Friday, July 25, 2025, Dan Schoenholz

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Friday puzzle by Dan Schoenholz who's puzzles have previously appeared in the LAT and NYT.  Today, at five places in the puzzle (I hope that the count is correct this time 😁) Dan conjures up homophones of common words by splitting the word into two parts.  The result each time is a punny, two-word answer to the themed clue.  All of these answers end with the sound of "ease".  Cleverly, the sound is created four different ways - EASE, IES, EES, IES (again) and EAS.  If, e.g., EZE could had been employed in lieu of the second IES then the feat would have been, perhaps, even more remarkable.

The gimmick is applied at:

17 Across:  Baseball player who flirts with joining the Kansas City squad?: ROYAL TEASE.  From ROYALTIES.

The Baseball Team

31 Across:  Release vital agricultural workers?: FREE BEES.  From FREEBIES.  Everybody loves free stuff.

37 Across:  Sound of a job seeker who ran hard to get to an appointment on time?: INTERVIEW WHEEZE.  From INTERVIEWEES.

46 Across:  Precaution for absent-minded drivers?: TWIN KEYS.  From TWINKIES.  Have you ever asked yourself "Where did I put my keys"?  While holding them in your hand?

64 Across:  Coast Guard's desire after a hurricane warning?: VACANT SEAS.  From VACANCIES.  Stay in port.

The completed grid looks like this:

. . . the the rest of the clues/answers:

Across:

1. Quarrel: SPAT.  Alternative clue:  Hocked a loogie.

5. Hosting, briefly: M C ING.  Rarely have I heard emcee employed as a gerund.

10. "Love & Basketball" actor Omar: EPPS.  A frequent visitor.

14. Electrolyte components: IONS.

15. Cartoon hunter Fudd: ELMER.

16. Dab: BLOT.   A Little BLOT' ll do Ya?  Meh.

19. __ carotene: BETA.  BETA carotene is a plant pigment that can be converted into vitamin A and has antioxidant properties.

20. Form: SHAPE.  What tree has fruits of all shapes and sizes?  The geometree.

21. Fill in for: ACT AS.

23. Three-in-one vaccine, familiarly: DPT.

24. Laughfest: RIOT.  A real hoot!

26. Cheap smoke: STOGIE.  A not-very-good cigar.  Presumably from stoga + ie, the former of which is derived from Conestoga, Pennsylvania.  The Conestoga Cigar Company (1880s) was one of the first Pennsylvanian cigar factories.

28. Legal action: APPEAL.  My buddy was trying to explain the APPEAL of invisible ink...but I just didn't see it.

33. Meadow: LEA.  Frequently visited.

34. French greeting: ALLO.  Sort of rhymes with Bardot.

Brigitte

36. [Bam!]: POW.

43. Hundred Acre Wood resident: ROO.   An A. A. Milne / Winnie The Pooh reference.  See also 2 Down.

44. Mascara site: LASH.

45. Unagi roll fish: EEL.  A frequent bite to eat.

49. Comes to: AWAKES.

52. Sneak: WEASEL. A WEASEL walks into a bar.  The bartender says “Wow, I’ve never served a weasel before. What can I get you?”  “Pop,” goes the weasel.

53. Attempt: STAB.  Idiomatic.

54. "To __ is human ... ": ERR.  . . . and our puzzles often prove us to be human.

55. Majestic: REGAL.

58. Iranian language: FARSI.

62. Suggestions, for short: RECS. RECommendationS

66. German chancellor who presided over reunification: KOHL.  Helmut KOHL served as chancellor from 1982 to 1998.

67. Kagan of the Supreme Court: ELENA.  A frequent visitor.

68. Bring in: EARN.

69. Vodka brand in blue bottles: SKYY.

70. Mean-spirited: NASTY.

71. Narrow opening: SLIT.

Down:

1. Old-fashioned letter opener: SIRS.  Dear SIRS:  . . .

2. Hundred Acre Wood resident: POOH.  See also 43 Across.

3. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA.  Not a name familiar to this solver.  Thanks, perps.

4. Airport express lane, briefly: TSA PRE.

5. With 56-Down, annual NYC fashion event: MET. and 56. See 5-Down: GALA.  The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala is popularly regarded as the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event.

6. Sports stud?: CLEAT  One definition of CLEAT is "a projecting piece of metal or hard rubber attached to the underside of a shoe to provide traction".   Stud seems to be just a bit of a stretch.

7. Apple on a desk: IMAC.  These days, a clue that is a bit ambiguous.

8. Tree house?: NEST.  A "house" found in a tree.

Jackie, Shadow, Gizmo and Sunny's House.

9. Laundry challenge: GREASE.

10. Recede: EBB.

11. Promising time in public broadcasting?: PLEDGE WEEK.  Time to make a financial promise.  It seems as if it's perpetually PLEDGE WEEK.

12. Marie Callender's purchase: POTPIE.

13. Mexico's 31: STATES.  Would have expected estados.

18. Kylo Ren's mother: LEIA.  A Star Wars reference.

22. NBA superstar Curry: STEPH.  Of the Golden State Warriors basketball team.

25. Patron saint of Norway: OLAV.  This solver often forgets which is OLAV and which is OLAF.

OLAV

OLAF

27. Bassoon kin: OBOE.  A musical instrument frequently heard in our puzzles.

28. Comedian Wong: ALI.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.  Muhammad, Laila, Mahershala, Wong, MacGraw, Baba  . . .

29. Author: PEN.  Used as a verb.  To write.

30. Male-dominated society: PATRIARCHY.   The longest word in this puzzle.

31. Cat-nippers?: FLEAS.  Cute play on words.  Fleas bite (nip) cats.

Sometimes The Cats Fight Back

32. Uses oars: ROWS.  A couple of Fridays ago ROWS was clued as fights.

35. Easter bloom: LILY.  Puns are blooming all over this write up....Like a cat fight between a dandelion and tiger LILY . . . Oops, a daisy.

 

38. So very long: EONS.  

39. Al of "Today": ROKER.  The weather reporter.

40. "Huh?": WHAT.  You can say that again!

41. Capital of Zimbabwe?: ZEE.  One of those clues.  Did it fool you?

42. Overhead trains: ELS. ELevated TrainS.

46. Shakes one's booty: TWERKS.

47. "Don't worry about us": WERE OK.  Or Not.

48. Nearing noon: ELEVEN.  This solver might have clued it differently.

The Grateful Dead

50. Float, as a scent: WAFT.

51. Belittles: ABASES.

53. Writer's angle: SLANT.  As in bias.  Anyone try to squeeze in ITALIC?

57. Nails: ACES.  As in the idiom "to nail it".

59. Authentic: REAL.

60. South Asian wrap: SARI.  SARI puns would be repetitious.

61. "__ that something?": ISN'T.

63. Sneaky: SLY.

65. Vote against: NAY.  We often have to choose between YEA and AYE for the pro votes but with the anti bloc it's EEZE - ier.

Well, it's now time to ease on down the road.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

__________________________________________________

Tuesday, March 12, 2024 Dan Schoenholtz

Dropping Your Change.  The circles, when read from bottom to top, a spell out a foreign coin that is "flipped".

3-Down. Fix for distressed genes?: DNA REPAIR.  Rand.  The Rand is the currency of South Africa.  As of this week, 1 Rand = $0.054 Dollars / $1.00 = 18.68 Rands.

7-Down. Carrier that makes short hops: REGIONAL AIRLINE.  Rial.  The Rial is the currency of Iran.  As of this week, 1 Rial = $0.000024 / $1.00 = 42,040.00 Rials.

9-Down. Source of information for vacation planners: TRAVEL BUREAU.  Ruble.  The Ruble is the currency of Russia.  As of this week, 1 Ruble = $0.011 / $1.00 = 90.95 Rubles.

21-Down. Reaction to a chill or a fright, to Brits: GOOSE PIMPLES.  On this side of the pond, the expression would be Goose Bumps.  Peso.  Several countries use the Peso as currency, including, but not limited to, Argentina, Columbia, Cuba, and Mexico.  For comparison, I will use our closest neighbor, Mexico:  As of this week, 1 Mexican Peso = $0.060 / $1.00 = 16.80 Pesos.  

35-Down. Decide by calling heads or tails, and an apt title for this puzzle: FLIP A COIN.

Across:

1. Spots for pillow talk: BEDS.  //  And 55-Across. "Sweet dreams!": SLEEP WELL.

5. 43,560 square feet: ACRE.

9. British streetcars: TRAMS.

14. Forearm bone: ULNA.

15. Agonize (over): FRET.

16. Morocco's capital: RABAT.

17. Din: ROAR.

18. Like takeout food: TO GO.

19. Love, in Italian: AMORE.  Today's Italian lesson

20. Bit of rosemary: SPRIG.

22. Temperature-controlled storage for bottles: WINE VAULT.

24. Shirt that may have a V-neck: TEE.

25. Nabisco brand: OREO.  A crossword staple.  //  And 30-Across. Nabisco brand: NILLA.

27. Caused: LED TO.

28. Cunning scheme: PLOY.

32. Sentence part with a subject and a predicate: CLAUSE.  Did you have to diagram sentences when you were in high school?

34. Many an Omani: ARAB.  The Sultanate of Oman is a country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

35. Vaccine-approving org.: FDA.  As in the Food and Drug Administration.

38. Trusting to a fault: NAIVE.

39. Sort: ILK.

40. Like some monuments at night: UPLIT.

42. Listener-supported news source: NPR.  National Public Radio.

43. Dad: PAPA.  We saw Ain't Too Proud recently, which is a musical about The Temptations.  Papa Was a Rollin' Stone.

45. Confident poker declaration: I RAISE.

46. Red Sea peninsula: SINAI.

47. Fill-in worker: TEMP.

48. "__ and Punishment": CRIME.  Did you know that Crime and Punishment, an 1866 novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky (November 11, 1821 ~ Feb. 9, 1881) was initially published in a Russian literary journal in 12 monthly installments?  I read this book in high school.

50. Alabama-born activist Parks: ROSA.  When she died, Rosa Parks (née Rosa Louise McCauley; Feb. 4, 1913 ~ Oct. 24, 2005) lay in honor in the Rotunda of the Capitol.  She was the first woman and second African-American to receive that honor.  A bronze sculpture depicting the Rosa Park can be found in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. 

52. Kerfuffle: ADO.

57. Open, as toothpaste: UNCAP.

59. Gem from an oyster: PEARL.

60. Kristen of "Bridesmaids": WIIG.  Kristen Carroll Wiig (b. Aug. 22, 1973) was on Saturday Night Live for many years.

62. Move like sap: OOZE.

63. Close-knit group: CADRE.

64. Jealous feeling: ENVY.

65. Neck and neck: TIED.

66. Districts: AREAS.

67. "We __ to be at an impasse": SEEM.

68. Puts the kibosh on: ENDS.

Down:

1. Fly into pieces: BURST.

2. Get hitched in a hurry: ELOPE.

4. Draped garment in Hindi films: SARI.

5. Toward the rudder: AFT.

6. "Jerry Maguire" director Cameron: CROWE.  "You had me at Hello."  This Cameron Crowe (né Cameron Bruce Crowe; b. July 13, 1957) movie was first released in 1996.   Cameron Crowe's first film was the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High when he was still in his 20s.

8. Elite British boarding school: ETON.  Prince William (b. June 21, 1982) and Eddy Redmayne (né Edward John David Redmayne; b. Jan. 6, 1982) were classmates at Eton.

10. Best Western rival: RAMADA.  Both are hotel chains.

11. Approximately: ABOUT.

12. "The Wire" drug lord Stanfield: MARLO.  Marlo Stanfield is a fictional character, portrayed by Jamie Hector (b. Oct. 7, 1975) on the HBO series The Wire.

13. Editor's "Actually, don't cut that": STET.

23. Fitzgerald of jazz: ELLA.  We haven't seen Ella Fitzgerald (née Ella Jane Fitzgerald; Apr. 25, 1917 ~ June 15, 1996) on a Tuesday in quite some time.  She is a frequent guest in the puzzles.

26. Pastrami on __: RYE.

29. Hon: LUV.

31. Nettle: IRK.  A crossword staple

32. "Erin Burnett OutFront" channel: CNN.

33. Friendly cat's spot: LAP.

36. Bad-mouth: DIS.

37. Devoured: ATE.

39. Hoppy brew, briefly: IPA.  India Pale Ale.  Everything you wanted to know about India Pale Ale but didn't know to ask.

41. Cooking spray brand: PAM.  It comes in lots of flavors.

44. Again: ANEW.

45. "__ Always Sunny in Philadelphia": IT'S.  It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a comedy series that follows a group of misfit, narcissistic sociopaths, referred to as "The Gang", who runs a meager, unsuccessful Irish bar called Paddy's Pub in the neighborhood of South Philadelphia.

46. Word before Leone or Madre: SIERRA.

48. "Understood?": CLEAR.

49. Duane __: New York drugstore chain: READE.  I learned about the Duane Reade drugstore chain from doing the crossword puzzles.

51. Mediterranean oil source: OLIVE.

53. In a mental fog: DAZED.

54. Newspaper pundit pieces: OP-EDs.  The term Op-Ed means Opposite the Editorial Page.

55. Pet adoption org.: SPCA.  Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

56. Female sheep: EWES.

58. Post-it jotting: NOTE.

61. Fitness class: GYM.

Here's the Grid:

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