Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, Malodorous Manatee here with a Friday, post-Thursday-food-coma, puzzle co-authored by Deanne Cliburn and Will Eisenberg. An online search reveals that Will has previously shared puzzles with us. I am not sure about Deanne. Her name does not "pop up" when entering labels so a hearty "Congratulations on your LAT debut, Deanne" may be in order.
Today, our collaborating constructors conjure up a theme where they start with common two-word combinations. In each case, the second word begins with the letter S. By removing the S from the second word and appending the S onto the end of the first word, they make that first word possessive and, thereby, manage to completely alter the original meaning in a humorous manner without in any way altering the letter sequence.
The gag is implemented at these five places in the grid:
19 Across: Having to watch the hare win over and over, perhaps: Tortoise Shell morphs into TORTOISE'S HELL.
27 Across: Cabbie who picks up crustaceans, perhaps: Crab Shack morphs into CRAB 'S HACK. HACK, of course, being slang for taxi driver.
35 Across: Birdhouse opening, perhaps: Cardinal Sin morphs into CARDINAL'S IN. As in the bird's way in.
43 Across: Device needed to renovate a small pad, perhaps: Toad Stool morphs into TOAD'S TOOL. Toads, of course, like to hang out on lily pads.
54 Across: Legal proceeding in the grazing meadow, perhaps: Sheep Shearing morphs into SHEEP'S HEARING. Or, a different type of hearing . . .
Here is the completed grid:
. . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
18. "Call Her Daddy" podcast host Cooper: ALEX. All you might wish to know: Wiki - Call Her Daddy
22. Common mark on a beginner's crossword: ERASURE. Not limited to beginners.
23. March VIP: ST. PAT. VIP is abbreviated.
61. East, in El Salvador: ESTE. A directional Spanish lesson.
63. "Here we go __": AGAIN.
64. Square one?: NERD.
65. Minor name in constellations?: URSA. Hope this one wasn't too much of a bear.
5. "Hold your horses": ONE SEC. Idiomatic clue.
6. Sushi component: RICE. Rice is so basic and this solver thought of several other possibilities before the AHA moment. Doh!
7. Shows judgment: TSKS. Not as in sagacity. As in being judgmental,
8. Casual get-together: SESH. We've seen this for Session before.
9. __ food: HEALTH. So many words could have filled the blank. If they'd fit. And perp'd.
10. Ache: DULL PAIN.
11. Three, in Rome: TRE.
12. News site that hosts the "Future Perfect" reporting project: VOX. All that you might wish to know: Vox
13. Placed on a scale: RATED. Not as in weighed.
20. The "O" of North Carolina's OBX: OUTER. The OUTER Banks.
21. First of September?: ESS. One of those clues. September starts with S.
24. Perform in a play: ACT.
25. Bout-ending decision: TKO. A boxing reference, Technical Knock Out.
28. Totaled: RAN TO. Like this but past tense:
29. Law that led to many curb cuts, for short: ADA.
30. Fearless: BOLD.
36. Kin of equi-: ISO.
37. Commuter's way around Philly: SEPTA.
39. School support gp.: PTA. Group is abbreviated.
40. MSN rival: AOL. This solver still uses America OnLine for some emails. My kids were right.
45. GPS heading: SSE. Sur Sureste
46. Hebrew toast: L'CHAIM.
48. Comes up: ARISES.
49. Compact Nissan: SENTRA. An automotive reference.
50. Finished some landscaping: EDGED.
53. Insurer owned by CVS: AETNA.
55. "Crikey!": EGAD. My sentiments, exactly.
56. __ stick: POGO. So many words could have filled the blank. If they fit. And perp'd.
57. Partnerless: STAG.
2 comments:
One bad cell :
Intersection of VoX and AleX. I never heard of a “news site” called “Vox” and thought it was VOA ( for “Voice of America”).
I’m not happy about that, but I am happy to be on this site with the rest of you smarties and see if you did better than I did.
Subgenius out!
I've seen this trick done before, but it's neat that all the theme answers are animal-related. I think the theme clues should've had "?"s at the end.
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