Today's
Los Angeles Times crossword by Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke includes
"Cool duds!": NICETHREADS
Close to defeat: ONTHEROPES
Use one's influence: PULLSTRINGS
Membranes that vibrate: VOCALCORDS
"Clumsy oafs" is OXES. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the plural of "ox" as "oxes; also, ox" but the definition refers to the animal and not to a clumsy person. A group of clumsy people would certainly not be referred to as "oxen" so I have to conclude that "oxes" is the proper plural in this case. "Ox" is probably the only word which has different plural forms for referring to animals and referring to people.
Mike Buckley's
Daily News crossword includes
Mounts for cowboys: QUARTERHORSES
Charging for every little extra: NICKELANDDIMING
Showtime series named after an old fiction genre: PENNYDREADFUL
Lightest coins ever minted by the U.S., used in the late 19th century: THREECENTPIECES
The American Quarter Horse---so named because it excels at races of ΒΌ mile---is the most popular breed of horse in the United States. Because of their speed and ability to make quick turns, quarter horses are indeed favored by cowboys, not only for such ranch work as cattle roundups and cattle drives but also for rodeo competition. There is also a similar-looking shorter breed known as the Quarter Pony.
"Cry after 'Hi, honey!'" is IMHOME.....but when a man comes home from work and hollers "Hi, honey," is it really necessary for him to say "I'm home"? When the wife hears "Hi, honey," she
knows her husband is home.....unless
other men come to her home and call her "Honey." But that's none of my business.
The Universal crossword includes YARNSPINNER, TELLEROFTALES and BLATANTLIAR. So, with "threads" and "ropes" and "yarns" and the inference of cattle lassoing, I feel that I have been successful at tying up today's crosswords. And I hope that my making another bad pun doesn't leave anyone feeling fit to be tied.
