Wednesday, February 1, 2023, Wendy L. Brandes

Theme: There's no better way to put it than the 58A reveal below.

20. Forgettable band with a memorable song: ONE HIT WONDER.

32. "Pipe down!": KEEP QUIET.

45. Spot for spare change: COIN PURSE.

58. Element of irony, and what can be found in each set of circled letters?: TWISTED HUMOR.

Let's put the grid up here so we can see the circles.

The circled letters can be unscrambled to make a word relating to HUMOR: WIT, QUIP, and PUN.

Across:

1. Unexpected obstacle: SNAG.

5. "Pronto!" letters: ASAP.

9. Suffers after a Pure Barre class, say: ACHES. A strenuous, low-impact workout based on dance, Pilates, yoga and low-impact rehabilitation exercises.

14. __ Top ice cream: HALO. Less cream and sugar than regular ice cream. I've never tried it. If you haven't either, you might want to read this first: A Dietitian’s Review of Halo Top: Nutrition, Ingredients, and Best Flavors.

15. Four Corners state: UTAH. The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico.

16. "If only!": I HOPE.

17. "Will do!": ON IT.

18. Emperor after Claudius: NERO. Anyone actually know this from memory?

19. __ touch: MAGIC.

23. Jazz pianist McCoy: TYNER. Did not know his name. He worked with The John Coltrane Quartet. He left Coltrane's group in 1965, becoming uneasy with the increasingly atonal and noisy direction of the saxophonist's music. “He had two drummers at that time,” Mr. Tyner said in 1976, “and I couldn't hear what I was doing.”

24. Unnecessary: NEEDLESS.

28. Pie crust fat: LARD.

31. Ace a presentation: NAIL IT.

37. Lingerie selection: TEDDY. "Teddy Bears" and "Teddies" - the Surprisingly Literal Etymology of "Teddies" Lingerie.

38. Musical ability: EAR. Are you TONE DEAF or MUSICALLY GIFTED? (A FUN test for non-musicians)

39. Old PC platform: MS DOS.

41. Snaky fish: EEL.

42. Shopping cart fillers: ITEMS.

48. Cook's Illustrated offering: RECIPE. From my last blog, I know we have at least a few fans of America's Test Kitchen here. Cook's Illustrated is an American cooking magazine published every two months by the America's Test Kitchen company.

50. Lake bird with a wild laugh: LOON. Loons always make me think of the movie On Golden Pond.

 
51. Sotheby's auctions, e.g.: ART SALES.

54. Fragrance: SCENT.

61. Like 18-Across: ROMAN.

64. Goalie's success: SAVE. According to Golf Digest, this is this is the greatest save in hockey history.

65. Per-hour amount: RATE.

66. Not sleeping: AWAKE.

67. Diva's big moment: ARIA. Opera.

68. Simpson daughter voiced by Yeardley Smith: LISA. Did not know her name.

69. Came to a close: ENDED.

70. Shout: YELL. Anyone remember Rita Moreno's opening YELL from The Electric Company?

71. Opening for a hotel key card: SLOT.

Down:

1. "Ask me anything!": SHOOT.

2. Mary Poppins, for one: NANNY.

3. Out of this world?: ALIEN. Nice clue.

4. Went to a tutoring session, say: GOT HELP.

5. Many a godmother: AUNT.

6. Fret (over): STEW. Couldn't squeeze worry into 4 letters.

7. Judge who hit 62 home runs in 2022: AARON. Those of us who don't follow baseball wouldn't know this one. Plays for the NY Yankees. He is 6 feet 7 inches tall!

8. Galaxy, for one: PHONE. Sneaky.

9. Set one's sights on: AIMED AT.

10. "All the Birds in the Sky" Nebula winner __ Jane Anders: CHARLIE. Science Fiction is not my genre and I've not heard of this.

11. Monopolize: HOG.

12. Prefix with dermis: EPI. Meaning: upon or above.

13. Triple __: orange-flavored liqueur: SEC.  Meaning, "triple distilled," triple sec is made from the dried peels of bitter and sweet oranges. 'Sec' is French for dry so 'triple sec' literally means 'triple dry.'

21. Baghdad's country: IRAQ.

22. Room that may have a sectional sofa: DEN. Sectionals have gotten very popular in the last 5 years or so.

25. Respected leader: ELDER.

26. Cucumber salad, coconut rice, etc.: SIDES.

27. Panache: STYLE.

29. Bacardi liquor: RUM. Again with the booze!

30. Blu-ray buy: DISC. Blu-ray is the advanced version of DVDs. It is named "Blu-ray" because blue laser is used to read the disc, which enables to store the information at greater density compared to red-laser used in DVD. Seems like the trend is towards streaming services, and maybe both will phase out like VHS cassettes.

32. Knightley of "Bend It Like Beckham": KEIRA.

 33. "Peter, Peter, pumpkin __ ... ": EATER. Children's nursery rhyme.

34. Build: ERECT.

35. Old name of Tokyo: EDO.

36. Work hard: TOIL.

40. __-cone: SNO. I feel pretty certain that SNO-CONE is a brand name, but google finds both  SNOW CONE and SNO CONE with no obvious distinction. All I could find was this article, about sno-balls vs sno-cones. Now I'm more confused than ever. From the article: "Editor’s Note: In my 35 years on this planet I’ve never once eaten anything called a sno-ball. Nor have I ever eaten a sno-cone served in an actual cone." But what about this sno-ball?

 43. Error: MISTAKE.

44. Brought about, as a movement: SPAWNED.

46. Like a red-carpet event: POSH.

47. Opens, as a fern frond: UNCURLS.

 
49. Former quarterback Manning: ELI. NY Giants quarterback for 16 seasons, retired from NFL in 2019.

52. Writing contest entry, maybe: ESSAY.

53. Long look: STARE.

55. "Reply all" medium: EMAIL.

56. "Untrue!": NOT SO. Is too!

57. October 31 option: TREAT. Halloween - trick or treat?

59. Malicious: EVIL.

60. Hand out cards: DEAL.

61. "Insecure" star Issa: RAE.

62. Woolf's "A Room of One's __": OWN.

63. Fit to be tied: MAD.

Friday, January 20, 2023, Wendy L. Brandes

 

(Except, Perhaps, Today)

Good Morning Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with your Friday puzzle recap.  Today's puzzle comes to us courtesy of previously-published Wendy L. Brandes.

Let's start with the reveal:

52 Across:  Chophouse order, and an apt title for this puzzle?: NEW YORK STRIP.

What the constructor has done is remove (strip) the NY (New York) from recognizable word patterns and, thereby, created new, humorous definitions for four clues. Here are the four themed-answers:

20 Across:  Dinner roll that provides an unexpected boost?: ENERGIZER BUN.  ENERGIZER BUNNY.

27 Across:  Outlandish stories about Vietnamese soup?: PHO BALONEY.  PHONY BALONEY  PHO, of course is a Vietnamese soup.  BALONEY, in addition to being a lunch meat, is slang for nonsense.

37 Across:  Valued at one fancy ballpoint?: COSTS A PRETTY PEN.  COSTS A PRETTY PENNY.  Ballpoint pen.

46 Across:  Golfers who just need to dance, dance, dance before every drive?: TEE BOPPERS.  TEENY BOPPERS.  May the gods forgive me:  I never thought that I would cite the following anywhere, anytime , for any reason:

This is how it all looks in the grid . . .

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

Across:

1. Meet portion, or portion of meat: LEG.  For example, a leg of a relay race or a chicken leg.

4. Film franchise featuring Lightning McQueen: CARS.

8. Regarding: ABOUT.

13. Portfolio options, for short: IRAS.  Individual Retirement AccountS

15. Perched on: ATOP.  The god of thunder rides to the top of the mountain atop his noble steed.

Upon reaching the summit, he gets off his horse, raises his hammer to the sky and yells, "I am Thor!"  The horse turns around and says, "That'th cuth you forgot your thaddle thilly!"

16. Deteriorating: WORSE.  A bit of a head scratching moment because the clue is a gerund but the answer is not.  WORSEning?

17. "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of __": NIMH.

18. NYC gallery with a Bell helicopter on display: MOMA.

19. Melted together: FUSED.

23. Pool necessity: CUE.  Not a swimming pool.

24. Had as a regular customer: SOLD TO.

32. Bulky boats: ARKS.

Noah's Ark

34. Lithium-__ battery: ION.

35. Seized auto: REPO.  Derived from REPOssession.

36. Tease mercilessly: RIDE.  

42. Texter's "But ... ": OTOH.

43. "Monday Night Football" commentator Aikman: TROY.  I would have clued this with a reference to UCLA.

44. Young man: LAD.

When I was a lad I served a term

As office boy to an Attorney's firm.

I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,

And I polished up the handle of the big front door.

45. Anklebones: TALI.  Plural, in Latin, of TALUS

49. Stretching muscle: TENSOR.

51. Common Market letters: EEC.

58. Silky fabric: SATIN.  Letters I've Written Never Meaning To Send (mail).

61. The "genu-" in "genuflect": KNEE.

Tom Lehrer -1967

plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

62. American tennis phenom Gauff: COCO.

63. Begins: OPENS.  COMMENCES was far too long and STARTS would not fit either.

64. Low-pH stuff: ACID.

65. Is shy: OWES.  Not a reference to social interaction but, rather, a financial reference.

66. Play area: STAGE.  Not a reference to children on the schoolyard but, rather, a theatrical reference.

67. Egg layers: HENS.  This clue is to be taken literally and not, in this case, idiomatically as in "to lay an egg" meaning to do something poorly.

68. After taxes: NET.

Down:

1. Command to a prompter: LINE.  The use of "Command" threw me off a bit.  I think of it as more of a request.

2. Actress Moriarty who plays Starlight on "The Boys": ERIN.

3. PlayStation, for one: GAME CONSOLE.

4. Strappy top, for short: CAMI.  CAMIsole

5. Comprehensive: ATOZ.  From A TO Z.

6. Trevi Fountain city: ROME.  Was the answer going to be ROME or ROMA?

7. Like Greenland's population: SPARSE. 0.14 people per square kilometer.  For comparison the USA population density is 34.05 per square kilometer.

8. "Zero stars": AWFUL.

9. Edge: BOUNDARY.  I just found out that my girlfriend is mad at me.  According to her diary, I have "BOUNDARY issues".

10. Sterile work environs: ORS.   Operating RoomS

11. Employ: USE.  I once saw a car with a bumper sticker that said:

12. "Thank you for coming to my __ Talk": TED.  A phrase that has become a part of the urban lexicon.  The phrase parodies the popular TED talk series, where in some cases the statements made by the performers are very obscure and meaningless.

14. Azalea, e.g.: SHRUB.  I bought a new SHRUB trimmer last week.  It's cutting hedge technology.

21. Park and drive: GEARS.  VERBS would have fit.  An automotive reference.

22. "If I Were a __": Beyoncé ballad: BOY.  If she were, she probably would not look like this:

25. Horseracing achievement: TRIPLE CROWN.

26. "Will do, hon": OK DEAR.

27. Crochet loop: PICOT.  A learning moment.  Thanks, perps.

28. Heckle: HOOT AT.

29. Seydoux of "No Time to Die": LEA.

30. On the facing pg.: OPP.  Punt!  OPPosite

31. Compass dirección: NORTE.  Spanish in the clue . . .

33. Mails: SENDS.  Baby You Mail me?

Sam Cooke

38. Watering down: THINNING.

39. Tarzan creator's monogram: ERB.

40. Also: TOO.  It can mean overly, too.

41. Blood groups: TYPES.

By Percent of US Population

46. AAA job: TOW.

47. Neo-soul artist Badu: ERYKAH.  Troy, Coco, Erin, Lea and now ERYKAH.  Okay, that's enough of this for today.

48. Boxer's favorite store, maybe?: PETCO.  Not a pugilistic reference.  A canine reference.

50. Feel: SENSE.

53. "... cut __": end of a carpentry maxim: ONCE.  Measure twice . . .

54. Bridle strap: REIN.  Neither RAIN nor REIGN.

55. Canvas shoe brand: KEDS.

56. Frozen treat brand: ICEE.  SLURPEE wouldn't fit.  SQUISHEE is almost never seen in our puzzles.

57. Station: POST.  One of those words that can either be a noun or a verb.

58. Distress signal: SOS.  Morse code.

59. Likely (to): APT.

60. Leaves for dim sum: TEA.  TEA leaves.

________________________________________________

Friday October 28, 2022 Wendy L. Brandes

 Hello Cornerites!

sumdaze here. C.C. asked me to pitch hit today. It is my pleasure to walk you through this fun and challenging puzzle from Wendy L. Brandes. I will do my best to not let you down. 

Today's theme is AL Has Left the Building.

Each of the 3 themed answers come from common phrases in which the letters A and L have been removed to create a new phrase. Additionally, all of the "al"s are removed from the ends of the first words of a 2-word phrase. We have:

17. Across *   Desire to dress in Victorian era garb and sip tea daintily?: PRIMal URGES.

very PRIM & proper

23. Across *   One who helps fix a banged-up car?: DENTal ASSISTANT.  One works on cars, the other on your teeth.

49. Across *   Fine print about a knee replacement?: LEGal DISCLAIMER. They can deny responsibility if you have problems with your LEG after the surgery

knee replacement

And the reveal:

59. Across.   Favorite time of the school day for some teachers and students, or a two-word hint for the answers to the starred clues: DISMISSAL or DISMISS AL.  "Al" technically counts as a word if we think of it as a proper name. So Al is being dismissed (sent out). Are you feeling a bit dazed & confused? Perhaps this video clip from the movie Dazed and Confused (1993) will help.

Let's look at the rest of the clues:

Across:

1. The "sheet" in "three sheets to the wind": ROPE.  A tricky start. To be "three sheet to the wind" is to be very drunk. I always thought the "sheet" was the sail. Today I learned that the "sheet" is the line (ROPE) that holds the sail. If the ropes are loose (flapping in the wind), the ship is out of control.

5. European wine region: ASTI. Always a good guess for a 4-letter wine region in Europe. Try "Napa" if in California.

9. Daily crossword review sites, e.g.: BLOGS.  This is my first one!

14. "Downton Abbey" title: EARL.  He was not invited to the tea party pictured above.

15. One who tweets a lot: BIRD.  This is a fun misdirection clue, playing on bird noises and the Twitterati.

16. Sirius business: RADIO.  Not "serious" business.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States.

19. "Inside the NBA" analyst: O'NEAL.  Shaquille O'Neal. There is a small hint in this clue with "NBA" to stimulate thoughts of all the famous basketball players one might know... about 5 for me.

20. "Just a __": SEC.  At first I had "just a SIP" but perps changed it to SECond.

21. Zip: NONE.

22. "Volunteers?": ANYONE.  I have to go with Ferris Bueller (1986) on this one:

26. Anorak part: HOOD.  An Anorak is a waterproof jacket, typically with a hood, of a kind originally used in polar regions.

27. Docking spot: PIER.  I first tried "moor". "Quay" is another 4-letter option. It cannot be "dock" because that is part of the clue.

28. Spin: TWIRL.

30. Out of juice: DEAD.  The batteries died.

32. Hummus and baba ghanouj: DIPS.  Hummus is mostly garbanzo beans (AKA chick peas). Baba ghanouj is mostly eggplant. I'll take one of each!

36. Whiskey barrel wood: OAK.

37. Rock equipment: DRUM SET.  ♪♪♪

40. "Surely you don't mean me?": MOI.

Miss Piggy

41. Seeing things: EYES.  This time "seeing" is not a verb. It is an adjective (present participle) modifying the noun "things".

43. Withdraws, with "out": OPTS.

44. Winter X Games host city: ASPEN. Here's a shocker:  according to Wikipedia, the X-Games has never carried out drug testing on its competitors.

46. Simplicity: EASE.

48. Barbecue crust: CHAR.

54. Fish that spawns in fresh water: SALMON.  Ballard Locks is a must-see when you go to Seattle. All fish, including endangered salmon, must pass through the locks, spillway or the fish ladder to move between Lake Washington and Puget Sound.  Click Here for Ballard Locks Info

55. "Don't move!": HALT.  Who goes there?

56. Bishopric: SEE.  Friday-level clue.  Click here for Bishopric synonyms

58. Furry swimmer: OTTER.  I hope Misty likes this pic:

otter mom & pup

61. Make amends: ATONE.

62. Pt. of IMF: INTL.  INTernationaL Monetary Fund. Abbreviations in the clue mean the answer will also be abbreviated.

The International Monetary Fund is a major financial agency of the United Nations and an international financial institution.

63. Muscles near delts: PECS.  You can work them with REPS (1 Down).

64. Lets: RENTS.  I think most of you know these lyrics from King Of The Road by Roger Miller:

Trailers for sale or rent

Rooms to let, 50 cents

No phone, no pool, no pets

I ain't got no cigarettes.

65. Prone to prying: NOSY.

66. US Open stadium: ASHE.  4-letter stadium with a tennis reference -- try "ASHE"


Down:

1. Crunch units: REPS. Ab excercieses.

2. Worked in a galley: OARED.  

Galley Slaves

3. Consumer concern: PRICE HIKE.  Have you seen the price of green onions lately?!

4. With 7-Down, blight victims: ELM and TREES

5. Overseas: ABROAD.

6. Talks with one's hands, maybe: SIGNS.  Sign Language

7. See 4-Down: TREES.

8. Some badges: IDS.  IDentification badgeS

9. Heathcliff creator: BRONTE.  Heathcliff is a fictional character in Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. At first I could only think of the cartoon cat ... very embarrassing.

creator: George Gately (1973)

10. Summer camp project: LANYARD.  Hand up for making these while at 4-H camp.

basic lanyard

11. "__ Melancholy": ODE ON.

Wiki:  "Ode on Melancholy" is one of five odes composed by English poet John Keats in the spring of 1819, along with "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode on Indolence", and "Ode to Psyche".

12. Oracle Park player: GIANT.  San Francisco Giants.  Years ago, I used to go with my family to see the Giants play at Candlestick. One time there was a small commotion when a group of men in suits sat down in the seats just below us. My dad explained to me that they were moving then SF mayor George Moscone to our section (cheap seats) because people kept coming up to him in his regular seat and he could not enjoy the game. Later that year my dad told me that someone shot Mayor Moscone.

13. Lone: SOLE.

18. Incalculable: UNTOLD.

"Untold millions are still untold."  John Wesley

22. Off-mic comment: ASIDE.  The LA city councilmembers can probably explain this to you better than I can.

24. Scand. land: NOR.  Scandinavia is abbreviated -- so is NORway.

25. "Not interested": I PASS.

28. Sock part: TOE.

29. Method: WAY.  

for The Mandalorian fans

Side note:  If you are not familiar with The Mandalorian, it is a series in the Star Wars universe, available on Disney+. IMHO, it has made its way into CW puzzles because it is where we first meet Baby Yoda (actually a baby of Yoda's species), a character recognized on every continent and generally considered super-cute by people of all ages.

Grogu in The Mandalorian

30. Copies, briefly: DUPES.  "Briefly" is a hint that the answer will be shortened. DUPlicatES. 

31. CPR expert: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technician

33. Dazzles: IMPRESSES.

34. "Tamerlane" poet: POE.  I suspect the English majors among us are enjoying today's puzzle.

35. Break a commandment: SIN.

38. Ballet shoe application: ROSIN. We've seen this with baseball pitchers and fiddle players. I wonder who else uses it.

39. South Seas island: TAHITI.

42. Part: SEGMENT.

45. Heughan of "Outlander": SAM.  I read that Sam says he is passionate about Scotland, whisky, and fitness ... and newbie crossword bloggers who like to ride bicycles.

Sam Heughan

47. Loves to pieces: ADORES.  See 45D.

48. Without panicking: CALMLY.

49. Foamy pick-me-up: LATTE.

50. Taron's "Rocketman" role: ELTON.  Sir ELTON John.

I saw this movie (Amazon Prime) but still did not recognize "Taron".  "Rocketman" was a big help!

51. Twill fabric: CHINO.  CHINO pants are made of CHINO fabric.

52. Has a long shelf life: LASTS.  Here are 22 healthy foods that do not spoil easily.

53. Part of a boxer's "tale of the tape": REACH.

"REACH refers to the total length of a fighter's arms from one fingertip to the other. Think of it like a boxer's wingspan. This is not to be confused with arm length, which only measures from shoulder to fist in one arm."

I thought it was the latter. Learning moment.

54. Rise above it all: SOAR.  My favorite Disney ride is SOARin' Over California.

It makes you feel like you are hang gliding.

57. "What __ Can I Do?": "Encanto" song: ELSE.

59. Racket: DIN. Noise.

60. Spot for a mud bath: SPA.

Here's the grid:

That's all for today. I look forward to reading your thoughts.

Thank you, C.C. for your encouragement & guidance!

 

 

Notes from C.C.:

I'm very happy to tell you that Sumdaze (Renee) has joined our blogging team. She'll blog once a month to start with. Can you believe this is only her first blog post? She's just incredible!