Theme: Bad intentions.
Constructor Ricky J. Sirois reveals a tendency to see the bad in everything. Perfectly innocent English phrases are reinterpreted as dastardly designs.
The theme clues and answers, all Across, are:
17. Devious ploy to swap fries for a salad?: SIDE HUSTLE. There's nothing bad about having a side hustle, an activity that brings in extra income beside your regular job. But here, someone is hurrying or misleading the owner of a side dish of tasty French fries to give them up in exchange for a boring salad. Or is it the other way around?
26. Devious ploy to obtain a beefeater's headgear?: HAT TRICK. A hat trick is usually a good thing: it means repeating a positive feat (perhaps scoring a goal) three times, within a limited period. But here, someone is scheming to get a Yeoman Warder's hat through trickery.
36. Devious ploy to swipe someone's crayons?: COLOR SCHEME. Color schemes are used to create pleasing interior spaces, beautiful gardens, and festive celebrations. But here, a heartless scoundrel conceives a plan to steal crayons.
51. Devious ploy to put on a bogus open mic night?: COMIC CON. At an open mic(rophone) night, you might be excited to try out your comic routine on a live audience. But what if it's not a legitimate open mic night? The whole thing might be a con -- a ruse, a shake down, a total ripoff.
60. Devious ploy to get down?: PILLOW SHAM. It's not a bad thing to put pillows in decorative shams. A sham is just a fancy pillow case that fully covers a pillow, making it handy for an occasional backrest in bed, or other supportive purpose. But imagine that someone only wants the natural down filling in your pillow, and is willing to use deception to get it from you. Chicanery! Duplicity!
Finding five examples of phrases that might be repurposed this way is impressive. Fitting them symmetrically into a crossword puzzle is amazing.
And now, the less devious clues!
Across:1. Agreement: PACT.
5. Feature of an old home, perhaps: DRAFT. A draft is a current of cold air inside a room. This occurs in old homes due to gaps around windows, poorly sealed doors, and lack of insulation.
10. Book jacket part: FLAP.
14. Unexciting: BLAH.
15. Sovereign: RULER.
16. Liberty __: BELL.
 |
| The Liberty Bell on display in Philadelphia. |
17. [Theme clue -- see above.]
19. Rae of "Insecure": ISSA. DH and I enjoyed watching Issa Rae in "Insecure," not least for glimpses of the Windsor Hills area, close to our neighborhood.
 |
| Crossword favorite Issa Rae in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. |
20. Articles: ITEMS.
21. Vegas opener?: LAS.
23. Guy: MAN.
24. Grinding teeth: MOLARS. Not the action of grinding your teeth, but the teeth you use to grind.
26. [Theme clue]
28. Actor Kilmer: VAL. Val Kilmer is an American actor who found fame through films including Top Secret!, Real Genius, and Top Gun. He played Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever. His voice has been altered by throat cancer, and had to be digitally modified for the 2022 film, Top Gun: Maverick.
21. Vegas opener?: LAS.
23. Guy: MAN.
24. Grinding teeth: MOLARS. Not the action of grinding your teeth, but the teeth you use to grind.
26. [Theme clue]
28. Actor Kilmer: VAL. Val Kilmer is an American actor who found fame through films including Top Secret!, Real Genius, and Top Gun. He played Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever. His voice has been altered by throat cancer, and had to be digitally modified for the 2022 film, Top Gun: Maverick.
 |
| Val Kilmer in 2005 |
29. Paycheck boost: BONUS.
31. Radiates, as charm: OOZES.
32. British nitwit: PRAT. Prat is a derogatory term for a stupid person. It also means buttocks, and a pratfall is a fall onto one's buttocks, or more generally, an embarrassing mistake.
31. Radiates, as charm: OOZES.
32. British nitwit: PRAT. Prat is a derogatory term for a stupid person. It also means buttocks, and a pratfall is a fall onto one's buttocks, or more generally, an embarrassing mistake.
34. DJ's stack, once: LPs. A Disc Jockey used to play recorded music on Long Play vinyl discs.
35. __-Magnon: CRO. Cro-Magnons were the first early modern humans (Homo sapiens) to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They interacted and interbred with the indigenous Neanderthals of Europe and Western Asia.
36. [Theme clue]
40. Subj. for some MFA students: MUS. Some Master of Fine Arts students study Music. The abbreviation of "subject" in the clue suggests that there will be an abbreviation in the answer.
41. Drink suffix: ADE. Squeeze some citrus juice, stir in water and sugar, and add ADE to the name! Lemonade, limeade, orangeade.
42. Place to play b-ball: YMCA. You'll find a basketball court, and other sports facilities, at your local Young Men's Christian Association. And of course, it's fun to stay at the YMCA.
35. __-Magnon: CRO. Cro-Magnons were the first early modern humans (Homo sapiens) to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They interacted and interbred with the indigenous Neanderthals of Europe and Western Asia.
36. [Theme clue]
40. Subj. for some MFA students: MUS. Some Master of Fine Arts students study Music. The abbreviation of "subject" in the clue suggests that there will be an abbreviation in the answer.
41. Drink suffix: ADE. Squeeze some citrus juice, stir in water and sugar, and add ADE to the name! Lemonade, limeade, orangeade.
42. Place to play b-ball: YMCA. You'll find a basketball court, and other sports facilities, at your local Young Men's Christian Association. And of course, it's fun to stay at the YMCA.
 |
| The Village People released the song YMCA in 1978. |
45. Otherworldly: ALIEN.
48. Travel documents: VISAS.
50. Some laptops: PCs. A laptop or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC). An Apple laptop is a PC, but people usually refer only to Windows-based computers as PCs, and refer to Apple computers as Macs.
51. [Theme clue]
53. Defeat decisively: THRASH. To thrash is to beat with a stick or a whip, but in the context of sports, it means to defeat easily or by a large margin.
55. Flaky fish: COD.
56. Selling quickly: HOT. Selling like hotcakes!
57. Skedaddle: SCOOT.
58. "Enough! I get it already!": OK OK.
60. [Theme clue]
64. Nevada gambling town: RENO.
48. Travel documents: VISAS.
50. Some laptops: PCs. A laptop or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC). An Apple laptop is a PC, but people usually refer only to Windows-based computers as PCs, and refer to Apple computers as Macs.
51. [Theme clue]
53. Defeat decisively: THRASH. To thrash is to beat with a stick or a whip, but in the context of sports, it means to defeat easily or by a large margin.
55. Flaky fish: COD.
56. Selling quickly: HOT. Selling like hotcakes!
57. Skedaddle: SCOOT.
58. "Enough! I get it already!": OK OK.
60. [Theme clue]
64. Nevada gambling town: RENO.
65. Step around: AVOID.
66. Isolate, in corporate jargon: SILO.
67. Eins und eins und eins: DREI. "One and one and one" in German makes DREI (three).
68. "Fiddler on the Roof" matchmaker: YENTE. Yente is a character in Fiddler on the Roof, a 1964 musical and 1971 film set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia around 1905. It is based on "Tevye the Dairyman" and other short stories by Sholem Aleichem. Tevye, a milkman, must deal with his daughters' wishes to marry for love, and with Yente, who suggests potential husbands to the parents. "Yente" or "yenta" is Yiddish for a busybody, gossip, or meddler.
66. Isolate, in corporate jargon: SILO.
67. Eins und eins und eins: DREI. "One and one and one" in German makes DREI (three).
68. "Fiddler on the Roof" matchmaker: YENTE. Yente is a character in Fiddler on the Roof, a 1964 musical and 1971 film set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia around 1905. It is based on "Tevye the Dairyman" and other short stories by Sholem Aleichem. Tevye, a milkman, must deal with his daughters' wishes to marry for love, and with Yente, who suggests potential husbands to the parents. "Yente" or "yenta" is Yiddish for a busybody, gossip, or meddler.
 |
| Tevye and his family leave their village after a pogrom. |
69. Coffee specification: ICED.
Down:
Down:
1. Viewer-supported network: PBS. The Public Broadcasting Service is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia.
2. Wong of "Beef": ALI. Beef is a Netflix series starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, two strangers whose involvement in a road rage incident escalates into a prolonged feud.
 |
| Ali Wong in Beef |
 |
| 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is all-electric. |
4. Greek letter that may represent an angle: THETA. In mathematics, the Greek letter θ (lowercase theta) is commonly used to represent an angle, particularly in trigonometry, geometry, and polar coordinates.
5. Musical performances that hit all the beats?: DRUM SOLOS. Ba-dum-tss! (Drum sound effect.)
6. Former Wisconsin senator Feingold: RUSS. Russell Feingold is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011.
 |
| Russ Feingold |
7. Prefix in some genre names: ALT. In music, "alt" as a prefix (e.g., "alt-rock", "alt-country") signifies a deviation from a genre's traditional aesthetics, indicating a more alternative or independent approach.
8. Guys: FELLAS.
9. Buy a round, say: TREAT.
10. Org. with agents: FBI. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the domestic intelligence and security organization of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency ... with agents.
11. "On My Own" B'way musical: LES MIZ. Les Misérables, commonly called Les Mis or Les Miz, is a long-running musical, and 2012 film, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.
13. Core exercises that resemble pushups: PLANKS.
18. Sage, for one: HERB.
22. Retail outlet: STORE.
24. Athletic VIP: MVP. A Very Important Person in sports may be named the Most Valuable Player.
25. Rowing implement: OAR.
26. Chef Nadiya who won "The Great British Baking Show" in 2015: HUSSAIN. Eldest daughter loves this show.
 |
| Nadiya Husain on The Great British Baking Show |
27. Not too tight: ROOMY.
30. Ayesha Rascoe's network: NPR. Ayesha Rascoe hosts Weekend Edition Sunday on National Public Radio.
33. "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner: TOMEI. My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American comedy film starring Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, and others. Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
 |
| Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny |
35. Gamer's secret: CHEAT CODE. I remember eldest son playing Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo and using cheat codes to get extra powers. For instance, at one point in the game, you can jump on a particular turtle repeatedly, bouncing it, while your points multiply just from hopping in place. With enough points, you earn extra lives that help you make it through the game. Some of these tricks my son discovered for himself, and others were shared by friends.
37. Day break?: LUNCH.
38. DJ's stack, once: CDs. A clecho (clue echo) with 34-Across. After LPs came CDs (compact discs). Now most folks acquire musical recordings through digital downloads.
39. Attuned to the feelings of others: EMPATHIC.
43. Includes on an email: CCs. Putting someone in the CC area of an email means they'll be informed, but are not required to take action. Everyone included on the email will see that person's name or email address. It comes from "carbon copy." In the days of typewriters, we used sheets of carbon paper between sheets of regular paper to create (blurry) copies of the original correspondence.
44. Barbecue residue: ASH.
45. Diplomatic achievement: ACCORD.
46. Knockout: LOOKER.
47. "No more for me": I'M DONE.
48. Small candle: VOTIVE. A votive candle is about 2 inches tall and is meant to be used in a glass container. An even smaller candle is a tealight, only half an inch tall, which usually comes in a metal container that is discarded when the candle burns out.
 |
| votive and tealight candles |
49. Demonstrate: SHOW.
52. Pharmacy figure: COPAY. A copay is a fixed amount you pay for a health service or for filling a prescription.
54. Big name in vermouth: ROSSI. Make my martini dry! Just wave this bottle over the glass.
 |
| Martini & Rossi vermouth |
57. Paper cut: SLIT.
59. Splash in a garden pond?: KOI. Koi are colorful variants of carp kept in ponds. For some people, they are beloved pets.
61. Horror master Chaney: LON. Leonidas "Lon" Chaney (1883-1930) was an American actor, widely regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors in film, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque, characters. He starred in silent horror films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces." His son, Lon Chaney, Jr. (1906-1973) played Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, Son of Dracula, and others.
 |
| Lon Chaney, Sr. |
62. Keg pour: ALE.
63. Subreddit admin: MOD. Reddit moderators are unpaid volunteers who dedicate their time to maintaining and moderating communities on the platform. Subreddits are niche communities on Reddit where users discuss specific topics. We would never participate in niche communities online, would we, Cornerites? 😉
Here's the grid:
NaomiZ
38 comments:
This didn’t strike me as
a terribly easy puzzle; there were a lot of obscurities or near-obscurities. And “mus” as an abbreviation for “music” seems a little sketchy to me. Nevertheless, FIRE, so I’m happy.
Gosh - Autocorrect got me again! Changing my “FIR” to “FIRE”! Naughty autocorrect!
Good morning!
D-o noticed the NPR/PBS and LPS/CDS pairings (in my day the DJ had a stack of 45's). I thought the Beefeaters wore woolly hats -- apparently they wear both. VAL was timely; he died recently on April Fool's Day. There was a lot to like in this one, plus one major stumbling block. D-o went with YENTA and CODA -- bzzzzzzt. Sezst Lah Vye. Thanx, Ricky and NaomiZ.
FIR, but eerie->ALIEN, ross->RUSS, neo->ALT, and cheat mode->CHEAT CODE.
I didn't remember DJs using LPS at first, because I was thinking about mobile DJs and their stacks of 45s. Then it dawned on me - FM radio and album rock, and deep cut specialists. Gotta have LPS for those DJs.
SILO problems grow as organizations become larger. Once at GTE we were leasing a switching system mounted in a shipping trailer so we could modernize out Topanga office without erecting another building. We had to order a bunch of supplies for the trailer, and we were addressing the issue of which department would transfer the stuff from the truck to our trailer. The owner of the four-man company who was leasing us the trailer said "let's just get a couple of our guys and a couple of your guys, whoever is on site, to move it?" Voila!
I used to buy a lot. My motto was "when Jinx drinks, everyone drinks. And when Jinx pays, everyone pays." (I've never had a hole-in-one.)
The NCAA bestows Most (Outstanding) Player awards at the end of their BBall tournaments. This year's MoPs are Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida, and Azzi Fudd of UConn.
Thanks to Ricky for the fun Thursday challenge. And thanks to NaomiZ for another fine review. 'Cept that the Iceman (VAL) died this past April Fools Day.
Good morning, NaomiZ and friends. Sadly, Val Kilmer died just last week at age 65. He was a talented actor. In 2009, he reigned as Bacchus in the Krewe of Bacchus in the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade.
FIR. Several really off the wall clues made this a little bit more difficult than our usual Thursday fare.
So I persisted and got the win. But overall this was not a fun puzzle.
I found this CW puzzle pretty easy and fun. My only head scratcher was COMICCON, but it filled no problem.
But, I have to confess I DNF. I left the O of SILO and MOD blank. I could have done an alphabet run that Uncle Fred so dislikes, but forgot.
Thank you NaomiZ for á nice recap as usual.
Took 7:41 today to get through this devious one.
I know today's actresses (Ali, Tomei, and Issa), but I didn't know the French/Frawnch area, the British cook, or the German word problem.
I'm terrible at planks, but trying to improve.
I enjoyed the puzzle from Ricky and the recap by NaomiZ equally as well today, FIR in 11:06. The only true unknown was HUSSAIN, which required all perps. I was a DJ at my college radio station in the days preceding CDS, so my stacks were LPS (occasionally maybe a 45). Always looked for the perfect segues using dual turntables w/volume controls. I bet ISSA Rae and Idris Elba never imagined that their careers would lead to CW fame. NaomiZ ~ was wondering if the crayon cartoon is your personal artwork? 😊 Also, thanks to your book jacket graphic, I now know that the little bit that overhangs the hard cover is called the “bleed”.
Ricky provided us with an enjoyable and stealthy interlude today. I never saw a Reveal, but the cunning theme was pretty clear, as was the title to Naomi's recap, "Bad Intentions." In addition to the five horizontal theme answers, I might add a sixth, the vertical CHEATCODE at 35D.
It was a pleasure to see both NPR and PBS included in today's puzzle.
I thought Ricky had somehow dodged Crossword Compiler's armada of stale vowel-rich staples--until the determined ALE somehow sneaked in at the end.
Thanks, Ricky, for your insidiously fun venture today. The puzzle was fair, straightforward, and fresh, Thursday-appropriate, and fun to solve. And Naomi, a job well done in your review.
Musings
-Computer guy here at school just got rid of an annoying popup on my Mac after tracking it down through extensions!
-DRAFT: A guy I golf with lives in a very old house and said he had a $650 heat bill in January
-A friend’s wacky brother jumped over the barrier and started hitting the Liberty Bel with a hammer l in 2001
-I am a teacher, what is this BONUS you speak of?
-Germany and France have traded ALSACE back and forth for a long time. Currently it is a part of France.
-Ted Williams, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, and Vladimir Guerrero are among MVP’s who never won a championship.
-Joann got out all her VOTIVE candles during our blackout. She also lit one for her dad and brother in every European church we visited
Big Easy here,
OK,OK, I'M DONE are my thoughts as I finally got the gist of the puzzle before i was able to FIR. I was stuck in the middle with RAISE instead of BONUS, SEER instead of HERB, LOOSE instead of ROOMY. NPR and PBS were just guesses. HUSSAIN and CHEAT CODE were unknowns and took perps and guesses. I've heard of YENTA but not YENTE but it took E to make CODE, instead of CODA.
'eins und eins und eins' ist drei. sangen die BEATLES in "Come together". right now.
Auf Wiedersehen.
Husker, my favorite thing about the churches in Germany, is that there's usually a tavern right next door, or across the street.
Fun puzzle with a creative theme
A few gimmes - RUSS Finegold was my senator during some of the years I lived in Madison, WI.
"Fiddler on the Roof" was one of my favorite movie musicals with the busybody matchmaker YENTE. Though it was set in Ukraine , the movie was filmed near Zagreb, Croatia giving it a very authentic feel
HUSSEIN had Thursday cluing with the BBS Chef instead of Obama's middle name or the president of Iraq
Thanks Naomi for the blog and to Ricky for the puzzle!
Thank you sneaky Ricky for a cleverly plotted puzzle. And thank you Naomi for the comprehensive and informative review!
FAVS:
10A FLAP. I loved your timely illustration for this clue Naomi -- Francis, the current Pope, is a Jesuit and sadly he won't be with be with us much longer. Even sadder will be all the papal paparazzi flap as we wait for the white smoke rising from the Vatican chimney.
16A BELL. The crack in the Liberty Bell seems to widen every day.
28A VAL. It's been said, but sadly VAL died on April 1, 2025 -- I'm not kidding!
68A YENTE. I confused this with YENTL, another Hebrew name with a completely different meaning. Perps eventually forced me to fill the correct answer.
38D CDS. I get all of my music here. The DJs have much better taste in music than I do, and most of them are musicians themselves.
48D VOTIVE. Teri is crazy about candles -- Advent candles, votive candles, and even electric candles. They're all over the house!
63D MOD. It doesn't get any more niche than the Corner! Our full-time moderator is TTP, as is the reviewer of the day. Be on the lookout Naomi for anyone trying to sell anything other than words and click that little trashcan next to their comments!
Cheers,
Bill
p.s. It was a TREAT for me -- especially the review!
After yesterday’s speedy finish I feared today would be punishing but I FIR even faster. Not the usual Thursday fare. Got and liked the theme clues. I know what COMICON is but not sure how it relates and why does it hafta be a “Beefeaters” hat? Not a gamer so didn’t know CHEATCODE
inkovers: yard/YMCA, yenta/YENTE, ImOK/OKOK, eerie/ALIEN
PLANKS are like frozen pushups. Ouch. I useta do ‘em but not no more 😖
I would think a DJ woulda hadda stack of 45’s not LP’s . One of my best college buds was a rock radio DJ in the 70’s. He’d put a top 40 45rpm record on the turn table, spin it backwards till he heard the sound of the beginning of the song. Turn on the player but prevent the record from turning with his thumb as he intro’d the song then let go so the song would start immediately. No dead air. Oh and no LP’s
King Charles III is a sovereign who reigns but does not “RULE” 👑
Crossing fingers🤞 in advance of tomorrow’s puzzle. Expecting a doozy after two easy days. 😨
HUSSAIN is the chefs name, Hussein Obama’s middle name.
My day is complete! Because of "bleed" I have learned something new today and can go back to bed.
"My Cousin Vinny" is one of my favorites and Marisa TOMEI was stellar in her role. Turns out this a favorite movie of lawyers as well. It has been praised for courtroom accuracy and has been cited numerous times by legal scholars. Who'da thunk?
As to DRUM SOLOS - How do you know when a drummer is at your door? The knocking speeds up and he doesn't know when to come in. Ba dum tiss!
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Ricky and NaomiZ. I FIRed in good time for a Thursday, and saw the devious theme.
PRAT was all perps.
Unknown names like HUSSAIN perped.
I have learned enough German doing CWs (also thanks to Spitzboov RIP) to know DREI.
Hand up for changing YENTa to YENTE.
The SE corner was slow to fill. I hate ICED coffee and prefer ICED tea. SILO was not clued as a farm building. And I wanted EMPATHetIC but it would not fit.
Guys were slang FELLAS and a plain old MAN today.
Favourite was the clue for LUNCH.
Wishing you all a great day.
Sometimes I find themes to be clever but not much fun. Sometimes they are fun but not particularly clever. I thought that this one was lots of fun and very clever. An enjoyable start to the day. Thanks, Ricky and NaomiZ!
Pretty nice and entertaining puzzle today, which I nevertheless managed to FIW. YENTA/CODA nailed me. Nice recap, NaomiZ! Ancestors on my fathers side settled here from Alsace in the late 1800's.
No candles in my house. Every time there is a hurricane in the area and the power goes out, some idiots manage to catch their house on fire. Other idiots run generators INDOORS in an attached garage and manage to die from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Does that mean that “youtes” is now standard courtroom parlance for “youths”? The film included a host of the typical ethnic stereotypes.
RIP, Val Kilmer. Thanks to all who noted his passing on April 1st. I wrote the blog post on March 30, and was in the mountains for a week thereafter, completely missing this news.
YooperPhil at 8:27 AM, the crayon cartoon does look homemade, but I cannot take credit. Amazing what will turn up in a Google image search!
This was an excellent, fun Thursday CW, even though (sadly) I have to award myself a DNF. It being Thursday, I decided to not even try pen-on-paper first, but go directly to the online CW. I filled (or thought I filled) about half before struggling and turning on red-letter help, only to see a ton of red letters. ROSS/RUSS, ROYAL/RULER, YENTL/YENTE, even (showing my age) BOND/BELL. I was SO sure YENTL was correct, but it wasn't. Neither was YENTA. Oy. After 20 minutes and several dreaded alpha runs, I managed to fill all the cells, but needing alpha runs gives me a DNF, in my book. As Monkey mentioned, I HATE having to resort to alpha runs. DO @ 9:34 mentions there being a tavern across the street from every church in Germany. I've only been to Germany once, but my memory is there was a tavern across the street from EVERYTHING. Anon @ 11:16 mentions hurricanes. It is stunning how many people run generators inside their house, or garage, during a hurricane. How can they possibly think this is a good idea? Anyway, even though I DNF, this was a very creative CW, and mostly fun to do except for the dreaded alpha runs. Also 17 names, DNK 8. Did NOT like that some names were right next to each other. Thanx RJS for a MOSLY fun CW. And thanx too to NaomiZ for the outstanding write-up: your time and efforts are appreciated.
You're right, of course. I guess it's hard for any movie to stand the test of time in the harsh glare of today's correctness. For example: the stuttering lawyer was an actual stutterer in his youte and deeply regretted his role in perpetuating that stereotype. Hindsight is 50/50!
Hola! WEES. I mostly agree with all the above comments. I'll just add that my grid took a beating in the SW until ACCORD/LOOKER/I'M DONE emerged. ALIEN was not my first fill; I thought OUTER but it's outre.
I really enjoyed the re-purposed theme fill! Very clever! Thank you, Ricky J. Sirois. And thank you, NaomiZ for an outstanding job of narrating.
R.I.P. Val Kilmer who entertained us so well.
Have a sensational day, everyone!
Luckily the temperature here is holding on to the 80s and my home is cool right now. My new A/C won't be installed until Saturday.
Good Afternoon:
Late to the dance, not due to a Side Hustle but several Sidetracks! I thought this was a very clever theme, well executed and brimming with fun and fresh fill. I’ll even give a pass on the high TLW count. Hussain and Cheat Code were unknowns but easily perped, and no w/os eased the way to a fast and smooth solve. Skedaddle, the clue for Scoot, is an old-fashioned, fun word.
Thanks, Ricky, for a yummy Thursday treat and thanks, Naomi, for a detailed, informative review, with easily understandable examples and illustrations. You’re a natural at this blogging business!
Does anyone subscribe to Hulu? I have the cheapest version with ads but after last night’s binge-watching a series and being bombarded every few minutes with interruptions, I think I’ll cancel. Netflix and Amazon Prime have ads, also, but nowhere near the level of Hulu.
Have a great day.
Fun Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Ricky. And your commentary and pictures are always a treat, NaomiZ, thanks for all that too.
Well, this puzzle had fun giving us a lot of action by nasty FELLAS--starting with that SIDE HUSTLE, followed by the weird HAT TRICK, and that silly game to steal some crayons in a COLOR SCHEME, and that hard-to-believe PILLOW SHAM (who ever wanted to steal some down?) But at least it was fun having all this going on while listening to a DRUM SOLO. After this we should just plan to SCOOT to the YMCA and get some LUNCH, although all we may be able to get is some ICED coffee or some sort of ADE. After that I think we'd all say 'I'M DONE' and go home.
Have a good rest of the day, everybody.
VOTIVE 🔥
When Mom was a little girl my grandmother used to keep a votive candle on her dresser in front of a statue of JC. Mom decided one day to see what would happen if she put one of Grams combs lying on the dresser in the flame. In those days combs etc were not made of modern plastic but highly flammable celluloid. The comb caught fire , Mom panicked, threw the comb and ran out of the room saying nothing to Gram. The bedroom curtains caught fire and almost burned the house down. Mom waited for years before fessin’ up. 🚒🧯
Hmm, I can't say Thumper, because it was tough but fair...
(Kicked my butt act7ally)
Maybe I should just zip my lip today...
IMO Val Kilmer’s portrayal of Doc Holliday in Tombstone was masterful, and his best. I remember his telling Johnny Ringo, “I’m your huckleberry…. You’ve met your match.”
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" A well-constructed and mostly well-clued puzzle that gave me much enjoyment. It was a TREAT for me to work it.
Hand up for entering YENTA at first. Also for entering RAISE before it had to become BOOST. I waited for one perp before determining Vegas opener was LAS and not VEE.
I have used CHEAT CODES from time to time when playing an especially difficult mission.
I still have a couple hundred LPs but no turntable to play them with. My old Dual turntable died years ago.
A nose wrinkle at MUS.
DW and I had a "Day break" with our son today. It was a nice TREAT.
Since apparently EMPATHIC is a word, is SYMPATHIC also a word?
Good reading you all.
Since you’re on drummer jokes, here are two more:
Q: why are drummers always late? A: because they’re lousy at keeping time…
Q: what do you call a drummer without a girl-friend? A: homeless
I got a million of ‘em 🤣
====> Darren
Nice theme from the constructor today — 👍🏽, Ricky J.! Not a bum-buster, but enough sleight-of-clue to make me work for the FIR. My fave themer was HATTRICK.
Hand up for raise>BONUS and eerie>ALIEN. I couldn’t recall if a subreddit admin was a MEDiator or a MODerator, but I guessed correctly on SILO, so “yay” there; and I loved the double-double on the DJ stacks — tasty ploy!
Your recaps, NaomiZ, are better each time — you’re getting to be very adept at doing them. I’m suitably in awe 🤙🏽😎
I do planks 3 or 4 times a week as part of trying to keep my 70+ carcass in working order, but can only hold ‘em for about 60 sec. before the shaking caves me in…
====> Darren / L.A.
I loved Ricky's puzzle and NaomiZ's write-up!
FAVs were the YMCA clue and NaomiZ's explanation of "pratfall" and YENTE.
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