Puzzling thoughts:
FIR with a few corrections (see the grid for the little black triangles in the squares where I flubbed)
This one was a bit of a "slog", as it took me nearly twice as long as usual to solve
I was excited when I saw Robin C. Stears on the by-line, as I've had the pleasure to re-cap a couple of hers before
True to her love of Merl Reagle-type puzzles, Robin delights us with - gosh darn it all - a series of mild, homophonic expletives in her playful entries. No reveal; just a bit of frivolity mixed in with some elegant "fill". Certainly "FRY-day" worthy! 😉
The first of the five entries (17-across. Rather impressive exclamation of relief?): QUITE A PHEW! plays off the more familiar "quite a few", with a different parsing of the adverb "QUITE"
#2 of the entries also used a slightly different meaning of the adjective, BORDER (24-across. Astonished exclamation at the Four Corners Monument?): BORDER, GOLLY!. If I am understanding this one correctly, Robin is playing off of the animal, Border collie. As one who has ventured out to the spot where the Four Corners Monument resides, I might have uttered a slightly different "expletive"
#3 of the quintet is (35-across. Exasperated exclamation over a breath mint?): TIC TAC, D'OH!. When I discussed these entries with Robin (we are Facebook friends) she volunteered that the original entry for this one was something like, "cough up the d'oh". I think I like the one that made the puzzle, better, and of course it led me to finding a video of the Simpsons and the eponymous breath mint ...
The fourth entry is (51-across. Quiet exclamation of dismissal from way back when?): OLD SOFT SHOO. [Idioms @ The Free Dictionary dot com] defines "OLD SOFT SHOE" as: "Something, such as a speech or explanation, delivered especially carefully and skillfully in order to convince or persuade; e.g., 'This salesperson keeps trying to give me the old soft-shoe, despite the fact that I already told him I don't want a new TV!'"
And speaking of Shoe (and shoo) and today's homophones, here is an old Shoe comic that fits the bill:
And finally, the fifth entry parodies the origin of words with (60-across. Etymological story about an equestrian's exclamation?): TALE OF WHOA. Ha! Ha! Get it? A TALE (as in the story of) that reins us in to the meaning of "whoa" ...
The flip side of this might be: (Clue - The letter "e"?) TAIL OF WOE
Here is the grid, and then off to the races!
Across:
1. Cravat kin: ASCOT. This one is for Irish Miss: 😘
| To my admirer Agnes: Love, Cary |
6. "Masters of Illusion" host Dean: CAIN. How about this for a homophonic play-on-words, and mild expletive? Clue: Causing trouble in the sugar fields? "RAISING CANE"
10. Swedish pop group: ABBA. Or perhaps, a common poetic rhyme scheme?
Three un-rhyming poetic lines (by yours, truly) is called a "Moe-ku"; 5 lines in an AABBA rhyme scheme is a "Moe-l'ick, but what should I call a 4-liner with an ABBA rhyme scheme? Maybe a "Moe-em??" Look for one later on... in the meantime, here is a little something to formulate today's earworm:
14. Fabric: CLOTH. No one ever has referred to a priest or pastor as "a man of the fabric" ...
15. Land unit: ACRE. Alternate entry for today? Clue - Angry expanse above one's waistline? BELLY ACRE ... sorry Robin for stepping on your homophones 😂
16. Subatomic particle with greater mass than an electron: MUON. One dictionary definition calls a MUON: "an unstable lepton that is common in the cosmic radiation near the earth's surface, has a mass about 207 times the mass of the electron, and exists in negative and positive forms" ...
19. Peruvian people who made rope bridges: INCA. Read all about them, here
20. Server with a spigot: URN. I tried TAP first, to no avail
21. Unoccupied: FREE. Not a welcome sign during an airplane flight when you gotta go ...
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| Hurry up in there / Ándale |
22. Perfect little darling: ANGEL. What many dads call their daughters ... along with princess, sweetie, et al
23. "Science Friday" host Flatow: IRA. Glass, Gershwin, and Levin? Not happy ... but to the clue's credit, this website lists IRA Flatow as the most popular IRA
27. Get back: REGAIN. Moe-ku:
First advertisement
For famous hair growth product:
"REGAIN with Rogaine"
29. __ de Janeiro: RIO.
30. Volleyball quartet?: ELS. Golfer "Ernie" is getting a little long-in-the-tooth ... the word "Volleyball" has four "L's"
31. Biblical garden: EDEN. Where "raising CAIN" occurred
32. Brian Setzer genre: SWING. [Wikipedia]: "Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as Eddie Cochran in the film La Bamba". Here is another ditty for you to hum all day ...
34. "Park it!": SIT. Have any dog owners ever been tempted to tell "Fido" to "park it"??!!
39. "The Gilded __": Julian Fellowes series: AGE. Filled by perps, IIRC
42. Splash: SLOSH. The thesaurussaurus confirms it:
43. Once, quaintly: ERST. I've been known to throw the word "erstwhile" into my blogs, every now and again
47. Photographer Goldin: NAN. More perps to the rescue ... an example of her work:
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| From "Joy and Fury" |
48. Exhibition funding agcy. since 1965: NEA. National Educational Association
49. Moves furtively: SNEAKS. Or, what I called my gym shoes back in the day ...
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| Jack Purcell's were my SNEAKerS of choice |
55. Future louse: NIT. Where the figurative term literally got its meaning ... having a NIT to pick
56. "Correctamundo!": RIGHT. Anyone remember "The Fonz"?? Fast forward to about the 3:00 mark to here his famous phrase ...
57. Station under the Garden: PENN. I knew this. Why? Madison Square Garden (arena home of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers) is the venue above PENN Station ... don't believe me? Google it!!
58. Training course for an EMT: CPR. CPR should be taught to people other than EMT's; you'll never know when you'll need to perform it
59. Jai __: ALAI. Moe-ku:
Jai ALAI arena
Serves Chinese food at snack bar.
Features fronton soup
63. Governor of Georgia: KEMP. [Wikipedia] "Brian Porter Kemp is an American politician serving since January 2019 as the 83rd governor of Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 to 2018, and as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2007"
64. Paper clip shape: OVAL. So it is ...
65. Devoured: ATE UP.
66. Dates: SEES.
67. Caresses: PETS.
68. Small pastries: TARTS. Moe-em:
For making desserts, I had lots of smarts
At Johnson and Wales, I practiced my arts.
My special sweet treats were pies shaped like hearts;
My degree, of course, was Bachelor of TARTS
Not exactly "ABBA", but as today's blogger, I make the rules around here!!! 😁😁
Down:
1. Get: ACQUIRE. Fun 1-down word; it doesn't appear nearly as often in major crossword puzzles as it should. Nice way to get to a pan-gram
2. Spoke indistinctly: SLURRED. For me, it's not an indistinct slur of my words ... when I have had too much to drink my slurring is QUITE noticeable
3. Neologism: COINAGE. The word "COINAGE" has two distinct meanings:
a) the "making" of COINS from various metals
b) neologism - the forming of a new word (or phrase)
4. Hall of Famer Mel: OTT. ERST and OTT in the same puzzle??? This is a nice "throwback" to old time crossword answers! 😀
5. Law org. led by Christopher A. Wray since 2017: THE FBI. Question: who would've gotten this answer immediately if the clue had a reference to J. Edgar Hoover?
6. Escapade: CAPER. As our resident wit, Ray-O-Sunshine might ask: What should you do to Supergirl if she were feeling a bit cold? ... CAPER
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| A different clue could've referred to the object pictured above |
7. Felt sore: ACHED. A never-ending "feeling" for the Chairman these days ... today, my neck and shoulders ACHED
8. Sore feeling: IRE. A semi-clecho to the above answer - OR - the abbr. for the Emerald Isle
9. Still in the box: NEW. This could've been a fill-in-the-blank clue (Still ___ in the box). Collectors know all about this condition for getting full value at auction ... what do you think the object below would be worth, "still NEW in the box"?
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This eBay listing has it for $5,800!! |
10. __ acid: AMINO. Ok, there is a fill-in-the-blank entry today ...
11. Botches: BUNGLES. For TTP and waseeley (who I believe are fans of teams from the AFC North) - the nickname of the Cincinnati NFL football team who've now "BUNGLED" three Super Bowls
12. "Romanza" tenor Andrea: BOCELLI. Another video/audio clip (long):
13. Equity expert: ANALYST. And a "specific" ANALYST: (25-down. Psychoanalyst Fromm): ERICH.
18. "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" memoirist Ralston: ARON. And here I thought the only ARON in crosswords was the middle name of Elvis Presley! [Wikipedia] "Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering"
22. Whisky __: Hollywood disco: A GOGO. Their website
26. Peel: RIND. A "zesty" word, if I do say so myself ...
28. Echidna snack: ANT. [Wikipedia] "Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae, living in Australia and New Guinea"
32. Brown ermine: STOAT.
33. Is in the past?: WAS. Past tense of "is" is WAS
36. "Nuh-uh!": IS NOT. It is IS NOT, isn't it??
37. Pitch setter: CLEF. Did anyone else try OBOE here first? I did
38. Happy sound: HEE. If a golfer tried to hit a happy sound, would they "tee" HEE?
39. Hooded gear: ANORAKS.
40. Sea fed by the Jordan: GALILEE. Where Jesus grew up
41. Final Avengers film in the Infinity Saga: ENDGAME. The trailer ... Margaret got me interested in the Avengers films during COVID
44. Major stock holder?: RANCHER. Stock, as in "livestock" - not stocks and bonds
45. Take a powder: SKIP OUT. Interesting clue
46. Features of some Mary Janes: T-STRAPS. An OLD HARD SHOE - see the T-STRAP?
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| Didn't we see "T-STRAP" earlier this week? |
49. Prefix with -gram: SONO. I tried "MONO" first
50. Like some ice cream: NONFAT. What's the point??!
52. Uses UPS: SHIPS.
53. Wet impact sound: SPLAT.
54. Parts of a loaf or loafers: HEELS. Also, a part of Mary Janes - see photo in 46-down
60. Spinner: TOP. A kid's toy
61. Wide st.: AVE. At first, I thought this meant wide STATE (abbr.), and tried TEX
62. Coco Gauff's org.: WTA. Short for, Women's Tennis Association
And once again, the blog has come to an end ... please offer any comments below ...
Thanks Robin! I know you'll pay us a visit ...
