Greetings, Cruciverbalists. Anomalous Moderate here with a recap of today's puzzle by Katie Hale. As was the case with the puzzle reviewed by yours truly this past December 29th, Lisa Simpson leads the way to anagram-ville (well, it's kinda close to being an anagram of Margaritaville).
At five places in the grid Katie has a bit of fun by rearranging the initial three or four letters of everyday vocabulary and thereby produces humorous themed answers. After the first few of these were figured out by this solver (not in top-to-bottom order) I thought that the theme would also have an electronics angle (STEM, USB, RCA) but this was not to be.
Here are the five he terms, er themers:
18 Across: Shirts for a coders vs. physicists softball game?: STEM JERSEYS. (New York) METS JERSEYS has been rearranged. A tech reference.
24 Across: Break-even transactions involving vintage TVs and turntables?: RCA WASHES. CAR WASHES RCA was an early brand of TVs and other electronic gear (although I do not recall ever seeing an RCA turntable). A break-even transactions is sometimes referred to as "a wash". Six of one a twenty-fourth of a gross of the other.
38 Across: One issuing tickets to the over-50 crowd?: AARP TROOPER. PARATROOPER If anyone here needs AARP explained please drop me a line.
51 Across: Animated image of an apple falling on Sir Isaac?: GIF NEWTON. FIG NEWTON A popular cookie morphs into an animated illustration of an aha moment in the history of physics. Here, now, a GIF:
59. Lab work focused on data storage devices?: USB CULTURES. SUBCULTURES
This is how all of this appears in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and answers:
So, Cars: Oops, Across:
1. Trailhead posting: MAP. My hiking friends and I used to rely heavily on the USGS contour maps.
4. Courtroom drama on NBC from 1986 to 1994: LA LAW. Today's first TV show reference.
9. Lariat: ROPE. Drop the L from the clue and we could form RIATA.
13. Spring mo.: APR. APRIL. This could have been clued with a credit card interest rate reference.
14. Vague afternoon time: ONE-ISH. Probably not Katie's favorite fill.
16. Multicolored gem: OPAL. We have all seen some so-so posts on blogs but here are some gems: emeralds, sapphires, OPALs, rubies
17. "Gotta __!": JET. New to this solver. "I gottaJET is, apparently, a phrase that means "I have to go (quickly)".
20. Miner concern: ORES. Often found in crossword puzzles but rarely seen pluralized.
22. Water coolers: ICE. The use of the plural in the clue lead to a bit of head scratching but, I guess, ICES would not be not used in this context.
23. Water movers: MAINS. Not the first water conduit that came to mind but the clue is on target.
27. Dead set on: WED TO. Pairing Dead with WED might be perceived as a slippery slope.
29. Tangy red spice: SUMAC. Popular in middle-eastern cuisine.
30. "Jingle Bells" contraction: O'ER.
32. CSNY's "__ House": OUR. It was very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard.
33. Making one's hair stand on end?: TEASING. A clue to be taken literally.
37. Doesn't take well?: ROBS. Don't take this wrongly . . .
40. Mark left by a bumper: DENT. If a plane has a small DENT does that make it an airline fracture?
42. Afternoon rests: SIESTAS.
43. Sprint: RUN. Did the clue jog your memory?
44. Dudes: MEN. By definition.
45. Romance novelist Dare: TESSA. Unknown to this solver although I am aware that Romance Novels exist and I have heard such books referred to as "bodice rippers".
49. Make space on the whiteboard: ERASE. Clued many ways.
55. "__ you a barrel of laughs": AREN'T. See also 63 Across.
57. Nintendo character option: MII. Completely unknown to this solver. Thanks perps. MII is a customize-able avatar used on several Nintendo video game consoles.
58. Artemis org.: NASA. With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. The first manned, excuse me, the first crewed lunar landing is scheduled for 2026.
62. Gov. or sen.: POL. POLitician. We often encounter POLs in our puzzles.
63. Barrel of laughs: RIOT. See also 55 Across.
64. Big-box shop: COSTCO. I was in one just prior to starting to work on this write-up.
65. 68-Across restroom: LOO. We often go there in our puzzles.
66. Drummer Ulrich: LARS. Of Metallica.
67. "Anything Goes" star Merman: ETHEL.
68. U.K. part: ENG. United Kingdom. ENGland
Down:
1. Focuses in college: MAJORS. If marine biology was the right MAJOR for you then your grades were probably above c-level.
2. Brief sketch: APERCU.
3. Comms experts: PR TEAM. COMMunicationS experts - Public Relations TEAM
4. Rock's __ Lonely Boys: LOS.
5. Opposition parties: ANTIS. ANTIS is a word not often heard, seen or used.
6. Hanger-on: LEECH. Idiomatically and literally. Ugh.
7. Teegarden of "Friday Night Lights": AIMEE.
8. Financial paper, for short: WSJ. Newspaper. The Wall Street Journal
9. "The Jetsons" maid: ROSIE. That's ROSIE in the back. You know the other names from the theme song. Another TV reference.
10. What love is, per a "Frozen" song: OPEN DOOR.
11. Earnings report: PAY STUB. Of a sort, I suppose, for an individual but not for a company.
12. Lapel edges?: ELS. Lapel begins and ends with the letter L.
15. Take up, in a way: HEM. See also 37 Down.
19. Playful "grr" alternative: RAWR. Used to express anger, flirtation or affection.
21. Try to hit: SWAT AT.
25. Lenovo rival: ACER. DELL and SONY would also have fit the allotted space.
26. Wireless speaker brand: SONOS. Hand up for ANKER.
31. Elton John accomplishment, briefly: EGOT. Emmy Grammy Oscar Tony. Elton John is the most recent person to complete this feat and, of all who have done so (less than twenty people) he was the oldest at "completion".
34. Basilica alcove: APSE. Do you struggle to find domed recesses in cathedrals? There's an APSE for that.
35. Result of angering a wasp, probably: STING. Not the ethnic kind of WASP.
36. Fury: IRE.
37. Taken up, in a way: RE-SEWN. See also 15 Down.
38. University of Michigan city: ANN ARBOR. Go Blue!
39. Spread out at a cocktail party: PATE. Not splayed. An edible spread that might be put out (served).
40. Rap's Dr. __: DRE.
41. "1984" superstate: EURASIA.
44. Maitre d' offering: MENU.
46. Paper clip alternative: STAPLE. Alternatively: You shouldn't eat stationery. It might become a dietary STAPLE.
47. "Time to go already?": SO SOON.
48. Like a watch with hands: ANALOG.
50. Factions: SECTS.
52. "You can't stop me": I MUST.
53. Colin of "1917": FIRTH. An actor/motion picture reference.
54. Extended family member: NIECE. In Nice, nièce.
56. "No Scrubs" group: TLC. A music/"girl group" reference.
Greetings, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of today's puzzle by veteran constructor Joe DiPietro. Let's jump right in with the reveal at:
57 Across: "That's a lost opportunity," and what can be said to the writer of four clues in this puzzle: YOU'RE MISSING OUT.
Alternatively, you might say to the writer "That's not what Timothy Leary meant!" At four places in the puzzle, Joe has literally dropped OUT from the clue. In other words, we are, indeed, MISSING OUT. As solvers, we must mentally append OUT to the sole remaining letter and thereby create a perfectly acceptable, albeit brief, crossword puzzle clue. Here are the four places where the gimmick is employed and what can we say except, "Far out, man!":
17 Across: R. When we add OUT to R we get ROUT. LOPSIDED VICTORY.
24 Across: B. Tack OUT onto B and the result is BOUT. PRIZEFIGHT.
38 Across: P. P plus OUT equals POUT. SULKY EXPRESSION
46 Across: T. A CSO ! Appending OUT to T results in TOUT. CREATE HYPE.
The perps were certainly helpful in sussing out the above answers but, after the gimmick was recognized, none were overly difficult or obscure. Of course, prior to grasping the gimmick, this solver was seriously considering WTF as a possible title for this blog.
The completed grid appears near the end of this recap. For now, here are the ins and outs of the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Sanitizer targets: GERMS. Bacteria was too long. HANDS was, briefly, considered.
6. "Mad Money" cable network: CNBC. The first of about a dozen (depending on one's criteria) abbreviated answers in today's puzzle. TBH SMH IYKWIM
10. Actress Mazar: DEBI. Per Rotten Tomatoes: A character actress known for feisty and heavily accented New York roles.
14. Lab vessel: FLASK. Not Lab as in Labrador Retriever. Lab as in chemistry lab.
15. Does some horticultural work: HOES. We had several horticultural/botanical references in today's puzzle. This was one of them.
Otis Lee - Hard Row To Hoe - Circa 1968
16. Group with reserves: OPEC.
20. Widespread alert, for short: APB. All Points Bulletin
21. "The Tilled Field" painter Joan: MIRO. A surreal botanical reference. I wonder what MIRO was dropping (ingesting).
22. Speed: RACE. Used as a verb. Otherwise, PACE?
23. Leaves in hot water?: TEA. Not leaves as in departs. Another botanical reference.
27. Trifle (with): TOY.
29. __ pen: VAPE.Doctor to patient: Do you smoke?
Patient: Yes.
Doctor: Cigarettes, VAPE, cigars, marijuana?
Patient: Brisket and pork shoulder, mostly.
30. Whit: IOTA. A crossword staple although clued many different ways.
32. What coastlines and hairlines may do: RECEDE. This solver would have preferred a slightly different clue.
35. Reel Big Fish genre: SKA. SKA Punk, actually.
Take On Me
41. "Three Little Kittens" treat: PIE. Lose your mittens. Then find them and get rewarded with PIE.
42. Quick bursts: SPURTS.
43. Go: EXIT. Used as a verb.
Snagglepuss
44. Like racehorses: SHOD. Hand up for FAST.
45. Skin pic: TAT. TATtoos are frequently visible in our puzzles.
51. "Go me!": YAY. See also 63 Across
54. Harvest: REAP. Possibly another botanical reference. Anyone first think of this?:
55. "__ Flux": 1990s MTV series: AEON.
56. HHS agency: FDA.
61. Spoonful, perhaps: DOSE. Hmmm, should we go with Julie Andrews here? Nah.
Royal Albert Hall - 2005
62. __ learning: ROTE. Memorization, basically.
63. "Go me!": I RULE. See also 51 Across
64. Brief timetable: SKED. Right up there with SESH on the "Come on, enough of this type of thing already" scale.
65. Takes to court: SUES.
George Harrison
66. Organizes: SORTS.
Down:
1. Major key for some piano works by Chopin and Schubert: G-FLAT. We knew that this answer had to begin with either A B C D E F or G
2. Travel to an away match?: ELOPE. Cute clue. Match as in wedded pair.
3. Climactic scene in the Eminem film "8 Mile": RAP BATTLE.
4. Bks.-to-be: MSS. A punt that we have seen before. Books-to-be are ManuScriptS in this instance.
5. Revealing, in a way: SKIMPY. Today's "I had better pass on the GIF" moment.
6. French endearment: CHERI.
Pepe LePew
7. Help for the overnight shift, maybe: NODOZ. UPPER would have fit but is not "crossword friendly".
8. Writer/activist Harris in the documentary "Hacking Democracy": BEV. The documentary explored the level of integrity of electronic voting machines.
9. Procedural franchise since 2000: CSI. A TV show reference often viewed in puzzles.
10. Mental decline: DOTAGE.
11. Unit in geochronology: EPOCH. Has geochronology previously appeared in our puzzles? Geochronology is the scientific study of the age and history of Earth's rocks and rock assemblages.
12. Top of the art world?: BERET. Cute clue, although TOP more often refers to a shirt or blouse than it does to a hat. Artists are stereo-typically depicted wearing BERETs.
13. Distant: ICY. Not as in far away. A behavioral reference.
18. Hollywood VIP: DIR. DIRector, I suppose. Probably not the constructor's favorite answer in this grid.
19. "Jinkies!": CRIPES. Not previously a part of this solver's vocabulary.
25. Chris who won four straight US Opens in the 1970s: EVERT. A women's tennis reference.
26. Tapered haircuts: FADES. FADES, to this observer, seem to combine the worst elements of two older hairstyles.
28. Wine cask wood: OAK. Another botanical reference.
30. Web access co.: ISP. Internet Service Provider
31. "Certainement!": OUI. Clue en français / Answer en français
32. Tend to an overgrown plant: REPOT. Smoke another doobie?
33. Give off: EXUDE.
34. EMT skill: CPR. A common crossword pairing.
35. Number of squares on a chess board: SIXTY FOUR. Eight by eight.
36. Fish that can transform into a dragon, per Japanese legend: KOI.
37. Little pest: ANT. Anyone try IMP first?
39. Tuning fork feature: Y SHAPE. I have an A-440 tuning fork lying around somewhere. These days, one uses an electronic gadget.
40. Neptune's realm: SEA. A reference to the god and not to the eponymous planet.
44. Pan-__ scallops: SEARED.
45. Game of love: TENNIS. Cute. In a tennis match love means zero.
Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders
46. Thief: CROOK. Or not. Or not not.
47. Get more mileage out of: REUSE. I tried to change the color of my monk's cowl costume so that I could REUSE it but old habits dye hard.
48. Celerity: HASTE. Anyone first misread this as Celebrity? Celery?
49. Some 20 Questions answers: YESES.
50. Luau fare: POI. Often served in our puzzles.
52. Not for minors: ADULT. When my children were little they sometimes said "When I grow up I want to be a dult."
53. "Revolutionary Road" author Richard: YATES.
57. NFL stat: YDS. YarDS A football reference.
58. "__ Doubtfire": MRS. You are missed, Robin Williams.
59. Letters of credit?: IOU. Not letters of credit as your bank might issue. I OWE YOU.
60. Syllable in some lawn product names: GRO. Today's final botanical reference.
As promised, here is the completed grid:
And now, in keeping with today's theme . . .
_______________________________________________
“I'm paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I'm not thrilled about.” - - - Richard Lewis 1947 - 2024
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with today's recap of a puzzle constructed by veteran puzzle-setter Blake Slonecker. Today's theme is straightforward so let's jump right in with the unifier which has been conveniently placed in the middle of the grid:
39 Across: Camera setting, and what shortened 18-, 24-, 47-, and 58-Across?: F - STOP. At the four referenced places, Blake has dropped the F (not dropped the F bomb, just the letter F) in order to answer the clues, and provide us with a few chuckles here, here, here and here:
Enough, F, Stop!
18 Across: Pollinator who can't fly?: GROUND BEE. Where's the BEEF?
24 Across: Parents in the Hundred Acre Wood?: RAISES THE ROO. Parents is used as a verb in the clue. Kanga is a single mom. When ROO misbehaves Kanaga idiomatically RAISES THE ROOF.
Roo and Kanga
47 Across: Product of Shenandoah Valley shepherds?: VIRGINIA WOOL. Who's afraid?
58 Across: Experimental soft cheese?: TRIAL BRIE. A TRIAL BRIEF is a legal document presented to the court. It is intended to provide the court with the presentation of facts, evidence and legal arguments. A TRIAL BRIE might provide an introduction for someone who has yet to develop a taste for soft cheeses.
Here is how this all looks in the grid:
...and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Tries out: DEMOS. Hand up for initially trying out TESTS.
6. Nosegay: POSY. As in "Ring Around The Rosie".
10. Pod whose cross sections are pentagonal: OKRA.
14. Skip a syllable or two: ELIDE.
15. Until: UP TO.
16. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB. I searched for a Leopold and (Lisa) LOEB mash up but could not find one.
17. __ Cup: PGA Tour prize: FEDEX. A golfing reference. Both Professional Golfers' Association and FEDeral EXpress have been abbreviated. Although, those abbreviations are now used far more often than are the full names.
20. Middle of dinner?: ENS. We have seen this type of clue before. There are two N's in the middle of dinner. If Blake had needed DEES, here, would he have gone with "Middle of middle"?
21. Perfect: IDEAL.
23. "Island of the Blue Dolphins" novelist Scott: O'DELL.
27. Joie de vivre: ZEST. A French phrase (in English, Joy of Living) fully co-opted by English speakers.
28. Emo: ANGSTY. Slangy clue/answer combo.
32. Storage furniture: CHEST.
34. Prize money: PURSE. Commonly used this way in the world of professional boxing and in professional golf.
37. Sphere in old referee whistles: PEA. Before they developed synthetic orbs they used real PEAs.
38. A pop: EACH.
40. Otter kin: MINK. A relationship that is a bit of a crossword standard.
41. Durango day: DIA. Today's Spanish lesson.
42. Apt rhyme for "freeze": SEIZE. As in SEIZE-up.
43. Well-mannered blokes: GENTS. It is relatively easy to convince ladies not to eat Tide pods but it is more difficult to deter GENTS.
44. Goofs in proofs: ERRATA. What do you call a list of corrections read out in a suggestive fashion? ERRATA - CA.
46. Tromp: PLOD.
53. Bird in a bevy: QUAIL. A group of QUAIL is called a bevy.
56. Hot spots: OVENS. Not a WiFi reference.
57. Signal: CUE. Both can be employed as either verbs or nouns.
60. Glossy material: SATIN. Like most chairs?
62. 55-Down, properly: ISN'T. See also 55 Down. Duh, MM.
63. Like most whiskey: AGED. This 36-year-old whisky can be yours for about five or six thousand dollars. Let me know and I will send you a link if I can still (pun intended, See 42 Down) find it in my trash file).
64. Heart Eyes or OK Hand: EMOJI.
65. Fancy spread: PATE. To make chicken PATE one has to first de-liver the chicken.
66. Fool (with): MESS.
67. Wrap sheet: SARAN. The following, from the mid-60's, might be deemed NSFW:
Down:
1. Schedule for later: DEFER.
2. Two-time WNBA MVP __ Delle Donne: ELENA.
3. Many a sedan: MID-SIZE CAR.
4. Amit Majmudar's "__ to a Drone": ODE. I was not familiar with this work. I have now searched for it online, found it, read it a couple of times and .... well, make your own judgement:
5. People's superlative: SEXIEST. A reference to People Magazine. The honorific of SEXIEST Man Alive is awarded annually to a male but the magazine awards Most Beautiful Woman Alive in lieu of SEXIEST.
6. Sound of the Northwest: PUGET.
7. O icon: OPRAH. OPRAH Winfrey of, among many other things, O Magazine.
8. Took second, say: STOLE. A baseball reference.
9. Second person: YOU. Not an Adam and Eve reference. A grammar reference.
10. One whose trick-learning years are behind them: OLD DOG.
11. "The Mamba Mentality: How I Play" writer Bryant: KOBE.
12. Rod and __: REEL. A fishing reference.
13. Cain's brother: ABEL. A reference to The Book of Genesis.
25. Quick meeting?: SESH. "Quick" as in a shortened version of SESSION.
26. Tough talk?: RASP.
29. Damage control pro: SPIN DOCTOR.
30. High-stakes shelter: TENT. I don't know about the High bit, but many TENTs certainly do employ stakes.
31. Shaggy beasts: YAKS. See also 33-Down.
32. Relinquish: CEDE.
33. 31-Down abundance: HAIR.
34. Pump letters: PSI. Pounds per Square Inch
35. Lays aisle-mate: UTZ. A snack food (pretzels, potato chips, etc.) reference.
36. Bass output: ROE. Not a bass guitar. Not Bass Ale. Not the Mayor of Los Angeles. Fish ROE.
39. "__ the Turtle": University of Maryland catchphrase: FEAR.
40. "I would like some more catnip, please": MEOW.
42. Bootlegger's vessel: STILL.
43. Visual aids: GLASSES. Not, e.g., pie charts, flashcards, flip charts, or the like. Aids to help us see.
45. Really take off: AVIATE. Really. No, really take off.
46. Blame (on): PIN. As in "Y0u won't PIN that murder on me!"
Eydie Gorme (and friends)
48. Canyon: GORGE.
49. Campus climbers: IVIES.
Tom Lehrer - "Bright College Days"
50. Focus of Maslow's hierarchy: NEEDS.
51. Message board?: OUIJA. Messages from the great beyond. Supposedly. OUIJA Board.
52. Red Square honoree: LENIN.
All Hail Marx and Lennon !
53. Sample collector, maybe: Q-TIP. For the DNA lab.
54. __ Major: URSA.
55. 62-Across, improperly: AIN'T. See also 62 Across. Duh, MM.
59. "Bang!": BAM. Onomatopoeia
61. Org. for OBs: AMA.
________________________________________
Notes from C.C.:
Voting is now open until March 1 for the 12th ORCA Awards – the annual celebration of creativity in crosswords! Winners will be announced on March 6 during a livestream filled with games and prizes. Five long-time solvers will receive special awards. For
each day of their streak, solvers can receive a chance to win crossword
memorabilia inscribed to them and signed by Will Shortz. Need not be
present to win. Details and voting info can be found at Diary of a Crossword Fiend.
