Theme: YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE.
Melissa here. And no, really. I have no idea what the theme is. Besides the Jekyll/Hyde thing, and all the pronouns - what connects these answers? Love to hear your thoughts. Theme answers below.
20. Dr. Jekyll, to Mr. Hyde: YOU ARE ON MY MIND.
42. Dr. Jekyll, to Mr. Hyde: I WANT TO BE ALONE.
48. Mr. Hyde, to Dr. Jekyll: IT'S NOT YOU IT'S ME.
25. Dr. Jekyll, to Mr. Hyde: I'M BESIDE MYSELF.
Across:
1. Trudge: PLOD.
5. Deer dad: STAG. Nice clue.
9. Vexes, with "at": GNAWS.
14. Rumble in the jungle: ROAR.
15. Hourglass figure?: TIME. Great clue.
16. Roker of ''The Jeffersons'': ROXIE. Also mother of Lenny Kravitz and related to Al Roker (their grandfathers were cousins). Roxie died in 1995 of breast cancer. Lenny wrote this song for her. Sniff.
18. "Never Have I __": Netflix series created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher: EVER.
19. Make amends: ATONE.
23. Ruminate (over): MULL.
24. One close to home?: UMP. Umpire. Tennis and baseball have umpires.
32. Mitchell who won a Tony Award for "Hadestown": ANAIS. American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright.
33. Tall shade trees: ELMS.
34. Robert McCloskey's "Blueberries for __": SAL. It's a children's picture book. Sal is a little girl who can't pick blueberries faster than she can eat them.
35. Slimy pest: SLUG. Really gross to step on one barefoot. Ew.
36. Piddling: DINKY. Small.
38. Passion: FIRE.
39. Sun shade?: TAN.
40. Locale: SITE.
41. Make one's case: ARGUE.
46. No longer cool: OUT. So yesterday.
47. Short holiday?: XMAS. Abbreviation for Christmas.
55. Means of entry: WAY IN.
56. Boaters and bowlers: HATS. A bowler hat, also called a derby hat, was created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. Worn famously by Laurel and Hardy.
58. Say yes: AGREE.
59. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE. Interesting bit of trivia.
60. Folk stories: LORE.
61. Sock away: HOARD.
62. Like audiobooks, once: ON CD. Most new computers don't come with CD drives any more, including my new iMac.
63. Device that helps a team pull together: YOKE. Must be very uncomfortable for the oxen.
Down:
1. Thank the goddesses, e.g.: PRAY.
2. "Un Poco __": song from "Coco": LOCO. "A little crazy."
3. Diamond Head's island: OAHU. The most iconic volcanic formation in all of Hawai‘i.
4. Aim high: DREAM BIG.
5. Girds (oneself): STEELS. Brace yourself!
6. Copenhagen's __ Gardens: TIVOLI. Best known for it's wooden rollercoaster, Rutschebanen, or as some people call it, Bjergbanen (The Mountain Coaster), built in 1914. It is one of the world's oldest wooden roller coasters that is still operating today.
7. Revival meeting cry: AMEN. So be it.
8. Microbe: GERM. Or microorganism.
9. Beyoncé's 28: GRAMMYS. She's close behind the record-holder. Georg Solti (21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997), a British orchestral and operatic conductor, received 31 with his first being for Best Opera Recording at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards in 1963.
10. Policy that typically includes higher menu prices: NO TIPS.
11. Nerve impulse carrier: AXON.
12. Sailboat's need: WIND.
13. "That's how it's done": SEE.
21. Feels remorse about: RUES.
22. "Delish!": YUMMY. Or yum-o, as Rachael Ray would say.
25. Kin by marriage: IN-LAW. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “A phrase appended to names of relationship, as father, mother, brother, sister, son, etc., to indicate that the relationship is not by nature, but in the eye of the Canon Law, with reference to the degrees of affinity within which marriage is prohibited.”
26. Word in Hawaiian volcano names: MAUNA. Rising gradually to more than 4 km (13,100 ft) above sea level, Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on our planet.
27. Brightest star in Cygnus: DENEB. Cygnus contains six bright stars that appear to form a “cross,” the brightest of which being Deneb. Deneb is one of the three stars found in the Summer Triangle asterism and is one of the largest white stars in our sky.
29. Complete, as a PDF contract: ESIGN. I feel for folks who don't use computers. So many things, like taxes, are mostly done online now.
30. Lash of old Westerns: LARUE. Larue (June 15, 1917 – May 21, 1996) was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s.
31. Get out of Dodge: FLEE. Let's blow this taco stand.
32. Italian wine region: ASTI.
36. "Same here": DITTO.
37. "How was __ know?": I TO.
38. With no warmth: FROSTILY.
40. In a daze: STUNNED.
41. Jai __: ALAI.
43. More of a busybody: NOSIER. We all know a few like that.
44. Rare and wonderful: EXOTIC.
45. Brought a smile to: AMUSED.
48. "Othello" villain: IAGO. Iago hates Othello and devises a plan to destroy him by making him believe that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant.
49. Supermodel Banks who coined the word "smize": TYRA. Smiling with your eyes.
50. Rossi of "Sons of Anarchy": THEO.
51. Knitting need: YARN.
52. "Buzz off!": SHOO.
53. Ork native: MORK. Played by Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy.
54. Olympic sword: EPEE. There are three fencing blades used in Olympic fencing - the foil, épée and sabre - each of which have different compositions, techniques and scoring target areas. The épée is the largest and heaviest of the three.
55. "Oh, cry me a river": WAH.
40 comments:
FIWrong. Wednesday isn't that hard!
I misspelt TIViLI + iN < TIVOLI + ON.
The theme was in the clues, so not much to guess. I think I recognize the first one as a song title, and the rest could be songs, tho I don't know any of them.
YOU ARE ON MY MIND just everywhere.
I hate to SEE you FLEE from there.
You are my beauty,
Your presence is a duty!
I can't show my face without you, my hair!
IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME, my dear.
That foul scent exuding from my rear,
But the sound, that was you,
I think that everybody knew!
My back pocket's no place for Limburger, I fear!
{B+, B-.}
Hmmm... interesting answer, "Anais" that's not Ms. Nin (and autocorrect tried to "correct" me four different times before I could put that name in.) Other than that, pretty smooth sailing and I was able to FIR, so I'm happy.
Good morning!
Feeling pretty good, following yesterday's oral surgery. Had to put my money where my mouth is. This was a nice outing from Dr. Ed. The FR sent me astray with FRigidLY rather than FROSTILY, and that PDF was PRINTed before it was ESIGNed. Yay for Wite-Out. Yummy was a CSO to Hahtoolah's "yummers." Thanx, Dr Ed and Melissa Bee. (I think the theme was common expressions which could mean something else when said to one's evil twin.)
To be clear, it was the last name that was giving autocorrect fits, the name that starts with "N" and ends in "in." Hah! That's one way to get around autocorrect!
Good Morning, Crossword friends: This theme is clearly different from what we generally expect from the puzzles. Still, when YOU ARE ON MY MIND revealed itself, I smiled. I think the theme requires one to know a bit about classical literature. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson where the title characters are one and the same person. Dr. Jekyll displayed good traits, but Mr. Hyde's personality was evil. Thus, the theme answers reflect this dual nature.
Interesting to have RUES and LaRUE in the same puzzle.
I just E-SIGNED a purchase agreement to sell my Dad's house. The final documents must have an original signature, though.
QOD: The human imagination cannot be programmed by a computer. Our imagination is our greatest hope for survival. ~ Keith Haring (né Keith Allen Haring; May 4, 1958 ~ Feb. 16, 1990), American artist
FIW, making the OKL error. Erased area for SITE and kauna (maybe I was thinking kahuna???) for MAUNA. SWAGed THEO and LOCO.
Casual NFL fans may not know that they have UMPs too. That's the official in the backfield who is responsible for calling offensive penalties for too many men, false start, and holding, among other duties.
I hadn't heard "smize" before today, but I like it. When we were required to wear face diapers due to COVID 19, I tried to remember to smile widely, thinking that it would show in my eyes.
My 6 year-old fridge is 40 degrees in the main compartment, and 30 in the freezer. The repair guy comes mid-day. I don't even know where the coils are on this thing.
Thanks to Ed for another fun puzzle. And as always, MB came through with a fine review.
I agree with OKL that the themers are also song titles, but I believe that is incidental. More fun in cluing for regular fill.
You no longer can do the business of the law without digital signing and remote notaries. I have previously commented on the irony of computers making real estate closings, which before Federal Guidelines and computers would be about 11 pages of docs, are now often more than 100 when a mortgage is involved. Progress.
OKL both poems were very fun A+.
Hahtoolah explained theme
I Had a lot of inkovers as Wednesdays are relatively tough these days. But… fair because perps produced doability.
The top went slowly as I had to piece each corner together but fe. OAHU was recently clued.
Two W's for those l'icks today, Owen
To get around autocorrect I type * at the end of the offending word then delete the *. I suspect any special character will do the trick
WC
.
FIR, without fully understanding the theme. Nice Wednesday puzzle.
I split the personalities in 8:35 today.
"Deneb" and "LaRue" tripped me up along the way.
Ed, thanks for the fun. I loved the clever, funny theme which was helpful in solving. Perps were helpful. Hyde and Jekyll were two personalities in one body. Mb, thanks for the interesting blog.
I read Blueberries for Sal with my kindergarten class, so many years ago. I really enjoyed teaching kindergarten. The kids were eager little sponges. They were excited about everything. At that age they learn so quickly, you can see the almost daily progress. I also liked the fifth grade, teaching subjects with some substance. Middle schoolers were fun in church youth group where they participated by choice, and in one-on-one tutoring and personal interactions. As a group in public school, not so much.
When I traveled to Copenhagen, my tiny hotel room overlooked Tivoli Gardens, which was closed that time of year. Great trip!
DO, you said it about oral surgery. "Put your money where your mouth is." I hope you are progressing well. My oral surgery is on hold until I am more mobile.
Ah, if I were some one else,
I would be doing this...
Hmm, actually, having grown up on the Cyclone at Coney Island, The Ratschebanen seems kind of tame.
(But it does get a little racy towards the end....)
I also grew up watching Westerns, but I don't seem to remember ever watching Lash Larue.
Seems kinda silly, these two guys whipping each other while they are wearing 6 guns...
Oh, but wait a sec, a close up reveals their gun holsters are "empty!"
(Hmm, there may be a story here after all...)
I wonder why they called him "Lash."
Thanx, ES, for the mental exercise. This dual-personality theme was fun, even though it took me 27 minutes to FIR....w/ NO interruptions. I guess my personal dual personalties are Dumb and Dumber!! DNK DENEB. W/Os ROPE:YOKE, METOO:DITTO. Thanx for the fun write-up, Melissa-Bee.
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Ed (I see that SLUG) and melissa bee.
I FIRed in good time, but thank Hahtoolah for helping me understand the two-sided theme.
I was overthinking it. YOU ARE ON MY MIND is ON top of MULL. I WANT TO BE ALONE is above OUT (and SHOO if you really look), but I couldn’t get ANAIS (ANA beside I S?) or WAY IN to work with the themer above them.
Two inkblots - changing Tara to TYRA, and Rope to YOKE (my team was doing a rope pull!).
Perps were needed for ROXIE, SAL, and to jog my memory for LARUE.
I smiled at the rhyming pairs in “Never have I EVER”, and “Un Poco LOCO”.
We can AGREE or ARGUE.
“The Queen is not AMUSED” said Victoria FROSTILY.
Favourite clue was for XMAS. Clever.
Spitzboov (RIP) would have given us that map for Lake ERIE water depths and temperatures. ERIE can be treacherous, as its shallow waters are easily riled by the WIND. You do not want to be out in a sail boat when that happens.
FLN- thanks AnonT for reminding me about PETE. Good luck in the house hunt.
Wishing you all a great day.
Thank you Dr. Ed fer a Wednesday FIR. I thought the implied theme ("Split Personality"?) was helpful, as it suggested fill related to the mind, personality, etc. I also found it interesting that the author of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, R. L. Stevenson was presaged in Patti Varol's Sunday puzzle* in 69D "Literary alter ego": MR HYDE. Today's fill includes several words related to ego: YOU, ME, MIND, I, and MYSELF.
And thank you MB for your colorful, informative review.
A couple of favs:
9D GRAMMYS. One of Georg Solti's 31 GRAMMYS was the first recording of all four operas of Richard Wagner's monumental Der Ring Des Nibelungen, a project that was completed in 1965 and released the year I graduated from high school. That summer a friend of mine played the first Ring opera for me, Das Rheingold, I was STUNNED by it, and immediately became an opera lover. Here's Solti conducting the prelude to Das Rheingoldg.
27D DENEB. From the Arabic for "tail", in this case the "tail of the swan" Cygnus.
Cheers,
Bill
* CSO to Lemony re Sunday - did Rich ever have a puzzle in the LA Times?. Constructing/editing a puzzle must eliminate any differences between the constructor and the editor!
Waseeley, Rich frequently showed in the LAT, usually with an alias: Lila Cherry (Really Rich) among others. Check out "Rich Norris Alias Names" in the Olio section.
Thank you, Hahtoolah, for explaining the theme ("two personalities in one body") and thank you, Wilbur Charles, for your helpful hint about how to get around autocorrect's disdain for certain names such as "Nin". I now understand how to do that. You learn something every day at the Crossword Corner!
CE Dave, your Rutschenbanen, roller coaster, reminds me of my childhood. (BTW, I am not a roller coaster fan.) In German and PA Dutch rutsche means slide. When we kids were restless in the pew we were told to stop rutsching (a word combining German and an English ing). At SU a PA DUTCH man who taught religious studies and I both happened to attend a speech that espoused views different from ours. Knowing my dad was a Lutheran pastor, the prof said, "If your dad heard that he would be rutsching in his seat. The prof was dumbfounded when I replied, "You have to take it standing up."
Thank you Ed Sessa for a charming puzzle, whose long answers were, for me, easy to suss, although I read the book, a long ago, in middle school. I might have to reread it again, ... sometime. I found the puzzle enjoyable and fun. I figured the long answers were songs about a split personality .... although R L Stevenson is to be admired for detecting that sort of of a personality syndrome, long before it became a common place word.
Thank you Hatoolah for your perceptive comments.
Thank you Melissa Bee for the informative review, and C E D , as always, for the YOutube video on the Tivoli roller coaster .... that seems memorable. I haven't been on a roller coaster since 35 years ago, when my eldest was a little kid, and now I have no desire to, but its always fun to watch it on a video ....
Its around the time when I read Blueberries for Sal, from a plethora of books, I bid on, to teach my kid(s) how to read.
For what its worth, 'Mauna' means first in Hawaiian ...
Georg Solti was the conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra, for many many years. Before I even moved here. Unfort I am not into that genre of music. Neither am I interested in Beyonce ... to each their own.
have a nice day, all ... gotta go, a busy day.
Vidwan, I thought "Mauna" meant "mountain" -- Mauna Kea (White Mountain), Mauna Loa (Long Mountain).
Appropriate humpday challenge with fun Jekyll/Hyde "quotes". I also thought at first the answers were song titles but didn't think there was a song called "I'm Beside Myself" and "I Want to be Alone" was was Garbo's line but just LIU and both are song titles. Even better. 😊
Inkover: area/SITE
FIR but didn't know who the "Blueberries" were for. (To maintain alliteration I was tempted to fill Ben but perp/WAGed with the unknown "Lash of old westerns (apparently wasn't horsewhip)....🤠
ESIGN...haven't seen one of these irritating E-nounwords in awhile. At least this one is used frequently. So I am E-contented as I E-type this.😁
Never heard of "Hadestown" Mitchell. "Blue-Emu" turns out has nothing to do with "Liberty, liberty, li-ber-teee" Mutual Ins. (is it really made from rare blue emus?)🤣
Not a lot of DINKY clues.
Folk story.....YARN
Pirate revealing Hook's first mate...ITSNOTYOUITSME.
Obsolete Latin rite....XMAS
Pre fight necessity.....WAYIN
Sporting a more prominent probiscis....NOSIER.
Rainin' again. 😒
Many thanks to the author and the blogger. It seemed to be about normal Wednesday difficulty to me except that things people say are always a bit tough to nail because people say the darndest things. Fortunately, I was familiar with Jekyll/Hyde and Lash LARUE and I had been to TIVOLI Gardens. ROXIE was completely perped.
I find the ewords useful. They are short and sweet. IMO eSign is a good substitute for sign electronically. We have accepted email. esign is similar. Many modern people have accepted the other e words rather than painfully spelling out or saying electronically.
My problem is I don't know how to do esign. There are many times I would find it useful.
Not feeling myself today,
I had an itch to go looking...
I have a feeling Spitzboov would have posted something like this one.
However, for some reason, this one is very interesting to me...
Hi Everyone:
I always like Ed Sessa’s puzzles, especially the ones with fresh and playful themes. I needed perps for four proper names only because of the cluing: Roxie, Anais, Sal, and Theo. Fun duos were See/Flee, Pray/Amen, Rues/Atone, Roar/Lore, and the quartet of You/Me/Myself/I. I also appreciated the low number (8) of three letter words. CSOs to Ray O, Moe, and Anon T (Asti).
Thanks, Dr. Ed, for a fun solve and thanks, Melissa, for the informative review and links.
CED @ 8:59 ~ I should have known better than to click on that link. My stomach is still doing flip-flops! 🎢
Raining (again) and gloomy. 😟
Have a great day.
Hola!
Ed Sessa never disappoints and always amuses! The Jekyll and Hyde theme was interesting. HATS off to Mr. Sessa and to Melissa for an informative narrative.
We usually go to Denny's instead of I-HOP only because it's closer.
THEO Rossi was all perps as I've never seen Sons of Anarchy.
Great clue for STAG.
Happy anniversary to my daughter and s-i-l today!
Maybe LASH LaRue was so named because he was good with a whip?
ANAIS Nin is the only time I've ever heard the name except, I believe, in Egyptian LORE. Some of those gods are named ANAIS.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
I would love to have some of that rain! It's been months since we had any.
This grid and the conversation put a few old favorites on my mind:
"Always on My Mind" sung by Brenda Lee, Elvis Presley, and best of all, Willie Nelson.
"You Were on My Mind" by one hit wonders We Five.
You are on my lonely mind (from "There's A Tear In My Beer" by Hank Williams)
Neat Wednesday puzzle--many thanks, Ed. And always enjoy your commentary, Melissa, thanks for that too.
Does a STAG ROAR every TIME he has an ACHE? I guess not EVER, unless it GNAWS at him.
(If he could talk, he'd probably say "I'M BESIDE MYSELF" and 'I WANT TO BE ALONE.")
ANAIS and SAL always ARGUE about the right WAY IN or OUT of the SITE where they buy their XMAS presents. Takes them forever to AGREE.
That DINKY SLUG had better FLEE before it gets bitten by a flea.
I'd rather watch TV than listen to audio-books ON CD.
Have a fun day, everybody.
Good to see a Wednesday PZL from Mr. Sessa, unwound for us by Melissa B.
Nice to see the inclusion of ANAIS Mitchell, a star of Hadestown. She plays Eurydice--in this musical re-telling of the Orpheus/Eurydice myth.
I'm sorry I can't get around to much live theater these days. Hadestown is one of the shows I would love to see & hear in action. Video excerpts are hypnotic.
~ OMK
___________
DR: Three diagonals on the far side.
The central diag offers an anagram (14 of 15 letters) that refers to a petulant burst of anger from a giant Japanese athlete.
Yes, I mean a...
"MIGHTY SUMO SNIT"!
without googling, i only recognize one of those phrases as a song title, but maybe the others are too. my best guess before publishing was along the lines of hahtoolah and yellowrocks - dual personalities.
thanks everyone for the input.
Musings
-I got a call to golf at 9am today in 48F weather and of course I went. I came home to mow the yard and have finally thawed out and finished Dr. Ed’s fun puzzle.
-ANAIS keeps up the string of obscure names
-Lots of important stuff got moved to Diamond Head on December 8, 1941 for safe keeping
-No big deal but I couldn't name any of Beyonce’s tunes.
-My colleague’s 82-year-old father resisted, but finally purchased a smart phone and is loving it
Another FIR today with the usual WOs. Showing my age by putting tape/ON CD. Anticipated a trick clue by putting Isla/OAHU, then found it was a straightforward one. No longer cool? I put "hot." But thanks to Ed, perps saved the FIR today. Thanks!
Melissa B, I recognized the common phrases in the theme and knew of the dual personality so it all made sense. Thanks for your review. I had no idea of all the musical connections, Jinx, Lemonade and OwenKL. Thanks for your input.
After I did the puzzle early this morning, the day got unusually busy. Have enjoyed reading your posts just now, everyone. See you tomorrow!
Hi All!
FIW - with two bad squares... TRIViLI & AS ONE instead of ALONE
Thanks for the puzzle Dr. Ed. I enjoyed the AHA! when I finally figured out the theme.
Wonderful expo, mb. I enjoyed the visuals.
WOs: buck [STAG] lead to braces [STEELS], sLOg -> PLOD
ESPs: ANAIS, TIViLI, ROXIE, AsAI [41d], SAL
Fav: I like the word DINKY
{B+, B}
Very descriptive DL, OMK.
HG - When Pop's flip-phone died, TracFone gave him an iPhone. Took him a bit but now he loves it -- he can be at the hardware store and text a client a picture of a facet (or whatever) 'in real time'.
I enjoyed your fill-mashup, Misty!
Ray-O: LOL SMEE.
CED - re: ERIE... I like #3 the best too. It's just a mountain range covered by water.
Well... 2nd time was a charm, C, Eh!. We ESIGN'd* all the promise papers last night and won the bid today at noon. I haven't even seen the house and won't until inspection on Friday. We're set to close on 31May.
Today's "theme" song... Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive. [Men at Work]
Cheers, -T
*convenient but annoying. Click your initials on one page and it jumps you past the next page's text to the next place to click. I printed the whole damn thing out, read it, and then signed.
FIR after realizing BUCK (and subsequent incorrect PERPs) needed to be STAG. i generally realized the theme of dual personality but really couldn't use it to make myself figure out the multiword theme answers.
i still dislike use of proper names, probably because i don't like TV, from which most seem to derive.
Overall, good puzzle. But having found this rather intellectual and influential site, I’m going to continually campaign for elimination of proper names.
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Ed, for a fun & do-able but very different puzzle. Thank you, Melissa, for 'splainin' it.
The elixer whipped up by the Dr. that turned him into Hyde always sounded like a strong alcoholic beverage to me. Hyde was like some mean drunks we've heard about. Stevenson probably didn't want to offend his drinking buddies with the facts.
DNK: ROXIE, ANAIS, DENEB, SAL, THEO. However, they perped in easily.
Yay! An Ed Sessa puzzle. I liked it.
DNF! I left three blank squares, mostly because I’ve NEVER seen nor known DENEB. It was completely new to me! Oh, and there were a couple of “finished” things that were WRONG, for a DNF, but W too.
Thanks, Dr. Ed. I always enjoy your puzzles, but I cannot remember if I’ve ever gotten a FIR. I don’t think so.
Thanks, Melissa, for an outstanding expo.
I did get and understand the theme, which was a plus for me. However, it took me a while to remember that DJ and MH were a split personality, and not a Frankenstein type. (Hey! I was working today!) Once that light bulb went on, the partially filled in long answers fell like a house of cards.
He was called “Lash” because his major weapon was a bullwhip --- a very noisy bullwhip.
Johnny Bench used to be a spokesman for BLUE-EMU. I’ve used it. It works as well as the others, I guess.
LeoIII
Thank you! I'm glad to know I guessed that correctly.
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