Theme: "Kinetic Exercises" - Anagrams of various sports are hidden inside each theme entry.
22. Series of musical tones that evoke sadness: MINOR SCALES. Lacrosse.
24. Weaponized food in a Hitchcock episode: LEG OF LAMB. Golf.
31. Desire to cause harm: MALICIOUS INTENT. Tennis.
37. Mathematical operation that may have a remainder: LONG DIVISION. Diving.
55. Scam: CONFIDENCE TRICK. Cricket.
64. Like some voting systems: WINNER TAKE ALL. Karate.
78. Lip product in a Katy Perry song: CHERRY CHAPSTICK. Archery.
92. Lean patty choice: TURKEY BURGER. Rugby.
99. July Fourth: INDEPENDENCE DAY. Dance.
115. Athletic record: SCORECARD. Soccer.
Reveal:
117. Party poopers, or what this puzzle's circled letters do: SPOILSPORTS.
Congrats, Ella, on your first LAT Sunday!
This
is just brilliant construction. Some of the sports names are long, not
easy to anagram. And we have 11 theme entries with one reveal. Normally
we have 7 or 8. Ella is an actor.
Ella Dershowitz
Across:
1. Romantic painter Francisco: GOYA.
5. "Is it ever!": AND HOW.
11. Lettuce variety: BIBB. Also called butter lettuce. Sweet and buttery.
15. Levy of "Schitt's Creek": DAN.
18. Copied: APED.
19. Copy illegally: PIRATE.
20. Taiwanese laptop brand: ACER.
21. Unlikely cat name: FIDO.
26. Main course: ENTREE.
27. Damage: MAR.
28. "Elsbeth" network: CBS. Wikipedia says "Elsbeth" is "a spin-off of "The Good Wife" (2009–2016) and "The Good Fight" (2017–2022)".
29. Name-caller: MEANIE.
30. Artifact: RELIC.
34. __ as a pin: NEAT.
36. Add to, as an already big pile: HEAP ON.
43. Fixes, at the vet: NEUTERS.
49. Favor: PREFER.
50. Like mood lighting: DIM.
51. Inflation no.: PSI.
53. Gymnast Comaneci: NADIA. First gymnast to receive a 10.
54. Blood test liquids: SERA.
59. Bach production: SONATA.
62. Fairy tale first: ONCE.
63. Detest: LOATHE.
69. Cinder collector: ASH PAN.
73. Director Kazan: ELIA.
74. Colorful New Zealand fish: RED COD. Due to its color.
83. Villainous Count of kid-lit: OLAF.
85. Handed (out): DOLED.
86. Feel ill: AIL.
87. German outburst: ACH.
88. Spanish grandmother: ABUELA. Po Po in Chinese.
90. Techie's major, for short: COMP SCI. Computer science.
95. State where almost all of U.S. hazelnuts are grown: OREGON. I didn't know this.
98. Check in spots?: ATMS. Meaning you can deposit a check at an ATM?
107. Counter: REBUT.
111. Spot for self-reflection?: MIRROR. Ha.
112. Half an inning?: ENS. Three n's in inning.
113. Title for two Beatles: SIR.
114. Private sign?: SALUTE.
119. Unagi roll fish: EELS.
120. First name in whodunits: ERLE. Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason.
4. Groupie: ADORING FAN. Partnered with 75. Class list: COURSE LOAD. Not a lot of long fill due to the heavy themeage.
5. Church nook: APSE.
6. Actor Cage, to fans: NIC.
7. Emmy category: DRAMA.
8. Haram counterpart: HALAL. We've yet to see HARAM in our LAT grid.
9. "Dog Man" voice actress Cheri: OTERI.
10. Director Craven: WES.
11. Fictional boxer for whom Philadelphia's Rocky Steps are named: BALBOA. AI Overview: The Rocky Steps are a set of 72 stone steps leading to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous by the movie "Rocky".
12. Freezes over: ICES UP.
13. Ask and then some: BEG.
14. Hot tub chemical: BROMINE. To disinfect the water. Chlorine too.
15. Actress Keaton: DIANE.
16. One with extra online privileges: ADMIN.
17. "Check," in a casino: NO BET.
21. Like hair after removing a beanie: FLAT.
23. Move back: RECEDE.
25. Bog: FEN.
28. Diez squared: CIEN. 100.
32. Comic Margaret: CHO.
33. Genesis hedgehog: SONIC.
35. Element whipped into eggs to make meringue: AIR.
37. Collection at a listening bar, briefly: LPS.
38. Major finds for miners: ORES.
39. "Too Many Cooks" sleuth Wolfe: NERO.
40. Uniting words: I DO. Wedding.
41. Transgression: SIN.
42. U.N. financial arm: IMF.
44. Indescribable: UNTOLD.
45. Olympic gold medalist Lipinski: TARA.
46. Cut and paste, say: EDIT.
47. Loaded: RICH.
48. Sushi bar drink: SAKE. Can't have sake or any alcohol due to the methotrexate.
61. __ houses: minimalist trend: TINY. This one looks nice.
65. Peach soda brand: NEHI.
66. Mideast airline: EL AL.
67. Tear (into): RIP.
68. Genesis boat: ARK.
69. Australian rock band: AC DC.
70. "Don't bug me!": SHOO.
71. Vessel control post: HELM.
72. Mise en place: PREP. Wikipedia gives this example: mise en place for a peanut brittle recipe.
76. Cassini of fashion: OLEG.
77. Small valley: DALE.
79. Pile of stones to mark a trail: CAIRN.
80. Pitch: TAR.
81. "So gross": ICK.
82. Revolutionary Guevara: CHE.
84. Miles away: FAR.
88. NYC dance co.: ABT. American Ballet Theatre.
89. Undeserved infamy, informally: BUM RAP.
91. Compelled: COERCED.
92. Oodles: TONS.
93. Coll. in the Research Triangle: UNC. Didn't know the Research Triangle, formed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and North
Carolina State University.
94. "Excellent news!": YAY.
96. English Channel swimmer Gertrude: EDERLE.
97. __ reveal party: GENDER.
99. "All good here": I'M SET.
100. Like party clothes compared to everyday clothes: NICER.
101. Oddly funny: DROLL.
102. Books a table for seven at 6 instead of six at 7, say: ERRS.
Happy Presidents Day, everyone! sumdaze here on another holiday Monday. Constructor Janice Luttrell gave us a puzzle with an Executive Branch-adjacent theme. Let's take a look:
17 Across. Chocolate treat from Reese's: PEANUT BUTTER CUP.
They were created in 1928 -- almost 100 years ago!
25 Across. Replacement on the mound: RELIEF PITCHER. In baseball, a RELIEF PITCHER is called up to enter the game after the starting pitcher (or another relief pitcher) has been removed.
From the MLB rulebook: Pitchers must either face a minimum of three batters in an appearance or pitch to the end of a half-inning, with exceptions for injuries and illnesses. If a pitcher faces one batter to end an inning, he may be removed, but if he is brought back for a second inning, he must still face two more batters for a total of three. Once removed, players are not permitted to return to the game in any capacity.
42 Across. Venue for summer concerts in Los Angeles: HOLLYWOOD BOWL.
The HOLLYWOOD BOWL is an amphitheater and public park in the Hollywood Hills of Southern California. In case you were wondering, it did survive the recent fires.
56 Across. High-level government post, and what the ends of 17-, 25-, and 42-Across may have?: CABINET POSITION. Established in Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, the CABINET's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office.
Also, a CUP, a PITCHER, and a BOWL might all be found POSITIONed in a CABINET.
sort of like this
Works for me. Let's see how the other clues stack up.
Across:
1. "Speak of the __!": DEVIL.
6. Pick up a newspaper: READ. and 50 Down. Solemn bio: OBIT.
10. __ Valuable Player: MOST.
14. Singer Menzel of "Frozen": IDINA. John Travolta famously botched her name at the 2014 Oscars but she got him back the following year. 15. "Uh, that's wrong": UM, NO.
16. Culturally pretentious: ARTY.
20. NBC sketch show since 1975, familiarly: SNL. SNL 50: The Anniversary Special aired last night. Did anyone watch it?
21. "Disgusting!": GROSS.
22. Lady Gaga's instrument: PIANO. Earlier this month, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for this song, Die With A Smile. 23. Many a restaurant owner: CHEF.
24. One-named "Chandelier" singer: SIA.
31. Pampering place: SALON. and 31 Down. Pampering place: SPA.
32. Tomato sauce brand named for a New York restaurant: RAO'S. pronunciation
33. Chicken serving: LEG. CSO to Splynter!
35. Storyline: PLOT.
36. Put one's foot down: STOMP.
38. "Dancing Queen" pop group: ABBA.
39. Spring mo.: APR. month and APRil
40. Molecule part: ATOM.
41. Slender woodwinds: OBOES.
46. Ginger __: ALE.
47. Partnership for Peace gp.: NATO. group and North Atlantic Treaty Organization
48. Dwelling: ABODE.
51. Actress Hayek Pinault: SALMA. (b. September 2, 1966 in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico)
Salma began dating French businessman François-Henri Pinault in 2006. They married in 2009.
53. Civil rights monogram: MLK.
59. Buffalo's lake: ERIE.
60. City near Phoenix: MESA.
61. Viking language: NORSE.
62. Sinks out of sight, as the sun: SETS.
a scientific explanation of the 'green flash'
63. Ready for customers: OPEN.
64. California, for one: STATE. This puzzle is published in the LA Times, after all.
Led Zeppelin ~ Going to California ~ (1971)
Down:
1. Salsa, and some salsa moves: DIPS. This was my favorite clue today. The first salsa is of the edible variety.
2. Biblical garden: EDEN.
3. Lab container: VIAL.
4. B and B: INN. Bed & Breakfast
5. Classic TV show hosted by Rowan & Martin: LAUGH-IN.
Arte Johnson (1929-2019) was a regular on this sketch comedy program.
6. Wear away: RUB OFF.
7. Tall birds in some insurance ads: EMUS.
8. Aardvark snacks: ANTS.
Can you see its long tongue in the tube? Actually I think this is an anteater, not an aardvark. Anteater cannot be used to clue ant because they share too many letters.
9. Ellipsis element: DOT. Let me think....
10. Grammy winner Carey: MARIAH.
11. Killer whale: ORCA.
Did you catch this one on Mal-Man's last blog? LOL!
12. Shock: STUN.
13. Keyboard blunder: TYPO.
18. Genealogy chart: TREE. as in a family TREE
19. Long stories: EPICS.
23. Form a clump: CLOT.
24. Hit the brakes: STOP.
25. Designer Lauren: RALPH.
26. Spanish Olympian's goal: EL ORO.
27. "Coming soon" ad: PROMO.
28. First words of "Green Eggs and Ham": I AM. Speaking of elementary poetry....
52. Church recess: APSE. A four-letter church architecture word is going to be either APSE or nave. The former is the location of the altar while the latter is the seating area leading up to the altar. Memory trick: APSE begins with an A, as does altar and arc.
54. Baffled: LOST. Back in 2004 DH and I were driving on Oahu's North Shore. We saw small, red signs nailed to posts and trees, much like the signs people buy when they want to sell their own car. Someone had written "LOST" on the signs with an arrow pointing which way to turn. We wondered if maybe they were directions for someone who was potentially LOST on their way to a party. We followed them to a beach. There we found what looked like a plane wreck and suitcases strewn about. Upon closer inspection we could see that the plane was staged. We wondered if this was some sort of training exercise. The following Fall, ABC aired a new TV show called Lost. It ran from 2004 to 2010.
55. Leg joint: KNEE. Oops! LEG is the answer to 33-Across so it is not supposed to be in another clue. Perhaps it's OK to bend the rules for KNEE.
57. Angsty music genre: EMO.
58. Tyke: TOT.
I like the looks of this 15-13-13-15 grid.
Enjoy your day!
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy Birthday to our Friday blogger, Chairman Moe. Chris mentioned that
he is doing well post-surgery and will have his second eye done in
another week.
2) Happy 58th anniversary to the sweetest, most caring couple I've ever met: Husker Gary and his wife
Joann. Here's a picture of us from 2014 when Gary attended a wedding here in Minnesota.
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 (-logÃa) '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.
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 ...
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
.jpg)
