Monday December 16, 2024 Janice Luttrell

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. I am happy to say that Janice Luttrell is back with another one of her Monday delights.

Theme:  

The themed questions are:

20 Across. Above-the-street rumblers: ELEVATED TRAINS.  

36 Across. Possibly unattainable entry on a bucket list: LOFTY GOAL.  

46 Across. Really big ask: TALL ORDER.  

And the reveal:

56 Across. Like most televisions, and what can be found at the start of 20-, 36-, or 46-Across: HIGH DEFINITION.

HDTVs became ubiquitous on June 12, 2009 when the FCC required all high-power analog U.S. television stations to turn off their signals and move to a digital-only transmission. This Nielson article has the data on American viewers at that time.

Today's themed answers are all two-word phrases such that the first word is a synonym for the word "high". But what about the DEFINITION part? Well, as adjectives, ELEVATED, LOFTY, and TALL further DEFINE their respective nouns (TRAINS, GOAL, and ORDER). For example, it is not just any ORDER. It is a TALL ORDER.

Works for me!

It's high time we looked at the other clues....

Across:

1. Words to a bride and groom: TOAST.  Here's one Hugh Grant gave in the 1994 film, Four Weddings and a Funeral (3 min.).  

6. Actress Ferris: PAM.  her IMDb page

9. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" singer Mariah: CAREY.  How fun to have a holiday tune this time of year!  

14. Mole sauce chile: ANCHO.  Blogger says chile is misspelled so I looked it up. One source said that chile is the Spanish spelling and that chili used to be the preferred English spelling but now people tend to write chile so as to avoid confusion with the spicy stew chili. Fair enough.

15. Short "As I see it": IMO.  Writing "IMO" is shorter than writing "In My Opinion".

16. Urgent: ACUTE.  This made me think of ACUTE care in the medical world.

17. Ross who ran for president twice: PEROT.  (1930-2019) He ran as an Independent in 1992, losing to Bill Clinton. Perot again lost to Clinton in 1996 but this time as the leader of the Reform Party.

18. Petty peeve: NIT.  I liked the cute play on pet peeve.

19. Downton Abbey staffers: MAIDS.  

I saw every episode of this show.

23. Younger "ManningCast" brother: ELI.  ELI and his older brother Peyton were both successful NFL quarterbacks.

24. Team's adjective: OUR.  Remember, there is no "I" in "team".  

25. Govt. ID issuer: SSA. Government...identification...It is clear we need an abbreviation here. Social Security Administration

28. Stool supports: LEGS.  

31. Surf shop array: BOARDS.  

39. Gooey campfire treat: S'MORE.  It is short for "I want some more."

40. Crafts partner: ARTS.  

41. Draped garments in Hindi films: SARIS.  Sorry, I do not know which film this is.  

43. Boo-boo: OWIE.  

44. Stand in good __: STEAD.  Merriam-Webster says this is an idiom that means to be useful or helpful to someone or something. The entry has this example sentence:  His language skills will stand him in good stead when he is traveling.

48. Vice president Kamala: HARRIS.  Vice Presidents since Walter Mondale have lived with their families on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.  

50. Horse's foot: HOOF.

51. Golf hole meas.: YDS.  Golfers may correct me but I think this means that they measure the distance from their ball to the holes in yards.

52. "Cheers" bartender: SAM.   ...not to be confused with a 3-letter word for the actor who played a bartender on Cheers -- Ted.

54. Nonprofit org. with a Directors Series: AFI.  The American Film Institute was not on my radar so my last box was a mental alphabet run for something that might work for the crossing of this answer and 42-Down. SLOAN seemed like my best option.

64. Greek fable writer: AESOP.  

65. Party bowlful: DIP.

66. See 68-Across: CARTE.     and     68-Across. With 66-Across, like some menus: À LA.

À LA CARTE menus list the prices for each item separately. For example, if a salad does not come with your entrée, you can order one separately or À LA CARTE.

67. Airline based in Atlanta: DELTA.  In 1941, DELTA's headquarters moved to Atlanta from Monroe, LA where the company started as a crop dusting business over - you guessed it - the Mississippi River Delta region.  Delta Airlines history

69. Fill with joy: ELATE.  On the other hand, if you fill with helium, you infLATE.  

70. Classic theater name: ODEON.  Def. (noun):  a building used for musical performances (especially in ancient Greece or Rome).

Note:  If you are new to solving crossword puzzles, this one, 72-Across, 2-Down, and 10-Down are good to memorize for future solves. (I'll highlight them, for your convenience.)

71. Young chap: LAD.  "Chap" tips us off that a British expression will be spot on.

72. Church council: SYNOD.  A SYNOD can be the governing group (as in this clue). It can also refer to the district governed by a SYNOD.

Down:

1. Scotch __: TAPE.  This 1:37 min. video shows how to wrap a present without tape!  

(This seems like something CED might like.)

2. Law school newbie: ONE-L.

3. Land measure: ACRE.  

'Tis the season!

4. Push rudely: SHOVE.

5. In all respects: TOTALLY.  

This is Crush, the sea turtle in Finding Nemo (2003).

6. Cone-bearing tree: PINE.  I come bearing a guide to the most popular Christmas trees of 2024.

7. Bundled in with: AMID.

8. Inspirational slogan: MOTTO.  

from Ripley's Believe It or Not!

9. Chevy muscle cars: CAMAROS.  The first generation of the Chevy Camaro hit the showrooms in 1966 as a 1967 model. Here is the 1969 model:

10. Berry in some purple smoothies: ACAI.

11. Wreckage: RUIN.

12. Takeoff guesses: Abbr.: ETDS.  An airplane pilot can provide Estimated Time of Departures.

13. "Absolutely!": YES.

21. Supermodel Cheryl: TIEGS.  Cheryl was born on September 25, 1947 in Breckenridge, MN. Some say she was America's first supermodel. It feel like that term is used a lot more loosely nowadays.

22. Barbecue chef's spice blend: RUB.  There are a lot of opinions on this topic. Here is an article that seemed informative.

25. Reduce, as prices: SLASH.  

26. "More or less": SORTA.  I kinda got this one. 😜

27. Photo caption following a makeover: AFTER.  Makeovers usually have before and AFTER photos so we can appreciate the changes.

29. Farm animal with horns: GOAT.  Speaking of farm animals with horns....  

(Yes, I realize that a Venn diagram showing the population of readers
who like both math and cattle will have a slim overlap.)

30. Comedian Silverman: SARAH.  (b. December 1, 1970) You have probably seen SARAH on various late-night comedy shows. Here are 30 seconds of her act that do not include swear words.  

32. Love, in Spanish: AMOR.

33. Loud and disorderly: ROWDY.  This brought to mind Roderick George Toombs, better known as the Canadian wrestler and actor, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015).  

Rowdy (left) with Hulk Hogan

34. Toweled (off): DRIED.  To towel off is to dry oneself (or something) with a towel.  

35. Clairvoyants: SEERS.

37. Former Russian ruler: TSAR.

38. Stitch's pal: LILO.  

This movie came out in 2002.

42. Memorial __ Kettering: SLOAN.  This is a cancer center with multiple locations. It is named for Alfred P. Sloan and Charles F. Kettering. They were two former General Motors executives who donated large sums towards cancer research and treatment.

45. Portable washing receptacle: DISHPAN.  In the '70s, Madge taught us that DISHPAN hands were a fate worse than death. There were multiple versions of this scenario:  

Even as a kid I thought, "How do they not know that

their hands are in dish soap? Haven't they seen her other commercials?"

47. Workplaces: OFFICES.

49. Bummed out: SAD.  😞

53. Olympian's prize: MEDAL.  

The Making of the Paris 2024 medals explained (1:45 min.)

55. Country shaped like a boot: ITALY.  

56. Pay attention to: HEED.  Think "HEED the warning signs".

57. Cruise stop: ISLE.  Cruise ships sometimes stop at islands.

58. Attend, as a party: GO TO.

59. Sportswear brand: FILA.  Fila became primarily associated with tennis after it signed an endorsement deal with Björn Borg in 1975.  

60. Apple tablet: iPAD.

61. Tehran's country: IRAN.  

62. __ the Orange: Syracuse mascot: OTTO.  A bit of a squeeze, but perps left little room for error on this one.

63. "__ I go on?": NEED.  Just one more, if you don't mind.

64. Hubbub: ADO.  Without further ADO, I present the grid:

Monday December 2, 2024 Janice Luttrell

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with an unambiguous puzzle from constructor Janice Luttrell.

Theme:                

(I hope I get some leeway with this one because we are officially in December now.)

I'll be straight with you. I zipped through this one easy-peasy. My only correction was changing the final letter in PLAIN CLOTHES from a D to an S when I came across the MOOSE.

Here are the themers...

20 Across. Classic Allen Funt series with practical jokes: CANDID CAMERA.  Allen Albert Funt (1914-1999) was an American television producer, director, writer and television personality, best known as the creator and host of Candid Camera from the 1940s to 1980s, as either a regular television show or a television series of specials. Its most notable run was from 1960 to 1967 on CBS. Here is a 1:46 min. clip.

27 Across. Shortest ways to travel: DIRECT ROUTES.  

44. Like detectives sporting civvies: PLAIN CLOTHES.  

...and the reveal:

52 Across. "In all honesty, ... " and what the starts of 20-, 27-, and 44-Across might say?: LET ME BE FRANK.

CANDID, DIRECT, and PLAIN can all be FRANK because they are all synonyms for the word FRANK.  

Across:

1. "Waves of grain" shade: AMBER.  This is a reference to the song America the Beautiful.

I liked this clue. It gets the puzzle off to a great start.

6. Exam: TEST.

10. Spiral: COIL.

14. Musical pace set by a conductor: TEMPO.     and     40-Across. U2 lead singer: BONO.

In the song Vertigo by U2, lead singer BONO sets the TEMPO with "Uno, dos, tres, catorce." (1, 2, 3, 14???)  

15. Cuba, por ejemplo: ISLA.  Translation:  Cuba, for example, is an island. (The official language of Cuba is Spanish.)

16. Maui's scenic __ Highway: HANA.  Sometimes called The Road to HANA, this is a 64.4- mile (103.6-km.) drive from Kahului (location of Maui's main airport) to just beyond HANA. They say it has 600 turns.

17. Proverb: MAXIM.  

18. Stressfully close game: NAIL BITER.  Here's a 1 min. example:  

22. Extraterrestrial of 1980s TV: ALF.

25. Word with a maiden name: NÉE.     and     48-Down. "Judy" star Zellweger: RENÉE.

There is an etymological connection. French née is the feminine of né, which means born, and is the past participle of naître (to be born) from the Latin nasci.

So RENÉE is a feminine name of French origin that means "to be reborn" or "born again".

I was named as an homage to my French grandmother but the accent mark was not included.

26. Takes five: RESTS.  Take five is an idiomatic phrase meaning to take a break (from work). It loosely refers to five minutes, but who's counting?

32. Greek salad fruit: OLIVE.     and     55-Down. Greek salad cheese: FETA.  

Other common ingredients include
cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and green bell pepper.

33. Sheep sounds: BAAS.  Here are sheep sounds in other languages (I found these on the internet. Feel free to correct or add to them.):  

34. Beaver creation: DAM.  This is a time lapse video of an industrious beaver family building a DAM at Hallam Lake, Colorado (2:55 min.). Keep an eye on the rocks to the right. They start to disappear as the water rises. The video notes say, "Beavers build dams in order to create more swimmable areas in their environment. This becomes very important during the winter months when surface water freezes, and moving on land becomes more difficult."

Nature and the instinctual behaviors of animals are so amazing!  

37. Assign stars to: RATE.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

38. Like pet parakeets: CAGED.

41. Prefix with system: ECO-.  An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life.  

I used to have one of these self-sustaining EcoSpheres.

42. Greasy: OILY.

43. Tropical fruit: MANGO.  

What's not to love?

47. Sandwich slices: BREAD.     and     61-Down. Type of 47-Across: RYE.

My favorite Stitch character is Reuben, a.k.a. Experiment 625. He is the last failed prototype of Stitch (Experiment 626) and possesses all of Stitch's powers but prefers to make really good sandwiches.  

"Reuben" is a great name for a sandwich aficionado!

50. __ Lingus: AER.  This airline was founded by the Irish government in 1936. It was privatized between 2006 and 2015 and is now wholly owned by International Airlines Group.

51. Spanish "Bravo!": OLE.

57. Received from an estate: INHERITED.

58. Conclude by reasoning: INFER.

62. Banana covering: PEEL.  Apparently monkeys start at the bottom when they PEEL a banana. Does anyone here do it that way?  

63. Opposed to: ANTI.

64. Requiring constant validation, perhaps: NEEDY.  

65. Blood bank fluids: SERA.  SERA and serums are both plural forms of serum.

66. Old car from Sweden: SAAB.  General Motors bought out SAAB Automobile in 2000. It went defunct in 2011. Today the Swedish SAAB company is active in defense and security.

(4 min. read)

67. Honking birds: GEESE.  Here are GEESE sounds in other languages (I found these on the internet. Feel free to correct or add to them.):  

Down:

1. 24/7 money source: ATM.

2. "Give __ break!": ME A.  This one made me think of those old Kit Kat candy bar commercials.  

3. Sport with wheelies, for short: BMX.  bicycle/bike motocross

4. "Awesome, dude!": EPIC.  

I thought IM☘ might like that this guy ran out of superlatives.

5. Genre for novelists Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry: ROMANCE.  I shelve a lot of Colleen Hoover books when I volunteer at my library but I am unfamiliar with the second author.

6. Dating app with a flame logo: TINDER.  

7. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI. As Hahtoolah might say, "ESAI makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles."

8. Lost traction: SLID.  

9. Mineral no longer used in bath powder: TALC.

10. Wind __: tinklers on porches: CHIMES.  In Japan, the sound of a ふうりん, or "wind-bell" has a cooling effect during the hot Japanese summers. I like that a sound can make one feel cooler.  

The piece of paper ensures is will make a sound in even the slightest breeze.

11. Hall's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame partner: OATES.  Hall & Oates were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. Oates co-wrote this song and is the one playing lead guitar.

Daryl Hall & John Oates  ~  I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)  ~  1981

<complete with an 1980s-style sax solo>

The lyrics are said to be about the music business and being pushed around by big labels.

12. Chemically inactive: INERT.  For example, an INERT gas does not readily undergo chemical reaction with other chemical substances.

13. "__ Theme": "Doctor Zhivago" music: LARAS.  Such gorgeous, stirring music -- and fun instruments, too!

19. Exposes: BARES.

21. Pickleball court divider: NET.

22. Think the world of: ADORE.

23. Shrub with lavender flowers: LILAC.  I cannot remember if I already shared this. I used to live in an old neighborhood in Colorado with a lot of old LILAC shrubs. I was told that the homes in the area used to have outhouses and the spring-blooming LILACs helped offset the smell when 'things' thawed out.

24. __-Lay snacks: FRITO.  Frito-Lay is a subsidiary of PepsiCo. They make all these...and more.  

28. New Year's __: EVE.  

29. Reproductive health doc: OB/GYN.  Doctor is shortened, so is obstetrics/gynecology.

30. Persian Gulf fed.: UAE.  United Arab Emirates

31. Smidgen: TAD.

34. "Tiny Bubbles" singer: DON HO.  (1930-2007)  Né Donald Tai Lloyd Ho was a Hawaiian entertainer best known for this song, written by Massachusetts-born Leon Pober. 

35. __ hair pasta: ANGEL.  Probably not a first choice for people with trichophobia.  

It's fine (like one might imagine an angel's hair to be)
so you only need to boil it for 3-4 minutes.

36. Bullwinkle, e.g.: MOOSE.  

38. Spy org.: CIA.  

39. Boxer Muhammad: ALI.

40. Baseball club: BAT.  Perhaps a bit of misdirection here, sending some solvers toward searching for three-letter abbreviations for names of MBA teams (clubs).  

SLC atop a BAT

42. More mature: OLDER.  For a fruit fly, that would be 40-50 days. Age really is relative.

43. Break of day: MORNING.  Sunrise here today is not until 7:02 a.m. Oof!

44. Anderson of "Baywatch": PAMELA.  

Pamela played C.J. Parker for five seasons (1992-97) 
on the TV series, Baywatch. 

45. "Invasion of Privacy" rapper: CARDI B.  

Cardi B is a 32-year old American rapper.
She is married to Offset. #H-Gary'sShrugEmoticon

46. __ & Perrins steak sauce: LEA.  Lea & Perrins is in Worcester, England and is best known as the producer of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. It is a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Kraft Heinz (an American company). 

47. Radar screen flashes: BLIPS.

49. Bygone anesthetic: ETHER.

53. Objectivity spoiler: BIAS.

54. Sicilian volcano: ETNA.  Speaking of Italian volcanos, did you happen to read this recent news story about DNA and Pompeii?

56. Leg joint: KNEE.  We use our KNEEs to kneel.

59. Service charge: FEE.  

This comic isn't that funny because it is probably true....

60. Magazine VIPs: EDS.  Editors are very important people in the magazine world.

I will be forthcoming with today's grid:

All four of the themed entries have 12 letters.

Outspoken readers are welcome to join the comments below...