(Note from C.C.: D-Otto write today's post.)
Theme: Crazy, mixed-up Santa
Theme: Crazy, mixed-up Santa
The Barnacle
had the circles, so I managed to suss the theme. It would've been a lot
harder without 'em. The reveal would also be of help, for those of you
who read the entire reveal clue.
17a. Line on an application: LAST NAME.
23a. Masters home: AUGUSTA NATIONAL. LIU and guess what? It's not in Maine. (STANA Katic played Kate Beckett on Castle).
38a. Southern nickname involving a brown bird: THE PELICAN STATE. I'll bet B-E, Hahtoolah, Swampcat and Boo LuQuette got this one immediately.
38a. Southern nickname involving a brown bird: THE PELICAN STATE. I'll bet B-E, Hahtoolah, Swampcat and Boo LuQuette got this one immediately.
"A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His bill can hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak.
Food enough for a week.
But I'm damned if I see how the helican."
Dixon Lanier Merritt
54a. "Double Indemnity" (1944) Oscar nominee: BARBARA STANWYCK. This was my kryptonite. I spelled it WICK -- DNF.
And the reveal...
64a. 2003 Billy Bob Thornton title role ... and a hint to each set of puzzle circles: BAD SANTA.
Across:
1. Transcript figs.: GPAS. Grade point averages. Mine ranged from C to shining C.
5. Letters for the princess?: HRH. Her Royal Highness
8. Frozen, maybe: AFRAID.
14. Alternatively: ELSE.
15. Perrier, par exemple: EAU. French water.
5. Letters for the princess?: HRH. Her Royal Highness
8. Frozen, maybe: AFRAID.
14. Alternatively: ELSE.
15. Perrier, par exemple: EAU. French water.
16. Financially responsible: LIABLE. Libel makes you liable.
19. Telescope parts: LENSES.
20. "Star Wars" SFX: CGI. Computer-generated imagery.
21. Dada co-founder: ARP.
22. Firewood measure: CORD. 128 cubic feet.
29. Cooped (up): PENT.
30. Lay an egg: FLOP. The egg is laid in the coop.
31. Soup with tofu and seaweed: MISO. Sounds delicious. Not.
32. Vancouver-to-Calgary dir.: ENE.
34. Walked (on): TROD.
37. 51-Down's state: Abbr.: NSW. New South Wales, Australia.
43. Big to-do: ROW. Similar to a major honey-do?
44. "Then again," on Twitter: OTOH. On the other hand.
45. Country N. of Kenya: ETH. Ethiopia.
46. Creative spark: IDEA.
48. New Age musician John: TESH. He's been a co-host on Entertainment Tonight, a TV sportscaster, even a Klingon on Startrek: TNG.
50. Tag sale caveat: AS IS. Caveat emptor.
58. Mani-pedi spots: SPAS. Not feet.
59. Game with 108 cards: UNO.
60. "Gloria in Excelsis __": DEO. Christmas music. If I linked it, it would break the "no politics, no religion" rule. So I'll link this instead:
61. Brusque: ABRUPT. TERSE was too abrupt.
66. NutraSweet developer: SEARLE. It's now marketed by the NutraSweet Company. NutraSweet used to be Aspartame (200 times sweeter than sugar) until they discovered Neotame (7000-13000 times sweeter than sugar) -- the Carolina Reaper of sweeteners.
67. Modern art?: ARE. How great thy art art.
68. Cocktail garnish: PEEL. Really? Just the peel?
69. Bank, often: LENDER.
70. Since Jan. 1: YTD. Year-to-date.
71. Shaggy Scandinavian rugs: RYAS.
Down:
1. Easy-to-swallow dosage: GELCAP. Have you found them easier to swallow? I take my pills five at a time in one swell foop.
2. One of 10 in Exodus: PLAGUE. How many can you name? Answer far below.
3. Give, as homework: ASSIGN. Teenagers bane, after acne.
4. Background in theater?: SET.
5. Sincere: HEARTFELT.
6. Flutist Jean-Pierre: RAMPAL. He has been personally "credited with returning the flute to popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." (WIKI) Do you say "flutist" or "flautist" or maybe "tootler" (from last Saturday)?
7. Paint choice: HUE. Not OIL.
8. Apportion: ALLOT.
9. "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" host: FIERI. Host of various Food Network shows. He was born Guy Ferry, but apparently took umbrage at his last name.
2. One of 10 in Exodus: PLAGUE. How many can you name? Answer far below.
3. Give, as homework: ASSIGN. Teenagers bane, after acne.
4. Background in theater?: SET.
5. Sincere: HEARTFELT.
6. Flutist Jean-Pierre: RAMPAL. He has been personally "credited with returning the flute to popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." (WIKI) Do you say "flutist" or "flautist" or maybe "tootler" (from last Saturday)?
7. Paint choice: HUE. Not OIL.
8. Apportion: ALLOT.
9. "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" host: FIERI. Host of various Food Network shows. He was born Guy Ferry, but apparently took umbrage at his last name.
10. Like dice rolls: RANDOM. At least you hope so.
11. Bodybuilder's pride: ABS. I've got 12-pack abs.
12. Paris' __ de la Cité: ILE. It's a natural island in the Seine. Notre Dame Cathedral (or what's left of it) is located there.
 |
| (Courtesy The New York Times) |
13. __ Plaines: DES. Chicago suburb just north of O'Hare airport. I lived nearby at one time.
18. "One Mic" rapper: NAS. The only NAS I'm familiar with is Network Attached Storage, like my music server.
22. "Meet John Doe" director: CAPRA. Frank Capra. Also Pocketfull of Miracles and It's A Wonderful life.
24. U.S. sch. near the Mexico border: UTEP. University of Texas El Paso.
25. Tally symbols: NOTCHES. "...he secretly carved one more notch on the butt of his gold-handled cane..." at the 3:15 point.
26. Ricci of fashion: NINA. I thought her name was Christina.
27. CEO aide: ASST.
28. Actor Rob: LOWE. He's been in lotsa stuff, but I remember him best as Sam Seaborn in The West Wing. I binge-streamed the whole series not long ago.
33. Opposite of paleo-: NEO. Played opposite Morpheus in The Matrix.
35. Like a diving catch in baseball: ONE HANDED.
36. Summer hrs.: DST. Some love it. Some hate it. Some are ambidexterous.
38. Windy City daily, familiarly: TRIB. Chicago Tribune.
39. "Today" co-anchor Kotb: HODA. She just got engaged at 55.
40. Pitcher sans arms: EWER. That clue reminds me of this movie scene.
41. Specks: IOTAS. Could'a been MOTES.
42. Winter warm spell: THAW.
47. Inane: ABSURD. Not STUPID.
49. Comic-book store owner on "The Big Bang Theory": STUART.
51. 2000 Olympics city: SYDNEY. (Guess who spelled it with an I?)
52. Drink served with mint: ICE TEA. Let the arguments begin...
53. Danish toasts: SKOALS. Not to be confused with the smokeless tobacco.
55. Fuji, for one: APPLE. Because MOUNTAIN and VOLCANO were too long.
56. Yelp contributor: RATER. Does anybody here trust/use Yelp?
57. Negatives: NOS.
61. Silent speech syst.: ASL. American Sign Language. In case you'd like to learn...
62. Quilting party: BEE. Are there other "bees" besides quilting and spelling? Discuss.
63. Legged it: RAN.
64. Reddish-brown horse: BAY. News to me. I always assumed it was gray, like San Francisco Bay.
65. Busy mo. for a CPA: APR. I've completed my IRS certification to be a Tax-Aide volunteer again next year. This may be my last year. Between the IRS and AARP, they've thrown up so many roadblocks that the compensation is becoming inadequate to the exertion.
That brings us to the deep end of the Poole. It's been fun subbing. Desper-otto out.
The Grid:
Here's that list of the ten plagues. I managed to remember four of 'em. I'll bet you did better.
Blood
Frogs
Lice or gnats
Flies
Livestock (??? How can this be a plague? Raining cats and dogs?)
Boils
Hail
Locust
Darkness
Death of firstborn
31 comments:
I thought sure the reveal would be "Santa or Satan mixup".
FIWrong. 2 errors so stupid I won't even mention them.
The PLAGUE to pharaoh was sent as a sign
Of additional plagues God would ASSIGN.
But P. wasn't AFRAID,
Instead was enraged,
Such pranks he found asinine!
There was a house painter named Hugh
Who had to be told what to do.
A color-blind guy
Shouldn't trust his eye,
Isn't that just a typical HUE?
{c+, B-.}
Hi Y'all! Thank you David Poole & Desperotto. Great start to my early morning.
Liked the puzzle altho some of the fills needed a lot of perps. NW section was last to fill despite having half of it earlier. Couldn't come up with GELCAPS/GPAS. PLAGUES were mostly ESP.
The theme entries were easy for me. I was surprised to get BARBARA STANWYK right away. I was only 3 yrs old when the movie came out and never saw it. She was a favorite actress later on. Have seen enough Masters tournaments to get AUGUSTA but it took a few minutes before NATIONAL flashed on my mental screen. Tried firST NAME first. Didn't LAST.
Well, I thought a BAD SANTA was a SATAN & that was the theme. Had the circles, but didn't suss any word until the reveal. Don't know why I'm so bad at anagrams.
Crossed Stanwick with Sidney. Looked OK.
This write-up brought to you by the fine folks at YouTube! lol
Too many names, but got through it after changing an “I” to a “Y”. Typical Wednesday time on the solve.
The payoff of having the five letters in one word appear in some different orders just isn't worth having to deal with a Danish something crossing a Scandinavian something, any flutists, any of the directional answers (ENE), etc.
Crunchy with so many names. The circle anagrams helped. 49D finally unlocked that last section for me when I saw that S---RT could be STUART. FIR, I knew Stanwyck, but need Sydney to change the I to Y.
I love miso soup with its delicious broth. In a Japanese restaurant you should not order miso for miso soup, just as you can't order tomato for tomato soup. It is just an ingredient. I don't much care for the Chinese soups.
I like a lemon PEEL with Scotch on the rocks. You rub it on the glass rim for just a touch of the lemon taste. A wedge such as you use in ICE TEA would overwhelm the taste of the Scotch.
Time to decorate. It takes me three days.
FIR, and the eraser finally got a day off. Been a while.
C-Eh got some payback today with the "Vancouver-to-Calgary" clue.
BAY brought memories of the chorus from that Stephen Foster song, Camptown Races:
Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
I’ll bet my money on de bob-tail nag—
Somebody bet on de BAY
Also the movie that couldn't be made today, Blazing Saddles. DON'T CLICK ON THIS LINK IF NON-PC LANGUAGE OFFENDS YOU!
Do I use Yelp? Yes. Do I trust it? Yes, as one input. I don't even trust Consumer Reports to be the single-source for decision making.
Thanks to David Poole for the fun, easy puzzle. You couldn't catch me with RYAS or RAMPAL. And thanks to DO for the fun review.
Little known fact. THE PELICAN STATE has a WHITE pelican on it's flag but the state bird is the BROWN pelican. About 50 years ago there were so few BROWN pelicans in LA that Florida sent some to us.
Many unknowns for this guy today. BARBARA STANWYCK, BAD SANTA, RAMPAL, CAPRA- all perps. D-Otto, I only got Stanwyck correct because SYDNEY was filled.
SEARLE- had the first birth control bill, ENOVID, followed by Ovulen and Demulen. Also Metamucil, Dramamine, and Celebrex to name a few. Bought by Pfizer about 15 years ago.
GELCAP- companies (McNeil with Tylenol was the first I can remember) only came out with those to get more shelf facings. Strictly a gimmick. No difference.
HODA- 'engaged at 55'. I'm happy for her. Her previous husband was running around on her after they left NOLA. She threw his clothes on the street. He's back in NOLA teaching tennis and she's making millions on NBC.
Pretty straightforward with apropos theme as we are a week out from Christmas. I had AUGUSTA Georgia - but it wasn't enough letters so changed to the NATIONAL second half. Our son and his wife live there with the military for another 6 months or so. When we visited them I was surprised that the golf course was right in town on a busy commercial street. It is surrounded by a tall forest of trees and high fence all around so you can't see inside, but you might miss it if you weren't looking for it!
Jean Pierre RAMPAL arose from the depths of my brain - he and James Galway from a few weeks back are the only flute players that I know!
Thanks D-Otto for pinch hitting and to David for the puzzle!
Mr. Desper-otto - Congratulations on a fine write up on the Crossword Corner. Now you know why I have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights. And thank you for clearing up Des Plaines for me. I thought it was something that Tattoo shouted to Mr. Roarke on "Fantasy Island". Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!
Took me 20 minutes to unbury my car from the mountain of 10 days accumulation of snow in the Syracuse NY airport last night flying in from south Florida. ("Why didnt you splurge and use the parking garage?")
Now I'm "pent" up surrounded by white stuff that isn't sand on a beach
Silly mistake spelling Stanwyck with an I but my friend "Syndey" corrected that. (Don't tell Barbara I use WIRE HANGERS!!)
Guess a flautist plays a flaut (flauto in Italiano) and a flutist plays a flute
Realized immediately that 10 commandments wouldn't fit but that's Genesis anyway.
As I'm doing the puzzle sipping on my Cappuccino little realizing that it's sweetened by a "Searle" product.
Never heard of a "rya" rug. Perps took care of that.
Only a brief hesitation on fuji..a favorite eating "apple"
Somebody bet on the "bey"
Good morning everyone.
Got everything but 2 cells. Missed eNO and SiDNEY. Sigh. Seems like AUGUSTA NATIONAL and BARBARA STANWYCK must have been seed words. Overall, nice seasonal puzzle from David. Toyed with 'tablet' briefly @ 2d but perps quickly augured for PLAGUES. Modern art? was clever and I was slow to pick up on it. BAY is the only 3 ltr horse color I know.
D-O - - Good write-up. Thanks.
Musings
-The teacher for whom I subbed yesterday had a SECRET SANTA gift on her desk and I thought this was going to be the theme
-A sign of spring, The Masters, will start in 113 days
-BOMB to FAIL to FLOP. The north end of the pencil was utile (there, I used that word)
-My friend trusted me and never drove my MIL’S car but still bought it AS IS
-The FIERI show is a fav for us
-Yesterday, the teacher had me start this 1983 movie full of future stars including ROB LOWE
-Chewing tobacco cans in back pockets are much rarer these days in H.S. hallways
-Nice job, D.O., I had SID/WIC as well. SIDNEY looked wrong but [insert excuse]
Good Morning:
Hand up for messing up the Stanwyck/Sydney crossing and not catching it. FIW on a Wednesday! Drat and Double Drat! Oh well, the solve was fun and the reveal a surprise because I thought the scrambled word was Satan, as in Lucifer. No w/os at all and no unknowns, just careless spelling. I liked Nos and NAS and Neo and Deo. CSOs to Inanehiker (Nina), the Chicago contingent (Trib), and Tin (_ _ _ Tea), and the LA folks (Pelican State).
Thanks, David, for fun holiday preview and thanks, DO, for pinch hitting. Great job!
Have a great day.
Nice job, D-O !
You've got potential ! :>) If that IRS / tax prep thing doesn't work out...
Me too. That same, singular mistake.
SIDNEY, OHIO. SIDNEY, NEBRASKA. SIDNEY POITIER.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. Why can't I remember it's the oddball spelling ?
Late start today. We had a little snowstorm last night, and my paper got plowed away, maybe to be found this Spring or after the next thaw. So I had to go online and print out a hard copy.
I saw we had circles again, but the new me is not going to whine anymore. Plus they actually were helpful for this puzzle. I was on the SATAN vs SANTA track until I got the reveal. Heard of the movie, but never saw it. Overall a pleasant hump day puzzle.
FIR, even though I've never heard of RAMPAL nor FIERI. However I didn't suss out SANTA -- duh!
Ray, I think it was Joan Crawford that objected to wire hangers.
This was a fun puzzle for Wednesday.
Hola!
Nice job, desper-otto! What Boomer and TTP said!
WEES about STANWYCK! I'm in good company!
What a great theme, BAD SANTA with SANTA scrambled. Thank you, David Poole.
We've seen RYAS before in a Sunday puzzle but it was a long time ago.
CSO to the PELICAN STATE residents here! Interesting info on the colors, Big Easy.
My youngest granddaughter loves Frozen but she isn't AFRAID. I found a Frozen themed comforter to give her for Christmas.
I also take all my pills in "one foop swell" but no GELCAPS among them.
PK, did you see my question last night?
Have a pleasant day, everyone!
Well, a bit crunchy for me at first, but a lot of fun once I got the SANTA theme early on. Many thanks, David. I was so happy to get BARBARA STANWICK early on, but sadly didn't remember the Y in SYDNEY. But I got RYAS even though I've never heard of that word. Also loved getting THE PELICAN STATE. Never had MISO soup--hope I have a chance to try it some time. Got HODA thanks to that unusual last name spelling. Anyway, lots of fun, and great write-up, Desper-otto.
Enjoyed your poems, Owen.
Have a good day, everybody.
Alice: re Wire hangers. You're right, my bad. Joan not Barbara.
This is what happens going from 80 degree beach weatherto 12 degrees and snow in 24 hours....
BRAIN FREEZE!!! Lol 🙄
ALternate, (more silly) Deo link
Confused Santa?
hmm, I wonder how else we can confuse Santa?
Oops, my bad!
The theme wasn't confused Santa, it was bad Santa...
C.C. has a puzzle, "Delicious!", over at Merriam-Webster.
I also wanted motes before IOTAS.
We are also fans of Diners Drive-ins and Dives. We just watch the program, so we are not as fanatical as some fans. There are people that try to visit each of the places shown on Triple D. We ate at a falafel place in San Jose that was featured in one of the Triple D episodes.
CED:
That link on Ways to Confuse Santa is downright mean and cruel, especially the barbed wire on the chimney and others!
Lucina,
Well, a learnng moment for me!
(Read Everything you link...)
I never expected some one to read everything I link,
I mean even "I" don't read "everything" I link!
Turns out I was late for an appointment & the link I wanted to use
Connected to one of this sites that "require" you to turn off your
adBlocker. (I don't trust those sites & would never link anything I think is sketchy)
(Except for silly sketches...)
I found an alternate site that I thought was the same,
Read the 1st 3 lines & hit enter and ran out the door.
Thanks for alerting me. Now that I read the whole thing,
I agree, these people are not on an even keel...
I will delete it if you think I should,
But I still think the 1st 3 are pretty funny.
San Francisco BAY may be gray for much of the year--say, 360 days or so.
But when it's blue, it is the deepest, richest blue imaginable! (Accented by a hundred white sails.)
And then it is truly my BAY!
~ OMK
Lucina, no, I didn't see your post last night due to falling asleep early. Checked it out just now. No, I wasn't signed up on Wheel of Fortune, so I don't think it could be me. Boo hoo! Oh well, I hope it went to some other PK who needs it worse than I do.
Hi All!
I found this to be quite the crunchy Wednesday puzzle, what?, with all the names...
Thanks David for the Holiday puzzle. Thanks D-O for pitch hitting - excellent expo with interesting tidbits (I only recalled Frogs & Locust).
WOs: snAp b/f THAW, cOn b/f NOS.
ESPs: BARBARA STANWYCK (Copious WAGS to get BARBARA), HODA, RYAS, SKOALS, SEARLE, RAMPAL, ILE, NINA, BAD [Santa]
Fav: ARE's clue
Runners-up: EWER's clue was cute. NOTCHES
"Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history
Of breaking little hearts like the one in me
Before I put another notch in my lipstick case
You better make sure you put me in my place"
Pat Benatar - Hit Me with Your Best Shot
I almost put in WATER for Fuji but SPAs stopped me [I LIU, oh, that's Fiji water]
{A, B+}
Jinx - I never understood "Somebody bet on de BAY" until today. Oh, BAY is a Reddish horse (as opposed to the nag). I thought maybe BAY was some betting term (last race?).
Oh, And that's one of my favorite Blazing Saddles' scene.
Fieri's Triple-D: I thought I'd only eaten at one (his poster was prominent), Lanford Grocery, but, it turns out, I've been to half of those in Houston featured on DD&D . [First 4 + Jamaican Grill]
Laundry's done so it's time to pack for tomorrow's flight to Norman (to visit with Eldest b/f we road-trip-it back on Sunday).
Cheers, -T
Circles two days running ? C'mon...
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, David and d'o.
Late to the party and I'll be brief! I FIWed by entering Ert (thinking of Erte) (RAMPAL was unknown and Neswas as good as NAS).
Hand up for seeing a scrambled Satan before Santa. But I did spell SYDNEY with a Y.
Yes Jinx, I smiled broadly at the clue with Victoria and Calgary. If I remember correctly, David is Canadian.
Good evening all.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, David Poole, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
Puzzle was a little sticky in spots, but I got it!
Caught the theme, but not the theme clue 64A, BAD SANTA. Never heard of that movie.
BARBARA STANWYCK was easy. RAMPAL was unknown. Perps.
Anyhow, I am going to bed. see you tomorrow.
Abejo
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