TITLE: SIDESHOW
C.C. supplies us with a tasty combination of second banana options as she slyly supplies SIDE DISHES that we might request at a restaurant. Further, the SIDES are on the SIDES of the theme fill. I was fortunate to have the circles you see in the grid below or would have probably needed the reveal. Of course it didn't help that I confidently entered SIDE ORDERS before some letter roulette at the bottom got me to "got 'er done" status.
I liked all of C.C.'s OffeRINGS and thought BEAUTY ICONS may have been the toughest to generate.
Yes, I do see the irony of having Husker Gary blog on a day where the real "foodies" here would have done so much better. C'est la vie!
Let's examine the theme answers, uh, SIDE BY SIDE:
17. Impressionist who was frequently a guest of Johnny Carson : RICH LITTLE - The man of a thousand voices OR a side that can be White, Black, Brown or even Jeweled Moroccan RICE Pilaf With Pistachio Nuts
24. Greek gatherings? : FRAT PARTIES - College soiress OR a side/appetizer that can be dressed up as Poutine
34. Statute that protects source confidentiality in journalism : SHIELD LAW - Law that keeps sources private OR the favorite SLAW at our house (I heard that Steve!)
50. Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly : BEAUTY ICONS - BEAUTY ICONS and not BLONDE ICONS OR this side that has three types of BEANS
58. Menu listing literally represented by this puzzle's circles : SIDE DISHES - Some are a little more exotic than others
Across
6. Fit together, as some Russian dolls : NEST - Like these Matrioshka Russian Beatle Dolls
10. Commando ploy : RAID
14. Square measures : AREAS
15. Pledge : OATH
16. Magazine with annual Style Awards : ELLE - An old guy who buys his clothes at Kohl's ain't gettin' any award
19. Ink stain : BLOT
20. Quite a while : AGES
21. Org. with Wizards and Magic : NBA
22. Hard-to-hit pitch : CURVE - When it looks like it's coming for your head but winds up over the plate...
23. __ tai : MAI
27. Cleared (out) : EMPTIED
29. Clearasil shelfmate : OXY
30. Be in session : SIT
31. Less-filling brews : LITES
32. Phoenix-to-Albuquerque dir. : ENE - 6 hrs 27 min by car
41. Govt. stipend : SSI - Supplemental Security Income
42. Gem weight : CARAT - 1 CARAT = .00705 ounces
46. Copy : APE
47. Health club : SPA
48. Golfer's booking : TEE TIME - Kinda pricey at Pebble Beach
54. On edge : ANTSY
55. Jackie's second : ARI - How do you follow JFK?
56. Founded: Abbr. : ESTD
57. City near Tahoe : RENO - former RENO custom - chucking your wedding ring into the Truckee River post-divorce
62. Tan shade : ECRU
63. Teapot part : SPOUT - "Here is my handle, Here is my 63 Across"
64. Viewpoint : TAKE - Depending on what word is stressed, you can get seven different TAKES on this sentence: "I never said she stole my money!"
65. Show sorrow or joy : WEEP
66. "101" class, briefly : INTRO - Chem 101 is a washout course for a lot of failed doctors and dentists
Down(side?)
1. Snickers ingredient : CARAMEL
2. Paper work? : ORIGAMI
3. Exchange need : RECEIPT - Costco says members don't need one
4. Slangy turndowns : NAHS
5. Paris fashion monogram : YSL - This Yves St Laurent tie is $155. Free shipping!!
7. Frequent, as a diner : EAT AT
8. Mo. town : STL - ST L vs another Mo. town known by its initials
9. With 25-Down, what America is across, to Brits : THE 25. See 9-Down : POND - Doughboys and GI Joes crossed THE POND in 1917 and 1941
10. Contradict in court : REBUT
11. Court order? : ALL RISE - "Should I RISE when you say so, Officer Bird?"
12. "This is awesome!" : I LOVE IT - Bird's boss Judge Judy has had the highest Syndicated TV ratings for years
13. Loathes : DETESTS
18. Memo starter : INRE
22. Show sorrow or joy : CRY
24. Bass, e.g. : FISH - You need this $2,000 piece of equipment to outsmart a FISH?
26. Jump on ice : AXEL - Here's a triple
28. Hardy title teenager : TESS
32. Yalie : ELI
33. Hit : SWAT
35. Road trip guessing game : I SPY - ...with my little eye
36. Morales of "NYPD Blue" : ESAI
37. Air Force heroes : ACES
38. Musical with nightclub scenes : CABARET
39. 1968 to now, in pro tennis : OPEN ERA - When pros were first allowed in Grand Slam Events
40. Fastidious sort : NEATNIK
43. Drummer's joke punctuation : RIMSHOT
44. Hobbyist : AMATEUR
45. Sees after : TENDS TO - Mom always said, "TEND TO our own knitting!"
47. Muddy digs : STY
48. Ripped to shreds : TORE UP - The Golden State Warriors TORE UP the NBA this season
49. Author Blyton : ENID
51. Me.-to-Fla. route : US ONE - Key West, FL. to Clair, New Brunswick, Canada
52. Core group : CADRE
56. Channel with numerous sister channels : ESPN
58. Patch, perhaps : SEW
59. Diamonds, slangily : ICE
60. "Woe __": 1996 grammar book : IS I - Being a grammar cop won't make you any friends!
Now it's time for you to get off the SIDELINE and tell us your SIDE of the story:
Grid
Note from C.C.:
The Fireball Newsflash Kickstarter
missed the goal by just $96 last time. Peter Gordon is trying again. The new
campaign is now halfway funded and ends on Sunday April 17.
Please click here
and be one of the backers. You get 20 puzzles from the master for $7.
As I mentioned last time, Fireball Newsflash are mostly of LAT Tuesday
level difficulty. Every puzzle features super fresh entries and fun
clues.
40 comments:
HG good work this week caddying for C. C. Sunday an today. The circles made this very doable with RICE a most appropriate opener. I have been eating a new rice that my wife calls cherry rice. It is multi-colored.
ENID was slow to come, I liked the clue for ORIGAMI , some other nice fill like CABARET RIMSHOT NEATNIK. A fun midweek
Thanks
Greetings!
Nice puzzle, CC!
Good work, Husker!
Jazz, enjoyed your NYT offering! (Monday.)
Had TORn before TORE. No other problems.
Finally got taxes in!
Yesterday, we had unbelievable pouring rain here. (Glad I took out another loan to get the entire roof fixed.)
Have a good day!
JACKIE'S first, to whom she was mrs.
Was a politician and very ambitious.
The true gourmet
(So rumors say)
Had MARILYN MONROE among his SIDE DISHES!
There's a saint in ST.LOUIS and YVES ST.LAURENT
Though neither is known for religious intent.
Their abbreviations
May cause trepidations
Follow S.T. or Y.S., and to 'ell you'll be sent!
RICE and FRIES, and SLAW and BEANS,
Are DISHES which as SIDES are seen.
Say vegans, "I LOVE IT!"
While carnivores shove it.
They DETEST eating veggies and greens!
{A, B, C.}
Morning, all!
No circles for me, as usual, so no theme joy.
I really struggled getting started in the NW today. I had PUNNY at 1A and couldn't come up with anything else, so I finally just abandoned the whole section and went to work on the rest of the puzzle. I'm not sure if the circles would have helped at all, but it took me awhile to come up with FRAT PARTIES (I tried FRATERNITIES and FRAT HOUSES first) and BEAUTY ICONS (a phrase that just didn't occur to me for the longest time). Everything else was fairly smooth.
When I finally returned to the NW, I grudgingly took out PUNNY and was able to get CARAMEL, which led to everything else. I should have gotten RICH LITTLE up front, but I had a brain fart.
Hi Y'all! Yay, I got the side dishes without the circles -- a famous first for me! Thanks for another fun one, C.C.
Thanks, Gary, for another C.C. commentary. Watching Judge Judy's bailiff as a bobblehead is creepy, though!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
Got started and bounced around looking for the obvious answers. That got me several footholds.
LITES was easy, although I never buy them. I go for beers you can actually taste.
Got the theme and the SIDE DISHES easily. I did have the circles.
Tried ELKO for 57A. RENO took over that spot. eventually.
OPEN ERA was slow in coming, but fell with some perps and deep thinking.
Of course I misspelled AXEL the first pass, but fixed it.
Never heard of SHIELD LAW, but it makes sense. I knew the sources were protected, not what the law was called. Got it, though.
OK, off to my day. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good morning!
The joke wasn't punny. The impressionist wasn't Matisse or Van Gogh. The actresses weren't beauty idols. Still, things came together in better than normal Wednesday time. Thanx, C.C. Husker, you were in top form again today.
No circles here, but they weren't needed to fill the puzzle. The circles would have made the puzzle more rewarding to see which SIDE DISHES were on the menu.
Thank you CC and Gary. Would have been here earlier, but I was off trying to find a link to my wife's nesting dolls. Alas...
I like your comments on viewpoint Gary. Never saw an example like that before. Also, your comments on 60D.
PK, that's Petri Hawkins-Byrd. I enjoy watching Judge Judy pick apart and reveal liars and cheats. My neighbor watches her but thinks she's wrong more often than right. Either way, she has a large market and paycheck.
Cut the lawn yesterday afternoon in anticipation of getting a TEE TIME call today and tomorrow.
Also had PUNNY at the outset. I had BIG POND at first. No other write-overs today.
Nice steady Wednesday puzzle - with another creative theme!
Thanks CC and HG for another colorful write-up!
I always smile when I see a C.C. puzzle. She always manages to get a baseball CURVE into things. Thanks for the fun. Great write-up HuskerG.
WBS re having trouble in the NW corner. I came back to it after finishing the rest and CARAMEL broke it open. Having Acres before AREA didn't help. I couldn't remember first name for LITTLE (was thinking Jim which didn't fit). Shame on me for not remembering a fellow Canadian. I always enjoyed his impressions.
RichLittle
Hand up for BEAUTY Idols before ICONS. Another kind of ICE today (is this kind acceptable Tin??). Noted the two "show sorrow or joy" clues.
Now I will have earworm of "I'm a little Teapot". I'll have Red Rose in it of course. "Only in Canada eh? Pity!" Here's a view from over THE POND.
RedRose
Enjoy the day.
Good Morning:
A fun and clever offering from our CC with lots of "food for thought." No hang-ups, just smooth sailing to the tada! Canadian Eh, I don't think _ _ _ is acceptable to Tin, no matter how it is clued. BTW, thanks for the Rich Little clip; I had forgotten how talented he was. The Andy Rooney bit was my fav.
Thanks, CC, for a mid-week treat and thanks, HG, for the "side" trip.
Our weather is supposed to warm up starting today; it's about time! 🌷 🌸 🌺
Have a great day.
Husker: Your write-up earns a WOW !!! Good job, MAN!
C.C. Thank you for a FUN Wednesday puzzle with a delicious theme.
Fave today, of course, was the MAI-Tai ... indicating "Puzzle Prohibition" has been repealed.
Had an Ink-BLOT at 51-d, Me.-to-Fla. route, where I entered "A-ONE-A" before US-ONE ... an easy fix.
Also liked RIM-SHOT ... another fave, especially after the CORNY "Knock-Knock" joke.
Stuck again with another, high 70's, beautiful, sunny day.
Geez, the weather here in the Tampa Bay Area is kinda boring.
Hmmm, maybe it's time for another walk on the 'dog-beach' at Honeymoon Island.
Cheers!
Nice puzzle C.C. and a good expo by HG.
I didn't have the circles on the Mensa site, so when I got to the clue about the theme and circles, I opened the LA Times site to see the circles. I already had FR IES so SIDEDISHES fell into place. I prefer using the MENSA site over the LA Times site for doing the puzzle, so sometimes I miss out on the circles.
I expected more baseball clues from C.C. but there were enough sports related clues. I liked the variety that existed in the puzzle today.
Have a great day everyone.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
WOW, twice in the same week for Moi/Moe to post here . . .
Thanks HG and CC for a happy hump-day puzzle;
I was surprised to see that Tin had a blank/blot for 51d; would've thought that 59d was his "Waterloo" . . . ;^)
My paper-view had the circles, so figuring out which sides to choose was not too difficult; lots of great clues and solves; not very difficult but always a pleasure to work on a CC - and of course, she had both baseball and golf references . . .
HG - regarding the Pebble Beach TEE TIME "menu" . . . I had the fortune/pleasure to have played the course once, back in 1985, when the cost was a mere $125 for non-hotel guests, cart included. We had no fore caddie, but did have a small "gallery", as my now ex-wife and a friend were able to ride in a separate cart and follow us around the peninsula. While I would love to play it again, I'm afraid $500 for a round is just a bit outside of my comfort zone . . .
We all love you, of course, CC, and your many fine offerings. But in truth I thought this one lacked a little sparkle, with quite a lot of standard fill (especially for a Hump Day). It seemed more Monday level to me, although I naturally enjoyed TEE-TIME (if respelled) and SPOUT. And I enjoyed the alignment of OPEN ERA and AMATEUR.
I wrote in RIM-SHOT hesitantly – from the perps – while wondering how on earth the Urban Dictionary would define it. It's probably best not to look. 10 down offers enough of a clue.
I'm sure I will snap out of my hump-slump.
NC
Thanks for the fun puzzle CC and great write up Gary. With side dishes of FRIES, RICE, BEANS and SLAW, one didn't have to be a gourmet to know them.
I was able to get 2/3 on the first pass and the rest filled in nicely. I waited on US--- because I didn't know the number.
Thanks Canadian, for the RICH LITTLE clip. In my high school days I used to love to sneak down after the parents were in bed and quietly watch that show.
I have bought Red Rose tea in the past in Cleveland Hts. But it may have been 7 or more years ago. I would buy it for the ceramic miniature that came with each box. WADE_FIGURINES
VS
This was a quick sashay and easier than expected for Wednesday. I skipped the NW corner altogether while proceeding to the rest of the grid. Once RICHLITTLE was in place along with AREAS, MAI and EMPTIED, CORNY emerged as did CARAMEL. ENID Blyton and ERIN Andrews are unfamiliar to me but they perped.
All the SIDEDISHES appeared and so the theme reveal just confirmed them. Jay Leno used to have a series of quick jokes with each one followed by a RIMSHOT. Usually they were funny but sometimes CORNY.
Thank you, C.C. and Gary for leading us into midweek.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!
Another enjoyable puzzle today. Has there been anyone more prolific than CC in the last six months or so? I doubt it.
oc4beach: I agree with you completely! I much prefer the Mensa site. Whenever I discover the puzzle is supposed to have circles, I go to Cruciverb or the LA Times site and open up the puzzle. Then I place it over to the side on my computer desktop so I can see the circle location and continue working the puzzle on the Mensa site. It's a quick and easy solution.
The Pebble Beach area is a beautiful place even if you don't play golf.
The new microwave works great though I actually had to read the directions. They have made it quicker to set cooking times though you have to learn their shortcuts. The old one worked fine (before it broke) though it had one quirk. You had to be standing in a certain location to read the LED display. They've fixed that problem in the new model.
Nice puzzle today, not too hard, not too easy. Some times I rate puzzles by how many cups of coffee I drink while working them. Today was a two cup puzzle. One across "corny" just came to me without much thinking.
The rice side dish? I have learned from reading and trying that brown rice does not raise your blood sugar as much as white rice.
Thanks Husker Gary
Holy cow oh holy cow, what a fertile imagination you have, C.C. Enough crunch today to steer me to PUNNY and PEANUTS at first. Then I had to change CHICAGO to CABARET. So it was definitely not a fill-it-and-move on puzzle. No circles in the U-Click format.
Gary, you keep astounding us with your wit, your energy, and your uncanny ability to see connections and inferences and new points of view that totally escape me until you point them out.
I love(d) Rich Little. What a talent.
Fermatprime, glad you got your roof fixed. Amazing how 10-15 guys swarm on the house like ants, rip the old roof off and build a whole new one in just three days.
Best wishes to you all.
Really nice puzzle, as always, C.C. Some very nice entries (RIMSHOT, TEETIME, ORIGAMI). You're truly the master!
Thanks, HG, for a great write-up. Loved the "Curve" Strike and the "Triple Axel". You're amazing as well!
A fine puzzle from our own C.C.!
And a truly great exegesis from HuskerGary - this was one of the most informative and interesting reports we have had recently.
The inclusion of the film set for St. Peter's reminded me that the real Vatican square is built over the Circus of Nero. Although I have been in that lavish basilica and stood in that great square I did not realize until very recently that it was the exact site where early Christians were thrown to the lions. Somehow the passage of millennia distanced me so thoroughly that I'd assumed such an historic place had vanished from the earth.
Whew! This one had a bit more crunch than I anticipated for a Wednesday, but when I saw the constructors name I understood. Thanks, C.C.! Great expo, H-G!
I have several write-overs but no ink BLOT: punNY/CORNY, peanuts/CARAMEL, tense/edgeY/ANTSY, gee/MAN. Had to read H-G to get the theme.
Fav c/a: 27a-emptied. For the past 2 years, siblings and I have been working on our parents' home to get it ready to sell. This past weekend was our last work weekend and the house is almost empty. The buyers have said we could leave things as they are young and don't have lots of stuff. If there are no issues, closing will be in about a month. We've owned the property for 60 years, time for another family to move in and make memories.
PK, I'm sorry for your loss.
I hope you enjoy your day; it's sunny and warmer today!
Pat
Nothing more delightful than opening the paper to find a C.C. puzzle, and this one was a total delight--not too easy, not too crunchy, just right. I too got the NW corner last, but I got the whole thing--hurray! And I found the SIDE DISHES filling into the circles as I went along a lot of fun. And a terrific expo, Husker Gary, with lots of great pics. So, a wonderful way to start the day--many thanks, C.C. and HG.
Have a great middle of the week, everybody!
Fun puzzle! I also had PUNNY and PEANUTS right off the bat. Rich Little helped me clean that up and once I saw the circled rice and beans I KNEW 58A was SPLITASIDE...until it wasn't.
I forgot to say thanks to CC and Gary.
That knee-buckling curve ball that Gary included was thrown by Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers if I'm not mistaken.
Before I became a teacher, I was a mediocre engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City. They decided to get up a team and join a company baseball league. I went to the first practice. We warmed up, took some infield practice and then started batting practice. The pitcher had been on a semi-pro team. He threw some pitches and I was lucky enough to hit a few. After about 10 pitches, he threw the first curve ball. I found myself ducking away from a ball that was coming right at me only to have it end up right over the plate for a strike. That was my last attempt at somewhat serious real baseball. After that it was slow-pitch softball for me...
Chairman Moe @11:18
Had to go back and look at the clue/answer for 59-d, Diamonds, slangly ...
THAT certain 3-letter word obviously was filled in by the perps. LOL.
Otherwise I would have had a D-N-F ... and I won't type THAT word here.
The US-ONE write-over of the wrong "A-ONE-A" left my grid ... less than NEAT.]
Though the Black Bottle substance in my glass is ... wait for it ... is NEAT !!!
Cheers!
VirginiaSycamore@11:41. I inherited a box of Wade figurines that my grandmother had collected from Red Rose tea boxes in the 1970s. They are from the Canadian series of nursery rhymes. Special!
Good afternoon everyone.
Finished the puzzle without mishap. Liked the theme. which made me salivate. Drooled all over the puzzle.
US One. I have stood at the intersection in Key West where US One ends. Not at the other end, though.
STY - There's more than mud in most styes to be wary of.
NEST - Destroyers nested port side of tender USS Dixie
32A is a mistake: Albuquerque is east-SOUTH-east of Phoenix, not ENE.
Thank you for your words of condolence. I haven't seen our niece for ten years, but the misdiagnosis was so bad in this case that it makes this death worse. She was lost for a failure to prescribe antibiotics in a complicated case. She had a fever.
TTP: I occasionally watch Judge Judy so I knew the guy but not his name. Some of the cases are really dumb. You gotta believe the plaintiffs just wanted to be on TV sometimes.
Anon @ 1500 - The initial great circle heading Phoenix - Albuquerque is 069ºT - smack dab in the center of the ENE compass sector.
TEE TIME - Played bridge today with someone who attended last weekend's Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta, GA. Sounded like a hoot.
Hi All!
Posting early today as I'm at home waiting to hear the damage on the A/C. Car on Monday, A/C today... MAN, not a good week for the pocket-book. WEEP w/ me...
Puzzling, however, has been fun! I LOVE IT C.C.! HG, NOT BAD on the writeup either. :-)
I was looking for BBQ SIDES as the theme until I got to 58a... Dirty RICE, Seasoned FRIES, bit of SLAW, and baked BEANS to SEW it up. Yum.
SW was last to fall w/ names and the fun TAKE on TAKE. WOs didn't help:
WOs: tenSe -> tesTy (making US ONE rt. ONE) -> ANTSY. That finally broke the SW. Like fermatp, I too had TORn. Oh, and I can't spell AMATure.
ESPs: all the names save RICH LITTLE. Loved him growing up. Thanks C, Eh!
OKL - NAH, {A,B,B+} IMHO.
Fav:. I still haven't decided - the AREA: ISPY STY mud in the SPA is close, but...,
So here's my Fav CORNY & punnY knock-knock joke for now:
Why don't you tell secrets in the garden?
'Cuz the corn has ears, the potatoes have eyes, and the BEANStalk.
Cheers, -T
As a long-time resident of Albuquerque, and still living just 60 miles ENE of it in Santa Fe, I'll also attest that ABQ is ENE of Phoenix.
A brief glance at any map clearly shows that Albuquerque is definitely at a more northern latitude than Phoenix, almost even with Flagstaff.
Anonymous@3:00 is apparently thinking in reverse as Phoenix is south of Alberquerque.
I've a suspicion that Anon @ 3:00 is a political operative that enjoys inventing their own facts. We're seeing too much of that these days. Mercator projections and maps in general can be deceiving, but every map I'm in possession of clearly shows Albuquerque ENE of Phoenix. Wish it so all you want, Anon. But it ain't right
Fun puzzle C.C., and enjoyable write up HG.
Very late today and only knew it was from our 'dear leader'C.C. after HG's write up. The theme came very fast after RICE & FRIES, with only one initial mistake writing BEAUTY IDOLS before changing it to ICONS. ERIN Andrews and ENID Blyton were solved by solid perps as they were unknowns.
As a SIDE note on the OPEN ERA, I know a man who played BEFORE they were paid (legally). He competed in the 60s against all the big names including Rosewall, Newcombe, Budge, Laver,...etc (never beating them). Tennis season started in France, went to England, and ended at Forest Hills (now the US Open). What did he do after that? He went home and harvested the crops. He was a FARMER.
What a perfect day, sitting on the beach doing a CC puzzle.
Enid Blyton was a gimme for me,
I had spent 57 years of my life trying to find what a librarian had read to the class in second grade in Australia.
It was a story about children, who climbed a magic tree, that went all the way to the clouds.
But in the clouds were different lands, very strange lands, and if you stayed too long and the clouds moved on
You could be trapped in these other worlds in the clouds.
A few years ago, I found it on the internet and started reading it again.
I had mentioned to my daughter how much I enjoyed it, and she went on EBay and found a copy
With all it's wonderful illustrations and Gave it to me.
I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to relive a childhood memory.
If someone had ever read you this book,
Or of you would want to read it to your grandchildren,
Here it is:
the magic faraway tree.
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