YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
This is John Kugelman's debut puzzle for the LA Times, but HE ( I checked, just to be sure this time ) has had several published in other places - from what I can see, he has constructed mostly Sunday grids - today's puzzle is 15 x 16, with mirror symmetry; somewhat Saturday in nature, and all we are missing is the "Z" for a pangram~! No circles, a fair number of names, 30 TLWs, and a geometrical theme of 'boxy' morsels for the three meals of the day - breakfast, lunch and dinner, in order. Well done~! The three polygonal treats and the reveal;
19. Breakfast: cereal: RICE CHEX
31. Lunch: fast-food sandwich: WENDY'S BURGER
52. Dinner: seafood pasta: LOBSTER RAVIOLI
My plates are square, too - but don't rotate in the microwave :7((
63. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or what 19-, 31-, and 52-Across literally are:
THREE SQUARE MEALS
Now that's my idea of a "Square Meal", but my trainer keeps telling me
I have to stop hanging with the baron - the Red Baron, that is
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Makeshift instrument: JUG - I had "JIG" to start, thinking of a woodworking instument - and they're usually makeshift
4. Chess champion Garry: KASPAROV - name #1 - I do the DOWN clues first, so half of this was already filled in
12. First down yardage amount: TEN - we're in July - just two months to football season~!
15. "Float like a butterfly" boxer: ALI - name #2, but a crossword staple
16. Forget to set the oven timer, maybe: OVERBAKE - surprised to find out this is a unique fill
17. Wrath: IRE
18. "Headbangers Ball" airer: MTV - I want my MTV~! This was about the only segment I could watch
Most of the intro clips were S.O.D. songs - I'd link "What's That Noise" - but NSFW
20. Gaping opening: MAW - ooops - I put in GAP, but those three letters start the clue
21. Made, as beer: BREWED
23. Reader's __: DIGEST
25. Malia's sister: SASHA - name(s) #3 - the Obama kids
26. "A Fine Romance" composer Jerome: KERN - name #4 - I have heard of this guy, despite never seeing/hearing anything from him - but I now know he wrote some classic musical pieces
30. "No __": "Perfect!": NOTES - this is new for me; any review or evaluation with "no notes" is a good thing - e.g., a script
Autumn At Apple Hill - The Hallmark Channel
34. Gravitate (toward): LEAN
36. Camry competitor: ALTIMA - Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan
I am partial to Toyota - I drive a Prius "C" 2, and I would definitely get THIS
37. Seemingly never-ending story: SAGA - I love Star Wars, but even I am getting overwhelmed with the amount of "universe" that is presented to us
40. Poison __: IVY - either this or OAK - I guessed correctly
41. Letter between pi and sigma: RHO
42. Cyclops feature: EYE
44. Sacred oath: VOW
45. Curriculum __: VITAE - Latin for 'course of life', it's a detailed resume, essentially
47. Backside: REAR
50. First-year cadet: PLEBE
55. "That's my experience too": "I CAN RELATE."
56. Like windshields on winter mornings: ICED UP - God bless the fact that I can NOT relate to this - my Prius and Dodge Grand Caravan ( I call them Pixie and Daphne ) are both parked in my garage; they no longer "ICE UP", and in the winter, get COLDER as I drive to work~! I had one of the guys at the pipe organ place suggest leaving the van out for a bigger workshop - I never had a garage growing up, so I am using it for its intended purpose.
59. Like 1% milk: LOW-FAT
68. Org. chasing Jason Bourne: CIA - I have seen the movies, and I think they have the best edited fight scenes of any movie out there - this one from the Bourne Supremacy; I need to read the books now
WARNING~! - Some violence
69. Opening stage: ROUND ONE
70. Letters on Megan Rapinoe's jersey: USA - name(ish) - I had _ S A, so . . . .
71. Contains: HAS
72. Heard things?: NOISES
73. Neither partner: NOR - or SWEdish partner~?
DOWN:
1. Places for mezuzahs: JAMBS - I learned this from working on a movie set back in 1997; I was tasked with making one that would crumble, indicating a "bad sign" to our Rabbi; a girl named Susan May came up with one she "OVER BAKED", the director loved it, and used hers instead; I was very jealous . . . .
The meaning/use of a mezuzah
2. Extreme: ULTRA
3. Steps aside for: GIVES WAY TO - $2 fill, but not a unique one
4. The "K" of K-drama: KOREAN - Figured it was the same as "K-POP"
5. Eager: AVID
6. "Wait just a __": "SEC~!"
7. Beginning of history?: PRE - PREhistory
8. Kimmel's network: ABC - Dah~! I thought he was N - b - c
9. Rally cry: RAH~!
10. Approved: OKed
11. Like some brain teasers: VEXING - also a unique fill; huh.
12. Leap years?: TIME TRAVEL - yes, very clever
13. Rub out: ERASE
14. Stream skitterers: NEWTS - I tried ROCKS, as in skipping
22. Line on an invite: WHEN - my brother's wedding is when~? The Saturday after next
24. "Who __ there?": GOES - "It is I, Arthur..."
"No, they'd have to have it on a line..."
26. Son of Han Solo and Princess Leia: KYLO REN - name #5, from the Star Wars sequels
27. Approximate fig.: ESTimate
28. Hitter's stat: RBI
29. Digit: NUMERAL - Ah. I could not get NUMBER to fit
32. "Well, lah-di-__!": DAH~! - not the same as my "Dah~!" of poorly chosen fill . . . .
33. Cartilaginous fish that may have a whiplike tail: RAY - Dah~! Not EEL
34. Tyler of "The Leftovers": LIV - name #6 - I figured it was HER, but waited on crossings
35. Really bad: EVIL
38. Mongolian desert: GOBI - name(ish)
39. Wonderment: AWE
41. One running toward disaster, presumably: RESCUER
43. Embodiment: EPITOME - the embodiment of beauty, IMHO
46. Put up with: ABIDE
48. Goof up: ERR
49. "__ you sure?": "ARE~?"
51. Lerner's partner on Broadway: LOEWE - name(s) #7 - more here
53. Tests, as a microphone: TAPS ON - not CHECKS
54. "La Bamba" singer Ritchie: VALENS - name #8, but this one I knew
56. Hydrocortisone cream target: ITCH - oh, right, that's not for an ACHE
57. Kombucha seeds: CHIA - filled via perps
58. Presidential spans: ERAS
60. Half-man, half-goat: FAUN - I wanted Satyr, but this works too - the Wiki
61. "Plus ... ": ALSO...
62. Russian monarch: TSAR
64. Status __: QUO
65. Oxford, e.g., to locals: UNIversity - British, as opposed to American "college"
66. Podcast interrupters: ADS
67. Tobiko or masago: ROE - again, filled via perps; sort of Saturday cluing, IMO
Splynter
