Theme: "DJ Remix" - D and J are swapped in each common phrase.
22. College administrators who never skip gym class?: RIPPED DEANS. Ripped jeans.
28. Mistake a bluebird for a blue bird?: CALL IT A JAY. Call it a day.
41. Finally breaking up with that no-good, pool hall hustler?: DUMPING THE SHARK. Jumping the shark.
64. Tiny bells added to an ugly Christmas sweater?: JANGLING MODIFIERS. Dangling modifers.
85. Honorific for San Francisco's top athlete?: THE JOCK OF THE BAY. The Dock of the Bay.
103. Beaver construction party?: DAM SESSION. Jam session.
111. "Good news! The animals living under the deck aren't skunks!"?: JUST BUNNIES. Dust bunnies.
Ah, I grokked the theme immediately. I bet many regulars did also.
I suck at this type of letter change themes and I always admire how others clue their wacky theme entries.
Love the fill today. So smooth and clean.
Across:
1. Center: HEART.
6. Visibly nervous: SHAKY.
11. BCBS offering: HMO. Blue Cross Blue Shield.
14. Beaker's sound: MEEP. OK, Beaker the Muppet.
18. Wabbit hunter Fudd: ELMER.
19. Like a foggy graveyard: EERIE.
20. Brim (with): TEEM.
21. Minnesota representative Ilhan: OMAR. Most famous Minnesotan in crossword world.
24. Panache: ELAN.
25. Score symbol: NOTE.
26. Mattel product: DOLL.
27. Whoops: YELLS.
30. Harder to hike: STEEPER. Nothing beats the thrill of climbing Huashan, world's deadliest hiking route. My hometown.
32. "Big yikes": HOO BOY.
34. Court orders: WRITS.
35. __ Talks: TED.
36. Shinbone: TIBIA.
37. Podcast equipment: MIC.
38. Iverson in the Basketball Hall of Fame: ALLEN.
48. Nintendo Switch precursor: WII.
49. Carolyn Bertozzi, notably: CHEMIST. Did not know her. She received the Nobel in 2022.
51. One with niblings: AUNT. Google
shows that "Nibling is a gender-neutral term used to refer to a child
of one's sibling as a replacement for "niece" or "nephew". Learning
moment for me also.
52. Regret: RUE.
53. Massachusetts state tree: ELM.
54. "__ Nagila": Hebrew folk song: HAVA. And 6. Occasion to read the Haggadah: SEDER.
55. Made brownies, say: BAKED.
57. Crafty platform: ETSY.
58. Gwen of No Doubt: STEFANI.
60. Penalty shot defender: GOALIE.
63. Queues up: WAITS.
68. Still-life subject, often: FRUIT.
70. Man cave locale, maybe: GARAGE. Not in MN. Too cold in winter.
71. In the spotlight for bad behavior: ON BLAST.
74. Freight option: RAIL.
75. Nick of "Cape Fear": NOLTE.
77. Purple bloom: IRIS.
78. Once called: NEE.
79. "Exit full screen" button: ESC.
80. "Toodles": CIAO.
81. Indian flatbread: CHAPATI.
84. Some undergrad degs.: AAS.
89. Churchyard peals: TOLLS.
91. Scrape (by): EKE.
92. Opera solos: ARIAS.
93. Muscle mag muscle: PEC.
94. Space Invaders console: ATARI.
97. Marzipan nut: ALMOND. Never had Marzipan.
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99. Abandons: DESERTS.
105. Concert platform: RISER.
108. Heavenly glow: AURA.
109. NYC drama award: OBIE.
110. Vegan pho protein: TOFU. This is my favorite Tofu brand at the moment.
113. Bridesmaid's handful: POSY.
114. Tinnitus docs: ENTS.
115. Balance sheet entry: ASSET.
116. Sty sounds: OINKS.
117. Lob: TOSS.
118. Director Anderson: WES. Prolific. "Asteroid City" is his latest hit.
119. Big bangs: WHAMS.
120. Like a windbag: GASSY.
Down:
2. "Daniel Deronda" novelist: ELIOT (George)
3. Bountiful: AMPLE.
4. Brimming (with): REPLETE.
5. Three, in Trieste: TRE. Port city in Italy.
7. Tap location: HEEL.
8. North __ Sea: Central Asian lake: ARAL.
9. Bonds between friends: KINSHIPS.
10. "Absolutely!": YES.
11. "Are you even listening?": HELLO.
12. Like overripe apples: MEALY.
13. Hyatt competitor: OMNI.
14. Orange-and-black butterfly: MONARCH.
15. Fire in a text?: EMOJI. Fire emoji.
16. Patronize, as a bistro: EAT AT.
17. Hunts, with "on": PREYS.
20. Rooibos pouch: TEA BAG.
23. Made an egg into an Easter egg: DYED.
28. Invent, as a word: COIN.
29. Chocolate-and-vanilla soft serve: TWIST.
31. Inclination: PENCHANT.
33. Memorial piece: OBIT.
36. "Ew, stop talking!": TMI.
37. Resew, maybe: MEND.
38. Dazzles: AWES.
39. Jaunty tune: LILT.
40. Ceviche marinade: LIME JUICE. Looks yummy.
41. Crafty sort: DEVIL.
42. Hindu goddess also known as Parvati: UMA. Another learning moment.
43. Activist known for his time aboard the Enterprise: TAKEI.
44. Tinge: HUE.
45. Small-batch: ARTISANAL.
46. Used car concern: RUST.
47. Florida __: KEYS.
50. Get together: HANG.
55. Online journal: BLOG. And 63. Squarespace creations: WEBSITES.
56. Assistant: AIDE.
57. Former Chief Justice Warren: EARL.
59. Word in many a YouTube title: FAIL. Like makeup fails.
60. Little pest: GNAT.
61. D&D monster: OGRE.
62. "I'm an open book" Reddit sesh: AMA. Ask Me Anything.
65. Heavy-duty cooler brand: IGLOO.
66. Venture: FORAY.
67. "What's __ for you?": IN IT.
68. Sitar ridge: FRET.
69. Hasty: RASH.
72. Wax closure: SEAL.
73. Harper of "No Country for Old Men": TESS.
75. French Riviera city: NICE.
76. Iowa state tree: OAK.
77. Many a Lagunitas brew, briefly: IPA.
80. Roberts who was one of NPR's "Founding Mothers": COKIE.
81. Helmet clip spot: CHIN.
82. Result of standing up too fast: HEADRUSH. Low blood pressure.
83. Six-packs, sometimes: ABS.
86. Game day tops: JERSEYS.
87. Nathan's __ hot dogs: FAMOUS.
88. Jumbo suffix: TRON.
90. Papua New Guinea region: OCEANIA. Guess how many languages in this island nation?
93. Cuzco's country: PERU. 100. Cuzco attraction: RUINS.
94. Rescue, as a pet: ADOPT.
95. Don't: TABOO.
96. Off: AMISS.
97. In concert: AS ONE.
98. Rides: LIFTS.
99. Balance sheet entries: DEBTS.
101. Does the Tour du Mont Blanc, say: TREKS.
102. Bold: SASSY.
104. Crockpot recipe: STEW.
106. "The Lovebirds" actress Rae: ISSA.
107. Derive (from): STEM.
111. Chatter: JAW.
112. Holiday party serving: NOG.
Here are two great pictures from Lemonade, our faithful Friday Sherpa for many years. That's his sweet wife Oo taking the selfie. The other two are his granddaughters Charlotte and Harper. The little boy in the second picture is his cute grandson Owen. You can click here to see more pictures.
C.C.
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25 comments:
I haven’t heard the expression “on blast.” Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Struggled through this grid with several "mystery" answers. Wasn't familiar with "niblings." Don't think d-o has ever heard ON BLAST. Thought CHAPATI could be an alternate spelling for "ciabatta." Nope. Didn't recognize "Beaker" as a Muppet name; MEEP sounds like the Roadrunner. And finally, we had an UMA who isn't Thurman. The themers were humorous and definitely helped with the solve. At the end of the day this was an enjoyable twenty-minute diversion. Thanx, Amanda, Kelly, and C.C.
We've reached that point of the year when the 5 AM outside temperatures are warmer than inside. Ugh.
Took 18:56 today.
I join the chorus above about not having heard "on blast".
I didn't know today's actress (Tess), the foreign three, the Indian flatbread (naan and roti were too short), the Hindu goddess, and a few others. I found the "Muscle mag muscle" clue to be awfully vague.
On B list vs on blast. Oops
FLN
I was ONBLAST by the number of solvers who got yesterday's puzzle, which I DNF. Nevertheless thank you Emily and Sala for the tutorial. And thank you Husker for filling in all those white spaces.
Today's puzzle -- for which I managed to get FIR. Thank you C.C. for confirming several lucky guesses.
Some favs ...
14A MEEP. Also a character in Dr. Who.
21A OMAR. I beg to differ ... C.C. is definitely the most famous Minnesotan in the crossword world!
30A STEEPER. YIKES! -- with a single misstep we wouldn't be having this conversation.
51A AUNT. Perps don't lie.
71A ON BLAST. Last to leave in place, although I didn't know what it was. I think to verbify and adjective it might mean TO WOKE someone.
109A OBIE. And here I thought he was a Jedi Knight. :-)
114A ENTS. They practice in Middle Earth I think.
118 WES. Asteroid City is a quirky sci-fi hoot. I tried to link a trailer, but for some stupid reason YouTube thinks I have ad-blockers, which I didn't know I had, and have never been able to find and disable. They don't seem to stop me from getting ads!
2D ELIOT. A prolific Victorian novelist. Daniel Deronda is a dark story with a dark adaptation, which no one is likely to watch, so YouTube didn't block this trailer.
42D UMA. Weekend cluing. We usually have Ms Thurman.
59D FAIL. Another perped fill. Maybe it describes my attempts unblock ad blockers!
93D PERU. Among its many attractions is a fondness for CEVICHE.
Cheers,
Bill
FIW. On blast did me in. I've never heard of this and I had on B list, misspelling artisanal. Oh well!
I got the theme early and that greatly helped with the solve. Replacing D and J for the long answers was fun.
For me this was a little crunchy for a Sunday and as I said, the theme helped me in most cases. But I guess I ended up on blast!
FIW, joining Bob with B LIST. But I got my totally wild guess at HAVA X UMA, so I got that goin' for me.
I haven't watched Sesame Street since I left the employment of the PBS station, circa 1976. Looks like they have some fun new Muppets.
ALLEN Iverson is a local kid made good. He's from neighboring Hampton, VA.
Florida's GOALIE stopped all 32 shots by the Oilers. The Oilers outshot the Panthers 32 to 18. It's a little unusual for the team with a nearly 2:1 deficit in shots on goal to win, but great team defense along with a stingy GOALIE saved the day for the Florida team. Oh, and by the way - if you are showing your hockey team's colors, you are wearing their sweater, not their JERSEY.
I erased gabby for GASSY. I would rather be around a gabby person than a gassy one.
The mascot for the local college, Old Dominion University, is the MONARCH. We are on the migration path.
I saw on the TV show The Food that Built America that the name Famous Nathan's is the original name, from when not a single soul knew of Nathan's hot dogs (except maybe Nathan.)
I adore George TAKEI. Quite a life story, from being interned as a kid to being a Bill Shatner detractor as an adult.
I also loves me some Florida Keys. My favorite is Marathon. Best place is The No Name Pub on No Name Key.
I don't think of IGLOO coolers as being heavy duty. Yeti, maybe, and several other niche providers.
I learned to always be ready to answer a customer's "WIIFM" question - "What's in it for me."
CSO to my Zoё @ Rescue.
Thanks, I guess, to Amanda and Kelly for a Sunday challenger that had some fun parts, unfortunately offset by junk like niblings. Reminds me of the breathless newscast saying "be on the lookout for a man from 25 - 35 years old, between 5-10 and 6-1." Don't mention the skin color of the perp under penalty of cancellation.
FIR with some difficulty in the SW. Really liked the theme and a pretty enjoyable puzzle overall, despite the social media arcana (the already derided on blast, TMI, fail clued as a youtube word, etc.). Was going to quibble with don’t = taboo, but I guess it can be a noun (as in dos and don’ts).
Thanks, Amanda and Kelly, for a fun and relaxing Sunday exercise. The long horizontal themers were amusing and also of great help in solving the rest of the fill. I guess my favorite was DUMPING THE SHARK. Growing up I spent my summers on our boat fishing in the ocean off Ocean City NJ. When we would catch a small shark we would throw it back. So I guess I was dumping the shark at an early age.
There were a few peculiarities (to me) in the puzzles like NIBLINGS and ONBLAST, but neighboring perps make quick work of them. And I learned somerlthing new.
Yes, I got the theme very early, at DUMPING THE SHARK. I liked all the long answers. THE JOCK OF THE BAY brought memories of Otis Redding whose singing I loved.
ON BLAST sounds just mean-spirited as defined by the link. I had never heard of it. Nibbling was also new. I didn’t know I had nibblings.
The SE gave me problems, for one thing I had HEAD spin for HEAD RUSH and halo for AURA and hung on to them too long.
Otherwise, fun Sunday CW.
There’s a special place in heaven for people who adopt or rescue dogs and cats.
Thank you Zhouqin, undoubtedly the most famous Minnesotan in the CW universe, for that recap.
Enjoyed the theme entries.
Did not much care for quite a bit of the fill.
Worked hard and got it FIR. Never heard the expression ONBLAST. Didn't know who Carolyn Bertozzi was but perps told me she was a chemistry.
Thank you to Amanda and Kelly for today's fun and frolic. A bow to Ms C.C. for her recapitulatoin of the fill.
Doubt a.ways begs the question.
Fillup
Musings
-Don Knotts played a SHAKY character on The Steve Allen Show
-That hike looks crazy to me, C.C.
-Today I learned niblings.
-A soccer match can last for almost two hours and then it comes down to a GOALIE making a right or wrong guess on one shot
-America’s Miracle On Ice GOALIE Jim Craig stopped all but 3 shots of 39 by the Russians and the Russian GOALIE stopped all but four of America’s only 16 shots.
-A friend of mine has a house and shed combination: A shouse
-AA’s? Well that’s one bad cell for me. Couldn’t let go of BAS.
-An Atlas missile base built in my hometown in the 60’s is now DESERTED
-The MONARCHS love the milkweed in the rough on our golf course. I never hit there but…
-A nice OBIT is fine, but…
-It’s always great to hear from and see you, Lemon! Beautiful family.
Some mighty strange clues this morning, but perps and WAGs nearly brought me over the finish line. BLASTed my B LIST all to heck! Fun themes, though, so an enjoyable Sunday stroll, when all was said and done.
FIR in spite of a few unknown people or puppets, and unfamiliar terms like niblings and ON BLAST. The theme was clever and helped with the solve. My favorite answer was JUST BUNNIES.
Thanks, Amanda, Kelly, Patti, and C.C.!
H.Gary, I guess "shouse" sounds a lot better than "s-house." Kinda like that big lake on the Texas-Oklahoma border is named "Texoma" instead of "Oklxas" or "Okas."
Hand up FIW with ON B LIST. Learning moment about that and about CAROLYN BERTOZZI. Hand up HEAD SPIN before RUSH. STAGE before RISER. Happy to see two TREK references today. Had to come here to understand BEAKER-MEEP.
CC You might try MARZIPAN. It was my go-to snack as a child in Denmark. For me it is a magical flavor and I had no idea it was ALMOND when I was a child. But I am told most Americans don't like it. We sometimes go up in the mountains here to the Danish village of Solvang so I can get my fix.
Your HIKE looks at least as crazy as anything I have ever experienced.
I have quite a few photos in CUZCO. But I will share a video instead.
Here is my very short video coming to CUZCO on the train from Machu Picchu after dark.
Perhaps others here have done this train ride. It is quite unique. The train spends a couple of hours above CUZCO going back and forth up the mountain. There is no room for switchbacks, so it alternates going forwards and backwards.
From Yesterday:
Anon at 1:07AM Thank you for the correction about the sculpture being Anteros, not EROS.
Thanks to all who commented on my COMPACT BOD question. Since Google does not recognize this expression, what I was really wondering was whether anyone had ever heard this term in real life.
This is Wendybird - no idea why today I am “anonymous”.
I fell into the same trap as others with on B list/ON BLAST. I looked it up, and it means to publicly shame someone, usually on social media. Pretty nasty.
Even though I FIW, I thought it was a good puzzle, with several interesting words, such as REPLETE and ARTISANAL, and learning moments, with NIBLINGS. The themers were clever, and I especially liked DAM SESSION. With the exception of HOO BOY, there were no vocal pause-ish words, which I hate.
Thank you, Amanda and Kelly, and thank you, C.C. for the great tour.
Picard @ 12:51. I too ate and enjoyed Marzipan growing up in France. I must be a European taste.
By the way 2 questions: Is there anywhere in the world you haven’t been and do you have pictures and/or videos of all your travels?
I liked most of this puzzle and got a special kick out of the amusing theme gimmick. Favorites are JUST BUNNIES and DUMPING THE SHARK. I also liked the words REPLETE, PENCHANT, ARTISANAL (but not its clue), and OCEANIA. Thanks to Amanda Cook and Kelly Richardson for a fun Sunday puzzle and to C.C. for the write-up.
I don't know how many languages are in the Papua New Guinea region, but I'll guess 9.
Count me among those who don't like Marzipan.
If "Daniel Deronda" is as boring as "Silas Marner" I'm glad I was never required to read it.
For some reason whenever I see the word AMPLE I think of breasts, perhaps because that is the adjective that is most often used. It's as overused a cliché as failed miserably (it's always miserably) or embattled congressman.
Good reading you all.
Very pleasant Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Amanda and Kelly. And your commentary and pictures are always a treat, thank you for those too, C.C.
Well, as you know, I always first look for food in puzzles, and fortunately I found some, though they wouldn't necessarily make a great meal. But we got a TEA BAG right off the start, so that helps with a morning drink. And then we got some FRUIT, and some TOFU, and some ALMONDS and some marzipan (whatever that is) to accompany some CHAPATI (whatever that is). And for dessert we'd have some BAKED brownies. Would that work for a Sunday brunch, especially if we ended up with some NOG? If so, I wish I could have invited you all to join me--would have been fun.
Have a great week coming up, everybody.
Monkey, Jayce Thank you for your respective comments validating that MARZIPAN is a taste acquired in youth in Europe and that most Americans do not like it. I learned this from a local European baker when I asked her why she doesn't have more MARZIPAN items.
Monkey Thank you for your kind words and questions. Yes, there are many places I have not been and many I would still like to see. I was supposed to go to China for a work conference in 2017 and some scammers hijacked the conference. Very scary and glad I found out seconds before buying my plane ticket. I would still like to go to China.
Yes, I indeed have photos and/or video from my travel adventures. I am very grateful that my father was not only a professional level photographer. But that he was very organized in cataloging his photos. I actually paid my wife to type up his hand written indexes so I can search them. My Europe photos from my youth are all from him.
I have a friend from MIT who gives me perspective on a whole higher level of travel. She has some crazy long bucket list of hundreds of places and events and I think she has now done most of them.
Here is her travel log called Xenophilia if you are interested.
"Xenophilia" is the opposite of "xenophobia". It is a love of the strange or exotic. That is me, too. She stopped updating that site, but she still travels. She sent me her Japan notes to compare with our experience there. There were some notable changes.
I had "on a list" - must learn to spell artisanal correctly :-(
'HEADSPIN' and 'STAGE' left me floundering in the south-west for a very long time until Ms. Rae convinced me I was wrong.
I'm surprised no one has objected to 'KINSHIPS'. Surely kinship implies a bond stronger than friendship?
Very late to the party because today was a full day in many ways and I did not finish the puzzle. After going to church, my daughter, her husband and one daughter came over to clean my patio which my son-in-law did and my daughter cleaned my house. My grand-daughter took out the garbage and played with their newly purchased puppies. They love dogs and recently lost their 15 year old Chihuahas. the new ones are a German shepherd and a huskie. Of course, they will grow to be quite large but they are really cute at this age.
Lemonade, thank you for sharing the photos of your family. Very nice.
After dinner I watched Netflix and found a good movie and tomorrow is a counting day so I'll have to rise early. I hope your Sunday was equally enjoyable.
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