Wed., 12/3 Venzke & Grabowski

[magus]

THEME:   anagrams of LANEP start random phrases, but the theme is covert
   
GOOD ONES:    
Verse starter?   UNI   
Works on a sub   EATS   
Get in on the deal   ANTE   
   
BTW:
Seems a waste of two good constructors' efforts.
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

In crossword puzzles, the majority of the most commonly-used words begin with a vowel. Today's puzzle included ten such words: ALOT, AMP, ANTE, APU, ELI, ERA, EVE, IRA, ODE and OPIE.

The answer to "Time After Time singer" was Cyndi LAUPER, but Chris Montez had a 1966 hit with that title. MONTEZ would have also fit...but of course the intersecting words wouldn't have made sense.

The puzzle included POLOPONIES. I immediately thought of an episode of The Honeymooners in which Ed Norton is helping Ralpk Kramden rehearse for a play at the Raccoon Lodge. Norton reads from the script, "I don't possess a mansion, a villa in France, a yacht or a string of palopponies." Ralph questions the word, then looks at the script and says, "That's polo ponies!"

[magus]

Amazing!  I thought about Jackie Gleason's mispronunciation of POLO PONIES.  Did you see it first run or are you as old as I am?

[Thomps2525]

I was six years old when The Honeymooners originally aired (1955-56) and it's the first show I remember watching. If my parents went out on a Saturday evening, I'd stay with my grandmother and we'd both watch the show. It was one of her two favorite programs. She also liked Roller Derby. Even to this day, The Honeymooners has always been my favorite tv series. I guess you could say it was "imprinted" on me.

"Look at this! Your drawer is full of clothes! My drawer has only one pair of pants! Why?"
"One pair of your pants is all that will fit in that drawer!"

[magus]

Thanks, Rewind, for not pointing out the misstatement in my question: I meant "rerun" and not "first run."

As for "The Honeymooners," I believe the series followed one of the skits from "The Jackie Gleason Show."  Anyway, I seem to remember that it was on the Gleason show that I first heard the "poloponies" skit.

And it was the band SLADE I referred to as a late 60's group.  I was wrong about the name and about the date --- so I wouldn't rely too heavily on my recollection of the Gleason skit.

[Thomps2525]

Slade was best known for the 1984 hit Run Runaway and for recording the original version of Mama Weer All Crazee Now, which later became a hit for Quiet Riot. I've never seen WEER or CRAZEE in a crossword puzzle. Maybe someday a constructor will make a puzzle that includes misspelled song titles.

The Honeymooners began in 1951 as a sketch on the DuMont Network's Cavalcade Of Stars program. Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were joined by Pert Kelton, who played Alice. In 1952, when Gleason got his own weekly series on CBS, the Honeymooners sketches continued with Audrey Meadows as Alice and Joyce Randolph as Norton's wife Trixie. The regular Honeymooners series began on October 1, 1955, and lasted just one year. Incidentally, DuMont paid Gleason $1600 a week. CBS lured him away by offering $8000 a week---a considerable increase!