Questionable Clues?
Today C.C. clues her puzzle themers with 5 one-word punny questions (3 across and 2 down), each ending with "words?" and then fills them with an idiomatic or in the language phrase ...
17A. Keywords?: OPEN SESAME. This phrase entered the Western world from an Arabic folk tale Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, about a poor woodcutter who discovers the secret treasure of a thieves' den, overhears them, and enters with the magic phrase "open sesame", the key to opening the cave. Here's a cartoon summary of the story ...
39A. Crosswords?: I SAID NO. A phrase often said by cross parents when talking to a disappointed child.
62A. Safewords?: JUST IN CASE. A phrase indicating that you're not taking any chances.
11D. Catchwords?: ROGER THAT. A phrase used in military, CB radio, and airline communications to acknowledge successful receipt of a message -- do you catch my drift?
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| Rolex Daytona |
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Vase flaw: CHIP.
5. Fragrance: AROMA. SCENT fit, but didn't perp.
10. Like a thesis defense: ORAL. Some things to know if you have to defend a Ph.D. thesis. Hand up if you've ever defended one?
14. Bar mitzvah dance: HORA. Here is a tutorial on how to do the Hora, followed by a demonstration ...
16. Wrap for onigiri: NORI. We've been eating sushi for decades and we've eaten lots of nigiri, but we've never seen onigiri (Japanese rice balls) in restaurants. This recipe shows you how to make your own.
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| Onigiri |
17. [Theme clue]
19. Seemingly forever: AGES. But they seem to go by ever so quickly. 😀
20. Word with code or colony: PENAL. Some of the most famous penal colonies were founded by the British in Australia in the state of New South Wales beginning in 1788 and later on the island state of Tasmania. Over the next 80 years, more than 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in lieu of being given the death penalty, a sentence given for many petty crimes. Many of the deportees were sentenced to labor camps, but others were held in prison. Today, about 20% of Australians are descendants of convicts, including plenty of prominent citizens.
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| Port Arthur Prison Island of Tasmania |
22. Kilt detail: PLEAT. PLAID fit, but didn't perp. Here, sporting his kilt, is Scottish actor David Tennant, who aside from playing Macbeth and lots of other Shakespearean roles on the stage, is much more famous for have played the 10th Dr. Who. Whovian trivia: David's wife Georgia is the daughter of the 5th Dr. Who, actor Peter Davison, making the 5th Doctor Who the 10th Doctor Who's father-in-law. 😀
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| David Tennant in his Silver Mist kilt, crafted by Glasgow-based MacGregor and MacDuff |
25. More crafty: SLIER. I've been reading this book to my youngest grandsons about a legendary fox called Star -- none was more crafty than the one known to the local farmers as the Haunt Fox.
27. Laughing relative of a meerkat: HYENA. Both meerkats and hyenas are members of the suborder Feliformia within the Carnivora order. These researchers explain that hyenas are highly intelligent, social creatures, what their "laughing" actually means, and that it is only one of many kinds of vocalizations...
30. Wildlife tracking device: EAR TAG. EAR TAGS are also used for keeping track of domestic animals, but the National Band & Tag Company supplies them for a wide variety of wild animals for research conservation efforts.
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| Ear Tags |
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| Fajitas |
38. __ of averages: LAW. Today's math lesson -- the Law of Averages is the commonly held belief that a particular outcome or event will, over certain periods of time, occur at a frequency that is similar to its probability. Depending on context or application it can be considered a valid common-sense observation or a misunderstanding of probability. This notion can lead to the gambler's fallacy when one becomes convinced that a particular outcome must come soon simply because it has not occurred recently (e.g. believing that because three consecutive coin flips yielded heads, the next coin flip must be virtually guaranteed to be tails)
39. [Theme clue]
41. Path of a fly ball: ARC. A line drive traces an ARC as well, but as it is flying much faster it has less time to drop.
42. Three-note chords: TRIADS. In music, a TRIAD is a set of three notes (or "pitch classes") that can be stacked vertically in thirds. Triads are the most common chords in Western music. This wiki contains examples of 4 triads that you can click on the hear what they sound like.
44. No longer trendy: OUT. PASSÊ was too long.
45. Corp. scientific execs: CTOS. Chief Technology Officers.
46. "Why not": OK SURE.
47. Green: MOOLA. Both slang for money.
49. Worked as a secret agent: SPIED. The Secret Agent is novel by Joseph Conrad that was adapted for a TV series starring Toby Jones as a secret agent. It was so scary that we had to stop watching it! ...
51. "What a shame!": SO SAD.
54. Parents honored in May: MAMAS.
56. __ de parfum: EAU. Today's French lesson: "parfum" = perfume and EAU = "Water", i.e. watered down perfume. Everything you need to know about the real stuff.
59. "Good heavens!": OH GOD. Thank God for perps. 😀
61. Purple berry high in fat: ACAI. Acai Berries 101: A Complete Guide.
62. [Theme clue]
64. Acronym after a lengthy post: TLDR. "Too Long Don't Read" -- the commenter is telling you that a post is not worth your time. Here's a newsletter called TLDR for anyone who doesn't have the time to keep up with the fast pace of technology -- e.g. CTOS.
65. Felt a workout later: ACHED.
66. Foreboding sign: OMEN.
67. Brings legal action against: SUES.
68. Lets tears flow: WEEPS.
69. Libya-to-Algeria direction: WEST. A 4 letter direction -- if you remembered that both countries are South of the Mediterranean all you needed was a perp for either of the first two letters ...
1. Pork cut: CHOP. LOIN fit but didn't perp.
2. Crossed one's fingers: HOPED. Or if they're crossed behind one's back: LIED.
3. Leader of the girl group Red Velvet: IRENE. DNK Red Velvet, but perped IRENE, which is the stage name for Korean Bae Joo-hyun who started the group in 2014. Here's Ice Cream Cake, their first big hit ... 4. Dashing style: PANACHE. If you look up the definition for PANACHE your dictionary might include "e.g. the stylish dancing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers" ...
5. Enjoyed a mochi doughnut, say: ATE. Misdirection? CHEW wouldn't fit but mochi doughnuts are chewier than the American varieties.
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| Mochi doughnuts |
7. Beauty brand with a Retinol 24 line: OLAY. Thank you perps. Available from Amazon for only $15.29 / Fl Oz.
8. Silent performers: MIMES. We haven't heard from Marcel Marceau in a while ...
... come to think of it, we've never heard from him. 😀
9. Tailless primate: APE.
10. Ready for action: ON ALERT.
11. [Theme clue]
12. 63, for a 7x9 rectangle: AREA.
13. Reminder on the fridge: LIST.
18. Defeat, as a dragon: SLAY. It's a little known fact that sometimes the dragon wins ...
22. Steinway product: PIANO. Vladimir Horowitz, widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, performed on a Steinway piano. And unlike most pianists he actually had his personal piano transported to his concerts. Here he is making his long awaited return to Carnegie Hall on May 9, 1965. Among many other works he performed are these two short pieces by Domenico Scarlatti, Sonata in E & Sonata in G ...
24. "As I remember it ... ": LETS SEE. IIRC was too short.
26. Primitive shelters: LEAN TOS. This one was built by a group of 14 year olds during a wilderness survival course. Unlike most of the others I surveyed, the moss covering made it relatively impervious to water ...
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| A primitive lean to |
28. Org. that awards grants to orchestras: NEA. National Endowment for the Arts. I found lots of links on how to apply for an NEA grant, but no examples of an orchestra partially or fully funded by one.
29. Self-evident truth: AXIOM. An axiom is a statement which is assumed to be true without question, and which does not require proof. Axioms are used as premises or starting points for further reasoning or arguments, usually in logic or in mathematics. But then here is a slightly different opinion from a June 11, 2024 Math Stack Exchange discussion ...
32. Yukon and Sierra: GMCS. Thank you perps.
33. Midrange voice: ALTO. One of the most popular altos today is the British singer/songwriter Adele. Here's a hit from her second album 21 called Set Fire to the Rain ...
35. [Theme clue]
39. Elba who played Luther: IDRIS. Idrissa Akuna Elba, OBE (born 6 September 1972) is an English actor, rapper, singer and DJ. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Emmy Awards. His films have grossed over $9.8 billion at the global box office, making him one of the top 20 highest-grossing actors. Teri and I watched a few episodes of Luther, but we had to stop. It was like taking a bath in adrenaline ...
40. Half a quartet: DUO.
43. Live-in nannies: AU PAIRS. An au pair is a person, usually a female, working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some housework, and receive a monetary allowance or stipend for personal use. An au pair program is considered a form of cultural exchange that gives the family and the au pairs a chance to experience and learn new cultures.
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| An au pair from Ecuador living with a family in Holland |
You heard it here first: The Au Pair is an upcoming British television drama series starring David Suchet (Poirot), Sally Bretton (Beyond Paradise), and Kenny Doughty (Vera).
45. Reliable moneymaker: CASH COW. See 53D.
48. Lake bird with an eerie call: LOON. They are such beautiful birds ...
50. Tie score in tennis: DEUCE.
52. Peak performance: A GAME.
53. Amounts of medicine: DOSES. See 45D.
54. Judo class surfaces: MATS.
55. Org. with a Women's Rights Project: ACLU. In 1961 the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, unanimously upheld the constitutionality of a jury selection system that discriminated against women on the grounds that "women are at the center of home and family life". A decade later, the newly established ACLU Women's Rights Project took the case of Reed v. Reed to the Supreme Court, challenging the automatic preference of men over women as administrators of estates. In Reed, the Supreme Court saw sex discrimination in a new light, and agreed with the ACLU. For the first time, the Court held that a classification based on sex was unconstitutional, in violation of the equal protection clause. But there is still a lot of work to be done.
57. "Days of Grace" memoirist Arthur: ASHE. I was surprised that there isn't a separate Wiki page for Days of Grace. Here's the Goodreads review for Arthur Ashe's bestseller.
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| Amazon link |
58. Sch. that publishes the bilingual magazine Minero: UTEP. The University of Texas at El Paso. Here's the current edition of Minero, which seems to be mostly in English -- I was unable to find either a translate button or a separate version in Spanish.
60. Ding on a bumper: DENT.
62. Mouth part: JAW. LIP didn't perp and MANDIBLE was too long.
63. Cards shown to bouncers: IDS. I used to get carded a lot, but lately not so much. 😀
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
23 comments:
Well, C.C. gave us what I think was a pretty fair puzzle, in more ways than one. There were only a few times when I had to pause to think; for the most part, it was straightforward. And I liked that the themers were both horizontal and vertical; that’s the mark of a good, classic crossword puzzle, which we haven’t seen a lot of lately. Good job, C.C.! FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Still below freezing this morning, but I'm going to chance it later for an M-o-W route. I'm hoping the streets dried enough that they didn't refreeze overnight.
My leak/loin at 1a/1d had to give way to CHIP/CHOP. (Have I ever mentioned.....?) Further down my CAMERA morphed into an EAR TAG and OH LETS into OK SURE. LET'S SEE wasn't my first thought for "As I remember it." Not second, either. Thanx, C.C. for creating another winner, and to waseeley and Teri for another sterling expo.
IDS: Last week a young assistant at Wal-Mart's self-checkout insisted that I show her my ID to prove I was old enough to buy beer. I told her the policy was ridiculous; I couldn't possibly be under 40. She insisted that if I didn't show her my ID, she couldn't allow me to check out. I had a whole cartful of groceries. I hope she had fun putting everything back on the shelves.
FIR, but cries->WEEPS and slyer->SLIER (UNTIE!)
I guess they can use EAR TAGs to track wildlife, but they are really ID TAGS. I saw on Secrets of the Zoo that floating RF tracking devices are attached to rescued manatees before release. The harness they use is designed to break away should it become ensnared. Have to ask if our MalMan has encountered that.
Waited for TRIAD or third. I've heard both in a musical context, but don't remember the (crossword favorite) deets.
DW and I had a pet phrase - "for Justin" - when we did anything that was JUST IN CASE.
Finally! A song has been discovered that is more annoying than It's a Small World After All. Ice Cream Cake by Red Velvet now holds the crown.
ROGER THAT is never used in aviation or military, except in films about aviation of military. It's just "ROGER.," except in CB lingo. (Some wags that are CBers say "10-ROGER.")
CASH COW is actually a technical term. It is an operation that has a large market share in a stagnant market. The standard strategy for a CASH COW is to cut expenses to the bone and use the profits to either fund expansion in growth markets or return the funds to the owners (usually shareholders.) A "dog" is an operation that has a small market share in a stagnant market. A "star" is an operation that has a large market share in a growth market, and a "question mark" is an operation that has a small market share in a growth market.
Thanks to CC for the fun and clever puzzle, and to Bill 'n' Teri for another great tour.
Thursday puzzle. Typical CC entertaining and challenging solve. Especially enjoyed the up and down clues tie ins. My personal experience was looking for more depth to the theme, which seems kinda weak.JMPO.
Greet the day.
D-O @5:48 AM I believe it was TSE who called the behavior of the young lady at the checkout counter "The tyranny of clerks". But since you're a guy would you fess up and tell us just how old you really are?
A fine play-on-words puzzle from Zhouqin today (I noted the misspelling of her name at the top of the comments?). IMO a tad easier than most Thursday’s as I FIR in 10:35, not complaining, just commenting. Only a few names, (not including ROGER and JUSTIN), the familiar IDRIS and IRENE, (may be the worst clue ever for IRENE, and I’m guessing it’s not C.C.’s). Thanks to our prolific constructor!
Bill and Teri ~ today’s dissertation needs no defense, an entertaining and informative address of multiple topics, a half hour in I was only at 22D, then listened to Horowitz as I scrolled. Thank you for your time and effort you put into your blogs! Not surprisingly the best fajitas I ever had were from a restaurant on the River Walk in San Antonio.
Jinx @6:36 AM I had to track down MalMan (via email) to get help with next week's theme, which seemed pointless to me. "10-4" is what we usually see for ROGER THAT in the movies.
Took 4:57 today for me use my words.
I didn't know Irene or her band. I didn't know the title, but recognize Ashe from the usual clues referencing his stadium. Hesitated to enter "Air Tag", which turned out to be smart.
Seemed easy for a Thursday, but enjoyable. And, as our esteemed SubG pointed out from his pole position, there's a certain elegance to having the theme both horizontal and vertical.
YP @7:46 AM Thanx for the catch -- it's fixed (although her email address uses Zhuouqin (note extra "u") as opposed to the LAT's Zhouqin -- she's probably used to having it transliterated multiple ways). I think we must have had fajitas at the same restaurant on the River Walk. We like the dish so much that's all we ever ate in SA.
FIR. I started off on the wrong foot throwing down loin before chop, but very soon got back on track.
I found this to be a somewhat easy puzzle for a Thursday. No circles and one proper name. And the theme was very clever.
Overall a most enjoyable puzzle.
waseeley, you probably spelled it wrong when you added her to your email contact list. She has never spelled it with an extra U in any mails that I have received from her over the years.
You can correct your misspelling in your contacts and all should be good.
It's always pleasant to have our esteemed C.C. make an appearance to challenge us.
First, a word about attractive nuisances: in law they are potentially dangerous situations or conditions that can attract children and others. I think we have an attractive nuisance situation in the LATimes crossword world. For some reason our constructors are attracted to the same old vowel-rich staples, like OREO, ALE, IDRIS (or ELBA), and ACAI. Even C.C. couldn't resist the attraction of the latter two. Any puzzle that does not contain any of these tired old staples deserves an award!
The puzzle's theme today was clever and fun, and the cluing (clueing?) seemed by and large fair. I always hope for more more misdirections because they are inherently clever and fresh. But some today, like 64A, seemed more ambiguous than misdirected.
Thanks, C.C., for your Thursday challenge, and Waseeley for your entertaining and informative guidance.
After you get a year or two of experience solving crosswords, you will begin to understand that certain words are used repetitively.
Collectively, the words that are used most often are generally referred to as "Crosswordese." Included in that grouping would be words that are not frequently heard in daily conversation, but are seen often in crosswords puzzles.
You can certainly accelerate your learning curve by solving in other online venues such as The USA Today, The Universal, The NY Times and others.
C.C. also had some links to other puzzle sites. It is on the right side of the main page of this blogspot.
There are also other valuable links under the Olio section that you might want to explore.
Happy solving!
YP & TTP -- As TTP pointed out the misspelling of C.C.'s name was in my contact list and has been corrected.
Puzzling thoughts:
What a pleasant start to the day - a puzzle by C.C. and a recap by Bill and Teri!
I fell into the PLAID before finding the PLEAT; I also had OK LETS before I noticed that LETS SEE was in a nearby, vertical space; but my solving time was about the same as YooperPhil, and everything solved correctly
Seeing 8-down brought back a memory of a Moe-l'ick I wrote some four years ago:
One of my early childhood joys?
Watching MIMES do their act with such poise.
After one of them died
We all cried, as we tried
Giving him a brief moment of noise
Hi All!
Thank you, C.C., for a really fun themed puzzle. It was a good noodler too.
And thank you for the wonderful write up, waseeley (and Teri).
WOs: N/A
ESPs: IRENE as clued,
Fav: CASH COW is fun.
A few weeks ago, we were in San Antonio and ATE TEX-Mex at Acenar. It's off the "horseshoe" of the Riverwalk [map]
Nice MIME-ku, C.Moe.
Cheers, -T
Good Morning:
This was a cute, fresh theme approach which is a nice example of CC’s wide-ranging and creative thought process, IMO. Irene was unknown but everything else fell into place easily. I found the difficulty level more Tuesday/Wednesday but that’s Patti’s choice.
Thanks, CC, and thanks, Bill and Teri, for the wonderfully detailed review which was chock-full of interesting tidbits and eye-catching photos.
Have a great day.
Oops, forgot to say how much I liked your Moe-ku, Chairmen Moe! 👏
Very straightforward and clever puzzle. No proper names. Yay! Well done CC. (as always)
Kynova typical Thor’s day puzzle. Thanks CC. Don’t wanna get into trouble as others here by misspelling your full name (Bernickel right?)🤭
Inkovers: loin/CHOP, leak/CHIP, sobad/SAD.
Rolex at a million 350. But does it keep good time? If you can afford that you can hire and pay someone to tell you what time it is 24/7
“Yukon and Sierra” no abbrev. thus answer should be General Motors etc. but I guess “Yukon” use GMC 🤨. SPIED so not SLyER, OKSURE was a fill-in. Cross one’s fingers (behind your back): you’re lying 🤥. I have a CT tech I call JUSTIN time.. Thought the HYENA was a canine. Not true. OK you can stop laughing at me now .😏
✋I had to defend a thesis to graduate (1977) from Med School . Bologna retained this “custom” while many others had stopped. Just LIU and it’s still a requirement.
Mochi donut? Kimingayo? IRENE/“Red Velvet” C’mon! .. Wonder if ___ Joo-Hyun will become a future clue for Bae 😳
“Eerie call” of a LOON on the lake: “Help! This darn fishing boat engine died !!!” MIMES: 60’s comic Alan Sherman used to talk about his collection of Marcel Marceau records
Many are spread across the “abbey” home page… APSE
Burnt remains in the skillet …. PANACHE
Plus that lot … ANTHEM
Me neither … NORI
Grinch creator … SUES
Lunch with retired colleagues at the end of my vacation week. Have a nice day all.
I agree á straightforward CW this morning. I found the theme fun, the cluing fair and almost free of proper names. So a well balanced puzzle, CC’s trademark.
Related to TLDR, á bon mot attributed to various writers, including Ionesco, goes like this. After writing á friend á very long letter, the writer apologizes for its length stating that he didn’t have time to write á shorter one.
Thank you Waseeley for á very informative review.
Like desper-otto, "My leak/loin at 1a/1d had to give way to CHIP/CHOP." Not the easiest puzzle ever, but just right for Thursday! I counted only three celebrity names, and two were easy, so I thought this puzzle should be an example to all constructors, before I even noticed Zhouqin's name. Brava! Many thanks to her, and to Bill, whose entertaining review adds so much.
TTP--
Well, let's see. I've been doing crosswords since around 1950, so I guess my "learning curve" is reasonably well established. I have been a regular solver of all the puzzles you mention, as well as a subscriber--and contributor to---Games magazine. I lived in France for two years, and did French crosswords then.
The point is that the current LA Times crossword stands out from the others, in my judgment, in the areas I mentioned in my earlier comments.
So I guess I'm curious why you are so defensive. And incidentally, your air of condescension seems a bit misplaced.
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