Saturday, May 13, 2023, Rich Norris

Saturday Themeless by Rich Norris

Our former editor shows up with another engaging puzzle. I sailed along pretty good but POPO is not in in my vocab and so I'll take one bad cell (COPO/CBS) and try to get on with my life.

I wonder if Rich was familiar with all the proper names he employed. 🤨

Across:

1. Erosion control supply: STRAW MATS - These are ubiquitous around here as bypass highways with overpasses are being built all around our town and good spring rains are bringing the STRAW MATS to life.

10. Composer Bruckner: ANTON - All you'd ever want to know

15. Ahead of its time: PROPHETIC - Some claiming to be prophets are really looking for a profit

16. Held up: BORNE.

17. Pizza sauce choice: RED TOMATO.

18. Condition: STATE - The value of a dime depends on its STATE or condition

19. "__, Chef": Marcus Samuelsson memoir: YES - This is the story of his rise as an adopted child from Ethiopia who became a very successful chef in NYC. (pub. 2012)

20. Nabokov novel: LOLITA - A middle-aged man having relations with a 14-yr-old girl, what could possibly go wrong?

22. Condition that can interfere with focusing, briefly: ADHD.

23. Reagle of "Wordplay": MERL.

24. Go along: AGREE.

26. Pupil of Beethoven: CZERNY.

29. Things that are worth looking into?: MIRRORS 😀

31. Trope intro: HELIO - HELIO(Greek: helios/sun) tropes (Greek: trepan/turn) are plants whose flowers follow the sun across the sky. The prime example is the state flower of Kansas.

32. Summer Olympics racer since 1936: CANOE - Ernst Krebs canoeing in the 1936 Olympics for Deutschland 

33. Pac-12 athlete: UTE - Next year, USC and UCLA join the Big Ten and the Utah UTES, et. al. will be left behind

35. Round figure: ORB.

36. Like many '50s cars: TWO TONE - Oh, you mean back when cars had personality?

38. HBO __: MAX.

39. Court: WOO.

40. Romance novelist Brenda: HIATT.

41. Poor showing: NO ONE.

43. Chirp: TWEEDLE - Lewis Carroll invented TWEEDLE Dee and TWEEDLE Dum to encounter Alice in Through The Looking Glass

45. Coastal features of Washington and Alaska: FJORDS - Kenai FJORDS National Park, Home of the most beautiful FJORDS in Alaska

46. Bridget Riley genre: OP ART.

47. Rebuke, maybe: SLAP.

48. Fluffy rug: SHAG.

49. Last-minute, often: HECTIC.

52. "Death in Paradise" airer: PBS - A BBC import

55. Model 3 maker: TESLA.

57. Inescapable situation: BLACK HOLE - Not even light can escape

59. Some deco works: ERTE'S.

60. One who makes the rounds?: 😀 BARKEEPER.

61. Circular defense mechanisms: MOATS 😀

62. Anxiously awaits: SWEATS OUT - 1969 draft lottery

Down:

1. Agile: SPRY.

2. Corner: TREE.

3. Fish sticks?: RODS 😀 

4. Keenly intelligent: APT.

5. Totally different, slangily: WHOLE NOTHER.

6. Broadway classic with the lyrics "I can smile at the old days / I was beautiful then": MEMORY - The show-stopping song from Cats

7. In any way: AT ALL.

8. South American monkey: TITI.

9. Shetland native: SCOT - A SCOT who lives in the Shetland Islands has a cost of living nearly double the rest of the U.K. However, golf is reasonable at the Shetland Golf Course: £30 per day, £80 per week; £130 per fortnight

10. Six-pack contents?: ABS.

11. Tig with a recurring role on "Star Trek: Discovery": NOTARO - She is standing under the K in this picture

12. News about a possible exchange: TRADE RUMOR - These rumors were around all winter and he didn't go to any of these teams. If you care at all, you know where he went.

13. Testifying: ON THE STAND.

14. Sine qua non: NEED.

21. Vice president after Thomas: AARON Burr.

23. Hosp. scan: MRI.

25. Prize that may need to be altered if a player wins it again: GREEN JACKET - Here we see the 2019 Master's winner, Tiger Woods, helping the 2020 winner into his GREEN JACKET.

26. Eats: CHOW.

27. Process of dramatic character change: ZERO TO HERO - Tom was the 199th player picked in the 2000 NFL draft and sat out his entire rookie year. The next year the Patriots' starting QB got hurt and Brady finally got to play and became the Greatest Of All Time.

28. Gomiti, for one: ELBOW PASTA.

 
29. Lacking luster: MATTE.

30. Trying to resolve a tie, briefly: IN OT - Notre Dame coach (and cwd fill) Ara Parseghian was forever blamed for not trying to win this game in 1966 and "settled for a tie". It was another 30 years before the NCAA instituted rules so games could go IN(to) OT(overtime) 

32. __-fired: COAL - Our electricity is mostly generated in this plant 1/4 mile south of where I am sitting

34. Former union members?: EXES - That would be former marital union members 

37. Side to side?: WIDTH.

42. Alley follower: OOP.

44. Aerie newborn: EAGLET - EAGLETS born in this aerie are a short flight from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.

45. Title horse in a Mary O'Hara children's novel: FLICKA - My Friend Flicka was part of my b/w television childhood

47. Unsettling look: STARE.

48. Half-note feature: STEM.

50. Weakens: EBBS.

51. White __: hard seltzer brand: CLAW.

52. The law: POPO - From reduplication of the abbreviation PO (“police officer”), originally in reference to partnered bike officers in Southern California whose paired shirts would read POPO

53. Fromage hue: BLEU - My Greek wife hates BLEU cheese and olives in the Greek salad

54. Barcelona-born muralist: SERT.

56. Jenny, e.g.: ASS- Here's a link to the site below

58. Dads and lads: HES.

 

Friday, May 12, 2023, Taylor Johnson

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's recap of a puzzle by Taylor Johnson who first appeared in this venue just a few days shy of one year ago (on 22 May 2022, per Bill).  Taylor has also had puzzles published in other venues.  Previously, he has employed themes where letters have to be removed from common words and phrases in order to form appropriate (and humorous) answers to the clues.  Today, in an example of, arguably, increased efficiency, nothing has to be removed.  A single letter merely has to be moved over from the start of one word to the end of the preceding word.  He provides the key at:

59 Across:  Makes room, and when parsed differently, an instruction for four answers in this puzzle: MOVES OVER.  Or, as intended here, MOVE  S  OVER.

He applies this methodology at four places in the grid:

17 Across:  Leg muscle of a mathlete?: GEEK'S QUAD.  Geek Squad (techies) is modified by moving the S from the beginning of the word SQUAD to the end of the word GEEK thereby making GEEK possessive.  At the risk of being redundant, GEEK SQUAD  morphs into GEEK'S QUAD (as in quadriceps).

31 Across:  Fruity pastry made by a movie boxer?: ROCKY'S TART.  Similarly, ROCKY START becomes ROCKY'S TART.  What Adrian certainly was not?

Theme From Rocky XIII

35 Across:  Pub pour for an enlisted soldier?: PRIVATE'S ALE.  Parsed differently, PRIVATE SALE.

42 Across:  Vacation for a stand-up performer?: COMIC'S TRIP.  COMIC STRIP.

Comic's (and POTUS's) Trip

Here is how this looks in the grid:

. . . and here are the rest of the clues/answers:

Across:

1. Informant: RAT.  Hollywood gangster movie jargon.

4. MGM part: METRO.

9. Labor leader Chavez: CESAR.  His granddaughter was recently tapped to be the current president's reelection campaign manager.

14. Goof: ERR.

15. Sprinter Bolt: USAIN.  Among other accomplishments, an eight-time gold medalist at the Olympics.

16. Enough: AMPLE.  Knock.  Knock.  Who's there?  Four eggs.  Four eggs who?  Four eggs AMPLE.

19. Stacked: BUILT.  A bit of a stretch.  In slang, both stacked and BUILT have another meaning.  Perhaps that's what was intended here.

20. "Don't you agree?," informally: INNIT.  Punt!

21. Darn things: SEW.  Darn, here, is used as a verb as in to mend.

23. However, poetically: THO.

24. Game requiring plug-ins?: MAD LIBS.  You plug your words into the blanks without knowing the context (a second participant asks you for a noun, a verb, an adjective, etc.).  The results can sometimes be hilarious.

27,  Idle Talk:  CHATTER

30. International gas brand: ESSO.  From Standard Oil.  S.O.

33. Source of a low blow?: TUBA.  A bit of word play.  A wind instrument that plays low notes.  Hand up for first thinking of KNEE,

34. "History of the World, Part II" actress/writer Wanda: SYKES.  The Hulu TV series is meant to be a sequel to the 1981 Mel Brooks movie.  It's good to be the king.

39. Like part of some fusion cuisine: ASIAN.

41. Semisoft cheese: EDAM.  Not all cheeses are made in the same manner.  In fact, EDAM is made backwards.

45. Shirt part with a button: CUFF.

49. Tip: POINTER.

50. ESPN Deportes language: ESPANOL.  The clue employs the Spanish language so the answer does also.

52. Small bill: ONE.  As in legal tender, currency.

53. Crossed (out): XED

55. __ board: EMERY.  A SURF board was too short.  A CUTTING board was too large.  Ouija board fit but didn't work.  Thanks, again, perps.

56. Pegasus pair: WINGS.  The mythical winged horse.

62. First name in cosmetics: ESTEE.  ESTEE Lauder visits us frequently.

63. Netflix crime drama set in Missouri: OZARK.

64. Self-regard: EGO.

65. River in a van Gogh painting: RHONE.

66. Event of passing interest?: RELAY.  RELAY race.  Pass the baton.  Literally.

67. Silent approval: NOD.

Down:

1. Ruling period: REGIME.  It can be used to mean the time period although more often it refers to the government in power.

2. Entertainment centers?: ARENAS.  A bit of word play.  Places where you might go for entertainment.  Not something like this:

3. Directions: TRENDS.  Would one ever say that current directions are in the right, or wrong, direction?

4. "You honestly need me to do that?": MUST I.  Quotation clues provide much flexibility.

5. Letters on some office suite doors: ESQ.  ESQuire is an honorific for an attorney.  Collectively, we're still working out the approriate honorific as esquiress does not seem to have caught on.

6. Sigma follower: TAU.  It helps to know the Greek alphabet if one likes to solve crossword puzzles . . . or at least print it out and keep that sheet of paper handy.

7. Narrow inlets: RIAS.  Crosswordese.

8. Next: ON DECK.  Best known as a baseball reference.  The next batter up is said to be ON DECK.

9. Indie rockers Death __ for Cutie: CAB.  Often clued with a reference to wine or Uber.

10. Cassowary cousin: EMU.

11. Classic bit of slapstick: SPIT TAKE.  A SPIT TAKE is a comedic technique or reaction in which someone spits a drink, or sometimes food, out of their mouth as a reaction to a surprising or funny statement.

12. "Everyone's accounted for": ALL HERE.

13. Fires back, in a way: RETORTS.  Verbal bantering.

18. K, in the NATO alphabet: KILO.  Same tip as for 6 Down, above.

  

22. Frequent question from a toddler: WHY

25. British dude: BRUV.  Brother --> Brudder - -> Bruvver --> BRUV.  Unfamiliar to this solver.  Thanks, perps.

26. Buckwheat noodle: SOBA.

28. Indian state near Bhutan: ASSAM.  An oft visited place in crosswords.  Sometimes clued with a reference to tea. 

29. Brief sign-off: TTYL.  Talk To You Later.  Hand up for first trying TA TA.  Cheerio!

32. Cover the spread?: CATER.  Provide the food on the table as in "that's a nice spread."

33. Hint of color: TINCT.  Hand up for TINGE.

35. Olive stuffing: PIMIENTO.   A red, heart-shaped pepper.

36. Cloudburst: RAIN.

37. Singer Brickell: EDIE.   She knows what she knows if you know what I mean.  Married to Paul Simon. 

38. Drains: SAPS.  SAP is another word with multiple meanings.

39. Household outlet output: AC POWER.  Alternating Current.

40. "In a few": SOONISH.  Acceptable . . . ish.

43. __ ed: SEX.  No longer limited to those "social disease" films that they showed us in high school.

44. Shiver: TREMOR.

45. Hunting garb: CAMO.  CAMOuflage

46. Bumpy: UNEVEN.

47. Precede: FOREGO.  Although it is usually employed to mean relinquish or go without, FOREGO can also mean to go before.

48. Casting option: FLY ROD.  Sculpture (lost wax casting)?  Hollywood ensemble?  To throw?  To watch your cellphone screen on your TV?  Nope.  A fishing reference.

51. Annoying: PESKY.  Where does the word "politics" come from?  From the Greek "poly" for many and the English "ticks" for PESKY parasites.

54. Nap: DOZE.

57. Mil. title: GEN.  GENeral  Abbr / Abbr

58. Match, in poker: SEE.

60. Kilmer of film: VAL.

Nick Rivers Straightens That Rug

61. Cy Young stat: ERA.  A baseball reference.  Earned Run Average.  The Cy Young award is given annually to the best pitcher in each of the two major leagues.

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