Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Patty Varol and Doug Peterson
What could be a better followup to yesterday's ICE CREAM puzzle than a day that celebrates one of the true delights made with it? Latrobe, PA is famous for being the home of golfing legend Arnold Palmer but in 1904 an apprentice pharmacist in Latrobe, David Strickland, invented a banana triple ice cream sundae that sold for a dime which was twice the price of other sundaes and it was a huge hit. Strickler bought the drug store and although his invention endures, the building was torn down years ago.
Latrobe is celebrating The Great American Banana Split Festival yesterday, today and tomorrow with many events. I wonder if anyone washes down a banana split with an Arnold Palmer?
On this day celebrating this legendary sweet treat, Patty Varol and Doug Peterson have concocted this lovely puzzle that entertained me greatly but took 23 minutes before I could put the cherry on top! Patty is our esteemed editor Rich's very able assistant as well as being a constructor herself and I have received some great feedback from her and some "thanks, but no thanks" notes as well. I blogged a puzzle Doug constructed with Neville Fogarty this past February.
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| Patty Varol Doug Peterson |
Let's see what else Patty and Doug have for us today as this (soda) jerk tries to make sense of it:
1. Knot remover: NECK RUB
8. Not pointless?: ON TOPIC - Politicians always steer debate back to their talking points rather than staying ON TOPIC
15. Took too many courses?: OVER ATE - We had Thanksgiving FOOD COMA recently which could include the portmanteau 21. Hybrid roast: TURDUCKEN (a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck stuffed into a turkey)
16. "Marvelous": HOW NICE.
17. Sent along: RELAYED - Norman Rockwell captures Americana as well as anyone
18. One pulling his weight around Christmas: BLITZEN - But he wouldn't let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games
19. Caper: ANTIC.
20. Stuff on the deck: STAIN - After 15 years we have given up on STAINING and a 37. House coat: PAINT JOB and so we are installing a synthetic deck
22. Proactiv target: ZIT.
23. European underground nickname: THE TUBE.
25. Forbids: BANS.
26. Flood insurance, once upon a time: ARK - Professor Paul Esperante and others believe this could be the remains of Noah's ARK in Eastern Turkey near Mt. Ararat
29. Copycat's talent: APERY.
30. Alley goop: TAR - I like the play on Alley Oop!
31. Toasting candidate: RYE BREAD
33. Grizabella the Glamour Cat's solo: MEMORY - The show stopper from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-L6rEm0rnY 36. Single from Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks": TANGLED UP IN BLUE - Has never crossed my turntable, CD player or MP3 device
38. Some navels: INNIES.
39. Puerto Rico's __ de Morro: CASTILLO - CASTILLO (San Felipe) de Morro
40. Hosp. sections: ERS where they are prepared to 58. Do an inside job?: OPERATE.
41. Warehouse supplies: SKIDS.
42. Darn things: SEW.
43. Vince with 18 CMA Awards: GILL - Not familiar with his work that got him those Country Music Awards
45. Lacking versatility: ONE NOTE - Can you decipher this equivalent phrase? (* answer below)
47. Raised eyebrow, e.g.: ARC.
48. Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor: TRENT - No idea
49. Stomach: ABIDE - Do you, like me, no longer ABIDE things you did years ago?
53. Brewery sugar: MALTOSE.
55. Where old records may be kept: JUKEBOX - Five plays for a quarter in my 6. Sporty truck, briefly: UTE (Yeah, I know it's a Utility Vehicle but I couldn't resist)
57. Congo line?: EQUATOR - Here are people in Zaire (Democratic Republic Of Congo) standing on said line
59. Fair rewards: RIBBONS.
60. Small restaurants: BISTROS.
Down:
1. "Brothers & Sisters" matriarch: NORA - NORA is played by...
2. Square: EVEN - The game is all EVEN at 3 runs apiece
3. Gael, for one: CELT
4. Nocturnal Asian snake: KRAIT - India's deadliest, 10X more poisonous than a cobra
5. Singer ranked #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: RAY CHARLES - Too many hits to pick a favorite but this one always moves me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GufSJChOFG8
7. Framework for retiring: BED STEAD - No IRA here
8. "Yowza!": OH BABY - Sounds like a Ray Charles lyric to me
9. "Honestly!": NO LIE - Truman won??
10. Matching: TWIN - The TWINS and their mother - Joyce, Martha and my bride Joann
11. Toronto's prov.: ONT and 56. Org. with an "Odd News" web page: UPI headline in the Toronto Daily Star
12. Party bites from the toaster oven: PIZZA ROLLS - A fav around here
13. Maroon at a chalet, maybe: ICE IN - A meteorological event not a color scheme
14. Coppers: CENTS - A man in England was not allowed to pay a £800 debt in 166 kg (365 lbs) of these 1 cent coppers
24. Olympic gear: EPEES.
25. Film fawn: BAMBI - Disney refused to let the National Forest Service use BAMBI in their anti fire PDA's and so Smokey the Bear was invented
26. Basic studio class: ART I - My college class so-named was boring beyond belief because we just took notes
27. "Deadpool" actor Reynolds: RYAN - Deadpool is the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time
28. Group concerned with good breeding: KENNEL CLUB - Mutts not allowed
30. Camper's anchors: TENT STAKES - Not quite enough here. Definitely a 33. Bungle: MISDO.
32. Speakeasy circulator: B-GIRL - Father Mulcahy, "Why Hawkeye, I earned my way through divinity school as a B-GIRL in San Francisco!"
34. Word with home or slide: RULE - I might as well show my math students a buggy whip as much as a slide RULE. Equatorial CONGO gained home RULE from Belgium
35. Stinging response: YEOW.
41. Ugly looks: SNEERS.
43. Xbox devotee: GAMER - How many hours/day is too many?
44. Kirkuk native: IRAQI - McDonalds is not allowed in Northern Iraq so...
45. Name on "The Magnificent Ambersons" theater poster: ORSON - Mercury Players ORSON Wells, Agnes Morehead, Joseph Cotten, et al moved on to this project after Citizen Kane.
46. Pulitzer-winning film critic: EBERT - Of the above movie, EBERT wrote, "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942, a masterpiece with its ending hacked to pieces by the studio...)
48. Terry's role in the original "Wizard of Oz": TOTO - Terry/TOTO's memorial at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (for Agnes)
50. Structural beam: I-BAR - A baby I-BEAM?
51. Inflict on: DO TO - "What did you DO TO your hair?"
52. They're split: EXES - George Strait sings that all his EXES live in Texas while he hangs his hat in Tennessee.
54. Check for drinks: TAB = Jay Z's bar TAB that included an $11,000 tip. I've never heard of Ace Of Spades Champagne.
*45 Across deciphered is "One Trick Pony"
If you can't get away to Latrobe, PA for the festivities today, why not leave a comment:
DA GRID:
