Monday February 5, 2024 Aidan Brand and David Karp

  

Theme:                Sometimes You Fell Like A Nut  

Happy Monday, everyone! Well, I sure felt like a NUT looking for hidden nuts in the themed clues. It turns out NUTS were there -- just not almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.

Let's take a closer look:

16 Across. Elements of a PG-rated outburst: MILD EXPLETIVES.  An example would be yelling out, "Aww NUTS" after stubbing your toe.

22 Across. Groups of groupies: FAN CLUBS.  These college football FANs look NUTty to me.

35 Across. Dessert served in a goblet: ICE CREAM SUNDAE.  Here is a SUNDAE in a goblet (drinking glass with a foot & a stem) with peaNUTS on top.  

43 Across. Common accessory at a construction site: TOOL BELT.  I am skeptical that one would have NUTS & bolts on a TOOL BELT but the "hardware" connection is close enough for me. Let's just go with it and smile while we try to spot any on this favorite construction worker's TOOL BELT.  

Village People YMCA (1978)

Here is the reveal:

52 Across. Allergy warning, and a description of 16-, 22-, 35-, and 43-Across?: MAY CONTAIN NUTS.

MILD EXPLICITIVES, FAN CLUBS, an ICE CREAM SUNDAE, and a TOOL BELT may contain different types of nuts.  

Constructors Aidan Brand and David Karp opted for a 14X15 grid to accommodate their three 14-letter fills. Let's see what else they might have stashed away for us to find....

Across:
1. Reduce to a paste: MASH.  This one made me think of making guacamole with a mortar & pestle.

5. Self-confident and then some: SMUG.  

9. City in "Aeneid" and "Iliad": TROY.  The ancient city of Troy was located along the NW coast of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey.

CSO to our two Cornerite TROY inhabitants!

13. Field of expertise: AREA.

14. __ Grey tea: EARL.  DH drinks this but I stay away from caffeine.

15. Philosopher Descartes: RENÉ.  (b. Mar. 31, 1596 in France; d. Feb. 11, 1650 in Sweden)

19. Computer capacity: MEMORY.  

20. __-purpose flour: ALL.  I buy the unbleached variety.

21. Yoga pose: ASANA.  

27. Oodles: SCADS.  

29. Still contending: IN IT. ...to win it!

30. Vehicle for a large family, perhaps: VAN.  

33. Jazz legend Fitzgerald: ELLA.  I'm always happy to see ELLA in a grid. I need the footholds.

34. __-toity: HOITY.  haughty or snobbish

38. Former Iranian rulers: SHAHS.

39. Ferris wheel locale: FAIR.  county FAIRs

40. NBA tiebreakers, for short: OTS.  Overtimes

41. Speck: IOTA.  an extremely small amount or, later in the week, the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet

42. Covers for outdoor wedding receptions: TENTS.  Who does covers at a wedding reception? The obvious go-to is Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer (1998).  

45. Larceny: THEFT.

50. Charged particle: ION.

51. Baby's foot warmer: BOOTIE.  

BOOTIEs for future MLB players in Pittsburgh???

57. Color associated with the L.A. Dodgers: BLUE.  This is an L.A. Times puzzle, after all.  

Shohei Ohtani got some serious green when he donned the Dodgers' BLUE.

58. "Checkmate!": I WIN.  The terminology of modern chess has Persian etymological roots: the Persian word rukh ("rook") means chariot; the term shah mat ("checkmate") means, literally, "the king is frozen".

59. Adjust for space limitations, say: EDIT.

60. Long-term goals: AIMS.

61. Addendum to a real estate sign: SOLD.  I like this clue. An addendum is something added. The SOLD part is added after the sale.

62. Strong urges: YENS.  strong desires or propensities  

Down:
1. "__ Mia!": Meryl Streep film with ABBA music: MAMMA.  

Here's Meryl with Mama Mia (Here I Go Again) (2008).

2. Zodiac ram: ARIES.  March 21 - April 19.  (Segue alert!) They are supposed to make a good match with Aquarius birthdays like today's birthday girl, Wendybird. Happy birthday, Wendybird!! 🎂

3. 2014 civil rights drama set in Alabama: SELMA.

4. Was dressed in: HAD ON.

5. Hot: SEXY.  I'd give you a link but I already get plenty of weird adds based on the Googling I do to write this blog.

6. Weather report backdrop: MAP.  When I lived in Japan, I always got a kick out of the big, foam ball pointers the weather reporters used to point at the map -- so wonky for a country with serious tech cred!

7. Cybersquatter's target, for short: URL.  Cybersquatting is an internet-based crime where one seeks to profit off of someone else's name or trademark by registering an expired domain name. An example would be if C.C. stopped this blog then someone else took over the URL. Unsuspecting victims would come here and click on bad links because they trusted the site in the past. This happens more than you might think. Be careful out there!

8. Gathers bit by bit: GLEANS.  Humans used to GLEAN grains that fell after the harvest. Now we GLEAN intel on the internet.

9. Enormous number: TRILLION.  One TRILLION equals a thousand billions or a million millions. You can write it as a 1 followed by 12 zeros. A TRILLION seconds equals almost 32,000 years. Imagine!

10. Fire up, as an engine: REV.  This clue did not go over so well last Tuesday.

11. Dollar bill: ONE.     and     55 Down. Early afternoon: TWO.

12. "That's correct": YES.  

Would you like to take a physics class from The Doctor?  Yes. Correctamundo!

[David Tennant played the tenth incarnation of The Doctor

in the Doctor Who serries (2005-2010; 2013).]

17. Whiteboard wipers: ERASERS.

18. "90 Day Fiancé " channel: TLC.  TV channel questions are always 1 perp and 2 WAGS for me.

22. Vegetarian pita filler: FALAFEL.  I like to pick these up at my local Greek restaurant on Saturdays. Falafels are made from garbanzo beans ("chick peas" for you east-coasters) and various herbs and spices.

23. Insistent: ADAMANT.

24. Reino __: England's country, in Spanish: UNIDO.  I have not gotten this far yet in my Duolingo Spanish lessons.

25. Tried to chomp on: BIT AT.

26. Eyelid woes: STYES.

28. The NBA's Cavs, on scoreboards: CLE.  

30. Sojourn: VISIT.

31. "Bless you!" trigger: ACHOO.

32. "Peachy keen!": NEATO.

34. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" author Zora Neale __: HURSTON.  goodreads link

36. Goblets: CHALICES.  Did you notice "goblet" was also in the clue for 35-Across?

37. Take a load off: SIT.  

The Weight by The Band (1968)

"Take a load off, Fannie."

42. Sport played on a variety of surfaces: TENNIS.  There are four main types of surfaces for tennis courts:  grass, clay, hard, and artificial grass.

44. "Get off the stage!": BOO.

46. Mead need: HONEY.  Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey, water, and other flavors.

It turns out humans can be extremely resourceful when it comes to making alcohol. Some native tribes near the Artic Circle make alcohol from dead seagulls.  Only look at this list of 5 weird alcoholic beverages if you have a strong stomach.

47. Many a Chopin piece: ETUDE.  Def.:  a short musical composition, typically for one instrument, designed as an exercise to improve the technique or demonstrate the skill of the player.  

This one is Etude Op. 25 No. 6 in G# minor "Double Thirds".

48. Feel at home: FIT IN.  

49. Class challenges: TESTS.  not conflicts between social classes

51. Tie: BIND.  

52. Deg. for a CFO or a CEO: MBA.  Chief Financial Officers and Chief Executive Officers typically have a Master of Business Administration.

53. "Rumble in the Jungle" boxer: ALI.  He coined this term to refer to his heavyweight boxing championship bout against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30, 1974.

54. "Tastes great!": YUM.  See 22-Down.

56. Feel poorly: AIL.

Today's grid:

Have a great day, everyone! I'll cashew later!

Tuesday November 8, 2022 David Karp

Shake it Off!  Three phrases that involve a Shake.

17-Across. Shiver during a horror film, perhaps: TREMBLE WITH FEAR.  Shake # 1.

29-Across. Thick fast-food beverage: CREAMY DRINK.  The illustration gives us Shake #2 and Shake #3.

46-Across. Finalize an agreement, say: SEAL THE DEAL.  Shake # 3.

And the unifier:

61-Across. Start of a KC and the Sunshine Band title, and 17-, 29-, and 46-Across: SHAKE,  SHAKE, SHAKE.

Across:

1. Hissed "Hey! Over here!": PSST.

5. Island nation near Fiji: TONGA.

10. Milky birthstone: OPAL.  These gemstones make frequent appearances in the puzzles.  Hi, Kazie!

14. Teensy bit: IOTA.

15. Smells: ODORS.

16. Payroll tax that funds Soc. Sec.: FICA.  As in the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

20. Whenever one wants: AT WILL.

Not always, apparently.

21. Historic German state: PRUSSIA.  More than you ever wanted to know about Prussia.

22. Hay storage areas: LOFTS.

25. Curved piece: ARC.

26. "Slumdog Millionaire" actor Patel: DEV.  Dev Patel (b. Apr. 23, 1990) is an English actor.  He was the star of the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire.  [Name #1.]

34. Colorful eye part: IRIS.

36. Jazz great Fitzgerald: ELLA.  Ella Jane Fitzgerald (Apr. 25, 1917 ~ June 15, 1996) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  [Name #2.]

37. Iced tea garnish: LEMON.  Hi, Lemonade.  We hope you are doing well.

38. Reef explorer's tube: SNORKEL.

40. Church spire: STEEPLE.  Do you know it's connection with 19-Down?

42. Tiny hairs: CILIA.

43. Odd sock's lack: MATE.

45. "American Gods" novelist Gaiman: NEIL.  Neil Gaiman (né Neil Richard Gaiman; b. Nov. 10, 1962) will celebrate his 62nd birthday in Thursday.  He is an English author of short stories and graphic novels.    I read one of his books of short stories.  [Name #3.]

49. Tennis do-over: LET.

50. Cry of insight: AHA!

51. Killer whales: ORCAS.

53. Starting to spoil: TURNING.

57. Vacuum brand: HOOVER.  [Name adjacent.]

64. Big mountain cat: PUMA.  Also the name brand of a running shoe.

65. Suez Canal tanker: OILER.

66. Small bills: ONES.

67. Lower leg area: SHIN.

68. Shopping centers: MALLS.  The malls are becoming more and more empty.  It's quite eerie to walk through some of them.

69. Exam: TEST.

Down:

1. Bread with a pocket: PITA.  I will probably be eating quite a few Pita and Falafel sandwiches in the next couple of weeks.

2. Put laundry into piles, say: SORT.

3. Meat-and-potatoes bowlful: STEW.

4. Language spoken by many a 35-Down: TAMIL.  //  And 35. Colombo resident: SRI LANKAN.  The official name of the country is the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.  The capital of the country is Colombo.  A brief history of the country.

5. Like many infomercial phone numbers: TOLL FREE.  Because 1-800 didn't fit.

6. Poem written "on" or "to" something: ODE.  We often find Odes in the puzzles.

7. Right this minute: NOW.

8. Hold tight: GRIP.

9. Off course: ASTRAY.

Cats gone astray.

10. Like a movie star's personal life: OFF SCREEN.  But we still have to hear too much about their personal lives, don't we.

11. Diner desserts: PIES.

12. Antioxidant-rich purple berry: AÇAÍ.  This berry has become very trendy and makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.

13. "__ Croft: Tomb Raider": LARA.  Lara Croft is a fictional character, but she was portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the film. [Name # 4.]

18. Group of allied countries: BLOC.

19. Steeplechase obstacle: HURDLE.  Origin of the Steeplechase.

23. "Out with it!": TELL ME!

24. Paolantonio of ESPN: SAL.  I don't watch ESPN, so am not familiar with Sal Paolantonio (né Salvatore Anthony Nicholas Paolantonio; b. June 13, 1956), a Philadelphia-based sports reporter.  [Name #5.]

26. Vertebrae separators: DISCS.

27. 123 Sesame Street resident: ERNIE.  You rarely see Ernie without his pal, Bert.  [Name #6.]

28. String quartet instrument: VIOLA.  What's the difference between a Viola and a Violin?

30. The "M" of MBA: MASTER.  As in a Master of Business Administration.

31. Urge forward: IMPEL.

32. "Honest!": NO LIE!

33. Prepared to pray: KNELT.

39. TV host __ Lee Gifford: KATHIE.  Kathie Lee Gifford (née Kathryn Lee Epstein; b. Aug. 16, 1953) was married to Frank Gifford (né Francis Newton Gifford; Aug. 16, 1930 ~ Aug. 9, 2015).  They shared the same birthdate.  In the 1980s, she did commercials for a cruise line.  [Name #7.]

41. Classroom figures: TEACHERS.

44. Brouhaha: ADO.

47. __ cab: two-wheeled carriage: HANSOM.  The Hansom cab was the creative invention of Joseph Hansom (né Joseph Aloysius Hansom; Oct. 26, 1803 ~ June 29, 1882).

48. Landlocked Asian country: LAOS.

52. Not __: far from optimal: SO HOT.

53. Recipe amts.: TSPS.  As in Teaspoons.

54. "Nah": UH, UH.

55. Actor Malek: RAMI.  Rami Malek (né Rami Said Malek; b. May 12, 1981) starred as a computer hacker in the television series Mr. Robot, but is probably best known for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody.  [Name #8.]

56. Karmann __: classic Volkswagen: GHIA.  The Karmann Ghia was a sporty little car that was made between 1955 and 1974.  It looks so dated now.  [Name adjacent.]

58. Barn topper that indicates wind direction: VANE.

59. Makes do, with "out": EKES.

60. Lie down for a while: REST.

62. Completely: ALL.

63. Kenan's former Nickelodeon partner: KEL.  [Name # 9.]  Kenan & Kel was apparently a buddy sit-com that ran from 1996 until 2000 on Nickelodeon.  

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

If you are reading this on Tuesday, I will likely be on the crossword puzzle's favorite airline heading towards Tel Aviv.  Part business, part fun.  Unlike the song, however, I do know when I will be back.  See you at the end of the month.  You will be in capable hands during my absence.