Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Friday puzzle by Julius Tausig. I did a quick web search on Julius and found this: Julius Tausing Clue and Answer Talk about meta! As I could find no previous references to Julius here on the Corner, it appears that this might be his L. A. Times debut. If so, congratulations, Julius!
In any event, in today's puzzle we have a theme that involves adding the letter L in order to morph common English usage into the sought-after answers to the clues. The reveal is found at:
64 Across: Accepted defeat, and what 17-, 24-, 40-, and 51-Across did?: TOOK THE L. Took the Loss.
These four clues "took the L" and incorporated it:
17 Across: Hideout that's not very hidden?: OPEN LAIR. From Open Air.
24 Across: Times of year for competitive baking?: FLOUR SEASONS. The Fours Seasons of the year. Hmmm, we'll go with Carole King but it could have been Vivaldi . . . or Fankie Valli.
40 Across: Hip-hop subgenre dedicated to the woes of hair loss?: BALD RAP. A Bad Rap, more often a Bum Rap (which was an answer in one of our puzzles last week), is an unjust accusation. Bad Rap might be redundant.
51 Across: Assorted barrettes and clips?: HAIR PIN BLEND. From Hair Pin Bend or, more often, Hair Pin turn.
This is how everything looks in the grid:
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Here are the non-themers:
Across:
1. "Thriller" debut channel: MTV. MTV was the pioneering broadcaster of music videos. "Thriller" was a mega-hit album by Michael Jackson.
4. Dull pain: ACHE. A sensation frequently experienced in our puzzles.
8. Manatee: SEA COW. It's been teed up . . .
14. __ milk: OAT. SOY would have fit the allotted space but none of the letters would have worked out.
15. Dramatic outburst during court testimony: LIAR. We have LAIR in the puzzle so why not LIAR?
16. Like Enigma machine messages: IN CODE. The Enigma machine is a cipher device developed and used in the early- to mid-20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. It was employed extensively by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
19. Small beard: GOATEE.
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| Maynard G. Krebs |
20. Recipient of a wish list: GENIE. Hand up for thinking SANTA. The N would have worked out.
21. Zen paradox: KOAN. This solver was introduced to the KOAN by a High School English teacher. A KOAN is a puzzling, often paradoxical statement, anecdote, question, or verbal exchange, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening.
23. Shirt: TOP. TEE would have fit and the T would have worked out.
28. Historic fort near Charleston: SUMTER. Best known as the site for the opening of the Civil War.
 |
| Beyond This Solver's Ken |
32. "That is not __!": parents' words of warning: A TOY. OKAY would have fit and the Y would have worked out.
33. __-Cola: COCA. We'll do Easter at 11 Down.
36. Rite place: ALTAR. I just learned than my neighbor lives a secret life as a priest. It's his ALTAR ego.
39. Greek god of pastures: PAN.
42. Pro: ACE. Not fer. An accomplished person.
43. Stood out: SHONE.
45. MRI output: SCAN
43. Stood out: SHONE.
45. MRI output: SCAN
46. __ novel: DIME. DIME novel is a term for cheap, sensational paperbacks that were popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the U.S. Alas, the price component has gone the way of Two Buck Chuck.
47. Composer Frederick: LOEWE. Were you thinking Classical Music? Chopin, perhaps? In this case, Alan Lerner's collaborator. One example from their prolific output:
49. Got down pat: NAILED. There was an off-color joke involving Richard Nixon going around in the '70's. NAILED was not part of it.
55. Insect whose colony has a queen: ANT. What did the Pink Panther say after stepping on the ANT hill? Dead ant, dead ant, dead ant, dead ant, dead ant . . . .
56. "Ah, got it": I SEE. Indeed.
57. Garden party?: GNOME. Party, in this case, means an individual that might be found in a garden. Not a Ricky Nelson reference.
61. Split: IN HALF. Not "split" as in it's time to leave. Not a bowling reference. Not a reference to a city in Croatia.
66. __ 101: skyscraper in an Asian capital: TAIPEI. Designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons.
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| Taipei 101 Tower |
67. Latin year: ANNO. A translation clue/answer.
68. Sick: ILL.
69. Turn on the charm?: INCANT.
incant/ĭn-kănt′/
transitive verb To chant or intone (ritual or magic words). To state solemnly, to chant. To recite an incantation
70. Scorch: SEAR. CHAR would have fit and the R would have worked out.
71. Loving poem: ODE.
71. Loving poem: ODE.
Down:
1. First commercial synthesizer maker: MOOG.
2. Cassette: TAPE. State of the art at one time.
3. Powerful engine banned by F1: V-TEN. The F1, in this case, stands for Formula One auto racing.
4. Gene variant: ALLELE. Fortunately, for this solver, the word was remembered even if the spelling was not. Thanks, perps. From Wikipedia, "
5. Longtime KGB spycraft enemy: CIA.
6. Poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern: HAIKU. Hand up for thinking MoeKu.
7. Wrong move: ERROR. Oops!
8. Contract endorser: SIGNEE. A word that we do not often hear. . . or see.
9. Musician Brian: ENO. A frequent visitor.
10. Obama-era legislation, initially: ACA.
11. Small rabbit: COTTONTAIL.
Danny Kaminsky
12. Ancient theater of Ephesus: ODEON.
13. Cries: WEEPS. I saw my sister WEEPing uncontrollably, worried that her Economics degree wouldn’t land her a job. I said, “Are you having a financial cry, sis?”
13. Cries: WEEPS. I saw my sister WEEPing uncontrollably, worried that her Economics degree wouldn’t land her a job. I said, “Are you having a financial cry, sis?”
18. "Swell!": NIFTY. Slang. Bitchen'. Rad. Far Out! Groovy.
22. Eritrea's capital: ASMARA. A place not so frequently visited in our puzzles.
25. Killer whale: ORCA. A mammal which frequently visits our puzzles.
26. "By yesterday!" letters: ASAP. Alternative cluing: Recent aquittee.
27. Spanish sun: SOL.
en español
28. Drains: SAPS.
29. Zion locale: UTAH. Zion National Park.
30. Like an ancient obelisk: MONOLITHIC. This could have been clued with a reference to 2001 A Space Odyssey.
29. Zion locale: UTAH. Zion National Park.
30. Like an ancient obelisk: MONOLITHIC. This could have been clued with a reference to 2001 A Space Odyssey.
34. Twins who created the fashion label The Row: OLSENS. This solver did not know about the fashion line but Mary-Kate and Ashley OLSEN are twins who often appear in our puzzles.
35. Public health org.: CDC. Is it going to be NIH? No.
37. Fictional company whose products tend to malfunction: ACME. A Wile E. Coyote reference.
38. Woodwind insert: REED.
40. Appliance alert: BEEP.
41. Great-aunt of Prince George: ANNE. We fought a revolution to separate from the British royals. Some of us pay them very little or no attention. Thanks perps.
44. Scand. land: NOR. Probably not Juilius' favorite answer.
46. "That __ hurt": DIDN'T.
48. Video game that uses a balance board: WII FIT.
50. Cambodia's __ Wat: ANGKOR.
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| Photo By MM |
51. Part of Hispaniola: HAITI.
52. Diplomat Kofi: ANNAN.
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| Former U.N. Secretary General |
53. Releases with bugs, probably: BETAS. A computer coding/debugging reference.
54. Sierra __: LEONE. Often visited in our puzzles.
58. Weird or cringe, in Gen Alpha slang: OHIO. As for OHIO used in this context, this I know from nothing. But Merriam-Webster does: The Gen alpha slang use of Ohio as an insult originated on the Internet shortly after a series of memes about the US state of Ohio began circulating in the late twenty-teens. The most common type of these memes is the "only in Ohio" variety, which describes something weird or awkward and then claims that it happens in Ohio.
59. Combine: MELD. MESH would have fit and both the M and the E would have worked out.
60. Vogue rival: ELLE. A magazine frequently read in our puzzles.
62. Shrinks' org.: APA.
63. Actor Cariou: LEN. LEoNard Joseph Cariou
65. "Based __ true story": ON A. When it says this you can bet that significant liberties have been taken with the facts in the name of entertainment.
Yours truly will be heading to the mountains in a bit and will be skipping the next couple of otherwise-scheduled blogging cycles. See all y'all after returning.
___________________________________________
54 comments:
I’ve seen “incantation” but never “incant” by itself (and spellcheck doesn’t like it!). Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle; in fact, I think it was easier than some we’ve had earlier this week! For one thing, the gimmick was immediately obvious, which helped with the solve. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
It took WAGs at the A and M in the KOAN/MESON/ASMARA for my final fill, but I managed to get the EL out of this one with a FIR in 20:35. Also DNK ALLELE, or ANGKOR (which gave me pause in solving the reveal, along with not knowing OHIO, of all the clues for that, is there any that could be more ridiculous than “Weird or cringe, in Gen Alpha slang”?). I corrected okay to A TOY, and LOEWE was all perps, as was PAN. Thanks Julius for the puzzle, congrats on your LAT debut! And to our resident SEA COW, thank you for the fine detailed review.
Good morning!
Saw the theme. Even understood the reveal. Will wonders never cease. Zipped right through this one. Thanx, Julius and Mal-Man. (Very groan-worthy this morning. Enjoy your ski trip. I guess we shouldn't send you off with "Break a leg.")
BETAS: If no one is finding errors in your code, it probably means nobody is using it.
CDC: Will we soon have to refer to CDC and NIH as former health agencies?
FIW, missing both WAGs @ eSpARA x KOwN and pESON. Also, lou->LEN, odium->ODEON, and annin->ANNAN.
Like our MalMan, I remember that Nixon joke. Not too funny in writing, but the oral version is hilarious.
I remember the MOOG folks informing the public that it was pronounced like "fog," not like a cow sound.
Hand up for thinking moe-KU first.
BETAS, or as Microsoft calls them, "commercial releases."
Eritrea still circumcises a third of their girl babies. Not a fan.
Thanks to Julius for the fun Friday challenge, even with the double guesswork I flubbed. And thanks to our MalMan for another fun review. I'm so sorry that you had to see that SEA COW remark.
Took 9:19 for me to take the L. Wrong guess at the intersection of the particle and the city in Eritrea.
I didn't know Loewe, Ohio (and agree with YooperPhil that it's a horrible clue), or the skyscraper in Asia.
I knew today's actresses (Olsens), and I've always thought Angkor Wat would be great to experience in person.
I agree that this was a rare very doable puzzle. My first question is whether JULIUS TAUSIG is related to longtime puzzle maker BEN TAUSIG , I could not confirm in a quick search.
WAT is a word referencing a Buddhist Temple, of which there are so many worth visiting in Thailand and else where. I hope Julius stops by to introduce himself. Don't forget to change your clocks Sunday morning. Enjoy your vacation Joseph.
FIW. Took a WAG at the crossing of koan and Asmara, put an "e", and was wrong.
This had a little bite to it, but it is Friday after all.
I got the theme early on and that helped a lot.
Overall a fun puzzle.
I thought that ANKOR Wat was what the Tokens' backup singers sang in The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Today's puzzle struck me as pretty straightforward, featuring a mildly amusing theme. Julius, if this is indeed your debut submission, well done, and please drop by the Corner if you get a chance.
Many LATimes constructors have noted that when their puzzle is published, they hardly recognize it because so many of their clues have been changed. With that in mind, my belief is that crossword constructors and editors should always have in mind the best interests of the solver, as opposed to showing off.
Today's puzzle crossed the line in the "show-off" direction in several areas of cluing. The most egregious example was 58D, where a TikTok sort of ludicrous clue led us to OHIO. Are we supposed to be impressed that whoever wrote that clue knows the language of 12-year olds?
I was pleased to see Frederick Loewe make an appearance in today's puzzle. Like others, I first thought of Chopin (or Delius). But too many letters for both--and there is no K in Chopin's first name. Loewe (he went by Fritz, by the way) retired to Palm Springs, and would often attend concerts at my college nearby. I helped plan a special concert--with Fritz's assistance--"An Evening with Lerner & Loewe," with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Fritz was quite moved.
I wear a sweat shirt--in fact, I'm wearing it now--of the Angels Landing trail at Zion National Park. So the Zion 29D clue was a given.
Thanks, Julius, for a challenging but Friday-appropriate enjoyable diversion. And thanks, MalMan, for ably guiding us through the puzzle.
And everybody except Arizonans--don't forget to command your clocks to Spring Forward this weekend.
RustyBrain here on my cell...seems to me that the revealer is backwards. We're adding an L, not takng one.
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Julius and MalMan.
This was a DNF, FIW for me today, but I did get the Missing L theme.
I can chalk up some of my difficulty to Canadian disadvantage (I did not know Zion in UTAH, or SUMTER near Charleston) and some to Natick (to me) crosses.
KOAN crossing ASMARA crossing MESON required a Google search.
The V n the cross of MTV and VTEN never dawned.
TAIPEI was a WAG. I thought of BURJ KALIFA.
The clue for OHIO was just cruel!
But this Canadian knew ANNE. (We had ANNO also.)
My cries were pEEPS which gave me a SEACOp manatee. (We had a peep/peek issue the other day that I was remembering, or perhaps that COTTONTAIL made me think of Easter Peeps.)
And then we had BEEP.
Anyone else debate between ANT and Bee with that queen in the clue?
Wishing you all a great day.
Fairly easy puzzle, although, as others mentioned, crossing ASMARA with KOAN and MESON made that section unnecessarily sticky.
We also have a new candidate for Most Ridiculous Clue of All Time for the mess that led to OHIO.
Having "never" heard of the phrase "took the L," I could only solve this puzzle by uttering to myself "What the L?"
The Ohio meme was a learning experience, but I guess it's all relative in an Einsteinian sort of way. You could apply "only in" just about anything...
only in New York
only in Australia
Where are you "only in?"...
LOL. "....But the oral version is hilarious" . . . That's deep.
i had the same thought but settled on taking the L (off the shelf, say) and applying it.
Musings
-KO_N/_SMARA was never going to happen for me but a nice challenge otherwise
-I walked every inch outside of Fort Sumter on a blustery, cold March day.
-The rest of the tour group were inside the lovely museum where this 33-star flag from that day was on display
-Professor Harold Hill warned of “DIME NOVELS hidden in the corn crib”
-My GENIE grants me a wish every time I ask it to open my garage door
-We bought a new bookshelf stereo to use with our stacks of CD’s. The tape player will get no use.
-Both novel renditions of Here Comes The Sun were welcome
-Several sites say Catch Me If You Can was based ON A true story but, like many other movies, was nowhere close to reality.
-Is “Only in OHIO” similar to “Will it play in Peoria?” from decades ago?
Good Morning:
Sorry, but Thumper and I have no words this morning.
MalMan, your humor and punny prowess saved the day. Thank you and enjoy your time off.
A belated best wishes to the two DH’s who are recovering from procedures, Canadian Eh’s spouse and sumdaze’s spouse, both of whom, I’m sure, are receiving much TLC.
Have a great day.
Teehee
Kind of a Christmas theme - No L, no L, no L, no L, born is the king of Israe L
Angkor Wat is an AMAZING experience. I visited there in 2006. It was a solitary, out-of-body experience, the whole time I wandered there. I was with a tour group - but didn’t walk or talk with anyone else while there - and for a long while after. I’ve never been more humbled and silenced. (I had lived/worked in Pnom Penh in 1974 - but couldn’t get to Angkor then because of the warring. So perhaps its allure for me was heightened by its previous unavailability? 😊 AND, being there was absolutely a religious experience for me!)
Only In America, either the Jay and the Americans or the Brooks and Dunn version.
Guess I’m on a different bus than many here as I DNF! First real problem I’ve had with a Friday puzzle in recent memory. Not sure how so many thought it was easy when you have perps such as: loan/asmara/meson (where signee could have been signer; along with incant/Len/APA (where it was likely a third letter of A or O. Nor was I sure about wiifit vs Wii fii or fie…? Didn’t know Ohio either, but at least it had fair perps! Not a fan of the chosen perps on obscure answers.
Hola! I slowly limped to the finish line with several wite-outs. SANTA came before GENIE, ENCODE/IN CODE. ALLELE is totally unknown to me but perped all the way. I SEE LIAR and LAIR. And it's been a very long while since KOAN made an appearance. ANGKOR was challenging to spell but GNOME helped. CSO to my daughter who loves GNOMEs. Her collection has been growing. TOOK THE L could also refer to taking the L train.
It's been a long time since I watched "Blue Bloods" so I did not recall LEN Cariou's name and thought it was Lou.
i agree that it's a weird clue for OHIO. I, too, was thinking of the Burj Kalifa instead of TAIPEI and had no idea about that skyscraper.
Thank you, Julius Tausig, for this challenging puzzle.
Have lovely day, everyone! It's raining here! And, no, we don't change the clocks here in Arizona. We have sufficient sunshine without adding another two or more hours.
Thanks for the swell parsing of this puzzle! I enjoyed both immensely.
(Angkor is special to me - see reply above)
Had to ask my physicist husband for “meson” - which led to an interesting tale about his phd qualifying exam. (I’d heard it before - we’re married 45yrs tomorrow - but it’s a fun story, and he really got into it w/ the prof’s German accent and all the physics jargon, and - it was fun!)
I too thot of Moe-ku! <3
Per internet/AI “gen alpha”-s are 15yr-zero = all three of my grands - they’re so fun and cute!
Well - I’ll stop now. Thx Everyone - for hanging out here, and letting me hang too!
I feel like I turned out at a comedy club to encourage a new performer who failed to make me laugh. Or maybe a hip-hop performance with bad rap.
The theme was really blah for a Friday. “Took the L” is a sports term that probably means nothing to many solvers. And I thought of HAIRPIN turn, not BEND, an expression I’ve never heard.
Hand up for dugong before SEA COW, wail before WEEP, and okay before A TOY. It all added up to a bit of distrust toward the constructor. Example: I suspected my spelling of GENIE would prove problematic, although it didn’t.
The CSO to our MalMan was nice, though, and I enjoyed seeing Frederick LOEWE, ASMARA, MOOG, and ANGKOR Wat (which I have also seen in person). I didn’t enjoy seeing SUMTER, my Jeopardy nemesis, but that’s another story.
ALLELE and MESON were unknowns, so I wasn’t sure of my FIR until MalMan revealed the grid. Even then, I hadn’t noticed OHIO and was relieved I had it right.
I also bristle at MELD as anything but a pinochle term. As clued, it’s a pointless portmanteau of weld and mold that I never saw until after I first played pinochle.
Neat Friday puzzle, many thanks, Julius. And always appreciate your commentary help, Mal Man--thanks for that too.
It seemed as though this puzzle gave us a bit of an ODE ON both body and mind issues, starting with that ACHE possibly produced by a LIAR, maybe brought on by drinking some OAT milk? Or maybe all this activity was produced by a GENIE with a GOATEE who wanted to give everybody a BALD RAP or a rap for not wearing a HAIR PIN. But thankfully there wasn't any criticism about a TOOTH. And at least these comments DIDN'T hurt anyone's feelings, so let's get some COCA cola and enjoy the rest of our day.
Have a happy weekend coming up, everybody.
Except, of course, the clocks on reservations.
Happy anniversary to you and DH!
I heard that gen BETA births started 1.1.2025.
As I had hoped, I did better today than yesterday.
I believe we TAKE THE L and put it in the theme answers.
Tausig was the last name of one of DH’s high school classmates. It’s not common name that I know of.
Thank you MM. Great review.
Well, it depends. The Navajo Nation, which covers the entire NE section of Arizona, does observe DST, but most other tribes abide by state policy.
I enjoyed this puzzle and the inserted L theme, but FIW at the intersection of ASoARA and SIGNEr. I mean, why not call the particle an orSON in honor of Mork from Ork's remote supervisor?
The Beatles song in MOOG and español versions were marvelous -- thank you, MalMan. Links worth following. I had a big laugh when your sister cried.
Enjoy the mountains, stay safe, and rest assured that your humor will be missed when I step in to fill your watery shoes.
Filled it all in ~20 minutes, but that involved a couple alphabet runs, and when I hafta do an alpha run, I do not award myself a FIR. Dang! And I even got the theme! 20 names, including 6 DNKs. DUGONG:SEACOW, OKAY:ATOY only W/Os. In spite of the DNF, still a fun CW overall, thanx JT. Terrific write-up, too, MalMan, thanx for all the time and effort.
The "oral version"? Isn't that Monica and Clinton's forte?
It was a DNF-FIW for the 2nd day in a row. I caught the added L but couldn't get the FLOUR SEASONS, HAIKU, LIAR, KOAN (unknown) area to work. I knew Princess ANNE and remember her wedding way back when, which made me change HAIRPIN BLING to BLEND.
Quark-antiquark particle and MESON? I wonder if anybody on this blog actually knew that one? I got it because I remember this hot stock from back in the 60s-ASMARA Oil.
LOEWE, INCANT (enchant ?), WII FIT, OHIO- those fills came via perps.
You didn't know Zion or Sumpter but did you know INNU from earlier this week? That's an indigenous group from Labrador I'd never known.
Lucina, you may have more sunshine in AZ but you don't have more DAYLIGHT. AK has the most daylight. I think DST is ridiculous. Companies could just as easily change their work times to starting and finishing an hour earlier and it would have the same effect. No changing clocks.
Two wrong letters. DNF. If I do a mental ABC run I give myself a FIR. If I do a red letter alphabet run, I call that a DNF. Also I call it fair when I write down trial letters knowing they could change and then erasing them when perps prove them wrong.
Ha!
It's 48 degrees right now and still lightly sprinkling; what a big change for us here. I had to do some shopping as I don't have sweaters in my current size (only size small) and I'm going with my family to California where it's even colder.
Thanks to JuLius and congratuLations on your debut!
I've been waiting for someone to clue OHIO this way -- but it's not in my lexicon.
Fun to see the CSO to our two Friday sherpas with HAIKU and manatee. Speaking of, thanks to MalMan! I enjoyed today's tunes. Safe travels!
Thank you, also, to IM and YP (yesterday) for the well wishes! We're almost back to normal.
Happy anniversary (tomorrow) to Sophia@11:18 ! 45 years is a long time!
My house (near 55th ave and Pinnacle Peak for Zonie Cornerites) was in a young and growing neighborhood. It didn't matter what the clock said, at dawn the hammering started, and it ended about 8 hours later. Usually early afternoon when the days were long.
I mostly enjoyed this puzzle.
Hearty handshakes to CanadianEh and sumdaze for their caregiving.
Loved your write-up, MM.
Right back at ya, Jayce!
I would go even further. No time zones. Use the same nominal time everywhere on the planet. So what if I sleep from what is called, e.g. 08:00h until 14:00h.
Thanks, Naomi. Things will be very capable hands.
"OHIO will be eliminated". A message on a bus stop sign in Chicago. Apparently the source of the odd meme.
Here is the message intended to inform riders about a bus stop removal at the intersection of Ohio Street and Michigan Avenue.
From yesterday:
sumdaze Thank you for the kind words.
A snappy salute to you too, Jinx, for the care you are also giving to your wife.
Thanks Jayce. And same to you in your caregiving.
Unknown clue (F1??) results in unknown answer (V10) ... par for a Friday.
Thank you.
I threw it away after halfway. The clues were not to my liking. Too many oddball names, words and foreign references.
Here’s my comment from Thursday - “ Even this Canadian had forgotten INNU (Inuit is a larger Indigenous group). But I did get CSOs for CANada with NOVA Scotia and those Labrador people.”
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