Tuesday September 16, 2025 ~ Tennessee Grimes

Creature Comforts

Hi All!
Our normal relief pitcher, RustyBrain, is getting some well earned R&R so I'm stepping in [read: you're stuck with me] for Hahtoolah today.

Today's gimmick: Phrases that critters may call housing.

17. Fraternal organization venue: ELKS LODGE.

The Possum LODGE

24. Desk accessory that might coordinate with a wrist rest: MOUSE PAD.

Jerry Mouse's Pad

34. Place to adopt a new pet, or what is found in 17-, 24-, 49-, and 59-Across?: ANIMAL SHELTER.

49. Emphasizes passionately: RAMS HOME.

Ramming it Home?

59. "Land ho!" caller's spot: CROWS NEST.

Keepin' the crows out of the Crow's Nest
(so there's not a murder up there).

Across:
1. ABC show for early risers, briefly: GMA. American Broadcasting Company airs Good Morning America at 7am.

4. Cut, as logs: SAWED. Cut is past-tense here.

9. Button on a job listing website: APPLY. Oy! These are the bane of hirning managers (that actually read all submitted resumes) 'cuz folks / bots submit resumes w/o even reading the requirements.

14. Grammy winners __ Tigres del Norte: LOS. No clue. Their WikiP. I would link a video but I don't know enough Spanish to figure out if #Politics.

15. Muscat resident: OMANI.

16. Celtic priest of old: DRUID.

Stonehenge had Druids

[Spinal Tap (ft. Sir Elton) -- The End Continues]

17. [See: Theme]

19. Musical instrument similar to the xylophone, familiarly: VIBES. I'm assuming vibraphone.

20. On the line: AT STAKE.

21. Gloomy: GRIM.

23. Device at a parking spot: METER.

Sir Paul going on about Lovely Rita

24. [See: Theme]

28. Oscar hopeful: NOMINEE.

31. Turn into: BECOME.

32. Functions: USES.

33. Knowledgeable about: UP ON.

34. [See: Theme]

40. Latch (onto): GLOM.

41. Mystical glow: AURA.

42. Kenya's continent: AFRICA.

Toto's Africa

45. Knotty: GNARLED. I love this word - it's onomatopoetically visual.

49. [See: Theme]

51. Salami choice: GENOA. A very yummy Italian salami.

53. Shoe bottom: SOLE.

54. Ugly garment at many a holiday party: SWEATER. There's a whole store dedicated to this.

56. Pinkberry dessert, familiarly: FRO-YO.

[site cite]

59. [See: Theme]

61. Starts of some renovation projects, informally: DEMOS. Demolition: out w/ the old. Renovation: in w/ the new.

62. __ Major: constellation with Sirius, the Dog Star: CANIS.

63. Many ICU pros: RNS. Intensive Care Units are staffed by Registered Nurses.

64. Rascal: ROGUE.

65. Actress Harmon: ANGIE.

Angie's WikiP

66. Pigpen: STY. Not Charlie Brown's friend.

Down:
1. Twinkle: GLEAM. Think eyes.

2. Liquefied by heat, as lava or metal: MOLTEN.

3. Invites out for: ASKS TO.

4. Room with a lot of natural light: SOLARIUM. I kept trying to stretch out atRIUM.

5. Frenzied: AMOK.

6. Get ready to start fly-fishing, say: WADE.

7. U.K. part: ENG.

8. Soccer great Maradona: DIEGO. I didn't know of Maradona until last week when I heard The Engineer [25m] on This American Life.

WikiP

9. Counsel: ADVISE.

10. Quality piece of meat: PRIME CUT. I had PRIME rib.

11. Irish tavern: PUB.

12. Falsehood: LIE.

13. NFL gains: YDS. Yards gained in football.

18. Originate (from): STEM.

22. Create friction: RUB.

24. Email, e.g.: MESSAGE.

25. Title for Robert Prevost since May 8, 2025: POPE. Leo is Frank's successor.

26. Common topic for a bachata crooner: AMOR. Bachata is music from the Dominican Republic. I sussed AMOR from "crooner" :-)

27. Lair: DEN.

29. Govt. intel org.: NSA. National Security Agency - "The only part of government that actually listens." :-)

30. Skinny swimmer: EEL.

34. Automaker __ Romeo: ALFA.

My '86 Spider Veloce

35. Par for the course: NORM.

36. Words of longing: I MISS YOU.

37. Roman Empire raider: HUN.

38. Stretch of history: ERA.

39. Philanthropist's quality: LARGESSE.

40. Skinny swimmer: GAR. Another 3-letter thin aquatic animal.

43. Cast a ballot, say: CHOOSE.

44. Pioneering ISP: AOL. America On Line was an early Internet Service Provider.

46. Like a small, efficient team: LEAN.

John Candy in Stripes

47. Goes through an open door: ENTERS.

48. "That __ seem right": DOESN'T.

50. Site where the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad: MECCA.

52. Overly intellectual, maybe: ARTSY.

54. Spotify selection: SONG.

55. 1940s conflict, for short: WWII. World War II

56. U.S. pres. for most of 55-Down: FDR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

57. __ Speedwagon: REO. The band [Keep on Rollin'] named themselves after the car that Neal Doughty (keyboardist) saw written on the blackboard in his History of Transportation class at U of IL.

A soup'd up REO Speed Wagon

58. Texter's "No way!": OMG. Oh, My Gracious!

60. Published: RAN. The reporter RAN with the story: "The senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity." [WKRP Intro @0:24]

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs: heWED -> SAWED, PRIME rib => inON => UP ON, GNARLEy [sic]
ESPs: LOS (as clued), DIEGO, ANGIE
Fav: GNARLED is just too fun to ignore.

Cheers, -T

Thursday, August 22, 2024, Katie Hale, Tennessee Grimes

  

Chacun a Son Goût
("Every One to Their Own Taste")

Here is the bored Prince Orlofsky (a "trouser role") throwing a party in Johann Straus' operetta Die Fledermaus ("The Bat"), and admonishing his revelers to behave to "their own tastes" (i.e. "do your own thing!")  ...

Today's constructors, veteran Katie Hale and Tennessee Grimes (making his/her Corner debut), give us a taste of lean construction, with only 10 TLWs and only a few people and places.  They also give us 4 asterisked single word theme clues that fill with a synonym preceded by one of the classic four tastes: SWEET, SALTY, SOUR, and BITTER, each a two word in-the-language phrase ...

16A. *Center: SWEET HEART.  Teri is ...

23A. *Hound: SALTY DOG.  Slang for a seasoned sailor and the title of a sad song by Procol Harum, possibly about the sinking of a ship, but the meaning of the lyrics are disputed ...

Lyrics

49A. *Memo: SOUR NOTE.  An offkey note, or metaphorically an unpleasant ending

61A. *Tablet: BITTER PILL.  Something difficult to swallow.

And the reveal ...

37A. Something not immediately appreciated, or what the answers to the starred clues have?: AN ACQUIRED TASTE.  Each of the one word clues has acquired a taste.

My only beef is where's the UMAMI? 😀

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:
1. "Ethan Frome" writer Wharton: EDITH.  Ethan Frome is a 1911 novella by American author Edith Wharton. It details the story of a man who falls in love with his wife's cousin and the tragedies which result from the ensuing love triangle. The story is an echo of our last two themers, ending on a very sour note and on a very bitter pill for the protagonists.  The novel has been adapted into a 1983 film of the same name, starring starring Liam Neeson, Patricia Arquette, Joan Allen and Tate Donovan ...

6. Zenith: ACME.  I'm tempted to take this fill and run with it, but I'm afraid I'd end up at the bottom of a canyon. 😀

10. Bygone airline with an iconic terminal at JFK: TWA.  The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City. The TWA Flight Center was designed for Trans World Airlines by Eero Saarinen and Associates starting in 1956. It was erected between 1959 and 1962, and it operated as an air terminal until 2001.

TWA Flight Center

13. Roughstock event: RODEO.  This article describes various rodeo events including Roughstock Saddle bronc, Bareback, and Bull riding.  Contestants have to stay on the animals for at least 8 seconds before they are scored by the judges for other variables like rider control and animal ferocity.  By my reckoning the scores in this clip are beasts 10 and cowboys 3 (don't know the scores for "rider control" for the latter, but the beasts look pretty ferocious for all 13 events) ...

14. __ dunk: SLAM.  I think some of the beasts in 13D could probably make it in basketball. 😀

15. Pretense: SHAM.  Also a pretentious pillow.

Sham

16. [Theme clue].

18. Pacific Islands root: TARO.

19. "__ of story!": END.

20. Clinking occasion: TOAST. Here's the famous toast aria, 'Libiamo ne' lieti calici' ("Let us drink from our happy cups ...") from Verdi's La Traviata ...

21. Made a guest appearance during a jazz set, perhaps: SAT IN.  Here's B.B. King sitting in on a John Mayer gig ...

22. Cattle chew: CUD.  Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the physical digestive process of rumination.  I'll pass on the recipes. 😀

23. [Theme clue].

25. Wedding budget saver, maybe: CASH BAR.  It might even save a few lives too.

29. Approximately: OR SO.

30. Not pro: ANTI.

31. "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore" coiner: BERRA.  There are literally 100's of Yogi isms out on the net, but here are a few of his best.  And for those of you who can't get enough.

34. Garden-variety fish?: EEL. Hand up if you thought it was KOI?

37. [Theme reveal]

41. Neither's partner: NOR.

42. "If only I could __ that": UNSEE.

43. Charles III, e.g.: KING. Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.  Charles ascended to the throne on 8 September 2022, after the death of his mother, the beloved Elizabeth II.  She reigned for 70 years 214 days, the longest of any British monarch. Charles was the longest-serving British heir apparent, having surpassed Edward VII's record of 59 years on 20 April 2011. He was the oldest person to succeed to the British throne, at the age of 73.

King Charles III

44. Angler's need: BAIT.

46. Cantina sizzlers: FAJITAS. Our favorite Tex-Mex.  Here's a recipe.

 

Steak Fajitas

49. [Theme clue]

53. Signature need: PEN.

54. Exponent symbol: CARET. As in 10^3 = 1,000.  But this word has 3 other homophones with different meanings:

55. Wage increase: RAISE.

57. Airport served by BART: SFO.  The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system station. The elevated station is a transfer point to the AirTrain people mover system.

60. __ Major: URSA.  Today's Latin lesson: BEAR -- the Big Bear, aka the Big Dipper, probably the most recognizable of the Northern asterisms ...

The Big Dipper
the two stars furthest to the right point upward to
Polaris, the North Star (not shown in this picture)

61. [Theme clue].

63. "All __ are off!": BETS.

64. Self starter?: YOUR.  Meta clue.

65. Barely beat: EDGED.

66. Spots: ADS.

67. Spot: ESPY.  An archaic term for "to see", rarely used outside of crosswords 😀.  Also the ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports.

68. Copenhagen citizens: DANES.  Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and the birthplace of my favorite DANE, Niels Bohr (come to think of it, the only other Dane I can name besides his wife Margrethe is Hamlet 😀)

Niels Bohr

Down:

   1. Gaelic tongue: ERSE.  An alternative name for any Goidelic language, especially the Irish language.

Percentage of Irish speakers in the
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
 2011 Census

2. Word with payment or pillow: DOWN.

3. Put a name to a face: IDED.

4. Many an undershirt: TEE.

5. Bubbly bath: HOT TUB.

6. On the briny: ASEA.

7. Elegance: CLASS.

8. One of the von Trapp girls: MARTA.  Surprise -- there was no MARTA von Trapp, at least not in real life.  Marta is a character in Roger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, but there was no one by the name in the von Trapp family.  There was a Martina, but her nickname was not Marta.  Here is the real story of the von Trapp Family.  

The Trapp Family in January 1946.

A personal note: Agathe von Trapp settled in America and was a parishioner in Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Glyndon, MD, where she was a music teacher in the school. Teri and I used to attend that church years after the time of Agathe's death in 2010, but many of the existing parishioners still had fond memories of her.

9. Triage pro: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technician.

10. "OK, now I'm really mad": THAT DOES IT.

11. Nintendo antagonist in purple overalls: WARIO. Wario is a character in Nintendo's Mario franchise that was designed as an arch nemesis to Mario. Wario first appeared as the main antagonist and final boss in the 1992 Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. His name is a portmanteau of the name Mario and the Japanese word warui (悪い), meaning "bad".

Wario

12. Interlaced with: AMONG.

15. Legal suspensions: STAYS.

17. "Today" co-host Kotb: HODA.  Hoda Kotb (HOH-də KOT-bee, born in Norman, Oklahoma on August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today and co-host of its entertainment-focused fourth hour. Kotb formerly served as a correspondent for the television news magazine program Dateline NBC.

Hoda Kotb

21. Guitar that Bob Dylan went electric with, familiarly: STRAT.  I was looking for something like B.B. King's Lucille, but here Dylan just plays his STRATocaster at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival ...

22. Smart: CHIC.

24. Member of the peerage: LORD.

25. James of "The Godfather": CAAN. James Edmund Caan (KAHN; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance that earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion-picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.

James Caan

26. Montessori year?: ANNO.  Today's Italian lesson: YEAR.  Maria Montessori, the founder of the eponymous teaching method was born in Chiaravalle, Italy.  A bit of a stretch. 😀

Maria Montessori
31 August 1870 – 6 May 1952

27. Patterns around explosive comic book sound effects: STARBURSTS. 

28. World Series stat: RBIS. Runs Batted In (RBI) vs Runs Batted Ins (RBIS).  Your opinion?

32. Previously found in poetry?: ERE.

33. 49-Down spot: REEF. 

35. Volcano with 2,700 years of documented eruptions: ETNA.  Let's see what it's up to today ..

If the above display is dark, try this webcam right on the slopes of the volcano.

36. Staying power: LEGS.

38. One of five: QUINT.  One of 5 cards, or one of five quintuplets, children all born at the same time, e.g. the Dionne sisters born in Callander, Ontario in 1934 (CSO to CanadianEh!) ...

The first quintuplets
known to survive infancy
1947

39. Golden Rule word: UNTO.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  A universal principle recognized by philosophers, ethicists, and religions throughout the world.

40. Similar (to): AKIN.

45. Some geometry exam answers: AREAS.

47. Cardinal's wing?: APSE.  A section of a Church?  Crossword Tracker shows that this is the first time this clue has been used for this fill (click View All to see complete list).

48. Reacted to a flagrant foul, perhaps: JEERED.

49. Underwater gear: SCUBA.  Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

50. Obeyed the coxswain: OARED.

51. Le Tigre and HAIM: TRIOS.  Le Tigre was formed in 1998 by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning.  Here's their TKO ...

And from the other side of the tracks we have Haim (/ˈhaɪɪm/ HY-im; meaning "life" in Hebrew, stylized HAIM), an American rock band, based in Los Angeles and composed of three sisters, Este (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle (lead vocals, guitar, and drums), and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vocals). In addition to their primary instruments, each is proficient in several others.  Here's their Cherry Flavored Stomach Ache ...

52. Devour: EAT UP.

56. "Glad my effort was good enough": I TRY.

57. Leo or Libra: SIGN.  

  Leo                         Libra

58. Leave in a hurry: FLEE.

59. Former GM brand: OLDS.

61. "Sayonara!": BYE.

62. Kissing in the park, e.g.: PDA.  Public Display of Affection -- this one is very public ...

Mets Fans at Citi Field

 

Cheers,

Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley