Theme: "PR" pressure
Puzzling thoughts:
Another "reveal-less" Friday puzzle; one that adds the letter "P" next to a phrase that begins with the letter "R" to form 5 "new" phrases based on a hypothetical clue
As a constructor I enjoy creating this kind of "add a letter" (or "subtract a letter" puzzle)
Margi Stevenson has had four recent puzzles (dating back to last fall) published at the LA Times; one each on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So, it's only fitting that her 5th puzzle would be on a Friday; in poker terms, we call that "filling in (or making) a straight"
Here are the 5 entries:
17-across. Stellar essay?: PROSE GOLD. Rose Gold is a term used in the jewelry trade to indicate the color (in this case, "rose") of a piece of gold (bracelet, ring, watch, et al); the other colors being "white" and "yellow". The added "P" twists the phrase to denote that a work of prose might be "golden" (stellar)
22-across. Modest proposal?: PRUDE REMARK. Rude remark is a term used to negatively characterize a person or their demeanor. Too often we hear these from politicians ... the added "P" might soften this a bit as prudes are often quite shy or modest
35-across. Compliment a nice thatching job?: PRAISE THE ROOF. Raise the roof is an oft used term to indicate a cacophony of noises, or maybe loud cheers (at a basketball game, e.g.). The added "P" contorts the idiom by giving kudos to one who performs repairs to the highest point on a house ... kind of like what a pigeon might do if it perched on one and gave "high coos" ...
49-across. June celebrant's social media posts?: PRIDE SHARES. Rideshares is a term that found its way into lexicography when Uber and Lyft became popular. The added "P" here gives a SO to the month of June which has become synonymous with "Pride" month. Of the five entries, this one gave me the biggest chuckle. The only (44-across. Little gripe:) NIT I have with this one is that the word rideshares can be used singularly
56-across. Comparison shop at BevMo?: PRICE WINE. Rice wine is also known as "sake". Sake is a distilled spirit made from rice grain rather than corn, rye, wheat, malt, et al. BevMo! (note the exclamation point after "Mo", which is missing from the clue) is both a big box and on-line retailer of wine and spirits, with stores in California, Arizona, and Washington state. Those of you located east of the left coast probably aren't familiar with them. Personally, I don't shop there. The added "P" makes this answer almost too obvious ...
Here is the completed grid: (see my two corrections: the O in iPod nano and the L in Kal)
Across:
1. Home of S.D. and the O.C.: SO CAL. S.D. is for San Diego; O.C. is for Orange County. Given the BevMo! reference in one of the entries I can only guess that Margi hails from the Golden State. Wonder if she likes IN-N-Out Burgers, too?
6. Cardinals gp.: NFL. Anybody else try MLB before NFL? I did
9. Hall of Famer Piazza who caught the ceremonial last pitch at Shea Stadium: MIKE. Mike Piazza is an erstwhile MLB catcher who is also a member of the HOF. I'm guessing that Patti had a hand in this clue (she's a METS fan)
13. __ myrtle: CRAPE. Anybody else try CREPE before CRAPE? I did
Fun Fact: The Crape Myrtle's roots actually begin in China, where it was named “Pai Jih Hung,” meaning hundred days red for its beautiful color and long bloom season. The Chinese also called it the “monkey tree” because monkeys could not climb the smooth, slippery trunks
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| Crape Myrtle |
14. MSN rival: AOL. Puzzles with 5 entries usually have a plethora of TLWs (18 of them at my last count). Sorry, Irish Miss - and I know that this kind of puzzle is not one of your favorites ...
15. Country with one of the highest life expectancies in the world: JAPAN. I took a wild guess at this based on my knowledge of 5-letter countries ... and when (15-down. Dried meat snack:) JERKY appeared at its perpendicular, I knew I was correct
16. Dried poblano: ANCHO. CSO to Lucina. If she cares to, maybe she'll give us a bit of its history or an anecdote or two about her experiences with using them in recipes
19. Zero-stress period: ME TIME. Nice phrase for a Friday fill, though a tad selfish! 😃
21. Cyberhandle: USER I.D. Mine is "Chairman Moe", duh!
24. "Never gonna happen, laddie!": NAE. What I said to MM last week when he tried to make us believe that he would turn down a dram of Glenmorangie
27. Pt. of 61-Across: SYS (61-across. Pre-Sierra Mac platform:) OSX. I will defer to our resident computer geeks to explain this one
28. Use a straw: SIP. Knowing the mean age of this group, I am guessing that most of you recall when a straw was made of paper, not plastic
29. Go around: BY-PASS. Having just read this book, I am quite familiar with how the US Interstate highway system had to by-pass many cities to preserve some historic areas
31. Spotter's confirmation: I SEE IT. First of the three "IT" phrases
34. "Can do!": ON IT. Second of the two "IT" phrases
39. Eldest Brady boy: GREG. The "Brady Bunch" TV series - back in the day - was the forerunner of blended families. Actor Barry Williams played the role of Greg
40. Sea salt: SAILOR. Not the condiment; the "nickname" for a seafarer
41. Hit Ctrl+R, say: RE-LOAD. When I am writing my blog I often use "Ctrl+C" (copy), "Ctrl+V" (paste), and Ctrl+X (cut), but never Ctrl+R. We had this word earlier this week (Monday)
45. Fig. on a mountaintop sign: ALT. Unlike the previous clue (which referenced HTML), this one chose the abbreviation for altitude rather than the keyboard key just left of the space bar
48. Waste watchers org.: EPA. A bit of play-on-words for the clue
53. Harangue: TIRADE. I had to see if the Thesaurussaurus agrees:
 |
| He does |
55. Singer-songwriter Billie: EILISH. Eilish appeared in the May 10 puzzle
59. Martini's vermouth partner: ROSSI. It's for sure that you can find this brand of vermouth (in both the white and red versions) at BevMo! Vermouth is both an aperitif as well as a mixer. I use one-part red vermouth to two-parts rye whiskey to make a Manhattan cocktail
60. Tackle box supply: HOOKS. Anybody else try LURES here? I did
62. Subsequently: AFTER.
63. Refuse: DENY. The entry subsequently to AFTER
64. Satisfied, as expectations: MET. I always hope that I MET your expectations when blogging these puzzles, even if I didn't have one single Moe-ku among all of the "across" answers. MET was recently used in this past Monday's puzzle (5/20/24)
65. Turn on: START. My prurient thoughts immediately went another direction ... but as clued, it was a fitting answer as its opposite clue appeared at 12-down. (Turn off: END)
Down:
1. Rapscallions: SCAMPS. A definition of the Friday bloggers here?? 😂
2. Like Scrooge: ORNERY. I mean, the mean couldn't be mean, could they?
3. Flora that's tricky to transplant: CACTUS. As a new Arizonan, I came to learn quickly that transplanting a cactus is not just tricky because of the thorns/spines/prickles, but because of multiple laws and protections for native plants - my favorite cactus is pictured below:
| Crested Saguaro; quite rare |
4. Garden pest eaten by hoverfly larva: APHID. I think on Monday sumdaze mentioned that she enjoys clues that offer a bit of trivia ... Hoverfly larvae
5. 2022 World Cup Golden Ball winner: LEO MESSI. From the FIFA World Cup Football event in Qatar. His "full" name is Lionel Andres Messi, but fans call him "Leo"
6. Power __: NAP. I am not quite old enough to qualify for taking a daily power nap, but I am getting close ...
7. Rome landmark: FORUM. A funny thing happened on the way there:
8. Writer Mario Vargas __: LLOSA. This guy
9. Christmas trio: MAGI. And they presented the Christ child with gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh, and a stellar essay of Prose Gold ... don't believe me? Ask Margi, our constructor ...
10. Big little tech release of 2005: iPOD NANO. I had iPAd Nano at first
11. Actor Penn: KAL. Sean didn't fit. Kal is becoming quite the character actor
18. Balkan native: SERB. Margaret's daughter-in-law is a Serb; originally from Belgrade (nee, Yugoslavia)
20. Native Ohioans: ERIES. Buckeyes didn't fit. ERIE is more commonly seen when referring to one of the Great Lakes. The Eries were a native American tribe who lived in what is now known as Ohio
23. L'escrime equipment: EPEES. "Frawnch", as our erstwhile and sometimes substitute blogger Splynter would say. This solved as a perp since I don't speak the language of the Gauls. I'm guessing that L'escrime has to do with fencing ...
25. "Never gonna happen, bud": AS IF. Well, this is what's happening! A video that explains it so much better than I could:
26. Repair shop fig.: EST. This fig. is only good during the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, EST
30. "__ Things": Oscar-winning Lanthimos film: POOR. Yorgos Lanthimos, director, producer, film writer, et al
31. Who Othello declares "is most honest": IAGO. Somehow this didn't need perps or prior knowledge. Just about any time I see a four-letter Shakespeare-based clue that is also a proper name, Iago is inserted
32. "Give __ go!": IT A. Third and final of the "IT" phrases, my sole Moe-ku du jour, and maybe another way to clue this:
In 1950
High school geeks were advised to
"Give I T a go"
33. Yours, biblically: THINE. The word appears in the Lord's Prayer. This hymnal version (though done in a sort of Barbershop Quartet style) is quite good. One guy (Tim Waurick) does all four parts:
35. Get ready to cook: PREP. My four-year-old grandson and his mom were making a batch of banana bread muffins this past weekend. I got to see them via FaceTime. It was interesting watching him help with the prep
36. Many a wedding guest: RELATION. And in some parts of the U.S., it may also be the wedding participants ... [Margaret just rolled her eyes]
37. Name in a Beethoven title: ELISE. The video has some interesting variations on this theme
38. Untaxed investment options: ROTH IRAS. Unlike conventional IRAs a Roth IRA taxes the investment amount up front rather than on withdrawal. But in the end, regardless of which way you go, the government is going to get THEIRS (which, when the letters are separated spells THE IRS)
39. Hurdle for M.A. hopefuls: GRE. Would a hurdle for an NCO field combat hopeful be MRE?? Having never tried one, maybe they are tasty?
42. __-ski: APRES. This entry word was captured in my 5/10/2024 blog with a cartoon. In case you missed it, here it is again!
43. Lure: DRAW. Another Friday-level clue. On Monday the answer to "lure" might be bait
45. Label founded by Clive Davis: ARISTA. Some pretty big name artists recorded with Arista
46. __ of two evils: LESSER. This phrase used to be my go-to whenever someone asked me who I might be voting for ...
47. Part of a summer camp uniform: T-SHIRT. Merit Badge Sash wouldn't fit. I wonder what the Camp Grenada T-Shirt looked like?
50. Kick to the curb, for one: IDIOM. An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For example, saying that something is "beyond the pale" is an idiomatic way of saying that it is improper or "over the line," but you would only know that if someone had explained it to you, or if you had been able to infer its meaning based on context
Why didn't I think of this title before?
51. Crowded: DENSE. Is this also a Friday-like clue for this word?
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| The Thesaurussaurus agrees! |
52. Like a kite: ALOFT. I felt pretty soar after figuring this one out
54. Totally gross: ICKY. I almost TITT when I saw this clue; I was trying my best to figure out how something "twelve-dozen"-ish was icky
56. Deg. held by Wilson, but no other U.S. president: PH.D. Learning Moe-ment. I was unaware that Woody was the only POTUS to have a Ph.D. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in history and political science from Johns Hopkins University
57. Tuna tartare topper: ROE. Too bad that the word entry didn't begin with a "T", too. Very alliterative clue
58. Tel. no. addition: EXT. Why not end on a TLW?? 😀
BTW, I thought of another possible entry that was likely discarded due to its being too long for a 15x15 grid:
Clue: Beef choice for an old seafaring storyteller? Answer: PRIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER
Well, as always, I am anxious to read your comments and thoughts about today's puzzle ... see you next month
