Theme: Chicken Parts
Robert E.L. Morris serves up a fast-food Monday, with a gruesome goal.
59-Across. Wishes of a lifetime, or what the starts of the answers to the starred clues form at a chicken restaurant?: BUCKET LIST. A BUCKET LIST usually refers to a list of experiences that a person hopes to achieve before they die (or "kick the bucket") ... such as visit another country, learn a new language, pay off one's debts, go snorkeling. But the starts of the answers to the starred clues are something else entirely.
16-Across. *Woolen garments for ballet dancers: LEG WARMERS. Leg warmers are great gear for ballet classes, and were a fashion craze in the 1980s. Innocent enough! But the operative word here -- the start of the starred answer -- is LEG.
10-Down. *Defensive armor that covers the chest: BREASTPLATE. A breastplate is a piece of armor worn to protect the torso from injury. A good idea for knights and military men of centuries past. But the word we're looking for at the start of this answer is BREAST.
24-Down. *Fitness gadget promoted by Suzanne Somers: THIGHMASTER. American actress Suzanne Somers (1946-2023) famously promoted the ThighMaster, an exercise device. We're not going to get fit by thinking about the ThighMaster, but we are focused on the THIGH.
26-Down. *Supporting pilot in a "Top Gun" formation: WINGMAN. A wingman is a military pilot who flies behind and to the side of a leading aircraft to guard their back. By extension, a wingman is a person who supports you in your efforts. But today, the parts are greater than the whole. We're just looking for the starting word, WING.
Looking again at 59-Across, which reveals the theme for today's puzzle, at a restaurant that serves cooked chickens, a BUCKET LIST could be a list of the body parts included in a bucket: LEG, BREAST, THIGH, and WING.
Let's move on through the less troubling clues.
Across:
6. Inflatable float: RAFT. Yes, a raft is usually a casually assembled structure of materials used as a floating platform -- but it can also mean a large amount of something, like a raft of animal corpses in the streets of London. Just trying to keep with the theme, here!
10. Film school deg.: BFA. Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are also given in areas such as acting, ceramics, graphic design, sculpture, and music. I entered MFA first. My brother has one of those -- in glass blowing!
13. Greenish pond growth: ALGAE.
14. After-sun gel ingredient: ALOE.
15. Small appliance that removes wrinkles: IRON.
18. Floating ice chunk: BERG.
19. Dull and dreary: DRAB.
20. Halloween goodies: TREATS.
22. Hotel room price: RATE.
27. Constricting undergarment: CORSET.
28. Shocked: AGHAST.
30. Pretty soon: IN A BIT.
32. Magician's revealing cry: VOILÀ. There it is -- in French!
33. Grandson of Adam: ENOS.
34. "Planet of the __": APES. The first Planet of the Apes movie, which came out in 1968, was based on French author Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes. Charlton Heston starred as an astronaut who crash lands on a desolate planet in the distant future, where apes are the dominant species, and humans are primitive, mute beings. But wait ... there's more!
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| Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes |
37. Indoor rower, for short: ERG.
 |
| A favorite crossword exercise machine. |
41. Sass: LIP.
42. Arlene of classic cinema: DAHL. Arlene Dahl (1925-2021) was an American actress in films of the late 1940s. She founded frangrance and telephone companies, wrote a syndicated astrology column, and married six times. The eldest of her three children is actor Lorenzo Lamas.
 |
| Arlene Dahl, 1953 |
 |
| This intruder got off easy. |
47. Actress Tomei: MARISA. Marisa Tomei is an American actress who gained prominence for her performance in My Cousin Vinny (1992), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
 |
| Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny |
50. Primary hub of Alaska Airlines, familiarly: SEATAC. Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.
52. Hoops org.: NBA.
54. Collecting Soc. Sec., maybe: RET'D. A person collecting Social Security may be RETIRED.
55. Lipton rival: NESTEA.
56. With 48-Down, "Insecure" creator/star: ISSA. ISSA RAE is an American actress from my neighborhood of Los Angeles, and popular here in the crossword.
 |
| Issa Rae in Insecure |
 |
| Goldie Hawn and Arte Johnson on Laugh-In |
65. Santa Monica landmark: PIER.
66. The Daily Planet reporter Lois: LANE.
67. Eaglet nest: AERIE.
68. Msg. from a pulpit: SER. OK, a message from a pulpit is a sermon, and we have to abbreviate it because the clue is abbreviated, but the only abbreviation Google showed me for sermon is serm. And if we're going that far, is the on too much to add?
69. Strong urges: YENS.
70. Make fun of: TEASE.
Down:
1. Chum: PAL.
2. Nashville's Grand __ Opry: OLE.
3. Fleecy boot brand: UGG.
4. Shoddy treatment: RAW DEAL.
5. Cook fast, as tuna: SEAR.
6. Stallone's "First Blood" role: RAMBO. First Blood is a 1982 film starring Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran who runs afoul of local law enforcement and uses his Special Forces experience to elude capture.
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| Sylvester Stallone in First Blood |
8. In favor of: FOR.
9. Court decision that sets a precedent: TEST CASE.
10. [Theme clue]
11. Strong suit: FORTE.
12. Anxious feeling: ANGST.
15. Spain and Portugal's peninsula: IBERIA. The Jewish people who lived in this area from before the arrival of the ancient Romans until the expulsion in 1492 called this land Sepharad. Those who survived in other lands following the expulsion are still called Sephardic Jews.
 |
| Iberia, AKA the Iberian Peninsula |
21. Actor Lowe: ROB. Rob Lowe is an American actor who was a teen idol in the early 1980s, was sidelined by a sex tape scandal in 1988, and found redemption starting in the late 1990s, especially with a regular role on The West Wing.
 |
| After complaining about the body parts theme, I realized I had a different sort of body parts theme going with Charlton Heston and Sylvester Stallone. I was forced to complete the theme with this image of Rob Lowe. |
23. Ancient Greek marketplace: AGORA.
24. [Theme clue]
26. [Theme clue]
29. Droop: SAG.
31. Mardi Gras city, familiarly: NOLA. Short for New Orleans, LA (Louisiana).
33. Presidential spans: ERAS.
35. Elite __: March Madness round: EIGHT. Basketball! The 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight (regional finals) will take place on March 28-29, 2026.
36. Put the pedal to the metal: SPEED.
39. In an agreeable manner: AMICABLY. I wanted to put "amiably" here, but it wasn't long enough. I had AMI_ABLY, and needed SEATAC to provide the C.
40. Dynamic __: DUO.
43. Former's counterpart: LATTER.
46. Big name in frozen desserts: SARA LEE.
48. See 56-Across: RAE.
49. Cut with a beam: LASE.
50. Breaks sharply: SNAPS.
51. Otherworldly: EERIE.
53. Two-wheelers: BIKES.
57. "Pronto!": STAT.
60. Dubai's fed.: UAE. Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, and is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, which is one of seven emirates making up the federation called the UAE.
61. "The Situation Room" channel: CNN.
62. Lyricist Gershwin: IRA. Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create more than a dozen Broadway shows.
63. Female sib: SIS. Your female sibling is your sister.
64. Workout top: TEE.
Et VOILÀ! We have completed another puzzle.
21 comments:
I’m trying not to
overuse the expression “a walk in the park” but I definitely think this puzzle qualifies for that.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
And "Huzzah" was heard throughout the R.E.L.M. Today's reveal clue fell into the TLDR category. I never did figure out how those body parts fit into a BUCKET LIST. Oh, well, it was fun sliding to the bottom of this one. Hand up for thinking AMIABLY until that C elbowed in. Nicely done, R.E.L.M. and NaomiZ.
FIR without erasure. Wow, a Monday puzzle published on a Monday!
My water bill includes a sewer surcharge that is based on water USAGE, and is more costly than the water component.
MARISA is still my major heartthrob. Loved her in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
My desk at 100 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica had a nice 17th floor view of the Santa Monice PIER. It was Lawrence Welk's building, and I used to see him there occasionally.
If you want a safer alternative to NOLA, try Mardi Gras in Mobile or Savannah. Or, if you can afford it, Rio de Janeiro.
Elite EIGHT is a trademark owned by the NCAA. So is "Final Four" and (crossword favorite) "Frozen Four." "Sweet Sixteen" is trademarked by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, and licensed to the NCAA. (The KHSAA state tournament consists of the winning teams from its sixteen districts. The trip to Louisville for the games was our spring break.)
Thanks to REL for the fun, easy Monday grid. And thanks to NaomiZ for narrating it.
FIR. I went through this puzzle so fast I didn't even see some of the clues. There was no need for perps in my solving.
I had to go back over the long answers to notice the theme. This one filled so fast that the theme didn't matter.
Although way too easy this was however an enjoyable puzzle.
Delicious theme, smooth CW. I’m not going to RANT and RAVE about it since it was full of TREATS.
We had EERIE and AERIE. Last week I did a lot of GARGLing but with warm salt water to smooth my painful throat.
Thank you NaomiZ for the great recap. Yes, I’m old enough to remember Laugh-in. I never missed an episode. I liked the KFC joke and the trio. 😜
Not smooth but soothe.
This reminds of a movie called, The Bucket List.
I wouldn't say it had a great ending, but it was a fun ride...
Unfortunately, the clip cuts off the meaningful part of how they both crossed off an item on their shared bucket list. to laugh until they cried..
Good Morning:
It’s been quite a long time since we’ve seen RELM’s byline, so this was a nice surprise and a very enjoyable solve, to boot. It was of Monday level difficulty but with a theme and fill beyond a typical Monday, IMO.The only thought I had about the theme while solving was the chicken parts. Therefore, the theme was a fun surprise with two basic, yet solid, contemporary meanings.
Thanks, RELM, and welcome back to our crossword world and thanks, Naomi, for the always interesting and enlightening review and commentary. Liked both bear-themed comics and Marisa Tomei is always a delightful addition to the blog.
Have a great day.
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, RELM and NaomiZ.
I FIRed in very good time, and saw the body parts theme. (I thought it might be more risqué than the food bucket)
Hand up for wanting Amiably before AMICABLY.
We had IPA yesterday but needed India not ALE.
My MFA was downgraded to a BFA with the perp.
I smiled at the progression of IN A BIT, NOW, and STAT (clued properly).
Wishing you all a great day.
Musings
-A pleasant exercise for my almost back to normal eyes
-Great opening cartoon, Naomi!
-Was this improvised RAFT used successfully in a 1962 Escape From Alcatraz?
-I put JUNEAU and not SEATAC first. It turns out that it’s a $300, 2 hr. round trip between the two airports.
-Perhaps the most important TEST CASE was “Brown vs. Board Of Education” in 1954.
-We are big KFC fans even after the pieces have gotten demonstrably smaller.
This chicken puzzle was worth more than the sum of it's parts! Perfect Monday from Robert.
In Florida, it often rains cats and dogs. I know because I stepped in a poodle.
You probably don't have to worry about a spoiler alert for a 58-year-old movie. LOL But in TV reviews lately, they talk about shows the day after they're released. So, here goes: The Planet of the Apes is actually...
My Cousin Vinny has been cited by many attorneys as one of the most accurate movie depictions of a trial. It's also loads of fun! And Tomei was superb in it.
Arte Johnson, as an old man on a park bench next to an old lady played by Ruth Buzzy, asks, "Do you believe in the hereafter?" She responds affirmatively, and with a leering look, he says, "Good, then you know what I'm here after." Slap!
Nice write-up today, Naomi.
Took 3:47 today deep fry this one.
Easiest puzzle in a while. I even knew 2/3 of the Actresses of the Day (Issa Rae & Marissa, but not you Ms. Dahl).
I know it was a fairly easy puzzle when I read the review and see a bunch of fill that I didn’t see in the grid cuz they were filled by perps, in other words, CNN, (clue not needed). FIR in a little over 7, it helped that I knew all the names, which is pretty rare for me. Didn’t see the theme till the reveal, no circles needed. 🙋♂️ for MFA before BFA, and had to change the E to a Y for AMICABLY. Thanks Robert for the pleasant start to CW week, and to NaomiZ for another fine recap. I liked the KFC cartoon, and it was interesting history about the Sephardic Jews, which I never knew.
The last city I lived in also tied the sewer rate with the water usage, and the sewer was always significantly higher, which is unfair to those who water lawns or gardens a lot, or make ice rinks.
A nice, gentle, ease-in to the week. Nice theme, good clues, and people who are actually stars. Throw in a great recap by Naomiz, and we're off and running!
Didn't know any of the names but was able to fill them in from perps. Unfortunately a puzzle with this many names will always sour me to it, even if it was an easy solve.
Sped through this fun CW in 8 minutes, despite the 22 names. Only DNK 3, so that helped. For once I even got the theme.
The ironing board cartoon reminded me of when I was growing up my mom would watch exercise shows on TV. One day she decided to use the ironing board as a table to lie on. It collapsed, pinching her fingers under it. As bad as that was for mom's fingers, I recall coming home from school one day to find my mom in front of the garage door, crying. She had pulled the door shut by grabbing one of the panels and pulling it down. When it closed it locked shut trapping all her fingers between the panels. I had to open the garage door from inside. All her fingertips turned black, she lost all her fingernails, but somehow kept all her fingertips.
I really liked the movie, "My Cousin Vinny", especially when she explained the bit about positraction on the witness stand.
A few comments about water usage: my water bill is also tied to my sewer bill, although I would bet 90% of the water I use never enters the sewer system. All my showers are outside next to the pool, and the water drains away. I have an automated sprinkler system. THAT water never enters the sewer. I also have a pool, which, as I write this, I am adding water too. We haven't had rain in SOFLO in months! I bet my water bill this month will be >$500. Oy.
The CW had both RANT and RAVED, EERIE and AERIE. Lots of nice clues, actually. Thanx RELM.
Thanx too to NaomiZ for the terrific write-up.
I have one of the few homes in the Fort Lauderdale suburbs that has a septic tank. Because we don't use the sewer, we have a special half-price water bill.
I liked this puzzle.
NESTLE-->NESTEA. MFA-->BFA.
Cool words: AGHAST, GARGLED, LOATHE (makes me think of "The Cremation of Sam McGee"), AMICABLY, and LATTER.
Good reading all your comments.
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