Tuesday November 16, 2021 Sam Acker

Ready for Prime Time?  The number in each of the theme answers is a Prime Number.  To take you back to math class, a Prime Number a whole number above 1 that cannot be made by multiplying other whole numbers.  The actors in the clip below were not considered ready for Prime Time.

18-Across. Automatic time-out near the end of each NFL half: TWO MINUTE WARNING.

29-Across. Guided sightseeing event in the "Gilligan's Island" theme: THREE HOUR TOUR.

37-Across. Food-dropped-on-the-floor "policy": FIVE SECOND RULE.

47-Across 1955 Marilyn Monroe film, with "The": SEVEN YEAR ITCH.

And the unifier:

62. Large-audience schedule item ... and what the four other longest answers comprise?: PRIME TIME LISTING.

Across:
1. Outer border: EDGE.

5. Soft "Hey, you!": PSST!

9. Type of bagel: SESAME.  I prefer the Everything Bagel, myself.

15. "Wuthering Heights" setting: MOOR.  Wuthering Heights is a 1847 novel by Emily Brontë (July 30, 1818 ~ Dec. 19, 1848).  It's the novel with Heathcliff and it takes place in the English moors.  That is my entire knowledge of the novel.

16. "I have a bad feeling about this": UH, OH!

17. Removed, as a pencil mark: ERASED.

21. Pay a call on: VISIT.

22. Auction offer: BID.

23. Medium-sized apple: GALA.  Everything you wanted to know about the Gala apples, but didn't know to ask.

24. Parts of an act: SCENES.  Hi, Keith!

26. Dance named for a horse's gait: GALOP.  Hand up if you knew this dance.

28. Here-there in-between: NOR.  Neither here NOR there ...

32. Biotech room: LAB.

33. Paleozoic __: ERA.  The Paleozoic area is estimated to have occurred from 541 to 251 million years ago.

34. Knocks firmly: RAPS.

43. Pulitzer author Jennifer: EGAN.  I am not familiar with Jennifer Egan (b. Sept. 7, 1962), but I had heard of her book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, which is what won her the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

44. Reuben bread: RYE.

45. LGBT History Mo.: OCT.  October is LGBT month.

53. __-rock: music: ALT.  Everything you wanted to know about Alternative Rock music, but didn't know to ask.

56. Pricey watch: ROLEX.  They do look nice, though.

57. Pooch's plaything: DOG TOY.

58. Nagano noodle: SOBA.  Soba noodles are Japanese noodles.  They can be eaten in hot or cold dishes.

60. Worksheet line: ROW.

61. Noodle shape: ELBOW.  I uses Elbow Macaroni noodles for my Mac and Cheese.

67. Anger to the max: ENRAGE.

68. Baker's appliance: OVEN.

69. Golfer Aoki: ISAO.  Isao Aoki (b. Aug. 31, 1942) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzle.  He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

70. Fenway team: RED SOX.  Years ago, I lived just a couple of blocks from Fenway Park.  That was back in the day when the bleacher seats were only $3, so I could even afford to go to the games.

71. Viral internet item: MEME.

72. "bye 4 now": TTYL.  Textspeak for Talk To You Later.

Down:

1. Defib expert: EMT.  As in an Emergency Medical Technician.

2. The "D" in DJIA: DOW.  As in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

3. Succeed impressively: GO OVER BIG.  I first looked at this answer and though it was Goover Big.

4. Ferret's cousin: ERMINE.  Everything you wanted to know about Ferrets, Stoats, Weasels, and Ermines, but didn't know to ask.

5. Grounds for bad behavior, say: PUNISHES.  A bit of an oddly worded clue and answer, in my opinion.

6. Close: SHUT.

7. Drunkard: SOT.

8. Law exam, familiarly: THE BAR.  The Bar Exam in Louisiana is the longest bar exam in the United States.  It is 21 hours long and takes place over 3 days.  There are nine sections of the exam and topics cover both common law and Civil Law.  By the end of the 3rd day, your brain is essentially mush. 

9. Jet Ski rival: SEA DOO.

10. Drop a fly, e.g.: ERR.  A baseball reference.

11. Did a number: SANG.

12. Lai or Thai: ASIAN.

13. __ Park: Edison lab site: MENLO.  Thomas Edison's lab was in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

14. Mystery writers' award: EDGAR.  The Edgar award appeared in a recent crossword that I commented on.

19. "That makes sense": I SEE!

20. Become limp: WILT.

24. Mo. metropolis: ST. L.  St. Louis is a metropolis in Missouri.

25. Rub the wrong way: CHAFE.

26. Chip dip, casually: GUAC.  As in Guacamole.  Yummers!

27. Run smoothly, as an engine: PURR.

30. Tram load: ORE.

31. India-born author Santha Rama __: RAU.  Santha Rama Ran (Jan. 24, 1923 ~ Apr. 21, 2009) was an Indian-born American is probably best known for her screenplays.  She adapted E.M. Foster's novel, A Passage to India, for the theater.  She is not a household name, and rather tricky for a Tuesday.

35. Story line surprise: PLOT TWIST.

36. Italian for "dry": SECCO.  Today's Italian lesson.

38. Mil. hospitals: VAs.  As in Veteran Administration hospitals.  Hi, Boomer!  Hope you are doing well.

39. Part of DOE: Abbr.: ENER.  As in the Department of Energy. 

40. African antelope: ORYX.

41. "Bill __ the Science Guy": '90s TV show: NYE.  Bill Nye (né William Sanford Nye; b. Nov. 27, 1955) makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.

42. When the story is due: DEADLINE.  I am also under a deadline to get this blog written!

46. " ... hallowed be __ name": THY.  A phrase from the Lord's Prayer.

48. Whirlpool: VORTEX.

49. "The Time Machine" race: ELOI.  These creatures make frequent crossword appearances.

50. One raising her first child: NEW MOM.

51. Takes badly?: ROBS.

52. "Eureka!": I GOT IT!

53. In accordance with: AS PER.

54. Michaels of "SNL": LORNE.  Lorne Michaels (né Lorne David Lipowitz; b. Nov. 17, 1944) turns 77 tomorrow.  He introduced us to the Not Ready For Prime Time players back in 1975.

Lorne Michaels is holding the star.

55. "Thelma & Louise" car: T-BIRD.  Thelma & Louise came out in 1991.  I can't believe it has been 30 years!

59. Amo, __, amat ...: AMAS.  Today's Latin lesson.

61. S, Am, Ac, K or Er: ELEM.  These are all Elements on the periodic table: S = Sulfur; Am = Americium; Ac = Actinium; K = Potassium; and Er = Erbium.

63. It may be inflated: EGO.

64. Ill-fated fruit eater: EVE.  Fresh new clue for Eve.

65. Vote of opposition: NAY.

66. Score in fútbol: GOL.  Today's Spanish lesson.

Here's the grid:

חתולה

Thursday, October 21, 2021, Sam Acker

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee, here, with a canine friend to present today's recap.

While our collie friend is excited about the ovine references in the puzzle and in the write up, s/he is not our puzzle setter.  Today, that would be Sam Acker.  I was able to locate a Crossword Corner write up of one of his puzzles from May, 2019 and perhaps there are others.  For today's challenge, Sam has designed what I believe is called a "Designated Squares" puzzle.  Let's start with the reveal:

56 Across:  You may not need a bookmark for one . . . and a hint to this puzzle's circles: PAGE TURNER.  Page turner, of course, being a term for a book that you, or our friend above, just cannot stop reading.

Other than the reveal, there are no theme answers per se.  However, at four locations within the grid we find sets of four circled letters, stacked two on top of two.  Each of these sets contains one each of the letters that spell PAGE.  At each location, start with the P and proceed clockwise and they all spell PAGE.  From top to bottom, the P's also rotate clockwise with the first P in the Northeast, the next in the  Southeast, the next in the Southwest and finally in the Northwest.  They TURN, if you will, both ways.   Clever.  Here is how they appear in the completed grid:

. . . and now for the rest of the clues/answers.  I was going to go with an abbreviated blog post today but thought, "Naaahhh!  We have enough abbreviations in the puzzle."

Across:

1. Wildfire prevention ads, e.g.: Abbr.: PSAS.  Public Service AnnouncemetS (abbr no 1)

5. Short video: CLIP.

9. Valentino classic, with "The": SHEIK.

14. Certain sax: ALTO.  Part of the orchestra got kidnapped last week.  Today, the perpetrators were located and arrested for grand theft ALTO.

15. Cocktail garnish: LIME.  Just ask Kermit.

 

16. Redhead of Bedrock: WILMA.  Wilma Flintstone From the Town of Bedrock

17. Top prize: GOLD MEDAL.

19. Highly skilled: ADEPT.

20. Lab eggs: OVA.  Today's Latin lesson.  In school, my classmates and I used to argue all the time about the plural form of the word for female sex cells.  We'd go on and on and wasted a lot of class time.  Eventually, it was resolved.  Frankly, I'm glad that's OVA.

21. Stereotypical baby "words": GOO GOO GA GA.  Ten letters, six vowels.  Helpful for a constructor.

23. Minimal damage: DENTS.

25. Mag. edition: ISS.  Punt!  An ISSue of a Magazine (abbr no 2)

26. Small but distinctive amount: DASH.    -T

28. Mandatory bet: ANTE.  Gotta' pay to play

29. __ Bar: Apple support service: GENIUS.  At Apple Stores (computer, not fruit) they call the help desk the GENIUS Bar.  A bit of foreshadowing for 55 Across.

32. CIA relative: NSA. (abbr no 3)

33. Homer's "Sailing a Dory," e.g.: SEASCAPE.  Winslow Homer is a famous American landscape (and SEASCAPE) painter.

Sailing A Dory

 

35. Insults, with "on": HATES.  Modern slang, I suppose.

37. __ land: LALA.  A state of mind characterized by its lack of  seriousness and/or unrealistic expectations.    More recently, a motion picture (though the leading l of land would have to have been capitalized in the clue to go there).

38. Word with date or dance: RAIN.  In baseball, do we now have Climate Change makeup dates?

40. Pickle unit: SPEAR.

43. Scottish winds: BAGPIPES.  A bit of word play.

 

Dropkick Murphys - Cadence To Arms

47. Number of "Friends" seasons: TEN.  I didn't know that.  I never watched the show.  I would have clued it as "Ardbeg ____ ".

48. Siesta wrap: SERAPE.  One of today's Spanish lessons.

51. NYC gallery: MOMA.  In New York City (abbr no 4)

52. Where women click on the links?: Abbr.: LPGA.  Really didn't get the "click" part unless the reference is to "really clicking" (doing well). (abbr no 5)

Ladies Professional Golf Association

54. Backing: FOR.  As opposed to opposing

55. Course from a bar: SALAD.  Course, of course, is polysemous.  In this case, a part of a meal.

60. Feminine side: YIN.  YIN / Yang  Taoism  Balance

61. Spawn: BEGET.

62. Square, for one: RECTANGLE.  A square is a RECTANGLE with all sides being of equal length.

64. Place for games: ARENA.  

65. Do some craftwork: KNIT.

Valerie Has Been Busy Recently

66. Troubles: WOES.  Pack 'em up, Joe

 

67. CEO's aides: ASSTS.  Punt.  ASSistanTS (abbr no 6)

68. Italian pronoun: ESSA.  Another of today's language lessons.  In English, ESSA can mean she, her, it, thereon or therefrom.

69. Words in many law firm names: ANDS.  Creative cluing.  

Down:

1. Temples with up-curved roofs: PAGODAS.

Near Chang Rai - 2017 - Photo By MM

2. Resident of Ljubljana, probably: SLOVENE.

Residents of Ljubljana - 2018 - Photo By MM

3. Margaret Mitchell's birthplace: ATLANTA.    She wrote GWTW.

4. Gardener's purchase: SOD.

5. Egyptian queen, familiarly: CLEO.  CLEOpatra (abbr no 7)  Not Liz? 

Photo by 20th Century Fox

6.  Venetian Resort.  LIDO

Hotel Excelsior - Venice, Italy - Lido Beach

7. "Just think!": IMAGINE.  

8. She's behind Harris in the current presidential line of succession: PELOSI.

9. Bravado: SWAG.  Usually, in this context, SWAGger.  SWAG is often clued as the free stuff you might get at a convention. (not the abbreviation for Scientific Wild Ass Guess).

10. Greeting from a sideline, maybe: HI DAD.  Usually, Hi Mom

11. Polished: ELEGANT.

12. Deadlock: IMPASSE.

13. Kit __: KAT.  A candy bar or . . . a bar?

18. Classic British sports cars: MGS.  My friends Mark and Diana recently acquired this 1950 MGTD.  (abbr? We'll give 'em a pass on this one because if you mentioned Morris Garages nobody would know what you were talking about)

22. Pac-12's Beavers: OSU.  Pacific 12 Division of the NCAA (abbr no 8)

24. Where Musk is CEO: TESLA.  SpaceX wouldn't fit.  It could have been clued as Inventor Nikola.

Nikola Tesla

27. Owns: HAS.  Patti PAGE had a Grammy.  Jimmy PAGE HAS two.

29. Gadot of "Wonder Woman": GAL.  GAL Gadot, not some random gal.

30. Org. concerned with PCB's: EPA. (abbr no 9)

31. Mail in a box: SHIP.   Repeating "Noun or verb, verb or noun?" can be a useful cruciverbalist mantra.

34. Pixar film in which Paul Newman voiced a Hudson Hornet: CARS.

36. Jung's inner self: ANIMA.

38. 63-Down genre: RAP.   I was eating some green onions when suddenly I started rhyming everything that I was saying.  Turns out they were RAP scallions.

39. It's just a number, they say: AGE. Don't we all wish that this was, in fact, true.

40. Home of the NHL's Blues: STL.  The National Hockey League's Saint Louis Blues (abbr no 10)

41. Pizza topping: PEPPERS.  Pepperoni would not fit.  Some of us enjoy ground hot pepper sprinkled on pizza.

42. Fascinates: ENGAGES.

43. Scrubby wastelands: BARRENS. 

Rocky Point Barrens, New York

44. 62-Across, for one: POLYGON.  What do they make POLYGONs wear when they're on probation?  Angle monitors.

45. Sent a note to, nowadays: EMAILED.  Perhaps the most acceptable of the E-words we now often find in puzzles.

46. Blue state: SADNESS.  Today, the talking heads use Blue State/Red State to denote political divides.

49. Little newt: EFT.  We often see EFTs and newts in our puzzles.

50. Boxer/actor Mickey: ROURKE.

53. Secret __: AGENT.  Secret SANTA? Nope.  Secret CODES?  Nope.

55. Spanish Mrs.: SRA.  Another of today's Spanish lesson - SenoRA (abbr no 11)

57. Flight sked info: ETAS.  Estimated Time of Arrival S  often land in crossword puzzles.  (abbr no 12)

58. TV series for 18 seasons: NCIS.  Naval Criminal Investigative Services.  A TV series often seen in crossword puzzles and the last of a baker's dozen abbreviations in the puzzle if you don't also count 63 Down. 

59. Jazz diva Jones: ETTA.  ETTA, too, often visits us

61. Sheepish remark?: BAA.  With the previous herding-dog/ovine references, Shaun the Sheep seems appropriate.

63. "Straight Outta Compton" group: NWA.  The rap group.

What color are all of the books in the Library?

Red.

On that note let's turn to a new page . . .

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