Theme: Scrambles are not anagrams, or are they? If you listen to MONTY PYTHON, the new words do not have to be words.
This is an anagram,
oops, a scrambled letter puzzle in which the letters in the word FEAST
are shuffled inside other theme answers. This is a very common theme,
but with a lovely unifier. This is John's second LAT, both this month.
The puzzle does not really feel like a Friday with too many 3 and 4
letter words, but there is much originality and challenge such as EFFLUENT, POTATO GUN, STUNT KITE, EMULATION and in the theme TASTEFUL JOKE, GWEN STEFANI, MOVEABLE FEAST, and OFFICE STAFF.
We begin with the reveal:
35A. Pentecost, e.g., and what can literally be found in this puzzle's four other longest answers : MOVEABLE FEAST (13). This clue was very difficult for me. while I have studied Christianity, the existence of these 25+ feast days was beyond my ken, and Barbie was no help either. My thought was of the memoirs of HEMINGWAY. Once filled, I loved this new way to tell us the puzzle has anagrams scrambled letters.
17A. Annual Christmas party group : OFFICE STAFF.
(11) When I worked with big companies, the competition to look great
among the staff was entertaining, and troublesome, and often not
tasteful.
29A. Humor that won't offend : TASTEFUL JOKE. (12)
"There is this guy driving down the road. He’s got 17 penguins in his
car. This cop sees him, stops him, and says, “I don’t know what’s going
on here. But you’ve got to take these penguins to the zoo.” The guy’s
like, “OK.” The next day the guy is driving and he has the same 17
penguins in the car. The same cop pulls him over and says, “Look, man, I
stopped you yesterday and I told you to take these penguins to the
zoo.” The guy says, “I took them to the zoo. Today we’re going to the
beach.”
43A. Exercised caution : PLAYED IT SAFE. (12)
57A. Singer with the debut solo album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." : GWEN STEFANI. (11). LISTEN. (3:30).
On to the rest...
Across:
1. Chess ploy : GAMBIT.
This term is used by most mystery writers to explain a plot twist, I
will defer to the chess players out there, but I note chess has been
central in the plot of two TV mystery/detective shows recently.
Thoughts?
7. Antique cane topper : KNOB. I was looking for something more esoteric like WOLF.
11. Home of the N.Y. Rangers : MSG. Madison Square Garden.
14. Fund-raising targets : ALUMNI. The requests never stop.
15. Wrath, in a hymn : IRAE. Not to confuse, 41A. "This American Life" host Glass : IRA.
16. Scarfed down : ATE
19. Small group : DUO. Three's a crowd, two is a duo? More numbers, 24A. Thrice due : SEI. Italian for 6. (3x2).
20. Brightened, with "up" : LIT. Her eyes lit up whenever George Clooney came into the room.
21. Bible book : RUTH. The story of Ruth and Boaz is important in understanding kindness and conversion. To which we all say....
22. "Let it be so!" : AMEN.
25. Wetlands protection org. : EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. ???????????
26. "Driving Miss Daisy" setting : ATLANTA. The other Georgia.
31. Long poem : EPOS.
33. One of two Pauline epistles: Abbr. : CORinthians.
34. "__ for Innocent": Grafton novel : I IS.
I recently was rereading some of her early work to see where she went
wrong, and was reminded that her next door neighbor, Henry Pitts, the
retired baker also constructed crossword puzzles. Her 'clues' were not
great.
40. Same old thing : RUT. I assume for the wagon wheels. To get out, sometimes you must....
42. Run : FLEE.
48. Theatergoer's option : MATINEE.
49. Fla. NBA team : ORLando Magic, having lost Shaq years ago and Dwight Howard more recently, this is a tough place to coach.
50. Maker of "3 Series" cars : BMW. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. 4D. ASCAP rival : BMI. Broadcast Music, Inc. Aren't you glad we already discussed this company?
53. "Beloved" author Morrison : TONI.
54. Fromage hue : BLEU. Fromage = Cheese, in French; Bleu = Blue an anagram?
55. Yay relative : RAH. I believe they are cousins.
56. Part of a disguise : WIG.
61. Loan letters : IOU. Cute.
62. Lisa's title : MONA. Do you think of Mona as Lisa's title? Really means like Madam Lisa.
63. Passes : ENACTS.
64. Relaxing retreat : INN. Or better yet, this LINK.
65. Against : ANTI.
66. Winning run, perhaps : STREAK.
Down:
1. Pens for Dickens? : GAOLS.
Nice two level trickery, as we first must see the 'pen' to mean
penitentiary, not what CD wrote with. Then recalling the British term
GAOL is needed to solve.
2. Caine title role : ALFIE. What's it all about?
3. Civilian garb : MUFTI. Since it is casual FRIDAY.
5. Grow : INCREASE.
6. Jams : TIE UPS. Traffic.
7. Social group : KITH. KIN you believe it, it is back so soon!
8. Org. co-founded by Gen. George Wingate : NRA. National Rifle Association. HISTORY. Did not know this fact. I wonder if this covers 32D. Relative of a T-shirt launcher : POTATO GUN. See it Believe IT.
9. Knucklehead : OAF.
10. Happen to : BEFALL. Not what it is when Summer ends....
11. Got some attention : MADE NOISE. Used by TV commenters ad nauseam.
12. Flier that may have four lines : STUNT KITE. So much I do not know about KITES. I did read The Kite Runner.
13. Prefix with thermal : GEO.
18. "Right away!" : STAT.
23. Key abbr. : MAJ. And a related (?) 46D. Fifths on a staff : SOLS. Music people can explain why this means G Major, but with STAFF in a theme fill, I am surprised to see staff in a clue.
26. "He makes no friends who never made __": Tennyson : A FOE. Not to be confused with the author of Robinson Crusoe.
27. Grass-and-roots layer : TURF. Unlike a BG mistake here.
28. '50s Dem. presidential hopeful : AES. Adlai Ewing Stevenson, II, son of the vice-president under Grover Cleveland.
29. Good, in Hebrew : TOV. Mazel Tov all.
30. Brilliance : ECLAT.
31. Effort to equal others : EMULATION.
36. Hill worker : AIDE. Capitol Hill.
37. Creamy spread : BRIE. More soft cheese.
38. Flowing out : EFFLUENT. The Latin stem "E" from, "AD" to.
39. Tankard contents : ALE. yeah Beer.
40. Tach no. : RPM. Revolutions Per Minute.
44. Dark side : YIN. More from Lao Tse. LINK.
45. It's hard to untangle : ENIGMA. Wrapped in a mastery, hidden in a puzzle.
47. Knifelike ridges : ARETES. A word I know solely from solving puzzles.
50. Support : BRACE.
51. __ ray : MANTA.
52. Chef's tool : WHISK. Not my first thought.
54. __ B'rith : BNAI. Children of the Covenant. The first covenant, circumcision on the 8th day.
56. Nintendo's __ mini : WII. Not to be confused with WWI.
58. Finished on top : WON.
59. Dr.'s specialty : ENT. Ear, Nose, Throat.
60. Distant : FAR.
On
a personal note, as we approach the 5th Anniversary of the switch to
the LA Times puzzle (March 23, 2009) I want to extend a special thanks
to Rich Norris and his staff, not only for providing us with so many fun
challenges, but also for encouraging our own C.C and marti who have
become such accomplished constructors in their own right.
Happy
Spring all and I hope we entertained and informed, Lemonade signing off
with a poem I happened across. (Not to usurp Owen, but it was so
coincidental). See you next time.
Do you know a teacher you think may be a cheater
If you shop at ‘Harrods’ are you considered posh
If your car breaks down, do you call the RAC.
When you play pool or polo do you go round in a loop
If you prick your hand on a rose thorn is it rather sore.
Is life all doom and gloom and you get in a mood.
Do you live in a world you think is vile or evil
Does your alarm emit a bleep at a set time
Do you dare to pick up a dear book to read
Do you head for the toilets when you want to read T S Eliot
Jan Allison
28th Feb 2014
