Verb Teams!
Happy Good Friday, all!Today, Doug uses team names as verbs actioning their city. Take a look at what I mean:
20. Sends an invoice to an upstate New York municipality?: BILLS BUFFALO. The NFL team BUFFALO BILLS's city gets a remittance.
28. Makes hostile comments online about Alberta's biggest city?: FLAMES CALGARY. The NHL CALGARY FLAMES' city gets burnt by trash-talk.
42. Gamely faces the heat and humidity in Georgia's capital?: BRAVES ATLANTA. The MLB's ATLANTA BRAVES' city takes on the weather.
And the reveal:
47. Groups that do prep work ahead of an event, and a directive followed by this puzzle's theme answers?: ADVANCE TEAMS.
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| Too soon? |
See? Doug put the team names as a verb ahead of their city. I really like how Doug used different sports. However, he left out the NBA:
Earns a borough?: Nets Brooklyn.
Enough silliness, let's get on with it:
Across:
1. Bonobo relative: CHIMP.6. Salazar of "Alita: Battle Angel": ROSA.
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| Rosa Salazar |
10. In vogue: CHIC.
14. Zellweger who played Judy Garland: RENEE.
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| Renee Zellweger |
15. School supporter, often: ALUM.
16. "Revenge of the Sith" mentor: YODA.
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| Yoda |
17. Promising location?: ALTAR. Cute.
18. Indiana steel city: GARY.
19. Inferior to none: BEST.
20. [See: Theme]
23. Actress Zadora: PIA.
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| Pia Zadora |
24. Grow dim: DARKEN.
28. [See: Theme]
32. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jerry: SLOAN.
34. High-altitude herd animal: LLAMA.
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| "Which one is the Dalai Llama?" |
35. Golden __ Golf: video game series: TEE.
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| Golden Tee Golf video game |
36. Qualify for: EARN.
37. Rajma masala ingredient: BEANS.
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| Recipe |
38. Political alliance: PACT.
39. Hurricane spirit: RUM.
40. Ryan's "Wheel of Fortune" co-host: VANNA. Ha! Last time I blogged, VANNA was clued as: P-A-G-E turner.
41. Superman's adoptive parents: KENTS. Kal-El was named Clark Joseph by his Earth parents Jonathan & Martha Kent.
42. [See: Theme]
45. Gown fabrics: SATINS.
Moody Blues' Nights in White SATIN
46. Dot on a domino: PIP.
47. [See: Theme]
54. Test kit item: SWAB.
57. Classic Camaro: IROC.
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| Bitchin' Camaro [Dead Milkmen] |
58. Rosalind's cousin in "As You Like It": CELIA.
59. Milker's container: PAIL.
60. Dreaded figure: OGRE.
61. "Hold it," from the bridge: AVAST.
62. Civic shaft: AXLE.
63. Dishwasherful: LOAD.
64. Buenos Aires cash: PESOS.
Down:
1. Beach creature: CRAB.2. Prefix with pad: HELI.
3. Like many conglomerates: Abbr.: INTL.
4. Campus dining option: MEAL PLAN.
5. Iran's official language: PERSIAN.
6. Classico competitor: RAGU.
7. Snowman who sings "In Summer": OLAF. From the movie Frozen.
8. Roar producer: SURF.
9. "Arrival" star: AMY ADAMS.
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| Amy Adams |
10. "Teen Titans Go!" character who's part robot: CYBORG.
11. Long-handled tool: HOE.
12. Wallet items: IDS.
13. Viral video star, often: CAT.
17m of silly cat videos
21. "There ya go!": BAM.
22. Sing-along syllables: LA LA.
25. Samurai sword: KATANA.
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| Video on how to use a Katana |
26. Not slumped: ERECT.
27. Russian rejections: NYETS.
28. Style: FORMAT.
29. 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina: ELENA. The second E was my last square inked.
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| Elena Rybakina |
30. Italics feature: SLANT.
31. Ear piece?: CANAL.
32. Some Slavs: SERBS.
33. Actress Dern: LAURA.
37. Instrument often paired with a harpsichord: BASS VIOL.
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| This |
38. Knuckle cracking, for some: PET PEEVE.
40. Peddle: VEND.
41. Topper topped with a pom-pom: KNIT CAP.
43. Likely to work: VIABLE.
44. Mimic: APE.
48. Mythical vessel built in Thessaly: ARGO.
49. Comedian Dunn: NORA.
50. Included on a distribution list: CCED.
51. Sighed word: ALAS.
52. High-protein paste: MISO.
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| Miso |
53. Pre-coll. exams: SATS.
54. Place that offers a menu of treatments: SPA.
55. 54-Down treatment: WAX.
56. Feel off: AIL.
The Grid:
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| The Grid |
My experience:
WOs: wrong ALE, JEFF -> NORA (I was thinking of Dunham)
ESPs: ROSA, CYBORG (as clued), SLOAN, ELENA, KNIT hAt
Fav: I'll go with ALTAR's clue.
For those who celebrate,
 |
 |
| Happy Passover! | Happy Easter! |
Cheers, -T
58 comments:
I don’t know about
the rest of you, but I didn’t find today’s puzzle all that “easy.” A number of obscure names and terms contributed to the difficulty. One thing I will say, however, is that after the first themed entry I knew what the theme was, so that definitely helped. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Unfamiliar with the FLAMES, and still associate the BRAVES with Milwaukee. Didn't hinder the solve, though. MEAL PLAN and PET PEEVE were nice non-themers. Thanx, Doug and Dash-T.
FIR, but incs->INTL, and lion->SURF.
For once, I had filled all the theme answers before I filled the reveal. Actually, I saw what Doug was doing after BILLS BUFFALO.
Jimmy Buffett sang this ballad about the Remittance Man. But you would only send BUFFALO a remittance to pay them for your season tickets, and a BILL you send to them for losing to the Chiefs isn't a remittance.
You can see more of LAURA Dern than Youtube allows in Wild at Heart.
FLN - Rusty Brain, you should have gotten a tee printed up saying "You Go Gurl!"
Thanks to Doug for the easier-than-Friday challenge, and to Bayou Tony for another fine review.
way too many names for me. directly to the trash
A very interesting puzzle with good clues today. When I'd filled BILLS BUFFALO, the future was easy to predict, if you knew the sports teams. Doug's puzzle had too many proper names but they were helped by perps.
RENEE- is there any other Zellweger?
PIA Zadora- I just remember Johnny Carson always making fun of her.
The BASS VIOL (fiddle?) was unknown as clued, as were ROSA, YODA, TEE, CYBORG, AMY ADAMS, NORA, BAM, CELIA, and KATANA.
I did know VANNA, LAURA, SLOAN, KENTS, OLAF, ARGO. Did I leave anyone out?
The CALGARY FLAMES were originally the ATLANTA FLAMES. The team moved to Calgary in 1980.
The BUFFALO BILLS are owned by Terry Pegula, whose daughter Jessica Pegula is a professional tennis player and had beaten ELENA Rybakina in three of their four matches. I don't know BEANS about Rajima masala but I do know of ELENA Rybakina. She got paid to switch from being a Russian and represent Kazakstan before she won Wimbledon.
You're not old enough to remember the BRAVES in Boston?
Took 6:06 today for me to crash into SoCal (L.A. Rams).
For today's actresses, I knew Renee, Laura, and Amy Adams, but not Pia (sounds familiar) or Rosa. That's a lot of actresses for one puzzle. I also didn't know Rosalind or her cousin, nor the tennis player.
I didn't care for the prefix next to the abbr. in the top-left.
I picked an opinionated girl and it's made for lively conversation for 45 years!
Veni, vidi, vici.
FIR. One expects a Friday puzzle to be hard, but given the huge number of proper names in today's presentation it made it more so.
The theme was clever and I got it on the first entry. Actually the reveal was harder than the theme answers.
But overall, given all the proper names, this was not an enjoyable puzzle.
Hola! So much grousing already? I found this Friday puzzle easier than usual and I'm not a sports fan. But I have heard of those teams and once BILLS BUFFALO was set, I guessed the FORMAT. I, too, remember how Johnny Carson often berated PIA Zadora. It's the only time I heard of her.
Yes, it was a litany of names with ROSA, AMY ADAMS, GARY (though it's a city), YODA, VANNA, CELIA, NORA, ELENA, OLAF, the witty reversal and spanning of team names across the grid justified their use, IMO. It's not my favorite but I learn about them, so there's that.
Enjoy a fabulous Friday, everyone!
The only major league baseball game I ever attended was the Milwaukee Braves in County Stadium playing some other team.
Easy Friday. fun, almost intuitive theme from the get-go
Like the ALTAR clue. We’ve probably had KATANA before, just don’t remember. Nearby “Camaro” led to “Civic” also referring to a car. Took perps to realize “Hurricane spirit” was not supernatural. Wanted bassoon but wouldn’t fit with perps again to the rescue. BASS VIOL (in). jock fit but wouldn’t perp for “school supporter” 🤗
(They almost all speak the same language and most already call their money PESOS (unlike Europe) so wonder why the countries of South America don’t use a single currency?)
NORA Dunn did a great SNL APE of Leona Helmsley and her “Spook House”
They don’t call it HOTLANTA for nuthin’ 🥵
Formally withdraw from the “distribution list” … CC’D
Superman’s preferred cigarettes …. KENTS
They audited college courses… SATINS
Have a Good Friday
An unusual Friday puzzle which was sort of easy but only if you knew all the proper names. It does feature a sideways CSO to me with ARGO and the oddly famous PIA ZADORA who married a man who was 32 years older than she, Meshulam Riklis who was very wealthy and gave her a career. She was (and may still be) 5' tall and was the butt of many jokes beyond just Johnny Carson's contribution. It is said when she played ANNE FRANK the audience would yell when the Nazi's came to search the house where she was hiding, "She's in the attic." As -T said good wishes to all who celebrate, thank you and thank a true pro and gentleman, Doug Peterson.
Easiest Friday puzzle ever for this sports fan. Once BILLSBUFFALO appeared the other themers were easily filled without perp help.
Many of today's NBA guards have no idea what their predecessors suffered through when defended by Jerry SLOAN back when more physicality was allowed in the NBA.
No ISSA RAE entry today? Better notifey Ripley's.
Sadly not a FIR as I couldn’t quite suss 25 D and 35 A. That being said, I am a huge fan of the Atlanta Braves as my dog Chipper will attest, so it was nice seeing them get a shout out in today’s puzzle even if they are having an unhappy start to the season. And, like all men and many women back in the early 1980s, I had a huge crush on Pia Zadora, so it was really nice to see her get a shout out.
Same age difference,32 years, ofWhite House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio, who also helped finance her career.
Musings
-BILLS BUFFALO made me grin
-“I’ll take Cities in musicals for $1,000.” “Answer: Indiana city named in musical about Iowa.” Answer below*
-FWIW – The Buffalo Bills were the wonderful barbershop quartet in that movie.
-We watched the skies DARKEN as we drove home from golf yesterday. Luckily, we stopped to eat and the storm was gone when we got back. Damage was severe but very localized.
-Gotta love small town life: The course manager left for a meeting yesterday and left a note saying: “Get what you want and just sign your name. Be back at 2 p.m.”
-Languages spoken in IRAN. Persian/Farsi is spoken by about 50%.
-Veni, vidi, victus sum
-*GARY, Indiana was a featured song in The Music Man
Good Morning:
You can always count on DP to provide an interesting and enjoyable solve, even though today’s offering engenders legitimate criticisms such as too many proper names or, in my case, a much too easy solve for a Friday. In Doug’s defense, though, he has no say in when the puzzle is published. I saw the theme immediately and knew the team names, so that advantage, plus only a handful of unknowns, (Rosa, Elena, Nora, Celia) and generous perps led to an easy and rapid solve. Props for a fresh theme and tight execution.
Thanks, Doug, and thanks, Anon T for a fine review and summary. Loved the Dalai Llama comic.
Have a great day.
Pia Zadora came to the forefront when her billionaire husband bought her a Golden Globe for her mediocre performance in the mediocre 1981 film Butterfly. Made her and Golden Globes objects of ridicule.
*notify
FIR in good time. I detected the theme right away and found it clever. Although I didn’t know probably half the proper names, I had kind perps and á few good WAGS that the problem.
I too liked the ALTAR clue. So no complaints this morning.
Than you Á -t for that nice review. Now I’m going back to it to watch the silly cat video.
Yay gimmicky Friday puzzles! More fun than circles! (I need all the help I can get...) and nicely spiced with tidbits like, it's not the roar of the crowd, it's the surf. And, hurricane spirit, (I wanted RAF...)
I'm sure very few here would be familiar with Alita, Battle Angel. Since it was a movie made from a Manga comic. But what made it even harder is that it is very hard to discern the actress behind this CGI Masterpiece. Here, are some behind the scenes footage. If interested, you can watch the whole movie here.. Hints of Jason Bourne hidden memories, secret powers, and for some reason, a roller skating demolition derby, that I hope gets explained in Alita, Battle Angel "2" coming out this year...
Oh, did I forget a silly theme link?
FIR on a Friday, so I won't complain about the difficulty. Way more names than I prefer, but the perps made for a pretty enjoyable solve this morning. The clever theme also was a big help, and - T's recap capped things off nicely. Going back now to listen to "Nights in White Satin" again!
Just a side note: (whole album, act7ally)
Is it just me, or did anyone else not follow The Moody Blues?
Back in 67' I was listening to a lot of things, but with limited funds was relegated to what was available on the radio. So knights in White Satin, and Tuesday Afternoon were must listens, but I never knew where they came from. Now with the internet, I can go back and see where these masterpieces came from.
Am I the only one that did not know that "knights," and "Tuesday Afternoon," came from an album that had songs for "all" parts of the day, called Days of Future Past...?
The theme was easy, so I had plenty of the perps I needed to overcome all the obscurely clued names in this puzzle.
So, I did FIR, unlike yesterday, when the Jungle Book python and the paraphrase I got wrong (Or I’LL BITE) led me to FIW. There was an even worse paraphrase today, though – the “There ya go”/BOOM entry.
There also were a few names I did know, notably LAURA Dern and NORA Dunn. And VANNA, of course. I like her more each year. BASS VIOL and VIABLE helped too.
There aren’t many other pro team nicknames that can be active verbs. Rams and Pirates are possibilities, but all those singular, named-by-the-league team nicknames in women’s pro sports are automatically eliminated.
Alternative KENTS clue: Their ads touted the “Micronite filter.”
I almost entered vial instead of PAIL for the milking entry. Hey, it coulda been snakes instead of cows.
Huge Moody Blues fan here. Only two are left -- Justin Hayward and John Lodge, who put out an duet album in 1975 (Blue Jays) but announced recently that Hayward would be working without Lodge on his 2025 Blue World Tour. I did end up encountering the Moody Blues mellotron ace Mike Pinder in 1995 when he was seeking publicity for his children's literature inspired by his grandchildren, and he sent me a "Thinking Is the Best Way to Travel" bumper sticker. The Moodies needed entire orchestras to replace Pinder
I was (and am) a Moody Blues fan. When we were still working, DW and I had good tickets for a concert, but I had a last-minute out-of-town business requirement. When they came back to town a couple of years later, we again got tickets. But once again, we were unable to go due to business priorities. I made it up to her by getting on-the-floor table dinner tickets for a Christmas concert by Mannheim Steamroller.
This was an easy Friday for me. I got the theme right away as I'm a sports buff. Some unknowns but the perps took care of things. Nice puzzle. My favorites were "Hurricane spirit" and "Civic axle".
Milking a snake is udderly impossible
I enjoyed Doug's puzzle and FIR in spite of my allergy to sports. The minor celebrities perped nicely. Thanks to -T for an entertaining review.
NOT a big fan of this CW despite the clever theme. FAR too many names, 21, DNK 11, and the north-central was FILLED with names crossing each other. Except for SURF, everything is a name in that area. In spite of this, perseverance got me a FIR but it took 20 minutes. W/O = DOABLE/VIABLE. There was a mention on Kent cigarettes' Micronite Filter, which turned out to have crocidolite asbestos fibers, the very worst, most dangerous kind of asbestos. Oy. A few comments about milking make me wonder: Is a farm hand on a dairy farm who doesn't know how to milk a cow udderly useless? "Iran's official language" I thought was Urdu. Is that the same as Persian? I'll hafta look it up. In spite of the horrible number of crossing names, I'll give a grudging Thanx to DP just because of the clever theme. When I saw those lovely legs, I though of Splynter, but it was -T that gave us this terrific write-up: Thanx -T. All your time and effort is appreciated.
Copy Editor @ 11:09 ==> You said: "There aren’t many other pro team nicknames that can be active verbs". How about this?
Prepares a NE Ohio municipality for a recipe?: BROWNS CLEVELAND
Pro rodeo's Nashville Stampede.
Nearby Christopher Newport University Captains
After racking my brain for those, it occurred to me that minor league baseball must be a treasure trove, so I LIU:
Dash Winston-Salem, Drive Greenville, Hooks Corpus Christi, Hops Hillsboro, Bats Louisville, and Quakes Rancho Cucamonga .
. Urdu is the language of Pakistan and parts of India.
I’ve come to the conclusion that any crossword puzzler creator has run out of good ideas once they start using proper names, doubly so when they are nobodies.
Edward. In Los Angeles. I am a retired engineer; every FRIDAY is GOOD.
Monkey @ 1:53. Yep. You are correct. I guess I wasn't wearing my thinking cap.
Interesting Friday puzzle, many thanks, Doug, although since I'm not a sports fan I had to focus on the critters. And your commentary is always a help, Anon T, thanks for that too.
So we had a bit of a small zoo here with a CHIMP, a CAT, a LLAMA, and a CRAB. But sadly the puzzle had very little food to offer them, except for some BEANS and a bit of MISO--a pretty pathetic MEAL PLAN for the poor little critters, if you ask me. Even the drinks were limited since there's no way we're going to offer them any RUM, although hopefully a PAIL of milk will be VIABLE and the poor babies will survive. Wish I could share my own cookie and banana with them.
Have a delightful weekend coming up, everybody.
Was it grousing, or was it CRABbing.
Heat Miami
My favorites as well.
Crushing a major city on Puget Sound: Kraken Seattle
The Magnificent Moodies! My brother gave me Every Good Boy Deserves Favour when it came out, and I've been hooked ever since. Saw them at the Hampton Roads Coliseum in '73 and my friend snuck in a cassette player. I still have my personal bootleg somewhere...
Go away little girl before I asked you to stay.
Young girl, get out of my mind.
She was just 17, and you know what I mean. The way she looked was way beyond compare.
Besides the Judeo-Christian holy days mentioned, today marks the beginning of the 250th anniversary of the American War of Independence, the real Patriots Day
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
CED - I had the album (er, CD) in HS. I listened to it front to back many times. Not only are the songs for "all" parts of the day, the entirety of it is an allegory ala Riddle of the Sphynx ("What walks on 4 legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?"). At least that's the way I heard it. -T
Hardly a man is now alive who remembers that day and year.
I remember it because its my birthday. But not from 1775! Also on this day in 1906 was the great San Francisco earthquake and ensuing fire that leveled the city.
Happy birthday, RustyBrain.
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Doug and AnonT.
It took two Google visits, but they broke the stalemate and I finished. I did get the reversed team theme., right from the start.
If we use the odd plural, we could have “Travels away from the Ontario capital = LEAFS TORONTO”. LOL! (Maple is missing)
I’m late to the party, so pretty much WEES. Plus I’m prepping for family visit tomorrow and must run.
Wishing you all a good evening.
He said to his friend if the British march, by land or sea from the town tonight, hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch of the North Church tower as a signal light. One if by land, two if by sea, and I on the opposite shore will be, ready to ride and spread the alarm to every Middlesex village and farm, for the country-folk to be up and to arm!
Thanks to Doug for the Easy-Hard puzzle! Easy themers with some difficult fill.
Fav: Civic shaft.
Thanks to -T for the Friday fun! I enjoyed the Moody Blues' tune.
Saw the CSO to H-G!
HBD to Rusty Brain!
🤙🏽😎
It’s Farsi, isn’t it?
Thanks to the LA Times delivery doofus who gave us the Daily News yesterday instead of what we shoulda gotten, I’m again playing catch-up today, Sat.)
I’m with @UncleFred above —aside from the abomination in the central N sector ( five names crossing in 16 squares?!? C’mon, dude…) this was pretty good for a Friday; the theme was obvious but still gave some grins, and merciful perps solved a few of those farking pop culture proper names we all just love to hate. Managed a FIR in spite of all the anomalies.
Okay, on to today’s puzzle — see y’all there 🤙🏽😎
====> Darren / L.A.
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