Friday, May 10, 2024, David B. Ritterskamp

 Theme: Your INITIAL reaction:

Puzzling thoughts:  

David Ritterskamp appears to be a fairly new constructor of xword puzzles.  This may be his LA Times debut.  If so, congratulations!

Today's puzzle has its reveal placed at the dead center of the grid:

34. With 36-Across, first encounter, or what the answers to the starred clues make?: INITIAL

36. See 34-Across: CONTACT

My initial reaction to this - as I slogged through the grid in a very pedestrian time of around 15 minutes or so - was "meh".  So, I stepped away from the computer and let this one sink in for a day or two before starting my blog

After reviewing the entries, I am still somewhat nonplussed.  No offense meant to David.  I just don't know how else to react to the puzzle

Here are the four entries and what I took from them:

16-across. *Sound made by bursting a cereal bag?: SPECIAL K POP.  Special-K is a brand of cereal (seemed to be more popular back in my youth) that catered to adults (mostly women) who were counting their breakfast calories

K-pop (short for Korean Popular Music) is characterized by a mixture of modern Western sounds and African-American influences (including sounds from Hip-hop, R&B, Jazz, black pop, soul, funk, techno, disco, house, and Afrobeats) [wikipedia]

The initial "K" is in contact with both the word Special and the word Pop.  The sound that is made from bursting a cereal bag is "POP"

29-across. *24-hour TV marathon that requires glasses?: THREE D DAY.  Three-D (as spelled out; better known as 3D) is the appearance of something that has (in its image) length, width, and depth.  Images on a flat screen surface (movies and tv) are seen in 2D (length and width).  But with 3D Glasses one can see the added "depth" feature  

D-day is most commonly referred to as the invasion of Normandy and nearby beaches by Allied troops in WWII.  This occurred on June 6, 1944.  

Fun fact: Here's what you get when you google the term D-DAY Marathon 

The initial "D" is in contact with both the word Three and the word Day.  The 24-hour period that requires 3D glasses is a DAY

43-across. *Many fan letters to N.W.A.?: EAZY E MAIL.  Eazy-E was a member of N.W.A. who died some thirty years ago  

E-mail is a popular means of communication 

The initial "E" is in contact with both Eazy and mail.  Fan letters used to be sent primarily by MAIL - as in the US Postal Service

59-across. *Bridge that plays a familiar note when crossed?: MIDDLE C SPAN. Middle C is a musical note that every piano student is familiar with.  Middle C (video); Middle C (more info about the note)

C-SPAN is a private nonprofit television network organization that is funded by its cable, satellite, and streaming affiliates.  They feature live broadcast of the US Government (think Congress hearings, e.g.) and other public affairs programming  

The initial "C" is in contact with the word Middle and the word Span.  Another definition/characteristic of the word SPAN is bridge.  If a bridge were to play a familiar note as it's being crossed, Middle C would suffice

I hope this is what David had in mind when he created this puzzle.  If any of you who visit here and read the blog have a different view, please comment below.  Here is the grid; you can see (by the black marks in the corners of some of the squares) where I made my errors:

Across:

1. Percolate: DRIP.  I had the word "BREW" to begin with, but changed it as the down words said otherwise ... had I seen this "CLECHO" I might have chosen: (66-across. Percolate:) SEEP.  

Not sure that I've seen the first across word and last across word be synonyms, but I'm sure it's happened. Was this accidental or planned??  Maybe David can stop by and let us know ... 

5. After, in Avignon: APRES.  I always think of this word when it applies to a winter sports activity:

10. Texting format initials: SMS.  Crossword-ese

13. Tiniest bit: IOTA.  Ditto

14. Flexible: PLIANT.  Good Friday word (good, as in acceptable!)

15. __ it on thick: LAY.  

18. Ancient: OLD.  Probably how my grandson sees me when I am being curmudgeonly 

19. Fix, in a way: CEMENT. Krazy-Glue didn't fit

20. Tags on Insta, say: ATS.  No clue; I rarely use Instagram so this is a foreign phrase.  Auto-tags?? (this is a WAG)

21. __ song: SWAN. Moe-ku:

Witty Mockingbird
Retired. Guess his last act?
He sang his SWAN song

22. California home of the National Yo-Yo Museum: CHICO.  I tried CHINO and got a black mark in the "N" square

24. "Us" director Jordan: PEELE.  His biography

25. Sales talk: PITCH.  SPIEL also fit - until it didn't

31. "Brave New World" drug: SOMA.  Here is why SOMA

32. __-ray: BLU.  Got this one!

33. Rooibos, for one: TEA.  I didn't get this one until perps came by ... I will likely see this again, so I had better commit this to memory

40. University extension: EDU.  Got this one, too

41. Baseball's Mattingly: DON.  Got this one; 

Fun Fact:  This past weekend, NYY captain Aaron Judge (the newest Yankee player to be featured in xword puzzles) was ejected for having an argument at home plate (with the ump) on a called third strike. This always carries an immediate ejection.  Almost exactly 30 years ago (May 12, 1994), DON Mattingly (who was also the Yankees' team captain at that time) was ejected for a called third strike.  They are only two Yankee captains to ever get ejected from a game by an umpire

The "hit man"; aka, "Donnie Baseball"

42. Sound reflection: ECHO.  Is this worth repeating?

47. Spot of land: ISLET.  Or, a spot/dot in the water on most atlases and globes

48. Some vines: IVIES.  "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat IVIES ..."

49. Bailey's Irish __: CREAM.  This used to be my go-to CREAMer for my coffee ... until I discovered Buffalo Trace Bourbon CREAM

51. Give for a time: LEND.  The past tense of LOAN.  We gotta pay attention to our tenses here when reading the clues and filling in the grid ...

52. Means to be cooler: FAN.  As opposed to "ways" to be cooler, which could be "HIP"

53. Irrigates: WATERS.  This video shows another type of "irrigation" @ 2:57 ... the patient appears to be in shock! 😕😧😮

58. Gerund suffix: ING.  [from Oxford Languages]: "a gerund in a form that is derived from a verb but that functions as a noun, in English ending in -ing, e.g., asking in do you mind my asking you?"

61. Take advice from a personal injury lawyer, perhaps: SUE. Moe-ku 2:

Singer Johnny Cash
Employed a gentile lawyer:
He's a goy named SUE

62. Submits taxes sans paper: E-FILES. It has been my means of filing for over a decade now

63. Anti-fur gp.: PETA. Hmm?:

Does this pass the no-politics test??

64. Them alternative: HER.  They/them; she/her; he/him

65. Make big bangs?: TEASE. Moe-ku 3:

Character Penny
Liked to flirt with Leonard on:
The Big TEASE Theory ...

Down:
1. Compact __: DISC.  Or it could've been clued as: "the D in CD"

2. Wrangler's need: ROPE.  JEEP fit, but in the clue's context did not

3. Shipped pair?: ITEM.  Credit Margaret for explaining this to C-Moe:  "let's say you're shipping a pair of shoes in a box.  The UPS store would see that shipment as one 'ITEM'"

Seems plausible to me ...

4. Walk to and fro: PACE.

5. Tide shelfmate: ALL.  I think the clue is OK (ALL is a brand of laundry detergent; like Tide) provided they meant "store-shelfmate".  We only have one brand of detergent on the shelf in our laundry room, and a bar of Fels Naptha

6. Detective voiced by Ryan Reynolds: PIKACHU.  A Pokemon character

7. Kite, for one: RAPTOR.  Learning Moe-ment: [earthlife dot net]: "Kites are smaller raptors with long wings and weak legs which spend a great deal of time soaring. They occur naturally in the warmer regions of this world. In general they will take live prey but mostly feed on dead animals"

8. Father of Kenan: ENOS.  Most of we old folks will recall when a constructor wanted to use the word "ENOS", they would clue it as : Slugger Slaughter (or something similar)

9. Gas additive brand: STP.  Could this abbr. be clued any differently?  There must be a texting phrase linked to these letters ... Stop Typing Poorly, perhaps??

10. Got ready to stop: SLOWED.  Last week I slowed as I was making a right hand turn (green light) and got rear-ended. The guy who rear-ended me had no insurance card at the scene, but was cited by the police for causing the accident.  I am still waiting to hear from my insurance carrier to see if they were able to determine if he does have coverage.  In the meantime, my car is about 50/50 from being totaled (according to the body shop) ... arrgghh

11. UNESCO's __ Fund for Girls' Right to Education: MALALA.  Looks like a very worthy cause

12. "Finding Nemo" city: SYDNEY.  I visited Sydney once, but never found Nemo.  I did climb the Harbour Bridge, though.  No personal cameras allowed so I have no photo to share other than this "stock one":

 

I climbed it at night. Sydney Opera House to the left

14. Well-worn trail: PATH.  Margaret and I have hiked many of the trails nearby; they are quite well-worn.  Many are over 150 years old

 

Treasure Loop trail (path) in AZ

17. Move slowly: INCH.  Three Stooges, anyone??!

21. Gets ready for surgery: SEDATES.  Before or after they IRRIGATE the wound??  I was most recently SEDATED when I had my colonoscopy.  Interesting that the performing physician referred to the procedure as "surgery"

23. "__ cost ya!": IT'LL.  Not this blog, though.  It's free but I know that C. C. welcomes any donations

24. Hammer end: PEEN.  I started to create a Moe-ku and then said, "Nope" 😀

25. Penultimate Greek letter: PSI.  Don't you just love the word "penultimate"??!

26. F-, e.g.: ION.  In this case, a fluoride ION

27. "I'm covering my ears now!": TMI.

28. Like some retro frames: CAT-EYED.  My partner Margaret admits that she had a pair of these when she was a kid.  She refuses to EVER get another pair of these frames again ...

This is not Margaret, BTW. Though without glasses they do look similar

30. School near Heathrow: ETON.  Yet another way to clue this classic crossword entry

32. Scarecrow creator: BAUM.  The creator of "The Wizard of Oz", L. Frank BAUM

35. __ of March: IDES.

36. Natalie with nine Grammys: COLE.  Would not have been easy to parse if the clue were: "Natalie with nine "grammies" ... I had three grammies, growing up ...

37. Knee pt.: ACL.  I was at first "torn" by what to put here ... 😃

38. Marxist Guevara: CHE.

39. Tyke: TOT.

41. Oktoberfest outfits: DIRNDLS.  A German dress - famous in the Alps

43. Billie who is the youngest woman to win two Oscars: EILISH.  Best Song - for "Barbie" and "No Time to Die"

44. Way, or means: AVENUE.  Not "Means or Ways" - a federal committee responsible for taxes and tariffs

45. Snappy put-down: ZINGER.  I like Sheldon's word, better ... long

46. National park on Mount Desert Island: ACADIA.  Margaret has never been to Maine.  I have, but have never visited ACADIA National Park.  Bucket list item

47. Apple with a few cores: IMAC.  Probably the most clever clue in today's puzzle.  Computers have  "cores" (multiple) while an apple (fruit) has just one.  Apple is the computer company that makes the IMAC desktop model

Moe-ku 4:

My Apple IMAC
Had a faulty CPU:
Rotten to the core

50. Stupefies: AWES.

52. Revolutionary era pipe: FIFE. As in FIFE and drums corps

54. Baking amts.: TSPS.

55. Foil alternative: EPEE.  Saran wrap would not fit ...

56. Give a star, maybe: RATE.  To me, I will usually only RATE a product (or service) based on whether it totally pleased me (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) or totally pissed me off (⭐)

57. Lose it: SNAP.  When I was rear-ended last week I admit that I snapped

59. Crossed: MET.  Did anyone keep track of the TLWs today?? Irish Miss??

60. Greta of "The Morning Show": LEE.  Greta LEE plays Sheila Bak  Total unknown, to me

And there you have it!  Comments and questions are always welcome

Friday April 26, 2024, Winston Emmons

 Theme: Mumbo Jumbo Idiom Jumble

Puzzling thoughts:

Today's idiomatic/anagram puzzle is presented by none other than Winston Emmons, no stranger to the LA Times crossword puzzles.  Winston uses 5 "theme" entries.  Each answer to these entries is an unscrambled word/phrase that comes as a result of answering the second part of the clue (as well as the first part)

Wait just a darn second, Moe.  That doesn't make any sense!  Well, you're right; it doesn't.  But if you carefully rearrange the letters in the theme answers, you can achieve both halves of the clue's meaning

Please look again at the cartoon above.  The carolers are singing "Listen Thing", which is an anagram for "Silent Night" (re-arrange the letters).  And while there is no clue associated with the cartoon, all we need to do is use that bit of logic to understand what's going on in each clue and answer:

15-across. Cleanliness is next to ... a minimalist approach?: DOING LESS.  

The obvious answer to the first part of the clue is "GODLINESS".  It was so obvious to me that I typed it into the white squares.  The phrase: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is a proverb that implies that practicing cleanliness is akin to worshipping or performing religious obligations

The obvious answer to the second part of the clue, "a minimalist approach", is DOING LESS.  I never thought of "doing less" as being a form of "Godliness", but when you rearrange the letters in doing less you can spell the word Godliness, and now we have answered both parts of the clue correctly

19-across. Going to hell in a ... damaged armored vehicle?: BASHED TANK.  

The phrase "Going to hell in a "HAND BASKET" is well-known idiomatic phrase that means "to be rapidly deteriorating - on course for disaster;" 

a BASHED TANK is indeed a damaged armored vehicle, but the phrase "bashed tank" is not one we often use ... but rearranging bashed tank also gives us handbasket

34-across. Don't throw the baby out with the ... decorative Halloween ring?: BAT WREATH.  

"Don't throw the baby out with the "BATHWATER" is an idiomatic expression for an avoidable error in which something good or of value is eliminated when trying to get rid of something unwanted. A slightly different explanation suggests this flexible catchphrase has to do with discarding the essential while retaining the superfluous because of excessive zeal."[wikipedia] 

Not this, I hope ...

 

 A BAT WREATH is not the most popular Halloween "ring", but I did find an image:

And as you might suspect by now, a quick rearrangement of bat wreath = bath water

50-across. The only thing we have to fear is ... feeling better quickly?: FAST RELIEF.  

The first half of the clue cites FDR's speech (featured below) with the iconic idiomatic phrase: "The only thing we have to fear is FEAR ITSELF."  

The second half of the clue (feeling better quickly) yields FAST RELIEF.  And if you really want "fast relief" you might want to take Brioschi 

Once again, the rearranging of fast relief = fear itself

And last, but not least, we have: 56-across. Famous ... weapon that would dissolve in water?: SALT SWORD.  

Unscramble SALT SWORD and you get (famous ...) "LAST WORDS".  

This is the only thing I could find for Salt Sword.  I am guessing it is a reference to Salt and Sanctuary (unfamiliar, to me), but I suppose that, literally, a salt sword could dissolve in water.  But it's a stretch, and of course, YMMV

Certainly, this was a very interesting puzzle and theme.  As always, your comments below will let us know how you liked or disliked this puzzle.  I floundered with it for over 20 minutes, but once I "got it" it made sense

BTW, this is a puzzle that is **admiral toe** for those who enjoy solving the daily Jumble™.  If only Old Man Keith was still alive he would have been smiling **area rote** 😁, as he was extremely fond of finding the diagonal anagrams of the daily puzzle

Here is the grid, and then "To depart ... or what might come with a bundle of shingles? **ROOF FACT SHEET** (let's see how many of you get this - as well as the other two anagrams I used in the intro!!)

 

Across:
1. Ointment amount: DAB. How many of you recall this old jingle?

4. PIN point: ATM.  Sometimes clues can get too cutesy.  But I get it ... an ATM is a "point" for where a PIN is entered ... meh

7. Prone to micromanage, perhaps: BOSSY.  Don't have a "cow" over this one!

 

12. Napping racer of fable: HARE.  The tortoise and the HARE

13. "Vive le __!": ROI.  "Long live the king!" [Frawnche]

14. Gas brand with a torch logo: AMOCO.  Shouldn't the clue have been: "Erstwhile gas brand with a torch logo?"  Didn't BP take over AMOCO?

17. More vast: WIDER.  A little contemporary music to soothe and relax the soul ... 

18. Muppet who had a meltdown over a rock named Rocco: ELMO.  

Elmo vs Rocco

21. Nabisco wafer cookies: NILLA'S.  Good old Vanilla Wafer cookies ... 

Here is a recipe for NILLA's in banana pudding

23. Like some receptions: ICY.

Speaking of an ICY reception ...

24. Architect who designed air traffic control towers for the FAA in the 1960s: PEI.  The only three-letter architect that I know of

25. Squalid: SEEDY.  

Might you call this, squalid squash?

26. As much as: UP TO.  

What Merrium-Webster says

28. Angry: SORE.

29. Make a typo, say: ERR.

30. Genesis twin: ESAU.

32. Like an old mattress, maybe: LUMPY.  Or maybe like this character from Leave it to Beaver:

36. Bart in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: STARR. 

38. Mongolian desert: GOBI.  [Brittanica dot com]:

• The Gobi Desert is a great desert and semidesert region of Central Asia that stretches across large parts of Mongolia and China.
• Much of the Gobi is not sandy desert but bare rock.
• The Gobi is the 5th largest desert in the world, covering over half a million square miles.
• The Gobi’s fauna is varied and includes camels, kulan, and dzeren.
• The Gobi’s Yol Valley houses an ice field, even during summer.
• Ancient tales in Mongolia speak of lost cities buried beneath Gobi’s sands.
• The Gobi’s Taklamakan area is often called the “Place of No Return” due to its harsh conditions.
• The Gobi is surrounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands of Mongolia.
• The Himalayas block weather and starves the desert of rainfall from the South.

39. Altar constellation: ARA.  I know of the erstwhile Notre Dame football coach (ARA Parseghian) but not the constellation.  And further down the grid we had a similar sounding clue with a much different meaning (59-across. Alter __): EGO.

42. Arts and crafts bit: BEAD.  

Was Manhattan really sold for $24 worth of BEADs and trinkets?

43. Not covered: OPEN.  

Covered vs "OPEN"

45. Solitary sort: LONER.

47. Urgent care ctrs.: ERS.

48. MIT's domain: EDU.  [Oxford English Dictionary 3rd definition of domain]: 

• computing
  a distinct subset of the internet with addresses sharing a common suffix or under the control of a particular organization or individual

49. Grammatical gender: NEUTER.  As someone who studied German in HS and briefly in college, I became all to familiar with the grammatical "genders" ... In der deutschen Grammatik ist das Wort für Neutrum "das"

54. Pad __: THAI. Moe-ku:

Bangkok's Apple Stores
Pair street food with Tablets. Serve
Pad THAI with i-Pads

55. Monteverdi work: OPERA. [Britannica dot com lists these] "Notable Works: “L’Arianna”, “La favola d’Orfeo”, “Licoris Who Feigned Madness”, “Madrigals of War and Love”, “Movete al mio bel suon”, and “The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda”

58. Some Redfin transactions: RELO'S.  

Find your RELO for sale here:

60. Ont. neighbor: MINN.  Four-letter state abbreviations went by the wayside when the USPS decided to further abbreviate them to two-letter ones ... MINN became MN because MICH laid claim to MI

61. L'Oréal polish brand: ESSIE.  Thank you, perps.  Maybe our resident mani-pediites can chime in on this not-so-famous-to-me brand ...

62. Icarus, to Daedalus: SON.  

63. Muddy pen: STY.

Down:
1. German auto pioneer: DAIMLER. 

DAIMLER story

2. "Baked the Right Way" bread brand: ARNOLD.  Also, the name of the pig on "Green Acres":

3. Beseech: BEG.  Applying this loftier clue word to an old phrase I came to know all too well:

"Tis better to beseech for forgiveness than to ask for permission ..."

4. Turf: AREA.  

Slang definition for "turf"

5. Throw: TOSS.  There is a certain skill involved in this relatively new game:

6. Out-of-bounds golf shot, e.g.: MISHIT.  TTP, HG, and any other golfers ... care to share one of your MISHITs that might have turned out to be positive?  

7. Ribald: BAWDY. Moe-ku #2:

A spotted horse was
Quite BAWDY with the fillies.
A ribald piebald??

8. Skip over: OMIT.

9. Diner drink: SODA POP. ICE CREAM SODA wouldn't fit; nor COFFEE.  ICED TEA did.  Anyone try that first?

10. Tourist's diversion: SCENERY. Perhaps Picard can provide us with some SCENERY that caused a diversion for him?

11. Long-haired terrier, familiarly: YORKIE.  My first thought - after viewing a few images of a YORKIE - was, "is Toto (the dog from Wizard of Oz) a Yorkshire Terrier??  [hepper dot com says]

"Toto’s breed is never mentioned in the books, and many scholars insist that he was supposed to be a mutt. He’s described as having long, silky hair — just like a Yorkie. One other thing worth noting is the fact that the book’s illustrator, W.W. Denslow, was the proud owner of a Yorkshire Terrier"

So now you know

12. More sacred: HOLIER.

15. Thick: DENSE.

16. Birth announcement abbr.: LBS.  Is there any proof that babies who are born weighing 7 lbs 11 ozs turn out to be great craps players??

20. Clean water company: ECOLAB.  

ECOLAB

22. Per annum: A YEAR.  This word seemed a bit "forced" to me - nitpick 

26. Detroit labor org.: UAW.  

Tennessee VW plant's workers join UAW

27. Rid (of): PURGE.  Something I do every time I move (which happened over 7 times the last 14 years), and yet I still have a lot of "stuff".  And another similar clue: (48-down. Get rid of): ERASE.

28. Texter's "How disappointing": SMH. 🤦

31. Went boldly: STRODE.  

33. Practical: UTILE. Or, the clue could've been "Scrabble™ square worth 1 point": U-TILE

34. Base: BAD. It is better to show an antonym for "base" to know how this adjective can mean "BAD":

35. Proterozoic, e.g.: EON.  [Britannica dot com says]: "Proterozoic eon, the younger of the two divisions of precambrian time, the older being the archean eon. The proterozoic eon extended from 2.5 billion to 541 million years ago"

36. Colorful shawls: SERAPES.  As seen on ETSY:

37. Mortarboard attachments: TASSELS.  I somehow recall that a TASSEL on a mortarboard is in one position before graduation and another position afterward 

39. Ramos of "In the Heights": ANTHONY.  

He is just a kid ...

40. Gain again: RE-EARN.  As in someone's confidence, perhaps

41. Secret alternative: ARRID.  does TRYST also fit??! 😉 In this clue's case, it was referring to a woman's deodorant/anti-perspirant brand called "Secret".  But if you didn't get this one, don't sweat it ...

42. One side of a comparison ad: BEFORE.  Clever; the old before and after comparison ... the image below is of one that always seemed to be on the back cover of comic book magazines, back in the day:

My inspiration for getting a set of barbells

44. Signs of life: PULSES.  I just checked mine ... yep, still alive ... 69 bpm @ resting rate

46. Dupe: OUTWIT.  

One of the three basic strategies in this "game"


49. Asset on a blockchain, for short: NFT.  

It helps to know what a "blockchain" is

51. Starship Enterprise counselor: TROI.  Once again, I will defer to Picard to elaborate on Deanna TROI

52. Othello advisor: IAGO.  Another crossword staple proper name/fictional character.  Three vowels and one consonant 

53. Entrepreneur Musk: ELON. Another crossword staple proper name/actual person

57. Texting letters: SMS.  Short Message/Messaging Service abbreviation 

And we have come to the conclusion of today's blog.  Please add your thoughts below.  See you next month ... 

**For those who were unable to unscramble the words in my intro:**

admiral toe = tailor made

area rote = ear to ear

ROOF FACT SHEET = OFF TO THE RACES

Notes from C.C.:

Today we celebrate the 90th birthday of Parsan, who lives in the same area as Agnes. Happy birthday, Parsan!

Friday April 12, 2024, Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes

Theme: "It had to be "U"

 

Puzzling thoughts:  

After solving this relatively easy collaborative puzzle (Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes) I did a quick head scratch:  what in the heck is the theme of this?  So, I looked at the reveal: 

40-across. "It was even funnier at the time," or a hint to making the starred clues match their answers: YOU HAD TO BE THERE

Was the word "YOU" (or the word "THERE") somehow connected to all of the three entries?  Let's examine them and see:

18-across. *Big moth: CHATTER BOX.  No, neither "YOU" nor "THERE" seemed to fit into this entry

24-across. *Theater debt: OPENING NIGHT. Nope, not here either, although "HAVING TO BE THERE" on OPENING NIGHT sort of makes sense

52-across. *Frozen state: ICE SCULPTURE.  Who, other than folks who live in the north and love the cold weather, would want to be "THERE" for an ICE SCULPTURE?  (well, maybe this guy - see video)

 

62-across. *Title bot: PRIZE FIGHT.  Maybe this one?  Uh, uh.  Nope

So what gives?  Well, look back at each of the four entry clUes:

*Big moth:  If the letter U is added to "moth" it becomes "mouth".  And a CHATTER BOX is indeed a "big mouth"

*Theater debt: If the letter U is added to "debt" it becomes "debut".  And an OPENING NIGHT is indeed a "theater debut"

*Frozen state: If the letter U is added to "state" it becomes "statue".  And an ICE SCULPTURE is indeed a "frozen statue"

*Title bot: If the letter U is added to "bot" it becomes "bout".   And a PRIZE FIGHT is indeed a "title bout"

And that, my friends, is how Amie and Wendy managed today's "add a letter"-themed puzzle! Adding the letter "U" allowed each of the clues to match their answers.  Well done, ladies!  

Here is the grid, and then we can tackle the rest of the "fill" ... 

 

Note from today's blogger:  If you would like to solve another puzzle today, please open the link below for one that's called "That's Heavy!"

 
Chris Gross Universal Puzzle

Across:

1. __ test: ACID.  BETA fits this, too, but I waited until I checked the other perps

5. Oft-poached pear: BOSC.  Strange clue but it works

9. With 9-Down, Thanksgiving dessert: PECAN (9-down. See 9-Across:) PIE.  PECAN PIE may not be the most popular Thanksgiving dessert (unless you're from the south) but it sure is tasty!

14. Arm bone: ULNA.  Moe-ku:

Some think the ULNA
Is the "funny bone". But that's
Not so humurus

15. Bar mixer: COLA. While the constructors did not choose to use a "clecho", it fits with (68-across. Fountain drinks:) SODAS.  Did anyone else flip these answers?  SODA and COLAS?

16. Fuming: IRATE.

17. Some baby shower honorees: DADS.  This must be a more "modern" answer; I had two kids and was not "honored" at either of their baby showers

20. "Da 5 Bloods" actor Whitlock Jr.: ISIAH.  This filled with perps and a WAG as I was not familiar with "Da 5 Bloods" movie - the trailer:

22. Cookbook writer Garten: INA.  She is fast becoming a part of crosswordese

23. Choose: OPT.

29. "Makes sense": I SEE.  What I may have uttered when I figured out today's theme

30. False front?: PSEUDO.  For some reason I initially spelled this "PSUEDO".  Across Lite (the puzzle software I use to solve these puzzles) does not have spellchecker installed

33. ETA provider: GPS.  Back in the day, GPS might have been clued: "Family doc's"

36. Parker products: PENS.  Moe-ku 2:

Spider-Man gave to
His groomsmen (as wedding gifts)
Peter Parker PENS

38. Made in Taiwan, say: ASIAN.

44. Cantaloupe, e.g.: MELON.

45. Close in anger: SLAM.

46. August hrs.: DST.

47. Beach city where Barbie's Dreamhouse is available for short-term rentals: MALIBU. This MALIBU resident had his fair share of "Barbie's".  For a show that was more than mildly misogynistic, it ran for multiple seasons on a major network ... this clip is from the Ashton Kucher years as being the star, and features MALIBU

50. Historic times: ERAS.

57. Toward the stern: AFT.

60. Spacewalk initials: EVA.  Not one of the Gabor sisters??  No, EVA stands for: ExtraVehicular Activity ... this, maybe (long):

61. Title with a tilde: SENOR. The tilde (~) is placed above the "N" in Se·ñor. It is an accent (~) placed over Spanish n when pronounced ny (as in señor) or Portuguese a or o when nasalized (as in São Paulo), or over a vowel in phonetic transcription, indicating nasalization

67. Falafel bread: PITA. Are falafel and hummus the same? [foodstruct dot com] says: "What are the main differences between Falafel and Hummus? Falafel is richer in Iron, Potassium, Vitamin B2, and Monounsaturated Fat, while Hummus is higher in Copper, and Vitamin B6. Hummus's daily need coverage for Copper is 30% higher. Hummus has 3 times less Vitamin B2 than Falafel. Falafel has 0.166mg of Vitamin B2, while Hummus has 0.064mg"

69. Char on a grill: SEAR. All you wanted to know about SEAR when grilling

70. "For real?": IT IS.

71. Setting for much of "The Mummy" franchise: EGYPT.  I may need to binge-watch this series.  "The Mummy" The movie "franchise" spans 8 decades 

72. Like a chimney sweep's clothes, maybe: ASHY.  Moe-ku 3:

Santa's ASHY coat
Caused sniffles. Was it 'cause he
Came down with the flue?

73. Wall St. index: NYSE.  NASDAC and S & P 500 did not fit into the four squares

Down:

1. Component of self-guided museum tours: AUDIO.  Who sells this?

2. Necklace fastener: CLASP.  I used to shudder when my ex asked me to help her put on or take off her necklace; I was never very good with THAT type of CLASP ... 

3. Nonstudio flick: INDIE.  As in, an "INDiEpendent" studio.  Last year's top Oscar-winner "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" was produced by INDIE studio A24

4. Fiji competitor: DASANI.  Not as in the island of Fiji (or a sports competition) but the bottled water.  But (off the top of my head; I did not research this) I believe that Fiji water actually comes from a source.  DASANI is bottled after reverse osmosis if I understand correctly

5. Secretly include, in a way: BCC.  Moe-ku 4:

When Johnny Hart sends
An e-mail, he will always
BCC BC

6. "I'm impressed!": OOH.  Your reaction to today's puzzle and/or blog??!!

7. Done in, as a dragon: SLAIN.  Here is the opposite (from a dragon's point-of-view)

8. Opposite of dogbane?: CATNIP.  Dogbane CATNIP

10. Add salt instead of sugar, say: ERR. As a kid, my older sister played an April Fool's "joke" on me by substituting salt into the sugar bowl.  Of course, unknowingly. I put a couple spoonfuls of this into my bowl of Cheerios ... 

11. Baja resort, familiarly: CABO.  CABO on Baja - things to do

12. Perched on: ATOP.  

13. "What else ya got?": NEXT.

19. Price points?: TAGS.  This reminded me of the 15 or so years I spent living in New England.  The term for offering things from your residence for sale differs in many parts of the country.  I had heard of "YARD SALE" and "GARAGE SALE", but when I lived in MA and CT, they called it a "TAG" SALE.  TAGS were required on each item to clearly mark at what price you were offering this

21. __ Heritage Month: September 15 to October 15: HISPANIC.  Why is it honored between two months? And those specific days?  Ides don't know ... can someone else help me?? 

25. Require: NEED.  When Margaret and I bought our house a couple years ago, we each separately wrote out our "wants and NEEDS; we matched on our NEEDS at 100%

26. Gallant guy: GENT.  

27. Products of thermal imaging: HEAT MAPS.  You know, if you add an "L" to MAPS and rearrange the letters, you get LAMPS ... which when placed behind HEAT gives a whole different product ...

28. Derriere: TUSH.  Ok, is it "TOUCH" or "TUSH" that ZZ Top is claiming they want to get when they are downtown ... 

31. Faded out: DIED.  I suppose this is a "kind way" to clue the word "DIED"

32. Sculler's tools: OARS.  When I was a member of the Jaycees (remember them fellow Boomers?) in MA, we helped sponsor an event on the Connecticut River for racing sculls.  Their ability to synchronize the OARS was amazing ... I couldn't find a video from that venue, but here is one you might want to watch 

33. Muscle building?: GYM.  Hah!  Muscle building in a muscle building!

34. Ada Limón work: POEM.  Unlike the Chairman, Ada chooses a much different kind of poetry than my haiku and limericks

Ada Limon

35. Toni Morrison's second novel: SULA. Fun fact:  SULA is also the name of a Russian river as well as the name of some Indonesian islands

37. "Help us!" letters: SOS.  And, an erstwhile hit song by the group "Abba"; both of which are answers often seen in xword puzzles

39. __ zero emissions: NET.  Can you be a climate hero?

41. Colorful Hindu festival: HOLI. This event has passed.  It was on March 25th. [Wikipedia] "Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna

Moe-ku 5:

Radha and Krishna
Love to celebrate Spring with
Holly for HOLI

42. "Sacre __!": BLEU.

Moe-ku 6:

Camembert, BLEU, and
Roquefort were found on same plate.
A fromáge à trois?

43. Countess counterpart: EARL. What about the "duke of Earl?

48. Emmy-winning Ali Wong series: BEEF. A "Friday" clue, for sure

49. Certain travel doc.: US VISA. Don't think we will need one when we visit Italy later this year

51. Attempt to mediate: STEP IN. This sounds like something that would be more than to "mediate", IMO

53. Batting practice sites: CAGES. Could you make contact with this fastball? Not I

54. Harmony: UNITY. Does the Thesaurussaurus agree? Nope

55. Flatbreads made with atta flour: ROTIS. Not a word in my lexicon. [Wikipedia] "Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole wheat flour, traditionally known as gehu ka atta, and water that are combined into a dough. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened

56. Wipe clean: ERASE. "Wipe clean" is also a phrase a parent of a baby or toddler might use. So basically, they are just ERASING the poo??

57. Recess on a Catholic school campus?: APSE. Another paraphrased clue. The APSE is a recessed area in a chapel. Recess could also mean "a period of time when school kids get a break from classes"

58. Mesopotamian symbol of fertility: FROG. Ribbit, ribbit ... this guy?

59. Neat: TIDY.

63. Cook in the microwave: ZAP. Time for another comic strip?

64. Rough fig.: EST. Or, winter hours in Washington, D.C.

65. "Shows you!": HAH. The phrase I uttered when I "got" the theme today

66. Attempt: TRY. Hope that your attempt at the puzzle was a positive one

And we are done! Look forward to YOUR COMMENTS below. Hope, too that you are able to try MY PUZZLE @ Universal. See you in a couple of weeks

Friday, March 29, 2024, Lisa Senzel and Will Nediger

Theme:  Alphabet Soup

Puzzling thoughts:  

Will Nediger is a name well-known to crossword puzzles.  As the link describes, Will has done scores of puzzles in the NYT.  I also look forward to solving his Saturday and Sunday puzzles @ Crossword Club.  

Lisa Senzel may not be as well-known, but she has also been published in the NY Times.  Not sure if this is her debut @ LA Times, but if so, congratulations!  Also, I am not sure if she has done solo work, but the company she keeps (Will and Jeff Chen) are both solid collaborators

Today's puzzle uses a series of 4 phrases that are transformed into a play-on-words, of sorts, by adding another word which also contains a filler word ... capisce?  No?  Want me to explain?  OK.  Will do.  It's why I get paid the big bucks twice a month to help figure out what's going on in today's puzzle!! 😉

16-across. *Diner's entitlement to savory flavor?: UMAMI RIGHT.  Or is it: UM, AM I RIGHT?

19-across. *Reason yellowfin tuna are wallflowers at a school prom?: AHI CAN'T DANCE. Or is it: AH, I CAN'T DANCE?

36-across. *Pal who seconds whatever one says?: LIKE-WISE GUY. Or is it: LIKE, WISE GUY?

57-across. *Not-very-straight shooter?: ERRING CAMERA. Or is it: ER, RING CAMERA?

=================================================================

UMAMI = savory flavor; RIGHT = entitlement ... UM (a filler word) AM I RIGHT? (See below)

AHI = yellowfin tuna; (those who) CAN'T DANCE = wallflowers ... AH (a filler word) I CAN'T DANCE! (I dance similar to this person)

LIKE-WISE = same; GUY = pal ... LIKE (a filler word) WISE GUY (As a Stooge, I have to sneak in this image!)

ERRING = not very straight; CAMERA = (picture) shooter ... ER (a filler word) RING CAMERA (we have one installed but it's not active) 

 

The reveal:

61-across. Sound added to everyday speech, and what's been added to create the answers to the starred clues: FILLER WORD.  Not sure how else to explain it but to add this image:

Across:
1. Blue-green: TEAL.  AQUA would have been a fun word to begin with

5. Short form of a name that means "merciful": CLEM.  I had "no clue" and penciled in CLEO.  Guessing it's short for CLEMENTINE, but I'm not going to confirm

9. Lass: MISS.  I had HUGE in 9-down at first; that slowed me down in the NE corner

13. Jessica of "Sin City": ALBA.  And 26-across. NHL great Bobby: ORR.  Two crossword puzzle proper name staples

14. Eta follower: THETA.  The "ABC's" of Greek:  ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON, ZETA, ETA, THETA ...

15. Shape the narrative?: EDIT. Sometimes there are clues that are too clever, but sure, why knot [sic]?

18. __ therapy: GENE. 

21. "Easy-peasy": NO PROB.  Isn't the jargon used by kids these days just totes adorb?

24. In __ of: LIEU.  Moe-ku:

    They used stunt double

    In The Tiger's Apprentice,

    In Lucy LIEU of

25. Contacts list no.: TEL.  867-5309
    
27. Little dog: PUP.  Does anyone recall the expression "cuter than a speckled PUP"?

29. Michelin product: CAR TIRE.  This exact clue and entry were last seen at a WSJ puzzle in 2022

31. Planner division: WEEK.  Back in the day, this used to be my planner of choice:  

33. Q neighbor: TAB.  Oh, the "Q" key on a computer keyboard ... not the neighbor fellow who lived next door to the James Bond character ...

35. Yapped like a dog: ARFED.  The only dog I recall that said "ARF" was this one:

40. Lopsided: ATILT.  Like this famous tower??  

42. Cozy room: DEN.  Most new houses feature a great room (instead of a separate living room/family room), and an extra room without a closet is now used (mostly) as a home office 

43. The Emerald Isle: EIRE.  Moe-ku 2:

    Calling Ireland

    The Emerald Isle, not

    EIRE, gets my ire

46. Ill-fated: NOT TO BE.  The soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "To be or NOT TO BE ..." 

49. "Need I go on?" abbr.: ETC.  Sometimes there are clues that are too clever ...

51. Sister: NUN.  SIB could've fit, I guess ...

52. Pump part: TOE.  Part of a pair of shoes for women (pumps) ... these: 

 [guessing that these might be open TOE??]

53. Said, informally: WENT.  [someone explain this to me, please ...]

55. Roamed freely: RANGED.  Moe-ku 3:

    "Home, home on the roam;

    Where the deer and buffalo

    RANGED. Where seldom is ... "

60. Half-moon tide: NEAP.  More crossword-ese

65. Intl. alliance joined by Finland in 2023: NATO.

66. First-year law students: ONE L'S.  [Wikipedia] "One L tells author Scott Turow's experience as a first-year Harvard Law School student. The book takes place in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Harvard University is located. First years, or One-L's as they are often called, all face similar issues their initial year of law school. Harvard, known for its reputation as one of the best law schools in the country, takes only about 12% of applicants". 

Didn't we just have ONE L this past Monday??

67. Sunburn soother: ALOE.

68. Pub pours: ALES.  Moe-ku 4:

    I've heard when a pub

    Runs out of an IPA,

    This is what ALES you

    

69. Gift on "The Bachelor": ROSE.  "The Bachelor" is not on my watch-list.  Are any of you ladies that post here fans of the show?

70. Gripe: BEEF.  As opposed to "tripe" which is just offal ... 

Down:
1. __ cross: TAU.  If Lisa and Will wanted a clecho of sorts they might have chosen: "Sigma follower" ... The "ABC's" of Greek:  THETA ... IOTA, KAPPA, LAMBDA, MU, NU, XI, OMICRON, PI, RHO, SIGMA, TAU ...

TAU cross

2. Bark beetle target: ELM.  Bark beetle blog ==> for real!!

3. Old hoops gp.: ABA.  American Basketball Association

4. Pulitzer-winning rapper Kendrick: LAMAR.  The video clip below is NSFW (or home, for that matter) ... 

 
5. Fashionable: CHIC.  (59-across. Fr. title for 9-Across:) MLLE.  (44-down. French street:) RUE.  Today's obligatory foreign words needed to fill in random places in the puzzle 

(in these cases, as Splynter would say, "Frawnche")

6. Pad size: LEGAL. [Blumburg dot com] "The term “legal pad” is a bit of a misnomer; it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the law. The defining feature of a legal pad is the 1-1/4" vertical margin on the left side of the paper. This margin, also known as the down line, was traditionally used for annotations or side notes.

Legal pads originated from paper mill scraps bound together and cut to legal size, hence the name. They were initially used by lawyers, which further contributed to the name"

7. Of a particular culture: ETHNIC.

8. Country singer Kathy: MATTEA.  This is the theme song for the country version of "The Bachelor":

 

9. Bigger than big: MEGA.  HUGE was my first thought ... yours, too??

10. Naming: IDENTIFYING.  Pretty common synonym, as my friend the Thesaurussaurus says: 

11. Heartfelt: SINCERE.  I tried GENUINE first; another mini-roadblock on my way to solving this in 25+ minutes, but I didn't cheat too much ... had to look up MATTEA 

12. Girded (oneself): STEELED.  [Merrium Webster dot com] defines STEELED (transitive verb) as:

2

a

: to cause to resemble steel (as in looks or hardness)

b

: to fill with resolution or determination (girded)

The video below defines how to "gird ones loins" [courtesy of Redemption Community Church]

14. Ozzy Osbourne album in memory of Randy Rhoads: TRIBUTE. [Wikipedia] "Tribute is a live album by British heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, featuring his work with hard rock guitarist Randy Rhoads, in whose honor the album was released. The album was released in April 1987 in the US and May 1987 in the UK, five years after the death of Rhoads"

17. "Let's put a smile on your plate" chain: IHOP.  IHOP Brand Campaign - 2022

20. Garment that preserves hair waves: DURAG.  I thought it was spelled "DOORAG" but I discovered otherwise: [Wikipedia] "A durag (alternate spellings) is a close-fitting cloth tied around the top of the head to protect the hair; similarly a wave cap is a close-fitting cap for the same purpose. Durags may be worn to accelerate the development of long curly/kinky hair, waves or locks in the hair ..."

21. This instant: NOW.  STAT and ASAP did not fit

22. Mine find: ORE.  Moe-ku 5:

    "49'ers" left

    CAL for their northern neighbor;

    They found ORE in ORE

23. Communicating with pictograms, perhaps: PRE-LITERATE.  My my, that's a big word for describing a stick-figure!!  BTW, this is a debut word for crossword puzzles.  Congrats!

Lasceaux Cave Painting

28. Dog's attention-getter, maybe: PAW.  

Covid Cartoon

30. Loyal: TRUE.

32. Scottish wedding garb: KILT.  This one is for the ladies here at the Corner ... I was told this was taken just before the wedding ... 

34. eBay action: BID.

37. Nabe that might have an H Mart: K TOWN.  I suppose that every puzzle needs to have an odd clue/answer or two these days ... K TOWN is an abbr. for "KOREATOWN" (as opposed to CHINATOWN, e.g.).  Nabe is an abbr. for neighborhood.  H Mart is a name for a chain of Asian food stores ... learning moe-ment, for sure

38. Get the picture: SEE.

39. Main courses: ENTREES.

40. Vehicle's shark fin, maybe: ANTENNA.  For modern cars, yes.  It's that fin-shaped device on vehicles that acts as an ANTENNA.  But the "shark-fins" on vehicles that I grew up with are shown below: 

41. Uncomfortably close to home: TOO REAL.

45. Sew up: END.  Good mis-directional clue

47. Request, as table food: BEG FOR.  I'm beginning to think that this puzzle has "gone to the dogs" 😀

48. Los Angeles neighborhood near Reseda: ENCINO.  Well, I have heard of ENCINO, but I haven't a clue where Reseda is ... maybe Art Fern does, but not today:

50. Quarterback Derek: CARR.  Erstwhile Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders QB, he now slings passes for the New Orleans Saints

54. Lore: TALES.  Tried STORY with no success

56. Muslim honorific from which "nabob" is derived: NAWAB.  I will let others comment about this entry ... I did confirm that this word has been used before in published crossword puzzles, but it's been almost a decade ... and only once before @ LA Times

58. Wall St. debuts: IPOS. 

62. Flamenco shout: OLE. 

63. Sushi topper: ROE.  Moe-ku 6:

    Sushi bar offers

    New roll shaped like a ship, called:

    ROE ROE ROE the boat

    

64. __ Jam Recordings: DEF. [Wikipedia] Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop"

And just like that, we are done.  At the end of the day, I, um, hope, er, that I, ah, explained the gist of the puzzle.  

Before publishing this blog I asked Margaret if she got it, and her response was "Like, totally"! 

So OK, like seriously, add some of YOUR comments below ... 

The grid: