Theme: Is it chilly in here? 
Hello Cornerites!
Happy Labor Day! I did not have to work too hard to solve today's puzzle. It felt just right for a Monday.
Two ways to write "easier", Monday-level clues are (1.) use clues we have already seen 100 times and (2.) provide sensible descriptions. I put this puzzle in the latter category. Let's take a look:
We have four starred clues, each with the letters I - C - E broken up across the words, always in that order. Circles are used to highlight those letters. Notice that each of those letters is used only once in each answer.
17 Across. *Clue suspect dressed in red: MISS SCARLET. This time "Clue" refers to the board game. Hasbro's new 2023 edition updated her look.
25 Across. *The key to good locks?: HAIR CARE. I like the pairing of "key" with "locks" in this clue. Legally Blonde fans will remember this scene. (You'll need to stop the video yourself at 3 min.)
"The rules of HAIR CARE are simple and finite. Any Cosmo girl would have known."
Reese Witherspoon (2001)
40 Across. *"I confess! You got me!": GUILTY AS CHARGED. I love this grid-spanner!
50 Across. *Parakeet's home: BIRDCAGE. Bird Paradise in Singapore is Asia's largest enclosed bird park. Below is a 2:13 min. news video covering its opening this past May. (Hi PK!)
The reveal is at
64 Across. Begin a conversation, and what the answers to the starred clues do to their circled letters?: BREAK THE ICE. This idiom means to do or say something to relieve tension or get conversation going at the start of a party or when people meet for the first time. An example of an ice breaker question is, "What is your favorite holiday?" 193 more ice breaker questions
For our puzzle, it refers to the letters I - C - E being separated or "broken up", if you will, across the starred answers.
Neither Marin Wells nor Andrew Kinglsey showed up in my search of our blog's history; however, I did find that they each have published puzzles elsewhere. Congratulations to you both on your L.A. Times debuts!
1. Crown sparkler: JEWEL.
6. Like the Mandarin and Thai languages: TONAL. In these languages, words with different TONAL inflections convey different meanings. For example, a single word could be said with four different tones, and each of those tones will change the meaning of the word.
11. Surgery ctrs.: ORS. "Centers" is abbreviated and plural, so is "Operating RoomS".
14. Spanish birthplace of St. Teresa: ÀVILA. link to a Univ. of Notre Dame website
15. Food flavoring: SPICE.
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| Get it? He's dead. Haha! |
16. Conjunction that's the "B" in the FANBOYS mnemonic: BUT.
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| I was unfamiliar with the mnemonic, BUT I could only think of one 3-letter conjunction beginning with the letter "B"; so, boy, am I a fan! |
20. 4x4, briefly: UTE. a utility vehicle
21. Boston newspaper: HERALD. My local paper is also called The Herald. I have a digital subscription.
22. Foreboding sign: OMEN. In other news, Season 2 of Amazon Prime's Good OMENs came out this summer. It stars David Tennant, Michael Sheen, and Jon Hamm. Here is the 2 min. trailer.
23. Package: PARCEL.
68. Painter's stand: EASEL.
69. Night anticipating the Ball Drop, informally: NYE. New Year's Eve
70. Where most of "Moby-Dick" takes place: AT SEA. Yesterday we had 5D Captain PELEG.
71. Romance novelist Danielle: STEEL. Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein Steel was born on August 14, 1947 in New York City. One source said she has written over 200 books and 25 of them have been made into movies.
Down:
1. Become clogged, as a printer: JAM UP.
2. "Buenos Aires" musical: EVITA. I never tire of this stirring refrain.
3. Knowing better now: WISER.
4. Golfer Ernie known as "The Big Easy": ELS. Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer with more than 70 career wins. He was born on October 17, 1969 in Johannesburg.
5. __ out: reacted angrily: LASHED.
6. Russian autocrat: TSAR. An autocrat is someone who has absolute power.
8. __ wafers: NILLA.
9. Nailed an exam: ACED IT.
10. Net judge's call: LET. This is called when the ball hits the net but still lands in the service court, usually so close to the net that it cannot be returned. It is a do-over situation and the server is not faulted.
11. President who appointed two women to the Supreme Court: OBAMA. and 50 Down. President who declared Juneteenth a federal holiday: BIDEN.
12. Less civil: RUDER.
13. Curling piece: STONE. Great clue! Perhaps a stretch but I'm calling it an Easter Egg. CanadianEh!, what do you think?
18. Dip stick?: CELERY. The L had me trying oiL??? for a while. Hand up for dipping my CELERY stick in a jar of peanut butter.
22. Happened: OCCURRED. I could not remember if this word was spelled with two C's or two R's.
24. Popular group in school: COOL KIDS. These KIDS (goats) are COOL!
26. Latvia's capital: RIGA. I learned so much about RIGA while watching this 7 min., Rick Steves-style video. 48 hrs. in Riga
39. Go on to say: ADD.
41. Barber's powder: TALC.
42. Stinging insect: HORNET. But they can be beneficial, too.
47. Rodent in a maze: LAB RAT.
49. Raves (about): GUSHES.
51. "The Twilight Zone" specialty: IRONY. So true! In many episodes, a twist at the end turned the tables on the less-than-honorable character(s). "Situational IRONY" occurs when an expected outcome is subverted. A literary example is O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.
52. "Home on the __": RANGE. Where the deer and the antelope play. 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮
53. Speculate: GUESS.
54. Wipe clean: ERASE.
56. False front: GUISE.
57. Quiz-show host: EMCEE.
58. Say "C-H-E-E-S-E"?: SPELL. This clue was one of my favorites. The hyphens indicate that we are to say each letter, not the whole word. We are SPELLing the word "cheese" -- not posing for a picture.
61. Self-assembly furniture giant: IKEA. "IKEA" is Swedish for "couples quarrelling". 😜😜
64. Chemical in some plastics, briefly: BPA. Bisphenol A is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1950s. Retailers began replacing water bottles and baby bottles with BPA free containers around 2008. More from the Mayo Clinic
65. "Dig in!": EAT.
27. Poems of praise: ODES.
29. Muscle twitch: TIC.
30. Regarding: AS TO.
33. Civil rights icon Parks: ROSA.
36. Tropical fruit: GUAVA. I heard this cover of the GUAVA Jelly song on the radio just about every day when I lived in Hawaii. It was originally written and recorded by Bob Marley.
29. Muscle twitch: TIC.
30. Regarding: AS TO.
33. Civil rights icon Parks: ROSA.
36. Tropical fruit: GUAVA. I heard this cover of the GUAVA Jelly song on the radio just about every day when I lived in Hawaii. It was originally written and recorded by Bob Marley.
The Ka'au Crater Boys (1998)
43. Tennis star Naomi: OSAKA. She became a mom this summer.
44. Silicon Valley's __ Alto: PALO. city website for visitors
45. Pond plant: REED.
46. "__ be the judge of that": I'LL. See 40A.
48. Temptation: URGE.
55. Elbows: NUDGES. Two weeks ago, 1A was NUDGE so I blogged about NUDGE Theory in Behavioral Economics. A Cornerite posted a link to the classic Monty Python skit. Here we have a comic linking them together. #SomethingForEveryone
45. Pond plant: REED.
46. "__ be the judge of that": I'LL. See 40A.
48. Temptation: URGE.
55. Elbows: NUDGES. Two weeks ago, 1A was NUDGE so I blogged about NUDGE Theory in Behavioral Economics. A Cornerite posted a link to the classic Monty Python skit. Here we have a comic linking them together. #SomethingForEveryone
 |
| As you probably guessed, the UK's Behaviour Insights Team is nicknamed the Nudge Unit. |
59. Some nest eggs, for short: IRAS.
60. Puts underground: BURIES. and 7 Down. "Queen of All Media" Winfrey: OPRAH.
62. Baseball official: UMP. I checked a couple of dictionaries. "UMP" was not listed as an abbreviation but a few labeled it as "slang" or "informal".
63. __ Quixote: DON.
60. Puts underground: BURIES. and 7 Down. "Queen of All Media" Winfrey: OPRAH.
62. Baseball official: UMP. I checked a couple of dictionaries. "UMP" was not listed as an abbreviation but a few labeled it as "slang" or "informal".
63. __ Quixote: DON.
66. Ted Lasso setting: Abbr.: ENG. ENGland
67. Out of style: PASSÉ.
 |
| hence the tea cup |
68. Painter's stand: EASEL.
69. Night anticipating the Ball Drop, informally: NYE. New Year's Eve
70. Where most of "Moby-Dick" takes place: AT SEA. Yesterday we had 5D Captain PELEG.
 |
| The Pequod's Journey by Alondra Gonzalez |
71. Romance novelist Danielle: STEEL. Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein Steel was born on August 14, 1947 in New York City. One source said she has written over 200 books and 25 of them have been made into movies.
1. Become clogged, as a printer: JAM UP.
2. "Buenos Aires" musical: EVITA. I never tire of this stirring refrain.
Don't Cry For Me Argentina
performed by The Maestro Guido & The European Pop Orchestra
featuring Wendy Kokkelkoren at Kerkrade, the Netherlands
3. Knowing better now: WISER.
4. Golfer Ernie known as "The Big Easy": ELS. Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer with more than 70 career wins. He was born on October 17, 1969 in Johannesburg.
5. __ out: reacted angrily: LASHED.
6. Russian autocrat: TSAR. An autocrat is someone who has absolute power.
8. __ wafers: NILLA.
9. Nailed an exam: ACED IT.
10. Net judge's call: LET. This is called when the ball hits the net but still lands in the service court, usually so close to the net that it cannot be returned. It is a do-over situation and the server is not faulted.
11. President who appointed two women to the Supreme Court: OBAMA. and 50 Down. President who declared Juneteenth a federal holiday: BIDEN.
12. Less civil: RUDER.
13. Curling piece: STONE. Great clue! Perhaps a stretch but I'm calling it an Easter Egg. CanadianEh!, what do you think?
 |
| Norway won the gold in the Fancy Pants category that year. |
18. Dip stick?: CELERY. The L had me trying oiL??? for a while. Hand up for dipping my CELERY stick in a jar of peanut butter.
22. Happened: OCCURRED. I could not remember if this word was spelled with two C's or two R's.
24. Popular group in school: COOL KIDS. These KIDS (goats) are COOL!
26. Latvia's capital: RIGA. I learned so much about RIGA while watching this 7 min., Rick Steves-style video. 48 hrs. in Riga
28. Sudsy bar: SOAP.
30. Earlier: AGO.
31. Dubious, slangily: SUS. SUSpicious, perhaps???
32. Argentine aunt: TIA.
34. Nine-digit ID issuer: SSA. The Social Security Board (SSB) was created on August 14, 1935 when President F.D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. It was renamed the Social Security Administration on July 16,1946.
35. LGBTQ+ advocacy org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union
37. Dating app info: AGE.
30. Earlier: AGO.
31. Dubious, slangily: SUS. SUSpicious, perhaps???
32. Argentine aunt: TIA.
34. Nine-digit ID issuer: SSA. The Social Security Board (SSB) was created on August 14, 1935 when President F.D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. It was renamed the Social Security Administration on July 16,1946.
35. LGBTQ+ advocacy org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union
37. Dating app info: AGE.
38. "Peace" shape: VEE.
41. Barber's powder: TALC.
42. Stinging insect: HORNET. But they can be beneficial, too.
47. Rodent in a maze: LAB RAT.
49. Raves (about): GUSHES.
51. "The Twilight Zone" specialty: IRONY. So true! In many episodes, a twist at the end turned the tables on the less-than-honorable character(s). "Situational IRONY" occurs when an expected outcome is subverted. A literary example is O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.
52. "Home on the __": RANGE. Where the deer and the antelope play. 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮
53. Speculate: GUESS.
54. Wipe clean: ERASE.
56. False front: GUISE.
57. Quiz-show host: EMCEE.
58. Say "C-H-E-E-S-E"?: SPELL. This clue was one of my favorites. The hyphens indicate that we are to say each letter, not the whole word. We are SPELLing the word "cheese" -- not posing for a picture.
61. Self-assembly furniture giant: IKEA. "IKEA" is Swedish for "couples quarrelling". 😜😜
64. Chemical in some plastics, briefly: BPA. Bisphenol A is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1950s. Retailers began replacing water bottles and baby bottles with BPA free containers around 2008. More from the Mayo Clinic
65. "Dig in!": EAT.
Here's the grid:
