google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, July 10, 2020, Kevin Salat

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Jul 10, 2020

Friday, July 10, 2020, Kevin Salat

Title: An homage to the KNIGHTS WHO SAY NI.

The first Friday for Kevin S. who is a Saturday away from hitting for the cycle here at the LAT. To create this puzzle, Kevin uses a common Friday trick - a 16 x15 grid. This is an "add a sound" Friday which is made easier by an early reveal. 37A. Joint protection ... or, in a way, creators of four puzzle puns: KNEE CAPS (7). The sound "nee" is added to the end of four phrases presented in a pinwheel pattern with the central reveal. Since puzzles have various forms of symmetry, this one has some uniques aspects. (1) Both across fill are twelve letters and the sound comes from NEY being added. However, HOLD COURT does not change but NO CLOO/NO CLUE does (2) Both down fill end differently. the first NIE, the second the tricky GNA which is hard for literal people. Queen Bea is a legitimate name for someone named Elizabeth, but Down Below becomes BOLO. Because of the extra words and spaces we have ESSENCE, RED CARD, SENSORS, WELCOME, CAME NEAR, ELITISTS, BOOK SMART, INK SMEARS,  IN REVERSE, and OVERSLEPT.

18A. Embrace Love?: HOLD COURTNEY (12). Courtney Love is much more (or less) than Kurt Cobain's widow.

57A. Is unable to sign the top-billed star for an "Ocean's 13" sequel?: HAS NO CLOONEY (12). Rather true and a bit sad so soon after the passing of CARL REINER.

12D. Casual topper for Elizabeth II?: QUEEN BEANIE (11). The mental picture of the queen in a yarmulke, called by many a beanie amuses, but among the 5000 or so she has worn THIS is the closest I found. CED?

25D. Consume some deli meat?: DOWN BOLOGNA (11). Sounds like taking medicine. Have I told the story of the white bologna?

I am tired; time to get to the rest.

Across:

1. Stockpile: HOARD. This did not jump to mind despite all the hoarding shows on TV.

6. "Fuller House" actor: STAMOS. More stuff.


12. Proof letters: QEDQuod Erat Dēmonstrandum. Latin.

15. Perfume name: ESTEE. If you were speaking Latin you might Laud Her.
16. IdeaPad maker: LENOVO. Lenovo Group Limited is a Hong Kong-based company that bought IBM's PC business.

17. Sch. in Charlotte: UNCUniversity of North Carolina.

20. Time often named for a philosophy: ERA. Also can get your clothes clean.

21. Approached: CAME NEAR. Back to literal clue/fill.

22. Estate beneficiary: HEIR. Only if there is no will in Florida; 'Heirs' or 'heirs at law' means those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent.

23. Rental garage array: SEDANS. Does anyone actually call it a rental garage?

26. Basic nature: ESSENCE.

28. "Cancel the mission!": ABORT. A sideways CSO to our resident astronaut HG. Pete Conrad went to the same high school I did.

29. Anxious med. condition: OCDObsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

32. Iberian capital, locally: LISBOA. Lisbon in Portuguese.

33. "Lawdy!": GAWD. Bordering on un-pc?

34. Ready to go back?: IN REVERSE. I like this one because to back up you need to be...

36. Writer Rand: AYN. The letters will keep her popular for many generations.

38. Civil War prez: ABE. In the news these days.

41. Educated in the classroom as opposed to the street: BOOK SMART. Versus street smart; we have both kinds here at the Corner.

43. Wrinkle: SNAG.

44. Hybrid utensils: SPORKS. Are there any Foons out there?

46. Nevada copper town: ELY. Not anymore, Ely's mining boom came with the discovery of copper in 1906. Ely was home to a number of copper mining companies, Kennecott being the most famous. They left in the 70's crash.
47. Bizet opera priestess: LEILA. Opera is not my strong suit, but I know his creation CARMEN. I did not know THE PEARL FISHER.

48. Friendly greeting: WELCOME. I had no choice.


50. Virgil epic: AENEID. Arma virumque cano. Latin.

51. Love god: EROS. Finally a Greek.

52. Snobs: ELITISTS.

56. Hosp. test: EKG.

61. It may not be intended: PUN. But today's clearly were.

62. Melodious: ARIOSE. This is having a melody, as distinguished from recitative.

63. Physique: FRAME. She was built like an A-frame.

64. Springs for a vacation?: SPA. Saratoga, and watch some horsies?

65. __ fly: TSETSE.

66. Nikon setting: F-STOP.

Down:

1. "Very cute": HEH.

2. Spanish bear: OSO. Hello, again Lucy.

3. CDC headquarters city: ATLanta.

4. Soccer ejection indicator: RED CARD. I will never forget ...


5. Pour to purify: DECANT. Can you get me some good wine? I decant!

6. Swing around: SLUE.

7. Gull relative: TERN.

8. Start-up money?: ANTE. Poker anyway.

9. Janelle of "Moonlight": MONÁE. A definite STAR. An award-winning movie...



10. Stayed out too long?: OVERSLEPT.

11. __ milk: SOY. Do we have any soy milk drinkers?

13. Tenor Caruso: ENRICO.


14. Takoma Park, Md., is part of it: DC AREA.

19. Yoga chants: OMS. I am working on a puzzle with OM part of the theme.

22. Gas company with toy trucks: HESS.

23. Long story: SAGA. Oo and I have begun watching the old PBS show, the FORSYTE SAGA.

24. Site with PowerSellers: EBAY. Who knew?

27. Gentlemen: SIRS.

29. Washington's bills?: ONES. The 1935 blue seal.

30. __ fraîche: dairy product: CRÈME.  This is a cultured cream soured with a bacterial culture, similar to sour cream or Mexican crema.

31. Helmet sticker: DECAL.

34. Concern for lefty writers: INK SMEARS. I broke myself of the twisted wrist style, so I am good.

35. Change: VARY.

37. Gorilla who learned modified 50-Down: KOKO.

39. Hanes brand: BALI.

40. "Jiminy cricket!": EGAD.

42. Tolkien beasts: ORCS. More LOTR trivia.

43. They may pick up speed: SENSORS.

44. Cleans, in a way: SWEEPS. October, February, May, and July.

45. Get excited: PERK UP. My morning coffee.

47. Allow to go free: LET OFF.

49. Commercial cow: ELSIE. Bordens.

50. Syst. with hand signals: ASLAmerican Sign Language.

53. "What am __ getting?": I NOT. The solve.

54. Chuck: TOSS.

55. Brand written in frosty letters: ICEE.

57. Uniform part, maybe: HAT. See "helmet" above.

58. __ Geo: NAT.


59. Angsty genre: EMO.

60. "For sure": YEP.

Yep, I am done and the stage is yours to provide comments and discussion. Thank you, Kevin, and all who read and write.


71 comments:

OwenKL said...

DNF. Just flat didn't know STA?OS + ?ONAE, LEI?A + BA??, and couldn't spell AENEiD.

Did Genghis, in his Mongol land
HOARD toilet paper, for his can?
Could he, for his horde
Bathroom tissue afford?
Of course he SNAGGED it, because he Khan!

Would you buy an ESSENCE from ESTEE?
You certainly would, she's QUEEN BEE!
With that smell
A guy you'd fell,
And soon you'll have him on a KNEE!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Started right off with AMASS -- not a good omen. Wite-Out, please. My RED FLAG had to change to a CARD. More Wite-Out. That M at the STAMOS/MONAE cross was a lucky WAG. Still it turned into a DNF when I was half a world away putting BAJA where BALI needed to go. That gave me LEIJA and AENEAD. Hey, it could'a been. But it wasn't. Bzzzzzzt. I enjoyed the Salat course, Kevin, and the expo, Lemonade. (If "heirs" only occur in intestate succession, what do you call 'em when there's a will? Legatees?)

Lemonade714 said...

Legatees or beneficiaries

Hungry Mother said...

FIR, with a couple of write-overs: HOARD 4 amAss, BALI 4 Bvds. When I see TSETSE in a puzzle, I think back to safari in Zambia when I got a bite behind my left earlobe in spite of our guides burning elephant dung on the front fenders of our vehicle. Watching Fay kick up outside here on the Delaware shore.

Montana said...

I worked my way through this one last evening. I never figured out the theme.

I’m left handed but never twisted my wrist. During my first two years of teaching, there were 20 minute periods on Tuesday and Thursday when every teacher was to teach penmanship. I was assigned all the upper elementary lefties who came to the cafeteria. I requested blackboards so that every student could practice at the same time. The second week, the walls were covered with blackboards (green) and I could watch over18 students.
I did learn I had to collect the chalk after each lesson or it would disappear during lunch to be used for "chalk fights!"
On a separate note, my high school math students much preferred the old black board with white chalk. They turned in a petition to save my 'black' board when the school replaced boards with green and the school board honored their request.
School burned down, and I loved the white boards in the new school.

Stay safe, everyone,
Montana

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you, Kevin and thank you, Lemonade.

The streak is over. Filled in right, and in 16:16.

Yes, there were some unknowns (MONAE, LEILA, CREME as clued) but they were all easily perped.

Last name CSO shout out at 13 D !

Those are Buckeye DECALs on that helmet. Nice choice for the visual, Lemonade !

Knew the answer was AENEID, but first spelled it anaeid.

D-O, I first had amass with 1d going to be aah, but Sp. bear OS- and REDCARD were certain. BALI is a bra brand. I once had that in a puzzle I blogged.

Also had to change Levi for BALI and UvA (Charlottesville) for UNC (Charlotte). Avoided having to backspace over erases and the perps easily led to SWEEPS.

Loved the clue at 10D "Stayed out to long"

Big Easy said...

Lemonade, you are right about the early reveal. I guessed COURTNEY and made the solving a bit easier. The A&E clues gave me trouble with STAMOS, MONAE, & HAS NO CLOONEY being solved by perps. BOLAGNA- everybody pronounces it as 'baloney', except the ELITISTS.
LEILA & CREME-total unknowns, ARIOSE- kinda knew, DC AREA-WAG on that one.

My RED FLAG became a CARD and the STAMOS-MONAE intersection was a guess-both unknowns.
UNC- Chapel Hill, not Charlotte is the main campus. Duke, NC State, & UNC are all close together.
GAWD- 'un-pc' is my middle name. There no reason to cower and cringe just to not offend somebody who offends you.

Adele said...

FIW! I’m amazed considering the way it started out. Four write overs. Spin to slue, Lisbon to Lisboa, Kong to Koko and Aenead to Aeneid. That was fun!

Adele said...

I meant to say FIR

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, Kevin! Thank you for the fun expo, Lemonade.

While I sorta got the theme with the KNEE CAPS reveal, I couldn't see them as puns. For some reason, I got hung up on QUEEN BEANIE and thought it was about Beyonce's nickname QUEEN BEy. I don't have a CLOO why.

I did more red-letter runs today than I have in some time. The middle section was a snow field until last.

DNK: AENID, MONAE, ARIOSE, LEILA.

FNL: BillG., so sorry to hear about your loss of your good friend. Some people are irreplaceable in our hearts. We, too, are mourning a loss this week of a close (HS & beyond) friend of my elder son who was only 50. They and a couple other guys were a good fun-loving group. Today they will be pallbearers.

thehondohurricane said...


Want to have a picture with my post, but can't remember how it works. Someone care to enlighten me?

TTP said...



Hondo,

If the picture is already on a website, you can just link to it with the instructions on the main page.

If the picture is on your computer or phone, you'll need to upload it first, and then link to it. You can use Google Photos.

Search: Google Photos Help to get started.

Wilbur Charles said...

FLN: TTP, I would put the quote from Don Henley right next to the one MaloMan cited from Lennon. Not to speak of what the Warren report said about JFK (c my Deighton note). Btw, of course these artists aren't going to admit these things. And…. I'll bet Melanie denies "Brand New Key" is not about teenage(pre?) sex.

The M in STAMOS/MONAE was pure WAG. So I Finished It RIGHT(HI OMK)
Ironically my lower grid was a mess because I inked Stains and Smudges before SMEARS perped. Also..
Because I (can't help it) solved Tuesday-Friday back to back I noticed consecutive dipthongs on AMOEBA and AENEID (another SMEAR,btw)

Btw, UNC is at Chapel Hill. I take it that's near Charlotte? NC State I thought was at Charlotte. Thx BigE.

Gotta run

WC

Malodorous Manatee said...

I enjoyed today's puzzle very much. I had just about sussed out the Knights Who Say KNEE sound add-on theme when I came to the hint in the middle of the grid. I knew neither STAMOS nor MONAE but I took a WAG at the M and, as I filled in that final square, the app said that I had completed the puzzle so my guess must have been correct. When I rule the world, or at least this jurisdiction, it will be a Class 1 misdemeanor to cross two proper nouns in a crossword puzzle. I was a little unclear on INK SMEAR but the perps cleaned that up. HEH is always meh, and GAWD was awful, but I am willing to forgive any constructor who can work both BEANIE and AENEID into the same grid.

Beanie and Cecil

Well, enough of this foolishness. I am going to grab a cup of KOKO, or PERK UP some coffee (or, perhaps, DECANT a good RED), put The Animals TSE TSE Rider (sorry, C.C.) or maybe Clapton's LEILA (sp) on the TERN table, grab the LENOVO chromebook start the day and get down to, with apologies to Maynard G. Krebs, work.

Happy Friday, everyone

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

WELCOME aboard, Annie, and join our Merrie Bande.

Bolluxed BALI; but got everything else w/o aid. So all's right with the world. Thought the 'theme' was a bit amorphous, but agree with Lemon's reasoning. A 16 x 15; why? Thought I would have to leave some unfilled gaps, but saw the whimsy with QUEENS BEANIE, Then slowly got the other theme phrases which branched to helping with other perps. Liked HAS NO CLOONEY.
Is there a concern for right handers INK SMEARing when writing right-to-left scripts like Arabic or Hebrew?
ENRICO reminds me that Ennio Morricone died two days ago, aged 91. Composed scores for "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "The Untouchables," and many other works.

Yellowrocks said...

FIR. I was solving apace except for a spot in the middle of the East Coast and a spot on the Great Lakes. I stopped and ate breakfast and then put in another 10-15 minutes to finally finish. I liked the theme of a nee sound added to an established phrase.
The M in STAMOS was my last fill. Then I remembered that STAMOS played the sitcom, Full House. There must have been a sequel, Fuller House.
Pearl Fishers was one of my favorites years ago. I haven't listened to it in ages. I needed 3 perps to dig up LEILA.
Montana, glad you are back. I didn't know you were a teacher, too. There are many of us here.
Many words that once had religious connotations have been separated from their orgins and are no longer about the holy. For example,"The original goodbye, dating from the 1570s, was godbwye, which was a contraction of the farewell phrase "God be with ye!" IMO, LAWDY and GAWD are similar examples of this change.
I was fascinated by KOKO and have read a great deal about her. I am interested in how we acquire language.
Do you find "street smart" to be pejorative? I don't. I have heard it used as a compliment. David lovingly called his grandma street smart. There was a big brouhaha about this phrase in the news this week.
Bill G and PK, condolences on the loss of your very good friends. I lost my BFF a year and a half ago. We exchanged Christmas gifts for years. Now every time I see one these gifts it brings her back.

SwampCat said...

Interesting puzzle but out of my wheel house. Thanks for the challenge, Kevin.

Thanks Big Easy and WC for correcting those Carolina schools. UNC is definitely in Raleigh, 12 miles from Durham, not even close to Charlotte which is an hour away by plane. UNCC is in Charlotte, along with others, as in Univ of NC at Charlotte. Don't mess with my old stomping ground!

Lemon, I loved the pictures, especially the queen in what must have been a one time wearing of a different hat.

Owen, loved them both! A A

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A fun and unique puzzle that even proper nouns (almost) couldn’t stop! Setsoff/Seila gave me a ONE letter FIW
-I thought Love might be the Beach Boy but the reveal gave me Courtney
-AMASS for HOARD seemed right with ATL supplying an A
-A putt that CAME NEAR counts the same as missing by two feet
-Extreme cold weather at KSC should have caused the flight directors to ABORT the Challenger liftoff
-My friend’s very expensive new pickup went forward when put IN REVERSE. It took four trips to the dealer get it right
-Jimmy Dean’s mostly recitative and non-ARIOSE Big Bad John was a fav of mine in middle school
-College FB coaches assess a player’s (and his dad’s) FRAME to see if he can put on sufficient muscle mass
-Walking right up to a big, angry soccer player and putting a RED CARD in his face takes guts
-My condolences, Bill. We too have been going to way too many funerals lately as well.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I liked the theme but found some of the cluing (and fill) a tad off, I.e. “Very cute”=Heh, “Jiminy Cricket”!=Egad, For sure=Yep, etc., though maybe it’s just me. Like others, I had Amass and UVA and I spelled Leila with two As, thinking of Laila Ali. I thought Hold Courtney was the most solid themer, but they were all inferable. (Autocorrect doesn’t like inferable; is it not a word?)

Thanks Kevin and Lemony for a challenging offering and making it all make sense.

FLN

Belated welcome to Adele and Annie.

Bill G, sorry for your loss of Bill A.

PK, sorry for your family’s sadness, also

Steve, thanks for the grill info. I’m going to check it out right now.

I have a conundrum that I’m hoping one of the Corner’s IT Whiz Kids can shed some light on. When I click on a YouTube link in the Comments Section, there is no sound when I play the video. However, I clicked on three links in Lemony’s write up today and I had sound. Any ideas, gang? I use an iPad.

Have a great day.

oc4beach said...


Well, a Friday puzzle that I actually finished correctly with no look ups or Red Letter help. An enjoyable puzzle from Kevin.

I went through the puzzle and when I filled in the last letter (or so I thought) there was no TA DA. So, I started going through the puzzle clue by clue to see where I had erred. Halfway down I saw that I had forgotten to put in the Y at the junction of VARY and ELY. Then the TA DA came.

UNC at Charlotte is not the main campus. It's at Chapel Hill. My nephew recently got his PHD at UNC Chapel Hill in Nutrition Sciences and is now working on childhood obesity research at Duke which is just up the road.

I have two kids, one BOOK SMART and the other one is STREET SMART. It's interesting watching how they both approach the world so differently. They are both successful in what they do, just different.

SPORKS came easily. It's a combined utensil that does neither function well. When I get take out at KFC or TACO BELL drive-thrus I tell them not to bother putting SPORKS in with my order. It's a waste of plastic.

Anon-T: Did you get your Sausage and Peppers yesterday? I'm going to have some leftover S&P for lunch.

MM, do you really Perk coffee? It's been a long time since I have used a percolator. I love the smell of perking coffee, but I think drip coffee tastes better.

Another sunny day (but muggy) here. I hope all in the path of Fay stay dry.

Be safe and wear your masks.

oc4beach said...


IM: Sometimes when the YouTube link is loaded, it comes up with the little speaker Icon at the bottom of the frame with a line through it, which means it is muted. Just click on it and it should give you sound. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what to do next.

OMaxiN said...

Finally finished a Friday in reasonable time. I saw HOLD COURT as complete and that caused the end theme "ney" to whoosh over my head.

YR thanks for splainin. Just my opinion - GAWD was meh

ARIOSE, MONEAE and LEIlLA filled by perps
Thanks Kevin & Lemonade for the excellent review.
MO

Yellowrocks said...

I can't find proof for this, but to my mind, heh, heh heh, and "very cute" in quotes can be snarky and sarcastic.
Jiminy Cricket, like egad, is a minced oath showing surprise, shock, anger, etc. Sometimes it is said as "By Jiminy" or Jiminy Christmas.
We came close to swearing in this puzzle. EGAD, Jiminy Cricket, LAWDY, GAWD. Today these euphemistic expressions are quaint. People now just come right out take the Lord's name in vain. Every novel I have read lately is full of the J word and the F word by supposedly upstanding characters. That still makes me uncomfortable. I hear it everywhere, even between parents and young kids.
OMaxiN and IM, I agree this kind of clue is sort of meh, but I can accept a few mehs in a puzzle.
Yes, for me, HOLD COURTNEY was the give away for the theme.

The list of abbreviations on the home page here says FIR means filled it right. I use FIR when I fill it right without red letters or looking anything up. When I use those helps I say FIW.

SwampCat said...

HG, Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Bob Lee said...

Is there a Puzzle Title every day? I always have to guess the theme since my paper only has it for the Sunday L.A. Times XWord. Thus I didn't get the Knights that say Ni clue (although I love that Monty Python film).

Struggled for a long time. After I had Courtney and Clooney I looked for another NEY that was the last name of a person. Finally figured out Beanie.

Only ended with 1 letter I didn't know 'L' - LEILA cross with BALI. No fair for us guys! I get Hanes underwear and had never seen BALI.

New word for me: ARIOSE

Brian said...

Bob Lee: The daily LA Times doesn't ever have a title, only the Sunday does. The title in the blog write-up is what the blogger comes up with on his/her own usually based on the theme

TTP said...



Reference UNC.


This was the clue in in my online puzzle:
17. Sch. in Charlotte.

Did other websites or paper versions specify MAIN CAMPUS ?

Misty said...

Well, Fridays are always toughies for me, and, like others, I didn't get off to a great start with AMASS. But there were still some really interesting, helpful, and fun items. I remembered ENRICO Caruso, and HEIR was easy. No problem with CREME fraiche, and I know my AENEID. Of course, ELSIE the cow shows up in puzzles pretty often, and that gave me ELITISTS. But my favorite fill-in came at the end when I got HAS NO CLOONEY. That cracked me up.

So, thank you for a fun Friday toughie, Kevin, and Lemonade, your write-ups are always a treat.

Loved your poems, Owen.

Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.

SwampCat said...

TTP, my paper also said “Sch in Charlotte”. That would have to be UNCC. University of North Carolina in Charlotte. The answer only had three spaces .

I don’t think most of us had a problem filling in the answer, if we knew the answer at all. It’s just a nit because UNC is in Raleigh. There is no Main Campus . UNCC is a different school. UCLA is not the same as USC.

Malodorous Manatee said...

oc4beach, truth be told I rarely drink coffee. The closest I usually come to it is eating Talenti Coffee Chocolate Chip Gelato or using some coffee in a BBQ rub. However, The Puzzle demanded and I obeyed.

mailman1959 said...

I've often asked, would you rather be STREET SMART or BOOK SMART like Sheldon Cooper?

Irish Miss said...

oc4beach @ 10:16 ~ I don’t recall that any of the links I tried had the Mute icon, but it’s possible. Interestingly, I just went back to Wednesday and Thursday’s links and the ones that had no sound now have sound! Gremlins and Goblins, maybe!

YR, I agree that a few Mehs are not only acceptable in every puzzle, but almost inevitable and that’s why I try to always qualify my comments as being subjective.

TTP said...

SwampCat, oh, ok.

I always thought University of North Carolina - Charlotte was part of the University of North Carolina System.

Of course the flagship is UNC Chapel Hill.

Wikipedia indicates the school as The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, UNCC, or simply Charlotte.


Kind of like the University of Wisconsin. The flagship is in Madison. The other schools in the University of Wisconsin System that have baccalaureate and master's degree programs are all part of the University of Wisconsin System:

UW–Eau Claire
UW–Green Bay
UW–La Crosse
UW–Oshkosh
UW–Parkside
UW–Platteville
UW–River Falls
UW–Stevens Point
UW–Stout in Menomonie
UW–Superior
UW–Whitewater

Yellowrocks said...

When I hear people say that they graduated from Penn State I picture the main campus, but find they have gone to a campus closer to home. It seems that the campus is not always indicated.
I am confused as to why a school at a campus other than the flagship campus is not still UNC. If this is your school, maybe you can tell me why.
Did you notice the five different spelling of NEE?

Wendybird said...

Interesting puzzle, but too many things I didn’t know, FIW.

UNC is in Chapel Hill. NC State is in Raleigh. Duke is in Durham. When I was a student at Duke, they were collectively called The Golden Triangle and were close enough to each other that we had friends/dates at all 3.

After Kevin’s tough workout today, I await Saturday’s challenge with some trepidation.

Thank you, Kevin and Lemonade.

Adele said...

Thanks for the welcome to Irish Miss! I have posted several times before but not a whole lot. I was so glad to find this blog a couple of years ago. It’s nice to know someone thinks the same way I do or just how someone else thinks!
I also at first thought 1 across was amass then “very cute” was aww...but obviously neither worked. Heh just filled in from the perps. I guess I get it??

desper-otto said...

TTP, did you skip UW-Milwaukee on purpose? Most of those other campuses were originally part of the Wisconsin State University system. They were primarily teachers' schools, offering degrees in education. The two systems merged in '71. UW-Madison is still the "mother ship."

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Many corrected misspellings but FIR. Had beenie instead of BEANIE for some reason till ABE showed up.
Maybe thinking of Queen bee....

Never would have parsed the theme.

Tempted to put Norma an operatic Druid Princess I've heard of but knew it wasn't written by Bizet. (I see we have our own Great CARUSO..lol)

HOARD seemed a bit harsh for the clue. That's a bad thing to do, stockpile seems sensible ? Thought DECANT just meant to pour out of a container. The purify thing is new. Did not know BALI. Remembered ARIOSE only seen in Crosswords.

MONAE... Reminds me off Harvey Korman, The Count de Monet. "The people are revolting!!"

Corrected AENIAD spelling 3 times.

What else....

Barnes & Noble.... BOOKSMART.

Cupid's love weapons.....EROS.

How Starbucks sells coffee....PERKUP

On to dreaded Saturday.


Anonymous said...

Most of this puzzle seemed to be Wednesday hard, but the Northeast and Midwest were blanks. Needed a couple peeks at the grid to finish filling in everything. Thanks, Kevin, for the challenge. Thanks, Lemonade, for the explanations and links.

1a HOARD went in immediately. Didn't think of amass.

4d Soccer ejection indicator--RED CARD Our daughter played neighborhood soccer from K--12 so I knew that sport answer.

18a Embrace Love Put in HOLD COURTNEY but didn't get the theme. The grid was a great help seeing it.

I've read the discussions of the past few days and have decided that tomorrow evening I will saute sausage, peppers and onion, add a splash of white wine and serve it over rice.

Have a good weekend.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thank you, Kevin Salat! This was fun and not overly challenging for a Friday. My main problem was misspelling AENEID as ANNEID and it took a while to untangle it. The unknown LEILA didn't help. Whew! Finally, with LETOFF in place it was finished.

I also chuckled at HASNOCLOONEY. QUEENBEANIE also cracked me up.

LISBOA recalls many good memories. One of them is the main boulevard which is very wide, with a swath of trees in the center and drive lanes on either side. It's a lovely city.

UNC also evokes memories of many visits with my sister, her late husband and their two sons. Bad memories of mosquito bites, though.

Ironically, SOY means "I am" in Spanish.

I wonder how BOLOGNA ever came to be pronounced BALONEY?

Thank you, Lemoande, for the fine analysis and for the shoutout.

Someone asked about Fermatprime recently. I have not heard from her and I can only suppose she is deeply involved in poker games.

I hope you are all enjoying your day!

waseeley said...

Bizet's Pearl Fishers is remembered primarily for an incredible tenor/baritone duet, entitled "Au fond du temple saint". Zurga and Nadir are reminiscing about a vision of a beautiful woman (Leila) they saw "at the back of the temple". The intensity of their emotions are a lot like those in Eric Clapton's much better known homonymous song "Layla": "She's got me on my knees!" Bizet's duet is definitely worth YouTubing for. Try to find the one with Jussi Bjoerling and Robert Merrill - truly incredible. It's from an old RCA album of equally remarkable Bjoerling/Merrill duets.

TTP said...


Thanks D-O, I may have inadvertently deleted UW-Milwaukee when editing, or perhaps it wasn't listed in the source I accessed. I didn't know that most of them started as "normal" colleges. I can't remember all of them off hand, but should have spotted that Milwaukee wasn't in the list.

Do you know anyone that graduated from any of those schools since 71 ? Do they call themselves University of Wisconsin grads ?

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Had to look-up STAMOS to open up the N.Central for extra-play. Still couldn't finish at 39d xing 47a & 50a. Never heard of BALI so,... Google?
//aw, crap. Now I'm going to get tons of bra ads [things could be worse :-)]

Thanks for a NEat puzzle Kevin. Some devilish cluing going on there [See: IN REVERSE, OVERSLEPT - both fantastic!]

Great expo Lem! Thanks.

WOs: amAss (Hi D-O!), INK SMudge (in good company w/ WC), ORkS
ESPs: ELY and the DNF cited above
Fav: Would it be too much ego to say ENRICO's clue? //TTP & RayO got it :-)
No? OK, how about T(ony) BALONGNA?
//Call me that again Moe and you'll meet T(ony) the KNEE* :-)

{A+, B}

WELCOMEs to Adele and Annie. Hope you stay & play.

IM - if Oc4's suggestion doesn't help, See if this does

I loved your blackboard story Montana! Nice to see you.

MManatee - tightly packed SLUE of reference in your last sentence. Nice.

Oc4 - YEP. S&P for dinner, dessert, and some left over for lunch today. It's a meal that keeps on giving - add some CRÈME to leftover sauce (no sausage left) and drop on linguine or rigatoni.
Sounds good Pat!

Lucina - let us know if you hear from Fermat.

Spitz - we have a show on NPR called Houston Matters. Every Friday they have a segment called The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly where they round-table Op-Ed the news. They noted Morricone's passing this morning.

Oh! That reminds me -- Gary Larson is back!.

Cheers, -T
*Back in my DOD days at Tinker AFB, there was an Airman from Back East -- he thought all Italians were 'connected' and came up w/ -T the Knee.
I rolled with it - who am I to let truth to get in the way of good fun :-)

CrossEyedDave said...

Definitely some tough clueing,
Learning moment=Heh (never knew it even had a definition...)
But, DNF, as I Natick'd @ Lisboa/DCArea/University?

Short post, as I risk being deleted.
Lemon, your CED? made me look,
& at the risk of being taken as political instead of humorous,

I did find this Queen Beanie..,

Alice said...

This was a very enjoyable puzzle today with a clever theme. Like others, HOLD COURT was the give away for me. My favorite: HAS NO CLOONEY. IN REVERSE came immediately for "Ready to go back". However, FIW in SE corner. Still fun!

Lemon, that was a very good good write-up, especially your excerpt from Cabaret.

desper-otto said...

TTP, no I don't know any "recent" grads. I believe all would receive a standard University of Wisconsin degree. U-W worked hard to standardize the curriculum so that credits could translate freely from one campus to another. That makes it easier for residents to attend a campus near home for the first two years, and then transfer to Madison for the final two years if they wish. That wasn't an option back in my day.

AnonymousPVX said...


This was a rather crunchy Friday go.

No write-overs today.

From yesterday...

About the “poison” that turned out to be “Hi-Dri”...

I was working in my buddy’s garage and got thirsty. Nothing in the garage fridge...but wait, there’s a bunch of cola 2 liters on the floor. I put one in the fridge, about 20 minutes later I took it out, opened it and took a mouthful....which I immediately spewed out, gagging.

Old oil.

Thanks for that memory, lol.

See you tomorrow, stay safe.

Spitzboov said...

Swamp Cat @ 1050 - - Close also counts a lot in curling.

Saw 2 'NEYs - COURTNEY and CLOONEY. I hear both 'baloney' and the glided 'g' in Bologna a lot. Not a problem if one simply says "Wurst" or Wust.

UNC - Our paper had Sch. in Charlotte. Maybe UNCC was shortened to UNC per the abbreviated clue. :-)

WELCOME aboard to Adele. Sorry for not welcoming earlier. Seems like more people are dipping their toe in the water. I remember how reluctant I was to do so, but happy that I did.

LEO III said...

Well, I made a nice mess out of this one! FIVW (Very Wrong), but at least I finished a Friday puzzle, and that is a plus and a learning experience. The other neat thing was that I figured out the theme, which is something I usually forget to do before I come here.

Didn’t know LENOVO (I try to stay OUT of computer places; I have enough trouble with camera stores/sites! Started off with the other HORDE. Ain’t homophones great when one is in a hurry? Fixed it quickly, but it set the tone.

I agree that the clue should have read, “School in Chapel Hill.” Charlotte = UNCC. No, I had no trouble with it, other than a nit.

Back in the good old days, all three of the Research Triangle schools used to beat the turtle stuff out of my Maryland Terrapins in the ACC, especially in basketball. “Lefty" Driesell was hired in 1969 (just before I was getting out of there) to make Maryland the “UCLA of the East.” Never happened with Lefty (he left in ’86), but we did beat the post-Bobby Knight Indiana Hoosiers for the 2002 NCAA championship. Some of us think Maryland had a decent chance of winning the 2020 NCAA championship, had the virus not come along and shut down everything.

LEO III said...

For those too young to remember:

Lloyd Price - Lawdy Miss Clawdy

That's Fats Domino playing piano. Elvis, Domino and others also covered the song.

Wilbur Charles said...

Swamp, so NC State? Charlotte? I recall UNC Charlotte from the 'Cornbread' Maxwell days of the 70s when they made NCAA semis.

Could the Challenger mishap be similar to the Big Dig problem with "Summer" epoxy? Lemon, can you recall 25° in FLA? I can't (05-20)

TTP, why didn't clue say "School in Chapel Hill?". Ok, ask Rich. Also, let's not even talk about Cali. Also, there's UMass and UMass/Boston. Technically same but former don't think so . Then there's Boston State where I took a Master's course in French. You can add Wilbur to the list of former schoolteachers. Freshman French. Then came OCS where Tony's "hike" was a walk in the park but nothing at OCS was as bad as that year of teaching 9th grade boys.

And finally, IM etal. Same comment as last week re. Saturday. But if Wilbur can solve it…

WC

Ps, for newbies, when two obscure proper names cross it's referred* to as a 'Natick'

*Google was ok with that

CED, loved the "Beanie".

Lemonade714 said...

It is very pleasing to read the comments of all the new posters who joined our blog this year. There is always attrition but as some leave, there are new people to fill the void. 2019 and 2020 have brought an entirely new bunch of posters who each have their own unique perspective. We also have some drive-bys from our past (hi Hondo, Wik Wak, Chairman Moe, and anyone I am forgetting. I have been here since 2008 and am still having fun and learning things. Thank you all, and C.C. most of al.

inanehiker said...

I enjoyed this puzzle with different spellings of KNEE.

I thought Janelle MONAE was excellent as one of the scientists(she was the engineer) in "Hidden Figures"

TTP - my DIL graduated a few years ago from UW-LaCrosse which is what she calls it, or if she is in Wisconsin just LaCrosse. If she just says UW she is talking about the original/main campus in Madison. From the 10 years we lived in Wisconsin other campuses people say the same - "I went to EauClaire" or I went to "Stout" in Wisconsin but if talking to people elsewhere they say UW-EauClaire.

Thanks Lemonade for a fun review and Kevin for an amusing puzzle!

Lemonade714 said...

WC, Florida is a large state with varying climatology. When I was living in Gainesville, I bought an older Spanish style house that I was remodeling with help from my then girl friend's father. The house did not have central air or heat. One night in January we went out to eat because the kitchen was torn up. It was 19° when we got home to find smoke billowing from the house. We were able to locate and rescue the dog and cat.

In South Florida, if you do not factor in wind chill or heat index, the temp has not gone below 32° nor above 98°

SwampCat said...

WC, I’m learning sooo much about how states organize their schools. They all seem to be different.

LSU was once the flagship, main campus, of an extended series of “lesser” schools. One of the was LSU- New Orleans. LSUNO.

As this city school increased in size and wealth (we won’t go there!) it separated from the rest of the system. Lots of politicking involved. Then the whole system disintegrated into separate schools with no connection to LSU.

I suspect that might have happened in North Carolina but I have no way of knowing. Now they seem to have a loose association of schools of which UNC and UNCC are two.

I’m going by my memories. I never heard the words Main Campus.

But I went to Duke - so I really don’t care as long as my Devils beat those Tarheels!

Spitz, you win! Curling indeed!

Malodorous Manatee said...

Ray O Sunshine, it's been a while since I thought of the Count de Monet. As an adherent of the Gospel According to Mel, it is always good to see such references.

Anonymous-T, I'm slowly learning the customs of this place. I think there may be a song in there somewhere.

Anonymous T said...

All this talk of college systems...
DW is a < big cheese > in HTown's community college system. She manages two programs AND still teaches to pull kids up. She believes (as do I) in the power of education.

Swamp - DW started at LSU-S(hreveport) & I at Tech-Barksdale while we amAss'd enough money to move full time to LA Tech in Ruston (she in English, me in EE). Pretty ambitious (or stupid!?!) for two 18yro kids, eh? [The Boss in '75 - Born to Run].
Frankly, professors were stellar at both schools.

Hot? I think they said it's 114F (index) in Houston today. It's only 94F. My garage laptop (I'm typing on it now) does feel a bit warm though.

CED - The QUEEN's lid [HAT] is LOL!

Back to giving the flowers some relief with the hose...

Cheers, -T

Ol' Man Keith said...

I kinda think we should use the "Baloney" spelling if we want to have it pronounced that way.
Otherwise, let's stick with the Italian pronunciation for BOLOGNA.
That's the only clue/fill to which I had any objection.

This was a perfect Friday pzl*. Challenging, but do-able. Thanks, Mr. Salat!
(Psst. Do you get tired of people asking, "Just how fresh is your Kevin Salad?")

Be safe & healthy, everyone!
~ OMK
____________
*
If only there had been some diagonals...

Anonymous T said...

Actually, I screwed that story up. Um...
We moved to Ruston but then DW commuted to NLU in Monroe for Journalism [RTVF: Radio-Television-Film} until she took a Shakespeare class and (with only one semester to go! and a job offer!) wanted to switch to English. Made (now PhD) DW happy, so why not?
-T

Anonymous T said...

Burns a post just for this says...

Count de Money [@1:38 the peasants are revolting].

-T

Yellowrocks said...

I have found an answer that satisfies me. I looked at diploma images from UNCC that say"The University of North Carolina at Charlotte." I think that perhaps university systems vary in naming their campuses.
So far we are having an hours long gentle rain that our parched lawns desperately need. My tomato plant might start growing again after idling for a week or two. I am starved for that real summer tomato taste. I can hardly wait. There is still the possibility of a deluge this evening and the early part of the night.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Lemonade, this going to sound odd but it's true. I actually solved the puzzle yesterday morning and wrote the first comments that I later posted here long before the day (yesterday) was out. I emailed them to myself and cut and pasted them into this thread this morning. The weird part is that my reference to The Knights Who Say Knee (Ni) was written many hours before your write up, with its accompanying title, was posted.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Or... WHAT goes into a Kevin Salat?

(His folks didn't call him Caesar or Cobb for nuthin'.)
~ OMK

CrossEyedDave said...

fun fact!

& if taken literally

Since this is a Crossword Blog, I have questions you might be able to answer.
I have never attempted to create a Crossword Puzzle before, as it seems to
Be a herculean feat. But something "out of the box" came up the other day,
& it had me wondering.

Assuming that a theme idea can only be used once,
Has anyone ever created a Xword around the reveal
"ThinkOutsideTheBox"
Since this is 18 letters, I guess the reveal would have to be split into
"Think" & "outside the box" while referring to each other in the clues.

Then, 3 or 4 long theme answers (either across or down)
Would be missing their ending letters (qty tbd)
By butting up against the edge of the puzzle square in such a
Way that any ending letters will have "disappeared" as being outside
The puzzle frame.

1) would the theme answers have to show complete words, or
Could they be nonsense until the missing letters are added?

2) do the missing letters have to be the same in number?

3) would all the missing letters have to be the same?
(The letters B-O-X would be delightful, but difficult word Enders etc...)

So,
How can I find out if this theme has been used before?
Would Rich accept such a crazy idea?
& can Antonella's recommend a free computer program that would
Aid in puzzle creation?
(Emphasis on "free.")

Irish Miss said...

Anon T @ 1:35 ~ I’m now getting sound. The problem resolved itself just as mysteriously as it began. As I said, Gremlins and Goblins! 😈

CrossEyedDave said...

Antonella's?

I must have misspelt "anyone."

But why would autocorrect replace "anything" with Antonella's.?

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. WEES.

TTP said...



Thank you to all that replied about UNC and Wisconsin.

I never had a problem with the answer, except as I originally wrote that I had UvA, which is Charlottesville. Charlotte is definitely NC, and UNC made sense as I was flying through the puzzle. Plus, the perp dictated it.

But then when reading the comments from Big Easy, Wilbur Charles and Swamp Cat, I thought perhaps (no matter how unlikely) that there was a different clue than what I had. Then Oc4beach wrote, "UNC at Charlotte is not the main campus" so I checked the clue that I had online, and it said nothing about main campus, thus my 11:41 question.

Now I understand the nit you all were objecting to. The strong association that UNC could only be Chapel Hill, even though the school is the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It's obviously not North Carolina State at Charlotte, Duke at Charlotte, or Elon at Charlotte.

So it's UNC at Charlotte, similar to University of Wisconsin at (fill in the blank), or any of the University of California(s) at (fill in the blank).

True, the nit could have been avoided by changing the clue to Chapel Hill rather than Charlotte, but I still think it's a valid clue for the answer.

Anonymous T said...

CED - I had that same idea! It was going to be [drop the TH] INK OUTSIDE THE BOX [16x15] in the middle. Then two TH's dropping in the front and two in the back. It was probably too ambitious but I just tell myself I got busy with other stuff. :-)
// Anyone who wants to steal the idea - I'd be flattered.

Since we're on the topic of construction.... Anyone know of a landmark with REVERSE in it? Like even a famous(ish) switchback.

//Story time:
Last week Pop & I took separate cars to the memorial service. He in his Lincoln; me in Bro's SUV (he's in Kuwait - Pop keeps it watered).
I pull along side Pop at the light & roll down my passenger window. I start making gestures towards the road.
Pop rolls down his window and yells, "Title for title?"

I laughed my butt off. We needed that.
Oh, yeah,... it's my Brother's car so I took the bet :-)

Cheers, -T

Lemonade714 said...

Malodorous Manatee I believe your recitation 100% because you obviously have a well-honed sense of humor and saw the knee-slapping possibility of the added layer of punishment from the Monty Python frivolity.

NORTH CAROLINA UNIVERSITIES

Or this LIST

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

Arriving way too late; I never attempted the puzzle until just a half hour ago as I was getting ready for bed

I had all kinds of misdirection going on; the first of the clues to the “theme” was when I solved HOLD COURTNEY; I filled in KNEE CAPS quite early, so the other 12 letter CLOO’s came easily

I used BALONEY in my birthday limerick to -T yesterday;

Had to look up MONÁE; changed KONG to KOKO, MRI to EKG, and EPIC to SAGA. Otherwise, the puzzle grid was pristine

As one of the Corner’s regular “punsters”, this puzzle should’ve hit me in my SWEEP spot; but I’m giving it a “meh”+

A late night haiku:

Jane Dunce got married.
Her Dad was glad. Was this a
Nee jerk reaction?

Ok, that was a stretch!!