Theme: "Pocket change"
And here is a YouTube clip of one of the songs from this album
The reason I chose "Pocket Change" as the theme title is because, well, I found that cool album cover photo and an equally cool song from that album. So there! But if we use it to describe today's puzzle, it fits; we see four entries that are all created from the letters in the word "pocket", so in a sense, we have (a) pocket "change"
In the grid image below, I highlighted the word P-O-C-K-E-T in each of the entries. I was hoping that the remaining letters in each entry would have some added meaning, so I reached out to Taylor Johnson (one of the co-constructors) to further define what this puzzle's all about:
Taylor replied, "It's essentially a letter-bank theme! Basically, the reveal is saying that each of those entries is "made OUT OF POCKET," meaning that the only letters used to make those entries are the letters in (the word) POCKET. Some letters are repeated in some entries, but overall, the only letters that appear are P-O-C-K-E-T. I hope this clears things up! Thanks!"
Across:Taylor said nothing more about whose idea this was, his or Brian's. Both of these gentlemen have scores of published crossword puzzles between them; not sure if this was their first collaboration though
Entries:
17-across. *Odist with a passion for the culinary arts?: COOKTOP POET. Might this inspire the Chairman to embrace this entry? Why not! How about a Moe-l'ick for a change?
Former chef just decides to embark
Doing stir-fry. He went on a lark
Opened restaurant in town
Near the green; what a clown!
'Cause he calls it: "A Wok in the Park"
24-across. *Eight-member band from Seoul, perhaps?: K-POP OCTET. How about another Moe-l'ick?
K-Pop octet conducted a poll
And the question was painfully droll:
"Just because that we lack
Any singer who's black
Do you think that we ain't got no Seoul?"
37-across. *Social media community obsessed with quick kisses?: PECK TOK. Sorry, nothing in this one inspired the Chairman, poetically ... and to be honest, I thought this entry could have been left out
However, after I wrote today's blog, I got an email from the constructors and explained (to this old Boomer) what this meant. Apparently, people who love reading (for example) might have a "community" on Tik Tok that refers to all the people who make videos about books; and they are then known as "Book Tok". I suppose that those who do kissing videos might resemble this one:
48-across. *Beverage sold at a Florida theme park?: EPCOT COKE. I dunno if Brian and Taylor checked first, to see if Disney World features Coca-Cola products, but they do. So, I guess I can let this one slide. And because Disney serves Coca-Cola products, this one inspired a Moe-ku:
Disney hired Coke
To build a new attraction
Called: Fanta - Sea Land
Reveal:
59-across. Like some expenses, and how the answers to the starred clues are made?: OUT OF POCKET. (Described above)
Here's the grid, and then off to the rest of the clues and answers:
1. Casual top?: CAMI.
5. __ page: website introduction: SPLASH. Would've preferred ___ pool for this one; fun!
11. Spanish infinitive: SER. To be in Espanol
14. Stratford-upon-__: AVON. Birthplace of Shakespeare
15. Cause: LEAD TO.
16. Hullabaloo: ADO. Does anyone remember this Hullabaloo?
[theme entry]
19. "Snowden" org.: NSA. Snowden
20. Morsel: TIDBIT.
21. Flavor of some purple ice cream: UBE. I would not want ice cream to taste like this
22. Condition that affects one's ability to focus, briefly: AD/HD.
23. Pastoral: IDYLL.
[theme entry]
26. Word on a shoppe sign: OLDE. Here is a shoppe where you can buy olde signs
28. "Yes __!": SIRREE.
29. Soft "Hey, you": PSST.
32. Great Basin people: UTES.
35. Gets warmer, in a way: NEARS.
36. Prefix in some genre names: ALT.
[theme entry]
39. Jazz guitarist Metheny: PAT.
40. Paris river: SEINE.
42. Catch: HEAR.
43. IDs on tax forms: SSNS. Mine is 123-45-6789. Yours? [don't reply!]
44. Star associated with Venus: SERENA. Her sister; former tennis stars, Venus and Serena Williams. The movie, King Richard, talks about their rise from Compton, CA to being the best sister act in sports
46. Expand: GROW.
[them entry]
51. Catch: HITCH.
55. Infielder played by Bernsen in the "Major League" films: DORN. An interview with Roger Dorn
56. Weep: CRY.
57. Eritrea's capital: ASMARA.
58. Egg cells: OVA.
[theme reveal]
61. Hat similar to a songkok: FEZ. Songkok? What the *?!# is that? Oh, this:
62. "The way things stand ... ": AS IT IS.
63. "Je t'__": French "I love you": AIME.
64. Get too much sun: FRY.
65. Change from residential to commercial, say: REZONE.
66. Educational spots, briefly: PSAS.
Down:
1. Arizona flora: CACTI. CSO to Lucina, Yuman, and yours truly - any other Arizonans I've missed? Here is a picture of a very rare cactus
 |
| Crested Saguaro |
2. Steer clear of: AVOID.
3. Mercurial: MOODY.
4. Image that's subject to interpretation: INK BLOT.
5. Opening: SLOT.
6. Verve: PEP.
7. Relish: LAP UP. "Condiment" did not fit
8. Vinegary sauce: ADOBO. Maybe one of our posters can share a recipe?
9. Brews: STEEPS. As in tea
10. Word with tip or take: HOT. Hot tip; Hot take
11. Driving challenges?: SANDTRAPS. The ones in the photo below are known as "The Church Pews" and were last seen in this past June's U.S.Open Championship held at Oakmont CC outside of Pittsburgh
12. "Thinking Out Loud" singer: ED SHEERAN. Ed and I share the same birthday. Here are some others who were born on this date. And below you can listen to a seasonal song from Mr. Sheeran
13. Driving challenges?: ROAD TESTS. If I recall, I passed on the first go around. Had to parallel park; serpentine through cones; and do it all in a car with a manual gear box. Apparently this is what the PA test involves nowadays
18. Register: TILL. This:
22. Lot unit: ACRE.
24. Fore-and-aft rigged boat: KETCH.
25. [I'm a pig!]: OINK.
27. Outstanding: DUE.
29. Sent along (to): PASSED OFF.
30. Pajama party: SLEEPOVER. Is this a song video you'd play at a sleepover? [contains a few nasty words so beware]
31. Suffering from cabin fever: STIR CRAZY.
33. Pull (out): EKE.
34. Play area: STAGE.
37. Cooped (up): PENT.
38. Bobby of the Bruins: ORR. The best NHL player to wear the #4 sweater?
41. Quite bright: NEON.
43. Pool wear: SWIM CAP. What do you think of this one?
45. Point the finger at: ACCUSE.
47. Very, very: OH SO.
49. Ana of "Love, Victor": ORTIZ. This person:
50. Onetime capital of Japan: KYOTO. Maybe my co-blogger MalMan can comment about Kyoto?
52. Brand of rolled tortilla chips: TAKIS. Total unknown to me. Don't think that I have ever tried them. To those who have, are they any good?
53. Taco topping: CREMA. It's the Mexican version of cream cheese
54. Abhors: HATES.
57. Cathedral area: APSE. Crosswordese
59. Dory propeller: OAR. and 60-across. Dory propeller: FIN. Are clechos.
 |
| 59 across DORY |
 |
| 60 across DORY |
Since I don't have deep pockets, this is all you get for today! Have fun with your comments and/or questions. See you in two weeks
The “b” of “adobo” and
ReplyDelete“ube”? Total WAG. And there were a few other “iffy” spots. As a matter of fact, I was fairly surprised when I got the “success flip” with no need for further corrections.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteD-o was familiar with ADOBO. My WAG spot was the A at the ASMARA/TAKIS crossing. Whew. The reveal convinced me to correct COOK TiP to TOP. PECK TOK was just ugly. Thanx, Brian, Taylor, and C-Moe. On to Saturday...maybe.
I thought the theme was suggesting ALL the letters in the theme fill came from POCKET, no other letters appeared in the theme answers. Other than that I thought this was a very easy, for a Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteASMARA was the closest thing to an unknown, I see TAKIS on sale in CVS along with LAYS products. I think they feature spicy flavors.
Have a nice weekend all
Enjoyed the puzzle and the limericks! and explanation. Liked the closeness of ketch and the clue catch with the similar sounds in the second answer to catch, hitch. YMMV
ReplyDeleteDNF. Too many unknowns for my skill level: SER, UBE, PAT, ASMARA, ADOBO, ED SHEERAN, ORTIZ, TAKIS, CREMA, and FIN (for a dory???)
ReplyDeleteWould have loved to see STIR CRAZY clued as that hilarious Gene Wilder / Richard Prior flick of the same name. Here's the "we bad" scene from the movie. (Contains profanity, but no peanuts or glutens.)
KETCHes and yawls look similar, but the aft mast and sail are larger on a KETCH. One way to remember is "yawl is small."
I don't think I want my taco con CREMA. I'm not much of a taco guy, but I don't think I've seen that topping. (I had "salsa.")
I enjoyed most of my futile attempt on this one. Thanks to Brian and Taylor for the challenge. My favorite was the clue for SERENA. And thanks to C-Moe for another fun tour.
FIR. This was a bit more than Friday hard. At one point I thought it was Saturday worthy. There were a ton of unknowns for me. Pecktok was a mystery. Last to fall was the SE. Takis and crema almost did me in.
ReplyDeleteIt took a while for me to see the theme. I wasn't looking for anagrams of pocket.
Even though this was quite hard, it nevertheless was an enjoyable puzzle.
One of my daughters is taking me on a cruise, so I will be AWOL for a week. Aruba here I come!
DeleteWatch out for air strikes!
DeleteTook 8:19 today to collapse the pocket.
ReplyDeleteDidn't understand the theme at all while solving. I didn't know the Actress of the Day (Ortiz; nor her show/movie), the foreign language + part of speech clue (ser), ube, Pat, Asmara. Like Jinx, I also thought of the movie "Stir Crazy."
Dory, presumably, means the female fish in the Disney movies "Finding Nemo" and ... "Finding Dory." Speaking of Disney, in Epcot there was a Coke store where you could sample different sodas from around the world. Some were horrible. A Coke would help settle my stomach after too many rides.
I’m not sure about EPCOT, but there is a huge Coke store at Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney).
DeleteKS: I hope your ship doesn't get too close to Venezuela. Those waters are extra deadly these days.
ReplyDeleteI knew "Dorn" right away from having watched "Major League" too many times, but find that reference pretty obscure.
-Again, from 7:54.
🙏
DeleteEPCOTCOKE brings back a funny memory of ushering our four kids (11, 11, 6 and 4) around Epcot on day three of our vacation, and by 3pm everyone was pretty wiped out. Passing by a Coke machine, I was loathe to pay $4.50 for a 20 ounce bottle (in 2009) but took the plunge. Never has a beverage tasted so wonderful or been so rejuvenating! And never was I so happy to overpay for something. We were able to soldier through until dinner.
ReplyDeleteOther than that and a couple of clever clues (SERENA and the Dory's), I thought the puzzle was a bit tedious and over-wrought. But FIR, so I'm, uh, "satisfied." ;)
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI’ll defer to my wise friend, Thumper, this morning.
Moe, you did an excellent job of explaining this offering but the highlights of your review were the delightful Moe-kus.
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-SPLASH, ADOBO, UBE, TAKIS, CREMA, ASMARA… Hardest Friday this humble solver has ever attempted
-I even used the “Check Mistakes” under “Assist” and it showed no mistakes during the solve. Enough was enough!
-Understanding the theme, even with the extra letters, was no problem
-Me too, Irish and Thumper.
Moe, thanks for the AZ (Yuman) CSO.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading “The Emerald Mile” an account of a record breaking attempt for the fastest boat ever propelled on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. “The Emerald Mile”is the name of the old wooden dory oared by Kenton Grau that accomplished this feat in 1983
That was indeed a good book.
DeleteThat was Monkey above.
DeleteThere is a wonderful book "Brave the Wild River" by Melissa Sevigny which is non-fiction, but reads like a story, about 2 women who headed up a scientific expedition to investigate the botany of the Grand Canyon even as they faced a lot of discrimination as women back in the 1930s
Deletehttps://wwnorton.com/books/9780393868234
I should defer to Thumper also, but the (incomprehensible, to me) theme is quite clever, and should be noted as such.
ReplyDeleteAs far as an enjoyable puzzle? Didn't we have this exact theme earlier this week? (I remember I didn't enjoy it then either.) no, I don't appreciate anagram style puzzles. And maybe that's on me... but after the excruciating time trying to solve the upper mid section, only to reveal "ube," I feel like I have been given a lovely vanilla ice cream in a cone, only to discover it was mashed potatoes...
Including ASMARA and TAKIS might have been acceptable if they didn't cross in an unguessable letter. Could have been any vowel.
ReplyDeleteTheme? What theme?
The theme didn’t do much for me, but the puzzle’s other challenges were worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI FIR, but I’ve never heard of TAKIS and wasn’t sure about AIME. I never studied French and therefore claim few skills at conjugating it. I also felt uneasy about CREMA as a taco topper. UBE ice cream also was unknown to me, and I got IDYLL despite questioning whether the clue was the same part-of-speech. I have studied Spanish, so SER was the first infinitive that came to mind. Perps helped me with two items I should have known anyway, ED SHEERAN, and DORN.
I liked seeing KYOTO, PAT Metheny, and TIDBIT. I really liked the Venus/SERENA misdirection.
CMoe, I especially liked the KPOP limerick, but wouldn't it scan better if you changed “conducted” to “ran” and changed “because that” to “cuz”? And maybe “The KPOP quartet”?
Copy Editor @ 10:34 => I stand by my KPOP limerick, and here's why: First, I try (if I can) to have the cadence as 9 syllables, 9 syllables, 6 syllables, 6 syllables, and 9 syllables. Next, I go for anapestic meter which is characterized by stressing the third syllable (da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM). If you re-read that Moe-l'ick, I think I achieved it and it scans just fine ... but regardless, I am glad that you enjoyed it!
DeleteHola! Sigh. No success for me on this one. Not in a million years would I have known UBE and I'm embarrassed to say I did not get CREMA. I've never put it on my tacos. I've seen TAKIS at the grocery store but have never bought it.
ReplyDeleteAnd PECK TOK? Whatever that is, I've never heard of it. However, I was happy to see SER, and I was able to complete that NE corner. Knowing that Venus and SERENA are sisters helped with that fill. ASMARA came to me quickly, but I misspelled AIME as AMIE. I HATE it when I fail so badly.
I have seen Ana ORTIZ on TV, but I don't recall on which show.
In Morocco I saw men wearing FEZ hats. I know, that's redundant but I'm not sure of the plural of FEZ.
Have a wonderful day, everyone! Last night was my first birthday dinner to be followed by more this weekend! Turning 88 might not be so bad.
Thank you for the CSO, Moe! This is the best time of the year to be living in AZ.
ReplyDeleteLucina @ 10:49 => indeed it is! So am I correct that you, Yuman, and I are the three lone Arizonans who are CC participants/regulars?
DeleteA tough puzzle to FIR but I managed in spite of unknowns. If I hadn't filled OUT OF POCKET, there no way I could have finished the north. SPLASH page and UBE are total unknowns. And having sailboats, KETCH was an easy fill and allowed the unknown PECK TOK to make it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was playing golf at TPC the SANDTRAPS (bunkers) were unavoidable and I learned how to get out of them. There's over 100 traps and pot hole bunkers on the course.
I don't know the song "Thinking Out Loud" but enough perps made it an easy fill, and I'm glad because PAT Metheny was unknown.
"Major League", Bernsen, and DORN- three unknowns for this guy.
"Love, Victor" and ORTIZ- both unknowns.
FEZ was a WAG for that hat. Ditto for ADOBO.
TAKIS- also unknown but it must be very profitable to make chips. I rarely buy any but the price/oz is ridiculous.
Venus and SERENA- completely different personalities for those great tennis players.
DNF. The center north remained blank since I was sure VIM was right. UBE is like saying you’d like sweet potato ice cream. Not appetizing.
ReplyDeleteSeveral more unknowns like TAKIS, ASMARA, I guessed the A. ORTIZ was a WAG. As for PECK TOK, definitely unknown to me; there will probably be an infinite number of those combinations. There must be a Cook Tok, a Sack Tok for all the people who have been fired, etc. Of course I wouldn’t know since I don’t have an account to TIK TOK.
I did like the SERENA misdirection.
But more than that, I liked C-Moe’s review and the Moe’liks and Moe-Kus.
FIR in 17:08 with significant perp help on the themers and the unknowns DORN, ASMARA, and ORTIZ. Had to change eat up to LAP UP. Last fill was a correct WAG at the M in AIME/CREMA. I don’t think I’ve seen “yes SIRREE” with 2 R’s before. I had never heard of TAKIS till it appeared in a CW a while back, the very next day I saw the varieties at a grocery store, but have yet to try any. I liked this puzzle, seemed easier than usual for a Friday, surprised HG found it difficult. Thanks Brian and Taylor for your fine collaboration (coincidentally I have a friend named Brian Taylor). Also to C-Moe for the entertaining write-up.
ReplyDeleteFun theme - though we had it recently that all the letters came out of the word POCKET not just an anagram once within the theme answers.
ReplyDeleteI had a few gimmes - ADOBO and UBE both have origins in Filipino cuisine and I had a patient who did Filipino catering and she would always bring me both of those things
One of my kids' friends who is a first generation American whose parents are originally from Eritrea. He is a pro jazz trumpeter and one of his albums is called "ASMARA" from his family roots. I'm also a big geography geek on SPORCLE - the trivia website
Lucina - I know ANA Ortiz primarily from being the older sister on "Ugly Betty"
Thanks CM for the blog and Brian & Taylor for the puzzle
Sorry, I'm in a bad mood: my printer won't print, suddenly deciding to not recognize the cartridges I have been using in it for 6 months or so. So had to do this CW online. And I hated it. Worst CW in a long time. Too many DNKs, too many iffy fills for "Catch", too many other things that I cant list because I can't print the CW to remind me. Phooey. Thanx for the nice write-up, C-Moe, the best part of this CW was your write-up. Now I'm gonna go sit in a corner and sulk.
ReplyDeleteDNF. Didn't like this one at all, at all! Too many totally obscure clues and names, know 'em or you don't. I prefer a puzzle that tests my knowledge, not a look-it-up, open book test. If I wanted anagrams, I would have played the Jumble. Thought the theme was lame, but YMMV. No fun today, (Except for the recap! Thanks, CMoe!)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn’t happen very often, and even less so on Fridays, but I was in perfect sync with the constructors today. Rare is the puzzle in which I knew 90% of the non-theme answers without help.
ReplyDeleteThe themers blossomed easily with just a few seeds, although, as usual, I paid no attention to the theme itself.
Every now and then my trivia-cluttered brain does me some good.