Theme: Swing for the fences!
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| A scene from Happy Gilmore starring Adam Sandler, 1996 |
Brian Callahan and Amie Walker are frequent crossword contributors to the LA Times, solo or teamed up with others, and at least once in the past, together. How do they make great moves in the grid? Today's big reveal is:
61-Across. Advice for adding power to a golf swing, or what can be said about 17-, 27-, and 50-Across: IT'S ALL IN THE HIPS. In the listed entries, the answers are contained within the word HIPS, written in helpful circles at either end of each answer. Note the progression of the letter breaks from 1:3, to 2:2, to 3:1. Are the HIPS moving from one side to the other, as in a golf swing?
17-Across. "Let me give you a few pointers ... ": HERE ARE SOME TIPS.
27-Across. Some track-and-field attempts: HIGH JUMPS.
50-Across. VW adorned with decals from the flower power era, e.g.: HIPPIE BUS.
We can expect some groaning in the comments today about circles, but yours truly feels they are needed to see the theme. Aside from that, I think we can all appreciate the symmetry of the grid and the theme answers, and the fact that two of the themers span the grid. I did have one little problem with the solve, which I'll share when we get there. Shake a leg!
Across:
1. Annoying ordeal: HASSLE.
7. Reddit tell-all sesh: AMA. Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session on Reddit, a news aggregator and social media platform.
10. Veil material: LACE.
14. Fiction influenced by net culture: ALT LIT. Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a literary movement influenced by internet culture and online publishing. It is characterized by autofiction (telling an altered story of one's own life in the third person), self-publication, and a presence on social media networks.
15. Grass roll: SOD.
16. __ hygiene: ORAL.
17. [Theme clue]
20. Pointed (at): AIMED.
21. Galápagos lizard: IGUANA. The marine iguana is found only on the Galápagos Islands. It forages in the sea for algae, which make up almost all of its diet. There are land iguanas in the Galápagos as well.
7. Reddit tell-all sesh: AMA. Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session on Reddit, a news aggregator and social media platform.
10. Veil material: LACE.
14. Fiction influenced by net culture: ALT LIT. Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a literary movement influenced by internet culture and online publishing. It is characterized by autofiction (telling an altered story of one's own life in the third person), self-publication, and a presence on social media networks.
15. Grass roll: SOD.
16. __ hygiene: ORAL.
17. [Theme clue]
20. Pointed (at): AIMED.
21. Galápagos lizard: IGUANA. The marine iguana is found only on the Galápagos Islands. It forages in the sea for algae, which make up almost all of its diet. There are land iguanas in the Galápagos as well.
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| Marine iguana, Isla Española, Galápagos, 2022 |
22. Small stick in a bird's nest: TWIG.
24. Yoga poses: ASANAS.
27. [Theme clue]
30. First step of a home reno: DEMO. Home RENOvation shows make DEMOlition look like fun.
24. Yoga poses: ASANAS.
27. [Theme clue]
30. First step of a home reno: DEMO. Home RENOvation shows make DEMOlition look like fun.
33. Beatty/Hoffman film flop: ISHTAR. Ishtar is a 1987 comedy film written and directed by Elaine May, and produced by Warren Beatty, who co-stars with Dustin Hoffman. The story revolves around a pair of talentless songwriters who travel to a gig in Morocco and stumble into international intrigue. Shot on location in Morocco and New York City, the production drew media attention for cost overruns on top of a lavish budget. A change in management at Columbia Pictures also hurt the film's release, which was a notorious failure at the box office. Initially considered to be one of the worst films ever made, it has since had better reviews.
34. "I'm not sure" sounds: UHS. UH ... did anyone else put UMS here, and then wonder what kind of heroine at 26-Down could be named ASMA? I did. FIW (finished it wrong) by one square.
36. Phoenix NBA team: SUNS.
38. Pickleball barrier: NET.
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| Pickleball court divided by a net. |
39. Overt: BLATANT.
42. Fuel additive brand: STP. STP is a brand of automotive products, including motor oil, fuel additives, and brake fluids. The name STP originally stood for "Scientifically Treated Petroleum."
43. Avocado dip, for short: GUAC. Short for guacamole, a Mexican Spanish word which comes from the Nahuatl word āhuacamōlli meaning "avocado sauce."
45. Oft-protected personal ID: SSN.
46. "Same here": I AM TOO.
48. College Board exam for sophs: PSAT. The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test has been administered to high school sophomores since Fall 1971.
50. [Theme clue]
52. Capital of Kansas: TOPEKA.
54. Richard of "Chicago": GERE. Chicago is a 2002 musical crime film based on the 1975 stage musical, which in turn originated in the 1926 play. It explores celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age, and stars Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere.
55. These days: LATELY.
58. "Gavel-to-gavel" coverage provider: C-SPAN. Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network is an American cable and satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. C-SPAN provides unfiltered coverage of the U.S. House, Senate, and major congressional hearings from the beginning of each session to the end.
61. [Theme clue]
66. Lion's sound: ROAR.
67. Pop singer Rita: ORA. Thank you, crossword puzzles, for teaching me this one.
68. Call forth, as memories: ELICIT.
69. Car loan figs.: APRS. The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the total cost of borrowing to pay for a vehicle over the course of one year. It serves as a comparison tool between loan offers. Imagine that Bank A has a low interest rate, but also has a large fixed fee for car loans. The fee will be figured into the APR. Bank B has a slightly higher interest rate, but lower or no fees. Bank B's overall APR may be lower than Bank A's, and therefore a better deal.
70. __ and improved: NEW.
71. Show up for: ATTEND.
Down:
66. Lion's sound: ROAR.
67. Pop singer Rita: ORA. Thank you, crossword puzzles, for teaching me this one.
68. Call forth, as memories: ELICIT.
69. Car loan figs.: APRS. The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the total cost of borrowing to pay for a vehicle over the course of one year. It serves as a comparison tool between loan offers. Imagine that Bank A has a low interest rate, but also has a large fixed fee for car loans. The fee will be figured into the APR. Bank B has a slightly higher interest rate, but lower or no fees. Bank B's overall APR may be lower than Bank A's, and therefore a better deal.
70. __ and improved: NEW.
71. Show up for: ATTEND.
Down:
1. Laugh syllable: HAH.
2. Tavern beer: ALE.
3. Likely feature of a valedictorian's report card: STRAIGHT A'S. The highest mark in all school subjects.
4. __ of hand: magician's knack: SLEIGHT. "Sleight" refers to a deceitful kind of craftiness, or to skill and dexterity.
5. Actor Neeson: LIAM. Liam Neeson is an actor from Northern Ireland who has garnered many accolades over forty years in films. He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
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| Liam Neeson |
6. To be, in French: ÊTRE. Oh, to be a French verb ... how wonderful that would be. Here's a phrase you know using être: "C'est la vie." "That is life."
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| Present tense conjugation of the verb "to be" in French. |
7. Donkey: ASS.
8. Dairy sound: MOO.
9. Online moderator, briefly: ADMIN.
10. Pink blooms sacred to Buddhists: LOTUSES. Rooted in mud but blooming above water, the lotus flower symbolizes the purity of an enlightened mind rising above suffering. According to legend, everywhere the baby Buddha stepped, a lotus flower bloomed.
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| Lotus flower |
11. Solo for an opera diva: ARIA.
12. Breakfast mascot's rank: CAP'N. "Cap'n" is a contraction of the word captain, and is used to represent a sailor's pronunciation: "Aye aye, cap'n!"
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| Can you spot the verb être on this box of Canadian Cap'n Crunch? It is crunchificent! |
13. "Frozen" ice queen: ELSA. Frozen is a 2013 animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale, "The Snow Queen."
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| The characters of this film often show up in our puzzles. It might be helpful to watch it sometime. |
18. Dutch cheese: EDAM.
19. "Yikes!": EGAD.
22. Category of noun: THING. Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas.
23. Get smart: WISE UP.
25. Soviet satellite launched in 1957: SPUTNIK. Sputnik 1 was the world's first artificial Earth satellite. A 23-inch metal sphere with four antennas, it orbited for three months, emitting a radio signal.
26. "Wish" heroine voiced by Ariana DeBose: ASHA. Here's the other half of my downfall at 34-Across, where I wrote UMS, not UHS. Asha is the protagonist of the animated film Wish (2023) produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. She is voiced by American actress Ariana DeBose. The idea for the film was hatched during the creation of Frozen II.
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| Ariana and Asha |
28. Quick punch: JAB.
29. Web addresses: URLS.
31. "Wish we all had that kind of luck": MUST BE NICE.
32. Moving from gig to gig: ON TOUR. What the protagonists of Ishtar were hoping to be doing.
35. Scissors sound: SNIP.
37. Slangy "Let's say ... ": SPOSE. An informal contraction of the word "suppose." In the sense of "let's say," you can imagine a phrase like, "Spose we pay higher interest to Bank B, but there are no other fees ..."
40. Arthur in the International Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE.
41. __ chi: martial art: TAI.
44. Part of a "Gabby's Dollhouse" costume: CAT EARS. I have twin grandchildren who are 12 years old, and a grandbaby who is 8 months, so I'm perfectly positioned to know absolutely nothing about Gabby's Dollhouse, a television show for preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years.
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| Gabby's Dollhouse |
47. Smash success: MEGA HIT. Not Ishtar.
49. Bridge charge: TOLL.
51. Treaty: PACT.
53. Traffic marker: PYLON. Usually just a good old fashioned orange cone.
55. Money of Italy, once: LIRA.
56. Resting on: ATOP.
57. Former Russian ruler: TSAR.
59. __ butter: skin care ingredient: SHEA. Shea butter is a fat extracted from nuts of the African shea tree. It is a popular ingredient in skin care products.
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| Shea butter |
60. Pepper (with): PELT.
62. Furious feeling: IRE.
63. Casual refusal: NAW.
64. Brooch: PIN.
65. Norm: Abbr.: STD. Another word for norm is standard, abbreviated std.
Here's the grid:
To cap off our theme:
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| Shakira and friends: "Hips Don't Lie." |
Solvers, was this puzzle a HASSLE for you, with BLATANT obscurities ELICITing groans?
Or do you SPOSE it will be considered a MEGAHIT for its fine qualities?
MUST BE NICE to win them all. Let's hear from you in the comments.
-- NaomiZ
This did not seem like a
ReplyDeleteMonday puzzle!
More like a Thursday or Friday one.
With grid spanning answers and terms such as “alt lit” to boot!
I got it, but it wasn’t particularly “easy.”
FIR, so I’m happy.
I agree that there was crunch and that ASHA is not a typical Monday fill but as explained so nicely by Naomi, it was a fun romp. Since Rich Norris retired we often get challenges on Monday. Have a great week all.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteNot on a Monday! Yup, a dreaded DNF for d-o. Same misstep as NaomiZ with UmS rather than UHS. Bzzzzzzzt. Thanks for playing. And thanks to Brian for the abasement, and to NaomiZ for the expo.
TOPEKA reminds me of that Loretta Lynn monster country hit "Here In Topeka." You don't remember it? It was quickly retitled "One's On The Way."
Contrary to popular opinion, the sound a marine IGUANA makes is not "Hooah."
A couple of weeks ago dw came home with a traffic PYLON stuck under her car. She was somewhat devious as to how it got there.
USMC Marines say "oorah." Drop and gimme 20.
DeleteFIW, with asme x ums and blatent (bad spelars of the world UNTIE! DNK Wish, the actor, nor the character.
ReplyDeleteI once drove a 1972 VW microbus. Not HIPPIE adorned, but with the back seats removed and outfitted for sleeping. Or something.
When I lived in LA, there was a car guru with a Saturday morning radio show on KABC. He was really smart with all things automotive, but finance not so much. He was fond of saying "if you are in the market for a new Chevy, go to XYZ Automotive and they'll give you APR financing." (At the time car loans were around 12%, so low apr financing was a popular selling point.)
Thanks (I think) to Brian and Amie for the interesting Monday puzzle, and to NaomiZ for the informative review. Welcome back!
I just looked it up. That radio guy still dispenses advice, but now on a podcast (The Motorman with Leon Kaplan.) I'm definitely going to check it out.
DeleteDitto for UmS x ASmA
ReplyDeleteFIR. This was a little crunchy for a Monday. And it had the dreaded circles to boot.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I was able to fill the crossing of uhs and Asha was that one of my daughters bears that name. Other than that it would have been a WAG.
I agree with SubG, this was more Thursday than Monday fare.
Overall a so-so puzzle.
Except for the Ums x ASmA good, FIR. I didn’t find this puzzle particularly difficult. As Pointed out by NaomiZ fine symmetry to the theme.
ReplyDeleteMy one WAG was for the CAT EARS.
I was not a HIPPIE, but I had decal pastel colored flowers on my pale yellow Corvair. Too bad someone plowed into it one day and totaled it.
Thank you NaomiZ for your great recap. That little “hippie” kid is adorable.
That should be GOOF not good, Mr spell-check.
DeleteI forgot to mention we ended up with ASHA and ASHE.
DeleteAlmost 14 to FIR. WMOS, this seemed like Wednesday-on-a-Monday. Also WMOS, ASHA/AHS "H" crossing was a WAG. Asha just sounded better than Asma as a name. That AHS coulda been many things. 13 names, only 2 DNKs: ISHTAR & ASHA.
ReplyDeleteI did get the theme early and notice the symmetry, also that the HIPS moved from side to side, and was H...IPS, HI...PS, and HIP...S. Very clever, and impressive construction. I got the theme with the first theme clue and entered the appropriate letters in the circles in the other theme clues before filling the rest.
TSAR/TZAR/CSAR/CZAR: always need perps.
Overall a fun, clever CW, thanx BC&AW.
Thanx too to NaomiZ for the terrific write-up.
Always appreciate the explanations in the blog, and glad to see that I wasn't the only one that struggled with UHS vs UMS. I did FIR despite never hearing of the Disney movie. I guessed right with UHS, because Asma sounded like a bad health condition. I did have to use white out as I put Evoke in the southeast corner at first. I often finish crosswords with minor errors, and I am one that appreciate the circles.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteAlthough the HIPS theme was evident from the beginning, the reveal was a fun surprise. The circles were certainly necessary, IMO, to visually illustrate the theme. Besides that, circles are a Monday must for newbies. I wagged the Uhs/Ums correctly based on Asha being more logical than Asma, but I think it was an unfair crossing and should have been reworked. The simplicity of the theme was offset by the enhanced level of the fill.
Thanks, Bruce and Amie, and thanks, Naomi, for the excellent explanation and preciseness of your review. You have a gift for enlightening in an entertaining voice.
Have a great day.
Took 4:15 today to reach the HIgher uPS.
ReplyDeleteI hesitated at the unfortunate intersection of the unknown "Asha" and the annoying hesitation sounds. "H" seemed like the safest guess.
Like Jinx, I didn't know "Asha", the character, or the voice actress.
I still don't know French (etre).
Oh joy, circles!
Who in the world decided that this was a Monday puzzle? Might have been the hardest Monday ever. Maybe a Wednesday, but definitely not a Monday.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how differently a group of people can experience the same puzzle. I appear to be in the minority here, but as I worked my way through through this puzzle, it felt like the easiest puzzle in history.
ReplyDeleteFIR in 5:38, with no real stumbling blocks along the way.
I guessed at Asha because it sounded better.
ReplyDeleteA fun puzzle but a slightly annoying amount of slang/abbrv’s …. Alt lit, Guac, Spose, AMA, Uhs…
The perps were fair so I FIR
Thanks for the informative recap Naomi.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Oh so true! The golf swing involves a good hip turn that pulls the club (no arms pushing) around to get speed. The Happy Gilmore demo is wrongly showing sliding the hips instead of rotating them.
-HERE ARE SOME TIPS. Don’t give any during a round unless you are asked to do so.
-My neighbor has a HIPPIE BUS and calls it his money pit
-Sleight of hand makes me a big fan of Penn and Tellers Fool Us. Sleight is a word for which Hooked On Phonics has few helping skills.
-Our hometown semi-pro baseball team uses one of our today words for a mascot.
-SPUTNIK embarrassed and frightened our country enough to form NASA to coordinate our space efforts.
-Informative and fun expo,Namoi!
The Happy Gilmore golf pro looks like someone I'd file charges against.
ReplyDeleteA walk in the park with a rocky path and exposed roots. Definitely some CAP’N Crunch to it. (Listen closely you can hear the circulo-phobes moaning as the HIPS come together😉)
ReplyDeleteAs a thoracic surgeon colleague told me years ago when he was my age now . “I can’t retire, I’m too young to play golf” Having recently turned 76 (trombones) I use the same stolen
line go⛳️🏌️
Inkovers: onroad/ONTOUR, I agree/I AM TOO, evince/ELICIT, asma/AHMA
On “The Jeffersons” George called wife Louise Wheezy so why not ASMA 😃…
“Gabby’s Doll house?”
The only “Gabby” show I remember watching was “The Gabby Hayes Show” (1950’s) as a little boy with my grandfather. Gramps spoke little English but loved it.
Arthur ASHE, where you been? We’ve
missed you 🎾
ALTLIT? UH what? Is “IGUANA” one of the ASANAS?
(Italian bride: “sposa” “spouse” plural SPOSE, hey why not).
It’s the south of France, pas ÊTRE Paris, so it ____… MUST BE NICE
Frequent football fumble finish____ … PYLON
Swing through Canada-Ehs province, briefly… ONTOUR
“But what have you done for me LATELY
Went quickly from 50’s to 90’s, …shorts and sandals finally ☀️🕶️🩳
I thought the difficulty level was about right for a Monday as I FIR in 9:40, my only help being not getting the congratulatory message when the grid was filled, went over the puzzle, changed the M to an H in UHS/ASHA and voila! Other than ASHA, which hardly anyone knew, the other peoples names are not obscure at all, except maybe the clue for CAT EARS, which was all perps for me. Thanks Brian and Amie for the puzzle and to NaomiZ for another sparkling review! I echo IM☘️ “you have a gift for enlightening in an entertaining voice”,
ReplyDelete