Theme: Beginner's steps
Clue: First Lesson in "How to Create a Crossword Puzzle"?
Answer: GET YOUR POINT ACROSS
18 across. First lesson in "How To DJ"?: START FROM SCRATCH. Right off the bat, Avery and Aaron use an idiomatic phrase meaning "to begin" and tie it to how one might become a disc jockey (DJ)
For those of us who recall DJ's such as Casey Kasem or Wolfman Jack, who "spun" records on a turntable for radio air play, many of today's DJ's use the record on a turntable to create a background sound effect. They do this by "scratching" the record surface - see video below
26 across. First lesson in "Plumbing: A Beginner's Guide"?: TAKE THE PLUNGE. The idiomatic phrase "take the plunge" is associated with being "all in", and making a bold decision to do something with an uncertain outcome. The playful clue description might be a lesson for all would-be plumbers in how to unclog a toilet, perhaps?
47 across. First lesson in "Sport Climbing and You"?: LEARN THE ROPES. Once again Avery and Aaron become "Ms. and Mr. Obvious" by suggesting that learning how to use ropes when climbing up the face of a mountain is a necessary, first lesson. Or in this case, how to engage in Sport Skateboarding!
61 across. First lesson in "A Handbook of Competitive Eating"?: STEP UP TO THE PLATE. The idiomatic phrase refers - literally - to a baseball player taking his stance in the batter's box and facing the pitcher. It suggests that by doing so, you've committed to the task at hand. The "plate" in this case is home plate. Avery and Aaron find another "plate" to provide the wordplay: a pie plate, perhaps
In this episode of "The Big Bang Theory", Penny and Amy take on Leonard and Sheldon in a series of competitive contests, including this one:
Across:
1. Mess up: BOTCH. I almost messed up the puzzle from the get go
when I tried the word ERROR
6. Beer foam: HEAD. Another mess up when I tried SUDS
10. Golden Arches sandwich: MC RIB. This was filled in correctly
as the McRib, oddly enough, was my erstwhile favorite McDonald's
sandwich. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been to a
McDonald's in the past year and have fingers left over
15. Sneeze sound: ACHOO. "Gesundheit!"
16. Upfront stake: ANTE. I hope no one was thinking that the
stake in question was associated with camping
17. Family, in Hawaiian: OHANA. Totally solved with perps as I
knew not of this word. Perhaps if I had seen the Disney movie
"Lilo and Stitch" I'd have known of it [according to Reddit]
[Hawaii-Guide dot com] "Ohana is a Hawaiian word that means family, community, and deep connection. It goes beyond blood relatives to include chosen friends and neighbors,
meaning that nobody gets left behind or forgotten"
[theme entry]
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| And here, you thought I was going to be objectifying! 🤣 |
23. Antlered grazer: ELK.
24. Trauma ctrs.: E.R.S. I last visited one of these when I was
on holiday in Portugal. The tour I was on insisted that I get seen by a
doctor as I had symptoms of a head cold. Went there on a Saturday around
5:30 pm. Got seen at 9:00. Yup, it was a head cold. No
"trauma" other than the 3-1/2 hour wait to be seen
25. Vocalized: ORAL. And its semi-clecho: (35 across. Uttered):
SAID.
[theme entry]
32. Rights org.: ACLU. Somewhat of an oxymoron;
the American Civil Liberties Union
is indeed a "rights" organization, but its adherents are generally
"left"-leaning
36. Mexican state on the Gulf of California: SONORA. CSO to all
of our Crossword Cornerites with Mexican
heritage. Sonora borders my state (Arizona) though I
have yet to visit it. One of its many attractions is a place called
Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point); a highly popular beach resort town just south of the Arizona border,
famous for its beaches, water sports, and nightlife. It's located on
the Sea of Cortez
37. Leap happily: BOUND. As in, "leaps and bounds"
39. Some jeans: LEES. A brand name, of course. Another clue
for lees is "dead yeast cells used in the fermentation of
wine". Lees are what gives some white wines a bit of a
creamy texture/mouth feel, and they add complexity to the finished "product"
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| Another Aaron |
46. Forecast no.: TEMP. As I typed this recap, our forecast # for
today, in the Greater Phoenix area, was 109. Yesterday (July 24)
the temp set a record for the date: 117!!
[theme
entry]
50. Like Death Valley: ARID. Also, like Sonora; also, like
Phoenix. Our rainfall (year-to-date) is less than 3"; total
51. Coconut __: OIL. Couldn't figure out where this one was
going. I do a fair amount of cooking but do not use
coconut oil - but then I realized that coconut oil is used
primarily in skin moisturizers; as is this: (64 across. Ingredient in a
cooling lotion:) ALOE.
52. Poke bowl protein: AHI. Given the usage of a few
Hawaiian-related clues and answers in today's puzzle, I wonder if the Gee
siblings are from the 50th state?
55. Home exercise bike brand: PELOTON. This answer was my first
guess
59. Natural disaster, legally: ACT OF GOD. I can't recall ever
seeing this phrase used in a crossword puzzle before. The clue is quite
accurate as many insurance carriers will not cover items that were destroyed
or damaged from a natural disaster. [from Wikipedia] "Yes, "act of God" is a recognized legal term
used in contract law, tort law, and insurance. It describes an overwhelming,
unpreventable natural event—such as an earthquake, hurricane, or flood—caused
exclusively by natural forces without human intervention"
[theme
entry]
63. More frigid: ICIER. The synonym for this used to be
"frigider" until a certain appliance mfr said that it sounded too much like
its brand name ...
65. Locations for Christmas lights: EAVES. If you look closely,
Clark Griswold actually put some of his 25,000 Christmas lights under
the eaves
66. Welcome relief on a hot day: SHADE. Well, I can say that I am one (here in AZ) who looks for a spot of shade in a parking lot, but that barely helps when it's 117 degrees out
67. Scottish lids: TAMS. "Lids", as in the slang term for hats
Down:
1. Slather with butter, perhaps: BASTE. Watch most any French
cooking video and you'll see how frequently they baste - but
that doesn't mean you HAVE to be French to baste
2. In base eight: OCTAL. A tutorial for those who are unfamiliar with base eight:
Not sure that I still totally understand it, but as a retiree I doubt I
will ever have to consider its use
3. "You'll __ me someday": THANK. For the tutorial above, perhaps??
😜
4. Winery keepsake: CORK. As your resident sommelier, I can attest
to keeping corks. One of these days I will endeavor to use
them for trivets, perhaps. When we were in Portugal we saw the source
of cork - it's harvested from the bark of a certain oak tree
that grows in the Alentejo region of Portugal. As this image shows, a portion of
the bark has been stripped from the tree. This is where the cork comes
from. The number (6) indicates the year in which it was harvested (2026).
The tree will regrow its bark and be ready for another harvest in 2035 (9 years)
5. Throat-soothing brew: HOT TEA. Another clip from
"TBBT". For Sheldon, offering a hot beverage was not
optional to someone who was feeling down-in-the-dumps. We can only
imagine that it was also throat-soothing
6. Ice dweller off the coast of Greenland: HARP SEAL. As opposed to a monsoon dweller off the coast of India known as the Sitar Seal ... 😀
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| Happy Harp Seal |
7. Actress Mireille: ENOS. Complete unknown, as clued. Oh,
how we have evolved in crossword clues! Back in the day this would have
been clued as "Baseball slugger Slaughter"
8. Self-serve bank device: ATM. At least today's description of
it was not what was clued back on July 24 when it (the ATM) was consigned to a
7-11 store
9. "You are my fire / The one __": "I Want It That Way" opening lyrics:
DESIRE. A "Backstreet Boys" classic
10. Cherries atop Black Forest cake: MORELLOS. I prefer my Morello cherries in a Manhattan Cocktail. [from AI] "A Manhattan pairs rye whiskey or bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters, garnished with rich, tart Morello or Amarena cocktail cherries"
11. Crack, as lips: CHAP. [Merriam-Webster] Defined 5 ways: (1)
noun: a crack in or a sore roughening of the skin caused
by exposure to wind or cold; (2) intransitive verb: to open in cracks, slits, or chinks; (3) noun: the fleshy covering of a jaw; (4) noun: {mostly
British} fellow; (5) abbreviation: chapter
With nighttime view of the planets, like Mars.
When her date, Roosevelt,
Showed her Orion's Belt,
She uttered, "meh, I'll just rate it 3 Stars."
13. Cuzco civilization: INCA.
14. Thai currency whose symbol was once used to represent Bitcoin:
BAHT. Read this article
19. Tined flatware: FORKS. And this clecho-like clue/answer: (55
down. Trident-shaped letters:) PSIS. The image of the
letter Psi kinda looks like a fork
20. Dice game: CRAPS. I am on a "The Big Bang Theory" kick
today ... CRAPS mentioned @ 0:58
25. "Heavens!": OH DEAR.
26. Guitar peg, e.g.: TUNER.
27. Like the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras: TIERED.
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| This is actually in Vietnam |
29. Scribbled reminder: NOTE. I am still pretty much "old school"
when it comes to note taking. I have lots
of note paper close at hand. Only time I use my
"Notes" app on my phone is when I am not close by my pen and paper
30. Family nickname: GRAM. My grandson calls me "GRAMPS"
31. Wyatt of Tombstone: EARP. Another CSO to we Arizonans.
Tombstone is ESE of Tucson and provides the tourists with several period
places to see what life was like in the 1800's. The top things to do
there include:
32. Biblical brother: ABEL. Younger brother of Cain and the first
person murdered, according to The Bible
33. "Follow me": COME. "Psst! Follow me!!"
34. Pixar film about a young sea monster: LUCA. Here is the trailer:
38. Unfold, as a protein: DENATURE. [Merriam-Webster] "To denature means to change or ruin the natural qualities or shape of something. In science, it most often means changing proteins, DNA, or alcohol using heat, acids, or chemicals." I seem to remember the term "denatured alcohol" which loosely translated means, "don't drink it"!
40. Makes out: SMOOCHES. Symbolized by the letter "X" or the emoji "😘"
43. Sharpen on a leather belt: STROP. My first memory of going to the barbershop with my dad was watching a man getting a shave - the barber made the razor sharp by using a leather strop
45. Ill will: SPITE. As opposed to "ill swill": SPRITE
48. Suggest: HINT AT. I tend to be pretty straight-forward - no
beating around the bush for this guy. Although some of my blog comments
may belie that
49. Gets married by Elvis, perhaps: ELOPES. Know anyone who's
been married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas?
52. Tequila plant: AGAVE. [from AI] "Blue agave (Agave tequilana) is special because it is the only plant legally permitted to produce
authentic tequila. Its massive, starchy core (the piña) is rich in complex
carbohydrates and fructose, making it uniquely suited for fermentation and the
creation of a deeply complex, terroir-driven spirit". Moe enjoys
drinking tequila "neat"; Miss Margaret enjoys hers in a Margarita (go
figure!!)
53. Guest spot?: HOTEL. Not the guest spot on a TV talk
show
54. Namely: ID EST. Commonly seen as its abbreviation: i.e., - as
in, "Wyatt Earp is best known as a lawman from the wild west, i.e., one
of the ones who fought at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone". It's commonly
confused with its cousin, e.g., which means "for example" and comes from the
Latin "exempli gratia"
56. __ A Sketch: ETCH.
57. Skywalker raised on Alderaan: LEIA. Process of
elimination? Had to be either LEIA or Luke
58. Pointed column: OP ED. Speaking of getting your point across
...
59. Chemistry class model: ATOM. Is a molecule close enough? My
final "The Big Bang Theory" video, promise!
60. Try to fly: FLAP. Cute clue. Cute cartoon:
62. Lisbon greeting: OLA. First off, in Portugal they call it
Lisboa; and most use the greeting "Bom Dia" especially in the hours between
dawn and early afternoon. I found that if you said "Obrigado" a lot it
was well-received by the Portuguese people
OK, that wraps up another blog from the Chairman. I'll see y'all in early September. Between now and then I am having surgery on both hands (Carpal Tunnel) so hopefully I will be able to type up my blog before September 2
[a postscript] - on Monday Aug 2 there was an entry in the puzzle: "B SIDE". In the comments that day, both Husker Gary and Jinx in Norfolk referenced 45 RPM records. I recalled that in addition to 45 RPM "singles", a few magazines experimented with enclosing a cardboard record (about the size of a 45) in their publications. One that apparently made me laugh (I was a young teenager at the time) was in Mad Magazine. The "record's" title was "It's a Gas!" The video below confirms that you can find most anything on YouTube!
