Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, back from the Rocky Mountains with a recap of a puzzle by Zhou Zhang. Hmm, both of our names are alliterative. That and five dollars will get you a cup of coffee.
Let's jump right in with the unifier:
66 Across: Fueled up before a big race, or a description of the answers to the starred clues?: CARBO LOADED.
Each of the following four theme answers references a form of carbohydrate:
19 Across: *Earnings for a restaurant with a tandoor?: NAAN PROFITS. FROM NON PROFITS. With this erudite crowd there's no need to explain what NAAN is.
25 Across: *Bun that's a really big hit?: STARRING ROLL. From STARRING ROLE
43 Across: *One who eats the same brand of corn flakes every morning?: CEREAL MONOGAMIST. From SERIAL MONOGAMIST
55 Across: *Ciabatta Chihuahua or pumpernickel Pomeranian?: PURE BREAD DOG. From PUREBRED DOG.
This is how the completed grid looks:
... and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. __ second: LEAP. Hand up for first thinking something along the lines of NANO second.
5. Percussion troupe since 1991: STOMP.
10. Prickly plants: CACTI.
15. Cream alternative: ECRU. Not a reference to a dairy product. Not a reference to a super group band. Not slang for trouncing. A reference to a color.
16. Eaglet's home: AERIE.
17. Astronaut Ochoa: ELLEN. All You Might Want To Know
18. Tons: A LOT.
21. Handles: NAMES. Handle, in this case, being slang for, well, NAME.
23. Bill: NOTE. As in "C-note" or banknote
24. Each: A POP. Slang for apiece.
29. Japanese artist and peace activist: ONO. A frequent visitor.
30. Fuss: TODO.
31. Crocheter's stash: YARN.
33. Yearning: ITCH.
36. Large mammals in matrilineal groups: ORCAS. "Large mammals" would have sufficed.
40. Paint option: MATTE. Gloss. Semi-gloss. Flat.
46. Ages: YEARS. It makes more sense in French. Par exemple: Quel age avez vous? J'ai soixante-quinze ans.
47. Panache: STYLE.
48. Wasabi __: PEAS. Tasty
49. Heroic deed: FEAT. Finding Bigfoot would be no small FEAT.
51. Upfront stake: ANTE. As in a poker game.
53. Beloved rock, e.g.: PET. Remember the fad from the 1970's ?
62. Actor Idris: ELBA. Another frequent visitor.
64. __ bean: LIMA. Might have been clued as ____ , Ohio . . . or _____ Peru.
65. ID on a map: IDAHO. Not a reference to identification. A state's abbreviation.
70. Kiwi-shaped: OVAL. Technically, OVOID.
71. Gobbled down: ATE UP. Nice word play with down and up.
72. Backsplash installer: TILER. The five florists I called earlier today knew absolutely nothing about laying carpet or tile. And yet I’m the idiot....
73. Kite flyer's need: WIND. If there's no WIND you must WIND up your kite string.
74. Grown efts: NEWTS. Frequent amphibian visitors, both.
75. With a wink: SLYLY.
76. Confidentiality docs: NDAS. Non Disclosure AgreementS have become a crossword staple.
Down:
1. Tends (toward): LEANS.
2. Pizzazz: ECLAT.
3. Feature of a rose garden in full bloom: AROMA.
4. "Shake on it": PUT 'ER THERE.
5. __ Diego: SAN. It could have been DON Diego (de la Vega).
6. Leaves that might be red or read: TEA. Nice word play with red and read.
7. Chimp kin: ORANG. Chimpanzee / ORANGutan
8. Like a key that may evoke sadness: MINOR.
9. __-Bismol: PEPTO.
7. Chimp kin: ORANG. Chimpanzee / ORANGutan
8. Like a key that may evoke sadness: MINOR.
9. __-Bismol: PEPTO.
10. GM's Mary Barra, for one: CEO.
11. Italian auto, familiarly: ALFA. ALFA Romeo.
12. Neckwear suitable for a young child: CLIP ON TIE.
13. Western Wyoming county: TETON. How The Grand Tetons Got Their Name
14. Insta browsing goal, perhaps: INSPO. INSPIRATION. Meh . . . or maybe I am just of the wrong generation.
20. Depend (on): RELY.
22. Sign of a packed house: SRO. Standing Room Only
26. Adored celebrity: IDOL.
27. Benchmarks: NORMS. If Al Yankovic wasn't weird he'd be called NORM Al.
28. Tibetan monk: LAMA.
32. Decreased: RAMPED DOWN. Much more frequently used as RAMPED UP
33. Distant: ICY. ICY what they tried to do here.
34. Wardrobe staple: TEE.
35. Concoction that might be pint-sized: CRAFT BREW. Literally, pint sized.
37. Tent bed: COT. If you sin 90 times, you'll only get caught 50% of the time because sin 90 = cot 45.
38. Vague amount: ANY.
39. Like a system that's revolutionary?: SOLAR. A bit of a stretch but not completely off base.
41. PreCheck org.: TSA.
39. Like a system that's revolutionary?: SOLAR. A bit of a stretch but not completely off base.
41. PreCheck org.: TSA.
42. GRE org.: ETS.
44. "Stat!": ASAP. As Soon As Possible
45. Inheritance factor: GENE.
50. Rock's Jethro __: TULL. Fronted by Ian Anderson
52. __ chi: TAI.
53. Louisiana's state nut: PECAN. Think pralines.
54. Overjoy: ELATE. We are often ELATEd in our puzzles.
56. Hilarious folks: RIOTS. An idiom that is often seen in our puzzles.
57. Username, often: EMAIL.
58. More than anything: BADLY.
59. Naturalist Attenborough: DAVID. Sir DAVID Frederick Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer.
60. Family, in Hawaiian: OHANA. A straightforward definition. Lilo and Stitch have popularized the word.
61. Gym chain that began in Venice Beach: GOLDS.
63. Be next to: ABUT. What does the seat of your pants ABUT?
67. Special __: OPS.
68. Fish that swims by generating waves: EEL.
69. Not sweet: DRY. A wine reference.
. . . and always be sure to use an appropriate glass.
. . . Not a bad idea. Cheers, everyone!
____________________________________________________
26 comments:
Other than replacing
“ craft beer” with “ craft brew” I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle.
FIR, so I’m happy.
"ASAP" is not "STAT"
Good morning!
Started right off with NANO crossing NEARS at 1a/1d. Never recovered. (Have I ever mentioned...?) RAMPED DOWN seems like a near relative of "calm up." Cute themers, Zhou, no reveal required. Welcome back Mal-Man. (Norm Al was classic, but that trig joke sounds like something Sheldon would say.)
Took a little bit of work but I managed a FIR in 18:35. Perps needed for STOMP, INSPO, OHANA, and GOLDS. I liked the word play in the themers, to be in agreement with the other three, STARRING ROLL would be “Star roll”, (not “starring role”), which is also a thing. Thank you Zhou for the challenging puzzle and to MM for your informative commentary. I like your quip about the “florist”.
FIW. I threw down "rammed down" and could not make heads or tails of what wasabi was. Also not knowing ETS didn't help.
The theme was clever and I got it early on. That really helped a lot with the solve.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Took 8:11 today to finish the roti-sserie chicken.
I didn't know the astronaut (Ellen) and this "ets". I also didn't like "inspo" and I had a craft beer before a craft brew.
Like MM, I was first thinking of the band Cream.
Hola! For some reason I awoke really early and happily the newspaper was here so i got to work. Thinking through the puzzle awoke me even more. Thank you, Zhou Zhang! That's some nice misdirection that almost led me astray.
I have to admit to eating the same cereal every morning, so I qualify for 43A.
And i enjoy watching Sir DAVID Attenborough on Saturdays.
Have a great day, everyone!
Good Morning:
Other than Ellen, ETS, and Ohana, the fill was pretty straightforward, although I went astray at Last/Leap and Aloes/Cacti. I wasn’t keen on Ramped Down, Inspo, or the continuing error of STAT meaning ASAP. On the positive side, the delightful Pure Bread Dog negated any minor criticisms.
Thanks, ZZ, and thanks, MalMan, for the humor and commentary. Welcome back.
Have a great day.
FIR and really enjoyed the long clues but was a little taken aback by the reveal. The word race was in the clue, I saw CAR and got lost until the perps straightened me out. I find that portmanteau word rather ugly.
INSPO, yea wrong generation, was my only unknown.
Although I hate the taste, PEPTO Bismol has been my go to remedy for many years.
Welcome back MM and thanks for the fine review.
Musings
-It’s very nice when the gimmick is clever and helpful.
-NAME handles became popular slang when CB popularity soared. Totes adorbs :-(.
-_ A T _ _ option was not latex
-Just seeing the word wasabi makes my eyes water
-Kicking 60-yard field goals is no longer much of a FEAT in the NFL
-Does WINK remind anyone else of Monty Python?
-I had to really feel bad to tell mom I was sick because I knew she would drag out PEPTO
-Will today’s political rhetoric ever be RAMPED DOWN?
-The complexities of wine escape me.
-Nice job, MM. BTW, I know several florists in town and I’ll ask them about your issue. :-)
I liked the theme and thought three of the theme entries were clever, but the implication there’s something inherently “pure” about ciabatta and pumpernickel marred the fourth, and the rest of the puzzle left me cold.
I didn’t like PUT ‘ER THERE, RAMPED DOWN, INSPO, or the many overly vague clues, but I did like OHANA and MINOR key. Proof that I was a weird kid: I loved minor key stuff as a pre-teen, especially the “Death of Ase” from Peer Gynt.
I had a brief but wonderful visit to northern Vermont last week. Despite a drought, everything was green and fabulous.
To my brother from another mother, MM, thanks for the Jethro TULL clip. Miss M and I listened to that whilst having our morning coffee. You had a classic rock group as part of the fill; my next puzzle blog features Bad Bunny ... [not a spoiler alert]
Good Morning. I FIR but was lost in the wilderness as to what the theme was about until filling CARBO LOADED by perps, and then reading the clue. The cross of two unknowns, ELLEN and INSPO, was my final guess.
OHANA was the only other unknown today.
Looking at the Grand TETONS from the lodge lobby is impressive. So are the ones on the beach.
Louisiana's state nut? We have more than one but they keep getting reelected. But I don't know of any named PECAN.
On the beach! Mon ami, I am thinking that you have, perhaps, been on the trail too long!
I was going to make the same comment about Louisiana nuts but was afraid it was too political. LOL
I got the theme first again today and worked this one from the bottom to the top like yesterday. Meh on "inspo". It took me a minute on "cream" being a color. All in all I enjoyed this one. I also greatly enjoyed the recap MM.
Fun theme and a lot of fun fill, but with 200 years I would not have come up with the c cross in ECLAT/ECRU. Utterly deranged work hahaha. Also liked that we got a wholly original clue for the mainstay EEL
Many thanks for a delightful Friday puzzle, Zhou Zhang--I enjoyed it. And thank you too, MalMan, for your always helpful commentary.
Well, having a puzzle start off with LEAP and STOMP made it feel as though we were going to get A LOT of manly physical activity. But AERIE put that into question right away--I mean, when does an eaglet LEAP or STOMP either into or out of its nest. And an eaglet's not likely to be a CEREAL-MONOGAMIST either, eating the same brand of corn flakes every morning. Well, maybe a PURE BRED DOG might LEAP and STOMP to get a CARBO-LOADED breakfast BUN if they promise to give him a STARRING ROLL on stage. But, hey, it's time we RAMPED DOWN this discussion, and enjoyed some PECANS and told the ORCAS that we love large mammals and like to hang out with them. (Hope that doesn't upset the LIMA or the NEWT, who probably ATE UP everything the guys offered them).
Have a delightful weekend, everybody.
They’ll never learn!
MM, loved your trig function lesson.
FIR in a surprising 15 min. That's very good for me on a Thursday. I really don't know how I managed to FIR in 15 with all the W/Os: NANO/LEAP, FAR/ICY, BEER/BREW. So although I did FIR, the CW is a mess. I did not get SOLAR being revolutionary until MalMan 'splained it. I really thought it was CARBLOADING, not CARBOLOADING, but what do I know. "ID on a map" = clever clue. RAMPEDDOWN? Never heard that expression. "Gobbled down" = ATEUP. Hmmm. What a peculiar language where up and down are the same (sorta). The first theme clue, a take off on NON-PROFIT, reminds me of the non-profit company I ran for about four years in the early 2000's. It wasn't DESIGNED to be a non-profit, it just turned out that way, and after four years I finally folded the tent. Did not know what GRE stands for either, which didn't help. 8D MINOR: MINER and MINOR always makes me have to think about it. As a kid walking to elementary school I walked past a bar that had a "NO MINORS ALLOWED" and I always wondered what they had against coal miners. Anyway, thanx C.C. for the entertaining CW. As I look at it I wonder how I managed to FIR in 15. Maybe I timed myself wrong? Thanx too to MalMan for the terrific write-up. It's obvious you put a good deal of time and effort into it for our entertainment. Please know that it is appreciated.
That should be trig ratio lesson.
NUTS in politics? I don't believe it!
To be bipartisan, republican John Kennedy and democrat James Carville may not be the state nuts of Louisiana, but they are both very entertaining.
Little late today. The guys servicing my RV identified bad air bags (parts of the suspension system) and the added work delayed my getaway until 3:30, just in time to hit Friday afternoon rush hour traffic in Charlotte. Arrived at the campground in Raleigh just after dark, making parking a challenge.
FIW with purebreed dog instead of PUREBREAD DOG. Worked the puzzle while sitting in my car's driver seat killing time until a restaurant opened, but couldn't get back on line until I got to the campground.
Didn’t have much trouble with this one from Ms Zhou; loved the hook in it and pretty much blazed through the fill except for the odd cross of ECLAT & ECRU, but I beat it to a FIR. Not much to comment on (the ASAP angle has already been hammered by enough of us) and aside from first having PUTitTHERE filled, not too many hitches.
Glad to have you back, Manatee! Not that NaomiZ, et al, weren’t rock stars, but you always come up with some of the funniest bits of oddity. Loved the florists gag, and yes, I’m of an age where Don Diego (The Z-Man) jumped to the front of my mind! Thanks, too, for the Jethro Tull vid; I’ve not heard “Nothing Is Easy” in donkeys’ years. But, speaking of — YEARS making more sense in French?? Nnnno. I still think that entire language has been misspelled…
Back in my martial arts days, we’d occasionally hit a local sushi bar after training, and invariably would get into a wasabi-eating contest. We sounded like a bunch of coke addicts afterwards 🤣
Back in my ad-shooting days, one of my graphic designer friends had me shooting an alleged successor to the Pet Rock; it was a nicely-polished pond rock with “5,280” lettered on it. The genius who cooked it up said it was “a gift you give to friends who reach a Milestone in their lives”…and you’ll notice you likely never saw it on any store shelves…
====> Darren / L.A.
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