Theme: Your INITIAL reaction:
Puzzling thoughts:
David Ritterskamp appears to be a fairly new constructor of xword puzzles. This may be his LA Times debut. If so, congratulations!
Today's puzzle has its reveal placed at the dead center of the grid:
34. With 36-Across, first encounter, or what the answers to the starred clues make?: INITIAL
36. See 34-Across: CONTACT
My initial reaction to this - as I slogged through the grid in a very pedestrian time of around 15 minutes or so - was "meh". So, I stepped away from the computer and let this one sink in for a day or two before starting my blog
After reviewing the entries, I am still somewhat nonplussed. No offense meant to David. I just don't know how else to react to the puzzle
Here are the four entries and what I took from them:
16-across. *Sound made by bursting a cereal bag?: SPECIAL K POP. Special-K is a brand of cereal (seemed to be more popular back in my youth) that catered to adults (mostly women) who were counting their breakfast calories
K-pop (short for Korean Popular Music) is characterized by a mixture of modern Western sounds and African-American influences (including sounds from Hip-hop, R&B, Jazz, black pop, soul, funk, techno, disco, house, and Afrobeats) [wikipedia]
The initial "K" is in contact with both the word Special and the word Pop. The sound that is made from bursting a cereal bag is "POP"
29-across. *24-hour TV marathon that requires glasses?: THREE D DAY. Three-D (as spelled out; better known as 3D) is the appearance of something that has (in its image) length, width, and depth. Images on a flat screen surface (movies and tv) are seen in 2D (length and width). But with 3D Glasses one can see the added "depth" feature
D-day is most commonly referred to as the invasion of Normandy and nearby beaches by Allied troops in WWII. This occurred on June 6, 1944.
Fun fact: Here's what you get when you google the term D-DAY Marathon
The initial "D" is in contact with both the word Three and the word Day. The 24-hour period that requires 3D glasses is a DAY
43-across. *Many fan letters to N.W.A.?: EAZY E MAIL. Eazy-E was a member of N.W.A. who died some thirty years ago
E-mail is a popular means of communication
The initial "E" is in contact with both Eazy and mail. Fan letters used to be sent primarily by MAIL - as in the US Postal Service
59-across. *Bridge that plays a familiar note when crossed?: MIDDLE C SPAN. Middle C is a musical note that every piano student is familiar with. Middle C (video); Middle C (more info about the note)
C-SPAN is a private nonprofit television network organization that is funded by its cable, satellite, and streaming affiliates. They feature live broadcast of the US Government (think Congress hearings, e.g.) and other public affairs programming
The initial "C" is in contact with the word Middle and the word Span. Another definition/characteristic of the word SPAN is bridge. If a bridge were to play a familiar note as it's being crossed, Middle C would suffice
I hope this is what David had in mind when he created this puzzle. If any of you who visit here and read the blog have a different view, please comment below. Here is the grid; you can see (by the black marks in the corners of some of the squares) where I made my errors:
5. After, in Avignon: APRES. I always think of this word when it applies to a winter sports activity:
10. Texting format initials: SMS. Crossword-ese
13. Tiniest bit: IOTA. Ditto
14. Flexible: PLIANT. Good Friday word (good, as in acceptable!)
15. __ it on thick: LAY.
18. Ancient: OLD. Probably how my grandson sees me when I am being curmudgeonly
19. Fix, in a way: CEMENT. Krazy-Glue didn't fit
20. Tags on Insta, say: ATS. No clue; I rarely use Instagram so this is a foreign phrase. Auto-tags?? (this is a WAG)
21. __ song: SWAN. Moe-ku:
Witty Mockingbird
Retired. Guess his last act?
He sang his SWAN song
22. California home of the National Yo-Yo Museum: CHICO. I tried CHINO and got a black mark in the "N" square
24. "Us" director Jordan: PEELE. His biography
25. Sales talk: PITCH. SPIEL also fit - until it didn't
31. "Brave New World" drug: SOMA. Here is why SOMA
32. __-ray: BLU. Got this one!
33. Rooibos, for one: TEA. I didn't get this one until perps came by ... I will likely see this again, so I had better commit this to memory
40. University extension: EDU. Got this one, too
41. Baseball's Mattingly: DON. Got this one;
Fun Fact: This past weekend, NYY captain Aaron Judge (the newest Yankee player to be featured in xword puzzles) was ejected for having an argument at home plate (with the ump) on a called third strike. This always carries an immediate ejection. Almost exactly 30 years ago (May 12, 1994), DON Mattingly (who was also the Yankees' team captain at that time) was ejected for a called third strike. They are only two Yankee captains to ever get ejected from a game by an umpire
 |
| The "hit man"; aka, "Donnie Baseball" |
42. Sound reflection: ECHO. Is this worth repeating?
47. Spot of land: ISLET. Or, a spot/dot in the water on most atlases and globes
48. Some vines: IVIES. "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat IVIES ..."
49. Bailey's Irish __: CREAM. This used to be my go-to CREAMer for my coffee ... until I discovered Buffalo Trace Bourbon CREAM
51. Give for a time: LEND. The past tense of LOAN. We gotta pay attention to our tenses here when reading the clues and filling in the grid ...
52. Means to be cooler: FAN. As opposed to "ways" to be cooler, which could be "HIP"
53. Irrigates: WATERS. This video shows another type of "irrigation" @ 2:57 ... the patient appears to be in shock! 😕😧😮
58. Gerund suffix: ING. [from Oxford Languages]: "a gerund in a form that is derived from a verb but that functions as a noun, in English ending in -ing, e.g., asking in do you mind my asking you?"
61. Take advice from a personal injury lawyer, perhaps: SUE. Moe-ku 2:
Singer Johnny Cash
Employed a gentile lawyer:
He's a goy named SUE
62. Submits taxes sans paper: E-FILES. It has been my means of filing for over a decade now
63. Anti-fur gp.: PETA. Hmm?:
 |
| Does this pass the no-politics test?? |
64. Them alternative: HER. They/them; she/her; he/him
65. Make big bangs?: TEASE. Moe-ku 3:
Character Penny
Liked to flirt with Leonard on:
The Big TEASE Theory ...
Down:
1. Compact __: DISC. Or it could've been clued as: "the D in CD"
2. Wrangler's need: ROPE. JEEP fit, but in the clue's context did not
3. Shipped pair?: ITEM. Credit Margaret for explaining this to C-Moe: "let's say you're shipping a pair of shoes in a box. The UPS store would see that shipment as one 'ITEM'"
Seems plausible to me ...
4. Walk to and fro: PACE.
5. Tide shelfmate: ALL. I think the clue is OK (ALL is a
brand of laundry detergent; like Tide) provided they meant
"store-shelfmate". We only have one brand of detergent on the shelf in
our laundry room, and a bar of Fels Naptha
6. Detective voiced by Ryan Reynolds: PIKACHU. A Pokemon character
7. Kite, for one: RAPTOR. Learning Moe-ment: [earthlife dot net]: "Kites are smaller raptors with long wings and weak legs which
spend a great deal of time soaring. They occur naturally in the warmer
regions of this world. In general they will take live prey but mostly
feed on dead animals"
8. Father of Kenan: ENOS. Most of we old folks will recall when a constructor wanted to use the word "ENOS", they would clue it as : Slugger Slaughter (or something similar)
9. Gas additive brand: STP. Could this abbr. be clued any differently? There must be a texting phrase linked to these letters ... Stop Typing Poorly, perhaps??
10. Got ready to stop: SLOWED. Last week I slowed as I
was making a right hand turn (green light) and got rear-ended. The
guy who rear-ended me had no insurance card at the scene, but was cited
by the police for causing the accident. I am still waiting to hear from my insurance carrier to see if they were able to determine if he does have coverage. In the meantime, my car is about 50/50 from being totaled (according to the body shop) ... arrgghh
11. UNESCO's __ Fund for Girls' Right to Education: MALALA. Looks like a very worthy cause
12. "Finding Nemo" city: SYDNEY. I visited Sydney once,
but never found Nemo. I did climb the Harbour Bridge, though. No
personal cameras allowed so I have no photo to share other than this
"stock one":
 |
| I climbed it at night. Sydney Opera House to the left |
14. Well-worn trail: PATH. Margaret and I have hiked many of the trails nearby; they are quite well-worn. Many are over 150 years old
 |
| Treasure Loop trail (path) in AZ |
17. Move slowly: INCH. Three Stooges, anyone??!
21. Gets ready for surgery: SEDATES. Before or after they IRRIGATE the wound?? I was most recently SEDATED when I had my colonoscopy. Interesting that the performing physician referred to the procedure as "surgery"
23. "__ cost ya!": IT'LL. Not this blog, though. It's free but I know that C. C. welcomes any donations
24. Hammer end: PEEN. I started to create a Moe-ku and then said, "Nope" 😀
25. Penultimate Greek letter: PSI. Don't you just love the word "penultimate"??!
26. F-, e.g.: ION. In this case, a fluoride ION
27. "I'm covering my ears now!": TMI.
28. Like some retro frames: CAT-EYED. My partner Margaret admits
that she had a pair of these when she was a kid. She refuses to EVER
get another pair of these frames again ...
 |
| This is not Margaret, BTW. Though without glasses they do look similar |
30. School near Heathrow: ETON. Yet another way to clue this classic crossword entry
32. Scarecrow creator: BAUM. The creator of "The Wizard of Oz", L. Frank BAUM
35. __ of March: IDES.
36. Natalie with nine Grammys: COLE. Would not have been easy to parse if the clue were: "Natalie with nine "grammies" ... I had three grammies, growing up ...
37. Knee pt.: ACL. I was at first "torn" by what to put here ... 😃
38. Marxist Guevara: CHE.
39. Tyke: TOT.
41. Oktoberfest outfits: DIRNDLS. A German dress - famous in the Alps
43. Billie who is the youngest woman to win two Oscars: EILISH. Best Song - for "Barbie" and "No Time to Die"
44. Way, or means: AVENUE. Not "Means or Ways" - a federal committee responsible for taxes and tariffs
45. Snappy put-down: ZINGER. I like Sheldon's word, better ... long
46. National park on Mount Desert Island: ACADIA. Margaret has never been to Maine. I have, but have never visited ACADIA National Park. Bucket list item
47. Apple with a few cores: IMAC. Probably the most clever clue in today's puzzle. Computers have "cores" (multiple) while an apple (fruit) has just one. Apple is the computer company that makes the IMAC desktop model
Moe-ku 4:
My Apple IMAC
Had a faulty CPU:
Rotten to the core
50. Stupefies: AWES.
52. Revolutionary era pipe: FIFE. As in FIFE and drums corps
54. Baking amts.: TSPS.
55. Foil alternative: EPEE. Saran wrap would not fit ...
56. Give a star, maybe: RATE. To me, I will usually only RATE a product (or service) based on whether it totally pleased me (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) or totally pissed me off (⭐)
57. Lose it: SNAP. When I was rear-ended last week I admit that I snapped
59. Crossed: MET. Did anyone keep track of the TLWs today?? Irish Miss??
60. Greta of "The Morning Show": LEE. Greta LEE plays Sheila Bak Total unknown, to me
