Themeless Saturday by Lance Emfinger and Richard D. Allen
Like most Saturday puzzles, this one 19. " ... kinda": IT IS AND IT ISN'T and 55. " ... kinda": MORE OR LESS all that hard once you get some good starting fill. And, like most of them this one was fun too.
Across:
1. To boot: ALSO - The real cost or a car is not what price you get quoted or what they say your trade is worth. It's what the dealer wants you to pay "to boot" for getting the vehicle.
5. Clobber: WHOMP.
10. Hailee's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" voice role: GWEN - Hailee Steinfeld who played Spiderwoman GWEN Stacy and voiced her in the animate version as well
14. Greeters: DOOR PEOPLE.
16. Meander: ROVE.
17. Like, crazy old: SO LAST YEAR - No kid has come to school with a "fidget spinner" in years
18. Surface __: AREA - The actual surface AREA of Greenland is 14x less than Africa but doesn't seem so when it is on a flat map (Mercator Projection). Below you see it placed on a map of Africa.
21. Mean relatives?: MODES - The MODE is the most frequent response(s) and can be different from the MEAN (average value)
23. Names in the news: BYLINES - Here's two famous ones
24. Lab reports?: ARFS - Four-legged Labs
25. Wharton grad, often: MBA - The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania
27. Blocking stat: SPF.
28. Grande opening?: RIO - The openings on the RIO Grande are a contentious subject these days
29. Biking selections: GEARS.
31. Game whose name comes from the Swahili for "to build": JENGA - How 'bout Giant JENGA?
35. "Oh, my sides!": GOOD ONE - Nobody does it better...
37. Depart: HEAD OUT - Good guests know when to HEAD OUT
39. Wrapped: ENDED - The NFL season has finally wrapped. Now what?
40. Not as naΔ«ve: SLIER.
42. Computer language that works with HTML: CSS.
43. __-relief: BAS - This one was made in Lincoln's Yankee Hill Brick Mfg. facility and is on a wall in our capital city's Haymarket Area
45. Film director who shares a last name with 62-Across: ANG 62. Comic book legend who shares a last name with 45-Across: STAN - The Lees
46. Swag bag: TOTE.
47. Some reds: CLARETS.
50. "We're more than you think!" society: MENSA π
51. History that's more than colorful: CHECKERED PAST - Professor Harold Hill sang about such people
54. Company with a Magen David in its logo: ELAL - The Magen David is the Star of David or Shield of David on this airplane
58. Get upset?: LOSE - In 1980, the Russians were the victims of one of the biggest upsets in sport history
59. Amenities on some red-eyes: SLEEP MASKS.
60. "Sure, why not": LET'S.
61. Pre-makeover personality: OLD ME.
Down:
1. Podcast intros, often: ADS - We all pause our cursor over the Skip Ads tab
2. Place to go in England: LOO π
3. Something to chew on: SOLID FOOD.
4. Makes use of Speakers' Corner: ORATES - The original
11. Less "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, e.g.: WORSE. and47. "Nomadland" Oscar winner Zhao: CHLOE - She won for best director and the Rotten Tomatoes Freshness rating was 95%
Theme: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?"
Puzzling thoughts: This appears to be a first-time collaboration (and Sally's LA Times debut) between two relative newcomers to crossword puzzle construction. Wendy has been featured here, both solo and in a collaboration, as well as soloing at USA Today. Sally is a crossword blogger of USA Today puzzles, so I suppose their collaboration came through that association. Regardless, their effort today was quite good and fun to solve
The puzzle uses circles within the entries (yes, I know that frustrates some of you folks!). Each of the circles spells out the name of a 3-letter tree (ASH, ELM, and OAK). But it isn't until the theme (62-across. Decorate for Christmas, in a way, and how to make sense of the answer to each starred clue?: TRIM THE TREE) is revealed that we know just why. In each case, when you "TRIM" the "TREE", the starred clues begin to make sense. Still confused? Let's chop some wood and see how:
17-across. *Pilot's reputation among airport agents?: GATE CRASHED. At first, I thought this could be "GATE CRASHER" - as a play-on-words for the clue - but when you snip the word ASH, "GATE CRED" certainly fits, as "CRED" is another term for reputation
Again, when 30-across (*Triage site's gooey alternative to sutures?: ELMERS GLUE) appeared, ELMER'S GLUE could be a punny definition for the clue. But after felling the ELM tree, we are left with "ER's GLUE" as the p-o-w
The final entry (46-across. *Practice for "The Voice" while in the shower?: SOAKING WET) becomes "SING WET" when the OAK tree is chain-sawed, and the stump removed!
The list of 3-letter trees is somewhat finite: ASH, BAY, ELM, FIG, FIR, OAK, and YEW. Finding a way to remove those tree names from a common phrase and create a play-on-words was not easy. Another possible way of using a trimmed tree from this list to form a play-on-words could be: "Favorite after-shave of shrimp boilers?": OLD BAY SPICE. Another that came to mind: "What Adam does when his is dirty? TURN OVER A NEW FIG LEAF; but neither fits THIS theme.!! ;^)
Here is the grid, followed by the other clues:
Across:
1. Statistical concerns: BIASES. Not too many words fit here; EPOCHS maybe?
7. Daddy: PAPA.
11. Texting initials: SMS. SMS stands for Short Message Service and is commonly known as texting. It's a way to send text-only messages of up to 160 characters between phones. Twitter shortened this to 140 characters
14. "Won't be long now": I'M NEXT. I'M guessing that no one in this waiting room was hoping to be "NEXT"!! ;^)
15. Wilson of "The Internship": OWEN. A trailer:
16. Feel sick: AIL. Does anyone else here think when they feel sick that they have COVID?
34. Q.E.D. part: ERAT. A CSO to all of our Cornerites who are/were lawyers: "Latin abbreviation for quod erat demonstrandum: "Which was to be demonstrated." Q.E.D. may appear at the conclusion of a text to signify that the author's overall argument has just been proven"
35. Mauna __: LOA. KEA fit ... until it didn't
36. Some rugged sandals: KEENS. Most of the images I saw for KEEN shoes looked like sneakers. [Bootworld dot com] says: "A Keen shoe has a wider toe box compared to most shoes because it ensures comfort and breathability. This extra wiggle room is essential if you are on your feet all day hiking and working. Many Keen shoes also feature adjustable elastic bungee lace closures to accommodate different foot styles and ensure a perfect fit"
37. HS equivalency test: GED. QED and GED in the same puzzle
38. Freebies at some crossword tournaments: PENCILS. Also, they're "freebies" at most golf courses but usually don't come with an eraser
41. __ text: accessibility feature: ALT. [from many websites] "Alternative (Alt) Text is meant to convey the “why” of the image as it relates to the content of a document or webpage. It is read aloud to users by screen reader software, and it is indexed by search engines. It also displays on the page if the image fails to load, as in this example of a missing image"
42. "Just Mercy" actor __ Jackson Jr.: O'SHEA. Trailer:
44. Doc's org.: AMA. Whew! Glad that today's clue didn't refer to Ask Me Anything!
45. Bali's continent: ASIA. My partner Margaret spend a couple years living in Bali a couple decades ago; she was involved with a scuba diving business there
49. Shepherds' docs?: VETS. Oh? THIS is where they reference the "other" K-9 pooch!!
50. Cooler brand: IGLOO. Appropriately named
51. Italian bubbly: ASTI. "Spumante" is a more accurate description of this clue, but was too long
57. Flags down: HAILS. How did the term "HAILs" a taxi come to be? Fun fact: [livexp dot com] "Hail is the action used to stop a taxi using your arm and hand. Yes, they mean the same thing. To "hail" a taxi is a bit less common in America. "Hail" is the action of calling a taxi, like raising your arm to get the attention of the taxi driver"
61. Having celebrated many birthdays: OLD. Now that I've reached my 7th decade, I guess I can admit that I am "OLD"
64. __-1099: govt.-issued tax form: SSA. Tax time is nigh; we have an appointment with a tax advisor next week
65. Cause an emotional reaction: MOVE. Multiple meanings here ... "MOVE" as in one of the verb forms: "provoke a strong feeling, especially of sorrow or sympathy, in". For example, "he was moved to tears by a get-well message from the president". But the noun form ALSO conveys this: Moe-ku #2:
Relocation is Quite problematic. I was Quite MOVEd by my MOVE
66. Good scents: AROMAS.
67. First car, for many?: TOY. Could've been clued: "First DOG, for many?"
68. Mountain goat: IBEX. Crossword "oldie"
69. Heavenly figure: SERAPH. "SERAPHim and Cherubim" is a Biblical term ...
Down:
1. Majors, in baseball slang: BIGS. "SHOW" fits, too ...
2. Supermodel whose signature fragrance is "Love Memoir": IMAN. [wikipedia dot com] "Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid is a Somali supermodel, actress, and entrepreneur. A muse of the designers Gianni Versace, Thierry Mugler, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Yves Saint Laurent, she is also noted for her philanthropic work. She was married to the rock musician David Bowie from 1992 until his death in 2016"
3. __-lock brakes: ANTI. Fun Fact: These now "standard features" on automobiles were originally created for use on trains and aircraft
4. Overlook: SEE PAST. [dictionary.cambridge.org] "SEE PAST: to not be influenced or have your opinion changed by something : He has been able to see past stereotypes and photographed the Cherokee as a dynamic presence in today's world. The diversity of the gathering helped people see beyond their own viewpoints"
5. Perform beyond expectations: EXCEL. Maybe what these two constructors (and hopefully, your blogger du jour) did today?!
6. Philharmonic sect.: STR. Abbr for STRings
7. Put forward: POSE. Another "Friday" clue
8. For some time: AWHILE.
9. Kitchen gadget: PEELER. RICER, DICER, SHREDDER, et al, did not fit
10. Plus: AND.
11. Asked nicely: SAID, "PLEASE". Believe it or not, this entry has been used just twice before in crossword publications
12. Julep herb: MINT. We also use it in an acai cereal bowl (breakfast treat); but a Mint Julep is usually consumed by us whilst watching The Kentucky Derby
13. Croat or Pole: SLAV.
18. Island where Excalibur was forged: AVALON. Learning moment: [wikipedia dot com] "Avalon, literally meaning "the isle of fruit [or apple] trees"; also written Avallon or Avilion among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's influential 1136 Historia Regum Britanniae as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recover from being gravely wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Since then, the island has become a symbol of Arthurian mythology, similar to Arthur's castle of Camelot"
22. Enormous: HUGE.
24. Proofer's mark: DELE. Another crossword "oldie"
26. Tuts: TSKS.
27. Bricks that are painful to step on: LEGOS. Indeed!!
28. Childish retort: ARE SO. AM TOO fits
29. Trouble with locks?: BAD HAIR DAY. Cute clue
31. Colorful parrot: MACAW.
32. Like new matches: UNLIT. Or candles
33. "¿CΓ³mo __?": ESTAS. Have I ever had a Friday blog where there wasn't a Spanish phrase, followed with a CSO to Lucinda???!!!
38. Bucket: PAIL. Moe-l'ick:
You remember the nursery rhyme drill When two kids took a PAIL up a hill? Are you taken aback That you didn't know Jack Never really had fallen for Jill?
39. Clarifying phrase: I MEANT.
40. Cable row targets, for short: LATS. Learning moment: [masterclass dot com] "A seated cable row is a compound exercise that utilizes a weighted horizontal cable row machine to work muscle groups in your back and arms. Cable machines include a bench for comfortable seating and foot plates to brace yourself against as you pull the weighted cable." Your "LATS": [according to healthline dot com] "The latissimus dorsi muscles, known as the LATS, are the large V-shaped muscles that connect your arms to your vertebral column. They help protect and stabilize your spine while providing shoulder and back strength. Your lats also help with shoulder and arm movement and support good posture." Here is a pic:
43. Med. readouts: EKGS. Unlike cable row exercises, this is something that C-Moe is more apt to have done
45. Earhart, for one: AVIATOR.
47. "S'okay": NO PROB. I actually found myself saying this once or twice ...
48. Start streaming: GO LIVE.
52. "VoilΓ !": THERE. Usually what I say when the blog is done!
53. More than half: MOST.
54. In addition: ALSO.
56. MC alternative: AMEX. I think the catch phrase was "Don't leave home without it"
58. "__ Vep": HBO miniseries about a remake of the silent film "Les Vampires": IRMA. I am usually stumped whenever a clue involves the initials "HBO". I haven't been a subscriber to that service in decades
59. Vault: LEAP. So, every four years we celebrate "Vault year"?
60. Meeting, informally: SESH. This phrase, unlike 47-across, is one I never use
62. "Oof, didn't need to know that": TMI.
63. Possesses: HAS.
VOILA!! Please add YOUR "puzzling thoughts" below. See you in a couple weeks ...
Constructor and (funny) comedian Dan Caprera is visiting us for the third time, the last on November 21, 2022,
reviewed by our beloved friend Boomer not long before he departed
Minnesota for a sunnier clime. Dan has also created three puzzles for
that other newspaper, this one edited by Jeff Chen. Today Dan has gotten himself into a bit of a sticky situation presenting us with a visual theme, consisting of 3 pairs of juxtaposed, stacked fill. To make the theme easier the see, the top of each
stack is equipped with "goggles", which I'm sure will raise the eyebrows of at
least one solver. The question is, without the reveal
19A. Lagavulin, for one: SCOTCH. This clue sounded at first like an injectable antibiotic of some sort, but I guess the fill could be used for medicinal purposes. The Lagavulin distillery is a malt whisky distillery in the village of Lagavulin on the south of the island of Islay, Scotland. It distills spirits that will become Islay single malt Scotch whisky.
Lagavulin
Second themer pair:
28A. Hypothetical regions of space-time: WHITE HOLES. Here physicist Ethan Siegel [Geek Alert!] explains how this might be possible[End Geek Alert]. Oh, and it just so happens that HOLES is also the title of a 1998 young adult novel written by Louis Sachar. The book centers on Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional boot camp in a desert in Texas, after being falsely accused of theft.
White hole artist's conception
33A. Crawl on a news program: TICKER. Ticker tape
was the earliest, dedicated electrical financial communications medium,
transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines and was in
use from around 1870 through 1970. Prior to the use of punched cards
ticker tape [aka paper tape] was also used for outputting, saving, and inputting computer data. The fancy name for a news program crawl these days is a CHYRON.
Watching the ticker tape, 1918
Third themer pair:
44A. "Little Women" star: EMMA WATSON. Little Women,
is a 2019 American coming-of-age period drama film written and directed
by Greta Gerwig. It is the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of
the same name by Louisa May Alcott. And [is there a pattern here?] EMMA is also the name of the inimitable matchmaker in the eponymous Jane Austen story.
50A. Air line: DUCT. REDGreen calls it the "handyman's secret weapon". Here's the trailer from the Possum Lodge's production of the suspense film Duct Tape Forever ... Come to think of it RED might qualify as the bottom half a themer too.
If you haven't SEEN the relationship between the themer pairs yet, maybe you can HEAR them in Dan's reveal:
58A. Audible.com predecessor, and three literal occurrences in this puzzle: BOOKS ON TAPE.
The grid should help untangle all that tape:
Now that we've got that all tied up ... Across:
1. Green producers?: ATMS. The cluing for this is going bankrupt. It won't be long before we'll be seeing "Eco producers?:" (see 15A).
5. Sun screen?: CLOUD.
10. "I Think You Should Leave" star Robinson: TIM. I Think You Should Leave is an American sketch comedy series created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin,
with Robinson also starring in most of the sketches. The first season
premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2019, while the second season was
released on July 6, 2021. I didn't find any of the sketches very funny
and many had a hint of school boy vulgarity, but YMMV. You can find
them on YouTube.
13. "Aw, crud": DRAT.
14. Sounding rough: HOARSE.
15. __ hotel: sustainable lodging: ECO. An ECO hotel,
or a green hotel, is an environmentally sustainable hotel or
accommodation that has made important environmental improvements to its
structure in order to minimize its impact on the natural environment.
The basic definition of an eco-friendly hotel is an environmentally
responsible lodging that follows the practices of green living. But beware of green washing.
16. [Theme clue]
18. Mountain __: DEW. Before it was a soft drink it was distilled in hidden mountain valleys: 19. [Theme clue]
20. Formal orders: EDICTS.
22. Succinct: TERSE. I'm working on this, but it's a struggle.
23. "A League of Their __": OWN. A League of Their Own is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall, and Bill Pullman.
25. 2021 U.S. Open champ Jon: RAHM. Jon Rahm RodrΓguez (born 10 November 1994)[2] is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking,
first achieving that rank after winning the Memorial Tournament in July
2020. In June 2021, Rahm became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open.
Jon Rahm
27. __ buco: OSSO. Ossobuco or osso buco
translates in Italian as “bone with a hole” (osso=bone, buco=hole), a
reference to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank.
Here's a recipe.
Osso buco
28. [Theme clue]
31. Some tandoori breads: NAANS. The bread of crosswords. They're not Italian, but I think they might go well with Osso buco.
[Theme clue]
34. Show stoppers?: ADS.
37. Progressive agent played by Stephanie Courtney: FLO. When comedienne Stephanie Courtney landed the part of FLO, she had no expectations that the Progressive Insurance
commercial in 2008 would amount to anything long-lasting ... [long
pause]. But as a cord cutter who never watches commercial television
I've never actually seen one of her ads (see preceding clue). I have to
admit though that she's a lot better looking [damning with faint
praise] than that lizard who hawks that other insurance company:
Stephanie Courtney
That said, we buy our insurance from that other company. They have better rates.
38. Feminine pronoun: SHE. We're having a special this month on feminine pronouns. This one is simply first person singular.
39. Fuel additive brand: STP.
40. Sneaky sort: WEASEL. A species indigenous to the city of Washington, D.C.
46. Insect that dates to the Jurassic era: WASP. I hate to be a gnat picker, but this clue should read Jurassic period (the 2nd in the Mesozoic Era) , and more importantly the WASP discovered by Dr. George Poinar, Jr. in 2016 is only Jurassic by association: Professor Emeritus of entomology at Oregon State University, Dr Poinar is famous for having consulted to author/film maker Michael Crichton on the Jurassic Park film series. As the Jurassic Period ended circa 140 mya, whereas the fossil Dr. Poinar discovered was approximately 100 million years old, thus dating it squarely in the middle of the Cretaceous period (the 3rd in the Mesozoic era):
Cretaceous Period Wasp
50. [Theme clue]
51. __ flour: OAT.
52. Roughly: CIRCA.
53. Prayer beads: ROSARY. The ROSARY is usually associated with Catholicism, but prayer beads are used by many other religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. When praying the Rosary they are used for counting rote prayers (the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be),
while meditating on 20 key events in the life of Christ, his Mother,
and his followers. These events are collectively called Mysteries and are divided into the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries, recited on different days of the week. The Rosary has a long history and has often been represented in Christian art*, and even in music. Here is a musical meditation on the mystery of the Resurrection (the first of the 5 Glorious Mysteries) in Baroque composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Mystery Sonatas (6:25 min):
56. Benny the Bull, for one: MASCOT. The MASCOT for the NBAChicago Bulls:
Benny the Bull
57. "My man!": BRO.
58. [Theme reveal]
61. "Big spider! Big spider!": EEK.
62. Think the world of: ESTEEM.
63. Biblical garden: EDEN.
64. Part of some sports drink names: ADE.
65. Dispensed, as cards: DEALT.
66. Pause in music: REST. Rests are intervals of silence in pieces of music,
marked by symbols indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol
and name corresponds with a particular note value, indicating how long
the silence should last, generally as a multiplier of a measure or whole
note:
Down:
1. Expands upon: ADDS TO.
2. Armistices: TRUCES. Hope and pray for a permanent one in Ukraine.
3. Estate homes: MANORS. We all know this one:
Highclere Castle
4. Hatmaker since 1865: STETSON. The John B. Stetson Company,
founded by John B. Stetson in 1865, was the maker of the Stetson cowboy
hats, but ceased manufacturing in 1970. Stetson hats are now being
manufactured in Garland, Texas, by Hatco, Inc., who also produce Resistol and Charlie 1 Horse hats.
Stetson hat
5. Bit player: COG. A computer programmer?
6. Gaming annoyance: LAG.
7. Turn (toward): ORIENT. I've always been AWED by phototropism, the ability of plants to ORIENT themselves toward light. Be sure to click on the picture of the tomato seedlings in this link to see a brief time lapse video of phototropism in action.
8. Exploited: USED.
9. Member of the South Asian diaspora: DESI. DESI
is a word used to describe the people, cultures, and products of the
Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, derived from Sanskrit ΰ€¦ेΰ€Ά
(deΕΓ‘), meaning "land, country". Deshi traces its origin specifically to
the people of the countries India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
10. Internet addresses?: TED TALKS. Clever clue. A TED talk
is a recorded public-speaking presentation that was originally given at
the main TED (technology, entertainment and design) annual event or one
of its many satellite events around the world. Here are the 25 most viewed TED Talks of all time.
24. State whose motto is "Forward": Abbr.: WIS. Reflecting Wisconsin's continuous drive to be a national leader, the state adopted "Forward" as the official state motto in 1851. Here are some of the state's other symbols.
26. Car sticker abbr.: MSRP. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. If you can get it that low these days, consider yourself lucky.
28. Half a Northwest city: WALLA. Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington,
where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of
34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of
2021. The population of the city and its two suburbs, the town of
College Place and unincorporated Walla Walla East, is about 45,000.
43. Party game that can get awkward: TWISTER. Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Milton Bradley Company and Winning Moves Games USA.
It is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or
ground. The mat has four rows of six large colored circles on it with a
different color in each row: red, yellow, green and blue. A spinner
tells players where they have to place their hand or foot. The game
promotes itself as "the game that ties you up in knots". Here's the
original 1966 version. I bet that a set in mint condition would go for a
pretty penny on eBay:
45. Camry, for one: TOYOTA. We're on our fourth TOYOTA and third Camry.
47. Place to play: ARCADE. Not just a place to play. When we were kids sometimes we'd take the No. 19 bus to downtown Hamilton in Baltimore to see movies at the Arcade Theatre.
The Arcade Theatre, circa 1980.
48. Cases, with "out": SCOPES. Or the SCOPES “monkey trial”
a moniker that journalist H. L. Mencken (the "Bard of Baltimore")
applied to the 1925 prosecution of a criminal action brought by the
state of Tennessee against high school teacher John T. Scopes for violating the state’s Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools.
49. Unmistakable: PATENT. I used to work in one half of this agency, headquartered in Alexandria, VA.
US Patent and Trade Office HQ (the architect needed a special PATENT in order to construct this building on a hill! π)
52. Many a pop-top: CAN. This is for all of you Parrotheads ...
36 A. Functions perfectly, and what can be said about the starts of 17-, 23-, 46-, and 57-Across: WORKS LIKE A CHARM. I'm uncertain if this is referring to charms in the mystical-spiritual sense, or as a jewelry item that can be found on a charm bracelet. Let's check it out.
17 A. Pride symbol: RAINBOWFLAG. A rainbow is a meteorological and optical phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the Sun. The rainbow flag represents the intersectional diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2-S) communities. A rainbow charm symbolizes optimism and silver linings.
23 A. Arachnid relative that resembles a crustacean: HORSESHOECRAB. Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura.Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachnids such as spiders, ticks, and scorpions. I did not know this. The horseshoe represents luck, prosperity, and protection on your travels. Many styles and colors of charms are available.
46 A. Minty frozen treat at McDonald's every March: SHAMROCKSHAKE. A mint flavored confection.
A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name shamrock comes from Irish seamrΓ³g ([ΛΚamΛ ΙΎΛ oΛΙ‘]), which is the diminutive of the Irish word seamair and simply means "young clover".
As a charm it symbolizes good luck, and traditionally was believed to ward off evil.
57 A. Nutty-tasting winter vegetable: ACORNSQUASH. Acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo var. turbinata), also called pepper squash or Des Moines squash, is a winter squash with distinctive longitudinal ridges on its exterior and sweet, yellow-orange flesh inside. Although considered a winter squash, acorn squash belongs to the same species (Cucurbita pepo) as all summer squashes (including zucchini and crookneck squash).
The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera Quercus and Lithocarpus, in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns are 1–6 cm (1⁄2–2+1⁄2 in) long and 0.8–4 cm (3⁄8–1+5⁄8 in) on the fat side. As a charm it represents wealth, strength, happiness in marriage,
Hi, Gang. JazzBumpa here; charmed to be your host today. Looks like this might be Yu-Chen Huang's maiden voyage in the L.A.T. Crosswords. Congrats, and welcome!
14. Play area?: ARENA. A level area surrounded by seats for spectators, in which sports, entertainments, and other public events are held.
15. Greek salad fruit: OLIVE. A small oval fruit with a hard pit and bitter flesh, green when unripe and brownish black when ripe, used as food and as a source of oil.
16. Sushi topper: ROE. The mass of eggs contained in the ovaries of a female fish or shellfish, typically including the ovaries themselves, especially when ripe and used as food. I had shad roe once. Once.
19. Texter's "Hang on a sec": BRB. Be Right Back.
20. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" director Lee: ANG.
21. No-frills font: ARIAL. A sans serif font. It looks like this.
22. Wee bit: IOTA. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ξ, ΞΉ ), transliterated as ‘i.’. The words iota and jot share a lot more than just a common meaning—both ultimately derive from the same word. When Latin scholars transcribed the Greek name of the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, they spelled it as either iota or jota (the letters i and j were simply variants of each other), and these spellings eventually passed into English as iota and jot. Since the Greek letter iota is the smallest letter of its alphabet, both words eventually came to be used in reference to very small things.
27. Sex therapy subject: LIBIDO. A concept originated by Sigmund Freud to signify the instinctual physiological or psychic energy associated with sexual urges and, in his later writings, with all constructive human activity.
29. Helpful supporter: ALLY. A person, group, or nation that is associated with another or others for some common cause or purpose:
30. Loads: A TON. Figuratively, any large amount. Imagine, if you will, a ton of iotas.
31. Give in a little: BUDGE. To move slightly; begin to move. Hence, to change one's opinion or stated position; yield.
33. Irritate: VEX. Annoy.
40. Brief alarm?: SOS. Brief in the sense that it consists of only three letters; not that whatever causes the alarm is of short duration. These are the letters represented by the radio telegraphic signal (· · · – – – · · ·) used, especially by ships in distress, as an internationally recognized call for help.
41. Fake: POSER. One portraying himself as something he is not.
42. Singer India.__: ARIE. India Arie Simpson [b 1975], also known as India Arie, is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.
Not a poser
43. Gargantuan: HUGE. Enormous. Derived from Gargantua, the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua, the second part of a five-volume series about the giant and his son Pantagruel.
44. "The Country Girls" novelist Edna: O'BRIEN. The Country Girls is a trilogy by Irish author Edna O'Brien [b. 1930]. It consists of three novels: The Country Girls, The Lonely Girl, and Girls in Their Married Bliss.
51. School year division: TERM. A fixed or limited period for which something lasts or is intended to last.
52. Swarms (with): TEEMS. As defined.
53. Noble __: GAS. The noble gases make up a class of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity. The six naturally occurring noble gases are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and the radioactive radon.
56. With 11-Down, Michigan college town: ANN. Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the fifth-largest city in Michigan. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Washtenaw County.
Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan. The university significantly shapes Ann Arbor's economy as it employs about 30,000 workers, including about 12,000 in the medical center. The city's economy is also centered on high technology, with several companies drawn to the area by the university's research and development infrastructure.
Ann Arbor was founded in 1824, named after the wives of the village's founders, both named Ann, and the stands of bur oak trees.
60. TNT part: TRI. Trinitrotoluene, more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagent in chemical synthesis, but it is best known as an explosive material with convenient handling properties. The explosive yield of TNT is considered to be the standard comparative convention of bombs and asteroid impacts.
61. Sounds from happy cats: PURRS. Cats will purr when they are in a relaxed environment, sending out waves of calmness. This may also occur when you stroke them, and if this is the case, your feline friend is feeling happy or sociable.
62. Loosen, as a knot: UNTIE.
63. Storm center: EYE. A region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically 30–65 kilometers in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds occur.
64. Borden spokescow: ELSIE. Elsie the Cow is a cartoon cow developed as a mascot for the Borden Dairy Company in 1936 to symbolize the "perfect dairy product". Since the demise of Borden in the mid-1990s, the character has continued to be used in the same capacity for the company's partial successors, Eagle Family Foods and Borden Dairy.
65. Utopias: EDENS. An imaginary location, community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members.
Down:
1. Actress Reid: TARA. Tara Donna Reid [b. 1975] is an American actress. She played Vicky in the films American Pie, American Pie 2, and American Reunion, and Bunny Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. In 2013, she starred as April Wexler in the television film Sharknado, and went on to reprise the role in five sequels.
2. Setting of the graphic novel "Persepolis": IRAN.
3. People next door: NEIGHBORS.
4. "Erin Burnett OutFront" channel: CNN.
5. Knight's tunic: TABARD. A type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces.
6. "Ziggy Stardust" singer David: BOWIE. David Robert Jones [1947-2016], known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s.
7. Some Italian sports cars, for short: ALFAS. Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. It was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy as A.L.F.A., an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. The brand is known for sport-oriented vehicles and has been involved in car racing since 1911.
8. Star of HBO's "Barry": BILL HADER. William Thomas Hader Jr. (b. 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Hader first gained widespread attention for his eight-year stint as a cast member on the long-running NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2013, for which he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Peabody Award. He became known for his impressions and especially for his work on the Weekend Update segments, in which he played Stefon Meyers, a flamboyant New York tour guide who recommends unusual nightclubs and parties with bizarre characters with unusual tastes.
9. Actress Longoria: EVA. Eva Jacqueline Longoria BastΓ³n [b. 1975] is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella BraΓ±a on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, on which she starred from 2001 to 2003.
10. Part of a race: LEG. In track and field, leg is a term used to describe one of four equal parts of a relay race. Each leg is run by a different runner, who must pass a baton to the next runner in order to complete the race.
11. See 56-Across: ARBOR. Michigan City.
12. Kinda: SORTA. Approximately.
13. Shish __: KEBAB. Shish kebab is a popular meal of skewered and grilled cubes of meat. It can be found in Mediterranean cuisine and is similar to or synonymous with dishes called shashlik and khorovats, found in the Caucasus region. It is one of the many types of kebab, a range of meat dishes originating in the Middle East.
18. Approximately: OR SO. Kinda, sorta.
22. Slippery, as a road: ICY. Glazed with frozen water.
24. Barnyard sound: OINK. Piggish vocalization.
25. Actress Kurylenko: OLGA. Olga Kostyantynivna Kurylenko [b. 1975] is a Ukrainian–French actress and model. She started her acting career in 2005, and first found success as an actress for her role as Nika Boronina in the film adaptation of the video game Hitman.
26. Utility abbr.: ELEC. Electric.
27. Newton trio: LAWS. Newton's laws of motion are three basic laws of classical mechanics that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws can be paraphrased as follows: A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, unless acted upon by a force. When a body is acted upon by a force, the time rate of change of its momentum equals the force. If two bodies exert forces on each other, these forces have the same magnitude but opposite directions.
28. "Am __ early?": I TOO. It's so hard to be just early enough.
31. Dividing lines: BISECTORS. Straight lines that divide lines, angles or shapes into two equal parts.
32. Luau strings, briefly: UKE.
33. Diversify, in a way: VARIEGATE. Alter in appearance, especially by adding different colors.
34. Ohio border lake: ERIE. South of Canada.
35. Marvel mutants who battle Magneto: X-MEN. In the Marvel Universe, mutants are humans who are born with a genetic trait called the X-gene which grants them natural superhuman abilities. Due to their differences from the majority of humanity, mutants are subject to prejudice and discrimination and many X-Men stories feature social commentary on bigotry and justice. The X-Men have fought against a variety of enemies, including villainous mutants, human bigots, supervillains, mystical threats, extraterrestrials, and malevolent artificial intelligences.
37. Egg (on): SPUR. Goad or urge someone else to do something,
38. Macy's red star, for one: LOGO. A symbol or other design adopted by an organization to identify its products, uniform, vehicles, etc.
39. Literary "Listen!": HARK. To listen closely or give attention to something:
43. "I wonder ... ": HMM. Indication of pondering.
44. Units of resistance: OHMS. Electrical resistance.
45. Language from northern Spain: BASQUE. The language of the Basques: people sho are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country — a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.
46. Utter: STATE. Give audible expression to; speak or pronounce.
47. "Atlanta" actor Brian Tyree __: HENRY. Brian Tyree Henry [b.1982] is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta, for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
48. Golfer Palmer, to fans: ARNIE. Arnold Daniel Palmer [1929-2016] was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the circuit now known as PGA Tour Champions.
49. Beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist __ Walsh Jennings: KERRI. Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings [b 1978] is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments.
50. Pick up: SENSE. Become aware of or realize something, although it is not very obvious.
54. Spelling clarification phrase: AS IN. Frex, G as in Gila monster.
55. Wally Lamb's "__ Come Undone": SHE'S. the 1992 debut novel by Wally Lamb. The novel was selected as the fourth book for Oprah's Book Club in December 1996. Lamb's novel was named a finalist for the 1992 Los Angeles Book Awards' Art Seidenbaum Prize for first fiction. She's Come Undone has been translated into eighteen languages.
57. Imitate: APE.
58. __-de-sac: CUL. A street or passage that is closed at one end.
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