Happy Wednesday, everyone! sumdaze here, playing substitute blogger. Constructor Jill Singer has given us a puzzle without a unifier, starred clues, or circles to help identify the theme. Instead, the gimmick is revealed through parallelism in the clues. Once you clock it, everything falls into place in proper Wednesday fashion.
Theme:
In today's puzzle we find four themed answers. Each is an in-the-language phrase such that one of the words in the phrase is the collective noun for the animal in the clue. If you are new to solving, you might wonder how to spot this. In my case, I first noticed that all of the clues to the long answers have an animal in them.
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| I think I have mentioned this book in a previous post. It is a collection of over 1,100 collective nouns for groups of animals, people, and abstract concepts. |
In today's puzzle we find four themed answers. Each is an in-the-language phrase such that one of the words in the phrase is the collective noun for the animal in the clue. If you are new to solving, you might wonder how to spot this. In my case, I first noticed that all of the clues to the long answers have an animal in them.
Let's look at them now. I have used yellow highlight to connect the animal to its collective noun and blue highlight to connect the other part of the answer.
20 Across. Fish exhibit only viewable by appointment?: PRIVATE SCHOOL.
The collective noun for fish is school.
A PRIVATE SCHOOL is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. (I think it is interesting that their definitions are pretty much switched in the U.K.)
36 Across. Procession of new arrivals to a lion sanctuary?: PRIDE PARADE.
The collective noun for lions is pride.
A PRIDE PARADE (also known as a pride event, pride festival, pride march, pride protest, equality parade, or equality march) is an event celebrating LGBTQ social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. (Wiki)
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| Mexico City (2019) |
43 Across. Gorillas who give glowing testimonies?: TRIBUTE BAND.
The collective noun for gorillas is band.
This one got a little muddy for me because there is an English virtual band called Gorillaz. They are as original as can be -- not a tribute band. Sure, one can say that the final "z" makes all the difference, but I found this one distracting. Here is one of their most popular songs.
58 Across. "The Case of the Disappearing Crows," e.g.?: MURDER MYSTERY.
The collective noun for crows is murder.
Time to collect up the remaining clues:
48. In motion: ASTIR.
50. Yang counterpart: YIN. "As a general rule, anything more subdued and calm is YIN, while something with more energy is yang." Feng Shui Modern by Cliff Tan
51. Up to, briefly: 'TIL. until --> 'til
54. Celeb's image problem: BAD PR. "Celebrity is shortened, so is "Public Relations".
63. Comfortable in social settings: GREGARIOUS. Def.: (adj.) enjoying the company of others; marked by or showing a liking for companionship.
65. Oklahoma city: ENID. It is 1,163 mi. (1,872 km.) from Enid, OK to Erie, PA. Better pack some Oreos and a CD with oboe music for the road trip!
66. Classic video game: PONG.
4. Questionnaire: SURVEY.
5. Discretion: TACT.
6. Lake known for walleye: ERIE. I filled this because it asked for a lake with four letters in its name. However, now I know that the walleye is a native fish to Lake Erie and that it is named for its pearlescent eyes that help it see in dark and muddy water.
8. Little sucker: LEECH. I wondered how "little" they are so I did some research. LEECHes are parasitic or predatory worms. Only around 10% of LEECH species are parasites that feed on the blood of their hosts. Most prey on small invertebrates and larvae. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. Most LEECH species are quite small and can initially go unnoticed by their hosts but the Amazon giant LEECH can measure up to 17.7 inches long and 3.9 inches wide. This species can live up to 20 years. YOWZA!
9. Generation after Z: ALPHA. 
10. Élan: BRIO. Def.: (noun) enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; verve.
11. Idles: LOLLYGAGS. This was a fun fill word!!
12. 16th pres.: ABE. President Abraham Lincoln
13. Bucks and boars: HES. "Males" has too many letters.
19. Odyssey maker: HONDA. This clue might be using the capitalize-the-first-letter-of-a-clue convention to misdirect solvers. Yes, HOmer made a book entitled The Odyssey but the lack of title quotation marks lets us know that this clue is about a minivan.
21. On: ATOP.
25. Helped: AIDED.
26. Capped joints: KNEES.
28. __ large: WRIT. This phrase means "on a larger scale or in a more prominent manner," sort of like bold type.
29. Fan pub: ZINE. Merriam-Webster does not consider ZINE an abbreviation; nevertheless, "pub" for "publication" was helpful.
30. "The Residence" actress Uzo: ADUBA. her IMDb page
60. Solar panels spot: ROOF. CSO to unclefred!
61. Contemplate: MUSE.
62. Belgian river: YSER. We seem to be having a mini French subtheme today. This river begins in Northern France, flows through Belgium and empties into the North Sea. It is 48 mi. (78 km.) long.
63. Graduation stat: GPA. statistic and Grade Point Average
64. Director Howard: RON. I enjoyed reading The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, a book Howard co-wrote with his brother. In it, he writes about his road to being an Oscar-winning director.
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| a MURDER on the beach |
Across:
1. Needlework?: TATS. I like how we start with a bit of misdirection. We are not talking about embroidery. We are talking about using needles to create TATtooS. 
5. Engineer Nikola: TESLA. [1856-1943] Tesla was born in the Austrian Empire (now Croatia). He became a U.S. citizen in 1891. "Top 11 Things You Did Not Know About Nikola Tesla" (U.S. Dept. of Energy website) Disclaimer: I generally bristle at article titles that say "You Did Not Know". How could they know what we do know or do not know?
10. Not exciting: BLAH.
14. Color name that means "unbleached" in French: ECRU. I sometimes mistakenly equate ECRU with ochre.
5. Engineer Nikola: TESLA. [1856-1943] Tesla was born in the Austrian Empire (now Croatia). He became a U.S. citizen in 1891. "Top 11 Things You Did Not Know About Nikola Tesla" (U.S. Dept. of Energy website) Disclaimer: I generally bristle at article titles that say "You Did Not Know". How could they know what we do know or do not know?
10. Not exciting: BLAH.
14. Color name that means "unbleached" in French: ECRU. I sometimes mistakenly equate ECRU with ochre.
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| Left: A model looks happy wearing an ECRU sweater. Right: Australian cyclist Jay Vine looks happy wearing the ochre leader's jersey in the Tour Down Under earlier this year. |
15. Mermaid whose best friend is Flounder: ARIEL.
16. Spa wrap: ROBE. I could not find a collective noun for ROBE so I am going to suggest a wardrobe of robes. 😉
17. Brontë novel locale: MOOR. The 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is set in the Yorkshire MOORs of northern England.
18. Silver screen lovers: CINEPHILES. Is CINEPHILES a collective noun for movie lovers? If so, Easter egg alert!
22. Inception: ONSET.
23. "XO, Kitty" creator Jenny: HAN. This is an American rom-com TV series that aired for two seasons on Netflix. Han was the solo creator. 😉
24. Himalayan bovine: YAK.
27. "Oh my!": YOWZA. This interjection is used to express surprise or amazement.
31. Invitation to eat: DIG IN. If someone tells you to DIG IN, they are inviting you to help yourself to plentiful food.
33. 1990 accessibility law, for short: ADA. Americans with Disabilities Act
39. Tree with an edible heart: PALM.
41. Accustom: INURE. Example sentence from Oxford languages: You'd think my Southern nature would INURE me to this weather.
42. Outfielder Tommie in the Mets Hall of Fame: AGEE. link to Mets Hall of Fame
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| Ariel and Flounder Shouldn't he be in SCHOOL? |
16. Spa wrap: ROBE. I could not find a collective noun for ROBE so I am going to suggest a wardrobe of robes. 😉
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| someone getting a seaweed wrap at a spa (I considered the 4-letter seaweed and XWD favorite, nori.) |
17. Brontë novel locale: MOOR. The 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is set in the Yorkshire MOORs of northern England.
18. Silver screen lovers: CINEPHILES. Is CINEPHILES a collective noun for movie lovers? If so, Easter egg alert!
22. Inception: ONSET.
23. "XO, Kitty" creator Jenny: HAN. This is an American rom-com TV series that aired for two seasons on Netflix. Han was the solo creator. 😉
24. Himalayan bovine: YAK.
Meet Senji the YAK. (2:57 min.)
27. "Oh my!": YOWZA. This interjection is used to express surprise or amazement.
31. Invitation to eat: DIG IN. If someone tells you to DIG IN, they are inviting you to help yourself to plentiful food.
33. 1990 accessibility law, for short: ADA. Americans with Disabilities Act
39. Tree with an edible heart: PALM.
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| I encounter these in Southeast Asian cuisine. They have a firm texture and mild flavor. |
41. Accustom: INURE. Example sentence from Oxford languages: You'd think my Southern nature would INURE me to this weather.
42. Outfielder Tommie in the Mets Hall of Fame: AGEE. link to Mets Hall of Fame
Here are some collective nouns for baseball:
a crouch of catchers
a mound of pitchers
(Collectively, the pitcher and catcher are a battery.)
a deck of batters
a spit of benchwarmers
a myopia of umpires
a wave of baseball fans
46. 1960s youth activist org.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society
47. Like some pads: LEGAL.
46. 1960s youth activist org.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society
47. Like some pads: LEGAL.
The collective noun for lawyers is eloquence.
50. Yang counterpart: YIN. "As a general rule, anything more subdued and calm is YIN, while something with more energy is yang." Feng Shui Modern by Cliff Tan
51. Up to, briefly: 'TIL. until --> 'til
54. Celeb's image problem: BAD PR. "Celebrity is shortened, so is "Public Relations".
63. Comfortable in social settings: GREGARIOUS. Def.: (adj.) enjoying the company of others; marked by or showing a liking for companionship.
65. Oklahoma city: ENID. It is 1,163 mi. (1,872 km.) from Enid, OK to Erie, PA. Better pack some Oreos and a CD with oboe music for the road trip!
66. Classic video game: PONG.
The collective noun for ping-PONG players is smash.
67. Words of concession: I LOSE. I had "I LOSt" but then decided the Belgian river needed a vowel.
68. Turn on a __: DIME. This expression means to change direction almost instantly.
69. Tunneling pests: ANTS.
67. Words of concession: I LOSE. I had "I LOSt" but then decided the Belgian river needed a vowel.
68. Turn on a __: DIME. This expression means to change direction almost instantly.
69. Tunneling pests: ANTS.
The collective noun for ANTS is colony.
70. Less vulnerable: SAFER.
71. Love, in Lima: AMOR. The official language of Peru is Spanish.
Down:
70. Less vulnerable: SAFER.
71. Love, in Lima: AMOR. The official language of Peru is Spanish.
Down:
1. Pace: TEMPO. We often see this word associated with music.
2. Source of a mighty oak: ACORN.
2. Source of a mighty oak: ACORN.
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| I took this photo of a Coastal Oak adorned with lichen while hiking last weekend in Ft. Ord National Monument. (Just to clarify, I was hiking -- not the oak.) |
3. Sept moins quatre: TROIS. No idea...but it looks like French and sept makes me think of a septagon (polygon with 7 sides & 7 angles) and quatre makes me think of a quadrilateral (polygon with 4 sides & 4 angles). Then a perp or two helped me to see the French word for "three" (as in ménage à trois). With that, this clue likely means 7 - 4 = 3. The commentors can let me know if I am mistaken.
4. Questionnaire: SURVEY.
6. Lake known for walleye: ERIE. I filled this because it asked for a lake with four letters in its name. However, now I know that the walleye is a native fish to Lake Erie and that it is named for its pearlescent eyes that help it see in dark and muddy water.
7. Greed, lust, wrath, et al.: SINS. I liked that 7-Down refers to the "Seven Deadly Sins"? The list includes these three, along with PRIDE, envy, gluttony, and sloth. The editors did a good job of avoiding a dupe with "pride".
8. Little sucker: LEECH. I wondered how "little" they are so I did some research. LEECHes are parasitic or predatory worms. Only around 10% of LEECH species are parasites that feed on the blood of their hosts. Most prey on small invertebrates and larvae. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. Most LEECH species are quite small and can initially go unnoticed by their hosts but the Amazon giant LEECH can measure up to 17.7 inches long and 3.9 inches wide. This species can live up to 20 years. YOWZA!
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| Amazon giant leech on human ankle |
10. Élan: BRIO. Def.: (noun) enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; verve.
11. Idles: LOLLYGAGS. This was a fun fill word!!
12. 16th pres.: ABE. President Abraham Lincoln
13. Bucks and boars: HES. "Males" has too many letters.
19. Odyssey maker: HONDA. This clue might be using the capitalize-the-first-letter-of-a-clue convention to misdirect solvers. Yes, HOmer made a book entitled The Odyssey but the lack of title quotation marks lets us know that this clue is about a minivan.
25. Helped: AIDED.
26. Capped joints: KNEES.
28. __ large: WRIT. This phrase means "on a larger scale or in a more prominent manner," sort of like bold type.
29. Fan pub: ZINE. Merriam-Webster does not consider ZINE an abbreviation; nevertheless, "pub" for "publication" was helpful.
30. "The Residence" actress Uzo: ADUBA. her IMDb page
The collective noun for leading ladies is preen.
32. Golden yrs. fund: IRA. "Years" is abbreviated, so is "Individual Retirement Account".
33. Appropriately: APTLY.
34. "Would it be too bold of me?": DARE I.
35. Chiropractor's concern: ALIGNMENT.
37. Noted times: ERAS.
38. Bottled (up): PENT. Think, "PENT up frustrations".
40. Deg. for many a Wharton grad: MBA. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was established as the world's first collegiate business school in 1881. History of Wharton
44. Extreme: ULTRA. Def.: (adj.) going beyond others or beyond due limit.
45. Call for a reservation?: DIBS. I liked this clue. When your sibling calls DIBS on shotgun, they are "reserving" the front passenger seat.
49. Like decent bonds: RATED A.
52. Elba who voices Chief Bogo in the "Zootopia" films: IDRIS. Hi Lucina!
32. Golden yrs. fund: IRA. "Years" is abbreviated, so is "Individual Retirement Account".
33. Appropriately: APTLY.
34. "Would it be too bold of me?": DARE I.
35. Chiropractor's concern: ALIGNMENT.
37. Noted times: ERAS.
38. Bottled (up): PENT. Think, "PENT up frustrations".
40. Deg. for many a Wharton grad: MBA. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was established as the world's first collegiate business school in 1881. History of Wharton
44. Extreme: ULTRA. Def.: (adj.) going beyond others or beyond due limit.
45. Call for a reservation?: DIBS. I liked this clue. When your sibling calls DIBS on shotgun, they are "reserving" the front passenger seat.
49. Like decent bonds: RATED A.
This is the Jenga scene from The Big Short (2015).
It explains the 2008 global financial crisis in 8:17 min.
52. Elba who voices Chief Bogo in the "Zootopia" films: IDRIS. Hi Lucina!
The collective noun for leading men is pride.
53. "The Translator" novelist Aboulela: LEILA. goodreads link
53. "The Translator" novelist Aboulela: LEILA. goodreads link
The collective noun for authors is advance.
55. Fabric first known as "sergé de Nîmes": DENIM. Perps helped a lot with this one. "DENIM" started as a contraction of that French phrase. Sergé is a type of fabric and Nîmes is the name of a place.
56. Excellent: PRIMO. In this case, PRIMO is a slang term meaning "of the finest quality". We see it a lot in advertising and branding.
57. Truck rental choice: RYDER.
59. Some fluffy boots: UGGS.
55. Fabric first known as "sergé de Nîmes": DENIM. Perps helped a lot with this one. "DENIM" started as a contraction of that French phrase. Sergé is a type of fabric and Nîmes is the name of a place.
56. Excellent: PRIMO. In this case, PRIMO is a slang term meaning "of the finest quality". We see it a lot in advertising and branding.
57. Truck rental choice: RYDER.
59. Some fluffy boots: UGGS.
The collective noun for shoemakers is blackening.
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| If you are interested ... back in 2022, Planet Money did an episode on how UGG became the center of an international trademark dispute. |
60. Solar panels spot: ROOF. CSO to unclefred!
61. Contemplate: MUSE.
62. Belgian river: YSER. We seem to be having a mini French subtheme today. This river begins in Northern France, flows through Belgium and empties into the North Sea. It is 48 mi. (78 km.) long.
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| Note the helpful map inset. |
63. Graduation stat: GPA. statistic and Grade Point Average
64. Director Howard: RON. I enjoyed reading The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, a book Howard co-wrote with his brother. In it, he writes about his road to being an Oscar-winning director.
The collective noun for directors is guild.
The grid:
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| Bonus points for alternating the placement of the collective noun! |
One more before we go: 
Note: Except were noted, all of the collective nouns in this write-up are found in An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton.
That's all for today. I look forward to reading about your solving experiences in the comments section.
Notes from C.C.:
For those who missed my note last Friday, the ORCAS season here here. Our dear Sumdaze (Renee) has been nominated for Best Crossword Commentary. This year, all of the ORCAs-nominated puzzles will be available together in one special pack. The voting is open there through midnight Thursday, February 19.
For those who missed my note last Friday, the ORCAS season here here. Our dear Sumdaze (Renee) has been nominated for Best Crossword Commentary. This year, all of the ORCAs-nominated puzzles will be available together in one special pack. The voting is open there through midnight Thursday, February 19.
12 comments:
I got it, and in very good
time, too. There were a couple of
ultra-obscure names, but other than that, no problem.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Yay, d-o got the theme. And as a bonus, there was no reveal to miss. SDS evoked memories of my misspent youth. I was swept up in Lyndon's "Youth In Asia" project. Back in the day, we called the "walleye" a "walleyed pike." (Not sure, but I think it's the same fish.) This one was just right for a Wednesday. Thanx, Jill. And, surprise, sumdaze came back for an encore performance. Well done. (What's the significance of a CD of oboe music? Loved the "myopia of umpires.")
Thank you, Jill and sumdaze.
Ouch! One silly, sloppy error. AcA instead of ADA. The sad part about that is that I made that same mistake in another puzzle within the last month. It's just a matter of losing focus when something on the TV catches my attention. An answer goes in and I don't check the perps. D'OH!
At the other end of the solving spectrum, I was happy when I read the clues for what would be the theme answers, and my first entry today was MURDER MYSTERY. Then I reread the others again and guessed that SCHOOL and PARADE would be parts of two, but didn't think of BAND. My though was 'something' APE.
The solve came together quickly. I purposely left the first letter of -NURE blank to decide later whether it was going to be an E or and I. "___ large" as a clue didn't help. In the end though WRIT was a word and wret was not, so that solved that problem.
That little area of YOWZA, WRIT, ZINE and ADUBA was the most difficult for me. The unknown ADUBA filled entirely by perps, as did the unknown LEILA. Ditto HAN.
Plus, I did not know who that GREG ARIOUS guy is, and why he's comfortable in social settings. :>)
HAN - I saw what you did there, sumdaze. Thank you for explaining WRIT large. I was going to look it up. I understand the concept, but wasn't familiar with the phrase.
Apropos of nothing in the puzzle this morning - except that it was the clip that caused my une erreur - here is Nettle getting a chance to visit with others at the Oregon Zoo: Cute Little Porcupine Meets Two River Otters.
FIR without erasure. Finally, our Monday puzzle arrived! Didn't look for the theme, but it seems OK now that I read about it.
In Jimmy Buffett's Bank Of Bad Habits, he explains the eight deadly SINS (the eighth one is PIZZA!)
RATED A bonds have fairly high risk. The bottom-end investment-grade bonds hold that rating. BB+ and below are considered to be in the junk bond category. When I was with GTE, senior management used to harp on how much it would cost us if our bond rating went from AAA to AAb. (It was a lot of money.)
One of my go-to restaurants in Wildwood Florida is LOLLYGAGers. It is conveniently located near the northern end of Florida's Turnpike.
Four letter "lake BLAH, BLAH, BLAH" is going to be ERIE.
Thanks to Jill for the fun, easy-ish puzzle. DNK XO Kitty, Zootopia or The Translator, and only sorta knew IDRIS from repeated use in crosswords. Still, Monday-friendly perps smoothed the way. And thanks to sumdaze for another fun review. I really liked all those collectives.
FIR. I had to take a WAG at the spelling of "yowza" (z not s) because I simply couldn't suss out "zine" till I came here.
I enjoyed the theme especially since I knew most of the animal group references. However the amount of proper names was annoying.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
Good Morning:
Not knowing Aduba and not coming up with Dibs lead to a DNF. I sort of got the theme but missed the connection of Band of Apes and the Murder Mystery entry. I guess I wasn’t operating on all cylinders while solving. Props for some fresh and lively fill.
Thanks, Jill, and thanks, sumdaze, for subbing and providing us with the usual facts and fun.
Have a great day.
Wednesday appropriate fun. Interesting commentary, Sumdaze. Congrats on your well deserved nomination.
ALPHA, LEILA and ADUBA were completely new to me and solved with perps and wags.
IMO Uggs should be spelled ughs.
We used to say walleyed pike, too. Sometimes it is called the yellow pike.
Musings
-After my last fill I did not get the congratulations message and I knew it was ADUBA
-BAD PR? “There is no such thing as bad publicity!”
-In one episode of Grey’s Anatomy , a LEECH was put on a man’s nose to restore blood flow
-Levi Strauss made good use of DENIM. Sunday’s Super Bowl was played in a stadium named for his company
-3rd day in a row subbing for one teacher. He had no lesson plans, so, hooray for computers!
Hola! Somehow i got through this puzzle though not through any knowledge of French. Unknown names also slowed me, but I laughed at MURDER MYSTERY. Aha! A MURDER of crows! The one I was most unsure of was BAND, but I took the chance and guessed. Thank you, sumdaze, for leading us through this and congratulations on your nomination! I wish you the best. Have a wonderful day, eeryone!
DNF. I too got tangled up in the center not knowing ADUBA and I couldn’t come up with BAND of gorillas nor DIBS. I also had only a vague idea of the theme.
The rest was fine in spite of not knowing HAN, AGEE as clued, LEILA.
Thank you sumdaze for your amply informative review. Also thank you for the book reference. You did an excellent job explaining how you were able to understand sept, quatre and trois. Not doubt about it you deserve the award for best blog reviewer.
Took 6:26 today to gather with my fellow ... enigmatologists.
I didn't know the Actress of the Day (Aduba), today's writer (Leila), "Han" or her creation, the foreign math problem (trois), or the Belgian river (Yser).
I went walleye fishing on Lake Erie last summer, successfully I may add. We also caught a bunch of sheepsheads, which we threw back.
My last fill was YOWZA. It made me remember the movie I saw as a teen: They Shoot Horses Don't They, where the fellow exhorts the exhausted dancers with, "Yowza, yowza, yowza!"
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