MAY MAYDAY~!
"May Day~? Why, that's the Russian New Year~!"
And the Frawnche reason for the emergency distress call
Happy first of May~! John Michael Currie is a regular here at the LA Times crossword, but it's been while; his last appearance was in Nov 2024. Today we have a calm, gimmick-free puzzle compared to last Friday, but alas, "Ah me", we have a dozen names again. 55 theme squares of the total fill, or about 30% of the construction, the theme is basically a simple 'self-regarding' play on words/abbrs, half clever, half not so much. A standard 15x15 grid, a balance again of 3-, 4- & 5-letter words, no circles, too many names, and a couple of twurds; the themers;
20. Color commentator's remark about a zebra on the field?: REF REFERENCE - typically an NFL slang term, 'zebra' refers to the REFeree
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29. Pickling, canning, headspace, annealing, etc.?: JAR JARGON - I understand pickling and canning, but I had to look up headspace, and annealing in reference to jars
37. Like clockwork, e.g.?: ANALOG ANALOGY - The clip below is too funny - and too sad
Can you tell me what time it is~?
45. Pressing the "permanent press" button?: IRON IRONY - It does seem to be Ironic
The 'perm press' setting is in the center
56. "Words are but wind"?: META METAPHOR - oooh, trippy . . .
Wait, But More There Is . . .
ACROSS:
1. Departing word: CIAO - Italian lesson
5. "Of course," in Oviedo: CLARO - Español lesson, technically means "clear"; Oviedo is this city in Spain ( geo name #1 ) - see also map at 18A.
10. Chevrolet model until 2019: VOLT - really rough way to start the first row of Across fills; foreign word/foreign word/name - sheesh, can we get an English words puzzle~?
The Wiki for those who are curious
14. Address letters: HTTP - website address, that is
15. Bleachers shoutout: "HI MOM~!" - this twurd has made 36 other crossword puzzles
16. Biblical plot: EDEN - plot as in land, not story arc
17. Dramatic sigh: "AH ME..."
18. St. Teresa's birthplace: AVILA - geo name #2 - more here
Dos cuidades
19. Succeeding: NEXT
23. Created hazardous driving conditions, perhaps: SLEETED - uh-huh . . .
24. Two-digit sign: PEACE - my parents, both born in the UK, made it clear that "palm in" was a far more vulgar version of the sign . . .
The origins of the "V" for Victory ( peace ) sign
28. Org. that promotes vegan leather: PETA - Tuesday Dupe
33. Quaint affirmation: "'TIS"
35. Sticky stuff: GOO
36. Abnormal: ODD
42. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, for one: DUO - names #3 - the Wiki, and a tie-in to 4D.
43. Comedian Wong: ALI - name #4; see also the last Down clue
44. Prefix with binary: NON
49. Swim/bike/run races, briefly: TRIs - meh, a semi-abbr for triathlon
52. Growing alarm: PANIC - "Not only is it slightly cheaper, it has the words DON'T PANIC printed in large, friendly letters on its cover"
The Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
53. Lifeblood: ESSENCE
60. Place to find one's credit history?: IMDb - the Internet Movie Database, and film credits
63. Home of Creighton University: OMAHA - filled via perps, geo name #5
64. Net: EARN - think paycheck
65. Tarot figure carrying a bindle: FOOL
From the Rider-Waite Deck
66. Program broadcast from Rockefeller Plaza: TODAY - good clue/answer for this fill; I didn't know it
67. Gastropub pours: ALES - a WAG
68. Maker of Inzone gaming gear: SONY - got most via perps; name (ish)
69. Presents inaccurately, as data: SKEWS
70. Try out: TEST
DOWN:
1. Nears burning: CHARS - I got it, but it seems slightly 'off ' - I mean, the outside is burned . . .
2. Geek Squad offering: IT HELP - this has appeared in seven other puzzles
I can't see the problem . . .
3. Charge for cash: ATM FEE - this has appeared in twenty other grids
4. Gilbert and Sullivan work: OPERETTA - filled via perps; I recognize the names, but not their legacy
5. Abrade: CHAFE - not SCUFF
6. Club record holder?: LIVE DJ - not a unique fill
7. "The Kite Runner" boy: AMIR - a name, #6, a book, and a movie - it's IMDb
8. Part: ROLE
9. Yemen neighbor: OMAN - geo name #7
10. Deceptive layer: VENEER - I suppose "deceptive" refers more to a persona, than, say, furniture
11. Amanda Gorman's "An __ We Owe": ODE - the poem, here; name (ish)
12. Latin law: LEX - oops, not RES; I can't remember a 'thing' 🙄
13. Boom operator's need?: TNT - har-har; trying to be fresh with a stale fill
21. Cybercommerce: eTAIL
22. Audit firm exec: CPA - Certified Public Accountant, CW staple
25. Spellbound: AGOG - Dah~! Not AWED; only 25% correct
26. "Dirt Cheap" country singer Johnson: CODY - the sentimental YouTube music video, name #8
27. Terminus: END
30. "From the top": AGAIN
31. Kim Possible sidekick __ Stoppable: RON - name #9 - Here's a family tree I found - I also noted that the Downy in-wash scent booster "Unstopables" product is spelled wrong . . .
Coor's Artic Ice ( missing the inner c ) is another example
32. Cusack of the "Toy Story" franchise: JOAN - I tried John, her brother, just one letter off, but still Bzzzzt~! name #10
34. Skyrocket: SOAR
37. Lighting effect: AURA - I tried HALO . . .
38. Lunch hour, for some: NOON - neither ONE PM nor TWO PM would fit
39. Mop & __: GLO - More product spelling trickery - from founders John Mop & Tom Glo 😜
I don't use Mop & Glo, but I do have the spin bucket
40. "__ luck!": LOTSA - two Fridays in a row with this answer
41. How viral videos might be played: ON REPEAT - also not a unique fill
42. Short decline: DIP - I notice the price of gasoline spikes, but only "dips" back to its previous level
46. With quick movements: NIMBLY
47. Clinch: ICE - like a playoff spot
48. Rodeo cry: "YEEHAW~!" - has made two other crosswords
50. Half of a meditative refrain: INHALE - Exhale . . . Omm . . .
Eddie Van "Inhalen"
51. Film compositions: SCORES - Ah. I filled in FRAMES; well, they are composed of frames . . .
54. Collar supports: STAYS
55. Dada pioneer Max: ERNST - name #11, but I learned this from doing crosswords - bizarre stuff
57. Fries alternative: TOTS - I got flak from my gym class people because I made my shepherd's pie "wrong" - tater tots are not the "same thing" as mashed potatoes 🙄
...and then my trainer says "It does look good~!"
58. Out of control: AMOK
59. Not natural: MADE - I guess . . . Friday vague
60. Hypotheticals: 'IFs' - A Pulp Fiction quote two weeks in a row . . . here's the NSFW clip with Jules on the phone to Mr. Wallace
61. Ranch sound: MOO - take your guess; BAA, MAA, "GIT~!" 😜
62. Put on: DON - "on" and "on" in clue & answer, a bit weak . . . but then again, the alternate is a name
Splynter
Grid Flow 22.7
5 comments:
The themed entries
became obvious quickly; however, some of the “little” words, like “tris” were not so easy to get. So this was, after all, a Friday-worthy puzzle.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Methinks the saga of John MOP and Tom GLO is suss. Splynter and I were chugging along the same wrong track with Awed/AGOG and rEs/LEX. Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary) explained Churchill's Vee sign. -- Everyone knows that Churchill smoked a cigar which he nestled into the Vee. The hand signal actually asks, "Want a drag?" Thanx, John Michael, the themers were cute and the perps were kind. Excellent expo, Splynter.
What do the theme answers have in common besides the repetition? I really want this theme to be tighter than it looks.
I thought REF REFERENCE was clever, because REF can be short for REFERENCE. So I assumed that was the gimmick until JAR JARGON proved me wrong. And then ANALOG ANALOGY comes along and shows that the length of the repeated bit isn't consistent either.
Maybe it's something to do with figures of speech? METAPHOR and IRONY are related to this but JARGON is not. So that's not the connection.
I'm really trying to find a common thread that makes this theme actually a theme. "Wacky phrase made of a short word + a longer word that starts with the short word" isn't exactly hard to accomplish or all that interesting. You could make a full theme set with just animals, for example. CAT CATASTROPHE! COW COWARDICE! BOA BOASTING! BULL BULLETIN! And so on.
Took 11:28 today to finish this cross crossword.
Spent a good chunk of the time trying to make sense of the top-center. Not knowing "Oviedo" didn't help, and I thought "claro" was 'clear' from my long-ago Spanish class days. I had "DJ" but struggled to come up with "live" (trying "rave") and I didn't know "The Kite Runner" boy (Amir).
Patience and perseverance and lucky guesses enabled the finish.
Not a fun puzzle, but I guess it was Friday worthy.
FIR. This took more time than usual even taking into consideration that it's Friday.
Ironically when I started off in the NW, I thought this was going to be somewhat easy. Was I ever wrong. There were way too many obscure proper names which made things most difficult.
I got the theme early on and that helped a bit. But 6D ending in "dj" had me flummoxed for a while. The top center was the last to fall.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
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