Sounds Like ... Today we will study Homophones. Homophones are words that sound exactly the same when pronounced but have different meanings and spellings. The word comes from the Greek homos (meaning same) and phone (meaning sound).
17-Across. Shampoo for horses as well as humans: MANE N TAIL. This horse shampoo was originally developed in the 1970s for show horses. It became a cross-over product for humans and is purported to promote stronger, fuller, and longer-looking hair without stripping natural oils.
24-Across. Meatless Chinese noodle dish: VEGETABLE LO MEIN. Yummers!
36-Across. "The Theory of Everything" Best Actor Oscar winner: EDDIE REDMAYNE. Eddie Redmayne (né Edward John David Redmayne; b. Jan. 6, 1982) went to Eton and was a classmate of Prince William (b. June 21, 1982). The Theory of Everything was a bio-pic about Stephen Hawking (Jan. 8, 1942 ~ Mar. 14, 2018).
52-Across. Tender salad greens: HEARTS OF ROMAINE.
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| Too soon? |
61-Across. Principal draw on fight night, or an apt title for this puzzle: MAIN EVENT. Also the title of a terrible1979 Barbra Streisand movie.
Here's the Grid:
And now for the true Main Event ~ the rest of the puzzle ...
Across:
1. Prattles on: YAPS.
5. Bay Area sch.: UCSF. As in the University of California, San Francisco.
9. Uninspiring: VAPID.
14. Mapa of "Ugly Betty": ALEC. I never watched Ugly Betty, so was unfamiliar with Alec (né Alejandro Mapa; b. July 10, 1965).
15. "New Rules" and "New Love" singer Dua: LIPA. Dua Lipa (b. Aug. 22, 1995) is a British-Albanian singer and songwriter. She makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.
16. Twisted humor: IRONY.
19. Honeycomb units: CELLS.
20. Neither partner: NOR. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night ...
21. Future atty.'s exam: LSAT. As in the Law School Admission Test.
23. Southeast Asian language: LAO. Lao is the official language of Laos, however, it is also spoken in some parts of northeastern Thailand.
29. Hullabaloo: ADO.
30. Light __ feather: AS A.
31. Product labels: BRANDS.
32. Private aid gp.: NGO. As in a Non-Governmental Organization.
33. Sure winner: SHOO IN.
42. Not asea: ON LAND.
43. Poem of praise: ODE. A crossword staple.
45. Former House Speaker Nancy: PELOSI. Nancy Pelosi (née Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro; b. Mar. 26, 1940) served as the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
48. Due-in hr.: ETA. As in Estimated Time of Arrival.
51. Crank (up): REV.
56. "The Lord of the Rings" beast: ORC.
57. Move for one's co., say: RE-LO. As in Relocate.
58. Olive extract: OIL. Everything you ever wanted to know about Olive Oil, but didn't know to ask.
59. Capone cohort Frank: NITTI. I learned about Frank Nitti (né Francesco Raffaele Nitto; Jan. 27, 1886 ~ Mar. 19, 1943) from doing the crossword puzzles. He makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.
66. "OK, that was dishonest": I LIED.
67. Ritz-Carlton competitor: OMNI. I am not sure I could consider these hotel chains to be competitors. I view the Ritz-Carlton as a very high-end luxury hotel, whereas Omni is more family-oriented.
68. Tops with frosting: ICES.
69. Ride a bike: CYCLE.
70. "Auld Lang __": SYNE.
71. Every __ and cranny: NOOK.
Down:
1. Thanksgiving tuber: YAM.
2. __ carte menu: À LA. Today's French lesson.
3. Writing tool: PEN.
4. All-too-public argument: SCENE.
5. Marathons longer than 26.2 miles, familiarly: ULTRAS. An ultra marathon is a footrace that exceeds the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Ultra marathon distances vary greatly but typically range from 31 miles (50 km) to 100 miles (160 km).
6. U.S. intel org.: CIA.
7. Tell all, as gossip: SPILL.
8. Untrue: FALSE.
9. Beckham also known as Posh Spice: VICTORIA. Victoria, Lady Beckham (née Victoria Caroline Adams; b. Apr. 17, 1974) is probably the best known Spice Girl. The band was big in the 1990s.
10. "__ we there yet?": ARE.
11. Wind-borne allergen: POLLEN.
12. Embedded, as tiles: INLAID.
13. High-end vacuum cleaners: DYSONS. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Dyson Vacuum Cleaner.
18. The "N" of N.B.: NOTA. Today's Latin Lesson. N.B. is the abbreviation for the Latin phrase nota bene, which which means "note well" or "pay attention."
22. "Tuesdays With Morrie" writer Mitch: ALBOM. Mitch Albom (né Mitchell David Albom; b. May 23, 1958) has written many books, but is probably best known for Tuesdays With Morrie. That book is memoir about a series of interviews and visits Albom made with his former Brandeis University sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I have never read this book.
24. Vehicle for movers: VAN.
25. Microsoft web browser: EDGE.
26. Yummy: GOOD.
27. Iraq port city: BASRA.
28. Plenty of: MANY.
34. __ of the woods mushrooms: HEN. Hen of the woods is a mushroom that grows at the base of trees, particularly old growth oaks or maples. It is native to China, Europe, and North America.
35. More quirky: ODDER.
37. Entryway: DOOR.
38. Without losing one's cool: IN STRIDE.
39. Renée __ Goldsberry of "Girls5eva": ELISE. Renée Elise Goldsberry (b. Jan. 2, 1971) is probably best known for her portrayal of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway musical Hamilton. She has also starred in a number of Broadway plays.
40. Sushi seaweed: NORI.
41. Biblical garden: EDEN. // And 44-Down: 41-Down woman: EVE.
45. Relating to sound: PHONIC.
46. In a creepy way: EERILY.
47. Acid type built up during high-intensity exercise: LACTIC.
49. Nickname for Canada's $2 coin: TOONIE. The Canadian $1 coin is called a Loonie.
50. French friend: AMIE. More of today's French lesson. This is the female friend.
53. "Battlestar Galactica" actor Edward James __: OLMOS. Edward James Olmos (b. Feb. 24, 1947) is an American actor who has starred in dozens of films and television shows.
54. Like hand soap: FOAMY.
55. Singing brother of Simon and Theodore: ALVIN. A reference to The Chipmunks.
60. No. on a resume: TEL. As in Telephone Number.
62. Airbnb alternative: INN.
63. __-friendly: ECO.
64. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.
65. Sound of disapproval: TSK.
Many thanks to Tony who filled in for me for the past three months.
חתולה
It wasn’t TOO hard,
ReplyDeletealthough there were a few obscurities.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Hahtoolah! Your signature style was on full display this morning. Frank NITTI always evokes Kevin Costner throwing Frank off the roof of a multi-story building, crashing through the roof of an automobile. When asked, "Where's Nitti?" Costner replies, "He's in the car." We march through the 'hood daily, but on weekends we try to CYCLE. My only mistake today was W instead of that first O in TOONIE. I would've sworn it was a TWO-NIE. Nice diversion this morning. Thanx, Kinan and Hahtoolah.
I'm off this morning for my quarterly dental poking and prodding. Fun day. Once again, they'll try to sell me a $100 panoramic xray. Once again, I'll pass. Can anybody here tell me why I should need a panoramic?
I figure that if the cheap bastards at my Medicare Advantage insurance pay for it, they must have figures that indicate that the cost of providing the panoramic is exceeded by the cost savings of future dental work. IIRC, I get one every other year.
DeleteI have regular Medicare plus a supplemental. Routine dental isn't covered. That $100 would be out of my pocket.
DeleteThen it's just a decision of risk tolerance. Are you willing to shell out $100 every year or two to catch dental problems before they become more costly and potentially invasive? Or as I look at it, a round of golf and a hamburger afterwards. Or 1/5 of a tank of diesel for the RV.
DeleteJinx, my dental problems are already severe and costly. I view my teeth like spies trapped behind enemy lines. They're just waiting for extraction.
DeleteFIR, getting both SWAGS @ EDDIE REDMAYNE x HEN and ELISE.
ReplyDeleteFour-letter fill for "blah, blah, blah Dua" is gonna be LIPA.
I knew MANE N TAIL from buying it for my DW.
Everyone probably knows this already, but the reason CELL phones got that name is that the architecture of the network was patterned after honeycomb CELLS. That concept enhances scalability - as an area grows, a single high-power cell can be replaced with several lower-power cells, increasing the capacity of that part of the network with minimum expense.
I wish PELOSI would take the keys away from Paul. They can certainly afford a chauffeur for him. And if he manages to kill someone on the road, even his riches and his wife's power won't keep him out of jail.
I'm familiar with Michelob ULTRAS, but not a footrace by that name.
I wanted "Kirby" to be the high-end vacuum.
The only reason I know TOONIE is from C-Eh! 'splainin' it. Thanks, and CSO!
Okay, I had never seen ALVIN and the Chipmunks in a crossword until this week, and now here it is again. Is he the new Oreo?
One of the funniest episodes of the sitcom Mom is when the women decide to go to a predominantly gay AA meeting. ALEC Mapa was great in that one, as was Rosie O'Donnell. I didn't know ALEC's name, but recognized him from Ha2La's review.
Thanks to Kinan for the puzzle, even though it had way more A&E chaff than I like. And thanks and welcome back to Ha2la.
You are welcome. Always happy to increase America’s’ knowledge of Canada.
DeleteFIR. This was quite difficult for a Tuesday. And the number of proper names was insane. I've never heard of either Albom or Redmayne, and have a problem with "shoo in", which I always thought was "shoe in". I still do!
ReplyDeleteThe theme needed the reveal for me and that helped me suss out Redmayne.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR - but 9 (count ‘em- NINE) proper names and that doesn’t include Basra and Mane N Tail - which I’ve never heard of - nor hen of the woods. Obviously doable, but what the heck are constructors thinking? Words, not names, are the backbone of crosswords, hence the name! Otherwise they would call it crossnames!
ReplyDeleteWell darn it! I DNF this easy puzzle. The center theme answer got me. DNK REDMAYNE, I had SHOe IN and had ALBE__.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise with the help of perps I got the other unknowns like ALEC, NITTI, ELISE, and ULTRAS was an easy WAG.
When I used to have long hair, I sometimes used MANE’NTAIL shampoo.
I knew Hahtoolah was back when I saw yummers. Welcome back and thanks for all the funny illustrations.
Not a good Tuesday for me. Started with YAKS before PEN made it YAPS. Then it came down to three crossing unknowns- ALBOM, HEN, & REDMAYNE. I got the MAYNE from the MAIN EVENT, but left the vowel vacant for the mushroom. HEN or HONey, RED or ROD- no idea. A DNF result today. ELISE, ALEC, and OLSMOS were other unknowns filled by perps.
ReplyDeleteI had to change PEDAL to CYCLE for riding a bike. With so many E-bikes running around it's amazing that there's only been one local traffic fatality. And he wasn't hit by a car. He hit a curb and ran into something. They go too fast. They are intended to be 'battery assist' but I only see people riding them like motorcycles.
Took 4:25 to visit the state of Maine.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Actress of the Day (Elise), the Latin abbreviation (nota) despite being spotted the first letter, nor did I know the spelling of the French friend (amie) or this "Alec."
I don't think I've ever seen "hen of the woods" before, unlike "Nitti", which I also learned exclusively from crosswords. Fortunately, I knew the writer of the day (Albom) and "Redmayne", otherwise that intersection could be a killer.
Testing Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Kinan and Hahtoolah (welcome back).
ReplyDeleteI thought I FIRed but arrived here to see that my hand is up for SHOe not SHOO. Thus my ALBeM should have been ALBOM. And I was so proud of myself and seeing the MAIN theme, which gave me REDMAYNE.
I think we are justified in claiming a Natick cross there. Plus I had to take a trip to Google Maps for the R in BASRA.
But the rest of the CW was easy enough.
I moved from being ASEA to ashore before ON LAND perped.
Unknown-to-me names (ALEC, NITTI, ELISE, OLMOS) perped.
UCla changed to UCSF.
But this Canadian got TOONIE. And I trust that the rest of you (like Jinx) got it too.
AMIE reminded me of the book, Entre Amis, (Between Friends) published in 1976 as Canada's official gift to the United States for the U.S. Bicentennial. This large, hardcover coffee-table book celebrates the peaceful border shared by the two countries, featuring beautiful photos and quotes from people living along the world’s longest undefended border.
Sadly, we are seeing a huge rift in that friendship. But I do appreciate my American friends here on the Corner.
Wishing you all a great day.
Thanks CanadianEh! for that nice historical reminder. When I taught French at the university, we used a text book titled Entre Amis, a phrase that can, not only be translated as between friends, but also as among friends.
DeleteThis is Monkey. For some reason I can’t sign in.