Friday, September 27, 2024 - Zachary David Levy

 Theme:  Everything you need to know ... y'know??

Will be found in today's blog!!

Puzzling thoughts:

First off, thanks NaomiZ for pinch-hitting for me while I was off galivanting

Second, I feel like I am off my game, so to speak, as far as puzzle solving goes.  FTR, I was out of the country galivanting; specifically, in Italy.  No laptop.  Too many other neat things to do than solve a crossword puzzle each day.  Now that I am back in the US and back solving puzzles, this one took at least 15+ minutes to complete.  And I didn't get all of the letters correct on the first go 'round

Third, I got to blog another Zachary David Levy puzzle!  Zachary might be the leader in Patti Varol's clubhouse for having the most entries @ LA Times in 2024.  Today marks his 9th puzzle this year; four of which have appeared on Friday.  Maybe he will become the new Jeffrey Wechsler ...

Zachary must've thought, y'know, that this one would be easily understood.  As was the case with the last ZDL puzzle I blogged, today's "reveal" was in each of the entry's clues.   But as I've come to know ZDL's creativity, there was an added element of surprise.  As you look back at each of the entry clues, they end with the rhetorical question: y'know?  And for those "in the know", the phrase y'know can mean that "yes, I understand".  But if you look back at the first part of each entry's clue, that object matches the answer, too  

Still confused?  Let's look at each and see if we can get our heads around this puzzle:

17-across Bloodhound, y'know?: THAT TRACKS. Click on this link for explaining the phrase "that tracks" =>  Y'know, a bloodhound is a thing that tracks, too (yeah, I know that the dog below is a Pointer, but all of the Bloodhound cartoons sucked!)

26-across Sandbox, y'know?: I CAN DIG IT.  One of my memories from the 1960's was the use of the phrase "I can dig it!"  Hippies used it as well as The Friends of Distinction in their classic 1969 hit song, "Grazin' in the Grass"

As far as sand goes, I prefer going to the beach (or the shore if I am in New Jersey) to dig (in) it 

37-across Tuning fork, y'know?: SOUNDS RIGHT.  Have you figured out yet what Zachary was doing today??  "Sounds right to me, Moe, don'tcha know" (as my friends in Minnesota and Wisconsin would say)

50-across Calculator, y'know?: IT FIGURES.  Does anyone recall the first calculator they had?  It figures; I couldn't afford one and had to use my math skills instead.  Good thing that ZDL didn't have these IT Figures in mind: 

60-across Neuron, y'know?: MAKES SENSE.  Neurons contribute to how we feel and react.  By clicking on the link, you'll get the full description [from wikipedia].  This might've been the most comprehensive clue of the five, but it makes sense, doesn't it??

Here is the grid, and then on to the rest of the clues/answers.  Maybe I'll throw in a haiku or two today, just for fun  

Across:

1. Golden Arches order: BIG MAC.  About the only thing I order from McDonalds are their Breakfast Burrito and coffee.  I might order a McRib sandwich if I know it's back on the menu

7. Mark: SAP.  First of 24 three-letter words (my buddy Irish Miss undoubtedly counted them, too)

10. Runs out of juice: DIES.  I had to take a short break after doing the intro as I was running out of juice, too

14. Widespread turmoil: UNREST.  Alas, what we are seeing on both sides of the election trail this year

15. Grande nickname: ARI.  Whatever happened to Onassis as the surname for this nickname?? 

16. Palm berry: ACAI.  Crossword composers love this word!  It is so versatile when filling a grid

19. Ceremonial practice: RITE.  Moe-ku #1:

For rookies, isn't
Baptism under fire
The RITE thing to do?

20. GPS fig.: LAT. LAT = Latitude

21. Burning up, maybe: ILL. As in running a fever ... and to throw in a dad joke, why is it that we say your nose runs and your feet smell??

22. Revises: AMENDS. Moe-ku #2:

Martin Luther's change
To theology, got an
"Amen" to AMENDS

24. "On the Waterfront" director Kazan: ELIA.

29. Accept as a tenant: RENT TO. This clue and answer had me baffled. I am familiar with the term RENT-TO-OWN, e.g.  The wording of the clue doesn't resonate for me ... and I spent a decent amount of this century being a "renter"

32. "Arrival" vehicles, for short: UFOS. The quotation marks around the word arrival gave this one away

33. "Let You Love Me" singer Rita: ORA.  I know not of Rita ORA or the song.  So, let's have a listen:

34. Home of the only royal residence in the United States: HAWAII.  This came to mind: King Kamehameha 

36. Skips class: CUTS. Pretty sure that I first did this in my senior year of high school, and a few times more when I was in college.  An anecdotal memory of one time I cut class in college was in the fall of 1971.  The Pittsburgh Pirates had won the NL title and were going to play in the World Series.  Tickets went on sale at the Hotel Webster Hall (in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh - on Pitt's campus).  I was standing in line to buy tickets and noticed that my 11:00am Economics class professor was in line, too; well behind where I was standing.  As the time neared 11, neither of us had gotten to the ticket window.  I called out to my prof and said, "Hey, if you like, I will buy tickets for you so long as you don't mark me absent from class!"  He handed me two 20's and said, "deal" - true story

40. Knowing expressions?: AHAS.  Not a facial expression but a verbal one

42. Frankfurter: WIENIE.  Hands up for having HOT DOG first? Then I changed it to WIENER and WIENEE before realizing the correct spelling

43. Silent agreement: NOD.

44. Pizzazz: ELAN.

46. Dance party flasher: STROBE.  You mean, not this guy??!! 

Oh, Moe ... really??

53. Not decent: EVIL.  So, I guess that even though BARE and NUDE fit, these weren't the answers ZDL was seeking ...

54. Zigzagging ski race: SLALOM.  Easiest clue/answer, IMO

55. Plum or tangerine: HUE.  Have I ever told you that my crayon box had only 8 colors??  Not many three-letter words that would describe this clue (as a fruit)

58. Belief system: ISM.  Second easiest clue

59. Food truck fare: TACO.  Third easiest clue

64. Spot for a pizza stone: OVEN.  Duh?  Where else would you place a pizza stone?

65. Good Grips brand: OXO.  I must admit that I much prefer the brand name use for this clue/answer than to use "Non-winning combo in Tic-Tac-Toe", e.g.

66. __ counseling: CAREER.  I know that was a big thing back in the previous century.  Are career counselors still a thing??

67. Artemis org.: NASA.  Read all about it

68. Strikes (out): XES.  I'm not a big fan of the use of the word xes in puzzles

69. Plus-ones: GUESTS.  Anybody care to guess when was the first use of the term "plus-one"? See answer at the end of the recap

Down:

1. Oft-scrutinized employee in whodunits: BUTLER. One of my favorite clues today

2. Take a deep breath: INHALE.

3. Upper crust: GRATIN.  Frawnche??  [from an on-line dictionary definition] "a dish with a light browned crust of breadcrumbs or melted cheese"

4. Converged: MET.  Also the nickname of a NYC baseball player

5. Wine region northwest of Genoa: ASTI.  This was not one of the areas of Italy we visited.  Asti is not just the name associated with Spumante (which is the Italian word for describing a sparkling wine).  It is a vast area that is home to many different grape varietals, including two of my favorites: Nebbiolo and Arneis

6. Key in a reboot sequence: CTRL.  CTRL-ALT-DEL (aka, the "three-finger salute").  Pressing these three keys in that sequence will trigger a pop-up window that allows you to reboot your computer

7. Egg holder: SAC.  Hands up for having HEN before the perps said otherwise

8. Flood insurance of old: ARK.  Another favorite clue

9. Noted name in Italian sculpture: PISANO.  We saw a lot of this guy's work on our Italy trip

10. Question before taking a risk: DARE I? Part of the game "Truth or Dare?" perhaps?  Or for us older folks, the image below is one that I resemble!

11. Giving the cold shoulder: ICING OUT.  I had to look this up to see if it were green paint or not.  It is a factual idiom 

12. Have some humble pie: EAT DIRT.  But preferably not after icing them out

13. Day breaks?: SIESTAS.  POWER NAP wouldn't fit

18. __ Baba: ALI.  In addition to her dislike of three-letter-word entries, Irish Miss does not care for fill-in-the-blank clues

23. Some ER pros: MDS.  Hand up for RNS.  Once again, this is the problem with so many TLWs.  You end up (as a constructor) with a lot of abbrs. 

25. Musketeer of fiction: ATHOS.  PORTHOS and ARAMIS did not fit

27. Fusion, but not fission: CUISINE.  Cute clue

28. Burning up: AFIRE.  Almost a clecho of 21-across

30. Letter between sigma and upsilon: TAU.

31. Totally dominate: OWN.

35. Marketing battle: AD WAR.

36. Dear, in Dijon: CHERE.  Frawnche #2 - used to describe a beloved woman or girl.  Similar to the word chérie - which of course allows me to insert another song video:

37. Some emojis: SAD FACES.  😒😓😔😞😣😢

38. Connections: INS.  

39. "Shoo!": GIT.

40. Green player on "Friends": ANISTON.  Aniston played the character Rachel Green on the sitcom, "Friends"

41. Volcanic flow: HOT LAVA. This is the "hot lava" that I prefer:

44. Obstacle to teamwork: EGO.  But doesn't every team need a leader?  One who might have a bigger ego than the others?  Just saying ... 

45. Big oaf: LUMMOX.  Not an oft-used word in crossword puzzles but it fit

47. Sheep: OVINES.

48. "Under the Volcano" star Jacqueline: BISSET.  Bisset was born Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset on 13 September 1944 - so she just turned 80.  In the movie "Under the Volcano" Bisset was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.  Here is a picture of her from that movie:

49. Brand that many stick with?: ELMERS.  Nice play-on-words with this glue-clue

51. Massey with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: ILONA. [from encyclopedia dot com] "

Massey, Ilona (1910–1974) - Hungarian-born American actress

52. __ shed: SHE.  Moe-ku #3:

Female Basset Hound
Has a backyard place to molt
That's called her SHE shed

56. Anti-piracy gp.: USCG.  United States Coast Guard

57. Son of Rebecca and Isaac: ESAU.  One of the Biblical twins

61. Log splitter: AXE.  TLW #22

62. Sends to the mat, briefly: KO'S.  KnockS Out - meh

63. Before, before: ERE. TLW #24

And there you have it.  All you needed to know - y'know - about today's puzzle was in this recap!  My overall grade for this puzzle is: ⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5).  Might have scored higher if there weren't so darned many TLWs & abbreviations

See you next month

Plus-one timeline