Fri., 10/17 Pancho Harrison

[magus]

THEME:   Song titles with missing prepositions that must be read literally
   
GOOD ONES:    
Gaye/Wells hit… aptly    ONCE A TIME [the song is "Once Upon a Time" and the answer (down) has the word ONCE upon TIME]   
Midler hit … aptly   MY WINGS WIND [the song is "Wind Under My Wings" and the answer (down) has WIND under WIND]   
Neapolitan kin   SPUMONI [I thought cities not pastry]   
Dante's love   AMORE [I thought Beatrice not language]   
   
BTW:   
I thought the cluing throughout was particularly good, except for:   
   
Two sheets to the wind?   TIPSY [the idiom translates to "very drunk," but tipsy means only a little drunk --- and why the question mark?]   
   
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[ktoonces]

I thought this was a great puzzle too.
The Bette Midler song was "Wind Beneath My Wings".
I have always heard "drunk" as being three sheets to the wind so two sheets would be tipsy.

[Thomps2525]

On sailing ships, the ropes that secure the sails are called "sheets." When three of the four sheets come loose, the sail flaps wildly in the wind and the ship starts to rock and sway. I suppose drunks do the same thing: rock and sway.

In addition to Once Upon A Time and Wind Beneath My Wings, todays puzzle also included Time In A Bottle (ATIMEBOTTLE) and Moon Over Miami (MOONMIAMI). All four theme answers were vertical. I've been coming up with hundreds of other song titles that would fit, such as Blue On Blue (BLUEBLUE), Time After Time (TIMETIME), Upside Down (EDISPU), You're In My Heart (MYYOUREHEART)  and Tangled Up In Blue (BLDELGNATUE). A hoirizontal answer could be TEG, for Get Back.

Today's puzzle is the fifth in two weeks to include SSTS. This time the clue was "Droop-nosed fliers."

[ktoonces]

Funny, I just remarked to my husband that I really didn't know what "three sheets to the wind" meant. Having served in the Navy, he explained it to me the same way.

[Thomps2525]

Sailors don't call ropes "ropes." Depending on what they're used for, they are "sheets" or "halyards" or "lanyards" or "bobstays" or.....well, you can learn about the different ropes at http://phrontistery.info/nautical.html

And here is the 1978 country hit by Jacky Ward and Reba McEntire, Three Sheets In The Wind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJiNKw3vV9I

We learn a lot on the Cruciverb site!

[magus]

I think you're right, ktoonces, about two sheets to the wind --- didn't occur to me how clever the clue really is.

LARewind --- went to the site you provided but neither rope nor line appears.  I read Chapman's when I sailed, and as I recall, sailors use rope generically and depending on its use it can be a sheet, halyard, or line.

[Thomps2525]

Ahoy, Ensign magus, belay that gab! That website lists all nautical terms, not just the different types of rope. After ye finish swabbing the foredeck, ye can check the list more thoroughly. Here are the first two "ropes" on the list:

bobstay - rope used on ships to steady the bowsprit
boltrope - strong rope stitched to edges of a sail

After ye find the rest of 'em, report to the galley. Ye'll be peelin' spuds for tonight's dinner.