Thursday, November 25, 2021, David P. Williams

Today we have another visit from relatively new constructor David P. Williams, who believe it or not came out of the starting gate with a Saturday themeless puzzle on May 15, 2021.  Here's Husker's review.  David followed that up pretty quickly with a puzzle on Sunday, June 20, 2021.  Here's C.C.'s review.  As  near as I can tell this puzzle is his third with the LA Times.

David invites us out on the dance floor to get down and boogie with a genre that may seem new to many Cornerites.  It will be easier to see what's going on if we start with the reveal:

60A. Acrobatic street moves ... or a hint to parts of the answers to starred clues: BREAK DANCES.  The clues are paired, and the "parts" are the END of the first clue and the BEGINNING of the second clue, "broken" by a single BLACK square in the 2nd clue.  Here are the themers with the dance parts highlighted in RED below.  When put back together these parts spell a familiar, popular dance:

17A. *Country in much 2021 news: AFGHANISTAN.  Albeit not good news.
22A. *World's fifth-largest desert: GOBI.  The GOBI desert is a virtually water-less place that nevertheless supports  an amazing variety of plant and animal life.  The Mongolian word GOBI is actually a synonym for 1A SAHARA. 

Rejoining these parts gives us the TANGO, the national dance of Argentina, which originated in the late 19th Century.   At the time it was considered very risqué, because the dancers, ya know ... actually touched!  Composer Astor Piazzolla helped make the TANGO acceptable in "polite society":

23A. *Key to more issues: RENEWAL.  If you don't renew you'll get reminders until they decide to send it to you for free because they need the ad revenue.
29A. *Greek yogurt sauce: TZATZIKI.  I'll bet it took David a while to find the secret sauce for this one.

Rejoining these parts gives us the WALTZ, the national dance of Austria.  Like the TANGO the WALTZ was considered scandalous when it first appeared.  Now imagine that you're at a New Year's Eve party at the Schönbrunn Palace outside of Vienna, and everyone is dancing The Blue Danube Waltz.  A CSO to Yellowrocks (just think of Waltzes as round Square Dances!):

47A. *Swindle: FLIMFLAM.  A lot of these swindles take place over the phone nowadays.
53A. *Bands may leave the stage on either side of them: ENCORES.  In this case "either side" isn't positional, but rather temporal, i.e. BEFORE or AFTER the encore. 

Rejoining these parts gives us the FLAMENCO, a form of song, dance, and instrumental music (mostly guitar and castanets) commonly associated with the Andalusian Roma (Gypsies) of southern Spain.  As it is usually a solo dance, there were never any serious efforts to ban it.  Here is dancer Melina Najjar accompanied by Flamenco guitarist Yazan Ibrahim:

"Break dancing" is not really new, having originated in the streets in the 1970's. And now for our dance FINALE -- these b-boys will show you how it's really done!  HANG ON TO YOUR SEATS!

I found explaining the theme difficult to do.  Perhaps I should have just started with this:
 

Now let's see what other moves we can make:

Across:

1. Name from the Arabic for "desert": SAHARA.  The SAHARA SAHARA? Say that fast 3 times!

7. Siamese warning: HISS.  Such adorable pets (I should know, we used to be owned by one named Ming).  HISS? I'll say!

11. Child support org.: PTA.

14. Stir: PRISON.  Brit slang.

15. "My bad": OOPS.  What ever happened to "Please excuse me"?

16. Um cousins: ERS.

19. Argonne article: LES.  And in Paris too, as in LES MISERABLES:
 

20. Stashed: HID.

21. King who banished Cordelia: LEAR.  A CSO to Ol' Man Keith.

26. Back-combs: TEASES.

28. Log-in credential: USER ID.

31. It's a liquid, paradoxically: GAS.   I'm afraid I have to part company with David on this one (or Rich?) .  The clue should have read: "It's a fluid" with no need for "paradoxically".  Both GASES and LIQUIDS are FLUIDS, but GASES are not LIQUIDS.  NASA can explain it much better than I can. 

Please see Wilbur Charles @4:53 AM for the correct interpretation of GAS!

32. "Dream on": NO CHANCE.

34. Work (out): SUSS.  I hope everyone SUSSED today's puzzle.  We get this word, like much crosswordese from police jargon, e.g. PERP, AKA, APB, ABET:

36. Part of NATO: Abbr.: ORG.  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

37. Board sticker: DART.

41. Not laughing: UNAMUSED.

46. Subject for Warhol: MAO.  In 1972 U.S. President Richard Nixon traveled to China to meet Chairman Mao Zedong, ending years of diplomatic isolation between the two nations. This historic event captured the imagination of Warhol, who, between 1972 and 1973, created 199 silkscreen paintings of Mao in five scales.

Mao Zedong
Dec 26, 1893 – Sept 9, 1976)

  50. Edmonton NHL team: OILERS.  A CSO to Canadian Eh!  Here's their current standings in the Pacific Division (circa 11/18/2021):
 

        Just to be on the safe side I also checked for some other clues for this fill:

52. They don't skip stops: LOCALS.

54. One of the Baldwins: ALEC.  He has been having a rough time of late.

55. Look at rudely: OGLE.

58. Half a cocktail: TAI.  The other half of course being MAI.

59. Karaoke aid: MIC.

64. Two after epsilon: ETA.  Or a swag at when a plane might get to the airport.

65. It might be pulled by a superior: RANK.  It does have its privileges.

66. Crack squads: A TEAMS.

67. Sticky stuff: SAP.  MalMan had this a week ago today.

68. Post counterpart: ANTE.   As in ANTEBELLUM.   We'll let the pigeons peck this one out ...
 

69. First name in the 2016 campaign: BERNIE.  As in Sanders.

Down:

1. Pedi place: SPA. 

2. Lab sound: ARF.  We were owned by a pair of them for about 15 years, Jupiter and Neptune: Perpetual two year olds:

3. Royal __: HIGHNESS.   His ROYAL HIGHNESS is above left.

4. More pallid: ASHIER.

5. Visitors' victory: ROAD WIN.

6. Curry, for one: ANN.  Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist and photojournalist, who has been a reporter for more than 30 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters.

Ann Curry

7. Coiled gardening item: HOSE.  Keeping them COILED is another matter.

8. Capital of Ionia?: IOTA.  A meta clue, the Greek letter for "I".  IONIA is an administrative area of Greece, and thus the capital could be its currency the EURO, or the capital of the area, CORFU, which wouldn't fit. BTW, if you haven't seen it you owe it to yourself to stream The Durrells in Corfu, the true story of a family of 1930's British ex-pats, forced by their circumstances to find a cheaper place to live.  Much real hilarity, drama, and suspense ensue.

9. Michigan State athlete: SPARTAN.  The Michigan State Spartans football team.
 

10. One can't start with 666: Abbr.: SSN.  While I was able to locate several official SSA documents that explicitly confirm this policy, none of them state the basis for it.  Nor could I find any unofficial documents stating why the SSA excluded approximately 1 million potential SSNs.  A brief search regarding the significance of the number itself suggests SSA policy may derive from purported  religious beliefs, history, and numerology inherent in Greek and Hebrew scriptures, areas outside my wheelhouse.

11. House speaker after Ryan: PELOSI.  As in Nancy Pelosi, the daughter of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., a Baltimore politician. She is currently serving her 18th term in congress.
 

Nancy Pelosi

12. He had all the answers: TREBEK.  I was surprised when Google responded to my search with "Did you mean: WHO IS Alex Trebek?"  I guess you'd call that a meta-answer. 
 

Alex Trebek
July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020

13. St. Clare's town: ASSISI.  St. Clare (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253) lived in ASSISI, a small town in the hill country of Tuscany, also the home of her friend St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscan Order.  She is among other things the patron saint of television.  Go figure.  Or read the Wiki article.  Her feast day is August 11.

18. Out of work, maybe: ILL. These days you shouldn't show up at work coughing and with a fever.

22. Looked intently: GAZED.

23. Floor plans?: RUGS.  Rugs?  Any rug specialists out there who can 'splain this one?

24. Biblical twin: ESAU.  ESAU was the older of the twins and founded Edom (the region, not the cheese). JACOB was younger one and founded Israel, which is an extant nation.  Jacob's name was later changed to Israel, but that's a different story.

25. Hoopla: ADO.

27. "Yada, yada, yada" letters: ETC. Can also be a useful euphemism ...
 

29. Pluck, as a harp: THRUM. New to me:
 

30. Turns suddenly: ZAGS.

33. Drama-free state in many a daytime drama: COMA.  AMNESIA wouldn't fit.

35. "Poison" plant: SUMAC. Poison SUMAC, IVY, and OAK, all pictured below, contain an oil called urushiol that can cause severe skin rashes.  These plants don't all occur in the same region, so the first key is to know which one grows in your area and memorize exactly what it looks like.  Secondly, if you think you've been exposed to it, take a shower as soon as you get home and launder you clothes.

38. "__ Gothic": AMERICAN.  Grant Wood's masterpiece, but not his only painting.
 

American Gothic
1930

39. Red inside: RARE. 

40. Corn hole attempt: TOSS.  Here are the recommendations of the American Cornhole League's for equipment, gameplay, and scoring.
 

Cornhole Board

42. Saints' gp.: NFL.  New Orleans Saints and a CSO to Big Easy.

43. Loser: ALSO RAN.

44. Geologic time: EON.  Or it could be an ERA, or a PERIOD.  Here are the differences.

45. Work with a steno: DICTATE.

47. Sweethearts: FLAMES.

48. Title role for Sue Lyon and Dominique Swain: LOLITA.  The role is in movies based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov.  Suellyn Lyon (July 10, 1946 – December 26, 2019) starred in the 1962 film directed by Stanley Kubrick.  Dominique Ariane Swain (born August 12, 1980) starred in the 1997 film directed by Adrian Lyne.  Here they are as adults:

            Sue Lyon         Dominique Swain

49. Arctic covering: ICE CAP.  The latest news on the ARCTIC ICE CAP, hot off the press.

51. Temporary wheels: LOANER.

53. Reggae's __-A-Mouse: EEK.  Eek-A-Mouse (born Ripton Joseph Hylton, 19 November 1957) is a Jamaican reggae musician.  Eek-A-Mouse is well known for pioneering his own style of scatting in the 80s, different from the other reggae artists at the timme.  Here's his Long Time Ago:
 

56. Refined chap: GENT.

57. Many a camp is on one: LAKE.  This one's a CSO to our favorite camper on Lake Easka in the Adirondack Mts.

60. Support wear: BRA.

61. Blot: DAB.  A CSO to our favorite Victorian.

62. Old U.K. record label: EMI.  EMI Records Ltd. is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. The original EMI Records was founded by the music company of the same name in 1972 as its flagship label, and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia and Parlophone record labels.

63. Eau Claire-to-Peoria dir.: SSE.  If you lived in Eau Claire and wanted to PLAY in Peoria, this is how you'd get there:

A Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving everyone!

Freedom from Want
Norman Rockwell, 1943

 

 

And a special thanksgiving to Teri for her proof reading and constructive criticism.

Cheers,
Bill

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Thanksgiving, Teri, Bill and everyone! 

2) Thanks for visiting Spitzboov, Ray! Thanks for updating us. You're in our thoughts and prayers, Spitzboov!

3) Agnes (Irish Miss) and I made today's Universal, click here to solve.

3) Happy birthday to Valerie, love of MM (Joseph)!  Hope MM makes it extra special for you this year. 

4) Happy birthday to Picard also! Where have you been?

Left to Right: Valerie, MM, Merlie & Picard 9/14/2021