google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Matthew Faiella

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Mar 27, 2024

Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Matthew Faiella

 Theme:  Unfitness Routine for the LazyThe second word of a two word in-the-language phrase also had a different meaning in a physical activity context.  The result, from a certain oblique perspective, is a humorous wordplay in which the activity is negated

20. Exercise done by making a grilled cheese sandwich?: PANINI PRESS.  A PANINI PRESS applies weight and toasts the top and bottom of the sandwich without cutting, shaping, or forming the sandwich in any way other than to compress it a bit.  A PRESS is a weight lifting exercise in which weights are lifted vertically over the head.

34. Exercise done by lounging on the couch and bingeing a new show?: TV MARATHON.  A TV MARATHON or watchalong, aka binge watching, is an event in which viewers engage many hours' worth of television, in a condensed time period.

44. Exercise done by hitting the snooze button and staying in bed?: SLEEP CYCLE.  When you sleep, you cycle through two phases of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. The cycle starts over every 80 to 100 minutes. Usually there are four to six cycles per night. You may wake up briefly between cycles.  If you're old like I am, "briefly" might not apply.  To CYCLE is to peddle a stationary or movable bicycle

56. Exercise done by lying around doing nothing all day?: DIDDLY SQUAT.  A SQUAT is a strength exercise in which the trainee lowers their hips from a standing position and then stands back up.  DIDDLY SQUAT means little or nothing.  

So what have we accomplished, a little nourishment, a little entertainment, a nap, and nothing more.  Sounds like an ideal day in retirement,

Hi, Gang - JazzBumpa here, hoping to exercise a little brain power and see what else we might accomplish.  Let's get moving!

Across:

1. Sudden impulse: WHIM.  A capricious or eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of the mind :

5. Patatas bravas, croquetas, etc.: TAPAS. In Spanish, small plates of food - snacks.

10. "SOS" quartet: ABBA.  The Swedish singing group.


14. Pre-migraine phenomenon for some: AURA.   A feature of a migraine (= a condition that can cause a type of severe pain in the head)  that involves problems with vision, especially seeing lights that flash or move:

15. Make up (for): ATONE.   Make amends or reparation.

16. Round vegetables: PEAS.  A spherical green seed that is eaten as a vegetable or as a pulse when dried.

17. Smelting waste: SLAG.   Stony waste matter separated from metals during the smelting or refining of ore.

18. Sulks: POUTS.  Is silent, morose, and bad-tempered out of annoyance or disappointment.

19. Quick kiss: PECK.  A quick light kiss, perhaps by reference to the pecking motion of a birds beak.

23. Sea urchin delicacy: ROE.  The fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked ingredient in many dishes, and as a raw ingredient for delicacies such as caviar.

24. Microsoft's Satya Nadella, e.g.: Abbr.: CEOChief Executive Officer of a corporation.

25. April birthstone: DIAMOND.  Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic.

27. Letters before xis: NUS. In the Greek alphabet.  

30. Royal flush cards: ACES.  A royal flush in a card game consists of the 10.jack, queen, king and ace, all in a single suit. 

33. Intl. oil cartel: OPEC.   Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. 

37. "While we're on the subject ... ": ALSO.  In addition.

40. Pair on a tandem bike: SEATS.   Things made or used for sitting on

41. __ Lingus: AER.   Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group.

42. How onion rings are fried: IN OIL.  

43. Milhouse's pal: BART.  Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series The Simpsons voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School.  I assume everyone knows who Bart is.  If not ---


46. Native American tent: TIPI.  A tipi or tepee is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on a framework of wooden poles.

48. Horseback game: POLO.   Polo is a ball game that is played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports.[9] The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball through the opposing team's goal. Each team has four mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas or chukkers.

49. Some boxing match finales: KOs.   A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, as well as fighting-based video games. A full knockout is considered any legal strike or combination thereof that renders an opponent unable to continue fighting.

50. Greek currency used in "Percy Jackson" novels: DRACHMA.   The Greek drachma was the currency of Greece before it was replaced by the euro in 2002. It was also the ancient money of the Greek empire and city-states. Drachma note denominations ranged from 10 to 500 over much of its existence, while smaller denominations of 1 and 2 drachmae were issued earlier.

53. Short reply?: ANS.   An abrv. [hence "short" for ANSWER.

55. Unagi, in sushi: EEL.   Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel, particularly the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Unagi is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, often as kabayaki. It is not to be confused with saltwater eel, which is known as anago in Japanese. 

62. Emulates: APES.  These words both mean imitate, but "emulate" implies in a inspired way, while "ape" implies in a mocking way.

64. Like early PC graphics: LORES.  I'm completely baffled by this and cannot find anything that explains it.

65. Desire: URGE.  A srtong desire or impulse.

66. Secure skates, say: LACE.   Tighten and then knot the shoe strings.

67. Subside: ABATE.  Reduce in activity, quantity or severity.

68. Bit of inspiration: IDEA.  A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.

69. Lil' one: TYKE.  A small child.

70. Bender of "Futurama," for one: ROBOT.  A machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically.

71. Nightfall: DUSK.   The state or period of partial darkness between day and night

Down:

1. Winged stinger: WASP.   Any of numerous social or solitary winged hymenopterous insects (especially families Sphecidae and Vespidae) that usually have a slender smooth body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk, well-developed wings, biting mouthparts, and in the females and workers an often formidable sting, and that are largely carnivorous and often provision their nests with insects or spiders killed or paralyzed by stinging for their larvae to feed on

2. Dance taught at some Oahu hotels: HULA.   Hula is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant or song. It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.

3. Country whose emblem resembles a tulip: IRAN.   Iran, also known as Persia and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), is a country located at the crossroads of West, Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Iraq to the west and Turkey to the northwest, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. With almost 90 million people in an area of 1.648 million square kilometres (0.64 million square miles), Iran ranks 17th in the world in both geographic size and population. 

4. Orlando team: MAGIC.  Team in the National Basketball Association.

5. Bubble tea pearls: TAPIOCA.  Tapioca is starch obtained from the root of cassava, a plant that mostly grows underground (like a potato). In many parts of the world, it's a food staple. Cassava is a native vegetable of South America and grows in tropical and subtropical regions.

6. At the peak of: ATOP.  On top of something.

7. Rain heavily: POUR.   Heavy, continuous rainfall; it's a figure of speech that's supposed to remind you of the way water pours out of a large pitcher.

8. Chipped in?: ANTED.   Contributes the money each player puts in the pot before the hand begins in a game of poker.

9. Word with jam or cram: SESSION.  A period of time devoted to a particular activity, such as playing music or intensely studying.

10. Tablet download: APP.   Short for application - a software program that's designed to perform a specific function 

11. Time to grab a brewski: BEER O'CLOCK.  An appropriate time of day to start drinking beer.  This may be open to widely varying interpretation.

12. Club ingredient: BACON.  For a club sandwich - consisting of bread, sliced cooked poultry, fried bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.

13. Sought, as a price: ASKED.  Refers to the lowest price which the seller is willing to accept.

21. Gets closer to: NEARS.  Approaches

22. Tree goo: SAP.   This sticky liquid runs through the tree and down to the branches to help generate energy while new buds are forming during springtime. Due to photosynthesis, sugars are created which are fed back into the tree and acts as food for the tree during its growth period.

26. No-good jerkface: MEANY.  An unfriendly hostile or oppressive person.

27. Fed. crash investigator: NTSB.   National Transportation Safety Board,  an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents, bridge failures, and railroad accidents.

28. Eye layer: UVEA.    The middle layer of the eye. It lies beneath the white part of the eye (the sclera). It is made of the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. These structures control many eye functions, including adjusting to different levels of light or distances of objects.


29. Know-it-all: SMART ALECK.   A person who is irritating because they behave as if they know everything.

31. Footnote abbr.: ET AL.   Short for the Latin term “et alia,” which means “and others.” It is used in academic citations when referring to a source with multiple authors.

32. Source of wool: SHEEP.   A domesticated ruminant animal with a thick woolly coat and (typically only in the male) curving horns. It is kept in flocks for its wool or meat, and is proverbial for its tendency to follow others in the flock.

35. Room with a slanted ceiling, often: ATTIC.   A space or room just below the roof of a building.

36. Cookie with a Blackpink collaboration: OREO.   Look here if you want to know more.

38. Grain tower: SILO.   A cylindrical tower structure commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. 

39. Spanish cheers: OLÉS.  A cry of approval, joy, etc.

42. Tappable images: ICONS.   Pictograms or ideograms displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system. 

44. Like wining and dining?: SIMILAR.   Resembling without being identical.

45. Backyard swings, slide, and sandbox, e.g.: PLAY SET.   Themed collections of similar toys designed to work together to enact some action or event. 

47. Research grant?: PhD.  A doctoral degree granted to a scholar recognizing her/his research work.

50. Handed out: DEALT.  As cards in a game.

51. Terminate a debt: REPAY.  Pay back (a loan, debt, or sum of money).

52. Mexican marinade made with chili peppers: ADOBO.  The immersion of cooked food in a stock composed variously of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, peppers and vinegar to preserve and enhance its flavor.

54. Calamari: SQUID.  Typically referring to squid dishes.

57. Boring: DRAB.   Lacking brightness or interest; drearily dull.

58. Mother of Artemis: LETO.   In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto is a goddess and the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and the sister of Asteria.

In the Olympian scheme, the king of gods Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, whom Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eye of Zeus. Classical Greek myths record little about Leto other than her pregnancy and search for a place where she could give birth to Apollo and Artemis, since Hera, the wife of Zeus, in her jealousy ordered all lands to shun her and deny her shelter.

59. Pakistani language: URDU.    An Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside English.

60. Range listed on video games: AGES.  The time of life at which some particular qualification, power, or capacity arises or rests.  Or, in this case, is age appropriate.

61. Tropical tree: TEAK.   A tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. Tectona grandis has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the end of the branches.    Teak wood has a leather-like smell when it is freshly milled and is particularly valued for its durability and water resistance. The wood is used for boat building, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and various small projects.

63. "Happy now?": SEE.  Told ya so!  Words of admonishment spoken after someone did something that had been warned against.  Fool around and find out.  

Well, we had a little song, a little dance, and some eye-ball anatomy [prior to my upcoming cataract surgeries] and a few snacks.  Hope it wasn't too much of a work out.  Happy and blessed Easter to those who celebrate.  Happy Springtime to all.  See y'all next month.

Could this be Matthew's first appearance in the L.A. Times?  If so, congrats, and keep 'em coming!

Cool regards,
JzB





44 comments:

Anonymous said...

64 across had me stumped too, then I realized it was “lo res” for low resolution

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Tried URGE at 1a (Have I ever mentioned....?), but found a place to use it later on. Also needed Wite-Out to correct MOPES to POUTS -- 40% correct. Enjoyed this one, and found the exercises humorous. Thanx, Matthew and JzB. (Hope your cataract surgery goes well.)

AURA: I still get 'em, but without the ensuing headache. It looks like an expanding ring of sparkly gems which, after about 20 minutes, expands out of the field of vision.

NTSB: I'll bet there's a team already in place (or headed there) following that bridge collapse in Baltimore.

TEAK: Our old aircraft carrier's flight deck was made of teak. It took a beating with thousands of take-offs and landings.

Subgenius said...

Yes, I, too, noted the answer “lo-res” and wondered if others would have a problem with that. I also note the alternate spelling of “teepee.” Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.

Anonymous said...

Took 6:45 today for me to work-out this puzzle.

Lores made no sense, which was my final entry. Lo-res, eventually, made its way through.
That section wasn't pretty (adobo, lores, Leto, & the Futurama character).

I'm not a fan of the recent "name of a person and their company" as a clue for CEO. I'm sure we're close to the job not being the CEO, but instead being the CFO, CIO, etc.
Also, I find it funny that the clue has "e.g.," and then adds "abbr."

I don't consider marathon to be an exercise, but I'll give the constructor some latitude.
Also, despite the "?", "Research grant?" for "phd" is too much of a stretch.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF, with trouble near Bayou Tony's place. DNK Bender, ADOBO nor LETO.

Today is:
NATIONAL LITTLE RED WAGON DAY (American Flier was established in 1917)
NATIONAL SPANISH PAELLA DAY (kinda like cioppino, it started as a “catch-as-catch-can” meal, augmented by whatever was available)
NATIONAL SCRIBBLE DAY (founded in 2019. Wish it had been around when my penmanship was being critiqued back in grade school)

I only know Milhous, and he resigned the presidency.

When I imbibed, the saying was "BEER thirty."

I'm still not quite sure I agree that "wining" and "dining" are SIMILAR. I really wanted SCHMOOZING there, but it had excessive letters.

A crossword cookie with any other collaboration is still an OREO.

"Exit light, enter light, take my hand, we're off to never-never land" is from this not-so-sweet lullaby named Enter Sandman. The recording was used to waken astronauts on STS-123.

Thanks to Matthew for the fun puzzle, which I would have liked better and may have completed with a different clue for ROBOT. And thanks to JzB for 'splainin' it all. At least most of it.

Yellowrocks said...

I really liked the theme. It helped in solving.
Easy puzzle with just a short pause in Texas. I realized that SQUAT was an exercise and wagged it from a few perps. That suggested diddly and Texas was saved.
FIW. I left an easy cell open and forgot to return to it. An ABC run would have solved it.
I, too, wondered what LORES (ESP) is. Anon at 5:01, thanks for LO RES.
Tightening skates: When we were kids we had roller skates that fit over our shoes. We tightened them with a skate key.
My grandson has to work on Easter, so we are having our family Easter dinner at my place on Saturday. I am rearranging the rest of this week.

KS said...

FIR, but took a WAG at the crossing of adobo and lores, and got it right. Once I got here I realize this was lo res as in low resolution. That was a nasty section all the way around.
The theme was clever and once I got it the solve went smoothly, except center bottom of course.
Started off at 1A by laying down urge, only to find it later in the puzzle. This was a tough puzzle for a Wednesday.

inanehiker said...

This puzzle plodded along but finished up in fine form

Anon @6:58 - believe me when my DH & son and waseeley's son ran the Marine Corps MARATHON in around 5 hours they got lots of exercise

Another SOS by ABBA this week - the earworm continues!

Although URDU is the national language along with English - it is spoken by less than 7% of the people - it is used as a common language between people of other language groups like Punjabi and Pashto or in formal settings

Thought ATTIC was A-frame but not enough letters.

Thanks JzB for the informative blog and Matthew for a puzzle that exercised the mind but not the body (except for on the hands)

Whiner said...

One of the reasons I come here is to get explanations for answers I don't understand or can't figure out, like LO RES today. Thanks to the community for the help. ADOBO was no help here as that's unknown to me.

I agree with Jinx, I'm not sure that WINING and DINING are really similar. They are two different components of schmoozing. Was it that hard to come up with two things that actually are similar?

An ACE is one of the cards in a royal flush. There are not ACES in a royal flush. To get the plural the clue should be "cards in royal flushes", shouldn't it?

Didn't care for "xis" and NUS at all. I was looking for a _ _ _ xis word or name, like Alexis.

TIPI is the Canadian spelling of teepee. Might have been nice to get that distinction in the clue.

Never heard of TAPIOCA in bubble tea but I guess that's a thing.

The "grant" part of the clue for PHD seems like a stretch.

I'm going to start trying to offset some of my whines with something positive.

I liked today's theme, especially DIDDLY SQUAT.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

"Exit light, enter night..." Danged fat fingers.

Anonymous said...

Had no issues with theme. Middle bottom , lores really messed me up. Miss read 27 thought is was cash investigator, no idea. Tipi's spelling was new to me. Adobe , drachma, Bart, and Leto, and robot, were unknowns.

inanehiker said...

For PHD - I was thinking that the person needs to do research for their dissertation to be "granted" their PHD which was a creative clue IMHO

Teleiotes said...

I realized it was LO RES but as someone who worked in the software industry for a long time, I don't think I've ever seen it spelled "lo" in my life in this context.

It's low-res with a "w".

For comparison, both "high res" and "hi-res" are totally common.

But I've just never seen "lo res" anywhere. I think there's just no point in dropping a single "w" at the end.

And Google seems to agree -- searching for "hi res" in quotes yields 143M results (and the top results all mean "high resolution"), while "lo res" is only 1.4M results. And the top results for "lo res" are for a bar, font, and car of that name -- not for anything directly about low resolution.

Percy D said...

Wednesday March 27 crossword clue number 64 across (like early PC graphics) answerLORES means Low Resolution.

Yellowrocks said...

Whiner, I, too, questioned ACES in a royal flush. I agree with you.
Bubble tea is common here, but it is not my cuppa tea.
Goya ads tout Adobo Seasoning. That's how I know of it.
I understood LO RES when the space between was was pointed out, but I thought it looked strange without the W. Teleiotes, thank you.
"If accepted to a program, a PhD program will grant a student tuition and a stipend. If you find a PhD program that you have to pay for, don't apply." Makes sense, but a little stretched.

MAGILLA GO-RILLA said...

Does this work?

MAGILLA GO-RILLA said...

Looks like I’m back😄

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-I finished, put down my pencil and immediately searched to see if I had made the correct vowel “stab in the dark” for R_BAT/ADOB_. Sorry, we have some lovely paring gifts.
-I just finished a Last DanceTV (Netflix) Marathon chronicling Michael Jordan’s career.
-WHIM not URGE to start. Wait, URGE is a late entry.
-ABBA is always a great way to start a day
-Harvesting PEAS takes a lot of labor for even one meal
-RAF ACES won the Battle Of Britain
-If the server says their onion rings are not homemade but are frozen, I pass
-It wasn’t the right, uh, time for BEER THIRTY
-So appropriate for us: A SMART ALECK ruins a crossword. I’ve been tempted but never do this unless invited.
-Omaha has huge grain SILOS along I-80 that get occasionally get decorated
-You probably remember that constructor Jess Rucks is an URDU linguist.

RosE said...

Good Morning! I had smooth sailing along the top; not so much the south. But still a good Wednesday puzzle. Thanks, Matthew.

WO: (spelling) DRACaMA -> DRACHMA; palm ->TEAK.

And then there’s TIPI….I remember a time when the crossword clue would note VAR(iation) when the word was not the usual spelling. Would have helped here… just sayin’.

Hand up, JzB & Anon @ 5:01. I had no idea LORES -> LO RES. LOL!

Hand up, Yellowrocks. My first thought was a roller skate key, too. Mine hung on a hook in the kitchen.

Fav fill: DIDDLY SQUAT, a fun old-timey expression; Least fav: PHD (as clued).

Thanks, JazzB. Fun & fact-filled recap. Best wishes for successful cataract surgery, and welcome to the "club.”

Anonymous said...

I think the editor was a little tapioca nonetheless I enjoyed the puzzle

Monkey said...

I enjoyed the theme very much but I stumbled at the middle bottom. For one thing I misspelled DRACHMA, I had dracmas. In spite of having a Ph D, I missed that answer (embarrassing). I didn’t know ROBOT as clued, ADOBO, LO RES (thanks anonymous for the reveal) and hesitated on spelling TIPI that way. Oh, well, no problem, I had fun.

Thank you JzB. Nice review with much info.

Anonymous said...

A clever Wednesday offering.
I also breezed my way thru until the bottom center.
Then the head scratching began… LORES?
Thanks anon for explaining Lo Res

Thanks Matthew for a fresh and fun puzzle.
An awesome recap JzB
….. kkFlorida

NaomiZ said...

FIR without trouble except for the spelling of DRACHMA. Also not well versed in the Greek alphabet, but perps helped. LO RES came to mind immediately, and that's how I spell it. TIPI seems more common these days than "teepee." Bubble tea is popular on the West Coast, but I find the large TAPIOCA pearls disgusting.

Loved the workout theme. Well done, Matthew, Patti, and JzB! Thanks!

Charlie Echo said...

Another fast FIR this morning. Fortunately, the perps were fair, because some of the clues really stunk. PHD, ANS, and LORES? If the answer is going to be abbreviated, the clue should be, too! Held my nose at TIPI, and ACES as a plural is just plain wrong. On the bright side, it kept my ABBA SOS earworm crawling around!

Tehachapi Ken said...

Thanks, Matthew, for a challenging Wednesday exercise.And thanks, JzB, for explaining a few inscrutable items in said exercise.

Alas, I was a FIW, due mainly to some annoying problems in the South, anchored by LORES, ADOBO, ROBOT (no idea from the clue), and LETO. Also it didn't help that I didn't know if 57D, right in the middle of that car wreck, was DULL or DRAB.

A few other comments:
1) I'm with Whiner that a royal flush contains only one ace, so the clue should have been singular;
2) 20A was for me a case of the three P's:
Without friendly perps (the first P), nearby, I never would have come up with PANINIPRESS (the second and third P's);
3) For 46A, it would have been helpful to know in the clue that we were looking for an alternate spelling of tepee; and
4) will we ever run out of clues for OREO?

CrossEyedDave said...

Lessee, get up, make coffee, do the crossword...

Believe it or not, tv marathon reminded me of my Fitbit...

WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO GET A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP!

Panini press?
It takes a bit of visual parsing, (is there a word for visually discerning an image?) but this press makes grilled cheesus!

Anonymous said...

A refreshingly few number of three-letter answers (11 by my count) and proper noun answers (also 11 by my count). Also, enjoyed the lack of non-verbal vocalizations (e.g., ahem, ahh, aah). Agree that even with the question mark the clue for PHD stretched beyond the breaking point.

Also agree that "wining" and "dining" are not SIMILAR. I went through all the down clues first today, and with the question mark pun indicator, I thought perhaps "related" in seven letters. Alas, perps quickly disabused me of that idea.

Finally, I think the clue "Native American tent" almost requires the more traditional spelling in the U.S., "tepee." I had never seen it spelled TIPI, but Google tells me it is the more common spelling in Canada. Given that, I think a better clue would have been "First Nations tent," as I believe that is the more broadly accepted term north-of-the-border.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Many thanks to Matthew and JazzB for a good start to the day! Thee was nothing DRAB about it.

The puzzle was a smooth ride from start to finish with good food, OREO, TAPIOCA, BACON, ADOBO, TAPAS, PANINI, PEAS, SQUID, ROE and all cooked IN OIL. BEER for those who imbibe.

I've often seen TIPI as well as teepee.

I hope you are all enjoying a great day today!


Jinx in Norfolk said...

CED - Is it important to buy the main ingredient for that samich at Cheeses of Nazareth? Love all the DIDDLY SQUAT cartoons. I usually say "doodly," as that old Billy Lee Riley song declared, "Yeah, my gal is red hot, Your gal ain't doodly squat."

RosE and YR, those skates make me thing of the slightly-suggestive tune by Melanie, Brand New Key. (My favorite album of hers is Live (Recorded at Margie's Birthday Party), which didn't include Key.)

I'll bet that Bayou Tony is too young to remember when EGA, VGA, and SVGA were the state-of-the-art computer display standards. Maybe he can ask Pops.

Copy Editor said...

I’m relieved to see that JzB was unable to figure out LO RES, although I expected Cornerites to clear that up quickly. Seems ironic that upcoming cataract surgery has been making everything low-res for him. I almost sustained an FIW because of the natick involving that dubious entry and the female god with the masculine-sounding name. Subbing Jared LETO for that god would have made things easier. I wasn’t familiar with the ROBOT, either, and I had trouble coming up with the second word of PLAY SET. And, hand up for salsa before ADOBO (a term that has appeared several times in our puzzles).

It had been an enjoyable solve up (down?) to that point, as I really liked the theme – especially DIDDLYSQUAT.

It was nice to see ALECK spelled right. I quibbled with the definition, though, because I think being a smart aleck involves attempts to be sarcastically witty, rather than simply being pedantic, but the definitions I found online back Matthew and Patti. . . . That wasn’t true of the MEANY/meanie argument. I might have gone with former AFL-CIO leader George MEANY to avoid that problem. . . . Let’s come up with one style for TEEPEE, TEPEE, TIPI, Patti (see also uie/uey). . . . I thought it was silly to suggest that onion rings might be fried by any method besides IN OIL, but DW pointed out that air-frying legitimized that clue. . . . I know who BART Simpson is, but you’d have to watch the show to know MILHOUSE. Still, I knew he couldn’t have been a friend of Richard Milhous Nixon, because the socially awkward Nixon didn’t have any friends. I always felt sort of sorry for him despite my contempt. So did comedian Steve Martin, who envisioned the disgraced ex-president walking the sands of San Clemente . . . all alone . . . (wearing) big old shorts.

Acesaroundagain said...

(adobo, lo res, Leto, & the Futurama character) I didn't want to spend any more time on that than I did and I'm glad that I didn't. And diddly didn't help. And no, wining and dining are not similar, what a stretch. I didn't like that lower block at all, in case you couldn't notice. GC

waseeley said...

Thank you Matthew for the Wednesday workout. Did most of it before heading off for my yearly CPAP checkout, came back, ran out of breath down in the bayou, swagged (wrong) and got an FIW [blush] -- the first Wednesday in a 'coons age.

Bless me Fr. Ron for I have erred ... whoops wrong confessional! I love your reviews for their comprehensiveness and the amount of work you obviously put into them, although today's was just slightly LO-RES! I finally got my new glasses last week after my cataract surgery. Just remember to be OCD about the eye drop regimen. I don't know where you're getting your [expensive] drops from, but I got mine from Missoula Montana, the home of Kim Williams, a long time commentator for NPR's All Things Considered. She was such a sweetheart that I'll never forget her, and I'll never forgot the name of the town she lived in.

A few favs:

15A ATONE. I'll try to ATONE for my FIW, but hope that's not a BAD OMEN for tomorrow's puzzle.

20A PANINNI PRESS. We don't have the counter real estate for another gadget so we just use a toaster.

23A ROE. Sea urchin ROE is an acquired taste. Believe it or not it's kind of NUTTY.

44A SLEEP CYCLE. What a Ko-inky-dink - see my intro!

46A TIPI. This had me stumped for a bit -- it worked phonetically, but I've never seen that spelling.

57A DRAB. My undoing. Had DULL and thus ROBOT never appeared.

Cheers,
Bill

CanadianEh! said...

Workout Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Matthew and JazzB.
I FIRed today, but got the exercise theme, and smiled broadly at DIDDLY SQUAT (cue Sheryl Crow and Soak Up The Sun).

Hand up for being baffled by LORES. Thanks anon@5:10.
Like others, I had a major inkblot in that area. Dull changed to DRAB, PLAY gym to SET, Adobe to ADOBO, Lena to LETO.

This Canadian could not remember NTSB and all but the N perped (i WAGged an A for American).I was not thinking of Greek with xis and was looking for a prefix or some kind of axis.

This Canadian, contrary to the encyclopedias, uses Teepee not TIPI. Teepee Joy blog says “The word tipi originates from the Lakota language and the word “thípi,” which is often translated to mean “they dwell.” Today, you may see it spelled as tipi, tepee, or teepee, but each is referring to the same type of structure.”
Yes Anonymous @11:37, you are correct that First Nations is the correct term for our indigenous peoples.

I smiled at WASP because (Spoiler alert) today’s Wordle is SIMILAR.

Thoughts and prayers for Irish Miss. I hope she is back here soon.

Wishing you all a great day.

Big Easy said...

The 'unlazy routines' were easy guesses for me with the exception on PANINI PRESS. I filled it correctly but couldn't figure out what "pan in 'i' press" was, thinking I had spelled TAPIOCA wrong. It was an easy to FIR and after completion I came to 'the corner' and saw PANINI. Duh!!

LORES- had no idea until others wrote LOw RESolution. It was filled by perps and I left it. That and ROBOT were my only unknowns today.

Misty said...

Fun puzzle, Matthew, many thanks. And always enjoy your commentary, JazzB. Good luck with your upcoming cataract surgery. I had mine over a decade ago, and it was a huge blessing for giving me such good vision again. I hope yours works really well.

Well, my main comment was going to be about the large supply of food we got in the puzzle this morning. But then I saw that you have already listed all of them, Lucina--so, many thanks for that too!

There were a few animals, WASP, SHEEP, APES, SQUID (wait, is that an animal?). Think I'd better quit.

Have a great day, everybody.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi, All -

Thanks for the "lo res" clarification. And, yes, that does describe my vision these days. I get the right eye done on April 29 and the left on June 3. They will supply the drops at those times.

Cool regards!
JzB




Jinx in Norfolk said...

My "today is" reference omitted a day that is important to the Corner. The last Wednesday of March is Manatee Appreciation Day! Congrats to our very own Mal Man. You are indeed appreciated!

Malodorous Manatee said...

As one who never understood why tepee was not spelled teepee, I smiled when I filled in tipi.

Jazz B, good luck with the eyes and thanks for the I Ron Butterfly clip. I cited that Simpson's bit to a friend just a few days ago. Some of us thought of Iron Butterfly as "lightweights". Imagine the surprise when we learned that one of their members was an aerospace engineer. IIRC, his death remains a mystery although what appears to have been his remains were found at the bottom of Decker Canyon roughly 25 miles from where I sit typing this.

Jayce said...

I enjoyed the theme.

Anonymous said...

Hi res may be more familiar

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Finished the puzzle early this morning and been working non-stop all day.

Thanks for the fun theme, Matthew and congrats on your debut.

Thanks for the in-depth review JzB. Let me add one thing to help out folks that didn't know 70a -- Bender. [10:52 - best of]

WOs: N/A
ESPs: NUS, ADOBO, LETO
Fav: BEER O'CLOCK

I wanted rhyming before SIMILAR.

The Girls love Bubble tea and got me to try it . I didn't know the TAPIOCA was going to go up the straw; nearly choked on a "pearl."

CED - Thanks for the giggles.

@67a, I already had __RES so just waited on HI or LO[w]
Jinx @11:30 - I may be young but I have been computing since I was 12 (in the '80s) and EGA wasn't even out yet (it came out in '84 / '85).

Good luck on the surgery, Jazz. Get well soon, IM.

Cheers, -T

Jinx in Norfolk said...

RIP Joe Lieberman. A rarity in the Senate, he put country before party.

Michael said...

The clue for 26D just grates somehow ... 'No good jerkface' ... really??

Anonymous said...

What’s the matter with it? I thought it was a great clue!