Theme: Hum the Homonym Hymn
It is Friday, and JW is back with a fun 'sound alike' puzzle where the second word in each of the 5 theme answers is a four-letter word which sounds like the end of the first word, but spelled differently, all clued whimsically. A very classic Friday format, with a central theme answer bracketed by two others top and bottom. Once you get the gimmick the theme is easy and very helpful. The fill has enough 3 and 4 letter words to make it doable and enough 8- letter fill like ALL HEART, ELEVENTH, I HOPE I DO, LAST NAME, SIDE DRUM, TORI AMOS to make it a challenge. What I did not know lined up nicely by perp. It also is one letter short of a pangram (for the newbies: a puzzle containing all 26 letters) and I will not whine about the missing one. Instead let's dance...
19A. Stadium section for charity workers? : VOLUNTEER TIER. (13). Speaking of Tennessee, did anyone watch the CMAs the other night?
26A. Really old hardwood? : ANTIQUE TEAK. (11). This is a little different since it has five letters sounding like four.
35A. Disney's "Bambi"? : WHITETAIL TALE. (13). Nice clue, as they were all whitetail deer; the quotation marks tell you it is not the character. Interestingly DEAR DEER are also sound alikes.
44A. "Merrie Melodies" theme song? : CARTOON TUNE. (11). Warner Brothers cartoons pop up again. I was looking for a specific song at first.
54A. Emperor Justinian as a young man? : BYZANTINE TEEN. (13). This is a little different as TINE has to be heard in context. This EMPEROR is one of the most influential of all time.
Across:
1. Something to pass or lower : THE BAR. Not the easiest way to start; I have done both in my life.
7. Crocus kin : IRIS. I am not good at flower families.
11. Samosa veggie : PEA. How many three letter veggies are there? For Jeannie.
14. Biblical dancer : SALOME. The Dance of the Seven Veils. While associated with the Christian bible as the cause of John the Baptist's death, she is never mentioned in the New Testament. How about RITA? (6;30).
15. Item in a musician's kit : SIDE DRUM. Not familiar with this term; it appears to be another term for snare drum, which did not fit? My musical mavens, help!
17. Western, e.g. : OMELET. Time to break some eggs people.
18. Kind and caring : ALL HEART. A clear shout out to our own divine one.
21. Keats work : ODE. Are we Keats intensive or what these days? 25A. Keats' "Sylvan historian" : URN. One of the ODE ON poems.
23. Steam : IRE.
24. Calypso relative : SKA. More island music.
32. "Phooey!" : RATS. I love that this is placed next to...
34. Give a damn? : CURSE. I really enjoyed this misdirection.
41. Paralyze with dense mist, as an airport : FOG IN.
42. "Horse Feathers" family name : MARX. Now we get to horse around. Go Groucho.
50. One of two single-digit Yankee uniform numbers that aren't retired : SIX. Two being the only other one, but after 20 years of Derek Jeter, can it be far behind? Can you name all the retired numbers through 10? 1 was the hardest for me.
51. A, in Acapulco : UNA.
52. "Mazel __!" : TOV. Literally luck good. Schlemazel made famous by Laverne and Shirley is its opposite.
53. Ranch handle : TEX. Fun clue.
61. "That's my intention" : I HOPE I DO. A rare four word phrase.
62. Around the bend, so to speak : INSANE.
65. "Flavor" singer/songwriter : TORI AMOS. I really like complete names. LINK.(4:06).
66. Beat badly : PUMMEL. Rhymes with pommel sometimes.
67. Letters to the Coast Guard : SOS.
68. TV component? : TELEvision?
69. Quick : SPEEDY. "Quick Alka Seltzer" just did not sound great as a company mascot.
Down:
1. Chicken general? : TSO.
2. Boar's Head product : HAM. The masters of meat.
3. Like November, in a way : ELEVENTH. Month.
4. Simple tie : BOLO. Back when I first was in a courtroom, a young attorney from the panhandle of Florida appeared before a judge wearing a BOLO; the judge would not let him speak until he had on a 'proper' tie.
5. First name in flight : AMELIA. More H(e)art.
6. Library requirement : RETURN. Who doesn't love Mr. BOOKMAN. (2:36).
7. "The wolf __ the door" : IS AT. A very common expression during the depression.
8. Get to : RILE.
9. Sit in traffic, say : IDLE.
10. Very, in Vienna : SEHR. Sehr gut, getting some German in.
11. Words of tribute : PRAISE.
12. Golden State motto : EUREKA. From the gold rush days followed immediately by
13. California Zephyr operator : AMTRAK.
16. "Law & Order: SVU" rank : DETective.
20. Bottom line : NET. Do they rhyme?
21. Word of possession : OUR.
22. Western challenge : DRAW. Is there any more famous? CLIP. (2:35).
27. Terse refusal : I CAN'T. Is this better than I won't?
28. Who, in Paris : QUI. Moi!
29. Item shortened at bitly.com : URL. This was totally beyond my computer knowledge.
30. Md. hours : EST. Eastern Standard Time in Maryland.
31. Cooperative group : TEAM. Go Dolphins.
33. Cake recipe word : SIFT. So many four letter cooking words, I had to sift through all of them in my mind to get this.
36. As well : TOO.
37. Massage beneficiary : EGO. Not pec or lat; ah well.
38. Its atomic number is 50 : TIN. Tinbeni gets shout outs on so many Fridays, and today, two. 56D. Bar order : NEAT.
39. Common sorting basis : LAST NAME.
40. Lakeside Pennsylvania city : ERIE.
43. Love letters? : XXX. OOO.
44. Ark units : CUBITS. Another ancient word, basically the length from the elbow (Cubitum in Latin) to the tip of your middle finger.
45. "As I was sayin' ..." : ANY HOO. I can hear our dear California coven using this phrase.
46. They may be straight : RAZORS. No un-pc jokes needed here. (Send to my email).
47. 4 x 4, briefly : UTE.
48. Policy at some restaurants : NO TIPS. Really!?! I have never eaten in one. And I am only part French Canadian.
49. Align carefully : EVEN UP.
55. Prefix with culture : API. Despite loving Sherlock Holmes books etc., the reference to bees (Latin APIS) would have escaped me without perps.
57. "The devourer of all things": Ovid : TIME. There is even a series of coffee mugs featuring Ovid quotes. LINK.
58. Statue of Vishnu, e.g. : IDOL. Indian deity.
59. Oenophile's criterion : NOSE. A quick recall of yesterday's wine theme.
60. __ Squalor: Lemony Snicket character : ESME. I do not know the books or Jim Carrey movie, but I did recall the short story. What does the Lemony mean in his name? Am I a Snicket?
63. Composer Rorem : NED. We get Ned often, so a TASTE of his music. (2:06).
64. English cathedral city : ELY.
I must stop putting off my trip to England; I will not put off my trip to a long week end. Enjoy and remember all the veterans including our own, Dennis and all you others who served. Until next time, thank you Jeffrey and thank you all for reading. Lemonade out.
