google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Zachary David Levy

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Showing posts with label Zachary David Levy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zachary David Levy. Show all posts

Feb 13, 2024

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 Zachary David Levy

Happy Mardi Gras, All Y'All!

Mind your budget to stretch your Cash.  Times are tough, you need to Stretch your Cash or find someone who will Spread the Wealth.

17-Across. Garment made from goat's wool: CASHMERE SWEATER.


27-Across. Picture that may feature students in height order: CLASS PHOTOGRAPH.

47-Across. Completely spotless: CLEAN AS AWHISTLE.


59-Across. Be generous with one's good fortune, as depicted by the movement of this puzzle's circled letters: SPREAD THE WEALTH.

I'll start with the grid so you can see how clever the Wealth is spread out.  We start with the Cash all together.  Then there is one letter in between Cash, and finally 2 letters are spread between the Cash.



Across:
1. South African language: ZULU.


5. "Uh ... feels wrong": UM ... NO.

9. Inky smudges: BLOTS.
The caption reads:
It's just a simple Rorschach ink-blot test, Mr. Bromwell, so just calm down and tell me what each one suggest to you.

14. Iowa State's town: AMES.


15. Folk artist Joan: BAEZ.  Joan Chandos Baez (b. Jan. 9, 1941) began her recording career over 60 years ago.  [Name # 1.]


16. Gracefully limber: LITHE.

20. Roebuck partner: SEARS.  The department store of Sears and Roebuck was founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears (Dec. 7, 1863 ~ Sept. 28, 1914) and Alvah Curtis Roebuck (Jan. 9, 1864 ~ June 18, 1948).  [Names # 2 and 3.]


21. __ borealis: colorful sky display: AURORA.  I would love to see the Aurora Borealis someday, but not sure I want to go so far north to see the display.


22. Put back in the pan: REFRY.

24. Big name in SUVs: GMC.


26. GPS display: MAP.

32. Astern: AFT.

33. "Klutzy me": OOPS!


34. Some Blu-ray players: SONYs.

35. Urgent request: PLEA.

37. Point value of "eight" in Scrabble: NINE.  //  And 52-Across. Point value of "five" or "six" in Scrabble: TEN.


39. Be in harmony: AGREE.

42. Kia hatchbacks: RIOs.


44. Destiny's Child's "__ My Name": SAY.

51. Apple CEO Cook: TIM.  Timothy Donald Cook (b. Nov. 1, 1960) became the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. in 2011, following the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs (1955 ~ 2011).  Prior to becoming the CEO, he was the company's chief operating officer.  [Name # 4.]


53. Arranges logically: SORTS.

54. End of an era?: SMALL A.  I am not keen on clues and answers like this.

57. Large member of the violin family: CELLO.


64. Lopsided: ASKEW.

65. Elton John musical based on a Verdi opera: AIDA.  [Name # 5.]


66. Raptor's weapon: CLAW.  Because Talon was too many letters.

67. Workspaces: DESKS.

68. "Dark Phoenix" mutants: X-MEN.  I've never seen any of these movies, so can't comment of their names or superpower mutations.  [Name # 6, fictional.]


69. Catch sight of: ESPY.  //  And 40-Down. Quick look: GLIMPSE.


Down:
1. Actor Efron: ZAC.  Zac Efron (né Zachary David Alexander Efron; b. Oct. 18, 1987) got is start in the mid-2000s starred in the High School Musical movies.  [Name # 7.]


2. Thurman of "Red, White & Royal Blue": UMA.  When her name comes up, I usually think of her dancing with John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.  That was 30 years ago!  [Name # 8.]


3. Heart-healthy phrase: LESS FAT.

4. Helpful theater employees: USHERS.

5. Car service app: UBER.

6. "24K Magic" singer Bruno: MARS.  Bruno Mars isn't his real name.  His given name is Peter Gene Hernandez (b. Oct. 8, 1985).  [Name # 9.]


7. Previously named: NÉE.  Today's French lesson.  The word comes from the French and means Born.  Né is masculine and Née is feminine.

8. Fluid meas. units: OZs.  As in Ounces.

9. Couleur of the sky: BLEU.  More of today's French lesson.

10. Pants-on-fire person: LIAR.  Cute clue.


11. Padded footstool: OTTOMAN.

12. Curative treatment: THERAPY.

13. High-ranking angels: SERAPHS.

18. Baseball Hall of Famer Willie: MAYS.  Willie Mays (né Willie Howard Mays, jr.; b. May 6, 1931) is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all times.  He played center field.  [Name # 10.]


19. City halfway between Dallas and Austin: WACO.  How the city got its name.

22. Early TV brand: RCA.  RCA and its Dogs.


23. Tiny toymaker: ELF.



24. RNC group: GOP.  As in the Republican National Committee and the Grand Old Party.  No politics, please.

25. VT ski resort with an apt name: MT SNOW.  Everything you wanted to know about Mt Snow but didn't know to ask.  And a shout out to JFromVT.

28. Poet Edgar Allan __: POE.  Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1849) is considered the father of the modern detective mystery.  [Name # 11.]


29. All shouted out, maybe: HOARSE.


30. "Tug of Words" channel: GSN.  As in the Game Show Network.

31. Caviar: ROE.  Yummers!


35. Podded plant: PEA.

36. Former "Inside the NFL" host Dawson: LEN.  Len Dawson (né Leonard Ray Dawson; June 20, 1935 ~ Aug. 24. 2022) played for the Kansas City Chiefs for over 10 years in the 1960s and 1970s.  [Name # 12.]


38. "Or so": -ISH.

39. Puts on a frown: ACTS SAD.  I initially tried Acts Mad.

41. Casual observations: REMARKS.

43. Actor McKellen: IAN.  That's Sir Ian McKellen (né Ian Murray McKellen; b. May 25, 1939) to you.  He is a very versatile actor.  [Name # 13.]


44. Ambles: STROLLS.

45. Key sometimes used with Ctrl: ALT.


46. "You rang?": YES.


48. Slightly: A TAD.

49. Hebrides landmass: ISLE.  The Hebrides is an archipelago comprising hundreds of islands off the northwest coast of Scotland.


50. Comfort during trying times: SOLACE.

55. Long onion kin: LEEK.  Wha't the difference?

56. Rules for society: LAWS.  The oldest known written legal code was found in what is now Iraq.

57. Relinquish: CEDE.

58. Obi-Wan player: EWAN.  Obi-Wan Kenobi was the Jedi master in the Star Wars movies.  In some of the later films in the series Ewan McGregor (né Ewan Gordon McGregor; b. Mar. 31, 1971).  [Names # 14 and 15, one fictional, one real.]


60. Line on a receipt: TAX.


61. "That's the guy!": HIM.



62. Noisy dance style: TAP.


63. Major rd.: HWY.  That major road could be the highway.

That's all for today.

חתולה



Mardi Gras is celebrated outside of New Orleans, too.


Jan 30, 2024

Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, Zachary David Levy

EBB

 The TIDE has been turned, reversed, and spelled backwards three times in the grid, and it was almost perfectly constructed, too, as the first theme answer broke down to E - DIT, followed by ED -IT, but we didn't get the final EDI -T; can anyone think of a way to build that into the puzzle~?  A relatively quick solve, with either "gimme" answers, or something rather vague ( I'm looking at you 39A. ).  And again, several proper names, yet none that didn't fill in on their own if I didn't know them immediately.  Somehow, I seem to have created an 80s songs sub-theme, too.  Oh, and we're missing just the "Z" for a pangram.

17. Playful tune: LITTLE DITTY - 'bout Jack n' Diane~?

John Cougar Mellencamp

27. Threw in the towel: CALLED IT QUITS - Men At Work, "It's A Mistake"

Lyrics @ 2:29

46. Roadside channel for water runoff: DRAINAGE DITCH - OK, 1976, so not quite the 80s

Blue Öyster Cult - see 26D.

60. Stage a comeback, or an apt title for this puzzle: TURN THE TIDE - and the TIDE is "high", by Blondie, which I did not know as a remake....

Is that Darth Vader~?

Washed Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. "I've been here before" feeling: DÉJÀ VU - yeah, I think I was here before, like, maybe last Wednesday~!?

7. __ and carrots: PEAS

11. Has been: WAS

14. Some dome-topped venues: ARENAS

15. Roger's rival, familiarly: RAFA - Tennis - Roger Federer vs. Rafael "Rafa" Nadal

16. __ crossroads: AT A

19. Half a score: TEN - a score being twenty, as in "Four score and seven...."

20. Low USN rank: ENSign

21. Fires up, as an engine: REVS

22. Converse: SPEAK

24. Japanese art genre: ANIME


26. Proper conduct, in Hinduism: DHARMA - Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, guitar master from Blue Öyster Cult

31. Ooze, as charm: EXUDE

32. Addition amount: SUM

33. Church bench: PEW - we have "pew pads" that clip to the tops of the benches so that we can utilize the space effectively with no damage done

Lynchburg, VA

36. Made readable, in a way: DECODED - I never had a "secret decoder ring" when I was a kid  :7((

39. Based on deduction instead of experience: A PRIORI - I have actually read/heard this term before

42. Two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning: ELI - New York technically has either "two" or "no" football teams ( the Giants and 3D. ), depending on your perspective on playing in New Jersey; I recall the "helmet catch" of an Eli Manning throw, Superbowl XLII.  BTW, the "big" game always "interferes" with my birthday weekend....

43. Male sheep: RAM

45. Elba of "The Wire": IDRIS - crossword staple

51. Bring on: INDUCE

53. Gave it a shot: TRIED

54. Threshold: VERGE

55. Kristen who was on "SNL" from 2005 to 2012: WIIG - no clue, filled via perps

56. Henson who created the Muppets: JIM - him I do know

59. Sweetie: BAE - I cringe at the use of this "word"

64. In the style of: À LA

65. "That makes sense": "I SEE"

66. Immune system components: T-CELLS

67. Fine stone: GEM

68. Sugar source: CANE - I had perps, so it wasn't "BEET"

69. Throat-soothing beverage: HOT TEA

aaah, that's better~!

DOWN:

1. Small valley: DALE

2. "__ go bragh!": ERIN - St. Patrick's Day is nigh

3. New York NFLers: JETS - us long suffering Jets fans had another "Really~?" season in 2023

4. Kitchen pest: ANT

5. Kilmer of "Top Gun: Maverick": VAL - I have, thankfully, never seen this, nor the original movie

6. Login requirement: USER ID

7. Flowering shrubs used as border hedges: PRIVETS

8. Uses (up): EATS - a series of rush plays in football "EATS" up the clock, especially inside the two-minute warning

9. Toward the tiller: AFT - nautical terms

10. Greets, with "to": SAYS "HI"

11. Wakeboarding, for one: WATER SPORT

12. Mr. T's squad: A-TEAM - I pity the fool

13. Maxwell House decaf brand: SANKA - I have heard of this "instant" coffee, did not know it was Maxwell House, and according to Wiki, it's where the "orange" diner carafe handle comes from

18. Singer Lovato: DEMI - learned by doing crosswords

23. Butter portion: PAT - I was 16 when this advertisement appeared


24. Big name in footwear: ALDO - not big enough for me - NIKE, AVIA, maybe; ALDO I have seen, but did not know was just footwear

How about ALDO Nova~? - more 80s music

25. Require: NEED

26. Hauler destination, perhaps: DUMP - ooh, a good guess on my part

27. Give up: CEDE

28. Figure skater's jump: AXEL

29. Certain state of awareness while sleeping: LUCID DREAM - I love it when I can recall my lucid dreams.  I try to retain the details every time I wake up - getting pretty good at it.  Does anyone think there's a 'hidden meaning' or something deeper to one's dreams~?  I believe there is....

30. Sine __ non: QUA - Latin "without which not", or, a thing that is necessary

34. Writer/illustrator Carle: ERIC - filled via perps, and a WAG at the "R"

35. Genie's offering: WISH - three from a bottle~?

37. Lake near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: ERIE - hey~!  I was just there - in the city of Erie, PA, where the Organ Supply Industries warehouse and manufacturing shop is located


38. Karate skill level: DAN - the Wiki

40. Attraction at a fair: RIDE

41. "__ my best": "I DID"

44. Afternoon show: MATINEE

47. Bit of floor decor: RUG

48. Like pickling liquid: ACETIC - BRINY and SALTY didn't fit, Saline was a weak maybe....

49. Moxie: GRIT

50. Half of a fourth: EIGHTH - good crossword fill with G-H-T-H; the math is 1/4 ÷ 1/2 - or - .5 * .25

51. ICU hookup: IV BAG - my first thought, but I hesitated

52. Writer Zora __ Hurston: NEALE - not familiar with her; I know of NEALE Donald Walsh, author of "Conversations with God" - I have most of the book series, but I just discovered there was a movie made in 2006

55. Small songbird: WREN - crossword staple

56. Leave at the altar: JILT - ah, that's the word I couldn't recall....

57. Not going anywhere: IDLE

58. City outside Phoenix: MESA - another good WAG on my part

61. Can. neighbor: USA - seems too easy and obvious, after the previous clue

62. Green beginning: ECO

63. Vietnamese New Year: TET - crossword staple


Splynter




Dec 29, 2023

Friday, December 29, 2023, Zachary David Levy

 



Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's puzzle recap.  As you read this I am in Utah helping to celebrate a very good friend's 70th birthday.  After that, it is on to Colorado, wind and weather permitting.  Many small towns in Colorado have become "Zoom Towns" over the past few years so, if the internet "pipeline" is not overtaxed, I should be able to work on my next couple of blogs remotely.

Today's constructor is frequent-visitor Zachary David Levy who presented us with quite a bit to ponder, theme-wise.  There was no "reveal".  In the electronic version from which I was working, there were no asterisks.  There were no circles.  There was, seemingly, no common thread.  There were helpful questions marks but those, as we all know, can serve various purposes.  This solver will admit to rereading what were pretty obviously the five themed answers several times without finding that elusive common thread.

Then I recalled the words of Lisa Simpson.  Lisa has/had been known to hang out with Will Shortz and Merl Reagle (RIP) so it pays to check in with her now and then.  As a result of her inspiration, it dawned on me that the last two words (and in one case, three words, when you include the A) of each clue were anagrams of the answers (or, if you prefer, vice versa):

17 Across:  The worst description of poor purses?:  PROSPEROUS.  PORO yields POOR, RSPEUS yields PURSES.  Prosperous being an antonym of poor.

25 Across:  Completely unlike a docile man?:  DEMONIACAL.  A yields A, DEOICL yields DOCILE, and MNA yields MAN.  A demoniacal man is not likely to be docile.

36 Across:  The furthest thing from tidier rooms?: DORMITORIES.  DITRIE yields TIDIER, and ORMOS yields ROOMS.  Dormitories are, stereo-typically, messy.

50 Across:  The opposite of one who is not against?:  ANTAGONIST.   ONT yields NOT, and ANTAGIS yields AGAINST.  Double negative.  Triple?

59 Across:  Treated with a decided lack of due respect?:  PERSECUTED EUD yields DUE, and PRSECTE yields RESPECT.


 

After that DAMNED clever (if a bit MADDENing) start, let's have a look at the rest of the clues and the answers:

Across:

1. Sponge (off): MOOCH.  Clued as a verb.

6. Degs. for CFOs: MBAS.  Some Chief Financial Officers hold Master of Business Administration degreeS.  Most MBAs are not CFOs.

10. 1040 ID figs.: SSNS.  A reference to the IRS Form 1040.  Social Security NumberS

14. Place to perform: VENUE.  Some hold more people than do others.

Grateful Dead at Giants Stadium - 1978

15. Additionally: ALSO.  MORE, STILL, PLUS ?

16. Shiny sticker?: EPEE.  Not a sticker that you would put on e.g. a notebook.  Not a reflector sticker.  You can stick someone with a sword.

19. __ chips: PITA.  What did the PITA chip say to the hummus when she was ill?  I falafel.

20. Breading choice: PANKO.


21. Has quite a kick: ZINGS.  This one seemed a bit off to me having never heard anyone say "this zings."  I mean,  the hot sauce or the whiskey might have a quite a kick but it ZINGS?  Still, it made a great song in the 1930's (without that S):



22. Rx writer: DOC.  Abbreviated clue, abbreviated answer:  DOCtor.  Zachary/Patti could have gone with the rabbit.


28. Investment firm figure: ANALYST.

Only Buy Me Stocks That Go Up

31. Agent, informally: REP.  Not a secret agent.  A business agent.  REPresentative.

32. Simu of "Kim's Convenience": LIU.  Unknown to this solver.  Thanks, again, perps.

33. Italian birthplace of Paganini: GENOA.  Anche, Cristoforo Colombo.

34. Element in some smoky whiskies: PEAT.  Ah, this one is near and dear.  Distilleries use hot smoke from burning PEAT to stop the germination of barley at a certain point resulting in malted barley that is then used to make whisky.  The PEAT smoke imparts a distinctive, if polarizing, flavor.

A Peat-Burning Oven.  Laphroaig Distillery
Island of Islay,  Scotland

Malting Floor, Laphroaig Distillery
Isle of Islay, Scotland 
(photos by MM)


35. Filmmaker Lee: ANG.  Spike would not fit.

40. Call (out): CRY.

42. Swimmer Torres who won 12 Olympic medals: DARA.


43. Literary form: ESSAY.  Hand up for first thinking PROSE.

46. Consists of: HAS.  This puzzle HAS 225 squares,

47. Letters before a pen name: AKA.  Also Known As

48. Spartan: AUSTERE.  Not a reference to MSU.

53. Patch, perhaps: SEW.  I tried to think of something witty to say here but I ran out of material.

54. Size for fries: LARGE.  Supersize me.



55. Cut a rug: DANCE.  Idiomatic from an earlier era.

Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer) In "Top Secret"


58. Gloating cry: I WIN.  Sometimes it's I WON.

64. Promontory: CAPE.  A geographical reference (Cape Ann, Cape Horn, Cape Cod, etc.).  Often clued with references to comic book superheros.

65. Pennsylvania city across from Presque Isle State Park: ERIE.  Four letters.  Three vowels.  An often-used constructor's friend.

66. Sports news: TRADE.  Some have, supposedly,  lead to curses.

67. Seers?: EYES.  Not SEERS as in tellers of the future.  What we see with.

68. Over and done with: PAST.  The PAST, the present and the future walked into a bar.  Things got a little tense.

69. Madonna hit that begins, "Strike a pose": VOGUE.  Not the Madonna celebrated earlier this week.


Down:

1. 2023 World Series honor for Corey Seager: MVP.  Most Valuable Player.  It would have been nice if the Dodgers had re-signed Corey.

2. Poetic contraction: O'ER. As in "O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

3. "Double Fantasy" singer: ONO.  Many ways to clue Yoko Ono.  Some would go with breakerupperofthebeatles.

4. Astrological delineation: CUSP.  Is your moon in Fresno?

5. __ filter: HEPA.  HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air, and a HEPA filter is a specially designed air filter that excels at capturing tiny particles in the air.

6. Word with fish or meat: MARKET.  Or with stock (but that would have been more of a giveaway).

7. Sign of spring: BLOOM.  I might have gone with a clue along these lines:



8. Tempe sch.: ASU.

9. Scouring brand: SOS.


10. Retro tone: SEPIA.  For photographs.



11. SoulCycle offering: SPIN CLASSES.  This solver was not familiar with SoulCycle but the "cycle" part was helpful and the perps made it clear.



12. Bottom line: NET GAIN.

13. Shell-less gastropod: SEA SLUG.  Some are far more visually intriguing than the land varieties.



18. Comes to a halt: ENDS.  What starts with W and ENDS with T.  Really, it does.

21. Some plastic fasteners: ZIP TIES.  Very useful for oh so many applications.

22. Peace Nobelist Hammarskjöld: DAG.  Secretary General of the United Nations (1953 - 1961).

23. Single: ONE.

One


24. Peppermint pattern: CANDY STRIPE.

26. Ice cream cookie: OREO.  Clue-able in oh so many ways.

27. In the ballpark: NEAR.  Idiomatic.

29. Liverpool lav: LOO.  In London, if you pay money to live in a bathroom you can tell your friends that you are a LOO tenant.

30. Gridiron stat: YARDAGE.  A football reference.  Inspired by the lines on the football field.  Gridiron derives from griddle and grid.  It was also a medieval instrument of torture.

34. Educational org.: PTA.


37. Shortfin shark: MAKO.  The K from 47 across was a big help with this one.

38. Turkey neighbor: IRAN.  YAMS would have fit.

39. NYC hrs.: EST.  Eastern Standard Time

40. Ceremonial goblet: CHALICE. The film, "The Court Jester" with Danny Kay taught me this one at an early age.



41. Bolted: RAN AWAY.  Not a hardware reference.

44. Equal: ARE.  As in two and two ARE four.

45. Evergreen shrub: YEW.  Often clued with a reference to archery.

48. How cutlery is typically sold: AS A SET.


49. Alternative magazine name: UTNE.  The "UTNE Reader" is oft cited in crossword puzzles.

51. Hong Kong politician and social activist Chow: AGNES.

52. "Luther" star Elba: IDRIS.  This solver did not know "Luther" but IDRIS Elba has been a frequent visitor the past few years.

56. Video surveillance letters: CCTV.  Closed Circuit TeleVision

57. Irish capital: EURO.  Not the capital city.  Money.

59. Oomph: PEP.

60. Bullpen fig.: ERA.  A baseball reference.  Relief pitchers, a subset of whom are called "closers" warm up in the "bullpen".  Earner Run Average.  Roughly, how many runs, on average, the pitcher gives up for every nine innings he pitches (ERA excludes runs the pitcher would not have allowed had somebody not messed up).

61. __ sale: TAG.  AKA Yard Sale or Garage Sale.

62. Georgetown closer: EDU.  Not a baseball reference.  The ending of an email address.



63. Barely passing mark: DEE.  A  B   C   D   F   Aren't we grading on the curve here?


Here is the completed grid:




That will wrap things up for today.  Thanks, again, Lisa (and friends).




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