Theme: Ignition! - A countdown to a great Monday. See Answer Grid.
21A. They start with "hip hip" : THREE CHEERS
29A. Closely related duo : TWO OF A KIND
48A. Single file : ONE AT A TIME
56A. Weightless state : ZERO GRAVITY
69A. London lav (Diagonally from square 69 to square 45) What happens after the starts of 21-, 29-, 48- and 56-Across : LOO
Argyle control here. We have lift off. Also, triple-seven's in each corner.
Across:
1. Mournful tune : DIRGE
6. Teacher's favorite : PET
9. Part of A.D. : ANNO
13. How fritters are fried : IN OIL. Yum! County fairs are starting up.
14. Bronx third baseman, to fans : A-ROD. As we learned the other day, upon coming to the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez switched positions from shortstop to third base, because Derek Jeter was already at shortstop. He also had to switch uniform numbers; he had worn 3 his entire career, but that number is retired by the Yankees in honor of Babe Ruth.
16. In __ of: replacing : LIEU
17. Diver's apparatus : SCUBA
18. Cruise ship stop : ISLE
19. Fastener in the catalog a bit above a U-bolt? : T-NUT
20. Cub Scout group : DEN
24. Russian Peace Nobelist Sakharov : ANDREI. 1975 For his work on human rights in Russia.
26. Dawn to dusk : DAY
27. Luau bowlful : POI
28. Words of understanding : "I SEE"
33. Jock's antithesis : NERD
34. Granola grain : OAT
35. In need of a massage, perhaps : TENSE
36. Candor : SINCERITY
40. Did electrical work : WIRED
43. Disencumber (of) : RID
44. Snuffs out, mob-style : OFFS
51. Chilly, in Mexico : FRIO
52. Many times o'er : OFT
53. Sidewalk stand soft drink : ADE
54. Church gathering : SOCIAL
60. Conclusion : END
61. "Dies __": Latin hymn : IRAE
62. "Wild Blue Yonder" mil. group : USAF
63. Vivian of "I Love Lucy" : VANCE
65. City west of Tulsa : ENID
66. Chow __: noodle dish : MEIN
67. Like senior statesmen : ELDER
68. Reagan and son : RONs
70. Words of agreement : YESes
Down:
1. Contempt : DISDAIN
2. Fragrant ceremonial smoke : INCENSE
3. More spherical : ROUNDER. Or the Wikipedia disambiguation page.
4. Brit. territory with a famous rock : GIB. (Gibraltar)
5. Tickle pink : ELATE
6. Duo : PAIR
7. Highland tongue : ERSE
8. City on Lake Erie : TOLEDO
9. Old, in German : ALTE
10. Bowler's back-row target : NINE PIN
11. Nervous system units : NEURONS
12. Alfresco : OUTSIDE
15. Evening coffee choice for many : DECAF
22. Think of, as a solution : HIT ON
23. Big name in hotels : HYATT
25. Obstacle for Moses : RED SEA
30. WWII GI Jane : WAC. Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was converted into the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. The story.
31. '90s "SNL" regular Cheri : OTERI. Maybe a puzzle with both names later.
32. It has no sharps or flats, with "the" : KEY OF C
37. Dog collar attachment : ID TAG
38. Backboard attachment : RIM
39. In other words, in Caesar's words : ID EST
40. More dizzy : WOOZIER
41. Hot spot for Dante : INFERNO
42. Teach new job skills to : RETRAIN
45. Facebook connections : FRIENDS
46. Bride-to-be : FIANCÉE
47. Joins metal : SOLDERS
49. Tight as __ : A DRUM
50. Prickly-leaved plant : TEASEL. Also, teazel, teazle, teasle or tea'sle.
55. Yiddish "Yikes!" : "OY VEY!"
57. Ref. works that occupy entire shelves : OED's. The Oxford English Dictionary.
58. Sony laptop brand : VAIO
59. "__ One Will Listen": Kelly Clarkson song : IF NO. Clip(4:00)
64. Pub potable : ALE
Argyle
Constructor's note:
This is probably the most difficult puzzle I have constructed so far. In addition to the four theme entries, there were six other entries that were restricted by the secret message hidden in the grid. The stacked triple sevens in each corner were also a consequence of the message, resulting in a rather low word count for a Monday. I’ll be curious to hear about your solving experience!
64 comments:
Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - not a lot of time this morning as I'm meeting the old gang at the gym (still in NJ), but I wanted to praise Marti for what had to be an extremely difficult constructing job. Even recognizing the countdown theme, I had no idea where it was going to end up. Great job!
Morning, all!
Nothing particularly difficult for a Monday, although a hesitated a bit with ANDREI. I didn't even notice a theme while solving. Having finished it, I can now see the THREE, TWO, ONE ZERO countdown and can even see the LIFTOFF in the grid. I can't figure out what it all has to do with LOO, though...
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Fun puzzle. I quickly saw that we on the countdown, and loved the diagonal LIFT OFF!
DIRGE isn't a Monday word, so I was afraid this might be a tough puzzle. The downs from 1-5 convinced me Dirge was correct and the rest was smooth sailing.
We knew ANDREI Sakharov's stepson, Alexei. He was a grad student in the Boston area in the 1980s.
I thought of Jazzbumpa when i came across (actually a down) TOLEDO.
My favorite clue was Hot Spot for Dante = INFERNO.
QOD: Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. ~ Raymond Chandler
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Marti, for a great puzzle. Thank you, as well, Argyle, for the review.
Puzzle started easily. Had IN FAT instead of IN OIL for 13A. Fixed that.
Got THREE CHEERS first for theme answers. That helped with the next three.
Did not know TEASEL. Needed perps.
For 62A I first thought of Army Air Corps, but AAC would not fit. So I plugged in USAF. I believe the song was written for the AAC.
SOLDERS for 47D came easily since I did that all my life. Soldered copper wire to terminals in telephone exchanges. Later we used wire wrap guns. No solder.
As I wended my way through the puzzle, I felt is was more a Tuesday level than a Monday.
I liked the puzzle and it was a clever theme with the LIFTOFF buried in it. Great job.
Off to my day now. It is supposed to hit 100 degrees again.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Super-quick solve today with no oops surprises. Nice job, Marti.
Naturally, I missed the theme, but didn't need it. I never would have seen the LIFTOFF.
It's interesting that OTERI showed up again, and a NINE PIN rather than a Ten pin.
Hahtoolah, I wasn't aware there were Monday words -- just Monday clues. Are some words considered too arcane or esoteric for a Monday, even if the cluing is straight-forward?
Off for a three-mile "march" before it gets too hot...
What a pleasantly easy solve for a very smart, tightly constructed Monday masterpiece. Congratulations, Marti!
Thank you Argyle, for the LIFT OFF reveal--I didn't even look for another clue after the whole thing was filled in. I thought the count down was all there was to the theme, so figured I was finished.
What a great start to the week!
I thought it was Tuesday level as well. Caught the theme by the second answer, but like others I totally missed the diagonal clue and didn't see the liftoff. Very well constructed puzzle and an enjoyable solve. Good job!
Great puzzle Marti - I loved the extra diagnal clue!
I didn't know ANDREI or KEY OF C (another one for JzB). I was wondering what OED stood for - thanks to the write up I don't have to Wikipedia it.
My Grandma's sister was a WAC.
BG: 69 Across has one clue and answer (LOO), while 69 Diagnal has a seperate clue and answer. Therefore, there will be no LIFT OFF in the LOO.
Good morning all. Thanks. Argyle for explaining 'lift off', I didn't see it during the solve.
"Drei mal hoch', Marti, THREE CHEERS!. I knew it was a countdown to something; I just didn't have lift off. The bookends of 12 vertical fills of 7 in nests of 3 must have been a challenge to set up. They were fun to solve. Nice shout out to some of our vets, the WACs and the USAF. BH helped me with FRIO. Here is a nice rendition of ALTE Kameraden 'Old Comrades'
From yesterday, the Ommegang brewery is near us at Cooperstown. My favorites are the Hennepin and the Rare Vos (Sly Fox)
Have a great day.
THREE CHEERS for Marti! Thoroughly enjoyed today's puzzle. The Schaefer pen ad was a treat, Argyle.
The only ones I need perp help with were TEASEL and OED. AROD and TNUT have been seen recently, so I could fill them in with confidence!
Barry G., maybe Marti thought of this theme in the LOO, which would tie it in nicely. Some of my best thinking happens in there...
My Dad was in the USAF in WWII, when it was the Army Air Corps. He turns 92 today, so I will be going down to see him. I'm taking a jar of pickled herring as his gift-he loves that stuff! Oddly enough, they don't serve it at the nursing home.
Good morning all ! STPer (Seventh Time Poster) here. 16 Min, 10 sec today.
Argyle, thank you for the writeup. And thanks for the pic of TEASEL. Now I know it's name.
Marti, I never saw the theme and never saw the diag fill until Argyle pointed it out. I'm sure it was due to my (ever-evolving) approach(es)in completing puzzles.
Now that I study it, it's a very clever puzzle. I especially like that the countdown is sequential and LIFTOFF the closer. Appears that the launch angle is about 60 degrees.
Marti, what a clever puzzle with interesting fill. I got the theme with THREE and TWO, but missed the really witty diagonal LIFT OFF. I still don't know what LOO has to do with it, unless it was just a joke.
Arguyle, I enjoyed the Ethel clip. I remember the snorkel pen. When ball points first came out, they were looked down upon for official documents. Fountain pens were still preferred for that.
I was too busy yesterday to commnet. The anagram/film theme was excellent. I love iries. My mom had BEARDED irises. I have the non-BERADed ones. It's time to dig them up and separate them again.
Link bearded irises
Marti, my thought is the opposite of yours. A puzzle with such low word count AND a secret message AND a new word for me (TEASEL) that is still so very doable is amazing to this NASA guy!
Musings
-3, 2, 1, 0 and eight minutes later you are in ZERO GRAVITY – if we still had a manned space program
-BTW, why are Earth orbiting astronauts weightless? Hint – it’s NOT because there is no gravity there.
-Our church music is DIRGE-like. Not when I play!
-Teachers PET? Yeah, I heard they do.
-Joann had a Snickers cooked IN OIL at the NE State Fair last year
-The Yankees with AROD and the Angels with Pujols owe big bucks to men in the twilight of their careers
-A much funnier way of saying I SEE (:06) by a denizen of cwd puzzles.
-WIRED/TENSE – unintentional clecho
-Is there an actual drink that is an ADE or is just a suffix for whatever fruit you use?
-In what wonderful movie was Andy Griffith in the USAF?
-Staying military, who was the most famous TV native of TOLEDO?
-Ron Sr. and Ron Jr. were worlds apart politically. The son only has a career because of his dad’s name and what he is willing to say about him.
-Dining ALFRESCO in Seneca, Italy cost us less than dining inside. Odd.
-Dunkers were pulling down RIMs before mfg’s caught on how to put a hinge on them
-I’m typing this on my VAIO!
-Hahtool, re QOD – Oldest daughter’s first husband had an abundance of the first quality, none of the second and a lousy third.
-Off to see an advisor about MIL’s money issue. Looks like we’ll be getting a home equity line of credit.
I was taught the rule given yesterday for plurals of word ending in O. I was also taught that there were exceptions. According to the Oxford dictionary the plurals of these common nouns ending in O can be spelled with either -s or-es.
PS That would include salvos and salvoes
singular plural
banjo -banjos or banjoes
buffalo -buffalos or buffaloes
cargo -cargos or cargoes
domino -dominos or dominoes
flamingo-flamingos or flamingoes
fresco -frescos or frescoes
ghetto -ghettos or ghettoes
halo -halos or haloes
mango -mangos or mangoes
memento -mementos or mementoes
mosquito-mosquitos or mosquitoes
motto -mottos or mottoes
tornado -tornados or tornadoes
tuxedo -tuxedos or tuxedoes
volcano -volcanos or volcanoes
Thank you Marti for a lovely and interesting puzzle - I loved it. I loved your theme and the clues were easy enough that a CW challenged guy like me could appreciate them - including the mysterious 'liftoff' .... very cute.
And thank you Argyle for your charming commentary.
I had 'Elegy' for 'Dirge', at first - and like Hahtoolah, thought of JazzB in Toledo, ..... and Hahtoolah at "Oy Vey'.
I initially, misspelled 'mein' with 'mien' and then wondered if 'chow mein' could mean 'eating my face' ?? (lol). I googled for the spelling and came across 'mein' in a totally different language ... Hindi ! ( actually Anglicized Hindi ). 'mein' ( May` ) means 'with' or 'within' in Hindi and is generally a part of a title of a 100 odd Bollywoood songs on Youtube ... Aaaargh !
I wonder if The Queen ever uses the word 'loo', she probably says 'privy', which is more ladylike - (as in 'privy council' (lol) The Privy Council is, I think, constitutionally, a little above the UK Supreme Court .... )
BTW, just last week, my niece from the UK was visiting and asked me to give her 3 yr. old daughter a bath in a bathtub - something I dread. At the 'final' moment, just before she undressed, my grand-niece told me, 'Grandpa, close the curtain, I want my privy !' ( privacy ). I was most relieved, in more than one way.
Desper-Otto. I just meant that Dirge isn't a word that one sees or uses in every day speech. It reminds me of the song I learned in grade school called The Streets of Larado.
Hahtoolah, your QOD is so very apt - I wrote it down for future use.
ALT QOD:- I got no sex life. My dog watched me in the bedroom to learn how to beg. Then he taught my wife to play dead. ~ Rodney Dangerfield.
have a good week, you all.
Good morning everyone:
Kudos, Marti, for a clever theme and the added bonus of lift off. I, too, thought it was more of a Tuesday level but finished w/o help and no write-overs. Good expo, as always, Argyle.
Happy Monday to all.
Smarti-Marti! I loved this puzzle. Very fun and clever for a Monday. In our newspaper the last clue pointed out the diagonal "liftoff".
Busy week here in the "garlic capital". The whole city is getting ready for the 34th Annual Garlic Festival. We're hoping for temps in the high 80's which would be perfect, but we'll wee what the weather gods have in mind.
Happy Monday.
Anon. at 8.53, STP - Seventh time poster - - the angle of 'liftoff' is exactly 45o.
A diagonal in a square puzzle couldn't be 60 degrees ... it HAS to be 45 degrees. ( Funny, its been so long, I used a protractor, just to make sure .... ).
A projectile following a parabolic path ( y**2 = 4ax ), at an initial angle of 45 degrees, will reach its maximum distance ( range )....
Reminds me of 'blonde' joke - A blonde, walks past a flag pole, where 2 men are trying to estimate the height of the pole. They don't have a ladder to reach the top of the pole.... thus they are in a quandary.
So, the blonde, takes out a heavy duty spanner from her trusty toolbox, and unscrews the heavy mounting bolts at the bottom (flange ) of the pole, which enables the men to slide the pole down to the ground, and she uses a tape measure to give them the dimension.
Says one of the men. ' Isn't that just like a dumb blonde ! We asked her for the height, and she gives us the length !! '.
Great job, Marti! I enjoyed working the c-word this morning after a long vacation.
Hello to all the corner critters!
Great job, Marti! I enjoyed working the c-word this morning after a long vacation.
Hello to all the corner critters!
I am so ELATEd. A puzzle I could do after two days of floundering frustration. Loved this very clever puzzle, Marti! I even noticed the countdown and LIFTOFF! THREE CHEERS for Marti! Good comments and links, Argyle!
Liked the LIEU/LOO clecho. The only thing that threw me a little was SINCERITY in the middle because I was expecting another numbered phrase.
We had good news this week when my USAF son got his orders for a new posting. Once again he has been assigned somewhere that I don't expect him to be shot at (unless he goes to the wrong movie, that is. So horrible!).
Good morning all!
Interesting to hear all of your comments about this one. LOO has nothing to do with the theme - I just needed a three letter word beginning in "L" in order to fit LIFT OFF diagonally in that spot. If any constructors want to take a stab at a better word to fit in there, let me know if you can find one!
As Mari said, they they both had individual clues, so one has nothing to do with the other except their position in the grid. So no, I did not dream this up on the LOO, and LIFTing OFF from the LOO is not the image I intended, LOL!!
HG, Andy Griffith in "No Time for Sergeants" - great movie!
Good morning! I couldn’t sleep last night, so did this puzzle at midnight on my iPad. Didn’t take time to turn off red letters, so didn’t enter any unless I was positive they were correct. Thought of DIRGE but didn’t trust it, read the vertical clues and didn’t know any answers in the NW corner. This was going to be harder than Sunday’s puzzle. But, starting with PET I was on a roll and got enough answers that I was able to suss out all the rest and complete the puzzle with no red letters.
So, thanks, Marti for a great puzzle. I got the theme and saw the diagonal before I read Argyle’s post this morning. I would not have gotten ANDREI, IRAE, ALTE, IDEST, or TEASEL without the perps.
My SIL was a WAC.
Yellowrocks, I saved your list of plurals of common nouns with acceptable plural endings.
Qli, pickled herring is one of my Lithuanian DIL's favorite treats.
PK, my USAF son is stationed in Hawaii. After 8 deployments to war zones, the only place where he might be sent, is Turkey. I know how you are feeling. When he was in UAE, news stations reported a movie theater frequented by Americans had been bombed with over 30 killed. When he had a chance to contact us it turned out his base was in lock-down, and there were no servicemen at the theater.
Have a good day, everyone,
Montana
Anonymous: loved your blonde joke. Reminded me of the time at the newspaper when the VFW asked me to go take a picture of the erection of the new flag pole they'd purchased.
The only city worker was having trouble trying to hold the pole straight while tightening the flange bolts. He was really grumpy and didn't want his picture taken. I just stepped over and held the pole in place so he could get it done.
He thanked me and I said, "Oh, that's okay. I always like to help a man get his pole up." His head snapped around and he looked at me. I just kept a straight face, looked elsewhere and played innocent.
A few minutes later I got the best picture of the guy grinning broadly as he hooked up the brand new VFW flag. The VFW officer thought he was just happy about their purchase.
Marti: Thank you for a WONDERFUL Monday offering.
Maybe the confusion lies in how the puzzle is solved.
Newsprint-v-computer.
In my Tampa Bay Times 69-ACROSS was simply clued: "London lav"
Then, after all the DOWN clues, for the first time (ever) was:
DIAGONAL: 69 (to square 45):
What happens after the starts of 21-, 29-, 48- and 56-Across
So, on paper, they were 2 separate clues: One going across and one being diagonal.
I guess the 'Across-Lite'/computer solvers had these 2 clues combined in the manner it was shown in Argyle's write-up.
(Then again, at the time of LIFTOFF, with a gazillion pounds of highly-flammable fluid firing-up, maybe a few astronauts would have liked if they were sitting on a LOO, lol),
Liked the Jazz shout-outs at TOLEDO & KEY-OF-C.
A "toast" to all at Sunset.
CHEERS !!!
Terrific Monday puzzle, Marti--and even more when I got the LIFTOFF from Argyle's write-up and the blog explanations. What a great way to start the week--many thanks!
Have a great week, everybody!
oops .... I meant:
THREE CHEERS !!! (to all at Sunset)
PK, in another lifetime I was a field rep for a crane and excavator manufacturer. Some of those cranes were huge, and we had a guy at the factory who would be sent out to oversee setting them up on the jobsites. The title on his business card: Erection Specialist. His wife didn't see the humor in it.
yr @0908 - Following is a link to the after action report by Adm Sprague on the Battle off Samar in October of 1944, part of the Leyte Gulf campaign. At page 4 0f 8, he uses SALVOES several times. See Link. This is the iconic battle involving Taffy III, - 'David against Goliath'. Kind of a gritty poignant read.
OK, since you asked, I had a very nice solving experience. I got confused near the end when my brain kept thinking of 'blast off' instead of LIFT OFF. But I figured it out. I didn't know TEASEL either.
Gary, right. It's gravity that keeps them in orbit. It's that their orbit keeps them constantly falling toward the earth in a curved path. Any object in free fall has no weight.
GarlicGal, Gilroy in hot weather must be a strong-smelling place. I've driven through Gilroy several times and I knew I was getting close when still several miles away. Is your brain able to tune out the garlic odor after you've been there a while?
As to the angle of lift-off, when printed out on standard letter-sized paper, the angle is closer to 60°.
Marti,
You could've achieved a LIFTOFF with Vase @ 58D If so @ 59D and Mess @ 66A and skipped the LOO with LEO @ 69A, but then when you gotta go you gotta go...!
SL Zalameh, but then the diagonal would read "LSFT" OFF...?
Hello Puzzlers -
A bit late to the party, I'm waiting for an airplane to return so I can fly it to Nantucket, but I can't pass up the opportunity to congratulate Marti on a clever job well done!
I can't speak to the vagaries of different printers but each square is going up one square's side and moving to the right one square's side. Mathematically, that means the slope is equal to 1 or 45 degrees as Anony-Mouse wrote. Also, the diagonal of a square makes an exact 45-degree angle. Maybe the shape gets distorted after being created online and then printed out. The local paper has been able to save a little money by reducing the size of their newsprint. As a result, their crossword puzzle shows up in print as a rectangle instead of a square.
Somehow I misread the Diagonal clue. Of course, now that all of you pointed it out, it should have been easy. I found the other fill very easy, but fun. I got LOO and though it was fine. I just wondered if I missed something else. Apparently, not.
I read very many historical early Americana novels (wagon trains, Lewis and Clark, etc.) TEASEL was often used as an herbal remedy in the pioneer days I am especially interested in folk remedies and the development of more modern medical practices in the 19th century. The development of surgery and the improvement of childbirth procedures in the U.S. are fascinating.
My unabridged dictionary has ADE as a standalone entry for a sugared, fruit drink, and also -ADE as a suffix, such as in lemonade and orangeade.
PK 10:22, LOL about your flag pole experience and DO @10:42 about the business card.
Wow after two weeks of C.C.'s monday magic, we have a Marti Monday Masterpiece, with a countdown and a vertical clue to add to across and down. Awesome. We also have TEASEL which I know but did not know; SCUBA, one of my favorite acronyms (self contained underwater breathing apparatus) and 7 letter stacks. The only way it could get better is if she came and washed my car (it rains everytime I am 1/2 through).
Lifting off from the Loo reminds me of the poor girl (George) who got hit by the toilet seat from the space station at the beginning of DEAD LIKE ME .
JzB, I think my son has featured the Ommegang brewery in his beer blog. I know he has visited the facility.
I nobody going to mention the greatest MudHen fan of all Jamie Farr, who sponsors and LPGA event in Toledo?
Adam Scott, I feel your pain.
PS thanks for the ADE shout out, and I liked DISDAIN next to INCENSE.
Hello, puzzlers. Thanks, Argyle.
THREE CHEERS, Marti! I sashayed through this like a planet in orbit with great fun in the process.
However, I started with ELEGY since 4D had to be GIB but ELATE soon emerged and so did DIRGE.
I also thought of Jazz at TOLEDO and KEY OF C.
LOO to me simply meant the starting point of LIFT OFF. So clever!
Like others, TEASEL was new but it worked itself out.
Have yourselves a beautiful Monday, everyone!
Good afternoon everyone.
WEES
Great puzzle. Very clever. And lots of fun.
The Naples News had a clue to the LIFT OFF. "69 (to square 45) What happens after the starts of 21,29,49, and 50 across."
As usual, fine write up, Argyle.
Cheers
Dennis: what's the story on the turtles?
I took the puzzle with me to help with the 4 hours i had to wait for my daughter to swim in the divisional championship meet.
Imaging my surprise at doing the across, down, & then find diagonal?
I managed to drag this puzzle out as long as possible, but once three appeared combined with a diagonal LIF--F- i had no choice but to put in the two,one,zero & finish the puzzle. Very enjoyable!
What was more puzzling was Argyle's
"69A. London lav (Diagonally from square 69 to square 45) What happens after the starts of 21-, 29-, 48- and 56-Across : LOO".
Until Tinbeni explained it, i thought liftoff fell in the toilet! Still, it appears people have already thought of it
(& even sillier things) Note: pls don't watch the whole (2:55), that would be just dumb!
Marti,
Oops ! My bad , Thanks for making me realize am still as dumb as I was a week ago..! Got worried there for a sec ..!
St. Z. hang in, many of us go backwards, week to week. I could not think of Scarlet Johansson's name yesterday, despite the lovely picture selected by C.C.
PK, you ribald devil. Did you do a little dance with your pole witticism?
Hello everybody. Wow, what a magnificent puzzle! I am impressed. *And* it was fun to solve. WGGS (What GarlicGal Said): "Smarti-Marti!"
Also what kazie said and what Lemonade said.
HOla Everyone, After Three Cheers and Two of a Kind, I went to the other two theme clues and put in the one and zero answers.
This was a fun puzzle with a fairly quick solve for me. I didn't even see the diagonal clue as it was separated from the rest of the clues and I didn't read thoroughly before coming here. (My husband accusses me of this all the time when I complain about something not working on my computer!) He is always telling me to READ!
I did have one error. I put in Andrea instead of Andrei. Hat on for think of, as a solution seemed perfectly ok to me. Though when I read Hit on it made more sense. I was in the "Put your thinking hat on" mode.
Thank you Argyle for the writeup and for making me READ. I loved the picture of Gibraltar. It was lovely.
Marti, What a clever and I'm sure very difficult puzzle to construct.
Hatoolah, The quote for today was very motivational.
Have a great day everyone.
Our granddaughters have planned a camping trip for the family. One granddaughter is here now helping with cookie baking and menu planning.
I'm afraid I'm beyond the tenting part of camping so we'll be staying with my sister who lives about 15 miles from the campground. The Sierra is beautiful this time of year and we are fortunate to have good weather this week.
Teasel is used many ways. I purchased a gizmo in South America which was about 8-10 teasel heads with stems attached all bound together to make a large comb of very stickery heads.
The people in the Andes used these "combs" for carding wool when the sheep had been sheared. We bought quite a few lovely woven wool items when we lived there and know the intense hand work which went into the making of the wool yarn before weaving could take place.
I just learned that Sallie Ride died today. She was only 61.
I always thought the plural of "buffalo" was "buffalo".
BTW, do you know the difference between a buffalo and a bison?
You can't wash your hands in a buffalo!
Great theme today, even though I didn't see it until the awesome diagonal clue.
Sorry Pedant,
No offense but that joke just plain
sucked!
From a fellow pedant:
There are 2 acceptable plurals for buffalo. Also buffalo has become a synonym for bison, like it or not.
From Meriam Webster
buf•fa•lo noun, plural buf•fa•lo or buf•fa•loes also buf•fa•los
Definition of BUFFALO any of several wild bovids: as a : WATER BUFFALO b : CAPE BUFFALO c (1) : any of a genus (Bison) of bovids; especially : a large shaggy-maned North American bovid (B. bison) that has short horns and heavy forequarters with a large muscular hump and that was formerly abundant on the central and western plains
PK said...
Dennis: what's the story on the turtles?
PK, do you mean what's with the avatar, or what's going on currently?
From a fellow pedant:
To be even more pedantic that's 3 plurals.
Greetings!
Great puzzle, Marti! Nice expo, Argyle!
I, too, was puzzled by what the LOO had to do with anything. Very clever including LIFT OFF. But took more of a Tuesday amount of time.
Still suffering from hole in mouth and ear infection. Woke up after a decent sleep but had lots of pain and ZERO energy. Aforementioned family of 7 should be here at any moment.
Last night's Newsroom was really a zinger. Anyone else watch?
Bye for now!
On Jeopardy tonight I thought of Machiavelli instead of Prince. Why was I wrong? Was it the Merlot at sunset?
Haatoolah, I heard on the news that Sally Ride died of pancreatic cancer about the same time I solved puzzle and had Argyle point out LIFTOFF flowing thru puzzle. Thought it to be an accolade to her. I think it could have been a Tuesday puzzle , Marti....THREE CHEERS !
Dog collar attachment was leash before it was IDTAG. Cruise shop stop was Port before it was ISLE.
My son also served in USAF. Prayed for him everyday no matter where he was stationed at the time.
Dennis, I would be interested in your current turtle adventures?!?
Yellowrock, I'm late, by several days, to comment concerning your son's dental implants. How old was he when he finished getting all his implants? Must have been excruciating for you , as his mother, to watch the whole process.
YR@8:02
The question was "What was the name of the book"?
Perception tonight!
Yellowrock:
I just went to check since I record all episodes. "The key figure in an Italian work" so the answer had to be the name of the work: The Prince.
PK, Blue Iris, I'm just leaving this morning to take the AutoTrain back to Florida, so all I know is what I've gotten in emails, and evidently the other volunteers have been busy as hell with all the hatchings. I hope to be back helping tomorrow night; thanks for asking.
I pretty much rate crosswords by how few really obscure clues and words there are. I found several here: 14A - Bronx third baseman. (I guess you have to be a baseball fan.) 61A - I'm pretty good with Latin mottoes. and I have heard of Dies IRAE, but it's a pretty obscure reference. 7D - ERSE - How many knew that one? 9D - ALTE is "old" in German. Okay. Now we have be multi-lingual to work the Monday crossword. 50D - TEASEL. That's a new one on me. My favorite is 19A - TNUT. They must hide them with the "IBARS."
Anon, are you new to the LA Times crossword? All except TEASEL have appeared frequently in these puzzles.
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