Theme: Happy Birthday, Jarhead! - A birthday tribute puzzle to our Marine Dennis.
19A. Classic movie about US Marines : SANDS OF IWO JIMA. John Wayne film. Dennis probably likes Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" better. But it has too many letters.
36A. US Marine Corps motto : SEMPER FIDELIS. The motto is on his car license plate.
55A. Start of a slogan for US Marines : THE FEW, THE PROUD. The Marines, who never leave their buddies behind.
I initially had five theme entries, but had a hard time coming up with a clean and workable grid, not to mention sprinkling in a few must-have Dennis related entries: DENNIS (of course), MOREL (of course), AARON (his favorite baseball player) & BEAR (his nickname).
At Don "Hard G" Gagliardo's advice, I got less ambitious and went with three solid theme answers. Was able to pepper in as many Dennis references as I could. Still missed out fitting in his lovely wife Linda.
Across:
1. Dict. entries : WDS (Words). Abbreviation start is never good. But I had to add a black square in the corner because I really wanted WHO AM I paralleling DENNIS.
4. Happy as ___ : A CLAM. He certainly is. So is Lucia.
9. G.I. chow : MRES. Yeah, another Marine reference.
13. The old you : THEE
14. Coeur d'___, Idaho : ALENE
15. Move, in Realtor lingo : RELO
16. Top-notch : A-ONE
17. Make a midi a mini : REHEM. Don't you want a pair of legs like these?
18. Rare blood type, for short : B NEG. Dennis' is AB Positive, rare too.
22. U.K. record label : EMI
23. Blown-up letters? : TNT
24. Infuriated : RAGING
26. It takes you to a new level : RISER. Well, Lois, what do you say?
28. Kind of energy : SOLAR
31. Negative link : NOR
32. Don's followers? : MOB. Mafia mob. Shout-out to Don G, who is just as brilliant as you've all been picturing, and more!
34. Wetland : FEN. And SOG (12D. Wet thoroughly, in British dialect). Wet clecho.
35. Longest Spanish river : EBRO
40. Crafty : CAGY
41. Dead heat : TIE
42. Small cells : AAs
43. Dot follower : ORG. Yeah, I clued this one with our Dot and her husband Irv in mind.
44. Magnetism : CHARM. Hmm, animal magnetism!
46. Touch to the tongue : TASTE. Quadruple alliteration.
50. Language named for a mathematician : PASCAL (Blaise). Loved his quote: The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.
52. PC core : CPU
19A. Classic movie about US Marines : SANDS OF IWO JIMA. John Wayne film. Dennis probably likes Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" better. But it has too many letters.
36A. US Marine Corps motto : SEMPER FIDELIS. The motto is on his car license plate.
55A. Start of a slogan for US Marines : THE FEW, THE PROUD. The Marines, who never leave their buddies behind.
I initially had five theme entries, but had a hard time coming up with a clean and workable grid, not to mention sprinkling in a few must-have Dennis related entries: DENNIS (of course), MOREL (of course), AARON (his favorite baseball player) & BEAR (his nickname).
At Don "Hard G" Gagliardo's advice, I got less ambitious and went with three solid theme answers. Was able to pepper in as many Dennis references as I could. Still missed out fitting in his lovely wife Linda.
Across:
1. Dict. entries : WDS (Words). Abbreviation start is never good. But I had to add a black square in the corner because I really wanted WHO AM I paralleling DENNIS.
4. Happy as ___ : A CLAM. He certainly is. So is Lucia.
9. G.I. chow : MRES. Yeah, another Marine reference.
13. The old you : THEE
14. Coeur d'___, Idaho : ALENE
15. Move, in Realtor lingo : RELO
16. Top-notch : A-ONE
17. Make a midi a mini : REHEM. Don't you want a pair of legs like these?
18. Rare blood type, for short : B NEG. Dennis' is AB Positive, rare too.
22. U.K. record label : EMI
23. Blown-up letters? : TNT
24. Infuriated : RAGING
26. It takes you to a new level : RISER. Well, Lois, what do you say?
28. Kind of energy : SOLAR
31. Negative link : NOR
32. Don's followers? : MOB. Mafia mob. Shout-out to Don G, who is just as brilliant as you've all been picturing, and more!
34. Wetland : FEN. And SOG (12D. Wet thoroughly, in British dialect). Wet clecho.
35. Longest Spanish river : EBRO
40. Crafty : CAGY
41. Dead heat : TIE
42. Small cells : AAs
43. Dot follower : ORG. Yeah, I clued this one with our Dot and her husband Irv in mind.
44. Magnetism : CHARM. Hmm, animal magnetism!
46. Touch to the tongue : TASTE. Quadruple alliteration.
50. Language named for a mathematician : PASCAL (Blaise). Loved his quote: The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.
52. PC core : CPU
54. Half of sex- : TRI. "Sex" is Latin for "six". Knew the clue would get Dennis' attention.
59. Broke ground : HOED. Whatever Lois says!
60. Drummer's cymbal : HI-HAT. Our birthday boy was a drummer before.
61. "My treat!" : ON ME
62. Eye up and down : OGLE
63. Handle on a B-29? : ENOLA. Enola Gay.
64. Yogi, for one : BEAR. This nickname does not seem to fit Dennis, does it?
65. Topless? : BALD
66. Prized mushroom : MOREL. Well, everyone knows Dennis is our MOREL guy.
67. East end? : ERN. Eastern. Could see the groan from Jazzbumpa.
Down:
1. End of many a riddle : WHO AM I? He's 2D.
2. Noted menace : DENNIS. Dennis the Menace. My first non-theme fill in the blank grid, naturally.
3. Flower child? : SEED. Would I drive you nuts if I clued it as "Onan spilled his"?
4. Alphabetically first name in baseball Hall-of-Fame, or in the Bible : AARON. Hank Aaron is the true Home Run king.
5. Chin features, like Cary Grant : CLEFTS. "Like Cary Grant" is nice addition from Don G. Handsome dude.
6. Where Samson defeated the Philistines : LEHI. Unknown fact to me. Dodgy entry, I know. But I needed AARON at 4D and wanted A CLAM for 4A (Dennis is forever happy and positive). Tried to put a black square at where number 24 is to eliminate LEHI. The result was not satisfactory. Sorry. Hope it's obtainable via crossings.
7. Once more : ANEW.
8. Work notes : MEMORANDA
9. Top dog : MR BIG. One of my earlier entries as well.
10. Chinese currency : RENMINBI. Often abbreviated as RMB. I figured I needed an answer to reflect my background. And I warned you last Saturday about the fill (literally "people's money"), used by more than 1.3 billion people in the world. The obverse is a portrait of Mao Zedong. Gimmie for Jayce I hope!
11. Roosevelt and Parker : ELEANORS
13. It's stunning : TASER
20. Work on the cutting edge : STROP
21. Cookie holder : JAR. Cookie...
25. Miracle-____ : GRO. Used some on our tomato plant one year. Oh my God. It grew as high as I was. Not many tomatoes though.
27. Award since 1949 : EMMY
29. Put forward : OFFER. And LEI (30. Hawaiian band?). Just for Lois.
33. City of Jesus : BETHLEHEM
35. "Born Free" lioness : ELSA
36. ____ Springs, New York : SARATOGA
37. Shade of white : EGGSHELL
38. Fjord relative : RIA
39. Gobble : EAT UP
40. Beat-nik? : COP
44. Half-____ (coffee order) : CAF
45. Celtics legend Kevin : McHALE. I intended to trick you into picturing Kevin Garnett; did you? Here is a picture of those two together. Both were with Minnesota Timberwolves for some time.
47. One without sin? : STONER. Let he (or is it him?) who is without sin cast the first stone. My original is SCONES, thinking it's delicious to cross TASTE with SCONES, but then I ended up with SSN for 67A (after changing 58D ROBE into ROBS). I like when letter S is used only when necessary, so "No Scones for You! Next!".
48. Marshall Plan signer : TRUMAN. Yep, I picked up this fill with JD's grandson Truman in mind.
49. Duck down : EIDER
51. Gave up : CEDED
53. "He loves me" piece : PETAL. So dewy.
56. Port authority? : WINO. Port wine.
57. God with a hammer : THOR. Norse thunder god. One of my earlier fill as well. Dennis can get quite angry when something unjust happens.
58. Court coverup? : ROBE
59. Fireplace shelf : HOB.
Answer grid.
Puzzles: Here is pdf version. Here is puz file (Across Lite). You can click here and solve it on line.
C.C.
59. Broke ground : HOED. Whatever Lois says!
60. Drummer's cymbal : HI-HAT. Our birthday boy was a drummer before.
61. "My treat!" : ON ME
62. Eye up and down : OGLE
63. Handle on a B-29? : ENOLA. Enola Gay.
64. Yogi, for one : BEAR. This nickname does not seem to fit Dennis, does it?
65. Topless? : BALD
66. Prized mushroom : MOREL. Well, everyone knows Dennis is our MOREL guy.
67. East end? : ERN. Eastern. Could see the groan from Jazzbumpa.
Down:
1. End of many a riddle : WHO AM I? He's 2D.
2. Noted menace : DENNIS. Dennis the Menace. My first non-theme fill in the blank grid, naturally.
3. Flower child? : SEED. Would I drive you nuts if I clued it as "Onan spilled his"?
4. Alphabetically first name in baseball Hall-of-Fame, or in the Bible : AARON. Hank Aaron is the true Home Run king.
5. Chin features, like Cary Grant : CLEFTS. "Like Cary Grant" is nice addition from Don G. Handsome dude.
6. Where Samson defeated the Philistines : LEHI. Unknown fact to me. Dodgy entry, I know. But I needed AARON at 4D and wanted A CLAM for 4A (Dennis is forever happy and positive). Tried to put a black square at where number 24 is to eliminate LEHI. The result was not satisfactory. Sorry. Hope it's obtainable via crossings.
7. Once more : ANEW.
8. Work notes : MEMORANDA
9. Top dog : MR BIG. One of my earlier entries as well.
10. Chinese currency : RENMINBI. Often abbreviated as RMB. I figured I needed an answer to reflect my background. And I warned you last Saturday about the fill (literally "people's money"), used by more than 1.3 billion people in the world. The obverse is a portrait of Mao Zedong. Gimmie for Jayce I hope!
11. Roosevelt and Parker : ELEANORS
13. It's stunning : TASER
20. Work on the cutting edge : STROP
21. Cookie holder : JAR. Cookie...
25. Miracle-____ : GRO. Used some on our tomato plant one year. Oh my God. It grew as high as I was. Not many tomatoes though.
27. Award since 1949 : EMMY
29. Put forward : OFFER. And LEI (30. Hawaiian band?). Just for Lois.
33. City of Jesus : BETHLEHEM
35. "Born Free" lioness : ELSA
36. ____ Springs, New York : SARATOGA
37. Shade of white : EGGSHELL
38. Fjord relative : RIA
39. Gobble : EAT UP
40. Beat-nik? : COP
44. Half-____ (coffee order) : CAF
45. Celtics legend Kevin : McHALE. I intended to trick you into picturing Kevin Garnett; did you? Here is a picture of those two together. Both were with Minnesota Timberwolves for some time.
47. One without sin? : STONER. Let he (or is it him?) who is without sin cast the first stone. My original is SCONES, thinking it's delicious to cross TASTE with SCONES, but then I ended up with SSN for 67A (after changing 58D ROBE into ROBS). I like when letter S is used only when necessary, so "No Scones for You! Next!".
48. Marshall Plan signer : TRUMAN. Yep, I picked up this fill with JD's grandson Truman in mind.
49. Duck down : EIDER
51. Gave up : CEDED
53. "He loves me" piece : PETAL. So dewy.
56. Port authority? : WINO. Port wine.
57. God with a hammer : THOR. Norse thunder god. One of my earlier fill as well. Dennis can get quite angry when something unjust happens.
58. Court coverup? : ROBE
59. Fireplace shelf : HOB.
Answer grid.
Puzzles: Here is pdf version. Here is puz file (Across Lite). You can click here and solve it on line.
C.C.
No comments:
Post a Comment