Finished the top half before an early morning breakfast meeting and the bottom half over a glass of wine before dinner. So had the advantage of not noticing PANCAKE three times, leading to my Best.Wednesday.Time.Ever!
2
Top: PAT of butter
Middle: 3 PANCAKES
Bottom: The PLATE
On the left: AUNT JEMIMA
On the right: HUNGRY JACK
You guys must have gotten together over breakfast to do this puzzle! Great stack!
Loved Tom Jones’ SHES A LADY, Beetles’ PENNY LANE, and I heard The Eurythmics in SEVEN SEAS.
Problems with SNELL and ACELA. SAS Airline took a bit to recall, but crosses helped me avoid the natick.
Funniest line from _My Cousin VINNY_ has to be Fred Guinn’s “What’s a yute?” Best Joe Pesci movie ever!
;-)
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(Only 82 comments!?)
Was expecting repeated PANCAKES after searching for the revealer early on. Still, the visual (PAT over PANCAKEs over PLATE between the syrups) eluded me till I read Deb's column. Like RiA, I should've sat back and appreciated the puzzle after finishing. Cute!
A nit to pick: Quoting Deb, "If the clue includes a foreign language, the answer will be in that language." 31D violates that rule applied to English. Another rule is that abreviations in entries should be clued with abbreviations. I was going to complain about 46A, but looked up the organization, which is indeed St. Jude (not Saint Jude). These two crossing entries hung me for a bit.
TIL: KAA, another bit of "modern lingo" DAP (Didn't we have this recently?), DIME (as in "on my dime?") refers to $10, SNELL, GUERRE (as in "nom de guerre?"), and HUNGRYJACK.
Unlike most others, I found this one "crunchier" than a typical Wednesday -- well off my best time.
Ron writes:
A nit to pick: Quoting Deb, "If the clue includes a foreign language, the answer will be in that language." 31D violates that rule applied to English.
Ron,
The 31D clue is in English. English is not -- for us -- a foreign language. Deb's quote does not apply.
@Ron
Mmm, KAA is the python in The Jungle Book written in 1894 by Rudyard Kipling so I don’t think you could consider that ‘modern’.
@Barry Ancona
I think you know what I meant. Perhaps this is clearer: Consider the generalization "if the clue includes [any language, including English], the answer will be in that language." "'Them's the breaks,' genteelly" is entirely in English. CESTLAVIE is entirely in French.
What a fun puzzle. Once the three P’s - PAT, PLATE and PANCAKE revealed themselves I chuckled and popped the rest of the stack in place. Being a Canadian, it’s kind of, sort of not in the cards to consume anything but real maple syrup (check out our flag). In fact if you went to the local grocery store you would probably find the bottles of Aunt Jemima with a 1/4 inch of dust on them.
Had a bit of a tussle with SNELL (never heard of it before and not in the OED) but was pretty sure SAS was correct so stuck with it.
Kudos to Tony and Patrick!
ASICS comes from the Latin phrase, anima sana in corpore sana, meaning "A sound mind in a sound body."
Latin is everywhere...
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Read the blog before I left the house this morning when I had one empty square left. Usually Deb or one of you will happen to mention whatever word I'm stuck on but no one seemed to have a problem with the 's' in ASICS.
So you can count me as one who didn't find this puzzle easy peasy. Like everyone else I was surprised at all the PANCAKEs and loved how they were stacked. The number of J's was also surprising.
Though I never had real maple syrup as a child; my mother made fake maple syrup with maple flavoring, ever since I could afford the real stuff, that's all I use.
Ooh fun one! I guessed PANCAKE for the middle one (38A) based on the crosses with some certainty. But when I got to the bottom one (56A) I was sure that had to be PANCAKE so had a quick GASP and a lot of second guessing. Eventually went ALLIN and the rest came together quickly.
Being a UCLA alumnus I will share a fun fact with my Wordplay friends. UCLA actually has two colors in the pantone system, True Blue is used for athletics and UCLA Blue is used for academics.
Only Google needed today was a triple natick at SAS/SNELL/ACELA.
P.S. missed you all yesterday!
Matt,
Three words, but a double Natick as described. The Natick is the cross letter you don't know between two entries. Your Naticks were the 51 and 52 squares.
Things I learned at ASL (American as a Second Language) school today.
1. Rules are there to be broken, but....
2. It's hard to break a rule when supporting evidence is lacking:
Thus, the following crosses sank me into the slough of despond, as I searched in vain for alternate solutions to the top and bottom of the triple stacker (I got the central one, and briefly thought why as a thematic answer it was clued so obliquely – I should have chewed on that one for a while (with syrup and a pat of butter). Instead, I tried SAUSAGE at the bottom, which threw me completely.
a. AAA can mean, among the other 1000 or so things, the top grade of Minor League Baseball.
b. ASICS is a major brand of shoemaker (I had seen this before, but never remember it. I will used the mnemonic "B-for-Baseball-ASICS".)
c. DAP means fist-pumping.
d. SNELL is a fishing line (North American, 19th C, origin unknown). I had seen this before, but resisted the crossing.
e. ALL IN has many meanings. Classically, it has meant "exhausted", the opposite of what was clued today. In fact, today's ALL IN means pretty much the same as ALL OUT, which is odd but not unprecedented. [In British, ALL-IN means "Inclusive", but we're not in Penny Lane any more; ALL OUT means the same as in the U.S.].
f. ACELA is the name of the express train down the Boston-Washington corridor. Again, I had seen it, but resisted the crossing.
3
@NICE CUPPA Think of "all in" as a poker term. Goes with "I call" and "ante".
Loved this puzzle! Clever, fast, nostalgic. 10/10 would play a puzzle written by these guys again
5
Thank you to the much earlier commenter who mentioned receiving Vermont maple syrup as a hostess gift. I had been agonizing over what to take to my recently arrived Syrian friends when I go to dinner today. What's more Canadian than a can of Quebec maple syrup? We always have some on hand, since we stock up on it every spring when we visit family in Quebec.
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Not to mention maple syrup travels better than poutin...
2
S.B. Alert...
I'm usually loath to comment on the current S.B., but today I just can't resist (sorry, not sorry).
My final word today allowed me to achieve the hitherto unattained status of ******* Amazing Genius, ******* obviating the urge to seek the less impressive Queen Bee status. What a time saver, eh?
I am ******* ashamed, however, of my lack of resistance to Trumpian influence on my use of language.
2
I've been getting partially finished crosswords the past few weeks. I think I did the partial answers at some time in the past, but the puzzles are the correct ones for the day. How could that happen?
Easy but pancakes are like my favorite food so now I'm hungry.
4
I was excited to see Patrick and Tony together at the top and even more delighted to see what they cooked up. It's good enough to eat!
I mean, we've seen stacks in puzzles before but today we're seeing stacks! Of PANCAKEs!
Like others, my favorite part of the visual was the syrup dripping down both sides.
Thank guys. Your puzzle breaks the rules in a most delicious way!
7
VINNY should have crossed (somehow) with UTE rather than JUVENILE.
30
So the moment of keen disappointment -- It's PANCAKE again???? It's PANCAKE for yet again a third time???? -- becomes the puzzle's Aha Moment: Oh, I see, it's a stack of PANCAKEs!!! What saved the puzzle for me were the two bottles of maple syrup standing guard. Not that I've ever heard of HUNGRY JACK. But AUNT JEMIMA goes back to my childhood.
Repeating fill is a no-no, of course. This puzzle tries to make a virtue out of a fault. That it succeeds at all is largely because of the humor. So today I'm trading humor for a truly satisfying solve. The repeating PANCAKES removed much of the crunchiness from the puzzle. But I guess if I wanted crunch, I shoulda had cereal.
4
Fun puzzle! 14 seconds away from a new best. I knew I should have not taken a few seconds to sip my coffee! I definitely experienced a "hey wait a minute, this answer can't be PANCAKE too!" but I was so certain of the crosses, I keyed it in and figured I could always come back to it later if it wasn't right. If it's one thing I've learned, there are no absolutes in XW solving. Thanks to Tony and Patrick for reinforcing that!
3
Yesterday was busy, so I never made it back to the computer after getting the Page Not Found message. So far today, have twice been cut off in mid-comment with the Aw, Snap! message. Getting annoyed.
When I saw the byline, I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was fun! Although, I must add, anyone who uses those dreadful excuses for syrup deserves great opprobrium. MAPLE syrup is the only proper thing for your short stack! (We raised our kids in NE Ohio, and the annual sugarbush demo at Swine Creek State Park was always a family outing.)
Ah, well. On with the day. Though do let me suggest Bruce's Sweet Potato Pancake Mix (made with buttermilk, not water or sweet milk) with your maple syrup.
BTW, I recognize the lyric in your clue for the TEXAS FLAG....a historic reference to another FLAG that "bears a single star?" Or just a coincidence?
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@Mean Old Lady
"anyone who uses those dreadful excuses for syrup deserves great opprobrium."
Please be kind to my mother, MOL. She didn't know any better.
When we had PANCAKEs in my childhood home, they were made from AUNT JEMIMA PANCAKE Mix and served with margarine and Vermont Maid Pancake Syrup. AUNT JEMIMA hadn't even gone into the syrup business yet, and the Vermont Maid had nothing to do with Vermont or maple syrup.
I didn't taste real maple syrup until I was an adult, and then rather belatedly given how expensive the stuff is. I seldom make PANCAKEs now, and if I do I use real maple syrup -- either a small bottle purchased and treasured, or a gift from my good friends in Vermont (tapped from their own trees).
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@Deadline
Neither did mine. But we almost never had pancakes, anyway.
White bread, margarine, La Choy and Chef Boy-ar-dee, canned asparagus, canned spinach, and lots and lots of sugar. Aaaaaiiiiieeeeee! Oh, the humanity!
1
This puzzle is a mess! Those two flows of syrup down the side are missing the PLATE entirely!
18
And who’s going to clean up the syrupy mess that PAT made? VINNY? FAITH? LOUIS? JUDE? ALEXA? MITT? PENNY? KANE? RUE? (Not HER!)
No, it will probably be NANA...
3
Who planted that TEXASFLAG in my stack of pancakes?
8
This is one of the few times that I am willing to sacrifice toughness for delight. Like many who have commented before me, I truly love the visual created -- especially the "syrup" dripping down the sides -- also love the alliteration of the PAT/PANCAKE/PLATE.
I hope Tony doesn't mind that, every time I see his byline, I think of two things -- first, an excellent puzzle is coming and second, of his great father. Now that I have the image of Tony and Patrick et al sitting around a diner table, I am picturing Lumière singing Be Our Guest, complete with dancing PANCAKES. It's hump day and I am starting out happy. And many congrats to new dad Patrick.
THAT'S LIFE/C'EST LA VIE!
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Both syrups are "maple flavored." Vermont! Ha! Vexed Tom viciously.
Hope the waffle puzzle has molasses.
The short stack idea was a good one. Cheery little puzzle.
Diner mavens: Anyone know the origin of the term "eightysixed."
Thanks Lads
1
@dk did a quick Google. As is the case for many words, the origin isn't definitive, but there are several possibilities...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86_(term)
@dk New Hampshirite appalled as well!
I came to the conclusion that a "rule" was being broken when I decided 38A had to be PANCAKE in spite of it also being 21A. Then I went to 56A and filled that in as well. Briefly scratched my head on 20A then aha with TSP.
Good puzzle but a bit quicker than the normal Wednesday.
3
@jtmcg That's terrific! Way to go!
Very nice puzzle in a number of ways and one of the all-time great 'aha' moments, as I stared at the puzzle for a long moment after I was finished before the totality of the theme sunk in. And aside from the theme some very nice long bonus answers and clever clues.
Quite enjoyable solve as well; took some work in every section and I was often completely baffled until I got just enough crosses to finally see an answer.
On the downside: My absolute worst bad memory moment ever at 58d. I though of Orson Welles and Rosebud and could picture multiple scenes from that film. If I'd thought of 'Citizen' I would have gotten it, but I never did. Took a long break and I just could not locate it in my brain. Never did get it until I filled in the last PANCAKE. Ah, well; I'm learning to live with it. I don't really have much choice.
6
@Rich in Atlanta
As usual, RIA, it seems that you're being a bit hard on yourself. Recall is not the most important aspect of memory; recognition is just as important.
I had the same experience you did with Citizen KANE. I knew I knew it, but instead of stalling out on 58d I kept moving along, suspecting that the answer would be revealed in the fullness of time.
You solved this puzzle. You recognized the answer at 58d. And, in the near future at least, you may be able to recall it a bit more easily. Your memory, in both senses, has been refreshed.
Inability to quickly recall a particular fact at a particular moment is not memory failure. Yeesh, this happens to me every day! No one has the brain power to instantly recall everything that might be deemed "important", especially things like Citizen KANE that don't come up all that often. Maybe once a year?
IMO, the most enduring benefit of crossword puzzles is that they help refresh otherwise obscure memories, helping them persist longer than they might if we didn't do them. And the enduring value of your contributions to this forum is to keep us all mindful of how tenuous our grasp of the past can seem at times. I always look forward to your insightful comments.
16
Mike R,
There are *two* enduring benefits of crossword puzzles; the other one is puzzlers looking after each other.
1
Mike, thank you for the encouragement and the kind words. I will just mention that one reason I was particularly frustrated about that memory lapse is that about 3 years I had written 3 chapters (or so ) of an old-time detective novel that largely revolved around the making of that film. Nonetheless, point well taken.
Barry, Amen.
I love column five -- CLAPTRAP DAP -- and would love for KANE to have been under PENNY LANE.
I saw the two syrups running down the sides of the stack, and one of them, HUNGRY JACK, popped out of my brain drawer labelled "Haven't Thought of Since My Youth", as did NANA (which tripped off I REMEMBER MAMA, something I vaguely remember my parents watching on TV).
Speaking of my youth, our pancakes came from Bisquick, and on Sunday mornings my dad would experiment with making different types of omelets. Some were hits that would be repeated, others, like the mustard omelet, were left on the plate.
So this pancake puzzle was not only a stack o'fun to solve, but also -- and I'm grateful for this -- it elicited a stack o' fond memories.
6
@Lewis.
My fond memory is of my father making the Sunday morning pancakes into different shapes.
1
SB's QB = 33 words, 168 pts, 1 pangram
A-6 (2 @4L, 3@5L, 1@6L)
L-5 (2@5L, 2@7L, 1@8L)
O-4 (1@4L,1@5L, 1@6L,1@7L)
R-8 (3@5L, 2@6L, 2@7L, 1@8L)
T-8 (3@4L, 3@5L, 1@6L, 1@7L)
V-2 (1@4L, 1@6L)
Only 4 words do not end in y. We've had most of these words recently, without the required letter.
7
@MaggieT
Short and sweet SB today with nary a clotbur in sight. One of the rare times I've gotten to QB without having to take a break, check a word count (although it's always appreciated), or miss the bus.
I'm kind of enjoying the repetition of words with variation in the center letters. Certainly helps the solve go faster - I might even make it work on time today!
1
@Chungclan Am missing only the 8 ltr R word. Hints welcome :)
@audreylm
Keep those wheels spinning.
I always start at the top with the across clues, but somehow today I missed 6A. I blame that for not getting the theme until the final reveal, but what a lovely AHA moment. Like others I had been trying to think of other answers to the various PANCAKE clues. This was well worth breaking the rule, great construction!
Now I'm ready for my second breakfast.
7
Many musical references today:
24A: Notable instrument in Springsteen’s 1975 breakthrough hit, “Born To Run” (SAX). I like the way it crosses with 13D, STYX.
Also, 30D: Tom Jones hit “SHE’S A LADY” was his 5th (and final) Top 10 hit in the US, peaking at #2 in March, 1971. Tom’s previous Top 10 hits were “It’s Not Unusual” (#10, 1965), “What’s New Pussycat?” (#3, 1965), “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” (#6, 1969), and “Without Love (There Is Nothing)” (#5, 1970).
Finally, 6D: “PENNY LANE” was the Beatles’ 13th #1 single in the US, in early 1967. It was originally to be included on the “Sgt. Pepper” LP released in the summer of ‘67. But too much time had lapsed between songs on the chart for the Fab Four, so “PENNY LANE” was rushed out as a single instead, and was NOT included on the album. Incidentally, the B-side of “PENNY LANE” was “Strawberry Fields Forever” which charted separately and peaked at #8.
3
@Alexander Pereczky
...and how could I forget 4D: “Licensed To ILL”, the Beastie Boys’ 10-million selling 1986 album; the first rap album to hit #1 in the US.
There was enough of a nip in the air yesterday to make it feel like almost autumn, and that got me thinking of yummy fall/winter foods -- stews, oatmeal, stuff like that. But I'd forgotten PANCAKES.
Now I want some. But with real maple syrup please. I'm almost tempted to make some for breakfast, but that's always a hassle when you live alone. (Jessica gets breakfast crunchies, nothing fancy.) And I'm not sure I have any maple syrup left.
Was quite taken aback when I saw the second PANCAKE. Went back and looked at the clue for the first, then again the clue for the second, and knew I was right and that suspicious-looking entry at 56A was going to be a third. Checked the clue, and there she was.
Had trouble getting into NE and had to start that sector clean. My problem was I'd never heard STAYS SANE as A Thing, never heard of KAA, and for some reason didn't tumble to JUVENILE ("negligible" didn't fit).
Nice job, Patrick and Tony. Thanks to all.
2
@Deadline Hand up for real maple syrup! Never heard of HUNGRYJACK. For one brief moment I thought AUNTJEMIMA might be another repeat entry.
@Deadline
My mouth is watering for pancakes, too.
Pro tip: you can make a batch of pancakes and freeze what you don't eat. The frozen ones can be reheated in a toaster oven and they come out almost as good as fresh ones.
1
@dlr
Thanks for the thought, but I don't have that capacity. The only freezer I have is the small (as in little more than an ice-cube compartment) one in my very small refrigerator.
I often -- practically daily -- wish I had a larger kitchen so I could have larger appliances and freeze portions of stuff.
That was adorable! - a stack of three PANCAKEs on a PLATE, with a PAT of butter ion top, and two kinds of syrup on the side.
I got very stuck at different places, but the hardest obstacle to overcome was accepting that PANCAKE appeared three times. I kept trying to find synonyms that would fit!
Loved it!
4
Exactly where i got stuck! I kept thinking there was some other kind of game that I don’t know about at play there.... and I could see why the repetition fit the theme , too!
Can't remember seeing a puzzle with repeated answers before. Liked the twist a lot once I accepted it was possible
8
@Tyler Nice solving! Nearly anything is possible creatively in the puzzles, so don't rule out something like this.
Delicious! The full stack of PANCAKEs topped with a PAT of butter and dripping with syrup had me drooling all over my iPad. Yummy. Only thing missing was the bacon and a cup of coffee.
Nice work by Tony Orbach and Patrick Blindauer.
10
Interesting tidbit:
In Australia, Burger Kings are known as HUNGRY JACK's, due to a possible copyright infringement. By the time they got to Australia, there was already a place called Burger King in existence, and then-parent company, Pillsbury, just used a brand name that Australians would recognize.
6
and Elke
(let's see if this comment survives 12 hours)
Considering how multicultural the US is, was hoping to find in the corners, next to the PANCAKES, on my PLATE either 'blini' with a big dollop of caviar(salmon roe) or 'blintzes' with sour cream and blueberries. Out west, would look for flapjacks with real maple syrup.
Starting tomorrow, somewhere in Canada, you might ask for a real high stack of whatever.
Chacun a son gout. C'EST LA VIE.
Au revoir.
2
@Robert
Arepas.
2
Won’t be having a *high* stack any time soon, je vais m'en tenir au vin.
For those not aware, cannabis became legal in Canada today.
Eponymous sugary solutions I don't do. (Sorry Jemima and Jack, or even Ringer's Lactate). Why not authentic, 10-letter MAPLESYRUP? IHOP(e) this makes sense.
PAT was also the sexually ambiguous SNL character, which would've been my clue choice.
Would rather have an Italian beef hero with smoked provolone, broccoli RABE, dipped in JUS, anyway.
1
@BillKos
I'm with you. Good syrup comes from a tree, not a cane field or a food lab.
3
I'm too old to have known HUNGRYJACK from childhood pancakes, and even if we would eat non-tree syrup now, our home cannot take advantage of a microwaveable plastic bottle.
Pancakes or arepas from scratch (no gluten for my wife) and syrup from trees. Latest syrup was a house gift from a friend from Burlington (VT, not IA) from Square Deal Farm. You don't need a Vermont connection to try it:
https://squaredealfarm.org/
One of my stronger memories is from decades ago, when I was in my first full-time job and doing the shopping at Kroger's. I was looking at a jug of "syrup" that cost a buck or two, and on the shelf above it a jar of maple syrup that cost $15. I was still rolling coins to take to the bank, and that price difference was so stark that I was stuck in that aisle, wrestling in distress. Then the thought came: if I buy the cheap imitation stuff, I won't use it. If I buy the real expensive thing, I will enjoy it. An important life lesson learned in the syrup aisle: pay for what you want, and enjoy it.
I thought it stacked up nicely, if a bit easily. It's too bad this didn't run on Shrove Tuesday, the day of the annual Liberal, KS vs. Olney, UK pancake race.
3
@JayTee
I like the Shrove Tuesday thought, even though I don't understand the race reference and am not familiar with either of the locations.
1
Well, it's been a while since we saw these good guys. I wonder how tony it was for Patrick to put his name right up top.
The resonance between the game of Life yesterday - three theme clues that all pointed toward the unwritten "Life", with a revealer of "That's Life!" - and this game today - three identical fills with a side order of "C'est la vie!" - well, it pretty much had to be on Will's mind, putting these puzzles side by side. Even "In Trouble" held an echo of last weekend.
4
David,
Will will go three for three?
Thursday is i-cumin in...
Marvelous construction. Three pancakes not only stacked on top of each other but one on the very top, one of the very bottom, and one in the middle. And then the PAT on top and the PLATE on the bottom with HUNGRYJACK waiting on the side. I wonder what they sacrificed from a constructor's standpoint to achieve all that? SNELL and KAA anyone?
2
Yes, I agree, pretty easy for a Wednesday, and I am complaining just a bit...
2
This was a short stack, but I had it down PAT. I hope the comments system STAYSSANE today. I wondered JUS a bit what word for a sick or injured person would be the entry for "Hospital patron." Later in the week, would TRYON be clued to Tom or a park? Keep the FAITH. SEEYA.
3
@Barry Ancona
"Injuree" didn't fit.
Deadline,
You noticed that too, I see.
(Penny Lane? Hey Jude!)
Pretty easy for a Wednesday. Not that I'm complaining . . .
1
very fast and very simple! Cottoned on quickly to the triple repeat of PANCAKE which took all the starch out of the puzzle. There is a reason for most rules of thumb as is evident here!
OK, so the comment I submitted at 10:03 pm ET hasn't been accepted, much less posted. Trying now at 10:18 pm,
but the skinny blue bar at the bottom doesn't look good.
When I read the clue for PAT, it made me think of the recent princess on mattress on pea puzzle, and I wondered if PAT was going to reappear in the puzzle in various places, stacked on top of words like BISCUIT and TOAST. But seeing the stack of PANCAKEs forming was entertaining, instead.
When I first looked at the grid, I thought it might be some kind of science fiction robot creature type thing. But then PANCAKE! and syrup! It did feel easy--my finished time was very comparable to Mondays and Tuesdays--but that was okay, since (did I mention?) it was entertaining. And now I'm hungry.
5