It's not a good sign when I stumble over the first clue on a Monday puzzle. Fortunately, I did better with the succeeding clues, and eventually got the first clue, along with its related last clue.
The theme of the puzzle was BELL RINGERS. The theme answers were:
1A: With 68-Across, bell ringer (Avon/Lady).
The remaining theme answers, all clued as [Bell ringer], were 20A (church warden), 37A (percussionist), and 54A (bicycle rider).
I thought we'd have Quasimodo--the penultimate bell ringer. I imagine that would have been much harder to fit into the grid.
My only struggle with the puzzle was in the northwest corner. I didn't know 14A: Fashion designer Rabanne (Paco) or its cross at the A...2D: Poet Lindsay (Vachel). It didn't help that I didn't know Els at 28A (the first of a two-part clue which appeared at 52A: With 28-Across, winner of golf's 1997 U.S. Open (Ernie). I could have filled in just about any letter in both of those spots.
I had to laugh at 24A: Spouse's meek agreement (Yes, dear)...just because it's such a joke in our house. Don would never say that, except in jest.
Clues and answers that I liked:
15A: Pugilist (boxer). Every time I see that word I think it has to do with stamp collecting. One of these days I'll nail it without a second thought.
19A: Material for Elvis's blue shoes (suede). At the risk of offending anyone, I'll bet those were u-g-l-y.
42A: Inside info for an investor, maybe (hot tip). I could use a few of those to beef up the retirement portfolio.
50A: Kids' game involving an unwanted card (Old Maid). I wonder when that will be given a politically correct name...if ever.
67A: Pop music's Bee __ (Gees). I can't believe I went blank on that. I was trying to think of someone a little more modern. I actually liked the Bee Gees a lot when they were so popular.
9D: Dwell (on) (obsess). I only do that on days of the week that end in Y.
10D: Point A to Point B and back (round trip). I like that we just had Point A as an answer yesterday.
12D: Slugger Williams (Ted). I don't know how I knew non-Yankees back then, but I did.
21D: Honda model (Civic). I bought a 1988 Civic as a new car and drove it until we needed a van. I sold it to a friend's daughter, then bought it back from her two years later when she bought a new car. Three years ago I sold it to another friend, and it's still going strong.
32D: Greek fabulist (Aesop). I loved Aesop's fables as a kid. I'd still enjoy reading them now.
34D: Heartthrob (dreamboat). That's a word we used to describe Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Tab Hunter...and many others. I don't think it would be used to describe anyone today. Orlando Bloom...a dreamboat?
44D: Chinese martial art (tai chi). I've always thought it would be interesting to construct a puzzle that uses tai chi and chai tea as related theme answers. My problem is that I couldn't think of any other word pairs, but I'm sure there are several. If a constructor sees this and wants to run with this suggestion, that would be fine...just include my name in the byline.
47D: "Bewitched" witch (Endora). That was one of my favorite shows. I didn't like it as much after the old Darren left the show, though.
49D: Religious dissent (heresy).
I just noticed the similarity of several down clues...45D: "__ 'em!" (sic), 59D: __ boom bah (sis) and 60D: Lab field: Abbr. (sci).
I need to be in early tomorrow to decorate a co-worker's office, so I'm going to try to get to bed before 10:00. I've been staying up way too late and sleeping through the alarm...that's so unlike me. What happened to the morning person that I used to be?
Anyway, here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
9 comments:
way to go Linda...you are nailing all the sports clues...Ted was easy but Vida would be hard for a non-fan....fun puzzle for a Monday...here's to a good week
Bob
Linda,
As to Old Maid and political correctness, when I play the game with my nieces I jokingly call the game "Mature Single Woman by Choice."
"Avon CALLING"was on my mind, so I had CALL instead of LADY for a long time... had to Google VACHEL PACO (never heard of them)
and I never heard of CHURCH WARDEN (thought it was Jail Warden)
Linda,
Why is Quasimodo the PENULTIMATE bell ringer?
I love the new name for an old card game!
Sue, it's because I used the wrong word. He's actually (in my mind) the ultimate bell ringer.
Off to do the Tuesday puzzle.
What's a pangram?
Well, even though the ArDemGaz doesn't give us a daily theme, this one wasn't too hard to figure out.
My worst problem was remembering if tai chi is spelled with an "e" or an "i" in tai. My Sainted Mother was a Vachel Lindsay fan fortunately. The spoon that the dish ran away with had me wondering if I had ever known the meaning of Edward Lear's runcible spoon, so I learned something today! (That it's actually more forklike and has a cutting edge.)
Speaking of cutting, I can only imagine my hubby's sarcasm if I ever answered him "yes dear".
Second puzzle of the day that didn't include the word oreo. Life is good.
i'm ever amazed and humbled by doing a puzzle AGAIN and only 6 weeks later...
they'e every bit as fun.
realizing that fact is a real bell ringer for me.
cornbread, that's one of the advantages of having a bad memory...for me, anyway. I will occasionally do the syndicated puzzle when I run across the local Free Press and am usually amazed by how little I remember.
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