Theme: "APPENDIX" - Ix sound is added to the end of each theme entry, changing spellings as needed.
22. Compensation for those expecting bad outcomes?: THE WAGES OF CYNICS. The wages of sin.
32. Gem that's been photoshopped?: BRUSHED UP ONYX. Brushed up on.
50. Class that teaches the science behind flair bartending?: SLOE GIN PHYSICS. Sloe gin fizz.
70. Paper jam?: PRINTERS REMIX. Printer's ream.
90. Well-worn long tops?: FAMILIAR TUNICS. Familiar tune.
105. Genetic makeup of a Trojan war hero?: ACHILLES HELIX. Achilles' heel.
117. Message to a graduating class at an occult school?: YOU WILL BE MYSTICS. You will be missed.
When I read the title, I figured IX is added to each theme entry, like Pie/Pixie, Par/Pixar, etc. John's approach is more creative. Consistent too.
Lots of fun clues in this puzzle.
Across:
1. "The Count of Monte Cristo" novelist: DUMAS. The former French president Sarkozy said he would bring this book to prison to read.
6. Gallagher of Oasis: LIAM.
10. Sour taste: TANG.
14. Queue before Q: LGBT.
18. "Didn't we just see this?": AGAIN.
19. Meat dish topped with mashed potatoes: COTTAGE PIE. Have some.
21. Ohio border lake: ERIE.
24. Like some parks: Abbr.: NATL. National.
25. Coat flaps: LAPELS.
26. Receipt fig.: AMT.
27. This evenin': TONITE.
29. Quick chats?: IMS. Instant messaged.
31. Iguana, to some: PET.
36. LuPone of "Agatha All Along": PATTI.
38. Croc, but not gator: SHOE.
40. Jalapeño kin: SERRANO.
41. Front covers?: APRONS. More clever clues: 10. Column that's beside the point?: TENTHS. 81. Hairstyles that many pick?: AFROS. And 89. Turner once big in the music industry?: CD PLAYER.
43. Cartography collection: ATLAS.
46. Poetic contraction: NE'ER.
47. Browning's "__ Lippo Lippi": FRA.
53. Periods of inactivity: STASES. Plural of stasis.
55. Kinda-sorta: SEMI.
56. Rep. group: GOP.
57. Pottery supplies: CLAYS.
59. Went down: SANK.
60. Dramamine target: NAUSEA.
63. Yale grad: ELI.
64. Shoulder ornament: EPAULET.
67. Vegan sammie: PBJ.
73. Pair: TWO.
74. Stuffed meat dish: ROULADE. Never had this either.
76. Tattle (on): RAT.
77. Tiltrotor military aircraft: OSPREY. Tiltrotor is a new word to me. Tilt-rotor.
79. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.
80. Boondi __: spiced yogurt dish: RAITA.
82. Dead __ Scrolls: SEA.
83. Alleviate: EASE.
87. With all judges present: EN BANC.
94. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.
95. Smell: ODOR.
97. Glinda, to Elphaba, at first: ENEMY.
98. Snare: ENTRAP.
99. Secondary thread: SUBPLOT.
102. Ikebana vessel: VASE.
104. Gleefully spiteful: CATTY.
109. Lentil dish: DAL.
111. Pack animal: ASS.
112. LASIK target: CORNEA.
113. Lennox of R&B: ARI.
114. Hindu god with the head of an elephant: GANESH. God of wisdom.
116. Create a narrative out of reality show footage, e.g.: EDIT.
124. Tibetan monk: LAMA.
125. Sine qua nons: ESSENTIALS.
126. Kevin McHale's "Glee" role: ARTIE.
127. Serpents on sarcophagi: ASPS.
128. Frost's "The __ Not Taken": ROAD.
129. Race goal, sometimes: SEAT. Senate race, e.g.
130. Damp: MOIST.
Down:
1. Who __ Nation: Saints fans: DAT.
2. Disgusted sound: UGH.
3. Turbulent situation: MAELSTROM. Terrific entry.
4. Japanese consumer electronics brand: AIWA.
5. __ turtle: SNAPPING.
6. Source of grief: LOSS.
7. Skater Midori: ITO.
8. Org. with bomb-sniffing dogs: ATF.
9. One spelling of an Asian gambling hub: MACAU. Carmen has been there a few times. She just loves the real jade there.
11. Bee fore?: API. Prefix for "bee".
12. Actor Cage, casually: NIC.
13. Hand motions: GESTURES.
14. McCartney's songwriting partner: LENNON.
15. Application for dubious advice: GRAIN OF SALT. Partnered with 69. Cocktail ingredient: JUMBO SHRIMP. Love both.
16. Wee: BITTY.
17. Email ancestor: TELEX.
19. Irish speakers, e.g.: CELTS.
20. Press rooms?: GYMS. Bench press, etc.
23. "Isn't that something": GEE.
28. Visual style that tricks the eye: OP-ART.
29. Card table declaration: I PASS.
30. __ syrup: MAPLE.
32. Greedy choice: BOTH.
33. Depend (on): RELY. Thanks for saving me last Sunday, Brian! Got the precious infusion on Tuesday, now I'm good
for another 8 weeks. Grateful for the good days and the people who help me get to them.
34. Wee: EENSY.
35. Rapper Dr. __: DRE.
37. Front-wheel alignment: TOE IN.
39. Occur: HAPPEN.
42. Brynhild's beloved, in Norse myth: SIGURD. Learning moment
for me also. Google AI says Sigurd is the beloved of Brynhild. Their
love story is a tragic one, marked by a love potion that caused Sigurd
to forget Brynhild, leading him to marry another woman and indirectly
causing Brynhild to orchestrate his death. Ultimately, Brynhild takes
her own life to be reunited with Sigurd in the afterlife
44. Find out: ASCERTAIN.
45. Places for small herb gardens: SILLS.
48. Option for a library book: RENEW.
49. Invite for: ASK TO.
51. More meddlesome: NOSIER.
52. African capital: CAIRO.
54. Tempe sch.: ASU. They still have a good swimming team after Bob Bowman left for Texas. This guy is their star Ilya Kharun.
58. Start of the Marine Corps motto: SEMPER. Fidelis.
61. Therapists' org.: APA.
62. Bright spots?: ATRIA.
65. Unlicensed radio broadcaster: PIRATE.
66. Body spray brand: AXE.
67. Fuss in the mirror: PREEN.
68. Carried: BORNE.
71. Wonderland cake words: EAT ME.
72. Contents of college blue books: ESSAYS.
75. Trout's team, on scoreboards: LAA. Mike Trout. LA Angels.
78. Gossipy person: YENTA.
84. Carrier in French Polynesia: AIR TAHITI.
85. Performs like Ella: SCATS.
86. Awards for excellent plays and players: ESPYS.
88. Aristocratic: NOBLE.
91. __ Strauss & Co.: LEVI.
92. Big-screen movie format: IMAX.
93. 119-Down figure: UNCLE SAM. 119. Country that turns 250 years old in 2026: Abbr.: USA.
96. Spanish cheer: OLE.
100. Range that includes Utah's Kings Peak: UINTAS.
101. Sat on the kitchen counter, perhaps: THAWED.
103. Cheeses from the Netherlands: EDAMS.
105. Fast Amtrak train: ACELA.
106. Musical conclusions: CODAS.
107. Pam's successor on "The Office": ERIN.
108. Cheerful ditties: LILTS.
110. Whichever: ANY.
114. Coins in a game of dreidel: GELT.
115. Houston MLBer: STRO.
118. Spanish bear: OSO.
120. Whopper: LIE.
121. [Stop shearing me!]: BAA.
122. Not trans: CIS.
123. Fixed: SET.
Happy 80th birthday to Windhover (Larry), who used to comment on our blog years ago. I still think of you often, Larry. Hope all's well with you and Irish. Here's a picture of Windhover with Lucina.
 |
| Windhover & Lucina, July 24, 2015 |
38 comments:
Good morning!
Interesting theme, well executed. I'm not familiar with John's byline, but hope to see more of his work. Thanx, John and C.C.
Odd not seeing Subgenius as the first poster, but I guess all is well. Back soon with actual puzzle comments
FIW, missing my WAG @ ROULAnE x SIGURn. Lots of other stuff I didn't know, but perps took care of them.
The OSPREY is a bird seen frequently around these parts, since we have a large USMC presence. Last week i saw one hovering over the waters of Willoughby Bay, making a lot of racket and stirring huge plumes of water. I'm still not too sure those things are safe to fly.
I thought the worst thing about this puzzle was the nine-word clue for EDIT. Somewhere Rich Norris is shaking his head in disappointment. My favorite was the clue and fill for CD PLAYER.
Thanks to John for the Sunday morning workout, and to CC for the tour. Glad your infusions are working as expected.
As Jinx said, there are many unknowns, for me the Browning poem FRA LIGGO LIPPI, IKEBANA flower arranging and UINTAS being the best examples. I never watched GLEE so all clues relating to that troubled show are also beyond me, but the perps were fair so the puzzle was done. This is John’s second Sunday to go along with a Saturday and a Friday. It inspired me to read all about the troubled military TILTROTOR, the Osprey which didn’t explain what the benefit of this creation might be especially with all of its problems and $110 million for each.
The theme was well done combining sounds to make a nice group.
I guess my time away had me miss the fact of CC’s infusion therapy but it is good to hear it is helping.
Thanks John and always CC
Took 22:38 today to find the fix.
I had a similar experience as Lemondade 714 did today with many unknowns (but most of the crosses were fair), and not knowing about CC's infusion.
I hope all is well.
I'm a huge fan of 24A - Natl Parks.
Where, oh where, is our SubG?
It took a lot of thought and a couple breaks before I managed a FIR in 55:56 on this harder than usual Sunday (at least for me). It may have helped a bit if I had looked at the puzzle title 🤦🏼♂️. Needed perps for LIAM and DAL. the D in ROULADE/SIGURD, the R in ARI/ERIN, and the G in GANESH/GELT were all correct WAGs. I think I’ve finally committed RAITA to memory! Thank you John for your cleverly themed and challenging puzzle and to C.C. for the enlightenment!
Currently holed up in a hotel room in Chicago awaiting an 8:45 flight tonight, DW and I heading to London for a whirlwind week. Got about 5” of ❄️ here last night, hope it doesn’t affect our schedule. 🤞
FIW. The cross of ROULADE/SIGURD was a natick/"learning moment" for me. The unknown APA in close proximity didn't help. (Turned out to be Assn, but Org and even Soc needed to be considered considering I was in the City of Natick.) Sorting out that the theme was a sound and not just an added X took a while. Come back SubGenius! Need somebody to be reliably happy.
An FIW for me. Close, but no cigar. Done in by the SIGMUND crossing ROULADE. That said, I really enjoyed the challenge this morning. Lots of clever fill, well-known names, and fair perps for the obscurities. (Except ol' Siggy!) Fun start to the day.
The OSPREY is designed to carry Marines and their gear to and from areas with very little area that can be used as a runway. It carries a bigger load and is much faster than helicopters. When teaching a five-day project management certification test preparation course, I made a mildly disparaging remark in class, something like "great plane if it doesn't crash." Several of my (retired Navy and Marine) students took exception to that, and explained why it was a great plane, period. If you say so.
Good Morning:
It took me a while to figure out the theme but, eventually, it was apparent, aided by the title. I thought the difficulty level was beyond the usual Sunday norm, but this is a welcome deviation, IMO. As CC pointed out, the cluing was clever, but not show-offy, and the fill was fresh and lively and required some thought. All in all, this was a challenging, enjoyable, and satisfying solve.
Thanks, John, come back soon, and thanks, CC, for pointing out the strengths and pluses of the author’s talents. Hope those infusions are working their magic for you!
I watched a Cary Grant [sigh] movie on TCM last night, one that I never heard of before, titled People Will Talk from 1951, co-starring Jeanne Crain, Walter Slezak, and Hume Cronyn. Grant’s role was a mixture of a serious, dedicated and compassionate physician vs an amateur orchestra conductor, filled with exuberance and animated joy. Both portrayals were Grant at his finest.
Have a great day.
YP, safe travels and have a wonderful time!
DNF again. The north, again. I kept TSA for ATF, so it threw everything off. I kept thinking of a shepherd’s PIE, but couldn’t make it for.
The rest filled eventually but had to do some erasing. For LGBT I had MNOP for a long time. I finally caught on to the theme with ACHILLES HELIX, the best entry of the lot.
Quite a few unknowns, but I did know the Browning poem FRA Lippo Lippi since I studied it in graduate school.
Thank you CC for your analysis of the puzzle. Best of luck with the infusions.
Enjoy London YP.
That should be fit not for.
FIW on the same letter! Grrr
Great theme by John, with clever plays on the "IX" sound. Spent way too much time in Florida once I had YOU WILL BE MY____. MY what?
C.C. I'm glad you filled in the blanks on my bailiwick, the cross of ROULADE and SIGURD. I hope your treatments have continued success. Call on me anytime you need a break.
Did people get that the theme literally is APPEND-IX ?
Wherefore art thou Subgenius? I’m praying that you and your loved ones are all safe and well.
To my Crossword
Corner friends;
Irish Miss, whom I correspond with regularly, asked me to say something about my absence. Now, to explain myself, I’ll have to go into the “taboo” area of religion. I hope you will indulge me.
Most of you don’t know this about me, but I love the Lord, and I am a committed disciple of Jesus Christ.
I don’t want the Crossword Corner puzzle and comments to be the “first thing I think of” in the morning any more, as it has been for about the last three years. I want THE LORD to be the first thing on my mind in the morning!
So, therefore, I am giving up the Crossword Corner, and will no longer participate.
Goodbye, folks. It’s been fun.
I will also publish this first thing tomorrow morning, for anyone who has missed it today.
God bless you all!
To my Crossword
Corner friends ( additional sentences of explanation added ):
Irish Miss, whom I correspond with regularly, asked me to say something about my absence. Now, to explain myself, I’ll have to go into the “taboo” area of religion. I hope you will indulge me.
Most of you don’t know this about me, but I love the Lord, and I am a committed disciple of Jesus Christ.
I don’t want the Crossword Corner puzzle and comments to be the “first thing I think of” in the morning any more, as it has been for about the last three years. I want THE LORD to be the first thing on my mind in the morning!
**To those who say , “Why don’t you just post later in the day?” I must tell you that I’m not interested in doing ANY crossword puzzles anymore. I’m going to devote my time to what are to me, more important things!
So, therefore, I am giving up the Crossword Corner, and will no longer participate.
Goodbye, folks. It’s been fun.
I will also publish this first thing tomorrow morning, for anyone who has missed it today.
God bless you all!
The commitment to you faith is admirable Sub, but after your morning attention to that, you could still do the puzzle and comment. Obviously people were a little concerned about your absence this morning.
What a challenging, interesting Sunday puzzle--many thanks, John. And it's always a pleasure to get your commentary and pictures on a Sunday, C.C., so thanks for those too.
Well, I didn't know the first two names starting the puzzle, but TANG suggested food, something I'm certainly familiar with, and seeing that COTTAGE PIE right away was great. I have to admit that I probably wouldn't share it with my PET, who would probably be SNAPPING for some breakfast at this point. But first he'd need to be BRUSHED and I'd have to wear my APRON to keep myself tidy. Then it would be time for lunch, and nothing could be better on a Sunday than that wonderful JUMBO SHRIMP along with some EDAMS. After that one should probably go out on one of the ATRIA and say a prayer for a good morning with no NAUSEA, and for a quiet afternoon when one can write some ESSAYS. Sounds like a pretty good day, doesn't it?
I'll pray you all have one too.
I enjoyed this one. My favorite was "turner once big in the music industry" Heh. Good luck on the infusions CC. We will miss you SubG. FIR always.
Ditto on MNOP
I missed that completely, so thanks for mentioning it.
I’ll miss you, Sub-genius. Hope you can find time for us later in the day, but I respect your dedication.
Amusing puzzle with a creative theme - Figuring it out early helped the solve along
ROULADEs are a lot of work IMO - so I like to eat them but haven't made them
PATTI Lupone is one of my favorite actresses - she has debuted so many iconic roles on Broadway and the West End London Stage e.g. Eva Peron in Evita and Fantine in Les Miserables
MAELSTROM was the name of the flume ride in the Norway pavilion of EPCOT at DisneyWorld - After the popularity of "Frozen" it was redone and called "Frozen Ever After" with the popular characters in it, rather than Viking history and mythology
Thanks CC for the blog and John Andrew for the puzzle
Will miss you SubG- but understand how sometimes a re-start is in order
Musings
-I really enjoyed this puzzle on a very busy day. YOU WILL BE MYSTICS (MISSED) evoked about a smile and PRINTERS REMIX (REAM) left me confused
-I really was proud to see that the queue before Q was M N O P. A daughter of a former colleague is on FB, iives in SF and has declared herself to be “Q”.
-My body seems to have reached a kinda-sorta state of HOMEOSTASIS
-I'm sure saying RAVIOLI first was not a novelty
-When the NOLA SAINTS were really bad, the fans called them the AINTS
-Early on, the MALESTROM ride at Norway in EPCOT was a thrill ride. It would not even come close now.
-One of the first IMAX shows was of a Shuttle liftoff. The sheer size of the screen and the sound from the huge speakers really woke up my kids
-Sub G, I will miss your postings but admire your motivation.
I liked this puzzle a lot. I always like the kind of wordplay that most
Sunday puzzles employ.
Indeed, MAELSTROM is a terrific entry. So are SERRANO (I had POBLANO at first), ROULADE, and ASCERTAIN.
SHEPHERDS PIE wouldn't fit where COTTAGE PIE did. I like both.
That illustration of SIGURD and Brynhild is by Arthur Rackham, whose wonderful artwork I have long admired. Look him up.
Good reading all your comments.
Tough Sunday morning! After completing the puzzle, my duty was to hold the grandbaby while DH and the young parents cleared pathways through their new apartment. To be clear, the puzzle was the tough part. Never heard of COTTAGE PIE, questioned ROULADE, never heard of TOE IN, or SIGURD, or this particular TROUT, or ARI Lennox. Still, I loved THE WAGES OF CYNICS, SLOE GIN PHYSICS, ACHILLES HELIX, and YOU WILL BE MYSTICS. I also thought ASCERTAIN was a very nice entry.
Subgenius, I totally understand that sometimes you have to tune one thing out in order to tune another in. DH and I recite blessings at bedtime and upon waking that help keep me in tune! I hope the break from the Corner does you good. Please know that you are always welcome here, even at odd hours, whenever you feel like solving the puzzle and checking in with us. Be well.
C.C., we all wish you good health and hope these infusions have lasting benefits. Thank you for the Corner and for today's review.
Enjoyed the unusual -ix theme.
S. E.Hennix
The first IMAX film I saw was To Fly, produced for the opening of the National Air and Space Museum in 1976. This was pre-Shuttle, but it had a multitude of transport modes, from hot air balloons to jet fighters. Great show!
The author and/or editor played fast and loose with TOE IN. The measurement is actually just called TOE, and the resulting measurement can be TOE IN, TOW out, or zero-TOE. The manufacturer provides alignment specifications for the car being aligned. TOE IN is good for family cars because It helps keep the back end from skidding out. TOE OUT is good for sports cars because it makes steering more responsive. (Or vice-versa - I used to know this stuff by heart 50 years ago.)
(But their usage here was plenty close enough for crossword work.)
For the past two days, yesterday and today, I have been celebrating my birthday with family and friends. Ergo, I have not had much time to solve puzzles. I have enjoyed reading all your comments, though.
Thank you, everyone, for the birthday wishes. I had not looked at yesterday's comments until today and I very much appreciate all your good wishes. This is a very special community of friends and one I look forward to every day! My family and friends feted me and so I am sated with love and friendship!
Toe in has to do with camber or the load you want to carry. It has nothing to do with front end alignment. Not really. It’s front and rear alignment. Hated that clue.
This was a Sisyphusian grind of a crossword — uphill struggle all the way, very unusual for us on a Sunday, to the point it became almost too much work for the theoretical Day of Rest 🥵. Did not make the ol’ FIR this trip. I did get a bit of fun with some of the clueing, like the “Queue before Q” at 14A and “Hairstyles that many pick” for AFROS, 81D. But alas, ELI again re: Yalies; and ENTRAP just sounds weird, even as a verb — as kids we would just trap the pigeon under the box…
At least I knew the multi-armed Hindu god, and figured out MAELSTROM. The theme was a fun workout, too — lots of X’s in this grid!
Glad to hear you’re coming along well, C.C. Thanks for the recap!
====> Darren / L.A.
Pretty challenging workout for a Sunday, but FIR. Agree with Irish miss. Tough but fair.
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