The best title for this puzzle would have to simply be the reveal, COME TOGETHER, because the circled letters spell COME as they slowly come together in each theme clue/answer.
20 Across. Question, as the opposing side's witness: CROSS EXAMINE.
34 Across. Settings that reinforce personal biases: ECHO CHAMBERS.
41 Across. Tool for monitoring blood sugar levels: GLUCOSE METER.
55 Across. Classic Beatles song, or an apt description of the progression of this puzzle's circles: COME TOGETHER.
Nothing as dubious as the above raccoon seems to be planning, just a well crafted puzzle from Matthew Luter. You can find his website here.Across: 1. Baked desserts: PIES.
29. Cell service letters: LTE. LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. It is the standard 4G wireless technology that powers your mobile internet, streaming, and calls when you are not connected to Wi-Fi. It delivers fast, reliable data speeds that are significantly smoother than older 3G networks.
30. List-ending abbr.: ETC. (as long as we are explaining abbreviations:) Etc. stands for the Latin phrase et cetera, which translates literally to "and the rest" or "and other things" in English.
Katie Hale, assistant crossword editor of the Los Angeles Times and today's constructor, starts the week on a grounded note, with a very down-to-earth puzzle. The big reveal of the theme occurs here:
54-Across. Fashion house release with autumnal colors, or what the ends of 20-, 34-, and 41-Across are: FALL COLLECTION. This reviewer is familiar with the cycle of seasonal fashion collections, but the answers referenced here contain a collection of synonyms for a different kind of FALL -- the kind where you plummet to earth.
20-Across. Official clearance to miss class: PERMISSION SLIP. I remember needing this type of note from the teacher if I had to be in the hallway after the bell rang. But like so many words in English, SLIP has another meaning -- it's a synonym for FALL.
34-Across. Perform dramatic flips down a sprung track: POWER TUMBLE. A sprung track is an elevated runway with flexible fiberglass rods or steel springs beneath a padded surface to provide the rebound necessary for the multiple high-speed flips and twists of power tumbling. (Congrats if you knew this!) And TUMBLE is another synonym for FALL.
41-Across. Outdoor family getaway: CAMPING TRIP. I don't go camping with my mom anymore, but I did make a TRIP to the ER with her a couple of weeks ago when she TRIPped. You will have noticed that TRIP is another synonym for FALL.
As we get older, FALLing is our Kryptonite. Steady on your feet, there, Solvers! Let's make our way carefully through the rest of the clues and answers.
Across:
1. Stylish and classy: CHIC.
5. Olivia Rodrigo album with the hit "Vampire": GUTS. If you say so! Solved with perps (perpendicular entries). Here's the official video (with some language not for kids):
9. PD boss: SARGE. A Sergeant (SARGE) supervises Detectives and Uniformed Officers, but ranks beneath a Lieutenant, Captain, Commander, Deputy Chief (or Assistant Chief), and the Chief of Police. Your Police Department may vary.
14. Nike's Swoosh, for one: LOGO.
15. Fairy tale brute: OGRE.
16. "Stop the launch!": ABORT.
17. Wall St. investment opportunities: IPOS. Initial Public Offerings. These are the moments when private companies transition to publicly traded entities by selling shares on a public stock exchange. This is also when early investors in the private companies can recoup their money and get out.
18. "The Keep" novelist Jennifer: EGAN. Ms Egan's 2006 gothic horror thriller was a national bestseller.
19. Makers of mysterious footprints in the Himalayas: YETIS. You remember Yeti; he's the Himalyan counterpart of our North American Bigfoot (AKA Sasquatch).
Yeti and Bigfoot
20. [Theme clue]
23. Little hellion: IMP.
24. Basketball three-pointer: TREY. "Trey" is basketball slang for a three-point shot.
25. Happens: OCCURS. Stuff occurs.
28. "As you wish": SO BE IT.
33. NHL great Bobby: ORR. A retired champion of the National Hockey League, who is still a favorite in crossword grids.
Bobby Orr, 1970
34. [Theme clue]
37. CBS military law drama: NCIS. This series portrays a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I delegate the watching thereof to DH.
39. Small battery size: AAA.
40. Nintendo consoles with balance boards: WIIS.
Life is but a dream ... or a video game.
41. [Theme clue]
46. Actress Dennings: KAT. Kat Dennings is an American actress known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film and television franchise beginning with Thor (2011).
Kat Dennings in 2 Broke Girls
47. Madrid's naciΓ³n: ESPAΓA.
Madrid is magnificent.
48. Happened after: ENSUED.
50. Boast: BRAG.
53. Bowling pin count: TEN.
54. [Theme clue]
61. Amazon basin bean: CACAO.
Cacao pods and beans
62. Trash: RUIN. As a verb, "trash" means to throw away, destroy, or severely criticize something. DH and I once suffered through a night in Reno when the hotel guests in the room next to ours trashed the place, and security personnel seemed loathe to interfere. Staff members were removing broken furniture from that room when we ventured out in the morning.
63. Org. with a "Know Your Rights" handbook: ACLU. The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the U.S. constitution.
64. Opener: INTRO.
65. __ off: angry: TEED. Everyone seems to agree that this expression came from golf, but it's hard to understand how. The nearest I can come is that when you take a hard swing at someone or something -- even if you use your words! -- you're pretty angy.
66. Bog material: PEAT. A bog is a wetland where partially decayed plant matter accumulates over thousands of years, forming PEAT. The water in a bog comes almost entirely from rainfall, and is acidic. Specialized plants thrive in the low oxygen bog, and their remains trap vast amounts of carbon, helping to regulate the global climate. Ireland has famously harvested peat for centuries as an energy source, but is now closing its commercial peat bog operations to slow climate change.
Soaring oil prices have contributed to individuals harvesting peat, even while commercial operations are closed by the government.
67. Black tea variety: ASSAM.
68. Puts in: ADDS.
69. Ice cream brand: EDY'S. We never see EDY'S in L.A. The same company is called Dreyer's here.
Down:
1. Trim, as fingernails: CLIP.
2. "Fingers crossed" feeling: HOPE.
3. "The Rite of Spring" composer Stravinsky: IGOR. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was a composer and conductor. His ballet "The Rite of Spring" caused a near-riot at its Paris premiere in 1913 due to its modernist music and choreography.
Igor Stravinsky
4. Astronomical: COSMIC.
5. Becomes a paid athlete: GOES PRO.
6. Fluffy winter boots: UGGS. "Ugg boots" have a long history in Australia, and have been commercially manufactured there since the 1930s, but the UGG brand was founded in Santa Monica, California in 1978 and primarily marketed to surfers, who were the main users of ugg boots in Australia. I bought Darling Daughter's first pair in a surf shop in L.A. -- but I did once visit New Jersey and see groups of tween girls wearing them in the mall in the winter.
UGG boots in their natural habitat
7. Characteristic: TRAIT.
8. Mister, in 47-Across: SEΓOR.
9. "Well, that's not what I think": SAYS YOU.
10. Eve's second son: ABEL.
Abel and Cain
11. Indian flatbread: ROTI.
12. Customizable part of a tennis racket: GRIP.
13. Non-earthlings, for short: ETS. Extraterrestrials.
21. Post-alarm utterance: I'M UP.
22. Wasp's home: NEST.
25. Two-tone ocean predators: ORCAS.
26. Pinch closed, as pie crust: CRIMP.
Basic crimping technique
27. __ bag: party favors: SWAG.
29. Audi competitor: BMW.
30. Chargeable transport: E-BIKE.
31. Homeric saga about the Trojan War: ILIAD.
32. Evaluate: TEST.
33. "In the past ... ": ONCE.
35. Have dinner: EAT.
36. Not often seen: RARE.
38. Mud wrap venue: SPA.
42. Like a flower garden during spring: IN BLOOM.
43. Drug cop: NARC. Narcotics officer. Baby boomers also used NARC as a verb meaning to snitch on someone, especially in regard to drug use.
The tee shirt says "Don't be a narc."
44. Means (to): INTENDS.
45. Fraction of a min.: PSEC. A picosecond is a unit of time equal to one trillionth of a second.
49. Take off a certain adhesive: UNTAPE.
51. Major artery: AORTA.
52. Put on a certain adhesive: GLUED.
54. Ardent supporters: FANS.
55. Performs in a play: ACTS.
56. Video game archaeologist Croft: LARA. Lara Croft is the main protagonist of the video game franchise Tomb Raider. She made the leap to film in 2001, portrayed by Angelina Jolie.
Lara Croft as she appears in the video games
57. Wasn't honest: LIED.
58. Frosted, as a cake: ICED.
59. Regenerist brand: OLAY.
Being a woman requires specialized lotions for various body parts.
60. Snack bowl filler: NUTS.
61. Spy org.: CIA.
Here's the grid:
Solvers,
I DNK (did not know) "The Keep" novelist Jennifer EGAN, the basketball three-pointer TREY, what a sprung track is or the POWER TUMBLE that takes place thereon, or actress KAT Dennings, even though I've covered her in a previous blog post. I found the middle east block pretty tough, where TUMBLE and KAT both lived. I'd say that Katie's puzzle was challenging for a Monday! On the other hand, I FIR (finished it right), thanks to perps (perpendicular entries) and the occasional WAG (wild ass guess).
How about you? Were you FANS of this puzzle? Were you NUTS about it?
Or did you go down to RUIN and defeat, and get TEED off by the exercise?
Saturday Themeless by Doug Peterson and Sam Donaldson
Two veteran constructors give us this very nice puzzle on this very special Fourth of July! The two song references were not in my knowledge bank but they did come to heel eventually. I will mention all the devious cluing in my write-up.
Across:
1. Scratch pads?: CAT TREES - Here's a deluxe model. Our lily has CAT TREES but none this elaborate.
9. Coastal region along the Santa Lucia Mountains: BIG SUR.
15. Backspin producer?: REAR AXLE π A car's REAR AXLE does make its back wheels spin
16. Coffee drink made with a frother: FRAPPE.
17. Coldplay hit co-produced by Avicii: A SKY FULL OF STARS ¯\_(γ)_/¯ I had to nurse this answer along as the cells filled. Avicii??
19. Low digit?: TOE.
20. Brand whose logo adorns Argentine soccer jerseys: ADIDAS.
21. Lake just south of London: ERIE - Oh, London, Ontario! An old cwd fill dressed up in fun new cluing!
22. Market openings, briefly: IPOS.
24. Heroic poetry: EPOS. - Yeah, I stayed with EPIC for a long time. The difference
25. Fig. in a background check: SSN.
26. Like Pluto, once: NINTH.
28. Hook's boatswain: SMEE.
30. Germ: SEED.
31. Series opener: GAME ONE - This 1903 World Series ticket to GAME ONE between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates is worth $270,000 today.
33. School zone sign: SLOW.
35. For the first time: NEWLY - Some NEWLY hired teachers feel they must be very 36. No-nonsense: STERN.
39. Socket set: EYES π
41. Platform for content creators: PATREON - ¯\_(γ)_/¯ Patreon is a media and community platform where creators give their biggest fans access to exclusive work and experiences.More
43. Bracelet component: BEAD.
46. Towering: TALL.
48. Not perfectly round: OVATE - Pluto's extremely OVATE orbit is one of the reasons it is not considered to be a true planet.
49. NYC setting: EST.
50. Football coach Pederson: DOUG - Coaching has its highs and lows
52. Gouda alternative: EDAM.
53. Alexa device: ECHO.
55. Like 56-Down: FANGED and 56. "Hotel Transylvania" protagonist: DRAC.
57. Purple yam used in desserts: UBE.
58. "Seven Nation Army" band: THE WHITE STRIPES - ¯\_(γ)_/¯ Jack White has stated that the song's lyrics tell the story of a man who discovers people gossiping about him in his hometown, which forces him to leave, only to return later out of loneliness
61. "Vacancy" singer Ari: LENNOX ¯\_(γ)_/¯
62. Trattoria tubes: RIGATONI - The third item down on this Trattoria lunch menu.
63. Apples in the trash, e.g.: E-WASTE - After using Apple products for over 30 years, I'd have a big pile of E-WASTE. I wish I still had my old AppleII+
64. Fourth of July treats: SNO CONES π
Down:
1. Packing: CRATING - Packing can involve using a crate
2. Using coded language: AESOPIAN.
3. 1980s hit whose video drew a lot of attention?: TAKE ON ME - Very unique use of live performances and pencil drawings.
4. Tax: TRY - Hard times can be said to be very taxing or TRYING
5. Rival of The Djoker and Fed Express: RAFA - Tennis great Novak Djokovic has the nickname of The Joker and another great, Roger Federer has the nickname of The Fed Express. They both had great matches against Rafael Nadl whose nickname is RAFA.
Federer Nadal Djokovic
6. Ooze: EXUDE.
7. Shape with minor and major axes: ELLIPSE.
8. Hardly ever: SELDOM.
9. Ride-or-dies, for short: BFFS. π
10. Org. whose first commissioner was former treasury secretary George S. Boutwell: IRS - ¯\_(γ)_/¯ He was appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to establish the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, which was renamed the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, in 1918.
11. Flight board info: GATE.
12. Few and far between: SPARSE.
13. Revolt: UPRISE.
14. Email again: RESEND.
18. Palm springs?: OASES.
23. Worried: STEWED.
27. "__ guacamole!": HOLY.
29. Queen who appears at Epcot's Royal Sommerhus: ELSA.
Anna ELSA
30. Sharp turn: SWERVE.
32. Russian refusal: NYET.
34. 2022 title role for Tom Hanks: OTTO - A premise that is very similar to Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino
37. Learn by the book?: READ UP ON - Maybe you should do some more reading.
38. Latin attention-getter: NOTA BENE - "Note well" in Italiano. abbreviated N.B. "N.B. All applications must be submitted by Friday at 5:00 PM.
40. Anwar who wrote "Revolt on the Nile": SADAT.
41. Connects: PLUGS IN.
42. Itchy, to Scratchy: NEMESIS.
43. Grown-up grub: BEETLE - Not food for adults π
44. Refrain from: ESCHEW.
45. Zeus's brain child?: ATHENA -According to the myth, she literally burst forth fully grown and armed from Zeus's forehead (or skull).
47. Solitary sorts: LONERS.
51. Onset: GET GO.
54. __ up to: OWNS.
55. Prix __: FIXE - A fixed or set price for the entire meal
