It's September so Back to School: The last word of each two-word theme answer pertains to education. The first word correlates with a word or phrase in the clue.
17-Across. Instruction in public relations?: SPIN CLASS.
26-Across. Instruction in horticulture?: NURSERY SCHOOL.
48-Across. Instruction in an early computer language?: BASIC TRAINING.
63-Across. Instruction in residential real estate?: HOME STUDY.
What else can we learn today?
Across:
1. Barely detectable amount: TRACE.
6. Secret agent: SPY.
9. Tiffs: SPATS.
14. Moving-day containers: BOXES.
15. Tot's piggy: TOE.
16. Well-mannered: CIVIL.
19. Slowly break down: ERODE.
20. Annoyance: PEST.
21. Likely (to): APT.
22. Rather underwhelmed: UNAWED.
23. Theater walkway: AISLE.
25. Map marker: PIN.
31. Capital city near the Nile Delta: CAIRO.
33. Four-time WNBA champion Bird: SUE. The only Bird I could
think of who played basketball was Larry Bird, but he didn't play in the
Women's National Basketball Association. Sue Bird (née Suzanne Brigit
Bird; b. Oct. 16, 1980) played with the Seattle Storm for her entire career.
She played from 2002 until she retired just a year ago in September
2022. [Name # 1.]
34. Jason's ship, in Greek mythology: ARGO. [Name # 2.]
Jason is an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts.
He led the quest for the Golden Fleece. It's all Greek to me.
A CSO to our old friend Lemonade. We miss you.
35. Do the last part of a triathlon, e.g.: RUN.
36. Catch a few winks: NAP.
39. Los Angeles commuter org.: MTA. MTA = Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
41. The NHL's __ Ross Trophy: ART. Arthur Ross (né Arthur
Howe Ross; January 13, 1885 ~ August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice
hockey player. He was regarded as one of the best players of his time.
He is know for being one of the first to skate with the puck up the ice
rather than pass it to a forward. He was the first coach for the Boston
Bruins. The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League
player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season.
[Name # 3.]
42. Length x width, for a rectangle: AREA.
44. Novelist Deighton: LEN. Although Len Deighton (né
Leonard Cyril Deighton; b. Feb. 18, 1929) is best known for his spy and
espionage novels, he also writes cookbooks and books on military history.
[Name # 4.]
46. Mystical old letters: RUNES.
52. Letter after pi: RHO.
53. Whitlock Jr. of "Cocaine Bear": ISIAH. Although I didn't
recognize the name, I recognized the face. Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (b. Sept.
13, 1954) portrayed Clay Davis, the corrupt politician on The Wire. [Name # 5.]
54. Faces with courage: BRAVES.
57. Hogwash: ROT.
58. Words said with an eye roll: I BET.
62. "Mental Illness" Grammy winner Mann: AIMEE. Aimee
Elizabeth Mann (b. Sept. 8, 1960) will celebrate her 63rd birthday later this
week. She studied music at the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
[Name # 6.]
65. Perfect places: EDENS. A Crossword staple.
66. Prez on a fiver: ABE. We all are familiar with Abraham
Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809 ~ Apr. 15, 1965), the 16th President of the United
States. [Name # 7.]
67. Junkyard stuff: SCRAP.
68. Full of spice: ZESTY.
69. Knight's title: SIR.
70. Herbes de Provence herb: THYME.
Down:
1. Cookbook meas.: TBSP.
2. Rock climber's line: ROPE.
3. Graph line: AXIS. Math class.
4. Mythological man-horse: CENTAUR.
5. Top-left PC key: ESC. Also on the top left of my MacBook
keyboard. // And 61-Down. Use a keyboard: TYPE.
6. Paper fastener: STAPLE.
7. Movie advertisements: POSTERS.
8. "That's correct": YES.
9. Like most of the Pacific Coast Highway: SCENIC.
10. Omnivorous fish: PIRANHA. Piranha are surprisingly small
fish, but they do have sharp teeth.
11. Declare without shame: AVOW.
12. Sea level shift: TIDE.
13. Snow coaster: SLED.
|
| Sled alternatives |
18. Young woman: LASS.
22. Bent out of shape: UPSET.
24. Steam-emitting laundry appliance: IRON.
26. Dressed to the __: NINES. The possible origin story of this phrase.
27. "Tasty": YUM.
28. Chimp kin: ORANG.
29. Beast in "Puss in Boots": OGRE. Puss in Boots is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery
and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for
his penniless and low-born master.
Apropos of nothing, other than the title above is in French: Life is surreal for French speakers in Louisiana right now because phonetically, "chat GPT" sounds like "Chat, j'ai pété", which means "Cat, I farted" in English. We hear television news reporters say, with a perfectly straight face, "Cat, I farted." such as: Is Cat, I Farted going to steal your job? How are schools dealing with Cat, I farted? Lawyers have been caught using cat, I farted to write their briefs. It goes on, and on ...
30. Auction units: LOTS.
31. Fiddler __: creature with asymmetric claws: CRAB.
Everything you wanted to know about the Fiddler Crab but didn't know to ask.
32. Luminous glow: AURA.
37. Voices between sopranos and tenors: ALTOS.
38. For each: PER.
40. Operatic showstopper: ARIA.
43. Clothes dryer attachment: AIR VENT. How to clean
a dryer vent.
45. Kenyan city known as the Green City in the Sun: NAIROBI.
47. Disconnect, as a trailer: UNHITCH.
49. Corny: CHEESY.
50. Chemically similar compound: ISOMER. Chemistry Class. Isomers are compounds that have the same molecular formula, but are
structurally different.
51. Evening, in ads: NITE.
54. Folk legend Joan: BAEZ. Joan Baez (née Joan Chandos
Baez; b. Jan. 9, 1941) is probably mostly associated with the counterculture
of the 1960s, as her music in that period focused on protest and social
justice. [Name # 8.]
55. Take a bus: RIDE.
56. Iowa college town: AMES. Ames, Iowa is the home
of Iowa State University.
There is a town in Louisiana called Iowa, but it is pronounced pronounced with the long A sound at the end
("EYE-uh-way"), opposed to the pronunciation of the state of Iowa.
59. Hide well: BURY.
60. Gouda alternative: EDAM. Yummers! Do you know the
difference between Gouda and Edam?
63. Owns: HAS.
64. Mach 1 breaker: SST. SST = SuperSonic Transport.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
35 comments:
The only thing I really have to say about this puzzle is that it seemed even easier than yesterday’s. Oh, and one other thing: I appreciate the topicality of today’s theme. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR, but erased brie for EDAM.
Today is:
NATIONAL CHEESE PIZZA DAY (best type of pizza to evaluate a pizza joint – simply crust, sauce and cheese)
NATIONAL ANOTHER LOOK UNLIMITED DAY (busybodies who want us to do spring cleaning in the fall)
NATIONAL BE LATE FOR SOMETHING DAY (I almost had to push this one out until tomorrow)
OK, you can beat SUE Bird into my brain, but you can't make me watch WNBA games.
The only musician I know of named Mann is Manfred. But then again, maybe I've just been Blinded by the Light.
UNHITCH, or what us hillbillies call "divorce."
Two famous guys competed for Joan BAEZ' affection: Bob Dylan and Steve Jobs.
PCH was SCENIC today, because "slow" was too short and "crowded" was too long. (BTW, it's never said "Pacific Coast Highway," it's "PCH." (And it's not the "San Fernando Valley," it's "The Valley.")
What Ha2la didn't say about the ART Ross award is that in the NHL, a "point" is earned either by scoring a goal or getting an assist when a teammate scores a goal. The lesser-known Maurice Richard Trophy is given to the player who scores the most goals. Hockey is definitely a team sport.
Thanks to Susan for the fun exercise, and to Ha2la for another funny, interesting review.
Good morning!
Not a scathe in sight this morning. Zoom-zoom, d-o felt like a Mazda. SCENIC for PCH, because "land-slide peril" was too long. Nice one Susan...to both of you. (You appear to be proud of your PIRANHA catch, Hahtoolah. Was that in S.A.?)
"Back to school" -- Kids around here are already starting week #3. We have to dodge school buses on our morning march through the 'hood.
Had plans yesterday to re-lay a brick square under the faucet in the back yard. The foundation repair crew messed it up. Bought a tamper from A-to-Z for the purpose. Had to delay my plans, because the tamper was damaged. "How can you damage a steel plate with a handle attached?", I hear you cry. The handle socket atop the plate had been smashed into an oval; the handle wouldn't fit. The replacement tamper arrived last night, so maybe today...
Good morning, Crossword friends:
D-O: Sorry about your repair issues and problems, but what you are saying is all Greek to me. Damaged Tamper? Did this put you into a Temper?
QOD: More tears have been shed over the lack of men’s manners than the lack of morals. ~ Helen Hathaway, American educator
FIR. There were a lot of proper names today, but thankfully the perps made them work. And I'm not too fond of unawed. Even spellcheck resisted it.
But the theme was clever and fun. Overall a very enjoyable Tuesday puzzle.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Susan and Hahtoolah.
I FIRed and saw the back to school theme in quick time today.
One pause to change Aver to AVOW and the rest was zip-zip.
I thought of movie Trailers but POSTERS perped.
This Canadian knew the ART Ross trophy.
UNAWED is not a word I use (hello KS).
TBSP again today, but a better clue. I agree with Jinx that it is a very rare medicine that is dosed by the TBSP (perhaps some forms of Metamucil).
Should we prepare for harder CWs later this week? Is this like the first week of school where you review what you already learned? We shall see.
Wishing you all a great day. (Heat warnings here again today.)
Finished in 4:38 today, without losing my faculties.
I was unawed by unawed.
I knew today's WNBA player, as Sue Bird is one of the handful of WNBA players' names I recognize/remember, though mostly due to her participating (and winning) in the Olympics. And, of course, her memorable last name.
I didn't know this Isiah or MTA, and I didn't like the intersecting singers (Aimee/Baez).
Not my favorite puzzle (at least it didn't have circles), but it seemed Tuesday-level to me.
Very nice, fun, Tuesday level, or maybe Monday level, CW. Only W/O = MISS:LASS. I got the (appropriate) theme with the first theme fill, which helped FIR in my usual Tuesday time. I didn’t even notice how many names there are, because I either knew them or they were easily perped. Thanx SG for the fun CW. Thanx too to Hahtoolah for the fun and entertaining write-up. National Cheese Pizza day today. As Hahtoolah would say, yummers.
Another Monday puzzle on Tuesday. It seems like they keep getting easier instead of harder.
Apt theme for the yearly occasion of back to school.
Jason's ship was part of the Odyssey. The other great epic by Homer was the Iliad. I have just started reading a book titled Ilium by Dan Simmons which is supposed to be his interpretation of the classic story. Quite a cast of characters in the book. Can't wait to read it.
Thank you to Susan for her timely submission and to H2lH for the fine wrapup.
Stay cool!
Thank you, Susan and Hahtoolah.
Hahtoolah, that is too funny about Chat GPT.
Desper-otto, perhaps you should have bought an AMES True Temper Tamper.
Hahtoolah, here's what a tamper looks like. Mine is similar, but with a steel handle.
Thank You Susan Gelfland for a nice and easy Tuesday puzzle, which I finished in no time at all. Renews m faith in crossword solving .... no cross words about that at all !!!
Thank you Susan, Ms. Hahtoolah for your comics and clever humor.
Thank you for your cute commentary as well.
Is Lemonade done with our blog ... or is he just on hiatus, ... visiting his centuryold MIL in Thailand ?? I miss his blog and the pictures of his growing granchildren ...
I would like to have commented some nonsense on the contents of the clues, as well, ( but thank god ), I have to rush for a medical appointment.
Have a great week everyone.
Good Morning:
This was a pretty straightforward solve with an apt and timely theme. Art and Isiah were unknown, as clued, but Sue Bird stuck in my mind from previous puzzles. I enjoyed the whimsy of Sue crossing Yum (Our Susan and Yummers!) Only w/o was Snits/Spats, s silly mistake because Snits are not Tiffs. The reworking of the C/As was quite clever, IMO.
Thanks, Sue, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the entertaining and informative review. Favorite cartoons today were: Centaur at the Doc, the Junkyard Dogs, Pest Control, and Dog Bone Loss. Also enjoyed the sounds of Simon and Garfunkel and your favorite aria from Carmen. Your photo is lovely, not so that toothsome Piranha!
We are in for a week of 90+ temps with high humidity. September heat waves remind me of the many years of going back to school and sweltering in our heavyweight school uniforms, in classrooms w/o air conditioning.
Have a great day.
Fun, easy, comfortable puzzle this morning. Not too many names and a neat theme.
Hahtoolah: Loved all your funnies especially that last one In view of my frequent fights with spellcheck.
About ChatGPTA, so interesting about Louisiana French grappling with the pronunciation of it. That might be why in France ChatGPT is pronounced in English, so no problem. Now, I wonder how the French Canadians handle this. Maybe CanadianEh? can tell us.
Toothsome is not what I meant to say. Sharp-toothed and scary looking is what I meant. 🫢
Hahtoolah, I forgot to ask, is that a picture of you with a piranha?
Overlook that A on ChatGPT. My finger must have slipped.
Zip, zip, zip today. I thought it was a really easy Monday puzzle. Oh, it's Tuesday.
ART, AIMEE and ISIAH were done with perps and wags. I used to hear Joan Baez on the radio.
We just came back from Wildwood Crest where my older son has a lovey condo overlooking the ocean. Alan and I had fun at the beach and the boardwalk and visiting with David and Motoko. We had two delightful shore dinners. Motoko had to return home early for an appointment. When David brought us back to the Princeton area to retrieve our car, Motoko gave us a large dish of homemade lasagna so I didn't have to cook after traveling and unpacking. So sweet.
With the super moon and the FL hurricane, high TIDE came up almost to the boardwalk and left shallow, but very wide tide pools.
I liked the Spy vs Spy picture. We used to read Mad Magazine.
Vocaulary.com gives many examples of unawed. It sounds normal to me.
"They pledged to be fiercely independent, “unawed by power and untrammeled by party.”
New York Times May 30, 2017
Good Morning! I found a little bit of crunch in today’s puzzle and liked the “back to school” theme. Thanks, Susan and Hah2lah for the fun review.
7D got me good. My first thought when I read the clue was trailer, but I had the P in SPY, so immediately filled with preview – Nope!! WO -> POSTER.
The perps helped with spelling PIRAHNA and NAIROBI.
ESP: ART, ISIAH and AIMEE – unknown to me.
TTP, FLN RE: 68 A – ZESTY. I was all ready to click the POST button to reply to your comment when I got the message that I had no internet connection – ARG!! And I had a time crunch to send in a submission for a webinar I’m doing this afternoon. I did all the reboot stuff, and the router stuff to no avail. My ISP service is great, but he couldn’t get me connected either & scheduled a service call. Then magically a few minutes later out of the blue, I was reconnected, got my message sent, and POOF! it went out again…. then this morning, I’m back online with no further finagling from me – It’s all magic in the ethers!!!
Anyway, back to ZESTY, I’m interested in trying your Kick’n Chicken SPICE. Thanks.
Monday, Monday. Must be a time loop. Either the puzzle got easier, or I'm getting smarter. (Bet on easier!) I, too, was unawed by unawed. Loved the 'tools, Ha2la! Especially the junkyard dogs, centaur, and the iron age! Desper'Otto: everyone knows that the best tools and gadgets come from ACME!
I immediately knew Sue Bird of the WNBA because she has appeared in previous LA Times crossword puzzles. Congrats to Patti for educating the general masses of CW solvers that would never otherwise have been aware of any WNBA players.
A fun theme and easy fill today. Thanks Susan and Hahtoolah….. kkFlorida
kk, Not to be a CRAB, but I just gotta ask how knowing a WNBA player's name will enrich my life. Maybe better to be force-fed the name of someone like quality guru W. Edwards Deming, who among other things penned "In God we trust; all others bring data.” Also: "Two basic rules of life are: 1) Change is inevitable. 2) Everybody resists change." And just to complete the triad, "A bad system will beat a good person every time."
Thanks to Susan G. for a timely back-to-school puzzle! Fun theme! Perps helped me to correct several spelling errors (too embarrassing to list). FAV: Tot's piggie.
Thanks to Hahtoolah for the entertaining & educational write-up. FAVs: IRON age comic, fiddler CRAB link, and ChatGPT tidbit. Oh, and I would be so afraid to get that close to a PIRANAH. I am impressed!
YR@ 10:04. Glad you had a good trip!
FLN. waseeley, I don't know where that ERASE clip comes from. BTW, "permanently" Haha! I see what you did there!
33 Across: I googled: Sue Bird is not related to Larry Bird, but she used to fib that he was her uncle.
Hola!
Thanks to both Susans today! The puzzle was Monday easy and reminded me how in times past September was such a busy month for me with SCHOOL starting. For a fresh start I always bought a new outfit to wear on the first day of SCHOOL.
I have a fleeting memory of myself as a toddler at NURSRY SCHOOL standing up in my crib.
Learning to TYPE is one of the best skills I ever learned.
In the days when I went to the gym I enjoyed SPIN CLASS.
Yes, RosE, that silent H in PIRANHA makes it difficult to spell. Mybe we could say, "HA, HA I know how to spell PIRANHA"
CSO to my brother ART.
Finally, I had a good night's sleep and feel rested so now I can tackle whatever needs to be done. Unlike desper-otto, I don't have plumbing problems but I do have a return to make at the Mall.
My sister, Marge, and I drove that SCENIC road on one of our trips.
Have a wonderful day, everyone! Every day is a gift!
It took less than 10 minutes to finish it today (I never time myself) with just a few unknowns filled by perps. I BET most of the regulars solved it just as fast.
SUE Bird- don't know her but I couldn't name five total NBA and WNBA players combined and one of them is my neighbor's daughter. Don't follow either league but LSU did win the NCAA women's championship this year against the Iows team that was NOT from AMES. Didn't know ART Ross, AIMEE Mann, or ISIAH Whitlock either. MTA was a WAG.
AMES Io-way, LA. Passed by it on I-10 many times but never stopped there
d-otto- does Mazda still have those rotary engines that used too much fuel. I wonder if many of those 'zoom zoom' cars are sold on VRoom.
Nice Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Susan. And always enjoy your helpful commentary, Hahtoolah, thanks for that too.
Interesting to have a puzzle about all sorts of education, from a SPIN CLASS to HOME STUDY. And the puzzle overall encouraged us to be CIVIL and avoid SPATS, and do our best not to UPSET people. Good advice, since otherwise they might SUE us. And that kind of AURA sometimes turns otherwise good people into OGRES. Lets just focus on ART and listen to an ARIA--that would make for a much better day, wouldn't it?
Have a good one, everybody.
Really nice theme, a fun solve and a terrific review. Thanks, Susan and Hahtoolah!
Musings
-Beautiful morning for 18. Only up to 85˚F today, 20˚F below last week.
-Discouraging info shown on X and Y AXES
-The gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway reenforces, “What makes California beautiful makes California dangerous”
-The IRON is seldom out in our house. Clothes are ready to wear out of the dryer.
-Turning on the leaf blower full blast in the dryer VENT is a great strategy
-I am UNAWED by people who overuse the word AWESOME
-Fun puzzle and write-up. Life is good.
HA, HA, Lucina, Now I'll remember how to spell PIRANHA! Great tip!
I mostly liked this puzzle and was able to fill the names from the perps.
Excellent comments from you all.
H - Gary, a little Pink Floyd just for you.
Also, thanks for the blower-in-the-vent tip. I was just about to order a flexible cleaning brush, but I'll try that way first. Mine hasn't been cleaned in more than 20 years.
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Susan & Susan for a fast fun puzzle & expo! The shortest solve time I've had in a while.
Hand up for not knowing how to spell PIRANHA.
Joan Baez was a favorite of mine back in my younger days when I played guitar and sang. I belonged to a ladies' music club. My 3-yr-old got so naughty whenever I was concentrating on my music, that I had to give it up. One of his problem songs was Baez's lyrics: "Babe, I'm gonna leave you. You know I gotta leave you. I gotta travel on, travel down that highway." Took me awhile to figure out my son really thought I was going to leave HIM. I then tried to convince him I wasn't going anywhere and loved him and it was just a stupid song.
Hi All!
That was a nice WO free puzzle to start my Tuesday. Thanks, Susan.
Great Ramones pick at the top, Hahtoolah! LOL "Cat, I farted" and fun comics too - that last one hits close to home ;-)
WOs: N/A
ESP: ISIAH (as clued)
Fav: CENTAUR is fun (as was Hahtoolah's LOL comic choice)
Thanks for the Manfred Mann, Jinx.
D-O: A 2x4 and 2x12 makes a nice poor-man's tamper.
Dryer VENT: In one of our houses the laundry was off of the kitchen centered in the house. Some brain-trust thought running the vent from there under the slab was a Good Idea(tm). Every other year, I'd have to break out the shop-vac and 25' hose to suck-up the condensation in the pipe so the vent would stop gurgling.
PK - LOL he thought the song was to him. Now I wonder if my Mom wasn't being factious about "running for the shelter for Mother's little helper..." :-)
Cheers, -T
No problem… you don’t sound like a crab… just a little condescending…
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