Friday, November 22, 2024, Joe Marangell

 Theme:  I'm on top of this! 

Puzzling thoughts:  

What an interesting puzzle.  Five 9-letter phrases (four entries and a reveal) and four sets of circles, all containing the letters "n" and "o".  After solving the puzzle, each of the five phrases could stand alone:  BE THE BALL; RIGHT TIME; WHO'S FIRST; GET WITH IT; and MOVIN ON UP

But the reveal (movin' on up) gives the true meaning for the circled "no":  it's not "no", it's "ON".  And since the word "ON" is only discerned if you read it going "up", it adds another dimension to these phrases:

17-across. Stay vigilant: BE [ON] THE BALL.  The word "on" is moved up (above) the phrase "be the ball" to make it fit the clue ... as opposed to this snippet from the movie "Caddyshack": 

21-across. Punctual: RIGHT [ON] TIME.  As opposed to the Beach Boys single:

39-across. Comedy routine with peculiar names: WHO'S [ON] FIRST.  "Who's first" might be a question asked of a clerk to a group of customers - especially when there is no numbered ticket system in place.  But certainly, the only video clip worthy of inserting here is the eponymous comedy routine of Abbott and Costello: 

60-across. "Pick up the pace!": GET [ON] WITH IT.  Once again, I was able to find a song with the title: "Get With It" (before my time ...) 

And of course, the reveal:  

66-across. "The Jeffersons" theme song, and an apt title for this puzzle: MOVIN' ON UP.

Today's constructor, Joe Marangell, could be celebrating his debut puzzle; perhaps not just @ the LA Times, but perhaps @ any major publication.  If so, congratulations are in order!  This one rates a solid, ⭐⭐⭐ + 1/2⭐

The Grid - note my mistakes

Here are the rest of the answers:

Across:

1. "The Raven" opening: ONCE.  Here is the text of the poem by Poe

5. Literary captain who inspired Captain Hook: AHAB.

9. App with pics: INSTA.  Short for Instagram

14. Radish, e.g.: ROOT.  Here is a fun fact about the radish capital of the world

15. Spa treatment, briefly: PEDI.  Did anyone try MANI before pedi?  I did

16. Approaches: NEARS.

  

That's about as NEAR as this guy could get!!

19. "Blonde" writer Joyce Carol __: OATES.  The only "Oates" I knew was this half of a famous performing duo

 

20. Trailing: IN TOW.  This one was kind of a drag ...

23. Balanced states: STASES.  Plural of stasis

25. Co-star of Betty, Rue, and Estelle: BEA.  Bea Arthur of The Golden Girls

26. Spoil: ROT.  Go bad

27. Gp.: ORG. Abbr. 3LW

28. Go the wrong way?: SIN. Nice clue; Joe's or Patti's?  I would guess Patti

30. Some Summer Olympians: DIVERS.  The Chinese divers won all of the gold medals at this year's Paris Olympics

33. Russian refusal: NYET.  Moe-ku #1:

        Broadway musical

        Translated into Russian:

        "Nyet Nyet, Nanette"

 
35. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" writer Anita: LOOS.  Her biography

38. Uno y uno: DOS. Uno, dos, tres, quattro ...

42. Hyundai rival: KIA.  Hyundai vs Kia

43. Rhetorical question from Caesar: ET TU.  "Really, Brutus?  You, too??"

44. God of love: EROS.

48. Small lifeboat: DINGHY.  "Hey Smails!  My dinghy is bigger than your whole boat!" 

 

 

51. "Let me think ... ": HMM.  Don't overthink this ...

53. Best of "House of the Dragon": EVE.  Ahh ... this is the actor's name, Eve Best - "Game of Thrones"

 

 

54. Altar answer: I DO.  We just attended a Catholic wedding last week, and the bride and groom responded "I will" when asked the questions by the priest ...

55. Corn unit: EAR.  Cob also fit, but I didn't err here

58. Annoy: PESTER.  And a related clue/answer: (65-across. Bother continually): EAT AT.

64. Kurosawa who received an Academy Honorary Award in 1990: AKIRA. These proper names are getting more difficult for me ...  Japanese filmmaker

68. Vessel opener: STENT. This helps to get the blood flowing

69. Slightly open: AJAR.  When is a door not a door? When it is ajar

70. Word with sugar or gold: RUSH.  My "sugar rush" is eating an apple fritter 

 

 

Publix Supermarkets (SE US chain) make the best ones, IMO

71. Stuffed bear: TEDDY. There are other clues/images for this word, but I will refrain from showing an example

72. June honorees: DADS.  And IMO, MOMS should be "honored" all the time; not just on the second Sunday in May

73. Casual tops: TEES.  "Wooden golf pegs" is not a difficult enough clue for a Friday puzzle

Down:

1. Traveling Wilburys member: ORBISON.  "Traveling Wilburys were a supergroup of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty from 1988 to 1991" [wikipedia]

2. Sign outside a restricted area: NO ENTRY. 

 

 

3. Vrbo category: COTTAGE.  Moe-ku #2:

        In the rental world,

        Vrbo and Air BnB's

        Are COTTAGE industries

 
4. Shared culture: ETHOS.  One of my mistakes ... I tried ETHIC before ethos

5. BOLO kin: APB.  All Points Bulletin / Be On The Lookout

6. Listen to: HEAR.  I think it's time to hear (Listen to) more music! Enjoy

7. Improv technique: ADLIB. For me, I feel like my recaps are totally adlib ... no script for this blogger!!

8. Complete nonsense: BILGE. The Thesaurussaurus agrees

 

9. Playing past the fourth qtr., say: IN OT. In "Overtime"

10. "Cool!": NEAT.  My first thought when I see the word "neat": (CSO to our dear, departed Tinbeni)

 

 

My first "toast" of the evening is to you, sir

11. Some sketches: SATIRES.  Too many to choose from, but this might get a grin or two:

 

 

12. Vibration: TREMOR.  When a tremor was measured at a football game

13. Good qualities: ASSETS.  Moe-ku #3:

        What is it called, when

        Arranging donkeys? Might you

        Say, they are ASSETS?

18. Farm females: EWES.  Cows also fit

22. Possessed: HAD. As in, the devil had me??

24. Farm structure: SILO.  I kept going round and round with this one ... barn fits, too, ya know

29. Bouquet: NOSE.  CSO to yours, truly.  The resident Crossword Corner sommelier whose nose knows the difference between a Cab and a Syrah

31. Cards with pics: IDS.  My Global Entry card has proven to be well worth the $ I spent when I have to go through security at airports

32. Primary action: VOTE.  As a registered "independent", this is one action I cannot take

34. Nest element: TWIG. 

 

36. Frequently found in poems?: OFT.  Here is an example:

37. "Star Wars" antagonists: SITH. All of them

40. "Take that!": HAH.

41. Butcher's cut: RUMP.  Loin and ribs fit

42. Tangled: KNOTTED.  "Tied up", would've been a good clue, too

45. Entourage: RETINUE. Not the most popular word among the major publications

46. Possible reason for a dead phone battery: OVERUSE.  Not my first thought, but the perps helped

47. Highest-order angels: SERAPHS.  Another error as I spelt it incorrectly (had an "e" where the "a" should've been)

48. Process, in a way: DIGEST.  This could apply to both thoughts (brain) and food (stomach)

49. Brainstorm: IDEATE.  What happened when Idy consumed a meal? 

50. As of now: YET.  To date

52. Have in mind: MEAN.  Nary a mean thought in this blogger's mind

56. Sportscaster Rashad: AHMAD.  I am a sports nut, but I like this Ahmad better:

57. Dry Spanish wine: RIOJA. Well ... technically ... Rioja is a wine region in northern Spain

59. Golf garment: SKORT.  A portmanteau of "skirt" and "short".  Not to be confused with a "spork" (combination of a spoon and a fork) This:

61. Mascara applicator: WAND.  I tried "swab" at first, but that gave me a black eye ... 😉

62. __-bitty: ITTY.  It was either itty or itsy

63. Commercial spot: TV AD.  So glad that all of the political tv ads are gone

67. Agcy. that investigates tax fraud: IRS.

And that's a wrap.  But I won't leave before sending a punny shout out to my Friday partner in crime, MalMan, with this groaner:

        I have a pet manatee named Hugh.  

        I built him a house.  

        It's a habitat for Hugh manatee

See you in a couple weeks ... 

Friday, November 8, 2024, David Alfred Bywaters

 Theme: "Oh Where, Oh Where ... " 

Puzzling thoughts:

Today's play-on-words Friday-level puzzle was offered to us by none other than David Alfred, "one if by land, two if" Bywaters!  This is now three-in-a-row for me recapping some of my favorite puzzlers (Rich, Patti, and now David).  As many of you know, one of my partners-in-crime, waseeley, is also a fan of David's and regularly shares with us his fortnightly, crossword cavalcade

David often comes up with a fiendish connection in his puzzles, so I reached out via email to him to confirm (or deny) that these entries had anything more than what appears on the surface.  David was honored to think that I had uncovered a secret code, perhaps ... but as he said, "it was by mere chance" that he came up with 5 phrases that have a double-meaning, all of which were framed by a clue question beginning with the words "where to find".  Did you have the wherewithal to figure them out?

Let's explore each one and see if we can find out the meaning behind the clues:

17-across. Where to find a dogcatcher at the end of the working day?: BY THE POUND.  David's first clue/entry was to explore the whereabouts of a dogcatcher (do these even exist anymore?) when his shift is over.  By the dog POUND of course!  Would this entry have been as exciting if it had been clued: "How bananas are sold?"  Nope

But speaking of bananas, I find it interesting that Trader Joe's is a retailer who sells bananas individually as well as in a bunch.  So, which is the better deal?  Individual or by the pound? Well, if you allow that a single banana - on average (with the peel) - weighs about 8 ounces, then their selling price of 19 cents each (maybe it's now a quarter) is a pretty good deal.  The by the pound price is usually around 69 cents per

31-across. Where to find a Tyrolean shepherd?: ABOVE THE FOLD.  Normally, C-Moe uses the Thesaurus-saurus (see 70-across in the recap) to confirm synonyms.  And while Moe has heard of the word fold in reference to a flock of sheep it took a while to confirm (open the link)

The phrase, above the fold, is a newspaper reference that applies to the headline (or major news story) that appears above the folded part of the paper.  Maybe as this one so erroneously did back in 1948?

Notice how the paper is folded

38-across. Where to find an Iowa farmer in late summer?: BEHIND THE EARS.  This was by far the corniest of the crop ... 😀 

Too bad, though, that David didn't have a few extra squares in the puzzle grid to allow him to add an adjective to the phrase.  Then the clue could've been:

How to find an Iowa farmer after a late summer thunderstorm?: ___ BEHIND THE EARS 💧💧💧

46-across. Where to find a Chicago suburbanite?: OUT OF THE LOOP. Fortunately for those who regularly visit the Crossword Corner, you are never out of the loop.  Even when we are faced with trying to figure out certain actors, authors, places, or things; the bloggers here are always eager to do the googling for you and offer it in our comments ...

So why a Chicago suburbanite?  Well, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the "landscape" "The Loop" is both a geographic reference as well as a pretty famous area in downtown Chicago (see the rectangular loop in the map below)

63-across. Where to find a lumberjack at lunchtime?: ON THE STUMP.  David ends his quintet of quirky quips with a reference to political speeches and rallies.  We steer clear of discussing politics here at the Corner ... but we do like to post cartoons! 

Today's grid is brought to you by Sharpie®:

The Grid - My first time using a highlighter 😂

As an aside, there were 24 3LW's today ... again, a result of having 57 of the 225 available squares occupied by the theme entries ... we'll soon learn if Irish Miss minded these, or not ... I'm guessing, not!

As a further aside, David provided me (through our email correspondence) a couple more of the entries he had for this puzzle that didn't make the cut:

Clue: Where to find the lighthouse keeper on foggy Fridays?: BESIDE THE POINT.

Clue: Where to find the scientist who created the abbreviations for silver (Ag) and gold (Au)?: UNDER THE TABLE 

My "grade" for this puzzle is a solid, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Across:

1. Home of Minor League Baseball's Storm Chasers: OMAHA.  CSO to Husker Gary.  I did not know this and chose TULSA as my first guess

6. Oscar season oversight: SNUB.  

10. Org. concerned with lab safety?: SPCA.  Cute clue; DAB's or PV's?  In this case the "lab" is a dog; not a room for science experiments 

14. Not haram: HALAL.  Here's the difference

15. Potential London flat?: TYRE.  Lots of play-on-words today!  The London "flat" refers to an automobile tyre; not a rental unit (apartment)

16. Broccoli unit: HEAD.  My partner, Margaret, advised me last week that broccoli is a man-made vegetable - Cauliflower, too as it turns out

19. Goals: AIMS.  

20. Brief indication of flexibility: OBO.  Or Best Offer.  As in an ad (you'll see this on eBay) where an item is listed for sale for a price of, say, $50.00, OBO

21. Slender fish: EEL.  GAR also fit, and it's a pretty slender fish IIRC

24. Quaint assent: YES'M.  Contraction for yes, ma'am (also a contraction)

26. Out of harm's way: SAFE.  Which supports (5-down. Away from the wind:) ALEE

29. "__ you asked ... ": SINCE.

34. Opening stake: ANTE.

36. Pitching superstar: ACE.  Walker Buehler may have been the ACE in this year's World Series

37. Marker: IOU.  PEN also fit

43. Rx provider: DOC.  With 24 3LW's you're bound to get several that are abbrs.

44. Delighted cry: OOH.

45. In addition: ELSE.

51. Not just glance: STARE.  How good are YOU at a starting contest?? 

52. Many a Saudi: ARAB.

53. Jazzy improvisation: SCAT.  Ella was one of the best

57. Attempts: TRIES.

59. Coded plea for help: SOS.  Morse code.  Dit dit dit, dah dah dah, dit dit dit (... --- ...)

61. Nev. neighbor: ARI.  CSO to me, Lucina, Yuman, et al

62. "Despicable Me" voice actress Kristen: WIIG.  This actress pronounces her last name the same as an artificial hairpiece: "wig".  But if you look at it again, what if she pronounced it like a video game platform + the last letter, might you get this?:

Wii - G

67. Beginning for potent or present: OMNI.  A prefix meaning "all; everywhere"

68. Core supporters: BASE.  This term was used ad nauseum during the Presidential campaign

69. "Booped" body parts: NOSES.  

70. Acute: KEEN.  The Thesaurus-saurus agrees!

71. Roe source: SHAD.  I prefer mine from sturgeon

72. Down-at-the-heels: SEEDY.  Merrium-Webster agrees

Down:

1. Enthusiastic or impatient cry: OH BOY.  Enjoy this little ditty from a performer who left us way too soon

2. Perhaps: MAYBE.  Do you think maybe there'll be a Moe-ku today?  Perhaps ...

3. Some flutes: ALTOS.

        The fife producer

        Took today off; celebrates

        (the) Flutes of his labor

4. "Caught you!": HAH.  See!  There was a Moe-ku; hah!

6. Norwegian king in hagiographies: ST OLAV.  Learning moment for me, today regarding the clue

7. Greenwich Village sch.: NYU.  Right in the heart of Greenwich Village  

Washington Square Arch near NYU

8. Large container: URN.  A large-sized container (urn) is often used for coffee; a small-sized container (urn) is often used as an alternative to a coffin

9. Hotel capacity: BEDS.  Same answer applies to a hospital's capacity

10. "Doctor Zhivago" star: SHARIF.  Aka, Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub

11. Lingerie array: PEIGNOIRS.  I wondered if this word had been used before in a major crossword puzzle - apparently, yes

12. Almost had it: CAME CLOSE. For some reason, this brought to mind a quip I wrote some ten years ago (October 2014).  Not sure if those here are familiar with the racehorse I reference, so when you get to the last word click on the link ... 

Famous actress Glenn mourned the recent death of a Breeders Cup winning racehorse. She even went so far as to attend the horse's funeral. Unbeknownst to her, the horse's owners cancelled the funeral and had the horse cremated instead.  She came to the funeral, anyway.  TMZ followed her and published this headline the next day on their website: 

CLOSE, but no Cigar

13. Spots: ADS.  So here, all along, the images on a Dalmation's coat are actually ads?? 😉

18. Uruguayan coin: PESO.  We had this word entry on Tuesday; Susan gave us the list of those other countries who use the peso as their currency of choice ... 

23. Call upon: USE.

25. Class that brings problem after problem?: MATH. Why is it that I have a problem with this clue and its answer??  Maybe, because I couldn't find a Moe-ku to fit the answer ... how about a Moe-l'ick instead, that is sorta related ...

        The young mermaid showed quite a big flaw,

       While committing a fashion faux pas.

       She was kicked out of MATH

       After showing some wrath

       When she wore her see-through Algae-bra

27. Part of a boa: FEATHER.  SPLEEN and SCALE didn't fit.  And when I found this image, I couldn't see any feathers ... 

Where the heck are its feathers???

28. Inscribe with acid: ETCH.  Could've been clued: "___ a Sketch"

30. Part of a prof's address: EDU.  Only since 43-across (DOC) was already used

32. "__ mir bist du schoen": 1937 hit: BEI.  Who here remembers the Andrews Sisters?  Let's see.  In 1937 my future parents were in grade school ... 

33. Little snicker: HEE.  We gave out these little "snickers" for Halloween this year 

34. "At last!": ABOUT TIME.  This clue/entry would've been more appropriate if it were at the end of my blog!! 😂😂

35. Peach kin: NECTARINE.  Here's the difference between the two

39. "Au contraire!": NOT.  The clue was in Frawnch

40. Qatar's capital: DOHA.  Coin flip here:  If you chose the capital as in currency, then rial fits.  But in this case it refers to the government center

41. Job listing letters: EEO.  Except on Old MacDonald's farm, where jobs there are listed E-I-E-I-O

42. Italian ski destination: ALPS.  Where you just might run into that Tyrolian shepherd fellow from 31-across

43. Bobs and buns: DOS.  I hear that pre-Windows computer technicians chose MS-DOS for their haircut styles ... 

47. Root: ORIGIN.

48. Charge: FEE.  The noun; not the verb form

49. __ out at: LASHED.  My twisted brain saw this image as someone who might resemble this: 

50. Slender woodwind: OBOE.  Played by that slender fish in 21-across, maybe??

54. Make happen: CAUSE.  How did this happen?  Just 'cause

55. On, as an alarm: ARMED.  Once again, my brain went in a different direction when I saw the word armed.  I wondered if there were any cartoon images of an octopus holding 8 alarm clocks, but this one is funnier:

56. A bit buzzed: TIPSY.  I swear I was cold stone sober when I wrote this blog ... (which, FTR, was done on Monday the 4th)

58. Sounds of woe: SOBS.  "There's no crying in crossword puzzle blogging!"

60. U.S. IDs: SSNS.  See 65-down; you need one of these to apply 

62. Stir-fry need: WOK.  How about another Moe-l'ick?

        When the pastry chef went to embark

       New position, I heard him remark,

        “I’ll be good at stir-fry.”

        “Piece of cake!” I replied.

        He said, “no, just a WOK in the park.”

64. "Pass": NAH.  Oh, you don't want another Moe-l'ick or Moe-ku??

65. PreCheck org.: TSA.  PreCheck for frequent travelers is a must - I got mine as part of Global Entry

66. Foot part: TOE.  Toe, which rhymes with Moe, who is now going to bid you à bientôt! 😃

Friday, October 25, 2024, Patti Varol

Theme:  "I gotta have a little more cowbell"

Puzzling thoughts:

Well, isn't this a bit of a coincidence for yours truly, the Crossword Corner's bi-weekly Friday blogger: on October 11, 2024 (my last blog date) the LAT crossword puzzle was constructed by Rich Norris, erstwhile LAT puzzle editor; and on October 25, 2024, today, the LAT crossword puzzle was constructed by Patti Varol, the current LAT editor

Do I dare compare Patti to Rich?  Stay tuned ... 

Patti has a familiar "theme" for Friday-difficulty puzzles.  She's using compound words - all of which begin with a musical instrument - to form a funny phrase as it relates to the clue.  

Finding 5 entries for a 15x15 square grid is moderately difficult, as it usually involves placing the "reveal" entry in row 8 (dead center of the puzzle grid), and spreading the other four into some cramped quarters.  A "typical" 5-entry puzzle might consist of four 9 to 13 letter entries and the reveal being either 7, 9, or 11 letters in length

Patti, though, went beyond the extremes today by grouping two 14-letter entries, with two 12-letter entries, with one 15-letter entry (in row 8).  If my math is correct, that's a total of 67 characters for the themed entries.  Most puzzles offer between 40-50 "theme" characters.  What this basically means, in puzzle construction terms, is less "real estate" for the crossing words.  Which also means more TLW's ... 26 of them if I counted correctly.  [sorry, Irish Miss] And with that many TLW's you are bound to get more abbreviations 

But here's my take:  better to have more "theme" characters if it doesn't make everything else feel "forced".  And upon reflection, there are very few "forced" entries today; even among the TLW's

And one other area of note:  the entire puzzle had a total of 74 words (normal for a Friday puzzle; most early-week puzzles have 78-80 words) but 46 blocks.  "Blocks" are the black squares.  Most editors ask for fewer than 40.  This helped contribute to the paucity of lengthy words.  Other than the entries the next longest word(s) to solve were 6-letters in length (12 of them in total; 8 of them in the down position)

But enough of the construction notes ... on to the five theme entries for today:

16-across. Publications dedicated to the history of a jazz instrument?: SAXOPHONE BOOKS.  A saxophone is a very popular jazz instrument (along with a piano, drum set, and string bass/bass guitar).  In the "made-up" version, a saxophone book might be an appropriate monograph to read about the history of that instrument; in real life, though, phone books are something we are familiar with, even though they are becoming more and more extinct

22-across. Particles from a percussion instrument that may start a sneezing fit?: COWBELL PEPPER. If you watched the video clip above (from the SNL archives) you saw a reference to the cowbell as a percussion instrument. A bell pepper (OTOH) is botanically a fruit though most of us refer to it as a vegetable.  I prefer the orange, yellow and red colored peppers to the traditional, green ones.  My favorite way to eat them is baked and stuffed (see image below)

34-across. Windfall from the sale of wind instruments?: CLARINET PROFITS.  Similar to the saxophone, a clarinet uses a single reed and mouthpiece attachment to provide a place for the "wind" to enter.  Both utilize an intricate set of keys and bars alongside the shaft of the instrument to change the pitch and note selection  

Net profits are loosely defined as the amount of money a company (or individual) has when all of the expenses have been paid ... Moe-ku #1:

        A new shrimp trawler's

        Catch yielded one-thousand bucks.

        That's their NET PROFITS

        

48-across. Fantasies about being the best player of a Scottish instrument?: BAGPIPE DREAMS.  This is my favorite of the five as it was for me the funniest.  Bagpipes by themselves are pretty funny (in the way they look and sound); and pipe dreams are ... well, for me it would be to have one of my puzzle submissions accepted by the NYT 

54-across. Endeavor to improve a brass instrument?: TRUMPET PROJECT.  Probably my second most favorite from today.  Moe-ku #2:

        Ex-prez Donald finds

        Aliens in his spare time.

        His TRUMP ET PROJECT

Here is how it looks when all is said and done.  You'll notice my two errors (marked by the black triangle in the corner of the bad cell); the first was a typo (NEAP) but the second (OREE crossing ERG) was my Natick today.  All in all, though, this one gets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - same as how I scored Rich's.  As each entry is explained I will note those that kept this from getting a fifth star or portion thereof

The Grid

Across:

1. Exhaust: EAT UP.  Clever clue.  I wonder if the constructor or the editor came up with this?! 😀

6. Nosrat's "Salt Fat __ Heat": ACID.  Not familiar with this quote nor the author of it.  Perps and a bit of common sense provided me with the answer.  All of the four are related to cooking, I believe

10. Owed: DUE.

13. Steam bath: SAUNA.  Most of the saunas I have visited use a dry heat.  So, is a sauna a steam bath? You decide

14. Olympic swimmer Torres: DARA.  Here is her webpage

15. Genetic molecule translated into protein: RNA.  While the clue gives this away, I am sure that some of you may have entered DNA at first

19. Subtle glow: AURA.

20. Masters of allusion?: POETS.  Clever clue.  I wonder if the constructor or the editor came up with this?! 😀

26. Go downhill fast?: SCHUSS.  German word for "ski"

28. Thataway, quaintly: YON.

29. Push to the limit: TRY.

30. Café lightener: LAIT.  Or, to those who are French, "Brest milk" 😂

31. Surfer's gadget: REMOTE. For those of us who have "cut the cord", a remote control device is mandatory for streaming

40. Flexible lunch hour: ONE-ISH.  This time will avoid much of the normal lunch hour crowd

41. Chess piece in castling: ROOK.  While I am not a chess player, I do know that the term "castle" involves switching the rook (shaped like a castle) with the king

42. Saison for the Paris Olympics: ETE.

45. Buff: FAN.  Naked nor nude nor ripped fit

46. Score: TWENTY.  As in "Four score ... "

52. Thorny shrub: BRIAR.  Here in AZ we have cacti

53. Like breezeways: AIRY. 

61. More than most: ALL. Indeed

62. Hockey Hall of Famer Willie: O'REE.  This was 1/2 of my Natick.  More about this HOF hockey player

63. Pizzazz: FLASH.  Clue could've been "Comic book super hero" (just saying).  For those of you who are fans of TBBT:

 

64. Signals intelligence org.: NSA.  The word signals in the clue gives it away (not the CIA)

65. PC key for scrolling to the end: PgDn.  This entry (PgDn) is not one we see too often.  However, it did appear in the LAT several times when Rich Norris was the editor ...

66. Incursion: FORAY.  Not the first definition of this word I would have chosen ... but ... I did find this when I googled: Foray (noun): the mistake of incurring liability or blame

Down:

1. First of September?: ESS.  In some years, the first of September can be Labor Day ...

2. Tower of note: AAA.  This link might only open for you if you have a Facebook account.  Don't know if this is what Patti meant.  She usually doesn't comment here, so we may all be left to wonder. Either way, this is a very obscure clue, IMO ... 

OK, I re-read the clue.  It's not tower as in a building ... it's tower as in a vehicle that tows cars and other vehicles.  AAA is the abbr for American Automobile Association.  Oops 😒

3. Inaugural ball duds: TUX. GOWN didn't fit

4. Game with 108 cards: UNO.  Should we just Skip over this, or Draw Four??

5. Melonlike tropical fruit: PAPAWS.  Anyone else try PAPAYA first?  I did

6. Hold precious: ADORE.  Aww

7. Creation by a locks smith?: CANAL.  Clever clue.  I wonder if the constructor or the editor came up with this?! 😀

8. Wrath: IRE.

9. Perfume application: DAB.  Or, an application of Brylcreem

 

 

 

10. Sag: DROOP.

11. Broken, as some promises: UNKEPT.  If this were to describe the person's hair prior to the DAB of Brylcreem, the answer could have been: UNKEMPT

12. Sunrise service occasion: EASTER.

17. Places to make connections: HUBS.  Back when I lived in SW Ohio, CVG was a hub for Delta Airlines

18. Not against entertaining: OPEN TO.  I am open to entertaining you (I hope) with my blog

21. "omg my bad": SRY.  As I said in my intro, with so many TLW's there are bound to be a few that are abbrs. 

22. "Pet" that needs lots of water: CHIA.  Never had one of these so I wasn't sure whether it needs a lot of water or not.  Does this clue and entry hold water??

23. Concluding piece: OUTRO. As opposed to the beginning piece? Intro? I guess

24. __ node: LYMPH.

25. Not even fair: POOR.  When I was in elementary school the grading system was: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor.  No one failed, per se, but some were held back

26. Jazz home, initially: SLC.  When CVG was a Delta Airlines hub, so was SLC - as in Salt Lake City

27. Ore. neighbor: CAL.  IDA and NEV also fit

31. French queen: REINE.

32. UFO crew, presumably: ETS.  See my Moe-ku 2 in the intro

33. Violinist Zimbalist: EFREM. Yes, the father of the TV star (Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip) was a famous violinist

35. Ailing: INFIRM.

36. Spring's opposite, in tides: NEAP.  This says it all

37. Non-neutral particles: IONS.

38. Add (up): TOT.  Why use an abbr. here?  Meh

39. Much of a sunset photo: SKY. 

42. Abate: EBB.  A tidal reference was already used in 36-down

43. Tam pattern: TARTAN.  I worked for 3M for many years, and it was known, back then, as the "Brand of the Tartan"

44. Members of a TikTok subculture: E-GIRLS.  Read all about it!

46. Yukon, e.g.: Abbr.: TERR.  More abbr.  This is why this puzzle gets only ⭐⭐⭐⭐

47. Not even close: WAY OFF.  If you FIW today, you were probably way off

49. "Into the Water" novelist Hawkins: PAULA.  Any fans of her work here?

50. So last century: DATED.  As a Baby Boomer, so much of me is "dated"

51. Get ready to eat: RIPEN.  My favorite expression to indicate how old I am is saying: "I no longer buy green bananas"

55. __ fly: POP.  It's the MLB playoff season, so this "fill-in-the-blank" clue is timely

56. Indoor rower, for short: ERG.  As in ergonomic?

57. Selena portrayer, familiarly: J-LO.  Jennifer Lopez

58. Orecchiette shape: EAR.  Refers to pasta. Thankfully, I recently returned from a trip to Italy so I knew this 

 

 

It sort of resembles an EAR

59. Local source of produce: Abbr.: CSA.  Odd clue unless you googled it.  I guess this is the new way to use CSA and not refer to the South during the Civil War (or War Between the States, depending on where you're from)

60. Biblical possessive: THY.  Moe-ku #3:

 

        My blog is over.

        Appropriately, last word

        Is THY. We'll be done

See you next month ...

Friday, October 11, 2024, Rich Norris

Theme:  I didn't fall for it ... 

Puzzling thoughts:  

The erstwhile LA Times Editor, Rich Norris, landed the big fish today with his well-formed crossword puzzle, featuring four 15-letter entries.  Rich took advantage of the idiomatic expression "hook, line, and sinker", and made us fall completely in like with his work - without hesitation

I had a similar puzzle published in 2023 but was able to come up with only three 15-letter, one-word clues that captured the "theme".  Rich used not only the individual word clues (hook, line, sinker) but the entire phrase (hook, line, and sinker) to complete his "superfecta"

17-across. Hook: PETER PAN NEMESIS.  The first of the four was as clever as it gets.  In this case, "Hook" refers to the antagonistic Captain who appears in the 1904 J. M. Barrie play, Peter Pan

24-across. Line: SCRIPT COMPONENT.  While not as clever as the first entry, coming up with a 15- letter phrase that fits the clue "line" could not have been easy.  In fact, when I googled this answer there was nothing, I saw, that tied Script component to a line.  However, if you use a bit of poetic "crossword" justice, you could parse this as being a component of a script; as in the "lines" of a play or movie.  Here is a video tutorial on the Elements of a Film Script:

42-across. Sinker: TOUGH PITCH TO HIT.  Perhaps my favorite of the three entries, as it took the last of the "fishing" terms in this phrase and referenced a baseball term.  The sinker is really just a version of a fastball.  As the hyperlink indicates, Curt Simmons (1950's Philadelphia Phillies pitcher) is given credit for being one of the first to perfect it.  Here is a video to explain the pitch (and how pitchers grip the ball):

56-across.  Hook, line, and sinker: WITHOUT QUESTION.  As the idiomatic expression is defined, when you accept/fall for someone's deceitful offer "hook, line, and sinker", you do it without question

Maybe like Jerry Lewis did in this movie?

But I suspect that most - if not all - of our solvers today did not fall for Rich's deception.  I found very little, in fact.  Yes, there were a plethora of four and five-letter entries (32 of the four-letter variety) but a very manageable 10 TLWs

Lots to like here.  Overall score for this: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Grid

Across:
 

1. Mishandle, as a grounder: BOOT.  I'd be curious to know if, when Rich Norris has an LAT puzzle, Patti edits his clues?  I worked with Rich once, and he was very good at making clues work

5. Accelerated sci. class: AP BIO.  IIRC, when I was in high school, the accelerated classes had a II behind them; Chem II or Algebra II or Calculus II

10. __ Eats: UBER.  I have never used either UBER Eats or DoorDash

14. Colorful deepwater fish: OPAH.  Aka, "Moonfish"

 

Moe-ku #1:

"Hook, line, and sinker":
That deepwater fish is known
As OPAH Winfrey

15. Hospital prep area: PRE-OP. Other than the "prep" in the clue matching the PRE in the answer ...

16. Aviation milestone: SOLO. Moe-ku #2:

A Star Wars pilot's
First Millennium Falcon
Flight, was Han's SOLO

20. Sentimentality: SCHMALTZ.

21. IMO relative: I'D SAY. Well, since IMO (in my opinion) is a text abbr., I'm not sure how I'D SAY is related; text-wise, anyway

22. Orangutan, e.g.: APE.

23. Chilly product prefix: SNO.

33. Basic decision-maker: COIN. I couldn't make "heads" or "tails" out of this clue ...

34. Weak poker hand: A PAIR. But even A PAIR of two's beats an ACE-high hand; just saying

35. Actress Zadora: PIA. Now there's a clue/answer we haven't seen in a long time. An erstwhile "crosswordese" entry

36. Sometime in the past: ONCE. AGO didn't fit

37. Inconsiderable: SCANT. New clue/synonym for this word

38. Fantasy franchise letters: LOTR. Lord of the Rings. Hand up for trying IHOP first? I did

39. Amanda Gorman's "An __ We Owe": ODE.

40. __ dish: PETRI.

41. Prefix with -genarian: OCTO. SEPTA (my prefix) didn't fit

46. Plant sci.: BOT. Short for, botany. Also short for robot

47. "A spider!": EEK.

48. Take by force: WREST. I wrestled with this one for a while; USURP was my first guess

51. "Sadly, yes": AFRAID SO.

59. New Rochelle campus: IONA.

60. Hook, line, and sinker, e.g.: NOUNS. Rich (and/or Patti) found yet another clue for today's "theme"; which coincides with (62-across. "Yep, already spotted that"): I SAW.

61. One on a seal: UNUM. As on the reverse side of a one dollar bill

63. Hard to navigate: SNAKY. Another Friday-like clue for a familiar adjective

64. John or Paul, but not Ringo or George: POPE. Yup

Down:
1. Danceable songs: BOPS. As in "Be-BOPS"

2. Gp. whose most populous member is Nigeria: OPEC. Learning experience

3. Citizenship recitation: OATH. I swear, this is true

4. Ship in a late 19th century tragedy: THE MAINE. This is an LAT entry "debut"; I hope you will remember this (along with the ship)

5. Simple program: APPLET. I solved this whilst having a cup of Java ...

6. Lead-in to fall: PRAT. As in "PRAT-fall". Being a "stooge" I know all about these! I don't know if you need a Facebook account to view the video below ... I read somewhere that the Stooges "inspired" Aerosmith to write the song "Walk this Way" ...

7. Julie who played Rita on "Dexter": BENZ. Would it have been too obvious if her character's name was "Mercedes"?

8. Lithium-__ battery: ION. Did this one almost set you on fire?

9. Reveal, in verse: OPE. Moe-ku #3:

Amanda Gordon
Revealed poetic intent
When she OPEd an ode

10. Tried to influence with: USED ON. My "influencer" on food packaging is when it says "USED BY"

11. Order (around): BOSS. Verb form

12. Director Kazan: ELIA.

13. Good-looking?: ROSY. The hyphen in the clue gave it away

18. "Snow Angel" singer Rene : RAPP.

19. Key type: MINOR. Perps made this MINOR rather than MAJOR

23. Barbecue rod: SPIT. Doesn't seeing a piece of meat on a SPIT want to make you drool?

24. Slide on a seat: SCOOT. Tough clue

25. Vrbo listing: CONDO.

26. The Owls of the NCAA: RICE U.

27. Jumping chollas, e.g.: CACTI. CSO to me, Lucina, and Yuman

28. Victor Vasarely's movement: OP ART.

29. Frenzied: MANIC. Hoping that no one felt this as they were solving today's puzzle

30. Holocene, for one: EPOCH. Holocene EPOCH

31. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role: NITTI. Movie based on mobster Frank NITTI

32. Deck with kings and queens: TAROT. Good Friday clue; or a good clue on any non-Christian Friday

37. Equinox mo.: SEPT. Only because MARC looked odd

38. "You have a dictionary, don't you?": LOOK IT UP. For the most part, I LOOK IT UP for all y'all

40. Snap: PHOTO. Crackle: CHINA; Pop: SODA. Or are snap, crackle, and pop just a bit of Rice Crispies?

43. "Pygmalion" playwright, for short: G.B. SHAW. Not enough spaces for the full name: GEORGE BERNARD SHAW. Fun Fact: SHAW preferred to be called "Bernard", and his signature/autograph was G Bernard Shaw

44. Grounds for excommunication: HERESY. As opposed to grounds for "communication", which for me is COFFEE. Please, no talking until I've drank the first cup!

45. Drinks with scones: TEAS. See 44-across; I am a COFFEE drinker but I do like a good scone

48. "Captain America: The First Avenger" backdrop, briefly: WWII. Margaret got me hooked into the Marvel movie series, and "Captain America: The First Avenger" was my intro

49. Spanish flowers: RIOS. Flowers, as in rivers

50. Italian volcano that's a UNESCO World Heritage Site: ETNA. The UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Italy. Among those that we saw on our trip were: The Piazza del Duomo (Pisa); Venice and its Lagoon; The Historic Centres of Florence and Siena. The city in which we stayed, Montecatini Terme became part of the transnational "Great Spa Towns of Europe" UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021

51. Turquoise hue: AQUA. Needed perps; remember, my crayon box only had 8 colors. Turquoise and AQUA were not one of them

52. Low state: FUNK. FUNK is also somewhat related to 1-down (BOPS) as an African-American music genre. Video below gives snippets of the Top 25 FUNK songs of all time

53. Shape of some chicken nuggets, briefly: DINO. Meh. This was a reach, IMO

54. First course, often: SOUP. "No SOUP for you!"

55. Generous offer: ON ME. As in picking up the tab

57. Young'__: UNS. The future of crossword puzzles depends on these folks

58. Long or short measure: TON.

Well this concludes another recap from the Chairman. I won't be visiting the board today (other than briefly seeing that it published) as I will be at my mom's memorial service. Today would have been her 96th birthday. My sister and I felt that holding the service on her birthday was a no-brainer. In her list of wishes to us (for the service) she wanted an ice cream social afterward as opposed to a sit-down lunch. Flavors will be Moose Tracks (her favorite!) in addition to good old Chocolate and Vanilla

She was really quite a lady and lived a good, long life. It'll be hard to speak of her in the third person but I'll find something appropriate (and amusing) to say. Do me a favor and call your mom today (if she's still alive) if just to say "hi"