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| POLES APART |
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with the recap of a polarizing puzzle by Yijing Chen who, apparently, had an L A Times crossword debut roughly one month ago. Like it or not we may not reach agreement on this one. In fact, we may end up POLES APART. "What kind of poles?", I hear you ask. Well, it could have been TOTEM POLES, or TEN-FOOT POLES, or fishing POLES, or Power POLES, or POLE Dancing or the POLE POSITION, or even someone from Warsaw. However, our constructor elected to go in other directions. Perhaps a POLL was taken. Perhaps not. In any event, let's start with the two-part reveal:
35 Across: With 39-Across, diametrically opposed, or what this puzzle's sets of circled letters are: POLES.
39 Across: See 35-Across: APART.
At four places in the grid our constructor has assembled types of POLES by combining letters that are APART in the answers to the themed-clues. Those four places are:
20 Across: Cinematic cultural phenomenon in the summer of 2023: BARBENHEIMER. BARBER POLE. The answer, here, refers to the phenomenon when two motion pictures, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer", were very popular simultaneously in 2023.
29 Across: Abolitionist known for her "Ain't I a Woman" speech: SOJOURNER TRUTH. SOUTH POLE. All you might wish to know: Sojourner Truth
44 Across: Literary movement that included Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg: BEAT GENERATION. BEAN POLE. The answer, here, refers to two well-known poets of the 1950's.
54 Across: Micronutrient such as zinc or iodine: TRACE ELEMENT. TENT POLE. Humans require just a little bit, or TRACE, of those elements in their diets.
This is how it all looks in the grid with those often-polarizing circles, no less:
.... and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
1. Be starstruck: GAWK.
5. Oft-pickled pod: OKRA. I have a friend always baits her hooks with OKRA when fly fishing...She's really into podcasting!
9. Check for freshness: SNIFF. Does it pass the smell test?
14. Actor Clive: OWEN.
15. Eclipse body: MOON. Earth's MOON is involved in both a solar and a lunar eclipse.
16. Voice above baritone: TENOR.
17. The Fates, e.g.: TRIO.
18. Game played "with my little eye": I SPY. Usually played in a car on a road trip.
19. Hoarse: RASPY.
24. Misery: WOE. Relationship WOEs...
I was dating a radiographer. She was a lovely girl, but we broke up recently.
I was lying and she saw right through me.
Still, at least she knew my heart was in the right place.
25. Toward sunrise, on an equinox: DUE EAST.
32. Green-lights: OKS. Okay?
33. Winery wood: OAK. It turns out that the barrels that wines and spirits are aged in have a whole lot to do with the flavor of the finished product.
34. Narrow inlet: RIA. A word more often used in crossword puzzles than IRL.
38. Cal. divisions: MOS. CALendar / MOnthS
42. Vehicle that can really move?: VAN. Nice (not the city in France) wordplay. A moving VAN.
43. Hurdle for M.A. hopefuls: GRE. Graduate Record Examination
50. Some Middle Easterners: SYRIANS. Several to choose from.
51. Yalie: ELI. A frequent class of visitor.
52. Numeral associated with "The Force Awakens": VII.
This solver is looking forward to the Mel Brooks version:
May the Schwartz be with you.
57. __ powder: CHILI.
60. Hot rod's rod: AXLE. A double automotive reference.
61. Geometric calculation: AREA.
62. Bamboozles: DUPES. Used, here, as a verb.
60. Hot rod's rod: AXLE. A double automotive reference.
61. Geometric calculation: AREA.
62. Bamboozles: DUPES. Used, here, as a verb.
63. Academic reviewer, often: PEER. Not used, here, as a verb.
64. Vermeer's "__ With a Pearl Earring": GIRL.
_-_The_Girl_With_The_Pearl_Earring_(1665)-1593138896.jpg) |
| 1665 |
65. Runaway hit: SMASH.
66. Small vortex: EDDY.
67. Site for artisans: ETSY. A web site frequently visited in our puzzles.
Down:
1. Eked out a living: GOT BY. A nice role reversal. Often we get EKED as an answer clued in various ways.
2. "Fiddlesticks!": AW RATS. So many possible combinations involving AW, oh, ah, darn, dang, RATS . . . among several others. Thanks, perps.
3. Odd duck: WEIRDO. Speaking of ducks and WEIRD . . .
4. Radio dial: KNOB.
5. Portending danger: OMINOUS. What do you call a guy doing ominous Latin chanting? Greg or Ian.
6. Acceptable, casually: KOSHER.
7. Line that might get tied up: ROPE. Not a telephone reference. A clue meant to be taken quite literally.
8. "What do you think?": ANY IDEAS.
9. F1 circuit type: STREET. An automobile racing reference.
10. More warm, in a way: NEARER. Idiomatic. As in "You're getting warmer."
11. Useful connections: INS.
12. Dandy: FOP.
13. Cook, as pot stickers: FRY.
21. Endor inhabitants: EWOKS. Do EWOKS defecate in the woods? No, they have Endor plumbing.
22. Gloom: MURK.
26. Spiritual glow: AURA. All of the psychics got this one.
27. Hullabaloo: STIR. Not a reference to the old TV show.
28. "Fine, be like __!": THAT.
30. Average __: JOE. Sometimes clued with a coffee reference.
31. Who lives in a ghost town?: NO ONE.
35. Trivia night spots: PUBS.
36. Heed: OBEY.
37. "O, that way madness lies" king: LEAR.
38. Use Beard Club products, perhaps: MANSCAPE. MANSCAPE
refers to the trimming or shaving of a man's body hair to enhance his appearance. It typically involves grooming areas such as the chest, back, and groin for a neat and polished look.
39. "Glee" teen played by Kevin McHale: ARTIE. A reference to the TV show.
40. Smallest Canadian prov.: PEI. Prince Edward Island
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| Eastern Canadian Provinces |
42. __ cava: VENA. The VENA CAVA is one of two venae cavae. They are two large veins that return deoxygenated blood to the heart from the human body.
43. Drawing room?: GALLERY. Another clue meant to be taken literally. A place where one would find drawings.
45. Mr. and Mrs.: TITLES. From the specific to the general. The clue could have been a couple of hundreds of things.
46. Like some Christmas sweaters: GARISH. Excessively bright or showy. Ugly was too short.
47. Had trouble moving steadily: REELED.
48. Ready to move on: OVER IT. As in "I am so OVER IT !"
49. SF NFLers: NINERS.
53. 2026 Olympics host: ITALY. This type of clue is easier to figure out now that the summer and winter games are not held in the same year.
55. Crossed (out): EXED.
56. Final Fantasy spellcaster: MAGE. Final Fantasy was an unknown reference to this solver but various mystical-related stuff was not and MAGE is often found in other contexts.
From Wikipedia, "Final Fantasy is mostly an anthology series with primary installments being standalone role-playing games, each with different settings, plots and main characters, but the franchise is linked by several recurring elements, including game mechanics and recurring character names."
57. Jewel case items: CDS. Those clear, square cases that the Compact DiscS are stored in are often referenced in our puzzles. A bit of misdirection if a solver first thinks of forms of jewelry.
58. Sound of a running fridge: HUM.
59. Hoppy brew, for short: IPA. India Pale Ale originated in the 18th century when British Brewers created a hoppy ale that could survive the long sea voyage to India.
Well, that will wrap things up for today. If there was any snow left, this marine mammal would grab his favorite type of POLES.
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| M M Out |
37 comments:
I’ve got a question.
What in the world is a
“Barbenheimer”?
Also, I have a problem with the clue for “kosher.” Kosher is not an “informal term” for anything. It is a very specific word that refers to a certain aspect of Jewish dietary law.
Rant over.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Successfully crunched my way through this one. No problem with KOSHER -- it's been co-opted by non-Jewish folk. That radio KNOB reminded me of the family gathering around the floor-model Philco to listen to the misters -- Mister Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, Mr. and Mrs. North, and Mister District Attorney, among other radio dramas. Enjoyed it, Yijing Chen. You were clickin' on all cylinders, Mal-Man. (I particularly liked the podcasting and Endor plumbing.)
FIR without erasure, despite not knowing BARBENHEIMER, OWEN, UBE, The Force Awakens, VENA, and MAGE. There was plenty of snow in the Northwest until I finally filled GOT BY, then the corner was pretty easy for me.
I feel for our MalMan. I too had a brief relationship with a lovely MD, in my case an anesthesiologist. But I had to break it off with her. I felt nothing.
Thanks to Yijing Chen for the fun challenge, although I prefer puzzles with less A&E. And thanks to our MalMan for the outstanding chucklefest. Your ghost town gif reminded me of Roy Rogers and Sons Of The Pioneers singing Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Two summer movie hits…Barbie and Oppenheimer
FIR. Last to fall was the NW. The two long answers at the top were a complete mystery to me. I've never heard of Barbenheimer, and am unfamiliar with Sojourner Truth. So a WAG in that corner led me to finishing but still scratching my head.
Add to that that one had to use the circles to suss out the theme and it became very difficult.
So overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
I can't believe I'd never heard of Sojourner Truth. I've now read the Wikipedia article and feel better for having done so.
FIR, but the NORTH took a while. I knew all the long answers except the top one, BARBENHEIMER, so the NW was mostly blank until finally I thought of BARPER poles. My other unknown was ARTIE. Didn’t we have EDDY yesterday?
CSO to CanadianEh! for that lovely province PEI. I have a green jacket from my trip there a few years ago.
Thank you MM for that great review and all the word plays. Is that poor penguin drunk?
I enjoyed Yijing's puzzle today: it had a fine theme, with circles that were useful in the solve.
It's interesting how language can effortlessly appropriate religious terms like "kosher" into everyday use. And it co-opts from all religions: Islam has given us "mecca," which we don't even bother to capitalize. And there must be hundreds from Christianity, like baptism, hallelujah, skin of your teeth, good samaritan, salt of the earth....
I lived in France for a couple years, and the French language co-opts words exactly like English. Any famous tourist site is "une mecque" (mecca) because it attracts so many people.
Thanks, Yijing, for a Wednesday-appropriate satisfying challenge. And thanks, MalMan, for your enjoyable guidance.
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Yijing and MalMan.
I FIRed in the usual Wednesday time, saw the POLES APART with TENT, and went back to find the rest.
Hand up for the NW corner being the last to fall. I had forgotten BARBENHEIMER.
I was too quick to enter Reel instead of ROPE. I needed REELED later.
Gloomy Dawn changed to MURK. Murky is more common.
MAGE perped and seemed acceptable.
STREET perped and I had no clue! I would have called my electrician for that circuit.
Thanks Monkey. I’ll take that CSO for PEI, home of Anne of Green Gables. For unknown-to-you reasons, I’ll take a CSO for 20A also.
This Canadian has heard of SOJOURNER TRUTH in learning about Harriet Tubman (Niagara connections). They were of the same era, and had met each other. It just took me a few perps to get the proper spelling.
The Niagara River has several major and many smaller EDDies. “These areas are used for fishing and by experienced whitewater kayakers to "eddy out" and rest.
Despite being calmer than the main rapid, areas like Cripps Eddy are still directly adjacent to the intense rapids of the lower river, with water speeds exceeding 40 km/hr nearby.”
I smiled at DUE EAST above the SOUTH POLE.
Wishing you all a great day.
(As explained in MM's review)
That song was one of my father's favorites (I like it, too).
Good Morning:
I wasn’t enthused with this offering early on, but the more I solved, the more I liked it, barring a few iffy clues and references. The NW was the last to fall and then I was able to decipher the circled letters and arrive at the various poles. Props to the author for a very clever theme and a very successful execution. Circles were definitely needed, IMO, although maybe not for a Friday challenge.
Nicely done, Yijing, thanks and many thanks to MalMan for the hilarious puns and amusing tidbits. I laughed out loud at the raspy little “horse”, and enjoyed all of the play on words, especially your woman “Woes” and the Latin chanting of Greg or Ian! (I use Ria often when addressing my niece, Maria, but I agree it’s not heard very often in its own context.)
I had an annoying experience last night as I was trying to place a take-out order at a favorite restaurant. First, I called, gave the order, and then offered my credit card as my niece was picking it up. No credit cards taken over the phone. This surprised me as they always took a credit card on phone orders. So, I cancelled the order and went online. Short story, there is now an extra fee for ordering online and tipping is mandatory or you can’t place the order. The website froze so I went back to the telephone order, and reimbursed my niece who paid at pickup. Final insult: I was charged for the mini cannolis but didn’t receive them and the bruschetta bread was burnt black! Guess who won’t be ordering from them again?
Have a great day.
A little too cutesy and vague, especially for Wednesday
I got my toe hold at “I-Spy” and worked in a circular pattern for the solve.
A challenging Wednesday offering that was fun and crunchy.
Normally I would carp that a clue like Barbenheimer would be pop culture rot but in todays puzzle it made sense and was a tantalizing solve.
Thanks for the link to Sojourner Truth. A fascinating and educational read.
Thanks Yijing and Malman
* Ms Irish so sorry your take out order was not up to par. Thats unacceptable.
Maybe call the manager and fill him in on your disappointment.
Our octet sings that song, with some funny business. We have a basketball-sized prop that looks sort of like a tumbleweed, which materializes midway through the song. We pass it among ourselves, seemingly mystified. Then someone finds a (fake) joint secreted in the spheroid, and we pass the joint around. By the end of the song we're grinning broadly.
Although the theme gimmick wasn't spectacular, I liked the four entries that contained the poles. I didn't know the precise term BARBENHEIMER, but I knew it was the combination of Barbie and Oppenheimer. I happened to be awake in the wee hours today when I caught a Jeopardy rerun that asked contestants what four-word quote pertained to SOJOURNER TRUTH, and, unlike the contestants, I knew it was "Ain't I a woman." So I enjoyed seeing the inverse in the puzzle.
I agree. I thought it more like a Friday puzzle (at least for me). I really couldn't complete the NW corner and it took me a long time just to get the rest of the puzzle. People in this blog complain about circle, but It helped me with all but the NW corner.
FLN...Thank you for the kind wishes I'm in home hospice now. One day at a time.
I agree with Anonymous @11:09. If I were the manager of this restaurant I would want to know about the snafus. What a frustrating experience you had.
Best wishes, Charlie Echo.
Yesterday's CW was right on my wavelength. This one is...whatever the total opposite is. I struggled from start to finish. Quickly gave up pen-on-paper and went online, with red letter help. Even then, this just didn't click at all for me. Confidently transferred AWED at at 1A from paper to online, only to see it was wrong. As was SMELL at 9A.
The rest of the CW was just like that. Very little clicked. Somehow I knew Prince Edward Island was Canada's smallest province, but that was about it for things to pat myself on the back for.
15 names, only DNK 6. But far too many other DNKs in this CW, UBE and MAGE among the horde. A big DNF, due to countless alpha runs.
Thanx for the nice write-up, MalMan.
Hola! Is this Wednesday? I had to check to assure myself, but I enjoyed the challenge. I'm surprised so many did not know of SOJOURNER TRUTH. History lessons must be lacking in content. And PBS has aired her story at times.
Sigh. I know that CHILI would be spelled that way though in my mind it's always CHILE. However, it helped with GARISH. And I know of Allen Ginsberg but not Lawrence Ferlinghetti. ARTIE was also an unknown but it perped. I guess I am POLES APART from popular culture.
Thank you, Mr. Chen and MM for today's entertainment. Have a lovely day, everyone.
Musings
-I had a delightful struggle with parts of this puzzle!
-BARBENHEIMER: The last movie I paid to see was one of these two. Any guesses which one it was?
-SNIFF: Does this milk smell okay to you?
-Artmis II allowed four astronauts to be the only humans to see a solar ECLIPLSE from the far side of the MOON
-UBE and ALOO are commons taters here
-Those KNOBS got a real workout on our TV until we got a remote. Did you ever change channels with a pair of pliers?
-The ESP between me and Irish is intact!
-We had several problems with KFC orders and so I wrote a complaint. I got one of those Dear [nsert name] form letters but nothing else. Things have gotten better but the chicken has gotten smaller and smaller.
Challenging, but interesting Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Yijing. And your commentary was very helpful, thanks for that too, Mal-Man.
Well, the words GAWK and SNIFF right at the top of the puzzle, didn't suggest that we'd be in a pleasant environment this morning--even if we were offered some OKRA as a snack to eat. But then we quickly got a suggestion that there would be some music in the air, with a TENOR singing, maybe as part of a TRIO, and that makes the puzzle setting a lot less OMINOUS--especially if we're going to have people from the BEAT GENERATION there. So I'd be tempted to suggest that we later head off down the STREET to one of our favorite PUBS, for some CHILI and a bottle of beer, and then go on to the GALLERY, to look at some lovely art. Sounds like a pretty good morning--doesn't it?
Have a pleasant and nice day, everybody. And take good care of yourself, Charlie Echo.
Took 7:10 today to longitudinally circumnavigate this one.
The "Artie" clue/answer was unknown, and seemed odd (aside from being 39D).
HG, you should pay to see "Project Hail Mary."
Oh joy, circles!
CE, I had an inkling that all was not well when there was no email address listed; I believe there was one originally. That’s the reason I inquired directly yesterday but I apologize if I infringed on your privacy. I’m saddened to hear your news and will put you on the top of my prayer list. I wish you peace and strength.
It's on my short term bucket list, Tony!
Monkey and Anonymous @ 11:09-I wrote a strong but polite email to the owner (whom I know) expressing my disappointment with my experience last night, outlining each negative. We’ll see if I receive a response. I’m still craving those missing cannolis.🤣
I saw the circles and FIR but POLES APART was never a thought. POLES was my last fill. If it's not at the end of the puzzle, I always skip the theme fill until the end. That way, it's a 'puzzle'.
I've never heard of Beard Club but after a few perps I was down to either MANSHAPE or MANSCAPE. The TRACE ELEMENT made the decision for me.
Final Fantasy- unknown; MAGE-all perps
VII- not known but the middle 'I' was easy after the other two were filled by perps; the only option for Roman numerals. If you really want to confuse HS teens, write in cursive and use Roman numbers for any number. Better than pig latin.
AW- most people say something other than RATS.
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR but it took far longer than most Wednesday puzzles to solve; perhaps a few too many "end-of-the-week-type" clues
When I saw 47 Down (REELED), and Mal Man's penguin image, it brought to mind a Moe-l'ick I penned some 7 years ago:
Going fishing all day sounds appealing,
At least that's what I thought; my gut feeling.
Until seas got so rough
I said, "That's quite enough.
I can't handle the rod when I'm reeling."
Thanks to Yijing and JS for the puzzle and frivolity
If you want to do the restaurant owner a favor, complain. If you want to punish the owner, don't. Can't fix what you don't know is broken. Complaints from customers are gifts to ownership.
IM...no infringement. I appreciate. The sentiment!
That's great, and with apologies to "Airplane!", stop calling me Tony.
Ojai Guy. Bit of a push for a Wednesday but hung in for the win. Like many, the NW was the last to fill. Remembered Barbenheimer, knew of Sojourner truth, and Pole vaulted to the finish
I liked this puzzle.
I got a good chuckle out of this one, as I had literally just been playing Final Fantasy immediately before I did the crossword. Knowing MAGE felt like a moment my life had been preparing me for
Finally got “Barbenheimer” and FIR! Enjoyed the solve. Learning moment “ube”. Btw, I like circles! An added fun touch!Thanks Yijing and MalMan!
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