Puzzling thoughts:
Happy Groundhog Day, Cornerites! More on this, later ...
Thanks again for all of your kind comments on my puzzle this past Wednesday (Jan 31)
It took the Chairman (15-across. Re:) ABOUT 12 minutes to complete today's puzzle; less than my normal solving time for a Friday
I was expecting a Groundhog Day-themed puzzle, but this one did not disappoint
Amie Walker and Matthew Stock collaborate on this very enjoyable puzzle (whose grid is asymmetric, BTW) that uses four words/phrases as synonyms for "no running". Each of the entries - three down and one across - are "in the language" terms. Let's examine them further, shall we?
3-down. "No running" to an incumbent: TERM LIMITED. Blog rules strictly prohibit me (or any of all y'all) from discussing politics, so I will let the image below speak for itself ...
11-down. "No running" at a cosmetics store: SMUDGE PROOF.
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| She obviously didn't use a smudge proof mascara! |
25-down. With 26-Down, "No running" to a newspaper reporter: OFF THE RECORD. Two things struck me about this entry:
1) How skillfully placed this was in the grid
2) How amazingly clever to come up with this phrase to signify "not running"
55-across. "No running" on a pool deck: SLIPPERY WHEN WET. All sorts of images crept into the Chairman's devious and puerile mind but this is the one that will be published!!
Let's get on with the other clues and entries, including the plethora of 3-letter words (sorry, Irish Miss!) ... the picture of the grid will be at the end of the blog
Across:
1. Body art: TATS, with its "clecho": (57-down. Body art:) INK. (one of the plethora of 3-letter words)
5. Split __: HAIRS. Neither "ENDS" nor "PEA SOUP" fit
10. Soft "C'mere!": PSST. This "word" is showing up often, recently, in xword puzzles
14. Begin to form: BREW. Interesting clue for this word
16. Chicano poet Luis __ Salinas: OMAR. "___ the tent maker" would've worked as a clue, too
17. World of Warcraft beast: OGRE. This filled via perps
18. Zelle alternative: VENMO. I use PayPal
19. Herding dog from Hungary: PULI. A learning experience for me, although when I went to "save" the image, I already had it in my pictures folder. Perhaps this word was used once before @ LA Times? This looks like a dog that Bob Marley would own ...
20. Veinte, por ejemplo: NUMERO. A CSO to Lucinda. Veinte is twenty, no?
22. Athena's domain: WISDOM. A bit of misdirection, as the word "domain" also means the area in which she might preside. Here is what [wikipedia] says: "Athena was the goddess of battle strategy, and wisdom. Identified in the Roman mythology as the goddess Minerva. She was always accompanied by her owl ..."
24. Fast-food chain with Epic Burritos: DEL TACO. This filled easily via perps; I don't regularly frequent DEL TACO restaurants but we have some in our area; you?
26. Tips over one's king, e.g.: RESIGNS. Chess reference when a player realizes that they are going to lose and/or face "checkmate"
27. "__ be my pleasure": IT'D. #2 of the 18 three-letter words
28. Usage charge: FEE. The third of the three-letter words
30. Dry __: ICE. The fourth of the three-letter words; Dry ICE is actually the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2), a molecule consisting of a single carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms [wikipedia]
31. "Thus with a kiss I die" hero: ROMEO. I sensed a Shakespeare quote here, and ROMEO fit
33. TV watchers?: F.C.C. Fifth 3-letter word, and another abbr.
34. Beta preceder: ALPHA. In the Greek ALPHAbet
37. Bird-related: AVIAN. It's "for the birds"
38. Howe'er: THO'. Sixth 3-letter word; another abbr.
39. "Great blue" or "little blue" bird: HERON. A HERON would be AVIAN, no?
40. Obtain: GET. Seventh 3-letter word; I "GET" it; there are a lot of them today
41. Free of wool: SHORN. I had SHEAR first before the perps corrected it
43. Not available at the moment: OUT. #8; and I am OUT of explanations!!
44. Seasoned vet's opposite: NEWBIE. Nice clue
47. Part of JD: DOCTOR. Juris DOCTOR; a legal term; "A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law is a graduate-entry professional degree in law. The JD is the standard degree obtained to practice law in the United States, where there is no undergraduate professional law degree" [wikipedia]
50. Fizzled out: DIED. What happened to your car after you drove with a "Check Engine" light illuminated
51. Playing surface: TURF. Term used for both football and golf
52. Ooze: SEEP.
54. Sizable plot: ACRE.
62. Small horse: PONY. Or, a small beer bottle
63. "Now __ talking!": YOU'RE.
64. Line graph display: DATA.
And of course, there is another "clecho": (49-down. Line graph display:) TREND.
65. Look for answers: ASK. #9; ASK me (or Irish Miss) again, "how many 3-letter words are OK for a puzzle?"
66. Awards for "Abbott Elementary": EMMYS. One of our favorite "major" network shows
67. Break: GAP. #10 ... maybe a better clue would've been from the old commercial jingle: "Fall into the ___"
OK, it's "halftime" at the blog. Remember when I said that there would be more about Groundhog Day?? Well, I read an interesting article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this past Sunday. The person writing the article began by saying that perhaps PETA would someday put an end to this annual celebration, where Punxsatawney Phil (the groundhog) is no longer the focal point of whether we do or don't have 6 more weeks of winter. She said that maybe they have a gold coin with a "heads" or "tails", and the citizens of that sleepy little Western Pennsylvania town just flip the coin ... heads = more winter; tails = an early spring. But at the end, despite so many ARGUEments for why Phil should be allowed to return to the wild, she realized that this is a huge event for the townsfolk. And, it gives all of us who don't live there a reason to celebrate. I'm all for that. Plus, it also gives us a chance to watch a little clip from the movie starring Andie MacDowell and Bill Murray. Enjoy!
Down:
1. Govt. security: T-BOND. Did anyone else try T-BILL instead? Not I
2. Go back and forth: ARGUE. One thing I have learned: you can either be right or be happy ... no ARGUEment here, eh guys??!! 😅
4. Lemonade alternative: SWEET TEA. CSO to all of our southern friends who have probably consumed more gallons of this than can be counted. The "trick" is to BREW the tea with the sugar already in the water
5. Chaos: HAVOC. Another Bill Murray clip with a reference to chaos/HAVOC
6. Dad on "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel": ABE. An Emmy Award for actor Tony Shalhoub as ABE Weissman
7. + or - particle: ION. #11
8. Pirate song spirit: RUM. #12. "Spirit" as in an alcoholic libation; RUM
9. Madeleine of "Revenge": STOWE. Harriet Beecher ___ would have been too obvious (for me)
10. Stick in the freezer?: POPSICLE. A nice play-on-words clue
12. Place where one might leave tips for tips: SALON. Another nice play-on-words clue; tips (as in gratuities) for tips (as in highlights for ones hair)
13. Cuts back: TRIMS. Another SALON job
21. Hazardous gas: RADON. Are RADON detectors still mandatory in homes with basements?
23. "Da 5 Bloods" actor Whitlock Jr.: ISIAH. A Biblical prophet, perhaps? Nope. Him:
29. Helpful Amazon gadget: ECHO. We have one; it's called a "Dot"
31. Joplin work: RAG. #13
32. "The Great British Baking Show" appliance: OVEN. Even if you didn't know the show, what else COULD it be??
35. 3,600 seconds: HOUR. 60 seconds in one minute x 60 minutes in one hour = 3,600 seconds
36. Crumb-collecting insect: ANT. #14. And I bet that there are more than 14 clues for this industrious insect that have appeared in xword puzzles
41. Skeptical look: SIDE EYE. This:
42. Tally marks: NOTCHES.
45. Thin and wavy: WISPY. Like this HAIR??
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| How to wear WISPY bangs |
46. [Time's up!]: BEEP. [Grammarly dot com] says: "Parentheses and brackets are punctuation marks used to set apart certain words and sentences. Parentheses, ( ), are used to add extra information in text, while brackets, [ ], are used mainly in quotations to add extra information that wasn't in the original quote." In this case, the "BEEP" is the extra information
48. Remedy: CURE. Despite all of the time modern medicine has had to develop one, there still is no CURE for the common cold
53. Formal: PROM. "Formal" as in the participants are dressed in formal attire for this school event
54. Off course: AWRY. Hey Moe! When are we going to get a Moe-ku? Well, this one sort of fits ...
Waggish pastry chef
Opened a new bakery.
Just bakes a wry bread.
55. Escape room?: SPA. #15. Don't people go to a SPA to escape the toils of daily life??
56. __ Gatos, California: LOS. #16. What else could it be, other than "LOS" for a California city??
58. "Delish!": YUM. #17. CSO to Hahtoolah with her pet word: YUMmers!! 😋
59. Tail movement: WAG. #18. Did anyone have to use a "WAG" (wild-assed-guess) to come up with "WAG"??
60. "We'll get there then" approx.: ETA. #19. Another abbr.
61. Water source: TAP. "VEINTE"!! (20) "TAP" as in faucet
And we have reached the "END" (another 3-letter word!). Let's end with a Moe-l'ick:
As your blogger I might be your shill,
And admit, didn't you feel the thrill?
I've got one thing to say
On this year's Groundhog Day
Don't you think that we've gotten our Phil??
The grid:
Comments, please ...
