I'm in Charge Here. The circles cross two words, and when Merged, form a head or ruler of a realm/Empire.
17-Across. Serialized daytime dramas: SOAP OPERAS. The POPE is the head of the Catholic Church. The word Pope is derived from the Greek πάππας (páppas), which was an affectionate term meaning "father", but now refers to a bishop or patriarch.
26-Across. "Anything could happen": ALL BETS ARE OFF. The TSAR was the head of the Russian Empire. The word TSAR is a form of the ancient Roman imperial title Caesar. Ivan IV Vasilyevich, better known as Ivan the Terrible, was the first Russian tsar. He gave himself that title. Prior to becoming Tsar, he was the Grand Prince of Moscow. I discussed him recently.
43-Across. Writer and illustrator of Caldecott Medal winner "The Snowy Day": EZRA JACK KEATS. Hand up if you knew this writer and illustrator. The RAJA was a monarch in India. Depending upon the region, the Raja was a prince or a king. Chandragupta Maurya (340 BCE ~ 297 BCE) is considered as the first emperor of India. He ascended the throne in 321 BCE.
And the unifier:
58-Across. "Road narrows" sign, or when read as three words, an apt description of what 17-, 26-, and 43-Across do: MERGE AHEAD. And when read as three words, we get: Merge A Head.
And a related theme clue and answer:
52-Across. Realm: EMPIRE.
Across:
1. Calamine lotion target: ITCH. Calamine is a zinc carbonate mineral. It's a mixture of zinc oxide and a small amount of iron oxide. Calamine is commonly used in lotions and dusting powders to treat skin irritations.
5. __ Peace Prize: NOBEL. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five prizes specified in Alfred Nobel's will. (The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences wasn't established until 1968.) The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway because, according to Alfred Nobel's will, the Norwegian Parliament is responsible for selecting the Peace Prize laureate, and the committee responsible for this selection is based in Oslo. The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 to Frédéric Passy (May 20, 1822 ~ June 12, 1912) and Henry Dunant (May 8, 1828 ~ Oct. 30, 1910). Passy was a prominent international pacifist, and Dunant was the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
10. Internet destination: SITE.
14. City fooled by a wooden horse: TROY. Greek mythology.
15. Jazz singer Adams who toured with Tears for Fears: OLETA. Oleta Adams (née Oleta Angela Adams; b. May 4, 1953) gained her fame when she toured with Tears for Fears in the late 1980s.
16. Approximate location: AREA.
19. At sea: LOST.
20. Balderdash: UTTER ROT.
21. Needles: TAUNTS.
23. Sound in a library: SHH!
24. Early web portal: AOL. As in America On Line.
25. Pound or ounce: UNIT.
32. Choreographer de Mille: AGNES. Agnes George de Mille (Sept. 18, 1905 ~ Oct. 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. She was also the niece of film director Cecil B. DeMille (Aug. 12, 1881 ~ Jan. 21, 1959).
34. Bottom lines?: HEMS.
35. Miss Piggy's favorite pronoun: MOI.
36. Implores: BEGS.
37. Word after Cha-Cha and Electric, in dance songs: SLIDE.
39. Drawer pull: KNOB.
40. Director Ang: LEE. Ang Lee (b. Oct. 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim. Lee received 2 Oscars for Best Director for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012).
41. Heaps: A TON.
42. Cleaning staff members: MAIDS. If you haven't read The Maid, by Nita Prose, I highly recommend this murder mystery novel.
47. Shower alternative: BATH.
48. Managed: RAN.
49. Midwest city with two MLB teams, for short: CHI. Chicago, Illinois is home to both the Chicago White Sox (American League) and the Chicago Cubs (National League).
55. Job: POSITION.
57. Laundry batch: LOAD. I had 41-Across of laundry after returning from our vacation.
60. Levelheaded: SANE.
61. Disney princess with a mermaid tail: ARIEL. // And 52-Down. Disney princess with icy powers: ELSA.
62. Memo phrase: IN RE.
63. Picnic pests: ANTS.
64. Social equals: PEERS.
65. Mythical river of the underworld: STYX.
Down:
1. "We're here!": IT'S US.
2. Pledge of fidelity: TROTH.
3. Cloakroom accessory: COAT HANGER.
4. Promote aggressively: HYPE.
5. Casual reply to "Thanks": NO PROB.
6. World Cup chant: OLÉ OLÉ!
7. Ernie's best pal: BERT. Think of Sesame Street.
8. GPS projection: ETA. As in Estimated Time of Arrival.
9. First entry on many applications: LAST NAME. The Customs Declaration forms request the Family Name before listing the first name.
10. Sign of military respect: SALUTE.
11. Waffle __: IRON.
12. Skills evaluation: TEST.
13. Grub: EATS. // And: 30-Down. Grub: FOOD.
18. Hurdles for would-be doctors: ORALS.
22. Broadcasts: AIRS.
25. Employed: USED.
27. "__ Misérables": LES. Les Misérables is a historical novel by Victor Hugo. It was first published in 1862 and was inspired by the French June Rebellion of 1832. Les Misérables has been adapted into a Broadway musical and a movie. I read the novel in my French class years ago.
28. Cogitate: THINK.
29. All-knowing: OMNISCIENT.
31. Little white lies: FIBS.
32. Competent: ABLE.
33. "Oh, c'mon!": GEEZ.
37. Local meteorologist's backdrop, perhaps: STATE MAP.
38. __ Ness Monster: LOCH.
39. Actress Dennings: KAT. Kat Dennings (née Katherine Victoria Litwack; b. June 13, 1986), is an American actress best known for her portraying Max Black in the television sitcom 2 Broke Girls.
41. Somewhat open: AJAR. When is a door not a door ...
42. Short-lived obsession: MANIA.
44. Puts up with: ABIDES.
45. Grocery store chain: KROGER. The first Kroger Grocery store opened in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
46. Art studio stands: EASELS.
50. White with age: HOARY.
51. Back-of-the-book reference section: INDEX.
53. Haunted house sound: MOAN.
54. Act like a hot dog: PANT. Cute clue!
55. "Je vous en __": French "You're welcome": PRIE. Today's French lesson.
56. Not that: THIS.
59. Afore: ERE.
Here's the Grid:
30 comments:
It wasn’t as easy as Tuesday puzzles usually are, mainly because the “Caldecott Medal Winner” was a complete unknown (as well as “Oleta”). The rest of the puzzle easily fell into place, however. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good Morning:
My unknowns echo Subgenius’ s and I also agree on the difficulty level. I could see where the theme was headed, thanks to the circles, but I was underwhelmed by the reveal. This was a case of the juice not being worth the squeeze, IMO. I’ll take two CSOs at Troy and Agnes.
Thanks, Justin, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the entertaining and informative summary. Favorite comics were the Trojan Pizza delivery man, the unheated Bird Bath, the lazy laundry Cat, the Waffle Iron, and the house-hunting Ghosts.
Thanks for the many chuckles.
Have a great day.
Good morning!
I noticed those two CSOs to I-M as well as another to Husker Gary with the heated birdBATH. I've only heard TROTH in the expression "plight one's troth" (promise to marry). Actually, maybe I've only read it and never heard it said aloud. Hand-down for knowing EZRA JACK KEATS. Who??? Still, it all came together quickly, so it was a good early-week exercise. Thanx, Justin and Hahtoolah.
Good Morning, Crossword friends. TSARS seems to becoming a Tuesday crossword staple. The word seems to crop up often.
I call foul on Ezra Jack Keats, although I had heard of the book.
QOD: When I drink, I think; and when I think, I drink. ~ François Rabelais (1483 ~ Apr. 9, 1553), French Renaissance writer
FIR without erasure.
The Grammys have joined the Nobel and Gloden Globe as being just about as impressive as landing the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. This year they awarded Best Country Album to Beyonce.
Didn't we just have SOAP OPERAS, OLETA and KAT as fill, with virtually the same clues? (I still won't know the singer or actress if they are in tomorrow's puzzle.)
Years after it became fashionable to say "NO PROB" or "NO PROBlem" as a response to "thank you," it still grates on my last good nerve.
KROGER gobbled up the Harris Teeter where I shop. Now they have stopped providing the hand baskets for shopping for just a few items. I can't wait until Publix arrives.
Thanks to Justin for the fun run. Don't worry, we used up all the "Justin Case" type puns last week. And thanks to Ha2La for another fine review. One benefit to vacationing in a motor home is having a washer and drier. No lugging stinky clothes home!
Took 5:07 today for me to get thEM IRonic references.
Oh joy, circles!
As usual, I agree with SubG and Ms. Irish Miss.
Although I knew today's actress (Kat), I didn't know today's writer (EzraJackKeats), today's French lesson (prie), Oleta, or troth.
Seems like a very weird clue for Oleta.
The top two themers were a breeze, then came the aforementioned EZRA…which required all perps. FIR in 11:50 with a few deletions and corrections, omnipotent to OMNISCIENT, and ord to CHI. Did not remember OLETA but I did remember KAT from a couple days ago, and hopefully from now on. TAUNTS instead of daunts today. DNK what cogitate meant until today, I never hear it used, SLIDE was perped from that. Celebrity of the day - AGNES of TROY! A good Tuesday level puzzle IMO, thank you Justin. Is this a debut, I don’t recall the byline? Thank you Hahtoolah for your well illustrated review, always enjoy the graphics and cartoons you provide!
FLN ~ Jayce ~ thanks for stopping in and explaining your absence, people were concerned. Prayers for Christina that her treatments are successful and provide her comfort, and take care of yourself too.
When I was teaching project management, I tried to lead into breaks, lunches and end-of-day with something that wasn't clear cut. I sometimes said something like "I'll let you cogitate on that 'til we meet again."
FIR. I saw circles and groaned, and it went downhill from there. Proper names as well, and even two crossing. Kat and Ezra Jack Keats (?), whoever that is. And Oleta (?). For a Tuesday puzzle this was a disgrace.
And the theme was a stretch at best. This puzzle had all the trappings of a Friday presentation.
It goes without saying that this was probably the least enjoyable puzzle for me going back years! Yuk!
Please enlighten me - what does CSO stand for? I know SO is Shout Out, but what does the "C" mean? Thank you
Hola! Thank you, Justin Werfel. This puzzle was just right for a Tuesday. However, as has been mentioned, OLETA was an unknown. Perps to the rescue! CSO to our own AGNES!
Except for lack of a Q this puzzle would be a pangram.
The AREA of California where my sister lives is called the Inland EMPIRE.
My favorite KROGER store closed a few months ago. Luckily we have other stores nearby. I never was a fab if SOAP OPERAS. PRIE took all perps to fill. Usually it's paired with "dieu" as in PRIEDIEU. Live and learn.
Have a great day, everyone! OLE! OLE! My prayers continue for Mrs. Jayce, Christina.
I don’t see a “V” either.
The "C" is for Corner as in LA Crossword Corner- an answer will reference someone who is a regular on the Corner - like Irish Miss's first name is Agnes and is from near Troy, NY
Musings
-NO PROB, Bob!
-I forgot my MacBook at home and so I stumbling around on a PC this morning. :-(
-When we left our Disney Resort, we saw an army of MAIDS leaving the employee parking lot heading to work.
-You bet D-O, our bird baths are heated and are very busy every winter. The starlings can empty them in a hurry as they splash around.
-My lovely bride would wait for the kitty to move also
-OMNIPOTENT fit but…Messiah singers will recognize, “For the Lord God OM NEEE POH TENT”
-Me too Irish, on the squeeze value!
-Fun cartoons as usual, Susan!
I thought the puzzle was smooth and moderately easy, and smiled at some of the uncommon entries.
As usual, I paid no attention to the theme, but upon seeing its reveal had no choice but to knock off a few points, and replace my smile with a look of disappointment.
I found this quicker than Monday but was certainly helped by knowing EZRA JACK KEATS and his famous illustrated children's book The Snowy Day. The Caldecott medal is given to the best illustrated kid's book each year. Given it was published in 1962 and received the Caldecott in 1963 (like the Oscars for the year before) it was quite groundbreaking in both having a black main character that wasn't a caricature/stereotype and also his use of mixed media in his illustrations. We had a copy in our home library in the 90s and it has stood the test of time, celebrating the first day of snow of the season. The author /illustrator grew up in a poor tenement in Brooklyn, NY which influenced his illustrations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snowy_Day
I grew up with KROGER, but now it is a large conglomerate that it's generic products are found in lots of grocery stores under the Kroger umbrella like Gerbes where I live and Dillon's in the Kansas City area
Thanks Hatoolah for the blog and Justin for the puzzle
Prayers go out for Jayce and Christina as she battles cancer - I didn't realize Jayce that you were a fellow Stanford Alum until I saw your email address!
Usual Tuesday time for me. Only Oleta was new to me. Perps were kind. I needed a perp or two to suggest some fill that I was familiar with. It helped this kindergarten teacher to remember Ezra Jack Keats. I saw the rulers, but didn't think of the merge of parts of two words to show heads of groups. If I don't get the theme, I can still appreciate the puzzle as a themeless.
Jinx, no prob grates on my nerves, too.
I visit many libraries. Complete silence is no longer the rule. Low voices are allowed. Children may not run around,. Many libraries have a study room where complete silence is expected.
I can relate to the "sit and read until the feeling passes." Yesterday I told myself I would begin working when I finished my book. Then I started a new book and am saying the same thing today. I still do quite bit of volunteer work, but with "a just in time" production schedule.
Jayce and Christina, my prayers are with you at this time of crisis.
Thanks for your usual interesting blog with fun cartoons, Susan.
As I recall, the C in CSO originally was coined as Coincidental Shout Out, but Corner Shout Out is probably even better.
An otherwise fine Tuesday puzzle by Justin was a bit marred by some forced entries, I believe. In places he seemed to lose sight of an important goal of a constructor, which is to always have the best interests of the solver in mind. For example, we had to wade through some obscure names like OLETA and KAT, and of course the 13-letter name of a Caldecott Award winner, which many commenters have brought up.
Despite the foregoing, I think Justin's puzzle had a lot going for it. It was refreshingly free of overused vowel-rich staples; its obscure and thorny entries were never near to each other, so we avoided Naticks; the theme was interesting, and contained helpful circles; and the cluing was fresh and interesting. I particularly appreciated the misdirections like "Bottom lines?" (HEMS) and "Act like a hot dog" (PANT).
Thanks, Hatoolah, for your guidance and ever-present cartoons and graphics. And thanks, Justin, for an enjoyable and instructive Tuesday-appropriate diversion.
Pretty easy Tuesday puzzle. My only unknowns were OLETA and EZRA JACK KEATS, but easily filled with perps and guesses. The reveal was disappointing. I agree.
AGNES of TROY sounds like á novel or movie title. LOL.
I did read “The MAID” and i too really liked it, Hahtoolah and thank you for your informative and funny recap. I loved the Trojan horse joke.
Traffic Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Justin and Hahtoolah.
I FIRed in good time, but was underwhelmed with the theme reveal.
Hand up for not knowing EZRA JACK KEATS. And this Canadian had an extra letter to WAG along with the T in KAT, since we don’t have KROGERs here. An alphabet run jogged my memory.
Our weather reporters don’t stand in front of STATE MAPs either.
OLETA was all perps.
I noted EATS and FOOD.
I prefer “Je vous en PRIE” to “NO PROB”.
Great catch on the EMPIRE Easter Egg, Hahtoolah.
Wishing you all a great day.
Not too misérable
NW was held up for a few with tommyROT and soapsponge for COAT HANGER. Our grade school had a long narrow “cloak room” parallel to the back of the classroom. Besides coats we stored stuff to wash the black board like soap sponges. (Some of the old ones were actual original sea sponges). One time a teacher took a misbehaving kid back there and beat the cr_p out of him. He was crying, she felt bad and gave him 50¢. You could go to 2 movie double feature matinee’s with that!!
Thought the theme clue answer was POSITION (Pope is a “ position”… BTW “Conclave” a great film with a twist at the end.)
Other inkovers: rash/ITCH, Cle/CHI,
All our med school TESTs were ORALS.
OLÉ OLÉ OK but not “Je vous en” PRIE. Ce n’est pas juste !!! ☹️ any way, during 6 years of school house français I was taught “Il n’y a pas de quoi” for “you’re welcome” (or just say NO PROB with a French accent 🇫🇷)
TAUNTS not daunts today. BATH, especially in a clawfoottub
Mom’s laundry, the mother ___ … LOAD
Adheres…. STYX
Serious cow ailment …. UTTER ROT
Have a great day 😀
We have been given a reprieve of one month. I could create another story using 20A, 21A, 26A, 58A, 52A, 60A, 11D,12D, 31D, 42D,53D et al., but I’ll leave the 17A to you. 2D has been broken. SHH, this post may be deleted.
Je vous en PRIE is more formal than il n’y a pas de quoi. Ooh! I don’t know how but I was able to type the first letter of the alphabet without an accent on it. I’ll have to explore how I did that.
Jayce, our thought are with you. Every day some one comes up with new cures and ideas, here's hoping...
The puzzle?
Crunchier than usual for a Tuesday, but it wouldn't be a puzzle if it were too easy. This one was like adding lettuce to my BLT, very tasty... I did have an unfortunate Name Natick, (Kat/Keats if you must know,) but I'm sure there were others, I just don't remember the easy ones.... the theme? I just couldn't see it. Thanks for splainin. Maybe it's because I was trying to split "the clue" into three parts...
this deserves 3 links...
option 2
option 3
Birdbath heater reminded me I had 2 of these. the 1st one broke, the end is somewhere. I don't trust it to run unsupervised. It is the cheapest piece of junk available. And besides, all I got for being nice was bird shit everywhere...
Which brings me to omniscient. If I could spell "omniscient," I would be, well, omniscient!
Learning moment, hoary... I thought it meant covered in rough ice. Hmm, reminds me of when i was younger. I used to be something that sounds similar starting with "H", but I guess now I'm just Hoary...
It's after 12 here in EST, is the breakfast crowd gone? Can I prattle on for a bit? There's no preview box with a 20 line minimum, so I guess I'm in good behaviour rules only... (what could possibly go wr9ng?) I have 2 tales that may, or may not "merge," ahead, but have similarities.
We have a local website that is called "Next Door" (insert yr town name here) that deletes anything even slightly political with a (one sided ) vengeance. I posted, " a post was deleted that I wanted to read that had (expletive deleted) note: that is the exact wording I used, because naming the (you know who) caused immediate deletion. Well, without naming anything political, but asking where can I find out what my neighbours are really thinking, started a thread of conversations that resulted in (an auto reply) from the site stating "neigjbors are interested in your post", "6.7k views"
I don't have the heart to tell them it was a discussion on what they delete...
A few clever clues.
I liked Act Like A Hot Dog.
The reveal was a drag. Not worth the effort.
Which means WE have been given a reprieve as well
P.s., I always thought CSO meant "crossword" shout out, but hey, whatever works...
Tale#2, which I only include because yesterday it was stated that puns are the lowest form of humor.
True story:
Yesterday I was riding my bicycle, and from across the river, I heard a car honking. When I got to the middle of the bridge, I could hear that the car horn was 3 short beeps, and 3 long beeps, followed by 3 short beeps etc...
SOS?
Well, what could I do?
I rode the mile to the location thinking, "some lady must be locked in her car,"
Or, "some lady is being attacked!" Or, it couldn't possibly be an auto/auto brain fart, could it? I just had to investigate...
When I arrived, it was the police station! With relief, I pulled up to the parking lot surrounded by barbed wire, and signs saying "restricted area," keep out."
I happened to espy a (police officer? Plainclothes?") get in his Lamborghini, and approach the gate. When it opened, I went to ask him, does anyone need help? Or Is this a car alarm malfunction? But he immediately started barking
"This is a restricted area!" You can't be here!"
To which I replied, didn't you hear that SOS?
Which he said, "you came here because of that?"
And I said, "yes! When I hear an SOS, I have to resp9nd!" It's a request for help! To Save our "Souls."
So he thanked me for being an idiot, and I replied, well, I just wanted to say:
Cars do not have Souls, unless they are a Kia...
Unobligatory Crossword Shout Out... and a true story...
Delightful Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Justin. And your commentaries are always helpful and pleasant, thanks for those too, Hahtoolah.
Well, the NOBEL item suggested prizes, and made me think about an actress who might hope to win one for acting in a SOAP OPERA. That might let her MERGE AHEAD into a new POSITION of some sort, where everyone might SALUTE her and she could end up on the STATE MAP. But sadly, that might not be how things turn out for her. She could end up having to work as a MAID, getting stuck with having to IRON and cook FOOD, work that could end up making her PANT and MOAN. But I bet she ABIDES however she can, and I think for that we should SALUTE her after all!
Have a good day, everybody.
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