Just “For tea, two?” That just won’t do! But “For tea, three?” Now THAT’S our new brew! Don’t forget to pack forceps for the Fourth! “Be a Pepper, Do the Dew!” “A holiday (or two) in the life...” “The City of Angels” and “The Lions of Teranga” “ ’76... but not trombones!”

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Implements of Independence:

Don’t forget to pack forceps for the Fourth!

Name in two words, any one of many of the “fruits of agricultural labor” harvested annually across the American Heartland. The answer is a synonym of a eight-letter noun that appears a tad later in this puzzle.

Now name a two-word term describing Independence Day implements that Americans might use in the vicinity their bonfires. Spoonerize the words in the term and delete the space to spell a word associated with July Fourth celebrations. 

What are these implements and celebratory
word?

What is the “any one of many of the fruits of agricultural labor harvested annually across the American Heartland?”

Hint: The spoonerism in this puzzle is somewhat rare. Most spoonerisms contain two pairs of rhyming words, like “jelly beans” and “belly jeans.” 

However, the answer to this spoonerism contains only one rhyming pair, as well as a pair of non-rhyming words  that are spelled identically except for their first letter... like, for example, the more “unusual” spoonerism “dashing my wishes” and “washing my dishes.” So, the answer to this puzzle is also “unusual.”

Appetizer Menu

Patrick J. Berry’s 43rd “Cryptic-Crossword” PuzzleriAppetizer!:

Just “For tea, two?” That just won’t do!

But “For tea, three?” Now THAT’S our new brew!

Welcome back to Patrick J. Berry’s Dazzling World of Cryptic Crossword Puzzle
Befuddlement! This is Patrick’s 43rd gem that we are privileged and proud to present on Puzzleria!

Patrick J. Berry  is truly “a Master of Cryptic Crossword letter-setting.” Indeed, there is no better setter of Cryptic Crossword letters than Patrick!

Patrick is both proficient and prolific. Need proof? It’s in the Puzzleria! Pudding! 

Just take a gander, below, at the “clickable”
array of Patrick’s two-score-plus crosswords that have previously appeared on Puzzleria! 

Open any number of them, at random. Then just sit back and bask in Patrick’s cryptic brand of mystery!

You can access Patrick’s previous 42 cryptic crossword 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 38 39 40 41 42     

For those of you who may be new to solving 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, (7) simply indicates a 7-letter word like “stumper,” 5,3,2 5) indicates a 5-letter-plus-3-letter-plus-2-letter-plus-5-letter answer like “tough nut to crack,” and (4-9) indicates a four-letter-and-nine-letter hyphenated answer like “head-scratcher.”

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!

And so... sit back... sip on a “spot of tea...”

And, just enjoy Patrick J. Berry’s spot-on genius!

ACROSS

1. He wrote, “One, terribly fat, devours one of the farm animals”? (4,6)

6. Where animals use the bathroom, we hear such language?(4)

9. Food from years ago, during one’s
boyhood?(5,5)

10. King not on top of ace(4)

11. Newspaper—no men sold it, surprisingly?(6,5)

15. Consideration for top person in secret organization(7)

16. Still, er, working for network(7)

17. Piano’s playing to welcome unknown philosopher?(7)

19. Soldier was curious almost, getting in tank(7)

20. Ex-newscaster claims Lucy’s friend did something illegal(5,3,3)

23. Be turning bad
(4)

24. Awfully evident in low part of Uruguay(10)

25. Throw dart(4)

26. Seems ‘e left? Foolish pride!(4-6)

DOWN

1. Going up before class? Not at all(4)

2. Simple answer in cryptic, yes?(4)

3. Singer difficult to take, story breaking heart(7,4)

4. Now that could be where all the bric-a-brac goes(7)

5. Report about a detour(7)

7. I’m a fun sort of storyteller—could make novel!(10)

8. Put another way, is sans duet!(10)

12. See 19 Down

13. Angry, spilled beer on duke’s mixture(10)

14. Perhaps I misspoke about everybody’s top frozen treats(6,4)

18. Irish town has a new hotel building(7)

19. Song by 3 felt “too hip”—arranged differently, song gets one’s attention(5,2,3,8)

21. Minor celebrity on the radio(4)

22. Average part of Michigan or Minnesota? (4)

MENU:

“Land Of Sky Blue Water” Hors d’Oeuvre:

“Be a Pepper, Do the Dew!” 

Name a brand of beverage, followed by its container. 

Double the brand’s fourth letter. Insert three separate spaces. 

The result is a possible five-word slogan for the beverage. 

What is this slogan?

Revolutionary Slice:

“ ’76... but not trombones!”

The eight-letter subject matter of a painting is a number of talented parading American heroes.

The middle four of those letters indicate the number.

The four remaining letters can be anagrammed to spell either the temporal setting of the painting, or the title of a tune these heroes may play.

What are this subject, “hero-count,” temporal setting and tune-title?

Extra Credit: What is the painting's title?

Riffing Off Shortz And Sceinberg Slices:

“The City of Angels” and  “The Lions of Teranga” 

Will Shortz’s June 28th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, from Rawson Sheinberg of Plymouth, Michigan, reads:

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. Add a letter to the first word, without rearranging letters, to name a country. Then, without adding a letter, rearrange the letters of the second word to name another country. What places are these?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Sheinberg Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

A nine-letter town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is situated near the border with the Netherlands on the river Wurm. Popular local attractions include  St. Gangolf Church and the Lago Laprello recreational lake.

Move the middle letter of this town to the
beginning. The result is the surname of a puzzle-maker.

The first name of that puzzle-maker can be rearranged to spell two words (in one & five letters) that may precede the word “testimony” during court proceedings.

What is this town? Who is this puzzle-maker?

What two words may precede the word “testimony” during court proceedings

ENTREE #2

Fill in the three missing words (five, six and four letters) in the caption that accompanies the image pictured here.

Rearrange these fifteen letters to spell the name of a puzzle-maker.

What is this caption?

Who is this puzzle-maker?

Entrees #3 through #8 are conundrummy rifs
drummed-up/dreamt-up by our friend and riffmeister extraordinaire, Nodd.

ENTREE #3

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. Change the third letter to a C. 

Rearrange all the letters to name a U.S. state and a foreign country. 

What places are these?

ENTREE #4

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. 

Double the first four letters of the second word, and change an N to an I. Rearrange to name a country and an island. What are these places?

ENTREE #5

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. 

Double the first and last letters. 

Rearrange to name two major European ethno-linguistic groups. 

What are the city and the groups?

ENTREE #6

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. 

Change the first letter to the next letter of the
alphabet and add a G. 

Rearrange all the letters to name a U.S. state and a foreign country. 

What places are these?

ENTREE #7

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. 

Add a D and change an O to an A. 

Rearrange to name a country in Africa and a
geographical region in South Asia. 

What places are these?

ENTREE #8

Think of a Midwestern U.S. city with a six-letter one-word name. 

Change the first and third letters, which are the same, to the letter that is eight places earlier in
the alphabet. 

Add an R and rearrange to name a country. Change one letter of the country name to an S, and rearrange to name another country. 

What are these cities and country?

Entree #9 is the ingenious brainchild of our friend and prolific riff-crafter Plantsmith.

ENTREE #9

Take a two-word U.S. city name. 

Add a letter to the first name to get an animal, and in the second name drop three letters-repeat a vowel and add another vowel to get
another animal. 

What is this city and two animals?

Entree #10 is an excellent riff contributed by our friend and brilliant puzzle-crafter Ecoarchitect.

ENTREE #10

Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. 

Replace a letter in the first word, without rearranging letters, to name a body part. Then, replace a

letter in the second word with the same new letter, and move it to the end of that word to name an informal medical term often associated with that body part.  

What are the city, body part, and medical term?

Dessert Menu

Connecting The Holidays Dessert:

“A holiday (or two) in the life...”

Name a fifteen-letter phrase associated with Independence Day.

Anagram these combined letters to form three words associated with a different holiday:

~ 🎄🥚🦃The name of a person associated with this holiday;

~ 👻👺☘ What the person does the morning prior to the holiday, and

~ 💘🎆🥳What the person will likely do during the late evening of that of that prior day... or perhaps even during the wee hours of the holiday itself.

What is this fifteen-letter phrase?

Who are the person and what that person might do in the late evening or wee hours?

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 Thursday.

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.