Theme: Sing it!
Constructor Ella Dershowitz gives us seven theme clues, each naming songs that are related by themes in the lyrics. The punny theme answers are symmetically placed in the grid horizontally, and the first and last theme answers span the grid.
Here are the theme clues and answers:
17. "Call Me Maybe" or "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)"?: TELEPHONE NUMBER.
"Call Me Maybe" is a 2012 song by Carly Rae Jepsen. "Operator" is a 1972 song by Jim Croce Each song (or NUMBER) relates to using the phone, which makes it a TELEPHONE NUMBER.
27. "Popular" or "Fashion!"?: IN TUNE.
"Popular" is a 1996 song by Nada Surf, and "Fashion" is a 1980 song by David Bowie. Each song (or TUNE) relates to what's "in," which makes each song an "IN" TUNE, a phrase that usually means being at the correct musical pitch.
28. "Sound of da Police" or "The Artist in the Ambulance"?: SIREN SONG.
"Sound of da Police" is a 1993 song by KRS-One. "The Artist in the Ambulance" is a 2003 song by the band Thrice. Each song (yes, SONG!) mentions sirens, which makes each song a SIREN SONG. A siren song is an alluring utterance, especially one that is seductive or deceptive. In Greek mythology, sirens were dangerous creatures who lured sailors with their music and voices to wreck their ships.
38. "Midnight Train to Georgia" or "Chattanooga Choo Choo"?: RAILROAD TRACK.
"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a song most famously performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1973. "Chattanooga Choo Choo" was originally recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1941. Each song (or TRACK) mentions the railroad, which makes each of them a RAILROAD TRACK, usually meaning the structure on which a train's wheels roll.
48. "Sittin' in the Sun (Countin' My Money)" or "Can't Buy Me Love"?: BUDGET CUT.
"Sittin' in the Sun (Countin' My Money)" is a 1953 song by Louis Armstrong. "Can't Buy Me Love" is a 1964 song by The Beatles. Each song (CUT) mentions money, which relates to budget, which makes each of these songs a BUDGET CUT, usually meaning a planned reduction in expenditures.
50. "I'm Too Sexy" or "Summer in the City"?: HOT AIR.
"I'm Too Sexy" is a 1991 song by Right Said Fred. "Summer in the City" is a 1966 song by The Lovin' Spoonful. Each song (AIR) deals with being hot, although in the first case, the singer is sexy/hot, and in the second, he's just plain hot. So there you have it: HOT AIR, which usually means empty or boastful speech.
61. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" or "Talkin' Baseball"?: LINE DRIVE SINGLE.
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is a 1908 song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, often sung as part of the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game. "Talkin' Baseball" is a 1981 song by Terry Cashman. Each song (SINGLE) is about America's favorite pastime, making each a LINE DRIVE SINGLE. It's risky for me to explain baseball lingo, but it seems to mean a batted ball that goes in a straight line, resulting in the batter getting to advance a single base. You are welcome to improve on that explanation!
Here come the rest of the clues and answers.
Across:
1. Unflattering press for a celeb: BAD PR. Celeb is short for celebrity; PR is short for Public Relations.6. Fries, e.g.: SIDE. Fries are a side dish.
10. Owned: HAD.
13. On a cruise: AT SEA.
14. Ridicule: TAUNT.
16. 2019 March Madness champs: UVA. University of Virginia. March Madness is an annual NCAA college basketball tournament.
17. [Theme clue]
20. BTS genre: K-POP. BTS is a South Korean boy band, an example of Korean popular music, known as K-Pop.
21. Done deal: SURE BET.
22. Tony winner Hagen: UTA. Uta Hagen (1919-2004) was a German-American actress and acting teacher.
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| Uta Hagen |
27. [Theme clue]
28. [Theme clue]
32. Figure, briefly: BOD. A brief way to refer to the human figure, or body.
33. Lebanese capital: BEIRUT.
34. Art stand: EASEL.
38. [Theme clue]
42. Griswold of the "National Lampoon's Vacation" films: CLARK. Clark Griswold is the paterfamilias character played by Chevy Chase in the movies. I could not have retrieved this from any part of my brain. Perpendicular clues (perps) to the rescue!
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| Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold |
43. Adidas addition: INSOLE.
45. Undecided initials: TBA. To Be Arranged: a nifty calendar abbreviation.
48. [Theme clue]
50. [Theme clue]
54. Antioxidant juice brand: POM. I used to drink a lot of this!
56. Puzzles: ENIGMAS.
58. "Success!": TA-DA! Mock fanfare.
61. [Theme clue]
66. Actress Ryan: MEG. Meg Ryan is an American actress known for her quirky roles in romantic comedies.
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| Meg Ryan, famously faking an orgasm in "When Harry Met Sally" |
67. Watch rim: BEZEL. A bezel is a narrow rim that secures the clear cover on a watch, or that holds a gemstone in place (instead of prongs). I kept thinking "bevel" because of the angled edge on some watch crystals. The V wasn't helping me with 57 Down, coffee specification. Changing the V to Z was my last move on this puzzle.
68. Wood finish: STAIN.
69. Equal: ARE. Two and two ARE four.
70. Actor's compilation: REEL. It makes sense that actors today compile video reels showcasing their acting skills.
71. Explored a national park, perhaps: HIKED. John Muir was quoted as saying, "People ought to saunter in the mountains – not 'hike'!" I'm happy to say that we are saunterers.
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| DH and I sauntering with my Mom earlier this month in the White Mountains. |
1. Item used at home: BAT. Oh, home plate! Baseball bat.
2. Used (up): ATE.
3. Fiber alternative: DSL. Internet connection types: while DSL uses copper phone lines to transmit data, fiber uses ultra-thin glass strands that carry light instead of electricity.
4. Cheat at cards, say: PEEK.
5. Reneé of the "Mean Girls" musical: RAPP. Reneé Rapp is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition for starring as Regina George in the Broadway musical "Mean Girls." I Did Not Know (DNK) this one -- thanks, perps!
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| Reneé Rapp |
7. "Amsterdam" novelist McEwan: IAN. "Amsterdam" is a 1998 novel by British writer Ian McEwan, for which he was awarded the 1998 Booker Prize.
9. The blahs: ENNUI. Word adopted from French for a feeling of tiredness and boredom.
10. Commotion: HUBBUB. Noise made by a lot of people all talking or shouting at the same time.
11. Maker of Healthy Start Newborn skin products: AVEENO. Didn't know, but not surprised.
 | ||
| Aveeno Daily Moisture Healthy Start Newborn Balm |
15. Spoil: TURN. On our recent trip with Mom, DH told a restaurant staff member that the wine had TURNed. The response: Oh, how funny, another customer said the same thing about the same bottle yesterday! Quickly followed by: Let's open a new bottle!
18. Long Island university that has hosted several presidential debates: HOFSTRA.
19. Ran into: MET.
22. Common port type: USB. USB, or universal serial bus, is a mechanism used to connect peripheral devices to computers.
24. Opera solo: ARIA.
26. Arrive quietly: SNEAK UP.
29. Actor Stoltz: ERIC. Eric Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. DNK.
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| John Travolta and Eric Stoltz in "Pulp Fiction" |
31. Roam (about): GAD.
35. Bad marks: STIGMAS.
36. Sea eagle: ERNE. A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern) is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae.
%20ps%20fish%20eagle%20and%20fish.jpg) |
| I took this photo of an African Fish-Eagle -- eating a fish! -- in Botswana. |
39. Crystal ball, e.g.: ORB.
40. Pixar film set on the Day of the Dead: COCO. Lovely animated film highlighting Mexican culture.
 |
| It would just be mean not to include a photo of Heidi Klum. |
45. Title role for Geena Davis: THELMA. From the 1991 movic, "Thelma & Louise."
46. Tougher to fillet, perhaps: BONIER.
47. Not much, colorwise: A TINGE. I've seen a lot of interior decorating catalogs lately featuring just A TINGE of beige in the paint and furnishings.
49. "Spill!": DO TELL.
51. Period: AGE. As in the Age of Dinosaurs, or the Viking Age.
52. Film trivia site: IMDB. IMDb (an acronym for Internet Movie Database) is an online resource for information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online.
53. More red: RARER. This took me a while. Oh, meat! We're vegetarian.
57. Coffee specification: SIZE. I needed DH to help me here. I had SIvE, because I was stuck on BEvEL instead of BEZEL for 67 Across. DH said SIZE immediately, and I realized that BEZEL is a thing.
59. "Spill!": DISH. Do tell.
60. Averse to: ANTI.
62. Neckline shape: VEE.
63. Nickelodeon slime: GAK. DNK. My grandchildren concoct their own slime!
65. Sew up: END. A fitting way to END a puzzle.
40 comments:
I had a hard time remembering “bezel” so that took an alphabet run. Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. I did enjoy all the word play, however. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
BEZEL came to me immediately. COCO (no idea) and TURN (wanted RUIN), not so much. Still, it all came together in about 15 minutes which is about par for a Friday. Even caught the Number/Tune/Song/Track/Air/Single synonyms on the way through the grid. Cute. Thanx, Ella and NaomiZ. (Looks like a fine family outing. New Hampshire?)
DSL : Tried to get a DSL line when I first moved up here to redneck land. Learned that the infrastructure wouldn't support it. I had to go with a much more expensive (and not very reliable) cable company. Now Tachus is spending a bundle running fiber throughout our neighborhood. I can't wait to switch.
FIW, missing AVEENa x BaD. Erased ruin for TURN, sneak in fro SNEAK UP, and tbd for TBA. I just wrote a day or two ago that to me, TBA means "we know, but don't wanna tell yet," and TBD means "we're still working out the details."
Waited for ERIk/q/C Stoltz.
As an avid Dodgers fan, I remember Talkin' Baseball as the intro to the pregame radio shows. The lyrics had been modified to be Dodger-specific.
I knew KLUM from Heidi, but have never seen a second of Project Runway.
Thanks to Ella for another fine puzzle, and to NaomiZ for the fun tour. You're a natural.
As our Corner pharmacist likes to say, I FIRed in good time! Well, 26 minutes is decent for me on a Friday. I thought this was a really fine puzzle from Ella D, a fresh theme and some great cluing. DNK RAPP or ETS (which definitely had a Friday clue). Had to correct Hoohah to HUBBUB. Like SubG it took me an a-run to get the Z in BEZEL/SIZE. Maybe someday technology will bring us one universal USB port. I remember the scene with MEG Ryan, followed by the most famous line of the movie uttered by a diner who witnessed the event “I’ll have what she’s having!” Thanks Ella and Patti for the Friday fun!
I wasn’t sure whose blog I was reading till I got to 61A, AHA, Naomi 😊, then I remembered you were going to be temping for C-Moe while he is off sauntering. Your description of a LINE DRIVE SINGLE is spot on, and the term denotes a ball hit very hard, cleanly fielded quickly by the outfielder, preventing the runner from advancing past first base for fear of getting thrown out at second. Very much enjoyed the read today Naomi! Nice photo of your mom and DH.
Took 9:09 today for me to get the jingle.
I didn't know one of today's actresses (Rapp), but knew the other two (Meg & Uta [only from other puzzles]). I didn't know the writer (Ian). I knew Clark, which helped me safely cross the intersection of an actor (Eric) and a character.
Pretty good puzzle, even though I didn't know several songs, but I didn't care for the quantity or quality of the 3LWs (ETS, OMS, UVA, Uta, Gak, etc.).
Is baseball still considered our favorite pastime? Seems like that time has, well, past.
SS ~ As far as sports go I think baseball is still considered our national pastime, but football wins the popularity contest by far.
FLN, I'll top your Mercedes window story. After my son got married in Nachez, MS, DW and some of the other women wanted to tour one last mansion from the Antebellum period. I said I would sit in the car, lay my driver's seat all the way down and sleep. When the girls got back my seat WOULD NOT GO BACK UP. I had to drive back to NOLA without back support. When I took the 450-SEL to my mechanic, he jiggled the switch around, couldn't find anything wrong, and then it worked. The seat problem never happened again.
It was a sea of unknowns for me today with the ultimate of FIW. I managed to get it all except for one letter. BEVEL and SIVE just didn't look right but I absolutely knew BEVEL was correct. Wrong. BEZEL was something I'd never heard before and somehow I was ignoring the easy coffee SIZE. I had REEL only because A,I,O, U before E didn't make sense. I did an ABC run and still couldn't get bezel.
I caught the record (Ella should have had one of those) theme early and the hardest to fill was BUDGET CUT with COCO, KLUM, and ETS just working their way in after changing INSERT to INSOLE. Never heard of any of those three. C was the only logical fill for the cross of two unknowns- ERIC and CLARK. Changed SNEAK IN to UP to get the unknown POM.
RAPP, UVA, GAK, HOFSTRA- unknown as clued. And then there's A TINGE. I couldn't figure that one out AFTER it was on the grid. The newsprint looked like 'colonwise' to my eyes; made no sense. I left it because the perps were solid. ATINGE- two words-A TINGE-never crossed my mind.
d-otto-I had ATT DSL until they wired our neighborhood with fiber optic cable a few years ago.
Oh, this is BE. I don't why it posted as "anon'.
Sorry, UP and Naomi, "line drive" only describes the trajectory. "Soft line drive" is a thing - and a line drive is frequently an out. "Frozen rope" is a hard-hit line drive, and can also be a hit or an out. At least that's the way Saint Vin (Scully) used the terms.
FIR, despite the plethora of proper names, Rapp, Ian, Eric, Coco to name a few. Perps made them bareable.
I enjoyed the theme and, except for in tune, got them all right off.
Overall, for a Friday puzzle, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
Big Easy, that IS odd. I worked with a guy in WV who drove an old Ford pickup to work occasionally. He was restoring it, and had removed the original bench seat. He used a lawn chair as a temporary driver's seat, and reported that he had to be careful when he pushed in the clutch, because the lawn chair wanted to fold up around him.
BTW, that 450 SEL must have been a nice vehicle. Nearly like a little limo. (When I used to drop off our 300SE at the dealership, they used a Mercedes stretch limo as a courtesy vehicle. Nice to be dropped off at work by that car. No one could see that inside it was more like an airport bus than a luxury car.)
Jinx ~ the answer was LINE DRIVE SINGLE, not an out, which usually goes to the outfield, but could also be very hardly hit to an infielder but deemed as uncatchable by the scorer, thus resulting in a hit.
Good puzzle. Except for ugly reminder. UVA won in 2019 only because the ref failed to call a double dribble in the semis against my Tigers. Still rankles the fans!
DNF. I blithely entered BEvEL although I know better, and I had RAwER, so that long answer didn’t show up.
I didn’t know most of the songs, but such familiarity was not necessary to figure out the answers. I did encounter lots of unknown names like RAPP, ERIC, COCO, CLARK, but I now remember K-POP. It’s become a CW staple.
NaomiZ, I too prefer sauntering to hiking. There is usually so much to see and smell on the trail that I don’t want to miss. Thanks for a great subbing job.
I had to abandon ship on this one. Knowing song titles is not my strong suit.
I'm equally bad when it comes to actors' names, so it's ironic that I actually knew one in today's puzzle. For years Jack Stoltz and I anchored the baritone section of the Santa Barbara Choral Society. His son? Eric Stoltz (29 Down).
Go figure.
FIR. Another one bites the dust. That is seven in a row.
Took a bit to catch on to the theme. Nice having seven theme answers. The toughest was LINEDRIVESINGLE. Remembering THELMA for Geena's role was the key to the SW.
Liked seeing HUBBUB in the grid.
Congrats to Ella for a well structured offering and to NaomiZ for her superb analysis.
Human footprints in the sand tell nothing about the person who walked before you.
Beverage.
Another enjoyable outing. Tough in spots, but the perps were fair, and I finally arrived at the FIR. Very clever puzzle, with a nice write-up from NaomiZ. On to Saturday@
The seven theme answers were easy to discern, and I thought five of them were suitably clever. The “air” part of HOT AIR didn’t quite belong with all the tunes, tracks, and singles, and the baseball answer seemed kind of a gluey way to include SINGLE, but they weren’t awful. It wasn’t necessary to know the songs, but I am familiar with nine of the 14.
Besides, what’s not to like about a puzzle that has both STIGMAS and ENIGMAS? I also liked seeing CLARK Griswold, THELMA, and HOFSTRA, although I had Adelphi first.
BEZEL, POM, and GAK were unknowns for me, and there are RAPPs better-known than Renee, but my complaint level probably has never been lower for an Ella Dershowitz puzzle.
UVA was a gimme for me. I won $63 in a pool among 20 former co-workers thanks to that tournament.
Thanks go to NaomiZ, for tracking down all those song details. Better you than me.
Tough CW, 15 names, I knew 8 though, which helped. My very first thought for 1D was BAT, but I thought, "Who uses a bat at home?" Then the T filled via perps, and the V-8 can hit. I did get the clever theme with the first theme clue, which helped, but it still took 24 minutes to FIR. Several commented on BEZEL; somehow I knew that. Very entertaining CW, ED, thanx. It was a tough solve, but it IS Friday. I, too, liked seeing HUBBUB in the fill. Cool word. NZ, thanx for the terrific write-up. You said TBA stands for To Be Arranged. I always thought it stood for To Be Announced. I thought, "Hmmmm," and Googled it. Turns out it can be either. You mentioned "Pulp Fiction". It is still the single movie with absolutely the MOST gratuitous violence I have ever seen. I did not like it for that reason. Everyone: have a good Labor Day weekend.
Actually, those footprints can tell you how big the person's foot is, and from that you could infer the approximate age, and the depth of the footprint could be a hint to the approximate weight.
C.C. has the USA Today crossword puzzle today.
Hola! Oooh. Way too much wite-out in my puzzle. I was OFF TRACK on this until I realized, oh, they are references to songs! Ok. Although I did not see any of the National Lampoon movies, my daughter or granddaughter did and I would catch small bits enough to know CLARK's name. GAK is completely unknown. Thank you, perps.
Of all the ways to clue ERIC . . . . . .
How many know that UVA is grape in Spanish?
I have a vague recollection of staying in a hotel in Carmel by the name of HOFSTRA. We liked it because the rooms were so big. However, the main disadvantage was they had no dining room. Instead we had to go to the office and pick up our food to take to our room. The room was large enough that we brought in a table from the pool area to eat inside. At night, after visiting with Claire, we played cards. Where Claire now lives in Petaluma there is a very nice guest dining room and the food is brought in from the kitchen, just across the hall. When we celebrated her birthday in February, there was enough room for the four of us and other guests who came.
Thank you, NaomiZ, for subbing today! Good job.
Have a great day and a wonderful weekend, everyone!
TTP, thank you. I just printed it.
Really great puzzle overall.
Got off to a slow start in the NW and thought I was in trouble, but then the rest of the puzzle went ok. That NW corner was just tough for me, with the tricky BAT pun, Fiber=DSL, Used=ATE (I guess I used some cereal today), unknown RAPP, and then couldn’t get LIBEL outta my head for BADPR. Still, got the FIR.
I was sure we were going to hear from my father about that IMDB clue but it looks like he didn’t get that far. For years he has complained about how IMDB calls one of their sections, “Trivia” because it’s not trivia. It’s just a bunch of fun facts.
Musings
-Late to the party because this is my first day back subbing. Fun gimmick and fill
-Jim Croce is fine but, c’mon, this is Opeator
-Ells in the middle with her famous lawyer dad Allen and mother Carolyn
-As we sailed down the Rhine, I listened in vain for the SIREN SONG
-BAD PR: I’ve always heard it said by show biz peeps there is no such thing as bad press
-BEIRUT might not be a good city for a vacation these days
-Vacation spawned an entire franchise, some of which were funny and some, not so much
-Naomi, I loved your write-up, sauntering advice and picture!
-RAPP: An obscure name that had no alternative cluing and lots of “outs”
-Great running backs can really DART
-My MacBook Pro eliminated USB and HDMI ports
-Eric Stolz was famously fired from Back To The Future after getting Michael J. Fox was worked out
A CSO to moi for presaging today’s ENNUI in my post FYD August 29 @ 2:10 PM
d-o, and length of stride, the approximate height.
Prof M, possibly, but the U.S. military march step standard stride that is drilled into all members is 30", no matter if you are 5' or 7' tall. (The "half step" is a 15" stride.) Also, the military march step stride always starts with the left foot.
desper-otto and Prof M have some super sleuthing skills! But who has solved the ENIGMA of Lee's parting word? I am mystified -- and not just today!
That Manhattan Transfer tune was smooth, but when I think of a smooth operator song I think of this one.
Beverage? Must be time for Lee to imbibe after a run of hard solving, even if it’s only 10:40 AM!
Ah, yes, Sade!
The "diner" in When Harry Met Sally was the mother of Director Rob Reiner
desper-otto at 5:38 AM -- our little adventure was in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona, specifically in and around the town of Greer. Mom lives in the Phoenix area, so a midsummer trip to the mountains was a wonderful relief from the heat.
YooperPhil at 7:23 AM, I am tickled that you recognized me by my sports allergy, and flattered that you thought I hit the mark.
It wasn't as good as the replacement. 560-SEL. Both were company cars. Didn't have to pay for gas, repairs, or insurance. BE.
Yup, you hit a home run, Ms. Z! Good job 🤙🏽😎
====> Darren / L.A.
Really enjoyed the theme today, having been entangled in the music biz “in my yute”, as one of you guys (Jinx?) likes to say. Yes, “AIR” is an archaic term for a piece of music — kinda fun that Ms Dershowitz dredged it up!
As mentioned above, NaomiZ, you hit a home run here 👍🏽👍🏽
Got the watch rim fill right off, because, way back when I did wear a watch, I’d use the glow-in-the-dark BEZEL in the darkroom to time film developing. That was AGEs ago, pre-digital-everything…
I’m with Jinx on Sadé’s CUT of “Smooth Operator”; not so much a TELEPHONE NUMBER, but one sexy TUNE.
Oh, and one more thing for you, Jinx — “Pulp Fiction” was indeed bloody…but if you ever saw the Sam Peckinpah film “Straw Dogs”, you might rate “PF” as a close second… 🥶 And then there’s Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”… yeesh!! (Just sayin’)
Well, off to do today’s (Saturday) puzzle. Yeah, I’m a bit behind…🤣
====> Darren / L.A.
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