Thursday, March 14, 2024, Baylee Devereaux

 

 Much A DO about Cheveux

This is Baylee Devereaux's 3rd visit to the Corner, the last reviewed by sumdaze on January 30, 2023.  Some of you will have already noticed that there are circles in this puzzle, and for those who see them as unneeded, I decided make it easier for you to solve by removing them from the grid, comme ça ...

Today's grid sans circles

And to make it even easier I decided to remove the superfluous reference in the reveal to circles, comme ça ...

63A. Elegant hairstyle, as given by clues 17-, 30-, and 47-Across?: FRENCH TWIST.

Without all that clutter solving the themers should now be a piece of cake ...

17. Man in 1990s hip-hop fashion?: HAMMER PANTS.  Named for the eponymous M C Hammer?

Hammer Pants

30. School in a recreational vehicle?: MOBILE HOME.  All the best recreational vehicles are now equipped with them, but if you can't afford one you can  just ...

... send the kids outside

47. Dog in a classic drawing game?: PICTIONARY.  This one was really easy...

All you have to do is picture it!

But the one thing that bothered me was the reveal.  GALLIC IRONY perhaps?  Or a clever reference to Monsieur O'HENRI?  And then there was the constructor's name -- sounds suspiciously FRENCH doesn't it?  There just had to be more to this theme.  So I decided to put the circles back in ...

... and then light them up and fill the grid ...

... and suddenly the reveal started to make sense ...

63. Elegant hairstyle, and what the circled letters give to 17-, 30-, and 47-Across?: FRENCH TWIST.

... all three of the actual themers were 5 letter mots Français that twisted UP and DOWN (or DOWN and UP) above and below the FAUX themers (those referenced in the reveal).  They provide today's French lesson, spelled respectively ...

HOMME: "Man in 1990's hip-hop fashion?"
ECOLE:   "School in a recreational vehicle?"
CHIEN:    "Dog in a classic drawing game?"

... very clever (and hard to construct I bet).  And to think that I nearly missed it!  The moral of this saga is that circles are sometimes useful and may even be necessary to solve a crossword puzzle, or at the very least to understand the theme. 😀

Most of the rest of the clues are lot easier, except for 1A ...

Across:

1. Market leader?: GROCER. I got this answer only with the help of perps.  The word "leader" usually implies a prefix or perhaps the start of a meta-clue.  After 2 or 3 false starts I gave up trying to figure out what the clue had to do with a GROCER and googled it --  "A market leader could be a product, brand, company, organization, group name which has the highest percentage of total sales revenue of a particular market. The market leader dominates the market by influencing the customer loyalty towards it, distribution, pricing, etc."  - indiatimes.com.  I don't get it.  Any ideas?

7. Bogus: SHAM.

11. Borrow, but not really: BUM.  At the very end of this Beatles classic John Lennon tries to BUM a cigarette.  Listen for it ...

14. Mexican state on the Gulf of California: SONORA. SONORA -- officially the Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (English: Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico.   Looks like it's right down the road from Lucina and the Chairman ...

15. Pilates target: CORE.  The CORE or trunk is the axial (central) part of an organism's body. In common parlance, the term is broadly considered to be synonymous with the torso, but academically it also includes the head and neck.  Pilates is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. It is similar to yoga in that both disciplines develop strength, flexibility and fitness. Pilates, however, emphasizes core strength where yoga emphasizes flexibility.

Pilates"All Fours" Exercise

16. Half and half: ONE.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Donkey: ASS.

20. "Uncut Gems" actor Sandler: ADAM.  Tomato Meter 91%, Audience Score 52%.   Capsule reviews and  a trailer (movie rated R, trailer PG (language))  ...

21. AirPod locale: EAR.

22. Loathes: HATES.

24. "Umbrella" singer, to fans: RIRI.  As in Rhianna .  Here's her song ...

25. Device that forms the "I" in the Pixar logo: LAMP.  It wasn't always a LAMP.

28. The Browns, on sports tickers: CLE.  The Cleveland Browns.

29. Annoyance: PEST.

30. [Theme clue].

33. Pronoun choice: SHE.

35. Poker do-overs: REDEALS.

36. Scottish cap: TAM.  Only $165, with free shipping ...

Scottish Tam

39. Dug in: ATE.  If you don't watch out, you can gain a lot of weight on the Corner!

41. Pt. of OED: ENG.  Oxford English Dictionary.

42. Change one's locks?: DYE.

43. One on a shopping spree: SPENDER.

45. Lunar New Year: TET.  2024 is the Year of the Dragon which is especially lucky.  Our soon to be born Vietnamese great-nephew will be doubly blessed!

47. [Theme clue]

50. When repeated, "Great speech!": HEAR.  HEAR, HEAR is also a song by Atmosphere.

Lyrics

54. "Heavenly!": AHH.  Short for ALLELUIA?

55. CBS Sports NFL analyst Tony: ROMO.  Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Eastern Illinois Panthers, where he made an Ohio Valley Conference championship appearance in 2001 and won the Walter Payton Award the following year. Romo signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2003.

Tony Romo

56. Hayworth of the silver screen: RITA.  RITA Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was an American actress. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and appeared in 61 films in total over 37 years. The press coined the term "The Love Goddess" to describe Hayworth after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II. Here's a dance number she performs as femme fatale Gilda,, perhaps her most famous role ...

57. Clear: ERASE.

59. "... and many more," for short: ETC.

61. Josh Gad's "Frozen" voice role: OLAF.  OLAF is the snowman, who is of course literally -- "Frozen" ...

62. Yang partner: YIN.  Yin and yang comprise a concept that originated in Chinese philosophy, describing opposite but interconnected, mutually perpetuating forces. The technology of yin and yang is the foundation of critical and deductive reasoning for effective differential diagnosis of disease and illnesses within Confucian influenced traditional Chinese medicine. The "complementarity" of these two concepts has also resonated in the West, especially among scientists.  The great Danish quantum physicist Niels Bohr even used it in the design of his family crest.

63. [Theme reveal]

67. L.L. Bean rival: REI.  The door handles to every Recreational Equipment, Inc. store are ice axes.  Here's the story.

68. __ chain: FOOD.

69. Detritus from the Digital Revolution: EWASTE.  The e-waste problem has overwhelmed waste management protocols. Here's a look at how electronic waste has impacted the entire globe.

Apparently the biggest problem is cellphones

70. "Didn't mean to open that" key: ESC.  It can mean other things as well.

71. Princes, e.g.: SONS.  Nice clue.

72. Instrument near the end of the dictionary: ZITHER.  The poster child for the ZITHER is the Johann Strauss Jr waltz Tales from the Vienna Woods ...
 

Down:

1. Seventh note in the A major scale: G SHARP.  Not being a musician, and not being able to suss 1A (see above), I eventually had to look it up.  Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 was written in A Major and  Richard Wagner called it "the apotheosis of the dance".   Here's the enchanting 2nd movement Allegretto, which you might recognize from its frequent use in movies and TV ...

2. Touring technician: ROADIE.

3. Really, really out there: ON MARS.  Elon Musk is committed to colonizing MARS.  We can all rest easier when he's really, really out there.

4. Goes all in: COMMITS.

5. Sonnet preposition: ERE.

6. Not so common: RARE.

7. Hieroglyph critter: SCARAB.  SCARABS are beetle-shaped amulets and impression seals which were widely popular throughout ancient Egypt. They still survive in large numbers today. Through their inscriptions and typology, they prove to be an important source of information for archaeologists and historians of the ancient world, and represent a significant body of ancient Egyptian art.

Scarab
inscribed for King Hatshepsut
c. 1479–1458 B.C.,
MOMA, NY, NY

8. Snookums: HON.

9. Work on a wall: ART.  This one is on the wall of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Woman Holding a Balance
Jan Vermeer
c. 1664

10. Fit well together: MESH.

11. Huge amount: BOATLOAD.  It's amazing the things you discover when you are annotating crossword puzzles.

12. Improper: UNSEEMLY.  The Corner review team tries to avoid  UNSEEMLY annotations, but some of us are EDGIER than others. 😁

13. Knotty tangle: MESS.  Probably the most tangled MESS in history was the legendary Gordian Knot, undone by Alexander the Great with a single stroke of genius.  The story was memorialized in a lost Restoration play, but the incidental music by Henry Purcell still survives.  Here are two movements from the suite ...

18. __ Alto, California: PALO.  Palo Alto  (Spanish for 'tall stick') is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.  It's also the home of the HP Garage and the birthplace of the term "Silicon Valley".

23. Ibuprofen target: ACHE.

26. Swampy spot: MIRE. This clue is all wet!

27. More than one needs: PLENTY.  [No politics Bill.  No politics.]

30. Streaker in the sky: METEOR. These streakers periodically fly by Earth in relatively large numbers called meteor showers.  If you are blessed with skies unpolluted by light (or the streaks from Elon Musk's Starlink network) you may be able to photograph them.  Here are some tips for doing that.

31. Lip: EDGE.

32. Denver-to-Wichita dir.: ESE. 

7 hr 20 min (520.3 mi) via I-70 E

34. "__ only known ... ": HAD I.  We should always act as if we had.  A song by Reba McEntire ... 

36. Cookbook meas.: TSP.

37. Where busy bees buzz: APIARIES.  What is an Apiary, and Why Are 2 Hives Better Than 1?

38. Pit crew member: MECHANIC.

40. Cube creator Rubik: ERNO. A Rubik’s Cube is an interesting puzzle invented by ERNO Rubik, which has 43 quintillion possible configurations. But with the use of certain algorithms, it can be solved easily. There are many variations of the Rubix cube nowadays but the most basic one is the 3x3x3 Rubik’s cube.  Here's how to solve it.   Hand up if you were ever addicted to these?

Rubik's Cube

44. Unspecified degrees: NTHS.

46. Try to bean: THROW AT.  Watch Mr. Bean THROW sponges AT the Headmaster!

48. Makes right: AMENDS.

49. College military org.: ROTC.

51. "What Was I Made For?" singer Billie: EILISH.  Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (born December 18, 2001) is an American singer and songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom she collaborates on music and live shows.  She and her brother were nominated for an Oscar for their song What Was I Made For, written for the soundtrack to the movie Barbie -- and this just in -- they won! 

I had originally illustrated this clue with a scene from the movie, where Barbie has left the doll's world and entered the real world where she encounters an old woman at a bus stop -- very existential.

52. One small sip: A TASTE.

53. Roof timber: RAFTER.

57. "Reader, I married him" governess: EYRE.  The first line of the last chapter of Jane Eyre by
Charlotte Brontë.   Tracy Chevalier, novelist and author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, tells us why this quote is so famous.

58. Flunking grades: EFFS.

60. Bistro awning word: CHEZ.  Did this one TWIST its way out of the grid? 😀

Chez Fred, Paris

64. Youngster in the Hundred Acre Wood: ROO.  Here's  ROO in his mother KANGA's pouch.  They live in the Hundred Acre Wood with Winnie the Pooh and all his friends.
 

65. Ages and ages: EON.

66. Bi- equivalent: TWI.  The Wiki tells us that TWI  is a variety of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana.  I suspect however that this may also be a slang appropriation, coding for something else. 😀

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

Oh, I almost forgot.  Happy Pi Day everybody!
 

Monday January 30, 2023 Baylee Devereaux

  

Hello Cornerites!

sumdaze here. Today's puzzle comes to us from constructor, Baylee Devereaux. This is her second LA Times publication. I will quote Ol'Man Keith on Baylee's LA Times debut, "Some seriously clever long fills in this Devereaux opus, alternating with commonplace XWD fills, all marshaled for us by JZB."

As for today's puzzle, Baylee had something different in mind. I am calling it

Top Hand

 

Tad Lucas was known as "Rodeo's First Lady".

Click here if you are not familiar with "Top Hand".

Baylee placed her themers vertically in the grid because she wants us to pay special attention to the top (UPPER) part of each of the four themed answers:

3 Down. *Performer's pseudonym: STAGE NAME.  a name assumed for professional purposes by an actor or other performer.

8 Down. *Flippable timekeeper: HOURGLASS.  Does your brain go here, too?

13 Down. *Creamy dip for vegetables: RANCH DRESSING.

30 Down. *Dog in a Disney tear-jerker: OLD YELLER. TBH, I cannot go there without crying so please, if you have questions, look this one up yourself.

Then the reveal:

32 Down. Advantageous position, and what each answer to a starred clue literally has: UPPER HAND.  the position of having power or being in control in a particular situation.

Joining the UPPER parts with HAND, we get:

STAGE HAND  a person who moves scenery or props before or during the performance of a play. 
HOUR HAND  This one is a bit of an outlier because it is a clock part, not a person.

RANCH HAND  a manual laborer on a ranch.

OLD HAND  a person with a lot of experience in something. 

Here's a fun-loving video clip with RANCH HANDS, OLD HANDS, and (unseen) STAGE HANDS.

I'm an Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande)

written by Johnny Mercer for the movie Rhythm on the Range (1936)

starring Bing Crosby and Louis Prima on the trumpet

JazzBumpa, can you tell us about that other horn @ 1:40 ?

Across:
1. Amble along: MOSEY.

6. "I don't get it": HUH.

9. Secret agent: SPY.

Johnny Rivers  Secret Agent Man  (1966)

12. Wonderland cake invitation that Alice accepted: EAT ME.  Two years ago I reread Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There after listening to a podcast that talked about the themes and poems from an adult perspective. If you want to reread them, too, see if your library has a copy with John Tenniel's illustrations. They are wonderful!

13. Nevada gambling town near Carson City: RENO.

The Truckee River flows from Lake Tahoe to Donner Lake (made famous by the Donner Party), into Nevada, through RENO, and onward.

14. Pool stick: CUE.

15. Emmy category: DRAMA.  The 2022 Emmy for Best Drama went to Succession.

16. Merry-go-rounds: CAROUSELS.  Let's see what Mary Poppins is up to.

Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins (1964)  (2:05 min.)

18. Floral wreath: GARLAND.

20. Washer cycle: RINSE.

21. "Fee, __, foe, fum": FIE.  from Jack to King Lear

23. DEA agent: NARC.  "Drug Enforcement Administration" is abbreviated, so is "NARCotics".

24. Feels the same: AGREES.

25. "Ella Enchanted" star Hathaway: ANNE.

(2004)  ~  3 stars on IMDb

27. Car or truck: VEHICLE.

29. South American grasslands: LLANOS.  Pronounced 'ya-nohs' (Spanish for "plains"), they are wide grasslands stretching across western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia.

31. Facts and figures: DATA.  Also, a Star Trek character portrayed by actor Brent Spiner. He is a synthetic life form with artificial intelligence.

Lt Commander DATA with his cat Spot

32. Thumb drive port: USB.

How many tries it take to plug in a USB drive?     3

1st try:  correct but you're not sure and are afraid to force it.
2nd try:  obviously incorrect.

3rd try:  same as 1st try but with confidence.

35. Humped beast: CAMEL.

GEICO 'Hump Day' commercial. Never gets old! (30 sec.)

36. Buffet table coffee server: URN.

21st Century URNs ???

37. Overly sentimental: SAPPY.  Hand up for liking the SAPPY Hallmark Christmas movies.

39. Be in debt: OWE.  We can OWE money but we can also OWE a debt of gratitude.

40. Prom partner: DATE. The Charleston dance scene in It's a Wonderful Life (1947) was filmed at Beverly Hills High School's Swim-Gym, built in 1939 as a federal public works project.

Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed (1:10 min.)

42. Fireplace receptacle: ASH PIT.  Hand up for changing PoT to PIT.

43. Enters using a keyboard: TYPES IN.

45. In this location: HERE.

46. Girl who lost her sheep: BO PEEP.

Woody was sweet on BO PEEP in the Toy Story movies.

49. Shoveler's target: SNOW.

51. Hi-__ monitor: RES.  "High" is shortened, so is "RESolution".

52. Hearing-related: AURAL.

53. Language of Helsinki: FINNISH.

55. Some horses on a stud farm: STALLIONS.  and 17 Down. Thoroughbred's father: SIRE.

Here is some information about famous horses from the Smithsonian Institution.

57. Lab containers: VIALS.

This one is a bit meta.

60. One of 88 on a piano: KEY.  I like this clue!  BTW, 32 are black & 56 are white.

61. Vaping pen, informally: E-CIG.

62. Orange Muppet in a striped shirt: ERNIE.

63. Fourth-yr. students: SRS.  "YeaR" is abbreviated, so is "SenioRS".

64. Part of the fam: REL.  "Family" is shortened, so is "RELative". Were you expecting "sis" or "bro"?

65. Move like a crab: SIDLE.

Seinfeld:  The Sidler (54 sec.)

Down:
1. Pre-__: college track for a future doctor: MED.

2. White-water rafting need: OAR.

4. Corrin who plays Diana in "The Crown": EMMA.  They appear in Season 4. (I only saw Season 1.)

5. Pine (for): YEARN.

6. Bunch of buffalo: HERD.

7. __, dos, tres: UNO.  counting in Spanish

9. Public tantrum: SCENE.

Oh, my!

10. Heart rate: PULSE.

11. Acceptances: YESES.  plural of 'YES'

16. __ package: CARE.  a parcel of food, money or luxury items sent to a loved one who is away.

I regularly sent DH these during his (too many) military deployments.

19. Loos: LAVS. Since "LAVS" is shortened, I reasoned that "Loos" must also be shortened but I had to do a little research :

Despite its British popularity for a slightly less crude way to call the toilet, the word “loo” is actually derived from the French phrase 'guardez l'eau', meaning 'watch out for the water”. (plumbworld.co.uk)

21. Edie of "The Sopranos": FALCO.  Edie is a frequent guest to XWD grids. We are usually asked Ms. FALCO's vowel-full first name. Just a heads up, she played General Ardmore in the movie Avatar 2 (released 12/16/22). We might start seeing her clued in this new way.

22. Kin by marriage: IN-LAW.  It's all RELative.

24. Play a role: ACT.

26. WSW opposite: ENE.  Even though they often stumped me, I sort of miss the clues that gave us two cities and asked the direction in relationship to each other. Just writing the opposite of WSW is too much of a gimme. I know...be careful of what you ask for....

28. "Atonement" novelist McEwan: IAN.  Goodreads link

33. Steeple topper: SPIRE.

34. Memory units: BYTES.

Why 8 ?
8 is 2 to the 3rd power or just multiply 2 by itself 3 times
2 x 2 x 2
Why 1,024 ?
1,024 is 2 to the 10th power or  just multiply 2 by itself 10 times
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
So 1,024 is the maximum number of computer memory addresses that can be referenced with 10 binary switches.

36. SLC athlete: UTE. someone on a team representing the Univ. of Utah, located in Salt Lake City, UT.

38. Contented sigh: AHH.  Sometimes it's "aah" and sometimes it's "AHH". A good perp will give you the "aha" moment.

41. Google Play download: APP.  Google Play is the android equivalent of The App Store for iPhones. It cannot be clued  as "The App Store download" because "app" cannot be in the clue and in the answer.

42. Unknown author, for short: ANON.  CSO to a few Cornerites!

43. Bluish green: TEAL.  The Allure & Power of the Color Teal

44. Cozy stopovers: INNS.

46. Savors the sun: BASKS.  This word always makes me think of lizards BASKing in the sun.

Bearded Dragon lizard

47. On the periphery: OUTER.

48. Seeks divine guidance: PRAYS.

50. Some ring bearers: WIVES.  Perhaps this is meant to be a misdirection to make one think of a wedding ceremony. Here it refers to already married people wearing rings.

53. Wrap for leftovers: FOIL.

Mythbusters Episode 96:  Adam and Jamie build a balloon out of lead FOIL.

Will it "go down like a lead balloon"? (4:48 min.)

54. Apple's digital assistant: SIRI.

56. Apply a bag of peas to, maybe: ICE.

Have you ever noticed in movies, they always have a handy bag of frozen peas in the freezer for a black eye even if there is nothing else in the refrigerator? Why hasn't anyone eaten the peas???

58. "Eternal Atake" rapper __ Uzi Vert: LIL.  Top 10 LIL rappers  (Spoiler alert:  Mr. Vert is #15.)

59. "O say can you __ ... ": SEE. ♪♪♪

The Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695) in Baltimore (Hi Waseeley!)
It crosses the Patapsco River where FSK was inspired to write the words to the
Star Spangled Banner.

It is now time to HAND you the grid:

I just noticed that we have a lot of cowboys & horses today.

Happy trails to you!

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 Baylee Devereaux

 Theme: Working a second job.  The wording of regular jobs is repurposed to identify alternative activities that might or might not exist in the real world.  Moonlighting, one might say. 

16 A. Receptionist at a high-rise hotel, one might say: STORY TELLER.  One who spins a yarn, or, in this case, who tells you where to go.  Or at least what floor to arrive at.

22 A. Instagram influencer, one might say: SOCIAL WORKER.  One who helps individuals, groups, and families prevent and cope with problems in their everyday lives.  In the not so every day world, one who is a trend setter on social media.

37. Bartender pouring a selection of craft beers for tasting, one might say: FLIGHT ATTENDANT.  Up in the air, a person on a commercial air pane who serves drinks and otherwise takes care of the passengers.  Back here on earth, one who serves an array of various pre-selected beers - aka a flight..

48. Pathological liar, one might say: MAKE UP ARTIST.  One who prepares a performer's face and other features prior to their appearance on stage or set.  Alternatively, someone who generates falsehoods.  Can you believe it?

59. Audiophile with an extensive collection of club mixes, one might say: HOUSE KEEPER.  A person employed to perform cleaning and other domestic tasks in a hotel or institution.  Or a  "House Music" enthusiast.  This is named after The Warehouse club in Chicago where it originated in the early 1980's.  It is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by dance club DJs in Chicago that were influenced by early to mid-1970s dance music as spun by DJs in New York, and spread to Detroit, New York, and eventually Europe. 

Hi Gang, Jazzbumpa here, working the blog for you today. The puzzle is thematically rich, and the theme is clever and straightforward.  A couple of the entries might be a bit of a stretch, but let's bend with it.  Now we'll delve into the puzzle and hope it doesn't take us into the second shift.  Baylee's name wasn't in the post labels list, so this might be her first LAT entry.  Congrats!

Across:

1. Homes in Honduras: CASAS.  Houses in Spanish

6. "Let's put a smile on your plate" breakfast chain: IHOP.  International House of Pancakes.

10. Chop (off): LOP.

13. Like a brand-new candle: UNLIT.  Better to light one, though.

14. __ drum: SNARE.

 

 15. Mimic: APE.  Imitate.

18. Pothole filler: TAR.   A dark, thick, flammable liquid distilled from wood or coal, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons, resins, alcohols, and other compounds. It is used in roadmaking and for coating and preserving timber.

19. __ card: SIM.    An integrated circuit intended to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices

20. Kunis of "Black Swan": MILA.   Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis [b. 1983] is an American actress. She began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series That '70s Show (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since 1999, Kunis has voiced Meg Griffin on the Fox animated series Family Guy.

At the 2022 Oscars

21. Sharp cry: YELP.   Especially of pain or alarm.

27. French article: LES.  Meaning "THE."

28. Orchestra leader: MAESTRO.    A distinguished musician, especially a conductor of classical music.  My friend Adam, who conducts a local Symphony Orchestra, named his dog MAESTRO.

31. Capital city on a fjord: OSLO.  In Norway

34. Give up, as a right: WAIVE.  As stated.

36. In the know: HIP.    Trendy or cool, up on the latest thing.   "I'm so hip, I can barely see over my pelvis." -- Zaphod Beeblebrox

37. Bartender pouring a selection of craft beers for tasting, one might say: FLIGHT ATTENDANT.

41. Black Mission fruit: FIG.   Despite being called a fruit, a fig is technically a syconium—a tiny group of inverted flowers growing inside a pod. Each pod contains hundreds of flowers, and each flower produces a small seed, which is the actual fruit of the fig plant. An achene contains each seed.   The Mission fig (also known as Black Mission or Franciscana) is a popular variety of the edible fig (Ficus carica). It was first introduced to the United States in 1768 when Franciscan missionaries planted it in San Diego.

42. Eggs on: URGES.   Encourage (someone) to do something that is usually foolish or dangerous 

43. Rolls the credits: ENDS.   Figuratively finishes something (off.)

44. "The Office" sales rep who solves crosswords during meetings: STANLEY.    Leslie David Baker [b. 1958] is an American actor. He is known for playing disgruntled paper salesman Stanley Hudson in The Office for nine seasons (2005–2013).

46. Actor Meadows: TIM.   Timothy Meadows is an American actor and comedian who was one of the longest-running cast members on Saturday Night Live, where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1993.

53. "Take a __ breath": DEEP.   Calm down.

55. Futbol cheers: OLÉS.  Used as a shout of approval, triumph, or encouragement.

56. Female sheep: EWE.   As defined

58. Part of BYOB: OWN.  Bring Your Own Bottle.

63. Top of a semicolon: DOT.  Can be seen here -- ;

64. Place of refuge: OASIS.    Figuratively. More literally,  a fertile spot in a desert, where water is found.

65. Unleash upon: LET AT.   To allow one to attack someone or something.

66. Approves: OKS.  

67. Bring (out): TROT.   To bring forward for display or use

68. Cereal tidbit: FLAKE.   A small, flat, thin piece of something, typically one that has broken away or been peeled off from a larger piece.

Down:

1. Talk a blue streak?: CUSS.  Another alternate meaning.  Instead of being verbose, using cruse language.

2. Those opposed: ANTIS.  The PROS are those in favor.

3. Replay tech: SLO-MO.  Abbrv for Slow Motion.

4. __ guitar: AIR.  An imaginary guitar one pretends to play.  Air trombone, on the other hand, is the real thing.

5. Completely stump: STYMIE.    Figurative.  Literally, to prevent or hinder the progress of.

6. Kin by marriage: IN-LAW.   If you get divorced, they become out-laws.

7. "2001" supercomputer: HAL.  Each letter off one from IBM.  A mere coincidence.

 

8. Some underground rock bands?: ORE.  We are deep [so to speak] into second meanings today.  This band is not musicians, but rather a stratum of a mineral that is economically viable; a bed or a distinct layer of vein of rock in other layers of rock.

9. According to: PER.  Literal.

10. After: LATER THAN.  As stated

11. Birthstone for some Libras: OPAL.

12. BOLO target: PERP.  Be On The LookOut for a one who has committed a crime.

14. Advice from a nervous stockbroker: SELL.  About 10 1/2 months late.  This year has been brutal.

17. Spanish aunts: TIAS.  En la familia.

21. "Be glad to": YES.  I will do that.

23. Heavy shoe: CLOG.   A shoe, sandal, or overshoe having a thick typically wooden sole.

24. Fails to mention: OMITS.   Leaves out.

25. Carry on: RAVE.  Not continue, but to behave or speak in a foolish, excited, or improper manner.  Generally used in the phrase, "rant and rave."

26. Sharp: KEEN.  As of a blade or someone's mind.

29. Cocktail garnish: RIND.  Of a lemon or lime.

30. Chooses: OPTS.  Picks one thing as opposed to another.

31. Send-__: farewells: OFFS.  A demonstration of goodwill and enthusiasm for the beginning of something new (as a trip.)

32. Buttonhole, e.g.: SLIT.  A long, narrow cut in something.

33. Bone-connecting tissues: LIGAMENTS.  Short bands of tough, flexible fibrous connective tissue which connect two bones or cartilages or hold together a joint.

34. Japanese cattle breed used for Kobe beef: WAGYU.  Now you know.

35. Had a bite: ATE.  

38. She-__: Marvel role for Tatiana Maslany: HULK.  Tatiana Gabriele Maslany [b1987] is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science fiction thriller television series Orphan Black, which won her a Primetime Emmy Award, two Critics' Choice Awards, and five Canadian Screen Awards.

39. Ancestry.com printout: TREE.  Family representation in a diagram.

40. Singer Lovato: DEMI.   Demetria Devonne Lovato [b. 1992] known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. After appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends, Lovato rose to prominence for playing Mitchie Torres in the musical television film Camp Rock and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.

You probably haven't heard this recently.

45. Short snooze: NAP.  About mid-afternoon for me.

46. Taxing trip: TREK.   A long arduous journey, especially one made on foot or in a star ship.

47. In and of __: ITSELF.  Intrinsically, or considered alone

49. Hypothesize: POSIT.   Put forward as a basis of argument.

50. Stout and porter: ALES.   types of beer with a bitter flavor and higher alcoholic content.

51. Nasal partitions: SEPTA.   A partition separating two chambers, such as that between the nostrils or the chambers of the heart.

52. Tinker with: TWEAK.   Make a fine adjustment to a mechanism or system.

53. Long-extinct bird: DODO.   An extinct flightless bird with a stout body, stumpy wings, a large head, and a heavy hooked bill. It was found on Mauritius until the end of the 17th century.

54. "Star Wars" critter that looks like a teddy bear: EWOK.   The Ewok is a fictional species of small, furry, mammaloid, bipeds in the Star Wars universe. They inhabit the forest moon of Endor and live in arboreal huts and other simple dwellings, being seen as primitive in comparison with other sentient species.   Ewoks debuted in the 1983 film Return of the Jedi and have since appeared in two made-for-television films.

57. Art Deco icon: ERTE.  Romain de Tirtoff [1892 – 1990] was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (pronounced [ɛʁ.te], AIR TAY) which he shares with me. He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor.

59. Spicy: HOT.  Literally, the last sensation of spicy foods, such as peppers.  Figuratively, overtly sexual.

60. Lifeboat blade: OAR.   For rowing to safety

61. GI morale booster: USO.   The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. 

62. Electric __: EEL.   The electric eels are a genus, Electrophorus, of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts. Their electrical capabilities were first studied in 1775, contributing to the invention in 1800 of the electric battery.  

That wasn't too much hard work, and there were some clever moments.  Hope you enjoyed it. See you next month.

Cool Regards!

JzB