Tuesday, June 7, 2022, Robin Stears

 

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here.  "What!?," I hear you ask. "Isn't this Tuesday and not Thursday?  Did I oversleep?  By forty-eight hours?  Where is Hahtoolah?"  Well, as she let us know last Tuesday, and D-O further informed us last Wednesday, Hahtoolah is touring in Europe this month.  I have the honor of filling in for her today.  While I do not expect to come anywhere close to her level of clarity and humor, perhaps we can still share some insights and some laughs.

Today's puzzle setter, in what is not her L A Times crossword debut, is Robin Stears .   Here is a link to a December, 2017 introduction to Robin on the Puzzle Nation site:  Robin Stears / Puzzle Nation.

The puzzle's reveal comes after all four of the themed answers (if you solve from top to bottom):

54. "Shoo!," and an instruction that goes with the last words of the answers to the starred clues: GET OUT OF HERE.

The starred clues and answers are:

19 Across:  *Social media time-out: FACEBOOK JAIL.  Get out of jail.

26 Across:  *Channel bottom: CREEK BED.  Get out of bed.

34 Across:  *Area of Hersheypark with the Candymonium roller coaster: CHOCOLATE TOWN.  Get out of town.

47 Across:  *Bit of trickery on a return: TAX DODGE.  Get out of Dodge.  From oaters.

Here is how this all looks in the grid:

 . . .  and here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Multivitamin mineral: ZINC.  What kind of metal was RMS Titanic made of?  ZINC.

5. Joined the choir: SANG.  A famous singer SANG for the patients at a hospital.  When he finished he said "Bye bye.  I hope you get better."  "You, too," replied the patients.

9. Corn discard: COB.  The first of twenty-six three-letter answers today.

12. Rachael Ray sauteing initialism: EVOO.

13. Ranch rope: LARIAT.  See also 8 Down.

15. "Knives Out" actress de Armas: ANA.

16. Foam ball brand: NERF.

Nerf Dog Tennis Ball Launcher

17. Kampala's country: UGANDA.  The capital and largest city.

18. Pro Bowl org.: NFL.  The National Football League.

22. Pinnacles: ACMES.  When the clue is singular we have to choose between ACME and APEX but neither APICES nor APEXES was going to work.

25. Church topper: STEEPLE.

30. Frozen rain: SLEET.

31. How-__: DIY guides: TOS.

32. "Life of Pi" director Ang: LEE.

33. Jazz poet Scott-Heron: GIL.  New to me but easily perped.

40. Half an umlaut: DOT.

41. "Blue Bloods" actor Cariou: LEN.

42. Thumbs-up at NASA: AOK.  Not a dyslexic tree.

44. Land measures: ACRES.  A quarter ACRE of undeveloped land might not seem like much to some people but to me it's a lot.

50. Move in a breeze, as a flag: FLUTTER.

53. Printer brand: EPSON.

58. Skeptical laugh: HAH.  Not to be confused with a sneaky laugh, HEH?

59. "__ Rouge!": Kidman film: MOULIN.  Français.  En anglais, c'est Red Mill.

60. Written reminder: NOTE.

64. MSNBC journalist Melber: ARI.  See also Exodus, Entourage, and Jackie "O".

65. Came afterward: ENSUED.

66. Actor McGregor: EWAN.

67. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE.

68. Papaya discard: SEED.

69. Many an auctioned auto, for short: REPO.  REPOssessed.

REPOSSESSED - 1990

Down:

1. Super chill, informally: ZEN.

2. "Now __ seen everything!": IVE.

3. Neither's partner: NOR.

4. Dunkin' serving: COFFEE.  In 2019, Dunkin' Donuts changed its name to, simply, Dunkin'.  Several years earlier, Merl Reagle gave us all a laugh by relocating the D and thereby changing the name to Unkind Donuts.

5. Stuffing herb: SAGE.

6. Many a Moroccan: ARAB.  ARAB has also been clued roughly seven hundred other ways according to the Visual Fractions website.

7. Spanish boys: NINOS.

8. "Wonder Woman" star Gal: GADOT.  Gal visits fairly often.

Wonder Woman and Her Lasso of Truth

9. Cocktail party bite: CANAPE.

10. Among one's records: ON FILE.

11. "Swan Lake," for one: BALLET.

Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo

13. "Star Trek" captain Jean-__ Picard: LUC.  A CSO to Robert.

14. Doesn't fight back: TAKES IT.  For a brief moment I thought that they had dropped a letter.  Don't TAKE SIT from anyone!

20. Inquire: ASK.

21. Dessert that quivers: JELLO.

22. Play a role onstage: ACT.

23. Shoe with lots of holes: CROC.

24. Netting material: MESH.

27. Rorschach test component: BLOT.  What do you see?

28. Fish that can swim backward: EEL.

29. Handed out cards: DEALT.

33. Group with fortysomethings: GEN X.  Born between 1961 and 1981.

35. Poetic opening: ODE TO.

36. Halloween garb: COSTUME.

37. Spill the __: gossip: TEA.

38. Fistfuls of dollars: WADS.

39. Thumbs-down at NASA: NO GO.  Not A OK.

43. Jeong of "Community": KEN.  This was beyond my KEN.  Thanks, perps.

44. Crocheted coverlet: AFGHAN.

45. "Ramona the Pest" novelist Beverly: CLEARY.

46. Blues and folk singer/songwriter Foster: RUTHIE.

Ruthie Foster Covers Johnny Cash

48. German article: DER.  We have to figure out if it will be DER or EIN.

49. Warm-up act: OPENER.

51. Jackets named for a British school: ETONS.

52. Shake awake: ROUSE.

55. Chimney part: FLUE.

56. Hurried, quaintly: HIED.

57. Finish: END.  So what if you don't know what Armageddon means.  It's not like it's the END of the world.

61. Be indebted to: OWE.

62. Slight touch: TAP.

63. Ambient music pioneer Brian: ENO.  Another frequent visitor.

As a postcript, some cruciverbalists might find the following article to be of interest:

Discover Magazine - Neural Crossword Solver Outperforms Humans

. . . . and now, perhaps, it is time to get out of Dodge . . .

פרת ים

MM Out