Theme: "Brand Awareness" - Each product is rephrased as non-brand related.
21. Southwestern snapshot gallery?: ADOBE PHOTO SHOP.
30. Alerts to some party planners that their guests have arrived?: HOSTESS DINGDONGS.
44. One searching for a river crossing?: FORD EXPLORER.
56. Troves of getting-to-know-you questions?: ICEBREAKERS MINTS.
70. Flipped bar tables?: CONVERSE HIGH TOPS.
82. Veto a very large corsage?: AXE BODY SPRAY.
101. Entertainment at a tailgate party?: FENDER TELECASTER.
Reveal:
113A. Political movement against free enterprise, or a way of reading this puzzle's long answers?: ANTI-CAPITALISM.
Different products in different fields. Very consistent: company name
& its product. And the name is a common noun/verb. So GOOGLE PIXEL
will not work, but APPLE WATCH will.
I love the reveal. Just perfect.
Across:
6. iPad download: APP. Also 76. Apple platform: IOS.
9. Tear: REND.
13. Old-Fashioned option: NEAT. Cocktail.
17. Post-surgery regimen: REHAB.
18. In close combat: TOE TO TOE.
20. Ton o': LOTTA.
23. Like Chartres Cathedral: GOTHIC. Wikipedia says it's "designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979".
24. Drummer Ringo: STARR.
25. Inert gas: NEON.
26. Diver's need: AIR TANK.
27. "Cool your jets": WAIT.
33. Red tide bloom: ALGA.
34. Drag show accessory: BOA.
35. Puts in: ADDS.
36. __ tie: BOLO.
37. Skating biopic starring Margot Robbie: I TONYA.
40. Ending for sub- or ex-: URB.
42. "Nailed It!" host Nicole: BYER. Bake-off show.
43. "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN.
47. __ blues: genre that originated in Mississippi: DELTA.
49. Actor Mahershala: ALI. Two Oscars.
50. Yale grads: ELIS.
52. "Look on the bright side!": BE GLAD.
64. Audio giant: BOSE.
65. Passage cleared by a neti pot: SINUS.
66. PBS-funding org.: NEA.
67. Play-__: DOH.
68. Like lechón asado: CUBAN. Roast pork.
69. "No ifs, __, or buts": ANDS.
75. Private aye: YES SIR.
77. Daredevil Knievel: EVEL.
78. "Beach House" singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE.
79. Fawned (over): COOED.
89. Some IRAs: ROTHS.
92. Vampire's curfew: DAWN.
94. Nursery cry: WAH.
95. French star: ETOILE. L'etoile du Nord ("Star of the North”) is our state motto.
96. Pointless event at the Olympics?: EPEE. Because the sword is blunted?
97. Napa product: WINE.
98. Small slitherer: ASP.
100. Last president to keep a White House cow: TAFT.
107. __ mitzvah: BNAI.
108. Guarantees: ENSURES.
109. Meat salad in Lao cuisine: LARB. Minced meat seasoned with fish sauce.
110. Pontificate: ORATE.
112. Lay into: RAIL ON.
118. Rummikub pieces: TILES.
119. Familiar turf: HOME SOIL.
120. Hyper: ULTRA.
121. Rich rocks: ORES.
122. Agape: AWED. You won't believe the amount of snow we got last week.
123. Many OCS grads: LTS.
124. Cicely who wrote the 2021 memoir "Just As I Am": TYSON.
Down:
2. Ref. that could be considered hi-def.?: OED.
3. Comedian Margaret: CHO. Look at her tattoos.
4. Taxi waiting area: CAB STAND.
5. "Likely story": I BET.
6. Pulsating: ATHROB. Also 15. Excited: ATINGLE.
7. Wretch: POOR SOUL.
8. Veterinary patient: PET.
9. Thorny flowers: ROSES. Thanks for the sweet Valentine's Day card, Janice! Moved me to tears.
 |
| Janice and her daughter at an Indians Game Pre-COVID |
10. Set of values: ETHOS.
11. When the sun is highest: NOONDAY.
12. Bank acct. addition: DEP.
13. "I'm normally more humble than this ... ": NOT TO BRAG BUT. And 84. "You're too kind!": OH STOP IT. 93. "Let's see ... ": WELL NOW. I love these spoken phrases.
14. Gas additive: ETHANOL.
16. Includes: TACKS ON.
19. Color quality: TONE.
20. Epithet for Shiva: LORD.
22. Oom-__: PAH.
23. Tour stops: GIGS.
26. Tennis great Agassi: ANDRE.
27. Oliver Twist, for one: WAIF.
28. Palo __, California: ALTO.
29. Assistant with a hunch?: IGOR. Hunch-backed.
31. __ chips: TARO. Never had this. Taro is a staple in our fridge though.
32. Picked out of a lineup, briefly: ID'ED.
38. Quite a spell: YEARS.
39. Wheel shaft: AXLE.
41. Male title derived from "brother": BR'ER.
42. Hat edge: BRIM.
43. Supped: ATE.
45. Steinway instrument: PIANO.
46. Above-the-street trains: ELS.
48. Scale divs.: LBS.
51. Pro or con: SIDE.
53. Basketball commentator Rebecca: LOBO.
54. w/o delay: ASAP.
55. Cozy spots: DENS.
56. "Mercy me!": I SAY.
57. French film: CINE.
58. Winds down: ENDS.
59. Plans to go public?: BUS SCHEDULES. OK, public transit.
60. Actor Watanabe: KEN. He's in "The Last Samurai". We also have 62. Japanese drama: NOH.
61. Roof overhang: EAVE.
63. __ party: THIRD.
68. Storage box: CHEST.
70. __-Magnon: CRO.
71. Tony-winning musical "Dear __ Hansen": EVAN.
72. Nero Wolfe creator Stout: REX.
73. Oodles: SLEW.
74. "Mercy Mercy Me" singer: GAYE.
80. Takes care of a draft: EDITS.
81. Great __: DANE.
83. Sheep trills: BAAS.
85. Rotund stove: POTBELLY.
86. "Glass Onion" filmmaker Johnson: RIAN. He also directed "Knives Out".
_(cropped).jpg)
87. __ Romeo: sports car: ALFA. Hi there, Tony!
88. Hairy legend: YETI.
89. Cite: REFER TO.
90. Like many summer concerts: OPEN AIR.
91. __ strength: measure of tolerance: TENSILE.
97. Noisy bird in a dome-shaped nest: WREN.
99. Hazards: PERILS.
102. Bow-toting deity: EROS.
103. Tempting words in Wonderland: EAT ME.
104. Bawled: CRIED.
105. School basics: ABCS.
106. Lab rodent: RAT.
111. Stretched thin: TAUT.
113. Cry of discovery: AHA.
114. IM pioneer: AOL.
115. "__ Raining Them": Mila Jam remake celebrating the gender spectrum: IT'S.
117. Guy: MAN.
C.C.
Forgive me for being dense, but I don’t get how the reveal is “perfect.” In fact, I don’t get what it means at all. Someone please explain what “anti-capitalism “has to do with anything? Other than that I had a few W/O’s. “Taro” instead of “taco”, “ *larb” instead of “carb” etc. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteI don't get "flipped bar tables" nor anticapitalism.
ReplyDeleteSubG @4:03, OwenKL @4:04 In the names of the actual products, all the brands would be capitalized. In these wacky reimagined versions, the brands act as normal words so they aren’t. Hence ANTICAPITALISM.
ReplyDeleteI had TART (?) for TARO. But also, DEATH for DELTA. That was unknown to me.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteSome of those wacky definitions were a tad "stretchy." OwenKL, methinks high tops could be those tall bar tables, and one meaning of "converse" is "reverse" -- upend? Yeah, stretchy. It all came down to a DNF at RIA_/B_AI. I'd heard of B'nai B'rith, but had only heard of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Should'a taken a WAG at the N, but instead left it blank. Bzzzzzt. Thanx, Chandi and C.C.
Agreed, that is NOT a good crossing. I remembered RIAN from another puzzle (I managed to find it, it’s the Wednesday puzzle from December 28th 2022) with that devilish SOAP/SOUP conundrum crossing RI_N.
DeleteICEBREAKERS MINTS was the weakest themer for me. Didn’t help that I’ve never heard of them as a non-American. MINT doesn’t really feel like it fits the “trove” clue. And even then it would be ICEBREAKER MINTS, which doesn’t work because the brand name has that final S.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chandi Deitmer, and thank you, C.C.
I got the gist of it, but I didn't like this one.
I knew each of the products. The first three clue/answers were fine, as was AXE BODY SPRAY. The other three fell flat. Duds.
So many of the other clues felt off to me. As if someone was trying too hard to be clever, perhaps in an effort to rescue this puzzle. For the first time ever, I will use the word slog in describing a crossword puzzle. This one was that.
Oh, and my single error was at the same exact place as D-O, except that I had an H. I think I meant to type an N. Doesn't matter.
Agree completely.
DeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI will gladly defer to Thumper this morning.
Thanks for the effort, Chandi, and thanks, CC, for your commentary and the luscious looking food photos. Coincidentally, I just came across Larb yesterday morning in a group of recipes that I received from the Washington Post Food Editor. Hope you’re managing okay with your mountains of snow!
Have a great day.
FIW. Silly mistake. Had roh instead of noh and didn't catch it. What are mirts? Silly, right?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, found the theme to be lame and the unifier makes no sense. Anti-capitalism? Oh please, explain to me how that's relevant.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Chandi lives in Boston, loves cats and makes wonderful puzzles, what’s not to love?
-Themers were all clever but I also loved “Plans to go public”!
-Can you imagine going TOE-TO-TOE with Mike (not Cicely) TYSON?
-EXURB: We are a town of 30,000 that is 20 minutes from Omaha with 500,000 peeps
-TAFT and TR split the 1908 vote which gave us President Woodrow Wilson. Trump might split the Republicans again in 2024 and hand the election to a third candidate.
-RAIL ON/ORATE – Some good friends of mine do this on FaceBook a LOTTA times
-The NOON DAY sun does not come as far into the house as it did in December
-An AXLE problem appears to be the cause of the horrible derailment in Ohio
-I SAY is a frequent rejoinder by Captain Hastings when he and Poirot get new information
FIW, missing LAmB and RyAN, never having heard of either correct fill Actually erased CRIED to arrive at LAmB, but RyAN x ATOyLE was a WAG gone awry.
ReplyDeleteHand up for erasing TAcO chip. Also deleted lotsa for LOTTA, allen for ARLEN, maa for BAA, a lot for SLEW, and ICEBREAKER smiles for the equally unknown ICEBREAKERS MINTS.
My scuba instructor fined students a six-pack of beer for two offenses: 1) Calling a cylinder a TANK, and 2) resting the mask/snorkel above the eyes while surfaced. AFAIK, he didn't collect any of the several fines he assessed.
The classic hit Every ROSE Has Its Thorn by Poison is now 35 years old, and still a staple of oldies radio stations.
From the sitcom Mom:
Christy: My uterus is not your retirement account.
Bonnie: It could be, if old Fred makes a DEPosit tonight.
I was raised on BRER Rabbit stories. Probably not allowed these days.
ALFA is high class cheap fill like "Strad", not working class cheap fill like Oreo and Erie.
First time through I read the clue as "actor wannabe". I kenned KEN on the second pass, although I still hadn't heard of him.
I'm usually the one who dislikes a puzzle when most others like it. Today, the shoe's on the other foot. I thought is was a fun challenge, even though I had two bad squares, and I hadn't heard of ICEBREAKERS (except the ones used by the USN and USCG.) Thanks to Chandi for the fun. And thanks to CC for explaining the fine points.
It’s BOCCE
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, but the dictionary says that BOCCI is an alternate for BOCCE.
DeleteI'm not feeling negative about the puzzle today since I got a FIR, thanks to a couple of corrections before reading C.C.'s review. I got the themers but needed help understanding the reveal. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSome of the twisty clues added to the fun of filling the puzzle. Thanks, Chandi. And your extras are appreciated, C.C. The food pictures look tasty. Hope you are doing well.
Hope everyone has a CAPITAL day!
Yeah, I didn't get the Anti-Capitalism at all. Nor Converse High Tops as it seemed Converted would be the word for Flipped and so I was stumped for a while.
ReplyDeleteLOL--good catch anonymous that it is spelled BOCCE!
This puzzle has a lot going on. My biggest wrong turn was trying Outdoor after filling in ROTH and ORES in the SW. Saw the error of my ways after filling TENSILE and REFERTO. I knew FENDERSTRATOCASTER, being a huge Ventures fan. So backpedalling gave me OPENAIR when EPEE made its appearance.
ReplyDeleteDINGDONGS opened the NE except for the LOTsA LOTTA trap.
HOMESOIL let me try oHo and open instead of AWED. Never heard of LARB, had LAmB instead. But 207D had to be CRIED and that led to AWED and AHA. Whew!!
All in all, a fine workout. Thanks CC for the review and Chandi for the great puzzle.
I FIR but with or without CAPITAL letters I still don't get the ANTI part. Only the first letter of the brands would be capitalized. Even thought about maybe it should have been ANTE but it wouldn't work. So I left the unheard of LARB on the grid. Certainly didn't describe the products; knew all of them The FENDER TELECASTER might not have been known to non-musicians- it's a GUITAR.
ReplyDeleteBOCCI? It's usually BOCCE when I see it.
BYER, LARB, TARO chips, LOBO, KEN, RIAN, wren, IT'S- unknowns that were perped.
ALI would only on play on Steinway PIANOS in the movie. Great scene.
BR'ER- Cancel culture PC crowd doesn't like the word. But most of them are probably 113A spongers anyway.
FIR today, but a real slog. NE corner fell last, but when it did, the V8 cans rained down. The n in bnai was pure WAG, and the reveal left me Lost In Space.
ReplyDeleteBetween perps and Mr Google, I filled many proper names that were unknown to me. I eventually got the long answers but not the reveal. I kept looking for ANTI words within the long answers. I thought I had found some when I inadvertently filled ADOBE PHOTO SHOt, then I saw EX in FORD EXPLORER, ICE in ICE BREAKER MINTS, , then CON of Converse and AXE of AXE BODY SPRAY, but I couldn’t find others. So I remained perplexed.
ReplyDeleteThis CW was too much of a chore for me to enjoy. I liked the BUS SCHEDULE fill.
Nice to see CC at the helm.
The theme makes sense if you realize and finally admit to yourself that woke culture is being imbued more and more into these puzzles. It would be a stretch for ANTICAPITALISM to be a theme under just about any cluing, but here we are.
ReplyDeleteAnother not-so-subtle example is ITS, which could be clued in myriad ways. Yet, the author chooses a gender identity spectrum book. Why? Because puzzlers are naturally curious and will check out things that they haven't heard of. What a great opportunity for propaganda indoctrination.
To echo Charlie Echo (capitalized 😀)FIR today, but a real slog. NE corner fell last.
ReplyDeleteB'nai Mitzvah can be considered to be the plural of either Bar (for a boy) or Bat (for a girl) Mitzvah...children of the commandments. Who knows,perhaps someday, this will morph into Bax Mitzvah.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteWhew! I'm glad that's over! I agree that this puzzle was a slog but then, most Sunday puzzles are because of their density. However, this one gave me fits.
I finally saw the brand names after finishing and reading it over. They are cleverly inserted.
Before the "great remodeling" which is still happening on a nearby street, a FENDER guitar shop/class was advertised. It remains to be seen if it will remain there.
I have too many errors to list but suffice it to say that BUS SCHEDULES/EDITS/WELL NOW all eluded me.
If this theme is about capital letters then it's totally lost on me because I enter all fill with those.
Recently I saw the movie "The Help" again and Cecily TYSON still looks good in it.
BOLO tie is the official tie of our state.
After this effort I'm ready for some WINE but I had better wait until later today.
Have a great, great Sunday, everyone!
I, too, have seen only BOCCE, never BOCCI. But I have only seen it on crossword puzzles.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Anon at 5:03AM for explaining the ANTI CAPITALISM theme. Amazed to FIR, but was mystified. Actually quite clever. Only knew the first three brand name items. Made it difficult.
ReplyDeleteAll of our mountain trails are still closed, nearly two months after our big storms. Very frustrating. So, last weekend I led a hike in our newest County park. They were using SHEEP to trim the grass for fire protection.
On my video you can hear the SHEEP making BAAS as they munch the grass at the San Marcos Foothills Preserve.
Yesterday we had snow in the mountains! Very unusual in Santa Barbara!
On my recent trip to California with friends, we saw many sheep in the adjoining hills and of course, cows, too. it was lovely to see green hills instead of brown which happens during a drought.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chandri, for your puzzle and thank you, C.C. for your write up! I hope the snow isn't too troublesome.
ReplyDeleteFIW. I remembered that director's name was an unusual spelling but could not recall it. Plus, I was working with DiSPlAY in that area. The SW was my other nemesis.
FAVs: the OED clue, the IGOR clue, Tour stops, and Private aye.
This was a faster than usual Sunday - probably because after I got the theme early the other theme answers filled quickly. I like to take ICEBREAKERS MINTS on mission trips because the container is easy to open and get one without touching everything inside the container!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I like DING DONGs and HOHOs but now they just taste like fake food- no thank you!
I fell into the taco trap that needed to change to TARO; waited on perps to decide on ETHOS or ethic, frer changed to BRER. I wanted nasal before SINUS- even though SINUS passages are in the vernacular- but they aren't passages they are end pockets or sacs that don't go anywhere.
I thought KEN Watanabe was very good in "Inception" and "Memoirs of a Geisha". He also was in the 2015 revival of "The King and I" on Broadway opposite Kelli OHara - who won a Tony for her portrayal of Anna - I didn't get to see it in person but saw excerpts of it on TV
Thanks CC and Chandi!
Thank you Chandi for enlightening us re the PERILS of CAPITALISM and for extending my winning streak to two! I'm on a roll!
ReplyDeleteThank you C.C. for your recap, for explaining the nuances of the theme, and the delicious looking food. Do they sell unsalted TARO CHIPS?
A few favs:
12A NEAT. Another CSO to Tinbeni, whom IIRC is known to Parsan.
17A REHAB. Did 2 months of it this past winter for some back problems. I'm on the mend.
18A TOE TO TOE. Could be clued "I am woman standing ________, Helen Reddy song"
44A FORD EXPLORER. Could be clued "SUV trashed by TREX in Jurassic Park".
47A DELTA. A BRAND of shop equipment. I have their drill press and table saw.
109A LARB. Here's a recipe for LARB GAI.
Cheers,
Bill
FLN
I posted this late last night. We were so blown away with this film that I had to share it again ...
"APROPOS of Rotten Tomatoes -- we celebrated our 12 year old granddaughter's birthday on Friday with a trip to the Maryland Science Center, and the highlight of the visit was an IMAX film about Australian Olympic Gold Medalist snowboarder Torah Bright's Mountain Adventure: Out of Bounds, snowboarding down three mountains along the chain from Antarctica to Alaska. Here's a promo and here's a trailer. I couldn't find it on the List of films with a 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. I suspect because they fear that it would wrap the needle around the pin of the Tomatometer. Look for it at an IMAX theatre near you."
This puzzle left me scratching my head in puzzlement. Stretchy indeed. Solved it but didn't feel much satisfaction. Thanks to C.C. for blogging it.
ReplyDeleteD-O et al. Here's a link for B'NAI MITZVAH.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @10:21AM Patti has a constructor's license on BOCCE.
Picard @12:38PM Loved the sheep video. I wonder how much the sheep owners are charging the park admins to let the latter feed their sheep!? 🐑🐑🐑
My first Sunday DNF in quite a while. NE corner did me in. All in all I was just never on the same wavelength as the constructor(s). I was pleased that one of my favorite guitars, the Telecaster, was included. I can’t recall any guitar brand names ever in all my years of crossword solving. I’m with others here as to some of the clues being a bit *too* arcane. Sunday CW’s, to me at least, should be a little more enjoyable that this one turned out to be…
ReplyDeleteBill Seeley Thank you for the kind words about my SHEEP video! It is cool how you can hear them munching the grass, even with someone talking loudly nearby.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing, about who pays who! The SHEEP business is called Cuyama Lamb. They told us that the sheep have no permanent home. They are moved directly from one job to another. They own about 1,000 SHEEP and about a third of them were here in our local park.
I Googled them and I see that they do also sell lamb meat.
This article in our local newspaper explains more about this SHEEP grazing project.
Apparently, the park is paying $26,000 for the privilege of feeding their sheep! They are getting a grant from CalFire, but it will run out.
I have to say it was a learning moment for me about B'NAI MITZVAH. A school classmate who had the same birthday as me offered to do a dual Bar MITZVAH. Apparently, if I had done that, it would have been a B'NAI MITZVAH.
Am I the only one mystified about what is OCS and LTS?
ReplyDeleteOfficers Candidate School and Lieutenants. There's a line about OCS in a Tom Lehrer song )"Makes a Fellow Proud to be a Solider") and that's where I learned it:
ReplyDeleteNow, Ed flunked out of second grade, and never finished school
He doesn't know a shelter half from an entrenching tool
But he's going to be a big success
He heads his class at OCS
It Makes A Fellow Proud . . .
Fun Sunday toughie puzzle, many thanks, Chandi. And always great to have you give your helpful comments and neat pictures on Sunday, many thanks for that too, C.C.
ReplyDeleteStay safe if you're struggling with snow, and have a good day, everybody.
Waseeley & Picard. My friend is of Basque Heritage. She and her daughter own Star Creek Land Stewards. They have contracts to graze their sheep and goats on some CA public lands. Waseeley might be a bit tongue-in-cheek about getting paid to eat the govt's grass but this is a win-win scenario I wish more people understood. I was happy to see Picard's video!
ReplyDeleteWildfires are no joke here in CA. Keeping the grass short means the fires burn through quicker and do not do as much damage to trees & other perennials. All of the good rains we've gotten this year mean a lot of grass that will be bone dry come wildfire season. Animals on the ground mean their hooves gently till the soil, allowing water to soak in, and of course there is the fertilizing going on. This is a natural way to manage vegetation. Consider the alternatives and I think you'll agree.
The sheep owners have plenty of expenses. Start with transporting the heard. Add 24/7/365 supervision (These animals are easy pickin's for coyotes). Many of these lands do not have natural water sources so water must be hauled in. Temporary fences are put up and moved around to contain the animals exactly where they are permitted. We haven't even started the expenses to keep the animals healthy -- medicines, vaccinations, sheering...
Thanks for reading!
sumdaze @4:36 PM Thanks for that explanation. I hope everyone realizes that my comments were shearly tongue in cheek. 🙄
DeleteWaseeley. Yes, for sure. You are always a very thoughtful poster who considers the big picture. I was happy to see Picard draw attention to this excellent use of resources. Thought I would take the opportunity to elaborate.
ReplyDeleteMay the Good Lord save us from such swag as is in this puzzle. What a waste of a Sunday afternoon! This entry was awashed with quirky slang, useless pop-culture references, questionable defs. and incorrect logic. Why have the LAT editors veered so far off course with their efforts to make puzzles that challenge your knowledge and not your quirkiness? I've made up my mind that if there's another unsolvable puzzle as this one next week, I'm done with even buying the paper. A PURELY SENSELESS WASTE OF MY TIME
ReplyDeleteWas too busy to buy the paper until late them Betsy of all people was all ATINGLE* to see the end of the Honda Golf Tournament
ReplyDeleteThen I fell asleep and awoke at 5am to finish
WC
*one box Wilbur struck at LOTsA and I never proof read