X(word)-RAY
EYES
Blue Oyster Cult - X-ray Eyes, from Heaven Forbid, 1998
which refernces the movie starring RAY Milland
This is the fourth collaboration between "Ironman" Dan ( see here - thanks HuskerG~! ) and our lovely hostess, C.C., plus their second crossword this month for the LA Times. A simple but enjoyable puzzle featuring four unique and different "Rays", with two 10-letter Down fills as well. Twenty 3LWs, Twenty-six 4LWs, a handful of names, and no circles. Yay~! The themers, with no reveal;
17. Place to catch some rays: SCI-FI MOVIE - classic "laser guns" type of "RAY" - I loved the original 1953 War of the Worlds movie - and despite being a huge fan of Speilberg's work and the stunning visuals, his remake was awful
Based on the H.G. Wells book
62. Place to catch a ray: OCEAN FLOOR
And A-Ray We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Like just-cut radish slices: CRISP
6. Butter used in pantua: GHEE - Learned from doing crosswords
10. Lack of objectivity: BIAS
14. Wood that repels moths: CEDAR - I currently have a cedar bench in my kitchen, but I have plans to build a foyer on the front stoop of my house - the bench will move in there; item #28 on my self-inflicted "to-do" list . . . .
15. Covered with grease: OILY - I got covered in grease last week when I discovered the trailer ball on my minivan was rusted into the hitch bar; it took 70A. of penetrating oil, lying on the garage floor, and a sledgehammer to get the thing loose and free, dammit.
16. "Do __ others ... ": "UNTO" - The Golden Rule
19. Nose-in-the-air sort: SNOB
20. Set of the rosary: DECADE - I have it on good authority that this was the editor's clue; not familiar with a 'decade of the rosary' ( I'm not Catholic, just spiritual ), a "set" of ten Hail Marys - more here
21. Scavenging carnivore: HYENA
22. [This isn't my typo]: SIC
23. Like a locked door: SHUT
26. Visibly embarrassed: RED - or like lethal alien "Death rays"
27. Traffic report vehicles, briefly: COPTERS - Ironic when it creates the traffic and can't report it . . . .
I found this shocking and incedible Wiki article
31. Readily available: ON TAP
33. Guatemala gold: ORO - Espaniol lesson #1
38. __ of Skye: ISLE
40. Not 'neath: O'ER - poetic contractions
47. Pepsi holder: CAN
48. Hide from prying eyes: STASH
49. Pool section with diving boards: DEEP END - falls between DEPEND and DEEPENED when unparsed
51. Residue in a fire pit: ASH
53. Desperate request: PLEA
55. Jellyfish home: SEA
56. Midnight fridge visits: RAIDS - If I raid the fridge now, it's for a handful of air-fried shrimp
58. Petty complaints: GRIPES
61. Coin in the Trevi Fountain: EURO - one day I hope to toss a coin . . . .
66. Penny-__: ANTE - low-cost poker
67. "What __ wrong?": "WENT"
68. "Broad City" star Glazer: ILANA - only name I did not know; filled via perps
69. Bratty back talk: SASS
70. Tons: LOTS
71. Like reserved seats: TAKEN
DOWN:
1. Loops in on an email thread: CCs - a self-shout-out~?
2. Remote button with a red dot: RECord - or the "Death ray" button 😜
3. Response to "Anyone see that?": "I DID~!" - unparsed, it's "IDID"; looks Latin
4. Least dangerous: SAFEST - "don't push the button with the red dot~!"
5. More expensive: PRICIER
6. "No news is __ news": GOOD
7. Spots for queens: HIVES - oh, that kind of queen - bees; I was thinking chess board
8. "Hostel" director Roth: ELI - I was going to add a link, but it's horror, and NSFW - or me, really
9. Calm part of a storm: EYE
10. Unable to hang out: BUSY
11. State sought in meditation: INNER PEACE - OM - our first 10-letter Down fill
12. Right wrongs: ATONE - Dah~! Not AMEND; 40% correct, plus an "E"
13. Just terrible: SO BAD - like my War of the Worlds 2005 review
18. "Large" prefix: MACRO - Don McMillan, Technically Funny
Better than "Microsoft"
21. URL opener: HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol
24. Souped-up car: HOT ROD
25. __, dos, tres: UNO - Espaniol lesson dos
27. Hairdo: COIF - had it, took it out; my 29D was GOLF shirts, so the Across answers were not making any sense
28. Approximately: OR SO
29. Top choices for golfers: POLO SHIRTS - 'top' as in clothing; by default could NOT be "GOLF shirts", Duh. The second 10-letter Down fill.
30. Provide comfort to: SOOTHE
32. Say further: ADD
35. __ and far between: FEW
36. Family group: CLAN
37. Warmhearted: KIND
39. Toronto summer hrs.: EDT - Eastern Daylight Time - we need to scrap this nonsense
43. Catches a few z's: NAPS - I am up at 3 or 4am every day, and take a nap every day - I like this way of living
44. Adult ed class: ESL - Crosswordese, English as Second Language
45. Sticky pine secretion: RESIN
46. Stay in shape: KEEP FIT - Dah~! Not WORK OUT - I have grown to enjoy my workout at the gym - this past Saturday, my trainer was out ( he went to the ball game the night before ) and I had the opportunity to "play hookey", but I went in anyway; he sent me a text of what exercises I could do that morning
50. Spanish dish with rice and saffron: PAELLA - I enjoy this dish, but over the past few weeks, I have been perfecting my "chicken crust" pizza, where I use ground chicken, 93% lean, to make a 'pie' - it is so good, and good for me
51. Calculus calculations: AREAS - specifically the area under a curve
I prefer L x W . . . . 😁
52. Bathhouse hot spot: SAUNA
54. Singer's representative: AGENT - I'd like to be just famous enough to require an agent, whether for my music, games, or publications - I am still working on my Sci-Fi novel
57. "What __ it matter?": "DOES"
59. "Well, darn!": "RATS~!"
60. Enjoy a bubble bath: SOAK - I came home to soak last Saturday, partially due to being sore, and also due to the poison ivy - which I get every F*&%ing summer - aaah, Aveeno~!
62. Bird with piercing eyes: OWL - "WHO" has piercing eyes~?
Are you lookin' at me~?
63. Jensen Huang of Nvidia, e.g.: CEO - didn't recognize him, but it was easy enough to suss
64. Atomic number of hydrogen: ONE - the first, and most abundant element in the universe
65. Competed in a relay, say: RAN - I like to walk my neighborhood; I don't "get" running - JMHO
Splynter
29 comments:
I happen to like this
kind of puzzle; multiple meanings of the same word. And it wasn’t too tough; perps took care of anything I didn’t get right away, like “Ray” as the “Food Network” star. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Started this one just as Morning Edition went into the newscast, and finished before it was over. SKATEd right through -- see what I did there? This one felt downright Mondayish. A couple of names were unknown, and DECADE was a mystery, as clued. Back in the day I took a few semesters of calculus; loved differential and hated integral. Thanx Splynter, Dan, and C.C. (Was that "Star Glazer" clue on purpose?)
Fairly easy mid week offering from Dan and Zhouqin, (who included a CSO to herself at 1D), FIR in under 11. Two unknowns, ILANA, and ELI (as clued with an obscurity to me, instead of the usual clues for ELI). Perps dictated GHEE and not sHEa. An enjoyable start to the day, thanks to the constructors and to Splynter for the review.
Took 6:30 today to get to Tampa Bay.
I agree with SubG that the multiple meaning of the same word puzzles are usually enjoyable. This was one of them.
I did not know The Actress of The Day (Ilana), nor did I know her show/movie (Broad City). On the bright side, I passed the Spanish exam today (uno and oro).
Pleasant hump-day puzzle from our guiding star and her co-conspirator Dan. If the last word at 65D had been DAN instead of RAN, our constructors would have signed both corners!
Knowing C.C.s love of baseball, I was waiting for "Tropicana Field" home of the Tampa Bay Rays. I'm sure it crossed her mind but it had too many letters (and Tampa Bay = too few)
FIR without erasure.
Famed Kentuckian Francis Gary Powers survived being shot down in his U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union and several years in prison there, only to be killed reporting traffic from a COPTER in LA.
SAFEST? Pilots have a saying "if it's red or dusty, don't touch it."
This Salvadore DALI interview with Mike Wallace was a classic. Not only is it a good interview, but it is a trip down memory lane, from when cigarettes were not only used on the air, but hawked by the TV stars as well. This one is about 10 years before 60 Minutes debuted.
Loverboy sang:
"Everybody's working for the weekend
Everybody wants a new romance, hey yeah
Everybody's going off the DEEP END"
Everybody needs a second chance, oh"
(Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno is 70, so his outlook on life may have changed - as have that of many retired Cornerites.)
Thanks to CC and Dan for the fun, easy midweek puzzle, and to Splynter for abother fun review. Please tell us that you needed to change hitch balls, and that you didn't just get OILY so that the one you have wouldn't be stuck any longer.
Good Morning:
I agree with Subgenius and SS that this type of theme is a fun and enjoyable solve. I’m always curious to see how the constructors(s) will vary the definitions, yet use in the language phrases. Ilana was unknown, but perps were fair and there were no w/os, ergo, a quick and easy finish.
Thanks, Dan and CC, and thanks, Splynter, for the review and personal asides. Between your games development, fiction writing, gym visits, neighborhood strolls, and cooking experiments, it’s no wonder you haven’t found a canine companion yet! Cooper needs a cousin!
Have a great day.
FIR. No trouble with this midweek puzzle. The few proper names in it were easily solved by the perps.
The theme was fun. I picked up on it early and fully expected a baseball clue like Tampa Bay as a place to catch a Ray. Sadly I'm left with only watching them on TV.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Neat puzzle. No GRIPES. Just three names I needed perps for. I couldn’t think of someone named Ray on FOOD NETWORK until Splynter’s review. Of course, Rachel.
We have á CEDAR chest at the foot of our bed to keep woolens in. It’s mostly empty but it’s á handy place to sit.
Thank you Splynter for your nice review.
Musings
-The RAYS of sun accompanying stifling humidity have been horrible for several days but there's relief for us and our A/C today
-We and the kitty love the gas fireplace and I like not having to clean out the ASH
-A PLEA that is entered for a suspect irrelevant as to whether they actually committed the crime
-This horrible event yesterday. has people in our town asking, “What went wrong?”
-PRICIER – Very expensive GOLF POLOS, like these, are not something I buy
-Jinx, the awful dust in the plant I linked to above was the main culprit.
Hola! Yes, I agree; it's fun to see how many varieties of the same term a constructor can find and use. Well done, C.C. and Dan!
Honestly, I don't understand the allure of radishes; they are so bitter but do make a colorful accent piece.
When Rachel RAY was on TV, I liked to watch her though I can't eat most of her creations.
DECADE filled immediately as I am very familiar with the Rosary. Every section contains ten beads.
Have a great day, everyone!
What a nice way to start a hump day! Clever puzzle, and a sparkling review from Splynter. I, too, am no fan of movie remakes. The only one I've seen that can come close to the original was "True Grit". I did kinda think that something covered in grease would be "greasy", not OILY, but that's a pretty minor nit to pick.
Grain dust, maybe? Hasn't that been a known hazard for at least a century? Coal dust in underground mines has been known to explode too, often with deadly results.
Wow! What makes a POLO SHIRT that expensive?
I liked both the original and remake versions of The Thomas Crown Affair.
The same thing that makes Louboutin shoes that expensive: idiots willing to pay the price.
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Dan and C.C.
I FIRed in very good time and saw the RAYs.
Two Easter Eggs: SEA above the OCEAN FLOOR, and DEEP END below the DECK.
One inkblot to change INNER Bliss to PEACE. (I was working Downs first and had no perps yet.)
Another inkblot to change Golf SHIRT (d’uh, that was in the clue) to POLO.
Third inkblot to change eLeNA to ILANA. (Remember that this Canadian learned the Supreme Court Justice doing CWs!)
Hand up for needing Hahtoolah’s explanations for Rachel RAY and for DECADE.
Unknown-to-me names like CEO Huang, ILANA (see above), and ELI perped.
I’ll take a CSO at EDT in Toronto. Thanks C.C. (We had CAN also.)
Wishing you all a great day.
Delightful Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Dan and C.C. for giving us this neat project. And thank you, Splynter, for your helpful pictures and commentary--very helpful too.
Well, this puzzle gave us some interesting suggestions about a GOOD guy who adopted a homeless HYENA who became his favorite pet for over a DECADE. He fed her healthy OILY pet FOOD made softer with GHEE, and then took her to the SAUNA. They also WENT to the OCEAN and to the park, where they had to avoid RAIDS. At night they watched SCI FI MOVIES on TV, and during the day they wore POLO SHIRTS and took NAPS in the afternoon. Good thing they were both retired--that gave them an INNER PEACE.
Enjoy a happy, peaceful day, everybody.
I was eager to get to the blog to post my most enthusiastic possible 5 star praise for this CW: 3 names!!! Although I DNK 2, they were perped W/O too much trouble. Everyone knows how much I hate names in a CW; 3 may be an all-time low. Excellent, DK&CC! Thanx tons for this clever, doable, almost nameless CW. Other comments: 42D coulda been RESIN or ROSIN, 11D was not CALIFORNIA though it fit, 29D was not HOLEINONES, though IT fit. Again, 5 stars for this creation. FIR in 12, good Thursday time for me. Thanx too to Splynter for the terrific write-up, including the music videos. Speaking of which, Google "Stalker song from the '80s" and up pops "Every Breath You Take", quite appropriately by The Police. (Badflower actually has a song named "Stalker", which is a TERRIBLE song. Oy!!)
Fun puzzle and well constructed. Thanks Dan and CC. Love how you started with "CC". As always I enjoyed the recap Splynter.
Some of the ads on this website are exist and offensive.
Hi All!
Thank you Dan & C.C. for a cute definition puzzle that was light on A&E. I enjoyed the solve.
Kicking it off with BOC's X-RAY Eyes - gotta be a Splynter review. Cool job on the AI chess boards.
WO: ORa
ESPs: ELI, ILANA
Fav: HOT ROD is just fun fill.
Being a good sinner, Father sentenced me to DECADES of Hail Marys.
Math professors made us remember our integrals; in EE classes we just looked them up in the CRC.
Lucina - Radishes are delicious. Add a touch of salt and eat it whole; refreshing.
@1:15 - Note: the adds you see have nothing to do with The Crossword Corner but everything to do with what Google thinks you are interested in based on past browsing activities.
Y'all have a great day!
Cheers, -T
Wow, a terrific puzzle by Dan and C.C. and a terrific write-up by Splynter. So good!
Lots of O’s and F’s in those themers. Coincidence?
*the ads you see....
AnonT
I have yet to encounter a delicious radish! Next time I find one I'll try your hint. Right now, I'm eager to try a recipe for lasagna I saw on the "Drew Barrymore Show". It calls for ground turkey and veggies instead of the usual ingredients.
David Bywaters has posted another fun puzzle on his website.
"What the world needs now is a mad hatter—not the Lewis Carroll tea party attendee with a broken watch and an insoluble riddle, but a maniacal putter-on of hats, a superhuman being whose mission it is to make everybody wear a hat, just like everybody used to do, before the modern obsession with being casual put an end to this wholesome practice. In the happy past, we didn’t have to look at the hairlines of strangers, and, since our eyes were pleasantly shaded by hat brims, we didn’t have to wear the sunglasses that now make us seem to each other hatefully dead-eyed and cruel. Who knows how much of the social conflict that our society has endured since the 1960s is just a side-effect of soulless stares and disagreeable haircuts?"
Now that I’ve done the puzzle, I understand the quote. He forgot to mention the ubiquitous baseball cap.
I liked that puzzle, too. It was fun.
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