Monday March 11, 2024 Margi Stevenson

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with a Dyn-o-Mite puzzle from constructor, Margi Stevenson.

Theme:          

Jimmie Walker as J.J. Evans in Good Times (1974-1979)
His catchphrase really blew-up in popular culture.

We'll begin with the four themed clues:

17 Across. Sound of the 1970s: DISCO MUSIC.

29 Across. Electronic source of percussion: DRUM MACHINE.

45 Across. Unaccredited source of degrees: DIPLOMA MILL.

61 Across. Hypothetical space stuff that doesn't interact with light: DARK MATTER.

The reveal is nicely tucked into the bottom, right corner: 

69 Across. Private chats, briefly, and what 17-, 29-, 45-, and 61-Across literally are: DMS.  Direct Messages

It's what you do when you want to chat with someone, but not in the general comments forum.

Across:
1. Was ahead: LED.     and     15 Across. Ahead by a small margin: UP ONE.  

The home team is leading by one point.

4. __ eclipse: daytime celestial event: SOLAR.  A big one is coming up on April 8. Where & When - NASA site

9. Iowa State's home: AMES.

13. Opera solo: ARIA.

16. Discourteous: RUDE.

19. Radiate: EMIT.

20. Pours from one container to another: DECANTS.  DECANTing allows red wines to aerate. This hack works for me:  pour one glass then put the cork back in the bottle. Shake the bottle hard. Remove the cork and let sit a few minutes before pouring the other glasses. (You can sip on the first glass while you wait. 😉)

Click to enlarge.

21. Blue Ribbon brewery: PABST.  Established in Milwaukee, WI in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio, TX.

<no DECANTing required>

22. __ and beans: RICE.  I just made a big pot of this yesterday. Two pounds dried pinto beans to 1 cup rice is a good ratio.

23. Novelist O'Brien: EDNA.  This D was my last fill. It crosses with another name in 24-Down.

26. Early email provider: AOL.

27. Organ with an iris: EYE.  At first I was thinking of Splynter's variety of organs but today it was an EYEball.

32. Cry: WEEP.

34. "Heck if I know": NO IDEA.  "SAT XWD" also fit...

35. Looks up to: ESTEEMS.  ...which is why I hold our Sat. blogger Husker Gary in such high ESTEEM.

38. Wine shop event: TASTING.  Today I saw this ad in my weekly 'downtown events' email. I thought it was odd to call it a "Cigar Tasting". Have you heard of these?

42. G major analogue: E-MINOR.  The song in 63-D is in F Major.

This is another way of asking what the relative key is for G Major. Both scales only have one sharp (F#).

44. Qatari leader: EMIR.

50. Suffix with percent: -ILE.  

51. Florida NBA team, on scoreboards: ORL.  ORLando Magic...as in the Magic Kingdom (Disney World)

52. CrossFit units: REPS.

53. Wood stove output: HEAT.  The Miami HEAT NBA team also plays in Florida.

55. "Works __ time": EVERY.

57. Carrying capacity of a cargo ship: TONNAGE.

60. Trig function that models light waves: SINE.  Light acts as both a wave and a particle.  

Visible light is one component of the electromagnetism spectrum.

64. Not taken in by: ONTO.  Def.:  being aware of a scheme.

65. Figure of speech: IDIOM.  The IDIOM "barking up the wrong tree" means you are wrong or mistaken.

66. Word repeated after "Que" in a classic song: SERA.  

Doris Day famously sang Que Sera, Sera when she appeared in Hitchcock's 

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).

Her co-stars were Jimmy Stewart and Peter Lorre.

67. Locksmith's supply: KEYS.

68. Canadian honker: GOOSE.  

Down:
1. Diane of "Chesapeake Shores": LADD.  Chesapeake Shores aired on the Hallmark Channel from 2016 to 2022.

2. The "E" of the Great Lakes HOMES mnemonic: ERIE.  

This Great Lakes mnemonic is less helpful.

3. Careful about what one reveals: DISCREET.

4. Historic fort in South Carolina: SUMTER.  National Parks website plus a video

5. Numbered musical work: OPUS.

6. Part of UCLA: LOS.  the University of California, Los Angeles

7. Singer DiFranco: ANI.

8. __ room: place for a foosball table: REC.  

9. Square footage: AREA.

10. India's largest city: MUMBAI.  The weather there today is expected to be sunny with highs in the low 90s and lows in the 70s with light winds and no rain.

11. Inventor Thomas who co-founded General Electric: EDISON.

12. Accept, with "for": SETTLE.

14. Antioxidant berry: ACAI.

18. How software was once sold: ON CD.

21. Dueling steps: PACES.

23. Angsty genre: EMO.

24. Composer Shostakovich: DMITRI.  As I said at 23-Across, this D was my last fill. The M made me first do a mental run of the vowels and then the letter S. Nothing felt right. Finally I noticed that the last name was Russian and that gave me DMITRI.

Here is his Suite for Jazz Orchestra #2  (1938).  

25. Zero: NADA.     and     40 Down. Zero: NIL.

27. Woolly mama: EWE.  cute play on "wooly mammoth"

28. Agreeable reply: YES.

30. Open with a pop: UNSNAP.  Def.:  unfasten or open with a brisk movement and a sharp sound.

31. Despise: HATE.

33. Tangerine coat: PEEL.

36. Georgia school that's one of the New Ivies: EMORY.

37. Play charades, say: MIME.     and     39 Down. Aped: IMITATED.

41. Test for M.A. hopefuls: GRE.  The Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test that is part of the admissions process for many graduate schools in North America. One would need to attend a graduate school to earn a Master of Arts degree.

43. Mantra syllables: OMS.  

45. Makes a decent living: DOES OK.

The latest census numbers indicate what income ranges constitute the middle class (as of 2020). This will depend on family size. For a single individual, a middle-class income ranges from $30,000 - $90,000 per year. For a couple it starts at $42,430 up to $127,300; for a family of three, $60,000 - $180,000; and four $67,100 - $201,270.  Investopedia article

46. "Trainspotting" novelist Welsh: IRVINE.  goodreads link

47. More than enough: PLENTY.

48. YSL men's fragrance: L'HOMME.  

about $33 per oz. at Nordstrom

49. "Girls" creator Dunham: LENA.  Girls was a show on HBO from 2012-2017.

54. Industrious insects: ANTS.

56. Vintage Speed Wagons, e.g.: REOS.  

1949 D19XA Pickup  website

57. Boxing match decisions, for short: TKOS.  Technical Knockouts

58. Antiseptic target: GERM.

59. Notable times: ERAS.  "ERAS" is also the name of Taylor Swift's current tour.

61. Use a shovel: DIG.  

62. Ruckus: ADO.

63. Ipanema's city: RIO.  It's not the first time you've heard this song...and it likely won't be the last. 😊

What a lovely finish to a Delightful Monday solve! Here's the grid:  

Dasvidaniya Mates!

 

Notes from C.C.

 

I made today's  "Making the Right Move" for the Atlas Obscura. Give it a whirl.

 

 

Monday March 4, 2024 Susan Gelfand

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. Jinx will probably get to this; but, I just wanted to mention that today is National Grammar Day. Perhaps you are asking, "Why is March 4th National Grammar Day?" Well, not only is March Fourth a date but it is also an imperative sentence. How fun is that?! Now, let us march forth with today's puzzle.

Theme:          

Constructor Susan Gelfand had me at "shoes". Let's begin with her reveal:

36. Step in for another, and what the answers to the starred clues literally do: FILL ONE'S SHOES.

Next, let's see how the four starred clues provide "fill" for shoes. My red letters represent the circled letters. Notice how they are on the outsides of the phrases. The black letters "fill in" the gap to create something altogether different.

18 Across. *Online journals for DIYers: CRAFT BLOGS.  

CLOGS  are shoes with thick, wooden soles.

23 Across. *Warm alcoholic beverages with sugar and spices: MULLED WINES.  

MULES have no backs or constraints on the foot's heel.

52 Across. *Horse-drawn excursions: SLEIGH RIDES.  

SLIDES are a comfortable sandal with a wide strap across the front part of the foot.
You can slide your foot in without adjusting buckles or laces.

58 Across. *Low-effort posts of vacation pics, say: PHOTO DUMPS.  

There are many variations of PUMPS but the classic style
is a slip-on shoe with a closed toe, one-piece design, and an appropriately chic heal.

Hmmm... I am just now noticing an additional layer to Susan's theme set. All four of the shoe styles are slip-ons. Perhaps that relates to the "step in" part of the reveal???

In case you were wondering... a PHOTO DUMP is a collection of photos and videos gathered together in one post on apps like Instagram. Rather than perfectly edited photos or videos, a PHOTO DUMP is a low-effort collection that conveys a story or a mood. I found this example on-line: 

Now might be a good time to try the grid on for size:  

Let's keep walking....

Across:
1. Graceful long-necked bird: SWAN.

5. Hoover Dam lake: MEAD.  If you're in the area, I recommend the Hoover Dam tour.  

9. Colorful quartz: AGATE.  

Wow! They certainly are colorful!

14. Roof spot for holiday lights: EAVE.

15. Moreno who owns the MLB's Angels: ARTE.  I suppose SoCal solvers who actually read the LA Times are more familiar with this name.

16. Like some pools: TIDAL.  This link takes you to some tips for exploring tide pools and a quick video of some of the curious-looking creatures you might see.

17. Cabbage side often served in tiny cups: SLAW.  

20. "The Little Mermaid" role for Halle Bailey: ARIEL.  Halle Bailey is not to be confused with Halle Berry just as the mermaid ARIEL is not to be confused with the font arial.  

Halle Bailey performing at Disneyland

22. Take up again, as a case: REHEAR.  court of law reference

26. Back in time: AGO.

29. Twisty letter: ESS.     and     30 Across. Neckline shape: VEE.  

31. "j" topper: DOT.  Remember to DOT your J's and cross your X's.

32. Cereal container: BOX.

33. Update to reflect new districts, say: REMAP.

35. Nondairy spread: OLEO.  Not to be confused with OLiO which is a miscellaneous collection of things. My memory trick is you can eat OLEO.  

What is Oleo -- And Why Is It In So Many of My Grandma's Recipes?

41. Printer stoppages: JAMS.  

42. The "C" of CEO: CHIEF.  CHIEF Executive Officer

43. Signs off on: OKs.

44. "C'__ la vie!": EST.  It's French for "Such is life!"

As it turns out, this is the title of the book currently at the top of my tsundoku.  

47. Turkish title: AGA.

48. Gibbon or gorilla: APE.

51. Former GM division with a globe in its logo: GEO.  

55. Respectable: DECENT.  

57. Divination deck: TAROT. cards

62. Brood: MOPE.  

Lily is the broody teen character in Duolingo.

63. Charitable sort: DONOR.

64. Uncommon: RARE.

65. Peevishness: BILE.  This is a good example of how a one-word clue can be much more difficult than a constructor might have intended.

66. Expert dealmaker: AGENT.

67. Storm centers: EYES.  Think "centers of storms" as opposed to "Weather Channel base camps".

68. Much of a sunflower: STEM.  

This is a pic of a "volunteer" sunflower in my yard when I lived in Colorado.
Yeah, mostly STEM.
Also, that's my dog, Meadow. She is mesmerized by the floating, blue circle.

Down:
1. __ seed bun: SESAME.  A surprisingly interesting 2 min. read on the history of hamburger buns

2. Arctic mammal with tusks: WALRUS.  Time for an (obvious) musical interlude.  

I Am The Walrus was part of The Beatle's Magical Mystery Tour in 1967.

It was released as the B-Side to Hello, Goodbye.

Lennon said part of his inspiration for the song was Lewis Carroll's poem

The Walrus and the Carpenter.

3. Makes use (of): AVAILS.

4. Banister post: NEWEL.  Even though it is a Monday, we can build our vocabularies.

5. Apple desktop: MAC.  

6. Make a mistake: ERR.

7. Pong producer: ATARI.  

How can something so groundbreaking in 1972 seem so lame today?

8. Stick up for: DEFEND.

9. Optimally: AT BEST.

10. Arizona river: GILA.  

11. Cute as can be: ADORABLE.  

The chick on the right is saying, "I don't remember you from the nest."

12. Identify, as on Facebook: TAG.

13. Above-the-street trains: ELS.

19. James of "The White Lotus": THEO.  IMDb page

21. Be honest (with): LEVEL.  

Can I LEVEL with you?
This comic feels forced.

24. First stage in many an HGTV renovation show, informally: DEMO.  Here is a 1:13 min. video montage of DEMO scenes from The Property Brothers.  

25. Gradually stop nursing: WEAN.

27. __ for it: takes a chance: GOES.

28. Kitchen gadget brand: OXO.

33. "Treasure Island" writer's monogram: RLS.  Treasure Island was Robert Louis Stevenson's (1850-1894) first novel. Here's a short bio.  He lived here in Monterey for a few months while waiting for his future wife's (Fanny's) divorce to finalize.

34. Bench press muscle, for short: PEC.

35. Gut punch reaction: OOF.

36. Art world fraud: FAKE.  This was my FAV clue today.  

37. "This is it for me!": I'M SO DONE.  Actually, there are still 17 clues left....

38. Hair or carpet style: SHAG.  

(L to R) SHAG carpet, SHAG haircut, Disney's  The SHAGgy DA movie (1976)

39. Express relief: SIGH.

40. Artichoke core: HEART.   Many of us save them for the "last bite". If you've only eaten artichokes from a jar or freezer, you do not know what you are missing!

Castroville, CA is the "Artichoke Capital of the World".
Go there to see the World's Largest Artichoke...
or just enjoy this pic!

41. Get some exercise on the track: JOG.  "JOG", like pong, is a 1972 reference.

44. Compact Ford succeeded by the Focus: ESCORT.  I changed ESCape to ESCORT.

The North American version of the Ford ESCORT entered the market in 1981 and lasted all the way until 2003. Hot Cars article

45. Snow coaster: SLED.

46. Time in office: TENURE.

48. Skillful: ADROIT.

49. Human beings: PEOPLE.  

50. Regard highly: ESTEEM.

53. "That could happen": IT MAY.

54. Poetic feet in Shakespeare: IAMBS.  Def. (noun) a metrical foot consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable. For example, the words amuse (a-MUSE), portray (por-TRAY), delight (de-LIGHT), and return (re-TURN) are all IAMBS.

The opening line to Romeo and Juliet has five IAMBS, making an iambic pentameter.

(2 syllables X 5 = 10 syllables)

Two households both alike in dignity

56. Venerable British school: ETON.  When Prince William enrolled at Eton College in 1995, he became the first senior royal to enroll there. His father (King Charles) and his grandfather (Prince Philip) both went to a boarding school in Scotland (Gordonstoun), but Princess Diana's father and brother had both attended Eton.

58. Kissing in the park, briefly: PDA.  "Briefly" does not refer to the duration of the kiss. It alerts us to an abbreviated answer.  Public Display of Affection  

59. Harley bike: HOG.  It's a nickname.

60. Post- opposite: PRE-.  ICU is a post-op place but Susan is referring to prefixes here.

61. French "his": SES.  

That's the last one. Have a great day, everyone and feel free to march forth in whichever shoes you prefer!

Monday February 26, 2024 Chris Gross

  

Theme:                It's a Horse ... Of Course!  

Mr. Ed Theme

Howdy, everyone! sumdaze here with a puzzle by The Corner's own Chris Gross, a.k.a. Chairman Moe. I am sure I am not the only one delighted to see Chris' name on today's grid.

There are three themers. Each is a familiar, three-word phrase:

20 Across. "Focus on the future now": NO LOOKING BACK.

25 Across. "Never in a million years!": WHEN PIGS FLY.

45 Across. Easy to set up, as a computer: PLUG AND PLAY.

What do they have in common? It's a HORSE...of course!

Let's look at the reveal:

51 Across. Equestrian transport vehicles, and what the last words of 20-, 25-, and 45-Across can be: HORSE TRAILERS.

When we place the last words in each of the themed clues after (in other words trailing) the word HORSE, we get:

• HORSEBACK: (adj.) done while on a horse; (adv.) on a horse.
• HORSEFLY:  any of a family of large dipteran flies with bloodsucking females.
• HORSEPLAY:  rough play in which people push and hit each other or behave in a silly way. 

This theme set reminds me of the time I was HORSEBACK with my friend Kelli and her daughter. We were holding the herd and, to pass the time, PLAYed a game where we whacked HORSEFLies with our romals and kept score. We all got into the double digits. I have never been around that many HORSEFLies before or since that day.

I'll stop stalling now and move on to the other clues:

Across:
1. "Golly!": GOSH.

5. Infuriated with: MAD AT.  I thought I'd flip the script with this one and use it to cue a love song by Madness.  

Madness It Must Be Love  (1981)

Note:  Imagine my surprise when Madness turned up as a clue in last Saturday's puzzle!

 

10. Light on one's feet: SPRY.  

14. "It's __ you": "You decide": UP TO.  

15. Justice Kagan of the Supreme Court: ELENA.

16. Metals from a mine: ORES.

17. "Jeopardy!" creator Griffin: MERV.  He also created Wheel of Fortune. Here' a fun 1:27 min. video about when Merv hired Pat Sajak.  

18. Piccata ingredient: LEMON.  

This is that -- LEMONs and all.
(Those little green things are capers.)

19. Christmas song: NOEL.  The first one, they say, was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay.

23. Top-notch: A-ONE.

24. "__ you listening?": ARE.  This is a line from another Christmas song.

Sleigh bells ring ... 🎵

31. Barely lit: DIM.

34. Makes cursed: HEXES.  

35. Some clip-on accessories: TIES.

36. Game with Skip and Reverse cards: UNO.

37. "Need You Tonight" band: INXS.

38. Cover story: ALIBI.  A fun play on a magazine's cover story!

This Lefty Frizzell song always gets to me.  

Long Black Veil  (1959)

"The judge said son what is your ALIBI?

If you were somewhere else then you won't have to die."

40. Pakistani language: URDU.  This is what UNSECO says about URDU.

41. Theater sign on a busy night: SRO.  Standing Room Only

Last week we learned it can also mean Single Room Occupancy in the hotel biz.

42. Shortly: SOON.

43. "Delta of Venus" author Nin: ANAIS.  goodreads link

44. Family: KIN.

48. Deg. for an exec: MBA.  An executive might have a Master of Business degree.

50. Went by bike: RODE.  Watch these professional cyclists show what it takes to ride in the French Alps. (3:15 min.) 

57. Desert in southern Mongolia: GOBI.  It ranks #5 on this List of the 10 Largest Deserts.

58. Clueless gamers: NOOBS.  N00BS are "new" to something. IIRC, -T told us to spell it with two zeros -- but that wouldn't perp this time.

59. Go first: LEAD.     and its clecho     2 Down. Go first: OPEN.  (like when one band OPENs for the main attraction band)

61. Surrounded by: AMID.

62. Connecticut Ivy Leaguer: YALIE.  A student at Yale University is called a YALIE. Another nickname is Elis after Elihu Yale, the school's namesake.

63. Spanish "she": ELLA.  Spanish "he" is only two letters so él no está aquí.

64. Brazilian soccer legend: PELÉ.  Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on October 23, 1940, Pelé was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999. He scored 1,279 goals in 1,363 games. The world mourned his passing on December 29, 2022.

65. Book of maps: ATLAS.  

66. Like purple hair: DYED.  

Are you sure it's not natural?

Down:
1. Bubble blower's mouthful: GUM.  Fun clue!  

3. Houston MLBer: STRO.  "Major League Baseball player" is abbreviated, so is "ASTRO".

4. Rush-hour traffic conveniences: HOV LANES.  High-Occupancy Vehicle. Nice fill! I checked Crossword Tracker. It showed HOVLANE but not it's plural.  

SoCal news anchors chat about this violator on "The 210".

5. Christopher of "Law & Order: SVU": MELONI.  

Oh, yeah, that guy.
Catch him in an 11-Down.

6. Pub barrel: ALE KEG.

7. "Cool for the Summer" singer Lovato: DEMI.

8. "We don't know who wrote this" abbreviation: ANON.  Multiple CSOs!

9. Cranberry juice quality: TANG.  Hand up for TArt before TANG.

10. Sunken ship finder: SONAR.

11. Many a TV crime drama: PROCEDURAL.  In television, this specifically refers to a genre of programs in which a problem is introduced, investigated, and solved all within the same episode. These shows tend to be hour-long dramas, and are often (though not always) police or crime related.

12. Assault the nose: REEK.  not a punch on the nose  

13. Fashion monogram: YSL.  

You can buy this YSL purse at Neiman Marcus for $1,790.

21. Unwelcome word from a barber: OOPS.  Cute!

22. Large coastal inlets: BAYS.   

I live next to this one.

25. Batter blender: WHISK.  Whimsical Wording!

26. "Three Bathers" painter Matisse: HENRI.  (Dec. 31, 1869 - Nov. 3, 1954) It turns out Matisse owned Cézanne's painting for forty years. article

(L to R) Three Bathers by Paul Cézanne (1879-1882)
Three Bathers by Henri Matisse (1907)
Henri Matisse's three cats (who look like they just finished bathing)

27. S&P 100 company that's a descendant of Standard Oil: EXXONMOBIL.  John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company in 1870. Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999.  timeline

28. On-the-job risk for a beekeeper: STING.  I recommend The Honey Bus, a book by Meredith May about her beekeeper grandfather.

29. White lie: FIB.

30. Sweet-smelling garland: LEI.  My Yellow Ginger Lei is a Hawaiian classic.  

32. Nepal neighbor: INDIA.  

33. Hardly assertive: MOUSY.  Def.:  nervous, shy, or timid.

38. Email pioneer: AOL.  America Online

39. Baseball Hall of Famer Gehrig: LOU.  Boomer knew all about the cards.  

40. Still having a rind: UNPEELED.  The Orange Peel Theory  is trending. Basically you test someone's love for you by asking them to do something simple like peeling an orange for you. Personally, I do not think we should test others' love for us.

42. Health resorts: SPAS.

43. Not incl.: ADD'L.  If it is not included, there might be an ADDitionaL charge.

46. Saudi __: ARABIA.

47. Beeps and peeps: NOISES.

49. Wedding bouquet tosser: BRIDE.  

OOPS!

51. Base runner's goal: HOME.

52. Irish New Age singer: ENYA.  RosE and I are fans.  

Long Long Journey  (2005)

53. Precisely: TO A T.  Read as "To a Tee".  

Mr. T, accessorized TO A T

54. Tootsie __: ROLL.

55. Depend (on): RELY.

56. Cyber Monday event: SALE.

57. Generation __: GAP.  This can be an issue with XWD solvers.

60. Family guy: DAD.  or son or unc or pop or bro

Peter Griffin is the patriarch on the TV show Family Guy.

Well, that's enough horsing around from me. I'll attach the grid then I'm oat-a here!