The Doors: The circles spell out the word Door.
16-Across. Student with twice the usual level of concentration?: DOUBLE MAJOR.
28-Across. Bridal shower planner, typically: MAID OF HONOR.
43-Across. "We need medical help here!": CALL A DOCTOR.
58-Across. Common minivan feature, or a "closing" feature of this puzzle?: SLIDING DOOR. Notice how the letters "DO" slowly "Slide" towards the letters "OR" until the DOOR has Slid shut.
Here's the Grid showing the Sliding Door.
Across:
1. Adoptathon adoptees: PETS.
5. Makes less wild: TAMES.
10. Contented sigh: AHH!
13. Taj Mahal city: AGRA. Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
14. Find: LOCATE.
15. Fish eggs: ROE.
18. Mo. after Mar.: APR.
19. Metal marble: STEELIE.
20. Pestered: NAGGED.
22. Farm vehicle: TRACTOR.
25. Counterpart of poetry: PROSE.
26. Powdery residue from a volcanic eruption: ASH.
30. Gala headpiece: TIARA. In British royalty, there are very specific rules about who can wear a tiara, and when it can be worn.
32. Small-time celebs: D-LIST.
33. "G'day, __!": MATE.
34. Tree used in traditional Native American medicine: ALDER. The Alder tree has many medicinal usages.
36. Quaint contraction: 'TWAS. This makes me think of Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll.
40. Parting word: ADIEU.
42. One may begin, "Who's got two thumbs and ... ": BOAST.
48. Shakespearean denial: NAY.
49. Crush an exam: ACE IT.
50. Way up a snowy mountain: SKI LIFT.
52. Hot fudge dish: SUNDAE. Yummers!
54. 29-Down goo: PINE SAP. // And 29-Down: 29. Evergreen tree: FIR.
57. Qty.: AMT. Quantity vs Amount
61. Floral garland: LEI.
62. Julia's "Seinfeld" role: ELAINE. Elaine Benes was the fictional character from Seinfeld portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (b. Jan. 13, 1961).
63. "Yeah, I'll pass": UM, NO.
64. Comedy show with Michael Che and Colin Jost, for short: SNL. Saturday Night Live makes frequent appearances in the puzzles. This show just celebrated its 50th Anniversary!
65. Short-term employees: TEMPS.
66. Barnyard baby's sound: PEEP.
Down:
1. Goalie's protective gear: PADS.
2. Award quartet first completed by Richard Rodgers: EGOT. The Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony is becoming a crossword staple. We saw it just last Tuesday (See 50-Down).
3. "No argument here!": TRUE THAT!
4. Civil War sword: SABER.
5. Black Lives Matter co-founder Ayo __: TOMETI. Black Lives Matter was formed in 2013 by several woman including Ayọ Tometi (born August 15, 1984), who was known then as Opal Tometi.
6. Fed. health law: ACA. As in the Affordable Care Act.
7. Min. opposite: MAJ. Major and Minor.
8. School founded by Henry VI: ETON. Eton College was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as “Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore”. Henry wanted his subjects to have the opportunities of gaining knowledge that he had enjoyed, and he made provision for 70 poor boys, known as King's Scholars, to be housed and educated at Eton free of charge. Prince William (b. June 21, 1982) and Eddie Redmayne (b. Jan. 6, 1982) are both alums of Eton.
9. High-ranking angels: SERAPHS. Hierarchy of Angels.
10. Catherine of __: first wife of Henry VIII: ARAGON. The musical Six is about the six wives of King Henry VIII in their own voices. Divorced (Catherine of Aragon), beheaded (Anne Boleyn), died (Jane Seymour), divorced (Anne of Cleves), beheaded (Catherine Howard), survived (Catherine Parr).
11. "Fingers crossed": HOPE SO!
12. Border collie, e.g.: HERDER.
14. German camera brand: LEICA. The Leica company has been around since the mid-1800s. It began as an optical company and manufactured lenses and microscopes. Ernst Leitz (1843 ~ 1920) joined the company in the 1860s. The camera got its name from the first three letters of Leitz, and the first two letters of the word Camera.
17. Andes pack animal: LLAMA.
21. Underground recess: GROTTO.
23. Quirky one: ODD DUCK.
24. Auditioner's aim: ROLE.
26. Drive-thru convenience: ATM. The Automatic Teller Machine used to be a crossword staple. We haven't seen it in a while.
27. "Cheap Thrills" singer: SIA. Sia, whose given name is Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (b. Dec. 18, 1975), is an Australian singer and songwriter. She is known for not showing her face during her performances, instead hiding behind big bows or wigs. As we learned from yesterday (24-Across), she is also the One-named Chandelier singer.
31. Req. for domestic air travel starting in 2025: REAL ID. The deadline to use a non-REAL ID to board domestic flights and access federal facilities is May 7, 2025. I have had a Real ID since 2016.
34. Help: AID.
35. Some July babies: LEOs.
37. Sharer's offer: WANT SOME?
38. Cool __ cucumber: AS A.
39. Pigpen: STY.
41. Collection of numbers for crunching: DATA SET.
42. "__ it on!": bold challenge: BRING.
43. Cellist Pablo: CASALS. Pabla Casals (né Pau Casals i Defilló; Dec. 29, 1876 ~ Oct. 22, 1973), was a Spanish and Puerto Rican cellist, composer, and conductor.
44. Keen insight: ACUMEN.
45. Dal legume: LENTIL. Dal is an Indian dish of lentils, that's often served with rice. The word "dal" refers to the dried, split seeds of legumes, which are a rich source of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
46. Baskets scored off rebounds: TIP INS.
47. QB-protecting gp.: O-LINE. Football season is over. The offensive line (O-line) in football is a group of five players who block the opposing defensive line and create openings for the running back.
51. Out of patience: FED UP.
53. Fashion monthly: ELLE.
55. First-rate: A-ONE.
56. Stage accessory: PROP. The playwright Anton Chekhov (Jan. 29, 1860 ~ July 15, 1904) is credited with the quote, "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there".
59. Billie Eilish's "Therefore __": I AM.
60. Quick swim: DIP.
That's all for this Tuesday. Enjoy the rest of your week.
חתולה
42 comments:
I consider it “bogus” that one of the perps for “double major” was “maj” - an abbreviation for “major” itself. Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Kyle often stumps me...but not today. Wite-Out was only required to correct ODDball, ACUity, and treESAP this morning. Not sure about O-LINE -- only know it as an ending for GAS. Enjoyed the outing, Kyle and Hahtoolah. Today I'm off to the dealership for a recall. I'm told it'll be quick -- probably only 2-1/2 hours instead of the normal 3.
FIR, but max->MAJ and oddball -> ODD DUCK.
So if you wanted to study the folkways and mores of the Taj Mahal area, would you MAJOR in AGRA culture?
She CALL de DOCTOR, woke 'im up.
DNK the "who's got two thumbs and..." line, nor Richard Rodgers. But I did know Ektorps EGOT, ATM, SNL, ACA, ETON, SIA and ELLE.
Thanks to Kyle for an okay Tuesday puzzle. And thanks to Ha2la for the very fun review. I've heard "hijack," but never "cow jack."
Gotta change four heavy golf cart batteries and two giant truck batteries in my RV today. The last cold spell killed the current 5 year old version. I thought the worst of winter was behind us, but in the next few days we're supposed to get a foot of snow and lows in the teens. I miss global warming.
Not sure how you get pine sap out of a fir tree
DOne in 5:56 today without errOR.
"Cellist Pablo". "Tometi".
Ok. Sure.
I agree (as usual) with SubG's criticism of the, um, double major.
Oh joy, circles.
The Penny Press / Dell crossword has "Christmas contraction" for TWAS, a better clue than "quaint contraction" IMO.
Super Easy Tuesday puzzle, with the exception of the "Min. opposite" clue that I'd filled as MAX. And con artist TOMETI, who managed to use donated money to build a $6 million house and call it her "office" was unknown.
PINE SAP domes from a pine tree, not a FIR tree.
BOAST was all perps. I'd never brag about being incapable of doing something. SIA was a WAG. Eilish's I AM was all perps. Not familiar with either song. Not boasting, just stating a couple of facts.
Jinx- I also had the same changes as you; oddball and max.
Good Morning, Crossword friends. I hope everyone is safe from the snow storms that have been traveling across the country. No snow here, but the temps fell from the 80s over the weekend to the 30s!
QOD: If it wasn’t for the effort, I could argue against hard work all day. ~ Janan Ganesh (b. Feb. 18, 1982), British journalist
Uh, the FIR is in the PINE family. You can harvest its TAR by parking your car underneath one. (At first I thought your question was similar to the old joke "how do you get down from an elephant?" "You silly, you don't get down from an elephant, you get down from a duck!")
Sounds like turpentine to me. I was thinking the same.
Cedars and spruces are in the PINE family too. But if you ask a nursery for a PINE, a FIR, a cedar or a spruce, they'll know which one you mean.
FIR. Again circles? Yuk!
And maj instead of max, and odd duck instead of oddball? And throwing in Tometi gave this otherwise easy puzzle some bite.
Maybe i just got off on the wrong foot when I threw down mask instead of pads. But I don't think so!
Overall this was not an enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
I, too, went astray at Max/Maj until the unknown Tometi filled in. The Door theme was obvious due to the circles, but the reveal was unexpected. The solve was easy enough, despite some non-Tuesday cluing and fill.
Thanks, Kyle, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the fun and facts. Favorite comics were the ones for Ash, Alder, Fir, Herder, Llama, and Real ID.
Lucina, have a wonderful trip!
Have a great day.
This puzzle had a mildly interesting theme, but was astonishingly in need of some final editing.
First, as subgenius and others pointed out, we've got the abbreviation for "major" (MAJ) at 7Down crossing MAJOR. I call a "crossword no-no" foul on that.
Second, and more important, the SE was in a position of much-needed editing. Crossword Compiler or Crossfire is evidently spitting out UMNO on a daily basis; we just had it yesterday, too! That doesn't mean the constructor has to accept this annoyance. You roll up your sleeves and go to work re-constructing that section. You are the constructor, not the computer.
The other weakness in the SE is PINESAP. As Bob-B noted, pine sap is not the same thing as fir sap. Indeed, fir sap is unique in its medicinal and other qualities.
Besides UMNO, a couple other throat-clearing conversational nonentities today included AHH (which half the time is spelled AAH) and TRUETHAT. Yuck.
Thanks, Hahtoolah, for your usual amusing and informative recapping job.
I liked this theme. I was thinking of "closing doors." Right church, wrong pew, as we used to say.
Some of the crossword rules seem silly to me. MAJ and MAJO R , as used here, have different meanings, so why the fuss? Maybe I'm just an odd duck. (I like odd duck better than odd ball. I've seen it used many times.)
Contrary to weather reports, the weekend storm caused minimal (min) damage, not major (maj) damage.
MAJ is as legitimate as MAX for the opposite of MIN.
As others noted: Pines, spruces, firs, hemlocks are all in the same family, but are not the same species. Pines produce pine cones, pinesap, pine needles. Hemlocks produce hemlock cones, hemlock sap and hemlock needles. I know many people who call all conifer cones pine cones. SIC
Pine sap is a sore subject with me. When I lived in the condo, birds would peck the seeds from the cones of nearby pines and unload on my car. I finally found a tar removal spray,
TOMETI was new to me. I know SIA only from crosswords. CASALS was a gimme.
My mother talked of playing mibs (shooting marbles).I learned steelies and aggies from her. I have not seen a marble game played either in my generation or my sons' generation. We played Parcheesi with marbles.
I did not understand the reference "who's got two thumbs," so I looked it up. I'm not one to boast, so I had to see it in terms I could understand....
Also looked up origin of odd duck, Hans Christian Andersen, ugly duckling, I feel odd not knowing that...
I didn’t think too much of the theme till Hahtoolah explained how the DOOR slid shut, then the reveal made sense. FIR in 9:53. Like others, max became MAJ, I think MAJ and MAJOR in the same puzzle is poetic license for the constructor, doesn’t bother me. TOMETI was my only unknown. Yesterday DIP was a “salsa or salsa move”. I’m old enough to remember STEELIEs and puries , “boulders” were the best, we played marbles for “funsies” and “keepsies” and you didn’t wanna lose your prized ones. Thank you Kyle for the fun morning outing, and to Hahtoolah for your recap, your portfolio of cartoons and graphics is amazing!
FLN ~ I didn’t comment yesterday but would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge HG and Joann’s anniversary, congrats on that! And happy b/day to C-Moe, hope you are recovering well and the next procedure is a success 👊🏼.
Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depend8ng in whom you talk to....) it has become obligatory when discussing "Tiaras" to include a clip from The Big Bang Theory... I know that some refuse to watch, or be amused, due to the content basis. But quite honestly, you are missing out on some great theatrical teamwork. Of course, the "tiara" clip is incomplete without this small lead in: in the larger picture of both clips, can you see why Amy and Sheldon were "right" for each other?
And of course, The Tiara clip...
Oops, DNF. Unlike smarter bloggers here, I held on to MAx, didn’t know TOMETI, so that crossing stayed blank. Everything else filled easily except the SE which took some effort. I also had ODDball before ODD DUCK. So I didn’t ACE IT.
SIA and APR again. I had the pleasure of seeing Pablo CASALS in concert in New Orleans many years ago.
Thank you Hahtoolah for all the cute cartoons and info.
Musings
-It’s below zero this morning but will be 60F next week
-Not knowing uber obscure TOMETTI, not letting go of MAX and failure to expand on level of concentration perplexed me but were very cool to finally see.
-After blogging many of Dr. Dolan’s Saturday puzzles I knew I was in for some mental gymnastics
-After seeing the gimmick, I was anticipating SHUT THE DOOR or SLAM THE DOOR
-My APR 15 duties are done and refunds are on the way
-Our accumulated 11” of snow have brought out men with TRACTORS cruising the hood. Do you suppose they claim that income? :-)
-SUNDAE harkens back to the old Blue Laws
-What would you choose – An ice cream SUNDAE or a basket of onion rings?
-With all those PADS, it would be hard to get the puck past Splynter!
-I just looked and Joann and I both have a star in the upper righthand corner of our driver’s licenses indicating they are REAL ID’s. We had no idea.
-The Chiefs are in the market for O-LINE men
-Fun cartoons as is Hahtoolah’s usual Tuesday fare!
-Thanks for all the good wishes on our 58th anniversary. Frankly, if it hadn’t snowed, I would have subbed on it.
Don’t you just love it when we get letter patterns like o-DDD-uck!
In a related complaint, I was stuck on min-max. I've never seen "minor" abbreviated, or at least it didn't occur to me until almost too late. Thus, the crossing with the obscure Black Lives Matter founder almost caused me to FIW.
I don't agree that Pablo Casals is obscure.
I liked the sliding DOOR, but like others, had MAx instead of MAJ, and failed at my alphabet run to complete TO_ETI. Oof. On Tuesday! Thanks for the comeuppance, Kyle, and for explaining it all in good humor, Hahtoolah!
Ice cream sundae
Delightful Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Kyle. And your commentaries are always a help, Hahtoolah, thanks for those too.
Well, the MAID OF HONOR did her best to TAME the PETS so that they could attend the wedding, without having to be LOCATED in a SKI LIFT or someplace like that. Her MATE agreed, and the couple entered the chapel though a SLIDING DOOR with the critters behind them. The PETS didn't have to wear TIARAS to attend the ceremony, and they settled peacefully on PADS during the whole time. They didn't make a single PEEP, and afterwards the couple patted them and told them they ACED IT. Pretty good wedding for everybody.
Have a good and cheerful day, everybody.
I have to add an amusing personal anecdote following the discussion here about fir sap and pine sap. I am a Pacific Crest Trail ( PCT) Tehachapi "Angel." The PCT runs through Tehachapi, and as an Angel I help hikers get to and from the trail. They need provisions in town, good hot meals, a shower (which they really need!), and so forth. They usually give Angels a little cash, but last spring I had a foursome, mostly European, to whom I suggested, instead of cash, let's barter. I have a bunch of conifers which need some maintenance and attention, so they said sure, we'll help. I offered them work gloves, and their response was right out of the retort in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre": "We don't need no stinkin' badges." Or in our case, stinkin' gloves. So they got to work on my pines and Douglas firs. I noticed eventually that they were all closely examining their hands; turns out their fingers were glued together from the sap. Luckily I had a strong detergent that auto mechanics use, and that did the trick. But you can sure see why fir sap or pine sap is used in the manufacture of glue. They are glue personified!
Cute story, Misty
Amen. In fact, I'm shopping today for another cabinet because I'm running out of space for my CDs and DVDs. This situation is in no small way owing to my ample collection of the immortal Casals.
Fast finish today, despite some awkward clues. UMNO and AHH are getting old, and "Civil War Sword" was especially grating, as a SABER (or SABRE, C-eh!) is a Cavalry weapon used long before and after the Civil War. Hand up for playing marbles in my yute. Whiled away many a summer day.
Hand up stuck with MAX until a second pass an hour later gave me MAJ. Hand up it seems to violate crossword rules. But I enjoyed the SLIDING DOOR theme.
Hahtoolah Thank you for the DOORs song along with the other amusing illustrations.
Here I struggled with this SLIDING DOOR with my hiking companion Tatiana.
I led that hike again two weeks ago.
AHH, the DLIST! Where LA Times constructors and editor go for clues!
I figured that clue was for me. Here’s my thinking: “ah, Civil War is American, ergo, SABER is spelled the American way, not Sabre. Thank you, Patti”.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Kyle and Hahtoolah (loved that cat guarding the coffee!).
I FIRed and found the SLIDING DOORs.
Did anyone else notice a problem with those DOORs? My mini-van doors slide right across in one movement. Our doors today moved toward the right, but then moved back a bit at the third themer, before closing on the right.
Hand up for Max before MAJ. I too thought it was a CWRule violation thinking min. was for Minimum, not Minor. The musical Minor/Major refers to keys, while the scholastic major refers to main area of study. Ergo, two different meanings and ok per my understanding of CWRules.
Any constructors care to weigh in?
Other hand up for PINE tar before SAP.
Third hand up for Mask before PADS. And as the mother and grandmother of two goalies, I can attest that they are a different breed.
I noted A ONE, D LIST, and O LINE. We should have had a TBar rather than a SKI LIFT.
I’ll echo Yooper Phil “ FLN ~ I didn’t comment yesterday but would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge HG and Joann’s anniversary, congrats on that! And happy b/day to C-Moe, hope you are recovering well and the next procedure is a success.”
Wishing you all a great day.
Thank you for the kind response, Monkey.
LOL re that SLIDING DOORs!
Perps had already filled in REAL ID or this Canadian might have had trouble at 31D. But I have seen it here before. I am curious - do Americans have Fake ID? We must secure our border.
Yes, many Americans have fake IDs, but it is a tiny percentage. A lot of them are college kids buying adult beverages. But the reason for Real ID is to have minimum standards for identification to meet minimum US federal requirements. States can (and many do) have lesser requirements for "regular" IDs and driver's licenses, but starting later this year you need a Real ID (in Virginia, a yellow star on the corner of a driver's license indicates that it is a "Real ID") to fly on an airliner and enter US federal government buildings. Requirements for Real ID are proof of: 1) Full Legal Name; 2) Date of Birth; 3) Social Security Number; 4) Address of Principal Residence; and 5) Lawful Status (e.g., citizen, green card, etc.) States may have already required most or all of these, but most requirements of proof were less strict.
USA v. Canada tomorrow in the final! May the best team win!
Yes, it should be a good game!
What a great set of cartoons! Thanks for that, Hahtoolah, although the image of that discount ski lift will linger in my thoughts for far too long.
Thanks to Kyle and Hahtoolah for the entertainment! FAV comics were the DOUBLE MAJOR, SKI LIFT, PEEP show, and border collie.
Hi All!
Scooch over, HG & NaomiZ, make room on the DNF bench for me. Same area and MIX-up.
Thanks Kyle for the puzzle. Crunchy.
Thanks Hahtoolah for the entertaining expo to salve my wounds. I loved The DOORs' music & LOL'd at "draw my own conclusions" among others.
WOs: ODDball, treE SAP, UhNO, tOAST -> BOAST, have SOME -> WANT...
ESPs: ARAGON + DNF
Fav: TRUE THAT
LOL sliding door pic, Picard.
T.Ken - that's a funny "didn't wear their gloves" story.
C, Eh! - I can get a decent fake ID on the darkweb cheap. However, I don't think they put the Real ID thing on them. It's one thing to get caught w/ a fake ID, it's another to commit a federal offence :-)
Cheers, -T
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