Rise and shine! It’s RustyBrain again, this time trying
to fill sumdaze’s shoes, although my canal boats might not fit into her
ballet slippers.
Today's constructor, Janice Luttrell, has been delivering quality crosswords for a decade now. True to form, this one was a smooth solve, but I think I turned up a hidden theme that may or may not have been intentional. Only your square-dresser knows for sure! Let’s see how it all turns out, starting with the revealer:
56. The Byrds No. 1 hit whose lyrics come from Ecclesiastes, and what can be found at the starts of 20-, 27-, and 48-Across: TURN TURN TURN. We are invited to find synonyms for TURN at the beginning of each theme answer. Not only that, but it's three TURNs, one for every season each themer! Told ya she was good.
20. Soaker with jets: WHIRLPOOL TUB. WHIRL = TURN. WHIRLPOOL TUBS are often known by the popular brand name Jacuzzi. Ahh...
27. Unexpected change in circumstances: TWIST OF FATE. TWIST = TURN. If not for a strange TWIST OF FATE, these four could have been the Fab Four.
46. Public relations pros, informally: SPIN DOCTORS. SPIN = TURN. Also a popular rock group.
I think I'll dust off my old turntable and play some more records from my collection:
Across:
1. Olympic diver Louganis: GREG.
5. Like lit barbecue coals: HOT. And first half of a popular classic rock group, HOT Tuna.
8. Juice box insert: STRAW. And the beginning of another classic rock group, the STRAWberry Alarm Clock.
13. Christmas carol: NOEL.
14. "Who does __!?": THAT.
16. Vulgar: CRUDE.
17. Word puzzles involving quotations: ACROSTICS. Quote ACROSTICS are really tough! I hardly ever finish one.
19. __ and repeat: RINSE. It's a great marketing ploy to sell more shampoo, but this company is refreshingly honest.
20. [theme]
22. "Toodles!": SEE YA.
23. Clodhopper: OAF.
24. Tofu base: SOY.
27. [theme]
32. Father of Jesus, familiarly: ST JOSEPH. "Oh, please. Just call me Joe." Pope Pius IX declared him to be a patron of the sick, hence the product tie-in.
36. Capital on the Willamette River: SALEM. The Willamette is a major tributary of the Columbia River in Oregon.
37. Asia's North __ Sea: ARAL.
38. "Let's Make a Deal" choices: DOORS. "Would you like to trade that rubber chicken for one of these three DOORS?" Also, another popular rock group.
41. Give a hoot: CARE.
42. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor: SONIA.
44. Tried to control, as a horse: REINED IN. Santa had trouble reining in horses, so he chose reindeer instead.
46. [theme]
49. Agreeable answer: YES. YES is one of my favorite bands. Their album "Close to the Edge" is considered a progressive rock masterpiece.
50. __ alai: JAI. JAI ALAI used to be very popular in Florida, but nowadays there are only a few frontons (courts) left.
51. New Haven Ivy Leaguer: YALIE. A YALIE is a five letter Eli.
56. [theme]
60. Ballet leaps: JETES. The only JETES that Miami Dolphins like.
63. Tricolor feline: CALICO CAT.
64. Major shindig: EVENT. Like a rock concert!
65. Raw minerals: ORES.
66. "Whose __ Is It Anyway?": LINE. Drew Carey was the original host of this improvisational comedy TV series.
67. Smartphone messages: TEXTS. "Your aunt passed away. LOL" Just a friendly reminder that LOL doesn't mean Lots Of Love.
68. Informal top: TEE.
69. Animal's retreat: LAIR.
Down:
1. Chews like a chipmunk: GNAWS.
2. La __-Posay: L'Oréal brand: ROCHE. News to me. I don't carry them in my tool box.
3. Spooky: EERIE.
4. Acclaim: GLORY.
5. Link letters: HTTP. HyperText Transfer Protocol is the language used for loading webpages and other resources across the internet.
6. Cleveland's state: OHIO. Before "Who's Line," Drew Carey had a sitcom set in Cleveland, home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In keeping with rock'n'roll tradition, here's the OHIO Players.
7. Handheld snack topped with salsa: TACO. TACO's remake of "Puttin' on the Ritz" always reminds me of Young Frankenstein. And another album cover.
8. Places to pick up kittens: SCRUFFS. SCRUFF being a colloquial term for the nape of the neck.
9. Chicago paper, for short: TRIB. The venerable Chicago TRIBune.
10. Campaign for office: RUN. This time we have half of a popular rap group, RUN-DMC. Their cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" was a huge crossover hit.
11. Free game pop-ups: ADS.
12. Supersmall: WEE. A smaller version of WEE is wee.
15. Letter-shaped groove: T-SLOT.
18. Window shutter boards: SLATS.
21. Chinese philosophy: TAO.
24. Starter course, often: SALAD.
25. "SNL" alum Cheri: OTERI. Some names just lend themselves to crosswords.
26. Arabian Sea country: YEMEN. YEMEN is as far south as you can go and still be in the Middle East.
28. Join at the altar: WED.
29. Stock exchange launch, briefly: IPO. Initial Public Offering
30. Not quite able to pay: SHORT.
31. Clock front: FACE. Almost Rod Stewart and the FACEs
32. Smart-alecky: SASSY.
33. Overused plot device: TROPE.
34. Rock legend Joplin: JANIS. Are you catching on that "rock legends" is a sub-theme?
35. "Riviera" actress Lena: OLIN.
39. __ Speedwagon: REO. And the hit's just keep on coming!
40. Knight's title: SIR.
43. Fine-tunes: ADJUSTS.
45. "No Strings Attached" boy band: NSYNC. NSYNC (pronounced "in sync") sprang Justin Timberlake on us.
47. Crew blade: OAR.
48. __ de Mayo: CINCO.
52. Ring-shaped reef: ATOLL.
53. Holy namesake of a Lesser Antilles island: LUCIA. Saint LUCIA. Many islands in the Caribbean Sea are named after saints - St. Kitts, St. Vincent, and all of the U.S. Virgin Islands, to name a few.
54. Tehran native: IRANI.
55. Keyboard key: ENTER.
56. Big top: TENT.
57. Small fruit pie: TART.
58. Peter Fonda title role: ULEE.
59. Greet the day: RISE.
60. New York NFLer: JET. Bane of Dol-fans everywhere.
61. Holiday lead-in: EVE.
62. __-Mex cuisine: TEX. In South Florida, Mexican restaurants leave out the Texas part and instead combine it with Cuban and South American fare. It's all good.
Wow, that's a lot of albums...
28 comments:
One problem with this puzzle:
It references “20, 27 and 48 across” but the theme answer actually starts at 46 across.
In spite of this typo, I would still give this puzzle the “ coveted” title of “ a walk in the park.” FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
The train came into the station in under six minutes this morning, and the Wite-Out got a rest. Not bad for this old geezer. There's a WHIRLPOOL (garden) tub in the en suite. It's only been turned on once. TACO has taken on a whole new meaning in recent days. Thanx, Janice. Excellent job subbing for sumdaze, RustyBrain.
FIR, but hai->JAI, ulie->ULEE, and elena->SONIA (doh!)
They have been discontinued for years, but Alfa SEE YA motor homes have a devoted following.
Jimmy Buffett paid homage to Let's Make a Deal with his whimsical DOOR Number Three.
I learned from The Incredible Dr. Pol that nearly all CALICO CATs are female.
T-SLOT again, but this time with "groove" as the noun. Now it makes sense - I saw a lot of hospital curtains using T-SLOT grooves during my recent stays.
Thanks to Janice for another fun start to the work week. And thanks to Rusty Brain for the well-oiled review. My favorite HOT Tuna song is Keep On Truckin', totally different from the tune by the same name by Eddie Kendricks, and Truckin' by the Grateful Dead.
FIR. I almost got off to a bad start when I threw down red instead of hot at 5A. Perps fixed that fast.
I didn't notice the typo in the reveal that SubG saw, but nevertheless I sped through this puzzle in record time I did notice the presence of several words starting with "J".
Overall a most enjoyable puzzle.
I too had red before HOT, after that little stumble, all smooth. Yes, á little typo. 48 instead of 46.
I loved the theme. Well done.
I used to have á CALICO CAT named Nouche Nouche. She (of course á female) loved to bring me lizards. 🦎
Rusty Brain, enjoyed your music sub- theme.
Something went awry, my cat’s name was Nounouche. Sorry for the silly post.
Super fast Monday with lots of crosswordese from Janet- I can't remember when I've cracked 4 minutes before. I didn't even think I could type that fast!
Thanks RB for filling in - got a chuckle out of the Gluten Free label on the shampoo since it doesn't matter when you're not eating it!
You definitely get the award for most album covers in a blog !
Good Morning:
This was a fun, quick Monday solve with Roche being the only unknown and no w/os. Despite the obvious connections of the themer’s first words, the reveal was an aha surprise. Janice’s puzzles are usually enjoyable solves and this one was no exception.
Thanks, Janice, and thanks, RB, for the enlightening review. Never in a million years would I have seen the sub-theme of all of those bands/musicians that you highlighted. My knowledge of pop/rock music would fit in a thimble. Thanks, also, for subbing for sumdaze.
Stay cool everyone!
A nice, day-appropriate Monday puzzle. 60A and 64A were the only stumbling blocks in my quest to complete the puzzle without looking at the Down clues. A much appreciated walk in the park.
Took 3:51 today for me to pivot (like Ross moving his couch).
Good catch, SubG.
I didn't know whatever the "Roche" brand is, but I knew today's actress (Olin).
Not familiar with ULEE at 58 down, but otherwise, an easy Monday solve, for which one must be grateful! Thanks, Janice, Patti, and the very sharp RustyBrain.
I'm almost certain there is no context where "Irani" is a real word to refer to people from the country of Iran. It shows up 0 times on the wikipedia page. Smh my head.
Fir in 8, very good time (for me), even for a Monday. Even with 16 names, I pretty much zipped through this CW, because only 4 names were DNKs. Two W/Os: HTML/HTTP (DOH!!) and LIFE/LINE. I enjoyed this CW, not only because I was able to FIR W/O much struggle, and W/O the dreaded Friday and/or Saturday alpha runs, but because it had clever yet easy to suss theme fills. Thanx, JL, for your time, effort, cleverness and this CW. Thanx too to RB for the terrific write-up, including the many musical group inclusions. You mention "Yes" as your all-time favorite band. Mine is Pink Floyd, and my theme song is "Comfortably Numb". Great lyrics, perfect for an old fart like me.
Fast and fun start of the week, once I made it past the unknown diver/Roche hold-up. Nice job, Janet, and great recap, RB.
Just finished the NYT Monday CW. Only after completing in 12 did I notice it is a creation of our fearless leader, C.C.! And a fine CW it is!!
A record, indeed! Thanks, Rusty.
Although I didn't watch The Drew Carey Show in the day and am not impressed by the re-runs, that show had THREE great theme songs, starting with the Vogues' mid-1960s hit "Five O'Clock World," and continuing with a good rock song, "Cleveland Rocks" and the hilariously themed "Moon Over Parma."
Fun Monday puzzle, many thanks, Janice. And your commentary is always a help, thanks for that too, Rusty.
Well, there was absolutely nothing EERIE or CRUDE in this puzzle, so that made me happy. We did get a bit of international geography, much of which was foreign to me since I've never been to IRAN or YEMEN or sailed the ARAL northern sea. To be honest, I've never even been to SALEM. But so what? Let's leave the geography and check out the food. We did get a SALAD followed by tome TACOS with a lovely TART for dessert. If I could have all that for lunch, along with a CALICO CAT to cuddle up to me, this would be a perfect way to get this week off to a good start. Even just thinking about this makes me happy, so many thanks again, Janice and Rusty.
Have a delightful week coming up, everybody.
I very much liked this well-constructed puzzle. RustyBrain, I think your write-up was excellent.
You missed Elton John’s hit, “Bennie and the Jets” on the JET answer.
Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Janice and RustyBrain (thanks for subbing and all those records!).
I FIRed in very good time and saw the TURN theme after TWIST. (I was thinking TURN around).
I have beautiful memories of a trip to St LUCIA.
ARAL is the sea (Ural is the mountain).
Even this Canadian knows SONIA by now.
In my youth, we had two cats named Dusty and Rusty after their colours. Their mother was a CALICO CAT.
I noted SALAD crossing SALEM.
Does that WHIRLPOOL TUB have JETES?
If an informal top is a TEE, is a big top an XL? NO, a TENT.
IRANI and YEMEN turn my thoughts to recent EVENTs.
Wishing you all a great day.
The movie, ULEE’s Gold.
Hi All! - I'm back from fishing (not catching) in the Boundary Waters of MN.
First - RustyBrain: I like where your musical mind is. Great albums, all.
Thanks Janice for a Bryd theme. There was an Apple ][e game called Horizon V [5m] that used TURN, TURN, TURN as a clue in the game. So, I loved it :-)
Thanks RB for the musical expo. @1:08 had the same thought as I w/ SIR Elton John.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: GREG | ROCHE (#LuckyWAG), OLIN, LUCIA
Fav: ACROSTICS - thems hard but sometimes fun. I liked the cross-reference to other puzzles.
jamie @ 10:24 - google IRANI, it's real.
C, Eh! - That's your Canadian spelling coming through again #JETES :-)
//Story:
My vacation was awesome. Pop, Uncle, Bros, & Cousins (just the males) all together in a cabin. Breakfast, fishing (not much catching), relaxing, eating, campfires, and CRUDEness in general #BlazingSaddlesBeansScene.
Sun was up at 4:30ish and things didn't go really dark until 11p - then the stars really came out.
Cheers, -T
Dang! I shoulda said this theme is for the Byrds!
Thanks for the positive feedback. I think you can tell I had fun with this one.
Yep, Pink Floyd is way up on my list (but I won't say "Brain Damage" is my favorite song LOL).
Good catch!
CanadianEh!, my late husband and I had two sweet dachshunds named "Dusty" and "Misty". (My blog name comes from her). Anyway, your sweet reference to your cats "Dusty" and "Rusty" just reminded me of my pets. Wonder where these pet names come from?
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