Wednesday, December 20, 2023 ~ August Miller

Uncanny Valleys

An uncanny valley is a robot eerily too close to human likeness. Masahiro Mori (of Tokyo Institute of Tech) coined the phrase in the early '70's but I think The Twilight Zone (the one w/ a Robot Mom [that's your cue CED - find us the episode if you're over Covid]) beat him to the punch by 20(ish) years.

Todays' offering by August contains three (3) four-letter synonyms for valleys. But, with circles in the grid, they are not terribly hidden. The only thing uncanny is WADI - I don't recall hearing that word [see: 47a - not a good Bible reader, me].

Let's check out the Themers...

19. High price to pay, metaphorically: AN ARM AND A LEG.

29. Star cluster that resembles a bird of prey: EAGLE NEBULA. Messier-16 (who'd love to see crosswords expand to include numbers?) didn't fit.

Looks like a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking.
Source

47. Health regimen modeled on the cuisine of Japan's Ryukyu Islands: OKINAWA DIET. New to me: "The Okinawa diet gets its name from the traditional eating style of those living on Japan’s Okinawa island. The diet is low-calorie and carb-based typically, but today consists of more protein and fat." Also new to me, WADI: "a valley that is dry except in the rainy season" It's Arabic and (according to the internet) in the Bible 11 times.

A wadi

And the reveal:
53. Salad dressing brand, and a feature of 19-, 29-, and 47-Across?: HIDDEN VALLEY.

Across:
1. Athletic brand that shares its name with a big cat: PUMA. My ankle-socks are Pumas. Get 6 pair for ~25 bucks at Amazon.

Over the ankle socks.

5. Cold desert in Asia: GOBI.

9. "Shucks!": DARN.

13. Asked for proof of age, say: IDED. "Papers Please," said the bouncer.

14. Admissions hurdle: EXAM.

15. "Let's Dance" singer David: BOWIE. Musical interlude.

R.I.P David Bowie

16. Like 9-Downs: TO GO. We'll get to DOGGY BAG in a bit.

17. Semester: TERM.

18. Super cool digs?: IGLOO.

19. [See: Theme]

22. Bell bottoms option: LEES. Lee brand jeans. I think Mom dressed me in bell bottoms when I was 6yrs old #Bicentenial #'76.

23. Pudge on an infant: BABY FAT. I was a little FAT spaghetti eatin' BABY.
//Mom has a picture of me fast asleep in my spaghetti.

27. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO.

29. [See: Theme]

32. Oscar nod, briefly: NOM. NOMination.

33. Key mistake?: TYPO. Cute.

34. "Shucks!": DRAT IT. Um, yeah, not what I exclaim.

35. Letting in a draft, maybe: AJAR.

37. Part of the "Law & Order" franchise, familiarly: SVU. Special Victim's Unit. IIRC, we had this last Wednesday.

39. Blow hard: GUST. Cute.

40. Mediterranean microstate: MONACO.

43. One-named Irish singer: ENYA.

46. Tuna roll topping: ROE. Wait for 55d...

47. [See: Theme]

49. Cease: END.

50. Screamed, perhaps: REACTED. Eek!

51. "One __ at a time": STEP. "Day" was too short.

53. [See: Theme]

58. Guiding belief: CREDO.

61. "Out! Out!": SHOO.

62. Made it: CAME. Do I link Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It"?  Um, no :-)
//Did you know he wrote the "Like a Good Neighbor" jingle for State Farm? I heard that on NPR's Fresh Air last week.

63. "Hadestown" playwright Mitchell: ANAIS.
//Youngest knows the musical.

64. Lawsuit basis: TORT.

65. Cash for cards: ANTE. Deal me in.

66. Bend out of shape: WARP. Or what you have to do to space-time to go WARP Factor 8. #StarTrek

67. Boo-boo: OWIE. A "B" short of 15a.

68. Covert convo start: PSST.

Down:
1. Bread with tzatziki: PITA. Food!

2. Japanese soup noodle: UDON. More food!

3. Grandiose delusions: MEGALOMANIA.

4. Really dig: ADORE.

5. Have one's voice heard: GET A SAY.

6. Beasts that pulled covered wagons: OXEN.

(people of a certain age get it)

7. Avon product?: BARD. Cute Shakespeare reference.

8. Third No. 1 hit for the Black Eyed Peas: IMMA BE. Do I offend your (and my) auditory sense? No, HG did that Saturday with his link when it appeared in Ryan's grid.

9. Stuffed diner's request: DOGGY BAG. 16a - TO GO.

10. Piercing tool: AWL.

Pokie tools

11. Kia model: RIO.

12. Recent prefix: NEO.

15. "Sorry" singer Justin: BIEBER. Oy! I know he's Canadian so probably a nice kid but... #noLink

20. __ and greet: MEET. #CorpHappyHour (I'm awful at these things until a 2nd beer)

21. Get, as a job: LAND. And then you have to go to [see: above]

24. "Where do you see yourself in five years" subject: FUTURE PLANS. Oy! That's an interview question before LANDing a gig. I must be a drifter 'cuz I can mostly plan for ~6 months ahead but life seems to take me where it goes. //Tell God your plans and s/he'll giggle (or something like that).

25. Brie of "Community": ALISON. This fill made me think of The Lemonheads who I saw at Bricktown Brewery in OKC in the '90s .

Alice is Starting to Happen

26. Heavily inked: TATTED. My (Army) Bro is tat'd up chest, shoulders, & back. Peed himself on his first tat, he did :-)

27. Utterly charm: ENAMOR.

28. "I swear!": NO JOKE. Anyone else hear Joe Biden's voice in the fill?... "No joke, folks. This is for real." :-)

30. Apple Maps tech: GPS. Global Positioning System. A group of satellites orbiting in Medium Earth Orbit. Read more.

31. Really dug: LOVED. If you missed last Wednesday (or many of my posts), I really dig RUSH.

36. Party bowlful from 53-Across: RANCH DIP. Hidden Valley makes a decent RANCH DIP but I like my crudités bare or with hummus.

38. College, to Brits: UNI. I learned this from BBC programmes.

41. Open-air enclosures for some pets: CATIOS. Portmanteau of Cat & Patio (I assume(?))

42. Had to pay: OWED. Oy! I just got my Christmas Amex bill. I guess I'll be back in the office come January.

44. Political endorsement: YES VOTE.

45. Poori flour: ATTA. We've had it enough in the fill, I should remember it by now.

48. Lengthens: ADDS TO.

52. Yosemite peak, familiarly: EL CAP. El Capitan - a big rock in Yosemite. I've seen it IRL and have no clue why folks would try to free-solo it.

Totally Mental!

54. DIY site: E-HOW.

55. Tuna roll wrap: NORI. Basically, seaweed. Nori is red alga (green when dried); Wakame (why am I giving constructors ideas?!?)/kelp is brown. Nori provides a wonderful chew in a sushi roll or around unagi (eel).

56. 911 responders: Abbr.: EMTS. Did we need Abbr. after 911? Emergency Medical Technicians.
//Story: In the Army Reserves, I was with a field medical unit. Many of the nurses worked their day-job as EMTs. Being a 92B (medical lab tech), during training exercises, I oft played the victim that needed care. I learned more about first aid than I ever did in Boy Scouts.
Oooh, wait... More story: One of our Scout Masters tried to show us how to fell a tree. We'd already notch'd it pretty good. His first axe swing bounced out of the notch and straight into his ankle; I took a woodchip out of his wound (I knew I really wasn't supposed to do that but it seemed the right thing at the time).
We used our cravats to stop the beading, built a stretcher out of branches and our shirts, and hiked his butt out of the woods. Later that night we had to treat him (again) for shock and send him back to the (remote-a**) hospital.
////Too graphic? -- imagine if you were 11yrs old!

57. Chuck, slangily: YEET. Someone under 30yrs-old, please explain. I only know YEET as excitement or Whoot!
//Youngest (first-read editor) knew this as "to throw." She said it is a thing and then giggled at me.
Then, my Angel Editor let me know that Merriam-Webster added it to the dictionary in 2022 as toss forcefully with the usage: "We just don't yeet it into the dictionary the first time we encounter it." [Cite]

58. Cry from a crow: CAW.

59. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA. mRNA technology is pretty magic, what, with telling your cells how to identify bad proteins. I just hope the tech doesn't go all I Am Legend on us.

Spoiler: a vaccine turns people into night stalking Zombies and Will Smith
hunts for the antidote while trying to stay alive.

60. Unit of corn: EAR.

The Grid:

The Grid

WO: open->AJAR
ESPs: IMMA BE (I did this puzzle b/f Sat's), ANAIS, ALISON, ATTA, and YEET as clued.
Fav: I'll go with David BOWIE and leave you with him & Mick.

Dancing in the Streets

Well, that was fun. You now have 4 days to bake cookies & pour milk for Santa and get some carrots* (with hummus) for the reindeer.

Cheers, -T
*nibble 'em like a squirrel might to mess with your (grand?)children's little brains come Christmas morning :-)

Thursday, June 15, 2023, August Miller

 

Today's constructor is August Miller, a Massachusetts dairy farmer who is making his 11th appearance on the Corner, and is also an NYT puzzle veteran (sorry I couldn't find the name of his dog). Today he asks us the question* ...

Well the answer to that is obvious - it was our august constructor himself!   Which of course leads to the further question ...

Where did he move it? ......

... and it will delight some that August has cleverly inserted slices of the stuff sans circles in the following theme clues ...

17A. *Fruit pastry: APRICOT TART.  Here's a recipe ...

Apricot Tart

28A. *"Star Wars" role for Oscar Isaac: POE DAMERON.  I've fallen out of touch with this franchise, but apparently it's still going on in a galaxy far, far away.  It seems that POE is a pretty intense guy and after reviewing several action videos I decided on this picture instead ...

Poe Dameron

And here's POE's favorite cheese ...

Edam Cheese

42A. *Array in some wine bars: CAFE TABLES.

Some suggested pairings for FETA cheese.

54A. *Unwanted color fluctuations, in digital photography: CHROMA NOISE.  DNK CHROMA NOISE.  Here's the ultimate guide digital photography noise reduction.  Suffice it to say that adding romano cheese to your digital photos is not going help with this problem.

Pecorino Romano was a staple in the diet for the legionaries of ancient Rome. Today, it is still made according to the original recipe and is one of Italy's oldest cheeses.  The name "pecorino" simply means "ovine" or "of sheep" in Italian.  Here are a few Pecorino Romano recipes.

Pecorino Romano

Just two weeks ago we had a puzzle about pastas.  The following option didn't make the cut, but the reveal seems to indicate that Patti has a fondness for Italian cuisine, with just a touch of Greek and Dutch tossed in for good measure ...

33A. Ravioli option, and what the answers to the starred clues literally have?: CHEESE FILLING.

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Kitten chorus: MEWS.  MEWS could also be clued as "Stables converted to residences"  ...

Horbury Mews
Notting Hill, London

5. Flirt with a new hobby: DABBLE.  I've flirted with many hobbies over the years.  I'm currently DABBLING with cruciverbalism.

11. Sandwich initials: BLT.

14. Pianist Gilels: EMIL.  EMIL Grigoryevich Gilels (19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time.  Gilels is universally admired for his superb technical control and burnished tone. His repertoire ranged from Baroque to late Romantic and 20th century classical composers.  Here he plays the Alexander Siloti transcription of Bach's Prelude in B Minor ...

15. Disinfectant brand: CLOROX.

16. __ de parfum: EAU.  Here's a good reason for Google to integrate a scratch and sniff app into Blogger.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Space race?: ETS.

20. Stan Musial's nickname: THE MAN.  Stanley Frank Musial (born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent hitters in baseball history, Musial spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1941 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1963, before becoming a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Stan "The Man" Musial

21. Tile type: CERAMIC.  I don't recommend CERAMIC tile for floors in kitchens, as the hard surface is sure to break any glass or ceramic kitchen ware dropped on it. 

Ceramic tiles were widely used in decorative applications dating back to the ancient world, e.g. this fragment of a 5th Century floor mosaic from Antioch:

Striding lion, birds, and crops
Baltimore Museum of Art

 While we tend to think of tiles as flat-surfaced, they may also be cast in bas-relief, such as these tiles mounted on an oak plank, depicting the  Evangelists Matheus, Marcus, Lucas, and Iohanni created at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA ...

Ceramic
Tiles

23. Noodles that may be topped with chashu: RAMEN.  Chashu is Japanese pork belly.  Here's a recipe for Ramen Pork Chashu.

Ramen Pork Chashu

24. Be in arrears: OWE.

26. Colleague of Sonia and Ketanji: ELENA.  Elena Kagan is one of the 4 women Supreme Court Justices and a colleague of Sonia Sotomayor, Amy Coney Barrett, and Katanji Brown Jackson:

Elena Kagan

27. Great Basin people: UTES.  The UTE people are the oldest residents of Colorado, inhabiting the mountains and vast areas of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Eastern Nevada, Northern New Mexico and Arizona. According to tribal history handed down from generation to generation, their people have lived here since the beginning of time.

Members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe

28. [Theme clue]

30. Start of an early Grafton title: B IS.  B Is for Burglar is a mystery novel by American writer Sue Grafton. It was published in 1985 by Henry Holt and Company as the second novel in her "Alphabet" series of mystery novels.  The plot centers around the efforts of Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California, to locate a missing person. Critical reception was positive, and it won the 1986 Anthony Award and Shamus Award.  Here's the first edition cover ...

31. Mental fog: HAZE.

32. __-Mex cuisine: TEX.

33. [Theme reveal]

38. Light touch: PAT.

39. "That works": OKAY.

40. Organic lip balm brand:  EOS.  Hand up if you had OPI?  Here's the EOS Strawberry Sorbet flavor

EOS Strawberry Sorbet Flavor

When EOS is in the clue we now have three possibilities.

42. [Theme clue]

46. John Irving title character: GARP.  The World According to Garp is John Irving's fourth novel, about a man, born out of wedlock to a feminist leader, who grows up to be a writer. Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1979, and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year.  It was also the basis for this film starring Robin Williams, John Lithgow, Glenn Close. and assorted other stars you know ...

47. Less amiable: ICIER.

48. Letters between names: AKA.

49. "__ and Bess": PORGY.  I know it's almost Summertime,  but I've already played that aria at least twice, but it ain't necessarily the whole story (lyrics) ...

50. Superficial: CURSORY.

52. Expired: LAPSED.

53. Self-conscious query: AM I.

54. [Theme clue]

57. Homey hole: DEN.

58. Big name in single-serve coffee makers: KEURIG.  Not my cup of tea.

59. Durian feature: ODOR.  Apparently an acquired ODOR.  Maybe a scratch and sniff feature for Blogger isn't such a good idea after all.

Durian Fruit

60. Filmmaker Lee: ANG.  Ang Lee OBS (born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. As a filmmaker Lee's work is known for its emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. His work seems pretty eclectic, and includes Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi for which Lee won Oscars, and also Sense and Sensibility based on the Austen novel.  Teri and I streamed Life of Pi on Prime just before I finished this review.  It's a hauntingly beautiful, remarkable film, which I highly recommend ...

61. Lively Brazilian dances: SAMBAS.  I doubt that it gets any livelier than this (straight from Ohio) ...

62. Swampy areas: FENS. And now for a little change of pace ...  on this side of the Pond they're called bogs or marshes, but on the other side they're found In the Fen Country, the title of a beautiful tone poem by Ralph Vaughan Williams:

Down:

1. Barbecue supply: MEAT RUB.  Also called a DRY RUB.  Here's a recipe for for seasoning that crossword favorite, Carne Asada ...

Carne Asada Dry Rub

2. Stressed: EMPHATIC.

3. Deer fencing material: WIRE MESH.  We use a  BLACK PLASTIC MESH,  which comes in 300' x 7.5' rolls which were enough for an 80' x 50' x 8' enclosure around our vegetable garden.  It also requires posts and gates and is user installable.  The black color makes it almost transparent to passers by in the street out front. The downside is that rabbits can chew through it and we ended up having to install 18" of chicken wire all around the perimeter.  The chicken wire didn't keep out ground hogs, but we dealt with them on a need to know basis ...

C-Flex Plastic Fencing

4. Covers in goo: SLIMES.  The Ghostbusters were slimed by a blob of ectoplasm called the Slimer ...

5. Glue trap brand: DCON.  Rumor has it that PETA doesn't like them.

6. Secondary RPG character: ALT.  In role-playing games (RPGs), an alternate character, often referred to in slang as ALT, alt char, or less commonly multi, is a character in addition to one's "primary" or "main" player character. Here are the rules.

7. Droid: BOT.  Since the Star Wars space operas we tend to think of Droids or BOTS as human-like machines.  Computer scientists extend the term machine to include anything automated, including "intelligent" software programs, such as the currently much-hyped chatGPT and its ilk.  Here is a very accessible article on this topic from the journal IEEE Spectrum by pioneering robotics engineer named Rodney Brooks, entitled Just Calm Down About GPT-4 Already.

8. Prepared (oneself), as for a shock: BRACED.  BRACE  yourself - there are 26 more clues to go.

9. Oral tradition: LORE.  Many equate the terms "oral tradition" and "LORE" with fables.  Some  of these "fables" may have had their origins in stories about real events from eons past. No "unbiased" observer was taking notes on all the details at the time, so we don't know how much of them to believe.  But parts of some of them may be true.

10. Very: EXTREMELY.

11. High-end wheels, informally: BEEMER.  Formally, automobiles manufactured by the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, (BMW), a multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, which it produced from 1917 to 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945.

12. Spanglish speaker, often: LATINO.  Also LATINA and LATINX.

13. "Under the __ Sun": Frances Mayes memoir set in Italy: TUSCAN.  Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy is a 1996 memoir by American author Frances Mayes. It was adapted by director Audrey Wells for the 2003 film Under the Tuscan Sun, starring Diane Lane. We streamed this comedy recently and really enjoyed it.  If you like Italy, I think you'll like this film.  Here's a trailer ...

18. "__ you not?": CAN.

22. Soccer Hall of Famer Lalas: ALEXI.  Not to be confused with ALEXA, Google's Android BOT,  Panayotis Alexander Lalas (Greek: Αλέξης Λάλας; born June 1, 1970) is an American retired soccer player who played mostly as a defender. Lalas is best known for his participation with the United States men's national soccer team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he was a standout player on the team with his distinctive long beard and hair. After the World Cup, Lalas went on to become the first American in Italy's Serie A as a member of Calcio Padova.  He was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006.  He is also in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Alexi Lalas

24. Goo: OOZE.  See 4D.

25. Fairies and sprites, quaintly: WEE FOLK.  I think these folks are definitely fables. But then have you heard about Homo floresiensis?

28. Fare for one who's carbo-loading: PASTA.  For more about PASTA see Dr Ed's puzzle from June 1, 2023.

29. Country record?: ATLAS.  Nice misdirection.  I really I had my heart on playing a soulful country song.  Sittin' on Top of the World (from the 2003 film Cold Mountain) is really old timey music (but it is very soulful and sad) and I decided to play it instead ...

31. Basking spots for cold-blooded pets: HEAT ROCKS.  All about Hot Rocks and Reptiles.  This article seems to imply that your reptiles could become addicted to heat rocks and withhold their affections.

34. Foil alternatives: EPEES.

35. Maker of SEKTION kitchen cabinets: IKEA.  It was the K that gave it away.

36. Lunar hemisphere visible from Earth: NEARSIDE.  Looks like August might have missed a few ...

37. Eats a ton of: GORGES ON.

41. Classic Porsches: SPYDERS.  Why are convertibles called Spyders?

Porche 550 Spyder

42. Noisy bug: CICADA.  I was disappointed the last time they visited.  It's not likely I'll be disappointed again.

43. Shrewdness: ACUMEN.

44. Process after glazing: FIRING.  There have been many books written on this subject.  The process has to take into account a lot of factors, the two most important being the firing cycle and the atmosphere in the kiln.  The follow graph shows the kiln temperature rise and fall over time, which can be controlled either manually or via a computer.  Potters use temperature only as a rough guide to where they are in the firing cycle.  They use the deformation of specially formulated clay pyrometric cones (observed through spy holes) to measure the exact amount of heat work (a factor of both temperature and time) needed to melt the glazes.  The following firing cycle shows a kiln fired to "Cone 10", approximately 1300 deg. C (the high point on the graph below).  Once the "firing cone" has bent it is important to slow the cooling of the kiln for several hours until all of the non-shiny matt glazes have matured.  Note also that the temperature rise at the beginning and the fall at the end should not be too rapid so as to prevent the clay body from cracking. 
 

The kiln's atmosphere depends on whether it is being fired with electricity or a fossil fuel such as wood, coal, oil, or gas.  Electric kilns are said to have an oxidizing atmosphere as there is no carbon or hydrogen in the kiln to interact with the glazes (not very interesting).  Fuel fired kilns have a reducing atmosphere, with abundant carbon gases and hydrogen, which can interact with the glazes to reduce the amount of oxygen in the glaze colorants like iron and copper oxides.  Reduction fired glazes tend to be much more interesting, producing glazes like the celadon greens and copper reds (sang de boeuf) first developed by the Chinese in the 12th Century.

45. Distillate used as an aftershave: BAY RUM.  BAY RUM is a type of cologne and aftershave lotion.  It is a distillate that was originally made in Saint Thomas, and probably other West Indian islands, from rum and the leaves and/or berries of the West Indian bay tree, Pimenta racemosa.

46. Vanish just like *that*: GO POOF.  Like the Slimer in Ghost Busters.

49. Unfavorable review: PAN.

51. Seehorn of "Better Call Saul": RHEA.  Better Call Saul is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. It is a spin-off from Gilligan's previous series, Breaking Bad (2008–2013), to which it serves as both a prequel and sequel. Better Call Saul premiered on AMC on February 8, 2015, and concluded on August 15, 2022, after six seasons consisting of 63 episodes.  Saul Goodman was played by Robert Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn played Kim Wexler, Saul's colleague and love interest.  Here she gives some tips on how to negotiate like a pro ...

52. Doesn't keep up: LAGS.

55. Sphere atop a wizard's staff, e.g.: ORB.  The ORB and a staff called the SCEPTRE are also symbols of the British Monarchy.  These symbols were celebrated with Sir William Walton's Orb and Sceptre March during the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 ...

56. Soccer star Hamm: MIA.  Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (née Hamm; born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the United States women's national soccer team from 1987 to 2004. Hamm was the face of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional women's soccer league in the United States, where she played for the Washington Freedom from 2001 to 2003.

Mia Hamm

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading, for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

* oh yes, and with special thanks to Dr. Spencer Johnson

Notes from C.C.:

Our Chairman Moe (Chris Gross) and MM (Joseph Schwarts) made today's Newsday puzzle. Click here to solve. Congrats on your debut, MM!

Wednesday, March 1, 2023, August Miller

Theme: GENDER BENDER

16. Brilliant artist beset by personal demons, say: TORTURED GENIUS.

21. Activities Rudolph was kept from joining: REINDEER GAMES.

33. Southern part of the Mariana Trench: CHALLENGER DEEP.

43. Leafy side: COLLARD GREENS.

52. Not conforming to traditional male/female norms, and a hint to this puzzle's circles: GENDER CREATIVE.

CREATIVE is a clue indicating an anagram, in this case for letters GENDER that stretch across the two-word theme answers. 

Melissa here. Just like a dictionary documents newly added terms and definitions, so do crosswords. A recent NYT article, Will Shortz's Life in Crosswords, quotes Shortz as saying "I think the crossword should reflect the life, language, and culture of everybody who reads the Times, and that’s everybody from smart teens up to the oldest people." Here's another NYT article listing over 1,900 words that appeared for the first time in their puzzles last year.

Across:

1. Pinnacle: ACME. Wiley Coyote's favorite catalog.

5. Zither kin: HARP. All about zithers. Not to be confused with Blondie's Mr. Dithers.

9. Is profitable: PAYS.

13. Like a clown car's passengers: CRAMMED IN.

15. __ palak: dish of potatoes and spinach: ALOO. Did not know this dish. Here's a recipe.

18. Condition that may be treated with CBT: OCD.

19. Hand (out): DOLE. Perps kept mete at bay.

20. Coding shortcut: MACRO. A series of instructions in the form of code that helps automate manual tasks, thereby saving time.

24. Dudes: GUYS.

25. 2020 and 2022 WNBA MVP Wilson: AJA. Sometimes see this clued as an album by Steely Dan.

26. Sagan who hosted the original "Cosmos": CARL. Pale Blue Dot. A beautiful piece of writing by Carl Sagan about the earth.

28. Little red Corvette or little deuce coupe: AUTO.

30. "The French Dispatch" director Anderson: WES.

37. Certain sib: SIS. Not bro.

38. Engrave: ETCH.

39. With competence: ABLY.

40. "Don't __ me started": GET.

41. 20s dispensers: ATMS. My first thought, which didn't fit, was Pez. Created in 1927, as an alternative to smoking. History of Pez.

49. Unsettling, in a way: EERIE. My son and I were recently in the McKenzie River area (in Oregon) and witnessed the eerily beautiful forest, two-plus years after a raging fire. Over a 5-10 mile stretch of highway we saw hundreds of RVs where people were living while rebuilding their homes and businesses. The trees left standing were mostly black, and smoke still hung in the air, almost like a ghost.

50. Word on Irish coins: EIRE. Irish for "Ireland."

51. Issa of "The Lovebirds": RAE. Also known for her YouTube web series Awkward Black Girl.

55. Burn balm: ALOE.

56. Prison drama that was Jonathan Demme's directorial debut: CAGED HEAT. Have not seen this 1974 film. Looks kind of .... terrible.

57. Multitude in a pointillist painting: DOTS. Example: Le Clipper, Asnieres by Paul Signac, 1887.

58. Copied: APED.

59. Norway's most populous city: OSLO.

Down:

1. Person in a cast: ACTOR.

2. Jim who sang "I Got a Name": CROCE.

3. Time to celebrate with one's krewe mates: MARDI GRAS. Had to look this one up: A krewe is any group or organization of friends who would like to band together to host a Mardi Gras ball, ride on a Mardi Gras parade float, and participate in social events throughout the year. In Southwest Louisiana, there are more than 60 krewes, a number that continues to grow each season.

4. First responder: Abbr.: EMT.

5. First responders, e.g.: HEROES. Clecho.

6. "Easy on Me" singer: ADELE. Mononymous is an adjective describing one who is known by just one name.

7. Rodeo contestant: RIDER.

8. GIF alternative: PNG. Image file types. Use PNG format for any image that needs transparency, or for images with text & objects with sharp contrast edges like logos. Use GIF format for images that contain animations.

9. Land on an isthmus: PANAMA. An isthmus is a strip of land that connects two continents, two different parts of the continent, or a peninsula to a continent. See?

10. Painter Neel known for nudes: ALICE. Did not know this American artist. 1900-1984. Wikipedia says she was "known for her portraits depicting friends, family, lovers, poets, artists, and strangers." This is a beautiful site to browse her art. The site is a little tricky to navigate, but you can hear Neel speaking about her work if you click on The Met (on the right menu), and then use the navigation buttons to go forward to 7/17, and click on the words "Neel speak."

11. "What's mine is __": YOURS.

12. Meh: SOSO.

14. In need of a doggy bath, maybe: MUDDY.

17. Key with four sharps: E MAJOR. F♯, G♯, C♯, and D♯

22. No longer valid: NULL.

23. Garden entrance: GATE. Here is a famous one.

26. Hypo units: CCS.

27. Fish at a sushi bar: AHI. In Hawaii, “ahi” refers to two species, the yellowfin tuna and the bigeye tuna.

28. Anti-apartheid org.: ANC. Wikipedia: The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa, a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid.

29. "Gross": UGH.

30. Episodes on YouTube, say: WEB SERIES.

31. Fish at a sushi bar: EEL. Tastes like chicken. (Not really, but it's tasty.)

32. Hidden asset?: SPY. Nice clue.

34. Actress-turned-artist Sobieski: LEELEE. American artist and retired actress. 

35. "__ Jones Sings Lady Day": 2001 album: ETTA.

36. Title for Judi Dench: DAME. Regarded one of Britain's best actresses, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1970, a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1988 and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2005.

40. Moves smoothly: GLIDES.

41. "Deal!": AGREED.

42. Traction aid: TREAD.

43. Gnarls Barkley singer-songwriter Green: CEELO.

44. " ... unless you'd rather do something else": OR NOT.

45. Summary at the start of a new season, e.g.: RECAP. There's so much time in between seasons of streaming series now that we can binge-watch, the recaps are helpful.

46. Mournful tune: DIRGE.

47. __ blockade: NAVAL.

48. Take care of: SEE TO.

49. Quaint oath: EGAD.

53. TV pioneer: RCA.

54. However briefly?: THO. Nice clue.

Thursday, December 30, 2021, August Miller

 

Okay, so it is one day early.  The sentiment still holds.  Happy New Year, Cruciverbalists!  

Malodorous Manatee here with today's recap.  I am back from the mountains (where the temperature dipped to minus 15°F one morning).  

A scientific journal once wrote, "The challenge to using manatees as experimental animals is not their ability to learn but the fact that they are difficult to motivate and move quite slowly."  I just might be an anomaly.  The empirical evidence seems to suggest that I can be properly motivated and can move quickly (when required) but, sometimes, seem not to learn from experience.  Therefore, in a few days it will be back to the type of cold weather that my parents, and millions of their closest friends, moved to SoCal to escape.  Of course, with vistas such as this who cares?

Teocali Mountain, Colorado - Photo by MM

Be that as it may ...

Koyaanisqatsi

In 1983, an experimental non-narrative film was released that was called Koyaanisqatsi which is a Hopi (a few visited us yesterday) word meaning Life Out of Balance.  Today, our puzzle constructor,  August Miller, presents his take on that theme.  In four places within the grid (17, 23, 37 and 47 Across - each clue being marked with an *), the letters of the word BALANCE can be found jumbled (and adjacent to each other) within the longer answers.  If your source used them, there are circles to indicate the location of the jumbled letters.  Here is how this looks in the completed puzzle:

The unifier comes at:

58 Across:  Create instability . . . or a hint to each set of circles: UPSET THE BALANCE.

For those who are interested, here is the trailer for the film:

As there are no themed answers (merely letters located within otherwise unrelated answers), let's dive right in

Across:

1. Spanish gal pal: CHICA.  This marine mammal first tried AMIGA . . . and both the I and the A worked out.  The rest did not.

6. Bygone dictator: TSAR .  . . making frequent appearances in crossword puzzles.

10. "__ Guy": 2019 Billie Eilish #1 hit: BAD.  I checked out the video on YouTube so you don't have to.  Not my style.  Apologies to any Eilish fans here.

13. Winter warmer: COCOA.   I prefer a good single malt (yeah, I know that it actually constricts the blood vessels).

14. Troll, at times: HATER.   Troll as in internet troll.

16. Summer cooler: ADE.  LemonADE (a CSO), LimeADE, OrangeADE, etc.  Sometimes FAN.

17. * 1971 road movie co-starring James Taylor: TWO LANE BLACKTOP.  The first of the locations.

20. Peddle: VEND.  SELL would have fit and the E would have worked.

21. Creator of the former messaging software AIM: AOL.  AOL Instant Messenger.  I confess to still having an AOL account.  I try to direct all of my "commercial" email (read: Junk) there.  Remember picking up these disks at various places around town?

22. Arab League headquarters city: CAIRO.  Egypt, not Illinois.

23. * Astronaut's insulator: SPACE BLANKET.  I often carried one with me in my backpacking days.  The second answer with jumbles.

Photo Not By MM - And Not of MM

27. Suffering: IN PAIN.

30. Like crab apples: TART.  Sour.  The dictionary lists three additional definitions for TART:  (1)  A pastry shell with shallow sides and no top crust. (2) A pie.  (3) A harlot.

31. Hit the __: BOOKS.  Study, or read

32. "That was close!": PHEW.  We've seen this spelled other ways in other puzzles.

34. "Nova" airer: PBS.

37. * Part ways for good: MAKE A CLEAN BREAK.  The third site.

41. Reserved: SHY.

42. Soccer legend Mia: HAMM.  Love that double M.

Mia Hamm

43. Wee, facetiously: EENSY.  Neither ITSY, BITSY, TEENY nor WEENY.  Apologies for the ear worm.

44. Flimsy: THIN.

46. Expressionless: GLASSY.  As in GLASSY Eyed

47.  * "Key Largo" co-star: LAUREN BACALL.  The fourth set of circles.

52. Ed of "Up": ASNER.  "Up" was a 2009 animated motion picture.  AKA Lou Grant.  "Up"also featured Dug the talking dog.  Crosses AS PER

53. Turn sharply: ZAG.  ZIG?

54. Dash gauge: TACH.  TACHometer.  Do you prefer analog or digital?

62. Barely passing: DEE.  We were graded on the curve a couple of weeks ago, too.

63. Last critter in a kindergarten reader, maybe: ZEBRA.

64. Revise: ALTER.

65. Act like a human?: ERR.  To ERR is human.  To forgive is against company policy.

66. Ember: COAL.  As we were driving down the road "Sweet Caroline" came on the radio.  I said to Valerie, "Did you know that Neil Diamond used to be called Neil COAL"?  "Then the pressure got to him."

67. Loses one's grip, in a way: SKIDS.

Down:

1. Surveillance system, for short: CCTV.  Closed Circuit TeleVision

2. Suffragist Julia Ward __: HOWE.  She is, perhaps, better known for writing "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic".

Glory, Glory Harry Lewis

3. App symbol: ICON.

4. Chilled Japanese brew: COLD SAKE.  SAKE is made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran.

The Lucky Sake Cat

5. Energizer size: AAA.

The Energizer Bunny

6. 2000s Fox drama set in Newport Beach: THE OC.  As in Orange County, California.

7. Weasel family member known for its fur: SABLE.

8. Ga. airport: ATL.  Code for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

9. LGBT activist __ Carey: REA.  (Born 22 December 1966)

10. It's a dyeing art: BATIK.  It was more popular in the 60's but it's not a dying art.  Oh, dye-ing art!

11. Really dig: ADORE.  The clue is from an earlier time.

12. Where to get off: DEPOT.

Grand Central Station

15. Miniature vehicle with a remote, briefly: RC CAR.  Radio Controlled CAR

18. Tandoori bread: NAAN.  Smoking or Naan?

19. "Critique of Pure Reason" writer: KANT.  He visited us last Friday.  Apparently, he just KANT stay away.

24. City with a notable tower: PISA.

Photo By MM

25. Backup group: B-TEAM.  Not The A-Team

26. Many a home front: LAWN.  Brick? Aluminum Siding?  Not the Eastern Front.

27. Models for old clones: IBMS.  IBM PC Clones

28. Biblical boater: NOAH.

Noah's Ark

29. Slow: POKY.

32. Fallback: PLAN B.  Is the B-Team called upon to execute PLAN B?

33. Something to take up with your tailor?: HEM.  Two rival tailors had a contest to see who could cut and perfectly hem a six-foot long piece of fabric.  The result was a tie.

34. Uni-ball products: PENS.

35. Low pitch pro: BASS.

36. American vodka brand: SKYY.  Actually, SKYY is now owned by Gruppo Campari of Italy.

 
38. __ music: small talk: CHIN.

39. Male pseudonym used by all three Brontë sisters: BELL.  For me, a learning moment.

40. Heart-to-heart: REAL TALK.  As in "Let's have a ...."

44. Genealogy chart: TREE.

45. Frequency unit: HERTZ.  Not the car rental company.

46. Madly in love: GAGA.  Do a web search o GAGA and it returns all sorts of other pop culture stuff.

47. Magna cum __: LAUDE.  With High Honors

48. According to: AS PER.  Crosses AS NER

49. Indy 500 family name: UNSER.  In 2015, five members of the UNSER family raced at the same time on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track.

Robby, Bobby, Al Sr.,  Al Jr., and Johnny

50. Hyundai sedan: AZERA.  Another automotive reference.

51. Plotting group: CABAL.

55. Not a fan of: ANTI.  Opposed

56. Looped in, on Gmail: CC'ED.  Remember Carbon Copies?

57. Towel term: HERS.

59. Many a noir hero: TEC.  Gritty film genre slang for DeTECtive

60. "Big Little Lies" network: HBO.

61. __ Cruces: LAS.  The Crosses.

. . . and with that geography lesson, it is time, now, to go work on my balance on a pair of skis.  I shall try not to cross my tips . . .