EGGS BENEDICT
Yeah, that guy....Hi there, and welcome again to the Corner, where we'll discuss today's puzzle from Annemarie Brethauer, who is a free-lance constructor and has had several grids for the LA Times. Today we don't have "theme" answers, per se, but instead the dreaded circles that "turn" the word COAT - and very cleverly done, I might add, such that the letters rotate to a distinct quadrant of the square with each version. This does lead to a few "meh" fills and dreaded proper names, but a mere twenty TLWs. I could recreate the boxes with the associated fill, but methinks it would just be simpler to post the solution up top, and mention the long fills in the Across that relate to the circles;
18. "Ha! April Fools!": "AH, I GOTCHA~!" - this feels a little forced, IMHO, esp. with the "Ha" and "AH" in the clue/answer
20. Rile up: ANTAGONIZE - but then we get this sparkling fill
62. Starbucks order: VENTI LATTE - this fill has some crossword history; it is NOT "ventilate"
65. Made-up: FICTIONAL - A fictional Time Machine
And back in time for some history of the grid-centered reveal . . . .
39. Traitors, and an apt title for this puzzle: TURNCOATS - believed to be coined during the English Civil Wars, when soldiers turned their coats inside out to match the opposing side's colors
ACROSS:
1. Food grinder: MOLAR - AH, one's back teeth, not a kitchen appliance; see 5D.
6. Mischievous rascal: IMP - I was being an intentional mischievous rascal last week
9. Bee-related: APIAN
14. Puccini composition: OPERA
15. In-like-a-lion mo.: MARch - goes out like a lamb, sometimes
16. Impressions: DENTS - someone left an "impression" on my car's bumper - and I have no idea when it happened; I just noticed it last week when I walked up on the back of my Prius; I do know it was a white car . . . .
17. Intel mission: RECONnaissance
22. Early ISP: AOL - America OnLine
23. Went bad: SOURED - AH, not ROTTED
24. Pack it in: EAT
26. Blokes: MEN
28. __ La Table: kitchenware shop: SUR - filled via perps; their website
29. California sch. near the Mexican border: SDSU - San Diego State University; had the "S"s from perps, so . . . .
32. Meet, as a challenge: RISE TO
34. Capital of Thailand?: TEE - I know some Cornerites don't care for this kind of clue, but I don't mind; the "T" that is the capital letter of T-hailand
36. Quite a long time: EONS
38. Surgical tool: LASER
42. "Trust the __ touch": longtime slogan of a car repair chain: MIDAS
Commercial from 1985
It's a Zoot Suit riot
46. QVC alternative: HSN - Home Shopping Network
49. Brunch order: OMELET - AH, not having Eggs Benedict~?
51. Vegetables in a "mushy" dish: PEAS - AH; my parents may have been British, but I never had this growing up - I went looking for some recipe info
53. __ & Perrins steak sauce: LEA
55. Nonstick spray brand: PAM - I use this - very convenient in a spray
56. Canine command: SIT~! - whenever I hear a distant dog barking, I say "sit~!", because it reminds me of this movie, and this scene
Fletch, also from 1985 - @1:42
60. State in southwest India: GOA - name
68. Took apart: UNDID - meh
69. Finale: END
70. Muscat citizen: OMANI - name
71. Musical silences: RESTS
73. Electrician, at times: WIRER - one who WIRES outlets, switches, etc.
DOWN:
1. Convoluted situation: MORASS - good fill; the NW and SE corners were tough for Wednesday
2. Unfurl: OPEN OUT - Sigh. Yes, this is true . . . .
3. Good talking-to: LECTURE - AH. I got the email "lecture" from C.C. last week as well 😜
4. Very loud: AROAR - we had this last Saturday
5. Appliances that may have pilot lights: RANGES - AH - I had STOVES to start
6. Vellani who plays Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel: IMAN - name, no clue -the IMDb
7. Fish often grilled for tacos, informally: MAHI - formally, mahi-mahi
8. Booker or Pulitzer: PRIZE - name(s) - I know about the Pulitzer, here's the Booker
9. "And now, without further __ ... ": ADO
10. Anti-65-Down org.: PETA - AND - 65D. Pelt: FUR
11. Earnings: INCOMES - meh; I don't care for the pluralized version
12. Typical Wheaties box portrait: ATHLETE
Little Chocolate Donuts for breakfast - and the cigarette
I love Belushi's facial expressions in this skit
13. Code-cracking org.: NSA - a WAG; National Security Agency19. One of four-on-the-floor: GEAR - the only "four-on-the-floor" I owned was my Subaru Brat
It had "O-tops", as there was a frame over the door, so not quite "T-tops"
21. Harder to explain: ODDER - meh.25. Pinball faux pas: TILT
27. Negative conjunction: NOR
30. "Yesterday" or "Tomorrow": SONG - clever clue
31. Remove the lid: UNCAP
33. Scout uniform accessory: SASH
37. Really mad: SORE
40. Takes advantage of: USES
41. Beaded counters: ABACI
42. Floor-washing tool: MOP - a looong way to go for a TLW
43. Envision: IMAGINE
44. Garage band output, once: DEMO CDs - AH. Meh. I know, I know; I'm stuck in 1985 - this is also the name of the Apple software expressly for the purpose of producing one's own music, but TAPES just seem more "sincere"
47. Toy racer: SLOTCAR
48. Farthest planet from the sun: NEPTUNE - PLUTO~! Stuck in 1985
50. DVR option: TiVO
52. Sickly looking: SALLOW
54. Response to Captain Kirk: AYE, SIR
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home - OK, so this is actually 1986
59. Watts of "The Painted Veil": NAOMI - name, filled via perps - the IMDb
61. Plugging away: AT IT
63. "Peter Pan" dog: NANA - name I did not know; it occurs to me I have not seen this animated classic
64. Abbr. with a synopsis: TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read - the modern world of zero attention span
66. Wallet cards: IDs
Splynter
43 comments:
By putting the reveal in the middle of the puzzle,
the constructor kind of “let the cat out of the bag “ so to speak, and I knew what the gimmick was almost right away. That helped me solve the puzzle, which, on the whole, didn’t seem all that difficult. FIR, so I’m happy.
Oh no! I’ve got the dreaded “format change “ this morning! I only hope it doesn’t last!
Good morning!
Hand up for ROTTED as well as the format change. Please, go away. Had the circles, and forgot to look at 'em. Seszt Lah Vye, as they say in Utah. Thanx, Annemarie and Splynter. (Aren't most constructors free-lance?)
Took 8:20 today, but made a wrong turn by choosing "oh I gotcha" instead of "ah I gotcha" - not knowing one of today's actress (Iman).
I had "rotted" first, and didn't want to accept "open out."
Oh joy, circles!
Or, today, should I say: Ah joy, circles!?
FIR, missing IMoN x oH I GOTCHA. Since the new format has reared its ugly head, 'nuf said.
Just who or what is manipulating the Corner comment section? Is it being hacked? The blog retains the same structure on my iPad, but clicking “comment” gives me this new look with no delete option or photos or avatars, iPhone remains as always 🤷♂️.
FIR in 14 or so after a couple corrections and a WAG at the “A” in the NANA/TAR cross. Unknowns were those two plus IMAN, SUR and SALLOW (have never seen or heard that word). Noticed MAHI crossing AHI(GOTCHA). AROAR is usually clued with a “crowd” reference. CSO to our newest blogger NAOMI. I drove my sister’s four-on-the-floor Opel Cadet for my initial driver’s license road test back in the day but haven’t driven a standard transmission for many years now.
Annemarie ~ thanks for the morning entertainment.
Splynter ~ thanks for explaining it all!
Often the world "fixes" what doesn't need fixing, but that is the history of mankind. I also missed Splynter's vision of the beauty of the female form, but that may just be pining for the good old days.
I think this type of puzzle may be the hardest to construct, but not for Annemarie, well done.
Not that it matters but that was me, lemonade
Did I finally get it right?
This is the first day I have gotten the new comment format. Boo, hiss. No opportunity to edit. I thought the theme was TACO until I saw the reveal. Very easy except for one bad spot. I didn't know TAR and forgot about TLDR, so I missed the R. I thought odder was odd. I used to go to edit and back so I could read posts that came in while I was typing. I am SORE about the new format and am less inclined to comment.
I lost my avatar with this new format.
I was wrong, it did give me the DELETE option after I had posted. Trying to comment is a different story though, half the screen disappears and it takes several maneuvers to get to the line with the flashing cursor. This experiment is not going well 😂
FIR. I too got caught up with tee, was thinking of currency.
The theme was easy and I got it almost immediately.
There were a few tough clues, but nothing unmanageable.
Overall a fairly enjoyable puzzle.
It's Blogger
Musings
-The orderly progression of the COAT scramble was an added bonus
-This VENTI commercial is a shot across the bow of appropriating language
-MAR weather on The Great Plains can call for TEES on one day and parkas the next
-Robert E. Lee sent Capt. Samuel Johnston on a RECON mission at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863
-SDSU around here is South Dakota State University in Brookings
-Appropriate GARB for students and teachers is often hotly debated at school board meetings
-Hundreds of WIRERS worked 24/7 last week to restore power to 200,000 people without power in Eastern Nebraska last week after 90+mph wind blew through
-MORASS - I’d bet a lot that Splynter knows the old joke about the word harass
-The phrase “without further ADO” usually follows a lot of unnecessary ADO
-TLDR: How many user agreements have you agreed to without reading?
Yellowrocks, check your profile in the upper right corner. I don't see an avatar in your profile.
Good Morning:
How disappointing, not to mention annoying, to be faced with this new, unwanted, unnecessary format again! I hope it's short-lived, for all our sakes and sanity.
The theme was fairly obvious early on, thanks to the helpful circles and confirmed early on by the reveal placement. I thought the majority of the cluing was too easy and straightforward for a Wednesday, but Patti has her own style regarding C/A difficulty vs day of the week. I fell into the Rotted/Soured rabbit hole, and needed perps for Iman and Nana, as clued. Wirer sounds awkward, as does the plural incomes and forced Ah, I Gotcha. I also did a little head scratching at Remove The Lid=Uncap. Lid calls for Uncover.
Thanks, Annemarie, and thanks, Splynter, for a fun summary and commentary and, as always, thanks for being so helpful to CC by pinch hitting!
Have a great day.
Yellowrocks, thanks. I previously reported this as an issue in May, 2022 for mobile users.
For all others, the edit that Yellowrocks is writing about only happens with Preview mode. Preview doesn't exist in the new Comments User Interface (UI).
No one (readers, authors, admin and blog owners) have ever had the ability to edit comments that were published.
For those of you getting the new Comments UI on Desktops, Laptops, and Tablets:
There is a ? mark in the upper right corner. You can press it and submit feedback to log your complaints. I can't tell you that it will do any good, but you can explain why it doesn't work for you.
For those of you getting the new Comments UI on Desktops, Laptops, and Tablets:
I've found a workaround if you want to read the comments in strict chronological order, just as you have always done in the past.
On the main blog page, scroll down to the Archives and click on today's blog.
The comments will be shown (in the old format) at the bottom of the blog.
What a disappointment to see this hated format back. 😡
The CW was easy enough no big stumbling blocks except choosing rotted for soured and I will NEVER get used to TLDR.
I agree with IM☘️ about the UNCAP. I waited to fill that in because it didn’t look right.
Thank you Splynter. Good recap, a lot better than this awful format.
Wow! This is weird! it's the first time I have encountered this new and ugly format! However, the puzzle was easy and the circles easy to suss as TURN COATS. CSO to our poster: NAOMI.
We had PEAS for dinner last night.
IMAGINE is a beautiful SONG by John Lennon.
If I remember correctly, GOA is a small state in India and one of the few areas where Catholicism is prevalent. It was a Jesuit/Portuguese settlement.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
I'm on the road and had the pleasure of solving the puzzle on my phone. Glad it was an easy one! Those turning coats gave me a boost in one spot.
Thanks to YooperPhil and Lucina for noticing the CSO to me (by way of a better known NAOMI), thanks to Annemarie for the nice puzzle, and to Splynter for the family friendly review.
Would it be better if the clue were "Remove the top"?
The NW was last to fall, partly because I stuck with “tooth” too long at 1A before specifying MOLAR, but mostly because OPEN OUT was a clunky entry. Who says that? I did know SUR La Table, but for some reason I just couldn’t nail RECON without a couple of perps. I was pretty sure about OPERA. The only other possibility was “Tosca.” And hand up for “rotten” before SOURED.
AH, I GOTCHA shouldn’t have reached print, and the capital-TEE for Thailand was nearly as lame. And why abbreviate MARch?
I did like the “mushy” PEAS clue, which is not to say I like mooshy peas – or to say I admired the puzzle. Even the theme was slight, circles and all.
Yes, the format change is back today. I’d be OK with it if it still had preview mode, but it doesn’t!
FIW, not FIR
FYI to the format folks: I read the blog on my Samsung tablet and I have never had an edit option for entering my comment. The comments are placed in time of entry order for reading.
Today's puzzle seemed easy for a Wednesday. Theme was cute.
A bow to Annmarie for her effort and a thumb down to Splynter for being a bit critical of her choices. I know that it is the journey, not the destination that counts. But the journey depends on the destination and there may not be a lot of options for a given destination.
I drive cars for a local dealership. Where I go is determined by where the desired car is located. There are often several ways to get there. Which you choose depends on time, complexity, cost and other variables. Or maybe you just want a change of scenery along the way. No criticism necessary.
It's the economy, stupid. - Ronald Reagan
Maintenence.
Pretty easy romp this morning. I, too, felt that some of the cluing was a touch "mushy". Nice recap, Splynter!
It seems that many of us have lost our avatar on the blog and on our profile.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it", or "Leave well enough alone", could each apply to changing the comments section, although I personally find the new format neither better nor worse. I will say, however, that it seems EVERYTHING is constantly "improving", forcing me to learn a new way of operating my iPhone/iPad/PC/banksite/you-name-it. I find this quite irritating, since it often is not "better", just "different". Anyway, the CW: fave clues 1A, 16A and 45A. I saw TACO the entire way through working the CW, and when TURNCOATS filled I did not take the time to look at the revolving TACO as COAT. Had I looked, I woulda seen it. At the end, I DNK TLDR and TAR and had to look up the film name. So a FIR except for one stinking cell. All-in-all a nice, fun CW, thanx AB, not your fault I had to use Google for one cell fill. Thanx too for the nice write-up, Splynter, as always, fun and informative. BTW, you mentioned a dent in your bumper. Most bumpers today are plastic, and if you can get behind the dent and push, it will often pop back out to its original shape. The sooner after the "impression" the better. If you can get behind and push but it doesn't wanna pop out, try heating it with a hair dryer. I popped one out several year ago, and after rubbing off the white paint with compound and applying a little car wax, there was no trace at all of the damage. Good luck!
It's the economy, stupid," was a 1992 Clinton campaign slogan, not a Reagan meme. James Carville is generally credited with the coinage.
Creative theme with all those COATs TURNing
I started off 1A with teeth - so I had the right idea before needing to change it to MOLAR due to perps
GOA for many years was a small Portuguese Colony like Macau was in China - it is just north of the state of Kerala where St. Thomas reportedly landed - and between that and the portuguese colonization had a higher number of Christians than other states in India as Lucina noted; when I was in India it was a place with a lot of seaside resorts
I love fish and shrimp tacos - or yummers! as Hatoolah would say
TAR showed off Cate Blanchett's considerable acting ability- but not a favorite movie
Thanks for the blog Splynter and the puzzle Annemarie
FIW. Done in by TLDR and TAR. Know the first, but not as clued (might as well have been clued simply as "Abbr.") Never heard of TAR. According to Wikipedia, US box office only grossed about $7M in the US, so I guess I'm not alone. Star Wars popcorn sales were probably higher than that...in 1976.
Nice write-up, Splynter.
I hate this format.
Thanks to Annemarie for her creative grid! FAVs: Pinball faux pas and Food grinder
I had a one-box-FIW with oHIGOTCHA x IMoN ... and I saw that TV show. D'oh!
It seemed logical that a 3-letter word for a movie about a conductor was "eAR" but TENET fixed that for me.
I saw the NAOMI CSO.
Thanks to Splynter for his 1985 look at today's grid! That took some extra effort! FAV: John Belushi skit
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Annemarie and Splynter.
I FIRed in good time, and saw the TURNCOAT theme.
Several inkblots.
Rotted changed to SOURED. (I see that I am not alone in smelling the bad milk.
End turned to EAT; needed END later.
I WAGged SUR, and the U made me enter Up; but the flag needed to OPEN OUT. That also corrected the Thai capital form PEE to TEE (oh the letter, not the money!)
I can never remember what QVC stands for; I had the SN and entered MSN . SASH corrected that.
SDSU was all perps.
I noted UNCAP and UNDID, plus unfurl in the clue for 2D.
I also noted the CSO to NAOMI Z.
I may like British tea, but I hate mushy PEAS.
I have the new format today on my iPad.
Wishing you all a great day.
Yellowrocks, I reported the No Preview issue on May 1 AND May 6th of 2022. At that time, it was happening only to our readers that commented from smartphones when they got the UI. Ray-O's ability? (not his fault) to publish italicized comments without a closing tag was particularly concerning. They never fixed that issue, and we never got the Preview button back.
None the less, I sent in a another feedback about it again today.
Lee, it doesn't sound as if you got change yet. It's just a matter of time.
Greeting! Well, for the first time I have the new format. I see my rose icon as I write, but it may disappear. I do like the font better than the original if that counts...
I did most of the puzzle this morning, but the NW resisted solution. After a busy day I finally got back to it. And sure enough, the second look brought new inspiration, and the puzzle was complete.
WO: ... got you -> gotcha and some spelling errors the perps fixed.
Thanks, Splynter for summing it all up.
Yep, icons remain next to everyone's name. New format - I kinda like it.
Correction: some, but not everyone's "avatar" is showing.
I’m new to the new format as of today
The only avatar that I see that is missing belongs to Yellowrocks, and I went back into the July archives and don't see her avatar there either. Not sure what is going on.
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