google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, May 10, 2023 ~ Emma Lawson & Shannon Rapp

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May 10, 2023

Wednesday, May 10, 2023 ~ Emma Lawson & Shannon Rapp

Who Let the Dogs Out?


Happy Wednesday folks! Anon -T here reporting for duty.

Emma and Shannon Rapp (aka Norah Sharpe) bring us three breeds of "Rover" that "Range" across the fill (in the circles) and unifies it with an SUV that will likely fit all the pups (but,... it's not a Subaru :-)).

17. Dog relaxing across a foam flotation device?: POOL NOODLE. Poodle. Pick which second O gets the circle.

//Here's where I got my wires crossed for a bit. I though "POOL POODLE; theme is dog-breeds with the first few letters making another first or second word."
You try to think of a breed that begins with TRI at second themer fill - ain't gonna work.
Anyway, when I got to the reveal, I realized the dogs are in the circles (which were light on my printout - I'll add toner to my Amazon cart), fixed my pOODLE to NOODLE, and filled the rest of the grid lickety-split.

28. Dog traveling through a mysterious section of the North Atlantic?: BERMUDA TRIANGLE. Beagle.
 
Our favorite Beagle

49. Dog spreading out at a minimal performance venue?: BLACKBOX THEATER. Boxer.

63. High-end SUV, and an apt description of each set of circled letters?: RANGE ROVER.

Cute and much more simple that I was trying to make it. Thanks Emma & Shannon for the entertaining puzzle.

Across:
1. "Between Two Ferns" host Galifianakis: ZACH.
 
Obama played along for ACA

5. German woman: FRAU.
 

Cloris Leachman played along.

9. Brief "Don't know yet": TBD. To Be Determined.

12. __ mutter: potatoes and peas dish: ALOO. I think we've all learned this by now - foreign (not French) potatoes == ALOO.  Don't get me wrong - I love a good Indian dish but never understand them as printed.  I make Youngest order -- she grew up Montessori, knows Indian food, and knows what I like.

13. "Birmingham" sculptor Simone __: LEIGH. Perps. I Googled so you don't have to. Chicago artist born in '67. Amazing work!

15. Trick or treat: VERB. Ha!! "Fool" or "buy for." Also, noun: (magic) trick; (sweet) treat.  Halloween is only 173 days away.

17. [see: theme]

19. Garden need: SOIL. "Fence" to keep out the critters was too long.

20. Respected figure: ELDER. Am I an ELDER yet? I've waited 52 years...

21. Round Table titles: SIRS. Trust me, I'm holding myself back from linking yet another Monty Python clip.

23. Cavaliers sch.: UVA. University Virginia.

24. Way out: EXIT. The egress.
 
Believe it or Not - That's how Ripley got 'em out the door.

26. Realms: EMPIRES.

28. [see: theme]

32. What "will be" will be: ARE. Cute. Very cute.

33. Window part: SASH. Pane also fit :-(

34. Short pants?: TROU. Short for Trousers.

35. 2019 documentary about fatherhood: DADS. Sussable.

37. "Designated Survivor" actor Penn: KAL. I Googled for an image and... "Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration." Fandom Link.

39. Robin's residence: NEST.
 
Robin, aka Mork, resided here with Mindy.

42. Spanish house: CASA.

45. Court dividers: NETS. Tennis courts not basketball nets.

48. __ of Tranquility: SEA. Lunar geography and Apollo 11's landing site.

49. [see: theme]

53. Expression of love that doesn't quite land?: AIR KISS. Didn't land the kiss? Tsk. Tsk.

54. Stitches: SEWS.

55. Car care brand: STP.   Scientifically Treated Petroleum. Or, if you visit STP's website: Science. Technology. Performance. Not to be confused with a Stone Temple Pilots' performance.

56. Fold: TUCK.

58. Pronoun pair: HE/HIM.  You'll see this on some folks' Social Media profile -- pronouns to be used when addressing.

61. Call-and-response response: AMEN. #Church

63. [see: theme]

66. Renaissance fair instrument: LUTE.

67. Dentist's tool: DRILL.  Open wide.

68. Angry outburst: RANT.

69. Opposite of NNE: SSW. Points on a compass rose.

70. Octagonal sign: STOP.

71. Codas: ENDS.

Down:
1. Comic book onomatopoeia: ZAP. Onomatopoeia - a word that sounds like what it means. But y'all knew that.

2. Soothing succulent: ALOE.

3. Like early spring weather: COOL.

4. Poker variety: HOLD 'EM. How to play.

5. Home of Everglades National Park: FLORIDA.

6. __ Speedwagon: REO. The car or the band from Champaign, IL? We should be told.

7. Helps: AIDS.

8. Less appealing: UGLIER.
 
UGLIer fruit

9. Best Buy wallful: TVS. Have y'all seen some of the new TVs? I don't think I want to watch News Hour with that kind of definition.

10. "Beauty and the Beast" song: BE OUR GUEST.
 

Classic fun animation.

11. Tripe: DRIVEL. [see: this expo]

14. __ crab: HERMIT.
 

Hermit Crab Changes Shells

16. Nonchalant: BLASE. I think I spelled it with a "Z" first 'cuz there's extra ink in that square.

18. Connection: NEXUS.

22. Trade jabs: SPAR. Boxing.

25. Undertaking: TASK.

27. Party to: IN ON. Privy didn't fit.

28. Billie Eilish's "__ Guy": BADIf you're so inclined. //It's not that BAD.

29. Notable slice of time: ERA.

30. Fancy places to see the stars?: RED CARPETS. Planetarium didn't fit //and there's no Pink Floyd at the RED CARPET.

31. Quick note of appreciation: THANX. Saves only one letter typed. Thx is what I use - saves three keystrokes.

36. Bag of potatoes: SACK.

38. "Shall we?" response: LET'S. Do it!

40. "Told ya!": SEE.

41. Roof goo: TAR.

43. Comic vignette: SKIT.

44. Ridiculous: ABSURD. Inane. //CED came to mind ;-)

46. Viola Davis film whose tagline was "Change begins with a whisper": THE HELP.
 

Trailer

47. Ninja Turtle home: SEWER.
//want a story? As undergrads, DW would do some babysitting for extra cash.
Being an educator, she'd teach the kids literature and art.
She introduced one kid (about 7yrs old) to Michelangelo.
"Mrs. K, I didn't know he painted too!"
He was talking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

49. Rudimentary: BASAL.

50. Chemistry paper?: LITMUS.  Stick in the stick and ph will show acid or base via color. Always fun to have a handful of these on hand for playing with, erm teaching, the kids.

51. 2023 awards for "Everything Everywhere All at Once": OSCARS.

52. On land: ASHORE.

57. Make mittens, say: KNIT.

59. Tennis star Lendl: IVAN.

60. Repair: MEND.

62. Just out: NEW.

64. __ Worm: 1980s bedtime toy: GLO.
 
My lil' Sis had one of these.

65. Shares again, on Twitter: RTS. RE -Tweets.  Honestly, I've never gotten the hang of the TwitterVerse and I probably make myself look like an old dude when I RT a response.  Frankly, Musk is making it worse (NPR & BBC #StateAffiliated. Really?). I'm still waiting on BlueSky to accept my "Let me play, please!" request. //end RANT

The Grid:
 
The Grid


WOs: noun->VERB, TanK, pane->SASH, BASic -> BASAL
ESPs: LEIGH, IVAN (as clued), KAL.
Fav: Trick or treat == noun or VERB

Well, another expo in the books here at The Crossword Corner. Hope y'all had fun too.
Looking forward to y'alls take and expo corrections / additions.

Cheers, -T

52 comments:

Subgenius said...

This didn’t seem terribly difficult. Although I was not really familiar with “black box theater “ or a “pool noodle” I had a pretty good idea of the theme from the get-go. I imagine my friend SS will have something to say about the circles, but I really didn’t mind them. They made the puzzle much easier! Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

TTP said...


Thank you, Emma and Norah and Dash T.

The puzzle looked familiar. No wonder. I solved it the other day. It still took 6 minutes for me to type in all the answers.

I like dogs. I give this puzzle four paws. Dog tested, dog approved.

That HERMIT crab video was interesting. I knew they changed shells as they grew, but did not know they take their anemones with them. That's symbiotic.

I'll see your Plush and raise you an: Interstate Love Song.

"Honestly, I've never gotten the hang of the TwitterVerse and I probably make myself look like an old dude when I RT a response." You mean like a cheug ? I'm probably using that term incorrectly, which would make me sound like an old dude that's trying too hard.

SubG, I also wasn't familiar with "black box theater" but after searching it with Google, I pressed the Maps tab. It seems to be used in venue names mostly in the midwest and central eastern states. The wikipedia article provided me with a sense of what they are.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

That Z in 1a took an alphabet run, and was my final fill. (Have I ever mentioned...?) I'll take a CSO at THANX. (That's the way my fingers automagically spell it.) Saw the circles. Found the dogs. Missed the reveal. Natch. Expected a petit basset griffon Vendéen. Thanx, Emma and Shannon. Excellent job pinch hitting, Dash-T.

Parsan said...

FLN - I forgot to mention yesterday in our discussion about the code-breakers who used the ENIGMA machine during WW2 that some of the requirements for being hired included being gifted in math (maths in England), original thinkers, and candidates good at doing crosswords.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased seed for SOIL, their for HEHIM, thank for THANX, basic for BASAL, and LUTE (then stet). UVA was a cinch. Too much showbiz stuff for my liking, but the dog theme makes up for a lot. A fresh clue for STP was nice, too.

I don't tweet, because if I did everyone would know what a twit I am. As it is, only Cornerites (and a few others) know.

Thanks to -T for doing a fine job of filling the void.

BobB said...

The first letter in 1A and 1D stumped me until I looked onomatopoeia. New word to me and a mouthful.

OwenKL said...

One must address an ELDER as SIR
To do any less could cause hurt to occur.
Altho for one's DAD
Informal's not bad,
And his name is the same as your sur-.

A BOXER was discussing with a BEAGLE
The attitude of an arrogant POODLE.
"The puffs of her fur
Hide that she's a cur,
And each puff is a cinnamon snickerdoodle!"

Anonymous said...

Took 5:47 for me to CHOW down today.

Oh joy, circles. They didn't really get in the way today though.
(Thanks, SubG.)

I'd like to join TTP's and -T's betting by raising with the acoustic version of STP's "Plush" - an all-time great song.

Blase and banal were speedbumps. I didn't know black box theater. One day I hope to remember "aloo." Leigh who?

KS said...

FIR. The NW was the last to fall since I didn't know Zach at 1A. And who else tried to fit basic into 49D? This puzzle took me a while, despite getting the theme early. I just wasn't on the constructor's wavelength at all.

billocohoes said...

If you don't know ALOO, then 1D is a Natick (ZiP/ZAP). Also tried ZACH with a K at first

-T, Ripley may have used the "Egress" sign, but he stole it from (or it was a tribute to) P.T.
Barnum

Parsan said...

Easy but fun puzzle. Many hours in the water with my grandchildren years ago with POOL NOODLEs. Didn’t we just have ALOO and LEIGH ? ZACH Galifianakis very funny in The Hangover and Horrible Bosses.

IVAN (pronounced E-von) Lendl, a great Czech tennis player! That made me change heber to HEHIM.

THANX —T!

ATLGranny said...

THANX, Emma and Shannon, for a puzzle I could FIR today. Plus a fun and timely theme with dogs easy to find but a surprising reveal. Nice!

Anon T, you did a good job filling in today. I enjoy your style! Thx for all the info. I see others had to change basic to BASAL too, but I got ZACH quickly since we have a friend with that name.

Time to get busy. Have a good day, everyone!

CanadianEh! said...

Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Emma and Shannon, and AnonT.
I FIRed and saw the Dog theme, but thanks to AnonT for explaining ROVER.
(Actually, now I see that I FIWed at the ENDS (appropriate spot), since I had HE/HIS giving Send instead of MEND.

Hand up for changing Basic to BASAL (with LUTE).
Unknown to me names like ZACHARY, KAL, LEIGH (we had Janet before) perped.

No excuse for not getting ALOO today, after my post yesterday about ALOO matar (also called mutter). Cute crossing of ALOO and ALOE.
We also had SEE crossing SEA, and SEWS crossing SEWER (not a dupe because of totally different meaning).

We continue the British pageantry with SIRS over EMPIRES. BERMUDA is a British Overseas Territory. But of course you all know that the Brits would spell THEATER with the RE ending.

Wishing you all a great day.

Wilbur Charles said...

BASAL??? Not BASic I deduced from solid perps on A,L. -T, is this a common word for "rudimentary"? Hmm, BASAL metabolism?

Parsan, in the movie version I recall they were actually given a Times xword to solve

The Lendle McEnroe matches were great THEATER
1984 French Open

I very much enjoy your write-ups, Anon-T

WC

CrossEyedDave said...

Hmm,

Lets see, designed for insane skiers, what else can we do with it?

Range Rover: let's see who can drive it the fastest...

Now, if I had one...

Wilbur Charles said...

I see the clip is more about McEnroe . If you like Tennis it's entertaining

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I loved the theme and the surprise reveal was the frosting on the cake, as I didn’t expect one for such an obvious theme. The Trick or Treat clue was a mini Easter Egg, IMO. Leigh and Be Our Guest were totally unknown and several other entries required perps before the correct answer came to mind and, like others, I fell into the Basic/Basal trap. The fun See/Sea crossing stood out as did the unfun Trou. Trous is bad enough but Trou is downright ugly and the unnecessary proper noun cluing for common words continues to rankle, e.g., Dads, Sirs, Sea, TVs, and Bad.

Thanks, Emma and Shannon, for a pawfect* mid-week challenge and thanks, Anon T, pinch hitting. Enjoyed your breezy commentary and fun links, especially the video of Be Our Guest. I recognized Angela Lansbury’s voice and a sound-alike Maurice Chevalier, whom I discovered was Jerry Ohrbach!

For many years I lived in a Florida community that had an in-house monthly newspaper. As there were numerous canine residents, ours included, I was asked to write a column from a dog’s perspective which became the Canine Corner. I became Arfully good at doggie speak and the column was a big hit with all the pet Pawrents. Of course, the byline and accompanying photo were of Fluffy Davidson, Bichon Frisé extraordinaire. She was even nominated for a Pawlitzer Prize! 🤣

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Sorry, left out “for” pinch hitting and gave Mr. Orbach an unneeded H. BTW, his son is a crossword constructor.

Lucina said...

Hola!

THANX Tony, for the amusement today. This FRAU is still half asleep but managed to finish in good time. I appreciate that there is no DRIVEL in this puzzle. It's all good stuff.

My front closet is bursting with POOL NOODLEs, balls and other toys for my grandchildren to use.

RANGE ROVER always reminds me of the late, great Sean Connery.

CSO to all our residents from FLORIDA. I miss Jason, AKA, Lemonade.

THE HELP is an excellent book and movie worthy of its OSCARS.

Time to return to bed. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Lucina said...

Irish Miss, you continue to surprise me!

waseeley said...

When I started this puzzle I had a strong sense of Deja Vu, like I'd done it before. Turns out I actually HAD done it before. A week or so ago I'd been having a lot of trouble getting the Sun to deliver my ePaper (an electron shortage I think), so I decided to dip into the weekly stash of puzzles that C.C. sends us. But instead of getting the one for that day I mistakenly printed out and solved the one for 5/10/23. When I got to the Blog I quickly realized my mistake and printed out the correct one and solved that too. IIRC correctly I got a FIR for the first time around, but today I FIW with a natick on 1A/1D. IMHO "BAP" is just as onomatopoetic as "ZAP", making 1A BACH, who is just fine with me. Anywho ...

THANX, THANX Emma and Shannon for both times around. I'm a dog lover so you doubled my fun.

And THANX -T (you only get one) for a fun review.

Some favs:

1A BACH. It was wrong, but I don't care.

12A ALOO. ALOO Parathas are good too (little pastries stuffed with potatoes). Sort of like Indian Pierogis.

19A SOIL. Good SOIL is a gardener's best friend.

55A STP. I've also heard defined as Standard Temperature and Pressure.

66A LUTE. How's about a little Renaissance Lute music.

20D ELDER. ELDER? You're just a pup! 🐶 😁

47D SEWER. The same confusion re Ninja Turtles was one of the themes of the 2009 BBC movie Framed, which I can't recommend enough. In a nutshell, the plumbing in the British Museum springs a leak, they secretly move all the art work to an abandoned slate mine in Wales while the leaks are being plugged, the neighborhood kids want to know what's up, and hilarity ensues. This trailer just introduces the main characters, but the movie is incredible. It's a freebie on YouTube.

Cheers,
Bill

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

EZ breezy Wednesday. Hold up was HEshe instead of HIM..some weirdo answers like THANX. Didn't know RTS from Twitter, not a fan. KAL Penn? Sounds like a college or university. ("Me 'n Suzie graduated from Kal Penn together")

Anon Tony I also thought there was more to the "spread out" dog breeds theme based on the first answer

My favorite FRAU Blücher (Cloris Leachman) scene from "Young Frankenstein.

"Fold" = TUCK? (Let's "fold" the kids in bed?).....SEWS crossed with SEWER (but wrong meaning). Had basic instead of BASAL then realized I couldn't play the cUTE..AMEN Canada Eh & WC et al...BASAL usually means "at the base"... In anatomy: BASAL cistern, BASAL ganglia. (But try to use the fresh kind in pesto sauce. 😄)

Too many sit-ups can make your ____ ...ABSURD
Dinah was one...ASHORE
Your goldfish are simply ____ REDCARPETS
"Greetings Mom" in some language..ALOO MUTTER

I never do but I watched "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" twice and still don't get it. 😒


Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A wonderful puzzle on every level. Circles were useful and added to the fun.
-Having an obscure sculptor LEIGH with a familiar is not a problem but words like ALOO…
-I first thought of NOUN for Trick or treat for this meta clue
-The Land Pavilion at EPCOT has a wonderful exhibit of hydroponics or soilless agriculture
-None of our windows have SASHES
-“Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed”
-I make sure that teenagers only get AIR HUGS
-If you’ve seen The Help, you know the secret ingredient in Minny’s chocolate pie she gave her haughty mistress. Yuk!!

Anonymous said...

I don't think Zach G. was in the Horrible Bosses movies.

Kal Penn, to me, sounds like were convicts from California are sentenced to.

Monkey said...

Loved the doggie theme, and so cleverly inserted. For me too the NW was the last to fall. I had noun instead of VERB and had never heard of BE OUR GUEST as clued.

Several unknowns including BLACK BOX THEATER but perps rescued me.

I think it would be difficult for a standard POODLE to relax across a POOL NOODLE.

A-t: liked the HERMIT crab video.

IM ☘️ your doggie columns must have been so much fun to read. I hope you still have copies of them.

Anonymous T said...

@9:51 - I think Parsan was thinking of Seth Gordon. Same comedic style but different dudes.

I've got more to thank y'all for but another meeting in <6min.

{B+, A+}

Cheers, -T

Norah aka Shannon said...

Hello Again! Happy to be back in the LAT and with a new collaborator today :D thanks again for a lovely write up, hope everyone enjoys the puzzle today <3

unclefred said...

W/Os TBA:TBD, HEHIS:HEHIM. Almost wrote BASIC, but had AMEN and LUTE, so BASAL occurred to me. DNK any of the names besides REO and IVAN, the rest were all perps. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike obscure names in the CW? 32A = very clever. I scratched my head and “Hmmm”ed quite a bit, especially since I didn’t know BAD or DADS. ERA coulda been EON. Anyway, did (eventually) FIR. Thanx EL&SR for the (for me, at least) challenging CW. Clever theme! Thanx too to Anon-T for the terrific write-up. Interesting video about the hermit crab, I DNK about the anemones.

RosE said...

Good Morning!! Loved the dog theme of this puzzle. THANX, Emma and Shannon!
I picked up on the theme when I completed 17A. 🐩 Very clever!
I had to work at it , but the puzzle eventually came together with a few WOs and WAGS.
NE was the last to fill. DNK the 10D song then waited for the perps for: TBa or TBD?, Seed or SOIL?, and UVA.
Anon-T, cute comment RE: Subaru, those Golden Retriever ads are SUpurb!! 🐕
THX for the fun recap.
I, too, changed pOODLE to NOODLE, but filled LUTE before BASAL so didn’t stumble there.
I learned ALOO from the Corner, so whenever I see potato, I look to see if ALOO will fit.
ROS – loved your BASAL joke, and, of course, your redefinitions EVERY DAY!! 🤣

Charlie Echo said...

FIR. Enjoyed the pooch clues, although I don't think of the North Atlantic when I hear Bermuda Triangle. I guess it's technically true, as it is North of the equator, but I think of it as more like Mid or Central. I'm with Unclefred on the obscure trivial people. Anon-T, great recap. I like your style!

CrossEyedDave said...

Waseely @ 9:36

I couldn't make much sense of the heavily clipped (trailer?) of "Framed."
But it did arouse enough interest that I saved The Entire Framed Movie to watch later...


I need to know why he gave the kids a stuffed zebra?

Anonymous T said...

Hi y'all!

I couldn't decide if Black Box Theater needed explaining or not. I guess it did. Sry.
//Eldest's HS trope had one behind the gymnasium and they'd put on odd-ball shows. #Fun

Thank you Shannon for dropping by.

TTP - STP's Interstate Love Song is good grunge music. I'll stand by Plush as the opening hits on a high. Core was a great CD / MP3 rip.
//My fav from the '90s was Cracker & Crash Test Dummies. Then, of course, there was Nirvana. Oh and Dishwalla and Meat Puppets. Perl Jam, Rentals too. They were all good bringing music back to BASics from 80's crap. //my $0.02

BillO - did I get that wrong? I recall Ripley's, not P.T., But I could be (probably am) wrong.

I have a style? DW doesn't think so - she made me order new TROUsers for Youngest's graduation / MIL's 80th B-Day party (both Friday - Eldest & DW's Cuz is flying in too!). $300 down the drain.

CED - you never fail to AMUSE. Thx.

Love'd reading y'all. Nap b/f next meeting at 2p.
//I'm going to have to figure out how to get real work in here sometime.

Cheers, -T

waseeley said...

IM @9:22 AM Very PAWNY IM, very PAWNY. Outrageous in fact! 🤣

CED @12:17 PM I don't recall the stuffed zebra being a major plot element. I'm glad you're watching it. You won't regret it. IIRC the very last FRAME is the best.

-T @1:00 PM All these constant interruptions due to your work schedule have simply got to stop. 🙄

TTP said...


Dash T, don't get me wrong. I like Plush, and the studio and live version opens with a great hook, but the story behind the words is really sad. I have the album Core. I have it on one of my grunge playlists on my MP3 player.

Here's the acoustic version of Plush that Anon@ 7:20 was referencing. Like all great singers, Weiland's voice was an instrument by itself.

Gotta get moving. Golf league afternoon. Dash T, you're in charge. If any spam pops up, do me a favor and delete it. You should have the authority today. THANX.

Emma said...

Thank you everyone for doing our puzzle! Hope you enjoyed :)

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

First off, thanks to both Emma and Shannon for stopping by. I often wonder if the constructor(s) of the daily puzzle read our blog

Second, thanks to Emma and Shannon for a very clever puzzle/theme/entries. I didn't immediately get POOL NOODLE; this was maybe a bit more difficult than most Wednesday's, but I managed to finish it with just one "red square" (SKIT/TUCK intersection)

"WHO LET THE DOG'S OUT"? -T, that was an equally clever "title" for this puzzle. Loved your videos and comments. We have a very talented staff of bloggers. I would put them up against any other group who regularly comments on crossword puzzles ...

Third, interesting that this puzzle published the day following the announcement of the Westminster Dog Show winner for best-in-show. Buddy Holly is HE/HIM's name ...

Irish Miss said...

Lucina @ 9:35 ~ I’m just full of surprises! 🤭

Tante Nique @ 10:08 ~ Unfortunately, those columns were lost, misplaced, or disposed of during five subsequent moves from that community. However, 30 years later, I can still remember the fun I had writing about the imaginary antics of the neighborhood pups. I knew the name of every dog in the development and tried to spin a “tail” each month about all of them. The owner’s got a big kick out of seeing their pets in the “gossip” column. Paw, Grr, Woof, Bark, Arf, etc. became a big part of my second language, Caninese!

Bill @ 1:21 ~ Sad to say, there were no pawttery producing pups! 😅

Big Easy said...

Seeing the canines in circles was easy but still don't understand what RANGE has to do with the spread out pooch names. My biggest trouble was 1A & 1D- I really didn't know either or 12D-ALOO. I just guessed ZACH and ALOO. I had no idea what " Onomatopoeia" was but ZAP & ALOO looked better than ZEP,ZIP, ZUP, or ZOP. ZAP was my last fill. Like BobB KS, billocohoes, and others I looked it up AFTER (but never before) I worked the puzzle. Never hears of BLACK BOX THEATER.

Simone LEIGH, DADS, KAL, BAD Guy, RTS, OSCARS, BLACK BOX THEATER- those were filled by perps and guesses. I don't use Twitter and watching TVS and Movies is not my thing.

RANGE ROVER- notorious for small problems - make the yearly list of the worst cars you can get for your money. You spend that kind of money- you shouldn't expect check engine light to come on after 100 miles. Tata Co. from India bought both Rover and Jaguar a few years back from Ford.

Wilbur- way back when in the 70s all the tennis greats were playing in a tournament here in NOLA. On the same night I saw Ilie Nastase get thrown out of a match and later McEnroe beat Bjorn Borg for the first time. It was very entertaining watching Nasty Nastase. Stan Smith also played somebody, I just don't remember who.

Bill- as for the other STP I know it's Zero degrees Centigrade by why did they use the freezing point of water as a standard? Always baffled me.

Emma- thanks for commenting. We like to bitch and RANT about some of the clues, knowing the editor made you change a lot of them. I never criticize the constructor as I know the amount of work it takes to earn a pittance.

waseeley said...

BE @2:54 PM The "ROVERS" (aka FIDOS) RANGED across the fill ("trained to sit in the circles" perhaps?).

CrossEyedDave said...

Big Easy:

maybe this will help...

CrossEyedDave said...

Hmm,,,

if only I could smell out a crossword clue/answer...

Parsan said...

THANX Anon @9:51 for the correction. Anon-T - could it have been Jason Sudeikis? I saw this movie 10 years ago and only remember that I thought it was silly but funny. Both actors have great comic timing.

IM - Your stories about the dogs must have been wonderful for their owners. So clever and original!

Anonymous T said...

Parsan - Jason Sudeikis was also in Horrible Bosses. [Trailer]

Have you seen him in Ted Lasso - worth the price of Apple+.

C. Moe - too kind.

CED - the nose knows.

Cheers, -T

Monkey said...

IM @ 2:41. Too bad.I would have loved reading them. Have you ever read Spencer Quinn’s mystery series narrated by the detective’s own dog? It’s charming.

Jayce said...

I had a little bit of enjoyment working this puzzle. Especially liked the dogs. In fact, I never would have solved BLACKBOX THEATER, of which I have never heard, without having filled BEAGLE first.

Hand up for filling BAP and BACH and being fine with it. Also for filling NOUN before VERB and HOSE before SOIL. On top of that, I had TO OUR GUEST instead of BE OUR GUEST, so obviously it took quite a bit of MENDing to fix that area.

My nose wrinkled at BASAL, but my metabolism was not affected. My nose also wrinkled at how TUCK was clued. I see RayO's was, too.

Our son almost convinced us to seriously consider a Land Rover Defender as our next car, but we eventually removed it from our list of vehicles to shop for. Top on my list is a Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid, but the Toyota Rav4 hybrid seems to be at the top of my wife's list. Guess which one we will go to first to test drive.

Waseeley, we watched Framed and liked it. I think I learned of it from you in the first place. I recommended it to our son and his artist wife, but I don't think they have watched it.

Good wishes to you all.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Excellent Wednesday PZL!
This was enjoyable throughout.
Fave Clue? “Short pants?” I took it seriously at first. Then, I thought of rapid shallow breathing.
I dunno why, but this was the next to last to fall.
~ OMK
____________
DR:
Three diagonals on the near end.
The center diag leaves us with an anagram (12 of 15) that describes most HS make out sessions.
Remember when, the lights went out, and everything everywhere seemed to be…

SEX HANDHOLDS”?!

Anonymous said...

How can I sign up for CC's puzzles?

Anonymous said...

Her book is due out on May 20th

sumdaze said...

THANX Shannon and Emma for your fun & clever puzzle and for stopping by to say Hello!
FAVs: Just out, Short pants, and LITMUS

I think I've seen every episode of "Between Two Ferns". Equally bizarre and funny!

A good rule of thumb: If you are driving your car and pass a bicyclist, try to stay a POOL NOODLE apart from the bicyclist.

Waseeley@9:36. I saw "Framed" after you recommended it a while back. Thumbs up.

Irish Miss. I bet your dog columns earned a round of a-paws!

THX for your vibrant write-up, Anon-T! Nice lateral thinking on the Robin's nest. The HERMIT crab video was my FAV today.

waseeley said...

Anon @8:08 PM Here's the link to pre-order her puzzles at Amazon.

Anonymous T said...

Oh, wow, TTP - I have god powers! I just xnay'd a SPAM.

Oooh, this is root-like.
//don't let it go to your head -T, Pop always preached the Peter Parker rule.

Thank y'all today for the fun reads in between meetings and memos and (what else did I do today?).

Cheers, -T

Michael said...

BigEasy @ 2:54. IIRC, 0º Farenheit was the was the coldest Daniel Fahrenheit could get a mixture of ice, water, and NH4Cl.