Today's accomplished authors have teamed up on a clever theme, with a handful of impressive clues & answers somewhat lost among other, crummier ones. The three, even-length four-letter words of the reveal required an oversized, 15 x 16 grid, with only two fills that are unique (°). We have circles that, IMO, might not have been necessary in this instance, as the "ends meet" hint seems to be enough - and it's Friday; so let us solvers work through the challenge~! A mere ten 3LWs, a handful of names, a couple that did not need to be clued as such, no Natick crossings as far as I can see, but a little too much dreck - and I can't fault the constructors, since some of the clues may have been "editorialized". The themers and reveal;
17. *Get one over on: PULL A PRANK ° - "PU-NK" - I am not a fan of shows that belittle people for the sake of a gag; while Candid Camera was light and funny, the current "in that vein" kind of shows such as Punk'd or Jackass, just seem cruel and immature - another commentary here
23. *Action blockbuster with several sequels: THE TERMINATOR - "TH-OR" - I have seen most of the Aaaahnald series movies, none of the MCU ones - I find the excessive use of CGI waaay too much
46. *Antioxidant-rich treat: DARK CHOCOLATE - "DA-TE" - the fruit, but the 'going out' meaning of "date" could be interpreted as "a treat" - not sure about the antioxidant part though . . .
56. *Chin-wag: CHEW THE FAT - "CH-AT" - I almost went with this as my title last week, on the "speak up" crossword theme, but "chew" doesn't quite have a homonym I could effectively use
35. With 36- and 37-Across, get by, or how to find a second answer to each starred clue: MAKE
36. See 35-Across: ENDS
37. See 35-Across: MEET - as the two-letter 'ends' of the themers 'meet' to create a second word with the same meaning - I did enjoy this as a theme concept
Bure Mot Theit Ware's
ACROSS:
1. Android, for one: ROBOT - I do the Downs first, ONUS was in place; "PHONE" was not gonna work
My two favorite androids - C-3PO and Marvin, from The Hitchhiker's Guide...
6. Cat's eye, often: SLIT - At first I thought "meh.", but it turns out that the species at 25D. has round pupils; so does the Pallas Cat of Asia
10. Genesis name: ADAM - AND - 33D. Genesis name: SEGA - clecho, but not the same Genesis; the second one is the gaming console - names #1 & #2
14. Dazzled: IN AWE - Twurd - and our weekly dupe, this time from Wednesday.
15. Goals for some Olympians: TENS - Score. Golds, Silvers, Medals, etc., did not fit
16. Frozen Four game: SEMI - vague; Friday - a round in college hockey finals. Thanks for the SO Moe~!
19. Mountain abode: CABIN - another negative temperature day here in Tolland, CT - which is giving me CABIN fever - I can't get certain projects done when it's this cold, even down in the garage . . .
20. Bilingual subj.: ESL - English (as a) Second Language
21. Touch off: CAUSE
22. Handle: MANAGE - this filled entirely via perps for me
25. Going-out outfits?: PAJAMAS - as in putting "out" the light and sleeping
28. World-weary: BLASÉ - Frawnche
29. Annual Queens sporting event: US OPEN - Ah. I read this as "Queen's", as in the royal persona, thinking maybe POLO . . . but no~! It's the borough of NYC, where the tennis tournament is played
30. "Let's see if you're bluffing": "I CALL." - poker
32. Wanders around ORD?: TSA - Good one - the Wand-ers of the Transportation Security Admin., working at Chicago's O'Hare airport, code abbr (ORD)
38. Big primate: APE
39. Enclosures in a 19-Down: LOCKS - AND - 39D. Highlands waters: LOCHS - I am ambivalent on words spelled this closely in crosswords
41. Nutty Alpine cheese: ASIAGO - filled via perps
43. Rushing sound: WOOSH - my spelling is WHOOSH, Wich is WHrong
45. Women's liberal arts college in Atlanta: SPELMAN - name #3, spelled wrong (😜); author Geoffrey works in Atlanta - here's his last LA Times contribution and the write-up from HuskerG
50. Actress Cuthbert: ELISHA - name #4
51. Lingering scents: ODORS
52. Penny prez: ABE - abbr in the clue, abbr in the ans - name(ish)
55. Ultrasound subject: FETUS - First Extra-Terrestrial of the United States~?
24. Chicago Booth degs.: MBAs - I had no idea what "Booth" meant; the university website; name(ish)
25. Big mountain cat: PUMA - A.K.A. "cougar" - two others 'cats' that fit: Lion and ???? - see below
26. "Right this second!" letters: A.S.A.P. - again, the blasé, cliché, mis-representation of STAT
27. Part of a crack team?: JOKEWRITER - OK, kinda funny
30. Doodle medium: INK - meh
31. LP successors: CDs - or,did cassette tapes, and even eight-tracks, 'succeed', as in "follow"~?
34. Oodles: ATON - one of the two the most over-used crossword Twurds - ALOT being the other
36. Fun word to shout into a canyon: ECHO
37. Unit with Roman and "country" varieties: MILE - I know about a "country mile", as in 'longer than a typical distance', but was curious about the Roman one - the Wiki
40. Gp. concerned with NSFW material?: OSHA - I took the OSHA 30 hour course, and while it does have a harassment section, the government 'group' is more about safety; hence the "S" in the acronym Occupational Safety and Health Administration, so 'meh'
41. In pieces: APART - in keeping consistent, this should be: one piece = A PART
42. Free throw, e.g.: SET SHOT - Basketball, which I don't care for
44. "Fine, whatever": "OKSURE." - Twurd
45. At a snail's pace: SLOWLY
46. Clear up, as a windshield: DEFOG - I had DE-ICE
47. Naproxen brand: ALEVE - it was a toss-up between this WAG and ADVIL; name(ish)
49. Scott who wrote "Island of the Blue Dolphins": O'DELL - I had no clue; more here - name #8
52. Way off: AFAR - "The sheriff is A NEAR~!" - Blazing Saddles
"No, dagnubbit, the sheriff is . . . " Now that's NSFW~!
53. Like Mr. Johnson on "Abbott Elementary": BALD - oof. Friday cluing, his IMDb - name(ish)
54. Site with a Home Favorites section: ETSY - good WAG on my part
Highlighted in red
56. Fiscal exec: CFO - Chief Financial Officer
57. Flop __: period of setbacks, in slang: ERA - no clue, but I shoulda guessed; at least it's a new clue for this tired answer. Below is what came up first in a Google search - commentary on our Social Media obsession; it's a bit annoying, but spot on . . .
Flop Era - Akita Neru
Splynter
Grid Flow 33.4
From 25D. - "Lynx"
Notes from C.C.:
The ORCAS season is
here. I'm so happy that our own Sumdaze (Renee) has been nominated for
Best Crossword Commentary. This year, all of the ORCAs-nominated puzzles
will be available together in one special pack. The voting is open there through midnight Thursday, February 19.
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