that was a reference to one of my childhood's favorite dr. seuss books, Horton Hatches The Egg. this puzzle starts out with another seuss classic.
1A: "do you like green eggs and ham?" speaker - [SAM I AM]
about the only screw-ups for me were somehow not remembering how to abbreviate 53D: Mlles. after marriage - [MMES.]
and impulsively entering [AT. NO.] at 35D: 1, for hydrogen: Abbr. - [AT.WT.]
now, in my defense, the atomic weight of hydrogen is actually 1.0079 while the atomic number is Exactly 1.
(if you haven't seen this 'periodic element table table' website, please check it out. if you cruise around it a while you can see most of the elements in striking photographs. besides, the table is just cool.)
i'm rambling. sorry. i plead the fever.
26D: appeal - [PLEA] ...so sue me.
23D: Like a malfeasant, often - [SUED]
ok. i'm 'sposed to mention the theme, aren't i? i'm pretty sure Linda G. had Will publish this puzzle on a day i was guest blogging for her.
her admonition to me is revealed at:
60A: "Behave!" ... and a hint to this puzzle's theme - [MIND YOUR PS AND QS] sigh......yes, ma'am...... (did you notice i even put the correct info in the title this time?)
of course, each of the other theme answers are 2 words beginning with P and Q.
17A: Cosmopolitan staple - [PERSONALITY QUIZ]
26A: N.F.L. star - [PRO QUARTERBACK] i'm not a huge football fan, but how 'bout that Tony Romo? he's kinda exciting to watch, ya think?. (yes, i live in dallas...) btw, have you ever noticed that football players wear 30D: [CAPRI] pants?
47A: Colorful bed cover - [PATCHWORK QUILT] before i 14A: WENT SOLO, i was married for 20 years to a master quiltmaker. (tmi?)
some random stuff i like.
21A: It can be silly - [PUTTY] a friend of mine's father invented it. and i am a master, silly putterer.
24A: W.W.I German admiral - [SPEE] scary lookin' guy, huh? a lot scarier than the SMEE we usually see here in x-word land, that's for sure.
68A: "Kid-tested" breakfast cereal - [KIX] i prefer yesterday's TRIX, but only because of the old ads. remember, "Trix are for kids!" ? i loved that rabbit.
8D: Luau offering - [LEI] HA! you thought i wasn't gonna post an Ava picture this time, didn't you?
WRONG>>>
11D: Dismounted - [ALIT] because words from the Pantheon make me smile when i see them. asta and etui are my favorites. (poor, asta...)and last...
46D: "say what?" - [HUH] because rumor has it that linda g. has been sporting a new bikini......
my paparazzi snapped this photo, but i have no idea if it's really her...
p.s. the whole *what in the cornbread hell does "ps and qs" mean* thing, is pretty interesting. google it.
or here's one investigator's take on it in case yer lazy or have the &*#*^%& flu.
8 comments:
Sorry to hear you're under the weather, Rick...hope tomorrow's a better day for you.
You are too funny for words. I look nothing like the woman in the photo...my hair is dark, my skin looks much better than that, I don't wear a bikini...above all, I don't sag to my waist.
Oh, the puzzle...loved it. I'm actually getting the hang of using this laptop and doing the puzzle online, although I'm still twice as fast with paper and pencil. Was surprised that WENT SOLO and MIND YOUR Ps AND Qs were gimmes. PERSONALITY QUIZ fell pretty fast with a couple of downs in place, as did PATCHWORK QUILT.
BTW, definitely not TMI, IMOO. A master quilter...pretty good. There are some gorgeous Hawaiian quilts out here. I may take a wall hanging home with me.
How about the rest of you? Did you like this one?
I loved it. I was laughing so hard my wife thought I was having a seizure.
Great write-up, Cornbread.
Rick, although apparently delirium suits you, let me know if you take a turn for the worse and I can put in another appearance tomorrow.
That bikini top looks very painful but I imagine comfort wasn't what she was going for there, HUH?. Wiping the tears from my eyes ... this puzzle was a pleasurable Tuesday, and I liked the way Hill clued things ("red-bordered magazine, e.g.).
I got the theme right away because I'd used my ploy of doing the downs first, and I use that expression facetiously a lot anyway. It certainly did seem tailor made for Rick, didn't it? (Lotta good it did ... ;) Always happy to have lots of QUs to fill in, or Qs without the Us (I'm starting to sound like Dr. Seuss) as we have some of here.
Had never heard of "human benightedness" before but got DARK AGES from the crosses. I too had ATNO instead of ATWT but QUILT showed me the error of my ways.
Liked the recurring cereal motif too. What's it gonna be tomorrow? We often have Cap'n Crunch, but I'd like to see my childhood favorite, Lucky Charms. (I'm feeling nausea just thinking about it now.) I've thrown down the gauntlet.
Answers I admired the most were ORYX, AT ODDS and SHREW. Also TYPE B instead of the usual A.
P.S. Orange's blog says that the constructor, Oliver Hill, is making his debut, is 17 years old, lives around the corner from Will and delivers his puzzles to him in person.
Liked the photo of Ava (with the usurping James Mason) on the beach from "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman"!
Great read today!
linda- i was pretty sure that goofy guy wasn't your husband. btw, i have fired that photographer.
jd- thanks.
wendy- i almost emailed you last night, but i'm pretty stubborn. feeling somewhat better today. yes to oryx, shrew etc. and oozy, too. i also really like how *darkage* sounds pronounced as one word. (darkage: skin coloring acquired from lolling on the beach.)
Nice write-up Rick. Is that a new kind of lei around Linda G? It could change the pantheon the future of crossword puzzles. hmmmm
donald- thank you.
kitt- did you notice linda *claims* it's not her? (no, i don't think that's a lei, but i think that guy wants to lei her.)...sorry, i couldn't resist.
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