CAPTAIN'S LOG
STAR TREK: The Next Generation humor
Splynter here, coming to you from the Village of (which is better than just) Babylon, Long Island, NY - down here visiting my super-pooch buddy Cooper~! It would appear that this is Ricky J Sirois' debut for the LA Times - I see three of his puzzles in 'another' publication ;7)) Congratulations~! A quick and easy solve, with the rare black square to start us off at "1A." A handful of names, most of them not too obsure, no circles, more than double the # of 4LWs over 3LWs today, and only a couple of unique fills for the theme answers;
16. Battle over a board: CHESS MATCH
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Check - that's a "mate" for me - I'd be game to play her in chess, mate
24. "Peyton Place" and "Diamonds Are Forever" actress: LANA WOOD - I have seen the James Bond movie - not the best 007 of the franchise, IMO - where she plays "Plenty O'Toole; the names they used in those films.... anyway, Peyton Place is before my time - Her IMDb
The show's Wiki
37. Semester-long writing assignment: TERM PAPER - never had to do one
53. Film hitman played by Keanu Reeves: JOHN WICK - whenever a "John Wick" movie is playing on TV, my brother and I will text each other
Mostly gratuitous violence, but I will stay tuned and watch
63. Place for a nonurgent issue, and what can be found at the end of 16-, 24-, 37-, or 53- Across?: BACK BURNER - each theme answer has something to "burn" at the end, or, "back"
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Home of the Colosseum: ROME - and now you can have one of your very own, in LEGO~!
9,036 pieces, about $1799 - that's 19￠a piece . . . .
5. Muffin fiber: BRAN - I prefer my "fiber" to be chocolate and/or chocolate chip - I had chocolate chip cream cheese on my egg everything bagel Sunday - and it was good
9. Actor Omar: EPPS - name #1, in crosswords all the time
13. Cut off: SEVER
14. In __ parentis: LOCO - not "crazy", but in "place" of an adult/teacher, though it might be hard to tell the difference . . . . last week my ex-wife sent me a friend request on Facebook - crazy.
15. "Star Wars" heroine: LEIA - name #2
ah, the stuggles of being a parent....
18. Performed at a karaoke party: SANG - I need to find a place to do some karaoke
19. Broadcasts: AIRS
20. Super-: UBER - the prefix, not the taxi service seen Monday
21. Pt. of some school names: TECH- I attended Rensselaer PolyTECHnical Institute up in Troy, NY, for one unpleasant semester; then Island Drafting and TECHnical Institute in Amityville on Long Island some 15 years later
22. Places for plugs: DRAINS - think sinks & tubs, not ads & ears😜
27. Filming location: SET - here's me "on set" back in 1997 making stones from chunks of foam
28. "__ go time!": "IT'S"
Hey, John Wick is on . . .
30. Sigh, say: EXHALE - I am House/Dog/Cat/Fish-sitting for my brother and his new wife as they are on their honeymoon down at Cape May for the week; they are active THC 'consumers', and I discovered "instructions" on one of the "products" label;
Really~?!?!
31. School administrator: DEAN - don't let them catch you with that joint~!
33. Tiny bit: IOTA - I used to 'inhale', but just a tiny bit...
36. Summers on the Seine: ETES - Did you know that estivate is the opposite of hibernate~? I'd do it every summer if I could get away with it
40. Be rife (with): TEEM
43. Bump from office: OUST
44. Baseball feature: SEAM
47. __ film: ACTION - Hey, John Wick is on . . .
49. Apropos: APT
51. Plead: BEG
56. Dog star: LASSIE - not "Sirius" - name(ish)
Aye, there's a pretty lassie - Paul Kelley, The Gallerist
58. Shift key toggle: CASE - as in UPPER and lower
59. Increase: RISE
61. 17-time WWE champion: CENA - crossword staple, name #4
His Wiki
62. Spa treatment, for short: MANIcure - also becoming a crossword staple
65. Yankee nickname of the 2000s: A-ROD - name(ish) - Alex Rodriguez
66. Paul who wrote the lyrics to "My Way": ANKA - name #6, but I knew this one
67. Burlap bags: SACKS
68. Land in the sea: ISLE
69. Home for a heron: NEST
70. Fencing blade: ÉPÉE
DOWN:
1. Brought back on board: REHIRED
2. Took in too much: OVERATE - not over-rate
3. World Cup superstar Lionel: MESSI- name #7
4. Hosp. areas: ERs
5. Squeal: BLAB
6. Canned brand often used in chili con queso: RO✯TEL - filled via perps, but I see this at my Big Y
7. Ghana's capital: ACCRA - geographic name(ish)
8. Japanese drama: NOH - I know noh, but it doesn't stay in my head
9. Some other place: ELSEWHERE - meanwhile, back on planet Earth . . .
10. Woolen outer layer: PEACOAT
11. Small puncture: PINHOLE
12. Droop: SAG
13. Oodles: SCADS
17. "You __ be joking": "MUST"
21. Price addition: TAX
23. Cloud __: NINE - My buddy Cooper was on Cloud Nine when we went to the park
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That's mybrother trying to get Cooper to sit before the ball toss
25. Kind of tide: NEAP
26. __ Moines, Iowa: DES - geographical name #2
29. Liu of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings": SIMU - Ah. Not "Lucy" - his IMDb, name #9
32. Sign at a convenience store: ATM INSIDE - good fill
34. Curtailed missions?: OPS - 'shortened' OPerationS
35. "Bye-bye!": "TA-TA~!"
38. Rice-A-__: RONI - found not far from the RO-TEL, usually
39. Spanish "this": ESTA
40. Blues guitarist __ Mahal: TAJ - not much difference between the place or the person, IMO - his Wiki - name #10
41. Green vehicles: ECO-CARS - meh. I had HYBRIDS first
42. Gas additive: ETHANOL - usually 10%, and isn't good for small engines, like snowblowers and lawn mowers - so I have been told
45. Attendance record spoiler: ABSENCE
46. "Trust your keys with ... " car care chain: MEINEKE - I know this brand, but I don't recall this catch-phrase from the ads
48. Be in debt: OWE
50. Commoner: PLEB - seen it before in crosswords
52. Clock innards: GEARS
54. Origami figure: CRANE - I made a squirrel a couple of months back, left it in the "Art Box" that's in front of a house on my morning walks - I have left other creations in there before, too - and we have a "library" that's similar to the Art Box around the way in another part of the neighbothood, as well.
55. Shoes, casually: KICKS
Some zip-up, high-heel, high-top "kicks"
57. Consign to the dustbin: SCRAP
60. Three-player card game: SKAT
62. "Heart on My Sleeve" singer Ella __: MAI - no clue, filled via perps, name #11 - more here
63. Block: BAN- had to wait to see if it was baN or baR
64. Purpose: USE - Dah~! Not AIM
Splynter
Hey, John Wick is on . . . .
After I solved the puzzle,
ReplyDeleteI went back and saw all the items that made the reveal make sense. I thought it was pretty clever. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteOnly ROTEL, LANA, and SIMU required perp help this morning. Forgot to look for the theme. Again. PEACOAT was the only part of my Navy uniform that I kept. Donated it when we moved to Texas -- weather's not cold enough for a peacoat. Enjoyed the outing, Ricky, and your leggy expo, Splynter. (This isn't Ricky's LAT debut.)
FIW, missing with UsER x BLAs. I may not understand the science of cluing. I thought "super-" meant the fill was an adjunct, not a replacement, for "super." Unless there is a super-UBER, in which case I need to get out more. My only erasure was sirius for LASSIE.
ReplyDeleteHad to wait for MANI/pedi and bar/BAN.
I never joke about my work, 007 is my stock answer when someone says to me "you MUST be joking."
A young man had a date with his steady for their first prom. Just in case everything went exceptionally well, he stopped by the local pharmacy to buy some family planning devices. At the register, the clerk rang him up and said "that'll be $5.35, please." The young man said "but the tag said $5.00. What's the 35 cents for?" "TAX" said the clerk. Taken aback, the young man gasped and said "Tacks? I thought they stayed on by themselves!"
Thanks to Ricky for the fun, mostly easy humpday special. And thanks to Splynter for another great review, plus the bonus leg shots.
Took 5:22 today to answer the phone.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Actress of the Day (Lana Wood), but knew the Actors of the Day (Simu & Epps [and Cena?]). I didn't know the female singer (Mai), but knew the male singer (Anka). I also didn't know the blues guitarist (Taj), and had my usual struggles with Spanish (esta), French (etes), and Latin (loco).
Do "ecocars" exist outside of crossword puzzles?
FIR in 10:24 with a few changes along the way, slews gave way to SCADS, tag became TAX, and peon turned to PLEB (isn’t there supposed to be an E at the end?). Unknown names that needed perps, LANA WOOD, MAI, SIMU, and MEINEKE, (which I’ve heard of, but not in years). LOCO also needed perps. I liked the theme and the reveal, no circles needed. Thank you Ricky for the enjoyable solve and to Splynter for your in-depth review. 44.7% on the pre-rolled herbage? That’s some real wacky tobacco!
ReplyDeleteFIR. Once again crossing proper names which is so wrong. Rotel and Lana took a WAG to get the win.
ReplyDeleteI saw the theme early on and that made the solve go smoothly. But the plethora of proper names was an annoyance.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
*tobaccy
ReplyDeleteDue to unknown proper names it was a little tough for a Wed. Peyton Place from when I was a kid; never saw it or had heard of LANA Wood.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know anything about JOHN WICK's profession until it was filled by clues.
"Active THC consumers", aka as 'stoners'.
I've never heard of shoes as KICKS or SIMU, but the perps took care of it.
LASSIE for 'Dog star'- not my first thought.
ATM INSIDE- I see the signs but the only time I use an ATM is in my car with the engine going and in gear so I can run over anybody who approaches. Banks have walk up ATMs on the outside but there's no way I would ever walk up to one of them and get cash with people looking at me.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI don’t know why Ricky’s other puzzles didn’t show up on Splynter,’s radar, because he has appeared several times and is one of my favorite constructors.
Today’s offering had a cute theme with a surprise reveal as, having noticed all the flammable items, I was expecting fire or blaze or something similar as the unifier. Mai was the only unknown but, like YP, I thought Pleb was missing an E.
Thanks, Ricky, and thanks, Splynter, for the commentary. Hope your housesitting duties go well and that you enjoy your time with Cooper.
Have a great day.
Wacky Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Ricky and Splynter.
ReplyDeleteOfficially a FIW today, but I did get the BACK BURNER theme.
My downfall was the Natick cross (for me) of ROTEL and LANA. I WAGged a D instead of the L.
My second Natick cross was the totally unknown to this Canadian MEINEKE and CENA. I was dabbling with an R or N and chose the R.
“What Jinx said” about Super- . I entered UsER, but knew it was wrong when I reached 64D. The dash threw me off from thinking of a synonym.
Hand up for waiting for perps to decide between MANI/pedi and BAN/BAr.
I hung unto the French Lieu instead of being consistent with the Latin LOCO.
After Lucina’s Spanish lessons, I knew to wait for perps to decide between ESTA or ESTe or ESTo. The clue had no indication of gender.
I had Grow before RISE.
It isn’t just herons who have a NEST for a home. That was a stretched clue!
I am not familiar with KICKS as slang for shoes. Perhaps it is regional usage.
But this Canadian knew ANKA and SIMU. We have had SIMU or Liu SCADS of times in prior CWs, and I have commented on his start on the Canadian TV show, Kim’s Convenience.
Wishing you all a great day.
I think the hyphen after Super- is meant to let us know that it’s not a complete word but a prefix. I too at first was thrown by this.
DeleteI FIR and really enjoyed the theme. I needed perps for SIMU, LANA WOOD, MAI, KICKS, CENE, but no problem.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite entry was LASSIE for Dog Star.
I used to have most of TAJ Mahal’s LPs.
ROTEL tomatoes are a go-to staple for Cajun cooking down here.
Thank you Splynter for that leggy review. Cute joke about your friend JOHN WICK.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I did not know of LANA WOOD’s work but did know she was Natalie’s little sister and was very suspicious of how her older sister died.
-My plans for yesterday were put on the BACK BURNER once I saw the huge limb across my deck a 6:30 am
-I’m glad I did not have to spell Colosseum
-We teachers act In LOCO Parentis all the time but have to be careful about it
-I discovered that MOTE was not right for a small particle when I had _ O T _
-It was said that Ted Williams was such a good hitter he could read the SEAMS on a fastball
-I have read that Frank Sinatra did not like the song My Way although it became his signature song
-I remember when Nebraska was called “The White Spot” because it had no sales TAX.
-A lot of the bumper crop of corn this year will find its way into one of the many ETHANOL plants in our state
-Irish’s second paragraph is exactly what I was thinking! How does she do that? :-)