Today's theme is SELF-EVIDENT.
Gary Larson and Amy Ensz have placed five OBVIOUS theme clues symmetrically throughout the grid. The first word of each answer is a synonym for OBVIOUS.
The theme clues and answers (all Across) are:
15. Casino employee, obviously?: PLAIN DEALER. PLAIN is a synonym for OBVIOUS, as in, "It is PLAIN to me that the readers of this blog enjoy crossword puzzles." A DEALER is a casino employee who runs games by distributing cards and managing chips. A PLAIN DEALER is a person who interacts with others honestly and openly.
23. Natural pillow stuffing, obviously?: MARKED DOWN. MARKED is a synonym for OBVIOUS, as in, "There is a MARKED difference between summer and winter temperatures." DOWN is a layer of fine feathers found under the exterior feathers of birds, often used as pillow stuffing. MARKED DOWN is a phrase that means reduced in price.
34. Actor Jude's offspring, obviously?: PATENT LAW. PATENT is a synonym for OBVIOUS, as in, "He told a PATENT lie." LAW is the surname of actor Jude Law. PATENT LAW is a legal framework providing exclusive rights to inventors.
48. Honorific, obviously?: CLEAR TITLE. CLEAR is a synonym for OBVIOUS, as in, "It is CLEAR to me that the theme answers are humorous double entendres." TITLE can refer to an honoric, like "Mr.," "Ms.," or "Dr." CLEAR TITLE is a phrase that means undisputed ownership.
58. Convenient excuse, obviously?: STRIKING OUT. STRIKING is a synonym for OBVIOUS, as in, "The younger Law bore a STRIKING resemblance to his father, Jude." OUT can be used to mean an excuse, as in, "I didn't want to attend the party, and my sniffles gave me an OUT." STRIKING OUT has a number of meanings -- setting out on a course of action, having three unsuccessful swings in baseball, failing at something, or in this case, a spectacular excuse!
And now, it is obviously time to review the remaining clues and answers!
Across:1. Made-up band: KISS. The American rock band KISS has been made up of various members over the years. They are known for being MADE-UP with lots of makeup.
9. "Rules __ rules": ARE.
12. Native of Pre-Columbian Peru: INCA.
13. Gaze: STARE.
14. T. follower: REX. T. rex is short for Tyrannosaurus rex, a large, carnivorous dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous period.
15. [Theme clue]
17. Red block in Minecraft: TNT. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all-time, with over 300 million copies sold and nearly 170 million monthly active players as of 2024. The game world is composed of cubes (or "blocks") representing materials such as ores, water, and lava. And TNT!
19. Hair-raising: EERIE.
20. Manitoba people: CREE. The Cree are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories of Canada.
21. "Plus some other folks" abbr.: ET AL. Short for "et alia," a Latin phrase meaning "and others."
26. Leave the band, perhaps: GO SOLO.
28. Rejected: VETOED.
29. Pirouetting, perhaps: ON TOE. A ballet dancer supporting their weight on the tips of their toes is said to be en pointe.
30. Call on: VISIT.
33. Physicians, briefly: MDs. Medical doctors.
34. [Theme clue]
37. Coolers, briefly: ACs. Air conditioners.
40. A mile a minute: SIXTY. If you're going a mile a minute, that's sixty miles per hour.
41. "Up in Smoke" co-star: CHONG. "Up in Smoke" is a 1978 comedy film starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.
45. New Jersey city: CAMDEN.
47. Black eye: SHINER.
48. [Theme clue]
52. Cacio e __ pasta: PEPE. "Cacio e pepe" is Italian for "cheese and pepper." The classic dish is made with just pecorino romano cheese, black pepper and pasta. Some folks consider this a good dish to order to test the quality of the kitchen in an Italian restaurant. If they offer pizza, try margherita, topped with crushed peeled tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil leaves.
53. Not pretty: UGLY.
54. Plays: DRAMA.
56. GPS display: RTE. A Global Positioning System app (like Google Maps or Waze) displays a "route" to follow.
57. Was on the bottom?: SAT. Oh, *that* bottom!
61. Before, before: ERE. Ere used to mean before, well before our time.
62. Filch: SWIPE.
63. Nature or nurture: NOUN. Nature and nurture are both nouns.
64. Leb. neighbor: SYR. Lebanon and Syria.
66. Ill at __: EASE.
Down:
1. Unit of explosive force: KILOTON. A unit of explosive power equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT.
2. Plastered?: IN A CAST. Plaster casts are used to treat bone fractures.
3. __-fi: SCI.
4. Sensible: SANE.
5. Step: STAIR.
6. "Bohemian Rhapsody" Best Actor Oscar winner: MALEK. Rami Malek portrayed Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in the 2018 biographical film "Bohemian Rhapsody."
 |
| Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury |
7. Lode load: ORE.
8. Neighbor of Aus.: GER. Austria and Germany.
9. Creative venue: ART ROOM.
10. Like some library books or contracts: RENEWED.
11. Stretches out: EXTENDS.
13. "Buona __": SERA. "Good evening" in Italian.
15. Barilla rival: PREGO. Competing brands of bottled marinara sauce, made with tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs.
16. Expo presentation: DEMO. At an exposition, exhibitors offer demonstrations of their products.
20. Chi. summer setting: CDT. Chicago is on Central Daylight Time in the summer.
22. Aerial maneuver: LOOP. A loop maneuver is an aerial stunt performed by airplane pilots. The loop is achieved by diving and pulling back sharply. In every loop, the pilot has to navigate through a force of gravity nine times the normal. It's dangerous!
24. Malicious: EVIL.
25. Rip off: DETACH.
27. Landlord: LEASER.
30. Bother: VEX.
31. Abbr. on a bank statement: INT. With any luck, your bank statement shows interest.
32. Mud hole: STY. A sty is a pig pen, which is often muddy.
35. Shade: TINT.
36. Blender setting: WHIP.
37. Charges: ACCUSES.
38. Home of the Stampede: CALGARY. The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
39. Place of refinement?: SMELTER. A smelter is a machine or factory that heats ore to high temperatures to separate metal from other elements.
42. Burdensome: ONEROUS.
43. Planet with the Great Dark Spot: NEPTUNE. The Great Dark Spot was observed by NASA's Voyager 2 space probe in 1989, and later by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a large storm.
44. Welcome: GREET.
46. Same-__ delivery: DAY.
47. Formal introduction?: SEMI. Semi-formal is a dress code: more polished than work wear, but less formal than black-tie. For men, a suit is in order. For women, who the heck knows?
49. Actor Elba: IDRIS. Idris Elba is an award-winning English actor and singer. He is OBVIOUSLY sexy, having been named Essence's annual Sexiest Man of the Year in 2013 and People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2018.
50. Drivel: TRIPE. Drivel is nonsense. Tripe is slang for nonsense. The first meaning of tripe is the edible lining of a cow, pig, or sheep's stomach. The edible tripe looks like rubbish, which led to the secondary meaning of rubbish or nonsense.
51. Camp sight: LAKE.
55. Celebrity chef Burrell: ANNE. Anne Burrell is an American chef and television personality She hosts the Food Network show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and co-hosts Worst Cooks in America.
58. Digits from the government: SSN. Social Security Number.
59. Wee hour: TWO. The wee hours are the first few hours after midnight, so called because they have wee (or small) numbers. TWO o'clock AM is a wee hour -- but not the only one.
60. Indian state whose capital is Panaji: GOA. Goa is a state on the southwestern coast of India. It is India's smallest state by area and fourth-smallest by population. India rates Goa as having the best quality of life in the country. The state capital, Panaji, retains cultural influences from its 456 years as a territory of Portugal. The beaches of Goa appear to be popular tourist destinations.
34 comments:
Some misdirection made this puzzle somewhat more difficult than it would have been otherwise. And it seemed in some cases, some pretty specialized knowledge was required. Nevertheless, I got through it okay. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning. Thank you, Gary and Amy, and thank you, NaomiZ.
I saw the repeated use of obviously in the clues, and that helped a bit with the solve, as the theme was apparent. ;-)
Still had to work at it though.
NaomiZ, your explanations of the theme answers were perfect. I liked how you succinctly explained both parts of the answers, as well as the meaning of the combined words.
I've never played Minecraft and mostly know of it from puzzles. We commonly have ore as a Minecraft related answer, so ore before TNT.
Also tried ire before VEX, ytd before INT, and tent before LAKE
Favorite clues were: Made-up band, Was on the bottom, Plastered, and Place for refinement.
Trivia - The Cleveland PLAIN DEALER (1842) has been around longer than the NY Times, the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has been around since 1786.
Good morning!
When PLAIN DEALER appeared, d-o figured we were going to have a theme of newspaper names. Nope. But that was as close as he got. Thanx for 'splainin' it, NaomiZ. That guy IN A CAST must have a broken wrist -- voice of experience...twice. Otherwise the cast wouldn't have to extend beyond the elbow. INTerest on checking accounts is still paltry. Methinks GOA is the only 3-letter Indian state. The second Bourne move begins in GOA. Nice effort, Gary and Amy; your theme was too complex for my simple brain.
The LA Times claims to be the paper that has published a daily crossword puzzle the longest.
FIW, missing PoPE x ONoROUS (BAD SPELARS OF THE WORLD, UNTIE!)
ecol->SMOG, jupiter->NEPTUNE, idera->IDRIS, and tent->LAKE.
KISS, because Insane Clown Posse wouldn't fit.
I don't like my sales receipt to denote "Card SWIPEd." Makes me feel like a thief.
Thanks to Gary and Amy for the Semi-Tough puzzle. My favorite was "made up band." And thanks to NaomiZ for another clever review. I got all the theme meanings before your explanation except MARKED. I blame decaf.
The theme entries are too convoluted (and tenuous) at best. I read the attempt to lawyer them into acceptability, but came away unconvinced. Just a theme that tried way too hard and came up short.
FIR. Typical Friday difficulty as can be expected. I had to really work at this one, but ultimately it was quite doable.
There were a few clever misdirections and the theme seemed to be a stretch, but well placed perps saw me through.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Enjoyed. Some clever clues! Kiss, rex, on toe, sixty, drama, in a cast, detach and all the themes…
I had a hard time figuring out the theme but managed to FIR . Thanks Gary and Amy for a fun puzzle.
Took 11:11 today to evidently.
I didn't know the skin care brand, the Indian state, and wanted "Incan" instead of "Inca."
The Kiss clue was good.
Not too difficult for Friday fare, a lot of standard CW fill, FIR in 12:34. Only unknowns were ROC and PEPE. I’ve finally committed to memory the three letter Indian state GOA, probably won’t remember the capital Panaji. Perps demanded LEASER and not Lessor, as did MDS and not Drs. I liked the clues for SAT, SIXTY and KISS (can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of the band though). I’ve heard PREGO with a short “E” sound as an adjective describing a woman’s condition, not with the long “A” sound of the sauce. Thanks to Gary and Amy, I enjoyed the solve.
NaomiZ ~ nice to see you back at the helm with you’re thorough and polished expo, I know you put some time and effort into it and it’s much appreciated!
Good Morning:
Because of Naomi’s excellent explanation and explication, the theme is much more “obvious” and understandable than it was throughout the solve. Maybe it’s my sluggish brain, but I wasn’t really sure what was going on until I came to the blog. There were several clever clues and some fresh and lively fill, but my ongoing confusion outweighed any enjoyment or satisfaction in completing the puzzle in normal Friday time.
Thanks, Gary and Amy, and many thanks, Naomi, for shedding the light on the theme and its complexity. Loved the comic for Et Al and the yummy-looking Cacio e pepe, a simple concoction but probably very tasty. Idris Elba is always a sight for sore eyes, as I’m sure Lucina will agree!
Have a great day.
I thought this was a very fair Friday with the themers all very gettable. I keep repeating myself, but Fridays are not supposed to be easy or obvious.
I liked Place of refinement?: SMELTER and Made-up band: KISS . I did meet the original members of that band at a rehearsal studio in New York in 1978 without their make-up. Gene Simmons was a nice Jewish boy. I did not know anything about MINECRAFT or Cacio e __ pasta: PEPE but the fill perped. Thanks Gary and Amy, who I think are still a couple and Naomi for the excellent fill in.
The theme makes no sense I don't know what patent has to do with Jude laws children there is absolutely no connection there. Same thing with the other thing clues
Friday puzzle. Was obviously pointed the way but went dead white in the SE. nonetheless enjoyable.
Greet the day.
The theme concept was a reach, obviously.
Obviously I didn't notice the synonyms for OBVIOUS but I did FIR. The perps save me today, I felt like i was STRIKING OUT when I got to the center. VEX was slow in coming after I'd filled ADO for bother. The 60mph save me from a DNF.
I DNK TNT, ANNE, CAMDEN, ROC, PEPE as clued
I buy Barilla pasta but never knew they made a sauce. Or does PREGO have a pasta? DW buys multiple types of sauce and mixes them.
The artificial boundaries of SYRia, drawn the the British and French after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, no longer exist. It will take a crystal ball to figure out what the future holds.
Puzzling thoughts:
I will echo all of Irish Miss' comments with the obvious exception of not being all that smitten with IDRIS Elba ;^). He is a good actor and all, but I am not attracted to him (not that there's anything wrong with that if other guys are)
Naomi, great job in pinch-hitting for MalMan. I had absolutely no clue about the theme today; glad that this was not MY turn to blog! ;^)
BTW, I "spoke" to the Malodorous Manatee via text message on Christmas. He is enjoying the massive amount of fresh powder in his skiing community in the Rockies and sounded quite relaxed and happy. We all need a break from reality, now and again
I, too thought of the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper after solving that clue. Enjoy the weekend, all
Yellowrocks! sorry I missed your birthday! I hope it was merry...
The puzzle?
Nothing in this puzzle was obvious! In fact, I can't remember when I had so many wrong obvious answers, and clues that didn't give me a clue. The Theme was a head scratcher too, but it made reading the Blog very pleasurable, as instead of "aha" moments, I had many a "oh that's what they meant moments."
Oh, there was one exception. Cacio y (blank) pasta...
While the puzzle/clue answer was obvious, the actual dish turned out to be quite a surprise for me! I never order pasta at a restaurant, because I always think "why should I order something I can make at home!" Then one day daughter #1 insisted I try her meal, and I was blown away by the taste of Cacio y Pepe! I even went back to that restaurant a second time and reordered it, but it wasn't as good, that's when the waitress informed us that it depends on the chef, and they had a new chef that day...
No Cacio y Pepe cannot be made at home...
At least, that's what I thought. It turns out there is a secret t9 making the restaurant version versus traditional. I can't wait to try this at home
I think this is the right link, it took me forever to find the secret...
Anonymous at 9:17 AM: Each of the theme answers is a twist on a common phrase. We all know what PATENT LAW usually means, but in this case a PATENT LAW is clearly actor Jude Law's offspring because of a striking resemblance.
I always like Gary Larson puzzles and now Amy Ensz’s as well. They are usually challenging but fair. This puzzle was no exception. I caught on to the theme quickly therefore enjoyed it.
I found lots of clever clues as have already been mentioned, IN Á CAST, SAT KISS.
I didn’t know ROC, ANNE as clued, and CHONG, but perps helped.
My great grand nephew plays Mine Craft and the other day he tried to show me what he was doing with it and he was going so fast I got dizzy.
Á few years ago I had á terrific meal in CALGARY. impressive city.
Thank you NaomiZ for á terrific review.
I will never understand how "happy" and "snow" can be in the same sentence.
Managed to FIR, thanks to some very fair perps. Lots of clever clues, and some Friday crunch, but an enjoyable outing. Thanks to NaomiZ for 'splainin the "obvious" part! My "aha!" moment for the day.
The theme didn’t do much for me, even after NaomiZ’s excellent explanation, and a few of the clues were misleading, but the puzzle was Friday-worthy and I enjoyed the steady progress toward my FIR.
Proper names helped a lot, especially CHONG, CALGARY, CAMDEN, and CREE. I also liked seeing TRIPE and SWIPE.
I liked the SIXTY entry too, but I thought it was unfair to some solvers. I didn’t like the clues for SAT and BOTHER, and am on the fence as to whether “rip off” was a truly clever clue for DETACH. There’s no such debate over the NOUN clue. Been done too often.
Interesting, if challenging, puzzle--many thanks, Gary and Amy. And always appreciate your very helpful commentary, NaomiZ, thanks for that too.
Well, having a puzzle start with KISS suggested it might have a very positive theme--though having it followed with SMOG had it go in the opposite direction. Which way were we going to go? Well, MARKED DOWN and VETOED didn't bode well, and neither did DETACH. As we got to the end things got more and more ONEROUS, and by the end we were clearly STRIKING OUT.
So it was time to go back to having someone give someone a KISS on the way to the ART ROOM up the STAIRS to look at some paintings, some of which were RENEWED. And we were then encouraged to GO SOLO and dance on ONE TOE and VISIT friends. So by the end of the puzzle we were much more at EASE.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
My thoughts exactly.
Almost TITT a few times, but persisted and eventually filled all cells, but required help a few times, so can't claim I FIR. FWH (Finished With Help) instead. Interesting that while working the CW it seemed to be another name-fest, but when I went back and counted, just 14 names, and only 4 DNKs. Some very sneaky clues: 1A "Made-up band" and 63A "Nature or nurture" leading the charge. Thanx GL&AE for this difficult (for me) but doable CW. I suspect that if I had taken the time and not gotten lazy and looked up a few things I could have eventually managed to FIR. But I got lazy. NaomiZ thanx for the clear explanations and overall fun write-up.
Musings
-After hours of work, our house, inside and outside, is back to looking plain which is how we like it.
-Rules ARE rules, unless…
-GO SOLO: Diana Ross went out on her own and Someday We’ll Be Together was supposed to be her first big song. She sang it solo but Motown decided to credit it to the then defunct group, The Supremes.
-I live on U.S. 30 here in the heartland and have been on it from Astoria, OR to Camden, N.J.
-J.H. kids used COB as a synonym for pilfer
-The Hiroshima bomb had a force of 15 KILOTONS of TNT
-LEASER/lessor – tomaytoh/tomahtoh
-Voyager 2 is now 11 billion miles beyond Neptune travelling at 9.4 miles/second
-TROPE was my drivel at first.
Husker, I've always heard COP as the synonym for pilfer.
Ditto!!
"J.H. kids used COB as a synonym for pilfer" They just misunderstod the old folks saying "cop" for pilfer. Remember the famous skit where Jack Webb and Johnny Carson discussed the guy who copped the copper clapper?
HAH for one second there I read that as “GOP” 😆
“Today's theme is SELF-EVIDENT”…”DOH!!” lol
To be truthful, it wasn’t to me; I just bagged all the big fills as recognizable phrases. Trying to theme them seems a bit if a stretch, but it was fun today, and I bagged a FIR, so no lost love. A solid construct by Mr. Larson and Ms. Ensz, thanks y’all! And NaomiZ, each of your recaps is getting better than the last — so keep doing whatever it is you’re doing, it’s lookin’ great! 😎👍🏽
I managed to spell ONEROUS correctly this trip, so PEPE fell right in — and thanks for the link to the recipe, Naomi, I’m gonna give it a try
(cont’d — hit Return by mistake…)
It sounds so tasty!
Speaking of crossings, anyone else catch the STAIRxSTARE at 5D/13A? For some reason that tickled my grin-bone. Plus we have the closely-related 7D and 39D — ORE gets SMELTED, yah? It’s also Abbreviated Geography Day here — GER, SYR and Chi (for 20D CDT). But my fave of the day is 2D “Plastered?” for INACAST, next to “Mile a minute”> SIXTY; 60 is also 88’/second, for anyone who’s interested (70 is 102’). Entertaining stuff, kids (perhaps I’m just easily entertained…).
The only “??” was LEASER; isn’t it properly “lessor”? Who knows?
While INACAST is still fresh in our minds, have any of you seen the new tech for those? It’s a mesh-tubing deal that slips over the broken limb, which is then injected with some goo that hardens solid; it’s waterproof, and allows the skin to breath while still immobilizing the break. Not sure if these are in common use yet, but very innovative.
(sorry again about this 2-parter)
====> Darren / L.A.
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