Welcome to Sunday Puzzle, a weekly series for people who enjoy light mental exercise spiced with politics, humor, and odd bits of trivia.
The theme over in our Saturday night companion series Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up for the past month has been good quotes, and that's the theme over here as well for tonight's JulieCrostic.
Also tonight: If you thought last week's One-Off puzzle from the gremlins was romantic, then you're in for a treat! The gremlins have added another verse, plus edited one of last week's lines to make it even more romantic.
Both puzzles await, just below the hand-holding worms...
First up (because the gremlins insisted):
Last week the gremlins contributed their idea of a special romantic Valentine's puzzle to the monthly potluck puzzle party. It's a One-Off puzzle based on a very romantic song which the gremlins insist they've made even more romantic with their alterations.
JoeXM solvedthe puzzle last week but posted a helpful clue rather than the answer, so you've got another chance to solve it if you'd like.
And as a bonus, the gremlins decided to include another verse from the song, as well as to edit one of the lines of their previous version to make it still more romantic (if that's possible).
After all, squealed one of the gremlins as she presented me with their updated version, what could be more romantic than a, um, 'rod' that's so tiny it's invisible to the naked eye unless you're standing right next to its owner?
And she blushed, but I'm not sure if that was from thinking about tiny rods, thinking about naked eyes, or thinking about standing close to someone. Gremlins are hard to figure out sometime.
But their puzzle shouldn't be hard to figure out, especially not with the clues the gremlins provided last week and which JoeXM provided last week and last night. (And if you don't know how One-Off puzzles work, that's explained in last week's diary as well.)
Last week's the gremlins attributed the song to Floor Coverers (who did a very well-known cover of the song). This week they're attributing it to Cain's Talking Frogs. But, as I noted last week, the song was actually written by Not As Much Stick and Dismount from King and Colbert.
"Asshole Variety Exists"
by Cain's Talking Frogs
Asshole variety exists,
Sex partner. Everything this evening,
Sex partner -- everything.
Noise from Britney Spears and Rush Limbaugh is audible.
The definition of cruelty is something you're aware of.
Simply you, me, plus an awareness only we have.
We're alone; moreover, my fingers are touching something sticky.
Simply having your body in my grip could be.
Therefore, enumerate males with great attention to detail.
Position yourself very near, else rod won't be visible.
Define average!
(Ointment doesn't match the definition.)
Sole noise henceforth causing panic
Occurs at time of my crying softly into puzzle-solver's hearing organ,
"French coin makes me very happy
In favor of Medgar-Carradine pairing!"
Asshole variety exists,
Sex partner. Everything this evening,
Sex partner -- everything.
Listener's ears are capable of detecting noises made by Romney and Palin, who care deeply about each other.
.....
Therefore, enumerate males with great attention to detail.
Position yourself very near, else rod won't be visible.
Define average!
(Ointment doesn't match the definition.)
Sole noise henceforth causing panic
Occurs at time of my crying softly into puzzle-solver's hearing organ,
"French coin makes me very happy
In favor of Medgar-Carradine pairing!"
Asshole variety exists,
Sex partner. Everything this evening,
Sex partner -- everything.
Humans exactly identical to you and me do romantic relationships poorly now.
Second up: tonight's JulieCrostic!
Before we get to tonight's JulieCrostic, though, here are some NOTES FOR NEWCOMERS REGARDING JULIECROSTICS:
JulieCrostics are a special kind of acrostic puzzle, named in honor of Julie Waters who started the Sunday Puzzle series here a little over 7 years ago. If you're not familiar with how JulieCrostics work you can find a detailed explanation inlast night's Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up.
If you're new you should be warned that we have some mischievous gremlins who like to tamper with the Sunday night puzzle clues. In particular you should keep in mind:
* you can't trust the clue capitalization;
* you can't trust the clue punctuation;
* sometimes you can't even trust the word spacing.
The gremlins also like bundling the clues into tidy little groups of 3, regardless of how many answers there actually are per row. If the number of clues doesn't divide evenly by 3, they add a space-filler clue or two at the end to fill out the final bundle.
A small request: please don't put any any spoilers in the comment subject lines. Use the subject line of comments to identify what your comment will be about but keep any guesses as to clue answers or the verticals confined to the comment itself. That way folks who are still trying to crack a clue for themselves won't inadvertently see the answer before they're ready to see it. Thanks!
Okay, I think that covers all the basics. Here are the clues for tonight's puzzle. Have fun, and I hope to see you in comments!
1. residue
2. vilify
3. I'm pertinent
4. candy brand
5. large Will
6. often found in bed
7. over, used
8. makes very happy
9. vilify
10. kind of drop
11. take care of
12. dark white, or gray
13. another name for Shapiro
14. rifle bag
15. often found in drains
16. kind of law
17. rather
18. kind of bar
19. macabre
20. moved with zigs and zags
21. famous bell
22. kind of gas
23. one who records
24. 22's relation to 10
25. access giver
26. pick pockets
27. observed
28. foolish gay
29. strategy game
30. primary
31. psyche
32. what Tea Party members have in abundance
33. deposit 50 in Barclays