SEWER ENTRANCE
Sō - er en TRANCE, not this . . .
Today we have a duet of previous LA Times crossword constructors; here's one from Stacey, and one from Larry. Our Friday theme, not related to the "Thirteenth", is a play on words that could, but don't, rhyme - words that are spelled the same, but have a different pronunciations are called "Heteronyms". Two grid-spanners in the over-sized 15 x 16 puzzle frame, no circles, no outlier letters, 2 Napoleons, a few quotes, a Twurd or two. 3- & 5LWs combined equal the number of four-letter words, plus a number of proper nouns, but fair ones. The themers, no reveal;
18. Year of tears?: PAGE-A-DAY CALENDAR - yeer of "tares"
The caption says "llamas at home", and in the bubble -
"Llook out Llary, it's the llandllord~!"
30. Show bow?: CURTAIN CALL - shō - bao
The Princess Bride
45. Kind of wind?: OCEAN BREEZE - kye-nd of wih-nd - a bit meh, since one would inherently read this as such - not kih-nd of wye-nd, or kye-nd of wye-nd . . .
58. Power shower?: BATTERY INDICATOR - IMHO, the best of the bunch - pao-wer shōw-er
Butte Weight, Tare's Moor~!
ACROSS:
1. Chicago team: CUBS - Major League Baseball
5. Atmosphere: AURA
9. Put in the rearview mirror: GO PAST - you can go past fast if you go past fast
15. Still working: AT IT - Yes, I know it's parsed differently, but no way the previous editor lets this fly with "TIT" in the grid as well . . . 😖
16. Apple variety: iMAC - computers, not crisps
17. Beethoven symphony originally intended to honor Napoleon: EROICA - 'Hero' in Italian
Napoleon #1
21. "Hoo boy": "OH MAMA~!" - oh, Twurd(ish)~!
22. Paleozoic, for one: ERA
23. Minor progress: DENT - i.e., "I made a ' _ _' in my to-do list today."
24. Little dickens: IMP
25. Pumpkin seeds: PEPITAS - filled via perps
Straight definition
28. __-bitsy: ITSY - teeny-weeny, yellow polka-dot bikini . . .
34. Pointillism bit: DOT - coulda been tied to 30D.
35. Ribs, e.g.: BONES
36. Ashram mentors: GURUS
37. Class with makeup tests?: ANATOMY - Meh. Cosmetology would have been funnier; anatomy is the study of internal and external structures that "make up" a body
39. Countertop option: FORMICA - I still have the one from the 1950s - a product now over 100yrs old
41. One who keeps on trekkin': HIKER
42. Quaint greeting: M'LADY - "It's a bit windy, M'lady . . ."
Our dear departed Queen Elizabeth can't look
48. Some postgrad degs.: PhDs - abbrs
49. Mixture: MELANGE - a meaty mouthful
50. Poorly lit: DIM
51. Big personalities: EGOS
54. Do one's part: ACT - I prefer being behind the scenes - literally making the "scenes"
55. "You promise?": "HONEST~?" - Quote #1
62. "Shove it!": "BITE ME~!" - Quote #2
63. Outdated marriage vow word: OBEY
64. Flooring choice: TILE - I plan to redo my cheap linoleum kitchen floor with ceramic tile
65. Horse barn sounds: SNORTS
66. Gram: NANA - Grandmother nick-names
67. Solitaire foundation cards: ACES
DOWN:
1. Tool for a quick key change: CAPO - Hah~! That kind of key change - nailed it.
I say a Kay-po, You say a Cah-po - fits the theme, too - the other Capo
2. State whose license plates say "Life Elevated": UTAH - I lived in OHIO, so that four-letter state was out, and it definitely wasn't IOWA - but I couldn't recall this last four-letter one . . . and a Tuesday dupe
3. "You'll regret that": "BIG MISTAKE." - 10-letter Down, Quote #3 - and a unique fill, too
4. Torrid: STEAMY - Dah~! I had stORmy first . . .
5. Opera mentioned in the 10,000 Maniacs song "Verdi Cries": AIDA - yada yada four-letter opera~?
6. Actress Thurman: UMA - Crossword three-letter name staple
7. Word with UV or X, but not W: RAY - Took me a minute, but a great clue/answer; UV-ray, X-ray
8. Learns to live with: ACCEPTS - ABIDES was a letter short
9. Frozen Italian desserts: GELATI - the Italian plural of gelatO
10. Mine find: ORE - More ORE~! Every Friday, it seems - and a Thursday dupe
11. High-grossing film?: POND SCUM - The disgusting, "gross", water-covering kind of "film" - and one of my favorite "Edgar" scenes from Men In Black
. . . as they scurry about, in short, pointless, lives . . .
12. Staffer: AIDE
13. Read quickly: SCAN
14. Small pie: TART - I'm making fudge peanut-butter brownies for Thanksgiving
19. Concert piece: AMP
The Grateful Dead's "wall of sound"
20. Opera solo: ARIA - opera #2
25. Dinky: PUNY
26. Before, once: ERE - we had palindrome on Tuesday
Napoleon #2
27. Spitting nails: ANGRY - not IRATE
28. Craters of the Moon locale: IDAHO - more here
29. Elixir: TONIC
30. Business extension: .COM - I actually had to think about this one; ".biz" was my first notion
31. Branch of mathematics: ARITHMETIC - the other 10-letter Down
32. __ dreaming: LUCID - I try to recall all the details of my dreams in the morning - the Wiki
33. Future DAs' exams: LSATs - District Attorney, Law School Admissions Test
35. Carried: BORNE - e.g., "wind-borne" sand
Jason Bourne sand
38. Semi pro?: TEAMSTER - Didn't fool me - I knew we were looking for a "rig driver", but that didn't fit - Teamsters is the "semi" truck-driving union, which includes UPS, e.g., where I was once a member
39. Put off one's game: FAZE - most of us are fazed by too many names in a crossword
40. Many a poem by Clint Smith: ODE - no clue, but yada yada three-letter poem~?
42. Bring up: MENTION - did I mention there were 18 3LWs today~?
43. Limb lifted in a développé: LEG - I can't believe I tried ARM first - I'm so ashamed . . .
Frawnche #1, the ballet move, "unfolded"
46. Plays loudly: BLARES - Like one's stereo
Quiet Riot - "Cum on Feel the Noize" -
the YouTube link
47. Somewhat blue: RACY - Ah. That kind of "blue"
48. One hanging around a party?: PIÑATA - Har-har
50. MS Word file: .DOC
51. Starts to peter out: EBBS - Dah~! not DIES
52. Profit: GAIN
53. Inflatable pilot in "Airplane!": OTTO - Ah, the all-time best comedy movie~?
Blazing saddles, Young Frankenstein are in the running, too
55. "Hey there!": "HI-YA~!" - I tried PSST first
56. Single: SOLE - Dah~! Not LONE, but 75% correct
57. "__ chic!": "TRES~!" - Frawnche #2
59. Vitals checker, briefly: EMT - Emergency Medical Technician, but I thought "RNs" was better
60. Org. for Suns and Rockets: NBA - Basketball from Phoenix & Houston - not NASA 😁
61. Guest room, in a pinch: DEN
Splynter
Grid Flow 52.4
Notes from C.C.:
Happy birthday to Big Easy (George), husband of Louisiana Tennis Hall of Famer Diane! Hope you have a wonderful birthday and a great year ahead, George!
No reveal - but no matter.
ReplyDeleteI got through it just fine.
FIR, so I’m happy.
And Happy Birthday, Big Easy!
Hope you enjoy your day!
FIR, but anatamy->ANATOMY (I knew better,) tort->TART, and psst->HIYA. Didn't get the theme until Splynter 'splained it, but I don't put much weight on themes anyway.
ReplyDeleteCSO to our own inane HIKER.
To paraphrase Sally Field, I really, really liked this puzzle. Plenty of trickery, but mostly free of obscurities.
Our constructors showed their seniority with DOC instead of DOCx, and .COM instead of .biz. I guess there wasn't any way to crowbar in "COBOL" and "23 skidoo."
HBDTY, Big Easy. I always enjoy your musings.
Thanks to Stacey and Larry for the fun challenge. And thanks to Splynter for another fine Friday review.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteYay, gotta love a themeless Friday. I once lived in IOWA, forgot about OHIO, so immediately went to UTAH, and that was correct. I'll take the CSO at OTTO. Went sideways with SultrY/STEAMY and irate/ANGRY. POND SCUM and TEAMSTER were cute. Hats off to Stacey and Larry for a fun Friday fest. I'm glad Splynter had to 'splain this one and not I. (Somehow I can picture you making a scene.)
Big HBD to B-E. Have a good one, young man.
Can you say tough puzzle? I did finish but the clues took second looks and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteFills like GELATI instead of OS, PEPITAS, MLADY,
I don't know what happened above but I didn't hit 'publish'
DeleteCan you say tough puzzle? I did finish but the clues took second looks and thoughts. No movies, singers, or actors-OTTO doesn't count.
DeleteProper words today? EROICA, and FORMICA.
POND SCUM had the best clue. TEAMSTER was a close second.
It seemed as though every clue sent me in the wrong direction before I could figure it out. The 'tears' almost had me crying before I finally got to the PAGE-A-DAY CALENDAR.
MLADY, said "It's a BIG MISTAKE if you think I'm a TART and am wearing this RACY outfit showing a TIT for you. BITE ME you little STEAMY IMP or I'll call the mafia CAPO (not the one on your guitar)".
I've got to send C.C. another picture of us. DW looks great but I've aged.
Happy Birthday!
DeleteHappy birthday, Big Easy
DeleteHappy Birthday!
DeleteHappy Birthday, Big Easy!
DeleteFIR. What a workout! So much misdirection throughout. Pepitas was an unknown for me, so that section was the last to fall.
ReplyDeleteI eventually saw the theme but had a difficult time with several of the theme answers. I second guessed myself several times.
But overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Took 9:01 today to unrhyme my way through this.
ReplyDeleteI knew the Actress of the Day (Uma), but I didn't know "lucid dreaming" and the French (leg clue & tres). Somewhere in the deep chasm of my memory "pepitas" appeared.
We had "Utah" & "Idaho", "atit" & "tit", and "bones" on top of "anatomy", although I didn't care for the "makeup" clue. I did enjoy the clues for "teamster" and "page a day calendar".
FIR, so that’s good. OH MAMA I had to work at the long answers having just a vague sense of the theme. The rest filled with not much trouble. I too had sultry before STEAMY and I needed perps for BITE ME as clued. That’s a total unknown for me, not the answer but the clue.
ReplyDeleteI too liked the clue for TEAMSTER and like Splynter I was not fooled. 😎 and the clues for POND SCUM and PIÑATA. Such a long clue for a tiny TIT.
Thank you Splynter. Great review. And Happy birthday to Big Easy. 🎂🎊🎉
“Bite me” is actually an obscenity, or rather, refers to one
ReplyDelete-SubG
So’s “Shove it”!!
Delete====> Darren
Not quite a walk in the park, but surprisingly easy for a Friday. Finished in under eight minutes, with no real stumbling blocks.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Otto make an appearance.
A bit crunchy today,
ReplyDeleteUsual slow downs for me. After ore, hitting minor progress sent me down an Adit before dent appeared. I had howdy and pssst first before hi there. Could not remember Otto's name at first. (Plus, wasn't pssst Otto's only line in the movie?)
Big mistake, reminds me of...
happy birthday Big Easy!
Oh, and pssst, this is CE:D, who forgot to sign in...
AI’s little kid must have made that cake. 🤣🤣🤣
DeleteA nifty and nuanced offering this Friday the 13th.
ReplyDeleteI liked it.
I fell into the constructors well laid trap of reading the long clues as they sounded and rolled off my tongue
Year of tears … I was stuck on crying
Show bow… I was stuck on a gift 🎁 bow
Finally Battery Indicator = shows the amount of power left 💡💡… ding 🛎️
After many sideways stares, a few erasures, and a lightbulb moment I managed to FIR.
Pinata and teamster get the best clue of the week award.
Thanks Splynter for the excellent recap.
Not a bad Friday, the NE and NW last to fall with stormy to STEAMY and to a successful movie, actually a gross film of PONDSCUM
ReplyDeleteWoulda never parsed the theme.
Inkovers: GO lAST,fAS/,PAST, stormy/STEAMY, blasts/BLARES, fade/FAZE, lone/SOLE.
Fooled at first as usual by “shower” same as “tear“ … semipro:TEAMSTER? (Ah an expert driver of a “semi”, great clue) unFAZED but FAZED? I’m gruntled
Not his “eighth” symphony but EROICA (ital: HEROIC). AIDA is the only 4 letter “opera” I know and a frequent CW visitor. RACY for blue? (Not sad but often STEAMY). Agree about the ANATOMY “makeup test” should be “make up” 2 words.
CAPO?… TRÈS and MÉLANGE: French, but what, no obligatory Spanish answer? Oh wait! PIÑATA
“OH yo MAMA so fat she….”
HBD to Big (George)Easy! With greetings to Mrs. Easy.
Fabulous Friday! I loved all the tricky clues. I almost gave up in the southwest corner, but even that came together to FIR. Many thanks to Stacey and Larry for the enjoyable challenge, and to Splynter to enlivening the morning with Otto et alia.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Big Easy! Wishing you many happy returns of the day.
Hola! Ditto on what most of you have said, including the ink overs. STORMY held me up for a long time until I thought of STEAMY. Then it all fell into place. GELATI is new; I don't recall ever seeing the plural form. This was a fun Friday! Thank you, Stacey and Larry.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy a beautiful day, everyone! It's gorgeous here!
Almost a themeless Friday, but all in good fun from Stacey and Larry. I looked at the clues as slant rhymes, like near rhymes that are sometimes used in song lyrics. One of the most common is using "again" to rhyme with any word like "train." Sometimes a singer will mispronounce "again" to force the rhyme.
ReplyDeleteLotsa good clues: High-grossing film, Do one's part, and One hanging around at a party.
Splynter, great job of pulling this all together, as usual.
Thank you, splynter. You helped me to understand the cluing better.
ReplyDeletethe clue for 37-across made me think of this archived Moe-ku, coined by yt in 2018:
ReplyDeleteCosmetic student
Was absent; had to make-up
Her Makeup exam
A wonderful Friday offering, FIR in 13, EXCELLENT Friday time for me. This CW gets 5 stars due to so many very clever clues, and having only 6 names!! Yep, best CW I've ever seen re number of names. Only DNK 2.
ReplyDeleteI agree with others that of the many clever clues, PINATA and TEAMSTERS rank #1 & #2.
W/Os: PASSBY/GOPAST, PSST/HIYO.
I noticed both DOT and COM are in the CW, along with the clue "Business extension". Dopey me did not get GRAM/NANA, stuck on the weight, until Splynter 'splained it. For 43D, ARM or LEG seems to me from looking at Splynter's illustration could both be fills, except, of course, for the perps.
Thanx SMcC&LS, truly a terrific CW. A HUGE Thanx for the very low name count. 5 stars! And the number of outstanding, witty clues, another 5 stars.
Even after Splynter 'splained the theme, it took BE @ 7:12 for the V-8 can to hit. Once again, the theme had smooth sailing far over my head. Thanx Splynter for the terrific write-up.
HBDTY B.E.!! Have a great day! And thanx for the comment that woke me up to the theme.
Musings
ReplyDelete-What a fun puzzle. I may have set a record for fills that I thought were right but…
-Dang, I looked for every gimmick I could think of but did not look at the clues. Doh!
-Rearview mirror: Some new features of cars seem to be not necessary but the backup camera is a blessing!
-Are GURUS and YOGIS the same or even similar?
-Name this tune/artist: You see she was gonna be an ACTress, And I was gonna learn to fly, She took off to find the footlights, And I took off to find the sky
-The CAPO became invaluable once the high notes started to get out of my range
-Wonderful job, Splynter and Bòn fèt Big Easy
Serendipity. As I was reading your "Name this tune..." Taxi was playing on my music server.
DeleteYup, @Taxi”, by one of the best narrative song writers ever, Harry Chapin. Great tune for my 12-string.
Delete====> Darren / L.A.
* “Taxi” dang it
DeleteI had fun doing this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI got about two-thirds of the way through, and was stuck. I didn't plan on even trying to finish it. However, about 6 hours after giving up, I took another look at the puzzle, and things started coming together. I actually finished it right, and the only help I got was from Alexa on how to spell Arithmetic. I have trouble sometimes on spelling the down clues, and have to write them out horizontally, but just went with the Alexa on my last fill. Rare for me to complete a Friday puzzle without any errors, so this was a nice finish to my day.
ReplyDeleteOh, and as always, I appreciate the blog as I try to improve my skills. One trouble I had today was originally, I read one clue to be "splitting nails". On the 2nd try I read it right.
DeleteStacey and Larry had me running all over the landscape trying to decipher their diabolical clues😆
ReplyDeletebut in the end I got onto their hook and landed the FIR. The clue for PONDSCUM gets my vote for Clue of the Month! Fun stuff, thanks, kids.
Seeing MELANGE kicked me back to Frank Herbert’s “Dune” series; it’s the hallucinogenic substance (also called “spice”) that gave space navigators the super-power to find their way around the universe (Trivia buffs rejoice!)
I always love your music clips, Splynter — the Wall of Sound was also Phil Spector’s nom de mix, as I recall; big BLARES of guitars and keyboards! And yeah, “Airplane” was so unbelievably hilarious all the way through; too many sight-gags and double entendres to count…”So, Bobby, ever been in…”, “Bad week to quit sniffing glue” etc. Unfortunately, I don’t think that kind of flick would fly today, with all the P.C. fanatics with no sense of warped humor like we knew and loved…
Hope you have a great Happy Birthday, @BigEasy! 🎂💥
====> Darren / L.A.
Happy birthday, BigEasy! I forgot earlier.
ReplyDeleteI did FIR, but as Big Easy said, the clues took second looks and thoughts! Ends >Ebbs, Stormy>Steamy, Blasts>Blares. I spent enough time in South Texas and Matamoras that I knew pepitas. Bowls of pepitas were often placed on bars, rather than peanuts. Thank you Stacey and Larry. Favorite clues…one hanging around a party/Pinata and High-grossing film/pond scum.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks Splynter, I always enjoy your reviews! 🎶Happy birthday to you🎶, Big Easy!🎂
Ah, the all-time best comedy movie~? Shirley, you must be joking 😄
ReplyDeleteThanks to Stacey, Larry, and Splynter for a fun Friday!
ReplyDeleteFAV themers were "Show bow" and "Power shower". Hand up for loving the POND SCUM clue.
"Airplane" references never get old on The Corner. BTW, what's your vector, Victor?
We had CSO's with OTTO and HIKER.
Happy Birthday to Big Easy! I always like it when you explain how someone from Louisiana might interpret a clue/answer.
I think I learned from the Corner that Airplane parodied 1957's Zero Hour. Before that I thought it was just a spoof of Airport.
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