PADDED CLICHES IV

Can you translate this grandiose sentence into unpretentious English?

Consecutive anniversaries ultimately attenuate romantic inclinations.

(Possible) Answer:

In marriage, the years tend to diminish the passions. 

Credit:

The Enigma 

December, 2020 

LEXMAN

As time goes by 

PADDED CLICHES III 

The Word's The Thing

Dr. Louis D. Appel

Can you let the air out of these grandiloquent clues to reveal a common expression or cliche?

1. Ingested in the manner of an equine

2. Precise longitude and latitude of the infraction

3. Not adversely affected by abrasions

4. Occasioned the domicile to plummet

5. Phlegmatic but with certitude

6. Employ visual acuity with trepidation

7. Desiccated as pulverized airborne particles

8. Diffident and recoiling botanical specimen

9. Exceeding the umbra of uncertainty

10. In propinquity with an infernal entity and the pelagic azure

Answers:

 

1. Ate like a horse

2. Scene of the crime

3. None the worse for wear

4. Brought down the house

5. Slow but sure

6. View with alram

7. Dry as dust

8. Shrinking violet

9. Beyond the shadow of a doubt 

10. Between the devil and the deep blue sea

PADDED CLICHES II

The Word's The Thing

Dr. Louis D. Appel 

 

Can you remove the bombast from each of these clues to reveal a common expression or cliche?

 

1. Inebriated as a polecat

2. Purloined the exhibition

3. Inundate your tribulations

4. Protrude like a tender pollex

5. Curtail a protracted narrative

6. Repose of those possessed of probity

7. Possessed of the equanimity of a specific gourd

8. Rotate the antithetical facet of your countenance

9. Precipitous reversal of one's course of ambulation

10. Tepid as the staff of life subjected to an electrical current 

Answers:

 

1. Drunk as a skunk

2. Stole the show

3. Drown your sorrows

4. Stick out like a sore thumb

5. Make a long story short

6. Sleep of the just

7. Cool as a cucumber

8. Turn the other cheek

9. Hasty retreat

10. Warm as toast

PADDED CLICHES I

The Word's The Thing

Dr. Louis D. Appel

Can you remove the bombast from each of these clues to reveal a common expression or cliche?

1. Diurnal advent

2. Exigent requisite

3. Incipient prodigy

4. Scrutinizing optic

5. Abhor as venom

6. Supplicate to demur

7. Unremitting surveillance

8. For amelioration or pejoration

9. Relegate the lupine creature from the portal

10. Remain abreast of prestigious personages possessed of a plebeian appellation

Answers:

 

1. Daybreak

2. Dire need

3. Budding genius

4. Watchful eye

5. Hate like poison

6. Beg to differ

7. Eternal vigilance

8. For better or worse

9. Keep the wolf from the door

10. Keep up with the Joneses

CLICHE COVER II
Credit: GAMES Magazine
May, 1988 (Pictured on cover)

Barking up the wrong tree
Crying wolf
Out on a limb
The walls have ears
Fly on the wall
Fly in the ointment
Head in the clouds
On Cloud Nine
In the bag
House of cards
Toe the line
Straight and narrow
Walk on eggs

Stick to your guns
Have a finger in every pie
Have one foot in the grave
Straight arrow
Put your money where your mouth is
Money talks
Snake in the grass
Full of beans
Cat and mouse
Cards on the tabel
Under the table
Pigheaded
Pull a rabbit out of a hat
Pain in the neck
Fish story
Fish out of water

Button your lip
Have a bee in your bonnet
Talk through your hat
Bend someone's ear
Talk turkey
Cut corners
Square meal
Little pitchers have big ears
Nail in the coffin
Pay the piper
Shoot fish in a barrel
Take candy from a baby
Out of the frying pan and into the fire
Fly off the handle
Cut through red tape
All thumbs

Hard-boiled
Half-baked
Chock-full
Take a powder
On the lam
Roll with the punches
Shoulder to the wheel
Run of the mill
Salt of the earth
At the drop of a hat
Sink your teeth into
Handle with kid gloves
Take the bull by the horns
Didn't bat an eye
Cat got your tongue?
Change of heart
Bone to pick
Neck of the woods
Back to square one
Back to the drawing board

Additions sent in by GAMES readers:
The end is near
Short on time
Time is on our side
One-track mind
End of the line
Icing on the cake
Blow your top
Fish out of water
Holding the bag
Bursting at the seams

CLICHE COVER   I
Credit: GAMES Magazine
February, 1983 (Pictured on the cover)

Take the cake
Time flies
Kick the bucket
Bite the bullet
Under the weather
Five o'clock shadow
Caught red-handed
Raining cats and dogs
Put the cart before the horse
Knight in shining armor
Put your foot in your mouth
Take the bull by the horns
Wear your heart on your sleeve
Wolf in sheep's clothing
Kill two birds with one stone
Behind the 8-ball
Famous last words
Stick in the mud
Bury the hatchet
Ace in the hole
On the fence
Pie in the sky
Blind as a bat
Sign of the times
Behind the times
Over the hill
Chasing rainbows
Rob Peter to pay Paul
Too big for your britches
Chip off the old block
Square peg in a round hole
Train of thought
Flip you lid
Holy mackerel
Crocodile tears
Rule of thumb
Shadow of a doubt
Add insult to injury
Purple with rage
A fine kettle of fish
Pot calling the kettle black
Open a can of worms
Fight tooth and nail
Let the cat out of the bag
Don't cry over spilled milk
Burn the candle at both ends
Come down off your high horse
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Talk out of both sides of your mouth
The light at the end of the tunnel

CLICHE CHAOS
Credit: GAMES Magazine - Sept. 2004
Jennifer Orehowsky  (adapted)

[Though often maligned for their over-use, the fact that cliches are over-used attests to their importance in enabling us to more fully express ourselves.] JA

So, just go with the flow and use the opening word(s) below to complete these garden-variety,  tried and true cliches:

1. A drop
2. Think outside
3. Push
4. Home is
5. If it ain't
6. Chip
7. The best thing
8. Beat
9. Cream
10. Once in
11. Knock
12. Stick in
13. Not my
14. Grist for
15. Red
16. Stuck in
17. Made in
18. Tools of
19. Rake in
20. Shake like
21. Leave
22. Freedom
23. Run
24. There's no

Answers:

1. A drop in the bucket 
2. Think outside the box
3. Push the envelope 
4. Home is where the heart is.
5. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
6. Chip off the old block
7. The best thing since sliced bread
8.  Beat around the bush
9. Cream of the crop
10. Once in a blue moon
11. Knock on wood
12. Stick in the mud
13. Not my cup of tea
14. Grist for the mill
15. Red as a beet
16. Stuck in a rut
17. Made in the shade
18. Tools of the trade
19. Rake in the dough
20. Shake like a leaf
21. Leave well enough alone.
22. Freedom isn't free. 
23. Run of the mill
24. There's no place like home

Alternate cliches:
3. When push comes to shove
7. The best things in life are free.
8. Beat the bushes
13. Not my job 
24. There's no such thing as a free lunch.