Rich Katz is relatively new to the crossword game, but has been coming on strong and has built a reputation of being inventive and humorous. Today, he has something shady going on.
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| Rich Katz (maybe) |
Here are the themers. Don't scratch your head too hard trying to figure out how the answers are related, because they're not. It's clues that are BLUE.
18. "Aquaman" star: JASON MOMOA. Aqua blue.
23. Cocktail that may be made with Bombay Sapphire: GIN AND TONIC. Sapphire blue.
36. Band with the hit "In the Navy": VILLAGE PEOPLE. Navy blue.
52. Microsoft Azure competitor: GOOGLE CLOUD. Azure blue.
57. Children's show whose title character leaves paw-print hints, and what 18-, 23-, 36-, and 52-Across have in common: BLUE'S CLUES. BLUE is an animated puppy who leaves a trail of paw print CLUES that her human co-host (and viewers) must follow to solve riddles.
So, the theme refers to the CLUES and not the answers on the grid. This seems tangent to what a crossword is supposed to be and falls in the gray are between themed and themeless. Shades of blue in the clues can be fun, but their associated answers are obvious, except for knowing Microsoft Azure is akin to GOOGLE CLOUD if you're not a techie. All in all, a pretty easy Thursday. In fact, I blew right through it!
Double your pleasure, double your fun! Note all the doubled letters!
Across:
1. Title said with a hat tip, perhaps: MA'AM.
5. Daddy: PAPA. Who's your PAPA?
9. "__ out!": PEACE.
14. Photographer Geddes: ANNE. The "Queen of Baby Photography."
15. Wasn't colorfast: BLED.
16. Complete: UTTER.
17. Sign gas: NEON. Gas sign: NEON.
18. [theme]
20. Out of order: AMISS.
22. "Hey, Soul Sister" rock band: TRAIN. This smash hit has sold over 10 million units in the U.S. Released in 2009, it was the top-selling single of 2010, reached the top 10 in multiple countries, and has surpassed 1 billion streams...which means I probably should've heard of it.
23. [theme]
26. PC pioneer: IBM. The usual M.O. (modus operandi) of us contributors is to spell out abbreviations in case someone doesn't understand the clue or answer. Informal poll - should I spell out ultra-common abbreviations like these? Personal Computers and International Business Machines?
29. Chow down: EAT. Chew up: EAT.
30. Small battery, or an org. that may help with a car battery: AAA. American Automobile Association.
31. Iditarod racer: SLED DOG.
33. Suomi speakers: FINNS. Suomi means Finland in Finnish, but can also mean the language.
35. Ages and ages: EONS. Many, many, ERAS.
36. [theme]
41. Gyro bread: PITA.
42. Give a bit more: TOP UP. Brit-speak for adding more to an existing level of something. We usually TOP off here in the States.
43. Accounts with round numbers?: BAR TABS. As in a round of drinks that may need TOPPING UP.
47. Spy-fi novelist Deighton: LEN.
48. Visitor in a knock-knock joke that ends, "It's nothing to cry about!": BOO.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
BOO.
BOO who? And hilarity ensues...
51. Tricky: SLY.
52. [theme]
55. Herb in caprese salad: BASIL. I love caprese salads with the bright colors of the Italian flag. So simple to make yet so fancy on the table.
56. Upper crust: ELITE.
57. [theme]
62. "Sad to say ... ": ALAS.
63. Goodyear products: TIRES. One of the three Goodyear blimp bases is right here in nearby Pompano Beach, FL.
64. Legendary rebuke: ET TU.
65. Memory units, for short: MEGS. MEGAbyteS.
66. Branch of Islam: SUNNI.
67. Leader whose address ends with .edu: DEAN.
68. Bailiwick: AREA. A bailiwick is one's sphere of operations or particular AREA of interest.
Down:
1. Run: MANAGE.
2. Condition often treated with iron supplements: ANEMIA.
3. Tap, as one's successor: ANOINT.
4. High-IQ society: MENSA. I had to drop out when my brain got rusty.
5. Many a school sammie: PBJ. The classic Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I looked up "sammie" and found most people hate the term, unless they are in grade school. Here's the gourmet version. It's cut on a diagonal. Ooh la la.
6. In the style of: ALA. Borrowed from French, à la, means “according to” or “in the manner of.” As in a PBJ ALA Cordon Bleu.
7. 55-Across sauce: PESTO.
8. Decorates: ADORNS.
9. Pedicure stone: PUMICE.
10. Harry and William's alma mater: ETON.
11. Convenience in a cash-only venue: ATM. Automated Teller Machine.
12. Corp. leader: CEO. A Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking executive in a corporation.
13. Shaded section of a timeline: ERA. Here's the famous ERAs Tour:
19. Execute perfectly: NAIL. Perfectly executed NAILs:
21. Slug kin: SNAIL.
24. Comedian Carvey: DANA. Meet Garth, one of DANA's most famous characters from Wayne's World, originally an SNL skit.
25. Punchy flavor: TANG.
26. Pop sensation: IDOL.
27. Barbecue discard: BONE.
28. Booker T.'s band: M.G.'S. Sadly, Steve Cropper, songwriter and their original guitarist, died this past December (thanks for reminding me, MalMan!). I dabble on the keyboards, and one of my favorite songs to play is Green Onions, written by Cropper, with its distinctive Hammond B3 organ sound.
33. No longer fizzy: FLAT.
34. Game, __, match: SET. Tennis’s notoriously bizarre scoring system (using love, 15, 30, 40, and “deuce” instead of 0-1-2-3-4) likely stems from medieval clock-based scoring, where quarters (15, 30, 45) marked points.
36. Lab container: VIAL.
37. "It was nothing": I TRY.
38. Exit __: POLL.
39. Fencing blade: EPEE. Whee! It's EPEE...again.
40. Light weight: OUNCE. Actually, light has no weight. It consists of photons, which are massless particles. However, because light possesses energy and momentum, it behaves as if it has a relativistic mass and is affected by gravity. I watch NOVA!41. "Nova" network: PBS. For over 50 years, NOVA has the most popular prime-time science series on American television.
44. Tennis star Andre: AGASSI. Tennis players often place a small silicone dampener in their strings to reduce vibration. RightBrain has a bunch that look like anything from ladybugs to smiley faces, but I use a simple rubber band because AGASSI does.
45. Anjou alternative: BOSC. Members of your pear group:
46. Dirtied: SOILED.
48. Tank in a basement: BOILER. Tanks in a basement: AQUARIUMS.
49. Service interruption: OUTAGE. I hope none of you had a power OUTAGE during the winter storms last week.
50. Black Sea port: ODESSA.
53. Posterior muscle, informally: GLUTE. Know your GLUTEs:
54. Many a denizen of Machu Picchu: LLAMA.
55. "It's __ a minute!": BEEN.
57. "Mic Drop" K-pop septet: BTS. This South Korean sensation is known to me only by xwords.
58. Actor Simu: LIU. He's kicked Lucy LIU out of the xword rotation, but it seems like they're still friends!
59. Samovar: URN. Universal Remains Niche. (This might not be an abbreviation!)
60. Due-in hr.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
61. Phoenix NBAer: SUN. National Basketball Association is abbreviated, but the team is still just the SUNs.
I hope this chased some of your BLUES away!
Be Good. RB
Once again, I could
ReplyDeletemake no sense of the reveal until I came on this site. But now I understand. Still, the whole “mechanism” seems kind of fishy to me.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteZipped right through this one with nary a thought as to the theme. As R-B explained, it was devilishly clever. Never heard of BLUES CLUES, but it sounds like it could be a successor to Winky Dink And You -- remember that one? TIRE: Goodyear used to operate a blimp base on the north side of Houston not far from Dash-T's new residence -- that base closed in '92. Enjoyed your creation, Rich, and your expert explication, R-B.
FIR, but incan->LLAMA, and pumace_>PUMICE (UNTIE!)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that if I applied to MENSA, laughter would resound throughout the realm.
My 112-year-old home is heated by a BOILER. It originally was heated by coal fireplaces, then oil BOILER, now natural gas. It doesn't have a separate water heater.
"Light weight" is. of course, relative. An OUNCE of pot might get you a light sentence, while an OUNCE of Peruvian marching powder will get you a heavy sentence.
Seems to me that using Bombay Sapphire for a GIN AND TONIC is a waste. Kinda like asking for top-shelf vodka for a bloody mary.
Norfolk has several restaurants partly owned by the Katz family. Richard was a founder but is now retired. Son Rich Katz has assumed his responsibilities. I assume Norfolk's Rich is too busy running his empire to construct puzzles. But thanks to this Rich for the mostly-fun grid. I don't really care one way or the other about themes, and mainly use them as a sanity check for my fill. This one escaped me. A lot of A&E, but less than we've had recently. And thanks to Rusty Brain for the fun and funny tour.
Hi there~!
ReplyDeleteI spell out the abbr clues & answers for the "lurking newcomers" who check in at the Corner. RB, your abbr for URN is a winner - I have a similar gag in Friday's write-up~! Thanks for the "Green Onions" - I can never recall the name of the tune, and then it plays and I go "oh, right, that one~!"
Splynter
OH -
ReplyDeleteAnd great theme title - I may be partial to the name "Rich"~!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rich and Rusty.
Rich, congrats on your solo debut at the LA Times!
The puzzle was not hard, but understanding the theme was. I understood that the CLUES would have some association with BLUE(S), but couldn't quite get it. Almost did with navy, but I got distracted with the news on TV. Then I forgot to finish trying to understand it when I opened today's blog.
Congrats to the blog on reaching a milestone of 350,000 comments, as of yesterday!
FIR. For a Thursday this wasn't too difficult. My one misstep was throwing down gigs before megs.
ReplyDeleteI stared at the reveal and couldn't make heads or tails of the theme. I had to come here to get the explanation. Sorry, but the theme seems really lame.
But overall, theme aside, this was an enjoyable puzzle.
Blues Clues was a gimme for me, but it didn't help me get the theme. Even so, in hindsight I think the theme is great. The puzzle was not too difficult today.
ReplyDeleteMy only problem was having BAR crossing ITRY. I let it stand. OOH! I thought ITRY was texting like YOLO, but no, it is I TRY. Paying for a round of drinks can be put on your bar account (tab.)
As a waitress I topped up many cups of coffee. Every Sunday I top up my gas tank whether I need it or not, so I never run short.
Slang depends on who hang out with. I never hear sammy for a sandwich ,but I see it in writing often. I never hear bae, but know it was popular in certain circles. I see its use is beginning to fade.
Jinx, I feel about high end Scotch the way you feel about Sapphire gin. I like it on a few rocks, no soda or water, so I can really appreciate it. My son gives me a bottle of high end Scotch among other things for my birthday.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis makes twice this week that I failed to see the theme. In retrospect, I should have figured it out, based on the hints in the reveal clue. Anyway, I think it’s quite clever and certainly a fresh and fun change of pace. The grid was clean and the fill was pretty straightforward, so the solve was both enjoyable and satisfying.
Thanks, Rich, and thanks, RB, for a fun and informative tour. Loved the opening feline photo and that delicious looking Caprese Salad, one of my favorites!
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-What a great place to hide the theme!
-IBM played a role in this first room-sized computer
-Some gas pumps have signs that discourage TOPPING OFF your tank
-While in BASEL, BASIL used BASIL in his salad
-DW’s Greek heritage makes her vulnerable to ANEMIA. She choked down liver during her second pregnancy.
-Morse Bluff, NE (pop. 111) has a lovely little bar/restaurant that takes no credit cards. An ATM sits in one corner.
-A great story about the origin of Green Onions
Thank you RustyBrain for splainin', and thank you for the Green Onions! Listening to it while learning made not comprehending another theme tolerable...
ReplyDeleteHG, thanks for the Booker T link, (you beat me to it...) I needed to hear that story again, because I had no idea Scotty Moore was involved!