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.)
DeleteHey, now, look closer at that pic~!
DeleteI did not know that about the Devil's team moving - Albany was 32 years in the past . . . .
The 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.
Why the complaint for circles?
DeleteM 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
Just don’t involve Franklin in that fishing trip!
DeleteGood 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.
DeleteDO, I didn’t think of your aversion to theme clues, but I did think of you at 1A and your aversion to difficult fill in that slot. 😂
DeleteJohn's puzzle today was overall a fine effort, particularly in its construction. It featured a vertical grid-spanning reveal, as well as two vertical theme 13's. The circles proved useful--as they usually are--in solving the theme. I enjoy circles, and also appreciate pangrams, which we missed out on today by just a J and Q. Yesterday's puzzle was even closer, lacking only an X.
ReplyDeleteThere were perhaps a few too many KIOYD's (know it or you don't) for my taste, but John provided plenty of neighboring friendly perps to help us out.
Thanks, John, for an engaging and clever Wednesday workout, and I look forward to a return engagement And thanks, Splynter, for your usual competent and entertaining recap.
Musings
ReplyDelete-The circles seemed welcome and necessary for today’s nice humpday edition.
-NAZCA Lines
-Hattie McDaniel was not allowed to attend the PREMIERE of Gone With The Wind in Atlanta for which she received an Academy Award. At the award ceremony, she had to sit in the segregated part of the audience away from her costars in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
-Kesy is one of those fills where I wonder if the constructor actually knew that name or got it from a computer search. BTW, I absolutely knew of EMIL Zatopek from the Olympics of 72 years ago.
-Most ARUBANS are fluent in both Dutch and Papiamento, as well as English and Spanish
-I was amazed that Taylor chose to use a very British time reference of FORTNIGHT
-EGRETS are frequent visitors to the bodies of water around my golf course in Eastern Nebraska
-Nice job, Splynter, but Mac-n-Cheese for Thanksgiving? :-(
Hey, my brother and sister-in-law ASKED for my mac N cheese~!
DeleteWe also had Macaroni and Cheese PLUS ham, turkey, roast beef, cornbread dressing, crab dip, crawfish patties, oyster patties, sweet potatoes casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans, shrimp & mirliton (chayote) dish, spinach artichoke dip, a few others. I'll leave out the desserts.
DeleteWARM UP Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, John and Splynter. I finished in good time and saw the theme. Hand up for thinking of exercises before STRETCHES.
ReplyDeleteNAZCA at 1A was intimidating. KESY and THE CD required perps.
I thought of duo, but TWO perped. We had a “couples” sub theme with FORTNIGHT. More numbers with ACE and TEN.
Some AMOR with TRAV and Taylor in the CW today.
AMERICAN WOMAN was improvised by Canadian band, the Guess Who, at an Ontario gig. Randy Bachman was tuning his guitar after breaking a string, and his riff turned into a jam session.
(Bachman and Cummings have regained control of the Guess Who, and have a tour in 2026.)
Wishing you all a great day.
Thanks for the workout!
ReplyDeleteClever: “w-a-r-m” stretched “u-p” ❣️
I truly am in awe of folks who construct puzzles! Such a fascinating collection of skills and knowledge and mind-working!!
And I have a sincere curiosity to ask.
But first a bit of backstory: I’ve been doing (newspaper, mostly) crosswords since ~1966; it all started with my mother and the San Francisco Chronicle). And I’ve been reading (not everyday tho 🙈) this blog for at least 10yrs. But I’m not in the puzzle “in-crowd”. It actually took me awhile of reading the blog to realize that there is a CW in-crowd. With tournaments EVEN! (I do get it: Birds of a feather and all.) I wish I’d discovered much sooner - I’d have hung out with y’all in a heartbeat. The closest I ever got to “tourney play” was during the ‘70s when my fellow public health microbiologists would sit together at morning coffee break with several copies of the LATimes CW and race to finish before time to get back to identifying communicable disease bugs (bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microscopic parasites) in human fluids (gathered from all around LA County). My friend Suzanne and I had a pretty good finish record; our coworker Bob not so much. 😜
SO, my curiosity:
What is about (?“many”, ? too many) “name” clues? And, what is it about circles? —that is —what? —annoying?
Inquiring minds want to know — truly. (I guess cuz I don’t react that way to these features; tho I do not like the not-knowing that often accompanies pop culture clues)
BTW — In the ‘80s, I went back to school for a PhD in psychology, giving up analyzing germs for people. So see —curious! Maybe too curious? 😊🙄
Thanks again, for the puzzles, & for the elaborations on them❣️ And, for the community❣️ Happy Winter Time
Names in CWs are my biggest complaint because either you know them or you don't. There's no thinking about alternative meanings to the clue; there's no logic that can be applied. If two obscure unknown names cross, it just a lucky WAG if you guess that letter where they cross. For me, the fewer names the better.
DeleteSophia, what an interesting and diverse background you have! Thanks for sharing it and your experiences as an avid crossword solver. I can only speak for myself regarding the usage of proper names and circles in puzzles, so here goes. I think the key, as is most often the case, is moderation. A few proper names is acceptable, but a whole slew of them is not, especially if they’re of obscure people or places. Then it becomes an “either you know it, or you don’t” which leads to frustration. As for circles, I understand that they are necessary for early week puzzles, mostly to help newbie and inexperienced solvers grasp the theme. Sometimes they’re also necessary in late week puzzles to illustrate or reinforce a theme. The only issue I’ve ever had with their presence is when they are used unnecessarily in late week puzzles, thereby lessening the solving challenge. As I said, this is my personal opinion, but I hope others will share theirs so your curiosity is satisfied more fully. 😉
DeleteWell said IM☘️. I totally agree with you concerning proper names. However circles don’t bother me, any time. Good questions Sophia.
DeleteThanks so much! Aaahh.
DeleteDifferent brain functions used/challenged - memorizing v. analyzing/associating?
Also - Different orientation - to the how’s/why’s of puzzles’ creation?
I almost never think of construction features/reasoning on my own; but do while reading y’all’s occasional comments on constructing.
I created a simple crossword puzzle (CC’s construction offer on this site is what inspired me) 3yrs ago for my grandson’s 7th birthday gift - only 20 clues and single-letter crossings; OH MY - that felt like a whole lot for me, and it was easier with many clues unique to his life/world. He solved it with his paternal grandfather, who is a daily NYTimes CW-solver. It was fun to do, but I can’t imaging attempting a 15x15 grid 😅🤩
So learned some more things new today, thanks to y’all!
Puzzle was easy enough, and the theme was a good one, but I could not for the life of me figure out what MRAW meant... possibly because the mere mention of anything to do with exercise causes me to go brain dead....
ReplyDeleteNazca Lines reminded me of a YouTube I watched recently that included "The Band Of Holes," see between 4:08 and 6:06 Turns out it was not the tracks of an alien probe, but a simple, accounting and storage method. So simple, and common, that this is the only place in the world where it is found...
(Methinks I need to read the original scientific paper on this one, makes the puzzle look easy...)
FIR but needed the reveal to detect and complete the circles. Apart from the NW which was the last to fill, I had few problems with this CW. TRAV and KESY were my only unknowns but perps took care of them quickly.
ReplyDeleteAll in all a fun puzzle AVEC much ECLAT and good food. Misty will have a BALL writing her little story.
Thank you Splynter for the fun review. Nice seeing Cooper.
10 names, DNK 5. Also DNK: NASKA, ROOD, and PRANA. So for me this was a challenging CW, although it is definitely a cleverly constructed one. I really like the reveal being a central, grid-spanning vertical, since the theme clues are also vertical. I managed to FIR in 15. Thanx, JH. Thanx too to Splynter for the terrific write-up. Nice legs pic. It brought to mind, "Roll me over, in the clover..." I was kinda surprised you chose "TV Dinners" from ZZ TOP, and not "Legs".
ReplyDeleteI paid no attention to the circles, and found the long down clues to be easy to fill.
ReplyDeleteNAZCA, KESY, ECLAT, ROOD, PRANA, and TUN elevated this to beyond Wednesday-level for this solver.
FIR in 8:13. I give it a 6/10.
Hola! I found this easy enough to finish. NAZCA reminded me of a novel I read a long time ago that talked about those glyphs. Some believe they were made by supernatural beings.
ReplyDeleteAMOR, AMOR is a beautiful love song.
Apparently strange things happen in ARUBA and people even disappear.
ROOD is often mentioned in scared songs and hymns.
MEATBALL sounds like a good idea for dinner tonight.
Thank you, splynter and John for the fun. Have a great day, everyone!
Nazca is a tough way to start but an interesting topic. Thanks Splynter. The long answers were easy. I thought it was OK for a Wednesday.
ReplyDelete