google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, June 13, 2024, Katie Hale & Sam Acker

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Jun 13, 2024

Thursday, June 13, 2024, Katie Hale & Sam Acker

 

 

I struggled to come up with that theme description, and usually when I struggle it means I'm missing something.  But I can always count on you folks to tell me what it is. 😀

There are five theme clues, no reveal, no asterisks, no circles -- just the 5 longest fills clued with this pattern: a sport playing area; a non-branded ("generic") person, place, or thing making the sport happen; and a (mostly) unnamed organization sponsoring the endeavor ...

17A. Racing venue with a generic speaker sponsorship?: SOUND TRACK.  A speaker produces SOUND and racing is conducted on a TRACK?  Here's a RACE TRACK SOUND TRACK ...
24A. Basketball arena with a generic pollster sponsorship?: DATA CENTER.  A pollster collects DATA and a CENTER is another name for a basketball court, or alternately it's the name of a position on the court?   This one is for all you hoopsters, sponsored by the NBA ...
35A. Cricket ground with a generic lift sponsorship?: ELEVATOR PITCH.  A "lift" is Brit for ELEVATOR and a Cricket PITCH is the central strip in the middle of the playing field.
50A. Baseball stadium with a generic zoo sponsorship?: SAFARI PARK.  Here's the ultimate baseball dream team at the SAFARI PARK ...
58A. Soccer venue with a generic military sponsorship?: FORCE FIELD.  Argentinian Lionel Messi is a one man soccer FORCE FIELD, now playing for Inter Miami CF ...
Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Rock classic with the lyric "Darling, won't you ease my worried mind": LAYLA. ... and "you've got me on my knees!"  A masterpiece by Eric Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" ...
LEILA (pronounced the same as Clapton's crush) was the heroine of Bizet's opera The Pearl Fishers, and she had two men on their knees!


6. Cardi set piece: CAMI.  "Cardi" is short for "cardigan", a woman's top that buttons up the front and is sold with a matching camisole ...
Cardigan and camisole
10. Bloke: CHAP.  An English CHAP, e.g. this one ...
14. Far from narrow: BROAD.

15. Fanatical: AVID.  See 58D.

16. More than just edit: REDO.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Bumblers: OAFS.

20. Sticky pine products: RESINS.  E.g. those in the infamous Pine Tar incident.

21. Longtime Yankee manager Joe: TORRE.   From 1996 to 2007, Joe Torre was the manager of the New York Yankees, and guided the team to six American League (AL) pennants and four World Series championships. Like they say "Baseball is a game of numbers", and Joe's number was Four Thousand Two Hundred Seventy-Two ...
Joe Torre
22. Some pens: BICSWhere did that name come from?
24. [Theme clue]

27. Olympian Katie Ledecky's country, for short: USAKathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer.
Katie Ledecky
28. Gym unit: REP.

29. Gravy, on menus: JUS.  Today's French lesson: Jus is a specific type of sauce, made from meat juice that has typically been derived from a roast.

30. "Definitely!": YES.

31. 2017 Emma Watson role: BELLE Beauty and the Beast.

33. Many a reggae artist: RASTA. Practitioners of an Abrahamic  religion called Rastafarianism. Here's reggae artist Bob Marley singing Stir it Up ...
35. [Theme clue]

40. Rot: DECAY.

41. Ice sheets: FLOES.  An ice floe is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least 20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across.
Ice floes in the Hudson Strait

43. D'backs, in box scores: ARIThe Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) West Division.
46. Go on the __: LAM.

47. "Gangnam Style" rapper: PSY.  Crazy stuff ...

49. Teensy: WEE.  Today's Scottish lesson: LITTLE.

50. [Theme clue]

53. Ibiza, por ejemplo: ISLA.  Today's Spanish lesson: ISLAND, specifically this one.

54. __ owl: bird with white feathers: SNOWY.  The snowy owl, also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mostly on the tundra.
Snowy Owl
55. Saudi Arabia's capital: RIYADHRiyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate.
Riyadh skyline
57. Sicilian volcano: ETNA.  This volcano shows up so often crosswords, I figured we ought to make it a permanent resident (remember Sicily is 7 hours ahead of Minnesota time) ...

58. [Theme clue]

62. Chitchat: TALK.  Or as the Brits would say a "Chin wag".

63. Lotion additive: ALOE.  Hahtoolah is on vacation, so I'm helping myself to one of her cartoons ...
64. "Star Wars" spin-off: ANDORAndor, also known as Star Wars: Andor, is an American science fiction television series created by Tony Gilroy for the streaming service Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars franchise and a prequel to the film Rogue One (2016), which in turn is a prequel to the original Star Wars film (1977).

65. Eyelid inflammation: STYE.

66. Tidings: NEWS.

67. Hoarse: RASPY.

Down:

1. Wt. units: LBS.

2. One with a platonic partner, for short: AROA ROmantic.

3. "I have no preference": YOUR CALL.

4. Parkway divisions: LANES.  This suggests another themer: "Bowling LANES with generic speed sponsorship".  A friend of ours upstairs was obviously praying for this guy ...!  It's interesting that he didn't get a Guinness for this feat (for all sorts of technicalities).  I guess he's just not stout enough. 😀

5. Has a summer job?: ADDS.  And he doesn't need a number in the dentist chair. 😀

6. Rest of the road?: CARNAP. Uh, I don't think I parsed this one correctly (I'm not kidding 😀) ...
More on Rudolph Carnap
7. Sailor's "Halt!": AVAST.

8. Bug, maybe: MIC.  A politician's worst enemy is a HOT MIC.

9. Brief "You got me": IDK.  Short for I DON'T KNOW, its opposite being I KNOW -- an infinitesimally small amount of WHAT THERE IS TO KNOW!

10. Serenade, maybe: CROON.  ... A daughter serenades her father ...

11. Like comfort food: HEARTY.

12. Like some subscriber-based apps: AD FREE.

13. Wannabes: POSERS.

18. Beach widener, at times: TIDE.

21. Take the stand: TESTIFY.

22. Rude address: BUB. The net seems divided on this ...
OTOH ...
23. "Understood": I SEE.  Every time I see this I'm reminded of Husker's motto - I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

25. Not closed: AJAR.

26. Turning point: CUSP.  Another word with several meanings depending on the context.  All of these connote a turning point toward a different direction ...
OTOH it also has additional meanings in mathematics, science, astrology etc.

28. Merrymaking: REVELRY.  This suggests dancing and as Terpsichore was the muse of the dance,  here are some selections from a suite of dances dedicated to her, by Renaissance composer Michael Praetorius ...
32. Was in first: LED.

33. "The Natural" protagonist Hobbs: ROY.  An ode to baseball, The Natural is a 1984 American sports film based on Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson, and starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, and Barbara Hershey. The film recounts the experiences of Roy Hobbs, an individual with great "natural" baseball talent.  Here's the final home run ...

34. The "A" of "RHOA": Abbr.: ATL. The Real Housewives of Atlanta, abbreviated RHOA, is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of The Real Housewives franchise, it has aired fifteen seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in and around Atlanta, Georgia.  All peaches I'm sure ...
36. Beneficial berry: ACAI.  Rich in vowels and especially beneficial to constructors.😀

37. Pack (down): TAMP.

38. Dairy structures: COWSHEDSBARNS was too short.

39. "Come to my side, pup!": HEELHEEL is Dog 101 for an Irish sheep dog.  We had a friend who used to raise them -- they are high spirited and have to be kept constantly busy.  Our friend used to enter them in various dog "obstacle races", but a better way to keep them busy is to have them herd sheep ...

42. __ shanty: SEA.  A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty (from Latin cantare ("to sing")) is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term shanty most accurately refers to a specific style of work song belonging to this historical repertoire. Here is What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor, sung by the Irish Rovers ...
 43. Cash on hand, investments, etc.: ASSETS.

44. Give a piece of one's mind: RANT AT

45. "That'd be nice": IF ONLY.  A game people play -- in this case with themselves.  It will never happen, IF YOU don't make it happen.

47. Tag lines?: PRICES.

48. Actress Ione: SKYEIone Skye Lee (/aɪˈoʊni/; née Ione Skye Leitch; born September 4, 1970)[a] is a British-American actress and the daughter of singer Donovan. She made her film debut in the thriller River's Edge (1986) before gaining mainstream exposure for her starring role in Cameron Crowe's Say Anything... (1989). She continued to appear in films throughout the 1990s, with notable roles in Gas Food Lodging (1992), Wayne's World (1992) and One Night Stand (1997).
Iona Skye
51. Wide __: AWAKE.

52. Bow projectile: ARROW.

53. Tony winner Menzel: IDINAIdina Kim Menzel (née Mentzel; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly recognized for her work in musicals on Broadway, she has been nicknamed the "Queen of Broadway" for her commanding stage presence, powerful mezzo-soprano, and reputation as one of the most influential stage actors of her generation.  Here she performs the song that won her the Tony: Defying Gravity from the Broadway musical Wicked ...
56. Not close: AFAR.
 
58. Swiftie, to Swift: FAN.  I'm not a FAN, but I have a theory about music -- if lots of people like a musician, they're probably hearing something I'm not.  But when it came to picking this next selection I found that Swift has had so many hits and all of her FANS seem to like different ones -- so I just threw a dart and hit All Too Well ...

59. Joyful cry at a fútbol match: OLE.
60. Cut back: LOP.

61. Needing a humidifier: DRY.


Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

34 comments:

Subgenius said...

I THINK I understand what the theme is, at least the second part, but I’m not completely sure. Anyway, the themed answers were all common in-the-language phrases so, in spite of certain obscurities, I don’t have too many complaints about this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Bill, methinks you're reading too much into the theme. Thought it was simply an in-the-language phrase clued as a sports venue. Thought of Tom Swift, and wanted PUN before the FAN barged in. Turns out that d-o screwed things up right out of the starting gate with LEILA. YOUR CALL corrected it to LEYLA. Had no idea about ARO, so ERO got to stay, and will probably be forgotten by lunchtime. Bzzzzt. Thanx to our illustrious quartet, Katie, Sam, waseeley, and Teri.

tperki said...

Meh. Didn’t appreciate clues for Cardi (Cardi B?), ARO (what?) and Carnap (seriously, let’s just make stuff up).

Anonymous said...

Amen

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW, missing my WAG @ ArDOR x IDIrA and CAtI x tIC, but getting the one @ RIYADH x IDIrA. I resisted the spelling RIYADH because it sounds like the "D" should occur earlier, but far be it from me to overquestion spelling.

I know what all the long answers are except for ELEVATOR PITCH. I've been to the San Diego Zoo's SAFARI PARK, I've worked with a DATA CENTER, and some women have a FORCE FIELD to keep me distant. Is SOUND a generic speaker? Instead of "generic pollster," wouldn't "generic statistics" be a better clue for DATA?

Coincidentally, I got a beef stew started in my crock pot about an hour ago. HEARTY comfort food tonight!

I've always known POSERS, but my DW and her kin say "hosers." It may be a Pennsylvania thing.

A Ratt song says you'd put an arrow through my heart.

COW SHED? Really? Maybe that's what the farmer does when he sends some to slaughter.

I haven't seen a Broadway play since before IDINA was born.

I thought this one was 10% clever, 30% garbage, and 60% meh. YMMV. But thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for wading through it.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Maybe the constructors were thinking "escalator" instead of "elevator?" It would still be a generic lift, and it would have pitch (measure of steepness.)

inanehiker said...

This was a little more challenging than some Thursdays but kept at it to FIR

Jinx - an ELEVATOR PITCH is when you are trying to convince someone that your idea or product is good in the time you are riding in an elevator with them, whether it be your boss or a client. Short and to the point

COW SHED compared to a barn usually has a roof and separate stalls for each cow but are open on the sides

I always throw a pillow in the car to take a CAR NAP - even when we go to STL which is 2 hours - I drive an hour and then my husband drives and I take a nap or vice versa - we are often going in for an event like theater or a sporting event which will keep me up later than usual so it helps me make it to the end after a long work week!

Thanks Bill & Teri - loved the music and thanks to Katie & Sam for the challenging puzzle!

KS said...

FIR. But I'm amazed I did. Cami, aro, bub, carnap, and other wierdly clued answers, and a whole host of proper names made for an annoying puzzle.
I think I get the theme, but honestly it's somewhat lame.
Overall, meh!

Anonymous said...

Took 7:37 for me to make it through the line into the venue.

Like the others, had no idea and/or disliked aro and cami.

I knew today's actress! I loved the move "Say Anything," which stars John Cusack and ... Ione Skye. Wasn't crazy about the crossing of Skye with Psy, but luckily, I knew both though I wouldn't say the perps were fair.
I sort of knew "Riyadh", just not how to spell it.

Charlie Echo said...

Somehow, I stumbled into an FIR despite the obscure clues. Once I managed to figure out the theme entries, things popped into place. Lots of perps & WAGs today, and I was lucky to get away with them.

waseeley said...

KS @7:53 AM I thought it the theme was lame too, although I think "differently abled" is the proper PC way to say it these days. 😀

Also I think I owe everyone an apology for CARNAP. We start our reviews by loading a skeleton of all the clues and answers into Blogger. The answers are not parsed, but the parsing is usually either obvious or flagged by spell check as an error. For some reason CARNAP was not flagged and I blithely googled it. When it turned up the name of a philosopher I found that a lot more interesting than a "Rest on the road": CAR NAP. Sorry about that. 😀

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-CAMI, IDINA and ANDOR were right, yay me!
-ELEVATOR PITCH: “You’ve got 90 seconds, go!”
-ARO? Really?
-If it ain’t broke…
-The most infamous “go on the LAM” was in a slow-moving Ford Bronco
-The PSY song is a real earworm. I see the only English lyric is, “Eh Sexy Lady”
-300 the hard way. That is some bowling and Boomer would have loved it!
-My mother’s fried chicken and milk gravy on mashed potatoes was true comfort food
-My 42 years of full-time middle school teaching had me dealing with kids on the CUSP of adulthood
-Speaking of my mother, she loved this SHANTY
-Thanks Bill and Teri for the write-up and the shout out.

Yuman said...

Help, I can’t figure out Nate Cardin’s crossword in yesterday’s Apple News +. The theme CARRY NATION, the four circled answers were Iran, Mali, Chad and Peru. How do they relate.? Also do any of you play “Connections” in the NYT?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Funny how we all react so differently to a particular puzzle. I agree with DO that Bill is over thinking a pretty straightforward theme, simply, a common two word phrase, clued in an off beat way designating a sports venue. I liked the strong, solid themers but I didn't feel the difficulty level was Thursday worthy. I'm not fond of shortened words, Aro, or text-speak, IDK, in a crossword. Yes, we use them in our comments occasionally, but crosswords are a different, more formal platform. In my opinion! Layla, Belle, and Andor were unknown and Bub was initially Bud. To my eyes and ears, "That'd be nice" is a positive, agreeable comment, whereas "If only" could be rueful or wistful. Could be just my interpretation, though.

Thanks, Katie and Sam, and thanks, Bill and Teri, for another outstanding review and commentary. You certainly provided us with enough musical interludes and learning moments to keep us busy all day, but my favorite video was the Safari Baseball Team! Cute and clever as can be! I also enjoyed seeing Joe Torre, a pleasant reminder of many glory years for the Yanks. I might need a Tylenol after listening to some of Rudolph Carnap's philosophy, though! 🤣

FLN

Lucina, thanks for the suggestions. I watched Made In Italy last night and while I love Liam Neeson, I was not overly enamored or impressed by his son's acting ability. There has been so much emphasis on "Nepo Babies" these days that I may have been influenced by that concept and allowed it to color my opinion, but I really don't think so. In any case, the scenery was gorgeous and Liam is always easy on the eyes!

Have a great day.

Aubiemom said...

I do. Totally skipped yesterday since I don’t do movies, but I should have persevered. It follow Wordle,before LAT crossword

Aubiemom said...

Oops, put it in the wrong place. I do connections. Skipped yesterday cause I don’t do movies. Should have persevered. Connections follows wordle and goes before LAT crossword each morning

Irish Miss said...

Yuman @ 9:18 ~ The only relationship I see is that they are all four letter nations. Yes, I play Connections daily. I find it fun and challenging, except on the days when the editor dons his/her diabolical, devious, devilish, demonic hat! 🤣

desper-otto said...

Yuman, I also play Connections daily. Today was a win. Yesterday was a blowout -- didn't even get one set.

Monkey said...

DNF. When the North remained blank, I went in reverse and started from the bottom which filled in pretty fast, except I had to look up how to spell RIYADH.

Yet when I went back north, I missed the ARO, CAMI, LAYLA, TORRE, MIC(?) clues. I never think of comfort food as HEARTY, so that word never came to me.

All in all, I goofed this up.

Thank you Waseely. Nice recap.

NaomiZ said...

A good Thursday level challenge with a cute theme that helped in the solve. FIR after wading through blank spaces for a while. A few proper names needed perps. Changed "tank" to CAMI and "COW barns" to COW SHEDS.

Jinx at 7:29, in the business world, we are advised to be ready with an ELEVATOR PITCH, so that on a short ride between floors with a potential client or collaborator, we can quickly communicate what it is that we have to offer.

Aha moment: "Has a summer job" = ADDS. Or maybe that was a haha moment.

Thanks, Katie, Sam, Patti, and Bill.

Parsan said...

Enjoyable challenge KH and SA, and thank you for all the explanations and music, waseeley and Teri/

Did know - ROY, LAYLA.PSY, TORRE,BELLE, SKYE and did not know -ANDOR, ATL in RHOA, and thought ARO was weird. Your pick/YOUR CALL, open/AJAR.

tperki@5:30 -also thought cCardi B “set piece” could be a tune or song.

Sad news about my college friend, the great basketball player and executive, Jerry West. Also, the passing of a friend who, among many accomplishments was the first to complete the unfinished Ninth Symphony by Anton Bruckner. It has been recorded and performed worldwide to widespread acclaim.

IDINA Menzel sang “New York, New York” at the Belmont Race, 3rd leg of the triple crown held in Saratoga, NY on Saturday, to very poor reviews, unfairly, I thought. The SOUND system was really awful and the piano was poorly MICed. She gave her all under terrible conditions.

HG@9:13 - Thanks for The Ink Spots.

Happy day, all!

RosE said...

Good Morning! True to form, a challenging (to me) double whammy – Katie Hale and Thursday. Thanks Katie and Sam Acher.
I grudgingly left the NW all blank and moved along. Gradually it came together. The theme revealed itself with DATA CENTER and helped me understand the others.
I follow Sir David Attenborough on Facebook and he posts some stunning nature photography. One recently was the SNOWY owl. Beautiful!
RIYADH – all perps, as was ANDOR, ARO.
WO: tIC -> MIC; Bud -> BUB
IF ONLY – everything starts with a thought before it becomes.
Thanks Bill and Teri for the fun recap. You had my toe tapping with the Irish Rover lilt.

Malodorous Manatee said...

I.M. at 9:48 said "I play Connections daily. I find it fun and challenging, except on the days when the editor dons his/her diabolical, devious, devilish, demonic hat!"

Me, too, on all counts.

Copy Editor said...

Ultimately, I guessed right on the CAMI/MIC natick and did FIR. I’m sure there are Cornerites who cringe every time I use the word “lame” (thank you, KS, for beating me to it), but this puzzle must have a torn ACL or something.

No one can blame waseeley for having trouble describing the theme, which you did just fine, Bill. This former sports journalist got the theme only because of the cricket entry, which was by far the best of the five, but that wasn’t saying much. (BTW, I’ve been told an effective ELEVATOR PITCH should take 17 seconds, tops.) The idea that a “CENTER” is synonymous with an arena did not work at all, but then, neither did the word play in much of the fill.

Two of them were hall-of-fame stinkers.I'm not buying “summer” as an occupation for someone who adds to come up with sums. Nor am I agreeing that “rest of the road” could be construed as a clever clue for CAR NAP, a term I’ve never heard used anywhere, although I suppose it’s vaguely plausible. COW SHED is in the same category as an answer, though the clue itself wasn’t a stretch.

And, like many of you, I wasn’t familiar with ARO or RHOA, but I got past those, too. And there were several particularly awful “paraphrases,” as Jayce calls them – notably “Come to my side, pup.” Said no one ever!!!

Fortunately, the factoids so many of you feel shouldn’t be in these puzzles were the only reason I could finish. I know how to spell RIYADH and am familiar with IDINA, RASTA, LAYLA (though I didn’t know the lyric), SKYE, and, of course, TORRE. And, again, I knew cricket is played on a PITCH. But there was little to like about this puzzle.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Yowza! What a BROAD array of opinions on this puzzle! For me, if it forces me to think I consider it a success. That, and I finished it in good time, i.e., when I finished my coffee.

My spelling is usually excellent as once I see a word I recall the spelling but IDINA confused me. I couldn't recall if it started with E or I. The I won because of ISLA. Spanish I do know!

And I don't usually recall sports figures but Joe TORRE is distinctive in that I always want to add an S or a Z at the end of his name. To me it's more natural that way.

CARDI to me does not mean CARDIGAN so I had trouble with that though I do know CAMI as camisole.

SUMMER as a verb is just trying too hard to be cute.

I've had many a CARNAP when we're on the road especially to such far off places as North Carolina to visit my sister.

IrishMiss
I'm glad you watched "Made in Italy". I agree about the son who, I believe, needs more training as an actor. Michael Richardson is in fact, Liam's actual son who uses his mother's surname, Richardson.



Picard said...

waseeley As a philosophy minor, I was happy to see Rudolph CARNAP. Sorry to find out it was not something you knew. Thanks for the blog and many illustrations!

Hand up this reminded me of yesterday with regard to the theme. I kind of got it, but was never totally sure. Not happy about crossed names like IDINA/ANDOR. Hand up thought CARDI was about CARDI B. Happy to FIR.

Near Osaka Japan we encountered this rather extraordinary ELEVATOR.

It goes up to an "onsen" (spa) in the Minoh Kanko Hotel.

Here is my video of the experience riding up this unique ELEVATOR.

We had just finished hiking down the Minoh Waterfalls Trail. With macaque monkeys.

From Yesterday:
Lucina Can you tell us the name of the perfect printer you found?

waseeley, Joseph Schwartz Thank you for the kind words about my photo from Masada of the DEAD SEA.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Thanks, inanehiker / Naomi / Copy Editor. That makes sense. I've always used the term "ELEVATOR speech," but then again my project managers had to be ready to update, not persuade. I told them to always have a 30 second status report. We didn't have elevators in most of our buildings, but I still used the name and described it as "any chance encounter," - even off premises - like on a golf course or at a brunch.

Irish Miss said...

MalMan @ 11:49 ~ I'm glad someone agrees with me on Connections. 🤗 What say you, DO, about your experiences?

Copy Editor @ 12:33 ~ I have often heard Center and Arena used interchangeably to designate sports venues. I think some of your frustration with some cluing and answers stems from your background where precision is demanded. As we have all come to learn, in crossword world, "close" is good enough. 🤔

Lucina @ 1:13 ~ Yes, I knew that was Liam's son, which is why I mentioned "Nepo Babies." 😉

Picard @ 1:25 ~ No way would I ride in that elevator! 🫣

Anonymous said...

Yep, this was a meh. That being said, it was a million times better than any of the crossword puzzles I’ve ever constructed, which is none.

Jayce said...

Many of the entries in this puzzle were far out of my wheelhouse. I only finished it by looking many of them up. Not really much of a learning experience; mostly just a frustrating experience devoid of any feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction. On the other hand, I learned a lot from waseeley's write-up, and will remember much of it.

As always, I enjoy reading all your comments.

Yes, Lucina, what printer did you buy?

Parsan, I assume you were referring to William Carragan.

Best wishes to you all.

Lucina said...

Picard and Jayce
Thank you for your inquiry. My new printer is a Canon, not yet installed so I have no idea of its capacity or abilities yet. it cost $77 at Walmart, which, BTW, is a big mess right now. They are remodeling and rearranging shelves so inside and on the parking lot things are confusing. However, a very nice young man named Jose helped me so I was able to leave quickly.

waseeley said...

Parsan @10:49 AM and Jayce @5:4 PM And I just learned something from you folks about Bruckner musicologist William Carragan. Here's a musical obituary of him on SlippeDisc. Anton Bruckner's symphonic works are not played as much these days, and I'm more familiar with his liturgical works, especially his beautiful Te Deum.

And Parsan I don't follow basketball, but bloggers are required to learn next to nothing about everything and I once discovered when writing an earlier review that your friend Jerry West was the inspiration for the NBA logo

Irish Miss said...

And thanks to Jayce's piquing my curiosity, I just learned that William Carragan was a native Trojan and taught Physics at the local community college here in Troy, NY. Of course, we have to thank Parsan for mentioning his passing.

sumdaze said...

Thanks to Katie and Sam for their puzzle! I had a lot of IDKs but it eventually came together for a FIR. FAV: Tag lines?
Thanks to waseeley for his extensive notes on the answers! FAV: data scientist video