Thursday, March 30, 2023, Ella Dershowitz

 

Welcome to Jumble Thursday.  I can't wait to see what OwenKL does with this one.

Our constructor today is actress Ella Dershowitz, who says on her website that "When I'm not acting I make crossword puzzles ..." (including 4 previously for the LA Times).  Here's Husker's review of her first outing on Saturday, May 7, 2022.  Her web site is definitely worth checking out.

Today Ella takes us on a brief tour of New England in the Fall with the following themers:

17A. *Office meeting spot: WATER COOLER. The WATER COOLER as a valuable locus for the exchange of business information has long been recognized.  It's function is so important that during the pandemic it had to be replaced by the VIRTUAL water cooler.

Before the Pandemic

During the Pandemic - the Virtual Water Cooler

24A. *Time for a cold one, facetiously: BEER O'CLOCK.  You can use this app to tell you exactly how many hh:mm:ss it is until quitting time.  If you can't wait that long, this will definitely quench your thirst (be sure to watch the changing expression on curmudgeon Cowell's face as this magic trick unfolds).    A CSO to my BFF for sending me this:

37A. *First love, perhaps: HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH.  I met my first and only love in the 11th grade in the doorway of Mr. Saterlie's Modern and Contemporary History Class and had an immediate CRUSH💓💓💓 on her.  She's a wonderful person and among the many other things she does to help me, she proofreads these puzzle reviews (I of course am responsible for any remaining errors).

48. *Small-scale investments: MICROLOANS.  Microlending: Definition, How It Works, Risks & Rewards.

I guess I can't hide the meaning of the themers any longer, so before they fall off, here's the reveal:

58. What autumn leaves do, and what five letters do in the answer to each starred clue: CHANGE COLOR.

Wasn't that exciting? 

Here's the grid:

Here are the rest:

Across:

1. Not in the mood for any funny stuff: STERN.

6. Bartending tool: SPOON.

11. Proof letters: QED.  Quod Erat Demonstrandum.  Latin for "which was to be demonstrated", the statement appearing at the conclusion of a text to signify that the author's overall argument has just been proven.  At least she/he thinks it has.

14. Threepio's pal: ARTOO.  Star Wars lesson #1.  Here ARTOO is delivering a message ...

15. Khaki-colored cloth: CHINO.

16. Stars-and-stripes land: Abbr.: USA.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Doctrine: ISM.  Quick, think of the name of science other than DARWINISM that consists of a scientist's name + ISM?

20. Place for a spring break?: SPA.  The town of Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees in southern France, is one of the world's most popular SPAS.  The waters flowing from the spring at the Grotto of Massabielle are believed by many to have healing properties.  However only 70 persons over the last 160 years, a very small percentage of the over 3 million visitors who visit the site each year, have met the Catholic Church's stringent standards for declaring a healing miraculous.

21. Daily grind: RUT.  

22. Food truck fare: TACOS.  3 Reasons Why Taco Tuesday is Freakin' Terrific.

24. [Theme clue]

28. Amazed: IN AWE.

30. Candor: HONESTY.

33. Pool resources: UNITE.

34. Close: SEAL.

36. __ yum: Thai soup: TOM.  I DNK this soup, but it looks delicious.  Here's a recipe.

37. [Theme clue]

41. "Sooo annoying": UGH.

42. [Hands off my Friskies!]: HISS.  Today's cat lesson: "That'ss mine!"

43. Tyler Perry character in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman": MADEA.  Rumor has it that this film was a real DRAG.

44. Major babes: HOTTIES.  The Brits would add BIRD to this list ...

47. April Fools' Day declaration: GOT YA.  A timely clue for a change, as April Fools' Day is the day after tomorrow.  Tomorrow, however is Johann Sebastian Bach's birthday 🎂 🎈🎁, which we will celebrate a day early with this masterpiece, the second movement of the Orchestral Suite No. 3, the famous Air on a G String, with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra:

48. [Theme clue]

51. Fifth flavor: UMAMI.  Remember the old days when the kids in the neighborhood would yell "UMAMI wears combat boots!"  😉

53. Tech giant based in Armonk, NY: IBM.

54. Tidal action: EBB.

57. Tavern: BAR.  I'll drink to that!  Here's the chorus in taberna ("in the tavern") from Carl Orrf's secular cantata Carmina Burana (all the toasts are in English at the bottom of the screen).

58. [Theme]

63. __ contact: EYE.

64. "Goodness me": LORDY.  I give you the lady from Port Arthur, Texas ...

65. Korean short ribs: GALBI.  Looks kind of YANG ...

GALBI
Here's a recipe. 

 66. Sigur __: ethereal Icelandic band: ROS.  Like the Icelandic landscape.  A commenter to the following 2006 video Glósóli (apparently untranslatable) said: "I watched Sigur Rós put an audience into the throes of rapture at Coachella 2001, their first North American performance. None of us knew who they were, but when they’d finished, thousands of us were left stunned, speechless, weeping, at peace. I’ve never seen anything like it. These are not songs. They’re spells".

67. Perrier rival: EVIAN.

68. Some big-box stores: IKEAS.

Down:

1. Tools that make the cut?: SAWS.  Or that make music that can take you over the rainbow ... 

2. Hip-hop genre: TRAP.  I predict that we probably won't see this clue/fill combination again any time soon.  TRAP is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United States in the 1990s. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang word "trap", a house used exclusively to sell drugs.  Sorry, but none of the songs I sampled passed the breakfast test.  

3. Blues guitarist Baker: ETTA.  Etta Baker (March 31, 1913 – September 23, 2006) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina.  Here she plays the guitar riff to a song my Daddy used to play (lyrics).  His name was Bill too:

4. Sushi roll garnish: ROE.

5. Neither partner: NOR.

6. Search all over: SCOUR.

7. Instagram posting: PHOTO.

8. Canola __: OIL.

9. Opening number?: ONE.

10. Edward of "Glass Onion": NORTON.  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (titled onscreen as simply Glass Onion) is a 2022 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman. It is a standalone sequel to the 2019 film Knives Out, with Daniel Craig reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc.  NORTON plays the billionaire.  Available only on Netflix:

I first saw Edward Norton's work in The Illusionist.  A great flick streaming on various venues.

11. Fast learner: QUICK STUDY.

12. Petro-Canada rival: ESSO.

13. Stops (up): DAMS.

18. First Nations people of Canada: CREE.  A CSO to our CanadianEh! The CREE are one of several First Nations people in Canada.  I was struck by this modern work by Jackson Beardy (July 24, 1944 – December 7, 1984) who was an Indigenous Oji-Cree Anishinaabe artist born in Canada.

Calling the Night

23. Pro: ACE.

24. Bedtime story preceder, perhaps: BATH.  Presumably the BATH is a part of the deal if they want to hear the bedtime story.  Also the name of another famous SPA, a city in Somerset, England originally founded by the Romans and known for its BATHS. 

25. Baa nanas: EWES.  Well, sheep do have grandmaas too.

26. Utter disorder: CHAOS. The classic meme for CHAOS theory is "The Butterfly Effect", where a very small change in one location can ripple, enlarging as it goes, to cause a catastrophe far away: 

27. Laze: LOLL.

28. "My name is __ Montoya. You killed my father ... ": INIGO.  Here he is, played by Mandy Patinkin,  straight from The Princess Bride ...

29. Frightening ordeals: NIGHTMARES.   Nightmare Meaning and Nightmare Disorder: A Jungian Perspective. 

The Nightmare
John Henry Fuseli

31. Where sailors go: TO SEA.

32. Jewish social org.: YMHA.  A Young Men's Hebrew Association is a communal institution organized in various cities of the United States for the mental, moral, social, and physical improvement of Jewish young men. The YWHA is the corresponding organization for young women.

33. "Hard pass": UH UH.

34. Mint variety used in Japanese cooking: SHISO.  A garnish often served with sushi, SHISO is a cultigen of Perilla frutescens, an herb in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is native to the mountainous regions of China and India, but is now found worldwide.  It has many varieties beside the ruffled green one seen in sushi bars.  Here is the red variety:

Red Shiso

35. Skin care brand sold in colorful eggs: EOS.  Presumably it gives your skin the complexion of dawn.

38. Singer known as the "Goddess of Pop": CHER.  Born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946), CHER is an American singer, actress and television personality. She has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry.  Here's her 1998 hit Believe (lyrics):

39. "Seriously?": C'MON.

40. "Gosh darn it": RATS.

45. "Madam Secretary" actor Daly: TIM.  James Timothy Daly (born March 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom Wings and his recurring role as the drug-addicted screenwriter J.T. Dolan on The Sopranos (for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award).  We saw all the Wings episodes but then he kind of dropped off our radar scope.  The opening theme was from Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959, Rondo: Allegretto.

Tim Daly

46. Melting point, maybe: ICICLE.  Cute clue.

47. Tablet download: GAME.

49. "Dead to Me" star Cardellini: LINDA.  Dead to Me is an American black comedy television series created by Liz Feld. The series premiered on May 3, 2019, on Netflix and stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as two grieving women who bond during therapy.

Linda Cardellini

50. Birth day doc: OB GYN.

51. __ Eats: UBER.  IMHO this might not be a good idea as over eating can lead to obesity.

52. Club condiment: MAYO.

54. "The Great" actress Fanning: ELLE.  The Great is an historical and satirical black comedy-drama television series starring Elle Fanning and loosely based on the rise to power of Catherine the Great, Empress of All Russia.

Elle Fanning

55. "The Mandalorian" bounty hunter __ Fett: BOBA.  Star Wars Lesson #2.  I'm really in over my head on this one as the original black and white space cowboys have morphed into fifty shades of gray, making it difficult to tell the bad guys from the good guys.  I'm punting to a trailer, the one where Din Djarin (good guy?) meets Boba Fett (bad guy sometimes?) ...

56. Jewish ritual: BRIS.  The Brit Milah (Bris): what you need to know if you're planning this ritual.

59. __ lane: HOV. A lane reserved for High Occupancy Vehicles.  Here are the rules in Maryland.

60. NPR host Shapiro: ARI.

61. Sci-fi FX: CGI.  Computer Generated Imagery.  Sci-fi FX are becoming Sci-Reality FX, e.g. deep fakes.

62. Wine tasting note: OAK.  A CSO to MOE.

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading, for her constructive criticism.

 

waseeley

Tuesday August 30, 2022 Ella Dershowitz

Theme:  NOT MY CUP OF TEA (60. Dismissive response when offered chai in the ends of the answers to the starred clues?) - Last word is a not tea holder.

15. *"The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" writer: GERTRUDE STEIN.

23. *Folk instrument named for the Greek god of nature: PAN FLUTE.

37. *Buffing tool for some jewelry-makers: ROCK TUMBLER.

51. *"This American Life" host: IRA GLASS.

Boomer here again. Hahtoolah is taking care of her mother-in-law in Texas. She will be back next Tuesday. 

Two in a row.  A bowler may call it a double.  In golf it's a two putt green. Or a birdie on a par three.       

Across:

1. Stories often used for storage: ATTICS.  Our townhome has no ATTIC. We use the garage.

7. Painter or sculptor: ARTIST.  Does "Paint by Number" count ?

13. Impulse-conducting cell: NEURON.

14. Elton John's "__ in the Wind": CANDLE.  The Crests sung about 16 of them.

17. "Fool Us" judges __ & Teller: PENN.

18. Gp. for good drivers?: PGA. And two putters.

19. Fossey subjects: APES.

21. Superfun times: BLASTS.  We had enough on July 4.

27. Easy pace: JOG.  Around our lakes. Not me anymore.

28. Gun, as an engine: REV.  Al Sharpton thinks he's a newsman now.

30. Debtor's note: IOU.

31. Pro bono TV ad: PSA.  In my world it's Prostate Specific Antigens.

32. Soft leather: SUEDE.  If they are blue shoes, Elvis said stay off of them.

34. Join the club: ENROLL.  Lots of schools are open now.

40. Prius maker: TOYOTA.

41. Nourishes: FEEDS.  And the schools need a lunchroom for the kids!

44. Campaign funding org.: PAC. Lots of these going on also. Voting in November!

47. Cal. neighbor: ORE.

48. DOD intel arm: NSA.  National Security!

50. "All __ Well": Taylor Swift song: TOO.  End of the line -- Me TOO!

54. Punctuation in an email address: AT SIGN.  "Stop" at the octagonal one.  Who remembers when they used to be yellow??

56. Actress Campbell: NEVE.

57. Industrial-sized tub: VAT.  Making root beer in yours?

59. Random __ of kindness: ACTS.  Sharing the root beer ??

65. Debated: ARGUED.  Twins Rocco gets kicked out of games for this.

66. "I'm not __ it": "You've yet to convince me": BUYING.

67. Does some traditional winemaking: STOMPS.

68. Job durations: STINTS.

Down:

1. "And Still I Rise" poet Maya: ANGELOU.

2. Fake ID user, maybe: TEENAGER.  I would not know how people get these.

3. Changes direction: TURNS.  To everything TURN, TURN, TURN.

4. NYC subway line: IRT.  LBJ took the IRT through the USA, what did he see?  The youth of America on LSD.

5. __ flower: foul-smelling rare plant: CORPSE.

6. Like a bug in a rug: SNUG.

7. Best pitcher in a team's rotation: ACE. Justin Verlander for sure.

8. Peer leaders in a dorm, for short: RAS.

9. Explosive letters: TNT.  We had enough of the neighbors on July 4.

10. Perfect: IDEAL.  Maker of wire-nuts.

11. Mention the surprise party to the birthday girl, say: SLIP UP.  Or maybe it was hanging below the dress.

12. Core convictions: TENETS.

16. Big name in caulk and sealant: DAP.  This stuff has been around since Lincoln was president !

17. Kid-friendly sandwiches, for short: PBJS.  My mom made lunch for us on school days.  I had plenty of these sandwiches.

20. __ urchin: SEA.  Mariners of Washington.

22. Green Day drummer: TRE COOL.

24. Guy in the sky: AIRMAN.

25. Gaming rookie: NOOB.  Some are a BOON to a new team.

26. Whole, milkwise: FULL FAT.  We only use 1% so we are only "Half Fat"

29. Presidential rejections: VETOES.  Now college kids are getting some debt forgiven.  I guess things are different.  

33. Eye on a stick figure: DOT.  Ditto's sister.

35. Pecan pie morsel: NUT.  Pecans and cashews are my favorite,  Not too happy with Trader Joe's price though.

36. Jeans name: LEE.  Never wore blue jeans myself.

38. Actress Sedgwick: KYRA.

39. Far from forthcoming: RETICENT.

42. Soldiers' IDs: DOG TAGS.  I had these, even though I was not a dog.  I spelled it DOUG!

43. Male deliveries: SONS.  I was one of these also, years ago.

44. Brooch holder: PIN. NOPE -- Look down the lane.  There are ten of them.

45. Play grounds?: ARENAS.

46. Frolic: CAVORT.

49. Watched from the sidelines: SAT OUT.  No sidelines in high school Latin class.

52. Very beginning: GET GO.

53. "Law & Order" spinoff, familiarly: SVU.  Not as good as the original.  

55. Chemise fabric: SATIN.

58. Emer. alerts: APBS.  All Points Bulletin.

61. Ornamental flower: MUM.  First to bloom in the spring.

62. "You betcha": YEP.  Yeah right!

63. LP successors: CDS.

64. "Here's an update," briefly: FYI.  For your information.

Boomer

Notes from C.C.:

Here are a few pictures of baby Boomer and his siblings.

My big sister Barbara with her young brother Douglas.  We were both polio survivors and she needed crutches while Douglas had lung problems and recovered okay.    

Hi Ho Silver.  I seem to have lost my horse.   

 Everyone my age needed training wheels when learning to handle a bicycle.

The whole family of kids under the Christmas tree. Barbara, Constance, Amy, and Douglas.  This was about 60 years ago, and we are all still alive today.

Our Dad, Ralph with Barbara and Douglas in front of our new family car, a 1949 Ford.  I think it was a lemon.

The Fabulous Burnikel foursome: Constance, Barbara, Amy and Douglas

Tuesday, August 2, 2022 Ella Dershowitz

I'd Put a SPELL on You if only I could find my BOOK.

16-Across. *   "Please don't get hurt!": BE CAREFUL!

22-Across. *   Have to pay back extra: OWE INTEREST.

34-Across. *   "Seriously!?": OH, BROTHER!

51-Across. *   Mall store with engagement rings: KAY JEWELERS.

And the unifier:

59-Across. Wizard's reference, and what the first words of the answers to the starred clues do: SPELL BOOK.  BeOweOhKay.

Across:

1. Tappable screen symbols: ICONS.

6. Spanish "Bravo!": ¡OLÉ!  Today's Spanish lesson.  Hi, Lucina!

9. Canine cries: ARFs.  //  And 45-Down. Sharp barks: YIPs.

13. "Water Lilies" painter Claude: MONET.  Once when we were in France, we went to Giverny where Monet painted the Water Lilies.  We checked into this little hotel where we had to pay upfront.  The hotel manager said to us: Giff me the Monet!  So we paid him.

14. Nemesis: FOE.

15. Chicken structure: COOP.

18. Banks of fashion: TYRA.  Tyra Lynne Banks (b. Dec. 4, 1973) was also the host of America's Next Top Model.

19. Listening device: WIRE TAP.

20. "Wake Up With Al" weather anchor: ROKER.  It seems like Al Roker (né Albert Lincoln Roker; b. Aug. 20, 1954) has been doing the weather forever!

21. "The Bachelorette" TV network: ABC.

26. Movie roll: REEL.  Are these still used?

28. Transitioned: SEGUED.

29. Cultural funding org.: NEA.  As in the National Endowment for the Arts.

30. Early PC platform: MS-DOS.  As in MicroSoft-Disk Operating System.

32. "Well played": NICE!

33. Countdown start: TEN.

38. Quick blow: JAB.

41. Many a Middle Easterner: ARAB.

42. Like a post-rain hike: MUDDY.

46. Poetic tribute: ODE.

47. To a greater extent: MORE SO.

50. Garr of "Tootsie": TERI.  Tootsie was a rom-com that came out in 1982!

54. Skybox guest: VIP.

55. Discontinued Apple music devices: iPODS.  I am so sorry to see the discontinuation of the iPod.  I use mine nearly every day.

56. Preambles: LEAD INS.

58. Italian volcano: ETNA.  Here's the live cam on the volcano.  No volcanic action today, but you can see some birds fly by.

62. Faction: SECT.

63. Bowler's asset: AIM.  Hi, Boomer!

64. Anti-frizz hair product: SERUM.

65. Christmas __: TREE.

66. Zodiac sign between Cancer and Virgo: LEO.  Hi, LeoIII!

67. Remove: ERASE.

Down:

1. Knocks back a few: IMBIBES.

2. Strong-armed: COERCED.

3. __ in a blue moon: ONCE.

4. "How cool": NEAT-O.

5. Juice box inserts: STRAWS.

6. Like sour milk: OFF.

7. Baseball Hall of Famer Brock: LOU.  //  Not to be confused with 27-Down. WC: LOO.  Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939 ~ Sept. 6, 2020) played for 19 years in the major league.  He is best known for stealing bases.

8. Long wriggly fish: EEL.  Where do EELS come from?

9. Audition hopeful: ACTOR.

10. Gruff footballer played by Brett Goldstein on "Ted Lasso": ROY KENT.  I have not seen Ted Lasso, but it has gotten great reviews.  Brett Goldstein (b. July 17, 1980) is a British comedian and actor.

11. Know in advance: FORESEE.

12. Like a no-frills hotel room: SPARTAN.

17. Fencing sword: EPÉE.  //  Not to be confused with 53-Down. Curved sword: SABER.

19. Like shorts weather: WARM.  Hi again, Lucina!

20. Turn in for cash: REDEEM.

23. Satiric science prize for "research that makes people laugh, then think": IG-NOBEL.  While not as prestigious as the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1991 to celebrate unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research.  The Ig Nobel Prizes this year will be awarded in September.  Here is a list and explanation of last year's prizes.

24. Night in Paris: NUIT.  Today's French lesson.  Do you know the difference between Nuit and Soir?

25. Virginia __: TECH.  I first tried Virginia Dare, then Virginia Reel, before letting the perps have their way.

31. Disgraces: SHAMES.

35. Tweezing target: BROW.

36. Hard to find: RARE.

37. Boring routine: RUT.

38. Least serious: JOKIEST.  Seems a bit awkward.

39. Travel kit plug: ADAPTER.

40. Most nominated woman in Grammy history: BEYONCÉ.  Beyoncé (née Beyoncé Giselle Knowles; b. Sept. 4, 1981) has been nominated almost 80 times, and has been awarded nearly 30 Grammys.

43. Conniving: DEVIOUS.  Did anyone watch Devious Maids?  It ran on Lifetime for about 4 years.

44. Message on a Wonderland potion: DRINK ME.  Did Alice IMBIBE?

48. List on Facebook Marketplace, say: SELL.

49. Warning words: OR ELSE.

52. Matchmaking site available in Hebrew: JDATE.

57. Cartoon explorer with a talking backpack: DORA.  I knew that Dora was an Explorer, but I didn't know her backpack talked.

59. "Blueberries for __": Caldecott Honor Book by Robert McCloskey: SAL.  Blueberries for Sal was first published in 1948.  It takes place in Maine and is about a little girl named Sal who is out picking blue berries at the same time a bear cub is searching for berries.

60. Diner slice: PIE.

61. Moody genre: EMO.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Stay cool, folks!