Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with the recap of a Wednesday puzzle by Mat Holmes. Mat has had puzzles published previously in other venues (The Atlantic, Universal, Defector) but I believe that this is his LAT debut. Congratulations, Mat and welcome to the asylum (er, community).
This morning's puzzle offering is perfect for those of you who are always looking for new ways to get your kicks. Now, despite the "spoiler" above, you might be thinking something along the lines of:
Paul Revere and the Raiders - Kicks
Or, perhaps:
Asleep At The Wheel - Route 66
Or, perhaps, the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes or even a couple of Nissan automobiles.
But, no. KICKS here is used in the slang connotation of athletic shoes (Silver Kicks?). Perhaps not as much fun as any/all of the above but it works very well for the puzzle. Let's start with the unifier:
59 Across: Trusted companions, or what the sets of circled letters in this puzzle literally are: SIDEKICKS.
At five places in the grid Mat has place brand names for sneakers/tennis shoes/athletic shoes. These are referred to as KICKS in contemporary slang and each name abuts a side of the puzzles. Get it? Side kicks. To help us out, or to irk those who profoundly dislike them, circles have been utilized to help us see what is fairly obvious once the theme is grokked. . . if one is familiar with the brand names involved.
Here are the places where the gimmick is employed (deployed?):
16 Across: Mark Twain lad who falls in love with Becky Thatcher: TOM SAWYER.
22 Across: Exclamation in "Tommy Boy": HOLY SCHNIKES. This solver was not familiar with this exclamation. "Tommy Boy" is a 1995 buddy flick starring Chris Farley and David Spade.
32 Across: Some family vehicles: MINIVANS.
40. Wonder Woman publisher: DC COMICS.
47 Across: Talk to: CONVERSE WITH. When this solver was in Junior High School, CONVERSE All Stars were the cool (neat, bitchen) shoe to have.
This is how everything lays out in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Opera star Nellie with a peach dessert named for her: MELBA. Nellie MELBA (Helen Porter Mitchell) took the pseudonym Melba from her hometown of Melbourne, Australia.
6. Commercial flop: DUD. Edsel was too long. So was BOMB.
9. Outer layer: RIND. As on a watermelon.
13. Celestial hunter: ORION. The constellation.
14. Squeeze bunt result: RBI. A baseball reference. Run Batted In
15. "Same here": ME TOO. We all got this one.
18. English derby town: EPSOM. Those of you who watched Rocky & Bullwinkle might remember this:
21. Seat of power: THRONE. Both figuratively and literally. Also slang for toilet.
25. Big name in BoSox history: YAZ.
28. Chance to stand for a spell?: BEE. Spelling BEE.
29. Keep out of sight: HIDE. If you HIDE well enough then folks will find neither hide nor hair of you.
30. Cover story: ALIBI. Not as in the cover story of, say, Time Magazine. A CYA story.
36. "The Biggest Little City in the World": RENO. Self-proclaimed.
37. Umami, for one: TASTE.
39. Furry Endor denizen: EWOK. A Star Wars reference. Specifically a reference to the fictional planet Endor. EWOKs aren't meant to be left outside......they're Endor pets.
42. Japanese beer brand: ASAHI. KIRIN would also have fit the allotted space. Sapporo was too long.
43. Topple (over): KEEL. The phrase "KEEL over" originates from nautical terminology, referring to a ship capsizing or rolling so far on its side that its keel is visible.
44. Ocean Potion no.: SPF. Number is abbreviated as no. in the clue, so . . . A Sunscreen reference with a rhyming clue. Do we have a motion to salute that notion?
63. Elba of "Cats": IDRIS. A frequent visitor. Actor #2
64. In real time: LIVE.
65. Meditative discipline: ZEN. What did the ZEN master say to the hot dog vendor? Make me one with everything.
66. Connect with: TIE TO.
Down:
1. Grown-up silkworm: MOTH.
2. Greek Cupid: EROS.
3. Life partner?: LIMB. Not your soulmate. As in the expression:
4. KitchenAid alternative: BOSCH. Maybe not the first name to come to mind. Amana and Miele would both have fit the space.
5. "Blonde" star de Armas: ANA. Actor #3
6. Visine target: DRY EYE.
7. Rides with surge pricing: UBERS.
8. S, SW, or SSW: DIR. DIRection
9. Temporary stays: REPRIEVES.
10. Gentle reply to an apology: ITS OK. Several not-so-gentle replies come to mind.
11. Terrible turnout: NO ONE. The turnout cannot get much more terrible than this.
12. Geodesic structures: DOMES.
Buckminster Fuller
15. Body art that uses henna: MEHNDI. New to this solver. Thankserps.
17. Corduroy rib: WALE.
21. Yours, once: THINE. This above all....
23. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI. Another "Star Wars" reference
24. Debit slip: CHIT.
25. Football unit: YARD. An American Football reference.
26. Sir __ Guinness: ALEC. Actor #4
27. Nutrient in oysters: ZINC. The crossing YAZ helped. If y0u did not know that one then perhaps you tried IRON?
31. Car seller's concern: BOOK VALUE.
32. Ed.'s stack: MSS. Abbreviation for ManuScriptS
33. Not home: AWAY.
34. Nabe in L.A. and NYC: NOHO. Nabe = neighborhood. Abbreviated clue. Abbreviated answer. NOrth of HOuston Street in New York City. NOrth HOllywood in Los Angeles.
35. Take a little off the top: SKIM. Not a haircut reference (TRIM). A monetary (or milk) reference.
37. Ranking groups: TIERS. There can't be a TIER list for knots because they would all be tied.
38. Knee parts commonly viewed with MRIs: ACLS. Abbreviated clue . . . Plural clue . . .
41. Limo driver in the airport, e.g.: MEETER. Cute. Someone who meets someone at the airport. For some reason, MEETER made me think of greeter which led me to think of this Tim Hawkins song:
42. Astern: AFT. A nautical reference.
44. Norway neighbor: SWEDEN. It had to be either SWEDEN, Finland or Russia.
45. Evergreen tree: PINE.
47. Plotting group: CABAL. What do you call a secret CABAL of strippers who surreptitiously control the adult entertainment industry? The Illumi-naughty.
48. "SNL" alum Cheri: OTERI. Five letters, three of which are vowels. A constructor's friend. Actor #5
49. Channel for hoops fans: NBA TV. Hoops being a slang term for the game of basketball.
50. Motorized ride: E-BIKE.
51. Supermodel Klum: HEIDI. Actor #6
55. Farm unit: ACRE. 1 ACRE of land for sale, no house. That’s a lot.
56. Funny sketch: SKIT.
57. Canadian gas brand: ESSO. Derived from the initials of Standard Oil. S O
59. "__ who?": SEZ. Oh yeah?
60. Footballer's uniform: KIT. In the soccer world (or football as most of the world outside the USA calls soccer) KIT means the uniform that they players wear. So, the answer to this clue is "by definition" once one figures out the global nature of the clue.
Well, that will wrap things up for today. As it is a Wednesday, and not a Tuesday or a Thursday, I can take a day off from this:
