Making Ends Meet
As near as I can tell today's constructors Simon Marotte and Trenton Lee Stewart are both making their debuts in the LA Times, although they have previously published with the NYT here and here. Their 4 themers remind us that even famous people had to take odd jobs to make ends meet when they were starting out. Each clue consists of two famous people, tells us what their (fictional) side hustle was, and plays on it to give us a punny two word fill ...
17A. Earnhardt and Andretti work as ushers?: DRIVERS SEAT. Ralph Dale Earnhardt (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Sadly, Earnhardt died in a racing accident in 2001.
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| Dale Earnhardt |
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| Mario Andretti |
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| Greta Gerwig |
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| Ava DuVernay |
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was of course the famous English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.
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| Jane Austen |
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| Toni Morrison |
59A. Hook and Kirk haul timber?: CAPTAINS LOG. In this case not only is the side hustle fictional, but our famous people are as well. Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy.
James Tiberius Kirk, commonly known as Captain Kirk, is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in Star Trek serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise as captain. Kirk leads his crew as they explore new worlds and "boldly go where no man has gone before".
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| Captain Hook |
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| Captain Kirk |
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ...
Across:
Across:
1. Mobile app for staying mobile: UBER. Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and operates in approximately 70 countries and 10,500 cities worldwide.
5. "In your face!": BOOYA. This fill was not the first thing that popped into my mind for this clue. It's really an expression of enthusiasm or exuberance. In fact my researches didn't uncover any connection between the clue and the fill. What I did uncover was this homophonic recipe and this (automated) exclamation by the famous financial adviser Jim Cramer ...
10. Draw: TIE.
13. __-gazing: NAVEL. Pejorative slang for meditation. OTOH NAVAL-gazing is something done by ship captains.
15. "Funeral Blues" poet: AUDEN. An expression of profound grief by W. H. Auden.
16. Short expression of surprise: OMG.
17. [Theme clue]
19. Snub-nosed dog: PUG.
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| Pug puppy |
21. Assays: TESTS.
22. Mispronounces esses, maybe: LISPS.
24. "Gracias" response: DENADA. Today's Spanish lesson: "Thank you!"; "You're welcome!"
26. Parcel (out): METE.
27. [Theme clue]
33. "We are not amused" type: PRUDE. The story behind the song.
36. Potential queens: PAWNS. Yes, but they're the cannon fodder of chess board and have many obstacles to overcome (being sacrificed, en passant capture, etc.) before they can ascend to the throne. Here's how it works ... 37. Sorority letter: RHO.
39. Eyelashes, anatomically: CILIA. Cilia is the plural form of cilium (from the Latin for 'eyelid'), a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike projection that extends from the surface of the much larger cell body. The cilia lining the lungs provide an important function in keeping them free of microbes and debris ...
40. Cry of pain: YEOW.
41. Açai bowl grain: OAT. Açaí na tigela (lit. 'Açaí in the bowl') is a sweet Brazilian snack food from Pará and Amazonas. It is a dish made with the frozen and mashed fruit of the açaí palm, described as having an "earthy" or creamy taste. Its texture is granular before blending and it has a tartness from a high acidity content, making its taste appealing. It is served as a smoothie in a bowl, usually mixed with guaraná syrup, and is commonly topped with granola and banana.
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| Açaí bowl |
43. Swear words: OATHS.
44. [Theme clue]
47. Surrounds in a rush: MOBS. Being surrounded by a MOB can be a scary thing, but these people were unexpectedly delighted by one ...
48. Fools (with): MESSES.
52. Chihuahua, for one: STATE. A state of Mexico that is ...
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| Chihuahua, Mexico |
54. "Haters __ hate": GONNA. "Haters gonna hate" is slang for expressing consolation, voicing encouragement, or dismissing criticism. The phrase implies that criticism says more about the critic, or “hater,” than the person being criticized, i.e., that they are making judgements out of jealousy or their own negativity. -- Dictionary.com. It's also the title of this song by the band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! (presumably inspired by Jackson Pollack 😀) ...
57. Pop star Rita: ORA. Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she was featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Right Now", which peaked atop the UK singles chart. Here's her 2023 hit You & I ...
58. Statues, paintings, etc.: ART.
59. [Theme clue]
62. Mirror image?: YOU. A selfie that doesn't require a cell phone?
63. Word from the Greek for "chasm": CHAOS. Also a homophone for the BAD GUYS in the Get Smart series ...
64. Fashion designer Kate: SPADE. Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade (born Katherine Noel Brosnahan; December 24, 1962 – June 5, 2018) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. She was the co-founder and co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York.
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| Kate Spade |
66. Valuable one: ASSET.
67. Aphrodite's consort: ARES. Here's the dish on this famous couple -- the love story of Ares & Aphrodite: their romance, affairs, children.
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| Ares and Aphrodite |
1. Overturned: UNDID.
2. Dance studio rail: BARRE.
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| Barre |
4. Fire (up): REV.
5. Barbershop quartet part: BASS . Here's an update on an old classic. I think the BASS is the third from the left ...
7. Praiseful poems: ODES. An ODE in praise of the tongue.
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8. Affirmative vote: YEA.
9. Moose feature: ANTLERS. All about moose antlers ...
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| Moose with antlers |
10. Upper-level clearance level: TOP SECRET. Here's the process for obtaining a TOP SECRET clearance. For your eyes only!
11. Cry from the recently roused: I'M UP. Good! Don't cry about it -- get to work!
12. Spurs (on): EGGS. -- "to incite, urge, encourage, instigate," c. 1200, from Old Norse eggja "to goad on, incite," from egg "edge".
14. Allow to peter out: LET DIE. A good way to clear out the gas in a lawnmower at the end of the summer -- let it run until the engine dies.
18. Caboose: REAR. Slang -- here are some other synonyms for "caboose".
23. "__ not for me to say": IT'S. An old standard by Robert Allen and Al Stillman made famous by Johnny Mathis ... 25. Puts in: ADDS.
26. Title at the Louvre: MONA. Today's Italian lesson -- MONA is a contraction of MA DONNA, "My Lady", and is the title for the woman depicted in the most famous painting in the world.
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| Mona Lisa Leonard Da Vinci |
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| The Deluge tablet inscribed in in Akkadian |
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| Caleb McLaughlin aka Lucas Sinclair |
31. "Whoops!": UH OH.
32. Tugs along: TOWS.
33. Ground-breaking invention: PLOW. Also spelled PLOUGH.
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| Farmer ploughing a field |
35. Demand that rarely ends in compromise: ULTIMATUM. "OR ELSE" was too short.
39. Pixar film set in Radiator Springs: CARS. Here's the original 2006 trailer ...
40. Hairy beasts: YAKS. We hear from YAKS frequently in crossword puzzles.
42. Only Hitchcock film to win Best Picture: REBECCA. Rebecca is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay was based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. The film stars Laurence Olivier as the brooding, aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the young, never-named woman who becomes his second wife. Maxim's first wife Rebecca, who died before the events of the film, is never seen. Her reputation and recollections of her, however, are a constant presence in the lives of Maxim, his new wife and the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. Here is the original trailer ...
43. Current locations?: OCEANS. FJORDS fit but didn't perp.
45. Young'un: TOT.
46. Prefix with -vore: OMNI. CARNI and HERBI didn't fit.
49. Geothermal alternative: SOLAR. Geothermal resources are reservoirs of hot water that exist or are human-made at varying temperatures and depths below the earth's surface and the heat can be converted for use as energy sources. Investment in SOLAR arrays has many advantages, but also has some disadvantages.
50. Wear away: ERODE.
51. Learned ones: SAGES.
52. Utters: SAYS.
53. Pants, informally: TROU. Short for TROUSERS. Hand up if you've ever heard anybody use this IRL?
54. College figs.: GPAS. DEANS were too long.
55. Great Plains people: OTOE. At one time the Otoes and Missourias, along with the Winnebago and Iowa Tribes, were once part of a single tribe that lived in the Great Lakes Region of the United States. In the 16th century the tribes separated from each other and migrated west and south although they still lived near each other in the lower Missouri River Valley. This article on the history of the Otoe-Missouria tribe will tell you why their name in the native language is a CSO to Husker Gary.
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| The Seven Tribes |
61. Massage locale: SPA.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
10 comments:
That wasn’t a bad puzzle. Unlike yesterday, there were no real Naticks, or even potential Naticks. And the themed answers were a lot of fun. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
All of the themers were common, in-the-language, expressions. Nice debut, Simon and Trenton. Enjoyed your exposition, waseeley (and Teri). (Hand up for hearing "TROU," usually preceded by "drop.")
OAT: That image of the Açai bowl looks repulsive.
PUG: We've got one living next door -- Frank, the hotdog. His companion is Maizey, the corndog.
The fiber-optic internet installation went well yesterday. In less than an hour we were up-and-running with 300 mbps internet service -- cheaper and faster than our old 75 mbps service. I did have to relocate our mesh router, a minor inconvenience. Trying to cancel the previous ISP (Optimum, formerly Soddenlink) did not go so well. It can't be done online, and after 30 minutes on the phone it still isn't done. [Grrrrrrr] Maybe today.
The biweekly DAB puzzle. David has these wise words to say about it ...
I always feel foolish talking to machines, because I think they’ll think I think they can think, and I don’t know how to ensure that they know that I know that they’re machines that don’t know anything.
Good morning. I'm with you on BOOYA- it was an easy fill but I didn't see ant connection. The rest of the puzzle was too easy for a Thursday. After DRIVERS SEAT was filled it was easy to guess the rest, except for not knowing what BLOCK had to do with choreography. CALEB and "Stranger Things" were both unknown.
OAT & acai- easy to fill but that was it,
Rita=ORA in a puzzle
FIR. Typical Thursday puzzle with the expected level of difficulty. A few proper names, but nothing perps couldn't fix.
I've never heard the term "navel gazing", but once again the perps helped.
The theme was fun and quite clever. I got it early on and that helped with the solve.
Overall, an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR in a Monday time of about 10 minutes. It helped to know all the names in the theme clues except Gerwig, Ava D is a CW staple, the only other name I didn’t know was CALEB, first thought Sarah. REBECCA may be the only Hitchcock film I haven’t seen. We’ve seen quite a few new constructors lately. Congrats to Simon and Trenton on your LAT debut.
Bill and Teri ~ thanks for your informative expo and the link to the DAB puzzle!
FIR, but breed->STATE, add->SUM, and upset->UNDID.
Hand up for drop TROU - stepson uses it.
Geothermal isn't just hot water. When my daughter and SIL built their house some 30 years ago, they installed a thermal climate control system. The concept is to use the nearly-constant temperature of the earth just a little below the surface (55 degrees or so year around) as a starting point. Less energy is required to heat from 55 to 72 and cool using 55 degree coils than to condition the ambient outside air.
No matter how many times Patti allows it, fire (up) is an incorrect clue for REV, at least from an automotive perspective. 'Course if you fire up a crowd, you could also be said to REV up the crowd, so there's that. Still ranks as a clunker from my perspective, but then I'm a guy and kind of a gearhead.
Thanks to Simon and Trent for the fun, and to Bill 'n' Teri for another fine review.
Took 6:01 today.
I didn't know Auden, Rebecca, Caleb, navel-gazing, or to associate crossword-friendly oat with crossword-friendly acai.
I knew today's foreign language lessons (de nada & rho), but based on today's and yesterday's puzzle, it looks like I need to brush up on my Mexican geography.
I enjoyed doing this puzzle so much I thought maybe Will Shortz was using the pseudonym Simon Marotte/Trenton Lee! They clearly had the best interests of the solver(s) in mind instead of showing off.
Some of their more amusing and clever (and misdirected) clues to me included "Current locations?" (OCEANS), "Ground-breaking invention" (PLOW), "Mobile app for staying mobile" (UBER), "Chihuahua, for one" (STATE), "Mirror image?" (YOU), and many others.
And it was refreshing not to be enmeshed in a puzzle that was replete with fashion, cosmetics, and obscure "celebrities."
An interesting aspect of Hitchcock's "Rebecca" winning Best Picture is that he actually had two nominees up for Best Picture, the other being "Foreign Correspondent." Oh--and in "Rebecca," Rebecca is never seen!
The great Oscar Hammerstein, way back in 1948, wrote (for "South Pacific") a song that became quite controversial, "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught." I wonder if the writer of "Haters Gonna Hate" had that song in mind.
Thanks again, Simon and Trenton, for providing us with such a Thursday treat! Your puzzle was proficiently clever and most satisfying in the solve.
This was an amusing and faster than my usual Thursday solve, with clever cluing as mentioned by Ken at 8:32
Bill had lots of fun musical links- but I thought for sure that "Haters GONNA hate, hate, hate" would link Taylor Swift's "Shake it off" as that line is a prominent part of the chorus (first instance was at 45 seconds in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM
We have that in the rotation at my cardio-dance class at the Y - it gets everyone from the 10 year olds to the 80 year olds going
Thanks Bill & Teri for the interesting blog and to Simon & Trenton Lee for the puzzle
Got back last night from Grandma duty in Seattle area - so lots to tackle today!
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