The three theme answers are:
17A: T.S. Eliot title character who measures out his life with coffee spoons (J. Alfred Prufrock). For those of you who may need a refresher, here's the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
39A: Editor out to smear Spider-Man (J. Jonah Jameson). I didn't have a clue about this one but was able to get it from the crosses. He doesn't look like anyone I'd want to run into.
61A: Vice president who once famously mashed "potato" (J. Danforth Quayle). I didn't know his full name...fortunately, it was quite easy to get from crosses. I read the clue wrong, though...Vice president who once famously did the mashed potato...but that didn't keep me from getting the answer.
If I haven't already gone on record to say this, let me say that I hate the time change. Actually, I hate both of them. I wish we would just stay on one or the other. I will be a physical wreck for at least a week. The extra hour I got last night was well spent, but now it's 10:30, and my body thinks it's 11:30 and wonders why I won't go to bed. So...this will be a short post. We went to the local dinner theater tonight and saw Footloose...it was well done, as are all of their shows. Anyway, I downloaded the puzzle before we left, thinking I'd solve during the dinner portion. I ended up solving it before we left.
And now...on with the puzzle.
I loved that we had both 11D: Brazil's largest city (Sao Paulo) and 24D: California city in a 1968 Dionne Warwick hit (San Jose).
Absolute favorite answer was 50A: A goose egg (zippo). Great clue...much better than cluing it in relation to a lighter.
Words that looked good in the grid include 35A: Light golden lager (pilsner), 43A: Dance class outfit (leotard), and 58A: Saw-toothed (serrate).
Super-easy clue for 1D: __ party (sleepover) (pajama). I went online to bigdogs.com to shop for Christmas pajamas. On Elaine's first Christmas with us, we all got new pajamas which we opened on Christmas Eve. The thinking at the time was that she'd be excited to get into her new pajamas, and maybe she'd get to bed. It worked the first year, so we did it the next year when Leslie had joined the family...and the tradition has continued. I suggested that maybe we shouldn't do it this year, and you'd think I suggested cancelling Christmas.
That's all for tonight. Feel free to discuss other aspects of the puzzle via the comments section. [Update: In the last three days, I've gotten about 30 spam comments on the September 4 post...with links to what I'm guessing were pretty disgusting sites. For the time being, you'll have to put in a code in order to comment. I hope that won't deter anyone...it's only a minor pain.]
Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
11 comments:
I am completely with you on the time change, Linda. I too am a wreck for about a week, whichever direction it goes. Bleah.
I really liked this puzzle for a Monday; original cluing throughout, which is such a pleasure on any day of the week, and a fun theme. I didn't see where it was going at first, and even though I knew the hapless Dan Quayle was the answer, I initially couldn't figure out how to lengthen it.
I laughed out loud at 'like the Marquis de Sade or the Duke of Earl' - you're really expecting something else, and it ends up being TITLED. Very clever and later-in-the-week!
As a baby boomer, I gotta love a puzzle that includes the FRUG.
J Wendy (actually it's Wendy J, but in the spirit of the day ... )
it was a fun puzzle for a Monday...can anyone explain 41 across...parti-colored= pied?
I just don't get it....my biggest problem with the time change is getting my cat back on an eating schedule!!!
Thanks for the help
Bob
Wendy, I didn't even see the clue for TITLED...good one.
Bob, I don't get it, either. I hope someone can explain.
One of the good things about dogs (mine, at least) is that they'll eat anywhere, any time ; )
parti-colored and pied are synonymous meaning multicolored.
lnda, d'ya think just the word str*pper generated all the spam? weird.
this puzzle has at least a dozen entries i consider blasts from my past.
J. Lo, too!
Thanks for the clarification on PIED. Can't believe I've come this far in life without knowing that.
And I can't explain about the spam comments. They were all on a Manny Nosowsky puzzle 9/4/07. I've read it over and over and I don't see anything...
that is weird.
the sitemeter thing shows me i get lots of hits for having mentioned the adxir camera lens filter. (it's a kind of camera lens that supposedly sees through clothing.)
but my favorite is the one that said they'd googled, "does cornbread make your butt grow?"
hahahahaha
btw, i call hahahaha an onomatopoeia, and LOL not a word at all.
There's a wonderful poem by Gerard Manly Hopkins (and I usually don't like poetry) called "Pied Beauty" that begins "Glory be to God for dappled things."
Here's a link to the whole poem. It's short.
http://www.bartleby.com/122/13.html
Found this one to be be quite easy and a lot of fun. J. Alfred is an old friend, and J. Jonah is a great villain. No comment about the third J.
The Marquise de Sade and Duke of Earl clue made me laugh. Great clue.
Wendy, I loved the frug answer too. Takes me back to good times.
Jean, that's one of my favorite poems, maybe because I grew up on a farm with "brinded" cows. The second line reads
"For skies as couple-colour as a brinded cow"
(brinded = brindled)
I sympathise, Linda. The time change is hard, and as I get older the adjustment time gets longer.
Just Annielee
Is it just me, or is there no puzzle for the second time in a week? It's 11:35 Eastern here.
Wendy, when this happened the other day I went to the Forum...then clicked on Today's Puzzle. It brought it right up. That's how I got it tonight. I don't know what's up, but as long as I get my puzzle...
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