Saturday, December 7, 2024, Rachel Fabi & Lewis Rothlein

 Saturday Themeless by Rachel Fabi & Lewis Rothlein

Rachel is a bioethics and humanities associate professor at SUNY. Lewis is a yoga instructor in Asheville, N.C.

Do you know how you can really make a connection with constructors and fly through their puzzles? Well, this was not one of those for me. I struggled mightily with foreign words, beyond obscure cluing for less common usage of common words and words that worked only in my imagination. I'll take a couple of bad cells and try to keep a stiff upper lip. You'll also see a few 😀's for some clever cluing.

Across:

1. Account shortcut: ETC ETC.

7. Subatomic particle in the world's largest collider: HADRON - This physics teacher had 13. [Shrug]: NO IDEA.

 

14. Mitigate: RELIEVE - RESOLVE fit but...

15. Not rare: NORMAL.

16. Beverage also called Silver Needle: WHITE TEA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

17. Michael Jordan's sch.: UNC.

18. __ wit: RAPIER - Robin Williams leapt to my mind.

20. Mouth-squinching: TART - Sour - not so much. 

21. Observation observation: I SAW 😀

23. Certain guest permits: VISAS 😀

24. Heat from a vent: IRE - If you are venting, your IRE may generate some heat 

25. Tweaks: AMENDS.

27. Extra-ordinary mark?: C-PLUS 😀 A C is an ordinary mark but I suppose adding a + makes it somewhat extra-ordinary. 
    
29. From both sides, in a way: STEREO 😀

30. Bring up: PARENT.

31. Spy glasses?: ONE WAY MIRRORS - I called this as a two-way mirror when I taught this concept

33. Some mats: SNARLS 😀

34. Doctors or nurses: TREATS 😀 -  Doctors and nurses are trained to TREAT whatever ailment you have. I remember Hawkeye saying to Father Mulcahy who had to help out in the OR, "Father, nurse is also a verb!" 

35. Best Play awards: ESPYS - Tonys did not get it. This is the award for best Play in sports for the year. 

36. Addresses: SEES TO.

37. Salsa, or a salsa move: DIP 😀

38. Vales: GLENS - Dells and Dales, uh, no.

39. "Open at your own risk" indicator: NSFW - No Safe For Work. Quick, switch back to that spreadsheet!! 

43. Protected, in a way: ALEE.

45. Like no films released to theaters in 2023: RATED-G - I attended many Disney RATED-G movies during my yute. and 2. Some in a cel block: TOONS 😀 This is now an obsolete art

47. DeLaria of "Orange Is the New Black": LEA - In character and in real life 

48. Plague in a Poe tale: RED DEATH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

50. "Well, dang!": OH RATS.

52. Dramatic: INTENSE.

53. Thin: WEAKEN - Another word that can be used as two different parts of speech.

54. Skippers on a lake: STONES.

55. Youngest, as a family member: NEWEST - I guess...

Down:

1. Languor: ENNUI - Who else but Cole Porter could put this word in a lyric. Here's the intro to I Get A Kick Out Of You.

My story is much too sad to be told
But practically everything leaves me totally cold
The only exception I know is the case
When I'm out on a quiet spree
Fighting vainly the old ENNUI
And I suddenly turn and see your fabulous face

3. Dating convenience: CIRCA - Tokyo's Ginza CIRCA 1960's

4. Percussive genre, for short: EDM.

5. Make the rent?: TEAR - Anything you TEAR or rend has been rent. 

6. Día de los Muertos skulls: CALAVERAS

Day of the DEAD skulls

7. Whodunit suspects, often: HEIRS 😀 Where there's a will...

8. __ text: ALT -ALT text, also known as an alt attribute, alt description or alt tag, is a snippet of detailed information describing what an image shows. 

Bad - Skiing

Good - Add ALT text to a picture, which is what I try to do

SKIING!

9. Inflation reduction act?: DIET 😀

10. Chain components: RETAILERS 😀

11. Surpasses: OVERRUNS.

12. Clearest, as a note: NEATEST - People die every year from lack of neatness here

 

14. Large birds of the pampas: RHEAS.

16. Some molars: WISDOM TEETH.

19. Like the fragrance of many wreaths: PINEY 😀

22. Thin: WATERY.

26. Kitty litter sound?: MEWLS - Ah, it's from a litter of kitties not kitty litter! 😀

27. Ice mass unit: CARAT - Ice can be slang for diamonds

28. Element element: PROTON - Every science teacher has had kids make a Bohr model of an atom. 

This model has 6 PROTONS
and so it is Carbon - At# = 6

29. Abruptly became alert: SNAPPED TO. 42. "__ expecting that": WASN'T.

30. Triceps exercise: PRESS DOWN.

31. In a cell block?: ON SILENT 😀

32. Nobel laureate Joliot-Curie: IRENE - Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) was a French scientist and, like her mother, won a Nobel Prize. 

                 

Pierre     Irene     Marie

Receiving her award

33. "Santaland Diaries" humorist: SEDARIS - Written after a stint of playing Santa at Macy's

36. Ticket: SLATE - A candidate can be put on the party's ticket or SLATE.

38. Rough stuff?: GRASS 😀 I tried DROSS, GROSS and DRAFT (I thought rough daft was clever at _ R A _ _)

40. Satisfy, as curiosity: SLAKE - Did anyone else SLAKE their thirst in this manner as I did as a child?

41. Honors in a big way: FETES.

44. Plot with a shameless beginning: EDEN 😀 Adam and Eve had no shame until...

46. Shelf-stable butter: GHEE.

49. Not quite 70°, for short: ENE 😀 This bedeviled me until it hit me! ENE on a compass is 67.5° which is not quite 70°.

51. Unbridled: RAW.

Friday August 18th 2023 Lewis Rothlein

(Notes from C.C.: MM is on vacation. Steve will cover for him the next few weeks. Thanks for helping us again, Steve!)

 

 

Theme: Dis-located. "DIS" pops up in the middle of a phrase:

17A. Blackmailer's ultimatum?: CASH OR DISCREDIT.

26A. Message such as "Still looking for my golf ball in the tall grass"?: ROUGH DISPATCH.

42A. Pawn shop, essentially?: HOUSE OF DISCARDS.

and the reveal:

53A. Faded away, and what happened in 17-, 26-, and 42-Across?: DISAPPEARED.

I liked the theme and the resulting phrases, although I'd question "Pawn shop", maybe "Junk shop" might be more accurate. That's a minor nit though. The top center section was sitting quite empty when the rest of the puzzle was complete, but I eventually stared it down. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:

Across:

1. Quad spot: LEG. Quadriceps.

4. Pollen producers: STAMENS.

11. One turn after another?: ZAG. Nice clue, after a zig you zag.

14. Kaplan of Yo La Tengo: IRA. 

15. Was allowed to vote: HAD A SAY.

16. Tuber also called a New Zealand yam: OCA. These tubers, grown as a major crop in the Andes:

20. "Which __ say ... ": IS TO.

21. Pollen collector?: PETAL.

22. Extract: MINE.

23. College Park athlete, for short: TERP.

24. Vote against: NAY.

25. Lobbying orgs.: PACS.

31. Dessert ruined by Little Jack Horner: PIE.

32. Washington state brewski: OLY. Not really. Pabst aquired the brand in 1999 and shut down the Olympia brewery in 2003, but still continued to promote is as being produced in the state from Washington water. They faced a class action lawsuit for false advertising in 2018, and the action failed only because they'd ceased to produce the brand by the time the suit came to federal court in 2022.

33. Racket dampener?: SHH.

36. Garment with adjustable straps: BRA.

38. "La __ en Rose": VIE.

39. Tazo product: TEA.

46. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.

47. Arrange, as a sari: DRAPE.

48. Wilts: SAGS.

49. Genre that uses a caricature style known as chibi: ANIME.

51. Mantra syllables: OMS.

52. Matchstick wood: ASPEN.

56. Massage style: SHIATSU.

58. Puts on the line, maybe: AIRS OUT.

61. "I'm ready to play, coach!": PUT ME IN.

62. Duo: TWOSOME.

63. Tina of "30 Rock": FEY.

64. Defunct D.C. stadium: RFK. I had "VET" at first, for "The Vet", or Veteran's Stadium, completely ignoring the fact that the Vet was in Philadelphia, not D.C.

65. Tree feller: SAW.

66. "Sweet!": RAD.

Down:

1. Not outlawed: LICIT. Couple of missteps here until the crosses corrected me. LEGAL followed by LEGIT (which I didn't like anyway) before finally landing on LICIT.

2. Crossword solver's need, maybe: ERASER. We've all been there!

3. Gourmet's prefix: GASTRO.

4. "Billions" airer, briefly: SHO. Showtime.

5. Large spread: TARP.

6. Summer term?: ADDEND.

7. Curaćao and rum drink: MAI TAI.

8. Takes in the paper?: ESSAYS.

9. Pickling mineral, chemically: NACL.

10. Med. nation: SYR. Quite a few of these. SPA, FRA, MON, SAN, ITA, CRO, SER, GRE ... and I haven''t even got to TUR.

11. Signs from above: ZODIAC. 

12. Child's play: A CINCH.

13. Airport array: GATES.

18. Words said while patting a stool, perhaps: HOP UP.

19. Needing filling: EMPTY.

27. Teasing remark: GIBE.

28. Tenor role in "Salome": HEROD.

29. Unflappability: POISE.

30. Guinness of "Lawrence of Arabia": ALEC.

33. __ butter: SHEA.

34. Traffic sound: HORN.

35. Heat index factor: HUMIDITY.

37. Arts festival that calls itself "the other Black experience": AFROPUNK.

38. Prime viewing spots: VIP SEATS.

39. Secret exit, maybe: TRAPDOOR.

40. Periphery: EDGE.

41. Gp.: ASSN.

43. Seuss character: SAM I AM.

44. Almost dry: DAMP.

45. Appraise: ASSESS.

50. Czech Olympian Ledecká who won gold in two winter disciplines: ESTER. She won the gold at the 2018 Olympics in in the Super-G and in Parallel Snowboarding, making her the first person to compete in the Winter Olympics using two different kinds of equipment (skis and snowboard), and, by definition, the first person to win gold medals in those events and at the same Olympic Games.

52. Directional aid: ARROW.

54. "You're kidding, right?": AS IF.

55. Boombox brand: AIWA. I thought these were literally a "blast from the past" but you can still buy them.

56. Initialism for certain applications: SPF. Sunscreen.

57. Saffron or sage: HUE.

59. Actress Thurman: UMA.

60. "Ideas worth spreading" org.: TED.

I think it's just the grid left, and we're done!

Steve

Friday, December 23, 2022, Lewis Rothlein

 

Good day, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here wishing everyone a Merry Xmas Eve Eve and a Happy 5th day/upcoming 6th night of Chanukah.

On that note, presenting the recently-named recipient of the 2023 Mark Twain Prize For American Humor:

Adam Sandler - The Chanukah Song

Today's puzzle setter is Lewis Rothlein.  On August 13, 2022, Husker Gary recapped one of Lewis' puzzles and provided some biographical information on the author.  Here is a link to that:  13 August 2022 LAT Crossword Corner.  Lewis has also had puzzles published in that well-known east coast newspaper.

Today, Lewis plays with his words by adding an additional word to the middle of a common compound word or expression and, thereby, completely changing the original meaning.  Let's start with the reveal which does a good job of describing what is going on:

35 Across:  Pivotal element, and what each word in quotes in the starred clues literally is to its answer?: CENTERPIECE.

A CENTERPIECE usually graces a table at, say, a wedding or a company holiday party.  In this case, thought Lewis uses it as the center (as in between) point between two other words.

Here are the themed clues/answers:

17 Across:  *Begin to chase, with "off": TAKE AFTER.  If you TAKE AFTER someone you emulate them.  If you TAKE OFF AFTER someone you chase them.

24 Across:  *Try to delay, with "for": PLAY TIME.  PLAY TIME is, of course, a time for having fun.  If you PLAY FOR TIME you are stalling,

47 Across:  *Gaining prominence, with "and": UPCOMING.  An UPCOMING event will be here soon.   If you are UP AND COMING your fame and/or fortune is ascendant

55 Across:  *Do some creative accounting, with "the": COOKBOOKS.  We all love COOKBOOKS here on the Corner but if you COOK THE BOOKS you may be committing a felony.  Hi, SBF!  Did you have a good year? 

Here is how this all looks in the grid:

Across:

1. Common foundation: SLAB.  A common and cost effective way to build.  Just hope that you never need to access the plumbing embedded in the SLAB.

5. Singer in the biopic "Walk the Line": CASH.  Johnny Cash.  The title of the biopic was taken from the eponymous title of the song (written by Johnny R Cash).

9. 1980s cloning target: IBM PC.  Hand up for first thinking of DOLLY the SHEEP.  Burn those ROM.

14. Coil in a garden: HOSE.   Fortunately,  not a garden (garter) snake.

15. "The __ for home lives in all of us": Angelou: ACHE.  Not familiar with the poem but it was not too hard to suss once a perp or two kicked in.

16. Half a comedy duo: MEARA.  So many (five-letter) duos from which to choose (Chong, Lewis, Burns, Allen, etc. but the puzzle setter went with Jerry Stiller and Anne MEARA.

On The Carol Burnett Show

19. "Your table's ready" buzzer: PAGER.

20. Illuminates: EDIFIES.

21. Seductive quality: ALLURE.  The world's first great fisherman possessed something that no one before him ever had.  ALLURE.

23. One ensuring accuracy on a grand scale?: TUNER.  As in tuning a Grand Piano.

26. Vare Trophy org.: LPGA.

27. Praises: LAUDS.

29. Up to, briefly: 'TIL.  Un TIL  "Briefly" hints at truncation.

30. Start of an adage about humanity: TO ERR.

32. Solar __: SYSTEM.  PLEXUS  would have fit the allotted space.

37. Emergency signals: FLARES.

39. WWII Polish resistance hero Sendler: IRENA.  Born 15 February 1910.  Under the pretext of conducting sanitary inspections she, and others within the Social Welfare Department, smuggled food, clothing and other necessities into the Warsaw Ghetto.  She helped smuggle out residents when the liquidation of the population within the Ghetto was ordered.  She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and sentenced to death by firing squad.  She escaped this fate because the guards escorting her were bribed and she "escaped".

Irena Sendler

40. Illuminated: LIT.  Often used to mean drunk or drugged.

41. Country roads: LANES.  Today's let's pass on the John Denver moment.

43. Coarse file: RASP.

50. Revere alternative: BY SEA.  The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is a poem by Henry Wadswoth Longfellow.  It contains the lines:

51. Rumbled, as thunder: ROLLED.

52. Less tender: TOUGHER.

54. McCartney of Wings: LINDA.  Paul was too short (he's actually about 5'10" tall).

57. Broke off: ENDED.  I broke up with a girl once because she was having hallucinations.  She said, "I can't see you anymore."  Which was weird because I was standing right in front of her.  Then she said, "You don't understand.  I'm seeing someone else."  Which was really odd because there were just the two of us in the room.  I had to break it off after that.

58. Exhort: URGE.  

59. Layered cookie: OREO.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.

60. Torment: AGONY.  Tom Lehrer on the subject:

The Masochism Tango

61. Walked (on): TROD.

62. Laura of "Big Little Lies": DERN.

Down:

1. Type of village in Isaac Bashevis Singer stories: SHTETL.  Yiddish for town.

2. Pack, as a moving van: LOAD UP.

3. __ price: ASKING.

4. Tower of London figure: BEEFEATER.  Not, for example, the height or age of the tower,

5. Cozy eatery: CAFE.

6. Show parts: ACTS.  A part of a show.  E.G.  ACT two Scene three.

7. Pop duo __ & Him: SHE.  Unfamiliar with this duo outside of crossword puzzles.

8. Announce grandly: HERALD.  Hark the HERALD Tribune sings . . .

Mr. Lehrer, Again - A Christmas Carol

9. Intimate: IMPLY.  Not intimate (accent on the first syllable) as in close (as in near by not as in shut).  Intimate (accent on the final syllable) as in to hint at.  Isn't the English language a real . . .

10. Corker: BEAUT.

11. "The Treachery of Images" painter: MAGRITTE.  Call it art and that's what it becomes.  Rene MAGRITTE.

12. Early delivery: PREEMIE.  Natal reference, not UPS or FEDEX.

13. Wheels: CAR.  Slang.

18. Cause of inflation: AIR.  Literally, not financially.

22. Scottish girls: LASSIES.  I choose to believe in female Minotaurs. It's a lass half bull mindset.

24. Good vibrations?: PURRING.  See also 35 Down.

25. Dartboard wood: ELM.

I Didn't Know That!

27. Leaves be: LETS LIE.

28. "All bets __ off": ARE.

31. Common Scrabble tile value: ONE.

33. Nikkei index currency: YEN.  The Nikkei is Japan's equivalent of the NYSE.

34. Impressive and then some: SCARY GOOD.  This one involved some head scratching followed by an Aha! moment.

35. Tower for a pet who likes to climb and hide: CAT CONDO.

36. Not post-: PRE.   PRE means before and POST means after.  To use both at the same time would be preposterous.

37. Target of an annual vaccine: FLU.  What's the difference between the avian FLU and the swine FLU?  One requires tweetment and for the other you need oinkment.

38. Facial piercing: LIP RING

42. Scene-ending phrase: AND CUT.  Hollywood-ese.

44. Washed up, maybe: ASHORE.  Cute.  Washed Up, of course has its own meaning - to be no longer skillful or successful.  In this case washed ASHORE.

45. One on a quest: SEEKER.

46. Marrying sort?: PARSON.  I could have gone with Parson Brown from the song  "Winter Wonderland" but instead chose this John Forster song (it'll become clear with the last line):

48. Of yore: OLDEN.  What was the major activity of OLDEN day peasants?  Serfing.

49. Word said with a curtsy: M'LADY.

50. Buster: BUB.  MAC PAL BRO 

52. Like drive-thru orders: TO GO.

53. Authorized: OK'ED.

54. Place to ruminate: LEA. Not ruminate as in to turn a matter over in your mind.  Ruminate as in to chew cud, the source of the previous idiomatic use of the word.  LEA = pasture or meadow.

56. "Catch-22" pilot who crashes repeatedly: ORR.  Often clued with reference to the hockey player.  In this case, a reference to the Joseph Heller novel.

Lewis Rothlein, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the comments section below.  We'd love to hear from you. 

That's all for today's recap.  Have a great weekend, everyone.  Happy Holidays!

Milo Minderbinder out . . .

__________________________________________________________________

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy 78th birthday to dear Misty, who's been with our blog for over 9 years. Here is a picture of Misty and her husband Rowland celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in 2009.