Today's constructor is Michael Schlossberg, who last
appeared here with his second LAT puzzle on
January 23, 2022. He has also had
puzzles published in the NYT. Today he warns us about
Some spots you might want to avoid
The key to discovering the theme of this puzzle is a clue within the reveal. I didn't catch it the first time around and had to get some help (see acknowledgements at the end of the review*).
58A. Product used on four of this puzzle's clues: SPOT REMOVER. Reveal clue italics added by the blogger. A careful reading of the clue indicated that something had been removed from the clues, not the fill, as is often the case. If we add SPOT back in, the clue becomes an idiom synonymous with the idiomatic fill. Here are the themers:
17A. Tough: DIRE STRAITS. Tough spot to be in. The Greek hero Odysseus, on his long journey home from the Trojan War found himself between two monsters, the Scylla and the Charybdis, guarding the the Strait of Messina. This story has long been a metaphor for choosing between two lethal alternatives, either of which will probably fail!
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The Scylla and the Charybdis |
DIRE STRAITS, a British rock band formed in London in 1977 adopted the modern equivalent of this metaphor for their moniker. Here's their break out hit Sultans of Swing:
28A. Hot: THE PLACE TO BE. Hot spot to be. A
place that might make you sweat, like a dance club, or under a bright light in
a police interview room.
34A. Sore: TOUCHY SUBJECT.
Sore spot. Sadly the number of touchy subjects in today's society
is on the increase, and meaningful discussions about them are on the
decrease.
42A. Weak: ACHILLES HEEL.
Weak spot. We associate this weakness with Achilles, the hero of the
Homer's Iliad (see 17A about the hero of volume two
The Odyssey). But surprisingly the origin of this flaw derives
not from Homer, but from Greek mythology, which describes Achilles' mother
Thetis dipping him in the River Styx to convey invulnerability, save on the heel by which she held him. This same idea is repeated in Richard
Wagner's opera Siegfried. While this hero is bathing in
dragon's blood to
obtain invulnerability, a single leaf falls between his shoulder
blades.
This is of no concern to him as he would never turn his back and run
from an
enemy. In the end he is betrayed by a false friend, who having found
out about the vulnerability through subterfuge, stabs Siegfried in the
back. Here Wagner portrays
Siegfried's death and funeral march
(10 very moving minutes)
Here are the rest of the clues:
Across:
1. Conspiring circle: CABAL. I filled this first with what later became
1D, but it didn't perp. Semantically however they might be
interchangeable.
6. Singer/actress Thorne: BELLA.
Annabella Avery Thorne
(born October 8, 1997) is an American actress, model, singer, and
writer. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an
Imagen Award, a Shorty Award, a Teen Choice Award and three
Young Artist Awards.
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Bella Thorne |
11. Briefs brand: BVD.
An eponymous brand of men's underpants dating back to 1876.
14. Kitchen magnet?: AROMA.
15. Snacker's stack: OREOS. There must be a thousand ways to clue
these cookies.
16. Tool that only works in water: OAR. Clever clue.
19. Iberian cheer: OLE. The Iberian peninsula encompasses Spain
and Portugal, where soccer and bullfighting are popular. A CSO to Lucina.
20. Second printing: REISSUE.
21. Kerfuffle: RUCKUS.
23. Key above ~: ESC. A gimme if you're filling this on a
laptop.
24. Osso __: BUCO.
Ossobuco or osso buco
is a specialty of Lombard cuisine of cross-cut veal shanks braised with
vegetables, white wine and broth.
Here's a recipe
(2 hrs 15 min, but only 15 minute is prep time).
27. Party of the first part in the Bible?: MOSES. The "first part" of the Bible is the Torah, the books
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. I'm guessing here but the "party of the first part" implies
MOSES, who is considered by many to be the narrator
of these books. Scholars point out however that as Moses died near the
end of Deuteronomy he couldn't have written all of it. But other
scholars counter that he dictated the end of the Torah to his successor
Joshua. But the question arises, on what did he write it down?
It's unlikely that the Israelites carried supplies of parchment scrolls and
ink as they wandered through the desert for 40 years.
However, these stories were actually recorded in human memory during that time, as the transmission of history by early Jews was largely through
oral recitation. Thus it is likely that
the books of the Torah were written down long after the events described in them. Scholars believe that this probably occurred during the period of
the
Babylonian Captivity and second exodus (597 - 537) after the destruction of the Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.
It was the means to survive as a nation in a foreign land by canonizing
and preserving ancient Biblical traditions at a time when
Jewish culture was under great stress.
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The Flight of the Prisoners (1896) the exile of the Jews from Canaan to Babylon James Tissot |
31. "Becoming Madame __": Anchee Min novel set in China: MAO. Becoming Madame Mao is a historical novel by Anchee Min detailing the life of Jiang Qing. She became Madame Mao after her marriage to Mao Zedong. In this story Min tries to cast a sympathetic light on one of the most controversial political figures in the People's Republic of China.
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Jiang Qing 1976 |
32. "Well, well, well!": OHO. Caught you in the act!
33. Homer's well-meaning neighbor: NED. Not the same Homer as in 17A and 42A.
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Ned Flanders |
39. Sweets: BAE. The Baltimorese for BAE is HON. Baltimore Hons are distinguished by their beehive haircuts, flashy dress, and feather boas. Every year there is a HonFest celebrating Hons in the Hampden neighborhood in East Baltimore:
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Baltimore Hons |
41. Massive lexicon: Abbr.: OED. Oxford English Dictionary. CSO to constructors, for only £100 you can get a yearly subscription.
47. Simple semiconductor: DIODE. A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily in one direction; it has low (ideally zero) resistance in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. Wait, there's more.
48. Space heater?: STAR. Our STAR heats a LOT of space.
49. Three-time World Series of Poker champion Ungar: STU. No, not Disco STU, this STU:
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Stuart Errol Ungar
(Sept 8, 1953 – Nov 22, 1998) |
52. Hyperformal "Blame me": IT WAS I. Don't look at me!
54. Haberdashery clips: TIE BARS. Draw in a pub crawl? Menswear buggy whips?
57. "New Rules" singer __ Lipa: DUA. Dua Lipa (born 22 August 1995) is an English singer and songwriter. Dua is a mezzo-soprano known for her signature disco-pop sound. In all the "official" videos of her songs I viewed, it was difficult to separate all the packaging from the human being. Finally I stumbled on this live performance of "Don't Start Now" on SNL in 2021 that liberates her from (most of) the glitz (lyrics):
61. Goof: ERR.
62. Big name in the cosmetics aisle: ESTEE.
63. Data visualization discovery, perhaps: TREND.
The Opte project
(kinda technical) uses visualization to show trends in the growth of the
Internet.
Here's their website. Very pretty.
64. "So?": AND. So?
65. "Copy that": NOTED. ROGER didn't perp..
66. Ish: SORTA. Kinda.
Down:
1. Inner circle: CADRE. This is what I had for 1A at
first. I'm sure that CABALS have CADRES. Somebody
has to give orders to the fall guys.
2. First sign of spring?: ARIES. Of course ROBIN would
have fit (they're a lot smaller than RAMS), but didn't perp.
3. __ acid: BORIC. This contains some visualizations of
Boric Acid. Didn't see any TRENDS though.
4. Hawkeye State college town: AMES. Here's the
ISU website.
5. Miss: LASS. A Scottish Miss no doubt.
6. Withstood hardship: BORE UP.
7. Stretch often named for a music genre: ERA. The
Baroque Era spanned the years 1600 to 1750. Here's a very brief
tutorial on the Baroque genre (5:28). At the end there is a short list
of pieces characteristic of this era, all of which I'm sure are also available
on YouTube.
Hands up from anyone who would venture a name for the the musical ERA we're
living in now?
8. Wreath of plumeria blossoms: LEI.
Also known as frangipani.
9. Tolkien trilogy, briefly: LOTR. As clued the
Lord of the Rings
refers to three novels (The Fellowship of the Ring,
The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) written in stages
between 1937 and 1949. I've read this captivating series twice, once to
my son, who in turn has read them multiple times to his children. Oxford professor J.R.R.Tolkien wrote them at the urging of his publisher due to the
success an earlier novel called
The Hobbit, which is essentially a prequel to LOTR, introducing many of the main
characters. The novels describe the inhabitants and the cosmic struggles of
Middle Earth, a fantasy world in which readers become quickly
immersed. The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were essentially cult
classics until director
Peter Jackson
released three beautifully crafted films for the novels from 2001 -
2003. Here is a trailer for
The Fellowship of the Ring (vocals by Enya):
10. Take on: ASSUME. Well we all know what happens when we ASSUME.
11. Audible precursor: BOOKS ON CD. I've never been attracted to recorded books. There is something about seeing the words on a page.
12. Pot-building poker wager: VALUE BET. This is how you can make big bucks. One of the tricks that I'm sure Stu Ungar (49A) had up his sleeve.
13. Decent, so to speak: DRESSED. As opposed to "naked buck" as my grandchildren would say.
18. __ top: TUBE. A tight-fitting strapless top made of stretchy material and worn by women or girls. Here's an array you can choose from at Walmart:
22. Easy-to-store bed: COT.
25. Like the winner in a number-guessing contest: CLOSEST.
26. Island that hosts the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing: OAHU. Here are the winners since 1983. Don't try this at home:
28. Sigma follower: TAU.
29. Ad __: HOC.
30. Male swan: COB. SWAN and the associated COB, PEN, and CYGNET are becoming crosswordese. The Finish
composer
Jean Sibelius
showed great affection for these graceful birds with musical odes to them in
at least two of his pieces:
the finale of his 5th Symphony
(1:18 min) and in his haunting tone poem the
Swan of Tuonela
(reportedly J.R.R. Tolkien's favorite piece of music). Here's the complete work (8:13 min):
and if you're pressed for time here's
a short clip from it with the evocative English Horn solo (2:43).
31. Leader of a slapstick trio: MOE HOWARD. And a CSO to our
Chairman. Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges,
the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for
four decades. Here's a picture of the Chairman taken from his good
side:
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| Howard in 1937 |
34. Saying little: TACITURN. Not a problem I have.
35. Unblinking sci-fi villain: HAL. Who needs eyelids anyway?
36. First name in couture: YVES. More commonly known as YSL.
37. Java: JOE. Where did the term "Cup of Joe" come from? Here are some folks at Java Joe's enjoying a brew. Is that YooperPhil on the right?
38. Swimmer that hunts using electrolocation: EEL. There is an electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Mean looking critter!
39. "I wouldn't do that": BAD IDEA. I wish I had a nickel for everybody who ever told me that (and I'd listened!). I'd be millionaire.
43. Ore. neighbor: IDA. The great state of IDAHO.
45. "__ is the coward's revenge for being intimidated": Shaw: HATRED.
46. Great Lake near the Pro Football Hall of Fame: ERIE. Hand if you've been there (the HOF not the lake)? Save this URL and you will always know exactly how many dd:hh:mm:ss it is until the next enshrinement.
49. Screen __: SAVER.
50. Reznor of Nine Inch Nails: TRENT. Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails.
51. Vitamin intake std.: US RDA. Recommended Dietary Allowances derived from standards defined in the National Institutes of Health's Nutrient Recommendations: Dietary Reference Intakes. How's that for a mouthful?
53. __ facto: IPSO. Today's Latin lesson: "By the very fact", in other words:
55. CPR pros: EMTS. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. CPR is one of many skills required of EMTS and PARAMEDICS (a more advanced occupation). Here's a brief description of these services from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.
56. NYC division: BORO. Since the clue was an acronym, the fill was a shorthand for BOROUGH. For all of you folks who live in the other half of the US here the New York City boroughs.
59. Mel who hit 511 career home runs: OTT. Here they are in column 4. Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played for the New York Giants, from 1926 through 1947 and made the trip to Cooperstown in 1951. Tragically he died at age 48 a week after an auto accident in Mississippi.
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| Mel Ott |
60. Capital of Thailand?: TEE. The question mark is a clue to misdirection. In this case TEE is the first letter in the word Thailand. Alternate clues for it could be "Golfer's support" or "Cheap short-sleeved shirt with a silk-screened meme on the back".
Thanks bhart for spotting the missing grid, and thank you C.C. for the temporary bailout!
*Also it was Teri who helped me figure out the theme. My long range plan is to get her to do the whole blog! Anywho, after solving the puzzle the theme didn't jump out at me right away, and as I was headed upstairs for my afternoon nap I asked her to take a look at the theme clues. Within 5 minutes she came upstairs and triumphantly announced her findings.
