Theme: Risible (rhyming) repetition
Puzzling thoughts:
Just 12 short days ago, Ricky J. Sirois provided us with a Sunday puzzle: his 4th LAT submission, according to NaomiZ. And as NaomiZ will be doing the Friday blog in Moe's absence while he heals, believe every word she says!! 😀
So, let's explore Ricky's 5th LAT puzzle before I take a brief hiatus:
Today's offering, while not as tough as some Friday puzzles I've blogged, did have its Moe-ments. Every time there is some play-on-words it takes a couple of solved ones before the theme reveals itself. At least for me ...
So how did today's theme of repetition come about? Let's look at the entries:
21-across. Dorothy's musing before heading back to Kansas?: DO I HAVE TOTO?
I am certainly curious to know how Ricky came to think of the four entries he offered today. The first is a solid example of how both of the expressions work: "Do I have to?" is a lament that many kids use when they don't want to do something. And maybe Dorothy didn't want to return to Kansas after spending her wonderful dream in Oz. But I'm sure that she double-checked before she did return that her dog, Toto was by her side.
A Moe-ku, perhaps? Be sure to read this a couple of times to see the double meaning ...
Her Auntie Em barks
33-across. All-clear before the big dance competition?: GOOD TO GOGO.
42-across. Advice on how to prevent undue interest from influencers?: MAKE IT SO-SO.
One of our regular board influencers is our one and only Picard. Sometimes a picture captures more than my words can describe!
53-across. Enthusiastic reply from a certain bird impersonator?: INDEED I DODO.
What ultimately led to my rating this puzzle a bit lower was this entry. If our resident grammarian, Yellowrocks happens to stop by today, I hope she will offer her comments and thoughts about it
The first part of the phrase could be written "I do indeed" as well as "Indeed, I do". Maybe the word "enthusiastic" in the clue leads us to the proper position of the word, "indeed". But I digress ...
The whole concept of "indeed, I dodo" just seemed forced. A dodo is not just a "certain" bird, but an extinct one. And unlike the other three entries the plausibility of that phrase just isn't there
How might the fourth entry be a little more plausible? Here is a possible substitute for 53-across:
"Words from a department store Santa on his first day on the job"? I AM GUNG HO HO
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| He does check out who's naughty or nice |
Today, Ricky had some pretty good mojo. I give this puzzle ⭐⭐⭐ and 3/4⭐s - congrats!!
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| The filled grid. Notice the Natick at 1-down and 13-across |
Across:
1. Decoupage, e.g.: CRAFT. Knowing what the word decoupage means led to solving this
6. Stroller passenger: TOT.
9. Substance: HEFT.
13. Dark matter?: HUMOR. I stuck with rumor for too long in this spot. I didn't get the play-on-words of its perpendicular (1-down. Ring leader?): CHAMP, either. This was Moe's "Natick", as described in the grid image
14. Had regrets: RUED. I hope I won't rue having my cataracts replaced
16. Largest of seven: ASIA. Seven = continents - can you name them all?
17. Suspect's story: ALIBI. Really, I didn't make this up
18. Plot size: ACRE.
19. Villain in "The Lion King": SCAR. This guy:
20. Memory unit, informally: MEG. Gig also fits - I had to erase it when some of the perps solved
24. Undertaking: PROJECT.
26. Persian Gulf nation: IRAN. Iraq also fits but I used Iran, initially
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| Persian Gulf |
27. Durham sch.: UNH. My first thought was Duke - a university in Durham, North Carolina. But since the word school was abbreviated in the clue, I knew the answer must contain initials. The Wildcats of UNH reside in Durham, New Hampshire
28. Ellipsis trio: DOTS. Something that C-Moe uses often when blogging ... would it surprise you to know that one of C-Moe's favorite movie theater candy is this?
30. Terr. divided in 1889: DAK. My preferred clue for this would be: "Oft-injured QB Prescott of the Cowboys"
37. Stack: PILE.
38. Hierarchy levels: RUNGS.
39. Hockey's Bobby: ORR. Oops - Ricky used one of the dreaded crossword-ese names
40. Civic, for one: SEDAN. Honda also fits, and I had to erase this before completing that section of the puzzle
41. "Ohhhh": I SEE. Hopefully what Moe will say after he gets some new eyeball lenses
44. School org.: PTA.
45. Lean (on): RELY.
46. Foldable bed: COT.
47. Abbr. on an ESPN crawl: NCAA. This usually applies to the NCAA as a whole. Right now, you'll see "WCBB" (for example) when ESPN is offering the scores of women's college basketball games on their "ticker" (crawl)
49. School papers: REPORTS. The business world might refer to "reports" as those who work for their manager
57. One with a platonic partner, for short: ARO. This was unknown by me but to be fair, it showed up recently in another LA Times puzzle
58. Thoroughfare: ROAD.
59. Leave out: OMIT.
60. Polling booth figure: VOTER.
62. Vegetable in the cabbage family: KALE. I notice this vege being used in a lot of prepared salad mixes found at the grocery store
63. Say hello quietly: WAVE.
64. __ planner: EVENT.
65. Pizza joint in "Do the Right Thing": SAL'S. Sal's Pizza is a regional chain in NH and MA (surprisingly, there is none located @ UNH - see 27-across). Sal's Pizzeria is found in Brooklyn, NY and was a venue in the movie, "Do the Right Thing". And now you know, because prior to looking this up, I had no clue
66. Souvenir from an animated film: CEL.
67. Worshipper of Jah: RASTA. I don't know about Jah but I do know that Joboo is for real. Enjoy this clip! [rated PG-13 for a few choice words]
Down:
2. Help in keeping things straight: RULER. I am guessing that Ricky/Patti meant one of these?
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| Notice the straight edge on the RULER |
3. Compadre: AMIGO. Would you use amiga if the clue was "Com-madre"??
4. Keyless key: FOB. Moe-ku:
5. Weapons for Neptune and Shiva: TRIDENTS. Many of us are aware of the god, Neptune
6. Aspect: TRAIT.
7. "That sounds painful": OUCH.
8. Mega- squared: TERA.
9. "__ mañana": HASTA.
10. San Diego suburb whose name means "hidden": ESCONDIDO.
11. Italian automaker: FIAT. Alfa fit but I didn't bite
12. Primary ingredient in poi: TARO.
15. Danny of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia": DE VITO. A series on FX network. The trailer:
22. Cuatro y cuatro: OCHO. [translation from Spanish to English] Four and four = eight
23. Hosp. sections: ERS. ORS also fit. Again, I chose the correct one initially
25. 2022 and 2024 AL MVP: JUDGE. "Here comes the JUDGE"! As in, Aaron Judge the center fielder of the NY Yankees
28. Not at all cool: DORKY.
29. Fairy tale baddie: OGRE.
31. "Too bad": ALAS.
32. Casino game: KENO. How to play, courtesy of WikiHow
33. Golf clinic topic: GRIP. Step-by-step guide to the perfect golf GRIP
34. Depose: OUST.
35. Everybody: ONE AND ALL. Not a phrase that we see a lot of in crossword puzzles
36. Hoped-for result: GOAL.
37. Sauce made with pine nuts: PESTO. Here is a simple recipe:
40. Short stay: STOPOVER.
42. Grazing location: MEADOW.
43. Coffee order: ICED.
45. "Run Away With Me" singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE.
48. Gives way: CEDES.
49. Brand of canned chiles: ROTEL. My favorite of theirs, and one I use often in a variety of recipes:
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| Try this with black-eyed peas |
50. Going prices: RATES.
51. Reznor with two Oscars for Best Original Score: TRENT. His biography, courtesy of Wikipedia
52. "More or less": SORTA.
53. Bothers: IRKS.
54. U.S. weather agency: NOAA. NOAA and NCAA were a bit too close to each other in the grid for my liking ...
55. Apple desktop: IMAC. I am a PC guy (laptop) with an iPhone
56. Deep __: DIVE.
61. Eggs, biologically: OVA. Not sure how much they'd charge for an ova, but a dozen hen's eggs were $6.99 this past week, and that was for the "store" brand
2 comments:
I pretty much knew what the theme was right away, and that helped me solve this pretty challenging puzzle. It didn’t help that I had forgotten what “decoupage” was, but eventually everything fell into place. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o fell into the CRAMP/RUMOR trap, and never got out of it. Bzzzzzzt. I waited for C-Moe to explain how CRAMP matched the clue. D'oh. Not my finest moment. Thanx, Ricky and C-Moe. (Good luck with the cataract surgery. Mine wasn't a great success -- I still need glasses for both reading and distance.)
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