Theme: You've Been Pied - Several 2-word common phrases & one compound word, unrelated to food, with first part being a type of pie, are humorously interpreted and ? clued with "Pie" and an associated description for the remainder.
18A. Pie flop?: CHERRY BOMB. Illegal fireworks, a type of "salute", which is a pyrotechnic device designed to make a loud report. A show that bombs is a flop. Cherry pie.
23A. Pie taste-test site?: CHOCOLATE LAB. A dark Labrador Retriever. Tests are performed in a laboratory. Chocolate pie.
39A. Pie to-do?: MUDFLAP. A splash guard for vehicles. A flap was originally Brit slang for a noisy tumult or to-do. Mud pie.
50A. Pie charts?: APPLE RECORDS. Music recording label founded by the Beatles. Charts and records as in a doctor's office. Apple pie.
60A. Pie patter?: MINCE WORDS. To try to politely tell someone something unpleasant in a manner such as to not hurt their feelings. Patter orig. from Latin "pater" to mumble prayers rapidly (pater from Paternoster, the Lord's Prayer). Mince pie.
Al here.
An OK puzzle today, sped through fairly quickly except the SW gave me some trouble getting a start, but I got it all without assistance, the perps filling in enough of the names and abbrevs for guessing, which is how it should be. I never saw a few of the clues, so this was more like a Wednesday level puzzle to me.
ACROSS:
1. A party to: IN ON.
5. Quite the fashion plate: CHIC. I find it interesting that it might come from two different sources: old German words for neat/orderly shikken/schicken, or from a French word for trickery (chicanery). Make your own fashion conclusions...
9. Spring bloomer: LILAC.
14. His epitaph reads "And the beat goes on": BONO. Sonny Bono (Sonny & Cher) was the only member of congress to have a #1 single on the Billboard top 100 chart.
15. Faulkner femme fatale Varner: EULA. A William Faulkner story, The Hamlet, was made into The Long Hot Summer in 1958, with Lee Remick as Eula. Also made into a 26 part TV series in 1965. Never heard of any of it before today...
16. BP merger partner: AMOCO. American Oil Co., British Petroleum.
17. TV role for Bamboo Harvester: MR. ED. The "real" name of the palomino horse in the TV show of the same name.
20. Italian deli sandwich: PANINI. Similar to a small Italian sub.
22. Travelers' burdens: VALISES. Suitcase, soldiers kit bag.
26. X, at times: TEN. Roman numeral. Also times at times. Cute.
27. www bookmark: URL. Uniform Resource Locator.
28. Film director's headaches: EGOS.
32. Luther's lang.: GER. Martin Luther, medieval priest. Basically stated that you can't buy your way into heaven, which got him in all sorts of trouble with the church.
34. First Amendment lobbying gp.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.
36. Numbers game: SUDOKU.
38. Buckeyes' home: Abbr.: OSU. Ohio State Univ.
41. Post- opposite: PRE.
42. One in distress?: DAMSEL. Melodrama.
44. Slug or song ending: FEST. Shortening of festival.
45. Loft material: HAY.
46. Apartment manager, familiarly: SUPE.
47. Quaff for Andy Capp: ALE. British syndicated comic strip.
48. Curling setting: ICE. Probably the only Olympic sport you can participate in while preggers.
56. Like the auditory and optic nerves, e.g.: CRANIAL. They're all in your head.
59. Aspen topper: SKI HAT.
63. Prohibited thing: NO-NO.
64. Days of Hanukkah, e.g.: OCTET.
65. Flag: TIRE. To go limp or droop, as with a flag with no wind.
66. First name in Olympics gymnastics: OLGA. Korbut. The media whirl which surrounded her 1972 Olympic debut caused a surge of young girls to join their local gymnastic clubs, and a sport which had seldom been noticed previously made headlines.
67. Like beer halls, usually: NOISY.
68. Eyewear, in ads: SPEX. X-ray ones, no doubt.
69. Raid target: PEST. Not just for bugs.
DOWN:
1. High-tech debut of 1981: IBM PC.
2. Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. Best Album. Don't know why.
3. Bridge opening: ONE NO TRUMP.
4. "Fuggedaboutit!": NO DICE. Nothin' doin'. Gambling with dice was illegal in many states and so gamblers went to some pains to hide the dice when challenged by the police. Courts would sometimes throw out cases if the dice weren't offered in evidence. There are several court records where gamblers were alleged to have swallowed dice to avoid arrest. No dice, no conviction.
5. 1980s-'90s slugger Fielder: CECIL
6. "Whazzat?": HUH.
7. Seine sight: ILE. French river, island.
8. Longtime ice cream cake brand: CARVEL. Another unknown to me. Connecticut based.
9. Clapton title woman: LAYLA. Unplugged.
10. Wet one's whistle: IMBIBED. From Latin imbibere "absorb, drink in, inhale.
11. Johns, to Elton: LOOS. Probably from Fr. lieux d'aisances, "lavatory," lit. "place of ease," picked up by British servicemen in France during World War I. Or possibly a pun on Waterloo, based on water closet.
12. Top: ACME. Or apex. Need at least one other perp letter besides the A.
13. Male swans: COBS. Females are called PENS.
19. "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-__": Irish lullaby: RAL.
21. Hardly distinguished: NO NAME.
24. Nostalgic song title word: AULD. LANG SYNE
25. Godiva product: TRUFFLE.
29. Tunnel entrance of sorts: GOPHER HOLE.
30. Gumbo ingredient: OKRA.
31. Chop __: SUEY. From Chinese (Cantonese dialect) tsap sui "odds and ends."
32. Mars and Venus: GODS.
33. Name meaning "hairy" in Hebrew: ESAU. Perhaps a tad obscure...
35. __-de-sac: CUL.
36. Airline to Oslo: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines.
37. Slight market improvement: UPTICK. Stock market trend change.
40. Disconcerting glance: LEER. Or OGLE.
43. Hand-holding events: SEANCES. From French séance "a sitting,"
47. Parcels out: ALLOTS. To divide into lots. Related to the sense of "drawing lots" where in new settlements, sometimes the best properties were determined by lot. Also related, lottery.
49. Requiring change, briefly: COIN-OP. Like the government in both senses, needing to change, and being run by money...
51. Reverence: PIETY.
52. A pad helps protect it: PAW.
53. Elizabeth I's beloved: ESSEX. Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex. Eventually executed for treason after falling out of favor and trying to mount a coup.
54. Mild expletives: DANGS.
55. Brown ermine: STOAT.
56. "Get real!": C'MON.
57. Guy who "wore a diamond," in the song "Copacabana": RICO.
58. ABM component?: ANTI. Ballistic Missile.
61. Scary current: RIP.
62. Grammy-winning Dr.: DRE.
Answer Grid.
Bon voyage, Clear Ayes! You'll be missed.
Al
18A. Pie flop?: CHERRY BOMB. Illegal fireworks, a type of "salute", which is a pyrotechnic device designed to make a loud report. A show that bombs is a flop. Cherry pie.
23A. Pie taste-test site?: CHOCOLATE LAB. A dark Labrador Retriever. Tests are performed in a laboratory. Chocolate pie.
39A. Pie to-do?: MUDFLAP. A splash guard for vehicles. A flap was originally Brit slang for a noisy tumult or to-do. Mud pie.
50A. Pie charts?: APPLE RECORDS. Music recording label founded by the Beatles. Charts and records as in a doctor's office. Apple pie.
60A. Pie patter?: MINCE WORDS. To try to politely tell someone something unpleasant in a manner such as to not hurt their feelings. Patter orig. from Latin "pater" to mumble prayers rapidly (pater from Paternoster, the Lord's Prayer). Mince pie.
Al here.
An OK puzzle today, sped through fairly quickly except the SW gave me some trouble getting a start, but I got it all without assistance, the perps filling in enough of the names and abbrevs for guessing, which is how it should be. I never saw a few of the clues, so this was more like a Wednesday level puzzle to me.
ACROSS:
1. A party to: IN ON.
5. Quite the fashion plate: CHIC. I find it interesting that it might come from two different sources: old German words for neat/orderly shikken/schicken, or from a French word for trickery (chicanery). Make your own fashion conclusions...
9. Spring bloomer: LILAC.
14. His epitaph reads "And the beat goes on": BONO. Sonny Bono (Sonny & Cher) was the only member of congress to have a #1 single on the Billboard top 100 chart.
15. Faulkner femme fatale Varner: EULA. A William Faulkner story, The Hamlet, was made into The Long Hot Summer in 1958, with Lee Remick as Eula. Also made into a 26 part TV series in 1965. Never heard of any of it before today...
16. BP merger partner: AMOCO. American Oil Co., British Petroleum.
17. TV role for Bamboo Harvester: MR. ED. The "real" name of the palomino horse in the TV show of the same name.
20. Italian deli sandwich: PANINI. Similar to a small Italian sub.
22. Travelers' burdens: VALISES. Suitcase, soldiers kit bag.
26. X, at times: TEN. Roman numeral. Also times at times. Cute.
27. www bookmark: URL. Uniform Resource Locator.
28. Film director's headaches: EGOS.
32. Luther's lang.: GER. Martin Luther, medieval priest. Basically stated that you can't buy your way into heaven, which got him in all sorts of trouble with the church.
34. First Amendment lobbying gp.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.
36. Numbers game: SUDOKU.
38. Buckeyes' home: Abbr.: OSU. Ohio State Univ.
41. Post- opposite: PRE.
42. One in distress?: DAMSEL. Melodrama.
44. Slug or song ending: FEST. Shortening of festival.
45. Loft material: HAY.
46. Apartment manager, familiarly: SUPE.
47. Quaff for Andy Capp: ALE. British syndicated comic strip.
48. Curling setting: ICE. Probably the only Olympic sport you can participate in while preggers.
56. Like the auditory and optic nerves, e.g.: CRANIAL. They're all in your head.
59. Aspen topper: SKI HAT.
63. Prohibited thing: NO-NO.
64. Days of Hanukkah, e.g.: OCTET.
65. Flag: TIRE. To go limp or droop, as with a flag with no wind.
66. First name in Olympics gymnastics: OLGA. Korbut. The media whirl which surrounded her 1972 Olympic debut caused a surge of young girls to join their local gymnastic clubs, and a sport which had seldom been noticed previously made headlines.
67. Like beer halls, usually: NOISY.
68. Eyewear, in ads: SPEX. X-ray ones, no doubt.
69. Raid target: PEST. Not just for bugs.
DOWN:
1. High-tech debut of 1981: IBM PC.
2. Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. Best Album. Don't know why.
3. Bridge opening: ONE NO TRUMP.
4. "Fuggedaboutit!": NO DICE. Nothin' doin'. Gambling with dice was illegal in many states and so gamblers went to some pains to hide the dice when challenged by the police. Courts would sometimes throw out cases if the dice weren't offered in evidence. There are several court records where gamblers were alleged to have swallowed dice to avoid arrest. No dice, no conviction.
5. 1980s-'90s slugger Fielder: CECIL
6. "Whazzat?": HUH.
7. Seine sight: ILE. French river, island.
8. Longtime ice cream cake brand: CARVEL. Another unknown to me. Connecticut based.
9. Clapton title woman: LAYLA. Unplugged.
10. Wet one's whistle: IMBIBED. From Latin imbibere "absorb, drink in, inhale.
11. Johns, to Elton: LOOS. Probably from Fr. lieux d'aisances, "lavatory," lit. "place of ease," picked up by British servicemen in France during World War I. Or possibly a pun on Waterloo, based on water closet.
12. Top: ACME. Or apex. Need at least one other perp letter besides the A.
13. Male swans: COBS. Females are called PENS.
19. "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-__": Irish lullaby: RAL.
21. Hardly distinguished: NO NAME.
24. Nostalgic song title word: AULD. LANG SYNE
25. Godiva product: TRUFFLE.
29. Tunnel entrance of sorts: GOPHER HOLE.
30. Gumbo ingredient: OKRA.
31. Chop __: SUEY. From Chinese (Cantonese dialect) tsap sui "odds and ends."
32. Mars and Venus: GODS.
33. Name meaning "hairy" in Hebrew: ESAU. Perhaps a tad obscure...
35. __-de-sac: CUL.
36. Airline to Oslo: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines.
37. Slight market improvement: UPTICK. Stock market trend change.
40. Disconcerting glance: LEER. Or OGLE.
43. Hand-holding events: SEANCES. From French séance "a sitting,"
47. Parcels out: ALLOTS. To divide into lots. Related to the sense of "drawing lots" where in new settlements, sometimes the best properties were determined by lot. Also related, lottery.
49. Requiring change, briefly: COIN-OP. Like the government in both senses, needing to change, and being run by money...
51. Reverence: PIETY.
52. A pad helps protect it: PAW.
53. Elizabeth I's beloved: ESSEX. Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex. Eventually executed for treason after falling out of favor and trying to mount a coup.
54. Mild expletives: DANGS.
55. Brown ermine: STOAT.
56. "Get real!": C'MON.
57. Guy who "wore a diamond," in the song "Copacabana": RICO.
58. ABM component?: ANTI. Ballistic Missile.
61. Scary current: RIP.
62. Grammy-winning Dr.: DRE.
Answer Grid.
Bon voyage, Clear Ayes! You'll be missed.
Al
