Monday November 25, 2024 Sean Ziebarth

  

Happy Monday, everyone!

Theme:                                                            Letter B  

The antennas are a nice touch. After all, they are beetles.

It is not often we see 1-Across acting as a themer in a grid. Let's check it out now:  

Notice that there are no extraneous B's.

1 Across. The Dynamic Duo's underwater craft: BAT-SUB.  

Batman & Robin are the Dynamic Duo.

21 Across. Navigational aid for Hansel and Gretel: BREAD CRUMB.

The plan was to follow the BREAD CRUMBs back home but birds ate their navigational aids.

37 Across. Many a union position: BLUE COLLAR JOB.

Investopedia article about BLUE COLLAR

53 Across. Firefox or Safari subwindow: BROWSER TAB.  

Firefox and Safari are BROWSERS, as are Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

The unifier can be found expertly tucked into the bottom, right corner:

68 Across. Some surprise hit songs, and what 1-, 21-, 37-, and 53-Across all have?: B-SIDES.

When we were kids, my brothers and I would ride our Schwinn bikes down to the local music store and buy 45s (45-rpm records). These records were vinyl, 7-inches in diameter, packaged in a plain white paper sleeve, required a special adapter in the center, and had two songs: an A-Side, which was the song playing on the radio, and a B-SIDE, which was another song by the same artist but mostly unknown. Occasionally the B-SIDE became more popular than the A-Side, but that was rare. Today music is released differently but some artists still release what they call B-SIDE music. The term has morphed, much like icebox and hang up the phone. This article talks about the new and old meaning of B-SIDES.

Getting back to the puzzle, the reveal points out that each of the themers begins and ends with the letter B. They have Bs on each SIDE.  

Across:

7. The Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, et al.: ALPS.  

11. Org. issuing broadcasting licenses: FCC.     and     19 Across. Spy org.: CIA.

Organization is abbreviated, so is Federal Communications Commission and Central Intelligence Agency.

14. West Texas city: ODESSA.  Yesterday this was the answer to 72-Down Permian Basin city.

Odessa is said to have been named after 
Odesa, a coastal city in Southern Ukraine.

15. Command to a dog: HEEL.  

16. NHL great Bobby: ORR.  Bobby skates through many XWD puzzles.

17. Blab on and on: NATTER.  Def. (verb) (informal) talk casually, especially about unimportant matters; chatter.

18. Like a "fun size" candy bar: MINI.  

Mars was the first to call its candy fun size
and at one time had a Trademark on the word "fun".
Time magazine article on Halloween and "Fun Size" candy

20. Word before trip or surf: EGO.  EGOsurfing is when one does an internet search for one's own name.

24. Like a small orchard, perhaps: TEN ACRE.  A 10-acre plot is room for about 840 apple trees which would yield 80 - 100 tons of apples.

Winnie-The-Pooh lived in The Hundred Acre Wood.

27. Art studio stand: EASEL.

28. Lobster kin common in Cajun cuisine: CRAWDAD.  According to Grammarly, "Crawfish, crayfish, and crawdads are the same animal. Which term you use may depend much on where you live. Louisianans most often say crawfish, whereas Northerners are more likely to say crayfish. People from the West Coast or Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas often use the term crawdad." Perhaps some locals will chime in.

crawfish étouffée

32. The Aswan High Dam's river: NILE.  

33. Ginger __: ALE.  

34. Museum artifact: RELIC.  

36. Pester incessantly: NAG.

40. "__ Hot to Handle": Netflix dating show: TOO.  I am unfamiliar with this show but it was an easy guess.

41. Woodworking tool: LATHE.  

You can use one to make things like furniture legs (as shown) and baseball bats.

42. Somerhalder of "Lost": IAN.  IMDb page

43. Story that may be debunked on Snopes: MYTH.  Snopes.com is where to go if you want to fact-check something on the internet. It has a trustworthy reputation for outing the untrustworthy.

45. Set on the scales: WEIGHED.

47. Western film: OATER.  

The use of the term OATER peaked around 1991. I wonder why.

49. Antique diamond shape: ROSE CUT.  As its name implies, this cut was inspired by the shape of a ROSE bud. This article was a lot more interesting than I was expecting -- especially the part about candlelight.

57. Donkey Kong, e.g.: APE.  as it turns out, not a donkey

58. Ore-__ Tater Tots: IDA.  crosses another highly processed food (37-Down)

59. Swerve: VEER.

60. Wrinkle-resistant, as a shirt: NO IRON.

63. French article: LES.  

64. Bend at the barre: PLIE.  

65. "Murder on the __ Express": ORIENT.  This Agatha Christie book was originally published in 1934. It was made into a movie in 1974 and again in 2017.

66. Shrill shriek: EEK.  I am not sure if this 35 sec. video qualifies as EEK or "sweet". Watch the cat bring his mouse friend to share from his food bowl.  

67. Govt. IDs: SSNS.  Social Security Numbers

Down:

1. Lisa of "High Fidelity": BONET.  You might remember Lisa from The Cosby Show (1984-1992). She turned 57-years old earlier this month.  

2. Pithy bit of wisdom: ADAGE.  

3. Wyoming's Grand __ National Park: TETON.  Here is a lovely 1:41 min. video of the park's bison herd in the fall from the CBS Sunday Morning show. If you can, use headphones so you can hear all the nature sounds.  

4. Retired fast jet, briefly: SST.

5. Press into service: USE.

6. Streisand who directed and starred in "The Prince of Tides": BARBRA.  We had BARBRA last Monday for Yentl. Perhaps we will have The Way We Were next week.

7. Sighed words: AH, ME.

8. Luke's twin sister in the "Star Wars" saga: LEIA.  Luke and LEIA discover they are twins in Return of the Jedi (1983).

9. Be up in the air: PEND.  Will it fall back down? That depends....

10. Pie serving: SLICE.  Here is a SLICE of pumpkin pie for this coming Thursday...

... and a special Happy B-day message to Picard!

11. Pay close attention to: FOCUS IN ON.  

12. Forensic scientist's workplace: CRIME LAB.  This grid had several nice vertical fills.

13. Seafood item that needs to be cracked: CRAB LEG.  

a.k.a. a sea otter snack

22. Started over with neater penmanship, say: REWROTE.

23. Scooted: RAN.  Both are past tense for "move swiftly".

25. Rights advocacy gp.: ACLU.

26. Fishing basket: CREEL.  

29. New __, India: DELHI.

30. Over-the-counter hay fever brand: ALLEGRA.  

Also, a character in the movie Hitch (2005). I like the scene where Kevin James gets ALLEGRA's phone number. Will Smith is his dating coach. (2:35 min.) 

31. Spanish day: DIA.  

33. Really big favor: A LOT TO ASK.

35. Sheds tears: CRIES.  

Roy Orbison  ~  Crying 

The song was released as a 45-rpm single by Monument Records in July 1961.

The B-SIDE was Candyman.

37. Beefaroni maker Chef __: BOYARDEE.  He was a real person.

38. Crow call: CAW.

39. Green gemstone: JADE.  

This hard pillow in the form of a crawling baby
was designed to support the neck so one's hair would not be crushed.
Imperial Summer Palace (1662-1722) Heber Bishop Collection

40. Internet service with TV ads featuring Zach Braff and Donald Faison: T-MOBILE.  

You might remember these guys as BFF MDs on the TV series Scrubs (2001-2010).

44. Take an axe to: HEW.

46. Schmooze (with): HOBNOB.  Shakespeare gave us this word in his play Twelfth Night. For a while it meant "to drink alternately to each other". Since "drinking HOBNOB" was generally a social interaction, it took on the meaning in today's clue.

48. Gets back to a host: RSVPS.

50. Gave a hoot: CARED.  

51. Ahead by a hair: UP ONE.  I like the word play here:  a-head by a hair.

52. Camping shelters: TENTS.

54. Slippery swimmers: EELS.  The collective noun for EELS is a swarm.

55. Bridle strap: REIN.  

We say this horse is "in the two-REIN" because the rider is still using
the hackamore while the horse is getting used to the bit.

56. "__ bien!": TRÈS.  very good / very well / alright / excellent / super

61. Surgery ctrs.: ORS.  "Centers" is abbreviated, so is operating rooms.

62. Junior's junior: III.  Joe's son is Joe Jr. (or Joe II). Then Joe Jr.'s son would be Joe Jr.'s junior (or Joe III).

That was the last one and I have other things to attend to ... but that is BESIDE the point. 😀

Notes from C.C.:

As sumdaze pointed out in 10D, today is Picard's birthday. Happy Birthday, Robert!

Left to Right: Valerie, MM, Merlie & Picard 9/14/2021

 

Monday November 18, 2024 Amy Johnson and Katie Hale

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with a theme that seems to have arisen out of nowhere.

Theme:      Ta-da!

18 Across. Long garment with no waistline: TENT DRESS.

A POP-UP TENT is a tent that is ready to use as soon as it is unfolded, without requiring a frame to be assembled first.  

a TENT DRESS and a POP-UP TENT

24 Across. "These aren't the droids we're looking for" speaker: STORM TROOPER.

Our constructors threw us a curve ball with this one. If you read the clue too quickly you might have wanted to answer Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, Ben said "you're" and the STORM TROOPER responded "we're". Here is the scene from the 1977 Star Wars movie. (The STORM TROOPERs are wearing white body armor.) (1:29 min.)  

Read about a POP-UP STORM here.

38 Across. Activity for a green-thumbed apartment dweller: WINDOW GARDENING. 

A POP-UP WINDOW is a small advertisement or banner that appears in the foreground of one's screen while browsing a website.  

a WINDOW GARDEN and a POP-UP WINDOW I often see on Blogger

49 Across. Aftereffects of a great read: BOOK HANGOVER. I do not recall hearing this term before today but I have definitely experienced one. Here is how one blogger describes it:

A “book hangover” is the slangy shortcut for the feeling when a reader finishes a book—usually fiction—and they can’t stop thinking about the fictional world that has run out of pages. The story is over, but the reader misses the characters or the atmosphere of the novel. 

I bought this elaborate POP-UP BOOK for my grandmother when she developed dementia.
It turned out to be a good gift because her visitors enjoyed looking through it with her.

Now for the reveal:

60 Across. Right-click result, often, and where the starts of 18-, 24-, 38-, and 49-Across can be found?: POP-UP MENU.

If you right-click on your PC*, a MENU of options POPs-UP. Here is an example:  

The reveal clue also says that the starts of the themed clues can be found on a POP-UP MENU. I take that to mean that if you were looking at a menu (list) of things that POP-UP, you might see these four items:  TENT, STORM, WINDOW, and BOOK.

Before we POP on over to the rest of the clues, here's a CSO to all the POPS on the Corner.  

Across:

1. Financial liability of concern to creditors: DEBT.     and     6 Down. Have a 1-Across with: OWE TO.  

Investopedia article about Credit Scores

5. "Gilmore Girls" daughter: RORY.  Do we get a lot of Gilmore Girls cast member clues or is it always RORY? I never saw the show so these questions are always ESPs for me.  

9. Lightning streak: BOLT.

13. Dickens villain Heep: URIAH.  Uriah Heep is such a great name! He was the creep in David Copperfield. I chose this book for my senior literature project when I was in high school.

15. Tot's scrape: OWIE.

16. Grammy winner India.__: ARIE.  My trick for remembering this XWD staple fill is she sings an aria, but with an "e" at the end.

17. "So anyway," e.g.: SEGUE.  Def: (noun) a transition made without pause or interruption.

Regardless, this was a fun word to find in the grid.

20. TV channel with a large film library: TCM.  Turner Classic Movies

21. Sidesplitters: RIOTS.  Def:  (noun) an exceedingly funny story or joke.

23. German sub dangerous to Allied ships: U-BOAT.

27. Goat pen noises: MAAS.  

28. Anchorage locale: ALASKA.  Anchorage is ALASKA's most populous city with 286,075 people. ALASKA's capital, Juneau has 31,555 people.  

North to Alaska  ~  Johnny Horton  ~  1960

32. Calvin of fashion: KLEIN.  As it turns out, Calvin Richard Klein celebrates his 82nd birthday tomorrow. He was born in The Bronx, NY. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1962.

34. Anti-inflammatory antioxidant berry: ACAI.  Will the accolades to this berry never cease?

37. Backdrop of many novels set in the 1940s: WAR.  This one took me a bit, but after I got it I thought, "Fair enough."

42. Recipe no.: AMT.     and     55 Down. Report card nos.: GPAS. 

"Number(s)" is abbreviated in these clues, so is "AMounT" and "Grade Point Averages".

43. Top-tier: A-ONE.  Also top-tier is the XWD staple, A-Team.

44. Date opening: MONTH.  In the U.S., dates are usually (but not always) written as MONTH/day/year. Since MONTH comes first, it is the opening.

45. Apple download: IOS APP.  iOS is the iPhone Operating System. iOS APPs are designed to take advantage of an iPhone's built-in features, like its camera, microphone, GPS, etc.

48. Duck, duck, goose shape: RING.  Duck, Duck, Goose is a children's game in which the players sit in a circle.

55. Figure on a wedding cake, maybe: GROOM.  

58. Steel support for concrete: REBAR.  

59. Ida. neighbor: ORE.  There is a movement for some eastern OREgon counties to join IDAho.  GreaterIdaho.org website 

62. "Hakuna Matata" composer John: ELTON.     and     11 Down. WNBA great Leslie: LISA.

We have two double firsties in today's puzzle. Those always throw me off.

64. Hymn finale: AMEN.

65. Give off: EMIT.

66. Shoe material that shouldn't get wet: SUEDE.  You shouldn't step on SUEDE either. Elvis sang a song about that.  

67. "__ my regards": SEND.  not "give"  

68. Loose tops: TEES.

69. Went up a size: GREW.  

The Grinch's heart GREW. (45 sec.)

Down:

1. Does some light housekeeping: DUSTS.  

Treadmills are also good for hanging laundry.

2. Not hunched over: ERECT.

3. Life-changing events: BIG MOMENTS.

4. "T," on sorority row: TAU.  

Greek alphabet

5. Helicopter part: ROTOR.

7. Classic Unilever laundry soap: RINSO.  Unilever is the company that owns the brand name RINSO...among other well-known brands.

8. "So close, __ so far": YET.  

9. Streisand of "Yentl": BARBRA.  The story is that she was born "Barbara" then changed the spelling of her name when she was 18 because she wanted to be unique but did not want to change her name.

10. Cookie with a Coca-Cola variety: OREO.

12. Rorschach __: TEST.  The test consists of a series of 10 symmetrical blots where the subject states what they see. These slides are shown in the same order to align modern observations with historical performance. You can see the 10 cards here.

This is a 22 sec. clip from Batman Forever (1995) with Val Kilmer and Nichole Kidman.

14. Boy of la familia: HERMANO.  Spanish for "brother"

19. "Hamilton" climax: DUEL.  I liked this clue!  The song from that scene is called The World Was Wide Enough. It is a great message for today's quarrels as well! 

22. "__ showtime!": IT'S.

25. Midnight snack expedition: RAID.

26. Reimbursed: PAID.

29. Person who is a big factor in a two-party election: SWING VOTER.

30. Philosopher Immanuel: KANT.  (1724-1804) He was born in Germany and is one of the Enlightenment thinkers. Basically, he believed in humanity's ability to be rational about morality and wrote about categorical imperatives. The internet says Kant was 5'2" (157.5 cm.).

31. "Grr": ARGH.

32. River in an epic film title: KWAI.  The Bridge on the River Kwai was the highest-grossing film of 1957. It won seven Oscars, including Best Picture.

33. Bachelorette party hire, perhaps: LIMO.

34. Before now: AGO.

35. Food drive item: CAN.  a good November reminder to help out

36. "__ you sure?": ARE.  No, I'm sumdaze.

39. D.C. paper: WAPO.  WAshington POst

40. Some asylum seekers: EMIGRES.

41. Improper action: NO-NO.  

46. Teem: ABOUND.

47. Showy splendor: POMP.  I thought of the graduation march POMP and Circumstance by Edward Elgar, a name I've seen in a few puzzles.

48. Biochem molecule: RNA.

50. Krispy __: KREME.  

51. Figure skater Sonja: HENIE.  (1912-1969) Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other female figure skater. She was born in XWD's favorite capital, Oslo.

52. Shares an edge: ABUTS.

53. Eat away at: ERODE.  During the Ice Age, glaciers ate away at the granite in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, creating Yosemite's Half Dome.  

54. Affirm again, as vows: RENEW.  

56. Italy's capital: ROME.

57. Willing to listen: OPEN.

61. Encountered: MET.

63. Carry with effort: LUG.  

Here's the grid, with a POP of color:

Have a great day! I'll POP by later to read the comments.

*Note to Mac users:  According to the Apple Support website, a right-click on a Mac is called a 'secondary click' or 'Control-click'. To open shortcut menus, Control-click an item using your keyboard and mouse or trackpad.