Good Morning, Cruciverbalists! Malodorous Manatee, here, this time with a leonine friend, to wish each and every one of you a rip-roaring start to this fine Thursday. Today's constructor is August Miller. On 20 November 2020, Lemonade recapped August Miller's debut outing in the L.A. Times and, more recently, on 05 May 2021, Melissa Bee also recapped one of his puzzles.
This morning, Leo is crowing with pride because he is featured prominently in today's offering. So, if you have not yet looked at the puzzle, it is time to stop lion in bed and either grab today's newspaper or go on lion and get to work on solving the puzzle.
"I'll Go There For Dorothy. Wicked Witch or No Wicked Witch." - Lion
Let's start with the reveal at 63 Across:
Courageous . . . like 17-, 24-, 40- and 50-Across?: LION HEARTED. At four places within the grid, our puzzle setter has worked LEO into the two-word answers (that's the LION) and those lions jump across the gaps in between the words (that's the HEARTED-ness of the matter, I suppose). So, it would seem that August (birth sign Leo?) was not lion to us and that those four big cats were not just lion around.
Here are the four theme-related answers . . .
17 Across. Best Actress Oscar nominee for "The Dark Angel" (1935): MERLE OBERON.
24 Across: Unpretentious ancestry: HUMBLE ORIGINS.
40 Across: Felony, e.g.: JAILABLE OFFENSE.
50 Across: Former First Lady behind the "Let's Move!" initiative: MICHELLE OBAMA.
. . . and how they appear in the grid:
Across:
1. Jokingly: IN FUN. Said in jest, perhaps. You know. Lion.
6. Cashed, as a bad check: KITED. The term Check Kiting originated in the 1920's. It stemmed from a 19th Century practice of issuing IOUs and bonds with zero collateral. That practice became known as "flaying a kite" because there was nothing to support the loan but thin air.
11. "The __": Uris novel: HAJ. Decades ago, I binge-read at least a half-dozen book written by Leon Uris. His name derives from Yerushalmi, meaning man of Jerusalem.
14. Far from cramped: ROOMY.
15. Bakery offering that's always free?: AROMA. A scent frequently wafting through crossword puzzles.
16. Orangutan, e.g.: APE. One day, the zookeeper noticed that the orangutan was reading two books. One was The Bible and the other was On The Origin of Species. When asked about what he was reading the APE replied, "I am just trying to find out whether I am my brother's keeper or I am my keeper's brother."
19. Rage: IRE. An emotion often raised in crossword puzzles.
20. Wasatch Mountains ski resort: ALTA. I was lucky enough to ski at ALTA quite often in the 1970's and 1980's. A great hill. My yellow lab, Rustler, was named after a ski run there called Alf's High Rustler which was, itself, named in honor of Alf Engen (1909 - 1997).
Hi, Rustler!
21. Recreation with skis or sneakers: RUNS. The trails that one follows down a ski hill are called Ski RUNS. Two skiing-related entries in a row. That's cool, or perhaps, cold.
22. Swamp thing: GATOR. If an alliGATOR lives in a river and thinks that she's a crocodile there's a good chance that she's in da-Nile.
27. Religious devotion: PIETY. "Piety is not a goal but a means to attain through the purest peace of mind the highest culture." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
29. GPS approx.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
30. 8 Series automaker: BMW. Bayerische MotorenWerke
2021 BMW 8 Series Coupe
31. Drawing contest?: RAFFLE. Not an art competition but a random selection for a door prize.
36. Contended: VIED.
43. "Auld Lang __": SYNE. Meaning times long past. Slainte!
44. Reduced-rate hotel offering: DAY USE. Hmm, a few possibilities for riffing on this one.
45. Big gp. of towers?: AAA. Despite the "gp" abbreviation, did anyone first think of towers as in the World Trade Center or the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur? Instead, it's the American Automobile Association and they provide tows to stranded motorists.
Petronas Towers - Photo by MM
46. Fort Collins sch.: CSU. As with the clue just above, the "sch" tells us that the answer will be an abbreviation: Colorado State University at Fort Collins, CO.
48. Tycoon: MOGUL. This could have been a third skiing-related clue. It also could have been clued as a type of locomotive or an Indian Muslim (Mughal).
57. "Modern Family" actress Winter: ARIEL. Despite its Christopher Lloyd pedigree, I have never watched this show and did not know the actress. Thank you, perps.
58. In the old days: ONCE.
59. "And so . . . ": ERGO. A horse walks into a bar and orders a triple whiskey. The bar tender asks him, "Are you an alcoholic?" The horse replies, "I don't think I am" and promptly vanishes into thin air.
I Don't Think, Therefore I Am Not ?
62. Cab alternative: ZIN. Cabernet or ZINfandel. Not Uber of Lyft as we often see. A wine reference. There are many very good producers of ZINfandel wines which is made in various styles from light to quite robust.
66. Key that will get you out of a window: ESC. The first of today's computer-related riffs.
67. One Time?: ISSUE. The fact that Time (the eponymous magazine) is capitalized makes it easier to see where the constructor, or editor, was going with this bit of humor.
68. Shadowfax, to Gandalf: STEED. Horse would also have fit in the allotted squares. A Lord Of The Rings reference.
69. Library reminder: SHH.
70. "A League of __ Own": THEIR. A 1992 motion picture loosely based on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. A straightforward fill-in-the-blank clue and an interesting placement as Tom Hanks (see 71 Across) was in this movie, also.
71. Tom who voices Woody in "Toy Story" films: HANKS. Tom HANKS. A couple of weeks ago we had a Tim Allen/Buzz Lightyear reference. There has been much speculation about the use of both Buzz and Woody as names in these films. Years earlier, the playful folks at Termite Terrace used to pull such shenanigans.
Down:
1. Destructive 2017 hurricane: IRMA. The first Category 5 Hurricane of the 2017 season, Irma was responsible for approximately $50 Billion in damage on the mainland U.S.
2. Yuletide tune: NOEL. From the Latin nasci meaning to be born.
3. Golf announcer's call before a potential victory putt: FOR THE WIN. (Note: A lion would not play golf. But a Tiger Wood)
4. Mötley Crüe piece: UMLAUT. While we have seen this type of misdirection before, it was still easy to get sidetracked thinking that the answer would be a song by the band. Instead, it was a diacritical mark.
5. Lab-coated TV educator: NYE. Bill NYE the Science Guy also visited us two weeks ago. Rustler would have liked this clue.
6. Afghanistan's capital: KABUL.
7. Adler of Sherlock Holmes fame: IRENE. IRENE Adler, Sherlock Homes' respected nemesis, visits us regularly despite having appeared in only one of (and being mentioned in tree other) Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories.
8. Artist's trunk?: TORSO. The question mark tips us off that the answer will not be something in which an artist might store her supplies.
9. Paramore genre: EMO. Paramore is, apparently, the name of a band. I am not familiar with their music but am very familiar with EMO popping up in crossword puzzles.
10. "Rats!": DANG IT. Both Darn It and Damn It were, briefly, under consideration. This one reminded me of the old Roger Miller tune.
Roger Miller With Dick Clark - 1964 - Dang Me
11. Hispaniola nation: HAITI. Two nations occupy the island of Hispaniola - the Dominican Republic and HAITI. In 1657, France and Spain split control of the island between themselves.
12. Kitchen wear: APRON.
13. Catcalls: JEERS.
18. Pluto, but not Goofy: ORB. In this case, Pluto refers to the dwarf planet. A slightly different take on the old question: "If Pluto is a dog what is Goofy?"
23. Tequila plant: AGAVE. AGAVE is used to make Mezcal of which Tequila is, basically, a subset. Mezcal may be produced from up to fifty species of AGAVE whereas Tequila is made only from Tequilana Weber aka Weber Blue Agave.
25. British pianist Hess: MYRA. Dame Julia MYRA Hess (1890 - 1965).
26. Coral phenomena: REEFS. Phenomenon, singular. Phenomena, plural.
27. Lunches with Jif: PBJS. Jif, of course, is a brand of peanut butter. PBJ is shorthand for Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Because They Like Hydrogenated Oil and Sugar
28. "Perhaps": I MAY. . . and then, again . . .
32. "Rush Rush" singer: ABDUL. Although I am aware of her, I am not a fan and did not know the referenced song. Thanks, once again, perps.
33. Hardly an orange-free st.: FLA. An amusing play on words. The Orange Free State was an independent Boer sovereign republic during the second half of the 19th century. That, however, has nothing to do with the answer. Florida (U.S. Postal abbreviation FLA) is the top orange producing state.
34. "30 Rock" creator: FEY. Tina FEY is a frequent visitor.
35. Singer Reed: LOU. LOU Reed was the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter for the Band the Velvet Underground perhaps best known for the song (take a) Walk On The Wild Side.
37. TV's "Barefoot Contessa": INA GARTEN. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Stamford Connecticut, INA GARTEN, nee Rosenberg, hosts popular cooking shows and has authored many books.
38. Genesis twin: ESAU. According to the bible, ESAU was the elder twin brother of Jacob.
My Brother Esau - Oakland Colosseum 1987 - The Grateful Dead
39. "So here's the __": DEAL. Another fill-in-the blank clue and a phrase used often by a current national leader.
41. Monterrey milk: LECHE. Today's Spanish lesson. Monterrey is a city in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
42. 1-Down relief org.: FEMA.
47. Be convincing: SELL IT.
49. Code of silence: OMERTA. I knew this one thanks to Mario Puzo. Originally, OMERTA was a way of opposing Spanish rule in Sicily in the 16th Century and it meant not cooperating with state authorities to settle personal grievances.
50. Confounding layouts: MAZES.
51. Like some coffee and ales: IRISH. Whiskey, too.
52. Snap: CINCH. Not a closure for a garment (e.g. a zipper, button or snap) but the idiom as in "That exam was very easy. Passing it was a cinch." Not a piece of Western horse tack.
53. Baggy: LOOSE.
54. World-weariness: ENNUI.
55. Yellowish brown: OCHER. A color often seen in our puzzles.
56. 6th of December?: BEE. This one was a bit puzzling. Eventually, it dawned on me that B was the sixth letter in the word December. Cute. Really cute . . . and why, oh why, does this type of clue continue to fool me so consistently (at least initially)?
60. Participant in a Mac-vs-PC argument, maybe: GEEK. . . . and the debates continue. Our second computer GEEK reference of the day.
61. Payout determinant: ODDS. Once, on a business trip to Las Vegas I took ill and sought out the hotel's physician. I located her office on the door of which was posted a sign that read "Dr. Murphy 9 to 5". I turned on my heel and walked away. I wanted better ODDs than that.
64. Kinda-sorta: ISH. Punt.
65. BBQ residue: ASH.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Ash.
Ash who?
Gesundheit.
, , , and on that note . . .
