Pump Up The Jam
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| Click if you don't know the song |
Ok, I concede, you can't make jam out of a pump but "plum up jam" isn't a thing -- though, you can plumb UP a [door] jamb :-).
Anyone with a better title? Fortified Foods?
Today, Freddie adds the word UP to intensify our foods / FARE. Let's see what I mean.
20. Add bulk to cured meat?: BEEF UP JERKY. BEEF UP: Make it stronger, better, more interesting.
25. Treat haricot verts to extra plant food?: BUTTER UP BEANS. Haricot verts are French green beans [Google]. BUTTER UP: Praise or flatter in order to get someone to do something
42. Give some oomph to pot stickers?: SOUP UP DUMPLINGS. SOUP UP: Make more powerful such as an engine.
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| Yummers! |
52. Concerns for commuters, or an apt title for this puzzle: FARE HIKES.
I, for one, liked the theme and thought the wordplay in the themers fun. The only downside (or upside depending on your solving experience) is you knew UP was after the verb / before the food.
Across:
1. Element of ecclesiastical architecture: APSE.
5. Pave over: RETAR.
10. Business magnate: CZAR.
14. Tailless cat: MANX. The Manx cat is a breed of domestic cat originating on the Isle of Man, with a mutation that shortens the tail. Many Manx have a small stub of a tail, but Manx cats are best known as being entirely tailless; this is the most distinguishing characteristic of the breed, along with elongated hind legs and a rounded head. [WikiP]
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| Manx Cat |
15. "Same here," more formally: AS AM I. Not "ditto?"
16. Gold element of some religious paintings: HALO.
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| History of the World Part I |
17. Thing that may have twists and turns: PLOT. Cute.
18. Capacitance unit: FARAD. A capacitor holds a charge between two plates. The Farad was named for Michael Faraday.
19. Penny-__: ANTE. Small stakes poker
20. [See: theme]
23. Pro Bowl org.: NFL. National Football League holds a Pro Bowl (all star) every year the week before the Super Bowl.
24. California's Big __: SUR. Let's check in with the Chamber of Commerce.
25. [See: theme]
32. Longtime "Dancing With the Stars" judge Goodman: LEN.
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| Len passed last year of pancreatic cancer. |
33. "My bad": SORRY.
34. Zelenskyy's country: Abbr.: UKR. Ukraine's president is Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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| There lots of deep-fakes of him dancing but one account is real. |
36. Range units: ACRES. "Home, Home, Home on the Acres" just isn't the same.
39. Hubbub: ADO.
40. __ del Carmen, Mexico: PLAYA.
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| Playa del Carmen in relation to... |
42. [See: theme]
45. "No time to talk!": I'M LATE.
Alice in Wonderland's Rabbit
46. Half of an interrogation pair: BAD COP.
Maya Rudolph and Jason Bateman Play Good Cop/Bad Cop
French Cop / Italian Cop #Improv
47. Decryption need: KEY. Two types of keys - symetric and asymetric. A semetric key is used to encrypt and decrypt. Asymetric keys are two related keys - one is used to encrypt and the other is used to decrypt (read more). Asymetric encryption is what makes online shopping possible.
48. Highway sign no.: RTE.
50. WWII carrier: LST. World War II's "Landing Ship, Tank", 1ea.
51. Dreyer's partner in ice cream: EDY. Crossworddom's favorite frozen treat; presumably the OREOs & cream variety.
52. [See: theme]
55. Corn Belt state: IOWA.
58. Shiraz resident: IRANI.
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| Pretty much 9 hrs. due south of Tehran |
59. Milton setting: EDEN. John Milton's poem Paradise Lost.
63. Pub contest: QUIZ.
64. Disciplined, in a way: FINED.
65. Roof overhang: EAVE.
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| Eave |
66. Place to build: SITE.
67. Months and months: YEARS.
68. Was positive: KNEW.
Down:
1. Band aid: AMP. Cute.
2. Sidekick: PAL. Not Tonto nor Robin.
3. Stuffed shirt: SNOB.
4. Length: EXTENT.
5. Some drawings: RAFFLES. Pastels fit.
6. Biblical birthright seller: ESAU.
7. Renovator's protective cover: TARP.
8. Key of Beethoven's Sym. No. 7: A MAJ. Even if you don't know, you can count on an M and wait for perps.
9. Rolls past: RIDES BY.
10. Yogic spiritual center: CHAKRA. Did you know it's also another Stan Lee superhero?
11. Off-the-wall: ZANY.
12. PC key near Z: ALT. Left side of your keyboard.
13. Sturgeon delicacy: ROE.
21. Young salamander: EFT.
22. Have regrets about: RUE.
25. Turn into: BECOME.
26. Disorderly: UNRULY.
27. Thing that may have twists and turns: ROAD. Cute Clecho with 17a.
28. Pakistani language: URDU.
29. Dance with a queen: PROM.
ABBA's Dancing Queen
30. Fine point: NUANCE.
31. Heavenly body?: SKY GOD.
32. Shortsighted solution?: LASIK. Cute.
35. Rough, in a way: RASPY. RASPY wasn't a ROUGH START Monday.
37. Org. concerned with plastic pollution: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.
38. Buddhist teaching: SUTRA.
40. One in a buffet stack: PLATE.
41. Starbucks top: LID.
43. Paralyze with fear: PETRIFY.
44. "The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo" airer: PBS KIDS.
49. Strange and scary: EERIE.
50. Hard-hit baseball: LINER.
52. Throw for a loop: FAZE.
53. Mandlikova in the International Tennis Hall of Fame: HANA.
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| Her Wiki |
54. Try to find: SEEK.
55. Sharpness figs.: IQS. Intelligence Quotient. Its a measure against others your age on a test designed to measure intelligence / problem solving. The average is 100, one sigma is 85 to 115. If you're three-sigmas from the mean, you're either a genius or a moron (or both!)
56. "Absolument!": OUI. Is the clue really a word? Or even French??
57. One with a knack for snappy comebacks: WIT.
60. Auerbach of the Black Keys: DAN.
61. "House of the Dragon" actress Best: EVE.
62. Word in four state names: NEW.
The Grid
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| The Grid |
WOs: mask->TARP, Lts->LST (untie!), dAZE->FAZE
ESPs: PLAYA, DAN
Fav: Penny-ANTE. FIL used to say "Penny-ANTE lollipop bullsh**" for the small stuff.
What foods can you UP? My Angel Editor came up with four (4) in short-order.
Cheers, -T
