Theme: "Bride"-al path ...
As seen in the hit film, "Sire of the Bride"
Puzzling thoughts:
Today's puzzle was summed up with the reveal entry:
54-across. Rom-com starring Julia Roberts, and a feature of 20-, 32-, and 41-Across?: RUNAWAY BRIDE.
As you'll see in each of the three entries, the BRIDE has RUN AWAY from the movie title listed (as clued):
20-across. Gurinder Chadha adaptation of a Jane Austen novel: AND PREJUDICE. The movie was not a box-office "biggie", nor a fan favorite, but it did cause the Chairman to wonder what was to follow as I was thinking PRIDE and Prejudice, Jane Austen's actual novel. As it turns out, what's "missing" is the word BRIDE from the title (BRIDE AND PREJUDICE) - open the hyperlink to learn more
32-across. Fantasy adventure starring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright: THE PRINCESS. The movie was not a box-office "biggie" but at least garnered an 80% approval rating. Once again, the word BRIDE was missing from the puzzle entry (THE PRINCESS BRIDE)
41-across. Spencer Tracy comedy with a remake starring Steve Martin: FATHER OF THE. The movie earned the most $ of the three but was still regarded as a "stinker" by Rotten Tomatoes. BRIDE was missing from the movie title (FATHER OF THE BRIDE)
OK, without sounding too ignorant, what am I missing here? I can honestly say that "Father of the Bride" is the only one of the three movies I've seen. And it came out in 1991 so my memory of it is pretty foggy. IIRC, the father, aka, George Banks, is more concerned about the cost of the wedding rather than the fact that he is losing his daughter Annie to his future son-in-law
Did any of the three entry movies feature the BRIDE running away? Having "cold feet" perhaps? If so, then this was a brilliant discovery by the constructor. Three movies whose titles include the missing word "BRIDE" and whose story lines include the BRIDE actually "running away". If not, then I don't know if this registers very high on my creativity list of puzzles
Guess I will have to wait at the altar (or watch the three movies to find out)
Kudos Katherine to being published again (debuted October 2024) as I know from personal experience just how difficult it is to have a puzzle go to print
A small "nit" to pick: In the first movie title, the word "BRIDE" was the missing from the first word in the title. In the other two movies, the word "BRIDE" was missing from the last word of the title. Perhaps if Katherine had thought of this movie (in which the word BRIDE is the second word in the title) I might have enjoyed this more, as the BRIDE would have run away from three different spots
For some odd reason (maybe my weirdness) this whole "runaway bride" thing made me think of a fitting Moe-ku:
Home, Home on the Range
Features a runaway BRIDE:
"The deer and the ant elope ... "
Here, then, is the grid and then off to the rest of the puzzle words
1. Burdened: BESET.
 |
| "Burdened" didn't make the top ten |
6. Puff: WISP. See 6-Down ... we have WISP crossing WASP
10. Grifter's game: SCAM. If the word "game" had been capitalized the answer might have been "BOOK"
14. French honey: AMOUR. "Honey" as in dearie - French word for "my love"
15. Org. co-founded by Helen Keller: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union
16. Angelic ring: HALO.
17. Semper __: Space Force motto: SUPRA. All you need to know about the US Space Force
18. Spotted: SEEN. Not this spotted:
19. Enthusiastic: AVID.
[entry]
23. Oscar winner Tomei: MARISA. One of my favorite clips from the movie, "My Cousin Vinny". Marisa in her role as Mona Lisa Vito
26. Pickleball need: PADDLE.
27. Some pyramid-topped monuments: OBELISKS.
 |
| Unlike 50-Down, this Luxor is an obelisk |
30. Scare word: BOO. Irish Miss must be pleased today as Katherine only used 11 three-letter words in her puzzle (if I counted correctly)
31. Scottish cap: TAM. And of course, another three-letter word appears right afterwards ...
[entry]
37. Long-billed wader: IBIS. Also, the mascot of the University of Miami Hurricanes
 |
| Sebastian, the IBIS |
39. Mexican kinsman: TIO. Would the clue "Uncle in Uruguay" have been any easier?
40. Cabbage cousin: KALE.
[entry]
46. B'way passes: TIX. Moe-ku:
Can dogs that have fleas
Get into a theater
Without having TIX?
47. Exclamation of discovery: AHA.
48. Formidable: FEARSOME. Any football fans remember the "FEARSOME" foursome?
50. Off-road vehicles?: LEMONS. When was the term "lemon" first used to describe an "off" car?
47. Exclamation of discovery: AHA.
48. Formidable: FEARSOME. Any football fans remember the "FEARSOME" foursome?
50. Off-road vehicles?: LEMONS. When was the term "lemon" first used to describe an "off" car?
 |
| How about a lemon-colored lemon?? |
53. Done for: RUINED.
[reveal]
57. Teammates who really pull for you?: OXEN. Clever clue
58. Small ensemble: TRIO. Duo and quartet didn't fit
59. Wrinkle removers: IRONS. Thankfully as a retiree I no longer need to worry about removing wrinkles from my dress shirts, as I used to when I worked in the corporate world ...
63. Pop singer Amos: TORI.
64. Haughty manners: AIRS.
65. Part of one's inheritance: TRAIT. My good looks, I'm told ... 😀
66. Clog decorated with Jibbitz charms: CROC. Not familiar with this? Watch below:
67. Invited: BADE. Friday clue
68. Primitive: EARLY. Friday clue
Down:
1. __-relief: BAS. Moe-ku:
A professional
Fisherman mounted his catch:
His bass bas-relief
2. Australian source of some cosmetic oil: EMU. Johnny Bench is a spokesman for this brand:
3. Soak (up): SOP.
4. Continental train pass: EURAIL. All you need to know about Eurail passes
5. Part of BART: TRANSIT. Bay Area Rapid Transit
6. Queen mother?: WASP. All you need to know about a Queen WASP
7. Cake shop artist: ICER. Moe-ku:
What bakery does
When bride carps on wedding cake?
Of course, they ICER
8. With 13-Down, laptop setting: SLEEP. [13-Down. See 8-Down]: MODE. Moe-ku:
8. With 13-Down, laptop setting: SLEEP. [13-Down. See 8-Down]: MODE. Moe-ku:
Breyer's IT staff
Equipped their computers with
SLEEP a la MODE
9. Most prevalent language of Pakistan: PUNJABI. [Brittanica dot com says] "Punjabi language, or Panjabi language, Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab in India and Pakistan. Punjabi has about 26 million speakers in India and more than 60 million in Pakistan—nearly half the population of the latter—but linguists have sometimes considered the dialects of southwestern, western, and northern Punjab province in Pakistan a different language. Inhabitants of southern Punjab province have agitated for consideration of their speech, Siraiki (with more than 12 million speakers), as a distinct language, though Siraiki and Punjabi are mutually intelligible"
9. Most prevalent language of Pakistan: PUNJABI. [Brittanica dot com says] "Punjabi language, or Panjabi language, Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab in India and Pakistan. Punjabi has about 26 million speakers in India and more than 60 million in Pakistan—nearly half the population of the latter—but linguists have sometimes considered the dialects of southwestern, western, and northern Punjab province in Pakistan a different language. Inhabitants of southern Punjab province have agitated for consideration of their speech, Siraiki (with more than 12 million speakers), as a distinct language, though Siraiki and Punjabi are mutually intelligible"
10. Pomelo: SHADDOCK. [Wikipedia says] "The pomelo , also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia and Malaysia."
11. Kvetch: CAVIL. What's the difference between Kvetch and CAVIL?
12. Chez Panisse owner Waters: ALICE. Anyone here familiar with this woman and/or restaurant? Here is a conversation I found on YouTube
21. Vague amount: DASH. Moe-ku:
Recipes are vague;
How salty should the dish be?
Just ask Mrs. Dash
22. Japanese noodle: UDON. The vagueness of the clue could have steered you toward SOBA, too. Want to know the difference? I'll also compare ramen noodles to them
23. Repeated pattern: MOTIF. Moe-ku:
22. Japanese noodle: UDON. The vagueness of the clue could have steered you toward SOBA, too. Want to know the difference? I'll also compare ramen noodles to them
23. Repeated pattern: MOTIF. Moe-ku:
What boxer said when
He saw his incisors gone:
"I just want Motif"
24. Addis __, Ethiopia: ABABA. Addis-Ababa translates to "New Flower"
25. Pay: REMIT. The word REMIT has a boatload of definitions
28. Low-carb regimen: KETO. Diets are just fads
29. Polish (up): SPIFF. My friend the Thesaurussaurus agrees; sort of
24. Addis __, Ethiopia: ABABA. Addis-Ababa translates to "New Flower"
25. Pay: REMIT. The word REMIT has a boatload of definitions
28. Low-carb regimen: KETO. Diets are just fads
29. Polish (up): SPIFF. My friend the Thesaurussaurus agrees; sort of
 |
| Again, "polish (up)" didn't make the top ten |
33. Tedious learning method: ROTE. I wonder if this is how actors learn their lines?
34. Brand of fine stationery: EATON. I remember using this brand of stationery when I prepared my work resume, as it added both quality and professionalism to the document
35. Goopy stuff: SLIME. When the Ghostbusters got slimed ... "why am I drippings with goo?"
36. Sch. health class: SEX ED. Click here for a preview of an article on SEX EDucation
38. Like some New Agey practices: SHAMANIC. According to [shamanichealing.org.uk]: "Shamanic healing is an ancient spiritual practice that focuses on restoring balance and harmony to an individual's mind, body, and spirit through various techniques and rituals. According to [Urban Dictionary]: New Agey is an adjective used to describe a new age type individual, i.e., someone who has a crystals collection, has many self-improvement books, believes in alternative medicine, practices yoga and meditation, eats organic, wears socks and sandals, and/or believes in auras and energy fields. Can also be used to describe new age practices such as shamanic healing"
42. Online instruction site: E-HOW. Moe-ku:
Old MacDonald song
Lyrics are found online at
"E-I-E-I How"
43. Deferred payment: RAN A TAB. Moe-ku:
43. Deferred payment: RAN A TAB. Moe-ku:
The teetotaler
Who drank unsweetened cola
Just ran a Tab® tab
44. Mata __: HARI. If you have 24 minutes to spare, please watch this video as it tells the story behind the woman known as Mata Hari
44. Mata __: HARI. If you have 24 minutes to spare, please watch this video as it tells the story behind the woman known as Mata Hari
45. Scholarly: ERUDITE. I've never been confused with someone who's erudite; glib, maybe 😉
49. Jagged-looking range: SIERRA. Literal translation for the word sierra is a jagged mountain range. Go figure! Here is a look at a very small portion of the Sierra Mountains at a very famous lake that borders CA and NV ... taken by the Chairman when he was on sabbatical ...
 |
| Along the western edge of Lake Tahoe |
50. Vegas hotel whose rooms have slanted windows: LUXOR. The Luxor Hotel resembles a pyramid from its exterior. If you book a room there your windows will look like this
 |
| Yes, the windows are slanted |
51. Month when it's not chilly in Chile: ENERO. Hah! Enero is the Spanish word for January; Chile is located in the Southern Hemisphere where the month of January is the start of their summer season. Now, if you were located here in Chile, in Enero, you would definitely be chilly unless you were wearing a warm jacket
52. Ancient Palmyra's land: SYRIA.
54. Campus mil. group: ROTC. Reserve Officers' Training Corps
55. Blue-footed booby, for one: BIRD. I wonder if the blue-footed characteristic of the booby indicates a male, and the females are pink-footed? Actually, the blue feet are the male's way of attracting a female for mating ...
 |
| If you were a female booby, would you find this guy attractive? |
56. Neither red nor white: Rosé. Speaking of pink, I'm guessing this clue/answer refers to wine. If so, here's a fun fact from your resident sommelier: Rosé wines are generally made from red grape varietals and are not a result of blending a white wine with a red wine, though that is an option. During fermentation, especially with red and/or darker skinned grapes, the longer the pressed grape "juice" stays in contact with their skins, the darker the color of the wine. When making rosé, many winemakers will leave the skins in contact with the fermenting wine for mere hours. That is generally long enough to provide a tinge of color and create a pink-colored wine. Here are a just a few of the red-grape varietals that can make rosé: Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Mourvèdre, Sangiovese, and Zinfandel
60. Coxswain's lack: OAR. The coxswain is the person at the front of the boat yelling the cadence to the rowers
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| This is for our cat-loving Cornerites |
61. Nothing at all: NIL. At some point (maybe it's already happened) this word might also be clued as: NCAA athlete compensation acronym
62. Barnyard dwelling: STY. What lives in a STY? Why, little piggies I'm told. Here's a cut from the White Album to lead you towards the comments ... see you in a couple ...
 |
| Quite the resemblance, eh? |
24 comments:
“Shaddock” was a word
I was unfamiliar with. And, in general, I found this to be a pretty tough puzzle, as befits a Friday. But anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR @ 1:04 AM MST(AZ). Now to bed.
Good morning!
D-o thought perhaps SHADDOCK and pomelo were fish. Nope. This one had other uncommon words, not often seen in a cw: ERUDITE, SHAMANIC, OBELISKS, PUNJABI, to name a few. Made for an interesting solve. Thanx Katherine and C-Moe.
FIR, but oho->AHA, genes->TRAIT, ababs->ABABA, shine->SPIFF, and hara->HARI.
I still have a crush on TORMEI.
The EMU industry is big in Texas and Oklahoma. 'Course everything is big in Texas.
A SPIFF (sometimes and more formally called a SPIF) is extra money provided to salespeople for selling a specific product or service. An example is when you've done your homework and have decided to get a Samsung Galaxy, but when you get to the phone store they try to talk you into a different model and/or brand. The store has a SPIFF for selling the target item. (SPIF - Sales Performance Incentive Fund, more commonly written SPIFF.)
C'mon Moe, you can't really count temperatures at the top of the world's highest volcano. In California you can go from hotter-than-Hades Palm Springs desert floor to walking through snow at the top of Mt. San Jacinto with just a short ariel tram ride. Doesn't change the fact that it is hot in Plam Springs that time of year.
I bought an Irish Wolfhound puppy in Palmyra (Virginia) before I discovered the wonderment of retired greyhounds. This Palmyra is pretty near (crossword favorite) UVA.
Thanks to Katherine for the Friday workout. I don't usually enjoy a puzzle with so much show biz, but the rest of the grid made it more palatable. I had at least heard of all the shows except Bride and Prejudice. But the clues could have been "film," "flick," and "movie" for all the help I got from them. And thanks to our Chairman for another fine review, and the picture of our MalMan and his cousin. As the TV ad says, "this spud's for you."
FIR. This was typically Friday tough. There were a bunch of learning moments for me, like shaddock, Eurail, and shamanic. But persistence paid off in the end.
I puzzled at the theme until the reveal made it all seem clear. From there on everything fell into place.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
I liked that the word BRIDE was absent from all the theme answers. Did it run away?
You have a crush on the late great Mel TORMÉ
I wonder if the original “run away bride” movie is the 1939 Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert film “It Happened One Night”
Inkovers : lite/KETO, layaway/RANATAB
Queen mother: WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) the late Good Queen Bess II 👑
SHAMANIC? A maniac’s scam?
A LEMON might drive “off” the “road”? And what part exactly of an EMU do you squeeze to get its oil
So one of my favorite actors is a complainer? Henry CAVIL(l)
Darn, last time I had escargot at “Chez Panisse” I should have asked “owner Waters” her first name. Apparently it’s not “Muddy”
Speaking of BRIDES, flying to Detroit right now for my nephew’s wedding tomorrow. ✈️ I Prefer my airline beer to EURAIL 🍺 😉
Once I got to the reveal I was able to finish filling the long answers. The first one was á WAG since I wasn’t familiar with that movie. LUXOR was also á WAG.
I didn’t know TIX and SHADDOCK, but perps filled those in.
Shouldn’t the clue for AMOUR have been followed by á ? since the word for honey in French is miel.
C-Moe, you were in form this morning with the moe-kus. Fun, fun.
TOMEI. It may come a surprise to most Cornerites, but I struggle with speling. But I'll admit to being very fond of the Velvet Fog's music, in addition to Marisa's er, erm, talents.
I'm pretty sure that Muddy is her famous blues musician cousin. Here's his classic Trouble No More.
Hola! This one took a bit of hard thinking until I got the AHA! moment seeing that BRIDE had RUN AWAY. Clever but not my favorite kind of puzzle. i had no idea about the movie BRIDE AND PREJUDICE but I have seen the other three.
In the movie, "Annie", I believe the servant speaks PUNJABI.
It's surprising to see EATON in the puzzle; I wonder how many people still use stationery? I do recall using that brand in the past.
Have a great day, everyone!
Some of the clues were pretty stretchy today, but I tolerated that and enjoyed solving this puzzle. Lots of false starts and write overs:
GENES-->TRAIT
RACKET-->PADDLE
BESS-->WASP
CHERI-->AMOUR
BROWS-->IRONS.
Good reading you all.
Good Morning:
The theme was easy enough to determine, the fill not so much with words like Shaddock and Shamanic, both totally unknown. There wasn’t anything particularly difficult about the fill, although it took me three different times to spell Ababa correctly. Any stumbling blocks were overcome by fair and conveniently placed perps.
Thanks, Katherine, and thanks, Moe, for the very informative review and the chuckles induced by the proliferation of Moe-kus. You were on a roll today, for sure! Loved the tater likeness to MM.
Have a great day.
Musings
-I also did not know of BRIDE AND PREJUDICE but surmised it must exist as the other gimmicks and the reveal were nice.
-As you know, constructor Jess Rucks’ (whose puzzle runs tomorrow) husband is in the U.S. Space Force in Colorado. She told me this week that she is pretty sure he will not be transferred to Huntsville, AL as has been in the news recently.
-Of the dozens of cars we have owned, only one turned out to be a LEMON. Unfortunately we found out 50 miles from home.
-The Kingston TRIO channel on Sirius XM is now my favorite streaming source of music
-The Everly Brothers’ song How Can I Meet Her contained the spoken lyric, “She's in love with herself; you know the kind, Always puttin' on AIRS!”
-SHADDOCK/Pomelo and SHAMANIC were learning moments
-NIL money and the transfer portal has removed the SCAM of calling college athletes scholar-athletes
-Ray, I loved the connection to Claudette Colbert as a RUNAWY BRIDE in It Happened One Night
-Nice job, Moe!
My kids loved "The Princess Bride" and watched it multiple times, so that was a gimme, and I noticed the missing BRIDE at once. And I enjoyed Steve Martin's version of "Father of the Bride." I never watched the Julia Roberts film, but it was popular enough to come easily to mind. I thought that title was a nice way to wrap up the missing ladies at the altar. Good theme! And a nice puzzle with Friday-level vocabulary. DNK that SHADDOCK was another name for "pomelo." Probably won't remember, but many thanks to Katherine for a great crossword puzzle!
Moe, thanks for walking us through it, and especially for introducing us to a chubby marine potato. Speaking of marine creatures, both male and female Blue-footed Boobies have blue feet, and both sexes find more vivid blues attractive in the opposite sex. The richness of the color depends on the fish they're eating, and reflects on their general health.
Interesting Friday puzzle, many thanks, Katherine. And your commentary is also always a real help, thanks for that too, Moe.
Well, it was fun to try to put together a story about a RUNAWAY BRIDE who left her HALO behind when she ran away into that park with those OBELISKS everywhere. It sounds like her FATHER may have kept encouraging her to find an AMOUR, but if she did, they ended up just friends along with THE PRINCESS, who was one of her classmates from grade school. Anyway, they ended up as a pleasant TRIO who enjoyed lots of little adventures: taking care of OXENS, helping each other IRON clothes, and they RAN A TAB to make sure they maintained a healthy diet of KETO. At one point they apparently ran off to SYRIA where they had a great time, before they had to come back and enroll in their classes at ACLU. But, guess what: they became very ERUDITE and ended up teaching classes at some of the best universities in the country. How's that for a good life?
Have a good one, everybody!
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Katherine and CMoe.
I FIRed in typical Friday time and saw the RUNAWAY BRIDE. Although I thought Pride was missing from the first themer, but soon caught on with the second (and 20A clue did say “adaptation”).
Elope might have been a good Easter Egg today. CMoe used it in his first Moe-ku. I LOLed.
We did have AMOUR.
I was looking for an American version of our CNIB for Helen Keller to co-found. ACLU perped. ROTC is the same in both countries.
Hand up for ShIne before SPIFF.
Another hand up for not knowing SHADDOCK or CAVIL
Perps would not let me fill Racket - PADDLE filled.
It took me a while to parse RAN A TAB. Eventually you must REMIT.
I have learned about Jibbitz charms for CROCs from my grandchildren. They love them.
I noted TIO and TRIO.
We had a PADDLE and an OAR.
Favourite today was the clue for ENERO.
Wishing you all a great day.
Had to throw in the towel. I got runaway bride, which enabled me to get father of the. There was no way to finish because I had never heard of the other two movies. Add Alice, Cavil, shamanic and shaddock to the list of unknowns that were unfilled. I didn't know that Punjabi was a language; I know of Urdu but that wasn't long enough.
eHow is an unknown but I use YouTube.
yeah I agree with you about the theme, super simplistic. Guessed the themer and the other two answers just by the Princess Bride one. Top left a little awkward but otherwise I found this a pretty straightforward solve.
Thanks for the review. SHADDOCK and CAVIL are my new vocabulary words today (and SHAMANIC over shamanistic). I shudder to think about how they collect EMU oil.
How could we overlook Frankenstein’s mate?
Symmetry
Pretty fun today, not the usual Friday-hard. The theme became obvious early on, so that helped with getting to a FIR without too much sturm und drang. Got a grin out of the WISP/WASP pair, and enjoyed the clueing for several — “Teammates who pull for you” and “Off-road vehicles?” (yup, if it’s a lemon, it ain’t gonna be on the road — unless it breaks there! 🤣).
Chairman, I think I’d better buy you an abacus, or maybe more fingers — I counted 11 TLW’s!😎
====> Darren / L.A.
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