D.C.-based Damon has been published here on 2/18/10 and 12/29/22. I got this one done in 25 minutes but my smooth sledding was was slowed down when I hit some blizzards of proper names but managed to work my way through them.
1. Gallery display: ART which would attract an 34. Gallery visitor, perhaps: AESTHETE.
4. Sweetener option: AGAVE - If you're not making tequila out of AGAVE...
9. Penner of classic tributes: ODIST - Penner is not a proper noun, it is an unusual name for one who pens or writes
14. Spy rings?: PEEPHOLES 😀
16. Butter up, in a way: BASTE.
17. Geographic feature of nine states: PANHANDLE - Nebraska's used to me more pronounced.
18. Unfamiliar: ALIEN.
19. Common ingredient in wellness products: ALOE.
20. Sparks st.: NEV - Sparks is 5 minutes east of Reno down I-80.
21. Writer whose first novel was adapted as a film by Wayne Wang: AMY TAN - I had no real idea but with a few letters our cwd friend AMY TAN showed up.
22. Turkey bacon?: LIRA - Bacon is a euphemism for money and one of these 100₺ = $4.23
30. Appropriate time for acting unprofessionally: AMATEUR HOUR - Will this karaoke guy really sound like Jim Morrison?
34. "To put it mildly": AND THEN SOME - To put it mildly, we screwed up...
35. Spoilsports: WET BLANKETS.
36. Moccasin sound: HISS - Cottonmouth Moccasin
37. Lack of space?: AIR - Yes, space has a definite lack of air.
38. Hinged fasteners: HASPS.
42. Med. specialty: ENT - My ENT and my audiologist are in the same building. One day I left there with hearing aids and a CPAP machine.
43. David Rakoff compositions: ESSAYS - On leaving Canada and becoming an American citizen: George W. Bush made me want to be an American. It was a need I had not known before. A desire that came over me in a rush one day, not unlike that of the pencil-necked honors student suddenly overwhelmed with the inexplicable urge to make a daily gift of his lunch money to the schoolyard tough.
46. "This is fun!": WHEE - Would you be filled with too much 56. Apprehension: DREAD to ride this?
47. Prepare, as leftovers: REHEAT
49. Dude: BRO.
50. Easy to maneuver, at sea: YARE - Landlocked me has only seen this word in cwds
51. Looks out for, in a way: ABETS.
52. Ones fluent both in JavaScript and Klingon, perhaps: UBER NERDS - Seems right
2. Teaching aids that illustrate everyday life: REALIA - After 50+ years in education, I have never heard of this word but used it constantly in my classes. At the bottom of my emails, I have, "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand."
3. Barbershop fixtures: TENORS - Towels didn't cut it. I was a TENOR as a freshman in our barbershop quartet and a bass as a senior
4. Insightful remark: AHA.
5. Fixin' to: GONNA - Billy Williams had a 1957 hit with this old Fats Waller song about what he was GONNA sit right down and do.
6. Tree whose roots contain nitrogen-fixing organisms: ALDER.
7. Plush toy in a Margery Williams classic: VELVETEEN RABBIT - $12,500 will get you this 1922 first edition in near fine condition
8. Legal conclusion?: ESE - LEGALESE for "date":In witness whereof, the parties hereunto have set their hands to these presents as a deed on the day month and year hereinbefore mentioned.
9. "The Audacity of Hope" memoirist: OBAMA.
10. Longtime "Last Call" host: DALY - Another DALY, John Charles DALY, was the longtime host of what TV show? (*answer below)
11. "Should I believe this?": IS IT TRUE.
12. Dumpling cooker: STEAMER.
13. Court activity: TENNIS 😀
15. Long-tailed birds: PHEASANTS - My friend missed my daughter's wedding because it was on the first day of Nebraska's PHEASANT season
21. In the saddle: AHORSE - Damon probably swallowed hard before he put in this archaic fill.
24. Dull sound: THUNK - How the fill above hit me.
27. Film site: IMDB - and 39. Leal of "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin": SHARON - SHARON Leal's IMDB entry
29. Twain lad: TOM SAWYER - This 1876 first edition is $45,000
31. Jazz classic with the line "My lonely days are over": AT LAST - and 48. 31-Down singer James: ETTA. ETTA sings her signature song at her 1993 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
32. Many Bangkok Post readers: THAIS.
33. Ice planet with tauntauns and wampas: HOTH - I'm told this is a Star Wars Wampa preying on a Tauntaun. 🤔
35. Pour house?: WINE BAR 😀
36. Announce with pomp: HERALD.
40. Tyson rival: PERDUE - Oops!
41. Makes sure of: SEES TO.
43. Facilitated: EASED.
44. California town near the Oregon border: YREKA - YREKA (wy REE kuh) is 645 miles north of LA on I-5 and it is like a whole different world.
45. Tender spots: SORES.
52. Hesitant sounds: UMS.
53. To the __ degree: NTH.
In case you missed yesterday afternoon, here is my view as I blog. I got this by using the PAN function on my iPhone.
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here, once again, with a Friday recap. Today's puzzle setter is Luke Schreiber. As seems to be more common recently, I could find no previous reference to Luke here at the Corner so this may be his L A Times debut. In any event, today, Luke has elected to do a riff on RIGHTs. Right turns, Right angles, human Rights.
Two weeks ago I recapped a puzzle in which the theme answers were placed vertically in the grid in lieu of the more often seen horizontal placement. Today, we get yet another approach. At five places in the puzzle, all identified with circles, Luke requires us to make a right-angle (90 degree) turn to the right in order to get the right answer to the Down clue. The answer to that clue requires the combining of the Down clue's answer with the corresponding Across clue's answer. Here are the five places that make up the themed answers:
1 Down: Bounces back: RALL with 20 Across: "It's all untrue!": LIES. RALLIES I imagine that most everyone went "Huh!?" when 1 Down filled. Or did it?
7 Down: Some Arctic Cats: SNOWMOB with 35 Across: Gymnast Simone: BILES. SNOWMOBILES
10 Down: RuPaul's competition: DRAG with 22 Across: Coup de __: GRACE. DRAG RACE This one confused yours truly for a bit as the down answer, DRAG, is able to stand alone as a real word, a feature exhibited at none of the other four theme-word combinations. After scratching my head for a while I assumed that RALL and SNOWMOB (which had previously been filled in) were, indeed, the right answers and that it was time to stop overthinking things and move right along.
26 Down: Extremely beautiful, perhaps: HEARTST with 54 Across: Froyo choice: TOPPING. HEART STOPPING. A little bit odd as FROYO was a "truncated" clue (FROzen YOgurt) but the answer was a complete word.
64 Across: Freedoms protected by the Equality Act, and an apt title for this puzzle?: LGBTQ RIGHTS. Note that, when taken in order, the pivot points spell out LGBTQ.
Here is how all of this looks in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and answers. Content warning: Roughly a dozen or so are proper names. Some additional theme-related answers also appear here and there:
Across:
1. Noisy toy: RATTLE. Shouldn't RATTLEsnake warnings be called "Cautionary Tails"?
7. Went fast: SPED.
11. Oroville structure: DAM.
14. Legends on the road: ACURAS. An automobile make/model reference.
15. Depilatory brand: NAIR. Was it going to be NEET or VEET? Nope.
16. Post-op area: ICU. The Intensive Care Unit at a hospital.
17. Beatles song with the lyric "Sunday morning creeping like a nun": LADY MADONNA. I strongly suspect that the Beatles imagery was not meant to evoke anything quite like these self-described "nuns":
.
19. Fistful of bills: WAD. A wad of cash. I guess the Times wished to avoid paying a royalty on this clue.
21. Possess: OWN.
24. Remorseful: ASHAMED. Why was the pterodactyl not ASHAMED to use the toilet? Its "P" was silent.
28. Nobelist Wiesel: ELIE.
29. Epicurious.com offering: RECIPE. A very good web site to visit when you are looking for a RECIPE.
32. Lucille Clifton's "Homage to My Hips," for one: ODE. In puzzles, the poems almost always turn out to be ODEs.
33. Lab container: VIAL. Why are almost all test tube manufacturers single? People seem to find them VIAL.
34. Bright bloom: DAHLIA.
37. "Rules __ rules": ARE. . . and they are meant to be followed, we are told.
38. Hesitant sound: ERM. Punt!
40. Minor matter: NIT. Idiomatic, unless you are, perhaps, a chimpanzee.
41. "Delish!": YUM.
44. SLR setting: F-STOP. A photography reference. The aperture setting on a Single Lens Reflex camera.
46. Halloumi, e.g.: CHEESE. If it were Monday the clue might have been Cheddar.
48. Québec chum: AMIE. Français dans l'indice donc Français pour la réponse.
51. Early Beatle Sutcliffe: STU. Sometimes referred to as "the fifth Beatle". We sometimes see this clued along the lines of "letter run after R".
52. Got bronze?: TANNED. Not an Olympics reference.
53. Window part: PANE. My stupid, hungry donkey decided to eat a window. It was a pane in the ass.
56. Subject of many June parades: PRIDE. Continuing with the theme.
2. Berry that's a superfood: ACAI. Frequently served in our puzzles.
"3. Truculent behavior, informally: TUDE. Derived from attiTUDE. "Don't Cop a TUDE, bro."
4. Seafarer's choice during a storm: TRYSAIL. New to this solver. "A TRYSAIL is a substitute mainsail designed solely for storm conditions. Setting independently of the boom it is loose-footed and designed to sit above the stack of your mainsail using a long tack strop." Got it?
5. On the __: LAM. Fleeing from the law.
6. Finnish conductor __-Pekka Salonen: ESA. He led the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1992 until 2009 when Gustavo Dudamel succeeded him.
8. Prepared for a close-up shot: PANNED IN. Apan shot is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera pivots left or right while its base remains in a fixed location.
9. German article: EIN. Was is going to be DER? Nein.
11. South Asian festival of lights: DIWALI. A bit obscure (to us North Americans) but we have seen this reference to the Hindu Festival of Lights a few previous times.
12. Tree favored by giraffes: ACACIA.
13. Bottom-dwelling fish: MUD EEL. Also known as Heterenchelyidae but that would not fit the allotted space.
18. __ double take: DO A.
23. Cranks (up): REVS.
25. Spots: SPIES. Used as a verb. Not, for example, a Dalmatian dog reference.
27. Corpus __: prosecutor's concern: DELICTI.
29. Nutrition fig.: RDA. For those of you who have may not read a food product information label in the last twenty or thirty years, Recommended Daily Allowance.
30. Sideburn neighbor: EAR.
31. Michael of "SNL": CHE.
36. Actor Hawke: ETHAN.
39. Tour vehicle, quaintly: MOTOR BUS.
41. Osaka currency: YEN. Money in Japan.
42. Exploit: USE. Used as a verb.
43. __ school: MED. DAY? OLD? LAW? ART? At least those are not abbreviated as is MEDical in response to a non-abbreviated clue.
44. Satellite signal: FEED.
45. Leaves the larval stage: PUPATES. Rarely seen in our puzzles as a verb. More often we see PUPA as in the insect stage between larva and adult.
47. Ties up: ENGAGES. Perhaps a new take on an ENGAGEment announcement?
49. Henner of "Taxi": MARILU. A TV sitcom reference. There should be no trouble picking her out in this photo:
50. Warming up the car, say: IN IDLE.
55. ASAP kin: PDQ. Pretty Darn Quick
57. Trees with many streets named after them: ELMS. And streets with many movies named after them.
60. Rosalind of 2020's "Mulan": CHAO.
61. Web page standard: HTML. HyperText Markup Language is used, among myriad other applications, to produce our daily Crossword Corner blogs.
62. Petro-Canada rival: ESSO. A reprise from two weeks ago. This time without the "petrol" reference.
65. Indian state known for white-sand beaches: GOA. At 18 Down we had DO A. Do these fit ___ T?
66. First member of SCOTUS to officiate a same-sex wedding: RBG. Supreme Court Of The United States justice The "Notorious" Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
67. Manga artist Junji: ITO. Often clued with reference to Judge Lance ITO.
As I am otherwise engaged, this seems like the right time to bid adieu for this morning . . .
Today veteran constructor Taylor Johnson (7 previous LAT and
4 NYT puzzles) presents us with an interesting challenge. It's not uncommon for
puzzles to have clues that reference other clues, but I've never seen one
where all the theme clues just referenced another clue, which of course
had to be the reveal:
57A. "Time to go," and a phrase that could be uttered by a 15-, a 21-, a 32-,
or a 48-Across?: LET'S ROLL. This is an idiom that can have at least four different
meanings, depending on who the "utterer" is ...
15A. See 57-Across:
DIRECTOR. This utterer is the one who says "Lights, camera, action". In
this case LET'S ROLL means "start the
film reels that record the action". This is an anachronism these days as
most video is recorded digitally or generated by
CGI. We see a few examples of the latter in the clues below.
21A. See 57-Across: CRAPS DEALER. The role of this utterer is not a simple one. As near as I can
tell her/his job is to direct the activities at the craps table, determining
who "shoots" next and how much, if any the players at the table will win or
lose, depending on their bets prior to the roll. In this case the dealer
might say LET'S ROLL to keep the
action going and maximize the house's cash intake. This video explains it all
(you've got nothing to lose, so good luck!) ...
32A. See 57-Across: SUSHI CHEF. This utterer might say LET'S ROLL to
his crew if a party of 8 has just placed a big order for
makizushi. Of course if the order is for
sashimi
or
nigiri
sushi, the chef might say LET'S SLICE.
48A. See 57-Across:
JAZZ DRUMMER. Actually I think the utterer in this case would be the band leader who would cue the
DRUMMER: "it's time for your solo",
LET'S ROLL. In this case he points to TWO of the greatest drummers of all time to show
their chops: Gene Krupa & Buddy Rich:
Did the guy who came down stage at the end look familiar? He played
Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess in last Thursday's puzzle.
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ... Across:
1. Oscar, __, Quebec: NATO sequence: PAPA. From the
The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet. It's the most widely
used set of clear code words for communicating the letters of the Roman
alphabet.
25. Season with heavy rainfall: MONSOON. A
MONSOON
is a seasonal change in the direction of the prevailing, or strongest, winds
of a region. Monsoons cause wet and dry seasons throughout much of the
tropics. Monsoons are most often associated with the Indian Ocean
27. Faux __: PAS. "False step" (pl. FAUX PAS), today's
French lesson. I make a lot of FAUX PAS when creating reviews (as opposed to TYPOS, which Teri catches) and
I rely on the early crew (you know who are), to point them out in their
comments and give me a chance to fix them. It's likely that the
Cornerites who get up at a reasonable hour don't even know I made them.
28. The Cavaliers of the NCAA: UVA. The
Virginia Cavaliers
football team represents the University of Virginia in the sport of
American football (not the one played in most other parts of the World).
Here's why they're called
The Cavaliers.
29. Not behind: ANTI. "Not behind" as in "Does not support".
30. Fated: DESTINED. See 64A.
32. [Theme clue]
36. Put the final touches on, say: POLISH UP. Sometimes I just
don't know when to stop.
39. Some bros: SIBS.
43. Tan line cause: BRA. Colorful cue.
44. "Mangia!": EAT. Today's Italian lesson.
45. Core-sculpting apparatus: AB TONER. This is not a
well-defined term. Presumably anything, whether it be machines,
electrical stimulation, or stuff that you strap to your body to make your
ABS look like a 6-pack of beer.
48. [Theme clue]
51. __ Paulo, Brazil: SAO. Saint Paul. Today's
Portuguese lesson. A city in Brazil named for a famous letter writer.
52. Strong dark beer: BOCK. The dark lager known as
BOCK beer
was first brewed in the 14th century in the town of
Einbeck in Lower Saxony. Definitely not a good way to get 6-pack ABS.
53. Buoys: UPLIFTS.
55. Palm leaves: FRONDS.
57. [Theme reveal]
59. "Oh, I remember now!": AH YES. Said by people all over the Corner every day.
60. "__ you serious?": ARE. R.U. Sirius is the name of the
space station where most of the action takes place in the daily cartoon
Brewster Rockit,
drawn by Tim Rickard. Here's
Dr. Mel Practice counseling Oldbot in the June 13th 2023 episode
...
61. Region: AREA.
62. Big cheese: BOSS.
63. Homer's "okily-dokily" neighbor: NED. Apparently NED
has a lot of relatives ...
64. "Champagne Life" R&B singer: NE-YO. I'm not sure
if he was DESTINED for this fill or it was just perped in by a Google
search, but Champagne Life does qualify as Rhythm and
Blues,and he can sing it. Here's NE-YO and
his posse having a good time with some bubbly ...
Down:
1. "__ Save America": Crooked Media production:
POD. In the review racket this clue is called a political "hot
potato" and I'm punting.
2. Jennifer of "The Morning Show": ANISTON. The Morning Show, is an American comedy-drama television series starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, that premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019. The series is inspired by Brian Stelter's 2013 bookTop of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV. The series has been renewed through 2023.
3. Degree of interest?: PERCENT.
4. Antiquing agent: AGER.
5. "My Neighbor __ ": 1988 Miyazaki film: TOTORO. This one was
right on the tip of my tongue (where it stayed until perped).
My Neighbor TOTORO
is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film that was written and directed by
Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli. The film stars tells the story
of a professor's young daughters Satsuki and Mei, and their interactions with
friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. Beautiful animation
(English voice overs provided by the Fanning sisters, Dakota and
Elle) ...
6. Branding words: SLOGAN.
7. Pro pitcher?: AD REP. EWER was too short.
8. Something in the air: AROMA.
9. Gp. with student diplomats: MODEL UN.
MODEL UN is a
popular activity for those interested in learning more about how the UN
operates. Hundreds of thousands of students worldwide take part every year at
all educational levels.
Model UN Assembly
10. One of the Three Stooges: MOE. A CSO to our
Chairman! Here's hoping he and Margaret are enjoying their
vacation.
11. Curtailed missions?: OPS. "BLACK" was chopped off the
front?
14. Italian port neighboring Slovenia: TRIESTE.
TRIESTE
is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste, on a narrow strip of Italian
territory lying between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia; Slovenia lies
approximately 8 km (5 mi) east and 10–15 km (6–9 mi) southeast of the city,
while Croatia is about 30 km (19 mi) to the south of the city.
Trieste
16. Pixar film with the song "Remember Me": COCO.
COCO is a 2017 American computer-animated fantasy film
produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney
Pictures. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel (Gonzalez)
who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the
help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his
family among the living and to reverse his family's ban on music.
17. Punctuation found in many Emily Dickinson poems:
EM DASH.
Here's a brief bio of the Bell of Amherst
-- and a selection of her poems -- see if you agree with Taylor on that
assessment.
Emily Dickinson
20. Actress Thurman: UMA.
22. Blueprint info: SPEC.
23. Part of NYE: EVE.
24. "Cool, man": RAD. A truncation of RADICAL -- Dude!
26. "Absolutamente": SI SI. Yes Yes. Italian lesson #2 (idiomatic).
30. Party bowlful: DIP.
31. "In that case ... ": IF SO.
33. Bargain bin stock at some music stores: USED CDS. Most music
is streamed from the
Cloud
these days, free or with a fee -- e.g.
Spotify --
so USED CDS can be had cheaply. Or you can listen on your
favorite radio station -- e.g.
WBJC -- streamable free
from anywhere in the world (I assume you have Internet service or you wouldn't be reading this) -- I think Emily is
starting to rub off on me.
34. San Jose team: SHARKS. The San Jose SHARKS are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference.
35. Native Rwandan: HUTU. TheHUTU, also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great Lakes Twa.
Rwanda Burundi
36. Vegan sandwich, initially: PBJ.
37. "Your Song" singer Rita: ORA. No automobiles were damaged in
the making of this (rated PG13) video ...
38. Some recliners: LA-Z-BOYS.
40. Forthcoming: IN STORE.
41. "Moonlighting" actress Allyce: BEASLEY. Moonlighting
is an American comedy drama television series that aired on ABC from March 3,
1985, to May 14, 1989, starring Cybill Shepherd (Maddie) and
Bruce Willis (David) as private detectives, and
Allyce Beasley (Agnes) as their quirky receptionist. In this scene
Agnes has arrived early at the office, but David has arrived earlier ...
42. Full house indicator: SRO.
45. Electrical unit: AMPERE. The amount of
current (AMPERES (I)) passing through a conductor of a
given resistance (OHMS (R)), for a given
voltage (VOLTS (V)), as defined by
Ohm's Law.
46. Sang with gusto: BELTED. Here's the late, great Dimitri
Hvorostovsky BELTING out the aria Largo al Factotum from
Giaochino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville ...
47. Swim/bike/run races, briefly: TRIS. Short for
Triathlon, and a CSO to sumdaze, who has done several TRIS and 10 marathons!!!
The three legs of a Triathlon
49. Regions: ZONES.
50. Disney retelling of a Chinese folk legend: MULAN. As it
turns out, Disney made two versions of this
legendary story: an animated version in 1998 and a live action version in
2020. As I avoid decisions wherever possible, here are trailers
for both.
54. Drescher of "The Nanny": FRAN. "The Nanny" is an American
television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993 to June
23, 1999, starring
FRANDrescher
as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from
Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three children
from the New York–British high society. Here's her job interview ...
55. Groovy: FAB. A sibling of 24D.
56. Sigma preceder: RHO.
58. Asian language: LAO.
Cheers, Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading, for
her constructive criticism.
Theme: The SHELL, you say! The unifier explains it perfectly
54 A. Corporations with little business activity, and what are formed by the circled letters: SHELL COMPANIES. Corporations without active business operations or significant assets. These types of corporations are not all necessarily illegal, but they are sometimes used illegitimately, such as to disguise business ownership from law enforcement or the public.
Here, the phrase is repurposed [or reused, per 28D] to indicate a bookends type theme for the puzzle, in which the names of prominent American corporations are split, providing the beginning and ending letters for the theme fill entries.
16 A. Fruity frozen treat: ORANGE POPSICLE. A popsicle is a piece of flavored ice or ice cream on a stick. In this case the flavor is ORANGE. Rather specific fill for an other general clue. Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. Oracle also declined during 2022. It started to recover in October and has recently passed its former high and gone hyperbolic.
25. Pursue additional education, e.g.: APPLY FOR COLLEGE. To ask to be accepted as a student at colleges or universities by filling out and sending applications. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California. Apple is the world's largest technology company by revenue, with US$394.3 billion in 2022 revenue. As of March 2023, Apple is the world's biggest company by market capitalization. As of June 2022, Apple is the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. It is often considered as one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. Apple stock had a choppy decline through 2022, bottoming early this year. It has since soared to new highs.
35. Spanish "I like": ME GUSTA. Literal. Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Meta is one of the world's most valuable companies and among the ten largest publicly traded corporations in the United States. It is often considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. Meta stock price peaked in September, 2021, then lost over 75% of its value at the November, 2022 low. It has since recovered, but is still far below its all time high.
42 A. Slips, bras, etc.: INTIMATE APPAREL. Women's underwear and nightclothes. synonyms: lingerie. types: gown, night-robe, nightdress, nightgown, nightie; lingerie consisting of a loose dress designed to be worn in bed by women. Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is one of the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 series of instruction sets found in most personal computers. Its stock was badly battered last year, losing over 50% of its value. It flattened out in October and is starting to make a comeback.
Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here to broker today's transactions. All the theme entries are American multi-national corporations involved in various aspects of technology. Let's see how we can push forward.
Across
1. Chaparral growth: SHRUB. It is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, in southern Oregon and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires.
6. Place to soak some barking dogs: FOOT SPA. A bowl for soaking the feet in warm water, especially one in which the feet are massaged by small jets of water. For "dogs," not canines.
13. Indigenous New Zealanders: MAORIS. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350.
15. Underhanded course of action: LOW ROAD. A behavior or approach that is unscrupulous or immoral.
18. Precious stone: GEM. A precious or semiprecious stone, especially when cut and polished or engraved.
19. Release, as an album: DROP. The act of releasing it to the public.
20. Chats online, briefly: IMS. Instant Messages.
21. Beach bucket: PAIL. A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a pail can have a top or lid and is a shipping container. In common usage, the two terms are often used interchangeably. In this context, a beach bucket is a toy for plying in the sand.
22. "Rumor has it ... ": I HEAR. Through the grape vine, maybe.
31. Spring flower: IRIS. A plant with sword-shaped leaves and showy flowers, typically purple, yellow, or white. Native to both Eurasia and North America, it is widely cultivated as an ornamental.
32. Fish in a swarm: EELS. Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes, which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage and are usually predators. They do swarm in deep water
33. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT. On a personal computer with the Microsoft Windows operating system, Control+Alt+Delete is the combination of the Ctrl key, the Alt key and Del key that a user can press at the same time to terminate an application task or to reboot the operating system.
34. Not 'neath: O'ER. Over, aka above.
38. "Obvi": DUH. Said of something that is readily apparent and not at all surprising.
39. Comedian DeLaria: LEA. Lea DeLaria is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer. DeLaria is credited with being the first openly gay comic to appear on American television with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.
40. Notable times: ERAS. A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic. Three of our granddaughters attended the Detroit performance of The Eras Tour, the ongoing sixth headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Described by her as a journey through all of her "musical eras", the Eras Tour is a tribute to all of Swift's studio albums so far. They loved it.
41. Ballet leap: JETE. A jump in which a dancer springs from one foot to land on the other with one leg extended outward from the body while in the air.
47. Express big feelings, maybe: EMOTE. Portray emotion in a theatrical manner.
48. Transit option to NYC's Roosevelt Island: TRAM. A tram is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are called tramways The Roosevelt Island Tramway provides the most modern aerial tramway in the world, running every 7-15 minutes from 59th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan to Tramway Plaza on Roosevelt Island.
49. Web access co.: ISP. Internet Service Provider.
50. "Any minute now": SOON. Immanent.
51. WNBA honor for A'ja Wilson in 2020 and 2022: MVP. Most Valuable Player.
59. Item on a laundry list?: TIDE POD. Water-soluble pouches containing highly concentrated laundry detergent, marketed by Proctor and Gamble under the Tide brand name.
60. Campfire treats: S'MORES. Toasted marshmallows sandwiched between graham crackers with a chocolate segment.
61. Bounding main: OPEN SEA. An expanse of sea away from land.
62. Prevent, as disaster: AVERT. Prevent or ward off an undesirable occurrence
Down:
1. Dark cloud on the horizon?: SMOG. Air pollution that reduces visibility. The term "smog" was first used in the early 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog. The smoke usually came from burning coal. Smog was common in industrial areas, and remains a familiar sight in some cities today. I don't think this clue is accurate. Smog occurs much closer than the horizon.
2. Largest lagomorph: HARE. A lagomorph is a mammal of the order Lagomorpha; a hare, rabbit, or pika.
3. Cover a lot of ground: ROAM. Move about or travel aimlessly or unsystematically, especially over a wide area.
4. Mantle piece: URN. A tall, rounded vase with a base, and sometimes a stem, especially one used for storing the ashes of a cremated person.
5. Circled square on a calendar, maybe: BIG DAY. A very important or significant day.
6. First three community cards in Texas Hold 'em: FLOP. The dealing of the first three face-up cards to the board, refers also to those three cards themselves.
7. Alley-__: OOP. Used to encourage or draw attention to the performance of some physical, especially acrobatic, feat.
8. Hurt sounds: OWS. Expressions of pain.
9. Start to cycle?: TRI. A vehicle similar to a bicycle, but having three wheels, two at the back and one at the front. This kind of clue makes me gnash my teeth.
10. __ media: SOCIAL. Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
11. Expert who relies on a show of hands: PALM READER. Typically, this clue refers to a non-verbal method of voting by raising hands. Here, the PALM READER is one who practices fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Clever clue.
12. Citrus drinks: -ADES. I can't find a specific definition for this suffix on its own. But these drinks contain the juice of the fruit mixed with sweetened water.
14. Calligrapher's flourish: SERIF. A slight projection finishing off a stroke of a letter in certain typefaces.
17. Casual top: POLO. A casual short-sleeved cotton shirt with a collar and several buttons at the neck.
21. "Thx" counterpart: PLS. Please and thanks, shortened.
22. Fruity frozen treats: ICES. Very cold -ADES, maybe.
23. "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester: HOLT. Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News Kids Edition, and Dateline NBC. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News following the demotion of Brian Williams. Holt became the first African-American to solo anchor a weekday network nightly newscast.
24. Pataky of "Fast & Furious" films: ELSA. Elsa Lafuente Medianu [b 1976] known professionally as Elsa Pataky, is a Spanish model and actress. Pataky is known for her role as Elena Neves in the Fast & Furious franchise. She has appeared in the films Snakes on a Plane, Giallo and Give 'Em Hell, Malone.
25. Garlicky dip: AIOLI. A cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean, from Andalusia to Calabria.
26. Take a long look in the mirror?: PREEN. Devote effort to making oneself look attractive and then admire one's appearance.
27. Vessel that may fly the Jolly Roger: PIRATE SHIP. A sailing vessel used by a person who commits robbery on the seas. Jolly Roger is a pirate's flag with a white skull and crossbones on a black background.
28. Waste reduction strategy: REUSE. Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose or to fulfill a different function. It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of used items to make raw materials for the manufacture of new products.
29. Muscle used in a squat, informally: GLUTE. A muscle of the buttock.
30. Broadway icon Merman: ETHEL. Ethel Merman [1908 - 1984] was an American actress and singer. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, as well as her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." She performed on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly!
35. "Someone didn't get the __": MEMO. To not know something that everyone else knows: Everybody seems to be wearing green today - I guess I didn't get the memo.
36. Part of Q.E.D.: ERAT. 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.
37. Scandal suffix: GATE. This originated with Nixon's Watergate scandal, the burglary of the DNC headquarters in the Watergate Office Building. Now the suffix is recklessly added to any distinctive word associated with a political scandal.
41. Printer problem: JAM. Paper getting stuck in the printer mechanism.
43. Hold up: IMPEDE. Deter, delay, obstruct, hinder.
44. Bonding partner: ATOM. ATOMS are the smallest particles of a chemical element that retain the properties of that element. Molecules are made up of atoms bonded together.
45. Play things?: PROPS. Prop is short for 'property' and is any object used in a performance that isn't part of the set or worn by an actor. Props can be anything, from small to large items – a notebook to a fountain. This is a clever clue.
46. Country that connects the Americas: PANAMA. Panama is a country on the isthmus linking Central and South America.
49. Analogy phrase: IS TO. A is to B as alpha is to beta. Comparative connector, I suppose. In a cursory search I'm unable to discover anything else about this usage.
50. Word with bread or cracker: SODA. These items are made with sodium bicarbonate in the recipe rather than yeast as a leavening agent.
51. Slimy mud: MIRE. Swampy or boggy ground.
52. Swerve: VEER. Change direction suddenly.
53. "Over here!" in a library voice: PSST. A non-vocalized whisper.
55. Ballroom dancer Goodman: LEN. Leonard Gordon Goodman [1944 - 2023] was an English professional ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance competition adjudicator.
56. Vinyl records, briefly: LPS. Long Playing records.
57. Cedar Rapids campus: COE. Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities.
58. Native American Heritage mo.: NOV. November. On August 3, 1990, President of the United States George H. W. Bush declared the month of November as National American Indian Heritage Month, thereafter commonly referred to as Native American Heritage Month. The bill read in part that "The President has authorized and requested to call upon Federal, State and local Governments, groups and organizations and the people of the United States to observe such month with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities". This landmark bill honoring America's tribal people represented a major step in the establishment of this celebration which began in 1976 when a Cherokee/Osage Indian named Jerry C. Elliott-High Eagle authored Native American Awareness Week legislation the first historical week of recognition in the nation for native peoples. This led to 1986 with then President Ronald Reagan proclaiming November 23–30, 1986, as "American Indian Week"
On that happy note we wrap up today's midweek transactions. Thanks for keeping me company. Hope you found it to be profitable.
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