Spin the Bottle. The last word or portion from each theme answer can be combined with Bottle to give us a new concept.
19-Across. Romantic involvement without defined parameters: SITUATIONSHIP. Ship in a Bottle. The dictionary defines Situationship as "a romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established."
25-Across. Brand in a nursery: DIAPERGENIE. Genie in a Bottle.
49-Across. Email alternative: TEXTMESSAGE. Message in a Bottle.
And the unifier:
55-Across. Classic Jim Croce song, or a stretch for the ends of 19-, 25-, and 49-Across?: TIME IN A BOTTLE.
Across:
1. Atlas page: MAP.
4. Detective agency often outsmarted by Carmen Sandiego: ACME. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Carman is a fictional character in a video/computer game that is designed to teach children geography, math and other skills. [Name # 1, Fictional]
8. Hit the brakes: STOP.
12. Utter delight: GLEE. Also the name of a television series that ran from 2009 to 2015. Sadly, several of the young cast members have died.
14. Lets loose: FREES.
15. Cornmeal cake: PONE. Yummers!
16. "Right Here Waiting" singer Richard: MARX. Apparently Richard Noel Marx (b. Sept. 16, 1963) is an "adult contemporary" singer-songwriter. I don't recognize the name, nor do I recognize the song. [Name # 2.]
18. Cathedral area: APSE. A crossword staple.
22. Wi-Fi device: ROUTER.
24. Create a cartoon: ANIMATE.
28. __ Talks: lecture series: TED. Not a person's name, but a public-speaking presentation given at the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) annual event or one of its many satellite events around the world.
29. Designer Gucci: ALDO. Aldo Gucci (May 26, 1905 ~ Jan. 19, 1990) was the son of the founder of the Gucci fashion company. He ran the company for over 30 years, from the early 1950s until the mid-80s. [Name # 3.]
30. Japanese currency: YEN.
31. The "A" of LGBTQIA+, informally: ACE. Okay. LGBTIQA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual and plus. Many other terms (such as non-binary and pansexual) that people use to describe their experiences of their gender, sexuality and physiological sex characteristics.
33. Cry upon stubbing one's toe: YELP.
35. Yoga studio accessory: MAT.
37. Parts of psyches: EGOs.
40. On the __: running: LAM. The possible origin of the expression On the Lam.
42. Fish and chips fish, often: COD. Yummers! I had some of the best Fish and Chips while in Iceland.
44. Get a grip on: GRAB.
46. Tony-winning singer/actress Salonga: LEA. I am not familiar with Lea Salonga (née Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga; b. Feb. 22, 1971). She is a Filipino singer and actress and is best known for her theater work. She has starred in Broadway musicals, including Miss Saigon and Les Miz. [Name # 4.]
52. Top player: ALL-STAR.
54. Rang out: PEALED.
58. Big celebrity: IDOL.
59. Red wine grape: SYRAH. Everything you wanted to know about the Syrah grape but didn't know to ask.
60. Figure skating leap: AXEL.
63. Hawaiian goose: NENE. When I first began working on crosswords, this Hawaiian Goose was a crossword staple. It would appear at least once a week.
64. Glum drops: TEARS.
65. Title for Emma Thompson: DAME. Dame Emma Thompson (b. Apr. 15, 1959) is a British actress. She gained the title "Dame" in 2018. [Name # 5.]
66. Throws into the mix: ADDS.
67. Sportsbook calculations: ODDS.
68. Cow's sound: MOO.
Down:
1. Film studio founded in 1924: MGM. MGM stands for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company is named after three companies which were combined in 1924: Metro Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and Louis B. Mayer Productions.
2. In the manner of: À LA. Today's French lesson.
3. Bring around: PERSUADE.
4. Vegas casino with a musical name: ARIA. I was just in Vegas last week attending a conference. We weren't staying at this hotel/casino, though. I did see the Aria casino and hotel.
5. Penny: CENT.
6. Middle of the road: MEDIAN. It's known as the Neutral Ground in New Orleans.
7. Tallinn's country: ESTONIA. I visited Tallinn several years ago. It is a beautiful city.
8. Muscle twitch: SPASM.
9. Part of a Willy Wonka costume: TOP HAT.
10. Not remote: ON-SITE.
11. Sounded like a baby bird: PEEPED.
13. Election Day survey of voters: EXIT POLL.
14. Commotion: FLURRY.
20. Short-sleeved shirt: TEE.
21. Sabrina, to Hilda and Zelda: NIECE. Okay. These names are totally unknown to me, although it was easy enough to suss out the word Niece. Sabrina (née Sabrina Spellman) is a character from the comic Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. She apparently lives with her aunts, Hilda and Zelda. Not only was Sabrina the Teenage Witch a comic strip, but was also a television series. [Names # 6, 7 and 8, fictional.]
22. Nutrition fig.: RDA. As in the Recommended Daily Allowance. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the RDA is the average daily dietary intake level sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of most healthy individuals in a particular gender and life stage group.
23. Like some garage floors: OILY.
26. Shining example: GEM.
27. Put into law: ENACT.
32. Sandwich filling with hard-boiled ingredients: EGG SALAD. Yummers!
34. "Godmother of Soul" LaBelle: PATTI. Patti LaBelle (née Patricia Louise Holte; b. May 24, 1944) began her singing career in the 1960s as the frontwoman for the band Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells. [Name # 9.]
36. Shiv's partner on "Succession": TOM. Succession was an HBO television series that centered on Logan Roy, an aging media mogul and his family. Tom Wambsgans was the son-in-law who was married to Logan's daughter, Siobhan "Shiv" Roy. [Names # 10 and 11, Fictional]
38. Challenge for a doctoral student: ORAL EXAM.
39. Wise: SAGE.
41. Has every intention of: MEANS TO.
43. Unexplored ocean regions: DEPTHS.
45. Place with pillows: BED.
46. "Gran Cocina __": Maricel E. Presilla cookbook: LATINA. If I cooked, I would probably like the recipes from this book. Maricel Presilla specializes in the foods of Latin America and Spain. She was he first Latin American woman to have been invited as a guest chef at the White House. She also holds a Ph.D. in medieval Spanish history. [Name # 12.]
47. Left out, as a syllable: ELIDED.
48. Energy bar nut: ALMOND.
50. Saw right through, in a way: X-RAYED.
51. Game, __, match: SET.
53. 1990s tennis great Monica: SELES. Monica Seles (b. Dec. 2, 1973) was the youngest champion of the French Open when she won at age 16 in 1990. [Name # 13.]
56. Small fastener: BRAD. It could be a name, but not in this case.
57. Rower's pair: OARS.
61. Taking Back Sunday genre: EMO. Apparently Taking Back Sunday is a rock band that was formed in the late 1990s.
62. Zodiac sign for one with an August 6 birthday: LEO.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
While there were a few obscurities (whoever heard of a
ReplyDelete“situationship”?) the puzzle was, on the whole, fair and not too difficult to solve.
FIR, so I’m happy.
P.S. I continue to have no format issues. I guess I’m just “lucky.”
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteSurprise. D-o failed to notice the theme. No problems solving, though. Thanx, Amie and Hahtoolah.
COD: Watched a show about the Gulf of Maine and the changes that are occurring there as the waters warm. A portion was devoted to over-fishing and the almost total collapse of the COD fishery there. The fish in your fish and chips today is probably pollock.
Took 6:48 today for me to recycle this one.
ReplyDeleteFine, but tough Tuesday puzzle. Nice that it was themeless....
I knew today's actress (Dame).
FIR without erasure, getting my mild SWAG @ LEA x LATINA.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know at the time, but I've been in a few SITUATIONSHIPs in my day. Crosby, Stills and Nash celebrated them in song before these entwinements had a name (kinda brings to mind Croce's I Got a Name.)
I'm still not buying LGBTAWERNDRAKEYCLW+. I think that hetero, homo and bi covers the subject adequately. No one needs to know another's variants, except for potential partners.
The best fish and chips I've ever had was at Ye Olde King's Head at the southern end of the Santa Monica pedestrian mall. Haven't been there in more than a quarter century, but Google shows it's still there, and looks the same.
An ORAL EXAM may well be a challenge, but given the choice I'll take one of those over a rectal EXAM any day.
Thanks to Amie for the fun Tuesday puzzle, and to Ha2la for another fine write-up. BTW, I just bought my copy of the 2025 Rand McNally Deluxe Motor Carrier's Atlas. $85 delivered, but I only get one every ten years or so. Benefits include highlights over roads that have been designated for trucks, low clearances on those routes, and any route restrictions. 208 laminated pages in a spiral binding.
Good Morning, Crossword Friends. Situationship was a new term to me, but it fit into the "bottle" as it were.
ReplyDeleteI hope our Florida contingent is safe after having the hurricane fly through.
QOD: There just isn’t any pleasing some people. The trick is to stop trying. ~ Robert Mitchum (né Robert Charles Durman Mitchum; Aug. 6, 1917 ~ July 1, 1997), American actor
FIR. Today's presentation had some crunchiness to it. Never heard of situationship? Or syrah for that matter? And the proper names laced throughout didn't add much joy.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side the theme was clever, although I must admit I had to come here to get it.
Overall not what I would calk a typical Tuesday puzzle, more like Thursday. I give it a firm yuk!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI think this is a perfect example of one of Patti's deviations from the past tradition of specific day difficulty level in cluing, yet offsetting that practice by providing unquestionably fair perps. To prove my point, there were more unknowns, either literally or clue-deficient, than I have ever experienced in a Tuesday puzzle: Acme, Marx, Situationship, Diaper Genie, Ace, Lea, Niece, Aria, Tom, Latina, Emo, and Syrah. This is not a complaint, just an observation and is acceptable as long as the perps are as fair as possible. That said, I breezed through the solve but needed the reveal to see the theme. I went astray at Yell/Yelp and Snap/Brad. Two C/As really tickled my fancy: Shining Example=Gem and Glum Drops=Tears. And who could miss the Patti CSO?
Thanks, Amie, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for a nice mixture of fun, facts, and personal asides. Favorite comics today were the Yoga Mats, the man on the Lam, and the beret-wearing Moo cow. Funny stuff!
Have a great day.
1 issue today, crossing Lea with Latina so missed 1 letter on the puzzle the L.
ReplyDeleteThe little bit of crunch this morning resulted from some unknown names like ACME as clued, ALDO, MARX, LEA, DIAPER GENIE, etc.
ReplyDeleteACE leaves me baffled. In fact it had filled in by itself so I didn’t notice it until Hahtoolah’s recap. What does it mean?
Glum drops clue is fun.
So FIR and enjoyed the theme and its answers. The title TIME IN A BOTTLE brought back some nice memories.
Nice review Hahtoolah.
You might be more familiar with Richard Marx's bigger hit, "Don't mean nothing".
ReplyDeleteTerrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Amie and Hahtoolah. (I LOLed at that last Choices photo!).
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time, and saw the Things in a BOTTLE theme
One inkblot to change Bolt to BRAD.
An “almost Natick” at the cross of LEA and LATINA, but I WAGged the L.
Unknown-to-me names perped.
I am out of the loop in knowing SITUATIONSHIP. Same with all the letters after LGBT. Thanks again, perps.
CSO to editor PATTI.
Wishing you all a great day.
Good Morning. Ran into some snags for a Tuesday puzzle
ReplyDeletePerps for ACME, MARX, ACE, SYRAH, ARIA (as clued), ESTONIA (as clued), TOM (as clued).
Had to google the unknown LEA crossing the unknown cookbook.
The top two themers were all perps. I knew the 3rd and Jim Croce’s song, but I didn’t linger to suss the MESSAGE.
DAME Emma Thompson, not her most elegant role, but I’ll always think fondly of her as Nanny McPhee.
Thanks, Hah2lah! What a frolicking fun post to start the day. Loved the sandwich board at your closing. Hee hee 😄
Managed a fairly easy FIR, but the obscure names and weak clues sucked the enjoyment right out. A clever crossWORD clue brings an Aha! moment or a "D'oh! headslap. Obscure crossNAME clues bring mostly "Huh? Who cares?" Didn't see the theme until Ha2la 'splained it. Loved the (non-animated) cartoons today, so I at least got that goin' for me this morning!
ReplyDeleteI loved this puzzle! Sure, there were a few unknowns -- Richard MARX, ACE for asexual, LEA Salonga, and Shiv's partner TOM -- but they perped. I *loved* the clue "glum drops" for TEARS.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the theme of things you can fit in a bottle. Hahtoolah's animations of "spin the bottle" and "ship in a bottle" were really cute. Other standout cartoons were the beginner's yoga mat (a stretcher) and the X ray order (for a skeleton).
Another thing you can fit in a bottle is a good Syrah -- a red wine made from Syrah grapes, called "Shiraz" in Australia. Some of you aren't drinking enough wine!
The puzzle particularly spoke to my recent minor injury, with a YELP upon stubbing one's toe, followed by having it X-RAYED. Apparently I will live.
Many thanks to Amie for a delightful puzzle, and to Hahtoolah for a delightful review.
NaomiZ, are you saying that your YELP was X-RATED?
ReplyDeleteNaomiZ, my hand is up for not drinking enough wine. My problem is that I either drink no enough wine, or way, way, way too much wine. I just don't seem to have a second gear.
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty much in agreement with IM’s☘️ take on this puzzle, I had the same unknowns and her assessment of the perps being very fair was spot on, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the FIR in a rather speedy (for me) 11 minutes. A good chance there will be some EXIT POLLing today here in the states. As with others the “L” in the LEA/LATINA cross was a WAG. ACE could have been clued in many other ways.this early in the week.
ReplyDeleteJust like sumdaze Mondays, Hahtoolah Tuesdays expos are always replete with the most apropos cartoons and graphics, always making for a humorous and enjoyable read. Thank you Susan for the grins!
NaomiZ ~ thanks for explaining the yoga mat cartoon, my dim brain didn’t get it. 🤦🏼♂️
I forgot to mention ~ Hahtoolah’s puzzle title “Spin the Bottle” brought back some pleasant memories from years ago. Anyone else? 🤣
ReplyDeleteThe constant references to homosexuality really sucks (haha). Is Patti gay?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't this bother anybody else?
In a bit of a hurry, so short: FIR in good time, DNK SITUATIONSHIP, some of the names. Did not see the theme, but didn't have time to look. Thanx AW for the fun, carefully crafted Tuesday creation. Thanx Hahtoolah for the as always terrific Write-up. Gotta go.
ReplyDeleteI see my comment about LBG……. Was deleted. Can’t I be offended by that subject?
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteSITUATIONSHIP? That's a new one for me! I liked the misdirection of (Lady) GODIVA vs. LINDT (chocolates).
How well do I remember the DIAPER GENIE! One of my good friends ordered that for me when my daughter was born. Once a week they would pick up the dirty ones in the bucket and deliver a clean one and a pile of fresh DIAPERS. It lasted for six months and I loved it!
CSO to my friend PATTI and I'll take one at LATINA. I have many NIECEs and grand-NIECES.
There's another MARX? Who knew?
My yoga MAT is rolled up and stored in the closet.
I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful day today!
Thank you, Susan and welcome back!
ReplyDeletePersonally I’ve never been offended by a CW puzzle. I don’t mind a hard ball critique, but what offends me are those who continuously disparage the constructors and editors in a mean fashion. SS ~ I know those are not your posts @ 12:09 and 12:31, impostor.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Amie for another fun solve!
ReplyDeleteFAV: See right through...also Hahtoolah's comic pic for that one!
I used to love "Sabrina the Teenage Witch". It had a terrific cast, including Martin Mull (passed away this summer) as the high school principal.
Thanks to Hahtoolah for guiding us through the grid. I hit play on the Jim Croce song and listened while I read through your perfect ADDitionS.
Great Easter egg. What's in the bottle Syrah? Yum
ReplyDeleteSusan, I loved your facts and cartoons. Thanks.
Wow! Don’t mess with us Canadians. First we had an Olympic gold in the Men’s Hammer Throw, and now gold in the Women’s!
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t signed in, but you all knew who was the proud Canadian.
ReplyDeleteSolved the puzzle and don't feel much one way or the other about it.
ReplyDeleteDidn't do yesterday's puzzle because DW and I were occupied all day buying a car. (I say "car" to include passenger vehicles in general, including sedans, SUV's, etc. just as I say "beer" to include ale, lager, stout, etc.) It seemed like a thousand papers we had to sign, but we like the car. It's a 2024 Honda CR-V EX-L, bright red. Still learning all the gadgets and safety features.
Good reading you all.
Every generation has its slang.
ReplyDeleteSituationship - In 1950s slang, a “situationship” might be described as “seeing someone but not going steady.” This means you might be "dating" someone regularly but haven’t made it official with a class ring or letterman jacket. Or it might be the ongoing relations the fast and stacked paper shaker and her dreamboat greaser hanky panky backseat bingo partner had playing around in the backseat of his hotrod at the passion pit - without the commitment of being circled or getting pinned. Do you dig, big daddy?
Wow!TTP @ 7:11 pm. I didn’t know you had it I you to be so “poetic”.
ReplyDeleteThat should be in , not I.
ReplyDeleteJayce
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your purchase of a new car! It sounds classy. I love red!
Neither did I, Monkey. Just reacting to the constant criticism of younger people's slang. We've all had our own.
ReplyDelete