Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. Today's theme is:
Punxsutawney Phil Was Correct
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| How did Phil know there was a WINTRY grid in our future? Such a clever rodent! |
Our themed clues are:
17 Across. "Softens as it cleans" classic detergent brand: IVORY SNOW. 
24 Across. McFlurry competitor: DQ BLIZZARD.
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| McDonald's (first sold in 1995) vs. Dairy Queen (first sold in 1985) |
36 Across. "The Road Not Taken" poet: ROBERT FROST. (1874-1963)
49 Across. Rapper whose debut studio album was 1990's "To the Extreme": VANILLA ICE. (born Robert Matthew Van Winkle on Oct. 31, 1967)
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| This is the cover for the album mentioned in the clue. |
And the reveal:
58 Across. Combination weather that makes travel difficult, and what the ends of 17-, 24-, 36-, and 49-Across comprise: WINTRY MIX.
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| Am I the only one who wanted to put an E in WINTRY? |
WINTRY MIX is a name for variable precipitation that consists of unpleasant things like cold rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow.
The reveal is saying that the ends of the themed answers comprise a MIX of WINTRY elements: SNOW, BLIZZARD, FROST, and ICE.
Veteran constructor Annemarie Brethauer did a nice job of separating these words from their WINTRY meanings, but the gimmick still stood out like a snowman on Miami Beach. Nevertheless, seeing the theme helped me fill some of the trickier clues, making for a slick Monday solve.
Time to brr-ring on the remaining clues:
Across:
14. Cool: HIP. This video is of a song called Hip Replacement by a band in the D.C. area called The Grandsons. I first heard them when they were playing along the Marine Corps Marathon route. Their lyrics are very clever; but, unfortunately the sound quality on this video isn't helpful so you really have to listen closely.
15. Mexican marinade: ADOBO. "The word adobo is a derivative of the Spanish word adobar, which translates to marinade in English. Spanish colonizers carried the word “adobo” to the regions they conquered, so adobo means something different depending on where you are in the Spanish diaspora. In some places, adobo is a dry seasoning rub. In others, the spices are combined with vinegar and fresh ingredients to create a marinade called adobo." source & more info.
16. Grassy plain: LLANO. LLANO is another word borrowed from Spanish speakers. It translates to flat. Its English definition is "an open grassy plain in Spanish America or the southwestern U.S."
19. North Carolina's __ Banks: OUTER. The Outer Banks are a series of naturally occurring barrier islands off the coast of NC. link to a 1-min. video
20. Skull cavity: SINUS.
21. Should have said: MEANT.
23. Advantage: EDGE.
29. Filmmaker Ang: LEE.
30. Singer Rawls: LOU. (1933-2006) Fans of the 2024 movie The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling, might like this a bit of trivia: Lou Rawls played Country Joe Walker on the first episode of the 1981 TV series The Fall Guy, starring Lee Majors.
32. Country with a vital canal: PANAMA.
35. German article: EINE. From what I gather, it looks like EINE is used with feminine Nominative (subject of the sentence) and Accusative (direct object of the sentence) cases. Also, the final E is a schwa sound.
39. Dazzling success: COUP. Def#2: (noun) a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act.
41. Natural ability: TALENT.
42. Gets up: ARISES.
45. Picnic pest: ANT.
46. "__! Humbug!": BAH.
52. Art __: geometric architectural style: DECO.
53. Tangle under a desk: CORDS.
54. Environmental activist Thunberg: GRETA. Greta is also the go-to GRETA for clue writers.
55. Puppy: WHELP. Def.: (noun) any of the young of various carnivorous mammals and especially of the dog.
61. Blender setting: PUREE.
62. Video game pioneer: ATARI.
63. 12/31, e.g.: EVE. December 31 is New Year's EVE.
64. Stockpile: AMASS.
65. Unlikely to bend: RIGID. My grade school principal comes to mind.
66. Hi-__ photo: RES.
Down:
1. Sculptor's tool: CHISEL. This is a 1:20 min. video showing how a sculptor uses a CHISEL. (I would be so afraid of making an irreparable mistake.)
2. Split into portions: DIVIDE. Did you know that there are two types of division?
3. Dish cleaner: SPONGE.
5. Wallet cards: IDS. identifications
6. Seemingly forever: EON.
7. Awkward word to drop on a first date, informally: L-BOMB.
8. Wooden peg: DOWEL.
9. Basketball Hall of Famer Mourning: ALONZO.
10. Most clumsy: KLUTZIEST. 
11. Stool pigeon: RAT.
12. Lowest sudoku number: ONE. Sudoku is a puzzle that uses the numbers one through nine. I like kenken. It is similar to sudoku but it makes equations.
18. Feel sorry about: RUE.
22. Feel poorly: AIL.
24. "That's all, folks!": DONE.
25. Motor oil measure: QUART. A Ford F150's oil capacity is 7.7 QUARTs. On the other hand their Maverick hybrid's oil capacity is 5.7 QUARTs. ... in case you were wondering.
26. Bickering: AT IT.
27. Kylo of "Star Wars": REN. I feel like I always get a Star Wars answer to explain on Mondays.
28. Rap's Dr. __: DRE.
30. Chocolate dog: LAB.
32. Summer treats on sticks: POPSICLES.
33. NYC transit org.: MTA. New York City and Metropolitan Transportation Authority
34. Cigna rival: AFLAC. insurance companies
36. Really mess up: RUIN.
37. Actress Russo: RENE. (b. Feb. 17, 1954) Happy early birthday, Rene!
38. Canadian prov.: ONT. province and ONTario
39. Cleveland NBAer: CAV. National Basketball Association and CAValiers
40. "You for Me" singer Rita: ORA.
43. Marries secretly: ELOPES.
44. Camera type, briefly: SLR. I only know this from doing XWDs.
46. Pricey German wheels, informally: BEEMER. BEEMER is a nickname for a BMW car.
47. On the go: ACTIVE.
48. Elaborate pranks: HOAXES. I am going to tell you about the most elaborate prank I ever played on someone. New neighbors moved in around the corner. They put three garden gnomes in their front flower bed. DH and I went to the dollar store and bought a lot of cheap gnomes of various sizes. Every two weeks or so, we would put one in their yard. At first we put them next to the three originals. Then we started branching out. This went on for over a year. That family had five kids. They loved the mystery of the whole thing. It was so hard not to tell the it was us when they talked about the gnomes. We finally gave them a gift-wrapped gnome when we moved away. The next day they put a framed embroidered gnome on our front porch.
50. Marketing battle: AD WAR.
51. Last Supper question: IS IT I.
52. Like a county that prohibits the sale of alcohol: DRY. A DRY county is a county whose local government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages.
54. Crossword diagram: GRID. Def.: (noun) a network of uniformly spaced horizontal and perpendicular lines.
57. Pitcher's stat: ERA. statistic and Earned Run Average
59. Badger: NAG.
60. Uni- + bi-: TRI-.
We're finally 24-Down. Have an _ice day, everyone!
1. Fixed-term bank accts.: CDS. "Accounts" is abbreviated, so is "Certificates of Deposit". (Pluralizing abbreviations can get complicated.)
4. Employ, as power: WIELD.
9. Soap Box Derby town in Ohio: AKRON. Seeing soap in this clue told me I needed to change 17-A from IVORY Soap to IVORY SNOW.
4. Employ, as power: WIELD.
9. Soap Box Derby town in Ohio: AKRON. Seeing soap in this clue told me I needed to change 17-A from IVORY Soap to IVORY SNOW.
This video is of local news coverage of a past FirstEnergy
All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship at Derby Downs in Akron, OH.
14. Cool: HIP. This video is of a song called Hip Replacement by a band in the D.C. area called The Grandsons. I first heard them when they were playing along the Marine Corps Marathon route. Their lyrics are very clever; but, unfortunately the sound quality on this video isn't helpful so you really have to listen closely.
15. Mexican marinade: ADOBO. "The word adobo is a derivative of the Spanish word adobar, which translates to marinade in English. Spanish colonizers carried the word “adobo” to the regions they conquered, so adobo means something different depending on where you are in the Spanish diaspora. In some places, adobo is a dry seasoning rub. In others, the spices are combined with vinegar and fresh ingredients to create a marinade called adobo." source & more info.
16. Grassy plain: LLANO. LLANO is another word borrowed from Spanish speakers. It translates to flat. Its English definition is "an open grassy plain in Spanish America or the southwestern U.S."
19. North Carolina's __ Banks: OUTER. The Outer Banks are a series of naturally occurring barrier islands off the coast of NC. link to a 1-min. video
21. Should have said: MEANT.
23. Advantage: EDGE.
29. Filmmaker Ang: LEE.
30. Singer Rawls: LOU. (1933-2006) Fans of the 2024 movie The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling, might like this a bit of trivia: Lou Rawls played Country Joe Walker on the first episode of the 1981 TV series The Fall Guy, starring Lee Majors.
Lou Rawls performs his 1976 hit
You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine
on Soul Train.
31. Hang around: LOITER.
32. Country with a vital canal: PANAMA.
35. German article: EINE. From what I gather, it looks like EINE is used with feminine Nominative (subject of the sentence) and Accusative (direct object of the sentence) cases. Also, the final E is a schwa sound.
39. Dazzling success: COUP. Def#2: (noun) a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act.
41. Natural ability: TALENT.
42. Gets up: ARISES.
45. Picnic pest: ANT.
46. "__! Humbug!": BAH.
52. Art __: geometric architectural style: DECO.
53. Tangle under a desk: CORDS.
54. Environmental activist Thunberg: GRETA. Greta is also the go-to GRETA for clue writers.
55. Puppy: WHELP. Def.: (noun) any of the young of various carnivorous mammals and especially of the dog.
61. Blender setting: PUREE.
62. Video game pioneer: ATARI.
63. 12/31, e.g.: EVE. December 31 is New Year's EVE.
64. Stockpile: AMASS.
65. Unlikely to bend: RIGID. My grade school principal comes to mind.
66. Hi-__ photo: RES.
Down:
1. Sculptor's tool: CHISEL. This is a 1:20 min. video showing how a sculptor uses a CHISEL. (I would be so afraid of making an irreparable mistake.)
2. Split into portions: DIVIDE. Did you know that there are two types of division?
Consider the problem 6 ÷ 3 = 2.
Are you picturing 6 items divided into 3 groups with 2 in each group? [Partitive]
Or are you picturing 6 items divided into groups of 3's, making 2 groups? [Quotative]
 |
| If you had difficulty understanding division as a child, it could be because it was presented differently from how your brain conceptualized the question. (Elementary texts often use Partitive examples but long division is Quotative.) The fact that both methods give the same answer can be even more confusing to learners. |
3. Dish cleaner: SPONGE.
Scrub Daddy on Shark Tank (46 sec.)
Watch what he does with the 10 lb. weights.
4. In more __ than one: WAYS.5. Wallet cards: IDS. identifications
6. Seemingly forever: EON.
7. Awkward word to drop on a first date, informally: L-BOMB.
8. Wooden peg: DOWEL.
 |
| this??? |
9. Basketball Hall of Famer Mourning: ALONZO.
 |
| his NBA page |
12. Lowest sudoku number: ONE. Sudoku is a puzzle that uses the numbers one through nine. I like kenken. It is similar to sudoku but it makes equations.
 |
| sudoku (lt) & kenken (rt) |
13. "That's neither here __ there": NOR. This idiom is used to indicate that something is either not important or not relevant to the subject being discussed.
18. Feel sorry about: RUE.
22. Feel poorly: AIL.
24. "That's all, folks!": DONE.
25. Motor oil measure: QUART. A Ford F150's oil capacity is 7.7 QUARTs. On the other hand their Maverick hybrid's oil capacity is 5.7 QUARTs. ... in case you were wondering.
26. Bickering: AT IT.
27. Kylo of "Star Wars": REN. I feel like I always get a Star Wars answer to explain on Mondays.
 |
| Kylo Ren is on the bottom row. (Kylo Ren and Ben Solo are the same person.) |
28. Rap's Dr. __: DRE.
30. Chocolate dog: LAB.
 |
| yellow, black, & chocolate Labrador retrievers |
32. Summer treats on sticks: POPSICLES.
33. NYC transit org.: MTA. New York City and Metropolitan Transportation Authority
34. Cigna rival: AFLAC. insurance companies
36. Really mess up: RUIN.
37. Actress Russo: RENE. (b. Feb. 17, 1954) Happy early birthday, Rene!
38. Canadian prov.: ONT. province and ONTario
39. Cleveland NBAer: CAV. National Basketball Association and CAValiers
40. "You for Me" singer Rita: ORA.
43. Marries secretly: ELOPES.
44. Camera type, briefly: SLR. I only know this from doing XWDs.
46. Pricey German wheels, informally: BEEMER. BEEMER is a nickname for a BMW car.
47. On the go: ACTIVE.
48. Elaborate pranks: HOAXES. I am going to tell you about the most elaborate prank I ever played on someone. New neighbors moved in around the corner. They put three garden gnomes in their front flower bed. DH and I went to the dollar store and bought a lot of cheap gnomes of various sizes. Every two weeks or so, we would put one in their yard. At first we put them next to the three originals. Then we started branching out. This went on for over a year. That family had five kids. They loved the mystery of the whole thing. It was so hard not to tell the it was us when they talked about the gnomes. We finally gave them a gift-wrapped gnome when we moved away. The next day they put a framed embroidered gnome on our front porch.
50. Marketing battle: AD WAR.
51. Last Supper question: IS IT I.
52. Like a county that prohibits the sale of alcohol: DRY. A DRY county is a county whose local government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages.
54. Crossword diagram: GRID. Def.: (noun) a network of uniformly spaced horizontal and perpendicular lines.
<See example below.>
55. New Deal org.: WPA. organization and Works Progress Administration
55. New Deal org.: WPA. organization and Works Progress Administration
One of the art museums near where I live displays WPA paintings. During the New Deal era, the U.S. Government administered four separate art projects that operated from 1933 to 1943. The projects produced thousands of paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. more info.
 |
| This mural by Bruce Ariss entitled Monterey Scene was painted between 1935 and 1937 inside the school library. It is an example of art funded by the WPA Federal Arts Project. |
56. Engine noise: HUM.
57. Pitcher's stat: ERA. statistic and Earned Run Average
59. Badger: NAG.
60. Uni- + bi-: TRI-.
The 54-Down:
We're finally 24-Down. Have an _ice day, everyone!
