Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. The first word of each theme answer (Baloney, Bunk, Crock, Rot) is synonym for nonsense or foolishness.
17-Across. * Simple lunch box meal: BALONEY SANDWICH.
27-Across. * Dude ranch quarters: BUNK HOUSE.
32-Down. * Slow cookers: CROCK POTS.
35-Down. * Suffer forever: ROT IN HELL.
62. With 68-Across, sprinter's infraction, or what the answer to each starred clue has: FALSE. // And 68-Across. 68. See 62-Across: START. And together these answers give us a False Start.
Today's puzzle was crafted by C.C., our blog host. A nice puzzle to start off the new month.
Across:
1. Corn or sugarcane: CROP. There are a lot of sugarcane fields in Louisiana.
5. Best possible: IDEAL.
10. Seethe with anger: FUME.
14. Shout: YELL.
15. Monte __: Monaco resort: CARLO. Monte Carlo is where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Monaco is one of 5 European "micro-States" and Monte-Carlo is a district of Monaco.
16. "Already handling this": ON IT!
20. Newsroom worker: EDITOR.
21. In abundance: GALORE.
22. Manhattan liquor: RYE. While you are reading this, I am in Manhattan, although if you are doing the puzzle in the morning, I am probably not drinking one. A Manhattan is a cocktail traditionally made with rye, sweet vermouth and bitters.
23. "About me" blurb: BIO. As in Biography.
25. "I'll return in a sec," in texts: BRB. Textspeak for Be Right Back.
26. Negative link: NOR. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep the mail carrier from delivering your mail. That was then. Today, my mail carrier never makes it to my house before it's quitting time.
30. Folded street food: TACO. // Not to be confused with 41-Across. Art colony near Santa Fe: TAOS. Although you can probably eat a Taco in Taos.
33. Nabe with some signs in Hangul: K-TOWN. Short for Koreatown / 코리아타운 . Hand up if you knew that Hangul is the writing system of the Korean language.
34. Very dry, as champagne: BRUT. "Brut" champagne, meaning "dry" in French, is generally considered high-quality style of champagne.
38. Work hard for: EARN.
39. Spicy: HOT.
40. Trickle slowly: OOZE.
42. Unenthusiastic: TEPID.
44. Chiwere speakers: OTOE. Chiwere is a Siouan language. The Otoe are a Native American tribe of the Midwestern United States.
45. Board game with hexagonal tiles: CATAN. I am not familiar with this game.
47. Asian mushroom: ENOKI. Enoki mushrooms are long, thin, and white mushrooms with a mild, flavor and a crunchy texture. I have eaten them in Chinese Hot Pot.
49. More dawdling: POKIER. The Poky Little Puppy was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. It is still popular today.
51. "Oh, dang!": AW, SNAP!
54. "How ya doin'?": 'SUP.
55. Argument: DISPUTE.
59. Color gradation: HUE.
60. Tiny bit of matter: ATOM.
63. Big Pharma products: MEDS.
64. __-Brite: LITE.
65. Heads for the hills: FLEES.
66. Dart like a dragonfly: FLIT. Such beautiful creatures.
67. Sports jersey material: MESH.
69. Silicon Valley city Palo __: ALTO.
Down:
1. Prefix with crime or security: CYBER.
2. Fully prepared: READY.
3. Snowboarding jump: OLLIE.
4. Scheme: PLOT.
5. Skater's hangout: ICE RINK.
6. Calendar unit: DAY.
7. Hosp. triage spots: ERs. As in Emergency Rooms.
8. Arroz __ cubana: rice dish with a fried egg: A LA. Arroz a la Cubana a rice dish made with white rice, fried egg, and tomato sauce. Other, non-meat, ingredients may also be added.
9. Extended time period: LONG RUN.
10. Turkeys, e.g.: FOWL.
11. Workers' group: UNION.
12. Prefix meaning "tiny": MICRO-. The Federated States of Micronesia is made up of over 600 tiny islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
13. Vanish into the __: ETHER.
18. Fusion chain with a signature miso-glazed black cod dish: NOBU. This restaurant appeared in a recent puzzle. I ate at the Nobu in Vegas last summer with 4 others. It's not cheap to eat there.
19. Applies lightly: DABS.
24. "Moving right along ... ": OK, THEN ...
25. Pasta shape made with a pinch: BOW TIE. // And 53-Down. Basil-based sauce: PESTO. You might use Pesto Sauce on Bow Tie Pasta.
27. Art of growing miniature trees: BONSAI.
28. Free throw target: HOOP.
29. Novels read on screens: E-BOOKS. Although I have some ebooks, I much prefer reading a paper book.
30. Lunar festival in Da Nang: Tết. Tết is short for Tết Nguyên Đán. Tết is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The festival celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar and usually falls on January or February in the Gregorian calendar. The next celebration will be on February 16, 2026.
31. Battery size for some mice: AAA.
36. Aduba of "Mrs. America": UZO. Mrs. America was a television miniseries about the attempt to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Uzo Abuba (née Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba; b. Feb. 10, 1981) portrayed Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924 ~ Jan. 1, 2005) in the series.
 |
| Uzo Abuba and Shirley Chisholm |
37. Casual shirt: TEE.
42. Taxes on imports: TARIFFS. Tariffs have been in the news in recent days.
43. Procedure that can determine ancestry: DNA TEST.
46. "Chopped" host Allen: TED. I never watched Chopped, so was unfamiliar with Ted Allen (né Edward Reese Allen; b. May 20, 1965).
48. Be in debt: OWE.
49. Sacred hymn: PSALM.
50. Belly button that protrudes: OUTIE.
52. Financial review: AUDIT.
56. Seasoning in shrimp paste: SALT. Shrimp paste is a fermented condiment used in Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks.
57. Earnest request: PLEA.
58. Software customer: USER.
61. "I've seen better": MEH!
63. Drama prof's degree: MFA. As in a Master of Fine Arts.
Here's the Grid:
Notes from C.C.:
I made a puzzle to celebrate the 70th birthday of Tom Pepper, my brilliant collaborator, cherished friend, and hands-down the nicest Minnesotan you'll ever meet. Happy Birthday, dear Tom! Hope this puzzle is just a small part of the joy coming your way today.
You can also solve the puzzle here, slightly different setup. Let me know how the solve goes for you. You don't need to know Tom to solve this puzzle.
Constructed by Zhouqin (C.C.). Burnikel using the free crossword puzzle maker from Amuse Labs
43 comments:
For the most part,
this was a pretty easy solve. “Uzo” was all perps and it took me a minute to remember the “t” in “Catan,” but otherwise it was smooth sailing. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
CATAN and LITE-Brite were the only unknowns this morning. Where I grew up, they used brandy when making a Manhattan. ETHER was still used in the OR way back when my tonsils were yanked. I was old enough to remember it. EBOOKS are the only kind I read. I had the worst luck with Kindle. When #4 died, I switched to a Kindle app on my phone -- much better. Thanx, C.C. and Hahtoolah.
FIR without erasure, getting my mild WAG @ CATAN x TED.
I can't remember hearing or seeing OH SNAP before the internet was created to cure free time.
I've been through more process AUDITs than financial ones. I think that professional auditors are trained to never say "everything's perfect!"
All the medicos I know call it the ED, or Emergency Department. I wonder if it will ever catch on with the general public.
Can't pass up the reason to link the Eagle's big hit
The LONG RUN.
Thanks to CC for the fun puzzle, and to Ha2la for the fine review.
FIR. I found this to be a little crunchy for a Tuesday. Several unknowns that needed perps, and in a few cases a WAG.
I got the theme early on, but it seemed a bit forced.
I'm not a fan of vertical puzzles which may be why I found this to not be very enjoyable.
CC's grid has almost unheard of full rotational symmetry. Even being just a mirror image looks cool!
After my kids left the nest, my eldest came up with a idea for something to do when we got everyone together - board games. As a kid I grew up playing lots of them, from Monopoly to Risk, but I didn't know that new games are being developed all the time. #1 son would research them for popularity and playability, then bring one to our house for a fun Sunday. Board games, along with new advanced card games, became a favorite way to sit around the table and chat, with the game being only secondary. But the Settlers of CATAN is one of the best that we keep returning to.
The top show on Apple TV is Severence, a psychological thriller about separating work life from home life - innie vs OUTIE.
Took 4:41 today for me to get the joke.
I didn't know today's actress (Uzo) or Spanish dish, but I knew the Asian mushroom.
Brut crossing Uzo and Carlo crossing Ala seem rough, especially for a Tuesday.
Rabbit, rabbit.
UZO was all perps. (I admired Shirley Chisholm.) The T in TED and CATAN was successfully wagged. All three were unfamiliar to me.
Our kids enjoyed Lite Brite.
I have been a waitress in several restaurants which served cocktails. Manhattans with the traditional rye were popular. A few diners asked for a dry Manhattan or a bourbon Manhattan. I don't recall any orders for a brandy Manhattans, although there are many references for them
online.
I find bowtie pasta too doughy. I like the Italian name, farfalle, meaning butterfly. I have a lotof butterfly jewelry.
Not a difficult puzzle but it some unknowns. I never heard of CATAN and never watched CHOPPED so the "T" was just a guess. I only learned the name of actress UZO ADUBA recently watching the Netflix series RESIDENCE which I found a very fun watch. The reference to Micronesia brought back memories of stories a past girl friend told me of living on the army base at KWAJALEIN in the late 60's early 70's. He strongest memory was the need for powdered milk.
Susan your cartoons were wonderful, loved the Shakespeare cartoon and the bowtie pasta one.
Thank you both for the fun.
Good Morning, Crossword friends and Happy 70th to Tom Pepper!
CC gave me much more of a challenge than yesterday. Struggling to fill many mistakes and blanks with perp-aid. Nearly TITT but managed a FIR with one letter T: the game I never heard of until CW: CA_AN crossed with _ED the cook
Inkovers: onward/OKTHEN, tired/TEPID, nobi/nobe/NOBU, Korea/KTOWN . (Is Chinatown called Ctown?)
Expected “pasta” ending in the letter I. Anyway what we call BOWTIE pasta is Farfalle “butterflies” in Italian. A men’s BOWTIE is “il farfallino” or “papillon” the French word for 🦋. All commercial dried pasta products in boxes on the shelf are the same except for shape Consistency depends how long you boil them.
OUTIE (and Innies): for those following the series “Severance” love the show, the actors and the performances but after the season finale I still have no idea what’s going on. 🥺
As many times as they show up in a CW never remember ENOKI ‘shrooms 🍄 I BET They celebrate TET in HUE. ETHER or æther? (ether is fine)
Off to the airport back to reality.
Musings
-The theme and grid design were fun
-CA_AN/_ED was a potential natick but constructor Wendy Brandes mentioned it as a fav game of hers in a short BIO I found for her 6/22/24 puzzle
-Other obscurities went without a fuss
--Nebraska-produced sugar is not from CANES>
-GALORE: A surname for a Bond villainess :-)
Lemon, your "powdered milk" comment reminded me of a pair of teachers we met while I was serving on Guam. They took their summer off to visit Micronesia on a tramp steamer. On one island a missionary group had provided the women with tee shirts to cover their nakedness. The islanders were happy to comply, though new mothers cut holes in the tee shirts to facilitate nursing.
Good Morning:
I was pleasantly surprised to see CC’s byline today, as we just recently solved her Saturday offering. Today’s was a typical CC, i.e., a cute theme, a clean grid, very minimal pop culture, a low TLW count, and no obscurities. I didn’t see Mrs. America, but Uzo Aduba is forever etched in my memory, thanks to her outstanding performance in the Netflix series, The Residence, as Lemony mentioned. I highly recommend the series for its fun plot, great acting, and gorgeous replicas of the interior of the White House.
Thanks, CC, for a fun and smooth solve and thanks, Hahtoolah, for a blockbuster review and delightful comics. Favorites today were: Shakespeare ‘s Editor, “Ice” Skating, Bow tie Pasta, Bonsai Trolleys, DNA Test, and the Cat “Penguin”. I can’t imagine the time and effort you expend searching for these gems, but I appreciate it very much.
Happy Birthday, Tom Pepper, hope it’s a very special day for you! 🎂🎁🎈🎊🎉
Have a great day.
Fun puzzle from CC - apt for April Fool's Day
CATAN was originally known as Settler's of CATAN and got really popular when my daughter was starting college almost 20 years ago - but has been shortened. RB - my kids like to play all these involved card games now that CATAN seems mild in complexity, it takes me the whole game to figure out what the rules and endgame is
It had a LITE BRITE as a kid - I'm sure my mom hated it with all the little pieces which would get strewn everywhere
I use the ER and ED designation interchangeably
Thanks Susan for the fun blog
and Thanks CC for posting the birthday puzzle for Tom's 70th - that's a lot of TOMs in a puzzle- last fill was the Athleisure brand I had never heard of
I couldn't help thinking, who could CC possibly be thinking of to come up with 35 down? 42 down, ah! Never mind...
Had to switch to the Down clues to get started today, but perps moved everything along nicely. Thank you for the puzzle, C.C., and for the entertaining review, Hahtoolah! Never thought I'd see ROT IN HELL in a crossword puzzle. Thanks for that!
just in case my 1st post gets deleted... (and a silly theme link!)
Happy Birthday Tom!
(I looked at this cake and thought it must be still cold up in Minnesota...)
(Chilli Pepper...get it?)
Oh, gimme a break, all the other cakes were Dr. Pepper...
Terrific Tuesday. Happy April Fools Day. (TTP had an early April Fools joke last night!)
Thanks for the fun, C.C. and Hahtoolah.
I thought I FIRed, but arrived here to see that I had WAGged an S instead of an R in the cross of BRB and LONG RUN. (I’m weak in texting abbreviations, and I thought LONG sUN was more slang!)
But I did get the FALSE START theme (although I was agape at ROT IN HELL).
And any CW with TARIFFS in it is political for this Canadian. (But this CW was probably created long before January 2025.)
The NE corner caused me the most problem. I had Boil before FUME, and I couldn’t get “Teeming” to fit into 21A. My turkeys were Tom’s, and I really wanted to vanish into thin air. Eventually it was all sorted out.
C.C. gave us some slang today with SUP (MEH), AW SNAP.
Unknown-to-me names UZO, TED perped.
Granddaughter asked for CATAN for her birthday several years ago. We had been playing the Junior version with her.
My daughter’s LITE BRITE is still in the basement The grands like to use it (although the patter papers are getting fragile).
CSO to CopyEDITOR.
Happy Birthday to Tom Pepper.
Wishing you all a great day.
Hey Husker -- you need to fix the GALORE link!
This is the second time in 10 days that the Albany Times Union has published a puzzle that is not the one discussed on the Corner. That time, the puzzle reveal that was published the next day was the puzzle you had, not the one they had put in the paper
Todays puzzle by Stella Zawistowski begins with 1 across clue “Cloth that protects waves”.(Durag). . I’m curious to see the answers and where it is seen other than in the TU. Any suggestion? I know IM does not solve the puzzle on paper, but bilocohoes?
Another well constructed, smooth solving and fun CC puzzle. I have never heard of "Catan" nor "Nobu", but no problem with the perps. I too had to start with the Down clues to get started. Nice recap Ha2la. Happy Birthday Tom.
Didn't intend to comment today until I saw that C.C. was the constructor. Good job!
And thanks Cat for the usual Hahtoolian hilarity.
Some FAVS.
The theme for one, although I didn't associate it with April 1. It reminded me more of all the FALSEhoods circulating these days.
15A CARLO. This reminded me of Monte Carlo simulations, algorithms for computing probabilities.
45A CATAN. This was all the rage among my friends some years back and I played it once or twice but I never got into it.
32D CROCKPOT. Teri made a delicious crockpot stew yesterday with chicken thighs, potatoes, onions, and tomato sauce. Yum, yum!
10D FOWL. Great cartoon Susan! 🦃
35D ROT IN HELL. I'm shocked, truly shocked, that this got past the EDITOR! 😊
36D UZO. A homophone for OUZO, an anise flavored liqueur.
Cheers,
Bill
p.s. HBD Tom! 🎂🎉🎁
Speaking of “Fuming or non fuming” at the airport … More airport TSA ordeals
I should write short stories about TSA airport security experiences. One reason we got TSA precheck is our special needs daughter gets nervous and upset going through security. Has a hard time with taking shoes off etc. When we left Boston they were going to prevent her from flying because her “non drivers enhanced license” ID wouldn’t scan even though it always has before. My wife by some miracle had brought our passports as she knows how fickle TSA security can be. Going home now through TSA San Juan security of course there was no problem with scanning her license. But walking through xray they claimed one of her shoes set off the alarm. She’s made to remove both shoes and take them away. She gets upset and starts crying After a few minutes they hand them back. I ask. “So what’s wrong with the shoe?” and get a non answer. “It made the light” go off. “But why?” again “it made the light go off”. Then instead of letting her walk through xray again they put her in the round booth where she has a hard time raising her arms above her head.
It’s always something and the rules constantly change.
So now we don’t know if her ID will or won’t scan next time. And no idea what’s wrong with her shoes so need a new pair (they’re special order). Or what else they’ll come up with.
End of rant 🤨
Very easy but for the Naticks at catan/ted and uzo/otoe.
Hola! April Fool fun today although I was not fooled for a minute. I enjoyed the puzzle and had only one Natick at CATAN/TED. i guessed the T and I see others found it problematic as well. NOBU is a mystery and if we've had it before I don't recall it. I, too, was shocked to see ROT IN HELL!
I still don't have A/C but the weather is still cool and I'm so grateful as I won't get my new unit for another week.
Thank you, C.C. and Hahtoolah! Happy birthday, to Tom Pepper.
Ray-o- I feel so sorry for your daughter (and you and your wife) having to deal with this upsetting situation. It almost makes you want to stay home.
Such an ordeal for your daughter. I am so sorry she had that experience. It reminds me of an incident during the time all young men were eligible for the draft. A friend had explained his son was mentally challenged and could not serve in the armed services. They insisted that he show up at the draft board .It was clear, both visually and mentally, that he did not need a draft card. When told he must sign his name
Ray-0–Aah! When told he must sign his name and the board was told he could only write his first name, he bebegan printing it in large letter from the top of the page to the bottom. Bureaucracy!1
Always exciting to get a C.C. puzzle, and this one was again a delight! Thank you for this gift, C.C. And Hahtoolah your commentary is always a pleasure--thanks for that too.
Well, it seems like the guys on the ICE RINK got into a DISPUTE when one of them started to YELL a nasty 'ROT IN HELL', and the other one had to FLEE to the hills in despair. But after a LONG RUN of silence they made up and rejoined in a UNION, sharing a BALONEY SANDWICH and a TACO or two in the BUNK HOUSE. They then ended their good day with a PSALM.
Have a really good day too, everybody.
Big Easy
First, I finished it wrong. I didn't know Ted or Catan, and I made it Canon and Ned. UZO, K TOWN A LA, and LITE-Brite or unknowns that I solved by perps.
BALONEY is what everybody calls bologna. I never knew the correct name growing up. C.C. did a wonderful job on this puzzle and nobody can call a "FOWL" on her.
Yeah Gary. I was expecting a link to a flying circus!
WEES re CATAN/TED. WAG "T" turned out to be correct. Also DNK HANGUL or LITE-BRITE. I should be taken out back and thrashed for how long it took me to come up with CROP. Jeez, when it perped, a really hard V-8 can hit me. No idea why CROP wouldn't occur to me. 10 names, DNK 6. Other than those things a fun CW, thanx C.C. I did get the clever theme. As always, great write-up and cartoons, Hahtoolah. For some reason they do not get bigger when clicked on though. My struggling eyes....
I was trying to figure out how I knew NOBU, since I'm certain I've never been there. I finally remembered that back when I listened to Howard Stern, he and his top show mates used to go there quite often. They would talk about the fabulous food and service, and would thank Richie Notar for his hospitality. I suspect that they ate gratis in exchange for the mentions.
Hi All!
More bangers from C.C. & Hahtoolah! A fun puzzle and engaging expo. Thanks you both.
I thought the theme was IDEAL for 4/1.
WOs: Plan->PLOT, Tariffs (untie!)
ESPs: Nobu, Otoe as clued, Uzo, Ted
Fav: CYBER Security, of course ;-)
CATAN - I bought it at Christmas but still haven't played it.
Jinx beat me to The Eagles' LONG RUN so I'll have to go with Bat out of HELL since we probably won't see that word in the grid for a while :-)
How I learned to spell Bologna (No BOLONEY -- I'm not joking folks).
If I wasn't at work, I'd get HG's Ms. GALORE link for y'all ;-)
Cheers, -T
Thanks, CEDave! I want that cake!
I liked this puzzle but did not like the clues for ON IT, AW SNAP, SUP, OK THEN, and MEH. Happy birthday, Tom Pepper.
Thanks Jayce! I omitted...
Happy Birthday Tom Pepper!
Cheers, -T
GALORE LINK FIX! Thanks, Bill, I really miss the Preview function.
Musings
-The theme and grid design were fun
-CA_AN/_ED was a potential natick but constructor Wendy Brandes mentioned it as a fav game of hers in a short BIO I found for her 6/22/24 puzzle
-Other obscurities went without a fuss
--Nebraska-produced sugar is not from CANES
-GALORE: A surname for a Bond villainess
Fixed. I really miss the Preview function.
I'm starting to think HG is pulling an April Fool's on us w/ the GALORE link ;-)
-T
Thanks to C.C. for a fun 4/1 puzzle! I loved your grid!
Thanks to Hahtoolah for all the laughs! FAV cartoons were EDITOR, OOZE, ICE RINK, and PSALM. I am in awe of dragonflies, too. Oh, and the OLLIE video was fun to watch even though it is waaaay beyond my riding capabilities.
Happy 70th to Tom Pepper!
I just did C.C.'s puzzle for Tom. So clever!!
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