Katherine Baicker has had 3 LAT outings and Ross Trudeau has had 10, plus 54 with the NYT, including a collaboration with his Dad, whom you may recognize. I think this is the first time Katherine and Ross have teamed together for the LAT and for today's theme they present us with 4 iconic mascots on a
FAST TRACK
TO THE TOP
But let's begin at the bottom:
58A. Marketing
strategies, and what the mascots in this puzzle have all been given?:
SALES PROMOTIONS.
17A. Mascot who pursued the Hamburglar:
DETECTIVE BIG MAC. He started out as a beat cop who
always got his HAM and was eventually promoted to the rank of
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| Detective Big Mac |
23A. Mascot with a goatee and a string tie: GENERAL SANDERS. This humble COLONEL leveraged his good looks and Southern charm to get promoted to the rank of
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General Sanders |
36A. Mascot "born in the Sea of Milk": ADMIRAL CRUNCH. He started as CAPTAIN CRUNCH and his gimmick was a free whistle in every box. He was quickly promoted to the rank of
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Admiral Crunch |
50A. Mascot who says, "I want to eat your cereal!": MARQUIS CHOCULA. He started out as a lowly COUNT but was promoted to royalty because he was willing to work night shifts and he really sank his teeth into his job:
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Marquis Chocula |
Here's the rest:
Across:
1. Intro courses?: APPS. APPetizers?
5. Female turkeys: HENS. Their mates are called
TOMS.
9. Features of some islands: SINKS. These islands are not in
el Océano (see 45A), but in the middle of your kitchen:
14. Attract: DRAW.
15. Lotion ingredient: ALOE. SNORE. Oops, next clue!
16. Sleeper's rumble: SNORE. May be a sign of sleep APNEA. A sleep study can confirm whether you have it, but in my experience they are elaborate affairs. Basically they bundle you up in a cocoon of wires and sleep sensors and expect you to sleep comfortably while they monitor you overnight. Somebody could make a bundle if they invented reusable, wireless sensors, e.g. bluetooth enabled.
[Theme clue]
20. Dutch cheese: EDAM. Crosswordcheese.
21. Right at sea?: AYE. Whatever you say Admiral! See also 57A.
22. So last year: OUT. "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months" - Oscar Wilde.
[Theme clue]
28. Flying fig.: ALT. ALTitude.
29. Carve up a black diamond?: SKI. A former haunt for Malodorous Manatee. These days he likes to lounge in the lodge sipping hot toddies. 😁
30. Currier and __: IVES. Currier and Ives was a New York City printmaking business that operated between 1835 and 1907. Founded by Nathaniel Currier, the company designed and sold inexpensive, hand painted lithographic works based on news events, views of popular culture and Americana. The corporate name was changed in 1857 to "Currier and Ives" with the addition of James Merritt Ives.
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| A Brush for the Lead |
33. Shade tree: ELM.
35. Service charge: FEE.
[Theme clue]
41. Choice indicators: ORS. RNS and MDS are not options.
42. English pronoun: SHE. See 24D.
43. Excursion: TRIP.
45. Océano contents: AGUA. WATER. Spanish lesson #1.
47. "Sorta": ISH.
49. Estadio cheer: OLE.
[Theme clue]
55. Samantha Bee's former network: TBS. Samantha Anne Bee (born in Toronto, Ontario on October 25, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actress, and television host. A CSO to CanadianEh!
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| Samantha Bee |
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| Mountain Time Zone |
57. Left at sea?: PORT. See 21A.
[Theme reveal]
64. With 40-Down, legal scholar played by Kerry Washington in HBO's
"Confirmation": ANITA. and 40-Down HILL.
Confirmation is a 2016 American television political
thriller film, directed by Rick Famuyiwa and written by
Susannah Grant. The YouTube trailers were way too political, so you'll
have to settle for this:
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| BUT IN THIS CASE IT DIDN'T! |
65. Past regulation, briefly: IN OT. Over Time.
66. Smooch in a lift: SNOG. LIFT is Brit for elevator. As long as the two of you are alone it's not a PDA.
67. Cat collar dangler: ID TAG. If you're really attached to your pet you can have them micro-chipped in case they get lost and lose their ID TAG. We're next!
68. Affixes a patch, say: SEWS.
69. Hushed "Hey!": PSST.
Down:
1. Verb on a dipstick: ADD. But not too much. You
might blow a gasket.
2. Paid intro?: PRE.
3. Protected, in a way: PATENTED. Both PATENTS and TRADE MARKS are protected by the USPTO in Alexandria, VA,
where I worked for a couple of years. They are one of the few
government agencies that pays for itself through the fees it collects
for research and licensing.
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Greta Thunberg |
5. Ones who work with bowlers and boaters: HAT MAKERS.
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Bowler
Boater |
6. Yalie: ELI. Nicknamed for this guy:
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Elihu Yale |
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Artist rendering of a Supernova Image credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss |
9. Govt. stipend: SSI. Supplemental Security Income. A tip 'o the hat to TTP for pointing out my confusion between SSI and Social Security benefits. Here's the difference. Both are administered at the SSA Headquarters in Woodlawn, MD, about 2 miles from our house ...
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Social Security Headquarters |
10. Dutch banking giant with an orange lion logo: ING.
The ING Group is a Dutch multinational banking and financial
services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial
banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset
management, and insurance services. With total assets of US $1.1 trillion, it
is one of the biggest banks in the world, and consistently ranks among the
top 30 largest banks globally. Here's their logo:
12. Alison in the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame: KRAUSS. Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at 14. Here's her song Down To The River To Pray used in the soundtrack to the 2000 Joel and Ethan Coen film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
13. Chip off the old flock?: SECT. Clever clue.
18. Sonata and Cadenza: CARS. This one really had me stumped for a while. Sonatas are solo pieces, e.g. for piano or violin, whereas a cadenza is usually a virtuoso solo interlude within a larger orchestral work, such as a piano concerto. But the second movement of Beethoven's Sonata 32 published in 1822 has an incredibly virtuosic passage that I think qualifies as a cadenza. It was almost 70 years ahead of its time and is reminiscent of ragtime piano. This 2 minute interlude is popularly known as the "boogie-woogie" variation. Take it for a test drive and see if you don't agree:
19. "__-Hur": BEN. Ben-Hur is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. It was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It won 11 Academy awards and it even has an EPIC trailer ...
23. Missing segment: GAP.
24. Spanish pronoun: ELLA. SHE. Spanish lesson #2. A bi-lingual dupe with 43A?
25. Singer/activist Downs: LILA. Spanish lesson #3. Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968) is a Mexican singer-songwriter/activist. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. Here's her Zapata Se Queda
26. French Lord: DIEU. Not the aristocrat, the poor guy. French lesson #1.
27. __ planner: EVENT.
32. Affaire de coeur: AMOUR. LOVE. French lesson #2.
34. NYC FC's org.: MLS. The New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference.
35. Just-brewed carafes of coffee, e.g.: FRESH POTS.
37. Kirkuk's country: IRAQ. Kirkuk (Arabic: كركوك, Kurdish: کەرکووک) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located 238 kilometres (148 miles) north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, and Assyrians.
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| Iraq |
39. Salad topping: CROUTONS. CROÛTONS. French lesson #3 (you get extra points for the ^)
40. See 64-Across: HILL.
44. Storied cause of royal insomnia: PEA. In case you slept through it ...
45. Radio setting: AM BAND. AM FM and ALARM were too short.
46. Like the streets in some period pieces: GAS LIT.
48. Nocturnal call: HOOT. Another CSO to Ray - O. This makes two weeks in a row.
51. Strike caller: UMP.
52. Elba of "The Suicide Squad": IDRIS. Elba is definitely not risk aversive. The Suicide Squad is a 2021 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team Suicide Squad. Imagine that.
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53. Curling target: STONE. Also called "Chess on ice", curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. Oh and BTW, according to this article, the Olympic rules actually call the target area a house.
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| US Olympic Curler Vicky Persinger |
55. Taiwan's first female president: TSAI. Tsai Ing-wen grew up in Taipei and studied law and international trade. She later studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, with her thesis titled "Unfair trade practices and safeguard actions", and was awarded a Ph.D. in law from the University of London.
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Tsai Ing-wen |
60. Old futon problem: SAG. A new clue for old crosswordese?
61. Lower a pitch?: MOW. "Pitch" is a term used by the groundsmen for the NYC FC (see 34D)
62. Figs.: NOS.
63. "__ Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band": SGT. The clue didn't indicate if it was just for the first track or the eponymous album. This link will take you to the play list and you can click Play all to cycle through the whole album (with 1 sec ad blips) or you can pick and choose what you like. Enjoy!
Cheers,
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
