Theme: "Rhyme Scheme" - Each common phrase is humorously rephrased fitting the nursery rhyme in the clue.
37A. Rental stipulations for a large family's befuddled matriarch?: SHOESTRINGS.
58A. Vessel designed for row-row-rowing gently down the stream?: DREAM BOAT.
72A. Serving dish for Old Mother Hubbard's dog?: BONE CHINA.
90A. Telegram heralding Jack's candlestick feat?: JUMPER CABLE.
110A. Weasel's mindset after being chased by a monkey?: POP PSYCHOLOGY.
14D. Identifying marks for a horn-blowing little boy?: BLUEPRINTS.
70D. Strong flavor from that little Horner kid's Christmas pie?: CORNER KICK.
7. Breakfast strip: BACON.
12. "I guess that's fine": SO BE IT.
18. Suggestive: EROTIC.
19. Love, in Roma: AMORE.
20. Actress Dahl who founded the Dahlia fragrance company: ARLENE. Unfamiliar with the fragrance.
23. Crept around: SKULKED.
25. Intercontinental mountain range: URALS.
26. Pad: DIGS.
27. Mixes in: ADDS.
29. Nail polish brand in square bottles: ESSIE.
30. German 39-Down: EINS. 69. Spanish 39-Down: UNA. 39. Countdown end: ONE.
31. Color wheel display: TONES.
32. Bring in, as crops: REAP.
34. Place to stay: INN.
35. Mind-altering synthetic drug: LSD.
36. Puts a lid on: SHUTS.
41. Field event: SHOT PUT.
43. Singer Lewis who won "The X Factor": LEONA. British singer.
44. Boost: AID.
45. Crumple (up): WAD.
46. Ranted and raged: STORMED.
48. Poet's below: NEATH.
52. Big bullies: OGRES. And
55. Big bully: MEANIE.
56. Electron stream: BETA RAY.
60. Bogie toppers?: FEDORAS. Humphrey Bogart.
63. Word typically ignored when alphabetizing: THE.
64. Hog's grunt: OINK.
65. City with a van Gogh walking tour: ARLES. Starry, Starry Night.
67. Musical endings: CODAS.
68. Makeshift screwdriver, maybe: COIN.
70. Phylum units: CLASSES.
74. Kerosene: LAMP OIL.
76. Broadcasts again: RE-AIRS.
78. Retreat: OASIS.
79. Use a tiller: STEER.
80. Counsels: ADVISES.
82. ICU caregiver: LPN.
83. Tennis pair?: ENS. Letter N's in Tennis. We see this cluing misguide often.
85. Vegetarian chili bits: BEANS. Boomer loved beans in his chili.
86. Make like new: RESTORE.
94. 100 smackers: C NOTE.
96. British granny: NAN.
97. Go gray, maybe: AGE.
98. Origin: ROOT.
99. Old cars from Sweden: SAABS. 101. Local language in Copenhagen: DANSK.
100. Take different routes: PART.
103. Happy __: MEAL.
106. Currency symbolized by € : EURO.
107. Apple gadget: CORER. Have you tried Cosmic Crisp apples?
108. Arranged like train cars: ENDWISE.
113. Cleared for takeoff, in a way: DE-ICED.
114. Batter's box neighbor: PLATE.
115. "Très chic!": OO LA LA.
116. Button in some shortcuts: ALT KEY.
117. Mélange: SALAD.
118. Elegant strand: PEARLS. Very pretty.
Down:
2. Bloom in Hollywood: ORLANDO.
3. Some "Coppélia" characters: DOLLS. Not famliar with "Coppélia", a comic ballet. Coppélia is a mechanical doll.
4. List-ending abbrs.: ETCS.
5. Apt name for a pet fish: GIL.
6. Got the better of, in a contest: ACED OUT.
7. Canal craft: BARGES.
8. Gather: AMASS.
9. Hoodwink: CON.
10. Marine predator: ORCA.
11. __ for Speed: video game series: NEED.
12. Talks back: SASSES.
13. Mork's planet: ORK.
15. Pot-caught fish: EELS. You can find this in the Asian aisle in your grocery store.
16. Finishes, as a cartoon: INKS IN.
17. Driver's setting?: TEEING. Golfer's starting drive.
21. Energy sources: FUELS.
22. "It __ over till it's over": AIN'T.
24. Family rooms: DENS.
28. Emotion before starting an unpleasant task: DREAD.
31. Heavy clonk: THUD.
33. __ disadvantage: AT A.
36. Charley horse, e.g.: SPASM.
37. Typeface flourish: SERIF.
38. Practical HS course, once: HOME EC.
40. Lightbulb, in the comics: IDEA.
42. Fine-tune: TWEAK.
43. Silent film star Chaney: LON. He died in 1930 at age 47.
46. Puts a lid on: SEALS.
47. Cookie brand owned by Mondelez: TATE'S.
49. Stella __: Belgian beer: ARTOIS.
50. Sesame sauce: TAHINI. We have sesame paste in Chinese cooking. We use unhulled sesame seeds.
51. Serengeti scavengers: HYENAS.
52. Near beer brand: O'DOULS.
53. Direct a smile toward: GRIN AT.
54. Make a file more identifiable: RE-NAME.
55. Fable finale: MORAL.
56. Cereal grains: BRANS.
57. Simplify: EASE.
59. Indonesia's "Island of the Gods": BALI.
61. Gillis of old TV: DOBIE.
62. Nose wrinklers: ODORS.
66. African wildcat: SERVAL. Learning moment for me. Cute.
68. Gregorian __: CHANT.
71. Paris Olympics opening ceremony site: SEINE.
73. Thicket: COPSE.
75. Easter basket treat: PEEP.
77. Palm Sunday transport: ASS.
80. Lose power: ABATE.
81. Food blogger Perelman: DEB. Smitten Kitchen blog.
82. Permits: LETS.
84. Last-minute ticket caveat: SRO.
86. Cyberpunk franchise featuring a crime-fighting cyborg: ROBOCOP.
87. Hot: ON A ROLL.
88. Xenon, for one: RARE GAS.
89. Blog post: ENTRY.
90. Emerald alternative: JADE. Cantonese girls love jade bracelets. The real jade is quite pricey, like this one Carmen is wearing. Over $1,000.
91. Country with a border in Lake Victoria: UGANDA.
92. Genetics pioneer Gregor: MENDEL.
93. Spoof genre: COMEDY.
94. Brought about: CAUSED.
95. __ a soul: NARY.
99. Philly transit org.: SEPTA. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
100. Chris Van Allsburg's "The __ Express": POLAR.
102. Loretta of "M*A*S*H": SWIT.
104. Intro courses?: APPS. Appetizers. Nice clue.
105. Dancer Falana: LOLA.
107. Cuba libre mixer: COLA.
109. Picture: SEE. The land I showed last week belongs to the
Chinese government. My mom and dad were buried there also. It's very remote, hilly, dense with bushes and tall plants. I'd walk for miles to visit my mom's tomb. The stubbornness in that little girl.
111. Mate: PAL.
112. Soil-turning tool: HOE.
Just got this sweet picture from JD, who joined our blog in 2009 when her oldest grandson Truman was not yet one, now Truman is a senior. The tallest boy is Grady, younger brother of Truman (most right). The youngest boy in the picture is Dylan, who plays the saxophone and is about to get his Black Belt in Taekwondo. The boy in white sweater is Cameron, Dylon's old brother.
30 comments:
Well, I got it. But I’m not sure what the title of the puzzle referred to, and I have been unable to find any unifying theme. Nevertheless, FIR, so I’m happy.
I completed the puzzle, too. The title and theme phrases refer to nursery rhymes/songs you may have learned as a child if you grew up in the USA or other country with English as its primary language. In order, the clues referred to Humpty Dumpty, the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Row Row Row Your Boat, Old Mother Hubbard, Jack Be Nimble, Pop Goes the Weasel, Little Boy Blue, and Little Jack Horner. Hope this helps suss the theme.
Good morning!
Another month has rolled around; wow, this year has gone fast.
Went sideways with CRAMP where SPASM was supposed to go. No Texan would put BEANS in chili; you'd probably be deported. Cute theme -- d-o recognized all the nursery rhymes. Well done, Gary and Amy. Nice expo, C.C. (Is that a picture of you as a young girl?)
LON Chaney: Sr. died young at 47. His son, Jr., is the one in the photo. They both were actors in horror films.
SEPTA: It appeared recently, but guess who couldn't recall it? Isn't the cartilage which separates the nose chambers the septum?
I meant to mention the HOE anecdote that HG posted a couple of weeks ago:
Jeopardy!
To me this one felt like a Friday’s degree of difficulty, perps to the rescue for my slew of unknowns - SERVAL, TATES, MENDEL, ORLANDO, BETA RAY, DEB and ESSIE. I somehow managed a FIR in 43:39. I thought the theme was very creative, had to recall the nursery rhymes mentioned above by Anon. Had a near beer with ODOULS, and a real beer with ARTOIS (Ar-TWAH). I remembered SEPTA from a couple days ago, but like d-o mentioned, it sounds like a plural for a body part. We had FUELS followed by LAMP OIL and RARE GAS. I knew TAHINI cuz DW uses it in her homemade hummus. Thank you Gary and Amy for the Sunday morning fun, and to C.C. for the recap!
Oh, I get it now!
Nursery rhymes! Like “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…”
C.C. called them “nurse rhymes” which threw me off at first! D’oh!
107. Apple gadget: CORER. Have you tried Cosmic Crisp apples?
YES! They are fantastic. Sweet and crisp, and they seem to retain their crispness forever. Haven't had a bad one yet.
FIR, but uno->UNA, danse->DANSK, dime->COIN, cramp->SPASM, and stops->SEALS.
Yes, D-O, I thought "who you callin' a HO" too. Thanks for the Jeopardy clip.
The local NBC affiliate sent a crew to cover the Paris Olympics. They pronounced the river as "sin" while the stateside folks seemed to all say "scene." 'Course we all say PAIR-is, not exactly as the locals say it.
SEPTA is on its way to Ektorp City.
Thanks to Gary and Amy for the fun workout. My favorite, after the dope slap, was "cleared for takeoff" for DE-ICE. And thanks to CC for the fun review, and especially for your adorable kid picture. (I didn't think there was a lot of private land ownership in modern China. I have a buddy who says we don't own property in the USA either, we rent it from the state. He cites what happens if you don't pay your property taxes, er, rent. The state evicts you and someone else moves in, as long as they pay the state its rent.)
Good morning. I caught the Rhyme Scheme but did the "old woman who lived in a shoe" own or rent her home? It took a lot of perps to get CORNER KICK for the strong flavor.
But I like puzzles without a lot of unknown proper names. There were five solved by perps- ESSIE, LEONA, POLAR, DEB & TATES (never heard of that cookie)
107. Apple gadget: CORER. Have you tried Cosmic Crisp apples? YES and they are great. I just bought two bags before the season ends.
I kept trying to figure out how the answers rhymed. I didn't occur to me that source material for the clues were rhymes. So though obtuse, I did deduce, without the use of Mother Goose!
FIR. I had to work for this one. Seemed a little cruncher than past Sundays.
I spent way to much time in the SW until suddenly de-iced came to me and then the rest filled in.
There were lots of unknowns for me and the perps really helped. But overall this was not an enjoyable puzzle for me.
I also had to change UNO to UNA, I can’t find anywhere, even a variation that a Spanish “one” is UNA.
UNA nina, uno nino. (one girl, one boy. I think.)
I usually enjoy Gary Larson, and now Amy Ensz, CWPs. Somehow they are á good fit for me. This one was no exception. At first I was baffled since I tried to make my answers rhyme, then when SHOE STRINGS showed up, I changed my focus.
There were a few unknowns for me like LEONA, TATE’S, DEB. CUBA Libre is rum and coke, not rum and COLA.
I have a beautiful gold and JADE bracelet that I cherish.
Thank you CC for the article on Gary Larson. What a whimsical fellow.
Nice puzzle by Gary and Amy. Loved the redefinition.
One stumble was trying coalOIL for LAMPOIL. The rest of the puzzle went fairly easily.
Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye.
4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing.
Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king.
Mother Goose is GREAT!
Believe.
Wait a sec,
That Gary, The Bubble Guy link, reminds me of Picards link yesterday to the bubble guy that was no longer allowed to make bubbles without a permit...
I assume they are not one and the same, but does this mean Gary the bubble guy could soon be regulated out of business?
I don't mean to get political, but there are bubbles at stake! Why, the next thing you know, some one will outlaw circles in crossword puzzles!
Good Morning:
This was a delightful solve, thanks to the constructors’ playful and memory-evoking theme of nursery rhymes. Despite a few unknowns such as Serval, Deb, Essie, and Beta Ray, and a couple of missteps, e.g. Dime/Coin, and Uno/Una, I breezed through the rest smoothly and quickly. After being reminded of Gary’s background, I noticed he squeezed in Comedy at 93D! Too bad Bubbles wasn’t included. 😉
Thanks, Gary and Amy, for a lovely Sunday offering and thanks, CC, for explaining it all and including the article about Bubble Man! Your younger self in that photo shows a fierce determination on a sweet face, both features still present to this day!
Have a nice Sunday.
A fun Sunday solve. FWIW, Valerie, who is an RN, says that 82 Across is inaccurately clued.
I enjoyed solving this puzzle.
Happy HOUR --> Happy MEAL.
Good reading you all.
Delightful Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Gary and Amy. And your commentary is always a pleasure, C.C. thanks for that too. That little picture of you is so sweet--a special treat.
I always look for words that together compose a theme in puzzles, and this one had a few very minor ones. The BACON right at the beginning made me look for food, but the MEAL with a PLATE and a SALAD didn't turn up until the end. But at least we got some BEANS too, along the way.
The AMORE made me hope for some romance, but by the time we got down to the DREAM BOAT, we were already surrounded by OGRES and MEANIES ready to BETRAY us, so that by the time we got down to that COMEDY my humor had begun to ABATE and I wasn't in the mood to GRIN AT stuff any more. So I'd best stop now, but have to admit this puzzle was still a fun adventure and I had a great time playing around with it.
Have a lovely week coming up, everybody.
Musings
-I did not get the Congratulations message and so I had to go back and check for the one bad cell/typing error. I found the error and in the process I overcame the “can’t see the forest for the trees” shortsightedness to see the nursery rhyme connection on this amazing puzzle.
-A friend of ours was just fine three weeks ago and brain cancer has put her into hospice care and we are on our way to see her. Tomorrow is promised to no one.
I totally agree / given the level of care/ it is RNs only staffing the ICU. LPNs can staff the regular floors but both of the editors have persisted in this for decades, so I’ve quit mentioning it
The theme was very helpful in the solve. I can't believe I have never heard of a serval. Very enjoyable puzzle but I expected no less with Gary involved. I wonder how much Patti messes with his cluing?! Interesting about RNs in the ICU. I too enjoyed the young pic. It looks like you. Welcome to December all. GC
The picture shown above is Lon Chaney Jr. he didn’t die in the thirties.
In a count down it would not be una. It is uno, dos, tres. We could have a masculine or feminine eins too.
Wow! I'll bet Desper-Otto wishes he'd said that @5:47!
Where I live (New England) LPNs do not work in ICUs. Only nursing homes.
Fun and original theme. Smooth going with no crossed obscurities. FIR.
CC Thank you for sharing that photo of your young, determined self.
CrossEyedDave Thank you for the shout out regarding our Santa Barbara Bubble Guy and Gary Larson. Quite a coincidence indeed. I had a nice email exchange with our Bubble Guy. I offered to talk to people on our City Council who I know. He said he would prefer to lay low for now. Very sad. No good deed goes unpunished.
Not sure why my second post was deleted. I am trying again:
===
From Yesterday:
We spent morning to night entertaining a friend I had at UCSB who was visiting with his new girlfriend. He is not the easiest person to get along with and I was delighted that he had found such a wonderful woman.
Jinx Thanks for validating that photo I took at the San Diego lighthouse. That it is the place you were talking about. It seems we have travelled to many of the same places.
Hand up I enjoyed yesterday's challenging but fair puzzle. Always happy to see a physics reference with BOHR. Learning moment about HALO BRAIDS. And about BISMALLAH. I always thought he was cursing in German!
Thanks, Gary, Amy, and C.C.
FAV was BONE CHINA
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