Theme: TRAIL MIX (61. Backpacker's snack, and a hint to the circled letters) - Anagrammed letters of TRAIL span across each theme entry.
17. Astral-shaped wildflower of the American West: STAR LILY.
30. Business sector involving merchandise: RETAIL TRADE.
44. Lionel products: MODEL TRAINS.
Boomer here. Heading down the TRAIL of a Monday crossword.
We had a little Minnesota problem last week. Eight inches of wet snow clogged our satellite dish, but shoveling used up some of TV time anyway. Weather person reported that our average temperature this time of year is 56 degrees. My golf clubs are safe and dry in the garage.
Across:
1. June honorees: PAS. Some are grand!
4. Hissed "Hey!": PSST.
8. Tool for curved cutting: JIGSAW. These puzzles are better than crosswords. I have put together dozens.
14. Devoured, say: ATE. How many eggs did you have for breakfast, Brute ?? I ATE eight.
15. State bordering Lake Erie: OHIO. It's a big lake. I think Michigan and New York are in the mix, but too many letters.
16. Dress like a justice: ENROBE. "All Rise".
19. Whatsit: DOODAD. I have thousands of boondoggle and baseball cards. Will those count?
20. Really impressive, in slang: SICK.
21. Asking for a saucer of milk, maybe: MEOWING.
23. Soft fly ball: BLOOP. It doesn't get any higher.
25. Utmost degree: NTH. It doesn't get any higher than that either.
26. Helpful hint: TIP. Or a few dollars to our newspaper
delivery guy. The news was on our front step around 5:00 AM. Lot of
snow on the ground and driveway at that time. Plus there is not a lot
of traffic on our street. Low priority for the plows.
29. Veer off course: YAW.
35. Performing in person: LIVE. Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!
36. Walking on water, as Jesus did: MIRACLE. Also a WHIP salad dressing.
37. Take for granted: ASSUME. Makes an ASS out of U and ME.
40. Speak under one's breath: MUTTER.
46. Koothrappali on "The Big Bang Theory": RAJ.
49. "Undoubtedly": YES. "You say YES, I say NO, you say why, and I say I don't know" Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles again.
50. Key next to the space bar: ALT.
51. New Zealand native: MAORI.
53. Cite for speeding: WRITE UP. I got a couple of these when I was young and stupid. Now I am old and slow, but still stupid.
57. Advise of danger: WARN.
58. "Love" concoction: POTION. I took my troubles down to Madame
Rue. You know that Gypsy with the Gold capped tooth. She sold Love
POTION number nine. The Searchers.
63. First in a playoff series: OPENER. World Series Tampa Bay Rays cannot sell beer at the ballpark because they lost the OPENER.
64. Biology lab gel: AGAR.
65. Genesis fruit eater: EVE. The devil made her do it.
66. House speaker Nancy: PELOSI. Two of my sisters live in her district in SF.
67. Ritual flammable pile: PYRE.
68. Checkers color: RED. Not enough spaces for BLACK.
Down:
1. Elapse, as time: PASS BY.
2. Number one Hun: ATTILA. I don't know much about him but I don't want to either.
3. Underwater herbivore: SEA COW. I have seen the SEA and I have seen a COW.
4. D.C. insider: POL. Many many scramblers this week to keep their jobs.
5. Wedge-shaped leveling piece: SHIM.
6. End of Jane or June?: SILENT E. Letter E in Jane or June.
7. RAV4 automaker: TOYOTA. Sorry, we went with a Santa Fe.
8. "Star Wars" warrior: JEDI. I think my son, Bret, had the first three movies memorized.
9. A party to: IN ON. "How do I know, I read it in the Daily News." Tom Paxton. And you thought I only liked the Chad Mitchell Trio.
10. Pirate's rum drink: GROG. "Away, away with rum by gum, the song of the temperance union." Chad Mitchell Trio.
11. Nursery buy: SOD.
12. Lawyer's org.: ABA. I will say nothing about this. I don't want to get sued.
13. Exchange marriage vows: WED. Middle of the week day.
18. Old MGM rival: RKO. We had an RKO Orpheum movie theater in downtown Minneapolis years ago.
22. Sudden fancy: WHIM.
24. Kind of scream: PRIMAL.
26. Diplomacy: TACT.
27. Not scheduled to play, as a pro team: IDLE. When the Santa Fe IDLES, it seems like the engine dies.
28. Look intently (at): PEER. I have no PEERS, they are all better than I.
31. Three-time Wimbledon winner Chris: EVERT. Tennis is kind of a back and forth. Not my favorite.
32. Spanish citrus fruit: LIMON. I think this is a lemon spelled wrong.
33. Obvious observation: TRUISM.
34. Stinkers: RATS. "Good Grief Charlie Brown!"
35. Garage job: LUBE.
37. Football rival of Navy: ARMY. I thought this used to be a Thanksgiving game. It has been moved to December 12, 2020.
38. A tree helps it keep its shape: SHOE. As long as it's not high heeled.
39. Soap bubbles: SUDS. When you say Budweiser...
42. Obnoxious tyke: BRAT. Sounds like a sausage to me.
43. Arrangement of church services: LITURGY. My church still does not want old people with health conditions. Something about Covid-19.
45. Brewpub fixture: ALE TAP. I still drink the Canada Dry Ginger type. It's not on tap. It comes in cans.
46. Aimless sort: ROAMER.
47. Hit the big time: ARRIVE. Last Sunday a famous sportswriter
for the Minneapolis Star Tribune Sid Hartman (Age 100) passed away and
hit the big time. The Monday paper had about 12 pages of tribute
obituary. The Sports section also had a three page obit on the Vikings.
48. Brought bad luck to: JINXED.
52. Hole-making tool: AWL.
53. Skid row denizen: WINO. Not me. When I was allowed to
consume, it was a VO Manhattan on the rocks with cherry juice. After
two of them I quit because I could not say that anymore.
54. Some reddish deer: ROES.
55. Crucifix letters: INRI.
56. Jack who preceded Carson on late-night TV: PAAR. Yes I am old enough to remember Jack.
58. Burst: POP. Diet Pepsi please.
59. Reveal, in verse: OPE.
60. Business card abbr.: TEL.
62. Embitterment: IRE.
Boomer
41 comments:
Very quick, noticing the theme as I went. Everything easy as it should be today.
Good morning!
Had the circles, and realized that "MIX" had to be a reveal. No problem this morning. Thanx, Jeff and Boomer. (You were in rare form this morning. You almost had me going with "lost the opener.")
SEA COW: CSO to MalMan. Some say these mammals were the source of the mermaid legends.
PAAR: In February 1960, when the network censored his "Water Closet" joke, he stormed off the set and didn't return for three weeks. When he finally reappeared, his first line was, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..."
Well, I was embarrassed that 1A wasn't DAD (didn't catch honoree(s)). After that fix things went better, but still not a quick Monday. dooDAD and POP just continued the mocking.
Silent E (like Double U is the capital of Wisconsin) always takes me too long but does make me chuckle.
True anagrams this time, instead of mere scrambles. A more engaging Monday puzzle.Thanks, Jeff. Fun blog, Boomer.
"...unlike manatees, which use freshwater areas, the dugong is strictly a marine mammal. Commonly known as "sea cows," dugongs graze peacefully on sea grasses in shallow coastal waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans."
My mom made a fabulous strawberry/rhubarb pie. IMO much better than rhubarb alone. We had a rhubarb patch and often had rhubarb sauce, not my favorite.
I still can't stoop or carry. A friend from church as well as David, is helping me. Spending three days doing very little has set back my time table.
Glad you were thinking of me over the weekend.
Had trouble with the new corner because of Pas not being dad.Loved Chad Mitchell Trio!
Str8 forward Monday. Didn't know BLOOP but that's AWL right. Was able to FIR... One inkover: Passed/PASSBY. Had to think a second or two: Parr? or PAAR, AGAR perp settled that. ODing on GROG may make one groggy...claiming RATS are stinkers risks raising rodent IRE.
A real shoe TREE
PAS and POP (both words "DOO"DADS).
Not much else to add but the usual absurdum:
What bridal gown mannequins do.....MODEL TRAINS.
"I can't fight a war unless you" ____....ARMY.
Agricultural classified ad: "Farmers _____ for lonely bull" ....SEACOW...(mal man need not apply)
Your dog is the _____ who ____ my STARLILY. I'm ____! ....PEER/WED/PSST.
Never saw Chris ____ her tongue at the tennis ref for a bad call.... EVERT
Bad...and will get worse as the week progresses
Good morning everyone.
CSO to Manatee with SEACOW.
Easy Monday solve followed by Boomer's breezy, newsy hot wash-up. Got the theme but didn't feel it added much. It did help to fill a few circles by limiting the choices.
MUTTER - German for 'mother'. Dutch moeder (oe has sound of 'u' in 'lute'
RHUBARB - Growing up, all summer long, our supper would be polished off by a desert my parents called Rode Grütt; German Rote Grütze. Consisting mainly of RHUBARB, it also might contain strawberries, and lightly covered with fresh milk. See Rode Grütt
Musings
-Anagram/circle Sunday followed by an anagram/circle Monday
-Cold and ½” of snow but 60oF for Halloween
-Tampa Rays won on Saturday with a BLOOP hit and two Dodger errors
-An Arby’s order taker was so personable yesterday I gave her a TIP
-A vessel can YAW a few degrees but remain on course
-Not for me, YR, I love RHUBARB pie straight up, no strawberries required :-)
-Two former students, now police officers, could have written me up but let me go
-Shakespeare’s take on members of the ABA and an explanation
-An old baseball JINX – “Gosh, Sandy, did you know you have a no-hitter going?”
FLN, re. "Green Paint"(Urban dictionary)
Green Paint
Money/cash
Rob Thomas: Well I gotta wait for the first to go out, sugar.
Christina Aguilera: What for baby?
Rob Thomas: I ain't got no green paint til then, mama.
by Johnny B Great February 16, 2011
Good Morning:
This was a typical Monday, easy and fast solve. I saw the plural on June honorees so immediately thought of grads and plopped in Srs. Other than that error, no additional w/os and no unknowns. I saw the circled Trail so the reveal was not a big surprise. As has been mentioned, CSO to MalMan at Sea Cow and also to CED at Meowing. I liked Pyre crossing Ire and the duo of Suds and Ale.
Thanks, Jeff, for a nice start to the week and thanks, Boomer, for the upbeat and humorous expo. As DO said, you were in rare form!
YR, sorry you’re hurting and glad you’re getting some help. Have you sold the condo? Will you be closer in distance to Alan’s facility?
Have a great day.
Addendum
Garrison Keillor told a wonderful RHUBARB story that was a perfect metaphor for life in Lake Woebegone. When Dorothy at The Chatterbox Café made Rhubarb Pie it sold out very quickly. Her recipe called for lots of sugar which almost hid the underlying bitterness of the plant itself. I almost gasped when I heard him tell the story and its meaning hit me but I can’t find it to post here. I am making an offer of 20 "atta girls/boys" to anyone who can find the full text of this incredible story and post it.
My usual circles lament. Didn't see them. It took a minute to get going, but I eventually got it done in slightly over my usual Monday time.
I had a couple of electronic erasures. DAD before PAS, POPUP before BLOOP, and I wanted GAME ONE before OPENER but it was too long. I guess I'm not much of a baseball fan.
The leaves are turning and falling rapidly. Time to get out the rakes and leaf blower. I can now see the football stadium from my kitchen window but I can't go to any games because of the CoVid restrictions. Oh well.
Yesterday, we made it official and cancelled our annual Thanksgiving celebration. It has been a family tradition to have it at our house since my wife's mother passed away 40 years ago. We discussed it with our kids and the rest of the family (over 30 people) who would normally attend and figured we didn't want to host a potential super spreader with people coming from Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas along with the local Pennsylvanians, some of whom are nursing home residents. Maybe we'll do a ZOOM get together. We'll still have turkey and some of the trimmings for the two of us, but I'm going to miss my niece's desserts (she usually brings 8 to 10 different desserts). What are your families doing about Thanksgiving?
Have a great day everyone and please wear your masks.
Coming north along the ERIE in OHIO I encountered a blinding snow. Could see nada.
As I left Rally's I heard a shout "Your gas cap's off!". Around the corner was the usual panhandler. He took care of the cap, I took care of him
Leo the Lip Durocher was a master at creating a RHUBARB
So as I CRESTed the hill there was Smoky. He pulled over the guy in front,too. Then he quickly waves him on and cites me. Before I could get to court I was in Florida and had to pay there.
I see my Ray's were unable to pull another one out of the fire
ATTILA was paid off by both Pope and Emperor.
SEA-SO to MaloMan, I see I'm not first.
I thought the PAAR joke hilarious and laughed all the way through. The author has demonstrated unwittily why SNL s@#$s
I miss Ol' JINX. Was it politics?
WC
Hola!
I was fast on the TRAIL today and the circled letters just sped up the pace when I had a doubt about a fill. No surprises until BLOOP and SICK which almost caused a Natick. I finally worked it out but had to change RCA for RKO.
Chris EVERT is appearing regularly in puzzles. For several years she and her husband operated a tennis school but I don't know if it's still in place.
I love RHUBARB pie, with or without strawberries.
Yesterday I could not attend the LITURGY. Apparently all the tickets were given out by the time I tried to register.
This puzzle was a hoot! Thank you, Jeff Stillman and Boomer!
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Re: Keillor; this isn't it but its a start:
One little thing can revive a guy
And that is a piece of rhubarb pie.
Serve it up, nice and hot,
Maybe things aren't as bad as you thought.
(ALL)
Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.
Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.
See News from Lake Wobegon - Rhubarb
Musings 3
-Our best hope for Thanksgiving is in my daughter's garage two arm's lengths away from each other.
-It remains to be seen how many trick or treaters we will have for our 220 bags of treats. I like Snickers' fun bars but...
-Way out there trivia - Does anyone know what Bill Murray movie featured John LaRoquette whose pretentious character's last name was Stillman?
Husker - - Stripes
Did you see my 1038 link?
Very nice Monday puzzle. The TRAIL helped me find my way in a few spots.
Question for Yellowrocks, who wrote: "True anagrams this time, instead of mere scrambles." What's the difference? In case YR does not return, y'all feel free to give me an eye OPENER. Thanks for the puzzle, Jeff, and for the review, Boomer!
Musings 4
-Fabulous Spitz!!! Thanks so much!!
-Here’s your pay!!
Husker, that was very indehiscent of you. Are you Norwegian?
For thanksgiving I usually go to the neighbors house. We already worked it out, I’m sending over the usual outrageously good sausage stuffing and they are sending over a plate of everything else. At least there’ll be football to watch.
20A Really impressive = "sick"? Must be the same dialect as good = "bad"!
SICK is (Dennis)Eckersley speak for "nasty stuff" eg a "wicked" breaking curve ball. Here's what I found in text for what may have been the RHUBARB joke:
Anyway, the rhubarb, the rhubarb pie was made at the Chatterbox Café on Thursday morning. It was the last pound of frozen rhubarb. Dorothy puts up 100 pounds every spring, freezes it. It lasts all through the winter, because she herself does not care for rhubarb pie. But other people love rhubarb pie, and this was the last pound. It was just enough to make three pies, and she made them, and she put them in the oven, and she and Darlene sat down to have a cup of coffee. Mr. Burgee was sitting there, and the other old men. They were sniffing, waiting for the pie to be done.
[Dorothy and Darlene have a long conversation about their husbands, one deceased and the other divorced, neither of whom they have seen for many years.]
Mr. Burgee said "I think I smell something burning." Dorothy turned around and gave him a look, she said, "the day I need baking advice from you, Mr. Burgee, is the day that fish ride bicycles." Indeed, there was smoke in the air; she went in the kitchen, she opened the oven; all three rhubarb pies were black as could be. Made her feel satisfied somehow to have burnt every last one of 'em. "Dammit," she said, "I never cared for rhubarb anyway, and this was last spring's rhubarb - last spring's. Get these outta here, Darlene, throw these out in the trash," she said. "Another month, two months, we'll have all the fresh rhubarb that we can stand. No need to fool around with last spring's rhubarb. Get it outta here, good riddance to it."
That's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all children are above average.
WC
Thanks for the manatee CSOs. I do feel as if I need to put the rumors to rest, however. I am definitely NOT the source of any Mermaid legends ;-) !
Always exciting to see a Monday Jeff Stillman puzzle--many thanks for the fun, Jeff. And, Boomer you too are a Monday pleasure--thanks to you too.
My favorite clue was "A tree helps it keep its shape." I agonized over this one--how can a tree help anything, for goodness sake. When SHOE filled in, it cracked me up--oh, a shoe tree! Haven't thought of one of those in decades.
Had no trouble whatsoever getting that Jane and June each had a SILENT E.
Also enjoyed seeing JIGSAW, and Jack PAAR (turns up often, doesn't he?) and Nancy PELOSI. But YAW and SHIM were unknowns to me.
Keep taking good care of yourself, Yellowrocks. And have a good day, everybody.
Yepper, pretty easy puzzle today. Thanks Jeff and Boomer.
How easy was it??? I started off scanning the theme clues. First fill was MODELTRAINS; second fill was TRAILMIX. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
I did try to mess it up, though: MURMER before MUTTER and misspelled ATTILA and PAAR, but the perps straightened out those little problems.
WHENEVER I see/hear the word WINO, I can think of…
Wonderful WINO
For those of you who came in late (i.e., somewhat younger than I am), he is only exaggerating a little bit.
Musings 5
-No, D-O, I sometime DEHISCE at the drop of a hat
-No, D-O-2, my name comes from Switzerland and that man married a woman from Kentucky whose roots are somewhere up in some holler. I have no idea about mom’s side since her mother always thought she married below her station in life.
-However, the German community just north of our small town was rife with bachelor German farmers who still had one foot in the 18th century. They also had a “hell, fire and brimstone preacher” who kept them in line. Uh, that preacher started really losing his grip with the generation that went to school with me.
Lucina, to try to answer your question last night about the meaning of green paint:
In my limited understanding, a crossword answer that is not exactly "in the language" and which appears to have been in the puzzle simply to satisfy a technical need such as having a desired number of letters or fulfilling a theme, is called a "green paint" answer. An example is yesterday's answer LEAPS IN. Does anybody really say "leaps in"? More usual "in the language" phrases would be "dives in" or "jumps in." But the puzzle construction requires the letters LEAPS to make it work. Another example might be today's answer ALE TAP; is that really a thing? Sure, we all know what it means, but does anybody ever really call it that?
A fellow named Brendan Emmett Quigley explains it better than I can. He wrote, "Green paint" is industry shorthand for a crossword answer that while definitely exists in real life, doesn't feel "conversational enough" to be a truly legit entry in a puzzle.
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and Boomer.
I had a few more inkblots than usual for a Monday, but I FIRed and saw the TRAIL MIX.
My wedge was a Sham before a SHIM. (Oh we discussed Shams on the bed a while ago. Don’t remind AnonT!)
Like Lucina, I almost had a Natick but mine was at the cross of BLOOP and RKO; then I remembered Blooper.
Lemon was corrected to the Spanish LIMON (CSO to Lemonade).
I tried to fit in Presume but ASSUME was needed. Similar but not a match.
RHUBARB meaning “heated dispute” was not familiar to me. But I do like and bake Strawberry-RHUBARB pie!. I find the mixture easier on my digestive system😊. (Speaking of that Jack PAAR joke . . .)
Yes, Lake Erie is bordered by states OHIO, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, but don’t forget the province of Ontario. Actually Ontario borders all the Great Lakes except Lake Michigan. On a clear day, a very short drive will allow me to see Lakes Ontario and Erie, plus Niagara Falls!
Favourite clue today was for that shoe TREE.
Good catch Mark @7:50 with PAS, DOODAD and POP.
Yes, oc4beach -we were happy that Canadian Thanksgiving was a beautiful weekend, and we could do backyard visits. Turkey in the sunshine! Christmas will be another matter😒. Turkey in the snow?
Wishing you all a great day.
I liked this puzzle.
Let me try to set something straight, although I may be wrong, and will look it up after posting this. An anagram is another real word or words made by reordering (mixing up) the letters of another real word or words. An example might be the words STAR and RATS, or PEARS and SPEAR (and APRES if you include French words). In today's puzzle, the circled letters TARLI, AILTR, and LTRAI, are not real words and are therefore "jumbles" or scrambles, not anagrams.
In yesterday's STRIDE puzzle, the circled letters are also not anagrams of STRIDE, as TEDRIS, STDIRE, ERDIST, etc. are not real words.
Good wishes to you all.
Beebopareebop, FIR! By the third themer, I saw the mixed TRAILs, being not so quick decoding letters. Hadn't thought about anagrams needing to be real words. Learned something (again) from comments. Also enjoyed all the RHUBARB about rhubarb, making me hungry for some pie and giving me a chance to hear the news from Lake Wobegon. Had a nice clean grid to look at. Thanks for the fun puzzle, Jeff. And thanks, Boomer, for your cheery review. I much prefer crossword puzzles to JIGSAW puzzles, finally getting around to doing my Christmas present jigsaw puzzle about a month ago. COVID boredom got to me one day.
Enjoy the rest of your day, all!
The newpaper Jumble Puzzle creates fake but pronounceable words. But Yea CJ...(I mean Jayce) anagrams should derive from real words or (proper names)
Puzzling thoughts:
I got my card and theaters MIXed up at 18-down; REO/RKO. Otherwise, a clean grid
CSO to our “Double M” @ 3-down
Enjoyed the RHUBARB rhetoric which made me come up with this Moe-ku:
Frank’s* wife’s white sauce burned.
Heated exchange began. Did
You have a roux, Barb?
*Sinatra
public service announcement...
CrossEyedDave, good one.
In the language is fairly subjective. When fellow Cornerites cry "It is not in the language!" I find dozens of examples in modern everyday print.
I was not crying "It's not in the language!" I was simply trying to explain what is meant by "Green Paint" in the context of constructing crosswords.
Thank you, Jayce! I am beginning to understand "GREEN PAINT" of which I had never before heard. As others have commented, this is a place to learn new things!
I also agree with your assessment of anagrams. If the mixed up letters are not actual words, they are simply mixed letters, IMO.
Just now I solved another one of Jeff Stillman's puzzles from my puzzle book. He is a tricky one.
Hi All!
Fast Fun Monday - thanks Jeff for the puzzle and Boomer for the expo.
//Can't find the OPENER.... *groan" :-)
WOs: EVret b/f EVERT, LITeRGY
ESP: MAORI
Fav: MIRACLE [:31]
Cute C. Moe.
Yes Mark@7:50, what C, Eh! said - nice catch.
D-O: I love that PAAR story! Thanks.
Misty - SHOE tree stymied me for 3 perps :-)
LEO III - I think of Richard Pryor's Street Corner WINO (Google at your peril). Thanks for the (clean) Carlin clip.
It's kinda funny how many of us thought of Garrison Keillor at RHUBARB.
Found this: "Oh, and he [Merl Reagle] used plenty of green paint, too. "Green paint" is industry shorthand for a crossword answer that while definitely exists in real life, doesn't feel "conversational enough" to be a tuly [sic] legit entry in a puzzle." [ cite]
Cheers, -T
Green paint is the primary paint color used on John Deere ag and turf equipment.*
John Deere Colors
RGB Percent (21.2%,48.6%,16.9%)
John Deere Green - Joe Diffie (LYRICS ON SCREEN)
"And the whole town said
that he should've used red
But it looked good to Charlene
In John Deere green"
* The primary color of their construction equipment line is schoolbus yellow.
Boomer, I read about Sid Hartman. I can understand the tributes.
Orion Samuelson is retiring at the end of the year after 60 years on the radio. Orion Samuelson was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003
From the other day, Dash T - No, I didn't attend Rice. My nephew did. For over 8 years, IIRC. Sis wondered if he was going to make a career of it. :>)
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