Theme: We've been framed!
Who are the masterminds behind this scheme? None other than our blogmistress, Zhouquin "C.C." Burnikel, and our commenter extraordinaire, Agnes "Irish Miss" Davidson. How did they frame us? Let us count the ways, beginning with the big reveal:
36-Down. Scapegoating scheme, or what the ends of the answers to the starred clues may be part of?: FRAME JOB. A scapegoating scheme blames an innocent person for the wrongdoings of others. Similarly, a FRAME JOB arranges evidence to point to an innocent person as the one responsible for a crime. Why would Irish Miss and C.C. do this to us? The good news is, they didn't. They just hung a framed picture on the wall for our enjoyment, and scattered their tools around the grid.
16-Across. *Statistical measure of certainty: CONFIDENCE LEVEL. A LEVEL is a handy tool for making sure a framed picture hangs straight on the wall.
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| CONFIDENCE LEVEL and LEVEL TOOL |
22-Down. *Earlobe sparkler: DIAMOND STUD. A STUD is a vertical wood beam that is part of the substructure of a wall. If the framed picture is heavy, it's a good idea to attach one of the picture hangers to a stud in the wall.
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| DIAMOND STUD and WALL STUDS |
23-Down. *Fashion accessory attached at a salon: ACRYLIC NAIL. A NAIL is essential to fasten a picture hanger to a wall.
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| ACRYLIC NAILS and NAIL FASTENERS |
33-Down. *"U Can't Touch This" rapper: MC HAMMER. A HAMMER is a handy tool for driving a nail into a wall.
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| MC HAMMER and HAMMER TOOL |
This FRAME JOB turned out to be a satisfying task. But "hang" on -- there's more to do.
Across:1. Golf scorecard number: PAR. PAR is the number of strokes that a proficient golfer should require to complete a hole, a round, or a tournament.
4. Prefix with task or vitamin: MULTI.
9. Pt. of LLC: LTD. An LLC is a Limited Liability Company. A part (abbreviated "pt.") of this phrase is the word "Limited," abbreviated as LTD.
12. "Look __ this way ... ": AT IT.
14. Sci-fi author Asimov: ISAAC. Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. Considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he wrote or edited more than 500 books.
15. "The __ the merrier!": MORE.
16. [Theme clue]
19. "Yum Yum Bedlam" rap duo __ Clown Posse: INSANE. Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo formed in Detroit in 1989. Thank you, perpendicular entries.
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| Insane Clown Posse |
20. Try to chomp on: BITE AT.
21. Experience grief: FEEL SAD.
23. Calgary's province: ALBERTA. It's only fair to have the occasional gimme for our friend CanadianEh!
24. NFL distances: Abbr.: YDS. NFL is an abbreviation for National Football League. YDS is an abbreviation for yards. Although American football is largely incomprehensible to this blogger, it's clearly an outlet for tribal instincts, where the capture of territory is measured in yards.
25. Air pressure fig.: PSI. Pounds per Square Inch. By now, you've noticed that an abbreviation in the clue calls for an abbreviation in the answer.
26. Nasty mutt: CUR.
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| Bad dogs have had bad experiences. They can be helped, but some people create this behavior on purpose. |
27. Method: Abbr.: SYS. System.
28. Lucked out at last: GOT A BREAK.
31. Entice: TEMPT.
34. Mother's Day month: MAY.
35. Sorts (through): SIFTS.
39. Marine mammal feared by sharks: ORCA. Orcas (AKA killer whales) are fearsome creatures.
40. Turnpike charges: TOLLS.
42. Sound from a leaky tap: DRIP.
43. "Hard pass": NAH.
44. Mark left by a swimsuit: TAN LINE.
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| Tan lines left by various recreational outfits. |
46. "__ questions?": ANY.
47. Grammy, for one: AWARD.
49. Insurance case: CLAIM.
51. Like most races: TIMED.
53. __ Antonio Spurs: SAN. A professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas, the Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
55. "Will __": ABC police drama starring Ramón Rodríguez: TRENT. Will Trent is a police procedural TV series based on novels by Karin Slaughter. The series, starring Ramón Rodríguez in the title role, premiered on January 3, 2023, on ABC, and was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on January 6, 2026.
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| Ramón Rodríguez as Will Trent. Cute dog! |
58. Italy's capital: ROME.
59. Rib-eye, for one: STEAK.
61. Not quite closed: AJAR.
62. Blown away: AWED. Blown away, as in very impressed.
63. Collectible trinket: CURIO.
64. Chore list heading: TO DO.
65. The red planet: MARS.
66. Adored stars: IDOLS.
67. Site with bidding wars: EBAY. When you shop for a CURIO on EBAY, it's very easy to get caught up in a bidding war.
59. Rib-eye, for one: STEAK.
61. Not quite closed: AJAR.
62. Blown away: AWED. Blown away, as in very impressed.
63. Collectible trinket: CURIO.
64. Chore list heading: TO DO.
65. The red planet: MARS.
66. Adored stars: IDOLS.
67. Site with bidding wars: EBAY. When you shop for a CURIO on EBAY, it's very easy to get caught up in a bidding war.
Down:
1. Soothe, as a fussy baby: PACIFY. Our young folks went to the hospital thinking they would not use a pacifier for their baby. The hospital staff supplied this model, and our grandson has been happily sucking on one ever since:
2. Did penance (for): ATONED.
3. Washes the suds off: RINSES.
4. Fertile Crescent's region: MIDEAST. The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with northern Kuwait, south-eastern Turkey, and western Iran. It is believed to be the first region where farming emerged as people began to clear natural vegetation to grow domesticated plants as crops. Alas, modern irrigation projects have drained the marshes and made the Crescent much less fertile.
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| Map of the Fertile Crescent |
5. Bring into play: USE.
6. PC-to-PC hookup: LAN. A Local Area Network is a collection of devices connected together in one physical location, such as a building, office, or home. The LAN is made up of cables, access points, switches, routers, and other components that enable devices to connect to internal servers, web servers, and other LANs. I'm glad our business has a "techspert" to manage the LAN!
7. Tic-__-toe: TAC.
8. Cool tone on a palette: ICE BLUE.
9. Romeo and Juliet, e.g.: LOVERS.
10. Goal of a peace summit, perhaps: TREATY.
11. Triangular river formations: DELTAS. A river delta is a landform, typically triangular, created by the deposit of sediments carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges into a body of slower-moving water such as an ocean, a sea, a lake, or a reservoir -- in other words, at the river mouth.
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| The Nile river delta as seen from a satellite. |
13. Nonstick cookware brand: T-FAL. T-Fal is a popular brand of nonstick cookware. DH and I recently gave up on nonstick and opted for good, old-fashioned stainless steel pots and pans.
15. Ration (out): METE.
17. Cool place to hang: IN SPOT.
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| I'm in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes ... |
18. Most October babies: LIBRAS.
22. [Theme clue]
23. [Theme clue]
28. Academic transcript no.: GPA. Grade Point Average. "No." is an abbreviation, so you know the answer will also be an abbreviation.
29. Masquerade event: BALL.
30. Baby goat: KID.
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| And they both say maa! |
31. Freight weight: TON.
32. Period of history: ERA.
33. [Theme clue]
36. [Theme reveal]
37. Ceiling metal: TIN. Tin ceilings are decorated with tin tiles that have designs pressed into them. This architectural detail was popular in North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was used as an affordable alternative to the beautiful plasterwork used in European homes.
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| Tin ceiling with tiles from Penn Metal Ceiling Company's 1896 catalog. |
38. Undercover agent: SPY.
40. Roofing goo: TAR.
41. Sketch show that inspired "30 Rock," for short: SNL. Saturday Night Live.
44. Small amount: TAD.
45. Gulp down: EAT.
48. Garden invaders: WEEDS. Weeds are wild plants growing where they are not wanted, and in competition with cultivated plants. Always a problem for me after winter rains in Los Angeles.
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| I have an urge to kill the spurge. Spotted spurge, that is. (Euphorbia maculata.) |
50. Hot under the collar: IRATE.
51. Shuttle on rails: TRAM.
52. Corn Belt state: IOWA.
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| A corn belt I'd like to see. |
54. Prefix with dynamic: AERO.
56. Zilch: NADA.
57. "Iliad" city: TROY. Homer's Iliad is an epic poem that tells the story of the Trojan War, in which Greek armies beseiged the city of Troy after Paris, son of the Trojan king, and Helen, wife of the Greek king Menelaus, ran off together. What a lot of trouble those LOVERS caused!
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| The fall of Troy came when Greeks entered the city hidden inside a wooden horse. That story appears in Homer's Odyssey. |
59. Physics or chem: SCI. Science.
60. Some UFC victories: KOS. Ultimate Fighting Championship (mixed martial arts) victories can be knockouts.
Here's the finished grid:
Solvers, did you work AT IT until you GOT A BREAK?
Did you USE a computer interface where your solving was TIMED?
Can you CLAIM an AWARD for your best solving time ever?
Or did you get NADA and FEEL SAD or even IRATE?
That's a TON of questions. MAY we hear from you in the comments?
-- NaomiZ
16 comments:
Not too tough, and it was
great to see a collaborative between C.C. and our own Irish Miss. And finally, with the reveal I was able to see what tied the themed answers together. So what’s not to like?
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o did not get "hung up" on this one. Zip, zip, done. That "cute dog" is Betty, and she's a major character in Will Trent. IOWA was a gimme -- made our home there for a half-dozen years in the '70s. Congrats on another fine collaboration, I-M and C.C. Thanx for explaining it all, NaomiZ. (I was always sporting those Computer Programmer tan lines.)
A really nice start to the CW week with a joint effort by Agnes and Zhouqin and an upbeat analysis from NaomiZ! I was able to FIR in 8:53, the only true unknown being TRENT which easily perped. I had a slightly different take on the theme, as I thought of FRAME as a verb, as in to “frame in” a structure, and the same tools are needed for that. A lot of puzzles are collaborations and I’m not sure how they are brought to bear, does the name placement in the byline signify as to who did what in the construction? Is it an equal effort on grid design, fill, and cluing? Just curious. Thanks to the three Cornerites for the enjoyable start to this Monday morning.
FIR, but task gave way to TODO.
I used to hate TOLLS, because they usually back up traffic. But with the advent of transponders like EZ Pass and SunPass, I've come to like TOLL roads. I like the idea of "user pays."
What is this TAN LINE of which you speak?
I actually knew the rapper-of-the-day! MC HAMMER "sampled" the bass line from Rick James' Superfreak for U Can't Touch This. Hammer paid more than a million bucks for that privilege.
INSANE Clown Posse calls their fan base "Juggalos," and the female subset "Juggalettes." Weird music, but they know how to create loyalty.
Finally, a novel way to clue SNL!
Thanks to CC and IM for the fun Monday puzzle, which ironically was selected by Patti to run on an actual Monday! And thanks to NaomiZ for the fun and informative review.
FIR. I've never been a fan of vertical puzzles and I guess I'm not starting now. And there were several rap music references which I didn't know; not a fan.
On the positive side the theme was clever and being a retired cabinet maker/carpenter, right up my alley.
But overall a so-so puzzle.
Took 3:44 today to quiet the peanut gallery.
I'd say this was a WITP.
Excellent collaboration, C.C. and Ms. Irish Miss!
Nice of you two to ... hang together.
This was a fast solve even for a usually fast Monday puzzle
The TIN ceilings in some restaurants are decorative but also make them noisy!
I should put ISAAC Asimov on my list of authors I should have read, but never have. I've been working on those slowly - eg I've read "The Count of Monte Cristo" recently
Creative construction by CC and Agnes - with most of the theme answers hanging vertically
Stay warm - we are still in the deep freeze - but with sunny days it doesn't feel like that
What a nice surprise to see IM☘️’s name paired with CC’s as collaborators this morning; it raised my CONFIDENCE LEVEL.
Cute theme that I detected when I filled the reveal. I liked the cool place to HANG clue. My only true unknowns were TRENT and INSANE as clued but I didn’t FEEL SAD because perps were handy.
NaomiZ, thank you for the nice review. I loved that TAN line photo. There are no bad dogs, just bad owners, I agree.
Thank you, I.M., C.C. and NaomiZ
It was a quick solve with a cute theme. This one should bolster the CONFIDENCE LEVEL of any newer crossword solvers. Or even those experienced solvers that have been on a bad run as of late.
Got to the puzzle later than normal. No internet and cable TV again this morning. I GOT A BREAK when it came back up an hour later without having to call Comcast.
Brr! It's cold outside. The high temp for today turned out to be 8 degrees. That was just after midnight according to the news station. Right now it's -2 and the wind chill is at -26. The internet tells me it is 24 degrees in ALBERTA!
Watching Tombstone (1993), with Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday. The scene that just played where Wyatt calls Ike Clanton a CUR, and the tells Clanton, "Tell Ringo and the rest of the CURS that I'm coming for them!"
Similar to what happened when watching a TasteMade program on Saturday and one of the people commenting on the list of 100 most iconic foods was Margaret Cho. The clue in the puzzle that day was "Comic Margaret" with a 3 letter answer. Serendipity!
You've been framed!
YooperPhil at 6:37 AM -- I think your take on FRAME JOB is better than mine! I've been hanging pictures, and I've never framed a structure, so construction didn't occur to me.
Very cute, CrossEyedDave at 10:06 AM!
Good Morning:
Thank you all for the kind words about a positive solving experience. I, too, solved it this morning and was amazed, once again, by how much I forgot about the cluing and fill from acceptance date to publication date. I even forgot that Troy was featured!
The lion’s share of credit, however, belongs to our Blog Mistress and Constructor Extraordinaire, CC. She is a true mentor who not only teaches, but generously shares her knowledge and expertise. Thank you, CC.
DO, I think you and I shared an interest and liking for Will Trent. I say shared because after watching the first two episodes of Season 4, I have my doubts about my continued interest. I found the story arc unnecessarily violent and Will himself rather harsh and grim, very un-Will like. Several other things irked me, as well, not the least being the lack of Betty’s screen time. What say you?
Have a great day.
What a nice piece of cake to start the week! Good job, Irish and CC! I thought more of framing a house, but NaomiZ made just as much sense, so it's all good. An enjoyable outing on a cold (-1°!) MLK day.
Only an Imp could create that poster! Thank you, Dave, you’re my favorite Imp,
Naomi ~ your interpretation makes perfect sense, you were hanging 🖼️’s and I was building a 🏠 😂. Both require the same tools. Would like to hear others take on it.
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