Theme: "DARN IT ALL" - Six different kinds of stitches bookend each theme entry.
23. *Result of turning over a new leaf: BLANK SHEET. Blanket.
33. *Staple of mid-century campus style: BASEBALL JACKET. Basket.
51. *Composure metaphor in a P.G. Wodehouse title: STIFF UPPER LIP. Slip.
69. *Royal who's next in line: CROWN PRINCESS. Cross.
90. *Circle of care: SUPPORT SYSTEM. Stem.
105. *Silent film legend in a bowler hat: CHARLIE CHAPLIN. Chain.
Reveal:
120. Laughing hysterically, or what the answers to the starred clues literally are: IN STITCHES.
Priyanka Sethy and Rajiv Sethy are a daughter-father construction team who have published puzzles in several outlets. This is their Los Angeles Times debut. Congratulations to both!
I
often see complaints about circles in crossword grids, and I've never
quite understood them. You aren't asked to draw the circles. You're
simply being asked to notice them. Circles are an important tool for
constructors. They allow for original theme ideas like today's, and, in
some cases, help create visual elements that couldn't otherwise be
shown. If you can spot the theme without the circles, great. But many solvers rely on them to see what's going on.
Across:
1. Aries animals: RAMS.
5. WWII sub: U BOAT. U stands for undersea.
10. Toiling away: AT IT.
14. Swanky events: GALAS.
19. "Planet of the __": APES.
20. River that crosses the equator twice: CONGO. I always love trivia clues.
21. Extinct Mauritian bird: DODO.
22. Japanese 65-Across: UNAGI. 65. Fish in East London pie shops: EELS. I could eat this every day.
25. Onion relative: LEEK. More food: 29. Kebab bread: PITA. 64. Soba alternative: UDON. And
68. Tuna variety: AHI.
26. Geography text: ATLAS.
27. Fen: BOG.
28. Pop star: IDOL.
30. Routing word: VIA.
31. "That is to say ... ": I MEAN.
40. Harness part: BRIDLE.
43. School staff org.: NEA. The National Education Association. Also 45. Government org. with a flower logo: EPA.
44. Entreaties: PLEAS.
46. Cattle chorus: MOOS.
47. Guise: GARB. I associate "Guise" with "false front". Not GARB.
49. "__ queen!": YAS.
50. Grand __: PRIX.
56. Future JD's major, maybe: POLI SCI. Political science. 78. Future MBA's major, maybe: ECON.
58. Wine-y prefix: OENO.
59. Go-getters: DOERS.
60. Fastidious sort: NEATNIK.
62. "Killers of the Flower Moon" director: SCORSESE.
74. Consume: EAT.
76. Speak unclearly: SLUR.
79. Rosary unit: HAIL MARY. I can recite this and the Lord's Prayer.
81. Too much of a good thing: SURFEIT.
84. Fungus propagator: SPORE.
86. Quelques-___: some, in French: UNES.
87. Soap with a bird imprint: DOVE BAR.
93. Bygone Apple player: IPOD.
94. Static cling particle: ION.
96. Status of a Microsoft Teams message: SEEN.
97. French possessive: A TOI.
98. Cul-de-__: SAC.
99. "No more for me!": I'M SET.
101. Appeal of texting?: PLZ. Please.
102. Tacky: GAUCHE.
109. Chuckle: LAUGH.
111. Abbreviation before stating a new fact: TIL. Today I Learned.
112. Nut in early Coke recipes: KOLA.
113. Dutch cheese?: EURO. Dutch currency.
116. Mexican Mrs.: SRA.
117. __ donna: PRIMA.
119. PC key: CTRL.
123. Slender woodwinds: OBOES.
124. Parting word: CIAO.
125. Source of dust allergies: MITES.
126. Green action: PUTT. Golf green.
127. Belarus capital: MINSK.
128. Hot: SEXY. And 129. Not hot: PASSE.
130. Abbey space: APSE.
Down:
1. Jewish leader: RABBI. Funny!
2. Poise under pressure: APLOMB.
3. Scant: MEAGER.
4. Target of ID thieves: SSN.
5. La Jolla sch.: UCSD. UC San Diego.
6. Flower child style: BOHO.
7. Roughly half a kg: ONE LB.
8. Get old: AGE.
9. Tyke: TOT.
10. Improvise: AD LIB.
11. Movement in a core-strengthening Pilates exercise: TOE TAP. Toe taps the ground.
12. In a perfect world: IDEALLY.
13. Tik follower: TOK.
14. Pink-fleshed tropical fruits: GUAVAS.
15. Caper: ANTIC.
16. Kobe Bryant's team: LA LAKERS.
17. Ottoman title: AGA.
18. Part of the fam: SIS.
24. "Ish": KIND OF.
29. Oyster gem: PEARL.
32. Work toward: AIM FOR.
34. Make mad: ANGER.
35. Old name on Chicago's Willis Tower: SEARS.
36. Hopped: LEAPT.
37. Actor Momoa: JASON. The Aquaman.
38. The Mahabharata, for one: EPIC. The other is Ramayana.
39. Summoned ride: TAXI.
41. "For those in the back!": LOUDER.
42. Spanish partner: ESPOSO.
48. Adornment below a maang tikka, perhaps: BINDI. Maang tikka is traditional headpiece for Indian brides.
50. __ Place: Starbucks blend: PIKE.
51. Sammy who hit 609 homers: SOSA. And 54. Dodger great Reese: PEEWEE.
52. Lab assts.: TECHS.
53. How samosas are fried: IN OIL.
55. Laborer: PEON.
57. Eldest von Trapp daughter: LIESL.
61. Sailor's tattoo, perhaps: ANCHOR.
63. Use elbow grease: SCRUB.
64. Catering container: URN.
66. Inclined, to a Brit: LEANT.
67. South Asian dress: SAREE.
70. CBS procedural set in D.C.: NCIS.
71. Article II subj.: POTUS. Article II established the Executive Branch.
72. Livestock tracker: EAR TAG.
73. Afternoon nap: SIESTA.
75. Texter's show of gratitude: TYSM. Thank You So Much.
77. Like preloved items: USED.
80. Reguetón, e.g.: MUSICA. Reggaeton/Music.
82. "Spider-Man" filmmaker: RAIMI (Sam) I often confuse him with Sam Mendes, who directed "Skyfall".
83. Icy wine drink: FROSE.
84. Mage's cast: SPELL.
85. __ scheme: PONZI.
87. Hockey puck, e.g.: DISC.
88. Moonfish: OPAH.
89. Calling: VOCATION.
91. Cartoon pig with a British accent: PEPPA.
92. British collective: YOU LOT. Their "Y'all"
95. Part of some school uniforms: NECKTIE.
99. "Let me find out": I'LL ASK. Such a big comfort to have TTP back.
100. Middle of an ant: THORAX.
103. "Zip it": HUSH UP.
104. National Audubon Society symbols: EGRETS.
106. Country star LeAnn: RIMES.
107. Metallic mixture: ALLOY.
108. Gets comfortable: NESTS.
110. Eagerness to act: HASTE.
114. Salt Lake City athletes: UTES. The Utah Utes.
115. "__ and shine!": RISE.
117. Fluffy dog, familiarly: POM.
118. Slugger's stat: RBI.
119. Includes on an email: CCS.
120. Troublemaker: IMP.
121. "The Marvels" director DaCosta: NIA. The first Black woman to direct a Marvel film.
122. IRS form expert: CPA.
C.C.
5 comments:
In spite of the puzzle’s title, I didn’t quite understand what tied all of the themed fill together until C.C. explained it.
But It was not too tough, although I definitely had a WAG
at the crossing of “bindi” and “udon.”
Not too many other problems though.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
D-o is certainly no stitch expert. C.C. had to 'splain' the theme. I couldn't get it, even with the circles. Things were going smoothly until Atlanta: YOU LOT, MUSICA, GAUCHE, LAUGH, and HUSH UP made quite the mess. Got it, finally. Whew. Thanx, Priyanka and Rajiv. I'll let you have those EELS, C.C.
Thank you, Priyanka, Rajiv, and C.C.
It seemed like a Thursday type of solve until it hardened with some tough Saturday level clues and fill in the southeast.
There were some stumbling blocks at various points throughout the solve that slowed the early progress and added time. I had SURplus but pROSE didn't evoke confidence for the icy wine drink. Then I got PEEWEE, NCIS and after a while POTUS. So SURFEIT and FROSE. Good.
Similarly, having ESPOSa and DISk led to short delays in filling CROWN PRINCESS and CHARLIE CHAPLIN. I misread the La Jolla clue. I then read actor Mumos instead of Momoa. My first thought for go-getters was "type a." Rosemary unit was sprig. Oh wait, that's rosary unit. D'Oh! SEnt before SEEN. And so it went.
But then I got to the southeast area. All thoughts of coming in under 30 minutes were set aside. Then the goal simply became to solve it error free. The clues - especially the foreign language and foreign reference clues - almost did me in.
The big delay was that my first thought for tacky was gaudy and it meshed with EAR TAG and SIESTA, but it wasn't long enough. Oh, that has to be garish, right? After a good twenty minutes of staring at garish and rereading the interecting clues, the answer was nope. I finally worked out GAUCHE.
And then I was done. After all of that, it was still a FIW. In my early HASTE, I'd keyed in cOLA rather than KOLA, and didn't notice that made the uniform part a NECcTIE.
After all of that, I'm going back to bed to catch an early morning "SIESTA." :>)
Not being any kind of a seamster, the circled words made no sense to me till C.C. explained it, and they didn’t help or hinder the solve. A little more crunch than a typical Sunday, it took a few WAGs here and there but I did manage a FIR w/out help in 37:39. I was slowed down by the adjacent verticals YOULOT, MUSICA, LEANT, and the variant SAREE. Had to change “tyvm” to TYSM. I only know BINDI as Steve Irwin’s daughter, TIL it’s an adornment below a maang tikka, whatever that is (and that clue warrants a nomination for worst-of-the-month). I hesitated at LAUGH cuz it was in the reveal clue. YAS perped as did ESPOSO and FROSE. Thanks to the father/daughter duo for your very challenging creation, congrats on your LAT debut, and to C.C. for the enlightenment!
Hola! Whew! This was a bit more challenging than most Sunday puzzles. I sashayed through most of it until I hit the SE corner where I had HERONS instead of EGRETS and TEHEE where LAUGH belongs. That just made a mess! Thanks to Priyanka and Rajiv for the workout!
Interesting to see HAIL MARY in a puzzle. And I also erred with SARIS instead of SAREE so no way SYSTEM could emerge.
I'll blame it on no coffee and rising too early! Have a lovely day, everyone! I'm going to a birthday lunch later.
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