Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with Michael Hobin's second LAT puzzle. His first one was published on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
Theme: 
Here are today's themed clues and answers:
17 Across. Superhero nemesis, often: EVIL GENIUS.
 |
| I thought of Gru from the Despicable Me movies. He is a supervillain. Is that the same thing? |
38 Across. Place for a "No Trespassing" sign: PRIVATE PROPERTY. 
The reveal:
62 Across. Unexpectedly enlightening, and what can be found at the starts of 17-, 24-, 38-, and 49-Across: EYE-OPENING.
Each of the OPENING (first) words of the themed answers can be placed in front of the word EYE to create an in-the-language phrase. In doing so we now have: EVIL EYE, BLACK EYE, PRIVATE EYE and NAKED EYE. (For the last one, think, "Visible to the NAKED EYE".)
Works for me!
Let's take a look at what else Michael has for us:
35. Egg cells: OVA.
37. "That is perfect!": LOVE IT.
46. Beards similar to Vandykes: GOATEES. Sometimes people confuse a GOATEE with a Vandyke beard. A Vandyke includes a mustache that is not connected to the chin beard. A true GOATEE is just the hair on the chin, with no mustache at all.
53. Number of players in Connect Four: TWO. It is an elaborate tic-tac-toe-ish game.
55. New York canal: ERIE.
56. Virtuous: MORAL.
60. Partake of: HAVE. Think "food".
65. Celebrates birthdays: AGES. and 63-Down. Having celebrated many birthdays: OLD.
67. Dollop: GLOB.
68. Swollen mark: WELT.
69. Swap: TRADE.
70. Email folder: SENT.
Down:
5. Div. for the Phillies: NLE. The Phillies won the National League East division this year.
6. Lithium-__ battery: ION.
7. Pat down at a security checkpoint: FRISK.
8. Verified fact: TRUTH.
9. Binary type of question: YES/NO.
10. Donkey: ASS.
11. One that takes turns making dinner?: ROTISSERIE. This clue had a little misdirection with the meaning of turns.
12. Dressed (in): CLAD.
13. Leaves none for others: HOGS.
18. Fundraising fete: GALA.
22. Sailboat with one mast: SLOOP.
25. "Let's put it to __": "Show of hands": A VOTE. Speaking of 32-Down TITLE, this answer reminds me of Charles Grodin's memoir, It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here. In this case, the "you" is the indefinite article. Oh, well, sometimes that is what it takes to make a grid work.
26. Spelunking site: CAVE.
27. Roof projection: EAVE.
28. __ pants: calf-length garment: CAPRI.
29. Agricultural measures: ACRES.
30. Work of fiction considered for a Hugo or Nebula Award: SCI-FI NOVEL. Stellar fill!
32. Book name: TITLE. 25 Beautiful Unique Book Titles What would you add to this list?
33. Eyelid sores: STYES. Easter Egg Alert!
36. Tending (to): APT.
37. Enter one's user name and password: LOG ON.
39. "La Dolce __": VITA. Translation: The Sweet Life. The quotation marks indicate it is a title. Wiki says it is a 1960 film by Federico Fellini. Here is the trailer. It looks like a wild ride!
40. Similar: ALIKE.
Across:
1. __ rug: small carpet: AREA. Two weeks ago I posted a Dear Modern video about Feng Shui. This time he teaches us about AREA rugs (2:48 min.):
5. "Cool!": NIFTY. Nifty is an informal word that means "very good". Merriam-Webster says it was first used as an adjective in 1865.
10. St. Louis landmark: ARCH.
14. Player's set of cards: HAND. I liked this less-common definition of HAND.
15. Peter of "The Maltese Falcon": LORRE. [1904 - 1964]
16. Spotlight moment in a concert: SOLO.
19. Antlered deer: STAG.
20. Radio, TV, newspapers, etc.: MEDIA.
21. RR stops: STNS. Railroad and Stations
23. Passports, e.g.: IDs.
28. Tapioca source: CASSAVA.
31. Brewery kilns: OASTS. They are buildings used for drying the hops. They have cone-shaped tops.
34. Athletic gp. for the Blue Devils: ACC. Duke University is one of a group of schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
5. "Cool!": NIFTY. Nifty is an informal word that means "very good". Merriam-Webster says it was first used as an adjective in 1865.
14. Player's set of cards: HAND. I liked this less-common definition of HAND.
15. Peter of "The Maltese Falcon": LORRE. [1904 - 1964]
 |
| (l. to r.) Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet |
16. Spotlight moment in a concert: SOLO.
19. Antlered deer: STAG.
20. Radio, TV, newspapers, etc.: MEDIA.
21. RR stops: STNS. Railroad and Stations
23. Passports, e.g.: IDs.
28. Tapioca source: CASSAVA.
 |
| Tapioca comes from the roots. |
31. Brewery kilns: OASTS. They are buildings used for drying the hops. They have cone-shaped tops.
35. Egg cells: OVA.
37. "That is perfect!": LOVE IT.
If we change the I to a T, we'd have Lovett, as in Lyle. Here is his 1988 song, Give Back My Heart.
42. Move to a different folder, e.g.: REFILE.
43. Schoolyard game: TAG. I recently learned that "Touch And Go" is a backronym.
44. Suffix with percent: -ILE. Percent and percentile are easily confused. In the example below, Sam's test scores earn him a 70%. Because his scores are better than most of his classmates, he ranks in the 82nd percentile of his class.
42. Move to a different folder, e.g.: REFILE.
43. Schoolyard game: TAG. I recently learned that "Touch And Go" is a backronym.
44. Suffix with percent: -ILE. Percent and percentile are easily confused. In the example below, Sam's test scores earn him a 70%. Because his scores are better than most of his classmates, he ranks in the 82nd percentile of his class.
45. Last Supper question from Judas: IS IT I.
46. Beards similar to Vandykes: GOATEES. Sometimes people confuse a GOATEE with a Vandyke beard. A Vandyke includes a mustache that is not connected to the chin beard. A true GOATEE is just the hair on the chin, with no mustache at all.
 |
| Uncle Sam sported a GOATEE but Dick Van Dyke did not. |
53. Number of players in Connect Four: TWO. It is an elaborate tic-tac-toe-ish game.
56. Virtuous: MORAL.
60. Partake of: HAVE. Think "food".
65. Celebrates birthdays: AGES. and 63-Down. Having celebrated many birthdays: OLD.
 |
| Today is the Marine Corps' 250th birthday. Happy Birthday, Marines! |
66. Large member of the violin family: CELLO. Are you curious what modern day cello music sounds like? This song is off of Clarice Jensen's new album released last month. Clarice also collaborated with Taylor Swift on two of Taylor's albums. her website
Unity ~ Clarice Jensen ~ 2025
68. Swollen mark: WELT.
69. Swap: TRADE.
70. Email folder: SENT.
1. Throat-clearing sound: AHEM. 
2. Glowing review: RAVE.
3. Oklahoma home of Vance Air Force Base: ENID.
2. Glowing review: RAVE.
3. Oklahoma home of Vance Air Force Base: ENID.
4. Goes off script: AD-LIBS.
5. Div. for the Phillies: NLE. The Phillies won the National League East division this year.
6. Lithium-__ battery: ION.
7. Pat down at a security checkpoint: FRISK.
 |
| "down pat" LOVE IT! |
9. Binary type of question: YES/NO.
10. Donkey: ASS.
11. One that takes turns making dinner?: ROTISSERIE. This clue had a little misdirection with the meaning of turns.
13. Leaves none for others: HOGS.
22. Sailboat with one mast: SLOOP.
Sloop John B ~ The Beach Boys ~ 1966
This song was adapted from an old Bahamian folk song.
25. "Let's put it to __": "Show of hands": A VOTE. Speaking of 32-Down TITLE, this answer reminds me of Charles Grodin's memoir, It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here. In this case, the "you" is the indefinite article. Oh, well, sometimes that is what it takes to make a grid work.
26. Spelunking site: CAVE.
27. Roof projection: EAVE.
28. __ pants: calf-length garment: CAPRI.
29. Agricultural measures: ACRES.
30. Work of fiction considered for a Hugo or Nebula Award: SCI-FI NOVEL. Stellar fill!
The Hugo Awards are annual literary awards for the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year. They are voted on by fans. The Nebula Awards recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the U.S. They are voted on by writers. The 1965 book Dune is an example of a book that won both awards.
32. Book name: TITLE. 25 Beautiful Unique Book Titles What would you add to this list?
33. Eyelid sores: STYES. Easter Egg Alert!
36. Tending (to): APT.
37. Enter one's user name and password: LOG ON.
39. "La Dolce __": VITA. Translation: The Sweet Life. The quotation marks indicate it is a title. Wiki says it is a 1960 film by Federico Fellini. Here is the trailer. It looks like a wild ride!
40. Similar: ALIKE.
41. Prego competitor: RAGU. Both are spaghetti sauces.
47. Maker of rocket-powered roller skates, in cartoons: ACME.
48. Suits found on many a beach bum?: THONGS.
50. Not hunched over: ERECT.
51. Renovation project enthusiast, casually: DIYer.
52. "Futurama" captain with one eye and purple hair: LEELA. The first L could be troublesome here for solvers unfamiliar with both this character and the W. S. Burroughs book. The show's title tells us to expect nontraditional names so any guess from A to Z is possible for _EELA. Fortunately, the book title narrows it down a bit. The letters B, H, L, and P all had potential for _UNCH.
47. Maker of rocket-powered roller skates, in cartoons: ACME.
48. Suits found on many a beach bum?: THONGS.
51. Renovation project enthusiast, casually: DIYer.
52. "Futurama" captain with one eye and purple hair: LEELA. The first L could be troublesome here for solvers unfamiliar with both this character and the W. S. Burroughs book. The show's title tells us to expect nontraditional names so any guess from A to Z is possible for _EELA. Fortunately, the book title narrows it down a bit. The letters B, H, L, and P all had potential for _UNCH.
 |
| Leela of Futurama |
53. Spring melt: THAW.
54. Salary: WAGE.
57. Agitate: RILE.
58. Short story writer?: ANON. The question mark indicates wordplay. On the surface, it looks like the clue is asking for the author of a short story. However, in this case short refers to a shortened form of the word ANONymous. Fun!
59. Pride parade inits.: LGBT.
61. Ballpark fig.: EST. figure and ESTimate ... not umpire
64. American writer Edgar Allan __: POE.
54. Salary: WAGE.
57. Agitate: RILE.
58. Short story writer?: ANON. The question mark indicates wordplay. On the surface, it looks like the clue is asking for the author of a short story. However, in this case short refers to a shortened form of the word ANONymous. Fun!
59. Pride parade inits.: LGBT.
61. Ballpark fig.: EST. figure and ESTimate ... not umpire
64. American writer Edgar Allan __: POE.
The grid: 
ð cannot believe we are finished. Looking forward to reading your comments below!
ð cannot believe we are finished. Looking forward to reading your comments below!
Notes from C.C.:
Happy 79th birthday to Husker Gary's loving wife Joann and her twin sister
Joyce. Here they're with their mom Martha, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 100.
I don’t know about
ReplyDeletethe rest of you, but to me this was a classic case of “a walk in the park.” True, if you’re not familiar with the (fairly obscure) novel “Naked Lunch” you might have had a moment’s pause, but on the whole I thought it was smooth sailing, didn’t you?
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDelete"Naked Lunch" seemed vaguely familiar, so d-o successfully WAGged the stumbling block. I remember "SLOOP John B." from the Kingston Trio's 1958 debut album. The Weavers recorded it even earlier, but it's the Beach Boys 1966 version that most people recall. This was a smooth Monday offering. Thanx, Michael. And thanx to sumdaze for another sterling review.
The weather prognosticators made dire predictions about this morning. They made it sound like we'd be flirting with freezing temps. Nope, 49° here this morning. What did Shakespeare say? Much ado about nothing.
I call the TV meteorologists "weather guessers."
DeleteThis took me a little longer than a typical Monday to solve, but had no problem until NAKED LUNCH crossed LEELA. That L did me in…FIW by one letter!
ReplyDeleteFIR, but erased stir for RILE, age for ILE, and welp for WELT. I knew that the dinner-turner was going to be ROTISSERIE, but had the good sense to wait for the perps to spel it for me. So I got goin for me. Which is nice.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that a fact is TRUTH. The verification is whether something is, in fact, a fact.
I've always found it interesting that the USMC is OLDer than the USA. Happy birthday to all the jar heads out there. (Attending the USMC graduation ceremony at Parris Island made me swell with PRIDE in our country.)
I've attended a NAKED LUNCH. Etiquette tip: Bring your own towel to sit on. (BTW - THONG wearers are shouting "look at me!" Naturists are not.)
All SLOOPs have a single mast, but not all single-masters are sloops. There are cats and cutters, and probably others that I'm forgetting.
Thanks to Michael for the fun Monday romp. My favorite was ACME. Kinda like the Corner's favorite "ALOE" cartoon, Wyle E. Coyote will never get stale. And thanks to sumdaze for another fun review. You didn't ask, but my favorite EVIL GENIUS is Dr. No.
Watched Dr No on BBCAmerica yesterday. Fun to see what action movies looked like in 1962. I’d forgotten
DeleteFIW. I took a WAG at the crossing of Naked Lunch and Leela and I was wrong. I'd never heard of either so my placing a "B" there cost me.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was clever and it gave me no trouble. Some of the cluing however was a tad tough for a Monday.
So overall this was not an enjoyable puzzle.
Happy Monday. It came down to a cross of TWO unknowns today. NAKED __UNCH and---EELA. It could have been Naked LUNCH, HUNCH, BUNCH, but I doubt MUNCH. The only 'one-eye' anything I know of with anything 'purple' is from the song. A DNF.
ReplyDeleteFRISK- every time I go through TSA. Two knee replacements and heart pacemaker.
THONGS- clue could had been "Suits found between man beach buns"
A lithium ION battery should be called a "lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite battery." IONs gotta go somewhere.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI was familiar with Naked Lunch, so the unfamiliar Leela posed no trouble. I enjoyed the solve and, as always, appreciated the hidden theme and a surprise reveal. This was a worthy Monday challenge, IMO.
Thanks, sumdaze, for the fun and facts and thanks, Michael, for a fun solve.
Have a great day.
Apologies for forgetting to wish Joann and her twin a very happy birthday. ððððð
DeleteI’m ashamed to say, after moving on down the grid like the proverbial walk in the park, I got to the reveal and couldn’t see the EYE. I had no trouble with NAKED LUNCH, but couldn’t come up with DI_ER or LE_LA. How silly in retrospect. I blame it on Mondayitis.
ReplyDeleteThank you sumdaze for the fun recap.
Took 4:12 today to soar like an Eagle.
ReplyDeleteLike others, I had to guess the "L" in Leela/Lunch. I didn't care for "DIYer", and I did not know the Actor of the Day (Lorre).
Like Subg says, this was a WITP.
No worries with this one. Somehow was thinking of Edgar Rice Burroughs until the V-8 can hit, but other than that, no problems today. Off to chemo now.
ReplyDeleteC-Echo. I must have missed the day when you said you were undergoing chemo. Sending you best wishes and a little advice: check the equipment and make sure none of it came from ACME!
Delete; )
Also, a belated Happy Birthday to you!
Thanks, sumdaze! Today's session went well. One tomorrow, one more on Wednesday, and then 3 weeks off before the next round. Fingers crossed.
DeleteC-Echo- like sumdaze, I must have missed your post also. Best wishes for your chemo. I hope your birthday was happy.
DeleteBest wishes CE.
DeleteA little crunchy for a Monday, I got waylaid by massive dark "spots" in outer space. I guess I didn't concentrate on "spots," I was looking at the big picture...
ReplyDeleteI also didn't like "naked eye" as an eye opening. Just like I didn't think "kiln" was an oast. But it turns out a drying area like an oast can be considered a kiln. So I was wrong again. So too can "naked eye" open a phrase, like naked eye object. Just for trivia's sake, a very well known naked eye object, (before light pollution,) Epsilon Lyrae was used as an eye test. just to the left of the bright star Vega you can see a dim star. If you have good eyesight, you can see that it is actually two stars.. (if you have a telescope, you can see it is four stars, a "double double"...)
Now, wasn't that eye opening...
Hi All:
ReplyDeleteEYE liked this puzzle! Thanks Michael for the breakfast diversion; thanks, sumdaze, for the second-cuppa review.
Had I time to share a pic of my grid, you'd see B H L P in the margin w/ the L circled. I've seen a few Futurama episodes and LEELA rang a bell (even though NAKED hUNCH sounds like a good detective story ;-))
WO: LOGiN
ESPs: 49a | 52d
Fav: ROTISSERIE's clue
FLN - IM: Since Pop's B-Day part last month, things have been hectic. I'd say it feels like things are calming down but Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and the Girls will be home. And, considering Nov began on a Saturday, there's not much time between Thursday Turkey and Christmas Ham :-)
C.Eh! - I knew you'd know RUSH's Ged would be in his season seat during the World Series.
Cheers, -T
Anon T, thanks for the update. I know you’re a busy fella! ð
DeleteYes, and Eugene Levy, Drake, Kim Catrall, Nelly Furtado to name a few.
DeleteA fairly smooth solve today.
ReplyDeleteI am not at the skill solving level that I could award it a WITP.
At my solving ability I found some parts crunchy but the cluing and perps were fair so I did manage to finish it right.ð
An enjoyable Monday solve.
Thanks for the informative and fun recap Sumdaze.
Did not see EYE to EYE with this puzzle. A Monday DNF (not even a FIW!) is embarrassing. Compared to the rest of you does that makes me an out-liar? ð
ReplyDeleteERIE Canal: 200th anniversary (1825-2025) I fell in once completely submerged trying to get out of a kayak. Being a canal it has sheer walls, no shore, but they’ve since added that for easier/safer access at certain points/locks.
CELLO from Violoncello derived from Italian “violone” which means “big viola”. (Adding the suffix one (“oh’- neh”) means “big”). “Cello” is an another Italian suffix that means “little” (like “vermicelli” pasta that looks like little worms vermi)…So CELLO is a diminutive of Violoncello which means Big little Viola . Got that? ðĪŠ
How a progressive group can increase membership … ADLIBS
Prince Andrew can’t publish his biography cuz the he lost the ____ …TITLE
What’s in a first year army recruit’s duffle bag …. PRIVATE PROPERTY
Happy Monday
Musings
ReplyDelete-Yeah, NAKED _UNCH/_EENA got me too. A spin the consonant wheel came up wrong. Sumdaze’s lovely write-up took some of the sting out of that. :-)
-The Maltese Falcon, is perhaps moviedom’s most famous movie McGuffin. The briefcase in Pulp Fiction is another great one.
-AGES: Joann’s birthday is today. I think it’s also her twin sister’s!
-That AI cartoon was so perfect.
-Just got a last-minute call to sub. I’ll finish this after I cross the Elkhorn River.
-I hope the Senate will hold A VOTE today to end this shutdown
-The any-port-in-a-storm DIYER abutting LEELA?
-Here comes a gaggle of senior anatomy/physiology kids.
C.C., Thanks for the lovely wishes for Joann and Joyce! Joann thinks the world of you and enjoyed talking to you in Minneapolis.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday wishes to Joann and Joyce!
DeleteAck! I almost forgot!
DeleteApologies, but I almost forgot today is my 1st's birthday too!
Happy Birthday to Joann and Joyce, and to CED’s eldest.
DeleteI guess I watch more television than most because LEELA is a very familiar member of the FUTURAMA case of characters voived by Katy Segal of Married with Children fame. My learning moment was that Misfit is a word from the 1860's,
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael and sumdaze and take time to honor our servicemen. Politics should not diminish what those brave men and women do.
Delightful and interesting Monday puzzle, many thanks, Michael. And your commentary is also always helpful, Sumdaze, so thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteWell, there was a lot going on in today's puzzle, and the fear that there might be an EVIL GENIUS up and about inevitably made us nervous. As a result, we had to worry about whether there was any TRUTH in this puzzle, and we were given some YES/NO possibilities. Glad we're not there in person so that no one could actually FRISK us, and we could only hope that the MEDIA would give us the truth. In the end, it felt best for us to go to some PRIVATE PROPERTY, where hopefully we could deal with something more MORAL than that EYE-OPENING NAKED LUNCH. Let's just get out there and sit on a patio and read a SCI-FI
NOVEL and listen to a CELLO playing on the radio, and RAVE about some pleasant art. That would make for a happy afternoon.
Have a delightful day, everybody. We might have rain coming by the end of the week, so let's enjoy this lovely sunshine while we can.
Rain is always welcome here in southern AZ.
DeleteSolved at the airport, now ready for takeoff. EYE loved it, Michael! FIR. Many thanks to Sumdaze who always adds to the enjoyment on Monday.
ReplyDeleteBon voyage, NaomiZ.
DeleteI truly loved this CW. My biggest complaint is NAMES in a CW: this one only has 9, and I only DNK 1, LEELA. Favorite clue:11D. Very clever misdirection. FIR in 8, which is very good for me, even on a Monday. Thanx MH for this truly wonderful Monday creation. Thanx too to Sumdaze for the terrific write-up, with all the music and cartoons. Loved it. The "Sent" cartoon made me wonder if the AI on the receiver's end translated back to the original or something quite different. HBD J&J!!
ReplyDeleteHola! Monday crunch! This was just a tad crunchier than most Mondays but i solved it without errors in spite of NAKED LUNCH/LEELA. Both are unknown to me. DIYER is not pretty! But, thank you, anyway, Michael Hobin.
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest regrets is to not have gone up on the St. Louis ARCH.
Happy birthday to Joanne and Joyce!
Happy Monday, everyone!
I liked this puzzle and guessed right with that L.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Joanne and Joyce!
aMazing Monday. Thanks for the fun, Michael and sumdaze (great catch on the STYES Easter Egg, although I think they may be EYEclosing). I did see the theme, but not until the reveal.
ReplyDeleteHand up for FIW due to guessing a B instead of an L at the LUNCH/LEELA cross.
Two inkblots to change that percent-age to ILE, and Roil to RILE.
I liked the clecho of REFILE and SENT.
DIYER held me up, but it did say “casually”, hinting at a short-form.
Wishing you all a great day.
Are thongs that popular at beaches now? Yuck!
ReplyDelete