Money Makes the World Go Round. Today we travel with world with various currencies of four different countries.
18-Across. Was victorious in the ring, but not by a knockout: WON ON POINTS. The Won is the official currency of South Korea. One Won is approximately 0.00072 US Dollars, or put another way, $1 is approximately 1390.17 South Korean Won. I was not familiar with this currency.
27-Across. Drawn from actual events: REAL WORLD. The Real is the official currency of Brazil. One Real is approximately 0.18 US Dollars, or put another way, $1 is approximately 5.43 Brazil Real.
41-Across. Dessert made with equal parts sugar, eggs, butter, and flour: POUND CAKE. The Pound is the official currency of the United Kingdom. One Pound is approximately 1.34 US Dollars, or put another way, $1 is approximately .74 Pounds. Until recently, Queen Elizabeth II was on the Pound, but now it's Charlie.
54-Across. Big name in map publishing: RAND MCNALLY. The Rand is the official currency of South Africa. One Rand is approximately 0.056 US Dollars, or put another way, $1 is approximately 17.76 South African Rands.
35-Across. Demand for payment prior to service, or what 18-, 27-, 41-, and 54-Across all have: CASH UP FRONT. The first, or "FRONT" word of each theme answer a the name of a monetary unit.
Across:
1. Gift of __: GAB.
4. Inaudible on Zoom, perhaps: MUTED.
9. Durango automaker: DODGE.
14. Org. concerned with mental health: APA. As in the American Psychological Association.
15. __-3 fatty acid: OMEGA.
16. Orchestral woodwinds: OBOES.
17. FIFA zero: NIL. FIFA is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or as we say in the Untied States, Soccer.
20. Shows to be false: DEBUNKS.
22. Small roles for big stars: CAMEOS.
23. Supply-and-demand subj.: ECON. As in Economics.
24. Raise a hem, e.g.: SEW.
25. Informal "I've heard enough!": TMI. Textspeak for Too Much Information.
31. Spike on a shoe bottom: CLEAT.
33. "You'll definitely pass" course: EASY A.
34. Patterns on shoe bottoms: TREADS.
37. Ancient Greek city-state: SPARTA.
39. Comes to a crawl: SLOWS.
40. Tube-shaped pasta: PENNE. Penne is a type of pasta with a cylinder shape and angled ends, often with ridges.
45. "You're a tough __ to follow!": ACT.
46. B+, but not A+: ION. B+ is an ion of Boron.
47. Former soccer pro Morgan: ALEX. Alexandra Morgan (b. July 2, 1989) played for several soccer teams between 2008 and 2024 when she retired. Her last team was with the San Diego Wave.
48. Prone protests: LIE INS. It's like a Sit-In, but instead of sitting, the protesters lie down.
51. "Acupuncture is a jab well done" et al.: BAD PUNS. This could also be called a Dad Joke.
56. Bon __: witty remark: MOT. Today's French lesson.
57. Yoga pose: ASANA.
58. Site with an RSVP tracker: E-VITE.
59. Nikola Jokic's org.: NBA. Nikola Jokić (b. Feb. 19, 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player. He currently plays as a center for the Denver Nuggets.
60. History assignment: ESSAY.
61. Some towed autos: REPOS. Repo Man was a 1984 film about repossessing cars.
62. Put on TV: AIR.
Down:
1. Male goose: GANDER.
2. Each: APIECE.
3. Movie boxer Rocky: BALBOA.
4. Like freshly cut grass: MOWN.
5. "Uh, whatever": UM, OK.
6. Till bills: TENS.
7. Narcissist's problem: EGO.
8. Did the mambo: DANCED.
9. __ and gloom: DOOM.
10. Off-Broadway award: OBIE.
11. Label on toy food: DO NOT EAT.
12. Sees red: GETS MAD.
13. Curvy letter: ESS.
19. What a dog gives to "shake": PAW.
21. Break, as a bad habit: UNLEARN.
24. Applies carelessly: SLAPS ON.
26. Part of TGIF: IT'S. Thank Goodness It's Friday.
28. "__ not, want not": WASTE.
29. Workplace std. setter: OSHA. As in Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We see this governmental entity quite often in the puzzles.
30. Street Fighter fighter: RYU. Apparently Ryu is a character in a Japanese game.
37. Place where the cucumbers aren't for eating?: SPA.
38. HS gym session: PE CLASS. As in Physical Education class.
41. "Cooler Than Me" singer Mike: POSNER. I am not familiar with Mike Posner (né Michael Robert Henrion Posner; b. Feb. 12, 1988).
42. College fundraising source: ALUMNA. Today's Latin lesson. This targets female graduates.
43. Obi-Wan __: KENOBI. A fictional character from the Star Wars movie series.
44. Washed-up celeb: EX-STAR.
46. Bus. card letters: INC.
49. "Show Boat" novelist Ferber: EDNA. Show Boat was a 1926 novel by Edna Ferber (Aug. 15, 1885 to April. 16, 1968) that spanned three generations of performers on a steamboat that traveled along the Mississippi River from the 1880s to the 1920s. The story moves from the Reconstruction Era to Gilded Age to Roaring Twenties. The novel was later adapted to a musical.
50. "Still considering it": I MAY.
51. Radar screen dot: BLIP.
52. Sax type: ALTO.
53. Goes green?: DYES.
54. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE. Carly Rae Jepson (b. Nov. 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and actress.
92. Protest led by reviewers seeking higher wages?: CRITIC'S PICKET. Critic's pick.
101. Cry from an impatient attendee at a NASA launch ceremony?: LESS TALK MORE ROCKET. Less Talk, More Rock.
I'm
not famliar with the base phrase of the last theme entry. Google shows
that it's the second studio album by the Canadian punk rock band
Propagandhi.
This is Jared Cappel's Sunday debut. Congrats, Jared!
SOUND MIXING usually refers to editing of audio files in a movie, whether to make sound levels even, to layer sounds, or to bring in additional sounds. Or something like that! We don't need to know the specifics here, because the trick is that the word SOUND is scrambled, or jumbled, in each of the answers to the starred clues.
The theme clues and answers are:
17. *Totally falls apart: COMES UNDONE. You can unscramble the red letters to spell SOUND.
25. *Floating lunar particles: MOONDUST. Again, red letters can be rearranged to spell SOUND.
39. *Gravity powered nourishment: INTRAVENOUS DRIP. Another mixed SOUND.
51. *Tips to the next dollar, say: ROUNDS UP. This ROUNDS UP our tour of mixed SOUNDs.
64. Audio technique, or a feature of the answers to the starred clues: SOUND MIXING. This is the big reveal, letting us know that the word SOUND is mixed (or scrambled, or jumbled) in the answers to the starred clues.
Would you say that this puzzle was built on a SOUND basis?
Across:
1. Satisfied sounds: AAHS. Satisfied, but not mixed, SOUNDs.
5. Comforting text during a bad storm, say: I'M SAFE. I tried I'M OKAY and I'M FINE first. I finally remembered seeing friends "mark themselves SAFE" on Facebook during crises.
11. Popeyes rival: KFC. Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken vs Kentucky Fried Chicken -- not Popeye vs Bluto.
14. Political coalition: BLOC.
15. Econ. figure used to highlight income inequality: CEO PAY. This did not immediately spring to mind as an economic figure. Note that an abbreviation in the clue calls for an abbreviation in the answer.
16. Every last one: ALL.
17. [Theme entry]
19. 20-20, say: TIE. A tie occurs in sports when both players or teams have the same score.
20. Surgical tube: STENT.
21. "Deal": SOLD.
22. Offshore: ASEA.
23. Radiate happiness: BEAM.
25. [Theme entry]
27. Hollywood VIP: A LISTER.
30. Doc's order: MED. A doctor orders medicine.
31. Bygone space station: MIR. Mir was a space station operated by the Soviet Union, and later by Russia, from 1986 to 2001.
32. Wine category: REDS. I love reds. DH loves whites. In summer, we agree on Rosés.
35. Breakaway groups: SECTS.
39. [Theme entry]
43. Anesthetic of old: ETHER.
44. Praise: LAUD.
45. Musician Yoko: ONO.
46. Debtor's letters: IOU. Short for "I owe you."
48. Words on some missing posters: LOST CAT. It's a dangerous world for lost pets.
51. [Theme entry]
56. Wolfe of fiction: NERO. Nero Wolfe is a fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by writer Rex Stout.
57. Professionals who work from home about a quarter of the time?: UMPS. UMPires work from behind home plate -- as well as from other positions on the baseball diamond.
58. Asian language: THAI.
60. Channels of communication: MEDIA.
63. "__ me guess ... ": LET.
64. [Theme entry -- the big reveal]
66. "Me" problem: EGO.
67. Terrarium pet: TURTLE. I have hosted a number of turtles in my home. One of them had a massive terrarium.
All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.
(Tortoises are a land-dwelling subset of turtles.)
I photographed this Giant Tortoise on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos.
68. "Night" author Wiesel: ELIE. "Night" is a terrifying Holocaust memoir.
69. __ Juan, Puerto Rico: SAN.
70. Wipes: ERASES.
71. Related groups: SETS. I imagine some of you are playing the New York Times "Connections" game. One of our youngsters showed it to me. Looked challenging.
Down:
1. Building blocks: ABCS. Building blocks, or ABCs, are basic elements that are vital to construct a thing. Words are the building blocks of language. Hard work and perseverance are the building blocks of success -- in crossword puzzle solving.
2. Bushels: A LOT.
3. Residential delivery?: HOME BIRTH. Cute!
4. Act divisions: SCENES.
5. Critical hosp. area: ICU. Intensive Care Unit.
6. Department store department: MENS. A fraction of the size of the women's department.
7. Genesis city: SODOM. Sodom and its sister city, Gomorrah, were destroyed by the Almighty for their evil ways. Lot's wife made the mistake of looking back at the destruction of the cities as she fled with her family, and the Almighty turned her into a pillar of salt.
Or perhaps Lot's wife stopped to take a selfie.
8. Speed skater Ohno: APOLO.
9. Swifties, e.g.: FANDOM. "Use the word fandom to talk about the community of people who admire a particular celebrity, hero, sports team, or TV show." -- Vocabulary.com. In this case, Swifties are fans of Taylor Swift.
10. Word with public or private: EYE. "A private eye is a detective who works for private customers, rather than with a police department." "The public eye is the attention of the general public, or the focus of many people. Movie stars and famous criminals are both examples of people in the public eye." -- Vocabulary.com
11. Fried Japanese cutlet: KATSU. Breaded, fried meat. DNK (Did Not Know). Relied on perps (perpendicular entries, AKA crosses).
12. Takes a high way: FLIES. Takes an airplane, sure, but long ago:
O you take the high road, and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
13. Spiked shoe: CLEAT. A shoe with studs on the sole, or the stud itself, meant to provide grip on a slippery surface.
18. Saves or assists: STAT. Sports again?! Someone is keeping STATistics on every save or assist in the game. Hey, have you heard of the new punctuation mark, the interrobang? It's a question mark with an exclamation mark superimposed on it. Neat, huh‽
22. Said more: ADDED.
24. Griffin who created "Jeopardy!": MERV.
26. Loch __ monster: NESS. A mythical creature that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands
Nessie
27. Québec pal: AMIE. Female friend in French.
28. __ roller: LINT. Necessary equipment for dog and cat guardians.
29. Instagram video: REEL.
33. 23andMe material: DNA. Spit in a tube and learn about your ancestry! Amazing, really.
34. Genre for Otis Redding: SOUL.
36. Predator with powerful jaws: CROCODILE. The American Crocodile lives in the Neotropics, including South Florida, which is the only place it is found in the wild alongside the American Alligator. I prefer to find them from the deck of a river boat or from a boardwalk.
Alligator on the left -- Crocodile on the right
37. Lifford of "Queen Sugar": TINA. DNK.
38. Ad: SPOT.
40. Bridle straps: REINS.
41. Former Yank who's now part owner of the Timberwolves: A ROD. Apparently, Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) is one of the greatest players in the history of baseball.
42. Japanese noodle: UDON.
47. American leg of a concert series: US TOUR.
49. Frozen Four game: SEMI. Sports again‽
50. "Jurassic Park" dinos: T REXES. Tyrannosaurus rex (or T. rex) lived throughout what is now western North America in the Late Cretaceous period. It lived in the Jurassic Park movie, but not in the actual Jurassic period, which came before the Cretaceous.
My dad the paleontologist didn't raise no anachronists.
51. Principles: RULES.
52. Last Greek letter: OMEGA.
53. Supermodel Kate: UPTON.
54. Saldaña's "Star Trek" role: UHURA. Zoë Saldaña plays Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek movies.
55. Slacks: PANTS.
59. Run in neutral: IDLE.
61. Still fighting: IN IT. We are IN IT to win it!
62. Grows older: AGES.
64. Sault __ Marie: STE. Sault Ste. Marie is a city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
65. Month, in Mexico: MES.
Here's the grid. Mixed SOUNDs are in red letters.
Thanks for playing along!
-- NaomiZ
Notes from C.C.:
Happy birthday to CanadianEh!,
who's been with our blog since 2012. Wishing you a beautiful and fun-filled day, Eh! Thanks for all the informative and caring posts all these years.
