Odds or Evens?
20-Across. Road trip activity with yes or no answers: TWENTY QUESTIONS.
34-Across. Uno's predecessor: CRAZY EIGHTS.
41-Across. Hasbro product with yellow and red checkers: CONNECT FOUR.
And the unifier:
51-Across. "You must consider the odds," and what can be said about 20-, 34-, or 41-Across?: IT'S A NUMBERS GAME. Consider the Odds that all the Games have Even Numbers.
Across:
1. Sleight of hand: MAGIC.
6. Film trivia site: IMDB. As in Internet Movie DataBase. It's useful when you recognize an actor's face, but can't think of his name.
10. __ golf: DISC. I'll let the golfers among us describe this sport.
14. Best Picture Oscar winner starring Mikey Madison: ANORA. Anora is a romantic comedy-drama about a young girl from Brooklyn who meets and marries the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch. His parent's aren't amused.
15. Nurture: REAR.
16. Machu Picchu builder: INCA. Machu Picchu is an Incan city set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru. Built in the 15th century and later abandoned. It is known renowned for its dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar and panoramic views. It is truly breathtaking. If you have an opportunity to visit the site, I highly recommend it.
17. Played on TV again: RERAN.
18. Years, in Latin: ANNI. Anno is singular; Anni is plural.
19. Aussie greeting: G'DAY. We learned about Australian greetings a couple of weeks ago.
23. Fashion designer Anna: SUI. Anna Sui (b. Aug. 4, 1955) was a big name in fashion in the early aughts.
24. Low-carb diet: KETO. Keto is short for ketogenic, a diet designed to induce ketosis, a metabolic state where the body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates.
25. Bona fide: ACTUAL. More of today's Latin lesson. It literally means In Good Faith.
29. On a cruise ship, maybe: ASEA.
31. Glamping options, for short: RVs.
36. Butter unit: PAT.
37. Saintly ring of light: HALO.
38. "Hamilton" actress Phillipa: SOO. Philippa Anne Soo (b. May 31, 1990) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles. She is best known for her role as Eliza Hamilton in the original Broadway musical Hamilton.
39. The Big Easy, for short: NOLA. As in New Orleans, Louisiana.
40. Mother of 41-Down: EVE. // 41-Down. Genesis brother: CAIN.
45. Lair: DEN.
46. Like some limited-release films: ARTY.
47. Hoot and __: HOLLER.
48. Bed size: TWIN. Back in the olden days, married couples slept in twin beds.
50. Buddy: PAL.
59. __ scale: measure of mineral hardness: MOHS. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs (né Carl Friedrich Christian Mohs; Jan. 29, 1883 ~ Sept. 29, 1839), a German chemist.
60. Beat handily: ROUT.
61. Language of Sri Lanka: TAMIL. Sri Lanka is the island country off the tip of India.
62. Item on a stage manager's checklist: PROP.
63. Ilk: SORT.
64. Pizzeria appliances: OVENS.
65. Participates in a bee: SEWS.
66. Tense and irritable: EDGY.
67. Gossipy person: YENTA.
Down:
1. Bodega: MART.
2. From the top: ANEW. A crossword staple.
3. 1990s vice president: GORE. Before he became the 45th Vice President, Al Gore (né Albert Arnold Gore Jr.; b. Mar. 31, 1948) served as a United States Senator from Tennessee.
4. Tehran's country: IRAN. I think this country has been in the news recently. Did any of you watch the television show Tehran that is on Apple TV?
5. "Who knows": CAN'T SAY.
6. Baghdad citizen: IRAQI.
7. Array of course offerings?: MENU.
8. Great __: big dog: DANE.
9. Staple of Texas barbecue: BRISKET. Yummers!
10. Finger or toe: DIGIT.
11. Splashy hotel amenity?: INDOOR POOL.
12. Read a barcode: SCAN.
13. Tropical islets: CAYS. Everything you ever wanted to know about Cays, but didn't know to ask.
21. Christmas season: YULE.
 |
| Christmas in July. |
22. Brews enjoyed with scones: TEAS.
25. Felt a workout: ACHED.
26. Hunger for: CRAVE.
27. Amateur production: TALENT SHOW.
28. "The Residence" star Aduba: UZO. I am not familiar with either The Residence or Uzo Aduba (née Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba; b. Feb. 10, 1981). She is probably best known for her portrayal of Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on Orange Is the New Black.
29. Torment: AGONY.
30. "If the __ fits ... ": SHOE.
32. Regard highly: VALUE.
33. Ringo of the Beatles: STARR.
35. "This __ about you": ISN'T.
39. Gp. that sets a zebra among the Lions?: NFL. The zebras here are the referees.
42. Surgical asst.: OR NURSE.
43. Blacken, as a steak: CHAR.
44. "Anna Karenina" novelist: TOLSTOY. Leo Tolstoy (Sept. 9, 1828 ~ Nov. 20, 1910) published Anna Karenina as a novel in 1878. It had initially been released in serial increments between 1875 and 1877. You can read it here.
49. Builders of papery nests: WASPS.
50. Like one who holds grudges: PETTY.
51. Rascals: IMPS.
52. Ripped: TORE.
 |
| beyond torn. |
53. Word before ring or swing: MOOD.
54. Town: BURG.
55. Donated: GAVE.
56. Blessing ender: AMEN.
57. Julep herb: MINT. Yummers!
58. Disney princess with icy powers: ELSA. A reference to Frozen.
That's all for this week.
חתולה
Not too tough, as befits a
ReplyDeleteTuesday. Just a few obscurities, nothing the perps couldn’t handle.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI had some crunchy granola nuggets in my morning cereal. Interesting. SOO and UZO were unknown, but filled via perps. I always say it, "If the foo..." TORE begs the question, why do my jeans always wear first in the knees? I never crawl around. Today's off to a good start. Thanx, Geoffrey, Matthew, and Hahtoolah.
Woke up early and decided to give the puzzle a go. Glad that I did - this one was fun!
ReplyDeleteNice tight theme with a fitting reveal. Some fun long fill (INDOOR POOL, TALENT SHOW). And fun clueing, especially for NFL.
Thanks to Geoffrey and Matthew for the clever puzzle, and to Hahtoolah for the delightful recap. The microwave cartoon is awesome!!
Sleigh, sleight, slight - don't you just love the English language! Glad I'm not trying to learn it though, I stay confused enough as it is. Didn't know Machu Piccu was only built in the 15th century. Thought it was much older. Yenta or yentl - yikes ! Yiddish! I can never remember which is which. English is hard enough (see above). Steisand was yentl and yenta so that's no help. Enjoyed the puzzle and the review.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that while disc golf sounds fun, what I really want to see is disco golf.
DeleteFIR, but briscut->BRISKET. BAD SPELARS OF THE WORLD, UNTIE!
ReplyDeleteI've never played Uno, but CRAZY EIGHTS was a staple when I was growing up. Hearts too. Rook was the only card game we played that required a specialized deck. (When I was really little we played "go fish," or what we called "gimmeallyours and War.)
The first Saturday in May is right around the corner. Many MINT juleps will be consumed at Churchill Downs that day.
Thanks to Geoffrey and Matthew for the fun puzzle, and to Ha2LA for another interesting tour. My RV looks a lot like the one in the cartoon, except for the color.
FIR. Not too tough, but of course it's Tuesday. There were several proper names I didn't know but the perps were kind.
ReplyDeleteI needed the reveal to get the theme. As I went back over the long answers I began to see it.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Thank you, Geoffrey, Matthew and Hahtoolah
ReplyDeleteDNK UZO and SUI. Knew SOO. Not familiar with CONNECT FOUR.
I liked this puzzle.
I did not notice that each of the games had even numbers.
Speaking of NUMBERS, I've solved 247 of Matthew's crosswords at his website. Plus a another half dozen or so at other venues. I'll be solving #248 at LuterCross crosswords in a little bit.
G'Day!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteA Tuesday offering that made you think a bit more than usual is a nice change of pace, IMO. Sui was the only unknown, even though she has appeared before, and I, for some reason gave Mr. Tolstoy an I ending, instead of a Y. Odd seeing Iran and Iraq in the same puzzle and Imps, AKA, CED and Ray O. As Kat mentioned, the grid was tight, and I think it was dreck free and pretty straightforward with the cluing and fill.
Thanks, Geoffrey and Matthew and thanks, Haht, especially for the truly funny Microwave comic, man overboard, and the Lion’s Den. Your informative commentary is also appreciated.
Have a great day.
Sorry, Hahtoolah, my iPad is misbehaving this morning.
DeleteTerrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Geoffrey and Matthew, and Hahtoolah.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time and saw the NUMBERS GAME theme. DIGIT was an Easter Egg. (There is even a TOY in 44D for more playtime fun!).
Three inkblots to change Noel to YULE, Torn to TORE, and Mini to DISC.
Unknown-to-me (or forgotten)names, UZO, ANORA, SOO, SUI, perped fairly.
Patti altered the clue to make sure that I didn’t waste time by entering Ringo today.
This Canadian needed only two perps to get GORE.
IRAnI or IRAQI? IRAN at 4D decided that.
CAIN or Abel was decided by perps also.
I noted ANNI followed by GDAY on our calendar. We had MOS yesterday.
Favourite clue was the one for INDOOR POOL.
Wishing you all a great day.
Actually, MOS was in the Sunday CW. Time flies!
DeleteUp very early, but my first iteration of the SouthFloridaSunSentinel would not let me print the CW. The 6:05 iteration finally did.
ReplyDeleteNice CW, fun, some good clues, favorite being the zebra among Lions clue. "ConnectFour" = only game I am not familiar with, but by that time I had figured out it must contain an even number, so after a few perps ....
21 names, DNK 6. Just for kicks I filled the names in red. In the end, of the 187 cells in the CW 84 are red. For whatever that's worth.
Overall, a fun, doable Tuesday level CW, FIR in 13. Thanx for the entertainment, GS&ML.
Thanx too to Hahtoolah for the as always terrific write-up, complete with great cartoons. I also liked the information about "Cays". Living in SOFLO, I wondered if there is a difference between a "cay" and a "key". Apparently not. Great info on how they are created, though.
Also being in SOFLO, I've been through the Keys many times. I think "cay" was the original term (from the Spanish "cayo" meaning small island) but like everything else, it got Anglicized over time.
DeleteA Tuesday level puzzle with solid cluing and a fun theme.
ReplyDeleteOnly a couple of obscure names but the perps were kind.
I didn’t know that “Anora” won an Oscar. We watched it and thought it was a cute love story enmeshed with hot steamy uncut sex.
Thanks Geoffrey and Matthew.
Today's puzzle was all fun and games, but to get serious for a sec...
ReplyDeleteThis Blog is like a never ending rabbit hole for me, and makes me feel like Alice. It's always sending me places I would never even think to look CrossEyed. Today, it sent me to IMDb, which I use frequently. Not only to look up faces, but to jump into the next rabbit hole. Actually, I have used it so much that I discovered that going to IMDB first is a waste of time. Case in point, Google Jimmy Stewart. Click on his ImDb and you're there! Much faster! But then, look at his achievements! The list goes on forever! And if you want, you can even see him before he was famous!. (I foist this on you because my kids refuse to watch anything in Black and White...)
I also visit Machu Picchu daily! Download Google Earth, and not only see satellite pictures, but go to street view and you can follow others footsteps step by step! Great for the mobility limited!
I thought holler was spelt with a A. Curiously, there is actually a word "holler," meaning Narrow valley or hollow between mountains. I wonder if this is where hoot and holler originated...
Lastly, a classic numbers game...
I lived in Virginia for many years, and knew people from the Blue Ridge that came from hollers (short for hollow). One guy I worked with came from his namesake Nicholson Hollow.
Delete@##& spellcheck! I typed "hollar", look it up...
ReplyDeleteFine puzzle this morning. I FIR in no time. I saw the numbers right off and that helped since I didn’t know CRAZY EIGHTS was the Uno predecessor and I had never heard of CONNECT FOUR.
ReplyDeleteA few names were unknown like SUI, SOO, although that one has been used before, UZO and ANORA, but perps took care of them.
Many years ago we had a Great DANE who thought she could be a lap dog.
Thank you Hahtoolah for the great review and fun cartoons. I had to read the a band on ship twice before getting it.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Nothing much to add
-The Terminator show at Universal Studios featured a PROP motorcycle that came out on a track with a loud roar and circled back behind stage. The motorcycle was not working and so the actor had to simply run down the ramp pretending he was on the bike. The show must go on!
Today was fun and games! Thanks Geoffrey & Matthew for the trip down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks H2H for the toons - A band on ship! LOL I'm glad you kept an even keel.