Buenos dias, y feliz cinco de mayo, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here at the 19th hole. That's a good place to be today as a cerveza or two would certainly help get through all the verbiage that follows. I have tried to pare it down but this was a puzzle that I found to be more easily solved than succinctly explained.
The Northeast quadrant sets the stage for today's outing with a single pair of intersecting clues/answers. Fore!
11 Down: With 16-Across, 9-, 37-, or 71-Across, for any given hole: GOLF, and
16 Across: See 11-Down: SCORE.
Apparently, as we fill in the squares, we will reveal themed answers, strewn about the puzzle, that riff on GOLF SCOREs . Let's see how this plays.
At three places within the grid our puzzle setter, Ashleigh Silveira (in what may be her LAT debut), has placed answers that are terms for taking either more, or fewer, strokes than par to complete a hole of golf. For the non-golfers among you, each hole in golf has a par determined by the course architect or by the golf course PGA pro. This is the number of strokes you are supposed to take to play the hole. This means that on a Par Four hole you are expected to hit a tee shot and then land your second shot on the putting green. Your are then given two putts to make your par. On a Par Three hole you are expected to land your tee shot on the green and then two-putt for your par.
Here are the three GOLF SCORE terms found within the puzzle:
9 Across: Term illustrated by the starts of 39- and 44-Across: BOGEY.
37 Across: Term illustrated by the starts of 17- and 20-Across: BIRDIE.
71 Across: Term illustrated by parts of 61- and 67-Across: EAGLE.
At three other places within the grid we find the definitions of the above terms. These definitions are given in a clever manner.
A BOGEY is the term, in golf, for taking one more stroke than par to complete the hole. At 39 and 44 Across we see that we have the word ONE positioned directly above (over) the word PAR.
Therefore, we have: ONE over PAR = BOGEY
A BIRDIE is the term for taking one less stroke than par. At 17 and 20 Across we see that we have the word ONE positioned directly below (under) the word PAR.
Therefore, we have ONE under PAR = BIRDIE
An EAGLE is the term for taking two less strokes than par. At 61 and 67 Across we see that we have the word TWO positioned directly below (under) the word PAR.
Et voila, we have TWO under PAR = EAGLE
As the saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words so let's take a look at how all of this appears in the finished puzzle:
Across:
1. Ewes' guys: RAMS. An ovine reference. Ashleigh, or Patti, could have gone with a reference to the recent Super Bowl champions. As it is, the clue is a nice riff on gangster movie slang.
5. Jazz great James: ETTA. A frequent visitor.
14. Director Kazan: ELIA. A frequent visitor.
15. Some skinny jeans: LEES. LEVIS wouldn't quite fit.
17. __ paper: baking layer: PARCHMENT. Often used to prevent sticking and/or burning.
19. DuVernay film set in Alabama: SELMA.
Ava DuVernay
20. Diamond gems: ONE HITTERS. Misdirection. A baseball, not jewelry, reference.
22. Way, way off: AFAR. Or a Dickens line. It is a far far better thing . . .
23. Mood-stabilizing hormone: SEROTONIN. Also known as 5-Hydroxytryptamine but that wouldn't fit the allotted space.
25. Ante-: PRE. Both mean before/prior to when used as a PREfix.
28. Solidify: SET. Hand up for GEL as an initial guess.
A Three Minute (Not Three Hour) Tour
30. Place for a stay: INN. The worst motel I ever stayed at was called "The Fiddle". It was a vile INN.
33. Souvlaki meat: LAMB. Do the "folks" at 1 Across know about this?
35. Put away the groceries?: EAT. Colloquialism
39. Outwit: ONE UP. Colloquialism
41. Cybergiggle: LOL. Laugh Out Loud
43. Dirties: SOILS.
44. Package: PARCEL.
46. Director Anderson: WES. Among other films he directed: The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, Rushmore and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
48. Symbol on the Flash's chest: BOLT. Lightning BOLT. The Flash himself visited us last Friday.
49. Farm pen: STY.
50. Siete menos cinco: DOS. Today's second Spanish lesson. Seven minus five equals two.
52. Cable channel with a "superstar" wine club: TCM. Turner Classic Movies
54. Univ. aides: TAS. Teaching AssisstantS. Yet another pluralized abbreviation.
55. Initiates legal action: FILES SUIT.
58. Red outside, maybe: RIPE. See also 58 Down. Nice cluing.
61. Complex units: APARTMENTS. Rental units in an apartment complex.
65. Watchdog breed: AKITA.
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Not Much of a Deterrent
67. Cheaters: TWO TIMERS. To deceive or double cross. Usually used with reference to infidelity.
68. Kidney-related: RENAL.
69. "__ cost you!": IT'LL.
70. Bog fuel: PEAT. Sometimes PEAT smoke is used to stop the malting process. This makes for some very tasty whisky. Just ask my friend Shaun The Sheep.
72. Kenneth of fashion: COLE.
73. Dessert brand: EDY'S.
Down:
21. Slight: SNUB. Not as in "just a little bit". A brush off.
24. Mystery writer Johansen: IRIS. She has written many, many books.
31. Nabisco wafer brand: NILLA.
36. Haul: TOW.
38. Corddry of HBO's "Ballers": ROB. Not familiar with him. Thanks, perps.
40. Mani-__: PEDI.
The Kinks Top Ten Hits
57. ASU's home: TEMPE. TEMPE, Arizona
1. Default action, briefly: REPO. REPOsession. That's what happens when the demon returns after the initial exorcism.
2. "Einstein's Dreams" novelist Lightman: ALAN. Years ago I read a roadtrip book called Driving Einstein's Brain. The title is self-explanatory.
3. Swampy land: MIRE.
4. Goldman __: SACHS. Investment bankers.
5. Target of some bark beetles: ELM TREE.
6. Stay dry?: TEETOTAL. Dry as in no alcohol.
7. Core belief: TENET.
8. Team that lost the 2019 World Series to the Nationals: ASTROS. Another baseball reference. The team that won the 2017 World Series has been dubbed the Houston Asterisks.
9. Some coll. degrees: BSS. We also saw this answer exactly two weeks ago.
10. "Channel Orange" Grammy winner Frank: OCEAN.
Frank Ocean
12. Writer Bombeck: ERMA. I often forget if it's ERMA or EMMA. Or, IRMA.
13. 2022, e.g.: YEAR. Not EVEN?
18. Goes quickly: HIES.
21. Slight: SNUB. Not as in "just a little bit". A brush off.
24. Mystery writer Johansen: IRIS. She has written many, many books.
25. Falls heavily: PLOPS.
Plop Plop Fizz Fizz
26. Charged: RAN AT. One of those answers where you find yourself wondering, upon reviewing your work, what the heck is a RANAT?
27. __ board: EMERY. First thought of SKATE. PAROLE was too long.
30. "Canadian __": "Weird Al" parody of a Green Day song: IDIOT. A parody of the Green Day song "American Idiot".
(Some of) Weird Al's Greatest Hits
31. Nabisco wafer brand: NILLA.
32. Mouse pads?: NESTS. Misdirection. We were supposed to think of the computer peripherals. What kind of work does a mouse do? Mousework.
34. Tampa NFLer: BUC. The BUCcaneers of the National Football League
38. Corddry of HBO's "Ballers": ROB. Not familiar with him. Thanks, perps.
40. Mani-__: PEDI.
42. "Time to bounce": LETS ROLL. The Urban Dictionary tells us that BOUNCE can mean "to arrive at or leave a destination". New to this marine mammal.
45. 1970 Kinks hit: LOLA. LOLA can be found at the 2:33 mark below.
The Kinks Top Ten Hits
47. Sink on purpose: SCUTTLE.
Scuttle A Captured Enemy Ship - 1947
51. __ tank: SEPTIC. Today's let's-skip-the-visual-on-this-one moment.
53. "The Emancipation of __": Mariah Carey album: MIMI.
55. Prenatal: FETAL. Note the prefix.
56. Took care of: SAW TO.
58. Red inside, maybe: RARE. See also 58 Across. Nice.
59. SUNDVIK baby furniture retailer: IKEA. Never heard of SUNDVIK but what else could the answer be? Please pass the meatballs.
60. __-pong: PING. First thought of BEER
62. Requirement: NEED.
63. Highchair surface: TRAY.
64. Retired jets: SSTS. Airplanes often seen flying around in crossword puzzles. Yet another pluralized abbreviation (Four letters, three being S. Quite useful for a constructor).
66. Flagon fill: ALE.
A Flagon To Be Filled
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