I Got You On Tape!
Spinning for the Cause (lyrics)
Amie Walker is making her 17th appearance on the Corner, the first on June 17, 2022 reviewed by Lemonade.
Today she is spinning 3 fragments of theme fill each spanning 2 lines
and unified by circles, just like last Thursday. As there are a total
of 6 clues with theme elements I'll just leave them where they are and
start with the reveal followed by the grid ...
56A. "I can prove you're lying!," and an instruction for reading each set of circled letters: ROLL THE TAPE.
Without the circles it would be pretty difficult to figure out what's
happening (Hand up if you can think of an alternate reveal without
them). OTOH, it's now pretty obvious what's going on. If I
didn't know better I'd think that Amie had lifted the theme from the
title of the splash screen song Spinning for the Cause, by our house band I Got You On Tape. "Spinning" is of course the occupation of professional liars who are paid to cover for the foibles of public figures.
From 19A & 22A: DENTAL TAPE - this is what can happen to you if you don't floss ...
From 36A & 42A: DUCT TAPE - Once again Red Green shows why it's the handy man's secret weapon ...
From 43A & 47A DEMO TAPE - sometimes you just know when someone is going to be a star. Unfortunately Jim Croce's (January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) stardom was cut short when he was killed in a plane crash in 1973. This demo tape seems tragically prophetic ...
Here are the rest of the clues ...
Across: 1. Serena __: tennis achievement: SLAM. Serena Williams has 23 Grand SLAMS in tennis. In September 2022 announced that she was "evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to her. These include raising her two children, spending more time with her devoted husband, and a wide-variety of off-court activities. At age 41 she is already one of the richest women in the world and it seems that her entrepreneurial career has only just begun. A truly remarkable woman
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| Serena Williams |
8. Museum figures: BUSTS. Here's a pictorial timeline of BUSTS.
13. Hotel amenity: WIFI.
14. Wine bottle sediment: LEES.
15. En pointe: ON TOE.
16. "You've got my undivided attention": I'M ALL EARS.
18. Obstetric aide: DOULA.
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| Should You Hire a Doula? |
19. Apt occasion for flowery speech?: GARDEN PARTY. Here Ozzie and Harriet's son Ricky Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) goes to a Garden Party ...
Ricky's life was also tragically cut short by a plane crash.
21. Racial justice movement letters: BLM. Everybody's lives matter, ergo Black Lives Matter too.
22. Delt neighbor: LAT. Also an abbr. for the Los Angeles Times.
23. Judicial org.: ABA. See 36A.
25. Stick around: STAY.
28. Professional connections: INS.
31. Oscar winner Tomei: MARISA. MARISA Tomei won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in My Cousin Vinny in 1993. I've used this clip before, but it's so great I couldn't resist ...
35. Light touch: TAP.
36. Got an attorney: LAWYERED UP. There seems to be a lot of LAWYERING UP going on these days.
38. Garfield's middle name: ABRAM. James ABRAM Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his assassination in September 1881.
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| James Abram Garfield |
42. Nickname for Louis Armstrong: SATCH. Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "SATCH", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. Among his many honors were a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; 12 recordings included in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and a single Grammy for Male Vocal Performance for the song Hello Dolly from the eponymous 1964 musical. This is from a live performance in Berlin in 1965 (the crowd just won't let him leave!)...
43. "Nice try!": GOOD EFFORT.
46. Shapiro of 64-Down: ARI. ARI Michael Shapiro (born September 30, 1978) is an American radio journalist. In September 2015, Shapiro became one of four rotating hosts on National Public Radio's flagship drive-time program All Things Considered. He previously served as White House correspondent and international correspondent based in London for NPR.
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| Ari Shapiro |
49. Like whiskey: AGED.
50. Distress letters: SOS.
51. First-aid subj.: CPR.
53. Prohibit: BAN.
56. [Theme reveal]
63. Muscat resident: OMANI. OMAN, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located in West Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Oman.
65. Losing fizz: GOING FLAT.
66. Cartoon fan of muddy puddles: PEPPA. PEPPA Pig lives in Paultons Park, an amusement park near the village of Ower, in Hampshire, England and you can actually visit her. Or you can just splash in some muddy puddles with her, but be sure to wear your boots! ...
67. Pro __: BONO. Free LAWYERING UP. See also 64D.
68. Forearm bone: ULNA.
69. Tangle: SNARL.
70. Explosive letters: TNT. With explosive possibilities ...
71. Streaming annoyances: LAGS.
Down:
1. Belt: SWIG.
2. Capital in the Andes: LIMA. LIMA, originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
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| Lima, Peru |
4. In a gentle way: MILDLY.
5. Dramatic ascent: LEAP.
6. "Buona __": SERA. "Good evening". Today's Italian lesson and an ensemble piece from Act II of Gioachino Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia ("The Barber of Seville"). Like all Rossini operas, the plots can get complicated, but in a nutshell tenor Count Almaviva has just bribed basso Don Basilio, the music teacher of soprano Rosina (whom the Count is pursuing) and convinced him to leave feigning illness. The Count is exhorting him to get off to bed, repeatedly singing Buona Sera ("Good evening") ...
7. Cold War initials: USSR. One day we may look back on them as the good old days.
8. Weighted rods in some fitness classes: BODY BARS. Standard BODY BARS usually weigh from 3 to 36 pounds. Weighted bars are available in sizes ranging from 4-to-6 feet. The bars are generally powder coated and feature color codes at the ends. This coding makes it easier for the lifter to identify the weighted bar.
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| 12 body bar exercises for beginners. |
10. Once-common concert memento: STUB. E-tickets have supplanted them I suppose. But we can still buy TEES.
11. E-ZPass payment: TOLL.
12. Connecting line: SEAM.
14. Protein option for vegetarian chili: LENTIL. Here's a recipe for one of our favorites dal (LENTIL) and potato stew.
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| Lentil and Potato Stew |
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| Lea DeLaria |
24. Field of expertise: AREA.
25. Bucks: STAGS.
26. Frowned upon: TABOO.
27. Garment that may say "I love cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food": APRON. A CSO to our Chairman 😋. See also 47A & 55D.
29. Gullible one: NAIF.
30. Dramatic descent: SWOOP.
32. Collar clip-on: ID TAG.
33. Capital in the Andes: SUCRE. SUCRE is the capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of 2,810 m (9,220 ft). This relatively high altitude gives the city a subtropical highland climate with cool temperatures year-round.
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| Sucre, Bolivia |
37. Cosmonaut Gagarin: YURI. Sputnik in 1957 and YURI Gagarin in 1961 changed our lives almost overnight. Suddenly the US gummint decided that education was important! See also 7D.
_-_Restoration.jpg) |
| Yuri Gagarin |
40. Many a National Mall landmark: MEMORIAL. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly called the Vietnam MEMORIAL honors service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The two-acre (8,100 m2) site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of the over 58,000 service members who died in or remain missing from the war. I've never been able bring myself to visit it, as the name of a close neighbor is inscribed on it somewhere ...
49. Cunning: ARTFUL. The term "ARTFUL dodger" comes to us from a character in Oliver Twist. Aaron Copland immortalizes such characters in the Dodger from his collection of Old American Songs, Set 1. Originally a campaign song linked specifically with the 1884 election of Grover Cleveland, it satirizes several professions, but Copland retained only three in his version: the political candidate, the preacher, and the lover. Here's baritone Michael Preacely warning us about him ...
52. Nickname for Margaret: PEG.
53. Catchy tunes, informally: BOPS. A tune with a hook, an ear worm. We're all suckers for them.
54. "You can say that again!": AMEN. AMEN!
57. Initials before QIA+: LGBT. Abbr. for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transsexual. The latest addition to crosswordese.
58. Diving bird: LOON. A CSO to Ray - O (but not for the reason you think 😀). We heard them once on Mt. Desert Island, Maine where this video was made ...
59. Shade: TINT.
60. Ristorante menu preposition: ALLA.
61. Hint of hunger: PANG.
62. Flight sked nos.: ETAS.
64. "Tiny Desk Concerts" station: NPR. Pull up a chair for BONO and The Edge on NPR ...
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
31 comments:
Good morning!
It was always DENTAL floss, not DENTAL tape, and it was always SATCHmo, not SATCH. Still, this one came together without much ado. Tried ROtate before ROLL became obvious, calling for an application of Wite-Out TAPE. Thanx, Amie, Waseeley, and Teri.
Somewhere, I had heard of a “Serena Slam” so I started off okay. And, to me, the rest of the puzzle didn’t seem all that difficult. There may have been a couple of obscurities, but it seemed to me they were few. I also figured out that we were talking about different types of “tape “ before the reveal. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
I agree w/ D-O: floss and Satchmo. I didn’t find this CW all that easy, though. I did FIR, but it took a while. Clever theme, which I only saw after the reveal, but at least no W/Os today. Thanx AW for the entertainment, and thanx Bill for the terrific write-up. Now I gonna try to sleep, after being unable to sleep all night.
Thank you, Amie and Waseeley.
Didn't see a few of the answers or clues until the review. Notably, SUCRE.
I also questioned SATCH instead of Satchmo.
D-O, DENTAL tape is very similar to dental floss; it is just broader and flat.
I liked that the three tapes were totally unrelated to each other.
TTP, I use the tape, but call it "floss." So does my dentist.
DNF. I was so excited that I got the theme that I forgot to revisit BO_YBAR x _OULA. Would I have gotten it with an alphabet run? Probably not, as I was leaning toward BOuY BAR. Erased sahmo for SATCH - I was trying to force some abbreviation of SATCHMO.
Today is:
NATIONAL NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN DAY (our regular carrier runs around 4:00; the sub runs around noon)
NATIONAL GRANDMA MOSES DAY (who never just “mailed it in”)
NATIONAL GRATEFUL PATIENT DAY (the doc may advise you to eschew..)
NATIONAL SALAMI DAY (and instead celebrate…)
NATIONAL ACORN SQUASH DAY (to be washed down with…)
NATIONAL BEER LOVER’S DAY (I Like Beer)
I hope there is never a Vegetarian Chili Day, but I'm happy to report that National Pecan Pie Day is on July 12th. If I ran the world, it would be on Thanksgiving Day.
That "sometimes I even put in the food" quip is so trite that I saw it on items in Ollie's Discount Store, where obsolete items are taken for an ignominious end. My favorite apron sports the body of The David.
From Steely Dan's fabulous album Aja, here's Peg.
Thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun review.
FIR, but the SW corner was a total WAG to finish. Never heard of Peppa, bops means nothing to me, and I second guessed myself on everything else. The theme was easy and actually helped with the solve.
Overall I was not a fan of this puzzle as I sensed a certain tone about it. Once again I think there is a new editor at the LAT.
It was a FIR but I never (or ever) look at circles when solving a puzzle. I'd filled ROLLTHE__PE by perps and had to read the clue to get ARTFUL & ALLA. The cross of BOPS (never heard that term) and PEPPA was the last fill. LEA was the only other unknown filled by perps.
I wonder how many CC recorders actually use TAPE these days. They need to upgrade.
After the reveal DENTAL, DUCT, and DEMO were obvious when 'rolled'. The tape I've been seeing for the last week is BLUE painter's tape. Having the entire house painted inside and they are taping brown paper and sheer plastic over everything.
DENTAL floss & dental TAPE. I remember when J&J had two types and called the 'flat' style DENTOTAPE. Changed their brand name to 'Reach' a few years ago. We buy the Oral-B Glide in 6-packs from Sam's. Keep some in each car.
desper-otto, You're right, it's SATCHMO, not SATCH. And I laugh every time the announcers at the US Open mispronounce one of the arenas 'LEWIS Armstrong stadium' instead of 'LEW-IE". All my outbound flights originate from renamed LOUIS ARMSTRONG airport. Everybody still calls it Moisant and the luggage tags will always remain MSY. Just like McCarran changing to Harry Reid- it's still LAS Vegas baby.
Good Morning! Thanks, Amie, for a doable puzzle with some challenges.
Hand up with D-O & unclefred about floss and SATCHMO.
I did see the theme but only after I finished the puzzle. It didn’t factor in as I was filling it in.
Apropos to nothing, I noted that on the 2nd & 3rd grouping of circles, if you went one letter out you got a new word: DEMO(N) and DUTC(H).
New to me: LEES & SUCRE.
PEPPA crossing BOPS was a WAG.
CSO to my great-nephew who is attending LSU – 5A quick fill for me! 😄
Thanks, Bill & Teri for the musical recap.
Good Morning:
This was definitely a circle-required puzzle, to not only pinpoint the relevant letters but to illustrate the “roll” aspect of the reveal. As I’ve often said, circles in late week puzzles are only annoying to me when they unnecessarily diminish the difficulty of the solve. I don’t mind circles in early week offerings, as they’re helpful to new and inexperienced solvers. With few exceptions, i.e., Peppa, Lea, Body Bars, and Techno, this was a smooth and trouble-free solve. My only w/o was Monument/Memorial and my only eye-roll was how Bops was clued. I liked the dual clecho cluing for the wine regions and the Andes capitals.
Thanks, Amie, and congrats on being published 17 times in a little over a year’s time and thanks, Bill, for not only entertaining us weekly but enlightening us and broadening our knowledge in every discipline from A to Z. Enjoyed today’s musical interludes and the many colorful visuals. Thanks to Teri, as well.
Have a great day.
For some reason, I was not in the mood for this CW. I left the whole NE blank, but got the rest with not much trouble. Yes, the great Armstrong is SATCHmo.
Waseely, I’m afraid I couldn’t resist the silly Mr Bean video and watch it when I should have used that time to start the wash. 😜
Very fun theme - thanks Amie
and thanks Bill & Teri-
I'm at a conference at Hilton Head - starts at noon- so not much free time until Tuesday
I still get goosebumps when I listen to Satchmo sing “What a Wonderful World”.
Thanks Amie and Bill…. kkFlorida
FIW at the intersection of unknown slang and unknown pig. Proper names are bad enough, but Middle names? Ouch! Muddled through this one, but it was just a bit outside of my wheelhouse today. Never heard of bodybars, and Satch? Really, Patti?
The whole nickname is “Old satchelmouth”, as attested to by Louis himself in the film “High Society” which I have watched many times, with and without my kids. Great movie, also starring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Remake of “The Philadelphia Story.”
I believe that a "Serena Slam" is defined as one person holding the singles title to all four grand slam tournaments simultaneously, but NOT in the same calendar year. A calendar Grand Slam means all four in the same year -- most recently Steffi Graf in 1988. A Golden Slam is doing that in an Olympic year plus winning a gold medal (Graf, 1988).
Please correct me if I got anything wrong here; I do love tennis.
Sandy, although tennis is not my racket, I remembered golf's "Tiger Slam," but couldn't remember exactly what it meant. Based on the following I found on the internet (so it must be true,) I'll bet you are right about the "Serena Slam."
"Most golf fans are familiar with the term "Grand Slam." That term means winning all of the major championships available to you (which, historically, has typically meant four tournaments) within the same calendar year. The difference between the Grand Slam and the Tiger Slam is that the Tiger Slam takes place over two calendar years rather than within the same calendar year."
Hola!
I'll start with the beautiful NAPA valley which I've visited many times. The Christian Brothers monastery is at the top of its hill and the Capuchin Monastery even farther up. Both are serene and interesting places to visit. My friend, Brother Ricardo, lives in the first one. The Christian Brothers now lease out their vineyard along with their name as they no longer actively make or bottle wine.
Visiting the Vietnam MEMORIAL is just too emotional. I can't control my tears there. It's seeing the sheer number of names there that affects me.
My mother always wore an APRON when cooking and my daughter does, too.
I can't get enough of the movie, "My Cousin Vinny". It's so hilarious.
Time to go. Today I am meeting with friends for a double birthday lunch.
Puzzling thoughts:
Not much to add - instead of doing an alphabet run I let the software "expose" the D crossing DOULA and BODY BARS - my Natick, du jour
Surprisingly, Bill, the Chairman doesn't often use wine in my cooking recipes ... though, the best advice is that you'll always want to use a wine that you would drink (by itself)
And while we are the wine topic (as your resident sommelier):
LEES --> maybe a nit here, but LEES are technically the discarded grape skins and/or yeast that is left/added to the fermentation tank and/or aging vessel for white wine. White wine that is "left on the LEES" tends to take on more body and/or creaminess, though not to be confused with malolactic fermentation. The LEES can also be occasionally stirred as it ferments (to increase the effect), but that often leads to the need to filter the wine before bottling
Sediment in a wine bottle is, well, sediment
And now you know ...
Easier than most Thursdays but a very enjoyable puzzle. LAWYERED UP, GOING FLAT, and GOOD EFFORT are interesting phrases with reasonable clues, but I don’t think anyone ever uses BOPS as clued.
Waseeley and Teri, a feast for the ears this morning, Something for everyone —- my favorites: GARDEn PARTY by Ricky, the poignant lyrics of Croce’s Time In a Bottle, the inimitable SATCHmo, and the Buona FASO clue that prompted the wonderful music from The Barber Of Seville.
So many connections to the puzzle today: trips to SONOMA and NAPA and the MEMORIAL,, a fan of MARISA, ARI, and DENTAL TAPE gave us the funny Mr. Bean. I will always remember where I was when YURI Gagarin made his flight. James ABRAM Garfield used to preach in a church a mile from my house.
My quiet, unassuming Mother impressed us all on our vacations in Ontario, Canada by putting her hands to her mouth and calling the LOONs, who would answer back. We tried, but no one else to do it.
Even I know this is silly, but after watching the disturbing and terrible events reported on the news, I like to calm down by watching PEPPA Pig.
I needed help from my CW guru, AKA husband Jack to finish. Too many unknowns for me. The puzzle was clever, just not in my wheelhouse. Thanks Waseely and Teri for your always stellar tour.
Canadian A, I just returned from a glorious 4 days in my Happy Place - 95th reunion of the wilderness sports camp in northern Ontario on Ahmic Lake that I enjoyed for 10 years, age 7 to 17. Canada is incredibly beautiful, and I envy tou living there.
Musings
-Subbing on a perfect golf day. She asked me five weeks ago, so…
-An assistant principal knew kids were smoking in the park near our school and the parents would not believe him. He videoed them one day and after the next round of kid and parent denials, he pulled his, “I GOT YOU ON TAPE” line, showed the video and things got interesting after that.
-I’ve only seen DOULA twice in my life, both times it was here. Now I’ve seen SUCRE for the first time.
-The license plate Saul had on Better Call Saul
-I always try to sub on Pi(e) Day 3.14
-Going to an event with an e-ticket and using only a credit card for a program, souvenirs, food and drink still seems strange.
-We are going to a very fancy Italian restaurant tonight. The online menu shows two columns: Pasta and Protein.
-I can still hear Katharine Hepburn saying, “The LOONS, the LOONS” in On Golden Pond
-Here comes a gaggle of 7th graders hungering for working with signed numbers.
Fun Thursday puzzle, many thanks for the treat, Amie. And your commentary is always a pleasure, many thanks, Bill and Teri.
Well, we sure did get a GARDEN PARTY with this puzzle today, with a WI-FI playing in the background, though unfortunately not much food, except for that apple PIE. Instead of those STAGS I would have been happier if the GARDEN had had a STAGE, where we could have seen some ART, and maybe watched some ARTFUL actors do a performance. We could even have had some dancers ON TOE doing a TAP dance. None of this would have been TABOO, and would have been a lot of fun.
Have a fun day, everybody.
Lima is NOT in the Andes. It’s a port city— it’s at sea level.
Took 5:32 for me to break the tape.
Oh joy, circles!
Garfield has a middle name?? He’s a cat, for Pete’s sake…🤣
Pretty easy cruise through the crucigram today — hand up for being in the SatchMO camp!
====> Darren / L.A.
My Dog has a middle name. Her first name is Chipper, her middle name is Jones and her last name is Martin. And, yes, I am a long time Atlanta Braves fan. Thanks for asking.
FIR without the gimmick but looked for it afterwards and liked it. Thanks, Amie!
I liked SWOOn for a dramatic descent at 30D but I don't want to eat nIE at Thanksgiving.
My dislike of BOPS last time was enough for me to remember it this time. Ironic, isn't it?
H-Gary @ 2:09. I thought of Better call Saul, too.
Terrific write up, waseeley! I was hoping for RN's GARDEN PARTY and you brought it. I also loved Marissa & Louis & Wile E!
Busy day, and I’m running low on battery. But I must reply to Wendybird. I do remember you talking about going to camp in Ontario. Was it Camp Ak-O-Mak? We don’t even consider the Parry Sound area to be that far north. Try Kirkland Lake. There are provincial parks all over the province where you can hear the loons on the lakes. It is a huge beautiful province. I’m glad you have been able to enjoy part of it, and have such happy memories and friends from the experience.
CanadianEh!, yes, Akomak it is!
NPR stands for national public radio. As far as I know tiny desk concert is a TV show not a radio show. Therefore logically, the answer should be PBS.
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