Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. Our Saturday blogger, Husker Gary, introduced us to today's constructor on February 24, 2024. Today's puzzle is Guilherme's second LAT publication.
Theme:
Each of the three themed answers contains the letters R, O, P, and E with just one letter between them -- a very specific requirement. The circles highlight how the R's, O's, P's, and E's line up vertically in the grid. Wow! I'll insert it now, in case you missed Guilherme's fancy footwork.
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| ...went upstairs to kiss a fellow. How many fellows did she kiss? One, two, three, four, .... (Did you play this jump rope game at your school?) |
Each of the three themed answers contains the letters R, O, P, and E with just one letter between them -- a very specific requirement. The circles highlight how the R's, O's, P's, and E's line up vertically in the grid. Wow! I'll insert it now, in case you missed Guilherme's fancy footwork.
20 Across. Cornucopia: HORN OF PLENTY. In Latin, cornu means HORN and copiae means PLENTY or "abundance".
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| Notice that the basket is HORN-shaped. |
28 Across. "Can't Fight This Feeling" band: REO SPEEDWAGON. This one gets a slight ding for the extra E immediately following the P. Nevertheless, it was a fun change to see REO's full name in a grid. Here is that 1984 song (with lyrics):
45. Device for inflating tires: AIR COMPRESSOR. 
The reveal ties everything together:
52 Across. Cord in some cardio workouts, or an apt description of each set of circled letters in this puzzle: SKIPPING ROPE. The letters R, O, P, and E literally SKIP.
This is an 8:19 min. compilation of choreographed jump rope videos.
Watch until you've had your fill. (I could not turn it off.)
Let's move on to the remaining clues.
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| Perhaps this wise BIRD OF PREY will help guide us? |
Across:
1. Puff of smoke: WISP.
5. Veer off course, as a ship: YAW. Def.: (intransitive verb) of a ship: to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea); especially: to move from side to side.
8. Morales who becomes Spider-Man in the "Spider-Verse" films: MILES. Miles Morales is a comic book character created in 2011. I am going to over-simplify this and say that he is not replacing the other Spider Man. Rather, he is from an alternate universe. Perhaps a true fan can tell us more....
13. Love, in León: AMOR.
14. App Store patron: USER.
16. Joker, to Batman: ENEMY.
17. Feng __: SHUI. Def.: (noun) a Chinese geomantic practice in which a structure or site is chosen or configured so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it.
5. Veer off course, as a ship: YAW. Def.: (intransitive verb) of a ship: to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea); especially: to move from side to side.
8. Morales who becomes Spider-Man in the "Spider-Verse" films: MILES. Miles Morales is a comic book character created in 2011. I am going to over-simplify this and say that he is not replacing the other Spider Man. Rather, he is from an alternate universe. Perhaps a true fan can tell us more....
13. Love, in León: AMOR.
16. Joker, to Batman: ENEMY.
17. Feng __: SHUI. Def.: (noun) a Chinese geomantic practice in which a structure or site is chosen or configured so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it.
also : orientation, placement, or arrangement according to the precepts of feng shui.
This is a 1 min. video on how to use feng shui to arrange your office.
Note: This guy talks fast so you might need to read the subtitles. He has a lot of good
Feng Shui videos. Find him on YouTube @DearModern.
18. Curly cabbage in the mustard family: KALE.
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| Kale is a good source of vitamins C & K, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. |
19. Software extension: ADD-ON. This is a piece of software that enhances existing software without having to start from scratch.
23. Beatles opener?: THE. The question mark hints that we might not be talking about the opening song from a Beatles performance. Similar to The Who, not "Who", they were "The Beatles", not just "Beatles".
Please Please Me was their debut studio album, released in 1963. Can you guess what was the opening song off that album? I'll give you just seventeen guesses.
24. NNW reversal: SSE. Think "compass".
25. Animation frame: CEL.
32. Chatted on WhatsApp, briefly: IMed. Instant Messaged. (Hi C.C.!)
34. Overtime cause: TIE. This clue references sports -- not work hours. A tie score will throw a game into overtime.
35. Quarrel: ARGUE. Quarrel is a verb here.
36. Quick snooze: NAP.
37. Nile reptile: ASP.
38. Bought by us: OUR.
41. Zagreb native: CROAT. CROAT is the demonym for the ethnic group native to Croatia. A "Croatian" is from Croatia but not necessarily an ethic CROAT.
43. Media with reflective sides: CDs.
Notice that in this video The Beatles do not yet to "own" the stage.
24. NNW reversal: SSE. Think "compass".
25. Animation frame: CEL.
32. Chatted on WhatsApp, briefly: IMed. Instant Messaged. (Hi C.C.!)
34. Overtime cause: TIE. This clue references sports -- not work hours. A tie score will throw a game into overtime.
35. Quarrel: ARGUE. Quarrel is a verb here.
36. Quick snooze: NAP.
37. Nile reptile: ASP.
38. Bought by us: OUR.
Our House ~ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ~ 1970
IIRC, D-Otto has two cats in his yard. 🎵🎵
40. Hoppy pub pick, for short: IPA.41. Zagreb native: CROAT. CROAT is the demonym for the ethnic group native to Croatia. A "Croatian" is from Croatia but not necessarily an ethic CROAT.
43. Media with reflective sides: CDs.
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| You can hang them in your garden to keep the birds out of your strawberries. ...but then who will eat the slugs? |
44. Podiatry focus: FEET.
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| Click to enlarge. |
49. Gobbled up: ATE.
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| a wild turkey gobbling up insects |
50. Cristo Redentor's city: RIO. CSO to our Brazilian constructor!
51. Floppy rabbit part: EAR.
58. Formal "Me too": AS DO I.
61. Volcano near Sicily's east coast: ETNA.
62. Paradise: EDEN.
63. Lard Lad treat on "The Simpsons": DONUT.
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| aka Christ the Redeemer |
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| A lop-eared rabbit refers to any rabbit with ears that droop. I'm not sure if being super-cute is also a requirement. |
58. Formal "Me too": AS DO I.
61. Volcano near Sicily's east coast: ETNA.
62. Paradise: EDEN.
63. Lard Lad treat on "The Simpsons": DONUT.
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| Does Lard Lad remind you of anyone? |
64. Like an old cotton blanket: SOFT. 
65. Family dinner rule, maybe: NO TV. Dinner is the only time DH and I turn on our TV. It's just the two of us so we call it "dinner theater".
66. Paver option: SLATE.
66. Paver option: SLATE.
39 seconds
67. Short story writer Edgar Allan __: POE. six Edgar Allan Poe story suggestions just in time for Halloween
68. Deuce topper: TREY. A three tops (beats) a two for "high card".
Down:
68. Deuce topper: TREY. A three tops (beats) a two for "high card".
Down:
1. Use soap on: WASH. 
2. Texter's "As I see it": IMHO. In My Humble Opinion
2. Texter's "As I see it": IMHO. In My Humble Opinion
Some people are now speaking with texting initialisms IRL!
3. Tart-tasting: SOUR.
4. Not handwritten: PRINTED. This one made me laugh a little because printing is one form of handwriting.
5. Laugh riots: YUK FESTS. YUK is slang for laugh and FEST is short for FESTival.
6. "... and make it snappy!" letters: ASAP.
7. "Maybe, maybe not": WE'LL SEE. These are magic words for a parent.
8. Shepherd's pie filling: MEAT. The usual MEATs are beef or lamb.
9. Racing body with an annual "500" event: INDY CAR. This clue plays with the definition of body. A car body is the main structure of a car, excluding the mechanical components.<cite> Law Insider has a more detailed definition. Also, this Car and Driver article classifies the various car body styles.
3. Tart-tasting: SOUR.
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| PRINT (top) & cursive (bottom) |
5. Laugh riots: YUK FESTS. YUK is slang for laugh and FEST is short for FESTival.
6. "... and make it snappy!" letters: ASAP.
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| YUK! YUK! |
8. Shepherd's pie filling: MEAT. The usual MEATs are beef or lamb.
9. Racing body with an annual "500" event: INDY CAR. This clue plays with the definition of body. A car body is the main structure of a car, excluding the mechanical components.<cite> Law Insider has a more detailed definition. Also, this Car and Driver article classifies the various car body styles.
10. Showed the way: LED.
Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein (1974)
"Walk this way." (1:42 min.)
11. Punk subgenre: EMO.12. Antonym's opposite: Abbr.: SYN. SYNonym
I looked up "synonym" in The Synonym Finder. Ironically, it was not listed. However, It does have these words for "synonymous": equivalent, equal, even, parallel, twin, corresponding; same, similar, like, alike, identical, exact; correlative, comparable, exchangeable, transposable; reciprocative, reciprocal.
15. Witherspoon of "Big Little Lies": REESE. This is an HBO MAX series based on a novel by Liane Moriarty. It was primarily filmed in Monterey County (some of the filming locations). This is a video of the opening credits for Season 1 (2017):
21. "Caught you!": OHO. Def.: (interjection) used to express various emotions (as taunting or amused surprise).
22. Actor Beatty: NED. [1937-2021] his IMDb page
26. Like shortcake, compared to shortbread, usually: EGGIER. This word strikes me as a difficult one to clue. Eggs can be used to make recipes fluffier.
27. Gem examiner's tool: LOUPE. Wow, wasn't that heist at the Louvre gutsy??!!
15. Witherspoon of "Big Little Lies": REESE. This is an HBO MAX series based on a novel by Liane Moriarty. It was primarily filmed in Monterey County (some of the filming locations). This is a video of the opening credits for Season 1 (2017):
21. "Caught you!": OHO. Def.: (interjection) used to express various emotions (as taunting or amused surprise).
22. Actor Beatty: NED. [1937-2021] his IMDb page
26. Like shortcake, compared to shortbread, usually: EGGIER. This word strikes me as a difficult one to clue. Eggs can be used to make recipes fluffier.
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| strawberry shortcake and Scottish shortbread |
27. Gem examiner's tool: LOUPE. Wow, wasn't that heist at the Louvre gutsy??!!
28. School assignment: REPORT. 
29. Domino dot: PIP. We use the same word for dice dots.
30. Tug-of-__: WAR.
32. Andean empire: INCA.
33. Ave __: Catholic prayer: MARIA.
Luciano Pavarotti ~ Ave Maria (Shubert)
37. From __ Z: A TO.38. Verse of praise: ODE.
39. Upper chamber in Amer. politics: US SENATE. American is abbreviated, so is United States.
42. Gets the best of: ACES OUT. like a TREY over a deuce
43. Shirt that shows off one's abs: CROP TOP.
44. Landlord's sign on an empty property: FOR RENT.
46. Hosp. scan: MRI. I have not had one of these.
47. Plumbing components: PIPES.
48. Yield to gravity: SAG.
53. Lightweight toy flyer: KITE.
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| In Geometry, a KITE is a four-sided polygon where two pairs of sides that touch at a corner are the same length. |
54. Facts and figs.: INFO. figures and INFOrmation
55. Strong smell: ODOR. Losing all sense of smell is called anosmia. Some famous people with this condition include Jason Sudeikis of Ted Lasso, Ben of Ben & Jerry's, and Bill Pullman of Independence Day.
56. Folk icon Seeger: PETE. Click on the image below to hear Pete perform a well-known folk song, This Land is Your Land, written by another famous American folk singer, Woody Guthrie: 57. Green with __: ENVY.
59. Note after fa: SOL.
This is an excerpt from Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker (p. 56):
Between 1993 and 2008, the police in Germany were searching for the mysterious "phantom of Heilbronn," a woman who had been linked to forty crimes, including six murders; her DNA had been found at all the crime scenes. Tens of thousands of police hours were spent looking for Germany's "most dangerous woman," and there was a €3000,000 bounty on her head. It turns out she was a woman who worked in the factory that made the cotton swabs used to collect DNA evidence.
Have a great week, everyone! Here's one more for the road: 
24 comments:
This puzzle strikes me as
a good example of “a walk in the park.”
What do you folks think?
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Once again we had circles, and at least one of us forgot to look at 'em and didn't find the reveal too revealing. [Sigh] Guilherme provided us with a quick solve for a Monday, and sumdaze served as an exceptional tour guide. Kudos to both.
FIR without erasure. Easiest puzzle I can remember coming from the LAT.
Caught the precise spacing of the theme answers, but missed that they were in vertical alignment.
I had IMHO (instead of IIRC) yesterday, just one day too early.
DNK Lard Lad, MILES, Zagret, and it took a second to translate the name of the famous statue from Portuguese.
Thanks to Guilherme for the fun romp, and to sumdaze for another fine tour.
I got RIO ok by figuring Cristo Redentor was probably a soccer player I'd never heard of.
FIR. What a waste of time these circles were. If course i ignored them as they had no impact on the solve whatsoever!
This was a typical Monday easy puzzle with very few stumbling blocks. Good clues and helpful perps.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle, circles excepted.
For me, "soccer player" and "I'd never heard of" are redundant. Except that chick who offed her jersey after some game. I know, I know, cheap thrill. But if not for cheap thrills I'd have no thrills at all.
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Guilherme and sumdaze.
I FIRed in very good time, saw the SKIPPING ROPE theme early in the solve, and filled in those lower circles. Thanks, sumdaze, for pointing out the vertical lineup.
Three inkblots to change Whiff to WISP, LOoPE to LOUPE, and CROP Tee to TOP.
Perps were fair for any unknowns.
This Canadian has done enough CWs that ODOR enters immediately. DONUT required shrinking my DOughNUT.
Perhaps TREY will be clued by “first name of young Blue Jays pitcher Yesavage” in future CWs.
Wishing you all a great day.
Took 5:07 today to fill in everything pROPErly (I know, I didn't "skip").
I agree it's a SubG-certified WITP, aside from not knowing this Leon guy or his friend Cristo Redentor. I too ignored those pesky circles while solving, so it seemed themeless to me.
Oh joy, circles!
I too agree with S-G, a WITP. I saw the R O P E right away, but not the alignment. Good catch sumdaze. And my only unknown was MILES as clued.
I had never known anyone who consistently PRINTed when writing until I met DH. I was shocked, but since I’ve met many more who do. Maybe some cornerites do too.
sumdaze, thank you for all the good links and those adorable animal pictures and the tug of war dogs.
Musings
-Just back from taking 13-yr-old Lily up to the vet and the puzzle and Sumdaze’s lovely write-up is just what I needed to relived the stress.
-I can vividly recall the little tablets where we traced over green lines for penmanship. Uh, it didn’t work for me.
-Amazon’s logo has an arrow going from A to Z
-If you ever played ten-point pitch, you know the TREY is very important
Hand up for PRINT when handwriting. I learned to script, but never liked it and couldn't read even my own reliably.
Reminds me of the unofficial motto for Azusa, California: "Everything from A to Z in the USA."
Good Morning:
I, too, saw the skipping feature but not the vertical alignment. Nicely done. Miles was an unknown, as was the Lard Lad treat. The three themers were very solid, but the 28 TLWs were a tad too many, IMO. Overall, though, it as an enjoyable and fitting Monday solve.
Thanks, GG, and thanks, sumdaze, for the detailed analysis and the added enjoyment of my favorite tenor, Luciano, and my favorite conductor, Zubin, performing the beautiful Ave Maria. Loved all of the creatures, from the “Irish” peacock, to the wise owl and the tug of war pups and, my favorite, the cute bunny rabbit. Also enjoyed the other musical nostalgia, including The Beatles, CSNY, and Pete Seeger. Favorites comics were the inflatable car and the frayed knot. Great stuff!
HG, hope Darling Lily is in her usual fine fettle!
FLN
Jayce, feel better soon. Many of us know what you’re going through.
Have a great day.
Lily was very calm through the whole process with a very nice young woman vet. She will be a little upset as we have to cut back on her caloric intake.
Ah, what a relief: I managed to FIR in 10, typical for a Monday for me. My bad eyes had me reading "Cristo Redentor's cry" instead of "city". Ole? Bzzzt. It was only after RIO perped in that I finally saw "city". Nits: it's a jump rope, not a skipping rope. Never heard it called a "skipping rope" in all my years. And the clue asks for the noun, not a verb, where maybe "skipping rope" would work. Also, "aces out"; never heard of that, either. But these are minor nits. Overall, a brilliant CW, hard to imagine constructing this with the precision of the ROPE letters being every-other letter in the theme fills plus lining up vertically. Amazing! Thanx, GG, wonderful CW. Pitch, roll, YAW: only YAW changes the course, although usually only temporarily. Great write-up, Sumdaze, thanx. Looking at those slate pavers, that would never work in SOFLO, where the sun would turn them into a giant frypan due to their dark color. Great music, thanx for that, too. "Croptop" to show off one's abs? Another DNK. A good friend of mine just got a huge tatt on his left forearm. I kiddingly said I'd get a tattoo of a six-pack of Miller Lite on my abs so I could have six-pack abs.
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Guilherme. And thanks too for your very helpful commentary and pictures, Sumdaze.
Well, when you see AMOR and ENEMY almost next to each other in a puzzle, you get ready for expecting some possible conflict. Seeing ARGUE reinforces that, and we can only hope that our competitors, whoever they are, will use a verbal SKIPPING ROPE to make peace over whatever issues they have to negotiate to avoid any sort of WAR. If that all works out okay, they'll be ready to eat a DONUT (no, not a whole MEAL), and after they ATE, they can take a NAP and dream about being in EDEN. Maybe we should all do that too this morning.
Have a healthy and happy day, everybody.
H-Gary@11:37. Thank you for answering IM's question about Lily. I was concerned, too. Your answer not only relieved my concerns but the "caloric intake" part made me laugh.
I saw the skipped ROPE immediately. I didn't notice the vertical alignment. Outstanding theme.
Very easy Monday puzzle. MILES was totally new to me but, easily perped. I didn't know Lard Lad, but donut was easy to guess with two perps.
When I was selling my house years ago, some Chinese couples who looked at it decided it was a no go, because of the feng shui. They wanted the front door to face east.
Handwriting vs print. IMO print here means made by a mechanical process, like a printing press or home printer. I know 20 somethings who can't read cursive writing.
These days many people make strawberry short cake with a sponge cake which is full of eggs. My mother's shortcake was biscuit like with plenty of shortening, but no eggs,
AI says, "Shortcake is a crumbly, biscuit-like pastry, while sponge cake is a light and fluffy cake. The key difference lies in their texture and preparation: shortcake is more like a sweet biscuit or scone with a "short" or crumbly texture from fat, while sponge cake relies on whipped eggs for a light, airy texture."
ACE OUT is common slang for getting the better of someone.
A skipping rope is an acceptable synonym for a jump rope.
Did not see the vertical alignment either.
Ah, I don't care, I think this puzzle may be to old for me anyway...
Same here, Jinx!
I have always heard and used SKIPPING ROPE, not Jump Rope. Maybe a regional usage. Ok I Googled and found “Skipping rope is very common in the UK and European countries, whereas jump rope is more common in the USA and Asian countries.”
Hola!l Very easy Monday fill. Thank you, Guilherme. I napped after finishing so I'm really late today. HORN OF PLENTY is appropriate at this time of year.
My nieces and nephews all PRINT. They were not taught to write in cursive.
I've only ever said JUMP ROPE, so SKIPPING ROPE is unfamiliar to me.
MILES Morales is a new one for me.
YUKFEST always reminds me of the three Stooges.
I you are all having a wonderful day!
I liked this puzzle, not only because it was easy but also because it was fun to solve. I also very much enjoyed reading sumdaze's recap and all your comments.
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