Theme: "Wide World of Sports" - Each common phrase is humorously reinterpreted as sports-related, fitting the legend in each corresponding clue.
24. Perfect serve by Serena Williams?: POINT OF NO RETURN.
37. Asset for Simone Biles during a beam routine?: OUTSTANDING BALANCE.
51. Patrick Mahomes's responsibilities on the football field?: SNAP DECISIONS.
63. Lindsay Vonn's secret to winning the super G?: GOING DOWNHILL FAST.
83. Makes like Richard Petty in a NASCAR race?: GETS UP TO SPEED.
93. What the Reds had when Johnny Bench was behind the plate?: HOME SECURITY SYSTEM
112. What Rory McIlroy does to practice his golf swing?: TAKES A TEST DRIVE.
This is indeed Wide World of Sports, covering seven different sports. Each person in the clue is the GOAT in their own field.
This is our third puzzle from Jill Rafaloff and Michelle Sontarp. They make a great team
Across:
6. Yogi demonstrations: ASANAS.
12. NMSP qualifying exam: PSAT. NMSP is National Merit Scholarship Qualifications.
16. Black Mission fruit: FIG. So good when fresh.
19. Thrifty alternative: ALAMO.
20. Dynamite roll filler: SHRIMP. With shrimp tempura.
21. Dined at a table for one: ATE ALONE.
23. Flight leader: PILOT.
26. Blow past one's budget: OVER-SPEND.
28. Fulfill, as a promise: KEEP.
29. Elation: GLEE.
30. Scrap and start again: REDO.
31. Anxiety-related med. condition: OCD.
32. Paired fairly: EVEN.
34. Pay rate: WAGE.
43. Clip art?: BONSAI. We call it Penjing. Same art.
45. Up to today: YET.
46. "Plus others not listed" abbr.: ET AL.
47. Singer/actress Rita: ORA.
49. Functionality: UTILITY.
55. Collar insert: STAY.
56. Spreads uncontrollably: RAGES.
58. Attestation: OATH.
59. Sheer skirt need: SLIP.
60. Paul David Hewson's stage name: BONO.
61. "You've got mail" company: AOL.
62. Intel employees?: SPIES. Intelligence.
70. "The Iron Claw" actor Zac: EFRON. He bulked up for the role.
72. Espouse: WED.
73. Pork cut: LOIN.
74. Give up: DROP.
75. Ready and willing partner: ABLE.
77. Hellspawn: DEMON.
79. Crude content: SMUT.
87. Eighth planet from the sun: NEPTUNE.
89. Rough guess, for short: EST.
90. Rests one's feet: SITS.
91. Infuriated: MAD.
92. Hand in: SUBMIT..
99. Cheese with a red casing: EDAM.
100. "His Dark Materials" actress Wilson: RUTH. And 117. "The Office" actor Wilson: RAINN.
101. Weed whacker?: HOE.
102. Fissure: RIFT.
105. Golden calf, e.g.: IDOL.
108. Authors: PENS.
110. Unexpected charge: HIDDEN FEE.
118. Crumbly topping: STREUSEL. Often on top of the apple crisp at the Graybar Christmas luncheon.
119. Winner's wreath: LAUREL.
120. __-Roman wrestling: GRECO.
121. Pro motion?: YEA. Nice clue.
122. Profs' degrees: PHDS.
123. Fire remnants: EMBERS.
124. More peculiar: ODDER.
Down:
2. Castelvetrano, for one: OLIVE. Castelvetrano is new to me. Named after the down in Sicily.
3. Poetic name of Scotland: CALEDONIA. Also new to me. Wikipedia says it "was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Scotland that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland.
4. With passion: AMOROUSLY.
5. Parcels: LOTS.
6. Facet: ASPECT.
7. "Scandal" producer Rhimes: SHONDA.
8. Like the McMurdo Dry Valleys: ARID.
9. Writer Anaïs: NIN.
10. Check no.: AMT.
12. French door piece: PANE.
13. Clock app option: STOPWATCH.
14. __ Lingus: AER.
15. __ Bo: 1990s fitness fad: TAE.
16. Rank: FOUL.
17. Subject line?: IN RE.
18. __ therapy: GENE.
22. Three-star mil. rank: LT GEN.
25. __ shui: FENG. Literally "wind".
27. Electron's antiparticle: POSITRON.
32. Pristine places: EDENS. Have you ever tried a brand called Eden? I recent bought a bag of millet from them. The taste is close to what I had as a kid.
33. Life, in Italy: VITA.
35. Jai __: ALAI.
36. Some folks: GALS.
38. Mai __: cocktail: TAI.
39. Big Board abbr.: NYSE.
40. Vivid root vegetable: BEET.
41. "Check your temper!": COOL IT.
42. Hudson of "Ghostbusters": ERNIE.
43. Crosstown transit option: BUS.
44. Baseball great Mel: OTT. Picture from Big Easy a while ago.
48. Nile reptiles: ASPS.
50. Bowen of "Wicked": YANG.
52. Piglet's pal: POOH.
53. Surrealist painter of "The Elephants": DALI.
54. Cos. like Xfinity and Verizon: ISPS.
57. Zeus, e.g.: GOD.
60. Container: BIN.
61. "One more thing": AND.
62. __ Antonio: SAN.
63. Sea cave: GROTTO.
64. "Didn't mean to do that!": OOPS.
65. Rice University athletes: OWLS.
66. Break down, in a way: WEEP.
67. Generative AI tool: LLM. Large Language Model. Learning moment for me.
68. Bird on the Canadian dollar coin: LOON.
69. Handled adroitly: FINESSED.
70. Boundary: EDGE.
71. Sassy: FRESH.
75. Tried: ATTEMPTED.
76. Pear variety: BOSC.
77. Narrator of "The Book Thief": DEATH. The cover looks scary.
78. Current event?: EDDY.
79. Barrel-wearing dog: ST BERNARD.
80. Prepared for burial, as in ancient Egypt: MUMMIFIED.
81. Sea urchin on a Japanese menu: UNI. We also have 109. Unadon fish: EELS.
82. Lunar New Year: TET.
84. Cheaper, perhaps: USED.
85. City on the Arno: PISA.
86. Send out: EMIT.
88. "__ 'er there!": PUT.
94. Disorderly fight: MELEE.
95. Serve-yourself coffee holders: URNS.
96. Cook (up): RUSTLE.
97. Shake with cold: SHIVER. This winter has been brutally cold.
98. Alpine sounds: YODELS.
103. Yard separator: FENCE.
104. Sax type: TENOR.
105. Teeny-weeny: ITSY.
106. Go out with: DATE.
107. Stew-thickening pod: OKRA.
110. Take on: HIRE.
111. "Logically, this means ... ": ERGO.
113. "Yo!": SUP.
114. Fire remnant: ASH.
115. Flow stopper: DAM.
116. "Ay, there's the __": RUB.
Anyone else on our blog takes Methotrexate? I started the pills last Tuesday for my rheumatoid arthritis, along with prednisone.
C.C.
30 comments:
This was not a terribly difficult puzzle. All the “repurposed” themers were well-known in-the-language phrases. Getting “Bono” for the stage name took a minute to think of. Other than that, no problem. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Once again, the Wite-Out got a rest. No stumbles, no mysteries. Well, one -- LLM. Thanx for 'splainin'. Very clean puzzle. Thanx, Jill, Michelle, and C.C. (Hope your meds are helping with the pain.)
SHONDA: She cut her ties with the Kennedy Center this week. Issa Rae, too.
FIW, missing two of three WAGs: hErON x hEATH and LLr. But I got RUTH x hEATH, so I got that goin' for me. Which is nice.
Interesting that the grid includes Richard Petty for GETS UP TO SPEED. At 82, I'm not too sure he gets up much of anything, including SPEED. However, "the King" won the Daytona 500 seven times, more than any other driver. And, of course, the 67th Daytona 500 will be held later today. (I wouldn't have noticed the tense error, but Johnny Bench's clue was correct - "what the Reds had...") Could have been easily avoided by using a big name current racer Like Chase Elliott. (Chase is the famous son of famous racer Bill Elliott, AKA "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville," Dawsonville being a small community north of Atlanta.)
Thanks to Jill and Michelle for the Sunday workout, although I could have used fewer A&E distractions. My favorite was cook (up) for RUSTLE. Reminded me of the old movies from the Roy Rogers era. It was always ok to RUSTLE up some grub, but not to RUSTLE cattle. And thanks to CC for another fun review.
I liked the theme and especially the clues for the long fills, all very famous people in their respective sports, which gave some direction to the answers. Obscurities for me included YANG, SHONDA, ERNIE, and BONO (of course I know who he is but not his real name, and I won’t remember it tomorrow). My problem area was LLM/DEMON/DEATH/RUTH, but I eventually sussed it out for the FIR in 35. LLM was unknown as was RUTH (didn’t we have someone named RUTA lately?). POSITRON and OLIVE were perped, hadn’t heard of that type. All in all, a very enjoyable solve, thank you Jill and Michele for your fine work, and to C.C. for your insights!
FIR. Despite several weird proper names sprinkled throughout the grid, this was mostly an easy puzzle.
The theme was clever and fun to suss out. The clues were fair and perps placed where needed.
Overall a mostly enjoyable puzzle.
Hola!
Easier than usual Sunday puzzle for me. I appreciate the small number of names. ASANAS was my first fill though I haven't done any lately. BONSAI reminds me of a place in Canada where we saw a large display of BONSAI trees. I'm not sure if it was a contest or just a demonstration but they were impressive.
"The Book Thief" was one of our book club choices several years ago; as I recall, it was a good read and I may go back and re-read it.
When I travel with my friends we usually rent a car from ALAMO and that will happen this coming week! My suitcase is already packed. We shall celebrate Claire's 94th birthday.
I have good memories of visiting the Blue GROTTO in Italy and the island of Capri.
I've not heard of RUTH Wilson and so I had RITA first. RAINN I know only from crosswords. I don't watch The Office.
Some of the worst results for me have been from SNAP DECISIONS. I've learned it's better to think and deliberate before deciding although some habits are hard to break.
Cogito, ERGO sum, is the what I mostly recall from Latin class.
Have a beautiful and peaceful Sunday, everyone!
The sports expressions were easy fills after a few perps but the puzzle came to a screeching halt at the DEATH, DEMON, & LLM intersections. Those long fills made the unknown proper names a lot easier to fill.
OTT, ORA, ALAI- familiar names
PSAT was known; NMSP clue was a new one.
BONO- I knew it wasn't Sonny's real name.
RUTH, RAINN, EFRON, SHONDA, LLM, DEATH, UNI, and a few others came from perps.
SHRIMP was known but not Dynamite roll. But I've had shrimp three days in a row. Friday- a seafood platter at Deanie's Seafood, Saturday- a BBQ shrimp poboy at Liuzza's By The Track, shrimp and grits with some of the leftover bbq shrimp this morning, and the rest will go into the shrimp pasta later today.
Mel OTT was the first place that had pickleball in Greater New Orleans. I like it because it's INDOOR and inside a air conditioned facility. There are now at least twelve places to play I know of, and only three are outside. No rainouts.
Almost got it right today. Went with tIN for the container. Missed the cross for BONO.
The Arno city almost was romA but PISA perped. The greatdane fit but STBERNARD won out.
Theme came very quickly ONCE POINTOFNORETURN and OUTSTANDINGBALANCE filled.
Hats off to Jill and Michelle for their fun romp and C.C. for the review.
Never say goodbye mad.
Quizzle
I was surprised to see a sports-themed puzzle that I actually enjoyed because the theme was more about wordplay than sports knowledge.
Good thing that doors don't have LANEs - the first guess that my crossword reflexes gave me was LSAT. As a non-American, I'm not a fan of clues that use an acronym and don't give you much extra information. At least this time the clue says that the answer is a kind of exam which narrows it down a lot.
Good Morning:
This is one of those rare Sunday offerings that gives the solver a clever theme, a clean grid, limited obscure entries, an acceptable number of TLWs, and a bonus, IMO, of fresh and lively fill. I needed perps for Positron, Bono, LLM, and Ruth but, otherwise, everything fell into place. Smiled at the St. Bernard entry which reminded me of this past week’s Westminster Dog Show at which my beloved Bichon Frisé won Best In Group but, sadly, lost Best In Show to a Giant Schnauzer. C’est la vie!
Thanks, Jill and Michelle, for a delightful solve and thanks, CC, for pointing out the highlights. So sorry to hear of your struggles wit RA. Hope the meds give you some relief.
If anyone has Hulu and hasn’t yet seen “Thelma”, I highly recommend it. June Squibb gives an Oscar-winning performance as a 93 year old victim of the “grandson in jail” scam who decides to fight back and confront the scammers.
While there are many comedic scenes, themes of family, friendship, acceptance and tolerance and, above all, the challenges of aging are the focal points.
Have a great day.
Loved the puzzle today and FIR -- thanks, Jill and Michelle! Some amazing fill: CALEDONIA, MUMMIFIED, et al! Thanks for blogging, C.C. I hope those medications help.
I was encouraged when I saw the title of Jill and Michelle's puzzle, since I am a sports nut. But five of the seven sports featured in the puzzle--women's tennis, gymnastics, skiing, NASCAR, and PGA-- I don't really follow. Oh well, it was still fun.[But C.C., you may want to reexamine your rating of Patrick Mahomes, after that Super Bowl debacle].
I was pleased to see Caledonia make an appearance in the puzzle. A stirring piece of music, "Highland Cathedral," that many Scots want to become their national anthem, contains the line, "Rise, Caledonia, let your voices ring...."
Back to sports, especially baseball:
--I happen to agree that Johnny Bench is the best catcher ever, but you'll see a lot of votes for Josh Gibson and Yogi Berra (and others);
--Hey, the answer to 42 Down was ERNIE. How could the clue have been anyone other than the Hall of Famer "Let's play two" Banks?!
Others have mentioned a few Natick situations in the puzzle. Mine in particular was up in the North Central region, where SHONDA was intertwined with SHRIMP (oddly clued) and ASANAS .
Thanks, Michelle and Jill, for your ambitious undertaking; and thanks, C.C., for getting us all set up.
Musings
-This was a home run for me. I can live with one bad cell. Is RUTA Lee the only famous person name RUTA?
-Dining ALONE
-My OCD consists of silly actions that harm no one
-I can’t remember the last time I wrote a check.
-I use the stopwatch, alarm and alert on my Apple Watch a lot.
-I remember Felini’s La dolce VITA
-Two neighbors have FENCES that were put in by previous owners and want to take them down
-We did HIRE an electrician last week. He put in three new $20 light switches, spent a half hour and we were charged $143 for labor. Joann gasped but wrote the check the day we got the bill.
I'm surprised that Bench didn't go into coaching after his playing days. He really had a high baseball IQ. I remember him executing delayed steals, being nonchalant at first until the catcher lobbed the ball back to the pitcher, then lumbering over to second base, often without a throw. But I also remember him falling for a fake intentional ball four from Raleigh Fingers in the World Series. (I also remember him hitting many near-home runs down the third base line in Crosley Field. He must have led the league in "foul home runs" every year of his career.)
Str(E)udle before streusel,
I'd guess it was a 1-hour minimum. $143 isn't too bad for a tradesman. My RV fix-it guy and Freightliner both charge $185/hr.
Nice that your neighbors informed you that they want to remove their fences. I had a guy that fussed at me after his kid broke the wood slat fence, insisting that I fix MY fence. Looking at my survey i saw that it was HIS fence, but I replaced it with the pretty side facing him, meaning that I had gained a little bit of his lot.
I just lost my comments. Rats.
I was saying before being rudely interrupted by who knows what, this puzzle makes 7 this week completed with not much difficulty. And this one was OUTSTANDING. My only total unknowns were LLM and RUTH.
We used to have á Black Mission FIG tree whose fruit were so large visitors thought they were red onions. The tree was already old when we bought the house, so unfortunately after four years of great harvests, DEATH took it from us.
Thank you CC for á nice recap. To answer your question, many years ago my sister used to take Methotrexate for her psoriasis.
I enjoyed this puzzle for most of the same reasons you all did.
That collar insert changed from STUD to STAY.
That pork cut changed from CHOP to LOIN. And it crosses LOON.
That weed whacker changed from DEA to HOE.
I finished without even seeing GALS, SAN Antonio, TET, and UNI.
I used to play the TENOR saxophone, not very well.
Good reading you all.
I was living in Oakland at the time, so I often went to the Coliseum, rooting for the A's. Most people thought we'd get killed by the Reds, with their Murderers' Row. But the victory over the Reds was only the first of three consecutive World Series wins for Oakland. Something that hasn't been done a lot.
The Johnny Bench at-bat that you mention is embedded forever in my mind. The count had actually gone to 3-2, and Gene Tenace, the catcher, was nonchalantly standing up, seemingly waiting for the inevitable Ball 4 by Rollie Fingers. As Rollie went into his windup, Tenace suddenly crouched down, and Rollie threw a perfect Strike 3.
Delightful Sunday puzzle, many thanks for this treat, Jill and Michelle. And your commentary is always a pleasure, C.C., thanks for that too. And I hope you'll get some good help for your arthritis.
I loved the way those GALS didn't have to EAT ALONE, and actually got a lovely lunch with some seafood-- including SHRIMP and EELS, and some OKRA, and a salad sprinkled with OLIVE oil. And I bet they were grateful that they didn't have to TAKE A TEST DRIVE, or worry about getting UP TO SPEED, or make a SNAP DECISION to go DOWNHILL FAST. After that, I bet they were ready to COOL IT and head to the Alps for a bit of YODEL. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday, I'd say.
Have a delightful one, everybody. And a lovely week ahead.
I'll never forget it either, but from a Reds fan side. It was the only time I remember Bench not being totally into the game. Would have never happened to Pete Rose - you can bet on it.
Our Canadian author, Louise Penny, has cancelled the launch of her next book, The Black Wolf, that was to be held there.
Anonymous - are you a Canadian in hiding? I call it Canadian disadvantage when I don’t know an American acronym.
Sporty Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Jill and Michelle, and C.C.
I FIRed online eventually , but struggled with the NE corner. Once I got OLIVE, the rest fell.
SHRIMP held me up too. Dynamite in the clue was making me think of Acme products.
Princess Diana learned the hard way about the need for a SLIP when early in her dealings with paparazzi, she was conned into a photo that embarrassed her.
https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/royals/the-story-behind-princess-dianas-iconic-see-through-skirt/
Everything was cancelled here today as we have snow . . . and it is still snowing. But folks farther north in the Gravenhurst, Bracebridge area have been dealing with snow all winter, and cannot even see over the snow piles on each side of their sidewalks.
Wishing you all a good evening.
Well, yesterday the blog kept giving me a “Failed to publish, please try again later”…and never did put it through. So I’ll keep it short and sweet today.
Brilliant theme with good clueing for the fun fills. A bit sticky all across the North, but once the theme was grokked, things got rolling nicely for a FIR. And how many times do we get to see SMUT in a crossword? 🤣
====> Darren / L.A.
Jinx some time ago you mentioned a particularly talented goat, I'd sure like to hear the details. You can email me at unclefred33304@yahoo.com. I may have a similar story to share with you.
I don't usually do Sunday CWs because they take too much time, but decided to give it a go today. I managed to FIR; it took 25 minutes but that's less time than I thought I would need. By my count 27 names, 7 DNKs. Once the first theme answer filled, and I was onto the theme, the CW became more fun with the other theme fills. Very clever, and fun. Not much else to say. Thanx JR & MS, a fun and clever creation. Thanx too to our fearless leader CC for the fun and informative write-up. I hope your medications help, and suspect that they will. No BDs again today?
Loved the puzzle - the wordplay of theme clues was fun. (My 2025 kitchen calendar has a pun for every day of the year❣️)
CC my dtr has been taking the RA med for about a year - with good results; has been able to stop the prednisone. Hope you get good relief, no side-effects.
Took 13:33 today.
I hope you all had a good day.
Lucky you! The BBQ shrimp po’boy at Liuzza’s by the Track is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Though not a native, I’ve lived in South Louisiana for 50 years, so I know good food!
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