Theme: "Cards on the Table" - Each theme answer starts with a card game.
22. Temptation for Hansel and Gretel: GINGER BREADHOUSE.
38. Place to take a long drive?: WARNING TRACK.
47. Highly suspenseful: HEART-STOPPING.
67. Song for Snow White: WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK.
85. Infield feature: PITCHER'S MOUND.
92. Role that earned Renée Zellweger her first Oscar nomination: BRIDGET JONES.
115. "Time to play!," and what could be said about 22-, 38-, 47-, 67-, 85-, and 92-Across: LET THE GAMES BEGIN.
Fresh take on the card game theme. I don't recall seeing this approach before.
I think this is our constructor. He's an accomplished Scrabble player.
Across:
1. More predictable: TAMER.
6. Quite a few: MANY.
10. Extensions: LIMBS.
15. __ card: smartphone insert: SIM.
18. Atlanta university: EMORY.
19. Early Ron Howard role: OPIE. "The Andy Griffith Show".
20. Roast host: EMCEE.
21. Trillion, in computer storage: TERA. Mega, giga, tera.
25. Celebrated one: IDOL.
26. The 13 of PG-13: AGE.
27. Informal French pronoun: TOI. As to "vous".
28. Tweet: CHIRP.
29. Layered Italian dessert: SPUMONI. Layered gelato. With cherries and pistachios.
31. Hesitant: NOT SO SURE.
34. Tidy the garden: WEED.
36. Drive-in chain with carhops: SONIC.
37. En __: as a group: MASSE.
41. Farley of "Tommy Boy": CHRIS.
44. Wind up: COIL.
46. Airport destination: GATE.
52. Gallo Winery city: MODESTO.
57. "Dead Wake" author Larson: ERIK
58. Janelle of "Glass Onion": MONAE.
59. Otherwise: ELSE.
61. Singe: CHAR.
62. Voice artist Blanc: MEL.
63. "Whatcha __?": DOIN.
64. __ circus: FLEA.
65. Ornamental style: ROCOCO.
72. "I need grub!": FEED ME.
73. Maryland blue, e.g.: CRAB. This is huge.
74. Test-drive: SPIN.
75. "CrazySexyCool" R&B trio: TLC.
77. Even, in France: EGAL.
78. Headliner: STAR.
79. Very pale: ASHEN.
81. Spirit: BRIO.
82. Tattoos and such: BODY ART.
88. Half-moon tide: NEAP.
90. Citation abbr.: ET AL.
91. Longtime Celtics GM Danny: AINGE. Unfamiliar with this guy.
98. 64-Down tellers: LIARS. 64. Bit of baloney: FIB.
101. Eagle's nest: AERIE.
102. Irritable state: SNIT.
103. Reservation taker: CONCIERGE.
107. Name associated with two types of cups: STANLEY. The hockey cup and this type.
110. "Gesundheit" elicitor: ACHOO.
112. Beauty: GEM.
113. Amount to: ARE.
114. Donkey __: KONG.
119. Yale alumni: ELIS.
120. Sarge's superior: LOOIE.
121. Soul legend Redding: OTIS.
122. Congregational calls: AMENS.
123. Sixers for the Niners, briefly: TDS. I like this clue angle. And 78. 123-Across, e.g.: STAT.
124. Boutiques: SHOPS.
125. Tabloid fare: DIRT.
126. Like soapy hands: SUDSY.
Down:
2. Buddy, in Bolivia: AMIGO.
3. "Rouen Cathedral" painter: MONET.
4. Energy unit: ERG.
5. Canapé option: RYE TOAST.
6. __ strip: mathematics model used in the NASCAR Hall of Fame design: MOBIUS.
7. Loan fig.: APR.
8. Nephew's sister: NIECE.
9. "Totes": YEAH.
10. Musical satirist Tom: LEHRER. "The Elements".
11. "Throw it to me!": I'M OPEN.
12. Superhero franchise initials: MCU. The Marvel Cinematic Universe.
13. First lady after Eleanor: BESS.
14. Move like water in a percolator: SEEP.
15. Arizona home of Cathedral Rock: SEDONA. Stunning view.
16. Unexpectedly apt: IRONIC.
17. Wendie of "Just Shoot Me!": MALICK. Sometimes we see MALEK (Rami).
21. Divided island of Southeast Asia: TIMOR.
23. "American Fiction" actress Tracee Ellis __: ROSS.
24. Hindu festival celebrated over five days: DIWALI. When I was a kid, Chinese New Year lasted at least 15 days. It's the only time I got new clothes.
30. Formal Spanish pronoun: USTED.
32. Smug look: SMIRK.
33. Meet up with old friends: RE-CONNECT.
35. Archaeological site: DIG.
38. Moist towelette: WIPE.
39. "__ your price": NAME.
40. Classic Pontiac: GTO.
41. Sci. class with a lab requirement: CHEM.
42. "Brace yourselves!": HERE WE GO.
43. End of the line, perhaps: RAILHEAD.
45. Joyful cry at a Greek wedding: OPA. Let's see if this video works.
48. Struck down, biblically: SMOTE.
49. Slog away: TOIL.
50. Tony winner Carter: NELL.
51. TV musical with 207 songs on the Billboard Hot 100: GLEE.
53. Danish shoe brand: ECCO.
54. Immediate future: SHORT RUN. Or a 3-mile trot to Renee.
55. Taking on, as a challenge: TACKLING.
56. Spanish treasure: ORO.
60. Offers a greeting: SAYS HELLO.
63. Psych. handbook: DSM. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
65. Archaeological site: RUINS.
66. Possess: OWN.
68. Without thinking: IDLY.
69. Sandwich option: WRAP.
70. Mata __: HARI.
71. Pay phone abbr.: OPER.
72. Shortest mo.: FEB.
76. Program: CODE.
79. Goes for it: ACTS.
80. Doo-wop syllable: SHA.
81. Home of the NCAA's Broncos: BOISE. Boise State Broncos.
83. Nativity play role: ANGEL.
84. Food writer Drummond: REE.
86. Get a bite?: TEETHE. Fun clue.
87. Xylophone kin: MARIMBAS.
89. Comfy outfit: PJS.
92. Picnic container: BASKET.
93. Like stories of days gone by, often: RE-TOLD.
94. Tehran natives: IRANIS.
95. Small imperfections: DINGS.
96. Using inside info, perhaps: ON A TIP.
97. Cozy spots: NICHES.
99. Eat: INGEST.
100. Las Vegas WNBA team: ACES.
103. Animal also known as the hog-nosed raccoon: COATI.
104. Stormed: RAGED.
105. Sly expressions: GRINS.
106. Itty-bitty: EENSY.
108. What always ends well?: ELLS. The two letters.
109. Michelle of "Everything Everywhere All at Once": YEOH. Hokkien spelling of the Chinese name Yang. Hokkien is the largest Chinese dialect in Malaysia.
111. Psalm starter: O GOD.
116. As well: TOO.
117. Bygone space station: MIR.
118. Cassowary relative: EMU. We have ostriches in our local Como Zoo.
In case you missed it, Husker Gary met with Inanehiker (Nina) and her friend Marla last Wednesday. I love seeing our blog regulars meet in real life. This picture made me so happy.
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| Nina, Gary and Marla |
I saw all the “card games” (one or two I didn’t recognize, but I knew of and/or have played most of them at one time or another ) and solved the puzzle in good time. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteSaw the lead-off card games. Is it PIT or PITCH? Both work. There were far too many names for my taste, but I managed to finish, so the perps must've been helpful. Was this a debut for Ricky? Good one. Thanx for the recap, C.C.
Looks like Nina and Husker had a nice lunch. I guess Marla didn't get to eat.
Pu to the nth degree! Nothing but obscure names.
ReplyDeleteI liked it, although I have no recognition of a card game named of PIT (or PITCH).
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see that MONET was used as an answer twice. First at 3D and then again at 58A. A quick check of the crossing clues gave me the correct spelling of her last name. It wasn't an "aha" moment. It was an "oh yeah" moment. I know her from the movie "Hidden Figures"
D-O, this is the 5th debut of Rick Sirois. His first was Jan 14, 2023.
Ricky.
DeleteNice that inanehiker and Husker Gary got to meet!
Some good Sunday fare today with a solid theme and reveal. FIR in a few ticks under a half hour. Seemed like a lot of names but I knew nine of them off the top of my head, others required perps. We’ve had MONET several times lately, today also MONAE. I’d guess Baltimore Bill knew what a Maryland Blue was. The top themer also had “HOUSE” (of cards), first thought that may be part of the theme till I saw the other game names, never heard of PIT. A good Friday clue for EMU would be “Ypsilanti sch.” Thanks Ricky for the fun puzzle and C.C. for the expo!
ReplyDeleteMaryland BLUE-hah. Almost all of Maryland's crabs come from Texas and Louisiana. Over 95%.
DeleteFIW, with sAnER instead of TAMER. No idea of Ms. TEGAN, nor the church painter ('course I recognize the name now.)
ReplyDeleteI've read two books by ERIK Larson - The Splendid and the Vile and The Devil in the White City. Both were fantastic. I have his Isaac's Storm on my shelf but haven't gotten to it yet.
What's this "pay phone" you speak of?
I finally remembered a WNBA team - the ACES.
This one wasn't my cuppa. Far too much A&E crap. Thanks to CC for the interesting review.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI didn’t notice any of the card games until the reveal C/A and then they were as obvious as could be. I think the card game is Pitch, but I know nothing about it. I found some of the cluing a bit confusing and, as always, “Totes” gets the Evil Eye, with or without the equally annoying “Adorbs”. There were several unknowns, i.e., Tegan, TLC, Ainge, Diwali, etc., but the perps were fair and the solve was below normal Sunday time.
Thanks, Ricky, and thanks, CC, for the pro’s opinion and critique. Always learn from and appreciate your cultural references.
Have a great day.
FIR. I threw down gingerbread house out the gate and thought I was going to have clear sailing. I was so, so wrong!
ReplyDeleteI had to really work at this one. So many obscurities that even the perps wouldn't address. Several WAG answers here and there, and I managed to muddle through.
The reveal cinched the theme for me and I went back and saw the card games. But pit is a mystery to me.
Overall this was not an enjoyable puzzle for me.
FIR but not a lot of fun, and needed to do an alphabet run for the cross of a Greek term and an unknown “celebrity” (opa/ Monae). Fortunately, I only needed to do vowels, and somehow, I feel grateful for that. Kind of a crossword version of the Stockholm Syndrome. There were so many proper names, if it wasn’t for all the artificial and foreign words, I could have been doing the TV Crossword.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Halfway through the solve, GIN jumped out at me and clicked with the title!
-I assumed the card game PITCH was the card game in question since it is played in every small-town bar in Nebraska. It is also the game I was playing when I was told JFK had been shot.
-I best remember CHRIS for this skit where the other actors couldn’t keep a straight face
-SEAR instead of CHAR was a speed bump
-Hotel CONCIERGES are always the go-to people for info, deets or the 411.
-This is NOV and seems like a long time until APR
-Every pass catcher in the NFL keeps telling the QB, I’M OPEN!!
-After I say “Buenos dias” and “Como Estas USTED” to our lovely custodian, she replies "Bueno", laughs and knows we are done!
-FB can be very negative but it has allowed me to RE-CONNECT with MANY peeps of my past
-RAILHEADS used to feature round houses to turn the train around
-The RUINS at Pompeii were accidentally discovered in the late 1500’s when a canal was being dug
-Nina posted last night about meeting me and said, “He was just as I had imagined him from his Saturday blog and comments during the week!” Hmmm… :-)
-D-O, Marla moved over next to me for the picture :-). Our waitress Mallory did a nice job serving us and taking the picture (we don't say photo around here)!
It took a while to see the card games (especially unknown PIT or PITCH), and several names gave me pause, but I Finished It Right at the breakfast table, so what's not to love? Many thanks, Ricky and C.C.!
ReplyDeleteI thought I FIR, until C.C.'s comments. LEHRER was unknown and I filled CHEEP instead of CHIRP, leaving DEWALI. LEHEER was left on the page. The puzzle was loaded with A&E PNs; ECCO and OPIE were the only ones knew. I didn't notice the games after filling LET THE GAMES BEGIN, I kept wondering what games GINGER, WARNING, WHISTLE, and PITCHER were. Duh!!l I know of GIN and WAR but PIT and WHIST are unfamiliar.
ReplyDeleteMy last fill was the cross of 1A & 1D. I wanted SAFER for 'more predictable' but MONET ended that thought. I wouldn't equate TAMER with 'More predictable' and TEGAN was a total unknown in my A&E list. EGAL, OPA, DSM- perps for those.
Danny AINGE was one scrappy ball player who wouldn't hesitate to mix it up.
MONET and MONAE- pronounced the same
MARIMBA because VIBRAHARP wouldn't fit.
ECCO- I bought a pair of their dress shoes, rarely wore them, and about 5 years later the soles (made of rubber) fell apart.
C.C.' new clothes were at New Year. I got new USED clothes at the start of each school year. My brother was 18 months older. At least I got my own new shoes.
I’m surprised how many people are unfamiliar with the game “Pit”. We played it a lot as kids. The cards are various commodities (wheat, corn, flax, etc) and the idea is to keep blindly trading with others at the table until you collect all the cards of one commodity or a “corner” on the market. It’s fun and gets quite loud and wild.
ReplyDeleteI found today's puzzle to be a fairly easy and straightforward solve, despite the abundance of obscure names. There were so many it could be called a crossNAME puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy family has played the game of Pit for years. I taught it to my kids and grandchildren. It uses its own cards, not a regular deck of cards, and is a commodities trade game based on the Chicago Board of Trade (known as the Pit). The play is loud and chaotic and great fun as each player tries to corner the market on a particular commodity. Kids love it.
I enjoyed seeing Sedona in today's puzzle. I was the academic director and principal of a girl's high school there from 2005 to 2015. Sedona is famous for its beautiful red rocks, and hundreds of movies have been made there.
Despite all the names in the puzzle, Ricky, I did enjoy solving your puzzle. It was well-constructed, and I can tell was a labor of love. If I'm not mistaken, all the card games in the puzzle use a regular deck of cards except Pit. I love cards, and have played all the games in the puzzle. Indeed, tomorrow is my duplicate bridge day. Every Monday there are about twenty of us competing against each other for master points. Anyway, thanks again, Ricky, for providing an enjoyable Sunday exercise.
Pretty much an Echo of what jinx said. Tossed the towel when it became more chore than fun. Too much to do before the Packers game starts. GPG!
ReplyDeleteThe only games I saw initially were BRIDGE and CHESS. Álthough I finished this CW I got really frustrated with the abundance of names I’m unfamiliar with. OTIS, MONET and MEL were the only ones I knew.
ReplyDeleteMy nieces and I often play HEARTS.
Thank you CC for the recap. However I was to,d the videos you included were unavailable. Did anyone else get that message?
I enjoyed this puzzle. Very straightforward. Didn't know the Greek wedding cry or Janelle's last name. The card games were no help since the phrases were pretty common. My wife and I spent a week in Sedona and loved it. We took a quick trip to the Grand Canyon while we were there. We of course went in the winter. As always CC, thanks for the Chinese insights. GC
ReplyDeleteHard to figure out when you've never heard of some of these card games.
ReplyDeleteFor those looking for a google short cut, here is how to play "pit."
I saw the special deck requirement, and immediately passed on watching this video...
Whist however, looks a bit more promising.
I might actually watch this video on the off chance I'm one of 4 people surviving a plane crash in the alps with a deck of cards trying to delay cannibalism.
Re: yest. Anon-T, can you pls recommend a free ad blocker that would work with an iPad? I researched several, but they all seem to either be trial apps, or have some other down side...
Hmm, I seem to have fogotten to close my hot link html...
ReplyDeleteI am surprised it was able to post.
Very slow to get the theme. Hand up never heard of PIT. FIW in that morass of unknown TL? AING? Obscure sports team. Otherwise it was OK. Learning moment there is another kind of STANLEY CUP. I only know the GAME one. Learning moment about unknown WARNING TRACK. Amusing if you know it.
ReplyDeleteTOM LEHRER is my favorite musical satirist of all time. Also a fellow mathematician. Still alive at age 96.
Here is a brand new article I just wrote on DIWALI.
My dear HINDU friend Vandana was one of the organizers.
I was able to solve this puzzle without having to look anything up or do any alphabet runs.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article, Picard.
ReplyDeleteI had _AMER for 1A. SAMER and TAMER both fit the clue. I guessed SAMER figuring there might be alliteration in 1D. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteC'mon people, the game is PITCH. All the cards games in the themers are common games using a standard deck. Not some weird Parker Bros. trademark game.
ReplyDeletePitch, aka Setback in some areas, is like a junior version of Bridge. The concepts of bidding, trump suits, and trick taking are all found here. Played it all the time as a kid, and later graduated to Bridge as an adult.
Pitch you get 5 cards, name trump if you bid 2, 3, or 4 on how many ticks you will take counting 1 each for High, low, jack and game (total face value of the cards you win).
Delete6 cards per hand, dealt 3 at a time.
DeleteCoatis used to visit our puzzles on a regular basis. It was nice to see one drop in today. Now, where did I put my snood?
ReplyDeleteRustyBrain Thank you for explaining it is PITCH. Never heard of that, either, but I will take it as a learning moment.
ReplyDeleteJayce Thank you for the kind words about my DIWALI article. You inspired me to share another image that I shared before, but I will share it again.
Here I was with my co-worker friend Madeleine at CATHEDRAL ROCK in SEDONA.
We were at a remote retreat in another part of SEDONA for our work. Right before COVID. Her red hair matched the red rocks, but when I saw her two days ago her hair was brown!
Hola!
ReplyDeleteThis was a Sunday slog, as usual, and I say that in the most affectionate way possible. I love Sunday puzzles though I don't usually finish before going to church. I have fond memories of OPIE, JANELLE MONAE in "Hidden Figures", listening to OTIS Redding, any MEL Brooks movie, visiting SEDONA, ROCOCO churches in Europe. I have never played BRIDGE but spent many, many evenings playing Canasta. My Spanish fix was met with USTED and ORO. However, ANGEL is spelled the same in Spanish but pronounced an-jel. Danny AINGE played with the Phoenix Suns many years ago.
Thank you, C.C. for your narrative which was filled with BRIO and for teaching us more about your culture.
The post above was from me but I don't know why it is labeled anonymous.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Ricky and C.C.!
ReplyDeleteI liked the clue for TDS best.
Big “Doh!!” moment when the reveal called out card games; I’d just not figgered it despite the title. Thanks for the illumination , C.C. Guess it was my dumb day for the month…
ReplyDeleteGreat clues overshadowed by (as D-Otto noted) waaay too many pop-culture names. And can we please never see “totes” ever again, even in the clues? 😝
Didn’t know ECCO were Danish shoes, nor that EMUs are related to cassowaries. Definitely added to the fun today.
====> Darren / L.A.