tricky for the second day of the puzzle week and should have run a day later -- or maybe I just wanted it to run on Wednesday because there was a Wednesday in the Addams Family and that would have amused me. (No, it doesn't take much, does it?) The theme eluded me until I was almost finished with the puzzle even though it's right there in the title. But truth be told, those are my favorite kinds of themes. I enjoy being baffled.(Well, you know, mildly baffled.)
SPOILER WARNING: Don't read any further until you've done today's New York Sun Crossword Puzzle. New York Sun puzzles are every bit as fun and challenging as the more well-known New York Times and they're indisputably better in one way -- they're free. If you'd like to read about an unbiased head-to-head competition between the Sun and the Times check this out. Or if you'd rather decide for yourself you can download this puzzle and join in on the fun here.
"The Addams Family" by Bob Klahn has nothing to do with Gomez, Itt and Morticia. What you need to do to solve this one is add the letters a-m-s to four common words or phrases to get new, slightly-wonky phrases like:
17A: Every package of copy paper? (ALL THE REAMS) (nee ALL THERE, I'll do the first one for you, but you're going to have to add (well, no, I guess, subtract no
w) your own AMS from here on)28A: Ancient king has a gas (RAMSES HOOTS) There were several pharoahs named Ramses (or sometimes Ramesses, something to keep in mind if anybody ever wants to do an "Add a mess" puzzle) but the term usually refers to Ramses II, the greatest of the great Pharoahs, husband of Nefertiti (and 7 others) father of Amun-her-khepeshef (and approximatelt 109 others). Kudos to Klahn for getting EGYPT (32A: Site of a pyramid scheme) right at the foot of the pharoah.
44A: Like heroes of melodramas? (DAMSEL AWARE) One thing I like about puzzles like this is although sometimes the new phrases can be clun
ky, sometimes they're so good I want to add them to the dictionary. Don't you like "damsel aware" better than "scoping for chicks" or "checking out the babes"?
ky, sometimes they're so good I want to add them to the dictionary. Don't you like "damsel aware" better than "scoping for chicks" or "checking out the babes"?
58A: Not afraid of falling while erecting skyscrapers? (USED TO BEAMS)
The toughest clue for me was 30D: Glass sipper (STRAW) because I kept seeing it as "glass slipper."
Maybe it's just me, but OOLALA (2D: "Hubba hubba") this seems like a very ROMANTIC (12D: Like candlelit dinners) puzzle. Inspired by ERATO (43D: Muse for Millay), we're ONE TO ONE (11D: Even, as odds) under the night ORB (11A: Heavenly body). We've got a YEN (46A: Kashiwazaki cash) to STRIP (21A: Caesar's locale, with "the") down to our TOGAS (61A: Forum finery). GRR (37A: Pound sound) you bring out the BEAST (65A: Barbarian) in me.
Why no, I don't think you're a TART (6D: Vinegary)
And I'm sure I'm the only person in the world who thinks there's anything remotely racy about Burger King's signature sandwich -- 26D: Prodigious prevarication (WHOPPER). But the first dirty riddle I ever heard was:
Q: How did the Dairy Queen get pregnant?
A: Burger King pulled out his whopper.And you never forget your first, do you?
3 comments:
Skipped today's puzzle but couldn't skip your blog ; )
I'm actually glad I didn't do it. Not my favorite kind of puzzle and a bit much for a Tuesday.
Now you've got me trying to remember my first dirty joke.
I thought it was because Burger King didn't pull out his Whopper... maybe I'm remembering wrong. I'm pretty sure this wasn't one of the jokes in Boy's Life. :)
The Burger King thing was my first dirty riddle. My first dirty joke was the one about the little girl who came home all excited because the boy next door gave her a nickel to climb a tree. Her mother told her don't do that; he just wants to see your underwear. She came home the next day all excited again with another nickel in her hand. Her mother said "Didn't I tell you that boy only wants to see your underwear?" And she said, "It's okay, I tricked him, Mom, I didn't wear any today."
(That joke absolutely had 'em rolling in the aisles when I was in second grade.)
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