Friday, January 1, 2021, Robin C Stears

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit

Theme: Hindsight is 2020

Happy New Year, Cornerites! It's Chairman Moe, welcoming you all to the year 2021. No hangover for this Stooge! Not now that the year 2020 is finally "hind sight" ... and whom better to add some levity to a crossword puzzle recap than I??!

Oh ... yeah ... there is a crossword puzzle to solve! Robin Stears, to whom Lemonade paid tribute just a couple of Friday's ago, leads the 2021 Parade of Puzzles for the LA Times. She begins our "barrage of brain-teasers" with a cleverly done use of homophones that was "All Greek to Me" until discovering that she used Greek Gods and Goddesses as the homophones to parody a quartet of Pop Songs/Pop Song Lyrics.

And thanks to a FaceBook Crossword Group to which both Robin and I are members, I was able to text her to confirm my suspicions! Actually, Robin confirmed that her idea came as a result of watching - for the oompteenth time - the movie "Hercules" on Disney+. The "seed" entry was HADES GONNA HATE, and all of the entries were designed to be puns of the names of the various Greek gods and goddesses. But if it were "just a coincidence", as Robin said in our text conversation, perhaps I unearthed the second unifier (the connection to songs) that made this "meta-puzzle" Friday-worthy. Who knows ... but regardless, Robin and I are now connected, and I hope that she stops by to comment!

And ever I, who loves to go down "rabbit holes", immediately wondered, just how DO Greeks celebrate the New Year? Well, as your blogger, I think it's my responsibility to give you a resource!

OK, so that really didn't offer any clue(s) as to why Rich would choose Robin's puzzle for the first of the New Year ... so let's explore the fill and see if we can confirm that it's a meta puzzle:

17-Across. Zeus' nickname for his relentlessly tenacious wife?: HERA THE DOG. Ok; so HERA (Roman name: Juno), who was the wife of Zeus and queen of the ancient Greek gods, represented the ideal woman and was goddess of marriage and the family. To "dog" someone (verb tense) requires a level of relentless tenacity, I suppose, but I've not seen this definition used as a noun before.

"Hair' a the Dog" actually, hair OF the dog, refers to a old colloquial expression, whereby you have another alcoholic beverage to lessen the effect of a hangover. Short for "a hair of the dog that bit you". I'm guessing that many folks are "having one" on this morning after New Year's Eve ...

But in the context of the puzzle, I'm sure that Ms. Stears had this song from Nazareth in mind:

26-Across. "What else do you expect from the god of the Underworld"?: HADES GONNA HATE. HADES, in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Certainly, you'd think that the god of the Underworld (aka, Hell) would be a proficient HATER.

The phrase: 'Haters Gonna Hate' comes from Taylor Swift's hit "Shake it Off". Click on the link as it is only a 9-second video!!

40-Across. Allows Persephone's mother to compete in a marathon?: LETS DEMETER RUN. The wording of the clue is the first "give-away": Persephone (aka Kore) was the Greek goddess of vegetation, especially grain, and the wife of Hades, with whom she rules the Underworld (see 26-Across). Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and presides over grains and the fertility of the earth. Although she was most often referred to as the goddess of the harvest, she was also goddess of sacred law and the cycle of life and death; and, mother of Persephone. Marathon, Greek in its reference, is a term used for a long-distance road race (42.195 kilometres). The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, who reported the victory. And is the final event of the Summer Olympic Games.

"Let The Meter Run" is a single from Charlie Mars album "Blackberry Light". Trust me, I am as surprised as most of us here that this is a song, as I was thinking of the phrase "The Meter is Running", whose literal meaning is a taxi cab's meter running while you're stuck in traffic, or the cabbie's waiting for you. Or its metaphorical meaning of "time is running out".

Note: Robin, originally wanted the phrase "KEEP DEMETER RUNNING", but there were too many letters for a 15x15 template

50-Across. How Spanish fighters refer to the Greek god of war?: BUENOS ARES. Was this the outlier in this semi-themeless set of entries? ARES is the Greek god of war, one of the Twelve Olympian gods and the son of Zeus and Hera. In literature Ares represents the violent and physical untamed aspect of war, which is in contrast to Athena who represents military strategy and generalship as the goddess of intelligence.

So, as a play-on-words/homophone/pun, BUENOS ARES is akin to BUENOS AIRES, the Capital of Argentina. Loosely translated, buenos aires means "good looks". Would BUENOS ARES mean "good war"? Or maybe C Moe couldn't see the "bosque para los arboles".

OTOH, Moe did find a video and an image that could've been the connector to this homophone:

The Grid: 71 words/38 blank squares

Across:
1. Tammany Hall caricaturist: NAST. One of those four-letter crossword answers that often trick me: NAST vs NASH; URAL vs ARAL; ANIL vs ARIL; et al

5. Nursery buy: SHRUB. Somehow I thought this might be a reference to a plant/garden "nursery" and not the baby kind. And of course, a Monty Python skit ... oops, I meant "sk"

10-Across. Trade jabs: SPAR, along with 35-down. Fighter's training apparatus: SPEED BAG. SPAR with a SPEED BAG

14. Accurate: TRUE. But in a "TRUE/False" test, wouldn't 'FALSE' be accurate as well?

15. Discontinue: CEASE. Moe-ku #1:

Dermatologist
Will retire. But first, they'll
De-cyst; and then CEASE.

16. 100 centavos: PESO. When you translate the word PESO to English, the equivalent word is "weight". Perhaps as in the "weight" of gold? Anyhow, I found that the PESO is the basic monetary unit of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Phlippines, and Uruguay. A centavo would be akin to our penny

19. Rowing exercise targets: LATS. The latissimus dorsi muscles, known as the lats, are the large V-shaped muscles that connect your arms to your vertebral column. The action of rowing a boat or using a rowing exercise machine targets the LATS

Moe-ku #2:

What Porky the Pig
Said, after rowing his boat:
"La' La' LATS all, Folks!"

20. Gunk: CRUD. I was expecting this word to be a contraction, of sorts, to the word "crude". It's not. Takes its origin from the late Middle English, "curd". To our IT folks here, CRUD is also a computer acronym for "Create, Read, Update, and Delete".

21. "Ciao __": long-running cooking show: ITALIA. A PBS broadcast. Ms. Esposito is plugging her 11th book in this brief video

23. Ginnie __: investments: MAES. Ginnie Mae is known as a guarantor for federally backed loans, while Fannie and Freddie guarantee loans themselves. ... Fannie Mae typically buys loans from larger commercial banks. Freddie Mac purchases mortgage loans from smaller banks and credit unions, also known as “thrift” savings institutions. Here is a bit more info.

Hmm, I probably would've found a way to clue this as "Film Star West, and others"

24. Feasts: DINES. Not the first definition of the word "feasts". I think of DINES as to "sup"; "feasts" has a more gluttony meaning for me

31. 1970s first family: FORDS. "#38" Gerald, wife Betty, sons Steven, John, and Michael, and daughter Susan. Was US President from August 1974 to January of 1977.

32. Partner, often: LOVER. My S/O Margaret has a 90 year-old Mom who first referred to me as "Margaret's LOVER"!

33. At the moment: NOW. In keeping with PBS-aired shows, check out this: NOW Hear This

34. Major employer: ARMY. The word "Major" referring to a noun, as in rank/title/position, rather than an adjective, as in greater in size/extent/importance. The rank in the ARMY between Captain and Lieutenant Colonel

35. Feast where the Haggadah is read: SEDER. When I solved the puzzle, I saw the clue word and figured it had something to do with the Jewish faith/religion, and SEDER was the only 5-letter celebration that immediately came to mind

36. Penny-farthing, for one: BIKE. This video is quite informative. I'm guessing that its name came from the distinct size difference between a penny coin and a farthing coin, which kind of represents the wheel size difference on the BIKE; the penny being the larger of the two coins

37. Vow avowal: I DO. Wedding ceremonies going forward?

38. Milky stones: OPALS. Could this be an OPAL-colored OPEL?

39. What "x" may mean: TIMES. "x" also marks the spot, and could be TIC or TAC in the game TIC TAC TOE. But I like this clue; great for a Friday

43. Windblown silt: LOESS. I immediately guessed this and it proved TRUE once the perps fell into place. It makes up to 10% of the world's land area, believe it or not

44. Purges: RIDS. After making several moves this past decade, I finally RID myself of a lot of accumulated "stuff"

45. Honda model: ACCORD. ACCORDing to Car and Driver, this model can do 0-60 mph: in about 5.4–7.1 seconds

48. Keaton role in "The Founder": KROC. Ray KROC of McDonald's "fame" ... here is Michael Keaton giving an interview

49. Uneven do: SHAG. One image:

But not to be confused with this image:

56. Prefix for an assistant: PARA. As in PARAlegal

57. __ All: car care brand: ARMOR. Nice to see a car product other than STP as a crossword answer

58. 2000 candidate: GORE. Could've been BUSH, too, but GORE fit better

59. Tip-to-tip measure: SPAN. My first etched memory of the use of the word "SPAN"

60. Fills to the gills: GLUTS. Used as a verb, here, in the 3rd person, present. C Moe GLUTS you with minutiae whenever he blogs

61. Microsoft browser: EDGE. "A new report from NSS Labs has concluded that Microsoft's EDGE browser is more secure than Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome browsers. Chrome got 82.4% against phishing and 85.8% against malware while Firefox scored 81.4% and 78.3% respectively. EDGE scored 91.4% and 99%, respectively. Hmm ... might have to check it out. Anyone on the Corner use EDGE?

Down:
1. __ degree: NTH. NTH, as in "to any required power", where "N" could be any number. And for you board game players? The word "NTH" is a legal word in the game, Scrabble

2. We may precede it, but I can't: ARE. We ARE, but I am not. We and I "can", though ...

3. Big __: SUR. According to Google, Big SUR is a rugged stretch of California’s central coast between Carmel and San Simeon. Bordered to the east by the Santa Lucia Mountains and the west by the Pacific Ocean, it’s traversed by narrow, 2-lane State Route 1, known for winding turns, seaside cliffs and views of the often-misty coastline. C Moe first traveled this route in 1985. Spectacular.

4. Ceylon gunpowder container: TEA CADDY. I actually got this one, as for some reason I recall my Mom and/or sister being a fan of this type of tea. Perhaps C.C. can give more detail, but on the web I found this little snippet: Gunpowder tea (Chinese: 珠茶; pinyin: zhū chá; lit. 'pearl tea'; pronounced [ʈʂú ʈʂʰǎ]) is a form of Chinese tea in which each leaf has been rolled into a small round pellet. Its English name comes from its resemblance to grains of gunpowder. This rolling method of shaping tea is most often applied either to dried green tea (the most commonly encountered variety outside China) or oolong tea. The tea from Sri Lanka (formerly known as "Ceylon") is grown at an elevation of over 6,000'

Moe-ku #3:

Golfer likes Oolong
When he plays, his club offers
Him a TEA CADDY

5. Go downhill fast: SCHUSS. "Schuss", in German, means "shot". As in "shot out of a cannon"? I wonder if a skier from Germany would say "Tschuus" after going SCHUSS? Spitz?

6. Obey: HEED. Moe-ku #4:

If a guy is asked
To obey, by his mother,
I guess that he'd HEED

7. "Way cool, dude!": RAD. The inspiration for the 1986 film of the same name?

8. GI entertainers: USO. The United Service Organizations Inc. is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. During the Vietnam War, the USO featured stars such as Bob Hope and Ann-Margaret to the delight of soldiers, even in the most remote war zones. The USO was started by FDR during WWII

9. One who has all the luck?: BEGINNER. While this "phenomenon" is mostly unfounded, some BEGINNER's do have all the luck

10. Amount of vermouth in a dry martini: SPLASH. Me? My idea of a dry martini is to open a bottle of dry Vermouth, and blow over the opening of the bottle as it's perched above my glass. I think that the use, though, of Vermouth in a martini is warranted, but even a SPLASH is too much. YMMV though

11. Ring out: PEAL. Defined as "a loud ringing of bells". From the English "appeal". Shortened, of course

12. Piedmont wine region: ASTI. OK, how much minutiae do you really want from your resident Sommelier on this one? Well, as the clue denotes, the area of Italy known as the Piedmont has a town called "ASTI". We are most familiar with ASTI Spumante (the word "Spumante" literally means "sparkling wine"), and it's made from the white grape called Moscato d'Asti. The origin of Asti Spumante dates back to the 1870's, and was made in the same manner as Champagne, where the second fermentation (process that provides the bubbles) takes place in the bottle

13. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" detective Diaz: ROSA. Stephanie Beatriz (born 10 February 1981) is an Argentine-born American actress. She is best known for playing Detective ROSA Diaz in the NBC comedy series. I never watched this

18. Beech and peach: TREES. At my alma mater, Pitt, we had a sports venue called TREES Hall. Trees Hall is named for Pitt alumnus, trustee, benefactor, and prominent athletic supporter Joseph Clifton Trees (M.E. 1895) who donated $100,000 for the construction of the original Trees Gymnasium in 1912 which, now demolished, sat near the site of the present day Veterans Administration Hospital in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, on the Pitt Campus

22. Something shed: TEAR. I'm sure that the constructor meant this literally; as in crying, and having a TEAR drop fall from ones eyes. However, some of may know that the expression: "shed a TEAR" is often used at a bar - by guys - when too much beer drinking has filled their bladders ... no images needed

23. Burrowing rodent: MARMOT. A relatively large ground squirrel; the tarbagan MARMOT has been eaten for centuries in the native cuisine of Mongolia, and in particular in a local dish called boodog. The meat is cooked by inserting hot stones, preheated in a fire, into the abdominal cavity of a deboned marmot. The skin is then tied up to make a bag within which the meat cooks. Hmm; and I just thought it was a rodent. Cute little bugger though

24. Marginal drawings: DOODLES. DOODLES, or doodling, was one of my many talents as a school boy. Does that really surprise anyone?!

25. Use money to make money: INVEST. I used to tell my ex-wife that whenever I visited a casino, I was making small "investments". But in a way, I was not wrong. INVESTing is a form of gambling ... my biggest investment "hit", percentage-wise, was turning $3 into $300 at a slot machine on the first pull ... truth

26. Multitude: HORDE. Origin of the word: mid 16th century (originally denoting a tribe or troop of Tartar or other nomads): from Polish horda, from Turkish ordu ‘(royal) camp’

27. Sparkles: GLEAMS. Perhaps this erstwhile toothpaste made ones teeth "sparkle" ... spelled differently of course ... produced by Procter and Gamble

28. Bad blood: ANIMUS. Not "bad blood" in the literal context; it means having ill feelings or hostility toward someone or something. How does it differ from a similar word, "animosity", you ask? More minutiae: animosity is violent hatred leading to active opposition; active enmity; energetic dislike while animus is the basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions

29. T-Rex on a Monopoly board: TOKEN. I'm guessing that it had its debut in this Monopoly version:

30. Sources of Roquefort: EWES. Roquefort is a sheep milk cheese from Southern France, and is one of the world's best known blue cheeses. Wikipedia. The common name for a female sheep is a EWE. Moe-'lick #1:

During flight, when he summoned the crew,
Pilot asked if there's anything new
To eat. Perhaps some cheese.
May I have ROQUEFORT, please?
"How 'bout Swiss?" They said, out of the Bleu.

31. Fall flat: FAIL. I hope that I didn't FAIL with this recap

36. 1996 Robin Williams comedy, with "The": BIRDCAGE. One of my all-time favorite Robin Williams' movies. So many moving parts; so many great actors; too many clips to chose from, but here's what I decided: since this puzzle has a "Greek" theme, why not pick Hank Azaria's character, Agador Spartacus?

38. Gas leak tip-off: ODOR. Deja Vu? On the December 11, 2020 puzzle the clue at 64-Across was nearly identical, and MalMan had this word yesterday! 2020 ends with an ODOR, and 2021 begins with one ... I smell something fishy, Rich Norris

39. Small combos: TRIOS. According to Far Out Magazine, here are the 33 Greatest Trios of All Time. Glad to see Cream at the top of the list. Here is one of my favorites of theirs

41. L'Oréal's "Because We're Worth It," e.g.: SLOGAN. I normally don't link articles that require a subscription to read them. I do not subscribe to the WSJ, but if you do, you can read this piece

42. Bloopers: ERRORS. So many to choose from ... here is a compilation of news show bloopers

45. Nile serpents: ASPS. Plural. There's more than one?? And here I thought that the only ASP was Cleo's

46. Dry and crack: CHAP. So many definitions for this word, but in the Google Dictionary, however, the verb form of CHAP is the first listed, and "(of the skin) cracked" is the first definition. Moe-ku #5:

Sylvester the Cat
Suffers from dryness. Think it's
A case of CHAP lisp?

47. Delevingne of "Suicide Squad": CARA. Total WAG/perp/whatever. Total unknown to me. Did not know the actor nor the movie. Here is a photo of her character:

48. Macramé basic: KNOT. Macramé for beginners

51. Business card letters: URL. A Uniform Resource Locator, colloquially termed a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. Most business cards have their company's URL address listed

52. Bird on Australian coins: EMU. The continuation of the exclusive Australian Emu coin series contains 1-ounce coins with 99.99% bullion content. Coins depict an EMU, a characteristic animal of Australia, which will undergo annual changes. The image of this year's coins from the Australian Emu series is a work of the talented illustrator Natasha Muhl.

53. Towel holder: ROD. Google the words "towel rod" and you'll see towel "bars". Guess they're one and the same, eh?

54. Indoor rower, for short: ERG. Short for ERGometer, or a rowing machine. How many of these are now acting as a towel rod/bar in ones bedroom?!

55. Go out with: SEE. When you're SEEing someone, you're likely going out with them ... on a date, e.g.

Thanks, again Robin for adding to our blog with your comments to me via text. Anyone up for announcing their New Years Resolutions? I'll go first: C Moe will write shorter blogs!! Comments below please ...

Notes from C.C.:

1) We just call the tea "Pearl tea". No idea how it became "Gunpowder" in English.

2)  Here is a lovely picture of Lemonade's family. For more sweetness, click on Charlotte. 

3) Happy New Year, everyone! 

Custom Puzzles

If you want a custom-made puzzle for a birthday, an anniversary or any special occasion, please contact crosswordc@gmail.com

C.C. Burnikel (Aria, Feb 9, 2014)

Thursday, December 31, 2020, Richard Shlakman & Brad Wilber

 

Happy New Year's Eve, cruciverbalists!  In what has been a trying year, our final puzzle seemed, fittingly, to be a bit trying for a Thursday.  Perhaps it was just the fatigue factor but it appeared to this solver as if this puzzle had more than its  fair share of "forced" fill (word fragments, abbreviations and the like) and these required some time to work through.  

Fortunately, the theme was fairly easy to identify and that helped out.  In other words:

That Part Made Cents

First, the unifier: 

67 Across: Items that can circulate or be tossed ... as illustrated in this puzzle's six sets of circles:  COINS. 

At six places within the grid, in both Across and Down answers, the word COIN can be formed by unscrambling adjacent circled letters.

17 Across:  Birder's gear: BINOCULARS

Watch The Birdie

30 Across:  California county where Fort Bragg is: MENDOCINO

The Sir Douglas Quintet - Mendocino

47 Across:  Barrier-breaking report: SONIC BOOM  A loud noise is sometimes called a "report" and the clue also refers to the sound barrier.

Chuck Yeager  -  B: 13 February 1923  D: 07 December 2020

63 Across:  State capital about 100 miles from Sacramento: CARSON CITY  By automobile, the state capital of Nevada, Carson City, is roughly 135 miles from Sacramento,  the state capital of California.

10 Down:  Chance to plead one's case: DAY IN COURT.

29 Down:  Tip of a toy arrow, often: SUCTION CUP.

Well, those are the themed answers.  Now, let's take a look at the rest of the puzzle:

Across:

1. Potential fodder in a libel lawsuit, briefly: BAD PR.  At the risk of being served with a libel lawsuit, I thought that BADPR (BAD Public Relations) was, to coin a phrase, a bad way to get the ball rolling.

6. Sackcloth material: HEMP.  The reference is often to "sackcloth and ashes" with the sackcloth traditionally being made from goat hair.

10. Reduces, as glare: DIMS.

14. Lexus competitor: ACURA.  An automobile reference.

15. Avocado shape: OVAL.  Avocados are, however, three dimensional and an oval is two dimensional.   Obovate would, perhaps, have been a more precise answer but it would have necessitated other changes.  Fruit Shapes

16. "Stress cannot exist in the presence of __": Mamet: A PIE.  The quote begins:  "We must have a pie."  I have no familiarity with this quote.  I have no difficulty embracing the philosophical stance.

19. Afghan constitution?: YARN.  A bit of misdirection in that the first impulse might be to assume that the clue was referring to the laws of the country that lies at the crossroads of Central and South Asia.  Instead, the clue refers to the composition of an eponymous knitted blanket.

Misdirection

20. Newspaper VIPs: EDS.  EDITORS  Being a writer is enjoyable but being an EDITOR is more rewording.

21. Possessed by Shakespeare?: HADST.  When we see constructors fall back on Elizabethan English may we assume that they got stuck?

22. Bathroom fixture: BIDET.  This is the first time that I recall seeing this particular bathroom fixture in a crossword puzzle.  A BIDET is a sensible idea if borderline inappropriate for a crossword puzzle.  If you do not know what one is then you might want to ask Mr. Hankey to explain.

23. Overwhelm: AWE.

24. "Young Sheldon" star Armitage: IAIN.  While I enjoy "The Big Bang Theory," I am far less familiar with the "Young Sheldon" spin-off and I was previously unaware of anyone named IAIN.  Still, I suppose it would be good to remember this constructor-friendly (four letters, three vowels) name. 

26. Laundry cycle: RINSE.

35. Nonalcoholic beer brand: O'DOUL'S.

37. Crimson, e.g.: RED.  There are many shades of red represented in the English language.

38. What the nose knows: ODOR.   The clue is nice play on words.  I once tried to buy perfume from a vending machine but it was out of ODOR.

39. Soft mineral: TALC.  What did the Moh's Scale say when it was feeling down?  "I don't want to TALC about it." 

40. Mortar and pestle stone: AGATE.

42. Sports org. whose name once included "Lawn": USTA. The United States (Lawn) Tennis Association

43. Shoot the breeze: CHAT.  CHAT is also French (masculine) for cat.

44. Bon __: MOT.  A Bon MOT is a witty remark.

45. Upset, as a plan: DERAIL.

50. Eye sores: STYES.  It seems like a good idea to eschew the graphics for this one.

51. Scandinavian royal name: OLAF.  We often have to wait a bit to determine if the answer is going to be OLAF or Olav.

52. Apr. addressee: IRS.  Our good friends at the Internal Revenue Service.

54. Fogg's creator: VERNE.  Phileas Fogg was a character featured in Jules VERNE's "Around The World In Eighty Days".  He also made an appearance in an episode  of "Have Gun Will Travel" (season 4, episode 12) .

57. Count with a band: BASIE.    ... and a one, and a two, and hit it ...

Count Basie - Blazing Saddles

59. "That __ close!": WAS.

62. Lindros in the Hockey Hall of Fame: ERIC.

Eric Lindros

65. Prego alternative: RAGU.  Very often, one of these brands of sauce is clued by referring to the other.

66. Polar chunk: FLOE.

68. "Don't dawdle!": ASAP.  As Soon As Possible

69. Bygone GM line: OLDS.  We often see Ransom Eli OLDS in puzzles.  It usually has something to do with, or the answer is, REO.

70. Ryegrass fungus: ERGOT.

Down:

1. Innocent: BABE.

That'll Do Pig.  That'll Do.

2. Prilosec target: ACID.  Oh, stomach ACID.  This could have been clued Orange Sunshine or Window Pane.

3. Hassles for payment: DUNS.

4. In favor of: PRO.

5. Ray who hosts the Yum-o! virtual cooking camp: RACHAEL.  We often see RACHAEL Ray's pet name for extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO, in crossword puzzles.

6. Poker variety: HOLD EM.

7. Mendes and Gabor: EVAS.

The Gabor Sisters

8. Taskmaster: MARTINET.  This is not a word that we often see, or hear, but it seems like a good addition to our crossword vocabulary.

9. Letters from a polite texter: PLS.  Texting "shorthand" has provided a great many possibilities for constructors but, PLS, enough already, with this sort of thing.

11. Tablet at a Genius Bar: IPAD.  To solve this, it helped to know that the tech support station at an Apple Store is called The Genius Bar.  Most people do.  If not, the perps likely filled it in.

12. Boggy area: MIRE.  Fen has too few letters and Swamp has too many.  Moor might have seemed to work out for a while.

13. Posted: SENT.

Gromit

18. Assembly line gp.: UAW.  The United Auto Workers Union

22. Prefix with mass: BIO.  The combined BIOmass of bacteria on Earth is more than a thousand times that of  the combined BIOmass of all humans.

25. Went on to say: ADDED.  Sometimes, too much is ADDED.

Joe Jones - 1960

26. University mil. programs: ROTCS.  Has anyone before seen the plural of Reserve Officer Train Corps ?

Navy ROTC

27. Twin Falls' state: IDAHO.

28. "Dunkirk" director Christopher: NOLAN.  One might have clued this answer with a reference to this gentleman:

Nolan Ryan

31. Muse of poetry: ERATO.  We often see one, or more, of the Nine Muses in crossword puzzles with ERATO being the most commonly spotted.

32. "My guess is ... ": ID SAY. 

33. Casual remark?: NO TIE.  This must be a reference to Casual Fridays.

34. Intense exams: ORALS.  An academia reference.  This clue really tees it up but this manatee shall, reluctantly, pass.

 

36. Latin steps: SAMBA.  A dance reference.  Both Tango and Rumba would have fit but neither would have worked out.

41. Cut-up: GOOFBALL.  Not a cooking reference.  Both the clue and the answer are synonyms for a silly person.

46. Bottom line: ESSENCE.  A bit of a stretch in the cluing but not completely goofy.

48. The Cavs, on ESPN crawls: CLE.  The CLEveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team.

49. Air balls, e.g.: MISSES.  In basketball jargon, a shot that MISSES everything, and hits neither the backboard nor the rim, is called an Air Ball.

53. __ Grande: RIO.  I first thought of TACO Grande by Weird Al.

54. __ Bradley bags: VERA.  VERA Bradley bags are well known in some circles.

55. Named stretches: ERAS.

56. Latvian seaport: RIGA.

58. J.Lo's partner: AROD.  Alex RODriguez played twenty-two seasons of major league baseball but he might be even more famous for his relationship with Jennifer Lopez.

59. Kristen of 2016's "Ghostbusters": WIIG.

Kristen Wiig Ghostbusters Vignette

60. 8 for O, e.g.: AT NO.  At no time would my first guess have been that this was a reference to the ATomic Number (NO) of Oxygen.  However, by the third or fourth guess it became clear.

61. Betting aid: Abbr.: SYST.  As with PLS, above, I did not care much for this abbrvtn.

63. Fiscal exec: CFO.  Chief Financial Officer

64. __ anglais: English horn: COR.  By definition.   The COR Anglais originated in neither England nor France but, rather, in Silesia circa 1720.

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That completes the work on our puzzle, and completes our puzzle work for the year, leaving one more question:

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

MM OUT 

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

I'm very sad to inform you that Gail Grabowski, our regular L.A. Times crossword constructor passed away on Christmas eve.  See here for her obit.  Thanks for the link, TTP.  In addition to her many solos, Gail collaborated many puzzles with Bruce Venzke over the years.

 

 

Wednesday, December 30, 2020 Hoang-Kim Vu

 Theme: VELOCITY.  Theme answers contain words that indicate rapidly and efficiently getting from one place to another

18 A. Academy attended by James T. Kirk: STAR FLEET.  From the original Star Trek TV series: boldly going where no man has gone before.  A Fleet is a group of ships under a single command.  FLEET here is an adjective - as all the theme words are - indicating rapid motion.  Fleet is also an enema, but we'll just let that go.

24 A. Artist with a record 32 American Music Awards: TAYLOR SWIFT.  [b 1989]  She's has some success.  SWIFT is another synonym for FLEET.  It's also a bird that, appropriately, holds the record for the fastest confirmed level flight, at 69.3 mph.

34 A. Deeply hurt: CUT TO THE QUICK.  Literally, this means to cut through the skin to the living tissue; figuratively it means to be hurt and offended.  Here, it's another synonym for SWIFT.  It's also a brand name for flavored powders to make your cold glass or warm mug of milk a bit less bland.

49 A. Inviolable, as a rule: HARD AND FAST.  This means it is fixed and definitive, not to be modified or avoided.  The sense of fast in this expression, now otherwise obsolete, is "locked in place."  It's the root of the verb fasten, meaning to firmly attach.  In the puzzle, FAST is another synonym for QUICK.

56 A. With immediacy, or a hint to the four other longest puzzle answers: POST HASTE.  Yet another synonym for FAST.  From my brief examination, it seems that this can either be a single word, or a two-word phrase, with or without a hyphen.

Hi, Gang, JazzBumpa here.  Hope your Christmas was happy and safe.  The holidays go by quickly.  The theme notwithstanding, let's not speed through this puzzle, but take it slow and steady.

Across:

1. Invents, as a word: COINS.  Devising a new word or phrase.  The phrase itselfe seems to have been coned in American Literature with the earliest recorded use being in the 'The Southport American' newspaper in 1848. 

6. Laugh-a-minute sort: RIOT.  Fun guy.

10. Lucas of "Raising Hope": NEFF.  [b 1985]  Most recently, he starred in the CBS sitcom Carol's Second Act.

14. Bandleader's exhortation: HIT  IT.  In all my decades of playing in all sorts of ensembles and venues, I don't remember ever hearing the leader say this.

15. Egyptian life symbol: ANKH.

Key of Life

16. Pest on a pooch: FLEA.  Dog annoyer

17. Red-tide contents: ALGAE.  The color is due to an algal bloom, often caused by an up-swelling of nutrients from the ocean floor following a storm.  

20. Shape, as clay: SCULPT.  Make it look like something other than a lump.

22. Mayberry lad: OPIE.  Young Ron Howard.

23. Org. in much recent news: CDC.  The Center for Disease Control.

26. "We'll let you know," on skeds: TBA. To Be Announced.

27. 18-Across jr. officer: ENS.  Ensign.

28. Threaded fastener: NUT.  To make a mechanical connection hard and fast.

29. Claw into: TEAR AT.  Rip apart

31. Fire truck alert: SIREN. Listen up!

33. Tourette syndrome symptoms: TICS.   Idiosyncratic and habitual features of a person's behavior.

39. Brooklyn Coll. is part of it: CUNY.  The City University of New York.

40. Double duty?: STUNT.  I had to think about this one.  Performing STUNTS - dangerous skilled maneuvers  in a movie scene - is the duty of a star's STUNT double.

41. Convent leader: ABBESS.  Head nun.

44. Shoelace, e.g.: TIE.  A tie is a type of fastener.

45. NBA's Heat, on scoreboards: MIA.  MIAMI's basketball team.

48. Inouye Airport arrival gift: LEI.   Hawaiian flower garland necklace.

53. Investment inits.: IRA.  Individual Retirement Account.

54. Common ointment ingredient: ALOE.  Extract of the ALOE vera plant, a succulent cultivated for tis medicinal uses.

55. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil: NIEKRO.  [1939-2020]  He played for 24 years in the majors, from 1964 to 1987.  Sadly, he just passed the day after Christmas after a long battle with cancer.

59. Step: TREAD.  Stomping is optional.

60. Worked in a garden: HOED.  Used a hand-operated cultivating tool.  Or emulated Santa.

61. "Because You Loved Me" singer: DION.  Celine [b 1968]

62. Battle zone journalist: EMBED.  This was confusing.  I was expecting a specific name, not the category.  The answer is a bit awkward, since it is a noun that looks like a verb.

63. Criteria: Abbr.: STDS.  Standards.

64. Racy message: SEXT.   Portmanteau of SEX and TEXT.

65. Rotary phone features: DIALS.  Does anybody have one of these?

Down:

1. Unsullied: CHASTE. Refraining from sexual activity.  The Unsullied in Game of Thrones certainly did this.  But, in general, is this a good equivalence?  You decide.

2. Prop for the Tin Man: OIL CAN.  I still wonder how it happened that tin rusted.  Must be a Oz thing.

3. Men working on a network, informally: I. T.  GUYS.  Experts in Information Technology, aka nerds.

4. One Direction's "cute one" __ Horan: NIALL.  True?  You decide.

Cute?

5. "C'mon, we're in a hurry!":  STEP ON IT.  Go faster, referring to pressing a vehicles accelerator pedal.  Theme echo.

6. Late-summer orientation mtg. holders: RAs.  Resident Advisors:  students who are responsible for supervising and assisting other, typically younger, students who live in the same residence hall.  One of our granddaughters has this position in the honors dorm at her school.

7. Like many trailers: IN TOW.   Pulled by a vehicle

8. Giraffe relative: OKAPI.   An artiodactyl [ungulate with an even number of toes] mammal native to the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. 

Made from spare parts?

9. Frugality: THRIFT.

10. Patriots' org.: NFL.  National Football League.

11. Exciting, as an atmosphere: ELECTRIC.

12. Survey info: FEEDBACK.  Requested information.

13. Big shots with big balances: FAT CATS.  More specifically, rich political donors.  It is also commonly used to describe a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to "live easy" off the work of others. 

19. Honor in a big way: FETE. To honor or entertain (someone) lavishly.

21. Town near Provincetown: TRURO.  Two of the 15 towns surrounding Cape Cod Bay.

25. Editorial "let it stand": STET.  From Latin,  it is a form of the Latin verb sto, typically translated as "Let it stand."

30. Feuding: AT IT.  A multi-purpose phrase, depending on what the definition of "it" is.

31. Eyelid ailment: STYE.  An inflamed swelling on the edge of an eyelid, caused by bacterial infection of the gland at the base of an eyelash.

32. Smart students' org.: NHS.  National Honor Society.

34. Two, to eight, e.g.: CUBE ROOT.  To cube a number is to multiply it by itself twice.  That number is then the cube root of the product.

35. Impartial: UNBIASED.  

36. Sundance's sweetie: ETTA.  ETTA Place [dates uncertain]   Companion of Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka, the Sundance Kid.  Along with Butch Cassidy they were members of the outlaw gang known as Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. 

37. "Glee" cheerleader: QUINN.  Quinn Fabray is a fictional character from the TV series Glee, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. The character is portrayed by actress Dianna Agron.  

Cheer with Glee

38. Not yet corrected for publication: UNEDITED.  Having no STETs nor deles.

39. Islamic leaders: CALIPHS.  The chief Muslim civil and religious ruler, regarded as the successor of Muhammad. The caliph ruled in Baghdad until 1258 and then in Egypt until the Ottoman conquest of 1517; the title was then held by the Ottoman sultans until it was abolished in 1924 by Atatürk.

42. 1979 exile: SHAH.  Mohammad Reza Pahlavi [1919-1980]  of Iran.

43. Soup followers: SALADS.  In multi-course meals.

45. Folk singer Miriam known as "Mama Africa": MAKEBA. [1932 - 2008]

46. Gal Gadot's birthplace: ISRAEL.  In case you were wondering about this woman.

Probably needed a STUNT double

47. Disagreeing: AT ODDS.  Loggerheads doesn't fit.

50. Riveting icon: ROSIE.

Probably not what you think

51. Rehab program: DETOX.  A process designed to remove addictive toxins leave the body.

52. 1938 Physics Nobelist: FERMI.  Enrico [1901-1954] An American physicist who created the first nuclear reactor.  He won the Nobel Prize for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transuranium elements. 

57. Six-pt. scores: TDS.  TouchDowns in American football.

58. Tolkien's Treebeard, e.g.: ENT.  

And thus does Fangorn bring our Wednesday to a slow moving close.  Hope you enjoyed the journey.  Now - stay home and stay safe  Happy New Year.  See you all in January.

Cool Regards!

JzB