I Spy with My Little Eye. Each theme answer is a two-word phrase and each word begins or Opens with the letter "I", hence each phrase is an "EYE" Opener.
17-Across. * Scoop: INSIDE INFO.
23-Across. * One in a chain west of mainland Greece: IONIAN ISLAND.
35-Across. * "I like the way you think": INTERESTING IDEA.
50-Across. * Medium for a junior coder: INVISIBLE INK.
And the unifier:
59-Acrpss. Startling revelations, or what the answers to the starred clues have, phonetically: EYE OPENERS.
Across:
1. Pop star Lady __: GAGA. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (b. Mar. 28, 1986), is said to have taken her stage name, Lady Gaga, from the Queen song Radio Ga Ga. [Name # 1.]
5. Picture puzzle: REBUS. A rebus is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases.
10. Ooze: SEEP.
14. Travel without a destination: ROAM.
15. Ivy in Philly: U PENN. A brief history of the University of Pennsylvania.
16. 24/7 cash devices: ATMs.
19. Perlman who played Barbie's creator in 2023: RHEA. Rhea Jo Perlman (b. Mar. 31, 1948) is probably best known for playing Carla Tortelli on the sit-com Cheers. [Name # 2.]
20. "Loving" actress Ruth: NEGGA. Ruth Negga (b. May 4, 1981) is an Irish-Ethiopian actress best known for her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the 2016 movie, Loving. The movie was based on the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who were the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court Case of Loving v. Virginia. They had been criminally charged with an interracial marriage, which was illegal in Virginia. Their surname was so appropriate for such a suit. [Name # 3.]
21. Argentine aunt: TIA. Today's Spanish lesson.
22. Meager: SCANT.
26. Alias indicator: AKA. Also Known As.
28. Concert device: AMP.
29. Upcycles, say: REUSES. Merriam-Webster defines Upcycles as: "to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)".
30. Gentle suggestion: HINT.
32. __ Beta Kappa: PHI. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, in December 1776.
34. Tonsils-checking doc: ENT. Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor.
41. Sonny: LAD.
42. My Chemical Romance genre: EMO. My Chemical Romance is a rock band.
43. Actor Weathers: CARL. Carl Weathers (Jan. 14, 1948 ~ Feb. 2, 2024) is probably best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise. He died earlier this year. [Name # 4.]
44. Transferred, as property: DEEDED.
47. Ga. capital: ATL. Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.
49. Sewer scurrier: RAT.
53. Cookout spot: PATIO.
54. Third key in a reboot sequence: DEL. // And 40-Down. Second key in a reboot sequence: ALT. When the combination of Ctrl+Alt+Del are pressed together, it is a computer keyboard command. The function of the key combination generally interrupts or facilitates interrupting a function. The choice of the three keys was deliberate, so it is not something that one would do accidentally.
55. Not exactly, casually: KINDA.
58. Yale students: ELIs. This is becoming a crossword staple.
61. Zipped along: TORE.
62. Large water lily: LOTUS.
63. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI. Esai Manuel Morales (b. Oct. 1, 1962) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles. Today is his 62nd birthday. [Name # 5.]
64. Got wiser, hopefully: AGED.
65. Stubbornly old-fashioned: FUSTY. And an Old-Fashioned word and one I will probably never use.
66. Retired fast fliers: Abbr.: SSTs. As in SuperSonic Transport airliner.
Down:
1. Smile: GRIN.
2. First-class: A-ONE.
3. Planet largely composed of helium and hydrogen: GAS GIANT. There four gas giants in our solar system: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter.
4. Chum: AMIGO. More of today's Spanish lesson.
5. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the __ Morgue": RUE. The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1849) and was first published in 1841. The story is widely considered to be the first modern detective story. The story takes place in Paris, France and is about C. Auguste Dupin who solves the mystery of the brutal murder of two women.
6. Finish lines?: EPITAPHS. Cute clue. Some famous or infamous last words.
7. Country formally known as Dahomey: BENIN. Hand up if you recognized either of these country names. Benin is a French-speaking in West Africa. It is said to be the birthplace of the voodoo religion. It was known as the Dahomey Kingdom from 1600–1900.
8. Biased: UNFAIR.
9. __-cone: SNO.
10. Cutting, as some remarks: SARCASTIC.
11. Odorless gas: ETHANE. Ethane is structurally the simplest hydrocarbon that contains a single carbon–carbon bond.
12. Corrects: EMENDS.
13. Prep exam with a high score of 1520: PSAT. A crossword staple. Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.
18. "SNL" alum Carvey: DANA. Dana Thomas Carvey (b. June 2, 1955) was on Saturday Night Live from 1968 to 1993. He created The Church Lady. [Name # 6.]
22. Hurled: SLUNG.
24. Blocks: IMPEDES.
25. [More details below]: SEE NOTE.
26. Yellowfin tuna: AHI. Yummers!
27. Kith and __: KIN. This expression dates from the 1300s and originally meant “countrymen” ( kith meant “one's native land”) and “family members.”
31. On the air: TELEVISED.
33. Suburban suffix: -ITE. As in a Suburbanite, a person who lives in a city.
36. Music source in a car: RADIO.
37. "Just sold my last one": I'M ALL OUT!
38. Lack of light: DARKNESS.
39. Time period: ERA.
44. __ box: interactive window: DIALOG.
45. Complete: ENTIRE.
46. Skeptical question, perhaps: DID YOU?
48. Show appreciation, on Facebook: LIKE.
51. Borscht need: BEETS. Borscht is a soup made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients. It's actually quite delicious.
52. Dressed to the __: NINES. What is the origin of this expression?
53. Activist org. with a rabbit in its logo: PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
56. "Curses!": DRAT.
57. eBay caveat: AS IS.
59. Will Ferrell holiday film: ELF. [Name # 7.]
60. Therapist's maj.: PSY. As in Psychology. Not to be confused with the singer Psy who appeared in the puzzle a couple of weeks ago.
Here's the Grid:
I hope that any of you who were impacted by Hurricane Helene are safe and didn't suffer a lot of damage. That storm was much more damaging than originally anticipated.
26 comments:
The cross of “Negga” and “Dana” seemed a little unfair. Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o sussed the gimmick with the second themer, and strained his shoulder patting himself on the back. This was a nice, early week amusement. I don't recognize Robbie's name -- is he a new constructor? Excellent recap, Hahtoolah. (Hand up for recognizing BENIN. Yay. But confused it with Belize. Boo. Your "Psy" link was shut down by SESAC.)
AMP: In olden days amplifiers had a whole raft of specs in addition to power rating in watts: frequency range within xdb, hum level as -db, distortion rating as a percentage, etc. No more. Why is that? Are amps now so good that frequency range is better than our ears, and hum, distortion, et al, are meaningless?
DANA: He made a guest appearance in the cold open of SNL for the 50th season debut this past Saturday. He played President Biden. Maya Rudolph returned to reprise her characterization of Kamala Harris.
Good Morning, Crossword friends. D-O: The Psy video worked when I put it up. Apparently YouTube has been in a dispute with SESAC and on Saturday the works of several musicians and artists became "unplayable" on YouTube.
QOD: I needed a password eight characters long, so I picked “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” ~ Nick Helm (né Nicholas Tristan Phillip Helm; b. Oct. 1, 1980), British comedian
Good morning. Congratulations on your LA Times debut, Robbie! What an INTERESTING IDEA for an early in the week puzzle. I liked it.
Thank you, Hahtoolah. Ny favorite cartoons were the ENT patients and the TV repairman.
The only answer that I didn't know was "Loving" actress Ruth NEGGA. Didn't have to, as all 5 letters of her last name were filled by the easy perps. I read the Wikipedia article on Loving v. Virginia after the review. Thanks for the reference, Hahtoolah.
I'M ALL OUT of comments for now. Back later.
FIR, but erased sorta for KINDA, and kit for KIN.
Upcycles: Newspeak for making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
"Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same"
From Mary Hopkin's Those Were the Days. I tried to link it but SESAC says no. I read that YouTube and SESAC reached a deal over the weekend, so what's up wid dat?
But I can still link RHEA Perlman as Anya in the sitcom Mom.
I've mentioned that PETA's world HQ is about a mile from my house. They are great neighbors, even if they do some not-so-great things as protests. (PETA does not mean "People Eating Tasty Animals.")
Ektorp report: ESAI, PSAT, AMP, ATMS, TIA, SSTS. Maybe I'm just a bit FUSTY.
UNFAIR! The ILA strike has idled all the ports around here, as well as up and down the east and gulf coasts. On the bright side, there will be a lot fewer (Ektorp) semis on the road today.
Thanks for the fun puzzle, Robbie, although I thought it was better suited for People magazine. And thanks to Ha2la for another terrific Tuesday review.
Good morning, in 5 posts all of my thoughts have been expressed. I enjoyed this puzzle and the write-up and once again my unknown was the meaning of the closing cartoon with the cats in the desert. I know Susan is a cat person but still...L'Shana Tovah for those who understand that comments. We had lots of rain but that was it for this latest hurricane but there are more to come.
We're getting spoiled: two days in a row of fair, straightforward puzzles. One by a veteran, and today's evidently by a newcomer. Well-constructed, Robbie: the theme entries were all nice and long, culminating in that compelling grid-spanner at the equator.
You were respectful of us solvers, not relying on pseudo-celebrities and pop culture in the puzzle. It was gimmick-free, without trying to show off or be overly
cute or convoluted.
Come back anytime, Robbie!
FIR. I'm not pleased with Negga, Carl, or fusty, but other than that, fairly straightforward Tuesday puzzle.
I got the theme early on with the repeating "i"s. The reveal iced it for me.
But overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Took 5:47 today to finish without going Insane In the membrane.
I've never heard of "fusty" or Dahomey before.
I didn't know one of today's actresses (Negga), but I knew the other (Rhea).
Cheers!
Hahtoolah, I loved your visuals, so funny.
I caught the theme before the reveal. Dana was a gimme. NEGGA and CARL were unfamiliar, but perps were kind. BENIN was the only five letter country that seemed to fit. Perps confirmed it.
There are many current examples of fusty in print. I never hear it spoken.
"While there is a fusty, archaic quality in his allegorical works, Hodler’s portraits are still resonantly alive." New York Times Sep 20, 2012
Good Morning! This was a nice start to the day. I liked that our puzzle was short on names, and I knew all but NEGGA which perped.
WO: IMPEDES, not -eed. I knew the minute I put it in, even before the perps tsk’d at me.
59A revealed the theme. “I” got it! Nice!
REBUS. I loved working them out when I was a kid, but are they still around? Haven’t seen them very much anymore.
Perps for BENIN, ETHANE.
Thanks, Hah2lah! I chuckled through your whole recap, Lots of fun, music and info.
Musings
-Making furniture out of upcycled old milk jugs is a very interesting and cool idea
-Seehorn is a new RHEA on the entertainment scene. She plays a character who hangs on to the hopelessly incorrigible Saul Goodman. It seems we seldom see the genders reversed in this scenario.
-Am I the only one who thought of RUB (ruble) for Georgia capital?
-I had to reboot Safari this morning and my original Word document for this post disappeared and I had to start over. Usually the document reappears after a reboot.
-BUHTAN was my first thought for a “B” country but I knew an extraneous “H” lurked somewhere in there
-SARCASTIC and Alfred E. Newman’s grin go hand-in-hand
-Do you know anyone who has SLUNG hash?
-TELEVISED: In my childhood I had three choices. Now I have hundreds.
-It’s so good to see Lemon back in the lineup!
Zipped right thru this one. Kept my "I" on the prize.
The puzzle dug out some old relics from my brain. Note FUSTY, REBUS, CARL and RHEA.
Nice job, Robbie and HA2LA.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Delicious.
Such an enjoyable CW this morning. Very few unknowns. GAS GIANT sounds scary. I like REBUSes. Hand up for knowing both Dahomey and BENIN. FUSTY sounds like a FUSTY word.
Thank you Hahtoolah for the many chuckles. Those darn cats.
Cartoon relies on knowing how much cats like to knock things over (and off). It's more fun to knock it over than drink it
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Robbie and Hahtoolah. (I LOLed at that lemon SNO cone)
I FIRed in good time with no inkblots. The mid far north was the last to fall until I got UPENN and RUE. in the NW corner, the cross of NEGGA and GAS GIANT was almost a Natick until I saw the G.
Theme wise, I had 56A filled first and saw Four I’s. I thought of the security alliance and thought it was Four Eyes, but it is actually Five. (SEE NOTE)
And the other themers only had Three I’s. Aha, it is only the OPENERS!
FIVE EYES INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT AND REVIEW COUNCIL (FIORC)
“FIORC is composed of the following non-political intelligence oversight, review, and security entities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.”
I did recognize Dahomey as being in Africa, but it required a few perps to remember BENIN. Son and DIL were in South Sudan, and I became more familiar with some of the countries in Africa.
I wanted Flung before SLUNG.
Shouldn’t AMIGO be a Spanish chum just as AMIE was a French friend yesterday. TIA was clued as Argentine aunt today.
“Stubbornly old-fashioned” may be FUSTY but “Stubbornly old” (AGED) is Feisty.
This Canadian looked askance at DIALOG without the UE at the end.
I noted ATL and ALT.
Wishing you all a great day.
Quite a few unknowns for me, but fair perps made it an enjoyable puzzle. Great 'toons & tunes made an enjoyable recap. Thanks, Ha2la!
Excellent puzzle and review today. Like TTP, I especially appreciated Hahtoolah's "Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist" cartoon. And speaking of animals, I'm glad to know that PETA is a good neighbor to our Jinx. Their tactics are eye opening, but effective, and have paved the way for more FUSTY organizations to support the welfare of farmed animals. L'Shana Tovah right back atcha, Lemonade. May the new year bring only good things to those who comment or follow along here.
You had a privileged childhood. We had one channel - WSAZ-TV, NBC from Huntington, WV. Had to have a big antenna mounted atop a wooden pole to even get that.
All good today, smashed my way through to a FIR in good time. Did not even notice the 14 names, since I knew all but 3. At 35A, I thought, "Ooooh, Ooooh, I know: INTERESTINGIDEA", then hurriedly filled INTERSTINGIDEA and found myself with 1 cell left over. DOH!! The W/O made a big mess right in the middle of the CW. Did I ever mention I fill with ink on paper? Hahtoolah, all cartoons are good today (as usual) but I liked the ENT one the best. Did you REUSE those REBUSES? DNK FUSTY, all perps. Someone should make a movie of Edgar Allan Poe, it would be a hit. He lived an interesting life in so many ways, much of it in Baltimore, hence the NFL RAVENS. With famous epitaphs, I always think of, "Hey, y'all watch this!" This last July 4 a guy set an M-80 firecracker on top of his head, said that, and set it off. It killed him. I wonder if Mad Magazine could make a return, as an ezine, not paper copy. There for certain is enough idiocy for satiric material today. Thanx RC for the fun. I got the theme early, which helped. A perfect Tuesday CW, re difficulty level. Thanx Hahtoolah for the (as always) fun and informative write-up, complete with your usual raft of terrific cartoons. All the time and effort you put into your write-ups are appreciated.
Unclefred, that guy sounds like a serious candidate for the annual Darwin award
Fun Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Robbie. And your commentary and pictures were helpful and a pleasure, thanks for that too, Hahtoolah.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised to see a lot of I words in this puzzle. But I suppose they gave us a lot if INSIDE INFORMATION that did SEEP out here and there, although the results were SCANT. I worried that SARCASTIC might be a HINT about how to find and interpret the clues. And so, in the end, I decided I'd rather listen to the RADIO or watch some TELEVISION. Later I could stop by PETA and play with some animals, like that little RAT, who made me GRIN.
Have an enjoyable rest of the day, everybody.
I liked this one! Thanks to Robbie for sharing his INTERESTING IDEA for a puzzle! Also, congratulations on your LAT debut! FAV themer was INVISIBLE INK.
Thanks to Hahtoolah for continuing the fun with her write-up! FAVs: ENT comic, GRIN image, and OUIJA comic.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" A well-constructed puzzle that I feel was fair, had enough crunch to require some thinking, and was fun to solve. As Tehachapi Ken said, "Come back anytime, Robbie!"
Hence the Russian epithet of "Anglo-Saxon" for any component of 'FIORC.'
Thanks Robbie (and congrats on the LAT debut), Hahtoolah, and all the Cornerites for my moments of entertainment today.
Cheers, -T
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