It's the first day of Spring, which officially arrives at my house @10:46am EDT. Here's my strike-through clue review of the first puzzle of spring, from John Liber, whose name I could not find with regard to any crossword construction; if I'm correct, then congratulations on your debut~! The theme, however, is not vernal equinox related, but instead consists of "extra" words in the clues, specifically 'pain' and 'gain' - take those out, and the clues are straight defintions of the answers. Quaint, but for me, a long way to go for otherwise unrelated theme fills. An over-sized 15x16 grid, 26 3LWs, and a few too many names - one of which created a Natick - see 44A./42D. The themers, and reveal;
19. *One who's overly concerned with pain control: MICROMANAGER - take "pain" out of the clue = the def. of 'micromanager'; I once had a boss who left a Post-It note on everything we needed to work on, with exactly what steps needed to be taken; paint this🠆, fix this🠆, cut here🠆 . . . 🙄
The World's Most Interesting Micromanager
24. *Gain ground, to a general: BATTLEFIELD- take "gain" out of the clue = . . .
39. *Capital gain recordkeeper: NATIONAL ARCHIVES- take "gain" out of the clue = . . .
51. *Highly effective pain relievers: BULLPEN ACES- take "pain" out of the clue = the baseball pitchers that come in to "relieve" the starter
59. Fitness mantra, and a hint to making the starred clues match their answers: NO PAIN, NO GAIN
How I feel after leaving the gym sometimes
But Gain Weight, There's More Pain
ACROSS:
1. Sack: BAG - I do the Downs first to have some perpendicular fills crossing the themers; it also gave me the "G" here, so this is the 'container', not the 'AXE', kind of sack
33. Sounds of hesitation: UHs - I filled in UMs, and crossing the name at 34D., which I did not recognize, made it hard to find that I was, er, um, uh, . . . "wrong"
36. Unwelcoming: ICY -11-letters synonym for 3-letters
37. Help in making things go smoothly for furniture movers: CASTERS - I once "wished" that all the freight I handled at Roadway Express came with its own set of wheels; the next night, I got a 28ft trailer filled with 300 shopping carts - be careful what you wish for . . . .
43. Grungy clothing?: FLANNEL - back in the 90's, when "Grunge" was all the rage, members in bands of the genre were typically seen wearing some sort of flannel shirt
Not exactly flannel, but since it came up last Friday,
"The Man Who Sold The World", Nirvana from Mtv Unplugged
44. Country music's __ Brown Band: ZAC - the "Z" was a semiWAG; name, #2, but crossing a foreign language word = Natick for me. Not a fan of this genre, but I found this . . .
"Toes", typical country lyrics, but the video is worth it
45. Altar affirmation: "I DO." - I.D.~? - O, Nevermind ( that guy from 43A. again )
46. Skip over: ELIDE - typically syllables of words, as in "Y'all"
47. Unfair accusation: BUM RAP - skirts are a kind of "bum wrap"
In spring pastels~!
50. Disavow: DENY
56. Sphinx location: CAIRO
58. Australian currency: DOLLAR - it's a G'day to make a G'dollar
64. 24/7 hosp. areas: ERs - Emergency Rooms
65. "May I speak with you privately?": "A WORD..." - A Twurd
66. __-pants: SMARTY - half my family lives in England, and when I was kid, before there was internet, we would be treated to a delivery of British candy at the holidays - including Smarties ( like M&Ms ), Flake, and Crunchie, my favorite - I ordered a package from Amazon last week to give to my trainer Brett for his B-day on Friday, the 13th; he, of course, looked at the calories first . . . 😝
67. Coca-Cola HQ: ATLanta - UPS and several others are headquartered there, too
68. Long-necked birds: GEESE
69. Charley horse, e.g.: SPASM - AND - 37. Charley horse, e.g.: CRAMP - I've had both versions
70. Biblical possessive: THY
DOWN:
1. Message on a jacket: BLURB - jacket, that is, of a book, not an LP/album like I was thinking; I had pondered LYRIC
2. Clueless: AT SEA
3. 50s president?: GRANT - not HARRY ( and Ike is short a few $s), the 50s of US currency - name #3
4. Big citrus: POMELO - orange did fit . . . but that was SO yesterday . . . 🙄
5. Riesling, for one: WHITEWINE - I knew this
6. Foreign policy gp.: NSC - US National Security Council
7. Port. locale: EUR - Port(ugal) and Eur(ope) - in print, the period (.) might be hard to spot
🠅
8. Spoke in a monotone: DRONED - this got used in the write-up title here
9. Alley division: LANE - Bowling
10. Italian macaroons made with almonds: AMARETTI - They don't seem to be the same thing . . .
Let the controversy begin~!
11. SCOTUS justice who said, "Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time": RBG - that's a lot of clue for a 3LW, yada yada yada Supreme Court = Ruth Bader Ginsburg - name #4
12. Grand opening?: GEE - the "G" that starts the word gRAND
13. Make a typo, say: ERR
16. Russian pianist Gilels: EMIL - name #5
Heavy Metal Rachmaninov - I dig the hair, man - he gets into it
34. "The Little Mermaid" star Bailey: HALLE - I knew of the original animated Disney movie only - here's more on the 2023 live-action version from IMDb - name #6
40. Brickyard racers, casually: INDY CARS - Brickyard being the nickname of the Indianapolis 500 race track, the consequence of a repaving in 1909 with 3.2 million bricks
41. United: ONE - think "as"
42. Blue, in Peru: AZUL - Español lesson; I tried AGUA
47. Flourishes: BLOOMS
48. Banksy, for one: ANONYM - the basis for "anonymous", a kind of pseudonym - I have seen his art, but did not know his name, #7
There was a series of "Girl with Balloon" - the Wiki
49. Bud: PAL
51. Container: BIN
52. Self-serve servers: URNS - I tried EGOS - Bzzzzt
53. Spiked shoe: CLEAT
54. "Pale Blue Dot" subject: EARTH - Carl Sagan's 1994 book, and reference, to "home"
The photo taken by Voyager I, a mere 4 Billion miles away from home in 1990. Mark you calendars,
November this year, the spacecraft will be ONE LIGHT DAY from us - fascinating
55. "4 real?": SRSLY - 21st century textspeak = seriously~?
57. Hill staffer: AIDE
59. Hound: NAG - ah - the verb, not the noun; I tried DOG - 'hound' is a homonym
60. Have debts: OWE
61. "The Cask of Amontillado" writer: POE - name #8
62. Lacuna: GAP - Learning moment; more here; I tried "EAU", Frawnche water - Bzzzzt~!
63. Legendary coach Parseghian: ARA - crossword staple, but still, name #9
My ISP performed overnight maintenance, and I had to call tech support to get up and running this morning. You know the drill: reset modem, reset router, reboot computer. All good now.
(1) After staring at the reveal, I still didn't understand the gimmick.
(2) Once again I failed to remember "pwned."
A single letter led to my DNF. My "Sounds of hesitation" were UMS, resulting in MALLE where HALLE needed to go. Could'a been either a first or last name. Dunno. Bzzzzzt. Thanx, John and Splynter.
Took 10:04 today, good buddy, for me to gain traction.
I knew the Actress of the Day (Halle), but oddly hesitated at the spelling. In crosswords, I've been known to confuse Halle Bailey with Halle Berry. After briefly having "owned," "oomelo" kicked me in the shin to remember "pwned."
I didn't know "rennet", the Italian cookie (amaretti), or the Peruvian color (azul). Fortunately, I saw Zac Brown on "Survivor" on Wednesday. As I mentioned yesterday, I don't care for "sounds of hesitation" clues.
I appreciate that our reviewer remembered, and linked, "The Man Who Sold the World" from last week.
Thank you John (congrats on you LAT debut!) and Splynter.
I completed the grid in just under 15 but did not get the congrats message. Spent a good 10 minutes rereading every clue and checking every answer. First the downs and then the across clues. I couldn't find an error. I thought for sure there was a typo somewhere. Nope. No typos.
If not a typo, then an odd word or name. Everything looked ok. Grungy clothing = FLANNEL? Is that it? Why is FLANNEL grungy? (Oh. Thanks, Splynter)
I finally hit check all. The M in UMS lit up. Wait, what? Sounds of hesitations is UMS, is it not? Oh, duh. It can also be UHS, so HALLE instead of MALLE. Oh well.
Splynter, I couldn't recall whether it was ZAC or ZAk, but I knew it was one or the other. ACCREDITS took care of that.
DRONED - I'll never forget my US History professor at the University of Houston. Fortunately, his TA did most of the lectures. Unfortunately, he wasn't all that much better. Hopefully the TA got better over time.
Banksy is still his ANONYM, but he has been revealed. Reuters is taking credit for outing him, but a writer at The Daily Mail came to the same conclusion in 2008.
FIR. Took a WAG at pwned because pomelo had to be right. I wanted owned originally but oomelo was not possible. I was confused by anonym but it had to be because of the perps. I did not get the theme at all. I had to come here to have it explained to me. In short I found the cluing somewhat lacking and obtuse. Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR but GEE, the theme didn’t click. I needed Splynter’s nice explanation to get it. I had a few unknowns that were completed with perps like NINER, ZAC, (thank goodness I knew AZUL), EMIL, and HALLE as clued.
I should have remembered PWNED from past CWs, but POMELO had to be so I got it right. I’ll never get used to SRSLY however.
The exercise mantra, NO PAIN NO GAIN was popularized by Jane Fonda who put out a series of exercise videos. However that mantra has been disavowed DENied).
Thank you Splynter for another great review.
Now I’m going outside to enjoy a true spring day. 🌺🌸
FIW, with hand held high for UmS x mALLE. The only HALLE I now is Berry, as in flavor of the month.
Didn't get Banksy=ANONYM until Splynter 'splained it. I do, however, know what a brewski is.
I don't know how to make cheese, although I've been told that I can cut the cheese with the best of them.
Knew Zac Brown and his band. His songs have a strong Jimmy Buffett influence, and in fact the two collaborated on a few songs. Here they are singing Brown's sweet Knee Deep.
I wanted Hammer pants, 'til the perps insisted on SMARTY pants. Guess it's the new commercial with the golden hammer and the carpenter dancing in Hammer pants. I have no idea what product is being advertised - probably insurance.
Project manager's change principle - "Yes, but." (Yes, but that will delay the project by X," "Yes, but that will add X to the cost," "Yes, but that will create the following new risks to the project," "Yes, but we'll need to hire more people who can do X," etc.)
INDY CARS isn't a casual term these days. INDY CARS race in many venues including The Brickyard under the auspices of the Indy Racing League.
Thanks to John for the fun Friday challenge, and to Splynter for another fun review.
11 comments:
Two things:
(1) After staring at the reveal for a couple of minutes, I actually understood the gimmick .
(2) I remembered “pwned” this time.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
My ISP performed overnight maintenance, and I had to call tech support to get up and running this morning. You know the drill: reset modem, reset router, reboot computer. All good now.
(1) After staring at the reveal, I still didn't understand the gimmick.
(2) Once again I failed to remember "pwned."
A single letter led to my DNF. My "Sounds of hesitation" were UMS, resulting in MALLE where HALLE needed to go. Could'a been either a first or last name. Dunno. Bzzzzzt. Thanx, John and Splynter.
Took 10:04 today, good buddy, for me to gain traction.
I knew the Actress of the Day (Halle), but oddly hesitated at the spelling. In crosswords, I've been known to confuse Halle Bailey with Halle Berry. After briefly having "owned," "oomelo" kicked me in the shin to remember "pwned."
I didn't know "rennet", the Italian cookie (amaretti), or the Peruvian color (azul). Fortunately, I saw Zac Brown on "Survivor" on Wednesday. As I mentioned yesterday, I don't care for "sounds of hesitation" clues.
I appreciate that our reviewer remembered, and linked, "The Man Who Sold the World" from last week.
Flannel is "grungy"? I thought I looked respectable. At least this was better than yesterday.
Thank you John (congrats on you LAT debut!) and Splynter.
I completed the grid in just under 15 but did not get the congrats message. Spent a good 10 minutes rereading every clue and checking every answer. First the downs and then the across clues. I couldn't find an error. I thought for sure there was a typo somewhere. Nope. No typos.
If not a typo, then an odd word or name. Everything looked ok. Grungy clothing = FLANNEL? Is that it? Why is FLANNEL grungy? (Oh. Thanks, Splynter)
I finally hit check all. The M in UMS lit up. Wait, what? Sounds of hesitations is UMS, is it not? Oh, duh. It can also be UHS, so HALLE instead of MALLE. Oh well.
Splynter, I couldn't recall whether it was ZAC or ZAk, but I knew it was one or the other. ACCREDITS took care of that.
DRONED - I'll never forget my US History professor at the University of Houston. Fortunately, his TA did most of the lectures. Unfortunately, he wasn't all that much better. Hopefully the TA got better over time.
Banksy is still his ANONYM, but he has been revealed. Reuters is taking credit for outing him, but a writer at The Daily Mail came to the same conclusion in 2008.
FIR. Took a WAG at pwned because pomelo had to be right. I wanted owned originally but oomelo was not possible. I was confused by anonym but it had to be because of the perps.
I did not get the theme at all. I had to come here to have it explained to me.
In short I found the cluing somewhat lacking and obtuse.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR but GEE, the theme didn’t click. I needed Splynter’s nice explanation to get it. I had a few unknowns that were completed with perps like NINER, ZAC, (thank goodness I knew AZUL), EMIL, and HALLE as clued.
I should have remembered PWNED from past CWs, but POMELO had to be so I got it right. I’ll never get used to SRSLY however.
The exercise mantra, NO PAIN NO GAIN was popularized by Jane Fonda who put out a series of exercise videos. However that mantra has been disavowed DENied).
Thank you Splynter for another great review.
Now I’m going outside to enjoy a true spring day. 🌺🌸
FIW, with hand held high for UmS x mALLE. The only HALLE I now is Berry, as in flavor of the month.
Didn't get Banksy=ANONYM until Splynter 'splained it. I do, however, know what a brewski is.
I don't know how to make cheese, although I've been told that I can cut the cheese with the best of them.
Knew Zac Brown and his band. His songs have a strong Jimmy Buffett influence, and in fact the two collaborated on a few songs. Here they are singing Brown's sweet Knee Deep.
I wanted Hammer pants, 'til the perps insisted on SMARTY pants. Guess it's the new commercial with the golden hammer and the carpenter dancing in Hammer pants. I have no idea what product is being advertised - probably insurance.
Project manager's change principle - "Yes, but." (Yes, but that will delay the project by X," "Yes, but that will add X to the cost," "Yes, but that will create the following new risks to the project," "Yes, but we'll need to hire more people who can do X," etc.)
INDY CARS isn't a casual term these days. INDY CARS race in many venues including The Brickyard under the auspices of the Indy Racing League.
Thanks to John for the fun Friday challenge, and to Splynter for another fun review.
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