Friday, February 9, 2024, Caroline Hand and Katie Hale

 

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of  today's puzzle which, fittingly, was constructed by not one but two puzzle setters.  If you woke up feeling poorly this morning then this puzzle may not have been for you.  However, if you woke up fooling peerly then you may have found that the solving went smeethly and agrooably.  Let's start with the reveal:

66  Across:  Tennis match with teams of men and women, or what 18- and 25-Across and 42- and 55-Across literally have: MIXED DOUBLES.

At two places (for a total of four clues/answers) Caroline and Katie intentionally mix up the double vowels (OO and EE) found in two common "word combinations" and, thereby, create amusing responses to the carefully worded clues.  The first pair is at:

18 Across:  Plays a trick on Miami's basketball team?: FOOLS THE HEAT     and

25 Across:  Spring occasion when people get really emotional?: APRIL FEELS DAY

FEELS THE HEAT and APRIL FOOLS DAY have traded double vowels

The second pair is at:

42 Across:  Orange rinds of epic proportions?: OLYMPIC SIZE PEELS and

55 Across:  Wagers about how many ingredients are in a bottle of shampoo?: CHEMICAL POOLS

OLYMPIC SIZE POOLS and CHEMICAL PEELS have engaged in a bit of vowel swapping.

Here is how this all looks in the grid:

.... and, now that we've participated in the vowels' key party, let's have a look at the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Baldelli who was AL Manager of the Year in 2019: ROCCO.  Things start off with a reference to the Minnesota Twins baseball team.

6. Leave the dishes for tomorrow, say: SOAK.   Here in the SOAKing Southland this seems, somehow, appropriate:

Box Of Rain (1972)

10. Fistful of dollars: WAD.

Clint Probably Got This Answer Quickly

13. Nook purchases: E-BOOKS.  NOOK is Barnes and Noble's electronic reading platform/device.

15. Subject: TOPIC.  Current events are a fish's favorite TOPIC of discussion.

17. Spa brand: OPI.  Usually clued with a reference to nail polish.

20. Molecular messenger: RNA.  A crossword staple.

21. Dump, as stock: SELL.

22. Breakdown helpers: AAA.

23. Monarch: RULER.

30. Cuban dance: MAMBO.  O, possibilmente, italiano

33. Comforts: SOLACES.  

34. Rita on Avicii's "Lonely Together": ORA.

35. UFC fighting style: MMA.  Mixed Martial Arts

38. Prefix with gender: CIS.

"Mongo CIS" Just Does Not Seem Right

39. Some UPenn degs.: MBAS.  Many schools offer MBA degrees.  The UPenn bit was not very helpful.

46. Hands together time: NOON.  Analog, not digital.  Not applause.

47. Not awesome: MEH.

48. Big fuss: ADO.

49. Writer Joe Hill, to Stephen King: SON.   A man gave his three boys a cattle ranch.  He named the ranch Focus because that is where the sun's rays meet.

50. Amends last year's tax return, say: RE-FILES.

53. The Chi-__: R&B quartet: LITES.  A pun-ish name.

59. Titan, once: OILER.  The Tennessee Titans football team started out in 1960 as the Houston Oilers before relocating to Nashville in 1997.

60. Prefix in some genre names: ALT.

61. __ Rios, Jamaica: OCHO.

65. School opening?: PRE.  Some solvers might feel that the southwest, with its PRE, SEC and EST stack, was a bit 47 Across.

71. Wall St. regulator: SEC.

72. Cutting: SNIDE.  A fairly ambiguous clue.

73. Writes to: EMAILS.  Can we read EMAILS on our EBOOKS?

74. D.C. hrs.: EST.  Anybody remember Werner Erhard?

75. African antelopes: GNUS.

76. Teaser: PROMO.  As in teaser ad.

Down:

1. Bowl game officials: REFS.  A football reference.

2. Cor anglais kin: OBOE.  Clued many ways but not as many ways as OREO

3. Awesome: COOL.  Slang.

4. Work together briefly?: COLLAB.  A punt (or slang depending on your perspective).  COLLABoration "in brief".

5. Allows: OKS.

6. Gets home, in a way: STEALS.  Another baseball reference.

7. __ and aah: OOH.  What goes OOH OOH?  A cow with no lips.

8. Imitate: APE.  Used as a verb.  See also 36 Down.

9. Telluride maker: KIA.  An automotive reference.

10. Advertising exaggeration, perhaps: WORLD'S BEST.

11. CPAP target: APNEA. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure used to treat breathing problems.  Philips Respironics recently recalled some of their CPAP machines.

12. Log with a lock: DIARY.

14. Guest __: STAR.

16. Copy shortcut: CTRL C.  A computer user's technique.

19. Japanese "yes": HAI.

24. "I can help!": USE ME.  We have seen this several times in our puzzles.  Has anyone actually heard a person say "USE ME" ?

26. Pageantry: POMP.

27. Areas of interest: FOCI.  Plural of FOCUS.

28. "Hamilton" role for Phillipa Soo: ELIZA.

29. Made less harsh: EASED.

30. Eclipse participant: MOON.

31. "Hope" singer Parks: ARLO.

32. City executive-to-be: MAYOR ELECT.

36. Imitate: MIMIC.  See also 8 Down.

37. Amtrak choice: ACELA.  A train ride often taken in our puzzles.

40. Healing plant: ALOE.  A constructor's friend.

41. Bank acct. application digits: SSNS.  Another crossword staple.

43. Greek muse of memory: MNEME.  Inspiration for:

44. "Where the Sidewalk Ends" poet Silverstein: SHEL.

45. Straw __: POLL.  An unofficial vote.

51. Gels: FIRMS.  Used, here, as a verb.

52. Some kings and queens: SPADES.  A playing card reference.

54. Weather map line: ISOBAR.  Where do meteorologists relax after work?

55. Grove: COPSE.

A small COPSE set among a field of dandelions.

56. Brings on: HIRES.  They could have gone with the root beer.

57. Far from current: OLD.

58. Chiwere speakers: OTOE.  OTOE visit us often.  All About These Indigenous Friends of Crossword Constructors

62. Advertiser's honor: CLIO.  The CLIO awards are named for the Greek goddess CLIO, the mythological muse known as "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments.

63. Big wheel at sea: HELM.  Not the idiomatic "big wheel" which might have led to trying to fit ADMIRAL or CAPTAIN into the allotted space.  A big steering wheel.  

64. __ buco: OSSO.  A food reference.

67. Dutch bank: ING.

68. Mark, as a box: X IN.  Punt

69. Part of a prof's address: EDU.  The ending for a university's email address.  dot EDU

70. Plate official: UMP.  Yet another baseball reference.

Y'er Out!

Okay.  If you say so.

Everyone have a wonderful Superb Owl weekend.

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Notes from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear Splynter, who turns 53 years old today. I'm so happy and grateful that you're back to blog for us again. 

Baby Splynter and His Parents

Friday, February 2, 2024 - Amie Walker and Matthew Stock

Theme: "Slow down, you move too fast ..."

Puzzling thoughts:

Happy Groundhog Day, Cornerites! More on this, later ...

Thanks again for all of your kind comments on my puzzle this past Wednesday (Jan 31)

It took the Chairman (15-across. Re:) ABOUT 12 minutes to complete today's puzzle; less than my normal solving time for a Friday

I was expecting a Groundhog Day-themed puzzle, but this one did not disappoint

Amie Walker and Matthew Stock collaborate on this very enjoyable puzzle (whose grid is asymmetric, BTW) that uses four words/phrases as synonyms for "no running". Each of the entries - three down and one across - are "in the language" terms. Let's examine them further, shall we?

3-down. "No running" to an incumbent: TERM LIMITED. Blog rules strictly prohibit me (or any of all y'all) from discussing politics, so I will let the image below speak for itself ...

11-down. "No running" at a cosmetics store: SMUDGE PROOF.

She obviously didn't use a smudge proof mascara!

25-down. With 26-Down, "No running" to a newspaper reporter: OFF THE RECORD. Two things struck me about this entry:

1) How skillfully placed this was in the grid
2) How amazingly clever to come up with this phrase to signify "not running"

55-across. "No running" on a pool deck: SLIPPERY WHEN WET. All sorts of images crept into the Chairman's devious and puerile mind but this is the one that will be published!!

Let's get on with the other clues and entries, including the plethora of 3-letter words (sorry, Irish Miss!) ... the picture of the grid will be at the end of the blog

Across:
1. Body art: TATS, with its "clecho": (57-down. Body art:) INK. (one of the plethora of 3-letter words)

5. Split __: HAIRS. Neither "ENDS" nor "PEA SOUP" fit

10. Soft "C'mere!": PSST. This "word" is showing up often, recently, in xword puzzles

14. Begin to form: BREW. Interesting clue for this word

16. Chicano poet Luis __ Salinas: OMAR. "___ the tent maker" would've worked as a clue, too

17. World of Warcraft beast: OGRE. This filled via perps

18. Zelle alternative: VENMO. I use PayPal

19. Herding dog from Hungary: PULI. A learning experience for me, although when I went to "save" the image, I already had it in my pictures folder. Perhaps this word was used once before @ LA Times? This looks like a dog that Bob Marley would own ...

20. Veinte, por ejemplo: NUMERO. A CSO to Lucinda. Veinte is twenty, no?

22. Athena's domain: WISDOM. A bit of misdirection, as the word "domain" also means the area in which she might preside. Here is what [wikipedia] says: "Athena was the goddess of battle strategy, and wisdom. Identified in the Roman mythology as the goddess Minerva. She was always accompanied by her owl ..."

24. Fast-food chain with Epic Burritos: DEL TACO. This filled easily via perps; I don't regularly frequent DEL TACO restaurants but we have some in our area; you?

26. Tips over one's king, e.g.: RESIGNS. Chess reference when a player realizes that they are going to lose and/or face "checkmate"

27. "__ be my pleasure": IT'D. #2 of the 18 three-letter words

28. Usage charge: FEE. The third of the three-letter words

30. Dry __: ICE. The fourth of the three-letter words; Dry ICE is actually the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2), a molecule consisting of a single carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms [wikipedia]

31. "Thus with a kiss I die" hero: ROMEO. I sensed a Shakespeare quote here, and ROMEO fit

33. TV watchers?: F.C.C. Fifth 3-letter word, and another abbr.

34. Beta preceder: ALPHA. In the Greek ALPHAbet

37. Bird-related: AVIAN. It's "for the birds"

38. Howe'er: THO'. Sixth 3-letter word; another abbr.

39. "Great blue" or "little blue" bird: HERON. A HERON would be AVIAN, no?

40. Obtain: GET. Seventh 3-letter word; I "GET" it; there are a lot of them today

41. Free of wool: SHORN. I had SHEAR first before the perps corrected it

43. Not available at the moment: OUT. #8; and I am OUT of explanations!!

44. Seasoned vet's opposite: NEWBIE. Nice clue

47. Part of JD: DOCTOR. Juris DOCTOR; a legal term; "A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law is a graduate-entry professional degree in law. The JD is the standard degree obtained to practice law in the United States, where there is no undergraduate professional law degree" [wikipedia]

50. Fizzled out: DIED. What happened to your car after you drove with a "Check Engine" light illuminated

51. Playing surface: TURF. Term used for both football and golf

52. Ooze: SEEP.

54. Sizable plot: ACRE.

62. Small horse: PONY. Or, a small beer bottle

63. "Now __ talking!": YOU'RE.

64. Line graph display: DATA.

And of course, there is another "clecho": (49-down. Line graph display:) TREND.

65. Look for answers: ASK. #9; ASK me (or Irish Miss) again, "how many 3-letter words are OK for a puzzle?"

66. Awards for "Abbott Elementary": EMMYS. One of our favorite "major" network shows

67. Break: GAP. #10 ... maybe a better clue would've been from the old commercial jingle: "Fall into the ___"

OK, it's "halftime" at the blog. Remember when I said that there would be more about Groundhog Day?? Well, I read an interesting article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this past Sunday. The person writing the article began by saying that perhaps PETA would someday put an end to this annual celebration, where Punxsatawney Phil (the groundhog) is no longer the focal point of whether we do or don't have 6 more weeks of winter. She said that maybe they have a gold coin with a "heads" or "tails", and the citizens of that sleepy little Western Pennsylvania town just flip the coin ... heads = more winter; tails = an early spring. But at the end, despite so many ARGUEments for why Phil should be allowed to return to the wild, she realized that this is a huge event for the townsfolk. And, it gives all of us who don't live there a reason to celebrate. I'm all for that. Plus, it also gives us a chance to watch a little clip from the movie starring Andie MacDowell and Bill Murray. Enjoy!

Down:
1. Govt. security: T-BOND. Did anyone else try T-BILL instead? Not I

2. Go back and forth: ARGUE. One thing I have learned: you can either be right or be happy ... no ARGUEment here, eh guys??!! 😅

4. Lemonade alternative: SWEET TEA. CSO to all of our southern friends who have probably consumed more gallons of this than can be counted. The "trick" is to BREW the tea with the sugar already in the water

5. Chaos: HAVOC. Another Bill Murray clip with a reference to chaos/HAVOC

6. Dad on "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel": ABE. An Emmy Award for actor Tony Shalhoub as ABE Weissman

7. + or - particle: ION. #11

8. Pirate song spirit: RUM. #12. "Spirit" as in an alcoholic libation; RUM

9. Madeleine of "Revenge": STOWE. Harriet Beecher ___ would have been too obvious (for me)

10. Stick in the freezer?: POPSICLE. A nice play-on-words clue

12. Place where one might leave tips for tips: SALON. Another nice play-on-words clue; tips (as in gratuities) for tips (as in highlights for ones hair)

13. Cuts back: TRIMS. Another SALON job

21. Hazardous gas: RADON. Are RADON detectors still mandatory in homes with basements?

23. "Da 5 Bloods" actor Whitlock Jr.: ISIAH. A Biblical prophet, perhaps? Nope. Him:

29. Helpful Amazon gadget: ECHO. We have one; it's called a "Dot"

31. Joplin work: RAG. #13

32. "The Great British Baking Show" appliance: OVEN. Even if you didn't know the show, what else COULD it be??

35. 3,600 seconds: HOUR. 60 seconds in one minute x 60 minutes in one hour = 3,600 seconds

36. Crumb-collecting insect: ANT. #14. And I bet that there are more than 14 clues for this industrious insect that have appeared in xword puzzles

41. Skeptical look: SIDE EYE. This:

42. Tally marks: NOTCHES.

45. Thin and wavy: WISPY. Like this HAIR??

How to wear WISPY bangs

46. [Time's up!]: BEEP. [Grammarly dot com] says: "Parentheses and brackets are punctuation marks used to set apart certain words and sentences. Parentheses, ( ), are used to add extra information in text, while brackets, [ ], are used mainly in quotations to add extra information that wasn't in the original quote." In this case, the "BEEP" is the extra information

48. Remedy: CURE. Despite all of the time modern medicine has had to develop one, there still is no CURE for the common cold

53. Formal: PROM. "Formal" as in the participants are dressed in formal attire for this school event

54. Off course: AWRY. Hey Moe! When are we going to get a Moe-ku? Well, this one sort of fits ...

Waggish pastry chef
Opened a new bakery.
Just bakes a wry bread.

55. Escape room?: SPA. #15. Don't people go to a SPA to escape the toils of daily life??

56. __ Gatos, California: LOS. #16. What else could it be, other than "LOS" for a California city??

58. "Delish!": YUM. #17. CSO to Hahtoolah with her pet word: YUMmers!! 😋

59. Tail movement: WAG. #18. Did anyone have to use a "WAG" (wild-assed-guess) to come up with "WAG"??

60. "We'll get there then" approx.: ETA. #19. Another abbr.

61. Water source: TAP. "VEINTE"!! (20) "TAP" as in faucet

And we have reached the "END" (another 3-letter word!). Let's end with a Moe-l'ick:

As your blogger I might be your shill,
And admit, didn't you feel the thrill?
I've got one thing to say
On this year's Groundhog Day
Don't you think that we've gotten our Phil??

The grid:

Comments, please ...

Friday, January 26, 2024, Luke Schreiber

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's pacer.  Excuse me, recap.  Our puzzle setter, Luke Schreiber has executed a pretty straightforward theme.  Or is it  a straightbackward theme?  At four places, Luke presents us with single-word clues followed by a question mark.  To answer these clues we are required to reverse the letters of the clue, place that reversed rendition at the end of the allotted squares, conjure up something that explains the reversal and then place that explanation at the head of the answer.  The four themed answers are found at:

21 Across:  EMIT?: TURN BACK TIME.  Turn TIME backwards and you get EMIT

39 Across:  LOOP?: REFLECTING POOL.  POOL as seen in a mirror, or reflecting pool, will appear to be reversed.  It won't read LOOP but the letters will be in that order.

52 Across:  SPOT?: FLIP TOPS.  Flip TOPS around and you get SPOT.

63 Across:  RAW?: REVOLUTIONARY WAR.  This one is a bit less straightforward but Luke has made up for that by having the answer span the entire grid.

The grid is 16 squares wide, instead of the usual 15, and the symmetry is atypical and really quite elegant in and of itself.

Here is how all of this appears in the grid:

Here are the other clues and answers:

Across:

1. Moussaka ingredient: LAMB.  Eggplant was too long.

5. Harmonious church groups: CHOIRS.  Singing in harmony.

11. Parachute necessity: CORD.  Do not forget to pull the ripCORD.

15. Cookie with a Java Chip flavor: OREO.  My niece recently sent me a link to a puzzle source and, in one of those puzzles, there was a great clue for OREO:  Cookie whose clue is almost moot since you likely knew what the answer was after reading "cookie".

16. Solitary sort: HERMIT.  We could go with a song by Herman's Hermits but this fits the clue pretty well:

Johnny Cash

17. Mind: OBEY. Do you mind (care)?  No.  What's on your mind (brain)?  No.  "You will do as I say!"

18. Wolverine, for one: XMAN.

19. Esoteric information: ARCANA.  Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.

20. A few: SOME.

24. Not quite aligned: OFFSET.

OFFSET Wrenches

26. Inventor who said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work": EDISON.  Thomas Alva EDISON.

29. Slugger Judge who was AP Athlete of the Year in 2022: AARON.  A baseball reference.

30. Ankle-length attire: MAXI.

34. Mouthwash brand: SCOPE.  Listerine was too long.  Act was too short.

35. Feudal estate: FIEF.

36. Selena or Selena Gomez: LATINA.  SINGER would have fit.

38. Katniss Everdeen portrayer, to fans: J LAW.  a "Hunger Games" reference.  The character is portrayed by Jennifer LAWrence.

42. Overhang: EAVE.  EAVEs hang around our puzzles quite regularly.

43. Midwestern Native: SAUK.  New to this solver.  Those in the Green Bay, Wisconsin  or Northern New York State areas may be more familiar with the SAUK.

44. Five-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Ian: THORPE.  Jim Thorpe, it turns out, was a member of the SAUK (aka Sac and Fox) peoples.  Luke, however, has gone with Ian who is Australian.

47. Comes down hard?: SLEETS.  A hard rain's a-gonna fall.  Literally.

Figuratively

51. "Just a Geek" memoirist Wheaton: WIL.

57. Tate Modern filler: ART.  A museum reference.

58. Verdi aria that translates to "It was you": ERI TU.

60. Lisa Halaby's royal name: NOOR.  An American-born Jordanian who was the fourth wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan.  She was Queen NOOR of Jordan from 1978 until the king's death in 1999.

61. Sunlit lobbies: ATRIA.  Plural of ATRIum.  Stadium / Stadia

66. Intense: KEEN.  What do you call someone who really likes to talk about cereals?  A KEEN oat speaker.

67. Some green sauces: PESTOS.  Rarely seen pluralized.

Basil and Roasted Tomato PESTOS

68. Senate position: PAGE.  Go-fers, albeit esteemed, for the senators.

69. Divisions in an outdated atlas: Abbr.: SSRS.  Soviet Socialist RepublicS

70. Plumes: CRESTS.

Mount CRESTed Butte, Colorado

71. Exxon constituents?: EXES.  In the middle of the word.  Often clued with reference to past partners.

George Strait

Down:

1. Bagel topping: LOX.

2. Branch: ARM.  The U.S. Army is a branch of the armed forces.

3. Vegetarian: MEAT FREE.  A woman came up to me and said that she recognized me from the local vegetarian restaurant.  This confused me as I had never met herbivore.  Perhaps it was a missed steak.

4. Pot sweetener: BONUS OFFER.  Hand up for trying to think of something related to poker.

5. Root words?: CHANT.  As in to root for your favorite sports team.

6. Cilantro, e.g.: HERB.  I really need to plant some HERBs of my own.  I have been living on borrowed thyme.

7. Wolf of the sea: ORCA.  They swim through our puzzles on a regular basis.

8. Apple since 1998: IMAC.  Not a fruit reference.

9. Curling spot: RINK.

The Physics of Curling

10. Washington, but not Washington, D.C.: STATE.  Nor George.

11.  Life itself, to a crepehanger: COSMIC JOKE.

12. Recital piece for a double-reed woodwind: OBOE SOLO.

13. "Collapse Into Now" band: REM.  The clue is the name of one of REM's albums.

14. Go green, perhaps: DYE.  Hand up for first trying to think (overthink?) of something ecologically related.

22. Kylo __: "The Last Jedi" villain: REN.  A Star Wars reference.

23. Picks out, for short: IDS.  We had IDS as, IDentufieS in the puzzle that I recapped two Fridays ago.

24. Lummox: OAF.  What do you call a healthcare worker who does not self isolate after contracting COVID?  A Hippocratic OAF.

25. Just: FAIR.  Not "Just" as in merely.

27. Iridescent gem: OPAL.

28. Not old: NEW.  Now, this one is straightforward.

30. Spice cookie spice: MACE.  Also, a brand of self-defense pepper spray.

31. QB stat: ATT.  A football reference.  Passing ATTempts.

32. Roman dozen: XII.  Roman Numeral

33. Accommodating places: INNS.  Places to procure accommodations for the night.

36. Flatten: LEVEL.

37. Shocked: AGASP.

40. Squiggly baby, to a sitter: LAPFUL.  Nice wordplay employing babysitter and anyone who happens to be seated.

41. Radio wave-emitting star: PULSAR.

44. Dances provocatively: TWERKS.  Today's let's pass on the video moment.

45. New faces in the staff lounge: HIREES.

46. "Last Week Tonight" host John: OLIVER.

48. Swab target: EAR WAX.  A Q-tip™ reference.  

49. Emergency priority system: TRIAGE.

50. Unblinking looks: STARES.

53. __ Miami CF: INTER.  A Major League Soccer reference.

54. Self-composure: POISE.

55. Friendly horn sounds: TOOTS.  As opposed to an unfriendly horn sound?

56. " ... but I could be wrong": OR NOT.  "I take back everything that I just said."

59. Heavy weights: TONS.  SNOT?

62. Variety: TYPE.

64. Lines at the register?: UPC.  Universal Product Code aka Bar Code

65. Donkey: ASS.

Well, that will wrap things up for today.   Time, now, to get my donkey back on the slopes.

_____________________________________________________