Good morning, cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here and, no, you have not misplaced almost an entire week. I have now returned from my overseas sojourn. I have also been reassigned to the Friday beat. I guess that now makes me Joe Friday. I will try to live up to his, my predecessor's and my contemporary's standards.
In today's puzzle, frequent contributor David Alfred Bywaters insists that U to get out of here. You can stay but U must go. At four places within the grid he repeats a word but, for the second occurrence, drops the letter U from the first iteration and thereby provides a witty definition of the clue. To wit:
17 Across: Grammarian?: USAGE SAGE. Hmmm, will the theme be repeating words? Ummm, no, not exactly.
29 Across: Aspen, in the Rockies?: POPULAR POPLAR. At first I thought that the clue had something to do with the ski resort but it turned out to be tree-related.
43 Across: Nodding, e.g.?: AUCTION ACTION. At first I thought the clue had something to do with sleeping or the granting of consent. One is able to bid at an AUCTION by nodding.
59 Across: One inept at data storage?: CLOUD CLOD.
It would have been amusing if David had managed to somehow work YEW, HEW, HUGH or EWE into the grid.
With that, youse guys and gals, it's now time to make a U-turn and head back to the top of the puzzle:
Across:
1. Time-travel destination. PAST. FUTURE would not fit. PRESENT neither fit nor made any sense.
5. Short notice?: MEMO. Shortened version of MEMOrandum.
9. Béla Fleck's instrument: BANJO. Bela is a true virtuoso. He plays everything from Bluegrass to Jazz and Mozart on the 5-string banjo. The bass player in his band is Victor Wooten who is one of the greats. This tune ranks among my favorites:
14. One in a four-part harmony: ALTO. BASS would have fit but it would not work with the perps.
15. Button alternative: SNAP. Oh, it's not a peyote button. I guess we have closure.
16. "Night Sky With Exit Wounds" poet Vuong: OCEAN. A learning moment for this solver.
19. "I'll do it!": LET ME.
20. Steadfast: LOYAL.
21. Coined: MINTED.
23. Paean in verse: ODE. I've written a poem about the sounds made by dogs but you can only read it if you scan it first. It's a bark ODE.
25. Broadcast: AIR. Both the clue and answer are used here as verbs.
26. Global clock std.: GMT. Greenwich Mean Time
33. Steeped in a salt solution: BRINED. It is almost time to BRINE the Thanksgiving turkey.
35. Apartment ad abbr.: RMS. RooMS A little bit better than MSS at 5 Down.
36. Fishing gadget: LURE.
37. Rich soil: LOESS. Hand up for initially thinking of LOAM but there wasn't enough of it to fill the space.
38. Not neg.: POS. POSitive. Post Offices?
39. Warm up some leftovers, say: EAT IN.
40. Fantasy heavy: OGRE. Shrek and Fiona have significantly altered the OGRE landscape.
Not Shrek
41. Lip: RIM.
42. Make more capacious: EXTEND.
46. Workout top: TEE.
47. Managed: RAN. As in:
48. Granola morsel: OAT.
49. Maritime crime: PIRACY.
51. Apollo 11 lander: EAGLE.
56. Geographer's volume: ATLAS.
61. __ Corps: PEACE. Formed in 1961 to "promote world PEACE and friendship by providing trained volunteers to countries who need them."
62. Quite a few: LOTS. TONS. GOBS. MANY. A LOT.
63. Word with deck or dock: HAND.
64. Mortgage payment component, often: TAXES.
65. Focus group?: EYES. Not a marketing research panel but, literally, what you focus with.
66. Tense: EDGY. ANTSY was too long.
Down:
1. Ant-Man player Rudd: PAUL.
2. Too: ALSO. Additionally, there are more synonyms for too as well.
3. Parting word to a dog: STAY.
4. Word chanted in "Animal House": TOGA.
5. Pile on an ed.'s desk: MSS. We have seen this (somewhat of a punt) fill before. ManuScriptS
6. Cloisonné medium: ENAMEL.
7. Nativity scene trio: MAGI.
8. Warm welcome: OPEN ARMS.
9. Short jacket: BOLERO. We will save the Ravel for another day.
10. Got a great grade on: ACED.
11. Safety feature at a trapeze school: NET.
12. Toast topping: JAM.
13. See 34-Down: ONE. and . . .
34. With 13-Down, 2016 film subtitled "A Star Wars Story": ROGUE.
18. Weds without ceremony: ELOPES.
22. Warns, with "off": TIPS.
24. Disappointment: DUD.
26. Wheat protein: GLUTEN.
27. Bay Area county: MARIN.
28. Fashionista's concern: TREND. Now, where did I put my Davy Crockett hat? Maybe it's with my Members Only jacket and parachute pants. Not.
29. Give a ring?: PIERCE. Neither a marriage nor a telephone reference.
30. Start: ONSET.
31. Diffuser emanation: AROMA.
32. Student of Socrates: PLATO.
33. Balloon: BLOAT. Mick Jagger goes to the doctor and tells his physician that he is always very gassy but cannot fart. In other words, he can't get no flatus action.
38. Zenith: PINNACLE.
39. Went out: EXITED.
41. Imitate a lion: ROAR. Under the right conditions, the roar can be heard up to five miles away.
42. "Getting here soon?": ETA. "What is your Estimated Time of Arrival?"
44. Droopy perennials: IRISES. Famously painted by Vincent Van Gogh.
45. Native American trickster: COYOTE. Homer Simpson sends up Carlos Castaneda with the help of Johnny Cash:
49. Tempo: PACE. Sometimes (this time) the answer is a synonym (e.g. CLIP or RATE) sometimes it is an example (e.g. TROT or LOPE).
50. Be overly sweet: CLOY.
52. Need a massage, perhaps: ACHE.
53. Hefty rival: GLAD. Both are brands of plastic bags.
54. Yearn: LONG. ACHE, PINE and ITCH were potential candidates.
55. Current event?: EDDY. Nice pun. Not, in this instance, a recent occurrence. An EDDY is a circular movement in fluid or gas.
56. Fitting: APT.
57. Dim sum beverage: TEA. Both are of Chinese origin.
58. Insufficiently firm: LAX. Also an airport in SoCal...where the security is anything but.
The above scene depicts a break for lunch
that was taken by a group of the artist Renoir's friends as they were
boating down the Seine. They've disembarked at a shore side restaurant
and are treating themselves to quite a feast. The Wiki link in the
painting title contains
an interactive view of the painting that shows you the identity of each
of
the friends who appear in the work (can you guess his future wife?).
While the restaurant is real, and the excursion may have actually taken
place, obviously Renoir couldn't have painted it in the restaurant; we
know that each of the diners posed separately over a period of 16
months, and he then assembled their portraits into the final work. Not
only is it a masterpiece, but it's a tour de force of the painter's
craft. You don't have to go to France to see this painting: it's owned
by The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. For a deep dive into Renoir's magnum opus here's a docent's video tour.
So what does all of this have to do with today's puzzle, constructed by Michael Schlossberg? He also invites us to a lunch break,
although one with far simpler fare than that of Renoir's sumptuous spread. The grid circles
are a mixed blessing: the actual themers
are fill fragments, and depend on their visual positioning across
adjacent lines to complete each theme entry. Without the circles they
would be almost impossible to spot, nor could they help you to solve the
puzzle. However they make it almost too easy to figure out what's going on (YMMV you know who).
Here are the theme fragments and the results of combining them highlighted in RED:
17A. "Fingers crossed!": LETS HOPE SO and 22A. Slightly ahead: UP ONE. SOUP.
28A. Denial: REFUSAL and 33A. Catchy pitch: AD SLOGAN. SALAD. Could this and the previous themer be metaphors for crossword puzzles?
39A. Grand: THOUSAND and 45A. Kansas home of McConnell Air Force Base: WICHITA. SANDWICH. Wichita, Kansas is perhaps better known for this song than the AFB:
The reveal provides a simple menu for a quick ...
59A. Midday hiatus illustrated three times in this puzzle: LUNCH BREAK. As we can see, each dish in the lunch is broken across two lines.
Here's the grid:
And the rest of the fare:
Across:
1. Mamba kin: COBRA. One of the most deadly of which is the black mamba.
Black Mamba
6. Peak: ACME. Near the top of the list for 4 letter CWD fill.
10. Some Dada pieces: ARPS. Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist.
19. Theater award: OBIE. The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City.
20. Art Institute of Chicago area, with "the": LOOP. It's windy there.
21. "Come with me, Spot!": HEEL. The ABC's of dog training, based on principles originated by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov:
23. One with pointy ears and pointy shoes: ELF. They make frequent appearances in crosswords, e.g. last Thursday.
24. Actress Thurman: UMA. UMA who?
25. Unintentionally reply all, say: ERR. Could also be a job changing experience.
27. Longtime NASCAR sponsor: STP. Short for Standard Temperature and Pressure. Also short for Stone Temple Pilots. Here's their Interstate Love Song (lyrics):
30. Miserly desire: AVARICE.
32. Egg layer: HEN.
34. Flour used for naan and paratha: ATTA. Atta/Ata or chakki atta
is a wholemeal wheat flour, originating from the Indian subcontinent,
used to make flat breads such as chapati, roti, naan, paratha and puri.
It is the most widespread flour in the Indian subcontinent
37. "We card" cards, for short: IDS.
38. Novelists Patchett and Petry: ANNS. Ann Patchett
(born December 2, 1963) is an American author. She received the 2002
PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year,
for her novel Bel Canto, based on a true story (Patchett patterned one of her characters after the great soprano Renée Fleming and later became friends with her).
Ann Patchett
Ann Petry (October 12, 1908 – April 28, 1997) was an American writer of novels, short stories, children's books and journalism. Her 1946 debut novel The Street
became the first novel by an African-American woman to sell more than a
million copies. In 2019, the Library of America published a volume of
her work containing The Street as well as her 1953 masterpiece The Narrows and a few shorter pieces of nonfiction.
Ann Petry
42. Open __ night: MIC.
44. Furry toy spiders that move when screamed at: YELLIES. This puzzle is starting to get a little creepy:
49. Capitol Hill fig.: POL. If only we could figure out what to do about 'em.
50. Actor who played Clubber Lang in "Rocky III": MR T. Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III. In 1995 the "Ultimate Tough Guy", went head to head with his own personal form of cancer.
Laurence Tureaud
51. Annoy: IRK.
52. Boar's mate: SOW.
53. Elba of "Cats": IDRIS. Rumor has it that T.S. Eliot didn't even bother to roll over in his grave about this 2019 movie. IDRIS is an incredibly versatile actor, but he may have gone a whisker too far this time ... 55. Tirade: RANT.
57. Floor model: DEMO. We really needed a new car this Summer
and it was the first time I can recall that we couldn't just walk into a
showroom and buy a floor model. We actually had to wait for a month to
take delivery.
58. Murmurs lovingly: COOS.
61. Asia's vanishing __ Sea: ARAL. Here's hoping it vanishes completely from crosswords someday.
62. Juvenile outburst?: ACNE.
63. Join: UNITE. Or was it UNTIE? Last week this was a CSO to Jinx. It still is.
64. Mother of Castor and Pollux: LEDA. Their father was a swan. And HIS wife didn't approve. It's complicated.
65. __ Spunkmeyer: OTIS. My D.I.L. has strong opinions about nutrition:
And some might add OTIS Spunkmeyer's Double Chocolate Chip cookie:
66. Did well together: GOT ON.
Down:
1. Square dance figure: CALLER. A CSO to Yellowrocks. Here Phil Jamison calls a Texas Star square dance at a North Carolina high school. Brought to us by the Square Dance History Project.
7. Manitoba people: CREE. The Sapotaweyak Cree Nation (SCN, Cree: ᓵᐳᐦᑕᐍᔮᕽ, sâpohtawêyâhk, meaning: "golden eagle")
is a First Nations band government whose reserves are located in
northern Manitoba, north-east of Swan River, approximately 400
kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
Flag of the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation
8. Deceives: MISLEADS.
9. Genre with introspective lyrics: EMO. Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of post-hardcore and hardcore punk from the mid-1980s Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace. Here's Dashboard Confessional's Vindicated. Sounds like they're on the road to recovery (lyrics):
12. Makeshift storage container for brushes: PAINT CAN.
13. Becomes more inclined?: STEEPENS. Or a hill that seems to STEEPEN as we age.
18. "That sounds rough!": OH MAN.
22. River through Orsk: URAL. I think that URAL may be turning into the geographical OREO
cookie of crosswords. You are probably not likely to visit anytime
soon, but in case you do, here are some things to know about Orsk, Russia.
24. Employ: USE.
26. Trailer park parkers, for short: RVS. Recreational Vehicles. The crosswordese for someone who parks one is of course RVER.
35. "Sister Carrie" novelist Dreiser: THEODORE. Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist
school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at
their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary
situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of
choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).
40. Virtual citizens in a video game: SIMS. The Sims is a series of life simulation video games
developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has
sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the
best-selling video game series of all time.
41. __ Lingus: AER. Aer Lingus (an anglicisation of the Irish aerloingeas
meaning "air fleet") is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the
Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a
wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group (IAG). The
airline's head office is on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Cloghran,
County Dublin. We flew Aer Lingus to Ireland in 1999 and I'm happy to report that the service was excellent.
42. Levity: MIRTH.
43. "Eww!": ICK. This puzzle is not only getting CREEPY, but ICKY!
45. Flinches: WINCES.
46. Happy cry from someone who finally deciphers a Magic Eye picture: I SEE IT. DNK about Magic Eye pictures. They are a series of books (and posters, post cards, and lots of other kinds of images) that feature autostereograms.
If you look at them just right you can see a 3-D image on 2-D surface
without a special viewer. They're very sophisticated optical illusions
that were derived from insights into optics, neuroscience, graphics
design, and computer generated imagery. They started as a fad back in the 1990's and faded after a few years. But they never really went away and they're still being produced and marketed.
Here's what one looks like, but I don't think they can be viewed very
well from a computer screen. If you're curious, there are lots of
images in the last two links that you can print and experiment with.
Autostereogram "Magic Eye" picture
Once again CrossEyedDave has scooped me with a great example of how to view Magic Eye pictures:
47. Salsa ingredient: TOMATO. Teri has picked every last one on the vines and they're ripening in the sun room.
48. No longer asleep: AWOKEN.
54. Cuba, por ejemplo: ISLA. Today's Spanish lesson.
56. Years, in Rome: ANNI. Today's Latin lesson.
57. Spy-fi villain in a Nehru jacket: DR NO. What a franchise! Bond takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' (well maybe not). There have been 25 canonical Bonds,
starting with the great Sean Connery in 1962. [Spoiler alert!] Who do
you think will succeed Daniel Craig who died in in the oxymoronic No Time to Die?
59. Southeast Asian language: LAO. Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian (ລາວ, [láːw] 'Lao' or ພາສາລາວ, 'Lao language'), is a Kra–Dai
language of the Lao people. It is spoken in Laos, where it is the
official language for around 7 million people, as well as in northeast
Thailand, where it is used by around 23 million people, usually referred
to as Isan. Lao serves as a lingua franca among the citizens of Laos,
who also speak approximately 90 other languages, many of which are
unrelated to Lao.
Lao Language in the Phetsarath OT font
60. Software glitch: BUG. The origins of this term. Back in the day we used to say, "If carpenters built houses like
programmers build programs, then the first woodpecker that came along
would destroy civilization". -- Anon.
Cheers, Bill
As always, thanks to Teri
for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
Michael Schlossberg, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle,
its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the Comments section below. We'd love to hear from you.
Chandi wants us to think twice about going into the waters. The first word of each splat (*) clue is a type of shark - an ocean dwelling beast with big, sharp, pointy teeth.
17. *Netflix documentary series about a controversial zookeeper: TIGER KING. Covid lock-down made this a must see for many. I watched 9 minutes before -- 'click'.
30. *Showtime medical drama starring Edie Falco: NURSE JACKIE. In the zeitgeist but I've never seen it (I'm more an HBO guy).
47. *USA series about corporate crime: WHITE COLLAR. A fun show with a bit of inspiration from the real-life Frank Abagnale [1h] #CatchMeIfYouCan
63. Annual Discovery Channel programming event that could feature the shows in the answers to the starred clues?: SHARK WEEK. The programs were cool to watch when I was in college but it's kinda jumped the Shark.
D'Oh!
OK! A fun circle-less theme where all the TV show titles start with a type of shark. And, each shark is five (5) letters. Tight.
Let's chum the waters and find out what else awaits in the depths.
Across:
1. Like uncombed hair: WILD.
He was told to smile :-p
5. Muslim leader: IMAM.
9. Structure made of snow or blankets: FORT.
I couldn't get the rights to Elf ;-)
13. "Gotcha": I SEE.
14. Walking stick: CANE. Was it a cane that killed Abel? I'm a bit fuzzy on Genesis.
15. Zones: AREAS.
17. [See: theme]
19. Krispy __: KREME.
20. Carton sealer: TAPE. We still have five tape-guns from our August move. I didn't want to toss the cartons (nice sturdy cardboard boxes) to recycle, so I posted on Nextdoor. A (new) neighbor moving to the Dallas AREA (15a) took most of the moving boxes. Anyone else use Nextdoor.com?
21. Tenant's contract: LEASE. I'm learning about this 'cuz I kept the old house. The tenants are wonderful people and, importantly, the check clears.
23. Abolish: BAN.
24. Home of the NHL's Blues: STL. Saint Louis is the home of NHL (hockey) Blues. Is the Enterprise Center known as The House of Blues? And, do Jake and Elroy play there? We should be told. (Are you still playing along at home, Steve?)
Down:
1. Quick thinking: WIT. "Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." That's a quote.
2. "Starting now?": IS IT TIME. Already?
3. Public defender's offering: LEGAL AID. "If you can't afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you."
4. Like a basso profundo voice: DEEP.
5. Sound of disgust: ICK.
6. Large envelope: MAILER. I wanted manila.
7. "Coming of Age in Mississippi" writer Moody: ANNE. Perps. Wikipedia. #Learning.
8. Many a contract for a superstar player, e.g.: MEGA-DEAL.
9. Orange skin that doesn't peel?: FAKE TAN. I'm not touching this #Politics
10. Hockey legend Bobby: ORR.
11. Boston-based sportswear giant: REEBOK.
A Shoe
12. Salty Japanese condiment: TAMARI. Fermented soy beans. Less salty than soy sauce or so says the internet.
16. Word with common or good: SENSE. The former, unfortunately, is not so common.
18. Rider's controls: REINS. You'll need those for your one-horse open-sleigh #JingleBells
22. Korean rice liquor: SOJU. Perps.
24. Reminder of a scrape: SCAB. Also a picket-line crosser.
26. __ and paste: CUT. CTRL-X CTRL-V.
31. Girder material: STEEL. Makes those I-BARS we oft fill.
32. Corner PC key: CTRL. Control key for short-cut commands [see: CUT & paste]
34. Amount owed: DEBT. There's good debt and there's evil debt. Former builds wealth, latter destitution.
37. Big-headed sorts: EGOTISTS. One just bought Twitter.
39. Complete: ALL THERE. Most EGOTISTS ain't.
40. Some northern South Americans: GUYANESE. Perps. Language of the people "Of Many Waters." No, not Minnesota nor Hamms beer (or was that Deep Blue Sky?) but, um, I'll let WikiP explain it.
41. Visa/MC alternative: AMEX. AMerican EXpress. Don't leave home without it.
43. Key part of a block party?: LEGO SET. Beer Can also fit.
44. Tappable image: ICON.
Windows 3.1 Flashbacks
45. "Bad Feminist" writer Roxane: GAY. Perps. Her WikiP
46. Big name in vacuums: ORECK. Not last week's HOOVER. From first-hand experience, I can tell you they both really do suck. :-)
47. Mooring spot: WHARF. A place to park your dinghy. Not to be confused with Lt. Warf.
Star Trek TNG
48. Medal recipients: HEROES. Little (Army) Bro won't talk about it but he was awarded a Purple Heart.
49. Swaddled one: INFANT. Wrapped in swaddling clothing / lying in a manger. Try as you might, Christmas started before Thanksgiving this year.
