Tuesday September 10, 2024 Lisa Senzel and Katie Hale

Get Off the Phone!  Fun things to do with your phone when you could/should be interacting in person with family and friends.  

19-Across. *   Shortened version of a book: ABRIDGED TEXT.

39-Across. *   Light, friendly punch: LOVE TAP.

13-Down. *   Hunter's lure for a game bird: TURKEY CALL.

24-Down. *   Narrative art form that's often read right to left: HAND SCROLL.

And the unifier:

57-Across. Mouthed words that can also be said while doing the ends of the answers to the starred clues?: I'M ON THE PHONE.

Across:

1. Mac: BUB.  Male nicknames.

4. Borrower's accumulation: DEBT.

8.  Spending limit: CAP.  See the cartoon above.

11. Like an angle between 90^o and 180^o:   OBTUSE.  Today's Math lesson. 

14. Laundry pile emanation: ODOR.

15. Like antiques: OLD.

16. Working cat: MOUSER.

17. Removes, as whiteboard marks: WIPES OFF.  //  And 42-Across. Remove, as whiteboard marks: ERASE.

21. Zen garden tool: RAKE.

22. Nasdaq rival: NYSE.  Nasdaq = National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations and NYSE = New York Stock Exchange.  Both are is a global electronic marketplace for buying and selling securities. 

23. Cries of realization: AHAs!

27. Goofed: ERRED.

30. Malleable: PLIANT.

32. "Gangnam Style" rapper: PSY.  Gangnam Style was big when it came out about a decade ago.  How Park Jae-Sang (b. Dec. 31, 1977) became Psy.  [Name # 1.]

34. Mideast leaders: EMIRs.  A crossword staple.

37. Photographer Leibovitz: ANNIE.  Annie Leibovitz (née Anna-Lou Leibovitz; b. Oct. 2, 1949) is best known for her iconic portraits of the rich and famous.  [Name # 2.]

38. Legendary pro wrestler Flair: RIC.  Ric Flair (né Richard Morgan Fliehr; b. Feb. 25, 1949) had a wrestling career for over 50 years!  I don't think Annie Leibovitz ever took his portrait.  [Name # 3.]

41. Issuer of Real ID cards: DMV.  The Department of Motor Vehicles issues Real ID on driver's licenses.

44. Dodge: EVADE.

45. Set eyes on: SEE.

46. Frozen Italian desserts: GELATI.  Today's Italian lesson.  It's the plural of Gelato.  What's the difference between Gelato and Ice Cream?

48. Artifact: RELIC.

50. Part of SRO: ONLY.  As in Standing Room Only.

51. Hockey puck, e.g.: DISC.  How the Hockey puck got its name.

54. Walked: TROD.

61. Business card info: JOB TITLE.

64. Louise's film partner: THELMA.  We saw Thelma and Louise in a recent puzzle.  [Names 4 and 5, fictional.]

65. Amazement: AWE.

66. Sudsy bar: SOAP.

67. Cultivated, as soil: TILLED.

68. Teensy: WEE.

69. Some AAA rescues: TOWS.

70. Swiss peak: ALP.

Down:
1. More hectic: BUSIER.

2. Pre-owned: USED.

3. Floating chunk of ice: BERG.

Floating chunks of ice in the Iceland's Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

4. Wearing frumpy clothes: DOWDY.

5. Prepares for publication: EDITS.

6. Nursery rhyme girl whose sheep go missing: BO PEEP.  Did you know that the poem had two verses? [Name # 6, fictional.]

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep / And can't tell where to find them / Leave them alone and they will come home / Wagging their tails behind them.

Little Bo Peep fell fast asleep / And dreamt she heard them bleating / But when she awoke, she found it a joke / For they were all still fleeting.

7. Fearsome dino: T-REX.

 Not so fearsome now, are you T-Rex?

8. Dovecote sound: COO.

9. Furry 1980s sitcom star: ALF.  The critter on this sit-com was called ALF because it stood for Alien Life Form.  [Name # 7, fictional.]

10. Scanner output, often: PDF.  As in Portable Document Format.

11. Actor Sharif: OMAR.  Omar Sharif (Apr. 10, 1932 ~ July 10, 2015) was an Egyptian actor.  His birth name was Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub.  He changed his name to Omar Sharif when he began his film career.  [Name # 8.]

Omar Sharif as Doctor Zhivago.

12. Son of Jango Fett, in "Star Wars": BOBA.  I didn't see some of the later Star Wars films, so am not familiar with the Fett Family.  [Name # 9, fictional.]

18. Deck application: STAIN.  According to this video, staining a deck is a great weekend project.

20. Radicchio relative: ENDIVE.

25. Japanese cartoon genre: ANIME.

26. Carell of "Despicable Me": STEVE.  Steve Carell (né Steven John Carell; b. Aug. 16, 1962) was also the boss on the American version of The Office.   He was the voice of Gru in the Despicable Me movies.  [Name # 10.]

28. Rented anew: RELET.

29. Angsty genre: EMO.  A crossword staple.

31. Boutonniere spot: LAPEL.

32. Ragú rival: PREGO.  Both are bottled pasta sauces.

33. Fire engine noisemaker: SIREN.

35. Crank (up): REV.

36. Carb in rice and potatoes: STARCH.

40. Fruit drink suffix: -ADE.  And a shout out to our very own Lemonade.

43. "__ isn't so!": SAY IT.

47. "Samesies!": I DO, TOO!

49. Computer support, for short: IT HELP.  As in Information Technology Technician.

52. Relative by marriage: IN-LAW.

53. Instruction manual units: STEPS.

55. Treater's words: ON ME.

56. Out of battery power: DEAD.

58. Very light rain: MIST.

59. "Stormy Weather" singer James: ETTA.  Etta James (née Jamesetta Hawkins; Jan. 25, 1938 ~ Jan 20, 1912) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  This was a good clue to follow the light rain.  [Name # 11.]

60. "The Amazing Race" host Keoghan: PHIL.  Although he is a New Zealander, Phil Keoghan (né Philip John Keoghan; b. May 31, 1967) is best known for hosting the American version of The Amazing Race.  [Name # 12.]

61. Moose __, Saskatchewan: JAW.  Moose Jaw is the 4th largest city in Saskatchewan.  Can you name the top 3 cities in that Province? *

62. Have bills to pay: OWE.

63. Spelling contest: BEE.

Here's the Grid:

*  Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert.

חתולה

Thursday, December 21, 2023 Lisa Senzel, Will Nediger

No movie, no popcorn, today -- the trailer for the first themer from today's constructors, Lisa Senzel and Will Nediger, should wake you up ...

20A. Review that says, "Hitchcock serves up a twist that you won't see coming"?: PSYCHO ANALYSIS.

31A. Review that says, "Bit of a downer, but Soderbergh delivers"?: TRAFFIC REPORT.

Whoa, that was more than a "bit" of a downer.  Before proceeding we need to change lanes  to a different Steve to lift our spirits a bit ....

37A. Review that says, "Idina Menzel shines as Elsa"?: FROZEN ACCOUNT.   Just Let it Go ...

Here's the reveal ...

51A. In-depth news story, or any of the reviews mentioned in this puzzle?: FEATURE ARTICLE

The ARTICLES were an ANALYSIS, a REPORT, and an ACCOUNT of 3 different FEATURE films - PSYCHO, TRAFFIC, and FROZEN.  TRAFFIC'S Feelin' Alright was an AD-LIB by Steve Winwood.

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Less risqué: TAMER.  Also a noun ...
 

6. Faction: SECT.

10. Yearn (for): ACHE.

14. Name said to activate an Amazon gadget: ALEXA.  Machines don't seem to understand me, so I avoid talking to them.

15. Potato, in Indian cooking: ALOO.  Here's a recipe for ALOO Parathas and here's a video of the steps:

16. Satellite whose day is almost 30 Earth days: MOON.  Does the moon rotate on its axis?

17. Bogs: MIRES. 

18. Word with bar or Bell: TACO. 

19. Oodles: A LOT. Notice the space between the 1st oodle and the second oodle, a CSO to Melissa 😁

20. [Theme clue].

23. The Thrashers, on sports crawls: ATL.  The Winnipeg Jets (nés The ATLanta Thrashers) are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, playing its home games at Canada Life Centre.  Here's their old logo:

Atlanta Thrashers

Their logo as of 2011 ...
 

Winnipeg Jets

Advantage CanadianEh!

24. "ur the best": ILY.

25. __ and Herzegovina: BOSNIA.  Bosnia and Herzegovina sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe, in the Balkans, bordering Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest.

27. Cuddling on the bus, e.g.: PDA.  Public Display of Affection.  Often clued: "Get a room!"

28. Silk Sonic musician Anderson .__: .PAAK.  Note .Prefix.  The principals of Silk Sonic are Johnson and his colleague Bruno Mars.  Here's their Leave the Door Open with Bruno on keyboards and Anderson on drums. Both share vocals.  I like their vibe ...
 

30. Fox Sports journalist Hale: JEN.  Jennifer Hale (born February 28, 1978) is an American journalist working for Fox Sports as an NFL sideline reporter where she is currently paired with Chris Myers and Robert Smith. She also covers NBA's New Orleans Pelicans for Bally Sports New Orleans and also covers college football for Fox Sports.

Jennifer Hale

31. [Theme clue].

34. __ the line: TOE.  I wanted TOW for this.  I think both could be used in different contexts.

35. Headed up: LED.

36. Donkey: ASS.  They're stereotyped as ill-tempered and stubborn, but they're actually quite wise ....

37. [Theme clue].

42. Frightened cry: EEK.

43. Figure of interest?: RATE.

44. Private chats, briefly: DMS.  Direct Message Service.  Similar to cell-phone text messaging (TM), but DM uses the Internet rather than cell-towers to relay the messages.

45. Chew out: YELL AT.

47. Unruly head of hair: MOP.  This is as unruly as it gets ...

48. Pleased sigh: AAH.
.
51. [Theme reveal].

55. High-fiber food: BRAN.  My favorite BRAN source ...

56. Goes bad: ROTS.

57. Keypad key: ENTER.

58. Live a nomadic life: ROVE. Here's Ralph Vaughan Williams'  Whither Must I Wander sung by Sir John Shirley-Quirk ...

Lyrics

59. Palo __, California: ALTO.  Today's Spanish lesson: "Tall stick".  Here's why the town is called that.

60. Harriet Tubman portrayer Cynthia: ERIVO.  Cynthia Erivo (/əˈriːvoʊ/; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress and singer. She gained recognition for starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Erivo ventured into films in 2018, playing roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet (2019), Erivo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she also wrote and performed the song "Stand Up" on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination in the Best Original Song category.  Here's a clip from Harriet ...

61. Matures: AGES.

62. Efficient: LEAN.

63. Iberian infants: NENES.  More Spanish.  The Nene is also the national bird of Hawaii ...

Nenes

Down:

1. St. Petersburg neighbor: TAMPA.  And a neighbor of TAMPA, about 30 miles Northwest of it, is Tarpon Springs.  It's one of the worlds largest suppliers of natural sponges, preferred by potters everywhere.

Natural Sponges
Tarpon Springs, FL.

2. Top celebs: A LIST.

3. Actress Streep: MERYL.  Here's a movie from an A LIST actress I'll never forget ...

4. Corporate VIP: EXEC.

5. Jones of "Parks and Rec": RASHIDA. DNK she was Quincy Jones' daughter.  Here she is pouring out her heart to Conan O'Brien (very funny) ...

6. Skewered Thai dish: SATAY.  Here's a recipe for Thai SATAY chicken.

7. Splashy style: ELAN.

8. __-Cola: COCA.

9. Strip of computer icons: TOOLBAR.  Here's part of my Firefox TOOLBAR ...
 

10. Collect over time: AMASS.

11. "SNL" regular who wrote the memoir "A Very Punchable Face": COLIN JOST.  Colin Kelly Jost (/ˈdʒoʊst/; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. JOST has been a staff writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2005, and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014.

Colin Jost

12. Indiana residents: HOOSIERS.

13. Sinus specialist, for short: ENT.  A CSO to Picard for his recent picture of a different kind of ENT

21. Norwegian saint: OLAF.  Olaf II Haraldsson (c. 995 – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint OLAF and Olaf the Holy, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (English: Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised at Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimketel, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030.

Saint Olaf
King and Martyr
Feast Day July 29.

And since 'tis the season, here is a medley of Christmas carols performed by the St. Olaf's Choir of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (and a CSO to C.C.) ...

22. Oxen connector: YOKE.

26. Strong insect: ANT.

27. Company VIP: PREZ.

28. Fragment: PIECE.

29. Outlet letters: ACDC.  Only Alternating Current (AC) comes out of an outlet.  OTOH Direct Current (DC) is supplied by batteries, which in turn supply a lot of crosswordese. 😀

31. Used a paternity benefit, perhaps: TOOK LEAVE.

32. Sharp's counterpart: FLAT.

33. Skillets, woks, etc.: PANS.

34. Eater of 26-Downs on a log?: TREE FROG.  Here's what Tree Frogs eat -- doesn't sound like they'd find Ants on a Log very appetizing ...
 

Ants on a Log

37. Tina of "Mean Girls": FEY.  Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters, written by Tina Fey, and starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fey.  Based on a book of advice to parents of teenage girls by Rosalind Wiseman, entitled Queen Bees and Wannabes  ...

 38. Part of Q.E.D.: ERAT.

39. Marketing kin of "organic": NATURAL

40. Smell: ODOR.

41. Countless: UMPTEEN.

46. Freeway divisions: LANES.

47. Stoneworker: MASON.  Among the most advanced masonry in the world are the huge perfectly fitted "polygonal stone walls" of the Incas.  But they weren't the first civilizations who built such structures, as described in this video: Evolution Of Polygonal Masonry | From Ancient Times To The Incas | Quarrying, Tools & Methods.

48. Be part of, as a film: ACT IN.

49. Excedrin alternative: ALEVE.

50. Deli subs: HEROS.  What’s the Difference Between a Hero, Sub, Grinder, and Hoagie?  The biggest one may be where you live.

52. Part to play: ROLE.

53. Jazz great James: ETTA. And here's why ...

Etta James

54. Memo starter: IN RE.

55. Product of Bali: BRA. More crosswordese.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

And a Happy belated Hanukkah 🕎 and a Merry Christmas ⛪🎄🎅 to all!