7.26.2010

MONDAY, July 26, 2010
John Lampkin



Theme: Art Class — Theme answers begin with a word that can describe a work of art.


Theme answers:
  • 17A: Bodybuilder's pride (SCULPTED ABS).
  • 28A: Melted dip for steamed lobster (DRAWN BUTTER).
  • 42A: Table-ready hearty entrée (CARVED ROAST).
  • 54A: Colorful butterfly (PAINTED LADY).
I pretty much flew right through this one. The theme answers were actually the most difficult for me to get, so the theme didn't really help me. On early-week puzzles, I typically just go through the acrosses and then the downs, then back to the acrosses I still need. So the theme doesn't always appear until pretty late in the process. There's not much remarkable in this puzzle. SQUEEGEE looks pretty cool in the grid (3D: Windshield-cleaning tool). And the side-by-side exclamations "ONE SEC!" and "NERTS!" gave me a chuckle (30A: "Wait a moment" / 32A: "Dagnabbit!"). But the most interesting part of today's festivities might be the accompaniments. "Accompaniment to a crossword puzzle?," you ask skeptically. Well, yes.

I received a note from John Lampkin this morning explaining that in addition to being a crossword constructor, he is also an avid nature photographer and classical music composer. (Wow!) So today, your crossword puzzle is actually a Multi-Media Experience brought to you by John Lampkin himself. First, go start this audio clip of "The Butterfly and the Rose," one of John's compositions performed by the Equinox Chamber Players. While your listening to that lovely music, check out some of John's butterfly photos. See? It all ties together. Love it.

Crosswordese 101: Occasionally, DRU is clued in relation to Sisqo's old R&B group from Baltimore DRU Hill, but we're more likely to see a clue like today's 56D: Joanne of "All the King's Men." Joanne DRU also appeared in the movies "Red River," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "Wagon Master," "The Siege at Red River," and "Sylvia," all of which appear in clues from time to time.

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:
  • 20A: Barely make, with "out" (EKE).
  • 25A: Melville's sequel to "Typee" (OMOO).
  • 6D: Mel of the Giants (OTT).
  • 23D: Yoko's family (ONOS).
  • 55D: Ostrich kin (EMU).
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Everything Else — 1A: Mr. Potato Head maker (HASBRO); 7A: Mickey and Minnie (MICE); 11A: Calculator display, briefly (LCD); 14A: Find not guilty (ACQUIT); 15A: "__ in the Morning": talk show (IMUS); 16A: "Caught you red-handed!" ("AHA!"); 19A: Plead for a treat, dog-style (BEG); 21A: FHA loan (MTGE.); 22A: Diver Louganis (GREG); 23A: "__-doke!" (OKEY); 26A: Flirtatious one (TEASE); 27A: –, on an AA batt. (NEG.); 33A: Quaint horse-pulled winter rides (SLEIGHS); 35A: Machine gun syllables (RAT-A-TAT); 39A: Psychoanalyst Fromm (ERICH); 41A: Surgeon's stitch (SUTURE); 46A: "Fill 'er up!" filler (GAS); 47A: Say "Ditto" (AGREE); 48A: Catch sight of (ESPY); 49A: Goes back out, as the tide (EBBS); 50A: Gal. or oz. (MEAS.); 51A: Horse trade (SWAP); 52A: Mideast political initials (PLO); 53A: "The Lord of the Rings" tree being (ENT); 58A: Poem of tribute (ODE); 59A: Seer's sign (OMEN); 60A: __ d': headwaiter (MAITRE); 61A: Blue (SAD); 62A: Blood supplies (SERA); 63A: Depletes (USES UP); 1D: Possesses (HAS); 2D: Gp. with UNC and Duke, among others (ACC); 3D: Windshield-cleaning tool (SQUEEGEE); 4D: Like a heavy parka (BULKY); 5D: Ready to pick (RIPE); 7D: Central area in a big city (MIDTOWN); 8D: "There's no hope for me," in oaters ("I'M A GONER"); 9D: Dice unit (CUBE); 10D: Tee preceder (ESS); 11D: Maze runner (LAB RAT); 12D: Maze runner's incentive (CHEESE); 13D: Cloak go-with (DAGGER); 18D: Thompson of "Howards End" (EMMA); 22D: Suggests indirectly (GETS AT); 24D: __ Ration: dog food (KEN-L); 25D: Prom corsage (ORCHID); 26D: "My, my, that's a no-no" ("TUT TUT"); 28D: One of 90 in a right angle (DEGREE); 29D: Like band music (BRASSY); 31D: Flour strainers (SIEVES); 34D: Having fewer marbles? (SCREWIER); 36D: Harbor pushers (TUGBOATS); 37D: Saudi, usually (ARAB); 38D: Thomas Hardy heroine (TESS); 40D: Biblical cry of praise (HOSANNA); 42D: Stars' brief film appearances (CAMEOS); 43D: Meeting to-do list (AGENDA); 44D: Not for kids, as films (R-RATED); 45D: Pocket PC entry (APPT.); 49D: "Dallas" matriarch Miss __ (ELLIE); 51D: "__ here": "Ditto" (SAME); 52D: Pocket PCs, e.g. (PDAS); 54D: +, on an AA batt. (POS.); 57D: Nope's opposite (YEP).

27 comments:

Rex Parker said...

3:15

CARVED ROAST = dealbreaker. Fatal. Simply isn't a self-standing phrase.

Too bad, because the grid is otherwise very nice.

Sfingi said...

Light and breezy - like today in the NE, after the heat has finally skedaddled.

Mini-themes: AA battery, ditto, maze runner.

FYI:
LCD = Liquid Crystal Display as opposed to LED = Light Emitting Diode.
PDA = Personal Digital Assistant

Saw the 1st two theme items w/o the clues - just like on Wheel of Fortune.

Small annoyances - a second is not a minute, and I would spell NERTz that way.

Had SiftEr before SIEVE.
Why is it kid's beach sets don't come with SIEVEs anymore? Is it considered dangerous, according to someone's opinion? Whatever happened to Maryann, down by the seashore sifting sand? Even little children love her.

Liked IMAGONER, SERA, BRASSY.

Anonymous said...

WOW. Finished this without googling. A big deal to me. I'm fairly new to crosswords, and enjoy getting 100%. I know it's Monday, but still fells good.
JB in VA

SethG said...

Re: Carve.

CARVED ROAST also failed for me because a carved roast beef is...carved. By a carver, in the same sense as that used artistically.

JOHNSNEVERHOME said...

A work of art!

I knew there were other reasons why John Lampkin is one of my fave constructors... classical music and nature photography. PERFECT!
So that's why we see PAINTED LADY in today's puzzle.

I liked this puzzle despite the fact that it was an awfully quick-solver... maybe not quite a Rex ONE SEC puzzle.

Nice touches like HAS/HASBRO cross, SQUEEGEE, NEG and POS, TUTTUT/RATATAT cross, LABRAT/CHEESE abut, and I'M A GONER.

I love seeing stuff like: OKEY-doke, "Dagnabbit", and NERTS.

I just heard in the news that the American Medical Association Alliance wants to make any movie that has smoking to be R-RATED. Now what's SCREWIER than that? Next we'll see R-Ratings on any movie where an actor is eating fatty foods. A SAD commentary on our trending "nanny society".

I have no problem with CARVER ROAST.

Burner10 said...

Nice way to start a Monday. Never heard Nerts (z)!
Kindly elaborate.
Lots of TLWs.

Tinbeni said...

Like @JNH I have no problem with that CARVED ROAST.

Actually the themes were easy enough. But for a Monday this had some really great fill.

SQUEEGEE, SIEVES, SCREWIER (my fave), HOSANNA, TUT TUT and of course NERTS.

Wanted Yup for Nope's Opposite but YEP is acceptable.
I'M A GONER brought a grin.
KEN'L Ration we just had, without the dog food identifier.
HAS and HASBRO cross was weak.

FUN Monday.

Rube said...

Did this last night and found it more difficult than the usual Monday LAT. Maybe it was the lateness of the hour, but had lots of holes after my first pass... unusual. Ended up with LeD/LCD as my only writeover. (Misspelled SQUEEGEE and OKEY at first which left an ugly inkspot in that area.)

Anyone know what the square box at the beginning of the clue for 27A is for? This appears in the online version. The dead tree version may have something else.

Tinbeni said...

@Rube
In the "dead tree" edition it was a negative
( - ) sign.
With battery clued AA batt. it implied abbreviation to 27A being NEG.

ddbmc said...

Was tripped up by NERTZ, as I'd never heard that used before, but eventually got it with the crosses- The slang definition has it meaning "NUTS." So, with ERICH Fromm, SAD, IMAGONER, GETSAT, and SCREWIER-I was thinking there might be a micro-psycho theme going on here!

Then I got lead down the maze thinking, "Night in RODENThe"-LABRAT, MICE, CHEESE, RATatat--which of course, turned out to be NERTZ, on my part.

@PG's ART CLASS made much more sense, once all was said and done. Throw in CAMEOS, too, as an arty word.
Thanks for sharing the "Butterfly and Rose!"-was that a flute and an oboe? The butterfly pictures were lovely, too!

Van55 said...

For some odd reason I really enjoyed seeing SCREWIER next to HOSANNA. The bits of crappy/trite fill were thus redeemed.

CrazyCat said...

I thought this was really fun for a Monday. Liked SQEEGEE, BULKY, DEGREE, AGREE, OKEY. I've never heard the expression NERTS before. Sounds like a combo of nerds and nuts. Also liked LABRAT next to CHEESE and I'M A GONER.
Loved John's music and amazing butterfly pics. Thanks for sharing!

John Lampkin said...

First, a big thank you to Puzzle Girl for embracing my multi-media idea with enthusiasm! And thank you all for your kind comments about the different aspects of my effort today.

I'm intrigued with the idea of taking this idea to the next step step, which would be to have all theme entries presented in multi-media fashion. Hmmm....

Happy solving!

Zeke said...

@Rex - At least it wasn't a RECARVED ROAST

JIMMIE said...

@Rex. Not self-standing? But what if it were a CARVED Standing Rib ROAST? I checked a few cookbooks, and they have no problem with the usage.

JIMMIE said...

@Rex. Not self-standing? But what if it were a CARVED Standing Rib ROAST? I checked a few cookbooks, and they have no problem with the usage.

chefbea said...

Fun puzzle. Have no problem with carved roast.Easier to eat than an uncarved roast.

Loved the music and the butterfly fotos.

Noticed that there are 5 ee (double e's) in the puzzle

Sfingi said...

@Burner10 - nertz! was very '30s cartoon for nuts!
Also a card game.

@Tinbeni - yes, we just had KENL and HASBRO.

@Zeke and Chefbea - clever.

Rube said...

@Tinbeni, Thanks. Figured it was something like that.

C said...

I am not a stickler for formalities in my puzzles so I'll give CARVEDROAST a pass. Overall, enjoyable with some cool words. Good start to the puzzle week.

@Anonymous(JB in VA) congrats on finishing the puzzle w/out the Google.

chefwen said...

I think the movie Caddy-shack was the first time I heard NERTS. If I'm not mistaken, I believe is was Judge Smails (Ted Knight) who yelled NERTS, double NERTS after a flubbed golf shot.

Cute puzzle and I loved the music and photographs.

You can carve me up some ROAST beast any day!

chefwen said...

OOPS! Husband just corrected me, it was his grandson, Spaulding sp? who said that.

Eric said...

@chefbea: Only if you're a human :-) Any dog I've ever met would be just as happy with the unCARVED ROAST -- and would pick it over KENL Ration any day of the week!

HUTCH said...

What is a"drawn" butter?

Anonymous said...

@Hutch - drawn butter is essentially clarified butter, i.e. melted with the solids (white stuff) skimmed off / precipitated to the bottom. 100% pure butter fat.

HUTCH said...

^Thank You, Anon.

CrazyCat said...

@HUTCH - DRAWN BUTTER, clarified butter and ghee are all the same thing as anon 8:40 described. Its what you want to dip your lobster in. Yumm...
@Chefwen - I loved Caddyshack, but it's been years. Didn't remember the NERTS. I guess I'll have to watch it again. Great excuse : )