31. Souvenirs caught at stadiums: FOUL BALLS. In 40 years of going to basaeball games, I've never caught an MLB FOUL.
34. Taos winter hrs.: MST. Taos, New Mexico is in Mountan Standard Time zone during DST (Daylight Standard Time).
35. SAG-AFTRA president Drescher: FRAN. She was oft in the news over the summer.
She played "The Nanny"
36. Maize unit: EAR.
37. Title for Mo Farah: SIR.
39. "Just to clarify ... ": I MEAN. "I mean, I mean, [...] I'm sittin here on the Group W bench 'Cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army [...] after bein' a litterbug." -Arlo Guthrie
40. Ouija users: MEDIUMS.
42. In a spooky way: EERILY.
43. Film composer Danny: ELFMAN.
44. Glossary entry: TERM.
47. Tolerate: ABIDE.
48. Aquarium fish: TETRA.
49. "Twilight" author Stephenie: MEYER.
50. Nature Conservancy giveaway: TOTE.
51. Still alive for the semis, say: IN IT.
53. Lose one's cool: SNAP.
55. Look at: EYE.
56. Cape __: COD.
57. O'Shaughnessy poem that begins, "We are the music makers, / And we are the dreamers of dreams": ODE.
Yep, a nice Wednesday puzzle with no intersecting names ;-). Post your puzzling thoughts below.
The Grid:
The Grid
WOs: I ink'd only one M in COMMUNITY for a second
ESP: MIEN, THORNE, ELFMAN, MEYAR Fav: Ultimate FRISBEE
Cheers, -T
Notes from C.C.:
Happy
86th birthday to Lucina! Here's a 2011 picture of Lucina and our old California blog regulars JD, Chickie, Clear Ayes and Garlic
Gal and Dodo. Our deepest condolences for the loss of your niece, Lucina.
L-R back row: Chickie, Clear Ayes, Garlic Gal
Front: JD, Lucina, Dodo (June 23, 2011)
Theme: NO HESITATION (57. "Proceed with confidence!,"
and how to make the answers to 20-, 31-, and 43-Across match their
clues) - Three 2-letter hesitant syllables are ignored.
20. Pouch for collecting cobs?: CORNER POCKET.
31. Source of inspiration for a candlemaker?: WAX MUSEUM.
43. Cry of dismay from a sailor?: AHOY MATEY.
C.C. here. Steve probably forgot to move his write-up from his blog to the Corner. Will publish his when he wakes up.
Across:
1. Gets moving: PRODS.
6. One inch = one mile, e.g.: SCALE.
11. Gym unit: REP.
14. Edible flower whose bulb has a toxic core: TULIP.
15. More washed out: PALER.
16. Brief qualifier: IMO.
17. "In sum ... ": AND SO.
18. Worrier's intro: I FEAR.
19. "NCIS" airer: CBS.
23. Slobbery smooch: WET ONE.
26. Inflammation reducers: STEROIDS.
27. "2 Fast 2 Furious" actress Mendes: EVA.
28. Swiper of "Dora the Explorer," for one: FOX.
30. ISP choice: DSL.
35. Culturally pretentious: ARTY.
39. Paragon: IDEAL.
40. The Nature Conservancy, e.g., briefly: NGO.
41. Only state to adopt a state seal designed by a woman: IDAHO.
42. Swift's home: NEST.
45. Short address: URL.
48. Summit: TOP.
49. Angsty music genre: EMO.
50. Spike: INCREASE.
55. Transcript components: GRADES.
59. St. crosser: AVE.
60. Saw: ADAGE.
61. Pop in on: VISIT.
65. Tiny: WEE.
66. Downtimes: LULLS.
67. Play to the cheap seats: EMOTE.
68. Yellowstone resident: ELK.
69. Olympic blades: EPEES.
70. Like flourless chocolate cake: DENSE.
Down:
1. School gp. that sponsors book fairs: PTA.
2. Jog: RUN.
3. Out-of-date: OLD.
4. Pop band Panic! at the __: DISCO.
5. Sugar amount, per Mary Poppins: SPOONFUL.
6. Test-drive: SPIN.
7. Bistros: CAFES.
8. Fully caffeinated, say: ALERT.
9. Jumped: LEAPED.
10. Crossword clues that don't match their answers, e.g.: ERRORS.
Wendy has had several puzzles in the LA Times but they were all weekday or collaborative puzzles. Today is her first LA themeless Saturday.
Wendy is a lawyer, professor and children’s book author. Her puzzles have appeared in the Inkubator, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Boswords and Universal Crosswords. When she is not thinking about crosswords, she can be found knitting, engaging in vicious games of Catan, or rooting on the Yankees, Rangers, Giants and Swarthmore Garnet.
All in all it was very doable and a fun solve for this camper. Let's jump in and see what Wendy has for us today.
Across:
1. Bulb that rarely needs to be replaced: TULIP - This was my first thought but I waited for crossings.
6. Steel (oneself): GIRD - I knew the fill and was glad to learn the origin of the phrase.
10. Verge: CUSP.
14. Weigh in: OPINE.
15. Mideast leader: EMIR.
16. Purnell of "Yellowjackets": ELLA.
17. Repetitive sonata movement: RONDO - The RONDO is a musical form that contains a principal theme which alternates with one or more contrasting themes. Fur Elise has been called the "ultimate RONDO" and is illustrated in both auditory and visual fashion here:
18. Shuriken: NINJA STAR - A shuriken is a Japanese concealed weapon that can be used as a hidden dagger.
20. Topping: ONE UPPING - Betty Hutton and Howard Keel sing a song with this theme in Annie Get Your Gun. (3:00)
22. Fixes holes in hose: DARNS 😀
23. Where to save for a rainy day?: CLOUD STORAGE 😀- I guess "rainy day" is a metaphor for when your computer loses something you had stored. Hopefully, your work is saved/stored "in the cloud".
25. Makes a difference: MATTERS.
28. Alley-__: OOP.
29. Too green: UNRIPE.
30. Film lengths: RUN TIMES -Cleopatra - Run Time: 4 hrs, 8 min. However, Dick and Liz's stormy relationship ran for years.
35. Spot for a toaster?: STOOL 😀 - Oh, a bar STOOL!
36. Simple bed: COT - A lesser blogger might write, "The unfaithful soldier got caught in the COT!"
37. Square things: ATONE.
38. Stella alternative: HEINEKEN.
40. Modest response to compliments: OH STOP.
41. Melody: AIR.
42. Member of a sorority founded at Boston University, familiarly: TRIDELT - Maybe so, but meanwhile on SNL...
43. Mark of a decent student: B-PLUS AVERAGE.
48. Kicked off the covers, say: AROSE.
49. "Riverdance" numbers: IRISH JIGS.
53. Airport transport, maybe: LIVERY CAB - Livery rides and fares must be prearranged and may not be street-hailed. Does this sound somewhat like Uber to you?
55. W-2 information: WAGES.
56. Palm reader: SEER - Ed McMahon's introduction: "And now, the great SEER, soothsayer, and sage, Carnac the Magnificent."
57. Simplicity: EASE.
58. Stave off: AVERT.
59. Puts two and two together: ADDS - Yesterday we had ADDENDS
60. Cold drafts: ALES.
61. Steppes tents: YURTS - A luxury one
Down:
1. Rafael Nadal's logo: TORO.
2. Atop: UPON.
3. Prompter's cue: LINE - If an actor has a memory lapse, he might call out, "LINE, LINE?" to a prompter
After I first solved the puzzle and looked at the circles, I thought "cute the gear shift in order." But after I wrote them out, something wasn't right. I discussed with a Cornerite and he noted they were just "auto-corrected" e.g. Packets->Rackets. That's when it hit me: we were going for a drive.
Let's take a spin with an Automatic Shifter (PRND) and (16 & 100 downs) SHIFTGEARS through the normal daily drivers.
26. Noisy outbursts that are greatly appreciated?: WELCOME RACKETS. Welcome Packets. "Auto-Correct" took it out of Park and put it in Reverse.
44. Bird voted "Most Likely to Succeed"?: BEST OF THE NEST. Best of the Rest. Out of Reverse into Neutral.
61. Messages hidden in some brunch fare?: WAFFLE CODES. Waffle coNes. Neutral to Drive.
74. Bit of middle-school fashion?: TWEEN JACKET. TweeD Jacket. Drive going back back through Neutral.
89. Halloween rental fee?: COSTUME CHARGE. Costume ChaNge. Neutral back into Reverse.
110. Bad news at an Atlanta pie shop?: JUST OUT OF PEACH. Just out of Reach. And Reverse back into Park. There, we're back in the driveway.
See the SHIFTer going through the GEARS in order as you leave and return, top to bottom and back to top: PRN-D-NRP.
Let's take ride through the rest of the grid.
Across:
1. Ends of pens: NIBS. Think you have an ink, well... [see what I did there? Ok, I'll try to behave]
5. Approval from a Lab: WAG. That beautiful, smart, pup that sniffs your bum.
12. Swindles: SCAMS. If someone asks you to pay in Bitcoin...
17. Sound at a barbershop: SNIP. Clip, clip. There goes your hair. I always ask them to get the gray ones first.
18. Poetic salutes: ODES. Nothing about a Grecian Urn(?)
20. Pain: ACHE. Every Wednesday & Friday after my Tuesday/Thursday workouts.
21. Stuck out one's tongue as requested: SAID AH. Do Docs do this anymore? Mostly they just take blood, urine, and hook you to a machine, no?
22. Coffee shop loyalty card reward: FREE DRINK. I frequent nothing enough to bother with 'perks'.
24. Get close to: NEAR. Approach. Cue Mel Brooks and Cleavon Little [TV - MA] //y'all know Richard Prior wrote at least half that script.
25. Japanese fish preparation: TATAKI. Original meaning is 'beat with a hammer'. In food, just seared on the outside and raw in the middle. Not good for chicken but brilliant for sushi-grade tuna.
26. [See: Theme]
28. Not very much: A BIT OF. Just a smidge.
29. Give, as a driver's license: ISSUE TO. If "they" ISSUE it, it's official.
30. Brown quickly: SEAR. [See: TATAKI]
32. Lemon scraping: ZEST.
33. Toot: SPREE.
36. __ A: Italian soccer league: SERIE. If you say so...
Serie A League Logos
39. Loot: LUCRE. I wanted cache for the longest time. At least I knew it was not the verb.
41. Strikes (out): CROSSES. If I showed you my grid, you'd know what it means. DELE.
44. [See: Theme]
49. Like crudités: RAW. Food!
50. Fix, as a pet: SPAY. Poor (female) lab.
52. __-di-dah: LAH. Mr. Fancy Pants.
53. Watch closely: EYE. Gotta keep an EYE on him; He's doing crosswords during meetings (moi?)
54. Fabrication: LIE. You made that up!
55. Signed up: ENLISTED. When I bought my house I said to the title-agent, "Last time I signed this many times, I found myself in the Army."
58. Beach town west of Santa Monica: MALIBU.
Malibu
60. AED administrators: EMTS. Automated External Defibrillators are carried by Emergency Medical Technicians. Clear! ?
61. [See: Theme]
63. Made sense of: SORTED OUT. And my big-fat Ink-Over. I had SussED OUT for a while.
123. "Yesterday" and "Tomorrow": SONGS. Beatles (Fab Four) & Annie (orphan kid with Daddy Warbucks).
124. Long fish: EELS. Gars fit too.
125. Vote against: NAY. Anti.
126. Apple Watch assistant: SIRI. The voice assistant on your iThing and why all AI assistants are female. //DW's is set to an Aussie bloke. Should I be worried? :-)
Down:
1. Blue tag?: NSFW. Not Safe For Work is a warning before blue-humor. Our team has a discord space for NSFW content and/or to poke fun/entertain ourselves during vendor calls without $corp snooping. [Full disclosure - we are the $corpSnoops #CyberSec]
2. Pertaining to: IN RE. Regarding. As To. Pertaining to Subject. //our #discord only tangentially does; it's mostly memes
12. Onetime Volvo rival: SAAB. See: A Man Called Ove.
13. Inhabitant: CITIZEN.
14. "It's __!": A DATE. Anyone else think, "Alive!"?
Young Frankenstein
15. Predatory sharks: MAKOS.
16. With 100-Down, change one's approach, and a hint to the circled letters: SHIFT.
19. Accomplish a lot with little effort: SKATE BY. All my life. A boss-man once told me, "Get the little things 100% and people will let you slide if you mess-up the big stuff. The big stuff is hard but the little is easy." Then and there, I was a consultant :-)
21. Like potatoes: STARCHY.
23. Some tablets: DOSES.
27. Situp's target: CORE. My trainer has me working core. He said I was getting too puffy(? - I pay him for this? :-))
31. Filmmaker with a unique style: AUTEUR. Highfalutin "class of art."
33. Bit of hardware: SCREW. Saturday, week, it was a T-NUT.
34. One of yoga's five vital forces: PRANA. I'll leave this for those who know better. Lucina, you yoga, right?.
35. Piano-playing dog on "The Muppet Show": ROWLF. I need perps for spelling
Rowlf
37. Puerto Rico y Mallorca: ISLAS. Spanish Islands.
38. Abbr. in a research paper: ET AL. Latin. It means I'm only typing the first few names in my works cited or, literally, and others.
40. "The Pioneer Woman" host Drummond: REE. Sis loves her books & recipes. I have one cookbook.
42. Fragrant compounds: ESTERS. Essential smelly stuff. DW has only one perfume that doesn't send me into a sneezy fit.
43. Small detail?: SPEC. No detail is to small to do a job well. [see: my 19d comment]
45. "Makes sense now": OH I SEE. Aha!
46. Muppet with a puppy named Tango: ELMO. More Muppets!
47. In __: as found: SITU. Latin. In the original place.
48. Course obstacle: TEST.
Army Training, Sir!
51. God, in Hebrew: ADONAI. My limited understanding: Saying YHWH is a sin, so Adonai is used in prayer.
56. "You win this hand": I FOLD. With these cards, I can't win.
57. Luge, e.g.: SLED.
Any Takers?
58. Convened: MET. Once, a Constitutional Congress convened...
60. Fiat: EDICT. Law from a ruler. Usually, half-baked. The emperor has no ATIRE.
62. Uncouple: DETACH. Remove the drive-shaft from the joint and you've finally uncoupled it (and covered in gook).
64. 2002 American League MVP Miguel: TEJADA. Shortstop. Miguel [MLB Stats] was with Oakland when he received the Most Valuable Player. He also played in Houston '08 & '09.
65. Transport to Tel Aviv: EL AL. Standard x-wordese. Hahtoolah, I'm sure, can tell you if they lose your luggage.
68. Abbr. in an email subject line: FWD. "Forward." Like when you accidentally FWD that NSFW joke to your boss.
70. Quite smart: CHIC. Stylish.
71. Big sandwich: HERO. Is a hot-dog a sandwich? I say no and neither are hoagies nor grinders. Discuss.
72. Woes: ILLS.
73. Cars named for Henry Ford's son: EDSELS. It was totaled before it left the lot. History says a flop. Too many hands in the kitchen is the way I read the history of this disaster.
74. "Neon" fish: TETRA.
75. "Cool!": NEAT.
76. Pottery ovens: KILNS. Waseeley can tell you all about 'em.
77. Overact: EMOTE. Throwing this out there: Who's the biggest HAM?
78. Mid-range voice: TENOR. Is it weird of me to say The Great Caruso? [no relation]
No Relation
81. Fertile soil: LOAM.
84. Demolish: GUT. Raze. One GUTs the room before the re-model.
85. Accumulates: AMASSES. Gathers. Keep and take care of what you got and, soon, you've got plenty to share.
Or your SO calls you a hoarder :-) //hey, her car still fits in the garage. So there's that :-)
87. Change direction: REROUTE. GPS does this in heavy traffic.
90. Activity at windmills and pinball machines: TILTING. Think Don Quixote or cue Sir Elton John in The Who's Tommy.
Pinball Wizard
Don Quixote
91. Create out of thin air: CONJURE. Make stuff up. Lying isn't good but fiction can be. //Who wrote these rules?
92. Show up for: GO TO. Showing up is half the job.
94. Destroys, as books: PULPS. I wouldn't say Pulp-Fiction destroyed books :-)
95. Pants measurements: INSEAMS. "Do you dress left or right?" said the seamstress. Wha???
98. One after another: IN TURN. My turn to comment, your turn will come in twelve more fill.
100. See 16-Down: GEARS.
101. Howe'er: ALTHO. Short for "although." Anyone else think there's TOO MUCH slang in the vernacular?
102. "Lux et veritas" language: LATIN. Where's Lemonade when you need him? I mean this is obviously LATIN, but WTH? [I LIU: Light and Truth]
104. "Fat Is a Feminist Issue" writer Orbach: SUSIE. Her WikiP page
106. Sotomayor who said, "You cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true": SONIA. A Justice in the minority (in more than one way :-))
107. "Unless there are none": IF ANY. IF ANY one objects to the marriage of these two 18yro kids... Nobody did.
109. Greek matchmaker?: EROS. He hit DW & me with his arrows.
111. Peddle: SELL. Pedal: Bike. Petal: Flower.
112. Número de leches en un postre específico: TRES. Spanish: Number of milks in a specific dessert. Three. We had TRES leches as 60a in Rafeael's 2/11/23 puzzle.
