Tuesday, August 5, 2025 Robbie Cottom

Years on End.  

4-Down.  *  Grayish time at dusk or dawn:  HALF LIGHT.  Half Year //  Light Year.  Did you know there are three distinct types of Half Light? There is Civil Dusk/Dawn, Nautical Dusk/Dawn and Astronomical Dusk/Dawn.  These stages are determined by the position of the sun below the horizon.

18-Down. *  Removed from the docket, as a legal hearing: OFF CALENDAR.  Off Year  //  Calendar Year

28-Down. *  Penultimate: SECOND LAST.  Second Year  //  Last Year

37-Down. *  Nontraditional: NEW SCHOOL.  New Year  //  School Year  The school year begins here on Thursday, August 7.  

And the unifier:

10-Down:  Like some annual accounting comparisons, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues:  YEAR ON YEAR.  The word Year can be added to each of the words in the theme answers to give us a new concept.

Across:

1. Cashew, e.g.: NUT.

4. __-hop music: HIP.

7. Director Reiner: ROB.  Robert Norman Reiner (b. Mar. 6, 1947) is probably best known as his portrayal of Michael Stivic from All in the Family.  One of the earliest films he directed is This is Spinal Tap.  He also directed When Harry Met Sally ...

10. Tuber in West African cuisine: YAM.

13. Nonsense refrain syllables: SHA LA LA.

15. Laudatory poem: ODE.  A crossword staple.

16. Big bird: EMU.  Emus appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle.

17. In full view: FOR ALL TO SEE.

19. Like Big Bird's name: APT.

20. Seaport's loading and unloading area: WHARF.

21. Opening of a never-give-up slogan: IF AT FIRST.  This initially looked at this answer and saw I Fat First.  What??!!

23. Unfriendly: ALOOF.

25. Editor's target: TYPO.

26. B'way musical set in Paris: LES MIS.  Or more formally, Les Misérables.  I see this shortened to Les Miz more often than Les Mis.  The musical is based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo (1802 ~ 1885), which was about the June Rebellion of 1832 in Paris.

29. Spy org.: CIA.  As in the Central Intelligence Agency.

31. Burden: ONUS.

34. Logger's tool: AXE. 

Paul Bunyan with his Axe in Bangor, Maine.

35. Brag: GLOAT.

37. "Bye Bye Bye" boy band: *NSYNC.  The boy band that was active in the late 1990, and helped to launch Justin Timberlake's career.

38. Open __ night: MIC.

39. 1-800-555-2368 for Ghostbusters, e.g.: HOT-LINE.

41. Pilot's update, briefly: ETA.  As in Estimated Time of Arrival.

42. Up in the air: ALOFT.

44. Hem again: RESEW.

45. Broadcast: AIR.

46. Silver State city near Tahoe: RENO.  Reno, Nevada is the home of the National Judicial College.

47. Junior: SON.

48. Fish-eating hawk: OSPREY.

50. Unit of medication: DOSE.

52. Prom, for one: DANCE.

54. Brand of flour since 1880: GOLD MEDAL.  Everything you ever wanted to know about Gold Medal flower.

57. "By the power of Grayskull" cartoon hero: HE-MAN.

61. Pen name letters: AKA.  Also Known As.

62. "Fingers crossed!": I SURE HOPE SO.

64. Tax org.: IRS.  As the Internal Revenue Service.

65. Fella: LAD.

66. Cock-a-doodle-do-er: ROOSTER.

67. "Unforgettable" singer __ King Cole: NAT.  Sadly, Nat King Cole (né Nathaniel Adams Coles; Mar. 18, 1919 ~ Feb. 15, 1965), died of lung cancer at only age 45.

68. Lamb's mother: EWE.

69. No. on a resume: TEL.  As in a Telephone number.

70. "A Change Is Gonna Come" singer-songwriter Cooke: SAM.  The death of Sam Cooke (né Samuel Cook; Jan. 22, 1931 ~ Dec. 11, 1964) remains mysterious many decades later.

Down:

1. "Click this link at your own risk" letters: NSFW.  Not Suitable For Work.

2. "Crikey": UH, OH!

3. "The Big Lebowski" actress Reid: TARA.  Tara Reid (née Tara Donna Reid; b. Nov. 8, 1975) portrayed Bunny Lebowski in the film.

5. __-at-ease: ILL.

6. Barbecue spot: PATIO.

7. Santa __, California: ROSA.

8. Folk singer known as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement": ODETTA.  Odetta (née Odetta Holmes; b. Dec. 31, 1930 ~ Dec. 2, 2008) makes occasional appearances in the puzzles.

9. Muscular: BEEFY.

11. Concert blasters: AMPS.

12. Pup without a pedigree: MUTT.

14. SoCal NFLer: LA RAM.

22. Wall St. debuts: IPOs.  As in Initial Public Offerings.

24. Capital city near the North Sea: OSLO.  The capital of Norway.

26. Rapper Kendrick: LAMAR.  Kendrick Lamar (né Kendrick Lamar Duckworth; b. June 17, 1987) is a Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper, songwriter and record producer.

27. One cast out: EXILE.

30. "Seriously?": IT IS.

32. Release, perhaps: UNTIE.  Unite!

33. Frightening: SCARY.

36. Other, in Spanish: OTRO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

40. Like much classic Las Vegas signage: NEON.

43. Sustenance: FOOD.

47. Teeter-totter: SEESAW.

49. Pals, in slang: PEEPS.

51. "Say cheese!": SMILE.

53. Warning signal: ALERT.

54. "Buy low, sell high" result: GAIN.

55. Creole pod: OKRA.  Okra is a staple in Gumbo.  It is also good fried.

56. "Bro!": DUDE.

58. New York MLB team: METS.

59. Sailing: ASEA.

60. Social standard: NORM.

63. Soil-turning tool: HOE.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Monday January 13, 2025 Robbie Cottom

 

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with Robbie Cottom's sophomore LA Times offering.  Theme:  A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN  

"There's no crying in baseball!"

A League of Their Own  ~  1992  ~  (1:48 min.)

Tom Hanks and Bitty Schram (Recognize her from Monk?)

The four themers are:

17 Across. Musical interval that spans four semitones: MAJOR THIRD.  Here is a 40 sec. explanation:  

20 Across. One of two Supreme Court members appointed by 5-Across: JUSTICE KAGAN.  (b. April 28, 1960 in New York, NY) She became the 112th JUSTICE of the Supreme Court in 2010. Note: Pres. Obama's other appointee was #111, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

JUSTICE KAGAN

58 Across. Relatively cool period of European history?: LITTLE ICE AGE.  This Britannica article says it occurred from 1300 to 1850-ish.

64 Across. Drag performer who won Miss Congeniality on Season 5 of "RuPaul's Drag Race": IVY WINTERS.  While I am not familiar with this person, I can see how IVY used as a name differentiates it from the plant connected with the schools in the reveal.

Today's reveal lies on the equator:

39. Many championship-bound teams, or what the starts of 17-, 20-, 58-, and 64-Across are: LEAGUE LEADERS.

The starts of each themed answer can go in front of the word LEAGUE to create a new, in-the-language phrase. In this way, they LEAD the word LEAGUE. We have:

MAJOR LEAGUE:  the highest-ranking league in a particular professional sport, especially baseball.

JUSTICE LEAGUE:  a group of superheroes in the DC Comics universe.  

If you watched Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s, 

you likely saw this 1 min. intro to Super Friends.

LITTLE LEAGUE:  a youth baseball program started in 1930 in Williamsport, PA.  more info.

IVY LEAGUE:   a group of eight private colleges located in the northeast section of the U.S.

Next we will look at the 73 remaining clues:

Across:

1. Overconfident racer of fable: HARE.  not to be confused with "win by a hair"

5. Barack who was the 44th U.S. president: OBAMA.

10. Shedloads: A TON.  Shedloads is an informal word more common in the U.K. than it is in the U.S. It means "a large amount".  

You can fit A TON of stuff in these sheds.

14. "My good lady": MA'AM.     and     43 Across. "My good man": SIR.

15. More peaked: PALER.

16. "Video Games" singer Del Rey: LANA.  Two weeks ago we had 42-Across "Lust for Life" singer Lana ___ Rey.  DEL

19. Family chart: TREE.  

22. "Now I'm with you": GOT IT.  It took me a bit to get this one.

25. Overnight stop: INN.

26. Historical period: ERA.

27. Actress Longoria: EVA.

28. Meeting, informally: SESH.  short for session 

32. Smartphone user's "Keep in touch": TEXT ME.  

Blues Traveler   ~   Run Around   ~   1994

"Hey babe, let's keep in touch.

Hey, baby, let's keep in touch."

34. Acorn producers: OAKS.  The Coastal OAKS here on the Monterey Peninsula are having a mast year. Nature never ceases to amaze!

36. Stags and does: DEER.  plural of DEER

38. Gp. for physicians: AMA.  Group and American Medical Association

44. Scheme: PLAN.

45. "Sweet!": NEAT.  

47. Strangers, slangily: RANDOS.  RANDOm people

50. __ and ends: ODDS.  My Australian friends call their pot-luck parties "ODDS and SODS" -- an informal British term used to describe different kinds of things that are usually small and unimportant.

52. In the past: AGO.

53. Music producer Brian: ENO.  Yesterday -T pointed out that this is one spelled backwards.

54. Feminine pronoun: HER.

56. "All good, thanks": I'M SET.  I related this one to a handy Japanese phrase:  けっこうです.  Use kekkou desu to reply when a waitress asks, "Do you want me to refill your water glass?" or a store clerk asks, "Do you want a bag for your purchases?"

63. Kuwaiti ruler: EMIR.  This 1:47 min. news segment from Aljazeera covers the swearing in of Kuwaiti's EMIR just over one year ago.  

68. Tuesday treat: TACO.  

69. Birth-related: NATAL.  NATAL and nation both came from the Latin word nasci.

70. Milky white gem: OPAL.

71. Snow coaster: SLED.  

Whoo-hoooo!

72. Narrow valleys: GLENS.

73. Like Cheerios: OATY.  

Down:

1. "Let me see ... ": HMM.

2. Roadside aid org.: AAA.  organization and American Automobile Association

3. Koothrappali on "The Big Bang Theory": RAJ.  

RAJ (Kunal Nayyar) and his dog Cinnamon

4. Symbol such as Exploding Head: EMOJI.  

Use it to express shock or disbelief as in, "That blew my mind!"

5. Goes (for): OPTS.

6. Thai currency: BAHT.  It is illegal to 59-Down on a Thai BAHT because the king's face is on the bills. Doing so would be insulting to the Thai royal family and could result in three or more years of imprisonment.

7. Et __: and others: ALII.  From Grammarly:  Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia (neuter plural). But it can also be an abbreviation for et alii (masculine plural), or et aliae (feminine plural). This phrase means and others. Most commonly, et al. indicates other contributors (authors, editors, etc.) in a bibliographic list.

8. French "Thank you": MERCI.  

9. Passionate: ARDENT.

10. Opposite of baja: ALTA.  

a little bit of Alta California history

11. Focus of some campaigns: TARGET AREAS.  This term is also used when talking about working out.  

12. Like difficult pushups: ONE-ARM.  Speaking of working out, check out Jack LaLanne doing these on his fingertips! (His dog is not impressed.)  link to video

13. Swaying hip-hop dance: NAE NAE.  BuzzFeed says this dance is loosely inspired by Sheneneh Jenkins, the female character played by Martin Lawrence on his '90s sitcom, Martin.

18. Dull routines: RUTS.  

21. Work, as dough: KNEAD.  

22. Cable's Nat __ Wild: GEO.  

23. Not quite round: OVAL.

24. Pays attention: TAKES NOTICE.  

29. End of a dean's email address: EDU.

30. Ooze: SEEP.

31. "Mornin'!," in the morning: HELLO.  At first I mistook the quotation marks as a title indicator. I thought "Mornin'!" was a TV show I did not know. Then I determined it was just someone shortening their "Good morning" greeting.

33. Marvel Comics mutants: X-MEN.  

35. Spoken: SAID.  Both are adjectives here.

37. Crack a book: READ.  

40. Dave of the Foo Fighters: GROHL.  Happy early birthday to Dave Grohl who turns 56 tomorrow! Before founding the Foo Fighters, he was Nirvana' drummer from 1990 to 1994. His unofficial nickname is "the nicest guy in rock" but his reputation took an unfortunate hit last September. The old saying goes, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." 

performing in Denmark last July 5

41. Furthermore: AND.  

42. Poultry herb: SAGE.  My grandmother used a lot of SAGE in her turkey stuffing recipe.

46. Tater bite: TOT.  

47. Puts on Airbnb again: RELETS.  Def.: to rent out again.

48. Neither vegetable nor mineral: ANIMAL.  This clue was a fun play on a classic 20 Questions-style game. Test your knowledge here. To play, click on whether you think it is an animal (it's alive), a vegetable (it grows), or a mineral (it's not alive, does not grow, but comes from the ground).

49. Dating: SEEING.  

texting screenshot

51. Talk, as with a deaf person: SIGN.  verb meaning "to use SIGN language"

55. Challenger: RIVAL.  Has anyone seen the 2024 romantic sports drama Challengers? It has 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. I have not seen the film but the intense music score caught my attention so I've added it to my queue. Here's a taste:  

57. "Ditto": ME, TOO.

59. Walked (on): TROD.

60. Suffix meaning "cell": -CYTE.  For example, an osteocyte is a cell that lies within the substance of a fully formed bone.

This "Y" was my last fill. I was fairly sure it had to be a vowel -- so not a complete WAG.

61. Actor McGregor: EWAN.  his IMDb page

62. Feels sick: AILS.

65. Clean water org.: EPA.  organization and Environmental Protection Agency

Pres. Richard Nixon created the EPA on Dec. 2, 1970 to protect human health and the environment.

66. Tattletale: RAT.  

James Cagney   ~   Taxi!   ~   1931
(Splynter and I were on the same page this week.)

67. Sneaky: SLY.  

Those last two were fun neighbors in the grid.

Speaking of the grid, here you go:

That's all for today. Have a premier week!