I had the "up" words Z-D-L puzzle in January and RB handled his last crossword back at the start of May. Today our consistent constructor gives us a "redefinition" of what one's career might entail, but with a humorous twist (~?) - I have mixed feelings about this one; I found it Friday challenging, and therefore enjoyable, but as it's been said at The Corner in the past, the juice maybe not be worth the squeeze; YMMV. Another over-sized 15 x 16 grid, chunky 9-letter corners, several, and some obscure, names, twenty-two 3LWs, and ALOT of Twurds. The themers, followed by the centrally located reveal;
18. Photographer?: CHEESEMONGER - a one-word professional who selects, cares for, cuts and sells cheese; I linked a "How It's Made" episode on cheese making back in March
26. Police officer?: TICKET AGENT - I've never gotten a speeding ticket; I have, however, had two DUI arrests, one arrest & ticket for lapse of insurance, and two for operating a commercial vehicle in the HOV lane & illegally crossing the HOV buffer "line". Sheesh. This is what drinking cost me; once I stopped, so did the tickets - go figure . . .
I was never THAT drunk . . .
52. Carpenter?: FLOOR TRADER - in my carpentry work days of yore, I have done several ceramic tile floors, and a couple of Pergo ones - one could argue I "traded" the old linoleum for something better
Floor Cheese
63. Realtor?: STREET VENDOR - It's true, in a sense - David Cook, my Realtor here in CT, sold me a house while we were on the "street" I now call home . . .
The cheese on the street . . .
38. "That's someone else's problem," or an apt title for this puzzle - NOT MY JOB - As a retail manager in the home improvement industry, I heard employees say the reveal far too many times. For those who read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the clue is a different "thing" altogether . . .
But Wait - There's More Cheese~?
ACROSS:
1. Like some temples: MASONIC - Dah~! I wanted to fill this in, hesitated
8. Epiphany trio: MAGI - I do the Downs first, already had the "G" in place
12. Maker of Sticking Point press-on nails: OPI - Nailed it, but this is a crossword staple
15. Tennis period since 1968: OPEN ERA - my one mistake; I had openerS at first
16. Make smooth: IRON - ah, the verb - good one
17. NFL Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN - name #1, which I did actually know
20. Pester: IRK
21. Bandleader's command: HIT IT - It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses . . .
"Hit it."
22. Hosp. areas: ERs - Not ORs - that was yesterday
23. Dry Italian whites: SOAVES - filled via perps
Swah-vay
25. Object of adoration: IDOL - this one's protected by the Hovitos . . . if only you could speak Hovitos
31. Roasted entree that may be served with mint jelly: LEG OF LAMB - I knew this; once I had some crossings, the V-8 can flew
Leg of LamP
32. Kotero of "Purple Rain": APOLLONIA - I vaguely remember the movie, released in 1984 - before my HS days, and did not see - not a Prince fan back then - name #12, and a unique fill. The IMDb
nylons don't do well with those shoes
33. Letting off the hook: PARDONING - $2 word
34. SHO subsidiary: TMC - no clue, knew we needed a TV abbr - SHOwtime, The Movie Channel
35. __ contact: EYE - I am getting much better at this as I "mature"
39. Level: TIER
40. Fragrance: ODOR - IMHO, I don't think of a fragrance as an "odor"
41. Email covertly: BCC - Blind Carbon Copy
44. Collar named for an elite school: ETON - learned by doing crosswords
47. Erode: EAT INTO - Twurd #7
50. Active volcano in Eur.: Mt. ETNA - Iv'e had this "abbr full fill" once before
51. Warren who played Dick Tracy: BEATTY - knew it, still name #13
Zachary David Levy is a man with a plan. We last saw him here a few
months ago in January with "Speak Up," another synonym theme where words
spelled upwards on the grid.
The master plan becomes clear with the revealer:
37. "Let's do this thing!," or what can be said about each set of circles in this puzzle: SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN.
The circled letters create made-up sound-alikes for words that mean
PLAN. They all can fill in the blank, "What is your ____?"
17. Some tissue in the central nervous system: GRAY MATTER. AYM sounds like AIM.
23. Quantum mechanics phenomenon: SUPER POSITION. PERPOS sounds like PURPOSE. For those of you that aren't physicists, a SUPER POSITION is the principle that physical systems can exist in multiple states, locations, or configurations simultaneously. Got it?
47. Sweet and tart fruit drink: MANGO LEMONADE. GOL sounds like GOAL.
58. Therapeutic canopy for some respiratory ailments: OXYGEN TENT. ENTENT sounds like INTENT.
I
don't mind circles, but I'm bad at anagrams. However, the first one was
easy, only three letters - either MAY or YAM. Now I'm looking for
months or tubers. When I couldn't unscramble PERPOS, I figured it must
be some foreign name I'd never heard of. Fortunately, the revealer came
up in the middle and saved me from tearing my hair out on the rest of
them. No anagrams, just imaginary homophones for synonyms of "PLAN". And
you have to use your imagination to see beyond their spelling to
hopefully pronounce them correctly. So, this puzzle was OKAY, although
like last Thursday, it seems a bit easy for this late in the week.
Let's see how his strategy plays out:
Across:
1. Hajj destination: MECCA.
6. Foxtrot follower: GOLF. Actually, after the Foxtrot came the Charleston. But in this case, the letters "F" and "G" are from the NATO alphabet.
10. Took off: LEFT.
14. Brilliance: ECLAT. ÉCLAT (pronounced "ay-KLAH") is a French term meaning doing something with great style.
15. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA. I liked ANYA in The Queens' Gambit,
then was disappointed in The Gorge. She and a single Russian
counterpart are tasked with protecting all of mankind from unknown evils
that reside in a gorge. With humanity at stake, wouldn't you assign
more than two people to do this?
16. Land division: ACRE. Land division: GORGE.
17. [theme]
19. Brit's trunk: BOOT. Britt's trunk: BOOTY.
Brittany Spears
20. Not to be trusted, in slang: SUS. I SUSpect this sounds SUSpicious.
21. Condo gp.: HOA. HomeOwners Association.
22. Elusive picture book character: WALDO. Hiding in plain sight was a skill he learned as a child when there were chores to do.
Waldo, please take out the trash. Waldo? Waldo!
23. [theme]
28. Frozen gutter problem: ICE DAM. Not a problem in Florida.
30. "Saturday Night Live" unit: SKIT. "Saturday Night Live" is abbreviated SNL. Oh wait, it's usually the other way around.
31. "Ditto": SO DO I.
32. Not great, say: OKAY.
34. Sanskrit title of respect: SRI.
37. [theme]
41. Mont Blanc, e.g.: ALP. Mont Blanc, e.g.: PEN.
42. Mystery writer Buchanan: EDNA. In addition to crime novelist, EDNA is a journalist who won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting "for her versatile and consistently excellent police beat reporting."
43. Lego unit: BRICK.
44. Yogurt bowl berry: ACAI.
46. Homes: ABODES.
47. [theme]
52. Not of this world: ALIEN.
53. Messy class, often: ART. I've noticed that many artistic people seem to thrive in organized mess.
54. Uno y uno: DOS. 1+1=2 lecciĂ³n de matemĂ¡ticas (math lesson in Spanish).
57. __ diagram: VENN.
58. [theme]
62. Board VIP: EXEC. An EXECutive is a Very Important Person, or so they think.
63. McEntire of country: REBA. REBA, also known as "The Queen of Country," has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.She's had over 100
singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, with 25 reaching
number one. In spite of all that, she seems very down-to-earth.
She's a real VIP.
64. Italian bowling game: BOCCE. It's like curling without the ice!
65. __ a soul: NARY.
66. Tree of Knowledge location: EDEN.
67. A bit off: ASKEW. Just look up "RustyBrain" in the dictionary.
Down:
1. Gig segments: MEGS. My first thought was SETS, as in a band playing music for the evening. But this is a computer reference to Gigabytes which are made up of 1000 Megabytes.
2. Earth tone: ECRU.
3. Brought elegance to: CLASSED UP. It's what happens when I walk into any joint. So I'm told.
8. NaOH, more familiarly: LYE. RightBrain took a break from
perfecting sourdough breads and decided to try her hand at Bavarian
pretzels. The recipe called for soaking them in LYE (sodium hydroxide),
just like bagels. It's highly caustic so she made a baking soda bath
instead, but if used, the LYE will break down in the oven.
The knots were hard to do...but they tasted great!
9. Not walkable, say: FAR.
10. Canadian brewery: LABATT. LABATT is now part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev family.
11. Cause of some food poisoning: E. COLI.
12. Baggins of the Shire: FRODO. This also could have been Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is Bilbo's second cousin, once removed, but Bilbo affectionately considers him a nephew.
13. "Grand" peak visible from eastern Idaho: TETON.
18. "Standing right here!": AHEM. "You know I can hear you, right?"
22. Mario Kart platform: WII. WII was a popular Nintendo gaming console discontinued in 2013. It lives on here because it has two "I"s. Like most of us.
24. Soba alternative: UDON. UDON and soba are staple Japanese noodles with distinct differences: Udon is thick, chewy, and white (wheat-based), while soba is thin, earthy, and brownish (buckwheat-based).
25. No longer in arrears: PAID.
26. Port city east of Kobe: OSAKA.
27. __ terrier: SKYE. SKYE Terriers were originally bred in the 1600s on Scotland's Isle of Skye to protect farms and livestock by hunting and killing predators,
such as foxes and badgers. Their low-slung, sturdy bodies,, tough, long
double coats, and fierce, intelligent nature allowed them to tackle
prey and thrive in harsh, rocky Scottish weather.
28. Actress Rae: ISSA. ISSA Rae is an Emmy-nominated actress, writer, producer, director and entrepreneur. And she has lots of usable letters in her name.
29. Refrigerate: COOL.
32. Tune rarely played on Top 40 radio: OLDIE. Unfortunately, every song I used to listen to on Top 40 radio is now an oldie. I wonder what that says about me?
33. Family: KIN.
34. PowerPoint file, essentially: SLIDE DECK. I wanted SLIDE SHOW.
35. Zoom: RACE.
36. Signs, as a contract: INKS.
38. Animal that goes with the floe?: SEAL. Winner: Best Clue.
39. "Fernando" band: ABBA. Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden, and 400 million albums later...
ABBA won singing "Waterloo"
40. Egg on: PROD.
44. Ability to shape one's own future: AGENCY.
45. Fleece: CON.
46. Poker stake: ANTE.
47. Whiz: MAVEN.
48. Wrestler Bliss known as "Five Feet of Fury": ALEXA. What made her furious was her Amazon Echo that answered every time someone called her.
49. West Coast NFLer: NINER. The San Franciso 49ers, named after the thousands of prospectors who flocked to Northern California in 1849 during the Gold Rush. "Dwelt a miner, forty-NINER..."
50. "It's always possible": MAYBE.
51. Church fixture: ORGAN. I love the massive sound of a pipe organ in a large church. And if one ever breaks, call 1-800-SPLYNTER.
55. __ in a while: ONCE.
56. Hearty bowlful: STEW.
58. Seam contents: ORE.
59. Crossed (out): XED. "X" is often used as shorthand for "cross," as in xwords.
60. Org. for Jazz quintets?: NBA. The Utah JAZZ from the National Basketball Association. Basketball is played with five players on each side.
61. Talking-__: TOS. And in the "terrible twos," the tots talk back!
The previous LA Times "Z-D-L" puzzle was one I blogged on Wednesday back in November - the Monty Python and the Holy Grail "just a flesh wound" masterpiece - if you happen to be a fan . . . Today Mr. Levy's construction features four themers that have a synonym for "speak" going UP the Down fills, but defined as its homonym; I was perplexed as to why I could not get the answer for 9D to gibe with the crossings, until - the V-8 can. Not too difficult for a Friday, IMO, but we get a bit bogged down with the names again; a standard 15 x 15 grid, more than double the number of four-letter words to 3LWs, no circles, and missing only the "Q" for a pangram *. The themers and reveal;
4. Fast service: SSERPXE MAIL - Express is spelled "up" in the grid
9. Seize-the-day type: OG GETTER - here's where I sussed the theme, as I knew it had to be "GO"
27. Many a land-grant university: ETATS SCHOOL - State, going "up"
40. Hogwash: RETTU ROT - Utter, going "up"
25. Comment to a low talker, or what is found in 4-, 9-, 27-, and 40-Down: SPEAK UP - here's the collection of scenes from the "low talker" episode of Seinfeld
63. Stalwart trees: OAKS - I could argue that all trees are "stalwart", by definition
64. In case: LEST
I like this
65. Eye-shaped windows: OCULI - most of what I find online is round, not "eye" shaped; the Wiki
When I hear 'oculus', I think of the Pantheon
66. Possessive pronoun: ONE'S - e.g. "gird one's loins"
67. Org chart topper: EXECutive
68. Fundamental principle: TENET
69. Countess's title: LADY - Here's Tom Jones, now 85yrs old, married for 59(~!) years until the passing of his wife and lifetime love Melinda in 2016; I grew up listening to his baritone voice, as my parents were born & raised in England - more on Tom from Wiki here
"Never Had A Lady Before"
from "Rescue Me", his 1979 "disco" album; so many great songs
DOWN:
2. Savory quality: UMAMI
3. Views: TAKES - Friday cluing; as in "what's your ___ on this~?" but pluralized, meh
5. Jargons: ARGOTS - the "lingo" of a (usually secret) social group - the plural is again a bit 'meh'
6. Sierra __, Africa: LEONE - geo name #7
7. "__ set": ALL - vague; Friday
8. Online admins: MODS - moderators
10. Fuss: ADO
11. Makes more sophisticated: CIVILIZES - a weapon from a more "civilized age"
Your father's lightsaber
12. Festive nights: EVES - what are festive days~? Adams~?
13. Run without saying goodbye, perhaps: DASH
19. Gamer's woe: LAG - think online gaming ( or someone taking too long to play a word in Scrabble )
21. Goes after, in a sense: SUES
30. Terse confirmation: "IT IS."
32. Entice: LURE
33. Cereal coveted by a silly rabbit: TRIX - name(ish) . . .
. . . are for kids~!
34. Whirl: SPIN
35. Folk singer Guthrie: ARLO - name #8, crossword staple
36. Fruitless endeavor: LOST CAUSE - stone fruitless = LOST QUARTZ đŸ˜œ
37. Dracula player Lugosi: BELA - Here's Bella - one of the other trainers at the gym, wearing the shirt I made for my trainer Brett - that's him on the shirt; he and some of the other members are always mocking me for calling the gym equipment "tools" - hey, I do "work"(out) with them . . . name #9
44. Writer/illustrator Carle: ERIC - Didn't recognize the name - #10 - filled via perps - but I do recognize his work; I see he passed in 2021 at age 91. His website
47. Marketing space: AD UNIT - I tossed in AD PAGE
49. "What do we have here?": "O-HO~!"
51. IRS convenience: eFILE
52. Mat position: ASANA - yoga~! yoga~! yoga~!
Animal House announces toga party
53. Trained for part of a triathlon: BIKED - good WAG; running and swimming are the other two events
54. Not very respectful: SASSY
55. Up to the task: ABLE
56. Ken's "Jeopardy!" predecessor: ALEX - I watched Mr. Trebek growing up; have not watched any Jennings episodes - name #11
58. Maze runners: MICE - Dah~! I put in RATS
61. Brief "Blah, blah, blah": etc.
62. Squirt __: GUN - I bought a pair that actually have a pretend, Glock-like "slide"
You lock the slide back to expose the fill hole, thus "loading" it
