Theme: "BUILT TO SCALE" - Different shoes climb up in the grid.
3. "Boom Boom" blues legend: JOHN LEE HOOKER. Heel.
7. Approach that emphasizes fundamentals: BACK TO BASICS. Sabot.
9. Group that can play a symphony: PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA. Croc.
21. "What a shame": THAT'S TOO BAD. Boot.
62. Hygiene tool on a spool: DENTAL FLOSS. Flat.
65. "How many sugars?," quaintly: ONE LUMP OR TWO. Mule.
Reveal:
58. Footwear for boulderers, and what can be found in this puzzle's circled letters: CLIMBING SHOES.
We've seen quite a few shoes in the past, but never the climbing angle. Love this fresh approach from Doug. Notice all the shoe words span across two words?
Doug is a brilliant constructor. He's also a super fast solver. This pic is from ACPT 2008.
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| Doug Peterson & Will Shortz |
Across:
1. Sandos with two spreads: PBJS. Sando is Japanese for sandwich. White bread with no crust.
5. Restaurant chain co-founded by chef Matsuhisa: NOBU. It's his given name.
9. Star's entourage: POSSE.
14. "You know you want to!": C'MON.
18. Floor plan unit: ROOM.
19. Country with a Persian-speaking majority: IRAN.
20. Operational launch time: H HOUR. And 24. Flanged support pieces: I BARS. 66. Govt. securities: T BILLS. 70. Powerful engine named for its shape: V TEN. 121. Sporty car roof: T TOP.
21. Yours, in hymns: THINE. Next Thursday our class is "Seeking the Face of God".
22. Unoriginal reply: ECHO.
23. Checkbook no.: ACCT.
25. Actress Bailey: HALLE.
26. Big Apple team: YANKS.
28. Alpine course: SKI SLOPE.
30. Spoke like a boxer: BARKED. Not the boxer in the ring.
31. Explorer Erikson: LEIF.
33. Into the latest gadgets: TECHY.
34. Call made behind one's back?: BUTT DIAL. Lock your screen.
36. Stayed in line: OBEYED.
38. Div. of Labor: OSHA.
39. Williams with four Olympic gold medals: VENUS.
40. Holiday cusp: EVE.
41. Hoppy beer: ALE.
42. Snatch quickly: GRAB.
44. Specter: WRAITH.
46. Ready for a break: TIRED.
48. Lake near Carson City: TAHOE.
50. Charcuterie board selections: SALAMIS.
52. Retired record holder?: IPOD. Fun clue.
54. Production: SHOW.
55. Omega preceder: PSI.
56. Activist Yoko: ONO.
57. Stick on a pub wall: POOL CUE.
61. Multivolume ref.: OED. Oxford English Dictionary.
63. Herb on a bánh mì sandwich: CILANTRO. I love the pickled daikon and carrots.
67. Capacious craft: ARK.
69. Rescue op: EVAC. Evacuation.
71. Knock, in slang: DIS.
72. Artemis org.: NASA.
74. "__ complicated": IT'S.
75. Can refuse to: NEEDN'T.
77. Treats flavored with syrup: SNO-CONES.
80. River project: DAM.
82. Went in circles: GYRATED.
84. Siglo de __: era of El Greco and Cervantes: ORO. Siglo de Oro means "Golden Century". Spanish Golden Age. Learning moment for me.
85. Patterned after: ALA.
86. Long-legged wader: IBIS.
89. Billy of "Titanic": ZANE. He played the snobbish fiancé of Rose.
90. Fortnite Frenz 4 Ever Blaster, for one: NERF GUN.
92. Select with a mouse: CLICK.
93. Milk source in the Sahara: CAMEL.
96. Mural on plaster: FRESCO.
98. Subject that includes set theory: MATH. And 108. Subject that includes gender theory: SEXOLOGY.
100. Prefix with natal: NEO.
101. USPS abbr.: AVE.
102. __ Loops: FROOT.
104. Court target: HOOP.
106. Barely sufficient: MEAGER.
110. Islanders' NHL division, familiarly: METRO. New York Islanders is one of the teams in the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The others are the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers.
111. Animation collectibles: CELS.
112. Stumble over: TRIP ON.
113. List of specialized terms: GLOSSARY.
116. "Dos Mujeres" painter: KAHLO. "Two Women",
119. Football features: LACES. On a baseball, the equivalent raised stitching is called seams.
120. Scrub, as a mission: ABORT.
123. Dish in a bowl: SOUP.
124. "My stars!": EGADS.
125. Episcopal figure: VICAR.
126. Stealthy flyers: OWLS.
127. Clark from Smallville: KENT.
128. Wildlife refuges: DENS.
129. Walled Spanish city: AVILA.
130. Dig like a pig: ROOT.
131. Seeks information: ASKS.
Down:
1. Salmon, to bears: PREY.
2. __ Raton: BOCA.
4. "__ and the Bandit": SMOKEY.
5. "Candyman" director DaCosta: NIA. She also directed "The Marvels".
6. Brutish Tolkien characters: ORCS.
8. Disentangles: UNTIES.
10. "I can't wait!": OH BOY.
11. Stuff in a pump bottle: SOAP.
12. Guaranteed winner: SURE BET.
13. Workplaces for triage nurses: Abbr.: ERS.
14. Leafy vegetable: CHARD. I just had stir-fried cabbage every day for the past 5 days.
15. More opalescent: MILKIER.
16. Ashore, perhaps: ON LEAVE.
17. Mocked playfully: NEEDLED.
27. Sustained attack: SIEGE.
29. Phonetic symbol: SCHWA.
30. Furnace meas.: BTU.
32. Pres. who created the "alphabet agencies": FDR.
35. Not cool: UNHIP.
36. Breakfast sometimes prepared overnight: OATS. So good in summer.
37. Ho-hum: BLAH.
39. Helmet feature: VISOR.
43. Pet welfare org.: ASPCA.
45. "Yer lyin'!": AIN'T SO.
47. South Indian rice cake: IDLI.
49. "You __ it to yourself ... ": OWE.
51. Word rapper Bow Wow dropped from his stage name: LIL
53. Nursery containers: POTS.
59. Final: Abbr.: ULT.
60. Squiggly letter: ESS.
64. Loves to bits: ADORES.
67. Lee with two Best Director Oscars: ANG.
68. "West Coast" singer Lana Del __: REY. Stunning singer.
73. Mountain pose, for one: ASANA.
76. Stunned state: DAZE.
78. Baseball team's starting lineup, e.g.: NONET.
79. Pester: NAG.
81. Feel rotten: AIL.
83. Clear of condensation: DEFOG.
87. Drink with a domed lid: ICEE.
88. Toffee candy bar: SKOR.
91. __ the bill: FOOTS.
92. Sass: CHEEK.
93. Made a two-piece chess move: CASTLED.
94. Just OK: AVERAGE.
95. Like axolotls: MEXICAN. Salamander.
97. Colorful character?: ROY G. BIV.
99. Flix sister station: TMC.
103. Actor Funches of Apple TV+'s "Loot": RON.
105. One on the stump: ORATOR.
107. "North to the Future" state: ALASKA.
109. Persuasive columns: OP-EDS.
110. __ compass: MORAL.
114. Focal points: LOCI.
115. "Let's do it!" hashtag: YOLO.
117. Knucklehead: LUNK.
118. Decides: OPTS.
120. Gardner of "Show Boat": AVA.
122. LAX clock setting: PST.
C.C.
9 comments:
The fact that the theme
was immediately obvious definitely made this puzzle easier to solve. The only thing I really had to change was “nines” to “nonet.” Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
That N at the NOBU/NIA cross was just cruel. It could've been any consonant. Bzzzzzt. Guess who went with an S? That PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA grid spanner was impressive. Thanx, Doug and C.C.
FIR, but back to nature->BACK TO BASICS, and tlc->TMC.
DNK WRAITH, pretty much any rapper, pretty much any Apple+ show, pretty much any Nerf products that aren't balls, IDLI, sandos, CHARD (except as a pet name for my favorite wine,) who-owns-which TV channel, and ROYGBIV (but I figured that one out.)
The Incredible Doctor POL has a client who keeps CAMELs. On one episode the client gave him a quart of CAMEL milk, which he shared with several people in his practice. All agreed that it tasted like cow's milk.
Contrary to CC's list, METRO also includes my favorite team (Washington Capitals,) as well as Columbus Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Penguins (BOO!), Philadelphia Fliers, and Carolina Hurricanes. The Caps are the most recent METRO team to win Lord Stanley's Cup.
I donate to the Norfolk SPCA, but not the ASPAC. Local SPCAs are not related in any way with the national organization of the similar name.
Masters and Johnson were prominent figures in SEXOLOGY. The HBO series Masters of Sex told their story.
Thanks to Doug for the mostly-enjoyable Sunday puzzle. My favorite was "calls made behind one's back" for BUTT DIAL. and thanks to CC another interesting review.
G ot 'er done today in 13:18.
O h joy, circles!
L ooks like I need to watch different shows, not knowing this "Ron" or "Nia," and only knew one of the Actresses of the Day (Ava, not Halle).
C iao!
Doug pretty well showcases his talents as a constructor with this one, I would guess the center vertical spanner was the seed entry. The five fills starting with two consonants that phonetically don’t go together was also impressive, as were other entries like JOHN LEE HOOKER. I went about the grid not really noticing the circles as they weren’t really needed for the solve. I knew HALLE Berry, but not Bailey, also needed perps for NIA and RON. I’ve finally remembered IDLI from past CWs, NOBU I know, but not by that clue. We’ve seen KAHLO referenced a few times lately and I remembered her also. FIR in 24:19. All in all, a very enjoyable Sunday solve, thank you Doug for that, and to C.C. for summing it all up!!
FIW. Geesh, I hate circles! It sort of starts any CW off on a bad footing for me.
And the crossing of Nia and Nobu was cruel, and the one square this solver guessed wrong on.
Now in defense of this Sunday's puzzle, the theme was extremely easy. Even ignoring the circles it was so obvious. Too obvious!
But overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Musings
-The Huskers won a close game and Doug supplies a great puzzle. Life is good!
-It was fun to immediately fill in grid spanning PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA with only the first letter given
-Connecting Japanese SANDO with the American creation of PBJ’s was ineresting
-NOBU must save on utilities by specializing in sushi😊
-Barry Goldwater and Bill Miller ran in 1964 on the platform of “A choice not an ECHO”. I NEEDN’T tell you how they finished.
-I wonder if kids know how the word DIAL got into the phrase BUTT DIAL
-WRAITH and IDLI were just outright learning
-My iPOD sits 2’ away from me
-Your OR6A2 gene determines whether you taste CILANTRO as soapy or citrusy.
-Froot LOOPS seem to be public enemy #1 to RFK Jr.
-My football had LINES (offensive and defensive) before LACES
-“North To Alaska”: As I am blogging, I am listening to the Johnny Horton channel on Sirius XM
I have to question why an Japanese sandwich was used to clue PBJ, a decidedly non Japanese filling.
kinda makes you question the entire theme...
FIW on the MIA/NIA MOBU/NOBU Natick, but enjoyed quite a bit of the cluing, with the usual exception of the annoying "paraphrases". Sando? Really? ROYGBIV finally clicked, but definitely not as clued.
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