Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of this Friday's puzzle by the top-flight and prolific constructor Mark McClain. From Mark: "Fun fact, my very first published puzzle was also an LAT Friday, and it was almost exactly 10 years ago (10-3-14). I think this is #68, but the first in a couple of years, so it's good to be back."
In this puzzle, Mark takes commonly known two-word combinations and, by reversing the meaning of the first word, conjures up amusing answers to the clues. There is no reveal. The word play is performed at these four places within the grid:
17 Across: People less likely to appear in a police lineup?: UNUSUAL SUSPECTS.
Casablanca
I know. I know. I could have gone with Keyser Söze.
26 Across: Institute of weird learning?: ABNORMAL SCHOOL A NORMAL SCHOOL is an institution that trains teachers by teaching them pedagogy and curriculum.
Young Frankenstein
42 Across: Salad dressing ingredient that has to be special ordered?: NONSTANDARD OIL. Oil and Vinegar dressing.
55 Across: Group of TV episodes shown out of order?: IRREGULAR SEASON. During the 2024 REGULAR SEASON, the Los Angeles Dodgers won 98 baseball games. They also won 11 games during the POST SEASON.
The rest of the clues and answers can be found at:
Across:
1. Lots and lots: SCADS.
6. Some bits of harvest festival decor: COBS. Corn COBS. Swans, anyone?
10. Ladder part: STEP. Hand up for first thinking RUNG.
14. Prohibited by social custom: TABOO.
14. Prohibited by social custom: TABOO.
15. Showroom selection: AUTO. As in AUTOmobiles at a car dealership.
16. Not fancy at all: HATE. Very clever cluing here and at 33 Across. Here, the clue is taken in the British English (probably from the 16th century) sense as in "to (not) like" something. At 33 Across, the clue is taken in the sense of something not being ornate.
20. Trifecta, for one: BET. The bettor must pick the top three finishers in the correct sequence.
21. Dismissive sound: PFFT. My sentiments, exactly.
22. Really bug: EAT AT.
23. Four-time winners of the FIFA Women's World Cup, for short: USA. 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019.
24. Suppressed, with "up": PENT.
33. Not fancy at all: PLAIN. See also 16 Across.
34. Deliver a stemwinder: ORATE. From The Grammarist:
A stem-winder or stemwinder is an exciting speech that whips the crowd into a frenzy; a rousing speech that energizes a crowd; a persuasive speech that stirs emotion. The idiom stem-winder or stemwinder is derived from a type of watch that came into use after the American Civil War. A stem-winder or stemwinder is a watch with a winding stem attached to it, rather than a key. In Britain, this type of watch was called a keyless watch. The idiom stem-winder or stemwinder to describe a speech came into use near the end of the nineteenth century. Note that the form stem-winder is a hyphenated compound word that is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary, and stemwinder is a closed compound word with no hyphen or spaces that is preferred by other dictionaries.
36. Stand the test of time: LAST. Endure.
37. Clinic pro: NURSE. What did the nurse say to the man who fainted at the airport? I think you might have a terminal illness.
38. Tennis match units: SETS.
39. Parisian pal: AMI. A frequent French lesson.
40. Open-weave fabric: SCRIM. Often clued with a reference to stage curtains.
41. Media mogul with a book club: OPRAH.
40. Open-weave fabric: SCRIM. Often clued with a reference to stage curtains.
41. Media mogul with a book club: OPRAH.
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45. Aunts of Andalusia: TIAS. One of today's Spanish lessons.
46. D.C. summer hrs.: EDT. Eastern Daylight Time.
47. Reject: SPURN.
46. D.C. summer hrs.: EDT. Eastern Daylight Time.
47. Reject: SPURN.
50. Stand up to: DEFY. I once witnessed a magician make the fog over a lake disappear. It was mist DEFYing.
52. Glass of NPR: IRA. A frequent visitor often confused, by this solver, with ARI Shapiro.
59. First name in civil rights history: ROSA. ROSA Parks. ROSA was her first name.
60. Summoning instrument: GONG.
61. Parcel out: ALLOT.
62. Email annoyance: SPAM. Named for the canned meat product that many find unappealing.
62. Email annoyance: SPAM. Named for the canned meat product that many find unappealing.
Monty Python
63. "Les Misérables" author: HUGO.
64. Really stinks: REEKS. A local man was causing a disturbance in town because he stunk like fish. He was REEKing haddock on the neighborhood.
Down:
1. Scant Wikipedia article: STUB. Often clued with a reference to concert, or other types of, tickets.
2. Stroller's accessory: CANE. Not stroller as in baby carriage. Stroller as in a person taking a walk.
3. Lie against: ABUT.
4. __ Equis beer: DOS. Literally, Two X's.
5. "Dinner's ready!": SOUP'S ON. "Soups on" is an idiom of Anglo-Saxon origin. This idiomatic phrase was originally used to alert others that the Soup was ready and it was time to eat. In a broader context, it is often used to signify that something is ready or about to begin. Whether it is a meal, an event, or a project, the phrase can denote a sense of readiness and urgency. Therefore, the phrase can be used in a variety of situations not limited to food, expanding its versatility in everyday language.
6. Leg part: CALF.
7. Remove from office: OUST.
8. HVAC meas.: BTU. British Thermal Unit
9. "Mamma Mia!" number: SOS. ABBA have sold over 150 million records. This solver owns none.
10. Blade cover: SHEATH.
11. Sense of appropriateness: TACT.
12. "Call My Name" singer James: ETTA.
13. Annoying sort: PEST.
18. Off in the distance: AFAR.
19. London coppers: PENCE. Coppers as in coins, not as in police.
23. Military outfit: UNIT. Not as in what a soldier might wear. As in a group of soldiers.
24. Obsolete display type: PLASMA. A PLASMA display is a type of flat-panel display that uses ionized gas to create images. Plasma TVs were the first large flat-panel displays to be released to the public, but they have been superseded by other technologies such as OLED and QLED.
25. Spanish direction: ESTE. East. One of today's Spanish lessons.
26. San Antonio landmark: ALAMO. Frequently visited in our puzzles.
27. Bathroom fixture: BASIN. It's best to just let this one sink in.
28. Feels sorrowful: MOURNS.
29. Ban rival: ARRID. A deodorant reference. Both are brand names.
30. Comic actor Cheri: OTERI. On the subject of women's history:
Saturday Night Live
31. In base eight: OCTAL.
32. Cosmetics retailer known for vegetarian and vegan products: LUSH. New to this solver.
33. Strategize: PLAN.
37. Frozen Four org.: NCAA. The ice hockey version of the Final Four (basketball). Abbreviated clue .... abbreviated answer.
38. See in a crowd: SPOT.
40. Beekeeping hazard: STING. Bee puns really sting. Bee warned.
41. 2023 or 1999: ODD YEAR. So many from which to choose.
43. Watch a series on Disney+, say: STREAM.
44. NBA game trio: REFS. REFerees. A basketball REFerence.
47. House of Lords titles: SIRS. You need not have a seat in the House of Lords to have the title.
Sir Paul McCartney & Sir Elton John
48. Stagehand concern: PROP. Someone leaked the prop notes for the movie Thor Ragnarok. They had to use a lot of low-key lighting.
50. "Oh, heck!": DANG.
Roger Miller
51. Consequently: ERGO.
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52. Cruise ship stop: ISLE.
53. Chess piece: ROOK.
54. Colony insects: ANTS.
56. "This tastes awful!": UGH.
57. Brock in the Baseball Hall of Fame: LOU. Renowned for his base stealing.
56. "This tastes awful!": UGH.
57. Brock in the Baseball Hall of Fame: LOU. Renowned for his base stealing.
58. Brewpub option: ALE. My local bar ran out of ALE. It was a bitter disappointment.
This solver enjoyed the puzzle. The gag was not difficult and it was quite amusing. The two fifteen-letter answers were a nice touch and the relative lack of proper nouns (bucking the recent trend that we have seen of puzzles as trivia contests) was refreshing. Besides, the constructor has very good initials. Welcome back, Mark.
. . . and a hearty, although belated, "Thank you!" to NoamiZ for filling in for me a couple of weeks ago. Your efforts are very much appreciated.
Here is the completed grid:
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26 comments:
I thought I knew what was going on with the first themed fill, and the second one confirmed it. For a Friday, I really didn’t think this was a very difficult puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Fell into the RUNG/STEP trap, but that was d-o's only Wite-Out moment. "Not fancy at all" and "NORMAL SCHOOL" gave this one a British feel. "Stemwinder" evokes Paul Ford in The Music Man. You haven't lost the touch, Mark. Welcome back, Mal-Man. (Enjoyed your "ostracized" and pen-top emotions.)
Dos Equis: That's what I normally order with my meal at local Tex-Mex restaurants. Occasionally Corona or Modelo.
OCTAL: My first computer was an 8-bit (Octal) H-8. It came in kit form -- almost as primitive as an abacus.
Had DARN at 50 down which slowed solve for a bit, otherwise, easy peasy.
Always thought a stemwinder wasn't necessarily exciting, it just went on so long your watch ran down and had to be rewound.
NORMAL SCHOOLs began to be founded in the US in the 1840s, they were usually two-year schools. Most grew into four-year "teacher's colleges" and
often complete universities.
FIR. I didn't find this Friday puzzle all that hard. Several clever misdirections got me. I threw down rung before step, demo before auto, and denim before scrim. But beyond that everything was cool.
I got the theme right off filling in unusual suspects with assurety. The rest just flowed nicely.
Overall a very pleasant puzzle.
Took 6:07 today, which isn't extraordinary, improper, or atypical.
I hadn't heard of "normal school," so that gave me some concern.
Luckily, I knew today's foreign language lessons (este, dos, tias, & ami), writer (Hugo), and actresses (Oteri crossing Oprah). Lush was unknown. Scrim eventually came to me.
Like the wise SubG said, it didn't seem that difficult.
Liked that each themer was negated in a different way.
FIR, but cobb->COBS, face->DEFY, case->CANE, knee->CALF, and ick->UGH.
My (former crossword-favorite) elhi was on a now-university campus that started as a private NORMAL SCHOOL in 1887. As part of the agreement to get in, parents had to agree to sending their kidlets to half-day summer school through the eighth grade. This was so the student teachers in the college would have lab rats on which to practice their craft during the term.
DNK that the GONG was used to summon. I always thought it was to dismiss. Guess I watched too much Chuck Barris TV.
Also DNK that PLASMA TV is obsolete. It was once the cat's PJs.
Piling on our MalMan's quips: I once had a friend who was having an affair with an anesthesiologist, but it never got serious. She felt nothing.
Thanks to Mark for the fun puzzle, and to our MalMan for the pun review.
Is it Friday.? The theme and the solve were easy today. Only LUSH cosmetics was new to me.
I often wondered how DOS EQUIS got its name. Here it is from the brewers themselves: "Wilhelm Hasse first brews Siglo XX, the beer we know today as Dos Equis® Ambar. He named the beer Siglo XX to usher in the upcoming 20th century with the Roman numeral “XX” signifying 20, and the Spanish word “Siglo” meaning century."
I always thought of stemwinder speeches as exciting and fire breathing,
never boring. Sometimes maddening if one disagreed.
I perped and wagged PLASMA, but didn't know why. Oh, plasma TVs.
When I was very young in the1940's I heard of Normal Schools for teacher training in the USA,. By that time they had already become teachers colleges because four year degrees were then required for teachers.
LOL great pen top cartoon.
Good Morning:
To add to Rusty Brain’s comment @ 8:14, the theme was made super tight by the synonymous first words in each answer. Nice touch, Mark. The solve was pretty smooth with some clever cluing and straightforward fill. Odd Year seems a little green paintish to me but, overall, the strong theme and execution negates any minor nits, IMO.
Thanks, Mark, and thanks, MalMan, for the many chuckles and observations in your enjoyable review. Loved all of the tongue-in-cheek asides.
Have a great day.
Musings
-Not only a walk in park, but a downhill walk in the park with a nice gimmick
-In our town Fremont NORMAL School became Midland College and is now Midland University
-MLB has had many champions of 162-game REGULAR SEASON fail in the 7-game World Series
-Ya gotta wonder about services that offer you $100 in free BETS after they hook you with a successful $5 BET
-Liberty Sculpture Park in Arcadia, CA features a statue of this very famous man who dared to DEFY
-ROSA: Speaking of famous DEFIERS!
-OUST: A fact of political life as seen last week for some
-Our town just opened a PLASMA business for donors with this odd name
-A ROOK checkmate
-Nice job 2M
I too enjoyed this fairly easy, for a Friday, CW. LASH was my only real unknown.
How can PLASMA tvs already be obsolete when not so long ago they were THE tv to desire. The world is rushing by too fast.
Thank you MM. I liked your explanations and the ostrich cartoon was funny.
Lots of blanks in the North till I hit on some correct answer/perps and figured out the theme. Guessed at TCU to perp LUSH
“London coppers” are not Bobbies. Who didn’t put rung for STEP, how ‘bout bidet before BASIN, pre-perps?
Ahhh “fancy” as in “All the London girls fancy Hugh Dancy”
Ahhh “stroller” as in “A frequent stroller through the park.”
“Deliver a stemwinder”? Land a punch or a send a snake? Nope.
ALLOT …. SCADS
Penultimate VP …. PENCE
Affixed…. TACT
”That’s not in my job description”….NONSTANDARDOIL
Digital skin art…EATAT
An inebriated cosmetic retailer… LUSH
Super hot in SW Florida today a real Fry-day ♨️
Good Morning! Nice challenge today. Many perps saw me to the finish line.
Clever misdirections got me twice: to not fancy is to hate and copper = penny, not police.
Learning moment: stemwinder, STUB (as clued) and Horned Frogs/TCU.
Fav fill: SOUP’S ON, heard many times as a kid. I hadn’t thought of that in years. Nice memory.
Thanks, MalMan, for the fun, puns and info.
Amusing, creative puzzle which zipped right along for a Friday
A few gimmes: my BIL worked for TCU for 30 years - he was in charge of campus recreation
I'm a STL Cardinals (and KC Royals) fan and I've met both Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith over the years - never met Stan Musial before he died
I was wanting bobbies for the UK coppers but it didn't fit - so pivoted to PENCE
Thanks MM and Mark !
O.K., FIR in usual (for me) Friday time of about 20. Have to guess, due to multiple interruptions. Anyway, a fun CW that I at first thought I had an "AHA!!" moment that theme answers...those with question marks...would start with "UN". WRONG! Right idea, but .... no. I didn't get "PENCE" until MalMan 'splained it. I did see the 16A + 33A clecho. Only W/O: OCTAD/OCTAL. I've always called it a "Sink", not a "Basin". Is that regional? British? Thanx MMcC for the fun challenge. Thanx too to MalMan for the terrific write-up.
Zipped through to the FIR, and immediately checked the calendar. Yep. Friday. I was confused for a while! I guess it's true that one loses track of days after retirement! Fun puzzle, and a great recap MM!
ROOK checkmate link doesn't work on my PC
The puzzle was too easy for a Friday, but it was enjoyable, and that’s what counts. I don’t think Mark was aiming for a Friday slot, although he apparently was happy to appear in one.
The theme answers were easy to figure out. Only after analyzing the entire puzzle did I notice a second layer, the synonymous words “usual, normal, standard, regular.” The term “normal school” is a bit obscure for some parts of the country/continent, but not impossible to know.
The biggest challenge was the SCADS-STUB combo at 1A-1D, complicated by the misdirection of the stroller clue. Fixed that last.
Thanks, MalMan, especially for “reeking haddock.”
TSA
DW, DD, and I have pre check thru Global Entry
Our 42 y o special needs daughter has what’s called a non-drivers license ID we use for TSA security. No problem ever before, but this time on the return flight it wouldn’t register at security and a senior agent had to be contacted to approve her. She gets frightened when things don’t go as expected. On the flight down the dashboard weight I use to stabilize my GPS set off the alarm and my bags were examined. On the flight back no problem with the weight but my belt which has never set off the alarm including the flight down did on the flight back. The agent claimed it was because it has a reversible buckle. She couldn’t explain why it never has been a problem before
One time we went to the wrong terminal in Orlando. I hadn’t noticed my daughter who should have didn’t have pre check on her boarding pass but the agent recognizing her issues let the three of us through. (incidentally my bag was examined, no reason given plus they broke the zipper). When we found the correct terminal that agent adamantly refused to let her thru with us even after I tried to explain her situation. (incidentally this time my bag was not examined)
The “rules” seem to be arbitrary and constantly change. Makes one wonder what gets through security.
End of rant 🤨
Hola!
A perfect puzzle from a pro! Thank you, Mark McClain!
And thank you, MalMan, for delivering the narrative in timely STEPS. Yes, I thought of RUNG first. Of course, at (UN) USUAL SUSPECTS that scene from Casablanca comes to mind. SPAM is the state food of Hawaii though I don't know if it's the official state food, but they really like SPAM there. The store shelves are loaded with it.
Besides a niece and a cousin, I also had a CALF named after me.
When I read the clue for PENCE I thought it would be BOBBIES.
My siblings and I were raised by our TIAS, TIA Lorraine, TIA Elda and TIA Angie while our parents were working. TIA Elda was already married with children and we played with our cousins.
Thanks again to MalMan and to Mark McClain. Have a fabulous Friday, everyone
Very clever and fun puzzle MM, and thanks to our MM for explaining PLASMA and the clue to ORATE.
Bobbies wouldn’t fit — oh, PENCE; scabbard too long.— SHEATH; COBS called “bits” seems off.
Like HG’s Fremont, my Mother became a teacher at a NORMAL SCHOOL opened in (1865), that became a College (1944), and then a University (2004).
I started out with Loads until realizing that wasn't gonna work. I had never heard of Lush. Pretty easy for a Friday.
To continue: She began teaching in a rural school after attending NORMAL SCHOOL for 6 weeks of training, going back for a 2 yr., then 4 yr. then Masters degree. Such a change from present day requirements.
WVU - 24 —TCU -21, football Sept. 2023.
Neat and manageable Friday puzzle, many thanks, Mark. And your commentary is always a pleasure, thanks for that too, MalMan.
One wonders if the kids in that ABNORMAL SCHOOL might have been worried that they'd be treated as UNUSUAL SUSPECTS, even though anything improper was TABOO for them. They just wanted a PLAIN life, behaving with TACT, and where anything improper was something they would SPURN. Many of them looked forward to a career as a NURSE or a doctor after graduation, or going into politics where they could ORATE for good causes. OPRAH was actually a role model for many of them of them.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Am I the only one who would like to hear more details of the InaneHiker-HG lunch meeting the other day? 😉 Cornerites meeting face to face is a rare happening and deserves some attention, IMO. 😉
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