Theme: Daffynitions from marti's dictionary:
Each of the four grid-spanning theme answers are definitions of very silly clues, which are puns, soundalikes and all together rib-tickling clue/fill pairs. Between her puzzles and her write-ups, you all should be familiar with the divine miss m's style which favors a heavy dose of humor. There are some bonuses, and the fill is not always easy, nor always hard, but it is Friday, so let us attack this feast of punnery and chowdah.
17A. Buccaneer?(BUCK AN EAR): TOP PRICE FOR CORN (15). This is the oldest joke among marti's theme, usually punchlined as "a helluva price for corn", but that is not pc for cwd. My guess, this was her seed entry, not that corn comes from seeds.
25A. Pasteurize? (PAST YOUR EYES): TOO FAR TO OBSERVE (15). One you might have to think about quite a bit, it took me the longest of the theme to grok.
42A, Propaganda?(PROPER GANDER): RESPECTFUL GOOSE (15). For all of the New England members of the Corner with ties to BAHSTON this was easy, for the rest I am sure it was very hard.
54A. Melancholy? (MELON COLLIE): PINKISH SHEEP DOG (15). Another thought provoking one, first you have to know that the color melon is pinkish.
and then you have to realize Collies were bred to herd sheep, so it is SHEEP DOG, not sheepdog. Of course melons make me think of this classic
and of course for Dennis and the rest, it is the season for WATERMELONS.
Across:
1. Emulate a sous chef : PREP. Well, gee. I can start with a nit, as the SOUS (from the French meaning UNDER, you can always remember from French 101, La plume de ma tante est sur la table, La maîtresse de mon oncle est sous la table) is 2nd in command and does more bossing than prepping.
5. Alcohol awareness-raising org. : MADD. Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
9. Lands by the sea : CAPES. Like Cape Cod, Cape Horn etc.
14. Facetious "I see" : AH SO. Perhaps a bit un-PC in this modern world.
15. Farm fraction : ACRE.
16. Troop formation : ARRAY. Oldtime word of the MILITARY.
20. IRS info : SSN.
21. Jackie's designer : OLEG. Cassini, who created and perfected the Jackie look.
22. Wikipedia policy : NO ADS.
23. Part of a flight : STEP. Of stairs.
24. Vendetta : FEUD. Another nit, to me Vendetta go only one way, feuds are equal opportunity destruction.
32. SASE inserts, sometimes : RSVPS.
33. "Sweet!" : NICE. My kids use both.
34. Feel poorly : AIL. A wish of good health for our legion and their families.
35. Like many college texts : USED. ironically many of the used texts never were used.
36. MapQuest owner : AOL. Rival to google maps.
37. "So Big" author Ferber : EDNA. A strong and inspiring WOMAN along with being entertaining.
38. A, in Austria : EIN.
39. Fishing hook : GAFF. Not a fish hook at the end of your line but
41. Hilarious : A RIOT.
46. Donald, to Dewey : UNCA. We called my uncle, UNC.
47. Masters statistics : PARS. Ahh, but we roar for the eagles.
48. Coffee go-with : DONUT. Especially if you like Dunkin'
50. Right on el mapa : ESTE. East in Spanish, el mapa sounds like Three Stooges' Spanish.
51. IV-covered areas : ERS. A bonus pun IV (IVY) covered Emergency Rooms.
57. Consumed : EATEN.
58. Wall St. debuts : IPOS. Initial Public Offerings.
59. Reject, in a way : JILT. In a way, wow.
60. It's "when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie" : AMORE. DEAN (2:12) . For marti
61. Suffragist Lucretia : MOTT. Another strong WOMAN.
62. Catches on : SEES. Halfway done, everyone see where she went?
Down:
1. Tom Brady's team, to fans : PATS. Another New England reference from Massachusetts' own.
2. Frat letters : RHOS. Not to be confused with ROW, ROW your boat.
3. Place to watch the 1-Down : ESPN. Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.
4. Break noisily : POP. goes the weasel.
5. "Marilyn: A Biography" author : MAILER. Norman is back.
6. Say yes : ACCEPT.
7. Barrel-bottom bit : DREG. Never thought of this as a singular word, I wonder if it is related to DRECK?.
8. Hi-__ : DEF.inition. (semi theme hint).
9. Party hearty : CAROUSE.
10. Skee-Ball spot : ARCADE. Ah, those were the days.
11. Cow poke : PROD. Cute, just reminds me of the Mentalist episode where Patrick was held by the DAUGHTER (2:36) of a man he sent to jail.
12. Big-grin borders : EARS. Conflict with the theme entry?
13. Thesaurus entry: Abbr. : SYN. onym.
18. Rosters : ROTAS. Latin meaning wheel.
19. Year in Augustus' reign : ONE BC. This reminded me of the One BC I loved, and a hint to her mind..
23. "Monk" org. : SFPD. San Fransisco Police Department. The show starring Tony SHALHOUB (1:42).
24. Frustrate : FOIL. What did the leftover meatloaf say to the baked potato? Curses, foiled again!
25. More faithful : TRUER.
26. "Do the Right Thing" actor Davis : OSSIE. Da MAYOR(0:24).
27. Hot spots : OVENS. Not WIFI, but literal.
28. Switch type : ON/OFF. This clue really clicked with me, especially followed by...
29. A ham might be on one : RADIO.
30. Chiantis, e.g. : VINOS. Italian for wine.
31. Cheer : ELATE. Not related to etrade.
36. Colgate-Palmolive shaving lotion : AFTA. Which is AFTER (unless in BAHSTON) shave lotion.
37. Cupid's counterpart : EROS.
39. Suitable for a serious collector : GENUINE. hey Dennis, did all the collectibles survive the move?
40. S&L units : ACCTS. Accounts.
41. Bury the hatchet : AGREE. Which you do at the end of a feud.
43. Sex Pistols fan, e.g. : PUNKER. meh.
44. Outcome : UPSHOT.
45. Up-to-date : LATEST. These days you get to have the latest for about two months and something newer and better is out.
48. Geom. figure : DIAMeter.
49. Aware of : ON TO.
50. Beantown hockey nickname : ESPOsito. Back in Massachusetts with Phil, his brother Tony was the Chicago Blackhawks goalie.
51. Actress Falco : EDIE. She went from the Soprano to NURSE JACKIE (2:40).
52. It's assumed : ROLE. Wanted name, but...
53. Pvt. instructors : SGTS. A little military misdirection.
54. Space cadet's brain size? : PEA. Generous.
55. Pronoun that's a homonym of a song : HIM. Hmm, hymn.
56. Under-cover duds? : PJS. It is just about time for me to slip into mine (or someone's), and off to sleep, so I hope you have had a good journey, for those of us perhaps in the path of the hurricane, be safe. I hear it is headed to New England this week, so all of you be careful. It is time for marti and I to say bye for now, but first here is her constructor comment:
This puzzle was inspired by a comment that Grumpy1 made several months ago. You can find his comment at 10:41 on March 31:
"...I always liked Wiley's Dictionary in the BC comic strip. Hmmmmm, a crossword theme of clues according to Wiley? That could be fun."
Yes it was!
Notes from C.C.: Part III (Venice) of JD's trip.
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| Bob (JD's wonderful husband) & Dick (an old blog regular) |
She said:
"We stayed in Venice for 3 days, and I had no idea that there were 119 islands. We went to the village of Burano on one of them where lace is made. Their houses were brightly painted, so in the past, men coming home from the seas could find their home. If there were 2 families living in a house, it would be 2 colors. Some were 4 colors- unique!
Here is Bob and Dick in our gondola ride. It was not as smooth as I thought it would be, especially when a water ambulance went by and made waves. St. Mark's Square is VERY crowded,and the Doge's Palace is huge... filled with beautiful paintings, statues, architecture, and lots of stairs. As you can see their buildings are constantly being restored.
Click here for more pictures. The first picture there is Bob & JD.
