-
A
not-too-difficult-level Wednesday for yours, "verily", but upon
finishing, stared at the theme answers for too long a time, trying to
determine what the reveal had to do with the other four answers. I
finally decided that it had something to do with the first and last few
letters of each fill, but was not thrilled with the results; the end
letters "wrap" the answers and reveal a "party". Meh. Nevertheless, I
checked in with our host, and she agreed that I was, in fact, correct.
Sigh. Three 11-letter and two 10-letter themers, which took up a lot of
squares, and left us with some fresh fill, but also a ridiculous amount
of three-letter-words (3LW). The theme answers/reveal;
17. *Swimmer that can expand to three times its normal size: BALLOON FISH - BASH - I am shocked that BALLoon was acceptable, considering that the next theme is "BALL"
26. *Dreamhouse occupant: BARBIE DOLL - BALL - seems like a dupe to me
38. *Employee responsible for minimizing negative outcomes: RISK MANAGER
- RAGER - had to look this one up; I have heard of a "RAVE" party, but a
"RAGER" is new to me - and I noted, too that "SARAN" was scrambled in
the answer, which is also a "wrap", so to speak. . . . .
51. *Greek salad component: FETA CHEESE - FETE - Meh. Feta & Fete are just too close for me
61. Postshow cast celebrations, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues: WRAP PARTIES - Parties that "wrap" the theme answers, but not really; more like bookend...
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. "Good heavens!": "EGAD~!" - O God, I can't believe this puzzle passed muster~!
5. Novelize, perhaps: ADAPT - Meh. Isn't it the other way, adapting a novel TO a screenplay~?
10. Old-school cool: HEP - 3LW#1
13. Star-nosed diggers: MOLES - not pretty, but I guess it gets the job done~!
15. Skin care brand: NIVEA
16. United: ONE - 3LW#2
19. Boy of the fam: BRO - 3LW#3
20. Not needing an MD's script: OTC - Over-The-Counter; I see now that birth control AND the "little blue pills" are available without a prescription; Hmmm - coincidence~? - And 3LW#4
21. "Black-ish" father: DRE - perps - And 3LW#5
22. Like some arcade games: COIN-OP - should there be an abbr. in the clue, or is this in the vernacular~?
24. Ego: SELF
29. Prognosticator: SEER - I am merely a proCRASTINator
30. Bath bathroom: LOO - British city Bath, British bathroom - And 3LW#6
31. Skilled: ABLE - the Florida Panthers were ABLE to hoist the Stanley Cup Monday after winning Game Seven - sorry Oilers fans
32. Put in a little oil, say: SAUTÉ
35. Back tooth: MOLAR
41. Front-end alignment: TOE-IN
- if you're "10A." like me, when you took your car to the mechanic,
there were three things to correct, Toe-in/out, Camber, and Caster
42. "Veep" role for Louis-Dreyfus: MEYER - Meh. Talk about vague
- last name for a last name from a sit-com that was only on HBO five+
years ago - I just happened to recognize the name, due to the popularity
of Seinfeld, but that didn't really help much
44. Many a Jordanian: ARAB
47. CGI-heavy superhero franchise: MCU - Marvel Comics
Cinematic Universe - totally not my wheelhouse, and the reason why I
missed "Brie" last Wednesday - my apologies to waseeley et. al. - And
3LW#7
49. Intl. oil cartel: OPEC
55. "The Possibilities Are Beautiful" retailer: ULTA
56. Contributing element: FACTOR
57. Catan resource: ORE - Catan is a board game; I invented a board game that uses
"resources" as well; now I am trying to find someone who knows code, so
it can be converted to a phone/tablet app; I'm willing to split the
profits - And 3LW#8
59. Century divs.: YRs - 3LW#9
60. That, in Spanish: ESO - 3LW#10
65. Trig function: COS - sin, cos, tan, cot, sec, csc - take your pick - And 3LW#11
66. One holding things back?: LEVEE - I have to include this song
67. Gulf of Suez peninsula: SINAI -the "incident" from three years ago; $540million fine~!
68. Explosive material: TNT - 3LW#12
69. Reproduce like salmon: SPAWN
70. Boot camp figs.: SGTs
DOWN:
1. Create a design that stands out?: EMBOSS - I did this a long time ago using the "emboss" tool from Photoshop
2. Small beards: GOATEES
3. Safe call: ALL CLEAR
4. "Doin' Time" singer Lana __ Rey: DEL - WAG - But the video is pretty cool. A remake of a song that was already a remake of a classic song. And 3LW#13
5. Strengthen, in metallurgy: ANNEAL
6. "What's the __?": DIFference~? - Slang - And 3LW#14
7. Pic above a username: AVI - Meh. Avatar, abbr. - And 3LW#15
8. Joe of "Casino": PESCI - the one name I DID know
9. Largest North American alpine lake: TAHOE - HURON fit, but that's not the largest of the Great Lakes; "so what's an alpine lake~?" I wondered . . . .
10. Mingle (with): HOBNOB - Spellcheck is OK with this as one word
11. Join the club: ENROLL - meh. "Signed up" is better suited to "clubs", IMHO
12. Folks: PEOPLE
14. Roll on the lawn: SOD - 3LW#16
18. Planet, e.g.: ORB - 3LW#17
23. Goading words: I DARE YOU - I triple DOG dare you~!
25. Frugivorous flying mammal: FRUIT BAT - I sussed frugivorous meant fruit; see the "Flying Fox"
27. Colleen Hoover's genre: ROMANCE - no clue, filled via perps - Goodreads
28. Godsend: BOON
33. General on American Chinese menus: TSO - 3LW#18
34. Scrape (by): EKE - 3LW#19
36. Quick getaway: LAM - Meh. 3LW#20
37. Number on a birthday card: AGE - 3LW#21
39. Silent actor: MIME - are you aiming for these people~?
40. Getting back (to): REPLYING
43. Opposite of charge: RETREAT - not the "deplete" of a battery, but the fall-back of a military group
44. Have an impact on: AFFECT
45. Motivation: REASON
46. For neither profit nor loss: AT COST
48. Tournament won by Coco Gauff in 2023: US OPEN - no clue, but a fairly safe WAG
50. Black currant liqueur: CASSIS
52. Some sweater necks: COWLS
53. Corp. employee in charge of recruitment: HR REP - interesting fill
54. Cy Young stat: ERA - 3LW#22
58. Triage ctrs.: ERs - 3LW#23
62. Filmmaker DuVernay: AVA - filled via perps; her IMDb - And 3LW#24
63. Syllable in a blaster imitation: PEW - there's a bird ( I
believe ) that I hear every morning - I am up typically at 4am - and its
call is "pew-pew, pew-pew", and it makes me think of a laser blaster
every time; anyone know which bird I mean~? - And 3LW#25
64. "Verily!": "TIS~!" - think "Old English" = truly - And the final 3LW#26
I am following Chairman Moe's lead from Fri Jun 14th, and rating this puzzle at just 1⭐
Splynter
THAT'S A WRAP
38 comments:
I knew it couldn’t be “levoe” so I had to change “pow” to “pew.” Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. And I finally saw all the “parties” the reveal was talking about. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Never noticed the theme until the reveal. (Yeah, d-o actually read it.) DRE, ULTA, and MCU required perps. Otherwise, this was a low drama outing, though better than one-star methinks. Thanx, Shannon, Will, and Splynter. (Maybe a tufted titmouse?)
FIR, but hand up for pow->PEW, also yea->TIS and pecci->PESCI (UNTIE!) and siani->SINAI (UNTIE!)
The grease monkeys I hung out with called the adjustment simply "TOE."
There are many, many educated and intelligent people who cannot use "effect" and "AFFECT" properly. They not only misuse them in speech, but also in print.
I consider a puzzle's theme to be a small bonus, and don't get excited when I figure one out or feel down when I don't get the point. No, I didn't get it today, and no, I didn't care. Same with circles. As America sang in their beautiful breakup song:
"To each his own it's plain to see
To walk alone you have to be
It's all for you and all for me, you'll see"
As the The Greg Kihn Band sang, "they don't write 'em like than anymore."
Thanks to Shannon and Will for the fun, and to Splynter for the review, including TWO sets of glamorous gams.
FIR. Somewhat typical Wednesday fare. A few unknowns that the perps helped solve. For example, MCU was a mystery to me. And I threw down adopt before adapt. Silly me.
I never got the theme till I came here, but it certainly wasn't needed for the solve.
This was a nice enjoyable mid-week crossword.
SO, it took me 7:06 today, which is nothing speCIAL.
I don't generally look for themes either, and verily, I didn't see one again today. Often, I consider a theme to be a negative.
Jinx, there's also people like me who can't always remember to use effect and affect properly.
I didn't know "anneal", Ulta, and another couple.
Wednesday wrap-up. Thanks for the fun, Shannon and Will, and Splynter.
I FIRed in good time, and found the theme after the reveal sent me looking at the ends.
My evaluation would not be quite as low as Splynter’s, but there was a plethora of 3LWs for sure.
Three inkblots to change RBI to ERA (filled too quickly and then realized Cy Young was a pitcher (with Award named after him).
Second inkblot for Ida before AVA. Why can I never remember Ms DuVernay’s first name?
Third inkblot to change Yes to TIS, which better matches the Old English of “Verily”.
Favourite was the clue for EMBOSS.
Least favourite was AVI (slang for Avatar). Maybe it would help me remember AVA!
This Canadian is not familiar with ULTA stores.
inanehiker- thanks for updating us on NETFLIX and CHILL.
Wishing you all a great day.
Splynter- that final Stanley Cup game was a nail-biter, but Florida outplayed the Oilers and deserved the win. Congrats. There are 13 Canadians (one from Edmonton LOL) on the Panthers and the Cup will visit here many times in the next year.
Maple Leaf fans just keep hoping for next year (sigh!).
Never saw the theme...
Did you know they make wrap paint jobs for cars?
Splynter,
could this be your "pew-pew" bird?
Hola!
NIVEA used to be my favorite lotion until the price increased so much as to make it prohibitive for me. So once I filled that I eased into the puzzle and finished it to my surprise. Not a surprise was the large number of three letter words; it can't be helped with so much long fill.
And where did I buy NEVEA? Why, at ULTA, of course! In fact, I made regular trips there for my cosmetics, but that was when I was working. Now, I barely even wear make-up.
There is a RISK MANAGER? I had no idea.
In a religious context, RETREAT has a different meaning entirely. Some here may know that it is a special time, maybe three to even 30 days, taken to reflect in silence about one's life and the spiritual progress made thus far in one's life. It is usually accompanied by daily talks given at frequent intervals by a RETREAT Master and the reading of spiritual books is encouraged. That includes Scripture but also works by well known authors of such subjects. TMI?
Yesterday we went to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant but did not have General TSO's chicken.
Thank you, Splynter. It took a while to realize it was you narrating but guess what gave you away?
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Splynter, it's most likely a cardinal. A male cardinal. I hear them every day. Listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dLaeG6WCj0
Good Morning:
Puzzles two days in a row with 26 TLWs stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. The theme was cute enough, with a fitting reveal but, IMO, any enjoyable solving experience was diminished by the invasion of these "little pests." This annoyance, however, was overshadowed by the highly questionable Balloon (Ball) entry and the subsequent Ball formed by Barbie Doll, an egregious error Splynter's eagle eye spotted. Meyer and Romance needed perps and O God/Egad and Use/Dif needed correcting. As Avatar has no I, Avi seems odd as an equivalent, but in these days of Inspo, Rando, Bae, Enby, Aro, etc., I guess "words" are whatever you want them to be.
Thanks, Shannon and Will, and thanks, Splynter, for an honest and fair review. I'm still dizzy from that Die Hard chase scene!
Have a great day.
Good Morning! I got through today’s puzzle relatively smoothly though I didn’t see the themers even with the reveal.
Wild guess for an “E” with DRE crossing ANNEAL. Unfamiliar with both words.
All perps for: TOE-IN –Thanks, Splynter for the helpful chart; MEYER; MCU; AVI; PEW.
Thanks, Splynter, for an apt reflection of today’s puzzle.
Well, I FIR and enjoyed it. There were a few unknowns, like Louis-Dreyfus's character name in "Veep," MCU, Catan resource, and Colleen Hoover's genre, but they were all easily solved by perps. I don't mind three-letter words: I think they are a fair price to pay for fresh fill like FRUIT BAT. The whole puzzle felt lively to me, and I was able to see the celebrations when prompted by the reveal.
The sexy ladies pictured in today's blog post seem to be related by imposed disabilities. The wrap dress woman is wearing heels so high that she cannot possibly walk; she has been hobbled. The cowl neck woman has a hank of hair over her face so thick that she can barely see, as if she were wearing blinders. Does the male gaze love helplessness? One doesn't imagine sexy men looking deliberately disabled.
Many thanks to Shannon, Will, and Patti for what I thought was a fine puzzle, and to Splynter for explaining it all in spite of his dissatisfaction.
Splynter, agree with TTP, it sounds like a Cardinal. I fell "toe-in" was a stretch as it is only part of an alignment...
Meh. I prefer my crossword puzzles with real words. On the other hand, Splynter kept me enjoyably entertained this morning, so I've got that going for me!
FYI: One does not anneal metal to make It stronger. Annealing makes metal softer and more malleable.
I was not ABLE to finish this CW. I had PEcCi, therefore didn’t see the FISH, nor the AVI and DIF. EGAD, I should have come up with TAHOE, however, but my heart wasn’t into this puzzle.
WAG for MEYER. I watched Veep and liked it, but I had to quit after the first three seasons. The show had become too raunchy for my taste.
MCU and PEW showed up on their own. As for the theme, I totally missed it, although I tried to find wraps like Pita wraps, crepes, etc. Wrong direction.
Thank you Splynter for a fine recap.
Musings
-The word Wrap finally sunk in and I got the gimmick on this fun puzzle I enjoyed more than my friend Splynter.
-MOLES are a golf course superintendent’s worst nightmare
-Some of Agatha Christie’s novels were very different when ADAPTED to TV or movies
-Even this MEYER would have been easier for me
-I’m sure MCU and AVI were “Any port in a storm” fills for Shannon and Will
-Last Saturday’s themeless co-constructor said she engages in “vicious games of Catan”
-Last Sunday’s puzzle had 8. "Eso __": Paul Anka hit: BESO.
-Every LEVEE in Eastern Nebraska is getting tested this week
-Joe PESCI made the Four Seasons a hit by introducing them to his friend Bob Gaudio who wrote most of their hits.
-Frugivorous? Wow!
-I love when people are quick to REPLY to texts and emails. My 84-yr-old neighbor is the best!
Addendum
-If you’re up for an entertaining 9-minute clip, this will show RISK MANAGEMENT very well!
C-Eh, I agree about the excitement of Game 7, especially the last five minutes or so. The Panthers played a level of team defense that my Capitals can only dream of. For some reason, I looked up the teams' makeup:
Oilers:
USA - 6
Canada - 24
Northern Europe - 4
Panthers:
USA - 8
Canada - 13
Northern Europe - 14
At least an Oiler got the MVP award, only the 6th time it went to a member of the losing squad.
For those that aren't hockey fans, the Stanley Cup has not only the team name, but it also has the name of every player. The oldest winners are removed to make room for newcomers.
Naomi, I'm not too sure that these high-fashion women dress for men. Seems to me that they dress for the fawning approval of other women. A guy would say "hey honey, that dress would look nice on you. In fact, I'd like nothing better!"
Too many of the abundant three-letter terms in this puzzle brought four-letter terms to mind. MCU was a total unknown (probably because I despise everything about the superheroes genre). The clues for TIS, ORE, AND PEW were ridiculous. I frequently defend the usefulness of algebra, but relatively few people know enough about trigonometry to make function entries like COS work. I needed perps. And AVI nearly led me astray. I barely caught my ADoPT/ADAPT error in time to avoid an FIW, another three-letter term that brings four-letter terms to mind.
The Upper Great Lakes area was tricky. ANNEAL was an unknown, and I had “use” before DIF, so it took me a while to realize that AVI was short for avatar. It’s an annoying abbrev. that no one over 30 would use. Fortunately, my PESCI guess was correct (interesting to see that name crossing a type of fish), and I knew TAHOE.
So I filled in the grid correctly, but the unifier didn’t help me understand the gimmick. Thanks, Splynter for making me glad I didn’t bother.
I did enjoy EMBOSS, although I didn’t see why the clue needed a question mark, and HOBNOB was a welcome entry. But there was a triggering four-letter term, the beauty supply chain I frequent because it carries the expensive shampoo I like. More than once I’ve encountered female employees at ULTA who think any man who enters the store must be gay. And now I know their slogan sucks.
Got the theme and also felt it was a bit thin. Not a real complaint, just an observation. It helped a bit with the solve when I got BASH. Last to fill was cross of COWLS and WRAP. ULTA to me just sounds like a mis-spelling of "ultra", which I find annoying. I contacted the company years ago to ask what their name means and they never replied.
Splynter Thanks for that cool motorcycle WRAP of the car!
Here I got to hold a FRUIT BAT in Indonesia. They are worshipped there.
From Yesterday:
CanadianEh, sumdaze Thank you for the healing wishes. I was told to avoid anything that might jar my head. Yesterday I went to the Solstice Workshop to help dismantle things with an impact driver. I figured that was OK as long as I didn't impact myself in the process!
Thank you Shannon and Will for a Wednesday FIR. Got all the fill but didn't make it to the party.
Thank you Splynter for your entertaining review. I knew it was you soon as I saw your opening GAMBIT.
A few favs:
15A NIVEA. Okay, so Teri helped me with this one.
17A BALLOON FISH. Aka PUFFER FISH, aka FUGU, a potentially poisonous pisces safe to eat only in Japan, by those who let their sushi chefs handle the RISK MANAGEMENT.
30A LOO. Coulda' been LAV so I had to wait for at least one perp.
61A WRAP PARTIES. Some years back one of my sisters and I crashed a WRAP PARTY after a performance of H.M.S. Pinafore in Buxton, England. The cast members were so much fun that we ended up closing the bar at 4 AM.
1D EMBOSS. Favorite clue.
2D GOATEES. I resemble that remark.
7D AVI. Weak.
52D COWLS. Okay, so Teri helped me with this too.
Cheers,
Bill
See y'all tomorrow, but not again until 7/18 (I'll explain it on the 4th).
Jinx @ 11:29 AM, you made me laugh: "A guy would say 'hey honey, that dress would look nice on you. In fact, I'd like nothing better!'"
Picard @ 12:09 PM, speaking of looking nice, that is a great FRUIT BAT photo!
Irish Miss - Please check my comment posted Mon. June 24, thinking I was posting Tues. June 25. Sorry - will explain later.
Many thanks for an interesting neat Wednesday puzzle, Shannon and Will. And your commentaries are always a pleasure, Splynter, especially with those cool pictures today.
I was just delighted to see ROMANCE show up right in the middle of this puzzle, but sadly it wasn't supported by much delight of that kind. AFFECT made me wish the word had been AFFECTionate, that would have been a sweet addition. Well, we did get BARBIE DOLL and a BALLOON and a bit of food. But this all didn't end up amounting to much of a WRAP PARTY--although I suppose you could HOBNOB around at one of those. But, hey, we just have to ADAPT to each day's puzzle however we can.
So, have a great day, everybody.
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR with a two w/o's: ADOPT/ADAPT and HIP/HEP
As I read through Splynter's recap (thanks, BTW, for adopting the Chairman's rating system) I reverted back to today's collaborators; one of whom is named "Rapp", a homophone for "WRAP". Maybe that's why this puzzle was accepted? It certainly could not be for the 26 3LW's, many of which would not have been accepted by several xword editors I know (MCU, AVI as clued, DIF, et al. I think the review was spot on ... maybe I need to create a puzzle to submit to Patti that has a "GROWS" theme (which is sort of homophonic with my last name ...) and see if that will pass muster?
Happy humpday
Thanks to Shannon and Will for their puzzle! Unfortunately I was not up to the challenge today. Major fails in Minnesota, the SE, and in deciphering the theme. Thanks to Splynter for filling in all my gaps!
The picture of the mole emphasizes how much more important hands are than eyes when you live underground.
FLN. Misty. We're both on the West Coast so maybe someday....
Picard, that bat looks enormous! Is that a typical size? I'm aware only of the normally small bats we have in this country. We had more than one sneak into our building when I lived in California and they are not easy to catch or shoo out.
Parsan @ 1:07 ~ I just read your note of the 25th and can't understand why you haven't received my emails. Have you checked your Spam folder? (I have received both of yours and both of my email addresses are valid and active.)
Picard @12:09 Maybe ULTA is an abbreviation of ultimate. That makes as much sense as AVI being an abbreviation for avatar.
You were lucky to get your detached retina taken care of so successfully. That’s a serious eye injury.
NaomiZ Thanks for the kind words about my FRUIT BAT photo! Not sure I ever will have an opportunity like that again!
Lucina Yes that is a typical size for a FRUIT BAT. It was quite hefty. The bats we see in the US are mostly insect-eating and indeed they are quite small. I encountered one leading a hike a few weeks ago in a surprisingly exposed place during the day.
Monkey Thanks for the speculation about the ULTA name. Good point if AVI can be short for Avatar, then anything goes! I still would like to know. To me it just looks like a result of bad spelling. I have met a number of people whose parents didn't know how to spell their names and now they are stuck with something that looks rather stupid.
Yes, I am indeed grateful about getting the retina surgery done so quickly and apparently successfully. The rest of that office is not very competent and the surgeon was pretty open about telling me so. I can't even get them to answer the phone about what I can or cannot do during the recovery. But the main thing is that the surgeon seemed to know what he was doing, despite him cursing how badly they had set up the surgery area for him.
Not my cuppa today. I did appreciate some of the fill, real words such as:
MOLES (When my wife was working, she and her colleagues were called The Moles because their offices were below ground level. She still has and occasionally wears her t-shirt with a cartoon picture of a mole comfortably sipping coffee while putting his feet up on his desk.)
FACTOR
EMBOSS
HOBNOB
FRUIT BAT
RETREAT.
In making our magnetometers, we used expensive ANNEALED Alnico rods for their excellent magnetic properties. One of the technicians never did learn that they needed to be handled gently and that banging them around weakens or destroys the annealing, so we had to let him go. (Annealing the metal makes the magnetic dipoles in the metal remain lined up better than non-annealed. Banging them around misaligns the dipoles and greatly reduces the metal's effectiveness as a magnetic material.)
(And yes, the annealing makes the metal softer, all too easily bent, which is all the more reason they needed to be handled carefully.)
I heartily second the "Meh"s several of you have already expressed.
Good reading you all.
Sumdaze, maybe we'll run into each other on the beach sometime.
I always seem to post late because I often do the crossword to relax after work. It's usually relaxing anyway. Took a while after finishing to figure out the theme. At least the wrapped letters weren't circled, so there's that.
been following the crossword corner whenever I have some trouble. interested in the game/app idea -i'd love to try and help. let me know :)
Picard, there most likely exists cultural and ethnic differences among people that value individuality over conformity in the spellings of given names. I have no bigotry if parents want to spell the name of their son as Antwan, Antwaun, Antwon or Antoine. If Monica becomes Monique or Moniqua, that's fine by me. Names are often chosen to reflect cultural traditions and values, as well as personal preferences. To each their own. Why do you assume that the parents did not know how to spell the child's name?
Hi All!
Thanks Shannon & Will for a nice puzzle to play with.
Excellent expo, Splynter. Thanks for pointing out the theme. After I finally thought of WRAP, guessed the V in AVA, and LEVEE filled, I didn't even bother looking for the theme. Enjoyed Bonham's intro!
WOs: TOw IN, CAST -> WRAP
ESPs: DRE, NIVEA, ULTA, COWLS, AVA
Fav: HOBNOB
FLN: Sumdaze - DW said of what she read, it helped. Unfortunately, she was too busy to really study it.
HG - Great clip explaining the house of cards CDOs were. I knew they were a Bad Idea (TM) when I heard ads for them on AM radio 3-5 years earlier ;-)
The year Space Force was announced, the challenge coin for Defcon's VET CON (party for hackers who are Vets) has PEW-PEW EMOSSed on it. :-)
Cheers, -T
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