- 17A: Music genre that evolved in the '50s (ROCK AND ROLL).
- 28A: How the wheels on the bus go (ROUND AND ROUND).
- 47A: "Old" nickname for Zachary Taylor (ROUGH AND READY).
- 63A: Complain hysterically (RANT AND RAVE).
- 39A: Time off, briefly, and this puzzle's theme (R AND R).
Bullets:
- 10A: W.W. Jacobs short story "The Monkey's __" (PAW). Again with the monkeys.
- 67A: Like the night in a classic Van Gogh work (STARRY).
- 7D: Hindu religious instructor (GURU). I actually entered "yogi" first. Now that's just dumb.
- 8D: Chevy Volt or Ford Fusion (ECO-CAR). Tried "hybrid" here. The only reason I know anything about these cars is because (a) Motor Trend recently named the Chevy Volt its Car of the Year and Rush Limbaugh [edited to delete political statements that may be offensive to some — Google it if you're interested] and (b) the Ford Fusion was constantly pushed last year during "American Idol" (yes, I know that's sad).
- 15D: First-rate, in Rugby (SLAP-UP). I'm not really an expert on the British slang. I like a lot of it when I hear it, but then I can never remember it.
- 31D: "Who's the Boss?" star Tony (DANZA). Okay, here's something that's bothered me for a long time and I've never told anyone about it. One night many, many years ago (late-'80s, I'd say),
I was watching Letterman and the show was done with voice-overs. I mean, Letterman came out and did his monologue, but they had obviously stripped out the audio and had someone else basically saying Letterman's part. Obviously, I thought it was bizarre. Imagine my surprise when they continued it through the whole show! Have any of you ever seen anything like that??? Oh, and the point is that Tony Danza was the guest that night. In case you thought I was just blurting out random nonsense for no reason (as opposed to my usual habit of blurting out random sense for a very good reason). - 38D: Sock ending (-EROO). I much prefer my -EROO at the end of "switch."
- 50D: Longtime Nevada senator Harry (REID). Just recently squeaked out a victory over Sharron Angle, who [edited to delete political statements that may be offensive to some].
Crosswordese 101: There are three NYEs you should know for puzzles. Did you know NYE is the name of the largest county in Nevada? I didn't think so. That one doesn't come up very often. Then there's Louis NYE, a comedian from the '50s–'60s known for his appearances on "The Steve Allen Show," especially the show's weekly "Man on the Street" sketches. But the most popular NYE in CrossWorld is 65D: PBS science guy Bill. All you need to know about him for crossword purposes is that in 2005 he had a television show called called "The Eyes of NYE." His previous show, "Bill Nye the Science Guy," aired in the 1990s and won seven Emmy Awards.Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:
- 13A: Etonic competitor (AVIA).
- 43A: Hägar the Horrible's dog (SNERT).
- 45A: Zippy start? (ZEE).
- 66A: Work unit (ERG).
- 27D: Nephew of Cain (ENOS).
- 28D: Big birds of lore (ROCS).
- 60D: Eye part containing the iris (UVEA).
- 64D: "Taking Heat" memoirist Fleischer (ARI).
Everything Else — 1A: Toad feature (WART); 5A: Cravings (URGES); 14A: Hollandaise and barbecue (SAUCES); 16A: Genetic molecule: Abbr. (RNA); 19A: "__ complicated" (IT'S); 20A: Evil smile (SNEER); 21A: Pac-10 hoops powerhouse (UCLA); 22A: Cambridge sch. (MIT); 23A: Letter before kappa (IOTA); 26A: Tranquil (AT PEACE); 32A: Possess (OWN); 33A: Italian "a" (UNA); 34A: Tide creations (POOLS); 37A: Formally relinquish (CEDE); 42A: Winter fall (SNOW); 46A: Well-armed org. (NRA); 52A: Nonsense (BALONEY); 54A: The ten in "hang ten" (TOES); 55A: Batter's stat (RBI); 56A: Power co. product (ELEC.); 58A: Freeze, as a plane's wings (ICE UP); 62A: + molecule, e.g. (ION); 68A: All done (OVER); 69A: Knox and McHenry: Abbr. (FTS.); 70A: "Do the Right Thing" actor Davis (OSSIE); 71A: Wimpy (WEAK); 1D: Serious conflicts (WARS); 2D: Cosmetic caller (AVON); 3D: Paddy grain (RICE); 4D: Adopt, as a puppy (TAKE IN); 5D: "Top Gun" org. (USN); 6D: "Groovy!" ("RAD!"); 9D: Do business with (SELL TO); 10D: Temperamental diva, e.g. (PRIMA DONNA); 11D: Shenanigan (ANTIC); 12D: Trash (WASTE); 18D: Yankee with 613 career homers, familiarly (A-ROD); 24D: Bull: Pref. (TAUR-); 25D: Oscar winner Paquin (ANNA); 29D: Wilson of "Marley & Me" (OWEN); 30D: Subordinates (UNDERLINGS); 35D: Manor master (LORD); 36D: Oscillate (SWAY); 40D: Car scar (DENT); 41D: Overhaul, as a Web site (REDO); 44D: Workers with an ear for music? (TUNERS); 48D: Italian ice cream (GELATO); 49D: "Laughing" critters (HYENAS); 51D: Money for taxes and insurance may be held in it (ESCROW); 52D: Lawyer's filing (BRIEF); 53D: NASA "Stop!" (ABORT); 57D: NBA's Shaq and Yao, e.g. (CTRS.); 59D: A gutter is often under it (EAVE); 61D: Exec's extra (PERK).
23 comments:
Good Monday theme. Nice puzzle over all, despite some cliched fill.
Oh no! I thought when this puzzle started out with WART and WARS that it was gonna be a real bummer, but much to my surprise, it was a lot of fun to solve.
And R AND R is just what we need after that wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Turkey and all those trimmings and SAUCES… yums!
First off, “ROCK AND ROLL is here to stay!”
Then, “Find a Wheel and it goes ROUND AND ROUND”
Finally, “We were ROUGH AND READY guys…”
Okay, now y’all can RANT AND RAVE about how cheesy the music of the 50s was.
@PG Thanks for the NYE writeup… he’s my kind of guy (weird scientist).
And I think Nissan with its LEAF ECOCAR is gonna give the VOLT and FUSION a real jolt.
@mac… Isn’t SNERT (or Erwtensoep) some sort of Dutch of pea soup?
Jeff Chen, you really PERKed me up today! Thank you.
Very nice puzzle, however, I did not see the CKS-VY-E-ALLOW-E leftovers from yesterday’s puzzle. Doug, were they there?
When I saw Jeff Chen's name I knew that I was in for a treat. A smooth and enjoyable way to start the week.
Just last week I was up north and drove past the town of Rough and Ready (CA) which was named for Zachary Taylor back in gold rush days.
This week we get "doors on the bus" and last week we got the hokey pokey. These songs were both big in teaching my kids to swim so thanks for the memory,
Jeff.
R&R was the best part of my military hitch. More fond memories.
R&R exploded on the scene when I was a teen in the 50s and I was lucky to have a mom who enjoyed Elvis, Buddy and L'il Richard as much as I did.
And, yes, I've been known to R&R when younger but since retiring I stay off freeways and have mellowed.
Great theme! Great memories.
Harry REID, a sexist slob? Seems he's also made several disparaging and sexist comments about Nancy Pelosi also. What do you think?
Nice and Easy. Had ZEd before ZEE. I guess I live to close to Canada!
Learned name of Hagar's dog. Hope I learned the sports clues.
This weekend, we were grabbing a pizza in Hamilton, NY (where Colgate is) and a football game was in "sudden death." What an expression! The whole place was glued to the screen; except my friend and I. We went to the car to wait and talk. Hubster's team lost.
@John - what did he say? Never rule out jealousy. Pelosi looks damn good for her age and is always ATPEACE (tranquil looking).
Easy, breezy Monday. Nice work.
PG, thanks for proving my point with the picture. Monkeys wearing clothes = evil.
Morning everyone! I submitted this puzzle with something like "nickname by which King ARthur was known in his youth" for WART. I'm glad Rich is there to get it back to Monday level consistency.
I think I also had some ridiculously complicated interlinking clue for PRIMA DONNA and UNDERLINGS.
Happy Monday!
Jeff
Re "-eroo", maybe someday we'll see "boozeroo", clued as "NZ slang for drinking spree".
A SLAPUP Monday puzzle, mate!. I'm going to start using that term at work and see if it catches on.
Definitely above average...enjoyed "The ten in hang ten" for TOES and any mention of pet adoption gets a thumbs-up from me.
We'll see how the transition back to office mode goes after too much indulgence and RANDR in the last 4 days. Or maybe just the right amount,.
3D-read that as "Paddy's grain" and stuck RYES in there, as in "Paddy's Irish Whiskey." But AVYA, ROEKANDROLL and SNSER didn't look right, sober! Plus, Paddy's is distilled from BARLEY. Silly me!
Nice puzzle, Jeff--never would have gotten WART for King Arthur's nick name (tho' have a vague recollection of it...)
Agree with @Doug P on the monkeys in clothing, especially when it denigrates my Red Sox!
Welcome back, @PG.
Nice write-up @PG. The Letterman story about 31D had me thinking DANZA was going to be the voice of the voice-over. Like those dubbed "sword and sand" Italian B movies from the 50s.
Liked the puz. I agree, pretty smooth and easy except for UNDERLINGS and PRIMA DONNA. Glad Jeff didn't link their clues and glad his clue to WART was changed, but nice to know that. Thanks for the insight and the puz Jeff.
Thought the middle with it's 2 pop culture clues was a tad difficult for Minday. Having only writeover at TAUR/Toro didn't help there. Otherwise, a "wimpy" but pleasant puzzle.
Motor Trend named the Volt, a car not available for sale until 2012, the 2011 Car of the year, in 2010.
Is this a sign of the end of the world?
Easy, breezy theme. Perfect puzzle for a newbie.
@ddbmc
I thought that Red Sox Monkey was your team's latest player signing.
Thanks for clearing that up.
Again, I see my real initial's, ARI, made the grid.
jeez, there sure are a lot of ways to clue them.
PERK ... my fave was when the Company paid for my Apt., Car w/Ins and gas, and the 1000 Euro exp.allowance per month, when I lived in Zagreb. Hmmm, that meant I was responsible for ... what?
Oh, now I remember, 2 bottles of Avatar a month to toast the Sunset each day.
Always like seeing SNERT, it's a "dog-lover" thingy.
Hey, my Scion Tc is now 5.5 years old. With 16,019 miles (or 2,913 per YEAR) on it.
Damn, I need to reduce all this driving around Tampa Bay.
A toast to all at Sunset!
Very easy Monday. Only thing that slowed me down was that I inexplicably had Van Gogh with a STORMY, not a STARRY night and didn't notice for a while.
Thank you PG - a great Monday puzzle and equally great write-up.
I really liked the theme and the theme answers came quick and easy. I loved the long down answers like, PRIMADONNA and UNDERLINGS.
A great Monday offering and on to Tuesday.
@Tin, I'm thinking your beloved Yanks were the one's who were made monkeys of, this year! PRIMA DONNA, A-ROD, certainly earned his doh-rae-me, said she, with a SNEER and a SNERT.
He coulda used a SLAP-UPside the head in the post season. Next, he'll probably be on DANZA with the Stars....
I'll CEDE it was not one of the Sox better years, either. Kind of a WASTE. All monkeying aside! ;)
captcha:blessil-something you say after a sneeze?
Wart, Sneer, Snert - cute puzzle after 4 days of RANDR. Thank you Jeff.
That's "roasting and ricing" by the way - and "reloading and rewashing." I feel WEAK. I'm glad it's OVER for a few weeks.
"Who's The Boss?" is my TV comfort food. If I'm sick, I can watch it all day long (and have). DANZA!
Pretty solid work from Jeff today,
RP
Tony Danza was adorable in Taxi. One of the best TV shows ever. And don't call me Shirley. RIP Leslie Nielsen.
@PG: Thanks for the "Vincent" clip. That's exactly what that clue/answer reminded me of. Man, does Don McLean look young!
@JNH: That Harry REID comment isn't PC, but he's a lot better than the alternative, that frightening Sharron Angle wingn- um, person.
I too liked the "hang ten" clue, and also "NASA 'Stop!'" -> ABORT.
Here's a song called ROUND AND ROUND, by English prog band the Strawbs. Not exactly ROCK AND ROLL, but close enough. @Jeff: The Strawbs fell off my radar probably a couple of decades ago. Thanks for the reminder!
Crosswordese 101: There are three NYEs you should know for puzzles. Did you know NYE is the name of the largest county in Nevada? I didn't think so. That one doesn't come up very often. Then there's Louis NYE,
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