We last saw Emily Biegas on a Saturday in August. Today she has me seeing RED.
56. Many a house wine, or what can be found in each set of circled letters: RED BLEND. A RED BLEND is a domestic wine that is made from a range of grape varieties. It also reveals that each of the following themers features a RED wine inside circled letters that have been BLENDed (scrambled).
17. Destination for a team bus: AWAY GAME. GAMAY is an easy-drinking wine that’s light and refreshing.
25. Hair product that often contains cornstarch: DRY SHAMPOO. SYRAH is a robust red wine with intense fruity flavors.
34. Dried or fried fruity snacks: PLANTAIN CHIPS. CHIANTI is a dry, medium-bodied red wine made from Sangiovese grapes, Italy's most widely grown variety.
47. Extremely terse voicemail message: CALL ME BACK. MALBEC is a hearty wine that pairs well with meats.
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| Note: CHIANTI is made from the Sangiovese grape. |
Unfortunately for Emily, I'm a teetotaler and wasn't familiar with most of these. I know they will be second nature to our oenophiles (wine connoisseurs) out there, but I only deciphered CHIANTI without help. The whole gist of this puzzle revolves around familiarity with wine, so all it's grapes are in one basket. I did an informal poll of friends during the week. MALBEC seems to be fairly common, and there was some familiarity with SYRAH, although a few confused it with Petite Sirah, which is different (See? I'm learning about wine!). But there was almost no recognition of GAMAY.
Sorry about whining today, but this one took way to long to unscramble after FIR. GRR! I had to dig into the Google to find these wine varieties, which wasn't fun. It just may be sour grapes, but this seems like an example of clever for the constructor doesn't equal pleasure for the solver. I'm sure others will find this more to their taste.
Let's pour over the rest:
Across:
1. "So mad!": GRR.
4. Fill up: SATE.
8. Curses: DOOMS.
13. Filmmaker Ang: LEE. This Oscar-winner's name is a favorite in the Crossword Hall of Fame.
14. Mosque leader: IMAM.
15. Hosts: EMCEES.
17. [theme]
19. "Don't panic": BE CALM.
20. Italian city with a big Fashion Week: MILAN.
21. Significant phase: ERA.
23. Pico de __: GALLO. Favorite salsa of Ernest & Julio?
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| But please don't drink and drive! |
24. Proper partner: PRIM.
25. [theme]
27. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. David SEDARIS is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor.
29. Faux follower: PAS. Literally a "false step," a faux PAS is a socially awkward or embarrassing act or remark - like ordering red wine with fish. The horror!
30. Furrow: RUT.
31. Ad __ committee: HOC.
32. Corral: PEN.
33. Anya's "The Queen's Gambit" role: BETH. Usually Anya is the answer, not the clue, because of the useful xword letters in her name (REFER to Ang LEE and Bobby ORR).
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| Anya Taylor-Joy |
34. [theme]
38. Some pub pints: ALES.
39. "20/20" network: ABC. The American Broadcasting Company.
40. "Yikes": OOF. ACH!
41. Vietnamese New Year: TET.
42. "Give __ try!": IT A. OOF.
43. Bike alternative: SCOOTER.
47. [theme]
50. Show up: COME.
51. Central Plains people: OTOES. The tribe is simply the OTOE. In plural it means two or more of their members.
52. German "Bah!": ACH.
53. Sasha Obama's sister: MALIA. They're all grown up!
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| Sasha (27, on left) and Malia (25). |
54. Emmy-winning drama with primarily Japanese dialogue: SHOGUN. This REFERs to the newest version of James Clavell’s 1975 bestselling novel. The 1980 mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain also won Emmys.
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| 1980 vs. 2024 |
56. [theme]
58. El __ tequila: TESORO. El TESORO is "The Treasure" in Spanish. All these unknown alcoholic beverages today made this puzzle more difficult.
59. "Bugonia" actress Stone: EMMA. EMMA likes quirky characters, and so does the Academy. She's taken home two Best Actress Oscars.
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| Emma plays a CEO suspected of being an alien in Bugonia. |
60. Mama deer: DOE. Not to be confused with Mommie Dearest!
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| Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in 1981. |
61. Direct (to): REFER.
62. Min. parts: SECS. Seconds are minute parts of minutes.
63. Bruins great Bobby: ORR. The Hall-of-Famer is also in the Crosswords HOF for "Most Popular Hockey Name."
Down:
1. Stays in a heated yurt, perhaps: GLAMPS. I wanted SWEATS, but it turns out that GLAMPS is a portmanteau for "glamorous camping."
2. Alter, as neural pathways: REWIRE. I think I'll sign up for this.
3. Passport alternative for U.S. domestic travelers: REAL ID. A REAL ID is a federally compliant driver's license or state-issued identification card. A passport is still required for international travel.
4. Talk with one's hands?: SIGN. As one using ASL, American SIGN Language.
5. Reddit session with a celeb guest: AMA. Ask Me Anything.
6. Some big animal handlers: TAMERS. Here's the MGM lion being filmed for their classic movie intros. I hope TAMERS were nearby.
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| Open a little wider...that's it. Now give me a big roar! |
7. Nail file material: EMERY.
8. Food blogger Perelman: DEB. DEB Perelman is a New York City-based writer and cook behind the beloved and unpretentious food blog, Smitten Kitchen.
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| I'll bet she knows her RED BLENDS. |
9. Some fatty acids: OMEGAS.
10. Thinker with a "razor": OCCAM. The first metal razors appeared around 3000 BC. I think.
11. Cook for the week ahead, say: MEAL PREP. MEAL PREP is the practice of planning, cooking, and portioning meals ahead of time. I was thinking MEAL PLAN at first.
12. People accused of losing artistic integrity: SELLOUTS. Artists allegedly become SELLOUTS when they change their style or sound to appeal to a mainstream commercial audience. But the economic reality of making a living or shifting personal creativity often drives these changes.
16. Slick: SMOOTH.
18. Some motorcycles and keyboards: YAMAHAS. I'm impressed that YAMAHA can produce such a diverse line of products, including guitars, and they are all generally excellent.
22. Setting of the annual Food & Wine Classic: ASPEN. More wine! I almost wrote EPCOT, where their annual International Food & Wine Festival is a fun time, even for non-drinkers.
25. Use voice-to-text technology: DICTATE.
26. "Round Midnight" Oscar winner Herbie: HANCOCK. A child prodigy, Herbie has written numerous jazz standards, played with every jazz great, and has won every major award. He is a monster on keyboards. Looking him up today, I learned he graduated with degrees in music and electrical engineering. Amazing. No wonder he was an early adopter of synthesizers.
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| Herbie's 1973 jazz fusion record Head Hunters was instrumental in shaping my musical tastes. |
28. Baseball analyst Darling: RON. Hawaiian-born RON Darling is a former Major League Baseball pitcher (Golden Glove in 1989) and a longtime Emmy Award-winning broadcaster.
32. Quick snapshot: PIC. "Quick" because the answer is an abbreviation of "picture."
33. Like some lenses: BIFOCAL.
34. Vegan-friendly fabric: PLEATHER. Another portmanteau, this time Plastic meets Leather. PLEATHER is synthetic material made from PVC, but if you're against cruelty to animals, why would you buy something that fools people into thinking you're wearing the real thing?
35. Blow off steam: LET LOOSE.
36. Addis __, Ethiopia: ABABA. Addis ABABA is the capital and largest city in Ethiopia.
37. "Oh, boo-__!": HOO.
38. Without markup: AT COST. I occasionally sell something to a customer AT COST. As a rule, that's not a successful business strategy, but sometimes it's worth the goodwill it creates.
42. "No doubt in my mind": I'M SURE.
43. Plot: SCHEME.
44. Lake Erie port: TOLEDO.
45. Key related to G major: E MINOR. Both keys share the same key signature with one sharp (F#). They just start on different places on the keyboard.
46. Bookworm: READER.
48. __ lamb: LEG OF. In the words of the immortal Splynter, this is a twurd.
49. Griffith Park's 4,210+: ACRES. Griffith Park, home to the Griffith Observatory, is famous for being one of the largest municipal parks and urban wilderness areas in North America, as well as a major cultural and film landmark in Los Angeles.
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| The iconic Hollywood Sign is inside the park |
53. Wharton degs.: MBAS. A Master of Business Administration degree was once the springboard to an executive career, but it's automatic return on investment has declined due to high costs and shifting job markets, especially in the tech sector.
55. Neither partner: NOR.
57. Rap trio Run-__: DMC. Considered one of the most influential acts in the history of hip-hop, Run-DMC was created from the stage names of its founding members: Run (Joseph Simmons) and DMC (Darryl McDaniels). Their third member was Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) who didn't get in on the title for some reason.
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| The angry one is Jay - because they didn't include his name? |
Fun way to get your own rap name: Combine "Lil" + the last thing you ate. I'm Lil Banana. What's yours?
Be good. RB
