Theme: A Jeffrey Jumble tribute to Owen and Moe and perhaps suggest s that you TRY POE!
Adhering to the strict interpretation, we have a word jumble (not an anagram) puzzle that features 63 theme squares including the reveal and a grid spanner in the middle. To make this all work, there is the unusual use of six cheater squares, three in the NW and three in the SE. There are many 3 and 4 letter fill and an overall difficulty that did not seem like a Friday. As usual with JW there were lots of sparkly fill CREDOS, FRERES, KIMMEL, PLINTH, BASE TEN, EACH ONE, GEOLOGY, MCENROE, REELS IN, ARISTOCRACY, YOU ARE WRONG and a reveal which is very revealing and amusing. As I have said before, the joy in this type of puzzle comes from the phrasing of the reveal and I really enjoyed the image of the letters from Poetry moving about. Anyway, it is time we move about the puzzle.
16A. Formal dissent : MINORITY REPORT (14). Also a movie with TOM CRUISE. Now a TV pilot that ran this SUMMER.
22A. Lead role in many a Western :STEREOTYPE (10). White hat, ruggedly handsome.
37A. Independence Day VIPs :PYROTECHNICIANS (15). They make our fireworks work.
50A. Vegan diet component : SOY PROTEIN (10). They get their protein where they can.
58A. Metaphor for ballet ... or what this puzzle's circles literally contain : POETRYIN MOTION (14).
Across
1. "It came without ribbons. It came without __": The Grinch : TAGS. We start with Dr. Seuss. Who has appeared in many of JW's recent Fridays.
35. Org. of former Soviet republics : CIS. Is this still operational? LINK. Commonwealth of Independent States.
36. Paired : DUAL. Carburetors?
41. It's found in bars : SOAP. I guess Jeffrey was cleaning up his CLUING to be g-rated.
42. "I see what's going on!" : O HO. Not safe to yell on street corners?
43. In the area : NEAR.
44. Obedience trials org. : AKC. American Kennel Club.
45. __ steak : FLANK.
47. Dropped off : SLEPT.
53. "Quadrophenia" group, with "The" : WHO.
54. Med. recording : EEG. ElectroEncephaloGram.
55. Four-time US Open winner : MCENROE. The other US Open. John has established a healthy career making fun of his own antics in commercials. The HBO documentary about him and Borg was great.
63. Word on a menu : CARTE. A la.
64. One rarely without a comb? : BEE. Honeycomb humor.
65. Klein of fashion : ANNE.
66. Stopovers : STAYS.
67. Ware lead-in : MAL. All you windows users know this term.
68. Long-term appeal : LEGS. Splynter are you out there?
Down
1. Burger go-with : TOMATO. Not my first thought.
2. Reign of Terror victims : ARISTOCRACY. The French revolution was so bloody. LINK.
3. Biological determinant : GENE.
4. Laundry woe at the Claus home? : SOOT. All those damn chimneys!
5. Public monument support : PLINTH. A really cool word.
6. Real ending? : IST. Ity, ism?
7. Dude : GUY. My wife says, man-guy.
8. Words to live by : CREDOS. From the Latin to believe.
9. Gently massage, wave-style : LAP AT. The waves lap at the shore?
10. Big deal : ADO.
11. Title for Edward Elgar : SIR. The prolific composer of pomp and circumstance music.
12. Popular : HOT.
17. __ judicata: decided case : RES. Literally the thing adjudicated.
18. Catches : REELSIN.
19. "What nonsense!" : BAH.
23. All : EACH ONE. Do not get this one. Each and every?
24. Archaeological site : RUIN. Not necessarily.
25. "What nonsense!" : YOU ARE WRONG. Nice.
26. Work out the details : PLAN.
27. Unadon fillets : EELS. For C.C.?
29. Corn, for example : CROP. So vague needed perps.
30. One may be passed : HAT. So vague needed perps. Once unearthed I enjoyed it.
34. Rocky field? : GEOLOGY. I have a nephew who has his degree in geology and works in Everglades.
36. Ivory alternative : DIAL. Soap not Jade.
37. Spots for Smokey: Abbr. : PSAS. Public Service Announcements.
38. Mother of Sean : YOKO. Not sure why this came immediately, there are many Seans.
39. Shoot the breeze : CHAT. Cat in French.
40. These, to Thérèse : CES. French.
45. Monastère members : FRERES. Our French lesson continues.
46. Late-night host since 2003 : KIMMEL. Wow, time flies, I still remember him from Ben Stein' s show.
48. Obsolescent public conveniences : PHONES. I know people who invested heavily in pay phones in the 70s.
49. Word with dance or shoe : TOE. Another stumper.
51. Small-minded : PETTY. Not Tom.
52. Sgt., e.g. : NCO. Non Commissioned Officer
56. List substitute : ETAL.
57. Diamond complement : NINE. Baseball team.
58. See 61-Down : PCS. Personal Computers.
59. Bit in a horse's mouth? : OAT. Tricky, nice misdirection.
60. Baseball stat : ERA. Earned Run Average.
61. Longtime maker of 58-Down : IBM. International Business Machine. Sold the business to Lenovo in 2005.
62. Org. supporting exhibitions : NEA. National Education Association.
No naticks, and a great reveal; hope you all unraveled this one. See you in September. To each of you who sent birthday wishes, thank you very much, it is great to celebrate with my extended family here. Lemonade out.
It's a wacky bunch o' puns in
store for us today. Common phrases lose the consonant sound at the end
of the first word, and all get linked to various types of fauna.
17-A. Caddy for pigeons? : COO DEVILLE. Haha! I was thinking of something from "Caddy Shack." Instead, we have a pun on the Cadillac Coupe deVille. (I used to own one of these gas guzzlers. Then 1976 happened...)
28-A. Statistical aid for sheep? : BAA GRAPH. This one made me laugh out loud. I think it's because we New Englanders actually do pronounce "bar graph" that way.
42-A. Cantatas for cows? : MOO MUSIC. I wonder if one of their favorite songs is "Blue Moo"? Mood music.
55-A. Phone service for crows? : CAW WAITING. This one seemed like an outlier, because all the others have double vowel endings. But it works well for "call waiting."
I
love a good pun, and these were some doozies. I enjoyed much of the
rest, as well. So let me take you on a tour through my head as I was
solving.
Across
1. Word seen before "or less" on supermarket signs : ITEMS.
AAAARRRRRGGHH! Use "less" only when you are unable to count the amount
("less water," for example.) When you are able to count the items, the
correct term is "fewer." This is a pet peeve of mine, but I promise
that's the end of my rant...
6. Elisabeth of "Hollow Man" : SHUE. For some reason, I knew this one, even though I never saw the movie.
10. "American __" : IDOL.
14. Musical ensemble : NONET. Requiring no fewer and no more than 9 players. And a clecho at 26-A. Musical ensemble : CHOIR.
15. Cautious : WARY.
16. Gospel trio : MAGI.
19. Combustible heap : PYRE.
20. NBA division that includes the Bklyn. Nets : ATL.antic.
21. Very long time : EONS.
22. On the agenda : SLATED.
24. Autograph signer's aid : SHARPIE. Phil Mickelson, one of golf's most admired players, uses one.
27. Range stat. : ALT.itude.
31. 1973 Rolling Stones ballad : ANGIE. Ah, music to my ears! 4:30
34. "All in the Family" spin-off : MAUDE.
35. Doomsday beginning? : DEE.
36. "Coming Home" actor : DERN.
37. Outmoded : PASSE.
38. Co-star of Boris in "Son of Frankenstein" : BELA.
39. Latin I word : AMO.
40. See 34-Down : CURIE. I stupidly filled in "madam" at 34-Down before I checked the perps. Duh. 34-Down. With 40-Across, 1911 chemistry Nobelist : MARIE.
41. Connected, in a way : WIRED.
44. Wine container : VAT. Just gimme a straw!
45. Code name : MORSE.
46. Longtime family-owned firearms company : BERETTA.
50. Much : VASTLY.
52. Undecided : TORN.
53. Take flight : RUN.
54. Big Bird buddy : ELMO. Nice alliterative clue.
58. Sight from a slope : T-BAR. And the view from the T-BAR? Priceless! I have ridden this one many times.
59. Stem-to-branch angle : AXIL.
60. Like some astrological charts : NATAL.
61. Without : SANS.
62. Register compartment : TENS.
63. Migratory birds : GEESE.
Down
1. 16th-century conquest victims : INCAS.
2. Nail partner? : TOOTH. They went at it tooth and nail.
3. __ Gay : ENOLA.
4. NSAID, e.g. : MED. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are very common MEDs.
5. Skyline highlight : STEEPLE.
Religion used to be the most important aspect of society, so the
steeple always towered over other buildings in town. Then politics
overtook religion, and the town hall soon grew to great heights. Then
money became king, and now financial skyscrapers tower over all.
6. Hogs : SWINE.
7. Dutch artist Frans : HALS. One of my favorite Dutch painters - his portraits capture so much of the subjects' personalities. Like this one.
8. High-tech address : URL.
9. Sleeper's aid : EYE SHADE. My cats get unnerved when I wear this one.
10. Make worse : IMPAIR.
11. Market speculator : DAY TRADER.
12. Storybook meanie : OGRE.
13. Served up a whopper : LIED.
18. Sports ball brand : VOIT. They made the first rubberized water polo ball, which now resides at the National Museum of American History.
23. Theater ticket word : LOGE.
25. Word with dance or fall : RAIN.
26. Saving the whales, e.g. : CAUSE.
28. Rudimentary : BASIC.
29. Mononymous kicker : PELE. I wonder if he ever used VOIT soccer balls?
30. Take charge of : HEAD.
31. Start of a big race? : ADAM. Nice misdirection!
32. Nautilus skipper : NEMO.
33. Wedding attendant : GROOMSMAN.
37. Nonthreatening type : PUSSYCAT.
38. Angler's hope : BITE.
40. Temple feature in old films : CURL. Huge V8 moment when I realized they were talking about this moppet.
Happy Birthday to our Friday Sherpa Lemonade, who's been guiding
us since March 2010. It's so easy to get jaded after a year or two of
blogging (often 3 hours on each write-up), but Lemonade's
enthusiasm and passion for crosswords and crossword blogging remain the
same. He never failed to point out every little nugget in a Friday
crossword. Thanks for being here for us through thick and thin,
Lemonade!
Theme: Are we having fun yet? Here we have in-the-language phrases that otherwise have nothing in common reimagined as descriptions of showing disrespect to a variety of otherwise innocent objects. For some reason, being made fun of is never fun. Go figure.
17. Make fun of boxing gear? : KID GLOVES. These are GLOVES made from the soft, supple skin of young goats. Handling something with KID GLOVES means giving it very gentle treatment. To KID can mean a variety of things from mock and tease playfully to deceive. Be careful if you do that to boxing GLOVES.
25. Make fun of Harleys? : RIDE BIKES. Harleys are popular American-made motorcycles with many riders. To RIDE is to ridicule or harass with carping criticism, a bit harsh for "make fun of."
38. Make fun of sweater styles? : MOCK TURTLE NECKS. These are articles of clothing made with a collar folded over to form a tube, with both edges of the tube fastened to the garment at the neck line. One can make fun of real TURTLE NECKS, where the tube is twice as long, folded over, and only fastened at one end of the tube.
50. Make fun of tunes? : PUT ON AIRS. This phrase means to act in a haughty manner, pretending to be superior. In a different sense, AIRS are songs, and one could make fun of them. But to "put on" means to deceive or mislead, for amusement or to make someone or something look better than it is. 62. Make fun of Porky and Petunia? : ROAST PIGS. To roast someone is to hold an event with that person is guest of honor; and a series of speakers subject him or her to [ostensibly] good natured ridicule. To ROAST a PIG is to cook the entire animal over an open fire Hi gang, JazzBumpa reporting for duty. This is a fun-making theme, but a bit loosey-goosey in terms of exact correspondence to the verb in the clue. Well, I'm not going to make fun of it. Let's see what other fun is in store. Across
1. Moments, briefly : SECS. Not brief moments of DF, though those can be fun, but SECondS, briefly.
5. God with a bow : AMOR. AKA Eros, AKA Cupid. Could inspire a brief moment of DF.
9. Like some elephants : ASIAN. They are smaller, less wrinkled, and more hump-backed than their African counterparts, with different anatomical features in the head and face.
14. Jai __ : ALAI. Popular X-word puzzle game, played in a closed space using a ball and large, curved wicker baskets.
15. "Game over," to Kasparov : MATE. The end of a chess game, when the losing king cannot escape. Garry Kasparov (b 1963) is a Russian former world chess champion and political activist.
16. Forrest's shrimp-loving friend : BUBBA. From the movie Forrest Gump.
19. Lusitania sinker : U-BOAT. The Lusitania, launched in 1906, was the world's largest passenger ship. It was torpedoed and sunk on May 7, 1915, six days out of New York, bound for Liverpool, killing 1198 passengers. It was 11 miles off the coast of Ireland in a German-declared war zone, and sunk in 18 minutes. This event was influential [a straw, if you will. Vide infra - see 61 A.] in bringing the U.S into the war two years later.
20. StyleBistro and Slate : E-ZINES. Electronic magaZINES.
21. "Into the Woods" (2014) director Marshall : ROB. He is a stage and screen director and choreographer, who won several awards for directing "Chicago" in 2002. "Into the Woods" involves an original story of the baker and his wife, which is used to tie together several otherwise unrelated fairy tales. Also last Wednesday's theme clip. Am I in a rut?
23. Schlep : TOTE. v. To haul or carry a burdensome load. That's no fun at all.
24. Arles article : LES. "The" in French
27. "Gigi" novelist : COLETTE. Also French. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954) was a novelist, journalist, actress and mime.
30. Barcelona-born muralist : SERT. Josep Maria Sert i Badia (21 December 1874 – 27 November 1945)
57. Human rights advocate Sakharov : ANDREI. (May 21, 1921 – December 14, 1989) Russian nuclear physicist, and later dissident and human rights activist, earning him state persecution and a Nobel peace Prize. The Sakharov prize, awarded annually by the European Union for dedication to human rights and freedom is named in his honor.
60. "¿Cómo __?" : ESTAS. Spanish "How are [you?]"
64. Requests for Friskies, maybe : MEOWS. Cat food brand.
65. Half of zwei : EINS. From 2 to 1 - a German division.
66. Rules, to GIs : REGS. REGulations.
67. Proverbial reason for a break? : STRAW. Only if it's the last one on the camel's back.
4. One of the Declaration of Independence's 56 : SIGNEE. One who signs on, not someone who gets signed on.
5. "Famous" cookie guy : AMOS. Wally AMOS learned cookie baking from his aunt. Later in life, as a talent agent with the William Morris agency, he would often send cookies to celebrities he wanted to woo. In 1975 he left it all behind and became a cookie entrepreneur.
6. Big D cager : MAV. Dallas MAVerick professional basketball player.
7. "SNL" alumna Cheri : OTERI. (b 1962) This frequent crossword gal was on SNL from 1995 to 2000.
8. Patches, as a lawn : RESODS. I wanted RESEEDS, but that has to many letters.
9. __ Dhabi : ABU. Middle East country.
10. Foreign film feature : SUB-TITLE. English translation of foreign-language dialog. printed near the bottom of the screen Not sure what it has to do with titles.
11. Discontinued Apple laptop : I-BOOK. Sold from 1999 to 2006.
12. Let up : ABATE.
13. Archibald and Thurmond of the NBA : NATES. Archibald played on several teams from 1970 to 1984. Thurmond played with 3 teams from 1963 to 1977
18. For fear that : LEST. This word comes to us from Old English, via Middle English. I have no idea how LEST - which literally means "The less that" got transmogrified into "For fear that" - but that is commonly how it is defined. We don't do A, lest B happen. It is a preventive, and fear has nothing to do with it. /rant.
From Dictionary.com: "before 1000; Middle English leste, contraction of the lesse the, thi les the; late Old English the lǣste, earlier thȳ lǣs the, literally, whereby less that ( thȳ instrumental case of the demonstrative and relative pronoun, lǣs less, the relative particle.)
22. "Saturday Night Fever" group : BEE GEES.
25. Raise : REAR. Take care of and support until mature. Also, a horse REARS by raising up on its hind legs, but I can't find a connection between these meanings.
26. Machine gun partly named for the Czech city in which it was designed : BREN. First designed and manufactured in Brno, Moravia, this gun was popular with the British armed forces from the 30's through 1992.
27. Showed up : CAME. Arrived at an event.
28. Take too much of, for short : O.D. ON. Over-dose, figuratively, as on chips, in yesterdays 39 A.
29. "Doonesbury" creator : TRUDEAU. Garry, purveyor of a classic politically oriented newspaper cartoon.
33. Pay stub abbr. : YTD. Year To Date.
35. Insurance risk assessors : ACTUARIES. They use mathematics, statistics and financial theory to study uncertain future events, especially those of concern to insurance and pension programs.
36. Ring stats : TKOS. Technical Knock Outs. These occur in boxing matches when it is determined that the match can not safely continue.
37. "Understood" : I SEE. Got it.
39. "Rashomon" director : KUROSAWA. Akira KUROSAWA (1910-1998) was a highly influential film maker who directed 30 films over his 57 year career. Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese movie which uses the plot device of having several characters provide contradictory versions of the same incident. It won several awards and is considered on of the greatest films of all time.
40. Many a "Divergent" reader : TEEN. "Divergent" is a trilogy of dystopian young adult novels set in post-apocalyptic Chicago.
41. "It's all false!" : LIES. Accusation of mendacity.
46. Petrol measures : LITRES. British spelling of metric units for automobile fuel.
48. Huff and puff : PANT. Should be huff OR puff. Together, they are a pair of pants.
49. One who knows the ropes : OLD PRO. Way back when I was young, an OLD PRO told me that youth and skill were no match for old age and treachery.
50. Sonnets, say : POEMS. A literary form using meter, rhyme, imagery and other devices to evoke meaning beyond what is in the mere words.
51. Unexpected victory : UPSET. So called because the favored team is toppled, thus UPSETing the natural order of things, or alternatively because of the way they feel about it.
52. Sylvan Learning employee : TUTOR. Franchised and corporate supplemental learning centers that provide personalized learning programs for primary and secondary education students.
53. Work on, as a stubborn squeak : RE-OIL. When one OILing simply isn't enough.
57. No. 2 : ASST. ASSistanT.
58. Frittata ingredients : EGGS. An Italian dish similar to an omelet or crustless quiche, incorprating a variety of other ingredients such as meat and cheese.
59. "That __ last week!" : IS SO. This awkward partial belongs in an assessment that something ephemeral has become quickly outdated.
61. Sacramento-to-San Jose dir. : SSW. South-SouthWest
This is so 1968
63. 365 días : ANO. Years in Spain, sadly lacking the tilde.
Well, we had some retro music, an eggy treat, a frozen confection, and I got to carp a little bit. That's about as much fun as I can handle in one day. Hope you don't MOCK me for it. Cool regards! JzB
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Montana, who's been through so much the past year. My heart aches whenever I think of the hard time when she had to sell her late son's house and took care of other unfinished business. She's an extraordinary courageous mom and grandma.
Montana and her 5 children celebrated her birthday last year in Vail, CO
