The Teddy Bear's Picnic. Today's puzzle provides lots of elements needed for a successful summertime picnic.
17-Across. Vague catchall expression: BLANKET TERM.
27-Across. Folks who hopefully prevail in a tense situation: COOLER HEADS.
47. Outfield grab perfected by Willie Mays: BASKET CATCH.
And the unifier:
61-Across. Outside eating spots, and where to find the starts of 17-, 27-, and 47-Across: PICNIC AREAS.
Across:
1. Network with pledge drives: PBS. As in the Public Broadcasting Service. The logo is a silhouetted human face that is supposed to represent "everyone".
4. __ insult to injury: ADD.
7. Fragrance: AROMA.
12. Perky agent in Progressive ads: FLO.
13. Skylit courtyards: ATRIA.
 |
| Oops, wrong atria. |
15. Defame in print: LIBEL.
16. At a distance: FAR.
19. Angle symbol in geometry: THETA. It's Greek to me.
21. Cross a welcome mat: GO IN.
22. Organs shielded by goggles: EYES.
23. Seated yoga pose: LOTUS.
25. Spanish aunts: TIAs. Today's Spanish lesson.
30. Keeps in the email loop: CCs. A shout out to our Blog Mistress.
33. Deceptive ploy: RUSE.
34. Arcing toss: LOB.
35. Yawn-inducing: HO HUM.
37. Like fine wine: AGED.
38. Dive like an eagle: SWOOP.
41. Singer McEntire: REBA. Reba Nell McEntier (b. Mar. 28, 1955) is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Country Music.
42. Pulsate: THROB.
44. Egg cells: OVA.
45. Stand for a speaker: DAIS.
46. UFO navigators: ETs. As in ExtraTerrestrials.
51. Rights advocacy org.: ACLU. As in the American Civil Liberties Union. The organization was founded over 100 years ago ~ on January 19, 1920.
52. Artifact: RELIC.
53. Move like a dreidel: SPIN.
56. Obstacles to teamwork: EGOS.
58. Battery terminal: ANODE.
64. Apply gently: DAB.
65. For all to hear: ALOUD.
66. Some Instagram videos: REELS.
67. Timeline division: ERA.
68. The Wizard of __ Park: Edison nickname: MENLO. Thomas Alva Edison (b. Feb. 11, 1847 ~ October. 18, 1931) established a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
69. Unicorn's horn count: ONE.
70. Pen for pigs: STY.
Down:
1. Sound of a fizzling firecracker: PFFT.
2. Far from thrilling: BLAH.
3. People who can't handle defeat: SORE LOSERS.
4. Delta HQ: ATL. Delta Airlines Headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia.
5. Event with diva impersonators: DRAG SHOW.
6. Flintstone pet: DINO.
7. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT.
8. Rituals such as wudu and baptism: RITES. Wudu is an Islamic ritual purification practice involving the washing of specific body parts before prayer and other acts of worship.
9. Do as one is told: OBEY.
10. No more than: MERE.
11. Charitable relief: ALMS.
13. Taper off: ABATE.
14. Muscular Japanese dog: AKITA.
18. City west of Tulsa: ENID. Enid is a crossword staple. The name of the town might have been inspired by Alfred Tennyson's Idles of the King.
20. Lake Erie port: TOLEDO. Hi, JazzBumpa! Is there a relationship between the town in Ohio and the one in Spain? You decide.
24. Bookmarked links: URLs. As in the Uniform Resource Locator.
26. Fireplace residue: ASH.
27. Shipping container: CRATE.
28. "You __ to know better": OUGHT.
29. Kindle purchase: E-BOOK.
30. Hacks that help video gamers win: CHEAT CODES.
31. Three-dimensional: CUBIC.
32. Break to pieces: SMASH.
36. Invest with priestly authority: ORDAIN.
39. Supervised: OVERSEEN.
40. Hors d'oeuvres spread: PÂTÉ. Yummers!
43. U.K. TV network: BBC. As in the British Broadcasting Corporation.
48. Actor Guinness: ALEC. For a certain generation, Sir Alex Guinness (né Alec Guinness de Cuffe; Apr. 2, 1914 ~ Aug. 5, 2000) is best known for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yesterday we learned that in 1952, he won an Oscar for his portrayal of Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai. I am not quite of that generation to have remembered that.
49. Sweetie: SUGAR.
50. Group of students: CLASS.
51. Declare invalid: ANNUL.
53. Email incessantly: SPAM. We had the canned meat yesterday.
54. Heap on laundry day: PILE.
55. Clickable picture: ICON.
57. Cookie that created the Dunk Club: OREO. A crossword staple.
59. Pub projectile: DART.
60. Online auction giant: EBAY.
62. Vow renewal vow: I DO.
63. Foamy drink in a stein: ALE.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
24 comments:
Another fairly easy
puzzle with a pleasant theme. I don’t have too much to say about this one, except
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
I'm the correct age, but don't think I ever heard of the BASKET CATCH. And back in those days, I thought the movie star in that bridge movie was David Niven, not ALEC Guinness. The Wite-Out got a rest today, but d-o never noticed the theme. Still, this one's going into the win column. Thanx, Dan, CC, and Hahtoolah.
Quarterly dental cleaning day. Fun times.
FIR, but load->PILE.
I saw Bridge when I was a tyke and didn't really understand it. It's been on my "watch again" list for a long time, along with Exodus and The Sundowners.
I like DRAG SHOWs, with my favorite being the one I saw in Savannah, Oh, and attending Key West's Fantasy Fest is like being in the middle of an unscripted DRAG SHOW. Fun times.
Whenever I encounter THETA, I mentally preface it with "times the cosine of." Might be some navigation calculations made obsolete by GPS.
Never heard of the Dunk Club, but four-letter fill for "cookie blah, blah, blah" is always OREO.
Thanks to Dan and CC for the fun, easy puzzle, and to Ha2la for yet another fine review.
Took 4:20 today for me to get the corkscrew pasta.
I knew today's foreign language lesson (tias).
I'd call this one a WITP, even if SubG didn't quite.
Good Morning, Crossword friends. Too hot here now for a picnic, but they can be fun under the right circumstances.
QOD: Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of the success. ~ Arianna Huffington (née AriadnÄ“-Anna Stasinopoúlo; b. July 15, 1950), Greek-born author and syndicated columnist
Easy puzzle this morning, cute theme. I agree Hahtoolah, too hot for á PICNIC here right now.
I enjoyed the cat/penguin cartoon.
FIR. A Tuesday puzzle that lives up to its day of the week. No problems whatsoever. Nice and easy solve, no land mines anywhere.
The theme was very clever and I got it half way through.
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
Hahtoolah--
Thanks for your usual informative and entertaining recap today. I have a question--and I'm pretty dense when it comes to puns and so forth, if this what it boils down to. I'm referring to 18-Down, where you spell Tennyson's "Idylls" as "Idles." What am I missing?
TK, that looks like a stunt that Otto-correct would pull.
Easier’n yesterday. Nice Tuesday material. Gettable theme.
Two unknowns: BASKETCATCH (Willy Mays played B-ball too?) and CHEATCODES.
No inkovers
A 3d bumpkin: CUBIC rube? 🙄
I was also too young (7yo) for such a serious movie. but we all liked and performed the famous whistling theme. And told the silly joke “Why did the soldier carry onions in his pocket?” “He wanted to make the bridge over the River KWAI”
What else can I say ?
(“the less the better, thank you very much” “now go and do Wordle”)
Hey who hacked my comments 😳
Thanks CC and😊
Typo
Fast and easy Monday-on-a-Tuesday kinda puzzle. Spent more time with Ha2las 'toons this morning!
Nice job Dan and CC. No problems with this one at all. I enjoyed the Willie Mays clip Hahtoolah.
Willie Mays' famous catch of Vic Wertz's drive in the 1954 World Series was NOT an example of a basket catch, although that catch is at the top of Google's list when you seek "Willie Mays basket catch." A few items down is a photo Mays making a routine grab at waist level, which IS an example of a basket catch.
Terrific Tuesday CW, thanx DK&CC. It filled as fast as I could write, FIR in 9. Only 9 names (Thanx for that!!) and 0 DNKs. That helped too. I got the theme, too! Thanx too to Hahtoolah for the great write-up and for all the fabulous cartoons, I enjoyed them all. You always manage to find great, appropriate cartoons. Thanx again.
Neat Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Dan and C.C. And thanks too for your always helpful commentary, Hahtoolah.
Well, I wondered if the ATRIA in this puzzle might have a lovely AROMA that would attract visitors there. Makes one wish one could go there and try out a LOTUS pose. But if a bird would SWOOP down on you that could make your heart THROB. Maybe in a situation like that we OUGHT to get something to eat--maybe a PATE along with some ALE and an OREO. What a lovely PICNIC AREA we would enjoy in that garden.
Have a lovely day, everybody.
A fun and easy puzzle.
I learned a new trivia fact about Willie Mays.
Prime TV has released a new police series called “Ballard”. It is a spin off of “ Bosch” and is well directed, interesting, edgy, and entertaining.
Titus Welliver has already made a few cameo appearances. I think it has potential to be as good as the original early Bosch series.
Another fine puzzle by Dan Kammann and Zhouqin Burnikel. They seem to work well together.
There are some computer games I could not have finished were it not for using CHEAT CODES.
My brother and I used to sing the "Colonel Bogey March" with very naughty lyrics. "... It makes the grass grow green."
Good reading you all.
Good afternoon:
Nice, cute theme, especially in July, although, as Hahtoolah and Monkey said, it’s too hot for a picnic right now. No unknowns, no w/os, no complaints.
Thanks, Dan and C.C., and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the overview and commentary. Favorite comics were the Cat/Penguin, the Teddy Bear Picnic, the Angels throwing “halos”, the hat wearing Unicorn, and the bewildered ESL students. Great job, as usual!
Have a great day.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Dan and C.C. (I see that you gave yourself a CSO at 30A), and Hahtoolah.
I FIRed in very good time and saw the PICNIC AREAS theme early in the solve. Yes, it’s too hot here for a picnic too.
One inkblot to correct DiaS to DAIS (which sorted out my questionable CUBan to CUBIC).
I learned ENID, ACLU, MENLO, AKITA and FLO doing CWs.
LOB, SWOOP, SPIN, SMASH reminded me of watching the tennis finals at Wimbledon.
Were those huge gloves worn by fans hoping to catch a ball at the MLB Home Run Derby last night called BASKET gloves?
Wishing you all a great day.
A really well put together Tuesday puzzle with some challenge and many things to promote conversation as the earlier comments show. While I think of myself as about the same age as many who comment regularly (born in 1948) I am surprised by the lack of knowledge of BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI and WILLIE MAYS . Once I was 12 or 13 and we had a television, I would stay up late watching old movies and sports reports. There are so many great movies from the 50s and early 60s IMHO.
C.C. and Dan are a sure bet and Hahtoolah always makes us laugh and learn. Thank you all.
Dodger Derrel Thomas used the basket catch too, much to the chagrin of Tommy Lasorda. Here he is making a basket catch of a Pete Rose fly ball.
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