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!
____________________________________________________
8 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.
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