google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Stella Zawistowski

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Showing posts with label Stella Zawistowski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stella Zawistowski. Show all posts

Aug 23, 2022

Tuesday August 23, 2022 Stella Zawistowski

Moving Up the Ranks:


16-Across. Intimate meeting with an important person: PRIVATE AUDIENCE.

22-Across. Rum brand with a pirate logo: CAPTAIN MORGAN.

48-Across. Significant parts of family budgets: MAJOR EXPENSES.

58-Across. United Nations body: GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Across:
1. Covertly includes on an email: BCCs.  As in Blind Carbon Copy.  A term that originated back in the day when correspondence was on paper.



5. "You're a winner!" email, often: SCAM.

9. "In that case ... ": IF SO.

13. Chills-inducing: EERIE.


14. Tom yum soup cuisine: THAI.  Tom Yum Soup must be good because it has YUM in its name!  Hi, Lemon and Oo.


15. Spanish hundred: CIEN.  Hi, Lucina!

19. Tax-collecting agcy.: IRS.  The dreaded Internal Revenue Service.


20. Pool float filler: AIR.


21. Stock up on: AMASS.  //  And 37-Across. Hoarder's heaps: PILES.



27. Big-eyed bird: OWL.


28. Pride newborn: LION CUB.

31. Stager of live shows: IMPRESARIO.


36. Like some off-price merchandise: Abbr.: IRR.  As in Irregular.



38. Roomy family car, for short: SUV.

39. Last Greek letter: OMEGA.  Also the name brand of an expensive watch that makes occasional guest appearances in the puzzles.  //  65-Across. Pricey watch brand: ROLEX.  Another expensive watch.  What's the difference?

41. Gulf st.: ALA.  Alabama is one of the American Gulf States.  It has a some nice beaches. 


42. Didn't mind one's own business: INTERFERED.



44. Hotel pricing information: DAY RATE.
47. Former U.K. record label: EMI.  The history of the Electrical and Musical Industry name. 




54. Birch who had a recurring role on "The Walking Dead": THORA.  I have never seen The Walking Dead, and am not familiar with Thora Birch (b. Mar. 11, 1982).  It took this long in the list to come to the first name in the puzzle.  [Name # 1.]


56. Rock's __ Speedwagon: REO.

57. Prefix in some genre names: ALT.  Short for Alternative.  

63. Makes really mad: IRES.

64. Javier's "Being the Ricardos" role: DESI.  Javier Bardem (né Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem; b. Mar. 1, 1969) is a Spanish actor.  He is married to fellow Spanish actress, Penélope Cruz (b. Apr. 28, 1974).  [Name # 2.]


66. Racing legend A.J.: FOYT.  This name did not ring a bell for me.  A.J. Foyt (né Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr.; b. Jan. 16, 1935) won the numerous races including the Indy 500 four times in the 1960s and early 1970s.   [Name # 3.]


67. Garden of Genesis: EDEN.


68. Prayer ender: AMEN.

Down:
1. Quotable catcher Yogi: BERRA.  Although he was a professional baseball catcher, Yogi Berra (né Lawrence Peter Berra; May 12, 1925 ~ Sept. 22, 2015) is probably best known for his unintentionally funny quotes.  [Name # 4.]

2. Like raw celery: CRISP.  Because Crunchy was too many letters.

3. Western __: history class, briefly: CIV.  As in Western Civilization.  Is this even taught in school these days?

4. Salty expanse: SEA.

5. Oktoberfest mug: STEIN.


6. Bracelet ornament: CHARM.  Charms are also found on the Charivari that men attach to their lederhosen at Ocktoberfest.


7. Non-pro sports org.: AAU.  As in the Amateur Athletic Union.

8. Prefix with Atlantic: MID.

Mid-Atlantic States

9. "Top Gun" moniker: ICEMAN.  Val Kilmer (né Val Edward Kilmer; b. Dec. 31, 1959) portrayed Lt. Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in the movie Top Gun.


10. Venture capitalist, e.g.: FINANCIER.

11. Min. parts: SECs.  60 Seconds make up one Minute.

12. Dollar bills: ONES.


13. Large-scale tale: EPIC.

17. Coin toss choice: TAILS.


18. Othello's false friend: IAGO.  Iago is a fictional character from Willie the Shakes' play Othello.  Iago hates Othello and plans to destroy him.  [Name # 5, fictional]

23. Ripped: TORE.  
24. Fills with wonder: AWES.

25. Tapenade fruit: OLIVE.  Tapenade is an olive spread that is common in southern France.


26. __ de Janeiro: RIO.


29. Compulsion: URGE.

30. "Country Nation" singer Paisley: BRAD.  As you can probably tell by the name of the song, Brad Paisley (né Bradly Douglas Paisley; b. Oct. 28, 1972) is a country music musician.  [Name # 6.]



31. Apple tablet: iPAD.  How did I ever survive without my iPad?


32. Actress Kunis: MILA.  Mila Kunis (née Milena Markovna Kunis; b. Aug. 14, 1983) was born in the Ukraine when it was a Soviet state.  Since 2015, she has been married to Ashton Kutcher.  [Name # 7.]



33. Bills included with some board games: PLAY MONEY.


34. Ed who plays Santa in "Elf": ASNER.  Ed Asner (né Eddie Asner; Nov. 15, 1929 ~ Aug. 29, 2021) is probably best known for his portrayal of Lou Grant on the Mary Tyler Moore shows.  He died just about a year ago at age 91.  [Name # 8.]



35. Dirt road furrow: RUT.


39. "All __": John Legend #1 song: OF ME.


40. Lo __: noodle dish: MEIN.  Yummers!


42. Judge featured in a season of "American Crime Story": ITO.  American Crime Story is a television story featuring true life crimes.  Its first season focused on the murder trial of OJ Simpson.  Judge Lance Ito (né Lance Allen Ito; b. Aug. 2, 1950) is best known for presiding over the trial. [Name # 9.]

43. Some towed cars, for short: REPOS.  Anyone see the 1984 movie Repo Man?


45. Hardest to find: RAREST.

46. Open just a crack: AJAR.  When is a door not a door?

49. Totally remove: ERASE.


50. Marks, as a ballot: X'ES IN.  Awkward!

51. Black fur: SABLE.  The black sable ferret is a cute little critter.



52. Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy": ELLEN.  Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (b. Nov. 10, 1969) portrayed Dr. Meredeth Grey on the television series, Grey's Anatomy.   [Name # 10.]


53. River that made Achilles (mostly) invincible: STYX.  When Achilles' mother dipped him into the River Styx, she held him by his heel.  He became invincible, except for that portion of his foot held by his mother.


54. "Bring on the weekend!" letters: TGIF.  Also the name of a restaurant chain.



55. Courageous one: HERO.


59. Fruit drink suffix: ADE.  Hi again, Lemonade!

60. Was on top: LED.

61. Important time: ERA.





62. Cry during an argument between siblings: MOM.






חתולה

I will be taking a brief hiatus next week, but I know you will be in good hands.




Jun 21, 2022

Tuesday, June 21, 2022, Stella Zawistowski

 


Good morning.  Malodorous Manatee here.  Hahtoolah is still on vacation and, once again, I have the honor of filling in for her.

Today's puzzle setter is frequent contributor, Stella Zawistowski.  I always enjoy solving her puzzles.  Much has previously been written here on The Corner about Ms. Zawistowski so rather than repeat that let's join the festivities.  Party On, Cruciverbalists!

At three places within the grid, Stella has, at the end (or BACK) of a longer answer, placed synonyms for PARTY.  For our convenience, the themed answers are starred.  Two of these answers are fourteen letters long and two are twelve letters long.  Nice grid, Stella.

Here are the party-themed answers (and their respective clues):

20 ACROSS: *Broadcast quality determined by a car antenna: RADIO RECEPTION. Jumping right in, indeed:


26 ACROSS: *Sine or cosine, for short: TRIG FUNCTION. A TRIGonometry reference. It might have also been clued linguistically: Conjunction Junction . . .

. . . What's Your Function?


43 ACROSS: *Issue best kept within the clan: FAMILY AFFAIR.


The reveal comes after the three, party-themed answers and explains them to us:

52 ACROSS: Tongue-in-cheek description of a mullet, and of the answers to the starred clues: PARTY IN THE BACK. Hairstyles come and go. The mullet is, perhaps, best forgotten.



Here is how this all looks in the grid:



. . .  and here are the rest of the clues and answers:


Across:

1. Drains of energy: SAPS.

5. Prefix with sphere: ATMO. ATMOsphere

9. Jousting weapon: LANCE.



14. Drive-__ ATM: THRU.

15. Have to have: NEED.

16. Negatively charged particle: ANION. Positively charged, it is a:

17. Many millennia: AEON. Outside of North America, AEON is favored over EON for uses unrelated to science.

18. Surrealist Salvador: DALI.


19. Muscular:
TONED.

23. NFL six-pointers: TDS. TouchDownS

24. Beer barrel: KEG.


25. One, in Germany:
EIN.

32. Mongolia's continent: ASIA.


34. Load, as cargo:
LADE. STOW would have fit the space.

35. Movement-sensing game console: WII. Nintendo WII



36. Get set, casually: PREP. PREPare

37. Fireplace ducts: FLUES. Somebody asked me what a Spoonerism was. I haven't got a cooking FLUE.

39. "You said the same thing as me!": JINX. Typically, after the coincidental voicing of the same content, the individuals compete to say the word JINX before the other person.

40. Go kaput: DIE.

41. Sheet music symbol: CLEF. NOTE or REST would have fit the space, too.

42. Really, really stinky: RANK. Interesting word, RANK, with other definitions than the one used here.

47. Cry inconsolably: SOB. A depressed French baker sobs bitterly into the dough . . . His life is pain.

48. "__ go time!": IT'S.

49. Boxer's stat: KOS. Knock OutS

57. Move rapidly toward: RUN AT. Alternatively,



58. Sweetie: BABE. Often clued with the movie pig. Used this way, BABE is preferable to the BAE we see so much of lately.

59. Double Stuf cookie: OREO. Cookie of a thousand clues.

60. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTEE. A frequent visitor.

61. "Yes, let's do it!": I'M IN. Or, a hacker's pronouncement.

62. Actor Sharif: OMAR.


63. Youngster:
CHILD.

Buffalo Springfield (Neil Young)


64. Sitcom backgrounds: SETS. The Addams Family tv show living room set was actually pink.


65. Breathe hard:
PANT.


Down:
1. Microwave button: START. Among others.

2. Coming up: AHEAD. What did one hat say to the other? "You stay here, I'll go on ahead."

3. Urges along: PRODS.

4. Gymnast Lee who won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics: SUNI.

Suni Lee With Her Medal

5. Nobel Peace Prize winner Sakharov: ANDREI.

6. Hard-boiled Chinese snack: TEA EGG.


7. Sporty Spice of the Spice Girls:
MEL C. MELanie Jayne Chisholm


8. Garfield's drooling frenemy: ODIE. That's ODIE on the right, er left.


9. Crisscross pie crust pattern:
LATTICE.


10. Bless with oil:
ANOINT.



11. Yucatán boy: NINO. One of today's Spanish lesson.

12. Last name of filmmakers Ethan and Joel: COEN. The "Best Of" clips are too long. So, let's just go with this Fargo trailer:



13. Come to a close: END.

21. Bhindi masala pod: OKRA. A Northern Indian curried dish featuring, you guessed it, OKRA. Thanks, perps.

22. Isn't yet decided: PENDS.

26. Felt-__ marker: TIP.

27. Material in a lint trap: FLUFF. Never has anyone that I know referred to lint as FLUFF.

28. Abu Dhabi's fed.: UAE. United Arab Emirates

29. "Victory is mine!": I WIN.

30. Pigpen grunt: OINK. What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu? If you have bird flu you get tweet-ment. If you have swine flu you need OINK-ment.

31. Put the kibosh on: NIX. Remember this bumper sticker?


32. "Eri tu," but not "Eres Tu": ARIA. "Eri tu" is an aria from a Verdi opera. "Eres Tu" (It's You) is a popular song. However, ere is a version of "Eres Tu" recorded with a symphony orchestra.


33. Look like: SEEM.


36. Many an email attachment:
PDF. Portable Document Format

37. Low-altitude airplane pass: FLYBY. The pattern is full.


38. "Miss Saigon" Tony winner Salonga:
LEA. Unknown. Perped.

39. Salsa container: JAR.

41. Formed clumps: CLOTTED.

42. Get out of bed: RISE.

44. Holy Land nation: ISRAEL. The term "Holy Land" usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern State of Israel, the Palestinian Territories, western Jordan, and parts of southern Lebanon and southwestern Syria. Jews, Christians and Muslims regard it as holy.

45. Step-counting device: FITBIT.


46. Capital of Greece:
ATHENS.

49. Cosmic balance: KARMA. One person's take on this:


50. Salty expanse: OCEAN.


51. Hybrid garment:
SKORT. A cross between a SKirt and shORTs.

52. Pull's opposite: PUSH.

53. Voting against: ANTI

54. Bird in Egyptian art: IBIS.


55. First line on a form, often:
NAME.

56. "Touched your nose!" sound: BOOP. We have seen this clue/answer before. I prefer this take:

Betty Boop
57. TiVo remote button: REC. RECord.




Stella, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the Comments section.  We'd love to hear from you.

. . . . and now it is time to rest and recover from all of this partying.

_________________________________________________________

פרת ים

MM Out