BRAIN CRAMP
I'm a fan of the Canucks, like Bert - or perhaps you know of this card game
I do the DOWN clues to start, so I quickly discovered that the theme was DOWN, as well - and I know there are a few visitors to the Corner who are not fond of this type of construction, and now, combined with the always admired circles - just like yesterday~!. Sigh. John had one other contribution to the LA Times in the past, almost four years ago to the day with a similar theme that Boomer covered. I have not had the pleasure of blogging one of his puzzles; I am totally impressed with the theme fills, and their clever arrangement, but some of the other clue/answers didn't thrill me. A handful of names, 24 each of four- and five-letter words - more than the 17 3LWs - a 15x15 grid, and three unique (*) fills;
5. The Guess Who song covered by Lenny Kravitz: AMERICAN WOMAN* - I never cared for the original, so the remake did nothing for me - sorry.
10. Principle that anything that can go wrong will go wrong: MURPHY'S LAW - There are more now;
I have proven the Workshop law too many times to count - hardware as well as tools
19. Comedian's self-deprecating assurance: "I'M HERE ALL WEEK.~!"* - Ba-dum-tiss
29. Unseen collective character on "The Office": CAMERA CREW
I so wanted to link the "best of" this phrase, but it's NSF Work - ironically
7. Routine before a race, or what can be found in this puzzle's circled letters:
WARM UP STRETCHES* - The circles denote the letters W A R M that s-t-r-e-t-c-h "up" the theme answers - one needs to limber up the noggin before working a crossword puzzle . . . .
Grid Flow is 35.2, roughly the average
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. __ lines: mysterious geoglyphs in Peru: NAZCA - I like watching "Ancient Aliens", and the Lines are a frequent topic on that show - the Wiki; geo name#1
And now A I has discovered 300+ more glyphs - the website
6. Couple: TWO
9. Love, in Spanish: AMOR
13. Geometry class statement: AXIOM - here's an explanation, sort of . . .
14. Ink pouches: SACS
16. Knockoff version: DUPE - no abbr indicated for "duplicate"
17. Chop finely: MINCE - my AXLE/IRON made this - L O C - , so I knew something was not right
18. Some Hollywood red-carpet events: PREMIERES - Solid fill
20. Go along with: ESCORT
Air Force One with a fighter "escort"
22. Formal address: MA'AM
23. Con's opposite: PRO - Corrections Officer was too long 😜
24. Celebratory gesture after a success: AIR PUNCH
'tis the season~!
26. "You __ one job!": "HAD~!"
27. TV network based in Central London: BBC - network #1, the "beeb"
30. Complain: CARP
A goldfish carp - get it~?
31. "Claws" actor Jack: KESY - No clue, filled via perps; his IMDb; name #2
33. In the style of, on French menus: À LA
34. Sailor's "Halt!": "AVAST~!"
36. Puts one's feet up: RESTS
39. Instant noodles option: RAMEN - I made my mac N cheese for Thanksgiving, but when I opened this box of Penne, it had Rotini in it
It's an "im-pasta"
41. Ultimate degree: Nth
42. Razzle-dazzle: ÉCLAT - more Frawnche, "burst out"
43. "Sullivan's Crossing" channel: THE CW - network #2 , never watched, filled via perps - name (ish)
44. Caribbean island near Venezuela: ARUBA - geo name #2
46. Blackjack card: ACE - see also 63D.
47. Crucifix: ROOD - My US History teacher in high school was Mr. Rood; he claimed his "rock band" went by the name "Merchants of Death", from the historical WWI pejorative - and he would tell us on Fridays to "make it a better weekend for someone else.", which I always appreciated.
49. Track legend Zátopek: EMIL - name #3
50. __ factor: WOW
51. AIT scanner org.: TSA - three days in a row now; Advanced Imaging Technology, Transportation Security Admin.
53. Spaghetti topper: MEATBALL
Looked so good when I wrote the blog, I went and made more "Ro-Penne" with meatballs
Or is it Pen-tini~?
56. "Monsters, __": INC.
57. With, on French menus: AVEC - more more Frawnche; without = sans
58. Dives like a hawk: SWOOPS
62. Taylor Swift hit that aptly spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100: FORTNIGHT
65. Easy-to-spot jigsaw pieces: EDGES - I had a picture of Cooper made into a jigsaw puzzle as a present for my sister-in-law last year; she and my brother are tackling it now to be done before this Christmas
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Me 'n Cooper, loungin' on the couch
66. Release: FREE - messed up my "SPATS" @ 51D.
67. In __ of: LIEU - send donations to the Splynter board game fund in lieu of flowers . . . .
68. Everglades wading bird: EGRET - showed up in Monday's puzzle, too - I lived in Florida for two years, don't rEGRET moving 😜
69. Threaded together: SEWN
70. Form 1099 fig.: SSN - IRS didn't work
71. Falls (over): KEELS
DOWN:
1. Topic of conversation for parents-to-be: NAME - #. 1. name. Ha~!
2. Turning point?: AXIS - I put in AXLE, but in retrospect, an axle is not really a "point"
3. Multivitamin element: ZINC - Dah~! Not IRON
4. Drinkable chocolate: COCOA - I like Ryze mushroom cocoa, but it does not make me as sleepy as advertised
6. Cook's meas.: TSP - a "tisp" is smaller than a tibble-spip, ( TBSP ) amounts I am working with when following a 'ree-sype'
8. One of a geographic quintet: OCEAN - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic - which is now called Southern
9. Summery drink suffix: ADE - hi Lemonade~!
11. "Tosca," for one: OPERA
12. Fill in, as a bare spot in a yard: RESOD
I think I see a "bare spot" in the yard
15. Noisy kiss: SMACK
21. Chiefs star Kelce, to fans: TRAV - Since I am so NOT a Chiefs fan, I had no clue; this season, no NFL team seems to be the run-away favorite, as far as I can tell - name #4
25. Sanskrit for "life force": PRANA - ooops, not ASANA - that's a hatha yoga posture
27. Oldest Simpson kid: BART - Lisa, & Maggie haven't aged a day in almost 40 years - name #5
28. Ho-hum: "BLAH."
32. Min. fraction: SEC
35. Stick out like a sore __: THUMB
37. Food truck fare: TACO
38. Nurse a grudge, say: STEW - we already had several 'food' clues & answers
40. Green prefix: ECO
45. Slant: BIAS
48. New Jersey NHL player: DEVIL - I lived in Albany, NY, which is home to their farm team, the River Rats
51. Petty quarrels: TIFFS - my answer was Bzzzt~!
52. "Zzz" sound: SNORE - I prefer this ZZ sound
A post-Thanksgiving "TV Dinners", ZZ top
54. Protection: AEGIS - filled via perps; the OE dictionary says it's of Greek origin meaning "shield"
55. Ski resort building: LODGE - A-FRAME didn't fit
59. Fantasy heavy: OGRE
60. Banana skin: PEEL
61. Retired jets, briefly: SSTs - Super-Sonic TransportS - The Concorde, e.g. - this fill has been making a comeback, lately
63. Royal flush card: TEN - had to change my ACE here due to its showing up for Blackjack @ 46A.
64. Winery vat: TUN - filled via perps; etymology here
Splynter
Besides “Nazca” which
ReplyDeletewas gotten through friendly perps, the rest of the puzzle wasn’t all that difficult.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGuess I forgot to hit "Publish." D'oh. Was expecting this one to have a reveal. Double-d'oh. Noticed the "MRAW" but failed to understand it. Triple-d'oh. Needed my trusty Wite-Out to correct EXERCISES to STRETCHES and STOOPS to SWOOPS. (I still think STOOPS better fits the clue.) AEGIS and TUN used to be frequent cw visitors, not so much recently. Thanx for the exercise, John and Splynter.
FIR, but shake it up->FORTNIGHT, and hand up for iron->ZINC and exercises->STRETCHES.
ReplyDeleteMAAM is formal? That'll be news for MAdAM.
I'M HERE ALL WEEK is usually appended with phrases such as "tip your servers" and/or "try the lobster."
Nexstar owns our local NBC and FOX stations, and they recently acquired The CW affiliate. DirecTV hasn't carried our The CW station since the acquisition.
I knew AEGIS mainly from the missiles our warships carry.
I learned last month that the NJ DEVILS are named for their Yeti-like creature of local lore.
I don't care about circles, nor whether the theme fills are vertical, horizontal or both. But fills like NAZCA, AIR PUNCH, KESY, TRAV, FORTNIGHT, PRANA, CAMERA CREW, and EMIL made the puzzle a lot less fun for me. But the review by Splynter made the effort worthwhile, even though I was surprised to see today's lovely lass was sans nylons.
An easy solution for media fights not carrying channels is to go to Best Buy or Walmart and get an indoor antenna and hook it up. I paid about $15. When some local channel suddenly becomes unavailable, just change the INPUT. I didn't know there were about 30 local TV stations until I did it.
DeleteOwning a TV channel is a gold mine. They don't pay the fed. gov. for the airwaves and have the audacity to charge streamers and cable networks to rebroadcast the shows they are FREE if you watch them over the air.
Yeah, but I almost never watch live TV. I let Genie record what I want to watch so I can fast forward through commercials, and for news programs, repeated stories and other dreck. But when I'm south of Florence, SC or west of Lexington, NC, DirecTV's spot beam doesn't reach me, and I have to use my RV's batwing antenna for locals. (If I'm going to be somewhere for a month or longer, I can tell DirecTV that I'm at my "winter home" in Sarasota if I want Tampa locals, or in Ocala if I want to get Orlando locals. Then I can skip the ads again.)
DeleteThe River Rats moved 15 years ago; the Devils’ AHL affiliate is now the Utica Comets
ReplyDeleteFIR. More circles? Really? This had more than twice as many circles as today's Jumble, which is where they belong. Yuk! I simply ignored them since they added nothing to the solve.
ReplyDeleteLately there have been a lot of clues for Taylor Swift songs; I guess I'm going to have to educate myself to her music.
Interesting to see Aruba in the puzzle. I happen to be going there next week on a cruise. I want to see the island my parents once lived on.
But as to this puzzle, overall it was not enjoyable.
M inutes were 7, and seconds were 21 today.
ReplyDeleteR esisted changing "mocha" to "cocoa" for awhile.
A ctor of the Day (Kesy) was unknown, as is whatever "Claws" is.
W ithout further ado: Oh joy, circles!
In spite of some unknowns, it was an easy Wed. puzzle to FIR. I had already enough perps filled to finish WARM UP STRETCHES without looking at the clue. I couldn't figure out what MRAW in the circles meant. So I read the clue.
ReplyDeleteAMERICAN WOMAN- basically a war protest song.
CAMERA CREW took perps, as I have never watched "The Office".
Taylor Swift and TRAV in the same puzzle? I know of Travis but no nothing about FORTNIGHT, except when Wimbledon Championships are televised for TWO weeks.
KESY and "Claws"- no idea about either.
43. "Sullivan's Crossing" channel: THE CW - network #2 , never watched, NEITHER HAVE I
AIT- looks like the constructor was stuck and had to look up something to fit the initials. TSA was perps
PRANA-new to me
BIAS- you can get all you don't want or need from television and newspapers
Let’s not MINCE crosswords. Easiest so far this week. The theme gave me 🐾🐾 but finally read the circles south to north
ReplyDeleteClaws/Jack? Ski resort bldg: tried “ Chalet, but ran out of squares. “Drives like a hawk”? (Oh, dives!). PRANA?
Never heard of those “lines” …. thought NAZCA was Peruvian Motorsports racing…. 🏁
Inkover: keg/jug/TUN
MURPHY’S sign : During an abdominal sonogram/ultrasound examination when pressure applied by the ultrasound probe elicits tenderness over the gallbladder it may be an indication it is inflamed.
ARUBA….Anyone up for a fishing trip off the coast of Venezuela? 🤠
Happy 🐪 Day
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis had some crunch, Nacza, Aegis, Prana, etc., but fair perps led to a successful solve. The fill was lively with such solid entries as Murphy’s Law, Camera Crew, I’m Here All Week, American Woman, Fortnight, Air Punch, etc. The theme was well-executed, but too obvious too early on because of its placement at 7D. This is often the case with vertical themes.
Thanks, John, and thanks, Splynter, for the review and asides. It’s always nice to see your buddy, Cooper. What’s holding you back from getting your very own Cooper?
Have a great day.
I-M, it's only obvious to those who read the complete clue. Some among us are clue completion averse.
Delete