Theme: "Family Matters" - All theme entries are in the pattern of MA*MA or PA* PA*.
27. NCAA basketball tournament nickname: MARCH MADNESS.
40. Artistic form for Degas: PASTEL PAINTING.
47. Sherwood Forest resident: MAID MARIAN.
64. Works on a car's alignment?: PARALLEL PARKS.
72. Broad appeal to all possible consumers: MASS MARKETING.
84. Chess piece with a clear path to promotion: PASSED PAWN.
94. Sailors qualified to captain any ship: MASTER MARINERS.
107. Decoration for a tropical cocktail: PAPER PARASOL.
Reveal:
122. Half of a 1960s pop group, and what's found in half of this puzzle's long answers: MAMAS.
125. Half of a 1960s pop group, and what's found in half of this puzzle's long answers: PAPAS.
Love the title and execution. Every MA* MA* is followed by a PA* PA*. I did a similar theme for the Crossword Club ages ago. The top themers are MA* MA*. Bottoms are PA* PA*.
Read here about Jeff. He's mostly focused on weekday puzzles. I think this is his first Sunday for the LAT. Congrats, Jeff!
Across:
1. Pool equipment: RACKS.
6. __ Romeo: ALFA. Just had this last Sunday.
10. Gift card word: FROM.
14. Part of a flight: STAIR.
19. Prefix with linguistic: ETHNO.
20. Prom invitee: TEEN.
21. Oscar winner Malek: RAMI. He won an Oscar for his role in "Bohemian Rhapsody".
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22. Potion-making goddess of myth: CIRCE. The sorceress in "Odyssey".
23. Greatly enjoyed: ATE UP.
24. Baker's fat: LARD.
25. Muslim wedding officiant: IMAM.
26. Set, as a security system: ARMED.
30. Last qualifier?: NOT LEAST. Last but not least.
32. Baby goats: KIDS. Also 44. Youngster: TYKE.
33. Barbecue entree: RIBS.
35. Hindu honorific: SRI.
36. Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding": NIA.
37. Theater walkways: AISLES.
45. "Couldn't agree more": SAME HERE.
46. Bio stat: AGE.
50. Clunker: DUD.
52. Ishmael's captain: AHAB.
56. Texting tech: SMS. Short Message Service.
57. Alma mater of Prince Harry and Prince William: ETON.
61. Very muscular, informally: SWOLE.
62. You are, in Spanish: ERES.
67. Anticipated: AWAITED.
70. IV part: INTRA.
71. Finds hilarious: ROARS AT.
74. Walnut or apple: TREE.
75. Call forth: EVOKE.
76. Like the legend of Ragnarok: NORSE.
77. Fill to excess: SATE.
79. Selfish sort: HOG.
82. C-SPAN figs.: SENS.
83. Campground letters: KOA. 109. 83-Across visitor, perhaps, briefly: RV'ER.
87. Wash. neighbor: IDA.
89. Workforce: LABORERS.
93. In __ of: LIEU.
98. Managerial groups: BOARDS.
100. Brest friend: AMI.
101. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU.
102. Map app outputs: Abbr.: RTES.
103. Electronics giant: SONY.
104. Saw red: GOT UPSET.
113. Classic wafermaker: NECCO.
114. Red Cross supplies: SERA.
116. Hot stuff: LAVA.
117. Came up: AROSE.
118. Curved connector: U BOLT.
119. Shakespearean king: LEAR.
120. Currier's partner: IVES.
121. River to the North Sea: MEUSE. Unfamiliar to me. Wikipedia
says it's "rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the
Netherlands before draining into the North Sea."
123. Fails to be: ISN'T.
124. School session: TERM.
Down:
2. Chapati flour: ATTA.
3. One-named "Mermaids" star: CHER.
4. Got to work, with "down": KNUCKLED.
5. Title role for Meryl: SOPHIE. "Sophie's Choice". Such a heavy read.
6. Book of legends?: ATLAS.
7. Malleable metal: LEAD.
8. Houseplant with spores: FERN.
9. Thumbelina creator: ANDERSEN. Hans Christian Andersen.
10. Wham-O toy: FRISBEE.
11. Slam (into): RAM.
12. Arabian Sea nation: OMAN.
13. Brunch cocktail: MIMOSA.
14. Taking on a climbing wall: SCALING.
15. Lose steam: TIRE.
16. Italian fashion brand: ARMANI.
17. Traps at a chalet, perhaps: ICES IN. And 39. Good time to go on a run?: SKI SEASON. Skin run.
18. Markdown marker: RED TAG.
28. GPs, e.g.: MDS.
29. Jedi foe: SITH.
31. Three-tone chord: TRIAD.
34. Camera letters: SLR.
37. PIN takers: ATMS.
38. Start and end of Popeye's credo: I YAM.
40. Discomfort: PAIN.
41. "I'm an open book" session, briefly: AMA. Ask Me Anything.
42. Go by bike: PEDAL.
43. Pots, cups, saucers, etc.: TEAWARE. Just want to share with you a few dim sum dishes from Guangzhou. Green Har Gow.
45. "You can't sit here" sign: SRO.
48. Rendezvous request: MEET ME.
49. Bamboozled: AT SEA.
51. Company that operates London river boats: UBER. Uber Boat. New clue angle. Also 64. Boat boarding spot: PIER.
53. Composition of some violin bows: HORSEHAIR.
54. __-Seltzer: ALKA.
55. Vanquish: BEST.
58. "The Sopranos" restaurateur: ARTIE.
59. Farm storage place: BARN.
60. Color guard's charge: FLAG.
61. Showed leniency toward: SPARED.
63. Takes a chance: RISKS IT.
65. Kitchen pests: ANTS. I hate fruit flies. So hard to fully eliminate them.
66. Austrian actress Lenya: LOTTE.
67. Iowa town west of Cedar Rapids: AMES.
68. Surfer's curl: WAVE.
69. Bond villain in a Nehru jacket: DR NO.
73. Eucalyptus eater: KOALA. Eucalyptus leaves do not provide enough energy. Koala sleeps a ton. We also have 78. Burro: ASS. And 81. Serengeti grazers: GNUS.
77. Lat. and Lith., once: SSRS.
80. Outstanding: OWED.
83. Go-__: KARTS.
84. Like firewood sold at hardware stores: PRE-SPLIT.
85. __ Lingus: AER.
86. Amenity at some McDonald's restaurants: PLAY AREA.
88. Tyrants: DESPOTS.
90. Train board abbr.: ARR.
91. Very small role: BIT PART.
92. Draft status: ONE A.
94. PI played by Selleck: MAGNUM.
95. Microscopic creature: AMOEBA
96. "Abbott Elementary," e.g.: SITCOM.
97. Fiber-rich cereal: MUESLI. What do you have for breakfast these days?
98. Fluffy accessory: BOA.
99. Cloverleaf element: ON RAMP.
103. Involuntary twitch: SPASM.
105. Sch. near Beverly Hills: UCLA.
106. Golfer's stands: TEES.
108. Gutter spot: EAVE.
110. Ladled course: SOUP. This is a typical Cantonese daily soup. Pork ribs with lotus root, corn & dates.
111. Mount of Greek myth: OSSA.
112. Wine dregs: LEES.
115. Dashed: RAN.
C.C.
28 comments:
I saw all the “parents” and noted how they alternated, during the solve. Really pretty clever, and a lot of fun. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Solved this one top-to-bottom, Wite-Out-free. Even noticed the theme. Wow. Jeff has made many appearances at the corner. The cluing was very straight-forward. I liked it. Thanx for guiding us through the grid, C.C. (How are you supposed to eat the corn in that daily soup?)
A puzzles’ title isn’t always an obvious clue to the theme, but it was enough today for me to suss it after the first couple long entries, the double reveals were a nice surprise ending to this grid which perfectly tied together the eight themers. FIR in 27 minutes. Nice work Jeff! I liked the clues for NOT LEAST and PARALLEL PARKS. Second day in a row for RED TAG. Perps needed for ABFAB, LOTTE, ARTIE, SWOLE and MEUSE (which was all perps as I didn’t see it till the review, does that river sorta rhyme with MUESLI?). NECCO is an acronym for New England Candy Company.
C.C. ~ Thanks for the link to Jeff’s bio and the other constructors, always nice to read about their backgrounds and inspirations. That Cantonese soup looks delicious!
The MEUSE River is known as the Maas in Dutch. It was an obstacle to the Germans on their drive toward Antwerp in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII
FIR, but erased bosses for BOARDS, anderson for ANDERSEN, rides for PEDAL, emu for GNU, and tea sets, then tea cart, for TEAWARE.
Better use that © if you print up something with MARCH MADNESS©. Ironically, the NCAA doesn't play around.
"River to the Pamlico Sound" would be the nEUSE. That wide river is part of the charm of the New Bern area.
Even if it didn't have a pool table, RACKs would be a topic of conversation in my man cave.
CSO to moi @ RVER.
Thanks to Jeff for the fun, easy Sunday grid. And thanks to CC for another fun review.
FIR, but threw down "here here" instead of "same here"; silly mistake.
Also unfamiliar with swole; not a word in my vocabulary.
But beside that this was a walk in the park. I didn't notice the ma and pa part of the theme but it didn't hold me back. All I saw was the redundant starting letter and that was enough for me to finish.
So overall this was a very enjoyable Sunday offering.
Good Morning:
I was oblivious of the theme for far too long, until I rechecked the title and then I saw the Mama and Papa sequences. The solve itself was more challenging than a usual Sunday, probably due to this late realization. The fill was varied and absent any junk or esoteric entries and the sparse count (18) TLWs was a plus.
Thanks, Jeff, and congrats on your Sunday debut and thanks, CC, for the usual insider's analysis. I enjoyed reading the bios of the constructors and, as always, seeing all the delicious-looking foods.
Have a great day.
Easy-peasy today. FIR. Only entries unfamiliar were the river MEUSE and the bodybuilding SWOLE. Perps to the rescue.
Being very late, I did not post yesterday, but it was a great puzzle and came together nicely for a FIR. Can't remember a weekend that was so enjoyable.
5 stars to Jeff today and to C.C. for her contribution yesterday and her summary today.
All good things come to they who wait. It's the waiting that kills them.
Remember.
My mother's name was Marion, ergo FIW
Took 14:27 today.
Good puzzle. Seemed themeless to me, but realized there were some pa_ pa_ pairings.
The theme eluded me at first, so I went down south, got the MAMAS and the
PAPAS, and the long answers filled rather easily.
Only unknowns were SWOLE, ABFAB, and UBER as clued.
It took a while to parse PRESPLIT. Thank goodness for LAVA.
The MEUSE river flows through my father’s birth place. I have visited it many times since I still have relatives living in that town.
Thanks C.C. for a nice recap.
Musings
-The MAMA AND PAPAS made for a nice gimmick and were a great group who flamed out too soon
-LARD was the secret ingredient to my MIL’s incomparable apple pies
-How AB FAB has stayed in my memory is amazing
-George Carlin is the only comedian I have ROARED AT. Both his early and later material.
-One can KNUCKLE DOWN or UNDER
-RED TAG was C.C.’s starting fill yesterday
Hmm,
sort of a paint by numbers puzzle...
Fast and fun FIR today, with just enough WiteOut needed to keep things interesting!
Good morning. I quickly noticed the MM and PP sequence but didn't think about the Mamas and Papas. I guess Michelle Phillips is still alive. DW used to watch a show named "Knots Landing" and I had to tell her that Michelle Phillips was one of the Mamas. I know Cass and John are long gone.
A NW to SE fill today with the normal amount of unknowns and terms I didn't know. Never heard of KNOCKLE DOWN, only BUCKLE DOWN. The term PASSED PAWN - new to me. TEA WARE is another unfamiliar term.
SWOLE- all perps for that one. Never watched 'The Sopranos' so ARTIE was perped.
The movie Mermaids was unknown; glad I got CHER by perps. ANDERSEN's Mermaid ARIEL was one letter too many.
WHAM-O- man they had it going for a few years with Hula Hoop, Slip N Slide, Water Wiggle, and Frisbee. Remember the Superball?
I you ask a lady to "48. Rendezvous request: MEET ME." she'll probably tell you to kiss "78. Burro: ASS."
Hola! This one was a tad more challenging than the usual Sunday puzzles but with P and P finished in good time though with a few inkovers. Since I don't play chess, PASSED PAWN means nothing to me. And I've never watched the Spranos so ARTIE simply perped. CSO to my nephew, ARTIE.
SWOLE doesn't seem like a real word.
I see MUESLI and MEUSE which amuses me.
CSO to my late aunt, SOPHIE.
Here, where I live, we never have SKI SEASON!
Have a great day, all!
Didn't notice the MAMAs and the PAPAs until the reveal clues, but that was in time to help with the solve. FIR and enjoyed it! Thanks, Jeff and C.C.!
I enjoyed solving this puzzle. I like the word KNUCKLED. I remember a guy in the military service with me who used to say, "It SWOLE up" meaning "It swelled up." I noticed KOA and KOALA. I once made a humidity sensor out of HORSEHAIR. Good reading you all.
But they do in Flagstaff, just a short drive away!
Knuckle, not knockle.
BE from phone
Terrific Sunday puzzle, Jeff, with a delightful MAMA and PAPA theme. Thank you so much for this pleasure. And thank you for your always clear and interesting commentary, C.C. --also always enjoyable.
Well, it was interesting to start moving FROM the STAIRs to see where we would be going, but the ATLAS really gave us no idea.
But since we were a bit hungry, it was nice to get some food, and although we ATE UP some LARD, we were NOT in the LEAST crazy about it. It was much better to get some RIBS a little later.
We loved going down the AISLES of the museum to see those PASTEL PAINTINGS, and we loved the picture of that lovely MAID MARIAN.
On the way home we saw some LABORERS and some MASTER MARINERS, and one of them was carrying a PAPER PARASOL to protect him from the sun. Hope they all had a good trip home.
We're now home too, and we really enjoyed our journey. Many thanks.
BUCKLE here, too.
JInx, you are right! However, I'm not a skier so I'll pass on that.
The Meuse, FWIW, was a major river during WWII. https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_22.HTM
I think swole is Brit speak. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MupgvwYpOjA
I agree. If I'm gonna do any skiing, it'll be behind a powerboat on Lake Pleasant or Roosevelt Lake.
Hey all! Kudos to Jeff Stillman for generating yet ANOTHER exhilarating puzzle! I know I sure enjoyed solving it with my best friend!
We were a little stumped by a few clues. Such as: "Knuckled." I mean, lets be honest here for a second; nobody and I mean NOBODY in the entire course of human history has EVER referred to getting to work as "knuckling down" on something. Everyone has always known that buckled down is the sole proprietor of belonging in this phrase.
Nonetheless, this puzzle offered us both a tremendous challenge and yet still it offered a subtle calmness and smoothness to the flow of the clues; most notably in relation to solving the thematic clues.
Also, for those of you unfamiliar with the term swole, it has become in recent years a common slang term used by younger folks to describe someone who looks as though they are swollen. That is, their muscles are severely inflated due to their consistent training regiment employed in their gymnasium.
I'd like to thank once again Jeff and Patti Varol as always ;)
Gotta give Jeff props for such an entertaining hook on this Sunday grid. The only hitch: like Bill V., I had an Aunt MariOn (and am unfamiliar with the term AMA) so, but for that ONE A, I’d’ve had a FIR. Grrrr… 🤬
Loved the Mamas and the Papas theme; even though I didn’t catch the revealing clues until I got all the way down to the bottom, it was still a relatively easy suss once I got a couple of the longies. One of the entries gave me a silly idea: PARALLELPARKa could’ve worked, with 55D being “beat” instead of BEST — and it would’ve made for some funny clueing possibilities (Inline winter wear, perhaps?). Okay, yeah, pretty goofy, but it gave me a giggle when I thought of it…
SWOLE was an unknown to me, too, and even to an ex-bodybuilder friend of mine; must be another one-a them newfangled Gen Z utterings, methinks.
Thanks for the comprehensive recap, Ms. C.C.
Ray-O, hope you’re getting back up on the cam again!
====> Darren / L.A.
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