Monday August 28, 2023 Amie Walker

Hello Cornerites!

Constructor Amie Walker is back to play, bringing another challenge for us. She gave us a Drop The MIC puzzle two Sundays ago. Today's puzzle features a different type of electronic equipment:  gaming CONSOLEs. I will say upfront that this theme is not in my wheelhouse. I only know a few terms from solving XWDs. I welcome any corrections or additions you might have to my recap. Nevertheless, I do need to come up with a theme. How about this one?

FUN & GAMES

Solving XWD puzzles is fun and the circled letters are gaming systems.

The grid has 4 long answers. The circled letters in each spell out a gaming console that can be hooked up to your TV or monitor so you can play video games.

17 Across. Frozen drink sometimes made with rosé: WINE SLUSHIE.  NES

24 Across. Inadvertently reveals a secret advantage: TIPS ONE'S HAND.  PS ONE

48 Across. Some tissue dispensers: KLEENEX BOXES.  XBOX

58 Across. "SNL" alum known for her Target Lady sketches: KRISTEN WIIG.  WII

We find the gimmick revealed at 

37 Across. Car's storage compartment, or a feature of 17-, 24-, 48-, and 58-Across?: CENTER CONSOLE.

Though not precisely in the CENTER, I think this works because the gaming CONSOLEs do not use the first or last letters of the long fills. The CONSOLE is (sort of) in the CENTER of the long fill. Close enough! Whether or not the circles are necessary is a matter of opinion. Veteran solvers probably did not need them. Noobs probably appreciated the extra hints. Today is Monday....

Because I solve top to bottom, I usually prefer to have the reveal near the bottom. In this case, it was fun to see CENTER CONSOLE in the center of the grid.

Oh, and if you are curious about Target Lady, here is a 6:14 min. skit. That's Justin Timberlake playing her friend Peg.  

Let's move on to the other 73 clues....

Across:

1. __ pitcher: bullpen figure: RELIEF.  and  34 Down. Yankee Stadium's borough: BRONX.  and  49 Down. Wrigley corners: BASES.

All three are baseball references. Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs.

7. South Pacific resort island: BALI.

11. Agt.: REP.  "Agent" is abbreviated. So is "REPresentative".

14. Source of prophecies: ORACLE.

15. "Beg pardon": AHEM.

16. Sculling blade: OAR.  Sculling is a form of rowing, a competitive sport in which a person uses OARs, one in each hand, to propel a boat.  

19. Get weepy: CRY.  I was working on this blog when I read Picard's message about Wilbur Charles. This past February he wrote, "enjoying sumdaze Mondays." He had a way of coining phrases. Sadly, we have lost a good one.

20. Salty expanse: SEA.  Saltwater, aka the ocean, covers about 71% of the Earth.

21. Exchanges on WhatsApp, for short: IMS.  Instant MessageS

Facebook Inc. (now Meta Platforms) purchased WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. I mostly use WhatsApp with friends who live outside of the U.S. because it is IP-based as opposed to cellular-service-based.

22. Totally fine: A-OK.

30. Slangy "reckon": S'POSE.

32. Washington's capital: OLYMPIA.  Clever misdirection! Why Olympia and not Seattle

Cherry blossoms (lower left) also bloom outside of the OLYMPIA capitol building.

33. "East of Eden" son: ARON.

34. "Hulk" star Eric: BANA.  Last Monday we had Bill Bixby. In 2003 Universal Pictures released a new movie where, thanks to CGI, Eric played both Bruce Banner and Hulk.

36. Heart test, briefly: ECG.  I get these mixed up:

ECG is an ElectroCardioGram. This one checks your heart's rhythm and electrical activity.

EKG is also an ElectrocardioGram.  No wonder I get confused!

EEC is an ElectroEncephaloGram. This one records brain activity.

EGG (Just kidding! I know that one.)

41. Hesitant sounds: ERS.  and  18 Down. Hesitant sounds: UMS.

I see the former mostly in subtitles for British TV shows. Have we had them both in the same puzzle before?

I recently heard Grammar Girl talk about this with Lynne Murphy (an American linguist living in the UK) Episode 928. According to Lynne, "It's not that the British put different sounds into their filled pauses, it's just that they typically spell those pauses er and erm instead of uh and um. Since many British English dialects do not pronounce the /r/ after vowels in such contexts, the /r/ here is just to indicate that the vowel is not a proper 'e' but a long schwa-like vowel." Basically, the spellings are not yet standardized. Read Lynne's article at her website.

We should have suspected that the tricky schwa sound was behind all of this!!

42. "Just keeping you on your __": TOES.

43. Misfortunes: ILLS.

44. Connecticut's time zone: EASTERN.

47. Conclude by: END AT.  Think "time".

51. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.  

12,000 BC Paleo vs. 2090 AD Neo

52. Smartphone download: APP.  for example, WhatsApp in 21A

53. Commotion: ADO.

56. Fake user: BOT.  Lots about BOTs

63. Regret: RUE.

64. Not in use: IDLE.  

I saw these signs while on my recent trip to British Columbia. I hope they catch on.
Please do not let your car puff while you check your cell phone.

65. Boss: LEADER.

66. Shiverer's sound: BRR.  

67. Fifth Avenue store: SAKS.

68. Key tahini ingredient: SESAME.  SESAME seeds are to tahini like peanuts are to peanut butter.

Down:
1. Google Sheets lines: ROWS.  Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet editor. Would you have penned it more confidently if the clue were "Excel lines"?

2. Cleveland's lake: ERIE.  

3. "Mariners Apartment Complex" singer Del Rey: LANA.  While this 2019 song is likely unknown to most, regular solvers are familiar with "4-letter singer Del Rey" much the same way we would write ORR for "3-letter hockey player whose 2nd cousin twice removed is Joe Bloggs".

Here is the video followed by what the song means. Warning:  There are a couple of impolite words.

Click to enlarge.

4. Freezer cubes: ICE.  

"Liquidation Sale" Ha!Ha!

5. High rumblers: ELS.  and  7 Down. Low rumbler: BASSO.

ELevated trainS and a person who sings bass (especially in opera)

6. King of Spain: FELIPE.  King FELIPE VI was born January 30, 1968 in Madrid. In 2014, King Juan Carlos I announced his abdication after almost four decades. His only son FELIPE took the Spanish throne on June 19 of that year, becoming the youngest of contemporary European monarchs at the age of 46.  

In June 2018 he visited the U.S. with his wife, Queen Letizia.

8. Spa sigh: AHH.

9. Floral garland: LEI.  The Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) baggage claim area has a wonderful floral aroma due to of all the LEIs given to arriving guests.

10. "Either way works for me": I'M EASY.

11. Vocal group that sings the "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" theme song: ROCKAPELLA.  

Here's the song. The play on a cappella took it from ESP to AESP (Almost Every Single Perp).

12. Spot for an AirPod: EAR.  

I still use wires.  #OldSchool

13. Get too personal: PRY.

23. Unit of resistance: OHM.  electricity

24. Animated character: TOON.  slang for carTOON  

Disney has a Toontown area at its parks.

25. "That __ fair!": ISN'T.

26. Taboos: NO-NOS.

27. Flair: ELAN.

28. Most warm: NICEST.

29. Former U.N. head Hammarskjöld: DAG.  (b. July 29, 1905 in Sweden. d. Sept. 18, 1961 in Rhodesia (now Zambia).) He was the 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving from April 1953 until he perished in an airplane crash.

30. Related to the lower back: SACRAL.  My first guess was "lumbAr" but I needed to guess a little lower.

31. On-screen command after typing one's PIN: PRESS ENTER.

35. Expert serve: ACE.

38. To be, in Paris: ETRE.  French verb

39. Trig ratio: SINE.  Watch this 27 sec. video to see how a SINE curve is rolled out using a unit circle. Cool beans!  

40. Pulitzer-winning poet Sharon: OLDS.  Poetry Foundation website

41. Shrill shriek: EEK.

45. Concert keepsake: TEE.

OK, -T. This one is for you. I haven't mentioned this before. Bro #2 saw Rush in '81 in Oakland. I wore his 'concert keepsake' until it looked even rattier than the one in this pic I found on ebay. (I'm fairly sure this is the one.) I cannot say I was a fan so much as I listened to whatever music he played (read: blasted through the adjoining bedroom wall) and I definitely thought I was too cool for school when I wore the shirt.

46. Long mushrooms: ENOKIS.  What are your thoughts on using English pluralization conventions (in this case, add "s") for foreign words? I'm conflicted.

47. Throws out: EXPELS.  Think "School Board decision".

50. Make a choice: OPT.

53. Opera set in Egypt: AIDA.  What do Clint Eastwood and AIDA have in common?

Answer:  Ennio Morricone (b. Nov. 10, 1928. d. Jul. 6, 2020). He was an Italian composer who wrote music in a wide range of styles, including soundtracks for Clint's Spaghetti Westerns and the 2001 Italian animated film, Aida of the Trees.  

L'Alba Verra (Dawn Will Come) from Aida of the Trees

Ennio Morricone Composer, Arranger, and Conductor;

Filippa Giordano Vocals; Alberto Salerno Lyrics; and Peppe Servillo Vocals

54. Carpe __: seize the day: DIEM.  

55. Shrek, for one: OGRE.

56. "Putting my phone down a sec": BRB.  Be Right Back

57. Taylor Swift's "__ Song": OUR.

59. Nutritional amt.: RDA.  "Amount" is abbreviated, so is "Recommended Dietary Allowance".

60. Kind: ILK.

61. Alumna bio word: NÉE.  It comes from the French feminine past participle of naitre, "to be born".

62. "What __ I thinking?": WAS.  

Oh, I remember. I was thinking that I hope everyone has a good day!