Pump Up The Jam
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| Click if you don't know the song |
Ok, I concede, you can't make jam out of a pump but "plum up jam" isn't a thing -- though, you can plumb UP a [door] jamb :-).
Anyone with a better title? Fortified Foods?
Today, Freddie adds the word UP to intensify our foods / FARE. Let's see what I mean.
20. Add bulk to cured meat?: BEEF UP JERKY. BEEF UP: Make it stronger, better, more interesting.
25. Treat haricot verts to extra plant food?: BUTTER UP BEANS. Haricot verts are French green beans [Google]. BUTTER UP: Praise or flatter in order to get someone to do something
42. Give some oomph to pot stickers?: SOUP UP DUMPLINGS. SOUP UP: Make more powerful such as an engine.
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| Yummers! |
52. Concerns for commuters, or an apt title for this puzzle: FARE HIKES.
I, for one, liked the theme and thought the wordplay in the themers fun. The only downside (or upside depending on your solving experience) is you knew UP was after the verb / before the food.
Across:
1. Element of ecclesiastical architecture: APSE.
5. Pave over: RETAR.
10. Business magnate: CZAR.
14. Tailless cat: MANX. The Manx cat is a breed of domestic cat originating on the Isle of Man, with a mutation that shortens the tail. Many Manx have a small stub of a tail, but Manx cats are best known as being entirely tailless; this is the most distinguishing characteristic of the breed, along with elongated hind legs and a rounded head. [WikiP]
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| Manx Cat |
15. "Same here," more formally: AS AM I. Not "ditto?"
16. Gold element of some religious paintings: HALO.
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| History of the World Part I |
17. Thing that may have twists and turns: PLOT. Cute.
18. Capacitance unit: FARAD. A capacitor holds a charge between two plates. The Farad was named for Michael Faraday.
19. Penny-__: ANTE. Small stakes poker
20. [See: theme]
23. Pro Bowl org.: NFL. National Football League holds a Pro Bowl (all star) every year the week before the Super Bowl.
24. California's Big __: SUR. Let's check in with the Chamber of Commerce.
25. [See: theme]
32. Longtime "Dancing With the Stars" judge Goodman: LEN.
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| Len passed last year of pancreatic cancer. |
33. "My bad": SORRY.
34. Zelenskyy's country: Abbr.: UKR. Ukraine's president is Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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| There lots of deep-fakes of him dancing but one account is real. |
36. Range units: ACRES. "Home, Home, Home on the Acres" just isn't the same.
39. Hubbub: ADO.
40. __ del Carmen, Mexico: PLAYA.
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| Playa del Carmen in relation to... |
42. [See: theme]
45. "No time to talk!": I'M LATE.
Alice in Wonderland's Rabbit
46. Half of an interrogation pair: BAD COP.
Maya Rudolph and Jason Bateman Play Good Cop/Bad Cop
French Cop / Italian Cop #Improv
47. Decryption need: KEY. Two types of keys - symetric and asymetric. A semetric key is used to encrypt and decrypt. Asymetric keys are two related keys - one is used to encrypt and the other is used to decrypt (read more). Asymetric encryption is what makes online shopping possible.
48. Highway sign no.: RTE.
50. WWII carrier: LST. World War II's "Landing Ship, Tank", 1ea.
51. Dreyer's partner in ice cream: EDY. Crossworddom's favorite frozen treat; presumably the OREOs & cream variety.
52. [See: theme]
55. Corn Belt state: IOWA.
58. Shiraz resident: IRANI.
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| Pretty much 9 hrs. due south of Tehran |
59. Milton setting: EDEN. John Milton's poem Paradise Lost.
63. Pub contest: QUIZ.
64. Disciplined, in a way: FINED.
65. Roof overhang: EAVE.
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| Eave |
66. Place to build: SITE.
67. Months and months: YEARS.
68. Was positive: KNEW.
Down:
1. Band aid: AMP. Cute.
2. Sidekick: PAL. Not Tonto nor Robin.
3. Stuffed shirt: SNOB.
4. Length: EXTENT.
5. Some drawings: RAFFLES. Pastels fit.
6. Biblical birthright seller: ESAU.
7. Renovator's protective cover: TARP.
8. Key of Beethoven's Sym. No. 7: A MAJ. Even if you don't know, you can count on an M and wait for perps.
9. Rolls past: RIDES BY.
10. Yogic spiritual center: CHAKRA. Did you know it's also another Stan Lee superhero?
11. Off-the-wall: ZANY.
12. PC key near Z: ALT. Left side of your keyboard.
13. Sturgeon delicacy: ROE.
21. Young salamander: EFT.
22. Have regrets about: RUE.
25. Turn into: BECOME.
26. Disorderly: UNRULY.
27. Thing that may have twists and turns: ROAD. Cute Clecho with 17a.
28. Pakistani language: URDU.
29. Dance with a queen: PROM.
ABBA's Dancing Queen
30. Fine point: NUANCE.
31. Heavenly body?: SKY GOD.
32. Shortsighted solution?: LASIK. Cute.
35. Rough, in a way: RASPY. RASPY wasn't a ROUGH START Monday.
37. Org. concerned with plastic pollution: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.
38. Buddhist teaching: SUTRA.
40. One in a buffet stack: PLATE.
41. Starbucks top: LID.
43. Paralyze with fear: PETRIFY.
44. "The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo" airer: PBS KIDS.
49. Strange and scary: EERIE.
50. Hard-hit baseball: LINER.
52. Throw for a loop: FAZE.
53. Mandlikova in the International Tennis Hall of Fame: HANA.
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| Her Wiki |
54. Try to find: SEEK.
55. Sharpness figs.: IQS. Intelligence Quotient. Its a measure against others your age on a test designed to measure intelligence / problem solving. The average is 100, one sigma is 85 to 115. If you're three-sigmas from the mean, you're either a genius or a moron (or both!)
56. "Absolument!": OUI. Is the clue really a word? Or even French??
57. One with a knack for snappy comebacks: WIT.
60. Auerbach of the Black Keys: DAN.
61. "House of the Dragon" actress Best: EVE.
62. Word in four state names: NEW.
The Grid
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| The Grid |
WOs: mask->TARP, Lts->LST (untie!), dAZE->FAZE
ESPs: PLAYA, DAN
Fav: Penny-ANTE. FIL used to say "Penny-ANTE lollipop bullsh**" for the small stuff.
What foods can you UP? My Angel Editor came up with four (4) in short-order.
Cheers, -T
41 comments:
Other than erasing “sun god” for “sky god,” I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. I got the gimmick right away, which helped with the overall solve. One thing, though: I didn’t understand the reveal, until Anon T explained it. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Was DAZED before I was FAZED and scratched my head over DARE HIKES. D'oh. Figured out what was UP with the theme. Tried BEETS before the BEANS blew in. Nice exercise, Freddie. Enjoyed your expo, Dash-T. (Disney put the kibosh on Your I'M LATE video.)
FIR, but like Bayou Tony, fixed dAZE, and the final few cells fell. Also erased minx for MANX, and acmes for ACRES.
Today is:
NATIONAL IRISH COFFEE DAY (looks like I picked the wrong century to quit drinking)
NATIONAL OPPOSITE DAY (have fun all day long saying exactly the opposite of what you really mean. People will think you’re a politician)
A FARAD is a whole lot of capacitance. Most capacitors are rated in microFarads or picoFarads. A capacitor works in DC circuits like a shock absorber in a car. It lowers voltage spikes and picks up voltage lulls. It works like a bypass in AC circuits. The base of transistor amplifiers need a resistor to limit the DC current through the device, but since the AC component (the audio) needs not to be limited, engineers bridge a resistor with a capacitor and accomplish both.
Lucina will tell us that PLAYA means "beach." So is the palce "Carmen's Beach?"
I still don't get how a pub contest is a QUIZ. Back in my pub days, the only QUIZ I remember is "how am I gonna pay this bar tab?"
I also don't get SKY GOD. I blame decaf.
I got NY, NJ and NM right away, but struggled for the fourth. Then I remembered - NEW VADA!
Thanks to Freddie for the fun trickery, and to Bayou Tony for another signature review.
NH, Jinx. So soon you forget.
Jinx, team trivia contests are popular at a lot of bars.
I think LYNX->MANX and WAG->WIT were the only changes I had to make. No reveals or checking needed today. I never would've gotten EFT or LST without perps.
FIR. Took a while to see the unifier since I threw down daze before seeing faze. I got the theme without it though.
This was a respectable Thursday puzzle with it's share of tricky clues. I'm not a fan of vertical puzzles, preferring diagonal ones, but today's was quite tolerable.
Took 10:03 today for me to up the ante.
Tough puzzle - seemed like an old Friday, or perhaps a Saturday even, but not gratifying when I finished. Too many proper names (Hana, Eve, Dan, Len, Esau, etc.), 20ish 3-letter answers, and some foreign clunkers (oui & Buddist teaching).
I, too, had daze before faze, and for awhile I got stuck in the top-center with: retar, asami, & farad.
Pangram.
FARE HIKES- the prices on those SOUPed up FARES are outta sight. No problem finishing but CHAKRA made me look at the perps more than once. Didn't know of DAN or LEN either. The only Auerbach I know of is the Celtics Coach from my yute. He would light up a cigar when he knew the Celtics would win.
SKY GOD? meh.
THE PUZZLE IS NOT SYMMETRICAL [DON'T ASK ME WHY I NOTICED] IS THIS ACCEPTABLE NOW?
Good Morning:
My initial reaction to the themers and reveal was meh, but after studying the whole picture, I'm much more impressed. Each themer has two independent, in the language phrases, plus the phrase that fits the clue and the Fare Hikes reveal is spot on.
Beef Up + Beef Jerky + Beef Up Jerky
Butter Up + Butter Beans + Butter Up Beans
Soup Up + Soup Dumplings + Soup Up Dumplings
I had no w/os but needed perps for the unknown Chakra and Dan, as clued. Also had to wait on Maj or Min for the Beethoven clue. (I bet Bill knew that immediately.) As always, I enjoyed the clecho cluing for Plot and Road.
Thanks, Freddie, and thanks, Anon T, for subbing once again. Loved the Jerky cartoon and the catchy, upbeat Dancing Queen.
Have a great day.
The 4th one is New Hampshire.
Thank you Freddie for a FUN Thursday, which I nevertheless FIW (I got FIRED instead of FINED and DNK HANA -- actually had I taken the time to proof read I'd have probably perped her)
Thank you Tony for another funny, informative review. Alternate title: "Hans und Fritz PUN!" ("Pump Up Nutrition").
A few favs:
1A APSE. The APSE at the far end of a church with an ALTAR is more commonly known as the SANCTUARY. In large churches there are often additional APSES along the sides of the NAVE with statues of Saints (people with 16A's).
16A HALO. Hand up if the second person you look for in paintings of The Last Supper is Judas. He's the one without a HALO.
18A FARAD. WJinxS.
34A UKR. The Russkies thought he was funny, but they don't think he's so funny now.
42A SOUP UP DUMPLINGS. What a coinkidink -- we had pot stickers for dinner last night.
47A KEY. Great description of public key encryption.
8D A MAJ. Wagner called Beethoven's 7th "the apotheosis of the dance". Here's the last movement for Agnes.
21D EFT. The cruciverbalist's favorite amphibian returns.
44D PBS KIDS. When the youngest grandsons visit we spend a lot of time watching this AIRER. Their favorites are Wild Kratts, Curious George, and Martha Speaks.
56D OUI. OUI, "Absolument!" is absolutely a word.
This was a fun puzzle. Plus it was clear early on that UP would keep showing UP some where in the theme answers.
Plus we have a palindrome, uh no….a pan am, nope …telegram? what?…Ah right…. a PANGRAM!
Today was “absolumenr” French 101 day, Oui? Non? Avec “hairy coat vurtz”
Inkovers: leaf/HALO, wise/ANTE , look/SEEK, fool/fake/FAZE
The “shortsighted” LASIK clue was cleverississimo. I remember as a kid seeing road signs for a park that displayed PETRIFIED animals and wondered what scared them so bad all in one place. Can’t remember last time we saw our “young salamander” slither into a puzzle. Also took “pave over” figuratively and filled let be
Who spells “Tsar” that way? CZAR? Thought SUTRA was a term related to Hinduism. EAVE crosses my oldest granddaughter EVE. A Good WAG, partially perped, gave me PBS KIDS to finish the mid south but how is a QUIZ a “pub game”? (darts wouldn’t fit) but it worked with IQS and so the SW was the last to go.
Dunaway or Wray: ……FAZE
Deconstructed tepee (teepee)….EXTENT
Ails in bed….._LASIK
All my old toys are broken, I want ____……NUANCE
DW already filling UP my weekend 😉
Musings
-Not even haricot verts could stay this solver from the swift completion of his appointed rounds :-)
-Ecclesiastical architecture for the familiar APSE also got my attention
-The RETARRING of streets was a big event in my small town childhood
-The NFL’s Pro Bowl has been a joke for years because no one wants to get hurt. This year they will have a skills contest and a flag football “game”. It’s still an honor to be selected.
-This scene from The Imitation Game implies that the daily inclusion of Heil Hitler and weather information was a KEY to breaking the Enigma code.
-Buying ACRES in IOWA will cost you big boy money
-EERIE was when a former student did BECOME my primary doctor and another was my surgeon thirty years later
-Six-yr-old granddaughter once told us the EPA would not like us using disposable PLATES
-Absolument and précisément are words frequently used by Poirot
Jinx @5:34 AM Minx? Perhaps you thinking of this?
Husker @10:12 AM Absolument! But don't ever called Hercule French!
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Freddie and AnonT.
I got the Up food theme. Off the top of my head I can think of Jack Up Fruit and Shake up Milk (wrong order).
But I FIWed with Sun GOD not SKY. in my defence, I originally had UKR but did not do a long enough alphabet run to get to Y.
Yes, Ray-o, I saw the pangram too. I did do the complete alphabet run to get the Z in FAZE.
Ray-o- CZAR is the business magnate and Tsar is the Russian ruler in CW clueing per my observation.
Good catch with EAVE crossing EVE. I’ll UP the ANTE with KNEW crossing NEW.
I thought of Pastels, but had enough perps to wait for RAFFLES (famous Singapore hotel).
I waited for MAJ or Min to perp, and then another wait for A or E key to perp.
This Canadian was trying to remember American state names - I was misdirected at first with thoughts of South, North, East, West. Finally NEW fit the spot. (I was also getting a review of your states trying to decide between Ohio or IOWA (ok I thought of Utah also).
Wishing you all a great day.
Smooth puzzle this morning. Got the theme right away and enjoyed the fills.
Shiraz resident is a tricky clue. I too don’t quite get QUIZ as clued.
OUI, A-t, absolument is absolument a word in French. If you ever watch Hercule Poirot, that’s one of his favorite words. I just happened to have watched a Poirot last night.
Good Morning! Today’s puzzle was part forehead slapper and part learning moment. Thanks, Freddie! I saw the theme as I was progressing. Nice!
WOs: as do I -> AS AM I
Daze -> FAZE – coulda been, but it is nice to know I wasn’t alone…
NFB -> NFL. Oops, fooled into “bowling”. Sometimes I’m too literal…
Yes -> OUI. I went with a translation. It brought to mind an utterance by Poirot.
Perps for A MAJ, HANA, DAN, EVE
Fun clues for PROM and LASIK
PUB QUIZ – meh…
SKY GOD is a suspect fill of convenience.
Thanks -T for summing it up with wit and info.
Easy FIR today, despite some questionable clues. Thank you, perps! DNK HANA, spelled LASIK with an E, (Thanks, WiteOut!) and didn't care for CARRIER as a clue for LST. All in all, though, pretty simple to suss out. The morning coffee was really working today! Enjoyed reading -Ts hot wash, too!
- T, the Mel Brooks reference was much appreciated here.
Bill, guilty as charged.
Hola!
PLAYA del Carmen was a surprise fill. Actually, this puzzle contained some fresh fill we haven't seen in prior puzzles: SKY GOD, CHAKRA, MANX, PETRIFY. At least, I haven't or don't call seeing any of those before.
BUTTER UP reminds me of my late Uncle Paul who could manipulate my grandmother with his flattery.
LASIK is one of the best procedures I've ever had and now I don't need glasses for distance, only for reading.
It's rare to see a pangram and this one qualifies.
And even more rare is to see EVE in EDEN!
Thank you, Freddie Cheng and Tony for the excursion today!
Have an exceptional day, everyone!
Anthony Gael- not symmetrical? Why should that matter? Doesn't bother me.
Playa del Carmen- about 15 years ago we drove from Cancun to Playa with some friends. While a friend and I were in the hotel pool taking a water aerobics class when some young lady swims up to me and starts kissing me on the ear. I laughed and so did our wives, who were at the swim up bar. The young lady was obviously a 'professional' or had extremely bad eyesight.
I saw the clever theme early on. FIW, no difficulty. I liked the many fun misdirections. Tony, thanks for the excellent writeup.
There were a lot of names. I knew most and the rest were perpable.
Sometimes "apse" and "sanctuary" are used interchangeably, but actually an apse projects from the exterior of the building. Most side altars are not apses because they don't project from the exterior of the building. Most of the churches I have attended have sanctuaries, but not apses.
I thought heavenly body: sky god was a clever misdirection. Zeus was a Greek sky god, Jupiter was a Roman sky god, Tyr was a Norse sky god. Look up sky god.
The LST carries troops along with materiel, so it is a troop carrier, just because it carries troops. (Different sense of the word carrier.) On food shopping days I am a grocery carrier. My least favorite part of grocery shopping is carrying all the bags in from the car.
I had oral surgery yesterday. I have no mouth pain, but the biggest pain was in my wallet, $1000.
Thank you Anon-T for "Splainin" , I find it difficult to come up with better "visualizations" of the clues.
(That's supposed to be a compliment...)
steaks are too high for a link/up
So, on the trivial side,
Because I am not "up" on my Milton, I thought Hell before Eden.
Actually, to be honest, the only Milton I know is because of Scotty on StarTrek...
Capacitance is proving useful in todays low energy consumption world, just check out this LED bulb that can light without being "plugged in."
Of interest, is a related free energy source, that most people are not aware of. Older folks will remember building your own "crystal radio," that did not require a battery to listen to... however, todays low energy led bulbs have revealed to the masses that free energy is all around us!. The next time you worry about radiation from your cell phone, be aware, that we are constantly being "lit up" by megawatts of radio frequency radiation.
( not to mention all the other frequencies, cosmic or otherwise...)
CED, back in the '60s the chief engineer of our AM radio station hung some fluorescent bulbs in the transmitter room -- plenty of light whenever the transmitter was on.
Thanks to Freddie for his puzzle. Noted the vertical symmetry and pangram plus some fun words, e.g., PETRIFY and NUANCE. The SW was the last to fall. I wanted to squeeze "trivia" where QUIZ fit. It also took a bit for me to make the food/FARE connection. Good job!
Thanks, also, to -T for another entertaining review. It's always fun to get your take on the clues! 8-Down that's exactly what I did.
Since you asked.... mashedUPpotatoes
Puzzling thoughts:
Anthony Gael Moral @ 8:55 ==> the puzzle grid DOES have symmetry; just not rotational symmetry as we normally see. Rotational symmetry basically means that there is a similar pattern of words and blocks around 360 degrees of the grid.
If you divide today's puzzle grid in half (with row 8 being the "equator"), everything north of that has its own symmetry, and everything south of it has its own symmetry (look at the pattern of the black squares). I have never used this design as all of my puzzles (so far) have had entries of equal length. Here, Freddie uses 3 entries that are 10 letters, 13 letters, and 15 letters, respectively. The reveal is 9 letters in length. These cannot "match" in a conventional (rotational) grid. Hope that explains it for you!
As for my OWN results today, I screwed up in the SW corner but was able to write over the incorrect letters
Thanks Freddie for the very clever puzzle, and thanks Dash T for the fun recap
The "SOUP UP" entry reminded me of my first published puzzle, which I collaborated with none other than our C. C. Burnikel. She (CC) has helped many of us get started in this fun hobby called Crossword Construction
I hate to show my ignorance but here goes: some of you noted that this puzzle is a pangram. I know what a pangram is, but how does it show up in this puzzle? Is it because every letter of the alphabet is used?
Spot on, Monkey -- that's what a pangram is.
Thank you, Chairman, for clearing up the symmetry thing. Sometimes it's necessary...and can even be elegant.
Another gem, Freddie thank you, and thanks T for a sparkling review!
Another fun puzzle. I filled 'er UP farely easily. Thanks, Freddy & Tony.
I refused to fill in RAFFLES for that clue until finally it couldn't be anything else.
The mid-west section and LASIK were last to fill and the only area needing a red-letter run.
Didn't know HANA but perps filled it. Haricot Verts was known from reading novels with snobs who jazz UP their BEANS.
Raining here all day. Better than white stuff, but I need groceries delivered and don't want them wet.
Canada Eh @ 10: 28
I concur (concour?) with your TSAR/CZAR dichotomy. I first got interested in CWs when I would read the newspaper funny pages after school. Dad would have already done the puzzle which was on the same page. I’d look it over. “Hey Dad, you spelled CZAR wrong “
Thank you Kelly Clark. Now I have something else to look for when solving the CW.
When I was a child, my father would do the CW everyday. I wonder if that influenced my later interest in the puzzles. He passed away when I was 12, but I was very close to him the few years I had him.
BeatenUPbiscuits?
D-O: Well, darn that Disney. CED, you always find a link to the rabbit....
Thanks fellow electronic enthusiasts for expanding on Farad. The expo was already getting too long-winded so I scratched it knowing a few of you'd pipe-in.
Thanks to those who pointed out pangram. I totally missed it.
Ah, so that's what that waffle-eating [Belgin] detective says all the time; and it's a real (French) word. #Learning.
//Seriously, absolument sound's Valley Girl / Boy :-)
Monkey: It was my paternal grandfather that introduced me to crosswords. Even though he didn't have a HS education, he'd do them every day. If he got stuck, he'd holler through the house, "Woman, what's a 7-letter....?" It'd always end w/ her calling him a "dumbass" and him saying "Shutup old woman, if I wanted your opinion..." It was a comedy show / they were a hoot.
Someone from Australia: are hop bitter-peas eatable or just medicinal? If the former, HOP UP BITTER-PEAS.
Cheers, -T
A cowboy's favorite meal after herding the cattle? ROUND UP STEAK
Some bars and pubs have trivia games which you could be called quizzes.
Here we play a modified Trivia Pursuit game every Wednesday. We are served free wine, chips and cookies. The winners get certificates for a free lunch for two at our bistro. We have many laughs with good friends. Practically the same bunch of friends attend every week.
Not a walk in the park, but a very enjoyable puzzle — 👍🏽, Freddie!
Props for the snazzy clues on AMP, LASIK and RAFFLES. The north end was a real buggah; I ended building from the bottom UP, but in the end FIR. Yay.
15a, ditto on “Ditto” until the perps shoved me the right direction; 12d was “esc” before I said perps reminded me of ALT (I use Macs, so we don’t have an ALT key…), not to mention spinning between ANTE and “wise” for the penny dash.
And @TTP 6:10pm, awesome pickup on the theme with your ROUNDUPSTEAK !
===> Darren / L.A.
> *said perps. No “I”, oops…. D.
Darren, thanks. I was happy with round up steak because it checks the boxes on the food part and the up part. However, it is lacking in that the clue doesn't suggest increasing as the clues in Freddie's puzzle do. I thought of a few others. The idioms work the same way and match his theme style and fare hike, but the clues would need to be reworked so that the hike doesn't rely solely on up.
Provoke newly hatched fish? STIR UP FRY
Change some dough? BREAK UP BREAD
Confused peaches and grapes and berries? MIXED UP FRUIT
Food for funny chickens? CRACKED UP CORN
I'll stick with my day job.
BTW, Dash T, nice review. I had never heard the song in your intro. I was able to watch your Disney video in a new tab, no prob. In addition to Disney, many PBS videos and images also don't allow embedding on other websites.
YR - Thanks for filling in on Quiz == pub game.
In college, the bars started doing "Trivia Night" to collect all the nerds in one place. We'd drink & try to outwit the other tables of drunk dorks with our team's vast trivial knowledge.
There's a pub our hacker group meets up in that still has Trivia / Quiz night every Thursday.
TTP - Round UP Steak. Nice.
Cheers, -T
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