L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Aug 30, 2019

Friday, August 30, 2019 Joe Deeney

BIRD IDIOMS

18. Fat flier?: ROUND ROBIN.

A round robin is a tournament format in which every player (or team) plays every other player (or team) in order.

26. Frozen flier?: COLD TURKEY.

Cold turkey has come to mean to suddenly stop doing something. Often associated with quitting smoking.

40. Feeble flier?: LAME DUCK.

Referring to an elected official who is nearly powerless because they are only holding the position until the end of the current term.

53. Funny flier?: SILLY GOOSE.

I think the meaning of silly goose has to be taken in context. It can be playful and it can be insulting.

64. Frugal flier?: BUDGET HAWK.

One who trains the focus of a keen eye and a sharp pencil on a spending plan, looking for opportunities to pare spending.

Each theme "flier" clue was described with an adjective that began with the letter F.   5 theme clues that used only 6 different words. Pretty neat.   Definitely consistent.

I enjoyed solving this puzzle and spotting the birds hidden in the clues. I had no idea where we were going until I got one.    I hope you did not find this puzzle "for the birds."

Across:

1. Letters before QIA: LGBT. LGBTQIAPK+ and What It Means

5. "Harrumph!": PSHAW.

10. Chance in a box: AT BAT.

15. "Small world": OH HI.

16. Make it right: ATONE.

17. First two-time Nobelist: CURIE. Marie Skłodowska Curie

20. Cuts back: TRIMS.

21. Suffix with violin: IST.

22. For whom Wednesday is named: ODIN.

23. One of a famous 154: SONNET. A Guide to the Sonnets of William Shakespeare

24. Ignite: START.

29. Unpleasant look: SNEER.

31. Dress down: BERATE. Refund: Rebate. Old car: Beater.

32. Metaphorical Donne poem: THE FLEA.

34. Rand who created Howard Roark: AYN. From the book, The Fountainhead.

35. Old phone part: DIAL.   I posted this before. I love how the parents? encourage the boys to figure out how it works.

39. Half a matching set: HIS.

43. __ wrongs ...: TWO. don't make a right.

44. Bet first: OPEN.

46. Phil's twin on "Rugrats": LIL. Phil and Lil DeVille. No idea.

47. Eyes slyly: PEEPS AT.

49. Baffler: ENIGMA.

52. Jet: SPRAY.

57. "Creed" actress Thompson: TESSA. Tessa Thompson   No idea.

59. Simultaneity: UNISON. Ballet Mécanique

60. Rick's "kid": ILSA.   Casablanca

62. Comedy club reactions: HAs. HA HA HA HA HA !

63. Colorful four-tone toy: SIMON.

67. Vintner's concern: AGING. Oeno stuff.

68. Didn't dine out: ATE IN.

69. Latin 101 verb: AMAT.   He loves.

70. "That's incorrect": NOT SO.

71. "It __ happened yet": HASN'T.

72. "So Sick" singer: NE-YO. Shaffer Chimere Smith   No idea.

Down:

1. Sri Lankan primate: LORIS. So cute. Don't rub their bellies.

2. The Flying Dutchman, for one: GHOST SHIP. A Tale From Holland

3. Group with an extremely high population?: BHUTANESE.   The people of Bhutan.    The country's landscape ranges from lush subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north, where there are peaks in excess of 7,000 metres (23,000 ft). - Wikipedia

4. Sn, on a table: TIN.   And 27. Pb, on a table: LEAD.     Elements in the Periodic Table, in Group 14 (the Carbon Group), Periods 5 and 6 respectively.

5. Cowpoke's pal: PARD.

6. Not easily moved: STOIC.

7. Fraternize: HOBNOB.

8. Team's lack?: AN I.

9. Harmless cyst: WEN.

10. Carry on: ACT OUT.

11. Flush: TURN RED.

12. Precipice: BRINK.

13. "Mental Illness" Grammy winner Mann: AIMEE.

14. Cross: TESTY.

19. "How about that": DO TELL.

23. Politician's positions: STANCES.

25. One sometimes accused of being blind: REF (eree).

28. Stop producing opportunities, as a financial market: DRY UP.

30. Adjust, as wheels: REALIGN.

32. Brief while?: THO (ugh). While I tend to agree that two wrongs don't make a right, sometimes tit for tat feels good. Though I don't think it's always the best reaction.

33. Pal of Picasso: AMIGO.

36. "So sad!": IT'S A SHAME.

37. Far off: AWAYS AWAY.

38. Land purchase: LOT.

41. Muppet who doesn't use the pronoun "I": ELMO.

42. Didn't give up on: KEPT AT.

45. __ Column: Trafalgar Square monument: NELSON'S.

Nelson's last and most famous battle was fought off the Spanish cape of Trafalgar, when he defeated Napoleon and the French and Spanish fleets.

48. Mature leader?: PRE.

50. "12 Years a Slave" Oscar winner Lupita __: NYONG'O. "12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical period drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free African-American man who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. by two con men in 1841 and sold into slavery."

Nyong'o played the role of Patsey, a slave who works alongside Northup at a Louisiana cotton plantation.

51. Thought-revealing drama techniques: ASIDES.

53. Geena's "Thelma & Louise" co-star: SUSAN. "It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, two friends who embark on a road trip with unforeseen consequences."

54. Fictional fencer Montoya: INIGO. Inigo Montoya is a fictional character in William Goldman's 1973 novel The Princess Bride.

55. Age __: LIMIT.

56. Onetime Rolex rival: ELGIN. "Elgin was founded in 1864, right as the civil war was coming to an end. The first watch Elgin made, an 18 sized B W Raymond railroad grade watch, was finished in 1867 and over the next 100 years, they went on to produce about 60 million watches. Elgin produced their first wristwatch around 1910." - The Elgin Watch Collectors Site

Fun Trivia ? NBA HOF'er Elgin Baylor was named after his father's favorite watch: - NBA.com - Legends Profile: Elgin Baylor

58. Invite as one's date for: ASK TO.

61. Email folder: SENT.

64. "Harrumph!": BAH.

65. Acting guru Hagen: UTA.