D-V-S
I really don't know much about Julian Lim except he's a deft constructor. I'm pretty sure he's had at least two other LATs this year and, while maybe on the more difficult side, his are always fun. Also, Lim has some NYT grids, so that's cool.Wait, hang tight...
With Props to HG for some background: Dr. Lin (my appologies, good Dr.) holds a B.S. in Psychology from Duke and a PhD from The University of Pennsylvania in the same discipline. I wonder if Eldest has crossed his research. [Eldest is working towards PhD in Psych at GM].
If I'm to trust my Google-fu, Dr. Lin continues research in cognative/sleep depravation at the Centre For Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. And, apperently, Dr. Lin, has time to entertain word-play. [bet he doesn't sleep either]
//Oh, he'd have a field-day in our house. I think Eldest went into Psych [PhD candidate in 4.5 more years!] just to undo me :-)
Enough of the couch...
Let's breakdown the themers:
17. Actress who wrote the 2022 memoir "Dying of Politeness": GEENA DAVIS.
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| Oh! Her. Bettlejuice.WikiP |
24. Expeditions made by freegans, say: DUMPSTER DIVES. I don't know if this is still a thing but freegans are (were?) anti-corporates who look for food(?!?) in the trash. It was the hipster thing to do there for a while.
The other type of Dumpster Diving is inre: hacking - reconnaissance to find important documents $corp$ #HackTarget tossed. (Shreaders!, people. shreaders).
42. Policy debate sides during an international conflict: HAWKS AND DOVES. Those who want to release the dogs of war and those that try to appease.
58. Prima donnas: OPERA DIVAS. I'll let waseeley take this one. All I can think of is #Karens.
35. Sly, and a phonetic hint to the pattern in the last words of 17-, 24-, 42-, and 58-Across: DEVIOUS. D-V-S. Dig?
Cute theme, no? Last words in *clues are D_V_S with diffent vowels thrown in to make 'em words.
Across:
1. Title of respect: MA'AM. Don't forget to doff your HATS (64a), gentlemen.
5. Suffix with "Wrestle": MANIA.
10. Stinging insect: WASP. Fire ant was too long.
14. Both: Pref.: AMBI. When my (Army) Bro bragged he had two girlfriends, DW quipped: "AMBI and Dextrous?"
15. Scent: AROMA. Smell #1
16. Prepared to veto: ANTI. Don't know why I just noticed but veto is an anagram of vote.
17. [See: theme]
19. House spot: SEAT. Cute. Said about a sold-out show, "Not a SEAT in the house."
20. Spike Lee heist film starring Denzel Washington: INSIDE MAN.
Actually looks really goood.
21. Croquet sites: LAWNS.
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| Alice plays Croquet |
22. Hawaii's "Valley Isle": MAUI.
23. Groovy: FAB. FAB-U-lous.
24.[See: theme]
30. Born in: FROM. "Where you from? No, really from?" caused a Royal todo recently.
32. Beer foam: HEAD. Aha... Guinness
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| Guinness Foam |
33. Longoria of "Telenovela": EVA. No clue.
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| Eva for the Gents |
34. Olympic swimmer Thorpe: IAN. Australian with five (5) gold medals.
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| Ian for the Ladies |
35. [See: theme]
38. Band's job: GIG. (CEO) Bro's got a Dad-Band. They Gig for beer.
39. Bay Area airport letters: SFO. San FrancisO International Airport. We learned last week there's two BART-lines in/out.
40. Scent: ODOR. Smell #2
41. Black-tie party: GALA.
42. [See: theme]
47. Onyx, for one: GEM. A dark-blackish stone. Wanna know more? Click here.
48. Freeway sign: EXIT.
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| Downtown Houston |
49. Stop and go: VERBS. Cute. I was stuck in traffic for a moment.
52. Competition with rockets: SPACE RACE. USA is back in it with Artemis but this time v. China.
I can watch this over and over.
All the mission tapes are stored
here in Houston at JSC. I got to see the vault once!*
57. Hertz rival: AVIS. Car rental rivals.
58. [See: theme]
59. Afternoon fare: SOAP. What, no sandwich? Kenny & Ziggy's does the best chicken-noodle & grilled-cheese to head-off a head-cold. Ain't cheap but it's tasty & effective.
//I just caught this: [See: my 51d fill when the V-8 finally clanked against my skull].
The c/a refers to afternoon Telenovelas and NOT lunch | SOuP. Can I blame #dyslexia for missing this for so long? :-)
60. More sage: WISER. [See: 1d MAGI]
61. Half of dix: CINQ. Todays French lesson. Five is half of ten.
62. Playwright Kushner: TONY. A) great 1st name B) Anthony Robert Kushner is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work Angels in America which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. [WikiP] C) (and I looked this up) no relation to Jared.
63. Derisive sound: SNORT. Or what some people do when they laugh [guilty].
64. "__ off to you!": HATS. Bravo!
Down:
1. Crèche figures: MAGI. #Learning: Crèche (Brit) is a nursery and ('Merican) a Baby-Jesus Manger model. //And here I thought it was French for something. (WikiP says Latin(?))
2. Blessing ender: AMEN. Now dig in. //Pop's lasagna was *chef's kiss*
3. Hollywood's Vigoda and basketball's Saperstein: ABES.
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| Vigoda |
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| Saperstein |
I was thinking the Basketball-guy was someone current. Check this bit of #Learning: Abraham Michael Saperstein (July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball from the 1920s through the 1950s, primarily before those sports were racially integrated.
Saperstein revolutionized the game of basketball and took the Globetrotters from an unknown team touring small farm towns in the Midwestern United States during the height of the Great Depression to a powerhouse that went on to beat the best team in the all-white National Basketball Association. He also introduced the three-point shot, which went on to become a mainstay of modern basketball.
Wow!
4. Least amount: MINIMUM. "It's the Least I could do." "Yes, I believe it is." :-)
5. Reconciled: MADE UP. I love the c/a. MADE UP is also conjure. Took me a second to see see two kids shaking hands / reconciling after a brawl.
6. One of the Musketeers: ARAMIS. Ha! I looked this up 'cuz of ZORRO last week and... being curious paid-off.
7. Old Chevy model: NOVA. I'll let those that owned one comment.
8. "Sounds like a plan!": IM IN. Hold my beer.
9. Thin batteries: AAS. Hand-up if you almost ink'd AAA. //I still didn't have GEENA DAVIS yet.
10. __ peas: WASABI. My kids love these (and they'll clear your sinuses!)
11. All over again: ANEW. From the top!
12. Comics icon Lee: STAN. Stan made a cameo in Marvel Movies of the characters he created (and then some). If you were a child of the '50s and had your comics burned 'cuz they'll melt your mind - that was my '80's re: video games.
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| Stan Lee - Corruptor of Youth |
13. La Brea Tar __: PITS. From the Redundant Office of Redundancy.
18. Maroon 5 lead singer Levine: ADAM. Name.
21. Actresses Cheryl and Diane: LADDS. Cheryl gave it away. I didn't know of Diane LADD.
23. German woman: FRAU. You know I'm compelled to do this:
24. "What am I supposed to __?": DO NOW? I mean, with a fill like FRAU...
25. "Hot corner" base: THIRD. Baseball! It's called the Hot Corner because, typically, the three-bagger plays closest in on the infield.
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| Maybe this helps |
26. Job listing inits.: EEO. Equal Employment Opportunity. Did anyone else miss the memo that it was no longer EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer)?
27. "What happens in __ ... ": VEGAS. Stays in Vegas... including your gambling money.
28. Wicked: EVIL.
29. Drawn-out account: SAGA.
30. Sneakily probe (for): FISH. Fishing for an answer; fishing for a complement. Not to be confused with Phishing for a password or ABE Vigoda.
31. Nadal of tennis, familiarly: RAFA. Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams [Tennis].
35. Medical units: DOSES. Who else was thinking M*A*S*H-plural(?)?. My (Army) Medical (Reserve) unit was based out of Bossier City, LA. So, me getting to DOSES took a V-8 dope-slap.
36. Semisoft cheese: EDAM.
37. 2016 Super Bowl MVP Miller: VON. Perps. WC, HG, help us out :-)
41. Make a bundle: GET RICH. You can build a better mouse-trap or a better Ponzi scheme #NFTs
43. Cold War agent: KGB SPY. A spy for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, the precursor to Kaos(?).
44. More highly cherished: DEARER.
45. Vehicle pulled by yoked animals: OXCART. Is that one word or two? And, if it's a OX CART, shouldn't the oxen be in it? You know, like an apple-cart? (You don't see apples pulling apple-carts down the street). We should be told. #SteveM
46. Contended: VIED. "I coulda been a vie'er!"
49. Stretching on and on: VAST. And if it's a story... SAGA.
50. Vinaigrette ingredient, briefly: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I import from Italy (though Greece & CA has some good ones too).
51. "Knives Out" filmmaker Johnson: RIAN. *Googles who(?)* Wait - It's not RIuN? I didn't get soup for lunch? Oy! I FIW!?!
//hangs head, waits for dunce-cap, and I'm familiar with the stool in the corner. Cue: everyone point & laugh.
52. Washer cycle: SPIN. Your Maytag.
53. Manila money: PESO.
54. Sneaker brand: AVIA.
55. "__, or won't?": CAN'T. Priorities, people.
56. Legal honorifics: Abbr.: ESQS. Python's sketch pops to mind (sorry folks). Starts with Evening Squire
58. Yelps of pain: OWS. Here's a question: Do you yell OW! before you've checked to see if you actually hurt yourself?
The Grid:
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| The Grid //Green highlight is gratuitous :-) |
Thanks Julian for the fun, it's nice to see your by-line again. (Even though you got me at SOuP.)
WOs: N/A
ESPs: GEENA DAVIS, IAN, EVA, ADAM (as clued) VON, RIUN | TONY
FIW: I really do like soup on wintery afternoons.
Fav: FISH & ABE Vigoda in the same grid. I don't know if that was Julian's intent but, I like it.
I hope everyone had a wonderful time with Lim's puzzle and the Hollidays.
Come into The Corner, take off your jacket, and talk about either. (Er, puzzle | hollidays - I'm not really concerned about your coat (unless it's a real nice light-wieght warm one - where's it FROM?)).
Cheers, -T
*JSC video vault contains films from all the missions from Apollo to current. As I scanned the shelf, my heart fell when I saw there was only one slot labeled STS-25 (Challenger).
