This is the first 2020 LAT puzzle from our own hero Jeffrey. He had gone 23 months straight being published here. I spoke to him about the month off; he was a bit crabby and really clammed up like an oyster protecting a pearl when I tried to push him. An ex-roommate call them "shell food." She was cute. Anyway, I have no clue how to work lobster into my sentence so I will quit while I can. (BTW this is all a product of my imagination as we did not talk about the LAT absence and he has been expanding his sales venues. JW is very gracious). I did learn the are three types of shellfish, Crustaceans, Mollusks (which I knew) and ECHINODERMS which was an unknown term. This puzzle is also a learning experience because as you see, the theme begins in row 4; not the usual 3. C.C. has commented on the need for this when you have four long themers in a puzzle. Because this puzzle involves "sounds like" it is a special challenge for C.C. and other ESL people.
As with 99% of Jeffrey's creativity, much is based on humor. It also showcases his use of words with DRY NOSE, NOT OPEN, ONE ACRE, SATCHEL, ETHERNET, POULTICE, EXCERPTING and WE HAVE MORE as bonus fill. The three in this COLOR are all introduced to the LAT here. There is an inordinate number of initialisms. How much fun you have will depend on your sense of humor. I had a fine time, so let us look at the theme.
20A. Offering in shellfish worship?: PRAWN SACRIFICE (14). A PAWN SACRIFICE is a common tactic in chess.
29A. Shellfish massage?: MUSSEL RELAXER (13). MUSCLE RELAXER changes into an image of hundreds of tiny guys walking on your back.
38A. Good name for a budget shellfish dealer?: SHRIMP AND SAVE (13). SCRIMP AND SAVE is an expression that has been around for hundreds of years
52A. Like one who exchanges texts with a shellfish?: WHELK CONNECTED (14). This was the hardest because even though WELL CONNECTED is a common phrase, WHELK is not well known. Similar to CONCH which we have in Florida which are warm water herbivores. Whelks are eaten in England, Italy, and Japan and are cold water carnivores.
Time to move on to the rest of the puzzle. We hope you enjoyed the marine lesson.
Across:
1. "... morning roses newly wash'd with __": Petruchio: DEW.
I really enjoy JW having Shakespeare in almost all of his puzzles.
"I’ll attend her here
And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say that she rail; why then I’ll tell her plain
165She sings as sweetly as a nightingale.
Say that she frown; I’ll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly washed with dew.
Say she be mute and will not speak a word;
Then I’ll commend her volubility,
And say she uttereth piercing eloquence." Taming of the Shrew
8. Caused trepidation: SCARED. From the Latin meaning trembling.
14. Phoenix-to-Albuquerque dir.: ENE.
15. O'Neill's daughter: OONA. She married Charlie Chaplin and has a granddaughter with the name.
16. "Happy Days" diner namesake: ARNOLD. Mr. Miyaki started out as an Arnold.
17. Networking technology: ETHERNET. This is a traditional technology for connecting wired local area networks (LANs), enabling devices to communicate with each other via a protocol -- a set of rules or common network language.
19. Jalopy sound: RATTLE. Hence- rattletrap.
22. Mississippi sight: LEVEE. "Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry. And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die"
23. Storage furniture: CHESTS.
24. "__-haw!": YEE. A junction in Florida or a Mikasuki word for wolf. Recently almost entirely DESTROYED.
25. Expanse: AREA.
26. Word often preceded by a leader's name: ERA. Roosevelt Era. Reagen Era.
35. Perfect place: UTOPIA.
37. "Modern Family," e.g.: SITCOM. A classic PORTMANTEAU - situation comedy.
42. "Catch you later": BYE.
43. Traditional knowledge: LORE.
44. Rate for records, briefly: RPM. Revolutions per minute are the number of turns in one minute. It is a unit of rotational speed or the frequency of rotation around a fixed axis. 33, 45 and 78.
47. High spirits: GAIETY. Not so much anymore.
50. Hit the big time: GO PRO. See below.
55. One of an infant's pair: BOOTIE. If he has two mothers?
Oh, you mean56. Sore application: POULTICE. Do any of you use these ancient APPLICATIONS?
57. City adjoining Champaign, Illinois: URBANA. Not part of Chicago. LINK.
58. Began, as a co.: ESTD.
59. Fourth bk. of the Jewish Torah: NUMbers. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
60. U.S. IOUs: T-NOTES.
61. Relative of -ity: NESS.
62. Fast sports cars: GTS. Gran Turismos. The Maserati sound recorded on a GoPro camera.
Down:
1. With intensity: DEEPLY. I love my wife deeply.
2. Dinner menu item: ENTREE. A five-course meal can include a soup, an appetizer, a salad, an entree, and a dessert.
3. Merchant's assurance during a sale: WE HAVE MORE.
4. Carried: BORNE. Mostly like a burden.
5. They're charged: IONS. An old pun.
6. Land parcel size: ONE ACRE.
7. Bag with a strap: SATCHEL.8. Bollywood costumery: SARIS.
9. Modeling, say: CRAFT. I am not crafty but my cousin Janine is great.
10. They're not with you: ANTIS. If you aren't with me, you are agin' me.
11. Uniform education org.?: ROTC. Very nice clue.
12. Bardot was on its cover at age 14: ELLE.
Can you guess which one is 14-year-old BB?13. Golfing pres.: DDE. Dwight David Eisenhower loved golf and Arnold Palmer.
18. Lea grazer: EWE. But not me.
21. __ admiral: REAR. HISTORY.
25. "Don't delay!" letters: ASAP. As Soon As Possible.
26. Taking parts of: EXCERPTING. Kind of like scrapbooking, but not.
27. Early initials in American cars: REO. Ransom E. Olds.
28. Certain limb: ARM.
30. News agcy. since 1958: UPI. United Press International.
31. __City: computer game: SIM. I had a lot of fun playing this game with my kids and their friends.
32. In __: actual: ESSE. A bit of Latin.
33. YouTube star __ Marie Johnson: LIA. This is an odd story.
34. Honda FourTrax, e.g.: Abbr.: ATV. All-Terrain Vehicle.
35. Very active port?: USB. Universal Serial Bus.
36. Genesis pronoun: THY.
39. Baldwin of "30 Rock": ALEC.
40. Closed: NOT OPEN.
41. Vet's concern, perhaps: DRY NOSE. The TRUTH.
45. Like many hobby shop mat boards: PRE-CUT.
46. Surfing equipment: MODEMS. Internet surfing.
47. Hint: GET AT.
48. Dior design: ALINE.
49. Some big box stores: IKEAS.
50. Neuters: GELDS. OUCH!
51. Canadian Thanksgiving mo.: OCTober. CSO to our Northern posters. It has a mixed PAST. The mention of the Mi’kmaq also hits home, as my 0.4 percent indigenous heritage is credited to that tribe.
52. Well-used: WORN.
53. Vagrant: HOBO. Now we just call them the homeless.
54. "Dang!": NUTS.
55. Objection: BUT.
Wow, what a week. I am beaten. Finishing with Jeffrey and his humor is wonderful transition to the weekend. Thank you all for reading and writing. Lemonade out.
Perry the fairy got the news
ReplyDeleteHis lodge membership was up for reviews.
Meetings he'd missed
With the morning mist
Meant he was in AREARS on his DEWS!
Our days of now, as seen from yore
Would be UTOPIA, went the LORE.
All problems solved,
All wants dissolved,
And wealth, WE would HAVE MORE!
{A, C.}
FLN, T-, any excuse to post a scene from BLAZING SADDLES is appreciated.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGot 'er done, but that SE quarter was the toughest with DRYNOSE and EXCERPTING. Didn't help that I tried SPAYS where GELDS needed to go. This was definitely a Friday-worthy exercise. Thanx, JW and L714. (Thanx for 'splainin' SPAWN SACRIFICE -- didn't understand that one.)
ETHERNET: There were several different networking technologies back in the '80s, but Ethernet soon emerged as the standard for business local area networks.
NUMBERS: Despite its name, that book is not about anesthesiology.
ROTC: It was available, but definitely not popular, when I was in school back in the mid '60s.
SATCHEL: I've got a leather one that I use lugging my tax paraphernalia from site to site -- books, calculator, stapler, keyboard and mouse, scissors, etc. The computer glasses that I need for tax season finally came in. I'll pick them up today. It's taken a month -- ridiculous.
FIR, but erased delta for LEVEE, crates for CHESTS, romcom for SITCOM, estb for ESTD, and rats for NUTS. I'm a big fan of CHESTS. DNK WHELK or LIA.
ReplyDeleteI used to office on Utopia Road in Phoenix.
ETHERNET? I'm still holding out for a token ring resurgence. And where did all the X.25 gear go?
I was surprised to be able to complete this one. I had a hard time getting started, then put it down to walk Zoe in the frigid (45 degree) morning. The brisk weather must have resuscitated my brain, because I finished in short order after I restarted my efforts.
Thanks to JeffWesch for another gem that even I could complete. And thanks to Lemony for the fun review. Splynter : legs = Lemonade : booties?
Played hard, but liked the theme and it helped. Mostly blank for too long and then it was smooth sailing.
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone couldn't tell from the photo, it was Mr. Miyagi (of Karate Kid fame) that started out as an Arnold.
ReplyDelete18 1/2 minutes today. Whelk, gaiety, & poultice were unkonwn, and "drug use" seemed to work instead of "dry nose."
D-O: "computer glasses" sounds high-tech, like Google Glasses.
Not bad for a Friday. But a puzzle to do with an EpiPen not a BIC if you have a shellfish allergy!!
ReplyDeleteHappy to eventually FIR. ...had "hee" instead of YEE haw ..."spays" for GELDS (DO)...."Life"for ELLE till perp corrected
Almost forgot there was another POTUS who spent a lot of time golfing.
So did the meal served at the first New England Thanksgiving include left over cold turkey from the OCT Canadian celebration? Eh?
Sponge Bob's band conductor friend: Lawrence WHELK
What do you get if you mate a PRAWN with an Ape?...a "shrimpanzee"!...*collective moan*
See you on Saturn's Day
Fun Friday, Jeff. Great expo, Lemonade. It was the SW that slowed me down, but FIR. I love shellfish and I loved the theme.
ReplyDeleteOnly Lia was new to me. Thanks to Canadian Eh! I knew OCT.
I, too was singing,"Drove my Chevy to the Levee."
I had PRAWN SACRIFICE, but wondered what the original phrase was. Thanks for PAWN SACRIFICE, Jason.
Devilish favorites, perps and wags, were surfing equipment/modem and very active port/USB.Computers were far from my thoughts.
Jinx, if frigid weather resuscitates our brains, I should be very smart today. LOL. 18 degrees at 7 AM. This week it will go up to a warm 55. So erratic.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lemonade for a great write-up and especially your notation of new words/phrases to the LAT puzzles.
I wrestled with the theme a bit but saw where Jeff was going with it. I liked WHELK……… because of its rarity as Lemon pointed out.
Last to fill was central east where I had 'serial' before the C and M moved me toward SITCOM.
Puzzled between REAR and Vice, but when the 'R' of ……SACRIFICE dropped, REAR when in.
FIR. BZ to Jeff for another fun workout.
"Well". I had a WHALE of a time trying to finish this one because , duh, it was a WHELK instead of a mammal. Incorrectly guessing that the Honda was SUV-wrong-, then UTE-wrong again-, and finally an ATV next to the unknown YouTube star LIA crossing the "Modern Family" clue gave me SITCOM after my LEG became an ARM. EXCERPTING, not an everyday word. Whew.
ReplyDeleteNUM- didn't know but after the explanation I realized there was an 'abbr.' in the clue.
YouTube- I use it when I need to find out how fix something. Or you can say "OK Google, Play this song on You Tube" and it will start playing after about 5 seconds.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteFine puzzle for Friday. But then any puzzle on Friday that I FIR is a good puzzle. Like one of my employees once said “ any free beer is a good beer”
Thanks L714 for the review and yes my mother used to make poultices of mustard , lard, and flour to place on your chest or back for sever colds and coughs. Too much mustard and not enough lard could cause redness from the burn . Never enjoyed that part of the TLC mom provided. Only when all home remedies failed did we resort to Doctor’s help.
Enjoyed this C/W with only a few unkowns like DDE, LIA, and WHELK.
I love sea food of all kinds but did not know WHELK.
First thought SPAYS but when GOPRO showed up I went for GELDS.
Because of WHELK the Southwest was the last to fill.
Enjoyed the licks Owenkl and the rest of the comments .
Cheers
I know whelk from hunting for seashells down the shore. We had a book which helped ID common shells. I have never seen them on a menu in the U.S. but I know they are eaten in other countries.
ReplyDeleteYou all must not be seashell pickers.
Jinx
ReplyDeleteIs there a colder place in America right now than Ocala, FLA?
Spoken from the Golden corral
WC
Musings
ReplyDelete-Jeffrey’s bedeviling cluing augmented with WHELK? made for a fun Friday
-Shakespeare – “I’ll love her no matter what”
-Pat Morita (Arnold) did a lot of TV and movie work whenever any Asian was called for
-LEVEES that burst a year ago are getting ready to do so again and the Army Corps of Engineers are not very popular now
-The Corps lets the survival of the Pallid Sturgeon and the Least Tern influence water release and practices used to break up ice jams. People whose houses are full of water aren’t as sympathetic
-We have friends who pay $100 for a ¼ ACRE plot to garden
-Most clips I post here are EXCERPTED from TV and movies
-Off to teach Home Ec, er, Family Consumer Science
Fishy Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteI must have been on the right wavelength this morning, as I FIRed in good time and saw the theme (Sortta!).
Several inkblots included changing SUV to ATV and Rats to NUTS (Hi Jinx & Big Easy).
I wanted Whale (it sounds like Well) but I knew it wasn't a shellfish. WHELK was unknown.
PRAWN SACRIFICE had me scratching my head too.
But I smiled at the imagery of MUSSEL RELAXER.
I also smiled at ONE ACRE crossing AREA.
ARM, CHESTS and BOOTIEs today. (Could put a POULTICE on that CHEST also.)
Hand up for Hee before YEE.
The vet's concern might have had something to do with 50D GELDS; no, it was DRY NOSE.
We had REOs, GTS, ATVs, and USB, SIM City, MODEMS, ETHERNET computer related (as mentioned by YR).
Glad you all are learning some Canadian facts - test today with OCT. LOL, Ray @7:44, you are in rare form. Leftover turkey! (I'll have to check re new USMCA regulations for shipping that.)
Off to do some housework.
Enjoy the day.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was fairly easy for a Friday until I got to the South. Caught the theme, but WHELK was totally unknown. I had most of the perps but still could not figure out 52A. So, I gave up and came here. When I saw WHELK was right I looked it up. Definitely a shellfish. OK, live and learn.
EXCERPTING was also a tough one.
Other than my problems, the puzzle was great.
Jinx: I also have been to Utopia Rd in Phoenix more times than I can count. I never had an office there I just camped out in my co-workers offices. I covered Arizona for Installation for A.E., as well as California, Nevada, and Utah. I remember getting two speeding tickets one day driving to Phoenix from California. An airplane was spotting the cars. I got the first one in California, then crossed the state line and got another one in Arizona. Same airplane. All within about a half hour. Past history.
Cold this morning while guarding the crossing, 10 degrees.
Lots to do. See you tomorrow, maybe. I have a big day tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I loved this Friday Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle--many thanks, Jeff. No, I didn't get it all, but I got the entire top half. I even figured out it was YEE and not HEE to put in DEEPLY. Knew OONA O'Neill--that helped. Didn't remember ARNOLD but all the downs filled that one in. And having gotten PRAWNS and MUSSEL I got the seafood theme, but it helped only with SHRIMP down below, and not with WHELK. Still, one of the most fun Fridays ever, thanks again, Jeff. And enjoyed your write-up, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Just re-read your poems, Owen--delightful!
ReplyDeleteSide Bar
ReplyDelete-Here’s a comment on “Kids today”. I accidentally ate the wrong lunch and a group of twenty 8th graders were in this room unsupervised for a half hour. I was shocked to see them when I walked in but they were working quietly and behaving like young adults. Man, I love these kids!
DNF,
ReplyDeleteJW was too tough for me today.
It was when I started cheating to get a perp or two
that I discovered that I would never get some of these words...
Gaiety does not describe me...
Also, just discovered my Hee was a Yee? (never noticed...)
Familiar with Whelks due to watching YouTube videos on shore scavenging,
but I doubt I would eat them. Seem too much like snails...
(maybe with Garlic Butter?)
Learning moment, Limpets!
The buggers are usually impossible to get off,
counterintuitively
I discovered you have to sneak up on them?
Lemon: Outstanding write-up. Good job!
ReplyDeleteFave today was the reference to YEE Haw Junction ...
Use to be a wonderful spot to Gas-Up or take a stretch when driving across Florida.
Cheers!
Husker, I've gotta ask. Whose lunch did you eat?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI was about to just stop....so many blank cells...but then I saw it was a Jeff W puzzle....and got busy. I don’t like “losing” to Mr. W, LOL.
And bit by bit it filled....but not without numerous redos.
Write-overs...HOBBY/CRAFT, SPAYS/GELDS, AUG/OCT, SUBURB/URBANA, DRAT/NUTS.
Still happy for the solve despite the inky mess.
On to Saturday.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot one, HEE/YEE.
ReplyDeleteI’m guessing Husker took the wrong lunch period, not the actual lunch.
It is so much more fun picturing Gary stealing some 8th graders' lunch. I hope they were not eating limpets (yucky).
ReplyDeleteIt is so cool that over the years you all have stopped cursing Jeffrey and are now committed to overcoming the challenge. I am so proud of you all.
ReplyDeleteAll right, you grammar guys got me! :-) I know that you knew what I meant but I still got a kick out of it!!
ReplyDeleteWe teachers all talk like that because Lunch is just another period of the day.
PVX, of course got it right but it felt like I was back in the teacher's lounge again.
I liked this toughie but goodie puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGary, I misunderstood and thought you must have been in the WC for a half hour after eating something that didn't agree with you.
ReplyDeleteLemony, Jeff's puzzles have changed a lot too. Still hard, but almost never unfair for mere mortals. I still get my butt kicked a lot, but now I enjoy the process.
FIR but didn't really "get" the long clues until Lemonade helped out with pawn/prawn and scrimp/shrimp. Thanks for that! I have a pet peeve with the American usage for ENTREE, which means "entry" in French, and appears on menus in France where we say "appetizers." How on earth did we do awry?
ReplyDeleteI knew Chaplin's granddaughter, but not his wife or father-in-law.
ReplyDeleteHEE or YEE; waited for perps.
EDEN or UTOPIA; count letters.
33-1/3 RPM, not 33.
LIA Johnson was unknown.
VETrinarian or VETeran?
Surfing: water or internet.
Port: sea or computer?
Pat Morita was not named Arnold. The name was on the sign when he bought the diner.
Loved Owen's poem today! Nice meter, neat rhymes. Cool tongue-in-cheekness in re. to our faulty human vision.
ReplyDelete"I'd give everything I have--to get even more..."
~ OMK
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteraTS! DNF'd it in the SE. POUTICE nor GELD (as clued) is in my vocabulary. Too, I kept wanting EXCERvating(?) or some-such.
On the plus-side, I learned what a WHELK is.
Thanks JW for the puzzle to noodle on. Thanks Lem for the verbose write-up and the quick peek at your grid to fix raTS for extra-play!
WO: hEE-haw
ESPs: Many a peck & a WAG - see OONA among others.
Fav: I kinda liked the mini-nerd theme - ETHERNET, MODEM, USB port [great clue too!], and Champaign/URBANA [home of Fighting Illini & an early SuperComputer]
{B+, A [what OMK said]}
CED - you're the NUT :-)
HG - I knew what you meant as many friends are / were teachers. That said, funny D-O [and Jinx!]
There were two 'ARNOLD's. [at :20 (on the phone) and :21 (spilling fries)]
I had a Fonz lunchbox.
//Roy is right: Al was a nickname for Morita [see: Wiki]
Knew OCT (or was it SEP(?!?)) thanks to our resident Canadian. Thanks, C, Eh!!
SACRIFICE a P(R)AWN? - only to cede that side of the board. I keep those little bastards out there as bait/defense with at least 2 backers.
Jinx - LOL token rimg. Last time I saw that was on an ICS/SCADA floor ensuring each control-system could "talk." X.25? - now you're showing your age :-)
Cheers, -T
Re: Chess.
ReplyDeleteI love the game and play whenever I can. Only my (Army) Bro is a formidable opponent within my extended-circle. I had a buddy in HS that kicked my butt >100x [we played every day after school - he's now an officer in LA Nat. Guard] until I won 3 of our last 4 games. He never played me after that. #soreloser :-)
I did get my butt kicked two years ago at DefCon's play area by one guy. He didn't play like I'd seen before. I asked for a rematch, you know, to learn, and, Nada. I hope I can play him again - his game-play was very odd to me.
[and if you're curious: No, I'm not ranked nor do I have any interest in that. I want to keep it fun.]
-T
Yay! A Friday JW! My cup runneth over. No of course I didn’t win. Jeffrey , you always beat me but but the battle is always a treat! Thanks
ReplyDeleteLiving on a sailboat for a while taught me the delight of shelling. I had no problem with WHELK but I’ve never eaten one. People who don’t like oysters think they are yukky, too, so maybe I should have tried a WHELK.
Thanks to Canadian Eh I knew Thanksgiving was in OCT.
And our LEVEES failed after Katrina so that came to mind, although it was the LEVEES along the canals not the Mississippi that failed here.
Lemonade, your comments were a joy. Thanks!
Owen, A, A
T- actually Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor, voice actor, and comedian, known for his roles as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days (1975–1983). Pat Morita was Arnold for the first three seasons. He left to get married and Al Molinaro took over as the owner-chef, called AL.
ReplyDeleteLem - Yep, I got that backwards... Par for the course :-)
ReplyDeleteBTW, thank you T- and everyone who gives me so much encouragement. I love puzzles and talking about them but it isn't always easy. This week has been not nice but now I rest and recover
ReplyDeleteWoo Hoo! C.C. crossword tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteLem - Sorry to hear your week was sore. You OK?
ReplyDeleteMy week has been long but productive. I kept the wily hackers at bay AND got some internal project work done. I shall sleep(?) [hard?] soon.
TTP - Nice work taking down the flimflam flotsam.
Michael - I inked YEE-Haw. Oh,... I get it...
A C.C. Sat will be different. Looking forward to it around the same time WikWak wakes.
*licks pen*
Cheers, -T
Only I could relate ERA to a baseball pitcher's stat "Leading" the League. Pitchers created amazing POULTICES to keep the ol' soupbone limber.
ReplyDeleteAmong Digital's bad decisions was sticking with DECNET.
I remember my Dr saying "What's with the emergency gout treatment?". "I had 'The Captain's Platter'". "You had what?!!!!!". I think it was the oysters.
Re. Xword… I had a lot of trouble in the southern hemisphere. First I had to understand the theme. Of course I didn't know WHELK. I had MG / GT. And the wrongways mentioned(eg SPAY,UTE)
Fell asleep . Busy all day and didn't really get going on XWord until Seven.
WC
PS, Agree with the A on first l'ick