Happy Monday-funday, everyone! sumdaze here with a super-duper puzzle. We have met our constructor once before. You might also recognize Hannah's name from other publications, although the "-Einertson" seems new. Perhaps congratulations are in order???
Theme: Reduplication Nation
Each of the themed answers is a rhyming compound reduplication.
Was that explanation too wishy-washy? No hanky-panky intended nor hoity-toity airs here. We are simply enjoying an easy-peasy hodgepodge of clues to start the week.
Here are the four themers:
17 Across. Haphazard, haphazardly: WILLY-NILLY.
27 Across. Casual, casually: LOOSEY-GOOSEY.
44 Across. Nonsensical, nonsensically: PHONY-BALONEY.
57 Across. Mushy, mushily: LOVEY-DOVEY.
This type of puzzle is always amusing and makes for good Monday fare because of the auto-fill boxes. No reveal was necessary. I clocked the theme with 17-A but that did not spoil the fun. Doubling up the clue words with an adverb version was icing on the cake. WAY TO GO, Hannah!
And now for the nitty-gritty:
Across:
38. Like an etiquette coach, perhaps: PRIM.
39. Turn from yellow to brown, as a banana: ROT. and 47 Across. Turn from green to yellow, as a banana: RIPEN.
26. "We're not providing alcohol," initially: BYOB. Bring Your Own Booze
28. Slack alternative: EMAIL. Slack is a cloud-based team communication platform. It was released to the public in 2014. I read that it is an acronym for Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge.
29. Emanate: EMIT.
30. Orange root vegetables: YAMS. Carrots did not fit.
31. Logo on a pint of Guinness: HARP.
32. "Shoot": UH-OH.
33. Road trip stops: MOTOR INNS.
37. Custardy dessert: FLAN.
38. Intimidate with mind games: PSYCH OUT. I first thought GASLIGHT.
40. Go on about: HYPE.
41. Ohio college whose mascot is an albino squirrel: OBERLIN.
42. Bring together: UNIFY. UNIte changed to UNIFY when I needed the Y for 57-A, LOVEY.
43. Each: PER.
45. Most upscale: NICEST.
46. Eight-member ensembles: OCTETS.
49. Wife of Augustus: LIVIA.
50. Choose to lead: ELECT. Think of the clue this way: Choose someone else to lead.
51. Eye sores: STYES.
52. "Do not proceed!": STOP.
53. Highs and __: LOWS. Speaking of the boardwalk...
54. Swear: AVOW.
58. Denominator of a whole number: ONE. A denominator is the bottom number in a fraction so the clue tells us we need to think about fractions. A fraction is essentially a division problem read top to bottom. Any number divided by 1 equals that number. In this example, 4 divided by 1 equals 4. This is the Identity Property of Mathematics for Division.
59. FM radio hosts: DJs. CSO to D-Otto!
1. Flies high: SOARS. Watch this 3 min. video to see what it is like to SOAR in a glider plane over Lake Tahoe.
6. Prepare for cooking, perhaps: THAW. This made me think of the Thanksgiving TV sitcom trope where they forget to thaw the turkey so they try to put it in the microwave but it will not fit.
10. Scrabble piece: TILE. There are 100 in a standard English set -- 98 letters + 2 blanks.
14. Ration out: ALLOT. Let's check out our handy-dandy synonym list:
15. Mexican greeting: HOLA. and 36 Across. Bosun's greeting: AHOY. bosun definition
16. Another name for the Roman god Cupid: AMOR. Eros is the Greek god of love.
19. Mascara smudger, maybe: TEAR.
20. "I Can't Let Go" singer Sands: EVIE. (b. July 18, 1946) This song was co-written by Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor, who also wrote Wild Thing. Evie recorded it in 1965. The Hollies released their version in 1966. Then Linda Ronstadt released her version in 1980. I listened to all three and gave the edge to Linda's version. See what you think:
6. Prepare for cooking, perhaps: THAW. This made me think of the Thanksgiving TV sitcom trope where they forget to thaw the turkey so they try to put it in the microwave but it will not fit.
10. Scrabble piece: TILE. There are 100 in a standard English set -- 98 letters + 2 blanks.
14. Ration out: ALLOT. Let's check out our handy-dandy synonym list:
15. Mexican greeting: HOLA. and 36 Across. Bosun's greeting: AHOY. bosun definition
16. Another name for the Roman god Cupid: AMOR. Eros is the Greek god of love.
19. Mascara smudger, maybe: TEAR.
20. "I Can't Let Go" singer Sands: EVIE. (b. July 18, 1946) This song was co-written by Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor, who also wrote Wild Thing. Evie recorded it in 1965. The Hollies released their version in 1966. Then Linda Ronstadt released her version in 1980. I listened to all three and gave the edge to Linda's version. See what you think:
Linda's version
21. Mined resource: ORE. You know, things like silver or gold....
22. Olympians' predecessors: TITANS. Did you remember them?
24. Far side of a zero-entry pool: DEEP END. Zero-entry is a style of swimming pool characterized by a sloping entrance as opposed to steps or ladders.
26. B in chemistry class?: BORON. This was my favorite clue today!
31. Homo sapiens: HUMANS.
34. Earth orbiter: MOON. The title of this 3 min. video is Does The Moon Really Orbit The Earth?.
35. Actress Thurman in a Fall Out Boy hit: UMA. You had this at "Actress Thurman". Nevertheless, I will add that Fall Out Boy is an American rock band that formed in a Chicago suburb in 2001. Here is the 2015 song. You might recall it because it borrows that FAB riff from the theme song to The Munsters.
21. Mined resource: ORE. You know, things like silver or gold....
22. Olympians' predecessors: TITANS. Did you remember them?
24. Far side of a zero-entry pool: DEEP END. Zero-entry is a style of swimming pool characterized by a sloping entrance as opposed to steps or ladders.
26. B in chemistry class?: BORON. This was my favorite clue today!
31. Homo sapiens: HUMANS.
34. Earth orbiter: MOON. The title of this 3 min. video is Does The Moon Really Orbit The Earth?.
35. Actress Thurman in a Fall Out Boy hit: UMA. You had this at "Actress Thurman". Nevertheless, I will add that Fall Out Boy is an American rock band that formed in a Chicago suburb in 2001. Here is the 2015 song. You might recall it because it borrows that FAB riff from the theme song to The Munsters.
She wants to dance like Uma Thurmn. 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮
37. "Dope!": FAB.
38. Like an etiquette coach, perhaps: PRIM.
39. Turn from yellow to brown, as a banana: ROT. and 47 Across. Turn from green to yellow, as a banana: RIPEN.
40. Springtime Hindu festival: HOLI.
42. Irks: UPSETS.
48. Round figures: CIRCLES. This is a fun play on the round figures that are numbers rounded off to the nearest __.
52. Meat counter tool: SLICER.
54. DOJ branch: ATF. U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
55. Nonsharp part of a sword: HILT.
56. Shade: TONE. In this case, TONE means "a tint or shade of color".
60. Possesses: OWNS.
61. When ties are broken, briefly: IN OT. Tie scores and Overtime in sports
62. Lemonade ingredient: JUICE.
63. Start of a quiet sentence: PSST.
64. "Have I got __ for you!": NEWS.
65. Spotify Wrapped figures: STATS. Spotify is a digital music, podcast, and video streaming service. Spotify Wrapped is data on your listening/viewing habits from the previous year. Basically, it is the STATisticS on how you used their platform.
Down:
42. Irks: UPSETS.
48. Round figures: CIRCLES. This is a fun play on the round figures that are numbers rounded off to the nearest __.
52. Meat counter tool: SLICER.
54. DOJ branch: ATF. U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
55. Nonsharp part of a sword: HILT.
56. Shade: TONE. In this case, TONE means "a tint or shade of color".
60. Possesses: OWNS.
61. When ties are broken, briefly: IN OT. Tie scores and Overtime in sports
62. Lemonade ingredient: JUICE.
63. Start of a quiet sentence: PSST.
64. "Have I got __ for you!": NEWS.
65. Spotify Wrapped figures: STATS. Spotify is a digital music, podcast, and video streaming service. Spotify Wrapped is data on your listening/viewing habits from the previous year. Basically, it is the STATisticS on how you used their platform.
Down:
1. Used a toothed blade on lumber, say: SAWED. Tom was a famous saw-yer.
2. __ branch: peace symbol: OLIVE.
3. "Kate & __": 1980s sitcom: ALLIE.
4. Participate in a D&D campaign: ROLEPLAY. Dungeons & Dragons is a ROLEPLAYing game. It was first published in 1974.
5. Pigpen: STY.
6. Some musical intervals: THIRDS. Here is a 1-minute less:
7. One of 18, in golf: HOLE.
8. Reply __: ALL.
9. "You did great!": WAY TO GO.
10. Permanent art: TATTOO.
11. "Not thrilled, but that's fine": I MEAN SURE. This one came up in my search as a first-y.
12. Give temporarily: LOAN.
13. __ on the side of caution: ERRS.
18. Things to avoid: NO-NOS. Easter egg adjacent
23. Nutrient in spinach: IRON.
2. __ branch: peace symbol: OLIVE.
4. Participate in a D&D campaign: ROLEPLAY. Dungeons & Dragons is a ROLEPLAYing game. It was first published in 1974.
5. Pigpen: STY.
6. Some musical intervals: THIRDS. Here is a 1-minute less:
7. One of 18, in golf: HOLE.
8. Reply __: ALL.
9. "You did great!": WAY TO GO.
10. Permanent art: TATTOO.
11. "Not thrilled, but that's fine": I MEAN SURE. This one came up in my search as a first-y.
12. Give temporarily: LOAN.
13. __ on the side of caution: ERRS.
18. Things to avoid: NO-NOS. Easter egg adjacent
23. Nutrient in spinach: IRON.
 |
| It worked for Popeye |
25. Ages and ages: EON. I like how the plural words in the clue did not result in a plural answer this time.
26. "We're not providing alcohol," initially: BYOB. Bring Your Own Booze
28. Slack alternative: EMAIL. Slack is a cloud-based team communication platform. It was released to the public in 2014. I read that it is an acronym for Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge.
29. Emanate: EMIT.
30. Orange root vegetables: YAMS. Carrots did not fit.
31. Logo on a pint of Guinness: HARP.
 |
| not sure if I ever noticed that before |
33. Road trip stops: MOTOR INNS.
37. Custardy dessert: FLAN.
38. Intimidate with mind games: PSYCH OUT. I first thought GASLIGHT.
40. Go on about: HYPE.
41. Ohio college whose mascot is an albino squirrel: OBERLIN.
 |
| If you say so.... |
42. Bring together: UNIFY. UNIte changed to UNIFY when I needed the Y for 57-A, LOVEY.
43. Each: PER.
45. Most upscale: NICEST.
46. Eight-member ensembles: OCTETS.
49. Wife of Augustus: LIVIA.
 |
| detail of a relief in the National Archaeological Museum in Ravenna, Italy of Augustus and (probably) his wife Livia |
51. Eye sores: STYES.
52. "Do not proceed!": STOP.
 |
| When I was in school, 7th graders could sign up to be crossing guards. At the end of the year, we were rewarded with a trip to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. |
53. Highs and __: LOWS. Speaking of the boardwalk...
58. Denominator of a whole number: ONE. A denominator is the bottom number in a fraction so the clue tells us we need to think about fractions. A fraction is essentially a division problem read top to bottom. Any number divided by 1 equals that number. In this example, 4 divided by 1 equals 4. This is the Identity Property of Mathematics for Division.
For example, here is Howard Hesseman as Dr. Johnny Fever from WKRP Cincinnati (1978-1982). (1:24 min.)
Bye-bye!
And now the grid:
 |
| Jeepers creepers! We had some fun math & science today with a dash of sparkle. |
31 comments:
Had to replace “unite” with “unify.”
Otherwise, no problem.
Definitely “a walk in the park.”
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Gak--DNF on a Monday. Started with UNITE, but LOVEY DOVEY changed it to UNITY. Guess who didn't revisit the "Bring together" clue? Bzzzzzt. D-o liked most of the non-theme fill, I MEAN SURE not so much. Thanx Hannah and sumdaze. (I'm with you on the Linda Ronstadt version. It's sad that she can no longer sing.)
Took 5:42 today to shop at Piggly Wiggly.
I knew today's actress (Uma), but I didn't know the wife clue (Livia).
RIP, Pope Francis.
Yup, Pope meets V.P. Vance; Pope dies.
FIR, but hand up for unite->UNITY. Also, eros->AMOR, emoji->EMAIL (Slack???,) rave->HYPE, lidia->LIVIA, and clever (UNTIE!) ->SLICER.
I've heard of Slack and Spotify, but had no idea what they are for.
The women's hockey championship was won by the USA yesterday IN OT over Canada. I couldn't find it televised anywhere, unfortunately. Guess program directors (if there are still such) figured that most hockey fans would rather watch the first-round games of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I watched some of the earlier matches, and they were really worth watching.
Or, "We don't serve women in this establishment - BYOB," meaning "Bring Your Own Babe." (Okay, okay. I MEAN SURE - I stole that line from a sign behind the bar in The Horny Toad restaurant in Cave Creek, AZ - "we don 't serve women here, you have to bring your own.")
Thanks to Hanna for the difficult-for-Monday puzzle, and to sumdaze for the chuckles. I guess I'd chose the Hollies version, but Linda's was great too. Hard to believe that the creative mind that wrote that song also wrote the Troggs signature song.
FIR. Nice and easy Monday fare. No problems, no circles, no plethora of proper names. Just straightforward crossword solving.
The theme was a gimme and I got it right away.
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
Fun way to start the week. I love those silly phrases. Many years ago when I lived in New Orleans I often shopped at Piggly Wiggly.
No problems with the other fills, the names were easy enough, I knew LIVIA, AMOR, was tickled by the OBERLIN clue. The only hiccup was the FAB/EMAIL crossing.. I guessed it not knowing about SLACK.
Thank you sumdaze for that fine review.
Yes, unite b/4 unify. A bit crunchy for me on a Monday, but rhyming helped a lot. I failed to parse "I not," as I kept looking at "ties" in the clue, and wanted to replace the "I" with a "k"not... (in ot...)
The other thing that i am completely oblivious to is dope=FAB. I am very confused by this, can you splain'?
And thank you Desper-Otto, I know I should not be LMAO, but I was shocked by the the sudden news, but your input explains everything...
Good Morning:
This was a cute theme and very well-executed but, despite the generous perps, it was by no means a Monday-level puzzle, IMO. This is not a criticism, just an observation from a seasoned solver. It’s fine to bump up the solving challenge, but Mondays are usually geared toward newbies and folks just getting their feet wet in crossword solving. On that basis, this offering was more on a Wednesday level, again, IMO.
Thanks, Hannah, and thanks, sumdaze, for a great synopsis and for your usual witty wordplay.
Have a great day.
Another question?
If a clue echo is a clecho, what's an answer echo?
I came here to congratulate the US women on that hockey win IN OT. What a hard-fought battle! Canadian stations are full of hockey right now. Our Toronto Maple Leafs won their first game against Ottawa last night. Hope springs eternal for their first Stanley Cup since 1967.
If it's a spicy answer, the correct term is an "ancho."
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Hannah and sumdaze (great Easter Egg catch with NO- NOS - UH OH was an outlier).
I FIRed and saw the theme early, but agree with Irish Miss that this CW had more than the usual Monday crunch.
Not being a Guinness drinker, I had HARe before PHONEY gave me HARP.
It took a while to parse I MEAN SURE.
Lend changed to LOAN.
I had enough perps to see that Eros was not the right language - AMOR was needed.
OBERLIN required perps for this Canadian.
I thought of unite first but had the Y in LOVEY. But this Canadian can never remember the ATF. The combination of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in one department is foreign to my Canadian mind. Our firearms enforcement fall under the RCMP. Alcohol and Tobacco fall under Health Canada, but legislation and enforcement is provincial.
I noted HOLI, HOLE and HOLA (hi Lucina).
IRON and BORON from the periodic table today.
In the musical/math realm, we had THIRDS, OCTETS, ONE, CIRCLES.
Canadians had long lines at advance polls this weekend before our date of April 28 to ELECT our next federal government. People are very engaged in this election, as you can well imagine. You Americans may be astonished that we can have an election campaign of only 37 days.
Wishing you all a great day.
Harder than usual for a Monday but the silly theme combos were fun to find. I was hoping HSE would ELECT to use “shilly shally”, a frequent reprimand, with “don’t”, from my Mother, ,but to no avail. Eros/AMOR, unite/UNITY and I finally saw dope (FAB) as slang.
A friend toured the Guinness factory last month so I ordered a stein for him on Amazon. I was surprised that it actually was mailed from Dublin. It had the metal crest with, of course, the HARP on it.
HOLA, Lucina!
Happy day, all!
Managed to FIR with help from the repeating themers, but didn't care much for this one. The cluing seemed like a cutesy stretch in many cases, and a tad odd in others. I still do not like paraphrase clues. What I did enjoy was Sumdazes recap. I'll cast my vote with Linda's version, but the Hollies were close second!
I feel this puzzle had some good stuff (e.g. BORON) and some nose-wrinkling stuff (e.g. I MEAN SURE).
Many thanks to Hannah for a beautifully constructed puzzle full of reduplications, to sumdaze for identifying them as such, and also for providing so many fine examples! When I try to come up with further examples of wordplay in puzzles later in the week (like C.C.'s use IT or lose IT on Sunday), I tend to fail. I doubt I could ever have matched sumdaze's effort here.
Cute theme, arranged symmetrically in the grid. No problems with the rest, but like everyone else, I changed UNIte to UNIFY. Happy Monday indeed.
But with our election system, we always seem to elect the best, most qualified people for the jobs. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. (Sorry, I just couldn't write that with a straight face.)
But at least appointments always go to the most qualified. 😅
TGIM, a CW I can do with only two W/Os = LEND:LOAN, and LEMON:SUGAR:WATER:JUICE. I absolutely LOVE that HS-E has constructed a CW with only 7 names, 3 DNKs. Somehow I knew OBERLIN. I also liked the rhyming theme. (RHYME: what a strange spelling!!). I'm embarrassed to say I cannot recall what D&D stands for. Anyone? Also know NOTHING about SLACK. CED @9:27, in my yute DOPE was an insult; somehow "DOPE" has come to mean FABULOUS, or COOL, depending on the application, in slang. Strange transformation. Of course, sometimes HOT and COOL mean the same thing, so... WMOS, 11D not particularly a wonderful clue/fill. D-O @ 6:45, good comment, made me smile. And ROS @ 11:13, another good comment, which also made me wonder if that might be why my comments sometimes disappear. Doesn't it say "Comment Removed by Administrator" in that case? Or does the comment just disappear, like people being disappeared off the street for THEIR comments? Anyway, great Monday CW, HS-E, thanx. ESPECIALLY the scarcity of obscure names. Well done! Favorite clue 26A. Many, many years ago I taught HS Chemistry. Thanx Sumdaze for the terrific write-up, and the many rhymes (there's that strange word again) in the beginning of your write-up.
Wonder who holds the Guinness world record for drinking the most Guinness
🍺 🍺 🍺 etc.
D&D = Dungeons & Dragons.
Uncle Fred, Blogger automatically removed your comment that last time.
If you post a comment and it disappears within a few minutes, that's Blogger removing it for using a word that Blogger finds objectionable for the age rating of the blog.
You used a word that would be fine if this blog was rated for Adult Content, but it is not. Review your saved copy of your comments.
I don't make the rules and I can't change them.
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Hannah! And your commentary was a pleasure, Sumdaze, so thanks for that too.
This puzzle just SOARS right from the start, until it hits some LOWS on the very bottom. But it sounds as though it worked to ALLOT HUMANS some LOANS if they needed to get out of a DEEP END, so they'd have the means of staying in the NICEST MOTOR INN in town where they could get some YAMS and some JUICE and a TATTOO. I think we'd all love to join them!
Have a lovely day and a great week coming up, everybody.
What are you implying?
Misty, your outlook is so cheerful! If the NICEST MOTOR INN in town suggested it would be a good place to get some YAMS and some JUICE and a TATTOO, I'd look for other accommodations!
Hi All!
Thanks, Hannah, for the Silly-Billy grid; good Monday fun.
Another entertaining review, sumdaze. Tuesday's banana comic was funny, and I can recite Dr. Fever's "do it" monologue (among, much to the chagrin of DW, many other scenes).
WOs: UNIty, and I put OCTET in 49d's squares for a bit
ESPs: EVIE, FAB (as clued)
Fav: BORON's clue is cute but I liked PSYCH OUT as fill.
This fan of D&D has PLAY'd many different ROLEs in different campaigns.
I MEAN SURE, HARP Lager is a Guinness product named for Guiness' logo ;-)
I enjoyed reading everyone today!
Cheers, -T
I've had (and still do have) houseguests so not much time for the blog. Finally able to read today's comments. I see I was not the only one tricked by UNIte / UNIFY.
CED@9:27. FAB is FABulous. I think "dope" used to mean something positive but that was #BeforeMyTime.
Ray-O @10:52. As far as I can tell, Blogger removed your comments. If the blogger-of-the-day or Admin removes a comment, there is a message to that effect.
Hola! Oooh, I'm really late today! It was count day and as you can imagine, the Easter collection was quite large and then we were treated to lunch afterward. After all that I needed a nap!
So here I am after having finished Hannah's lovely puzzle. She gave us some food for thought, though. Most of you echoed my thoughts, too. I liked seeing HOLE, HOLI, HYPE, HARP, then we had ALLIE and OLIVE, also SOARS and LOWS. The whole gamut!
I hope your Monday has been joyful!
I was bothered by the 12 Down clue, "Give Temporarily." Give is a verb, but Loan is a noun. Believe the answer should have been lend. Of course, there would have had to have been some adjustments to some of the across clues to accommodate this.
I thought it was very childish
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