(Sorry, no write-up today as I'm dealing with some tough stuff. If you have any questions, please visit the Comments section.)
Theme: "Tick Tock"
22A. Screen time?: BACKGROUND CHECK.
41A. Face time?: HAIR AND MAKEUP.
64A. Flex time?: MR OLYMPIA.
87A. Run time?: ULTRA MARATHON.
109A. Party time?: PRIMARY ELECTION.
15D. Set time?: OPEN MIC NIGHT.
57D. Tee time?: CASUAL FRIDAY.
Across:
1. West Coast wine region: NAPA.
5. "It __ me": WASN'T.
10. Mythical beast: OGRE.
14. Flower with hips: ROSE.
18. Tandoor, e.g.: OVEN.
19. Skateboard trick: OLLIE.
20. Mouth-y?: ORAL.
21. Stack next to a boombox: TAPES.
25. Narrowly avoid: AVERT.
26. Tapped container: ALE KEG.
27. Small sip: TASTE.
28. Departure spot: POINT A.
29. Knock-__: KNEED.
30. Smidge: DAB.
31. Not pizzicato: ARCO.
33. Ilhan of Congress: OMAR.
34. Die dot: PIP.
35. "Empire" actress Long: NIA.
37. Aches and pains: ILLS.
39. Like 33-Across: SOMALI.
45. Food with a Peruvian holiday in its honor: CEVICHE.
48. Line of sight?: I SEE.
49. Green gamers: NOOBS.
50. "I reject your offer": NO SALE.
52. "Pronto!": NOW.
53. Inflicts on: DOES TO.
55. Deceive verbally: LIE TO.
56. Cycle: BIKE.
57. Documentary filmmaker Erin Lee __: CARR.
58. Singer Del Rey: LANA.
61. Direct or instant things: MESSAGES.
63. Genius Bar devices: MACS.
67. Like a used fireplace: ASHY.
68. Not great: JUST OKAY.
70. "The Show Goes On" rapper __ Fiasco: LUPE.
71. Kick out of a seat: OUST.
72. PC gaming hardware company: ASUS.
73. Nash of "Never Have I Ever": NIECY.
75. Nursery furniture: CRADLE.
78. By way of: VIA.
79. Pampering place for a boxer: PET SPA.
80. Former planet: PLUTO.
81. Vanilla extract amts.: TSPS.
85. Sports injury: ACL TEAR.
90. Crossed, as a stream: FORDED.
92. Home to Pha That Luang: LAOS.
93. "Totes": DEF.
94. Comm. from some interpreters: ASL.
95. Glasses, in a pinch: JARS.
97. Genesis garden: EDEN.
99. ER drips: IVS.
100. Advil competitor: ALEVE.
102. Made a long story short?: EDITED.
104. Dashboard readout: GAUGE.
106. Badenov's partner in cartoon crime: FATALE.
108. Acknowledge silently: NOD AT.
113. Test result: GRADE.
114. Lead-in to some bad news: WELP.
115. Dog to beware: BITER.
116. Calle __ Festival: annual event in Miami's Little Havana: OCHO.
117. Taylor-Joy of "The Menu": ANYA.
118. Noun suffix: NESS.
119. Technical deets: SPECS.
120. Inert gas: NEON.
Down:
2. "Abbott Elementary" principal: AVA.
3. Gooey, nutty dessert: PECAN PIE.
4. Talus locale: ANKLE.
5. Meal on an expense report: WORK DINNER.
6. Plant with a hedgehog variety: ALOE.
7. Mollusk with a banana variety: SLUG.
8. Diarist Anaïs: NIN.
9. "Ideas worth spreading" lectures: TED TALKS.
10. Utters delight: OOHS.
11. "Barbie" director Gerwig: GRETA.
12. Track figures: RACERS.
13. Wapiti: ELK.
14. Stuffed pasta: RAVIOLI.
16. Casper competitor: SERTA.
17. To be, in Bogotá: ESTAR.
21. East Asian principle: TAO.
23. Davis of "A League of Their Own": GEENA.
24. Cord cutters' lack: CABLE.
28. Grapefruit kin: POMELOS.
29. Korean coupes: KIAS.
30. Toy derived from the Chinese yo-yo: DIABOLO.
32. South American herbal brew: COCA TEA.
34. Gritty's team, on scoreboards: PHI.
36. Fusses: ADOS.
38. Light therapy box: SUNLAMP.
40. Map abbr.: AVE.
42. Works with black boxes: REDACTS.
43. Zinger: MOT.
44. Luau dish: POI.
46. Cornball: HOKEY.
47. Some lambs: EWES.
51. Trucker's truck: SEMI.
54. Estimate qualifier: ORSO.
56. Angela of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever": BASSETT.
59. Everyone in the South?: ALL Y'ALL.
60. Campus near NoHo: NYU.
62. "Better Call __": SAUL.
63. Noted work?: MUSIC.
64. Front of house position: MAITRE'D.
65. Some cover crops: RYES.
66. Dodgeball setting: PE CLASS.
68. Coffee, colloquially: JAVA.
69. Tended to some knots: KNEADED.
71. Sneaker inserts: ODOR EATERS.
74. PC core: CPU.
76. Piña colada need: RUM.
77. Somewhat: A TAD.
79. Apiece: PER.
80. Book after Psalms: PROVERBS.
82. Frozen Hawaiian treat: SHAVE ICE.
83. Model: POSE.
84. Sarah Sherman's show, for short: SNL.
86. Open-faced taco: TOSTADA.
88. Subarctic biome: TAIGA.
89. Insurance company with a spokesgoose: AFLAC.
91. Thermometer unit: DEGREE.
95. Game whose outdoor version can be five feet tall: JENGA.
96. Bedazzle, say: ADORN.
98. Hammer targets: NAILS.
101. Pop star John: ELTON.
103. Summer on the Riviera: ETE.
105. Strike callers: UMPS.
106. Fancy function: FETE.
107. Smart __: ALEC.
109. Destroy in esports: PWN.
110. Sharp bark: YIP.
111. "Well, well, well!": OHO.
112. Toulouse turndown: NON.
C.C.
40 comments:
Good morning! Rabbit, Rabbit.
C.C., I hope whatever it is comes to a satisfactory solution.
Couldn't finish this one as a no-peeky. A vertical line from Colorado through New Mexico just wouldn't come together: MAÎTRE D', RYES, and PWN. Obvious now (except for PWN). Oh, well, tomorrow is another day.
Greg wanted to compete for MR. OLYMPIA,
But his biceps qualified him more for Trivia!
He barely stood on his legs,
His abs were more a KEG,
So OPEN MIC NIGHT became his aphrodisia!
PROVERBS were the TED TALKS of their day,
A collection of wise things to do and say.
They were much briefer,
In the Bible a keeper,
Too much verbage would just get in the way!
Good morning. Thank you, Rebecca Goldstein, and thank you, C.C.
I hope you find quick resolution to whatever you are having to deal with.
Tick Tock
Me time? C.C. needs some
Old time? Quaint
Prime time? Deion Sanders
Crunch time? Pivotal moment
Double time? Bonus pay
Waste time? Garbage pickup day
Bath time? Fix stinky
Payback time? Retribution
Miller time? Relax. Have a cold one
Solve time? As with yesterday, I was paying more attention to the Ryder Cup than the crossword.
Three (3) errors.
1) For some reason, I had a T in TOSTAtA and GRAtE.
2) I typed a 0 (zero) instead of an O in POMELO. I shoulda used zeros in N00B.
3) Having ARtO and tOCA TEA was just silly from not paying attention.
I still have six blank squares, and it's moving day again. This one may be a Monday TITT. Till then:
Today is:
NATIONAL FIRE PUP DAY (It’s Cal Worthington and his dog Spot!)
NATIONAL BLACK DOG DAY (“friendly Labrador retriever” is redundant)
NATIONAL PUMPKIN SPICE DAY (I may be the only person who doesn’t indulge in pumpkin spice stuff)
WORLD SAKE DAY (I’ll drink to that, or would if I hadn’t become a quitter)
NATIONAL HAIR DAY (I object - what about the feelings of us folks who don’t have any?)
NATIONAL HOMEMADE COOKIES DAY (would never object to these)
Took 20:02 today, for I guess, palindrome time.
Last square was the crossing of Coca tea & arco. Didn't know Diabolo, and many others too.
Good luck to C.C. If it's any consolation, we all go through tough things too.
Too busy to enjoy working the CW yesterday and no access today
Quenching the MRI magnet to decommission the scanner
This short clip is a video of procedure performed yesterday I’ve never witnessed. It’s usually done as an emergency but in this case as part of the process of replacing one of our MRI scanners called “Quenching” the magnet. A quench occurs when helium is quickly released from the MR scanner (through a roof vent) causing the magnet itself to become non-superconductive, eliminating the magnetic field thus the machine is no longer operative.
This was performed with the Fire Department standing by. Many of my colleagues were on hand to watch and it was filmed for those of us who couldn’t be there.
As the white cloud poured out of the roof vent someone in the background can be heard declaring “We have a new Pope!” (and I wondered if the local gentry would be speaking in high squeaky voices for awhile.)
C C. Our fearless leader hope all is well
✌️
FIW. Didn't know ceviche and had lokey in stead of hokey. Also didn't know Mr. Olympia and just didn't see maitre'd.
This was a very hard Sunday puzzle for me. I really struggled to get a foothold and just wasn't on the constructor's wavelength. Saw a lot of white squares for quite a while.
CC, all the best in whatever is an issue today.
I had problems all over the place. K's for C's, E's for I's etc. Never heard of CEVICHE, and the only WELP I know is spelled with an "H". Theme was great. Good clues.
Best clue was 28A: Departure spot.
Well done, Rebecca. Grade A work. Hope C.C. is okay with her issue.
SubGenius is missing from his usual spot at #1 or #2. Hope he isn't dealing with any isssue.
Goodbye September, Hello October!!
I FIR but it took some guessing. COCATEA, DIABOLO, POMELOS, CEVICHE, and MR. OLYMPIA- no knowledge of those things. Tough area to complete to go with an overall tough Sunday puzzle.
Erin Lee CARR, LANA Del Rey, LUPE Fiasco, NIECY, ASUS, WELP, Calle OCHO Festival, ANYA Taylor-Joy, AVA the principal, GRETA Gerwig, Gritty's team PHI, JENGA- didn't know any of those as clued; perps and guesses. PWN- no idea about that one but the perps fit.
ALL Y'ALL- been living in the South only 73 years and I don't know anybody who says that. It's either Y'all for 'all of you' or 'you all' or 'all of you'. But no 'youse guys' like I've heard some people from the Midwest say.
B-E, you must've led a sheltered life. Don't ALL Y'ALL agree?
Musings
-I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle but can’t find the motivation to comment knowing C.C. is going through a tough time.
I looked it up: PWN = “own”. I guess as in “own the libs”? The commentary said someone originally misspelled it and it stuck. So, I guess, huge-win gamers “own” their losing competitors …
CC Very best wishes for getting through this tough stuff. Maybe "tough stuff" could be a future puzzle theme. Please keep us posted.
I feel there may be another layer to the theme that I am missing?
How is NOB a NOODLE? Mr Google has no idea, either.
Hand up heard Y'ALL and YOU ALL growing up in DC. Never ALL Y'ALL.
I have never met ELTON JOHN. But...
Here I was a few days ago with ELTON JOHN song writer Bernie Taupin.
He won't talk about the meaning of his songs. He says he wants people to feel free to come up with their own interpretation.
When I was a kids my parents had Texas friends. The mom would always say to us kids “All y’all, it’s time to come in now! Ya hear!?”
Another monumental defeat. So many answers I have no vocabulary for and I don’t get the theme.
Oh, well.
CC Hope you solve your problem soon and painlessly.
C.C. - praying for you all needed resources to weather and overcome the tough time
Lee @ 10:28 - Lee, I had resolved not to comment today but to put your mind (and possibly others) at ease, I will. I TITT and turned on the red letters at some point in the puzzle. Having “seviche” instead of “ceviche “ didn’t help. Also, for the life of me I couldn’t remember “pwn,” even though we’ve had it before. Rather than confess my humiliation I had resolved to be silent, but your obvious concern prompted this post, and this confession. Oh well, better luck next time!
I’m exhausted! I finally got most of it and thought some of the words were excellent, especially POINT A. I finally had to look up a few, and I still don’t understand the theme. I actually got all of them except MROLYMPIA, but Can someone please ‘splain??
C.C., with all you have been through, I’m so sad you have yet another difficulty. I hope at least you can feel the love and support from everyone here.
Way too many unknowns. All the fun is going out of these puzzles. How is welp a lead in to bad news? Chinese yo-yo toy? C’mon!
The editors seem hell bent to perform some kind of upgrade on these cws. I hate to complain all the time but I think they deserve it.
The solution for me may be just to cancel the Times and find another “fun” outlet. Nobody minds a few unknowns that can be solved by perps, but this is getting ridiculous. I think the editors should start listening to their public before more folks start abandoning ship. Nuff said.
SubG, you have become a signpost for this blog and I missed seeing your post. Like you, I had hard time with this puzzle. I have always resolved to finish a puzzle, even if I have to look up a few answers to do so. Like for. most of us, it is the learning experience that I enjoy the most. Plus all the witty reparte and life experience shared within.
Wendybird, Mr. Olympia is a mens' body-building competition. "Flex time" would be the time to flex those muscles. No, I didn't get it either at first.
Wendy, Mr Olympia is a body building contest. The guys get to "FLEX" their muscles and show off.
Korean coupes are not Kias. Kia is a make/manufacturer, and a coupe is a two-door model. Lazy cluing.
Nope. Not in my universe today. Had to TITT, as it "did not spark joy".
Down here in Louisiana I’ve heard ALL Y’ALL, I think the speaker elides OF between all (of) y’all.
Prayers for you, C.C., as always.
Hola!
I had not heard about C.C's Ills as I did not finish the puzzle yesterday, I just know that after a spouse dies, many unforeseen and unexpected problems arise. I shall double my prayers for you, C.C. and hope you can resolve your problems with satisfaction.
Also, when parents die do problems come forth. I had to write a threatening letter to the insurance company when they refused to pay my mother's insurance.
This puzzle was way more difficult than most Sunday ones! I finally had to leave a few blanks and come here for answers. NIECY, CARR, ARCO (I should have known that one), MACS, and SOMALI. I have heard of Ms. Ilhan OMAR but did not know she was SOMALI. I should have guessed because so many of my past African students were from there. And they wear such colorful saris!
I was so sure it was OGDEN Hash! Hah! I stand corrected!
REDACTS also gave me fits!
Today I was not feeling well enough to go to Mass but I think I just needed more sleep and rest. Ah! The joys of aging!
Have a wonderful day, ALL Y'ALL!
oops. I just had to look above today's posting to see C.C.'s note and I just did that.
Thank you Rebecca for a Sunday stumper. It was the same size as always, but the cluing was quote Saturdayish.
.
Thank you TTP the TIMELY review -- didn't even notice the repetition of "... time?" throughout.
My downfall was the NATICK at 64A/D -- I shoulda caught "MR OLYMPIA" and DNK Ms. Niecy.
I hope that all turns out for you C.C. We pray for you daily.
Cheers,
Bill
FIW, missing CEVadHE & Phs. DNK either.
Safe and sound in Clemmons, NC after a drive that included delays for traffic due to a Carolina Panthers 1:00 home game.
Best wishes to C.C.!
Thanks to Rebecca. FAVs: Made a long story short? and Tee time?
14A was a CSO to ROSE
Also noticed ODOR EATERS crossing ULTRA MARATHON
Cool video, Ray-O @ 9:41. Thanks for sharing.
Picard@12:06. I am guessing that NOB and NOODLE are both slang for head/brain???
Picard@12:06. After I posted that I walked my dog and thought about it some more. I think I am confusing NOB with NOg as in "noggin". Now I am thinking that NOB is a Britishism for NOBility and NOODLE is an old slang for young men of wealth who liked to dress in fancy duds. The song "Yankee Doodle" references that: "He stuck a feather in his cap and called it 'macaroni'" which is a type of NOODLE. Again, I am guessing....
Sunday Lurk say...
Hi All Y'all!
C.C.: so sorry to read of tribulations. Loving thoughts your way.
Diablo: I bought two in the last month. I really suck. I can't get a good spin even after YouTube how-tos.
I'm good with Devil Sticks [these are for beginners], three-balls, rings, clubs, and other toys. The diablo is my Saturday puzzle.
Pwn - More like p0wnz biatch. #Hax0rzTakeDown :-)
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! This puzzle was excruciatingly hard. I filled 'er, thank you red-letters.
C.C., thinking of your tough times & praying you turn out okay.
"NoHo" is LA Timesian for "North Hollywood." so in addition to the Welp/Pwn disaster, 'West Keokuk, Iowa' on the puzzle was a write-off.
Looked it up: NoHo, short for 'North of Houston Street.'
Michael - but New Yorkers pronounce Houston like House-ton. NoHo is N. and SoHo is S. of Houseton St.
Here in H-Town we have many names for our fair city. Space City, USA; Clutch City, Bayou City (which I think really belongs to NOLA), and the like.
Cheers from Spring, TX (another mini-metropolis in the greater Houston Area).
I'm going to ask this nicely (#Go'Stros!)... How do we and Rangers end up w/ the same record but Rangers get the second wildcard spot and we are AL West Champs? Is it 'cuz we (Astros) kicked their but during the regular season? Did I miss a game I should have watched? WC would have known.
Cheers, -T
Wow, for a Sunday, this was quite the brain-wracker — obtuse clueing, an oddball theme, and waaay too many proper names. But I ended up doing JUSTOKAY; missed a FIR by one square — had PWL instead of PWN (just couldn’t remember the slang). If it weren’t for perps, i’da been dead in the water on this venture. Never heard of a DIABOLO either, all y’all!
C.C., here’s hoping you weather your travails easily 🙏🏽 you’re a strong bird, I’m sure you’ll come through it all OK.
(This is the first time I’ve been able to enter a comment through my Google I.D., so hopefully in the future it’ll keep working)..
====> Darren / L.A. aka ArtSpeed
Dash T, in short Houston won the AL West and Texas finished second due to their winning the head to head tiebtreaker. The Astros beat the Rangers 9 times out of 13 games. Head to head is the first tiebreaker if teams finish the regular season with the same W-L record. Houston and Texas each finished with a 90-72 record.
Houston, Texas and the Toronto Blue Jays were all going to fill the remaining three spots of the American League playoffs. ie, all three teams had clinched a playoff spot, no matter what, going into the final game.
Toronto plays in the AL East. Obviously, Toronto couldn't win the West, but they also factored into which team would be in which playoff spot. Toronto was going to be either the second or third wild card team, no matter what else happened on the final day.
What's neat? From a boolean math perspective, each team could only win or lose, so binary, and a simple truth table of 8 outcome possibilities emerged. Of those 8, Texas would win the AL West in 6 possible game outcomes, while Houston would win the West in the remaining 2.
So, Texas had a 75% shot at winning the West, and Houston had a 25% chance.
If Texas won their game against Seattle, they were West champs no matter what Houston did.
If Texas lost their game and Houston won their game against Arizona (both happened), the Astros would take the West crown, no matter what Toronto did.
If Texas lost and Houston lost, then Texas would have won the crown outright.
Toronto had 5 possible scenarios for taking the second wild card spot. Texas lost and Houston won, but Toronto could have also have had a 90-72 record. If Toronto had also won, Houston would be the AL West winner because of head to head, and Texas would have been the second wild care because of their head to head winning record against Toronto.
Darren, congrats on going blue!
Nob had me sweating. I demand an explanation, lol.
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