Theme: Everything you need to know ... y'know??
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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  |
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??!!
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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
34 comments:
I think I finally figured out how a neuron “makes sense.” The other themed answers “made sense” already. A fun puzzle. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o "sensed" the theme, though it didn't really help with the solve. Got 'er done in good time, so no complaints. RITE -- something to eschew. BISSET -- I remember her from Bullitt. Thanx, ZDL. Welcome back, C-Moe. (Glad you enjoyed your Italian tour.)
FIR, but erased oro for ORA (UNTIE!) and cheri for CHERE (UNTIE!) Hand up for hot dog, then wiener before WIENIE.
CSO to our mothership newspaper @ LAT.
I remember Jacqueline's wet golden globes in the poster for the movie The Deep.
If it is fill again tomorrow I will still not know any of the Musketeers.
I new Grande's first name, but not her nickname. Nor any of her songs, for that matter.
I had to wait to see if I would EAT crow or DIRT. Also to see if ELIe or ELIA was appearing today.
Thanks to Zachary for the easy-ish Friday puzzle, and to our Chairman for providing the stellar recap. Welcome back,
FIR. I didn't know the sculptor, which left me stumped for a bit on mark, but then the aha moment occurred.
Also I threw down wiener before wienie which slowed me down a tad.
But beside that this was a typical Friday puzzle. The theme was clever except for maybe "that tracks". But overall an enjoyable endeavor.
Took 6:48 today, y'know?
I knew one of today's actresses (Bisset, not Ilona).
I didn't know today's French lesson (chere; wanted an "i" in there somewhere), or Italian scupltor.
It was nice not having the add/subtract gimmick this Friday.
Unlike others, this puzzle made NO SENSE to me. It was an ultimate DNF. I couldn't finish I CAN DIG IT, with my mind stuck on 'digit' and thinking SOUND N LIGHT. QUININE was the only thing that entered my brain, and CUISINE for fusion didn't register. PISANO- unknown and even with pisa_o filled I couldn't guess correctly. A DNF.
HOT LAVA- all lava is hot, except the soap bar.
GRATIN-filled it correctly but couldn't figure out its meaning. Duh!
EAT DIRT- down South you eat CROW
ANISTON. BISSET, ILONA, - got those women using perps along with SAD FACES.
Hot dog was not a thought, as AD WAR was already filled.
Three letter fill with 'Rita' as the clue? Automatic ORA. I know her from crosswords but have no knowledge of her music.
I'm on board with Big Easy on this one. The puzzle suffered from a case of the excessive cutesies: the constructor showing off at the expense of us solvers. Not my cuppa tea.
"Icing out" is to me an unfamiliar expression; if it does indeed refer to giving the cold shoulder, I am herewith icing out .
RIP Maggie Smith
DNF. I got stuck in the top center. I didn’t know PISANO, I had Rio for Grande. I left the SAC and The ARK empty. Otherwise, I SENSED the theme answers more than knew them, y’know?
There were some cute clues, CUISINE, some not so, ICING OUT?
The unknown names were easy enough to figure out or wait for perps.
Nice to have you back C-Moe. NaomiZ did you proud in your absence.
Well, I got it done, but there were a lot of clues that did not give me a clue, y'know?!?!
Mark/sap
Not decent/evil
Grande nickname??? (I was thinking Rio...)
Upper crust/gratin etc...
Where would YOU put a pizza stone? Why, in my bbq of course!
A regular oven just does not get hot enough for good pizza, but even a natural gas bbq can hit 600 degrees!
So, my take on the puzzle?
Apologies for my attitude y'know?
Almost TITT but ARIana Grande finally fell, (get up girl and start singing). “Egg holder” hen would work but I ended up doing an alphabet run to get to SAC (LIUed, “a SAC is for plants and animals, and a “sack” is for a sandwich.”) The theme was a bit awkward methoughts
Inkovers: unease/UNREST, ignoring/ICINGOUT?, wiener/weenie/WIENIE
If there are 4 and 20 black birds baked in that “humble pie” you might EAT crow. Nope, not today, you EAT DIRT 😝 (not the same as “bite the dust”.) “Only” HAWAII? What about Queen Latifah’s house?
I had NOD for “knowing expression”
which was the answer right below it.
Being famous, Jacqueline was often___ by eager fans….BISSET
Yes you are in Barcelona…. SIESTAS
Be a “dear” and ___ that “Dijon” mustard ….CHÈRE
Porthos was a nice guy, but D’Artagnan and Aramis were___…ATHOS
Maggie Smith, I remember the wonderful theme song “Jean” from her film “The Pride of Miss Jean Brody”
Musings
-Two bad cells at high noon (MAR for Mark and no idea on PISANO) but had fun.
-This movie’s UFO had an unusual orientation
-OCD me has never CUT a class
-My kids loved trying to catch a tennis ball thrown in STROBE lighting
-Headline, “The Butler Did It” after Malcolm Butler made an interception to win Super Bowl XLIX on the worst play call in NFL history.
-No ELMER’S here, I used Gorilla glue to reattach a part of my tennis shoe bottom yesterday
-ILONA solved herself
-ICING OUT: Exhibit A, a school lunchroom or playground :-(
-Welcome back Moe!
Good Morning! I was in a snit with a previous ZDL puzzle and vowed it would be my last, but today’s was quite enjoyable, and on a Friday yet!! The theme was clever and fun to work out.
WOs on a bunch of vowels: I’m lookin’ at you, WIENIE! (+ others.)
Perps for PISANO, ILONA; UFOS, NASA and USCG as clued.
I only know Rita ORA from the CWs, and today was the first time I actually heard her sing. Okay....
Thanks, Chairman Moe, and welcome back! So fun to see your MOE-KUs again on the Corner! Loved your funny commentary!
First of all, I hope everyone made it through Helene unscathed. I know there's a lot of misery in the SE right now, and my heart goes out to you. Living in S Florida most of my life, I know how devastating it can be.
Insignificant in the over scheme of things is this puzzle. It seemed too easy for a Friday, with all its 3 and 4 letter words.
And agree with Big Easy that lava only comes one way - molten hot - so adjective is pointless.
Agree starts out hot but still called lava after it cools as in lava beds.
Hey guys, thanks so much for the birthday wishes; much appreciated. I've taken to carbon-dating instead of looking at the calendar. CrossEyedDave, loved the cake! CC, thanks for the shout-out.
Fast, fun, Friday FIR. Lots of clever clues, but y'know what? The dang them just iced me out!
THEME! Untie!
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Zachary and CMoe (welcome back).
I FIRed in very good time and saw the theme.
(Like Big Easy, I took a minute to parse digit properly.)
Hand up for moving from Hotdog to Wiener to Weenie to WIENIE. Yikes.
I thought LAVA but it was too short. AHA, we need HOT (probably AFIRE).
EVIL seems a little extreme as a synonym for “not decent”.
I smiled at the misdirection for SAP, CUISINE, ELMER, GRATIN.
ARK clue was cute too.
ORA has become an ECKTORP when you see Rita.
I got ARI, but if PISANO is a “noted name”, why did so many of us require perps?!
This Canadian wanted Montecito for the US royal residence, but Zachary was not thinking of Prince Harry.
I had noted what looks like the start of an X’s and O’s game with OXO and EXES. CMoe commented re Tic Tac Toe.
Some further clarification re use of the French CHERE. CHERE (and the masculine Cher) mean “dear”, while CHERIE (masculine Cheri) mean the more intimate “darling”.
Wishing you all a great day. Hope our Florida gang are ok. Stay safe those of you still in the path of Helene.
I liked the puzzle wordplay. Filled it all. But - I don’t understand “mark” cluing to/for “sap” (7-across) — could someone please explain to me? And I enjoy reading folks’ comments. Thank you all.
So - if it helps for “Hot Lava” - it might obliquely nod to the popular (not)”reality” game show. My grandkids (“we play it too, Oma”) love climbing/jumping on the furniture to avoid hot lava below😉
Thanks for the French lesson - cuz I was wondering. And - please explain mark-sap “misdirection” (I asked below before reading you)
Husker, is that becoming normality? My last three pair of walking shoes have suffered from a separated sole that I had to re-glue. Seems like shoddy manufacture.
Sophia, this would be the mark of a con artist.
Today's 9-year olds just don't know how to make a shoe!
Oh! Oh! I get it! Like taters au GRATIN! From AllRecipes.com:
"A “gratin” is any dish that is topped with cheese or breadcrumbs mixed with butter, then heated in the oven or under the broiler until brown and crispy.
Hola! Well, you all have posted much of what I was thinking including answers to the various questions. And my opinion of this puzzle is also that it was easy for a Friday, but quite enjoyable and caused no UNREST. Thank you, Mr. Levy!
ILONA Massey is one of those memorable CWD names and that's all I know about her. The same for CHERE so thank you, Canadian Eh for the explanation of that. I really thought it should have been "cherie".
Another moment of confusion occurred with "plum or tangerine" until HUE emerged. The only connection I could think of was "fruit" but HUE fit nicely since only three letters were required.
Have a wonderful day, everyone and stay safe those of you in Helene's way..
Hi All!
Welcome back C.Moe! Fun write-up and cute Kus.
Thanks Zachary for the perfect Friday-level puzzle. I did have to lookup ORA 'cuz EAT CROW wasn't working well.
WOs: crow->DIRT, WIENEr, SLoLOM.
ESPs: ATHOS, ILONA, MAKES SENSE (I read it as Neutron until Moe's recap).
Fav: Clue for CUISINE
Thank goodness Rio Grande didn't cross my mind. However, nude / blue did for "Not decent."
Though I've been too busy to post lately, I have been solving and reading most everything. That said, I did miss what happened to your DW, Picard. I saw a picture a week(?)* ago and - ooof - I hope she's getting better.
HG - inre: CUT classes - I never did until I met DW (she GED'd out months earlier). She'd call the school ala Cameron and get me out of class so we could spend the day together b/f parents got home. I had a lot of dead grandmothers :-)
Belated HBD, Dennis! Glad to know you're still out there.
Cheers, -T
*so busy that the last three weeks are a blur.
Back in the day, about 50 years ago, there were businesses that would resole tennis shoes. We only wore out the soles in certain places from the stops on the court or some players would drag their toe after they served. Some of us would get together and and send in a box with 6 or 8 pairs of tennies. They came back as new shoes.
Anon- it's magma before it hits the surface. Lava after it erupts. And either aa (pronounced ah ah) or pahoehoe (pronounced pa-hoi-hoi) after it cools.
Welcome back, Ch. Moe.
First, HBD to whoever's BD I have managed to miss. Sorry! This CW was clever and I had fun filling it, but hafta take a DNF since I completed it online w/ red letter help and still had to do two alphabet runs where I got stuck. Still, I had fun, so thanx ZDL. Too many names, and I DNK 6 as clued. Thanx C'Moe, great write-up, welcome back.
Interesting Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Zachary. And your pictures and commentary are always a pleasure, Moe, thanks for those too.
Well, as soon as I saw DIES, I prepared myself for a pretty negative puzzle. SAP would make things weaker, and UNREST would not be calming, and might require AMENDS at some point. It might not be easy to INHALE, and cold enough for us to ICING OUT. By the time I saw those SAD FACES, I was ready to take a SIESTA. . . Instead I went to ASTI for some wine, and would even have loved to go to HAWAII, maybe with a UFO. Would they serve any CUISINE, maybe with some TACOS? Or we could heat up some WIENIES in the OVEN. Things are getting so good, I think I might invite some GUESTS for a snack.
Have a lovely afternoon, everybody.
Two days in a row with a rather different theme. Not familiar with THAT TRACKS, but have heard/said all the others. I knew all the women’s names, but DNK PISANO or what plus-ones were. ORA is now a CW staple like Dua, Issa, Rae etc. Due north (as HG called it) also gave me pause, got ARIana by perps but it was a couple hours later I thought, oh THAT Grande. 🤦🏼♂️ Had to change the E to an I to get WIENIE/GIT (which is also a term for “an ignorant, childish person with no manners”, and we’ll probably see it clued as such at some point). Thank you Zach for the Friday fun.
C Moe ~ welcome back, sounds like you had a full slate of things to do in Italy. NaomiZ did a fine job in your absence, so much so that she picked up last Sunday’s gig blogging C.C.’s puzzle.
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