Beverage bottles and beetles; “Writers of the Purple Prose! Tracking Subatomic Subs! (...From a cruciverbal setter with fortitude!) Joe Strummer? Not the answer!

 PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Writers of the Purple Prose

Zane Grey, a native of Zanesville, Ohio, was a dentist, minor league baseball player and novelist perhaps best known for authoring “Riders of the Purple Sage.” 

Grey may well have written – but alas did not write – the following line in any of his fictional works:

“I once faced a crafty ________, perched upon the pitcher’s mound like a Greek god atop Olympus. I was patient and worked the count to full –three balls, two strikes. But he then served up a knuckleball that fluttered by like a
butterfly and, like a knucklehead, I swung, missed and struck ___! _____!”

The letters in the first blank are an anagram of the letters in the last two blanks.

What are the three missing words?

Appetizer Menu

‘Tis Patrick’s Cryptic Opus #42!...

(From a Cruciverbal Setter with Fortitude!)

Our good friend and “resident Renaissance Man” Patrick J. Berry (aka “cranberry” or PJB) is the proud possessor of a broad spectrum of interests, knowledge, and popular cultural chops.

Music, for instance, is just one of Patrick’s myriad interests. In this, his latest cryptic masterpiece, our favorite cruciverbalist has planted seven crossword clues (six of them “Down,” one of them “Across”) that harmonize to produce a masterful musical theme!

’Tis truly a beautifully phonic, and symphonic, feat! Thus this, Patrick’s 42nd Cryptic Crossword to be featured on Puzzleria!, shall surely challenge your musical chops and sharpen your musical IQ.

We invite you to revel in Patrick’s enigmatic magic, and to share in his knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, joyous noises!

You may want to prpare yourself by solving one-or-more of Patrick’s previous 41 Cryptic Crosswords... just open any one of 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  

For those who may be new to cryptic crossword puzzles, Patrick has compiled the following list of basic cryptic crossword instructions:

Regarding the Across and Down clues and their format: The number (or numbers) that appear in parentheses at the end of the clue indicate how many letters are in the answer. Multiple numbers in parentheses indicate how letters are distributed in multiple-word answers.

For example, (5) simply indicates a 5-letter answer like “Queen,” (4,4) indicates a 4-plus-4-letter answer like “bass riff,” and (1-4) indicates a 1-letter-plus-4-letter hyphenated answer like “B-Side.”

For further insight on 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 Gridin that edition of Puzzleria!

And so, relax, place a groovy vinyl platter on
your turntable and don your headphones...and your thinking cap! Enjoy the jangle!

ACROSS

1. Strange to see a policeman when he’s not working(7)

5. Spot some sort of

conspiracy in school(7)

10. Air Force veteran has a shot, though not as physically fit(8)

11. Celebrities, without hesitation, can be such
malicious individuals(6)

12. Cut on record including bit of improvisation by lead
singer(6)

13. Duck outside room in end(8)

14. What might happen as one’s turned to leave, grabbing keys?(4,6)

16. Bit of the Riot Act?(4)

17. Republicans taken aback by old comic strip character(4)

19. Depressed, went to get drink(10)

21. Tries again before last minute, for practice(8)

22. Turn boat around, eager to lose English sea monster...(6)

23. ...recalled this alternative involves one island in the South Pacific(6)

24. Bloody excellent meat kept inside on
display(8)

25. Sad end after serious cut(7)

26. No sense in some having sex?(7)

DOWN

2. Filmmaker has wasted life, with love over(7)

3. Song from 9 crashing bore? It may be an omen! (4,3,4,4)

4. Stranger story to be found in article(5)

6. Singer ruined art, to a VIP? (9)

7. No time for idiot paid to sing a new arrangement for 9’s hit (4,1,3,2,5)

8. In short, managed to find fruit(7)

9. Pop singer making Prespyterians nervous?
(7,6)

15. See 22 Down

18. Talk at length about classwork(7)

20. Part for extremely likeable people in
movie(7)

22. Family concealing rage, ultimately very embarrassed about cat hanging around—married him!(5.9)

MENU

Cork-Or-Cap Hors d’Oeuvre:

Beverage bottles & beetles

Name a surname that is a brand name.

Name also a kind of bottle associated with cheap summertime beverages that boast relatively itsy-bitsy alcohol contents. 

Spoonerize these words to get a summertime insect.

What are this brand name and kind of bottle?

What is the summertime insect?

Drummer? Strummer? Punk-Band Bummer  Slice:

Joe Strummer? Not the answer!

Name a living musician, in two words, whose main instrument was not designed to be strummed.

The last 40% of this musician’s name is the brand of a hair-care product. 

The first 60% of the name spells an adjective used by this manufacturer and similar product manufacturers to tout the “naturalness” of their their product.

Riffing Off Shortz And Young Entrees:

Tracking Subatomic Subs!

Will Shortz’s January 18th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle Challenge, created by Joseph Young of St. Cloud, Minnesota, reads:

Think of a word that means “very small.” Move
the first syllable to the end, separated by a space, and you’ll get a two-word phrase naming something that is very large. What words are these?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Young Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

Take:

~ the surname of a past “trophy-worthy” wordplay aficionado and author (4 letters), 

~ the surname of a past “winning” European poet and playwright (4 letters), and

~ the first name of a living Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, biographer and author of New York Times bestsellers (3 letters).

Rearrange these 11 letters to spell the name of a puzzle-maker.

Who are these three authors and one puzzle-maker?

(Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are terrific riffs courtesy of our friend Nodd, author of “Nodd ready for prime time” on Puzzleria!)

ENTREE #2

Think of a word describing figurative speech. 

Move two consecutive interior letters to the
end, preceded by a space, to get a two-word phrase describing Piper Laurie’s character in a 1976 film. What words are these?

ENTREE #3

Think of a word for what you might need to do with new software if it does not work correctly at first. 

Move five consecutive letters to the end, preceded by a space, to get a two-word phrase describing what an NBA center might need at a dude ranch. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #4

Think of the last name of a 20th-Century author and religious figure. 

Move three consecutive letters to the end, preceded by a space, to get a two-word phrase describing a famous town in England. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #5

Think of a word for a category of military operations. Move six consecutive letters to the end, preceded by a space, to get a two-word phrase describing Hannibal Lecter. What words are these?

ENTREE #6

Think of a word that means alert. Move five consecutive letters to the end, preceded by a
space, to get a two-word phrase describing action you might need to take to ensure certain pests are not entering your house. What words are these?

ENTREE #7

Think of a word for an improvement or innovation. Move the first syllable to the end, preceded by a space, to get a two-word phrase describing something you might have seen in 2024. What words are these? 

ENTREE # 8

Name a well-known word that appears to consist of a pair of adjacent numerical prefixes, each with the same number of letters. The apparent prefix on the right, however, does not function as a prefix (it’s on the right!) and derives from a Greek word associated with marketing.

What is this well-known word?

ENTREE #9

Think of a numerical prefix, like the “uni-” in “unicycle” or the “kilo-” in “kilowatt.”

Place after this prefix letters that would spell a mathematical constant... if we were to replace
a vowel with the next vowel that follows it in the alphabet (a becomes e, e becomes i, i becomes o, etc.).

This prefix, followed by the mathematical constant, spell a food that has an “awfully offal” reputation, even though it is a nutrient-rich source of protein, B vitamins and minerals.

Move the prefix to the end. The result is a kind of dish – not a dish (like revenge!) best served cold, but one best not served at all!

What are this prefix, mathematical constant and dish? 

ENTREE #10 

Morton, feeling depressed and down in the dumpy doldrums, scheduled an appointment with his psychiatrist, Dr. Psyche Trieste, to discuss a change of scenery, of surroundings, of lifestyle, of perspective, of friends, of habits. 

Dr. Trieste listened carefully and patiently, only infrequently asking her patient to clarify and explain his plight more fully. 

After a half-hour of listening to Morton's morosely meandering monologue, the doc prescribed a radical change of scenery...

“Morton,” she said, “there is no more fitting solution and change-of-scenery that I can recommend to you than Asia!”

Within a month, Morton had been lain to rest. His survivors, alas, are accusing Dr. Trieste of murder, and suing her for, psychological malpractice.

What was her alleged “rhetorical murder weapon?” 

Dessert Menu

Island Nation Dessert:

“We ought to have a motto!”

Remove the first and final letters from the second word in the name of an island nation. “Just slightly rearrange” its remaining letters. Insert a space someplace to get the first two words of an official national motto.

Then fill in the following blanks: “If metal gets
___ it may ____.” Move the last letter of the first word to the beginning of the second word, forming the remaining words of the motto.

What are this island nation and words in the two blanks?

What is the national motto?

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.

Smith & Arden, Cooke & Brubeck; “Atilla the tot? Atilla the hum?” Was our pup Scottie a “Rot-ten-weiler?” “Huffman,” as in “These are Tough, Man!” “Don’t know much trig ‘n’ geometry...” Colossal creature creates currencies

 PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Was our pup Scottie a “Rot-10-weiler?”

“Our ‘fetching’ pet Scottie, his tail all a-wag as he sprawled out across our living-room carpet, recalled how he would retrieve the rubber ball we would toss his way when he was a pup.”

Replace a verb in that sentence with a 10-letter synonym. 

Double that synonym’s third letter. Insert two spaces in two places within the result.

ROT-10 these 11 letters to get: 

~ what Scottie barked, 

~ the synonym of “throw,” and 

~ a preposition... which is followed by “the lawn.”

What are this verb and its 10-letter synonym? What are the ROT-10 rotations that reveal what Scottie barked, the synonym of “throw” and the preposition that precedes “the lawn?”

Appetizer Menu

Unbeatable Conumdrums Appetizer:

“Huffman,” as in “These are Tough, Man!”

(Note: The following trio of posers are the creation of our friend and master puzzle-crafter Mathew Huffman.)

1. Think of a measurement device in five letters. 

Shift each letter seven places later in the alphabet to get an adverb meaning “well placed.”

2. What do the five words, below, have in common? 

Consider these five words: decapitate, petard, attorney, decipher, example.

What do they have in common? Name another word with the same property.

3. Think of a food in seven letters that features a repeating three-letter pattern. 

Change one letter to an E and rearrange to name another food.

MENU

Nomadic Hors d’Oeuvre:

“Attila the tot? Attila the hum?”

Describe a fellow named “Attila” using two proper single-syllable nouns of four and three letters. 

Switch the initial letters of these nouns. The result is a common two-word sports term that has spawned several colorful synonyms (including one beginning with a “t” that is a
slangy synonym of “potato” and another beginning with a “d” that sounds like a synonym of “bell”). 

What are this description of Attila and the two-word synonym?

What are the two colorful synonyms?

“Do me a solid!” Slice:

“Don’t know much trig ‘n’ geometry...”

A two-word piece of gaming equipment, spoken aloud, sounds like two differently shaped geometrical solids. 

What are this piece of gaming equipment and the two solids?

Extra Credit: This same two-word piece of gaming equipment, spoken aloud, sounds like the terse two-word written exam instructions your math prof gives you...  (A portion of your response to those instructions might include the numbers 1, 8 and 729.)

Riffing Off Shortz And Hartenstein Entrees:

Sandler & Arden, Walton & Brubeck

Will Shortz’s January 11th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Ward Hartenstein of Albuquerque, New Mexico), reads:

Think of a well-known couple whose names are often said in the order of _____ & ____. Seven letters in the names in total. Combine those two names, change an E to an S, and rearrange the result to name another famous duo who are widely known as ____ & _____. Who are these couples?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Hartenstein Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

Remove the letters of a common conjunction from the name of a puzzle maker. 

Rearrange the remaining 12 letters to spell the surname of an American author (5 letters), a number (5 letters), and a letter of the alphabet, followed by an “apostrophe” and an “S” to indicate that it is plural. 

Those letters, “traditionally,” are the initial letters in three elementary school subjects (two of them intentionally misspelled!). 

After the author’s death, post-revisionist historians have used three different words (all three that actually do begin with that letter of the alphabet) that, according to them, more accurately describe the author’s evolving views on social issues, particularly after his world travels.

Who is this puzzle maker? What is the conjunction?

What are the surname of the American author, the number, as well as a letter of the alphabet associated with elementary school subjects.

What are the three different words that perhaps more accurately describe this author’s evolving views on social issues?

Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are the brainchildren of riffmeister extraordinaire Nodd, whose “Nodd ready for prime time” is featured regularly on P!

ENTREE #2

Think of a well-known formerly married Hollywood couple often referred to as _____ &
_____.  Seven letters total. 

Rearrange to get the first names of two GOP politicians – a former governor and a current senator. 

Who are the couple and the politicians?

ENTREE #3

Think of a former musical duo known as _____ & _____, seven letters total. 

Rearrange to get the first names of the two title characters, a married couple, in a best-selling 2025 novel. Who are the duo and the two characters?

ENTREE #4

Take the first name of the female member of a former Hollywood couple, five letters. Add a two-letter preposition. Rearrange these seven letters to get the first names of a former musical couple. Who are the female and the couple?

ENTREE #5

A famous actress and a singer were once a celebrity couple. 

Rearrange their first names, 11 letters in all, to get the names of a magician and an uncle from literature. 

Who are these four people?

ENTREE #6

Take the first names of a famous Hollywood married couple, seven letters total. 

Remove one instance of a letter that occurs twice. 

Rearrange the remaining letters to get the last name of another famous actor. Who are these three people?

ENTREE #7

Take the first names of the two main male characters in an animated TV series from the past, ten letters total. 

Change a Y to an E and rearrange to get the
first and last names of a famous American female novelist. 

Who are the characters and the novelist?

ENTREE #8

Take the two first names of a well-known couple from the past. 

Rearrange the combined 11 letters in those two names to spell a two-word description of
osteoporosis.

What are the names of the two people in this couple?

What is two-word description?

ENTREE #9

Take an adjective that describes anything that serves no practical purpose. 

It is an adjective that appears four times in a novel by James Joyce with a title that – if you replace a vowel with a different vowel – is an
anagram of that adjective. 

Joyce uses the adjective in this novel to describe money, words, pain, and the hero’s journey, highlighting themes of futility and the mundane struggles of modern life. 

What are this adjective and novel title?

ENTREE #10

Anagram the 14 combined letters in the surnames of the members of a singing duo to spell a rite and something that often causes it. 

What are these surnames?

What are the rite and what causes it?

Hint: What causes the rite is often a bad habit.

Dessert Menu

French Riviera Dessert:

Colossal creature creates currencies  

Rearrange the eight letters of a colossal creature to spell a Mediterranean-area currency and a former French currency. 

What are this creature and currencies?

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.