INGREDIENTS
Today's construction from RG was not a great one for me - I find the theme answers to be vaguely tied to the reveal at best, and we had a handful of names again, one of which was an 'ingredient' in the recipe for my disaster. 20 TLWs and 24 four-letter words, but we get a reprieve from circles, at least. Sadly, I 49A. "flubbed" the middle left of the grid today, so I have to admit to cheating; though in hindsight, I shoulda known - maybe that's why I am not a fan of this puzzle. The Themers;
16. Fruit given to Snow White by the Evil Queen: POISON APPLE
21. Rabble-rouser: BAD EGG
45. Unrefined petroleum: CRUDE OIL
50. With 58-Across, conditions likely to lead to catastrophe, or what 16-, 21-, 26-, and 45-Across are ingredients for?: RECIPE - AND - 58A. See 50-Across: FOR DISASTER - with these "four" ingredients, I think you end up with a McDonald's Apple Pie
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Rapid transit vehicles?: RAFTS - Rapid(s) as in white water, and "rafting" upon them
6. "Dancing Queen" quartet: ABBA - CrossWord Staple, still a name - #1
10. Weep loudly: SOB
13. Introverted, maybe: ALOOF - I am definitely introverted
14. Watering can part: SPOUT
15. Actress Thurman: UMA - CWS, still a name - #2
18. Write: PEN
19. Bombard, as with snowballs: PELT
20. Cribside coos: AWS - Meh. I would have preferred "Amazon Web Services" for this clue; plus, it's usually AWW in crosswords
23. Tosses in: ADDS - AND - 34A. Much of magazines: ADS - meh on the semi-dupe
25. Turkish dough: LIRAS
$1 US = 34.31 Lira
30. __ party: sudsy celebration: FOAM - I am not familiar with this "type" of party, but it makes sense - I stopped drinking 20yrs ago, and essentially stopped partying the same time as well. . . . Sigh
31. Literature Nobel laureate Bashevis Singer: ISAAC - No clue, waited on perps, and that didn't help either - note my little black triangles in the cel corners in the grid below; I just could not be bothered to think about finding the answers - just cheat and reveal the letters. . . . AND name - #3
32. Off-balance: ATILT
37. Put down: DISS - Meh. Usually has just one "S", as in DISrespect
38. Comrade: CRONY
39. First Nations people of Canada: CREE - had the last "E", but it's not OTOE - CWS and name #4
40. Rough no.: ESTimate
41. Hits upon the answer: HAS IT
42. Relaxed: CHILL
43. Look to be: SEEM
47. Gush with naches: KVELL - All I can say about seeing this in a Wednesday crossword is "What?!?" 21st century-speak for spewing pride. P.S. naches is also the rump of a cow, and one might say I am leaning towards that definition in context. . . .
49. Flubs: ERRS
52. Prefix with -logue: EPI - epilogue, the wrapping up, "last chapter", in a novel - this does SEEM to be trying too hard to avoid being the 'usual' crossword clue/answer. e.g. Epi Pen
53. Fries or tots: SIDE
57. Latin for "I": EGO
61. End of many superhero names: MAN - let me count the ways. . . .
62. Reversed: UNDID - I am truly grateful for the "UNDO" button on several pieces of software, including the Blogger
64. Come to a close: END
65. Future AG's exam: LSAT
66. Oldest of the Three Musketeers: ATHOS - name #6
DOWN:
2. Succulent genus: ALOE - A shout-out to Hahtoolah
4. Open-faced dishes with crispy tortillas: TOSTADAS - my last fill, and I toyed with the last vowel - "A" or "O"~? even tho I knew it was an A
5. Hub across the Bay from OAK: SFO - San Francisco airport code; my closest airport code is BDL
6. Starters, casually: APPS - APPetizerS, trying again to NOT be typical, but it just doesn't work on Wed, IMHO
7. Danceable song: BOP - we (I) just learned this last Friday
8. Glowing object on a marquee: BULB - Meh. IN a marquee seems better
9. Went back for thirds, maybe: ATE A LOT - Ugh. I don't care for ALOT in puzzles to begin with
10. Nintendo platform game series: SUPER MARIO
11. Seamaster watchmaker: OMEGA - it was either this or ROLEX, as Audemars Piguet doesn't fit - I was a CAD designer for their Southampton store, which required bullet-proof glass - their most expensive piece is $430K, almost twice the cost of my house
offering $100 off your first order - ooh, good deal~!
12. Fringe on some foreheads: BANGS - A shout-out to our host C.C.
22. San José day: DIA - Spanish lesson
24. OB or GYN: DOCtor - I knew DRS (plural) didn't match with the "or" in the clue
26. Broad: WIDE
27. Egyptian goddess: ISIS - name, #7
28. Stressful time for a procrastinator: LAST SECOND
29. Showing no fear, maybe: STOIC
30. Wing it?: FLY
33. Boldly brave: INTREPID - and then we have great fill like this
35. Market with a pickle barrel: DELI - Um, OK - when I did an internet search, I expected to find A LOT of B&W images, but no
36. Move merchandise: SELL
38. Laptop lens: CAMera - I have one at work for Teams meetings
39. Drawing board?: CHESS SET - a "draw" in chess is rare, but not unheard of; I plan to make a table for my living room with a chess board in the center
41. Advantageous: HELPFUL
42. Sr. officer: CDR - commander; I happen to know it's the abbr. for these, too
46. Novelist Leon: URIS - name #8
47. Krispy __: KREME - Mmmm, Donuts. . . .
51. Many millennia: EONS - or AGES~?
52. Resolve a tense disagreement?: EDIT - correcting verb tenses - clever
54. Burning desire: ITCH - I have a "burning desire" in the form of poison ivy (oak, sumac) all over my arms from the yard work I did two weeks ago. Yay.
59. Dietary amt.: RDA - Recommended Daily Allowance - my Daily Allowance these days is totally UN-recommended; I need to stop eating and start exercising - this is my New Year's Resolution
60. 24-Down's org.: AMA - American Medical Association
Splynter
Notes from C.C.
1)
Happy Birthday to dear Dave (CrossEyedDave), the best birthday cake
maker in the world. Your posts always brighten up our day, Dave!
 |
| CrossEyedDave |
2) Happy Birthday also to Blue Hen. Hope all's well!
9 comments:
Well, I got it.
But I wouldn’t say this puzzle was easy; not at all. One down started off by being pretty obscure, and it didn’t get much easier from there. Nevertheless, FIR, so I’m happy.
And Happy Birthday, CED! Who’s going to make YOUR cake? (Is this like that old paradox, “Who shaves the barber?”)
Good morning!
Is it really Wednesday? Many clues seemed to have a late-week tilt to them. Is a FOAM party really a thing? Got 'er done, but things took some time. Had no clue about the theme, but after reading the reveal, still no clue. Thanx, Rebecca and Splynter.
EPI: My doctor prescribed a Neffy nasal spray to replace my decade-old EpiPen. After four days I called Walgreens. They told me that it's an expensive drug, so they hadn't filled it. [Whaaa?] I have a GoodRx coupon which reduces the price to $200, so they agreed to go ahead. That was a week ago, and it's still "in progress." Good thing I don't need it urgently.
Happy Birthday, CED. I hope you can find an appropriate on-line cake for the celebration.
FIR after almost quitting after reviewing the first row of clues. Lost my first post trying to link Money For Nothing for the lyrics "We've got to move these refrigerators, we've got to move these color TVs." Also had a link to Bob Seger's Horizontal Bop along with a story from a friend's wedding when his new (drunk) MIL told him (during a slow dance) "dancing is just doing vertically what you want to be doing horizontally." Would have gotten around to the classic lyrics from former US Army paratrooper Jimi Hendrix's Fire" "I have only one burning desire - Let me stand next to your fire."
I was sure "naches" and KVELL must be Yiddish. Guess not.
Zoё says it's light enough for our morning walk, so doodie calls. Thanks to Rebecca for what turned out to be a fun challenge. And thanks to Splynter for your candid opinion and the fun review.
Maybe they are waiting to see if their store will be one to be closed in the great cutback.
Can a FOAM party be as much fun as a baby oil party? Especially if someone brings Twister?
Yes, nachas (transliterated, so spelling is up for grabs) is Yiddish for "joy", tinted with a hit of "pride". So, one takes nachas for the achievements of one's children, for example. And, kvell is Yiddish for "to fill up with joy or pride", give or take. "He kvelled with nachas at the bar mitzvah of his son", for example.
After a re-read, perhaps I should have said, "one HAS nachas..."; and, kvell can be thought of as "swell", so to kvell with nachas = to swell with joy and pride.
It was difficult to FIR for a Wed but I managed to do it. There were a couple of clues that were iffy. 1A. I've never heard of 'rapids' refer to as a 'rapid'. 26A. I don't think WILD OATS has anything to do with "Youthful rebelliousnesss ". You can be any age. There are commercials all over the radio and tv to help revive it. But it will really be a RECIPE FOR DISASTER if you are married or the girl's father shows up at your front door.
BAD EGG for 'Rabble-rouser'- that's not a good clue. A rabble-rouser is now called an 'activist'. They can try to get money from somebody or government. I think a better term would be 'blowhard'. A 'bad egg' is some young person you know will eventually end up in jail. Bullies, thieves,...etc.
SAW STARS was difficult to fill because I wanted AHS, not AWS (Amazon Web Services).
LIRAS- I filled it but isn't the plural for lira 'lire'?
DISS- usually spelled DIS, which for some reason some people get into fights because they feel slighted. IMHO, if you want respect, you gotta earn it.
KVELL, FOAM party, and BOP for dance- all perps; never heard of them.
CHESS SET- thanks Splynter. I filled it but didn't understand until you explained it. Very HELPFUL.
Krispy KREME built a big shop to close to my house about 10 years ago. It closed a few years later. Overpriced and too much local competition. The grandkids loved to watch them being made, rolling down the conveyer, and the mgr. would give them a FREE hot one right off the line. I never liked them (too yeasty) but felt compelled to buy something after that.
Sowing one's wild oats is an old idiom. In the 16th and 17th centuries, wild oats was used to describe unruly and reckless young men. Today, sowing wild oats is a phase that many young people go through and mercifully outgrow. Sowing wild oats Origin and History - To sow wild oats is to conduct oneself recklessly and foolishly to no good purpose..
The puzzle was meh, and I think Splynter was just in a mood, but thank you for your write-up and the legs; Rebecca thanks for the puzzle.
I play a little side game each day. While solving the puzzle I try to determine if the author is male or female. I’d guess I’m right 80% of the time. I’m usually about half finished when I make my guess. Got it today with 1 down. Nice challenge for a Wednesday. Thanks Rebecca.
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