BOO! MalMan here...not! That's your trick. It's actually RustyBrain and I hope the rest of this review is a treat!
In between constructing crosswords, Wendy L. Brandes uses her words to make sentences, them into whole books! But today she has offered us a Human Resources job. Wait a minute (or an hour), it's not that HR. It's the Halloween witching hour, in which we add "HR" to each answer to create a Humorous Result.
20. Tees off closer to the hole in mini golf?: SHRINKS A PUTT. Sinks a Putt. I'd be teed off if I missed this tap-in. Since it's teed up, I probably should call it a drive-in.
28. Place to get rid of broken furniture and pictures of exes?: THROW AWAY ZONE. Tow Away Zone. This place is a dump.
42. Cars used to transport boxwoods and hydrangeas?: SHRUB COMPACTS. Sub Compacts. I think this used to be a Nissan Leaf.
48. Benefited from the end of daylight saving time, or a hint to 20-, 28-, and 42-Across: GAINED AN HOUR. Spring ahead; fall back. When you turn back the clocks in the fall, you get an extra hour's sleep. You're welcome. Don't forget to reset them this weekend! It's embarrassing to show up an hour late for church. (Don't ask me how I know.)
This puzzle has been haunting me into the wee hours of the night...
Across:
1. Oscar winner Sorvino: MIRA. MIRA Sorvino is an American actress, activist, and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador. She is best known for her Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning role in Mighty Aphrodite.
5. Tanqueray, Bombay, et al.: GINS.
9. Rugby formation: SCRUM. Soap formation: SCUM. Here's where soap scrum comes from:
14. Scott Turow work: ONE L.
15. "Let me do it": I CAN. These aren't exactly equals.
16. Word with party or guest: HOUSE. "Look, honey, there's light on. Maybe they have some gas. I'll be right back..."
17. Phishing line?: SCAM. What's your mother's maiden name? Just curious.
18. "99 Luftballons" singer: NENA. Lufballons are Air Balloons in English, but it was changed to Red Balloons since we simply call them "balloons" and an extra syllable was needed.
19. Country singer Keith: URBAN.
20. [theme]
23. "Bad Romance" singer Lady __: GAGA.
24. Land on the sea?: REEL IN. Winner of "Best Clue" today...and 4th album in a row. It's a record!
28. [theme]
31. Borders on: ABUTS.
33. Bedtime story, e.g.: TALE. I'm creating my own sub-theme for All Hallowed Eve.
34. Catch: SEE. As in catch a movie.
35. More than a few: MANY.
36. Food for finches: SEEDS. This guy got dressed up but took his date to a seedy place and she's not impressed.
38. Cohort of cows: HERD. Or so I've heard.
39. "__ be an honor!": IT'D.
40. Actress Chaplin: OONA. I like the name OONA, it's fun and different.
41. Puts in order: SORTS. Better than being out of SORTS.
42. [theme]
46. Area around a fireplace: HEARTH.
oo
47. Woeful sigh: ALAS.
48. [theme]
54. "Is it too risky for me?": DARE I. Famous last words. Right up there with, "Watch this!"
58. Ish: OR SO.
59. Sue Bird's alma mater, for short: UCONN. The University of Connecticut Huskies are a perennial powerhouse in women's basketball. Although UCONN sounds like the Yukon where you find huskies, the mascot was chosen while the school was still named the Connecticut Agricultural College, so it's just a coincidence.
60. Arduous hike: TREK.
61. Overflow (with): TEEM.
tt
62. Loo door sign: GENTS.
63. Ice queen with more than 400,000 computer-generated strands of hair: ELSA. Amazing, considering the average person only has between 80,000 and 150,000 hairs on their head. Lament of the animator: "That's all I can't strand; I can't strand anymore!"
64. Achy: SORE.
Down:
1. Rootless plant used in some street art: MOSS. Here's some appropriate "street moss."
2. Approximate diameter of a quarter: INCH. That's larger than a quarter-inch.
3. __ admiral: REAR. The term derived from the lowest-ranking junior admirals. They were assigned command of the REAR of the fleet, farthest from the action.
4. Omnipotent: ALMIGHTY.
5. Tree with fan-shaped leaves: GINKGO.
6. Arctic fishing tool: ICE SAW. ICE SAW one once.
7. Another name for Grandma: NANA.
8. Insta post: SNAP. Just a quick pic on Instagram.
9. Z's: SHUTEYE.
10. Nevada senator Catherine __ Masto: CORTEZ.
11. Barbecue blend: RUB.
12. Letters on Katie Ledecky's suit: USA. Katie is the most decorated female swimmer in history. At the request of her competitors, the Olympic Committee keeps awarding her gold medals hoping to slow her down in the water.
13. R&B's Boyz II __: MEN.
21. Luxury cosmetics brand: NARS. It's so exclusive that you can't even read their logo.
22. Eurasian mountain range: URALS.
25. Also-rans: LOSERS. First LOSERS try harder!
26. Like helium and xenon: INERT.
27. Has to have: NEEDS. Such as an occasional sip of blood!
drc
28. Arctic expanse: TUNDRA.
29. Starting five in basketball, e.g.: A TEAM.
30. Blob of gum: WAD. Most people hate when they step on a WAD on the sidewalk, but I don't mind.
31. Pennsylvania sect that embraces simple living: AMISH.
32. Take a dip: BATHE.
36. 2014 Winter Olympics city: SOCHI.
37. Ambient musician Brian: ENO. ENO's Music for Airports is recognized as the a seminal and influential release that defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre. AKA background music.
38. Phenoms: HOTSHOTS.
40. Procures: OBTAINS.
41. Read: SCAN.
43. Requiring immediate attention: URGENT. I hope you have good insurance...
44. San Diego squad: PADRES.
45. State with no native snakes or lizards: ALASKA. Here's St. Patrick driving the snakes away during his visit to ALASKA.
49. Scribbled reminder: NOTE. That reminds me...
50. __ Grey tea: EARL. Charlie Grey became an EARL for inventing the tea bag. Later generations made them smaller.
51. Crumbled cheesecake topping: OREO. Seems like an OREO goes with anything nowadays.
52. __ error: USER.
53. City on the Tiber: ROME.
54. Was into: DUG.
55. Good draw in blackjack: ACE. Just don't let the dealer catch you.
56. Pitcher Guidry who won a Cy Young in 1978: RON. RON Guidry, nicknamed "Louisiana Lightning" and "Gator," played 14 seasons for the New York Yankees.
Happy Halloween!
40 comments:
The gimmick was
obvious from the first themed solve, so I don’t think this puzzle was particularly difficult, especially for a Friday. But it was fun.
FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR, but ice cap->TUNDRA. And I once had a Toyota Sequoia, built on the fabulous TUNDRA chassis. Still miss that thing, but it wasn't exactly practical around here where parallel parking is the norm. Got my WAG @ GINKGO x NENA.
Thanks to Wendy for another fun challenge. I liked the theme, and for a change, it helped me complete the puzzle. And thanks to our Rusty one. Lots of laughs today.
FLN - I'm anxiously awaiting another puzzle from our fellow Cornerite Kat in the next couple of months.
Sadness TEEMs around my abode. Son and daughter are arriving here to say goodbye to their mom, as it appears that my dear wife's battle with Alzheimer's is coming to an end very soon.
Good morning!
GINKGO convinced me that XENA should'a been NENA. Don't think I've ever heard of NARS. I do remember Jack Narz as a TV game show host. Actually read the reveal this morning, and needed it to interpret those errant HRs in the themers. Well done, Wendy. Excellent recap, RustyBrain.
Jinx, it's gotta be really tough. You've known this was coming for several years, but that doesn't make it any easier.
Is it just me, or this was a bit of a subpar week for LA puzzles? And what's with the over-reliance on names for the fills? I thought that was more of a NYT's fault.
This puzzle was fast for a Friday - I pulled a D-O and didn't figure out the theme until I was already done
My granddaughter loves all things ELSA and Anna from "Frozen"
Thanks RB for a fun blog and Wendy for the puzzle
Fast for a Friday. Fun theme. NENA and NARS were all perps and the only fill new to me.
Jinx, my heart goes out to you at this sad time.
FIR. Once again a plethora of proper names. And are we to assume that Nars is a brand probably used by the constructor? That'd be my guess. But I've never heard of it.
I got the theme before the reveal, but the reveal was a disappointment. Since the theme answers were abbreviations of "hour", I expected the reveal to have "hr" in it. That's confusing.
Overall a so-so puzzle.
Took 6:55 today to hit a HR.
Lots of unknown names, and I'm looking you "Nars" and "Ron." But, I knew the Actress of the Day (Mira).
Jinx, good luck. Sounds excruciating. I'm sorry.
Never a good sign when the first clue is a name. Done in by the wrong guess at the junction of unknown singer and tree. Can we please have more crossWORD puzzles? Hang in there, Jinx. Went through that with my grandmother and father-in-law. Never gets easier as the end comes near.
Jinx- thoughts and prayers for you and your family as you navigate this difficult season.
Fraidy Friday. Thanks for the fun, Wendy and RustyBrain (loved your Halloween subtheme).
I FIRed in very good time for a Friday, but like KS, I went looking for missing HOUR in the themers, and missed the reveal. D’uh! I had noted the SHRs and THR.
Perps were friendly for unknown-to-me names like CORTEZ, NARS, NENA.
The SW corner held me up. With NN in place at 59A, I WAGged UpeNN. ACE made me rethink, and UCONN final appeared.
Canadian Summer McIntosh and Ledecki have a great competition going on. McIntosh beat Ledecky to win the gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships.
We had “achy” as a clue today, after my discussion yesterday.
One of these days, Trey will be in a 56D clue.
Go Jays Go!
Wishing you all a great day.
Sorry for your family’s pain. It can be so hard
Jinx, I am so sorry for the pain and sadness that you are facing. I hope that you are able to draw comfort from the love of the family that surrounds you and from many happy memories of better times with your beloved wife.
16 names, 6 DNKs among them, yet managed to race through this CW to FIR in a best-time-ever-for-Friday 8 minutes. Things just seemed to fall in place. Embarrassed to admit I never got the theme, and I did take the time to look. Never caught onto HR being stuck into the theme fills. Oy. Thanx WLB for the on-my-wavelength CW, very clever. Thanx too to RustyBrain for the terrific Halloween themed write-up. Also, thanx for including that picture of the moss street art. I never heard of moss street art and was unable to imagine how moss could be made into street art. I've got a bunch of full-size Snicker bars for trick-or-treaters. I'm gonna offer them a choice between the Snickers bar and a potato. I read where half the kids choose the potato. I find that hard to believe, but will find out. I also have some old potatoes with eyes, so I will offer a potato with eyes or a blind potato. (No eyes). Or a Snickers. Jinx, my condolences.
So sorry, Jinx, for this very painful time in your life.
Musings
-This puzzle was a pleasant experience for me, NARS notwithstanding.
-SHRINKS A PUTT gave me the gimmick and a :-). Knowing this early actually helped with the solve and enjoyment.
-Those SCRUMS are very violent and are done without helmets
-Phishing elements: Phone rings and there is no ID. I answer and hear nothing until there is a “voip” sound and I can hear a voice with many other voices in the background in some boiler room operation. I say something rude and hang up. The only issue is some calls I want to answer come up with no ID, especially from my doctors’ offices. ALAS.
-Ah, “Land” is a verb in this actual fishing clue.
-SORTS: As I’ve said before, this is mandatory for bills in my wallet in my OCD world. :-)
-U PENN worked too and gave me perfectly permissible APE and REN going down at first. Getting the “There are some errors in your work” sent me back.
-After brushing Lily for fifteen minutes (at her insistence) the brush is so full of her “hairs” that I wonder how many she must have per inch.
-For some reason I know that GINKGO trees coexisted with dinosaurs
-SLUMBER preceded SHUTEYE
-Being on the A TEAM in my small school was the ultimate appellation (how ‘bout that pretentious word?)
-22-yr-old Toronto Bluejay phenom Trey Yesavage set a rookie World Series record by striking out 12 LA Dodgers Wed. He was also the first pitcher ever to do it without issuing a walk.
-That is so sad to hear, Jinx.
-Nice job, RB!
Oops, never got the theme. A few unknowns like NENA, CORTEZ, NARS. Perps came to the rescue. I had island > land in > REEL IN.
I was not too fond of this puzzle, but really liked RB’s review and his Halloween theme. BOO.
Oops again not land in (that’s the clue) but I had fall in.
Dreary theme, dreary puzzle. Not actually awful, like Thursday’s, but two duds in a row nevertheless.
The theme idea was a lot better than the execution. I didn’t think the HR additions were clever enough for a Friday puzzle.
Have never heard of NARS. The closest thing to a delight in this puzzle was the misdirection about the state lacking reptiles. I was well aware that Hawaii has no snakes but didn’t realize Alaska also has none.
Uh, Rusty, wouldn’t one show up an hour early for church, rather than late, if they set their clocks back an hour?
Jinx, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Hola! Alas! WINE instead of GINS set me on the wrong path in the center but otherwise the rest filled nicely. SCRUM is fun to say! MIRA Sorvino filled immediately as I am a big fan of "Mighty Aphrodite". It's a hoot!
Here in Arizona, we neither gain nor lose AN HOUR. We don't observe DST.
The one year we tried it, it was still daylight at 11 P.M.
NARS is unknown to me, and I used to browse the cosmetics aisle studying the various brands. In those days I was really into cosmetics.
Thank you, Wendy and Rusty Brain, for the fun to day.
Jinx, I am so sorry for your ordeal and I'm sending prayers your way for you and your family.
🫤 meh
Two days in a row…. 🫤 meh
Flowed fairly smooth.
Too many names.
Editors must be at halloween happy hour to publish so many “meh” puzzles this week.
Anonymous Pete here, lurker for many years. Jinx, I am so sorry that you are going through this arduous experience. My prayers are with you. I feel most connected with you among all the usual contributors.
Pretty simple for a Friday. Theme made it even easier. Jinx, thoughts and prayers with you. Alzheimer's is painful for all. I enjoyed the recap Rusty Brain.
Thank you RustyBrain, very insightful review...
I did this puzzle many hours ago, the time, and memory has slipped away.
But I do seem to remember trying to find silly images for some of the clue/answers, like:
Scrum, I am still learning about this strange word...
I do not normally post in these situations, because I just don't know what to say. But I know what you a going through, and would not wish it on my worst enemy. After many years of tender care, when DW's mother passed, I finally broke down and cried at her funeral. I think it was the only funeral I ever cried at...
41. Puts in order: sorts
this is what happens when I try to get above the mess...
Jinx. Sending you comforting thoughts & prayers. I'm glad you'll have more family there to lean on.
Thanks to Wendy for turning her clever idea into a puzzle we can enjoy!
Thanks to RustyBrain for all the Halloween images!
Challenging, but delightful Friday puzzle, many thanks, Wendy. And thank you for your always helpful commentary and pictures, Rusty--I always appreciate those too. Today I especially liked seeing the photo of those lovely Ginkgo leaves. I've never heard of this plant before so this was interesting news for me.
I spent my teen years in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is the home of a sweet AMISH population, so it was nice to have them mentioned in the puzzle today. Well, it's getting close to lunch time, as the OREO reference reminded me, so I'd best head off and get that taken care of. Have a lovely, healthy day, everybody--especially you, Jinx, at this difficult time. We'll be thinking of you.
Cheers, Misty
So sorry to hear, Jinx. No one should go though what you have.
I may have misremembered and it was from the spring ahead instead.
Jinx, for quite some time now you and your dear wife have been in my prayers...it's my privilege to include the rest of your family.
I enjoyed the solve but a Friday it was not. Too bad the theme and those added HRs weren’t baseball centric, considering the timing of the World Series being played. Like others, I was unfamiliar with Nars, Cortez, and Nina, but the rest was pretty straightforward and led to a quick and easy solve.
Thanks, Wendy, and thanks, RB, for the fun review and the Halloween motif. Loved St. Pat driving the snakes from Alaska. Your punny sense of humor is infectious!
We had two separate power outages last night, supposedly due to downed trees. Lots of downpours and heavy winds made for a very unpleasant evening.
Have a great day.
When names amass I find refuge with the Merriam Webster Missing Letter CW.
Jinx, I’m sorry for your pain and loss. I hope you find peace and comfort in your fond memories of better times.
I’m sorry to hear this…I hope you find some comfort with your family.
Tough, Jinx. T’s and P’s. I was my Great Uncle’s favorite Great Nephew until the last few years. It hurt me so bad every time I’d see him he’d ask someone “ who’s that guy?” and point at me. But I understood. Stay strong for the family.
My best wishes are going out to you, Jinx.
Alzheimer's is one of the sadder ways to shuffle off this mortal coil. Try to resurrect your memories of your wife as she was before. We all love you here.
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