Monday, March 2, 2026, Renee Thomason

Theme:  The Giving Tree.

Today's puzzle comes to us from none other than Renee Thomason, AKA sumdaze, our long-time Monday blogger.  And sumdaze is a giver!

The big reveal occurs at 66- and 67-Across:

66-Across. With 67-Across, repay a community's generous support, or a feature of the answer to each starred clue: GIVE.

67-Across. See 66-Across: BACK.

When you've benefitted from the support of your community, you may feel inspired to GIVE BACK.  And when you look closely at the answers to the starred clues, you may find that the BACK end of each -- that is, the last word -- is a word for GIVE.

21-Across. *Official currency of a nation, e.g.: LEGAL TENDER.  "Legal tender" is government-issued currency that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt.  TENDER, as a verb, means to make a formal offer.  A person can TENDER cash or goods to settle a debt -- that is, GIVE something.

26-Across. *Gently sidestep an awkward question: SKIRT THE ISSUE.  "Skirt the issue" means to avoid an uncomfortable topic.  ISSUE, as a verb, means to release, distribute, or supply something.  Your employer might ISSUE raises or new equipment -- that is, GIVE something.

44-Across. *18th president of the United States: ULYSSES S GRANT.  Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War, and later served as the 18th president of the United States.  GRANT, as a verb, means to formally bestow, confer, or transfer something.  Your supervisor might GRANT permission for you to leave early -- another way of saying GIVE.

52-Across. *Japanese sedan that's been a top seller in the U.S. since 1989: HONDA ACCORD.  The top selling sedans in the USA are Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, and Nissan Sentra, in that order -- but pickup trucks and SUVs outsell sedans.  ACCORD, as a verb, means to grant something that is due or appropriate.  You'll want to ACCORD equal respect to all who attempt today's puzzle -- another way of saying GIVE.

TENDER, ISSUE, GRANT, and ACCORD are all more formal words than GIVE, and used in more limited contexts.  If these didn't leap out at you as synonyms, GIVE yourself some slack.

It's time for me to GIVE you some insight into the rest of the clues and answers.

Across:

1. Engrave a name on a trophy, say: ETCH.

5. Barrels into: RAMS.

9. Thumbs-up answers: YESES.  Dictionaries disagree on YESES versus YESSES.

14. Gift tag word: FROM.  "To" was too short.

15. "Peacemaker" actor Steve: AGEE.  Steve Agee is a comedian, actor, writer, and musician, known for roles on The Sarah Silverman Program, The Suicide Squad, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the HBO series Peacemaker, and Creature Commandos.  I needed perpendicular entries to solve this one.  Sorry, Mr. Agee.

Steve Agee

16. Mexican street corn: ELOTE.  This is an answer I can sink my teeth into.

Elote

17. Huggies rival: LUVS.  Disposable diaper brands.

18. Old Roman garment: TOGA.

19. Island country between Sicily and North Africa: MALTA.

20. Enjoyed a meal: ATE.

21. [Theme clue]

23. Sewing kit spool: THREAD.  What's in your sewing kit?

spool of thread

25. Finish: END.

26. [Theme clue]

33. Sooner or __: LATER.

35. Long-term goals: AIMS.

36. Tax return pro: CPA.  An abbreviation in the clue calls for an abbreviation in the answer.  A tax return professional is a Certified Public Accountant.

37. Bygone Apple music players: IPODS.

38. Corp. VIP: CEO.  Another abbreviated clue with an abbreviated answer.  A corporate Very Important Person is the Chief Executive Officer.

39. Sloughs off: SHEDS.

41. Hearing organ: EAR.

42. Lady Gaga's "__ This Way": BORN.  Here's a spectacle for you:

43. Paddled boat: CANOE.

44. [Theme clue]

48. Fitting: APT.

49. Like Greg, among the Brady kids: ELDEST.  The Brady Bunch was a sitcom that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974, featuring a blended family with six children, of whom "Greg" was the eldest.

The Brady Bunch

52. [Theme clue]

58. Play-__: Fun Factory clay: DOH.  I played with Play-Doh.  My kids had the Play-Doh Fun Factory.  I guess the newest grandchild will have AI robots to shape the stuff.

59. Newspaper opinion pieces: OP EDS.  On the page opposite the editiorial page in a newspaper, outside contributors may author short prose pieces expressing opinions on topics of current interest.

60. "That can't be": OH NO.

61. Volcano on Sicily: ETNA.  See map at 19-Across.  Sicily is the large island north of Malta.

62. Royal domain: REALM.

63. D.C. MLB team: NATS.  Washington D.C. is home to the Washington Nationals, a team that competes in Major League Baseball.

64. "__ Green": Kermit's song: BEIN'.  "Bein' Green" is a song written by Joe Raposo, originally performed by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. It was later covered by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison, and other performers. "Bein' Green" is Kermit's  signature song.

65. Land divisions: ACRES.

66. [Theme clue]

67. [Theme clue]

Down:

1. Note in the C minor scale: E FLAT.  The C natural minor scale consists of the notes C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, and B flat.

2. Objective fact: TRUTH.

3. Featured article of a magazine: COVER STORY.

4. Letters on some British ships: HMS.  HMS stands for His (or Her) Majesty's Ship -- depending on the gender of the reigning monarch in England.

5. Like most gory movies: RATED R.  Gory films involve violence and bloodshed, and are RATED "R" for "restricted."  Viewers under age 17 must be accompanied by an adult parent or guardian.

6. Eagerly expectant: AGOG.  Eager or curious to hear or see something.  "I'm all agog to see London."

7. Bigger than big: MEGA.  Costco is a mega store.  You don't have to be mega rich to shop there.  

8. __ of approval: SEAL.

9. Sanaa resident: YEMENI.  Sanaa is the capital and largest city of Yemen.  Sanaa is currently under Houthi control, and suffers from shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.  The economy has collapsed, jobs are scarce, and prices are rising.  Saudi Arabia has been fighting the Houthis since 2015, and renewed conflict is a constant concern for Yemenis.

10. Spiral-horned African antelopes: ELANDS.  I searched for images of ELANDS and found a bunch of despicable people. 

11. Realtor's sign of success?: SOLD.

12. Kin of -kin: ETTE.  The suffix -kin denotes smallness.  A lambkin is a little lamb.  The suffix -ette is much the same.  A kitchenette is a small kitchen.

13. Verb in many a grilling recipe: SEAR.  To scorch the surface with sudden, intense heat.

21. Hideaways: LAIRS.

22. Souvenir shirts: TEES.

24. Squeaked (by): EKED.

27. Food truck snacks: TACOS.

28. Layers of tall cakes: TIERS.

29. Southeast Asian ethnic group: HMONG.  The Hmong are a distinct ethnic group originating from southern China and Southeast Asia.  There are diaspora communities in the United States, Australia, France, and South America.

Hmong women in Vietnam

30. Fragrant herbal brew: SCENTED TEA.  Dry tea leaves and fresh flower buds can been combined in piles overnight.  As the flower buds bloom, the tea absorbs their released fragrance.  In the morning, the flowers are removed, but the aroma remains in the tea.  That's how traditional jasmine tea is created.

31. Ballerina's bun, for one: UPDO.  An updo is a hairstyle that lifts long hair up and off the neck.

32. Effortlessness: EASE.

33. In __ of: replacing: LIEU.

34. "Come on, be __!": A PAL.

39. Burn with hot water: SCALD.

40. Round of applause: HAND.

42. Greek letter after alpha: BETA.

45. Jockey's seat: SADDLE.

46. Twitches: SPASMS.

47. Stood up again: REROSE.  Past tense of rerise -- a verb I've never encountered before.  

50. __ boom: noise made by a fast jet: SONIC.

51. TGIF part: THANK.  Thank God It's Friday.

52. Jewish wedding dance: HORA.

The hora is easy to learn and fun to do.

53. Oil cartel letters: OPEC.  Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

54. Within reach: NEAR.

55. Capitol Hill gp.: CONG.  A Capitol Hill group is Congress.

56. __ latte: spiced drink: CHAI.  NaomiZ's morning beverage, made with oat milk and spiced tea.

57. Like a sitcom star: ON TV.

61. __ and flow: EBB.

Here's the grid:

Solvers, did you GIVE up?

Or did you finish with EASE?

Let us know in the comments.

-- NaomiZ 

Monday December 9, 2024 Renee Thomason

  

Happy Monday, everyone. Today we have a puzzle by...well...I constructed this one. 

Title:                    There was a time...

I always like it when, on British detective shows, the boss asks how the case is going and the reply is, "Nothing yet, sir, but it's still EARLY DAYS". I was thinking about that and wondered if it might have puzzle possibilities. Next I made a list of words that could come before DAYS. When I realized HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE had 15 letters, I knew I had to make it work because HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE across the middle was just so fun.

There are four themed clues:

16 Across. Disney princess with a jealous stepmother: SNOW WHITE.

24 Across. Truly exhausted: DOG TIRED.

38 Across. First line of a nursery rhyme about the cow that jumped over the moon: HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE.

47 Across. Competitive countenance: GAME FACE.

(Note:  I liked this clue much more than the one I submitted. Mine was too connected to a specific game. It is better to have more separation between the clue meaning and the reveal meaning. This clue does a better job of that.)

Then the reveal:

61 Across. Beginning stages, and what the starts of 16-, 24-, 38-, and 47-Across literally are?: EARLY DAYS.

According to Gobsmacked!: The British Invasion of American English by Ben Yagoda (2024), "(It's) early days" is an expression which describes an early stage in an event or process, often implying too early. Yagoda writes that Americans typically say "the early days of" but began using this Britishism around 1980. Yagoda has an "adoption scale" for each of the terms in his book. He places EARLY DAYS in the middle of his scale with the label "Taking Hold".  

<Click to enlarge.>

As for the gimmick, the words SNOW, DOG, HEY, and GAME can all come before (early) DAYS to create a new in-the-language phrase. We have:

SNOW DAYS  ~  Kids watch the scrolling list at the bottom of the news to see if school will be closed due to inclement weather.  

DOG DAYS    ~  These are the hot summer days when Sirius, known as the DOG star can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere.  

Sirius is sort of like the dog's tag around its neck.

HEYDAYS  ~  Def. (noun) the period of one's greatest popularity, vigor, or prosperity.  

Lonesome River Band  ~  Heyday  ~  2022

Can you work out who "I" is in this song?

GAME DAYS  ~  Simply put, GAME DAYS are the days on which a sports team plays a game. At my school, the players and cheer squads wore their jerseys to regular classes on GAME DAYS. Sometimes we had an alternate class schedule to make time for a pep rally.

It is not too late for the other clues....

Across:

1. Includes on a 51-Down: CCS.     and     51-Down. Paperless message: EMAIL.

4. DEA agent: NARC.

8. Rowing team: CREW.

12. Quaker __: big name in cereal: OATS.  

IMO, these OATS really are of a higher quality than the store brand.

14. Letter-shaped ski lift: T-BAR.

15. New Zealand native: MAORI.

18. "The Maltese Falcon" actress Mary: ASTOR.  (1906-1987)  Née Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke from Quincy, IL, Mary played Brigid O-Shaughnessy opposite Humphry Bogart's Sam Spade in this 1941 film.

19. Synagogue scroll: TORAH.

20. Actor Danson: TED.  This it the trailer for Ted Danson's new show, A Man on the Inside. Irish Miss was just recently telling us about it.

21. __ Island: The Ocean State: RHODE.  Though just 37 miles (60 km.) wide and 48 miles (77 km.) long, Rhode Island boasts 400 miles (644 km.) of shoreline.

22. Iron-deficient, perhaps: ANEMIC.  

They had me at "dark chocolate".

26. Elphaba's broom in "Wicked," for one: PROP.  Wicked (the musical) as been made into a motion picture. The movie version was released on Nov. 22 and grossed over $114 million the first weekend -- the biggest opening ever for a Broadway film adaptation. Here is the trailer: 

28. __-Manuel Miranda of "Hamilton": LIN.

29. Word before down or out: WORE.  WORE down and WORE out

32. 1980s president Ronald: REAGAN.  (1911-2004)

Before he was the 40th president of the United States,
he enlisted in the 322nd Calvary Regiment in Des Moines, IA in 1937.
He then transferred to a Los Angeles regiment where he served as a second lieutenant.

35. Nile snake: ASP.  While Cleopatra was out feeding her pet ass, she unfortunately missed the PSA about how some sap let an ASP loose in a pile of ash.

41. Silver deposit: ORE.  Silver is represented on the periodic table as Ag. Do you know which country is named for its silver deposits? (answer below)  

42. Like radiator pipes: COILED.  Here is an Industrial Products Video for anyone curious to know more:

43. Scent: ODOR.

44. Smitten Kitchen blogger Perelman: DEB.  website

45. Bingo kin: KENO.

52. Sweet denial: NO, DEAR.  

Hobbes is Calvin's stuffed tiger toy.
He becomes a real tiger when he and Calvin are alone.

56. Rare Italian violin: AMATI.

57. Med. plan option: HMO.  "Medical" is abbreviated, so is "Health Maintenance Organization".

59. Taco topping: SALSA.  I like this one from Trader Joe's.  

60. Skeleton pieces: BONES.  

63. Noon nourishment: LUNCH.

64. Small, medium, or large: SIZE.

65. Pedometer unit: STEP.

66. The "E" of QED: ERAT.  QED is a Latin abbreviation for quod ERAT demonstrandum or "Which was demonstrated".  We wrote it at the end of our math proofs. My teacher used to joke that it means Quite Easily Done.

67. Arduous journey: SLOG.  Def. (noun) a long, exhausting march or hike.

68. Some CGI beings: ETS.  Computer-generated Imagery and Extraterrestrials  

Down:

1. __ Rica: COSTA.  Costa Rica is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire circle and has over 200 volcanic formations traced back over 65 million years. Of these formations, around 100 of them show signs of activity but only five are classified as active.

2. Source material for fan fiction: CANON.  When fans talk about works of fiction or when they write spin-off stories, CANON is another way of saying the original source material. For example, CANON says that Superman came from the planet Krypton. If someone wanted to write a story about Superman, the story should not alter that fact.

3. Big-box __: STORE.  

4. Utmost degree: NTH.  Here on The Corner we love and value Hahtoolah to the NTH degree and therefore wish her the happiest of birthdays today!  

5. "Isn't this all just __ much?": A BIT.  not at ALL

6. Like books on Goodreads: RATED.  The book that inspired 26-Across was RATED 3.54 stars on Goodreads.

7. Guiding principle: CREDO.  

8. Redeem for money: CASH IN.

9. Piece in a model helicopter kit: ROTOR.  DH is a helicopter pilot but I have never ridden in one.

10. Go away gradually: ERODE.

11. Full of energy: WIRED.  Think of a classroom full of seven-year-olds on a windy November 1st.

13. Up to one's eyeballs: SWAMPED.  

15. "Shaken, not stirred" cocktail: MARTINI.  Apparently someone counted all the drinks James Bond ordered in Ian Fleming's novels. It turns out that the book version of 007 prefers bourbon.

a compilation of shaken, not stirred Bond scenes

17. Fan noise: WHIR.  "Applause" does not fit.

23. Spanish city with Moorish architecture: CORDOBA.  I love reading about the series of occupations that influenced the culture and architecture of SE Spain. Here is a 2:08 min. travel video:  

25. Make happy: GLADDEN.     and     53-Down. Make really happy: ELATE.  😁

27. Mani counterpart: PEDI.

29. One of a journalist's five W's: WHO.  

30. Above, in verse: O'ER.

31. Pumpernickel flour: RYE.  As a general rule, the RYE flour in my pumpernickel bread is 40% or less of the total flour. More than that, it is difficult to get a good rise. I also add 1/2 cup of corn meal to my pumpernickel bread.

33. 100%: ALL.  

34. Many a techie or Trekkie: GEEK.

35. Do some sums: ADD.

36. __-mo replay: SLO.  Be forewarned, someday I hope to construct a later-in-the-week grid where I clue SLO as "Cal Poly State Univ.'s town" as a CSO to my big bro who graduated  from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California.

37. For each: PER.  

2 for $5 or $2.50 PER each

39. Use a rod and reel on a frozen lake: ICE FISH.  

40. Thingamajigs: DOODADS.   

I'm not familiar with that last one.

44. Pick up on: DETECT.  Dogs are excellent at this. DETECTion dogs are trained to DETECT and alert to the presence of certain scents for which they have been trained to recognize. Examples include medical conditions, endangered plants, explosives, narcotics, live humans, human remains, and weapons. Here's a 2:30 min. video about testing for the qualities that make a dog a good candidate to be a DETECTion dog:  

Don't you just love to watch a dog enjoying his work?

46. Like a busybody: NOSY.  

47. Clark of classic Hollywood: GABLE.  (1901-1960)

48. Love, in French: AMOUR.

49. Heaven-sent food: MANNA.

50. "The Queen's Gambit" activity: CHESS.  The Queen's Gambit was a 2020 TV miniseries based on Walter Tevis' 1983 novel of the same name. The title refers to a classic CHESS opening series of moves.

54. So far: AS YET.

55. Speaks hoarsely: RASPS.

58. Pasta that can be used to make risotto: ORZO.  

It looks like grains of rice.

62. __ of lamb: LEG.

Here's the grid:  

*Answer to 41-Across question:  Argentina's name is derived from the Latin word for silver, argentum. 

Thank you for doing my early-in-the-week EARLY DAYS puzzle!

Thank you, also, to the LAT editors for all of their work!

Notes from C.C.:

1) How cool is this, Renee!

2) Happy Birthday to dear Susan (Hahtoolah), our incomparable Tuesday Sherpa. Her posts and pics always brighten our day. Her caring emails and letters sustain me in the most difficult times.

Friday, November 1, 2024, Renee Thomason, Katie Hale

 Theme:  There must be a way!

Each of the theme answers is a recognizable person or thing, but does not match the clue until you SHOW THE word WAY at the beginning of the answer.

Here are the theme clues and answers, all of which are Across:

18. *Pop-up shop on the edge of the road?: SIDE HUSTLE. A side hustle is a job or occupation that brings in extra money beyond one's regular job.  But a WAYSIDE HUSTLE might be a business at the edge of a road.

23. *Underground market for home goods?: FAIR TRADE.  Fair trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect.  But WAYFAIR TRADE might be taking furnishings from the online retailer Wayfair and trading them off market.

35. *Butcher's knife that's very hard to handle?: WARD CLEAVER.  Ward Cleaver is a fictional character in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver.  But a WAYWARD CLEAVER might be a big knife that is difficult to control.

50. *Snuck up on a chicken coop to collect breakfast?: LAID AN EGG.  Saying someone laid an egg means they failed at something.  But WAYLAID AN EGG means they hid themselves and attacked an egg by surprise.

58. Give clear directions, or how to make the starred clues match their answers?: SHOW THE WAY.

Today's puzzle comes to us from Renee Thomason (our Monday blogger, known in the Corner as sumdaze) and frequent constructor Katie Hale.  Allow me to SHOW THE WAY through the rest of the clues and answers.

Across:

1. State that's easy to draw: UTAH.

Because Wyoming and Colorado wouldn't fit!

5. South American bean: CACAO.  Best bean ever.  Thank you, South America!

10. Loyalty program level: TIER.

14. Post-WWII alliance: NATO.

15. Celebrity gossip source since 1991: E! NEWS.  A late-night entertainment news program on the E! cable network.

16. Princess athlete in the 1976 Summer Olympics: ANNE.  The Games of the XXI Olympiad took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Great Britain, competed as part of the British equestrian team. 

Princess Anne in the 1976 Olympics

17. Air quality factor: SMOG.

18. [Theme clue]

20. Device called a "cashpoint" in the U.K.: ATM.

21. Matching: SAME.

22. Stellar: ASTRAL.

23. [Theme clue]

26. Court tie: DEUCE.  Apparently, tennis score keeping was originally done using a clock face, marking points as 15, 30, and 45 minutes, with 45 eventually being abbreviated as 40:

     0 points = Love  (Zero was "The egg" or "L'oeuf" in French, which in English became "Love.")

     1 point = 15

     2 points = 30

     3 points = 40

     Tied score = All

     40-40 = Deuce

     Server wins deuce point = Ad-In

     Receiver wins deuce point = Ad-Out

27. Host: EMCEE.  We used to say "Master of Ceremonies," which became MC or "emcee."

28. Forensic profiling material: DNA.

30. Solstice mo.: DEC.  Also JUN, but it wouldn't work with the perpendicular entries.

31. Corp. head: CEO.

33. Ripe old __: AGE.

34. "__ we forget": LEST.  This phrase was first used in an 1897 poem by Rudyard Kipling called "Recessional," written to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

     God of our fathers, known of old,

        Lord of our far-flung battle-line,

     Beneath whose awful Hand we hold

        Dominion over palm and pine—

     Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

     Lest we forget—lest we forget!

35. [Theme clue]

38. Chop garlic, say: PREP.  DH and I do the prep for each other, taking turns as head chef and sous chef.  Assembling a recipe is easier if you prep first and get all the ingredients mise en place.

40. Address bar character: DOT.  A web address includes a "dot" before the domain name, as in LATimes.com.

41. Car wheel part: RIM.

42. Coxswain's lack: OAR.  A coxswain sits in the stern of a boat, facing the bow, and steering with the rudder while coordinating the efforts of the rowing team.

A coxswain at work.

43. Pressure meas.: PSI.  Pounds per Square Inch.

44. Justice Sotomayor: SONIA.

48. Feudal lord: LIEGE.

50. [Theme clue]

54. Bringing up the rear: IN LAST.

56. Hindu honorifics: SRIS.  In South and Southeast Asia, Sri is used as a polite form of address, similar to the English "Mr.".

57. Truly regret: RUE.

58. [Theme clue]

60. __ Williams bourbon: EVAN.   Evan Williams is a brand of straight bourbon whiskey distilled at the Heaven Hill distillery in Louisville, Kentucky.  The product is aged for a minimum of four years (which is more than the two year minimum to be called 'straight' bourbon, but is the minimum requirement for a straight whiskey that does not have an age statement on the label).  It has been ranked as one of the world's best selling whiskey brands.

A Kentucky bourbon distillery I visited with DH in 2016.

61. Ale holder: CASK.

62. Thrill to bits: ELATE.

63. Stitch up: MEND.

64. Supersmall: ITTY.  Not "itsy" this time!  Often itty-bitty or itsy-bitsy.

65. Many a forty-niner: MINER.  Participant in the California gold rush.

66. Bank for mil. families: USAA.  USAA (United Services Automobile Association) is a bank that is only available to military members, veterans, and their families.

Down:

1. In need of a Mr. Yuk sticker: UNSAFE.  Mr. Yuk is a trademarked graphic image, created by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and widely employed in the United States in labeling of substances that are poisonous if ingested.

2. Instrument also known as a chau gong: TAM-TAM.  The Tam-Tam is a huge metal percussion instrument which makes a booming sound. When you strike the tam-tam, the sound gets louder and louder, building up to a climax before fading away.

3. Infinitesimal: ATOMIC.

4. Selfish type: HOG.

5. Labor leader Chavez: CESAR.

6. Inner self, to Jung: ANIMA.

7. Surrendered: CEDED.

8. Veneration: AWE.

9. Mae's sister on "Star Wars: The Acolyte": OSHA.  "Star Wars: The Acolyte" is a television series created for the streaming service Disney+.  An obscure clue!  What ever happened to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration?

10. Decorator's asset: TASTE.

11. Unwelcome visitor: INTRUDER.

12. Intertwines: ENLACES.

13. Word on some campaign posters: RE-ELECT.

19. MyPlate org.: USDA.  The United States Department of Agriculture produced this guideline for nutritious eating -- while supporting various types of food production that are anything but healthy.

21. Heifer's brother: STEER.

24. Summary: RECAP.  A summary of what has been said; a recapitulation.

25. Polygon part: EDGE.

29. Not far: NEAR.

32. Probability calculations: ODDS.

33. Key not found on a Mac: ALT.

34. Finger bowl slice: LEMON.  A finger bowl is a small bowl with water (and perhaps a slice of lemon) for rinsing fingers during a meal.

35. "Let's check the map": WE'RE LOST.

36. Spiral: COIL.

37. Exchange program papers: VISAS.

38. Future Hill worker's maj., maybe: POLI SCI.  Someone who hopes to work on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC might study Political Science.

39. Slicker accompaniment: RAIN HAT.  In this case, a slicker is a rain coat.

43. Wasp, for one: PEST.  Wasps eat spiders, flies, roaches, and caterpillars.  They pollinate at least 960 different plants, including 164 species that are completely dependent on them.  They disperse seeds.  They are responsible for the growth of figs!  But sure, they're pests.

45. Jitters: NERVES.

46. Tropical lizard: IGUANA.

47. Meeting list: AGENDA.

49. Nervously clumsy: GAWKY.

51. Egyptian market city: ASWAN.

52. Furious: IRATE.

53. Person eager to tackle home improvement projects, briefly: DIYer.  Do-It-Yourselfer.

55. Those folks: THEM.

59. New Haven student: ELI.  Elihu Yale was the primary benefactor of Yale University, and students at Yale are called Elis in his memory.

60. Petting zoo bird: EMU.  This seems to be a thing, but is it really safe to have a small child pet an emu?

Here's the grid:

So, did you find THE WAY?  Or WERE you LOST?

NaomiZ

Thursday, October 24, 2024, Renee Thomason

   Terpsichore

Today's puzzle is all about dancing so I've taken the title of this review from the name of the Greek muse of Dance and Choral music and the opening video is a performance of La Bourée by Renaissance composer Michael Praetorius from his Dances from Terpsichore.

Today's constructor is our very own Renée Thomason, and today is her first solo without her mentor C.C. Burnikel.  And I have to say that C.C. has mentored her well.  I usually don't comment on the quality of puzzles, but in this case I really enjoyed solving and reviewing this one.  Not only was there a cleverly executed theme to amuse us, but there were no references to obscure pop culture icons,  and  some very clever cluing.

Here are the themers.  They don't appear to have anything in common semantically so we really need the reveal to tell us that they all have something to do with dancing ...

56. Moonwalk, running man, floss, et al., and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues?: DANCE MOVES. And here I'll squeeze in a bit more music to show us something about the nature of these dances -- they really resemble a frenzied Italian Tarantella ...

... scrambled across the theme clues ...!

16A. *Smack-dab in the middle: DEAD CENTER.

22A. *Appetizer with lots of toppings: LOADED NACHOS.

35A. *Solving the Sunday crossword, for one: WEEKEND ACTIVITY.

45A. *Some design transfers: IRON ON DECALS.

Note the adherence to the convention that the embedded word must span multi-word fill.  Finding the right combination of words for the themers and finding a place for them in the grid is impressive. 

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Chunk of fairway: DIVOT.  We recently took one of our granddaughters to our first POLO match this Summer and found that during the Chukkers (time outs to swap out horses) the audience is invited onto the field (which is 9 times the size of a football field!) for "DIVOT stomping."

6. All-__ pots and pans: CLAD. Pots and pans used by the pros ...

 10. Exactly suitable: APT.

13. "Parting is such sweet sorrow, mon ami": ADIEU.  Today's French lesson -- "goodbye", spoken to a male friend, A DIEU is actually a blessing ("to God") and is used when the separation will be long term or permanent.  Au revoir ("Until I see you again") is used for short term partings.

14. Classroom helper: AIDE.

15. Qatari ruler: EMIR.

16. [Theme clue]

18. Tree with needles and cones: PINE.  Conifers -- a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Unlike deciduous trees (oaks, maples, poplars, etc.) which shed their leaves in the Fall, conifers drop their needles gradually over the course of the year. 

19. Continuing ed course: ESL.  English as a Second Language.

20. Mixology verb: STIR.

21. Dukes: FISTS.  Maybe this is why they called John Wayne "the Duke" -- because he used his fists so much.

22. [Theme clue]

25. Birds with blue eggs: ROBINS.  We're talking here of course about American Robins ...

Robin Eggs (American)

 The eggs of the English Robin are a buff with reddish-brown spots ...

Robin Eggs (English)

28. "I'm all __!": EARS.

29. Casserole appliance: OVEN.

30. Off: AMISS.

32. The "Gras" of "Mardi Gras": FAT.  More French -- "Fat Tuesday", i.e. getting stuffed on the Tuesday before the first day of of Lent (Ash Wednesday), a season of fasting.

35. [Theme clue]

39. Soon-to-be alumni: Abbr.: SRS.

40. Window part: LEDGE.

41. Sound imitated by hitting coconut halves together: CLOP.  Used to great effect by these coconuts ...

42. Cor anglais kin: OBOE.  What's the difference between a Cor Anglais and an OBOE?  Here Vivien Kong plays a lovely excerpt from the second movement of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World with  a Cor anglais ("English Horn") ...

43. Abrasion: SCRAPE.

45. [Theme clue]

50. Update, as a library card: RENEW.

51. Tomato paste tomato: ROMA.

52. Bird that can weigh more than a baby hippo: EMU. Who knew -- a new EMU clue?

55. Rae of "Insecure": ISSA.  Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer.  Founder of Hoorae Media, she achieved wider recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO television series Insecure (2016–2021), for which she was nominated for multiple Golden Globes Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards.  Here's a very short clip with Issa as President Barbie in the 2023 film Barbie ...

56. [Theme reveal]

59. Mushroom part: STEM.

60. As well: ALSO.

61. Amazon option: PRIME.  I was surprised that Renée didn't clue this with a bit of number theory. 😀

62. FDR successor: HST.  Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Missouri from 1935 to 1945 and briefly in 1945 as the 34th vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Assuming the presidency after Roosevelt's death, Truman implemented the Marshall Plan in the wake of World War II to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism.  

Harry S. Truman

I always thought that his middle initial, "S" was just a placeholder, but in fact it stands for two names, honoring both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.

63. Prerelease software version: BETA.  In my experience the "release" software IS the BETA.  That's when the real debugging starts. 😀

64. Tennis star Monica: SELES.  Monica Seles (born December 2, 1973) is a former world No. 1 tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. She won nine major singles titles, eight of them as a teenager while representing Yugoslavia, and the final one while representing the United States. 

Monica Seles

Down:

1. Miami-__ County: DADE. Miami-Dade County is in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida (CSO to unclefred and Lemonade). The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States.  The county seat is Miami, the core of the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 6.138 million people.  As I am writing this, I'm sure the people throughout the state of Florida still have much work to do to recover from hurricane Milton.

Miami-Dade County

2. Midmonth day: IDES.  We have the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) to thank for this bit of crosswordese. 😀

3. Bottle in a lab: VIAL.

4. 20-vol. lexicon: OED.  You can also buy this used edition of the 2-vol OED, complete with magnifying glass, for as low as $79.95 ...

2 volume OED

... or you can subscribe to the online version for £100/$100, or you can just highlight the word, e.g. lexicon, and let Google find the definition.  Hand up if you've used a paper dictionary in the past year?

5. Arizona city nicknamed "The Old Pueblo": TUCSON.  Here's how Tucson came to own its charming nickname.

6. Cat : felid :: dog : __: CANID.  Today's Latin lesson.

7. Bath water volume: LITRE.  Clever clue! -- Bath the town, not the vessel for bathing.  I spent 2 weeks working in Bath once, but I took showers so I can't tell you how many LITRES of water I used. If truth be told however, only the government, industry, commerce, and scientific research have been metricated, whereas the common folk still use Imperial units -- when Brits walk into a pub they will invariably order their ALE by the PINT (i.e. 473 ML).

8. Citrusy suffix: ADE.

9. German article: DER.  Today's German lesson: THE -- DER, DIE, and DAS are the definite articles used to modify masculine,  feminine and neuter nouns.  In English we don't make such distinctions and use THE as the definite article for all nouns, e.g. "the boy, the girl, the table", but in German it's not that simple.

10. Community known for barn raisings: AMISH.  This scene from the 1985 film Witness shows how they do it ... 

11. Skewbald horse: PINTO.  Not to be confused with a Paint.

Pinto horse

12. Lock of hair: TRESS.

15. Sweeping accounts: EPICS.  They don't get any more epic than this ...

17. Airport sked details: ETAS.

21. Language of Iran: FARSI.  Also the language of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam see clue 9A of the puzzle for 10/10/2024 for a sample of FARSI.

22. Common sight on Safari: LINK.  Another clever one -- if like me you didn't notice that Safari was capitalized and you'd already perped the first two letters: LI, you would have reflexively filled LION, rather LINK -- a URL on a Safari browser page.

23. Prepare for a winter flight: DE-ICE.

24. Political cartoonist Thomas: NAST. Thomas Nast (September 26, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon".  He also  popularized the donkey as the symbol for the Democratic Party and the elephant, for the Republican Party; and created the “modern” image of Santa Claus.

Thomas Nast

25. Takes the oars: ROWS.

26. No longer hung up on: OVER.

27. Crucial pollinators: BEES.  Some are more crucial than others.

30. Included more: ADDED.

31. Short periodical?: MAG.

32. Hoka rival: FILA.  I'd not heard of Hoka shoes, but I did know FILA because one of my BILs used to work for them.  Our clue is also today's Māori lesson: the word Hoka means "to fly" in that language.

33. Sitting upon: ATOP.

34. Blood category: TYPE.

36. Pasta salad pasta shape: ELBOW.

37. Colorless gas that makes colorful signs: NEON.  For over 70 years this NEON sign dominated the sky above the Baltimore Harbor, but eventually succumbed to old age.  On July 4, 2021 it was replaced by an LED version.  The lowercase “o” from the old Domino Sugar sign was donated to the Baltimore Museum of Industry. 

38. Old tape players: VCRS.

42. Last-call hr., sometimes: ONE AM.

43. Equal: SAME.

44. Workshop grippers: CLAMPS.  There are a lot of shapes and sizes ...

Workshop clamps

45. __ setter: IRISH.  Beautiful dogs and great with children ...
 

Irish Setter

46. Recuperates, say: RESTS.

47. Get-go: ONSET.

48. Surrealist Max: ERNST.  Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalized American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism in Europe.  If the word surrealist is clued in a crossword puzzle, the fill is almost invariably DALI or ERNST.

Max Ernst

49. Marshmallow-topped drink: COCOA.

52. Really rotten: EVIL.

53. Social media share: MEME.  A MEME begins as a social media share, but like the GENE, the biological entity upon which the idea is based, it must be propagated widely in order to survive.  While I don't always see eye to eye with the bloke, I have to give credit to ethologist and story teller Richard Dawkins for coining this word in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene.

54. Applications: USES.

56. Skosh: DAB.  Here's one clue that I doubt Patti came up with -- our constructor likely brought it back from Japan.

57. Taproom brew: ALE.  See also 7D.

58. Mine find: ORE.  Solvers often find ORE in crosswords too.

Cheers,

Bill

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

waseeley

Notes from C.C.:

1) Congrats on your first solo, Renee! I'm so proud of your accomplishment.

2) Happy 80th to Uncle Fred, an avid Packers fan! Fred is based in Fort Lauderdale.