Theme: Warm words.
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| What do I care how much it may storm? I've got crosswords to keep me warm. |
Constructor Jodi Davenport makes sure we're keeping cozy by finding warm garments hidden at the FRONTS of familiar phrases in the long answers.
The big reveal occurs here:
59-Across. Zones of air that bring less chilly weather, or what 17-, 23-, 38-, and 49-Across all have: WARM FRONTS. A warm front is the leading edge of an advancing warmer air mass that overrides a retreating colder air mass. But in the style of crossword themes, the clue suggests we look for something WARM at the FRONTS (or beginnings) of the listed entries.
17-Across. Manhattan thoroughfare known for ritzy residences: PARK AVENUE. PARKA.
23-Across. Endure a book just to write a scathing review, perhaps: HATE READ. HAT.
38-Across. Personal stakes: VESTED INTERESTS. VEST.
49-Across. Brian De Palma crime classic starring Al Pacino: SCAR FACE. SCARF.
That was a nice warm-up exercise! Now for the heavy lifting.
Across:1. Canvas camping structures: TENTS.
6. Open just a crack: AJAR.
10. Twinge of hunger: PANG.
14. Ferret kin: STOAT. In winter, a stoat's brown coat turns white, and the white version of the animal is called an ermine. Weird, huh? Stoats and ferrets are closely related members of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, otters, and badgers.
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| Stoat Ermine |
15. Misplaced: LOST.
16. Febreze target: ODOR. Testing your knowledge of home air and fabric fresheners.
16. Febreze target: ODOR. Testing your knowledge of home air and fabric fresheners.
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| I would try washing up first, and then opening a window. |
17. [Theme clue]
19. Roused: WOKE.
20. Nobel-winning Mother: TERESA. Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was a Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in India. As of 2012, the group was operating in 133 countries, with more than 4,500 nuns serving victims of AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis, as well as running soup kitchens, clinics, orphanages, and schools. Their mission is free service to the poorest of the poor.
19. Roused: WOKE.
20. Nobel-winning Mother: TERESA. Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was a Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in India. As of 2012, the group was operating in 133 countries, with more than 4,500 nuns serving victims of AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis, as well as running soup kitchens, clinics, orphanages, and schools. Their mission is free service to the poorest of the poor.
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| Mother Teresa |
21. Giving ghostly vibes: EERIE.
22. Scold: CHIDE.
23. [Theme clue]
26. Coffee, in slang: JOE. Gotta love the way this clue intersects with 26-Down -- same clue, different answer. Some of our regular readers call that a "clecho" for "clue echo."
27. Paris's __ de Triomphe: ARC.
29. Big name in video streaming: ROKU. Roku is a popular streaming platform that brings TV shows, movies, and live TV to your television via the internet. It functions through dedicated streaming players, sticks, or as an operating system built into smart TVs.
30. Nautical "Halt!": AVAST. "Avast me hearties" is a classic pirate phrase meaning "stop/pay attention, my friends."
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| Speaking pirate is efficient. |
32. Legal claim placed on a house: LIEN.
34. Former Cubs slugger Sammy: SOSA. Sammy Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for 18 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. He hit his 400th home run in his 1,354th game and his 5,273rd at-bat, reaching this milestone quicker than any player in National League history. Sosa is one of nine players in MLB history to hit 600 career home runs.
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| Sammy Sosa |
38. [Theme clue]
41. Not in support of: ANTI.
42. Egyptian cross: ANKH. The ankh or key of life is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol used to represent the word for "life." It was a widespread decorative motif in ancient Egypt. Copts (Egyptian Christians) adapted it as a variant of the Christian cross. Western culture has adopted the ankh as a symbol of African cultural identity, neopagan belief systems, and goth subculture.
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| Ankh |
43. Black-and-white whales: ORCAS.
44. Round flatbread: ROTI.
46. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT. PC users press these three keys in combination to access the Task Manager.
48. Class with smocks: ART.
49. [Theme clue]
53. Chicago airport: O'HARE.
55. Cupid's partner on Santa's sleigh: COMET.
56. Shows again: RE-AIRS.
58. Passionate: AVID.
59. [Theme clue]
63. List of dishes: MENU.
64. Molecule part: ATOM.
65. Cause to chuckle: AMUSE. Here, "cause" is used as a verb.
66. Stage accessory: PROP.
67. Count (on): RELY.
68. Curved cavalry sword: SABER. My parents were antique hunters. They thought it was a good idea to give my brother a civil war era saber and scabbard, which hung above his bed. Luckily, he was a sane individual.
58. Passionate: AVID.
59. [Theme clue]
63. List of dishes: MENU.
64. Molecule part: ATOM.
65. Cause to chuckle: AMUSE. Here, "cause" is used as a verb.
66. Stage accessory: PROP.
67. Count (on): RELY.
68. Curved cavalry sword: SABER. My parents were antique hunters. They thought it was a good idea to give my brother a civil war era saber and scabbard, which hung above his bed. Luckily, he was a sane individual.
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| saber and scabbard |
Down:
1. Common amt. of salt in a cookie recipe: TSP. An abbreviation in the clue calls for an abbreviation in the answer.
2. GPS approximation: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
3. New England locale: NORTHEAST. Tricky clue. I thought the answer would be someplace in New England, but the answer has to do with where New England is within the United States.
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| New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont. |
4. George who played Sulu: TAKEI. In the original Star Trek TV series, George Takei played Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu. Star Trek was noted for its portrayal of an integrated humanity of the future, with Sulu representing Asia.
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| George Takei as Sulu on Star Trek, 1966. |
5. Sci-fi time standard: STARDATE. A stardate is a fictional system of time measurement used in the TV series Star Trek. It is impossible to convert stardates into equivalent calendar dates, especially since stardates were originally intended to avoid specifying exactly when Star Trek takes place.
6. Some pub pints: ALES.
7. Biblical man on the inside?: JONAH. Jonah, as you recall, was inside a whale for a while.
8. Sun Devils sch.: ASU. Arizona State University sports teams.
9. GPS display: RTE. 2-Down was a GPS approximation. Now here we are with another GPS feature: the display of a proposed RouTE.
10. One with advanced technical capabilities: POWER USER.
11. Cherish: ADORE.
12. Finnish telecom giant: NOKIA. My first mobile phone was a Nokia.
13. Avarice: GREED.
18. Change course suddenly: VEER.
21. Shriek of fear: EEK.
22. Group of witches: COVEN.
24. "Respect" singer Franklin: ARETHA. Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Regarded as the "Queen of Soul," she was twice named by Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest singer of all time.
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| Aretha Franklin, 1968 |
25. "Don't use that __ of voice with me!": TONE.
26. Coffee, in slang: JAVA.
28. Medical center: CLINIC.
31. Worked into a state: STIRRED UP.
33. Pen filler: INK.
35. Slight during awards season: OSCAR SNUB. An Oscar snub occurs when a critically acclaimed film, actor, or director is overlooked and fails to receive an Academy Award nomination, despite widespread expectation, critical buzz, or recognition from previous industry awards.
36. Unblinking look: STARE.
37. Exec's helper: ASST. An executive may get help from an assistant.
39. Component of cellphone plans: DATA. Mobile (or cellular) data is internet connectivity delivered to your cellphone via a carrier's network, rather than via Wi-Fi.
40. Investment options with tax advantages: ROTH IRAS. A Roth IRA offers tax advantages by allowing after-tax contributions to grow tax-free, with qualified withdrawals in retirement being completely tax-free.
45. O'er and o'er again: OFT. Poesy!
47. Bread purchase: LOAF.
49. Rascal: SCAMP.
50. Put a blanket on, e.g.: COVER.
51. __ acids: protein components: AMINO. Meat contains all nine essential amino acids that your body cannot produce on its own -- but there are also vegetarian sources for those amino acids. Soy, quinoa, and buckwheat are all complete proteins, as are eggs and dairy products. You can also combine incomplete proteins like rice and beans to get the full complement of amino acids. Just sayin.
52. "The Thin Blue Line" documentarian Morris: ERROL. Errol Morris is an American film director known for documentaries that investigate the belief systems of their subjects. The Thin Blue Line exonerated an innocent man serving a life term for murder, who was universally believed to be guilty.
54. Fragrance: AROMA.
57. Television award: EMMY.
59. Tug-of-__: WAR.
60. Snacked on: ATE.
61. "The Waste Land" poet's monogram: TSE. T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright. He was a leading figure of modernist poetry. Who doesn't love The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
62. Knight's title in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms": SER. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a fantasy television series created by Ira Parker and George R. R. Martin. A prequel to Game of Thrones, it is an adaptation of the Tales of Dunk and Egg series of novellas. The first season premiered on HBO in January 2026. As in other Game of Thrones stories, knights are addressed as "Ser."
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| Egg and Ser Duncan the Tall in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. This viewer looks forward to Season 2. |
Here's the grid:
Solvers, did this puzzle AMUSE you? Did you ADORE it?
Or did you STARE at it, completely LOST?
Let us know in the comments!
-- NaomiZ
33 comments:
A simple Monday
puzzle, though I did wonder about “ser” instead of “sir” though the perps made that obvious.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
We got some nice rain over the weekend. You can almost hear the trees and shrubs sighing in appreciation.
There's a house on my M-o-W route with an ANKH-shaped mailbox. Interesting. D-o never noticed the articles of clothing on his way through the grid. Fortunately, SER went completely unnoticed -- no HBO subscriber here. Thanx for your efforts Jodi and NaomiZ.
FIR without erasure, but had to wait to see if it would be SABER or sabre, as it is spelled up in America's hat.
NOKIA gobbled up the remains of bankrupt Lucent Technologies, so I've been dealing with them on investment and insurance issues since my DW's passing. Good people to work with.
CC authored today's USA Today crossword, titled "Climbing Wall." A Monday-easy, fun grid.
Thanks to Jodi for the good start to the week. And thanks to NaomiZ for the interesting and fun review, except that in my mind he has an asterisk by his name. Although he hasn't admitted it, most baseball people believe his performance was enhanced by steroids.
Zoomed through like it was a Monday. Wait, is it Monday already? Thanks for the warm fuzzies, Jodi.
A lot of SABER-rattling in the news lately.
Nicely done, Naomi. We'll all should chip in to get you that crossword outfit!
FIR. Nice easy Monday puzzle. Simple solve with no real difficulties.
The theme completely escaped me. I once again stared at the finished puzzle and puzzled over what it could be. I had to come here to have it explained. And now I realize it was simple and elegant. I was trying to see more into it then was there.
But overall a most enjoyable puzzle.
I assume you're referring to 34-Across, Sammy Sosa.
Fun Monday! Breezed through it but the theme escaped me. Thank you Naomi and Jodi.
Good Morning:
Many thanks for the birthday wishes and kind words from yesterday. I solved the puzzle but never made it to the comments. I felt like CC’s appearance on my birthday was a surprise gift and, as usual, I was impressed by her creativity and craftsmanship. Thank you, CC, and CED for making my day more special.
Today’s offering is a perfect Monday exercise, IMO. I’m always impressed when an early week grid hides the theme and the themers themselves are not easily discernible. In addition to being well-hidden, the theme was cute and very well executed. The grid was very clean and the perps were fair, particularly around the unknown Star Date and Power User. The cluing and fill were pretty straightforward and I imagine the ease of the solve for a newbie would be enjoyable and rewarding.
Thanks, Jodi, and thanks, Naomi, for your usual entertaining and enlightening review. You have a knack for explaining the entries that are of interest and deserve attention, therefore giving us many appreciated learning moments.
Have a great day and thanks again for the thoughtful recognition of my birthday!
Monday smooth CW. I had to wait for the reveal to notice the WARM FRONTS. We just had a cold FRONT roll through and our high temps went from 83 to 69. My only head scratcher was SER and only unknown name was ERROL as clued.
Thank you NaomiZ for that fine review. Is that our constructor in the nifty CW outfit, assuming Jodi is a woman’s name?
love knight of the seven kingdoms and loved seeing it called out in the xword today!
Nice job, Jodi. The puzzle was well-constructed, with extra fun touches like the identical clues for 36-Across/Down (JOE and JAVA).
I can relate to the theme since I am currently wearing a sweater vest, and have a blanket over my lap.
Look forward to a return engagement, Jodi, and thanks, Naomi, for your usual lively and useful recap.
Puzzle almost filled in with acrosses alone, but the theme eluded me for a moment. (I have parsing difficulties.) at first I was looking at how does park, hate, vested, and scar have anything to do with warm fronts?
Took a moment for the V8 can to come whistling in...
this is my preferred warm fronts...
Musings
-Even the gimmick was a game and it took Namoi’s wonderful write-up to see what I was missing. Duh!
-My friend told me not to touch the inside of the TENT while it was raining but I did. Oops!
-LOST – My Apple Watch helps me find my iPhone and I have an AirTag on my keys to find them.
-A picture of the ARC that had to break Parisian hearts
-Our ROKUS got us to “cut the cord” and stop paying for boxes. I pay $99 to get the MLB app to watch the Royals, nothin' ain't free no more!
-Last month a WARM FRONT exited and the high temps dropped form 97 to 47.
-Sammy, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds all got tainted in the PED scandal. Only McGwire actually “fessed up” and so he is not banned from MLB.
-A PROP can be a mcguffin but usually isn’t.
-Most great running backs can VEER on a dime
-OSCAR SNUB – Politics and money can trump artistic achievement. No, really! :-)
Marvelous Monday CW, thanx JD, I really enjoyed your creation. 17 names, but only DNK 3. (I include SER as a DNK name here.)
I even got the theme, but only after the CW was filled. I like it when the reveal is near the end of the CW: keeps you guessing.
I managed to FIR in 8, filling only Across. Never had to look at Down clues.
Thanx too to NaomiZ for the outstanding write-up.
Hi, Monkey at 9:40 AM! I asked ChatGPT to create an image of a woman wearing a parka, hat, vest, and scarf, all printed with a crossword grid pattern. That illustration is ChatGPT's work. I liked the result, and as RustyBrain at 8:07 AM suggested, I'd be happy to wear it!
Wow! What a neat trick.
A sweet Monday morning treat! Theme was a mystery to me until I got to the reveal, which gave me the aha montane a big smile.
Thanks to Jodi for the fun start the week, and to NaomiZ for the sparkling recap! Pirate humor is always appreciated here.
Typo!! Should have been “aha moment and a big smile”. Sigh.
IM, I never made it to the corner yesterday and missed your birthday. Belated well wishes and I am glad that it was a happy day!!
Marvellous Monday (unclefred beat me)! Thanks for the fun, Jodi and NaomiZ.
I FIRed in good Monday time and like CED, took only a moment for the V8 can to hit re the WARM FRONTS. (Parsing took a letter from the second word for PARKA and SCARF, and dropped a letter or two from the first word for HAT and VEST.)
Hand up for SiR before SER.
I smiled at JOE crossing JAVA.
This Canadian has done CWs long enough to know that ODOR and SABER will give an OSCAR SNUB to Odour and Sabre.
I also learned ANKH doing CWs, and ROTH IRAS (we don’t have that choice here).
ODOR often has a negative connotation, while AROMA is more positive.
I smiled when I got the clue for JONAH.
Belated Happy Birthday to Irish Miss.
Wishing you all a great day.
Took 3:38 today to bundle up.
Fastest solve in a while, which seemed like a themeless while solving.
I wouldn't have known "ser" or "Errol," but the perps were all Monday-level.
Re the MLB scandal involving McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds et al, Sosa is also infamous for the corked bat affair. In a game at Wrigley, he broke his bat on a batted ball, and the umpire saw that the bat was corked. Sosa was ejected from the game and served a weeklong suspension. My son Jim was at the game, and has the whole thing on tape.
Gives a whole new meaning to the expression, "put a cork in it."
Thank you, Kat. 😊
Thank you, CEH. ☺️
I tried to fill the downs with only the across answers I’d gotten first. (No cheating by reading the down clues allowed.) I got everything except “hate read,” which I wrote as “hell read.” Poor Eretha got no respect!
Fun though! Does anyone else make up ways to make Monday puzzles harder?
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks for this treat, Jodi. And your comments are always a pleasure, NaomiZ, thanks for those too.
Well, this puzzle had me thinking that if some poor released outlaws were possibly living in EERIE TENTS that were AJAR, they probably had a PANG at remembering all their lost times. They were now cleaning on PARK AVENUE, trying to hide their SCAR FACE, and hoping that they could convince people that they were POWER USERs. Their VESTED INTERESTS were to get medicine at CLINICs when they needed them, and to be able to live on WARM FRONTS if and when the weather got colder. Some people took pictures of their work that earned them an EMMY, and the workers are now STIRRED UP more than ever to look forward to a good and healthy life.
Have a happy and healthy week coming up, everybody.
a CLINIC, and that they would be able to stay on WARM FRONTS if and when the weather got colder. Some people took pictures of them doing their work, and those images, posted in the paper, earned an EMMY. Thankfully this got the workers happily STIRRED UP to now look forward to leading a good and healthy life.
Have a healthy and happy week coming up, everybody.
My apology that my message got messed up.
A query from the curious: Do you solvers who post those blistering finish times solve using paper and pen/pencil, or online?
I use paper and ink. I've always had my suspicions about those who claim under 5 minutes. If you're that good, why are you working easy M-Th LA Times puzzles? Maybe a red-letter help to speed it up?
It's not a speed contest unless you are in a crossword tournament. I think pencil and paper is the only way you can fill one there.
I liked this puzzle; it did AMUSE me. Hand up for hesitating at SER.
Hola! it's volunteer Monday for me so I'm really late! However, this was an especially easy solve so it did not take long. My parish is St. TERESA and that's where I was this morning; after our work was finished, we had lunch.
SER is also the Spanish infinitive of "to be". ESTAR is another one.
We are an ASU family; my daughter, my grandchildren and I are alumni.
I hope all are enjoying this lovely Monday.
Thanks, Ken. Yes. My mind is on getting my household goods boxed up so I can get outta here.
Hi, Prof M at 3:35 PM! The few times I've solved online, I've noticed that there is a timer, so I'm guessing that the people who notice the time are, indeed, solving online. There is more than one way to do that; for instance, you can have the system show red letters whenever you miss one, so that helps you to quickly make corrections. The time doesn't mean much without knowing more about the solving situation. Personallly, I enjoy pencil, paper, and the occasional interruption, but I know some of our very best solvers prefer to save a tree and solve online.
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