Thursday, January 2, 2025 Matthew Stock

  

 Do You Want Fries
With That?

Today veteran Matthew Stock treats us to an embedded letter theme, and doubles our fun by embedding two consecutive letters, and then doubling them in the fill. And to add to our fun he has at least one Easter Egg, plus some sparkly fill -- and as we'll see very shortly, some of it may be too sparkly!

Here are the themers ...

20A. "Wait for meeeee!": I'M COMING I'M COMING.  A preview of coming attractions? ...

25A. Harry and Sally from "When Harry Met Sally ...," e.g.: ROM COM COUPLE.  I started with the iconic "I'll have what she's having" clip (just Google that phrase if you don't know what I'm referring to), but then stumbled on this video review, which has much more to say about Harry and Sally's long term relationship than the 3 minute scene in the restaurant. It also has a brief scene about the influence that the movie had on other ROM COMS, notably Heartburn another Nora Ephron film ...

And this is how it all ended ...

49. Oscar-winning song from "Mary Poppins": CHIM CHIM CHEREE. Dick van Dyke at his finest ...

And at 99 he's still going strong!

Here's the reveal ...
 
59A. Golden Arches order with two patties, and an apt title for this puzzle: MCDOUBLE.  It would be easy to miss this if you mentally parsed the three themers, because the double MCs each span two words, as is the crossword convention.  Feast your eyes on this ...

McDonald’s McDouble

5 Health Benefits of a McDonald’s McDouble, and Why You Should Eat One at Your Desk Daily. 😀
 
Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Brand with a four-ring logo: AUDI.

5. Box in, perhaps: TRAP.

9. D.C. ballplayers: NATS. The NLE Washington Nationals.

13. Small cut: SNIP.

14. __ Bock: dark beer from Texas: SHINER.  Bock beer is a dark beer first brewed in the 14th century in the Hanseatic town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony.  This one is brewed in Shiner, Texas ...
 

16. Dieciséis dividido por dos: OCHO.  Today we get a Spanish lesson and a math lesson all rolled into to one: "16 ÷ 2 = 8"

17. Behind: TUSH.  KEISTER or PATOOTIE were too long.

18. Hindu practice: TANTRA.  Tantra (Sanskrit: तन्त्र, lit. 'expansion-device, salvation-spreader; loom, weave, warp') is an esoteric and quite complex tradition that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards in both Hinduism and Buddhism.  The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice".  A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and mandalas.  While Tantra is often associated in the West with eroticism, this connotation is not widespread in India.

Sri Yantra mandala

19. Welcome downfall for a gardener: RAIN.

20. [Theme clue].

23. Kindergartener: TOT.  A little TATER? 

24. RV park chain: KOA.  KOA (short for Kampgrounds [sic] of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds.

25. [Theme clue]

31. Brewpub offering: ALE.  A constructor's favorite brewski, but now it has competition -- see 14A.

33. Big changes: SHAKE UPS.  We may be in for a few SHAKE UPS in the coming year.

34. Race unit: LAP.

37. Perjurer: LIAR.

39. Soft mineral: TALC.  Number 1 on the Mohs Hardness Scale,  talc is a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder (⚠). This mineral is used as a thickening agent and lubricant. It is also an ingredient in ceramics (glazes and low-fire clay bodies), paints, and roofing material. It is a main ingredient in many cosmetics.

Talc

40. "Your Majesty": SIRE.  If a Brit were to encounter this gentleman on the street, he/she would initially address him as "Your Majesty", and then address him in any further conversation as SIRE.  I've never met him, but I hear he's a nice bloke ...

King Charles III
United Kingdom

41. Natural hairstyle: AFRO.  An AFRO is hairstyle that was popular among some African Americans beginning in the 1960s, including the author of an autobiography I read recently called More Than I Imagined by CNN journalist John Blake -- about growing up in West Baltimore during that time.  It is a remarkable book that was strongly recommended to me by Nina (inanehiker), and I strongly recommend it to you ...

42. Cadence: RHYTHM.  While RHYTHM, along with MELODY and HARMONY has always been an essential component of Western music, it wasn't until the advent of Jazz that it moved to the front of American Music ...

44. Bread flour: ATTA.  Atta is a type of wheat flour, originated from the Indian subcontinent, used to make local flatbreads.  Whole common wheat (Triticum aestivum) is generally used to make atta; it has a high gluten content, which provides elasticity, so the dough made out of atta flour is strong and can be rolled into thin sheets.  Some of our favorite Indian dishes with atta flour are parathas (a portmanteau of from the Sanskrit "parat" and "atta" meaning literally "cooked dough").  The easiest to make are Aloo Parathas. 

Aloo Parathas

45. Inexperienced sort: NEWBIE.

47. Some field journalists: EMBEDS.  Today's constructor EMBEDDED MC into today's crossword fill -- definitely an Easter Egg.

49. [Theme clue]

54. African cackler: HYENA.  The "Laughing Hyena" is also known as the "Spotted hyena".  Not only are they funny, but they are highly intelligent.  Here are a couple of the cacklers having a laugh ...

55. Traveling: AWAY.

56. Rule: REIGN.  See also 40A.

58. "Helpful hardware folks" company: ACE.  Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the largest non-grocery retail cooperative in the United States.

59. [Theme reveal]

62. Higher ed hurdle: GRE.  The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is part of the admissions process for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada and a few other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The test was established in 1936 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

63. Not feeling so hot: ILL.

64. Passed (out): HANDED.  METED was too short.

65. Put a spell on: HEX.  Today's German lesson: "Witch = HEXE".  This brings to mind one of my favorite songs by Robert Schumann: Waldesgespräch ("forest conversation") about an encounter in a forest between a hunter and a witch named Loreley --  things do not go well for our hunter.  Here it's sung by Welsh mezzo-soprano Angharad Lyddon (with English subtitles) ...

66. In medias __: RES.  Today's Latin lesson: "In the middle of things".  Also today's literary lesson.  This phrase is used to describe a narrative than begins in the middle, rather than beginning at the beginning.  Some good examples are Hamlet, The Iliad, and the Odyssey.

67. Comes out with: UTTERS.

68. Vietnamese holiday whose full name translates to "festival of the first day": TET.

Down:

 1. Italian wine town: ASTI.

2. E pluribus __: UNUM.  Today's Latin lesson: "Out of Many, One", and the motto on the Great Seal of United States.

3. Shuffleboard piece: DISC.  Shuffleboard is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a marked scoring area ... 

4. Onetime Apple media app: IPHOTO.  iPhoto is a discontinued digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. It was included with every Mac computer from 2002 to 2015, when it was replaced with Apple's Photos application. 

5. Larger __ life: THAN.

6. Take a toll?: RING.

7. Against: ANTI.

8. Long-lasting do: PERM.

9. Par for the course: NORMAL.

10. __ na tigela: Brazilian dish with berries: ACAI.  Today's Portuguese lesson: "CROSSWORDESE = CROSSWORDESE".  😀

11. Like a stick: THIN.

12. Karaoke selection: SONG.  I picked this one, but it might not be popular with some of our solvers ... 😀

14. Disney character initially called Experiment 626: STITCH.  Experiment 626 was created on another planet and sent to destroy the Earth.  After crash landing he is found by orphan girl Lilo, who names him STITCH.  Lilo & Stitch have appeared in an animated film, and a TV series and are set to return in a new animated, real life movie scheduled for release in theaters on  May 23, 2025 ...

15. Amass: RACK UP.

21. May honorees: MOMS.

22. "Silly me!": OOPS.

25. Rollers that might get stuck in the mud: REAR WHEELS.  AKA RWD.   There are actually 4 types of drivetrains:  FWD, RWD, AWD and 4WD -- what's the difference?

26. Vow: OATH.

27. "Uh-huh ... ": MKAY. If I read this correctly it is a slurring of OKAY and a near clecho to 51D (this one doesn't have a bang (!)).  This is supposed to tell us that the person quoted agrees with you. Don't you just love quote clues? 😀

28. Gaelic speaker: CELT.  They are not only speakers, but great singers as well ...

29. "Stop poking me!": OUCH.

  30. Rare spot for a No. 12 seed: ELITE EIGHT.  Like "March Madness," the phrase "Elite Eight" originally referred to the Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship in 1956, the single-elimination high school basketball tournament run by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 

31. Astronaut Shepard: ALAN.  Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47.

Alan Shepard, Jr.

32. Progression from birth to death: LIFE CYCLE. "To everything there is a season '' - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

35. Creative's credential: ART DEGREE.  An artist is not a special person, every person is a special kind of artist -- and we all color outside the lines now and then.

36. Matar paneer vegetables: PEAS.  Today's Hindi lesson: "MATAR = PEAS" and "PANEER = CHEESE".  Here's Swasthi's recipe.
 

Matar Paneer

38. Songbird with an orange belly: ROBIN.  They used to be a harbinger of Spring, but on the East Coast they seem be around all year ...

American Robin

Not to be confused with the English Robin, which albeit smaller, has been described as "aggressive, vicious, but peculiarly British".  Aww, does he look vicious to you?

English Robin

40. Buffalo NHLer: SABRE.  The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. 

42. Suggestion, casually: REC.  Nina and I strongly REC reading the book highlighted in 41A.

43. Nothing to write home about: MEH. Meh.

46. Prayer leader: IMAM.  For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque.  For Shia Muslims an Imam is a rightful descendent of the Prophet Mohammed and exercises not only spiritual power, but political power as well.

48. Trifling: MERE.  Or a 21D in France.

50. Tore into: HAD AT.

51. "Uh-uh!": I WON'T.  A near clecho to 27D (this one has a bang (!)). This is supposed to tell us the the person quoted doesn't agree with you.  Don't you just love quote clues? 😀

52. "Euphoria" actress Apatow: MAUDE. Maude Annabelle Apatow (born December 15, 1997) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Lexi Howard in the HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present) -- IMHO an alternate title might be Depression. 🙃

Maude Apatow

53. E- kin: CYBER.  The prefix E(lectronic) and the prefix CYBER(netic) both connote machines.

54. Small margin of victory: HAIR.  A hair can be anywhere between 17 to 181 microns (micrometers), but I don't think the cameras recording race results are that precise. 😀

57. On deck: NEXT.  Mr. CHU ensues ...

60. "Wicked" director Jon M. __: CHU. Oz in an alternate universe -- Wicked is a 2024 American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, with songs by Stephen Schwartz. It is the first installment of a two-part film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name based on the 1995 novel, which in turn is based on the L. Frank Baum's Oz books and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.  Here's the trailer ...

61. Mormon church inits.: LDS.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Their official logo

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley

Thursday, December 26, 2024, Kevin Christian & Doug Peterson

Just Some Singers
in a Rock and Roll Band

Veterans Kevin Christian and Doug Peterson team up today with a simple theme consisting of 5 two word question clues, each beginning with a play on the last name of a pop singer.  They fill each clue with a two word in the language phrase beginning with the singer's first name.  I couldn't find any pattern in the second word of the fill and there was no reveal.  Here are the themers ...

17. Iggy's therapist?: POP PSYCHOLOGIST.  You can see why Iggy Pop might need a psychologist -- he was A Real Wild Child ...

23. Taylor's comeback?: SWIFT RECOVERY.  Taylor came back from her recent ERAs Tour and apparently finding the last leg to be rather torturous she was in need of some RECOVERY  ... 

39. Donna's time off?: SUMMER VACATIONS.  Known as the "Queen of Disco", Donna Summer's life was tragically cut short by lung cancer, even though she was not a smoker.  After getting thru this song you can see why she might need a VACATION ...

51. Fiona's rapidly changing backup band?: APPLE TURNOVER.  Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter.   Classically trained on piano as a child, she began composing her own songs when she was eight years old. Her debut album, Tidal, containing songs written when she was in her teens, was released in 1996 and received a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single Criminal.  Here she tells us The Way Things Are ...

61. Al's state-of-the-art recording equipment?: GREEN TECHNOLOGY.  Al Greene (born April 13, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer.  Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and is referred to on the museum's site as being "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music" and is considered by some to be "The Last of the Great Soul Singers".  Here's his Take Me to the River ... 

Lyrics

Here's the grid ...

Despite the simplicity of the theme, I did find some clever cluing and IMO I didn't find any pop culture references that couldn't be resolved with perps.

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Rock blaster?: AMP.  TNT fit, but didn't perp.

4. Plus: BONUS.

9. Celery unit: STALK.

14. Fragrant garland: LEI. A perfect accessory for sitting on a 16A.

15. Are: EXIST.

16. Sunporch: LANAI.  A lanai or lānai is a type of roofed, open-sided veranda, patio, or porch originating in Hawaii. Many homes, apartment buildings, hotels and restaurants in Hawaii are built with one or more lānais.  

Albert Spencer Wilcox Beach House
Hanalei, Hawaii

17. [Theme clue]

20. __ equity: SWEAT.  Sweat equity refers to work one does to build up value without a salary. This ownership interest, or increase in value, is created as a direct result of hard work by the owner. For example, homeowners who renovate or repair their house themselves are investing in sweat equity that increases the value of their home.

21. Tide competitor: ERA.  Here are the best and worst laundry detergents for your money.  Spoiler alert: the best, most economical detergent is neither Tide nor Era.  And you can save even more money on laundry detergent by rolling your own.

22. Came across: MET.

23. [Theme clue]

28. Far away: NOT NEAR.

30. "Cobra __": Netflix series about a dojo: KAI.  Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy drama television series created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. It serves as a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen.  Here's a preview of Season 6 ...

31. Primatologist's subject: APE.  Probably the most famous primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, who for 60 years has been studying chimpanzees, a species of great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. 

Eastern chimpanzee
Kibale National Park, Uganda

32. Chocolate-and-caramel candy: ROLO.  Approximately 24.2 million pounds of ROLO® Candy are sold annually. 

35. Square quartet: SIDES.  Squares have four sides.

39. [Theme clue]

43. Evaluate: ASSAY. Usually specifying a quantitative evaluation, e.g. measuring the percentage of gold in an ore.

44. Even once: EVER.  If it has EVER happened, then it has happened at least ONCE.

45. 2016 Super Bowl MVP Miller: VON.  Vonnie B'VSean Miller (born March 26, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL).  At the conclusion of the 2015 NFL season, Miller was named Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl 50.  In 2021, Miller was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and was a member of the team that won Super Bowl LVI. 

Von Miller

46. Apr. 15 addressee: IRS.  

48. Word on some Oscars: ACTRESS.  The Oscar for Best Actress award has been presented 97 times, to 79 actresses.  The recipient of the most awards is Katherine Hepburn, with 4.

Katherine Hepburn

51. [Theme clue]

56. Wedding notice word: NEE.  Today's French lesson: Feminine adjective --"Née = Born".

57. Honest prez: ABE.  Did Lincoln really deserve the nickname, Honest Abe?

Abraham Lincoln

58. Attacks with vigor: HAS AT.

61. [Theme clue]

66. "Mercy!": LORDY.

67. Judges' attire: ROBES.  Here are nine ...

The Supreme Court of the United States

68. Prune: LOP.

69. Happen next: ENSUE.  70A ENSUES ...

70. Elitist sort: SNOOT.  See 71A.

71. __ trip: EGO. See 70A.

Down:

 1. Jungfrau's range: ALPS.  Today's German lesson: "Jungfrau (YOONG-frow) = maiden, virgin".  The Jungfrau ALP, at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Swiss Alps and definitely not a climb for children.  It is located in the Bernese portion of the range.

Jungfrau Alp

2. 13-Down greeting: MEOW.

3. Mouthpieces for some smokers: PIPE STEMS.  This is not a pipe ...

4. Ride-or-die pal: BESTIE.  Or abbreviated BFF.

5. Stridex shelfmate: OXY.  Both products are used in the treatment of ACNE, a mild form of crosswordese.  The jury seems out as to which product is best, but as OXY is imported from South Africa it costs more ...

6. Actor Cage, informally: NIC.  Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards.  The first movie we ever saw him in was Moonstruck, co-starring with Cher.  

7. Playbill carrier: USHER.

8. Put away: STORE.

9. __-mo: SLO.

10. See 12-Down: TAG.

11. "Demon Slayer" genre: ANIME.  Thank you perps.  Demon Slayer: Blade of Demon Destruction is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga (comic book) series of the same name by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a Demon Slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon. 

12. With 10-Down, game with light weapons?: LASER.  Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits.  In late 1970s and early 1980s, the United States Army deployed a system using lasers for combat training.  But laser tag didn't begin to take off until 1984 when George Carter III, inspired by the Star Wars movies, invented the first affordable system. So how do laser tag systems actually work ...?
 

13. Cat, affectionately: KITTY.

18. Front-row chess piece: PAWN.  This term also refers to a person who does not have any real power, but is used by others to achieve something, e.g. "The refugees were pawns in an international political dispute".

19. Deficiency: LACK.

24. Jamie of "M*A*S*H": FARR.  Jamie Farr (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Corporal Klinger, a soldier who tried getting discharged from the army by cross-dressing.  You have to wonder who kept him supplied with duds -- "Hot Lips" Hoolihan maybe?

Jamie Farr and Loretta Swit

 25. Cache: TROVE.  E.g. a TREASURE TROVE, the subject of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island.  There have been several adaptations of this novel including our favorite, this 1990 film with Charlton Heston as the obsessive pirate Long John Silver ...

26. Hops drier: OAST.  An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, e.g. Kent and Sussex, England. Many redundant oasts have been converted into tourist inns.  

Oasts
Maidstone, Kent, England

27. Two before X: VIII. Today's math lesson (in base BCE):  "X (formerly known as Twitter) - II = VIII". 😀

28. Org. that oversees the Artemis moon program: NASA.  The Artemis moon program is named for the eponymous Greek goddess, the twin sister of Apollo, who was of course the namesake of the Apollo moon program.  Here is the Artemis Program logo, which tells the story in a nutshell ...

29. Major work: OPUS. The plural of OPUS is OPERA, which has come to mean a musical drama or comedy telling a story via a series of works such as an overture, arias, and interludes.  Ludwig van Beethoven, whose birthday we celebrated just 10 days ago, wrote only one opera, entitled Fidelio.  He wrote a total of 4 overtures to it, finally settling on this one ... 

33. Loo: LAV.  A Brit place to sit. 😀

34. Surname of heist masterminds played by Sinatra, Clooney, and Bullock: OCEAN.  Frank Sinatra played Danny Ocean in the 1960 film Ocean's 11.  In Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen Danny was played by George Clooney.  In Ocean's Eight women stole the franchise and Sandra Bullock played Debbie Ocean.  Got that?  Hand up if you've seen any of these flicks and put both yer hands up if I got any of that wrong!

36. Flatfish named for an English port: DOVER SOLE.  The town of Dover, England, directly across English Channel from Calais, France is famous for it's White Cliffs -- my Mother used to sing us this song about them.  As Dover was also a major fishing port in the late 19th century and a delicate white fish  called "King of Sole" was common in the town markets, the name was eventually changed to Dover Sole, a flat fish with a white underside.  Here's a simple recipe with capers, parsley, and butter.

37. Mireille of "Hanna": ENOS.  Hanna is a sci-fi TV series about a young girl played by Esme Creed-Miles raised in the wilds of Finland by her father, an ex-CIA man, to make her the perfect assassin. She has been receiving injections of DNA since birth as a part of a program called ULTRAX to make her a super-soldier.  Mireille Enos plays Marissa Wiegler, the CIA operative put in charge of the original UTRAX program, but who turns from a foe to an ally and mother figure to Hanna.  Here's a trailer ...

38. Hyphenated IDs: SSNS.

40. Lancelot's strong suit?: MAIL.  Well it must have been chain mail because it certainly wasn't Lancelot's fidelity to King Arthur. 

41. Literary governess: EYRE. Jane Eyre  is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë, published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847. It is a coming of age story that follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall. The novel revolutionized prose fiction, being the first to focus on the moral and spiritual development of its protagonist through an intimate first-person narrative, where actions and events are colored by a psychological intensity.  

First Edition, vol 1.

42. With the bow, in music: ARCO.  "arco" a the literal score notation and it indicates when to return to bowing the violin after an interlude of "pizz", that is pizzicato -- plucking the strings with the fingers.  If you listen carefully and look closely at this score of Edvard Grieg's -Anitra's Dance from his Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, you'll hear and see the alternation between pizz and arco ...

47. ESPN datum: STAT.

49. Ryan Seacrest, for one: TV HOST.  Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest co-hosted and served as executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and has hosted other media including American Idol, American Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. He became co-host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2005, and became the sole host following Clark's death in 2012.

Ryan Seacrest

50. Concrete: REAL.

51. A matter of degrees?: ANGLE.  An ACUTE clue ... 😀

52. "Evita" name: PERON.  The quoting of "Evita" probably indicates that this is a reference to the musical based on the life of Eva Perón, an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until her death in July 1952, as the wife of Argentine President Juan Perón.

Eva and Juan Perón

53. Scholarly article reviewers: PEERS.  Peer review is a quality control system for academic publications.  It is especially important for scientific publications, which can have widespread societal impact on medicine, health, and public policy.  In recent decades this process has come under severe stress due to the high stakes economic importance of some scientific disciplines, and the "publish or perish" phenomenon.  These are the probable causes of what concerned scientists call the reproducibility crisis -- the retraction of articles after publication due to the failure of other scientists' to get the same results using the same methodology.  This problem has become so serious that in 2010 two longtime health journalists, Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus, founded Retraction Watch, “a site dedicated to reporting on scientific retractions and related issues” to bring to light how many scientific papers are withdrawn yearly and why.

54. Gets taken for a ride, in a way: UBERS.

55. Intel gathered by scouts: RECON.  One of the first RECON missions is recorded in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible.  In the painting below the scouts are shown returning from Canaan with grapes (sans the rumored milk and honey) and with bad news about the fortified cities and the race of giants they found there ...

The Grapes of Canaan
by James Tissot. 

59. Awestruck: AGOG.  Awesome - two vowels and two gerund endings!

60. Autocorrect target: TYPO.  I'd prefer DWIM ("Do What I Mean") to "autocorrect".

62. College domain: EDU.

63. Dec. 31: NYE.

64. "The White Lotus" network: HBO. The White Lotus is an American black comedy drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO.  "It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose interactions are affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions".  While I've not seen it, I suspect that like all satires it's on the edge of becoming what it parodies.  Here's the season 1 trailer (language) ... 

65. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley

Thursday, December 19, 2024, Boaz Moser

  Numerology

I believe that today's constructor Boaz Moser is making his debut on the Corner about a year and two months after first appearing in the New York Times.  His theme is about numerology, the meaning behind numbers.  We'll start with the reveal ...

58. "You're not fooling me!," or what 18-, 28-, and 43-Across might say?: I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER. and here are the theme clues ...

18A. Physician who specializes in perioperative care: ANESTHESIOLOGIST.  Right off the bat I missed the meaning of this number.  I fell for the old silent B in NUMBER trick, i.e. "I've got the stuff that numbs you".  A tip of the hat to C.C. for the life raft (Teri also suggested that perhaps the anesthesiologist was saying "Count to 10 ..." after giving you a shot of propofol!).

28A. One who never draws a blank?: BINGO CALLER.  The guy who calls out the next "B 12".  He never draws a blank because he doesn't need to -- every card has a built-in wild space in the center.  If you're interested in a part time gig as a bingo caller here are the qualifications.
 

43A. Tribute act: COVER ARTIST.  And for their next number here are the Fab Four playing the first Beatles song I ever heard -- I Wanna Hold Your Hand ... 

Here's the grid ...

I hope that has primed you for the rest of the review 😀 ... 

Across:

 1. At the stern: AFT.

4. Revolutionary tool?: LATHE.  The LATHE was certainly revolutionary when it was invented, circa 1300 BC, most likely in Egypt.  A lathe  is a machine tool that rotates a wood or metal workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object with symmetry about that axis.  Teri's dad was a machinist who used a lathe in the creation of prototypes for Black and Decker electric tools.

A modern metal lathe

The Wiki article cited above also suggests that a potter's wheel is a type of lathe.  In the old English Wedgewood potteries pots were often quickly thrown with thick walls on a potter's wheel, allowed to stiffen, and then mounted on an actual lathe for trimming down to the final thickness.

9. Ebbs: ABATES.

15. Place to pick up trinkets and tchotchkes: CURIO  SHOP.  Not all CURIO SHOPS sell cheap goods:  e.g. this Curio Shop is selling this18th Century Compagnie Des Indes Porcelain Tureen for only  $2,200 ...

Porcelain Tureen
18th Century

17. Action hero with amnesia: BOURNE.  The Bourne Identity is a 2002 action-thriller based on Robert Ludlum's 1980 novel of the same name. It is the first installment in the Bourne franchise, and the film stars Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. In the film, Jason Bourne (Damon) suffers from psychogenic amnesia and is forced to fight to unlock his identity and his mysterious connection to the CIA.  Here's a trailer ...

18. [Theme clue]

20. Use one's gray matter: IDEATE.  The construction, solving, and reviewing of crossword puzzles takes a lot of IDEATION, as does the extensive commenting on them that occurs after the fact.

21. Change: ALTER.

22. Start of a protestor's cry, perhaps: BUT.

23. Pair: TWO.

24. Pretzel shape: KNOT.  According to this article, legend has it that the pretzel was invented by a monk experimenting with leftover bread dough in or around the year 610 AD and was presented to little children as a reward for learning their prayers.  This one is really just a loose overhand knot.

Pretzel

25. __ package: CARE.  The news cycle has moved on, but there are many people in North Carolina still suffering from the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. Here over 3 dozen reputable organizations distributing CARE PACKAGES and providing services to the survivors.  There are still 6 more days to Christmas and we can all help.

Hurricane Helene devastation

26. Prefix with thermal: GEO.  Here are some basics of geothermal energy.  This geothermal power station in Iceland shown below produces approximately 120 MW of electrical power; it also delivers around 1,100 litres (290 US gal) of hot water per second, around half of the space heating and hot water needs of the capital city of Reykjavík.

Geothermal Power Station
Nesjavellir, Iceland

28. [Theme clue]

31. Fried turnovers: EMPANADAS.  Here's a recipe for beef empanadas.

Beef Empanadas 

34. Taking after: A LA.  E.g. Apple Pie A LA Mode.  Today's French lesson: "In fashion"

Apple Pie a la Mode

35. Seafood paella option: MUSSELS.   Here's Yvette's recipe.  I think adding some scallops would be a nice touch ...

Seafood Paella

Something tells me that Misty is going to like this puzzle. 😀

36. Supports: TRUSSES.  Here are some general synonyms for TRUSS ...
 

In my mind TRUSSES are most often used to support bridges.

Truss components

40. "Sweet!": YAS.  Sorry, but I'm not a YAS man. 😀

41. Genre with retrofuturistic technology: STEAM PUNK.  Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American frontier, where steam power remains in mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. 

And of course it has spawned its own genre of music.  Here's the steampunk band Abney Park with their video Airship Pirates ... 

If you'd like to hear more of Abney Park,
here's their YouTube site.

43. [Theme clue]

47. __ latte: SOY.

48. Toss, slangily: YEET.  Some definitions from the Urban Dictionary.

49. Big stretches: EONS.

50. Not awesome: MEH.  meh.

52. Convent figure: NUN.  Some of them sing ... 

53. Like some orange juice: PULPY.

55. Tricolor cat: CALICO.  Here are two of the cats that own my grandchildren: a bicolor and a tricolor calico cat.  I believe they're litter mates ...

Brooksie and Winchester

58. [Theme reveal]

61. Haitian language: CREOLE.  To be clear Haitians do not speak a language called CREOLE. In this case the term is used as an adjective. They speak creole languages, a linguistic term for stable natural languages that develop from the process of different languages mixing and simplifying into a new form (often a pidgin).   The new forms then expand and elaborate into a full-fledged language with native speakers, all within a fairly brief period.  At present there are 3 main dialects of the Haitian creole.

I would be remiss here if I didn't include a creole dish -- here's Lauren's recipe for Shrimp Creole made from a mix of shrimp, tomatoes, spices, and rice ...

Shrimp Creole

62. Mooches: FREE LOADS.

63. "__ you right!": SERVES.

64. Darts about: FLITS.

65. Speed Wagon maker: REO.  The initials for early auto designer Ransom E. Olds and an eponym for the band REO Speed Wagon.  Here's their poignant video of Can't Fight This Feeling ... 

Down:

1. Amazon berry: ACAI.

2. Slush __: FUND.  "Slush fund" was originally a nautical term for the cash that a ship's crew raised by selling fat (slush) scraped from cooking pots to tallow makers. This cash was kept separate from the ship's accounts and used to make small purchases for the crew.   

Nowadays a slush fund is an account used for miscellaneous income and expenses, particularly when these are corrupt or illegal.  I'm really glad that none of that goes on today in the US. 😁

3. Canopy makeup: TREE TOPS.  In forest ecology, the canopy is the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms (epiphytes, lianas, arboreal animals, etc.). The communities that inhabit the canopy layer are thought to be involved in maintaining forest diversity, resilience, and functioning. Shade trees normally have a dense canopy that blocks light from lower growing plants.

Forest canopy
Andaman Islands, Myanmar

4. Drawing worth a lot of money?: LOTTO.

5. Tennis great Arthur: ASHE.  Here's his story ...

6. English article: THE.

7. Church cry of praise: HOSANNA.  These folks have really got the spirit! ... 

8. Postscripts: EPILOGS.

9. Fit: ABLE.

10. Classless one: BOOR.  Even a high-class aristocrat can be a BOOR.

11. Summer mo.: AUG.

12. Like some elders: TRIBAL.  Elders, in Indigenous North American cultures, are repositories of cultural and philosophical knowledge within their tribal communities, as well as the transmitters of this storehouse of information. They are regarded as living libraries, with information on a wide variety of practical, spiritual and ceremonial topics, including "basic beliefs and teachings, encouraging...faith in the Great Spirit, the Creator".  Here's an example of Indigenous Elders helping archeologists decode ancient rock art.

13. Secure: ENSURE.

14. Dog for pheasant hunters: SETTER.   Both Irish setters and English setters are used for hunting pheasants.  The hunters in this video prefer English setters.  Trigger warning: some pheasants were harmed in the making of this video ...

16. "That didn't escape my attention": I SAW.  My DIL has a plaque in her kitchen that says "I SAW THAT! -- God".

19. Director Preminger: OTTO.  Otto Ludwig Preminger (5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gained attention for film noir mysteries such as Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945), while in the 1950s and 1960s, he directed high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works. Several of these later films pushed the boundaries of censorship by dealing with themes which were then taboo in Hollywood, such as drug addiction (The Man with the Golden Arm, 1955), rape (Anatomy of a Murder, 1959) and homosexuality (Advise & Consent, 1962). He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He also had several acting roles.  

Otto Preminger

24. Joshes: KIDS.

25. Fastener: CLASP.  Often to attach 26Ds.

26. Glam rock?: GEM.  One of the more glam rocks in the world is the Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's gem and minerals wing in D.C..  This storied blue gem weighs 45.52 carats and is worth an estimated $350 million.

The Hope Diamond

The diamond is exhibited in the center of a cul-de-sac in the last room in the wing and I've always found it anti-climactic after traversing dozens of exhibits of mineral specimens with spectacular natural crystalline forms. This is only a glimmer of the incredible beauty on display there.

27. Australian avian: EMU.

28. Light wood: BALSA.  The balsa tree, Ochroma pyramidale, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, due to its softness and its high strength compared to its low density. The name balsa is the Spanish word for "raft" and the Portuguese word for "ferry".  Balsa wood played a historical role in Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition where it was used to build the raft used to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. 

Balsa Tree
Costa Rica

29. 26-Down weight: CARAT.  CARAT vs KARAT vs CARET vs CARROT -- what's the difference?

30. Classless one?: ALUM.  A clecho to 10D.
 
32. To date: AS YET.

33. Approach: NEAR.

36. Crime novelist Gerritsen: TESS.  Terry ("Tess") Gerritsen (born June 12, 1953) is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. While growing up in San Diego she longed to be a writer, but her family had reservations about the sustainability of a writing career, prompting Gerritsen to choose a career in medicine.  She received her medical degree from UCSF in 1979 and started work as a physician in Honolulu, Hawaii.  While on maternity leave she submitted a short story to a statewide fiction contest in the magazine Honolulu and won first prize.  She pursued writing part time and eventually wrote several romantic novels, medical thrillers, and crime thrillers.  She is probably best known for her  Rizzoli and Isles series of crime novels, which were eventually adapted into a popular TV series of the same name.

Tess Gerritsen

37. Place to order rolls: SUSHI BAR.  My favorite is the Rainbow Roll ...

Rainbow Roll

38. "Music for Airports" composer Brian: ENO. Here is the first 4:34 min of the 48:39 min album.  If you want to relax for a while, here's the whole album.

39. Big __ Country: SKY.  Big Sky Country is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Chris Whitley. It was the second single to be released from his 1991 début album, Living with the Law, and became a hit single in the United States. 

Lyrics

41. Visit on the way: STOP OFF.

42. Link-shortening service: TINY URL.  TinyURL is a URL shortening web service, which provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs. Kevin Gilbertson, a web developer, launched the service in January 2002 as a way to post links in newsgroup postings which frequently had long, cumbersome addresses. 

43. Critics of good-faith efforts: CYNICS.  Modern cynicism has been defined as an attitude of distrust toward claimed ethical and social values and a rejection of the need to be socially involved. It is pessimistic about the capacity of human beings to make correct ethical choices.  IMO this is a form of psychological projection -- attributing to others characteristics that cynics have themselves. 

44. Canon: OEUVRE.  The Dinosaur isn't buying it ...

... but nobody told his twin brother ...

45. False front: VENEER.   The word VENEER has a lot of meanings, e.g. a thin layer of finer material covering another material such as inexpensive wood or a covering over a tooth to improve its appearance.  However the use of "false" as an adjective points to another meaning -- the use of charm by someone with an antisocial personality disorder to cover up his/her real motives while exploiting others.

46. Depend (on): RELY.

50. Heavy hammers: MAULS.  Here's a maul for splitting logs ... 

Splitting Maul

51. Red Muppet: ELMO.  ELMO is the Muppet who always refers to himself in the 3rd person.  Here he teaches Elmo's Song to other Muppets ... 

53. Propulsion aid: POLE.  A POLE is used to propel a flat bottom boat called "skiff" in shallow waters.  Here's how it's done ... 

54. Versatile vehicles, for short: UTES.  And a versatile bit of crosswordese -- not only are UTES short for Sports Utility Vehicles, but sports fans will know them as the University of Utah football team, and they are also the oldest residents of Colorado, and their vehicles are horses ... 

Southern Ute Indian Tribe

55. Tech review site acquired by Ziff Davis in 2024: CNET.  CNET is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts and videos on global technology and consumer electronics. CNET has the highest readership among web news sites. It has over 200 million readers per month. It was among the 200 most visited websites globally in 2015.

56. Give up: CEDE.

57. Ish: OR SO.

59. End of a congressional address: GOV.  Mercifully short!

60. Retailer that sells crampons and chalk bags: REI.  Recreational Equipment, Inc., doing business as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation founded in 1938. It was formerly governed, and continues to brand itself, as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells camping gear, hiking, climbing, cycling, water, running, fitness, snow, travel equipment, and men, women and kids clothing. It also offers services such as outdoor-oriented vacations and courses. Unlike other outdoor sports stores, it does not sell hunting or fishing equipment.

Cheers, 

Bill

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

And we wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hannukah to all those who celebrate them!

waseeley