Theme: "World Series" - Each theme entry contains a popular TV series and the show is re-imagined at a different setting.
23. A spunky teenage girl works as an intern in Silicon Valley?: APPLE BLOSSOM.
29. A forensic anthropologist investigates crime at a topless beach on the French Riviera?: BARE BONES.
42. Hugh Laurie's character practices medicine in Tokyo?: HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN.
68. The bar where "everybody knows your name" opens a franchise in a New York borough?: BRONX CHEERS.
93. Rachel, Ross, and the gang climb the Himalayas?: FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES.
109. A navy lawyer visits the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem?: CRYING JAG.
116. High-powered attorneys vacation at the Yellowstone Hot Springs?: BATHING SUITS.
The new settings are all over the place, hence "World Series".
Gary
and Doug have collaborated quite a few Sunday puzzles. From the byline
we can see that this is Gary's initial idea. Doug helped him find more
theme entries.
Across:
1. Fashion brand that makes Luna Rossa Ocean fragrances: PRADA. For man. This is Jake Gyllenhaal.
6. Web crawler?: SPIDER. Not the website.
12. "The Big Bang Theory" character: RAJ.
15. Sale caveat: AS IS.
19. Narrow: TAPER.
20. "Sweet": OH NICE.
21. Big bird: EMU.
22. Fill a hold: LADE.
25. Home of the Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden: HONOLULU. Streams and waterfalls. I want to be there.
27. "Goosebumps" series writer: STINE (R.L.)
28. Bard's nightfall: EEN.
30. Bach work: CANTATA.
33. Center of activity: HUB.
34. Blue-white twinklers: B STARS.
35. Actress Gilbert: SARA.
38. Tic-__-toe: TAC.
39. Shadowbox: SPAR.
41. Basketball great Bird: SUE.
48. Yosemite photographer Adams: ANSEL.
49. Tabasco kin: TIO.
50. Arabian Peninsula citizen: OMANI.
51. Sugar __ peas: SNAP. You can just pop them into your mouth.
53. [Yawn]: MEH.
54. Tasteless: INSIPID. My taste buds have changed. The COVID I got last spring changed everything.
57. "Sick!": RAD.
58. Saint __ fire: ELMO'S.
60. Actress Rae: ISSA.
62. Major obligation: ONUS.
64. Most in need of a trim: WEEDIEST.
66. Is not misused?: AIN'T.
72. "California Gurls" singer Perry: KATY. I like her "Teenage Dream".
73. Plan for: FIGURE ON.
75. Gobsmack: STUN.
76. Get ready: PREP.
78. Familiar theme: TROPE.
79. Wearable souvenir: TEE.
81. Resembling the king of the jungle: LEONINE.
84. Crater's edge: RIM.
87. Budget execs: CFOS.
88. Eel, to a sushi chef: UNAGI. Mouth-watering. Eels boost your stamina.
90. "Lost" actor Daniel Dae __: KIM.
91. Stand for: ABIDE.
97. Pops: DAD. Ba ba.
98. Nodder's phrase: I SEE.
99. Shake a leg, quaintly: HIE.
100. Salty expanses: SEAS.
101. More glum: SADDER.
105. Explosive block in Minecraft: TNT.
106. Nursery noisemakers: RATTLES.
111. Former Interior Secretary Haaland: DEB. Not many way to clue this word.
112. Wonderland cake words: EAT ME.
115. Spot of Texas tea: OIL STAIN.
120. Not very convincing: WEAK.
121. Wily: SLY.
122. Camden Yards player: ORIOLE.
123. "Sneak Previews" co-host Roger: EBERT.
124. HR dept. data: SSNS.
125. NYC subway org.: MTA.
126. Formal announcement: DECREE.
127. Bowling alley lineup: LANES. Just had this last week.
Down:
2. Knocks: RAPS.
3. Calendar entry: Abbr.: APPT.
4. One might be full of baloney: DELI CASE. Fun clue.
5. Big game venue: ARENA.
6. Fa follower: SOL.
7. Vietnamese soup: PHO. They use thin rice noodles. I like wide noodles.
8. Map feature: INSET.
9. Pathologists' focus: DISEASE.
10. Sci. of money: ECON.
11. Sleep acronym: REM.
12. Post-surgery therapy, for short: REHAB.
13. Spanish "love": AMOR.
14. Insect similar to a figeater beetle: JUNE BUG. Not familiar with the figeater beetle. But I like fresh figs also.
15. Parcel out: ALLOT.
16. Hot spot: SAUNA.
17. One whiling away the time: IDLER.
18. Sam-I-am's creator: SEUSS.
24. Square meal?: BENTO. Some squares inside, but bento boxes are often rectangular.
26. Preoccupied (with): OBSESSED.
29. Tuition collector: BURSAR. Learning moment for me.
31. White House family of the early 1910s: TAFTS.
32. Popcorn brand: ACT II.
33. One of "The Two Coreys": HAIM. Corey Haim and Corey Feldman.
35. Bogus: SHAM.
36. First-class: A ONE.
37. Heading out in a hurry: RUSHING OFF.
40. Collection of a brand's goods: PRODUCT LINE. Aritzia stopped their Go-to T-shirts. Drive me crazy.
41. Dee of heavy metal: SNIDER. Lead singer of Twisted Sister.
43. Yale grads: ELIS.
44. "I'll give you a lift!": HOP ON.
45. Not just impressed: IN AWE.
46. Not similar to: UNLIKE.
47. Prepare to haggle, perhaps: NAME A PRICE. I'm not good at haggling. You?
52. Fence upright: POST.
55. Part of town, for short: NABE.
56. "Devil Inside" band: INXS.
59. Pen for a pig: STY.
61. Daze: STUPOR.
63. Elisabeth of "The Boys": SHUE.
65. "NBA Today" airer: ESPN.
66. Toward the stern: AFT.
67. Texter's "Unless my memory deceives me": IIRC. If I Recall Correctly.
69. Portly: ROTUND.
70. Upright: ON END.
71. Long, thin mushroom: ENOKI. Essential in hot pot dishes.
74. Junk mail addressee: RESIDENT.
77. Not made up: REAL.
80. Softening: EASING.
82. __-light: NIGHT.
83. Battle cry: I'M HIT.
85. Notion: IDEA.
86. Total jumble: MESS. I'm slowly starting to understand this medical insurance thing. Scary.
89. Point: GIST.
92. Low-pitched wind in a marching band: BASS TUBA.
94. Auditory ecstasy: EARGASM.
95. Religious dissident: HERETIC.
96. "Moby-Dick" figure: PELEG.
101. Freight tubs: SCOWS.
102. Sign of spring: ARIES. Can't wait for dandelions to pop up everywhere.
103. "The Practice" actor McDermott: DYLAN.
104. Floppy __: DISKS.
105. Tucker of country: TANYA.
107. Detest: ABHOR.
108. Meeting room stand: EASEL.
110. Stand up: JILT.
111. "I double-dog __ you!": DARE.
113. Personal bearing: MIEN.
114. Basic French verb: ETRE. And
117. __ de la Cité: Notre-Dame locale: ILE.
116. Physique, for short: BOD.
119. Ave. crossers: STS.
Dear Irish Miss (Agnes) shared with me this sweet picture of her and her siblings at the first Christmas cocktail party in her new home in 2004. She and Eileen hardly aged.
 |
Left to Right: Seated: Bud, Agnes, Anne, Mary and Eileen Standing: Jack, Peggy, Bill
Anne, Bud, Mary, and Jack now deceased. |
33 comments:
It wasn’t too tough. I had
seen or was familiar with all of the “shows” (pretty much). And I understood the gimmick pretty much right away. So I pretty much had a good time with this. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Made it through in under 20, just about as fast as I could write. My only misstep was IT'S ON for that "Battle cry." EARGASM was new to moi, but it makes sense. HERETIC is one of the nicer things I've been called. Thanx, Gary, Doug, and C.C. (Somehow BATHING SUITS took a dive to the bottom of the writeup.)
FIR with 10 erasures.
Doesn't the devil wear PRADA?
I thought that a CANTATA was where I spent a small fortune on margaritas before I gave up alcohol.
CSO to moi at "tasteless" and INCIPID.
WEEDIEST is an indication for needs a trim? Are you sure about that Jethro?
My only calendar entry today is for Zoё's 12th birthday. That's getting up there for a greyhound.
Seems like only yesterday that we had JUNE BUG.
CC can't wait for dandelions. Thier only genetic mistake is that they spread like, well, WEEDs. If they were delicate and hard to grow, they would be considered highly desirable flowers.
Tabasco is one of the six Mexican states I can name, out of their 31 total.
Thanks to Gary and Doug for teaming up for this fun Sunday grid. My favorites were "Tabasco kin" for TIO, and "spot of Texas tea" for OIL STAIN. And thanks to CC for another interesting review. If you ever get the medical system completely figured out, be sure to teach it to the rest of us.
Not a fan of this one - LEONINE, HIE, PELEG ? CRYING JAG ? What is that supposed to mean? The theme has no cadence - APPLE BLOSSOM means somebody works ? Personally, I think the constructors tried too hard to squeeze too much out of this one. I’m sure others will enjoy it, but it missed the mark for me.
Re: 111A. Former Interior Secretary Haaland: DEB. Not many way to clue this word.
How 'bout: Short ingénue?
LOL. Have a great Sunday, everyone!
Took 17:11 today to finish binge watching.
Cantata, unagi, and enoki were tricky for me. I also struggled with: Kim, Deb, mien, and a few others. I knew today's actresses (Issa & Sara).
Hola! A nice one from two puzzle geniuses and which I managed to finish but not without a struggle. JAG emerged though I no longer watch TBBT and I recalled INXS because of its unusual spelling. .
Thank you, C.C., for your unfailing attention to detail. I appreciate that.
Have a sensational Sunday, everyone!
It was a double whammy today. A DNF and I didn't catch the show names. I've heard of CHEERS and Friends, but not the others. Haven't watched any of them either. The SW did me in. I wanted ROBIN and never heard of DYLAN McDermott. OIL STAIN wouldn't make it and EARGASM didn't give me an orgasm. I wanted to see if it was a real word and it is a brand of noise cancelling plugs.
IIRC and NABE- I think they are making up things these days.
B-STARS- wait for the cross
PRADA, KATY, and HONOLULU- correct WAGS for those.
DEE Snider of Twisted Sister I know; SUE Bird was unknown.
SouthsideJohnny - APPLE BLOSSOM refers to the old TV show Blossom.
But otherwise, yeah, what you and others have said. NABE, the SICK/RAD combo, and what seem to be incessant social media abbreviations that are just plain lazy crossword construction. Even the super polite CC pointed out the distinction between squares and rectangles. I only knew BSTAR because of some fairly serious star gazing I’ve done in the past, but it’s not for the general crossword crowd in my view. Agree with Jinx on weed trimming. You can use a trimmer to whack weeds and weed whacker to trim a lawn, but I’ve never heard of anyone trimming weeds. You annihilate the suckers.
FIR, but not real enjoyable. Nits have a way of adding up to an infestation.
FIR. I found this to be a little bit crunchy what with all the proper names. But the perps saved the day.
The theme was clever and made the whole CW a lot more fun, especially trying to figure out the answers to the theme clues on their own.
So overall this was somewhat enjoyable.
a weed is a plant growing where you don't want
Good Morning:
While this type of theme is clever and mildly amusing, inevitably the cluing is strained or just plain convoluted, IMO. I’m familiar with all of the shows but never saw Blossom or Bones. Actually, I never watched Friends, either, but saw numerous snippets of it over the years. Same for Seinfeld. Snider and Eargasm, needed perps, but everything else fell into place easily enough. Wasn’t keen on Weediest nor Hop On, as clued, unless the offer was from someone on horseback. I second John M27’s last paragraph.
Thanks, Gary and Doug, and thanks, CC, for the expo and commentary. Your food photos are always so enticing! Thanks for sharing my family photo.
My morning wasn’t too pleasant because I decided to test my medical alert system and, due to as yet unexplained circumstances, the test failed, so I just reset the base station, planning to call the provider to report the problem. The next thing I knew, there were 6 EMTs in my living room calling out their presence. I then received two text messages from my nieces (emergency contacts) asking if I was okay, as they had been alerted as well. Everyone received an embarrassing apology for the concern and inconvenience. A call to the monitoring company provided no explanation, other than equipment failure, which requires another phone call on Monday to the proper department.
Have a great day. I hope mine is calmer than how it started out!
An FIR for me this morning. I enjoyed this puzzle, lots of clever fill and some nifty Aha! Misdirections. There were a few iffy clues, but the perps solved most of them. All in all, today's offering came in a lot closer to my frequency than yesterday's hot mess!
Irish Miss--
The first movement of one of Grieg's Peer Gynt suites is called "Morning Mood," which is serene and peaceful. It seems like this morning for you was not so pleasant. Wow!
I am so sorry, and I hope that after such a trying experience, you can somehow find the rest of the day a bit more mellow and uneventful!
Musings
-OMANI not SAUDI and an “I” at SHU_/L_ONINE were real speed bumps
-FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES was my fav
-Was OCEAN really Kramer’s and then Calvin Klein’s idea? (1:47)
-AS IS: When I gave away my electric mower, I told the Hispanic man the battery will only last 15 minutes. He smiled and nodded but I'm not sure he understood.
-Oh, that’s right, SUE Bird is a great basketball player! :-)
-Oh, that’s right, TABASCO is a Mexican state where your aunt is your TIA.
-C.C.: Joann says AMEN to taste bud changes post covid.
-No matter how many people you FIGURE ON for a luncheon, you’ll wind up taking food home but that's better than having people leaving hungry (hangry?)
-_ E _: LEI was a wearable souvenir for way too long
-ABIDE should be clued “Stand” and ARISE should be clued “Stand for”
-Our sign of spring is the return of ORIOLES to our feeders
-Friends thought REHAB was as bad or worse than joint-replacement surgery
-Softening was a real issue after our refrigerator/freezers were down for two days
-Floppy DISKS: One of many “high tech” items that are now obsolete. An overhead projector wowed me in the 70's. D-O, that's the 1970's!!
-I suspect there a lot of brain power in that picture, Agnes!
Gary and Doug, you are both on the A list of crossword constructors, as far as I am concerned. Interestingly, though, your puzzle today is enduring a fair amount of criticism here in the Corner.
Overall, it is well-constructed, creative, and predictably replete with your clever misdirections. But I find that I am in agreement with most of our bloggers' barbs. Without going into great detail, I am just going to touch on one aspect of crosswords: obscurities. Let's say the clue is some flowering plant native to some country. Well, you either know it or you don't, and when yiu have "solved" it thanks to perps and wags, you look at your answer, and you have no idea if it is correct or not. I ran into this unpleasantness today, for example, with INXS and BENTO and several others.
This saps the enjoyment of doing a crossword puzzle, because the solver is not satisfied with the answer. It takes the fun away from the "aha!" moment of solving.
I feel like I'm preaching to the choir here; I know I will be appreciating future Larson and/or Peterson challenges. Thanks for all the work you did on today's. And thanks, C.C., for your usual helpful and entertaining recap.
FIR, but needed á few perps for people names. The theme answers were pretty easy, the only show i wasn’t familiar with was BLOSSOM.
So, entertaining. No complaints. Thank you CC for the recap and the Agnes family photo.
☘️Irish Miss, so sorry about your unwanted excitement this morning. Technology is wonderful when it works but ……….
Thank you, Ken, for your kind words. My embarrassment was much alleviated by the understanding of the EMTs and their reassurance that ascertaining my safety overrode any inconvenience to them. They were extremely professional, yet warmly personable. Another positive note in this fiasco was that I had unlocked the front door, just in case an alert was activated, so their access was quick and easy. (I’m not sure if they break down doors or smash windows to gain entrance, but I’m glad I didn’t have to find out the hard way!).
I agree with you (and a number of others) that the themers had no overall cohesion. No humor, no puns, no fun, just lamely reimagined TV shows - the originals of which I mostly haven't seen. As EBERT would say, "Thumbs down."
Thank you, Monkey, I’m slowly getting my equilibrium back, after the morning’s unexpected hubbub.
HG, 🤔. 😉
No worries, no nits, would have been good to do on the beach (if I had printed it out.)
Wait a sec, I do have a nit! I haven't posted a birthday cake in eons!
this will never do!
Hmm, silly theme link? I don't have one. Except possibly tv series about world travel in general are rare these days. Back before the internet, I only caught a few of them on PBS. Now with YouTube, I guess I could go back and enjoy them at my leisure. Here is an excerpt from Michael Palin's (Monty Python Fame) 80 days around the World, that could be titled, The Loo is Where You Find It...
TehaChapiKen! Thank you! Of course! Everyone has heard of it, but probably does not know the name!
I could listen to this anytime!
Delightful Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Gary and Doug. And your commentary is always a gift, C.C., thanks for that too. Irish Miss, so sorry to hear about your little upset this morning, but so glad it all worked out okay.
Well, I don't have any FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES, so I probably won't be going to HONOLULU to hang out on the beach in a BATHING SUIT any time soon. But, hey, I guess we could call our place in California a sort of HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, and act like an IDLER at the SAUNA of a friend's place. And then let's check out the DELI CASE and see if there's any UNAGI in there that we might enjoy for lunch. Afterwards we can do some painting on an EASEL, and listen to the tune of a BASS TUBA on the radio. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday, I'd say.
Have a delightful day, everybody.
I thought this was an impressive puzzle from Gary and Doug, but the TV references were clearly a challenge. Never heard of JAG, and was trying to fit "praying" into that answer, but CRYING JAG made perfect sense, especially when I realized that "stand up" was JILT. FIR.
Agree with Jinx and John M27 that I do not trim my WEEDs. Weak clue there.
Agree with Irish Miss that "I'll give you a lift" suggests "hop in," not HOP ON. Another weak clue.
Agree with C.C. that BENTO boxes are rectangular, but it was still a cute and easy clue/answer.
Many thanks to Gary, Doug, and C.C. for the Sunday morning fun. Now there are some weeds I need to annihilate.
Irish Miss: I leave my front door unlocked all the time, night and day, just in the event I have a need for EMTs. Before I go to bed I lean a step stool against the door to serve as a “burglar alarm” if it is tripped over against the tiled entry. I wonder if I would hear the noise, though. Fortunately I live in a safe development so I don’t worry about it.
Curious, (just testing)
A couple of hours ago I posted a rather lengthy response to HG's 11:35.
Not only did I go back to check that the links worked (they did) I was checking for typos and reading any post that I might have missed while I was preparing mine.
Now that post is missing, along with several others I read while checking.
It will be interesting to see if they appear again later, as I know I got the "your post is published " message...
EMTs are allowed to break down your door if you do not respond after an emergency call. One solution is to give keys to your trusted neighbors.
Where is Picard?
Good idea. Also give a key to a trusted neighbor or office personnel.
I have much the same reactions to this puzzle as many of you did. When I saw it was constructed by Doug Peterson and Gary Larson I knew I wanted to do it and I'm mostly glad I did.
I, too, am extremely bad at haggling and hate to have to do it. When we bought our new car last August, I left the area while my wife and son engaged in the obligatory haggling.
I like UNAGI but can't stand ENOKI.
I remember reading a review of the movie "West Side Story" in which the dance movements of George Chakiris were described as LEONINE. Very apt description.
MEAT CASE had to be changed to DELI CASE.
I like the thinner noodles (not as thin a rice noodles, though) in PHO.
That JUNE BUG is bustin' out all over.
The turntable in my old Dual was driven by an IDLER wheel.
I bet no matter how snide a remark I make, someone can make a SNIDER one.
Our son is an ARIES.
Good reading you all.
Pouting.
IM - my mom's med alert includes sending a lock box for the front door like realtor's put on your door that has a code and a key - might check if your company has that when you call Monday. Some people have a keypad on their garage or door that could work too. It is good to test it about once a month - usually the person just talks to you over the speaker and you tell them it's a test - hopefully they will get the equipment fixed or replaced soon
I just finished watching "Zero Day" on Netflix with Robert DeNiro and Joan Allen among others. I highly recommend it. It's well written and suspenseful.
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