Theme: "Don't Move" - S is changed to P in each common phrase.
24. Legume that helps quell anxiety?: PEA OF TRANQUILITY. Sea of Tranquility.
31. "My mind is often in the gutter ... "?: I'M NOT REALLY PURE. I'm not really sure.
58. Device that blocks all commercial endorsements?: PLUG REPELLENT. Slug repellent.
66. Basic needs for preserving a walnut?: HAMMER AND PICKLE. Hammer and sickle.
80. Ruling by a British finance minister?: POUND JUDGMENT. Sound judgement.
104. Dine and dash?: GO WITHOUT PAYING. Go without saying.
115. Citrus juicer's downfall?: REVENGE OF THE PITH. Revenge of the Sith.
124. Word on a red sign, and, when parsed in three parts, a hint to this puzzle's longest answers: S TO P.
This reminds me of the S to P puzzle Dennis and I made for the New York Times ages ago. We ended up with a simpler approach, though this letter change idea also came to us. You all know I'm bad at this letter addition/deletion/change gimmick.
I chuckled at some of the theme answers and clues. Fun. Outstanding fill from Rafael. He's really good with grids.
Across:
1. __ Punk: "Get Lucky" duo: DAFT.
5. Regard highly: ESTEEM.
11. Sand dune conveyance: SLED.
15. Spanish "Look!": MIRA.
19. Spaghetti __ puttanesca: ALLA. Puttanesca is a red sauce with
an interesting origin. Google yourself, but don't put the word on the
blog. I don't want another Google warning.
20. Myocardium, e.g.: MUSCLE.
21. Sprinkler hookup: HOSE.
22. Heaps: ATON.
23. Places (down): LAYS.
27. Horror film director Aster: ARI. His latest movie is "Beau Is Afraid".
28. Divest (of): RID.
29. __ Chef: meal kit company: HOME.
30. Runaway hit: SMASH.
37. Crush, in gamer slang: PWN.
38. Elation: GLEE.
39. Ethiopia's Selassie: HAILE.
40. Looked forward to: AWAITED.
44. Humanitarian/chef Andrés who founded World Central Kitchen: JOSE. He was born in Spain.
46. Bonobo, e.g.: APE.
47. Shiny fabric: SATIN.
49. "I __ you one!": OWE.
50. Mattel game with 108 cards: UNO.
51. Decennial survey: CENSUS.
54. Charge: ACCUSE.
55. Go toe-to-toe: VIE.
56. Mayor Tishaura Jones's city: Abbr.: STL. Not famliar with the mayor, sorry!
57. Ergonomic kitchen gadget brand: OXO.
61. Participated: TOOK PART.
64. Garlands that symbolize friendship: LEIS.
65. Assns.: ORGS.
72. Alan of "The Aviator": ALDA.
75. Discovery org.: NASA.
76. Bangkok currency: THAI BAHT. "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble ..."
86. Journalist Kasparian: ANA.
87. __ milk: SOY.
88. Race in place: REV. I don't get this clue.
89. Holy Week ender: EASTER.
90. More effortless: EASIER. Ah, guys, I've been struggling with flutter kicks. I kick like crazy, but I just don't move anywhere with the kick board.
92. Drench: SOP.
93. She sheep: EWE.
94. "Ciao!": ADIOS.
95. South Bend's st.: IND.
96. Ride in a velodrome: BIKE. I'm told that bikers and runners often struggle with flutter kicks.
97. Predetermined schedule: SET PLAN.
99. Actor Taye: DIGGS.
101. E pluribus __: UNUM.
103. Portable bed: COT.
110. Finnish telecom giant: NOKIA.
112. Snitch (on): NARC.
113. CIA forerunner: OSS. The Office of Strategic Services.
114. Mauna __: LOA.
120. __-serif: SANS.
121. Assert: AVER.
122. Inflatable float: RAFT.
123. Estevez of "The Breakfast Club": EMILIO.
125. Gendered possessive: HERS.
126. Kennel cacophony: ARFS.
127. Court calendar: DOCKET.
128. "Queer Eye" stylist Jonathan Van __: NESS.
Down:
2. Sleep interrupter: ALARM.
3. Acting on one's own: FLYING SOLO. Great fill.
4. Some future profs: TAS.
5. Ashanti, for one: EMPIRE. West African empire until 1901.
6. Leather with a fuzzy finish: SUEDE. Did you know that the eggplant leaves are very fuzzy also?
7. Water bottle confiscator: Abbr.: TSA.
8. Logical lead-in: ECO.
9. Rivendell resident: ELF.
10. CH3, chemically: METHYL.
11. Longtime orca performer: SHAMU.
12. Solitary sort: LONER.
13. Atty.'s title: ESQ.
14. Cidade de __: Rio neighborhood: DEUS.
15. Lilongwe's country: MALAWI. Capital of Malawi.
16. "I've still got fight left in me!": IT ISN'T OVER.
17. __ IRA: ROTH.
18. "__ questions?": ANY.
25. Tug-of-war need: ROPE.
26. Form, as a jury: IMPANEL.
28. GPS option: RTE.
32. Real Madrid cheer: OLE.
33. Cries of understanding: AHAS.
34. Eagerly accept, as praise: LAP UP. And 36. "Dinner is getting cold!": EAT UP.
35. Von Trapp sister: LIESL.
41. Sage: WISE.
42. Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick: EWING. The New York Knicks.
43. Particulars, informally: DEETS.
44. Fair: JUST.
45. Suspicious of: ONTO.
47. Rx: SCRIP.
48. Does a great job: ACES IT.
51. Club in a Manilow hit: COPA.
52. Test: EXAM.
53. Average: NORM.
54. Like sharp cheddar: AGED.
59. Elbow-wrist connectors: ULNAE.
60. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB.
62. __ Academy: educational nonprofit: KHAN.
63. Watch over: TEND TO.
67. Erupts in anger: RAGES.
68. Pleasant tingling sensation, initially: ASMR. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.
69. __ latte: spiced tea with steamed milk: CHAI.
70. Longtime Lucci role: KANE.
71. "You made that up!": LIAR.
72. After, in Arles: APRES.
73. Spanish luxury fashion house: LOEWE. This is their iconic raffia tote bag. You've probably seen it.
74. Bedding choice: DUVET COVER.
77. Absorb: ASSIMILATE.
78. Catchy melody: HOOK.
79. Use a key to enter?: TYPE.
81. Gave a hand: DEALT IN.
82. Actress __ Pinkett Smith: JADA.
83. Employing: USING.
84. Horse's "Hey!": NEIGH.
85. Argentine dance: TANGO.
91. California sch. just north of Tijuana: SDSU. San Diego State University.
96. Believe: BUY.
98. Fireplace tools: POKERS.
99. Scuttlebutt: DIRT.
100. Had a bite, perhaps?: ITCHED. Mosquito bite. Also love these two clues: 105. Power positions?: ON OFF. And 116. Hear here: EAR.
101. Outcome: UPSHOT.
102. "If I Ruled the World" rapper: NAS.
106. Drifts, as an aroma: WAFTS.
107. Comedian Fields: TOTIE.
108. Taboos: NO-NOS.
109. Reacts to a plot twist, perhaps: GASPS.
110. Actress Campbell: NEVE.
111. City on the Yamuna river: AGRA.
115. Big cheer: RAH.
117. Punk subgenre: EMO.
118. Insta post: PIC.
119. Type: ILK.
120. Fig. on a blue card: SSN.
C.C.
33 comments:
Although on the whole this was a fair and sussable puzzle, there were a few challenges. Three I can think of right off the bat are “Malawi,” “Thai Baht,” and “Loewe.” Nevertheless , I got through them, and everything else, okay. FIR, so I’m happy.
I'd like to be like Superman, the lug.
Never exercises, yet his MUSCLES bulge.
I saw an ad in the Times
For heroes fighting crime,
A PLUG REPELLENT suit, so you can't get plugged!
Lindberg was a LONER, FLYING SOLO.
The plane was a loaner, flying so low.
{B, C+.} (Hey, a couplet is still a legitimate form of poetry.)
Good morning!
At least this wasn't a DNF, like yesterday. But it was a slog. The California/Nevada border was the toughest with LOEWE, DUVET, and DEALT IN. Whew. I'll take the win. Thanx, Rafael and C.C.
I caught the S TO P at PEA OF TRANQUILITY and worked the rest of the puzzle easily except the NE. MIRA and PWN were unheard of unknowns and I couldn't think of MALAWI. When I saw Lilongwe as a clue I thought that it might be the capital of some fictitious country, a la Jonathan Swift. MALAWI never came to mind. DNF
I did get the cross of KANE and ANA, not familiar with either.
DAFT Punk- learned earlier this week.
ARI, JOSE, STL, DIGGS, NESS, EMPIRE, DEUS, ASMR, LOEWE- did I know those? Not really but the perps did.
Sal KHAN- a local guy who made good. Went to Grace King HS in Metairie.
FIW, missing both wags at my Naticks of cALAuI x cIRA and PuN. But like Big Easy, I got my wag at ANA x KANE.
It is NATIONAL FRESH BREATH DAY, NATIONAL ROOT BEER FLOAT DAY, and NATIONAL WIGGLE YOUR TOES DAY.
After LIU, it's little wonder that I like both puttanesca and creamed chipped beef on toast (AKA "SOS".)
Aren't all schedules predetermined? Can we set the schedule as we go along? No, that's called a "log."
I remembered JADA Pinkett Smith only as the catalyst for "the slap heard round the world."
TANGO - The terminal where I seem to always disembark in ATL. A short tram ride or a looong walk.
SLED, because "buggy" wouldn't fit.
Thanks for the fun workout, Rafael. And thanks for the interesting tour and the nudge to look up puttanesca, CC.
Good Morning:
The title Don’t Move was no help with the theme until the reveal, Stop! was parsed S to P., which wasn’t really a factor in the solve itself. The S to P letter change was obvious at Pea of Tranquility, so that helped with the other themers. Slug/Plug Repellent isn’t a strong, in the language entry, IMO, at least not in the same way the others are. There were the usual unknowns, some as clued, but Loewe required ESP. Lap Up, Eat Up, and Upshot were sort of distracting as were the noticeably high number (34) of three letter words.
Thanks, Rafa, and thanks, CC, for your always welcome insider’s analysis. I don’t have to Google Puttanesca, as that’s a well-known descriptive if you watch cooking shows, especially those with Italian hosts.
Watched the newest 5 episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer and based on the last one, there will be a continuation of the series. Also finished the three seasons of Ted Lasso and, aside from the incessant, mind-numbing foul language, enjoyed it very much. I have no idea what Jason Sudeikis is like in real life, but as Ted Lasso, he stole my heart.
Have a great day.
Fun theme, but I agree with the above comments--a slog figuring out some sections. Luckily I know PWN from watching some gamers on YouTube.
My favorite long answer: Revenge of the Pith
DNF. NE had me baffled. PWN? Guess I'm not a gamer and I wonder how many knew this.
Musings
-Solve the puzzle? Yes! See the gimmick? Yes! Understand the title? Like Irish, not until the reveal.
-The HOSE was also a drinking fountain in my yute.
-On the track, horses and people run as fast as they can from the start to the finish line. But in velodrome racing they go extremely slowly and then pour it on at the very end.
-SET Plan – In the words of Robert Burns: The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”
-RAFT – I flashed on Huckleberry Finn and Jim who probably didn’t do any inflating :-)
-The TSA at SFO confiscated my cranberry syrup but the agent was very nice about it.
-IT ISN’T OVER!
-The IMPANELD OJ jurors were sequestered for 265 days
-LIESL’s boyfriend turned out to be a Nazi who NARCED on her. Politics trumped hormones.
-The devil is in the DEETS
-Before I sub, the KAHN Academy is great for brushing up on skills I hadn’t learned since Nixon was president
-HOOK: “Who let the dogs out?”
Whew! Quite a workout this morning, but got 'er done after a looong slog. Lots of clever clues, mixed in with a slew of some of the most obscure (to me, at least) proper names I've seen in a while
Still not sure if PWN is a word, an abbreviation or initials. On the whole, an enjoyable effort.
Finished with just a few unknowns and a couple WO’s. A cute theme but a lot of slog through boring fill….. kkFlorida
A bit of a slog today until I caught the theme. A few well placed guesses and a perp or two plus a query on the spaghetti (ala was too short) fixed up the NW.
Well earned praise to Rafael for his work and thanks to C.C. for her nice recapitulation of the correct entries as their due.
Ta ta.
I was really slow this morning. I finally got the theme at HAMMER AND PICKLE. All in all clever but lots of unknowns already mentioned here that I had to look up.
CC: REV is the verb used when your car is not moving but you press on the gas pedal a few times. It’s called REVing the engine.
I don’t remember who suggested tapping on the publish your comment button by-passing the I’m not a robot gauntlet, but I’ve been doing it and it works. Thanks
Wees,
Although, I did not understand the theme name "don't move" until I read Irish Miss...
Racing the engine is synonymous with revving the engine...
I know there was (more than one) clue answer that did not make any sense to me, but in retrospect, I cannot find them again...
(I need to take notes while I'm puzzling...)
PSA found on the ski slopes...
PSA I would like to see more of on the streets...
It took me quite a while to finish this puzzle, much of the delay caused by my errors, Dahli/DALAI , Atl/STL, assess/ACCUSE. The themers were very clever IMHO, and I thought much of the fill was interesting. Thanks, Rafael, and thanks, C.C., for the tour.
I have a thought on your flutter kick, C.C. Try not to bend your knees, and kick from your hips. It’ll seem weird at first, but it will help your ankles “flutter”.
Wendybird, that's how they teach in (crossword-frequenter) SCUBA classes too. I agree that it works, but feels unnatural at first.
Puzzling thoughts:
Just STOP it already!!
I somehow recall when a Sunday crossword puzzle was meant to be an "enjoy with your coffee as you recline in your chair" kind of thing
Not today. This required some serious effort
A MOES scale hardness rating of: 7.7
Hola!
I overslept today so missed church but I must have been overly tired for some reason.
Thanks, Rafael for the puzzle and C.C. for the interesting interpretation. Sunday is always a slog but usually an entertaining one.
A theme like today's doesn't make much sense to me but the puzzle had sone amusing entries with funny puns. I always like that.
EMPIRE. I thought that had the most obscure of obscure clues.
Citizen KANE is more familiar to me than the offered clue. I have never watched soap operas but after she retired I saw Susan Lucci on a talk show, maybe Oprah.
TYPE had the cleverest clue, IMO, and made me laugh out loud.
Yesterday I went to the Book Club meeting and was gone all afternoon. Our next book is Lessons in Chemistry, which I have already read and highly recommend.
Enjoy your day, everyone! It's good reading all your comments.
FLN
I don't wanna talk about it.
TODAY:
Thank you Rafael for a Sunday Funday FIW (by one letter -- see below).
Thank you C.C. for your elucidation of the theme, which I didn't pick up on despite the fact that the puzzle was titled "Don't Move" + it had STOP as the fill for a rare Sunday reveal, which I failed to parse correctly -- oh yeah S TO P. Duh!
Some favs:
All the themers were clever.
37A PWN. I hung onto this despite it making no sense. CONVENE for 26D made sense but threw all the other fill out of kilter. I read somewhere that the likely origin of this "term" was some gamer who meant to type OWN, but hit the adjacent P instead. It stuck as arcane gamer argot inaccessible to NOOBS.
39A HAILE. The Rastafarians celebrated Haile Selassie's 131st birthday less than a month ago (July 19th). They worship him as a god with sacraments that include cannabis.
123A EMILIO. Estevez later directed the movie The Way (trailer), starring his father Martin Sheen, about a man who walks the 500 mile El Camino de Santiago carrying his son's ashes. My oldest granddaughter recently returned from walking the Camino de Santiago, which she began soon after she graduated from college in June.
70D KANE. Susan Lucci is a showbiz legend, but I didn't know the name of her role in Days of Our Lives. I swagged a first name (KATE), rather than a last name to match the clue. Not know ANA Kasparian didn't help. Oh well.
Cheers,
Bill
Sunday S To P. Thanks for the fun, Rafael and C.C.
I work online on Sunday, and required a grid check to correct some mistakes which were holding me up. I did see the theme, but since I was having more success moving through the downs, I did not clue in as early as I might have.
I had some Canadian disadvantage (your SSN cards are blue?!), but I have learned ROTH, TSA and OSS. Do I I have to learn your mayors?! I had ATL before STL. SDSU perped, but I had to see C.C.‘S explanation.
Not the French DEUX but DEUS. Not Adieu but ADIOS. The French was saved for SANS and APRES.
I had Own but got a red letter on the O. Thankfully PWN perped. DEETS I remembered.
SLEDs are for snow, not sand, in this Canadian’s experience.
I had enough perps to guess MALAWI.
Wishing you all a great day.
I don't do the Sunday puzzle anymore because I can't see the whole thing online and my printer refuses to connect to wifi so I just read the blog and comments. I think I would have had trouble with this one but, thanks Rafael and C.C. for the reading pleasure.
I'm having issues with my computer, household chores need to be done so just a quick link: scroll down to "meet" Malawi! Dogs available for adoption. In the interest in equal time, Cats available for adoption. I'm allergic to cats so I can't tell you anything about them, other than that they are housed about 6 in a room with a cat door to a fenced in "catio".
Chores are waiting. Enjoy the rest of your day!
Greetings, Quite a workout today…thanks, Rafael.
I got about 80% before I hit the brick wall (still a passing grade…?) then WAGs, WOs and finally Google the UNKs took me to the finish line.
Thanks for making it seem so easy breezy, C.C.
I saw the purpose eventually of the theme reveal with S TO P, but I kept wanting to match the clue to the “S”, and that didn’t work. I felt the “P” part of the clue lame. Who pickles walnuts????
Pat@2:49
Just a long shot,
But have you tried using the buttons "Ctrl +" to increase your text size.
Or "ctrl - " might reduce the puzzle small enough to fit your screen.
Just make sure you push both buttons at the same time, or at least together in combination.
As far as wifi printers go, there are hundreds of possible problems that can crop up.
A good way to start troubleshooting can be found here.
Some wifi printers can also be hardwired to your PC, but most can't.
I suggest you type into YouTube your make and model of printer and the word troubleshooting.
I'll throw this out and see if anybody snags it ...
About the time TTP helped me fix the problem of the missing avatar, my Android cellphone developed a severe case of miniatureitis - the font size dropped to about 4 points, making it almost impossible to read the blog without expanding the text and panning it around. So far I haven't found any online help to make it go away. The problem affects both the reviews and the comment stream.
This comment is being posted from my desktop, which is working just fine.
TIA,
Bill
CED @3:20 Thanks for the advice. I'll try resizing the puzzle online again to see if I can see it all at once. AS to the printer, it's been a pain as long as I've had it. I even had my favorite computer repair person connect remotely to hook up the printer. It worked for a few months, then nothing. I've tried reinstalling the program, connecting via cable (USB?), nothing works. I've given up. If there's something I really need I'll email it to DH and have him print it for me at work. When I have more patience I'll try the You Tube route.
I liked most of this puzzle. I definitely liked reading everyone's comments and explanations.
Still don't know what the heck PWN means or stands for.
Good wishes to you all.
Jinx @ 8:54 -- One source says it's also NATIONAL GOLF MONTH!
Jayce @5:54 PM PWN doesn't stand for anything. It originated when a gamer was trying to type OWN and pressed P instead of O. The gamer community liked it and it stuck -- just more ARCANE ARGOT to confuse NOOBS.
Jayce, it's part the new LAT 'pun' program, introduced with the misspelt PWN!
Thank you, waseeley and Michael.
For printers and WiFi I had the same problem. Fixed it with a UsB CABLE. But I have larger desktop PC so it might not work so well with a laptop or IPAD.
Patrick is from Cambridge, MA and was part of a bidding war. John Thompson convinced him to become a HOYA and actually attend class for four years
I forgot how to spell BAHT even though I spent three days in Thailand in 1970
NPR listed some African countries and I'd seen the clue so I listened and thus MALAWI
Phillip gave me PWN as in PaWN. Maybe OWN is the origin
Waseeley, have you tried powering down on the cellphone. I lost sound, thought it was the speaker then ran out of juice. Restart-Voila
Started late. I'm guessing I had 3 or 4 bad boxes especially HOOK and BUY(I had eating/PAYING
Never got S to P
WC
RosE
I really like your Avatar since I absolutely love ROSES. For a long time I had some beautiful ROSES in my patio but when I was gone on a trip one year, my daughter failed to water them and they all died. Sigh.
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