Wednesday, July 10, 2024, Seth Bisen-Hersh

 FLEETING MOMENT

While I am pleased to see a constructor I have not blogged before ( I checked, and found two grids back in 2022, one in 2019 ), this was a real struggle for me, as it felt a little more than Wednesday-level.  Another 16x15 Grid, another set of circles (yay), another run of 26 Three-Letter Words, another set of some really vague people ( I'm looking at you, 56A. ) crossing names with vague clues, and I ended up with two bad squares - see the grid at the end.  I'm feeling "unsuccessful" with this puzzle - I didn't catch a BREAK, I just feel "broken"; Yem Beady.  Two 12-letter, two 10-letter themes, and a centered 8-letter reveal;

37. Opportunity for success, or what 17-, 29-, 45-, and 61-Across each have: BIG BREAK - synonyms for BIG, with a 'break' in between

17. Small, rustic house on a game reserve: HUNTING LODGE

Apparently, there's nothing "small" about Greystone Castle; I would say it's HUGE

29. Vacation spot in the Adirondacks: LAKE GEORGE - I once lived in upstate New York, so I got this; at 45 Sq. Mi., it's quite LARGE

45. Joins the table: GRABS A SEAT

Knights of the "unfound" table - they're not doing "GREAT"

61. Changing price: VARIABLE COST - oof.  A looooong way to go for VAST

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Stage name of actor Raiford Chatman Davis: OSSIE - I begin with the down clues, but even with perps this was still a non-starter for me (#1)

6. Spanish 53-Down: CARNE - AND - 53D. 24-Across, for one: MEAT - sometimes, I am not a big fan of circumreferential clues like this

11. Band also known as the Bangtan Boys: BTS - Their Wiki (#2)

14. Shapewear brand: SPANX - it should be no surprise that I knew this one

15. Trojan War hero: AENEAS - I could not recall this name (#3)

16. "Shine Ya Light" singer Rita: ORA - no clue about this name (#4)

19. Say "Bingo," say: WIN - Shout would have been better

20. "Another thing ... ": "AND ALSO..." - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy follow-up

Not Douglas Adams, but part "six" of "three"

21. Aired: RAN

22. Recurring TikTok post: VLOG - Video bLOG; ya know, I don't think I have ever visited TikTok, but I do have a friend on Long Island who uploads clips of car repairs/modifications

23. Mauna __: KEA - Dah~!  I had KEA, switched to LOA, had to switch back to KEA, missed the "K"

24. Antipasto choice: SALAMI

 "Yummers"  :7))

26. Wine sale units: CASES - Dah~!  Wine CasKs is a perfectly acceptable answer~!

33. Shaq's alma mater: LSU - it helped to know who Shaq is, but I still didn't know where he attended school - from his Wiki page (#5)

34. Meadow: LEA

35. Muppeteer Jerry: NELSON - No clue - his Wiki, and here's his most popular character (#6)

I had to do the pipe organ, of course

36. Cash provider: ATM

40. Large container: VAT - why isn't it Huge, Great, or Vast~?

41. Polite refusal: NO, MA'AM - I like this fill

43. Nobel winner Hammarskjöld: DAG - Died in a plane crash - or was it something more~? (#7)

Air Disasters

44. Gloves, gowns, and goggles in the ER: PPE - I had to take the "1D." 30-hr course to qualify for work at the National Cathedral; they used the term "PPE" about a thousand times in the tutorials - Personal Protective Equipment

48. Fabled hare, e.g.: LOSER - ah.  I was looking for a name - go figure.

50. "Star Wars" heroes: REBELS

May The Force Be With You

51. Andrew Lloyd Webber title: SIR - "Ektorp" (#8)

52. Actress Watson: EMMA - name, and it messed up my "LYFT" at 54D. (#9)

55. Green hotel opening?: ECO - something something crossword 'green' = ECO; again, Ektorp, but the whole clue seems 'meh' to me

56. Chinese American fashion icon: ANNA SUI - my apologizes, C.C., but I had no idea who she is; double digits, #10

60. Director Ang: LEE - I knew this one, but still name #11

63. Yield to gravity: SAG

64. Latin for "actually existing": IN ESSE - I got it because I took 4 years of Latin

65. "A Delicate Balance" playwright: ALBEE - gee, another name - #12

66. GPS guess: ETA - I hardly call it a "guess"; in fact, I notice that it is extremely accurate, and the longer the trip, the more accurate it gets; as a result, it's pretty clear that one simply cannot go any faster to get there sooner - as shown in this Mythbusters clip, the whole weaving in traffic shaves a mere two minutes off a 46 mile drive - so what do you plan to do with your "extra" two minutes~?

67. Will of "Blue Bloods": ESTES -ARGH~!  SIX names in just 10 clues = #13

68. Set a security system again: REARM - I'm a REBEL, about to take up arms in the fight against proper names~!


DOWN:

1. Div. of Labor: OSHA - well, whaddya know~?  BTW, the Organ renovation is scheduled to be finished in 2028, not 2029, but it's still going to take FOUR years; I am cleaning the biggest wood pipes this week

Low C of the Pedal Division

2. Played dreidel: SPUN - played~?  I thought it was the top, not the activity

3. Castle makeup: SAND - Dah~!  Got me.  I was too deep into real castles, like Greystone, and the beach kind never occurred to me

Wow. And I found a HUGE/LARGE/GREAT/VAST collection of others, too

4. Output opposite: INTAKE - intaLK seems like a very reasonable word in our text-speak society

5. Ostracizes: EXILES

6. Bambi still, e.g.: CEL - a single frame of animation

7. Winter hiker's coat: ANORAK - I knew this, but was not clear on the spelling at first

8. Irish brew: RED ALE - I know of Killian's, and here's the process, plus I found this one . . . .

Beer; it's not just for...uh, wait a minute....

9. "You always tell me what to do!": NAG NAG NAG - clever clue/answer

10. Jargon suffix: ESE - e.g. legal-ESE

11. Pitch, in cricket: BOWL - Dah~!  Another one got me - the verb pitch, but I have an excuse - my parents were born & raised in England, so I knew the (noun) "pitch" was the field.

12. Snap, Crackle, and Pop, e.g.: TRIO - oof.  Vague for Wednesday; ZZTop, Rush~? Better.

13. Performed an aria: SANG - nice to see ARIA in the clues, not the grid

15. Before today: AGO

18. SIGINT org.: NSA - I had no clue, but the perps gave me _SA; strangely, I can link their site

22. Baroque instrument: VIOL - Smile, it's a "VI-al"

24. Bygone Swedish carmaker: SAAB - I had one; buy now, "Saab" later - get it~?

25. Mouselike: MEEK

26. Trolley sound: CLANG - meh.  Trolley BELL . . . .

27. Fur tycoon: ASTOR

28. __ cum laude: SUMMA - MAGNA or SUMMA~?  I got it wrong; but 40% was 20% correct

29. Pants part: LEG - ooh~!  Another opportunity~!

Thanks for the shoutout Sunday, CanadianEh!

30. Attendance records?: RSVPs - in the plural noun, it just seems "meh"

31. Rant and rave: GO APE

32. [Run program]: ENTER - my WAG, but still a bit "meh"

34. Legumes from the Andes: LIMA BEANS - now that I see the answer, it seems obvious; some info from the USDA

37. Possible litmus test result: BASE - or ACID~?  Guess which one I picked.  Bzzzt~!

38. Nutritional stds.: RDAs - again, in the plural, a bit meh.

39. Snack: EAT - ah.  The verb again

42. Syllables for a stage magician: ABRA - is this not just ONE syllable~?

46. Like some alter egos: SECRET

47. Plaza Hotel girl: ELOISE - Never heard of this; the Wiki, and the Plaza site, too

48. Straight: LINEAR - like my thinking a lot of the time

49. Seer: ORACLE

51. Bowen Yang's show, for short: SNL - perps got me S_L; this clue/answer has shown up three days in a row.  sumdaze linked his Titanic iceberg skit Monday

52. "Can I get you anything __?": "ELSE~?"

54. Über relative: MEGA - ah.  Not the taxi service from yesterday, but the adjective

Kill Die~?  Oh, I see - the first "D" got damaged....phew

56. Only pres. to hold a patent: ABE - Dah~! I was looking for DDE, HST, FDR - his patent

57. Japanese noodle: SOBA - I can never remember which one this is NORI, ROTI, MISO - four-letters crossword something . . . .

58. Password keeper: USER - Fooled me; clever

59. Agenda listing: ITEM

61. Fight (for): VIE

62. Jack or jenny: ASS - second time this week, and speaking of which, we are at the "bottom"

Splynter

Wednesday, March 30, 2022, Seth Bisen-Hersh

Theme: WE'VE BEEN CONNED!

17. "Misery" co-star: JAMES CAAN.

28. Versatile award-winning Indian film star known by his initials "SRK": SHAH RUKH KHAN.

48. Oscar-nominated actress for "Paper Moon" and "Blazing Saddles": MADELINE KAHN.

63. Swindler ... or, phonetically, what each of three puzzle answers is?: CON ARTIST.

Melissa here. Four different ways to spell CON, all pronounced the same. Three out of four are names of actors. Misery is probably James Caan's most well-known movie, but I loved him most in Chapter Two, the semi-autobiographical story of Neil Simon after the death of his first wife. Marsha Mason, who played his second wife, also was his second wife. Charming movie.

Across:

1. Yoga aid that helps prevent slipping: MAT.

4. Weather report stats: LOWS. Low pressure, low temps, etc.

8. Recipe amts.: TBSPS. Tablespoons. One TBSP = three TSPs.

13. In the past: AGO.

14. Sale rack abbr.: IRREG. Irregular. Sometimes you can't even tell.

16. Linda Ronstadt's "Blue __": BAYOU.

19. Like most tennis shots: ARCED. Most sports shots - basketball, golf, etc.

20. In full view: OVERT.

21. "My turn to bat": I'M UP.

23. Cruise with a big price tag: TOM.

24. Equine control: REIN. Types and how they work.

25. Merged comm. giant: GTE. GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System.

26. On: ATOP.

33. Starting gun: PISTOL. 

36. Move slightly ... like a mouse?: STIR. Not a creature was stirring ...

37. Hullabaloo: ADO.

38. Cut (off): LOP.

39. Water source: TAP. Tap, faucet, spigot - what are the differences?

41. Pachuca pronoun: ESA. Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. Esa is Spanish for this.

42. URL ender: NET. As in, www.website.net.

43. Cycle starter: UNI. Unicycle.

44. Red letters in a dark theater: EXIT. Any Better Call Saul fans here? I am reminded of this poignant scene. Season six comes next month.

 46. Fly over Africa: TSE TSE. Nice clue.

51. Ultimatum word: ELSE.

52. Big noise: DIN. Small word for a big noise.

53. "Cornflake Girl" singer Tori: AMOS.

 
57. Obama __: ERA.

58. Spoken: SAID.

60. Food recall cause: ECOLI. Usually fruit and vegetables, but also undercooked meat.

61. Cop to: ADMIT.

65. Rachmaninoff's instrument: PIANO. 

66. Celebrity chef Eddie: HUANG.

67. Yellow or Red follower: SEA.

68. Group's belief: TENET.

69. Places to relax: SPAS.

70. Explosive letters: TNT.

Down:

1. Collegian's choice: MAJOR. Tough decision.

2. Tequila source: AGAVE.

3. "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner Marisa: TOMEI.

4. Suffix with craigs: LIST.

5. "LOTR" menace: ORC. Lord of the Rings.

6. Eerie apparition: WRAITH. A ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen shortly before or after their death.

7. Two-__: fastballs named for the grip used to throw them: SEAMERS. With a two-seamer, the ball moves in the same direction as whichever arm is being used to throw it (meaning a right-handed pitcher gets rightward movement on a two-seamer).

8. Undetermined: Abbr.: TBA.

9. "Bluebeard's Castle" composer BÈla: BARTOK.

10. Toady: SYCOPHANT.

11. Dickinson work: POEM.

12. South of France?: SUD. French word for south.

15. Animal that sounds fresh: GNU. Pronounced "new."

18. Dadaist Max: ERNST.

22. India neighbor: PAKISTAN. See in red?

25. Star systems: GALAXIES. A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter.

27. Wallop: THRASH.

29. Monopoly miniatures: HOTELS. Green houses, red hotels.

30. Sport-__: off-road vehicle: UTE. Short for Utility vehicle.

31. Fruit drinks: ADES.

32. A or E, but not I, O or U: NOTE. Nice.

33. Horner's surprise: PLUM. From the nursery rhyme, Little Jack Horner.

34. New Rochelle college: IONA. Private Catholic college in New Rochelle, New York.

35. Doctor Octopus foe: SPIDERMAN. Dr. Otto Octavius is a highly intelligent and prideful scientist, better known as the criminal mastermind Doctor Octopus

40. Bowler's target: PIN. Boomer!

45. Boring: TEDIOUS.

47. Sign into law: ENACT.

49. Friend of Jerry and George: ELAINE. Seinfeld.

50. Abduct: KIDNAP.

54. Damp: MOIST.

55. Elizabeth of "WandaVision": OLSEN. News to me. An American television miniseries created by Jac Schaeffer for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision.

56. Occupy, as a table: SIT AT.

57. Actress Falco: EDIE. So talented. Loved her in Horace and Pete.

59. German gripe: ACH. Sounds stern.

60. Bits of work: ERGS.

61. Fitting: APT.

62. Two-year-old, say: TOT.

64. NHL's Ducks, on scoreboards: ANA. Anaheim hockey.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022 Seth Bisen-Hersh

Thomas Paine revisited.  Did you see the Common thread?

17-Across. *  Chic runway event: FASHION SHOW.  Fashion Sense dos and don'ts.

Not sure I'd go with either one.

29-Across. *  Popular betting sport: HORSE RACING.  Horse Sense.

45-Across. *  Uptown New York City thoroughfare west of Madison: SIXTH AVENUE.  Sixth Sense.  Also the name of a movie starring Bruce Willis.

And the Unifier:

57-Across. Practical judgment ... and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues: COMMON SENSE.  The word can follow the first word of each theme answer to give us a new concept.

Across:

1. TV host with her "OWN" network: OPRAH.  As in Oprah Winfrey Network.

6. Avoider of foods from animals: VEGAN.  When my mother-in-law turned 90, hubby and I planned a big party for her.  Foodwise, it was a challenge, as I had to have a kosher menu to accommodate various family members whose diets include vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free (diabetes). 

11. Weep: SOB.  Hand up if your initial thought was 27-Down. Weep: CRY.

14. "A penny saved ... " is one: ADAGE.

15. Thrill: ELATE.

16. "Into __ Woods": THE.  Into the Woods was a musical with music and lyrics by the late Stephen Sondheim (Mar. 22, 1930 ~ Nov. 26, 2021).

19. Actress de Armas: ANA.  Ana de Armas (b. Apr. 30, 1988) is a Cuban actress.  She portrayed the nurse Marta Cabrera in the movie Knives Out.

20. Not clash: AGREE.

21. Zac of "High School Musical" films: EFRON.  

Zackary David Alexander Efron (b. Oct. 18, 1987)

23. Mex. neighbor: USA.

26. Part of a snicker: HEE.  Tee-Hee-Hee!

27. Seafood found in cakes: CRAB.  You can order a half dozen Maryland Jumbo Lump crab cakes for only $129.99 plus shipping.

28. Short rest: NAP.

34. PC problem solvers: IT PROS.  As in Information Technology Professionals.

36. Harvard or Yale, e.g.: IVY.  The mysterious origin of the term Ivy League.

37. Robert of "The Sopranos": ILER.  Robert Michael Iler (b. Mar. 2, 1985) portrayed A.J. Soprano, Tony Soprano's son.  We watched the series in the first year of the Covid shutdown.

38. Spanish bull: TORO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

39. Director Ang: LEE.  And Lee (b. Oct. 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker who has won numerous awards.

40. As well: ALSO.

41. Greek Cupid: EROS.

42. Lively dance: JIG.

43. Bowling woes: SPLITS.  Hi, Boomer!  Hope you are feeling better.

48. Game console letters: NES.  As in Nintendo Entertainment System.

49. Its symbol is Fe: IRON.  Iron is number 26 on the Periodic Table.  It's chemical symbol is Fe, which comes from the Latin, Ferrum.

50. Dedicated poem: ODE.  A crossword staple.

51. Test for M.A. hopefuls: GRE.  As in a Graduate Record Examination.

52. Masters of the Universe superhero: HE-MAN.

54. With 55-Down, superhero alter ego: CLARK.  //  And 55-Down:  See 54-Across: KENT.  Together we get Clark Kent, who is the mild-mannered reporter and Superman's alter ego.

56. Señora Perón: EVA.

63. Tennis call: LET.

64. Coin flip call: HEADS.

65. Baseball's Shohei Ohtani, notably: ANGEL.  Shoehi Ohtani (b. July 5, 1994) plays baseball for the Los Angeles Angels.

66. "Black-ish" patriarch: DRE.  Anthony Anderson (b. Aug. 15, 1970) portrays the father, Dre Johnson on the sit-com Black-ish.

67. Scents: ODORS.

68. Sporty car roofs: T-TOPS.

Down:

1. Dolt: OAF.

2. Romantic kiss in a crowd, for short: PDA.  As in Public Display of Affection.  Not to be confused with a Personal Digital Assistant.

3. Univ. aides: RAs.  As in the Resident Assistant, which also appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle.

4. Turkish title: AGHA.

5. Song sung by a toon mining septet: HEIGH-HO.  And off to work we go ...

6. Facade: VENEER.

 

7. Otherwise: ELSE.

8. "Dilbert" cry: GAH.

9. From __ B: basic step: A TO.  From A to B ... pretty basic, indeed.

10. Period of change that's "ushered in": NEW ERA.

11. Diva's goal: STAR BILLING.

12. "That's awful!": OH, NO!

13. Coffee source: BEAN.

18. The first of them was sold March 6, 1912: OREOS.  Good to know!  The Cookie will soon be 110 years old.

22. Spa treatment: FACIAL.

23. Brings together: UNITES.

24. Zen enlightenment: SATORI.  Zen Philosophy.

25. Close, but not precise: APPROXIMATE.

30. Prolonged battle: SIEGE.

31. Holiday lead-in: EVE.

32. Empty __: parent whose kids have grown and moved: NESTER.

33. __ Pointe, Michigan: GROSSE.  Everything you wanted to know about Grosse Pointe, but didn't know to ask.

35. Speech platforms: ROSTRA.  Plural of Rostrum.

39. 2020 Super Bowl number: LIV.  Not to be confused with LIV Ullmann (b. Dec. 16, 1938).

42. Yr. starter: JAN.  The first month of the YR is January.

43. Khartoum's land: SUDAN.

44. Eyes closely: PEERS AT.

46. Bigwig: HONCHO.

47. "We can do without him": NO LOSS.

52. Conducted, as a meeting: HELD.

53. Eternally: EVER.

54. Starfleet rank: Abbr.: CMDR.  As in Commander.

58. 20-vol. reference: OED.  Here's the history of the Oxford English Dictionary.

59. Red Guard leader: MAO.

Andy Warhol's rendition

60. Nonprofit aid gp.: NGO.  As in a Non-Governmental Organization.

61. Labor Day mo.: SEP.  Labor Day is the first Monday of September.

62. Golfer Ernie: ELS.  I learned about Ernie Els (né Theodore Ernest Els; b. Oct. 17, 1969) from doing the crossword puzzles.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Not only is today 2/22/22, it is also a milestone birthday for hubby.