Theme: "Scary-go-round"
First off, my apologies for this recap being as brief as it is. I have been traveling across the country to meet with family and friends and had just a fleeting moment to throw this together before today ...
Puzzling thoughts:
Ricky J Sirois is no stranger to the followers of the LA Times Crossword Corner as he has had several puzzles published here as well as @ NY Times, and perhaps others. Not much out there on him via Google, but if you'd like to know how much $ he made as an assistant director of Library Sciences, please click on the hyperlink above
Today's puzzle is somewhat timely as the autumn provides many explorers and adventurers the opportunity to engage in exploring a corn maze, for example. And a corn maze may be considered a form of a:
52-across. Mysterious patterns in fields, or what 15-, 22-, 31-, and 44-Across are?: CROP CIRCLES
All of today's entries combine a kind of crop and a type of circle
15-across. Pungent breakfast choices: ONION BAGELS. This one works, as [according to Wikipedia] "Onions are a widely cultivated vegetable crop, produced in the second largest quantity after tomatoes. In 2021, the top global producers of onions were China, India, United States, and Turkey ..." and Bagels (while generally thought of as being round, like a circle) are geometrically known as a torus
22-across. Aids in makeup removal: COTTON BALLS. Cotton is often referred to as an "and crop" because a single harvest yields multiple commercial products—primarily textile fiber, alongside cottonseed oil for food and feed for livestock; top global producers include China, India, the United States, and Brazil [cottontoday dot com]. Balls are generally circular although YMMV
31-across. Alternatives to cinnamon buns: COFFEE ROLLS. Coffee is one of the world's largest produced crop - my AI computer identified these attributes:
- Botanical Source: Coffee grows on woody, evergreen shrubs and small trees belonging to the genus Coffea and the family Rubiaceae.
- The Fruit: The plant produces red or purple stone-fruit berries called coffee cherries.
- The "Bean": What people call a coffee bean is actually the seed found inside the coffee cherry.
- Global Scale: According to NOAA Climate.gov, coffee is one of the most valuable tropical export crops in the world, cultivated on over 27 million acres across more than 70 to 80 countries.
- Specialty Crop Designation: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) explicitly classifies coffee as a specialty crop
Rolls are also generally round in shape unless it precedes the word "-Royce"
44-across. Car parts that may be repurposed as swings: RUBBER TIRES. As a crop "natural Rubber is an elastic polymer harvested mainly as milky latex sap by tapping the inner bark of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, which thrives in tropical climates across Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America" [Wikipedia]. But given the global demand for the use of rubber-based items, synthetic rubber is more widely produced. Tires are generally known to be round, except of course, when one goes flat
Here is the grid:
Thanks Ricky for the puzzle - and to honor you for your effort may I offer the following "Moe-ku":
Across:
1. Shot in the dark: STAB. A much gentler clue for this word, perhaps?
5. News story intro, in journalism jargon: LEDE. I imagine that many people misspell this word; according to [Webster's] the full definition is: "the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story" - it goes on to say that it is an alteration of "lead story" and was first used in 1947
9. Secondary social media acct.: ALT. According to AI, the number one reason for using an ALTernative account for social media is for "posting candid thoughts, joining niche communities, or venting without connecting the activity to a real-life identity"; maybe why we have so many "anonymous" users here
12. Drive: URGE. As a golfer, I was thinking of something else but TEE-OFF was too long to fit into 4 squares
13. Judy of "Scrubs": REYES. First time for me: I will count the proper names in today's puzzle - this is #1
14. Caviar: ROE.
[entry]
17. Time for many countdowns, briefly: NYE. Had Ricky chosen "TV Scientist Bill" instead, this would have been proper name number two - instead, he went for an abbr. for New Year's Eve
18. Making out while out and about, for short: PDA. Public Display of Affection
19. Like some columns: IONIC. It was either this or DORIC
20. Great Lakes diving bird: LOON. My first sighting of a LOON was at one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes
21. Carol contraction: 'TIS.
[entry]
25. Mouths off to: SASSES.
27. February 29: LEAP DAY. I personally know just one person who was born on LEAP DAY but I have never asked him if he chooses to celebrate on February 28 or March 1 on the off leap years
28. Ablaze: LIT.
29. Grammy winner Estefan: GLORIA. Proper name #2
[entry]
35. Songs of praise: PAEANS. Moe-ku:
36. Calendar divs.: MOS.
38. Poor rating: ONE STAR. This doesn't fit my rating for today's puzzle; I think it deserves at least ⭐⭐⭐and 1/2 ⭐s
41. Subtle difference: NUANCE. Moe-ku:
[entry]
47. Tax-efficient fund, for short: IRA. Once again, Ricky chose the abbr. rather than use another proper name
48. Pinkberry rival: TCBY. This tells you how "out of touch" Moe is; I know of The Country's Best Yogurt but had no idea about Pinkberry
49. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. Sort of a CSO to Husker Gary
50. Court divider: NET. Neither the word "LIBERAL" or "CONSERVATIVE" fit here ...
51. Ivy League nickname: ELI. Proper name #3, and a Moe-ku:
[reveal]
55. Intro to Xer, Yer, and Zer: GEN.
56. With passion: HOTLY. See 46-down for a similar clue/entry
57. Signify: MEAN.
58. Multinational insurance co.: AIG. American International Group
59. In need of a massage, say: ACHY.
60. Trees whose wood is used for lutes and bows: YEWS.
Down:
1. Old timer?: SUNDIAL. Key to this clue is the lack of a hyphen between old and timer. And for the record, if you ever wondered how these are "adjusted" for daylight savings time ...
Speaking of clocks ... my alter ego had a puzzle published this past Friday. Click on the link and chose October 30 for the date to solve ... the title is: It's That Time Again"
Newsday Crossword Puzzle October 30
2. Period during which mammals first appeared: TRIASSIC. Rumor has it that these mammals all had three rear-ends
3. In the past: AGO.
4. "No fighting!": BE NICE.
5. Bona fide: LEGIT.
6. Disparate features of someone with heterochromia: EYE COLORS.
7. Rehoboth Beach's st.: DEL. Located in the map below. As I kid I used to go to either Rehobeth Beach, Bethany Beach, or Ocean City, MD for my shore trips
8. End of most plural words: ESS.
9. "The Neighborhood" actress Tichina: ARNOLD. Proper name #4
10. Common name for a Jesuit school: LOYOLA. [Loyola Marymount Univ. website] "The name Loyola most commonly refers to private, Catholic, Jesuit universities in the United States named after Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)". Loyola University Chicago has the largest enrollment of the four primary Loyola colleges
11. Itty-bitty: TEENSY.
13. Leave a scathing review, perhaps: RANT. No rants from me today; maybe one of our posters will, though15. Makes a selection: OPTS.
16. Responses to bad calls: BOOS. We aren't that far removed from either the World Series or Halloween to have heard a fair number of these. And another Moe-ku:
20. Home of Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in the Canary Islands: LA PALMA. This seems like the kind of clue that would require more than casual knowledge to solve without perps (closest to a RANT)
23. Fictional sleuth Wolfe: NERO. Proper name #5
24. Take off: BAIL.
26. Visits: STOPS BY.
29. Clockwork bit: GEAR TOOTH.
30. NFL Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN. Proper name #6
32. Lot: FATE. Not THIS Lot
33. Cause of some tremors: FEAR.
34. Kin by marriage: SON-IN-LAW. I visited my s-i-l on this trip; along with daughter and grandson
37. Multitude in a multiplex: SCREENS.
38. "Wednesday" actress Jenna: ORTEGA. Proper name #7
39. Microbiology research centers?: NUCLEI.
40. On the decline: EBBING.
41. Classic soda brand: NEHI. Radar O'Reilly's favorite drink was a Grape NEHI
42. G.I.'s org.: U.S. ARMY. Radar was a corporal in the U.S. ARMY
43. Puts away: EATS.
45. Get at: IMPLY.
46. R-rated, say: RACY. See 56-across for a similar clue/entry
52. The Hornets, on a sports ticker: CHA. As in, CHArlotte
53. Retinol Correxion maker: ROC.
54. Middling grade: CEE. Or, a 2.0 on the GPA scale
A closing limerick (aka, Moe-'lick) for a final grin:
See ya in December
There were too many
ReplyDeleteobscure proper names for my taste.
Nevertheless, FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR without erasure.
ReplyDeleteDNK REYES (but would have known Point REYES from my California sailing days,) ARNOLD, TRIASSIC, ORTEGA, ROC, and COFFEE ROLL. (I've enjoyed COFFEE cake though.) Wouldn't know a pinkberry from a hackberry. (I would welcome a Halle Berry appearance, however.)
Stanley wants me to create an account to get to our Chairman's puzzle, so I won't be taking that one on.
I wasn't crazy about cluing SUNDIAL with timer. But then again, I've never understood how "watch" and "clock" can both be reloj en Espanol.
Bad calls only get BOOS when they go against the home team. They are generally cheered when against the visitors.
Thanks to Ricky for the easy-for-a-humpday puzzle. And thanks to our Chairman for another fun narrative. Oh, and also for channeling your inner Splynter with the NEHI ad. Kneehigh indeed!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteTough Wednesday. Needed to fix sore/ACHY, swabS/BALLS, and wanING/EBBING. Wite-Out to the rescue. My mind is a little foggy this morning. (I stayed up watching election returns until the beer ran out.) But somehow I got 'er done. Yay. Thanx, Ricky (how do you pronounce Sirois?) and C-Moe.
Took 7:32 today to eat my potato pancakes.
ReplyDeleteActresses of the Day I didn't know (Reyes & Arnold) outnumbered the Actress of the Day I knew (Ortega).
I had "radial" before "rubber" for the tires.
As usual, I agree with our friend SubG's comment.
Thank you to everyone who exercised your right to vote.
DNF. I gave up on the SW. The crossing of Ortega and AIG and TCBY proved too much for me.
ReplyDeleteIronically the theme was very obvious, but the obscurities throughout the puzzle were annoying.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
I totally bombed this one. I stubbornly kept Psalms for PAENS and waning for EBBING, Im not familiar with COFFEE ROLLS, so that never came to me. Pinkberry? No clue.
ReplyDeleteSome unknowns filled with perps like ARNOLD, REYES, LA PALMA, CHA, ROC.
Thank you C-Moe for the review and the neat Moe-kus. That makes up for my ONE STAR solve.
I enjoyed the puzzle but question its placement on a Wednesday. The bottom half was mostly a breeze, but the upper half had some Friday-ish crunch.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-There were a couple of potholes in this clever puzzle but I enjoyed it.
-Speaking of potholes, I did have flatulence like that when I hit one last week and I am out $1,500 to fix the damage. My insurance would cover it but said the increase in my rates would take more than that over time and so it is not worth it. Talk about yer Catch 22.
-There must have been a sale on vowels when paean was coined. Other candidates like psalm and hymn have silent letters, to they are unusual as well.
-NYE has not been a big deal around here for years. If it weren’t for the firecrackers, we would not even notice it was midnight.
-Gloria: I am a big fan of Laura Brannigan’s and Van Morrison’s versions
-OMAHA has hosted the College World Series since 1950 and built a huge new ball park to accommodate the event for two weeks about 10 years ago so the NCAA would allow it to remain.
-We have two SIL’s we really like
-Our multiplex has taken out two SCREENS and put in these
-Sometimes left-brained me is a little slow on the uptake, so just say it and don’t IMPLY it.
A meh offering on this post vote hump day.
ReplyDeleteAs stated too many names and obscurities to make this a fun outing.
Thanks for the recap Moe.
The theme reveal was kyna shaky. RUBBER as a crop? COFFEE ROLLS? Must be regional as we have cinnamon rolls, coffee cake. PAEANS to you who figured it out.
ReplyDeleteHaven’t heard much about CROP CIRCLES lately. The ETs must be getting lazy.
Inkovers: stay at, stops in/STOPS BY, ending, easing/EBBING, lead/LEDE
Liked “Old timer” We’ve had LEDE before. I still put lead first though 🙄
“pungent” ONION BAGELS: please don’t put them in the break room toaster! 🫣
ALT? It’s only Wednesday, (maybe “a computer key”) CHA? “Hornets”(“when repeated thrice a Cuban dance”?)
RUBBER TIRES as “swings”. Make sure the stem isn’t along the seat OUCH. That was the problem when we only had old inner tubes as floats at the beach. Watch out or you’d get the stem poking into your ribs.
Will hit 75 in central NY today! 🌴🦩🏖️
We're also looking for 75 this afternoon -- cold front arrived yesteray.
DeleteFor any Baseball fans, Max Sherzer has heterochromia. FWIW.
ReplyDeleteToday we get a nice double theme puzzle made crunchy using a few proper names. Few people think of RUBBER as a crop but the trees are farmed just like other crops. But to FIR was easy. Actresses-REYES, ORTEGA, & ARNOLD were filled by perps. Do they get their wrinkle remover from ROC?
ReplyDeleteTCBY- I'm with Moe; never heard of the Pinkberry chain of stores.
I don't have an ALT because I don't have a primary social media account.
I doubt many people outside of Spain know that of LAPALMA or that it has a large telescope. Mountaintop sites on isolated Islands are great locations for observatories. Away from bright lights and above the clouds.
One grandson graduated from Jesuit HS in NOLA. The LOYOLA HS in Shreveport was named Jesuit when I was in HS. Before that it was called St. John's.
" Loyola University Chicago has the largest enrollment of the four primary Loyola colleges"- in NOLA's Loyola U., other than the law school, it has become an arts focused college that doesn't give students any grade less than a CEE
That was me above. Keep forgetting.
DeleteAs Pogo would say, "Friday come on a Wednesday this week". 17 minutes to FWH. I needed red-letter help and even then needed two alpha-runs. I count 18 names. How are "Loyola" and "Nehi" not names? They are not names of PEOPLE, but they are still names. Anyway, DNK 9 of these, which made for a tough CW.
ReplyDelete"RUBBER TIRES". Are there other kinds of tires? And rubber tires do not have valve stems.
I have never seen the word "PAEANS" before. Hmmm.
1A: "Shot in the dark" = STAB. I'd just as soon NOT be shot OR stabbed, thank you very much, whether it's dark or bright.
Best clue = Old timer.
Thanx, RJS, not the most fun I've had on a CW, but not the least, either. PLEASE try to control yourself with all the names in the future.
CMOE, terrific write-up. It didn't seem in any way abbreviated. I especially like the Moe-Ku for NUANCE. Thanx.
I started my "old timer" with SAND... thinking some sort of hourglass, but the rest of Ricky's puzzle was a pretty good time.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to learn that COFFEE ROLLS weren't simply a pastry served with coffee, but ones with an espresso flavor. Now I wondering why since they're often served with coffee anyway.
You did fine today, CM. Fav Moe-ku was the post-Halloween ghost one.
I too am curious how Ricky pronounces his name, IMWTK. There are days I feel like I am the only regular who watches television. I knew Techina Arnold but didn't know I knew her as I recognize her from her portrayal of Tina on The Neighborhood, Cedric the Entertainer's wife. I know Pinkberry from Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm . I suppose none of the other posters know Max Greenfield, or Beth Behrs though Kat Demmings has been in a puzzle we discussed. Thanks Ricky, stop by and get to know us, we are an interesting group.
ReplyDeleteI love the theme clues/fills of this puzzle! Took me just the right amount of time & effort to suss it out—!!& then I grinned ;-D
ReplyDelete“RUBBER” took bitta work to remember the “B” of TCBY, and my brain was stuck on food 🤷♀️ crops for a few seconds (well, quite a few seconds) - then B-ingo!
I also love the Moe-kus & limerick!!
Thx to all
Happy humpday! We think we are pretty "hip and happening" as DH likes to say, but COFFEE ROLLS are news to me. Changed "psalms" to PAEANS. DNK Ms ORTEGA or CHA, but FIR. Many thanks to Ricky and Moe.
ReplyDeleteGood Afternoon:
DeleteLate to the dance due to retina specialist appointment * and lunch with my niece and sister, my chauffeurs.
I am a big fan of Ricky’s work but this one just didn’t click with me. Too many unknowns, e.g., Reyes, TCBY, as clued, Triassic, Eye Colors, Arnold, Roc, Ortega, and LaPalma. In addition, I found the theme and themers on the “stretchy” side due to the unfamiliar Coffee Rolls and the Cotton Balls that started as Swabs. Even though I finished w/o help, I struggled more than a Wednesday puzzle warrants. I look forward to some future, more Ricky-like offerings in the future.
Thanks, Ricky, and thanks, Moe, for the humorous and informative recap. Your theme explanation answered any questions or doubts I had about this unusual offering.
*Anyone interested in the latest treatment for macular degeneration can email me and I’ll relay the information which I learned today.
Have a great day.
Hola! (Yawn) I stayed up way too late watching the election results. But the puzzle was easy enough that it did not require too much effort. Except for GLORIA Estefan, the other names are unfamiliar to me. CROP CIRCLES have been featured on some of the British shows that I watch.
ReplyDeleteWith two nephews in Charlotte, NC, of course, I know the Hornets.
NEHI always makes me think of Radar on MASH.
I have the best SON-IN-LAW in the world, IMO.
One of my nieces has a son who was born on LEAP DAY. He celebrates his birthday either the 27th or 28th
Nice CSO to Gary at OMAHA.
Enjoy your day, everyone! Whew I'm so glad the electioneering is over!
hew!