Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with a Friday offering from frequent contributors/collaborators Gary Larson and Amy Ensz who are dillgently trying to help us Get ER Done (but, hopefully, in a manner significantly different than the one our friend, above, appears to be employing).
At six places within the grid we are asked to append the letters E and R to a common expression and, thereby, create appropriate answers to the clues. To make things even more interesting, today we get a mixture of themed-answers placed both Across and Down in the grid. Here is where we are asked to get ER done:
17 Across. Die-hard independent?: PARTY HATER. A reference to political parties and people who are not convinced that either of the two dominant ones have the answers. Derived from: Party Hat
28 Across. Baked potato?: HOT TUBER. From: Hot Tub A potato being, of course, a TUBER.
48 Across. Diamond heist?: ICE CAPER. From: Ice Cap CAPER being film noir/tec - speak for a robbery.
63 Across. Problematic dental patient?: DRILL BITER. From: Drill Bit Ouch!
11 Down. Gauge on an oil rig?: WELL METER. From: Well Met which is an archaic adjective used as a salutation, or part of a salutation, meaning "glad to meet you". It is also carries connotations of suitability and propriety. It's based on a different meaning of "meet," an adjectival/adverbial usage indicating something is literally or figuratively the right size for a given situation.
35 Across. Quality-control inspector at a knapsack factory?: PACK RATER. From: Pack Rat. A pack rat is a hoarder. Not to be confused with the Rat Pack.
The grid:
The rest of the clues and anwser-ers:
Across:
1. Floor it: SPEED. Put the pedal to the metal. Step on the accelerator. An automotive reference.
6. Grasps: SEES. Understands.
10. Exchange: SWAP.
14. Eighth Greek letter: THETA. See also 62 Across.
15. Do roadwork: PAVE. Better to see this than something to do with TAR.
16. Deli sandwich: HERO. How The Hero Sandwich Got Its Name
19. Came to rest: ALIT.
20. Alpine cheese from Italy: ASIAGO.
21. Vexes: RANKLES.
23. Support on a course: TEE. A golfing reference.
24. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB. Not in this solver's musical wheelhouse but they've TEEd it up so:
27. Ode or haiku: POEM.
Our clever ChairmanCrafts amusing Moe-kus butEschews writing M-odes
30. One of Bo Peep's charges: EWE. LAMB was t00 long. RAM would have fit but would not mesh with the perps.
33. Incident that hurts one's credit score: REPO. REPosession.
36. Hence: ERGO.
37. Place atop: SET ON.
39. "To the stars," in mottos: AD ASTRA. Today's Latin lesson.
41. Facility that's in a constant state of ferment: BREWERY. Nice wordplay. Beer is fermented.
43. Kitchen gadget: RICER. Sometimes PARER.
44. Carp kin: DACE. Both are fish. While we have previously seen DACE in our puzzles this solver did not recall the word. Thanks, perps.
46. Writer Bombeck: ERMA. A frequent visitor.
47. Comics shriek: EEK. Sometimes we see EKE as in to EKE out a living.
51. Rolling in dough: RICH. Slang.
53. Henry VI's school: ETON. If it's a reference to English royalty, the school is almost always ETON.
54. Apollo vehicle, briefly: LEM. Lunar Excursion Module
57. Netflix title role for Lily: FRANKIE. Lily Tomlin I know. The show I don't know. Thanks perps.
60. Gender-neutral ethnic identity: LATINE. As contrasted with Latino or Latina neither of which is gender-neutral.
62. Ninth Greek letter: IOTA. See also 14 Across.
66. "Couldn't agree more": AMEN.
67. Country whose name comes from a Gaelic goddess: EIRE. Ireland.
68. Not fully trusting: LEERY.
69. Shredded: TORE. Will it be TORN? Not this time.
70. "Out!": SCAT. SCAT also has other meanings.
71. Barnett of CBS News: ERROL.
Down:
1. Mid-Mar. figure: ST. PAT.
2. Lunar cycle component: PHASE.
3. Supercreepy: EERIE. Halloween is less than a month away.
4. Blues guitarist Baker: ETTA. Often clued with a reference to ETTA James.
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
Same Song - A Different "Take"
5. Company that invented black-light fluorescent paint: DAY-GLO. Until solving this puzzle yours truly was unaware that DAY GLO colors traced their name back to a specific company.
6. Upscale bathroom installation: SPA. Somewhat convoluted cluing, IMMHO.
7. Down: EAT. Slang. Down has many meanings (e.g. feathers, a direction, nail it down) so this one had to be sorted out.
8. At any time: EVER.
9. Oaxacan wrap: SERAPE. Oaxaca tips us off to a likely Spanish answer.
7. Down: EAT. Slang. Down has many meanings (e.g. feathers, a direction, nail it down) so this one had to be sorted out.
8. At any time: EVER.
9. Oaxacan wrap: SERAPE. Oaxaca tips us off to a likely Spanish answer.
10. Lose: SHAKE. As in to get away from someone who is following you. My Labrador loved it when, in a "cops and robbers" flick, someone would say "Let's see if we can SHAKE the tail."
12. "Songversation" artist India.__: ARIE. A frequent visitor.
13. Double boilers, e.g.: POTS.
18. Owl: HOOTER. Not a themed answer.
22. Like Vikings: NORSE. I love NORSE puns. They're Frigg'n hilarious.
25. Robinhood alternative: E-TRADE. Both are platforms for trading stocks.
26. App issue: BUG. A tech reference.
28. Socks: HOSE. Used as a noun. Not as in punches someone.
29. Excavator-maker: BOBCAT.
31. Compost bin helper: WORM. I saw a pack of gummy WORMs that said “No artificial flavors.” Who buys gummy worms hoping they’d taste as close to real worms as possible?
32. Grammy winner from Donegal: ENYA. A frequent visitor.
33. Uncommon: RARE.
34. Actress Falco: EDIE. A frequent vistior.
38. Amphoralike vessel: EWER. Not a themed answer.
40. Take in: TRICK. As in "I've been taken in".
33. Uncommon: RARE.
34. Actress Falco: EDIE. A frequent vistior.
38. Amphoralike vessel: EWER. Not a themed answer.
40. Take in: TRICK. As in "I've been taken in".
42. Get a second opinion?: RE-POLL. Okay, but this solver has never heard this used.
45. Part of the upper deck?: ACE. A playing card reference.
49. Takes to task: CHIDES. My ex-wife used to CHIDE me about everything. She was a real multi-tsk-er.
50. Empower: ENABLE.
52. Idiotic: INANE.
54. Soda purchase: LITER. Hand up for first guessing it was a flavor or a brand name and not a size.
55. Año Nuevo month: ENERO. Spanish lesson. The New Year happens each January.
56. Streep of "Only Murders in the Building": MERYL. Are there other Streeps?
57. Order: FIAT. From the Latin: Let it be done.
58. Tony who holds the Cowboys record for most touchdown passes: ROMO. Dak Prescott holds the single-season Dallas Cowboys' record for most touchdown passes.
59. Playwright Bogosian: ERIC. Perhaps better known for his role as Captain Danny Ross in Law & Order Criminal Intent.
61. Layer: TIER. Hen was too short.
64. 401(k) rollover target: IRA. A rollover IRA is a retirement account used to move money from a former employer-sponsored retirement account, such as a 401 (k) plan, into an IRA without losing its tax-deferred status.
65. Tennis mulligan: LET. A do-over.
Well, that will wrap things up on a day where we visited, or were visited by, ERMA, ETON, EIRE, ETTA, ENYA, EDIE, and ERIC. Was that a sub-theme?
_____________________________________________
38 comments:
No reveal. But then, none really needed. The puzzle essentially solved itself. There weren’t too many obscurities, either. Pretty easy puzzle for a Friday, I thought. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Tried SAD for "Down." Nope, EAT. Enjoyed the outing, and your Norse puns, Mal-Man. Got the theme with PARTY HATer, and that made the whole trip easier. Thanx, Gary, Amy, and Mal-Man. (Your sub-theme missed ERROL -- EERIE.)
IRA Rollover: When I retired my 401K contained pre-tax, after-tax, and Roth contributions. Vanguard split things into a conventional IRA and a Roth, putting all of the after-tax money into the Roth. Not sure that was correct, but I didn't complain.
FIW, missing ehE x ADASTRe and hAkE , BOBkAT (which I erred to accommodate hAkE,) and iWiR x SiT ON and iRMA. I can never remember irma/erma, and had never heard of the Robinhood platform. Combined with ADASTRA, the fun was sponged out of this puzzle for me.
Thanks to our MalMan for another fine review.
Glad that the shippers and union reached a truce. I mentioned Monday (I think) that the scuttlebutt here was a 2-day strike, which turned out to be three.
Took 9:05 today to ... get to the ER.
Never saw the theme, but figured it was the usual Friday add/subtract a letter or two.
I didn't find this one particularly fun.
I didn't know the order of the Greek letters, but did know the Spanish (enero) and the Latin (ad adstra), but not Latine.
I knew today's actress (Meryl), but not the Lily title/show.
I didn't know dace or the playwright -- and, it bothers me how we spell "playwright".
I also thought the clue for spa was convoluted, and that the Cowboys TD passes clue should have specified game, season, or career.
This was an interesting Friday entry, notable for some clever and deceivingly spare clueing in places.
For example, 10 Down, "Lose," which turned out to be SHAKE. As in, I guess, "Cheese it; it's the cops." Or 7 Down, "Down," which means EAT. Of course: down is a verb. Or 6 Across, "Grasps," which turns out to be SEES.
I like it; sort of a beauty in its simplicity.
There were a few names which would have been befuddling without neighboring friendly perps. [I wonder how many people named Errol were named after the dashing Errol Flynn]
All in all, a worthy Friday-appropriate puzzle, says I. Nice job, Gary and Amy.
Vanguard was correct but my question is 'why is there after-tax money in either?" All money in a Roth-IRA should be after tax.
Easier than most Friday LATs. I saw the gimmick early on. In the SW corner, with Frankie, Eric and Roma, I made lucky guesses.
My son and DIL have a spa tub, also called a jetted bathtub, in their upscale bathroom, so a gimme.
I think I learned DACE from crosswords.
Wright, the second part of playwright, means maker or builder. It was originally used for one who works with wood. Now it is used for makers of other products, too. I have heard of playwright, wheelwright, shipwright.
"The performers spent their afternoon with young people who’d come from local high schools—budding playwrights, dancers, and rappers kicking around the White House, writing lyrics and dropping beats with their heroes."
from Becoming by Michelle Obama
FIW. I had hot tater instead of hot tuber, and completely missed Bobcat. I don't really think of Bobcats as excavators as a rule. More like a tiny digger or plower of sorts.
I saw the theme and that helped some, but overall, this was not my best Friday outing.
Good Morning! I was quite pleased when the north flowed nicely together. The south was slower going with a stumble when *I’m in* changed to AMEN and LEaRy to LEERY.
DACE, FRANKIE, ERIC and ERROL were all perps.
Second opinion – usually thought of in medical terms.
My Natick was ICE CAPER crossing REPOLL, but by then I was distracted by other things I needed to tend to, but not before my visit to the Corner!
Thanks, MalMan, you entertained, amused and informed superbly!
Musings
-I blew up the middle and still had a good time.
-Robinhood alternative was not PIRATE, Hence was not ELSE, APP issue was not ADS, worst of all, Baked potato was not HOT TATER, DACE and LOWE were unknown and I have operated a BOBCAT and know a dealer but could get that to come to me in this imperfect storm? :-)
-My schedule is full today and I couldn’t spend any more time. -Que sera, sera: “It’s a game not a test” and I had fun and learned. I like my humble pie ala mode please
-Neal Armstrong showed incredible skill and courage to land the LEM in a safe spot in the Sea Of Tranquility.
-LEERY: If it seems too good to be true…
-The moon PHASE today is waxing crescent. It will rise here around 9 a.m. and will be so close to the Sun in the sky it will not be visible all day.
-We have a “SPA tub” and have used it about 10 times in 20 years
-Mike uses chewing gum to SHAKE Lalo (4:18)
-ROMO and Prescott may have records but neither has ever even been in a Super Bowl
-LET: There isn’t one in VB. If the serve hits the net, you play it.
Anonymous @ 8:37: There have always been contribution limits for pre-tax dollars into a 401K. After reaching that limit, you were allowed to make limited after-tax contributions. I took advantage of that option. Our company didn't offer Roth 401K contributions until sometime in the early 2000s. When I retired, I had pre-tax contributions, after-tax contributions, and Roth (after-tax) contributions in my 401K.
To complicate matters, prior to the rollover, I also had both pre-tax and after-tax dollars in my conventional IRA. Those after-tax dollars count as "basis," so distributions consist of both pre-tax dollars and a pro-rated basis amount. Every year I file Form 8606 to claim that basis and also calculate how much basis remains. Confusing.
I too blew it in the middle because I had HOT tater ERGO I missed the BOBCAT, so missed the DACE and the ACE, a clever clue.
Lots of unknowns for me like ERIC, FRANKIE, LOEB, ERROLL. ENYA seems to have become a permanent resident.
Crunchy CW, but not impossible. I enjoyed it.
Thanks Mal Man for a neat report.
I got the fill today - finished pretty easily. But didn’t see the gimmick. Same thing yesterday. Ah well … enjoyed them both! Thx! Re: yesterday’s clue/answer “free will” - prompts me to report that I’m just finishing a deep dive into the neuroscience of same by Robert Sapolsky (Stanford emeritus) - really excellent reflections on biology and sociocultural underpinnings of of behavior, and particularly of violence and aggression. I highly recommend them: “Behave”, and this year’s follow-up “Determined”.
Friday puzzles are sometimes FIW for me, but today it was FIR in a short time. Many thanks for the brain exercise GL and AE! The theme stood out with PARTY HATER and it was fun to see the 2 coming down.
A Natick for me ar Erik -ERIC, skat- SCAT, but made the right guess. BOBCAT filled in, but it was a head scratched until MalMan posted the picture. Pans beforePOTS and I always initially confused by stpat - ST PAT. Duh!
Can anyone help with my problem? My indoor wooden HOT TUB(ER), (installed in 1989 and lasting several years longer than the expected lifetime), will suddenly not hold water after all these years. I have been advised to make a paste using sawdust and apply it to the bottom. Wouldn’t that clog up the drain and then it would not empty when it needed to be cleaned? Any suggestions are appreciated.
Happy day, all! Parsan
Fairly crunchy, but pretty fair! Took a while, but once the middle got on track, the FIR arrived. Liked the "back half" of the Royal Air Force motto...Per Ardua Ad Astra, or "Through adversity to the stars".
Decades ago I had an outdoor wooden hot tub. It began to leak after several years and I tried sealers, caulking etc. I finally found a solution to the problem - replaced it with a figerglass tub 😁.
Fun puzzle, good friday gimmick, thanks to all for the aha moments...
The clue for ad Astra had me thinking "excelsior" for some reason. It seems I have been mystified by it ever since seeing the characters on The Big Theory shout it when discussing Stan Lee. I thought it meant "to the stars," but after an hour of research, I finally found this!
People also ask
Why did Stan Lee say Excelsior?
History. Stan Lee had several other sayings but when he discovered that Marvel's competition were starting to use the same sayings he looked for a word that they would not be able to spell or know what it means. Stan Lee eventually found the word excelsior. Excelsior is a latin term that means ever upward.
Er, I almost forgot.
todays silly theme link...
I had a lot of trouble with the theme entries and didn’t figure out the “er-has-been-added” factor until I had filled nearly everything in.
I was indifferent to the puzzle overall. Gary Larson is usually trustworthy, but I was LEERY about a lot of my answers until they perped.
I knew Bogosian, ENYA, Lisa LOEB, ROMO, Falco, Bombeck , and MERYL (though I thought the clue was lame). I didn’t know ETTA Baker, ERROL Barnett, FRANKIE, and Robinhood (which DW did know).
The fill was an odd combination of convoluted cluing and occasional cleverness. I liked RANKLES, LEERY, and CHIDE, and the clues for BREWERY, TRICK, and ACE. The clumsy clue for AD ASTRA should have mentioned Latin. REPOLL was like a Scrabble stretch, and the “Amphoralike” clue turned EWER into a WAG. And LATINE -- almost as jive-ass as “Latinx.” When I worked in South Texas, the term for the majority population there was “Hispanic.” The term “Latino” prevails in California, and I’ve never liked it.
You’ve peaked my interest in Sapolsky. I’m picking up “Determined” from the library this morning.
You may think I suffer during these arduous research sessions, but today I had a lot of fun remembering The Big Bang Theory. I feel sorry for those that get turned off by Sheldons obnoxious behaviour and never watch the show.
I didn't find the short clip of them shouting "excelsior," and instead ended up rewatching most of an entire episode. If you want to suffer along with me,
(You don't have to, but some die hard haters might change their minds...)
Here are the clips:
episode introduction and set up
Sheldons day in court...
Sheldon gives Penny "the finger."
And, Stan Lee's opinion on all this...
Puzzling thoughts:
My biggest nit was the word "DACE". I feel like Gary and Amy got away with it because of their reputation as crossword constructors, but I am still surprised that Patti let this one ride. I know that at least a few other of the major crossword publishers would've asked them for a different one, as DACE is hardly a word you'd use it everyday language. When I looked it up on Crossword Tracker, the only publication that uses it is Penny Dell. That is the publisher who offers crossword puzzles in the books they sell at the airport gift shops. Ok, rant over
Mal Man => loved the Haiku. EWE are baaaad
My first thought on the theme was, "Add a letter": PARTYHATER to PARTYHATTER. Took a bit to see the letters to add were the "ER". I did manage to FIR in reasonable time. DNK: DACE, LOEB, ERIC, FRANKIE. Lots of perps and WAGs needed. I don't think of a BOBCAT as an excavator, but CAT was too short, CATERPILLAR was too long...and I guess the back-hoe on the Bobcat is an excavator, so shut up unclefred. Tried FIDELITY for 25D but ran outa cells before I ran outa letters. Needed a couple perps. 48A I was SURE had to do with baseball and stealing a base. Wasted time trying to somehow make that work before perps tagged me out. Only W/O: REPOse/REPOLL. ("Repose" as to ask a question again, not lie down). Thanx GL&AE for your fun creation. Too many names at 16, but I knew exactly half, so I struggled my way through them. Thanx too to MalMan for the as always sterling write-up. Informative and entertaining, what's not to like? Your time and effort is appreciated.
I forgot to include DACE among my complaints. Thanks, Moe
When IRAs were first offered in the 80's, the contribution limit was $2,000/yr. After Roth's were available, $2,000 was also the limit. Those were from earned income. My company didn't offer a 401K until 1994. I quit working in 2000, so I couldn't contribute anything else. Their combined value is now closer to a million than zero. I have to take yearly RMDs from the regular IRA but nothing from the Roth. Other than that I have never taken any money out.
Humans are the only species who can learn from other people's mistakes Other people's mistakes?
#1-save early
#2-never loan money to a relative.
#3- don't buy things that continue to cost you more money-boats, motorcycles, ...etc
Back in the 30's both of my dad's parents died when he was in his teens. He inherited a little property that hit oil. His mistake was to loan money to his brother and 4 or 5 other relatives. You can guess how much money he got back from any of them-ZERO He came out of the army after WW2 penniless.
Sapolsky’s interview on the Michael Shermer podcast a few months ago was excellent. It prompted me to buy the book, into which I have only waded, so far.
Thanks to today's constructERs, Gary and Amy!
FAV: Compost bin helper (and also MalMan's comment on that one.)
Being a DRILLBITER seems like a bad idea.
Hand up for needing to sort out HOTTatER to get BOBCAT.
I knew AD ASTRA because it is the name of a popular local bakery downtown. IIRC, the owner named it from a song lyric.
Thanks to MalMan for another ACE review!
Sophia and Monkey@10:13: Sapolsky’s interview on the Michael Shermer podcast a few months ago was excellent. It prompted me to buy the book, into which I have only waded, so far
Fun Saturday puzzle, many thanks, Gary and Amy. And your commentaries and pictures are always a pleasure, MalMan, thanks for those too.
This puzzle made me think of a guy who was a PARTY HATER and took off with SPEED to go home and relax in his HOT TUB. Afterwards he wrote a POEM, and later went to a BREWERY for a beer. He wasn't very RICH and couldn't go to ETON, but he was happy with his life and said AMEN before turning the light out and going to sleep.
Have a happy weekend, everybody.
Hi All!
Thanks Gary & Amy for the fine Friday puzzle. Like others, I HOSE'd it #DNF.
MManatee - you were in fine form! LOL the POEM inre: C.Moe.
I won't bore w/ WOs & f, er, ink-ups (nET for LET? - my excuse: I was still hyper-focused in work-mode).
//It's a BUG in my greyware
Q: Why is there a "?" at 11d? WELL METERs are down-hole probes that, well, measure WELL pressures in the oil patch.
Disappointment: LITER wasn't spelt like THEATRE for C, Eh! :-)
D-O: I need you as my accountant! I have no idea what my basis is on, um, anything.
I vermicompost with WORMs I order from Uncle Jim's Farm. Happy worms == great dirt to put on (ALIT(?)) the Houston gumbo-soil.
CED: I never got into TBBT 'cuz I thought most of the show/scenes were setups for lame nerd-jokes. There are some cute moments I've seen in clips/memes but, just like there's songs from the 80's that are good,... #My$0.02.
AD ASTRA evoked the Astros and made me sad (not 7d) 'cuz we got swept by the Wild Card Tigers.
Cheers, -T
Writer means a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation.
"Hurwitz, the first lady’s head speechwriter, has written for the Obamas for eight years and for Michelle Obama exclusively for nearly seven."
Thanks CED for the Big Bang Theory links. They were hilarious. C-Moe
My HOT TUB and SPA are one in the same-aka a Jacuzzi in my bathroom. I've had it 34 years. Don't have to heat up the water. It comes out of the tap hot.
Thank you, Gary, Amy and MM.
Yes, I needed the perps for DACE. That D was the last to fall.
No nits to pick. I enjoyed the challenge.
I remember when the popular trading app Robinhood became center focus with the meme stock GameStop. Regulators, lawmakers and (especially) Reddit users were unhappy when the Robinhood suspended trades on their app.
People (primarily the Gens X, Y and Z) had made money hand over fist.
Hedge funds took the worst of the deal, having bet that GameStop was going under. The Gen'rs on Reddit backlashed and drove stock prices to unimaginable highs in a flurry of investing, and then sold.
Robinhood suspended trading on GameStop due to market volatility. Everyone involved was crying foul.
Usually, I find Larson puzzles quite enjoyable — but not today. Pop-culture proper names…NOT. Foreign and Greek stuff…NOT! Really wonky theme…NOT!! Just about reached TITT critical mass, but stuck it out in spite of a bunch of INANE clues and aforementioned not-likes — and still decided to TITT. Sorry to be such a sourpuss, but this one, as my late Texan friend used to say, just “torqued mah jaw”…
It didn’t help that the LA Times paper cut off the clue for 7D (tho it was eventually perped in).
Oh well — can’t love ‘em all. 😎
====> Darren / L.A.
OMG! Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars! Unless I am mistaken, this is the first time in the history of this blogspot that Darren / LA has commented on a puzzle on the same day that the review was posted! Let there be celebrations and fetes across the land! :-)
Good reading you all.
Thanks to all for your kind comments. Have a great weekend (celebrating or not 😉).
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