google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Advertisements

Dec 7, 2024

Saturday, December 7, 2024, Rachel Fabi & Lewis Rothlein

 Saturday Themeless by Rachel Fabi & Lewis Rothlein




Rachel is a bioethics and humanities associate professor at SUNY. Lewis is a yoga instructor in Asheville, N.C.

Do you know how you can really make a connection with constructors and fly through their puzzles? Well, this was not one of those for me. I struggled mightily with foreign words, beyond obscure cluing for less common usage of common words and words that worked only in my imagination. I'll take a couple of bad cells and try to keep a stiff upper lip. You'll also see a few 😀's for some clever cluing.

Across:

1. Account shortcut: ETC ETC.

7. Subatomic particle in the world's largest collider: HADRON - This physics teacher had 13. [Shrug]: NO IDEA.
 

14. Mitigate: RELIEVE - RESOLVE fit but...

15. Not rare: NORMAL.

16. Beverage also called Silver Needle: WHITE TEA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


17. Michael Jordan's sch.: UNC.

18. __ wit: RAPIER - Robin Williams leapt to my mind.



20. Mouth-squinching: TART - Sour - not so much. 

21. Observation observation: I SAW 😀

23. Certain guest permits: VISAS 😀

24. Heat from a vent: IRE - If you are venting, your IRE may generate some heat 


25. Tweaks: AMENDS.

27. Extra-ordinary mark?: C-PLUS 😀 A C is an ordinary mark but I suppose adding a + makes it somewhat extra-ordinary. 
    
29. From both sides, in a way: STEREO 😀

30. Bring up: PARENT.

31. Spy glasses?: ONE WAY MIRRORS - I called this as a two-way mirror when I taught this concept


33. Some mats: SNARLS 😀


34. Doctors or nurses: TREATS 😀 -  Doctors and nurses 
are trained to TREAT whatever ailment you have. I remember Hawkeye saying to Father Mulcahy who had to help out in the OR, "Father, nurse is also a verb!" 

35. Best Play awards: ESPYS - Tonys did not get it. This is the award for best Play in sports for the year. 

36. Addresses: SEES TO.

37. Salsa, or a salsa move: DIP 😀

38. Vales: GLENS - Dells and Dales, uh, no.

39. "Open at your own risk" indicator: NSFW - No Safe For Work. Quick, switch back to that spreadsheet!! 

43. Protected, in a way: ALEE.

45. Like no films released to theaters in 2023: RATED-G - I attended many Disney RATED-G movies during my yute. and 2. Some in a cel block: TOONS 😀 This is now an obsolete art


47. DeLaria of "Orange Is the New Black": LEA - In character and in real life 


48. Plague in a Poe tale: RED DEATH 
¯\_(ツ)_/¯


50. "Well, dang!": OH RATS.

52. Dramatic: INTENSE.

53. Thin: WEAKEN - Another word that can be used as two different parts of speech.


54. Skippers on a lake: STONES.


55. Youngest, as a family member: NEWEST - I guess...


Down:

1. Languor: ENNUI - Who else but Cole Porter could put this word in a lyric. Here's the intro to I Get A Kick Out Of You.

My story is much too sad to be toldBut practically everything leaves me totally coldThe only exception I know is the caseWhen I'm out on a quiet spreeFighting vainly the old ENNUIAnd I suddenly turn and see your fabulous face

3. Dating convenience: CIRCA - Tokyo's Ginza CIRCA 1960's


4. Percussive genre, for short: EDM.


5. Make the rent?: TEAR - Anything you TEAR or rend has been rent. 


6. Día de los Muertos skulls: CALAVERAS

Day of the DEAD skulls

7. Whodunit suspects, often: HEIRS 😀 Where there's a will...

8. __ text: ALT -ALT text, also known as an alt attribute, alt description or alt tag, is a snippet of detailed information describing what an image shows. 

Bad - Skiing

Good - Add ALT text to a picture, which is what I try to do

SKIING!

9. Inflation reduction act?: DIET 😀

10. Chain components: RETAILERS 😀


11. Surpasses: OVERRUNS.


12. Clearest, as a note: NEATEST - People die every year from lack of neatness here


14. Large birds of the pampas: RHEAS.


16. Some molars: WISDOM TEETH.
19. Like the fragrance of many wreaths: PINEY 😀

22. Thin: WATERY.

26. Kitty litter sound?: MEWLS - Ah, it's from a litter of kitties not kitty litter! 😀


27. Ice mass unit: CARAT - Ice can be slang for diamonds

28. Element element: PROTON - Every science teacher has had kids make a Bohr model of an atom. 

This model has 6 PROTONS
and so it is Carbon - At# = 6

29. Abruptly became alert: SNAPPED TO
42. "__ expecting that": WASN'T.


30. Triceps exercise: PRESS DOWN.

31. In a cell block?: ON SILENT 😀


32. Nobel laureate Joliot-Curie: IRENE Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) was a French scientist and, like her mother, won a Nobel Prize. 

                 
Pierre     Irene     Marie
Receiving her award


33. "Santaland Diaries" humorist: SEDARIS - Written after a stint of playing Santa at Macy's


36. Ticket: SLATE - A candidate can be put on the party's ticket or SLATE.

38. Rough stuff?: GRASS 😀 I tried DROSS, GROSS and DRAFT (I thought rough daft was clever at _ R A _ _)


40. Satisfy, as curiosity: SLAKE - Did anyone else SLAKE their thirst in this manner as I did as a child?


41. Honors in a big way: FETES.

44. Plot with a shameless beginning: EDEN 😀 Adam and Eve had no shame until...


46. Shelf-stable butter: GHEE.


49. Not quite 70°, for short: ENE ðŸ˜€ This bedeviled me until it hit me! ENE on a compass is 67.5
° which is not quite 70°.


51. Unbridled: RAW.