google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, Mar 12th, 2025 ~ Rebecca Goldstein

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Mar 12, 2025

Wednesday, Mar 12th, 2025 ~ Rebecca Goldstein

 THE HOLY GALE

Pope Francis, 2018 - Daily Mail

Another Wednesday RG puzzle, another 15 x 16 grid, and another crossword with those sinister circles - but really not so bad this week - a handful of foreign words/phrases, and nary a name in sight~! Wow~!  ( OK, two. ) Right to the theme reveal;

59. "This may come as a shock," or an apt title for this puzzle: HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT - each theme answer "holds" ( within  the circles ) a type of hat 

17. Gym shorts, yoga pants, tank tops, and the like: ATHLETIC APPAREL - a CAP is a piece of athletic apparel, too

28. "Adiós, amigo": HASTA MAÑANA - the Scottish TAM

Why it's called the "Tam O Shanter"

35. Raise doubts: CALL INTO QUESTION - a chef's TOQUE


45. Concept in modern morality: CYBER ETHICS - Le Frawnche Beret

Oui~!


And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Work Extra?: CHEW - clever start; Extra, the chewing gum


5. "Surely, you __!": JEST

9. Coral habitats: REEFS

14. Greek vowel: IOTA

15. Duel tool: EPEE

16. Heart chambers: ATRIA - my only goof; I had ETAS, but changed this to AORTA - yet I was already correct.  I went down to Long Island this past weekend to see my younger brother, who just had a scare - he was lying down with chest pains last week, and thank God he has a concerned fiancée - she insisted it was more than just a "pulled muscle" and it turned out to be cardiomyopathy - but I also discovered he takes a LOT of medications, and that's scary. . . .

I did get to see my buddy Cooper - no luck yet on finding my own four-legged friend, Irish Miss

20. Spotted wildcat: OCELOT

21. Butter squares: PATS

22. Distress signal: SOS

24. Mineral and metal mixtures: ORES - I like this alliterative alternative clue - I had to think about it

25. Alley-__: OOP

26. "Cut that out!": "STOP~!"

27. Served right?: ACED - an unreturnable serve is an ACE

32. Feathered neckwear: BOA - ah, the BOA shows itself this week - AND - 62D. Word of agreement: YES - Oh, so this week, it's yeS and not yeA

33. Unpleasant person: PILL - my mom was good for using this 'slang'

34. Name that means "my God": ELI - clued differently this past Monday

42. Neuro scan: EEG - ElectroEncephaloGram

43. __ snuff: UP TO

44. Mexican Mrs.: SRA

50. James of "Misery": CAAN

51. Accomplishes: DOES

52. Humble abode: HUT

Marching to the Jabba the Hutt hut

53. Fine feathered friends: FOWL

54. Tofu protein: SOY

55. Hieroglyphic bird: IBIS

57. Successful in a critical situation: CLUTCH - typically describing people in "athletic apparel"

63. Vegetable that may be white, yellow, green, or purple: ONION


64. Told tales: LIED

65. Fruity pastry: TART

66. In a weird way: ODDLY

67. "What __ is new?": ELSE

68. Put one's foot down: STEP


DOWN:

1. "Adiós": CIAO

2. Mugful with marshmallows, maybe: HOT COCOA

3. Exquisitely delicate: ETHEREAL

4. Like some ancient cities: WALLED

Do you recognize this WALLED city~?  Answer below

5. The Godmother of Punk Joan: JETT 

6. Prefix with pen or gram: EPI - EPIpen, EPIgram

7. Triple __ liqueur: SEC - I'm all too familiar with the "Kamikaze" shot

BONZAI~!

8. Service center?: TEAPOT - clever; the "central" element in a teas service set

9. Spellbound: RAPT

10. Airline stats: ETAs

11. Slip up: ERR

12. __ Bowl: annual game in Arizona sponsored by Vrbo: FIESTA

13. Watering hole with swinging doors: SALOON


18. Goddess of the dawn: EOS

19. Potato, in Spanish: PAPA

23. Place for a massage: SPA

25. Norway's capital: OSLO - OK, another name, but this one's a crossword staple

26. Hissy fit: SNIT

27. Block letters: A B C

28. Door opener: HINGE - my only nit; the knob/handle/lockset opens, the hinge "hangs" the door

29. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT

30. Track competitions: MEETS

31. Too: ALSO

33. Spot for a long walk on the beach?: PIER - funnier would have been to clue this "A SHORT spot for a long walk" . . . .

36. Wine bottle sediment: LEES

37. Throw in the towel: QUIT

38. Inventory tracking aid, briefly: UPC - Universal Product Code - and the 21st century QR code


39. "Nothing gets past me": "I SAW THAT."

40. Dental hygiene: ORAL CARE

41. Granny, to some: NAN

45. Music format stored in wallets: CDs

46. "Hello there!": "YOO-HOO~!"

47. Out of reach of: BEYOND - some Don McMillan comedy

"Beyond " @ 1:15

48. Slim: THIN

49. Shake a leg: HUSTLE

50. Legal arenas: COURTS

53. Bug often observed in winter: FLU - Ah, that kind of "bug"

55. Adored one: IDOL

56. All elbows: BONY

57. Key for a smart lock: CODE - I have this Schlage smart lockset on my sunroom door


58. URL opening: HTTP

60. Pot topper: LID

61. Liquid in the story of Hanukkah: OIL - burned for more nights than expected; the Wiki

A "theme" oriented repeat from Monday, too

Splynter



ANSWER:

Firenze - Florence, Italy

41 comments:

  1. When the first clue
    has a “?” after it, I thought to myself
    “Uh-0h. Looks like a toughie.” But actually, that was misleading. It wasn’t so bad, and after I got “toque” I figured out what the gimmick had to be, so I inserted “ beret” before I had even read the clue. Anyway, long story short, FIR, so I’m happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, “ has” should be “had.” But you folks probably already knew that.

      Delete
  2. Good morning!

    D-o immediately inked in PERK at 1a. (Have I ever mentioned....?) My only other misstep was in parsing the clue for 5d, wondering who Punk Joan could be. JETT appeared, though. Thanx for the outing, Rebecca, and for the explication, Splynter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FIR without erasure.

    "Unpleasant person" could have been "Jinx," but it wouldn't perp.

    TEAPOT reminded me of this great bit from Caddyshack.

    DNK that Joan JETT was punk-related, let alone its Godmother. I did know that she loved rock 'n' roll, and always seemed to have another dime for the jukebox, baby.

    We always called those purple onions "red" onions. Kinda like dog people never see a grey greyhound. When they are born grey, their color is called "blue."

    Thanks to Rebecca for another fun puzzle. And thanks to Splynter for the fine review, especially for the comedy math.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Jinx--
      I'll throw my hat in the ring for the lapel pin, if no one else has. I was born and raised in Baltimore, and have spent a lot of time in Annapolis. I love the local history--the Lords Baltimore, Queen Anne, rhe Calverts, etc.

      You can reach me by email at: kenbuxton11@gmail.com.

      Thanks, Jinx, and VIXI LIBER ET MORIAR!

      Delete
  5. Took 5:36 today to get on TOP of this one.

    I passed today's foreign language lessons (ciao and hasta manana).

    I've not heard Joan Jett called that before. Jinx, well played.

    Oh joy, circles!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Considering the circled letters, finding HAT wasn't too difficult- if you looked for it. I didn't. Just want to finish. I've never heard of CYBER ETHICS.

    ELI- I thought it was short for Elisha; perps for the religious meaning.
    I had no idea about Punk Joan but after filling JEST and EPEE, JETT was easy to guess.
    PIER only got there by perps; I wouldn't consider a pier is long.
    OIL and 'story of Hanukkah- no idea about that one.
    Maybe the Temptations' "PAPA was a Rolling Stone" was really a Potato.

    CODE for a smart lock. They are wonderful but a few times my smart 'hotel key' doesn't work and I have to get a new one at the at the desk. Technology innovations are wonderful- until they don't work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought of the old "why don't you take a long walk off a short pier?" Insult.

      Delete
  7. Well, Jessica Goldstein, aka "Ms. 16 x 15," is back with us, with another one of her 16-wide puzzles. I found this one pretty straightforward, uncluttered with obscure proper names, and featuring a diverse headwear theme.

    Some overused staples, like EPEE, CIAO, and SPA, did make an appearance, presumably spit out by some entity like Crossword Compiler.

    But all in all, Rebecca, this was a worthy and fun Wednesday-appropriate challenge that was satisfying in the solve.

    And thanks, Splynter, for guiding us with your usual enjoyable recap. I do have a couple queries for you: 1) I read the other day about some entity that was planning to "pull out all the stops" in some undertaking. I thought of you, and I've always liked this idiom, because it makes me think of a pipe organ. Am I correct, that the idiom is based on an organist pulling all the knobs to create a mighty sound from the pipes? 2) Why do you misspell "French"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I dunno bout Splynter, but to me, "Frawnch" is the sound one makes when French leaves a bad taste in your mouth...

      Delete
  8. FIR. I wasn't pleased when I saw the circles, but they easily could be ignored. I did however see the theme early on with the first long answer.
    For a Wednesday this was pretty easy. When I got to the bottom and saw "put one's foot down " I began to suspect a redundancy with "stop" appearing above. Oral care solved my dilemma.
    Overall an enjoyable puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good Morning:

    This was a pleasant offering, with a fun reveal, although I think the circles were unnecessary and detracted from the challenge of the overall solve. The grid was clean, there were no unknowns, and the fill was solid and Wednesday appropriate.

    Thanks, Rebecca, and thanks, Splynter, for an enjoyable commentary and several cute comics, i.e. the over-sized Toque and the upgraded Zebra! The Comedy Math was hilarious with its spot-on take on today’s world of technology. Cooper is quite handsome and should be a powerful nudge for you to ramp up your search for your own cuddly canine. Glad your brother is doing better.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Easy Wednesday. Humpday puzzles can go either way. This one was helped along by obvious wall-to-wall theme answers.

    Inkovers: lore/LIES,

    Didn’t understand the clue for CLUTCH….“Yoo-hoo” and “adios” both CIAO in Rome

    The TEAPOT is the center of the tea service, clever!

    Ms. Booth, you want to play a maid named Hazel on TV? Shirley you ___! … JEST
    “Long live the potato or the pope!!” to a SRA …”Viva el ___ !!” …PAPA
    What listeners did on the Car Talk Radio show … CALL IN TO QUESTION
    I’ve never been to the Emerald City though I visit the land of ____ … OCELOT.

    By executive order the use of the common clue Enola Gay may soon be eliminated from CWs!

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna195344

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With March Madness starting next week, there'll be an instance where a team will be behind by a point or two with a few seconds left to play, and a player will make a tough shot or make free throws under tremendous pressure with millions watching on TV, and the announcers will say "and Mr. CLUTCH comes through again as the mighty Acorn Heights Ferrets advance to the next round." (BTW - the Penny/Dell crossword today has "hatch of eggs" for CLUTCH.)

      Delete
    2. I'll bet you $100 that if the Enola Gay story turns out to be true, it will turn out to be some AI bot that searched for keywords associated with the anti-DEI order. Another $100 says that Enola Gay pictures will stay on or return to DOD web sites.

      Delete
  11. Nice CW today. I saw the hat theme at TOQUE. Actually we didn’t need the circles, but this being only Wednesday, maybe de rigueur. The rest flowed right on. Just á couple of names I DNK, but no problem.

    Splynter, thank you for the fine review. I laughed at the math lesson. So true. Ice CAP? LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Why HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT? The circled (!) letters are simply hats. Seems to be missing something.

    Got off on the wrong foot because Extra was a food store in Florida, so entered "shop" which worked well with HOT COCOA but not much else.

    I agree with Splynter that a HINGE is definitely not a door opener.

    I thought it was gratuitous to add "sponsored by Vrbo" to the FIESTA Bowl clue. Especially when it's sponsorship changes every couple of years (Tostitos, IBM and Sunkist to name a few). It's been a college football classic for over 50 years. "Annual bowl game in Arizona" is enough, today's sponsor doesn't help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Should've been HAT IN THE RING!

      Delete
  13. A little compassion from Rebecca today, a lot of her creations are downright devious, but this was an enjoyable solve which I managed to put a LID on in 13:47. (LID also being an Easter egg). Having taken my kids to a few “Warped Tour” festivals years ago, Joan JETT was a gimme for me. I think I could have found the HATs sans circles, the letters being consecutive. Thanks Rebecca for taking it easy on us today, and to Splynter for your fine review.

    HG ~ glad to hear your round went well the other day, playing a course tomorrow that’s new to me. What I’ve found about these Florida courses is that what they lack in hazards like woods, they make up for with plenty of sand and water.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Musings
    -An Alley OOP pass for a dunk can bring a crowd to its feet
    -Except for the appearance, texture and taste, I might like TOFU :-)
    -CLUTCH – There will be players who will be shooting free throws to win a game at the State Championships this weekend
    -My son-in-law always dedicates the song to me when his band plays Green Onions
    -The Huskers’ crushing Steve Spurrier's cocky Florida team by 33 points in the 1996 FIESTA Bowl is a great memory
    -We just bought a “bookshelf stereo system” so DW can play her big collection of CD’S
    -Don McMillan’s comedy is great for us math geeks
    -Not messing with keys for my side garage door and car ignitions is so cool.
    -Yooper, when the water in our streams dry up in the summer, you can fish out all the golf balls you will ever need.
    -Well done, Splynter!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rebecca Goldstein's puzzle was fast and fun this morning, and was a good example of why we all enjoy crossword puzzles. I would never have seen the HAT theme without the helpful circles, so I liked those. Splynter's review was another delight, with cartoons including the tiny swinging saloon doors for a cat, and the UPC zebra. Don McMillan's comedy was also very welcome.

    Splynter and RustyBrain object to HINGE as a door opener, and for sure, it was not my first thought! But then, how would you open a door without a hinge? Push it back, lift it up, and set it to one side?

    All in all, a very nice way to start the day. Now on to less pleasant tasks. Work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pocket door, or sliding patio door? (-Or Paddy O'Door on Monday!)

      Delete
  16. Oh! Forgot to mention. PAPA is potato in Latin America. PATATA is potato in Spain.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Our very reliable TU newspaper had these clues today: 1D “Adi—s” and 28A “Adi-s, amigo” What! I thought, “Oh, no one is going to like this”. Ignoring the —-‘s I FIR and came to the blog for an explanation. Just a misprint!

    My friendJerry West was known as “Mr. CLUTCH” for pulling out wins at the ends of basketball games. It is generally accepted that broadcaster Chick Hearn of the Lakers gave him that name.

    Thank you Naomi Z for the potato-palata-PAPA explanation. New to me.

    FLN - Misty - you chose your name for the happy memories it evokes, as did I with Paris and San Francisco.

    Enjoyed your puzzle RG once I got past the misprint. Splynter, informative and funny, as usual.

    Happy day, all..

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  18. A fun, enjoyable Wednesday puzzle, with a great write-up from Splynter. I didn't grok CHEW until he 'splained it. ( I had forgotten about the gum.)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Once again, thanks to yooz guys, opening the puzzle immediately brought to mind "oh joy!" (I used to like circles...)

    1 across, how do I hate thee, let me count the ways... I thought a had a major nit as the "W" in chew caused a really long alphabet run to finish. But it did lead me to this site which gave me dozens of better clues for the answer "chew." Unfortunately, I did all this work before reading Splynters Splainin, now all I have left to chew on is my own cud. hmm, I wonder if this gadget will work on crosswords...

    I can't help but connect that saloon cartoon to the door opener clue debacle, don't the hinges kinda open the doors when it comes to saloons? and close them again?

    Honorary mention re: smart locks...

    Lastly, why does it seem like everyone is talking thru their hats these days?

    ReplyDelete
  20. I enjoyed this one. Circles weren't needed to solve but fun. My favorite was "Work Extra". Good one.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Splynter Thank you for the BERET lady and for the flying CAP photos of the PAPA (Pope in Latin) and the HANUKKAH people.

    On Sunday I was privileged to interview this lady with her FINE FEATHERED FRIENDS at our Orchid Show

    RayOSunshine Thank you for highlighting some of the insanity. "Move fast and break things" can work during research, design and development. Not good when applied to things that millions of people depend on for their lives and livelihoods.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neat birds. They live a long time, and at least appear to be smart (at least for a bird.) Was there any thought of holding the Orchid Show up the road a bit in Orcutt?

      Delete
    2. Glad you enjoyed the FOWL. Not sure about moving the Orchid Show to Orcutt. But we had to skip our visit to the Farmer's Market. Where we buy carrots from a young woman named Orchid.

      Delete
    3. Orcutt is pretty small. IIRC, I stayed and ate in Santa Maria when I had business in Orcutt. To my engineers, "orchid" and "Orcutt" were homophones.

      Delete
  22. Hola! We came home earlier than expected and since I cancelled my newspaper, I had to find one to print. Thanks to Rebecca Goldstein for the fun headgear. I know of Joan JETT only because I saw her on "Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley". She features many celebrities and near-celebrities which keeps me up to date on them.
    HOT COCOA sounds like a good antidote for today's cool weather but coffee is my choice. i believe we could agree that the door would not open without a HINGE so in a sense it is a door opener.
    Thank you, Splynter, for your timely and terrific analysis.
    Have a happy day, everyone! I hope you all have been well.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Fun Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Rebecca. And many thanks for your helpful commentary, Splynter.

    Well, that start with JEST prepared me for a ton of jokes until I saw HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT which started to CALL the whole joke idea INTO QUESTION and I figured I'd better be prepared for someone yelling I SAW THAT if I made a mistake. So I decided to look for that FIESTA in the SALOON, and get some HOT COCOA or a drink from the TEA POT, and enjoy a couple of TARTS. Makes for a much more ETHEREAL morning, doesn't it?

    Have a lovely day, everybody.

    ReplyDelete
  24. ParSan, forgot to mention how happy I am to hear you have lovely memories of Paris and San Francisco! They must be always on your mind--how sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Rebecca and Splynter (glad your brother is ok).
    I FIRed in good time, and saw the HAT theme early in the game. (I liked your HOLY GALE and Pope hat photo, Splynter.)
    I saw an additional part to the theme as each HAT could represent the country and people wearing it - CAP for Americans, TOQUE for Canadians, TAM for Scots, and BERET for the French.
    And YooperPhil saw the LID Easter Egg. (Maybe that was for the British TEAPOT!)

    I don’t CHEW gum, and DH doesn’t use EXTRA. Thanks Splynter, for explaining.
    I enlarged from ATHLETIC wear to clothes to APPAREL.
    Hurry sped up to HUSTLE.
    JETT was unknown, but perped.

    I think of a person who is a Pill, as an Imp, not necessarily unpleasant. Maybe that is just a Canadian being nice.
    But 56D made me smile, as an old hockey phrase has become a new rallying cry for Canadians.

    Wishing you all a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks to Rebecca for today's puzzle. FAVs: FLUE & CHEW clues
    Thanks to Splynter for another fun review. Great theme! Also, hand up for laughing at the Don McMillan video.

    ReplyDelete

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