If You Keep Making that Face, it Will Get Stuck in That Shape. The circles spell out features of the face.
17-Across. "Everyone knows that!": IT'S NO SECRET. Nose
22-Across. Mountain hiker's protection: BEAR SPRAY. Ears.
38-Across. "I haven't decided": MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. Eyes.
49-Across. TV episodes that are mostly flashback scenes: CLIP SHOWS.
And the unifier:
58-Across. Smirking, scowling, or smiling, and what the sets of circled letters in this puzzle are doing?: MAKING A FACE.
Across:
1. Swimmer's unit: LAP.
4. "Safe!" or "Strike!": CALL.
8. Pesto herb: BASIL. Yummers!
13. Part of some sports drink names: -ADE. Hi, Lemonade!
14. California/Nevada resort lake: TAHOE.
15. Bacteria that may cause gastroenteritis: E. COLI. Short for Escherichia coli, a bacterium commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms.
16. Type: ILK.
19. Spanish wine region: RIOJA. Everything you wanted to know about the Rioja Wine region, but didn't know to ask.
21. Main dish: ENTREE.
25. Snow pusher: PLOW.
28. "Elder" or "Younger" figure of ancient Rome: CATO.
29. Put in the attic, perhaps: STORE.
30. Ben Affleck Best Picture winner set in Iran: ARGO. The movie Argo was based on a true story of a CIA rescue mission during the Iranian hostage crisis. The film depicts the CIA's efforts to evacuate six American diplomats who had escaped the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by disguising themselves as a Canadian film crew. The CIA tapped Tony Mendez, portrayed by Ben Affleck, to pose as a Hollywood producer to scout locations in Iran for a film.
33. Cow's milk cheese from an Alpine region of Italy: ASIAGO. Yummers! The cheese is named after the village of Asiago in the Veneto region of Italy.
37. Plant, as seeds: SOW.
41. PC pioneer: IBM. International Business Machines.
42. Military programs intended to influence attitudes: PSY OPs. Psychological Operations.
43. Remove wrinkles from: IRON.
44. Taco topping: SALSA. Yummers!
46. Scannable bars on mdse.: UPCs. As in Universal Product Code.
48. Word on a red sign: STOP.
54. Caterpillar's cover: COCOON.
56. Put into law: ENACT.
62. La Brea __ Pits: TAR.
63. "Rolling in the Deep" singer: ADELE. I know we have several Adele (née Adele Laurie Blue Adkins; b. May 5, 1988) fans here. This is one of my favorites.
64. Public outcry: FUROR.
65. Notable stretch of time: ERA.
66. As bad as can be: WORST.
67. Sulking state: SNIT.
68. Single crunch, say: REP.
Down:
1. Hibernation location: LAIR.
2. Go off script: AD LIB. Today's Latin lesson. Short for ad libitum, which means with out prior preparation.
3. Tea variety: PEKOE. Technically, Pekoe tea is not a variety, but rather a classification of tea.
4. Lion or tiger: CAT.
5. Sounds of satisfaction: AHs.
6. One who doesn't like company: LONER.
7. British pop singer Lewis: LEONA. I am not familiar with Leona Louise Lewis (b. Apr. 3, 1985), but she has an alliterative name.
8. Keg contents: BEER.
9. Receive, as a gift: ACCEPT.
10. Player who is not graceful in defeat: SORE LOSER.
11. Suffix with infant: -ILE. As in Infantile.
12. Like birthday candles before a wish: LIT.
14. Prom queen crown: TIARA.
18. Messy digs: STY.
20. 2018 and 2019 Cy Young winner deGrom: JACOB. Jacob Anthony deGromm (b. June 19, 1988) is a professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Texas Rangers.
23. Doesn't go: STAYS.
24. "The White Lotus" actress Parker: POSEY. Parker Posey (née Parker Christian Posey; b. Nov. 8, 1968) was known as the Queen of the Indies because she starred in so many independent films when she started her acting career. She portrayed a neurotic dog owner in Best of Show.
26. Maine university town: ORONO.
27. Cry of victory: WE WON!
29. __ sauce: SOY.
30. Just a little off: AMISS.
31. Morocco's capital: RABAT.
32. Athlete's closet: GYM LOCKER.
34. "Looking for," in classified ads: ISO. Textspeak for In Search Of.
35. Energize: AMP UP.
36. Sounds of surprise: GASPS.
39. Clean Air Act org.: EPA.
40. Yellowstone beast: BISON.
45. Ruins: SPOILS.
47. "Rah!" or "Olé!": CHEER.
49. Gear tooth: COG.
50. Idles: LOAFS.
51. Jesting: IN FUN.
52. Substance that can be holy or hard: WATER.
53. Freak out: SCARE.
55. Tech news site: CNET.
57. Lobster catcher: TRAP.
58. Gaping mouth: MAW.
59. Big fuss: ADO.
60. NPR host Shapiro: ARI. Ari Michael Shapiro (b. Sept. 30, 1978) is an American radio journalist.
61. Camp bed: COT.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
43 comments:
The intersection of
“Jacob,” “Cato” and “ Posey” (not to mention “Rioja”) made this puzzle a little thorny for me. But I got through it.
FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR, thanks to a correct guess at RIOJA x JACOB. I figured that CATO must be right, so that wasn't really a guess. Erased bread for WATER.
IBM a PC pioneer? Are you sure about that Jethro? I think of Kim, Radio Shack and Apple computers as being much earlier (in tech years) than IBM. Heathkit too, for that matter, but they didn't sell many units.
One of my engineers was an Army Reserves PSYOPS specialist. One of their operations was to hide a bunch of speakers near an "enemy" encampment and play the sound of a crying baby all night.
My golf buddy's elder sister taught him to drive. He was driving with his dad once and blew through a stop sign. His dad had a fit, but he explained that his sister had instructed him that stop signs with white lines around the perimeter were optional. My guess is that brother and sister were taught a lesson that day.
Thanks to CC2 for another fun puzzle. Started very easy, then became challenging. And thanks to Ha2la for another chuckle-filed review. This spud's for you!
Good Morning, Crossword friends. Happy Earth Day.
Jinx: Your story about the stop sign reminded me of being a passenger with my sister once. She ran a stop sign and when I pointed it out to her, her response was "I wonder why they put the sign there."
Good morning!
Crunchy, cheesy Tuesday. Thought of Pliny the elder, but it was too long. Misread "Yellowstone" as simply "Yellow," so the beast temporarily became a TIGER. D'oh. Never heard of a "CLIP SHOW" -- we call 'em cheater shows. Thanx, Catherine and Hahtoolah.
COG: In a Beyond the Fringe skit about WWII they said, "You know how sometimes ten football players play better than eleven? We want you to be that one man. We need a futile gesture at this stage."
IBM: My early computer was a HeathKit H-8. You had to assemble it yourself. Video monitor, diskette drives, and accessory ports were not included in the base unit. You could put together a nice unit for a mere $3,500.
Ha! Reminds me of a Frank and Ernest cartoon from way back. Frank was explaining to the judge "but the sign said 'fine for littering.'"
And you leased, not purchased, the software, including the disc operating system. That's what scared me off of it.
My choice came down to TRS-80 v. Apple II. The TRS-80 had the standard S-100 bus, while the Apple had a proprietary bus. However, opening the TRS-80 to do something as simple as adding memory would void the warranty, while Apple seemed to encourage experimentation. So Apple II it was. Bought a nice 13" Sony Trinitron TV to use as a monitor. About $350 IIRC for the Sony, or about $1,700 in 2025 dollars.
Over the life of the unit I had HDOS, MSDOS, CP/M, Microsoft Basic. None were leased that I recall. The Siemens diskette drives weren't compatible with the drives in the TRS-80 -- hard-sectored vs soft-sectored, whatever that means.
I may have been looking for my first computer a year or two before you. I don't think floppy drives were available for hobbyist machines when I was shopping. Cassette tapes ruled the day.
IIR, hard sector disks used holes in the disk down near the hub. Seems like the older 8" floppies used them as well, but I only encountered those at work.
FIR. Today we had circles and a ton of proper names. Big YUK! And we didn't need the circles to finish this puzzle.
The crossing of Rioja and Jacob only added to this puzzles crunchiness.
So overall this wasn't an enjoyable puzzle.
IT’’S NO SECRET this was the easiest CW I’ve encountered in á good while. In fact as I read through Hahtoolah’s recap, there were fills I didn’t recognize because they had cropped up on their own. I noticed the theme right away, the few names I DNK perpped no problem.
Hahtoolah, you outdid yourself with the potato jokes and the many other fun jokes like the zebra one that i particularly liked.
Took 4:48 today for me to quit belly-aCHINg.
As usual, I agree with SubG's comments.
I knew today's actress (Posey), but only knew one of today's singers (Adele, not Leona).
If you have to use bear spray, point it at the ground about 3 feet in front of you, then spray upwards. The idea is to "make a wall" of spray.
Oh joy, circles!
For me, this was a fun theme and a straightforward solve. We've been enjoying Spanish wines lately, so Rioja was familiar!
Thank you Catherine, for the enjoyable puzzle. And Hahtoolah, your cartoons and review had me laughing out loud. :o)
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Catherine and Hahtoolah (I loved the Mr & Mrs Potato Head cartoons!).
I FIRed in good time, and saw the FACES theme.
Last to fill were the J in JACOB/RIOJA and the Y in POSEY/PSYOPS (never heard of either one, and needed an alphabet run).
Pout changed to SNIT.
LEONA was unknown to me, but perped.
And of course you know my NOSE wrinkled at FUROR without the second U.
SPOILER ALERT: Interesting that the Jumble had “I’S” (eyes) today.
Wishing you all a great day.
LOL aCHINg!
if you apply spray and smell like a bear won’t they try and mate with you!
Enjoyable, smooth solve today, with a guess at the O in ISO and PSY OPS to FIR. Thank you C.C. and H2lah, so many funny cartoons: the bear in the LAIR my favorite.
ASIAGO and RIOJA a great combination, but here in the US you must pay a good price to get a really good bottle of RIOJA.
A pioneer is someone who is among the first to do something, so I think clue is fair. I worked on the original IBM PC at their Boca Raton campus in the early 80s. I helped prototype the internal wiring harness and ribbon cables.
Good Morning:
This was a smooth, fun solve with just a couple of entries that required some perp help, i.e., Psy Ops and Clip Shows, the latter totally unknown. Because of the circles, the theme was obvious, but the reveal was unexpected and clever. The grid was clean and light on pop culture references and had some fresh fill, so the solve was Tuesday-level enjoyable.
Thanks, Catherine, you never disappoint and thanks, Hahtoolah, you never disappoint, either, and, as always, the comics were rib-tickling. I think the Zebra-UPCs was the cutest, but the Potato Heads were a close second.
Have a great day.
My first job with computers had microcomputers (precursors to PCs). Some had a single 8" floppy drive, more powerful units had a second one - and everyone wanted a two-slice toaster!
Our high school mascot was the BISON and we competed against the Buffalo, across county rival.
Parker POSEY was Tom Hanks girlfriend (of the TikTok's breakdown in the elevator) in “You’ve Got Mail”. Love that movie!
Happy day, all
Not bad, but would've been better if the facial features were in top-down order i.e. EYES at the top and LIPS on the bottom.
Happy Earth Day!
Relatively easy Tuesday level puzzle and theme.
Didn’t know JACOB but did know ARI and POSEY. Learned from these CWs that “La Brea” means “the TAR” in Spanish. So “The TAR TAR pits” (A pit full of seafood condiment? 😝)
CLIPS are short pieces of a past performances and SHOWS are well… SHOWS …. but never heard the term CLIPSHOWS.
ARGO reminds me of the box of cornstarch cover Native American girl with the body of an ear of corn
PSYOPS sounds like a mythological Greek monster.👹
A scientific double blind study was done with one group MAKING FACES and it was discovered after 3 minutes “it will stay that way” 🤪 … My 1950’s era “Mr. Potato Head” came with a fragile piece of styrofoam which got so full of holes it didn’t eventually hold the pieces. Mom refused to let me use a real potato as wasting food.
“Come in” à Paris: ENTRÉE
Reclusive mortgage officer …LONER
Aching in last place… SORE LOSER
Nursery flooring material….INFANTILE
Toddler … WEWON
Part of a play … ENACT
ERA alternative … CHEER
Loved all the Potato Head toons 🥔 …thanks H2LH 😁
Managed to FIR in better time than yesterday, despite the paraphrases in the theme clues. Ugh. The Spanish wine region was a lucky WAG, and in the bygone days of "want ads" one would merely go to the "Wanted" section. ISO? I don't think so! I miss those days, as paging through those and the "personnals" could provide intriguing entertainment! (See the "Pina Colada" song). Loved the plethora of potatoes, Ha2la.
Another enjoyable puzzle by Catherine Cetta. It was straightforward, uncluttered, and well-constructed (even boasted a grid-spanner for one of the theme answers).
The theme was on-the-mark, and Catherine's use of circles there was justified.
"La brea" is the Spanish word for pitch or tar, so when we say La Brea Tar Pits, we are essentially saying The Tar Tar Pits.Of course, knowing this, whenever I take guests there, I nevertheless still call it La Brea Tar Pits. Go figure.
Thanks, Catherine, for a smooth and enjoyable puzzle today, with much fun in the solving. And more fun, Hahtoolah, in your recap, especially with those madcap potato heads.
Being a Tuesday puzzle, the JACOB of the RIOJE crossing should have been clued without a sport player. I would think Jacob of the Bible or Jacob Marley of A Christmas Carole
Easy enough Tuesday puzzle. After two sets of circles, I could see we were making a face. Thanks for all the cute cartoons, Susan.
It was either PLINY the ELDER or CATO. Only four letters, easy choice.
I have had RIOJA wine, so the made JACOB easy.
I learned PSYOPS from army movies and the news. "An American PSYOP leaflet disseminated during the Iraq War. It shows a caricature of Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi caught in a rat trap. The caption reads "This is your future, Zarqawi". The Y helped me end POSE-
Freak out-scare. Yesterday Alan and I had lunch at the historic Blairstown Diner. The original Friday the Thirteenth movie was shot in many Blairstown, NJ locations including this diner. Every Friday the thirteenth, the diner and the town are mobbed by fans of the movie. The diner has a scary 7 foot tall model of a slasher with a bloody knife. There are bloody handprints on the wall. Otherwise it is just a normal friendly small town diner.
A fun Tuesday CW, FIR in 9. 13 names (by my inclusive count) DNK 7, but perps were kind, with 1 WAG at RIOJA/JACOB cross. I figured the "J" was a good guess, and was right. Never heard of "CLIPSHOWS", needed perps. I got the theme with EARS, which helped. Thanx CC2 for the fun. Thanx too to Hahtoolah for the excellent write up, and the many fun cartoons. The Potato Head cartoons really had me smiling.
There are many tautological place names:
La Brea Tar Pits - the tar tar pits
Sahara Dessert - desert desert
Milky way Galaxy - milky way milk
Lake Tahoe - lake lake
Minnehaha Falls - waterfall falls
Etc. Etc.
My MIL's property bordered Street Road.
Hola! Today must be fun day, first with Hahtoolah's many amusing cartoons then all the posted funny comments. Very entertaining! The puzzle was also fun with MAKING FACES preceded by all the face parts. However, I sadly had a DNF since I've never heard of PSY OPS or IMS as I've not been in the military nor had to seek romance through newspapers!
It's a pleasure to hear ADELE sing! Thank you for that!
When I visited Spain I brought back a bottle of RIOJA and wished I had brought more. I have not seen it in stores but maybe at Bevmo. Time to go looking. Have a beautiful day, everyone!
ADK town near me, Minnehaha: “Laughing Waters”. Laughing (haha) water (minne) like Minneapolis “City of water” polis is Greek for city. Minne Mouse (wet rodent?)
I suppose a Sahara Dessert would be tasteless and quite dry
Delightful Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Catherine. And your commentary was a pleasure, Hahtoolah--and some of your pictures cracked me up. Many thanks for this fun too.
Well, when I saw SORE LOSER at the beginning of this puzzle, I wondered if we would get misery or fun, MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. But when we got to the bottom, there was somebody clearly upset MAKING A FACE with FUROR and in a SNIT, one of the WORST endings we've gotten for a while. Maybe it was someone yelling 'WE WON' that managed to SCARE them, but that sure SPOILS any fun one might have had ( except outside a puzzle, where we still had a lot of fun).
Have a merry day, everybody!
Here ya go. Rupert Holmes' Escape.
The center was a little crunchy for a Tuesday. The unknowns JACOB,CATO, POSEY, PYOPS & ISO made it difficult to FIR. I didn't. Haven't read the want ads in ages and never placed any ads wanting something.
Elder or Younger- only knew Pliny.
Rusty, remember PC DOS?
I liked this puzzle. Hand up for thinking of Pliny.
So, RustyBrain, it was you who prototyped that mass of ribbon cables in the first IBM PC, eh? I’m kidding; it was a pretty well designed machine, for the most part, especially since it used Common Off The Shelf parts.
ROFL with the potato head cartoon, "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young man!" Thanks, Hahtoolah!
Agree that RIOJA x JACOB (who?) and PSYOPS x POSEY were tough for Tuesday. Or any day. But thanks for MAKING FACES, Catherine!
Musings
-Played 27 today with jacket on.
-Just enough spice to make this a nice Tuesday.
-Our kitty uses that CAT mirror
-Yes, they are BISON not buffaloes!
-We play golf at Tatanka Golf Course which is Lakota for Bison and they have several in fenced in areas around the course
-Loved the cartoons, Susan.
"Sahara Dessert" pairs nicely with a dry white wine!
I remember it as being nearly the same as MS DOS. The micros I used ran on UNIX.
Yep, sorry:) but ribbon cables are cool! I was plant engineer at a cable manufacturer so in a small way helped bring PCs into production.
HG, we just welcomed a pair of newborns: Spring at Fermilab welcomes the arrival of two baby bison
Hi All!
Thanks, Catherine, for the Tuesday fun. That RIOJA|JACOB|CATO|POSEY area was a wagfest but everything came out in the wash.
Thanks for the entertaining expo, Hahtoolah. The echoing Potato Head comics were perfect! Oh, and I shared the house-flip cel with co-workers and got lots of LOLs.
WOs: LiaR (untie!), and wrong SeW
ESPs: [see: Wagfest], LEONA
Fav: What's not to love about BEER crossing BASIL pesto? :-)
If the circles contained STEWART, WOOD, LANE, McLAGAN, and JONES - the reveal could be MAKING FACES.
The first computers I programmed on were Apple ][+ and ][e , TRS-80s, Commodore VIC20 & 64. I was 12 years old then ;-)
RustyBrain - cool to read about the ribbon cables for the IBM PC. I still have a few master/slave IDE cables tucked away in the closet. Please don't tell me you worked on the PC Jr - that would ruin my admiration :-)
I enjoyed reading y'all. Cheers, -T
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