Thursday, November 14, 2024, Lynn Lempel

 

 A SIMPLE THEME

Today veteran Lynn Lempel returns with a simple letter insertion theme.  Each of her 3 themers is clued with a perfectly reasonable question and the resulting 2 word fill is a pun on the clue, prefixed with the letter 

... which when removed results in a new in the language phrase.  This was a helpful theme and if you found the reveal it made the puzzle easier to solve.  Here are Lynn's themers ...

16A. Reason for copyright suits filed by Atari?: APING PONG.  I recall playing Atari's PONG in college back in the 60's at a local eatery in College Park, MD.   It was one of the very first video games.  I'm sure it was often imitated, but I don't know if Atari actually sued anyone for APING it. It was played on a computer controlled CRT mounted in a table top and looked like this ...

24A. Where squirrels stash treats?: ACORN HOLE.  Where else would they stash them?  OTOH Corn Hole is a game -- here's how it's played ... 

34A. Shenanigans in the physics lab?: ATOM FOOLERY.  The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists tell us that these shenanigans are a very dangerous game that the world is playing with itself.  But drop the A and Merriam Websters tells us it's all just playful or foolish behavior.  Let's hope MW is right!

47A. Rueful remark after losing on the Strip?: ALAS VEGAS.  Stop me if I've told you this before ... I don't gamble, but I was on a business trip in VEGAS years ago and decided to play the slots just for the thrill of it.  I cashed in a 5 dollar bill for nickels and played the slots until they were all gone.  After plugging my last nickel into that one armed bandit, I hit the jackpot and got them all back!  The next day I stacked them into neat piles and left them for the maid.  VEGAS has a way of bringing out generosity in people. 😀

Here's Lynn's reveal ...

57A. "Haven't seen that before," and an apt title for this puzzle: IT'S A FIRST.  Need I say more?

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:
1. Hit-the-water sound: PLOP.  Like this ...

5. Falafel bread: PITA.  Here's Dr. Sonali's recipe.

Falafel sandwiches

9. Bio. branch: ECOL.  Ecology (from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos) 'house' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology addresses the full scale of life, from tiny bacteria to processes that span the entire planet. 

Ecologists study many diverse and complex relations
 among species, such as predation and pollination.
The diversity of life is organized into different habits,

from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems.

13. Waiter's place: LINE.  CAFE fit, but didn't perp.

14. Japanese noodle: UDON.  SOBA fit, but didn't perp.  Here is the difference between the two.

15. Wassail spice: CLOVE.  Wassail is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ensure a good harvest the following year.  Here's Lauren's recipe.

Wassail

16. [Theme clue]

18. "The Right Kind of Wrong" singer LeAnn: RIMES.  Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at the age of 13 and has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Christian, and other musical genres.

19. Prehistoric tools: STONES.  This is a broad area of study and anyone wishing for a deep dive of prehistoric tools around the world might find this Wikipedia article interesting.  Closer to home are the stone tools developed by the Clovis culture, during the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years ago.  These indigenous Americans created spear points, hand axes, and other tools call Clovis points by flaking cryptocrystalline varieties of quart such as flint, chert, jasper, and chalcedony with deer antlers. Clovis points got their name from the high concentration of tools found in Clovis, New Mexico.  The tools were not only very functional, but many were quite beautiful ...

Clovis points explained

20. Pelvic bones: ILIA.  The ilium (pl.: ilia) is the uppermost and largest region of the coxal bone, and appears in most vertebrates including mammals and birds.

22. Dash of flavor?: MRS.  A Dash a day helps keep salt away.

23. "Impression, Sunrise" artist: MONET.  Impression, Sunrise is an 1872 painting by Claude Monet first shown at what would become known as the "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in Paris in April, 1874. The painting depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet's hometown and is credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement.

Impression, Sunrise
Claude Monet, 1872

24. [Theme clue]

  26. Vague quantity: ANY.

27. Kid-lit girl with a blueberry pail: SAL. Blueberries for Sal is a classic children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey in 1948. The story is set in Maine, following the adventures of a young girl named Sal and a bear cub named Little Bear as they both go blueberry picking with their respective mothers before winter. The book was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 1949.

First Edition cover

29. Allen who was the 2017 NFL Comeback Player of the Year: KEENAN.  Keenan Alexander Allen (born April 27, 1992) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears before leaving after his junior year. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft.  Allen won multiple rookie honors after setting Chargers' records for receptions and receiving yards by a rookie. In 2017, he was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Keenan Allen
Rookie year 2013

30. Amble: STROLL.

33. "The Sound of Music" range: ALPS.  Here's the inspiring finale of the movie ...

... in reality their hike in the ALPS was a diversion to keep the Nazis from realizing that they were leaving the country.  At some point in the hike they were able to reach a train station and they left the country by rail.

34. [Theme clue]

37. "12 Monkeys" network: SYFY.  12 Monkeys is a 1995 American science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée. It stars Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Plummer (who BTW also starred in 33A). Set in a post-apocalyptic future devastated by disease, the film follows a convict who is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.  Here's a trailer

39. Aboriginal emblems: TOTEMS.  Reports by European explorers of the totems of the Northwest coast Indigenous peoples date back at least to the 18th century.  They were a highly developed art at that time and the tradition of creating is returning.

40. Liquefies: PUREES.

43. "Gross!": UGH.

44. "1883" actor Elliott: SAM.  1883 is an American Western drama miniseries created by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on December 19, 2021, on Paramount+. 

47. [Theme clue].

50. Scale mark: OUNCE.

52. Retailer with an "Uncommon Path" blog: REI.  New to camping?  There's an app for that.

53. Make at work: EARN.

54. Worth remembering: OF NOTE.

55. Church official: ELDER.  In Christianity, an elder is a person who is valued for wisdom and holds a position of responsibility and authority in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions (e.g., Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Methodism) an elder is an ordained person who serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of word, sacrament and order, filling the preaching and pastoral offices. In other Christian traditions (e.g., Presbyterianism, Churches of Christ, Plymouth Brethren), an elder may be a lay person serving as an administrator in a local congregation, or be ordained and serving in preaching (teaching during church gatherings) or pastoral roles.

57. [Theme reveal]

59. Like a cloud forest: MOSSY.  A cloud forest is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests.  Olympic National Park in Washington State, has a cloud forest called the Hoh Rainforest.  It's the wettest destination in the lower 48 US states, receiving 12–14 feet of rain per year, plus 30 inches of fog and mist. It is blanketed by moss and ferns.  

Hoh Rainforest
Olympic National Park

60. "Now you see it, now you don't!": POOF.

61. Side: TEAM.

62. Versatile celeb's feat: EGOT.  Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony -- here's a list of the winners.

63. Terminal points: ENDS.

64. Irish Gaelic: ERSE.  A Celtic language spoken in Scotland and Ireland.  What is Irish?

Pct. of those who said they could speak Irish
 in the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland censuses of 2011

Down:

1. Resource stored in some banks: PLASMA.  In this case, blood banks.  Blood plasma is a light amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains proteins and other constituents of whole blood in suspension. It makes up about 55% of the body's total blood volume.  

2. Tazo alternative: LIPTON.  Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1890 for which the brand is now best known.  It was the brand preferred by my English Mum whenever she had a spot of tea.

3. Like a classic French soup: ONIONY.  Here's Jenn's classic recipe made with caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and toasty bread topped with melted cheese.

French onion soup

4. Pasta with lisce and rigate versions: PENNE.  DNK these variations.  Lisce (smooth) vs rigate (ridged) PENNE pastas both have ends cut like a quill pen, "penne" being Italian for "quilled".  

Rigate Penne pasta

And since the pasta's ready, here's a recipe for Penne Puttanesca (anchovies optional) to go with the French onion soup.

5. Young seals: PUPS. 

Awwwh!

6. Union agreement?: I DO.  And after 55 years we still do!

7. Fizzy mixer: TONIC.

8. __-Frisian: West Germanic language group: ANGLO.  Thank you perps! The Anglo-Frisian languages are the Anglic (English, Scots, Fingallian, and Yola) and Frisian (North Frisian, East Frisian, and West Frisian) varieties of the West Germanic languages.  Here is the distribution of the modern versions of these languages ...

Perhaps the best way to describe the relationships between these languages is this family tree ...

9. Country quartet __ Young Band: ELI.  Eli Young Band is an American country music band composed of members who met while students at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas: Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drums). Here's their Crazy Girl, the Billboard top country song of 2011 ...

10. As a rule: COMMONLY.

11. Cover some of the same territory: OVERLAP.

12. Diminishes: LESSENS.

15. Marsh bird: CRANE.  One particular species of this marsh bird, the Whooping Crane, was of special interest to Marylanders.   By 1964 only 42 of the birds were left in the wild and their prospects were grim.  In a effort to help the species survive, the Maryland Patuxent Wildlife Research Center established a breeding program using eggs taken from the remaining wild birds (it had been discovered that they usually laid 2 eggs, but only one would survive and removing the 2nd egg didn't harm the wild birds' prospects).  By the time the program ended in 2017 the Center had managed to rear 72 birds in captivity.  While we never got to see any of these magnificent creatures in Maryland, years later we were thrilled to see many in Texas on an aquatic birding trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, where they migrate each Winter.  They are still endangered and the work to save them continues to this day.

Whooping Cranes
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

17. Reaches: GETS TO.

21. Peeve: IRK.  A verb. IRKS could also be a synonym for 17D

24. Up in the air: ALOFT.

25. Learns via the grapevine: HEARS.  That's where Marvin Gaye heard it ...

28. Sleeve tattoo spot: ARM.  If you're not into pain you can buy these a set of 6 of these faux tattoos from Amazon for only $4.99 + taxes and handling ...

Faux sleeve tattoos

30. Eye sores: STYES.

31. Bath bathroom: LOO. LAV fit but didn't perp.  Opinions are divided among Brits over which is preferred.

32. Seated yoga pose: LOTUS.  It's more than just sitting cross legged ...

34. "Sorry, but it's true": AFRAID SO.

35. Part of a right triangle: LEG.

36. Second Gentleman Doug: EMHOFF.  Not for long.  He didn't make it to First Gentleman, so his days as Second Gentleman are numbered.

37. "Stop with all those details!": SPARE ME.  TMI was too short.

38. Cake also called bûche de Noël: YULE LOG.  Here's Sally's recipe.  You've only got 41 days to make yours ...

bûche de Noël
Yule Log

41. Not just some: EVERY.

42. Copious quantity: SEA.

44. Unpopular camper: SNORER. 

45. Fills in for: ACTS AS.  In As You Like It Shakespeare suggests that we're all acting as ourselves.

46. Terse invitation to get together: MEET ME. 

48. Complain: GRIPE.

49. Writer Chekhov: ANTON.  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer. His career as a playwright produced four classic plays: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard.  Chekhov was a physician by profession. "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once said, "and literature is my mistress."

Anton Chekhov

51. Wed: UNITE.

54. lummoxes: OAFS.  Our dinosaur agrees, finding only one 4 letter synonym for "lummoxes".

56. Inexact fig.: EST.

58. Grass farm output: SOD.

Cheers,

Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

Friday April 12, 2024, Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes

Theme: "It had to be "U"

 

Puzzling thoughts:  

After solving this relatively easy collaborative puzzle (Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes) I did a quick head scratch:  what in the heck is the theme of this?  So, I looked at the reveal: 

40-across. "It was even funnier at the time," or a hint to making the starred clues match their answers: YOU HAD TO BE THERE

Was the word "YOU" (or the word "THERE") somehow connected to all of the three entries?  Let's examine them and see:

18-across. *Big moth: CHATTER BOX.  No, neither "YOU" nor "THERE" seemed to fit into this entry

24-across. *Theater debt: OPENING NIGHT. Nope, not here either, although "HAVING TO BE THERE" on OPENING NIGHT sort of makes sense

52-across. *Frozen state: ICE SCULPTURE.  Who, other than folks who live in the north and love the cold weather, would want to be "THERE" for an ICE SCULPTURE?  (well, maybe this guy - see video)

 

62-across. *Title bot: PRIZE FIGHT.  Maybe this one?  Uh, uh.  Nope

So what gives?  Well, look back at each of the four entry clUes:

*Big moth:  If the letter U is added to "moth" it becomes "mouth".  And a CHATTER BOX is indeed a "big mouth"

*Theater debt: If the letter U is added to "debt" it becomes "debut".  And an OPENING NIGHT is indeed a "theater debut"

*Frozen state: If the letter U is added to "state" it becomes "statue".  And an ICE SCULPTURE is indeed a "frozen statue"

*Title bot: If the letter U is added to "bot" it becomes "bout".   And a PRIZE FIGHT is indeed a "title bout"

And that, my friends, is how Amie and Wendy managed today's "add a letter"-themed puzzle! Adding the letter "U" allowed each of the clues to match their answers.  Well done, ladies!  

Here is the grid, and then we can tackle the rest of the "fill" ... 

 

Note from today's blogger:  If you would like to solve another puzzle today, please open the link below for one that's called "That's Heavy!"

 
Chris Gross Universal Puzzle

Across:

1. __ test: ACID.  BETA fits this, too, but I waited until I checked the other perps

5. Oft-poached pear: BOSC.  Strange clue but it works

9. With 9-Down, Thanksgiving dessert: PECAN (9-down. See 9-Across:) PIE.  PECAN PIE may not be the most popular Thanksgiving dessert (unless you're from the south) but it sure is tasty!

14. Arm bone: ULNA.  Moe-ku:

Some think the ULNA
Is the "funny bone". But that's
Not so humurus

15. Bar mixer: COLA. While the constructors did not choose to use a "clecho", it fits with (68-across. Fountain drinks:) SODAS.  Did anyone else flip these answers?  SODA and COLAS?

16. Fuming: IRATE.

17. Some baby shower honorees: DADS.  This must be a more "modern" answer; I had two kids and was not "honored" at either of their baby showers

20. "Da 5 Bloods" actor Whitlock Jr.: ISIAH.  This filled with perps and a WAG as I was not familiar with "Da 5 Bloods" movie - the trailer:

22. Cookbook writer Garten: INA.  She is fast becoming a part of crosswordese

23. Choose: OPT.

29. "Makes sense": I SEE.  What I may have uttered when I figured out today's theme

30. False front?: PSEUDO.  For some reason I initially spelled this "PSUEDO".  Across Lite (the puzzle software I use to solve these puzzles) does not have spellchecker installed

33. ETA provider: GPS.  Back in the day, GPS might have been clued: "Family doc's"

36. Parker products: PENS.  Moe-ku 2:

Spider-Man gave to
His groomsmen (as wedding gifts)
Peter Parker PENS

38. Made in Taiwan, say: ASIAN.

44. Cantaloupe, e.g.: MELON.

45. Close in anger: SLAM.

46. August hrs.: DST.

47. Beach city where Barbie's Dreamhouse is available for short-term rentals: MALIBU. This MALIBU resident had his fair share of "Barbie's".  For a show that was more than mildly misogynistic, it ran for multiple seasons on a major network ... this clip is from the Ashton Kucher years as being the star, and features MALIBU

50. Historic times: ERAS.

57. Toward the stern: AFT.

60. Spacewalk initials: EVA.  Not one of the Gabor sisters??  No, EVA stands for: ExtraVehicular Activity ... this, maybe (long):

61. Title with a tilde: SENOR. The tilde (~) is placed above the "N" in Se·ñor. It is an accent (~) placed over Spanish n when pronounced ny (as in señor) or Portuguese a or o when nasalized (as in São Paulo), or over a vowel in phonetic transcription, indicating nasalization

67. Falafel bread: PITA. Are falafel and hummus the same? [foodstruct dot com] says: "What are the main differences between Falafel and Hummus? Falafel is richer in Iron, Potassium, Vitamin B2, and Monounsaturated Fat, while Hummus is higher in Copper, and Vitamin B6. Hummus's daily need coverage for Copper is 30% higher. Hummus has 3 times less Vitamin B2 than Falafel. Falafel has 0.166mg of Vitamin B2, while Hummus has 0.064mg"

69. Char on a grill: SEAR. All you wanted to know about SEAR when grilling

70. "For real?": IT IS.

71. Setting for much of "The Mummy" franchise: EGYPT.  I may need to binge-watch this series.  "The Mummy" The movie "franchise" spans 8 decades 

72. Like a chimney sweep's clothes, maybe: ASHY.  Moe-ku 3:

Santa's ASHY coat
Caused sniffles. Was it 'cause he
Came down with the flue?

73. Wall St. index: NYSE.  NASDAC and S & P 500 did not fit into the four squares

Down:

1. Component of self-guided museum tours: AUDIO.  Who sells this?

2. Necklace fastener: CLASP.  I used to shudder when my ex asked me to help her put on or take off her necklace; I was never very good with THAT type of CLASP ... 

3. Nonstudio flick: INDIE.  As in, an "INDiEpendent" studio.  Last year's top Oscar-winner "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" was produced by INDIE studio A24

4. Fiji competitor: DASANI.  Not as in the island of Fiji (or a sports competition) but the bottled water.  But (off the top of my head; I did not research this) I believe that Fiji water actually comes from a source.  DASANI is bottled after reverse osmosis if I understand correctly

5. Secretly include, in a way: BCC.  Moe-ku 4:

When Johnny Hart sends
An e-mail, he will always
BCC BC

6. "I'm impressed!": OOH.  Your reaction to today's puzzle and/or blog??!!

7. Done in, as a dragon: SLAIN.  Here is the opposite (from a dragon's point-of-view)

8. Opposite of dogbane?: CATNIP.  Dogbane CATNIP

10. Add salt instead of sugar, say: ERR. As a kid, my older sister played an April Fool's "joke" on me by substituting salt into the sugar bowl.  Of course, unknowingly. I put a couple spoonfuls of this into my bowl of Cheerios ... 

11. Baja resort, familiarly: CABO.  CABO on Baja - things to do

12. Perched on: ATOP.  

13. "What else ya got?": NEXT.

19. Price points?: TAGS.  This reminded me of the 15 or so years I spent living in New England.  The term for offering things from your residence for sale differs in many parts of the country.  I had heard of "YARD SALE" and "GARAGE SALE", but when I lived in MA and CT, they called it a "TAG" SALE.  TAGS were required on each item to clearly mark at what price you were offering this

21. __ Heritage Month: September 15 to October 15: HISPANIC.  Why is it honored between two months? And those specific days?  Ides don't know ... can someone else help me?? 

25. Require: NEED.  When Margaret and I bought our house a couple years ago, we each separately wrote out our "wants and NEEDS; we matched on our NEEDS at 100%

26. Gallant guy: GENT.  

27. Products of thermal imaging: HEAT MAPS.  You know, if you add an "L" to MAPS and rearrange the letters, you get LAMPS ... which when placed behind HEAT gives a whole different product ...

28. Derriere: TUSH.  Ok, is it "TOUCH" or "TUSH" that ZZ Top is claiming they want to get when they are downtown ... 

31. Faded out: DIED.  I suppose this is a "kind way" to clue the word "DIED"

32. Sculler's tools: OARS.  When I was a member of the Jaycees (remember them fellow Boomers?) in MA, we helped sponsor an event on the Connecticut River for racing sculls.  Their ability to synchronize the OARS was amazing ... I couldn't find a video from that venue, but here is one you might want to watch 

33. Muscle building?: GYM.  Hah!  Muscle building in a muscle building!

34. Ada Limón work: POEM.  Unlike the Chairman, Ada chooses a much different kind of poetry than my haiku and limericks

Ada Limon

35. Toni Morrison's second novel: SULA. Fun fact:  SULA is also the name of a Russian river as well as the name of some Indonesian islands

37. "Help us!" letters: SOS.  And, an erstwhile hit song by the group "Abba"; both of which are answers often seen in xword puzzles

39. __ zero emissions: NET.  Can you be a climate hero?

41. Colorful Hindu festival: HOLI. This event has passed.  It was on March 25th. [Wikipedia] "Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna

Moe-ku 5:

Radha and Krishna
Love to celebrate Spring with
Holly for HOLI

42. "Sacre __!": BLEU.

Moe-ku 6:

Camembert, BLEU, and
Roquefort were found on same plate.
A fromáge à trois?

43. Countess counterpart: EARL. What about the "duke of Earl?

48. Emmy-winning Ali Wong series: BEEF. A "Friday" clue, for sure

49. Certain travel doc.: US VISA. Don't think we will need one when we visit Italy later this year

51. Attempt to mediate: STEP IN. This sounds like something that would be more than to "mediate", IMO

53. Batting practice sites: CAGES. Could you make contact with this fastball? Not I

54. Harmony: UNITY. Does the Thesaurussaurus agree? Nope

55. Flatbreads made with atta flour: ROTIS. Not a word in my lexicon. [Wikipedia] "Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole wheat flour, traditionally known as gehu ka atta, and water that are combined into a dough. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened

56. Wipe clean: ERASE. "Wipe clean" is also a phrase a parent of a baby or toddler might use. So basically, they are just ERASING the poo??

57. Recess on a Catholic school campus?: APSE. Another paraphrased clue. The APSE is a recessed area in a chapel. Recess could also mean "a period of time when school kids get a break from classes"

58. Mesopotamian symbol of fertility: FROG. Ribbit, ribbit ... this guy?

59. Neat: TIDY.

63. Cook in the microwave: ZAP. Time for another comic strip?

64. Rough fig.: EST. Or, winter hours in Washington, D.C.

65. "Shows you!": HAH. The phrase I uttered when I "got" the theme today

66. Attempt: TRY. Hope that your attempt at the puzzle was a positive one

And we are done! Look forward to YOUR COMMENTS below. Hope, too that you are able to try MY PUZZLE @ Universal. See you in a couple of weeks

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!