sparta Praha play that well-known sport "Fotbal".
3. "Don't beat around the bush!": SAY IT! OK, I'll say it - "PRAHA"? Really? Worst fill of the day.
4. A bit out in the ocean: OFFSHORE
5. Painter's tool: ROLLER
7. Present in a biased way: SKEW
8. Reed instrument: BAGPIPE. Singular/plural conundrum for me. I always use the plural "a set of bagpipes" or "she plays the bagpipes". One bagpipe? "Bagpipe music". While we're on the subject, can I plead with any bagpipe band not to play "Scotland the Brave" on St. Patrick's Day? It's really annoying
9. Pond protozoan: AMOEBA. I'll give you this as I prefer it to "AMEBA", but really the OE is a dipthong, so one letter, not two.
11. Gusto: BRIO
12. Back muscles, briefly: LATS
13. K-12 appropriate: EL-HI
28. Actor Estrada: ERIK
29. "Dibs!": MINE!
30. Long-limbed beasts: APES
31. "So ready for the weekend!": TGIF!
32. Chaplin named for her grandmother: OONA
33. Relax in the hot tub: SOAK
35. Yuletide libation: NOG. Why do we (not me) only drink egg nog at Christmas? It's a pretty horrible idea in the first place, but to reserve it for an ostensibly happy period is clearly strange.
39. 14 British pounds: ONE STONE. No, 14 pounds in any country is a British stone. Unlike the fact that 16 oz is usually an imperial pint, except in Britain, where you get 20 oz to your pint. You've got to admire those pint-swilling Brits. And then they sell petrol in litres, the temperatures are now in centigrade, the weight measures are in grams, but the distances are still in miles. Someone needs to have a quiet word regarding "standardization" with that lot over there. And drive on the right, while you're about it. Honestly, some people.
41. Big name in advice: LANDERS
44. __ training: TOILET. Another jolly British word.
46. Tails partner: TOP HAT, along with a white tie.
49. Furnish with gear: EQUIP
50. Sporty Toyota until 2002: SUPRA
51. Laundry day casualties: SOCKS. I've got a singleton on my dresser right now. What is it with socks?
52. Rooster topper: COMB
53. Seed covering: ARIL
54. Jazz singer Simone: NINA. It's a little late for a music link, but no matter. Here's one of my favorites. Too good to waste.
55. Show up: COME
And now we come to the denouement.
So what is it with the theme? When bloggers quote the theme entries, the tradition is to add the "A" or "D" to the number to identify whether we're talking about the across or the down entry, as I did at the top of the page. Let's see what happens if we take the first theme entry, identify it by the number only and eliminate the ellipses:
"6 in a board game". Six Clue Weapons.
and the next:
"10 in a ball game". Ten Bowling Pins ...
... and so we go. The number of the theme entry in the grid describes the solution. There are 24 dots on a Twister mat, 25 spaces on a bingo card. Very neat!
The reason the theme entries are in the downs is because you can't cram them in the acrosses - you'd be four of them into the puzzle before you even got halfway-down the grid, and facing an impossible constructing task.
So here's the grid, hats off to Joseph, and I'll be on my way.
Steve
FLN:
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks ~ Sorry I missed your question yesterday. Yes, I am also "emeritus"--of the noble clan EMERITI--since 2016.
~ OMK
Oh my! Utter genius, Steve and Joe! The only pattern I noticed was the parallel phrasing of the clues:
ReplyDelete6 & 10 [used|moved] in a ____ game
24 & 25 [used|printed] on a game ____
On to the poems! Two quatrains today and only one l'ick.
A JAY, a GOOSE, and an ORIOLE
Are birds, but not of a feather.
Still, as an avian tutorial
Feathers are softer than leather!
Streams may murmur and BABBLE,
But their gossip is simply AMORAL.
No judgements GO WITH their scrabble,
They POSSESS no inclination to quarrel.
The knight proclaimed that dragons he SLEW,
In fact, he had slain a whole SLEW!
But his boast was fraught
With alterations, a lot!
The details would slide and would SLEW!
{B, B+, A.}
I'm glad Steve could figure out the theme because I couldn't see any connection among the four down games. I'll be CANDID and OPINE (BABBLE?) that the only connecting theme I noticed was "PELOSI, Quid pro QUO, SKEW, & FAKE TAN". All four available on television yesterday. What would Ann LANDERS think? AMORAL?
ReplyDeleteThe dead center was the hardest to fill, with three unknowns-ANNE, POG, and the ghost LOGO- filled by perps. PRAHA- I never understood why the English language decided to rename other countries cities and countries. I never played TWISTER so the DOTS were perped. Never heard of POG either.
Steve- I'm glad you said centigrade for temperature. Why the television meteorologists started using Celsius baffles me. All the chemistry and physics classes I ever took only mentioned centigrade or Kelvin, never Fahrenheit or Celsius. As for your preferred and the correct spelling of AMOEBA, I've only seen 'AMEBA' in crossword puzzles or when I helped DW grade her students tests and homework in biology class. They couldn't spell or write complete sentences.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, can you believe that d-o successfully got the theme? Didn't think so. It flew right over the cuckoo's nest. No Wite-Out needed, though, so that was nice. I did notice the sub-theme of timely words. Thanx, Joseph. Steve, I'm proud of you for figuring it out. (I don't only drink NOG at Christmas. I also drink other things.)
Centigrade/Celsius. I read that in 1948 the powers-that-be decided to rename Centigrade, because it already was defined as a different unit in France and Spain. They wanted a name that also began with a C, so they decided to honor Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer and physicist. I know, TMI.
Not TMI, thanks.
DeleteFIW, because I told someone I'm AT the finish. Can never remember OOmA, though we get that a lot. Erased ents for ORCS, cptn for CAPT, and BeBe for BIBI.
ReplyDeleteA reed instrument that isn't an OBOE? What kind of a crossword puzzle is this?
Is there a difference between a GRIP and a gofer? Are key GRIPs and best boys also gofers?
quid pro QUO two days in a row? Maybe Rich should be banned.
Laundry day casualties? The secret is out.
Thanks to Joseph, and congratulations. And thanks to Steve for another fine tour, and the explanation of the theme. I sorta get it now.
I'm with D-O - figured out the puzzle and the game answers - but needed the blog to figure out the theme/pattern! Thank you Steve!
ReplyDeleteLate! Thanks to Joseph for an interesting puzzle!
Kudos to Joseph, the constructor, and Steve, the 'splainer, for the inventive theme. Wow!
ReplyDeleteFinished in 8:34. Didn't catch the numerical meaning of the theme.
ReplyDeleteUgly finish with the final two across answers being "este" & "pas".
ReplyDeleteGood morning.
Flew through the answers fairly quickly this morning.
Then spent much more time trying to get the theme. All 4 were games, and all 4 had key elements (DOTS, PINS etc) of their respective games, but it didn't seem as if there was anything else.
Well, ok, if that's all there is...
Then I read the write-up, and after Steve's teaser at the top, I scrolled immediately to the bottom.
First, this is a puzzle I won't soon forget. Congrats to Joseph on his debut ! and for creating this gem using the clue numbers as part of the answer. Have never seen anything like it.
Secondly, super sleuthing Steve ! Great detective work on your part. Thanks for sticking with it to find that hidden layer.
I went over to crossword fiend. Not reviewed. I gave it 5 stars. Went to Webbs LAX review. He got what I got, nothing more.
Will be back after I read the rest of the write-up.
Doesn't anyone else use a safety pin to attach the two socks in a pair together before tossing them in the laundry basket? A sure-fire way never to end up with a lost sock. And, I can't recall ever losing a pair attached in that way. Wash 'em, dry 'em, store 'em, and, duh, then remove safety pin before donning. Keep a small bowl of pins by your laundry bin, and you'll never lose a sock again.
ReplyDeleteI know. It's a sickness.
ReplyDeleteGreat title, Steve ! Fits perfectly, IMHO. As cryptic as the puzzle, until you "get it."
A few corrections along the way:
BeBe to BIBI
ERIc to ERIK
ESTa to ESTE
Cpts to CAPT (read the wrong conjunction - saw "and" but it was "or")
Didn't know, but the perps were kind:
ANNE
PRAHA
I have two unmatched socks in my drawer waiting for their mates. Did some laundry yesterday. DW ended up with seven clean socks. Where do they go ?
The SUPRA is back. It was reintroduced in January 2019. The 2020 Supra is now available. I linked a picture of it a few weeks ago. There's one at the local dealership. Might go take a look, just to see it up close and personal.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve for a very erudite lead-in and explaining the theme. The only [number] I was sure about was BOWLING, so I would have never figured it out anyway.
But, no matter. Got the whole solve without needing white-out, so my lead-in to the day was successful. I did like the long downs and some others such as OFFSHORE and ONE STONE. I saw BAGPIPE coming up and realized it, too, was a reed instrument as is an accordion. The non-plural was a little quirky, though. Also note that no cheater squares were needed so, clean that way, too.
Good job, JA. BZ
SOCKS - On active duty, our ship used small laundry sock bags which were secured by a pin. I never lost a sock. (Try explaining that at home.)
Very clever! The theme seemed a little blah until Steve explained the numbers starting off the answers. Nice to have down answers for the theme as a change of pace. It must be more difficult to construct a puzzle that way.
ReplyDeleteUnseasonably cold here, as I guess much of the country. Snow on the ground just in time for deer season. I go up to camp, but don’t hunt anymore. It’s Beer Camp for me! No cell service or “facilities”, really roughing it in the most remote part of Vermont.
Going to miss doing the crosswords this weekend, will have a busy Monday catching up!
This short clip from the local PBS station WTTW is perhaps more germane to Chicagoland area residents than other parts of the country, but still pretty interesting:
ReplyDeleteThe Great Squirrel Mystery
This puzzle took me way too long for a Thursday. I easily got the games, but the second part was hard. FIR, but didn't see the number connection. Actually, the only number I would have known is ten for bowling pins. Brilliant, Steve and Joseph.
ReplyDeleteI put my lone laundered socks in a drawer and week by week I get more lone socks which I can use to make pairs. I might go the safety pin route.
I really liked the movie, To Sir with Love. I went to see it alone. My husband (ex) wouldn't watch it with me, although I watched many movies to keep him company. I have watched To Sir several times on TV, too.
Wikipedia:"Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. ... The term bagpipe is equally correct in the singular or plural, though pipers usually refer to the bagpipes as 'the pipes', 'a set of pipes' or 'a stand of pipes'."
In my study of languages I noticed that many languages have different names for the same city or country.
Link text
I didn't get the theme until it was pointed out here. Before, I thought the puzzle was kind of blah, but now I think it's brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if there's some hidden extra layer to yesterday's puzzle, which still seems kind of blah.
I had "BA" to start 8D and filled with the obvious (or so it seemed) "BASSOON". Bagpipe came out of nowhere. I love a good misdirection.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Steve! I didn't realize how smart this puzzle was until reading your explanation. It's brilliant work, Joseph Ashear!
As others have noted, I've never before seen the grid numbers used as part of the clue/answer.
ANNE Morrow Lindbergh wrote a book of poems which I have and I also read the biography of her husband. He was a cad to put it nicely.
Even in Prague I don't recall seeing PRAHA but then I might have seen it and not realized it was the local spelling.
Two beautiful people mentioned in the puzzle, OONA Chaplin and ERIK Estrada.
How well I remember the POG fad! They were such a distraction in school.
What vivid memories I have of calling someone to UNJAM the copier!
My mother loved BINGO! In fact, she loved any kind of gambling, even the lottery.
In biology class we were required to spell AMOEBA just that way.
Time to go. I'm going for a haircut.
Have a fabulous day, everyone!
Didn't need the theme to quickly get through this one. Nice to see the other NRA for a change.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-I tried to see the fun theme without paying any mind to the clue number or Steve’s fine title! Arrgghh!
-Don’t play BINGO where you are not liked! (2:00)
-Fred Astaire often sported a bow tie with his TOP HAT
-Girls call a tan from a bottle a FAKE BAKE but what’s a girl to do for spring prom in Nebraska?
-IRK? I got three calls yesterday from some perky, female, pre-recorded voice offering help with a student loan
-Hitler always thought the D-Day landing would be at the PAS-de-Calais
-Last week an exchange student tried to tell how she pronounces Colon, Germany
-Dreaded EL-HI made an appearance but at least APES had a more natural clue
-80% of life is just showing up
-Back to slope/intercept for 7th graders!
TTP!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I love a detective story that involves cats!
Started in pen, switched to pencil, & was surprised
that it actually helps a lot! Every one of my pencilings
I would not have dared ink in turned out to be right!
Funny that Quid Pro Quo turns up more often these days,
& it was the one thing I was so sure of that I inked it in.
Except that I inked in "Pro" instead of "Quo."
(*&% inkblot,)
STeve, Amazing! & you taught me a new word!
Missing socks reminded me of a commercial where they found
all the worlds missing socks on the back of the Moon.
I tried to find it, but that is missing too...
I did find a video where a man takes apart a washing machine
& finds all sorts of things stuck in the works, but the music was
terrible, & it could have been faked.
So here is a milder, more plausible explanation.
(Hey, I have a toploader. explain my missing socks!)
The Sten gun exploded?
I cannot find a single reference to this...
(hmm, the Brits probably did not want to admit it...)
But the Bren, HooBoy! 8" @ 300 yards!
(I hear they where carried in two man teams...)
I would post videos, but the current climate here in the U.S.
(New Jersey anyway)
could get you a cop knocking on your door
for posting guns on social media...
Hi Gang -
ReplyDeleteI was utterly baffled by the theme. Steve's explanation made it clear.
Not sure how I feel about it, though.
I'm not fond of gimmicks in crosswords, and this is very gimmicky.
Kudos for cleverness, though, and for finding all the right game elements to fit the puzzle symmetry.
Cool Regards!
JzB
Fun Thursday puzzle--many thanks for the treat, Joseph. I started out with MATTHEW, and then, like Yellowrocks, got TO SIR with love, one of my favorite movies in my younger years. And that helped that side of the puzzle fill in. I then took a chance on AMORAL, and that helped me get AMOEBA, and that filled that side in. I didn't realize Nancy PELOSI was the highest ranking elected woman in U.S. history--a delightful bit of information. I too had BEBE before BIBI, but fixed it pretty quickly. The bottom of the puzzle was a bit tougher for me. But once I got Anne LANDERS, I took a chance on CANDID for the wedding photos, and then had to laugh when the down turned out to be TOILET TRAINING. Well, one learns that with little kids. Anyway, fun puzzle, and a very helpful write-up, especially for explaining how the theme worked, Steve--many thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteCANDID for the wedding photo reminded me of a funny moment. My son made a video when I married my sweet Rowland, and when I saw it I was surprised, and not thrilled, to see a scene where I ask the caterer whether I should write her a check now, or send it in the mail. Not exactly the most romantic moment of a wedding, but, I suppose a CANDID one.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Joseph (congrats on your debut) and Steve.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a perceptive outline of the theme. Like others, I totally missed the countdown.
And thank you for your British perspective on AMOEBA. Ameba just does not look right to me either.
I found this a crunchy solve with several inkblots and one Google search involved in the completion. The NE and SW corners were the last to fall.
Elan changed to BRIO (that is a game too and also wooden train sets!).
Pecs or LATS (ah yes, pecs are on the front and lats on the back).
I wanted the rooster topper to be a Crest but COMB filled the spot. This Canadian had to google the Maryland state bird, although I think we have had ORIOLE before.
ARIL is an old CW friend; I'm sure it's in my CW list that I made in my early solving days.
I did not remember NINA; CANDID was not my first thought for the wedding photos; MINTER was a little "meh" as clued IMO (although I accept that it is literally valid).
Hand up for changing CPTN to CAPT. I also changed Ire to IRK.
Thankfully PRAHA perped after I stopped at PRA. . .?
I smiled to see SLEW under FLUE which were both crossed by CLUE. (IM usually beats me to comment on these sorts of appearances.)
Just last week (while getting out my son's hockey card binder to give to my grandson), I found a binder full of same son's POG collection.
I laughed at the "singleton socks". I must have a dozen of them in my laundry room waiting for the other half to appear in DH's washing. Still waiting! He finds them stuck to Tshirts, sweaters etc. but I presume that some of them have gone to the thrift shop still stuck to old clothes. Maybe I should try the "pin" trick. (Thanks Barry@8:06)
Wishing you all a great day.
Yes, I'll add my congratulations to Joseph Ashear for his debut, and for a fine Thursday pzl.
ReplyDeleteNot too easy, not too hard, but ju-ust right. Bravo.
The theme? Brilliant. I've never seen the like. I wasn't looking for it and doubt I would have uncovered it on my own.
1964 seems not so long ago when connected to the IPANEMA song.
Now, that was truly one cool tune!
Graceful, effortless, hypnotic.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Four diagonals today. One on the near side, and a 3-way opposite.
The main diagonal offers an interesting image in its anagram of an expert smoker of marijuana, the practiced hand who can dangle his joint from...
"A DOOBIE LIP"!
Jinx, loved the sock secret clip. I read that if you lose a sock in the wash, it returns as a Tupperware lid that doesn’t fit any of your containers.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteCrossEyedDave, what cats ? :>}
Yuman, that's funny (and probably true, at least around here).
Yuman -- I always heard it returns as a wire hanger. Same idea.
ReplyDeleteNot in my closet! I can't stand wire hangers. Any of them from the cleaners' are quickly returned and I regularly use either plastic hangers or flocked ones.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea to pin socks together though as yet I haven't lost any.
This was a good one! Interesting and challenging, an enjoyable solving experience!
ReplyDeleteMy hubby has worked for UPS 33 years. As they like to say there, he bleeds brown!
Fav part today was flue,slew,skew,clue and Mat-thew all bunched together! The first 3 are odd words by themselves, mixed all together with 2 more was like a tongue twister!
Speaking of twister.... I got nothing on the game, just loved that I used the word independently from it being in the puzzle. Does that make sense?
Cracking myself up here and yes I have started to Babble! That was on purpose!
Peace, LL's mom
Abebe (sic) Bikila , Olympic marathon champion, circa 1960-64 actually ran barefoot. Yep, Abebe I LIU
ReplyDeleteWe fired M14s at 500 yds. Unfortunately I had left my glasses behind. 200,300 no problem but at 500 my target was 19. So… I locked in on 17 and moved two targets. After five rounds I snapped in again, found 17 and somehow forgot to move up two.
Result: my perfect bullseye got me nada(except grief). I still think my buddy Marty on 17 took the "bull" because I later saw him with the marksmanship badge .
For Wilbur? Maggie's Drawers. I had to settle for Marksman when I had Sharpshooter clinched and a chance for Expert.
Actually, we had PRAGUE just the other day. Here or perhaps Sunday Post .
I had all sorts of trouble today. OctO/OCHO. The easy CAPT eluded me. Who's ESAI? Not Estrada. ELHI led to PELOSI etc. Maybe I was just tired.
WC
BTW, in the laundry universe they sell these little plastic rings with little tines poking towards the center. They are flexible and designed to keep socks together in the laundry. Less pin pricks than safety pins. Of course as a mother/wife I originally thought it was a brilliant concept, but those little rings don't jump on to the dirty socks by themselves! In a perfect world the wearer of the socks would put the ring thing on the dirty socks after taking them off and put them in the dirty clothes hamper. Right? Cracking myself up again! As if that would happen in my house! Silly mom, dirty socks go on the floor! What's a hamper?
ReplyDeleteVery inventive gimmick. Like many of you I didn't see the connection to the numbers until Steve's explanation. A penny drop worked for Steve to see the light, but I think I would need the weight of silver dollar to get a coin through my unobservant slot. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI miss calling it Centigrade. Nowadays I just say "C" or "F".
Mildly interesting to have UPS and UPC and POG and NOG. Not at all attractive to have ESTE, PAS, INAT, and MINTER.
The word UNJAM makes me think of a resident of PUNJAB, for no logical reason. LW said, jokingly of course, that UNJAM means to clean your toes. I like her take on it better than mine.
So now we have Czech entries in addition to French, Spanish, Italian, German, Hebrew, and Greek. Co to kurva!
What is the sound of one BAGPIPE playing? "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
That was funny about that missing sock being reincarnated as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit of your containers. Believe it or not, we have some of those in our household. Seriously.
That "La Mano" sculpture is really neat-o. I like it!
Can you have a Quid without a QUO? Yep, sure can. One or two might even buy a pint!
Good wishes to you all.
LL's Mom@4:46 - How could I have missed SKEW and Matt-HEW in my list? Thanks for pointing out.
ReplyDeleteSwampCat - I believe it was you who recommended Louise Penny books to me. I just finished her latest, A Better Man. I really enjoyed it (especially the Quebec setting).
That's why I have so many Tupperware lids LOL!
Can-Eh! I loved all of those words together, a bit of a sensory overload! Not sure which of the 5 was stimulated the most! Hope to see more wordy mix ups like this in the future! Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThis is one of my all-time favorite puzzles and write-ups. The concept was great and as a fellow blogger, I can tell you how difficult it is to see the trick in the tricky themes. I have had 2 or 3 fool me completely. Really well done and welcome Joe. Great Job Steve.
ReplyDeleteLucy Loo's Mom - is that Lucy in your profile pic? beautiful critter - what manner of hound is she?
ReplyDeleteJinxy, thank you for inquiring about my girl. Sadly she is not with us anymore. We had 13+ beautiful years with her and lost her to a canine variety of cancer a few months ago. She was the best family dog ever and my carpooling partner thru the many years of preschool, elementary school, middle school and even a bit of high school. She was definitely a full ranking member in our family and is deeply missed by all of us. Her manner of hound was labradoodle.To me she was the perfect example of her hybrid breed. She was super-smart,gentle,loving,nonshedding and literally had a great sense of humor. I can't even try to describe it, but anyone who ever met her knows what I'm talking about! She was funny! This beautiful photo of her was on one of the rare snow days in Atlanta. She loved those brisk days and the silly getups I dressed her in! Although she might have loved her days at the beach more. I cannot even try to paint that picture. She brought us all a lot of joy over the years and we are sadly looking forward to dispersing some of her ashes at her favorite beach over Thanksgiving. Thank you again for asking. The telling is very cathartic for me. (smiley face)
DeleteFLN, a belated birthday wish(es) to Big Easy and Rich. The former a consistently entertaining blogger and Rich,?
ReplyDeleteWell if he doesn't read this blog someone from Editing Inc does because we get all the shoutouts and we no sooner use a word than the clue pops up in a day or two.
Wish I could think of an example. When I do I'll let you know.
LL's Mom, welcome. Enjoying your sparkling posts.
And.... YR, I like others don't give you enough credit for well thought out and crafted posts.
Cheers
WC
Thank you Wilbur! I love the sparkling descriptor. You flatter me!
DeleteWow. Steve how did you ever figure out the theme?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else figure out the theme?
Hand up the only number I would have known was 10 for BOWLING PINS. It was clever. But perhaps too clever for its own good if no one actually figures it out?
Never heard of that MATTHEW or "True Detective". The SW nearly gave me a DNF. Had TEAM IN Training before TOILET. Anyone else? Glad to FIR.
I have lots of PRAHA photos.
Here are a few photos of me in PRAHA with my good friend PETR who lives there.
As I say, I have plenty more from there! A beautiful city with wonderful people, arts and music. But the weather sure gets cold and dreary.
WC,thank you for your kind words.
ReplyDeletePicard: You do show Praha to be a beautiful city! Even one with PRAHA prominent! But so many were uncharacteristically blurry. Because it's so close to Transylvania, and vampires can't be photographed?
ReplyDeleteOwenKL thank you for the kind words about my PRAHA photos.
ReplyDeleteCan you please do Control-F5 to refresh the page? If the images seem to be blurry your browser may be loading some old cached images. Doing Control-F5 makes the browser reload the current version.
Can you please let me know if that made a difference? Thanks!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteLate tonight - my buddies of 20 years and I got together for our quarterly dinner.
Thank you Joseph for a meh, er WOWA! brilliant! puzzle. Thanks Steve for point out what the game-bits had going for them ++ a mighty-fine expo.
WOs: was guessing too soon that 52a was going to end in eD. PaLOSI 1st.
ESPs: PRAHA, TOSIR (oh, two words), ESTE, PAS.
Fav: ONE STONE was cute.
{B+, B, A}
C, Eh! - you watch baseball, no? Think Baltimore (MD) ORIOLES. But don't let St. Louis (MI) Cardinals fool you, that's IL's state bird. //It's also state bird of Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. Looks like xword fodder.
I enjoyed reading everyone today!
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle! Thanks, Joseph. Great expo, Steve!
ReplyDeleteWithout Steve's explanation, I thought we had another themeless puzzle. Like Picard, I only knew of TEN PINS. Never played Twister in my life and didn't know it had DOTS or the number. May have played Clue twice 50 years ago but never owned the game. Played quite a bit of BINGO as a kid but never got around to counting the squares. To appreciate this puzzle, one needs to be a math enthusiast who counts everything habitually, methinks.
I first tried to insert "potty" training which is a earlier & lower form than TOILET training. I'd like to have a dollar for every hour I sat on the floor and entertained a little tyke into depositing something for which they could be rewarded with heartfelt congratulations. I trained two baby brothers, a kid I babysat one summer who had been deemed hopeless by her family, and four tots of my own. I managed to be elsewhere when my grandkids were trained, feeling I'd done my earthly duty.
I'm the author of this puzzle, and it is indeed my first published puzzle ever. Such fun to see a bunch of solvers digging into it!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a number of people solved the puzzle without ever getting the underlying gimmick. When I originally wrote it, the title was "playing with numbers" and the clues for the theme answers were simply blank. Or alternatively I thought the clue could be an arrow pointing to the number. But through the editing process the cluing and title were changed. As a new constructor, I have to trust that the editor knows what works and what doesn't and I'm frankly delighted that this thing saw print!