Title: All Ball
Kelly provides us nuthin' but net in today's puzzle. #Basketball.22. Goal of a dog running an agility course?: GET TO THE HOOP. And drop a bucket.
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| A puppy doin' it |
36. Arrive too late for the blanket giveaway?: MISS A FREE THROW. This gave me a chuckle.
How do folks that make $$$/yr miss?
51. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle?: DEEP THREE. Oooh! A mid-court shot by a philosopher.
Monty Python
61. Garden privacy border made of psychoactive plants?: ILLEGAL SCREEN. Ref blows the whistle.
73. Gutter ball?: ALLEY OOPS. Boomer would call that a missed lane(?)
86. All of the reporters covering a trial?: FULL COURT PRESS.
105. Basketball stat, and what can be found in six of this puzzle's long answers: DOUBLE DOUBLE. And there's the cute - notice the double letters in each of the themers.
I can understand, if you've not been around basketball fans, how this theme might be a passed ball.
Across:
1. Fuses: WELDS. I was thinking electrical fuses. Anyone remember putting a penny under one to keep the lights on until getting back from the hardware store?
6. Fuse: UNITE. Cute cleco.
11. Microsoft's web browser: EDGE. Also U2's guitarist.
15. Bar: BAN. LSAT was first to mind. Youngest takes it this fall. She should take the Bar in 3 years.
18. Really fowl?: AVIAN. #boo-hiss :-)
19. "Fuller House" actor John: STAMOS.
20. Like a leaf blower: LOUD. Oy! Every time I want to take a nap the HOA mowers appear on the median raising a racket.
//BTW, that's why tennis is the loudest sport... They're always raising a racket :-)
21. "Flamin' Hot" director Longoria: EVA. TLN w/ a V in the middle... perp wait for Es or As.
22. [See: Theme]
24. "__, Brute?": ETTU.
25. Talk by a rev.: SER. The REVerend makes a SERmon.
26. Adds nutrients to, as flour: ENRICHES.
27. Mass x acceleration: FORCE. F=ma. Physics 101.
29. Provide fare for an affair: CATER. Love the clue's alliteration.
31. Vibe: TENOR.
32. Teddy bear picnic need: TEA SET.
34. Betting setting: CASINO. I'll be staying at the Linq's Tuesday for Blackhat|Defcon.
35. Wildebeest: GNU. What's GNU with you?
Gary GNU
36. [See: Theme]
38. Chrysalides, e.g.: PUPAE.
41. Art able to: CANST. Um, OK.
42. Cove, e.g.: INLET.
43. Stringed instrument: HARP.
44. World's third-largest river, by volume: CONGO.
45. Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsor: MACYS.
47. Really grate on: RILE.
51. [See: Theme]
53. Hajj destination: MECCA.
54. Ride a bike: PEDAL.
55. Branch of Islam: SHIA.
56. Two-tone bear: PANDA. A black and white answer.
57. Handles: FIELDS. An Easter Egg; as in fields a Ball.
58. Saint-Tropez sea: MER.
61. [See: Theme]
65. Part of REM: EYE. Anyone else think Stipe at first?
R.E.M.'s Orange Crush
66. Graduates: ALUMNI.
68. Major artery: AORTA.
69. Sch. between Mex. and N. Mex.: UTEP. University of Texas, El Paso. With Youngest at UT Austin and the other three of us with degrees from OU, um... #Awkward :-)
71. Nom de plume: ALIAS. Do they call AKA NdP in France?
72. HS assessments: PSATS. High School's Pre-Standard Achievement TestS.
73. [See: Theme]
78. List of options: MENU.
79. Los Angeles art museum: GETTY.
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| The Getty |
80. Salty side: FRIES. I was looking for sass from Flo at Mel's.
81. Appeal: PLEA.
82. Big name in tractors: DEERE.
84. Pam of "Jackie Brown": GRIER.
85. Petrichor, e.g.: SCENT.
86. [See: Theme]
91. Brains behind a tech startup?: CPU. Cute. Central Processing Unit of a "techy" computer.
92. Ed who plays Donald Sterling in the miniseries "Clipped": O'NEILL.
93. Lambaste: BERATE.
94. New Hampshire state flower: LILAC.
97. Tehran resident: IRANI.
98. Take over a dance: CUTIN.
99. Seats near the action: FRONT ROW.
102. "Sneakers" actor Kingsley: BEN.
103. Lowly worker: PEON.
105. [See: Theme]
108. Back muscle, briefly: LAT.
109. "Not long now": SOON.
110. Over the moon: ELATED.
111. __ Loops: FROOT. All the colors taste the same but it's a great sugar rush before school.
112. "Rockaria!" rock gp.: ELO.
I was not familiar with this song.
113. Sports award: ESPY.
114. Chip dip: SALSA. I prefer pico de gallo.
115. Forest fronds: FERNS.
Down:
1. Pay: WAGE.
2. Vault or beam, in gymnastics: EVENT.
3. Petrol unit: LITRE. C,Eh! should be happy w/ the spelling.
4. Modern matchmakers: DATING APPS. Cute.
5. Ice-and-syrup treat: SNO-CONE.
6. Some Numic speakers: UTES.
7. "Prolly not": NAH.
8. Letters introducing a judgment: IMO. In My (Humble) Opinion.
9. 85 in a 55, say: TOO FAST. No, 85 in a 55 is just about right on Houston's Beltway (Grand Parkway is another matter - better be doing ~95 to keep from getting run over)
10. Evita, to Juan Per n: ESPOSA. OMG!, Duolingo just paid off :-)
11. Lyriq or Leaf: ELECTRIC CAR. I've never heard of Lyriq.
12. Coddle, with "on": DOTE.
13. Instinct: GUT. Gut reaction.
14. Teach: EDUCATE.
15. Awaken: BESTIR.
16. Skin care brand whose name comes from the Latin for "oats": AVEENO.
17. Like a slot canyon: NARROW.
19. "__ Used To Be Mine": Sara Bareilles song: SHE. I was thinking The Cars' My Best Friend's Girl.
23. Not 'round?: THRU. Adverbs abriv'd.
28. Pro coin flipper: REF. Think beginning of a footBALL game.
30. Plant with helicopter seeds: ASH TREE.
32. Hint: TINGE.
33. Sylvan __: "Hey Mami" folktronica duo: ESSO. ESP.
34. Animation stills: CELS.
36. Head locks?: MANE.
37. Artist who has recorded in Tolkien's fictional language: ENYA.
38. Post-M.A. pursuit: PHD. Out of respect, I call her Dr. DW.
39. Fed. next to Oman: UAE. United Arab Emeritus.
40. Not post-: PRE.
41. Undersea colony creator: CORAL.
44. Cook-off bowlful: CHILI. You know, one of things I really miss about living in SPI is the CHILI parlors. I know H-Town doesn't put beans in it, but,.. some kidney beans stretches out the proteins.
45. Smart society: MENSA. Half of the MENSA's I know are <redacted>
46. "Hells Bells" band: AC/DC. Hell yeah! //Splynter can get on board :-)
AC/DC
48. Lounging: IDLE.
49. British title: LADY.
50. If not: ELSE.
52. Adds water to: THINS.
53. Soda fountain drinks: MALTS.
54. Like some air fresheners: PINEY.
56. Celebration: PARTY.
57. Celebrations: FETES.
58. "__, this is a Wendy's": MA'AM. This is a response to someone who's not at the right time nor place for what they are saying.
59. Romance novelist Kennedy: ELLE.
60. Destroy: RUIN.
62. Hopping holiday figure: EASTER BUNNY.
63. Farm animal in some yoga classes: GOAT.
64. Mathematician who wrote the first theorem of graph theory: EULER. Ooooh, now we're getting into maths *heart emoji*
67. Schmaltzy: MAUDLIN.
70. References in some crossword clues: POP CULTURE.
72. Machu Picchu country: PERU.
73. Rally: ARISE.
74. Fabrications: LIES.
75. Cheer after un gol: OLE.
76. Write: PEN.
77. Perched: SAT.
79. Subj. of John McPhee's "Annals of the Former World": GEOL.
80. Guitar component: FRET.
83. Celestial obscuration: ECLIPSE.
84. Yogurt topping: GRANOLA.
85. Prequel series, essentially: SPINOFF.
86. Quirk: FOIBLE.
87. "Far out!": UNREAL.
88. Shanty: LEANTO.
89. Hanoi holiday: TET.
90. Lion families: PRIDES.
91. Lump of earth: CLOD.
95. Trellised archway: ARBOR.
96. Two-dot punctuation: COLON.
98. Flock flat: COOP.
99. __ market: FLEA.
100. Vermilion: RED. Google tells me vermilion is a brilliant RED. ESP saved me.
101. Hoses down: WETS.
104. Dawn goddess: EOS.
106. LUV competitor: UAL. LUV is Southwest Airlines; UAL is United.
107. "Boy With Luv" band: BTS. #K-POP
The Grid:
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| The Grid |
Thanks Kelly for the Slam Dunk puzzle. It was a lot of words but this dyslexic solved it.
I've missed posting at The Corner the last few (very busy) days and I've been remiss...
Happy 80th Tehachapi Ken. You raised a good boy.
And, SubG, Happy Birthday to you too. Thanks for sharing the snap.
I'm getting girded for Hacker Summer Camp [read: getting my Pi proxy updated for Blackhat & Defcon] so y'all probably won't hear from me 'till the 13th.
Cheers, -T
33 comments:
I didn’t have any idea what the reveal had to do with the themed answers, until I looked back and saw all the “doubled” letters. I think it was pretty clever of the constructor, not just to make all the b-ball references but also to add all that word play! Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Knew it was Dash-T from the get-go. Didn't notice all the double letters on the way through the grid. Maybe that's why d-o tried to squeeze DOUBLE DRIBBLE into twelve squares. This one was a little crunchy, but I liked it. Thanx, Kelly and Dash-T. (Are you going to let youngest back in the house after her U-T indoctrination?)
FIR, but had to fix cairo>CONGO, suni>SHIA, hair>MANE, uar>UAE, and greer>GRIER (UNTIE! er....)
Good to see Al Bundy in the crossword.
I mainly knew Pam GRIER from The L Word.
Bob Uecker was certain that his seat must be in the FRONT ROW.
Bayou Tony beat me to the video by The Cars.
That bell in Hell's Bells has a fascinating story.
I suppose that "MAAM, this is a Wendy's" is the whippersnappers' version of "where's the beef?" that was trendy in my heyday (Wendy's must have a pretty good ad agency!)
POP CULTURE, the desired predominant fill for Patti and Katie.
Expanding the explanation, UAL and LUV are the stock symbols of the two airlines.
Thanks to Kelly (but not Kelly Bundy) for the fun Sunday workout, and to Bayou Tony for the insights and wit.
I always enjoy a sports themed puzzle and I think today’s grid was especially good, all eight themers containing DOUBLE letters giving us a DOUBLE theme. FIR in 40 minutes or so, typical of a Sunday time for me. Perps were very kind today which got me a significant portion of the answers. DNK ELLE, MA’AM or ENYA (as clued). CANST?? My leaf blower may be LOUD but it beats the heck out of a rake IMO. I think a SPINOFF would classify as more of a sequel than a prequel. A privacy border made with psychoactive plants is not necessarily an ILLEGAL SCREEN here in Michigan. HARP is also an Irish ☘️ lager made by Guinness. The bloggers and commenters here on the Corner EDUCATE me every day. A lot of celebrities occupy the FRONT ROW seats at NBA games. If today’s trend of CW construction/editing continues, us solvers had better become fluent in POP CULTURE.
Thank you Kelly for the grid and T for the synopsis.
FIR. Considering I'm not a big basketball fan, the reveal was wasted on me. I see it now but had to come here to get it.
I'm sorry, but the clue "art able to" and it's answer canst do not make sense. The clue should have been "aren't able to". Just my opinion!
Overall not as enjoyable as some Sunday puzzles, but it's done so there's that.
KS, "canst" means "can." Thou canst do it if thou art able.
Took 19:02 today for me to get the jumpp ball.
Seemed like a slightly easier Sunday than usual, though I am familiar with the basketball references. That said, I didn't get the theme until coming here.
Last to fall with the shia, canst, coral, congo area.
I never noticed the basketball references until ILLEGAL SCREEN (moving screen?). The puzzle filled NW to SE and I think the 70D clue and fill- POP CULTURE- are turnoffs for most older puzzle solvers. You don't subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime movies, watch Entertainment Tonight, log on toe TMZ, listen to the latest fad in music or are not glued to the TV? The answers are always perps. GRIER, O'NEILL, ELLE, SHE, ESSO, BTS, ENYA- unknown A&ES to go with the unknown ASH TREE. MAUDLIN and BESTIR- never heard of either of those two words-perps.
Slowest part to fill was the LORD, EARL, or LADY, ASH TREE, FIELDS area.
CONGO being third- always thought it was second in volume. I just looked up and there are three rivers in Bangladesh-Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna- that join a few miles before emptying into the Bay of Bengal, edging out the Congo River.
AVEENO trivia- Back in the dark ages when I started in the drug business a small company named Cooper labs made both Aveeno oatmeal and Oral-B toothbrushes. Sold Aveeno to J&J and Oral-B to Gillette (now P&G).
SNO CONE trivia- in NOLA they are SNOW BALLS and there are about 30 Snow Ball stands around here that sell them in about 50 flavors. DW likes Chocolate with vanilla ice cream in the center. Mine? Dreamsicle (orange & vanilla combo). Other people like to put condensed milk on top of theirs.
Musings
-C’mon, ya gotta love ALLEY OOPS!
-Caitlin Clark’s DEEP THREES have energized women’s basketball
-Our multi-million-dollar school renovation includes a mammoth WELDING training facility
-Getting your work “BANNED in Boston” was sometimes a great marketing boon
-My kids loved this demo of a small mass accelerating much faster than a large mass
-Nebraska voters finally okayed CASINO gambling and now they are opening all over the state and that money will stay in the state and now drive over to Iowa
-Politicians are judged on how well they FIELD questions
- Ed O’NEILL admitted he was very lucky to land this role
-I still drive 75mph past the 55mph speed limit signs that are still up on our new Hwy 30 bypass
-Helicopter trees are maple around here
-POP CULTURE is a frequent topic of discussion in this venue. No, really!
-Young Sheldon was a fun SPIN OFF of Big Bang but the gimmick wore off for me and the ancillary characters and smart writing kept me interested
-Gotta run to Lincoln for daughter’s 53rd birthday party. She celebrates reluctantly!
Oh, no! The annoying format is back, at least for me.
I don’t know how I managed to finish this CW since I know NOTHING about basketball lingo. I just kept going blind. In addition there were quite a few unknown names. So I kinda proud of myself.
The fact that last night I watched “Air” the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movie about Nike creating the Air Jordan shoe didn’t help.LOL.
A good friend’s daughter created a band of female musicians and they call themselves Hell’s Belles. Now I wonder if they were inspired by the AC/DC band.
Thank you busy Tony for the review. Good luck in your endeavors and see you back here soon.
After yesterday's Papa bear of a puzzle (too hard) this was a baby bear (too easy). Always hoping for a Goldilocks that challenges yet is doable. This one rates a Meh, even with double letters sprinkled in.
My only strike was 91A entering CTO instead of CPU for Brains behind a start-up? And I really dislike crosswordese like 16D BESTIR - words that are never used in conversation. I guess I'm becoming a grumpy old man. Get off my lawn!
Oh, boy, sports! The basketball phrases were mostly familiar, if meaningless, to me. I didn't see how the reveal related to the other long answers until -T revealed it here in the Corner.
Personally, my favorite clue/answer combo was probably Art able to: CANST. Indeed, thou art able to complete the puzzle without understanding sports! Verily, thou canst do it, as I have done. FIR.
Let us not BERATE Kelly or Patti, but rather, let us be ELATED that the task is complete. Truly, many thanks to them and to -T.
Got the FIR, and found this to be an enjoyable outing. Not easy, mind you, but the perps were mostly fair, and a feeling of accomplishment was the result! Have to Echo Big Easy on the pop culture issues, as about the only thing I watch on the tube is Jeopardy and Green Bay Packer games. I will admit that Eva Longoria is pretty flamin' hot!
Ah I see said the blind man.
H.Gary, HBD to your daughter. BTW, what role was Ed O’NEILL lucky to get? The link doesn't work on my laptop.
KS - Or as we laughed about when I was a kid, "'I see clearly' said the blind man to the deaf lady, as he picked up his hammer and saw."
Since Google can change the format of Blogger at will, why don't they make it a "settings" option? (Rhetorical - we all know it is because they are evil bastards.)
Got the theme and the puzzle fell together. As for "missed lane" as Boomer used to say, its a cut on the bowler who does it. You can miss the pocket, miss a spare, miss a pin, but miss a lane, you're bad. Ha. GC
This puzzle certainly smoothed my feathers after yesterday’s debacle ( for this very intermediate silver). I actually thought it was a Goldilocks-just-right experience, unlike others’ assessment. I learned a few new words, such as “petrichor”, and I knew all the basketball terms ( huge Lakers fan). I now have “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic” in my brain. Like NaomiZ, my favorite clue was “canst”. For a few unknown names, perps were kind, so I have no complaints, only kudos and thanks to Kelly.
Thanks also to T for the tour. Loved the Monty Python clip.
We have loved all the Olympics gymnastics and swimming events, and now the track and field stuff gets going. I’m sorry Richardson didn’t get her gold, but I am thrilled for St. Lucia getting their first medal ever and a gold to boot!
Enjoyable puzzle and nice writeup! Bonus: no "lessons" today...
…to the deaf girl.
I forgot to say that, although I FIR, I did have a few errors I had to correct - senora/ESPOSA, meld/WELD, pines/PINEY.
Wonder how long I’ll have the Teddy Bear’s Picnic ear worm in my brain. Love those lightbulb moments when the error becomes apparent and the correct answer pops into your brain.
Favorite Olympic moment so far was today, when Scottie Scheffler came from behind to win, with the help of Spain's Jon Rohm's collapse on the final holes. Ranked number 1 in the world, Scottie has won many times in his young career, but it was the first time I've seen him tear up. Couldn't make it through the final stanza of The Star-Spangled Banner. Here's a guy who receives multiple million dollars for winning PGA tournaments and takes them in stride, brought to tears after winning a gold medal for his country (and $38,000.)
Sorry Jinx. Just got back from Lincoln on a 100F day.
-Ed O’Neill said on many occasions he was so lucky to get this role opposite Sophia Vagara.
Thanks to Kelly for a fun Sunday FIR! FAVs: TOO FAST; Not 'round paring with THRU; and the POP CULTURE clue -- touché.
Thanks to -T for the tour! I love that Cars song. It helped me win a bottle of rum once in Jamaica. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
Have fun at HSC! Bring us back some good stories.
Hola!
Just before I clicked on the puzzle icon I go
t hooked on to TEMU and did some shopping! As usual on Sunday I started the puzzle before going to church then finished much later. Sunday puzzles are just a slog and so I sashay along filling in as I can. ILLEGAL SCREEN doesn't make a lot of sense but FULL COURT PRESS is in the language as is MISS A FREE THROW. DEEP THREE sounds mysterious; I usually hear DEEP SIX.
It's fun to see PANDA. They are so cute! God must have been in a good mood when he created them.
Do we have any posters that belong to MENSA? Surely there must be many, if not literally then potentially.
Though I am now a widow, I was once an ESPOSA to my late DH.
BESTIR is not a conversational word but is found in many poems.
My favorite clue if for MANE. Head locks.
I hope your day is going well, everyone!
Well, I don't know what happened to my sentence. It should read: "Just before I clicked on the puzzle icon, I got hooked on TEMU. If you don't know what TEMU is, it's a shopping website.
Jinx@12:56. I agree with your comments about you know who.
I liked this Koko the gorilla* puzzle.
*The late Koko named her pet kitten "All Ball."
Lucina, TEMU suppliers are revolting against the company. It seems TEMU is fining them for returns on things like inaccurate descriptions and sizes for clothing. They're caused many of the Chinese suppliers to go bankrupt.
Let's ask Bayou Tony about TEMU when he gets back. I've heard that it is dangerous to use because of how they abuse any information they learn about you. Who do they think they are, Google?
A "screen" or "pick" happens when a teammate of the person with the basketball tries to block the opponent who is trying to guard the person with the ball. There are several nuances about the rule, but in essence the player "setting" the screen must stop before the person with the ball gets to the screen, and not move until the player with the ball has gone past the screen setter. One frequent violation is when the defender changes course to go around the screener, and the screener sticks out a hip or leans to hinder the bypass route.
A THREE is a shot made from further from the basket than a painted line called the three point line. Most are made from near the line, since it is already a long shot. A DEEP THREE is taken maybe ten feet or more behind the three point line. It isn't a precise distance, nor is it a statistic. An ultimate DEEP THREE occurs just before time expires - sometimes from beyond the mid-court line - and are the equivalent of football's "hail Mary pass," which we'll cover in our next boring class meeting. Maybe we should have new crossword companion to ESL (English as a Second Language.) SLSL (Sports Lingo as a Second Language.)
Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Kelly and AnonT.
I FIRed online with only one alphabet run to give the H in the cross of NAH and HOOP. (I had NAe and NAw first).
I had trouble seeing the DOUBLE DOUBLE theme, probably because this Canadian thought of Tim Horton’s coffee! (And the very first double crosses two words!).
I did smile at LITRE.
I owe thanks to AnonT for EDUCATing me long ago about UTEP.
Re EASTER Eggs (not BUNNY) to the basketball theme, I think of FIELDS as baseball, but we did have FRONT ROW seats for the EVENT.
Melds changed to WELDS, Lyre to HARP.
Suni (should be Sunni) to SHIA. Hair to MANE, UAR to UAE (hi Jinx).
Evita was a Senora before I improved my Spanish to ESPOSA.
Was POP CULTURE as clued a poke to our solvers who dislike those references?!
I was just going to post when grandkids FaceTimed me. I nearly forgot to get back here. Luckily my post had not evaporated.
Wishing you all a good evening.
Anonymous
I've ordered many things from TEMU in he past and have been satisfied with them, especially shoes. I really hope they can continue to offer their merchandise. Of course, it would save me a lot of money.
Hands up for “eligible for Mensa, but, never bothered to join”
test to see if format changes after posting a comment on an older blog post
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