SOMETHIN' FISHY
A
pretty straight-forward puzzle, although I fumbled in the SW corner
with a "bad name" - at least there were just a few to contend with
today. Lots of clues that were merely clever definitions*, I thought -
YMMV. At first I surmised that the theme may have something to do with
the "I" situated in the
center(ish) of the theme fills - but no, it's three things that can be
found "in the tank" - and I have added a fourth at the end of the theme
answers. I do not have the crossword comparison tools, but I recognize
the constructor from previous grids. The theme answers;
17. Family member with a heat lamp: PET IGUANA
- I had a pet iguana - his name was Zeus, and he did NOT have a tank -
he roamed my apartment freely, but due to some personal changes, he had
to go to a zoo in Texas
The black thingy is his heat lamp
28. Military unit with mechanized forces: ARMORED DIVISION - this doesn't quite jibe for me - I suppose the personnel would be "in the tank"
63. On a losing streak, or where to find 17-, 28-, and 47-Across: IN THE TANK
ACROSS:
1. Subject with angles and equations: MATH - the only thing I studied in "math" was the teacher....
9. Cork citizens: IRISH - and - 42A. __ Lingus: AER - their local airplane people
14. Juárez water: AGUA
15*. Collect crops: REAP
16. Accordion-heavy genre: POLKA
19. Got the fire going again: RELIT
20. "Indeed": "SURE" - One of Nero Wolfe's frequent comments is "Indeed"
21. "Greetings!": "HELLO~!"
23. Bring into play: USE
24. Beaver's building: DAM
36. Small touches: DABS
37. Like most highlighters: NEON
38. PBJ or BLT: SANDO - This must be regional, as no one I know refers to a sandwich as a sando - I have been known to call it a "sa'mich"
39. Double helix molecule: DNA
40. "Show me!": "CAN I SEE~!?"
43*. Milk source: UDDER
45. Like some JFK flights: INTernationaL
46. Classic Pontiacs: GTOs - I was more of a Mercury Cougar fan
51*. Sense of self: EGO
52. Golfer's goal: PAR
54. Tuesday fare: TACOS - I like tacos any day of the week~!
58. __ and file: RANK - us paycheck-to-paycheck types
61. Public meltdown, maybe: SCENE - as in to "make a ___"
66. Smudge: SMEAR
67. Pajama tops: TEES - that's what I wear
68. Pentathlon blade: EPEE
69. Trying times?: TESTS
70. "SportsCenter" channel: ESPN
71. First light: DAWN
1*. Travel guide: MAP
2. Forever and ever: AGES - EONS, AEON, nope.
3*. Ballet costume: TUTU
4. Side braids or side shaves: HAIRDOs
5. "Ur not wrong": TRU - text-speak
6. "Uh-huh": "YEAH."
7. Cut glass: PANE - an intended glass piece - unintentional, and it's a "shard"
8. Gem with a honey variety: OPAL - my first thought, but I waited for perps
10. Ikura at the sushi bar: ROE - perps
12. Travels cross-country?: SKIS - on my first pass, I missed the "s" at the end of travelS
13*. Abhor: HATE
18. Backpack contents: GEAR - uh, well, yeah - kinda vague
22. Tyler of "Empire Records": LIV
25. Actress Suvari: MENA -this actress - I had her confused with Mira Sorvino
27. Cute __ button: AS A
28. Make sense: ADD UP - if you saw my math teacher, it would "add up"
29. Short time off?: R AND R - clever; I like this one - Rest & Relaxation
30. C-suite qualifications: MBA DEGREES - the other 10-letter non-theme Down fill
34. Ancient Greek theater: ODEON
35. Language on a longship: NORSE
41. Ultimate word of an ultimatum: ELSE
46. Was a poor winner: GLOATED
48. Suni Lee's Olympic team: USA - her Wiki - born in our blog host's state of Minnesota~!
49. Brute: OGRE
52. Hissed summons: PSST
53. Top: ACME - had to wait on perps - this or APEX, for one
55*. Offer as proof: CITE
56. Individuals: ONES
57. Put one foot in front of the other?: STEP - I started with "WALK" - Bzzzt~!
59. Auto parts chain that shares a name with a California valley: NAPA
62. William Styron's "The Confessions of __ Turner": NAT - oops, not IKE
64. Where to watch for deals?: HSN - Home Shopping Network - never watched it myself
65. "I'm Just __": song sung by Ryan Gosling in "Barbie": KEN
Splynter
44 comments:
I had no idea what tied the themed answers together until the reveal, and I still find the whole thing a bit of a stretch, although it does make sense, with a little “strain” to see it. And as a whole, the puzzle wasn’t terribly difficult. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Went wrong at 1a with TRIG. (Have I ever mentioned....?) SANDO doesn't belong in my region, either. Never heard it said. The grid-spanning themers were nice, even though the theme was obscure. Finished in good time. Thanx, Rebecca and Splynter. (You call Rebecca Goldstein simply "author?")
FIR. One misstep was throwing down taps instead of dabs. I'm not sure the clue is appropriate. I don't think of dabs as small touches? And I've never heard of sando? That and the actress Mena? The entire middle of this puzzle had me flummoxed for a bit. Fortunately the long across answers helped with the solve.
But all in all I found this to be on par with a mid week puzzle.
FIR, but erased eons for AGES.
Today is:
NATIONAL OREO COOKIE DAY (crossword constructors can consider celebrating)
NATIONAL WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE (ok, these "days" are getting a little too specific)
NATIONAL DENTIST’S DAY (the ADA sponsors the first two days)
NATIONAL FROZEN FOOD DAY (we owe it all to Clarence Birdseye, who invented flash freezing of food)
NATIONAL DRESS DAY (Corporal Klinger’s big day. Maybe he’ll wear a dress for his (Jamie Farr's) 90th birthday on July 1)
CSO to our esteemed Miss IRISH Miss.
Where I grew up, all the gearheads pronounced GTO as "goat."
The folks who write books about caregiving folks with dementia use the term "catastrophic reaction" instead of SCENE or meltdown. The term can sometimes be used for the caregiver, as it can sometimes be very hard to remain composed.
Lyric poets Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote:
And I'm trying to make some girl
Who tells me baby, better come back, maybe next week
'Cause you see, I'm on a losing streak
Hand up for never hearing of SANDO. Methinks it might be more common with folks too young to qualify for AARP.
Thanks to Rebecca for a doable Wednesday puzzle with perps for the unfortunate fills. And thanks to Splynter for another fine review. BTW - one of my high school MATH teachers was a young (married) babe too. She used her assets to hold the attention of her hormone-poisoned male students, wearing buttoned blouses with a few left unbuttoned.
Took 6:07 today to fill-up.
Never saw the theme, and now even with the explanation, I'm not sure I buy it. Armored Division is in the tank? And, I'm not familiar with referring to a losing streak as "in the tank"; "tanking," in sports today means to purposely field a poor team, in hopes of improving your chances for a higher draft pick(s).
Today's actresses got me at first, as I also confused Mira with Mena, and needed 2/3 perps for Liv.
9A: Ms. ____ Miss.
Never heard of Sando.
Never want to hear it again.
Only two unfamiliar fills today, MENA and SANDO. Two perps suggested MENA. I have heard of the name MENA, but not Suvari. I am sure some younger people say SANDO, but I have not heard it or read it. I have heard sammy for sandwich.
I liked the theme. I thought DIVISION was a stretch, but as Splynter pointed out, the division could refer to the personnel in the tank. OTOH, an army division includes thousands of troops and they could not all fit in the tank. IMO this was the only slightly iffy clue.
A touch can be a small amount like a dab. A touch (or dab) of vinegar in a recipe. When I waitressed I would hear this response: "More coffee?" "Just a touch" or "Just a dab."
I hear in the tank often. In the tank means having a prolonged losing performance, so on a losing streak. For example, "My investments are in the tank."
In sports, "Tanking is the art of creating a purposefully bad team with the intention of losing games to gain high draft picks."
I had the hardest time at the cross of PETIG__ANA and TR__. 'Text speak' is not my cup of tea and I was actually thinking of some regional name for 'small grandma' but PETI GRANA just didn't look right. TRU- isn't that a TV channel-TruTV? I got it right but the clue sucks. It was a FIW due to a careless error elsewhere.
When most of a fill has been done by perps I don't look at the clue, which was the case for 11D. Everything but the last letter was already filled and I finished it to make it ILLUMINATE. Didn't bother to check the spelling of GASOLINE. Duh! No other mistakes.
SANDO- never heard of it.
I PROMISE- I think the new saying for kids is 'pinkie swear'.
I filled MIRA before the perps corrected it to MENA. There is a MENA Arkansas.
JORTS- we used to call them 'cut offs'. The school jeans became summer shorts.
Jinx- maybe your MATH teacher wanted to be a cougar.
FIR in 11:52, about par for me for a midweek grid (double SS’s time which is about normal). Hand up for confusing Suvari with Sorvino, maybe someday I’ll remember it’s MENA and MIRA. (As at one time I had to remember between UMA and UTA, which I have down now). The word “and” in a clue designates plural whereas “or” means singular, I hesitated on HAIRDOS, cuz the clue denoted singular. Editor error? And then there’s SANDO, a pesky little ERM (a word or series of letters seemingly strung together by the constructor for the sake of fill, which virtually nobody has used or heard of ). Not complaining, just commenting. My dad drove a tank in the army so that answer made sense to me. ILLUMINATI was unknown but I like the word.
Thank you Rebecca for the puzzle and Splynter for the expo!
Good Morning! Rebecca gave me a challenging one today. The middle, west -> east, was the last to fill.
I have to object: according to Google SANDO is Japanese; PBJ & BLT are not.
ESP: NAT and MENA (& WO - I also got her mixed up with Mira Sorvino.)
Started to go with VAcay which became R AND R – that middle AND in CW fills always throws me off until the last letter appears.
CSO to IRISH Miss.
Thanks, Splynter, for the straightforward recap. LOL the beaver to the tree!
Good Morning:
I had no idea about the theme until the reveal and, even then, I think it's a little forced, especially, as others have noted, Armored Division. Splynter suggested that Sando is a regional term but I consider it a generational term, just like Convo, Bae, Totes Adorbs, and every shortened word, abbreviation, and initialisms spawned from the texting revolution. Like it or not, this practice is here to stay in crosswords, as well as texting, emails, etc. Notice that Tru was clued as "Ur not wrong" vs Author Capote or ___ TV. On the positive side, Rebecca gave us some nice fill with MBA Degrees, Illuminati, I Promise, and Gloated. A cute clue was Trying Times?=Tests.
Thanks, Rebecca, and thanks, Splynter, for pinch hitting with a nice overview and commentary.
Jinx and SS, thanks for the CSO. ☘️
Have a great day.
Well, this took far longer than most Wednesdays to FIR. I, too, never heard of SANDO. Also, never saw the theme, and even after reading Splynter's explanation, thought it a bit of a stretch. But maybe I'm just having one of those "mental slow" days. Only one W/O: EEL/ROE. I do appreciate that there are few obscure names in RG's CW. So, thanx to RG for this (for me) challenging Friday-on-a-Wednesday CW, and thanx to Splynter for 'splainin' the whole thing.
ARMORED (TANK) and GAS (TANK) make sense but PET (TANK) seems forced and makes me think fish tank would be better. Do I misunderstand the reveal? FIR but without joy..
MENA no problem but SANDO totally unknown. Can someone explain?
Pet peeve - the disintegration of language, both verbal and written 5d.”ur” for you’re and TRU for true, etc. Chalk-on-the-blackboard to hear veggies for vegetables. End of rant.
Favorite clue 12d. Travels cross-country? - SKIS. Used to and wish I still could.
Happy day, all!
I agree with RosE that neither PBJ nor BLT qualify as a SANDO, since that is a Japanese sandwich. I was fortunate [?] not to know the geographic origin of the term, but it was somehow familiar, and filled easily. I found the whole puzzle to be relatively quick and easy. Disagree that the clue for 4 Down required a singular answer; quite the opposite. Nothing else to say but thanks to Rebecca, Patti, and Splynter for the entertainment.
I struggled with this one and DNF. I got all the theme answers but the first. PET IGUANA a family member? I realize now I should have been able to guess it with perps.
I was also stumped my MBA DEGREES, as clued, INTL and INSTA. I filled the SANDO but I’ve never heard of the word since as many other people have remarked it might be because of a generational gap.
Thank you Splynter for your recap.
NaomiZ ~ I’m no linguistic expert, but side braids is a hairdo, side shades is a hairdo, side braids AND side shades are HAIRDOS.
Wednesday workout. Thanks for the fun, Rebecca and Splynter.
I FIRed and saw the Aquarium theme, but I had to work a little.
Several inkblots to change Teatro to ODEON, Taps To DABS.
I WAGged USA, ROE. MENA perped.
I was parsing 38A as S AND O (although we already had a similar R AND R), and waiting for the “show me” when I arrived here. SANDO as an abbreviation for sandwich is unknown to me.
IGUANA under AGUA was interesting.
My favourite today was the clue for SKIS (although we have not had much snow this winter for cross-country skiing.
POLKA King, Walter Ostanek is a local favourite. My nephew’s FIL and MIL have played with him in a button-box accordion band.
PolkaKing
Wishing you all a great day.
This one went fairly easy for a mid-weeker. I must have been on the right wavelength this morning. MENA was a SWAG, and SANDO (?!) Was ESP. The theme was a touch squishy but Splynter cleared things up nicely for me.
Musings
-Subbing while I wish I had not made this commitment a month ago. Who knew this would be golf weather!
-SANDO was unknown to me but rock solid with the crossers. Yes, Naomi, I did find out that SANDO is the Japanese name for sandwich. I also was trying to make sense of S AND O since we had R AND R.
-Conducting war with ARMORED DIVISIONS debuted on September 1, 1939
-TYPO: I typed “teh” so often I had to put in auto correct to get to “the”
-Roofers in our town are primarily Hispanic and the music they blare from the rooftops alos has a lot of accordions in it
-I had five PARS and a birdie yesterday. My partner had a 160 yd eagle.
-Don’t say “or ELSE” unless you have an ELSE
-Your fun style is very recognizable, Splynter. I’m not sure the same could be said of that I have one.
Mena Suvari played a teeny-bopper Lolita in American Beauty. Good grief, I just LIU and that was 25 years ago!
Learning moment: Sando, a Japanese form of sandwich...
Hmm,
I am familiar with evoo, and "sammy," thanks to Racheal Ray, but Sando just doesnt pass my smell test. So I had to google it for myself, to see if this Japanese thing is legit.
I may be throwing Thumper out with the bath water here, but google seems to agree with me in definition #2, (Definitely a s**t sandwich.)
I think I have a legit gripe here!
You can't use Japanese in an English crossword! To cheat properly, you must use Frawnch!
hmm, oh well, that didn't work out like I planned...
Well heck, now I just feel like this guy...
Noted trivia, re: in the tank.
I wonder if Marvin Heemeyer did crosswords...
(Aside to constructor, just teasing, I couldn't resist with the material at hand)
(Hmm, that sounds like Marvin Heemeyer too...)
Thanks Splynter, never heard of "sando" either. FIR so no complaints. The Army has different divisions, like Artillery, Infantry and Armor. Also the GTO pic is really a 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator. I'm a car buff. GC
1A MATH is an abbr but not clued as such. A mere technicality and the answer was an easy fill
Typical Wednesday, increase in difficulty, turned to perps a lot. Coupla alphabet runs.
Almost started off with trig (👋🏿 DO) for MATH but perped MAP which settled that. The SKIIS clue was a clever double take. “SUVARI” ? (MINA or MoNA). SANDO? (who says this?😳). It’s sangwidge Japanese or not.. UDD not HOOT…ER 🤭
Elly May loved CRITTERS (from “creatures”) and Granny cooked up vittles (“victuals”). “Brute” once again OGRE shaming Shrek. “Golfers goal” PAR? or is it really the course’s “bAR” 🍻 🤨. It always gives me pause 🐾 when the answer is RANDR (huh? Ohhh YEAH)
Inkovers: pats/taps/DABS
Harrison Ford “____ “ in a series of films……INDEED.
Short character for short in “Capote and the Swans”….. TRU
The wildebeest “didn’t need to guess” cuz he already _____ ….. KNEW
Hit 75 in CNY yesterday Yikes!!
What I really dislike is Editors and Authors who do not know the meaning of the words they use…
Sando: The Iconic Japanese Sandwich
It’s not a PBJ or a BLT.
It’s a crossword, the actual meanings of words should matter.
Nice Wednesday puzzle, Rebecca, and I thought the reveal and theme were clever. I never had a pet iguana, but I guess they must belong in a tank, eh?
Like others, SANDO was new to me, but nearby perps helped. Ditto for TRU. I appreciate it when a constructor realizes a particular answer will be thorny, so purposely places friendly perps nearby.
And thanks for signing off with my name in the far SE.
Tanks very much, Rebecca, for the puzzle
Tanks, Splynter, for the review.
No tanks for SANDO as clued (not that I knew the Japanese version, as discussed above, but at least that would have been a learning moment).
FIR fairly quickly but still feel the need to nitpick a few things:
- AGES do not last “forever”
- Why is an iguana a “family member”?
- SANDO… No.
On the plus side, how about that lack of proper names! There’s only MENA, LIV, NAT and KEN—and one is referring to the title of a book, another to the title of a song.
As desper-otto mentioned, Mena Suvari had her breakout role in American Beauty, one of the best movies of all time. The title may have multiple meanings but the most obvious is that her character IS the “Beauty”.
Ray-O, I think Crosby, Nash and Young first saw 75 in the rear view mirror a few years ago. Stills too.
AcesAround - did you folks call a GTO a "goat" like my buddies? Since you are a car nut, I'll mention that a high school pal bought a 396 Chevelle and dropped a 427 in it. Made a lot of money (illegally) drag racing against freshmen in our little college town. He went on to be a multiple NHRA national champion in pro stock.
Jim @ 1:28 ~ I consider any word, abbr., or phrase that is normally capitalized to be a proper name. Therefore, your four examples are expanded by: Irish, Aer, DNA, GTOs, ESPN, Instal, R and R, MBA Norse, USA, HSN, and Napa. 😉
Language is constantly changing, both in vocabulary and grammar. Words that were once unacceptable become standard English over time. We are surprised that they ever were scorned. Words that once were standard English are no longer used or have changed their meanings.
Informal English has its place. We use informal language for every day conversation, not the language of the lecture hall, just as you wouldn't wear a tuxedo to play baseball.
Our reactions to language changes are different depending on or age.
"Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
– Anything that’s invented between when you’re 15 and 35 is new and exciting and revolutionary.
– Anything invented after you’re 35 is against the natural order of things."
LOL "Eventually all the people who hate this kind of thing will be dead, and the ones who use it are going to be in control."
This has been happening to the English language with each new generation throughout the centuries. The language we now revere represents constant change, often decried by the traditionalists.
PS. There has always been slang. Sometime it dies out or become passé. Sometime it remains informal English for decades. Sometimes it becomes standard English and then is defended by die hard supporters
Most Americans (62%) own a pet, including about a third (35%) who have more than one. And nearly all U.S. pet owners (97%) say their pets are part of their family, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
I was surprised when I looked up the Japanese sando. It looks yummy. I never heard of it. When I was in Japan we usually had high end Japanese meals. At a working supper one evening we were served so called American sandwiches with one thin slice of meat between two slices of white bread. Nothing added. My Japanese DIL said this is common. I will ask her about Sando. Do the Japanese serve PBJ and BLT sandwiches? Would they be sandos? I think a better clue would have been Japanese sandwich.
Hairdos plural. "Side braids" is plural. "Side shaves" is plural . Mice or chipmunks have been feasting on my garden. Have is used with plurals.
Jinx in N @ 1:49
CNY = Central New York State: Albany to Buffalo like the Erie Canal song. ⛴️ ☺️
Oh, those things don’t bother me as much but sure, my post should read “proper people* names.”
Yellowrocks - Yes, of course, language, oral and written, constantly changes, as it should. Each generation uses language to express their own experiences in their time-frame. My siblings and I thought it amusing when family members used “Nebby” (nosy - English) and “gobsmacked” (astonished - German). To the point - I had to type nebby 4 times before it was accepted and it also insisted on capitalization. My granddaughter thinks it is funny when I say commode instead of toilet.
English spelling also presents difficulty when so many letters are not pronounced (TRU - true). The word “through” is now often just written as “thru”. Some of these modifications will improve the langue and make it more understandable. This trend will certainly continue as life has picked up the pace with instant news, communication, and expectations. But there is a majesty to well-written English and I hope that doesn’t change.
A funny aside - I attended an afternoon wedding where after the guest had gone home, the tux attired men in the wedding party when out and played baseball. No one slid home.
Hi All!
Thanks Rebecca for the nice Wednesday puzzle with minimal names.
Wonderful USE of Van Halen, Splynter! Thanks for subbin' today.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: LIV, MENA
Fav: POLKA's clue made me think of Weird Al.
Jinx - re: ADA sponsored day(s): Stephen Wright [@0:27]
SANDO sounds like something Guy Who Just Bought a Boat [3:53 w/ 65d's Ryan Gosling] says.
LOL, CED! //the whole post.
Back to work; 'nother meeting awaits.
Cheers, -T
Okay! My post was accepted! It has been so long since I finished the puzzle that I've forgotten what it was about. When I tried to post, my computer went into a different mode telling me that I had been hacked and I had to call Microsoft which then took me a good three hours or more and it still is not resolved. The technician said we would continue tomorrow.
In the meantime, I know I enjoyed the puzzle and it did not take long to finish. All I want to say now is that SANDO is the beginning of my surname!
I love reading all your comments and I hope all are enjoying a lovely day! It's 74 here and beautiful.
Bit tough but interesting Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Rebecca. And your commentary is always helpful, Splynter, thank you for that too.
There were three small groups of words that I enjoyed.
One had to do with lights: ILLUMINATI, NEON, ALIT, and DAWN.
The second had to do with movements: SKIS, STEPS, POLKA, and TUTU.
The third had animals but I could only find three: IGUANA, CRITTERS, and EMU. I love animals, so I wish there had been more.
Still, these made the puzzle delightful for me--thanks again, Rebecca.
I don't know how to describe my feelings solving this puzzle. Some smiles and some nose-wrinklers. Pretty much what many of you have already said.
I've developed a theory. You could call it the "Trouble in River City" theory. It starts with T which rhymes with P and that stands for Pool. I.e. the one has only an extremely tenuous connection to the other. An example from a few days ago comes to mind, where TENT was clued as "High stakes." So, a tent has stakes, so, think up a totally unrelated phrase containing the word "stakes." Ah, I've got one: "High stakes!" God I'm clever. Never mind that the "stakes" referred to with regard to tents are physical objects while the "stakes" described as "high" are risks or rewards which may or may not be tangible. And, as someone rhetorically asked, what does "high" have to do with a tent? Answer: nothing, it's just a common adjective for those other kinds of stakes. Anyway, that's my theory.
Thanks for the write-up, Splynter.
LW and I met our son for lunch today and had good food and conversation.
Hmmm, lunch... lunch box... Bento box! Bento box would be a good clue for Lunch with son! Hmmmm. (Not!)
It is true (not "tru") that we had lunch with him today. It was by far the best part of our day.
Good wishes to you all.
Lucina, be very careful when you get a message purporting to be from Microsoft telling you your computer has a virus. This is often a phish.
Uncle Fred
Thank you. But what is a phish?
Okay. I just looked it up and I understand.
Jayce
How nice for you that you met with your son for lunch. I understand the feeling. My daughter and her husband and one of my granddaughters came over today to help ne with something on my cell phone. I am always happy when I see them.
Bayou Tony - great clip for Oreo Day and my gag!
Jinx, yes, we definitely called them "Goats". Ha. I did a lot of drag racing in my youth. I had a 427 corvette that was pretty "mean".
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