Good morning. Malodorous Manatee here. Hahtoolah is still on vacation and, once again, I have the honor of filling in for her.
Today's puzzle setter is frequent contributor, Stella Zawistowski. I always enjoy solving her puzzles. Much has previously been written here on The Corner about Ms. Zawistowski so rather than repeat that let's join the festivities. Party On, Cruciverbalists!
At three places within the grid, Stella has, at the end (or BACK) of a longer answer, placed synonyms for PARTY. For our convenience, the themed answers are starred. Two of these answers are fourteen letters long and two are twelve letters long. Nice grid, Stella.
Here are the party-themed answers (and their respective clues):
20 ACROSS: *Broadcast quality determined by a car antenna: RADIO RECEPTION. Jumping right in, indeed:
26 ACROSS: *Sine or cosine, for short: TRIG FUNCTION. A TRIGonometry reference. It might have also been clued linguistically: Conjunction Junction . . .
. . . What's Your Function?
43 ACROSS: *Issue best kept within the clan: FAMILY AFFAIR.
The reveal comes after the three, party-themed answers and explains them to us:
52 ACROSS: Tongue-in-cheek description of a mullet, and of the answers to the starred clues: PARTY IN THE BACK. Hairstyles come and go. The mullet is, perhaps, best forgotten.
Here is how this all looks in the grid:
. . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Drains of energy: SAPS.
5. Prefix with sphere: ATMO. ATMOsphere
9. Jousting weapon: LANCE.
14. Drive-__ ATM: THRU.
15. Have to have: NEED.
16. Negatively charged particle: ANION. Positively charged, it is a:
18. Surrealist Salvador: DALI.
23. NFL six-pointers: TDS. TouchDownS
24. Beer barrel: KEG.
32. Mongolia's continent: ASIA.
35. Movement-sensing game console: WII. Nintendo WII
36. Get set, casually: PREP. PREPare
Down:
1. Microwave button: START. Among others.
2. Coming up: AHEAD. What did one hat say to the other? "You stay here, I'll go on ahead."
3. Urges along: PRODS.
4. Gymnast Lee who won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics: SUNI.
5. Nobel Peace Prize winner Sakharov: ANDREI.
6. Hard-boiled Chinese snack: TEA EGG.
8. Garfield's drooling frenemy: ODIE. That's ODIE on the right, er left.
11. Yucatán boy: NINO. One of today's Spanish lesson.
12. Last name of filmmakers Ethan and Joel: COEN. The "Best Of" clips are too long. So, let's just go with this Fargo trailer:
21. Bhindi masala pod: OKRA. A Northern Indian curried dish featuring, you guessed it, OKRA. Thanks, perps.
22. Isn't yet decided: PENDS.
27. Material in a lint trap: FLUFF. Never has anyone that I know referred to lint as FLUFF.
28. Abu Dhabi's fed.: UAE. United Arab Emirates
29. "Victory is mine!": I WIN.
30. Pigpen grunt: OINK. What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu? If you have bird flu you get tweet-ment. If you have swine flu you need OINK-ment.
31. Put the kibosh on: NIX. Remember this bumper sticker?
32. "Eri tu," but not "Eres Tu": ARIA. "Eri tu" is an aria from a Verdi opera. "Eres Tu" (It's You) is a popular song. However, ere is a version of "Eres Tu" recorded with a symphony orchestra.
33. Look like: SEEM.
37. Low-altitude airplane pass: FLYBY. The pattern is full.
39. Salsa container: JAR.
41. Formed clumps: CLOTTED.
42. Get out of bed: RISE.
45. Step-counting device: FITBIT.
49. Cosmic balance: KARMA. One person's take on this:
50. Salty expanse: OCEAN.
52. Pull's opposite: PUSH.
53. Voting against: ANTI
54. Bird in Egyptian art: IBIS.
56. "Touched your nose!" sound: BOOP. We have seen this clue/answer before. I prefer this take:
Stella, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the Comments section. We'd love to hear from you.
. . . . and now it is time to rest and recover from all of this partying.
_________________________________________________________
פרת ים
MM Out
41 comments:
FIRight. No problems.
I first thought ending in TION, but the third themer disabused that, and showed the true similarity.
There once was a fellow named LANCE,
Who thought to give jousting a chance.
His colt RAN AT his foe,
Knocked him off of his foal!
Lance did a "VICTORY IS MINE" dance!
If DALI and ODIE ever crossed,
One of them the world would have lost.
Drool would have drowned Dali,
Or the artist show the folly,
By painting an "odie"-ous melted watch!
{B, B.}
At first, I thought the microwave button was "steam" not "start." And I'm glad to see "babe" in the cw rather than the more recent (and IMHO, nonsensical) "bae." Other than that, pretty smooth sailing. FIR, so I'm happy.
Good morning!
Not too difficult. Not too many proper names. Not to be complained about. The Wite-Out got a rest today. Hard to miss that SO to Jinx. Nicely done, Stella. Mal-Man you were at your punniest this morning.
FIR. No real problems, theme was good, but in truth I have never heard of the phrase "party in the back". Am I missing something here?
FIR, but erased eons for AEON. Four unknowns in a row hung like icicles along the Canadian border, but easy-peasy perps rendered them harmless. I didn't think about the theme until the Mal Man wrote about it.
I may have mentioned that I have a DVD showing Mike Wallace interviewing DALI on 60 Minutes. Both were chain-smoking cigarettes. My, how times have changed.
Remember the old bumper sticker that proclaimed "My KARMA Just Ran Over Your Dogma"?
FLN - Lucina, when I lived in LA I went to a lot of Dodger games. It was usually hot at the beginning of the game, but after the sun set it would get really chilly. Tourists that were taking in their first game bought a lot of Dodger gear to stay warm, even if they rooted for the visitors. My GTE coworker's dad was in charge of merch sales at the stadium, and she said it was a well-known phenomenon. (She could also get me anything they sold for half-price.)
STELLA! This one was a nice, easy exercise. And our Mal Man always delivers.
KS - The idea is that from the front, a mullet is relatively short and appears to be appropriate for business, but from the back it is long and appears to be appropriate for a rock band roadie.
Here's a pretty good tee shirt extolling the virtues of the cut. Nice shirt, but the best one I've ever owned came from a booze-and-card parlor joint in Four Corners, NM. It declared "Liquor Up Front, Poker in The Rear".
It is so impressive the way the new bloggers have followed Susan's lead in seeking out and linking so many interesting thoughts, cartoons, and videos. The blog is worth reading not only for the puzzle solutions but for the added fun.
I have never seen a microwave with a STEAM button but there is much I do not know.
Thank you Joseph and Stella
This puzzle was nearly as fast as Monday's. Stella usually has Saturday so I was braced for a challenge - no, it was easy peasy. I had heard of "business up front, PARTY IN THE BACK" for a mullet. Never cared for the style and unfortunately it's making a comeback.
Only hang up was putting MEL B instead of MEL C for the Spice Girl. MEL B WAS a Spice Girl but she was Scary Spice not Sporty Spice! So that delayed the finish of one of the theme answers for a bit.
Thanks MM for your Hatoolah like blog and Stella for a fun puzzle.
Practically no pausing today for me. M.M.definitely was not RANK either despite his adopted moniker. I thought this was slightly easier than yesterday, and most of the names were known to me, but would probably have perped anyway. My mojo is on the mend!
Very busy week in store, so not sure if I'll make it here each day. So have a fun time, everyone!
I got to the back of the party in 4:39 today.
Not crazy about "Lea" next to "fluff," but fortunately the crossing "acrosses" were relatively easy. I have also heard a mullet described as "business in the front, party in the rear." Overall, a good Tuesday puzzle.
Easy and fun, Stella. I saw the party synonyms at the second themer. I felt negative about PARTY IN THE BACK, but Jinx's explanation made it palatable. I still see mullets on some people.
Some fashionistas and ads for ladies' pants use pant for the singular. I don't care for it. Similarly, some say scissor as a noun for scissors.
Maybe people don't say fluff when they mean lint, but fluff does describe it. So no nit from me. I used to put the lint from my dyer in small container which I later emptied. The amount collected over a few weeks seemed to be enough to make a sweater.
MM, informative blog, great illustrations. Thank you for your time in seeking them out.
The unnecessary A in AEON and in orthopaedist, the u in neighbour, etc. all seem archaic to me.
Yellowrocks,
Those "-our" spellings are from the French influence on English after "Willy the conque" took Britain over. American spelling generally returned to the original Latin roots with "-or", from which the "ae" spellings are also derived. So that would mean that from an American viewpoint, they are archaic, but still pretty common in British English.
Yay, Stella gave us a Tuesday-appropriate puzzle! Thanks! I have a FIR start to the day. After the first two themers I could fill in the third's ending with only a couple of letters in place. I didn't guess what the reveal phrase would be, though. I knew the phrase when I saw it. Hand up for wearing a mullet forty years ago.
MalMan, great review with humor and extras. Thanks for the smiles. Where do you find all the "Dad" jokes? You've been a good substitute for Hahtoolah.
Hope Hahtoolah is having a fun trip. And I hope you all are doing well and staying cool.
Good Morning:
I enjoyed the theme and solve despite never having heard Party In The Back in my life. The latest male hair style seems to be shaved sides and full on top. Looks ridiculous to me but each generation has its fades, foibles, and follies, I guess. The only unknowns were Suni and, as clued, Lea and Okra. There was a global touch with UAE, Israel, Athens, and Asia. Also, a mini, mini creature feature with Odie, Oink, and Ibis. CSOs to Jinx (Jinx), Lucina (Nino and Omar), CC (Asia and Tea Egg), and Leo III (Fly By).
Thanks, Stella, for a just-right Tuesday and thanks, MalMan, for the many chuckles you evoked with your stellar write-up. I hope Hahtoolah has been reading your reviews and enjoying the feline visuals as much as I have. The opening kitty in the party hat led off the expo, the brilliant Cation followed, and the snoozing kitty completed it. Just purr-fect! And your equal time to the canine- loving community was appreciated, as well, with the FitBit shunning pup!
Have a great day.
Fads, not Fades. Though wasn’t there a Fades hairstyle? Who could keep track? 🤔
Always enjoy seeing a Stella Z byline as she has a flair for creating interesting puzzles whether it’s a themed XW like today or a Saturday themeless, which can be a bear at times! FIR in just under 11 minutes, about par for a Tuesday, thanks Stella for the enjoyable solve :)
MM ~~ great job filling in for Hahtoolah, just like her blog, yours is replete with pics and videos and cartoons and a lot of info! Thanks for the humorous review, it’s obvious you put a lot of time into it.
CanadianEh 🇨🇦 ~~ have you ever ventured to Tobermory? Came here Saturday via Sault Ste. Marie, Manitoulin Island and an hour and 45 minute ride on the ferry “Chi-Cheemaun”. What spectacular scenery at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula where Lake Huron meets Georgian Bay! Due to location on the water, the heat wave that’ll hit most of Ontario will spare this area. Ironically where I live on the shores of Lake Superior which is quite a bit north of here, temps hit 100F yesterday (37.7C), glad I missed that stifling 🔥.
FIR in 21, with about one full minute in the SE. I have never said "Boop" when touching a toddler's nose. "Beep", "Toot", "Honk", yes. Never Boop. I had the "OOP" and in my head ran through possible letters where eventually the "B" ended up. Perhaps the worst choice was a "P". Touching a toddler's nose and saying, "Poop" does not sound like a good idea. Other than that, DNK SUNI or MELC. One W/O: RUNTO:RUNAT. Israel fixed that. Fun Tuesday that took me a bit longer than it should have, but a fun CW with a nice theme, which finally gave me the "B". Thanx, SZ. And thanx to MalMan too for the VERY fun and entertaining write-up.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Stella and MalMan.
My newspaper doesn’t credit the constructor, leaving me agape when I arrived here. I remember Stella’s torturous first Saturday offering. But this was a pleasant solve with a fun (IN THE BACK) theme. I do remember that expression (but am not familiar with that use of BOOP).
I FIRed.Possible unknowns perped nicely.
I noted ASIA crossing ARIA, ANION crossing ANOINT, PANT crossing SKORT.
We had NINO and CHILD ( but not crossing).
We “came to a close” several times THRU the CW with END, NIX and DIE.
JINX (great CSO) - I nearly snorted my coffee at your “icicles on the Canadian border” after yesterday’s discussion of what is considered heat among the Corner constituents. Thanks all for chiming in". It is still quite enjoyable weather here so far today.
YooperPhil- yes, I have taken the Chi-Cheemaun quite a few times one direction or the other on family trips to Thunder Bay. Tobermory is a lovely little tourist town. Do you scuba dive? Try Fathom Fuve
https://explorethebruce.com/scuba-diving-and-snorkeling/
Wishing you all a great day.
LOL, Ray-o has made us all bold now this time!
I always like Susan Z’s puzzles. This was no exception. Aeon or eons, a tugger always. MM thanks for all the goodies, including the Coen video. I love almost all of their movies. I read that one of them, I forgot which, wants to quit making movies.
Stay cool.
We’ve all gone bold, now!
Hola!
Thanks to Stella and MalMan for today's fun!
TRIGFUNCTION always reminds me of the torturous time I had with it in college.
I've never heard the expression PARTY IN THE BACK and I don't see as many MULLETS these days as in the past.
I have two friends named BETTY though only one was called BETTY BOOP. The other one changed her name. She preferred her religious name.
OMAR Sharif was one of the most handsome men on earth, IMO.
By chance we were able to spend ten days in ATHENS and even though the weather was a scorcher, it was wonderful. The museum alone took at least three days to wander through it and fleetingly examine all the artifacts. And I can't say enough about the AGORA not to mention the glorious food!
CLOTTED cream! Yum, yum, yum!
It's been so long, years actually, since I've had an OREO.
Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!
Try this again
Just before I ate the world's smallest OREO
Puzzling thoughts"
FIR
Thanks Stella and Joseph. As other said, you (MM) are doing a yeoman's job of blogging in Hah2Lah's absence
Enjoyed the puzzle, and for the most part, the clues were acceptable
Delightful Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Stella. And thanks for your very enjoyable commentary too, Mal Man.
Fun scary picture of DALI, Mal Man--thanks for posting it.
Nice to see CHILD and BABE in the same corner. Oh, yes, and that NINO too.
Not much food today, although we did get the frequent OREO and that interesting TEA EGG.
Liked your poems this morning, Owen.
Have a good day, everybody.
CanadianEh🇨🇦 ~~ no I don’t scuba dive, although I did take the course and got certified back in college (my check out dive in an ill-fitting wet suit in the 34F waters of Lake Superior kinda turned me off to the sport, but I do enjoy warm water snorkeling). The Fathom Five marine park is definitely a popular diving area with the many shipwrecks and the crystal clear pristine water with so many shades of blues and teals. Gotta go back to Michigan tomorrow, but not without a little stash of Moosehead beer, the local LCBO was out of it so have to pick it up on the way back. ☺️
The only time I remember hearing "BOOP your nose" was in an episode of "Mom". Christy, the daughter (played by Anna Faris), was in a developing relationship that she thought was casual. When her young man professed his love for her, Christy let him know that she didn't have the same feelings for him. Hurt, her young man said "and I BOOPed your nose and everything". (Sorry, it was really funny in the program.)
The blog went bold?
Oh well, if we're gonna be bold...
CW.. Due to an error I cause you all to BOLDLY go where no cornerite has ever gone. To explore strange new crosswords. Seek out new proper names..etc..
🚀👨🚀
I was never "bold" so I guess Ray or TTP fixed it before it got to me. Sorry I missed the shared experience, but happy to be my usual "unbold" self.
Oh, I spoke too soon. Although I wasn't "bold" before, after Ray's 12:09 post, I was and am, now. That's okay, at least I know what all of you are talking about now.
A fine Tuesday offering from Ms. Zawistowski, moderated by MalMan.
25A. I believe "One, in Germany," is the numeral EINS, with an "s." EIN, by itself, is the article, "a" or "an." Isn't that right, Misty?
There seems to be quite a few proper names today, but most were familiar.
52A. What exactly is a "mullet"? I thought it was any hair style that bunches or hangs down in the back. But I'm not sure.
Does it need to have a PART in the back (to form a basis for today's PARTY IN THE BACK)?
~ OMK
____________
DR: A three-way on the far side.
The central diagonal presents an anagram (13 of 15 letters) that can be seen, on the one hand, as a reference within artistic circles to Salvador DALI,
OR,
more generally, as the designation of any loud-mouthed jokester demanding to stand out in a crowd--an...
"INANE CYNOSURE"!
Hi All!
Cute Tuesday theme, Stella. Thanks for the [non-Saturday] puzzle.
MManatee - what Lem said re: expo -- just as (if not more) entertaining than the grid. Thanks for taking the time.
//really, Oinkment? ;-) LOL Python ref.
WO: started stereo b/f realizing not enough squares for letters RADIO worked.
ESPs: SUUNI, ANDREI, MEL C
Fav: BOOP (got your nose)* is cute
{B+, B}
Your DR made me lookup Cynosure ;-)
ATMO? Is that Elmo's buddy?
Ralphie May on Mullets [TV-MA]
Enjoyed reading everyone!
Cheers, -T
*JINX - DW played that game with our Girls when they were babies. Just one of those 'teaching language' things, I guess.
Ray-O-Sunshine's comments at 12:09
(Busy day, without the "preview" option to warn me one of my "bold" words were unclosed. sorry. ☹)
FIR and although not late to the PARTY once again forgot about the theme. ��
"Many millenia" sounded like a plural so I put Eons/ÆON, other inkovers: hemi/ATMO,(shoulda perpwaited) FAMILYsecret/AFFAIR, rev/REC, tko/KOS,
"Just before I ate the world's smallest OREO
Our lint trap contents is less FLUFFy and more fuzzy. Yes, BABE, not bae ��
"Eri Tu" ARIA ("It was you"), from Un Ballo in Maschera [MAHS'- keh - rah] (..not mascara, the goop on yer lashes) ��) . ...JINX? (Singular for recent "jinxies"?)
PRODS _____ of cattle...AHEAD
Cyclist Armstrong who lost his marble...LANCE ����
Soccer Mom.....KARMA
Delta and Omicron....FLUES
QEII's game console; "The Royal ___".. WII
Now if I can just find a miniature chocolate chip cookie. ��
Musings
-I tackled this puzzle by our weight lifter Stella after 18 holes and had a good time
-Is a successful QB sneak a TD on the QT?
-WII is popular in nursing homes
-Colonoscopy? A breeze! The PREP? Aaarrrggghhh!
-TEA EGG and MEL C filled themselves
-We have had ANOINT quite often lately and I think I finally see that there is only one N at the start
-Good golf courses FLUFF their sand traps
-We’ve got yet another visitation to attend. They seem to come in bunches.
-Nice job, MM.
Today I went out to lunch with two of my sisters, a special treat! The one from Charlotte will be leaving later this month after a three month stay. The conversation, sadly, was mostly about the upcoming burial of my late uncle and how much longer my sister's ex-husband will last. He's been on his last leg for two years now but refuses to give up.
Old Man Keith,
Your analysis of ein and eins was right on the money. I didn’t see if Misty also answered.
I liked this puzzle which I expected to be much more difficult because it was by Stella Zawistowski. Well-constructed, a pleasure to solve.
Very much enjoyed your exposition MM. Also enjoyed your verses, Owen.
Good wishes to you all.
Xx. Xxxxx Jinx, Mom was a fav of mine too.
Smooth Tuesday but needed perps. Maloman is indeed a fine fill-in for hahtoolah
I see I'm going to have to write my comments during and right after the solve. I've forgotten
WC
Thanks for your kind comments. I was going to comment on EIN / Eins but passed because my knowledge of German is less than rudimentary. Next time I will know for sure . . . if I can manage to remember.
When I saw DEN in circles I thought we were dealing with rooms in a house. And when Wilbur and the boys are watching NFL "He's in his NEST, the LAIR* he hangs out in, it's a HIVE of activity.
Aha, so I'm not the only SPAM on pizza guy. They have bacon spam
We fortunately just had AE AERIE recently as we did MARIANO Rivera
Nice to get Owen on the order of dishes. And, excellent poems
Time to post, lunch is over
WC
* I couldn't resist
(Jumble words)
[clunk, ratio, radius, speedy, discourse.]
Bilbo had reached the door to Smaug's* lair
He knew the treasure was at the end of a winding stair
He needed a speedy getaway, a rapid way to go
He quickly figured the distance and the ratio
Of the radius of cave, to the dragon's bunk
Yes, the worm was sleeping until he heard the clunk
The eye was open, and to make it worse
Smaug began a witty, wordy long discourse
Next, riddles, rings and ruin
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