Well we have Jeffrey back on Friday with a very visual puzzle that mandates you have the circles to make sense out of his creation. There are no conventional theme answers except the reveal 34A. Classic comics catchphrase ... and a hint to four sets of puzzle circles : LEAPIN' LIZARDS.(13).
The circles reveal 4 familiar lizards GECKO, SKINK, MONITOR and CHAMELEON with the letters in the circles producing a picture of the motion of jumping. I love the visual. The icing on the cake for me is having CHAMELEON which is famous for changing color to elude predators hidden in the puzzle. The rest is a daunting combination of very difficult fill and tricky cluing. ATACAMA SAMISEN NEBULAE MINI-LOTS INERTIAL and many others make this a Friday challenge. Having no theme to fill in easily took out a normal crutch I use to solve, but for me the payoff was worth the effort. Let's see how I got there.
Across:
1. Game piece : TILE. Especially if you play Scrabble.
5. Place for oysters : BED. Cute misdirection. So much I did not KNOW.
8. Perch, at times : LIMB. A friend has taken two sparrows into his home.
12. Beef __: dish sometimes made with Guinness : IN ALE. Steve, help? Sounds YUMMY.
15. Social __ : MEDIA. Often quite anti-social.
16. Narrow landforms : NECKS. Isthmus is from the Greek word for neck.
17. Record number, briefly : RPM. Revolutions Per Minute.
18. Hides : SKINS. Sounds like the skink, I think.
19. Higher ed challenge : GRE.Graduate Record Examination.
20. Aromatic : ODOROUS. Not a common word.
23. Hägar creator Browne : DIK.
24. Emperor before Vitellius : OTHO. Lucky for me my son studied Roman Archaeology so I knew of this short lived emperor one of FOUR who served in 69 AD,
26. Yards, e.g. : UNITS.
27. Rude look : OGLE. Politically incorrect look.
28. "Runaround Sue" singer : DION.
29. Path lead-in : OSTEO. Nice misdirection, not in the woods but at the doctors.
30. Pace maker? : FOOT. More tough cluing for easy fill.
31. Setting for a Tony-winning Miller play : SALEM. No politics, but this is a powerful PLAY.
33. Cheers : ROOTS. I have an ear worm LISTEN.(1:07).
40. Patronizes, as a hotel : STAYS AT.
41. Hold on a diner order : OMIT.
45. Common sense : SMELL.Great pun.
46. What Barry White often sings? : BASS, LISTEN. (4:30).
50. Cosmic clouds : NEBULAE. Great word; the building blocks of the universe.
52. Slithery : EEL LIKE.
54. Fireplace wood : BEECH. I know little about FIREWOOD.
55. Relief provider : OASIS. Not Tums or Rolaids.
56. South American desert : ATACAMA. I knew nothing of this DRIEST place.
59. Like some landscape paintings : MOONLIT.
61. Plucked Japanese instrument : SAMISEN. Don't fret if you never heard about THIS.
62. Bleepworthy : OBSCENE.
63. Sci-fi staples : ETS.
64. Calculate, in a way : ADD. One of the many on modern calculators.
65. See 35-Down : TIE. I need an explanation for making this simple fill a cross-reference.
66. U.S. Army E-5 : SGT.
Down:
1. Self-important authoritarians : TIN GODS. Really fun fill.
2. __ navigation: aerospace guidance system : INERTIAL. My learning MOMENT.
3. Wingtip feature : LACE HOLE. What is needed for tie shoes.
4. Rockies grazer : ELK. Not to be confused with 8D. Albanian coin : LEK, though I believe you can buy ELK meat with LEK.
5. Some nobility : BARONS. Counts?
6. Lively wit : ESPRIT.According to MW "vivacious cleverness or wit."
7. Punish for a military rules violation, perhaps : DEMOTE.
9. "Yay, me!" : I DID GOOD. Nice phrase.
10. Small currency-market trading quantities : MINI-LOTS. A way to take some of the risk out of trading currencies. READ.
11. Navajo craftwork products : BASKETS.
13. That, in Madrid : ESO. Back again.
15. Rejects, usually: Abbr. : MSS. Abbreviation for manuscripts.
21. Laurel and Hardy, e.g. : DUO.
22. 1941 FDR creation : USO. So many acronyms during the FDR years; I am still watching the Roosevelts while I ride the exercise bike.
25. Selective Service status : ONE-A.
27. "__ a Thousand Tongues to Sing": Christian hymn : O FOR. Not in my wheelhouse.
32. USMC enforcers : MPS. Military Police.
33. Singer? : RAT. Someone who tells on another, especially popular with the mob.
35. With 65-Across, soccer game cry : IT'S A. See above.
36. Word before or after brand : NAME. We have had this odd one before.
37. Corrosive material : LYE.
38. Key : ISLE. And, 47D. Theatrical features : AISLES. English is a wonder.
39. Big name in jewelry : ZALE. Every kiss begins with ... oops.
41. Distracting the pitcher, maybe : ON BASE. Well this is stretch but I do recall some who were good when they got on.
42. Use for a rendezvous : MEET AT.
43. Steel girders : I-BEAMS.
44. Stanley who plays Flickerman in "The Hunger Games" : TUCCI. Despicable.
46. Sommelière's suggestion : BLANC. Ou rouge.
48. It may be freestyle : SKIING. marti?
49. Sonnet part : SESTET.Six.
51. Tibet University city : LHASA. Many students go there to get HIGH.
53. Free : LOOSE. I had a date like that once.
57. Rx spec : MED.
58. Furthermore : AND.
59. Nice word : MOT. The old French city "Nice" trick
60. Geisha's band : OBI. Another touch of Japan as our exit line; makes me wonder if there are any Geisha musical groups playing the Samisen. One last LISTEN.
Another innovative look from Jeffrey and lots of work for me. I hope you all enjoy it.
Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Belated Happy Birthday to dear Chickie! I'm so sorry that I spaced out yesterday morning. Hope you had a wonderful celebration with Bill and the kids and grandkids. Are you planning a big gathering this weekend?
Left to Right: Chickie, JD, Garlic Gal and Lucina.
June 3, 2015
2) Also belated Happy Birthday to Spitzboov's wife Betty as well! Betty makes a mean Baklava, if I remember correctly. I've yet to find the filo dough in our grocery store, Spitzboov.
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| Spitzboov & Betty at the reunion dinner held at the US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT, 2012 |
