Theme: Inverted Phrases - The first and third words of common phrases are switched and wackily clued with a "?" indicator. The altered phrases all end with "THE" and a three letter word.
18A. Libertarian slogan?: FIRE THE FED. Libertarians hold that if it is not explicitly provided for in the constitution, that it should not be dealt with or (especially) paid for on a federal level, it is the domain of each individual state to deal with it (or not) instead (as explicitly provided in the Constitution's tenth amendment, State's Rights). /Fed the fire. (What talking about politics will do)
24A. Finish an ascent?: SCALE THE TIP. Climb to the top./Tip the scale.
35A. Tidy up in a wood shop?: DUST THE BIT. Keep your tools clean./Bit the dust. Died.
43A. Floor an oppressive boss?: DECK THE MAN. Punch a jerk./Man the deck. Get to your station on a ship.
51A. Value one's vision?: PRIZE THE EYE. Eye the prize. Keep your eyes on the prize was a 50s/60s folk song during the civil rights movement.
62A. Send a star pitcher for an MRI?: TEST THE ACE. Magnetic Resonance Imaging/Ace the test. Score very highly.
Al here.
Heavy themage today, which didn't help in the least with solving, and no revealing clue was included in the puzzle. It was like solving a second puzzle to suss out what was going on, which was kind of fun, actually. Interesting to see a symmetry with six theme entries. Four or five are more common, with the occasional seven that Dan N. usually provided. A pangram, to boot. The (small) price to pay for XTRA features in the construction is accepting that a few more abbrevs are necessary here and there for fill.
ACROSS:
1. Fat job?: LIPO. Suction.
5. Interstate exit: RAMP.
9. See 12-Down: AFTER. And 12D. With 9-Across, fairy tale ender: EVER. Happily for some. Has anyone read the actual book Wicked (I know, I know, there's a musical), the story from the point of view of the Witch of the West? What if all fairy tales were actually like that?
14. Pararescue gp.: USAF. A division of the US Air Force that does search and rescue missions.
15. Organic compound: ENOL.
16. Hanker for: CRAVE. Probably from Flemish hankeren, related to Dutch hunkeren "to hanker," intensifier of Middle Dutch hangen "to hang." The notion is of "lingering about" with longing or craving.
17. Poet who wrote, about children, "And if they are popular / The phone they monopular": NASH. Ogden. Also the shortest poem ever (about fleas): Adam had 'em.
20. Rich sponge cake: GATEAU. I am now scarred for life from doing a google image search for this, even with safe image search set to moderate.
22. Pithy saying: SAW. An adage, an aphorism, an apothegm, usually terse, i.e., if something can go wrong, it will.
23. NFL game foursome: QTRS. Quarters. There are six referees, so refs didn't work.
27. Buying outing: SPREE. From French: "esprit", lively. This would not be me during shopping.
28. Cones and prisms: SOLIDS. 3-D geometric figures.
33. Farm expanse: LEA. An open field or meadow.
38. Grads: ALUMS.
41. Sandwich request: RYE. My first thought was SUB.
42. Untrusting: LEERY.
46. __ scripta: written law: LEX. Explicitly stated law, as opposed to lex non scripta, common law, set by precedent.
47. It's often served with lemon: ICE TEA. Some day a clever constructor will include the "D" and everyone will all be confused.
48. It can be rolled, pressed or stuffed: SUSHI.
56. Warrior trained by the centaur Chiron: AJAX. If I read it right, the great grandson of Zeus, also the cousin of Achilles.
60. It merged with AT&T in 2005: SBC. Southwestern Bell Corp.
61. Be amazed (at): MARVEL. Shazam!
65. Like pretzels: BENT. Baked in the shape of folded arms. Pretzel traces back to a word for branches.
66. D.C. underground: METRO. A Subway system that branches out to the suburbs above ground..
67. "Rigoletto" highlight: ARIA. Not a happily ever after fairy tale... In this opera a licentious Duke ravishes his jester's daughter; the jester's revenge goes tragically awry with his daughter's death.
68. Concerning: AS TO.
69. Dust crops, e.g.: SPRAY.
70. Certain NCO: MSGT. Master Sergeant.
71. A library book may be on it: LOAN.
DOWN:
1. Airway termini: LUNGS. I was fooled into thinking about airports, not where your bronchi attach.
2. Stern with a Strad: ISAAC. Fiddler behind the scenes...
3. Noodle topper: PASTA SAUCE.
4. Useful: OF HELP. Needed perp help for this.
5. Proved false: REFUTED. The "correct" original meaning of refute. The meaning has been shifting towards "to deny" since the 60's, as used with the word "allegations".
6. "Star Wars" saga nickname: ANI. Anikin Skywalker, Darth Vader, who says "Yippee" in the fourth movie released, which is chronologically the beginning.
7. Code creator: MORSE. Samuel. Co-created "American Morse Code", also called Railroad code, with Alfred Vail. Since 1865, International Morse code has been used instead, with "American" being limited to re-enactments only.
8. Fabric fold: PLEAT. Also a flounce, apparently.
9. Günter's gripe: ACH. German Oh! An interjection.
10. Radio abbr.: FREQ.uency.
11. 300-pound president: TAFT. William Howard. 27th president and later the 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The only person to have served both offices.
13. Great American Ball Park team: REDS. Cincinnati.
19. Checker's dance: TWIST. Chubby Checker (Ernest Evans). It was a cover of the B-side song by R&B artist Hank Ballard. Popularized thanks to Dick Clark and American Bandstand.
21. Flying prefix: AER. Latin air.
25. One of 24 in un jour: HEURE. French, 24 hours in a day.
26. Sci-fi writer Frederik: POHL. Prolific author and editor.
29. Sheltered side: LEE. So odd to see it without the "A".
30. "That's my take": I BELIEVE SO.
31. Desperate: DIRE. As in circumstances.
32. Charon's river: STYX. Don't pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side.
33. __-da: pretentious: LA-DI.
34. Juice: Abbr.: ELEC.tricity
36. Orch. work: SYM. Orchestra, symphony.
37. Flirt: TEASE. One who does, is.
39. NYSE, e.g.: MKT. New York Stock Exchange, Stock Market.
40. Stride: STEP.
44. Caustic: HARSH. I had BASIC in there briefly because lye is a very strong base. Caustic lye is the opposite of acid, but no less destructive. Sort of like the two-party system. If you try to mix the two extremes together, sparks really fly and everything in between gets hurt.
45. Edible part of a pecan: NUTMEAT. Pecan, a word from our crossword friends, the Cree: pakan, hard-shelled nut. So, how do you say it? PEEcahn, payKAHN, or PEE-CAN?
49. Doo-wop syllable: SHA. A blast from the past.
50. Like some supplements: HERBAL.
52. Building girder: I-BEAM. Guessed _beam right away, and 53D. Many Nissan autos: Z-CARS. Similarly got _cars, but had to wait for the leading letters for both. Which was tough because the theme perp wasn't helping.
54. Busybody: YENTA. From Yente Telebende, comic strip gossip in 1920s-30s writing of Yiddish newspaper humorist B. Kovner (pen-name of Jacob Adler).
55. John with Grammys: ELTON. Who else could it be?
56. Green dispensers: ATMS. Not fooled this time, filled immediately.
57. Wrangler, for one: JEEP. An SUV or UTE.
58. Copernicus's sci.: ASTR. Science, astronomy.
59. Bonus, in adspeak: XTRA.
63. Peke, e.g.: TOY. Pekingese dog, toy breed.
64. One might be bummed, briefly: CIG.arette
Answer grid.
Al
18A. Libertarian slogan?: FIRE THE FED. Libertarians hold that if it is not explicitly provided for in the constitution, that it should not be dealt with or (especially) paid for on a federal level, it is the domain of each individual state to deal with it (or not) instead (as explicitly provided in the Constitution's tenth amendment, State's Rights). /Fed the fire. (What talking about politics will do)
24A. Finish an ascent?: SCALE THE TIP. Climb to the top./Tip the scale.
35A. Tidy up in a wood shop?: DUST THE BIT. Keep your tools clean./Bit the dust. Died.
43A. Floor an oppressive boss?: DECK THE MAN. Punch a jerk./Man the deck. Get to your station on a ship.
51A. Value one's vision?: PRIZE THE EYE. Eye the prize. Keep your eyes on the prize was a 50s/60s folk song during the civil rights movement.
62A. Send a star pitcher for an MRI?: TEST THE ACE. Magnetic Resonance Imaging/Ace the test. Score very highly.
Al here.
Heavy themage today, which didn't help in the least with solving, and no revealing clue was included in the puzzle. It was like solving a second puzzle to suss out what was going on, which was kind of fun, actually. Interesting to see a symmetry with six theme entries. Four or five are more common, with the occasional seven that Dan N. usually provided. A pangram, to boot. The (small) price to pay for XTRA features in the construction is accepting that a few more abbrevs are necessary here and there for fill.
ACROSS:
1. Fat job?: LIPO. Suction.
5. Interstate exit: RAMP.
9. See 12-Down: AFTER. And 12D. With 9-Across, fairy tale ender: EVER. Happily for some. Has anyone read the actual book Wicked (I know, I know, there's a musical), the story from the point of view of the Witch of the West? What if all fairy tales were actually like that?
14. Pararescue gp.: USAF. A division of the US Air Force that does search and rescue missions.
15. Organic compound: ENOL.
16. Hanker for: CRAVE. Probably from Flemish hankeren, related to Dutch hunkeren "to hanker," intensifier of Middle Dutch hangen "to hang." The notion is of "lingering about" with longing or craving.
17. Poet who wrote, about children, "And if they are popular / The phone they monopular": NASH. Ogden. Also the shortest poem ever (about fleas): Adam had 'em.
20. Rich sponge cake: GATEAU. I am now scarred for life from doing a google image search for this, even with safe image search set to moderate.
22. Pithy saying: SAW. An adage, an aphorism, an apothegm, usually terse, i.e., if something can go wrong, it will.
23. NFL game foursome: QTRS. Quarters. There are six referees, so refs didn't work.
27. Buying outing: SPREE. From French: "esprit", lively. This would not be me during shopping.
28. Cones and prisms: SOLIDS. 3-D geometric figures.
33. Farm expanse: LEA. An open field or meadow.
38. Grads: ALUMS.
41. Sandwich request: RYE. My first thought was SUB.
42. Untrusting: LEERY.
46. __ scripta: written law: LEX. Explicitly stated law, as opposed to lex non scripta, common law, set by precedent.
47. It's often served with lemon: ICE TEA. Some day a clever constructor will include the "D" and everyone will all be confused.
48. It can be rolled, pressed or stuffed: SUSHI.
56. Warrior trained by the centaur Chiron: AJAX. If I read it right, the great grandson of Zeus, also the cousin of Achilles.
60. It merged with AT&T in 2005: SBC. Southwestern Bell Corp.
61. Be amazed (at): MARVEL. Shazam!
65. Like pretzels: BENT. Baked in the shape of folded arms. Pretzel traces back to a word for branches.
66. D.C. underground: METRO. A Subway system that branches out to the suburbs above ground..
67. "Rigoletto" highlight: ARIA. Not a happily ever after fairy tale... In this opera a licentious Duke ravishes his jester's daughter; the jester's revenge goes tragically awry with his daughter's death.
68. Concerning: AS TO.
69. Dust crops, e.g.: SPRAY.
70. Certain NCO: MSGT. Master Sergeant.
71. A library book may be on it: LOAN.
DOWN:
1. Airway termini: LUNGS. I was fooled into thinking about airports, not where your bronchi attach.
2. Stern with a Strad: ISAAC. Fiddler behind the scenes...
3. Noodle topper: PASTA SAUCE.
4. Useful: OF HELP. Needed perp help for this.
5. Proved false: REFUTED. The "correct" original meaning of refute. The meaning has been shifting towards "to deny" since the 60's, as used with the word "allegations".
6. "Star Wars" saga nickname: ANI. Anikin Skywalker, Darth Vader, who says "Yippee" in the fourth movie released, which is chronologically the beginning.
7. Code creator: MORSE. Samuel. Co-created "American Morse Code", also called Railroad code, with Alfred Vail. Since 1865, International Morse code has been used instead, with "American" being limited to re-enactments only.
8. Fabric fold: PLEAT. Also a flounce, apparently.
9. Günter's gripe: ACH. German Oh! An interjection.
10. Radio abbr.: FREQ.uency.
11. 300-pound president: TAFT. William Howard. 27th president and later the 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The only person to have served both offices.
13. Great American Ball Park team: REDS. Cincinnati.
19. Checker's dance: TWIST. Chubby Checker (Ernest Evans). It was a cover of the B-side song by R&B artist Hank Ballard. Popularized thanks to Dick Clark and American Bandstand.
21. Flying prefix: AER. Latin air.
25. One of 24 in un jour: HEURE. French, 24 hours in a day.
26. Sci-fi writer Frederik: POHL. Prolific author and editor.
29. Sheltered side: LEE. So odd to see it without the "A".
30. "That's my take": I BELIEVE SO.
31. Desperate: DIRE. As in circumstances.
32. Charon's river: STYX. Don't pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side.
33. __-da: pretentious: LA-DI.
34. Juice: Abbr.: ELEC.tricity
36. Orch. work: SYM. Orchestra, symphony.
37. Flirt: TEASE. One who does, is.
39. NYSE, e.g.: MKT. New York Stock Exchange, Stock Market.
40. Stride: STEP.
44. Caustic: HARSH. I had BASIC in there briefly because lye is a very strong base. Caustic lye is the opposite of acid, but no less destructive. Sort of like the two-party system. If you try to mix the two extremes together, sparks really fly and everything in between gets hurt.
45. Edible part of a pecan: NUTMEAT. Pecan, a word from our crossword friends, the Cree: pakan, hard-shelled nut. So, how do you say it? PEEcahn, payKAHN, or PEE-CAN?
49. Doo-wop syllable: SHA. A blast from the past.
50. Like some supplements: HERBAL.
52. Building girder: I-BEAM. Guessed _beam right away, and 53D. Many Nissan autos: Z-CARS. Similarly got _cars, but had to wait for the leading letters for both. Which was tough because the theme perp wasn't helping.
54. Busybody: YENTA. From Yente Telebende, comic strip gossip in 1920s-30s writing of Yiddish newspaper humorist B. Kovner (pen-name of Jacob Adler).
55. John with Grammys: ELTON. Who else could it be?
56. Green dispensers: ATMS. Not fooled this time, filled immediately.
57. Wrangler, for one: JEEP. An SUV or UTE.
58. Copernicus's sci.: ASTR. Science, astronomy.
59. Bonus, in adspeak: XTRA.
63. Peke, e.g.: TOY. Pekingese dog, toy breed.
64. One might be bummed, briefly: CIG.arette
Answer grid.
Al
76 comments:
Good morning, Al, C.C. and gang - boy, this was a tough puzzle for me, even after getting the theme. The North wasn't too bad, but I had all kind of trouble in the South by doing stuff like confidently putting 'jean' for 'Wrangler, for one'. I knew 'Ajax' was right, and I knew 'Metro' was right, so I was stuck there for a while.
I got faked out on 'Airway termini'. 'SBC' escaped me too, as did 'Z-cars' for a while. Lots of fresh clues made this a fun, entertaining puzzle; I hope we see more from Mr. Smilack - I seem to remember that he is/was a Ph.D student at Harvard.
Al, great job - thanks for pointing out that this was a pangram. I completely missed it. And I was surprised at the real meaning of 'refute'; I always thought it meant 'deny'. By the way, my g-spot 'gateau' search didn't reveal anything unusual, even with my settings at 'no filter'.
Today is National Plush Animal Lover's Day.
Did You Know?:
- The Wright Brothers made four flights on December 17, 1903. The first was the shortest.
- Finland has more islands than any other country: 179,584.
- The U.S. Capitol has 365 steps - one for each day of the year - from the basement to the top of the dome
Morning, all!
This one earned a solid WTF rating from me today. The theme completely baffled me and I never did manage to figure out what was going on (until I came here, of course). Seriously, I needed every single perp to get each theme answer, and after getting each theme answer I was left thinking, "WTF does that mean?"
Add to that such "gems" as HEURE, GATEAU, SBC, QTRS, ASTR and ZCARS... Well, let's just say this wasn't the most pleasant solving experience I've ever had and leave it at that.
In other news, my father's heart surgery was delayed because he developed a nasty MRSA infection in his ankle and they didn't want to risk it spreading into his chest cavity. Yesterday, however, he had another "incident" (a.k.a. congestive heart failure) and they no longer think they can risk waiting any longer. So he's scheduled to go under the knife this morning (in a few minutes, actually) and the surgery is expected to last 6-8 hours. Please keep those fingers crossed (and toes, and arms, and legs and anything else you've got...)
Barry, we'll all be pulling for him. Keep the positive thoughts, and do let us know how he makes out.
Favorite clue: green dispensers.
I hope you are feeling better, Frenchie.
My thoughts are with you and Kris, Tinbini.
My internet is down. At least i have home delivery of my paper, so i could complete the puzzle (and without outside help!)
Barry, all the best for your father.
Didn't John MAYER win a Grammy (besides Elton John)
Otto, you're right - he won a couple, I think.
Olivia Newton-John has four.
Morning Al, CC and All,
All I can say is "Wow"! Tough one and very unique.
Positive thoughts heading your direction Barry!
Al, Great write up as usual. I needed most of your explanations.
Have a great day.
Barry G: didn't mean to over look you earlier. My thoughts are with you and your family. We are pulling for your father and pray for the best. If you need anything or if I can help in any way, please let me know.
This was not fun, but it was a challenge. Managed to complete everything except the NW corner. Until reading Al's explanations, the theme answers left me clueless, even though I was confident they were right..
Favorite clues were Noodle topper and Green dispenser.
Barry G, my thoughts and prayers will be with you and your family today.
Thanks for the offer, Hahtool! I don't suppose you have a spare heart lying around anywhere by any chance... ^_^
Al, It looks like an excellent write-up.
But there was a glich this morning.
Alas, my St.Petersburg Times decided that, since I enjoyed the Dan Naddor yesterday SOOOO MUCH, they would re-print it today.
So, I'll get it off the LAT site and do it during game 2 of the World Series tonight.
Then I'll read the write-up of my completed puzzle.
BTW, Since my NY Yankees (aka "the Evil Empire") was eliminated, I was wondering who I would root for ... after last nights 1st pitch I knew it w/b the San Francisco Giants ... Hey, they haven't won-it-all since they moved to the "left" coast.
Good Morning Al, et al, "...and the first shall be last and the last shall be first". Not to get all biblical on you but the last few 3 and 4 stars have only worked for me from the bottom up. Maybe that is when the caffeine kicks in. I racked what little brain I have to see the theme but had to have Al hand it to me. The theme was of no help!
I wanted Fat job to be Diet, Lose and Limo (driver) until Lipo (abbr.) jumped up.
Gunter (Ach!) Wendt was the one of the many post WWII Germans who worked on our manned space program. He was the Pad Leader on all the early manned flights from Mercury to Apollo and was the last man the astronauts saw before the hatch was closed.
I believe FIRETHEFED is going to be a big theme next Tuesday as the idea of sending more money to the cesspool in D.C. is checked. There has to be a balance as the Laffer Curve so clearly shows.
I am hip deep in farm country and I have never heard a Farmer refer to a LEA.
I loved Checker's dance! Store clerk? No. Examiner? No! Game piece? No! Chubby? Yes!
I had BLT for sandwich until RYE popped up. Do you remember the TV episode that turned on a loaf of Marble Rye?
Good morning all. Thanks for the detailed write-up, Al.
Good challenge, today. Agree with the earlier comments. Got the theme rhythm early which helped. Needed several crisscross patterns to chip away at some fills. My brain was slow today. But it all filled in without lookups. Only unknowns were ANI, POHL, and SBC which were aided by the perps. ISAAC was a gimme, while AJAX, PASTA SAUCE, and LEX were initially guesses. CIG we had yesterday. LUNGS was very clever.
BarryG, my thoughts are with your Dad and I hope for a good outcome.
Finland's islands (Dennis' factoid) - The maps we are used to don't show it but when you fly over it, the whole south and southwest coastal areas are dotted with thousands of isles and islets. Very beautiful to see. Helsinki's outer harbor is ringed with isles, adding to its beauty. Locally they are called the 'archipelago'; (no surprise) and the Finns are very proud of them.
Have a good day.
Hello Puzzlers -
Let me start with best wishes to Barry G. and family for a good outcome!
Al, thanks for connecting the theme dots. I was in the dark there - a case of thema non sussa.
NW was tricky. PESTO SAUCE fit in and bollixed that area a while. Was proud of myself for getting LUNGS, though.
Hand up for preferring the real meaning of refute. I am reminded of the Samuel Johnson quote "I refute it thus!", which coincided with Johnson's kicking a stone as proof that Bishop Berkeley's assertion about the non-existence of matter was wrong. It was around 1740, as I recall. That dark corner where physics and philosophy overlap is tricky...
Good Day All!
Barry G.
Positive thoughts going out to your Dad today.
Hahtool (and all others) I'll tell Kris positive thoughts are being sent from the blog. We got him to laugh yesterday. Maybe we can again today.
Dennis (from late yesterday)
That Corporate Type-A almost killed me, too. Quite frankly, fter 35 years of the Bik-Sranje, wearing a suit everyday, playing the corporate games, I had had it.
I tried retiring once at 41, after 6 months of kicking butt on the golf course (my opp.were usually 65, my friends at the office) I returned to "The Firm".
Then 9 yrs later I tried to retire again. 6 months later same result, and an offer to work in Europe and later Russia.
Now I'm "semi-rtired" and review US Corp.Tax Returns for our Moscow, Zagreb, Bosnia etc. offices. Work from home (hence the 15 ft. commute) when I want, on my schedule.
Life was never better. (and I do not miss wearing the suit everyday ... I probably shold get rid of them).
I finally got the very last theme answer and from there on it was pretty easy to go back and fill in the previous theme answers and complete the puzzle. Until then I was stymied.
Giants were awesome last night but I'll give credit to the Texans for keeping the game exciting right to the end.
For those of you who didn't read all of the blog yesterday I'll repeat that I go to Hot August Nights in Reno every year and would love to meet up with anyone for this group in 2011. The dates are August 9-14. Anyone can attend but car registrations are limited to the first 5000. I like to stay at the Grand Sierra Resort but there are many great hotels there including the Peppermill, Harrahs, etc.
Good Morning Al, C.C. et al.
Barry - I can throw in some crossed eyes for your dad!
Thank you for an excellent blog, Al. The Isaac Stern clip was my favorite - what a brilliant composer.
I really didn't like the theme here. The entries switched back and forth from past tense to present, and some were not really common phrases, IMO:
"Fed the fire"?? I usually think of "FEED the fire"...
"Bit the dust"?? Present tense would be "BitE the dust"
"Man the deck"?? Not a very common phrase to me. "Man the lifeboats", yes...
"Eye the prize"?? I think of "EyeS ON the prize"
But, that's just me. But after reading the other comments, I have a feeling that I'm not alone in scratching my head over this one. I did manage to finish it without any red letter or GG help, so that made it somewhat enjoyable for a Thursday puzzle. And a pangram, to boot. Overall, maybe a B+
For 11D "300 pound president", I filled in TAFT without a second thought...except that I smiled ruefully to think that that is his legacy...
And hand up for ICE TEA, yet again. (sigh)
Sorry if I seem a little crotchety today. I guess I need to go find me a stuffed toy to play with in honor of National Plush Animal Lover's Day. Maybe the cats will let me have one of their little mousies??
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Barry G - I hope everything turns out well for your father. Keep us updated.
Hi gang -
Fine job, Al.
Barry - I can join Heart in offering crossed eyes. This will be a trying day. I hope there is a successful result and a happy ending. Good luck!
I had most of the same problems as Al and Dennis in this virtuoso puzzle. The only disturbing GATEAU image I saw was of the lady who could hide them in the folds of her flesh.
Tricky theme, but I did get it, eventually. Convoluted thought patterns have their uses, sometimes.
My last letters were the Q of QTRS/FREQ and G of LUNG/GATEAU - the latter being a world that meant nothing to me. Accidentally entered an A for the F of AFTER. That never helps.
One can realistically imagine a Laffer-type curve applying to GDP growth and general prosperity, not just tax revenues. The inflection point is probably in the top marginal rate range of 65 to 75%, far, far greater than what we have now.
Cheers!
JzB the economic dilettante
Good Morning C.C.,Al and all,
Barry, My thoughts and prayers are added to all the others, for you and your family.
Tinbeni, you two are on the list, also.
I really loved the puzzle this morning; just challenging enough to massage my brain into the 'on' position.
The 'reverse play' on familiar nouns and verbs tugged at me, until 'dust the bit'; I knew it should be 'bin',but I also knew it was 'Styx'.Aha!
Jascha Smilack, I hope to see lots more from you.
Al, thanks for your informative write-up. I 'say it': PEE-cahn.
Otis, thought of you on Nat'l Plush Animals Day. How are you?
Type A test results-50. Some won't believe this, but I have mellowed; for instance, today I have 'blinked over' a political remark. In similar fashion, my remark is probably unread in return. You gotta love it.
Have a nice day everyone.
Things I love Thursdays:
Breakfast with Mom
Al's blog
Hello All ~~!!
Prayers for your dad, Barry G.
As for the puzzle, I have to say I was on the wavelength today - it started with a guess at TEST THE ACE, which made DECK THE MAN seem right, and I took it from there...
I would have thought SCALE THE TOP would have been better, but then there's no such thing as TOP the Scales, so I will have to be OK with it.
I'm a carpenter, so I do like to DUST MY BIT after every use... (lol)
LunGs was the last for me, and I did not get "scarred" on GATEAU, so I lust have looked in the wrong place, too...and another vote for IceD tea, again, and when it does show up, I will be 'shocked'.
Here on LI, NY, it's mostly "PEE-CAN"
Here is pecan from the "other"
When Harry Met Sally clip...
Good day to all ~!
Splynter
Good morning Al, etal. Great puzzle!
Well, that's probably my opinion because I finished with no help and figured out the theme before I came here. I spotted the pattern of THE followed by a three letter word fairly early and that helped quite a bit. TEST THE ACE fell and that's when it dawned on me to exchange the first and last words.
Barry, we're praying that all goes well today.
There were lots of fun clues today. I liked 34d)as I've used the phrase "turn on/off the juice" many times when testing electronic equipment.
Sometimes a puzzle contains several entries that I refer to as "a collection of leters in search of a clue". That's when the obscure acronyms, short foreign language words, abbreviations and snippets of a phrase show up. This puzzle had a low amount of those. Avoiding these, I see as a construction that took some extra effort, as almost any combination of three or four letters can be clued with Google.
There was enough misdirection to make it interesting, too.
All in all, it was a fun Thursday puzzle.
Al, Scarred for life? This thread is useless without pictures! LOL
Grumpy, trust me, you don't want to see it. I've got retina damage and need psychiatric counseling (no comments please).
Hello all...my head hurts from struggling with this puzzle. I could not finish it and did not want to hit the 'solve' letter/word icon anymore.
I did give it a good try though and don't feel bad about not 'getting' the theme after reading some of your comments. Have to agree with Barry and HeartRx, many of these clues/answers did not make sense to me either.
Barry G, I am thinking good thoughts for your Father (and you too :))
MH, thanks for the specific dates for Hot August Nights. Yikes limit 5000 cars??? Wow, that is bigger than I thought it would be, what fun!! Hope we can generate some interest here and a lot of us can meet.
Al, What am I missing about GATEAU ?(I have never heard the word)I will look it up on Google, but just wondered what you saw.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Just got back last night after being in Alabama for a week+. So I have missed all of your comments etc. May have time to read them later.
Thanks to Dennis, DH and I had lunch Wednesday at The Varsity in Atlanta. And it was as much fun as he said it would be. Quite an experience, and we found that people all seem to know about it, even as far away as Macon.
Barry G. my thought are with you and your family. We surely do hope all goes well.
As to today's puzzle, I think it was ridiculous. Way too convoluted for me. But the write up was great, Al. Don't know how all you brains figured it out.
Cheers
Our prayers and good thoughts for your father, Barry, as well as for you and your family.
Thanks, Al, for a great write up today.
SBC was a no-brainer for me. Hubby worked for them for 30+ years. For some reason LEX, STYX, and AJAX were gimmies. What is it with the "X"? Got the theme early on and found that after I got a "real" word at one end or the other, I could insert THE before or after and get some perp help that way. For a long time, I had "Price the pay" instead of PRIZETHEEYE. I know it didn't make sense with the clue, but I knew the old saying "Pay the price" and went with that. It wasn't until I got to YENTA that I realized my error. I did "G" the "Gunter" clue because I thought it was a pop culture reference.
Speaking of pop culture, Husker Gary, that is the only episode of "Seinfeld" I ever watched.
If I were a drinking person, I would be crying in my beer over last night's game. The Giants might not have won the W.S. for a long time, but the Rangers never have. I'm so wanting them to win. I wonder what happened to Cliff Lee that he turned in such a sorry performance? Hope tonight goes better.
For the morbidly curious, go to images.google.com and type in gateau and...
Oh heck, here it is, but don't say I didn't warn you about not looking. It's not that I'm unsympathetic, but really, the whole cake?
Al,
Oooohh..ouch! MY EYES!!!
Al, Holy S**^...well now we all know why she looks like that! Thanks (I think), good thing my breakfast was a while ago or I might have lost it.
I can't stop staring-Stop me before I stare again!
What is balanced [sitting] on her leg? a napkin or two?
Don't say you all weren't warned.
creature, it looks like a pack of diet pills.
Too much GATEAU; not enough LIPO.
Creature, they look like candy bars
Dennis- I love it!
Don`t laugh (or gag!) I got paid big bucks for that photo...and the cake was good, too! :)
I can't wait to pay for our gateau consumer's health insurance! OMG!
I appreciated the kind comment yesterday that guessed I might make a good teacher! My motto was
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand!
Kids had something in their hands almost everyday to take data and have fun in the process - egg drops, boat floats, alka seltzer rockets, motion probes, hot wheels, mirrors, lenses, slinkies, play doh models, paper plate star finders, etc. I miss it sometimes but when I sub, I realize by 1 pm why I retired after 42 years. 14,000 students are enough!
Dr. John has five.
John Legend from Springfield, OH sang the national anthem at the World Series last night.
Oh yeah...he has won six Grammy's.
Spitzboov's been driven to poetry.
Arbaon you mean you were paid by the pound?
Candy bars is a pretty good guess. Any more?
in this part of the south, (southern LA.) pecan is pronounced "puh cahn"
The only thing I enjoyed about today’s puzzle solving experience was your write up Al. On a positive note I did learn a new French word today: heure. I didn’t even come close to finishing this one up during my lunch hour and I wish I had left the office instead! I didn’t get the theme even after I had “dust the bit” and “test the ace”. Oh well, I tried. My favorite clue/answer was “one might be bummed, briefly”-cig. Of course I had to google gateau when you said you might be scarred for life. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Then you had to link it….HOLY CRAP! Where do you find panties that big?
Why is she holding the gateau? There is a large shelf right there in front of her...
Good morning,puzzlers,
For once I'm finished in the a.m! And I decided not to read the comments until after I post. I know some of you do that and why not?
I liked this puzzle. It was challenging but very fair. Good clues but not impossible. No lookups for me; and it's Thursday. too! That gives me a good feeling!
I got all the theme answers but didn't suss the theme until Al's very helpful blog. Thanks, Al, you are so good about dispensing info!
I liked "That's my take" and "end of a fairy tale". Not too fond of "aer" for "flying prefix" . Got lucky with wags for "IBeam" and "Zcars", also "sym." which could have been a lot of things.
Lots of fun. Thanks, Jascha
Oh, Barry! I'm crossing my fingers and praying for your dad! What a shame, after he was doing so well.
Sending positive thoughts!
Lots of people with the first name John have won a grammy. Much, much tougher to come up with winners with the last name John. Like Argyle's Olivia Newton-
Hi all.
AT&T was nice and allowed us to keep our SBC Global e-mail address.
So much for a tight pitchers' duel.
No local TV on the hockey game. I followed it on line and listened to WFAN-AM/New York. Great night for Thornton - 3G and 2A.
Puzzle solve suffered and was a DNF. First in a long time.
Bright and sunny in the Bay Area.
Take care.
Hey, guys!
Thanks (again) for all the kind words, thoughts and creative body crossing. I just found out that my dad has come out of surgery more or less in one piece and appears to be doing well. They are anticipating 2-3 months of rehab before he can go home, but that's better than the alternative...
Hi all
Haven't posted for a long time. This puzzle was tough. Needed a lot of G for help and this site.
Al,
Loved the blast from the, past! I'm going to my 50th highschool class reunion this weekend. We were the 50th class to graduate, and the school celebrates its 100th year. We get to tour the school and I have not seen it since I graduated. The songs brought back many memories. Our class had 1100 graduates, so we had to graduate on the football field. It rained the day of graduation, so it was postponed one day. That night some one ? turned all the chairs around backwards! What fun
Thanks, all
Hurrah, Barry! Wonderful news!
Hello everybody. I feel about this puzzle much as many of you did, that it was challenging but not particularly fun. By the time I finished it (without 'cheating') I felt like, "Oh okay."
Al, thank you for the cool writeup and the links.
Isn't "gateau" simply French for cake? Any kind of cake, not necessarily sponge cake?
I didn't know that about Finland. Good to know.
Barry G, emitting positive thoughts your way.
I too pencilled in BLT for 41A and PESTO for the top half of 3D.
Tinbeni, I gave my suits away years ago.
Best wishes to you all.
Hello, puzzlers all.
Thank you, Al, for your detailed explanations. Some I would not even guess.
What a thrilling Thursday puzzle from Jascha Smilack! He kicked me, but I love the challenge. Got most of it before going for my physical exam today. I'm in excellent health, BTW.
The theme jumped out at me, which leads me to believe I may be dyslexic, and I loved it. It really helped especially at the bottom with 62A, TESTTHEACE which I was certain would be an unknown name.
On 1A, I really wanted LIPS, well there are those with fat lips; but never made the connection to LUNGS and had PESTOSAUCE for a long time. Finally OFHELP jumped out at me, but GATEAU never made it so I had to clear the mess with your blog, Al.
Otherwise, it filled in fairly easily but I CRAVE a neat puzzle that I finish on my own.
I really got a kick out of LEA, farm expanse. It is such a new and fresh clue for a tried and true crosswordese fill.
Nothing DIRE to report; I just admire the complexity and humor of this xwd.
Barry G, I'm late with my prayers but I sincerely hope all is going well with your dad. I have been thinking of and praying for him since you mentioned it.
I hope all are having delightful Thursday! Please stay out of harm's way those in the path of the storms. 80 degs. here and lovely.
Glad to hear of the success Barry. Keep on keepin' on!
LMAO at the Gateau link and even more at the comments that followed!
Needed it. Ran my ass off this morning coordinating paving jobs, waiting for roads to dry up, etc. Got everything set, ordered mix, then the plant calls back promptly and says they were broke down. ARRRRG!
Oh well, try it again tomorrow.
BarryG
I posted before I saw your post about your Dad.My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
My oldest son went through something similar 20 years ago. He had a very bad infection, but they couldn't wait to do surgery. He has done very well and has 3 wonderful children.
Hope all goes well.
Great news, Barry!
Creature: It looks like candy bar rappers on her leg to me. It saddens me to see someone that large.
Doreen
Dennis, Didn't you once sort of hint that Dilbert might be Eddy B?
I could be wrong. The comments seem quite similar. Maybe Eddie B. moved to California? Can you put me straight on this?
And my pronunciation is piCAHN. In fact I just bought a big bag of pecan halves to make a pie, but I got tham home and they're SALTED. Guess I have to take them back! Or eat them and then I might be on my way to becoming the gateau eater!
Gadzooks!
dodo, yes, one and the same.
Barry G., great news; keep us posted on his progress.
Glad you're in good health, Lucina.
I pronounce it piCAHN also. I bet you could still make pie with those salted ones, dodo. Just add a bit more sugar or syrup, maybe.
Grumpy1: Sometimes a puzzle contains several entries that I refer to as "a collection of leters in search of a clue". Well said!
41A-Sandwich request wrote BLT. Correct answer-rye.
I just saw the "gateau" link and am immediately going on a diet! I'm not too overweight, but now is the time to shed it.
Lucina-Good health-Yeah!
Barry- So glad to hear your report.Hope you fill us in from time to time.
Dodo- That's how I say it. Just using Al's choices.
Doreen- I,too, felt saddened- even by the outfit and obvious braggidocio in the pose.
Actually, I don't understand it and I don't even understand my reactions. Even now, it makes me nervous.
I tend to seek equilibrium through humor-often at myself. In this incidence, the extremity of it all hits my funny bone. And the fact that you see candy bar wrappers is hysterical to me. Go figure.
Hi all,
I seldom get done with the puzzle in time to post.
I wasn't going to do the puzzle yet but I looked at it and started finding some answers, just kept going but then got stuck. My dictionary actually had gateau as one answer for cake. The picture was impressing and sad. Discovery Health often has programs about the extremely obese and they have to go thru a lot to lose the weight.
Barry G, glad to hear your Father came thru the surgery and is in stable condition. I will be rooting for him.
I had lips for 1A until I read Al's blog. I also had jean for Wrangler instead of jeep.
Our wind finally slowed down, not much damage but our roof lost a lot of shingles and will have to patched. In the spring we will need a new roof. Some places had a lot of damage.
Have a good evening!
Marge
Sneaky puzzle today, but fun! Did anybody see this on Google Reader?
A quote from Brian "Fear the Beard" Wilson:
"I’d like to be a crossword clue one day," (Brian Wilson) said. "I want to be in The New York Times’s Sunday edition. Right now, the clue ‘Giants great’ is always Mel Ott. I want my clue to be down, not across. The down ones are usually harder. And when I’m the clue, I’ll fill it in — just that one — and frame it.
Well, I thought it was funny...
My internet connection is back up again!
President TAFT was a large man and was said to have gotten stuck in the White House bath tub.
Here's my favorite DIRE Straits connection.
Hola Everyone,
Well Jascha Smilack knocked me down, then stomped on me. This puzzle took so long that I finally gave up after finishing about two thirds of the CW. Even after having the THE with a three letter word after it I couldn't sus the theme.
I had two theme answers, Deck the Man and Test the Ace, but finally gave up and came here for Al's excellent writeup about the theme and the relevent links.
I fell into the same traps as many others with diet/lipo, and jeans/jeep. This really messed up those areas and it took a long time to fix.
I think I'll pass on looking at the Gateau lady. From all the comments, I don't need the image to haunt me. I have enough of a problem sleeping as it is!
Barry G. Great news about your Dad. I'll keep him in my thoughts and wish for the best in the coming days.
Dodo, Dennis, can either of you guess whom this is?
I have enjoyed this site for months: first post, though! Tough today, but clever. Favorite clue was the Ogden Nash poem. Decided to post specifically for Husker: I know you worry about not being the "cool kid," but your continual political references (shots at Barbra Streisand; today's tea party reference, are beginning to annoy me. My understanding is no politics on this blog, which is a welcome relief from facebook, to which you recently compared to this site. All politics are local; I define "local" as your own personal self.
anon @8:43, Charlie Sheen?
Ojai, welcome to the blog, but leave the censorship to us. If there's something over the line (and there WASN'T), one of us will flag it.
Got them all (in 30 minutes), even though I never figured out the theme and didn't know a couple of them (like GATEAU).
Hahtool, here is my favorite dire straits tune. Story of my life in so many ways.
I also want to see Styx clued differently.
Barry G: Continuing best wishes for your father's recovery. My mother is currently in the hospital also with heart problems.
Here's a photo of one of Finland's 179,584 islands--called Market Reef. I talked to another ham radio operator there a couple of years ago and got this card from him (top card). The one below that is from Kyrgystan, and the bottom one is from a Hurricane Hunter (Lockheed Lodestar pilot) who was ferrying some NOAA scientists through Hurricane Gloria off the N.C. coast back in 1985.
MARKET REEF
Anon at 8:43: It should be who, not whom.
not a favorite puzzle today..I thought Barry expressed it well.
Al, enjoyed reading your blogging, as I knew none of the theme answers, except the "THE"s..lol
Creature,I think that gateau gal purchaced some sugar free gum AND sexy undies at Wall Mart.
Barry, good news.
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