Robin Stears is cutting the rug today. After constructing crosswords for 30 years, she's still got the moves!
17. Dance move performed when entering a room?: DOORSTEP. A DOORSTEP is just outside a door, while a threshold is the bottom of the doorframe itself.
21. Cancan move performed while skydiving?: DROP KICK. A DROP KICK is a rarely used tactic in American football, it's only been used successfully once since 1941. Doug Flutie, in his last play in the NFL, kicked it in a game between the Patriots and the Dolphins in 2006.
35. Tango move on "Yellowstone"?: RANCH DIP. Yellowstone, the TV show, takes place on a ranch, where RANCH DIP is presumably served at parties.
46. Five-point spin on the dance floor?: STAR TURN. A STAR TURN is an idiom that refers to the most prominent performance in a show.
56. Leap at a military ballet?: BASE JUMP. BASE JUMPing is an extreme sport where participants parachute from a fixed object rather than an aircraft. BASE is an acronym for Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs).
66. Pas de deux move performed where the road divides?: FORKLIFT. Pas de deux is a ballet term referring to an intricate dance duet, probably much more graceful than a warehouse FORKLIFT.
While there is no revealer, we have six (!) themers that all end in a dance move: STEP; KICK; DIP; TURN; JUMP and LIFT. With this many themers, the grid was pretty crowded leaving a lot of short fill which made this easier than usual for a Thursday. I have two left feet, so I found it better to play in the band than be out on the dance floor.
Let's take the rest for a spin:
Across:
1. Hotel waiters: CABS. Nice misdirect for the dance's opening number.
5. Carried the day: WON.
8. Cuts it close: SHAVES. Literally, it's using a razor - figuratively, it means a narrow escape.
14. Skip past: OMIT.
15. "__ takers?": ANY.
16. Nikon product: CAMERA.
17. [theme]
19. Unexpectedly funny: IRONIC. Funny strange, not funny haha, I ASSUME.
20. Adopt, as an alias: ASSUME. Believe it or not, my name isn't RustyBrain.
21. [theme]
23. Makeshift swing: TIRE. Some are fancier than others.
 |
| Oh, yours was just a round one? |
25. Bard's before: ERE.
26. Network supported by "viewers like you": PBS. And viewers like me! I've volunteered to man the phones at a Public Broadcasting Service fundraiser.
29. Number of legs on a prawn: TEN. Prawns are the larger biological cousins to shrimp.
 |
| If you like legs more than wings, these are for you. |
30. Shows up: ARRIVES.
35. [theme]
38. Half an Everest expedition: ASCENT. The other half, the descent, is considered more dangerous because after reaching their goal, climbers are exhausted and less focused.
39. Actor Sharif: OMAR. Everyone's favorite OMAR was also a world-class bridge player.
 |
| He apparently liked backgammon as well. |
40. Club VIPs: DJS. Disc Jockeys.
42. Inner: Prefix: ENTO. I wanted the more common ENDO, as in ENDOscope and ENDOskeleton.
43. Curt: ABRUPT.
46. [theme]
49. James M. Cain's "__ Pierce": MILDRED. The film version of his novel won Joan Crawford the Best Actress Oscar for the title role in 1945.
51. Spanish gold: ORO. Lots of ORO at the bottom of the ocean from sunken Spanish galleons off the Gold Coast of Florida.
52. Contact site: EYE. As in contact lens.
53. Singer Yoko: ONO. The first time Paul McCartney met Yoko, he said, "Oh, no!"
 |
| Here she is making EYE contact. |
54. Wasabi __: PEAS.
56. [theme]
61. Coffee shop emanations: AROMAS.
65. Artful dodger?: EVADER.
66. [theme]
68. Spot: NOTICE.
69. Apple core, for short: CPU. Central Processing Unit, a computer's "brain" (no relation).
70. Store that sells Frakta shopping bags: IKEA. It's Kits in Every Aisle.
71. Sounds like a bird: TWEETS. Seems like only yesterday when TWEETS only applied to birds.
72. Slump: SAG.
73. Like a lawn at dawn: DEWY. This is when it dawned on him that he lost.
 |
| Truman celebrating his upset victory in 1948. |
Down:
1. Led Zeppelin's final studio album: CODA. Like the output from many groups, I like the early albums better.
2. Famous __ cookies: AMOS. Much more famous than these cookies, which are for the Byrd's.
3. "About me" summaries: BIOS.
4. Move with a swagger: STRUT.
5. Used sprinklers on: WATERED. Unless your lawn is already DEWY.
6. United: ONE.
7. "Blue Bloods" org.: NYPD. Blue Bloods was a TV series about the New York Police Department starring Tom Selleck.
8. Annabella of "The Sopranos": SCIORRA. She played Gloria Trillo, Tony Soprano's mistress in Season 3.
9. __ Ferry, West Virginia: HARPERS. HARPERS Ferry is famous as the site of abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid, which helped spark the Civil War. Because of its strategic location between North and South, the town changed hands eight times during the conflict.
10. Wildly out of control: AMOK. I wanted to spell it AMUK, which was IRONIC because it didn't fit.
11. Start of Caesar's boast: VENI. "VENI, vidi, vici" translates to "I came, I saw, I conquered." It was spoken by Julius Caesar in a report to the Roman Senate over a quick and decisive victory. That's as succinct as it gets.
12. Actor Bana: ERIC. ERIC Banadinovich is an actor from Down Under who came out on top!
13. Burlap bag: SACK.
18. Suffix that means "maker": SMITH. I grew up in Williamsburg, VA where there are many craft shops plying colonial trades, such as: blackSMITH, tinSMITH and gunSMITH. A friend mine from high school apprenticed as a silverSMITH.
 |
| Amazing quality from only simple tools. |
22. Mens __: criminal intent: REA. Oddly, I learned this phrase from watching Legally Blonde.
24. Wednesday's roommate at Nevermore: ENID. From the Addam's Family spinoff, Wednesday. Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday, and Emma Myers plays
 |
| Wednesday and Enid |
26. Many a charity tourney: PRO-AM.
27. Deer friend of Flower and Thumper: BAMBI.
28. Warning from a doghouse: SNARL.
31. "Rhyme Pays" rapper: ICE-T. The Grammy-winning rapper also carved out a successful acting career and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
i
32. Locale: VENUE.
33. Log passage: ENTRY.
34. Granite or marble: STONE.
36. Yucky stuff: CRUD.
37. Comfy loungewear: PJS. Short for Pajamas.
 |
| Pajama shorts |
41. "Enough!": STOP.
44. Assignment: PROJECT.
45. Terms of service: TENURES.
47. Accent piece: AREA RUG.
48. "The Fountainhead" protagonist: ROARK. The Fountainhead is a 1943 philosophical novel by Ayn Rand that champions individualism, egoism, and artistic integrity.
50. __ Pérignon: DOM. I can think of better ways to spend $250+ than a bottle of champagne.
55. Utterly reliable: SOLID.
56. Not erect: BENT.
57. Solemnly swear: AVOW.
58. Fully appease: SATE.
59. Falco of "The Sopranos": EDIE. EDIE played Carmela Soprano, Tony's wife.
 |
| You better not mention Gloria. |
60. Some USO patrons: PFCS. Private First Class soldiers may attend shows put on by United Service Organizations, an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment and other programs to members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.
 |
| Bob Hope spent 50 Christmases overseas! |
62. Podcaster's purchase: MIKE. Bzzzt! No one spells it this way. It's MIC, short for microphone.
63. Several: A FEW.
64. Remain: STAY.
67. Happy Greek cry: OPA. Oh, Pa! I'm so happy!!
Be good. RB
Notes from C.C.:
Happy 56th birthday to our sweet Tony (Anon-T)! Every time I need someone to cover the blog, Tony is there without hesitation. Thank you for always being so generous with your time and willing to help. Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Tony!
Tony At Wit's End near Carmel on Father's Day 2017
“Sciorra” really? But
ReplyDeletethe perps were kind there, and elsewhere.
And no reveal, but the gimmick was clear enough.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteCaught the theme early, and danced my way across the finish line. Other than a few unknown names, this was a speedy solve, no Wite-Out required. Thanx, Robin and Rusty. (I was the DJ at school sockhops. I haven't been out on a dancefloor in years, decades actually.)
FIR without erasure, getting my SWAG @ STAR TURN x ROARK. Also DNK (at least as clued) MILDRED, wasabi PEAS, CODA, SCIORRA, REA, and ENID.
ReplyDeleteI loved Atlas Shrugged, but didn't think Fountainhead was all that and a bag of chips.
Jimmy Biffett explained that Life Is Just A TIRE SWING in this autobiographical song from his album A1A.
My right EYE requires a scleral contact lens, which is larger than my cornea and about 3 times as expensive as its RGP predecessor. But it gives me great vision, and is extremely comfortable.
Thanks to Robin for the fun Thursday challenge, and to Rusty Brain for another good tour.
FIR. Too many proper names for my liking. But fortunately the perps were there to help.
ReplyDeleteI got the gist of the theme after a couple of dance moves and that helped a lot.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Let's dance! I agree that this puzzle had a lot of proper names, but I thought they were a fair trade-off for six theme entries in a 15x15 grid. Because all the theme entries were 8-letter words/phrases, I'd have had to delete two of them or change one of them. Luckily for me, editor Patti Varol figured out a way to make it all work. If anyone's interested, the seed entry was RANCH DIP. I saw it at the grocery store and thought, "That sounds like a dance move they'd do on the Ponderosa!" Of course, I had to update it to "Yellowstone" because nobody remembers "Bonanza" anymore.
ReplyDeleteRobin, thank you for your comments. It’s always nice to find out the whys and therefores of puzzle construction.
DeleteHey Robin! Great job with today's puzzle. Both myself and my alter ego enjoyed it ;^)
DeleteYeah, thanks for a fun cruise around the grid, Robin 🤙🏽😎
Delete====> Darren / L.A.
Thanks for the clever puzzle, Robin! And I remember Bonanza!
DeleteThanks for the clever puzzle, Robin. And I remember Bonanza!
DeleteSurprisingly for me I finished it right, but with a lot of white out in the SW bottom corner. Too many names though, but luckily one of the few rappers I know of, IceT was in the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute and clever theme Robin created for us today! The trade-off of proper names vs six themers is to our benefit, IMO, resulting in a well-executed and impressive solve. The Sopranos references were timely as I just watched the six seasons of the original presentation. Also, Mens Rea immediately conjured up scenes from Legally Blond and Bruiser, Elle’s “fierce” Chihuahua. The recent prequel, Elle, falls short, IMO, in its portrayal of Elle as a 16 year old. Anyway, enjoyed the solve and the theme.
Thanks, Robin, visit us more often, please and thanks, RB, for the chuckles and commentary. Enjoyed all the photos, especially Omar Sharif’s. Lucina will be happy about that one, also.
Happy Birthday, dear Tony, and may you celebrate in style! 🎂🎊🎉🎈💕
Happy Birthday, Dash-T. Missed it. C.C. must've posted the notice after I'd already read today's blog.
DeleteSuch a pleasant puzzle and theme. Yep, a few UKN names such as ENID and ERIC, but perps were kind, the other names were more part of my age level 😜 like ROARK and OMAR.
ReplyDeleteNot only did we have a dance theme, a mini TV theme JUMPed in. We had PBS, The Sopranos, twice, Yellowstone, and a CAMERA to film it all.
And today’s EDIE didn’t require the letter Y like the one yesterday.
Thank you RB for a fine review. And a very Happy Birthday to Tony 🎊🎉🎂
Took 5:38 today for the jig to be up.
ReplyDeleteI knew one of the Actresses of the Day (Edie, not Sciorra). I didn't know "Roark" either.
Cute theme.
Easy Thursday (so a difficult Friday?) Robin Stears us in the right direction cutting the AREARUG with a Str8forward theme … but BASE JUMP?, STARTURN?
ReplyDeleteInkover: NPR/PBD
Almost filled DOORdash and
at firstI thought it said “Cancun” move 🙄🇲🇽
SMITH: Isn’t it “one who works with” not makes” like goldSMITH, silverSMITH, lockSMITH.
BAMBI: how many males, stags 🦌 or otherwise, would be comfortable with that name. 😉🤭 … Watched just one episode of “Yellowstone” once again Kevin Costner playing “Kevin Costner”
Robin, Liked “terms of service”
“You alright”? “Yep ___ “… AMOK
Coffee shop emanation … ASCENT
Fear of factories … MILDRED
Buon Compleanno Tony! 🎂
PBS
DeleteAnd don’t forget wordSMITH Ray-O-Sunshine.
DeleteI believe the meanings of -SMITH are interchangeable and not literal. An arrowsmith makes arrows and a gunsmith makes guns, but a blacksmith doesn't make or work with "black."
DeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Robin provides a very nice Thursday puzzle that gives BAMBI’s friend Thumper the day off as the names worked themselves out.
-What candidates OMIT in their BIOS can come back to bite them. “Oh, I forgot to tell you…”
-Ten women who had to ASSUME male identities to succeed
-A SHERPA is also a big part of an Everest ASCENT but not the right fill here
-Mildred Pierce may have had the saddest ending to a movie I have ever seen.
-ORO in famous movie title
-¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Wasabi PEAS are made from roasted green peas and coated in a wasabi seasoning mixture. They have a crispy texture and spicy taste that isn't for the weak. You're welcome.
-The Apple core was not IOS or OSX.
-HBD, Tony!
-Thanks so much for the visit and insight, Robin!
I found this CW more difficult than WMOS. 15 names, DNK 6. Also DNK REA. I have never heard that word. Rhea? Yes. REA? No. Last cell to fill was the R where STARTURN crosses ROARK, one of the 6 DNK names. And also didn't know STARTURN. After some time looking at that cell, my WAG was correct. 18 minutes to finally FIR.
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ RB: it's MIC, not MIKE. I was surprised I could not remember CODA, another DNK name. Also, wanted ENDO, not ENTO, but ENTRY settled that.
Speaking of ENTRY reminds me of why it's called a THRESHOLD: people used to have dirt floors in their house. To suppress the dust they covered the floor in thresh, which as far as I know is the same as straw. Thus the board at the entry, under the door, was there to hold the thresh.
Thanx RS for the fun CW with so many theme entries, good job. Too many names, but you admitted as much in your comment. BTW, thanx also for stopping by and posting a comment.
Thanx too to RB for the terrific write-up. You mention ascent is easier than descent. Another reason why is because it's just physiologically easier for a number of reasons. For one, our eyes are in our heads, not our feet. So you can see what's in front of you, and also up. More difficult to look down, and more difficult to GET down. Climbing a tree is easier than coming down from a tree. Ever climb a tall tree, get to the top, feel a moment of accomplishment, then look down and think, "Oh, CRAP!! How am I gonna get down?" As a child, my grandpa had to rescue me with a ladder once.
What's the difference between an "area rug" and a "throw rug"? I suspect an area rug is larger??
unclefred at 11:40 AM, you just blew my mind with the derivation of threshold! Thank you!
DeleteDang! HBD -T!!
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteRobin Stears assisted me with puzzle construction a few times back when I first started making puzzles. She is a true pro
RustyBrain also knocked it out-of-the-park today with his recap
Dash T: if you happen to stop by and see today's blog, I will add my birthday greetings. Hope you're doing well
Hola! First, happy birthday, Tony! I hope you have a wonderful celebration.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Robin Stears, for today's JUMP start. I finished in good time but had to think waaay back for "The Fountainhead" which I read many, many years ago. Finally, I had to ask ALEXA as ROARK would not come to me.
Oh, yes, OMAR Sharif makes me tremble! Was there ever a more handsome man? Not many although I count my late DH as one of them.
I know several men named Michael who go by MIKE, including two nephews and the husband of one friend.
Have a happy day, everyone! Every day is a gift.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun Robin (thanks for dropping by) and RB.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time and saw the Dance moves.
Several inkblots in the south. I was so proud of getting the misdirection and entering IOS for “apple core”. I held on to it for a long time, because I am not very familiar with your USO and PFCS. Finally OPA, RUG and SAG forced the change to CSU.
An initial misspelling as ASsENT before ASCENT held up ICE T.
ENdO- is the more familiar prefix for “inner” in medical terms. Finally ENTRY forced ENTO.
I relearned MIKE years ago as being Mic. Today I reverted to the old abbreviation.
I thought of Chirps, but the bird sounds were TWEETS.
It took a moment for the misdirection in those waiting CABS to register.
HAPPY Birthday AnonT.
Wishing you all a great day.
About the MIC and MIKE controversy. I don’t see why MIC has now overtaken MIKE, which to me is the logical pronunciation of the abbreviation for microphone, whereas MIC, is pronounced MICK.
ReplyDeleteYes, mickrophone
DeleteFor that matter, what do snoops call those tiny spy devices? Micromicrophones? (Electronics hobbyists will remember Micromicrofarads.)
DeleteTony, congrats on completing another lap around the sun! Wishing you all the best.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, Dancing is not really what I do....
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Anon-T!
Like I mentioned above in my greeting to Ms. Stears, what a fun romp today! I like these type of double-entendre themes (the best one imo was FORKLIFT!); the perps were kind to help with the head-scratchers, so I cruised through to a FIR. And thank you, Robin, for not clueing TWEETS as “X posts” 🤣.
ReplyDeleteYep, having worked in the music biz for years, despite the pronunciation voiced MIKE, it’s “mic”, shortened from “microphone”. Hand up, though, for ENdO > ENTO; I’ve never run across the latter.
I seem to remember another crossword entry related to “MILDRED Pierce” last week — and it’s the only reason I could remember this fill! Thank you, previous puzzle.
Thanks for another engrossing review, Rusty! Gotta say that I agree with you about “Coda”; but historically I imagine it’s not uncommon for a super-group’s last hurrah to be sub-par; I’m sure pressure from the record label to generate one last windfall-profit album (also maybe contractual obligation) leads to strained creativity— never a winning proposition for a musician.
====> Darren / L.A.
I’m curious. When you say MIC, how do you pronounce it?
DeleteThank you, Robin and Rusty! You both provided great fun along with explanations today.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Tony!
My experience was like CanadianEh's: "An initial misspelling as ASsENT before ASCENT held up ICE T." And I was patting myself on the back immediately because Dear Daughter made a one-day ASCENT of Mt. Whitney this week -- the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. If I'm going to brag about her accomplishment, I'd better remember how to spell it.
Wow! Congratulations to your intrepid daughter.
DeleteYour daughter should write about her experience “AScent of a Woman”
DeleteThank you, Robin, and thank you, Rusty Brain.
ReplyDeleteMildred Pierce, the story of Mildred and Bert, daughter Veda...
I had an aunt and uncle that were Mildred (Mid) and Bert. Different last name, but still... They were both born and named well before the movie was made. Their story was quite different than the movie.
Happy Birthday, Dash T!
Enjoyed this puzzle. Very clever. I also had endo before ento. I liked “IKEA…it’s kits in every aisle”. Thanks RB and Robin
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss Bayou Tony's big day? Happy birthday to our supersub!
ReplyDelete