Theme: YOWSA! (It hurts my eyes!)
CrossEyedDave here, and I am still trying to erase the after image of this puzzle out of my mind... most of the puzzle played out well, except the SW Corner, which took some sussing. The theme? Well, at first I couldn't see anything. So I asked Daughter #1 for help. She was as nonplussed as I... so I emailed CC for help. As I was typing, I realized that Lunch, Play, Couples, and Up, could all be preceded by the word "Power." But I could not understand how power lunch hour/power play station etc, had anything to do with clashing. CC replied Both words can follow "power", hence it's clashing.
So...
17 Across. Midday break from work: LUNCH HOUR. (Power Lunch / Power Hour)
26 Across. Sony game console: PLAY STATION. (Power Play / Power Station)
52 Across. Vacation with friends and their significant others: COUPLES TRIP. (Power Couples / Power Trip)
62 Across. Artistically repurposing, as trash: UPCYCLING. And... even though it is one word,,, (Power Up / Power Cycling)
And the Reveal:
36 Across. Fashion trend that embraces a bold mix of patterns and colors, or what can be found in 17-, 26-, 52-, and 62-Across?: POWER CLASHING.
Across:
1. Enjoyable: NICE. ( a devious start, as this start is just a deception. )
5. Not bad, not great: SO SO. (No comment )
9. Amazon smart speakers: ECHOS. (That's the name on the box, but everyone calls them Alexa's.)
14. Pedal pusher: FOOT.😀
15. Rocky outcrop: CRAG.
16. Barely detectable amount: TRACE.
17. Theme.
19. Ninja Turtle home: SEWER. Ok, I'm supposed to splain things that may not be understood about the puzzle. How do I explain to the crossword solving breakfast club all about radioactive mutant turtles that live in the Sewer? That have Italian Renaissance names, and love pizza?
20. Shoe designer Jimmy: CHOO.
21. Corp. VIP: CEO. Chief Executive Officer
23. Word with garage or yard: SALE.
24. Low card in gin rummy: ACE.
26. Theme.
29. Ithaca Ivy: CORNELL.
31. Like some staff retreats: ONSITE. (Or On-Site)
32. Pledge drive gift: TOTE.
33. Little piece of land: ISLET. What is the difference between an islet, and a cay? The A.I. Overview
36. Theme Reveal.
42. Swerves: VEERS.
43. Paper chain segment: LOOP. (I wanted Link.)
45. Equilibrium: STASIS. (The beginning of the difficult SW corner...)
49. Matures, in a way: EVOLVES. I was thinking ripens, but it wouldn't fit. You would think evolution is an ongoing process, and maturation is an end result. But they did say "in a way," so, anything goes...
52. Theme.
55. Historical period: ERA.
56. Scheme: RUSE. Or plot, plan, ploy, scam...
57. Tiny terrier, e.g.: TOY.
58. "Tulsa King" actor McDonough: NEAL.
60. __ Park, Colorado: ESTES. Familiar to any model rocketeer...
62. Theme.
66. Gloss over, in speech: ELIDE. (Forgive me for skipping over the details...)
67. Barking marine mammal: SEAL.
68. Lost, metaphorically: ASEA.
69. Like pound cake: DENSE. But nowhere near as dense as a fruit cake, I mean, I've seen fruit cakes you can literally use as a door stop!
70. Contributes: ADDS.
71. Blended family prefix: STEP. Hmm, interesting clueing...
Down:
1. Org. with Lions and Bears, but not Tigers: NFL. National Football League League. Lions=Detroit, Bears= Chicago, Tigers= MLB (Major League Baseball)
2. Short note?: IOU.😀
3. Composition for soloist and orchestra: CONCERTO. There a whole book on it, just ask Daughter#3 who had to study it for Her Music Degree.
4. Engrave: ETCH.
5. Podiatrist with a namesake orthopedic brand: SCHOLL.
7. Pert: SAUCY. Could have been sassy, but the Constructor was being Pert...
8. Folklore brutes: OGRES.
9. UFO pilots, presumably: ETS. Extra Terrestrials.
10. Distinctive features of cockatoos: CRESTS.
11. The Big Island: HAWAII.
12. Spotted wildcat: OCELOT.
13. Peaceful: SERENE.
18. Dream: HOPE.
22. Central Plains people: OTOES. Another crossword staple. Could use some fresh clueing, perhaps "Ode to lower digits?"
24. "__ your age!": ACT. (Ok, maybe I'll delete the 22 down commentary...)
25. Henhouse: COOP.
27. Wonderland visitor who uses a flamingo as a croquet mallet: ALICE.
28. Scholarly collection: Abbr.: ANTH. Anthology is a curated collection of literary works, such as poems, short stories, plays, or songs.
30. Unfamiliar: NEW.
34. Camera type, for short: SLR. Single Lens Reflex
37. Downright rotten: EVIL.
38. Go back to zero: RESET.
39. __-at-ease: ILL.
40. Jane Austen, for one: NOVELIST.
41. Opera ending?: GOER. (Erm?) according to the Internet: Operagoer is a common nine letter word that fits the clue "Opera ending" in crosswords... (Common nine letter word?) Maybe when the fat lady sings...
44. Awareness-raising TV spot: PSA. Public Service Announcment
45. Lengthy diatribe: SCREED. This is the word to use to describe my unhappiness with the SW corner...
46. Muss: TOUSLE. The result of much head scratching, again in the SW corner...
47. "Keep __ Weird": motto of a Texas city: AUSTIN. (That SW corner again, really weird!)
48. Podcast playback options: SPEEDS. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
50. Audiophile's collection: VINYLS. (I wanted Albums)
51. Oil cartel acronym: OPEC. Organization of Oil Exporting Countries.
53. March composer John Philip __: SOUSA. Inventor of the Sousaphone
54. Not handwritten: TYPED.
59. "Sad to say ... ": ALAS.
61. "Catch my drift?": SEE.
63. Currency with toonies, briefly: CAD. Yikes! This takes some splainin'. First of all, the Loonie, is the Colloquial name for the Canadian One Dollar Coin. Ergo, the Toonie refers to the two dollar coin...(simple.) but what is the "A" in CAD? No one knows, and it doesn't matter, because the official ISO code for the Canadian Dollar is CAD, differentiating it from other dollars (like the U.S. Dollar). Who or what is this ISO you ask? More info here...
64. Formerly named: NEE.
65. Hiatus: GAP.
I am looking forward to hearing from you in the comments. Because I am still not sure if I am missing something in this clash of words puzzle...
It wasn’t too hard.
ReplyDeleteAnd I saw all the “power” phrases.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteDang. Two days in a row. The H never occurred to me, so it had to be CLASSING. Wasn't sure what literary ANTS could be, but it got to stand. Bzzzzzt. Also learned today that d-o doesn't know how to spell VINYLS -- knew there was a Y, just not where it went. Not my finest moment. Didn't realize there was a reveal...nor a theme, for that matter. Oh, well. Thanx, Amanda and CE:D.
FIR, but sholls then school->SCHOLL, link->LOOP, sassy->SAUCY, and tossle->TOUSLE (bad spelars of the world UNTIE!)
ReplyDeleteI knew Jimmy CHOO without benefit of perp. Where do I surrender my man card?
I also knew STASIS without perp, mainly from teaching that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs consists of homeoSTASIS components as its base.
Politicians often use the phrase "I've evolved on that issue." It poll-tests much better than "I've changed my mind on that issue after reviewing the latest polls."
Wonderland visitor blah, blah, blah uses the same obfuscation technique as the old "as I was walking to St. Ives" riddle. When I was preparing students for certification tests, I would advise them to determine what the question was actually asking before considering the answer candidates.
Thanks, I think, to Amanda for the thought-provoking puzzle. We've gotten into a cycle where the Tuesday puzzle is easier than the Monday offering, but I'm not sure that was the case this week. I liked the gimmick, but POWER CLASHING not so much. And thanks to CED for another solid review. I've gotten into the habit of looking for just superficial ties between theme fills and the unifier, so on that level the POWER COUPLE didn't bother me.
FIR. Maybe it's just me but today didn't seem much like a Tuesday puzzle as much as a Wednesday or Thursday maybe.
ReplyDeleteI missed half of the theme by only seeing the power in the second part of each long answer.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
Everything went south for me south of the equator. I have ABLUMS, hundreds of them, but never called them VINYLS. NEAL McDonough was a familiar face but an unfamiliar name. And I wanted my paper chain to be a LINK instead of a LOOP, so it was messed up for a while down there.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? I like these type of double themers, that's a lot of word pairing. Nice job Amanda.
CED, you hit all the POWER points. I could only imagine CLASHING until you pictured it. Now it know it means looking like a clown.
FIR, but couldn’t figure out the theme. I don’t think I tried hard enough. I was satisfied that everything I entered fit.
ReplyDeleteMy only hesitation was entering operaGOER. Wow! That’s a word, CED tells us.
Thank you CED for your candid and NICE review.
Nice smooth puzzle solve - CED I couldn't think of another layer on the theme.
ReplyDelete