The “Cryptic” St. Patrick J. Berry; Peachy pair of protein-rich vittles; Golden boys, men and ages; Argumentative anagramming; Hidin’ out at the “Hole” with Sundance & Butch

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 6!π SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Golden boys, men and ages

Take a word describing “man” in a 1977 song followed by a word describing “boys” in a 1986 song. Both songs “went gold.” 

Move the space between the words two places to the left to form a “golden age” in world history. 

What is this “golden age?

Appetizer Menu

Foursquare/Fivesquare Appetizer:

The “Cryptic” St. Patrick J. Berry

A little more than two years ago – on March 13, 2020 – we published master-puzzle-maker Patrick J. Berry’s (screen name “cranberry”) 16th (that is “four-squaredth”) Cryptic Crossword Puzzle on Puzzleria! 

Now, nine (3-squared) Cryptic Crosswords later, we present Patrick’s 25th (that is “five-squaredth”) Cryptic Crossword Puzzle on Puzzleria!

Obviously, all of us here at Puzzleria! are “threesquare,”  foursquare (and “fivesquare!”) in favor of Patrick and his prolific and proficient cryptic crossword artistry. 

(Incidentally, each of Patrick’s puzzles contains 225, or 15-squared, blank or black spaces... that is a total of 5,625 square spaces he has placed upon Puzzleria! thus far... and counting!)

Here are links to Patrick’s previous 24 Cryptic Crosswords:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

If you are new to cryptic crossword puzzles, Patrick has compiled a few basic cryptic crossword puzzle instructions to help you reach th “pot o’ gold at the end of the cryptic rainbow.”

Here are his instructions:

Regarding the Across and Down clues and
their format...

The number in parentheses at the end of each clue tells how many letters are in the answer. 

Multiple numbers in parentheses indicate how letters are distributed in multiple-word answers.

For example, (6) simply indicates a six-letter answer like “jalopy,” (5,3) indicates a five-and-three-letter answer like “cargo van,” and (5-5) indicates a five-and-five-letter hyphenated answer like “Rolls-Royce.”

(See clue for 23 Across)

(For further insight about how to decipher
these numbered cryptic clues, see Patrick’s “Cryptic Crossword Tutorial” in this link to his November 17, 2017 cryptic crossword. The Tutorial appears below the grid that contains the answers in that edition of Puzzleria!)

And now, here are Patrick’s clues to his latest ultra-clever cryptic creation. Good luck... of the Irish!:

ACROSS

1. Left-out youngster taking drink becomes chatty(9)

6. Room at the top for a true jerk?(5)

9. Bogart/Hepburn film—hence, quaint fare broadcast(3,7,5)

10. Finally consider what to have to cook
again?(6)

11. Writer to see it in dream(8)

13. Not much to eat for one gripped by GERD off and on, sadly?(6,4)

14. Extremely sick sex act?(4)

16. Degenerate getting a little indignant creates disturbance(4)

17. Going topless outside? Absurd!(10)

19. Stubborn, as a doubter might be(8)

20. Imagine being lost without a sign(6)

23. Maybe get her shot to see legendary trio(3,5,7)

24. Called in a medic having the answer?(5)

25. Swell to have tea tax?(9)

DOWN

1. Wild toga party’s core dance(5)

2. Writer—so send him the pen, stupid!(7,8)

3. Find out about unusual radiation(8)

4. Rainbow for some people, having no end?(4)

5. Relaxed, being in control—almost became dull!(6,4)

6. Clear why it’s so hot in here?(6)

7. Fashion designer having job involving skirt before show(3,6,6)

8. Referred to earlier in vain(9)

12. Forest elf’s ruined child’s play(10)

13. Left out, right in(often got confused)(9)

15. Insects surrounding some hairy monster...
(8)

18. ...zero children getting in free to see the blooming thing(6)

21. Paper(not the first edition)(5)

22. Start talking smack about Russian leader?(4)

MENU

Controversial Hostile Arrogant Slice:

Argumentative anagramming

Take a synonym of “biased.” It is a word describing someone expressing a controversial viewpoint. Anagram its letters to form two new words:

😠 a noun for latent hostility or a strained relationship that such bias may generate between people, and 

🐓 a slang term for an cocky or arrogant demeanor. 

All three words begin with the same letter. 

What are these three words?

Hint: You need an apostrophe to write the slang term.

Riffing Off Shortz And Hinman Slices:

Hidin’ out at the “Hole” with Sundance & Butch

Will Shortz’s March 13th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Tyler Hinman of San Francisco, California (who is the reigning champion of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament) reads:

Think of two four-letter words that complete the phrase “___ in the ___.” Move the first letter of the second word to the start of the first word. You’ll get two synonyms. What are they?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Hinman Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Think of a six-letter word and a five-letter word that complete the phrase “Each church member sang from a ______ as they gathered ceremoniously at the cemetery to _____ their deceased congregant.” 

Anagram those eleven letters to spell the name of a puzzle-maker, first and last names.

Who is it?

What words belong in the blanks?

ENTREE #2

Take a three-letter word and four-letter word that complete the phrase “___ in the ____” to describe someone who may be angry or embarrassed. 

Move the first letter of the second word to the start of the first word.

In the first blank you’ll get the first name of a University of Wisconsin-educated United States Marine Corps fighter pilot who served in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, brought down eight enemy airplanes, and was twice awarded Distinguished Flying Cross.

In the second blank you’ll get a combat designation bestowed on any pilot who has brought down at least five enemy airplanes.

What is the phrase?

Who is this pilot? 

What was his combat designation?

Hint: Replace the last letter of the pilot’s surname with an “s” to spell a synonym of courage. 

ENTREE #3

Take two four-letter words that complete the phrase “____ in the ____,” beginning with the surname of a Continental patriot and spy, and ending with where he would have been interred had his body been returned to the Continental army by the British who hanged him in New York.

Move the first letter of the second word to the start of the first word. You’ll get a kerogen-rich product, in two words, that is extracted by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution, and that is then produced and distributed by the likes of EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Pioneer Natural Resources.

What is the phrase?

What is the two-word product?

ENTREE #4

Think of two four-letter words that complete the idiomatic phrase “____ in the ____.” The phrase refers to an initial action or event that opens up opportunities towards a specific goal. 

If you move both the first and fourth letters of the first word two places earlier in the alphabet, you will form the fourth word in the four-word phrase.

What is this phrase?

ENTREE #5

Take two four-letter words that complete the phrase “____ in the ____,” a layperson’s description of plantar fasciitis. 

Move the first letter of the second word to the start of the first word. 

You’ll get the name of a country and a cheer you might hear coming from an arena in that country. 

What is this description?

What are the country and cheer?

ENTREE #6

Take a five-letter and four-letter word that complete the phrase “_____ as a ____.” 

Switch the initial sounds of the two words. 

You’ll get two words: a protective canvas covering, and a kind of shed or hut that it might cover.

What is this phrase?

What are the protective covering and the kind of shed it might cover?

ENTREE #7

Think of a three-letter word and five-letter word that complete the phrase “___ on the _____,” which is a Christmas tradition. 

Move the first two letters of the second word to the start of the first word. 

You’ll get a new phrase describing what results when the original second word tips and topples over.

What are these two phrases?

ENTREE #8

Think of a four-letter word and five-letter word that complete the phrase “____ over the _____.” 

Switch the initial sounds of the first and final words to get a new phrase that sounds like a
description of what carbohydrates young’uns tend to prefer, and not opt for, as they wend their way along a buffet line. 

What are these two phrases?

ENTREE #9

Think of two four-letter words that complete the phrase “___ in the ___,” something someone might take on a bicycle or in a convertable car through grassy, wooded recreational grounds. 

Move the first letter of the second word to the start of the first word. 

You’ll get a new phrase – beginning with a collective leonine term and ending with a vehicle – for a responsibility
Japeth’s father assigned to him about 30 days-or-so into their “40-day tour.” 

What is the original phrase?

What is the new phrase for the responsibility Japeth assumed? 

Note: The following three riff-offs were composed and contributed by our friend Greg VanMechelen, whose excellent Econfusions feature appears regularly on Puzzleria!

ENTREE #10

Take the two four-letter words that complete the phrase “___ in the ___.” 

Swap the first two letters of the second word.
The result will be something you don’t want.

What is it?

ENTREE #11

Take a five-letter word and three letter word that complete the phrase “___ in the ___.”  

Move the first letter of the first word to the
second place in the second word (forming two four letter words), and then swap the words. 

The result will be a type of fabric. 

What is this fabric?

ENTREE #12

Take the two four-letter words that complete the phrase “___ in the ___.” 

Spoonerize the two words, and the result will sound like something you might have done over the weekend, especially if you’re younger.

What might you have done?

Dessert Menu

Surf ‘n’ Turf Dessert:

Peachy pair of protein-rich vittles

Name two protein-rich foods, each containing two-words, (4,7 and 4,5). 

The four-letter words rhyme. The seven-letter and five-letter words begin with the same three letters. What are these two foods?

Hint: The last three letters of the first 4-letter word are the same and the first three letters of the second four-letter word.

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup,

Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! Thank you.