Puzzling thoughts:
First off, there won't be 27 Moe-kus today; not even close. Unlike the last puzzle (and blog) that was a bit "Gross", today's offering from Ms Hale and Ms Deitmer is squeaky clean. In keeping with the trend of Friday misdirection themes, today's "reveal" says all we need to know about how this puzzle works:
40 across.Staple legumes, or parsed differently, what 16- and 24-Across did for 51- and 63-Across: LENTILS / LENT "ILS". Very clever! But if you're still a bit confused, allow me to explain:
16 across. "Alert: Yo-Yo's here!"?: "YOU'VE GOT MA__!". The more common phrase is: "You've got mail!", and I suspect that if Yo-Yo Ma is an AOL user, he hears this all the time
...
This clue "lent" its "IL" to 51 across. Really hot person in the cockpit?: MELTING P(IL)OT. The airline profession, though, is not a "MELTING POT" of demographics. According to a recent article in the [Chicago Sun*Times], "When you hear 'this is your captain speaking' on an airline flight in the United States, more than 90% of the time, the speaker is a white male. Just 3.4% of U.S. airline pilots are Black, 2.2% are of Asian descent, and a paltry 0.5% are Hispanic or Latino. Women make up just 4.6%. Here is an article that shows more diversity among PILOTS in the world
The next "lending pair" are:
24 across. Machines used on a peacock farm?: FEATHER PLOWS. If you add an "IL" to PLOWS, it becomes FEATHER PILLOWS. Fun Fact: The difference between a down and a feather pillow? According to [sleepfoundation dot org] "Sleepers who move around throughout the night often favor down pillows because they mold to their movements. Side sleepers may prefer feather pillows because they can easily fold to fit under the neck. You should fluff either type of pillow regularly, but feather pillows may need extra attention to maintain their loft
So where did the "IL" from PILLOW go? Why to 63 across. Wooden model of an Italian city?: STICK M(IL)AN. [according to Google] "MILAN, a metropolis in Italy's northern Lombardy region, is a global capital of fashion and design. Home to the national stock exchange, it’s a financial hub also known for its high-end restaurants and shops. The Gothic Duomo di Milano cathedral and the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent, housing Leonardo da Vinci’s mural “The Last Supper,” testify to centuries of art and culture"
A STICK MAN (or STICKMAN) might mean two different things, as depicted in the images below:
As you will notice from the next image (the grid) I had one hiccup in the last entry: I originally typed in STILT MILAN in 63-across, so this was "officially" a FIW for the Chairman. I did solve it in about 12 minutes though, so the difficulty was easy/medium ... about a 4.4 on the MOES hardness scale ...
Across:
1. Soft side?: MASH. Not the "Monster MASH", but MASHed Potatoes. Oh, THAT soft side! This word is usually clued to refer to an erstwhile TV program set during the Korean War
5. Recipient of a half-hearted gift?: BFF. I had no clue about the clue; still, I was able to figure it out from the perps. As I got to this entry in the blog, I googled: "BFF Half Heart" ... and here is an image that describes the clue perfectly
8. "I'm all __": EARS.
12. Encouraging start: ATTA. As in, "ATTA boy" or "ATTA girl". Notice that the same ending vowel (A) is used whether it's referring to a male or female. If this was a Spanish word, would one be ATTO and the other ATTA???!!!
13. Square footage: AREA. Probably more clues for this word than any other in the Crossword Puzzle Dictionaries
15. Understood: KNEW.
19. Peak near Catania: ETNA.
20. Book end, perhaps: INDEX. "They lived happily ever after" didn't fit
21. Breezy goodbye: CIAO. HIYA also fit
23. Game, __, match: SET. Tennis term; and one I am sure that was heard quite often by this author/athlete as indicated in (69-across. Arthur who authored "A Hard Road to Glory":) ASHE.
28. Caribbean island with the Pitons: ST LUCIA. According to [nationsonline dot org]: "The Caribbean is home to thirteen sovereign island nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago". Here is a brief video of a plane landing at the George F.L. Charles Intl. Airport
31. Tylenol target: PAIN. I use ADVIL for PAIN (or its generic, ibuprofen)
32. Piggy bank addition: COIN. Do kids even have Piggy banks anymore??
33. __ bunny: DUST. When DU came up as the first two letters (via the perps) I tried DUNE before DUST. Anyone else make this error?
36. Performed a saut de chat, e.g.: LEAPT. As with 5-across, the word filled in via perps; not via my knowledge of what a "saut de chat" is. Once again, Google to the picture rescue:
39. Director Lee: ANG. ANG is officially now, "crossword-ese" IMO
42. Like some larb: LAO. These look like the lettuce wraps I've ordered at P.F. Chang
43. Maestro Zubin: MEHTA. [wikipedia] "Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) ... I wonder ... if the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra went public, would their broker issue an IPO IPO??
45. Tit for tat, maybe: TYPO. Hmm ... tempting as it is, I won't regurgitate the old limerick that begins: "There was once a young girl who begat ..."
46. Ages and ages: EONS. Billions and billions of years. Incomprehensible
47-across. Reusable 5-Down: TOTE, which complements (5-down. Groceries carrier: BAG). This one is even labeled for easy identification:
49. Goes deep: PLUNGES. There's a limit to "how deep" when you use this for your PLUNGES:
55. Prof's email ender: EDU.
56. Philip Marlowe genre: NOIR.
57. Story with a lesson: FABLE.
61. Ruckuses: DINS.
66. Uncomfortable sensation: ITCH, and its "clecho" (67. Uncomfortable sensation:) ACHE.
68. Ilsa __: "Casablanca" heroine: LUND. Somehow I remembered this without having any perp letters to help me. An all time classic movie and role:
70. Dark side of a notable pair: YIN.
71. Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway: SEE'S.
Down:
1. Question of permission: MAY I?
2. So much: A TON. I had ALOT before correcting it to A TON
3. Poker variety: STUD. Moe-ku:
Poker entrant used
His STUD earrings as ante
For seven-card STUD
4. "Live it up!": HAVE FUN!. My "go to" birthday greeting is: "Celebrate in style"
6. To, the contrary: FRO. As in "to and FRO"??
7. "Go get it," to a dog: FETCH. Where in the world did the word FETCH originate you ask? [wikionary]: "The verb FETCH is derived from Middle English fecchen (“to get and bring back, fetch; to come for, get and take away; to steal; to carry away to kill; to search for; to obtain, procure”) [and other forms], from Old English feċċan, fæċċan, feccean (“to fetch, bring; to draw; to gain, take; to seek”), a variant of fetian." And now you know
8. Just scrape (out): EKE. Funny; the other day I just scraped out the last bit of peanut butter from the jar and heard Margaret yell "EEK"!!
9. Picnic snack that appears to have picnic invaders: ANTS ON A LOG. Speaking of peanut butter ... BTW, this entry also showed up in a similar position of the puzzle on August 30 of this year
10. Not allow to expire: RENEW. I originally misspelled this as RENUE. My spelling has gotten much worse the older I get ...
11. Goes after a fly: SWATS. One of two solutions for this clue ... in baseball you can also SWAT a fly (as in hit a ball into the air), and then an outfielder could CHASE it (goes after a fly) ... we have an interesting language
14. Tahiti sweetie: AMIE. Cute clue. Frawnch is the official language of Tahiti; hence the use of the word AMIE for sweetie
17. Board VIP: EXEC.
18. Org. with sponsored Medicare plans: AARP. October 15 was the date the period began to enrol into a new Medicare plan. So many choices. If your plan doesn't change and/or your needs don't change, you don't have to do anything. It will automatically RENEW
22. Australian gems: OPALS.
25. Many a "Veep" role: AIDE.
26. Say "neener neener," say: TAUNT. Really? "Neener neener"?? Help me, Google. Ok; two for the price of one. First is an image that mirrors the clue; second is a musical piece by the name "Neener Neener". Enjoy!
27. Deception: LIE. Clecho #2: (28. Deception:) SCAM.
29. Vocal quality: TONE.
30. Small salad and half a sandwich, say: LIGHT LUNCH. Will still probably cost you just shy of $20 in a restaurant these days ... which in my way of thinking is (54. A bit steep:) PRICY.
34. Pig pad: STY.
35. Actress Hedren: TIPPI. [wikipedia] "Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren is a retired American actress. Initially a fashion model, appearing on the front covers of Life and Glamour magazines, Hedren became an actress after she was discovered by director Alfred Hitchcock while appearing on a television commercial in 1961." She is also the mother of Melanie Griffith and grandmother of Dakota Johnson
37. Window section: PANE.
38. Lob: TOSS.
40. Exempli gratia, e.g.: LATIN. Excellent clue!! Not only is exempli gratia LATIN, it means: "Once again, e.g. is short for exempli gratia, a Latin phrase that means “for the sake of example.” As you may guess, you use it to introduce one or more examples"
41. Relax: LOLL. Can you LOLL and LOL at the same time?
44. Ore-Ida offering: TOT. A potato that is about 1 to 1-1/2 years old
46. Requires: ENTAILS. Writing these blogs ENTAILS a lot of time and knowledge of how to use HTML; but it is great fun and we do it for YOUR pleasure! 😉
48. Son of Seth: ENOS. [wikipedia] "Enos or Enosh is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as the first son of Seth who figures in the Generations of Adam, and is also referred to within the genealogies of 1 Chronicles. According to Christianity, he is part of the genealogy of Jesus as mentioned in Luke 3:38"
50. Sch. with a Twin Cities campus: U OF M. Folks in Coral Gables, FL would argue that there is only ONE U of M. This U of M is short for University of Minnesota
51. Marshall McLuhan focus: MEDIA. A CSO to CanadianEh! ... [wikipedia] "Herbert Marshall McLuhan CC was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge"
52. Uses Photoshop: EDITS. Oddly that is one part of blogging that I don't do. I am quite limited in my usage of photo editing aside from an occasional cropping or re-sizing
53. Bhagavad-__: GITA. A partial description from [yogananda dot org] "What is the main message of the Bhagavad Gita?
The Hidden Truths in the Bhagavad Gita | Self-Realization ... The timeless message of the Bhagavad Gita does not refer only to one historical battle, but to the cosmic conflict between good and evil: life as a series of battles between Spirit and matter, soul and body, life and death, knowledge and ignorance, health and disease, changelessness and transitoriness ..."
58. Word with blood or moon: BLUE. The phrase "once in a BLUE moon" refers to the rare times when two full moons occur in the same calendar month. This happens about once every two to three years, on average. The last was on August 30, 2023. Seasonal BLUE moons are when there are four full moons during one of the four seasons. The next one of those will be August 19, 2024. Due to the moon's cycle (approx 29-1/2 days) there can be no BLUE moon in February. And if there is no full moon at all in the month of February it's called a "Black Moon" [space dot com]
59. Rural road: LANE. And many of them are but one LANE in width
60. Finishes: ENDS. Only three more to go before today's blog ENDS!
62. Pronoun option: SHE. or HER; unless THEY identify as a THEY/THEM or HE/HIM. I just go by "Moe"
64. Flat-iron brand: CHI. No longer a Greek letter? Once again, Google to the rescue. Moe wouldn't know the first thing about this; I think Margaret has one but I doubt it's a CHI
65. 2023 role for Ryan, Simu, Kingsley, and others: KEN. For those who haven't seen "Barbie, the Movie", here is the clue's reference
Comments are always welcome ... as are visits from the constructor(s)
