Lewis Rothlein lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches yoga. His work life has taken a winding course, from being a journalist, to a syndicated newspaper columnist, to teaching elementary school, to owning a yoga studio. He began solving crosswords after seeing the movie WordPlayand several years later, he began making puzzles, where his favorite part is coming up with clues that make him go "Yes!"
Across:
1. "Growing Up in New Guinea" author: MEAD - Some say she is the world's most famous anthropologist
5. Softball club: BAT.
8. Retirement option: SERTA - The surface to which we retire every night
13. Semi bar: AXLE - Here's a hometown semi with multiple AXLES
14. Sage: GURU. Surely a GURU would be 9. Sage: ERUDITE.
15. Place to get bike wear: TREAD.
16. Screen symbol: ICON.
17. Lollapalooza: ONER - Okay...
18. Cost as much as: RUN TO - A simple oil change these day can RUN TO over $50
19. "Whatever you're thinking, no": DON'T GET ANY IDEAS with your 47. Drives: URGES. - A good pre-date declaration
22. Bit parts?: REINS - Hi Yo Silver!
23. Less sound: SHAKIER.
24. Gets out of a slump?: SITS UP.
25. Emanate: EMIT.
26. "Hold on": WAIT.
27. Baltic port: RIGA - RIGA, Latvia on the, uh, Gulf of RIGA
30. Garter snake prey: NEWTS - These harmless snakes still scare us when we see them
34. Outer bank?: ATM - Fun clue!
35. Frank exchange?: TOFU DOG - Would I exchange a Fairbury Husker Dog for a TOFU DOG? Frankly, no!
37. KOA parkers: RVS.
38. Pet __: PEEVE.
40. Italian pronoun: ESSA - ESSA is Italian for "it" but I read it is rarely used any more
41. Free of lumps: SIFT and 57. Free of lumps: EVEN.
42. Bluegrass legend Scruggs: EARL - The breakthrough song for Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt
44. Small cutters: XACTOS.
46. CrossFit set: BURPEES.
49. Ohno who won "Dancing With the Stars" in 2007: APOLO - One fewer L than the moonshot
50. Cake that traditionally has coconut-pecan icing: GERMAN CHOCOLATE.
53. Severity: RIGOR - The word for RIGOR in RIGA is Stingrība
54. Patatas bravas, por ejemplo: TAPA - "Spicy Potatoes" in a TAPA bar
55. Go very slow, or very fast: DRAG - In a tractor pull a sled is DRAGGED slowly. In a DRAG race the vehicles go very fast
56. Deal-maker: AGENT - MLB star Juan Soto's AGENT thinks he can get him a $500M contract
29. Giancarlo's "Better Call Saul" role: GUS - Giancarlo Esposito played the passive-aggressive and ruthless GUS Fring.
31. Magnified: WRIT LARGE - Meaning: "Very obvious." The success of a candidate is usually WRIT LARGE by their amount of campaign money.
32. Some coverage: TV FOOTAGE.
33. Old boomers: SSTS.
35. Social event where Alice is asked, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?": TEA PARTY - Lewis Carrol wrote that he never intended for there to be answer.
36. Many a Zapotec: OAXACAN - (Waa Haa Cun). Zapotecs are a group indigenous to this area of southern Mexico.
39. State whose capital is named for a French city: VERMONT.
43. Driver's "Star Wars" role: REN - This character is Kylo REN. In Footloose, Kevin Bacon played REN McCormack.
45. PFC's address: APO - Army or Air Force Post Office. FPO is the Navy's Fleet Post Office.
46. Color whose name comes from Old French for "natural wool": BEIGE - Derivation with a BEIGE background!
48. Prepare cheese, in a way: SHAVE.
50. Austrian city on the eastern edge of the Alps: GRAZ - A little over 2hr SSW of Vienna
51. Transparent: OPEN.
52. Awards acronym: EGOT - Mike Nichols and Rita Moreno have won the PEGOT - Peabody plus the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Richard Rodgers and Marvin Hamlisch have one as well when you substitute Pulitzer for Peabody.
This puzzle was a bit of a "masquerade", as many of the clues were clearly disguised. And as for my ability to solve it? Well, I FIW, as you can see from the grid below. All of the letter squares with a red triangle in the corner are ones I had to reveal through the puzzle software:
As I began solving today's puzzle, I wondered how many of you would (42-across. Breezes (through):) SAIL(S) through this one? Or perhaps even see the theme, or (64-across. Break off:) END the solve with a (54-down. "All done!":) TADA? I certainly didn't, but once I revealed a few of my head-scratchers, and then solved the puzzle reveal, (62-across. Brandy-based cocktail, and a hint to locating the second part of four three-part puzzle answers:) SIDECAR, it all became clear. And, it made this puzzle a keeper!
Still don't see it? Let's explore the reveal to make some sense of it all ...
First, there were four clues - all in the down position - that were clued as "-". And while none of this made sense (even as some of them filled in via perps) if you just follow the red letters in the grid it will all become crystal clear.
The second "-" (32-down. -:) yields the word PAL. Look above PAL to see (8-down. Like five bones in the hand:) META, and once you add CAR, 8-down becomes METACARPAL, or like 5 bones in the hand.
The third "-" was (53-down. -:) PONE. 39-down. Italian cream cheese: MAS, means nothing until the word "CAR makes it MASCARPONE. This:
And last, but certainly not least, the fourth "-" (56-down. -:) PET, made (40-down. Where stars may align:) RED (plus the SIDE CAR), RED CARPET. And come OSCAR time, you can see many "stars" align at the RED CARPET
Our constructors were last seen at the LA Times on this date.
1. "__ your age!": ACT. If I had a $1 for every time that statement's been thrown in my direction I'd be set for life!
4. Hound: NAG. DOG fits, but not on Friday
7. Mischievous sprite: IMP. See 1-across; I've also been called an IMP at times. I'm a "sprite" in height, but not in weight
10. For instance: SAY. I often wondered if Francis Scott Key ever considered his first line in what became our National Anthem as "O for instance can you see ..."
13. Bach work: CHORALE. Moe-ku (as promised):
The Earp family Approved Bach's work: "Gunfight at The OK CHORALE"
15. "Fore!" site: TEE. CSO to HG, TTP, Boomer, and any and all of the CC golfers
16. __-K: PRE. Moe didn't attend PRE-k. Perhaps that's why he doesn't always "ACT his age"
17. Record collection?: DATA SET. "Lots of 1's and 0's; spreadsheets" so I'm told by Miss Margaret - my live-in librarian and laptop whiz
18. "And there's more" abbr.: ETC. Hang in there; today's blog won't be rife with a lot of ETC
19. Extra NBA periods: OTS. Overtimes. Also known as OT in NFL, NHL, and MLS. MLB has extra innings. Fun Fact: My almost 94 year old mom used to get the two phrases mixed up, and referred to an extended baseball game as "Over innings"
20. Simple style: CREW CUT. According to [Dictionary dot com], "The term CREW CUT was first recorded in the 1930–40s to describe the hairstyle of Ivy League students on the crew team (rowing). They cut their hair shorter on the sides and longer on the top to streamline their appearance (and performance)." Is that what they now call a FADE? I've gone full circle. Started getting CREW CUTS as a little shaver, and am sporting one now as a large portion of my scalp is bald
Yankee Doodle had Meringue injected in joint. Called it MACARON-knee
23. Perched on: ATOP.
25. Defensive retort: AM TOO."Are not!"
26. MVP of the first Super Bowl: STARR. I was unaware that Ringo played football ...
30. Copies, for short: REPROS. I should've known this - or at least guessed it. Anyone here recall the "REPROS" we had in school, back in the day? Remember the smell?
33. Flying start?: AERO.
34. Sudden attack: FORAY. Which entry in today's puzzle is a CSO to another punster? This one: FORAY
35. Bentley of "Yellowstone": WES. I'd never thought of driving a Bentley to Yellowstone, but why not??
38. Inventor who coined the term "horsepower": WATT. Moe-ku three:
My first thought for this After googling the answer Was to say, "Wait, WATT?"
39. Exxon merger partner: MOBIL. According to [SpringerLink]: "When did Exxon merge with Mobil? In 1998, Exxon and Mobil merged in a deal valued at $81 billion. The merged entity became the third largest company in the world at the time of announcement. The merged company was called ExxonMobil Corp (stock symbol XOM)"
40. Musical symbol: REST. CLEF also fits
41. Nordic runner: SKI.
43. Let up: EASE.
44. Bo's'n's quarters: FOCSLE. FOCSLE? I definitely had to Google this one. I should've collaborated with Miss Margaret first, as she knew this straight off. The definition in Merriam-Webster
46. Storage place: CD ROM. You could possibly store a 17-across here, but a flash drive might be better (again, according to Miss Margaret)
47. With 60-Across, undefeated boxer who wrote the cookbook "Food for Life": LAILA (60-across. See 47-Across: ALI). Muhammad and Veronica's daughter. Her son looks like his grandpa
49. Prefix between kilo- and giga-: MEGA. "Kilo- means 1,000; a Kilobyte is one thousand bytes. MEGA - means 1,000,000; a Megabyte is a million bytes. Giga- means 1,000,000,000; a Gigabyte is a billion bytes"[udel dot edu] More info, and a neat graph!
52. Passage: EXCERPT.
55. Do better than: SURPASS.
61. Mauna __: LOA. 63-across. Mauna __: KEA. Not sure I've ever seen both of these used in the same puzzle, let alone side by side
65. Snob: ELITIST. I had EGOTIST, which got me all messed up in that section of the puzzle
66. Couture monogram: YSL.
67. Leaves in hot water?: TEA. Cute clue
68. "The Matrix" hero: NEO. I feel so out-of-touch as I never watched "The Matrix"; so this filled with perps (I think)
69. Justice Dept. arm: DEA. Can justice be served by the DEA for someone who showed up DOA from an OD?
Down:
1. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" band: AC/DC. Not one of their iconic songs, except maybe to serious fans. Maybe Dash Tony has more history about this?? Fun fact: When Moe lived in Fort Myers, FL, he owned a wine business. One of his semi-regular customers was Cliff Williams; the bass player from AC/DC. Cliff and his wife Georgeanne were very beneficent. In 2011 they hosted a charity auction in their home; all proceeds went to a local neighborhood of underprivileged families. Moe provided several cases of wine, as well as doing the wine pouring for the event
2. Really overcook: CHAR. Sounds like my first time in a kitchen ... I think I actually burned water
3. Lug: TOTE. The plural, TOTES, is a brand of rainwear
4. Org. with a long track record?: NASCAR. 67-across was a cute clue; this one? Not so much
5. Language spoken along the Bering Sea: ALEUT. I might have either misspelled this, or maybe used INUIT in the first pass
6. Eat at: GET TO. Hopefully not something I do to you with my blogs
7. Agenda listing: ITEM. Ahh, agendas; brings back memories of the corporate world ... none, now; I'm retired!!
9. Nocturnal piglike mammal: PECCARY. Complete unknown, although they look very similar to our Arizona Javelina. [Wikipedia] "A PECCARY is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae. They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. They usually measure between 90 and 130 cm in length, and a full-grown adult usually weighs about 20 to 40 kg." This:
10. Athletic apparel: SPORTSWEAR. A very infrequently used crossword entry
11. "Star Wars" droid nickname: ARTOO. How come we never see his friend CEETHREEPEEO used in crossword puzzles?
12. Basic question type: YES NO. And yet, when I was in sales, our trainers always suggested we ask questions that began with HOW, WHAT, WHY, WHO, WHERE, or WHICH
22. Latin 101 word: AMO. A MOE? I never knew I was Latin
24. Snag: PROBLEM. I guess when you have a snag in a sweater, it IS a PROBLEM
26. Proverbs: SAWS. In [Dictionary dot com] the third meaning is: "saw3/sô/noun: saw; plural noun: saws
a proverb or maxim.
"Don't believe the old saw that you can't be out and still be a mover and shaker in Hollywood"
28. Synthetic: ARTIFICIAL. Another seldom used puzzle fill. Speaking of "fill", I'm guessing that most pillows are filled with ARTIFICIAL fibers these days
In "Wizard of Oz" The Tin Woodman becomes the FOIL of Winkies
36. Canadian gas brand: ESSO. CSO to CanadianEh! So, how much is ESSO going for these days, per liter??
37. Dandelion part: STEM. Does WINE fit this clue? Anyone remember Dandelion wine??
42. Miss in the game of Clue: SCARLET. She was easy to spot because she wore a sweater with the letter "A" embroidered on it
45. Flamenco cheer: OLE.
46. Brief exercise?: CARDIO.
47. Hardly seaworthy: LEAKY. Sounds like a plumbing PROBLEM, to me
48. Turnpike toll factor: AXLES. Did anyone here ever drive an 18-wheeler? I didn't, but I used to have a CB Radio. My handle was "Short Strokes". I learned all of the trucker/cb jargon. For example: "What's your twenty?" (answer in the comment section below if you know this answer)
50. German industrial city: ESSEN. ESSEN also means "meal" in German
51. Trickery: GUILE.
57. Low-pH substance: ACID. The pH "scale" runs from 1 to 14. Most elements/solutions under 7 are ACIDic; those over 7 are basic/alkaline. This:
That's all she wrote, Cornerites. Please add comments below. See you in a couple of weeks ... now for me to go catch up on some old sitcoms from the '50's and '60's
Good morning cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here to present today's recap with an assist from his friend The Singing Walrus. Today's puzzle setter is often-published (NYT, LAT, USA Today, etc.) constructor, Rebecca Goldstein. In today's outing we have a fairly straightforward theme so let's go right to the unifier (which proved helpful to this solver):
49 ACROSS: Classic arcade game with pixelated aliens, and what three answers in this puzzle have: SPACE INVADERS.
Released in 1978, most of us probably played SPACE INVADERS. Some of us, I would guess, to excess. Arcade game graphics have, of course, come a long, long way since then. As for the theme, each themed answer contains a celestial object. In a bit of a double play on words, those objects are found in what some call SPACE and they might also be said to INVADE each themed answer's SPACE.
17. Film festival hype?: SUN DANCE FEVER. The SUNDANCE film festival is held every year in Utah. FEVER as a synonym for hype is a bit of a stretch but not entirely opaque. Without the INVADER - Dance Fever.
27. Bucket list item for an aspiring astronaut?: COLLECT STARDUST. We are stardust . . . Without the INVADER - Collect dust.
33. Nagging newlywed?: HONEYMOON BADGER. Without the INVADER - Honey Badger. BADGERs? . . .
Raul's Wild Kingdom
Across:
1. Seat on the sidewalk: BENCH.
6. Guatemalan girl: CHICA. Esta es la primera lección de español de hoy.
11. Guffawed: ROARED.
13. Enters a password: LOGS ON. We often do not know, at first, if it's going to be LOGS ON or LOGS IN.
14. Airport city east of Los Angeles: ONTARIO. Those of us in SoCal probably had an easier time with this than did those folks in other locations. Still, roughly 4.5 million passengers flew into/out of ONT last calendar year.
16. Lil Nas X song subtitled "Call Me by Your Name": MONTERO. Unknown to this solver. Thank you very much, perps.
19. Small songbirds: LARKS. A hand up for first trying WRENS.
20. Excel function: SORT. A spreadsheet/database reference.
21. Himalayan ox: YAK.
23. NYC airport on Flushing Bay: LGA. Airport code for LaGuardia and our second airport clue/answer today. Named for the former NYC mayor (1933 through 1945), Fiorello LaGuardia.
24. Frozen Four game: SEMI. The Frozen Four is collegiate hockey's tongue-in-cheek equivalent of the SEMI Finals of NCAA Basketball tournament aka the Final Four. Only four teams left in the elimination tournament.
25. Dip in the Mediterranean?: AIOLI. A sauce. SWIM was too short (and in the wrong sea).
31. Cookbook writer Garten: INA. Today, we are also visited by ID INA (see 42 Across, below).
32. Traditional March 14 dessert: PIE. March 14th can be written as 3/14. Pi, of course, is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. As Pi equals approximately 3.14 some wag decided that 3/14 should be known as Pi day. . . or PIE day.
42. Menzel who won a Tony for playing Elphaba in "Wicked": IDINA. IDINA is very well known for her work in Frozen.
43. Iowa State city: AMES.
44. Good Grips brand: OXO.
45. Sausalito summer hrs.: PDT. Pacific Daylight Time. A bit of misdirection if you thought that the clue referred to a town in Italy rather than a town in Marin County, California.
46. Bygone Russian royal: TSAR.
47. H.S. class with a unit on heredity: AP BIO. Advanced Placement BIOlogy
53. French houses: MAISONS. C'est la leçon Français d'aujourd'hui.
54. Citation software: ENDNOTE. A computer software reference.
56. National park in Utah: ARCHES.
57. Fiddle (with): TINKER. Idioms.
58. Outwitted a Predator?: DEKED. Neither a hunting reference nor a CIA drone reference. The Predators are a National Hockey League team. A DEKE is a fake-out maneuver on the ice.
59. Requirements: NEEDS. (see 16 Down?)
Down:
1. Dude: BRO.
Dude One: Hey, Bro?
Dude Two: Yeah Bro?
Dude One: Can you pass me that pamphlet?
Dude Two: Brochure.
2. When dinosaurs roamed the earth: EONS AGO. We get something less scientific than MESOZOIC which would not have fit in any case.
3. __ gas: NATURAL. But it's all right now. In fact . . .
4. Jack-in-the-box appendage: CRANK. Not a fast food reference.
5. Collections of cattle: HERDS.
6. David who won the 1994 AL Cy Young Award: CONE. A baseball reference. During the 1994 strike-shortened season, David CONE played for the Kansas City Royals.
7. "House Hunters" channel: HGTV.
8. "That's a terrible hiding spot": I SEE YOU.
9. Pens in: CORRALS. Not a reference to writing something.
10. "Should I take that as __?": A NO. Apparently, yes.
12. Part of una semana: DIA. Esta es la segunda lección de español de hoy. Semana = week. DIA = day.
13. Studio site, maybe: LOFT. As in a studio apartment. Hand up for first thinking of LOT and wondering "Why the extra square?"
15. Beginning: ONSET.
16. Scholarship basis: MERIT. Often, we see NEED used as the answer (see 59 Across?)
18. Dot-__: COMS.
19. Business ltrs.: LLC. Limited Liability Company. Letters is abbreviated, ergo . . .
22. Baby fox: KIT. A baby beaver, ferret, muskrat, or skunk is also called a KIT.
24. Phony deal: SCAM. IIRC, SCAM was also an answer two weeks ago.
25. Diva's time to shine: ARIA.
Nicola Keen and Jan Hartley
26. Carded: IDED. IDentifiED
28. Home security?: LIEN. Not a deadbolt . . . or a scatter gun. A lender's right to seize the property for non-payment.
29. New Age singer from County Donegal: ENYA. It's almost always ENYA.
30. Silver Alerts, e.g.: APBS. All Points BulletinS. A Silver Alert is a public notification system to broadcast information about missing persons - particularly senior citizens.
33. Toddler's perch, at times: HIP. Hand up if you first thought of LAP.
34. "If I had to bet ... ": ODDS ARE. What are the odds of a chronic gambler calling the addiction helpline? No, seriously. I have $100 riding on this.
35. Sweat the small stuff: NIT PICK. After nitpicking a small detail in my friend's story, he said to me "What are you? President of the Pedantic Society?" Vice President, actually.
39. Lose it completely?: GO BROKE. A car stopped in front of a hotel. The driver immediately realized that she was bankrupt. What was going on?
40. Lived and breathed: EXISTED.
41. Kanga's kid: ROO. An A.A. Milne reference.
46. Hamilton bills: TENS.
47. Use as an ingredient: ADD IN.
48. Tubular pasta: PENNE. A Macaroni, a Penne and a Spaghetti were drinking wine in a bar one evening. They saw a noodle sitting by herself and discussed inviting her to join them. They all agreed she looked Cannelloni.
50. Tennis great profiled in ESPN's "30 for 30" special "Arthur and Johnnie": ASHE. It's almost always ASHE.
51. Like Sarah Lawrence since 1968: COED. CO-EDucational. Both genders.
52. Social insect: ANT.
53. Furious: MAD.
55. Triage ctrs.: ERS. Emergency RoomSCenters is abbreviated . . . yeah, yeah we know.
Here is how all of this appears in the grid:
Rebecca, you are invited to post anything that you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you.
Theme: A puzzle for one seasoning. As we shall see, this is a well-seasoned puzzle. This will make more sense if we start with the unifier.
60 A. Quantity applied to dubious advice, and what's found in the answer to each starred clue: GRAIN OFSALT.
To take something with a "grain of salt" is an English language idiom
that suggests to view something, specifically claims that may be
misleading or unverified, with skepticism or to not interpret something
literally. However, the chemist in me [and yes I have BS and MS degrees
in chemistry] recognizes that the symbol for a molecule of common table
salt is NaCl. Na is the symbol for sodium [natrium in the original
Latin] and Cl is the symbol for chlorine. The combination is called
sodium chloride.
17. *When "you can see forever," per the classic song: ON A CLEAR DAY.
30. *Genetic lab project: DNA CLONING.
A set of experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to
assemble recombinant DNA molecules and to direct their replication
within host organisms.
35. *Almost got the gold: RAN A CLOSE SECOND.
If you run someone a close second, or run a close second, you almost
beat them in a race or competition. So - probably took the silver.
If you take a granular look at each of these answers, you will find the it does indeed contain a modicum of salt
Hi, Gang -- JazzBumpa here to analyze todays experiment in criciverbalism. Let's grab our lab coats and get going.
Across:
1. Starts a triathlon: SWIMS. A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances.
6. Airplane assignments: SEATS. Aisle, window or [ugh] center.
11. Short lines at the register?: UPC. The Universal Product
Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode symbology that is widely used
worldwide for tracking trade items in stores.
14. Chocolate source: CACAO. Theobroma cacao, also called the
cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small evergreen tree in the family
Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor,
cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate.
15. "I've __ up to here!": HAD IT. Exclamation of impatience or incipient anger.
16. Swelter: FRY. Experience an unpleasant level of heat.
19. Watch chain: FOB. A chain attached to a watch for carrying in a waistcoat or waistband pocket.
20. Top __: TEN. A type of most popular list.
21. Requests: ASKS.
22. DVR pioneer: TIVO. TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by Xperi and introduced in 1999.
23. Rich cake: TORTE. a rich, usually multilayered, cake that
is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruit. It
is often glazed and garnished.
25. Air purifying gadget: IONIZER. Devices that remove certain
airborne particles using negative ions. The purpose of an air ionizer is
to help air particles settle and collect out of the air.
28. Skateboarding star Tony: HAWK. Anthony Frank Hawk (b. 1968),
nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder,
entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse
32. Qatari bigwigs: EMIRS. A Muslim (usually Arab) military commander or local chief.
34. "__ I say more?": NEED. Have you heard enough?
42. Word on Irish euros: EIRE. Éire is Irish for "Ireland", the
name of both an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of
Ireland which governs 84% of the island's landmass.
43. Finnish hot spot: SAUNA. A small room or building designed
as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment
with one or more of these facilities.
44. *Long, curved barrette: BANANA CLIP. a clip that is slightly curved and used to hold a person's hair in place.
50. Academic acronym: STEM. STEM is an acronym for Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math education. It is an interdisciplinary
approach that helps students succeed in college and in their future
careers. The focus of a STEM education is hands-on, problem-based
learning.
51. Glasses for bookworms: READERS. Eyeglasses used for reading
or close work. I have a special pair for reading music. Otherwise I
get trapped in bifocal hell.
52. Court attire: ROBES. A robe is a loose gown worn by judges, barristers and officials in court.
59. __ sale: TAG. A sale of used belongings where the price of the item is discounted and marked on a price tag.
64. Put away: ATE. Probably with considerable enthusiasm.
65. Very serious: ACUTE. Present or experienced to a severe or intense degree.
66. Leading: FIRST. Outperforming the competition.
67. __ light bulb: LED. Light Emitting Diode. LED lighting products produce light up to 90% more efficiently than incandescent light bulbs.
68. Cookie source: BAKER. A person who makes bread and cakes - and, of course, cookies - especially as a trade.
69. Ready to flow: ON TAP. All set to go.
Down:
1. Person in Paisley: SCOT. A person from Scotland. The town
Paisley is an industrial centre, Renfrewshire council area and historic
county, in west-central Scotland, 7 miles (11 km) west of Glasgow. It is
situated on the River White Cart, a tributary of the River Clyde.
3. "Gosh, no one is happy with me!": I CAN'T WIN. An expression of dismay.
4. PC alternative: MAC. An Apple computer.
5. __ power: SOLAR. The conversion of energy from sunlight into
electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using
concentrated solar power, or a combination.
6. Like some martinis: SHAKEN. As opposed to being stirred. Mine are swirled.
7. AirPods holders: EARS. Apple's entirely wireless earbuds.
They were first released in 2016. AirPods are compatible with iPhones,
iPads, iPods, Macbooks, and Apple TVs. EARS are the organs of hearing
and balance in humans and other vertebrates, especially the external
part of this.
8. Total: ADD. Sum it up.
9. Hermana de la madre: TIA. Mom's sister is your aunt, not only in Spanish speaking regions.
10. Farm pen: STY. Home for pigs.
11. Florence gallery with Botticelli's "Birth of Venus": UFFIZI.
A prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in
the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of
the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one
of the largest and best known in the world and holds a collection of
priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian
Renaissance.
12. Tried and true: PROVEN. We know it will work. Or so we hope.
13. Seven of Nine of "Star Trek," for one: CYBORG. A fictional
or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond
normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.
They appear as recurring antagonists in the Star Trek fictional
universe. Not sure what the 7 of 9 refers to.
18. Founded, for short: EST'D. Established.
22. Pewter component: TIN. Along with lead.
24. Gumbo vegetable: OKRA. Abelmoschus esculentus, known in
many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a
flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods.
25. Cold, slushy treat: ICEE. A frozen carbonated beverage available in fruit and soda flavors.
26. World Cup chants: OLÉS. From Spanish-speaking countries -- an exclamation used to express approval, triumph, joy, etc.
27. Network connections: NODES. In telecommunications networks, a
node (Latin: nodus, ‘knot’) is either a redistribution point or a
communication endpoint. The definition of a node depends on the network
and protocol layer referred to.
28. She/__ pronouns: HER. Putting She/Her in a bio means that
the individual is declaring their pronouns. Now people know that they
should use She/Her when speaking about or to that person.
29. "No question is too personal" session, for short: AMA. Ask Me Anything. [I might even answer.]
31. "Yosemite Valley Winter" photographer Adams: ANSEL. Ansel
Easton Adams 1902 – 1984) was an American landscape photographer and
environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American
West.
33. Part of an act: SCENE. As in a stage play.
36. Storyteller: LIAR. One prone to mendacity.
37. Tolkien creatures: ORCS. Evil beings that cannot abide the light of day.
38. Wholesale quantity: CASE. A case of some merchandise is a collection of items packaged together. A case is not a strict unit of measure.
39. Get the better of: OUT SMART. Defeat or get the better of (someone) by being clever or cunning.
40. U-turn from SSW: NNE. Opposite compass directions
41. Hydroelectric power source: DAM. A barrier constructed to
hold back water and raise its level, forming a reservoir used to
generate electricity or as a water supply.
44. Merciless: BRUTAL. Cruel and nasty
45. Gas up?: AERATE. Introduce a gas into a liquid.
46. Hounded: NAGGED. Persistently harassed someone to do something.
47. Stand buy: ADE. I have no idea what this means.
48. Wrinkle remover: IRONER. A person ironing clothing or other fabric items
49. Casual top: POLO. An informal style of cotton shirt, with short sleeves, a collar, and some buttons at the neck
53. Awesome, in showbiz: BOFFO. High praise or great success.
55. Etsy, e.g.: SITE. A set of related web pages located under a single domain name, typically produced by a single person or organization.
57. "Frozen" sister: ELSA. Elsa and Anna are the royal sisters of Arendelle.
58. Start of an address: HTTP. For a web site.
60. Shoot the breeze: GAB. Yack.
61. Color TV pioneer: RCA.
62. North Sea diving bird: AUK. A bird of the family Alcidae in
the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres,
guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets.
63. Transgression: SIN. In the original Greek writing of the
New Testament, the most common word translated as “sin” or “sins” is
“hamartia,” which means “literally missing of the mark.” If I
understand correctly, it is a term from archery.
Well - that's not the most pleasant way to bring a puzzle to a
close. But it was a good experiment, and I think it hit the mark. I'll
call it a success.
Cool regards!
JzB
P. S. I have family coming in from out of town, so I probably won't be checking the blog.
Lewis Rothlein lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches yoga. His work life has taken a winding course, from being a journalist, to a syndicated newspaper columnist, to teaching elementary school, to owning a yoga studio. He began solving crosswords after seeing the movie WordPlay and several years later, he began making puzzles, where his favorite part is coming up with clues that make him go "Yes!"
