Dark Magic. The first word of each theme answer, which are in the Circles, can all be associated with Darkness, whether literal (night, black) or figurative (evil, secret). These "DARK CIRCLES" often carrying connotations of fear, danger, and hidden or negative aspects.
17-Across. Seasoning in a grinder: BLACK PEPPER.
24-Across. Exorcist's target: EVIL SPIRIT.
35-Across. Phone setting that dims the screen: NIGHT MODE.
52-Across. Hush-hush agreement: SECRET DEAL.
59-Across. Signs of fatigue, and what can be found in 17-, 24-, 35-, and 52-Across: DARK CIRCLES.
Here's the Grid, so you can see all the Dark Circles.
Our very own Big Easy and our blog hostess, C.C., created this not-so-dark puzzle today.
Across:
1. Island in the Gulf of Naples: CAPRI.
6. Harbor vessels: SHIPS.
11. Cookie container: TIN. // And 6-Down. Cookie container: SLEEVE. What!? No cookie Jar?
14. "The Raven" poet Edgar ___ Poe: ALLAN. The Raven is a poem that focuses on grief and loss. Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ October. 7, 1849) wanted to use a talking bird, and originally considered a parrot. He chose a parrot because of its ability to repeat words, which he needed for the poem's repeated refrain, "Nevermore." He obviously changed changed the bird to a raven, because a raven is more somber, black appearance better suited the poem's overall tone and darker themes.
15. Put a cap on: LIMIT.
16. "One" prefix: UNI-.
19. Involuntary movement: TIC.
20. Baby garment: ONESIE.
21. Express feelings onstage: EMOTE.
23. Totally dominates: OWNS.
28. Word between surnames: NÉE. This has become a crossword staple.
29. Defiant retort: ARE TOO!
30. Tragic Shakespearean king: LEAR.
31. More strange: ODDER.
33. Note between fa and la: SOL.
34. In an aimless way: IDLY.
39. Army post: FORT.
42. "Boo'd Up" singer Ella __: MAI. Ella Mai (née Ella Mai Howell; b. Nov. 3, 1994) is an English singer. She was named after Ella Fitzgerald.
43. Charlotte __: creamy dessert: RUSSE. A charlotte is a type of bread pudding that uses ladyfingers to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. The baked pudding could then be sprinkled with powdered sugar and glazed.
47. Smoothie bowl berry: ACAI. These trendy berries have become a crossword staple.
48. Gym session dedicated to pushups, bicep curls, etc.: ARM DAY. I was not aware that there is a specific day dedicated to training the muscles of the arms.
51. Gear tooth: COG.
54. "Yippee!": WHOO!
55. Off the market: TAKEN.
56. Niger or Nigeria: NATION. Niger and Nigeria are adjacent African countries.
58. Dallas-to-Nashville dir.: ENE. As in East NorthEast. Or, you can take a more circuitous route and head south first.
64. Grab a chair: SIT.
65. "Hamilton" Tony winner Renée __ Goldsberry: ELISE. Renée Elise Goldsberry (b. Jan. 2, 1971) is an actress, singer, and songwriter. She portrayed the original Angelica Schuyler in the musical Hamilton.
66. Compassionate words: I CARE.
67. Some Ph.D. students: TAs. As in Teaching Assistants.
68. Gently protest: DEMUR.
69. Analyze, as a sentence: PARSE. This brings back memories of junior high English class.
Down:
1. Truck driver's spot: CAB.
2. Not forbidden: ALLOWED.
3. Worked out in advance: PLANNED.
4. Dashes and triathlons: RACES.
5. Inserts for some printers: INKS.
7. Joined at the __: inseparable: HIP.
8. Little troublemaker: IMP. These troublemakers make frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.
9. Round chart shape: PIE.
10. Throat affliction: STREP. Strep throat an infection caused by infection a bacterium known as Streptococcus pyogenes. The bacterium causes a sore throat and can be spread through respiratory droplets. It is typically treated with antibiotics, and prompt diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent potential complications. Please take this infection seriously. My friend's son recently contracted Strep Throat, and even though he was under a doctor's care, he died from the infection and he was only 53 years old.
11. Taught one-on-one: TUTORED.
12. J, F, or K, for JFK: INITIAL.
13. "You almost tricked me!": NICE TRY.
18. Fishing spot: PIER.
22. Surroundings: MILIEU. This is a fun word, but I have probably never used it in a sentence.
23. "Bag Piece" artist Yoko: ONO. I can't believe Yoko Ono (b. Feb. 18, 1933) is 92 years old!
25. "No more stalling": IT'S TIME!
26. Weaving device: LOOM.
27. Flight student's milestone: SOLO.
29. D-backs, in box scores: ARI. As in the American League Arizona Diamondback baseball team.
32. Whole: ENTIRE.
36. Exam for future MBAs: GMAT. As in the Graduate Management Admission Test.
37. Like a coconut shell: HARD.
38. Like toast without butter: DRY.
39. Superlative for Usain Bolt: FASTEST. Usain Bolt (né Usain St. Leo Bolt; b. Aug. 21, 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter who is widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time, hence his nickname Lightning Bolt. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals.
40. Fiji's region: OCEANIA.
41. Tennis paddles: RACKETS.
44. Erudite individual: SCHOLAR.
45. Oklahoma State rivals: SOONERS. Why Oklahoma is called the Sooners.
46. __ surfing: EGO. Ego Surfing is the practice of searching your own name on the internet.
49. Dasher's teammate: DANCER. Think of Santa's reindeer.
50. Jai __: ALAI.
53. Reached a conclusion: ENDED.
54. Religion with covens: WICCA.
57. Stumble: TRIP.
60. Bitter pub drink: ALE.
61. Glass edge: RIM.
62. Sch. west of Topeka: KSU. As in Kansas State University. The school is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. The school opened as a college in 1863 and was the first public institution of higher learning in the state of Kansas. Apparently, it's logo is a wildcat.
63. "Didn't I tell you?": SEE. See? Didn't I tell you this wasn't a Dark puzzle!
חתולה
33 comments:
Had a hard time
remembering “GMAT.” Otherwise, I had little trouble with this “dark” puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
That G at the GMAT/MAI cross was a WAG that I expected to be wrong. Nope. Is WHOO really a word? Congrats on your collab B-E and C.C. Thanx for 'splainin' it all, Hahtoolah. (I was expecting your friend's son to be a young lad...not 53.)
Nice to see a collaboration from our blog maven Zhouqin and Cornerite Big Easy! Fitting for a Tuesday as far as difficulty level as I FIR in 12:09. A lot of times CIRCLES are not needed to figure the theme, but today they were necessary to have the reveal coincide (oh joy, eh SS?). Perps needed for the unknown ELISE, the M in the MAI/GMAT crossing was a WAG and my last fill. Had to change ARE not to ARE TOO, Donner to DANCER, IPA to ALE. ARM DAY must be a thing, did we see that recently? Yesterday’s WAHOO was shortened to WHOO today. AÇAÍ is becoming as stale as an Oreo, but being vowel heavy I can see why it’s used extensively by constructors, as is ALAI. Somehow I pulled RUSSE from my memory bank. Fitting that George worked in a tennis reference with RACKETS. All in all, a good puzzle, thanks to C.C. and B E, and to Hahtoolah for all the info and the array of cartoons!
Good Morning, Crossword friends: I wasn't familiar with MIA, but I did know the GMAT, but I can see how that crossing is difficult.
QOD: I don’t lie. I improve on life. ~ Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 ~ Apr. 12, 1975), American-born French dancer and actress
FIW, missing with GrAT x rAI. I was sure it was GRES until ARM DAY. Also, wiken->WICCA.
When I read Hamilton I was all set to fill SOO. Oh.
I would have been more embarrassed by a slide that said "plan in advance" than one that was upside down. We don't really plan in arrears.
KSU Wildcats - the second-best basketball program in Kansas. If you don't believe me, just ask your (Bill) Self which program is #1.
Thanks to Big Easy and CC for the fun Tuesday puzzle. And thanks to Ha2la for the chuckles.
No one likes to hear old folks recite their medical issues, so feel free to skip this. I checked in to the ED Friday, and after blood work a unit of their best O Positive and a bag of iron was started. On Saturday I was given more blood and more iron, and on Sunday was given a nuclear medicine gi blood loss test. After not finding any leakage, I was prepped late Sunday for a colonoscopy yesterday. The colonoscopy showed two suspect areas that were cauterized, even they weren't actively bleeding at the time. They seem to think that will do it, and if it doesn't, I "get" to swallow a camera so they can track what's going on throughout my entire gi system. I'm hoping the camera will be rather small.
Ironically, I received a form letter from my insurance company telling me that my first admittance to the hospital was unnecessary, and that they had denied coverage. In retrospect, it appears that my first discharge was the mistake, not the first admittance. Interesting that the Emergency Department, the hospital and the insurance company are all under the same corporation. I wasn't asked if I wanted to be admitted, but now it's my fault that I was.
Took 5:28 today to darken in the circles.
I didn't know the Actress of the Day (Elise), the singer (Mai), the dessert (Russe), or that "whoo" was a word.
Nice work, Big E and C.C.
Oh joy, circles!
Nice and smooth puzzle, no hiccups, just á couple of unknowns: MAI and ELISE.
Thank you Big Easy and Zhouqin for that successful cooperation. And thank you Hahtoolah for the entertaining review. All in all á good way to start the day.
Typical Tuesday solve - fairly quick but a little crunch here and there
Amusing theme using the circles rather than disparaging them
-When my daughter did her MBA she had the option of taking the GMAT or the GRE. She chose the latter as it was more versatile
-As far as ARM DAY - a common rec is to not lift weights for the same muscle groups daily - so for those who want to work out daily they alternate between ARM DAY and LEG DAY
-KSU was a gimme as I grew up on the Kansas side of Kansas City and had many friends who went to Kansas State
Thanks to Susan for the blog and Big Easy & CC for the puzzle!
Hola! What a smooth way to sashay into Tuesday! Thank you, Big Easy and C.C. Congratulations, B.E, on your puzzle collaboration. I enjoyed the solve.
Drat! Two errors! I had WHOA and never noticed EGA was incorrect and I did not know MAI. Mai tai, I would have known! ELISE is also unknown. Beethoven's Fur ELISE is more familiar to me.
Nice that you got a tennis reference in there, Big Easy.
Enjoy your day, everyone!
FIR. Once again circles that weren't needed to solve this puzzle. I ignored them and only looked at them after the fact.
I found today's puzzle a little crunchy for a Tuesday. Proper names like Mai and Elise were annoying. So was the crossing of russe and ego. And is whoo really a word?
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Welcome back, Jinx.
Thanks to Big Easy & CC for this trip to the dark side. It played out smoothly except for a few clues:
Why are SHIPS "Harbor vessels" specifically? I wanted tugs or scows or something. SHIPS can be on any large body of water.
In the same vein, why BLACK PEPPER specifically for "Seasoning on a grinder"? I know that banana peppers and green peppers, even chili peppers are popular on sub sandwiches, but BLACK PEPPER is used to season almost any edible dish and is not associated specifically with grinders.
Just nit-picking, but an ALE is less bitter than an IPA (even though it's India Pale ALE).
Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Great write-up Hahtoolah, loved your King LEAR synopsis and laughed at the TRIP cartoon!
Been AWOL lately, very busy. But I have to comment on a puzzle if our fearless leader was involved... (the puzzle was lovely)
Unfortunately, (or fortunately) the only dark circles I have are under my eyes...
I see Imp is in the puzzle. I'm sure I'll be hearing from Irish Miss today.
I got the parse clue/answer, but in looking at Hahtoolahs image of it in the write up, I wonder if I was playing hooky that day in school.
Monkey!
Apologies for not posting a cake! Only just saw it was your birthday, and it made me wonder what a happy birthday Monkey cake would look like...
there were lots of cute options...
runner up
honorable mention...
Oh, and of course, the cake flavoring? banana!
It said IN a grinder, not ON!
I like the runner up. Thank you.
Agreed! Couple of questionable answers
Good Morning:
What a pleasant surprise to see a BE and CC collaboration. The circles gave a hint to the theme, but the reveal was a clever surprise. Mai and Elise were unknown and IPA was my first choice, as was Jar before Tin. Other than those few stumbling blocks, the fill was pretty straightforward and Tuesday-friendly.
Thanks, BE and CC, for a fun solve and thanks, Hatoolah, for the usual facts, fun and chuckles. Favorite comics were the ones for Season’s Greetings, the dark-circled Raccoon, the pumped up Snowman, and the travel agent’s “trip”.
Have a great day.
CED, I like all three cakes! You’re still King of the Imps but Ray O is giving you a run for your money! 😂
WHOO! a BigE & C.C. puzzle.
As I read the by-line, I wondered what fun awaited. I didn't realize just how DARK it would get...
Hi All!
Thanks George & C.C. for the delightful Tuesday puzzle.
Thanks, Hahtoolah, for the wonderful comics - fav is PIE chart. ARM DAYs and Bigger PIER get honorable mention.
WOs: Pond->PIER, slIP -> TRIP, IPA -> ALE
ESPs: MAI, RUSSE, ELISE
Fav: The NICE TRY at misdirection in DANCER's clue.
RustyBrain - That's a PEPPER grinder /mill -- not a grinder / hero / sub sandwich.
My (CEO) Bro is an avid workoutee. He has ARM, leg, core, flex, and cardio DAYs. I don't know if he made all that up but...
DW & I (we both did our graduate work at OU) recently attended Youngest's graduation from UT. The UT commencement speeches contained a lot of SOONER bashing. DW looked at me and said, "It's kinda sad how much UT thinks about OU when they were barely on our radar." :-)
Welcome back, Jinx!
Cheers, -T
Musings
-C.C. and B.E. have made a very lovely and unique puzzle.
-G_AT/_AI yielded to an educated guess and earned me a “got ‘er done”
-Despite hoards of tourists, CAPRI is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been
-I’m amazed I remember that ALLAN had two “A’s”
-The iconic ALAMO Church is all that is left of the huge Alamo Mission
-Diagramming sentences greatly helped me PARSE sentences
-After having been a great many classrooms, I can tell you they each had their own MILIEU
-Usain said he felt confident he could beat a horse in a 40 meter (44 yiards) race
-Husker football OWNED KSU football in the years they played: 75 -13
-The TRIP cartoon is on its way to my colleagues, Susan!
-Off to Costco on a rainy day that cancelled golf.
Welcome back, and isn't the world of American health care wonderful?? I bet the CEO of the company that owns the hospital is making $millions, but will weasel out of covering your medical issues whenever possible. He needs that second yacht!
WEES re crossing 36D&42A. I liked that there are only 9 names, DNK 3, but one of those was MAI. Had to look it up to get that last cell, but am still gonna give myself a FIR in 12. I also DNK ELISE. I agree that TUGS or BARGES or maybe SCOWS are harbor vessels. Ships? (Nit picked!) Other than those issues, a nice entertaining Wednesday-on-a-Tuesday CW, thanx GS&CC. Hahtoolah, you do manage to find the best cartoons! I started to list the ones I liked best, 3 Musketeers, Pie, Loom, Coconut bra...but realized they are all worth a grin. Thanx for that, and for your terrific write-up. I've often wondered why the Three Musketeers are only ever seen with swords. Isn't a "musketeer" supposed to have a musket? Anyway, great cartoons. Welcome back, Susan!
YP here ~ anybody else being affected by the smoke from the Canadian wildfires? Here in Upper Michigan it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it, hanging in the air like a very thick fog, can’t be good for people with compromised respiratory systems.
Nice Tuesday workout. Well done guys. The "dark circles" made things a little extra fun.
Interesting Tuesday puzzle, thanks George-- and C.C. it's always exciting to have you co-hosting it as well. And thank you, Hahtoolah, especially for those delightful and funny cartoons which were a real pleasure and cracked me up.
Well, I have to admit that all that BLACK and DARK and EVIL and SECRET NIGHT stuff started to depress me when I first began to work on this puzzle, and I was hoping for some relief, some break, something to give us a little pleasure. Well, for me, it was that ONESIE. As soon as I pictured that baby in its little outfit, I cheered up, as I pictured its mother picking it up and walking around with it, determined that it wasn't going to be any little IMP troublemaker but she would help it have a sweet EGO. She kept telling it, I CARE, and started to imagine its future when it would be TUTORED to become SCHOLAR, and maybe even a DANCER. Let's hope it has a nice dad too, and that we'll have a lovely family down the line.
Have a lovely rest of the day.
A lovely puzzle by George and C.C. I enjoyed solving it.
Thanks, you are correct. And I need new glasses.
Yes, I guess I was hungry.
Thanks to George and C.C. for their creative puzzle! I did stumble at GsAT/sAI but that's how I generally roll. Like YP@5:31 I thought BE probably had several ideas for the RACKETS clue.
Welcome back, Jinx!
Thanks to Hahtoolah for "shedding some light" on today's puzzle. That racoon at the end was cute. There were too many great comics to pick a favorite today. I'm sorry to hear about your friend's son. How very sad.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, George and C.C., and Hahtoolah (I’m still LOLing at the coconut bra!)
My newspaper did not arrive this morning, and I completed this CW online.
Officially a FIW - my downfall was the M in GMAT and MAI. I had a S. I see that I was not alone.
I did get the DARK theme.
Did not changed to ARE TOO.
Jar changed to TIN for those cookies.
We had a SLEEVE for the cookies, but after ARM DAY, we can go sleeveless and show off those biceps.
Wishing you all a good evening.
I hope they get to the source of your problem, Jinx.
Your story makes me doubly thankful for our Canadian universal health system, even with its flaws.
YP- unfortunately, you are probably receiving smoke from the fires in northern Ontario, plus the ones in Manitoba and Alberta.
You are correct that the smoke is bad for anyone with respiratory issues, but it is not good for healthy people either. N95 masks are recommended, and when in your car, activate the air recirculation button, which usually looks like a car with a U-shaped arrow inside, to avoid drawing the smoky air into the vehicle.
Sorry that our imaginary border does not stop the smoke from reaching you.
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