google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday March 6, 2023 Rebecca Goldstein

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Mar 6, 2023

Monday March 6, 2023 Rebecca Goldstein

  

Hello Cornerites!

sumdaze here to blog another Rebecca Goldstein creation. Last Monday Rebecca partnered with Rachel Fabi. She is back this week with her 15th solo L.A. Times puzzle. Husker Gary posted, "Rebecca Goldstein has a PhD. in pharmacology, and now leads a small group supporting immuno-oncology drug discovery efforts at Merck in the San Francisco area." Thank you for working to make this world a better place, Rebecca!

Today's theme is:
On Deck  
We often see this phrase in XWD puzzles. It fits here because "deck" is skater slang for the wooden area of the skateboard that you stand on.

In case you thought you missed them (I'm looking at you, D-O!), there are no starred clues, circles, or early hints today. That being the case, I will begin with the reveal:

66 Across. Olympic arena that features the ends of 17-, 25-, 41-, and 52-Across: SKATEPARK.

I suggest you ask your favorite teenager for help with these SKATEPARK features. Google and I will do our best to help as well. First the full phrases:

17 Across. Commuter option: LIGHT RAIL.  LIGHT RAIL transit operates electric-powered single cars or short trains on fixed rails. "LIGHT" refers to passenger capacity as opposed to the train cars themselves.

25. Hawaiian dish with skipjack tuna: POKE BOWL.
There are many variations of POKE BOWLs.
Here is the recipe for this one.

41 Across. Dumped unceremoniously: KICKED TO THE CURB.

52 Across. Cloverleaf segment: EXIT RAMP.
You can see why it is called a "cloverleaf".
This design offers 8 EXIT RAMPs.

Here are the four red words in the context of a SKATEPARK. They say a picture is worth a thousand words....

Time for some fun SKATEPARK facts:
  • The 2020 Olympics (CY 2021) marked the debut of skateboarding as an Olympic sport.
  • Joe Ciaglia, founder and president of California Skateparks,  designed the Olympic venue. He wanted every twist and turn, every rail and ramp, to support the skater creating their masterpiece.
  • There were 4 events: men's street, men's park, women's street, and women's park.
  • Street skateboarding differs from Park in that skaters perform tricks over rails, ledges, staircases, and other obstacles typically found on the streets.
19-year-old Sakura Yosozumi from Japan won the first gold medal in Women's Park Skateboarding.

I found several of the other clues trick-y as well. Let's take a look:

Across:
1. Nile reptile: ASP.

4. Woodworking tool: RASP.  R + 1A

8. School year: CLASS.  Current HS freshmen are the CLASS of '26.

13. "Knock, knock" response starter: WHO'S. there?
Sadie.
Sadie who?
Sadie magic word and I'll come in!

15. Crooner Paul: ANKA.  I recently heard Jason Bateman 
say on a podcast that his FIL is Paul ANKA. 
Jason Bateman & wife Amanda ANKA

16. Put a cap on: LIMIT.  Clever misdirection!

19. State one's views: OPINE. There will be a place for you to do this below.

20. Union member?: SPOUSE.  marital union

21. Total disorder: MESS.

23. "__ whiz!": GEE.


24. Attempt: STAB.

27. "Good Will Hunting" univ.: MIT. "University" is abbreviated, so is "Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Good Will Hunting. Official Trailer (1997)
It won 2 Oscars: Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams
and Best Original Screenplay for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

29. Ahmed of "The Night Of": RIZ.  ESP, for me.  Riz's IMDb link

31. "If I were __ ... ": YOU.

32. "Time's Arrow" novelist Martin: AMIS.  ESP, for me.  goodreads link

34. Guns, as an engine: REVS.

37. Mandarin greeting: NI HAO.  Hello C.C.!

44. Pitch perfect: ON KEY.

45. Potatoes, in South Asian cuisine: ALOO.  This past Wednesday we had "ALOO palak: dish of potatoes and spinach."  I liked TTP's advice, "If the clue sounds like it might be of an Indian food and references potatoes, the answer is probably ALOO. If the clue or answer is ALOO something, then you are on your own :-)"

46. "Twittering Machine" artist Paul: KLEE.  another ESP, for me.
(1922)  MoMA explains it
47. Snakelike fish: EEL.

49. TD's six: PTS.  "Touch Down" is abbreviated, so is "PoinTS".

51. Mary __ cosmetics: KAY. a multi-level marketing company established in 1963 and headquartered in Addison, TX

57. Rx writers: DOCS.

59. Movie night room: DEN.

60. Woodwind for Elaine Douvas: OBOE.
Elain Douvas, Joel Noyes (cell0), and Bryan Wagorn (piano) perform Henri Brod's Duo from Lucia di Lammermoor, Op. 55 for OBOE, Cello & Piano

61. Enticing scents: AROMAS.
64. Spy collection: INTEL.

68. After-bath wrap: TOWEL.  After completing a marathon in Kochi, Japan, I was given a TOWEL instead of a medal. I was not expecting that! It is 7.5 X 44 in. (19 X 112 cm.) -- more like a scarf but definitely a towel. I saw a lot of locals (mostly men) wear similar towels around their necks to stay cool in the humid climate. 
TOWELs are popular in Japanese culture as are niche museums. Here is a link to a Towel Museum.

69. Not all: SOME.

70. Sparkling wine region: ASTI.

71. Makes out, in Manchester: SNOGS.  "Makes out" is a hint that the answer will be slang and "Manchester" is a hint that it will be British English.

72. Affirmative votes: YEAS.  Aye, "YEA" means "yes".

73. QVC alternative: HSN.  both are TV shopping channels

Down:
1. Puncturing tools: AWLS.

2. Model in a bottle: SHIP.  Fun clue!

3. Toy with a handlebar and a big spring: POGO STICK.

4. Unique person: RARE BIRD.  4 RARE BIRDs

5. Political commentator Navarro: ANA.  This is ANA's CNN Political Commentator page.

6. Cut corners: SKIMP.

7. Hunter-gatherer diet: PALEO.  DH likes to tell me that if we were cavepeople, I'd know where to find all the best berries.

8. Reason to say "Whew!": CLOSE ONE. What was that?

9. Carmex target: LIP.  Were you thinking "CarMax"?

10. Buddy in Barcelona: AMIGO.  "Barcelona" is a hint that the answer will be in español.

11. Muscular power: SINEW.

12. Stainless __: STEEL.  "Spaghetti" would not fit.

14. Closed: SHUT.

18. Figure in Russian history: TSAR.

22. Chicago WNBA team: SKY.
26. Lincoln competitor: BUICK.  For these "competitor" or "peer" clues, I try to think within a timeline.  Even though it has 5 letters, "Tesla" is off the table for this one.

27. Shark name that comes from Maori: MAKO.

28. "Let's do it!": I'M IN.

30. Actress Catherine __-Jones: ZETA.

33. Shooting sport: SKEET.  also an Olympic event

35. Abbreviation on a TV remote: VOL.  "TeleVision" is abbreviated, so is "VOLume".

36. Intersection sign: STOP.
In Mathematics, the intersection sign is an up-side down letter U.

38. Angry shout from a green Avenger: HULK SMASH.  I wanted "HULK angry!" but "angry" was in the clue so I had to keep thinking.

39. Locale: AREA.

40. Follow orders: OBEY.

42. Exasperated expressions: EYE ROLLS.

43. Much-anticipated nights out: HOT DATES.

48. Scientist's workplace: LAB.

50. Aching: SORE.

52. Changes the narrative?: EDITS.

53. Noble gas whose name comes from the Greek for "strange": XENON.  The pronunciation is "zee-naan". In this case, the Greek word "strange" is more like "not common". The name fits because XENON only exists in one in 20 million parts of the earth's atmosphere. In other words, if the earth's atmosphere was a huge sports stadium divided into 20 million seats, only one seat would represent XENON.

54. Split evenly: IN TWO.  The math teacher in me wants to point out that "TWO" is not necessarily "even".

55. Overgrown, in a way: MOSSY.  winner of today's Giant Leap award

56. Black tea grade: PEKOE.
Click to enlarge.

58. __ América: international football tournament: COPA.  website

62. __ and crafts: ARTS.

63. Largest organ in the human body: SKIN.  The liver comes in at #2. Lungs are #3.

65. Brain scan letters: EEG.
An Electroencephalogram is a noninvasive test that records electrical patterns in your brain. The test is used to help diagnose conditions such as seizures, epilepsy, head injuries, dizziness, headaches, brain tumors, and sleeping problems. 

67. Reddit Q&A: AMA.  Even though I've never read an AMA, I've seen this one enough now to know it right away.

Finally, let's 'drop in' on the grid:

That's the end of Rebecca's gnarly puzzle.  L8er sk8ers!

35 comments:

OwenKL said...

It must be day, the sun has RIZ,
I need to know what time it is!
My clock has STOPPED
Its buzzer blocked.
I'm late because time's on the friz!

Superman has SINEWS like STEEL.
His SKIN still has a natural feel.
He wears tight trunks
That flaunt his junk,
That's why he has such sex appeal!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Not a lot of drama in this one, but there was some nice fill, especially for a Monday. D-o skated top-to-bottom with nary a thought about a theme, and only half a glance at what turned out to be the reveal. [Sigh] Thanx, Rebecca and Sumdaze. (Wow, we knew about teaching cowboy stuff in Norway, but today we learned about running a marathon in Japan, and also teaching math somewhere. It might be easier to list the things Sumdaze hasn't done.)

"L8er sk8ers!:" There's a lady on my Thursday M-o-W route who always says, "Later gator!" I'm compelled to respond, "After a while, crocodile."

Anonymous said...

What d-o said - Rebecca nailed ALL the 8-9 letter bonuses IMO. Which is hard to do in a puzzle with 5 theme entries while keeping the fill relatively Mondayish. The solve felt much smoother than the last two Mondays.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased ayes for YEAS.

LIGHT RAIL. "Let's get our neighbors' taxes to subsidize most of our commute." In Norfolk, taxpayers (state and federal) pony up about $8 in taxes for every ride.

OPINE. "Flame" and "troll" would fit too.

Hand up for sticking out my tongue at the clue "split evenly".

OBOE is four-letter autofill for any clue containing "woodwind," regardless of obfuscation.

Abejo and I would have clued 23A "___, no GTE."

I KNEW A COSMETIC C/A! My elderly sister sells the Mary Kay line.

I'd like to say that I enjoyed solving this puzzle immensely, but my mom taught me to never lie. Too many junk clues/fill to be much fun. But Sumdaze's informative and interesting tour was worth the effort.

Subgenius said...

Like Sumdaze said, “Riz” was ESP. Otherwise, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle, which was the usual Monday walk in the park. FIR, so I’m happy.

KS said...

FIR, despite not getting the theme mostly because I'm not up on skate board lingo. I found this to be a little crunchy for a Monday CW, what with Riz, Ni Hao, and Hulk Smash for example.

ATLGranny said...

A just right puzzle for my Monday FIR. Thanks, Rebecca, for a fun puzzle with some clever clues mixed in. Unknowns like RIZ were well perped and the reveal explained the themers' connection to me.

My only WO was MAhi/MAKO, which fixed KICKED TO THE CURB and was confirmed by ON KEY (I had been mixing up that expression with "in tune"). Thanks TTP for explaining ALOO recently. I remembered it.

Sumdaze, your review was helpful as well as full of humor. Always appreciated, especially on Monday!

OwenKL, nice to see your posts lately. Hope everyone has a great start to the week!

Anonymous said...

Took 4:36 for me to do my trick.

A skateboard theme -- without "ollie"?

I concur with the prior posters about the added crunch: Amis, Riz (alone, and crossing Zeta), Ni Hao, going out of your way for a WNBA answer, Anka crossing Ana).

Oboe & obey in the same puzzle -- without oreo?

unclefred said...

Like KS I found this a bit of a Wednesday on a Monday, for the reasons others have mentioned. I did get the theme, and 41A popped right into my head so that helped. Only W/O MOLDY:MOSSY. Thanx for starting the week off, RG. And thanx too to Sumdaze for the outstanding write-up. Interesting that Rebecca works for Merck, the company I retired from in 1999. Tomorrow I will be going to a MEEZERS (Merck geezers) lunch. We’ve had these lunches from time to time for the last twenty years or so. Started off with about ten of us, and we are, sadly, down to the last three. And later this month Paul is moving to St.Augustine, then it’ll be just Joel and I. Most of the others that have left didn’t move, they died. Anyway, I guess tomorrow will be the last MEEZERS lunch. (Sob)

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I think the traditional standard of puzzles progressing from Monday-easy to day-by-day increasing difficulty has been tweaked to anything goes, as long as the perps are fair. IMO, today’s is a perfect example of this hypothesis and I base it on my personal experience of encountering an unheard of 7 unknowns in a Monday puzzle: Riz, Ni hao, Aloo, Hulk Smash, Copa, and Xenon and Oboe, as clued. This is not a complaint, just an observation which I believe others have mentioned. I saw the connection after filling in Exit Ramp, but the reveal was still a surprise. No w/os and fair perps led to a smooth and quick solve.

Thanks, Rebecca, for a challenging start to the week and thanks, sumdaze, for a very informative review and for the links and visuals. My favorite was the Canine Candles! I got a chuckle out of your “Towel” award and the museum itself! The video of Good Will Hunting nudges me to want to see it again. Another coincidence to go along with yesterday’s Tony Curtis entry and my seeing him on TCM was seeing Robin Williams today after sending a Mrs. Doubtfire GIF as my daily wellness alert to my niece this morning. 😂

Have to run as I’m expecting a grocery delivery and I also have to prepare for luncheon guests. It’s Bloody Mary time! 🍹

Have a great day.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-The days of “see Spot run” Monday puzzles is over but there were plenty of “outs”
-I agree with Irish’s assessment
-Ink was a bad choice as RARE B… was RARE BREED before I had a write-over
-LIGHT RAIL - Mutual Of Omaha is building a 44-story building in downtown Omaha. They required that the city build a $300M “trolley” from its old campus down to its new building.
-Good Will Hunting reenforced this axiom
-This former math teaching/non-marathon running solver enjoyed your write-up Renee!

TTP said...

Irish Miss asked me to link this image for her:

Irish Miss's Favorite Aroma Therapy Candle.


(I don't think she's actually every going to light it)

CanadianEh! said...

Manic Monday. Thanks for the fun, Rebecca and sumdaze.
I worked my way through the SKATE PARK, but fell on my ASP in the final corner. I had no idea about QVC (or HSN - no TV shopping for me!), and I entered an S thinking you Americans might have something else with your SSN. Oh well! This was a CLOSE ONE.

The multiple unknown-to-me names perped fortunately.
Rocked the boat was too short, and changed to KICKED TO THE CURB.
The A in AMIS and MAKO was almost a Natick cross.

I smiled at that If I Were YOU can-opener cartoon. It went well with POKE BOWL too.
My cat would charge to the kitchen whenever I opened a tin of tuna. How could he know what was in the tin from the other room?

I’ll take a CSO with 57A, although my CLASS of 7T5 was filling those Rx’s that the DOCS wrote. Current practitioners can now write Rx’s for minor ailments.

I could write a cautionary note from our entries in the south. We had HOT DATES with SKIN, LIPs (from the north), TOWEL, SNOGS. Just be sure that the answer is I’M IN with YEAS and not STOP. You must OBEY or risk a HULK SMASH.

Yes sumdaze, you are correct about IN TWO not necessarily being an even split. The best way to ensure something is split evenly is to have one person do the cutting and the other person do the choosing!

Wishing you all a great day.

CanadianEh! said...

IM- love that candle!

unclefred- you and Joel can still have a Meezers lunch IN TWO.

FLN- thanks Jinx for my CSO (we just call it Back Bacon here). And the fibre misspelling!

Great photo of fermatprime!

Lucina said...

Hola!

Is it really Monday? That's OK. I like a challenging puzzle. NIHAO, RIZ, and ALOO fit that pattern. But I finished in good time.

CSO to Picard at POGO STICK. I believe we've seen him on one.

"Good Will Hunting" was an amazing film from two twenty-four year old young men who have achieved even more fame and fortune.

Back when I went to the gym, we received one of those narrow towels from some company.

I have to say "school year" is an odd clue for CLASS.

RIZ was a surprise fill and one of which I've never heard.

I just finished reading The Book of Everlasting Things which is about a family of perfumers in India and AROMAS are prominently featured.

I tried using Mary KAY cosmetics for a while but it's not easy finding someone who sells it especially if the source moves away.

My BUICK was one of my favorite cars many years ago. One of my friends and her husband always bought only BUICKS, however, their backup car was an Opel. it was later given to their daughter.

Have a magnificent Monday, everyone!

Monkey said...

FIR, but didn’t get the theme. I’ve finally memorized NI HAO, so I got that, I’m proud to say. Hi,CC. I believe RIZ was the only unknown this morning. So all in all a good Monday puzzle.

Sumdaze provided us with good info and light fare. What’s not to like about this morning.

I loved that bichon candle of IM.

RosE said...

Good Moening~ Enjoyed today's puzzle. Week is off to a good start! Thanks, Rebecca, Not familiar with skateboard lingo, but fills came quickly with the clues presented. My only WO was to change the "R" to a "P" in PARK. Started to fill with rink, but saw that wouldn't work.

Thanks, sumdaze, for a fun & informative recap. My ESPs were the same you mentioned. Perps were in all the right places for the other unknowns. Cats & dog toons - too funny! Loved Judge Judy's eye roll. Haven't we all at one time or another!!
Very curious about the grading of the tea plant - makes me want to explore more.

Charlie Echo said...

FIR despite the off kilter clues. Thank you, perps! Over all, I enjoyed Sumdazes recap more than the puzzle.

Picard said...

Lucina Not me on a POGO STICK. A childhood friend had one SMASH her jaw and that scared me from trying it. Just unicycles for me!

Enjoyed the SKATE PARK theme, even with my ANGRY SHOUTs about unknown crossed proper names!

Our rather conservative city was slow to build a SKATE PARK. Before my time here kids had an alternative. A luxurious estate called the Tea Garden from the early 20th Century, which had been abandoned. Kids would SKATE in the empty pools that made perfect BOWLs.

Here was a rare occasion where we were granted access and here is my photo of the favorite BOWL for kids to SKATE in.

Unfortunately, before I arrived here in the 80s, a kid fell and broke his arm there. Being the US, a lawsuit resulted. No, not for trespassing. But against the gracious property owner who let them play there. Part of the settlement was that the property owner had to SMASH the BOWL to prevent this "dangerous" SKATE activity. By the time I arrived they were also forced to pay for a guard!

Lucina said...

Picard:
Thank you for the correction which I obviously wrongly recalled. I really though I remembered you on that POGO STICK.

I have a doctor's appointment today so it's time to get ready. Yesterday there was a problem with my shower head so Mark came and worked on it. Luckily it was not a major problem but only calcium built up. Our water is very hard.

waseeley said...

Thank you Rebecca. Got the FIR but SKATED right past the theme.
And thank you sumdaze, I OPINE that this was an excellent review with lots of good stuff. See below.

Some favs:

1A ASP. Knock, Knock! WHO'S there? ASP me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.

17A LIGHT RAIL. We have one in BMORE that goes North from BWI to Hunt Valley. We see it sometimes when we're hiking around Lake Roland. We should take a ride on it someday.

20A SPOUSE. Teri and I recently celebrated 54 years of being SPICE.

25A POKE BOWL. I prefer CHIRACHI, which is a bowl of assorted SASHIMI over rice, with no spices other than WASABI. Let's face it, Sushi and Sashimi are really just substrates for serving WASABI.

37A NI HAO. What I said to my Grandson when I meet him in Harbin, China 15 years ago.

46A KLEE. KLEE was a visionary 100 years a head of his time. Not only did he forsee the TWITTERverse, but the INSTAverse, and the TIKTOKverse.

60A OBOE. CSO to Jinx. A FIFE is also a 4 letter woodwind instrument. I think the FIFE union should protest to the Crossword constructor's UNION for more frequent INTERSECTION of FIFES with puzzles.

71A SNOGS. Not to be confused with SHAGS, which is Brit slang for NOT making out.

4D RARE BIRD. Loved the link on RARE BIRDS sumdaze. At least we have a lot of them, alive and well and living on the Corner.

42D EYE ROLL. They even have their own emoji 🙄 (BTW a CSO to Ray - O (speaking of RARE BIRDS 🙄)).

Cheers,
Bill

OwenKL @3:49 AM {A+,B+}

waseeley said...

Whoops. Forgot to thank you Renee for the OBOE, cello, piano trio. While I'm familiar with Lucia di Lammermoor, I'd not heard heard Brod's lovely derivation. It's from a happier moment in the opera than the famous mad scene that comes at the end.

Yellowrocks said...

I liked this puzzle. More like a Wednesday puzzle, not always the first word that comes to mind. The reveal made finding the theme easy. My source: A glance at the news shows skate boarding from time to time.
I don't worry about write overs. I often lightly pencil in my first thought, so I don't lose track of it. Then I adjust it as perps dictate. Not having write overs would slow me down.
Sumdaze, thanks for the interesting review.
My college school year, class of 1960.
Xenon wagged from knowing xenophobia, fear or dislike of strangers.
Oboe, four letter woodwind.
With two trips to Japan and a Japanese DIL, I found that towels in Japan are small and skimpy because few households there have space for clothes dryers or for hanging towels. Going naked into an onsen (hot springs) holding a towels the size of a hand towel in front of you provides little modesty.
Split in two literally means two pieces, but in certain contexts it is understood to mean split in half.
I don't like mossy as overgrown. Moss grows in shady, moist places with little or no soil. It grew on the north side of my condo, but I wouldn't say my condo was overgrown/
I like "old fashioned" for mossy ideas and people.

Misty said...

Interesting Monday puzzle, many thanks, Rebecca. And always appreciate your Monday commentary, Sumdaze, thanks for that too.

When I first saw the puzzle start with ASP and RASP, I figured we were going to get a rhyme puzzle today. Then with CLASS it looked more like a possible AS_ theme puzzle. But no, I had to OPINE it was a bit more sports oriented, with that SKATE PARK, which hopefully had an EXIT RAMP, and with a guard telling you to STOP and OBEY, and stop playing with that POGO STICK or you'd get KICKED TO THE CURB. They even had DOCS there, with TOWELs handy in case players got hurt. Figured the players would retreat to a DEN afterwards to get a snack, but all they got was a drink of ASTI or some PEKOE tea and a chance to listen to an OBOE playing. Bit of a MESS, as you can tell from everyone's EYE ROLLS. But hey, it's just the beginning of the week and tomorrow's another day.

Have a good week coming up.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Example of "school year" meaning CLASS is in one-hit-wonder Starbuck's (not the overpriced coffee company) classic hit Moonlight Feels Right.

"You say you came to Baltimore from Ole Miss
Class of seven four gold ring"

Malodorous Manatee said...

I don't think that anyone has previously noted this but today is an extremely important day for all crossword puzzle aficionados. In fact, a significant percentage of crossword puzzles could neither be created nor solved without that which we celebrate today:

National Oreo Cookie Day

waseeley said...

MalMan @12:31 PM Thanks for the link. However it has a significant LACUNA, an UNFILLED space if you will. There is not a SINGLE mention of Crosswords anywhere in it. Outrageous!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

A quick Monday romp. Thanks Rebecca - I was more of a BMX kid but the skateboarders played in our park as well (or was it us playing in theirs?).

Excellent expo, sumdaze. Comics and links provided some joy to my work day. Um, Stainless Spaghetti?

WO: Shot->STAB
ESPs: RIZ, KLEE
Fav: XENON - I put that down on a triple-letter score in scrabble and was challenged (English Majors ;-)). That alone was enough points for the win.

{B+, A}

HULK SMASH - me when quitting smoking.

Mr. Dai taught me NI HAO while we worked night-shift at the lab testing waste-water. Guy was a hoot (also taught us how to say hot-bubbles - don't know if it was hot-tub or the hydrofluoric acid we worked with). Raj (working on his PhD) was also a riot. His diatribe of degrees: "Bull Sh**, More Sh**, Piled High and Deep" [BS, MS, PhD]

Want to hear my fav Knock-Knock joke? Ok, you start...

Back to work. Cheers, -T

Ol' Man Keith said...

A Goldstein XWD, presented by sumdaze...

I was working my way through this one, halfway finished, and thinking,
"Hey, this isn't as hard as I expected it to be...." when I realized that today is just freakin' Monday!
And it's 'sposed to be easy! Sheez.

54D - I wanted to fill with IN HALF, but there wasn't room. I want with IN TWO, but glad to see sumdaze agrees with me.

60A - Whenever there's a wood in the clue, or a wind, or reed, the answer is 95% sure to be OBOE.
~ OMK
___________
DR:
Three diagonals on the near side.
The center line offers an anagram (11 of 15) commenting on the difficulty faced by caricaturists and strip artists.
Ask them: Which is harder to draw--faces or hands?
Their answers point to a...

"TOON TOUGHIE!

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. I've never heard of RIZ Ahmed, but RARE BIRD got me the I. I also did not know AMIS Martin and got it only from the perps. I liked the clues for TOWEL, DEN, CLOSE ONE, and STOP. I did not like the clues for OBOE, LIP, SKY, and IN TWO.

Thank you for a terrific write-up, sumdaze.

Good wishes to you all.

TTP said...


Thank you, Rebecca Goldstein, and thank you, Sumdaze

Busy, busy, busy today, but finally got a chance to solve the puzzle and read the review. Fun, all the way around !

I've never seen a SKATEPARK in person. I once had both feet on a skateboard, but not at the same time. That's as close as I ever got to skateboarding. It's not in my future, but I am in awe at the skill and agility of the athletes that are accomplished in the sport. I feel the same way about parkour.

Gotta run.

See all y'all later n'at!

Wilbur Charles said...

CSO to Picard on MIT. My Alma mater is across the river:BC

D-Otto, the waitresses at Breakfast Station* said "later gator" this morning too

My Chronicle (Citrus) mention the birth of the OREO(10 years before birth of xwords

Gotta get back to aumdaze write-up it seems I missed some good stuff

WC

* Where I started reading the write-up at 1pm. Easily distracted

Lucina said...

In Scottsdale a SKATEPARK was built several years ago and as expected it is used mostly on weekends and very much in the summertime.

TTP said...


Wilbur Charles, what is the name of that river ? :>)

TTP said...

Wilbur Charles, I remembered this song that told me the name of the river.