Theme: "Split a Ride" - Eight different car makes are split up by one letter, those letters orderly spell out "car parts".
23. Snarky response to criticism: WELL EXCUSE ME. Lexus.
32. Snack source: VENDING MACHINE. GMC.
41. Store with discounted athletic apparel: UNDER ARMOUR OUTLET. Ram.
64. Oscar night phrase: THE ENVELOPE PLEASE. Opel.
74. Festivals with jousts: RENAISSANCE FAIRES. Nissan.
96. Cartoon Network show about a boy-genius inventor: DEXTER'S LABORATORY. Tesla.
105. The whole lot: KIT AND CABOODLE. Kia.
120. "Just wait till I tell Mom!": YOU ARE SO DEAD. Rio.
Did you guys all get the "CAR PARTS" part? Patti normally wants a reveal for this type of gimmick, but 8 long theme entries are always quite a lot to accommodate. The fill is just so smooth.
Across:
5. Illinois-Indiana border river: WABASH. Indiana state song: "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away"
11. With 56-Down, be connected: HAVE. 56. See 11-Across: AN IN.
15. Pops: DAD.
18. Calculus calculation: AREA.
19. Place to purchase oils: ART SHOP.
21. Mole, for one: UNIT. SI unit of amount of substance. Wikipedia gives these examples: 10 moles of water and 10 moles of mercury .
22. Rage: IRE.
25. "Drat!": GOSH DARN. Great 8.
27. Candies on sticks, informally: LOLLIES. Candies on sticks, Chinese-style.
28. Like music from "The Twilight Zone": EERIE.
30. Prom queen toppers: TIARAS.
31. "How curious": ODD.
35. "Was that us?": DID WE?
38. Tote __: BAG.
39. "Catch my drift?": SEE.
40. Tripod's trio: LEGS.
48. Gel: SET.
49. Aesop racer: HARE.
50. Gym count: REP. Andy is now happy again. He likes the new gym. The last gym he liked did not survive COVID.
51. Standard: NORM.
52. Filing aids: TABS.
54. Writer/director Phyllis: NAGY. Learning moment for me. She wrote the screenplay for "Carol".
56. "Written in the Stars" musical: AIDA.
57. Carpentry tool: RIPSAW.
61. Put in stitches: SEW.
69. Modify to fit: ADAPT.
71. Hudson Riv. tech school: RPI. Spitzboov went there. We also have 72. The NCAA's Spartans: MSU.
73. Runs in place: IDLES.
80. Nosh: EAT.
81. First name in Indian politics: INDIRA. Gandhi. Daughter of Nehru.
82. "Fall back" interval: HOUR.
83. Drop: OMIT.
85. Tricky rink move: DEKE. Shout-out to Splynter. Maybe an updated picture?
87. Thick hair: MANE.
88. Maker of Two Baroque Pearls nail polish: OPI.
89. Yemen neighbor: OMAN.
93. Watch chain: FOB. Forgot to take the fob out when I washed my puffer. Dumb!
100. Many a Meccan: ARAB.
102. Unagi roll protein: EEL. Our local Asian store has these frozen packages of eels.
103. Dreidel, for one: TOP.
104. Get emotional, with "up": CHOKE.
111. Tuna in poke bowls: AHI.
112. App follower, often: ENTREE.
113. With 121-Down, seat of California's Orange County: SANTA. 121. See 113-Across: ANA.
114. Spanish expression of shock: DIOS MIO. My god.
118. Fibbed: TOLD A LIE.
123. Untouched serve: ACE.
124. Crowd din: ROAR.
125. Member of the "Oregon Trail Generation": XENNIAL.
Portmanteau of Generation X and Millennials. According to Wikipedia,
it's used to describe a "micro-generation" or "cross-over generation" of
people whose birth years are between the late 1970s and the early
1980s, with some sources extending the Xennial date range to the
mid-1980s.
126. Facts and stats, in a debate: AMMO.
127. Poetic partner of Wynken and Blynken: NOD.
128. Figures shared with CPAs: SSNS.
129. Dependable: STABLE.
130. Polite affirmative: YES'M.
Down:
2. Cold Stone Creamery mix-in: OREO.
3. Hawk: SELL.
4. Night when Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin: HALLOWEEN.
5. Treated a surfboard: WAXED.
6. Bottle rocket paths: ARCS.
7. Utility bill meas.: BTU.
8. Burro: ASS.
9. Luster: SHEEN.
10. __ in on: HOMED.
11. Significant addition to a team: HUGE GET. Debut fill.
12. "That's __-brainer!": A NO.
13. Scenic view: VISTA.
14. Value system: ETHIC.
15. Books about everyday life?: DIARIES. Nice clue.
16. Put in order: ARRANGE.
17. Most populous: DENSEST.
20. Gilpin of "Frasier": PERI. And 26. Actress Arlene: DAHL.
24. Down source: EIDER.
29. "To recap ... ": IN SUM.
32. Improvised jazz part: VAMP.
33. Challenge to clubhouse chemistry: EGO.
34. Patty __: MELT.
35. "How obvious!": DUH.
36. Garten of "Barefoot Contessa": INA.
37. Video game with a floor mat, for short: DDR. Dance Dance Revolution.
38. Frozen dessert brand: BREYERS. I used to get this for Boomer.
42. "Gah!": ARGH.
43. Abbr. on some college apparel: UNIV.
44. Sat atop: RODE.
45. __ surgeon: ORAL.
46. Tombstone name: EARP.
47. Georgia capital: TBILISI. The country. Also 98. Ga. capital: ATL.
53. Raced: SPED.
55. Clad: ATTIRED.
58. Kid-lit classic "Caps for __": SALE.
59. On the ocean: ASEA.
60. Left in the map room: WEST.
61. Wraparound dress: SARI.
62. Idyllic setting: EDEN.
63. Mascara applicator: WAND.
65. Org. funding clean transportation: EPA.
66. Actor Sharif: OMAR.
67. Tire meas.: PSI.
68. Ace of Base genre: EUROPOP.
70. Invoice stamp: PAID.
75. Hibachi restaurant potable: SAKE. My toner has sake.
76. Blacken: CHAR.
77. Forever and ever: EONS.
78. Gas or wood: FUEL.
79. Gulf States title: EMIR.
84. Until now: TO THIS DAY. I can't wait for April.
86. Office VIP: EXEC.
87. __ toast: MELBA.
88. Thin wind: OBOE.
90. __ juice: MOO.
91. Torah holder: ARK.
92. TV's "Science Guy": NYE.
93. Color from a bottle: FAKE TAN. Tom Pepper has been in Florida
for 3 months. You won't believe how tanned he is. I don't think I
shared with you this picture I found on Boomer's Facebook. It was taken a
little over 10 years ago when we attended the Second Minnesota
Crossword Tournament. The guy the left is constructor Michael David, who
now lives in Wisconsin.
 |
| Feb 2, 2013 |
94. Venezuelan river: ORINOCO. Nice to see the river as a fill rather than part of a clue for ENYA.
95. Went head-to-head: BATTLED.
97. Some promos: TEASERS.
99. "Gesundheit" trigger: ACHOO.
101. Play-ful sort?: BARD.
106. Closes in on: NEARS.
107. Día __ Muertos: DELOS. The Day of the Dead.
108. Part of a mineralogist's collection: ONYX.
109. Great Plains natives: OTOES.
110. Intimidate: DAUNT.
111. Usher's place: AISLE.
114. Give a hand?: DEAL.
115. Distracted boyfriend, for one: MEME.
116. Food brand with a paw print logo: IAMS.
117. Leslie __ Jr. of "Glass Onion": ODOM.
119. Olympic swimmer Thorpe: IAN.
122. Umbrella spoke: RIB.
C.C.
No, C.C., I didn’t get the “car parts” part of the theme until you told me about it (I wonder how many people did?). Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGuess who saw the circles and even read the puzzle title. Yup, red-letter day for d-o. The theme auto names are all short -- 6 letters max. It'd be tough trying to fit Cadillac, Toyota, or Studebaker into a grid. This one came together steadily, but surely. No Wite-Out required. Thanx, Dylan, Matthew, and C.C.
Took 14:53 for me to put the pieces together.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea on Tbilisi, Orinoco, today's writer/director, and of course, today's actress (Dahl).
Oh joy, circles.
Like SubG, I didn't see/get the theme until C.C.'s explanation.
FIW. Couldn't spell Tbilisi and failed to see tabs. Also had toy at 103A instead of top. Otherwise, got the theme, found the cars, and finished in rapid time.
ReplyDeleteSeems like "Ram" is an outlier, as it's a model and the rest are makes.
ReplyDeleteRam is a make, Chrysler no longer uses Dodge Ram.
ReplyDeleteMy definition of split a ride...
ReplyDeleteGood morning all. With the circles and LEXUS spelled out in the first five an auto theme was obvious. GMC confirmed it. I'm not familiar with the song "on the Banks of the WABASH, Far Away" but "WABASH Cannonball" by Johnny Cash is pretty well known. I had fewer unknowns for a Sunday but putting two Spanish ones required all perps and a WAG at the cross of DIOSMIO & MEME. No idea about the MEME fill; what is it? I got the DELOS after changing BAND to BARD for the Play-ful sort as my last fill.
ReplyDeleteNAGY, XENNIAL, DDR, PERI, SALE, & ODOM were other unknowns. And TGFP that DEXTERS LABORATORY was filled by perps because I'd never heard of it. HUGE GET is an unknown saying to me but it fit.
DDR- Deutsche Demokratische Republik, known as East Germany. The Stassi really allowed a democracy. Dance Dance Rev? Didn't know that.
TO THIS DAY I'll never understand why women spend so much time with a mascara WAND looking at themselves in a mirror.
Anon@8:16- Orinoco Flow by ENYA is a common crossword clue.
BobB- it's still a DODGE. I remember the RAM hood ornaments on the Dodge cars.
B-E, RAM hasn't been a Dodge since '09. Dodge and Chrysler got the cars and SUVs, while Ram got the trucks. You can buy RAM trucks from both Dodge and Chrysler dealerships.
ReplyDeleteI know what you said but you can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig. People I know with the trucks still call them Dodge even though it doesn't say Dodge anywhere on the vehicle
DeleteSunday Lurk Say...
ReplyDeleteDance Dance Revolution - my trainer's latest thing is to go to the Arcade and play DDR - he'll play for 4+ hours. He says it's good cardio.
What's even funnier his how he'll talk about "the younger kids" [of college age] doing this or that. I'm like, "Dude, you're only 26... you are a young kid."
Xennial is a new one to me. Oregon Trail spanned by my [Gen-X] and my Girl's [Millennial and GenZ - depending on how you count] generations. We've all died of dysentery at least once.
Distracted Boyfriend Meme as applied to Cyber Security ;-)
D-O: If you like a good oater and have nothing better to do on this misty day, try over-the-air HD 2.5. It's a nice way to nap //except when the 8yro has a shotgun.
Cheers, -T
I got the split up cars fairly early, but still struggled in a few sections. Eventually they all came together. (Lame pun)
ReplyDeleteSome MEMES are pretty strange and short lived. There was "piano frog" recently from The Last Of Us series. When I heard about it, I had to go back to watch the episode to spot the frog and then had to search online to figure out why anyone would start spreading the clip of this tiny frog hopping from one piano key to another. (It was just people commenting how the frog was giving us some music in a hopeless world.)
FIW, missing my WAG @ NArY x ARrH, and UNlV x AlDA (in preview, lower case l looks like capital I - I had ell instead of aye). Took forever for UNDER ARMOUR OUTLET to come to mind, but the others came around quickly. Actually, the puzzle didn't need a reveal because it had a title: "Split a Ride." Erased art show, weep, shine, bring, atlanta, doh, and ana.
ReplyDeleteFor all you folks who's degrees end in "A", a MOLE is a molecular weight. For example, the molecular weight of carbon dioxide (CO2) is 44 (12 for C + 32 for O2). A guy named Avogadro figured out that one MOLE of any gas (44 grams of CO2 in this case) occupies a volume of 22.4 litres (hi, C-Eh!) at 77 degrees and 29 1/5 inches of mercury, except for a little rounding error. That discovery was a BIG GET.
Novel way to clue OREO.
Thanks to CC for the fun explanations. Good to put a face to Tom's name.
Er, 29 1/2 inches of mercury.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteNo time to look for the cars but scanning it now I see them. Rarely do I finish a Sunday puzzle before leaving for church and with time to spare for a comment though a short one.
I just want to say how much I dislike referential clues and there were too many here.
I have no idea about "tuna in poke bowls" but ENTREE emerged.
XENNIAL is new to me.
The RENAISSANCE FAIRE is in full session right now way east of here. I wonder how long that area will remain undeveloped and available to them.
I remember Arlene DAHL and I believe she is Lorenzo Lamas' mother.
Time to go. Have a great Sunday, everyone! It's a bright spring day here.
I got the split cars, but I don’t get the car parts. I know CC explained that but I’m still at sea.
ReplyDeleteI FIR, but encountered a lot of unknowns and head scratchers. LOLLIES, DEKE, NAGY,, DEXTER’s LABORATORY, ODOM, XENNIAL how does the Oregon trail fit in?
We had ARCS and ARK, OMAR and OMAN. I knew OPI from previous CWs. Is AIDA a musical? I couldn’t come up with YESM for a long time because I didn’t think it could be an abbreviation.
The long answers were really fun when I realized the theme.
Got all of the SPLIT RIDEs. Learning moment about XENNIAL and OREGON TRAIL. Had no idea. HAIR DYE before FAKE TAN.
ReplyDeleteHere DW and I were at a DIA DE LOS MUERTOS party with our friends Pali and Raven.
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS is a big holiday here in Santa Barbara.
From Yesterday:
ATLGranny, CanadianEh, AnonT Thank you for the kind words about my PIET MONDRIAN leggings. Yes, the same ones Husker Gary showed. I loved his "ARGH" exclamations!
I spent way too long yesterday searching for a photo of the MONDRIAN Building on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. I used to stay next door at the Sunset Plaza hotel when it was cheap. ARGH I cannot find a photo. And the geniuses who bought the building destroyed the very reason it had the name!
Here is a photo I found of the MONDRIAN Building before it was ruined.
I am sure I have a photo somewhere, but this will have to do!
Very beautiful bldg. Too bad it was ruined. We have too much Brutalist style. Even Gehry's latest Grand Hotel looks like a bunch of building blocks. It is across the street from his beautiful Disney Hall.
DeleteFIW today, due to not understanding TABS and not correcting TBILISI. Hand up for not catching the added bonus of car parts in the themers. Thanks for pointing this out, C.C. Otherwise, the puzzle gradually filled and made sense to me. Thanks, Dylan and Matthew, for a puzzle with interesting and varied fill.
ReplyDeleteHave a sunny Sunday, everyone!
Whew! FIR. Tough in spots, needed a bunch of P&P and a few lucky WAGs, but after yesterday's slog, it was like a breath of fresh air. Some clever misdirection, a few completely unknowns, but you gotta love a puzzle with both OREO and OBOE in the same grid. Watch FOB: I know it can also mean the chain, but for me it was always the little doohickey on the end of the chain. On my Grandfather's watch it was his Masonic Lodge emblem.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. I totally missed the "CAR PARTS"! Thanks, CC! What an amazing construction!
ReplyDeleteC: LEX - C - US
A: GM - A - C
R: RA - R - M
P: OPE - P - L
A: N - A - ISSAN
R: TE - R - SLA
T: KI - T - A
S: RE - S - O
Oh, Picard, thanks for that diagram. I get the car parts now. WOW.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!! I kept looking for “parts” but didn’t find any spark plugs or tires 😆 Thanks for the intel, Mr. Picard. ====> Darren
DeleteGot the auto makes/models. The circles helped with that.
ReplyDeleteDid not much care for the GAH! clue and answer but that's a minor gripe in a puzzle this extensive.
Thanks for the nice expo, C.C. Solved your (and Tom's) Best Part puzzles yesterday. Thanks, too, for that bit of fun.
Picard: Thanks! I too could not grok the parts until I saw your dagram.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dylan and Matthew for a pleasant Sunday RIDE, car hopping thru the circles. Those roundabouts can be confusing (especially when you're driving in England) but C.C. tells me I got FIR it.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you C.C. for your review and for the extra layer of meaning. I got all the cars, but not their parts. Which reminds me that that my old CAMRY hybrid is in the shop to replace the 12 volt "charging battery" (not the Lithium monster that we replaced a few years back). As they are only sold by Toyota I'm getting ready to be taken to the cleaners.
A few favs:
21A MOLE. The use of gram molecular weights (the molecular weight expressed in grams) are indispensable in the formulation of ceramic glazes. Products like this glaze calculator enable potters to convert simple glaze recipes to the molecular weights of the various raw materials in the glaze to provide insights into how it will be affected by the fire. This is exactly analogous to converting a food recipe into the percentages of its component nutrients.
41A UNDER ARMOUR OUTLET. Under Armour is a Baltimore based manufacturer of sports apparel founded by billionaire entrepreneur, horse breeder, and philanthropist Kevin Plank. Now that's what you call "sweat equity!"
37D MELBA. The eponymous toast of the great Australian opera diva Nellie Melba. The great New Zealand diva Kiri Te Kanawa played her in an episode of Downtown Abbey and sang this Puccini favorite. Sorry I couldn't show the original clip -- Maggie Smith cut her off!
Cheers,
Bill
Big Easy @10::00 AM My Dad used to play the Wabash Cannon Ball. I don't have a recording of him, but here's the Cash cover you mentioned.
Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Dylan and Matthew, and C.C.
ReplyDeleteOne short of a FIR due to the cross of TBILISI, TABS and MELT. (This Canadian is not familiar with Patty MELTS; I wanted to play Patty Cake.)
I saw all the Cars, but missed the Car Parts until C.C. pointed them out. (And thanks Picard for clarifying further)
I noted BOSH and WABASH, ARCS and ARK (hi Tante Nique. And yes I wondered about the musical clue when the opera AIDA filled.).
We had EEL and AHI.
SARI crossing INDIRA was well-placed.
We can cuss in any language with GOSH DARN and DIOS MIO.
HuskerG just used ARGH yesterday.
I wondered why UNDER ARMOUR had the British spelling since it is an American company. Wikipedia says “ Plank opted to use the British spelling "armour" in the company name because the toll-free vanity number was still available for that version.”. (Thanks for litres, Jinx. Thought of you with today’s Wordle for bad spellers.)
XENNIAL is a new term for me, and I didn’t know the Oregon Trail game. Settlers fit the spot and remained there for quite a while until forced out by perps. Learning moment today.
Wishing you all a great day.
Creative theme today - I definitely got the car makes - but WEES about missing the C-A-R-P-A-R-T-S extra layer.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was amusing that some of the theme answers included KIA a newer carmaker in the US and REO an old-time carmaker when KIA has a model Rio.
My running family like UNDER ARMOUR brand clothes and there are 2 OUTLETs not too far away- one at the Lake of Ozarks and one at the outer suburbs of St. Louis. It is the brand that Steph Curry of the GSW of the NBA has developed his signature basketball shoe and gear.
I remember singing "The WABASH Cannonball" in grade school music. When driving on I-64, it's always easy to know when you change states from IL to IN or vice versa with the bridge over the Wabash
Thanks CC and Dylan & Matt!
I, too, remember singing the Wabash Cannonball in grade school. The memory helped today with the solve.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Liked the puzzle, thanks, Dylan & Matthew. Not easy, but doable. I did get the car theme. Thanks, C.C., for another great expo.
ReplyDeleteFinally happened yesterday. I started that puzzle and found it so un-doable that I quit after filling 23% of it.
Unfortunately, those who need to see this won't read this.
ReplyDeleteDO NOT "REPLY" to messages with the "reply" feature on your phone. No one can tell what you are replying to. When you are responding to another post, please tell us what you are responding to. Thank you!
NOT REPLYING TO DO NOT "REPLY" ...
ReplyDeleteHowever you reply, whether via desktop or phone it's a good idea to include
Reply to Handle @hh:mm:ss AM/PM Your reply
This helps people who don't know the context to locate the message being replied to.
Cheers,
Bill
I underline what waseeley said at 5:10.
ReplyDeleteOn the mobile site, responses to a post follow it immediately, but on the website, all comments are chronological. So, without identifying the poster and time being responded to, responses seem to come out of nowhere, which makes them confusing.
Most recently, an Anonymous post at 4:06pm refers to a building. What building, originally mentioned by whom? I can't tell.
I liked this puzzle. Saw the cars but not the CAR PARTS. Also thought of Jinx when I solved the Wordle today.
ReplyDeleteNeat Sunday puzzle, even if I don't know much about cars. Many thanks, Dylan and Matthew. And, C.C., I always love your Sunday commentaries, and so nice to see your references to our beloved Boomer--thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, this puzzle started out really EERIE, with comments like WELL EXCUSE ME, and GOSH DARN, and lots of IRE, and I almost wanted to leave when I saw YOU ARE SO DEAD. I hope the angry person responsible for these stays home next Sunday.
But, thankfully, we did get some fun areas like that ART SHOP. Wonder if it ever hosts a RENAISSANCE FAIR? It's nice that the place also has a VENDING MACHINE and that it has a shop where you can buy some art pieces on SALE. It was nice to see lots of well-dressed customers, one ATTIRED in a SARI. An ad advertised a performance of AIDA, and there was a little restaurant area where you could EAT OREOs and BREYERS ice cream and MELBA toast, and drink some SAKE. Yes, this visit deserves an entry into our DIARIES.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everybody.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I did have AN IN to get inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC
-MOLES in chemistry class are one of the items that took all I had
-This NAGY and his TV first resides deep within my memory
-At one time I also learned the difference between a RIP SAW and a crosscut saw
-My Greek wife and her twin sister have thick MANES of hair
-In some debates, facts and stats are obstacles to overcome
-Half of one group on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge were HAWKING t-shirts while the other half were lookouts for police
-Many an NFL team thought they had a HUGE GET qb only to be disappointed
-I’m lovin’ your short “do” in the picture, C.C.!
-Enya’s ORINOCO FLOW is my earworm of the day
-Dizzy Dean singing filled many a dead moment in many TV baseball games
It's me again - thoroughly disgusted with today's entry. Gave up after two hours of angst. It wasn't the "theme" that bothered me - got it very quickly. I just disliked the clues.
ReplyDeleteI just wish constructors would spend as much time in writing their clues accurately as they do on making a puzzle "fit" the theme. I'm not "quitting"... but I will continue voicing my opinions!
Missed "Car parts" completely. Thanks CC. Got the cars right off. Got "Kit and Caboodle" right away which helped. I enjoyed the puzzle. GC
ReplyDeletePK
ReplyDeleteMe too yesterday. It was really frustrating.
Today on 60 Minutes NATICK was mentioned and I found that I had pronounced it wrong. I thought it was NAH-TICK but It is NAY-Tick
Easier than most Sundays. I'm sick. I'll starve this sucker
ReplyDeleteXENNIAL and OREGON TRAIL? The latter was a popular game during the 80s
WC