Thursday, February 27, 2025, Doug Peterson

  Loosely Come Dancing

Constructor Doug Peterson brings the muse Terpsichore to our puzzle today with a theme about dancing, one of the most widely practiced of the arts.  We opened with a tango competition from the British show Strictly Come Dancing and we'll end up with looser version of the genre with a good 'ole Rock and Roll dance. Here are our themers ...

18A. *Chimp aboard a rocket, say: SPACE MONKEY.

24A. *Entertainment systems sold with controllers: GAME CONSOLES.

40A. *Storage area in a dashboard: GLOVE COMPARTMENT.

55. *Garage employee: AUTO MECHANIC.

... and what these clues have in common is revealed by a ...

65A. Kinks hit about the local palais, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues?: COME DANCING. ...

... and as we can see from the grid, unlike our dance contest in the splash video, Doug has the word COME loosely DANCING through the 4 theme clues ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Worthless stuff: DROSS.  Not all DROSS is worthless.  SLAG, which is the "scum" that floats to the top during the smelting of ores, actually has many uses.
 

Slag being poured off molten iron

6. Eyewear, informally: SPECS.

11. Sacred Egyptian bird: IBIS.  The African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a species of ibis, a wading bird of the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to much of Africa, as well as small parts of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. It is especially known for its role in Ancient Egyptian religion, where it was linked to the god Thoth.  Ironically the ibis is currently extinct in Egypt. 

African sacred ibis

15. Zing: OOMPH.

16. Prepare to start a hole: TEE UP.

17. Slam __: DUNK.

18. [Theme clue]

20. Luxury hotel chain: OMNI.  Omni Hotels & Resorts is an American privately held, international hotel company based in Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 1958 and operates 51 properties in the United States and Canada, totaling over 20,010 rooms and employing more than 23,000 people.  Here's a nice one in New Hampshire ...

Omni Mt. Washington

21. Pink pencil parts: ERASERS.  They also come in white, like the one on my cruciverbal weapon of choice ... 

22. Beat on eBay: OUT BID.  Or you can just Buy It Now ... 

24. [Theme clue]

27. Calico's outdoor enclosure: CATIO.  DNK CATIO.  My grandchildren's cats are outside cats to begin with, so they just need a space were they can get food and warmth on cold winter nights.  Here's Butterscotch perched above their cat house ...

Cat house

31. Walk of Fame symbol: STAR.  You can make your own with this Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Generator ...

32. Furrow maker: HOE.

33. Nuts in a chipmunk's hoard: ACORNS.

35. TV hosts: MCS.  "Masters of Ceremonies", e.g. Here's the 10th Doctor Who emceeing the BAFTAS ...

37. Flock sound: BAA.

40. [Theme clue]

45. Hearty laugh: YUK.

46. Goose Island brew, for short: IPA.  On Goose Island you can do crazy stuff! ...

 47. Put on the right track: ORIENT.

48. "The Addams Family" cousin: ITT.  Well what else would you call ITT? 

ITT

51. "Tell Mama" singer James: ETTA.  Tell Mama is the seventh studio album by American singer Etta James. Her second album release for Cadet Records, produced by Rick Hall at his FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, it was James's first album since 1964 to enter the Billboard 200 chart.  Here's the title track ...

54. Analyze for purity: ASSAY.

55. [Theme clue]

59. Attack vigorously: ASSAIL.

60. Ancient musicians: LYRISTS.  And contemporary musicians as well ...

64. Dutch painter Frans: HALS.  Frans Hals the Elder (c. 1582 – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, who lived and worked in Haarlem, Netherlands.  Some of Hals's portrait work is characterised by a subdued palette, reflecting the politely serious tones of his fashionable clients' wardrobe. In contrast, the personalities he paints are full of life, typically with a friendly glint in the eye or the glimmer of a smile on the lips.  

Gypsy Girl
Oil on wood, 58 x 52 cm. 1628–30
Musée du Louvre, Paris.

65. [Theme reveal]

69. Awards acronym: EGOT.  Here is a current list of performers who have obtained Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tony awards.

70. Chess grand master Krush: IRINA.  Irina Borisivna Krush (Ukrainian: Ірина Борисівна Круш; born December 24, 1983) is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the only woman to earn the GM title while playing for the United States.  Krush is an eight-time U.S. Women's Champion and a two-time Women's American Cup Champion.

Irina Krush

71. "Later, __!": GATOR.  A shortened version of the 1949 rock and roll hit See You Later Alligator by Bill Hailey and the Comets ...

72. Damp at dawn: DEWY.

73. Eccentric: DOTTY.

74. Madeleine of "Revenge": STOWE.  Madeleine Stowe (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress.  From 2011 to 2015, Stowe starred as Victoria Grayson, the main antagonist of the ABC drama series Revenge, loosely based on Alexander Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. For this role, she was nominated for the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. 

Note: Stowe also starred in the 1990 film Revenge, starring with co-stars Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn.  Completely different plot.

Down:

 1. Green Day album released between "¡Uno!" and "¡Tre!": DOS.  DOS! is the tenth studio album by the American rock band Green Day.  Here's Stray Heart, the hit single from the album, rated SB (for "Slightly Bizarre") ...

2. Rock climber's line: ROPE.

3. Actor Epps: OMAR.  Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. Epps's film roles include Juice, Higher Learning, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love & Basketball. His television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the medical drama series ER, J. Martin Bellamy in Resurrection,  and Dr. Eric Foreman on the Fox medical drama series House from 2004 to 2012.  He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award.

Omar Epps

4. Pet adoption org.: SPCA.

5. Hall & Oates soul ballad: SHES GONE. Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and backing vocals.  Here's She's Gone ...

6. Blizzards, e.g.: STORMS.

7. Gift for writing?: PEN SET.

8. "Yikes!": EEK.

9. Actor's alert: CUE.

10. Track with malware, say: SPY ON.

11. "Same here!": I DO TOO.

12. Fuzzy pollinators: BUMBLE BEES.  Here's a beautiful video about why Bumble Bees are truly our best pollinators ... 

13. Concave navel: INNIE.  Since you asked -- here are some “Innies," “Outies" and Other Belly Button Facts.

14. Slides after braking: SKIDS.

19. __ culpa: MEA.  Today's Latin lesson: "My fault", or in modern lingo "My bad".

23. Show to a seat, slangily: USH.  Meh.

25. __ David: CAMP.  Camp David is a 125-acre country retreat for the president of the United States. It lies in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north-northwest of the national capital city, Washington, D.C.  Camp David was built as a retreat for federal government agents and their families by the Works Progress Administration between 1935 and 1938.  Camp David received its present name in 1953 from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and his grandson, both named David.

Camp David lodge
with swimming pool in foreground

26. Apex predator in the ocean: ORCA.  These marine creatures are often found swimming through crossword puzzles hungrily searching for OREOS.

27. Evasive: CAGY.

28. Free speech advocacy gp.: ACLU. The American Civil Liberties Union.

29. Didn't rush: TOOK IT SLOW.

30. Music producer Gotti: IRV.  Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer. He co-founded the record label Murder Inc. Records in 1998, which was an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. Irv is credited with having helped discover or sign rappers Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule, as well as singers Ashanti and Lloyd. He executively produced the debut albums for DMX's It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, Ja Rule's Venni Vetti Vecci [sic], Ashanti's self titled, and Lloyd's Southside, here featuring Ashanti in this lyric video ... 

34. Bio or chem: SCI.

36. Hit show letters: SRO.

38. "Pushing Daisies" actress Friel: ANNA.  Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. She came to international prominence with her role as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles on ABC's Pushing Daisies (2007–2009), for which she received a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2017, she won the International Emmy for Best Actress for her portrayal of the title character in the ITV/Netflix mystery drama series Marcella (2016–2021). Her other accolades include a Drama Desk Award, an honorary degree, and a BAFTA nomination. Here's a trailer for Pushing Daisies ...

39. Legal dept. staffer: ATTY.

41. Intl. crude cartel: OPEC.  Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, another favored acronym of crossword constructors.  OPEC actually has a flag and an emblem, but I haven't a clue as to what they signify ... 

42. SAT section: MATH.  The SAT is a test you have to pass before you can take the 68D.

43. Copies made with see-through sheets: TRACINGS.  I recall attending a conference at the very high-tech Miami Convention Center -- the main venue had an LCD screen that stretched the entire length and height of the stage.  One of the highlights was a keynote address by cartoonist Scott Adams, who gave a talk on the early days of his comic Dilbert.  The crowd went crazy when he pushed a cart onstage with an overhead projector and proceeded to lecture using a stack of transparencies! 

44. Grafton's "__ for Malice": M IS.  Sue Taylor Grafton (April 24, 1940 – December 28, 2017) was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" ("A" Is for Alibi, etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California.  

"S is for Sue Grafton"

49. Warm and comfy: TOASTY.

50. "OMG, no more details!": TMI.  I hope that 13D wasn't TMI!

52. Knack: TALENT.

53. Very soon now: ANY DAY.

55. Oohed and __: AAHED.

56. Water bill statistic: USAGE.

57. Spanish folk hero: EL CID.  Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific as-Sayyid ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve into El Çid.  By all accounts he was a remarkable military strategist, who carefully studied his enemies tactics and used brainstorming with his troops before battle, surprise, and psychological warfare to defeat his foes.  His life inspired many works of art, including this epic movie starring Charlton Heston as El Çid and Sophia Loren as his wife Jimena (I believe the real Jimena was actually loyal to El Çid to the end) ...

58. NPR host Flatow: IRA.  Ira Flatow (born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts WNYC Studio's popular program Science Friday. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Newton's Apple, a television science program for children and their families. Later he hosted another PBS series, Big Ideas. He has published several books, the most recent titled Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature.

Ira Flatow

61. "Beat it!": SCAT.

62. Bandleader Puente: TITO.  Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000),[1] commonly known as Tito Puente, was a Puerto Rico musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also known as “El Rey de los Timbales,” or “The King of the Timbales.”  Here's his signature piece Oye Como Va ("How's it going?") ... 

63. Imitation flakes in a clear globe: SNOW.

Snow Globe

66. Guadalajara gold: ORO.  A constructor's favorite gold -- two vowels and a comparative ending.

67. Univ. near Harvard: MIT.  A CSO to Picard.  

68. Univ. senior's test: GRE.  Graduate Record Exam (passed with flying colors I'm sure by our graduate from 67D).

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley

Thursday, February 20, 2025, Amie Walker & Geoffrey Schorkopf

 

Food Trucks

Washington, D.C. Mall

Today's constructors Amie Walker and Geoffrey Schorkopf have dished up a tasty puzzle with 4 themers and a reveal that I think you'll concede is pretty straightforward (for a change!) ...  

17. Menu icon that resembles a patty in a bun: HAMBURGER BUTTON.  A hamburger button, so named for its unintentional resemblance to a hamburger, is a button typically placed in a top corner of a graphical user interface. Its function is to toggle a menu  or navigation bar between being collapsed behind the button or displayed on the screen. 

This reminds me a little of the trigrams comprising the hexagrams of the Chinese book of divination known as the I Ching, but that's a different kind of puzzle. 😀

23. Red-and-white pattern: CANDY STRIPE.  The pattern on the traditional dresses worn by young hospital volunteers.  One of my sisters was a "candy striper" at local nursing home when she was growing up.  I think it may have led to her becoming a nurse when she got older.

Candy Stripers
British Columbia, CA

40. Textured features that help soundproof spaces: POPCORN CEILINGS.  A popcorn ceiling, also known as a stipple ceiling or acoustic ceiling, is a ceiling with one of a variety of spray-on or paint-on treatments. The bumpy surface is created by tiny particles of vermiculite or polystyrene, which gives the ceiling sound-deadening properties. 

Popcorn ceiling tile

51. Intricate inversion on some roller coasters: PRETZEL LOOP.  This one is pretty intricate -- the Impulse roller coaster at Knoebel's Grove Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA.  My grandchildren love this ride, but no impulse will ever get Granddad onto this contraption ...

Impulse Roller Coaster
Knoebel's Grove Amusement Park

Theme reveal ...

62. Compromise, or what solvers do when filling in the first words of 17-, 23-, 40-, and 51-Across?: MAKE CONCESSIONS.  I'm sure you've noticed by now that the first word of each theme clue is actually the name for a common type of concession stand, e.g. a kiosk or a food truck, that has a limited menu of fast foods, e.g. HAMBURGER, CANDY, POPCORN, and PRETZELS.

My personal favorite food truck is operated by this guy, who once gave me a lesson in how to make Penne alla Vodka, including the quickest way to prepare fresh garlic cloves -- whack 'em with the side of a vegetable cleaver and the cloves will practically pop right out of their skins!

Here's the grid ... 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Food safety concern: ECOLI.  ECOLI is short for Escherichia coli, a bacteria that can be harmful, but also occurs in our intestines and is actually necessary for digestion.  Here is the difference.  Here is an image of the E.coli in our gut microbiome ...

Escherichia coli

6. Calif. airport with yoga rooms: SFO.  If you're a bare knuckle flyer this may be a good place to relax before boarding ...

 

9. Hypes (up): AMPS.

13. Like a dance marathon: TIRING.  They can practically be killers, like the film about a Depression era marathon, depicted in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses Don't They ...

15. Sticky stuff: TAR.

16. Wraparound dress: SARI.  Wedding saris are traditional garments worn for Indian weddings and other special occasions in Hindu, Punjabi and Bengali cultures. Also commonly spelled saree, this South Asian wedding dress is named after the Sanskrit word for "strip of cloth."  You won't be sorry for skimming this article for some truly beautiful saris.😀

A beautiful bevy of saris

17. [Theme clue]

20. Golden yrs. fund: IRA.

21. Iowa State city: AMES.  Ames is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU).

22. Strainer: SIEVE.  A collection of sieves of various mesh sizes is indispensable for the preparation of ceramic glazes ... 

Glaze sieves

23. [Theme clue]

27. Apple core?: IOS.  -- a pun on the word "core", which in computing refers to the central HW or SW component of a system -- in this case IOS is the core software component, i.e. the operating system, of Apple's iPhones.

28. Dawn goddess: EOS.  She had her day in the Sun two weeks ago.

29. "30 for 30" airer: ESPN.  30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online, highlighting interesting people and events in sports history.  Not all of these films are flattering.  Here's trailer for Brian and the Boz, a controversial film about the former Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth ...

31. On the wrong side (of): AFOUL.

34. Verify, in a way: CARD.  The verb not the noun.

37. Beat handily: ROUT.

40. [Theme clues]

43. Tennis great Sampras: PETE.  Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 286 weeks (third-most of all time), and finished as the year-end No. 1 six consecutive times. 

Pete Sampras
Wimbledon 1998

44. "Hold __ your hat!": ONTO.

45. Luxury watch: OMEGA. The end all of all watches, or at least the Greek ones? 😀

46. Rae of "Barbie": ISSA.  She played President Barbie in this clip called "Put the Constitution Back" ... 

48. Style manual org.: MLA.  MLA Handbook (9th ed., 2021) establishes a system for documenting sources in scholarly writing. It is published by the Modern Language Association, which is based in the United States. According to the organization, their MLA style "has been widely adopted for classroom instruction and used worldwide by scholars, journal publishers, and academic and commercial presses".

Amazon Link

49. Latin I verb: AMO.  Today's Latin lesson: AMO = "I Love".

51. [Theme clue]

58. "Divine Comedy" poet: DANTE.  Dante Alighieri (c. May 1265 – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, is considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. His use of the Tuscan dialect helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language.

The poem consists of three parts: The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso.  I recall reading The Inferno in college and discovered that it is a misconception that the 9th circle, the center of Hell and the abode of the Devil, is the hottest place in the Universe.  Instead it's the coldest because it is the farthest  away from God.

Dante Alighieri
Sandro Botticelli, 1495

My favorite part of The Inferno is Dante's encounter with the 13th Century Italian knight, Gianni Schicchi in the 8th circle of Hell, condemned for fraudulently altering a will in his own favor.  It's the basis for Giacomo Puccini's only comic opera, Gianni Schicchi.  Here is the most famous aria from the opera, O mio babbino caro, sung by soprano Renee Fleming ...

Lyrics

60. Feels sorry for: RUES.  Not pities, regrets.

61. Badminton team, e.g.: DUO.  Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock ("birdie") across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players per side).  The use of the word "team" in the clue implies the answer DUO.  

Here two Chinese duos compete in the mixed doubles
 gold medal match of the 2012 Olympics.

62. [Theme reveal]

66. Cold drink brand: ICEE.  The Icee Company is an American beverage company located in La Vergne, Tennessee, United States. Its flagship product is the Icee (stylized as ICEE), which is a frozen carbonated beverage available in fruit and soda flavors.  As I'm writing this there are 6" of snow on the ground outside that needs shoveling and for some reason this drink doesn't appeal to me. 😀

67. Inquire: ASK.

68. Bring about: INDUCE.

69. Playroom pile: TOYS.  My son tells me that coming downstairs in the dark in the middle of the night and stepping on a pile of LEGOS in your bare feet is not a lot of fun. 😀

70. ACLU focus: RTS.  The American Civil Liberty Union is concerned with defending rights.  

71. Chuckled, slangily: LOLED.  Laughed Out Loud, closely related is ROTFL, which is equivalent to roaring, slangily.

Down:

 1. Moral tenet: ETHIC.

2. "1, 2 Step" singer: CIARA.  "1, 2 Step" is a song by American singer Ciara featuring American rapper Missy Elliott ...

3. "Women & Money" podcast host Suze: ORMAN.  Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman (SOO-zee; born June 5, 1951) is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with The Suze Orman Show, which ran on CNBC from 2002 to 2015. 

Suze Orman

4. Ad-__: LIB.

5. Shiba __: INU. Thank you perps.  Well not quite -- a Shiba Inu is both a breed of Japanese hunting dog ...

Shiba Inu

... and the mascot for a brand of eponymous cryptocurrency.   Shiba Inu (SHIB) is an Ethereum-based altcoin (a cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin) that features the Shiba Inu—a Japanese breed of hunting dog—as its mascot. Shiba Inu is widely considered to be an alternative to Dogecoin; in fact, proponents of Shiba Inu have touted it in the past as "the Dogecoin killer."  If none of that made any sense to you, it didn't make any sense to me either - TLDR.  Scary looking logo -- a wolf in sheep's clothing? 

Shiba Inu

6. Take the wheel: STEER.

7. Language of Tehran: FARSI.  Farsi, which is the Persian word for the Persian language, is spoken in Tehran, Iran, but also in many other countries around the world ...

Farsi speakers
Worldwide distribution

8. Celestial body: ORB.  It has quite a few other meanings as well.

9. Italian bubbly: ASTI.  Asti (also known as Asti spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont, but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the Asti has been classified as a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) and since 2004 has been Italy's largest wine product.

DOCG label

10. Quick deposition of a king?: MATE IN ONE.  MATE as in CHECKMATE, the move that ends a chess game -- the KING is attacked and has no escape.  Here are two chess games where WHITE can end the game with one move ...

Game 1

Game 2

The answers are given in standard chess algebraic notation at the end of the review.
 
11. City near Salt Lake City: PROVO.  Provo is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States and is the fourth-largest city in Utah.  It is 43 miles (69 km) south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south. The 2020 census listed the population as 115,162.

Location of Provo
in Provo County, Utah

12. Trig ratios: SINES.  In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle 𝜭, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse), and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that of the hypotenuse. 

Sine A = a/h
Cosine = b/h

14. Cow chow: GRASS.

18. Setting for Big Ben, for short: GMT.  As the clock Big Ben is in London, England the time there is  Greenwich Mean Time.  This app will show you the current time there, your local time, and the time in many other parts of the world. 

Big Ben

19. Doesn't waste: USES.

24. Court ties: DEUCES.  Tennis courts of course.  Here are the rules (well known by 43A).

25. "Carpe diem" hashtag: YOLO.  More Latin: Carpe diem = "Seize the day", advice to take advantage of opportunities.  It doesn't necessarily imply that You Only Live Once, an assertion that was considered debatable by this University of Virginia professor.

26. Mani-__: PEDI.  A CSO to Lucina!

30. Like some fears: PRIMAL. Or the 1996 film Primal Fear, an American legal mystery crime thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand and Edward Norton in his film debut. The film follows a Chicago-based defense attorney who believes that his client, an altar boy, is not guilty of murdering a Catholic bishop.  

31. Tablet download: APP.

32. Sworn enemy: FOE.

33. Alt analogue on a Mac: OPTION KEY.

34. "Erin Burnett OutFront" channel: CNN.  Erin Burnett OutFront is an hour-long television news program hosted by Erin Burnett on CNN.  OutFront is broadcast live from CNN's Hudson Yards studios in New York City or on location from the site of breaking news events. 

35. Be in the picture?: ACT.

36. __ Speedwagon: REO.  Looks like they're Back on the Road Again ...

38. Comfy shoe brand: UGG.

39. Wand-waving org.: TSA.  Thanks to the TSA's wand-waving magic airline hijackings are now very rare.

41. Bellow: ROAR.

42. Lounge around: LOLL. LAZE fit, but didn't perp, among other words ...

47. Architect's detail, briefly: SPEC.

48. Soccer superstar Lionel: MESSI.  Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team.  Here's some MessiMagic for all you MessiManiacs! ...

49. Own up to: ADMIT.

50. Collision repair franchise: MAACO.  When I filled this, I had to ask myself "do they still exist?" but after 53 years of operation they're still getting cars back on the road after accidents. MAACO Franchising, Inc. (doing business as Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting) is an American franchisor of auto painting and collision repair shops based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1972 by Anthony A. Martino and Daniel I. Rhode. 

52. Accounting giant __ & Young: ERNST.  Ernst & Young Global Limited, trading as EY, is a multinational professional services partnership, headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world.[8] Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms. It primarily provides assurance, tax, information technology services (including managed services in areas like Cybersecurity, Cloud, Digital Transformation and AI), consulting, and advisory services to its clients.

53. Stashes, as a football: TUCKS.

54. Calzone center?: ZEE.  Metaclue -- if this were a Brit puzzle the answer would be ZED.

55. Big name in near beer: O'DOUL.  It may be a big name, as in "recognizable", but this review of O'DOUL's near beer gives it poor marks.  In fact this review of the 19 best nonalcoholic beers doesn't even mention it.

56. Cup part: OUNCE.  HANDLE was too long and RIM was too short -- a measure of volume, not a container.

57. Not candid: POSED.

59. Simple tops: TEES.

63. Crew blade: OAR.

64. Lorne Michaels's show, familiarly: SNL.  This past Sunday February 16th, SNL celebrated its 50th Anniversary.  Here are some stars who participated in the 3 hour gala.  And here's Steve Martin's opening monologue, rated (just a tad) PG ...

65. Response to "Who wants to go to Disneyland?": I DO.  I guess "Vow on the altar" has become a bit dated.

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley

The answers to the chess quiz in 10D using algebraic notation: Game 1 -- NG6#, Game 2 -- RE7#.

Thursday, February 13, 2025, Kevin Christian & Drew Schmenner

  

State Raps

It appears to me that our veteran constructors Kevin Christian and Drew Schmenner have given us another "modern lingo" Thursday theme for today's offering.  We'll start with our themers, which are all the titles of songs ...

17. Katy Perry song whose lyrics mention Venice Beach and Palm Springs: CALIFORNIA GURLS.  This song was co-written with rapper Snoop Dogg and served as the lead single for her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010).  If you want to know why it's spelled that way, read this.   I'd rate the official video an R for all the skin, but this PG-rated video just has the music,  lyrics, and a few suggestive double-entendres ...

23. Stevie Ray Vaughan blues cover with the line "I'm standin' out in the rain": TEXAS FLOOD.  In 1983 Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded this song originally by blues musician Larry Davis ...

54. Title song of a 1961 film featuring a lei-wearing Elvis Presley: BLUE HAWAII.  Blue Hawaii is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy drama film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley.  Here's the title song ...

61. "Just an old sweet song" performed by Ray Charles: GEORGIA ON MY MIND.  Georgia on My Mind is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael (1899–1981), and Stuart Gorrell (1901–1963), and first recorded that same year by Hoagy Carmichael. The song has been most often associated with soul singer Ray Charles (1930–2004), a native of the U.S. state of Georgia ...

... and the enigmatic reveal ...

37A Regulatory legal associations, and what 17-, 23-, 54-, and 61-Across are?: STATE BARS.  Obviously the literal meaning -- state bar associations has nothing to do with music, so I started by assuming that each of the states named in the songs must have a famous BAR in them named after the song titles -- this sent me down a rabbit hole but all I came back with were some bunnies in a so-called "men's club" called "California Girls" in Anaheim, CA 🙃.

I finally hit pay dirt when I asked the Internet sage if the "word BARS might be slang for the words to a song and got this response ...

'the term "bars" is often used as hip-hop slang to refer to a song or a rapper's lyrics within a song, -- essentially meaning the musical bars of a song that are especially good, e.g. "the hook".

... each themer then associates a name of a state with the "bars" of a song.  Hand up if you've got another explanation!  😀

Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Two-time NBA MVP Malone: KARL.  Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spent his first 18 seasons (1985–2003) in the NBA with the Utah Jazz.  He was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and a 14-time member of the All-NBA Team, which include 11 consecutive First Team selection. His 36,928 career points scored rank third all-time in NBA history behind LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

Karl Malone

5. "Parks and __": REC.  Parks and Recreation (also known as Parks and Rec) is an American political satire mockumentary television sitcom. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 episodes, over seven seasons.  The series stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks Department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana ... 

8. Gray shade: SLATE.  The National Slate Association begs to differ -- consider the nuanced tiles on this slate roof ...

13. Pet peeve?: FLEA.  Pet peeves are all a matter of perspective ...

14. "The Little Mermaid" prince: ERIC.  The Little Mermaid is loosely based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson, but the notion of a water nymph who falls in love with a human dates back at least to ancient Greece and the Myth of the Ondine.  This is an enduring story that has been repeated in such works as Dvorak's opera Rusalka and German author Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's 1811 novella Undine.  The Disney studios have produced several versions of the myth and the Prince in these stories finally has a name: ERIC.   The original animated version was made in 1989 and a live action version in was released in 2023.  Here's a pic from the second version after Ariel (Halle Bailey) has saved Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) from drowning ... 

Prince Eric and Ariel

16. Mongolian, e.g.: ASIAN.  Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of 1,564,116 square kilometres (603,909 square miles), with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's most sparsely populated sovereign state.  Apparently Alexander Borodin was slightly mistaken when he titled this tone poem as In the Steppes of Central Asia.

17. [Theme clue]

20. Like fraternity brothers: MALE. -- And sorority sisters are FEMALE.  Vive la différence!

21. Pantry array: CANS.

22. Seasonal illness: FLU.  Have you had your flu shot?  Rumor has it that they're no longer PC. 🙃

23. [Theme clue]

26. D-rated: POOR.

27. Poem of praise: ODE.  A brief article on ODES by the Poetry Foundation.

28. Hot toddy option: TEA.

29. __ solution: SALINE.  Saline solution is a mixture of water and salt (sodium chloride) that has many different uses for your health.  Normal saline solution is a mixture of water and salt with a salt concentration of 0.9% -- for every 1 liter (1,000 milliliters) of water, there are 9 grams of salt. Normal saline is one type of IV fluid that healthcare providers give people in a hospital. This is because normal saline and human blood have the same balance of water and salt.

31. Zilch: NADA.  Today's Spanish lesson: NOTHING.

33. Writer/actress Fey: TINA.  Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She was a cast member and head writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1997 to 2006. After her departure from SNL, she created the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2006–2013, 2020) and the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020). Here's a clip from the pilot episode of 30 Rock in which she starred ... 

36. __ in comparison: PALED.

37. [Theme reveal]

40. Wash away suds: RINSE.

43. Cornerstone number: YEAR.  Here is the cornerstone of the Roosevelt Arch at the main entrance to Yellowstone National Park, the first National Park.  The Arch was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on April 24, 1903. Here are some interesting facts about the structure.

Yellowstone National Park
April 24, 1903

44. Cat prey: MICE. BIRD fit but wouldn't fly.

48. Skin care brand: AVEENO.  I don't usually hype products, but I find this lotion to be very helpful in restoring moisture to my hands after a session of throwing pots ...
 

50. Old film channel: TCM.  The channel isn't "old" (as in former), but the movies are.  Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Ted Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atlanta, Georgia.

52. Kraken's realm, briefly: NHL.  Thank you perps.  The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference.  The Pacific Northwest region has a history of Scandinavian immigrants and ancestry, connecting Seattle to the team name which is derived from a legendary sea monster of Nordic mythology. 

Kraken Logo

53. Spoils: ROTS.

54. [Theme clue].

58. "And so on" abbr.: ETC.

59. With, at le restaurant: AVEC.  Today's French lesson -- AVEC = "with"

60. __ América: quadrennial soccer tournament: COPA.  The Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial football (European for "soccer") tournament contested among national teams from South America. It is the oldest still-running continental football competition. The competition determines the champions of South America. Since the 1990s, teams from North America and Asia have also been invited to compete.

61. [Theme clue]

66. Come next: ENSUE.  A clue about jeans will ENSUE ...

67. Jeans spot that might wear out first: KNEE.  They might wear out before that if they're distressed ... 

68. Type of saxophone: ALTO. Here's Charlie Parker ("The Bird") on alto sax, Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums at Carnegie Hall in December of 1947 ...

69. Maker of apple products: MOTTS.  Mott's is an American company, founded in 1842 involved primarily in producing apple-based products, particularly juices and sauces.

70. "Stat!": NOW.  When ASAP is not fast enough!!!

71. German "no": NEIN.  Today's German lesson: NEIN = "no" and JA = "yes".

Down:

 1. Fast-food chain owned by Yum! Brands: KFC.  The original recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a closely guarded secret, but a nephew of Colonel Harlan Sanders who used to make it as a kid outed it to the Chicago Tribune.
 
2. San Francisco Bay city: ALAMEDA.  There's a lot to see and do there.

3. Chill: RELAXED.

4. Boxer Ali: LAILA.  Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female super middleweight titles, and the IWBF light heavyweight title. Ali is widely regarded by many within the sport as one of the greatest female professional boxers of all time. She is the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali.  Here she is at a charity fashion show for Heart Truth in 2011 ...

Laila Ali

5. __ Speedwagon: REO.  As the clue doesn't have a space between speed and wagon, the preferred spelling of the vehicle created by Ransom E. Olds in 1915, then it must be the name of the band that started in Illinois in the Sixties.  Here's their Roll With the Changes -- timely advice? ...

6. Make a mistake: ERR.

7. Dos y tres: CINCO.  Today's combined math and Spanish lesson: "2 and 3 = 5".

8. Gives in to gravity: SAGS.

9. The Tigers of the SEC: LSU.  Louisiana State University (commonly referred to as LSU) is an American public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The university was founded in 1860 near Pineville, Louisiana, under the name Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy. The current LSU main campus was dedicated in 1926 and consists of more than 250 buildings constructed in the style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, occupying a 650-acre (260 ha) plateau on the banks of the Mississippi River.  

And a CSO to our favorite Tiger, Hahtoolah!

10. Plane feature with a lift-to-drag ratio: AIRFOIL.  An airfoil is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more lift than drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foils of similar function designed with water as the working fluid are called hydrofoils.  When oriented at a suitable angle, a solid body moving through a fluid deflects the oncoming fluid (for fixed-wing aircraft, a downward force), resulting in a force on the airfoil in the direction opposite to the deflection. This force is known as aerodynamic force and can be resolved into two components: lift (perpendicular to the remote freestream velocity) and drag (parallel to the freestream velocity).  The explanation I learned in HS physics was that the upper curve of the airfoil, being longer than the lower curve makes the air thinner on top than on the bottom.   The difference between these air densities  creates a vacuum effect literally "sucking" the wing upward.  The mathematics of airfoils can get pretty complicated and I confess that I don't begin to understand them.  

Airfoil geometry

11. Beer, slangily: TALL ONE.  Here's a pint of lager in a tall one ... 

12. Made certain: ENSURED.

15. Milan farewell: CIAO.  Today's Italian lesson:  CIAO = "Ta Ta!".  Google translate indicates that it's also like ALOHA -- it can be used for "Hi" as well.

18. Celebratory suffix: FEST.  11D's are frequently consumed at these celebrations.

19. "No ifs, __, or buts": ANDS.

23. Boatload: TON.

24. Greek cheese: FETA.  Feta (Greek: φέτα, féta) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brine.

Feta cheese

25. Parishioners: LAITY.  FLOCK fit but didn't perp. The term LAITY refers to the people in a religious congregation who attend services and may even participate in the services as lectors, acolytes, or sacristans,  but are not ordained, as distinct from the clergy who lead the services and are ordained. 

26. Ecto- or endo- finish: PLASM.  The ectoplasm and endoplasm are components of the cytoplasm -- everything inside a cell membrane except for the nucleus.  Shown circled in this diagram are the cytoplasm and its components, the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticula.  Not labelled is the ectoplasm, which is the space between the plasma membrane and the cytoplasm.

30. Car loan fig.: APR.  Annual Percentage Rate.

32. Donkeys: ASSES.

34. Bridal bio word: NEE.

35. Lessen: ABATE.

38. X, at times: TEN.  -- also the social media company now usually referred to as "X, formerly known as Twitter".   The owner of the company is very interested in efficiency these days, and I'm sure that he intended to shorten the name, but it seems as if he has actually lengthened it. 😀

39. Prefix with enemy: ARCH.  See 43A for an alternate use of this word.

40. Red diamond, e.g.: RARE GEM.  A red diamond is a diamond which displays red color and exhibits the same mineral properties as colorless diamonds. Red diamonds are commonly known as the most expensive and the rarest diamond color in the world, even more so than pink or blue diamonds, as very few red diamonds have been found.  The largest and most perfect in the world is the Moussaieff Red Diamond. 

The Moussaieff Diamond

41. Words of dissension: I VOTE NO.

42. Sales figure: NET COST. 

45. Heaped: IN A PILE.

46. Trattoria red: CHIANTI.  This wine comes with its own Italian lesson -- Chianti is an Italian red wine produced in the Chianti region of central Tuscany, principally from the Sangiovese grape. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ("flask"; pl.: fiaschi). However, the fiasco is now only used by a few makers of the wine; most Chianti is bottled in more standard-shaped wine bottles.  

A fiasco of Chianti

Fiasco of course is also a modern term for a "complete, and utter failure" and is apparently somehow related to bottles (flasks) through a long chain of associations.   However my attempts to understand this chain were a complete, and utter failure. 😀

47. Yale student: ELI.  e.g. our constructor for January 9, 2025, Jem Burch.

49. Terse "Of course!": OBVI.  Meh.

51. "Shameless" star William H. __: MACY.  Shameless is an American black comedy drama television series starring William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum. The series is set in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.  With the premiere of the ninth season on September 9, 2018, Shameless became the longest-running original-scripted series in Showtime's history. In January 2020, the series was renewed for its eleventh and final season. 

55. Faucet problem: LEAK.

56. The NCAA's Huskies: UCONN.  The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, the school became a public land grant college, then took its current name in 1939. Over the following decade, social work, nursing, and graduate programs were established. During the 1960s, UConn Health was established for new medical and dental schools. UConn is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.  I think their name "Huskies" derives from the phonetic similarity between UConn and Yukon, a land of ice and snow. Here's their sports teams' logo ...
 

57. Barnard attendee: WOMAN.  At first this seemed like a simple thing to explain -- but given the nuances of the transgender movement, and the fact that Columbia University, which is coeducational, is just across the street and Barnard students are free to attend classes there, and that Barnard is actually a college of Columbia -- things got complicated pretty quickly.

59. Long time: AGES.

62. Boring routine: RUT.  The social-media company owner that I referred to in 38D has had some success in moving ruts underground, although speculation is that he may have gotten bored with the whole thing. 😀

63. "The Matrix" character who chooses the red pill: NEO.  An adventurous sort who got his start in a different Sci-Fi film.

The red pill and blue pill are metaphorical terms representing a choice between learning an unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in the contented experience of ordinary reality with the blue pill. The pills were used as props in the 1999 film The Matrix.

64. Kitten's sound: MEW.

[mew, mew, ...]

65. Actor Cheadle: DON.  Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards. He is one of a few actors to have received nominations for the EGOT.  His performance in Hotel Ruanda got him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor ... 

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley