Just Some Singers
in a Rock and Roll Band
in a Rock and Roll Band
Veterans Kevin Christian and Doug Peterson team up today with a simple theme consisting of 5 two word question clues, each beginning with a play on the last name of a pop singer. They fill each clue with a two word in the language phrase beginning with the singer's first name. I couldn't find any pattern in the second word of the fill and there was no reveal. Here are the themers ...
17. Iggy's therapist?: POP PSYCHOLOGIST. You can see why Iggy Pop might need a psychologist -- he was A Real Wild Child ...
23. Taylor's comeback?: SWIFT RECOVERY. Taylor came back from her recent ERAs Tour and apparently finding the last leg to be rather torturous she was in need of some RECOVERY ...
61. Al's state-of-the-art recording equipment?: GREEN TECHNOLOGY. Al Greene (born April 13, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and is referred to on the museum's site as being "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music" and is considered by some to be "The Last of the Great Soul Singers". Here's his Take Me to the River ...
Despite the simplicity of the theme, I did find some clever cluing and IMO I didn't find any pop culture references that couldn't be resolved with perps.
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Rock blaster?: AMP. TNT fit, but didn't perp.
4. Plus: BONUS.
9. Celery unit: STALK.
14. Fragrant garland: LEI. A perfect accessory for sitting on a 16A.
15. Are: EXIST.
16. Sunporch: LANAI. A lanai or lānai is a type of roofed, open-sided veranda, patio, or porch originating in Hawaii. Many homes, apartment buildings, hotels and restaurants in Hawaii are built with one or more lānais.
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| Albert Spencer Wilcox Beach House Hanalei, Hawaii |
20. __ equity: SWEAT. Sweat equity refers to work one does to build up value without a salary. This ownership interest, or increase in value, is created as a direct result of hard work by the owner. For example, homeowners who renovate or repair their house themselves are investing in sweat equity that increases the value of their home.
21. Tide competitor: ERA. Here are the best and worst laundry detergents for your money. Spoiler alert: the best, most economical detergent is neither Tide nor Era. And you can save even more money on laundry detergent by rolling your own.
22. Came across: MET.
23. [Theme clue]
28. Far away: NOT NEAR.
30. "Cobra __": Netflix series about a dojo: KAI. Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy drama television series created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. It serves as a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen. Here's a preview of Season 6 ...
31. Primatologist's subject: APE. Probably the most famous primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, who for 60 years has been studying chimpanzees, a species of great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa.
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| Eastern chimpanzee Kibale National Park, Uganda |
32. Chocolate-and-caramel candy: ROLO. Approximately 24.2 million pounds of ROLO® Candy are sold annually.
 |
39. [Theme clue]
43. Evaluate: ASSAY. Usually specifying a quantitative evaluation, e.g. measuring the percentage of gold in an ore.
44. Even once: EVER. If it has EVER happened, then it has happened at least ONCE.
45. 2016 Super Bowl MVP Miller: VON. Vonnie B'VSean Miller (born March 26, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). At the conclusion of the 2015 NFL season, Miller was named Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl 50. In 2021, Miller was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and was a member of the team that won Super Bowl LVI.
_(cropped).jpg) |
| Von Miller |
48. Word on some Oscars: ACTRESS. The Oscar for Best Actress award has been presented 97 times, to 79 actresses. The recipient of the most awards is Katherine Hepburn, with 4.
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| Katherine Hepburn |
56. Wedding notice word: NEE. Today's French lesson: Feminine adjective --"Née = Born".
57. Honest prez: ABE. Did Lincoln really deserve the nickname, Honest Abe?
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| Abraham Lincoln |
61. [Theme clue]
66. "Mercy!": LORDY.
67. Judges' attire: ROBES. Here are nine ...
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| The Supreme Court of the United States |
69. Happen next: ENSUE. 70A ENSUES ...
70. Elitist sort: SNOOT. See 71A.
71. __ trip: EGO. See 70A.
Down:
1. Jungfrau's range: ALPS. Today's German lesson: "Jungfrau (YOONG-frow) = maiden, virgin". The Jungfrau ALP, at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Swiss Alps and definitely not a climb for children. It is located in the Bernese portion of the range.
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| Jungfrau Alp |
3. Mouthpieces for some smokers: PIPE STEMS. This is not a pipe ...
4. Ride-or-die pal: BESTIE. Or abbreviated BFF.
5. Stridex shelfmate: OXY. Both products are used in the treatment of ACNE, a mild form of crosswordese. The jury seems out as to which product is best, but as OXY is imported from South Africa it costs more ...
7. Playbill carrier: USHER.
8. Put away: STORE.
9. __-mo: SLO.
10. See 12-Down: TAG.
11. "Demon Slayer" genre: ANIME. Thank you perps. Demon Slayer: Blade of Demon Destruction is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga (comic book) series of the same name by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a Demon Slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon.
12. With 10-Down, game with light weapons?: LASER. Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits. In late 1970s and early 1980s, the United States Army deployed a system using lasers for combat training. But laser tag didn't begin to take off until 1984 when George Carter III, inspired by the Star Wars movies, invented the first affordable system. So how do laser tag systems actually work ...?
13. Cat, affectionately: KITTY.
18. Front-row chess piece: PAWN. This term also refers to a person who does not have any real power, but is used by others to achieve something, e.g. "The refugees were pawns in an international political dispute".
19. Deficiency: LACK.
24. Jamie of "M*A*S*H": FARR. Jamie Farr (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Corporal Klinger, a soldier who tried getting discharged from the army by cross-dressing. You have to wonder who kept him supplied with duds -- "Hot Lips" Hoolihan maybe?
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| Jamie Farr and Loretta Swit |
25. Cache: TROVE. E.g. a TREASURE TROVE, the subject of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island. There have been several adaptations of this novel including our favorite, this 1990 film with Charlton Heston as the obsessive pirate Long John Silver ...
26. Hops drier: OAST. An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, e.g. Kent and Sussex, England. Many redundant oasts have been converted into tourist inns.
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| Oasts Maidstone, Kent, England |
27. Two before X: VIII. Today's math lesson (in base BCE): "X (formerly known as Twitter) - II = VIII". 😀
28. Org. that oversees the Artemis moon program: NASA. The Artemis moon program is named for the eponymous Greek goddess, the twin sister of Apollo, who was of course the namesake of the Apollo moon program. Here is the Artemis Program logo, which tells the story in a nutshell ...
29. Major work: OPUS. The plural of OPUS is OPERA, which has come to mean a musical drama or comedy telling a story via a series of works such as an overture, arias, and interludes. Ludwig van Beethoven, whose birthday we celebrated just 10 days ago, wrote only one opera, entitled Fidelio. He wrote a total of 4 overtures to it, finally settling on this one ... 33. Loo: LAV. A Brit place to sit. 😀
34. Surname of heist masterminds played by Sinatra, Clooney, and Bullock: OCEAN. Frank Sinatra played Danny Ocean in the 1960 film Ocean's 11. In Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen Danny was played by George Clooney. In Ocean's Eight women stole the franchise and Sandra Bullock played Debbie Ocean. Got that? Hand up if you've seen any of these flicks and put both yer hands up if I got any of that wrong!
36. Flatfish named for an English port: DOVER SOLE. The town of Dover, England, directly across English Channel from Calais, France is famous for it's White Cliffs -- my Mother used to sing us this song about them. As Dover was also a major fishing port in the late 19th century and a delicate white fish called "King of Sole" was common in the town markets, the name was eventually changed to Dover Sole, a flat fish with a white underside. Here's a simple recipe with capers, parsley, and butter.
37. Mireille of "Hanna": ENOS. Hanna is a sci-fi TV series about a young girl played by Esme Creed-Miles raised in the wilds of Finland by her father, an ex-CIA man, to make her the perfect assassin. She has been receiving injections of DNA since birth as a part of a program called ULTRAX to make her a super-soldier. Mireille Enos plays Marissa Wiegler, the CIA operative put in charge of the original UTRAX program, but who turns from a foe to an ally and mother figure to Hanna. Here's a trailer ...
38. Hyphenated IDs: SSNS.
40. Lancelot's strong suit?: MAIL. Well it must have been chain mail because it certainly wasn't Lancelot's fidelity to King Arthur.
41. Literary governess: EYRE. Jane Eyre is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë, published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847. It is a coming of age story that follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall. The novel revolutionized prose fiction, being the first to focus on the moral and spiritual development of its protagonist through an intimate first-person narrative, where actions and events are colored by a psychological intensity.
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| First Edition, vol 1. |
42. With the bow, in music: ARCO. "arco" a the literal score notation and it indicates when to return to bowing the violin after an interlude of "pizz", that is pizzicato -- plucking the strings with the fingers. If you listen carefully and look closely at this score of Edvard Grieg's -Anitra's Dance from his Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, you'll hear and see the alternation between pizz and arco ...
47. ESPN datum: STAT.
49. Ryan Seacrest, for one: TV HOST. Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest co-hosted and served as executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and has hosted other media including American Idol, American Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. He became co-host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2005, and became the sole host following Clark's death in 2012.
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| Ryan Seacrest |
51. A matter of degrees?: ANGLE. An ACUTE clue ... 😀
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| Eva and Juan Perón |
53. Scholarly article reviewers: PEERS. Peer review is a quality control system for academic publications. It is especially important for scientific publications, which can have widespread societal impact on medicine, health, and public policy. In recent decades this process has come under severe stress due to the high stakes economic importance of some scientific disciplines, and the "publish or perish" phenomenon. These are the probable causes of what concerned scientists call the reproducibility crisis -- the retraction of articles after publication due to the failure of other scientists' to get the same results using the same methodology. This problem has become so serious that in 2010 two longtime health journalists, Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus, founded Retraction Watch, “a site dedicated to reporting on scientific retractions and related issues” to bring to light how many scientific papers are withdrawn yearly and why.
54. Gets taken for a ride, in a way: UBERS.
55. Intel gathered by scouts: RECON. One of the first RECON missions is recorded in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible. In the painting below the scouts are shown returning from Canaan with grapes (sans the rumored milk and honey) and with bad news about the fortified cities and the race of giants they found there ...
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| The Grapes of Canaan by James Tissot. |
59. Awestruck: AGOG. Awesome - two vowels and two gerund endings!
60. Autocorrect target: TYPO. I'd prefer DWIM ("Do What I Mean") to "autocorrect".
62. College domain: EDU.
63. Dec. 31: NYE.
64. "The White Lotus" network: HBO. The White Lotus is an American black comedy drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO. "It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose interactions are affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions". While I've not seen it, I suspect that like all satires it's on the edge of becoming what it parodies. Here's the season 1 trailer (language) ...
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
26 comments:
I didn’t find this puzzle too hard. I knew all the “names” that had been “repurposed,” so that made it easier. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Tried ASSET (4a) over EXIST (15a), but the T-T looked bad. D-o used his Wite-Out on EXIST. Naturally. D'oh. Found a natick at the VON/ENOS cross -- thought the guy was probably VAN, but never heard of an ENAS. Whew. OAST used to be a cw staple, but hasn't appeared in quite some time. Thanx, Kevin, Doug, waseeley, and Teri (ROBES: "Here are twelve..." ???)
Methinks D-O has been hanging around ELMO too much, but methinks D-O can count better than Bill -- make that 9 robes. 😒
FIR, but eve->NYE and cbs->HBO. Hand up for WAGging ENOS x VON.
I only knew Cobra KAI because one of the actors did a silly commercial where he mugged for the camera and gave the commercial's punch line "kiddie KAI." My son had to explain it to me.
I was gonna bitch about artificial intelligence not being GREEN TECHNOLOGY at all, but Bill straightened me out. AI or Al - serifs would prevent this confusion. (I had never heard Al GREEN's cover of Take Me to the River, but I like it. Not as much as Big Mouth Billy Bass's version though.)
Thanks to Kevin and Doug for the fun. And thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun and informative review. Hand up for seeing Oceans 11, but none of the others. I had no idea that opera was plural of OPUS. But I think you had a typo. I think you left out a letter for "loo: A Brit place to sit."
Thursday puzzle. Keeping the Holiday spirit, the challenge today was doable and not laborious. Only a couple of nits caused write overs…..
Greet the day.
Happy Boxing Day to all and hope you all enjoyed Christmas and the first night of Hannukah. My first stumble as the mental confusion between Al GREEN and Al GREENE as I could not remember which spelling was correct, though for the puzzle on GREEN worked. Lo and behold, both spellings are correct. He was born Greene, but professionally was Green. And now you now.
I didn't know who MIREILLE ENOS is but VON is a very accomplished football pass rusher. Working for firms representing HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF BROWARD which used sweat equity as part of the down payment made that fill easy. Thanks to two real pros, Kevin and Doug. Bill and Terri always add more to think about.
Today's puzzle clearly showed the experience and expertise of its constructors, Kevin and Doug. It was smooth and well-constructed, and featured five clever theme answers. The latter were on their own, as there was no Reveal. As the bandit said to Bogart and Huston, "We don't need no stinkin' Reveal!"
The constructors had the best interests of the solvers (us) in mind. Their clues were clever and doable, and often made one think. "Concrete," for instance, turned out to be an adjective, not a noun, and there were other intriguing misdirections.
Proper names and other paeans to pop culture were kept to a minimum. The few that existed, like, say, KAI and ENOS, would have stopped me in my tracks had they had not been widely separated from each other--and not surrounded by helpful perps.
Thanks, Bill, for your informative and entertaining guide this morning, even if your court-packing scheme didn't work out. Shades of FDR! I was going to say something, but another early riser, Desper-Otto, beat me to it.
Good morning. Thank you, Kevin and Doug, and thank you, waseeley.
Fell into the same trap as Jinx and had eve before NYE, but made a SWIFT RECOVERY! Otherwise easy peasy.
FIW. The crossing of two proper names got me, Von and Enos. I had an "a" instead of an "o".
The theme was clever and I got it early on. That helped with the solve.
Except for that nasty crossing of names, this was a fun puzzle.
A fine creation today from a couple of pros, a solid theme enjoyable to suss, FIR in 15:25. I’ve seen ENOS in the CW twice now, and both times I’ve thought “Mireille” was referencing a surname and ENOS was an odd first name for a woman, maybe I’ll remember now. I liked the clue for VIII. Our LANAI on the water in Florida has an artistically painted surfboard table, a nice hangout which we’ll be going to 1/18, a respite from the UP winter. Thank you Kevin and Doug for the puzzle, and to Bill and Teri for the in-depth review, interesting read about the scientific PEERS.
Good Morning:
I, too, thought it was AI, and was ready to cry foul, until Bill enlightened me. I loved the play on the singer’s name, and using all singers in the themers ensured a very tight and consistent theme. No unknowns and no w/os led to a smooth and rapid solve. Enos was easy for me, even though I’m not familiar with “Hanna” because I remember her unusual name, Mireille, from “The Killing” series. Another nice CSO to HG at NASA.
Nice job, Kevin’s and Doug, and nice job, also, Bill and Teri. I always enjoy reminders of a favorite movie, such as Moonstruck, and a legendary actress, the divine Miss Katharine Hepburn. As always, your review gave us lots of food for thought!
Have a great day.
Musings
-Three grid spanner themers and two 13-letter fills accompanying them - what fun!
-I’ve off to get some SWEAT equity in putting away Christmas decorations.
Excellent CW. I enjoyed the theme although I didn’t know Al and Fiona. Yes á little Natick EN-S crossing V-N, but easy enough to guess.
I love APPLE TURNOVERs. Hand up distant before NOT NEAR and eve before NYE. Funny we have NOT NEAR crossing FARR.
Also an excellent review by Waseeley. What á great morning.
Quick for a Thursday- though like IM I thought the Al Green was AI for Artificial Intelligence and had to get filled partially by perps before the lightbulb went on
Reliable medical journals have all their articles peer-reviewed but junk journals ,as we call them, have articles that are all over the place and usually junk.
thanks Bill & Teri for the blog and Kevin & Doug for the puzzle!
FIR, but still don't get ride-or-die for bestie. Heard of "March, or die!" but that was in regard to the French Foreign Legion. Also, "recon" is what one does to OBTAIN Intel. Meh.
Not bad for a Thursday. But wait “LORDY!!” I FIW. 😩. Had VaN crossed with ENaS (KS)
Always fill uni for “college domain” first and it’s always wrong and held up the SW for awhile. Not sure what GREEN has to do with “state of the art AI” like “Donna” SUMMER or “Fiona” APPLE, never heard of her. OHHHH. AL not AI …sheesh 🙄 (but don’t get the BESTIE clue either)
Why would NÉE show up on a “wedding” invite if the bride isn’t married yet. But “notice” must refer to an after-the-wedding announcement. 🤔. Our paper used to post photos of engaged couples and brides. That stopped decades ago
“Matter of degrees” temps? College diploma? Way off. Mistook “Mercy” for a plea not a declaration. Needed perps.
It’s not All for a “Tide competitor” but what is Ewa? Oops it’s ERA. (like Taylor’s tour with lots of AMPs) I had filled STOwE first before STORE)
Many so-called LANAIs are enclosed large balconies often on high rise condominiums with no access outside so very unlike a “porch” or “veranda” (probably an example overuse of a term.) I remember the first time “The Golden Girls” mentioned the LANAI of their Miami home and I had no idea what they meant.
Have seen all the “Oceans”. Enjoyed the first two “White Lotus” seasons and looking forward to the third installment.
Happy Boxing Day. At least get a TKO 🥊🥊😉
Interesting, fun puzzle--many thanks, Kevin and Doug. And your commentary is always helpful, Bill, thank you and Teri for that too.
Well, the BONUS of having a PSYCHIATRIST is the chance to get a SWIFT RECOVERY. You can then enjoy being with your BESTIE, and playing with your KITTY, and taking VACATIONS on the OCEAN. When you get back, you can enjoy some DOVER SOLE. Pretty good situation, all things considered.
Have a good end of the week, everybody.
Ray - O @11:32 And a Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it, and a remembrance to St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
I enjoyed today's puzzle. Thanks, Kevin and Doug! Like desper-otto and Jinx, I took a WAG at the crossing of EN_S and V_N, and put my money on "O." FIR! Whoopee! I get to be a SNOOT about it and enjoy my EGO trip until tomorrow.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Kevin and Doug, and waseeley and Teri.
I FIRed in good time and saw the surname/common phrase theme.
Hand up for Eve before NYE (Dec. was abbreviated).
Another inkblot to change GoS AT to HAS AT.
Yes, I thought I had a Natick cross at VON and ENOS, but I guessed correctly on the O.
We sat AGOG in the park in central Interlaken, Switzerland, and enjoyed the gorgeous view of Jungfrau while eating our picnic lunch. One of many great memories from that trip.
Thanks for the Happy Boxing Day greeting, Ray-o. We Canadians get an extra day to recover from Christmas.
Monkey- great catch on the cross of FARR and NOT NEAR.
Wishing you all a great day.
And here at home ”the snow lays round about deep and crisp and even”
😇
As has been mentioned in the past, it is interesting how some can find a CW easy, others find it difficult. I struggled with this one. Eventually (22 min) managed to FIR with a lucky guess at VON/ENOS cross. Either an A or an O. Lucky WAG. Jinx beat me to mentioning the omission of an "H" at Bills definition at 33A. Almost started off with TNT at 1A, but looked at 1D and knew it had to be ALPS, so avoided an early error. So...tough, but doable, thanx KC&DP. Such a terrific write-up, thanx Bill! All that good music. I'm probably opening myself up to criticism, but this is probably the sixth or seventh Taylor Swift song I've listened to, and I still don't get why people rave about her music. Big meh in my book. Bill you showed a picture of something with capers: I LOVE capers. They add so much flavor to just about anything, especially fish.
Happy Boxing Day
Actually, T.K., the bandito used proper grammar! “We don’t need any steenkeeng Reveal” 🤣👍🏽
====> Darren / L.A.
Super-smooth construct — thanks Doug and Kevin! Only one “eeewww”, that ENOS/VON cross that everyone else already amply bee-atched about, so I’ll stand down on that. Loved the music tie-ins to the theme fills — pretty snazzy job, guys 🤙🏽😎
Favorite clue: “A matter of degree” for ANGLE — that was a gem. All the others felt fair and solid, making this post-Christmas puzzle a nice workout.
Thanks, Bill & Terri, for another erudite and entertaining tour of the deets — you featured one of my favorite artists (Magritte) and another (Donna Summer) whose music is about the only disco I can stomach; I’ve always found it intriguing that a girl who honed her pipes singing in church sang all those suggestive lyrics. Bad Girls indeed!
Ahh mannn…coming up on yet another New Year. “Time flies when you’re having fun” (or is it “Time’s fun when you’re having flies”?) 🤣
I’ll see myself out.
====> Darren / L.A.
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