What a delicious, double delight! My first review of a C.C. Burnikel puzzle, edited by our new editor Patti Varol. And it has everything: it's an eclectically clued, not too hard, not too easy Thursday puzzle, with an easily sussed theme, circles, CSOs, lots of music, and of course lots of food!
Here are the themers:
3D. Revenue for attorneys: LEGAL FEES. Right off the bat we have CSOs to our legal beavers Hahtoolah and Lemonade. Lemony only recently RAISED my awareness about vertical themes, e.g. those used in this puzzle. His tip was they are usually a clue that there is a visual element to the theme.
7D. Garment associated with the Aran Islands: CABLE KNIT SWEATER. The Aran Islands are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. These islands are however famous for much more than just sweaters. Teri and I visited the largest island, Inishmore, in the late 90's, drawn there by our much earlier viewing of a cult classic "documentary" called Man of Aran. It depicted an heroic struggle for existence that had long disappeared by the time the film was made in 1934, but drew waves of tourists to the island and changed the way of life there even further. The film had a major impact on the islands and even spawned a documentary about the documentary, revealing that it had actually been staged with photogenic, paid actors. Here's a short trailer from the newer film revealing some of the mythical elements in the old film.
10D. Warrior with a light saber: JEDI KNIGHT. The light saber was the weapon that revolutionized ancient combat in "a galaxy far, far away". Here Obi Wan Kenobi duels Darth Vader:
31D. Option clicked during a Zoom call:
MUTE BUTTON. A failure to exercise this option can result in a
HOT MIC. I searched YouTube for some examples, but they always seem to involve
politics.
Oh yes, back to the theme. Here's the reveal
38D. Start to make more money, and what the circled letters do?: GET A RAISE. I think our constructor intends for us to read the themers and the reveal itself from the BOTTOM UP and prefix the circled fill with the phrase RAISE A. Reading the grid from left to right we get:
RAISE A FLAG
RAISE A BET
RAISE A STINK
RAISE A BET
RAISE A STINK
and saving the
hardest for last:
RAISE A KID
We now descend to the rest of the clues and fill:
Across:
1. Top of the world?: POLE. The realization that the Earth is spherical with "poles" at its North and South far predates the common misconception that in Medieval and previous times people believed that the Earth was flat. Nowadays of course we all know that Santa Claus and his elves live at the North Pole and the US Post Office even has their address!
5. De __: actual: FACTO. Or is it De JURE? What's the difference?
10. Preservers of preserves: JARS. Or using slightly cracked doors.
14. At any time: EVER.
Oxford Languages Dictionary
15. It's all in your head: BRAIN. Or in your Mind. However, the preceding point of view may be 17A.
16. Géorgie, par exemple: ETAT. The state of Georgia, USA. Today's French lesson.
17. Open to discussion: NEGOTIABLE. The number of negotiable propositions seem to be on the decline these days (see e.g. 25D).
19. Wrapped up: DONE.
20. None whatsoever: NADA.
21. Deli sandwich with two vegetables: BLT. Common crossword fare. We had one this past Sunday clued as "Club kin".
22. Burn slightly: SINGE. Singe another crossword staple and you get:
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Ahi tataki |
23. First player to make a slam dunk in a WNBA game: LESLIE. A slam dunk, also simply a dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by putting the ball directly through the basket with one or two hands. The first woman to perform this feat of legerdemain in the WNBA was 6' 2" Lisa Leslie on July 30, 2002. Here she is, showing off her stuff:
25. Maintenance: UPKEEP. IMHO the cumulative expense of UPKEEP (bug fixes, routine changes, new releases, etc.) is rarely included in cost/benefit analyses for the estimated useful life of software systems. "Getting too expensive to maintain? We'll just write a new one!"
26. Legolas, for one: ELF. This one doesn't live at the North Pole (see 1A), but rather in Middle Earth.
28. Clock sound: TICK.
29. Backs with bucks: FUNDS. Or bucks with backs:
32. Osaka from Osaka: NAOMI. Naomi Osaka was born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, Osaka has lived and trained in the United States since age three. She came to prominence at age 16 when she defeated former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Stanford Classic. Here's a biography for you tennis fans.
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Naomi Osaka |
35. Mix around: STIR. Also Brit for "prison".
37. Shakshuka ingredients: EGGS. Did not know this dish, which is said to have originated in Tunisia. Here's a recipe.
40. Concerning: AS TO.
42. Drive-thru devices: ATMS. Nowadays some crooks are driving through them, loading them onto trucks, and taking them home to plunder the cash.
44. Chick tenders: HENS. Cute clue. Hens not only tend them, but have them.
46. Olympic swords: EPEES.
48. Courteous acknowledgment: HAT TIP. AKA "doffing":
Oxford Languages Dictionary
50. Maguire of ''Seabiscuit'': TOBEY. Before Seabiscuit there was Spider Man, which made Tobey Maguire a star. On the other hand no one expected Seabiscuit the horse to be a star, but he surprised everybody.
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Tobey Maguire |
54. "Riverdale" actor KJ __: APA. Keneti James Fitzgerald Apa (born 17 June 1997) is a New Zealand actor, singer, and musician. Riverdale is an American teen drama television series based on the original characters of Archie Comics. Apa plays Riverdale's alpha-teen, Archie Andrews:
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AJ aka Archie. |
55. Campus job security: TENURE. A CSO to Misty and Ol' Man Keith. Hand up anyone I missed?
56. Make beloved: ENDEAR.
58. Worshipper in dreadlocks, informally: RASTA. Here's some history on Rastafarianism. Many of us are most familiar with Rastafarianism through the songs of of its musical ambassador Bob Marley. Here's his Three Little Birds.
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Bob Marley |
59. Meadow bleat: BAA.
60. Rose Bowl org.: NCAA. March Madness is finally over. Hand up if your team won.
62. Neglect to mention: OMIT.
63. "Way, way off!": NOT BY A MILE. As good as a miss.
66. Nix: VETO.
67. "Easy on Me" singer: ADELE. Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on 5 May 1988 in the Tottenham district of London, to an English mother, Penny Adkins, and a Welsh father, Marc Evans. The rest is history, but suffice it to say that she is 9th on this list (YMMV) of mononymous singers. Here's her "Easy and Me" (lyrics):
68. Uruguay's Punta del __: ESTE. A seaside resort on the "east tip" (Southeast actually) of the country, and today's Spanish lesson. Among other superlatives it has been called the "Monaco of the South":
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Punta del Este |
69. Place with a tree guarded by a flaming sword: EDEN. This weapon sounds a lot like that wielded by a 10D. But this sword guarded the Tree of Life in the Garden of EDEN, preventing the return of Adam and Eve after their fall from grace. Legend has it that the angel brandishing it was named Jophiel.
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| The Angel Jophiel banishing Eve and Adam |
70. Black Panther's hat: BERET.
71. Close securely: SEAL. It's probably just my imagination, but the homophonic Bobby SEALE was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party referred to in the previous clue.
Down:
1. Implement stored in a notebook's spiral: PEN.
2. Tandoor, e.g.: OVEN. All about Tandoor ovens: what they are and how they work.
4. Eat into: ERODE.
5. Org. in "Judas and the Black Messiah": FBI. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 97% of 345 critic reviews of this 2021 film were positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: "An electrifying dramatization of historical events, Judas and the Black Messiah is a forceful condemnation of racial injustice.
6. One of Morocco's official languages: ARABIC. Most Moroccans are multi-lingual. Here's a breakdown of the languages they speak.
8. Lean slightly: TILT.
9. Single: ONE.
11. Made things right: ATONED. To be forgiven is one thing, but to atone is not always easy.
12. Spans: RANGES.
13. Hard to climb: STEEP.
18. Aesthetic sense: TASTE.
22. Ocean froth: SPUME. Evocative of John Masefield's poem Sea-Fever, set to music by composer John Ireland (Masefield's Lyrics):
24. 10-Across tops: LIDS.
25. Sci-fi spacecraft: UFO. Due to Congressional pressure, largely for reasons of national security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a 9 page, unclassified report* in June of 2021 entitled Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP is the new PC for a 25D). This article contains a link to the DNI report in a downloadable PDF file. There are two main schools of thought on these sightings:
(1)
Visitation of the Earth by extra-terrestrials is impossible because of
limitations on interstellar travel that have been clearly demonstrated
by Einstein's theory of Special Relativity. Case closed!
(2)
The flight dynamics of such objects, as observed by veteran pilots and
which have been captured electronically, clearly violate other known
laws of physics. Open to discussion!
Here are two resources regarding this report: an audio interview with investigative reporter Leslie Kean discussing the implications of the DNI report (11 min); and a link to her 2011 book UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record. I have read the latter, and let's just say I found it -- provocative.
* The report provides only summary findings for a small sample of the large numbers of sightings made yearly. No detailed data regarding the sightings is provided. Note that the report is based on 144 sightings, 143 of which were unidentified, i.e. those for which no satisfactory explanation could be found.
26. Subj. for some new immigrants: ESL. English as a Second Language.
27. "Star Wars" general: LEIA. More than you could possibly want to know about Leia.
33. Vaccination spot, typically: ARM. I've gotten two in each ARM. I seem to get odd reactions to the odd shots.
36. Kim __-hyung: full name of the BTS singer known as V: TAE. BTS also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band that was formed in 2010 and debuted in 2013. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own output. Here they are - V is the boy on the left: As of this writing I guess they're not really boys anymore.
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| The Bangtan Boys |
41. Work with a score: OPERA. Opera originated in the Renaissance and is still alive and well in the 21st Century, especially with masterpieces such as Moby Dick by Jake Heggie, which premiered in 2010. Just as Melville's story of the whale-obsessed Captain Ahab is considered by many to be the great American novel, IMHO with Heggie's work we finally have the great American opera. We were privileged to see it at the Kennedy Center in D.C. a few years back in an amazing production with innovative, digitally enhanced staging. Here's a trailer for the same production staged by the San Diego Opera:
43. Fish with prized roe: SHAD. Both the fish and its roe are prized in Maryland. The fish has a lot of tiny bones, but when slow baked for a 2 1/2 to 3 hours the bones dissolve and the fish is delicious. Here's a recipe.
45. Place for a snail facial: SPA. Whatever floats your boat!
47. Part of REM: EYE. Rapid Eye Movement, a sleep stage indicative of dreaming.
49. Big concert venue: ARENA.
50. Paired (up): TEAMED. I team up with Malodorous Manatee on alternate Thursdays.
51. Not remote: ONSITE.
53. Make possible: ENABLE. C.C. ENABLED this particular puzzle and was ABETTED by Patti.
55. Treasure stash: TROVE.
57. High points: ACMES. A member of the crossword A-TEAM, two others being ATOP and APEX.
59. Foreshadow: BODE.
61. Resort near Snowbird: ALTA. Speaking of MalMan, I'll bet he's been there. Hey, don't Snowbirds go to Florida in the winter?
64. "Is it soup __?": YET. Almost ...
65. Smoked fish in unagi nigiri: EEL. I like unagi, but I'm afraid it gives me indigestion.
And as always thanks to Teri for proofreading and constructive suggestions.
waseeley
Cheers,
Bill
