Theme: Insert Coin - the coin-shaped letter "O" is inserted into a phrase, changing the meaning in a thigh-slapping manner.
20. Computer accessory honored in verse? : MOUSE OF POETRY. Muse of Poetry. There are three poetry muses - one for epic poetry, one for lyric poetry and one for love poetry.
28. Olympic dominance by Team USA? : AMERICA'S COUP. America's Cup. Team NZ won this year in Bermuda by a runaway score of 7-1
45. How some medieval knights described their relationships? : JOUST FRIENDS. Just friends.
55. Grammarian's treatise? : THE NOUN'S STORY. The Nun's Story. 1959 movie starring the lovely Audrey Hepburn.
Morning! Apparently I came across as not quite as chipper as usual last week, so I'll try to keep things bright today. This was a real toughie for me, I was staring down a huge quantity of white space after my first pass across and down. I'm not sure the last time I spent 30 minutes on a Thursday-level crossword, but I did on this one.
The theme was nicely done; I'm not generally a fan of pun-type puzzles because of the groan-factor, but these were fun. It took me ages to figure out the theme but once AMERICA'S COUP fell into place that helped with the others. Some obtuse cluing and misdirection added up to a good challenge.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Bowl over : STUN
5. Hardly prudent : RASH
9. Chophouse order : FILET. Food! If I went to a chophouse, I'd order the chops. This is Simpson's in London, it's been around since 1757. I'd lunch there occasionally when I worked in the City. Back in those days you'd have a bottle or two of a nice red wine and finish up with a glass of port. Then go back to work.
14. Young Clark's love : LANA. I was way off base with this one; at first I thought it was referring to Clark Gable's affair with Lana Turner, but not a bit of it - Clark Kent's high school sweetheart Lana Lang.
15. 90 degrees from norte : ESTE
16. Century plant, e.g. : AGAVE. Agave Americana, more properly. There are several types of agave plants.
17. Hindustani tongue : URDU
18. Boardwalk extension : PIER. These had a habit of "mysteriously" catching fire in the UK, usually when they were falling into a state of disrepair due to the expense of upkeep.
19. Trick : COZEN. A new word for me. "To deceive, win over, or induce to do something by artful coaxing and wheedling or shrewd trickery." I discovered that there is a law firm here in LA called Cozen O'Conner which I find thoroughly amusing.
23. Construction alloy : STEEL. You can add a whole slew of stuff to steel depending on the characteristics you're looking for.
24. RSVP part : S'IL "répondez s'il vous plaît". Don't say "please RSVP", it's annoying as heck.
25. Bud : BRO
33. Virgin __ Records: British label : EMI. A lot of people don't realize that Richard Branson sold Virgin Records to EMI way back in the 90's to keep the airline afloat (or aloft, more correctly).
36. Male delivery : SON
37. Canadian coin since 1996 : TOONIE. Tried LOONIE against all logic as I knew it had been around for longer than that.
38. Landslide victory claim : MANDATE. "Now I have a mandate to do what the heck I like". Usually ends badly.
41. Stretch out : DISTEND
42. Recorded : ON TAPE
43. Mine in Milan : MIO. Tried MIA. Was wrong.
44. Conscription agcy. : SSS. Crosses filled this in for me, I just noticed it now. Selective Service System.
49. "__ Fell": Beatles : IF I. I didn't actually know this was the title of the song. John sounds every bit of his Liverpool background on the track.
50. Chicago's __ Center : AON
51. Post-lecture activity, briefly : Q AND A
60. Strange : ALIEN
62. Watch part : STEM. You can guarantee this one ain't going to be cheap:
63. Potpourri quality : ODOR. I tend to associate odors with bad smells.
64. Did a gainer, say : DIVED
65. Yokohama product : TIRE. They are the shirt sponsor of my soccer team, Chelsea, they're paying $300M for the privilege over five years. I think it's a curse: of the four players from left to right below - the first is no longer a starter, the second is no longer with the club, the third broke his ankle and hasn't yet returned to the team and the fourth did not return for preseason training and is suing the club for illegal restraint of trade.
66. Eric who founded an eclectic reader : UTNE
67. Autobahn autos : OPELS. The other four-letter German car brand.
68. Strongbox alternative : SAFE
69. The ten in "hang ten" : TOES. You hang'em over the edge of your surfboard.
Down:
1. Frequents dive bars, say : SLUMS. As in "he's slumming it".
2. Deck with a Hanged Man : TAROT. There's a bunch of weird-looking cards in a Tarot deck.
3. Inordinate : UNDUE
4. Queasiness : NAUSEA. Not a good feeling.
5. Certain auction offering : REPO
6. "Fat chance!" : AS IF!
7. Intervenes : STEPS IN
8. Stout-hearted : HEROIC
9. It's not debatable : FACT
10. "Young Frankenstein" helper : IGOR. "Eye-gor." I've posted the link to the scene before. Here it is again if you missed it.
11. Slugabed : LAZYBONES. Nice clue/answer.
12. Christmas lead-in : EVE
13. Coffee break time : TEN
21. "Slippery" tree : ELM. First I've heard of it. Learning moment. Apparently you can make tea from the leaves.
22. Joy : ELATION
26. Place for digs : RUINS
27. Essays appearing daily : OP.ED'S
29. "Get on Your Feet" singer : ESTEFAN. Gloria. Thank you crosses, I didn't know the song.
30. Anonymous '70s litigant : ROE vs Wade.
31. Song on the album "ABBA" : SOS. Why I didn't fill this in right away is beyond me. How many Abba songs are there with three letters? I needed the S to get me going with this one.
32. Bed at a base : COT
33. The Oxford Dictionaries 2015 "Word" of the Year is one : EMOJI. A stab in the dark and nailed it! Note the quotes around "Word". This is the emoji which was used:
The 2012 Word of the Year was "omnishambles" which I love.
34. "__ Constant Sorrow": folk classic : MAN OF. Thank you crosses, never heard of it.
35. Easy to figure out : INTUITIVE. Unlike this crossword, for me anyway.
39. Wagner's "__ Rheingold" : DAS
40. Fitting : APT
41. Gambling cube : DIE
43. Trivial matter : MINUTIA
46. Perches : ROOSTS
47. Kicks off the field, briefly : DQ'S. Disqualifies.
48. Skipped : SAT OUT
52. Greet quietly : NOD TO
53. Airborne intruder : DRONE. Annoying as heck, these things. Can ruin a perfectly peaceful hike. The creepy dude who lives on my street likes to fly his over other people's back yards.
54. Lew in old movies : AYRES. Best known for "All Quiet on the Western Front".
56. Dog trainer's word : HEEL. Could be STAY, so wait for a cross.
57. Good things to make meet : ENDS
58. Soft ball : NERF
59. "Hook" pirate : SMEE
60. Commotion : ADO
61. Impertinence : LIP. Great little word.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
Steve
20. Computer accessory honored in verse? : MOUSE OF POETRY. Muse of Poetry. There are three poetry muses - one for epic poetry, one for lyric poetry and one for love poetry.
28. Olympic dominance by Team USA? : AMERICA'S COUP. America's Cup. Team NZ won this year in Bermuda by a runaway score of 7-1
45. How some medieval knights described their relationships? : JOUST FRIENDS. Just friends.
55. Grammarian's treatise? : THE NOUN'S STORY. The Nun's Story. 1959 movie starring the lovely Audrey Hepburn.
Morning! Apparently I came across as not quite as chipper as usual last week, so I'll try to keep things bright today. This was a real toughie for me, I was staring down a huge quantity of white space after my first pass across and down. I'm not sure the last time I spent 30 minutes on a Thursday-level crossword, but I did on this one.
The theme was nicely done; I'm not generally a fan of pun-type puzzles because of the groan-factor, but these were fun. It took me ages to figure out the theme but once AMERICA'S COUP fell into place that helped with the others. Some obtuse cluing and misdirection added up to a good challenge.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Bowl over : STUN
5. Hardly prudent : RASH
9. Chophouse order : FILET. Food! If I went to a chophouse, I'd order the chops. This is Simpson's in London, it's been around since 1757. I'd lunch there occasionally when I worked in the City. Back in those days you'd have a bottle or two of a nice red wine and finish up with a glass of port. Then go back to work.
14. Young Clark's love : LANA. I was way off base with this one; at first I thought it was referring to Clark Gable's affair with Lana Turner, but not a bit of it - Clark Kent's high school sweetheart Lana Lang.
15. 90 degrees from norte : ESTE
16. Century plant, e.g. : AGAVE. Agave Americana, more properly. There are several types of agave plants.
17. Hindustani tongue : URDU
18. Boardwalk extension : PIER. These had a habit of "mysteriously" catching fire in the UK, usually when they were falling into a state of disrepair due to the expense of upkeep.
19. Trick : COZEN. A new word for me. "To deceive, win over, or induce to do something by artful coaxing and wheedling or shrewd trickery." I discovered that there is a law firm here in LA called Cozen O'Conner which I find thoroughly amusing.
23. Construction alloy : STEEL. You can add a whole slew of stuff to steel depending on the characteristics you're looking for.
24. RSVP part : S'IL "répondez s'il vous plaît". Don't say "please RSVP", it's annoying as heck.
25. Bud : BRO
33. Virgin __ Records: British label : EMI. A lot of people don't realize that Richard Branson sold Virgin Records to EMI way back in the 90's to keep the airline afloat (or aloft, more correctly).
36. Male delivery : SON
37. Canadian coin since 1996 : TOONIE. Tried LOONIE against all logic as I knew it had been around for longer than that.
38. Landslide victory claim : MANDATE. "Now I have a mandate to do what the heck I like". Usually ends badly.
41. Stretch out : DISTEND
42. Recorded : ON TAPE
43. Mine in Milan : MIO. Tried MIA. Was wrong.
44. Conscription agcy. : SSS. Crosses filled this in for me, I just noticed it now. Selective Service System.
49. "__ Fell": Beatles : IF I. I didn't actually know this was the title of the song. John sounds every bit of his Liverpool background on the track.
50. Chicago's __ Center : AON
51. Post-lecture activity, briefly : Q AND A
60. Strange : ALIEN
62. Watch part : STEM. You can guarantee this one ain't going to be cheap:
63. Potpourri quality : ODOR. I tend to associate odors with bad smells.
64. Did a gainer, say : DIVED
65. Yokohama product : TIRE. They are the shirt sponsor of my soccer team, Chelsea, they're paying $300M for the privilege over five years. I think it's a curse: of the four players from left to right below - the first is no longer a starter, the second is no longer with the club, the third broke his ankle and hasn't yet returned to the team and the fourth did not return for preseason training and is suing the club for illegal restraint of trade.
66. Eric who founded an eclectic reader : UTNE
67. Autobahn autos : OPELS. The other four-letter German car brand.
68. Strongbox alternative : SAFE
69. The ten in "hang ten" : TOES. You hang'em over the edge of your surfboard.
Down:
1. Frequents dive bars, say : SLUMS. As in "he's slumming it".
2. Deck with a Hanged Man : TAROT. There's a bunch of weird-looking cards in a Tarot deck.
3. Inordinate : UNDUE
4. Queasiness : NAUSEA. Not a good feeling.
5. Certain auction offering : REPO
6. "Fat chance!" : AS IF!
7. Intervenes : STEPS IN
8. Stout-hearted : HEROIC
9. It's not debatable : FACT
10. "Young Frankenstein" helper : IGOR. "Eye-gor." I've posted the link to the scene before. Here it is again if you missed it.
11. Slugabed : LAZYBONES. Nice clue/answer.
12. Christmas lead-in : EVE
13. Coffee break time : TEN
21. "Slippery" tree : ELM. First I've heard of it. Learning moment. Apparently you can make tea from the leaves.
22. Joy : ELATION
26. Place for digs : RUINS
27. Essays appearing daily : OP.ED'S
29. "Get on Your Feet" singer : ESTEFAN. Gloria. Thank you crosses, I didn't know the song.
30. Anonymous '70s litigant : ROE vs Wade.
31. Song on the album "ABBA" : SOS. Why I didn't fill this in right away is beyond me. How many Abba songs are there with three letters? I needed the S to get me going with this one.
32. Bed at a base : COT
33. The Oxford Dictionaries 2015 "Word" of the Year is one : EMOJI. A stab in the dark and nailed it! Note the quotes around "Word". This is the emoji which was used:
The 2012 Word of the Year was "omnishambles" which I love.
34. "__ Constant Sorrow": folk classic : MAN OF. Thank you crosses, never heard of it.
35. Easy to figure out : INTUITIVE. Unlike this crossword, for me anyway.
39. Wagner's "__ Rheingold" : DAS
40. Fitting : APT
41. Gambling cube : DIE
43. Trivial matter : MINUTIA
46. Perches : ROOSTS
47. Kicks off the field, briefly : DQ'S. Disqualifies.
48. Skipped : SAT OUT
52. Greet quietly : NOD TO
53. Airborne intruder : DRONE. Annoying as heck, these things. Can ruin a perfectly peaceful hike. The creepy dude who lives on my street likes to fly his over other people's back yards.
54. Lew in old movies : AYRES. Best known for "All Quiet on the Western Front".
56. Dog trainer's word : HEEL. Could be STAY, so wait for a cross.
57. Good things to make meet : ENDS
58. Soft ball : NERF
59. "Hook" pirate : SMEE
60. Commotion : ADO
61. Impertinence : LIP. Great little word.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
Steve
