It seems like it was just yesterday C.C. asked me to be the Saturday
blogger and here I am doing my tenth themeless puzzle from Kyle Dolan. Here
is his generous and informative reply to my gmail:
Hi Gary!
Hope all is well with you!
The seed entry for this puzzle was HEART EYES. I sometimes seed
themeless grids with long bottom-row entries, since these positions
tend to be naturally more constrained than their top row counterparts.
HEART EYES is a fresh, lively entry that also contains letters
frequently found at the ends of words (E,H,R,T,S,Y), allowing much
more flexibility to build upward.
The grid you're seeing now is fairly close to my original submission.
Rich asked me to revise the central region, where I originally had
ARBOL (clued as a kind of pepper) at 28-Down where ARIAL is now. Rich
also changed the crossing at 44-Down and 50-Across from my MESCAL/DIS
to MEZCAL/DIZ ("mezcal" is admittedly the more common spelling, but
I'd hesitated about crossing it with DIZ at the Z).
You asked about clues--in the final version there are 46 clues where
Rich used my original version or made only a minor adjustment (out of
72). I'm glad to see my clues for 16-Across, 45-Across, 34-Down and
57-Down all made the cut in some form. I often enjoy using duplicated
clues in my puzzles, so when I learned that both OHIO University and
UGA (Georgia) are both in towns called Athens, I knew I had to give
them twin clues!
Thanks,
Kyle
My lone "mistake" was what Kyle mentioned in his note. I had an S for
DI_/ME_CAL which not only seemed fine to me but it was Kyle's original
intent and so I'll take a "got 'er done". Rich could have settled
for 50. Scorn in the hood for DIS and keep 44. Tequila relative for
MESCAL.
Across:
1. Passage for change: SLOT - These SLOTS saw
a lot of my change pass through in my misspent yute
5. Steadfast refusal: NO MEANS NO - Got it?
14. Lakeside rental: CANOE - My first pick was the
wrong 5-letter C A _ _ _ word in this lake picture
16. Morning person's mantra: UP AND AT 'EM - Waking
up 120 teenagers everyday on my 23 Central Florida field trips was
challenging.
17. Bone near a temple: ANVIL - The
temporal bone forms the temple and has the auditory canal that leads
to the ANVIL (Incus)
18. Sports-based nickname for Green Bay: TITLE TOWN - This celebrates their NFL Championships (most were pre-Super Bowl)
19. Like some online antivirus protection: REAL TIME
21. Brad's Drink, nowadays: PEPSI.
22. PC panic key: ESC.
23. Galena,
e.g.: ORE - Galena ORE has very little use but it is a very
useful, though potentially toxic, source of lead
24. CPA's column entries: AMTS.
26.
Nullify: ABROGATE.
29. Michigan's state wildflower is one: IRIS
33. Influential supporter: PATRON - As a
PATRON of the arts, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint a
ceiling for him after Raphael turned down the job
35. Word with tie or fly: ROD - One helps steer your car and the other helps you catch fish
36. Spiritual
teacher: LAMA - A spiritual leader
in Tibetan Buddhism
37. School in
Athens: OHIO and 42. Sch. in Athens: UGA - OHIO University and The University of Georgia. Kyle loved the fact that these schools are both in cities named
Athens.
38. Maguire's "Spider-Man"
director: RAIMI - Sam on the set with Toby Maguire and
Kirsten Dunst. I ran across his name Monday in the NYT puzzle and so I was
prepared.
40. Fights (for): VIES - In last Sunday's great
puzzle we had 48A. VIE: MOVIE CLIP.
41. Fish-eating bird: LOON.
43. What might be made after an argument: AMENDS
45. Minnesota WNBA team: LYNX - I wonder if C.C. and Boomer
follow them
46. NBA team originally from Minnesota: LA LAKERS - Here is LA LAKER Kobe Bryant wearing a "retro" uniform honoring their
predecessors: The Minneapolis (MPLS) Lakers.
48. Handle user: CBER - I had a Citizen's Band radio
in the 1980's and used some of that lingo: "Breaker, breaker one nine for
Single Cross. Ya got yer ears on? What's your 20? Come back." Yeah, I
know...
50. Jazz trumpeter's
nickname: DIZ.
51. Snicker part: HEE.
54. Japanese soup stock: DASHI - Add this powder to warm
water and you have DASHI stock
57. Outdoor cookers: HOT COALS - Marshmallows please!
59. Words after yawning: I NEED A NAP
62. Long range: ANDES - The Andes Mountains extend over seven countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela,
known as Andean States.
63. Banksy genre: STREET ART - An anonymous British artist
64. Lewis with the 2015 album "I Am": LEONA - Here 'ya go
65. Emoji related to Blowing Kiss: HEART EYES - Kyle's seed entry as seen on yours truly:
66. Influence: SWAY - Candidates try to SWAY voters
Down:
1. Cause to jump, maybe: SCARE.
2. Paths between gutters: LANES - These bumpers were a wonderful invention to keep the ball on the LANES
and out of the gutters
3. Away, maybe: ON VACATION - Is anyone you know traveling these days?
4. Plug away: TOIL
57. Fabulous racer: HARE - Fabulous here means "celebrated in fable" where the tortoise
exemplifies the previous clue/fill above
5. Pumpkin pie spice: NUTMEG.
6. TV kid in Miss Crump's class: OPIE - I had no idea on RAIMI but knew Miss Crump instantly. Andy Griffith's
affair with Miss Crump (Aneta Corsaut) while he was married was "the worst
kept secret on the set"
7. Yoga studio item: MAT.
8. Phot. lab request: ENL - In a 1948 film noir Call Northside 777, Jimmy Stewart's
character uses an ENL in this scene to find a date that proves a man's
innocence. Watch the entire movie
9. Expert: ADEPT.
10. FiveThirtyEight guru: NATE SILVER
11. Organ part: STOP - The Mormon Tabernacle Organ has 5 keyboards and 147 STOPS you see on the
left and right panels here
12. Breaking __: NEWS.
13. Four Seasons rival: OMNI - This hotel company often appears on our crossword itinerary
15. Corrida foe: EL TORO - A corrida is a bullfight and...
20. Despotic regime: IRON RULE
24. Science word from the Greek for "indivisible": ATOM - From the Greek: "a" meaning not and "tomos" meaning cut
25. Pre-packaged promotional materials: MEDIA KIT - Here's what we want you to know/think about our company/policy
27. Raspberry since the 1920s: BRONX CHEER - It can be accompanied by a raspberry (an interesting derivation)
28. Easy-to-read font: ARIAL - This is the Georgia font I use. This is ARIAL
30. Leeward mountain dry area: RAIN SHADOW - Here you see Mt. Hood as part of the Cascade Range and the RAIN SHADOW
that forms when the precipitation can't get over the Cascades.
31. Chatted with, briefly: IMED - My 80-yr-old widowed neighbor IMED (Instant
MessagED) me just yesterday
32. Time-out cause: SASS
33. Election year staple: POLL - Polling can turn out to be very, uh, unpredictable
34. Stern call?: AHOY - You could yell AHOY in style from the stern of this yacht
39. Food thickener: AGAR.
44. Tequila relative: MEZCAL - “An old Oaxacan proverb goes: "Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien,
también." Huh?
54. Gossip: DISH - DISHing dirt is way different than eating dirt
55. Pot builder: ANTE - When you hear, "Pot's light" in a poker game, it means someone has yet to
ANTE
56. "Buona __": Italian greeting: SERA - A silly 1968 movie: Buona SERA (Good Evening) Mrs. Campbell Trailer
58. Singles: ONES.
60. Absorbed, as extra expenses: ATE - Ford lost $350M on the Edsel
61. Anti-passing cry: NAY - On December 8, 1941 Jeanette Rankin of Montana was the only member of
either house of Congress to vote NAY on the declaration of war on Japan. Hisses could be heard in the gallery as she cast her vote; several
colleagues, including Rep. (later Senator) Everett Dirksen, asked her to change it to make the resolution unanimous—or at very
least, to abstain—but she refused. "As a woman I can't go to war," she
said, "and I refuse to send anyone else.
This picture shows her in a phone booth later that day calling
for protection from people who were very angry with her.
THEME: What a dice roller at a craps table might say? "Momma needs a new PAIR
OF SHOES"
Chairman Moe here, with a puzzle that triskaidekaphobians might also fear.
Yes, Cornerites, it is Friday the 13th. Why not?! The year 2020 has thrown
just about everything else at us! And while I had no "fears" completing the
puzzle (or writing the blog), the combination of the number 13 and Friday
scares the bejeezus out of many. Perhaps it got worse after this film debuted:
This may be Tina's first puzzle for the LA Times, and I'm pretty sure that she
was not planning on this being the publish date, as there is nothing overt in
it about "Friday the 13th".
In doing some research about her I found, from Inkubatorcrosswords.com, that
Tina Lippman got interested in making crosswords about a year ago. She's
originally from New England, but currently lives in southern Indiana with her
husband, teenage daughter, and cat. She's a librarian by training, and has
worked as a college financial aid officer and a composer of grammar questions
for the SAT.
Let's see how she "tied" these altogether!
19-across. London apartment for a snake?: MOCCASIN FLAT. A MOCCASIN
refers to a snake of the viper family or to a soft-sided shoe that features
either a hard or soft sole. It was historically known as the footwear of
Native Americans, but hunters, traders, and European settlers wore them, too.
A FLAT is both the British term for an apartment, or can refer to a woman's
shoe with no heel
29-across. One who watches Grand Canyon pack animals?:
MULE SPECTATOR. A MULE is both a pack animal and a style of shoe that has
no back or constraint around the foot's heel; akin to a clog
And in the "now I have learned something new" category, a SPECTATOR is not
just a person who views an event, but also,
according to Wikipedia, a shoe! The spectator shoe, also known as co-respondent shoe, is a style of
low-heeled, oxford, semi-brogue or full brogue constructed from two
contrasting colours, typically having the toe and heel cap and sometimes the
lace panels in a darker colour than the main body of the shoe. I guess this
qualifies:
37-across. Spy at a centuries-old school?: OXFORD SNEAKER. Very clever
combo here! The University of OXFORD (in Oxford, Oxfordshire England) dates
back to the year 1096, making it one of the oldest English-speaking
universities in the World. An OXFORD shoe is characterised by having shoelace
aglets attached under the vamp. Looks similar to a SPECTATOR, no?
SNEAKER, in this clue, refers both to a person who stealthily approaches
another or a type of athletic shoe. Who didn't crave a pair of these to wear
during gym class?
Which slides right into the reveal: 52-across. What inspired three long puzzle
answers: PAIRS OF SHOES. Six pairs of shoes in today's puzzle, which is
probably the right amount for most guys but just the tip of the iceberg for
most women ... remember this collection?
Across:
1. Bond's watch since 1995: OMEGA. Omega's brand experienced a resurgence
in the James Bond 007 films; the character had previously worn a Rolex
Submariner but switched to the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M with GoldenEye (1995)
and has stayed with the latter ever since until swapping it for the Omega Planet
6. Schools from Ky. and In. are in it, surprisingly: ACC. Atlantic
Coast Conference. The University of Louisville (KY) and The
University Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) are not situated in a state that borders
the Atlantic Ocean. Nor Pitt, although PA counts as a Mid-Atlantic state. All of
the other schools (Syracuse, Boston College, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North
Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and
Miami) reside in a state that has a shoreline on the Atlantic
9. They may be split: HAIRS. In the not-so-literal meaning, to split
HAIRS is to quibble over things that are pretty trivial. But for many women,
split HAIR ENDS can be problematic
14. Like gumbo: CAJUN. CSO to Hahtoolah, Big Easy, and SwampCat,
who may or may not be CAJUN, but who reside in Louisiana. IIRC, the word "Cajun"
was a colloquialism for the word ACADIAN, depicting the 17th C French settlers
who emigrated to what are now the Eastern Provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, PEI). The Cajun's of Louisiana also spoke primarily French, but were
also influenced by Spanish and West African languages
15. "No one knows": WHO CAN SAY. I now know this: the song embedded below
(called "WHO CAN SAY") is one of the more beautiful ones ever written/sung
17. Setting for much of "Aquaman": OCEAN. The character "Aquaman" first
appeared in a comic book back in the early 1940's. The character and comics are
part of DC Comics as opposed to Marvel. The eponymous movie debuted in 2018. In
an earlier blog I offered a picture of the lead actor. It was panned pretty much
like the movie, which scored a paltry 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's the
trailer:
18. Wiry-coated terriers: AIREDALES. One of the largest of the terrier
breeds, the AIREDALE is so-named due to its originating from the valley (dale)
of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Wikipedia has more if you are so inclined. Cute dog. I recently had this one helping me out on my blog
21. Fangorn Forest dweller: ENT. OK, I may be the only Cornerite who has
NEVER ... as in NEVER EVER ... watched any of TLOTR movies. So of course,
Fangorn Forest was totally foreign to this blogger, but I figured it had to do
with LOTR. So, I googled Fangorn Forest and found this clip. Maybe I will have
to "catch up" now that I am retired ...
22. Movie costume for Keaton or Kilmer: BATSUIT. Great clue! Michael
Keaton and Val Kilmer both played the DC Comics hero, Batman, in the movies.
Bruce Wayne
first created the "costume" to invoke fear in the criminals he pursued, as well
as to hide his identity. And yes, BATSUIT is one word!
23. Clothing line: HEM. HEMlines in women's clothing (dresses and skirts)
went crazy throughout time, beginning as low as the ankles and rising to
mid-thigh with the late '60's introduction of the mini-skirt. It can also refer
to the length of a man's trousers and position of the cuff
26. Lexicon with 600,000+ wds.: OED. One of the more familiar crossword
abbr's
27. Unwell: AILING. Not sure that this word is used a whole lot nowadays
... can refer to both sickness or injury
33. Oversupply: GLUT. Noun synonyms include: surfeit, excess, and
plethora. Verb synonyms include: binge, gourmandize, and overindulge. Root for
the word glutton, but not gluten
35. A.L. East player: RAY. The Tampa Bay RAYS (erstwhile, DEVIL RAYS)
came oh so close to winning the World Series in 2020, but fell to the LA Dodgers
in 6 games. Player: RAY; Team: RAYS. And of course, a CSO to
Tinbeni and Wilbur Charles, though their favorite teams are the NY
Yankees and Boston RedSox, respectively
36. Pitch: TOSS. As in horseshoes, or
this popular game.This brief video will help you improve your TOSS
42. Think otherwise: DIFFER. This past election showed me, at least, that
we don't necessarily DIFFER nearly as much as we think we do
44. Kourtney, to Kim: SIS. At the end of Season 17 of "Keeping Up With
The Kardashians", these two acted anything like SISters; or maybe they did
45. Brit's grilled sandwich: TOASTIE. I guess since his dialect sounds
"British" we can concur that this indeed is how to make a "TOASTIE"
49. __-la-la: TRA. More crossword-ese
54. "Potluck Dinner Party" co-host: SNOOP DOGG. The other co-host is
Martha Stewart. A TV show on VH1. Never saw it, but the first thing that came
to MY mind was whether or not Martha showed SNOOP how to properly bake
brownies!
57. Some combustion engines: HEMI'S. The Chrysler engines, known by the
trademark HEMI, a series of I6 and V8 gasoline engines built by Chrysler with
hemispherical combustion chambers. Three different types of Hemi
engines have been built by Chrysler for automobiles: the first (known as the
Chrysler FirePower engine) from 1951 to 1958, the second from 1964 to 1971,
and the third beginning in 2003. wikipedia.org
58. Five-time NCAA Division I ice hockey champs: MINNESOTA. CSO to
Boomer and C.C. who reside in the State of 10,000 lakes. The
University of MINNESOTA "Golden Gophers" hockey team scored three of those
NCAA Div I titles under
this famous coach, who also happened to coach the winning squad of US Amateurs in the 1980
Olympics in Lake Placid
59. Skybox setting: ARENA. As in a sports arena, where the choice seats
can be situated at the top or upper tiers. Many skyboxes have amenities like
drinks and food. One of my favorite SKYBOX settings is not in an arena, per
se, although I suppose this qualifies as an outdoor one. If the COVID virus is
gone after next year, perhaps in 2022 I can be a visitor at this sporting
event:
60. Bridges seen on TV: LLOYD. Actor LLOYD Bridges (b. 1/15/1913, d.
3/10/1998) had his first TV acting role on the show Sea Hunt in
the late 1950's. His role was Mike Nelson, and as a former Navy Frogman, became
as a civilian, a free-lance diver. Here is an interesting recap on
Wikipedia. In his later years, LLOYD became maybe more familiar as this character in a
well-known movie with many sequels; Steve MacCroskey:
61. Work for eds.: MSS. New to me. MSS, or Mss. is the abbr. for
hand-writtenmanuscripts. And here I always equated it as the code for
this upstate NY airport!
62. Unpleasantly loud: NOISY. Adj. Oh the things you can find on the
internet ...
Down:
1. Noel beginning: O COME. O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL. You gotta listen to
this; Pentatonix
2. Georgia home of the Tubman Museum: MACON. Kind of a WAG when I solved
the puzzle; so much to learn and read about
Harriet Ross Tubman, born c. March 1822 - died March 10, 1913. While Wiki mentions nothing about the Museum in MACON named for her, the
actual museum is slightly less than 40 years old. Tubman helped many slaves
escape to freedom via the "Underground Railroad".
4. Avocado dip, for short: GUAC. Short for GUACamole. Now, in the "how
weird can Chairman Moe take us on THIS one" ... of course, I found yet
another lesser known fact about GUACamole. Ok, if you've now read the link, and had a laugh or not, just a quick public
service announcement to all of you men out there; young or old: Get a checkup!
Testicular and Prostate Cancer detection is no laughing matter. And this is from
one who's survived one of these for 16 years and counting ...
5. Lee who lived "in a kingdom by the sea": ANNABEL. From the poem by
Edgar Allan Poe:
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee
6. Anticipate: AWAIT. I'm sure that this family was not expecting this
during the Holidays ... in keeping with Friday the 13th, why not another
horror-filled trailer?? NOOO! Enough C Moe!!
7. Biceps exercises, familiarly: CHINS. The words "CHINS" is fine; I take
exception to the clue. CHIN UPS - not sure that I've ever used or heard a
"familiar" term for them. And I am sure that using a clue to describe THIS image
would probably not have made the cut ...
8. Greek vacation spot: CORFU. I wonder if any Greeks vacation
here? When I
googled CORFU to get an image, the shape of the island resembles Italy, don't
you think?
9. Jumped in with enthusiasm: HAD AT IT. OK! I HAVE HAD IT! Enough of the
forced fill!! I'm HARD AT IT doing this blog, and any attempt to find the
expression "HAD AT IT" on Google FELL ON DEAF EARS (to borrow an earlier in the
week entry). But, I'll give the constructor and/or the editor(s) an A for effort
... I guess if it's the only seven letters that filled this spot, then so be it
10. Nursing school subj.: ANAT. Moe-ku #1:
Vet School Students whose Focus is cows and sheep, read "Graze
ANATomy"
12. "The Photograph" actress Issa: RAE. On Tuesday we had RAE Dawn
Chong; as well as five other combos of the letters A, E, and R
13. Part of GPS: Abbr.: SYS. Global Positioning
SYStem
16. Pertaining to the abdominal cavity: CELIAC. The word "CELIAC"
appears more frequently in crossword puzzles, perhaps due to recent increased
awareness to GLUTen intolerance. But
do you know the difference between the two?
I didn't
20. "Smooth Operator" artist: SADE. Helen FolaSADE Abu, b. January 16,
1959. A 1980's classic
23. __-miss: HIT OR. Or in today's baseball world, it's more like home
run or strike out
24. "The Killing" actress Mireille: ENOS. Perhaps it is because I sort of
boycotted movies and many TV shows for nearly two decades, but
this ENOS was
not as familiar to me as
this ENOS
25. Dave Martinez and Dave Roberts, for two: Abbr.: MGRS. Plural abbr.
for Managers. Baseball may be the lone sport that doesn't call their on-field
person-in-charge "coach". Baseball has coaches who assist the MGRS and other
sports have assistant coaches who help the head coach. Martinez is the Manager
of the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals, while Roberts in the
Manager of the 2020 World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers
26. Words with touch or sight: OUT OF. Something we are never OUT OF here
at the "C Moe-tel":
28. Glove material: LATEX. There is something about that snapping sound,
when the LATEX glove is donned, that most men fear
29. Mishandles: MUFFS. Nice to see a word other than "ERRS" to fit this
clue
30. Most GRE takers: SRS. Graduate Recognition
Examination. Generally taken by SRS (abbr for Seniors) in college for
post-Bachelor Degree school admission
31. Bad assessment: PAN. Moe-ku #2:
Cap'n Hook's exam Outcome, at urologist, Was a Peter PAN
32. __ shadow: EYE.
33. Mercury and Mars: GODS. I had ORBS to start. Clever clue
34. Year in Nero's reign: LXII. 62. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus
Germanicus; b. 15 December 37 d. 9 June 68 AD. His reign went from the year 54
until his death in 68. Lots of debauchery during his brief rule
38. Did a trainer's job: RE-TAPED
39. "These aren't the __ you're looking for": Obi-Wan: DROIDS. You gotta
like spoofs!
40. "Not likely!": AS IF.
41. Kangaroo player: KEESHAN. I knew this one straight away, as
Captain Kangaroo
was a fixture of my youth. Lots about him at IMDb
46. Woolf's "__ of One's Own": A ROOM. A book dating back to the late
1920s. In it, Woolf describes in both figurative and literal terms why a woman
writer need A ROOM of [sic} their own
47. Certain NCOs: S.SGTS. Short for Staff Sergeants. Army rank of E-6
48. Forum robes: TOGAS. I'm sure you were expecting something from Animal
House ... TOGA, TOGA, TOGA ... but I opted for this TOGA tutorial. Might come in
handy at your next TOGA party
49. "In the Bedroom" Oscar nominee: TOMEI. Marisa TOMEI, b. December 4,
1964 in Brooklyn, NY. Played the role of Aunt May in the Spider-Man movie
series, but looks much younger than the comic book character
50. Rider's controls: REINS. The steering wheel for a horse
51. Evaluate: ASSAY. As in precious metals, perhaps
52. Shot glass: PONY. A PONY glass is more properly the term to describe
a shot glass (for measuring alcohol or serving a cordial/liqueur) that holds 1
oz. Typical bar glassware for measuring a "shot" holds about 1-1/2 oz. But I
never measure ... as a Sommelier I can pour by feel!
53. 1993 chart topper for Mariah Carey: HERO.
54. Tee sizes, for short: SML. Small, Medium, and
Large. The plural "sizes" solved this one for me
55. Nada: NIL. Latin root word for "nothing". The word "nada" also has
Latin roots. Other foreign words for nothing? French: RIEN; German: NICHTS;
Chinese (simplified): 没有
56. Activist Yoko: ONO. The word crossword constructors use when ENE
(the directional) won't fit because they need "Os" instead!
Last video; promise! Click on this link, if you dare:
high heels
The Grid:
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Big Easy (George)! Here he is with his wife Diane, Louisiana
Tennis Hall of Famer.
Jeffrey provides a delightful birthday present for my sweet bride, and I am sitting in on a Thursday for the first time in a long while. I need to approach this write up backward, beginning with the reveal and then finding the themers. Because this basically is a visual puzzle, there was much room for sparkly fill. This was a puzzle that the theme did not jump out, even after the reveal. I was looking for the grid to look like Michael Strahan. But no, it was actually simpler than that. When in doubt, you had to realize that GAP TOOTHED needed symmetrical balance. In this case, we are sent back to our old friend - the third row. We find:
17A. Very loudly, in music: FORTISSIMO. 19A. Logan of "60 Minutes": LARA. MOLAR. Next, we have:
27A. Iconic 1962 role for Gregory: ATTICUS. 29A. Frittered (away): PIDDLED. CUSPID. Balanced with:
42A. "Salvator Mundi" artist: DA VINCI. 46A. Between-course refreshers: SORBETS. INCISOR. SEE CONSTRUCTOR COMMENTS AT THE END OF THE WRITE-UP.
Bringing us full circle to:
57A. Like some smiles in an orthodontist's office ... and like three puzzle rows: GAP TOOTHED.
A very clever creation, which also provided room for these lovelies.
WABBIT, ATTICUS, DAVINCI, PIDDLED, SCRUGGS, SLOTS IN, SORBETS, CAR TITLE, GET THERE, I SEE THAT, NEONATAL, FORTISSIMO with the ones in RED making a debut.
Across:
1. Business issue since 1979: INC. A magazine, not a problem.
4. Compares: LIKENS. Who can you compare to JW?
10. Cyberspace gatekeepers, for short: ISPS. INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS. The second "S" is a cheat.
14. Org. supporting museums: NEA. National Education Association.
15. Skink or skunk: ANIMAL. Skinks abound in South Florida. 16. German refusal: NEIN. Non. no, Nannette.
20. Savvy about: ON TO.
21. Archipelago unit: ISLET.
22. Culture medium: AGAR.
23. __ Jordan: sports brand: AIR.
24. Simple top: TEE. In the old days, this would be followed by a titillating pic.
25. Hill group: SENATE. Too soon.
30. Prefix with -lithic: PALEO. older or ancient, especially relating to the geological past.
31. New Mexico tribe: ZUNI. The Zuni are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley.
32. Sanctify: BLESS.
33. Boggy area: FEN. A CSO to Steve and did you know Red Sox owner John Taylor claimed he named the park Fenway because of its location which had been partially created decades earlier by filling in marshland or “fens/”
34. Forest floor litter: TWIGS.
39. 13-digit ID since 2007: ISBN. International Standard Book Number.
61. "__ you quite finished?": ARE. Not even halfway.
62. Hawaiian staple: TARO.
63. Smoothing tool: SANDER.
64. Score half: TEN. Very witty, half of a score (20) is ten.
Down:
1. Data, e.g.: INFO.
2. Like a hospital ward with a tiny population?: NEONATAL. Another very cute clue
3. Jaguar documentation: CAR TITLE. Not the animal.
4. China's Chou En-__: LAI.
5. Where it originally was: IN SITU. Latin.
6. Some canoodling: KISSES. yummy
7. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" actor Hirsch: EMILE.
8. Put a handle on: NAME.
9. Adds, as an appointment to a busy schedule: SLOTS IN. meh
10. Away from shore: INLAND.
11. Action star Steven: SEAGAL.
12. Hook, for one: PIRATE.
13. Caught: SNARED.
18. Parliament figures: TORIES. More from across the pond; this would have been great for Steve.
26. Prose pro: EDITOR. We get lots of mixed response to crossword editors and all the clues they change.
27. Msg. to the squad: APB. Police Squad?
28. Scientific calculator function: COSINE.
29. Many a dad joke: PUN.
31. __ master: ZEN.
33. "The X-Files" org.: FBI.
35. Bugs, to a toon hunter: WABBIT. Wascally at that.
36. "It's quite clear now": I SEE THAT. Mira!
37. Arrive: GET THERE.
38. Air fryer sound: SSS.
40. Country legend Earl: SCRUGGS.
42. Pious: DEVOUT.
43. "7 Rings" singer Grande: ARIANA.
44. Even more expansive: VASTER.
45. Laying-down-the-law words: I SAY SO. Yes ma'am!
46. Like most peanuts: SALTED.
47. Low-scoring tie: ONE-ONE. A classic football score for a Brit.
49. Mature on the vine: RIPEN.
53. "Sharknado" actress Reid: TARA.
55. Fall setting: EDEN. The fall from grace, not the change of season.
58. "Save me, and hover __ me with your wings": Hamlet: O'ER. A perfect way to end a Jeffrey puzzle, with Will Shakespeare.
Not feeling great, but I enjoyed JW's comments to Gary so I wrote to him about this puzzle. His response focused on the changed clue for 42A.
Regarding the clue for 42-Across, Da Vinci is not the artist’s name. In “Leonardo da Vinci”, the term “da Vinci” simply indicates that the artist was born in the town of Vinci. The artist’s name is Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci is acceptable as a name with an explanatory modifier, but never Da Vinci alone. When the book “The Da Vinci Code” was published, there was a collective howl from the art world, particularly from Renaissance specialists, bemoaning the improper use of da Vinci as a name. Essentially, the book title means “the code from the town of Vinci.” As a former museum curator whose field is visual art, I feel I must point this out. The original clue was [Part of a
Renaissance man’s moniker]. “Moniker” was used instead of “name”
because NAME is the answer to 8-Down.
Thank you, Jeffrey, to all who read and write. Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy
birthday to Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword. Rich helps
constructors improve the theme set and he often writes half or more of
the clues of every grid. New solvers probably don't know this.
Rich is also a master constructor, both themed and themeless grids.
Rich and his wife Kim
2) Happy birthday also to Lemonade's beautiful wife Oo. This is a picture from their 2017 trip to Oo's homeland.
37. Sweets ... and, in three parts, a hint to the four longest Across
answers: CANDY.
Melissa here. Took forever to suss this theme. First I saw
CENTER OF GRAVITY = CAVITY,andCOME IN HANDY = CANDY, but
couldn't make anything like that work for the other two themers. Stared at
it forever until finally seeing C AND Y. Three parts. Urban dictionary says C&Y is short for
CANDY. That totally hurt my brain.
Across:
1. Instances of night vision?: DREAMS. Just heard Stevie Nicks
interviewed on NPR, referencing a recent viral TikTok video, which inspired the lieutenant governor of Montana, Jimmy Fallon, and
Mick Fleetwood himself to record their own tributes. It now has more than
35 million views.
7. What crooks may beat: RAPS.
11. QB targets: TES. Football - quarterbacks and tight ends.
14. Washing aid for pupils: EYE CUP. Pupils ... nice misdirection.
15. Balm ingredient: ALOE.
16. Mil. branch disbanded in 1978: WAC.
Women's Army Corps
(WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army.
20. "Pronto!": ASAP. As soon as possible.
21. If all goes wrong: AT WORST.
22. "Four score and seven years __ ... ": AGO. One score is 20
years.
25. "A Walk Among the Tombstones" star Neeson: LIAM.
27. Islamic deity: ALLAH.
32. Fr. holy woman: STE. French - abbreviation of sainte, the feminine form of saint.
33. Tailless cat: MANX.
34. Like Erik the Red: NORSE.
36. Director Kazan: ELIA.
39. Veers off sharply: ZIGS.
43. Phil or Steve with Olympic slalom medals in the same race:
MAHRE. A little obscure unless you're a fan. The twin
brothers retired from skiing after the 1984 Olympics at age 26.
45. Knight neighbor: ROOK. Chess.
46. Cut for an agt.: PCT. An agent's cut is a percentage.
53. 2000s first lady Bush: LAURA.
55. Low on the Mohs scale: SOFT. The
Mohs scale
of mineral hardness (/moʊz/) is a qualitative ordinal scale
characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the
ability of harder material to scratch softer material.
67. Jimmy Eat World genre: EMO. The band's name came from a crayon drawing made after an incident between
Linton's younger brothers, Jim and Ed Linton, who fought frequently. Jim
usually won, but Ed sought revenge by drawing a picture of Jim shoving the
Earth into his mouth; the picture bore the caption "Jimmy eat
world".
68. Bull or boar: MALE.
69. Parlor piece: SETTEE.
70. Identity thief's target: Abbr.: SSN.
71. Sommer of movies: ELKE.
72. English teacher's stack to grade: ESSAYS.
Down:
1. Solstice mo.: DEC.
2. Corned beef bread: RYE. First saw this as "Corned beef
brand."
3. Poetic twilight: EEN.
4. Official records: ACTA. New to me. Acta = recorded proceedings. From Latin ācta (“register of events”), plural of āctum.
5. Oaty breakfast mix: MUESLI.
6. Injury often iced: SPRAIN.
7. Battle of Britain gp.: RAF. Royal Air Force. Always makes me
think of
Roald Dahl.
8. Fish food plant: ALGA.
9. Left on a cruise: PORT. Ohhh, left as in left vs. right. I sure
as hell would not leave any ruby port on a cruise. 🤣
10. Shipping routes: SEAWAYS.
11. Wields, as a baton: TWIRLS. Hm. I usually think of wield as a
weapon - but this definition clears it up: to use (a weapon, instrument, etc.) effectively; handle or employ
actively.
12. Torments: EATS AT.
13. Grim Reaper tool: SCYTHE.
18. Fish with vermilion fins: OPAH. Aka moonfish.
19. Spine abbr., maybe: VOL.
22. Cartoon maker of Dehydrated Boulders: ACME. Wile E. Coyote.
54. Japanese soup stock: DASHI - Add this powder to warm
water and you have DASHI stock
65. Emoji related to Blowing Kiss: HEART EYES - Kyle's seed entry as seen on yours truly:
