Today's constructor is Sheryl Bartol from Evanston, IL whose first LA Times
puzzle I blogged this year on May 23. Sheryl learned to construct crosswords
from her sister Debbie Ellerin whose byline we see here also. This is a very
attractive picture of the two sisters.
This was Sheryl's lovely response when I asked her about this
puzzle:
Hi Gary,
Nice to hear from you again. This puzzle went through a lot of
iterations and rework. In the end, it was quite different from
where I started, as I discovered new word combinations along the way.
Here are a few comments on some of the entries:
One of my favorite words is EMOTICON which I often use in my emails
;)
We play a lot of board games in my house, especially during a
pandemic, which inspired my CARTEL clue.
I am also a big Indian food fan, hence the way I clued LENTIL.
Lastly, I love the change that our dear editors made to my clue for
POET, which was not nearly as clever.
I hope everyone enjoys solving it!
Thanks,
Sheryl
Across:
1. They clean up: JANITORS - They are a great
asset to any school or business especially these days.
9. Menu
category including shells: PASTA - Conchiglia is Italian
for conch shell
14. Park, for one: OPEN AREA.
15. Monopoly
player?: CARTEL - Real money and products
16.
Sign in many restaurant windows: UBER EATS which can lead
to this delivery service
17. Emblem on a dollar bill: US SEAL.
18. For or against: SIDE - If you choose a SIDE, you might have to 57. Retreat from, as a previous statement: WALK BACK - Wait, that's not what I meant
19. Parisian street
food: CREPES - Parfait in French means perfect. Oh, but you
already knew that. Uh, the truck doesn't seem to be parfait!
34. Browning but not cooking: POET - A clue
change Sheryl admired for POET Elizabeth Barrett Browning
35.
Have the ability to: COULD.
36. Ripped: TORE.
37. Barbecue tool
feature: TINE.
38. Fireside
sight: LOGS.
39. Like some
tricks: DIRTY.
40. Showed
scorn: SNORTED - Yeah, I'm the only one who first put
SNEERED
42. "Erie Canal" mule: SAL - I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie
Canal. She’s a good old worker and a good old pal, Fifteen years on the Erie
Canal
43. App update messages, say: PUSH ALERTS - It's up
to you whether to get 'em or not
46. Award show VIPs: MCS - The Golden Globes had Ricky Gervais MC their award show and he promptly made fun of everyone in Hollywood. What did they do? They had him back!
49. Egg
dropper: HEN - I conducted thousands of these over the
years sans any HENS
50. Plane, for one: EVENER - After a trip through
the PLANER
51. "What can I help you with?" speaker: SIRI - "Who was
James Buchanan's vice president?"
52. Clear
out: VACATE.
54. It often includes a
colon: EMOTICON - :-) Sheryl says she really enjoys these. I have found Bitmojis which are pretty cool!
56. Amtrak speedsters: ACELAS - NYC to DC takes 2h and 35m on this train
58.
Gives up: CEDES - There are several below
59. Clomps (through), as a puddle: SPLOSHES - Yeah,
I'm the only one who put SPLASHES. Even GALOSHES made more sense instead of
this word that is foreign to me (and my spellchecker)
Down:
1. Renaissance faire contest: JOUST.
2. Challenging H.S. science class: AP BIO - A page
on Speciation from an Advanced Placement Biology book
3. Clingy, say: NEEDY.
4. Memo intro: IN RE.
5. Menlo Park, N.J., notable: TAE - Edison
and his staff are said to have comprised the first R & D
facility
6. Pythia of the Temple of Apollo, for one: ORACLE - This
ORACLE was always a woman and was said to have made her prophecies
after inhaling fumes (hallucinogenic?) that rose from cracks in the Earth in the temple at
Delphi.
7. Vintage: RETRO - Acme dinettes are still in production
70 years later
8. MS enclosures: SASES - Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes
("en vuh lopes" or "awn vuh lopes?")
9. Volkswagen
sedan: PASSAT - In German, PASSAT means "trade wind"
10.
MGM motto word: ARS.
11. Safe room barrier: STEEL DOOR - This safe room
from the Atlas Company might interest you if you live in Oklahoma's
"Tornado Alley"
-
12. Baseball or soccer: TEAM SPORT.
13.
Start of a Shakespeare title: ALL'S -ALL'S Well That Ends Well - "Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to no one." Act I scene i.
15.
Its lines have lines: CUE CARD.
20. Hazards: PERILS - Even I'm not old enough to remember
this 1914 movie serial
23. Sting: CON - I'd pay to see it again
24. Ingredient in the Indian dish dal: LENTIL -
Indian LENTIL (a Sheryl fav) curry with spinach
25. Discourages: DETERS.
27. Like a cloudy
London day: GREY - How that "colour" is spelled where you
might be able to see only a few "metres"
28. Goes
(for): OPTS.
29. Gentle parting sentiment: GO IN PEACE.
30. Criticized publicly: DENOUNCED - Election
day can't get here fast enough
31. Charley, in Steinbeck's
"Travels With Charley": POODLE.
32. National Mustard Day mo.: AUG.
35. Adheres
... or separates: CLEAVES - A poetic expression using the less
common (first) definition
39. "__ Kapital": DAS - Is it ironic that a first edition of Marx's anti-capitaliism book now sells for $300,000?
41. Angle
symbols: THETAS.
42. Boardwalk activity: STROLL.
44. Online
show offering Hollywood info: E-NEWS.
45. Update
after a new survey, maybe: REMAP - After Lewis and Clark's
survey
46. Biblical prophet: MICAH
47. "Time in a
Bottle" singer: CROCE - This song and its scenes tug at my
heart
48. Some islands have them: SINKS.
49. Temperature control syst.: HVAC - Heating,
Ventilation and Air Conditioning
51. They're often
rivals: SIBS - I'm sure there was none of that with Sheryl
and Debbie!!
THEME: How do you annoy a male sheep? You NAG A RAM
Shit* was funeral*! It takes either elegant man*, or
maybe Santa*, to come up with such a delightfully convoluted crossword
puzzle such as today's! Gravestones Cost*!
The first Cornerite I thought of today, was Timo Kahlen*, our resident
garamantis*. He is always looking for ragmansa* in the
oil and gas* of the daily puzzles. I trust he will stop by later to
comment!
OK, Moe ... what's up with the start to your blog today? Why all of the
cryptic words, and why are they emboldened and starred?
Well, as you might have (47-Down. Emulate(d) Ellery Queen) DEDUCEd by
now, having solved the puzzle, Steve Faiella uses ANAGRAMS to redefine
the final word of the four longest puzzle answers, and come up with a witty
phrase, instead of the more common phrase.
When the last four words ( DIAPERS, REFILE, GNATS, and VOLE ) are
anagrammed, the result is: DESPAIR, RELIEF, ANGST, and LOVE, which
explains the "unifier" (55-Across: Mental conflict ... or what may be found in
four long puzzle answers?) MIXED EMOTIONS. And if you ever doubted that
any of these four were actual EMOTIONS, perhaps this image can shed
some light on that ...
So, how did all of these MIXED EMOTIONS develop int today's puzzle?
21-Across. Text from one who can't get out of Buy Buy Baby?:
LOST IN DIAPERS. This was the first of many head scratchers for me.
Buy Buy Baby
is not a store in which I shop or had ever heard of. But now that I LIU, I
know that you could literally be LOST IN DIAPERS there.
LOST IN DESPAIR, OTOH, causes you to worry, be sad, or lose hope. I
guess if Buy Buy Baby is out of Pampers, you could be LOST IN DESPAIR!
LOST IN DESPAIR also is the 6th track of Ensiferum's second album IRON.
Not my kind of music but YMMV
29-Across. Comment after submitting yet another updated tax return?:
WHAT A REFILE. Of all four of Steve's (35-Across. Silly:)
DIPPY phrases, this was my favorite. And while I am blessed to have never
had to REFILE a tax return, I can imagine just WHAT A RELIEF it must be
to finally have all the correct numbers for the IRS. As someone who has suffered
often from indigestion, the RELIEF found from
this anatacid tablet
has helped tame everything from hangovers to heartburn to hiccups!
36-Across. Attendees of Biting Fly High School?: TEENAGE GNATS. Wowser.
How in the heck did our "constructor du jour" ever arrive at this one??!!
Clever doesn't even begin to describe ... and while I would never (OK, that's
not true!) fact check something so brilliant, a
gnat's lifespan
is only 7 days. But what the hell? Go big or go home, I always say!!
45-Across. Zombie field mouse?: UNDYING VOLE. Could this be an example
of a zombie field mouse?
If 29-Across was my favorite of the four, 45-Across was the least. But how
else would you anagram UNDYING VOLE to get UNDYING LOVE? UNDYING LOVE
is an EMOTION that is truly the most fulfilling a couple can have. Such as
this cute couple
While the puzzle wasn't without some loose fill (NERD CHIC, TEAC, AZO, UOMO, and DIPPY), and expected fill (crossword staples such as
LEI, GAI, NIN, ERA, and ACAI) the overall concept, theme, and entries
were pretty tight. I have to believe that getting words to fill this wasn't
easy. Hope that if Steve Faiella is lurking, he'll stop by and discuss how he
came to this idea; and whether he had to do a fair amount of editing before Rich
accepted it. I'm sure that RICH NORRIS -
the "king" of anagrammed aliases
- had no trouble buying into this submission!
So, before we get started with the rest of the clues/solves, here is the
translation of the first two paragraphs of my recap. The words that were in bold
text, and had a star (*) next to them, were MY anagrams. I've italicized them in
the next paragraph for your reference:
This was real fun! It takes either a gentleman or maybe
Satan to come up with such a delightfully convoluted crossword puzzle
such as today's! Congrats Steve!
The first Cornerite I thought of today, was Ol Man Keith our resident
anagramist. He is always looking for anagrams in the
diagonals of the daily puzzles. I trust he will stop by later to
comment!
Across:
1. Band letters: AM FM. AC/DC was my first entry. Anyone else? AM/FM
seems so archaic now that we have Pandora, Amazon Music, and Sirius XM to
choose from. I can't even remember the last AM/FM radio I owned, other than
the one in my car
5. Lennon comrade: STARR. Ringo. Of The Beatles. John Lennon, who
would've been 80 years old this year. Lennon offered backup vocals, but the
word "comrade" made me think of this 1968 Beatles' classic
10. Hitchcock's "The 39 __": STEPS. This one filled itself in with a WAG
and perps.
Before my time
15. London flat?: TYRE. Ahh, not an apartment, but a flat tire (British
spelling)
16. Skating rink drink: COCOA. If I had to choose a drink to have before
or during skating, it sure wouldn't be COCOA. I'd need something "stiffer"!
17. Unleash: WREAK. I had "BREAK" / WREAK in this one. But to "wreak
havoc" requires the unleashing of some EMOTIONS, methinks
18. Miracle Mets outfielder Tommie: AGEE. Baseball. The Miracle Mets -
aka, The "Amazing" Mets - defeated the
1969 Baltimore Orioles, arguably the best team in baseball that year, due in no short order than the
contribution of Tommie AGEE, the Mets' center fielder. He did it with his bat
and with his glove.
19. "Thy word is __ unto my feet": Psalms: A LAMP. A Moe-l'ick for a
change:
Having dreamt of Arabian vamp,
Our friend Bugs, that old rascally scamp,
Thought that he'd find a genie
In a sexy bikini;
All he got was a-lad-in A LAMP
20. Garlicky mayo: AIOLI.
Aioli is becoming a
go-to crossword solve due to its 4 vowels and one consonant
24. Letter before Papa: OSCAR. ALFA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO,
FOXTROT ... the universal "language", or the phoenetic words used to identify
letters. Used by the military and airline industries. "OSCAR" refers to the
letter "O". Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is very popular with texters, I hear ...
25. Adorkable style: NERD CHIC. "Adorkable" is an adjective that refers
to someone who is cute, in a nerdy sort of way. And while Google didn't
exactly link me to a description of "NERD CHIC", there are references
to
Geek Chic. I guess it means the same ...
33. Man, in Milan: UOMO. I am not fluent in Italian, although I really
like their wine and food! I guessed COMO, not knowing that it means "dresser
or bureau". Perps solved, eventually ... another great word for crossword
fill, although a bit obscure. To me, anyway
34. Spelling of "BH90210": TORI. Beverly Hills 90210. A popular TV show
of the 1990's. And its "spin-off", BH90210, aired in 2019. She played
Donna Martin, a character in both airings. TORI is the daughter of famous Hollywood TV
and film producer, Aaron Spelling
41. Easy to follow: CLEAR. This one filled in itself with the perps.
Not to be confused with this "CLEAR"...
43. Rested: LAIN. Past participle of "lie". Rested is the past participle
of "rest"
44. Mendel subjects: PEAS. Gregor Mendel. The famed 19th Century
botanist/scientist who may have, through his planting of and tracing of PEAS,
broken the DNA code
52. Bar owner, vis-à-vis selling drinks: LICENSEE. I was a LICENSEE (bar
owner) from 2010-2012 in Florida. Most, if not all, states require a purveyor of
liquor - be it by the glass or by the bottle - to hold a LICENSE, issued by that
state. I had to be fingerprinted
54. Motes: IOTAS. A "mote" is a tiny piece of substance. An IOTA is
likewise, a small amount
59. Brother of Willow Smith: JADEN. JADEN is the older brother of Willow;
both are children of famous actor Will Smith. Both are primarily known for their
songwriting and rapping
62. Really enjoyed something: DUG IT. Slang. Past tense of "Dig it". Can
you dig it? The Friends of Distinction brought that saying to our lexicon with
this song:
63. Boxcars in un casino: DOCE. Spanish for "twelve", or in dice terms
(when playing "craps"), double sixes, or resembling "boxcars", as in the
railroad car. This past week we had "HARD SIX" which is a pair of "threes" in
dice-speak
64. Online periodical: E-ZINE. Personally, I am not a big fan of the use
of any "E"-____ word for crossword solves. But I get it. The "E" stands for
"Electronic". In this case, an Electronic Magazine. Give me a hard copy,
please
65. Food safety concern: E. COLI. So, if an E-Zine is an electronic
magazine, shouldn't "E.COLI" be ... oh, never mind! This "E" stands for
Escherichia
66. Pulitzer winner Robert __ Butler: OLEN.
His web page. I've not read his works, so this one filled via perps
67. Some etiquette tips: DONT'S. Here is a place where I got some of my
early "etiquette" tips:
69. Lavish bash: FETE. Frawnch. Fête. Or a festival/feste
Down:
1. Worse than ever: AT A LOW. Hmm. AT AN ALL TIME LOW, perhaps. Guessing
this was used to fill a hole ...
2. "Holy moly!": MY GOSH. SHUCKS! DARN IT! DANG IT! Other 6 letter combos
for the same clue!
3. Coca-Cola brand: FRESCA. Fresca was introduced to the carbonated
beverage market in 1966. It's a lime and grapefruit-flavored drink that I
believe was introduced as an alternative to Squirt, which was introduced by Herb
Bishop as a cocktail mixer back in the late 1930's. Here in Phoenix, no less!
Fresca has had a new branding campaign to make it more palatable to the
millenials, and are branding it as a carbonated "soda", rather than a carbonated
"beverage". I dunno about y'all, but I don't get too bubbly about either ...
4. Use for a tryst: MEET AT. Tryst. Who does THOSE anymore?! That seems
so retro.
Nowadays, a popular "MEET AT" organization is called MEET UP. I attended a few
of their events. Not nearly as fun as a tryst, though! LOL! A
link and a logo
5. Checkout action: SCAN. UPC (Universal Product Code) barcodes were
patented back in 1949. The first checkout SCAN was in 1974 for a pack of gum
6. Narrated: TOLD. Moe, you were TOLD that Friday puzzles are tough; and
they are. Narration is a form of story-telling; past tense solved this
7. Berry with three vowels and three syllables: ACAI. ACAI is fast
becoming the new crossword staple; may be the first time I saw it clued this
way
8. Itinerant Europeans: ROMANI. Not to be confused with Romanians, an
unrelated ethnic group and nation, nor with modern or ancient Romans, also
unrelated. Oh the things you can
learn on Wikipedia
9. Rock climber's descent: RAPPEL. I might be just as nervous ...
10. Grassy expanse: SWARD. This one had me stumped. SWARD is not a word
in my daily vocabulary. Yours? This photo of a SWARD reminds me of a sod farm
11. Shredded-wheat cracker: TRISCUIT. Triscuit crackers were actually
developed by the Shredded Wheat Company in Niagara Falls, NY at the turn of the
last century. The brand was eventually sold to Nabisco, and is now part of Kraft
Foods. A link, and a pic. This is MOE's favorite variety
12. Job listing abbr.: EEO. Or Equal Employment Opportunity, which is a
Federal Commission that began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964
13. Chum: PAL. Hey PAL! BUD or BRO fit, too
14. Enjoy trails: SKI. Hike didn't fit; those are the trails MOE enjoys.
It's almost cool enough to resume our hiking, here in the AZ desert. Here's one
of me on a trail at Superstition Mountain in Apache Junction, AZ this past March
22. More riled up: IRATER. Meh. I'd prefer, more IRATE, but Steve must've
needed an R ...
23. Afore: ERE. Not to be confused with, "to ERE is human ... "
26. Brewer's flowers: HOPS. As in the brewing of beer. Beer is made from
malt, yeast, HOPS, and water. HOPS are the flowers/cones (they resemble a pine
cone) from the plant, and can offer floral and fruity notes to beer, but
primarily they provide the bitterness. There is a world of information on
Wikipedia if you're so inclined. As the "craft beer" industry has grown over the
past several decades, the HOPS level for beer is now measured in
IBU's, or International Bitterness Units. Proper brewing and blending can soften or
harshen the bitterness of beer
27. Small demon: IMP. I'm waiting for a crossword constructor to clue
this word using the verb form, which means: "repair a damaged feather in (the
wing or tail of a trained hawk) by attaching part of a new feather"
28. Flirtatiously shy: COY. At 1:23 of this video you'll hear one of the
50 ways to leave your lover ...
30. "This Is Us" Emmy winner __ Cephas Jones: RON. CSO to one of our
bloggers, JazzBumpa
31. Diamond stat.: ERA. Earned Run Average. Shane Bieber of the
Cleveland Indians led the Major Leagues this year in ERA with 1.63, which
means over the course of the season he gave up only 1.63 "earned runs" per
game. That's a very impressive number. The number is calculated on the total
number of runs he allowed, divided by the number of innings he pitched,
multipled by 9. He also tied for the league lead with 8 wins over the 60 game
season. But in the first postseason game, his ERA was 13.5, as the New York
Yankees lit him up for 7 earned runs in 4-2/3 innings. Talk about going from
first to worst ...
32. Source of Adam and Eve's leaves: FIG. Ah, the poor FIG. What did IT
do to deserve being a symbol of concealing embarrassment? Moe-lick #2:
When the couple in Eden did pig Out on apples, they knew that their
gig Was soon changing, when God Caught them sinning, they're
flawed; And He shrugged, and said, "Can't give a FIG"
35. "Drat!": DANG IT. DARN IT, fit. Other longer possibiliteis for this
clue: DAG NABBIT; DAD GUMMIT; GOL DERN. But when I saw "DANG", the first
thought that popped was this Roger Miller classic:
36. Audio equipment brand: TEAC. Remember what I said at the outset?
About loose fill? Oddly, TEAC resonated with me, as I probably owned one or more
of their stereo components as a young adult. Everything from reel to reel tape
recorders, turntables, amplifier/receivers, etc. TEAC stands for Tokyo
Television Accustic Company, and was founded by brothers Katsuma and Tomoma
Tani, August of 1953. I, too, am a product of 1953. Yes, Cornerites, the
Chairman is a strapping young lad of 67! LOL. Here is one of THEIR now ancient
products
37. Legal right of way: EASEMENT. I am sure that one of our resident
lawyers here can offer more, but whenever I think of an EASEMENT, my mind goes
immediately to all of the property this nation bought to build
our Interstate Highway System. Especially all of the spur routes that lead into most metropolitan areas
38. Bridge expert Culbertson: ELY. Total WAG. Bridge as in the card game.
He was before my time. Charles Goren is one I am familiar with, but Wiki says
that ELY is a legend to the game, and he was quite the player. He died in 1955.
I was 2. My folks played a lot of bridge, as I am sure many here did/do as well.
My favorite "bridge" joke goes something like this: "It's said that playing
bridge is a lot like sex: if you don't have a good partner, you better have a
good hand ..."
39. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Could GAI be called a crossword staple for
3-letter fill? The actual "dish" is/was quite popular, as it combines white
button mushrooms with white chicken meat. Chinese: 蘑菇雞片; Cantonese: móh-gū
gāi-pin. C.C., any other thoughts?
40. Diarist Anaïs: NIN. More crossword staple fill. Her full name is:
Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell
41. Double-chevron wearer: Abbr.: CPL. A two-striper, or corporal, in the
Army. Moe-ku #3, from the archives:
Office corporal is known for his guile,
And employs it with his new clerk, Kyle. Base commander found out, Reprimanded,
no doubt; Told two-striper, “just pull rank, and file.”
42. Aloha State souvenir: LEI. More expected crossword fill. This one
is made from orchids
45. Steel giant, from 1986 to 2001: USX. AKA, US Steel. USX was the
corporation's "new name" in 1986 when they held other energy businesses, but
they renamed it United States Steel in 2001. Their stock symbol is "X". And one
of their original logos is now best known as the logo of the same town's NFL
football team (CSO to TTP and yours truly), who are now 4-0 to start this
season. Both previous times the STEELERS started 4-0 they went on to win Super
Bowls ... OK, Moe, don't jinx them! Here we go, Steelers, here we go!!
46. "Just What I __": 1978 Cars hit: NEEDED. The Cars were a 1970's Rock
Band from Boston, whose hits included this one as well as "My Best Friend's
Girl". Ric Ocasek who did vocals and played rhythm guitar is perhaps their best
known member. He passed away a little over a year ago. The Cars are in the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. Enjoy!
48. Without: VOID OF. Today's blog is VOID OF Moe-kus ... but not
Moe-l'icks! LOL
49. "My Favorite Year" star: O'TOOLE. Peter Seamus O'Toole (2 August 1932
– 14 December 2013). Irish born English actor.
My Favorite Year
saw O'TOOLE nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, but Ben Kingsley won it that
year for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the film, "Gandhi". O'TOOLE was
nominated 8 times for an Academy Award, but only won an Honorary one in 2002. He
holds the dubious record of most nominated without an award ...
50. Surgical knife: LANCET. Not sure that "surgical knife" best describes
this medical device. My limited knowledge of a LANCET is the tool used to prick
a finger for drawing blood, as in to test for blood sugar/diabetes/insulin
requirement
51. Ancient ascetic: ESSENE. The ESSENES were perported to have written
the Dead Sea Scrolls back in the second Century, BCE. Great crossword fill with
its "E's" and "S's"
53. Lowest pinochle cards: NINES. Wait just a DADGUM minute! Didn't Moe
reference Pinochle last week when he commented on CANASTA??! The standard
Pinochle deck consists of 48 cards. There are two of each suit, and only six
cards are used. They are ranked in order from lowest to highest as: Nine, Jack,
Queen, King, Ten, and Ace. Not sure why the TEN outranks any of the "picture"
cards; this may be the only card game in which that is true
56. Self-images: EGOS. Did Einstein define EGO(S) the best of all?
57. Do a farm chore: MILK. Moe-l'ick #4 (a sophomoric one, for sure!):
When a child emerges from birth There's a gland that for most males
give mirth. Clever kid hid his glee, As he suckled 'til three; Did
he MILK it for all it was worth?
58. Publisher Chandler: OTIS. I heard he wore elevator shoes ... {groan}
BTW, he was the LA Times publisher from 1960-1980, and OTIS was his first name,
not his last
59. Martin's "The West Wing" role: JED. Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet
portrayed the POTUS in the fictional TV series, "West Wing". Martin Sheen -
father of sons Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men) and Emilio Estevez (St. Elmo's
Fire, et al) - played the Prez, and won both a Golden Globe and SAG award for
his role
60. Nitrogenous dye: AZO. Even though I took two years of Chemistry in HS
and two in college, I did not recall this organic compound. Perhaps one of our
resident chemists can comment more about it? I'm not really sure this image
tells us a lot! This was a WAG/perp fill for me
61. Ruckus: DIN. My first thought here was when I watch a movie with
closed captioning and the comment "[indistinct chatter]" appears. Or could you
liken it to Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas": "When out on the
lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the
matter"?
The grid:
Let's break for lunch ... I love it!!
The end!
Please feel free to add your thoughts below ...
Notes from C.C.
1) Regarding 39D, to some, it might be classic crosswordese. To me, it's just
Cantonese for "chicken".
2) Happy Birthday to our foodie Blue Hen!
3) Happy birthday to CrossEyedDave! Thanks for the happiness and fun you've
brought to our lives, Dave!
