Wednesday, December 14, 2022, Parker Higgins

Theme: THAT'S A NO NO

12. With 12-Down, mantra on embracing difficulty: NO PAIN.
12D. See 12-Across: NO GAIN.

22. With 22-Down, idiom meaning "easy peasy": NO MUSS.
22D. See 22-Across: NO FUSS.

30. With 30-Down, aphorism excusing misconduct that didn't cause damage: NO HARM.
30D. See 30-Across: NO FOUL.

44. With 44-Down, expression describing an absence without leave: NO CALL.
44D. See 44-Across: NO SHOW.

I love theme-heavy puzzles, and this one is pretty great. The the across and down companion clues have the same number, all six theme answers begin with NO and are six letters long. I don't remember seeing anything like this before. The chevron pattern formed the the theme answers is pretty groovy. The last phrase "No call no show," was not as familiar to me as the others. Wiki says it is an American term for absence from the workforce without notifying the employer. So the civilian version of AWOL.

Melissa here. This appears to be Parker Higgins's debut at the corner, although his puzzles have appeared in the NYT and other publications. Congratulations, Parker, we hope you drop in and share your inspiration for this one.

Across:

1. One-named "Baby Beluga" singer: RAFFI. He's still performing. My kids and now grandkids love him, as do I.

6. EMT skill: CPR.

9. Longtime ThinkPad maker: IBM.

13. Bun holder: HAIR TIE. Oooh, good one.

15. Incentives: MOTIVES.

16. "It's curtains for me!": I'M TOAST.

17. Río contents: AGUA. Non-Spanish speakers may have struggled with this one. Río is the Spanish (also Portuguese, Italian, and Maltese) word for "river," and agua is Spanish for "water."

18. __ roast: Sunday entrée: RUMP. Does anyone still have Sunday night family dinners? My former in-laws hosted spaghetti dinner every Sunday. A nice tradition.

20. Grace of "Will & Grace": ADLER. I know the show and actress, but would never have known the character's last name.

21. __ Andreas Fault: SAN. Even though I lived near the fault for many years, this is what rings in my head when I see the phrase. Stevens was silly, but brilliant. Looks a bit like Raffi, too.

24. Party coolerful: ICE. "That's great, you probably never run out of ice your whole life."

25. Young'uns: KIDDOS. Curtain-climbers. Rugrats.

27. Lizzo genre: RAP. Nice to see her getting some love lately. Interesting factoid: Lizzo got her big break from singer Prince, who "co-signed" her music and even got to perform on his 2014 song, 'Boy Trouble.' "Prince was the first person to really make me feel validated as an artist when I heard that track," the singer told NPR.

28. Exams for srs.: SATS. Srs = seniors (as in high school).

29. Gobble (up): SNARF.

32. Simple camera setting: AUTO.

34. McFlurry cookies: OREOS.

36. Sleeping sickness carrier: TSETSE FLY. Nice to see both words.

40. __ bene: NOTA. Latin phrase meaning "note well."

42. Part of a schmear campaign?: LOX. Hee.

43. __ gin fizz: SLOE. From Wiki: Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and sloes. Sloes are the fruit (drupe) of Prunus spinosa, the blackthorn plant, a relative of the plum. I adore gin, but don't think I've ever had sloe gin. Gin vs. Sloe Gin - What's The Difference?

46. Baseball hats: CAPS. Here's another one for parents, remember this?

48. Golden Rule preposition: UNTO. Do unto others. Then split.

50. Jekyll's alter ego: HYDE. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The book was published in 1886, with over 120 stage and film versions alone, including a 1999 musical.

51. Unopened: NEW. Not necessarily. But okay.

52. Most aged: OLDEST.

54. Barnyard bird: HEN.

55. Floppy successors: CD ROMS. Haha. Many (most?) of us used floppy discs. I remember my daughter's confusion when I used the term "carriage return."

57. Members of a cabal, maybe: SCHEMERS. A cabal is a secret plot, or a small group of people who create such a plot.

59. __ projection: ASTRAL. The supposed act of leaving your body while sleeping. But is it real?

60. Acts like a helicopter parent: HOVERS.

61. Get beaten by: LOSE TO.

62. Worker's hourly pay: WAGE.

Down:

1. Domed building: ROTUNDA. Nitpick: I always thought the rotunda was the domed room, not the whole building. According to Capitol Hill Facts (scroll to bottom) it is a circular room in the center of the building beneath the Capitol dome. It is 96 feet in diameter and rises 180 feet from the floor to the canopy, with a volume of approximately 1.3 million cubic feet. So beautiful - an interior view to the rotunda of the US Capitol.

2. Samoan capital: APIA.

3. Best-liked, in texts: FAV.

4. 1980s Pontiacs: FIEROS. Oh yeah.

5. "Long story short ... ": IN SUM.

6. Nabisco brand: CHIPS AHOY.

7. Tennis pundit Shriver: PAM. Fourth cousin of Maria Shriver.

8. Poet Dove: RITA. She served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress From 1993 to 1995, and was the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

9. Home of Firenze: ITALIA. The Name of Florence – Firenze.

10. Halve: BISECT.

11. Scotland yards?: METRES. Metric. Nice clue.

14. __ and reel: ROD. Fishing.

15. Mardi Gras accessories: MASKS.

19. Wall, in Spanish: MURO.

23. Practice boxing: SPAR.

26. "Dang!": DRAT.

28. Kiss: SMOOCH.

31. Silver State city: RENO.

33. __ Aviv: TEL.

35. "Don't move!": STAY HERE.

36. "No Scrubs" pop trio: TLC.

37. Real blankety-blank: SO AND SO.

38. Aces: EXPERTS. Noun  not verb.

39. Takes interest, maybe: LENDS. GREAT clue.

41. Catkin trees: ALDERS.

45. Fresnel __: lighthouse installation: LENS.

47. Promised: SWORE.

49. Part of STEM, briefly: TECH. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a broad term used to group together several academic disciplines.

52. Home of the Munch Museum: OSLO.

53. Brand of sport sandals: TEVA. Never heard of these.

55. Baseball's "Iron Man" Ripken: CAL. Anyone notice this grid is light on sports?

56. Bath rug: MAT.

58. "The Princess Diaries" novelist Cabot: MEG.

 

Notes from C.C.:

Thank you so much for your sweet messages and memories of Boomer. They touched and comforted me greatly.  

His obit is here.