Friday, December 22, 2023, Wendy L. Brandes & Amie Walker

Theme: WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

Puzzling thoughts:

Full confession ... yours truly, Chairman Moe, was on a recent holiday visiting some of my family back east. And upon return, and with a deadline to meet for his blog, Moe is going all "Cliff Notes" with the recap. Probably not fair to Ms. Brandes and Ms. Walker, as their puzzle today had a very interesting theme and reveal ... but Moe will give it his best shot, as always ... on to the themers:

18 across. *Place that experiments with soup recipes?: PHOTO LAB. Notice, too, the TWO circles ... more about those, later

32 across. *Curling team's specialty?: PERFORMING ARTS. Notice, too, the three circles ... circles, FOUR a change - more about that in a MOE-ment

39 across. *Penalty boxes?: TEMPERATE ZONES. Notice, too, the three circles in letters seven, EIGHT, and nine (in this entry)

And the reveal? 57 across. Balances, or, phonetically, how to make 18-, 32-, and 39-Across match their clues?: EVENS OUT.

So, if you look at the circled letters in each entry they spell out "TO", "FOR", and "ATE". Each of those are the phonetic pronunciation of "TWO", "FOUR", and "EIGHT". Three "EVEN" numbers. And when you take the "EVEN (number)S OUT", the entries match their clues ... a PHO LAB might be where a soup chef - not to be confused with a "sous" chef - would experiment with different recipes and ingredients. Wonder if this guy ever experimented there??

The second entry had Moe a bit confused as his original thought about "curling" was the Olympic sport. But Wendy and Amie had other ideas ... when the letters "FOR" are removed, the "curling team" specialty is PERMING ARTS ... this, maybe?

Fittingly, to throw me off (after I thought curling was the ice rink sport), was the clue "penalty boxes?" that led to TEMPER ZONES (when the letters "A, T, and E" were erased). And as anyone who has witnessed a hockey game, the penalty box is kind of a "time out" spot for players who engaged in a brief moment of bad temper ...

Here is the completed grid; then on to the rest of the clues!

Across:
1. Tropical fruit: PAPAYA. Or if split into a two-word answer, the clue might've been: German boy's affirmative to his father?

7. Cannabis compound: THC. TetraHydroCannibanol (C21H30O2). I did a double-take here; thought it said "cannibal compound" and I was thinking "POT". How about a cannibal on cannabis?

10. Grabber in an arcade game: CLAW.

14. Out of bed: ARISEN.

15. Ingredient replaced by applesauce in some recipes: OIL. Any cooks/bakers out here who can confirm this?

16. Participated in a bike-a-thon, say: RODE.

17. Check again: RE-TEST.

20. Oscar of "Moon Knight": ISAAC. All perps for this man with two first names

21. Geological periods: EPOCHS.

22. ABBA classic: SOS.

23. Humble homes: HUTS. HOVELS wouldn't fit

25. Fate: KISMET. [vocabulary dot com] "When you encounter something by chance that seems like it was meant to be, then it could be kismet, your destiny". KISMET is also the name of a Broadway musical which debuted in my birth year

29. Trait carrier: GENE.

30. Gimlet need: GIN. [clecho alert!!] 61 across. Gimlet need: LIME

31. Spanish bear: OSO.

36. Big rig: SEMI.

37. "Montero" singer Lil __ X: NAS.

38. Employs: USES.

44. Brown, for one: IVY. This clue threw me off until the perps arrived; Brown is the name of an IVY League school located in Rhode Island

45. 128 oz.: GAL. Actress Gadot would've worked, too

46. Swag bag contents: LOOT.

47. Accept an extension: RE-SIGN. Note the hyphen, as RESIGN would mean to quit

49. "Eww!": BLEH. Glad to see that the constructors didn't use a five-letter word for this clue ...

50. Boy: LAD.

53. "Beats me!": NO CLUE. What I usually say when trying to solve a Saturday puzzle; here, at Newsday, or at NYT Crosswords

55. Boxer Ali: LAILA. She is as famous as her dad when it comes to crossword puzzle clues for Ali

60. Silverware wrap: NAPKIN. Too fancy for me; I prefer my silverware to be unwrapped

62. Old lang.: LAT. LAT is also the name of the newspaper that syndicates this puzzle

63. Cool-weather lining: FLEECE. The verb meaning is much different ... as this now decade-old Moe-l'ick suggests [a bit risque]:

A young hooker ran into a priest,
Shortly after her "John" had deceased;
She confessed, she had sinned,
But she felt no chagrin,
There were scores from his flock she had FLEECEd

64. Goad: SPUR.

65. Expected: DUE.

66. Girls: LASSES.

Down:
1. City Hemingway called "a moveable feast": PARIS. Once again, perps to the rescue

2. Defensive retort: ARE SO. AM, TOO fits

3. Flatbreads served with labneh: PITAS. Labneh is a yogurt-based spread

4. On the briny: ASEA. Crossword-ese

5. Response in the kitchen: YES, CHEF. Does this entry seem forced to you? I've not worked in a kitchen at a restaurant, so I wouldn't know if this retort is common ...

6. Pantry pest: ANT. And if not in the pantry, then surely at a picnic ...

7. Issuer of a Mickey Mantle card sold for a record amount: TOPPS. [espn dot com] "The wait is over. After more than a month of fanfare, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card with a 9.5 grade from grader SGC -- the "finest known example" of a 1952 TOPPS Mantle -- has sold with Heritage Auctions for $12.6 million including buyer's premium. It's the most ever paid for any sports item, card or memorabilia"

8. Sunny greeting: HI HO.

9. Press for time?: CLOCK IN. Clever clue

10. Symbol on the Swiss flag: CROSS.

11. "haha": LOL.

12. Poet laureate Limón: ADA. Another proper name filled by perps and a WAG

13. Part of a mitt: WEB. This; the part between the thumb and first finger:

19. Whatsis: THING.

21. Never-ending: ETERNAL.

24. __, dos, tres: UNO.

26. Code creator: MORSE. SOS is ... --- ...

27. "The Hundred Dresses" Newbery honoree Eleanor: ESTES. Another proper name

28. Shovel pass, e.g.: TOSS. Shovel pass as in football; a humorous look:

29. "Get a __!": GRIP.

30. Princess of "Enchanted" and "Disenchanted": GISELLE. Is it me or were there a bunch of obscure proper names in today's puzzle? Maybe that is a (32 down. Pet-ty offense?:) PEEVE. [Another clever clue]

33. TV awards: EMMYS.

34. Small rug: MAT.

35. May, to Peter Parker: AUNT. Spiderman reference

36. Mix things up: STIR.

40. Easy-to-make waffles: EGGOS.

41. Lost heat, as a shower: RAN COLD.

42. "Special Ops: Lioness" actress Saldaña: ZOE. [see my response to 30 down]

43. "Fan-cee!": OOH LA LA!. Like a NAPKIN-wrapped around silverware

48. __ Hebrides: INNER. Islands off of Scotland; I recently found a new single-malt Scotch whisky from the Isle of Raasay which is located in the INNER Hebrides (MalMan, please note)

49. Montana city named for a landform: BUTTE.

50. Taps a heart button, say: LIKES. An option on Facebook

51. Writer Munro: ALICE. [wikipedia dot com] "Alice Ann Munro is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013"

52. Many Lego House employees: DANES. Lego building blocks were invented/created in Denmark; Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen

54. Feast with haupia and poi: LUAU.

56. Gibbons, e.g.: APES.

57. Lauryn Hill trio?: ELS. Ahh, clever; there are 3 "L's" in this clue Lauryn HiLL

58. Short "Kind of a big deal": VIP. Odd clue; but I guess a VIP is "kind of a big deal", person-wise

59. Outback bird: EMU.

60. Giants and Titans org.: NFL.

Sorry to be so brief and have no Moe-ku's or Moe-l'icks ... maybe next year ... Wishing all of you who celebrate a very Merry Christmas (three days from now). See you in 2024!

Friday, December 8, 2023 - Lynn Lempel

Theme: "Cesium the day!" (Cs) or C ==> S

One of Lynn's entries that didn't make the cut? CLUE: When images of Lucky Charms are dancing in your head?: CEREAL TIMES (SURREAL TIMES)

If the THEME were K ==> N, then this cartoon would be appropriate:

Puzling thoughts:

More Friday wordplay as Ms. Lempel produces 5 homophonic phrases in which each of the homophones has a "C-word" that should begin with an "S" for the more common phrase or expression. Lynn Lempel's reputation as a Crossword puzzle constructor more than precedes itself. Having more than 100 puzzles @ the NY Times places her in a rareified class of puzzle producers

Hmm ... another wordplay just creeped into MY jumbled brain ... CLUE: Successor who lives above 10,000 feet?: RAREFIED HEIR

So let's examine each of the 5 phrases, "won" at a "thyme" ...

17 across. Odd remedy for an overhead crack?: CEILING WAX. Let's come clean for a second ... my first entry was CEILING FAN before realizing that this puzzle was heading in a homophonic direction. CEILING WAX isn't anything I'm aware of, but SEALING WAX most certainly is ... notice the red wax on the bottle below; it is hand-dipped at the distillery in Loretto, KY

25 across. Pennies that are a dime a dozen?: COMMON CENTS. "Let's throw in an idiom, too", said Lynn, as the phrase "dime a dozen" = COMMON; and after using a bit of COMMON SENSE, the Chairman (me) figured this one out

37 across. Percussion instrument for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?: RELIGIOUS CYMBAL. This one calls for a Moe-ku:

Zildjian has special
Religious collection that
Features creche cymbals

52 across. Sacrifice of some data storage space?: CLOUD CEDING. The most subtle in terms of humor of the five ... I am very familiar with the CLOUD for data storage: [wikipedia] "Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which the digital data is stored in logical pools, said to be on "the cloud". The physical storage spans multiple servers, and the physical environment is typically owned and managed by a hosting company"

CLOUD SEEDING is: [wikipedia] "... a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud". Or maybe, this:

61 across. Jewelry in the shape of a swan?: CYGNET RING. THIS was my favorite of the 5. Very clever. A CYGNET is a juvenile male swan. A SIGNET is a small seal (usually on the face of a stone on a ring) that authenticates; this, e.g.:

As opposed to this:

Here is a singular of (1 across. Short shot: PIC) showing today's completed grid; this will also show where I made my mistakes (see the crossing of 44a and 39d, as well as 35a and 27d). Due to the number of theme entries, the puzzle grid had to contain a large number (22) of 3-letter words. Adding together the time I spent solving and the complexity of today's puzzle (for me) puts this @ 8.2 on the MOES hardness scale. Well done Lynn! Hope you'll stop by and say hello!

Across:
5. Shocks: JOLTS; and its singular "clecho" (20 across. Shock:) STUN.

10. Gum balls?: WADS. When I was a kid, many baseball players chewed tobacco. They always had a distinctive WAD in their cheek. I "aped" that - in a way - by cramming multiple sticks of bubble gum into my mouth. Might be a good reason why all of my molars had cavities ...

14. Shade in a neutral palette: ECRU.

15. Nebraska rail hub: OMAHA. CSO to our Saturday blogger and daily poster, Husker Gary

16. Actor Guinness: ALEC.

19. Speak effusively: GUSH.

21. Rejections: NOS. And two additional homophones: NOSE and KNOWS

23. "You can't mean me!?": MOI.

24. Go downhill fast: SKI.

30. Super __: PAC.

31. Met favorites: ARIAS.

32. Truism: AXIOM.

33. Sundance Film Festival state: UTAH.

35. Club kin: BLT. This one got me, as I didn't associate "club" with a sandwich, and I didn't recognize the name in the crossing word clue (27 down. Ventimiglia of "This Is Us":) MILO, even though I watched all of the "This is Us" series' episodes. MILO played Jack Pearson. Worth watching if you haven't seen it

36. __ carte: A LA.

43. "Hardly!": NOT.

44. Same old same old: RUT. My mistake here was using the word "ROT" instead of RUT. My inner Norm Crosby must've appeared

45. Rational: SANE.

46. CX-5 and CX-50 automaker: MAZDA. Anyone else try HONDA first?

49. Olympian and actress Sonja: HENIE; and conveniently, Lynn Lempel found this (2 down. Gear for 49-Across: ICE SKATE) to complement

51. Decline: SAG.

54. Prefix with friendly: ECO.

55. Tanqueray product: GIN. Not the brand I normally drink; here is one of my (and Margaret's) current favorite:

56. Tofu, basically: SOY.

57. Munch Museum city: OSLO.

59. Really distasteful: ICKY. Glad this wasn't a five-letter answer ... 

66. Committed perjury: LIED.

67. Gochujang origin: KOREA. I love using this on fried or scrambled eggs, or in an omelete

68. Red's friend in "The Shawshank Redemption": ANDY. This filled in with perps as I did not remember the character's names; played by Tim Robbins

69. Boys: LADS.

70. More confident: SURER.

71. Baseball gripping point: SEAM. How to throw and two-seam fastball:

Down:
1. Delt neighbor: PEC. If this were a fraternity or sorority based clue, could the answer have been "EPS"?

3. Decisive: CRITICAL.

4. Chekov colleague: SULU. Original Star Trek, so technically it's not a CSO to Picard

5. Garfield's human: JON. The comic strip Garfield; not the US President. Any guesses as what Jon's last name is?? A LA Husker Gary, I will mention it at the end of my blog*

6. "Daaaang!": OMG. Text speak; Oh My Go...

7. Kim Wexler's field on "Better Call Saul": LAW. Am I the only one here who hasn't watched "Better Call Saul"? Thankfully, LAW was easy to perp into this spot. Reflecting back on ALL of the 3-letter's today, they were very fair

8. Marvel villain who collected the Infinity Stones: THANOS. I actually got this one, as Margaret introduced me to the Marvel Universe when we became a couple in late 2019. The Infinity Stones colors represent: Purple for Space, Yellow for Reality, Red for Power, Blue for Mind, Orange for Time, and Green for Soul. The stone colors were updated in the Marvel Legacy series to match the film versions. Here is an image of this dude with the 6 Infinity Stones:

9. Early invader of Great Britain: SAXON. Earlier invader of Great Britain: ANGLO. Otherwise, how else could they merge??

10. Jokester: WAG. See 9 down; that's Chairman Moe trying to be a WAG

11. Many college donors: ALUMNI. Many blood donors: O NEGATIVE

12. Bygone Chrysler: DESOTO. Bring back any memories?

13. Rupture in a church group: SCHISM. [Wikipedia] "A schism is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, such as the Great East–West Schism or the Western Schism"

18. Native of Peru's Urubamba Valley: INCA. [Wikipedia] "The Sacred Valley of the Incas or the Urubamba Valley, is a valley in the Andes of Peru, north of the Inca capital of Cusco"

22. Like a bass or a boa: SCALY. It's homoNYM time with the clues ... clearly, not these two:

24. Urge (on): SPUR. GOAD or PROD fits, too

26. Planetary path: ORBIT. Or if the clue were to somehow use a transitive verb we could have this Moe-ku:

Do we know planets
Are circular in shape? Or
Did we just ORB IT?

28. Ripened: MATURED. Margaret often tells me that I have not yet MATURED, but occasionally tells me that I am RIPE ... 藍

29. Chances to determine proficiency: EXAMS. I always liked multiple guess questions on EXAMS

34. Holi celebrant: HINDU. Another homonymic clue ... HOLI and HOLY are pronounced the same but have different meanings. [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. Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil, as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu"

If I were a betting man I would guess that Picard has some photos of this celebration to share with us today ...

36. Get credit for?: ACT IN.

38. Urges on: GOADS. Hmm ... didn't I just see this a few clues ago?? A plural clecho ...

39. Olympic gymnast Lee: SUNI. One of my two Naticks today. I didn't know this person, but her routine is pretty incredible:

40. Court boundary: BASELINE. This link provides several references to the term "BASELINE"

41. World's heaviest snake: ANACONDA. Now THIS boa is pretty SCALY

42. Component of some small castles: LEGO. Perps to the rescue but quite fair (and clever) as a clue

46. Montreal university: MCGILL. CSO to CanadianEh! Perhaps they can give us a bit more info on this fine institution

47. Garza who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement: ALICIA. [Wikipedia] "Alicia Garza is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the Black Lives Matter movement. She is a recognized advocate for social and racial justice, with a particular focus on issues affecting marginalized communities, including Black women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and immigrants"

48. Utterly exhausted: ZONKED.

49. "Oh, hi!": HEY YOU.

50. Versatile celeb's achievement: EGOT. EGOT is becoming a very popular Crossword Puzzle entry

53. Roosters: COCKS.

58. Some Mex. spouses: SRAS. CSO to Lucina

60. Quilting qty.: YDS. Nice alliterative clue

62. "Why, I oughta ... ": GRR.

63. Name-clarifying word: NEE. My screen name is Chairman Moe, NEE Moe Vedre ... feel free to ask why

64. Otoscope target: EAR. Friday-like clue

65. Workout spot: GYM. An easy one to finish on

Hope y'all liked the puzzle and the wordplay. Please comment below ... see ya again just before Christmas ... *ARBUCKLE

 

Note from C.C.:

Happy 77th birthday to dear Jazzbumpa (Ron)! Ron is taking the December off, but he'll be back in January. Ron has been our faithful Wednesday Sherpa since January 2011.

 

 

 

Friday November 24, 2023 - Zachary David Levy

Theme: Get down with the "IN Crowd"

Thanks to my fellow blogger MalMan who reminded me of this song from my youth. I like this all instrumental version ...

Puzzling thoughts:

You might recall a few weeks ago I blogged a Zachary David Levy puzzle, so I kind of know his "style". His, and most other Friday puzzles use a combination of witty puns and/or homophones. This seems to be the trend at LA Times, as the one MalMan did on the 17th had a similar "feel".

Today's reveal is pretty short and sweet and is located dead-center in the grid: 39-across. Conclude with, and a phonetic hint for the answers to the starred clues: END IN.

Zachary gives us 6 - count 'em - 6 entries to support his reveal. Two of the 6 intersect each other as 4 of the entries lie horizontally, and 2 of them vertically [it'll be clear once the grid is inserted into the blog]. Let's see how this happened:

17-across. *Obstacle encountered at dawn?: EARLY BURDEN. The more common phrase "early bird" is the first part of the pun's phonetics; the second (as it fits the reveal) is at the END, where the letters "EN" are pronounced "IN". BURDEN is pronounced "bird-in"

Next is: 24-across. *Plot where blue bars of soap grow?: COAST GARDEN. Coast is a brand name for a bar soap; Coast Guard is a branch of the US military

Intersecting 24 across is: 11-down. *Everyone's favorite fire-breathing monster?: MAIN DRAGON. OK, so this is where the puns and homophonics got me a bit confused ... the term "main drag" = the most prominent road in a city. Unlike the previous two entries, the punned homophonic part of the answer was not misspelled

47-across. *Time when tall, thick grass covers a golf course?: ROUGH SEASON. Rough seas are unpleasant for recreational boaters; rough, as in the area of grass just outside of the fairway on a golf course, is more lush and thick when the growing season is current

Intersecting 47 across is: 29-down. *Controller part that gets worn out playing "Mortal Kombat"?: KICK BUTTON. The phrase "kick butt" gets a phonetic "in" ending when it describes a feature of a popular video game

At lastly, 58-across. *Shoutout to a ride-hailing app?: UBER MENTION. This is a complete outlier, IMHO, as the word "Übermensch" is taken from Friederich Nietzsche's idea of the Ubermensch, or the superman, as an idea of humans who create their own values based on their experience of life. He presents this idea prominently in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra [various internet sources]. Phonetically, I suppose, the word "mention" could be spelled: "mensch-in"

Four entries that end in "ON"; two entries that end in "EN"; 6 entries whose endings phonetically sound like "IN"

One thing I can say is that Zachary didn't ZHUZH us today!! 😜

One of Zachary David Levy's entries that didn't make the cut today ...

Clue: "Head nurse for the hospital's delivery rooms?" --> MATERNITY WARDEN

On one or two previous occasions where I questioned the theme/reveal/entries, I reached out to my fellow bloggers for assistance. Maybe, as I alluded to on November 16 when I commented on waseeley's blog, I am looking for more than what is just there on the surface. But if any of you, who solved this puzzle and are reading this blog, want to add your thoughts below, please comment. Here is the grid, and then off to the rest of the clues ...

Across:
1. Chuckleheads: BOZOS. If there was something I missed in today's puzzle, then you may call me a BOZO

6. Marcus Aurelius, for one: STOIC. ROMAN fits, too; [Wikipedia] "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a STOIC philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ..."

11. Distraction in a dr.'s waiting room: MAG. MAG, as in MAGazine. The abbr. in the clue gave this away, but I'm gonna say "meh" for this one

14. Meet part: EVENT. Not like the "meet" in "meet and greet" ... like a track meet ... where the 4x400 relay race is one of the EVENTs

15. Confection typically flavored with saffron and rosewater: HALVA. [wikipedia] Recipe for HALVA: "Sesame. Sesame halva is popular in the Balkans, Poland, Middle East, and other areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The primary ingredients in this confection are sesame butter or paste (tahini), and sugar, glucose or honey". Looks like they left out the saffron and rosewater ... maybe that's why I needed perps to solve this one

16. Make public: AIR. Like this blog, perhaps

19. Letters before a take: IMO. The clue for this seemed odd to me ... anyone else?

20. Ruse: PLOY. Let's see what the Thesaurussaurus says about this one:

21. Flamenco shout: OLE. Also heard at Ryder Cup matches ...

22. Sleep study subject: APNEA. Click here for more information

27. Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy: AIKMAN. QB #8 for the Dallas Cowboys. My favorite HOF football player named Troy is this guy:

31. __ roll: HONOR. Moe-ku #1:

Rodney Dangerfield's
Least known quote from "Back to School"
Is "I'm HONOR roll" ...

32. Certain cross-country traveler: SKIER. I cross-country skied when I lived in New England many decades ago. I enjoyed the workout as well as the lack of speed, unlike my Friday counterpart, MalMan who prefers to downhill ski

33. Two or three, say: A FEW. Two = a couple; three or four = A FEW

35. Setup punches: JABS. A pugilistic term

38. Chest muscles, briefly: PECS. PECtorals; here you go, ladies!! 😉

40. Four-award acronym: EGOT. This acronym is quickly becoming a part of crossword-ese

41. Big Apple store: SAKS. A NYC landmark

42. Fibber: LIAR.

43. "Pride Is the Devil" rapper: J COLE. Here is the "official" trailer ... it's "rap" so listen to it if you want, or skip it if you'd rather

44. Soaks up the sun: BASKS.

46. Short revitalizer: CATNAP.

51. "It's open!": ENTER.

52. Soup container: CAN. Moe-ku #2:

The favorite dance of
Campbell's soup containers is,
Of course, the CAN CAN

53. Western gas chain: ARCO. Western CANADA gas chain would be: ESSO

57. Avocado discard: PIT. The word PIT has several synonyms and meanings; oddly, I found very few that lists it as an avocado (or peach) discard:

62. System starter?: ECO. SOLAR didn't fit

63. "They were no match for me!": GOT 'EM.

64. Center of Renaissance art: ITALY. Read all about it!

65. Actor Cariou: LEN. A CSO to CanadianEh! "Leonard Joseph Cariou OC OM is a Canadian actor and stage director. He gained prominence for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street alongside Angela Lansbury for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical" [wikipedia]

66. Pert: SASSY.

67. Anti-anxiety drug: XANAX. Not for those who are "palidromicphobic" 🤣

Down:
1. Appliance alert: BEEP. Unusual clue for this word, but it works

2. Not quite round: OVAL. aka, an ELLIPSE. Have you ever wondered how to calculate the area for an OVAL?

3. Round number?: ZERO. On my computer keyboard, the number "ZERO" looks like an OVAL, while the letter "O" looks more round ... and "ONE" is the loneliest number if you believe in Three Dog Night [this is what happens when you're into your third hour of writing a blog ...]

4. Merely: ONLY.

5. Porcine pen: STY. Porcine = french for "pig"; pigs live in a STY

6. NFL coach with the most career wins: SHULA. Don SHULA

7. Scale allowances: TARES.

8. Not fresh: OLD.

9. Secret suffix: IVE. "IVE" could've been clued as: "___ Got a Secret" (former game show). Secret is also a brand you can use on your PITs

10. Ancient land on the Dead Sea:) CANAAN Looks a bit like modern-day Israel!

12. Mann of pop: AIMEE. When I googled the word "AIMEE", AIMEE Mann comes up in the 4th position on the list of AIMEEs. I'm pretty sure that this filled via perps

13. [But I don't wanna do my homework!]: GROAN. You want a GROAN? Moe-ku #3:

Peruvian owl
Becomes friends with mockingbird
Are they Inca hoots?

18. Windfall: BOON.

23. Cast: PROJECT. Verb form of the clue word

24. Jaguar, for one: CAR. XKE could've fit (that's a Jaguar model)

25. His and hers: THEIR. All of these gender pronouns ... 😕

26. Gala garb: GOWN.

27. Egyptian cobras: ASPS.

28. Maker of BILLY bookcases: IKEA. These:

30. Text, e.g.: MESSAGE.

33. Star __: expensive spice: ANISE. And another clue whose solve sounds "similar" to ANISE: (48. Waiting in the wings:) ON ICE.

34. Rx overseer: FDA. Prescription drug watchdog

36. Whirled weapon: BOLA. I always get BOLA and BOLO mixed up. One you wear and one you whirl

37. Pedometer unit: STEP. I track mine (STEPS) either on my iPhone or Apple watch. I should be doing more

39. Large deer: ELKS. Is this a more difficult clue than "Fraternal order, familiarly" ... ?? Some folks would argue that the plural of ELK is ELK, not ELKS

43. "SNL" alum Hooks: JAN. I hate to admit, but SNL passed me by many decades ago. This was a complete unknown. I will bet that the J COLE crossing with JAN (Hooks) tripped up more than one solver today

45. "I dunno" gestures: SHRUGS. 🤷 🤷

46. Post-op wear for some pets: CONE. One of my favorite SNL sketches was the foibles of the CONEheads; they seemed funnier back in 1978 ... 😅

47. Drive away: REPEL.

49. Surveyor's units: ACRES.

50. __ the Owl: Rice University mascot: SAMMY. College mascot

53. Naan flour: ATTA. Interesting and fun fact: the flour used (ATTA) for the Indian bread (NAAN) is also a palindrome. How weird?

54. "Glass Onion" filmmaker Johnson: RIAN. Another proper name solved via perps. Glass Onion teaser/trailer:

55. Bar mixer: COLA. Believe it or not, I can count on one hand the number of times I have had a COLA this year, and have fingers left over. The only carbonated beverage I drink (as a bar mixer) are Tonic Water and Ginger Beer

56. Black gemstone: ONYX. Odd assortment of letters on the border of the puzzle. Not that many choices of words that could fill this section that end in O, N, Y, and X

59. Campy scarf: BOA.

60. UFO aviators: ETS. The CONEheads, perhaps?

61. Squash: NIX. GOURD didn't fit

So how did you fare today? Hope y'all had a Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 🍗 🍠 🥧

Friday, November 10, 2023 - Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: "OB Left!"

Puzzling thoughts:

First off, if you're not a golfer or don't follow the game, "OB" refers to "OUT of bounds". The white stakes in the image above marks the golf course "boundary", and in my theme name example, if a golfer were to hit their shot to the LEFT of these stakes, the ball would be OUT of play. The penalty for this - in golf - is one the most egregious as the player must rehit their shot AND take a penalty of one stroke to add to their score for the hole. BTW, the best explanation of the game of golf is in the video below ... I was able to find the one rated PG!

So, Moe, how does this golfing analogy fit into today's puzzle? Very easily; it's the 61-across answer, and the reveal for the puzzle. All one has to do is add the word OUT to the LEFT of the first word of 18-, 22-, 38-, and 56-Across. This action is what is excluded (LEFT OUT), and what is needed to match their clues (add OUT to the LEFT)

Our constructor du jour is Annemarie Brethauer. [Brittanica dot com] "Annemarie Brethauer is a freelance crossword constructor whose work has appeared in newspapers through Andrews McMeel Universal and L.A. Times syndicates, in Simon and Schuster publications, in Games World of Puzzles magazine, in the woman-oriented online site Inkubator, and elsewhere."

Annemarie cleverly came up with four familiar phrases, (LET DOWN; FIELD DAY; FIT FOR A KING; and BACK TALK) but clued them to imply that something was missing. The "AHA" Moe-ment for me was when I got to the reveal @ 61-across when I realized that when I added the word OUT to those four the clues then made sense

18-across. Pillow filling bought at wholesale?: (OUT)LET DOWN. Which of course prompted this Moe-ku:

OUTLET store pillow
Filling didn't sell. You think
They would markdown DOWN?

22-across. Specialized session of baseball practice?: (OUT)FIELD DAY.

38-across. Crown, scepter, and ermine robe?: (OUT)FIT FOR A KING.

And MY favorite: 56-across. Barbie, bush telly, choccy biccy, etc.?: (OUT)BACK TALK

Well done, Annemarie!

For those who thought that Mal Man was supposed to blog today, he and I switched weeks. Joseph will blog on Friday the 17th. He sends his regards ...

The grid, and then the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:
1. View from much of U.S. Highway 101: PACIFIC. So many to choose from as this coastal highway stretches from San Diego California to the perimeter of the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park in Washington

8. Water stopper: DAM. The amount of water that this dam stops has gone down considerably since it was filled (created Lake Mead) in the 1930's. Interesting read

11. __ Dhabi: ABU. People ask: Is Abu Dhabi different from Dubai? "Yes, Both are 2 different states or what they call as emirates in the country United Arab Emirates. U.A.E consists of 7 emirates namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras- Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, and Fujairah. Abu Dhabi is the capital."[Quora dot com]

14. Oval-shaped instrument: OCARINA. Beautiful

15. One of the only two South American countries that doesn't border Brazil: ECUADOR. CHILE didn't fit

17. Compete in a hybrid winter sport: PARASKI. This was one that MalMan could better explain, as he is a skiier. Not I

19. Unusual: ODD. EVEN I got this one! 藍

20. Contacted with a click: E-MAILED. On Monday of this week we had CLACK as an answer; today we have "click" in the clue

25. Separate by type: ASSORT.

29. Sound engineer's slider: FADER. Notice the technique

30. Starship Enterprise letters: NCC. [fandom dot com] "According to both "The Making of Star Trek", and the second seaon writers guide update, NCC officially stands for "Navy-Curtis Craft", referring to the fact that the design and construction of the cruisers was a combination of the Navy's and Curtis Industries inputs"

32. "Don't reckon so": NAW. YEP

33. Some govt. lawyers: D.A.S. Pluralized abbr. for District Attorney. DAS is also one of the three German definite articles of grammar(DER, DIE, DAS). Das Buch = "the book". Ich habe Deutsch von 1963 bis 1974 studiert. Erste, in Hochschule, und dann beim Universität

35. Fossey subject: APE. As opposed to Fosse subject:

37. Genesis maker: SEGA. Hyundai didn't fit. Video game

41. Home of the Muscat Gate Museum: OMAN.

43. "Let You Love Me" singer Rita: ORA. Solved via perps and mistake (notice the red mark in the "A" square on my grid photo)

44. Fall Out Boy genre: EMO.

45. Benatar in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: PAT. According to a Google search, the song below is her all-time best hit. Do you agree?

46. Yukon XL maker: GMC. $60k is the price for the base model of this SUV

48. Killer whales: ORCAS.

52. Cooks in a bamboo basket: STEAMS.

58. Share a course?: CO-TEACH. A CSO (in a way) to our Saturday blogger, Husker Gary who CO-TEACHes when he substitutes for the regular teacher

60. Vegetable soup bit: PEA. I couldn't think of any other 3-letter word that fit here

64. Uncomfortable situation: HOT SEAT. HA HA. Speaking of GMC:

67. Emphatic denial: "I SAID NO!!". An erstwhile expression ...

68. Hosp. triage expert: ER NURSE. Nurses also performed triage behind the battle lines ... this scene from M*A*S*H* shows Major Houlihan saying goodbye to her fellow officers as she and her NURSEs leave to provide aid ... typical Hawkeye!

69. TiVo antecedent: VCR. Video Cassette Recorder. I had an uncle who pronounced the word "CASSETTE" with the emphasis on the first syllable

70. Oft-redacted ID: SSN.

71. Has no use for: DETESTS. That's a bit harsh

Down:
1. Rant: POP OFF. Moe-ku #2:

Vodka drinker's mad;
Store ran out of his brand. Might
POP OFF for Popov

2. National park on the Maine coast: ACADIA. Margaret and I have been visiting National Parks the past few years when we vacation. She has never been to Maine; I am pretty sure that this Park is on her bucket list

3. Stopped at the door, perhaps: CARDED. Or the pearly gates, perhaps??

4. Writer Levin: IRA. Moe-ku 3:

Writer Levin has
Retirement fund called an
Ira I.R.A.

5. Grafton's "__ for Fugitive": F IS.

6. Signed in pen: INKED.

7. Large Central American reptile: CAIMAN. Moe-ku #4:

Large croc's corrected
Spelling of Keys near Cuba:
The CAIMAN Islands

8. Grocery section: DELI. Publix Grocery Stores in Florida had the best DELI section

9. Amtrak service that caters to business travelers: ACELA. The nose of this engine resembles that of the SST Concorde

10. Silences with a button: MUTES.

11. Brouhaha: ADO.

12. Fiddle stick: BOW. Clever clue

13. Ornate garden pot: URN.

16. Tots up: ADDS. Hmm; this solved via perps as I was unaware of the British phrase tot up. Of course, it spawned this Moe-ku #5:

The waitress knew that
Her side order was ready;
Chef exclaimed: "Tots up!"

21. "¡Dios mío!": AY CARAMBA. I spelled this incorrectly when I first solved the puzzle; if you go back and look at the solved grid, there is a black mark on the "C" of CARAMBA. I had this as AYE CRUMBA or some such ...

23. Ushered: LED IN.

24. "Cripes!": DRAT.

26. Univ. donor type: O NEG. I had O POS at first before discovering my error

27. Tabloid: RAG. Why is a newspaper called a "RAG" you ask? One answer from [Quora dot com]: "Many people say it's because such papers historically printed on lower-quality, raglike newsprint than respectable papers. Others say the term stuck because the content rag papers printed was salacious and aimed at the lowest common denominator — the equivalent of rag material"

28. Former JFK flyer: TWA. This is just a mock-up; but notice how the front of the plane resembles that of the ACELA engine in 9-down

31. No. cruncher: CPA.

34. West Coast luggage tag letters: SFO.

36. Make (out): EKE. Kiss and neck wouldn't fit

37. Horse noise: SNORT.

38. Lot: FATE.

39. Gp.: ORG.

40. "No broken bones!": I'M OK.

41. Photo __: OPS.

42. Bathroom rug: MAT.

47. Stashed away: CACHED. The word CACHE(D) has evolved its definition into the world of computing (see #3 meaning in the link)

49. Tartar sauce ingredient: CAPERS. Learning Moe-ment. I thought it was just mayonnaise, pickle relish, and mustard

50. Div. of the Blue Jays and the Rays: AL EAST. American League East Division baseball teams

51. Hockey gear: SKATES.

53. When Lear divides his kingdom: ACT I. It could only have been ACT I, ACT V, or ACT X in Roman numerology

54. Humors: MOODS.

55. Bowls over: STUNS.

57. Gofer's task: CHORE.

59. Fleming and Orwell's school: ETON.

61. Actress Tyler: LIV. Steven Tyler's daughter

62. Key next to F1: ESC. Computer keyboard keys (F1 and ESC)

63. At a distance: FAR.

65. Demo stuff: TNT. Clue misdirection; demo as in the abbreviation for "demolish", which fits the answer "TNT" which an abbreviation (acronym) for Tri Nitro Toluene

66. Go after, in a way: SUE. Final Moe-ku:

New Johnny Cash song:
The mis-named lad lawyer's up;
The "boy named SUE" sues

That's all she wrote. Hope that this puzzle didn't find you "OUT in LEFT field". I solved it with a couple hiccups in very moderate time; MOES hardness scale = 5.0. See you in two weeks ... this time "I MEAN IT"!!! 嵐

 

 

Notes from C.C.:

Today we celebrate the 77th birthday of the brilliant Joann (Husker Gary's wife) and her twin sister Joyce. Here they're with their mom Martha, who passed away in August at the age of 100.