Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with Robbie Cottom's sophomore LA Times offering. Theme: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
"There's no crying in baseball!"
A League of Their Own ~ 1992 ~ (1:48 min.)
Tom Hanks and Bitty Schram (Recognize her from Monk?)
The four themers are:
17 Across. Musical interval that spans four semitones: MAJOR THIRD. Here is a 40 sec. explanation:
20 Across. One of two Supreme Court members appointed by 5-Across: JUSTICE KAGAN. (b. April 28, 1960 in New York, NY) She became the 112th JUSTICE of the Supreme Court in 2010. Note: Pres. Obama's other appointee was #111, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
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| JUSTICE KAGAN |
58 Across. Relatively cool period of European history?: LITTLE ICE AGE. This Britannica article says it occurred from 1300 to 1850-ish.
64 Across. Drag performer who won Miss Congeniality on Season 5 of "RuPaul's Drag Race": IVY WINTERS. While I am not familiar with this person, I can see how IVY used as a name differentiates it from the plant connected with the schools in the reveal.
Today's reveal lies on the equator:
39. Many championship-bound teams, or what the starts of 17-, 20-, 58-, and 64-Across are: LEAGUE LEADERS.
The starts of each themed answer can go in front of the word LEAGUE to create a new, in-the-language phrase. In this way, they LEAD the word LEAGUE. We have:
MAJOR LEAGUE: the highest-ranking league in a particular professional sport, especially baseball.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: a group of superheroes in the DC Comics universe.
If you watched Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s,
you likely saw this 1 min. intro to Super Friends.
LITTLE LEAGUE: a youth baseball program started in 1930 in Williamsport, PA. more info.
IVY LEAGUE: a group of eight private colleges located in the northeast section of the U.S.
Next we will look at the 73 remaining clues:
Across:
1. Overconfident racer of fable: HARE. not to be confused with "win by a hair"
5. Barack who was the 44th U.S. president: OBAMA.
10. Shedloads: A TON. Shedloads is an informal word more common in the U.K. than it is in the U.S. It means "a large amount".
15. More peaked: PALER.
16. "Video Games" singer Del Rey: LANA. Two weeks ago we had 42-Across "Lust for Life" singer Lana ___ Rey. DEL
19. Family chart: TREE.
50. __ and ends: ODDS. My Australian friends call their pot-luck parties "ODDS and SODS" -- an informal British term used to describe different kinds of things that are usually small and unimportant.
52. In the past: AGO.
53. Music producer Brian: ENO. Yesterday -T pointed out that this is one spelled backwards.
54. Feminine pronoun: HER.
56. "All good, thanks": I'M SET. I related this one to a handy Japanese phrase: けっこうです. Use kekkou desu to reply when a waitress asks, "Do you want me to refill your water glass?" or a store clerk asks, "Do you want a bag for your purchases?"
63. Kuwaiti ruler: EMIR. This 1:47 min. news segment from Aljazeera covers the swearing in of Kuwaiti's EMIR just over one year ago.
68. Tuesday treat: TACO.
69. Birth-related: NATAL. NATAL and nation both came from the Latin word nasci.
70. Milky white gem: OPAL.
71. Snow coaster: SLED.
72. Narrow valleys: GLENS.
73. Like Cheerios: OATY.
Down:
1. "Let me see ... ": HMM.
2. Roadside aid org.: AAA. organization and American Automobile Association
3. Koothrappali on "The Big Bang Theory": RAJ.
That's all for today. Have a premier week!
1. Overconfident racer of fable: HARE. not to be confused with "win by a hair"
5. Barack who was the 44th U.S. president: OBAMA.
10. Shedloads: A TON. Shedloads is an informal word more common in the U.K. than it is in the U.S. It means "a large amount".
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| You can fit A TON of stuff in these sheds. |
14. "My good lady": MA'AM. and 43 Across. "My good man": SIR.
15. More peaked: PALER.
16. "Video Games" singer Del Rey: LANA. Two weeks ago we had 42-Across "Lust for Life" singer Lana ___ Rey. DEL
19. Family chart: TREE.
22. "Now I'm with you": GOT IT. It took me a bit to get this one.
25. Overnight stop: INN.
26. Historical period: ERA.
27. Actress Longoria: EVA.
28. Meeting, informally: SESH. short for session
32. Smartphone user's "Keep in touch": TEXT ME.
25. Overnight stop: INN.
26. Historical period: ERA.
27. Actress Longoria: EVA.
28. Meeting, informally: SESH. short for session
32. Smartphone user's "Keep in touch": TEXT ME.
Blues Traveler ~ Run Around ~ 1994
"Hey babe, let's keep in touch.
Hey, baby, let's keep in touch."
34. Acorn producers: OAKS. The Coastal OAKS here on the Monterey Peninsula are having a mast year. Nature never ceases to amaze!
36. Stags and does: DEER. plural of DEER
38. Gp. for physicians: AMA. Group and American Medical Association
44. Scheme: PLAN.
45. "Sweet!": NEAT.
36. Stags and does: DEER. plural of DEER
38. Gp. for physicians: AMA. Group and American Medical Association
44. Scheme: PLAN.
45. "Sweet!": NEAT.
47. Strangers, slangily: RANDOS. RANDOm people
50. __ and ends: ODDS. My Australian friends call their pot-luck parties "ODDS and SODS" -- an informal British term used to describe different kinds of things that are usually small and unimportant.
52. In the past: AGO.
53. Music producer Brian: ENO. Yesterday -T pointed out that this is one spelled backwards.
54. Feminine pronoun: HER.
56. "All good, thanks": I'M SET. I related this one to a handy Japanese phrase: けっこうです. Use kekkou desu to reply when a waitress asks, "Do you want me to refill your water glass?" or a store clerk asks, "Do you want a bag for your purchases?"
63. Kuwaiti ruler: EMIR. This 1:47 min. news segment from Aljazeera covers the swearing in of Kuwaiti's EMIR just over one year ago.
68. Tuesday treat: TACO.
69. Birth-related: NATAL. NATAL and nation both came from the Latin word nasci.
70. Milky white gem: OPAL.
71. Snow coaster: SLED.
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| Whoo-hoooo! |
72. Narrow valleys: GLENS.
73. Like Cheerios: OATY.
1. "Let me see ... ": HMM.
2. Roadside aid org.: AAA. organization and American Automobile Association
3. Koothrappali on "The Big Bang Theory": RAJ.
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| RAJ (Kunal Nayyar) and his dog Cinnamon |
4. Symbol such as Exploding Head: EMOJI.
5. Goes (for): OPTS.
6. Thai currency: BAHT. It is illegal to 59-Down on a Thai BAHT because the king's face is on the bills. Doing so would be insulting to the Thai royal family and could result in three or more years of imprisonment.
7. Et __: and others: ALII. From Grammarly: Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia (neuter plural). But it can also be an abbreviation for et alii (masculine plural), or et aliae (feminine plural). This phrase means and others. Most commonly, et al. indicates other contributors (authors, editors, etc.) in a bibliographic list.
8. French "Thank you": MERCI.
9. Passionate: ARDENT.
10. Opposite of baja: ALTA.
11. Focus of some campaigns: TARGET AREAS. This term is also used when talking about working out.
12. Like difficult pushups: ONE-ARM. Speaking of working out, check out Jack LaLanne doing these on his fingertips! (His dog is not impressed.) link to video
13. Swaying hip-hop dance: NAE NAE. BuzzFeed says this dance is loosely inspired by Sheneneh Jenkins, the female character played by Martin Lawrence on his '90s sitcom, Martin.
18. Dull routines: RUTS.
21. Work, as dough: KNEAD.
22. Cable's Nat __ Wild: GEO.
23. Not quite round: OVAL.
24. Pays attention: TAKES NOTICE.
29. End of a dean's email address: EDU.
30. Ooze: SEEP.
31. "Mornin'!," in the morning: HELLO. At first I mistook the quotation marks as a title indicator. I thought "Mornin'!" was a TV show I did not know. Then I determined it was just someone shortening their "Good morning" greeting.
33. Marvel Comics mutants: X-MEN.
35. Spoken: SAID. Both are adjectives here.
37. Crack a book: READ.
40. Dave of the Foo Fighters: GROHL. Happy early birthday to Dave Grohl who turns 56 tomorrow! Before founding the Foo Fighters, he was Nirvana' drummer from 1990 to 1994. His unofficial nickname is "the nicest guy in rock" but his reputation took an unfortunate hit last September. The old saying goes, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
41. Furthermore: AND.
42. Poultry herb: SAGE. My grandmother used a lot of SAGE in her turkey stuffing recipe.
46. Tater bite: TOT.
47. Puts on Airbnb again: RELETS. Def.: to rent out again.
48. Neither vegetable nor mineral: ANIMAL. This clue was a fun play on a classic 20 Questions-style game. Test your knowledge here. To play, click on whether you think it is an animal (it's alive), a vegetable (it grows), or a mineral (it's not alive, does not grow, but comes from the ground).
49. Dating: SEEING.
51. Talk, as with a deaf person: SIGN. verb meaning "to use SIGN language"
55. Challenger: RIVAL. Has anyone seen the 2024 romantic sports drama Challengers? It has 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. I have not seen the film but the intense music score caught my attention so I've added it to my queue. Here's a taste: 57. "Ditto": ME, TOO.
59. Walked (on): TROD.
60. Suffix meaning "cell": -CYTE. For example, an osteocyte is a cell that lies within the substance of a fully formed bone.
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| Use it to express shock or disbelief as in, "That blew my mind!" |
5. Goes (for): OPTS.
6. Thai currency: BAHT. It is illegal to 59-Down on a Thai BAHT because the king's face is on the bills. Doing so would be insulting to the Thai royal family and could result in three or more years of imprisonment.
7. Et __: and others: ALII. From Grammarly: Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia (neuter plural). But it can also be an abbreviation for et alii (masculine plural), or et aliae (feminine plural). This phrase means and others. Most commonly, et al. indicates other contributors (authors, editors, etc.) in a bibliographic list.
8. French "Thank you": MERCI.
9. Passionate: ARDENT.
10. Opposite of baja: ALTA.
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| a little bit of Alta California history |
11. Focus of some campaigns: TARGET AREAS. This term is also used when talking about working out.
12. Like difficult pushups: ONE-ARM. Speaking of working out, check out Jack LaLanne doing these on his fingertips! (His dog is not impressed.) link to video
13. Swaying hip-hop dance: NAE NAE. BuzzFeed says this dance is loosely inspired by Sheneneh Jenkins, the female character played by Martin Lawrence on his '90s sitcom, Martin.
18. Dull routines: RUTS.
21. Work, as dough: KNEAD.
22. Cable's Nat __ Wild: GEO.
23. Not quite round: OVAL.
24. Pays attention: TAKES NOTICE.
29. End of a dean's email address: EDU.
30. Ooze: SEEP.
31. "Mornin'!," in the morning: HELLO. At first I mistook the quotation marks as a title indicator. I thought "Mornin'!" was a TV show I did not know. Then I determined it was just someone shortening their "Good morning" greeting.
33. Marvel Comics mutants: X-MEN.
35. Spoken: SAID. Both are adjectives here.
37. Crack a book: READ.
40. Dave of the Foo Fighters: GROHL. Happy early birthday to Dave Grohl who turns 56 tomorrow! Before founding the Foo Fighters, he was Nirvana' drummer from 1990 to 1994. His unofficial nickname is "the nicest guy in rock" but his reputation took an unfortunate hit last September. The old saying goes, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
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| performing in Denmark last July 5 |
41. Furthermore: AND.
42. Poultry herb: SAGE. My grandmother used a lot of SAGE in her turkey stuffing recipe.
46. Tater bite: TOT.
47. Puts on Airbnb again: RELETS. Def.: to rent out again.
48. Neither vegetable nor mineral: ANIMAL. This clue was a fun play on a classic 20 Questions-style game. Test your knowledge here. To play, click on whether you think it is an animal (it's alive), a vegetable (it grows), or a mineral (it's not alive, does not grow, but comes from the ground).
49. Dating: SEEING.
 |
| texting screenshot |
51. Talk, as with a deaf person: SIGN. verb meaning "to use SIGN language"
55. Challenger: RIVAL. Has anyone seen the 2024 romantic sports drama Challengers? It has 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. I have not seen the film but the intense music score caught my attention so I've added it to my queue. Here's a taste: 57. "Ditto": ME, TOO.
59. Walked (on): TROD.
60. Suffix meaning "cell": -CYTE. For example, an osteocyte is a cell that lies within the substance of a fully formed bone.
This "Y" was my last fill. I was fairly sure it had to be a vowel -- so not a complete WAG.
61. Actor McGregor: EWAN. his IMDb page
62. Feels sick: AILS.
65. Clean water org.: EPA. organization and Environmental Protection Agency
61. Actor McGregor: EWAN. his IMDb page
62. Feels sick: AILS.
65. Clean water org.: EPA. organization and Environmental Protection Agency
Pres. Richard Nixon created the EPA on Dec. 2, 1970 to protect human health and the environment.
66. Tattletale: RAT.
67. Sneaky: SLY.
66. Tattletale: RAT.
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| James Cagney ~ Taxi! ~ 1931 (Splynter and I were on the same page this week.) |
Those last two were fun neighbors in the grid.
Speaking of the grid, here you go:
That's all for today. Have a premier week!
21 comments:
In spite of a few obscure names, I believe I am going to award this puzzle the “coveted” title of “a walk in the park” mainly because the perps were such a big help, whenever there was any question about what to put down. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Wow. Sometimes I wonder about my mind. I couldn’t think of the word
“remiss” just now, today.
What I wanted to say was:
I was REMISS in contributing to the Crossword Corner until about an hour later than usual today but as no one else had offered a contribution yet, no harm was done.
Good morning!
No. D-o did it again: EvAN/vINTERS. Bzzzzzt. Sheesh, ala Jayce. Also needed the trusty Wite-Out to correct SESs to SESH. Thanx, Robbie and sumdaze.
EMIR: Early in the 2000's when Al Jazeera first appeared in our newscasts, Dan Rather referred to it as Al Jazz-a-ria.
One-arm pushups: Immediately evokes Jack Palance at the 1992 Oscars.
Good puzzle to start the week, about par for difficulty on a Monday. Most of the names were standard CW fill, except for IVY WINTERS which was all perps. Corrections included ALIA to ALII and BYTE to CYTE, the C being my last fill for the FIR in 10:57. Never heard of the LITTLE ICE AGE. I know the Americanized version of Shedloads, fairly similarly in pronunciation. DNK NAENAE, but if it was clued as “Scottish no no” I would have. Thank you Robbie for the enjoyable solve.
sumdaze ~ thank you for explaining it all. I didn’t do so good on the animal/vegetable quiz 😂.
FIR, but nice->NEAT, and alto->ALTA.
I knew RANDO and SESH. Maybe I GOT IT by (Ektorp) rote!
Nat Geo Wild veterinarian shows seem to hold DW's interest. I've grown to like them too. Secrets of the Zoo as well, except that the Aussie version is too hard for her to understand.
Stuff most people don't know: Jimmy Carter is our only full-term president who did not place a Supreme Court justice.
FLN: Thanks to TTP for the info about asphalt, blacktop and tarmac. I think they use premix for repaving projects here. Your primer on the subject makes me want to dig deeper.
Thanks to Robbie for the fun Monday, and to sumdaze for another fine review. Interesting that your synonym graphic doesn't include "and."
Forgot to add that, like YP, I thought about an Americanized version of "SH__loads." Also evoked the old joke "where do the KKK knuckleheads keep their uniforms?" "In their sheethouse, of course."
Coincidentally, in the USA Today puzzle this morning, the fill for the clue “Huge amount” is CRAPLOAD.
A Monday that solved fairly quickly but did expand my knowledge as I never knew of MAJOR THIRD , IVY WINTERS , or SHEDLOADS .
Thai are very respectful and by American standards old fashioned; not only can you not write on the currency, the following behaviors are illegal in Thailand: stepping on a coin, stepping on a banknote, or burning, tearing or otherwise defacing a banknote. Technically all commerce must be transacted in Baht, but I assure the American dollar works quite well, but be careful and know the exchange rate as it fluctuates. Since I have known my wife the price has been between 29.25 baht per dollar to 38.15.
I learned about RANDOS in 2024 watching television and appreciate the referral to a great article about Oak trees, nuts and the life cycle of those who depend on them.
I enjoyed the inclusion of DC's Superfriends and Marvel's X-Men - can't we all just get along?
Thank you Robbie and sumdaze.
Monday puzzle. Workable. Write up again wins over challenge.
Greet the day.
Good morning. Thank you, Robbie, and and thank you, sumdaze.
That was fun and easy. The few unknowns easily perped.
Loved the review, the commentary, the links and videos. I spent considerably more time with the review than with the puzzle.
Yes I knew Bitty as Sharona. I think I may have seen every episode of Monk at least once. Monk's other assistant was Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard. She also played Dave GROHL's date in the Foo Fighters video for their song "Breakout"
"Mast year" is a new term for me. Thank you for the link. My neighbor's huge oak is both a blessing and a curse.
Sweet! : NEAT - Skibidi - Lake Superior State University recently released (dropped?) its 2025 Banished Words List.
I did fairly well on the animal, vegetable, mineral quiz, getting 6 of 8. I missed fossa and samphire.
FIR. Lots of unknowns and several questionable answers. I've never heard of Ivy Winters and randos is not in my vocabulary.
Having said that, the theme was clever and I got it half way along. Thank goodness for perps, if not for them this puzzle would remain unsolved.
Overall not an enjoyable Monday effort.
Years ago I made a submission to that Banished Words List and they banished it, “Happy Camper”. 😆
Jinx, you're welcome. One of my longtime bowling teammates was a commercial and residential paving contractor, and I also have plenty of experiences of driving down the FM (Farm to Market) roads of Central Texas after a new layer of bitumen and aggregate had been spread and compacted. The process is a bit annoying for a few days when it's on one of the roads you must take. Especially if you're anal about your car.
Geneva Construction, one of the larger companies here, resurfaced all of the asphalt roads in our subdivision a few years. I was fascinated. They had this one super long and wide machine that first heated up the road surface with columns and rows of downward torches, then the road surface was milled and fed up into the next section of the machine where it was mixed with the binders, and then augured to the back of the machine where it was spread back down to the road by the automatic asphalt spreader part of it. All in one machine! It was huge. Men walked along each side of it and behind it, armed with water hoses to put out the fires that started in the dead grass along the roadway, occasionally spraying the rear sets of tires on the machine. It moved at (I'd guess) maybe 1 or 2 MPH. Then of course the compactors followed behind. Talk about onsite recycling!
Neat! And after they banished it, did that make you a, um, er, well nevermind. :-)
Took me 20,000 leagues today to get where I'm going. Also, finished the puzzle in 5:47.
Tricky for a Monday, despite what our tardy (?!) SubG says.
I knew today's actress (Eva), but not the drag queen, the French, the Spanish, or the Thai currency.
I was eating oaty (Honey Nut) Cheerios while solving today.
I couldn't generate much enthusiasm for today's puzzle. The "League" theme was perhaps its strong suit, but even there I was not familiar with the Justice League.
The grid was replete with oddities like RAJ, SESH, NAENAE, RANDOS, and other "words" that seemed out of place in a crossword puzzle.
All in all, it struck me as a rather peculiar Monday offering.
I didn't see the very easy to find theme. Tsk, tsk. Monday easy puzzle. New to me or long forgotten were Ivy Winters, Grohl, and Lana, all easily perped and wagged. Guessing the last A in LANA gave me NAE NAE, which I never heard of. Is that dance really Monday fare?
Our pot lucks are usually not odds and sods but very delicious special dishes.
Meaning of shedloads was easily inferable.
I like sage, but I have to use it in moderate amounts to please my family.
Busy day, so much paper work , as always.
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Embarrassing to admit that I DNF á Monday puzzle. The NE remained pretty much blank. I did have KAGAN and TREE. I DNK LANA, NAE NAE sounds like á double Scottish negative.
I did get the theme right away, that was fun to pursue though I DNK IVY WINTERS.I remembered RANDO and SESH from previous CW, where else would I see those words? NEAT to have MAAM and SIR similarly clued in the same CW.
Thank you sumdaze for á nice recap.
After á record hot year, as has been reported, I believe we’re entering á LITTLE ICE AGE. Brr.
Major Monday Muff. Thanks for the fun, Robbie and sumdaze.
I came here to discover that I FIWed. My shedloads changed from Lots to A Lot, giving me TaeNae and Large T AREAS. Better parsing might have allowed be to say “GOT IT” with A TON.
But I did Get the league leaders Theme.
Plot changed to PLAN (which doesn’t involve much “scheming” IMHO).
I waited for perps to decide between I or A in ALII, and O and A in ALTA.
Evan changed to EWAN and Iva to IVY as perps gave me the drag performer.
I have heard (and used) “odds and sods” in conversation. It must have British origins. (Yes, I LIUed, and Merriam-Webster Webster labels it “British informal”).
Canadians are giving thumbs-up EMOJIs to a 91st birthday letter written by former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and published in the Globe and Mail. No politics! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2539225013/posts/10171019276550014/
Wishing you all a great day.
This struck me as a puzzle with multiple personality disorder. Monday easy clues, weirdly obscure clues, and the usual irritating paraphrase "verbalisms". Nae, nae, laddie, I canna' say I enjoyed much aboot it! OTOH, sumdaze, I really liked your recap, especially the "hallucinations" text!
Musings
-A fun puzzle and write-up to help combat all the tragedy on TV.
-I would have saved a A LOT of time if I had put A TON first
-A very young rookie teacher told me she was really taken aback when a student called her MAAM
-RANDO and SESH are part of our syllable omitting entries. Totes adorbs?
-TEXT ME: This allows for a more measured response than a phone call. Choosing the right EMOJI also takes consideration.
-How you do the NAENAE. My version would be even dorkier.
-Our daughter’s family had a very expensive Airbnb in Malibu this past year. It is gone.
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