Theme: Unfitness Routine for the Lazy. The second word of a two word in-the-language phrase also had a different meaning in a physical activity context. The result, from a certain oblique perspective, is a humorous wordplay in which the activity is negated
20. Exercise done by making a grilled cheese sandwich?: PANINI PRESS. A PANINI PRESS applies weight and toasts the top and bottom of the sandwich without cutting, shaping, or forming the sandwich in any way other than to compress it a bit. A PRESS is a weight lifting exercise in which weights are lifted vertically over the head.
34. Exercise done by lounging on the couch and bingeing a new show?: TV MARATHON. A TV MARATHON or watchalong, aka binge watching, is an event in which viewers engage many hours' worth of television, in a condensed time period.
44. Exercise done by hitting the snooze button and staying in bed?: SLEEP CYCLE. When you sleep, you cycle through two phases of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. The cycle starts over every 80 to 100 minutes. Usually there are four to six cycles per night. You may wake up briefly between cycles. If you're old like I am, "briefly" might not apply. To CYCLE is to peddle a stationary or movable bicycle
56. Exercise done by lying around doing nothing all day?: DIDDLY SQUAT. A SQUAT is a strength exercise in which the trainee lowers their hips from a standing position and then stands back up. DIDDLY SQUAT means little or nothing.
So what have we accomplished, a little nourishment, a little entertainment, a nap, and nothing more. Sounds like an ideal day in retirement,
Hi, Gang - JazzBumpa here, hoping to exercise a little brain power and see what else we might accomplish. Let's get moving!
Across:
1. Sudden impulse: WHIM. A capricious or eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of the mind :5. Patatas bravas, croquetas, etc.: TAPAS. In Spanish, small plates of food - snacks.
10. "SOS" quartet: ABBA. The Swedish singing group.
14. Pre-migraine phenomenon for some: AURA. A feature of a migraine (= a condition that can cause a type of severe pain in the head) that involves problems with vision, especially seeing lights that flash or move:
15. Make up (for): ATONE. Make amends or reparation.
16. Round vegetables: PEAS. A spherical green seed that is eaten as a vegetable or as a pulse when dried.
17. Smelting waste: SLAG. Stony waste matter separated from metals during the smelting or refining of ore.
18. Sulks: POUTS. Is silent, morose, and bad-tempered out of annoyance or disappointment.
19. Quick kiss: PECK. A quick light kiss, perhaps by reference to the pecking motion of a birds beak.
23. Sea urchin delicacy: ROE. The fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked ingredient in many dishes, and as a raw ingredient for delicacies such as caviar.
24. Microsoft's Satya Nadella, e.g.: Abbr.: CEO. Chief Executive Officer of a corporation.
25. April birthstone: DIAMOND. Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic.
27. Letters before xis: NUS. In the Greek alphabet.
30. Royal flush cards: ACES. A royal flush in a card game consists of the 10.jack, queen, king and ace, all in a single suit.
33. Intl. oil cartel: OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
37. "While we're on the subject ... ": ALSO. In addition.
40. Pair on a tandem bike: SEATS. Things made or used for sitting on
41. __ Lingus: AER. Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group.
42. How onion rings are fried: IN OIL.
43. Milhouse's pal: BART. Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series The Simpsons voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School. I assume everyone knows who Bart is. If not ---
46. Native American tent: TIPI. A tipi or tepee is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on a framework of wooden poles.
48. Horseback game: POLO. Polo is a ball game that is played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports.[9] The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball through the opposing team's goal. Each team has four mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas or chukkers.
49. Some boxing match finales: KOs. A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, as well as fighting-based video games. A full knockout is considered any legal strike or combination thereof that renders an opponent unable to continue fighting.
50. Greek currency used in "Percy Jackson" novels: DRACHMA. The Greek drachma was the currency of Greece before it was replaced by the euro in 2002. It was also the ancient money of the Greek empire and city-states. Drachma note denominations ranged from 10 to 500 over much of its existence, while smaller denominations of 1 and 2 drachmae were issued earlier.
53. Short reply?: ANS. An abrv. [hence "short" for ANSWER.
55. Unagi, in sushi: EEL. Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel, particularly the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Unagi is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, often as kabayaki. It is not to be confused with saltwater eel, which is known as anago in Japanese.
62. Emulates: APES. These words both mean imitate, but "emulate" implies in a inspired way, while "ape" implies in a mocking way.
64. Like early PC graphics: LORES. I'm completely baffled by this and cannot find anything that explains it.
65. Desire: URGE. A srtong desire or impulse.
66. Secure skates, say: LACE. Tighten and then knot the shoe strings.
67. Subside: ABATE. Reduce in activity, quantity or severity.
68. Bit of inspiration: IDEA. A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.
69. Lil' one: TYKE. A small child.
70. Bender of "Futurama," for one: ROBOT. A machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically.
71. Nightfall: DUSK. The state or period of partial darkness between day and night
Down:
33. Intl. oil cartel: OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
37. "While we're on the subject ... ": ALSO. In addition.
40. Pair on a tandem bike: SEATS. Things made or used for sitting on
41. __ Lingus: AER. Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group.
42. How onion rings are fried: IN OIL.
43. Milhouse's pal: BART. Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series The Simpsons voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School. I assume everyone knows who Bart is. If not ---
46. Native American tent: TIPI. A tipi or tepee is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on a framework of wooden poles.
48. Horseback game: POLO. Polo is a ball game that is played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports.[9] The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball through the opposing team's goal. Each team has four mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas or chukkers.
49. Some boxing match finales: KOs. A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, as well as fighting-based video games. A full knockout is considered any legal strike or combination thereof that renders an opponent unable to continue fighting.
50. Greek currency used in "Percy Jackson" novels: DRACHMA. The Greek drachma was the currency of Greece before it was replaced by the euro in 2002. It was also the ancient money of the Greek empire and city-states. Drachma note denominations ranged from 10 to 500 over much of its existence, while smaller denominations of 1 and 2 drachmae were issued earlier.
53. Short reply?: ANS. An abrv. [hence "short" for ANSWER.
55. Unagi, in sushi: EEL. Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel, particularly the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Unagi is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, often as kabayaki. It is not to be confused with saltwater eel, which is known as anago in Japanese.
62. Emulates: APES. These words both mean imitate, but "emulate" implies in a inspired way, while "ape" implies in a mocking way.
64. Like early PC graphics: LORES. I'm completely baffled by this and cannot find anything that explains it.
65. Desire: URGE. A srtong desire or impulse.
66. Secure skates, say: LACE. Tighten and then knot the shoe strings.
67. Subside: ABATE. Reduce in activity, quantity or severity.
68. Bit of inspiration: IDEA. A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.
69. Lil' one: TYKE. A small child.
70. Bender of "Futurama," for one: ROBOT. A machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically.
71. Nightfall: DUSK. The state or period of partial darkness between day and night
Down:
1. Winged stinger: WASP. Any of numerous social or solitary winged hymenopterous insects (especially families Sphecidae and Vespidae) that usually have a slender smooth body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk, well-developed wings, biting mouthparts, and in the females and workers an often formidable sting, and that are largely carnivorous and often provision their nests with insects or spiders killed or paralyzed by stinging for their larvae to feed on
2. Dance taught at some Oahu hotels: HULA. Hula is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant or song. It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.
3. Country whose emblem resembles a tulip: IRAN. Iran, also known as Persia and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), is a country located at the crossroads of West, Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Iraq to the west and Turkey to the northwest, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. With almost 90 million people in an area of 1.648 million square kilometres (0.64 million square miles), Iran ranks 17th in the world in both geographic size and population.
4. Orlando team: MAGIC. Team in the National Basketball Association.
5. Bubble tea pearls: TAPIOCA. Tapioca is starch obtained from the root of cassava, a plant that mostly grows underground (like a potato). In many parts of the world, it's a food staple. Cassava is a native vegetable of South America and grows in tropical and subtropical regions.
6. At the peak of: ATOP. On top of something.
7. Rain heavily: POUR. Heavy, continuous rainfall; it's a figure of speech that's supposed to remind you of the way water pours out of a large pitcher.
8. Chipped in?: ANTED. Contributes the money each player puts in the pot before the hand begins in a game of poker.
9. Word with jam or cram: SESSION. A period of time devoted to a particular activity, such as playing music or intensely studying.
10. Tablet download: APP. Short for application - a software program that's designed to perform a specific function
11. Time to grab a brewski: BEER O'CLOCK. An appropriate time of day to start drinking beer. This may be open to widely varying interpretation.
12. Club ingredient: BACON. For a club sandwich - consisting of bread, sliced cooked poultry, fried bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
13. Sought, as a price: ASKED. Refers to the lowest price which the seller is willing to accept.
21. Gets closer to: NEARS. Approaches
22. Tree goo: SAP. This sticky liquid runs through the tree and down to the branches to help generate energy while new buds are forming during springtime. Due to photosynthesis, sugars are created which are fed back into the tree and acts as food for the tree during its growth period.
26. No-good jerkface: MEANY. An unfriendly hostile or oppressive person.
27. Fed. crash investigator: NTSB. National Transportation Safety Board, an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents, bridge failures, and railroad accidents.
28. Eye layer: UVEA. The middle layer of the eye. It lies beneath the white part of the eye (the sclera). It is made of the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. These structures control many eye functions, including adjusting to different levels of light or distances of objects.
29. Know-it-all: SMART ALECK. A person who is irritating because they behave as if they know everything.
31. Footnote abbr.: ET AL. Short for the Latin term “et alia,” which means “and others.” It is used in academic citations when referring to a source with multiple authors.
32. Source of wool: SHEEP. A domesticated ruminant animal with a thick woolly coat and (typically only in the male) curving horns. It is kept in flocks for its wool or meat, and is proverbial for its tendency to follow others in the flock.
35. Room with a slanted ceiling, often: ATTIC. A space or room just below the roof of a building.
36. Cookie with a Blackpink collaboration: OREO. Look here if you want to know more.
38. Grain tower: SILO. A cylindrical tower structure commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust.
39. Spanish cheers: OLÉS. A cry of approval, joy, etc.
42. Tappable images: ICONS. Pictograms or ideograms displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system.
44. Like wining and dining?: SIMILAR. Resembling without being identical.
45. Backyard swings, slide, and sandbox, e.g.: PLAY SET. Themed collections of similar toys designed to work together to enact some action or event.
47. Research grant?: PhD. A doctoral degree granted to a scholar recognizing her/his research work.
50. Handed out: DEALT. As cards in a game.
51. Terminate a debt: REPAY. Pay back (a loan, debt, or sum of money).
52. Mexican marinade made with chili peppers: ADOBO. The immersion of cooked food in a stock composed variously of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, peppers and vinegar to preserve and enhance its flavor.
54. Calamari: SQUID. Typically referring to squid dishes.
57. Boring: DRAB. Lacking brightness or interest; drearily dull.
58. Mother of Artemis: LETO. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto is a goddess and the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and the sister of Asteria.
59. Pakistani language: URDU. An Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside English.
60. Range listed on video games: AGES. The time of life at which some particular qualification, power, or capacity arises or rests. Or, in this case, is age appropriate.
61. Tropical tree: TEAK. A tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. Tectona grandis has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the end of the branches. Teak wood has a leather-like smell when it is freshly milled and is particularly valued for its durability and water resistance. The wood is used for boat building, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and various small projects.
31. Footnote abbr.: ET AL. Short for the Latin term “et alia,” which means “and others.” It is used in academic citations when referring to a source with multiple authors.
32. Source of wool: SHEEP. A domesticated ruminant animal with a thick woolly coat and (typically only in the male) curving horns. It is kept in flocks for its wool or meat, and is proverbial for its tendency to follow others in the flock.
35. Room with a slanted ceiling, often: ATTIC. A space or room just below the roof of a building.
36. Cookie with a Blackpink collaboration: OREO. Look here if you want to know more.
38. Grain tower: SILO. A cylindrical tower structure commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust.
39. Spanish cheers: OLÉS. A cry of approval, joy, etc.
42. Tappable images: ICONS. Pictograms or ideograms displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system.
44. Like wining and dining?: SIMILAR. Resembling without being identical.
45. Backyard swings, slide, and sandbox, e.g.: PLAY SET. Themed collections of similar toys designed to work together to enact some action or event.
47. Research grant?: PhD. A doctoral degree granted to a scholar recognizing her/his research work.
50. Handed out: DEALT. As cards in a game.
51. Terminate a debt: REPAY. Pay back (a loan, debt, or sum of money).
52. Mexican marinade made with chili peppers: ADOBO. The immersion of cooked food in a stock composed variously of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, peppers and vinegar to preserve and enhance its flavor.
54. Calamari: SQUID. Typically referring to squid dishes.
57. Boring: DRAB. Lacking brightness or interest; drearily dull.
58. Mother of Artemis: LETO. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto is a goddess and the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and the sister of Asteria.
In the Olympian scheme, the king of gods Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, whom Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eye of Zeus. Classical Greek myths record little about Leto other than her pregnancy and search for a place where she could give birth to Apollo and Artemis, since Hera, the wife of Zeus, in her jealousy ordered all lands to shun her and deny her shelter.
59. Pakistani language: URDU. An Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside English.
60. Range listed on video games: AGES. The time of life at which some particular qualification, power, or capacity arises or rests. Or, in this case, is age appropriate.
61. Tropical tree: TEAK. A tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. Tectona grandis has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the end of the branches. Teak wood has a leather-like smell when it is freshly milled and is particularly valued for its durability and water resistance. The wood is used for boat building, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and various small projects.
63. "Happy now?": SEE. Told ya so! Words of admonishment spoken after someone did something that had been warned against. Fool around and find out.
Well, we had a little song, a little dance, and some eye-ball anatomy [prior to my upcoming cataract surgeries] and a few snacks. Hope it wasn't too much of a work out. Happy and blessed Easter to those who celebrate. Happy Springtime to all. See y'all next month.
Could this be Matthew's first appearance in the L.A. Times? If so, congrats, and keep 'em coming!
Cool regards,
JzB
