Good Morning Cruciverbalists, Malodorous Manatee here with the lowdown on a Friday puzzle by Wendy L. Brandes. Not unlike the puzzle we solved two weeks ago, our constructor (and editor) have elected to go with a bit of "letter play". In this instance, as is often the case, the key to figuring out what is going on lies within the reveal. Today, that is located at:
52 Across. Cheer heard in the Bronx, or a phonetic hint for making the starred clues match their answers: LET'S GO YANKEES.
Well, that's crystal clear. Not! First, the reference in the clue is to New York Yankees baseball team aka the "Bronx Bombers" and not to a so-called "Bronx Cheer" aka raspberry (flatulence). Second, this solver, a lifelong Dodgers fan and son of a Brooklyn-born mother had to get past the fact that the answer is something that would never, ever pass his lips. Third, the answer seems to mean absolutely nothing. Of course that is never the case with these things. Okay, then, what does it mean? After a bit of head scratching the light bulb began to glow, albeit dimly. The first step was to notice the EA letter combination in each clue. Perhaps the key was to be found there. While the EA thing did prove to be something of a dead end it at least set this solver's feet on the right path. It's the E! Get rid of the E. YANK the EES! Or, if you prefer, Let's Go Yank EEs. Without the Es in the clues, the relationship between the clues and the answers does make sense. Here are the three places where this bit of legerdemain is employed:
20 Across. *Bean poles: STRIKE LEADERS. Bean Poles morphs into Ban Pols when we YANK (delete) the E's. Bob Dylan said it well. Ban Politicans is roughly equivalent to Strike (as is delete) your Leaders.
...and watch your parking meters
27. *Beat poet: WITCHES CAULDRON. Beat Poet morphs into Bat Pot when we yank the E's. Witches reportedly use bats (not in the baseball sense), or parts thereof, as ingredients when concocting their brews in their caldrons (large pots).
43. *Came clean: PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB. Came Clean morphs into Cam Clan. In this case a Clan (group) of Camera enthusiasts.
This how it all appears in the grid:
And, here, now, the rest of the story:
Across:
1. Like dumping someone via text: COLD. A bit of slang to start. Neil will explain. It should not require a renowned Astrophysicist to explain the first clue/answer but, hey, edification is to be found where one finds it.
5. Send to a specialist: REFER. Sometimes, within my HMO, trying to get a needed REFERal leads to a case of REFER madness.
10. Chris elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021: BOSH. Has Ch. Moe been keeping something from us? No. A proper noun that we either knew or perp'd.
14. Healing plant: ALOE. We apply quite a lot of this when solving puzzles. It often provides some relief.
15. Musical set in Argentina: EVITA.
16. Biblical preposition: UNTO. And lo, an angel appeared UNTO the prophet Isaiah, and said:
Angel: "Behold! I exceed ninety degrees!" Isaiah: "Uh... what?" But the angel gave no explanation and then vanished. Isaiah muttered: "What an obtuse angel."
17. Feature of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign: NEON.
18. Green energy option: SOLAR. Green as in eco-freindly.
19. Not superficial: DEEP.
23. Leave speechless: AWE.
25. Drink suffix: ADE. As in lemonaADE or GatorADE or PowerADE.
26. Another name for bingo: BEANO. New to this solver.
32. Zones: AREAS.
33. Word on Rhode Island's flag: HOPE. The state motto is, simply, HOPE.
34. 525,600 minutes: YEAR. The math checks out - if it's not a leap year.
35. Starts bubbling, maybe: BOILS. A watched pot never boils. The water does.
37. Slumps: DIPS. Hand up for first thinking SAGS.
41. "It's __ real": BEEN. But has it BEEN fun?
42. Greeting on a name tag: HELLO, my name is....
49. __ Hebrides: OUTER. See also 63 Across.
50. Assistance: AID.
51. G7 member: USA. The Pols change, the countries remain the same.
57. "Holidays Symphony" composer Charles: IVES. It took IVES from 1897 to 1913 to compose all four movements and the symphony is far too long to post here.
58. "Inferno" poet: DANTE. I tried to read the book but it took an eternity for anything to happen.
59. Pride constituent: LION. Not a reference to sexual preference (refreshing after what we've grown accustom to seeing recently in our puzzles. Can I say that?). Here, kitty, kitty.
62. Actress Spelling: TORI.
63. __ Hebrides: INNER. See also 49 Across. The southernmost of the INNER Hebrides is Islay, famous for its peated whisky.
64. Movie concessions purchase: SODA. Popcorn was far too long to fit.
65. Latin infinitive: ESSE.
66. "Yikes!": EGADS. Something that someone might say.
67. Concludes: ENDS. This one appropriately concludes today's Across clues.
Down:
1. "__ you not?": CAN.
2. Chant heard at Angel City FC games: OLE. A football (soccer) reference. Often clued with a Spanish or Mexican flavored reference.
3. Leaves to steep: LOOSE TEA. Not as in departs for the kitchen. What is steeped. Tea leaves.
4. Impress accidentally?: DENT. An automobile accident will often create quite an impression.
5. Dwell: RESIDE. Someone told me as a kid that huge reptiles RESIDE in the sewers...What a croc that turned out to be.
6. Brings to mind: EVOKES.
7. Single __: FILE.
8. Bibliography abbr.: ET AL.
9. Like white peacocks: RARE. True, but . . . .
10. Blossomed: BUDDED.
11. In __ and out ...: ONE EAR.
12. Omelet bar burner: STERNO.
13. Boards: HOPS ON. As in she HOPS ON the bus. And another one . . .
21. Fan sounds: RAHS. E.G. sports fans. Not something used to cool the room.
22. Qualified: ABLE.
23. On vacation: AWAY. Okay, but next Yuletide are we going to sing "On vacation in a manger..."?
24. Medium of many a Calder mobile: WIRE.
28. Mustang, for one: CAR. The Ford Motor Company likes to name their productions models after horses.
29. Home of the Terracotta Army: CHINA. This solver first thought of XIAN but it was too short so settled for the less specific answer.
The date stamp says 2008
So it must have been at least 16 years ago
30. Email pioneer: AOL. Remember all of those free floppy discs?
31. FedEx rival: UPS.
35. Plead: BEG. As a youngster, my daughter BEGged me to play as a horse. I begrudgingly agreed...I didn't really want to be a neigh sayer.
36. Not 'neath: O'ER. OvER
37. Human Rights Day mo.: DEC. Only twelve from which to choose (as long as the editor sticks with English) so a single perp'd square usually let's us know.
38. Sleight of hand: ILLUSION.
Teller Shows Us How
39. Asset: PLUS. What's the best thing about living in Switzerland? I don't know, but the flag is a big PLUS.
40. Udon kin: SOBA. When it's a generic noodle reference we have to figure out which of these two it is likely going to be. This time things had already been narrowed down.
41. Five-time Wimbledon winner Björn: BORG.
Bjorn Cy-Borg
42. __ Park: University of Chicago locale: HYDE. Sometimes clued with an FDR reference. Other times with a nod to Dr. Jekyll.
43. Like someone who writes thank-you notes: POLITE.
44. __ rancheros: HUEVOS. I understand that blanquillos is often the preferred word as HUEVOS has another meaning in some contexts.
47. Cooled off like an overheated boxer?: PANTED. Not a prize fighter reference.
48. Ones on a path to the top?: HIKERS. Hiking puns can be hillarious.
53. Garfield frenemy: ODIE. ODIE is the dog.
54. Yin and __: YANG.
55. "Object Lessons" novelist Quindlen: ANNA.
56. Alternatively: ELSE.
60. Quirky: ODD. You know what's ODD? Every other number.
61. Rapper on the "King's Disease" trilogy of albums: NAS. As a frequent visitor, NAS has become my initial guess for three-letter rap-related answers even though I am completely unfamiliar with his body of work.
That will conclude the chain YANKing for today except, perhaps, for this:
I solved it, but try as I might, I could make no sense of the themed clues. Because of the reveal, I could see it had something to do with removing “e’s” but it wasn’t clear to me. I needed MalMan to explain the whole thing to me. Anyway, after all that, FIR, so I’m happy.
Tried removing the E's from the answers, and the results made no sense. Never considered removing E's from the clues. D'oh. Thanx, Mal-Man. (Refer madness and obtuse angel were great.) Fell into that SAGS trap. That made the month SEP and gave me PHOTOGRAPHY PLUB. (????) And so it went. Has anyone ever heard of BOSH? You were too clever for me, Wendy.
CAR: Ford not only likes to name cars after horses, they like to repurpose former names. Maverick is a current truck, but used to be a bottom-of-the-line fast-back coupe. I know, because I once owned one, sad to say.
Back on the hotspot this morning. Not sure what Soddenlink's problem is today. We haven't had rain nor storms in several weeks.
Thanks for the info MM. I FIR but trying to Yank the E's from the fills, not the clue. That was the part I would have never seen or looked for. NAS was a WAG. Chris BOSH, Calder (WIRE), TESSIE, and HOPE were total unknowns and filled by perps.
D-otto, Maverick? I thought you were a 'Pinto Pony' person. At least the Mavericks wouldn't explode if read-ended.
Well I was half successful today, the puzzle itself was not as difficult as some Friday’s as I FIR in 21:48, but deciphering the theme was beyond me, (maybe if the E’s in the clues were circled it may have helped 😂). Thanks MM for enlightening me, and kudos to all who figured it out. As usual I needed perps for unfamiliar names, IVES, TESSIE, and ANNA. Bingo is BEANO? Thanks Wendy for the morning mental exercise.
FIR, but erased are for CAN. Wouldn't have gotten the theme had I noodled on it for a year.
The late Jimmy Buffett wrote and sang Mental Floss, including the line "in ONE EAR and out the other."
One of the few types I didn't inhale in the 70s was BAT POT. Oh, and "watched pot" as well.
Thanks to Wendy for the fun. I'd be LION if I said I didn't love it. Favorite was "cooled off like an overheated boxer" for PANTED. And thanks to our MalMan for another great review. This bad spelar especially appreciated the obtuse angel.
FIR, but I have a few nits with this puzzle. To begin, the proper names were an impediment to the solve, especially Ives and Bosh. Who? Not in my baliwick I'm afraid. And budded for blossomed just seemed odd to me. But most importantly the impossible theme removing a letter from a clue? Very odd! If not for those things, this was an easy solve. Didn't need the theme to do it. So overall I guess I enjoyed it, a tad.
Good Morning! Apt puzzle for a Friday. Lots of crunch, and very kind perps. I enjoyed the challenge.
I looked but never saw the connection for the theme. Congrats, MalMan, for uncovering it. While our constructor may be having fits of giggles at the deviousness of it, I didn’t find it amusing or clever.
WO: goes ON -> HOPS ON.
Perps for BOSH, IVES, WIRE (as clued), TESSIE, NAS
Thanks, MalMan, your humorous commentary was well received.
I had no problems with some of the proper names I didn’t know like BOSH, ANNA, and HYDE, so I solved this CW in no time though I didn’t know what I was doing since I couldn’t make the theme answers fit their clues.
Thank goodness for MM’s Herculean efforts; I would never have figured the theme out.
As with virtually ever themed puzzle, I ignored the gimmick, solved the themed answers with the help of easy perps, and breezed to the finish line under nine minutes. I’ve been a crossword fan for about 60 years, and my enjoyment has always come from solving the puzzle itself, not from trying to decipher these silly themes.
Had a mild scratchy throat right after I left the doctors for a check up on Wednesday where everyone was masked. Apparently there’s an uptick in Covid. This am have a full blown URI. Tested positive for Covid and a fever right now of 101.3😅 So got nuthin’ else to do but isolate, work the puzzle and wait for Ibuprofen to kick in Finished in record time😀. And it’s a Friday!!! Those overheated neurons did the trick!!! But all in all TBH an easy CW
Didn’t get the theme. But now that I’ve read the reveal (BTW I thought a Bronx cheer was made derisively through the lips not the other end). Had to read Mal man’s (you’re a genius man) explanation twice to understand it
In the too little, too late department...read in today's paper that CDC has okayed the distribution of the 2024/2025 covid vac. Should be in pharmacies next week. Recover quickly!
Ray-O, hope you'll be feeling better soon. To add the second line to your little poem. ...The more you toot, the better you feel, so eat your beans at every meal! 😄. P.S. I second thinking the Bronx cheer was a "raspberry" blown through the lips.
Holy Damn Yankees! "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets." Or in this case, Wendy. We're used to messing with the letters in the answers, but here the gimmick is to mess with letters in the clue! YANK those EES!
Clever work, Wendy, in the concept. I liked the puzzle, too, because a) it's baseball-related, and b) Charles Ives made an appearance.
I've got to say a few words about Ives. He was an American 20th-century composer, much admired by the likes of Gustav Mahler, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein. But Ives was also an insurance executive and actuary. He introduced over 100 years ago the concept of estate planning.
Back to the puzzle, I was stymied by the likes of LOOSETEA, BEANO, STERNO, TESSIE, SOBA, and NAS. Thank you, nearby perps!
Thanks, MalMan, for guiding us today. Obtuse angel, indeed!
Ray -O, I hope that you feel better quickly. You are correct, of course, about the orifice used to create a Bronx Cheer although I believe that the "cheer" itself is intended to imitate the sound made from "the other end" that you referenced. Or perhaps BEANO has rendered both undoable.
Musings -One of my strengths is knowing when I’m stumped. The puzzle was an easy solve but the dicey gimmick wasted too many of my 525,600 minutes until MM’s fine write-up illuminated me. Am I glowing? :-) -My former student GP doctor REFERRED to my former student surgeon. -A COLD take on the use of UNTO -Years ago, my kids were blown away when my radio played when I put the SOLAR cell, I connected to the battery terminals, into the, uh, sun -The Scrooge in me agrees with several who have said “HOPE is not a plan”. -Do you know the answer to the riddle that starts with, “As I was going to St. Ives…” -That pride is going stag -Life ain’t fair: Tori Spelling and Sofia Coppola did not rely on talent to get work -As a lunchroom supervisor, one of my jobs was making sure the line stayed in SINGLE FILE. Cutters were pretty clever.
One. Great story to use to reinforce the importance of reading the question carefully when taking any test, but especially for the certification candidates that I used to teach.
FIR except for solving the theme. Like other Cornerites, I was YANKing E's from the answers, not from the clues. Will wonders never cease? There *is* something new under the sun!
MalMan, you put our troubled minds at EES, and made us chuckle, too. "What's the best thing about living in Switzerland? I don't know, but the flag is a big PLUS." I'm in AWE. OLE!
Pretty easy FIR this morning. Now, about that theme...Huh? What the heck? Thanks to MM, I sorta get it, but Yeesh! And that's all I have to say about that, folks!
Hola! Solving this puzzle was a lot easier than puzzling out the theme. I liked seeing : EVITA, DANTE, HUEVOS. The latter might have posed a problem for non-Spanish speakers. And I thought WITCHES CAULDRON might have a Shakespearian reference. As for Charles IVES, I'm more familiar with Currier as a companion. TESSIE Santiago is another stranger. However, ANNA Quindlen is a well known author and I've even read one of her books. Thank you, Wendy and MalMan for today's offerings. Enjoy your day, everyone!
I enjoyed the puzzle despite my failure to decipher the theme. After reading MalMan’s explanation, I’m glad I didn’t bother. So, on second thought, I enjoyed it BECAUSE I didn’t bother. Thanks, MM, for laboring over an incredibly labored gimmick that wasn’t the least bit clever.
The only unknowns, other than the theme, were TESSIE and BEANO (as clued), but the NE was difficult, even when I replaced “Paul” with BOSH, the No. 3 star on those Miami Heat teams that featured LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. I was helped by a vague reference to a Firesign Theatre line MalMan might remember: “That was no crazed STERNO bum but a respected law-enforcement officer. . . .”
I particularly enjoyed three reminders of an October 1997 vacation. We caught some fall color along the Housatonic in Charles IVES country, heard “525,600 Minutes” as we were stunned by “Rent” on Broadway, and saw TORI Spelling as the lead guest at a taping of “Late Night, With Conan O’Brien.” The other guests were Ice-T and Evel Knievel.
I do always enjoy Firesign Theater references but must confess that I do not recall the Sterno bit. It must have been a beaut. No, it was a mound . . . .
HELLO, puzzle friends. I HOPE you enjoyed today's offering. It wasn't COLD, which was nice, and that bit of ALOE and some NEON light got us off to a good start. I could have used some LOOSE TEA to drink, or some SODA, along with some DIPS for a snack. But I guess it's time to take care of that LION and those OTTERS before they're too hungry. So I'll see you later, at the ENDS.
I enjoyed this puzzle and FIR because perps were helpful. Now that MM taught me to read the reveal correctly, I the like theme, which was not so convoluted after all. I was looking for the e's in the answers, when the reveal clearly said we were to remove the EEs from the clues. Not the puzzles fault, but mine. "a phonetic hint for MAKING THE STARRED CLUES MATCH their answers: LET'S GO YANKEES. Ray-O,I hope you feel better soon.
My favorite thing about crosswords is when there is a clever, unique theme like this one. It gives you a different solving experience and makes you think outside the box.
This puzzle is also a good example of why I usually work on the reveal first when solving—I can’t imagine trying to figure out these long answers before knowing what’s going on with the theme.
Again, I got the reveal without any letters (yay sports!), then had the PHOTOGRAPHY for 43a. When that didn’t make any sense with “Came clean” I realized the e’s had to come out of the clue! So unique (and explained fairly in the reveal clue).
My only problem with the theme was not knowing what “Ban pols” means. So am I to understand we’re not talking about strike leaders, but striking leaders?? (italicize ‘strike’ and ‘striking’ in your mind please)
The NE took the longest. Even as an avid sports fan, BOSH took a very long time to come up with. And had to make one WAG @ TESSI_/ESS_ but picked the right vowel for the FIR.
"My favorite thing about crosswords is when there is a clever, unique theme like this one. It gives you a different solving experience and makes you think outside the box."
In lieu of a "like" bitton Like! I know this conflicts to my reaction to a post, above, but I do feel strongly both ways.
I notice that the reveal states to make the CLUES match the answers. A more careful reading would have revealed that the clues were the “yank-ees” for us “yankors” to look at.
Thanks to Wndy for today's puzzl! FAV: placement of ENDS
I enjoy trying to suss the theme before coming to The Corner. I did figure out that we had to YANK the EES from the clues but "ban pols" still had me scratching my head. Thanks to MalMan for his funny write-up. Your sense of humor is just right for me.
WEES, I managed to FIR in good time (for me) of 20 minutes on a Friday, but as hard as I looked, and as much time as I spent on it, I could NOT fathom the theme. And I did take a lot of time trying to figure it out. MalMan's explanation even took an extra reading for the V-8 can to finally hit. I thought Beano was to minimize farts after eating beans, never heard it applied to Bingo. But then again, I've never played Bingo. Do they serve a lot of beans at Bingo halls? Don't know what else to say about this CW. WLB, pretty sneaky theme, but other than that and some obscure names, not too bad of a CW, thanx. MalMan we can always count on your write-ups to be both enlightening and entertaining. Especially today the "enlightening" part was badly needed. Thanx!!
Thank you Wendy for a creatively fun puzzle. The theme made a whooshing sound as it rushed overhead.
Thanks for explaining how the clues "match" the fill, MManatee. Loved the jokes - obtuse angel, big Plus, HILLarious.
WO: aVITA ESPs: BOSH, BORG, TORI | TESSIE, ANNA Fav: PANTED's clue.
Ray-O: Sorry to hear about your C-positive test. I was out right after Blackhat | Defcon and 1/4 our team was out last week with Covid. Hopefully, they gave you Paxlovid on your way out the door.
A bit late to the party here (was outta town on biz) but my lovely weef saved the LA Times pages for my delayed perusal…
Well, thanks to MalMan for his usual great review (loved your Obtuse Angel gag, the Weird Al cut and that awesome jam with Mayer and BB King!!) and for ‘splainin’ this puzzle’s “theme”…because, imho, it was sooo out there, it was in a galaxy far, far away. Luckily I FIR sans any grokment (is that even a word? Well, it is now 😆) of said theme. You’re way smarter’n me, Mssr Manatee!
Bronx cheer for BEANO as another term for that church-favorite numbers racket…
Sofia Coppola may have had a leg-up via her famous old man, but she is far from talentless; “Lost In Translation” is a great piece of filmmaking, earning her an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with a nomination for Best Director. And it was only her second feature film, to boot.
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I solved it, but try as I might, I could make no sense of the themed clues. Because of the reveal, I could see it had something to do with removing “e’s” but it wasn’t clear to me. I needed MalMan to explain the whole thing to me. Anyway, after all that, FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was outer there.
DeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteTried removing the E's from the answers, and the results made no sense. Never considered removing E's from the clues. D'oh. Thanx, Mal-Man. (Refer madness and obtuse angel were great.) Fell into that SAGS trap. That made the month SEP and gave me PHOTOGRAPHY PLUB. (????) And so it went. Has anyone ever heard of BOSH? You were too clever for me, Wendy.
CAR: Ford not only likes to name cars after horses, they like to repurpose former names. Maverick is a current truck, but used to be a bottom-of-the-line fast-back coupe. I know, because I once owned one, sad to say.
Back on the hotspot this morning. Not sure what Soddenlink's problem is today. We haven't had rain nor storms in several weeks.
I fell for the PLUB flub, as well.
DeleteI drive a 2022 Ford Maverick truck. Love it!
DeleteThanks for the info MM. I FIR but trying to Yank the E's from the fills, not the clue. That was the part I would have never seen or looked for. NAS was a WAG. Chris BOSH, Calder (WIRE), TESSIE, and HOPE were total unknowns and filled by perps.
ReplyDeleteD-otto, Maverick? I thought you were a 'Pinto Pony' person. At least the Mavericks wouldn't explode if read-ended.
Well I was half successful today, the puzzle itself was not as difficult as some Friday’s as I FIR in 21:48, but deciphering the theme was beyond me, (maybe if the E’s in the clues were circled it may have helped 😂). Thanks MM for enlightening me, and kudos to all who figured it out. As usual I needed perps for unfamiliar names, IVES, TESSIE, and ANNA. Bingo is BEANO? Thanks Wendy for the morning mental exercise.
ReplyDeleteFIR, but erased are for CAN. Wouldn't have gotten the theme had I noodled on it for a year.
ReplyDeleteThe late Jimmy Buffett wrote and sang Mental Floss, including the line "in ONE EAR and out the other."
One of the few types I didn't inhale in the 70s was BAT POT. Oh, and "watched pot" as well.
Thanks to Wendy for the fun. I'd be LION if I said I didn't love it. Favorite was "cooled off like an overheated boxer" for PANTED. And thanks to our MalMan for another great review. This bad spelar especially appreciated the obtuse angel.
Took 8:14 today for m to finish this on.
ReplyDeleteSolved it with no idea what the theme/gimmick was. Thank you MM for explaining it.
I didn't know one of today's actresses (nor her show/movie), the novelist (nor her novel), or the composer (nor his symphony).
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase Subgenius, I FIR but I wasn't happy. Upon Thumper's advice, I'll just say thank you to MalMan for the numerous chuckles and puns.
Have a great day.
FIR, but I have a few nits with this puzzle. To begin, the proper names were an impediment to the solve, especially Ives and Bosh. Who? Not in my baliwick I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteAnd budded for blossomed just seemed odd to me.
But most importantly the impossible theme removing a letter from a clue? Very odd!
If not for those things, this was an easy solve. Didn't need the theme to do it. So overall I guess I enjoyed it, a tad.
Good Morning! Apt puzzle for a Friday. Lots of crunch, and very kind perps. I enjoyed the challenge.
ReplyDeleteI looked but never saw the connection for the theme. Congrats, MalMan, for uncovering it. While our constructor may be having fits of giggles at the deviousness of it, I didn’t find it amusing or clever.
WO: goes ON -> HOPS ON.
Perps for BOSH, IVES, WIRE (as clued), TESSIE, NAS
Thanks, MalMan, your humorous commentary was well received.
I had no problems with some of the proper names I didn’t know like BOSH, ANNA, and HYDE, so I solved this CW in no time though I didn’t know what I was doing since I couldn’t make the theme answers fit their clues.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for MM’s Herculean efforts; I would never have figured the theme out.
As with virtually ever themed puzzle, I ignored the gimmick, solved the themed answers with the help of easy perps, and breezed to the finish line under nine minutes. I’ve been a crossword fan for about 60 years, and my enjoyment has always come from solving the puzzle itself, not from trying to decipher these silly themes.
ReplyDeleteIn lieu of a "like" button, like!
DeleteIn lieu of a "like" button, like!
DeleteIf the theme isn’t obvious I enjoy the challenge of trying to figure it out, and today I came up short, no big deal.
Delete
ReplyDeleteHad a mild scratchy throat right after I left the doctors for a check up on Wednesday where everyone was masked. Apparently there’s an uptick in Covid. This am have a full blown URI. Tested positive for Covid and a fever right now of 101.3😅 So got nuthin’ else to do but isolate, work the puzzle and wait for Ibuprofen to kick in Finished in record time😀. And it’s a Friday!!! Those overheated neurons did the trick!!! But all in all TBH an easy CW
Didn’t get the theme. But now that I’ve read the reveal (BTW I thought a Bronx cheer was made derisively through the lips not the other end). Had to read Mal man’s (you’re a genius man) explanation twice to understand it
Inkovers: bold/COLD, Sep/DEC, LGBT/LION, “Yike” = EGAD, “Yikes” = EGADS
BEANO, an OTC med for gas particular the by product of beans (“the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot”)
I thought at first it said “Let sleep” 🙂. Plus the “fan” on my desk whirrs never heard it shout ¡Olé!…
Like belly buttons, there are INNER and OUTER Hebrides
Written exam in Latin….ESSE
”CAN you not be silent”. “There will ____ talking in class”….BEANO!
Made friends….BUDDED
Replace clapboards…RESIDE
Anyone who reads this please remember to wash your hands 🤲
In the too little, too late department...read in today's paper that CDC has okayed the distribution of the 2024/2025 covid vac. Should be in pharmacies next week. Recover quickly!
DeleteRay-O, hope you'll be feeling better soon. To add the second line to your little poem. ...The more you toot, the better you feel, so eat your beans at every meal! 😄. P.S. I second thinking the Bronx cheer was a "raspberry" blown through the lips.
DeleteHoly Damn Yankees! "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets." Or in this case, Wendy. We're used to messing with the letters in the answers, but here the gimmick is to mess with letters in the clue! YANK those EES!
ReplyDeleteClever work, Wendy, in the concept. I liked the puzzle, too, because a) it's baseball-related, and b) Charles Ives made an appearance.
I've got to say a few words about Ives. He was an American 20th-century composer, much admired by the likes of Gustav Mahler, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein. But Ives was also an insurance executive and actuary. He introduced over 100 years ago the concept of estate planning.
Back to the puzzle, I was stymied by the likes of LOOSETEA, BEANO, STERNO, TESSIE, SOBA, and NAS. Thank you, nearby perps!
Thanks, MalMan, for guiding us today. Obtuse angel, indeed!
Thanks, all, for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteRay -O, I hope that you feel better quickly. You are correct, of course, about the orifice used to create a Bronx Cheer although I believe that the "cheer" itself is intended to imitate the sound made from "the other end" that you referenced. Or perhaps BEANO has rendered both undoable.
Love the commentary. I think 525,609 minutes is also the name of a song from “Rent”
DeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-One of my strengths is knowing when I’m stumped. The puzzle was an easy solve but the dicey gimmick wasted too many of my 525,600 minutes until MM’s fine write-up illuminated me. Am I glowing? :-)
-My former student GP doctor REFERRED to my former student surgeon.
-A COLD take on the use of UNTO
-Years ago, my kids were blown away when my radio played when I put the SOLAR cell, I connected to the battery terminals, into the, uh, sun
-The Scrooge in me agrees with several who have said “HOPE is not a plan”.
-Do you know the answer to the riddle that starts with, “As I was going to St. Ives…”
-That pride is going stag
-Life ain’t fair: Tori Spelling and Sofia Coppola did not rely on talent to get work
-As a lunchroom supervisor, one of my jobs was making sure the line stayed in SINGLE FILE. Cutters were pretty clever.
One. Great story to use to reinforce the importance of reading the question carefully when taking any test, but especially for the certification candidates that I used to teach.
DeleteFIR except for solving the theme. Like other Cornerites, I was YANKing E's from the answers, not from the clues. Will wonders never cease? There *is* something new under the sun!
ReplyDeleteMalMan, you put our troubled minds at EES, and made us chuckle, too. "What's the best thing about living in Switzerland? I don't know, but the flag is a big PLUS." I'm in AWE. OLE!
Thanks for the puzzle, Wendy!
Pretty easy FIR this morning. Now, about that theme...Huh? What the heck? Thanks to MM, I sorta get it, but Yeesh! And that's all I have to say about that, folks!
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteSolving this puzzle was a lot easier than puzzling out the theme. I liked seeing : EVITA, DANTE, HUEVOS. The latter might have posed a problem for non-Spanish speakers. And I thought WITCHES CAULDRON might have a Shakespearian reference. As for Charles IVES, I'm more familiar with Currier as a companion. TESSIE Santiago is another stranger. However, ANNA Quindlen is a well known author and I've even read one of her books. Thank you, Wendy and MalMan for today's offerings. Enjoy your day, everyone!
Say whattttt?! Thanks Mal, I never would have figured that theme out.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle despite my failure to decipher the theme. After reading MalMan’s explanation, I’m glad I didn’t bother. So, on second thought, I enjoyed it BECAUSE I didn’t bother. Thanks, MM, for laboring over an incredibly labored gimmick that wasn’t the least bit clever.
ReplyDeleteThe only unknowns, other than the theme, were TESSIE and BEANO (as clued), but the NE was difficult, even when I replaced “Paul” with BOSH, the No. 3 star on those Miami Heat teams that featured LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. I was helped by a vague reference to a Firesign Theatre line MalMan might remember: “That was no crazed STERNO bum but a respected law-enforcement officer. . . .”
I particularly enjoyed three reminders of an October 1997 vacation. We caught some fall color along the Housatonic in Charles IVES country, heard “525,600 Minutes” as we were stunned by “Rent” on Broadway, and saw TORI Spelling as the lead guest at a taping of “Late Night, With Conan O’Brien.” The other guests were Ice-T and Evel Knievel.
Only MalMan made this puzzle enjoyable. Wendy tried way too hard to make her tricks work.
ReplyDeleteI do always enjoy Firesign Theater references but must confess that I do not recall the Sterno bit. It must have been a beaut. No, it was a mound . . . .
ReplyDeleteThe Sterno bit was from "Everything You Know Is Wrong."
DeleteThank you, thank you for explaining theme. I was baffled!
ReplyDeleteHELLO, puzzle friends. I HOPE you enjoyed today's offering. It wasn't COLD, which was nice, and that bit of ALOE and some NEON light got us off to a good start. I could have used some LOOSE TEA to drink, or some SODA, along with some DIPS for a snack. But I guess it's time to take care of that LION and those OTTERS before they're too hungry. So I'll see you later, at the ENDS.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this puzzle and FIR because perps were helpful.
ReplyDeleteNow that MM taught me to read the reveal correctly, I the like theme, which was not so convoluted after all. I was looking for the e's in the answers, when the reveal clearly said we were to remove the EEs from the clues. Not the puzzles fault, but mine.
"a phonetic hint for MAKING THE STARRED CLUES MATCH their answers: LET'S GO YANKEES.
Ray-O,I hope you feel better soon.
Oops! My comment below is clearly redundant. Had i only read yours…
DeleteVariety is the spice of life!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about crosswords is when there is a clever, unique theme like this one. It gives you a different solving experience and makes you think outside the box.
This puzzle is also a good example of why I usually work on the reveal first when solving—I can’t imagine trying to figure out these long answers before knowing what’s going on with the theme.
Again, I got the reveal without any letters (yay sports!), then had the PHOTOGRAPHY for 43a. When that didn’t make any sense with “Came clean” I realized the e’s had to come out of the clue! So unique (and explained fairly in the reveal clue).
My only problem with the theme was not knowing what “Ban pols” means. So am I to understand we’re not talking about strike leaders, but striking leaders?? (italicize ‘strike’ and ‘striking’ in your mind please)
The NE took the longest. Even as an avid sports fan, BOSH took a very long time to come up with. And had to make one WAG @ TESSI_/ESS_ but picked the right vowel for the FIR.
"My favorite thing about crosswords is when there is a clever, unique theme like this one. It gives you a different solving experience and makes you think outside the box."
DeleteIn lieu of a "like" bitton Like!
I know this conflicts to my reaction to a post, above, but I do feel strongly both ways.
I notice that the reveal states to make the CLUES match the answers. A more careful reading would have revealed that the clues were the “yank-ees” for us “yankors” to look at.
ReplyDeleteI solved it without understanding or needing to understand the gimmick. MalMan, loved your write-up.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Wndy for today's puzzl!
ReplyDeleteFAV: placement of ENDS
I enjoy trying to suss the theme before coming to The Corner. I did figure out that we had to YANK the EES from the clues but "ban pols" still had me scratching my head. Thanks to MalMan for his funny write-up. Your sense of humor is just right for me.
Ingenious theme, and I needed the theme explanation. A very Friday appropriate puzzle..Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWEES, I managed to FIR in good time (for me) of 20 minutes on a Friday, but as hard as I looked, and as much time as I spent on it, I could NOT fathom the theme. And I did take a lot of time trying to figure it out. MalMan's explanation even took an extra reading for the V-8 can to finally hit. I thought Beano was to minimize farts after eating beans, never heard it applied to Bingo. But then again, I've never played Bingo. Do they serve a lot of beans at Bingo halls? Don't know what else to say about this CW. WLB, pretty sneaky theme, but other than that and some obscure names, not too bad of a CW, thanx. MalMan we can always count on your write-ups to be both enlightening and entertaining. Especially today the "enlightening" part was badly needed. Thanx!!
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy for a creatively fun puzzle. The theme made a whooshing sound as it rushed overhead.
Thanks for explaining how the clues "match" the fill, MManatee. Loved the jokes - obtuse angel, big Plus, HILLarious.
WO: aVITA
ESPs: BOSH, BORG, TORI | TESSIE, ANNA
Fav: PANTED's clue.
Ray-O: Sorry to hear about your C-positive test. I was out right after Blackhat | Defcon and 1/4 our team was out last week with Covid. Hopefully, they gave you Paxlovid on your way out the door.
Cheers, -T
A bit late to the party here (was outta town on biz) but my lovely weef saved the LA Times pages for my delayed perusal…
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks to MalMan for his usual great review (loved your Obtuse Angel gag, the Weird Al cut and that awesome jam with Mayer and BB King!!) and for ‘splainin’ this puzzle’s “theme”…because, imho, it was sooo out there, it was in a galaxy far, far away. Luckily I FIR sans any grokment (is that even a word? Well, it is now 😆) of said theme. You’re way smarter’n me, Mssr Manatee!
Bronx cheer for BEANO as another term for that church-favorite numbers racket…
Sofia Coppola may have had a leg-up via her famous old man, but she is far from talentless; “Lost In Translation” is a great piece of filmmaking, earning her an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with a nomination for Best Director. And it was only her second feature film, to boot.
Feel better quickly, Ray-O!
====> Darren / L.A.