Monday April 24, 2023 Brian Callahan

  

Hello Cornerites!

Today's title is a tribute to the Little Old Ladies of the Corner. We love reading your insights, comments, and stories!

Our constructor is Chicagoan Brian Callahan. We met him earlier this year when he collaborated with Katie Hale on this puzzle. Congratulations on your first L.A. Times solo grid, Brian!!

Brian has packed an impressive 5 lengthy themers plus a brief reveal into his puzzle.  Here they are:

17 Across. Palm crease read by fortunetellers: LINE OF LIFE.

24 Across. Wash unit: LOAD OF LAUNDRY.  

36 Across. Esports giant from Riot Games: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.  New to me. It was easy enough to guess for the puzzle but I had to look it up in order to explain it to you.

Esports is a term for competitive video gaming.

Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, commonly referred to as "LEAGUE", is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games.

46 Across. Illinois nickname: LAND OF LINCOLN.  A CSO to Brian's home state. President Abraham Lincoln lived in Illinois for 31 years. 

I knew this one from their license plates.

57 Across. Letter ender similar to XOXO: LOTS OF LOVE.  

The reveal is the very last Down clue:

60 Down. Response to a funny text, and a hint to this puzzle's five longest answers: LOL.

Across:

1. Desert plants on Arizona's state quarter: CACTI.  CSO to our Cornerite Arizonans!

6. "Succession" cable network: HBO.

9. Mr. Potato Head limbs: ARMS.  I think maybe the humor here is that he has feet but no legs???  

13. Feature of many a clock app: ALARM.

14. "Sunday Night Baseball" nickname: A-ROD.  Alex Rodriguez

16. Lye, to a chemist: NAOH.  Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)

19. "__ Murders in the Building": Hulu series: ONLY.  

Season One teaser (2021)

20. Really angry: MAD.

21. Malty beer: ALE.  Anything "beer" with 3-letters, I guess ALE or IPA. Interestingly, the A in IPA stands for ALE. So is this one of those things where all IPAs are ALEs but not all ALEs are IPAs?

22. __ party: BRIDAL.

In 27 Dresses (2008), Katherine Heigl played a character who was in 27 BRIDAL parties.

In this scene, she shows James Marsden the dresses she wore. (2:39 min)

28. Backyard border: FENCE.  "Good FENCEs make good neighbors" is the theme of this Robert Frost poem.

29. "Gangsta Rap" rapper: ICE-T.

30. Gem: JEWEL.

31. Ring up: CALL.  

33. Persian Gulf fed. with seven members: UAE.  The 7 members of the United Arab Emirates are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah.

40. Old Mac platform: OSX.  Operating System X

41. Superficially cultured: ARTY.  

This cartoon made me think of Friday's puzzle
and today's 2 Latin clues, 51A and 2D.

42. Wall-climbing vines: IVIES.  

predecessor to rooftop gardens???

43. Spanish "other": OTRA.  Spanish adjectives are challenging because we have to wait for perps to see if they will be masculine or feminine (like this one).

45. Hunter who shines at night?: ORION.  

Look for him November - February.

51. Latin for "as originally positioned": IN SITU.

Example sentence from the internet:  At Titan, the on-going Cassini mission has been providing a rich dataset of IN SITU measurements of the ionosphere.

Today's assignment: work this phrase into your next Starbuck's order and report back on the response.

52. Slangy turndown: NAH.  

53. Wager: BET.  Wanna BET Calvin's mom was not happy when she walked into the kitchen?

56. Frozen dessert brand: EDY'S.

61. Chap: GENT.

62. Type: SORT.  Oh...the noun!  

63. __ the Riveter: ROSIE.  

link to an article from The History Channel

64. PC bailout keys: ESCS.  

Keyboarding tip:  The Esc key can be faster when you are in a stack of nested dialog boxes where each Cancel button is in a different position. Instead of chasing the Cancel buttons around your screen with your mouse, just keep pressing Esc until all the dialog boxes are closed.

65. Spanish "today": HOY.  

66. Last name of the "Full House" twins: OLSEN.  

10 times twins shared an acting role

Mary-Kate and Ashley OLSEN

Down:
1. Relaxed: CALM.  

2. Et __: and others: ALIA.  (Latin) We usually see et al. This is from grammarly.com:

Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia (neuter plural). But it can also be an abbreviation for et alii (masculine plural), or et aliae (feminine plural). This phrase means “and others.” Most commonly, et al. indicates other contributors (authors, editors, etc.) in a bibliographic list. There should always be a period after et al. to show it is an abbreviation.

3. Drip from a menorah: CANDLE WAX.

4. Final album in the Green Day trilogy that includes "¡Uno!" and "¡Dos!": TRÉ  

I got mixed up thinking about this U2 song:

Vertigo (2004)

5. "As I see it" shorthand: IMO.  In My Opinion, it is no surprise that AISI didn't catch on.

6. Winnie-the-Pooh greeting: HALLO.

7. Legal write-up: BRIEF.  

Tighty Whitie takes the stage.

8. Gasp of pain: OOF.

9. Appropriate rhyme for "appoint": ANOINT.

10. Dept. that tests new products: R AND D.  Research AND Development

In the pharmaceutical world, the average R AND D for a new drug is from $1 billion to more than $2 billion dollars.  source

11. Back tooth: MOLAR.

12. In a timid way: SHYLY.

15. Utter fiasco: DEBACLE.  (noun) a sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.

Example:  a zeppelin filled with hydrogen. #Hindenberg.

18. Grow dim: FADE.

23. Regret: RUE.  

25. Universal donor's type, briefly: O NEG.  

26. First Amendment advocacy gp.: ACLU. and 33 Down. Labor leader: UNION BOSS.

27. Activist Ledbetter for whom the 2009 Fair Pay Act is named: LILLY.  

Born April 14, 1938 in Jacksonville, AL, she was the plaintiff in the
2007 U.S. Supreme Court case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
regarding employment discrimination.

28. Bank add-ons: FEES.

30. Half of Bennifer, familiarly: J.LO.  Jennifer Lopez married Ben Affleck last year. In 2003 they starred together in Friday's puzzle's 52 Down movie, Gigli.

Ben + Jennifer = Bennifer.

Coincidentally, she started dating 14 Across A-ROD in 2017, became engaged to him in 2019, and ended the relationship in 2021.

Meh.

31. Reef makeup: CORAL.  OTOH, I am much more interested in this answer.

an underwater video of a coral reef

amazing ... beautiful ... CALMing

32. Away from the bow, on a boat: AFT.  as in AFTer the front

34. Yemen coastal city: ADEN.  ADEN is found in the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel. source

35. Snaky letter: ESS.  

37. Lengthy rebukes: EARFULS.  (noun) [informal] A prolonged amount of talking, typically an angry reprimand.

38. Big name in bike and snow helmets: GIRO.  I just checked. Mine are GIROs.

At first the company only made bike helmets so the name referred to a circuit or tour, as in a cycling competition.

Bike (left) & Snowboarding (right)
I wear them to protect my grape!

39.  Really, really bad:  EVIL and 50 Down. Really, really bad: NASTY.

43. Laudatory poets:  ODISTS.

44. Tyke:  TOT.

45. Nueve menos uno: OCHO.  9-1 = 8

46. Feudal lord: LIEGE.  When I looked this up, I kept finding pictures of LIEGE waffles. recipe

47. South American mountain range: ANDES.  3 Fun Facts:

• The summit of Mount Chimborazo in the Andes is the planet's tallest point when measured from the Earth's center.
• The Andes are the longest mountain chain in the world.
• Potatoes and tomatoes originated in the Andes.  (Gotta love them for that!!)

48. Justin Timberlake's former band: NSYNC.  1995's BTS

49. Many a 101 course: INTRO.  true clue!

54. 1960s pop singer Sands: EVIE.  Born 1946 in Brooklyn, NY. She was the first artist to record the classic song Angel Of The Morning, but her version was overshadowed by Merrilee Rush's when legal problems rendered Evie's single out of print.

Juice Newton's 1981 cover of Angel Of The Morning

55. Many a character in YA fiction: TEEN.  YA is Young Adult. These are books written for readers between the ages of 12 and 18.  Need to buy a present for a YA? Check out this list:  Time Magazine's 100 Best YA Books of All Time

58. "__ la la!": OOH.

59. Move to and __: FRO.

And that is the Last Of the List!
Here's the grid:

FWIW, I count 18 +1 L's and 21 O's. That's 21% of the white squares. So about 1 in 5 of the letters is either an L or an O.

That's all for today. Have a great week!

Sunday April 23, 2023 Garrett Chalfin

Theme:  "In the End"  - N sound is added to the end of each common phrase.

23. Exclamation at a Chinese New Year parade?: WHAT A DRAGON. What a drag.

25. Homemade cat costume?: DIY KITTEN. DIY kit.

42. Havana cigar that hits all the right notes?: PERFECT CUBAN. Perfect cube.

65. Evian, e.g.?: WATER TITAN. Watertight.

67. To whom a young sea monster goes for advice?: WISE KRAKEN. Wisecrack.

87. Unusually low tax bill?: LITTLE BURDEN. Little bird.

105. So tired of eating pork for breakfast?: OVER BACON. Over-bake.

107. Observation at a zoo's big cat exhibit?: THAT IS A LION. That is a lie.

Another LAT debut. Congrats, Garrett! And a Sunday. See here. He's only 18. Stunning.

This theme often daunts me, esp when spelling changes are involved. I just lack the basic English knowledge and imagination needed to pull off this type of theme. 

Lots of great fill in this grid.

Across:

1. 2006 NBA Finals MVP Dwyane: WADE. With the Miami Heat then.

5. Wiccans, Druids, etc.: PAGANS.

11. Start of an idea: GERM.

15. Soaks (up): SOPS.

19. "I wasn't finished!": WAIT.

20. Greetings: HELLOS.

21. Old music halls: ODEA. Plural of "odeum".

22. Atmosphere: AURA.

27. Sammie: SUB. Xi'an style. So good.

28. Ilhan of Congress: OMAR.

29. Lunch spot, for short: CAF.

30. Spoke without a sound?: ELIDED.

31. Crime drama character: COP.

33. Buffalo NHL player: SABRE. Can't remember which team Splynter roots for.

35. Pixar fish: DORY.

36. Chocolate chips and walnuts for banana bread, perhaps: ADD INS.

37. Very soon after: UPON.

39. Steamed bun: BAO. Actually "baozi".  No one says "bao" alone in China. Cha siu bao, Xiaolongbao, etc. So so good.

40. Sound from a pen: OINK.

41. Untamed: WILD.

45. Motivation: DRIVE.

47. Bathroom or kitchen device: SCALE.

48. BTS genre: K POP. Just look at this practice video for "Butter".  Talk about professionalism.  The guy in khaki shorts is Jimin, my favorite.

49. Schoolyard retort: ARE SO.

50. Old den device: VCR.

53. "__ Miz": LES.

56. [I have to explain this again?]: DEEP SIGH.  Also 72. "You'll see--this'll be easy!": IT'S A SNAP.

58. __-chic: BOHO.

59. Like a rave review: FIVE-STAR.

63. Mario Kart participant: RACER.

64. Euripides tragedy: MEDEA.

69. Affirms: AVERS.

70. Morgan of Arthurian legend: LE FAY.  The sorceress.

73. Barber's tool: COMB.

74. Fizzless drink: FLAT SODA. No sodas in our fridge now.

76. Early Beatles bassist Sutcliffe: STU.

77. Hosp. theaters: ORS.

78. CBS sportscaster Phil: SIMMS. Wikipedia says he spent his whole career with the New York Giants.

79. Camper's snack: GORP.

81. Charter: LEASE.

86. Songs: TUNES.

90. Family nickname: PAPA. Baba in Chinese.

91. Biceps, slangily: GUNS.

92. Melber of MSNBC: ARI.

93. Urge on: GOAD.

94. Whine tearfully: SNIVEL.

96. "Sula" novelist Morrison: TONI.

97. Viswanathan who was the first chess grandmaster from India: ANAND. He's a Hindu.

99. Texting nicety: PLS.

100. Clemson athletes: TIGERS.

101. Fix, in a way: RIG.

102. Disdainful sounds: TSKS.

103. Trawling need: NET. Steve's father-in-law was a fisherman for many years. The guy probably still fishes. The other 2% is Vikings blood, Jayce!

111. Drudge: PEON.

112. Swag: LOOT.

113. Had a victory: WON ONE. Homophones.

114. Unaided: SOLO.

115. Avec's opposite: SANS.

116. Giant fair: EXPO.

117. Sunset shade: ORANGE.

118. Freshly: ANEW.

Down:

1. URL letters: WWW.

2. "That hits the spot": AAH.

3. Scattered population: DIASPORA. Greek in origin, meaning "scattering".

4. "Julius Caesar" accusation: ET TU.

5. Prof's deg., often: PHD.

6. Stunt pilot: AEROBAT.

7. Campy 1970s music genre: GLAM ROCK. David Bowie!

8. Sushi roll exterior: ALGAE. Nori seaweed.

9. Former Queen of Jordan: NOOR.

10. Tax form digits: SSN.

11. Stop posting on social media, say: GO DARK.

12. Enlighten: EDIFY.

13. "Summertime Sadness" singer Lana Del __: REY. I love her "Young and Beautiful". Incredible voice.

14. Words said after lighting birthday candles: MAKE A WISH.

15. Went unused: SAT IDLE.

16. Eclipsed: OUTDID.

17. Groom feathers: PREEN.

18. Smooths, as wood: SANDS.

24. Crunch time target?: ABS. Ab crunch.

26. "Amor & Pasión" popera vocal group: IL DIVO. Learning moment for me.

29. Hartford's st.: CONN.

31. Beer pong receptacles: CUPS.

32. Gp. founded in Baghdad in 1960: OPEC.

34. "The Bachelor" network: ABC.

35. Luvs product: DIAPER.

38. Org. for Cardinals and Saints: NFL.

40. Concert wind: OBOE.

43. Fishers with pots: EELERS. You can see that fisherman. Taiwan brand. Tastier than the frozen eels at the Asian grocery stores.

44. Kite aids: UPDRAFTS.

45. Least rainy: DRIEST.

46. Go back: REGRESS.

49. Pictures of characters: ASCII ART.

50. Cape Cod alcohol: VODKA.

51. Sound from a nest: CHEEP.

52. Equine hue: ROAN.

54. NYC hrs.: EST.

55. Jojo Moyes novel about a woman starting a new life: STILL ME. Unfamiliar with the book or the author.

57. Furry foot: PAW.

58. Lima __: BEAN.

59. Party gift: FAVOR.

60. Inventory list: ITEMS.

61. Move or groove: VERB.

62. Top squads: A TEAMS.

64. Longtime Takei role: MR SULU. Iconic.

65. Texas city featured in most "Fixer Upper" episodes: WACO.

66. "One Mic" rapper: NAS.

68. Actress Dennings: KAT.

71. Hindu or Buddhist spiritual leader: YOGINI.

74. "No refunds" transaction: FINAL SALE.  The fill is  78. Top-notch: SUPERB.

75. Polka __: DOTS.

80. Sea food: PLANKTON. Consonants-heavy.

82. Joule fraction: ERG.

83. Animal shelter goal: ADOPTION. My neighbor wants me to adopt a dog for company. Sadly I can't even take care of myself.

84. Letter closer: SEAL.

85. Wraps up: ENDS.

86. Bars: TAVERNS.

87. Organ with alveoli: LUNG.

88. Blackboard chore: ERASING.

89. Receptacle: BIN.

90. Bird in Mo Willems books: PIGEON.

91. Start discussing: GO INTO.

94. Timetable listings: STOPS.

95. Skin care brand in blue containers: NIVEA.

96. Girl Scout's outfit?: TROOP.

97. Lotus position, e.g.: ASANA.

98. Genetic letters: DNA.

102. Hammer-wielding superhero in Marvel films: THOR.

104. Older "Frozen" sister: ELSA.

106. Actress Courteney: COX. She'll always be Monica Geller to me.

107. Couple: TWO.

108. Understand: SEE.

109. Flamenco shout: OLE.

110. This second: NOW.

C.C.

Saturday, April 22, 2023, Doug Peterson

 Saturday Themeless by Doug Peterson

Master constructor Doug Peterson gave me a start when I came across two "I have no idea" names. However, they took care of themselves. I had a fun trip through Doug's lovely puzzle and earned my "got 'er done" reward in short order.

      

Across:

1. "You __!": WISH.

5. Video game portals: WARPS - A warp, also known as a portal or teleporter, is an element in video game design that allows a player character instant travel between two locations or levels. 🤷

10. Remote places: DENS - Mine usually hides in my recliner

14. Namesake of a Queens venue: ASHE - In the Burroughs of Queens in NYC

15. One-named singer whose surname is Adkins: ADELE - ADELE is frequenting crosswords as often as ASHE

16. Suit: EXEC.

17. Grappling style: GRECO-ROMAN - Husker Rulon Gardner stunned the wrestling world by upsetting Russian Alexander Karelin, who had not lost in 13 years, in GRECO-ROMAN wrestling in the 2000 Sydney Olympics 

19. General symbol: STAR - Five Americans have reached the 5-STAR rank

Bradley, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Arnold and Marshall

20. Booted, say: SHOD.

21. Vial sought in some thrillers: ANTIDOTE.

23. First woman to win a Best Director Oscar: KATHRYN BIGELOW.

25. "Malcolm in the Middle" dad: HAL - A Brian Cranston role before Breaking Bad

Walter White                    HAL Wilkerson

26. "Barney Miller" actor: SOO - Jack is on the right next to the other cwd candidate ABE Vigoda 

27. Strategic match game: NIM - You must take at least one match from a row and the winner is either the person who takes the last match or does not take the last match. It can also be played with piles of M&M's or coins or...

28. Saudi, usually: ARAB.

30. Michael's "Space Jam" teammate: BUGS.

33. Speak up (for): VOUCH.

37. "Time Quintet" novelist: MADELEINE L'ENGLE.

40. Touchscreen tappers: STYLI - This senior girl was using a STYLUS (sing.) recently in Arlington

41. Au naturel: NUDE.

42. Flowering succulent: ALOE.

43. Kids' hangout: LEA - 😀

45. Ortiz of 34-Down: ANA and 34. Former ABC series based on a telenovela: UGLY BETTY - ANA (left) played the sister of the title character America Ferrara 

47. Runway letters: YSL.

48. Paper featured in "Spotlight": THE BOSTON GLOBE.

54. Unorganized, in a way: NON-UNION 

55. Air: TUNE- An air (Italian: aria; also ayr, ayre in French) is a song-like vocal or instrumental composition. 

56. Not bamboozled by: ONTO.

57. Field of operations?: ARITHMETIC.

61. Right-thinking Brit?: TORY - Like America (Dem/Rep), Britain (Labor/Tory) alternates between having right and left legislative majorities.

62. Button material: NACRE.

63. Above: ATOP and 38. Rest 63-Across: LIE ON.

64. "__ Tu": 1974 hit: ERES - Is it you? A beautiful air/TUNE where I knew this the beautiful tune but not the title.

65. Polish: SHEEN.

66. Tropical talker: MYNA.

Down:

1. Wit: WAG.

2. Eilat's nat.: ISR - A beautiful resort town on the very south tip of ISRAEL

3. Tom Jones hit with the line "Always treat her with respect": SHE'S A LADY - Another air

4. 1968 Pulitzer-winning poet Anthony: HECHT - Yeah, I knew that 😁

5. Magical portal to Narnia: WARDROBE.

6. Spot of bother: ADO.

7. Staff again: REMAN.

8. Fallback option: PLAN B.

9. Deployed: SENT IN

10. Shakespearean woman who says, "A guiltless death I die": DESDEMONA.

11. Hail: EXTOL.

12. "Cool beans": NEATO - Swell!

13. Hardware item: SCREW.

18. Sounds of wonder: OOHS.

22. "Enough!": I GIVE.

23. Gold unit: KARAT.

24. "Coming with?": YOU IN?

25. Radio hobbyists: HAMS - One of the first scenes in the Jodi Foster movie Contact about SETI

29. Navigation aids that ring in waves: BELL BUOYS 😀 Not the kind usually found in hotel lobbies

31. Horned ungulate native to Africa: GNU.

32. Rental option: SEDAN  - or...

35. Right around the corner: CLOSE - The last day of the 2022 - 2023 school year

36. Bread end: HEEL - I asked two teenage girls and they said they it was the "butt"

39. Stretch: LENGTHEN.

44. Most people: ASIANS.

46. Reunion attendee: ALUM.

48. Govt. bill: T-NOTE.

49. __ guard: HONOR - Watching this put a lump in my throat.

50. __ nous: ENTRE - ENTRE nous, j'adorerais faire la tournée de JSC avec Tony ! (Just between us, I'd love to tour JSC with Tony!) French.

51. Holy scroll: TORAH.

52. Chilling: ON ICE.

53. Day's first stroke: ONE AM - It comes after the last stroke of yesterday's midnight. DRIVE for my first golf stroke, not so much.

58. A quarter of dodici: TRE - Un quarto di dodici fa tre. (One fourth of twelve equals three). Italian

59. Cyclotron particle: ION - Google if you must. 😐

60. Pro with brackets: CPA.