Theme: RHOTACISM: (Now a word from our education sponsors: LINK)
This is Marti’s homage puzzle to 63 Across: ELMER FUDD. Each of the four theme answers (the 1st and 4th being grid spanners!) take common two-word phrases and morph them into a new and legitimate phrase, clued with a question mark to warn you the game is afoot. Each first word changes not only the R sound to W but changes the rest of the word as well. I WOVE (love) this puzzle! This is also why I will never finish constructing one, as I am intimidated by the ability to create two 15 letter answers which work in this very limiting theme. As an alternative theme because so many of you watch Big Bang Theory, please watch the following SNIPPET (1:13).
17A. About 98 degrees Fahrenheit? : WOMB (ROOM) TEMPERATURE. (15) For all the nit pickers, I do not know or care if the actual reading of body temp is the same in the womb as the rest of the body, this is just plain funny.
25A. Gardener’s agenda? : WEEDING (READING) LIST. (11) Keeping Bugs from the carrots?
43A. Bikers? : WHEEL (REAL) PEOPLE. (11) I am not sure if she was thinking of the old TV SERIES, (1:39) or just the general expression.
55A. Jack Daniel’s field? : WHISKEY (RISKY) BUSINESS. (15) I am back with more TOM CRUISE (1:54) as well as some Tennessee sipping whiskey (not BOURBON!). Did you recognize Balki and Booger?
and the hint:
63A. Toon who inspired this puzzle's four long puns : ELMER.(7:21) Early Elmer.
Well that was such fun let’s see what she did to top herself.
Across:
1. Dessert with a hyphen : JELL-O. I have the jingle in my ear. They did some pretty absurd TV ADS.(0:31). I also mourn Soupy Sales.
6. "Good for me!" : TADA. The crossword puzzler's best friend.
10. Goes for : OPTS. marti opted to be funny once again!
14. Foreign : ALIEN.
15. Answer to a nagging roommate : I'M UP. Said more than once, with feeling!
16. Textbook pioneer Webster : NOAH. Dictionary anyone?
20. Nurse : SIP. Like drinking slowly, though the word also can relate to a similar sounding three letter word....
21. Name on an airport shuttle : AVIS. Do they still try harder?
22. Pleased as punch : ELATED. I was elated to see miss m and I were doing another of our Friday fun frolics.
23. Pakistan neighbor : IRAN. This word comes from the Sanskrit meaning ARYAN. the same word used by the Nazis.
24. After-dinner drink letters : VSOP. Very Superior Old Pale, cognac designation.
29. Rested : SAT.
32. Probability number : RATIO. The ratio of fun Fridays goes way up with our crew creating..
33. Cask wood : OAK. Where they age the whiskey.
34. Part of a plot : ACRE. Not a story plot, a plot of ground!
35. Online qualifier : IMHO. In My Humble Opinion. Again!!!!!!
36. Absolut rival, briefly : STOLI. Hmm, our fifth liquor reference, marti?
This is Marti’s homage puzzle to 63 Across: ELMER FUDD. Each of the four theme answers (the 1st and 4th being grid spanners!) take common two-word phrases and morph them into a new and legitimate phrase, clued with a question mark to warn you the game is afoot. Each first word changes not only the R sound to W but changes the rest of the word as well. I WOVE (love) this puzzle! This is also why I will never finish constructing one, as I am intimidated by the ability to create two 15 letter answers which work in this very limiting theme. As an alternative theme because so many of you watch Big Bang Theory, please watch the following SNIPPET (1:13).
17A. About 98 degrees Fahrenheit? : WOMB (ROOM) TEMPERATURE. (15) For all the nit pickers, I do not know or care if the actual reading of body temp is the same in the womb as the rest of the body, this is just plain funny.
25A. Gardener’s agenda? : WEEDING (READING) LIST. (11) Keeping Bugs from the carrots?
43A. Bikers? : WHEEL (REAL) PEOPLE. (11) I am not sure if she was thinking of the old TV SERIES, (1:39) or just the general expression.
55A. Jack Daniel’s field? : WHISKEY (RISKY) BUSINESS. (15) I am back with more TOM CRUISE (1:54) as well as some Tennessee sipping whiskey (not BOURBON!). Did you recognize Balki and Booger?
and the hint:
63A. Toon who inspired this puzzle's four long puns : ELMER.(7:21) Early Elmer.
Well that was such fun let’s see what she did to top herself.
Across:
1. Dessert with a hyphen : JELL-O. I have the jingle in my ear. They did some pretty absurd TV ADS.(0:31). I also mourn Soupy Sales.
6. "Good for me!" : TADA. The crossword puzzler's best friend.
10. Goes for : OPTS. marti opted to be funny once again!
14. Foreign : ALIEN.
15. Answer to a nagging roommate : I'M UP. Said more than once, with feeling!
16. Textbook pioneer Webster : NOAH. Dictionary anyone?
20. Nurse : SIP. Like drinking slowly, though the word also can relate to a similar sounding three letter word....
21. Name on an airport shuttle : AVIS. Do they still try harder?
22. Pleased as punch : ELATED. I was elated to see miss m and I were doing another of our Friday fun frolics.
23. Pakistan neighbor : IRAN. This word comes from the Sanskrit meaning ARYAN. the same word used by the Nazis.
24. After-dinner drink letters : VSOP. Very Superior Old Pale, cognac designation.
29. Rested : SAT.
32. Probability number : RATIO. The ratio of fun Fridays goes way up with our crew creating..
33. Cask wood : OAK. Where they age the whiskey.
34. Part of a plot : ACRE. Not a story plot, a plot of ground!
35. Online qualifier : IMHO. In My Humble Opinion. Again!!!!!!
36. Absolut rival, briefly : STOLI. Hmm, our fifth liquor reference, marti?
38. Hideaway : LAIR.
39. Bundled off : SENT. In England, the rich kids were bundled off to public school.
40. "___ for Cookie": "Sesame Street" song : C IS. C'mon, SING (1:21) along!
41. Kind of renewable energy : SOLAR. Is this related to Solar Plexus?
42. General on a a menu : TSO. Back on the menu, like the old Buddy Hackett joke about Chinese Jews.
46. Time : HOUR. I hope it does not take you that long for this puzzle.
47. DoD fliers : USAF. Department of Defense. United States Air Force.
48. Topnotch : SUPERB. an excellent word to describe this creation.
51. Proficiency measure : EXAM. I found this to be a testy clue.
52. "Wanna ___?" : BET. Yes I do!
58. 2000s GM compacts : IONS. These were built by Saturn and I owned one for a week. Fun car.
59. Bust a gut : ROAR.
60. High capital : LHASA. I bet you knew this was in Ti-bet.
61. Butter used to deep-fry samosas : GHEE. Gee, we have not had this clarified butter since a John Lampkin Sunday puzzle in 2010.
62. Drama award : TONY. These were not named after Tony Orlando.
We press on...
Down:
1. Chews the fat : JAWS. I presume from the way we flap them while we speak.
2. Childlike sci-fi people : ELOI. Yvette honey, where are you?
3. Like a wet noodle : LIMP. Now Dennis, here is a perfect opening for you and the rest of the old timers to return some DF to the puzzle, to keep our Morel strong!
4. Isr. neighbor : LEBanon. The most beautiful woman I know is Lebanese. I had a great Uncle from Lebanon who my father used to introduce as his wife's "Lesbian" Uncle.
5. Hudson Bay province : ONTARIO. Home of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, which is where the 57D. Senators' org. : NHL play. Lots of hockey clues. Do any of you watch Matt LeBlanc in Pucks?
6. Comedian's art : TIMING. Also an important belt.
7. Rock boosters : AMPS. Amplifiers.
8. Unsettled : DUE. Pay up, please.
9. Time for a hot toddy, perhaps : APRES SKI. You knew miss m would get some skiing in, now that there is snow. Of course what you do after skiing is to drink alcohol, hmmmm.
10. Ready to be drawn : ON TAP. Okay, our mandatory beer reference. My nephew is now working for Victory Brewing.
11. Diva's fit : POUT. Can you tell?
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12. Weight allowance : TARE.
13. Shake off : SHED. Like the Octomom has been doing with her clothes to get money.
18. Writer Hunter : EVAN. Wrote many books as Ed McBain, prolific writer who began writing serious novels like Blackboard Jungle, and then went to crime novels. He took his first nom de plume from the College where he went in NY.
19. Oodles : A LOT. Not to be confused with AGOB.
23. Target of a series of guide : IDIOT. Not to be confused with the KAMA SUTRA.
24. Medicine holder : VIAL. I had so many vile thoughts about this clue.
25. Something to keep a watch on : WRIST. Oh you tricky one, where else would you keep your wrist watch?
26. Name in chair design : EAMES. I learned from CW puzzles of this COUPLE. They ended up doing much more than chairs.
27. Cultural prefix : ETHNO.
28. Rough, as a translation : LOOSE. Many rough women I knew were also quite good at translating.
29. Re-sell to desperate fans , maybe : SCALP. Is this derived from the totally un-pc native American reference?
30. Standard Windows typeface : ARIAL. What type are you? We use Georgia here.
31. Land at Charles de Gaulle airport? : TERRE. En Francais on dit Terre. More translation sensation.
34. Disinterested : ALOOF. Of course many of you who read and never post are not shy, just....
36. "Trout Quintet" composer : SCHUBERT. I love this VIDEO,(7:04) not only the music, but look at their faces.
37. Piece of cake : TIER. Easy this was not, though certainly not the icing on the cake either. A nicely layered clue.
41. Nautical distance : SEA MILE.Which are really different from land ones.
43. Get the job done : WORK. Well this is still fun, but it does take a bit of time.
44. More than just creature comforts : LUXURY. Yes, the American Dream.
45. Educ. radio spots : PSAS. Public Service Announcements.
46. "Siddhartha" author : HESSE. A German born author outspoken against Hitler. LINK.
48. Snort : SWIG. Okay, we are back to getting soused again!
49. "That doesn't sound good" : UH OH. When you have that hangover...
50. Needle dropper : PINE. I went all around the medical tree and had trouble parsing this simple one.
51. "Voice of Israel" author : EBAN. I had the pleasure of meeting this gentle man when I was working with a local television show Shalom.
52. Send, "Star Trek" style : BEAM. me up Scotty.
53. ___ quam videri: North Carolina motto : ESSE. "To be rather than to seem to be." There is a wonderful author, ROBERT HARRIS who has written about Cicero, the creator of this phrase, enlightening reading.
54. Abdicator of 1917 : TSAR. Nicholas II.
56. "___-hoo!" : YOO. It is Lemonade, here saying goodnight; marti entertains but wears me out with so many provocative clues. It is way past my bedtime, so don't call too early, but have a great time. L'shana tova to those who are about to begin a New Year. Congrats marti on your Sunday and Friday coup!
Peace out.
Answer Grid.
