L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wayne Bergman

Showing posts with label Wayne Bergman. Show all posts

Jul 11, 2025

Friday, July 11, 2025, Wayne Bergman

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Friday puzzle by Wayne Bergman, an LAT, NYT and WSJ veteran constructor. Today, Wayne takes a dive down the rabbit hole that is automatic spelling correction on our electronic devices. To do this, he takes the names of four well-known car makes/models and imagines how spell check might alter them in order to "make sense" - at least according to the spell checker's view of the world. The use of car makes/models presents an opportunity for an amusing double entendre focused on AUTO which, today bounces back and forth between automatic and automobile.

The reveal is quite straightforward . . .

61 Across: Texting feature that sometimes goes awry, and what was used on 17-, 28-, and 46-Across?: AUTO CORRECT. In this instance, as is too often the case, it's AUTO INCORRECT as the names of the automobile manufacturers have become improperly altered.

. . . and the gimmick is employed at these four places:

17 Across: Antelope who really loves bubble gum?: CHEWY IMPALA. An impala is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa.

'59 Chevy Impala

Alternatively,

28 Across: Expert on the hunt for the perfect eating utensil?: FORK EXPLORER.

46 Across: One who organizes hecklers at a comedy club?: JEER WRANGLER. Round 'em up.

Jeep Wrangler

Here is how everything appears in the grid:

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

Across:

1. Startle: ALARM. Used, here, as a verb. As in "That really startled me!"

6. Get straight: ALIGN. A clue to be taken quite literally (not, for example, as "get straight" is used in the Paul Revere and the Raiders' song).

11. Place for de-stressing: SPA. A wordplay riff on distressing.

14. Brown hue: COCOA.

15. Antler points: TINES. As in Fork Explorer?

16. Silken trap: WEB.

19. Winter hazard: ICE. Also, a name in the news.

20. Sun-Maid morsel: RAISIN. Sun-Maid is a play on words (sun made) that we learned early on (although most of us would have preferred finding a Hostess cupcake rather than RAISINs in our lunch bags).

21. "General Hospital" network: ABC. General Hospital is an American daytime television soap opera which has been broadcast on ABC TV since April 1, 1963.

22. Quiet summons: PSST. Frequently heard in our puzzles.

23. Crumb carrier: ANT. Why be satisfied with a few crumbs?

24. Old Pontiac: GTO. Would auto correct change this to the Pontiac GOT?

26. "Wonderwall" band: OASIS. Five letters - three vowels, two esses. A constructor's friend often clued with references to the desert.

32. Personal pronoun: SHE.

34. Magic, on ESPN crawls: ORL. The ORLando, Florida NBA team.

35. Spanish title: SENORA.

36. Walks like a hippo: PLODS. What do you do with a hippo with three balls? Walk him and pitch to the rhino.

38. Hawks, on ESPN crawls: ATL. The ATLanta, Georgia NBA team.

40. Put off: DELAY. One television outlet had to DELAY televising the 'World Origami Championships' but it's currently available on paperview.

41. Ineffective shepherd of rhyme: BO PEEP.

43. Alley-__: OOP. A basketball play and an old cartoon strip.

45. Overhead trains: ELS. Chicago is famous for its ELevated TrainS.

49. Quartet voice: TENOR. Bass, tenor and alto appear so often in our puzzles that it might be helpful to take a look at the overlapping ranges:

50. Coltrane's horn: SAX. John Coltrane. Would that be a TENOR SAX?

51. Big primate: APE. What do APEs use to fix things? Gorilla Glue.

54. "Ragnarok" hero: THOR. Ragnarok is a Norse myth that depicts the cataclysmic destruction of the gods and the world, followed by a new age of rebirth. The name was appropriated for a 2022 motion picture.

56. Family room: DEN. Everyone knows Las Vegas is Sin City but are you familiar with Den City? Mass over volume.

58. Metaphor for fitting items into a tight space: TETRIS. This solver used to play until his wrist began to hurt severely. Then he took a couple of aspirin and kept on playing.

60. Greet warmly: HUG.

63. In the past: AGO.

64. Sound during allergy season: ACHOO.

Men In Tights - 1993

65. Name on some compact trucks: TONKA. Very compact (toy) trucks.

66. Unionize?: WED. Cute, or cutesy, cluing.

67. Bob Marley's "Get Up, __ Up": STAND.

68. Hotel bookings: STAYS.

Down:

1. West African capital: ACCRA. Often visited in our puzzles.

2. "Mean Girls" star: LOHAN. Lindsay. With four Golden Raspberry Awards and seven "official" arrests.

3. Stick the landing, so to speak: ACE IT. Meh. ACE IT is usually reserved for exams in our puzzles . . . but NAIL IT wouldn't fit.

4. Tiffs: ROWS. Tiffs is only one of several possible definitions of ROWS.

5. Request to be excused: MAY I GO.

6. Scratch removal device?: ATM. Scratch, in this case, is used as slang for money.

7. "New Love" singer Dua __: LIPA. A frequent visitor.

8. Ready for shipping: IN A BOX. Anybody remember the SNL bit with Justin Timberlake?

9. Some oral meds: GEL CAPS. Abbreviated clue . . .

10. Intel org.: NSA. Abbreviated clue . . .

11. Snack cake with a swirl: SWISS ROLL.

12. Bench press targets, for short: PECS. PECtoral muscleS.

13. Criminally aid: ABET. There is an annual day devoted to puns. Abet and Aid Punsters Day

18. Foreword: INTRO. Not an abbreviated clue but I guess INTRO is now an accepted form of the word INTROduction.

22. First of a kind: PIONEER.

25. Oft-pickled pod: OKRA. I have a friend who always baits his hooks with OKRA when fly fishing . . . He's really into podcasting!

27. Arctic coaster: SLED.

28. Tennis great Roger: FEDERER.

29. Pop icon John: ELTON. Covered, here, by Country Gazette (Byron Berline, Roger Bush, and Alan Munde):

30. Notable stretches: ERAS.

31. Bright line: RAY. A little RAY of sunshine, a little bit of soul (The Turtles).

32. Blackthorn fruit: SLOE. As in a SLOE gin fizz.

33. Fervently wish: HOPE TO GOD.

Animal House - 1978

36. Brown bag sando: PBJ. Sando = Sandwich PBJ = Peanut Butter and Jelly

37. Stitched: SEWN.

39. Records: LOGS.

42. Result of multiplying: PRODUCT.

44. "Theory of Forms" philosopher: PLATO. This solver was not familiar with the title but his limited knowledge of philosophers actually made the answer easier to perp. LOCKE didn't work out and Aristotle wouldn't fit.

47. Franklin who received honorary degrees from Harvard, Princeton, and Yale: ARETHA. This solver thought, initially, that Franklin was being used as a first name. The next thought was Benjamin.

The Blues Brothers - 1980

48. Wields, as influence: EXERTS.

51. Taylor Swift concert venue: ARENA. Anagrams to, or when read backwards, AN ERA. Apropos.

52. Hard to please: PICKY.

53. "¿Cómo __?": ESTAS. S'up?

54. Become friendlier: THAW. As in detente.

55. King-size: HUGE.

57. Morning's end: NOON.

59. Home run pace: TROT.

61. Some Energizers: AAS. Energizer, capitalized, is a brand name of batteries.

62. Atlantic food fish: COD. My girlfriend tried giving me some flatfish last night instead of COD! Know your plaice woman!

. . . and on that note

____________________________________________

Jan 9, 2021

Saturday, January 9, 2021 Wayne Bergman and Gary Otting

Themeless Saturday by Wayne Bergman and Gary Otting

Today's constructors are Assistant Attorneys General for the State of Iowa. They started solving puzzles on their lunch break and then began making their own. Here was Gary's gracious reply to my inquiry for information:

Gary - Thanks for reaching out to us!

We’re really excited about our third published puzzle, which is our debut puzzle in the L.A. Times.

This was our first attempt at a themeless puzzle, and we were pretty happy with the result. We didn’t really start with any seed entries in mind. We liked the look of the grid, with only 28 black squares and wide-open areas in the NW and SE. We did want to put in something kind of attention-grabbing at 1A, and the Joey Tribbiani quote seemed to fit the bill. We thought the NW corner turned out very solid. We debated a little about whether or not Yoda quotes could be referred to as YODAISMS (4D), but we ended up leaving it in.

About 67% of our original clues were left in as is or with minimal changes. It’s always interesting to see what clues puzzle editors change or don’t change. It’s not always clear to us if they change a clue to make it harder or to make it easier. For instance, our clue at 37A (PRISM) was [Object on a Pink Floyd album cover]. Rich changed it to [Light refractor]. Was our clue too easy because the Dark Side of the Moon album cover is so iconic, or was our clue too obscure?

Rich also changed our clue for ALEXTREBEK (27D). Our original clue was [“Wheel of Fortune” host on April 1, 1997]. We thought this was an interesting bit of trivia; one that was new to us. (Apparently Pat Sajak hosted Jeopardy that day, while Alex hosted Wheel, as an April Fools’ Day gimmick.) However, we do like the quote Rich ended up using in the clue. We also liked Rich’s clue for 33A REESE: [Piece maker?]. We had considered writing a clue related to the candymaker, something like [Creator of “Not Sorry” candy], but we ended up submitting it with the oft-used reference to Reese Witherspoon.

Here are some of our other clues that didn’t make the cut: 44A MACHINES [Cotton gin and spinning jenny, for two] 60A TARGETAREA [Pimples, vis-à-vis Clearasil] 6D UPROAR [Public reaction to New Coke, e.g.] 37D PREDICTS [Uses a Magic 8-Ball, maybe]

Thanks, and we hope everyone enjoys the puzzle!

Across:

1. "Friends" catchphrase: HOW YOU DOIN' - Joey's pickup line

11. Auctioned wheels: REPO - This TV series ran for eleven years telling of the vagaries of repossessing cars which could then be auctioned off

15. Far from perfect: ERROR PRONE - D-Otto will find 'em!

16. European capital with more than 340 lakes: OSLO - Here are some of them but there doesn't seem to be a Lake Olav

17. Newspaper audience: READERSHIP - The Omaha World Herald lowered my subscription rate from $530 to $190 after I canceled, Huh?

18. Convertible option: T-TOP.

19. City downriver from Las Cruces: EL PASO - Susan, Owen and constructor Pawel Fludzinski live in this "Land Of Enchantment"

20. Temporary fixes: STOP GAPS.

22. Ctrl + I, in much software: Abbr.: ITALics

24. Draft pick: STOUT.

25. Early product promotion with few details: TEASER AD.

29. Summer hire, perhaps: INTERN.

32. Cruise controls: HELMS - Captain Kate McCue was the first woman to take the HELM of a Celebrity Line Super Cruiser

33. Piece maker?: REESE - REESE'S pieces were a tie-in to E.T.

35. Vietnamese soup: PHO.

36. Hawkish god: ARES.

37. Light refractor: PRISM - Wayne and Gary's initial cluing would have worked for me

38. Coagulate: CLOT

39. Show passes, informally: TIX - Pix of six TIX

40. Secret meeting: TRYST - C'mon, no one will ever know...

41. Vocation: TRADE - TRADE schools around here are full

42. Living room piece: SETTEE - Shallower seating area and more upright

44. Factory equipment: MACHINES - OSHA might want a word with the owner here

46. 19th-century English novelist Charles: READE - His most famous work in a less formal medium

48. __ Jim: SLIM - One is edible convenience store fare and the other can get your car open if you lock yourself out in the parking lot at that convenience store

49. Like a "pony" with limited skills: ONE TRICK - Tyson's ONE TRICK was good enough to knock out a lot of boxers but not Lennox

52. Dyson alternatives: ORECKS.

56. Beginning to call?: ROBO - During the campaign they started at 9 a.m. on the dot

57. One may be part of a fresh start: CLEAN SLATE -

59. Knotted up, scorewise: EVEN.

60. Campaign focus: TARGET AREA - My granddaughter is the data director for an organization that works on TARGET AREAS

Emma Craig

61. Sources of furniture wood: OAKS.

62. Relative of a fidget spinner: STRESS BALL - A unique one

Down:

1. Present: HERE - Roll call answer

2. Only unanimous Cy Young Award winner between Dwight and Randy: OREL - Baseball's Hershiser fits between Dwight Gooden and Randy Johnson. In Craig Stowe's puzzle last Saturday, OREL was a Russian city SSW of Moscow

3. Finish (up): WRAP.

4. "Always in motion is the future" and others: YODAISMS - This YODAISM tells you Yoda would not favor "Participation Trophies" on Dagobah

5. Electra's brother: ORESTES - Here 'ya go

6. Hullabaloo: UPROAR.

7. Oz and Howser: Abbr.: DRS - Dr. Oz is a contemporary figure but Wayne and Gary (or Rich) used the "way back machine" for the other Dr.

8. Sounds heard at an unveiling: OOHS.

9. JFK and LBJ, e.g.: INITS - Here are mine. Make yours here too

10. Relative priority in hiring: NEPOTISM - I agree with the critics who said that when director Francis Ford Coppola cast his daughter Sofia in Godfather III, her horrible performance hurt the movie.

11. Some moonshine: ROTGUT - "Grape wine in a mason jar, homemade and brought to school" Roger Miller 1964

12. One may include large gifts: ESTATE PLAN

13. Ripple preceder: PLOP.

14. Cry over spilt milk: OOPS.

21. Corn bread: PONE.

23. Jerry's "Seinfeld" co-creator: LARRY - LARRY David and Jerry long before "the show about nothing"

25. "__ So Raven": 2000s sitcom: THAT'S - A Disney TV entry

26. Like meeting one's doppelgänger, probably: EERIE - W and his doppelgänger Steve Bridges

27. "I'm curious about everything--even things that don't interest me" speaker: ALEX TREBEK - That seems to fit this lovely, humble man who left us way too early

28. Belief in a hands-off god: DEISM - Thomas Jefferson's philosophy

30. __ Island: RHODE.

31. Observes: NOTES.

34. "¿Cómo __?": ESTAS - ¿Cómo ESTAS en este día de invierno? (How are you this winter day?)

37. Forecasts: PREDICTS.

38. Forensic analysis site: CRIME LAB - My grandnephew's wife just finished her training to be a Forensic analyst. She will start at $93,000/yr in Sioux City, Iowa

40. Berlin Wall Speech word: TEAR - No part of "Ich bin ein Berliner" had four letters