"9 to 5"
Hi All!
Today we get a letter-substitution puzzle from our very own C.C.. Each themed clue is straight forward but the fill seems a bit of(?). Let's dig in and see what she has in store.
23. *Command to turn: FACE LIFT. In the Army, it was "LEFT, FACE." //Drill gave the direction first to give us a moment to remember our left from our right :-)
He Flunked Flanks
29. *Recovers somewhat: FEELS BITTER. FEELS BETTER. If you've only somewhat recovered from defeat, you may still feel bitter.
45. *Flourishing: LIVING WILL. LIVING WELL - yeah, I'm doin' alright.
49. *Perform a daring act: BILL THE CAT. The expression "BELL THE CAT" derives from a fable about mice agreeing that putting a bell on the cat is a great idea. The hitch - it's a great idea if someone else is dumb enough to try - so no one does.
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| Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County's Bill The Cat |
70. *Makes explicitly clear: SPILLS OUT. SPELLS OUT. #Snitch :-)
94. *Person who works a lot?: AUTO DIALER. An AUTO DEALER works the car lot a lot.
96. *Ink-filled tool for illustrators: DRAWING PIN. A PEN for DRAWING pictures.
112. *Places to drop envelopes: LITTER BOXES. Put your post in a LETTER BOX.
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| Letters go here -- dogs, maybe, but not cats. |
123. Start of a spelling rule, or a rule to keep in mind while answering the starred clues: I BEFORE E.
I before E except after C (unless it sounds like an A as in neighbor and weigh (unless the word is just weird)).
//I found this silly sentence on Reddit: I before E except when your "foreign neighbor Keith receives eight counterfeit beige sleighs from weird feisty caffeinated weightlifters."
One can always count on the internet for giggles.
Ahem.
I forgot to read the Sunday Title first. As I came upon 29a, I thought, "What's the theme?"
I read "9 to 5" (?) and thought, "I'll title the puzzle 'I Before E.'"
Then I got to 123a, and realized that's where C.C. was already going. Alas.
But wait, what is 9 to 5? Simple, it's like a substitution cipher. Take the 9th letter of the alphabet and put it where the 5th letter goes. 9 to 5. Cute. But it gets better...
Everything's better w/ Dolly
Across:
1. Do something: ACT.4. Career fair haul: SWAG.
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| Cybersecurity SWAG for the bath. |
8. Claim forcefully: ASSERT.
14. Insert, as a link: EMBED. I was thinking a chain's LINK b/f an HTML hyperLINK.
19. Prepping period: LEAD TIME. The more lead time, the more you better prepare.
21. Mammals with big calves: WHALES. Ha!
22. Stains with ash: SOOTS.
23. [See: Theme]
24. Winter cap feature: EARLAP. LAP or FLAP? I looked it up: Earlap - A flap connected to headgear to protect the ear from cold or physical harm. From Old English ēarlæppa.
25. Jam: SNARL. Think traffic, not preserves.
26. Clarifying phrase: AS IN. PAT - P as in Pterodactyl, A as in Aisle, and T as in Tsunami. //Thanks RustyB!
27. Too sure of oneself: SMUG. Can you think of a three letter donkey-related word for this trait? I can ;-)
29. [See: Theme]
31. Coup target: ETAT. French: coup is "blow" or "strike" and état is "state."
33. Small camping shelter: PUP TENT. A small triangular shelter fit more for a dog than humans. In the Army, you & a buddy carried half-shelters.
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| They're pretty small |
35. Slowpoke's place: REAR.
36. "Despacito" singer Fonsi: LUIS. A Puerto Rican singer.
39. Part of LAPD: LOS.
40. Nonprofit org. with a school for aspiring moviemakers: AFI. American Film Institute (which named Blazing Saddles the Funniest Film of All Time on Brooks' 100th Birthday //thanks Ray-O!).
42. Infatuated: GAGA. Is Lady GAGA infatuated with herself or ladies?
45. [See: Theme]
49. [See: Theme]
52. Dedicated poem: ODE.
53. Tudyk of "Firefly": ALAN. I've never seen Firefly, but Alan was great in Resident Alien. [TV-MA]
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| Alan Tudyk |
54. Emulate Alysa Liu: ICE SKATE.
Alysa won gold in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic games
56. Bark beetle target: ELM.
57. Fancy-schmancy: POSH. If you get too fancy in our hacker Discord channel, someone will inevitably post this:
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| Ooh La La |
61. Relaxed sigh: AHH.
62. Novel at the center of Bloomsday celebrations: ULYSSES. Bloomsday is a commemoration of James Joyce.
64. Westernmost city in Texas: EL PASO. I did Basic there [Ft. Bliss] in '88... In July!
66. McIntosh or Macintosh: APPLE. Cute - the fruit and computer, respectively.
68. Poison Ivy, to Robin: ENEMY.
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| She debuted in '66's Batman #181 |
69. Seasoning for kimchi: SALT.
70. [See: Theme]
72. Insects in a colony: ANTS.
75. Apex predators of the sea: ORCAS.
77. New York City's __ Place: ASTOR. The WikiP.
78. Baseless: UNTRUE. Alternative facts?
80. Vidal of hair care: SASSOON. If you don't look good, we don't look good. #Tagline
83. Vader's childhood nickname: ANI. Star Wars franchise.
84. Southernmost Ivy: PENN.
86. Party leader?: HOST. Ha!
87. Software-driven F/X: CGI. Computer Generated Images create the special effects (F/X).
88. Improviser's concluding phrase: AND SCENE.
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| Colbert |
91. Fat-heavy diet: KETO.
93. "Look what I found!": OHO.
94. [See: Theme]
96. [See: Theme]
99. Org. running many missions: NASA.
100. Snack for a frog: FLY.
101. Of vital importance: KEY.
102. Speak unclearly: SLUR.
103. Ione of "La Brea": SKYE.
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| Ione Skye |
105. Lions and tigers: FELINES.
109. Gets the picture: SEES.
112. [See: Theme]
115. High-five sound: SLAP.
118. Starts to work together: GELS.
120. In flames: AFIRE.
121. Make public: EXPOSE.
123. [See: Theme]
125. Spot of land: ISLET.
126. Lower in fat: LEANER. Opposite of KETO.
127. Trial spin on a bike: TEST RIDE.
128. Parts in a play: ROLES.
129. Daisylike flowers: ASTERS.
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| A Purple Daisy - Gregor [98d], you have some 'splain' to do. |
130. Tuck away: STOW.
131. Telepath's ability: ESP.
Down:
1. __ Romeo: motorsport brand: ALFA. |
| '86 Alfa Spider |
2. Discontinue: CEASE.
3. Implicit: TACIT.
4. Busiest airport in MO: STL. St. Louis, Missouri's Lambert International Airport. When visiting Pop, we'll sometimes opt for STL instead of connecting into SPI through ORD.
5. Nintendo consoles that debuted in 2006: WIIS.
6. Switch on the radio?: AMFM. Amplitude Modulation/Frequency Modulation are methods of imposing information onto a carrier wave.
7. "Rise and shine!": GET UP.
8. Dazzle: AWE.
9. Vertical passages: SHAFTS.
10. Draped wedding garment: SAREE. I looked it up - sari and saree are both acceptable spellings of the same dress.
11. Discovery astronaut Ochoa: ELLEN.
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| She was the director at JSC, Houston. |
12. "I'm gonna be straight with you ... ": REAL TALK.
13. Cough syrup amts.: TSPS.
14. OPI rival: ESSIE. Youngest uses Holo Taco.
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| Her Starry Night Nails |
15. Sequence of film cuts: MONTAGE.
16. Regattas: BOAT RACES.
17. Raison d'__: ETRE.
18. High-end camera initials: DSLR. Digital Single-Lens Reflex.
20. National park north of Anchorage: DENALI. Before and after it was Mt. McKinley.
28. Shorebird with webbed feet: GULL.
30. Easily broken: BRITTLE.
32. Salade niçoise fish: TUNA.
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| Yummers! |
34. __-sci: POLI. Political Science.
37. Nome dome home: IGLOO.
38. Bird with a long neck: SWAN.
41. Display flagrantly: FLAUNT. Should I EMBED [14a] Brooks' The Producers' [2005] Uma? Heck yeah!
43. Destructive wind: GALE.
44. Bank lobby devices: ATMS.
45. Leisurely gait: LOPE.
46. Subjects of fan clubs: IDOLS.
47. "Roman Holiday" scooter: VESPA.
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| Hepburn & Peck on a Vespa |
48. Like some heated posts: IN CAPS. e.g. I'M YELLING AT YOU!!!!
49. Command: BEHEST.
50. "Kinda": ISH.
51. "What's up, bro!": HEY MAN. The opening lyric to...
Suffragette City
55. Reports by hotline: CALLS IN.
58. Head lights?: HALOS. Cute - a ring of overhead light.
60. Prefix with graph or gram: EPI.
63. Electronica instrument: SYNTH.
65. Hybrid thoroughfare with frequent access points: STROAD. A portmanteau of Street and Road. Trying to figure out what stroad means took me down a traffic engineering labyrinth. Google at your own peril.
67. Smoothing tool: PLANER.
68. Shout of discovery: EUREKA. What Archimedes famously shouted when he realized he could calculate the volume of any shape by putting it in a bath (with rubber duckies, I presume).
70. Open-toed shoe: SANDAL.
71. Alley-__: OOP.
73. Scouting unit: TROOP.
74. Gimbap alternative: SUSHI. Gimbap is Korea's take on sushi. WikiP has the History of the dish.
76. Cypress, for one: CONIFER. Needled trees.
78. Up to: UNTIL.
79. Ian Fleming's alma mater: ETON. A POSH school.
80. Glance over: SCAN.
81. Amazon contents: AGUA.
82. Quits fidgeting: SITS STILL. Yeah, not my strong suit. #ADHD
83. Card with a single pip: ACE.
85. Front page material: NEWS.
89. Cunning folks: SLY FOXES.
90. Garden with forbidden fruit: EDEN.
92. Responsibility: ONUS.
95. Home for a squirrel: OAK TREE. Which is, famously, not a conifer.
97. Some deli loaves: RYES. Ok, no!, C.C., you can't get away w/ RYE w/o me mentioning
98. Genetics pioneer Mendel: GREGOR. Of crossbreeding pea [and daisies?] fame.
101. Piehole: KISSER. Your maw, yap, trap, mouth.
104. Throws, in slang: YEETS. What the kids say when wanting to forcefully dispose of something. E.g. "Yeet it off the balcony."
106. Kiwi in Kyoto, say: EXPAT. LOL! A New Zealander in Japan.
107. Sierra __, Africa: LEONE.
108. Features of some skirts: SLITS. Where's Splynter when we need him? :-)
110. Quietly unnerving: EERIE.
111. Snow day rides: SLEDS.
112. Dragon's place: LAIR. When I played video games, Dragon's Lair cost $1 whilst the other games were $0.25. Ergo, I only watched arcade buddies blow $$$ just to die at this scene (again).
113. "In that case ... ": IF SO.
114. Grammy-winning banjoist Fleck: BELA. Not Steve Martin? Ok, let's hear him.
Bela's Youtube Channel
116. Help out on a heist: ABET.
117. Cozumel coin: PESO.
119. Ooze: SEEP.
122. Workplaces for some RNs: ERS. Some Nurses work the Emergency Room.
124. Texter's "Victory!": FTW. For The Win! we get The Grid.
WO: last -> REAR (35a)
ESPs: LUIS, ASTOR, SKYE, SAREE, STROAD
Fav: I really enjoyed the alliteration in IGLOO's clue.
I hope y'all found a LINK or two in the expo for a nifty diversion this Sunday morning.
Cheers, -T
58. Head lights?: HALOS. Cute - a ring of overhead light.
60. Prefix with graph or gram: EPI.
63. Electronica instrument: SYNTH.
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| Geddy's Steampunk-themed Synth (it's a mini-MOOG underneath) |
65. Hybrid thoroughfare with frequent access points: STROAD. A portmanteau of Street and Road. Trying to figure out what stroad means took me down a traffic engineering labyrinth. Google at your own peril.
67. Smoothing tool: PLANER.
68. Shout of discovery: EUREKA. What Archimedes famously shouted when he realized he could calculate the volume of any shape by putting it in a bath (with rubber duckies, I presume).
70. Open-toed shoe: SANDAL.
71. Alley-__: OOP.
73. Scouting unit: TROOP.
74. Gimbap alternative: SUSHI. Gimbap is Korea's take on sushi. WikiP has the History of the dish.
.jpg) |
| Looks good (& the fish is cooked :-)) |
76. Cypress, for one: CONIFER. Needled trees.
78. Up to: UNTIL.
79. Ian Fleming's alma mater: ETON. A POSH school.
80. Glance over: SCAN.
81. Amazon contents: AGUA.
82. Quits fidgeting: SITS STILL. Yeah, not my strong suit. #ADHD
83. Card with a single pip: ACE.
85. Front page material: NEWS.
89. Cunning folks: SLY FOXES.
90. Garden with forbidden fruit: EDEN.
92. Responsibility: ONUS.
95. Home for a squirrel: OAK TREE. Which is, famously, not a conifer.
97. Some deli loaves: RYES. Ok, no!, C.C., you can't get away w/ RYE w/o me mentioning
 |
| Ziggy's Reuben |
98. Genetics pioneer Mendel: GREGOR. Of crossbreeding pea [and daisies?] fame.
101. Piehole: KISSER. Your maw, yap, trap, mouth.
104. Throws, in slang: YEETS. What the kids say when wanting to forcefully dispose of something. E.g. "Yeet it off the balcony."
106. Kiwi in Kyoto, say: EXPAT. LOL! A New Zealander in Japan.
107. Sierra __, Africa: LEONE.
108. Features of some skirts: SLITS. Where's Splynter when we need him? :-)
110. Quietly unnerving: EERIE.
111. Snow day rides: SLEDS.
112. Dragon's place: LAIR. When I played video games, Dragon's Lair cost $1 whilst the other games were $0.25. Ergo, I only watched arcade buddies blow $$$ just to die at this scene (again).
 |
| Dragon's Lair - a LaserDisc "cutscene" video game. |
113. "In that case ... ": IF SO.
114. Grammy-winning banjoist Fleck: BELA. Not Steve Martin? Ok, let's hear him.
Bela's Youtube Channel
116. Help out on a heist: ABET.
117. Cozumel coin: PESO.
119. Ooze: SEEP.
122. Workplaces for some RNs: ERS. Some Nurses work the Emergency Room.
124. Texter's "Victory!": FTW. For The Win! we get The Grid.
 |
| The Grid |
WO: last -> REAR (35a)
ESPs: LUIS, ASTOR, SKYE, SAREE, STROAD
Fav: I really enjoyed the alliteration in IGLOO's clue.
I hope y'all found a LINK or two in the expo for a nifty diversion this Sunday morning.
Cheers, -T
I got the theme early,
ReplyDeletewhich helped me solve C.C.’s somewhat challenging puzzle.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThis one took longer than I'm usually willing to spend on a cw, but it's a C.C. offering, so I stuck with it. Most of the themers with the "I" make sense, even if they don't fit the clue. But what is a DRAWING PIN? Outlier. Thanx, C.C. and Dash-T. (This was one of your best. You should've claimed the CSO at ALFA. I needed your expo to understand the "9 to 5" title.)
A drawing pin is another name for a thumbtack, desper-otto!
DeleteThank you, C.C. and Dash T.
ReplyDeleteA tour de force by C.C., followed by Dash T's superb write-up.
LEFT FACE - I can't tell you how many times the drill sergeant yelled, "Your military left, soldier" to those that didn't know left from right.
"One can always count on the internet for giggles" - No doubt.
Our most knowledgeable expert on ULYSSES and James Joyce is our dear Misty.
El Paso in July? That doesn't sound too cool. my basic was at Ft Knox in January and February. It was bone chilling cold, but the drill sergeants managed to keep us warm with the countless drills, marches and other physical training. Agony, Misery and Heartbreak were the of the three hills we marched up and down. They were appropriately named.
Ziggy's wasn't there in my day. I would have been a regular patron since I lived and worked nearby.
Desper-otto, I too questioned DRAWING PIN. I looked it up after the solve. It's the British English term for a thumbtack.
My basic training was at Ft Bliss (El Paso) in July and August ‘66. Yes, it was HOT! Bivouacked in the desert on the White Sands Missile Range.
DeleteAlas! Our dear Misty is yet astray.
DeleteProf M - OMG. Yes two week bivouac at White Sands. The only thing that's changed in the 22 years between us at Ft. Bliss is the names :-)
DeleteI sussed the theme early also, which helped. I've never heard of an Earlap, nor Stroad, and wasn't too happy with Billthecat and Drawingpin. Otherwise a nice puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBTW, in Greek you say 'Evreka' which means "I found it!" (I had Greek grandparents)
FIR with some difficulty. Theme was clever, but perhaps a bit too much so for my BRITTLE brain (which was originally FRAGILE---or as we movie buffs like to say FRAH-GEEE-LEEE). Since it’s a C.C. effort, let’s not talk about YEETS and ISH. On the other hand, STROAD needs to be horse whipped. For once, I’m not going to complain about what some might view as an arcane artist. Because of DW’s efforts, I’ve had the pleasure of fitting in a few cultured activities among sporting events and other television viewing, and one of them was attending a BELA Fleck concert. Very impressive indeed. BILLTHECAT had me for a bit, since I had completely forgotten about Bloom County (thanks Dash-T). And speaking of DW, nobody tell her that kILLTHECAT crossed my mind as I was filling the grid.
ReplyDeleteSplynter and RustyBrain, from Friday... I checked my TVs. Maybe you already knew it, but both Samsung and LG have dedicated Top Gear channels. On LG internet TV (they call it LG Channels) it is on IP 325. On Samsung internet TV (they call it Samsung TV Plus), it is under the Motor Sports sub menu. It's channel 2515. On Samsung, you can pick any single episode or binge all episodes from season 2 through 25.
ReplyDeleteNE corner stumped me. Could not get past Estee or feels better.
ReplyDeleteFIW. Not knowing DRAWING PIN and BILL THE CAT doomed me. Without knowledge of either, it appeared to me that changing I to E or E to I would break either the across or the down fill. And I thought I before E implied that the letter started as an I, only to be changed to an E. So, I erased some perfectly fine fill. I'm still less than gruntled with the theme.
ReplyDeleteOur Jumble players will like today's kimchi seasoning. (I try to solve the Jumble by looking at the cartoon and reading the narrative. I don't do the anagrams, but I should start. Brain health isn't about doing puzzles of differing difficulty; it's about doing puzzles that require different skills.)
I knew YEETS without a single perp! Maybe that's my Fountain of Youth. I should ask Don Ameche.
Our Texas contingent already know this, but when you are in EL PASO you are closer to the Pacific Ocean than you are to Texarkana. And when you are in Texarkana you are closer to the Atlantic Ocean than you are to EL PASO. I think I remember an old AAA guidebook quoting the adage "the sun has riz, the sun has set, and here we is in Texas yet."
Thanks to CC for the fun outing, and to Bayou Tony for another pinch-hit home run.
Never heard of EARLAP, even Arthur Conan Doyle describes Sherlock Holmes as wearing an "ear-Flapped" traveling cap."
ReplyDeleteIn The Producers, Leo (not Leopold) Bloom first enters Max's office when the wall calendar is displaying June 16 (Bloomsday)
FIR. This was a little crunchy for a typical Sunday. I had to take a WAG at the crossing of stroad (?) and "and scene". I had no idea about either.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme early on and the reveal confirmed it. But the title, 9 to 5, did not compute for me. I had to come here to have it explained.
So overall an OK puzzle.
16: 10 for me. Kind of bland. Not much to write home about and some of the answers like "real talk" were just weird.
ReplyDeleteDNF, filling in 99% correctly. I stopped short of entering the "T" in ISLET, because I have decided to take a stand and never again type in YEET(S).
ReplyDeleteHola! A doable Sunday puzzle. Thank you, C.C. and thank you, Tony. I encountered no problems as I sashayed across the grid. When my late friend, Virginia M., was alive, I attended many REGATTAS which were held on the lake near her home.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day, everyone. TIME for me to get ready to go.
Alyssa Liu Ices Kate? 😁
ReplyDeleteI can usually solve Sunday’s puzzles as they mostly have the difficulty level of a typical Wednesday, but today I failed and had to settle for a FIW. One bad cell, the same as BobB, the theme should have given it away but I stuck with FEELING BETTER and ESSEE. Needed perps for ELLEN, GREGOR, and AFI. I have never heard the term STROAD, but Wikipedia knows all about it. Thank you Zhouqin for the puzzle, your prolificacy as a constructor is amazing! Also thanks to Tony for taking on the write-up today!
ReplyDeleteNot to nitpick but C.C.’s name is misspelled at the top of the blog, at the bottom it is correct.
ReplyDeleteI see it’s fixed now 😊
DeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Me too, Tony! Note to self: Read the title before you begin a Sunday puzzle! I got clear down to LITTER BOX before the gimmick hit me. Doh!
-I did not know BILL THE CAT and I refused to put in a "K" at _ILL THE CAT as BEHEST was also a little fuzzy with me
-In 2017, Mel Brooks has said “Blazing Saddles could never be made today. Political correctness has killed comedy.”
-I had no chance on that LUIS but White Sox SS LUIS Aparicio from 60 years ago would have been in my wheelhouse
-Comedian ALAN King from that same era would have worked for me as well
-I think I have run out of my Happy Bloomsday greeting cards
-Surely pols must realize there is something in their past that someone will EXPOSE if they run
-My first high tech camera initials were SLRS
-Yesterday, my ATM dispensed bills that were not all facing the same way!! Dang OCD!
-STROAD is one of those “any port in a storm” fills.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDelete-Tony: thanks for clarifying the puzzle's title to what was happening. That (9 to 5) title went right over my head. Thanks for pinch-hitting for C.C. as I am sure she didn't want to critique her own work!
Echoing desper-otto I spent a lot of time on today's puzzle but did so willingly as it was created by our Crossword Corner "queen" - I FIW as I needed a red letter at the crossing of FEELS and SAREE
TTP: from Friday => I am not a native NY'er as you alluded to in a reply to my comment. Born in OH; grew up in PA; lived for just a few months in Buffalo. Lived in (I think) 8 states over my lifetime, and have only 2 states left to visit to claim all 50
Sorry, Chairman Moe. For some reason I thought you were from the Corning or Horseheads area.
DeleteLove everything about this puzzle -- it totally cracked me up. Thanks, C.C., and thanks, T, for the sparkling review!
ReplyDeleteFun outing from our headmistress. My only headache was the title, which Mr. T deciphered.
ReplyDeleteI've liked Alan Tudyk since I saw him in one of the funniest movies of all time, the original British version of Death at a Funeral.
I once strode down a STROAD.
Super job T!
I grew up in 64A….are YOU my father? 🤣🤗
ReplyDeleteFACE LIFT gave me the theme, as the perp just *had* to be WIIS, and FEELS BITTER confirmed it. At that point, I deciphered "9 to 5." *Very* clever, C.C.! How do you do it?!
ReplyDeleteDNK TUDYK or STROAD, but FIR and liked it. Thought "Places to drop envelopes" and "Nome dome home" were especially cute. The great Anonymous T did a fab job wrapping up.
Thanks, C.C., Dash T, and Cornerites all!
This is Jayce. Wow, what a masterful, puzzle! I loved solving it.
ReplyDeleteSmiled widely at "Nome dome home".
I didn't know the KETO is fat-heavy. I thought it was simply very sparing of carbs. People have said the same thing about the original Atkins diet, which kept carbohydrate input low and allowed lots of fat such as butter but never required it.
BIGCATS-->FELINES.
I like the words FLAUNT and BEHEST.
Good reading all your comments.