Good Morning Crucibverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here once again with a recap of a Friday puzzle. Today's puzzle setters are Taylor Johnson and Christina Iverson. We have previously seen puzzles by each of them in the L.A. Times.
Today's "theme" is something of an odd duck and I find it to be a bit difficult to explain. First of all, it is meta. At five places within the grid (each clue ending with a question mark for a bit of added helpfulness), portions of the clues themselves are used to form the answers. In each case the letters that are employed in this capacity frame the opening portion of the clue. The relationship that each answer has to its clue is the "letter play"and the use of words such as border, case, frame, etc,. Let's look at the first example and see if things might not become a bit clearer.
17 Across: Op-ed column feature?: OPEN BORDER. If we look at OP-ED COLUMN we see that the O P E and N form the word OPEN. OPEN forms, and frames, the left BORDER of the clue (exclusive of the word "feature").
25 Across: Spa service feature?: SPACE CASE. . In the second-from-the-top themed clue/answer, we are presented with SPA SERVICE in the clue. The S,P, A, C, and E of the answer (SPACE CASE) originate in the clue. They could be said the enCASE the clue. The fact that we have two C's and two E's from which to chose might be a wee bit confusing but since we are going with edges and sides we'll go with the first C and the last E for the highlighting, below. Making things a bit more interesting or confusing is that, in this instance, SPACE can frame both the clue and the answer.
The other three theme answers are:
35 Across: Free booze feature?: FREEZE FRAME. FREE BOOZE. As with the previous theme answer, things are a bit more interesting / confusing because FREEZE FRAMEs both the clue and the answer.
48 Across: Lotus pose feature?: LOOSE ENDS. LOOSE frames the ENDS of the clue LOTUS POSE.
58 Across: Chocolate mousse feature?: CHOSE SIDES. CHOCOLATE MOUSSE.
I found the theme, and its execution, to be both clever and a bit unwieldy. YMMV.
In the grid things look like this:
Now, if we are not tuckered out from exploring the machinations of the theme, we can take a look at the rest of the puzzle.
Across:
19. "Un-Break My Heart" singer Braxton: TONI.
20. Reply "stop" to a text message campaign, say: OPT OUT.
21. One of a kind: UNIT. Not a "one off" but one of many (of a type or kind).
3. Pickup spec: ONE TON. Not a pickup bar reference. A truck reference.
4. Ligurian port on a namesake gulf: GENOA. Often clued with a salami reference but, hey, it's Friday.
6. Road goo: TAR.
7. Total: ADD UP. If this had been a truck reference the answer could have been WRECK.
8. Davis of "Beetlejuice": GEENA.
10. Pretend: ACT.
11. Cry for attention: LOOK AT ME.
12. Turpentine ingredient: PINE SAP. First went with PINE TAR.
13. Tweezers targets: SLIVERS. SPLINTERS was too long.
18. Jumper cable?: BUNGEE.
33. Some natural hairstyles: AFROS.
35. Blueprint: FLOOR MAP. More often, FLOOR PLAN but that would not fit.
36. "Black Beatles" hip-hop duo __ Sremmurd: RAE. Ear Drummers spelled backwards. Yo!
37. Matches: AGREES.
38. "None for you!": ALL MINE.
39. Herbal red 22-Down: ROOIBOS. A new one for me but, apparently, not all that obscure.
42. Unadon fish: EEL. A sushi reference.
46. Farewells: ADIEUS. Could have been ADIEUX.
47. Approvals: YESSES.
49. Hangzhou "Hello": NI HAO. Today's mandarin lesson.
50. Metallic waste: DROSS. SLAG was too short.
52. Spectrum-maker: PRISM.
57. Short: SHY. Not a height reference. As in to owe money that one does not have.
59. "The thing is ... ": SEE.
62 comments:
Remembering “snog” and getting “swoosh” got me off to a good start. However, I soon bogged down into a number of WAGS, including the infamous “smize”/“pepita.” There were some other obscure terms , but few obscure names, which also helped in the solving of this (intricate) puzzle. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
TARTAR sauce Is white, while tary TAR is black.
They're not easy to confuse, that's a fact!
Putting tar on fish
Would not be a tasty dish,
While tartar sauce on roads would be a splash!
A SPACE CASE was the new CADET.
He couldn't tell a prop from a jet!
Flying into space
Shouldn't be his place,
Once he got to orbit, he'd eject!
{B+,B-.}
This gimmick is about the most convoluted I've ever seen! Circles were needed -- but on the clues, not the grid!
Good morning!
Yay, d-o managed to suss the theme. Who would've guessed? Looked sideways at ROOIBOS. FLOOR MAP? Floor plan, yes, floor map, no. WORDLE -- I play it every day, but the answer didn't leap out at me. Clever clue. This was a worthy late-week entry, IMO. Thanx, Taylor, Christina, and Mal-Man. (You could've linked this song.)
Well, it doesn't happen often, but I had to come to the blog to understand the theme even though I had FIR!
This solved in fits and starts. One gimme was ROOIBOS as it's my daughter's favorite tea and so I drink it when I'm at her house and keep some here for when she visits. It's from South Africa thus the Afrikaans spelling.
The role of DEACON varies in different denominations. In some like Baptist it's the same role as Elders in e.g. Lutheran - providing spiritual oversight. But those who have Elders, then the DEACON's role is more oversight of the physical parts of the church- e.g the church building and grounds, food for the needy
Thanks MM for an enlightening blog and to Taylor & Christina for the puzzle!
Theme as previously noted went completely over my head
TARTAR Sauce, duh but I was looking for something exotic
E in PEPITA got changed yo a at the last minute. I thought SMaZE sounded better. FIW on an awful Natick
ROOIBOS was 7 hard perps???
D-Otto got the theme? I guess it was guessable
WC
Took 11:18 today for me to ... well, whatever it was that was done today.
"Space case" threw me off the scent, as that seems much more of a stretch. I also wondered if "tar" and "tartar" was part of a theme; found it unusual to have both of those as answers in the same puzzle.
Smize/pepita was a pure guess at a pure Natick.
I didn't know Harlan, Arlo, the tea, or Rae.
Nice clue for Wordle.
I'm stumped on why Catherine Ohara is shown in the review twice - once after Geena.
Not at all fun for me. Still don't get it
Good Morning:
I figured out the theme after finishing and some serious pondering over the clues again. Although this type of theme certainly reflects the imagination and creativity of the constructors, it’s not a solving exercise that I find enjoyable. I had absolutely no idea what Space Case meant (it is a thing, accordingly to Mr. G.) and I was also at sea (😅) with Pepita, Rooibos, Pine Sap, Smize, Nihao, Rae and Arlo, as clued. I found the cluing to be a mixed bag of easy-peasy vs somewhere out in left field, but the C/A for Wordle was top notch, and I believe my only w/o was Eer/Oer.
Thank to Taylor and Christina and thanks to MalMan for the very detailed and lucid explanation of the theme. Enjoyed your humor, as usual, especially the Deacon joke. Have fun on your meanderings and hurry back!
FLN
RosE, I echo Anon T’s compliment on your pretty, new Avatar. My favorite Avatar is Subgenius’s adorable koala.
Have a great day.
Finished the puzzle but the theme completely eluded me.
Can’t say I cared for this one. Still don’t understand the theme. No fun when it’s this convoluted
FIW. Had no idea with the crossing of smize and gam and guessed wrong.
If this was a theme of any kind it went down in flames. Even circles, which I hate, wouldn't have helped this most convoluted, messy theme. And add in all the obscure proper names and this puzzle is a total zero.
FIR, but have no idea how. Except that I followed the advice from Jimmy V's tear-jerking speech he made at the very first ESPY awards ceremony, while he was dying of cancer. "Don't give up. Don't ever give up."
I thought that if the clue was a abbreviation (lookin' at you, cab) the fill would be too.
The piercing spot had to be NOSES, because NIPPLE was already taken.
It would have been a miracle had Bert Parks had a 2023 album. But I would have recognized his name, at least.
Erased pod for GAM. In the King Features crossword today, "group of whales" is POD.
A GENOA is an overlapping headsail. Sailors pronounce it GEN-o-a (or "ginny",) the rest of the country says gen-O-a.
Well, if we can have an Average White Band, why not Black Beatles. (I have a recurring problem with flour beetles. I think I'm getting them from my grocery store.)
No soup for you!
Thanks to Taylor and Christina for the fun puzzle that took me to the limits of my ability. My favorite was spectrum-maker not being a brand name. And thanks to our MalMan for the bon voyage party. May you have fair winds and following seas.
I seriously disliked the convoluted theme, even with MM's lucid explanation. MM, your excellent post was the best part of today's solve.
ROOIBOS did me in. Also the Z in SMIZE and FREEZE.
SNOG - I have Kindle Prime Reading, but not Kindle Unlimited. Most of the Prime offerings are from UK authors, so I have learned many Britishisms like snog.
The meaning of deacon in the Episcopal church is different. "Deacons are members of one of three distinct orders of ordained ministry (with bishops and presbyters). In the Episcopal Church a deacon exercises 'a special ministry of servanthood' directly under the deacon's bishop.." Some are perpetual deacons, keeping the office for life. Many others become ordained as presbyters, more commonly known as priests.
Many commenters are referring to the theme as "convoluted." Accurate, but too kind. A too-cute theme resulted in a messy puzzle.
Like inanehiker, I managed to FIR but had no idea why OPEN BORDER, SPACE CASE...etc had anything to do with the clues; they just fit with the perps and guesses. And it took a lot of guessing and a long hard look at ROOIBOS after guessing ARLO, NOAH, and ESPY- unknowns.
KEV- perped but I would have never solved it for 'dropping IN'. Sneaky clue.
SLOAN- only know because a group of grad students came to study my computer ordering system back when we used 1200 baud modems. Pre open internet.
PEPITA, RAE, SMIZE, CRIME, NI HAO- unknowns filled by perps. Thanks for the smize explanation. I was thinking 'small size' instead of 'smile with your eyes'
TARTAR sauce- can't stand it. DW & I went to eat seafood yesterday; she asks for the tartar and I ask for cocktail sauce with extra horseradish on the side.
DEACON- I settle it. Deacon Jones played in the Fearsome Foursome of the LA Rams with Roosevelt Greer, Merlin Olsen, and Lamar Lundy.
FreezeFrame Friday. Thanks for the fun, Taylor and Christina, and MalMan.
The meta theme was above my pay grade. Thanks for explaining MM. I was thinking of an OPEN, LOOSE theme.
I bogged down in the centre. Yes Pod became GAM. I WAGged RAE.
If you frequent posh High Teas, you know ROOIBOS ( but I struggled with the spelling).
But I had no idea about SMIZE
(even with a Google search) and guessed Smile. And Free was in the clue and that’s a no-no?? Finally TITT (not 2D) and came here to be enlightened.
Will CMoe give this a 9.5 on his Moe’s scale?
C.C. has taught us NIHAO.
ENRAGE implies more than “tick off” or irk IMHO.
I had ALL gone before MINE.
I noted a plethora (slew/SLUE) of Esses in the SE corner, starting with YESSES. We had MESS /FESS and OASES above NOSES.
Wishing you all a great day.
Good Morning! Thanks, M-Man. I enjoyed your recap and kudos to you for your wit and diplomacy. LOL your comment about SMIZE – me too!!
Thanks, Irish Miss & Anon-T, for noticing my rose.! I began my posting journey as Anonymous until someone made the comment there were too many of “them” commenting. That urged me to begin using the Name/URL option. After months of that, I followed the guides to set up as a Blogger, and now the avatar. I’ve learned a lot along the way. 😊
Puzzle – DNL/DNF.
When I changed computers I lost my blog profile and my picture. I also lost the record of how long I have been on this blog and how many views I have had. I think maybe I have been here since 2009, but certainly way more than 2 years.
The SW left me hanging. Did not know the tea name o my guess at Neal and SlY gave me ESPY. WRONG! P&P filled the rest
Thanks to Taylor and Christine for the enigmatic offering and a salute to MM for his erudite analysis of their efforts.
Have a great weekend!!
This CW went SWOOSH over my head. No Jimmy V award for me.
When I get bogged down as I did here, I start thinking about all I have to do today and I TITT.
So glad MM enlightened me. Thank you.
Yes, I now see Rose’s lovely avatar.
I like the postings of all you Cornerites, but especially those of SS and Irish Miss. So, when IM said she liked my avatar, I found that very pleasing, to say the least!
DNF. So far out of my wheelhouse, I couldn't even see the boat. Poor clues, and a theme (?) that still does not raise a blip on my radar screen. The only bright spot was MalMans review. Loved the Deacons!
Completely agree
I agree with the write up, clever but a bit unwieldy...
Not on my wavelength.
Then again, very few things are on MY wavelength...
(Plus, I might be single sideband...)
I drink Rooibos tea daily so it’s nice when I know the answer to an “obscure” clue. I did get tripped up at the smize/freeze intersection but other than that I fir. Thanks MM for explaining the theme.. I had to read your explanations several times before it finally made sense. Have a nice weekend everyone. kkFlorida
As someone who has never done WORDLE, can someone please explain the clue and answer for 45D?
Musings
-I spent/wasted a lot of time looking for the gimmick - having meta clues that actually meant nothing in the classic cwd sense. MM’s wonderful expo filled me in.
-Near naticks, cleverness and blind alleys added to the fun/torture.
-Friday cluing - ARLO Parks, NOAH Baumbach,
-Joann rode a FERRIS Wheel on August 3, 1971. Our second daughter was born the next day, 52 years ago today. She says it was cause/effect.
-We just bought another car. We liked the price but after you ADD UP all the other things…
-Teachers do not need to be overly STRICT, they need to be fair and consistent.
-I loved BUNGEE cluing
-_OOBIOS/A_LO? R seemed to be the only answer.
-I have had some long winning streaks on WORDLE but if you miss a day, you start all over.
Just horrible. A perfect example of why I rarely do LA Times puzzles anymore. I wonder if Rich would have run this.
JB2
Bill, you get "post of the day" award. Thank you.
Gary, I'm sure that there was cause-and-effect at work, but I think the "cause" happened way before the FERRIS wheel ride.
Wordle mystified@11:29
YOUVE NEVER DONE WORDLE?
You poor puzzled,soul!
it's a brand new word(le)!
Click here to enjoy...
If the above link doesn't work, try from a google search...
Sorry,
I got excited...
Yes, the wordle seems weird, but "false" is a five letter word, while "true" is only four letters, and therefore not wordle compatable.
Sorry, NOT clever, just annoying. Thanks MM for the write up but this theme is just TOO obscure for me. GC
Thanks MM. FIW at the intersection of Arlo and Rooibos. Here's my story...
I couldn't get to sleep last night. I solved it just after midnight. Then wrote some notes to try to describe what was going on. The melatonin finally kicked in and I got to sleep.
Anyway, I figured the theme and gimmick out at LOOSE ENDS, confirming it was 'outside letter picking' with the previous entries, all before finishing the puzzle.
You pretty much have to solve the two word theme answers first, and then decipher why the answer works for the clue.
The second word of each of the answer phrases tells us where to look (border, ends, sides, case?, frame) to find a FEATURE of the CLUE phrases.
i.e., A feature of LOtus pOSE is the word LOOSE at the beginning and closing ENDS of the Lotus pose phrase. We get the theme answer LOOSE ENDS.
This crossword just felt a bit inconsistent to me. As verbs, Border, Frame and Case can all mean enclose. But Sides and Ends would be nouns as used here, and not synonyms of enclose. All can be used in their noun forms, and seem to fit, but then CASE seemed off to me.
In other words, in noun forms:
- A feature of OPEd columN is the word OPEN as the outer BORDER of the phrase. We get the theme answer OPEN BORDER
- A feature of LOtus pOSE is the word LOOSE at the beginning and closing ENDS of the phrase. We get the theme answer LOOSE ENDS
- A feature of CHOcolate mousSE is the word CHOSE at the SIDES of the phrase. We get the theme answer CHOSE SIDES.
- A feature of SPA serviCE is that we need the CASE (to be the container) of the phrase. We get the theme answer SPACE CASE.
- A feature of FREE booZE is that we need the (perimeter) FRAME of the phrase. We get the theme answer FREEZE FRAME.
Case seemed to be an outlier, but then I finally thought of each of the clue features as ENCLOSURES.
I think that's it. YMMV.
Good word today, OwenKL. Convoluted. Very good word for today.
Convoluted is right! I think I'm done with these Friday puzzles. Too many of them that I don't find enjoyable.
Thank you, TTP, for your additional explanation of how the theme worked. I especially liked "You pretty much have to solve the two word theme answers first, and then decipher why the answer works for the clue." A big "right on" to that. I may plagiarize the phrase should the need arise again.
Hola!
WEES. I agree with what you all have posted. I finished with only a few corrections which is typical for a Friday, IMO. POD before GAM, SPACE MASK corrected to SPACE CASE I'm not familiar with Harlan Coben.
I don't play WORDLE but it has been discussed here often so I immediately filled it.
FESS could have been Parker from Gunsmoke, (I think).
In the RC church a DEACON is the last step prior to the priesthood but we also have lay DEACONS who do not aspire to the priesthood. They assist the pastor in church duties.
There is so much in this puzzle that eluded me. I filled it but am not entirely sure about the meanings. I'm looking at SPACE CASE, PINE SAR, I had PINE TAR.
It's good reading all the comments and knowing you had some of the same problems.
Have a really great day, everyone!
oopa. I meant PINE SAP.
Puzzling thoughts:
Working backwards ... Whiner @ 12:41 --> next Friday's puzzle is very doable and the recap is a hoot
Cross-eyed Dave --> Loved the "Whole new Wordle" clip! I randomly play now, believe it or not
waseeley @ 10:42 --> great photos and memories
RosE @ 10:00 ---> where in PA are you? I grew up in York and went to college in Pittsburgh
Big Easy @ 9:38 --> I agree with you regarding TARTAR sauce; I prefer Malt Vinegar on my fried fish/seafood
MM --> a few things ... the Simian living in the ventilation system (Duct Ape) was a good one; I am stealing that today for a Facebook post ... Jim Valvano was the men's basketball coach at North Carolina State, not North Carolina ... You have Catherine O'Hara pictured twice - yes, GEENA Davis was in Beetlejuice but the picture you copied is of Ms. O'Hara ...
Thanks, though for the great explanation of the puzzle ... even though I FIW and still don't completely understand/enjoy the whole concept (even after reading TTP's thoughts) ... see you soon
Enjoy the weekend, all ...
PT2:
Oops, almost forgot the MOES hardness scale rating for today's puzzle: 7.5
Lucina, FESS Parker was the star of the Disney Davy Crockett series from 50s
BTW, right about RC Deacons but ? Can woman now be deacons?
BTW-2, We've all known a few SPACE CASEs in our day. Taxi had a perfect example
Dtanding next to Danny DeVito
WC
Another example of why the editor should resign. Absolutely the worst.
Wordle answers (and guesses) are always five letter words. Thus, 'false' could be a guess but 'true' could not be.
MM, hopefully the need won't arise. :>)
Chairman Moe, you want more ? I had more about 5 two-word phrase clues, and 5 two-word phrase answers. I'll assume you don't. Really, no value add, but it does speak to the consistency by the constructors. :>)
RosE, congrats on "going blue"! As long as you are signed in to your Google Account,
1) you won't have to "Please prove you're not a robot"
2) readers will know it's you, and not some aper/imposter using your name
3) you will have the ability to delete your own comments
Now that you have a Google Account, you can use many other Google Apps w/o having to create sign-in / userids for them individually.
The big deal is to not lose or forget your Google Account id and password that you used to setup your account. If you have them, you can sign in on other devices such as smartphones or tablets, or on other computers if you are traveling or visiting somewhere, or if you need to get a new computer.
Belated Happy Birthdays to Crossword Corner veteran Ms. Melissa, and relative newbie (here) SubG!
Want even more frustration in your life? Try Absurdle or Octordle :-D
Even after the explanation above, I still don't get it either
I was so sure of 'POD' that it brought me to a screeching halt. I even tried to convince myself the simian could be some contraction of 'Orangutan' or perhaps an obscure ape whose name started with an O.
I'm sure I walked right into the setters' trap. I picture them in their lair chuckling Bwahaha.
Weirdest puzzle I've ever seen!
This is a test. This is only a test.
Edward in LA:
If people were complaining about that complicated puzzle a while back,
The themes and clues for today’s puzzle were STOOOOOOPID.
Ugly clueing with a “gimmick” that cannot be understood….or even explained.
I STILL don’t understand.
This is getting worse and worse.
And it was beyond STOOOOOOOPID, IMHO.
In the Episcopal Church women can be deacons and priests.
Chairman Moe, I'm just north of the MD line off I-83, aka SoYoCo.
TTP, thanks for the tips. I've copied that into my info file.
Aye!
Fess Parker was also Daniel Boone (some copyright problem made them change heroes), James Arness was Gunsmoke.
Not my cuppa tea today.
RosE @ 5:24 --> we may have practically been neighbors once upon a time
CED @ 11:16 If you're not SSB, maybe you're Superheterodyne?
(Unsolvable today by mere mortals.)
Thanks for the explanations; I only come here when something leaves us scratching our heads. Today we finished the puzzle but still couldn't figure out the "theme". So much for a lifetime of the rule "words in the clue can't be in the answers."
These puzzles are becoming absurd.
Unfortunately, some crossword puzzles are following the demise of values.
Well…though I somehow FIR, even after Malodorous Manatee‘s explanation, I still can’t grok this theme. Maybe I need some if whatever it is the creators are smokin’.
I’ll vote NO on any more like this.
====> Darren / L.A.
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