A fun solve on what appears to be Mike's initial LA Times puzzle. My trek started in the NE with my Greek wife's least favorite salad and expanding out from there.
Across:1. "Who's interested?": ANY TAKERS - Knowing the real issues for this trip, this NASA guy knows all the perils and is a hard no!
NOT ME!
10. Saw: ADAGE.
15. "Do I know you?": HAVE WE MET.
16. Historic site in Jordan known as the Rose City: PETRA - One of the new seven wonders of the world
17. Eggs-cellent breakfast spot: 😀 OMELET BAR.
18. "Door's open!": ENTER.
19. "You bet!": YES.
20. Pinch-hit: STEP IN - What we subs do during the school year
22. Next: THEN.
23. Hardly pusillanimous: BOLD.
24. Bears named for an Alaskan archipelago: KODIAKS.
26. Call it a day: GO HOME.
29. People who pay flat rates?: TENANTS - I think we all know what an apartment is called in the UK
30. Wistful words: I HOPE.
31. Went to court?: WOOED - 😀 Court is a verb here.
32. One who loves ewe very much: RAM.
34. Migrators in the Maasai Mara's Great Migration: GNUS.
53. Places to break some records?: RAGE ROOMS - or break most anything else
55. Hammer and anvil, for two: BONES.
56. "I wish wearing flat-irons on our heads would keep us from __": "Little Women": GROWING UP.
57. IV part: INTRA.
58. "No prob": EASY PEASY.
Down:
1. "Hello, sailor!": AHOY.
2. Appellation: NAME - For wine: An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated,
3. __ Rocher cosmetics: YVES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4. Office no.: TEL.
5. "Way cool!": AWESOME - In my opinion, this is the most overused adjective used today
6. Boiling point?: KETTLE 😀
7. War zone journalist: EMBED.
8. Bring in: REAP.
9. Go down swinging, perhaps: STRIKE OUT.
10. Mimic: APE.
11. Tooth component: DENTIN.
12. "If we stayed on such a road ... ": AT THAT RATE - Ten minutes/hole. AT THAT RATE we should be done in three hours.
13. Dish with feta and Kalamatas: GREEK SALAD.
14. Brings in: EARNS.
21. Largish combo: NONET - Nine, count 'em, nine
23. Catchy tunes, informally: BOPS.
25. Pops: DAD.
26. Some play dates?: GIGS - My grandson will be taking his years of experience, his Master's Degree and connections to NYC to play some GIGS.
27. "Just wondering": OH NO REASON - Yeah, right...
28. Leaves for one's residence?: HOUSE PLANT.
29. Pluto and others: TOONS.
31. Plain to see: WRITLARGE.
33. Soup often served with gyoza: MISO.
35. Like some languages: TONAL.
36. Muppet who loves pigeons: BERT.
38. Faux finish?: PAS - I have made many a faux PAS in my life.
39. Way to travel with class?: BUS TRIP - I travelled the 1,400 miles to KSC with 23 classes with airplanes but never on a BUS. 😳
41. "You're even farther now ... ": COLDER - The opposite...
42. Muscular: SINEWY.
43. Abu __: DHABI - The silent "H" threw me for a while
44. Screen icons: LOGOS.
47. "Matilda" star Wilson: MARA.
48. Caesar wrap?: TOGA. 😀
49. Cassowary kin: EMUS.
50. Award for top plays?: ESPY - ESPN's yearly awards for top sports plays
Today's puzzle comes to us from two "younger" generation constructors; their last LA Times was here, in 2024, with TTP at the helm. I did not recall solving that one, but I got a laugh from TTP's link to the "dap". As for this one, it wraps up a week of dreadful crossnames constructions, and made me feel I am either too old, or too cynical; it feels more like a Tik-Tok post than a crossword, but YMMV. Four theme answers where one needs to turn a "blind" eye to the 'blush' synonym in the common 'phrase' answers in order to make sense of the * clue; the reveal is definitely not in my wheelhouse, but I think I got the gist of it . . . an under-sized grid, 15 x 14, with more than a blush of abbrs and names, Twenty-six 3LWs, and a 21st century-speak Twurd, but I can relate to it. The themers, and the short-spanning reveal;
16. *Lesser: SECONDARYCOLOR- a 14-letter spanner, this is the 'tone / tint' definition of blush
20. *Fit for a queen: ROYALFLUSH - this is the 'verb' definition of blush
33. *Home of the Magic and the Magic Kingdom: ORLANDOBLOOM - also verb, name #1(ish)
46. *Relay rod: BATONROUGE - and last, the actual noun 'makeup' definition of blush
53. Tendency to overuse a certain cosmetic, or what has caused a mismatch between the starred clues and their answers?: BLUSHBLINDNESS
Sabrina Carpenter may be suffering from blush blindness - and perhaps
even over-doing the lipstick, too - but I still find her attractive 😁
But WaitThere'sMore~!
ACROSS:
1. 7-Eleven convenience: ATM - same fill, different clue; abbr #1
4. Bubble tea "bubbles": BOBA - becoming a popular clue/answer
8. Influencer devices, for short: MICs - I am aware that "influencer" is now a "thing", dare I say a "career" in the Social Media Digital 21st Century~? A millennials clue
12. Olympic sprinter Richardson: SHA'CARRI - name #2, no clue; filled via perps - when I Googled, her Instagram link came up before her Wiki; born in 2000, so . . . millennial (ish)
14. ID on a map: IDAHO - Dammit. Got me. I just could not get past "I Dentity" - geo name
18. Transcript fig.: GPA - abbr #2
19. Beyoncé song about the joy of human existence: BE ALIVE - millennial
24. Corp. title for Jane Fraser of Citigroup: CEO - I had C_O, so it was either F, E, I, O, or T; name AND abbr #3
25. BBC competitor that airs "Love Island": ITV - Learned about this TV channel when I watched the history of Top Gear - the Gen X series started in 2002; the orignal show dates back to 1977; abbr #4
My, how it changed; I think the 2002-Grand Tour version may have been
the best TV show ever - funny, informative, dramatic, and entertaining
26. 1980s cool: RAD - I was an 80's kid, but by no means was I "Rad"(ical) - or maybe I was - a long-haired 'headbanger nerd' . . . how's that for outcast~? The cigarette-smoking heavy metal fans hated me for being "smart" and doing well in school, and I simply terrified the geeks . . . Gen X, & abbr #5
27. Unspoken agreements?: NODS
28. "You wish!": "DREAMON~!" - Gen X would have gone with Aerosmith on this one
31. Fed. south of Iran: UAE - United Arab Emirates, abbr #6
37. With 30-Down, Paul Rudd role: ANT - AND - 30D. See 37-Across: MAN - I thought it was THE Ant, which wasn't going to work - I have seen parts of the movies
38. Pride symbol: RAINBOW
40. 1975 thriller with a two-note leitmotif: JAWS - A John Williams composition for Steven Spielberg's movie, which does sound "borrowed" from Igor Stravinsky; we saw 'leitmotif' yesterday - Gen X
EEEEE f . . . . eeeee F . . . . E F E F E F . . . .
I composed this blog days before I read RustyBrain's post -
44. Ring spot: TOE - A whole three-letter word~! EAR would work, too
45. Accessibility law, for short: ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990
50. Online friends, colloquially: MUTUALS - must be 21st century-speak, so millennial
52. Apple platform: iOS - AND - 60. Apple assistant: SIRI - clecho #2; I tend to think the younger you are, the more likely you'll be an Apple person - see the first image above. I'm Android, as all of the Apple products I ever came into contact with crapped out on me at critical moments . . .
58. Far from shore: AT SEA
59. Like farmers market produce: IN SEASON
61. Title derived from "caesar": TSAR
62. Smallest prime number: TWO - Jeez, math again on Friday~!
DOWN:
1. Donkey: ASS - How's that for a whole three-letter word . . .
2. English article: THE - THE English scored SIX goals in the World Cup, four to France - total 10, yet NOT the record
3. Jury-rig with what's on hand, informally: MACGYVER - today's Friday highlight clue/answer for me
4. Not just unoriginal: BANAL - I tried BLASÉ; 60% of the correct letters
5. Chicago airport code: ORD - I was close - I put in ORL, but that's the smaller field in the "other" Orlando - Florida - not Bloom. ORD comes from the original name of O'Hare, Orchard Place; abbr #7
6. Bandeau, e.g.: BRA
7. "Ain't no rule say the dog can't play basketball" film: AIR BUD - Didn't see this movie - IMDb
8. Parsons who was NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021: MICAH - I knew this name, #4, because he was a Dallas Cowboy hold-out last season - his Wiki
9. Megastar: IDOL
10. Multicolored cat: CALICO
11. Pushed: SHOVED
13. Club in a Manilow hit: COPA - sheesh, pick a Generation already - "makeup" your mind~!
Copacabana, 1978, Barry Manilow
15. Cookies with a "design your own" option: OREOs
21. Bad Bunny's "__ Atardecer": OTRO - aaand back to millennials - Español, "Another Sunset"
22. Phony persona: FRONT - much of Social Media, IMHO
23. Touch down: LAND - Dah~! Not ALIT
27. Gas in an inner tube?: NEON - trying too hard to be witty, this one fell flat
29. "Welp!": "ALAS~!" - I learned today that "welp" is "sadly", in texts; millennial
31. German equivalent of the Tube: UBAHN - short for untergrundbahn, the subway
32. Romance novelist Hazelwood: ALI - Friday vague name #5
35. Most dense: OBTUSEST - just saying this is obtuse
36. Synthesizer pioneer: MOOG - name #6, more here
39. Atomic: WEE - ah; size-related
40. Brand that dropped "Juice" from its name in 2019: JAMBA - name(ish), and Friday vague-ish, but maybe that's on me because there's only two locations in CT - I've never heard of this "refreshment" store
Ryan Patrick Smith says he's a frequent moviegoer, and that may be his impetus for creating today's theme.
20. Cinematographer's assignment?: SHOOT YOUR SHOT. The cinematographer is the director of photography, and he tells the camera crew what to shot to shoot.
32. Screenwriter's assignment?: FORM A LINE. A screenwriter formsthe actor's linesin screenplays for movies.
44. Costume designer's assignment?: PITCH A FIT. A costume designer pitches an idea, then creates the clothes that are custom fitto the actors.
56. Director's assignment?: GET THE PICTURE. The director manages the entire creative and narrative vision of a motion picture, and gets it all on film.
This was a fun one, although I initially thought the themers might have something to do with ball-playing (SHOOT... and PITCH...). Instead, they are all common phrases clued as assignments for a movie crew. My only nit was their order - I'd like writing first, then costumes, followed by filming and the final picture. But I have some OCD tendencies, so take that with a grain of salt...and some butter!
That was Take 1. Here are the rest of the shots:
Across:
1. Like a specialized committee: AD HOC. AD HOC is a Latin phrase meaning "for this." In English, it describes a solution or committee created for a specific, short-term purpose.
6. Qualified: ABLE.
10. Sheer delight: GLEE.
14. Ready to drop: WEARY.
15. Squander: BLOW.
16. Wet and squirmy: EELY.
17. Springsteen portrayer Jeremy __ White: ALLEN. The Boss personally handpicked Jeremy for the lead role, and approved his singing on all of the songs. I recently enjoyed him the in the final season of The Bear about a restaurant in Chicago.
Bruce Springsteen and Jeremy Allen White
18. __ carotene: BETA. I prefer alpha carotene, it's one better.
19. Athletic brand: NIKE. In 1971, NIKE co-founder Bill Bowerman famously invented the innovative "waffle sole" by pouring liquid urethane directly into his wife's waffle iron. She hit him with a frying pan, and he's been running ever since.
20. [theme]
23. Short greetings: HIS.
24. Straight, for short: HET. HETerosexual.
25. Make an alliance: TEAM UP.
28. Novel that inspired "There Will Be Blood": OIL. Another great book about how OIL became king is The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power by Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize winning history of the global petroleum industry from the 1850s to 1990. Although written decades ago, it is still considered the definitive history of Big Oil.
29. Opposite of sans: AVEC. Sans = without; AVEC = with. From the French describing whether to add ketchup to fries or not.
31. Many a Chiwere language student: OTO.
32. [theme]
36. Toys with tails: KITES. Toys with tails: PEKES.
Pekingese flying a colorful tail
38. Nutrient in spinach: IRON. That's why Popeye was strong to the finich.
39. "Srsly!?": OMG NO. Seriously!? This piece of text-speak is dead center in the puzzle!? Oh, My God, No!
41. iPhone helper: SIRI. iPhone spy: Also SIRI.
42. "Ghostbusters" actor Harold: RAMIS. Harold also co-wrote the screenplay with Dan Aykroyd.
44. [theme]
46. Question in reply to "omw," maybe: ETA. "On My Way." "What's your Estimated Time of Arrival?"
47. "Anyone __?": ELSE.
49. Detroit labor org.: UAW. United Auto Workers.
50. Town in Ontario County, New York: SENECA.
52. The works: ALL.
53. Aves. and blvds.: RDS. Avenues and boulevards are ROADS...but I wrote STS (streets) first.
56. [theme]
60. Low on dough: POOR. Since RightBrain started making sourdough bread, we're never low on dough...except after shopping for it.
62. Zither kin: HARP. On a zither, the 4 to 5 strings nearest to the player run over a fretted fingerboard and are played like on a guitar to create notes. The remaining 25 to 35 un-fretted accompanying strings stretch across the rest of the soundbox and are plucked by the fingers of the right hand to provide chords and bass.
I think I'll stick to guitar.
63. Sound that comes from on high: YODEL. In 1968, NBC higher-ups famously interrupted an exciting AFL football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets to air Heidi. While the Alpine movie ran, the Raiders scored two stunning touchdowns in the final minute to win the game. Oh boy, did the fans YODEL! Afterwards, networks were contractually stipulated to show all game telecasts to their conclusion.
64. Volkswagen Group subsidiary: AUDI. The VW Group includes AUDI and ten other brands, as well as Ducati motorcycles and some truck lines. Due to marketing pressures, they recently announced plans to cut their global vehicle lineup by 50%.
65. Like supervillains: EVIL.
66. Hall of Famer Shaquille: ONEAL. The little fella has 12-inch wide hands that dwarf a water bottle.
67. Get out of bed: RISE.
68. French jeweler and glassmaker Lalique: RENE. RENE may not be familiar to you as he died 80 years ago, but his pieces reside in museums around the world. Let me rephrase that: his creations reside in museums...
69. Bookish sorts: NERDS.
Down:
1. Teeming (with): AWASH.
2. Metropolis in north-central India: DELHI.
3. The MLB's Angels, to fans: HALOS. Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels.
4. Cookie with a limited-edition BTS collaboration: OREO. These OREOS feature purple wafer cookies with a brown sugar pancake flavor inspired by Korean street food (hotteok). And they have 13 different designs! They sound awful, the cookies, not the band.
Collect (but do not eat) them all!
5. "Harriet" and "Wicked" Oscar nominee Erivo: CYNTHIA. The British actress and singer has been nominated for the complete EGOT set, and has won all but the Oscar so far. She only 39, so I'm sure she'll get there.
6. Monastery leader: ABBOT. Although sometimes Costello took the lead.
7. Veal cordon __: BLEU.
8. Tolkien saga, briefly: LOTR. The epic trilogy Lord Of The Rings.
9. Old mice and such: EWASTE. "What did you whippersnappers call us?"
We're not EWASTE!
10. Italian salami city: GENOA. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...seeking a shorter route to DELHI for some lunch meat.
11. Recurring melodic phrase: LEITMOTIF. A LEITMOTIF is usually associated with a specific person, place or thing - like the menacing two-note "shark theme" from Jaws.
12. Big grazer: ELK.
13. Cornea locale: EYE.
21. Mello __ soda: YELLO.
With apologies to Donovan.
22. "Dang!": HECK.
26. Gestation sites: UTERI.
27. Put forth: POSIT.
28. High-end hotel chain: OMNI.
29. "Concrete Rose" novelist Thomas: ANGIE. ANGIE started by writing lists before becoming a bestselling author.
30. Dryer outlet: VENT.
32. S'mores cookers: FIRES.
33. Speak from a rostrum: ORATE. "Friends, ROMANs, countrymen..."
34. Namesakes of most planets: ROMAN GODS. The word "planet" comes from the ancient Greek word for "wanderer." This was later changed to Roamin'.
35. Little devils: IMPS.
37. "That didn't escape my notice": I SAW. I spy through my OCULI...
40. Windows shaped like 13-Downs: OCULI. "Oculus" is a Latin word that translates to "eye". OCULI are circular or oval windows, or a circular opening at the top of a dome. Keep an eye out for one when in Rome.
The Pantheon
43. Product of a schism: SECT.
45. Golden, as bygone days: HALCYON. HALCYON means calm, peaceful, and happy, often used to describe an idyllic time in the past.
48. Foam: LATHER.
51. Otherworldly: EERIE.
52. Waldorf salad fruit: APPLE. Here's a hilarious scene from Farty Towels Faulty Towers, a classic BBC comedy starring John Cleese:
53. Less polite: RUDER. RUDER looks wrong for some reason.
54. Trepidation: DREAD.
55. Exchanges for money: SELLS. As opposed to bartering, which is the direct exchange of goods or services without using money. Having my own business, I've occasionally bartered my services for things such as kitchen counter tops, a new garage door, and even Dolphin football tickets.
57. Order at a restaurant: HAVE.
58. CNN anchor Burnett: ERIN. The news veteran has been at CNN for 15 years.
59. __ poem: free-form orchestral work: TONE.
60. Target score in disc golf: PAR. Just like regular golf.
61. "Bien sûr": OUI. "Bien sûr" is French for "Of course!" as when asked if you want ketchup on your fries.
