TALENT
Alright, let's see if I can get this straight - today's puzzle is from veteran author Wendy L. Brandes, who has at least sixteen LA Times crosswords, and I have personally blogged (just shy of a year ago) one of HER constructions. Phew. Middle of the week, middle of the road theme & grid; some good clues / answers, but some were Meh in my opinion. Three out of four unique theme fills, 36 4LWs, over 4x the # of 3LWs, a handful of names, and the dreaded circles. The themers and 'reversed' reveal:
20. "Hmm, is it possible for me?": WONDER IF I COULD - FIRE truck, backwards
25. Slow-moving forest-dweller: TWO-TOED SLOTH - TOW truck, backwards
42. Tale spun before lights-out: BEDTIME STORY - SEMI truck, backwards - Strangely, I was musing over the weekend WHY it's called a "semi" when it's typically more than half a vehicle ....😜 Read more here
It's a "semi" truck
50. "Wait, what did you just say?," or a hint to the circled letters in this puzzle:
"BACK UP THE TRUCK..." - This driver has some talent - I can't get my single boat trailer done right on the first try - but then again, they do this for a living - I hope you can watch the video, it's impressive
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Milk choice: SKIM - I start with the Down clues, had 2 & 3D. wrong, so my NW corner was a mess
5. Bra part: STRAP
10. Three-person card game: SKAT
14. Actress Kendrick: ANNA - name #1; her IMDb
You can't see her bra strap
15. Clamor: NOISE
16. Crafted: MADE - there's an "Art Box" on my walk in front of a home, and I would like to contribute something - I have decided to do some origami
Going with a sloth theme today
17. Bigfoot kin: YETI
18. "E," at Fenway: ERROR - a C.C. clue - baseball box score
No "E"s, but still a blowout
19. Like the NYSE at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on most weekdays: OPEN - the NY Stock Exchange; see 42D.
23. Rocker Quatro: SUZI - name #2 - her website
24. Drinks made with steamed milk: LATTES
30. "You're a riot": "HA-HA."
31. Not slack: TAUT
32. Fishing pole: ROD - could have been a name - I see ROD Stewart is on AARP magazine - Jeez, I am old . . . .
35. In need of a heating pad, say: ACHY - like me, about 1pm last Saturday
36. Online diaries: BLOGS - or crossword Corners~!
38. Run into a closet, say: HIDE - Then at some point, you'll have to come out of the closet
39. French pronoun: TOI - Frawnche for "You~!"
40. P.O. Box filler: MAIL
41. Box on a touchscreen: ICON - the icons of my touchscreen laptop
46. Prepares to run a marathon, say: TRAINS - I am not running any distance, any time soon, but I do like to walk my neighborhood every other day at 5am. Here's me trying to show up my trainer at the gym; he was brutal this past Saturday 😜
49. Go offstage: EXIT
55. Fairy tale meanie: OGRE
56. Speak from a podium: ORATE
57. Gram, to some: NANA - it was Granny for me
59. Dark film genre: NOIR
60. Show, as an old show: RERUN
61. Always and always: EVER - My brother got married Saturday, July 12th - got to hang briefly with Cooper - I am going to pet-sit the last week of September when they honeymoon
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bother Kevin, new wife Jacquie, her sister and husband
62. Odds and __: ENDS
63. Entice: TEMPT
64. Appear to be: SEEM
DOWN:
1. "You __ 'goodbye,' and I __ 'hello'": SAY - not overly complicated lyrically, but one of my personal favorite Beatles songs
The Beatles - Hello, Goodbye - Paul the Lefty bassist
2. Was aware of: KNEW - I had ON TO
3. Digging: INTO - wrong kind of digging, I had "AT IT"
4. Backbone: MAINSTAY - good clue/answer, sort of Saturday-ish
5. React to pepper, perhaps: SNEEZE
6. Hot and heavy: TORRID
7. "Diamonds" singer, to fans: RI RI - HA~! I got burned by this in the May 28th 2025 puzzle at 11D. - I will not miss it again; Rhianna, more here - name #3
8. Since: AS OF - I tried FROM
9. Dangerous: PERILOUS - "I must face the peril~! NO~! It's too perilous~!" - Wendy had "PERIL" in the puzzle I blogged, and I posted this link then as well.
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
10. Like hair that's been flat-ironed: SMOOTH
11. No longer working: KAPUT
12. "Someone Like You" singer: ADELE - The constructor likes her; Adele appeared in Wendy's last LA Times construction; personally, I prefer "NO ONE Like You" . . . .name #4
Scorpions - No One Like You
13. Looks after: TENDS
21. The Bryan brothers of tennis, e.g.: DUO - name (ish)
22. Women's suffrage leader Carrie Chapman __: CATT name #5
25. "All __ and a bag of chips": THAT
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Yup, she's "All THAT and a bag of chips~!"
26. Texas city between Dallas and Austin: WACO - TX shoutout to Anon and D-Otto
27. "Didn't expect to see you here!": "OH, HI~!"
28. Vodka brand whose label features a sketch of a Moscow hotel: STOLI - I expected an "abbr" in the clue, as the brand is actually Stolichnaya - but it makes no difference - they filed for bankruptcy . . . .
29. Zoom delay: LAG - Zoom, the online meeting format/app
32. Puerto __: RICO - name, but easy enough
33. Emission from rotting fruit: ODOR
34. Say no to: DENY
36. Sore loser, for one: BAD SPORT
37. Like a fun party: LIT
38. Pop favorites: HIT TUNES - Dah~! - I had HIT SONGS; 62.5% correct
40. Grubhub link: MENU
42. Hog enthusiasts: BIKERS - HOG as in Harley Davidson - the company's NYSE stock symbol
43. Get together: MEET UP
44. Scope: EXTENT
45. Title for London's mayor: SIR
46. Steakhouse order: T-BONE
47. Tease mercilessly: RAG ON - not TAUNT - but we already had Monty Python
48. Bitter-tasting: ACRID
51. Yoga pose that requires good balance: TREE - My balance is horrible - Brett gives me one-legged exercises that strain muscles I didn't know I had, and need to improve
52. Damage: HARM
53. Batman's lair: CAVE - Wayne Manor didn't fit 😜
54. ACL joint: KNEE - I knew where the Anterior Cruciate Ligament was located . . . .
58. UCL limb: ARM - but learned today about the Ulnar Collateral Ligament
Splynter
14 comments:
Well, I can say I saw the
“back up” words right away, but didn’t connect them all until the reveal. Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about this fairly easy puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Hand up for HIT soNgS. That was my sole Wite-Out moment. WACO was a gimme -- we drove very near there to observe the total eclipse this past April. I enjoyed the puzzle, and saw the backward trucks in the circles. Thanx for the entertainment, Wendy, and for the expo, Splynter.
FIR, but erased back up one track for BACK UP THE TRUCK. Never heard of either expression. Guessed at SUZI x DUO, having never heard of the people in the clues.
To me, the UCL, LCL, mean, and specification limits are just more quality concepts to be taught in my project management classes. (UCL and LCL are upper control limit and lower control limit, respectively.)
Couldn't get the truck vid to play. Apparently Australian - here our doubles don't look like that, and they aren't backed up as a 3-piece unit. The back trailer is disconnected before backing the other two.
I finally remembered RIRI, but only by doing crosswords.
Thanks to Wendy for the mostly-fun Wednesday puzzle, although I could have done with less A&E. My favorite was KAPUT - it's such a fun word. And thanks as always to Splynter for the interesting review. Any double-leg picture day is a good day to me. (I wondered for a (crossword favorite) NSEC
if it was you, because the "all THAT" lady appears to be sans stockings.
Backing up the double-trailer-very impressive but I would be able after about 1000 attempts. Doing that TREE pose? Zero chance on that.
A super easy puzzle today that being able to FIR came down to the cross of CATT or WATT crossing WONDER IF I __OULD. I chose WOULD. Wrong.
LIT and 'Like a fun party'- I don't get that. Perps for that one.
Not familiar with "Diamonds" but with RI filled by STRAP and NOISE, RIRI was easy.
Seemed easy for mid week, DNK CATT or ANNA (as clued, which is typical of most clues for that name). Not familiar with the expression BACK UP THE TRUCK but it was easily perped, probably wouldn’t have seen the themer trucks sans circles. Thank you Wendy for the puzzle, and to Splynter for sharing your, as referred to in today’s clue, “online diaries”, very much enjoyed today’s. Also, a very appropriate and timely shirt you are wearing in the photo since Ozzie O of Black Sabbath passed yesterday.
From last week ~ thanks to all who acknowledged my b/day last Thursday the 17th, pretty cool to find out I share the day with NaomiZ! Haven’t posted in several days due to a whirlwind of events, but I have done all the CW’s and read all the blogs. Solving online from the LAT site, it keeps a two week log of all my completed puzzles. This morning I saw that Saturday’s puzzle by Erik and Chandi was only 91% complete so I took another look and conquered the SE in a couple minutes. Sometimes it helps to take a long break on a stumper.
Took 5:36 today without gettinG IRate.
I didn't know "Catt" or "Back Up The Truck", but I knew the Actress of the Day (Anna). Seemed like a WITP, in my humble opinion.
Oh joy, circles! Again!
Good Morning:
The solve was easy enough but the reveal phrase is unknown and doesn’t really match a post-solve Google definition. It seems to be an investment term only, one which is used less frequently than 25 years ago. However, the cluing fits the theme so I guess it’s acceptable. Catt was the only unknown and Reair/Rerun and Onto/Knew were the only w/os.
Thank, Wendy, and thanks, Splynter, for the overview and commentary. That’s a lovely photo of the bridal party. Congrats to the newlyweds!
Have a great day.
FIR. As I always do with circles, I ignore them. They added nothing to this puzzle. And they didn't help with the solve. Just a superfluous frill in an otherwise reasonable CW.
The "reveal" is not a phrase i ever use, or for that matter hear others use. In my world we "back up the train". And I threw that down first only to have the perps correct it.
So overall this was a so-so puzzle.
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Wendy and Splynter (congratulations to the newlyweds).
I FIRed and saw the reversed TRUCKs (but only with the reveal).
No inkblots as perps filled any unknowns like CATT and SUZI.
Hand up for remembering RIRI from previous CWs.
I noted TORRID and ACRID.
We had INTO, RAG ON, BACK UP, AS OF, MEET UP.
CAPUT is an interesting word (almost onomatopoeic?). It has several medical meanings (one referring to newborn “conehead” swelling), but when spelled as “kaput” ( from the German “kaput” means “broken or useless”. But I am used to seeing it with the C meaning “no longer working”. Hmm?
Wishing you all a great day.
Easy puzzle, but the NE was the last to fill because I had mistakenly entered WONDER IF IF I CAN. Also, it’s been á while since I’ve seen or used KAPUT, which I like, so I hesitated. Once I fixed my ERROR, everything fell into place.
Á few words I needed perps for like CATT and SUZI, I TRUCKed right along. The theme showed up quickly. I’m one who doesn’t mind circles.
Thank you Splynter for your nice recap. Good luck at the gym.
I'm back from traveling to both coasts for business and pleasure...and now I need a vacation! As a welcome home present, Wendy has delivered a straight forward puzzle, except for BACK UP THE TRUCK. Like some others, the revealer was an unknown phrase but inferable.
Splynter, you can add all the Monty Python you want! Some people don't get their humor (my oldest brother), but for those that do it's a real treat. RightBrain was an exchange student in Sweden when The Holy Grail came out. No one in the theater laughed and the pseudo-Scandinavian subtitles went over their heads. My wife said she couldn't stop laughing and everyone thought she was nuts!
Hola! thanks to Wendy for a nice Wednesday workout. I finished very quickly and saw the SO, NANA, which is what I am called by my grandchildren.
Since I read at night just before retiring, I guess that would be a BEDTIME STORY.
I woke up too early and now I feel grumpy, so I'll try returning to bed.
Have a lovely day, everyone.
Musings
-I played the best golf of my life yesterday as I shot par 35 for 9 holes in league.
-This was a nice puzzle to complete and the gimmick was clever.
-SKIM: I am overwhelmed by all the milk options these days
-A Michigan State left fielder made an ERROR on a routine fly ball that would have ended the game but allowed Nebraska to keep hitting. Nebraska won that first game and went on to win the Big Ten Tournament in May.
-Joann supports Wounded Warriors but now we are getting MAIL from similar organizations
-You’re looking very fit, Splynter!
-Recently I had EXEUENT where a group of people leave the stage
-If you have a family basketball game, I think I know who you should choose first
-I had CADY (Elizabeth Cady Stanton) for a suffragist at C A _ _ first. CATT is new to me.
-We were touring Texas during the Branch Davidian tragedy in WACO
Nice round of even par Gary! I’ve only had one round of even par in my life, last year, a 72 from the golds, 3 birdies and an eagle, 6 over for 18 is the best since. You should’ve played the back nine and tried to shoot your age.
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