Friday, March 4, 2016

Eggheads and Hat Boys… Chill out! Whole-grain low-carb breadbasket; “A beautiful bunch o’ ripe banana”; Princess Leia on the runway? Congress, rooted in crime? Calculinarius

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER e5 + pi3 SERVED

Welcome to our March 4th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! Let us all march forth like lions a-roar and devour slices of puzzle galore.

You are in for a real treat this week, and a first for Puzzleria! – a cryptic crossword. It is a delightfully challenging puzzle created by our friend patjberry, who has great expertise and experience in both solving and concocting these wonderful verbal conundrums. Thank you, Patrick, for sharing this masterpiece of puzzletry with us.

We also offer this week a morsel, two appetizers, a dessert and a ROSS (Ripping Off Shortz Slice). Patrick’s cryptic crossword puzzle appears under the main MENU. We placed the ACROSS clues above the grid and the DOWN clues below the grid so as to minimize scrolling up and down. Those of you with printers can perhaps “print screen” to obtain a hard copy of the puzzle.

Three links with instructions for deciphering cryptic crossword clues have been placed above the ACROSS clues.
Also above the ACROSS clues, as well as just below this week’s final puzzle (“Vacation Destination Dessert”), we have printed instructions, prepared by patjberry himself, that provide some nice examples of cluing.

Enjoy the encryption. Delight in the decryption!

Morsel Menu
 
Welcoming Word Whereabouts Morsel:
Princess Leia on the runway?

1. Supermodel’s surname
2. What the supermodel may model, an auto part, or a movement during the snap count
3. A setting in an early “Star Wars” movie (two words)
4. Fresca alternative
5. Welcoming word
6. Pentagonal plate

Solve the six clues above. Where can all six answers be found?  

Appetizer Menu

Idiot Box Appetizer:
Congress, rooted in crime?

Name a crime drama television series from the past. Remove the final letter from each of the two words in the title, along with any punctuation. At the beginning of the truncated second word place a duplicate of the middle letter of the truncated first word.

Place quotation marks around the truncated first word. The result is the name of a member of Congress.

Who is this member of Congress? What is the television series?

Hint: The final letters of the two words in the television series title are the same letter. 

Abs Ad Appetizer:
Whole-grain low-carb breadbasket

Each illustration shown here is an AD FOR TUMMY PRUNER. Rearrange the 16 letters in those four words to form three words that appeared in a recent national news story, two of them surnames plus one common noun.

What are these three words?
 
MENU

Cryptic Crossword Slice:
Eggheads and Hat Boys… Chill out!

Aids to deciphering cryptic crossword clues:

patjberry’s cryptic clue mini-tutorial (Part 1):
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 a multiple-word answers.
For example, (9) indicates a nine-letter answer like
“ampersand,” (4,5) indicates a four-and-five-letter answer like
“iron oxide,” and (4-5) indicates a four-and-five-letter hyphenated
answer like “four-wheel.”

ACROSS
1. Beginning to worry about something initially thrown in trash, lost? (5,5)
6. Smell to suffice in operating room? (4)
9. Music from movie grabbing primary audience with statement… (10)
10. …not that it has to be part of ancient history (4)
12. Singer to drive around – vision going bad, ultimately (6,6)
15. Sinister, nothing less without love (7)
16. Ex-chairman about having fit with Independent paper folding (7)
17. “I Surrender Dear” half hard to understand? (7)
19. Said to make one smile, getting popular for Eastern language (7)
20. Singer left a bar drunk, surrounded by music (7,5)
23. Having climbed a small tree (4)
24. Way target is blown up, according to military planner (10)
25. Nobleman not one to go outside Britain (4)
26. OK Go (10)



DOWN
1. Said “Just go!” (4)
2. Every time a child has the answer (4)
3. Conversation getting a little ribald – in the excitement, child has to listen in (5-2-5)
4. Criminals holding girl in 10? (7)
5. Artwork to exist in past coming up? (7)
7. The dry dead sort in need of water (10)
8. Others came down and checked (10)
11. Singer just started on time – chill out! (4,8)
13. Certain to take responsibility with final answer in part of game show (5,5)
14. Very dark pervert’s foremost desire having returned – to pinch girl’s bottom (5-5)
18. Agent showing lot, perhaps, in back? (7)
19. University egghead to answer: “It’s an art form” (7)
21. Call some number in Germany? (4)
22. Hat boy lost? Let it be (4)

Ripping Off Shortz Slice:

This week’s NPR Sunday puzzle from Will Shortz reads:
What two 8-letter terms in math are anagrams of each other? One word is from geometry, the other is from calculus. What words are they?

Our “rip-off/riff-off/“piggyback” puzzle reads:

Calculinarius

Mathematics is all about food. You’ve got your pi; your “A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream; your ice cream cone; your golden sections (of an orange); and your Sandwich Theorem. A 10-letter term in math anagrams to three foods you would see: on a breakfast menu, on a delicatessen menu, and on a menu in a Spanish Galician restaurant.
What is this math term? What are the three foods?

Hint: Those who do many online searches are apt to misspell this math term.

Dessert Menu

Vacation Destination Dessert:

A cove, huts, bananas...” might be part of an advertisement promoting a vacation destination. Rearrange the 16 letters in those four words to form three words that appeared in an international entertainment news story this past week. All three words are proper nouns. One or two of them name a vacation destination... like the one advertised as having a cove, huts, bananas.

What are these three words?

patjberry’s cryptic clue mini-tutorial (Part 2):
The structure of a common cryptic crossword clue (which is based on the “Ximenean Principles”), contains:
1. A precise definition
2. Wordplay
3. Nothing else
The definition can appear at the beginning or end of the clue. Everything else in the clue is wordplay to help the solver find the answer.
There are a few exceptions:
Double-definition clues: For example, the clue “dog food” yields “chow” because “chow” is both a breed of dog and a slang term for food.
“Pure Cryptic clues”: For example, the answer to the clue “He went in his sleep” might be “bedwetter.”
The term “&lit” describes rare occurrences when the literal definition and the wordplay are one and the same: For example, the answer to the clue “Could be quite a mess around year’s end” would be “Times Square.” Why? First, rearranging the letters in QUITE A MESS and wrapping them around an R (the “end” of year) yields TIMES SQUARE. Second, Times Square is literally “quite a mess” at the end of the year.
Also, an answer may be hidden in the clue spelled backward. Be alert to words like “back,” “turn” or “reverse” in the clue.
Note: Sometimes the answer may be “hiding in plain sight” within the clue. For example, the clue “Composer into Bach and Elgar” yields “Handel” (bacH AND ELgar) as an answer. Words such as “some,” “inside,” or “a little,” may suggest the answer is hidden within the clue.
“About” is an all-purpose “wild card” word that can mean almost anything: an anagram clue; one word wrapped “about” another; reversing the word’s spelling; representing the short word “re,” or C which stands for the Latin term Circa (about).
Some popular anagram clue words are “crazy,” “mixed,” “dancing,” “drunk,” “off,” “out,” “police,” “pervert,” “doctor,” “organization” and “reorganization.”    
“Wordplay” includes anagrams, double-definitions, charades or
rebuses, homophones (sound-alikes), containers, reversals,
initials or final letters… or any combination of these.
Homographs like “live” – which when pronounced with a long-I means “as it is happening,” and with a short-I means “to exist, or be” – can also be used in a clue. For another example, the answer to the clue “Refuse to put up with it” is TRASH CAN.
Also, be on the lookout for abbreviations! “ST” may appear in the answer if words like “street” or, more likely, “way” are in the clue. “RD” is suggested by “road.” “Indiana” or “inch” might indicate “IN,” but “home” or “at home” may also indicate “IN.” Other short words like “go” may indicate travel, but also may mean to “go” to the bathroom (in which case the word “pee” may be included in the answer).
The creator of the cryptic crossword is called the “setter” or “compiler.” So, if you see “setter/compiler” or “setter’s/compiler’s” in a clue, translate the second person into the first person, and think “I” or “my.”

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 Tuesdays 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.

59 comments:

  1. Looks like fun on this most assertive day of the year when we March fo(u)rth into the world of cryptic crosswords. With all that setting going on, these might be the volleyball of crosswords! ;-) Happy Friday, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I may have to apologize for the "mini-tutorial" being a bit wordy. It was sort of an "eleventh hour" thing. I wasn't sure how much to include or leave out. Hopefully if any of you have had prior experience with cryptic crosswords, you can make heads or tails out of the tutorial, and enjoy the puzzle, of course. While I can't say this early if it will be a semiregular feature, I will say there are more where this one came from. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. BTW I don't think it's interactive. We may have that taken care of down the road. You'll probably have no choice but to make your own copy and solve on it. Happy solving!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Will need a hint with the crime drama, and the "pentagonal plate". Otherwise, that's all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hints:

      WWWM:
      The pentagonal plate is not contained inside a box… but it is flanked by boxes.

      IBA (Hank?)
      A movie was made of the TV crime drama series. The surname of a character in the TV version is the middle name of the brother (who is also an actor) of the actor who played the character in the movie.

      LegoSaysForsooth!BewareErrantSpellingAsYouFillInpatjberry’sCrypticCrosswordGrid

      Delete
  5. Good evening, Folks! I hope everyone is well.

    Thus far, I've made sense of both Appetizers, and the Dessert, with an answer,as well, for the Ripping Off Shortz Slice, however, my third word (the Spanish one) seems to be missing a letter that it ought to have, so perhaps I did NOT come up with the correct math term? I just love my answer, though, so am reluctant to change it!

    However, I'm vastly stuck on the Morsel, and there will be NO hope on PJB's cryptic crossword (having never done any of those, it seems way WAY too complicated.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ViolinTeddy,
      You have solved the ROSS. In a search engine, type “do you know how to say (the English word for food on the Spanish menu) in Galician” and you will find the four-letter spelling, not the five-letter spelling. Congrats. I like the math word also, now oft misspelled by search-engineers!

      For the morsel, do you have any of the six clues solved? I think “Fresca alternative” is a kind of gimme.

      LegoNotesThatRubioIsNotTheOnlyMarco

      Delete
    2. Well, for heaven's sakes, LegoMarco, you could knock me over with a feather (re the fact that the word is correctly spelled after all, and thus my math term is correct. Amazing!)

      As for the six Morsel answers, I sorta kinda thought I had #6 (but perhaps not), and I searched out four possible surnames for models that I THOUGHT might be plausible, given that one has to choose where all six are located. I also picked out A scene from Star Wars (which always seems to be popular), but naturally, I have no idea if ANY of these guesses is what you have in mind.

      So far, no idea on the Fresca thing, though, nor the autopart/snap count movement...Nothing would come together, thus my stuckedness (to borrow our term from last week.)

      Thanks for the encouragement!

      Delete
    3. WWWM hints:

      Supermodel’s surname (She broke Brinkley’s streak in 1982.)
      What the supermodel may model, an auto part, or a movement during the snap count (You handle the auto part; the movement during the snap count might be illegal and therefore penalizable.)
      A setting in an early “Star Wars” movie (two words) (within a “pirate city”)
      Fresca alternative (not Diet Pepsi)
      Welcoming word (John Daly sometimes used it.)
      Pentagonal plate (You don’t eat off it, you don’t hang it on the wall, but you do sometimes have to sweep it off.)

      LegoNeitherSalariedNorDealingInAProduct

      Delete
    4. As per usual, LegoOfTheUsefulHints, your entry above has helped me to ascertain the supermodel via Googling (the four I'd written down were all incorrect); and just now the light came on (while researching snaps in football) as to the word that meets all three requirements for being worn by a supermodel, an auto part and an illegal move...HURRAH).

      Plus I THINK I already had come up with the correct Star Wars scene (at least, researching seems to reveal that your hint and it coincide).

      I am sure I already had the correct #6. That leaves Fresca and John Daly's word as still unknowns, and although I have guesses thereto, I am completely unable to put all six of these words into some place or other where one would find them all.

      That is, whatever the 'connection' might be, I'm still clueless. [However, I DO now see a connection between #1 and #2.] Perhaps that should be a hint to myself?

      Delete
    5. Bingo, I just figured out the substitute for Fresca, so now I know I'm on the right track as to the 'location' for all six words. I just haven't figured out yet another STar Wars setting or the welcoming word to go along with this category.

      Delete
    6. BINGO, I just figured out the last two words. [I had had the specific NAME of the Star Wars setting, rather than the general term which I have now figured out by hunting around; and at last the light dawned re the John Daly word, by looking at a picture. I'll explain on Tuesday why this puzzle was harder for me than for probably most others.

      Delete
  6. I actually forgot about the math term puzzle. Haven't got it yet. VT, read the cryptic clues very carefully. If you know anything about wordplay, you'll get a few answers. Trust me. Get enough answers across or down, and it will surely help you with the other answers going the opposite way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pjb,

      ROSS hint:
      “What 10-letter term in math anagrams to three foods you would see: on a breakfast menu, on a delicatessen menu, and on a menu in a Spanish Galician restaurant?”

      The breakfast menu and delicatessen menu foods are 3 letters each. The breakfast menu food appears in a compound word in another of this week’s puzzles. The delicatessen menu food is a homophone of thing you can see in Panama or on someone’s head. The food on a menu in a Spanish Galician restaurant is also a kind of shirt.

      LegoWhoIsUsedToEatingHisShirt!

      Delete
  7. I'm about 11/28 of the way through the cryptic crossword and have been shouting "Bravo!" at every turn. Really excellent, pjb; looking forward to the next one (just give me another day or two to finish this one).

    I'm quite satisfied with my answers for the dessert and morsel, which is highly irregular. As for the appetizers --
    "Horse hockey!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul,
      Don't you mean, "As for the ROSS -- 'Horse hockey!'"?

      LegoSawASeaHorseDitchItsSchoolOfFisfAndPlaySeaHorseHooky!

      Delete
    2. Right you are, lego; my mistake. HH applies mainly to ROSS ... but also to one of the appetizers. I can't figure out a hint for the other appetizer.

      Delete
  8. Glad you liked it, Paul. Too bad I'm stumped by the math term. I have the right words(I think), but I can't figure out or find the anagram anywhere. Lego, could you possibly give me the first letter, maybe the first two?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pjb,
      The first two letters in the math term are a word in a very short cryptic crossword clue I've lately encountered.

      LegoAClueThatAnagramsIntoAnAbhorrentOffensiveTermForAForeigner

      Delete
  9. As I checked just now, I noticed you made a typo in one of my clues. It should read "blown up", not BROWN up. Little freebie for any solvers who may be puzzled(pardon the pun)by that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had wondered about that, but managed to get the essence of the clue, anyway.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, patjberry, Paul and other cryptic crossword-solving Puzzlerians! It's corrected. Thanks for the heads-up, pjb.

      LegoUndoRedoVetoLocoLogoTypo,ErgoDodoBozoIntoVino!(AndThe"L"IsNotEvenCloseTo"R"OnTheKeyboard!)Ciao

      Delete
    3. Interestingly (perhaps), though, "L" is usually typed with the right hand and "R" is usually typed with the left hand.

      Delete
    4. Paul,
      Unless, of course, like I do, one types on an upside-down keyboard... where the L (typed with the Left hand) looks like a 7 and the R (typed with the Right hand) looks like a Playboy rabbit-head logo.

      LegoLambdaSheepishLogo

      Delete
  10. BTW I got the crime drama puzzle! Came to me late last night!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Here's an interesting side thought, Paul: Most British setters use one-word pseudonyms, and in fact, one at the Guardian calls himself "Paul".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure, patjberry, it makes sense that British setters are named Paul... and John, George and Ringo. But what are Irish setters named?

      LegoWhoseFavoriteIrishSetterNameIs:"TrifoilCloverOrCubicZirconiaBecomeMangledRamInShock"(CrypticCrosswordClue)

      Delete
  12. Right now I'm not offering any clues, but rather some ASCII art which some might find useful, especially if there are any others like me who like to select all your weekly Puzzle-ria! offerings, copy and paste them into their text editor. When *I* do this, some things don't quite make it through. The following text might've been found useful last week:

    Uh, legolambda, could you perhaps set font to either Courier New or Consolas? (The two things above would look much better!

    ╔══════╦══════╦══════╦══════╦══════╦══════╗
    ║ . .. ║ .A . ║ .B . ║ .C . ║ .D . ║ . .. ║
    ║ .. . ║ .. 1 ║ .. 3 ║ .. 3 ║ .. 2 ║ .. . ║
    ╠══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╣
    ║ .E . ║ .F . ║ G . ║ .H . ║ .I . ║ .J . ║
    ║ .. 1 ║ .. 4 ║ .. 2 ║ .. 4 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 8 ║
    ╠══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╣
    ║ .K . ║ .L . ║ .M . ║ .N . ║ .O . ║ .P . ║
    ║ .. 5 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 3 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 3 ║
    ╠══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╣
    ║ .Q . ║ .R . ║ .S . ║ .T . ║ .U . ║ .V . ║
    ║ . 10 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 1 ║ .. 4 ║
    ╠══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╬══════╣
    ║ . .. ║ .W . ║ .X . ║ .Y . ║ .Z . ║ . .. ║
    ║ .. . ║ .. 4 ║ .. 8 ║ .. 4 ║ . 10 ║ .. . ║
    ╚══════╩══════╩══════╩══════╩══════╩══════╝

    (Please excuse me for all the dots (.) Even if legolambda changes this week's font, the system still truncates multiple spaces to a single space.)

    And *this* might be found useful this week:

    ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
    │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. │ .. │ .. │ .. │ .. │ .. │ .. │ .. │ .. │ .. │
    └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's just a test to see if one of the grid lines might not overflow the line if not for the initial tab:

      ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐

      Delete
    2. Thank you, legolambda.

      I see that on my scrabble board, I forgot to put a dot before the G.

      Delete
  13. Sorry, I'd better to that last test NOT as a REPLY!

    ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan,

      Thanks for the griddery. Around midnight Central Time I tried tweaking the font and font-size in Blogger. Consolas seemed not to work well, but Courier (which is the font at present) seemed to show the grids better. My default font is Ariel. There is no "Courier New" option in Blogger.

      Of course, what I would reaaaaly like to be able to do in Blogger is to make crossword puzzles interactive, so Puzzlerians! would not have to print or copy them. But, as far as I can tell, Blogger does not allow me that option.

      I am admittedly a Luddite when it comes to the mechanics and possibilities of blog layout. I really do appreciate your graphic posts (including the remarkable humongous magic number squares you have posted here in the past). I am not sufficiently tech-savvy to fully appreciate your efforts on Puzzleria!'s behalf. But I certainly do thank you!

      LegoLudditeLad

      Delete
    2. legolambda,

      Thank YOU for setting the font back to Courier! I see that while this is so, ALL PAST BLOGS are this way as well, so those curious about those magic square posts I made can see them again at this 1st link and this 2nd link.

      Delete
    3. Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan,

      Thanks greatly for providing those links. They are well-worth clicking on. Those number squares are truly magical... on a grand scale.

      LegoYourCourierServant

      Delete
  14. And here's an order 9 magic square:


    . ╔═══╤═══╤═══╦═══╤═══╤═══╦═══╤═══╤═══╗
    . ║ 73│ 32│ 18║ 10│ 77│ 36║ 28│ 14│ 81║
    . ╟───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╢
    . ║ 42│ 25│ 56║ 60│ 43│ 20║ 24│ 61│ 38║
    . ╟───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╢
    . ║ 8 │ 66│ 49║ 53│ 3 │ 67║ 71│ 48│ 4 ║
    . ╠═══╪═══╪═══╬═══╪═══╪═══╬═══╪═══╪═══╣
    . ║ 80│ 30│ 13║ 17│ 75│ 31║ 35│ 12│ 76║
    . ╟───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╢
    . ║ 37│ 23│ 63║ 55│ 41│ 27║ 19│ 59│ 45║
    . ╟───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╢
    . ║ 6 │ 70│ 47║ 51│ 7 │ 65║ 69│ 52│ 2 ║
    . ╠═══╪═══╪═══╬═══╪═══╪═══╬═══╪═══╪═══╣
    . ║ 78│ 34│ 11║ 15│ 79│ 29║ 33│ 16│ 74║
    . ╟───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╢
    . ║ 44│ 21│ 58║ 62│ 39│ 22║ 26│ 57│ 40║
    . ╟───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╫───┼───┼───╢
    . ║ 1 │ 68│ 54║ 46│ 5 │ 72║ 64│ 50│ 9 ║
    . ╚═══╧═══╧═══╩═══╧═══╧═══╩═══╧═══╧═══╝

    1. All rows and columns add to 369 stopping 1/3 of the way at
    . 123 and 2/3 of the way at 246.

    2. Main diagonals and broken diagonals add to 369 and if a
    . pandiagonal's cells are colored with a
    . rotating palette of 3 colors, then the 3 cells of any
    . particular color add to 123.

    3. As a consequence of the first two properties, any 3x3
    . subsquare within the main square, not just the properly
    . divided subsquares, have their 9 cells adding to 369.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Attention: Those who may be finding patjberry’s cryptic crossword somewhat daunting and forbidding:

    I don’t want you to miss out on the fun of solving even part of pjb’s puzzle. I hope this is okay with Patrick, but below I will “walk you through” how to solve the clue for 1. ACROSS:
    So, here is a little help with the first clue, 1. ACROSS:
    “1. Beginning to worry about something initially thrown in trash, lost? (5,5)”

    “Beginning” is the definition of the two-word phase (5,5).
    Find a four-letter synonym for “worry.”
    “Wrap” that synonym “about,” or around, “something initially” (the initial letter of “something” = S) that is thrown into the “trash” (which is “lost” -- “lost” in the sense of being all scrambled up). That is to say, “throw” the “S” inside the scrambled-up letters of trash. That result, surrounded by your synonym for fret, will yield the two-word solution to 1. ACROSS.

    Sorry that explanation itself may seem daunting. It’s not easy, for me anyway, to explain how these cryptic clues work. Perhaps patjberry can do a better job of it.

    LegoWantingAsManyAsPossibleToEnjoyTheCrypticCrosswordFun

    ReplyDelete
  16. Indeed, thank you Lego for helping anyone get started with my puzzle. I suspect after the fact the tutorial may have been a bit much to try to apply in solving. For first-timers, it may become necessary to consult a dictionary or thesaurus should it seem too confusing. Rest assured on Tuesday I will explain each answer, how they're parsed out, that sort of thing. I wasn't exactly sure how well or badly my puzzle would be received. My only intention was to introduce something I'm into that we all could have fun with, maybe learn how various types of wordplay work. I am grateful to Lego for giving me this chance to bring one of my favorite kinds of puzzles to this puzzle site. I also think it's important to show that some of us do have unusual tastes when it comes to puzzles and wordplay. I mean, who'd ever thought a guy from the state of Alabama of all places would have any experience with a puzzle that's more out of left field than regular crosswords you could see every day in your local newspaper? I dare to be different, that's all. It's not the only thing I ever got out of a college education, but it was certainly a highlight of it. If I could be one of those British compilers with the one-word pseudonyms, I would. I almost think "Punjab" would be a good one for me. It has the "PJB" right there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Punjab from Alabama,

      Thank you pUNjAb for sharing your artistry. I shall work on seeing if there is any way to achieve interactivity. If any "tech types" out there are aware of where I could go to learn how to make crossword puzzles interactive on my blog, please let me know. Thanks.

      LegoHaymakerRoundhouseLeftJabPunJab

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Here are my answers (Rot13'd) to Punjab's puzzle, in the order in which I entered them in the grid:

    BQBE, QRULQENGRQ, GUVF, OBAHFEBHAQ, QHXR, URNEGGBURNEG, BZVABHF, BEVTNZV, ERFGENVARQ, FGRIVRJBAQRE, PUVARFR, PBYYNTR, FGENGRTVFG, SERFUFGNEG, ERYVRIB, GUVRIRF, EBPXNOVYYL, RNPU, SNER, EBOREGNSYNPX, WBAVZVGPURYY, CVGPUOYNPX, HAPYRNE, ERNYGBE, TERRAYVTUG, FGRG, EVAT, HCNF

    ReplyDelete
  19. Home plate is an irregular pentagon.
    If you look up 'horse hockey' you probably won't find 'polo' (I didn't), but I think it's a perfect definition. You probably will find HH efined as something akin to FRAUD -- I believe Col. Potter of the 4077th M*A*S*H used to say 'horse pucky.
    I found all of these puzzles very satisfying. I can't speak for Mick.

    I don't know how I messed up the
    www.rot13.com
    link.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I forgot:
      Charlie's Angels figured out crimes while displaying their figures.

      Delete
    2. Paul,
      So did Frank Cannon. But Bill Gannon? ...Not so much.

      Yes! "Horse-hockey" is the definitive definition of "polo." And I am not too chicken-s**t to admit it. Good call, Paul.

      LegoWhoGuessesPaul'sCallWas...Icing(OnTheCake)

      Delete
  20. ROSS:

    GEOPLEXING>>>EGG, LOX (LOCKS), PINE (NUTS) (T-shirts). Not the intended answer? I didn't think so...

    ReplyDelete
  21. MORSEL: 1. ALT 2. SHIFT 3. SPACE BAR 4. TAB 5. ENTER 6. HOME; Location: on a PC KEYBOARD

    APPETIZERS:

    Idiot Box: "CHARLIE RANGEL"; CHARLIE'S ANGELS

    Abs Ad: TRUMP, ROMNEY, FRAUD


    RIPPING OFF SHORTZ SLICE:

    Calculinarius: GOOGOLPLEX; EGG, LOX and POLO

    DESSERT: STONES, HAVANA, CUBA

    ReplyDelete
  22. And the reason that the Morsel was harder for me than possibly for others (as I promised to explain) is that I have a MAC keyboard...it doesn't contain an "ALT" key, and I'm not even sure if it has a 'home' key either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry 'bout that, ViolinTeddy. Comparing Mac keyboards to PC keyboards, I guess, is a bit like comparing Apples to oranges.

      LegoHoldsTheKeysToTheGatesThatOpenToPuzzlesThatAreNothingMoreThanSnowJobs

      Delete
  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I wondered why TACO didn't work with EGG and LOX! I tried POLO but I couldn't really find it as a type of food. POLLO, yes, but not POLO!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Patrick, that is exactly why Lego had replied (days ago above), when I had said my solution's Spanish word seemed to be missing a letter, that I should look up the GALICIAN spelling thereof, and sure enough, it had only ONE "L"....much to my surprise!

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the "polo" link, ron. BTW, I believe "geoplexing" (egg, lox, pine) is a fine alternative answer.

      LegoWhoIsNaughtButAParrotPiningForTheFjords

      Delete
  25. ALT, SHIFT, SPACE BAR, TAB, ENTER, HOME
    All can be found on a computer keyboard.
    CHARLIE'S ANGELS, "CHARLIE" RANGEL
    TRUMP, ROMNEY, FRAUD
    (Rolling)STONES, HAVANA, CUBA
    Cryptic Crossword Answers:
    ACROSS
    1. FRESH START(FRET about S+TRASH anag.)
    6. ODOR(DO in O. R.(disregard periods)
    9. ROCKABILLY(ROCKY "grabbing" A+BILL)
    10. THIS(hidden in ancienT HIStory)
    12. STEVIE WONDER(STEER around VIEW+ON+D)
    15. OMINOUS(O+MINUS without or containing O)
    16. ORIGAMI(MAO reversed having RIG then add I)
    17. UNCLEAR(UNCLE+AR, half of DEAR)
    19. CHINESE(CHEESE with E replaced by IN)
    20. ROBERTA FLACK(LEFTABAR anag. surrounded by ROCK)
    23. UPAS(UP+A+S)
    24. STRATEGIST(ST, no period,+TARGETIS anag.)
    25. DUKE(DIE losing I to go outside U.K., no periods)
    26. GREENLIGHT(Double definition; GREENLIGHT can mean to OK, as a movie to be made, and a green light means GO.)
    DOWN
    1. FARE(sounds like FAIR)
    2. EACH(hidden in timE A CHild)
    3. HEART-TO-HEART(R in HEAT+TOT with HEAR inside)
    4. THIEVES(EVE "held" by THIS, which is 10 Across)
    5. RELIEVO(LIE in OVER reversed)
    7. DEHYDRATED(THEDRYDEAD anag.)
    8. RESTRAINED(REST+RAINED)
    11. JONI MITCHELL(J+ON+TIMECHILL anag.)
    13. BONUS ROUND(BOUND to "take" ONUS+R)
    14. PITCH BLACK(P+ITCH+BACK "pinching" L)
    18. REALTOR(LOT anag. in REAR)
    19. COLLAGE(COLLEGE with E changed to A)
    21. RING(hidden in numbeR IN Germany)
    22. STET(STETSON with SON removed)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, pjb (Punjab), for the explanations.

      LegoApplaudsCleverness&Intricacy

      Delete
  26. This week’s official answers for the record, Part 1:
    Morsel Menu

    Welcoming Word Whereabouts Morsel:
    Princess Leia on the runway?
    1. Supermodel’s surname Carol Alt
    2. What the supermodel may model, an auto part, or a movement during the snap count; shift
    3. A setting in an early “Star Wars” movie (two words) space bar
    4. Fresca alternative Tab
    5. Welcoming word Enter
    6. Pentagonal plate Home
    Solve the six clues above. Where can all six answers be found?

    Answer: Clue answers can be found in bold, above. Alt, shift, space bar, tab, enter and home are all keys on a computer keyboard.

    Appetizer Menu

    Idiot Box Appetizer:
    Congress, rooted in crime?
    Name a crime drama television series from the past. Remove the final letter from each of the two words in the title, along with any punctuation. At the beginning of the truncated second word place a duplicate of the middle letter of the truncated first word.
    Place quotation marks around the truncated first word. The result is the name of a member of Congress.
    Who is this member of Congress? What is the television series?
    Hint: The final letters of the two words in the television series title are the same letter.

    Answer: (Charles) “Charlie” Rangel; Charlie’s Angels
    Charlie’s Angels >> Charlie Angel >> “Charlie” Rangel

    Abs Ad Appetizer:
    Whole-grain low-carb breadbasket
    Each illustration shown here is an AD FOR TUMMY PRUNER. Rearrange the 16 letters in those four words to form three words that appeared in a recent national news story, two of them surnames plus one common noun.
    What are these three words?

    Answer: Romney; Trump; Fraud


    Lego…

    ReplyDelete
  27. This week’s official answers for the record, Part 2:

    MENU

    Cryptic Crossword Slice:
    Eggheads and Hat Boys… Chill out!
    (I have also posted a grid filled-in with the correct answers below the DOWN clues in pjb’s puzzle.)
    ACROSS
    1. Beginning to worry about something initially thrown in trash, lost? (5,5) FRESH START
    6. Smell to suffice in operating room? (4) ODOR
    9. Music from movie grabbing primary audience with statement… (10) ROCKABILLY
    10. …not that it has to be part of ancient history (4) THIS
    12. Singer to drive around – vision going bad, ultimately (6,6) STEVIE WONDER
    15. Sinister, nothing less without love (7) OMINOUS
    16. Ex-chairman about having fit with Independent paper folding (7) ORIGAMI
    17. “I Surrender Dear” half hard to understand? (7) UNCLEAR
    19. Said to make one smile, getting popular for Eastern language (7) CHINESE
    20. Singer left a bar drunk, surrounded by music (7,5) ROBERTA FLACK
    23. Having climbed a small tree (4) UPAS
    24. Way target is brown up, according to military planner (10) STRATEGIST
    25. Nobleman not one to go outside Britain (4) DUKE
    26. OK Go (10) GREENLIGHT



    DOWN
    1. Said “Just go!” (4) FARE
    2. Every time a child has the answer (4) EACH
    3. Conversation getting a little ribald – in the excitement, child has to listen in (5-2-5) HEART-TO-HEART
    4. Criminals holding girl in 10? (7) THIEVES
    5. Artwork to exist in past coming up? (7) RELIEVO
    7. The dry dead sort in need of water (10) DEHYDRATED
    8. Others came down and checked (10) RESTRAINED
    11. Singer just started on time – chill out! (4,8) JONI MITCHELL
    13. Certain to take responsibility with final answer in part of game show (5,5) BONUS ROUND
    14. Very dark pervert’s foremost desire having returned – to pinch girl’s bottom (5-5) PITCH-BLACK
    18. Agent showing lot, perhaps, in back? (7) REALTOR
    19. University egghead to answer: “It’s an art form” (7) COLLAGE
    21. Call some number in Germany? (4) RING
    22. Hat boy lost? Let it be (4) STET


    Ripping Off Shortz Slice:
    Calculinarius

    Mathematics is all about food. You’ve got your pi; your “A Rat In The HouseMay Eat The Ice Cream; your ice cream cone; your golden sections (of an orange); and your Sandwich Theorem. A 10-letter term in math anagrams to three foods you would see: on a breakfast menu, on a delicatessen menu, and on a menu in a Spanish Galician restaurant.
    What is this math term? What are the three foods?
    Hint: Those who do many online searches are apt to misspell this math term.

    Answer: googolplex; egg, lox, polo (which is the word for “chicken” in the Galician language)
    Hint: Those who use the Google search engine are apt to spell “googolplex” as “googleplex” (sic).

    Dessert Menu

    Vacation Destination Dessert:
    “A beautiful bunch o’ ripe banana”
    “A cove, huts, bananas...” might be part of an advertisement promoting a vacation destination. Rearrange the 16 letters in those four words to form three words that appeared in an international entertainment news story this past week. All three words are proper nouns. One or two of them name a vacation destination... like the one advertised as having “a cove, huts, bananas.”
    What are these three words?

    Answer: Havana, Cuba; (Rolling) Stones

    Lego…

    ReplyDelete
  28. For those who would like to keep the answer to this week's Cryptic Crossword Slice in a text file:

    ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
    │1 F │ .R │2 E │ .S │3 H │ .S │4 T │ .A │5 R │ .T │████│6 O │7 D │ .O │8 R │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │ .A │████│ .A │████│ .E │████│ .H │████│ .E │████│████│████│ .E │████│ .E │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │9 R │ .O │ .C │ .K │ .A │ .B │ .I │ .L │ .L │ .Y │████│10T │ .H │ .I │ .S │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │ .E │████│ .H │████│ .R │████│ .E │████│ .I │████│11J │████│ .Y │████│ .T │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │████│████│████│12S │ .T │ .E │ .V │ .I │ .E │ .W │ .O │ .N │ .D │ .E │ .R │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │13B │████│14P │████│ .T │████│ .E │████│ .V │████│ .N │████│ .R │████│ .A │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │15O │ .M │ .I │ .N │ .O │ .U │ .S │████│16O │ .R │ .I │ .G │ .A │ .M │ .I │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │ .N │████│ .T │████│ .H │████│████│████│████│████│ .M │████│ .T │████│ .N │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │17U │ .N │ .C │ .L │ .E │ .A │18R │████│19C │ .H │ .I │ .N │ .E │ .S │ .E │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │ .S │████│ .H │████│ .A │████│ .E │████│ .O │████│ .T │████│ .D │████│ .D │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │20R │ .O │ .B │ .E │ .R │ .T │ .A │ .F │ .L │ .A │ .C │ .K │████│████│████│
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │ .O │████│ .L │████│ .T │████│ .L │████│ .L │████│ .H │████│21R │████│22S │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │23U │ .P │ .A │ .S │████│24S │ .T │ .R │ .A │ .T │ .E │ .G │ .I │ .S │ .T │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │ .N │████│ .C │████│████│████│ .O │████│ .G │████│ .L │████│ .N │████│ .E │
    ├────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
    │25D │ .U │ .K │ .E │████│26G │ .R │ .E │ .E │ .N │ .L │ .I │ .G │ .H │ .T │
    └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan. Looks good.

      LegoGridGrateful

      Delete