Theme: STOMP (66. Walk heavily, or a three-word hint to the answers to the starred clues) - Read it as S to MP:
17. *Park light recharged by the sun: SOLAR LAMP.
22. *Street feature that forces drivers to slow down: SPEED BUMP.
35. *Winter Olympics structure: SKI JUMP.
50. *Program for aspiring astronauts: SPACE CAMP.
55. *Cube added to tea: SUGAR LUMP.
Boomer here. Katie Hale is the new assistant to editor Patti Varol and this is her first LAT puzzle.
I
am doing what I can to deal with this bad spinal cord injury. Of course
I miss bowling, but also I miss coaching the High School kids.
Across:
6. Leopard marking: SPOT. What's your dog's name?
10. Pioneering TV brand: RCA. Victor - With a dog listening for "His Master's Voice".
13. __ jar: preserves preserver: MASON.
14. Novelist Calvino: ITALO.
15. Lip balm brand whose name is short for "evolution of smooth": EOS.
16. 2000s teen drama set in California: THE OC.
19. __ City: Detroit nickname: MOTOR. I think most American cars come from there.
21. What "meow" may mean: FEED ME. Or ME OUCH!!
26. Clarifying words: I MEAN.
27. Contentious territory between airplane seats: ARMREST. I really need the left one.
28. Rebuke from Caesar: ET TU. How many eggs did you have for breakfast Caesar? ET TU Brute!
30. "Vaya con __": DIOS.
31. Texas politician Beto: O'ROURKE. Popular in the big state.
34. Defib expert: EMT. Thin-Wall pipe.
38. Frequently, in verse: OFT.
40. Eyes, in slang: PEEPERS. Jeepers, where did you get them?
42. In short supply: RARE. Order for a steak.
43. Filmmaker Wachowski: LANA.
44. Partygoer: REVELER. DFL and GOP are placing lots of TV ads these days.
47. Piglike forest dweller: TAPIR.
52. Wows: AMAZES. You would not believe the cornfield mazes in Minnesota.
54. East Coast rte.: US ONE. Never been on it.
57. Odometer reading: MILES. A little over 1600 miles from
Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Only 200 from Minneapolis to Ho Chunk casino
in Black River Falls, WI.
61. Flight safety org.: TSA. With about 6 ounces of metal in my shoulder? I don't think so.
62. Little bits: IOTAS. More than an IOTA of metal.
63. Verdi composition: OPERA.
64. Hankering: YEN.
65. Hive insects: BEES. A home for the fleas, a hive for the buzzin' BEES. Hair, grow it, show it, long as I can show it my hair.
Down:
2. Ooh and __: AAH.
3. Employ: USE.
4. Generation Z, colloquially: ZOOMERS. Boomers Zoomers. I make them up.
5. Convert into cipher: ENCODE.
6. Hurricane, e.g.: STORM. These have been going on all over our US. Minnesota has been lucky.
7. Friend: PAL. No longer owned by eBay.
8. German chancellor Scholz: OLAF. We have St. OLAF college in Northfield. I used to sell them light bulbs.
9. Went wild on the dance floor: TORE IT UP. I cannot dance. Sorry.
10. Aptly named novelist Charles: READE.
11. Pause-causing punctuation: COMMA. Sometimes I hit period by mistake.
12. Colorado snowboarding mecca: ASPEN. I had a 1976 Dodge ASPEN once.
14. "The jury __": IS OUT. I never had to serve - got called a couple of times.
18. Ring-tailed primate: LEMUR.
20. Conan's former network: TBS. Turner Broadcasting out of Atlanta.
22. "The Sweetest Taboo" singer: SADE.
23. Spruce oneself up: PRIMP. Maybe Graybar will have a Christmas lunch for retired old guys and I may have to wear a coat and tie - if I can find it.
24. Ham it up on stage: EMOTE.
25. Lima's land: PERU.
29. Actor Hanks: TOM. Easy clue. I have a cousin in Idaho named TOM.
31. Tropicana products, for short: OJS.
32. Fluffy-eared marsupial: KOALA. I think the San Diego zoo may have them.
33. Zimbalist Jr. of old TV: EFREM.
35. Part of a pork rack: SPARE RIB. Delicious with BBQ sauce.
36. Barbie's beau: KEN.
37. Golden yrs. funds: IRAS. Did not do too well last week.
39. U. of Maryland player: TERP.
41. "My Fair Lady" role: ELIZA.
42. Proof of purchase: RECEIPT.
44. Speaks hoarsely: RASPS. Happens often in the hot summer.
45. Green prefix: ECO.
46. Pays using an app: VENMOS. I do not use APPS to pay anything, sorry.
47. Scrumptious: TASTY. Pizza and ice cream!
48. Cause to chuckle: AMUSE. I get amused playing Pac-Man.
49. Solstice celebrator: PAGAN. Twins have a pitcher - last name PAGAN. He's terrible!
51. Mountain lions: PUMAS.
53. __ gin fizz: SLOE.
56. SLC athlete: UTE.
58. Sign before Virgo: LEO. I had a great bowling friend - LEO MANN. May he rest in peace.
59. Verbal hesitation: ERM.
60. Tree gunk: SAP. Make syrup from Maple.
Boomer
41 comments:
The only “O’Rourke” I know is that great humorist P.J. O’Rourke. Other than that, the puzzle puzzle was the usual Monday walk in the park. FIR, so I’m happy.
Typical Monday with extra names on the side.
Good morning!
ERM? Really? Otherwise, this one was pretty straight-forward. No drama. No Wite-Out. O'ROURKE lit into a guy heckling him about Uvalde with a string of expletives. The jury IS OUT whether that helped or hurt his campaign. US ONE was a gimme -- dw's dad used to live just a few yards off that highway in suburban Washington, D.C. Enjoyed your debut, Katie, and your expo, Boomer. (That's not just "a dog," that's Nipper.)
FIW, mispeling Robert Francis' name as OROaRKE. UNTIE! Erased colon for COMMA and efram for EFREM. Katie and Patti are probably too young to get the clue "what Seymour was told" for FEED ME.
DNK ERM and ITALO.
Thanks to Katie for the good start to the work week, and may you have a moderating effect on Patti's urge to make ZOOMERS out a bunch of old farts. And thanks to Boomer for the usual Monday pun/fun. I know the kids miss you even more than you miss them.
FIR, but take exception to "erm", not in my vocabulary. Got the MP part of the theme, but didn't see the S part till I got here. Nice Monday outing!
First things first: Katie Hale is originally from Houston and is now a stay-at-home mother in London. She works on puzzles when her girls, 6 and 9, are otherwise occupied, and says she likes “to try and come up with themes during times when I might otherwise be mindlessly staring at my phone, like on the bus. I think the moments when I’m out in the world, hearing other people talk, but not directly to me, are the best times to find inspiration.”
Took 4:04 for me to Swing like a chaMP.
Efrem, Eliza, & Lana on a Monday?
Erm any day?
Musings
-S TO MP is really clever for a Monday entry.
-O_AF/ITA_O and stand-alone Wachowski were doable but not very Mondayish
-“Grape wine in a MASON jar, Homemade and brought to school…”
-FEED ME – Lily opts for a bop on the face to meowing at 5 a.m.
-That use of PEEPERS is very old and there is also this ancient reference known to boomers but not ZOOMERS
-Speaking of 50’s TV, do you remember EFREM on 77 Sunset Strip?
-TWERKED also worked for the “dancing” reference at TORE IT UP
Husker, didn't TWERKED come up a little short?
Good Morning:
I saw the recurring S and P and just assumed the reveal would be S & P 500 related, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only was I wrong, but the S To Mp was far more clever. I was surprised to fill in Olaf for a German surname and while I’ve seen Sade before, I wouldn’t know her by her music or, for that matter, by any clue. Misty’s CSO of RCA had a prominent location today and our two Tom’s get their due, as well. That other paper’s blog has had its share of comments about Erm, which is supposedly Brit speak for our Um or Er. Best part about the puzzle, to me, was the Tapir, Lemur, Koala, Pumas, and Bees.
Thanks, Kate, and congrats on your LA Times debut and thanks, Boomer, for being such an indomitable presence every Monday, plus handling the occasional pinch hitting duties. You are truly an inspiration to us all. 😉
DO @ 5:36 ~ Thanks for recognizing my beloved Nipper.
HG @ 8:09 ~ Thanks for telling us a little bit about Kate.
FLN
Wilbur, would you mind expanding on your comment about your sheep? Did I miss a past reference to a new endeavor in your life?
Have a great day.
No Redsox today but Pats EASED by another "Oh how the mighty have fallen " Steeler Team
This was a Monday that made me work a bit and that's good. Really slow start with 1D but WAG'ed GAUZE which Boomer must see when giving blood(holds the cotton onto prickmark
Fats buddies filled a jar at the Jambalaya It wasn't a MASON but it wasn't fruit
WC
Spelling EFRoM was spotted just in time. I actually groked the theme
Some of the names threw me. When they cross its impossible. Since I live in TX I knew O'Rourke. Never heard of erm?
D-O - Never underestimate my ability to write too quickly or misspell anything, especially at that hour of the day with two plumbers in the house. Thanks for the gentle nudge! :-)
East Monday. I missed the theme. I thought they all would rhyme with UMP, but then we had the AMPs.
THE OC, SADA, and LANA were new to me, but perps solved them.
I have seen My Fair Lady many times, so ELIZA was a gimme. As was BETO who is often in the news, especially that shouting incident.
I knew EFREM from Sunset Strip TV show years ago. For spelling I relied on perps.
Childish spats: I mean... I know you're mean.
I like dawn goddess for EOS. Lovely pink dawn this AM.
No names too hard to get. Liked the reference to one of my all time favorite authors ITALO CALVINO. ERM didn’t come easily. Not familiar with that. I like the ZOOMER reference. I used to watch 77 SUNSET STRIP. Is that the one with “Cookie lend me your comb”?
Have a good Monday everyone.
North of the equator this puzzle was Monday EZ, but South it got Friday hard for me. . needed a lot of perp aid down there. .. Plus I thought the theme was "things that go UMP in the night" 😀
Ain't thar a rule agin the clue containin' the answer.. EOS "Evolution of Smooth" (In a clue like "part of NATO" where the answer is ATL, which is also part of the clue, you still have to parse the right choice of out of four)
"Odometer reading"..MILES (sorry, Canada Eh)
Er, uh, um, who says ERM? (WEES) Actually when I watch a BRIT TV show I turn on closed caption, they frequently print "ERM" when the actor says "Um" ...kinda like "arse" for...🙊
Thought it was "Efraim" but both the "a" and the "i" had to go.. perpcorrected. (He was a ZIMBALIST, what's a ZIMBAL? ☺) "77 Sunset Strip" My favorite Saturday night show.
Now a days ZOOMERS are those of us who used and still use, (me, departmental meeting tonight) ZOOM, à la COVID, for remote official and social interactions. 😐
PUMAS in the cravis!!!
Whacked...OFT
Ebb with "off"...TAPIR
Cocktail that takes awhile to make: _____ gin fizz...SLOE
Speaks horsely in Scotland.....NAES
Erato...AMUSE
Eve's source..SPARERIB
knowledge....KEN
Boomer, remember laughter is the best medicine 'cept Medicare don't pay for it.🙄
Yes, I read many Brit novels so ERM seemed normal to me.
Boomer, my thoughts are with you in all your troubles, as you bravely carry on.
Boomer, as the Brits would say, "Keep your pecker up." I benign expression in the UK, not so in the USA.
Boomer, thanks for explaining the theme! FIR but was stumped by the reveal. Certainly needed the crosses to fill in proper names today. Enjoy the week, Cornerites!
Tante Nique, yes Edd (two d's) Byrnes played Kookie (NLN) opposite Connie Stevens as Cricket Blake in 77 Sunset Strip. Edd died a couple of years back, but Connie is still hangin' in there.
Erm...
(Cont...)
Hola!
I'll have to read comments when baby is napping. I will have to babysit until he is potty trained. Does anyone have any good suggestions for how to do that? It's been 45 years since my daughter's toddler days.
I liked this puzzle with its various -MP words: LAMP, BUMP, JUMP, LUMP, CAMP. STOMP
Thank you Katie and Boomer. Our secretary of state is named Katie and she is running for governor.
and MILES to go before I sleep, Robert Frost
Must go watch the child. Later, when he naps.
Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!
Ok, I looked it up, and Erm is a valid scrabble word...
but I still don't like it...
I still do not know how to spell Efrom.
I did enjoy "Pumas in the Cravis."
(But I always thought Pumas were pronounced "Poom-ahs," and not "Pee-oomahs.")
I also found an 8 minute video of cute kitties meowing,
But I won't post it, because "even I" could not watch all of it...
Ok, that's it, I'm outta here...
Delightful Monday puzzle, Katie--many thanks for getting our week off on such a great start. And I was so relieved and delighted to see you posting this morning, Boomer--you are such a hero, thank you so much for your kindness and great work.
As soon as I saw RCA I knew that Irish Miss would remember my Dad working there for so much of his life. Thank you for that kind memory. And you also collected all the critters in this puzzle, from TAPIR to BEES. Thank you for that too.
Well, as soon as I saw GAUZE, I figured we had a poor soul in recovery here today, possibly a fellow who injured himself during a SKI JUMP in ASPEN, or while having a crash after hitting a SPEED BUMP on the highway.
Poor guy is probably at home, supported with an ARM REST, begging for someone to FEED ME, hoping for a SPARE RIB and that they'll get him a SUGAR LUMP to go with his tea, while he watches an OPERA on his TV after dinner. At least his PEEPERS are still okay.
Have a great week coming up, everybody.
I guess it’s notable when one has been doing crosswords from 1987 and you FINALLY get to fill “ERM”.
Yes, a great day.
YR - "pecker" is benign to Brits, but to us "fanny" is relatively benign, but isn't so to Brits.
SADE (pronounced sha-DAY IIRC) had a big hit with the beautiful song Smooth Operator.
FIR. Like Ray-O @ 10:26, I knew ERM from the closed captions on BritTV when the actor says, "umm". HG @ 8:09 wrote that Katie is currently living in London. Sounds SPOT-on to me.
I enjoyed Boomer's write-up, as usual. Thanks!
The NY Times crossword had O’ROURKE as well yesterday, or the day before. Strange how these things sometimes come together…
Watching the Queen’s funeral this morning. It takes a lot of patience to walk in a procession that long and at that pace. The various rituals within ritual were most impressive. But isn’t it strange to see so many distinguished-looking grown men saying so many things about the supernatural with straight faces? Yes, I want to believe they mean it all as metaphor, because I cherish the poetry.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, far side.
Its anagram (12 of 15 letters) tells us there are other jobs at least as challenging as herding cats.
What if you were assigned to,..
”ORGANIZE JAYS”?!
In response to your question Boomer, my dog’s name is Chipper. I’m probably the biggest Atlanta Braves fan in all of New Hampshire in case you’re wondering how she got that name. My next dog is going to be named Smoltz, so it better be a male dog.
YR & Jinx ~ Because “pecker” has a different meaning in the UK.
In the US & Canada, it’s slang for “penis,” but in Britain it means “spirit” or “courage.” Some take it as slang for the mouth or “lips,” as in their famous “stiff upper lip.”
~ OMK
Oh, and Jinxis right about “fanny.”
Where we trade off on that is a word for the same thing. I mean the C-word, which is used rather casually by them, not so with us.
(Except by our standup comedians…)
~ OMK
MP Monday. Thanks for the fun, Katie and Boomer (wishing you and C.C. a better week).
This Canadian has been glued to the TV all day watching the Queen’s funeral in London, the Committal in Windsor, and then our own service in Ottawa. A spectacular celebration of her life and commitment, but also a tribute to history. Nobody does Pomp and Ceremony better than the British!
Perhaps that jaded my view of the CW. I found the theme a little Meh when I got to it. And ERM was not that pleasant to my ears either.
But I did smile at AMUSE crossing AMAZES. EOS and DIOS.
I also smiled at the first clue re English time, after rising early because they are 5 hours ahead of us. London time is GMT +1.
Even this Canadian knew OROUKE. And thanks Ray-o, but I just knew that was an odometer on an American car.
I did not know VENMOS- all perps.
Wishing you all a great day.
Thanks do@10:27. I didn’t remember Connie Stevens.
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Katie, for a fun puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for all your ZOOMERS. Take care!
DNK: ITALO, EOS, LANA, OLAF, READE, SADE, VENMOS. Perps filled most. TERP also needed a perp.
I used to be a fan of EFREM Z. Jr.
After insomnia, I happened to turn on the TV at 5:30 a.m. and got hooked on the Queen's funeral. Unbelievable seeing all those military personnel & dignitaries marching about. At age 73, King Charles III must be tougher than he looks to keep step behind the caisson bearing the coffin for over an hour. I was afraid all the stress and activity would do Charles in and they'd end up having to crown William instead. I enjoyed seeing London and the countryside of England -- now the only way I'll ever travel there.
Lucina, as to potty training, boys are harder than girls. What worked best for me was to shut the 2 yr.old kid & me into a room with a tile or linoleum floor and the little potty chair and some toys. Then leave the kid nude so he can see what is happening. When he started to squirt, I'd grab him and say "quick, quick, let's go potty." Only took a few days for him to understand what was expected, hold it and tell me. Took a while longer to get him to go by himself. He had to be able to manage his own clothes. Had to get tall enough to stand up to the "throne" as coached by daddy. Don't know what level of "trained" your childcare facility expects.
When my daughter was a Rotary Scholar to New Zealand, she wanted to get what Americans call a "fanny pack". She asked several males she knew where to go to buy one and just got embarrassed, horrified looks. Finally, an older lady overheard and said to her, "Dear, do you need a Tampax?"
O.K., FIR in 13. Seemed to take longer. 9 proper names, a lot for a Monday. Was so sure ERM could not be right, but perps demanded it, so after a mental alphabet run, put that M in there. W/Os HUMP:BUMP, TURP:TERP, CUBE:LUMP. Once again, Boomer had to 'splain the theme. I couldn't post until now because Comcast Internet has been up and downover and over all day.....again. They say, "We are working in your area to improve your internet." Before they started "improving my service" I was already getting 200-300 Mbps, far more than I need. They could "improve my service" now by just going away. It has been about ten days of this. (Grump, grump). Thanx KH for the CW, and thanx Boomer for your usual outstanding write-up. I went to Slackers Packer Bar last night to watch the game (HURRAY!! THEY WON!!) but the experience was ruined by the two guys sitting next to me who spent the whole evening loudly discussing their right-wingnut politics. "The last election was stolen! The cyber-ninjas were really NOT trump supporters but a false-flag operation by the libtards...." and on and on into full-blown Q-anon nonsense. I just wanted to enjoy watching the game while drinking beer and eating cheese-curds, and brats w/ sauerkraut. Grrr! Anyway, my Packers played well.
I liked this puzzle, except for ERM. Can one parse STORM as S to RM?
My wife has been, and still is, glued to the TV watching all that British pomp. Westminster Abbey is a pretty impressive building.
Good wishes to you all.
Finally, mommy came home and I was relieved of my duty!
Thank you, PK, for that advice! I shall try it tomorrow and take my book in there.
He is three years old and the childcare facility expects him to be trained. They won't accept him otherwise.
Anon @12:54 - Whenever the local oldies station play Ozzie Osborne's Crazy Train, I can see Chipper coming up to bat in Turner Field. Did you know that MARTA doesn't go to the new ballpark either?
PK, too funny. Great that your daughter shared it with you.
OMK - It could be "job one" for the manager of the Toronto MLB team's manager: ORGANIZE JAYS. I like it.
Lucina: good luck! Hope this works. Every kid is different and results depend on degree of his stubbornness. Lots of praise for any good results usually helps. And telling him he doesn't want to go around stinky. And does he know if he can potty by himself he'll get to go play with other kids & some fun toys? I potty trained two little brothers as a teenager, a 3 yr old her parents thot was hopeless & retarded (but wasn't) with whom I did in-home child care one summer, and 4 kids of my own. That 3 yr old didn't seem to know she was a person who was supposed to talk or go potty. She'd been sort of a pet. Took her to play with a friend's potty trained & talkative smaller child & you could see the surprise in my charge and then we got results. However, until her parents & older sisters got with the program we had a lot of weekend lapses.
I'm glad I don't have to do it again.
Thank you, again, PK. I know his mother will be relieved not to mention the savings in not having to buy diapers and training pants! Though we might still need some of those for a while.
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