Theme: GOSSIP GIRL.
Today's constructor, Chloe Revery, has been published in a number of newspapers, including the New York Times and Boston Globe. Today's puzzle is her debut in the Los Angeles Times. Congratulations! RUMOR has it that Chloe is a software engineer from Los Angeles. Of course, that's just HEARSAY. I don't pretend to have INSIDE INFORMATION, but this is the SCUTTLEBUTT.
Today's theme is revealed at 63-Across:
63-Across. Trendy jargon, or what can be found at the starts of 17-, 25-, 38-, and 53-Across: BUZZ WORDS. The starts, or beginnings, of the answers listed are WORDS for BUZZ in the sense of a story that is circulating.
The rest of the theme clues are:
17-Across. Very inexpensive: DIRT CHEAP. DIRT can mean damaging gossip.
25-Across. Pants one may have to wriggle into: SKINNY JEANS. "The SKINNY" suggests "the naked truth," and refers to inside information or the lowdown.
38-Across. Kitchen cloth: DISH TOWEL. DISH can be a verb ("dish the dirt") or a noun ("the latest dish"). It refers to scandalous gossip.
53-Across. Traditional Chinese wedding ritual: TEA CEREMONY. "Spill the TEA" means to share juicy news. It comes from "T" for "truth" and is more recent slang than the others.
Well, that's enough idle chitchat from me. Time to get serious about the rest of the puzzle!
Across:1. Body art, slangily: TATS.
5. Turn into baby food: MASH. I do this for the grandbaby, but his mother insists the new best practice is to give the baby huge hunks of whatever food and let him go at it until he chokes, which he is supposed to learn to manage.
9. "I am half __, half hope": "Persuasion": AGONY. The iconic line, "You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope," comes from Captain Frederick Wentworth’s letter to Anne Elliot in Chapter 23 of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. DNK but I like it.
14. La __ Tar Pits: BREA. Ice Age animals approached the Tar Pits hoping for a drink of water and became trapped in the sticky goo, leaving behind a trove of fossils of saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, mammoths, and giant ground sloths.
 |
| La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles |
15. Comic-Con, e.g.: EXPO. An expo, or exposition, is a large event where organizations showcase their products and services. Comic-Con is one such event, focusing on comics, gaming, cosplay, anime, and pop culture. Don't believe me? Check it out Oct. 30 - Nov. 1, 2026 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I won't be there, though. Not my thing.
 |
| Someone else at Comic-Con |
16. Engaged for a job: HIRED.
17. [Theme clue]
19. South American mountain range: ANDES.
20. Neck of the woods: AREA.
21. Drag show accessory: WIG. RuPaul's Drag Race is sometimes credited with popularizing "tea" as a word for "gossip."
23. HS diploma equivalent: GED. Didn't finish High School? You can earn a GED (General Educational Development) equivalency credential instead.
24. Subway smooch, e.g.: Abbr.: PDA. Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others.
25. [Theme clue]
30. Stirred up: INCITED. Perhaps with rumors, hearsay, and innuendo?
32. Red wine grape: MERLOT. Everyone's favorite scene from the movie Sideways, 2004:
33. Many a TikToker: TEEN.
34. Orange tubers: YAMS.
37. Delicious: TASTY.
38. [Theme clue]
41. Great Lakes mnemonic: HOMES.
 |
| YooperPhil, how do you remember the lakes? |
44. Hippocratic __: OATH.
45. Jittery: EDGY.
49. Very tops: APEXES. The formal plural of APEX is APICES (AY-puh-seez), but for the hoi polloi, it's OK to say APEXES (AY-pek-siz). It's Latin, doncha know.
51. Like elastic material: TENSILE. Tensile refers to a material's capacity to be stretched, drawn out, or subjected to tension.
53. [Theme clue]
56. Industrial tub: VAT.
57. Secrecy contract, for short: NDA. Non-Disclosure Agreement.
58. Pie __ mode: À LA. Pie à la mode is a classic American dessert featuring a slice of pie (typically apple) served with a scoop of ice cream on top. "À la mode" is French for "in fashion."
59. Skedaddled: FLED.
61. Selling point?: STORE.
63. [Theme clue]
67. Cowpoke's hello: HOWDY.
68. __ Day vitamins: ONE A. Popular brand of multivitamins.
45. Jittery: EDGY.
49. Very tops: APEXES. The formal plural of APEX is APICES (AY-puh-seez), but for the hoi polloi, it's OK to say APEXES (AY-pek-siz). It's Latin, doncha know.
51. Like elastic material: TENSILE. Tensile refers to a material's capacity to be stretched, drawn out, or subjected to tension.
53. [Theme clue]
56. Industrial tub: VAT.
57. Secrecy contract, for short: NDA. Non-Disclosure Agreement.
58. Pie __ mode: À LA. Pie à la mode is a classic American dessert featuring a slice of pie (typically apple) served with a scoop of ice cream on top. "À la mode" is French for "in fashion."
59. Skedaddled: FLED.
61. Selling point?: STORE.
63. [Theme clue]
67. Cowpoke's hello: HOWDY.
68. __ Day vitamins: ONE A. Popular brand of multivitamins.
69. Out on the water: ASEA.
70. "Siddhartha" novelist Hermann: HESSE. Siddhartha: An Indian novel is a 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse about the spiritual journey of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha. The book was written in German, and later published in the United States in 1951. In the book, Siddhartha attained enlightenment, which Hesse was also seeking. The book sparked a lot of interest in Buddhism in the 1960s and 70s.
71. Designer Vera known for bridal gowns: WANG. Vera Wang also has a line of casual clothing for sale at Kohl's, which is very much the other end of the spectrum. This wedding gown is not my favorite of the many designs on her website, but it is called Noemi, so I had to choose it for today's illustration.
 |
| Noemi gown by Vera Wang |
72. Refuse to allow: DENY. I deny all those rumors and gossip! Or at least some of them.
Down:
1. Brief "More info soon": TBD. To Be Determined.
2. Daughter of King Minos who helped Theseus escape the labyrinth: ARIADNE. Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and helped him kill the Minotaur by providing a sword and a ball of thread to navigate the Labyrinth. After fleeing with Theseus, Ariadne was abandoned on the island of Naxos. My father always said Theseus was a jerk. No, wait -- that was Jason of the Argonauts. Maybe all the Greek heroes were jerks.
 |
| Theseus and the Minotaur |
3. Feature of many a rice paddy: TERRACE. A paddy is a flooded field used for growing semiaquatic crops like rice and taro. Paddies are often built into steep hillsides as terraces.
 |
| Rice paddy terraces |
4. Fill up: SATE.
5. Verbal shrug: MEH.
5. Verbal shrug: MEH.
6. Log chopper: AXE.
7. Offspring: SPAWN.
8. Pickup line?: HOP IN.
9. "I've got it!": AHA.
10. Sodas in Shirley Temples: GINGER ALES. A Shirley Temple is a mixed drink made with ginger ale, a splash of grenadine, and a maraschino cherry. It was invented by a restaurant in Hollywood so that the child actress, Shirley Temple, could have a fancy beverage that looked like the old-fashioneds her parents were enjoying.
 |
| Shirley Temple drink |
11. Major trials: ORDEALS.
12. "I __ remind you ... ": NEED NOT. And yet you do ...
13. Ribbon purchase qty.: YDS. Ribbons are purchased by the yard.
18. Playbill list: CAST.
22. Place to raise the bar?: GYM.
12. "I __ remind you ... ": NEED NOT. And yet you do ...
13. Ribbon purchase qty.: YDS. Ribbons are purchased by the yard.
18. Playbill list: CAST.
22. Place to raise the bar?: GYM.
 |
| Raise that bar! |
24. Cherry discard: PIT. Maraschino cherries, like the ones in Shirley Temples, begin as light colored cherries which sit in a chemical soup for 4-6 weeks, erasing their color and flavor, and are then soaked in a solution of sugar syrup, red dye, and almond flavoring for another month. Finally, they are pitted -- but do watch out for the occasional pit or portion thereof that is missed by the fast moving machines.
26. Cipher breakers: KEYS. A cipher is a system of encrypting information, perhaps substituting one letter for another consistently, or rearranging the letters of a text. A key unlocks the encrytped information.
27. State with a potato museum: IDAHO.
28. Ballet leap: JETÉ. A jeté is a ballet leap where a dancer throws one leg into the air and lands on it, transferring weight from one foot to the other.
28. Ballet leap: JETÉ. A jeté is a ballet leap where a dancer throws one leg into the air and lands on it, transferring weight from one foot to the other.
 |
| A grand jeté |
29. Farm pen: STY.
31. Items in recipe boxes: INDEX CARDS. DH's mother kept such a file.
35. NYC subway org.: MTA. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides bus, subway, and commuter rail service in Greater New York, and operates multiple toll bridges and tunnels.
36. __ voce: SOTTO. Sotto voce is an Italian phrase meaning "under the voice" or "soft voice," used to describe speaking or singing quietly.
39. "Understood": I SEE.
40. "At what time?": WHEN.
41. Fedora, for one: HAT.
42. Like shoes that show off a pedicure: OPEN TOE.
43. Spots for sheep to sleep: MEADOWS.
46. Not all the same: DIVERSE.
47. Cheer up: GLADDEN.
48. "Are we there __?": YET.
50. Mrs., in Madrid: SRA. Short for señora.
52. Manhattan event with many designers and runway models, for short: NYFW. New York Fashion Week.
54. Arm joint: ELBOW. My mother intended to sit on a bench in my grandchildren's school yard, missed it, landed rather well (all things considered), but fractured her ELBOW. She's staying at my house while adjusting to this situation. When the splint from the ER is upgraded to a longer term solution this afternoon, we'll get a sense of how long this will go on. We've got a rather full house at the moment.
55. __ Loa: world's largest active volcano: MAUNA. On the Big Island of Hawaii. Or rather, half of the Big Island of Hawaii! The islands are formed by volcanoes rising from the ocean floor.
 |
| Mauna Loa eruption |
60. Laundry batch: LOAD.
61. Finger-on-lips sound: SHH. I was a librarian for many years. SHH is part of the professional lexicon.
 |
| Shh! |
62. Hurricane center: EYE.
64. Super chill: ZEN.
65. Zig and __: ZAG.
66. "You can __ that again!": SAY.
Here's the grid:
HOWDY, Solvers!
Did this gossipy puzzle cause you AGONY through a series of solving ORDEALS?
Or did it GLADDEN your spirit with DIVERSE delights?
You NEED NOT tell us, but we still wish you would, in the comments below.
-- NaomiZ
I wouldn’t say this was
ReplyDeletethe easiest Monday puzzle I have ever seen. Certain entries, like “NYFW” gave this puzzle a certain “crunch.”
Nevertheless, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGuess who misread "inexpensive" as "expensive" and inked in AINT CHEAP. That A worked with TBA, too. D'oh. I was unable to view the MERLOT video -- it was age-restricted. Apparently I'm too old. This one seemed very crunchy for a Monday, but maybe I'm just not fully awake. Thanx, Chloe and NaomiZ.
Sorry about the link, D-O! It worked for me. YouTube must have heard the rumors.
DeleteFIR, but erased boa for WIG.
ReplyDeleteCrossword constructors seem to not understand the difference between TBA and TBD. STAT and ASAP too, for that matter.
I was concerned about my cis-male status WHEN I filled SKINNY JEANS without a single perp, and I was relieved WHEN NYFW required four of them.
Here's AC/DC's classic hit Dirty Deeds Done DIRT CHEAP.
Speaking of oldies, Eric Burdon, front man for the Animals (Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood) turns 85 today.
Poignant day for me. This is my first wedding anniversary without my late wife. It would have been our 35th.
Thanks to Chloe for the fun start to the work week, and to NaomiZ for the laughs.
I agree with your TBA vs TBD debate. I thought I had it straightened out, so I confidently filled in the wrong one.
DeleteThinking of you on your anniversary. I know every major date on the calendar must be hard.
Sad day for you, Jinx. A reminder of your loss.
DeleteYour wife was undoubtedly a very special human being, Jinx. You two made it a long time together.
DeleteGood morning early bird Cornerites! This normally “late-to-the-party” solver woke involuntarily at 2:35AM Arizona DST , so I decided to stay up to see what you found so appealing about the wee hours. So far, I’m not impressed .
ReplyDeleteHa ha, Prof M!
DeleteFIR. This had a little bite to it. NYFW seemed somewhat of a stretch to me
ReplyDeleteI got the gist of the theme with the reveal, but I don't think I've ever heard of dish and tea being used the same way dirt and skinny are.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
NYFW is real and a major event in the fashion industry.
DeleteTheseus was definitely a jerk, not only abandoning the woman who saved him but causing the death of his father by his carelessness. Ariadne on the other hand didn't fare too badly, marrying Bacchus and being transported to Olympus as a goddess.
ReplyDeleteThanks, mslk, for fleshing out that story.
DeleteThe Tar Tar Pits...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is right! "La Brea" means "the tar." We do that a lot with foreign names. "Rio Grande River" translates to "Big River River."
DeleteI needed NaomiZ’s explanation for the theme. I figured out DIRT and SKINNY, wasn’t too sure about DISH, but when I got to TEA, I figured I got it wrong.
ReplyDeleteI inadvertently left a WoG on the drag show because I had HOP on.
We had TBD, PDA, for which I needed perps, PDA, MTA, and GED. I needed perps also for NYFW. APEXES didn’t sit well with me.
This CW was mercifully free of a slew of proper names. That GLADDENed me.
Thank you NaomiZ for your nice review.
That second PDA should have been NDA. Sorry.
DeleteThis felt more like starting a work week than a puzzle week. With an incorrect TBA and a hard-to-spell mythological princess, I was off to a slow start.
ReplyDeleteLuckily for me, NYFW filled in by perps before I read the clue. But it is part of a fashion mini-theme that includes WIG, WANG and OPEN TOE.
With only part of TERRACE in place, I wondered if a paddy might use a TEa RAkE.
The "Hoi Polloi" was a popular student pub and band venue at the College of William & Mary.
After learning how maraschino cherries are made, I'm not sure I want another one!
Naomi, I'm glad you expounded on the BUZZ WORDS, because I kinda skipped over them. And don't worry about all the rumors! LOL
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHG, looks like you wanted three links at the end, but somehow they all got lumped together and only open to the super volcano...
DeleteHola! No AGONY was suffered over this puzzle! Thank you, Chloe Revery. It filled very quickly and I failed to look for a theme. Oh, that. Thank you, NaomiZ.
ReplyDeleteI still have recipes on INDEX CARDS as well as several recipe books although I no longer cook as much as I used to in the past.
Most of my shoes are OPEN TOE; it's rare to wear enclosed shoes in this climate except for long distance walking.
It's been many, many years since I read that particular book, but I did recall ARIADNE.
It's volunteer day at church, so I must be off. Have a great day, everyone!
I agree with Jinx about TBA vs TBD, but am happy to see AHA make an appearance today instead of OHO.
ReplyDeleteOverall, a nice puzzle, but it required more heavy lifting than a typical Monday offering.
Is it Friday?, yikes definitely not a WITP. Lots of blanks in the initial run; though eventually FIRed. I learnt the term “spill the TEA” doing these here CW’s
ReplyDeleteHipocratic oath: “DARN I dropped and stuck myself with the scalpel!!” No more OPEN TOE footwear in the OR.
Inkovers: TBA/D ?
The sheeps in the MEADOW! Where is “Little Boy Blue” when you need him! 🎺
“Engaged for a job?”. Odd way to put it
I use/dictate the term “Apices” (not APEXES) to describe the “very tops” of the lung zones on images at least 20 times a day.
Mom got her GED at 60
SA mountain range belonging to some guy … ANDES
Self rising bread dough package
Instruction … NEEDNOT
Inherited DNA thinness units … SKINNYJEANS
Crossword Slurpee … ISEE
Former monkey spouses … APEXES
“Once the danger of frost is gone” … hoping it’s safe to start planting.
Off this week . 🌱🌸
I thought for sure you would jump on overpriced German car for HOWDY.
DeleteAudi. Worst car I ever had. During the rental period spent most of the time at the dealers
DeleteInteresting puzzle for a Monday - a bit more challenging than normal. Kind of liked that.
ReplyDeleteA pleasant start to the CW week with a nice offering from Chloe, and the upbeat follow-up from Naomi, thank you both for your efforts! Only a few unknowns to overcome, ARIADNE which just didn’t look right, AGONY as clued, and NYFW, which was all perps, but I did correctly suss what the acronym meant. FIR in 9:28. Naomi ~ I really don’t need a mnemonic to know the Great Lakes, or which is which, Michigan is surrounded by four of them, Ontario being the outlier. The UP where I live (and return to tomorrow after wintering in Florida) is bordered by Lake Michigan to the south and Superior to the north. I have a house on Superior with a beautiful sand beach, nice to look at, but too cold for me to dip in for the most part, and the bay usually freezes over for 3 or 4 months. Also, I’ll be joining you by not attending Comic-Con, not my bag either. 😆
ReplyDeleteYP, I thought those lakes might be familiar neighbors for you! Like Hollywood and El Segundo for me! Your view sounds Superior.
DeleteI was surprised to find myself forced to go online for red-letter help on a Monday. Started pen-on-paper, first run only got half the fill. This CW seems like a Wednesday.
ReplyDelete11 names, DNK 4. Somehow I knew ARIADNE. NYFW = one of the 4 DNKs = all perps.
Like Jinx @ 6:18, BOA/WIG. I did not grok the theme, even though I looked. It took NaomiZ for the V-8 can to hit.
Overall, FIR in 10, but used red-letter help. Does that make it a FWH? Anyway, I had fun doing the CW, thanx CR.
And thanx too to NaomiZ for the terrific write-up.
I liked Chloe’s Monday offering.
ReplyDeleteIt had a bit of crunch but filled in smoothly. Her clueing style is clever and fresh.
I didn’t fill in the TBD until the perps told me it was the B.
Seems the editorial team hasn’t got the memo.
Thanks Chloe for an enjoyable Monday. Thanks Naomi for the detailed recap.
Oops meant the D on TBD/A
DeleteThis crossy made me lk lock in. A bit stressful to FIR but we bussin. I dont fw greek mythology as much as i do fnaf lore. Shoutout my slimelord freddy!
ReplyDeleteI always like to look for the end of your write up to see how you encourage readers to comment. I also know the Ads are personally generated to fit the viewer. But I was taken aback while reading the end today, when an Ad for a dementia test appeared in the middle of your write up ending. I had to look at it twice to discern that it was an Ad, and not something directed at me in your concluding comments...
ReplyDeleteToday's silly theme link hopefully does not reinforce my future Ad content...
Musings
ReplyDelete-Teacher’s lounges are full of rumors. Custodians and secretaries have the real SKINNY.
-When we got home from Italy, I reread The AGONY And The Ecstasy with a new perspective
-Nebraska has something similar to La BREA tar pits where thousands of animals were found under many layers of ash from the Yellowstone super volcano
-At our age, we have discovered many jobs can be done here by HIRED people
-Fore!
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Chloe. And thank you too for your helpful commentary and pictures, NaomiZ--also very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWell, surely getting some TATS doesn't create AGONY, does it? I wouldn't know for sure since I've never had any, but I'd think it should be a moment of pleasure for someone to have some art created on their body. I'm not sure if such a procedure is expensive, but I imagine it's not DIRT CHEAP. And I would think that the person applying art on the living canvas of a person's body would make sure they don't suffer from the ORDEAL. It could be very nice if this activity occurred on a TERRACE, or even in a MEADOW, to give the event the comfort of the outdoors. And I would hope everyone was offered some GINGER ALE at a TEA CEREMONY after the event. IDAHO might be a pleasant setting for it, too. And it would be nice if the person could go A-SEA on a yacht afterwards, and get a peaceful rest after their morning experience.
Have a pleasant start to the week, and a good week coming up.
Yeah, a little busy for a Monday, but eventually doable. FIR
ReplyDeleteTo Jinx in Norfolk- My wife of 36 years passed away from cancer in 2021. Miss her every day and every night. I feel your loss. Somehow life goes on—I don’t know how, but it does. Just gotta do what ya can to keep up with it. The grandkids are a joy, thank God. Wish I had some grand, poignant words to add, but words fail, so I’ll just say hang in there and enjoy the memories. For the time left to us, let’s FIR.