Theme: Rude dismissal - or - this theme sucks!
17 A. Prohibition of some single-use products: PLASTIC STRAW BAN. A government or business rule that restricts or prohibits the distribution, sale, or use of single-use plastic drinking straws.
26 A. Spiral burners that deter biting pests: MOSQUITO COILS. They are only temporarily and marginally effective over a limited area. Better to wear light colored clothing and use a topical repellant. These nasty suckers are mostly active at dawn and dusk. You have been warned.
43 A. Liquid in a vampire slayer's vial: HOLY WATER. Water that a member of the clergy has blessed for a religious or spiritual purpose. It acts as a powerful repellent and weapon against vampires in pop culture and modern folklore. It burns them like acid on contact.
53 A. "Later, chumps!," or what can be said while putting 17-, 26-, and 43-Across to good use?: SO LONG, SUCKERS. Here is the rude dismissal. What the items described by the theme entries accomplish is repelling or avoiding things that suck. Mosquitos and vampires "vant to suck your blood." The plastic straw doesn't really fit, because is does not provide the sucking. It is an item through which one may suck something, such as a milk shake. That's my nit for the day.
Hi, Gang - JazzBumpa here. Let's put on our insect repellant and see what we can discover.
1. Image in a botanical print: LEAF. Took me a while to catch on to this clue. Here are some examples.
5. Feminist Frequency founder Sarkeesian: ANITA. Anita Sarkeesian [b. 1983] is a Canadian-American feminist media critic. She is the founder of Feminist Frequency, a website that hosts videos and commentary analyzing portrayals of women in popular culture.
10. Hardly hard: SOFT. Describes something that easily yields to pressure, feels smooth, or is gentle and soothing to the senses, Softly soft, maybe. Clever clue.
14. Jessica of "Sin City": ALBA. Jessica Marie Alba [b. April 28, 1981] is an American actress and businesswoman. She rose to prominence at age 19 for portraying Max Guevara, the lead character in the television series Dark Angel, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Her cinematic breakthrough came shortly after with the lead role in Honey. Images.
15. __ New Year: LUNAR. A major multi-day festival that marks the start of a new year based on the traditional lunisolar calendar, typically falling between late January and mid-February. The date changes every year depending on the new moon. In 2026, it began on February 17, and in 2027 it falls on Saturday, February 6.
16. Wagon rod: AXLE. A central rod, bar, or shaft that connects a pair of wheels to help them rotate and move a vehicle or machine.
20. __ Domingo: Caribbean capital: SANTO. Founded in 1496, Santo Domingo is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic, serving as the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas.
21. Permit: LET. Allow.
22. Grinds to a halt: STOPS. Gradually slows down and completely stops moving, working, or functioning
23. German article: DER. The, in masculine nominative singular case.
24. Earth-friendly prefix: ECO. Originating from ecology, the scientific study of how living organisms interact with each other and with their physical environment.
25. Female moose: COW. Does a moose cow moo?
30. Bottled, as emotions: PENT UP. Feelings, energy, or demand that are held inside and not expressed, vented, or released.
31. Add to an email: ATTACH. To include and send a separate document or photo with an electronic message.
33. Subject of a miner dispute, maybe: ORE. Note: miner, not minor -- deep joke. Can you dig it?
34. Shuns: ESCHEWS. Deliberately avoids, shuns, or abstains from something, usually for moral, practical, or personal reasons. Many years ago there was a popular bumper sticker in the Ann Arbor area that said " Eschew obfuscation."
38. Splash of color in an ornamental pond: KOI. Brightly colored, ornamental varieties of the common carp
39. Ties the knot: WEDS. Accepts the ball and chain.
41. Granola bar fleck: OAT. An annual cereal grass (Avena sativa) or its edible seed, which is commonly used for human food (like oatmeal or porridge) and animal feed
42. Groks: GETS. Understands. The word is a neologism (a newly coined word) invented by American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land. In the book's fictional Martian language, it literally translates to "to drink," but it symbolically means to blend or merge with a concept or person so thoroughly that the observer and the observed become one.
48. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. Omaha is a city in the U.S. state of Nebraska, on the Missouri River close to the Iowa border. A stop on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, it's known for its pioneer history, museums and cultural centers.
50. Cover story: ALIBI. An alibi is proof or a claim that a person was somewhere else when a crime or event happened, meaning they could not have done it.
57. Actor James __ Jones: EARL. James Earl Jones [1931 - 2024] was an American actor. A pioneer for Black actors in the entertainment industry, he was acclaimed for his performances on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards]
58. Liquid-Plumr rival: DRANO. A popular brand of chemical drain opener.
59. Battery unit: VOLT. The standard international unit of measurement for electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force.
61. Distort: SKEW. To twist, bias, or cause something to be slanted, inaccurate, or uneven.
62. Shoutout to a parent: HI, MOM. What - no love for Dad?!?
63. __ out a living: EKED. Managed to get by with great difficulty,
64. Like muted colors: PALE. Describes a very light color that won't attract mosquitos.
65. Ukrainian port on the Black Sea: ODESA. A major port city and transport hub located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea in southwestern Ukraine.
66. Tennis match units: SETS. A set in tennis is a group of individual games that players must win to move closer to winning the overall match. This usually involves winning 6 games.
Down:
16. Wagon rod: AXLE. A central rod, bar, or shaft that connects a pair of wheels to help them rotate and move a vehicle or machine.
20. __ Domingo: Caribbean capital: SANTO. Founded in 1496, Santo Domingo is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic, serving as the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas.
21. Permit: LET. Allow.
22. Grinds to a halt: STOPS. Gradually slows down and completely stops moving, working, or functioning
23. German article: DER. The, in masculine nominative singular case.
24. Earth-friendly prefix: ECO. Originating from ecology, the scientific study of how living organisms interact with each other and with their physical environment.
25. Female moose: COW. Does a moose cow moo?
30. Bottled, as emotions: PENT UP. Feelings, energy, or demand that are held inside and not expressed, vented, or released.
31. Add to an email: ATTACH. To include and send a separate document or photo with an electronic message.
33. Subject of a miner dispute, maybe: ORE. Note: miner, not minor -- deep joke. Can you dig it?
34. Shuns: ESCHEWS. Deliberately avoids, shuns, or abstains from something, usually for moral, practical, or personal reasons. Many years ago there was a popular bumper sticker in the Ann Arbor area that said " Eschew obfuscation."
38. Splash of color in an ornamental pond: KOI. Brightly colored, ornamental varieties of the common carp
39. Ties the knot: WEDS. Accepts the ball and chain.
41. Granola bar fleck: OAT. An annual cereal grass (Avena sativa) or its edible seed, which is commonly used for human food (like oatmeal or porridge) and animal feed
42. Groks: GETS. Understands. The word is a neologism (a newly coined word) invented by American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land. In the book's fictional Martian language, it literally translates to "to drink," but it symbolically means to blend or merge with a concept or person so thoroughly that the observer and the observed become one.
48. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. Omaha is a city in the U.S. state of Nebraska, on the Missouri River close to the Iowa border. A stop on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, it's known for its pioneer history, museums and cultural centers.
50. Cover story: ALIBI. An alibi is proof or a claim that a person was somewhere else when a crime or event happened, meaning they could not have done it.
57. Actor James __ Jones: EARL. James Earl Jones [1931 - 2024] was an American actor. A pioneer for Black actors in the entertainment industry, he was acclaimed for his performances on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards]
58. Liquid-Plumr rival: DRANO. A popular brand of chemical drain opener.
59. Battery unit: VOLT. The standard international unit of measurement for electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force.
61. Distort: SKEW. To twist, bias, or cause something to be slanted, inaccurate, or uneven.
62. Shoutout to a parent: HI, MOM. What - no love for Dad?!?
63. __ out a living: EKED. Managed to get by with great difficulty,
64. Like muted colors: PALE. Describes a very light color that won't attract mosquitos.
65. Ukrainian port on the Black Sea: ODESA. A major port city and transport hub located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea in southwestern Ukraine.
66. Tennis match units: SETS. A set in tennis is a group of individual games that players must win to move closer to winning the overall match. This usually involves winning 6 games.
Down:
1. Track circuits: LAPS. Each LAP is one complete trip around a track or course during a race or exercise.
2. Spanish pronoun: ELLA. The third-person singular feminine personal pronoun.
3. Like ghost towns: ABANDONED. Left behind, no longer used, or deserted.
4. Like a race winner: FASTEST. Moving, acting, or happening with the greatest degree of speed or in the shortest amount of time.
5. Boxer Muhammad: ALI. Muhammad Ali [formerly known as Cassius Clay Jr. 1942 - 2016] was an American professional boxer and activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "the Greatest", he is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.
6. Atomic centers: NUCLEI. The tiny, dense, positively charged centers of atoms made of protons and neutrons.
7. Bug: INSECT. Six-legged creepy crawler or flyer.
8. Bit of henna art: TATTOO. A tattoo is a permanent design, mark, or word etched into the skin using needles and ink.
9. Train board abbr.: ARR. The scheduled or estimated arrival time.
10. Took care of a situation: SAW TO IT. Took full responsibility for making sure a specific task or action was successfully completed.
11. U-shaped body formed by a river diversion: OXBOW LAKE. An oxbow lake forms when a meandering river erodes through the neck of one of its meanders. This takes place because meanders tend to grow and become more curved over time. The river then follows a shorter course that bypasses the meander. The entrances to the abandoned meander eventually silt up, forming an oxbow lake.
12. Cardboard carton part: FLAP. A box flap is a flat extension of a container that folds over the opening to close, cover, and secure the contents.
13. Till stack: TENS. Ten dollar bills in a cash box.
18. Rotational force: TORQUE. Torque is the rotational equivalent of a linear force—essentially the twisting power that makes things spin around an axis or pivot point.
19. Broad neckties: ASCOTS. Wide, traditional men's neckties that look like short scarfs.
26. Trifling: MERE. An adjective meaning "nothing more than" or "only," used to emphasize how small, insignificant, or limited something is.
27. Company with brown trucks: UPS. United Parcel Service.
28. Cry from a crow's nest: CAW. Crows are not song birds. They're squakers.
29. Glaswegian, e.g.: SCOT. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland.
30. "Ka-blammo!": POW. Cartoonish explosion onomatopoeia.
32. The "H" of HMS: HIS. Or HER Royal Majesty.
35. Demure: COY. Quiet, shy, modest and reserved. But COY suggests that this is flirty or performative.
36. Hem and __: HAW. Hesitating, stalling, or taking a long time to make a decision because you are unsure, evasive, or unwilling to commit.
37. Greek vowel: ETA. Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, written as Η in uppercase and η in lowercase. It sounds like a long E.
40. "Ready to get moving?": SHALL WE? A polite suggestion to start or do something.
42. Mourns: GRIEVES. Feels or shows deep sadness and sorrow, especially because someone has died.
44. "Well, well, well!": OHO. Expression of mock surprise when discovering about somebody.
45. Cry from a crow's nest: LAND HO. A crow's nest is a small, partly enclosed platform high up on a ship's mast where a sailor stands as a lookout. LAND HO is a traditional nautical call shouted by a sailor or lookout to announce that land is finally visible. Note the clecho.
46. Puget Sound city: TACOMA. Tacoma is a vibrant port city in Washington State, located on the shores of Puget Sound about 30 miles south of Seattle.
47. Large deer: ELK. (Also called wapiti) is a massive animal belonging to the deer family (Cervidae), weighing up to 1,100 pounds and standing about 5 feet tall at the shoulder.
48. Financial center in Honshu: OSAKA. Osaka is a major financial center of Japan and is recognized as one of its most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities. It is home to the Osaka Exchange and the headquarters of multinational electronics corporations such as Panasonic and Sharp.
49. Gourmet mushroom: MOREL. The common morel, often called the white or gray morel. Its color varies from light cream to gray to yellowish-brown depending on habitat and age. The hollow cap is attached to the stalk at base. The common morel is perhaps the easiest of all edible spring mushrooms to recognize, and is therefore widely collected.
51. Insolvent: BROKE. Lacking funds.
52. Typically uninhabited key: ISLET. A tiny, often rocky or sandy, uninhabited island in a sea, lake, or river.
54. Sudoku diagram: GRID. A network of evenly spaced horizontal and perpendicular lines used to organize, locate, or distribute things. The layout for some games and puzzles.
55. "I feel seen!": SAME. A powerful sense of connection that makes you feel less alone in your struggles or thoughts.
56. Chicago-style pizza chain, familiarly: UNOS. Pizzeria Uno. It's good. Detroit style from Buddy's is better.
57. Seer's gift: ESP. Extra Sensory Perception. A supposed mental ability to receive information without using the normal physical senses
60. Scores equal to two FGs: TDS. Touchdowns - six-point scoring plays in American football where a player possesses the ball in the opponent's end zone.
That wraps up another Wednesday. Actually, this puzzle did not suck. Hope you enjoyed it.
Cool regards!
Cool regards!
JzB
The reveal was
ReplyDeletehilarious. And the puzzle, while I wouldn’t call it “easy,” was definitely doable.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThe first time I can remember seeing Jame EARL Jones was as a B-52 crew member in Dr. Strangelove. When I lived in Cedar Rapids, we used to hunt MOREL mushrooms in late spring. Tasty when dipped in a beer batter and deep-fried. Enjoyed your puzzle, Daniel, and your expo, JzB. ("Squakers?")
Off today to get the news on my 12-year-old dental implant. The abutment broke somewhere below the gum line. I expect the news to be $$bad$$.
@desperotto
DeleteThanks for the Dr Strangelove tip. I did not realize that was him. Here is the final scene with James EARL Jones and Slim Pickens.
https://youtu.be/b04gOECGUX8
Sorry to hear of your dental implant failure. Please keep us posted.
From Yesterday: I am still curious about why a DRAGON would SOAR? Is this from some pop culture story?
FIR, but horseshoe->oxbow bend->OXBOW LAKE, and aha->OHO.
ReplyDeleteAn engineer I worked with in Santa Monica some 50 years ago had the bumper sticker JzB referenced (ESCHEU OBFUCATION) stuck on his cubicle wall.
I love UNO restaurants. We had one about 4 miles from here, and I used to have lunch there at least once a week. Personal pan pizza and a Caesar salad for $10. That place is now a soul food restaurant, and the nearest UNO is in Yorktown.
Tomorrow will be my last day residing in this house. A few remaining pieces of furniture will go into a PODS unit while my red pine floors are being restored, and those will be used for staging the house when that process is done. Most are going to the dump. It's been a good quarter century, but it's time to move on.
Thanks to Daniel for the fun. At first, I thought this would be very difficult for a hump day, but it just started out that way. And thanks to JzB for the fun tour.
Best wishes to you in your new chapter, Jinx. Moving on can feel happy-sad.
DeleteThe word “ban” in the straw clue helps it fit the theme…
ReplyDeleteExactly! Ban makes it fit the theme. I agree.
DeleteThe puzzle was easy but I never caught the theme of "things to avoid". ESCHEWS could be a secondary theme.
ReplyDeleteANITA- total unknown.
SAME and "I feel seen"- I filled it by perps but still have no idea why the word 'same' has any connection with 'I feel seen'.
"I hate when the waiter calls me Hon."
Delete"Same" | "I feel seen!"
It's as if you thought you were the only one with a gripe b/f some one else said it too.
FIR. Although I'm not a fan of vertical puzzles, this one made up for it by being Monday easy. All the clues were fair and the perps were there where needed.
ReplyDeleteThe theme seemed a bit of a stretch, but maybe that's just me.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
I’m embarrassed to say I missed the STRAW BAN. I was focused on a bag. But a fun and cute theme. The rest was easy to GROK. My only ? Is SAME for “I feel seen”. I liked the clue for LAND HO and CAW, and just above we had a COW. Plus the COY KOI pair. Fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think of Henna art as a TATTOO since if I’m not mistaken, there are not needles involved.
Thank you JzB for a great review.
I started out slow, but worked the bottom first and everything fell into place. It was an enjoyable puzzle with fair clues. Had a slight hiccup in the NE when I filled “ones” instead of “tens”, but a little white out fixed that problem. Spent a lot of time in Odessa, Texas, and can’t remember seeing Odesa spelled with one “s”. A local arboretum near me has an oxbow, and that made that fill easy.
ReplyDeleteAI says, "Henna tattoos typically last between 1 to 3 weeks, with 7 to 14 days being the most common average."
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure I fully understand the theme but it was a pleasant enough solve, so I’m satisfied.
Osaka, Omaha, and Odesa stood out. CSO to HG with Omaha! I predict Jayce’s favorite words of the day will be Torque and Eschews. No unknowns, no w/os, no problems made for an easy solve.
Thanks, Daniel, and thanks, JazzB, for the usual informative and entertaining review.
Have a great day.
There's also a military tattoo. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe ('turn off the tap'), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks. Every year Norfolk hosts the International Tattoo, which brings musicians and other performers from primarily NATO militaries. Big deal in these parts.
ReplyDelete13 names, only 3 DNKs among them. This CW was fun to fill, I got the clever theme. The solve seemed to go quickly, I was surprised to see it took 12 minutes.
ReplyDeleteW/Os: EASY/SOFT, ONES/TENS, SIX/TDS.
DAS/DIE/DER hadda wait for perps. The 28D/45D clecho was nice. GPS and radar have eliminated crow's nests on ships, of course.
Anyway, a fun CW, thanx DH.
Thanx too to JzB for the informative write-up.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I don’t know what the record is for consecutive days of rain, but we have to be closing in on it
-Nit 2: The reveal made a kind of tenuous connection
-I don’t know how many more LAPS around the substitute teaching track I want to take
-The dishwasher LED code said End. I SAW TO IT that it got emptied
-Excessive TORQUE on knees can delay or end an athletic career
-A huge ice event in 1877 created an OXBOW of the Missouri River by Omaha and a part of Iowa suddenly became part of Nebraska. That former part of Iowa contains Omaha’s Eppley Airfield
A lil brash offering from Daniel today.
ReplyDeleteI loved it.
I thought Odesa was spelled “Odessa”
A fun theme, fresh fill, and no drek.
We had lots of rain this summer and the mosquitos were brutal.
Thanks for the detailed recap JB
ReplyDeleteWonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Daniel and JazzB.
I FIRed and saw the SUCKER theme with the reveal. (Although I was waiting aghast when I only had the S and U left to fill)
One inkblot to change Shy to COY.
I wanted Ahoy but CAW perped. Then it wouldn’t fit at 45D. LANDHO did.
Henna TATTOOs are natural, temporary body art designs made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant. “The paste leaves a reddish-brown stain that lasts anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks. It starts as an orange hue and darkens over 24 to 72 hours through oxidation. Keep the dried paste on for at least 2 to 4 hours. Avoid water and harsh chemicals for the first 24 hours to help the colour deepen and last longer.” . The Indian term is Mehndi. I had a gorgeous henna tattoo created on my hand at DIL’s wedding shower.
I wanted another S in ODESA.. “Both spellings refer to the same major port city in Ukraine, but Odesa is the official Ukrainian spelling, while Odessa is the traditional Russian-influenced spelling.”
ESCHEW is a great word that I don’t hear in usage. Apparently it has French/German origins and has nothing to do with CHEWing.
We have several OXBOW LAKES in northern Ontario, with the biggest being in the Muskoka area.
Wishing you all a great day.
Took 5:27 today to vacuum up the grid.
ReplyDeleteI knew the Actress of the Day (Alba), but not the feminist (Anita).
I also had an "ox bow bend" before "lake."
If someone said something you agree with or that validates your feelings, you might say "same", and theoretically, you might even say, "I feel seen."
No circles, but we were stuck with another "foreign language + part of speech" clue. I really wish we wouldn't have to deal with those.
Our constructor may have managed a shout-out to his ethnic origins with that spelling of ODESA. His HRYNICK surname has Slavic (Ukrainian, Polish) origins.
ReplyDeleteI recognized it from genealogy study I have done for DH’s family tree.
Perhaps DANIEL will pop in to comment.
I liked this puzzle, Jazzb's write-up, and all your comments.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY New Year --> LUNAR New Year.
Some really cool words in the puzzle today, including PENT UP, ESCHEWS, ABANDONED, NUCLEI, OXBOW LAKE, TORQUE, and GRIEVES.
Looking forward to having lunch with my son today.
Good reading all your comments.
What does clecho mean?
ReplyDeleteTwo or more of the same clues for different answers.
DeleteIt's a contraction of clue echo.
DeleteHola! "Easy as Sunday morning", to quote a popular song. Thank you, Daniel Hrynick, and thank you, Jazzbumpa, for the fun today. In California all PLASTICS are BANned. At the grocery store, only paper or cloth bags are allowed. And I now have a growing collection of metal drinking bottles.
ReplyDeleteI hope everyone knows ELLA is pronounced E-YA. And thank you for explaining SAME; it made no sense to me.
Yea! Rain! It was forecast for overnight, but it just now started. My plants can now get a much-needed soaking. Have a great day, everyone!
I didn’t get the the answer “same” for 55 down either. I thought a better answer would be “fame” as I’ve been seen and now I’m famous. But then the reveal is not a printable answer! 😂😂😂
ReplyDeleteThanks for the revue, Jazzbumpa! As a Motown native (although I now live in Boston) I totally agree with you on Buddy's. (And I often order Vernor's from Amazon.)
ReplyDeleteA “Boston Cooler” is made with Vernors, 😋. (They dropped the apostrophe in the name}.
DeleteThanks to Daniel for a fun Wed FIR. FAVs were "Hardly hard" for SOFT and the Crow's nest clechos. "Minor dispute" is pretty corny but I liked that one, too.
ReplyDeleteI often use MOSQUITO COILS out on my lanai. I have a cute, Hello Kitty can for them. The lid doubles as a smoldering spot.
Thanks to JzB for his thorough explanations! I like that bumper sticker!
Loved this fun puzzle and clever theme! Thanks Daniel! Favorite clues…Cover story/Alibi and
ReplyDeleteCry from a crow’s nest/Land Ho. Thanks JazzBumpa for your review and learning moments!