Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Wednesday puzzle constructed by Zachary Gallardo. Zachary recently had another LAT puzzle recapped here (on 24 May 20226).
In today's puzzle, Zachary stacks the names of bands on top of types of seagoing ships. In each case, the name of the band stands alone while the letters forming the type of vessel are consecutive parts of longer answers. The reveal is both clever and playful:
59 Across: "Everyone in the water!," or when parsed differently, what can be found in each set of circled words: ABANDON SHIP. Or, in this instance, A BAND ON SHIP. To help us recognize what the constructor and editor are up to, the grid contains those ever-polarizing circles.
It is also worth noting that the reveal does double duty as part of one of the four themed (pairs of) answers.
Here are the four places where the gimmick is employed:
15 Across: Camel's watering hole: OASIS (a British rock band) and 17 Across: Programming problem: ENDLESS LOOP. SLOOP (A sloop is a single-masted sailing vessel typically rigged with a fore-and-aft configuration)
25 Across: Enclosed rhyme scheme in Petrarchan sonnets: ABBA (the Swedish pop quartet) and 30 Across: Clinton secretary of state: ALBRIGHT. BRIG (a ship with two square-rigged masts)
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| Madeline Albright |
41 Across: "Exactly right!": YES, (an English band perhaps best known for the song "Owner of A Lonely Heart) and 45 Across: Bible Belt state: ARKANSAS. ARK Ahoy, Noah!
54 Across: Yellow brick road terrier: TOTO (formed in Los Angeles in 1977) and 59 Across: "Everyone in the water!," or when parsed differently, what can be found in each set of circled words: ABANDON SHIP. SHIP (in this case, generic)
The completed grid looks like this:
Here are the other clues and answers:
22. Nove minus uno: OTTO. Lezione di italiano di oggi.
23. Suspicious: SHADY. Suspicious is used, here, as an adjective.
27. Turkish peak: ARARAT. Often visited in our puzzles . . . and where the ARK came to rest.
34. Olympic gymnast with five moves named for her: BILES.
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| Simone Biles |
36. Letters of liability?: IOU. Liability as in a debt to repay.
51. Prometheus's gift: FIRE.
53. "See ... ": WELL. Something someone might say . . . and mean.
58. Aussie hopper: ROO.
62. Nocturnal bird of prey: OWL.
63. __ Gras: MARDI.
64. Unlike the rest: OTHER. With your kind indulgence, I will pass on a Kendrick Lamar video at this point.
65. Young lady: GAL.
66. Clique: POSSE. POSSE has expanded from its context in old westerns to now indicate with whom one hangs out.
1. "Exactly right!": AMEN. Why do they say AMEN instead of awomen in church? Because they sing hymns instead of hers.
2. City north of Carson City: RENO.
3. Probabilities: ODDS.
4. Service promoter: SALES REP.
5. Cyclone center: EYE.
6. Swindled: HOSED. Either way we've been had.
7. __ bear: Southeast Asian forest dweller: MALAYAN.
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| Photo by MM |
9. Animated film about Spix's macaws: RIO.
10. Baker's shortening?: TSP. Shortened as in TSP for teaspoon.
11. Like laughter, sometimes: CONTAGIOUS.
12. 62-Across call: HOOT.
Grandkid: Who? WHO?
Me: gasp Oh no, it's worse than I thought!
13. Curly hairstyle: AFRO.
18. Bed frame board: SLAT.
22. Japanese sash: OBI. Frequently worn in our puzzles.
24. Picks up the pace: HASTENS.
25. Pokémon that ultimately evolves into Alakazam: ABRA.
27. Modest Muslim robe: ABAYA.
29. Sushi bite topped with salmon: ALASKA ROLL.
32. "Stormy Weather" singer Lena: HORNE.
33. Elephant pair: TUSKS.
35. Operatic solo: ARIA.
38. If-then-__ statement: ELSE.
53. Major conflicts: WARS.
55. "Didn't see you there!": OH HI.
56. Knots: TIES. Which country is known for manufacturing TIES? Tieland.
57. The Grand Ole __: OPRY.
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| MM Out |
Had a collision in the
ReplyDeletemiddle. Did not know “abra” “anora” or “ locs” so DNF.
How obscure can you get?
Same. Guessed Brandon; didn't know Elias or abaya and others. This was tough but fun even though I didn't get it till the review which was punny funny. Thx.
DeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteMost of this one was accessible, except for the perfect storm of things d-o didn't know at center right: L___ hairstyle, ___TORS singers, AN___ movie, BR__DON Jason's role, AB__ pokemon character, and ELIA_ bureau. Ufda! Never got the theme, so the circles were no help. Bzzzzzzt. Thanx for the abasement, Zachary, and for the punny amusement, Mal-Man.
Another of today's DNFs. I know little about Korean culture, nearly nothing about movies, and absolutely nothing about poke-your-man. I was surprised that I didn't know the sports stats source - I guess I've been away from Dodgers games too long (35 years.) Vinny always had interesting tidbits to offer, especially when a game got lopsided.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you see an attractive young lady in your local bar and offer her $50 to show you her chestcicles and you'll likely get slapped, yelled at, and possibly arrested. Run into her again at MARDI Gras and offer her a fifty-cent strand of plastic beads and you'll likely be rewarded with a pervy peek. Location, location, location. Timing is everything.
To be honest, I wouldn't have enjoyed this one even on a Friday, and definitely thought it was out of place today. But all the dad jokes offered by our MalMan made the overall experience worthwhile.
Wow I finished correctly but until I came here did not grasp the theme. SMH.
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteIt wasn't an easy-peasy Wed puzzle for me and I had to ABANDON SHIP in the center. And though I correctly filled the bands and ships (hard to call a SLOOP a ship), I never noticed the band names. Great construction that resulted in a DNF for me. I knew ALBRIGHT, but it was a guessfest for unknowns in the center. ANORA, ABBA (as clued), LOCS, didn't know if it were C or KANTOR, ELIAS, ABRA, and BRANDON were unknowns and I couldn't get them all. Boo.
ReplyDeleteH MART, ABAYA- unknown but perps took care of it.
NOISY-"Now you can only use a low hah." How about a high tee (hee)?
OPRY- We went there this past Friday for the first show, which was closed out by Carrie Underwood. And unlike most places, there was a great band playing outside the theater for the people waiting for the doors to open. We had stopped in Nashville on the way back from the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament.
FIW. Maybe I missed something but this isn't Saturday by any chance? What a very hard puzzle. Definitely not Wednesday fare. And on top of that circles and a theme that still doesn't add up for me. Why the upper set of stupid circles?
ReplyDeleteMy downfall was the middle. The crossing of Elias, locs, and Anora did me in.
Overall NOT an enjoyable puzzle.
Seemed more like a Friday puzzle, than a Wednesday puzzle. I did a lot of guessing, but somehow, and I don’t know how, I finished it right with minimal white out. I’ve eaten dim sum in Houston’s Chinatown for twenty plus years, and have only been offered hot tea, never heard cha before. I have heard of Chai Tea as it seems to be a crossword staple. Also, Hmart and Abra? Usually, I like circles and when I was done, I noticed bands and ships, but didn’t put it together with "band on ships". I really didn’t enjoy the puzzle because I didn’t know I had it right until I came to the blog to see the answers.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Will Shortz, who is 74 today.
My streak comes to an end. I couldn't even WAG may way out of this one.
ReplyDeleteRemember when Best Oscar winning movies were actually watched?
Wacky Wednesday. Thanks for the workout Zachary and MalMan (I LOLed at that FROG cartoon, Great catch on all those locations.)
ReplyDeleteI started out thinking this CW was easy, but ran adrift in the centre (I see I had company on that reef of unknowns). But I WAGged correctly and FIRed.
And I parsed the A BAND ON SHIP before I even went back to see the circled BANDS (even if I was not familiar with them all) ON the SHIPs.
One inkblot to change Oaf to APE.
I’m not sure if I like “Baker’s shortening?=TSP” and “Metal box=AMP” or if they are Meh!?
I have no HMart nearby, but apparently there are some in the Toronto area. I thought of Kim’s Convenience but that would be Korean-Canadian.
Thanks MalMan for posting our Maple LEAF flag. We appreciate the support as we navigate current “If-then-else” scenarios.
OPRY- RIP Dolly Parton.
Wishing you all a great day.
DNF. The UKNs in this puzzle almost outnumbered the knowns. It didn’t help that I read CaRmel instead of camel, and didn’t understand some of the clues.
ReplyDeleteMM you are always persona grata. Thanks for the much needed review.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I just ended my 100-day Wordle streak! :-(
-Puzzle was challenging and the gimmick was oh so clever
-My state fit but didn’t make the cut for the Bible Belt
-Was I the only one who saw O _ _ O and put OCHO?
-Since the geniuses at Apple decided to not include an HDMI port on this MacBook, I had to buy a dongle
-I have a small jar of change in my car and make exact change when I go through the drive-thru. I don’t really know why.
-I have a nice son-in-law named Brenden. I think that is how it is spelled because A’s, E’s and O’s could go about anywhere.
Quite a challenge for a Humpday . My excuse is brain fog. Was in a car crash on Sunday. Other vehicle going around 40mph t-boned the passenger side of my car. I spun around, air bags deployed (thankfully or I wouldn’t be typing this) and for a while was trapped inside the car. Damage: fractured sternum and large gash in my left leg . I was alone the other guy was not injured. A day in ICU to monitor for cardiac contusion from the fracture. Today first day I can sit up comfortably. My chest only hurts when I breathe, move and *laugh so no jokes! (See below)
ReplyDelete“Other then that Mrs Lincoln how was the puzzle”
I knew early on a DNF. Any consonant could fill the unknown square/Natick cross of “Muslim Robe” and Olympic gymnast. Forget the theme, too clever for me. Kudos to those who figured it out.
Never heard of HMART, LOCS, ELIAS, ABRA
“Nove meno uno”
*Alowha: Malman you’re making me laugh, OOF, ouch!! 😅
Oh! So sorry about your accident. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
DeleteThat was Monkey above.
DeleteSorry to hear about your accident, but glad it wasn’t a worse outcome. Wishing you a good recovery and lessened pain.
DeleteSorry to hear about your accident. Despite the pain, I recommend you keep on breathing.
DeleteGod Speed, Ray-O
DeleteI apologize for making you laugh. I will try to do better next time. I second D.O. - keep breathing.
DeleteNot a Wednesday-level puzzle at all. I’ve had an easier time with most Saturday puzzles. I didn’t like the gimmick at all, and there was an abundance of ridiculous obscurities.
ReplyDelete2/10 on the Enjoyment Meter.
Anon@10:32 says exactly what I was gonna say. Eventually, I filled all the cells by going online, turning on red-letter help, and doing a bunch of alpha runs. Even then it took 30 minutes, and I never got the theme. I'm glad to see most others struggled too, I'd have felt bad if everyone else breezed through it.
ReplyDeleteThe only good thing about today is MalMan's write-up. Thanx for that, Mal-Man.
FIR but no sense of satisfaction due to that cluster ! in the middle of ANORA, LOCS, ABRA, BRANDON, ELIAS. Even with a successful WAG it felt like a bunch of random nonsense. Same with HOSED/HMART.
ReplyDeleteToo bad. The theme was clever and well-constructed.
A tough Wednesday offering from Zachary today.
ReplyDeleteSome wrong clue which demonstrates cultural ignorance. Embarrassing 😳
Cha tea is Indian and would not be served at Dim Sum.
A loose leaf tea would be served such as oolong or Jasmine.
Might as well say they serve Cha at a Texas rib fest. Just wrong. Grrr editors.
I FIR but the theme sunk me. Needed my cornerite friends to suss it out for me.
Thanks Mal man for the recap.
C.C. would be our expert on this, but apparently CHA is Mandarin for tea. Yes, oolong would be the best choice with Dim Sum, but it is oolong tea or CHA.
DeleteChai is the Hindi for tea and this term would be used in India.
You are correct about the mandarin word for tea.
DeleteHindi’s say chai.
Punjabi’s say cha.
Hola! Tough solve today! I echo what you all have said though I somehow managed to finish. HMART was totally unknown and I had to resort to ALEXA for that. I also could not recall ALBRIGHT even though I admired her for all those years she was in office and even have her autobiography.
ReplyDeleteCSO to my late uncle ELIAS although it's in a different context.
We went to HILO on one of our trips to Hawaii and I found it dark and depressing.
I had no idea about BRANDON but it was a lucky guess.
R.I.P. Dolly Parton. It's still hard to believe she is gone.
Have a lovely day, everyone! Every day is a gift!
I commented earlier but lost the post to the Google Gremlins. Too exasperated to recreate it but the gist was: a clever and well executed theme diminished by obscure C/As that were definitely not Wednesday level. Kudos, though, for that great reveal, particularly the parsing of A Band On Ship phrase.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zachary, and thanks, MalMan, for the fun and facts and the distinct MalMan humor. I needed those chuckles today to counteract those pesky, questionable entries.
Ray O, so sorry to hear of your accident and injuries. I guess it could have been worse but it was bad enough. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Have a great day.
Thank you, Zachary and Malodorous Manatee
ReplyDeleteYes, that was a little bit tougher than the usual Wednesday fare around here. It took me 16:32 to work it out w/ no outside help. It felt like longer solve than it ended up being. It took a good minute or so to parse the reveal correctly even though I saw each of the ships. Well done, Zachary!
The ABRA, BRANDON, ANORA, LOCS and ABBA (as clued) area was the part of the solve that took the longest.
Thank you Malodorous Manatee for giving us a fun review.
Ray-O-Sunshine, sorry to hear of you accident but I am glad you are ok.
Took 7:14 today to beat the Bush.
ReplyDeleteI rather wish I had eaten a banana.
I didn't know: cha, locs, Abra, abaya, Hmart, or how to spell malayan.
Weird clue for "Brandon."
Definitely not my favorite crossword puzzle. Just wasn't enjoyable.
Hmm. I wonder why...
Oh joy, circles!
Got the solve…despite the horrible clueing. I’d ask about editing, but that’s a wall I refuse to pound my head against.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteDang, Zachary, I saw the byline and was ready to dig in and have some fun and then... Whoah! WEES about that WAG-fest in the middle. I did love the theme though.
Excellent punny expo, MalMan. Just chock full of chuckles. Thank you for the salve.
YES - what about Your Move / All Good People?
//The only rock song I know w/ allusions to Chess :-)
Story of the solve:
I ended up w/ a FIR 'cuz I knew ELIAS (I listen to sports on AM) and I've heard of K|Cantor (donno why). Given the clue and having the AB, I guessed RA for 25d. I was then faced with hair curls (normally locks) so took a stab at LOC|K. It was all a WAG as I've never heard of ANORA (Angora, yes :-))
WOs: tea -> CHA, OchO -> OTTO (? What langage is that math?)
ESPs: many
Fav: I'll go w/ OPRY as a nod to Dolly.
HG - I got Wordle in 4 but had to look up the word when I was done playing.
//I was ill (salts crashed) last week and blew my streak at 48.
I see Everything Zen there, @12:31. Day Oh!
Cheers, -T
Thank you, everyone, for your kind comments. As things are working out, I will be seeing you all again fairly soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is Jayce. (Some days I can sign in, some days I can't, such as yesterday and today. Some days I don't even need to sign in. Google is fickle.)
ReplyDeleteI liked the theme but crashed in the ANORA/LOCS area of the puzzle.
Sorry, Lemonade714, but I thought of you at HASTENS.
We had a programmer at a company I worked at who would deliberately write ENDLESS LOOPS. He thought that was the proper response to a situation in which something in the system failed to boot up or to work: "Let's just stop dead and wait forever for this unresponsive piece of hardware to somehow start working again."
Get well soon, Ray-O-Sunshine.
Relieved to see so many comments that echo my experience with this whackamole of a puzzle today. Def. not a weekday puzzle. Count me among the DNF club today.
ReplyDelete