Theme: "Is There an Echo in Here?" - The last two words are homophones.
24. Gold, silver, or bronze?: OLYMPIC MEDAL METAL.
32. Candy heart, chocolate rose, or red velvet cupcake?: HONEYMOON SUITE SWEET.
61. Corn dog, blooming onion, or caramel apple?: COUNTY FAIR FARE.
68. Erratum, appendix, or reader testimonial?: SECOND EDITION ADDITION.
80. Crack, streak, or fingerprint?: WINDOW PANE PAIN.
106. Venmo balance, PayPal account, or Google Wallet funds?: ELECTRONIC CASH CACHE.
118. Crane, hard hat, or cement mixer?: BUILDING SITE SIGHT.
I
pronounce "medal" and "metal" differently, how about you? The others
are total homophones to me. Love the theme cluing style today.
So
happy to see Sid's byline. This is only his second LAT, but he's a very
accomplished constructor. He made the final puzzle for the ACPT this
year. Here he is with the winner Paolo Pasco and Will Shortz.
Across:
4. "Passing" actress Thompson: TESSA.
9. Hindi film star __ Rukh Khan: SHAH. Wikipedia shows he's huge in India.
13. Guitar clamps: CAPOS.
18. Rowboat propeller: OAR.
19. 2019 animated Christmas film: KLAUS.
20. Push to act: IMPEL.
22. Anti-inflammatory brand: ALEVE. 31. Under the weather: ILL.
23. "And whatnot" abbr.: ETC.
27. Snare: TRAP.
29. NBA great Curry: STEPH. Here with his brother Seth.
30. Viscous stuff: GOOP.
38. Tick away: ELAPSE.
39. Pledge in court: OATH.
40. White-water conveyances: RAFTS.
43. "Just in case" option: PLAN B.
46. Not street-smart: NAIVE.
49. Ermine in its summer coat: STOAT.
50. Philosopher Descartes: RENE.
53. Nobel-winning physicist Paul: DIRAC.
56. "River Spirit" author Aboulela: LEILA. Learning moment for me. She grew up in Sudan.
58. Address in a bar: URL.
59. At a distance: APART.
65. Thanks, in French: MERCI.
66. Bill of "Barry": HADER. He's dating Ali Wong. They're super cute together.
67. Middle-earth monster: ORC.
77. __ Speedwagon: REO.
78. Eucalyptus dweller: KOALA.
79. College softball airer: ESPNU.
86. Charmin rival: SCOTT.
87. Lass: GAL.
88. Kelly of "3 Body Problem": MARLO. Another learning moment.
89. Serpent: SNAKE.
91. Hullabaloos: ADOS.
92. Stayed still: IDLED.
95. "I aspire to that" hashtag: GOALS.
97. Theater array: SEATS.
99. High-speed internet connection: FIBER.
100. Berenstain Bear in a blue dress: MAMA.
102. Small handbag: CLUTCH.
113. U.K. mil. branch: RAF. David was with the Royal Air Force. Here he is with his grandma.
115. Home of the Himalayas: ASIA.
116. Poppycock: TRIPE.
117. Princess raised on Alderaan: LEIA.
124. Psychedelics study subj.: LSD.
125. Bellybutton type: INNIE.
126. Lasagna layer: SAUCE.
127. Activist's focus: CAUSE.
128. Novelist Harper: LEE.
129. Animal evoked by a chess knight: STEED.
130. Viewed: SEEN.
131. Without stopping: ON END.
132. Nikon choice, briefly: SLR.
Down:
2. See 69-Down: PATROL. 69. With 2-Down, DC Comics superhero team: DOOM.
3. Esoteric knowledge: ARCANA.
4. MMA ref's call: TKO.
5. Logical conclusion?: ELL.
6. Final word: SAY SO.
7. Reach, as a total: SUM TO.
8. Tree native to the Rockies: ASPEN.
9. Spicy Chinese cuisine: SICHUAN. Also 28. Berry in a mill: PEPPERCORN. Xi'an cuisine is spicy too. We're neighboring Sichuan.
10. [strokes beard]: HMM.
11. Tailless primate: APE.
12. Maze border, maybe: HEDGE.
13. People spending the night out?: CAMPERS.
14. Pub quaff: ALE.
15. Bite-size cake: PETIT FOUR.
16. Cameo shape: OVAL.
17. Promote: SELL.
21. Thailand neighbor: LAOS.
25. __ facto: IPSO.
26. Like a bass: LOW.
33. CC or LV competitor: YSL.
34. Viking drink: MEAD.
35. Birthplace of espresso: ITALY.
36. One taking things badly?: THIEF. And
37. Put away leftovers?: EAT. 50. Butters on a farm?: RAMS. 63. One side of a diner?: FRIES. Quite a few fun clues in this grid.
41. Scale button: TARE.
42. WashU's city: STL. Washington University in St. Louis. Sid's studying here.
44. Not wide-ranging: NICHE.
45. Wide-ranging: BROAD.
47. With a layover in: VIA.
48. Yale student: ELI.
51. Electric fencing equipment?: EPEE.
52. Snitch (on): NARC.
54. Automaker whose name means "listen" in Latin: AUDI.
55. Site to consult before buying new tech: CNET.
57. Former Yankee slugger, familiarly: A-ROD.
60. Like a fork: TINED.
62. Preschooler's wheels: TRIKE.
64. Plays it cool: ACTS CASUAL. And 81. "Don't worry about me": I'LL BE FINE. Love these two Downs.
70. "My b!": OOPS.
71. Flatbread made with maida: NAAN. Did not know the meaning of maida, super-refined wheat flour.
72. Username, perhaps: ALIAS.
73. Thanks, in German: DANKE.
74. Old earbuds hookup: IPOD.
75. Not deceived by: ONTO.
76. Bar bowlful: NUTS.
80. Desert valley: WADI.
82. Tail motion: WAG.
83. __ rata: PRO.
84. San Antonio landmark: ALAMO.
85. "Interstellar" director: NOLAN.
87. Emoji alternative: GIF.
90. "To __ their own": EACH.
93. Fish in baam machli ka salan: EEL. Not famliar with this dish. Not into curries.
94. Had a bad feeling about: DREADED.
96. Struck by Cupid's arrow: SMITTEN.
98. Extra special attention, for short: TLC.
101. Lot of farmland, maybe: ACRE.
103. Immune system constituents: T CELLS.
104. Sculptor's tool: CHISEL.
105. Soccer shot not taken with the feet: HEADER.
107. CBS forensic franchise: CSI.
108. Mint containers: TINS.
109. Much sitar music: RAGAS.
110. Tech giant whose logo depicts the Golden Gate Bridge: CISCO. Wow. Never knew this.
111. All abuzz?: APIAN.
112. Transition: SEGUE.
113. Box score stat: RBIS.
114. Dad's sister: AUNT.
119. "Today's Wordle word is TRUE," e.g.: LIE.
120. Bring a suit: SUE.
121. Granita bits: ICE. Watermelon granita.
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122. QVC sister channel: HSN.
123. AFC Richmond coach Lasso: TED.
C.C.
37 comments:
I didn’t find this puzzle terribly difficult. From the title, I had a pretty good idea about the gimmick right off, and the first themed fill proved me right about that. From there, it was just a matter of ‘connecting the dots.’ Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Got 'em all, but don't consider edition/addition or metal/medal to be homophones. My personal rule is that a 21X21 should come in under thirty minutes, preferably under twenty. This one fit the bill. I enjoyed it. Thanx, Sid and C.C.
Somehow FIR, but erased grab for TRAP, panda for KOALA, cable for FIBER (sorry, C-Eh - should be FIBRE,) horse for STEED, runs for RBIS (nope, box scores have RBI or BI) and arcane for ARCANA.
Today is:
NATIONAL CANCER SURVIVOR'S DAY (DW and I are both examples)
INTERNATIONAL VOLKSWAGEN BUS DAY (I also survived owing one of these unreliable and dangerous beauties)
NATIONAL BUBBA DAY (no real definition, but I know one when I meet one)
NATIONAL ROTISSERIE CHICKEN DAY (used to be a tasty, affordable entrée before this awful inflation)
NATIONAL ROCKY ROAD DAY (not a fan. Got any Cookies ‘n’ Cream, made with (crossword favorite) Oreos?)
DNK LEILA or her book, but I'm pretty sure Derek and the Dominoes sang a tribute to her.
The fair vendor had best use something like "onion blossom" to avoid legal problems from Outback Steakhouse, owner of "Bloomin' Onion." Kiwi Marketing tried and failed to trademark "The Blooming Onion."
In my misspent ute, I performed my own informal study of LSD.
I love it when TV roving reporters ask protesting activists simple questions about their CAUSE. Most don't have more than superficial knowledge, they are just there for the event.
CC may have imitators, but she has no competition.
I hold a masters certificate in project management from George WASH U, but it isn't in STL. (My company wouldn't pay for me to retake classes I completed for my MBA, and GWU wouldn't accept them. Ergo certificate, not degree.)
Thanks to Sid for the fun. The theme answers ARE homophones to me, but I am from the South. Down here, "akin" and "against" are homophones too. And thanks to CC for another informative review.
FIR. Not too hard, but enjoyable. Stumbled a little with crossing unknown names "Nolan" and "Marlo," got them eventually. Almost done in by my insisting it had to be "Sechuan" even though "empel" never looked right. For once, the themed answers were actually helpful.
FIR. The theme was not too difficult and I got it early on. And I have to say it was clever.
But the presence of so many proper names, a few crossing, and too many to enumerate, was annoying. I had to do several WAG's to get them filled.
So that part alone almost made this puzzle unenjoyable. But it's done, so there's that.
Good Morning:
The title and the very first themer gave the theme away immediately, but that's usually the case with a Sunday puzzle. It's also one of the reasons why I'm not particularly fond of the solving process of a Sunday grid. Despite the size and increased number of clues and entries, the challenge is greatly diminished, as is the element of surprise. That said, today's theme was clever and, as CC mentioned, was laden with cute and fun cluing. However, there were too many clues that were unnecessarily obtuse or convoluted, for my taste, such as those for Eel, Naan, Mama, YSL, and especially Epee, as I don't understand why Electric is in that clue. True to form for a Sunday grid, I ran up against a number of unknown proper names: Shah, Dirac, Leila, Marlo, and Nolan, plus several stumbling blocks at Claus/Klaus, Trash/Tripe, Local/Niche, and Glop/Goop. Sichuan was known, but I wanted a Z in there, for some reason. Reach, as a total=Sum To is beyond awkward, IMO.
Thanks, Sid, and congrats on your ACPT honor and thanks, CC, for your opinions and critique from a pro's viewpoint. I agree on the Metal/Medal pronunciation, but I guess they're close enough for a theme such as this one. Enjoyed all of the photos but I'm at a loss as to the one of the unknown (to me) David. Did I miss something? It was nice to see Will Shortz participating in his beloved ACPT.
Have a great day.
One of the first things I observe with a crossword is its structure and appearance. Maybe it's because I used to teach geometry. At any rate, I enjoy today's structure, accentuated by a grid-spanner (21 letters!) performing as the Equator.
Sid's theme is fun and easy to spot, with all those homonyms (or is it homophones?). Some might quibble about medal not quite equalling metal, and edition/addition, and so forth, but I support Sid for using them as a key device in his crossword construction.
Overall I think this puzzle was fun, pretty straightforward, clever, and diverting. At times, though, I felt his clues ranged from cutely misdirectiional to farfetched to frankly absurd. As usual, perps and wags came to the rescue to allow me to FIR.
As a former math (and English) teacher, I cringed at his using "sum" as a verb in 7D. Even though my Merriam-Webster says "sum" can be a verb, they need their heads examined, I believe.
I've sometimes heard criticisms of Americans that we don't name our institutions enough after our great heroes. Well, just in this puzzle/blog today, we've mentioned Washington Univ. In St. Louis and George Washington Univ. in Washington D.C., and one could add Washington & Lee, and University of Washington in Seattle. Take that!
IMPORTANT: Jinx in Norfolk mentioned National Rocky Road Day. Rocky Road is good, but hands up for Tillamook Mudslide! It is in the "died and gone to heaven" category!
Sid, thanks for a pleasant and fun morning, and I hope to see you back soon.
I agree with DO that I also don't consider edition/addition or metal/medal to be homophones. But it did not detract from my enjoyment of the puzzle. Thanks SID and CC.
Musings
-My neighbor is a college admissions officer and he can evaluate GPA’s faster than a speeding bullet
-When Judge Judy catches people lying who have sworn an OATH, does she get them for perjury?
-My daughters are both happy in occupations that were their PLAN B’s
-LSD has provided help for some people with PTSD
- Richard “John Boy” Thomas plays Atticus Finch in a new production of Harper Lee’s classic
-Wanna guess who has the final SAY SO in our house?
-I was reminded today that oven is FOUR in France
-Don’t Worry About Me
-No start for NOLAN Ryan today. SEGUE: Speaking of baseball, Our cousin, and my former student, Alec Bohm is fourth in the MLB stats for RBI (or RBI’s if you prefer)
-DREADED: It’s usually not as bad as you think it will be
-Another inch of rain last night. We are rewriting the record books in eastern Nebraska.
NYer here. Addition/Edition and Medal/Metal are pronounced the same by me.
Fun puzzle. The only thing I wasn't sure of was TARE although I'd heard the word somewhere.
And 5D was obviously not QED for a Logical conclusion. Tricky-> ELL.
Bob Lee at 10:13am, the ELL for the conclusion to Logical is referring to the last letter being an "ELL".
Bob Lee: After re-reading your sentence, I see that you got that, sorry.
Rhyming is all about your accent and the speed of your speech. YMMV.
I don't have any problem with Sid's selections. He created a very fair offering for today. Most clues were fair and honest, only needing the solver to take the right direction for their logic.
Perps were fair. My only hangup was the spelling of SICHUAN.
Great job, Sid. Nice review, C.C.!
Bitter butter makes better batter.
Aloof.
FIR by the skin of my teeth, as there were several unknowns (enumerated above by Irish Miss) and misdirections. My favorite clue/answer filled in by accident: "One side of a diner" = FRIES. My lovely daughter is a LEILA (pronounced LIE-lah), and it was fun to see her here. The "echoes" were close enough to be helpful in the solve.
Many thanks to Sid for the puzzle, to Patti for editing, to C.C. for the review, and to all y'all for playing along.
Cute theme. I enjoyed working out the answers. Lots and lots of names I don’t know like SHAH as clued, TESSA, DOOM PATROL, LEILA, DIRAC, HADER, etc., ON END.
In any case, I still managed to FIR with perps and huge WAGS. Now I need an ALEVE. LOL.
Thank you CC. Always nice to hear from you. Sunday solves wouldn’t be the same without you.
Dear IM, if you have seen the James Bond flick, Die Another Day, you may remember the fencing scene at the club. When his opponent contacted his suit, it gave a buzzing sound that indicated a "touch". That indicates that electricity was involved in the equipment. What can I say?? (SHRUG).
Too many obscure crossing proper names. Just ridiculous.
I pronounce "medal" and "metal" differently, how about you? Not really. Could have been 'mettle', medal, or medal. How about 'pen' and 'pin'?
It was very close but no cigar today. The unknowns DIRAC and HADER crossing the misdirected clue for NICHE got me. I did manage to get all the unknown people filled by perps- DOOM PATROL, TESSA, SHAH, LEILA, MARLO, KLAUS, NOLAN- and the 'pound sign', aka 'number sign', now called 'hashtag' GOALS, filled.
PETIT FOUR- DW likes them, but I think they are just bite-sized pieces of cake with too much icing.
Tehachapi Ken- I agree with you about SUM. I originally had RUN TO and it didn't help that bot TESSA and KLAUS were unknowns. You do hear teachers -maybe even YOU- say 'sum it up' but not in a math connotation.
Jinx= " GWU wouldn't accept them". It's all about the Benjamins. As most people probably know, most college courses are worthless. But they get your money.
Big Easy - I can't agree that college classes are useless, but you and I would probably agree that a grad isn't ready to perform the occupation (s)he studied for. But the education prepares the (crossword favorite) noob to learn the job.
Whew! What a relief this was after yesterday's hot mess. An actual enjoyable and fun puzzle, with clever cluing, an many Aha! misdirections. Tough in spots due to the many proper names, but the perps were very fair, and WAGs delivered the rest. Today resulted in satisfaction, instead of frustration!
Re baseball:
There has been some confusion about baseball statistics here, and specifically column headings or crossword puzzle clues or answers, for runs batted in.
The column head--or crossword puzzle usage--for runs batted in should be RBI, not RsBIs. That would be insane. Similarly, for home runs, even though it is plural, the column head should be HR, not HRs. We are talking the greatest sport ever invented, so we need to get this right.
Lee @ 11:23 ~ I'll see your SHRUG and raise you an EYE ROLL! đŸ¤£ (Not that it matters, but I have never seen a James Bond movie.)
JINX: I sometimes wonder how necessary a college degree really is these days. Back in my yute, companies would stand in line to offer jobs, no matter what the degree was in! Obviously, some fields require a degree (medicine, law, engineering, etc.) but many only provide for decades of crushing debt. One must choose wisely! My niece's degree in "Women's Advanced Political Studies" has landed her a fine career as a waitress and bartender, along with the aforementioned huge debt. Nothing wrong with the service jobs, but one could probably succeed in them without the debt load! Personally, I learned much more about effective leadership in four years with the US Army than I could have learned in school. And THEY payed ME!
Thank you Sid for a funday Sunday FIR. And thanks again for stopping the weekend constructors from sweeping me.
And thank you C.C. for everything you do, including today's review -- especially all of the pictures of food!
A few favs:
The theme was obvious from the title of the puzzle -- "Is there an Echo Here"?, and the homophones were homophonic enough for me. Echos are not perfect, with the reverberation changing the sound a bit.
53A DIRAC. Paul Dirac, was one of the founders of Quantum Mechanics and not only did get a Nobel Prize for it, but he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Cambridge University, following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton and preceding Sir Stephen Hawking.
1D GOETHE. In addition to being a playwright, GOETHE was a polymath, accomplished in many fields, including the sciences of geology, botany,and anatomy.
73D DANKE. Bitte!
85D NOLAN. He directed something besides "Oppenheimer"? đŸ˜€
110A CISCO. The name may also be a pun on BRIDGE -- an electronic device that connects two networks that use the same communications protocol. CISCO is probably best known for its ROUTERS, which can connect networks that use different protocols.
119A LIE. Wordle challenges players to find a 5 letter answer. To assert that the 4 letter word TRUE is the answer is a LIE!
121 ICE. DNK "Granita", but perps don't LIE.
Cheers,
Bill
It's a little late in the day, but I have a computer question for the corner brainiacs.
I need to organize my digital pictures. A lot of programs say that's what they do, but what I want is to be able to find them by category. For instance, in a physical photo album I might put a picture in an album labeled "Vacations." But in the virtual world I want to be able to find it by searching for "Vacations," "RVs" "Motorhomes," "Florida," "Zephyr," or "2015" for example.
I can think of how I could do it with Microsoft Access, but I really don't want to put a lot of development time into it. And nothing is ever as easy as it seems, especially with µsoft apps.
Anyone know a COTS program to accomplish it?
Someone the other day brought up the coincidence of same word in two different CW on the same day.
I just finished the WSJ’s weekend CW by Mike Shenk, and it had not 1 but 2 coincidences with today’s LAT CW: MERCI, in the WSJ clued as word of Gallic gratitude, and the second one, an OUTIE instead of an INNIE.
As has been said before it’s just a coincidence but fun to note.
IM ☘️ @ 12:47. I can’t believe you’ve never seen wonderful Sean Connery playing James Bond. I’ve seen them all, and IMHO there’s no substitute for Sean Connery.
I liked this puzzle's theme gimmick and some of the nifty cluing and fill.
I also pronounce MEDAL and METAL differently, as do I pronounce EDITION and ADDITION differently. Still cute, though.
As with Jinx, HORSE had to be changed to STEED and CABLE to FIBER. I wish I knew of a COTS or non-COTS solution for you, but I'm sorry I can be of no help.
Good wishes to you all.
Every Chinese menu in my house, and all the local online ones as well, spells it “Szechuan”
Thanks, Monkey. I agree on both topics.
jayce, thanks. One of our softheads will know of at least one, I'll bet.
For a crossword puzzle the homophones were close enough. Liberties can be taken when constructing a crossword puzzle. There is a certain elasticity that is allowable.
Jinx: I almost completed the curriculum at GWU for a Masters Certificate in Program Management, but didn't get the last course in because I got hired as a Program Manger and couldn't take the last course. It proved that I didn't need the piece of paper to do the job. You're right about GWU not accepting credits. They wouldn't take any from my masters of science degree in management (not an MBA). They liked the money they got from the tuition they charged.
Hola!
It took me most of the day to finish this puzzle because 1) I went to church, 2) I dozed in between solving, 3) off and on I was watching Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley. But once finished I saw the clever homophones although a little stretch is needed in some pronunciations. IMO, EDITION, ADDITION need the biggest stretch but it works for the puzzle.
ARCANA likely applies to all crossword solvers; to solve we must acquire vocabulary from areas that we otherwise might never encounter.
MARLO. The only one I had ever heard of was Danny Thomas's daughter.
TESSA. The one I know of is a British actress named TESSA PEAKE-JONES whom I've seen on Midsomer Mysteries.
Thank you, C.C., for your usual insights and helpful hints.
I hope your weekend has been relaxing, everyone!
OC4, did you get your PMP and/or PgMP? When I took the test it was a full day, proctored at the Dallas campus of EDS. Each of the (then) 8 Knowledge Areas was it's own test. The first four tests were given out at 8, and had to be handed in not later than noon. The other four were distributed at 1, and had to be completed by 5. It took a couple of months to get the results in those days. I passed all the elements on the first try, apparently an unusual event in those days. People who failed one or two knowledge areas could retake just those elements; if more than two were failed the entire test had to be retaken. The test was based on the first edition of the PMBOK Guide. Many years later GTE Wireless (now party of Verizon) decided that all its IT project managers should obtain the GWU certificate.
I thought it was a great puzzle! I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
Challenging but fun Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Sid. And your commentary is always a gift, C.C., thank you for that too.
Neat seeing GOETHE in a puzzle, but in the end it wasn't art that got my attention, but the possibility of just hanging out and enjoying some food. I figured folks at the COUNTY FAIR and CAMPERS would need some snacks, and was glad they had a chance to munch on some FRIES and some NUTS, and some SAUCE. And then there was that PEPPER CORN, but I have no idea was that is and can't imagine how that would taste. But luckily we got some neat dessert with those PETIT FOURS.
After all that, I figured I'LL BE FINE and enjoy the rest of my day.
Hope you all do too, and thanks again, Sid and C.C.
HG: I saw John Boy Thomas as Atticus Finch here in Tucson. He didn’t do it for me. No substitute for Gregory Peck! He doesn’t have the “pipes.”
Almost down to 90 degrees here in Tucson ( from a high of 101). Time to stir up some G+T’s and get to the patio. (Outfitted with “No See’M “ defense of course!)
Same here. I've actually never seen the word in this puzzle.
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