Theme: "PERIODIC UPDATES" - The chemical element in each common phrase is replaced by its periodic table symbol.
22. Upside found periodically in a bad situation?: AG LINING. Silver lining.
29. Queen singer played periodically by Rami Malek?: FREDDIE HG. Freddie Mercury.
46. Cary Grant film that airs periodically on classic movie channels?: AS AND OLD LACE. Arsenic and Old Lace
41. Baking ware that's only used periodically?: MUFFIN SN. Muffin tin.
96. Dickens novel that's only read periodically?: DAVID CUFIELD. David Copperfield.
100. Perfect stand-up material performed periodically?: COMEDY AU. Comedy gold.
115. Hairstyling device applied periodically?: CURLING FE. Curling iron.
124. Periodically prone to breaking the speed limit?: PB-FOOTED. Lead-footed.
Reveal:
69. Advantage in some situations, or an alternate title for this puzzle: ELEMENT OF SURPRISE.
This
is a very straightforward symbol substitution theme. The constructors probably spent more time on the theme cluing then finding the theme set.
Constructor Ben Wildman-Tobriner is also an Olympic swimmer. See this Wikipedia page. He won a gold medal as part of the world-record 4x100 freestyle relay, one of the most exciting relays ever. In the heats, he swam alongside Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, and Matt Grevers. Adrian and Jones also swam in the final, along with Michael Phelps and Jason Lezak.
Across:
1. Cheerful: GLAD.
5. Wrigley product: GUM.
8. Ocean liner?: COAST. Literally.
13. Brazilian coins: REALS.
18. Govern: RULE.
19. Inspired by: A LA.
20. Per __: CAPITA.
21. Kaitlin of "High Potential": OLSON. She also voiced the whale shark Destiny in "Finding Dory".
24. On the wrong path: ASTRAY.
25. Shelter org.: ASPCA.
26. __ turtle: SEA.
27. Fills with love: ENAMORS.
31. "Come on now!": PSHAW.
33. In the past: EARLIER.
35. Takes a rideshare: UBERS.
36. MLB stat: RBI.
38. Flavor of many a bright green martini: SOUR APPLE. Granny Smith is the only sour apple I can think of.
51. Due-in hr.: ETA.
52. Parroted: ECHOED.
54. Swimmer's wear: CAP.
55. Midsize car: SEDAN.
56. Word: TERM.
58. Clutched: HELD.
59. Must pay: OWES TO.
62. Pagoda instrument: GONG. You can visit the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, very close to my childhood home.
63. Fancy tie: ASCOT.
65. Tyler of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?": AISHA.
67. Anise aperitif: OUZO.
75. Beauty aisle brand: OLAY. Been into CeraVe the past few years.
76. Dorm digs: SUITE.
77. Coins of the realm?: PENCE. Kingdom "realm".
80. Basketball stuff: DUNK.
83. Civil rights icon Mandela: NELSON.
86. Olaf's creator in "Frozen": ELSA.
89. Udder part: TEAT.
90. Physicist Newton: ISAAC.
92. __ Quixote: DON.
93. Bee keeper: APIARY.
95. "Rocky III" actor: MR T.
102. Portrayal: DEPICTION.
104. "What a treat!": YAY.
105. "All the Light We Cannot See" novelist Anthony: DOERR. He won a Pulitzer Prize for the book.
108. Perseveres with: KEEPS AT.
111. Warms: HEATS.
118. Like tiramisu and cannoli: ITALIAN.
120. Letter before sigma: RHO.
121. Desert near the Sinai Peninsula: NEGEV. Abraham lived in and moved through the Negev.
122. Victory celebration: PARADE.
126. Elevator stop, in Paris: ETAGE. French for "floor".
127. Fit to be farmed: ARABLE.
128. Chart topper: HIT.
129. Rae who plays President Barbie in "Barbie": ISSA.
130. Broadway awards: TONYS.
131. Bristlelike grippers on gecko feet: SETAE. Learned from doing crosswords.
132. Batteries in some remotes: AAS.
133. Soapmaking supplies: LYES.
Down:
1. Clutch: GRASP.
2. Olympic sleds: LUGES.
3. God of Islam: ALLAH.
4. Agnus __: DEI. Lamb of God.
5. Choice when the Tide runs out?: GAIN. Detergent.
6. Lower arm bones: ULNAE.
7. Pre-eruption lava: MAGMA.
8. Conspirator in "Julius Caesar": CASSIUS. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus. There are total 60 conspirators. We also have 79. "Not you too!": ET TU.
9. Go (for): OPT.
10. Carrier whose primary hub is Charles de Gaulle: AIR FRANCE.
11. Headliner: STAR.
12. Diggs of "All American": TAYE. He was married to our crossword regular Idina Menzel for many years.
13. Surfaces that hold tracks and ties: ROADBEDS.
14. Borden mascot: ELSIE.
15. In accordance with: AS PER.
16. Scottish waters: LOCHS.
17. Hiccup: SNAG.
20. Bunch of clowns, maybe: CARLOAD. I like the visual image in this clue.
23. Greenhorn: NEWBIE.
28. RN workplaces: ORS.
30. Boring: DULL.
32. Shelter sound: ARF.
34. Significant stretch: ERA.
37. Inseam unit: INCH.
39. BlackBerrys, e.g.: Abbr.: PDAS.
40. Can opener: POP TOP.
41. Like a movie making fun of its own plot holes: META.
42. Great Basin people: UTES.
43. Mockery: FARCE.
44. __ shed: SHE.
45. Sports podcaster Katie: NOLAN. Wikipedia says she won a Sports Emmy Award in 2016 for her podcast Garbage Time with Katie Nolan.
47. The 587-piece Pok mon Eevee, e.g.: LEGO SET.
48. Big fuss: ADO.
49. "You __ do it!": CAN.
50. Cornwall lang.: ENG.
53. Exchange words?: EDIT.
57. Fifth-largest Hawaiian island: MOLOKAI.
59. "What a treat!": OH FUN.
60. "Now, where __?": WAS I.
61. Team's adjective: OUR.
64. Business card no.: TEL.
66. Only OK: SO SO.
68. Oomph: ZIP.
70. Fellow: MAN.
71. Got the measure of: EYED UP.
72. The Miners of the NCAA: UTEP.
73. Museum piece: RELIC.
74. Syndrome in "The Incredibles," e.g.: ENEMY. He's the archenemy of Mr. Incredible. Learning moment for me.
78. Model Delevingne: CARA.
80. Pulled off: DID.
81. Mex. neighbor: USA.
82. Pt. of USNA: NAV.
84. Lacking sharp sound quality, briefly: LO-FI.
85. Ridicule: SNICKER AT.
87. __ Paulo, Brazil: SAO.
88. Military force: ARMY.
91. Features of PC towers, once: CD DRIVES.
93. Rescue dog, e.g.: ADOPTEE.
94. "Hard pass": YEAH NO.
97. Home of the Large Hadron Collider: CERN. The European Organization for Nuclear Research. Based in Geneva.
98. Summer in la cit : ETE.
99. Go unused: LIE IDLE.
101. Give some shade?: DYE. Ha. I just pluck the white hair if I see one. Often I pluck the wrong strand.
103. Intel org.: NSA.
105. As a result of: DUE TO.
106. Church instrument: ORGAN.
107. John Milton's "Lycidas," for one: ELEGY.
109. Letter before beta: ALPHA.
110. Lower leg bone: TIBIA.
112. Like many indie films: ARTSY.
113. "If __ walls could talk ... ": THESE.
114. Bar mixers: SODAS.
115. Tech news site: CNET.
116. College figs.: GPAS.
117. Grub: FARE.
119. Times before eves, in classified ads: AFTS. Afternoons.
123. Legal org.: ABA.
125. Snake __: OIL.
C.C.
29 comments:
I figured out the
gimmick with the first themed fill.
After that, it was pretty much off to the races for me, although remembering the chemical designations for all the missing “elements” wasn’t always easy.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Ben and Shaun picked elements with unusual symbols -- not easily guessed if you don't already know 'em. Wite-Out corrected my RaiLBEDS; otherwise no missteps today. I think I recognize Katie NOLAN from the current season of Celebrity Jeopardy!. Nice romp. Thanx, Ben, Shaun, and C.C. (If I were to pull out the white/gray ones, there wouldn't be much left.)
Oops, forgot to shut down the italics. Sorry.
FIR, guessing at PENCE and finally settling for ELEGY. For me, the crossing of NOLAN and AISHA sucked most of the fun out of this one. But I really enjoyed the theme fills and knew all the elements and their abbreviations. Good puzzle, but netter suited for People magazine.
I also knew CERN, mainly as what the Texas Superconducting Super Collider would have been but for our myopic and antiscience congress. Despite President Bill Clinton's pleas to continue the program, it was cancelled in 1993 after spending $2 billion of the $8 billion needed. (By comparison, the California high-speed rail project between LA and San Francisco has run through $108 billion and still hasn't laid a single inch of track.)
Thanks to CC for making sense of this namefest outing.
Indeed crossing AISHA with NOLAN did me in. All the other many names although for the most part unknown to me, filled with perps and WAGS.
Otherwise the theme was fun and straightforward except for the sneaky copper in the middle.
I loved DOERR’s novel but I usually have trouble spelling his name. (Spell check has been doing some really weird corrections lately).
Thank you CC for the recap and the info about one of the constructors.
FIR. I got the theme right off with the first entry. From there it was a matter of trying to remember my high school chemistry element chart. I'm not sure I liked the reveal. It was a bit of a head scratcher.
The puzzle itself had a little bit of bite to it. like the crossing of meta and term. Hmmmmm.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
This might have been better employed as a fun puzzle to give to high school chemistry students (which I was for all of two weeks before bailing).
Not an enjoyable puzzle for me. FIR in 28:45 but had to use a month's worth of WAGS to get there.
Periodic Updates- we got a chemical bonus today with cadmium-CD next to Copper-CU at the cross of CD DRIVE and DAVID CU-FIELD. Ben and Shaun threw some tough symbols in for those who didn't know those latin abbreviations.
I guess H, HE, LI, B, N, C, O, S, P would have made it easier for the non-science majors but incorporating those names would have been harder. Filling SACID for sulfuric acid, maybe. AG, HG, AS, SN, CU, AU, FE, PB doesn't translate into English well. Maybe "AUric" Goldfinger for Bond afficiandos.
Filling downs, I didn't even notice the SILVER LINING abbr. but caught it at FREDDIE MERCURY. Game over at that point. I had the usual number of unknown A&E-NOLAN & AISHA crossing, DOERR, OLSON, TAYE, CARA.
SETAE, SOUR APPLE, LEGO SET, ENEMY, and ETAGE. all took perps and guessing.
LOwFIdelity is a term I've never heard.
COLAS or SODAS. I was thinking ALPS for the collider since CERN straddles France and Switzerland.
FIR, with a few stabs required. Lots of unknowns that somehow filled, using a “what else could it be?” strategy (and some luck).
The theme was fine. The fill though, left a lot to be desired in my opinion. It seemed like the constructor attempted to squeeze as many brand names, actors, authors, geography and foreign language stuff into the grid as is possible.
I guess I don’t have as much patience with puzzles that look more like trivia tests than word play. Oh well, for taste there is no argument.
Musings
-As a science teacher, I loved this puzzle after I could not parse AGLINING and the title gave me the gimmick.
-The Carolina section took me some time for both clue and fill.
-After much debate, our high school put on AS AND OLD LACE the night of November 22, 1963
-A Big Mac in Brazil runs about R$24 (my foreign currency yardstick!)
-SUVs make up roughly 60% of US light-duty vehicle production, while SEDANS are at 23%. Ford no longer makes SEDANS for the American market.
-This woman wore a replica of Liza’s ASCOT dress from My Fair Lady at a recent Kentucky Derby
-My college dorm digs would be more likened to a cell than a SUITE
-Neil deGrasse Tyson calls ISAAC Newton, “The smartest person ever to walk the face of this earth.”
-Boston Red Sox Hall Of Famer Bobby DOERR will probably never make a crossword
-European elevators designate our second floor as their first floor
-LUGES will be “out of sight, out of mind” for another four years
-Railroad ROADBEDS kept the Platte River flood of 2019 on the south side of town away from us
-Sign of the times: Aaron Sorkin's brilliant TV series The West Wing of 25 years ago had characters using "cutting edge" PDA’s
-I had to buy external devices to play CD ‘s and run HDMI projectors with my MacBook pro
Addendum: An European elevator control panel for a 5 story building
It’s not just elevators, but people as well.
Two things Gary.
Remember the PDA called a Palm Pilot? It preceded the Blackberry.
I don't know about HOF member Bobby but in NOLA, DOERR Furniture has been around for years. Unlike most furniture stores, they don't sell any cheap stuff.
That’s the first thing I noticed about elevators in Scotland, no G, L, or 1 as designating, Ground, Lobby, or First floor level. It was always 0 (zero), and floors below that were in negative numbers as your addendum shows. One place said they had to put us on the 1st floor, which by our way of thinking is ground level, one floor up for them.
I loved this puzzle! I don't track my times but I am sure that it was a record Sunday for me. Being married to a chemist surely helped! Brief hangup when I misspelled REALS as RIALS, but otherwise smooth sailing.
I found the clueing to be fun but not difficult: DUNK, COAST, GAIN.
"All the Light We Cannot See" is one of my all-time favorite novels. Five stars and highly recommended by this scientist.
Thank-you to Ben & Shaun for the delightful Sunday, and to CC for the enjoyable and informative recap. The picture of the gecko foot is fascinating!
I am the anonymous at 1:30. Having trouble posting today!
Trying to turn off italics.
Hope this worked.It did work. The continuing italics only showed up if you are viewing in the archive.
I quite enjoyed this puzzle, the theme was fun and while I'm not too great with celebrity names the ones I didn't know were quickly gotten with perps and one or two lucky vowel guesses. Like others, I struggled to remember some of the symbols, but had fun nonetheless.
Not to pick at nits too excessively but there are those who might argue that the Cornwall language is Kernewek (or Cornish) not English. I've no idea what the abbreviation would be though.
May the Third be with you all! No wait, um, er ...
I liked this puzzle a lot.
Hola! Today I am running slowly; I have no energy, but I managed to finish this chemistry test, er, puzzle. Luckily good guesses provided me with the now long-forgotten chemistry chart that I had to memorize at one time. In high school it was required to learn all the symbols and the chart was rolled up during tests. Woe to them who failed to memorize!
Ben and Shaun have us a fair enough puzzle but I must call foul at REALS; though I don't know Portuguese, I would guess that it should be REALES. But I could be wrong.
I was introduced to OUZO in Turkey and I love it!
I also loved DOERR's novel, "All the Light We Cannot See."
I did not know 74D, SYNDROME. Something new I learned. Also new, but guessed: CARA, NOLAN, OLSON.
Arsenic and Old Lace is often performed in high schools or local venues, and it never gets old.
Oops. That should be Ben and Shaurn GAVE us ......
Live and learn! Real/reales is the Spanish term. In Portuguese it's REAL/REAIS.
Groaned when I realized what the theme was, super clever but it’s been a LONG time since I’ve had any familiarity with the periodic table lol. Barely scraped thru this one but did have fun.
Like desper-otto, I had to change rail bed to ROAD BED. Okay, railroad bed. At one time, they were built and maintained by gandy dancers.
I also had I DOS for exchange words before editing it to EDIT.
There have been around 12 elements added to the Periodic Table since I took chemistry. I guess that dates me. None of the latest 12 are naturally occurring.
Ojai Guy. Struggled with this one. For those of us who didn't remember Chem. class or little known names or foreign words, this was a Natick attack. No fun: Period........
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