YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
This is John Kugelman's debut puzzle for the LA Times, but HE ( I checked, just to be sure this time ) has had several published in other places - from what I can see, he has constructed mostly Sunday grids - today's puzzle is 15 x 16, with mirror symmetry; somewhat Saturday in nature, and all we are missing is the "Z" for a pangram~! No circles, a fair number of names, 30 TLWs, and a geometrical theme of 'boxy' morsels for the three meals of the day - breakfast, lunch and dinner, in order. Well done~! The three polygonal treats and the reveal;
19. Breakfast: cereal: RICE CHEX
31. Lunch: fast-food sandwich: WENDY'S BURGER
52. Dinner: seafood pasta: LOBSTER RAVIOLI
My plates are square, too - but don't rotate in the microwave :7((
63. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or what 19-, 31-, and 52-Across literally are:
THREE SQUARE MEALS
Now that's my idea of a "Square Meal", but my trainer keeps telling me
I have to stop hanging with the baron - the Red Baron, that is
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Makeshift instrument: JUG - I had "JIG" to start, thinking of a woodworking instument - and they're usually makeshift
4. Chess champion Garry: KASPAROV - name #1 - I do the DOWN clues first, so half of this was already filled in
12. First down yardage amount: TEN - we're in July - just two months to football season~!
15. "Float like a butterfly" boxer: ALI - name #2, but a crossword staple
16. Forget to set the oven timer, maybe: OVERBAKE - surprised to find out this is a unique fill
17. Wrath: IRE
18. "Headbangers Ball" airer: MTV - I want my MTV~! This was about the only segment I could watch
Most of the intro clips were S.O.D. songs - I'd link "What's That Noise" - but NSFW
20. Gaping opening: MAW - ooops - I put in GAP, but those three letters start the clue
21. Made, as beer: BREWED
23. Reader's __: DIGEST
25. Malia's sister: SASHA - name(s) #3 - the Obama kids
26. "A Fine Romance" composer Jerome: KERN - name #4 - I have heard of this guy, despite never seeing/hearing anything from him - but I now know he wrote some classic musical pieces
30. "No __": "Perfect!": NOTES - this is new for me; any review or evaluation with "no notes" is a good thing - e.g., a script
Autumn At Apple Hill - The Hallmark Channel
34. Gravitate (toward): LEAN
36. Camry competitor: ALTIMA - Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan
I am partial to Toyota - I drive a Prius "C" 2, and I would definitely get THIS
37. Seemingly never-ending story: SAGA - I love Star Wars, but even I am getting overwhelmed with the amount of "universe" that is presented to us
40. Poison __: IVY - either this or OAK - I guessed correctly
41. Letter between pi and sigma: RHO
42. Cyclops feature: EYE
44. Sacred oath: VOW
45. Curriculum __: VITAE - Latin for 'course of life', it's a detailed resume, essentially
47. Backside: REAR
50. First-year cadet: PLEBE
55. "That's my experience too": "I CAN RELATE."
56. Like windshields on winter mornings: ICED UP - God bless the fact that I can NOT relate to this - my Prius and Dodge Grand Caravan ( I call them Pixie and Daphne ) are both parked in my garage; they no longer "ICE UP", and in the winter, get COLDER as I drive to work~! I had one of the guys at the pipe organ place suggest leaving the van out for a bigger workshop - I never had a garage growing up, so I am using it for its intended purpose.
59. Like 1% milk: LOW-FAT
68. Org. chasing Jason Bourne: CIA - I have seen the movies, and I think they have the best edited fight scenes of any movie out there - this one from the Bourne Supremacy; I need to read the books now
WARNING~! - Some violence
69. Opening stage: ROUND ONE
70. Letters on Megan Rapinoe's jersey: USA - name(ish) - I had _ S A, so . . . .
71. Contains: HAS
72. Heard things?: NOISES
73. Neither partner: NOR - or SWEdish partner~?
DOWN:
1. Places for mezuzahs: JAMBS - I learned this from working on a movie set back in 1997; I was tasked with making one that would crumble, indicating a "bad sign" to our Rabbi; a girl named Susan May came up with one she "OVER BAKED", the director loved it, and used hers instead; I was very jealous . . . .
The meaning/use of a mezuzah
2. Extreme: ULTRA
3. Steps aside for: GIVES WAY TO - $2 fill, but not a unique one
4. The "K" of K-drama: KOREAN - Figured it was the same as "K-POP"
5. Eager: AVID
6. "Wait just a __": "SEC~!"
7. Beginning of history?: PRE - PREhistory
8. Kimmel's network: ABC - Dah~! I thought he was N - b - c
9. Rally cry: RAH~!
10. Approved: OKed
11. Like some brain teasers: VEXING - also a unique fill; huh.
12. Leap years?: TIME TRAVEL - yes, very clever
13. Rub out: ERASE
14. Stream skitterers: NEWTS - I tried ROCKS, as in skipping
22. Line on an invite: WHEN - my brother's wedding is when~? The Saturday after next
24. "Who __ there?": GOES - "It is I, Arthur..."
"No, they'd have to have it on a line..."
26. Son of Han Solo and Princess Leia: KYLO REN - name #5, from the Star Wars sequels
27. Approximate fig.: ESTimate
28. Hitter's stat: RBI
29. Digit: NUMERAL - Ah. I could not get NUMBER to fit
32. "Well, lah-di-__!": DAH~! - not the same as my "Dah~!" of poorly chosen fill . . . .
33. Cartilaginous fish that may have a whiplike tail: RAY - Dah~! Not EEL
34. Tyler of "The Leftovers": LIV - name #6 - I figured it was HER, but waited on crossings
35. Really bad: EVIL
38. Mongolian desert: GOBI - name(ish)
39. Wonderment: AWE
41. One running toward disaster, presumably: RESCUER
43. Embodiment: EPITOME - the embodiment of beauty, IMHO
46. Put up with: ABIDE
48. Goof up: ERR
49. "__ you sure?": "ARE~?"
51. Lerner's partner on Broadway: LOEWE - name(s) #7 - more here
53. Tests, as a microphone: TAPS ON - not CHECKS
54. "La Bamba" singer Ritchie: VALENS - name #8, but this one I knew
56. Hydrocortisone cream target: ITCH - oh, right, that's not for an ACHE
57. Kombucha seeds: CHIA - filled via perps
58. Presidential spans: ERAS
60. Half-man, half-goat: FAUN - I wanted Satyr, but this works too - the Wiki
61. "Plus ... ": ALSO...
62. Russian monarch: TSAR
64. Status __: QUO
65. Oxford, e.g., to locals: UNIversity - British, as opposed to American "college"
66. Podcast interrupters: ADS
67. Tobiko or masago: ROE - again, filled via perps; sort of Saturday cluing, IMO
Splynter
44 comments:
Unusual puzzle, in that the reveal is based on
the “shape” of the foods involved. However, I wish the constructors could have come up with something besides a commercial offering from a fast food joint for one of their themed phrases. That said, I thought the concept was quite clever. FIR, so I’m happy.
FIW, missing my WAG@ dERN x dYLORAN. Guess I was thinking of the car in Back To the Future. Also, frosty->ICED UP, and halens->VALENS. I remember the tragic story, but it was a little before my time.
I do remember The Coasters' big hit Poison Ivy. Seems like I linked this song just a few days ago. Well, tis the season!
Thanks to John for the fun midweek challenge, and to Splynter for another fine review (and view of the featured sticks.)
Off for a brief respite break today. Doing a little glamping on the banks of the beautiful Piankatank River. Also getting Zoё to a more rural environment for what I hope is a less NOISEy celebration of Independence Day. Should be set up by early afternoon.
Not intended to be a reply to Sub, just clicked on the wrong place. I blame decaf, since I can't blame my arch-enemy Otto Correct.
Good morning!
Got confused; thought the mezuzah was the guy who issued the call to prayer from atop a minaret. D'oh. Otherwise, this one came together quickly and Wite-Out free. Nice debut, John. Interesting expo, Splynter. (Surely you're familar with Kern's Old Man River from .)
Where'd my Showboat go?
The WaPo's new app for solving online really reeks. Flat out awful. The color is garish. The little circles at the intersections of each horizontal and vertical line make the cells a little blurry. It is hard to glance at the grid and see how many cells are are in the answer. My eyes were straining after solving a few answers. It really is such a poor design and implementation. To see for yourself, just open the link for the WaPo in the upper right corner of the main page of this blogspot. (Smartphone users would have to "Use Web Version" to get to the main page.)
I'm old, and I like the Kern River (Hi T-Ken.)
Irish Miss and Jayce, from yesterday. In retrospect, it most likely was the 9:56 comment from IM on Monday that I approved when I found it in the spam filter on Tuesday morning. And yes, threesome is a trigger word to Blogger. Jayce, thanks for your help by testing it for me.
Just curious as to why you go to the WaPo instead of latimes.com and link the CW from there? No app needed.
Took 5:42 today for me to fill-in all the square footage of this one.
I didn't know the composer (Kern), where to find mezuzahs (jambs), and the Greek alphabet (rho). Seemed like a bit too many 3-letter words. Otherwise, pretty uneventful, but clever theme.
TTP: I made a similar comment the other day about the WaPo site. It's a regression. That's the site I have habitually gone to in order to do the LAT puzzle. I think I'll take my neighbor YooperPhil's suggestion tomorrow.
Thank you, John. Congrats on your debut at the LAT. Thank you, Splynter.
For various reasons, I just wasn't into solving the puzzle today.
Nothing against the puzzle. It was me.
I've never had or heard of LOBSTER RAVIOLI, but perps came to the rescue.
Splynter, I'm with you about the garage. I'll pull my vehicles out when I need the workspace.
Good Morning:
I was a little underwhelmed by the theme until Splynter pointed out the squareness of each food item, an obvious fact that sailed right over my sleepy head. Some clever cluing and the familiar fill led to a smooth solve but, as Splynter pointed out, the TLWs were excessive.
Thanks, John, and congrats on your debut, and thanks, Splynter, for the fine review and commentary. Are you still looking for that canine companion?
Have a great day.
Jinx, enjoy your respite and, hopefully, peaceful surroundings with Zoe.
An inventive grid which obviously will not appeal to all, but creativity is what puzzles are all about. IMHO. No impossible unknowns with MAW my slowest fill. I also filled ROE from the perps having no idea what the clue was referencing. I agree with the skill of the clue for TIME TRAVEL and appreciate the link explaining the mezuzah which is one of the cornerstone rites of Judaism. Also, the picture of Ukranian model DIANA BABYNA was a pleasure to study, The reference to Uni reminds me of a past regular poster from down under. Hope she is well. Thank you Splynter and John.
FIR. I'm not a fan of vertical puzzles, I prefer diagonal grids. But this one seemed appropriate for a Wednesday. There were a few Friday clues, nothing the perps couldn't deal with.
I must admit although I got the three meals concept, the square part eluded me. After coming here and having it explained, it seems obvious.
But overall this was not a very fun puzzle.
YooperPhil, it's not a separate app like you would download for a smartphone. The app(lication program) is running on the website, whether latimes or Wapo or on any other site.
The lattimes.com website uses the AmuseLabs PuzzleMe app.
The Wapo website used to use the AmuseLabs PuzzleMe app.
The USA Today and the Universal use the Andrews McMeel app.
There were slight differences in the latimes.com and WaPo sites. For me, the clues on the latimes site are often shown below the puzzle unless I adjust my screen resolution for smaller print. That's a pain.
I'm going to start solving the LAT at the Chicago Tribune site. It uses a crossword app created by Azerian. I like it so far:
https://fun.chicagotribune.com/game/la-times-daily-crossword?categoryId=crosswords
I am going to miss solving the Evan Birnholz Sunday WaPp, and the classic Merl Reagle Sunday at the WaPo.
Try this one:
https://fun.chicagotribune.com/game/la-times-daily-crossword?categoryId=crosswords
This had the potential to be truly outstanding - a very creative theme, a nice reveal and by and large, clean yet challenging fill. One self-inflicted wound by the constructor - the dreaded crossing of propers, which is a total buzzkill for me (KERN crossing KYLO REN) - yes, there are more than just a few of us who don’t give a rats behind about the Star Wars franchise. I’m sure Mr. (or Mrs. ?) KERN has done some great work and is crossword worthy, but crossing him/her with a fictional character is taking the lazy way out, in my opinion.
@TTP Couldn't agree more about WAPO's new front-end. Absolutely horrible. @YooperPhil We used the old WAPO version because we have a subscription.
I chuckled (oh, that was yesterday) at the theme. Very clever.
An Italian restaurant near our house serves a delicious LOBSTER RAVIOLI dish in á light pink sauce.
I needed WAGS for JUG/JAMBS and no NOTES. The only name giving me trouble was KYLO REN.
I first entered rash, before finally getting the ITCH when the CIA showed up.
I really liked the TIME TRAVEL clue.
Thank you Splynter for the nice recap and that funny SQUARE MEAL cartoon.
Á Baton Rouge legend just passed away, the sometimes infamous Jimmy Swaggert. RIP.
Easy Wednesday aided by a delectable (I meant detectable) theme
Inkovers: ultima/ALTIMA, Kasparof/V
“Like some brain teasers” crossword puzzles wouldn’t fit 😉. Liked the “Leap years” clue
RICE CHEX: they kinda taste like the cereal box they come in (but easy to DIGEST). One of my favorite square meals is a Japanese Bentobox
“I want my MTV” … when it came out in the early 80s my DD who was around 5 liked to watch. One day we heard her scream, it was one of the first times the music video “Thriller” was performed. “No more MTV for you”
Speaking of music: we have composers Jerome KERN and Frederick LEOWE 🎶
JUG (or saw).. Yikes I thought it said “Hitler’s stat”
Herded immigrants …. ICEDUP
Paw’s better half … MAW
Get sunburned: OVERBAKE
Otolaryngologist: ERASE
Have a great hump day 😀
That should be SwaggArt
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun John (congrats on your LAT debut) and Splynter.
I FIRed in a little more than the usual time, and saw the THREE MEALS theme. Hand up for missing the SQUARE. (In my defence, I don’t eat a WENDY’S BURGER very often. )
30A clueing with a colon had me thinking it was a themer. “No NOTES”:”Perfect”, but it was not even an Easter Egg. NOTES could and should have been clued differently IMHO.
The middle was the last to fill. Hand up that the K in that KERN/KYLOREN cross was a total WAG.
Getting JUG sparked my memory of the meaning of mezuzahs to give JAMB.
ROE was a WAG as well.
Hand up for thinking of Eel before RAY perped.
I like the word EPITOME.
Blue Jay George Springer celebrated Canada Day in style with 7 RBIs, including two homers, one of which was a grand slam.
Thanks to all who expressed Canada Day greetings.
Wishing you all a great day.
Hola! I finished this in good time and enjoyed the food choices! Thanks to John Kugelman for the treats.
Spelling KASPAROV was a good challenge and that got me started. Jerome KERN was a prolific song writer, and I'm amazed some had not heard of him. To name but a few he wrote: SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES, THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, OLE MAN RIVER, LADY BE GOOD and THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS. The actual list is very long, and many of his songs have been recorded by various artists.
I just learned that today is HALF DAY as it is exactly at the half point of the year. Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Musings
-What a fun gimmick despite the fact that I had no idea what LOBSTER RAVIOLI looked like
-Pizza - usually a round meal cut into triangles and delivered in a square box. :-)
-It’s funny what we remember, I filled in KASPAROV immediately
-Poison IVY is a deterrent to looking for lost golf balls in certain parts of our course
-It took me a while to suss Heard as an adjective and not a verb.
-Einstein’s Theory Of Relativity infers TIME TRAVEL to the future is possible but not to the past
-This morning I told Siri to schedule a haircut appointment for 11:15. She politely replied, “When?”
-Baseball peeps still debate whether RBI’s is redundant since the R stands for RUNS.
-Larry and the mezuzah
-Splynter, my neighbor had three expensive vehicles that sat outside with a bunch of crap in his garage.
Good question, D-O. I'd say three or four songs from Showboat alone -- Ol' Man River, Can't Help Lovin' That Man, Only Make Believe, Why Do I Love You -- and several others -- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, I Hear Music, The Song Is You, Lovely To Look At, The Way You Look Tonight -- are all at least as well known as the song in the clue.
Nice job, John. I noted the construction of your novel 15 x 16 puzzle, featuring a vertical--or mirror--symmetry. And I thought that we might have our first pangram in ages, but I'll be darned if I can find a Z. As a music-lover I was delighted to see both Lerner & Loewe as well as Jerome Kern make an appearance in the puzzle.
Before Oscar Hammerstein began his collaboration with Richard Rodgers to write their string of compelling musicals, his partner was Jerome Kern. Their masterpiece was "Show Boat," still considered by most as the greatest American musical.
To interrupt this brief narrative, a few clarifications: First, "Show Boat" is written as two words. Second, Oscar Hammerstein's nickname was Ockie. Third, the famous song from "Show Boat" is "Ol' Man River," not "Old Man River."
Why all this? Well, I was a friend of Ockie's widow, Dorothy Hammerstein, a gracious and warm-hearted lady. One of the first times I was with her, I was saying something about Kern's "Ol' Man River," or maybe humming it or something. Dorothy instantly sat up, bristling. She always addressed me as "Mr. Buxton" (my name). But in this instance, she shot back, "Young man--Jerry did not write "Ol' Man River," Ockie did." Oops.
I mention all this because an earlier Cornerite used this morning the precise language about Kern's "Ol' Man River" that I had used decades ago with Dorothy Hammerstein. It triggered memories-- not only of Dorothy's loyal defense of her husband in this instance-- but also of my unforgettable years spent with Dorothy. If anybody ever wants to know all the back stories, of, say, "The King and I," "Oklahoma!," "The Sound of Music," "Carousel," "South Pacific," "Flower Drum Song"....I got 'em.
Thanks, John, for a thought-provoking and enjoyable Wednesday diversion. And thanks, Splynter, for your usual colorful and entertaining walk backstage.
I knew Kasparov because I’m of the same ethnicity and I’m here in the good old USA, born of parents who were born here. We’re just people trying to get by.
Interesting story TK!
I enjoyed your reminiscing Ken!
Thanks, CanadianEh!, for reminding me to add to my list of underused yet lovely words. I'm delighted that you also like today's EPITOME. i think one of the reasons it seems so special to me is that it reminds me of one of my favorite Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, IOLANTHE, in that both are relatively short words, but interestingly, both contain a lot of syllables (four). I might add that "Iolanthe" represents to me the epitome of light-opera craftsmanship.
I liked the symmetry of the grid, and the increasing length of the descending themers, culminating in the grid spanning reveal. KASPAROV came immediately somehow and I even spelled it right, but became unsure when like Splynter, I thought Kimmel was on NBC 🤷♂️, I don’t stay up for late night shows. Perps demanded ABC. Someday maybe I’ll remember KYLO REN, perps needed today. Not familiar with no NOTES. FIR in 15:13. Interesting to read about mezuzahs, and curious to know if any Cornerites of the Jewish faith have them on their door JAMBS. Thanks John for the puzzle and Splynter for the recap, I liked the CHIA hair cartoon 😂.
Happy July the twoth to all! At first I thought this CW was gonna be a dreaded "namefest", since 7 of the first 17 clues were names, but then it lightened up a bit. Still, 14 names, but happy to only DNK 2. So lots of names, but I still FIR in 13. No surprise, the theme sailed over my head. I thought of square meals, but not literally square. Thanx JK for this fun CW, which seemed Tuesday level. Thanx Splynter for 'splainin the theme, and for the terrific write-up. And the nice set of attractive legs picture.
Delightful debut puzzle, many thanks, John--really enjoyed it. And your commentary is always a helpful pleasure, Splynter, thanks for that too.
Well, I don't know anyone named SASHA, but when I saw the name it triggered a possible memory of someone who once OVER-BAKED a WENDY BURGER because she was scheduled to do some TIME TRAVEL and had to hurry. But her trip got canceled and so she had time to make some LOBSTER RAVIOLI, and pretty soon she had produced a THREE SQUARE MEAL. Her family was thrilled and she promised that this was only ROUND ONE and that there were a lot more of her dinners down the line. And, if not, she promised she'd at least make us some RICE CHEX every morning. That promise made us happy.
Hope you're all enjoying a lovely breakfast too.
Jinx, I note your plans today on the Piankatank, as well as your cleverly linking Jerome Kern with Tehachapi's county, Kern (No, everyone: we are not named after Jerome Kern, but a cartographer on the 1845 Fremont Expedition). And I recall that you know our area through pleasant outdoor excursions in and around Kernville, Lake Isabella, and the Kern River.
I do like living here very much, but I need to make a formal Disclosure herewith: I miss Chesapeake Bay crabs, the Jersey shore, Chesapeake crabs, colorful place names like Mobjack Bay, Choptank, and Piankatank, [Incidentally, Fellow Cornerites, please take note of the fact that our resident misspeller, Jinx by name, and who is proud (untie! etc.) of his chronic misspelling, magically nailed "Piankatank" today], our Chris-Craft boat, Chesapeake Bay crabs, my friends' home on the Severn, and--have I mentioned?--Chesapeake crabs.
I'm with you in spirit, Jinx. Enjoy some crabs and what I am sure will be--thanks to your thoughtfulness--a serene Piankatank oasis protecting Zoe from the usual Fourth of July cacophony. Is Zoe allowed to eat crabs?
Edward in Los Angeles: oh great. Solved in 19 minutes and now I’m hungry.
You're very welcome.
I liked this puzzle.
Very interesting stories, TehachapiKen. DW and I have been to Lake Isabella and enjoyed it.
Good reading all your comments, folks.
Oh, and like desper-otto, I too thought the mezuzah was the guy who issued the call to prayer from atop a minaret.
Thanks for the info, Ken. Seems like we like the same geography. I used to play in the Kern river whenever I had a long weekend (well, before i bought a sailboat and started going to the Catalina Isthmus,) and now I enjoy the Saluda / Mobjack Bay / Kilmarnic / Urbana areas, or "the rivah" as they call it here. Northern Neck and Middle Neck are more formal references.
I love blue crabs, but poor Zoё is relegated to a life without people food, unless something gets dropped. Dropped food is fair game, and she's faster than anyone desiring to clean it up.
I guess I've seen and written Piankatank enough that I've gotten it down pat. Kinda like Chuckatuck where I store my RV, and Antonopoulos, who I worked for in LA and Dallas.
Congratulations to John on a fun LAT debut!
For solvers who enjoy a challenge, he has published a number of delightful (and sometimes diabolical) Sunday and Thursday puzzles in the NYT recently. The joy of the “Aha!” moments is well worth the initial confusion!
Puzzling thoughts:
Different symmetry for the grid design is something that both the LA Times and Universal seem to be accepting now. You can all look forward to a different kind of symmetric grid on this coming Friday's puzzle [only spoiler alert]
TehachapiKen, Ockie (as you call him) was a young man (in today's standards) when he passed away in 1961. Great stories of you and his widow among others
I can relate to the Chesapeake Bay as I grew up in a south-central Pennsylvania town and took several fishing trips to the Bay. Does Point Lookout ring a bell?
I recall after one fairly successful fishing trip there, (week after Labor Day weekend) we were driving home and a sign on the highway caught our attention. A guy (crabber) was selling bushel baskets of blue crabs for $5! Needless to say we grabbed a couple and when we got back to York County, we proceeded to have quite a feast
TehachapiKen Thank you for the stories. Perhaps you could "Go Blue" on this site so that people could contact you?
Early to the puzzle, late to the blog. I thought John's puzzle was a breath of fresh air, and I enjoyed Splynter's recap as well. I've never had a Wendy's burger, but I figured out they must be square before coming here and seeing Splynter's illustration and apt cartoon.
Husker Gary, thanks for sharing "Larry and the mezuzah." Good stuff. Larry was very casual about placement of the mezuzah. (I measure!) Which reminds me -- in the illustration that Splynter used, the mezuzah is slanted in the wrong direction. The top should lean into the room as you pass, and you reach up with your right hand to touch it, typically bringing your fingers to your lips to kiss them afterward, bringing God's word to your own mouth. YooperPhil will have guessed (if he is reading) that there are several mezuzot in our home. We even brought home a new one from Holy Toledo in Spain.
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