While Alex Rohrer has published here before, I believe this is Rodrigo Kerlegand's LAT debut. Together, they're troublemakers, but I guess rules were meant to be broken!
38. Cheating, or what the black squares in rows 3, 5, 11, and 13 are doing: BREAKING THE RULES. This phrase clues us in that the theme words are BREAKING i.e. being divided by a black square. The end of the first word on the line plus the beginning of the second create synonyms for RULES: ORDER, BYLAW, EDICT and MANDATE.
When the revealer is in the middle, as a rule it spills the beans and the rest of the puzzle isn't as fun. But not in this case. I mean, what do HIT RECORD and LAWN MOWER have in common? The theme was so well hidden I had to discover it upon completion. I know some people don't like themes that are of no help in the solve, but I liked this one nonetheless. What does bother me a bit is when I have to spend half my review time looking up bios of various celebrities.
I'll now rule on the rest.
Across:
1. With deftness: ABLY.
5. Clogs (up): DAMS. Some damn big clogs!
9. Typical Stan Lee role: CAMEO. Stan Lee, creator of many comic book superheroes, made CAMEO appearances in dozens of films, TV shows, and video games, most famously appearing in 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
14. Manitoba people: CREE.
15. Vinaigrette ingredient, initially: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's the good stuff.
16. Throw shade at: HATE ON.
17. Start filming, say: HIT RECORD. And as a noun, a HIT RECORD is a chart-topping album.
19. Like a drive deep in the woods?: ERRANT. It's how many golfers spend their Saturdays.
20. Pioneers of old-school rap, for short: OGS. Original Gangsters. Initially, this was used in specific street and hip-hop contexts, but over time, it was shortened it to “OG” and the meaning broadened to “original” or “authentic,” often without any criminal connotation. As in: C.C. is the OG!
21. "__ Lisa": MONA. Da Vinci's painting has a nice frame per Mr. Bean, but it's also a classic song by one of the greatest singers of all time, Nat King Cole.
 |
| Talk about smooth vocals! |
22. React to meeting one's hero, perhaps: SWOON. It's an occupational hazard of being a crossword blogger, but I'm getting used to it.
23. "Wowza!": OH BABY. "Is it really you, RustyBrain?!"
25. One pushed to make cuts?: LAWN MOWER. Winner: Best Clue.
29. Mega- times mega-: TERA. Prefixes for a million x million = trillion.
30. Disaster response org.: FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
31. Actress Polo: TERI. I guess Polo is the new Garr, but she does look very familiar. I think I first saw TERI Polo in the Meet the Parents movies with Ben Stiller.
32. Bombeck who advised, "Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth": ERMA. Great quote from a funny woman.
34. Situated on: ATOP.
37. Sass: LIP. Don't gimme any of that!
38. [theme]
43. Abbr. in calculus class: LIM. A LIMIT in calc is the value that a function approaches as it's input gets closer and closer to some value.
44. "Ditto!": SAME. Ditto machines were early duplicators that used liquid alcohol to dissolve a bit of purple wax dye from a master copy and stamp it onto a page. Each time it was used, a little more wax was removed, so after a while the copy quality degraded.
 |
| I remember the smell from ditto sheets in school. |
45. Paradise: EDEN.
46. Celebrity pair: ITEM.
48. Son of Hera: ARES.
50. Padre's hermanos: TIOS. A Spanish father's brother is your uncle.
53. First responder: PARAMEDIC.
56. Game played in the trunk before a road trip?: TETRIS. I'm so good at this 3D TETRIS "game" that I'm in high demand. I've helped many friends load up a truck for a move and they're always amazed how much I can fit in.
58. Mark: GRADE. Back in the day, tests in school were often printed on Ditto machines.
59. Bait: LURE.
61. Medical pen prefix: EPI. An EPIpen is a disposable, pre-filled auto-injector device used to deliver a measured dose of epinephrine (adrenaline) in an emergency to treat severe, life-threatening allergic reactions.
62. Val Kilmer's "Top Gun" role: ICEMAN. Too bad Val died at 65 due to complications from throat cancer. I liked him as Jim Morrison in The Doors biopic.
64. Couple's outing: DATE NIGHT.
66. California wine valley: SONOMA. SONOMA County vineyards and the broader California wine industry are facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Driven by declining wine consumption, oversupply, and rising operational costs, many generational vineyards have closed, leaving their grapes to rot.
67. Spot for dirty dishes: SINK.
 |
| Reminds me of college, for some reason. |
68. Corner chess piece: ROOK. The ROOK is the second most valuable piece on the board (after the queen) because they can move rapidly and cover any row or column.
69. Actress who voices Bo Peep in the "Toy Story" franchise: POTTS. Annie POTTS, now 73, has performed on both TV and the big screen. I remember her from Ghostbusters.
70. "__ bien!": TRES.
71. Chlumsky of "Veep": ANNA. ANNA is an American actress who has appeared on Broadway and in movies, but she's mostly known for her TV roles.
Down:
1. Hay fever sound: ACHOO. Gesundheit! (Which means "health" in German.)
2. Quick-witted: BRIGHT. I'm so bright, my mom called me "son." I'll show myself out...
3. Doesn't bother: LETS BE.
4. "__ darn tootin'!": YER.
5. Distraction: DECOY.
6. Stratford-upon-__: AVON. The town of Stratford on the AVON river was The Bard's old stomping ground.
7. Team spirit: MORALE. Rah.
8. Turf: SOD.
9. Pool bounce: CAROM.
10. Fundamentally: AT ROOT. This phrasing may be used in formal writing, but is less common in everyday speech.
11. Have the best of intentions: MEAN WELL.
12. Extremely long time: EON.
13. Toronto's prov.: ONT. Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of ONTARIO.
16. Chopped down: HEWN. I wonder why after chopping down a tree, I have to chop it up.
18. Sets off: EMBARKS.
22. Wraps tightly: SWATHES.
24. Neighborhood: AREA.
26. Amo, amas, __: AMAT. Amo, amas, AMAT, amamus, amatis, amant is the present tense conjugation of the Latin verb amare. I love, you love, he (she, it) loves, we love, you (plural) love, they love. Three years of Latin in high school!
27. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE. ERIE averages 62 feet deep vs. Superior's 483.
28. Features of some jeans: RIPS. RIPS in a old pair of favorite jeans are well earned, but I can't see buying new ones that are pre-ripped.
30. Like some unauthorized editions: FANMADE.
33. "Mamma __!": MIA. Mamma MIA! is a jukebox musical featuring ABBA songs that has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut. A film adaptation was released in 2008.
35. Wordsmith's ref.: OED. Ye olde Oxford English Dictionary is a huge reference work. You'll need a library cart to check it out.
36. Many a Little Leaguer: PRETEEN.
38. Minor disruption: BLIP.
39. Pop star Ora: RITA. RITA Ora is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress.
40. Up-and-coming: EMERGENT.
41. Mel B and Mel C bandmate: GERI. Dang! I wanted Mel A. GERI Halliwell et al. were Spice Girls.
42. Second, for one: UNIT. I liked last week's clue better: "Second, but not first."
47. Squirrel kin: MARMOT. MARMOTs are known as "whistle pigs," because they use loud, high-pitched whistles to alert their colonies to danger.
 |
| This one just watched The Lion King. |
49. Pastry choice: ECLAIR.
51. The Beaver State: OREGON.
52. Suction tube: SIPHON.
54. Polite addresses: MA'AMS.
55. Crime novelist Buchanan: EDNA. EDNA Buchanan is an American journalist and writer.
56. Long journeys: TREKS. Like the one through the stars many moons ago...
57. First capital of Alaska: SITKA. I knew of this because SITKA spruce is the most common wood used for guitar tops because it offers an ideal balance of light weight and high stiffness.
 |
| My Martin D-42 |
60. Eclectic magazine: UTNE. The UTNE Reader is an American digital and print digest of alternative media, politics, and culture created in 1984 by Eric UTNE (pronounced UT-nee).
62. Web access co.: ISP. Internet Service Provider.
63. Murmur: COO.
64. Summer hrs.: DST. Daylight Saving Time.
65. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
Hopefully, I didn't break any rules along the way!
Be good. RB
I didn’t understand the
ReplyDeletereveal at all, until I came on this site.
Otherwise, the puzzle wasn’t too difficult.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteNever did get the theme. Surprised? Retired my EPI-pen in favor of a Neffy nasal spray. Haven't had to use it, but I'm glad I've got it. I've got about 8 pairs of jeans with rips in 'em -- always in the knees. I save them for projects which I never seem to start. My eyes saw "Toronto" and my brain went to "Calgary:" ALT instead of ONT. Oops. I also misremembered Val's role as Ironman...and ran out of space. Oops again. That SW corner was the last to fall. Thanx, Alex, Rodrigo, and Rusty.
Just like SubG, I didn't understand the reveal but for another reason. When the reveal is in the center of the grid I avoid looking at the clue to avoid making the puzzle easier. " it spills the beans" I'd filled so many perps that I only needed BLIP to complete BREAKING THE RULES. So looking for words interrupted by a black square wasn't needed. But the puzzle wasn't easy for me . HATE ON, TETRIS, TERI, ANNA, POTTS, and especially OGS were not known as clued.
ReplyDeleteRITA, AVON, AMAT, ERIE, UTNE. ERMA- Any other ORAs, Stratfords, shallow lakes, "4-letter eclectic magazines, or late Bombecks?
FIR, but emerging->EMERGENT, and syphon->SIPHON. Bad spelars of the world - UNTIE!
ReplyDeleteMary Macgregor had a hit with a beautiful song with awful context. She's telling her man that she has a side piece, and isn't going to give him up:
"There's been another man that I've needed and I've loved
But that doesn't mean I love you less
And he knows he can't possess me and he knows he never will
There's just this empty place inside of me that only he can fill
Torn between two lovers, feelin' like a fool
Lovin' both of you is BREAKING all THE RULES"
I've never played TETRIS, so that was a mystery to me. But the main reason you load a truck so tightly is to keep things from shifting. Keeping the load from shifting protects the cargo, avoids load shifting, and is required by law. Experienced movers can accomplish that with little or no fill material.
I knew POTTS mainly from Designing Women, starring Mrs. Mark Twain. It was a great show until they added a short political moral to the end of the episodes.
It grates on me when someone says "leaves be" instead of LETS BE. Ranks right up there with "irregardless."
Two days in a row for Old Spice GERI.
Thanks to Alex and Rodrigo for the fun, even though it would have been more fun with less A&E bull. And thanks to Rusty Brain for the chuckles.
Hello all, it's Alex (co-constructor) here! This is indeed Rodrigo's debut puzzle (in any outlet)! He's my brother-in-law, so it was a lot of fun working through revisions together and eventually getting our idea to publication. We conceived the theme idea with circled letters to better show how the "rules" were being broken, but it ended up running without them, which probably does make the theme a bit harder to pick up. We hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping in! Absence of circles made it appropriate for a Thursday. I liked how it kept me guessing until the end. With your guidance, Rodrigo is off to a great start!
DeleteFIR. There were way too many proper names for my liking. And I stared at ogs for quite a while having never heard of that term. Fortunately the perps were there to help.
ReplyDeleteThe minute I saw the reveal I got the theme recognizing order and bylaw immediately. This helped a lot with the bottom half of the grid.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Being DIRECT, I'VE finished in 5:32 today.
ReplyDeleteI knew 2/3 of the Actresses of the Day (Potts & Polo, not Anna).
"tres" crossing "utne" seemed like a rough intersection, but I survived.
Thank you for stopping by, Alex. I'm glad there were none of those pesky circles, although I didn't see the theme until I finished.
Testing Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Ales and Rodrigo (congrats on debut), and RB.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed finally, but with a plethora of inkblots.
Like KS @8:15, I saw the broken RULES with the reveal, which helped with the bottom two themers. No circles - yea! (Hi Anon@8:23) They would have made it too easy. Thanks Alex for dropping by to explain some background on the CW.
LEaves (no BE Jinx) changed to LETS go, changed to LETS BE.
Jams changed to DAMS.
Age changed to EON, malign to HATE ON, and moWN to HEWN (the grass was chopped with 25A’s MOWER.
MARtin changed to MARMOT which jogged my memory re SONOMA (Napa was too short) and ICEMAN. POTTS perped. Whew!
This Canadian had a wry smile to see Manitoba CREE, Lake ERIE, and Toronto, ONT. Patti kept herself out of trouble by clueing ERIE as the lake and ONT as the province.
SWAddles wouldn’t fit. SWATHES did.
We had GERI yesterday. TERI was added today.
I can never understand how jeans with RIPS became fashionable. They belong in the mending basket IMHO. But I’m showing my age LOL!
Wishing you all a great day.
Ack! I couldn't figure out the theme because I was looking at rows 3 down, 5 down, 11 and 13 down! (Never occurred to me to look across...) not an easy puzzle by any means, this is one of those days that make me think I am losing it...
ReplyDeletemaybe I am just averse to squares...
Never heard of a ditto machine? Mimeograph maybe. Either way they stink!
Tetris in the trunk? How innovative! (And tough clue/answer...) reminds me of trying to get from the hotel to the cruise ship in Barcelona. Our Ubers kept cancelling! We order oversized so the 4 of us could go together, but we discovered later that the docks were total chaos with traffic backed up for miles by multiple ships leaving at once. Smart Ubers just gave up!
This one teeny tiny mini taxi finally showed up because he didn't hear of the chaos. But he wouldn't give up! We tried 7 different ways to get to the ship including traveling on the docks!
(Thwarted by mobile gates erected last minute) and eventually just waited in line.
But I digress. This cabbie squeezed 4 people's oversized luggage into a postage stamp sized trunk on his 7th attempt! We were sure to give him a great tip!
honorable mention. Go break a rule today!
FIR, but OH BABY, I had to struggle with a few entries. DNK TERI and GERI, as clued, OGS, and at first I misread CHLUMSKY as CHOMSKY so entered NORM. I quickly corrected that.
ReplyDeleteNow, the theme totally escaped me. i got lost counting the rows. I see the RULES now. Cute. Sorry I missed them. I don’t know the expression throw shade at. I loved the LAWN MOWER clue.
Thank you RB. Great review and explanation of the theme. And thank you Alex for commenting on your CW.
ERIE, Toronto and ONTARIO all have indigenous roots to their names. The province is named after the lake, and means “great Lake, beautiful water, shining water”.
ReplyDeleteA fun puzzle - filled it all, no mistakes. But needed to come here to get the breaks in the rules. Guess my focus is a tad off today - made a mess of the sudoku cuz of inattention…. Hmm…. Thanks to all❣️
ReplyDeleteA fresh and lively offering from Alex and Rodrigo today. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Stan Lee make a cameo.
Also Iceman.
It took me a while to suss the theme because I first checked the vertical 3,5,11,13.
Could of been clued as horizontal rows IMHO
Thanks for the detailed recap RB
My late DW and her best friend once had an argument about "vertical rows." DW, a CS major, insisted that columns are vertical, and rows are horizontal. All in good fun, but semi-serious too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alex, for stopping by to say hi. We always enjoy hearing from constructors. You and Rodrigo came up with a most enjoyable Thursday-appropriate challenge. I can understand your decision-making regarding circles, because they are helpful, but for a Thursday, we should probably be on our own. Maybe circles on a Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, job well done, and I look forward to a return engagement from you and Rodrigo.
A clever CW, but with far too many names, 21, DNK 9. So this turned into a struggle to finally FIR in 20. 17A and 25A tied for best clues.
ReplyDelete"Mel B and Mel C bandmate" I had no clue at all. Wanted "Mel A" or "Mel D", put perps finally got GERI.
I agree with others comments about buying ripped or pre-holed jeans. Pretty stupid. Even looks stupid. About as stupid as wearing your jeans below your butt, showing off your undies, and having to hold them up constantly with one hand. Stupid.
Anyway, thanx AR&RK. Tough CW, more a Friday or Saturday, and far too many names, but still I managed to FIR. Never did see the theme until RB 'splained it. Very clever indeed.
Thanx, too, for stopping by the blog AR.
Great write-up, RB, thanx for all your efforts, and for cluing me in to the theme. I remember those old copy machines from ages ago when I taught HS. I don't remember calling them "Ditto machines", but there's a lot I don't remember anymore. I recall having them and mimeograph machines to choose from.
I watched stand-up comic Andy Huggins on YouTube recently. He's hilarious. He makes fun of being old. One gag: "I was thinking of getting a tattoo. Maybe a dragon, or a lizard. Or maybe my home address." He has a 10 minute routine that is worth your time.
Technically it's a "spirit duplicator," but Ditto was the name of the company making most of the machines. That's what my teachers called it anyway.
DeleteAh! Interesting!
DeleteIn NYC it was always that smelly mimeograph machine.
Always interesting to hear a different point of view...
Hola! Once she discovered it, my daughter loved to play TETRIS. SONOMA is very familiar to me from my many trips to that part of the country. It is sad to see the vineyards abandoned and drying up. My daughter and her husband plan a DATE NIGHT every week.
ReplyDeleteI have been to SITKA but not to OREGON. I had to give up my goal of visiting all the states.
EDNA makes many appearances in crosswords but it's the first time I've seen her as Buchanan.
TERI Polo is unfamiliar to me, but I've seen Annie POTTS many times.
I love watching "Chicago Fire" and the PARAMEDICS in action.
Have a wonderful, restful day, everyone!
Alex thank you for stopping by. Enjoyed the clever construction. For me the theme very much helped. MANDATE was essential for solving those crossed unknowns: POTTS, EDNA, MARMOT, ICEMAN, SONOMA.
ReplyDeleteWeird. I'm blue today. I didn't even have to do anything, it just happened out of the, um, blue.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle, but my nose wrinkled at MAAMS and AT ROOT. Hand up for liking the clue for LAWN MOWER. ERRANT is a cool word, as is EMERGENT. Good reading all your comments.
Jayce, if you want consistent results for being blue, you have to allow third party cookies. What browser are you using? I assume you are on a PC
DeleteLate to the dance due to doctor’s appointment, errands, and a late lunch. I got my flu shot, a referral to a surgeon for another skin cancer, and said goodbye to my primary doctor of 24 years. It wasn’t a pleasant visit.
ReplyDeleteMy brain function is still recuperating from yesterday’s Clothe clue, so that’s my excuse for missing the theme’s execution until RB’s explanation. I guess I just wasn’t curious enough to try to suss it out. Shame on me and apologies to the constructors.
Thanks, Alex and Rodrigo, and congrats to Rodrigo on the debut, and thanks, RB, for the informative and entertaining review and the distinct RB humor. Tummy rubs to Buster.
Have a great day.
I didn't like the clue for DAMS. Just doesn't square with my idea of clogging up.
ReplyDeleteLike some others I misspelled SIPHON with a Y as in splYnter.
I habitually use Edge as my browser, and that's what I start the blog with, but it won't let me “Go Blue” here. So if I want to comment I switch to Chrome. Trouble is, Chrome smothers the Corner with ads! Argh! Edge is ad-free. I haven't figured out how to block ads on Chrome, and why they are blocked on Edge. (I don't have an ad blocker installed on my iPad.)
Enough ranting from this lectern for today. Class dismissed.
You have to allow third party cookies
DeleteI enjoyed today's puzzle! Thanks to Alex for stopping by and congrats to Rodrigo on his debut!
ReplyDeleteAT ROOT, I'm with BE@7:27 about avoiding reading the reveal in the middle of a puzzle so add me to the list of those who solved without a reveal. I did make sure I found the RULES before coming to The Corner.
69A. Is "Bo Peep" a last name???
Thanks to Rusty Brain! Loved your MARMOT caption.
Like RB, I awarded the blue ribbon to the clue for LAWNMOWER.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the CSO to my penultimate state of residence, OREGON. I have resided or been domiciled in eight states over the years.
My blue ribbon goes to the clue for TETRIS — and I totally get it, having loaded a few grip trucks back in the day. I didn’t “get” the theme hook until reading it here in Rusty’s exposé. No liking or not liking it, because I got the fills and FIR anyway, so it wasn’t a factor.
ReplyDeleteAlternate clue for LAWNMOWER: “Used for cutting blades?”
Yeah, pretty sad about Sonoma’s vineyards; the problem seems to lie in current generations’ general disinterest in wine — they’d rather drink that seltzer swill (which tastes one step above battery acid, imo) so wine sales have nosedived in the last few years. It sure won’t help the price of wine either…
Thanks for dropping in, Alex; you guys put out a solid puzzle for us, even with the A&E stuff it had. Hope to see your next one soon!
Beautiful D-42, Rusty, I bet it sounds sweet! How old is it?
====> Darren / L.A.
It's a '96 so it just turned 30! It sounds deep and louder than my other acoustics. I always preferred the snowflake inlays to the hex blocks of other high-end Martins.
DeleteSweet! I love the Martin tone (I have a J-40-12) but I like the playability of my Taylor 12-string better. Conundrum time…
Delete====> Darren
I got the theme early and found the “broken rules” even before finishing the puzzle, which I FIW! Emerging to Emergent, which messed up Iceman and Potts. I learned Stan Lee from watching TBBT. Even tho I made mistakes, I thought it was a very clever puzzle. Thanks Alex, Rodrigo and RB!
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteAs a hacker, BREAKING THE RULES is a theme I can get behind ;-)
Thanks Alex & Rodrigo (congrats on the debut!) for the puzzle to kill time in the waiting room.
Another nifty witty expo, RB. Thanks for looking up all the celebs. Nice Martin!
//hehe - chop DOWN a tree to chop it UP
WOs: TIa -> TIO, MAdam -> MA'AMS, EMERGing
ESPs: TERI, POTTS, SITKA | ANNA
Fav: 19a was cute but 25a, "pushed to make cuts" was LOL #NotLayoffs
Sophomore year, I played TETRIS so much, I dreamt in those little shapes.
Gotta run.
Cheers, -T