Tuesday, March 18, 2025 Caroline Hand

Fifty Shades of Gray.  or maybe just 4 shades today.

17-Across. Extremely good-looking person, slangily: SMOKE SHOW.  I am not familiar with the term Smoke Show to describe an attractive person.  I guess it refers to someone who is so hot they are on fire.

23-Across. Actress who played Rollergirl in "Boogie Nights": HEATHER GRAHAM.

40-Across. Treat that can help a dog with indigestion: CHARCOAL BISCUIT.

53-Across. Online publication founded in 1996 by Michael Kinsley: SLATE MAGAZINE.  Slate is an online magazine that features stories on politics, the arts, and business.

And the unifier:

65-Across. Range between white and black, and where the starts of 17-, 23-, 40-, and 53-Across can be found: GRAY SCALE.  Is it spelled Gray or Grey?  On this side of the Pond (unless you're Canadian), the color generally spelled with an "A".  On the other side of the Pond, the colour is generally spelled with an "E".  An easy way to remember this is in American, use the "A"; in England use the "E".  Hi, CanadianEh!

Across:

1. Sleep outdoors: CAMP.

5. Salad topped with blue cheese and bacon: COBB.  Robert H Cobb is said to have created the Cobb Salad.  It's made with lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, crisp bacon, roasted chicken, avocado, tomatoes, blue cheese and a touch of French dressing.

9. __ Sketch: drawing toy: E-TCHA.

14. Spiny succulent: ALOE.  As we learned from yesterday, it's a sunburn soother (See. 2-Down).

You knew I was going to include this cartoon.

15. Major producer of pineapples and bananas: DOLE.  Everything you wanted to know about the Dole Company.

16. Dubbed: NAMED.

19. Peruvian pack animal: LLAMA.

20. Cantina fare: TACOS.

21. Oahu neighbor: KAUAI.

29. Fury: IRE.

30. Quiche need: EGG.

31. __ Jima: IWO.

32. Inquires: ASKS.

36. April 15 agcy.: IRS.  Tax day is coming up soon!

38. Bother terribly: EAT AT.

44. "Access Hollywood" host Lopez: MARIO.  Mario Lopez (b. October 10, 1973) is an actor who has also appeared on Broadway as well as television.

45. Hither and __: YON.

46. Residential units, briefly: APTs.  As in Apartments.

47. Horror movie street: ELM.

48. Mallon in the World Golf Hall of Fame: MEG.  I don't follow golf, so I was not familiar with Meg Mallon (b. Apr. 14, 1963).  She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

51. Sleeping place: BED.

58. __ Island: New England state: RHODE.  Rhode Island is the smallest state in the Union.  Supposedly, the state got it name from the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who called the island "Roodt Eylandt" (meaning "Red Island") in 1614, referring to the red clay lining the shores of Aquidneck Island, an island in Narragansett Bay.

59. Flatbreads for gyros: PITAS.

62. Belly button type: OUTIE.

68. Monastery member: FRIAR.

69. Jane Austen heroine: EMMA.  Emma is the 1815 novel written by English author Jane Austen (Dec. 16, 1775 ~ July 18, 1817).  It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and is about the relationships among people from a small number of families.  I have never read it.

70. Sledding spot: HILL.

71. Lower leg joint: ANKLE.

72. Proofreader's catch: TYPO.

73. Airline to Tel Aviv: EL AL.  I always fly El Al when I go to Israel.

 

Down:

1. Performers in a play: CAST.

2. __ mater: ALMA.   Today's Latin lesson.  Alma mater literally means Nourishing Mother, but it is a phrase used to indicate where one went to college.

3. Freeloader: MOOCH.

4. Tea option: PEKOE.  The gradation and classification of tea is very complicated.  Pekoe tea actually refers to a grade of black tea, specifically referring to the size and quality of the leaves, and not a specific flavor or type of tea.

5. LP successors: CDs.  As in a Compact Disc.

6. __ and aah: OOH.

7. British fellow: BLOKE.

8. Word of caution: BEWARE.

9. Makes bigger: ENLARGES.

10. Actress Shire: TALIA.  Talia Rose Shire (b. Apr. 25, 1946) is probably best known for portraying Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series of movies.  She is also the sister of film director Francis Ford Coppola (b. Apr. 7, 1939).

Francis Ford Coppola and Talis Shire

11. Nashville-based awards org.: CMA.  As in the Country Music Association.

12. Skirt edge: HEM.

13. Tooth care org.: ADA.

18. "La Bamba" actor Morales: ESAI.  Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (b. Oct. 1, 1962) makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.  Did you know that his name, Esai, is a Spanish name that derives from the Hebrew root "Yesha'yahu" (יְשָׁעְיָהוּ), which means "God is salvation"?

22. Brand of fluffy slippers: UGG.  The UGG company began in Australia and got its name because the sheepskin boots are ugly.

24. Group of three: TRIO.

25. Queen of Mount Olympus: HERA.  In Greek mythology, Hera, the goddess of marriage, women, and family, is considered the Queen of Mount Olympus.

26. Seek a loan from: HIT UP.

27. Anticipate: AWAIT.

28. Apple juice brand: MOTT'S.  It's more than just apple juice.

32. Zeniths: ACMES.

33. "__ we dance?": SHALL.

34. Cosmic payback: KARMA.

35. Indian honorific: SRI.

37. __ as a fox: SLY.

39. 2010 health law, for short: ACA.  As in the Affordable Care Act.

41. Summoning words: COME HERE.

42. Tea option: BOBA.  Boba tea, also known as bubble tea, is a Taiwanese tea drink with chewy tapioca pearls (boba).   The drink is also frequently sweetened and combined with milk or fruit flavorings.

43. Spanish spelling of Agnes: INEZ. 

49. Angsty music genre: EMO.  A crossword staple.

50. Gizmo: GADGET.  A gizmo is defined as any device that gets the job done, but it often means an unknown object. 

52. Hummus and salsa: DIPS.

54. Dry run: TRIAL.

55. Bacteria-ridden: GERMY.

56. For a very specific audience: NICHE.

57. Online sales: E-TAIL.

60. Penne __ vodka: ALLA.  Yummers!  Penne alla vodka is a popular pasta dish, made with penne pasta, tossed in a creamy, tomato-based sauce that includes vodka, and sometimes chili flakes and other ingredients.

61. Vend: SELL.

62. Birds __ feather: OF A.

63. Self-serve coffee server: URN.

64. "__ Tok": No. 1 hit for Kesha: TIK.

66. Gear for a roadie: AMP.

67. Basketball star Ming: YAO.  Yao Ming (b. Sept. 12, 1980) played for the Houston Rockets from 2002 until 2011.  He is 7 ft 6 in.  In 2007, he married Ye Li, who, at 6 ft 3 in, is also a former professional basketball player.  She played for the Shanghai Octopus team in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association.

 

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Monday July 29, 2024 Caroline Hand

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with a puzzle I am calling  

That Old Clock On The Wall  

Dean Martin ~ That Old Clock On The Wall ~ (1966)

Starting with the four themed clues, we have:

17 Across. Mistaken report of an emergency: FALSE ALARM.

23 Across. Contributing elements to a yawnfest: SNOOZE FACTORS.

38 Across. Anthony Doerr novel whose title comes from an Aristophanes play: CLOUD CUCKOO LAND.

This 626-page book was published in 2021.  Goodreads link

49 Across. Exhortation during cold and flu season: WASH YOUR HANDS.

And the reveal:

61 Across. Getting paid for work, and what an element of 17-, 23-, 38-, and 49-Across may be: ON THE CLOCK.

Depending on the CLOCK, you might find ON it one or more of these:  ALARM setting, SNOOZE button, CUCKOO bird, or hour & minute HANDS. Notice the careful wording here. The clue says element of, meaning any part of the phrase might be used for the theme.

Let's give a HAND* to Caroline Hand on her LA Times solo debut! (She collaborated with Katie Hale on this puzzle published Feb. 9, 2024.) I am impressed that the themed entries are 10-, 13-, 15-, 13- and 10-letters because this construction does not leave much wiggle room for the other fill. More transformation to the meanings of ALARM, SNOOZE, and even CUCKOO would have taken this puzzle up a notch. I clocked the theme at SNOOZE.

*Sorry for the bad pun, Caroline! In my defense, this is The Corner so I am contractually obligated to include as many bad puns as possible in my write-up.  🤓

Next we'll face the challenge of decoding the other clues:

Across:
1. Hooded snake: COBRA.  The king COBRA is the world's largest venomous snake. They can climb trees and swim, too! This is a 1 min. video of a man working with a female COBRA. I would not try to do this in a million years!

6. In the distance: AFAR.  This is A FAR cry from a deceptive clue.

10. Chimed: RANG.  

As it turns out, Ted Cassidy's biography 
Lurching Forward:  Ted Cassidy's Early Life from Cradle to Creature 
was released earlier this month.

14. To no __: fruitlessly: AVAIL. "To no AVAIL" is an idiom that means "without success".

15. La __ Tar Pits: tourist attraction in L.A.'s Hancock Park: BREA.  This is a 4:12 min. video of what it is like to visit the La Brea Tar Pits. I had no idea!  

16. Israeli airline: EL AL.     and     8 Down. __ Lingus: AER.

19. __ adieu: said farewell: BADE.  BADE is the past tense of "bid".

20. Fashion magazine with a French name: ELLE.  

21. Hasty escape: LAM.  Def.:  (noun) sudden or hurried flight, especially from the law.  

22. Aromatic spice in chili and curry: CUMIN.  The Spruce Eats answers your CUMIN questions.

27. "The Raven" poet Edgar Allan __: POE.  Here is author Neil Gaiman reading The Raven. 

 28. Eject from office: OUST.

29. Words on a cake in "Alice in Wonderland": EAT ME.

33. Paintings and sculptures: ART.  I like this clever use of plurals.

34. Sailor's greeting: AHOY.

42. Store sign: OPEN.     and     24 Down. Newspaper column: OPED.

43. Fury: IRE.

44. Old PC platform: MS-DOS.

45. All-__ cookware: CLAD.  

The suggested price for this 10-piece set is $1,500.

47. Place for a facial: SPA.

55. Emerged from slumber: AWOKE.  RISEN is being saved for 4-Down.

56. Slithery fish: EEL.

57. Timothée's "Call Me by Your Name" role: ELIO.  IMDb link

60. Surrealist Salvador: DALÍ.  (1904-1989) Going with the CLOCK theme, here is The Persistence of Memory (1931).

Click to enlarge.

64. "__ go bragh!": ERIN.

65. Cost of a taxi ride: FARE.

66. River mammal: OTTER.  We have some animal lovers on this blog who I think will very much enjoy this video someone took of a dog playing with a river OTTER (1:17 min.). At first I was concerned that they were fighting but they really are playing. The OTTER has opportunities to flee but comes back to play some more. The person who posted the video wrote, "Every evening a river otter comes to play with our daughter's dog Rio. What was once an acquaintance on the other side of the fence has now become a friend who comes to play through the fence. It has been interesting to watch as their trust of each other has developed over the past several months."

Note:  I scrolled through the comments and learned that the video was filmed in Jacksonville, FL in 2007.

67. Chianti, merlot, etc.: REDS.  I think of chianti as the wine that comes wrapped in straw baskets but that is not always the case.  Chianti article

68. Marvel hero played by Chris Hemsworth: THOR.  Chris was born on August 11, 1983 in Melbourne, Australia. Between 2011 and 2022, he played Thor in seven Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.

a face that can stop a CLOCK??

69. Rapper/actor __ Jackson Jr.: O'SHEA.  He is Ice Cube's oldest son.

Down:
1. Bistro: CAFE.

2. Shape of a presidential office: OVAL.  

3. Black-tie galas: BALLS.  

4. Like dough that's ready to bake: RISEN.  Yesterday we had 118A. Puts sourdough in the fridge overnight, say  PROOFS.

The "over" example shows the dough beginning to collapse on itself.

5. Pub drink: ALE.

6. On fire: ABLAZE.

7. Photograph holder: FRAME.

9. Hit hard: RAM.  A hard hat can protect you if you are hit hard.

10. Counterarguments: REBUTTALS.

11. Rental car company: ALAMO.

12. Lowest point: NADIR.

13. Narrow valleys: GLENS.

18. __ gobi: potato and cauliflower dish: ALOO.  ALOO means "potatoes" when it comes to Indian food. Memory trick:  both have two O's.

22. Loops in via email: CCS.

25. Split in the road: FORK.  

Green Day  ~  Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)  ~  1997

"Another turning point, a FORK stuck in the road." 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Note:  This one is a twofer with "time" in the title.

26. Car: AUTO.

29. Green prefix: ECO-.

30. Jungfrau, for one: ALP.  At first I thought Jungfrau might be a phone ApP. It turns out it is in Switzerland. The photos on its tourism website are breathtaking.

31. Foot part: TOE.

32. Donut holes, at Dunkin': MUNCHKINS.  Spoiler alert:  donut holes are not actually made from cutting out holes in donuts.  Why Donuts Have Holes

33. Unreturned serve: ACE.  

Venus Williams, serving up an ACE

35. "You __ one job!": HAD.

36. Artist Yoko: ONO.  Back in 1988, Be My Yoko Ono was the debut single by the Canadian band, Barenaked Ladies.  <Hi Canadian-Eh!>

37. QB's gains: YDS.  Football  -->  Quarterback  -->  Yards

39. Italian goodbye: CIAO.

40. Lahore language: URDU.  Lahore is a city in Pakistan. This an "URDU goodbye":    

Now you know why we never see this as a crossword clue.

41. Saudi Arabia neighbor: OMAN.  Arabic is the official language of OMAN. This is an "OMANi goodbye":  

46. Caustic cleaner: LYE.  What LYE is and Why it is in our Soaps

47. Pronouns in some bios: SHE/HER.  I liked this clue! Pronouns in autobiographies are I/me. On the other hand, biographies are written about someone else's life so they require third-person pronouns. (BTW, bio is not an abbreviation in this clue. It means "a biographical sketch".)

48. The "P" of IPA: PALE.  India PALE Ale

49. Shorebird: WADER.  "WADER" is a synonym for "shorebird", as opposed to a specific type of bird. This link will take you to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Aviary Cam where you can see WADERs flitting about their enclosure.

50. In the know: AWARE.

51. Not flimsy: SOLID.  think, "a SOLID excuse"  

52. Back in style: RETRO.  

This one is my favorite comic today.

53. Shoulder muscles, briefly: DELTS.

54. Couch potato's sin: SLOTH.  

58. Slushy drink brand: ICEE.

59. Gumbo-thickening pod: OKRA.

61. Poet's "many, many times": OFT.  OFT is an adverb that means "often".

62. "No way!": NAH.

63. Dove's sound: COO.  Contrary to popular belief, COO is not half the sound a CUCKOO bird makes.  😜

Today's grid:  

We've beat the clock and made it to closing time. Thank you for clocking in!