The prolific ZDL strikes again! This time, he's imparting some of his hard-won knowledge for our solving pleasure.
60A. "Say 'aye' forcefully and project confidence," e.g.: PRO TIPS. I didn't notice that this was the revealer at first. PRO TIPS are useful pieces of advice, supposedly from someone with experience in the matter. They are often called "life hacks" on the internet, so you know they must be true.
 |
| Don't believe everything you read! |
7D. "Hug the shore until you reach the ocean," e.g.: SOUND ADVICE. The clued directions tell how to go around an inlet, i.e. ADVICE to walk along a SOUND.
29D. "Pair it with thyme or rosemary," e.g.: SAGE WISDOM. Just add parsley to the mix and the SAGE WISDOM would be like Paul Simon's "Scarborough Fair."
31D. "The cinnamon version tastes better than the original," e.g.: LIFE LESSON. LIFE cereal comes in several varieties, but the LESSON I've learned is that the original always tastes best.
 |
| A TIP of the hat to Mr. Levy |
I liked this puzzle. All three of the phrases work in place of PRO TIPS as they stand (vertically!). But their TIPS (the bottom ends: ADVICE, WISDOM and LESSON) are also synonyms of TIPS by themselves. A double dipper! That all the themers were puns was icing on the cake.
And that was just the TIP of the iceberg!
Across:
1. Completely smitten: GAGA. Just like Lady GAGA's fans - the Little Monsters.
5. Iraq port city: BASRA.
10. Policy chief: CZAR. Thought WONK, at first.
14. Like some history and hygiene: ORAL. Thought words that start with "H" ?
15. Cacophonous: AROAR. Thought NOISY, at first. I'm doing a lot a thinking on this puzzle...most of it wrong.
16. Sharpen: HONE.
17. Kiss, in Cancún: BESO. A Spanish kiss!
18. Piano composition: ETUDE. Not EBONY or IVORY which are the composition of the piano keys. An ETUDE is a short piece designed as a practice exercise.
19. Tiny amount: IOTA. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet is the smallest one to write, just one little stroke of a pen, thus it eventually came to reference tiny things.
20. Email option since 1997: YAHOO. Yeah, who?
22. Genetic messenger molecule: RNA. RiboNucleic Acid.
23. Big name in the school supply aisle: ELMER.
 |
| Oops! Wrong Elmer! |
24. Exercise that may wind up in a playground: FIRE DRILL. When I saw "wind up," my first thought (oh boy, here we go again) was how I used to twist and spin on a swing.
27. Core muscles: ABS. Body anatomy, part 1.
30. Longtime Buick model: LE SABRE.
31. Acid rock's acid: LSD. It's how you get far out, man.
34. Neck wrap: BOA. He probably meant a feather BOA.
35. Share an office workstation: HOT DESK. I guess it's HOT because whoever arrives first gets to sit there in the accompanying HOT seat. Or is that in the boss's office?
36. Debt letters: IOU. This means I. O. U. which is shorthand for, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday..."
37. "Casablanca" star, affectionately: BOGIE. Humphrey Bogart was above par as an actor, but below par as a golfer. Just kidding. He was single-digit handicap player, and was considered one of the best golfers in Hollywood's Golden Age.
39. Egg cells: OVA.
40. Minor disagreements: TIFFS.
42. Realm: ARENA.
43. Cars singer Ocasek: RIC. RIC Ocasek, lead singer, songwriter and oldest member of the Cars was over 30 (ancient in pop music terms) when the band struck it big. He wore a wig to fit in.
44. "What's Your Country Song" singer Thomas: RHETT. Thomas Rhett is a Grammy-nominated country music singer and songwriter who blends contemporary country with rock & roll.
45. In need of a towel: WET.
46. Tourism prefix: ECO.
47. 20-Across alternative: AOL. I haven't used WAHOO or AOL this century.
48. Gymnast's move: FLIP. They do this to see who goes first.
50. Current fashion: TREND.
52. Chest muscles: PECS. Body anatomy, part 2.
55. Exactly: JUST SO.
57. Winter fishing tool: ICE SAW. I saw you fishing on a frozen lake.
59. Anxiety-related med. condition: OCD. Amongst other letters, I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder tendencies. I used great restraint in not fixing this problem:
 |
| How could someone leave it this way? |
60. [theme]
64. "Chandelier" singer: SIA. SIA is an Australian singer and songwriter known for her powerful voice...and bizarre wigs.
65. Ipanema's city: RIO. Ipanema is a neighborhood in RIO de Janeiro, Brazil.
66. Medicine derived from the bark of the willow tree: ASPIRIN.
67. Sphere: ORB.
68. Flow stopper: DAM.
69. A few: NOT MANY. I figure this is the number of you crossword solvers who also do Sudoku.
70. Sudoku figs.: NOS. Figures are numbers. So, how many of you also solve the Sudoku?
Down:
1. Prefer to be called: GO BY. The great Asian desert prefers to be called Gobi.
2. Region: AREA.
3. Nasty wound: GASH.
4. Cool and distant: ALOOF.
5. Sweetie: BAE.
6. Professional who specializes in oil cleanups?: ART RESTORER. Winner: Best Clue.
7. [theme]
8. Blip producer: RADAR BEACON. The government recently declassified sealed UFO files, and now we can all see fuzzy pics of blurry objects.
9. "__ you sure?": ARE.
10. Put on ice: CHILL.
11. Google Meet alternative: ZOOM.
12. Opening payment: ANTE.
13. Backup camera's view: REAR.
21. Output of some furnaces: OIL HEAT. The output is just HEAT, regardless of the fuel source.
23. Marvel assassin played by Jennifer Garner: ELEKTRA. In spite of her 2005 movie getting a dismal 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, she reprised her role in other Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
25. __ Speedwagon: REO. The most popular classic
 |
| This 1926 Model G is 100 years old! |
26. E-file org.: IRS. Internal Revenue Service.
27. "Mamma Mia!" band: ABBA. ABBA is also common crossword fodder. "Here we go again..."
28. Obnoxious one: BOOR.
29. [theme]
31. [theme]
32. Out of shape, say: SOFT.
33. Sign of disuse: DUST.
38. Lacking skill: INEPT.
41. "Wouldn't that be nice!": I HOPE.
48. Scandinavian inlet: FJORD. Before I looked at this clue, I had FJ_R_ and my rusty brain immediately went to "F-JARS." Anyone got change for a $5?
49. Saint __: Lesser Antilles island: LUCIA.
50. Body part with 27- and 52-Across: TORSO. Body anatomy, part 3.
51. Use, as a ladle: DIP IN.
53. City southeast of Alexandria: CAIRO. It looks nearly due east to me.
 |
| Oh, that Alexandria. |
54. Ear cleaners: SWABS. Ear cleaners: Q-TIPS.
56. Spread: SPAN.
58. "Teach Your Children" gp.: CSNY. In only their second live show ever, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young delivered a legendary performance at Woodstock in 1969.
 |
| "This is the second time we've ever played in front of people, man. We're scared s—less!" |
61. Choose: OPT.
62. Actor Meadows: TIM. TIM logged ten seasons at SNL before branching out into movies.
63. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
Be good. RB
I hadn’t seen the theme
ReplyDeletebefore I came on this site; was not aware that “pro tips” was the reveal. Now, I see it.
Thanks, RB.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
I don't know if it was deliberate or just coincidence, but the fill contained an unusual number of pop music act references, though not all were clued that way: GAGA, RIC, RHETT, SIA, REO, ABBA, CSNY. Also noted the puzzle was nearly a pangram, with only Q and X missing.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteThis one seemed pretty straight-forward until I reached the bottom tier. PRO_IP_ meant nothing to me. Plus I was thinking Jim rather than Tim. It finally fell into place. Whew. Thanx, ZDL and Rusty. (I used to do the Sudoku every day, but stopped a few months ago. I still do the Spelling Bee, Connections, Strands, and Pips every day. It's a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it.)
FIR, but spats->TIFFS, and sage advice->SAGE WISDOM.
ReplyDeleteI call foul at RADAR BEACON. AFAIK, the only thing that uses RADAR as a BEACON is our superb High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM.) If the enemy RADAR system is on the air, our Mach 3 HARM will kill it. Aircraft and ships don't use RADAR as a BEACON, and a RADAR system displaying blips isn't a BEACON.
My cox.net email addresses are now homed at YAHOO, but the addresses didn't change. The worst part was setting up app passwords and new servers so Outlook would continue to work.
I was going to link the Beatles' Rockey Racoon for GO BY:
"Her name was Magill, and she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy"
but Rusty Brain had already mentioned CSYN's Teach Your Children, with its lyrics:
"And teach your parents well
Their children's hell will slowly GO BY"
Thanks to ZDL for another fun puzzle, and to Rusty Brain for another fine review. Here's Stan Getz's The Girl From IPANEMA to get everyone off on a smooth start to their day.
My ATT email address is also at YAHOO. But it doesn't matter. I never use the ATT email. I only use my gmail address.
DeleteTook 6:55 today to get informed.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this "Rhett" fellow. I don't recall any Actresses in today's puzzle, though there was an actor, some singers, etc.
I wondered if "ice saw" was part of the theme, but I guess not.
Cinnamon Life is much better than the original Life cereal.
FIR. I'm not a fan of vertical puzzles and this one did not disappoint. For me it's like doing several tiny puzzles within a larger grid. A lot of the cluing was typical for a Thursday but with a few too many proper names.
ReplyDeleteI had to come here to realize there actually was a theme. So I assume protips was the reveal? Hmmm!
So overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Good morning. I noticed the SAGE and SOUND but have never tasted LIFE cereal, so I didn't catch the PRO TIPS unifier. My last fill was the cross of RIC and RADAR BEACON. I never knew it was a 'beacon', just radar. I agree with Jinx on that 'foul'.
ReplyDeleteHOT DESK is new term to me. I had my own office.
BOGEY or BOGIE. I always have to wait for perps.
RHETT, ELEKTRA, & TIM came via perps. Jennifer Garner must have made a fortune from those Capital One commercials. 'What's in your wallet?"
TORSO is a body area, not body part.