Monkey Business

Please forgive the mess I've made of today's puzzle. Sometimes I fill in the wrong squares. That's what I get for doing it in pen.

I've named this post after the Marx Brothers' 1931 comedy and in honor of Billie Truitt's puzzle, which is called "Monkeying Around." The theme answers are below:

17A: MONKEY business (SHENANIGANS)
61A: Makes a MONKEY out of (EMBARRASSES)
11D: Grease MONKEY (CAR MECHANIC)
25D: MONKEY wrench, so to speak (OBSTRUCTION)

Monkeys are known to be intelligent and mischievous creatures. Personally, I think they make too much noise. There have been a lot of famous monkeys throughout history, both in real life and in the movies. Many countries have used monkeys in their space programs. There are too many to list here. In literature, monkeys are featured in countless books. There was the band the Monkees (although spelled differently) and there is currently one called the Arctic Monkeys. The monkey is also a symbol of worship in Buddhism and other religions. In the Chinese Zodiac calendar, the next Year of the Monkey will be in 2016 (that's two years from now). Did you also know there was a store devoted to Curious George merchandise in Harvard Square? It's the only store of its kind. In addition, the label Paul Frank uses a monkey as its logo.

Alphabet soup:

19A: Highways: Abbr. (RDS)
28A: Police alert, for short (APB)
39A: Spanish Miss (SRTA)
62D: Qty. (AMT)

Lots of angry words today:

15A: Irritate (ANNOY)
32A: Irritating one (PEST)
36A: Deception (SHAM)
45A: Sour mood (SNIT)
46A: Cry of disgust (UGH)


These words go well with the continued cold weather and snow we are supposed to get tomorrow.

Peter Drucker (1909-2005) is the author of today's cryptoquote:

Peter Drucker

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.

Peter Drucker was a management consultant and professor who was known as the "man who invented management." He studied the ways humans organized and interacted with each other. He predicted many business developments of the 20th century, including privatization, the rise of Japan as an economic power, the importance of marketing, branding and innovation, and the emergence of the Information Age.

Today's JUMBLE shows a picture of a couple buying what looks like a Christmas tree. The caption reads "When he spotted the perfect evergreen tree at the nursery, he _____."

Word list:

DOBUN = BOUND
NORIY = IRONY
FORIPT = PROFIT
MEEALF = FEMALE

Scrambled solution = ONDIRPTFE
Solution = PINED FOR IT

Isn't it a little early to be thinking about Christmas? After all, it was just three months ago.

That's all for today. I have to catch up on postcard writing then I will veg out for the rest of the night.

Till tomorrow. . ..

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick