Schpuzzle of the Week:
Huck & Jim, Paul & Babe, “Nessie”
A. Remove the first syllable from the first word in the two-word name of a literary and legendary – and yet real – body of water.B. Switch the two vowels of the result.
C. Place after this result, without leaving a space, a Romance-language translation of the kind of body of water that follows the name of the body of water. (For example, “River,” “Lake,” “Ocean” and “Strait,” in Spanish, would become “Río,” “Lago,” “Océano” and “Estrecho.”)
The final result is a word for “something light, delicate, or insubstantial,” like cobwebs wafting in the air until settling softly upon earth.
Name this two-word body of water, Romance-Language translation of its second word, and the delicate, insubstantial thing.
For an example...
A. “Amazon River” becomes “azon.”
B. “azon” becomes “ozan”
C. “ozan” plus “río” becomes “ozanrío” (if we choose Spanish as our “Romance translation
language”).
D. If “ozanrio” were a word for “something light, delicate, or insubstantial,” like cobwebs wafting in the air and settling on earth, we would have solved the puzzle! Alas, “ozanrio” isn’t even a word!
But, what then is the solution?...
A. the body of water minus its first syllable?B. that truncated word with its vowels transposed?
C. that truncated, two-vowels-transposed word followed by the Romance-language translation of the type of body-of-water it is?
What is the two-word name of this body of water?
What is the word for “something light, delicate, or insubstantial,” like cobwebs wafting in the air until settling softly upon earth?
Appetizer Menu
Great Patrick J. “Berrier” Reef Appetizer:
Back in Black? Patrick’s “Back on Track!”
Let’s celebrate!
Master Cryptic Crossword Crafter Patrick J. Berry is back with another of his mystifying mind-defying masterpieces! (It is Patrick’s 38th tricky cryptic stickler to grace the cyberpages of Puzzleria!)
Coincidentally and serendipitously, Will Shortz’s March 16th National Public Radio Puzzle Challenge involved an island.... and, so does Patrick’s crossword grid! The theme involves an island in the center of his 15-by-15-square puzzle grid... an “insular collection of squares” isolated from the “sea of squares” surrounding it. Granted, “no man may be an island...” but perhaps “men in a rock band” (see 16-Across) may be stranded (or are just vacationing or “hanging out”) on an island!
Indeed, one might assert that Patrick’s latest effort may be the best “themed cryptic crossword” ever composed...Consider, for instance, Patrick’s 18 Across clues and 16 Down clues. Eight of these 34 clues allude to the answer to 16-Across (“Rock group in middle of puzzle...”). Those eight clues (along with Clue-Number-16-Across itself) adds up to 9 of the puzzle’s 34 clues (26.5%!), all contributing to the theme of the puzzle.
Patrick executes this theme masterfully.
You can access any of Patrick’s previous 37 cryptic crosswords by opening the links below:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
For those who may be new to cryptic crossword puzzles, Patrick has compiled the following list of basic cryptic crossword puzzle instructions:
Regarding the Across and Down clues and their format:
The number, or numbers, that appear in parentheses at the end of each clue indicate 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
word like “island,” (4,4) indicates a four-letter and four-letter answer like “rock band,” and (4-7) indicates a four-letter and seven-letter hyphenated answer like “mind-defying.”
For further insight about how to decipher these numbered cryptic clues, see Patrick’s “Cryptic Crossword Tutorial” in this link to his November
2017 cryptic crossword. That Tutorial appears below the filled-in answer-grid in that edition of Puzzleria!
So, go ahead, “sea” if you can swim-solve your way past the “Great Patrick-J.-Berrier Reef" and onto his inner-island paradise!
Enjoy!
(Note: When “16” appears in the text of a clue, it refers to the answer to the clue “16-Across.”)
ACROSS
1. Top man in charge sort of changed
company(9)6. Puzzle model(5)
9. Huge crush, we hear(5)
10. A fortune’s wasted to make movie(9)
11. Writer’s partner being blunt(6)12. Department head’s heading back(5)
15. Hint? Hint left out(3)
16. Rock group in middle of puzzle: Cream?(2,3)
17. Somewhat patriotic group like 16(4)
19. Affleck’s first-run success!(4)
20. Feature of 16’s members—brave decision, primarily(5)21. Wood residue(3)
25. Cook using right oven(5)
26. Blasphemy—thus, no BS?(6)
29. Baseball team getting away on ship out of spite?(9)
30. Close to admirer in love, looking for mail(5)
31. Spring: Guys discovered gal(5)
32. Nick’s got out some sexy pantyhose(9)
DOWN
1. Chat about latest scoop—that’s gossip(6)2. Song by 16 man embracing karaoke ultimately performed with gals(5,10)
3. Fool—right off, our fool(6)4. Sound of pig or duck—it comes from the pen(4)
5. Shut off song by 16(4)
6. More needs to be said about crude sweat marks in the comics(6)7. 16 song for date in crowd, joint passed around—high? Not I!(5,7,3)
8. 16 song of fish possessing bad smell?(5,3)13. State institution not hard for old Mexican(5)
14. Get on table(5)
18. 16 song for girl raised on farm(2,6)
22. Hit or failure to hit?(6)
23. Comment about book(6)
24. Tree, say, in country?(6)
27. 16 song for likable girls on vacation(4)
28. One keeping head down in part of Norway(4)
MENU
Full Service Hors d’Oeuvre:
Purveyors providing provisions
Name a verb for what a purveyor of food may do to serve its customers. The first four letters of this verb name this purveyor. The last five letters spell what this purveyor may provide.
What are this verb, purveyor and provision?
Q & A Slice:
Blue prince, bloop rinse, time table...
Your boss asks you:
“Can you complete the blueprints, comply with the timetable and meet the target dates I have scheduled regarding the municipal courthouse project?” Your reply is one of the words in her (or perhaps his) question... but only after adding a bit of punctuation and deleting three letters that spell something offensive.
What is your answer?
Ripping Off Shortz And Asimov Entrees:
“Mouth your allowed smooth answer aloud!”
Will Shortz’s March 23rd NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle challenge, created by Dan Asimov of Berkeley, California, reads: In English the two-letter combination “th” can be pronounced in two different ways: once as in the word “booth,” the other as in “smooth.” What is the only common English word, other than “smooth,” that ends in the letters “th” as pronounced in smooth?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Asimov Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
Take the first names of an author of word puzzles and an author of science fiction who share a surname. The combined letters of these two first names can be rearranged to spell a north-of -the-border nation and a south-of-the-border affirmation.
The combined letters these two first names plus the common surname and can be rearranged to spell: * the name of an Italian adventurer who – like “Lothario” and “Don Juan” – was pre-occupied, not with egos or superegos, but with the third division of the psyche;
* the plural form of that third division of the psyche; and...
* because this Italian adventurer wrote his autobiography in French, the three-letter French noun he used to label himself vis-a-vis his relationship with many women whom he seduced and with whom he had sexual affairs.
What are the first names of this author of word puzzles and an author of science fiction and the surname they share?
What are the north-of -the-border nation and a south-of-the-border affirmation?
Who is the Italian adventurer?
What are the plural form of the third division of the psyche and the three-letter French noun?
Note: Entrees #2 through #7 were nurtured within the nimble noggin of our friend Nodd.
What six-letter word starting with S can be pronounced three ways, depending on the meaning intended and the location of the speaker?
ENTREE #3
Name a five-letter word in which, if the last letter is removed, the new last letter becomes silent.
Hint: If you take the first two letters of this word and follow them with a copy of the second letter, you will have a three-letter homophone of the four-letter word.
Name a five-letter noun that is an affectionate name for a pet but can also be an adjective describing something repugnant, depending on the pronunciation.
Name a four-letter word starting with M that changes from one to two syllables if an S is added at the end.
Name an eight-letter word that can be pronounced with either two or three syllables.
The first four letters are in alphabetical order.
The last three letters are in reverse alphabetical order.
The remaining letter is an R.
ENTREE #7
Name six words of nine, five, seven, six, eight, and five letters respectively, that can be pronounced two different ways depending on the intended meaning. The first letters of these six words, in order, spell a word for something that is relevant to pronunciation.
What are these seven words?
(Note: There may be multiple words that will work for some or all of the first six words. Any words of the correct lengths that spell the seventh word are acceptable.)
The gentleman pictured here is a politician.
The caption that goes with the picture is:
“Adam Tiogh holding a Ghoti!” Translate that sentence into something that makes sense.
Hint: “Adam,” spelled in reverse, in an acronym of “Make America Democratic Again!”
Dessert Menu
Destructive Dessert:
Bio-logical fallacies
Say aloud the name of something destructive. The first half sounds like a part of a part of the upper body.
The last four letters spell a part of a part of the arm.
Three consecutive interior letters, in reverse, spell an occasional body part.
What are this destructive thing and three body parts?
Every Thursday 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.
Note:
ReplyDeleteTo place a comment under this QUESTIONS? subheading (immediately below), or under any of the three subheadings below it (HINTS! PUZZLE RIFFS! and MY PROGRESS SO FAR...), simply left-click on the orange "Reply" to open a dialogue box where you can make a comment. Thank you.
Lego...
QUESTIONS?
ReplyDeleteHINTS!
ReplyDeleteCryptic Crossword Hints:
DeleteACROSS
1. One Mr. William Gates' place of business.
6. Insert a U in this answer, and you'll get an answer in Will's on-air puzzle today.
9. Describing Linus' pumpkin, it sounds like where Marilyn was standing when her dress blew up unexpectedly.
10. A Romanian word synonymous with "vampire", and the movie in question came out last year.
11. A verb usually associated with one's hearing.
12. In-____ interview.
15. What a pool player chalks up, an actor tries not to miss.
16. "That li'l ol' band from Texas". (They're actually playing on my phone right now as I'm writing this! Coincidence?)
17. The singular form of Stooges, Amigos, and Musketeers(oh my!).
19. In Greek mythology, the name of Jason's ship(put an F at the beginning, and you'll get the title of another film, this one involving a wood chipper...enough said).
20. Ironically, it's the surname of the band's drummer, who doesn't even have one!
21. Mr. Kutcher's nickname, perhaps, it also follows "Wishbone" for all you rockers out there.
25. It's where you might have seen ol' Dino get laughs on TV back in the 70s.
26. What Mr. McMahon used to say, minus "Johnn"?
29. Another cryptic clue:
Insane SST flying(9)
30. Someone many people call "Sir" might wear this(not these days, if you're a rock star!).
31. What hilarity will do, as they say.
32. Another song by the band: "Fool For Your ______".
DOWN
1. Heckle or Jeckle.
2. "... rhinestone shades or ______...)
3. It precedes "outlast, outplay".
4. Surely by now you should be old enough to remember what sound a pig makes!
5. Pronounced slightly different, it's the surname of a popular TV personality from the early days of(W)TBS in Atlanta.
6. Not grawlixes, but...
7. "Every girl's crazy about" him.
8. As far as I know, it's the band's only real ballad.
13. It's Greek to me? Seems more like Nahuatl.
14. It follows "room and" and precedes "of education".
18. The singer in the band tried to sound like John Lee Hooker in this song. Did a pretty good job.
22. It follows "sit-down" or, back in the day, "Lucky".
23. Spelled backwards, it's the surname of a TV character who didn't want to be known as "Cosmo".
24. C+spilled syrup?
27. The band also had a song called "Stages". This song title could be a synonym for that one.
28. Another cryptic clue:
Go slow doing a stripper's act?(4)
pjbGettingReadyForTheOvernightStormsHereInAlabama(PleasePrayForUs)
SUNDAY HINTS FOR ENTREES 2-7:
Delete2. For a "laugh," drop the first letter and change the first vowel to a different one.
3. The three-letter homophone, repeated, sounds like a kind of clock.
4. Amanda Blake.
5. Put the S at the beginning instead of the end and insert an apostrophe to get something yummy.
6. You ______ brat, look what you’ve done! I’m melting, melting ….
7. The six words are in alphabetical order. The word their initial letters spell is a brand name for MSG.
Thank you for the hints. I think the only thing I'm missing now is 6 Down for the cryptic crossword. I'm pretty sure I have all of the intersecting Across words for that correct, but the only three words I found that can fit don't make sense.
DeleteTortieWhoIsHopingThatTheFilterDoesn'tFlagOneOfTheEntreesAsADirtyWord
I found the answer for 6 Down. That word is new to me, and didn’t show up in the online helpers I was using.
DeleteBelated Monday-Into-Tuesday Hints:
Delete(See Patrick's cryptic crossword hints and Nodd's riffs for his Appetizers #2 through #7, above, at March 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM and at March 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM , respectively.)
Schpuzzle of the Week:
Huck & Jim, Paul & Babe, “Nessie”
A one two-thousandth of a US ton verse.
Full Service Hors d’Oeuvre
Purveyors providing provisions
The 2nd -through-5th letters or the 3rd-through-6th letters of the verb can both be anagrammed to spell two synonyms of "wicked."
Q & A Slice:
Blue prince, bloop rinse, time table...
Your two-word answer, if you shift its space on place to the left, is something Neneh Cherry's daughter might say while introducing herself.
Ripping Off Shortz And Asimov Entrees:
“Mouth your allowed smooth answer aloud!”
ENTREE #1
The Italian adventurer sounds like a "new house."
ENTREE #8
The Ghoti has fins... we're not sure if Adam Tiogh has Finnish ancestry.
Destructive Dessert:
Bio-logical fallacies
The "something destructive" is a "a thickener consisting of a mixture of aluminum soaps used in jelling gasoline (as for incendiary bombs) "
LegoLateHintingOnceAgain
PUZZLE RIFFS!
ReplyDeleteMY PROGRESS SO FAR...
ReplyDeleteWell, even if it ends up being practically the only thing I solve (like last week), at least I just got the Schpuzzle. (Worked backwards, as so often works nicely.)
DeleteManaged to also solve the Hors D'O, and the Slice (I think...am not totally confident of answer), Entrees 1 and 8. Everything else....not.
DeleteYou are on a roll VT. "If you only have time for one puzzle..." Well.
DeleteDid you get any hail on Wednesday?
Yeah, Plantie, I often think of Lego's statement at the top of P! that "if you have time for only one puzzle..." And indeed, I had thought of that repeatedly last week, when I simply couldn't face trying to solve any of the others.
DeleteRe hail: NO, we did NOT, as far as I know, get any hail, at least not in town here. Whether they got any further east, over the Cascades, I do not know. But I had seen the warnings about "up to 2" hail" and had shuddered, thinking of my poor old Voyager van sitting out in the driveway having its roof assaulted! But it didn't occur...whew.
Yea they said quarter which I have never seen.But we did lose power for ten minutes!!
DeleteI'm not sure I follow, PLantie. Are you saying you guys had storms there, too, during which your power went out?
DeleteYea back in Renton now. suburb of Seattle.
DeleteI have answers for everything but most of the top left quadrant of the cryptic crossword, although I'm unsure of some of my other answers; and the eight-letter word for Entree #7. Possible I have the wrong final word, though.
DeleteAll done except for crossword. Tortie, in the eight-letter word in Entree #7, the first five letters anagram to part of a cow's stomach.The last three letters are a homophone of a word in the puzzle.
DeleteStil confused, Plantie. Are you saying that you have MOVED from Alabama (or was it Georgia?) back to Renton?
DeleteAnd did YOU have hail there the other day, then?
Yes, back here in the rainy Northwest, from Georgia. We were supposed to have hail- but did not. Awesome lightning for most of the evening.
DeleteRenton had a famous case that went to the Supreme Court. They passed an ordinance restricting adult entertainment to certain zones. The court said this was okay, as long as they didn't ban it entirely.
DeleteDon't remember that one. Renton most famous for Boeing 737 plant and also Jimmi Hendrix memorial gravesite at Greenwood cemetery.
DeleteIf that is the HUGE Boeing plant where they give free tours, then I've been there (it was back in the 90s, though.)
DeleteThat might be in Everett. They have a nice museum now at Boeing Field close to original Boeing buildings called "Museum of Flight." They have a Concorde there among other flyers.
DeleteOh yeah, that's right....it was Everett that had the tours of the huge plant. I don't remember a Concorde being there, tho....perhaps it came after the early to mid-90s?
DeleteIF YOU HAVE COMMENTS THAT DO NOT PERTAIN TO ANY OF THE FOUR CATEGORIES ABOVE, YOU MAY WRITE THEM BELOW THIS POST. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteMy sincere apologies for the tardiness of this week's uploading.
DeleteLegoLaggardly
Why worry? Well worth waiting.
DeleteGood last-week-of-March to you all!
ReplyDeleteI'm still suffering from a hiatal hernia and a cold(coughing, mostly). Mom says she's better after having the cold first. Next week I have to see my doctor Larissa about my problem, so I'm still toughing it out until then. We will not be getting back into eating out as of yet. Hope everybody who likes cryptic crosswords is enjoying mine. BTW The "island" was unintentional, it just worked out that way. Will offer hints when I feel up to it. Also, next Monday will be another Weather Alert Day(starting as early as late Sunday night). Please pray for us. We don't have all the details yet on this one.
Have only figured out Entree #8 so far, don't really feel like handling it all just yet. Looking forward to hints as always.
Good luck in solving to all, and please stay safe, and remember that I wouldn't wish what I have right now on my worst enemy(now, a few certain people in Washington D.C., well...). Cranberry out!
pjbKnowsTrumpWouldn'tBeHavingABucketOf[KFC]EveryDayIfHeKeptHavingToThrowItUpMidmeal!
I agree with you, that wishing what you have on 'certain folks in Wash DC' is a worthwhile effort! I have to look up hiatal hernia, as I don't even know what it is.
DeleteOoh, geez, it sounds nasty indeed! What I am reading says to AVOID CArBONATED DRINKS....so no more soda for you, PJB, on your meals eating out! Also, no heavy lifting. It says 'elevating the head' of one's bed can help...I can imagine why, helping to keep acid from flowing back up into the throat. Ugh....
DeleteI love the smell of Dessert in the morning.
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle: SARGASSO (SEA); MER, GOSSAMER
ReplyDeleteApp: (around 7 answers were post hint)
Across: 1. MICROSOFT; 6. POSER; 9. GREAT; 10. NOSFERATU; 11. IMPAIR; 12. DEPTH; 15. CUE; 16. ZZTOP; 17. TRIO; 19. ARGO; 20. BEARD; 21. ASH; 25. ROAST; 26. HERESY; 29. NASTINESS; 30. ARMOR; 31. ENSUE; 32. STOCKINGS
Down: 1. MAGPIE; 2. CHEAPSUNGLASSES; 3. OUTWIT; 4. OINK; 5. TUSH; 6. PLEWDS; 7. SHARPDRESSEDMAN; 8. ROUGHBOY; 13. AZTEC; 14. BOARD; 18. LAGRANGE; 22. STRIKE; 23. REMARK; 24. CYPRUS; 27. LEGS; 28. OSLO
Hors d’Oeuvre: DELIVER, DELI, LIVER
Slice: I’M ABLE (TIMETABLE - TET)
Entrees:
1. DAN, ISAAC, ASIMOV; CANADA, SI; CASANOVA, IDS, AMI
2. SLOUGH
3. COUPE, COUP (COO)
4. PUSSY
5. MORE (MORES)
6. ACCURSED
7. ALTERNATE, CLOSE, COMPLEX, EXCUSE, (Post hint: ) NUMERATE, TOWER, ACCENT
8. SCHIFF, FISH
Dessert: NAPALM, NAPE, PALM, LAP
SCHPUZZLE: SARGASSO SEA => GOSSAMER
ReplyDeleteHORS D’O: DELIVER => DELI & LIVER
SLICE: TIMETABLE, remove T.I.T. => ME? ABLE!
ENTREES:
1. DAN & ISAAC ASIMOV => CANADA & SI; CASANOVA, IDS, AMI
2. SLOUGH? <— [Pre-hint, but Nodd’s March 30 hint appears to make this look like the right word]
3. CODED? [Homophone: COO, as in Cuckoo clock]
4. KITTY? [Although I can’t figure out an adjective that is repulsive.]
5. MORE => MORES
6. ACCURSED
7. A. C. C. E. N. T. ??????
8. ADAM SCHIFF HOLDS FISH. [‘TI' as in NATION, ‘O’ as in WOMEN, ‘GH’ as in TOUGH]
DESSERT: NAPALM => NAPE, PALM, LAP
SCHPUZZLE – SARGASSO SEA; MER; GOSSAMER
ReplyDeleteAPPETIZER
ACROSS
1. MICROSOFT
6. POSER
9. GREAT
10. NOSFERATU
11. ?
12. DEPTH
15. CUE
16. ZZTOP
17. TRIO
19. ARGO
20. BEARD
21. ASH
25. ROAST
26. HERESY
29. ?
30. ?
31. ?
32. STOCKINGS
DOWN
1. MAGPIE
2. CHEAP SUNGLASSES
3. OUTFOX?
4. OINK
5. TUSH
6. ?
7. SHARP DRESSED MAN
8. ROUGH BOY
13. AZTEC
14. BOARD
18. LA GRANGE
22. STRIKE
23. REMARK
24. ?
27. LEGS
28. OSLO
HORS D’OEUVRE – DELIVER; DELI; LIVER
SLICE – I’M ABLE
ENTREES
1. DAN ASIMOV, ISAAC ASIMOV; CANADA, SI; CASANOVA; IDS; AMI
2. SLOUGH (“SLOO,” “SLAU,” OR “SLUFF”)
3. COUPE; COUP
4. PUSSY (CAT); PUSSY (FULL OF PUS)
5. MORE; MORES
6. ACCURSED
7. ATTRIBUTE, CLOSE, CONSOLE, EXCUSE, NUMERATE, TARRY; ACCENT
8. “ADAM SCHIFF HOLDING A FISH”
DESSERT – NAPALM; NAPE, PALM, LAP
Official Answers for the record, part 1
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle of the Week:
Huck & Jim, Paul & Babe, “Nessie”
A. Remove the first syllable from the first word in the two-word name of a literary and legendary – and yet real – body of water. (For example, Mississippi River would become “issippi”.)
B. Switch the two vowels of the result.
C. Place after this result, without leaving a space, a Romance-language translation of the kind of body of water that follows the name of the body of water. (For example, “River,” “Lake,” “Ocean,” “Strait,” in Spanish, would become “Río,” “Lago,” “Océano” and “Estrecho.”)
The final result is a word for "something light, delicate, or insubstantial,” like cobwebs wafting in the air until settling softly upon earth.
For another example...
A. “Amazon River” becomes “azon.”
B. “azon” becomes “ozan”
C. “ozan” plus “río” becomes “ozanrio” (if we choose Spanish as our “Romance translation language”).
D. If ozanrio” were a word for “something light, delicate, or insubstantial,” like cobwebs wafting in the air and settling on earth, we would have solved the puzzle! Alas, it isn’t.
Answer:
Sargasso Sea; Gossamer
SARGASSO (SEA) => GASSO => GOSSA + (MER) => GOSSAMER
A. “Sargasso Sea” becomes “gasso.”
B. “gasso” becomes “gossa”
C. “gossa” plus “mer” (the French word for “sea”) becomes “gossamer.”
Lego...
Official Answers for the record, part 2:
ReplyDeleteThe Isle-Themed Appetizer:
Back in Black? Patrick’s “Back on Track!”
Note: You will find Patrick's filled-in cryptic crossword puzzle grid just above this week's Comments Section.
ANSWERS:
ACROSS
1. Top man in charge sort of changed company(9)
M+IC+SORTOF anagram
6. Puzzle model(5)
double definition
9. Huge crush, we hear(5)
sounds like GRATE
10. A fortune's wasted to make movie(9)
AFORTUNES anagram
11. Writer's partner being blunt(6)
I'M+PAIR
12. Department head's heading back(5)
DEPT.+H
15. Hint? Hint left out(3)
CLUE-L
16. Rock group in middle of puzzle: Cream?(2,3)
puZZle+TOP
17. Somewhat patriotic group like 16(4)
hidden inside paTRIOtic
19. Affleck's first-run success!(4)
A+R+GO &lit.
20. Feature of 16's members—brave decision, primarily(5)
BEAR+D
21. Wood residue(3)
double definition
25. Cook using right oven(5)
R+OAST
26. Blasphemy—thus, no BS?(6)
HEREBY with B replaced by S
29. Baseball team getting away on ship out of spite?(9)
NINE containing A ST.(street)on SS
30. Close to admirer in love, looking for mail(5)
R inside AMOR
31. Spring: Guys discovered gal(5)
MEN-M+SUE(girl's name)
32. Nick's got out some sexy pantyhose(9)
NICKSGOT anagram+S
DOWN
1. Chat about latest scoop---that's gossip(6)
MAG+P+I.E.
2. Song by 16 man embracing karaoke ultimately performed with gals(5,10)
CHAP containing E+SUNG+LASSES
3. Fool—right off, our fool(6)
OUR-R+TWIT
4. Sound of pig or duck—it comes from the pen(4)
O+INK
5. Shut off song by 16(4)
SHUT anagram
6. More needs to be said about crude sweat marks in the comics(6)
P.S. containing LEWD
7. 16 song for date in crowd, joint passed around—high? Not I!(5,7,3)
SHARED containing D inside PRESS+MAIN-I
8. 16 song of fish possessing bad smell?(5,3)
ROUGHY containing BO(body odor)
13. State institution not hard for old Mexican(5)
AZ(Arizona)+TECH-H
14. Get on table(5)
double definition
18. 16 song for girl raised on farm(2,6)
GAL reversed+RANGE
22. Hit or failure to hit?(6)
double definition
23. Comment about book(6)
RE+MARK
24. Tree, say, in country?(6)
sounds like CYPRESS
27. 16 song for likable girls on vacation(4)
LikablE+GirlS
28. One keeping head down in part of Norway(4)
SOLO with the S taken down one letter
Lego...
Official Answers for the record, part 3:
ReplyDeleteFull Service Hors d’Oeuvre
Purveyors providing provisions
Name a verb for what a purveyor of food may do to serve its customers.
The first four letters of this verb name this purveyor.
The last five letters spell what this purveyor may provide.
What are this verb, purveyor and provision?
Answer:
Deliver; Deli; Liver
Q & A Slice:
Blue prince, bloop rinse, time table...
Your boss asks you:
“Can you complete the blueprints, comply with the timetable and meet the target dates I have scheduled regarding the municipal courthouse project?”
Your reply is one of the words in her (or perhaps his) question... but only after adding an apostrophe (some punctuation) and deleting (three) letters that spell something offensive. What is your answer?
Answer:
"I'm able!"
timetable => "I'm able" [after deleting the "Tet (Offensive)]
Lego...
Official Answers for the record, part 4:
ReplyDeleteRipping Off Shortz And Asimov Entrees:
“Mouth your allowed smooth answer aloud!”
ENTREE #1
Take the first names of an author of word puzzles and an author of science fiction who share a surname. The combined letters of these two first names can be rearranged to spell a north-of -the-border nation and a south-of -the-border affirmation.
The combined letters these two first names PLUS the common surname and can be rearranged to spell:
* the name of an Italian adventurer who – like “Lothario” and “Don Juan” – was pre-occupied, not with egos or superegos, but with the third division of the psyche;
* the plural form of that third division of the psyche; and
* because this Italian adventurer wrote his autobiography in French, the three-letter French noun he used to label himself vis-a-vis his relationship with many women whom he seduced and with whom he had sexual affairs.
What are the first names of this author of word puzzles and an author of science fiction and the surname they share?
What are the north-of -the-border nation and a south-of -the-border affirmation?
Who is the Italian adventurer?
What are the plural form of the third division of the psyche and the three-letter French noun?
Answer:
Dan (Asimov); Isaac (Asimov); Asimov;
Canada, Si
Casanova; ids; "ami"
Lego...
Official Answers for the record, part 5:
ReplyDeleteNote: Entrees #2 through #7 were nurtured within the nimble noggin of Nodd
Note: Entrees #2 through #7 were nurtured within the nimble noggin of Nodd
ENTREE #2
What six-letter word starting with S can be pronounced three ways, depending on the meaning intended and the location of the speaker?
Answer:
SLOUGH (“SLOO,” “SLAU,” OR “SLUFF”) “Slough” can mean a marshy place or something that may be shed or cast off. When it means a marshy place, it is pronounced “sloo,” except in New England and the U.K., where it is pronounced so that it rhymes with “cow.” When “slough” means something cast off, it is pronounced “sluff”.)
ENTREE #3
Name a five-letter word in which, if the last letter is removed, the new last letter becomes silent. Hint: If you take the first two letters of this word and follow them with a copy of the second letter, you will have a three-letter homophone of the four-letter word.
Answer:
COUPE; COUP
ENTREE #4
Name a five-letter noun that is an affectionate name for a pet but can also be an adjective describing something repugnant, depending on the pronunciation.
Answer:
PUSSY (CAT); PUSSY (FULL OF PUS)
ENTREE #5
Name a four-letter word starting with M that changes from one to two syllables if an S is added at the end.
Answer:
MORE; MORES
ENTREE #6
Name an eight-letter word that can be pronounced with either two or three syllables. The first four letters are in alphabetical order. The last three letters are in reverse alphabetical order. The remaining letter is an R.
Answer:
ACCURSED
ENTREE #7
Name six words of nine, five, seven, six, eight, and five letters respectively, that can be pronounced two different ways depending on the intended meaning. The first letters of these six words, in order, spell a word for something that is relevant to pronunciation. What are these seven words? (There may be multiple words that will work for some or all of the first six words. Any words of the correct lengths that spell the seventh word are acceptable.)
Answer:
ATTRIBUTE, CLOSE, CONSOLE, EXCUSE, NUMERATE, TARRY; ACCENT
Lego...
Official Answers for the record, part 6:
ReplyDeleteENTREE #8
The gentleman pictured here is a politician.
The caption that goes with the picture is:
“Adam Tiogh holding a Ghoti!”
Translate that sentence into something that makes sense.
Hint: “Adam,” spelled in reverse, in an acronym of “Make America Democratic Again!”
Dessert Menu
Destructive Dessert:
Bio-logical fallacies
Say aloud the name of something destructive.
The first half sounds like a part of a part of the upper body.
The last four letters spell a part of a part of the arm.
Three consecutive interior letters, in reverse, spell an occasional body part.
What are this destructive thing and three body parts?
Answer:
Napalm; Nape, palm, lap
Lego!
4-2-25”
ReplyDeleteApp:
Across: 1.microsoft 6. poser 9.10. nosferatu 11.
. Down: 1. 14. board 18. LA grange 22.
Entrees:
1. Dan, Isaac, Asimov, Canada,Casanova, Si, Ami SI.
2.
3. Coupe, coup
4. Kitty,.
5. Come, comer
6.
7.
8. Schiff, fish
Dessert:
Schpuzzle
ReplyDeleteA. SARGASSO SEA
B. MER
C. GOSSAMER
For a complete cryptic crossword recap, see Lego.
Menu
Full Service Hors d'Oeuvre
DELIVER, DELI, LIVER
Q & A Slice
TIMETABLE-TET=I'M ABLE
Entrees
1. DAN ASIMOV, ISAAC ASIMOV, CASANOVA, IDS, AMI
2. SLOUGH
3. COUPE, COUP(coo)
4. PUSSY(cat), PUSSY(full of pus)
5. MORE, MORES
6. ACCURSED
7. ATTRIBUTE, CLOSE, CONSOLE, EXCUSE, NUMERATE, TARRY, ACCENT
8. ADAM SCHIFF HOLDING A FISH(GH as in "tough", O as in "women", TI as in "ambitious"; "Tiogh" would then be pronounced the same way in reverse.)
Destructive Dessert
NAPALM, NAPE, PALM, LAP
Masked Singer Results:
NESSY, YORKIE, STUD MUFFIN, and MAD SCIENTIST MONSTER performed this evening on "Boy Band Night".
STUD MUFFIN was unmasked.
STUD MUFFIN= Method Man(a rap legend I've heard of, but Mom hasn't)
Robin Thicker and Rita Ora both guessed correctly.
Next week is the Group C finale.
BTW Currently I have a nostalgia hernia, have caught my Mom's cold, and am mostly coughing with my left ear stopped up. I hope this all gets cleared up by the time my birthday(the 15th)rolls around. Please pray for me. Also, bad weather here Sunday morning. Please pray for us.-pjb