Puzzling Thoughts: Happy New Year, Cornerites. I guess that since this is my first blog of 2024 I can still utter this cordial wish. That said, did we have to start the New Year with such a difficult Friday puzzle? Or did you find both the puzzle AND the reveal/theme easy? Well, I didn't. I had a few minutes to collect my thoughts after solving the grid before writing this blog ... and my thought was, "what happened to the puns/wordplay or the add/subtract letter puzzles that were standard Friday fare in 2023"??
So first, let's find out about the collaborators for today's crossword. According to the puzzle editor, this is their debut puzzle at LA Times. Congrat's guys! A quick google check offered this info about them. Maybe if they know about us they'll stop by and give us some more input to how they came up with this puzzle, and about themselves
Today's puzzle has four 10-letter entries and a 14-letter reveal. That's a lot of characters to squeeze into a normal-sized puzzle, let alone one that's a 14x15 square grid (one column short). And because of the number of theme characters, there are a higher-than-normal count (21) of 3-letter answers (sorry, Irish Miss)
So how does this puzzle make sense to its entries and reveal? Here's how: 15-across. TV series that may have high costume budgets: DASH DRAMAS with 22-across. Recording device in a vehicle: PERIOD CAM. If you trade "DASH" (from 15-across) with "PERIOD" (from 26-across) you get "DASH CAM", which is a trademark (corporate symbol) from Garmin Dash Cam™. This supports the clue for 22-across
The "traded" pair becomes "PERIOD DRAMAS" which supports the clue for 15-across, as a period drama is a trademark (defined as "a distinctive characteristic or object) of a TV series that has lavish costumes (this: Marie Antoinette - 2006)
The next "trade" is between 34-across. (Fan-written story that romantically links same-sex characters: BRACKET FICTION) and 46-across. (Office competition during March Madness: SLASH POOL). SLASH FICTION is a common descriptor/trademark of two same sex characters - or as defined by [bustle dot com] "Slash fiction — named for the slash that separates the two main characters in the story description (for example, "Sirius Black/Severus Snape") — is a subgenre of fanfic that focuses on pairing up two characters (usually male) and describing their time together, often explicitly". This is not a phrase that the Chairman was aware of, but crossword puzzles should cater to more than one generation.
BRACKET POOL is a name known to fans of the NCAA "Final Four" men's and women's Basketball Tournament; aka "March Madness". The object here is to amass the most points within your wagering group (in this clue's case, an office of workers) by choosing the most winners within the BRACKET (see diagram). There's more to it than that, but my 2024 resolution was to be more brief in my comments ...
Still confused? If so, please add comments at the bottom. I thought it quite clever once I "got" the gist of it. Here is the grid, and then on to the rest of the clues, briefly ...
Across:
1. Nothing more than: MERE. May I ask d-otto if he got this one? I had something else scribbled into this spot until perps came into focus
5. Software-driven FX: CGI. FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. "Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in art, printed media, simulators, videos and video games. These images are either static (i.e. still images) or dynamic (i.e. moving images)." [wikipedia]
8. K-pop band with a community of fans known as ARMY: BTS. The only explanation I could find for this was at [wikipedia]: "BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material." The ARMY part of the clue (I think) is based on ""RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook (band members) will fulfill their required time with the military by enlisting in the army. RM and V will be enlisting according to their respective procedures, while Jimin and Jung Kook are scheduled to enlist together," the statement read." [today dot com]
11. Colombian street snack: AREPA. Also available in Venezuela. I had my first arepa at one of the Autopista (3-down. Stops on the interstate:) REST AREAS located west of Caracas
13. Laptop slot: PORT. PORT, as in a USB Port, e.g. Chairman Moe knows that PORT can also mean a fortified wine
14. Sass: LIP.
17. Alias indicator: AKA. What Chairman Moe is
18. Lag: TRAIL. Follow me on this; don't LAG too far behind ...
19. Uses one's noggin: THINKS.
21. Bun in a bamboo steamer: BAO. This is fast becoming crossword-ese
24. Radish kin: TURNIP. The Chairman loves radishes but can't stand TURNIPs
26. Digging: INTO. A hipster's description
27. "There you __!": ARE. Maybe I should've placed this clue/answer at the end of my blog ...
28. Energy bar brand: CLIF. KIND and LUNA also fit here
30. Crypto-linked collectibles: Abbr.: NFTS. "NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and cannot be replicated. NFTs can represent digital or real-world items like artwork and real estate"
38. Mediocre: SO SO. Might some of our followers of this blog describe today's puzzle thusly?
39. "Hey, you!": PSST.
40. Regret: RUE.
41. Like Robin Hood's beneficiaries: POOR. Good clue
44. Military directives: ORDERS.
50. Printing measures longer than ens: EMS. Does anyone else recall when the words "ENS" and "EMS" were part of the crossword puzzle lexicon?
51. Gibson of the "Fast & Furious" films: TYRESE. I had to look this one up
52. Parkinson's drug: L-DOPA. We haven't seen this clue/answer in a published puzzle in a few years; sadly (on a personal note) my mother may have to be prescribed with this as she is exhibiting Parkinson's desease symptoms
54. Do one's part?: ACT. Nice mis-direction; doing one's part - in a play - is ACTing
59. Tax org.: IRS.
60. Regatta equipment: OARS.
61. "Good __!": GRIEF. I witnessed this expression often when watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" during the holiday season
62. Bit of sunshine: RAY. The word "RAY" brought to mind this comedy sketch:
63. Trident-shaped letter: PSI. [wikipedia] "Psi /ˈ(p)saɪ, ˈ(p)siː/ (P)SY, (P)SEE (uppercase Ψ, lowercase ψ or 𝛙; Greek: ψι psi [ˈpsi]) is the twenty-third and penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet and is associated with a numeric value of 700. In both Classical and Modern Greek, the letter indicates the combination /ps/ (as in English word "lapse")
64. Like DoorDash meals: TO GO.
Down:
1. Hot under the collar: MAD.
2. Reliever's stat: ERA. As in MLB; a reliever's statistic can also be a "hold" or a "save" but neither of those are abbriviated; ERA = Earned Run Average
4. Writer/director Nora: EPHRON.
5. URL ender: COM. "COM" seemed too obvious, at first; I was thinking that "NET", "EDU", "ORG", or "GOV" might have been the answer
6. Potatoes au __: GRATIN. GRATIN = cheese
7. "I am melting!": IT'S HOT. We don't "melt" here in AZ when IT'S HOT because it's a "dry heat"
8. White vin: BLANC. Your resident sommelier knew this one; BLANC = white. Look at some Champagne bottles: BLANC de BLANCs means "white (juice) of white grapes". BLANC de Noir means "white (juice) of red/black grapes"
9. Marinated tandoor dish: TIKKA. As in, Chicken TIKKA Masala
10. Jerk: SPASM. TIC did not have enough letters
12. Limón who is the first Latina to be Poet Laureate of the United States: ADA.
13. Not very bright: PALE. I tried DULL, first
16. __ effect: RIPPLE.
20. Terse denial: I DON'T. "No" would be an even terser denial, but 2-letter words are verboten in crossword puzzle
21. Pack animal: BURRO.
23. Musical phrases: RIFFS.
24. Can openers: TABS. According to [Industrial Physics dot com] " it was in 1959 – First all-aluminum beer can. Ermal Fraze (Kettring, Ohio) invents the easy open can! 1960 – Easy-open can introduced. 1962 – Beverage can pull-tab was introduced
25. "How nasty": ICK. GROSS didn't fit, thank god!!
29. Genius Bar employee, e.g.: IT PRO.
31. Video game hero who defeats Goombas with flaming projectiles: FIRE MARIO.
Which corresponds with: (33-down. Classic game console, for short:) SNES. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo
32. Around-the-world jaunts: TOURS. Another fill-in-the-blank clue could've been: ___ of duty
35. Thicket: COPSE.
36. Tristan's beloved: ISOLDE.
37. Pos. for Lisa Leslie: CTR. Lisa Leslie is a WNBA player who played for the Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 to 2009 as a center (CTR). She is 6' 5" tall. The "normal" abbr. for the basketball position of center is "C", so this clue seemed "forced"
42. "You're embarrassing me!": OH,STOP!.
43. Met expectations?: OPERAS. Another clue mis-direction as Met is the nickname for the Metropolitan Opera Company
45. Leave: DEPART. EMBARK also fits
46. Flight unit: STAIR. Not an "airline" flight
47. Wetsuit material: LYCRA.
48. Quirkily creative: ARTSY.
49. Auto pioneer: OLDS. FORD also fits
53. "!!!": OMG. Odd clue; but the perps solved it
56. "Consider This" co-host Shapiro: ARI.
57. Brewpub cask: KEG.
58. OAK alternative: SFO. Airline reference; OAK is the airport code for OAKland; SFO is the airport code for San Francisco
"There you __!": ARE. Please comment below ... brief enough for you??!
