Theme: "SUPERMARKET SWEEP" - Each theme entry strings together three familiar product brands in the aisle named in the clue.
23. Brief but strong infatuation in the beverage aisle?: BRISK MONSTER CRUSH.
38. Sly campaign to keep white birds out of the deodorant aisle?: SECRET DOVE BAN.
51. Huge supply of sled dogs in the household goods aisle?: HEFTY HUSKY BOUNTY.
66. Improve Alabama school spirit in the laundry aisle?: GAIN TIDE CHEER.
84. Ms. Witherspoon's Peruvian friends in the candy aisle?: REESE'S ANDES PEEPS.
92. Full commitment to benevolence in the cereal aisle?: TOTAL KIND LIFE.114. Exclusive gathering around a cauldron in the snack aisle?: PREMIUM KETTLE CLUB.
In the old Tribune Media Daily days, we would have "three types of candy" or "three types of cereal" clues.
Adam elevates the concept beyond simple mashups. It takes real creativity to craft a coherent surface for each trio so that the brands read naturally when placed side by side.
Across:
1. Scary story emotion: FEAR.
5. Corrida star: TORERO. Spanish for "bullfighter".
11. Yogi's pose: ASANA.
16. "__ Is a Woman": Ariana Grande song: GOD.
19. Shakespearean villain: IAGO.
20. Putting in some miles, say: ON A RUN.
21. Trig function: COSEC.
22. Impersonate: APE.
26. __ of attrition: LAW.
27. Daytime show until 2022: ELLEN. "Call Me Maybe" era memories. Blurry images though.
28. Sundaes, e.g.: DESSERTS.
29. 2026 Olympics host country: ITALY.
31. Whiskey choice: RYE.
32. Spanish river to the Mediterranean: EBRO.
35. Evian, par exemple: EAU.
36. Sacramento daily: BEE.
37. French father: PERE. et Mere.
45. Opera solo: ARIA.
48. Ordinary: USUAL.
50. Financial: MONETARY.
56. Toledo's lake: ERIE.
57. Pitcher's rate?: AD FEE. Sales pitch.
58. Cell service letters: LTE.
59. Check no.: ACCT.
60. Take by force: WREST. Not our normal USURP or SEIZE.
61. Vegan cafe order: SOY LATTE.
63. Farm insects: ANTS.
64. Bridal party attire: DRESSES.
69. Finalize, as a house purchase: CLOSE ON.
73. Exclude: OMIT.
74. Obscene: INDECENT.
79. Show runner?: AIRER. Literally.
80. Borscht base: BEET.
81. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" singer Kamoze: INI. Learning moment for me.
82. Radii neighbors: ULNAE.
83. Nota __: BENE.
88. Tool for an ENT: OTOSCOPE.
90. Have faith in: TRUST.
91. Campus group: FRAT.
96. Pet brand since 1946: IAMS.
98. Figure skater Alysa: LIU. She's stunning.
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99. Landlocked Eur. country: AUS.
100. Ocular issue: STYE.
101. Light-years away: FAR.
104. Dry shampoo target: SCALP. Not a fan of dry shampoo.
107. Unleash: LET LOOSE.
111. Corn: MAIZE.
113. Sin City airport code: LAS.
118. Alias letters: AKA.
119. Consumed: EATEN.
120. City near Hueco Tanks: EL PASO. Hueco Tanks is a Texas state park. Unfamiliar to me.
121. Neutral shade: ECRU.
122. __ in one's step: PEP.
123. Corp. shuffle: REORG.
124. Woven furniture material: RATTAN.
125. Ewes and does: SHES.
Down:
1. Nutrient found in most fruit: FIBER. I'm so looking forward to the peach season.
2. At 4 a.m., say: EARLY.
3. Limber: AGILE.
4. "Titanic" heroine: ROSE.
5. __ yum: Thai soup: TOM. Tom means "boiling". Hot.
6. Peace activist Yoko: ONO.
7. Stranger, in slang: RANDO.
8. Gaelic language: ERSE.
9. Tedious routines: RUTS.
10. "Be right back ... ": ONE SEC.
11. Build over time: ACCRUE.
12. Spreadsheet action: SORT.
13. Taiwanese tech giant: ASUS. Named after Pegasus, the winged horse.
14. Console known as Famicom in Japan: NES. Famicom stands for Family Computer.
15. Realize: ACHIEVE.
16. Big do: GALA.
17. Fall birthstone: OPAL.
18. Damp in the morning: DEWY.
24. Leg joint: KNEE.
25. Foster: REAR.
30. Wobbles: TEETERS.
33. "Dude, are you serious?": BRUH.
34. Bring about: RESULT IN.
36. Like hard-to-eat fish: BONY.
37. Dev of "Monkey Man": PATEL. Made his breakthrough in "Slumdog Millionaire"
38. Quaff with sushi: SAKE.
39. "Tarzan" actor Ron: ELY.
40. Cartoon quartet named for Renaissance artists, for short: TMNT. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael
41. Half of a colon: DOT.
42. Exposes: BARES.
43. Pop up: ARISE.
44. Russian denials: NYETS.
45. Clicking sounds?: AHAS. Good old clue.
46. Second chance: REDO.
47. Not certain: IFFY.
49. Route that includes a ferry between Wisc. and Mich.: US TEN.
52. Record-setting pilot Chuck: YEAGER.
53. Wild West robbers: BANDITS.
54. One set of pawns, in chess: OCTET.
55. Sch. whose mascot is Sammy the Banana Slug: UCSC. University of California, Santa Cruz.
60. "It's our turn!": WE'RE UP.
62. Eastern philosophy: TAO. Dao in China.
63. Mann of alt-rock: AIMEE.
64. Fights an allegation: DENIES IT.
65. Like half of Indonesia's flag: RED.
67. Pedicure targets: TOES.
68. One performing puja: HINDU. Puja is Hindu worship ritual.
69. American statesman Henry __ Lodge: CABOT.
70. Mislead: LIE TO.
71. "... but maybe I'm off base?": OR NOT.
72. Has a panoramic view, say: SEES ALL.
75. Staff figures: CLEFS.
76. Fed. power dept.: ENER.
77. __ cabbage: NAPA. We ate napa cabbage and daikon every day
during winter when I was a kid. Popular ingredients in Chinese paocai,
our version of kimchi.
78. Sample: TEST.
80. "It's __ a minute!": BEEN.
81. Memo starter: IN RE.
84. Smart TV option: ROKU.
85. Prefix with dermal: EPI.
86. DOJ bureau: ATF.
87. Lisa Loeb hit single: STAY.
89. Intuit Dome player: CLIPPER. NBA's newest arena in Inglewood, CA.
93. Seeing romantically: DATING.
94. Doozy: LULU.
95. Chemical cousin: ISOMER.
97. Viral post: MEME.
100. Adjust to: SET AT.
101. Pilfer: FILCH.
102. Bright blue hue: AZURE.
103. Picture puzzle: REBUS.
104. Smack: SLAP.
105. Birthday order: CAKE. I want this.
106. "Stat!": ASAP.
107. Sister of Asteria in Greek mythology: LETO.
108. Pt. of EMT: EMER.
109. St. with a panhandle: OKLA.
110. Mo. in a Green Day title: SEPT.
112. Vegas team: ACES.
115. Issa of "American Fiction": RAE.
116. Screening org.: TSA.
117. Silent film star Chaney: LON.
On a sad note, I'm sharing that Bill G, who used to comment regularly on our blog, passed away in February 2025. I had emailed him a "Happy Birthday" message, his daughter Bonnie let me know the news. Bill was a warm and thoughtful presence here, and he will be missed.
Barbara, Bill & their grandchildrenHappy Birthday to to dear Kelly Clark, a regular and a terrific crossword constructor! Happy Birthday also to Anonymous PVX!
And a belated Happy Birthday to our Thursday Sherpa Rusty Brain. Hope you had a great celebration yesterday, Brian! Here's to continuing to age like a fine cheese!
38 comments:
Although I didn’t quite
know all the brands involved, the puzzle was not that difficult to solve. Perps helped, when needed.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
YooperPhil here ~ currently on a bus in Inverness, Scotland, heading to a castle on Lake Ness. 5G coverage is superb over here. Had to download the puzzle from the WaPo as the LAT site doesn’t come up for some reason. No constructor byline and no title, but I did figure the very clever theme after the first few long entries. FIR in 32 and change. Thanks to the author for the enjoyable solve, and to C.C. for your review. Sorry to hear of Bill G’s passing.
Good morning!
Caught the theme early, but still couldn't parse REESES ANDES PEEPS -- only Reeses was familiar. Didn't understand TMNT. (Thanx, C.C.) Tried STEAL where FILCH was needed. This one was a struggle. The P in NAPA was my final fill. Thanx, Adam and C.C. (I've been to El Paso many times, and I've never heard of Hueco Tanks, either.)
Sorry to hear about Bill G. He seemed lost after his wife died.
FIW, missing EeRO x eRUH. Should have done an alphabet run. Comedian Tyrus is a regular on Gutfeld! (which I watch religiously,) and he uses the term a lot. I was trying to make a texting abbreviation work.
DNK ANDES was a candy, KIND was a cereal, that PREMIUM was a cracker, and that crackers are snacks. Seemed to me to be the weakest theme fill. KETTLE makes potato chips which are snacks, but except for Pauly the Parrot, I don't think of crackers as snacks. Well, except for graham crackers.
CSO to moi @ INDECENT.
I chose an ASUS motherboard when I built my desktop computer. I'll likely use another one from them when Windoze 12 comes out, probably next year.
The term "doozy" was in use years before the Duesenberg Motor Company began making cars. Another fun "fact" bites the dust.
I got my TSA Precheck number last week.
Thanks to Adam for the mostly fun Sunday workout. And thanks to CC for another interesting narrative. RIP Bill G.
Good Morning:
I didn’t solve the puzzle but I must acknowledge Bill G’s passing. He was a true gentleman and scholar and he was greatly missed when he stopped posting. As DO said, he seemed lost after Barbara died. I always enjoyed hearing about his frequent trips for macchiatos and gourmet lunches. RIP, dear Bill.
On a happier note, Happy Birthday to Kelly Clark and Anonymous PVX. 🎂🎊🎉. And a belated Happy Birthday to Rusty Brain AKA Mr. Chuckles! 🎂🎊🎉.
Have a great day.
I caught the brands at DOVE BAN, then noticed SECRET. There were three brands I wasn't familiar with- BRISK, ANDES, KETTLE. I've heard of KIND bars but not the cereal. GAIN, TIDE, CHEER- all three Procter & Gamble products. I haven't see CHEER in years.
DNK INI, TOM, NAPA, CLIPPER, SEPT, any Ariana Grande or alt-rock song or singer, GOD & AMIEE, changed broh to BRUH, NEC to NES, US TEN on a boat, had to wait for the perp for UCS Diego, Barbara, or Cruz. Perps to finish those.
An ISOMER is not a cousin; it's the same chemical formula with an atom on a different side. Levorotary (left) and dextrorotary (right).
Easter just ended and you didn't know PEEPS? If you are in a grocery before Easter PEEPS are hard to miss. That's the only time they sell them.
Nabisco's PREMIUM Saltines have been the top selling soda cracker in the US since the beginning of time. I wouldn't call it or CLUB crackers a snack either.
Enjoyed this on a rainy Sunday.
But, not to be too picky, STAT is not ASAP., but AT ONCE. This error crops up frequently.
Cheers
FIR. This was a bit crunchy for me and I struggled more than a little.
I got the theme early on and it would have made solving much easier if I knew all the brands. But lacking that knowledge I had to rely on perps most of the time.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
My response to the constructor after this unenjoyable exercise?
"Bruh."
DNF. Not a bad puzzle, despite some awful clues. I wish someone would tell the editor to edit! STAT means IMMEDIATELY! Not as soon as you get around to it! (ASAP). The themes were a stretch for me.
Took 16:53 today to brand this one.
RIP Bill G. Sorry to hear of his passing.
YP: Godspeed on your travels.
Thanks SS ~YP 👊🏼
Once an error creeps into a cw, it gets posted to the various cw "dictionaries." Other puzzle creators consult the dictionary, and the error gets repeated. It'll probably be around so long as cws are around.
I found the themers a bit of a stretch…. And the clueing a little bit boring and crunchy.
I did enjoy the tantalizing and aromatic food offerings today Tom Yum, Napa Cabbage, birthday cake, and Sake to wash it all down.
Its nice to see different cultures celebrated.
A Puja ( poo -jaw) is a beautiful ceremony that may honour special guests, a recently deceased friend, or even a daily spiritual cleanse.
Thanks Adam and CC for the educational recap.
Sorry to hear about the passing of Bill. Prayers🙏
Happy birthday CED
Safe travels Phil
It didn’t take long to detect the theme. The only supermarket product I didn’t know was BRISK. I must frequent grocery stores too often. 😜
I encountered a few unknowns like ASU, INI, PATEL, LIU as clued, and CLIPPER. I’ve never heard of Hueco Tanks but EL PASO was easy to guess.
Happy birthday to Kelly Clark and Anonymous PBX 🎉🎊🎂 and late wishes to Rusty Brain 🎉🎂🎊
Thank you CC for that recap.
Amen.
NOTE to Editor: EDIT STAT!
13:06 for me. Not much to say. Puzzle was totally "meh". No sparkle at all.
Could be worse. In today's USA Today puzzle, "DEF" is clued "hundo p!". At least the perps were easy.
Musings
-I love gimmicks that are clever, symmetric and helpful. SECRET DOVE BAN gave me a very satisfying "tee-hee".
-My friend just retired from being a bull fighter which is the modern name for this occupation
-Redux: My school blocks FaceBook on its Wi-Fi, so I have to switch my phone to LTE to see any posts there
-REORG: My audiologist took her OTOSCOPE and moved to a much less expensive building, paid an AD FEE for the front of the local paper and has REALIZED a great MONETARY benefit.
-I first thought the Famicon Console was WII
-PATEL is the most common surname for Americans from India and they are predominantly HINDU
-I had to parse US TEN. AHA!
-AIMEE is one of at least 10 different ways I have seen that name spelled in my years in the classroom
-ROKU has allowed us to “cut the cord” but I miss some features of my cable boxes.
-I’m sure Ms. Loeb’s rendition was fine but, c;mon this is the best version of Stay
-The population of Nebraska’s Sandhills in the panhandle continues to decrease while the east is flourishing
-HBD, Rusty, I’m sure you could play a version of the Beatle’s They Say It’s Your Birthday on one of your stable of guitars! :-)
???
Puzzling thoughts:
Like my buddy, Irish Miss, I too did not solve the puzzle but wanted to stop by and acknowledge all of the birthdays (KC/RB/Anon) and the passing of Bill G
BTW, I woke up this morning with the driest mouth I can ever recall. When I tried to speak to Miss Margaret I sounded just like Barry Kripke on TBBT! I know that there is a day set aside for talking like a pirate (ARRRR) and perhaps today should be a talk like Bawee day? Miss M turned a thumbs down ...
Hey, YooperPhil at 4:11 AM on Loch Ness! What a day you're having, with a nice crossword puzzle to boot! Hope you glimpse the MONSTER!
Very sad to hear that Bill G has passed. Yes, I believe we lost him when his wife passed away...
I would be remiss if I did not recount that during Hurricane Sandy, when we were without power for almost a month and incommunicado, Bill G was so concerned, that he tracked me down! I got a phone call, and the caller said "is this CrossEyedDave?" I was worried about you...
I will never forget that...
Rest in peace Bill..
CE:D, that story is quite a testament to Bill G. May his memory be a blessing.
Adam's puzzle was very clever. Putting those brand names from various aisles together to form intelligible phrases -- and making them fit into symmetrical spaces in the grid! -- is quite a masterwork. I FIR and enjoyed it. Perps were fair on the few unknowns.
C.C., thanks for the bit from Ellen. It was hilarious. Dear Daughter and DH heard me LOLing. I replayed it for them.
Oops sorry CED … meant Rusty Brain … darn autocorrect 😊
Question: Who is this Kelly Clark you speak of, (& why does it sound like a famous person?) does she have an Avatar I would recognize?
Anonymous PVX, have not seen you in a while, if you post today I will have to search for a cake. But I am not hopeful. (Have you ever tried to search for birthday cake for "anonymous?")
RustyBrain...
darn that it is belated... you do so much for us... but how to honor your birthday. these cakes are not very appetizing...
Hmm, maybe we can salvage some cake in a clever slicing post Mortem?
Ah, this one is almost edible...
Requiescat in pace, Bill G. Thank you, C.C. for letting us know.
CED? I'm mostly a lurker but comment occasionally.
Thanks for the birthday wishes and thanks to Adam for a really fun and funny puzzle!
Ack! A post! My apologies Kelly, a cake is due...
Hola! First, I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Bill G. May he rest in peace.
As for the puzzle, I finished it before leaving this morning and saw the triple products, most of which I recognized. Though I have not personally tried them, I have seen them on grocery shelves. TIDE and CHEER are some I've used and at various times I've tasted all the named crackers. I'm not a fan of those beverages, but I have had CRUSH orange soda. BOUNTY is my choice for paper towels.
On my trip to Russia, I tasted BORSCHT and was surprised that it was so good but have not had it since then.
I'm all too familiar with REESES pieces!
i read about Chuck YEAGER in high school but don't remember much about him now except that he broke the sound barrier. I think.
I hope your day is delightful, everyone!
HG, interesting photo of the bull fighter because he has the same surname as one of my pew mates at church.
BRISK is Lipton’s canned iced tea brand, fwiw 😎
====> Darren
You are correct, that's a hundred times worse. Who talks like that??
Lucina, do the Russians serve their BORSCHT with sour cream?
Zounds! Severe workouts, two days in a row! Mssr. Landua put up a very creative theme, what with setting them up to follow his clues — nice work, dude! Yeah, a little heavy on the A&E names but not so extreme as to make things stupidly impossible to get via perps. Just enough deception in some clues ( I had “banal” before USUAL, for instance) but I managed to once again beat this one into submission, in spite of a few MEMEs like BRUH…
And someone please get hold of the Puzzle Police and get ASAP and STAT separated once and for all! 🤣
Belated 🎂🤙🏽 to ya, R. Brain! Plus a thanks to C.C. for her usual concise guided grid tour.
🙏🏽 for the late great Bill G.; even being a relative newcomer to the Corner, I do remember seeing his posts in the past.
====> Darren / L.A.
wish I knew how to correct errors in a post. Apologies to Adam Landau…
I cannot say it better than Irish Miss did. I also enjoyed hearing about Bill G's bicycle rides to get a macchiato and lunch.
I actually learned some things today that are important enough to me to remember:
1. That Hueco Tanks is a Texas state park.
2. That tom means "boiling".
3. That ASUS is named after Pegasus.
4. That Bill G called CED out of genuine concern.
Good reading all your comments.
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