Saturday, January 7, 2023, Robyn Weintraub

Notes from C.C.:

Today's official LAT puzzle is a re-run of the April 23, 2022 puzzle. Below is Husker Gary's write-up of that puzzle. A few other sites have the wrong puzzle. 

Sorry for the confusion. New puzzles will resume tomorrow.

 

I’m a fairly regular contributor for my hometown (okay, home state) paper The New York Times, and a member of the in-house constructing team at The New Yorker. For those who may not be aware, The New Yorker recently upgraded their puzzle offerings to 5 puzzles per week (four themeless and one themed) and I contribute 2 each month, typically of the ‘easy’ themeless variety. Those two venues keep me pretty busy. When I’m not making puzzles I volunteer for The League of Women Voters, in a last ditch effort to save democracy. 

As for today’s grid, I made it a few years ago, so looking at it with older and wiser eyes there are a few entries in there I’d like to take back if I could. But the long stuff is all pretty fun—perhaps one might be so bold as to say a CROWDPLEASER—so hopefully that’s the part of the puzzle that solvers will enjoy and remember. 

Happy solving,

Robyn

Across:

1. Cutting-edge name?: ATRA - Ginsu wouldn't work for this cwd regular

5. Scenery in Road Runner cartoons: MESAS.

10. Polite address: MAAM.

14. "Sorry, my hands are tied ... ": WHAT CAN I DO - Probably said by constructors when they have to settle for fill they don't like.

16. Price for hand delivery?: ANTE - Oh, a poker hand!

17. Musical arrangement?: RECORD DEAL - This shows a young truck driver from Memphis signing his first RECORD DEAL with RCA. How did that work out?

18. Revolution: GYRE - Same root for Elvis' GYRATIONS

19. "I rock!": YAY ME.

20. Class stat: GPA - Research is showing that a H.S. GPA is as good or even better predictor of college success as standardized tests.

21. "Can confirm": IT IS.

22. Mystery that may have a stirring message?: SECRET RECIPE - 23 products with SECRET RECIPES

26. Bon __: MOT - Example: ''I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.'' Clarence Darrow

29. Place: PUT.

30. Unpredictable jerk: SPASM.

31. Checked: ARRESTED - Synonyms for stopped

34. Aegean capital: ATHENS - The preferred capital in this capital is the Euro

37. Folk dance: REEL - Here's three minutes of the Virginia REEL. I wonder if Yellowrocks has ever danced one. 

38. Like all tigers: ASIAN - What could possibly go wrong here?

40. Draft status: ONE -A - In the 60's: Next stop - Vietnam 

41. Continues: GOES ON.

43. Run ragged: OVERWORK.

45. "__ Gabler": HEDDA - One critic wrote: "Fans of Diana Rigg will enjoy a jackpot in her remarkable performance as Ibsen's icy, manipulating, despairing bitch."

47. U.N. agency: ILO.

48. Misery: WOE.

49. Popular performer: CROWD PLEASER - Tiger Woods had no chance of winning on at the Masters last April but his galleries, in person and on TV, were very large

53. "Yeah, no": UH UH.

54. Bread machine: ATM - Here's one dispensing €'s "bread" in Europe 

 

55. Source of some lumber: PINES.

59. Audio brand: BOSE.

60. Bridal store event: SAMPLE SALE.

63. Central German river: EDER - In red below

64. "Deep breaths ... ": TRY TO RELAX.

65. Ms. enclosure: SASE - Viking Press probably stuffed this rejection letter into a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope to Alice Walker when they rejected The Color Purple. Oops!

66. Unlikely assignment from a math teacher: ESSAY.

67. Pinch at the table: SALT.

Down:

1. A bit off: AWRY - Many of my schemes have oft gone AWRY or "gang aft agley".

2. Australian novelist Astley: THEA - Wikipedia's take on her

3. Somewhat blue: RACY and 58. Have a heated exchange?: SEXT - Be careful, the internet remembers everything.

4. Cyclotron units: ATOMS - This cyclotron at Cal Berkley was used to discover Plutonium, Neptunium and other transuranium ATOMS. in the 1950's

5. Publication credited to the "Usual Gang of Idiots": MAD - Mad Magazine Archive where you can find every edition and turn every page. 

6. Wrap: END.

7. Military blockade: SIEGE - The 47- Day SIEGE at Vicksburg, MS gave the Union control of the Mississippi River at the same time the South fell at Gettysburg.

8. Makes fit: ADAPTS.

9. Array for catching rays: SOLAR PANELS - There is a 5 acre "farm" of SOLAR PANELS a quarter mile south of me.

10. Disappearing act?: MAGIC SHOW - I don't think he fooled the kitty

11. "I'm waiting ... ": ANYTIME NOW.

12. Aweigh: ATRIP - ATRIP is an obscure (to me) synonym for aweigh which both describe when the anchor is no longer touching the bottom.

13. "With Reagan" memoirist: MEESE - He held high positions in Governor and Presidnet Reagan's administrations 

15. Advances slowly: CREEPS.

23. Relocation option: CUT AND PASTE - I type my daily musings in Word and then CUT AND PASTE them into the blog.

24. USPS assignments: RTES.

25. "Have some": EAT.

26. Helgenberger of "CSI": MARG - A mile from my golf course there is a sign showing she was raised in North Bend, NE

27. Cookie with the same colors as a crossword: OREO.

28. Construction projects guaranteed to get off the ground: TREE HOUSES - Wow!

32. Neither here nor there: ELSEWHERE.

33. "Rainbow in the Dark" metal band: DIO - Here ya go

35. Fictional Wolfe: NERO - The author's name dominated this early novel

36. Drink that may be served warm: SAKE.

39. Brand with Vanessa Hudgens workout collection: AVIA.

42. Like 2021: ODD.

44. Educator Annemarie who co-founded a school in Greater Detroit: ROEPER.

46. Sites for some rites: ALTARS.

49. Products with triple the power?: CUBES -   4³ = 64 (the product of 4 x 4)

50. Sitcom whose 1974 pilot episode was titled "Joe": RHODA - Rhoda leaves Minneapolis (and The Mary Tyler Moore show) and moves to NYC where she meets Joe

51. Awards won by 50-Down: EMMYS - Valerie Harper

52. Climbs: RISES.

56. Beyoncé voice role: NALA.

57. Airline whose first flight was from Geneva to Tel Aviv: EL AL - It returned Israels's prime minister to Tel Aviv from a conference in Geneva

61. School org.: PTA.

62. "The Thin Man" star: LOY - Myrna LOY poses with Thin Man costar William Powell and a dog whose name appears here quite often too.

Friday, January 6, 2023, Geoff Brown

Well, AH no, SpongeBob, not exactly.  But you are close.  It's not AH and it's not A HAT.  What's missing is simply A.  A what?  Not A what.  Not A anything.  Just A.

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with a Friday puzzle from Geoff Brown.

Let's start with the reveal:

67 Across:  Not quite right, and an apt title for this puzzle?: AMISS.

In this case A (the letter) is MISSing.  It has been removed from a "normal" description in order to create a humorous answer to the (somewhat contrived, out of necessity) situation described in the clue.

Here are the five themed clues and answers:

18 Across:  Deep dive into the statistics of a NY slugger?: META ANALYSIS.  Meta Analysis is a statistical method to combine the results of different studies.  Drop the A and we end up with a reference to a member of the New York Mets baseball team.

23 Across:  Scotch drinker who complains about a small pour?: DRAMA CRITIC.  A Drama Critic reviews stage productions.  Drop the A and we have someone who comments on a shot of whisky (a dram is technically equal to about one eighth of a fluid ounce but most people use the term to refer to a shot of whisky).

"Give The Fiddler A Dram" - Doc Watson

37 Across:  So over meaty spaghetti sauce?: PASTA BOLOGNESE.  This one also works as "past a Bolognese".

50 Across:  One who stands in the way of a wager?: BETA BLOCKER.  Beta Blockers are a class of drugs used primarily to treat cardiovascular diseases.  Drop the A and you can no longer have fun on FanDuel or DraftKings.

58 Across:  Flushed condition?: FLORIDA STATE.   FLORIDA STATE University is, of course, a well-known university who's main campus is in Tallahassee, FLORIDA.  Drop the A and you'll turn red.

This is how it all appears in the grid (with the A deleted in each case):

. . . . and here is the rest of the story:

Across:

1. Peak in the Tour de France: ALP.  Peak as in mountain top not as in reaching the peak of one's level of performance.

4. Nickname for a Carolina team: CANES.  The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team.

9. Air fryer brand: OSTER.

14. Grief: WOE.

15. Leaves out: OMITS.  There are two types of people.  Those who can extrapolate OMITted data using existing data.

16. Fracking target: SHALE.

17. African viper: ASP.

20. Put on another coat: REPAINT.  Not layer up for the cold.

22. Word with square and cube: ROOT.

26. Briny cheese: FETA.  For those interested in the process:  How To Make Feta Cheese

29. "Patience __ virtue": IS A.  Wait a moment.  Haven't we eschewed A?

30. Final bio: OBIT.

32. Texting nicety: THX.  Thanks.

33. Civil War POTUS: ABE.  POTUS in the abbreviation for President of the United States.  ABE is the abbreviated version of Abraham Lincoln.  Often clued with reference to a five dollar bill.

35. Dismal turnout: NO ONE.  Dismal-est?

36. Afore: ERE.  Before.  Works well in palindromes.

41. British term for a vaccination: JAB.  I just realized that Boris Johnson looks a lot like Benny Hill.  It might explain quite a lot.

42. Quick and energetic: BRISK.

43. GPS display: RTE. RouTE

44. Frosty: ICY.  Aloof.  Distant.  ICY The Snowman?  

45. Take on: HIRE.  A bit of a stretch clue-wise, but it is Friday.

46. __-K: PRE.  Murray The would not fit the allotted space.

48. "The Book of Boba __": FETT.  A Star Wars reference.

55. Flow slowly: OOZE.

57. Jelly Roll Morton genre: RAGTIME.

Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers - 1926

62. Karate level: DAN.  BELT would not fit.  Thanks, perps.

63. Probably will, after "is": APT TO.  Not to be confused with Apt 2.

64. Puzzle: POSER.

65. Fizzle out: DIE.

66. Washed-out: ASHEN.  ASHEN-faced Joe Smith goes to see his doctor.  "Doc" he says, "I have a piece of lettuce coming out of my butt."  The doctor performs an examination and says  "Joe, I have some bad news.  Unfortunately, it's just the tip of the iceberg."

68. Copa Mundial cheer: OLE.  A Spanish lesson for today.  Copa Mundial = World Cup.  The World Cup football (soccer) tournament was recently held in Qatar.

Down:

1. Oscar or Tony: AWARD.  We often see EGOT.

2. Sore __: LOSER.

3. Cartoon piglet with a British accent: PEPPA.

4. Many open mic performers: COMICS.  Other six-letter plurals were also possibilities (e.g. ACTORS, MIMICS, CLOWNS).

5. Egyptian deity: AMEN RA.  Also, AMUN RA.   The god of creation.

6. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role: NITTI.  Frank NITTI.  Al Capone's first cousin.

7. GPS display: ETA.  GPS is abbreviated ergo so is the answer.  Estimated Time of Arrival

8. Fig. in identity theft: SSN.

9. European capital with more than 340 lakes: OSLO.  We visit the capital city of Norway quite often in our puzzles.

10. Not quite meeting: SHY OF.

11. Market research comparison: TASTE TEST.

12. Pharmaceutical giant __ Lilly: ELI.

13. Hi-__ graphics: RES.  High Resolution.

19. Following a curve: ARCING.

21. French friends: AMIES.  Female (avec le e) friends in this case.

24. Hammer home?: TOOL SET.  Not as in to hammer something home, the idiom for stressing a point of debate.  Literally, where one might keep their hammer.  Alternatively, Stanley Burrell's crib.

25. Old Mac laptop: I BOOK.  First released in 1999.

27. Preakness horse's age: THREE.  The Preakness Stakes comprises one-third of (American) horse racing's "Triple Crown" (with the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes).  Regardless of their actual date of birth, all Thoroughbred racing horses turn 0ne year old on January 1st of the year following their birth.

28. Log chopper: AXE.

31. "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the __ Rings": TEN.

33. Rapidly: APACE.

34. Item left for a certain fairy: BABY TOOTH.  Anyone else here grow up with Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley?

35. Bête __: NOIRE.  Plus de francais although the term has become part of the English lexicon.

38. "Frankly," in texts: TBH.  To Be Honest

39. Paid off: BRIBED.  I tried to offer my school's administrator a BRIBE but she was too principled.

40. Not in a slump?: ERECT.  Today's let's pass on the graphic moment.

41. Peanut butter brand: JIF.

46. Dishes: PLATES.

47. "The Gambler" singer: ROGERS.  Kenny Rogers.

49. Patisserie product: TORTE.  Made with lots of eggs and little flour.

51. Luca of "The Godfather": BRASI.

52. Affectionate nickname: KIDDO.

53. Send with a click: EMAIL.  In this case, used as a verb.

54. Soprano Fleming: RENEE.  A fairly easy proper noun to perp.

56. Williamson who was the 2019 #1 NBA draft pick: ZION.  A tougher proper noun to perp.

58. Tower authority: Abbr.: FAA.  As in aircraft control tower.

59. CD precursors: LPS.

60. Après-ski option: SPA.  I have never heard anyone say "Hey, let's hit the SPA" after a day on the slopes.  Anyone go, initially, with BAR?

61. Loki player Hiddleston: TOM.  A tough finish (except that TOM perp'd easily) if you're not into the latest Hollywood/Marvel efforts.

A belated Happy New Year, one and all!

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