Saturday Themeless by Doug Petersen and Christina Iverson
This quote from one of our favorite crossword authors sums up my feeling for this puzzle. Sue's title for a mystery story based on my experience today would be. "F is for Frustrating" or "C is for 47. Dull sound: CLUNK."
Unlike some recent walks in the park, today the bear almost got me and I had some real struggles. Oddly, though, I really enjoyed the puzzle and only 7. "The Song by God" scripture: BHAGAVAD GITA was an impossible "get" but served as some real learning. Some of Doug and Christina's fiendish cluing stymied me but then amazed me when I found out the answer. Of the thousands of puzzles I have done, this is among the most difficult I have ever tackled but I would do another puzzle by this combo again, any time. As I always say, I am smart enough to know how little I know.
Across:
1. Flies past: SHOOTS BY - What the years have done as I am now in my 55th year of being in front of teenagers.
9. Supported in the garden: STAKED.
15. Co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy: HIAWATHA - Did he do this "By the shining big sea water"?
16. Pottsylvania spy Natasha: FATALE - I never knew her last name. I was pretty sure she was not Mrs. Boris Badenov.
17. __ calculus: INTEGRAL - I used this graphic two weeks ago to show how INTEGRAL calculus can figure the area under a curve
18. Choice in luxury leather: OX HIDE.
19. Practice figures, for short: MDS - My surgeon from last month is an M.D. who practices medicine.
20. Raced while supine: LUGED - Whoa!
22. Fell upon: BESET.
23. Fruity addition to pico de gallo: PINA.
24. Critics, e.g.: OPINERS - If you know the source, you probably will know the slant of their OPINERS
26. Many a custom Gibson: FLYING V GUITAR - A reflection of the times
30. Freetown currency: LEONE - This Toyota is available in Freetown (the price is in SLL Sierra Leone Leones) Conversion site
31. "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" playwright: ALBEE.
32. Grandstand division: ROW.
35. Kicks out of Oz?: UGGS - Kicks is slang for footwear and Oz is slang for Australia (a phonetic abbreviation for its first syllable) where these shoes are made. 😀
36. NSFW: ADULT - Getting ADULT images on your computer that are Not Suitable For Work can be a dangerous practice.
37. Noodle house noodles: SOBA.
38. Drag strip?: BOA - People who dress in drag may very well have a BOA strip/stole as an accessory. 😀
39. Fibber of old radio: MCGEE - Fibber McGee and Molly were a mainstay of NBC radio from 1935 to 1959
40. Salmon, e.g.: COLOR - My family's first car
41. New York neighborhood also called El Barrio: SPANISH HARLEM.
44. Shiny fabric: SATINET - ARGH!
46. Architectural projection: EAVE.
48. Stagger: AMAZE.
50. O, for one: MAG.
53. Company whose logo is an alien named Snoo: REDDIT.
55. Line at an entrance: ADMIT ONE.
57. Many "The Twelve Days of Christmas" gifts: AVIANS - 😀 I count 23 AVIANS.
58. Used: LEANED ON.
59. Illinois River port: PEORIA - The Spirit Of Peoria sails on the Illinois River out of PEORIA, IL.
60. Culture club?: ART SCENE.
Down:
1. Level: SHIM.
2. Golden __: Drake's ship: HIND - Here's a $39 model kit
3. Aveeno ingredient: OATS - No ALOE here.
4. Be somewhat shy: OWE.
5. "The Breakfast of Champions," e.g.: TAGLINE.
6. __ along: STRUNG.
7. "The Song by God" scripture: BHAGAVAD GITA - ARGH! What I learned
8. Rory Gilmore's alma mater: YALE - A fictional character in The Gilmore Girls
9. Alaska Airlines hub: Abbr.: SFO.
10. Uncle Sam's piece of the pie: TAX BITE.
11. Goddess who oversaw the Argo's construction: ATHENA - Here she is shown, seated at the left in this bas-relief, adjusting the sail
12. Deli choice: KAISER ROLL - K _ _ _ E R seemed to call for KOSHER but Kaiser soon became apparent.
13. Honored one: ELDER.
14. Lowdown: DEETS - Slang for details
21. Train pulled by a pair of locomotives: DOUBLE HEADER - With trains now over a mile long, there can be more than two locomotives doing the pulling. This appears to be a quad header.
23. Spare parts?: PINS - So clever! I had _ I _ S and put in RIBS, but noooo... 😀 Boomer would not have been fooled!
25. First name in geometric art: PIET - My first thought was M.C. Escher but nooo.... It was Piet Mondrian who I have never heard of. Here is one of his paintings adapted to a pair of leggings.
26. Blow: FLUB.
27. Toy company based in Billund, Denmark: LEGO - A gimme
28. Place to stretch one's legs: YOGA STUDIO - Duh and ARGH!
29. Binders: GLUES.
33. Wind often made from grenadilla wood: OBOE - The name of this African wood is, uh, foreign but a four-letter wind instrument was pretty easy.
34. Close, in a way: WARM - 😀
36. Skin concern: ACNE.
37. Put out: SORE - If a baserunner is "put out" he might be "put out" if he thinks he was safe and "put out" of the game if the protest gets out of hand.
39. Bit of Borat attire: MANKINI - You'll have to look it up to believe it. ARGH!
40. Sudden collapses: CAVE INS.
42. "Learn what you are and be such" poet: PINDAR - ARGH!
43. Strong suit?: HAZMAT.
44. Like a lemon, eventually: SCRAP - 😀
45. Naproxen brand: ALEVE - $10.99 and $3.99 respectively
49. __ fide: in bad faith: MALA - The opposite of bona fide
50. Mean relative: MODE.
51. Soon, in stanzas: ANON.
52. Factor in cilantro tolerance, e.g.: GENE - You may be genetically disposed to taste cilantro as soap
One of the benefits of being a Crossword Corner blogger is having access to the puzzle well in advance of the publish date. It is also one of the disadvantages. As I begin creating my blog - a week after solving the puzzle - I am at a loss for what I "felt" after I solved it! Yes, I can go back and see how long it took me, (just under 17 minutes, which isn't "bad", as I am a terrible typist) and perhaps gauge the puzzle's difficulty/creativity/humor/et al ...
The puzzle has a "chain" of KEYS that are commonly found (and used) on a computer KEYboard. Samantha (one of today's co-collaborators) had her debut puzzle here at the LA Times last year. Since then, she has had a solo at Universal Crosswords. Katie Hale is Patti Varol's assistant editor. Together, they used the computer KEYS within the three entries to unlock today's theme:
53-across. Modern way into a building, and what each answer to 20-, 29-, and 43-Across needs to be to match its clue?: KEYLESS ENTRY.
Confused? Well let's see how they used no "physical KEY" to get this outcome
20-across. Portrait painter who specializes in primates?: ESCAPE ARTIST. First off, there are circles. I know that circles within a grid are frowned upon by some of our solvers. However, in order to make the clue fit, one must "remove" the computer KEY (in this entry, it's "ESC") from the common phrase. And et voila! ESCape Artist become APE ARTIST! A real "Houdini" if you ask me
29-across. Foot, essentially?: LEGAL TENDER. "86" the "ALT" key from this and you have "LEG ENDER"
43-across. Pilot's standard routine after leaving the gate?: RUNWAY MODEL. Delete the "DEL" key from this and you have RUNWAY M.O. (abbr. for modus operendi) This made the puzzle and its theme very (39-across. Quick with quips:)WITTY!
Here is the completed grid, and then off to the rest of the fill ... well done, ladies!
Across:
1. Eyebrow shapes: ARCS. Notice the ARCS
5. "Last four digits" ID: SSN.
8. Cold feet or cold shoulder: IDIOM. IDIOM, as defined in [dictionary dot com], "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light )"
13. Theater destination: SEAT. I like to sit in the balcony, toward the front
14. October birthstone: OPAL. Any October birthday celebrators among us?
16. Record holder?: LINER. I'm guessing this means the sleeve in which the record (LP) is contained within its package?
17. __ Alto: PALO. CA city
18. Camembert cousin: BRIE. I prefer Camembert to BRIE as it is a bit more ripe and stinky!
19. What a library does: LENDS. Margaret and I have been using our local library to borrow the seasons of Yellowstone. Great mini-series
23. Turnpike sign: NO U-TURN. Most of these turnpike signs are images now ... it's ONE WAY of looking at it, no?! ;^)
24. Tiny amount: SOU. A French word
25. CPR giver: EMT.
28. Aidy Bryant's former show, briefly: SNL. Aidy Bryant was not a person I was familiar with, but the perps helped
32. Battery fluid: ACID.
34. "The Princess Diaries" princess: MIA. Another example of using a more current "venue" to clue a proper name
35. "Toodles": CIAO.
36. Maze choices: PATHS.
38. Roller coaster feature: DIP. If roller coasters had only DIPs and not exaggerated FALLs, I might be a fan
40. Actress Falco: EDIE. Of "The Soprano's" fame
41. Novelist Wolitzer: MEG. See my response to 34-across
46. Sentient hairball of 1960s TV: ITT. The Addams Family character
49. Bar barrel: KEG.
50. "Ew! Stop talking!": TMI.
51. Tea gadget: INFUSER.
55. "Later!": SEE YA.
58. Shiny fabric: LAME. Pronounced, "Lah MAY"
59. Piece of maguro: TORO. Learning "Moe-ment": TORO is the fatty part of the tuna, found in the belly of maguro which is the greasiest part of the abdomen. It has a soft texture and melts in your mouth. This is the more expensive part of maguro because it is rare and you can only get a small quantity. And that's no bull ...
60. Stable issue: FOALS. More wittisism, clue-wise
61. Significant periods: ERAS.
62. Mineral found in kale: IRON. Just because it contains IRON doesn't mean I am gonna eat it!!
63. En pointe: ON TOE. Ballet term
64. Wordle publisher, familiarly: NYT. My one "claim to fame" as a crossword puzzle constructor was using the entry "WORDLE" first among the published crossword puzzles. See 32-down ...
65. Strings for Orpheus: LYRE.
Down:
1. Quakers in a forest: ASPENS. Cute clue
2. Common sense: REASON.
3. Like a cold, ruthless villain: CALCULATING.
4. Short-tailed weasel: STOAT.
5. Came down, with "up": SOBERED. I was drunk with happiness when I solved this clue!
6. Leapt: SPRANG.
7. "Queen of Katwe" director Mira __: NAIR. I hear she waxes her eyebrows ...
8. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer!": I'LL SUE.
9. Try intermittent fasting, perhaps: DIET. Intermittent fasting never worked for me ... I am currently on a seafood DIET: I see food, and then I eat it ...
10. Suite spot?: INN. HaHa
11. Uni resource: OED. As in "UNIversity" library, perhaps? I'm guessing that is what it means. All University libraries have a copy of The Oxford English Dictionary
12. "The Marvelous __ Maisel": MRS.
15. Blab accidentally: LET SLIP.
21. Sheepdogs from Hungary: PULIS. Hands up for those of you who knew this?? I didn't. I wonder if it's related to 46-across? Here is a picture of one:
22. Letter before kappa: IOTA. Are there any fraternity or sorority members here? I recall that when pledging a fraternity I had to recite the Greek Alphabet five times, while holding a lit match ...
25. Handy feature in a shared document: EDIT HISTORY. This appears to be a first-time use for this entry
26. Substance: MEAT. A Friday clue for sure; although many of us "give up" MEAT on Fridays during lent ... just sayin'! ;^)
27. City tricked by a wooden horse: TROY.
30. Chum: AMIGO. Our "Spanish entry" du jour
31. Military police procedural: NCIS. Short for: Naval Criminal Investigative Service
33. __ toy: CHEW. My "Granddog" Guinness loves these, with or without the squeaker!
36. Company car, e.g.: PERK. I enjoyed this PERK for 35 years during my career as a sales rep/sales manager
37. Together, musically: ADUE. [wikipedia says] "A due [a dˈduːe] in Italian or à deux [a dø] in French is a musical direction meaning "for two". Most often seen in its abbreviated form a2, the marking signifies that on a staff that normally carries parts for two players, both players are to play the single part in unison"
38. Choreographer Agnes who wrote a biography of Martha Graham: DEMILLE. "Agnes" is a CSO to our own Irish Miss, as well as my maternal grandmother
39. Detective assisted by Archie Goodwin: WOLFE. Of Nero WOLFE fame
41. "Goodness gracious!": MY MY.
42. Most likely to snap, say: TENSEST. Did anyone "snap" or become "tense" whilst solving this puzzle?
44. Order to relax: AT EASE.
45. Perturb: DISMAY.
47. Babysitter's handful: TERROR.
48. "Have a taste!": TRY ONE.
52. No later than: UNTIL.
53. "The Last Jedi" villain Ren: KYLO.
54. Make: EARN.
55. Calif. hub: SFO. Airline "code" for San FranciscO
56. Countless lifetimes: EON.
57. Dine: EAT.
And there you have it! I hope I gave you enough "KEYS" to understanding this puzzle. Please enter any comments/thoughts below ...
Today's veteran constructors Rebecca Goldstein and
Rafael Musa (19 & 4 LAT puzzles respectively including today's)
present us with another scrambled word game. Their theme appears at
first to be a bit of a downer, so to clear that up right away, let's start
with the reveal ...
62A. "This doesn't feel right," and what
can be said about some letters in the answers to the starred clues?:
THE VIBES ARE OFF. This phrase generally connotes that the speaker is sensing
BAD VIBES, or an EDGY feeling of unease (e.g. see
69A). Quite honestly when this reviewer realized this he panicked
and started looking around for an antidote. So to calm everyone down
we'll start with some
Now that we've relaxed a bit we can see that reveal doesn't really have
anything to do with emotional turmoil. On the contrary it simply describes the
parsing of four rather innocuous theme clues, each of which has an embedded
acronym of the word VIBE spanning two
words:
16A. *Players who cover wide receivers:
DEFENSIVE BACKS. The timing of
this clue is not so good as
Super Bowl LV was a month and
half ago. The big news that day was that
Rhianna was the first pregnant woman to headline a half-time show. Oh and ICYI the Kansas City Chiefs beat the
Philadelphia Eagles 38 to 35. .
28A. *Film fanatic:
MOVIE BUFF. The news here is not
quite as stale, as the
Oscars were awarded March 12. See 14A for more details.
39A. *Black Friday slogan:
SAVE BIG. Mark your
calendars, the next Black Friday is Fri, Nov 24, 2023. It's never
too early to start getting in shape for that midnight mad dash ...
50A. *Couple in the honeymoon phase:
LOVE BIRDS. One of our nieces
married just this past fall. She's still in the
honeymoon phase. Our nephew, her brother, married about a year
ago. He's now in the parenting phase.
Here's the grid
...
Here's the rest ... Across:
1. Acrobat format: PDF.
4. Mumford & Sons instrument: BANJO.
Mumford & Sons
is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. Here's their
Hopeless Wanderer (lyrics)
9. ____ school: PREP.
13. Non opposite: OUI. Today's French lesson.
14. Burmese or Lao: ASIAN.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film that follows
Evelyn Wang, a Chinese-American immigrant who, while being audited by
the IRS, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of
herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse.
Michelle Yeoh
was the first ASIAN actress to win an OSCAR.
15. Trading floor order: SELL.
16A [Theme clue].
19. Part of a winesap or a wineglass: STEM. Fruity clue.
STEM is also an acronym for "Science Technology Engineering and Math". I would add an E to the end as Geeks should learn proper
English.
20. Major headache: HASSLE.
21. Actress Shawkat: ALIA.
Alia Martine Shawkat
(/ˈæliə ˈʃɔːkæt/ AL-ee-ə SHAW-kat; Arabic: عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18,
1989) is an American actress. The big news about Alia is that she's
not dating Brad Pitt. OTOH she has been an actress for over 20 years.
Alia Shawkat
24. Pals: AMIGOS. Today's Spanish lesson.
28A [Theme
clue]
33. Uttered: SPOKE.
34. "... because you don't want to cross me": OR ELSE.
35. Burj Khalifa's fed.: UAE. Here are the 7 federated emirates
of the
United Arab Emirates, the largest being Abu Dhabi:
The United Arab Republic
The
Burj Khalifas
is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the
world's tallest building with a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or
just over half a mile).
Burj Khalifas
37. Frog's kid-lit friend: TOAD.
Frog and Toad
is a series of easy-reader children's books, written and illustrated by
Arnold Lobel. Each book contains five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant,
short stories chronicling the exploits of an anthropomorphic frog and toad,
named Frog and Toad respectively.
38. "You're it!": TAG.
[Theme clue]
42. Go green, say?: DYE. As
TOAD's companion might say "It's not easy
bein' green ...". Here's Van
Morrison's cover of the
KERMIT classic (lyrics) ...
43. Gay __: ICON. My two favorite gay ICONS are the English mathematician
Alan Turing and the Russian
composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Sadly both of these men took their own lives. In Turing's
case this was doubly sad as he was driven to suicide by people who, due to
the Official Secrets Act, were completely unaware of the critical role he
played in
the breaking of the coding scheme of the Enigma machine
used by the Nazis for secure communications during WWII. In 2021 Great Britain at least partially atoned for this grave injustice by issuing this iconic currency:
On the obverse side of the note is Queen Elizabeth II. Tchaikovsky
is best known for his
symphonies, ballets, and operas, but he also wrote songs. One of his best known songs is
based on a poem by the German polymath
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
called None but the Lonely Heart (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt,
literally "Only he who knows longing") and expresses the poet's anguish at
unrequited love. As the song has been covered by many different
singers, I'll spare you the German version:
45. GQ or EW: MAG. Gentleman's Quarterly and
Entertainment Weekly. As GQ usually doesn't pass the breakfast
test,
here's what EW is covering as of press time on the Corner
(see also 28A).
46. Pampers product: DIAPER. I'm sure my nephew has been changing
a lot of these lately (see 50A).
48. Chimney ducts: FLUES. [Usually] rectangular fire clay liners
that protect the less heat resistant red brick of the chimney itself.
FLUES also have an additional function in fuel burning
downdraft kilns. They are usually equipped with dampers, which can be partially closed to
temporarily reduce the amount of oxygen in the kiln, making
possible the classic
copper red(Sang de boeuf) and
iron green celadon
glazes developed by the Chinese over a 1000 years ago.
50. [Theme clue]
52. Plays matchmaker for: SETS UP. If I recall correctly both
sets of Love Birds in 50A above
were SET UP.
54. Greek war god: ARES. The antithesis of
EROS, who was undoubtedly involved in the previous comment.
55. 18-Down units: TROOPS. My grandsons' TROOP is
No. 420.
58. Actor Neeson: LIAM.
William John Neeson
OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received
several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British
Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on The
Irish Times list of Ireland's 50 Greatest Film Actors. Neeson was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.
Liam Neeson
62. [Reveal clue]
66. Intense anger: RAGE.
67. Birthplace of the violin: ITALY.
Cremona, ITALY
to be exact. Antonio Stradivari's teacher, Andrea Amati is credited with inventing the modern violin and thus making this possible far in the future: Baltimorean Hilary Hahn performing the 1st movement cadenza to the Beethoven Violin Concerto:
68. Darjeeling, for one: TEA.
69. Neither calm nor collected: EDGY. Someone whose
VIBES ARE OFF.
70. Like some foggy nights: EERIE.
71. Cribside chorus: AWS. I think our new great nephew (see
50A above) has been getting a lot of these lately.
2. Piece for two: DUET. The "Flower Duet" for soprano and mezzo-soprano in the first act of
Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé is sung by the characters Lakmé, daughter of a
Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers
by a river. You'll probably recognize it:
3. Marching band pipe: FIFE.
Fifers were non-combatant foot soldiers
who originally played the
FIFE
during combat. When played in its upper register, the fife is loud and
piercing, yet also extremely small and portable. According to some reports, a
band of fifes and drums can be heard up to 3 miles (4.8 km) away over
artillery fire. Because of these qualities, European armies from the
Renaissance on found it useful for signaling on the battlefield ... (click
Watch on YouTube
below to get this started [I thought Google owned both Blogger and YouTube!?]).
4. Block: BAN.
5. Donkey: ASS.
6. Hawaiian island whose population was 84 in the 2020 census:
NIIHAU.
Niʻihau
(you get extra points if you included the apostrophe), anglicized as Niihau
(/ˈniː(i)haʊ/ NEE-(ee-)how), is the westernmost main and
seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii.
9. Old Testament collection: PSALMS. In the
Christian Old Testament
and
Hebrew Bible
the PSALMS are a collection of 150 sacred songs and poems meant to be
sung or recited. Tradition has it that many of them were written by
King David,
who was reputed to be a harpist and quite a dancer in his day. They are
used extensively in the liturgies of both Christians and Jews. They are
also the primary prayers in the 4 week Psalter of Catholic
Divine Office,
which is prayed by priests, religious, and laity around the world throughout
each day.
11. Mammals also known as wapiti: ELK. The
ELK (Cervus canadensis), or wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family,
Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of
North America and Central and East Asia.
Bull Elk in Alberta, Canada
12. Letters from a polite texter: PLS. And the polite response is
THX.
17. Message in Outlook: EMAIL. Hand up if you still use this?
18. Org. with sashes and badges: BSA.
Boy Scouts of America. If you (or more likely your Mom) sew
enough badges on those sashes you become an
Eagle Scout. *Hand up if you are an Eagle Scout? I never reached the rank,
but two of my grandsons have. This medal is actually pinned to the
uniform, not the sash ...
22. On sale, say: LESS.
23. Pronoun-shaped girder: I BEAM. Now even girders have
pronouns. What's next?
25. Favorable optics, for short: GOOD PR. Or even poor optic if your PR person is a good enough spinner.
29. Soothsayer: ORACLE.
Pythia (/ˈpɪθiə/; Ancient Greek: Πυθία [pyːˈtʰíaː])
was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the
Oracle of Delphi. Also a company owned by
Larry Ellison
who also owns
Lanai, the
seventh largest Hawaiian island (see also 6D):
30. Ride the couch: VEG OUT.
31. Fire, in Spanish: FUEGO. A lot of us know this Spanish
word from our high school geography, as the Southern tip of Argentina was
called
Tierra del Fuego
(the "Land of Fire"), by the explorer
Ferdinand Magellan, due to the bonfires kept lit on the shore by the indigenous people.
Since he was actually Portuguese, I wonder why he didn't call it
Terra de Fogo.
32. British Invasion adjective: FAB. As in the
FAB FOUR.
36. Arctic Circle duck: EIDER.
Eiders are large sea ducks in the genus Somateria. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern
Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese,
are used to fill pillows and quilts—they have given the name to the type of
quilt known as an eiderdown.
Eider Duck
40. 2021 documentary about actor Kilmer: VAL.
Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor,
Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with
Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), as well as the
military action film Top Gun (1986), The Doors (1991) and
the fantasy film Batman Forever (1995). Here's a clip from his bio-pic
...
41. Taunt: GIBE.
44. Funds for a rainy day: NEST EGG. IRA was too
short. The ducks in 36A produce NEST EGGS about once a
year, regardless of the weather.
47. Market section: AISLE.
49. Introductory course: SURVEY.
51. Jane Fonda's alma mater: VASSAR.
Vassar College
(/ˈvæsər/ VASS-ər) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New
York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the
second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United
States, closely following Elmira College. It became coeducational in
1969 and now has a gender ratio at the national average. The college is one of
the historic Seven Sisters, the first elite women's colleges in the
U.S., and has a historic relationship with Yale University, which
suggested a merger before they both became coeducational.
53. Starchy luau dish: POI.
56. Award related to a Tony: OBIE. A made up homophone for the letters
OB, short for Off Broadway musicals. Here are the winners for
the
66th Annual OBIE Awards
held on February 13, 2023. Years back we saw
The Fantasticks, which holds the record for the longest running
Off Broadway show. You'll probably remember this song ...
57. Slugger Alonso nicknamed "Polar Bear": PETE. Plays 1st Base
for the NY Mets.
A right handed batter he made his MLB debut during the 2019 season and broke
the major league record for the most home runs by a rookie with 53.
He's age 28, 6'3" and weighs 245 pounds.
Here are his stats.
Pete Alonso
59. Whit: IOTA.
60. Not many: A FEW.
61. Degs. for ballerinas: MFAS.
Master of Fine Arts.
You can get one here. Many operas have ballet scenes (they're required in French
operas). We've seen only one full-length ballet and decided that they're
too expensive and too addictive.
62. Uno e uno e uno: TRE. Today's Italian lesson:
THREE. Sorry, no OPERA today.
63. "I've been __!": HAD.
64. "Moonlight" Oscar winner Mahershala: ALI.
Moonlight is a 2016 American coming-of-age drama film
written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on
Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished semi-autobiographical play
In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. The film stars
Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe,
Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris, and
Mahershala Ali. Here's the trailer:
65. Manhattan liquor: RYE.
*"Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout!"
Cheers, Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof
reading, for her constructive criticism.
Theme: I get a CHARGE from this puzzle. How about you?
Each theme entry includes a CHARGER of a different sort. Let's see how many we can find.
18 A. Animal that may be on the verge of an attack: RAGING BULL. Boxing fans and movie mavens might be thinking about Jake La Motta. But this is more literal - an infuriated bovine, intent on wreaking havoc. Here, the CHARGE is physical action with intent to do bodily harm.
24 A. Laptop accessory: POWER CORD. This is an electrical cable that temporarily connects an appliance to the main electricity supply via a wall socket or extension cord. It will keep your lap top operating, and provide a CHARGE to its internal battery.
52 A. Body that investigates potential criminal conduct: GRAND JURY. A group that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and, if the evidence warrants, makes formal CHARGES on which the accused persons are later tried. This type of CHARGE is a formal accusation that a crime has been committed.
59. Person who likely has a high credit card balance: BIG SPENDER. This assumes s/he is not using cash, but rather using an account to pay later for a good or service provided today, thus CHARGING that item.
And, at last, here is the unifier: 36. Los Angeles NFL team, and an apt name for 18-, 24-, 52-, and 59-Across, collectively?: THE CHARGERS. They were 10-7 last season, finished in 2nd place in the AFC, behind the 14-3 Chiefs. In the Wild Card round, despite amassing a 27–0 lead during the second quarter, the Chargers collapsed in the second-half of the game, losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars 30–31 on a last-second field goal. Sad.
This sense of CHARGER most closely matches that of the RAGING BULL, but is a bit more abstract. Usually I put the unifier first to clarify the concept, but that didn't seem necessary today. Also, it's rare to have two [or more] word theme entries that use the whole phrase rather than a chosen word. So this theme stands out in a couple ways.
Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here, all het up to lead the CHARGE through today's puzzle. Let's get to it.
Across:
1. Wall Street inits.: NYSE. New York Stock Exchange, one of the world’s largest marketplaces for securities and other exchange-traded investments. .
5. Spring time: MARCH. A month that is a time in which Spring begins - this year it was on Monday, the 20th.
10. Nadal of tennis, familiarly: RAFA. Rafael Nadal Parera [b. 1986] is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 9 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals. He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.
14. Tries to win over: WOOS. Seeks the favor, affection, or love of someone.
15. "Welcome to Maui!": ALOHA. Hawaiian greeting.
16. Rapper born Tracy Marrow: ICE-T. Tracy Lauren Marrow (b. 1958), better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and producer. He began his career as an underground rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays. The following year, he founded the record label Rhyme $yndicate Records (named after his collective of fellow hip-hop artists called the "Rhyme $yndicate") and released another album, Power, which would go platinum. He also released several other albums that went gold.
17. Rolaids rival: TUMS. These medications, taken orally, are used to treat symptoms caused by too much stomach acid such as heartburn, upset stomach, or indigestion. They work by lowering the amount of acid in the stomach.
20. German camera brand: LEICA. a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869, in Wetzlar, Germany. In 1986, the Leitz company changed its name to Leica, due to the fame of the Leica trade-name. The name Leica is derived from the first three letters of the founder's surname (Leitz) and the first two of the word camera
22. Disney princess voiced by Idina Menzel: ELSA.
She's actually the Queen
23. Coastal inlet: RIA. A coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.
26. Depends (on): LEANS. Derive support from someone or something, either literally or figuratively.
28. Incinerator residue: ASH. The powdery residue left after the burning of a substance.
29. Tuber in the Nigerian dish asaro: YAM. The edible starchy tuber of a climbing plant that is widely grown in tropical and subtropical countries.
30. Complete collection, perhaps: BOX SET. A set of related items, typically books or recordings, packaged together in a box and sold as a unit.
31. Spring: LEAP. Move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward. Fortunately, the extra day in. leap year occurs before Spring, or it would be too confusing.
33. 2007 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient: AL GORE. Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (b.1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic nominee for the 2000 presidential election, losing to George W. Bush in a very close race after a Florida recount. His work in climate change activism earned him (jointly with the IPCC) the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
40. Like someone with a hit single?: ON BASE. Nice misdirection. Not a pop music reference, but a successful at bat in a baseball game.
41. StarKist product: TUNA.
44. Angles: SLANTS. Leans, in. a different sense of the word.
50. Ballerina's hairdo: BUN. Buns are made to keep hair out of your face. In a performance, it would be distracting for an audience member to constantly see a dancer tossing hair out of their face. It's also a problem for the dancer.
51. National animal of Malaysia: TIGER. A tiger from a specific population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies that is native to Peninsular Malaysia. This population inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2015. As of April 2014, the population was estimated at 80 to 120 mature individuals with a continuous declining trend.
55. Many a craft beer: ALE. Fermented malt beverage, full-bodied and somewhat bitter, with strong flavor and aroma of hops.
56. Region: AREA. The extent of space or surface having some common definable characteristic and flexible boundaries.
58. Baking soda targets: ODORS. Most unpleasant smells have an acidic nature. Baking soda is basic, and will react with the odor causing molecules, thus neutralizing them. Chemistry, peeps!
62. Long-billed wader: IBIS. A group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds.
64. Roof problem: LEAK. A hole or crack that allows unintended water to enter a structure.
65. Like a paddling surfer: PRONE. A body position in which the person lies flat with the chest down and the back up.
66. Muse count: NINE. In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. their functions are as follows: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flutes and music), Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry), Melpomene (tragedy)
Terpsichore (dance), Erato (love poetry and lyric poetry), Polyhymnia (hymns and sacred poetry), Urania (astronomy)
67. Award for very good plays?: ESPY. Another clever clue, relating not to theater productions, but to excellence in sporting contests. The ESPY Awards, the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly, is an event honoring the top athletes and sport performances of the year.
68. Transmits: SENDS. Causes something to pass on from one place or person to another.
69. Epic story: SAGA. A long story of heroic achievement, especially a medieval prose narrative in Old Norse or Old Icelandic.
Down:
1. Region above Sask.: NWT. NorthWest Territory. The Northwest Territories of Canada include the regions of Dehcho, North Slave, Sahtu, South Slave and Inuvik. Their remote landscape encompasses forest, mountains, Arctic tundra and islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
2. "Checkmate!": YOU LOSE. A winning move in chess, and, by extension, any dramatic winning maneuver.
6. Chicken __ king: ALA. A dish consisting of diced chicken in a cream sauce, often with sherry, mushrooms, and vegetables, generally served over rice, noodles, or bread.
7. "Copy that": ROGER. I Heard and Understood the Message.
8. "The French Chef" host Julia: CHILD. Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams (1912 – 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.
9. Film score composer Zimmer with four Grammys: HANS. Hans Florian Zimmer [b. 1957] is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses, published by The Daily Telegraph.
10. Part of a cage: RIB. One of the series of curved bones of the chest of most vertebrates that are joined to the spinal column in pairs and help to support the body wall and protect the organs inside. Sneaky clue. BAR also fits.
11. High-end Hondas: ACURAS. Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched in the United States on March 27, 1986,
12. Catlike: FELINE. Appearing or behaving like a cat:
13. Finally: AT LAST. Said of something has happened after you have been hoping for it for a long time.
19. In abundance: GALORE. A veritable plethora.
21. Shout: CRY. Shout or scream, typically to express fear, pain, or grief.
24. Bud: PAL. A friend.
25. Home of Creighton University: OMAHA. Omaha is a city in the U.S. state of Nebraska, on the Missouri River close to the Iowa border. A stop on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, it's known for its pioneer history, museums and cultural centers.
27. Wield, as influence: EXERT. Apply or bring to bear a force, influence, or quality.
30. Marsh: BOG. Wet muddy ground too soft to support a heavy body.
32. Conversation piece?: PHONE. Another mis-directing clue. A device used for conversation [or posting feline pics], not the expected object whose unusual quality makes it a topic of conversation.
34. Part of UNLV: LAS. University of Nevada at LAS Vegas.
35. Environmental activist Thunberg: GRETA. Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg FRSGS is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded her parents to adopt lifestyle choices that reduced their own carbon footprint. FRSGS indicates a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
37. Snare: ENTRAP. Catch (someone or something) in or as in a trap.
38. Network with an eye logo: CBS. Columbia Broadcasting System
39. "WandaVision" backdrop: SUBURBIA. an American television miniseries created by Jac Schaeffer for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It is the first television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise, and is set after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019).
42. Healthcare major: NURSING. A profession within the healthcare sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life.
43. "__ takers?": ANY. Questing for someone who would accept or buy some object to condition.
44. Straw-strewn shelter: STABLE. A building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock.
45. Funnel-shaped flowers: LILIES. A genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the northern hemisphere and their range is temperate climates and extends into the subtropics.
46. One year, for Venus and Serena Williams: AGE GAP. Th difference in ages between two people. This term is not generally used pertaining to siblings. More typically it refers to the age difference between romantic partners.
48. Naps noisily: SNORES. Produces a hoarse or harsh sound from nose or mouth that occurs when breathing is partially obstructed while sleeping.
49. Solve KenKen, say: ADD. Determine the total when two numbers are combined. KenKen ia a trademarked name for a style of arithmetic and logic puzzle invented in 2004 by Japanese math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto, who intended the puzzles to be an instruction-free method of training the brain. The name derives from the Japanese word for cleverness.
52. Category: GENRE. A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
53. Home health hazard: RADON. An odorless, invisible, radioactive gas naturally released from rocks, soil, and water. Radon can get into homes and buildings through small cracks or holes and build up in the air. Over time, breathing in high levels of radon can cause lung cancer.
54. Puts together: JOINS. Combines.
57. Workout count: REPS. Repetitions of a particular exercise or movement.
60. What's up?: SKY. The phrase generally means, "what's happening?" Here it is more literal, indicating the firmament.
61. Finale: END. The last part of a piece of music, a performance, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting.
63. Porthole view: SEA. A ship's window looks out at the ocean.
That wraps up another Wednesday. Hope you enjoyed it - as always, free of charge.
Unlike some recent walks in the park, today the bear almost got me and I had some real struggles. Oddly, though, I really enjoyed the puzzle and only 7. "The Song by God" scripture: BHAGAVAD GITA was an impossible "get" but served as some real learning. Some of Doug and Christina's fiendish cluing stymied me but then amazed me when I found out the answer. Of the thousands of puzzles I have done, this is among the most difficult I have ever tackled but I would do another puzzle by this combo again, any time. As I always say, I am smart enough to know how little I know.
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