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!

Tuesday October 1, 2024 Robbie Cottom

I Spy with My Little Eye.  Each theme answer is a two-word phrase and each word begins or Opens with the letter "I", hence each phrase is an "EYE" Opener.

17-Across. *  Scoop: INSIDE INFO.

23-Across. *  One in a chain west of mainland Greece: IONIAN ISLAND.

35-Across. *  "I like the way you think": INTERESTING IDEA.

50-Across. *  Medium for a junior coder: INVISIBLE INK.

And the unifier:

59-Acrpss. Startling revelations, or what the answers to the starred clues have, phonetically: EYE OPENERS.

Across:

1. Pop star Lady __: GAGA.  Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (b. Mar. 28, 1986), is said to have taken her stage name, Lady Gaga, from the Queen song Radio Ga Ga.  [Name # 1.]

5. Picture puzzle: REBUS.  A rebus is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases.

10. Ooze: SEEP.

14. Travel without a destination: ROAM.

15. Ivy in Philly: U PENN.  A brief history of the University of Pennsylvania.

16. 24/7 cash devices: ATMs.

19. Perlman who played Barbie's creator in 2023: RHEA.  Rhea Jo Perlman (b. Mar. 31, 1948) is probably best known for playing Carla Tortelli on the sit-com Cheers.  [Name # 2.]

20. "Loving" actress Ruth: NEGGA.  Ruth Negga (b. May 4, 1981) is an Irish-Ethiopian actress best known for her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the 2016 movie, Loving.  The movie was based on the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who were the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court Case of Loving v. Virginia.   They had been criminally charged with an interracial marriage, which was illegal in Virginia.  Their surname was so appropriate for such a suit.  [Name # 3.]

21. Argentine aunt: TIA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

22. Meager: SCANT.

26. Alias indicator: AKA.  Also Known As.

28. Concert device: AMP.

29. Upcycles, say: REUSES.  Merriam-Webster defines Upcycles as: "to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)".

30. Gentle suggestion: HINT.

32. __ Beta Kappa: PHI.  The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, in December 1776.

34. Tonsils-checking doc: ENT.  Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor.

41. Sonny: LAD.

42. My Chemical Romance genre: EMO.  My Chemical Romance is a rock band.

43. Actor Weathers: CARL.  Carl Weathers (Jan. 14, 1948 ~ Feb. 2, 2024) is probably best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise.  He died earlier this year.  [Name # 4.]

44. Transferred, as property: DEEDED.

47. Ga. capital: ATL.  Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.

49. Sewer scurrier: RAT.

53. Cookout spot: PATIO.

54. Third key in a reboot sequence: DEL.  //  And 40-Down. Second key in a reboot sequence: ALT.  When the combination of Ctrl+Alt+Del are pressed together, it is a computer keyboard command.  The function of the key combination generally interrupts or facilitates interrupting a function.  The choice of the three keys was deliberate, so it is not something that one would do accidentally.

55. Not exactly, casually: KINDA.

58. Yale students: ELIs.  This is becoming a crossword staple.

61. Zipped along: TORE.

62. Large water lily: LOTUS.

63. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI.  Esai Manuel Morales (b. Oct. 1, 1962) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  Today is his 62nd birthday.  [Name # 5.]

64. Got wiser, hopefully: AGED.

65. Stubbornly old-fashioned: FUSTY.  And an Old-Fashioned word and one I will probably never use.

66. Retired fast fliers: Abbr.: SSTs.  As in SuperSonic Transport airliner.

Down:

1. Smile: GRIN.

2. First-class: A-ONE.

3. Planet largely composed of helium and hydrogen: GAS GIANT.  There four gas giants in our solar system: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter. 

4. Chum: AMIGO.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

5. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the __ Morgue": RUE.  The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1849) and was first published in 1841. The story is widely considered to be the first modern detective story.  The story takes place in Paris, France and is about C. Auguste Dupin who solves the mystery of the brutal murder of two women.

6. Finish lines?: EPITAPHS.  Cute clue.  Some famous or infamous last words.

7. Country formally known as Dahomey: BENIN.  Hand up if you recognized either of these country names.  Benin is a French-speaking in West Africa.  It is said to be the birthplace of the voodoo religion.  It was known as the Dahomey Kingdom from 1600–1900.

8. Biased: UNFAIR.

9. __-cone: SNO.

10. Cutting, as some remarks: SARCASTIC.

11. Odorless gas: ETHANE.  Ethane is structurally the simplest hydrocarbon that contains a single carbon–carbon bond.

12. Corrects: EMENDS.

13. Prep exam with a high score of 1520: PSAT.  A crossword staple.  Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.

18. "SNL" alum Carvey: DANA.  Dana Thomas Carvey (b. June 2, 1955) was on Saturday Night Live from 1968 to 1993.  He created The Church Lady.  [Name # 6.]

22. Hurled: SLUNG.

24. Blocks: IMPEDES.

25. [More details below]: SEE NOTE.

26. Yellowfin tuna: AHI.  Yummers!

27. Kith and __: KIN.  This expression dates from the 1300s and originally meant “countrymen” ( kith meant “one's native land”) and “family members.” 

31. On the air: TELEVISED.

33. Suburban suffix: -ITE.  As in a Suburbanite, a person who lives in a city.

36. Music source in a car: RADIO.

37. "Just sold my last one": I'M ALL OUT!

38. Lack of light: DARKNESS.

39. Time period: ERA.

44. __ box: interactive window: DIALOG.

45. Complete: ENTIRE.

46. Skeptical question, perhaps: DID YOU?

48. Show appreciation, on Facebook: LIKE.

51. Borscht need: BEETS.  Borscht is a soup made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients.  It's actually quite delicious.

52. Dressed to the __: NINES.  What is the origin of this expression?

53. Activist org. with a rabbit in its logo: PETA.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

56. "Curses!": DRAT.

57. eBay caveat: AS IS.

59. Will Ferrell holiday film: ELF.  [Name # 7.]

60. Therapist's maj.: PSY.  As in Psychology.  Not to be confused with the singer Psy who appeared in the puzzle a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the Grid:

I hope that any of you who were impacted by Hurricane Helene are safe and didn't suffer a lot of damage.  That storm was much more damaging than originally anticipated.

חתולה