January 18, 2011
Gareth Bain
Love this theme. I mean I love this theme. This is one of those themes where if you've ever constructed a crossword puzzle in your life you're all "Why the hell didn't I think of this theme?!" It's got great wordplay, awesome memories for those of us of a certain age, and it's still simple enough for a Tuesday. Bravo! The only problem I'm having with the write-up is that I've featured all three of these bands really recently here on the blog. I think the Bee Gees were just last week, right? And the Osmonds weren't too long ago. And I know I've posted Jackson Five videos here several times. Why? Because they're awesome. So for today, I'll give you something a little different that kinda of goes with the theme. But not really.
Bullets:
Everything Else — 9A: Performed on stage (ACTED); 14A: Contest with seconds (DUEL); 15A: Gillette's __ II (TRAC); 17A: Catch, as one's sleeve (SNAG); 18A: "Mazes and Monsters" author Jaffe (RONA); 19A: Ventilated, with "out" (AIRED); 23A: Emeritus, e.g.: Abbr. (RET.); 24A: Some garden plants need it (SHADE); 25A: Official count (CENSUS); 35A: Western-style "Scram!" ("GIT!"); 38A: Nez __, Native Americans who breed their own horses (PERCE); 43A: Garden tool (WEEDER); 46A: Snorkel et al., familiarly (SARGES); 47A: Put in a seat (ELECT); 50A: MIT or UCLA (SCH.); 57A: Believed without question (ATE UP); 58A: Cosecant's reciprocal (SINE); 62A: Ski resort lift (T-BAR); 64A: Exceed the limit (SPEED); 66A: Online annoyance (SPAM); 1D: Docs (MD'S); 2D: Godmother, often (AUNT); 3D: Slangy okay (YEAH); 4D: "Flowers for __": story from which the film "Charly" was adapted (ALGERNON); 5D: Layer (STRATUM); 6D: Big cheese associated with Big Macs? (KROC); 7D: Americans, to Brits (YANKS); 8D: PayPal funds (E-CASH); 9D: Actress Peet or Plummer (AMANDA); 10D: Styled in the salon (COIFED); 12D: Mtn. road sign stat (ELEV.); 13D: Miami-__ County (DADE); 22D: Rowing crew (OARS); 25D: Selected (CHOSE); 26D: Spine-tingling (EERIE); 27D: Next year's junior (SOPH); 30D: Runs through a sieve (RICES); 32D: Defrost (THAW); 34D: Ball girls (DEBS); 38D: Birdcage feature (PERCH); 39D: Highbrows (EGGHEADS); 41D: Not kosher (TREF); 42D: New York's time zone (EASTERN); 44D: Figure out (DEDUCE); 45D: Married in secret (ELOPED); 48D: Network with an eye logo (CBS TV); 49D: "Survivor" faction (TRIBE); 51D: Outlaws (BANS); 52D: Resting on (ATOP); 54D: __ errand: out (ON AN); 55D: Harvest (REAP); 56D: Fizzy drink (SODA); 60D: "The Deer Hunter" war zone, for short (NAM).
Gareth Bain
[This is the one week out of the year where I'm going to just mention that there is a donation button over in the sidebar. Please read my pitch for donations at the beginning of yesterday's write-up here. And thanks so much for being here!]
Theme: Awesome, awesome music groups — Theme answers are bands made up of brothers.
Theme answers:
- 20A: Group with the #1 hit "ABC" (THE JACKSON FIVE).
- 32A: Group with the #1 hit "One Bad Apple" (THE OSMONDS).
- 41A: Group with the #1 hit "Jive Talkin'" (THE BEE GEES).
- 51A: 2001 Spielberg WWII miniseries, and what 20-, 32- or 41-Across is (BAND OF BROTHERS).
Love this theme. I mean I love this theme. This is one of those themes where if you've ever constructed a crossword puzzle in your life you're all "Why the hell didn't I think of this theme?!" It's got great wordplay, awesome memories for those of us of a certain age, and it's still simple enough for a Tuesday. Bravo! The only problem I'm having with the write-up is that I've featured all three of these bands really recently here on the blog. I think the Bee Gees were just last week, right? And the Osmonds weren't too long ago. And I know I've posted Jackson Five videos here several times. Why? Because they're awesome. So for today, I'll give you something a little different that kinda of goes with the theme. But not really.
Bullets:- 1A: Lin or Angelou (MAYA). MAYA Lin is the artist who designed the Viet Nam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely take a wander over there if you're ever in the neighborhood.
- 16A: Do-re-mi (MOOLA). I'm pretty sure I've never heard anyone refer to money as "do-re-mi" except maybe ironically, but probably not even then. It does kinda sound like something Huggy Bear might have said back on "Starsky & Hutch," so maybe that's where I've heard it.
- 28A: Control tower devices (RADARS). Not a fan of the plural here.
- 36A: Lena who played Glinda in the movie version of "The Wiz" (HORNE). I stopped reading after the first few words of this clue, which was a pretty dumb thing to do.
I just assumed the answer would be the actress who played Glinda in "The Wizard of Oz" and I have no idea what her name is, so I figured I'd just wait for crosses. When I discovered it was "The Wiz" instead, I realized my mistake. - 40A: Faulkner's "__ Lay Dying" (AS I). Worth another read, I think. I haven't read it since college and that was like a hundred years ago.
- 61A: Present moment (NONCE). Sounds like quite the lah-dee-dah word, doesn't it?
- 65A: Eponymous logical diagram creator (VENN). So many good ones out there. How to choose … How to choose ….
- 11D: Doughnut shapes (TORI). Pretty sure I learned this word from SethG, who I believe will be here blogging tomorrow's puzzle, so come and back and see what other cool stuff he talks about.
- 21D: Wrestler Ventura (JESSE). It's so hard to be a fan of real wrestling when there's all that fake wrestling out there. Sigh.
- 29D: What double-checked totals should do (AGREE). With the A in place, I kinda wanted this to be ADD UP. But it wasn't.
- 31D: Jeanne d'Arc et al.: Abbr. (STES.). The French spelling in the clue is your hint that the answer will also be French.
- 5A: Terrier type (SKYE).
- 37A: Epi center? (PEE).
- 59A: Really long time (AEON).
- 63A: Arp's movement (DADA).
- 33D: Michelle Obama __ Robinson (NÉE).
- 53D: Hawaii's state bird (NENE).
Everything Else — 9A: Performed on stage (ACTED); 14A: Contest with seconds (DUEL); 15A: Gillette's __ II (TRAC); 17A: Catch, as one's sleeve (SNAG); 18A: "Mazes and Monsters" author Jaffe (RONA); 19A: Ventilated, with "out" (AIRED); 23A: Emeritus, e.g.: Abbr. (RET.); 24A: Some garden plants need it (SHADE); 25A: Official count (CENSUS); 35A: Western-style "Scram!" ("GIT!"); 38A: Nez __, Native Americans who breed their own horses (PERCE); 43A: Garden tool (WEEDER); 46A: Snorkel et al., familiarly (SARGES); 47A: Put in a seat (ELECT); 50A: MIT or UCLA (SCH.); 57A: Believed without question (ATE UP); 58A: Cosecant's reciprocal (SINE); 62A: Ski resort lift (T-BAR); 64A: Exceed the limit (SPEED); 66A: Online annoyance (SPAM); 1D: Docs (MD'S); 2D: Godmother, often (AUNT); 3D: Slangy okay (YEAH); 4D: "Flowers for __": story from which the film "Charly" was adapted (ALGERNON); 5D: Layer (STRATUM); 6D: Big cheese associated with Big Macs? (KROC); 7D: Americans, to Brits (YANKS); 8D: PayPal funds (E-CASH); 9D: Actress Peet or Plummer (AMANDA); 10D: Styled in the salon (COIFED); 12D: Mtn. road sign stat (ELEV.); 13D: Miami-__ County (DADE); 22D: Rowing crew (OARS); 25D: Selected (CHOSE); 26D: Spine-tingling (EERIE); 27D: Next year's junior (SOPH); 30D: Runs through a sieve (RICES); 32D: Defrost (THAW); 34D: Ball girls (DEBS); 38D: Birdcage feature (PERCH); 39D: Highbrows (EGGHEADS); 41D: Not kosher (TREF); 42D: New York's time zone (EASTERN); 44D: Figure out (DEDUCE); 45D: Married in secret (ELOPED); 48D: Network with an eye logo (CBS TV); 49D: "Survivor" faction (TRIBE); 51D: Outlaws (BANS); 52D: Resting on (ATOP); 54D: __ errand: out (ON AN); 55D: Harvest (REAP); 56D: Fizzy drink (SODA); 60D: "The Deer Hunter" war zone, for short (NAM).
42 comments:
@PG - Great Venn! Now I know. I am a Dork, and one of my best friends is a Dweeb.
Easy, and easy for Tues. Theme is cute. Fill is Crosswordese but not to make one groan.
Glad to see Emeritus and RETired rather than coot, senile, codger.
I actually liked all those groups' early stuff, too.
If someone finds something amiss, One Bad Apple don't spoil the whole bunch.
PLEASE stop with the begging - we can all read. If we want to donate, we will. Nagging won't do it.
Solid Tuesday puzzle with a simple, but creative theme.
As for donations, I would be inclined to contribute if only there were some accountability. What are the actual out of pocket costs to keep the blog running, and approximately how many hits do you get per day? Will you submit a report at the end of the week stating the total proceeds of the campaign?
Thought PG's post was spot-on.
I've been checking-out this site for a few months, and didn't notice the donate bar before. I don't see any harm in pointing it out to those like me (hope there aren't many) with tunnel vision. Can't see why requesting donations to run the blog obligates PG to create financial reports.
If you like the site and can afford it, give; if you can't afford it, don't. If you don't like it, don't come back.
My only problem, and I know it's my own fault because I'm an illiterate bum, is that the theme fell flat at the reveal. BANDOFBROTHERS was merely literal for me, since I've never heard of the miniseries. I have to get out more. But boy, do I love those bands of brothers, being of a certain age.
Puzzle was excellent. Three cheers for Mr. Bain.
@Van: Have you ever dropped a couple of bucks in a tip jar? Did you ask for a notarized receipt and a copy of their tax return? If you like what PuzzleGirl does here, feel free to donate ... or not.
I guess the bigger question is this: why does this crossword blog 'seek donations' when others don't. What's the unique cost of this blog?
I clearly don't understand hawking for donations on a blog like this.
A very good theme, but IMO some really bad fill and clues:
"Do-re-mi" = MOOLA??
"Present moment" = NONCE?? (see defn. here).
ONAN errand: out (see "the Sin of ONAN")
Oh well, at least we get to hear THE BEE GEES and the Doobie Brothers.
Love your VENN diagram!
I gotta GIT!
It seems to me that PG holds down a regular job, has a husband and at least one child I know of (I'm new to this blog) AND gives her time to do this for us. I'm sure it started out as fun but now, tho still fun I'm sure it's become an obligation and at times a pain in the butt. I fail to see the harm of a little thank you in the form of a few dollars.
Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox now. Loved today's puzzle and the write-up.
Still having trouble with sign-in on my iPad.
Virginia
Is it niggardly of one who is considering making a charitable donation to ask what percentage of the contribution typically actually supports the cause? When I volunteered for the American Heart Ass'n the question was frequently asked and appropriately so.
Of course this blog is not a charitable enterprise. And PG isn't required to answer my questions.
I enjoy the blog. If it needs financial help I will happily do what I can.
That's the point. The blog doesn't need the moneey, it's more of a reward, I suppose. Classless in my opinion.
I thought the puzzle theme was very clever. The solve was perhaps a little too easy, but hey, it's Tuesday.
It seems the bigger discussion today is donations. I think the tip analogy is an excellent one. This spot in the cybersphere is an enjoyable one, and it's turned into a bit of a coffee shop for quite a few, it seems. There's certainly nothing wrong with showing appreciation for that. To show appreciation to PG for her efforts is an even better idea. This has to take a lot more time than the vast majority would be willing to "donate". Face it, most of us here are just along for a free ride.
One piece of information that would be very useful, and probably a lot more motivating, is to know if there is an actual monetary cost to maintaining this site. If there is a genuine expense involved, we can't expect the doors to the coffee shop remain open for long without participation in defraying that expense.
But regardless, if Angela can make a few dollars doing something that the rest of us enjoy, that's great. If she can somehow make it large enough to quite her day job, that's fantastic.
@PG, great new look on your site! (Yeah, I know, not new today, but I don’t post much anymore.) Loved the write-up as always, but am astonished that ANYONE would blink at what is a routine reminder from Rex, Peter Gordon, or even the NYT. @Marge, Anon 7:19, and WillyP, is that really all you have to contribute to the discussion?! And @Van55, how many restaurants have you been thrown out of for being a jerk? I would so hate to be your server.
The comments here re: donations are disgusting, and far more classless than anything I've ever heard at my site or in my inbox (which is saying a lot since, as you may know, there are people who $*&%&ing hate me).
Here's the typical response *I* get after making a (very rare) pitch for donations: "Thank YOU for the write-ups. The NYT puzzle is my daily obsession and I appreciate your insights and trivia. Keep up the good work!" That's called 'gratitude.' It's nice.
Let me get this straight—someone writes every day for your entertainment and amusement and suggests that you might find that an effort worthy of some slight remuneration, and merely for the suggestion, you demand "accountabilty" and then suggest she has no class. Shameful. Embarrassing. Seriously.
Have you ever given money to a street musician? If so, did you grill him about what expenses were associated with playing guitar in the subway? If not, did you tell him he was an asshole for even having his guitar case out and open?
I got more kind words for Angela in *my* mail and at *my* site (for the subbing work she does for me) than I'm seeing here. &$%^ing ingrates. If you're so bothered, Stop Reading. Go Away.
There's a reason some "other blogs" don't have tip jars. I'll let you figure out why that is.
You don't like the idea of donating, ignore the pitch for god's sake. Only a complete douchebag goes out of his/her way to make someone feel bad for suggesting work (and it is work) might warrant remuneration. At a minimum, you shouldn't treat other human beings like rented mules. Worse — I mean, rented mules at least get paid.
I'm sorry, Angela. I know how much you care, and how hard you work. You deserve a far better class of commenter. Just know that for every mean-spirited, indecent, jackass blowhard, there are scores who love what you do (whether they express it verbally, financially, or not at all).
Sorry, but I don't do well when people insult my friends.
RP
And with that, we're done with this conversation. I will delete any further comments about donations. If you really need to talk about it, please email me directly. Thanks.
@lit.doc
Please feel free to email me at van55 at me dot com.
I know. Let's play a song.
Here is one of my favorites
Loved loved loved this puz. i can hardly ever get theme acrosses right off the bat, but every one of these was snap city - and they did bring back great memories from a very innocent time in my life. Kind of sad to think how some members of these peppy bands wound up, though. And I have now officially had enough of Donny Osmond!! But, this was really a delightful puzzle.
(And I thought Band of Brothers was a great miniseries too)
p.s. the site looks great!
And one of my favorites as well.
PS this was the best puzzle of the day. Congrats, Gareth.
Fun puzzle today. I was all set to bust out the "Marie Osmond" card and blow the cover off this theme when, lo, behold, their is no such thing as the "Marie Osmond" card and this theme continues to stand tall and mighty.
Yes, excellent puzzle today, Gareth. Like PuzzleGirl said, it's a theme I wish I'd thought of. And the fill was top-notch too. Great work.
Fun, quick puzzle. 32A reminded me of:
"Never tangle with anything that's got more teeth than the entire Osmond family." - A.J. Rimmer
Do-re-mi to mean "money" is a term I am quite familiar with. It was used(accompanied by a knowing look) by my Mother and those of her generation. (I am 76 years old.)
Thought this puzzle was a fun, easy Tuesday which was exactly what I needed today since I'm recovering from a nasty bout with the flu. Why did I not get my flu shot this year?? Thought the theme was clever - loved all the brothers, especially the Allmans.
PG I really like the new decor. It's always fun to rearrange the furniture. Looks great. Keep up the great work.
agree with @Rex's rant
@Lit Doc welcome back
Great puzzle/theme today. Weird coincidence -- I just added BAND OF BROTHERS to my Netflix queue yesterday.
BTW, at work today the site looks great on a standard monitor. It just looks kinda skinny on my widescreen at home.
I was ready to be disappointed by the easiness of this puzzle when I ran into words like NONCE, TREF, and my favorite, TORI.
Minor quibbles with RADARS, CBSTV and that SOPH is clued without an abbreviation indication, but far outweighed by the quality of the rest. Proof that smooth doesn't have to be boring.
There's a great story about a SKYE terrier who was befriended by a British constable. He bonded with the bobby and followed him as he did his work. After his master died, the terrier wouldn't budge from his grave. Friends of the constable would bring him food, but he refused to live anywhere else and spent his remaining years by the grave.
I'll comment as a person of a certain age, and level of class (you know, someone from a.time.when people were actually taught manners) love the blog, love the knowledge that is shared, love the new look. Great job PG. Thanks.
I enjoyed the puzzle and the write-up very much. Some of the comments, not so much. I must say that after George Carlin the rant by Rex is one of the best ever. You nailed it, rp. I started doing CWPs last year and PG's humor and wit have helped turn me into an addict.
Yeah, do-re-mi was popular back in the 1940s when I was a youngster. I actually thought that it was spelled dough-ray-me until my piano lessons began. Although I wasn't around in the early 1600s I have seen NONCE in a few of Shakespeare's plays. I'm still chuckling over "epi center" which is also the name of the stadium in Rancho Cucamonga, home of the Triple A Quakes.
Pleasant puzzle, lots of smiles, no groans, very satisfying.
As a regular visitor but infrequent commenter, I thought I'd chime in today. PG, you do a great job -- the dedication and hard work is obvious. I look forward to stopping by every day. I also agree 100% with RP's comments. Its PG's website, she can do what she wants. Thanks PuzzleGirl!
Am I on the right site or have we been taken over by James Elroy?
This puzzle did less then nada for me even though I knew all the singers, I didn''t know any of the songs.
It took my rather naive (at the time) husband aback when someone explained to him the The Doobie Brothers were not really brothers. He was shocked!
Love the new look PG
Another great write-up, @PG.
Love the new look. It's just the right balance of snappy avant and newsprinty retro. Nicely done!
Found this a fairly smooth romp, but, like @C, had the "Marie" headscratch until Mr. Google informed me that at the time of that #1 hit, she was not performing with her brothers.
Loved the other "brother" bands, well, most of them *coughjonasbrotherscough*, @PG. Reminds me that there are other musical brothers, though not in the same band, stretching back in time - I'm thinking of you, sons of JS- Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Phillip Emanuel, and Johann Christian Bach. Yikes! I seem to be listening to NPR too exclusively.
Interesting that 21D was clued as "Wrestler Ventura" rather than, as we might have heard in the locally televised days of "Sputnik" Monroe and Jerry "The King" Lawler, "Rassler Ventura", or, "Governor Ventura", but liked the chance to put in the Hawkeye pic.
My WOTD was TREF. Sounds like a great and useful word. But I wonder why I don't hear it in use more. Mensch, putz, schmuck, chutzpah, or even, to a lesser extent, minyan-yes. TREF-no. Rather, just the translation; of something being "not kosher."
Besides BANDOFBROTHERS (14), these are also 'all-man, brothers' bands ALLMANBROTHERS (14).
I've moved up to the first comment!
Good, because I couldn't understand the 2 that were ahead of me this AM.
@Nighthawk - unless you hang around with Jews in their homes, you might never hear it. And maybe it would seem impolite to use around people eating non-Kosher food. Like, "Don't eat that shrimp, honey, that's tref,"
Also, it's not Yiddish, it's Hebrew, and indicates tearing meat from the living beast, something that is still done some places in the form of bleeding a living goat and then letting it run off. So, there's a yuck factor.
Band of Brothers is also 2 books.
Where's Shakes, today?
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother.
Henry V IV:iii
Great Tuesday puzzle, with a fun theme! The bands and reveal were all gimmes. My only momentary hesitations, themewise, were, first, having JACKSON FIVE half-typed before I realized it needed the THE to fill the space; and then, for the reveal, having to count from the right and fill in BROTHERS to figure out whether that one needed a THE like the rest.
Still, how often do you see three THE's in a single crossword, and it doesn't bug you?
One other amusing writeover: Gareth is English, right? Knowing that (or at least, believing it), for "MIT or UCLA" I put UNI...
In honour of the good-news story of 2010, here's one of my favourite Bee Gees songs.
Speaking of the Doobie Brothers, a friend of mine has a funny story. He went to see them live, back in the day. The opening band, he relates, was just awful, I mean really, really bad; one couldn't wait for them to finally go off stage. Then, after the intermission, the Doobies came on -- and one realized that the crappy opening band had been the Doobies, but they'd switched around and were all playing each others' instruments.
@rp and @Avg Joe: What you said!
@Eric, When I saw your Bee Gees link with it's description, I knew immediately what the song would be. Nonetheless, I clicked and enjoyed it. Thanks.
On the Doobies, I've seen them in concert twice and had a fantastic time both times. I've never seem a larger ensemble on stage. Though.....I have to admit some of those memories are a bit hazy....it was the 70's +/- after all. Still, on the last occasion in Omaha, November 1, 1980 they did indulge me with THIS request.
You do a great job. Nice puzzle, didn't like moola and nonce.
Iowa City was selected as host for the 2012 Olympic Trials in wrestling :)
Good grief! That is a pretty tall ick factor. Thanks for the explanation @Sfingi. No wonder it's not in use much. Sounds like this is one of those words that my just have to live exclusively in the CW101 drawer.
I'm really late, been out of town, but Woodie Guthrie wrote a song called Do Re Mi... Chorus ends:
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
Still true too...
em jay
Do Re Mi
Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day,
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line.
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl,
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
"You're number fourteen thousand for today."
Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:
If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
Available on:
Dust Bowl Ballads
Woody Guthrie
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