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.
31 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...
Musings
-The duality of CRAB’S HACK hit me hard and led to an entertaining solve
-The Maine section took some doing. VOX populi leapt to mind.
-My FIL still used PECKS for volume and rods for distances when he farmed
-Podcasts are slowly choking out print media.
-If I were in charge of Thanksgiving, it would be CATERED
-Me too, Joseph, Circumspect/GOT AT??
-URSA Minor holds the most important star in the sky (Polaris) after our Sun.
-DULL PAIN: Many of us have learned to live with the aches in our backs
-GrandDADDYSAURUS- My brilliant grandchildren helped me with an iPhone issue yesterday
-Barney Fife : I ain't gonna stand in no STAG line with Old Man Perkins and a bunch of slumped-over teenagers!
-The SMU Volleyball team is the only one that has beaten both top-ranked Pitt and #2 Nebraska
The above additions to the commentary are well taken. All the themers are animal-related and the possessives can be either singular or plural.
I always like Friday’s puzzles as they are typically the most challenging themed grids of the week, and this one fit the bill for that for me. FIR in 27:10. The X in the ALEX/VOX cross was a WAG. Had to change GOT IT to GOT AT. The SE gave me pause, L’CHAIM made no sense till I saw there was an apostrophe after the L, maybe a gimme for our Hebrew friends? I know what a TAPIR looks like, but as CED stated, that looks like a long nose to me. My puzzles don’t usually have ERASUREs, but I do lots of backspacing. Thank you Deanne and Will and Patti, clever theme with good cluing! And thanks also to MalMan for explaining it all, enjoy your mountain retreat!
Yooper, many may remember L'Chaim as a song from Fiddler On The Roof
MM, a post-food coma? We had so many things I didn't even get around to eating half of the things 'on our menu' because my wife's family always had appetizers. CRAB dip, shrimp patties, oyster patties, spinach-artichoke dip BEFORE lunch.
The north was a sea of white until I figured out the theme. Smooth sailing after that.
CARDINAL'S IN- my Catholic wife said she was taught mortal and venial sins and had never heard of a Cardinal sin.
I FIR with a couple of guesses. I didn't know VOX or ALEX. EMORAP and SEPTA were unknown but easy to fill. The last fill was the cross of LACAIM(knew it but not its spelling) and CATERED. I thought the dished could have been WATERED but wasn't sure of GOT IT or AT.
SENTRA- my brother has a 2019 that has been in a body shop for over 6 months because parts are not available.
I think those religious dietary laws are hitting the skids. Of the people we had over yesterday were Hassan (a Moslem from England), Nakita (an Israeli Jew from Russia who lives in CA), and Loit from Benin (religion unknown) who lives in NC- all three ate the HAM, SHRIMP, and OYSTERS to go along with the Bullit bourbon and Modelo. All three are tennis pros.
FIW, also in that pesky northeast corner, but I did enjoy this one. Friday tough, but the perps were fair. (Except that corner!) Good gimmick, a nice recap from MM, and the Packers won handily last night, so all is right in the world this morning!
I won both halves of a ten number pool on that game with number 7, $100, thanks GB! Four weeks in a row I’ve at least won a half!
Hola! Ooh! I had TORAS/ASKS not TORTS/TSKS and just could not finish the NE corner with HDTV, HEALTH, VOX. Sigh. Otherwise this was a good Friday fill, thank you Deanne and Will. Congratulations to Deanne on her debut! The "seven deadly sins" are sometimes called the CARDINAL SINS.
TOAD'S TOOL just made me chuckle!
This was a clever puzzle with funny puns which I fully enjoyed! And I hope you are all recovering from yesterday's excesses. And since I ate at my daughter's home I don't have the usual leftovers but perhaps that's not a bad thing. Have a great day, everyone!
When I figured the theme things came together quickly except for the NE corner. I didn't know the name and had never heard of VOX. That definitely could have been clued better. Other than that cell it was fun. GC
Manageable and fun Saturday puzzle, many thanks, Deanne and Will. And thank you for your always helpful commentary, Mal Man. I always appreciate that too.
When I saw the DULL PAIN, I figured somebody had some HEALTH problems, and should probably get some DIET SODA and some RAISINS to munch. I bet he also likes animals sine we got a TOAD and a TORTOISE and a CRAB and a CARDINAL and some SHEEP in this puzzle. He probably needs a CATERER to figure out what food to feed them all. Well, let's hope he and the critters have a good time.
Have a lovely weekend, everybody.
I liked the theme and figured it out quickly, and I enjoyed the puzzle well enough overall.
It helped that DW knew CRAISINS and knew who owns AETNA, so the biggest unknown was the Philadelphia transit entry, which I wouldn’t expect anyone outside of the Megalopolis to know. Until the perps aligned, I thought perhaps Philly has a subway system along the lines of DC’s Metro or Atlanta’s MARTA, both far better known than SEPTA. Is the administrative organization actually what conveys commuters?
OTHER DISLIKES: I figured out DEE and ESS quickly, but constructors and editors should try to avoid that kind of lameness. EMO RAP sounded contrived; green-paintish, even. ALEX Cooper doesn’t make the top 100 of well-known Alexes. I finished at GOT AT, but couldn’t see the correlation with the “circumspect” clue.
OTHER LIKES: I needed perps for the OBX entry. Only then did I figure there’s an airport with that code in the Outer Banks. I can’t prove that, but I guess I liked the entry. I definitely liked NERD as clued, GALORE, TORTS, TAPIR, DAHLIA, and L’CHAIM.
Thanks, Mr. Manatee. By the way, we learned last night on Jeopardy that all of your teeth are molars.
Took 10:05 today.
I guessed luckily at the intersection of vox and alex. Don't know either one.
I didn't know lchaim or a few others.
Happy Black Friday (to those that celebrate it)!
Once again we have our alleged “editor” to thank for the needless Natick at 18A and 12D. Hard to imagine that there couldn’t be a better clue for ALEX…lots of Alexes (?), and VOX amplifiers are better known than the unknown “news site”.
Yooper, I matched your FIR time. BTW, my former in-laws hailed from Manistique; I visited there many times.
Big E, I often enjoy a Bullit “neit.”
I enjoyed this puzzle and was lucky enough to FIR, with lucky guesses at some of the spots that tripped others. Only real nit was GOT AT as clued, and as flagged by MalMan.
MalMan, thanks for the very clear explanation of the theme, and for your humor throughout. When I got to the end of the post, I read your paddle comment aloud to Mom and DH, who both laughed.
To life, to life, l'chaim!
L'chaim, l'chaim, to life!
(Fiddler on the Roof)
The main airport in the Outer Banks is First Flight, FFA. A couple of others are MQI and HSE. There was a recent accident near FFA involving a Cirrus SR22. The SR22 is marketed as an especially safe airplane, with a parachute option for failed-engine use. Unfortunately, in this case the pilot managed to get the plane into a flat spin while approaching the airport to land. The plane and four souls were lost.
An atypical Friday with the only difficulty being the ALEX/VOX intersection .I have heard of VOX so I finished. The theme was creative and the post-Thanksgiving hangover is obvious with the few comments. Perhaps HG will ge us back in line tomorrow. Wisconsin will have its first losing football season in 27 years. Nothing lasts forever, ask the Miami Dolphins. Thanks Deanna, Will and MM.
For me, learning is part of the process so although some fill is difficult and I may have to even (horrors!) LIU, if I learn something new, then it is worth it. In any case, solving CW puzzles is a lifelong hobby that I will continue, difficult or obscure though it may be. I agree that ALEX could have been clued in so many other ways, but now I know of a different ALEX.
Thanks to Deanne and Will plus an extra congrats to Deanne on her debut!
I enjoyed the animal theme and noticed the possessives. Very tight.
FAVs: clue for RATED; GALORE, and the star ingredient wordplay
RE the NE, I had feeL PAIN before DULL PAIN (ache as a verb instead of as a noun). Somehow straightening that out helped me fill the rest of that area correctly.
C-Eh! @ 9:12. Nice catch on the Easter egg! You are so good at those!
Thanks to Mal-Man for his Friday elaborations! I like what you did with 34A. I suppose that black robe and gavel gives him the right. Enjoy your mountain time!
Delightfully clever and unique theme. Never heard of that ALEX but I do know that VOX. It was probably an unfair crossing for most people. FIR.
MalMan I hope you realize your photo is of a frog, not a TOAD? Frogs sit on lily pads.
YooperPhil Yes, for this Hebrew friend L'CHAIM indeed was a gimme. It is worth learning as it is a common TOAST expression. Like Skål or Salud.
My father and I climbed this OUTER Banks lighthouse while my mother stayed below.
Jinx Have you climbed it? Anyone else?
This is the Cape Hattaras lighthouse. Reputed to be the tallest lighthouse in the US.
I have visited other lighthouses but I don't recall if the Cape Hatteras was one; it's astonishing when visiting the souvenir shops to see the many, many, many lighthouse themed items are on the shelves! Artists and others seem to be constantly motivated to produce those in scenic art, ceramic and other kinds of materials. Most are quite lovely especially if they contain seascapes.
C.E. I didn't know about the molars...and I agree with the EMO RAP comment.
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