Howdy! It''s RustyBrain and we've made it halfway through sumdaze's absence. I sure miss her!
Taylor Johnson is playing with his food today, despite his mom's scolding.
16A. *"Neato!": COOL BEANS.
38A. *Mensch: GOOD EGG.
9D. *Head honcho: TOP BANANA.
63A. Marketing term for nutrient-rich fare, or what the answers to the starred clues are: SUPERFOOD. SUPERFOODs are nutrient-dense foods such as berries, leafy greens, nuts, whole grains and legumes. It's the good stuff we should eat more of.
AWESOME theme; BAD fill. Too many proper names are a DRAG, and one of them sank me. I had "Wiener" instead of WEENIE and fixed the ending to IE, but left the I in place for iLIA. Grrr. Another possible Natick (in red on grid) was at the cross of KENDI and TALENTI, but I guessed right with an N. It didn't feel like Monday material.
On the plus side, I really liked the theme. Five common phrases, and they went in all directions. No wonder the rest relied on [im]proper answers. As I went through, I thought the reveal would have something to do with paleo. Many SUPERFOODS are part of a paleo diet, and all these happen to be ones in common.
So, it's a mixed grocery bag. Let's continue shopping:
Across:
1. Hushed "Hey, over here!": PSST. Be quiet! I'm getting PSST!
5. "What __ I supposed to do?": WAS. Past tense of my first try: AM I.
8. The Beehive State: UTAH. Here's how you can tell if a girl is from UTAH:
12. Flour for chapati and roti: ATTA.
13. Director Kazan: ELIA. Name #1 (using the "Splynter Convention").
15. Love, in Italian: AMORE.
16. [theme]
18. Tangy bud in a piccata recipe: CAPER. Yummers!
19. Multiplex array: SCREENS. Multiplex array: CANDIES. Fun Fact: Movie candies often come in small boxes because they are quieter and make sharing easier, reducing spillage.
20. "Sorta": ISH.
22. Spoiled: BAD.
23. "How To Be an Antiracist" author Ibram X. __: KENDI. Name #2. Unknown, but he's a National Book Award winner and an important voice in anti-racism.
24. Indigenous name of Mount Rainier: TAHOMA. Name #3. "Sorta" knew.
26. Those people's: THEIR.
28. Bar purchases: ROUNDS.
31. Italian model on the cover of many romance novels: FABIO. Name #4. Here he is about to be smacked in the face by a goose while riding a roller coaster at my old haunt, Busch Gardens Williamsburg. He should have honked.
34. Spiritual guide: GURU.
36. Move suddenly: DART. Was FABIO quicker than a goose? Alas, no. He required a few stitches on his nose.
37. Comedian Wong: ALI. Name #5. There's something funny about this one.
38. [theme].
41. Opposing vote: NAY.
42. Fireplace stack: LOGS.
44. Hankering: URGE.
45. Utility bill info: USAGE.
47. Pendant with a photo: LOCKET.
49. "Hamilton" actress Renée __ Goldsberry: ELISE. Name #6. NAY. Another unknown. I need to get out more.
51. Zedonk or zorse: HYBRID. A zedonk is a sterile hybrid offspring of a female donkey and a male zebra. The much rarer reverse cross—a male donkey and a female zebra—is called a "zonkey." Even though they look alike, please don't confuse them. They are very sensitive.
53. Loses, as fur: SHEDS. Zebroids (the general term for HYBRIDs above) shed their thin summer coats in the fall and grow a thicker, shaggier winter coat. When spring arrives and daylight hours increase, they shed their striped pajamas to prepare for warmer weather.
56. "__ willikers!": GEE.
58. Spanish sun: SOL. That's odd. I always thought we shared the same sun.
59. "Gnarly!": AWESOME.
61. One-named "Skyfall" singer: ADELE. Name #7. I knew this because she only has one name to remember.
63. [theme]
65. Yellowstone grazer: BISON. Yellowstone gazer: TOURIST.
66. Sailing: ASEA.
67. Like water surrounding a startled cuttlefish, maybe: INKY. This one's very scared.
68. Slow-cooker dish: STEW.
69. Burnable data-storage medium, for short: CD-R. CD-R stands for Compact Disc Recordable, and they can only be written on once. CD-RW is the Read/Write version that allows multiple recordings.
70. Golf pegs: TEES.
Down:
1. Campaign support gps.: PACS. Political Action CommitteeS.
2. Soup base: STOCK.
3. One of 500+ in the Mall of America: STORE. Because "screaming kids" didn't fit.
4. Gelato brand in clear jars with brown screw-top lids: TALENTI. Name #8. I don't STOCK up on this.
5. Hot dog, casually: WEENIE.
6. "Sadly ... ": ALAS.
7. Sloth, for one: SIN. "What did I do to deserve this distinction?"
8. Actress Thurman: UMA. Name #9. She's tall, but famous around here for her short fill.
9. [theme]
10. Vicinity: AREA.
11. Group of buffalo: HERD. Unlike BISON who are seen but not HERD.
14. Nepal's continent: ASIA.
15. "Gesundheit" elicitor: ACHOO. Technically, the answer should be "hatschi," which is German onomatopoeia for the sneezing sound.
17. Sleeper who takes all the blankets: BED HOG. Here's double trouble; a bunk BED HOG!
21. "I dunno" gesture: SHRUG.
24. Plodded: TRUDGED.
25. Coffee, slangily: MUD. Of all the slang expressions for
coffee, MUD is the worst. It evokes stale coffee at work that's been
sitting in the pot all day.
27. "Young Frankenstein" assistant: IGOR. Name #10. Finally a fun one!
29. "What a __!": DRAG. Not sure why this has an exclamation point. I doubt anyone gets very excited about something that is tiresome. Unless, of course, they mean you're racing in a Top Fuel Funny Car!
30. Eyelid affliction: STYE.
31. Autumn: FALL.
32. Potatoes, in Indian cuisine: ALOO. Bench warmer "Potatoes" ALOO is the black sheep of the famous baseball family.
33. [theme]
35. Instagram video: REEL.
39. Closing section of a song: OUTRO. As you suspected, it's at the opposite end of the intro.
40. Productive oil well: GUSHER.
43. Pie in the __: SKY. Pie in the FACE - because it's funnier!
46. Deems appropriate: SEES FIT.
48. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" actor Buddy: EBSEN. Name #11. Well known actor, but not from this 1961 film. "Let's see, it's Monday so I'll clue a minor role for a famous actor." I remember the movie, but not his immortal turn as Doc Golightly.
50. "Cross my heart!": I SWEAR.
52. "Casablanca" heroine: ILSA. Name #12. Common crossword fill, but still...
54. Lorna __ cookies: DOONE. Name #13. The cookies are named after the protagonist in the romance novel from 1869 because she loved shortbread cookies. I think. I confess I haven't read it.
55. Chimney output: SMOKE.
56. Chats on and on: GABS.It's a gift.
57. Revise a manuscript: EDIT.
59. Mimicked: APED.
60. "Grand" ice cream: EDY'S. Name #14. It's delicious but still a proper name.
62. Burner setting: LOW.
64. L.A. school: USC. University of Southern California.
8 comments:
There are so many
reasons why this puzzle was NOT a “walk in the park”! The crossing of “Talenti” and “Kendi” was just one of a host of obscurities! I honestly thought I was going to end up with a FIW for the first time on a Monday crossword EVER but somehow I escaped that fate by the skin of my teeth! FIR, and I’m happy about that, but, overall, I am NOT happy about this puzzle!
Subgenius out!
Hi there~!
Thanks for recognition, Rusty, and yes, I got Naticked by the "N" in those two names as well - I knew Elia from previous puzzles, but that doesn't change this crossname construction - but I was following the lead from Hahtoolah for the name numbering format~!
Good morning!
RustyBrain took the ink right out of my pen: "Too many proper names are a DRAG, and one of them sank me. I had "Wiener" instead of WEENIE and fixed the ending to IE, but left the I in place for iLIA. Grrr. Another possible Natick (in red on grid) was at the cross of KENDI and TALENTI, but I guessed right with an N." I hate it when I score a DNF on a Monday. Sheesh. Thanx, Taylor and RustyBrain. (Loved the photo of the startled cuttlefish.)
UMA: She's also a talented narrator of nature programs.
GUSHER: It's not what you're hoping for -- it's an indication that somebody screwed up. Badly.
Reminded me of a TV Guide crossword.
FIR, but weiner->WEENIE, and dunne->DOONE.
Hand up for correctly guessing TALENTI x KENDI. Methinks that there is something in our subconscious that rings a bell for one of these, since we've all guessed the same way so far. But I have no idea which word tolls.
Remember Hughes Air West, top BANANAin the west?
I ran into Buddy EBSEN at Boys Market in Marina del Rey once during his Barnaby Jones days. I was surprised that he was doing his own shopping (alone,) and that he looked to be 100 years old without his Max Factor.
I loved The Buckinghams' big hit Kind of a DRAG. Upbeat, cheery music, with very sad lyrics.
"WAITER! This coffee tastes like MUD!" "Sir, what did you expect? It was ground this morning."
Thanks to Taylor for the mostly-fun puzzle, even though Patti ran it on the wrong day. And thanks to Rusty Brain for the fun review.
FIR. I had to really work at this and it's a Monday puzzle!
So many things about today's puzzle that seem wrong. The crossing of Talenti and Kendi (who?) for one. Not to mention all the proper names sprinkled throughout. Even the theme seemed a stretch. I got the foods in the starred answers, I just don't think of thrm as super foods. That seems odd to me.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
I agree, this was not Monday-level...more like a Wednesday, but that's not the responsibilty of the constructor.
The puzzle itself was a mixed bag of cleverness, obscurities, and too-easy clues.
I give it a 6/10.
Good Morning:
With fill such as Kendi, Talenti, Tahoma, Elise, and Fabio, plus the questionable clue for Ebsen, this was definitely not a Monday puzzle. I suppose the editing staff’s reasoning was that the perps were fair enough, but some of you have proved that theory wrong. However, the theme was quite clever, with the added layer of the first word of the themers being closely, if not strongly, synonymous with Super. Nits aside, I enjoyed the solve.
Thanks, Taylor, and thanks, RB, for a humorous and informative commentary. Thanks, also, for subbing for sumdaze. All of your photos were great, but the ones depicting the theme foods were outstanding! 👏
Have a great day.
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