MR. UNICORN VERSE
"Now I will believe that There are unicorns"
My last blog of a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle goes WAY back to 2012, when I was on Saturday duty; I discovered that JW's first crossword dates all the way back to 1969 - published in the NYT one day after the Apollo 11 astronauts left Earth. As for today's construction, Mr. Wechsler goes beyond his normal add-a-letter theme style to a full-word-added one. I really had to use my noggin to get my "ta-DA~!" Lots of vague clues, but this is how a Friday should be. Alas, I got bogged down with some proper names again ( e.g., the last letter "D" in red below ), even if I knew half of them. I've noticed, too, that there are ALOT of two-word entries in JW Fridays, today being no exception, but at least they feel less "forced", so I will refrain from my usual Twurds count. I will, however, point out the Shakespeare count ( 4 ), the abbrs count ( 9 ), the names count ( 7 ), the two-words ( also 7 ), plus two Bible, two Montreal, two New York, two octopus & two Thwurds references. Phew - I think I got them all . . . An oversized 15 x 16 grid, no circles, and 14 3LWs; the themers and reveal;
21. Apparel worn between December 22 and January 19?: CAPRICORN PANTS - Capri Pants; these are the dates of the Zodiac Sign for the "horned goat", Latin "caper cornu"; etymology fascinates me
The Tropic of Cancer is counterpart to the Tropic of Capricorn
30. Unappreciative of St. Louis's hockey team?: SCORNING THE BLUES - Sing the Blues; the St Louis Blues did not make the Stanley Cup playoffs - but Montreal is up on Buffalo😕, right Canadian Eh!
Stray Cat Strut, lyric @ 1:42
56. Shakespearean "Listen up!," or an apt title for this puzzle?: "LEND ME YOUR EARS~!" The Bard #2 - #1 is in the link up top
I also pondered POPCORN MUSIC / CORNER NURSE
But Wait, There's More, my CORN-erites~!
ACROSS:
1. Urban haze: SMOG - I do the Down clues first, and had nothing up here to get started . . . sheesh
5. Urban network: ROADS - I tried TRAMS
10. Parts of some locks: HASPS - hair~? canal~? Just plain old 'gate' locks
15. Boring outcome?: HOLE - clever clue/answer; drills "bore" holes . . . 🙄
16. Go up to: END AT - Semi-meh, as in "this progam will _ _ 11pm" - Two-word #1
17. Yamaha woodwinds: OBOES - yes, they DO make them . . .
18. SNAP benefits org.: USDA - Learning moment for me; abbr, #1, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Progam from the US Dept of Agriculture; more here
19. San Antonio site: ALAMO
20. Take part financially: BUY IN - Two-word #2
24. Wine cocktail also called blanc-cassis: KIR - Forgot the name of this drink
25. Mortgage agcy.: FHA - Federal Housing Administration - abbr #2
26. Pair of: TWO - two words in one crossword answer = Twurds
27. Bill fig.: AMounT - abbr #3
35. Dearie: HON - At least is was not the "other" 3LW . . .
36. Expressions of discovery: A-HAs
37. Bi- quadrupled: OCTO- - Bipeds and Octopodes, #1 - or is it Octopi~? Hmmm . . .
38. "Four Quartets" poet: ELIOT - name #1
41. Writer Harte or wrestler Hart: BRET - name #2 - I had a falling out with my trainer BretT with two-T's; he's a millennial, so he has a short attention span and can be arrogant at times . . . we're good again
42. Lets go: FREES - Bible reference #1; Moses, Exodus 5:1 "let My people go free, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness"
43. SoCal emer. force: LAFD - I had the "P"olice B4 the "F"ire Dept, as NYC is FDNY - NY #1, abbr #4
44. Puts away: EATS - corn-on-the-cob eating contest~?
45. French street: RUE - Friends of mine did a spur-of-the moment Road Trip to Montreal (#2) way back in 1990; they thought they were clever because the remembered their car was parked on "RUE" street . . .
52. Drink suffix: ADE
53. Biblical suffix: ETH - "And thus thine sayETH" - Bible reference #2 - I have been rewatching the fascinating series "The Psychology of the Biblical Stories" presented by Jordan Peterson, who steers clear of the religious aspect; now I'm working through his Exodus ones - which is how I came to know 42A.
54. Private aid gp.: NGO - Non-Governmental Organization - abbr #5
55. Largest U.S. union: NEA - The trucking teamsters is listed at #4; I was once a part of their union as an employee of both Roadway Express ( now YRC ) and UPS; abbr #6
61. Longtime college football coach Nick: SABAN - no clue, name #3
63. Vintage violin: AMATI - crossword staple
64. Smack: SWAT
65. Scoundrel: KNAVE
66. Almanac info: TIDES
67. Cover, in a way: PAVE - Phew~! It took waaaay too long to get this fill - JW Friday clue
68. Alpine song: YODEL
69. Put away: STASH
70. Big Apple resident, for short: NYer - I was not in the City - but I once dwelled on Long Island, NY mention #2, and abbr #7
1. "I'm sorta disappointed": "SHUCKS~!" - Not only a "CORN" theme reference , but a 51D. "Easter" Egg as well~!
2. Pompeii art form: MOSAIC - Incredible amount of detail; I'd love to make one
Octopus #2
3. Experienced sort: OLD PRO - Two-word(ish)~?
4. Locker contents: GEAR - think sports
5. Try to access, as the back of a closet: REACH IN - Meh; two-word #3
6. Borrowed: ON LOAN - Two-word #4
7. Hebrew month after Shevat: ADAR - We had ELUL in the Sides Add LE puzzle last month
8. Curse: DAMN
9. "Enough!": "STOP THAT~!" - Two word #5
10. Rub shoulders (with): HOBNOB - More Shakespeare, #3, in the definition here
11. Be next to: ABUT
12. Kikkoman condiment: SOY SAUCE - two-word(ish), but it is a "thing"
13. Louvre Pyramid architect: PEI - crossword staple, name #4
14. Protected fig.: SSN - Social Security Number, abbr #8
22. "Alternatively ... ": "IF NOT..." - Two-word #6
23. Causes to gasp, perhaps: AWES
28. Ration (out): METE - a toss-up between this and DOLE, and they both worked at 58D. as well 🠟
29. General __ chicken: TSO's - My go-to Chinese choice, and I made my own this past weekend, added Spam to my fried rice per the recipe from last Friday - name(ish)
31. Friend of TV's Mary Richards: RHODA - MAUDE~? MOORE~? Before my time, name #5
32. Brooks of country music: GARTH - I did this one a few times at karaoke - name #6, but obviously I knew who we're looking for
33. "Lord, what fools __ mortals be!": "THESE~!" - Shakespeare #4, here, line 115
34. Cinema icon born in Rome: LOREN - Dah~! - Went with Peter LORRE off my LOR_ _; name #7
Sophia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone
38. Site of Napoleon's exile: ELBA - ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA - well-known palindrome
39. Tallow kin: LARD - I tried SUET
40. Guilty expression: "I FEEL BAD..." - Thwurd #1
41. Traction providers: BATHMATS - Phew, Friday fill . . . here's mine
I just installed the new vanity & top
42. Hullabaloo: FUROR - I tried MELEE
44. Cornerstone abbr.: EST'D - #9
45. Appealingly unconventional: ROGUISH - the "U" in the Down position looks odd
47. Place to keep toys?: KENNEL - Toys, as in small dogs, but I wasn't fooled; without the "?", maybe
48. Benjamins: C-NOTES - $100 bill slang
49. "Not exactly, but close": "IN A WAY..." - Tried NEARLY, but SWAY had to be correct: Thwurd #2
50. "Developed With Dermatologists" lotion brand: CeraVe - their website
51. Spring holiday: EASTER - 1...
57. Icicle spot: EAVE - 2...
58. Give out: EMIT - 3 "E"s in a row
59. Nonsense word similar to "blah": YADA - yada yada - also three in-a-row
60. Jessica Mendoza's network: ESPN - Four-letter network~? Almost 4 "E"s in a row
61. Cloud's place: SKY - Ah, but which CLOUD - the digital storage one~?
62. "That's __-brainer!": "A NO~!" - aaaaand a Twurd. #7. Sorry. Had to.
Splynter
Grid Flow 42.9
24 comments:
At first, I thought
there was going to be an “astrology” theme, but soon found that wasn’t it. So then I saw all the (ears of) corn and it all quickly made sense.
FIR, so I’m happy.
I hate when I erase my post but it happens. I loved the puzzle which made me feel at home, and Splynter's write-up was icing on the cake, it even had a CSO to me with ADE. I don't think of initialisms Well as abbreviations and I doubt I would have sussed as many Shakespeare and biblical references but they enhanced my enjoyment. Well done gentlemen, I will check in lacerated I get some sleep
Good morning!
"Later after" = "Lacerated?" Hi there, Otto-correct.
Neat, though corny, offering from JW. The Brooks which came to me immediately was Kix Brooks (of Brooks & Dunn). CERAVE just looked wrong. After filling it, I remembered seeing a bottle of that brand that dw had parked near the bathtub. Hand up for LApD. Thanx Jeffrey and Splynter.
ISP replaced the digital modem yesterday, and everything was good...for a while. Everything went down again about 4PM. I'm due for another tech visit this afternoon. Fingers crossed.
FIR, but hand up for lapd->LAFD. Also, slap=>SWAP, robby->RHODA, if you->IF NOT, and psaw->YADA.
Fresh way to clue stale OBOES. I knew that Yamaha made pianos, but had no idea they made OBOES.
Here's Leroy Troy singing My Gal's a Corker, She's a NYER
Thanks to JefWech for another sparkling puzzle. This one had me grinning ERA-to-EAR when I finally finished it. And thanks to Splynter for the fun review, especially for the young LOREN gam picture.
A pleasant surprise: A JW puzzle today. I noticed the grain addition at CAPRI-CORN PANTS but my dumb brain didn't connect it with Shakespeare's EARS. SHUCKS. Duh! Other than 'wrestler' HART and Jessica Mendoza, I had no real unknowns today. JW doesn't include C-list writers, actors, and directors in his puzzles.
OBOES-Yamaha has been in the music business a long time. They made pianos (1900) before Ford made its Model-T. Back in the 60s, I thought they only made motorcycles until I went to a friend's house and his mother had a baby grand Yamaha piano.
Took 14:9 today for me to get the cob done.
(I know, it's corny.)
I knew the Actress of the Day (Loren), but didn't know "Adar", "kir", "eth," and "cerave." The abutting "Shucks" & "mosaic" took a long time to see.
Fun puzzle.
Am I the only one whose first thought was USO for the Private Aid gp.?
Luckily I'm a Capricorn, so I got the theme answers pretty quick.
Kennel was the last fill for me and then I got the 'toys' reference. And Yeah, LAPD at first.
FIR. Somewhat easy for a Friday offering. I had to take a minute to remember how to spell the Chinese general, debating whether it had an "a" or an "o". Octo sealed it for me. By the way he did not exist.
Also I threw down LAPD first before LAFD. But that didn't stall me for long.
It took the reveal for me to see the very clever theme. I too at first thought it was going to be about the zodiac.
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
Sigh. I give up, what does CSO mean?
Always nice to see Jeff W’s byline, a definite master of the constructing craft! He seemed to be on hiatus for a couple years, at least from the LAT. His puzzles always have a Shakespearean reference, it’s sort of his trademark, and today he made one the reveal. My only real unknowns were KIR and CERAVE. FIR in 16:01. Like everyone else, had the P before correcting to the F in LAFD. I like the word HOBNOB. I saw some beautiful MOSAIC works recently in the UK. Thank you Jeff for today’s creation, and also to Splynter for your in-depth follow up report.
Musings
-An elegant and fun exercise from our friend and Shakespeare expert, Jeffrey Wechsler!
-Splynter’s introductory summation was very informative. .
-Apparel worn between December 22 and January 19? AHA, something is afoot.
-S.F. has a strict code about CORNICES atop their buildings for obious reasons.
-Urban network: Driving in pre-GPS Boston was horrible for me.
-We didn’t discover my DW’s mother was eligible for SNAP benefits until she was 94.
-I am subbing for Mr. HART today in FCS (nee Home Ec.)
-My friend was a state champion for years in the annual CORNtest for hand harvesting CORN (a true Cornhusker)
-Many colleagues quit joining the NEA when it became more about politics than education
-Our kitty did not get the memo that our BATH MAT is not for sleeping on at night
Yamaha also makes some pretty nifty electronics.
FIR in due time. I really enjoyed this puzzle. I got the CORN at CAPRICORN PANTS. SCORNING THE BLUES was the last to fill. For an English class I had to memorize the Shakespeare quote of Marc Anthony telling his fellow countrymen he came to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
LSU fans know Nick SABAN only too well. DH was told by his PCP that he should use CERAVE to help with his dry skin.
Great review and attention to details Splynter. What a great morning.
Wayne - I think it means “coincidental shout out”.
I had to memorize that same soliloquy for high school speech class…”Friends, Romans, countrymen, LEND ME YOUR EARS” etc…I still remember it all, but I knew right then I had no acting skills 😂
A delightful Friday challenge! I was on the same wavelength as the constructor throughout. Breezed through the top half then got bogged down in the southeast. But eventually it succumbed to reason,
Loved the fresh theme and the clever clueing. My favorite was HOLE. The reveal pulled everything together in a most clever manner.
Thanks to Jeffrey for the great puzzle and to Splynter for the fun recap. Loved the polar bear cartoon!!!
What a breath of fresh air 'tis to enjoy a Jeffrey Wechsler crossword. He always has the best interests of the solver in mind. He is a born teacher: as solvers, we learn things in a fun way. And we are not struggling with pop culture and obscure celebrity names along the way.
Jeffrey's theme today was certainly CORNy--and I mean that in a fond way. Everything pivoted on Mark Antony's manipulative speech to the masses from "Julius Caesar." And Jeffrey got good mileage out of all the ears (of corn) that were lent.
Thanks, Jeffrey, for another clever and enjoyable challenge. I look forward to your next appearance. And thanks, Splynter, for your comprehensive and amusing leadership today.
Hola! What a treat to solve a puzzle by the master constructor, Jeffrey Wechsler! Thank you for that! Although I don't know who SABAN and Jessica Mendoza are, it was not too hard to fill the required answers. BRET Harte and ELIOT, yes, I know from lit class. And it does not surprise me that Yamaha also makes OBOES. KIR was also easy; I learned about it on my first trip to Paris. LAFD almost fooled me; I, too, had LAPD first but I FEEL BAD changed that. Thank you, splynter, for filling in the gaps today. Have a lovely day, everyone!
Good Morning:
It took me longer than it should have to grasp the theme and I’ll credit Jeffrey’s word smithing talents for that. All three themers were strong and the reveal was fun and fitting. Hand up for LAPD/LAFD, the only stumble in this dreck/obscurities-free offering.
Thanks, Jeff W., it’s so nice to see your byline again, and thanks, Splynter, for the detailed analysis and overall review. I enjoy hearing about your culinary adventures and your carpentry projects. How is the canine search coming along?
Have a great day.
A fun Friday.
Jeffrey W is a master puzzle constructor.
An enjoyable offering with a solid theme.
I saw the theme and sussed CORN as the added word but 😣 Doh … I didn’t make the Ears connection until Splynter pointed it out.
I use Kikkoman sauces for all our Asian dishes. They have a succulent selection of Soy, Teriyaki, Oyster, Plum, etc
Thanks for the detailed recap Splynter.
SHUCKS I almost DNF nearly a NW corner goner. Stuck way too long with 🖐️ LApD and” Pompei Murals. But “Lend me your 🌽🌽 “ was a “corny” albeit fun theme
“Otherwise HOBNOB” “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”
Country ROADS but “Urban network” of streets “Cover in a way” Pane? (Window pane) no PAVE
Other inkovers : dull/HOLE, oldhat/OLDPRO, FDA/FHA (and my first mortgage was FHA 🙄)
Many ladies confess: “Able was I ere I saw Idris ELBA!”
NEA: I thought the trucking “union” was called “The Teamsters”. Unlikely they have fused with the National Education Association (teachers) or the gutted National Endowment for the Arts.
Enjoy the weekend 😊
Here it means Cornerite Shout Out to one of our regulars.
I was always impressed at the breadth of Yamaha' offerings, and they're all very good.
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