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.
8 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.
Good morning!
As Subgenius pointed out, "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')." Couldn't have said it better myself. Welcome to Natick. Waited on the perps to decide cOlA/SODA. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln enjoyed the play. Thanx, Deanne, Will, and Mal-Man. (Enjoy your ski-cation.)
FIW. "1L" looked like "IL" on my printed puzzle, and I didn't have any idea but guessed TORaS because I had already filled (the unknown) LCHAIM. Also failed at TORTOuSES HELL x TAPuR. Bad spelars of the world, UNTIE!
My ERASUREs were diet cola for DIET SODA, and after a long last, esl for GED. (But it's always esl!)
I remember Ms. GALORE being the James Bond girl who ran a flying circus.
I live a little over an hour drive time from the OBX. The oceanside houses on stilts are falling into the sea, a few more every year. Mother Nature can be postponed but can't be conquered.
I hesitated at SMU, because they are a half continent removed from the Atlantic coast. Some folks confuse SMU with nearby TCU. I've never been to the SMU campus, but have spent many hours at the TCU library, doing research for my MBA classes.
Thanks to Deanne and Will for the Friday challenge, and to our MalMan for another fun review. Have fun on your hiatus, but remember that manatees are not supposed to be exposed to cold for extended periods.
FIW. I too fell victim to the one bad cell putting VOA before VOX. I've never heard of it and Voice of America seemed logical. The Podcaster was a total mystery to me. Might as well have asked me what the constructor's cat's name was!
I got the theme early on with crab shack, and that helped a lot throughout the puzzle.
So overall, except for one small nit, this was an enjoyable puzzle.
It took me a minute to see your point. But when I look at the clues, the TORTOISE, CARDINAL, TOAD, SHEEP can all be singular or plural, and CRAB is clued with the plural crustaceans. MalMan’S apostrophe can be put before or after the S IMHO.
Fab Friday. Thanks for the fun, Deanne (congrats on debut) and Will, and MalMan
(have a great break). I loved the theme when I saw it ( and circled the ESSES!).
I just noted that ESS is an Easter Egg to the theme.
Hand up for a FIW! If you Americans did not see VOX, what chance did this Canadian have! Only I thought of FOX, and didn’t get HDTV.
More Canadian disadvantage with ADA, OUTER, SEPTA, AETNA ( although I finally remembered it with a few perps).
I noted TORTS and TORTOISE.
Is there ANISE with RICE in sushi?
Another hand up for WAGging EMO after RAP perped.
I use pen; no ERASUREs, just inkblots.
Wishing you all a great day.
Very clever, which means I didn't see the theme at all... (sigh)
I also don't see anything "short" in that proboscis...
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