TGIF! Hello Cornerites and welcome to the blog. I chose today to inform, delight, and entertain you as best I can for the next 10 minutes or so. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!
First the inform: this was by far the hardest puzzle I've had to solve, not only as your blogger du jour, but perhaps ever. It kicked my skinny white (61-Across. Beast of burden:) ASS.
Second, the delight:
Third, the entertain: (go ahead and take your time; I could only find 6)
On to the puzzle: Today's constructor, Mark MacLachlan, "shifted" into (42-Down; Fifth, often, for a manual transmission:) TOP GEAR on this puzzle straight-away. I must've been having one of those evenings where my brain was in "reverse", as I didn't immediately get either (1-Across; Annie Lennox, e.g.:) SCOT, nor (1-Down; Snooze loudly:) SAW LOGS. I can always sense when a puzzle and I have no connection, and it's usually in the NW Corner. So after a lot of white space I finally looked up several clues to give me a toe hold, and eventually figure out this crossword puzzle. I got the "AHA" moment when I saw the (56-Across; Sign of deceit, and a phonetic hint to four puzzle answers:) "SHIFTY EYES".
All four entries have anagrammed words which change the meaning of the punned clue to a more familiar phrase, merely by shifting the letter "I". Didn't see that coming? Well, please read on . . .
16-Across. Cycling route for Broom Hilda?: WITCH TRAIL. Shift the "EYE" (phoenetic sound for the letter "I") in the word "TRAIL" and you complete the more recognizable phrase, "WITCH TRIAL".
Might this be the WITCH TRAIL she was referring to?
23-Across. Romantic locales for Miss Piggy?: DATING STIES. Put the "I" before the "T" in the word STIES (plural of "STY") and the word "SITES" appears. DATING SITES such as Zoosk, Tinder, eHarmony, Match dot com, et al, are the 21st Century's way of getting folks together, hopefully for romance. The piggies below aren't Muppets characters but they do look like they're in love!!
32-Across. Place to harvest your deepest secrets?: DIARY FARM. Shift the "I" with the "A" in DIARY and the word DAIRY appears. I've heard of a DAIRY FARM, but a DIARY FARM? This clue and solve seemed the "stretchiest" of the four, but it fits. I don't know why but DIARY FARM reminded me of this joke (I found a clean version)
48-Across. Equipment for identifying genuine island wreaths?: LEI DETECTOR. Shift the "E" and the "I" in LEI and the familiar LIE DETECTOR appears. This and 23-Across "tied" for the best of the four entries, IMO. And whilst the image below doesn't use the "DETECTOR" portion of the pun, I thought it appropriate! Wonder if their eggs are already "dyed" for Easter, e.g.?
There's more fill that needs an "I" examination . . . and I'm the lucky blogger today!
Across:
5. Phishing, say: SCAM. Since the puzzle's reveal is a homophone why not have one of the early clues be one as well? Had anyone here heard of the word "phishing" before the end of the last century? Moe-ku:
The band known as Phish9. Start of many a "Jeopardy!" answer: WHO?. "Please state your answer in the form of a question" was a familiar piece of advice to the contestants playing "Jeopardy".
Jams like Jerry Garcia.
A Grateful Dead SCAM?
12. College fund-raising targets: ALUMS. ALUM-NI maybe. ALUMS? I'm gonna pull the grammar card on you, MacLachlan! And if I didn't Yellowrocks would! Here is what grammarly dot com has to say: "Alumni is always the plural. You have alumnus and alumna — or if you don't like gender discrimination, alum — to cover your singular noun bases. Alumnus for a male, alumna for a female, alumni for a group of males or mixed gender, and alumnae for a group of females". I couldn't find ALUMS as a plural for a group of college graduates. . .
However, had Mark used this reference I'd be OK with it: ALUMS: colorless astringent compounds that are a hydrated double sulfate of aluminum and potassium, used in solution medicinally and in dyeing and tanning
14. Flag bearer: POLE. Literally:
15. Crack from the wind, perhaps: CHAP. Wow! This clue and answer had me bamboozled! When I saw the clue this image appeared in my temporal lobe:
18. Instrument featured in "Waltz of the Flowers": HARP. OBOE also fits the letter count. But Tchaikovsky's piece from the Nutcracker features the HARP. Enjoy!
19. Old DJ's array: LPS. Long Playing RecordS. Though most used '45's I think. How about my original image of the Eagles "Take it to the Limit" (Side A) and "Lyin' Eyes" (Side B)?
20. Taper off: ABATE. Moe-ku:
You have just three casts
With a worm; then it becomes
An ABATED bait
21. One-up: OUTDO. Moe-ku:
If two hair stylists
Compete, would you then say they'd
OUTDO their updo's?
22. Bread grain: OAT. I prefer RYE and had that pencilled in for quite awhile
25. Maker of a fine cheddar?: GRATER. Cute clue. On Tuesday we had CHEESE GRATER as part of the "Shift Gears" entries. Did you hear that folks in Wisconsin use the term "Make America GRATE" when referring to their eponymous cheddar cheese?
27. Result of a missed deadline, maybe: LATE FEE. I always equate "LATE FEE" with the charge a library imposes when you forget to return a book on time . . .
28. Eye affliction: STYE. Moe-ku (and a reference to 23-Across):
Miss Piggy's eyes were
Infected after her date.
She got a sty STYE.
29. Sheer linen fabric: TOILE. I actually knew this one, but don't ask me why!
31. Pre-1991 map letters: SSR. Soviet Socialist Republics
36. Part of a Braille character: DOT. Lots of DOTS
39. Like many dad jokes: STALE. I had CORNY and then SILLY before STALE fit. FTR, my "Dad jokes" are not STALE, but they are, sometimes, "fresh"!
40. Italian wine hub: ASTI. ASTI Spumante is a sparkling wine from that region in Italy and is almost always sweet. Where is it you ask? Here, with the ALPS in "repose" . . .
44. Logically flawed: INVALID. IN-VAL'-ID vs IN'-VUHLID: in this case the heteronym chosen by cluing is IN-VAL'-ID
46. Hit, as the gas: STEP ON. Mazda's commercials implore us to STEP ON it. Zoom, zoom!
51. Dungeons & Dragons genre, briefly: RPG. I had no clue. Never played Dungeons & Dragons though I know of it. So Role Playing Game was a complete WAG (Wild Ass Guess)
52. Hungarian mathematician Paul: ERDOS. Paul Erdős (note the umlaut over the "O") (born 26 March 1913 – died 20 September 1996) was a renowned Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the most prolific mathematicians and producers of mathematical conjectures of the 20th century. You knew that, right?
53. Frodo's home, with "the": SHIRE. From "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy
54. Wine statistic: AGE. AGE, as in the period from the vintage year (actual year of the grape's harvest) to when the wine is "ready" for drinking. Some wines "AGE" better than others and is due in part to the grape varietal used (and where it grows), and the winemaker's vinification process. A CSO to yours truly as the blog's resident sommelier
As a side note, I used to buy wines that would AGE gracefully for years, maybe decades. But now that I am at a fairly "advanced" AGE (68) I don't even buy green bananas anymore!!
55. Baskerville Hall setting: MOOR. Baskerville Hall is the ancestral home of the Baskerville family. The place is an impressive manor located in Devonshire, England. Some say it's haunted. The word "MOOR" means: "a tract of open uncultivated upland; a heath". This?
58. Beast of burden: MULE. "Clecho" with 61-Across. "Moe" info: "ASS vs MULE: An ASS is either a male or female donkey. A MULE is the result of breeding between a male donkey and a female horse
59. Massage deeply: ROLF. Massaging technique named for its "inventor", Ida Rolf. Ida Rolf was re-invented in the 1977 movie "Semi-Tough" starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristoffersen, and Lotte Lenya as "Clara Pelf". I've posted the video clip of Reynolds getting "pelfed", but if you really want to know about the ROLF technique, click here
60. Workout output: SWEAT. I would imagine that actor Reynolds had a SWEAT or two as he anticipated Lenya's next move during the ROLF/PELF scene
62. Needs to settle: OWES. Hmm. OK it's Friday so the cluing should be a bit tougher. Of course I was thinking that "settle" meant to come to rest. Did I mention before that this was one of the hardest puzzles I've ever solved?
63. Drops the ball: ERRS. CELEBRATES NEW YEAR'S EVE was too many letters to fill this small area . . .
Down:
2. Some website images: CLIP ART. Is it one word or two? CLIP ART looks better to my "I" than CLIPART. But I digress . . . guess what folks? We use CLIP ART in our blogs! Clip art are simple pictures and symbols made available for computer users to add to their documents. But once again, my brain's temporal lobe thought up this image and I am pretty sure that "clippers" had a role:
3. Linger longer than, as a welcome: OUTSTAY. I've heard both OUTSTAY and OVERSTAY, but either way, as Ben Franklin said, "Fish and houseguests smell after three days . . ."
4. Film buff's choice: TMC. Turner Classic Movies
5. Jack in a rhyme: SPRAT. "Jack SPRAT would eat no fat, his wife would eat no lean . . ." or something like that
6. Kinkajou cousin: COATI. First off, it would've helped to know what a Kinkajou is! Wikipedia says: "The kinkajou is a tropical rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus Potos and is also known as the "honey bear". And now you know
How about a Moe-klu?
Certain Israeli's
ROLFing practice has the name:
"Ida's Kinkajou"
OY!
7. Sci-fi subject: ALIEN LIFE. WHO doesn't remember the most eponymous Alien Life Form from the 1986-1990 TV sitcom?
8. First name of two Spice Girls: MEL. Wikipedia says: "The Spice Girls are an English pop girl group formed in 1994. The group comprises Melanie Brown, also known as MEL B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie Chisholm, MEL C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham née Adams ("Posh Spice")
9. Hypotheticals: WHAT IFS. Are there hypothethicals in Jeopardy? For example, ANSWER: "The speed of light." QUESTION (as posed by a contestant): "WHAT IF I say, 'very fast'??
10. Monster Angus Thickburger seller: HARDEE'S. HARDEE'S is a "fast-food" restaurant chain that started as a single facility by Wilbur Hardee in Greenville, NC in 1960. Wikipedia has lots more info than I can type here. FTR, I worked at one of their restaurants in York, PA in the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college. Minimum wage then was $1.65 per hour I think . . .
11. Adversary: OPPOSER. Our visit from the Thesaurussaurus
13. Protect from light: SHADE. I sure hope that no one will "throw" SHADE at me!!
15. Certain jumper's need: CHUTE. Or the equally familiar PARACHUTE. Both are acceptable, but why would you jump out of a perfectly safe airline, e.g.??
17. Way up the slope: T-BAR. Moe-ku:
Ski slopes in England
Are busy at 4:00 PM.
Long lines at T-BAR
Are my "dad jokes" getting a bit too STALE right now??!!!
21. KitchenAid competitor: OSTER. I wanted another Moe-ku (OSTER Oyster) but I'm done for today! Here is an OSTER appliance CLIP ART I found:
24. Apple variety: GALA. GALA apples are a hybrid that originated in New Zealand back in the 1930's. It is one of the more popular varieties and is one I almost always buy. Of course the "clue" today had me thinking of PDA's, and I had IPAD/IPOD/IMAC in mind. Each found their way into the puzzle before I realized it was an orchard fruit variety. Anybody else fall for that?
26. Rocker Nugent: TED. TED Nugent (Theodore Anthony, by birth) gained fame first as a lead guitarist for the band he formed called The Amboy Dukes, but is best known for his solo work. Here is a sample of his guitar prowess:
29. Convention center attraction: TRADE SHOW. If I had a nickel for every TRADE SHOW I attended or worked during my 35+ year career . . . I'd have about $5!!
30. Olive __: OYL. This became a "SHIFTY EYE" for me in a different way . . . I had this answered as OIL (with an I) at first
33. British __: ISLES. Wow, this clue seemed quite easy actually. One of the few spots I filled before cheating
34. Fighting: AT IT. My sister (older) and I were always AT IT when we were kids; we are much more cordial now
35. Astronaut Jemison: MAE. MAE Carol Jemison (October 17, 1956 - ) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Wikipedia. Love this quote:
36. Word from the Greek for "two assumptions": DILEMMA. Another word I looked up to get a foothold on the Western border of the puzzle. DILEMMA: early 16th century (denoting a form of argument involving a choice between equally unfavorable alternatives): via Latin from Greek dilēmma, from di- ‘twice’ + lēmma ‘premise’. Caught between a rock and a hard spot, perhaps? Or maybe this:
37. Oppressive: ONEROUS.
38. Tube tops?: TV IDOLS. Once again, the "literal" clue appeared - "tube top" - as in the strapless clothing item worn by women; followed closely by the plastic lid one might find on a tube of toothpaste. But it wasn't until I found INVALID (the key "perp") before I knew that "tube" meant the slang word for television, and that "tops" meant stars or IDOLS. Meh. Maybe if they clued it "boob tube tops" I'd have had a chance of getting it the first go around . . .
41. Device that delivers a coat: SPRAYER. I liked this clue! And since we recently had a painting job to do that required a base "coat" (which we applied with a SPRAYER) it was crystal clear
43. Downs: INGESTS. Third person present. INGESTS means to take into the body (food, drink, e.g.) by swallowing; could also mean (with regards to information) "absorbing". As in "they spent their day by INGESTing the contents of the Encyclopedia Brittanica
45. Cherish: ADORE. Another "oldie but goodie":
46. Type: SORT. Got this straight away, too. Dunno why but it just seemed to "fit"
47. Part of a full house, maybe: TREYS. Look carefully: which is the better hand?
49. Easter Island's country: CHILE. Another gimme. See map here. Scroll to show just how far off of the coast of CHILE this island "LEIS". About 2,000 miles I reckon
50. Little disputes: TIFFS. Most of the time when my sister and I were "AT IT" we were having TIFFS
56. Box office sign: SRO. Standing Room Only
57. Female in a field: EWE. This cleu was "meh" for me. EWE?
The Grid: (72 words and 36 blocks - very difficult)
Comments??
