It is not uncommon for certain holiday or special days to have puzzles constructed to honor these occasions, and I have my first to blog. This one involves a quip leading to a grid spanning very silly reveal. Structurally, I have not written up a quote/quip type so this will be interesting. I do like vertical grid spanning fill. Oddly Jacob's very first LAT was a Friday quote puzzle, but marti and I had switched so she did the write up of that effort. Some nice fill like ENAMEL, ENMESH, HAT TIP, PAPAYA, PESETA, STIFLE, ELATEDLY, ENTRYWAY, HEAT RASH, HIGH BEAM, RYE BEERS, SABOTEUR, but still many 3,4 and 5 letter fill for a Friday. I guess the question the audience will answer is whether the reveal was witty enough. This is my third Jacob this year, and usually I work very hard to solve his words. I guess like potato chips, I can't solve just one.
17A. Start of a riddle : WHAT'S. (5)
30A. Riddle, part two : A PIRATE'S. (8)
49A. Riddle, part three : FAVORITE. (8)
64A. End of the riddle : MOVIE. (5)
Well the favorite movie is of course; TA DAH!
7A. Answer to the riddle : ARRRRRRRRRRRRGO. (15). Of course there is a degree of poetic license in determining the 12 "R"s but either it is funny or it is not. LINK.
Across:
1. Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," for one : CHIMP. Also in the Dawn.
6. Road __ : MAP.
9. Long-legged wader : HERON. Door ONE or Door TWO.
14. Halos : AURAE. When you develop cataracts you have halos dominate your visual field.
15. Bold alternative : ERA. Detergent brand names; did not fool me this time.
16. Really ticked : IRATE.
18. "Shirt Front and Fork" artist : ARP. We get Jean often; like the painting?
19. Well-mannered fellows : GENTS. Old fashioned and likely to remember the 35A. Polite gesture : HAT TIP.
20. Summertime woe : HEAT RASH. On the edge of the breakfast test?
23. "__ Shorty": Elmore Leonard novel : GET. Get reappears; if you did not read the book, you can watch the MOVIE. (2:34). 20 years already.
24. Sumptuous meals : FEASTS.
27. Some microbrews : RYE BEERS. As implied the beer is made from rye rather than barley malt. If you need suggestions, my son reads the BEER ADVOCATE.
29. Rm. coolers : ACS. Air Conditioners.
32. Big piece : SLAB. Good term when ordering beef.
34. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR.
39. Chevrolet SUV : TAHOE. Actually a well regarded product, part of Chevrolet's post bankruptcy recovery.
41. Mystery guest moniker : MR X.
43. Highs and lows, perhaps : MOODS.
44. Suppress : STIFLE. Did you all thinks of this lovely couple?
46. KOA visitors : RVS. Kampground of America. Recreational Vehicles.
48. Mice, to owls : PREY. This has a definite cruel tinge to it.
52. Buddy : MAC.
53. Monkey wrench wielder? : SABOTEUR. The one who sabotages your endeavors.
56. Catch in a web : ENMESH.
58. Many a lap dog : TOY.
59. Coat closet locale, often : ENTRYWAY. For all you northerners who actually own and wear coats.
61. Dropped the ball : ERRED. To forgive divine.
63. Sellout sign, briefly : SRO. Standing Room Only.
68. Lagoon border : ATOLL. Did someone say LAGOON? (2:47).
69. Goad, with "on" : EGG.
70. Heroic stories : EPICS.
71. Like a string bean : LANKY. They are often left-handed pitchers, unless they were Mickey Lolich.
72. Burnt __ crisp : TO A.
73. Unauthorized disclosures : LEAKS. The WIKIPEDIA on Wiki Leaks.
Down:
1. Farm field cry : CAW. Crows hunting the corn.
2. "That's a surprise" : HUH.
3. Lyricist Gershwin : IRA. George was the music.
4. British subject? : MATHS. Cute misdirection; we say math or mathematics.
5. Currency replaced by the euro : PESETA. Only a billion choices.
6. Beef, e.g. : MEAT.
8. Melonlike fruit : PAPAYA. Never thought of papaya that way.
9. Headlight setting : HIGH BEAM. Can you believe he has melons and high beams juxtaposed? I have to LINK. (6:36)
10. "Let us part, __ the season of passion forget us": Yeats : ERE. Short and sweet:
THE FALLING OF THE LEAVES
by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
- UTUMN is over the long leaves that love us,
- And over the mice in the barley sheaves;
- Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,
- And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves.
- The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
- And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
- Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
- With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow
12. River mammal : OTTER. Playful creatures.
13. Makes a home : NESTS.
21. Egyptian snakes : ASPS. Snakes nest as well.
22. Actor Green of "Robot Chicken" : SETH. Did you ever WATCH?
24. Doesn't take anything in : FASTS. No food is hard but okay, it is the no liquid that makes fasting so difficult; just a few weeks away.
25. Fanfare : ECLAT.
26. Tokyo-based brewery : ASAHI. An obligatory BEER link.
28. Bar, in law : ESTOP. You are estopped from asking me about the "E."
31. Suffix with Mao : ISM. Never thought of this as a separate doctrine BUT.
33. Smashing, at the box office : BOFFO.
36. Singer with the Mel-Tones : TORME.
38. "Fooled you!" : PSYCH. Anybody watch the TV show?
40. With joy : ELATEDLY. If you get happy after everyone else are you belateldly elatedley?
42. Louis __, eponym of the Kentucky city : XVI. The specific French king the city was named after.
45. All square : EVEN. Right Steven?
47. Lose sleep (over) : STEW.
50. Square one : OUTSET. You see it is the first square not a square square.
51. Tooth covering : ENAMEL.
53. Pinch : STEAL. Tinman, he tried but it just did not make it.
54. Cardiologist's concern : AORTA. And getting paid.
55. Lakers coach __ Scott : BYRON.
57. Nearsighted one : MYOPE. My 'ope you see better when you get older.
60. Activity on a mat : YOGA. Not my favorite, but I guess since you must BYOM....
62. Image on the Michigan state flag : ELK. Maybe Sheldon will elaborate this fall.
65. Through : VIA. Just Latin.
66. "Gross!" : ICK.
67. Small opening? : ESS. We end with a beginning letter of a word clue.
Ahoy, time for me to shove off for another week; be careful out there and see you next time. Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
Today we celebrate Allen's birthday! I'll have to associate him with a pirate so next year I won't make the same mistake again.
Marti mentioned yesterday that they'll celebrate this coming Sunday "by attending an Oktoberfest event at The
Vienna restaurant. The food is bound to be authentic, and I believe The
Stratton Mountain Boys will be taking up their oom-pah instruments to
provide music. Should be lots of fun!!"
Allen & Marti |