GO TEAM
"Run Away~!" "Take off~!" "Beat It~!"
Crossword constructor Kyle Dolan frequently appears on Saturday; based on my research, this is his first Friday for the LA Times - all he needs now is a Thursday puzzle, and he gets the "EGOT" of grid making - yay~! ( see 36D. ). I have mixed feelings about today's offering; the theme is quite fresh and felt Friday-level, five phrases redefined as 'names' for a "collection" of other similar-use phrases, but was dismayed with a triple Natick in the vicinty of Minnesota ( but not Cedar Rapids ); two names dropping off an answer with a semi-vague clue; can't win 'em all, I guess. Standard grid, no circles, just 11 3LWs, two handfuls of names, two Wines, two Whiskeys. The themers;
17. "Pay attention," "Listen up," and "Eyes on the prize": FOCUS GROUP - "Focus~!" group of phrases
24. "Unbelievable!," "That's crazy!," and "What a coincidence!": WILD BUNCH - "Wild~!" bunch of synonymous words/phrases
38. "Gee whiz!," "Golly!," and "Holy cow!": BOY BAND - "Boy~!" band of words/phrases
49. "Sleep tight," "Sweet dreams," and "Don't let the bedbugs bite": NIGHT CREW - "(g)'night." crew of phrases
61. "Check this out," "I'll demonstrate," and "Eyes on me": WATCH PARTY - "Watch~!" party - the only one that I was not familiar with; the standard definition of "watch party" is 'friends who get together' to view, say, the Super Bowl
Don't "Hit the Road", There's More~!
ACROSS:
1. Have a sudden inspiration?: [ GASP ] - , the "inhale" meaning of inspire, plus sudden = sharply
5. Less cockamamie: SANER - Meh. TAMER, SAFER~? - this is the "structure" of most of the words I have ever missed solving the Wordle - the "_ vowel _ E - R" type, where I simply run out of guesses; there are hundreds of words that fit. If my first five-letter guess doesn't give me anything, I immediately fill in "_ vowel _ E - R" for the maximum # of attempts
10. Hydropower sources: DAMS
14. "__, sing America": Hughes: "I TOO" - "I had" no poetic clue, filled via perps; name #1
15. Scent: AROMA
16. Rapper who plays Fin on "Law & Order: SVU": ICE-T - short for Odafin, name #2
19. Whiskey mixer: SODA - whiskey #1 - could have been CoLa - SODA was a good WAG on my part, as cola was the go-to choice ( usually diet ) for the Happy Hour crew when I worked at the night club/band bar Casanova's in Cincinnati, OH
20. Place for post-debate interviews: SPIN ROOM - makes sense after it filled, via perps, but then I went looking for some info, and realized it could be this kind of "Spin" room
21. Bug experts, for short: IT PROS - Information Technology professionals, e.g., "Geek Squad"
23. Work in a cast: ACT - work in a cast . . .
26. Implore: PLEAD
28. "That a fact?": "IS IT~?"
29. Tampa Bay team, familiarly: BUCS - the Buccaneers of the NFL - or the cost of corn these days . . .
30. Like folk tales: ORAL
33. Settle, as a debt: REPAY
37. Hospital dept.: ICU - Intensive Care Unit
40. Modeled on: À LA
41. Down source: GEESE - Geese "Up" is when they "take off"
43. Art __: DECO - I like Art Deco
44. Former quarterback Aikman: TROY - announcer with Joe Buck on NFL MNF games - name #3
24 seasons together
45. Winery purchase: CASE - Wine clue #1, you lush . . . then again, I bought beer in case quantity, so I will take that back
47. Pettiness: SPITE
54. Dusk, poetically: E'EN
55. Catch: ENMESH
56. Low-cal drink: LITE BEER - I do the Downs first; otherwise, this could have been DIET COLA
60. Singer Lambert: ADAM - filled via perps, don't know this artist - name #4
63. Ceremonial event: RITE
64. Responded to an alarm: AWOKE
66. Lip: SASS - a "lip" synonym on the edge again
67. Detect: SENSE
68. Getaway spots: SPAs
1. Motion pictures?: GIFs - good one; took me a minute, plus the "G" when I sussed "GASP"
A Graphic Interchange Format moving picture of "Run Away~!"
MP & the Holy Grail
2. Sitting on: ATOP
3. Nonverbal signal: SOCIAL CUE - I was thinking "HAND SIGN", but "sign/signal" was too close for a crossword clue/answer, and it didn't fit, anyway; not familiar with this phrase
4. Mimics a cat, perhaps: POUNCES - Friday vague
5. Starchy palm product: SAGO - one of the triple Natick that got me - not TARO
6. One-way symbol: ARROW
7. Swedish actress Rapace who plays Lisbeth Salander: NOOMI - I did not know who this was until I went to IMDb - she played Elizabeth Shaw in the 'Alien' franchise movie "Prometheus" - name #5
She did not look like this in that movie . . .
8. Bird in the bush: EMU - "Bush" being the quaint nickname for the hinterlands of Australia
10. Row: DISPUTE - rOW, not rOE
11. Part of a squirrel's diet: ACORN
12. French red wine: MÈDOC - Wine clue #2, more here for the lushes connoisseurs
13. Hoard: STASH - the noun, not the verb - I tried AMASS - another good 'edge' word
18. Sp. miss: SRTA - Español abbr
22. Classic car, informally: T-BIRD
25. Light purple: LILAC - followed by . . .
26. Dark purple: PUCE
Tough to find on one palette - and that's a dark lilac
27. Scooby-__: DOO - name #6
29. Well-known: BIG - one of the bands that frequented Casanova's was "Big In Iowa", a sort of self-deprecating name drawn from a quote here - I was friends with Rick House, one of the guitarists; he, founder Bob Burns, and bassist/WEBN radio host Ken Glidewell have since passed away . . . sheesh
31. Winona of "Stranger Things": RYDER - name #7
32. Actor Vigoda: ABE - name #8
34. Work together: PARTNER UP - a unique fill
35. Skin soother: ALOE - very much NOT a unique fill
36. Happy cry: "YAY~!" - "yay, I finally got my ta-DA~!" when I filled in the correct word at 5A.
38. Heart throbs: BEATS
39. Figs.: NOs - abbr, figures & numbers
42. Plots: SCHEMES - nailed it
The concrete rebar/epoxy connections on the left
46. Both sides of America?: SCHWAS - very clever - the phoneme, /ə/, when saying /ə/-MEH-rik-/ə/; it's the most common sound in the English language - more here
48. Tiny sound: PEEP
49. Gets warmer?: NEARS - think the guessing game, where someone is getting closer or further from some hidden item, and the other person says "colder, cold, warm, warmer, hot, HOT~!"
50. Birthplace of novelist Kiran Desai: INDIA - Sheesh. Friday. Half WAG on my part; name #9
51. Exams for future MBAs: GMATS - not LSATs, not MCATs, this test is for getting into schools for the acquisition of a Master of Business Adminstration degree
52. John with an EGOT: ELTON - I always get fooled by "John" being his last name, #10
53. Threads in tea lights: WICKS - Friday clue, but clever
57. You, once: THEE - Dah~! I tried THOU
58. Peak near Catania: ETNA - yada yada, I threw this volcano name in, and "ding~!"
59. Whiskeys that are typically more dry than bourbons: RYES - Whiskey #2, the basis for the drink called a Manhattan, which reminds me of the only time I ever tasted this liquor. Growing up, we had watered down iced tea; a treat was a can of full-sugar soda; the adults would have a "Manhattan" at holidays; I figured it must be even better than soda, the "nectar of the gods" - until I tasted it - blech~!
62. Speechless feeling: AWE - not knowing "why" the adults really drank Manhattans certainly left me speechless regarding its taste & lack of sweetness
Splynter
Grid Flow 29.2
Well, it wasn’t the easiest
ReplyDeletepuzzle in the world, but eventually all the answers made sense, including the themers.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteYAY -- d-o managed to finish a Kyle Dolan puzzle. Wasn't familiar with several of the names or where they were from: TROY, NOOMA, MEDOC, I'm lookin' at you. RAPIDS was a gimme. D-o spent several years in Cedar RAPIDS. Hand up for THou before THEE elbowed in. Overall, I consider this one twelve minutes well spent. Thanx, Kyle and Splynter.
Good Morning
ReplyDeleteThis was a FIW thanks to the NW corner. I was convinced that the Cat was going to Prance, not Pounce and I, too just wouldn’t come to me. The solve was a challenge, overall, but an enjoyable one, although it took me a while to suss the theme. Boy Band is not quite as strong as the other themers, IMO, but they all work fine.
Thanks, Kyle, and thanks, Splynter, for explaining the theme so well and for the interesting commentary. One of these Friday’s, I’m hoping to read that Cooper has a new canine cousin!
Have a great day.
Ironically, I was sitting watching my cat pounce on her toys and it didn’t occur to me either.
DeleteTook 9:36 today to ... make the connection (felt like playing the NYT game, Connections).
ReplyDeleteI did not know one of the Actress of the Day (Noomi), and thought maybe "Mara" had another "r" or "a" somewhere; I knew the other Actress of the Day (Ryder), but hesitated on "y" versus "i". "Medoc" was new.
Like Ms. Irish Miss, I also had "prances" before "pounces".
FIR. I didn't have as much trouble with this Friday's puzzle as I usually do with this level of difficulty. The cluing was fair, albeit hard and fitting for the day.
ReplyDeleteAfter boy band I began to see the theme and that helped a lot with the solve.
So overall an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR, but tap water->LITE BEER, discord->DISPUTE, and tie pins->TIE BARS. Like IM, I looked askance at BOY BAND at first, but then I figured that BOY was a synonym for "gee whiz," "golly" and "holy cow."
ReplyDeleteThe great Pete Seeger wrote:
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey, I cry
If you don't give me rye whiskey I surely will die
If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck
I'd dive to the bottom and never come up
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey, I cry
If you don't give me rye whiskey I surely will die
LITE, as in LITE BEER, is a Miller trademark. But even LITE BEER isn't exactly low cal, except by comparison to other BEER. (I'll forego the ribald joke about LITE BEER being like sex in a canoe. You're welcome.)
SOCIAL CUE, or what's meant when someone comments "read the room."
ABE Vigoda was 20 years younger than I am now when he first appeared in Barney Miller. BOY, does that make me GASP.
Thanks to Kyle for the fun, very challenging Friday special. Hope you produce a Thursday grid so you can hit for the cycle and get your personal grand slam. (I'm out of sports metaphors now, but both are better than EGOT imo.) And thanks to Splynter for another fun review, replete with beautiful gams.
There's also Grand Rapids, MN, home of Judy Garland. Also didn't know Noomi, but I do know Adam Lambert.
ReplyDeleteDNF. I got stuck in the NW. I held on to faCIAL CUE unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThe rest filled eventually. It took a while to figure out the theme. I encountered a few unknown names. For example I should have remembered NOOMI from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie series.
Thank you Splynter for the fine review.
I had OCEANS at first for "Both sides of America?" but the letters made a mess (along with THOU instead of THEE), but I finally figured out SCHWAS at the end. I liked my answer better!
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Husker TV games often turn into WATCH PARTIES
-SPIN ROOM – “Did you peeps just listen to the same debate?”
-Those BUCS won Super Bowl LV by reconstituting Tom Brady who left New England
-You can’t return a suit for SPITE
--Sometimes I don’t SENSE SOCIAL CUES as readily as I should
-NOOMI is an absolute late-in-the-week fill.
-In 1958, the T-BIRD just became another car and was no longer a classic
I thought the theme was a bit of a stretch, but ultimately worked. That's Friday for you.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Stash = HOARD works both as a noun or a verb.
The original Swedish movie trilogy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with NOOMI Rapace followed the novels and was well done despite its low budget. Filmed in Sweden, it feels more culturally in the mood beyond just the language. The English version with Rooney Mara was cancelled after the first one.
Splynter, you were in rare form today (not that that you're always in great form)! Loved the SPIN ROOM and the TIE BARS.
NW and Minnesota area was tough. One wrong as I had to look up ‘I Too’ in order to have everything else fall into place. A few - but too many - obscure references such as Noomi, Sago, Medoc, but got through it (mostly).
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck does "Minnesota area" mean? Maybe top middle? I'm from MN, so you'd think I would know.
ReplyDeleteGood Wednesday puzzle – not awful, not too difficult. But Kyle went only 3 for 5 on the theme. The BOY BAND and NIGHT CREW entries weren’t nearly as clever as the other three. I might have felt more awe if BOY BAND hadn’t been the first one I solved.
ReplyDeleteLike Splynter, I wasn’t keen on the triple Natick. I lucked out despite feeling queasy about the unknown NOOMI and the sort-of-unknown SAGO. I picked up the “Bush” reference for the EMU.
Elsewhere, my favorite entry was SCHWAS, but not because I like them. On the contrary, they’re the reason Americans pronounce Spanish (especially ballplayers’ names) with such laziness and inaccuracy. Pronouncing Giants shortstop Willy Adames’ last name Uh-DAH-mus instead of Ah-DAH-mace is all too typical. Some justify this by claiming there’s a large set of “American pronunciations” of foreign words and names. Ugh-ly!
Thank you Splynter, because the puzzle wasn't difficult (for a Kyle one) but the themers were only solved with perps; no idea what they were about.
ReplyDeleteSOCIAL CUE was an unknown. I removed VISUAL CUE to make it work.
REPAY just sounds bad for a monetary settlement. Are you paying twice? PAY UP was my first thought. Maybe it's okay if you're 'repaying' the favor.
IT PROS- I don't think the Geek Squad has guys that can remove bugs from software. That takes a real computer programmer.
NOOMI, MEDOC, and WICKS came from perps only. Not a wino (or RYE drinker) and 'tea lights' were unknown. No candles are allowed in my house, ever. Too many houses catch on fire from people lighting candles near combustible items. It never fails to happen during a hurricane when somebody catches their house on fire using candles after the electricity goes out. And then they can't believe the fire dept. didn't come with 100mph winds blowing.
A Friday worthy puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI had FACIAL CUE until “gasp” finally dawned on me then “I too” and SOCIAL CUE filled in.
A FIR today. Yay!
I like IceT as Fin in the law and order SVU series but they are slowly writing his character out.
Will Trent has certainly become dark and deep this season but we still enjoy it.
Thanks Kyle for the Friday challenge.
Thanks Splynter. I always enjoy your detailed recaps.