Ella Dershowitz followed in her father's footsteps and constructs crossword puzzles. Wait, that's not right. She's was inspired by her dad to become an actress! Hmm, that's not right either. Well, you can look up Alan Dershowitz, but in the meantime, Ella keeps providing entertainment for us.
11D. Engage in some strength training, or what this puzzle's circled letters do:
LIFT WEIGHTS. The revealer sort of tells us that the WEIGHTS will LIFT i.e. spell vertically from the bottom up.
7D. Skeptical remark:
YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS. STONE, from the Imperial System used Britain.
9D. Key influencers?:
PIANO TEACHERS. TON, from U.S. Customary and Imperial Systems. Also a great clue!
18D. Cartesian concept that questions the reality of waking life:
DREAM ARGUMENT. GRAM, from the Metric System. A DREAM ARGUMENT
is a philosophical thought experiment that questions whether we can distinguish waking reality from a highly vivid dream.24D. "Can you believe this scam?":
WHAT A RACKET. CARAT, from the Metric System specifically for gemstones.
This puzzle was hard enough with the hidden weights being presented vertically and upside down. It would've been near impossible without the circles. For instance, if you somehow caught the theme, you might confusingly note that 7D also has TON (part of S
TONE) inside of it.
On the plus side of the scale, I like how these units of mass are typically used to measure different things, from cargo to gems, and they range from very large to very small. I'd have liked her to toss in a DRAM (Apothecary) or GRAIN (Troy weight) to add a variety of measuring systems.
Let's see how the rest balances out:
Across:1. Jazzy improvisation:
RIFF. I wrote SCAT, and was off to a roaring stop!
5. Taylor-Joy of "The Queen's Gambit":
ANYA. In the popular mini-series, ANYA played a pawn who was rooked.
9. Whimper:
PULE. Unknown, but PULE also refers to
a rare Serbian cheese made from donkey milk, and is considered the most expensive cheese in the world. You'll whimper when you see the price tag.13. Vulgar one:
BOOR.
14. Bird on the Canadian dollar coin:
LOON. These coins are often called
Loonies.
15. Hard to erase, perhaps:
IN INK.
17. "Today was rough":
I NEED A HUG.
19. High cost for the Super Bowl:
AD FEE. And up to $50k for great seats!
20. "... at the very least":
OR MORE.
21. Dame introduction?:
NOTRE. Have you met Our Lady, Notre Dame?
22. "Parks and Recreation" town:
PAWNEE. From the popular TV show that served as a springboard for Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman and Aziz Ansari.
25. Red friend of Cookie Monster:
ELMO. Also,
Natasha Lance Rogoff, author of Muppets in Moscow. |
| Have you also met my Red friend? |
27. Was first:
WON.
28. "Close enough":
ISH. This clue is okayISH.
29. Yemen port that faces the Somaliland port Berbera:
ADEN.
31. "I am in this meme":
IT ME. I'll never get used to this.
33. Checkpoint for the terminally on line?:
TSA. Fun clue #1. Transportation Security Administration at a terminal security line in an airport.
34. Banh mi spread:
MAYO.
35. Fashion week focus:
DESIGN. This year, their focus was on the historic 100+ degree heatwave in Paris. Models were misted and given cooling towels, ice packs and folding fans to keep from passing out, especially when showcasing the winter collections.
 |
| "Hot" couture? |
38. Health insurance giant:
AETNA.
40. Update from a Lyft driver:
ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
42. Big mad and not hiding it:
AGGRO. A
slang abbreviation for aggravation or aggression.43. Floor connectors:
STAIRS.
45. Architect's constraint, for short:
SPEC. Specifications are important!
47. Feminine pronoun:
HER.
48. Meaty sauce:
RAGU.
49. Engrave on glass:
ETCH.
50. Kilt companion:
TAM. They were plentiful on Miami Beach last week. Go USA!
51. HS fundraiser:
PTA. A Parent Teacher Association may hold a high school fundraiser, such as a car wash or a bake sale.
53. Very, informally:
UBER. This is a very nice taxi, usually.
55. Ocean escapades?:
HEISTS. Danny Ocean's gang robbed casinos in the
Ocean's Eleven film franchise. Ocean was originally played by Frank Sinatra, and later by George Clooney.
57. Command to attack:
SIC 'EM.
59. Middle-distance runners:
MILERS.
61. Bracelet spot:
ANKLE.
62. Potbelly that needs constant feeding?:
COAL STOVE. Ye olde potbelly STOVE...or the family pig from Hooterville.
 |
| Arnold Ziffel on Green Acres |
66. Oktoberfest souvenir:
STEIN.
67. Bread for an Italian sandwich?:
EURO. Fun clue #2.
68. Boo-boo:
OWIE.
69. "Like, yesterday":
STAT.
70. "The Pat McAfee Show" network:
ESPN. Former NFL punter Pat McAfee highlights the day's top stories in sports.
71. Turow book set at Harvard:
ONE L. OK, class. We went over this last Thursday and it'll be on this week's test.
Down:1. Sac fly result:
RBI.
2. Atom with a sign:
ION. IONS may be positive or negative, denoted by + and
- signs.
 |
| Atom Ant with signs |
3. Adversary:
FOE.
4. Refrigerant trademark since the 1930s:
FREON. DuPont Freon®. It's a gas, gas, gas!
 |
| The Stones are cool! |
5. Tree-lined walkway:
ALAMEDA. The Spanish word ALAMEDA can also mean a public promenade. The city of ALAMEDA, Calif. was the original west coast terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad, which could be thought of as America's first major cross-country promenade.
6. NYC nabe below Union Square:
NOHO. The neighborhood North of Houston [Street] in Lower Manhattan, New York City.
7. [theme]
8. Figure in a halo:
ANGEL. Figure in Halo: CHIEF, the most popular action figure from the Halo video game.
9. [theme]
10. Go back a step:
UNDO. CTRL + Z on a PC keyboard, Command + Z on a Mac.
11. [theme]
12. First page of el calendario:
ENERO. January is the first month on a Spanish calendar.
16. Peachy follower:
KEEN. Peachy (meaning excellent or fine) and KEEN (meaning enthusiastic or splendid), expressing a highly positive, cheerful state of being.
18. [theme]
22. Deli pockets:
PITAS. Watch your pockets in Delhi! Street thieves frequent busy markets and train stations there.
23. Portfolio piece:
ASSET.
24. [theme]
26. Prefix with day or way:
MID. Like half-day or halfway, but one letter shorter.
30. __ shadow:
EYE.
32. Umami enhancer, briefly:
MSG. MonoSodium Glutamate has generally been found to be safe and is healthier than table salt. It was stigmatized in
1968 when a doctor wrote a since debunked letter to a medical journal claiming he felt unwell after eating at a Chinese restaurant. I got sick after eating too much Easter chocolate as a kid. My mom thought it was some sort of reaction so she only got me white chocolate bunnies for years afterward while my brothers got the tasty real ones!
 |
| Don't bet on it! |
36. Dane introduction?:
GREAT. This clue is clechoISH with 21A.
The Great Dane is a massive, gentle German breed renowned as the "Apollo of Dogs." Buster sometimes thinks he's a Greek god.
 |
| It's good to be the king! |
37. Social rules:
NORMS.
39. Actress Vardalos:
NIA. NIA is a Canadian actress and screenwriter of Greek descent. You may remember her wedding.
41. Fitting:
APT.
44. Long sammich:
SUB.
46. Level of authority:
ECHELON.
51. Spots for education?:
PSAS. Fun clue #3. Public Service Announcements.
52. Subtle hair dyes:
TINTS.
54. Awards ceremony host:
EMCEE.
56. Childish comeback:
IS TOO. There are a lot of childish comebacks on the crossword playground.
58. Director Kazan:
ELIA. Mr. Kazan was described by the
NYT as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history."
60. Take part in an outdoor fantasy game:
LARP. Live Action Role-Play ranging from murder mystery dinner parties to massive weekend-long fantasy campaigns with hundreds of participants.
63. Possess:
OWN.
64. Contend (for):
VIE.
65. Nigiri topper never served raw:
EEL. I prefer nigiri, just a slice of fresh fish on a small mound of rice, over rolled sushi.
Have a safe and happy 4th, everyone!
Be good. RB
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