Good Morning, Cruciverblists. Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of a puzzle co-authored by Sala Wanetick and Dena R. Verkuil. I recently (May 27th of this year) blogged one of Sala's puzzles. Dena made her L. A. Times crossword debut in September, 2025 and has also had puzzles published in the N.Y. Times.
Today, they team up in the hope that we will all have a blast working out the answers. Let's start with the unifier:
64 Across: Finish dramatically, or what the answers to the starred clues do: END WITH A BANG.
Each of the answers to the four starred clues are comprised of two words. In each case, the second word is, more or less a description of, well, as the clue put it, something dramatic. Some are more dramatic than others but we surely get the gist of it.
Here are the four starred clues and answers:
18 Across: *Time of financial growth: ECONOMIC BOOM.
26 Across: *What may follow kids in a candy store?: SUGAR CRASH. . . . after the sugar high. This one might have been linked to 18 Across.
40 Across: *Handshake alternative: FIST BUMP.
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| Nares Bump |
54 Across: . *Stressful contest?: POETRY SLAM. In this case, stress refers to how poets create meaningful experiences for readers. A SLAM is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges.
This is how everything appears in the completed grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and their answers:
Across:
 |
| Paul Ehrlich |
39. TD's six: PTS. A football reference. A TouchDown scores six PoinTS
42. Knight's title: SIR.
45. Italian scooter: VESPA.
46. Try to be like: EMULATE.
48. Eye ailment: STYE.
51. Puppy's bark: YIP. Have you heard about the zoo where the only animal is a single dog? It's a Shih Tzu.
53. Speechified: ORATED.
58. Antacid brand: TUMS.
72. Craggy hill: TOR.
73. Kagan of the Supreme Court: ELENA. Supreme Court Justices often visit our puzzles. We know many of them by their first names. Samuel and Ruth and ELENA come to mind.
74. "Let's hear it!": DO TELL. Gossip.
Down:
1. Fútbol chant: OLE. Often heard at the FIFA World Cup games.
2. Abbr. that includes many racial identities: POC. Person Of Color
3. Opinion: TWO CENTS. There are several theories as to the origin of this expression.
4. "Didn't fool me!": I KNEW IT. Yes, we did.
5. Gas in bright signs: NEON.
6. Fitness centers: GYMS.
7. Accumulate, as sick time: ACCRUE.
8. Sis or bro: SIB. Abbreviations. Sister. Brother. SIBlings.
9. "No seats" sign: SRO. Standing Room Only
10. Like fans after great plays: AROAR.
11. Mirror: MIMIC. Used as a verb.
12. Freeway divider: MEDIAN.
13. "And yet ... ": EVEN SO.
14. Progress that may be measured on a doorframe: HEIGHT.
19. Siri platform: IOS. An Apple reference.
23. Coffee option: DRIP.
42. Drench: SATURATE.
43. Article: ITEM.
44. Cincinnati MLBers: REDS.
45. Doberman docs: VETS. VETerinarianS
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| Not this Doberman |
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| This Doberman |
47. Dishonorable wager: LATE BET. Considered to be dishonorable because the outcome may have been discernible before the wager was placed.
48. Faucet: SPIGOT.
49. Ohio city on Lake Erie: TOLEDO.
50. Loud person: YELLER. Also the Labrador of movie renown.
52. Green film on copper: PATINA.
55. Actress Witherspoon: REESE.
56. Film starring Barbra Streisand as a woman who pretends to be a yeshiva boy: YENTL.
57. "Have we __?": MET.
There once was a GAL from Kilglass
Who had a magnificent ass
Not round and pink as you probably think
It was brown, had long ears and ate grass
On that note, it's probably time to haul outta here. Everyone have a great rest of the week . . . and beyond.
___________________________________________________________
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| M M OUT With A Bang |
13 comments:
This week’s puzzles
have definitely taken some thought to solve, and today’s (Wednesday) was no exception. Still, I got through it okay.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Came out of the gate with ACTING...until OLÉ changed my mind. That was my sole stumble on this one. POC was a mystery until M.M. 'splained it. This guy thought the ESPYS were named after some guy named Esposito. Guess not. Overall, this was a nice Wednesday offering. Thanx, Sala, Dena, and Mal-Man. (Shih Tzu zoo, indeed.)
Enjoyed the puzzle and the expo, especially the knight cartoon and the limerick and the link to the incomparable Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Thanks to all 3 providers. Thought dishonorable wager included a twist that meant the bet wouldn't be allowed.
FIR, but only because IN OT forced me to change AGASt to AGASP. I kept thinking that there must be an "h" somewhere in AGASt, but my speling expurtise didn't come through for me. Also, imitate->EMULATE.
Many HR departments are quietly shedding their DEI initiatives.
Didn't know the poet nor the poem, but three-letter fill followed by "to the..." or "to a..." is gonna be ODE.
I've met Kentucky native Tommy Kirk, who starred in Old YELLER and many other Disney films. He said that role was the one he was most proud of.
Thanks to Sela and Dena for the humpday challenge, and to our MalMan for all the chuckles.
As a former frequent Vegas casino patron, I agree. I thought of craps and roulette bets that are disallowed because they were LATE BETs. Not usually due to dishonor - more likely due to indecision. Still not allowed.
Took 4:29 today to go kapow.
I knew the Actress of the Day (Reese), but not "grawlix", "POC", the poet/poem, and the Indian state. I don't think I've seen "tor" outside of crossword puzzles.
FIR. It seems that this is the week of Thursday and Friday puzzles. Each day a little crunchy. POC was unknown to me as was the clue for censor. Fortunately the perps helped.
I got the theme early on and that helped a lot.
Overall a so-so puzzle.
My post disappeared after I hit Publish. It was basically a positive review of an enjoyable and uneventful solve. I did mention that I don’t think Bump equates to a Bang.
Thanks, Sala, Dena, and MalMan.
Has anyone heard from Charlie Echo?
Hola! Nice and easy start to the day. Thanks to Sala and Dena as well as to MalMan. Enjoy your day, everyone.
The NW took a while to fill, but once I got my TWO CENTS in, things fell into place. I did run into other BUMPs, such as not knowing what a grawlix is. What a word. My other unknowns were IN OT, LATE BET, and NHL as clued.
I had to change moue to POUT, and POC and GEL were WAGS.
Lots of copy catting. At 11D we had MIMIC, 46A we had EMULATE, and 67D asked us what org was emulated.
And I forgot to mention the cute theme. So all in all, better than I expected when I started out.
Thank you MM for a nice review. Like those manatee pictures.
I guess we’re stuck with this feeble, puny font.
Curiously, my iPad has suddenly, and as quickly as it disappeared, returned the share and save buttons to my YouTube videos. No explanation... tired of being assailed by notices that I need to pay for iCloud storage space, I tried to manage what's being stored. One was Safari, curious, I turned it off. No one tells you that all your bookmarks, favorites, and whatnot are not stored on your device, but in the cloud! I have to ask, why on earth are things like bookmarked websites you might want to revisit stored in the cloud and not your device?
Anywho, to avoid a long rant... Thumper!
Learning moment: Grawlix!
P.O.C., hmm,
I would not want to post anything political, but since it came "from" the crossword: George Carlins take on P.O.C.
And (finally?)
Yes, I think it's all going to end with a bang...
Musings
-Most fireworks shows END WITH A BANG as they fill the sky with light for an extended amount of time
-OPTING – Not deciding is still a decision
-I had to look several times to suss out IN OT
-Bobbie Gentry’s ODE To Billy Joe left the world wondering what she and Billie Joe McAllsiter threw off the Tallahatchie bridge.
-Gossip – Yesterday one of my friends said a local man was going to spend $40 M to build a new Catholic High School in town as he announced and another one said it was proposed but is “dead in the water”.
-The movie was based on Robert Shaw’s character trying to post a LATE BET
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