While Alex Rohrer has published here before, I believe this is Rodrigo Kerlegand's LAT debut. Together, they're troublemakers, but I guess rules were meant to be broken!
38. Cheating, or what the black squares in rows 3, 5, 11, and 13 are doing: BREAKING THE RULES. This phrase clues us in that the theme words are BREAKING i.e. being divided by a black square. The end of the first word on the line plus the beginning of the second create synonyms for RULES: ORDER, BYLAW, EDICT and MANDATE.
When the revealer is in the middle, as a rule it spills the beans and the rest of the puzzle isn't as fun. But not in this case. I mean, what do HIT RECORD and LAWN MOWER have in common? The theme was so well hidden I had to discover it upon completion. I know some people don't like themes that are of no help in the solve, but I liked this one nonetheless. What does bother me a bit is when I have to spend half my review time looking up bios of various celebrities.
I'll now rule on the rest.
Across:
1. With deftness: ABLY.
5. Clogs (up): DAMS. Some damn big clogs!
9. Typical Stan Lee role: CAMEO. Stan Lee, creator of many comic book superheroes, made cameo appearances in dozens of films, TV shows, and video games, most famously appearing in 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
14. Manitoba people: CREE.
15. Vinaigrette ingredient, initially: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's the good stuff.
16. Throw shade at: HATE ON.
17. Start filming, say: HIT RECORD. And as a noun, a HIT RECORD is a chart-topping album.
19. Like a drive deep in the woods?: ERRANT. It's how many golfers spend their Saturdays.
20. Pioneers of old-school rap, for short: OGS. Original Gangsters. Initially, this was used in specific street and hip-hop contexts, but over time, it was shortened it to “OG” and the meaning broadened to “original” or “authentic,” often without any criminal connotation. As in: C.C. is the OG!
21. "__ Lisa": MONA. Da Vinci's painting has a nice frame per Mr. Bean, but it's also a classic song by one of the greatest singers of all time, Nat King Cole.
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| Talk about smooth vocals! |
22. React to meeting one's hero, perhaps: SWOON. It's an occupational hazard of being a crossword blogger, but I'm getting used to it.
23. "Wowza!": OH BABY. "Is it really you, RustyBrain?!"
25. One pushed to make cuts?: LAWN MOWER. Winner: Best Clue.
29. Mega- times mega-: TERA. Prefixes for a million x million = trillion.
30. Disaster response org.: FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
31. Actress Polo: TERI. I guess Polo is the new Garr, but she does look very familiar. I think I first saw TERI Polo in the Meet the Parents movies with Ben Stiller.
32. Bombeck who advised, "Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth": ERMA. Great quote from a funny woman.
34. Situated on: ATOP.
37. Sass: LIP. Don't gimme any of that!
38. [theme]
43. Abbr. in calculus class: LIM. A LIMIT in calc is the value that a function approaches as it's input gets closer and closer to some value.
44. "Ditto!": SAME. Ditto machines were early duplicators that used liquid alcohol to dissolve a bit of purple wax dye from a master copy and stamp it onto a page. Each time it was used, a little more wax was removed, so after a while the copy quality degraded.
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| I remember the smell from ditto sheets in school. |
45. Paradise: EDEN.
46. Celebrity pair: ITEM.
48. Son of Hera: ARES.
50. Padre's hermanos: TIOS. A Spanish father's brother is your uncle.
53. First responder: PARAMEDIC.
56. Game played in the trunk before a road trip?: TETRIS. I'm so good at this 3D TETRIS "game" that I'm in high demand. I've helped many friends load up a truck for a move and they're always amazed how much I can fit in.
58. Mark: GRADE. Back in the day, tests in school were often printed on Ditto machines.
59. Bait: LURE.
61. Medical pen prefix: EPI. An EPIpen is a disposable, pre-filled auto-injector device used to deliver a measured dose of epinephrine (adrenaline) in an emergency to treat severe, life-threatening allergic reactions.
62. Val Kilmer's "Top Gun" role: ICEMAN. Too bad Val died at 65 due to complications from throat cancer. I liked him as Jim Morrison in The Doors biopic.
64. Couple's outing: DATE NIGHT.
66. California wine valley: SONOMA. SONOMA County vineyards and the broader California wine industry are facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Driven by declining wine consumption, oversupply, and rising operational costs, many generational vineyards have closed, leaving their grapes to rot.
67. Spot for dirty dishes: SINK.
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| Reminds me of college, for some reason. |
68. Corner chess piece: ROOK. The ROOK is the second most valuable piece on the board (after the queen) because they can move rapidly and cover any row or column.
69. Actress who voices Bo Peep in the "Toy Story" franchise: POTTS. Annie POTTS, now 73, has performed on both TV and the big screen. I remember her from Ghostbusters.
70. "__ bien!": TRES.
71. Chlumsky of "Veep": ANNA. ANNA is an American actress who has appeared on Broadway and in movies, but she's mostly known for her TV roles.
Down:
1. Hay fever sound: ACHOO. Gesundheit! (Which means "health" in German.)
2. Quick-witted: BRIGHT. I'm so bright, my mom called me "son." I'll show myself out...
3. Doesn't bother: LETS BE.
4. "__ darn tootin'!": YER.
5. Distraction: DECOY.
6. Stratford-upon-__: AVON. The town of Stratford on the AVON river was The Bard's old stomping ground.
7. Team spirit: MORALE. Rah.
8. Turf: SOD.
9. Pool bounce: CAROM.
10. Fundamentally: AT ROOT. This phrasing may be used in formal writing, but is less common in everyday speech.
11. Have the best of intentions: MEAN WELL.
12. Extremely long time: EON.
13. Toronto's prov.: ONT. Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of ONTARIO.
16. Chopped down: HEWN. I wonder why after chopping down a tree, I have to chop it up.
18. Sets off: EMBARKS.
22. Wraps tightly: SWATHES.
24. Neighborhood: AREA.
26. Amo, amas, __: AMAT. Amo, amas, AMAT, amamus, amatis, amant is the present tense conjugation of the Latin verb amare. I love, you love, he (she, it) loves, we love, you (plural) love, they love. Three years of Latin in high school!
27. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE. ERIE averages 62 feet deep vs. Superior's 483.
28. Features of some jeans: RIPS. RIPS in a old pair of favorite jeans are well earned, but I can't see buying new ones that are pre-ripped.
30. Like some unauthorized editions: FANMADE.
33. "Mamma __!": MIA. Mamma MIA! is a jukebox musical featuring ABBA songs that has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut. A film adaptation was released in 2008.
35. Wordsmith's ref.: OED. Ye olde Oxford English Dictionary is a huge reference work. You'll need a library cart to check it out.
36. Many a Little Leaguer: PRETEEN.
38. Minor disruption: BLIP.
39. Pop star Ora: RITA. RITA Ora is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress.
40. Up-and-coming: EMERGENT.
41. Mel B and Mel C bandmate: GERI. Dang! I wanted Mel A. GERI Halliwell et al. were Spice Girls.
42. Second, for one: UNIT. I liked last week's clue better: "Second, but not first."
47. Squirrel kin: MARMOT. MARMOTs are known as "whistle pigs," because they use loud, high-pitched whistles to alert their colonies to danger.
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| This one just watched The Lion King. |
49. Pastry choice: ECLAIR.
51. The Beaver State: OREGON.
52. Suction tube: SIPHON.
54. Polite addresses: MA'AMS.
55. Crime novelist Buchanan: EDNA. EDNA Buchanan is an American journalist and writer.
56. Long journeys: TREKS. Like the one through the stars many moons ago...
57. First capital of Alaska: SITKA. I knew of this because SITKA spruce is the most common wood used for guitar tops because it offers an ideal balance of light weight and high stiffness.
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| My Martin D-42 |
60. Eclectic magazine: UTNE. The UTNE Reader is an American digital and print digest of alternative media, politics, and culture created in 1984 by Eric UTNE (pronounced UT-nee).
62. Web access co.: ISP. Internet Service Provider.
63. Murmur: COO.
64. Summer hrs.: DST. Daylight Saving Time.
65. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
Hopefully, I didn't break any rules along the way!
Be good. RB
