Tuesday, December 5, 2023 Amanda Cook

Water, Water, Everywhere ... but not in my Glass, my Cup, my Pitcher, or my Bowl.

17-Across. Sherlock Holmes costume accessory: MAGNIFYING GLASS.

22-Across. Means of sticking a shower caddy to a tile wall: SUCTION CUP.

35-Across. Support from the bullpen: RELIEF PITCHER.

46-Across. Annual football game in Arizona: FIESTA BOWL.

And the unifier

52-Across. Isn't credible, or a literal description of 17-, 22-, 35-, or 46-Across?: DOESN'T HOLD WATER.

I laughed when I got the reveal.  While the last word of each theme answer could hold water, the answer as written is not an item that would hold water.

Across:

1. Mooch, as a smoke: BUM.

4. Royal elephant of children's literature: BABAR.  We saw Babar just last Wednesday when he made an appearance in the puzzle.  The Babar books have been around since 1931.  They are not without controversy, however.  [Name # 1, fictional.]

9. Functional: UTILE.

14. Slice of history: ERA.

15. Alpaca relative: LLAMA.  This made me think of Ogden Nash and his thoughts on the Llama.

            The one-l lama,

            He’s a priest.

            The two-l llama,

            He’s a beast.

            And I will bet

            A silk pajama

            There isn’t any

            Three-l lllama.”

16. Inheritance from one's parents?: GENES.  Cute clue.  //  and 56-Down. Makeup of 16-Across: DNA.  We learned about Eugene Pool last Thursday.

20. Marriage: UNION.

21. Desert watering holes: OASES.  Is the Cajun Oasis in the desert?

26. Fungus gnat, e.g.: PEST.

29. Paul Anka's "__ Beso": ESO.  I'll spare your ears.

30. Score more than: BEAT.  Earlier this Fall, the LSU Tigers beat the Georgia State Panthers in football by a score of 56 to 14.

31. Figure on the last float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: SANTA.  And a shoutout to our dear Argyle.  The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day / Annual Christmas Parade was in 1924.  

This Float from 1924 was filled with oxygen, so was propped up on stilts instead of actually floating.

32. To the left, at sea: APORT.

34. Takes effect: SETS IN.

38. Bibliography list: TITLES.  A bibliography is a list of all of the sources used in preparing a research paper.  The bibliography typically includes the authors' names and the titles of the works, such as papers, books, etc.

39. Neglects to mention: OMITS.

40. "The Good Place" creator Michael: SCHUR.  I never saw The Good Place and am not familiar with Michael Schur (né Michael Herbert Schur; b. Oct. 29, 1975).  The show was a sit-com that starred Ted Danson (né Edward Bridge Danson, III; Dec. 29, 1947).  [Name # 2.]

Michael Schur is on the right.

41. "Sunday NFL Countdown" network: ESPN.

42. Agcy. operating full-body scanners: TSA.  This federal agency, the Transportation Security Administration,  makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.

45. __ out a win: almost lost: EKED.

49. Convene again: RESIT.  Meh!

51. Dubbed: NAMED.

57. Muse of poetry: ERATO.  She makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  She is especially known for erotic poetry.   Erato is one of the nine muses of Greek mythology.  Can you name the other eight?  [Name # 3, fictional.]

58. Supreme Court justice Kagan: ELENA.  Justice Kagan (b. Apr. 28, 1960) also makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  She has served in the Supreme Court since August 2010.  [Name # 4.]

59. Nail polish brand: OPI.  We often see this nail polish brand in the puzzles, although the company prefers to be called a Nail Lacquer.

60. Luminous: AGLOW.

61. Weather forecast aid: RADAR.

62. Web portal with Bing: MSN.

Down:

1. Perplex: BEMUSE.

2. Ice planet beyond Saturn: URANUS.  There are so many sophomoric jokes about this planet.  Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens.

3. Realismo __: Isabel Allende genre: MÁGICO.   Today's Spanish lesson.  Isabel Allende (née Isabel Angélica Allende Llona; b. Aug. 2, 1942) novels incorporates Magical Realism, which is a style of literary fiction and art. It paints a realistic view of the world while also adding magical elements, often blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.  Allende is a Chilean author and much of her works have been translated into English.  Her novels are often based upon her personal experience and historical events, while weaving together elements of myth and realism.

Isabel Allende

4. Russian pancakes: BLINI.  They are supposed to be easy to make.  I can't vouch for this because I have never tried to make Blini.

5. Melmac native of 1980s TV: ALF.  Did you know that Alf's name stood for Alien Life Form?  He was known for wanting to eat the family cat, which is probably why I never watched the show.  [Name # 6, fictional.]

6. __ leaf: stew herb: BAY.

7. Bordeaux beau: AMI.  Today's French lesson.

8. Expired, as time: RAN OUT.

9. Fleece-lined boots: UGGS.  Ugg is right!

10. Mind readers: TELEPATHS.

11. Sort of: IN A SENSE.

12. "__ Misérables": LES.  Les Misérables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo (Feb. 26, 1802 ~ May 22, 1885).  The book, which follows the lives of several people, focuses primarily on Jean Valjean, an ex-convict.  Jean Valjean struggles for redemption.  The novel culminates with the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris.  The novel has also been adapted into movies and musicals.  [Name adjacent.]

13. Serpentine curve: ESS.

18. "__ my cup of tea": NOT.  A shoutout to Yellow Rocks as this was an expression she often used in her comments.  Has anyone heard from her?

19. Athleta parent company: GAP.  Or, if you're in London, you must mind the Gap.

23. Orchestral reeds: OBOES.  A crossword staple.

24. Tank the efficacy of, in gamer slang: NERF.  According to dictionary.com, Nerf means: "(in a video game) to reconfigure (an existing character or weapon), making it less powerful."  The only Nerf I knew of was the Nerf Ball.

25. Arched-back yoga asana: CAT POSE.  The Cat-Cow are common warm-up positions in yoga.

27. Risotto recipe verb: STIR.  Yummers!  I love a good risotto.  It does take a long time to make and there is a lot of stirring to get the dish to come out just right.

28. Khaki kin: TAN.

31. Splinter group: SECT.  This, too, is becoming a crossword staple.

32. Mentions indirectly: ALLUDES TO.

33. Docking spot: PIER.

34. Duration of employment: STINT.

35. Novelist Riordan: RICK.  I am not familiar with this author.  Rick Riordan (né Richard Russell Riordan, Jr.; b. June 5, 1964) writes fantasy novels.  He is best known for his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which is also a movie series.    [Name # 7.]

36. Light and delicate: ETHEREAL.

37. Little rascals: IMPS.

38. "The Waste Land" poet's monogram: TSE.  I always thought Thomas Stearns Eliot (Sept. 26, 1888 ~ Jan. 4, 1965) was British.  He was actually born in St. Louis, Missouri, but renounced his American citizenship and became a British subject in 1939.  [Name # 8.]

41. "Both would be fine": EITHER.

42. Narrow-headed drum: TOM-TOM.

43. Wins every game in a series: SWEEPS.

44. Astronaut Buzz who was the second man on the moon: ALDRIN.  Besides being an astronaut, Buzz Aldrin (né Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.; b. Jan. 20, 1930), was also a jet fighter pilot.  He flew 66 combat missions during the Korean War.  He legally changed his name from Edwin to Buzz in 1988. [Name # 9.]

46. Athletic: FIT.

47. Peace Nobelist Sadat: ANWAR.  In 1978, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Anwar Sadat (né Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat; Dec. 25, 1918 ~ Oct. 6, 1981) and Manachem Begin (Aug. 16, 1913 ~ Mar. 9, 1982) for jointly negotiating peace between Egypt and Israel.  Sadly, Sadat was assassinated in 1981.  [Name # 10.]

48. What did ewe say?: BAA.

50. Skier's surface: SNOW.

52. Anti-narcotics law gp.: DEA.

53. URL ending for charities: ORG.  The difference between .com and .org.

54. Suffix with pay or Cray: -OLA.  As in Payola, which is a criminal offense, and Crayola, which are crayons.

55. Conducted: LED.  Gustav Mahler (July 7, 1860 ~ May 18, 1911) was Bohemian composer and one of the leading conductors of his time.  He was from a little village called Kaliště, which is in what is now the Czech Republic.   We visited Kaliště a few years ago because it is also the home town of hubby's great-grandfather.  They were contemporaries.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

I'll be away for the next few weeks, but I know you will be in good hands.  Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas!

Monday December 4, 2023 Brian Callahan

  

Hello Cornerites!

Theme:            MVP  (MOST VALUABLE PUZZLER)

sumdaze here with Brian Callahan's eighth LA Times puzzle and his third Monday offering. Today we have four seemingly unrelated themers and a unifier near the bottom -- just the way I like them! I won't keep you in suspense. Here is the grid:

For each of the themers, we find the letters TV (TUBE) at an INNER location of the spelled out themers. Additionally, the T's and V's are never in the same word.

"The TUBE" is a nickname for a TV set because they used to have CRT vacuum tubes in them. If that reference is before your time, let me ask, did you ever wonder why they call it YouTube?  

Let's zoom in:

16 Across. TikTok posts by some pet owners: CAT VIDEOS.  

23 Across. Tart sprinkle for fish and chips: MALT VINEGAR.  

35 Across. Appraiser's determination: FAIR MARKET VALUE.  The FMV is the price an asset would sell for on the open market.

(With three words, this one is a bit of an outlier.)

46 Across. Ability to see in low light: NIGHT VISION.  "Low light" means there are a low number of photons compared to a daylight scene.

Night Vision Goggles enhance night vision and allow the wearer to see into the near IR (infrared) spectrum.
Coincidentally, this NVG uses a form of a CRT projected onto a green phosphorus screen,
similar to the TV tubes we were just talking about -- hence the green!

And the unifier:

57. Inflatable river float, or what the answers to 16-, 23-, 35-, and 46-Across have: INNER TUBE. 

Like TV TUBEs, INNER TUBEs are a thing of the past (for car tires, anyway). The INNER TUBE would be placed inside the tire then inflated. If inflated outside of a tire, they made a soft rubber donut -- perfect for floating on rivers and lakes. (Modern car tires are now tubeless.)

Totally Tubular Fun!!
This clue reminded me of stopping by the service station on the way to the lake to put gas in the boat
and air in the INNER TUBEs.

Moving on...

Across:
1. Court sport, for short: B-BALL.  Basketball

6. Pen tip: NIB.

9. Building manager, casually: SUPE.  SUPErintendent  

Pat Harrington Jr (1929-2016) played Schneider, the SUPEr on One Day at a Time.

13. Nest on a crest: AERIE.  Clues like this one and 1-A make for a fun solve!

14. Ostrichlike bird: EMU.  Moo the EMU lives at Australia's National Zoo. 

15. Country between Togo and Nigeria: BENIN.  We'll find out if BENIN crossing BEENE tripped up any Monday solvers.

18. Went astray: ERRED.  

19. __ upon a time ...: ONCE.  ONCE upon a time (2007 to be precise), there was a touching, Irish film called Once. The soundtrack for Once is one of my favorites. Falling Slowly, written and performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová won an Oscar for Best Original Song.  

The imperfections make it perfect!

20. College URL part: EDU.   and   43 Down. Encrypted URL starter: HTTPS.

See your web browser's address bar.  

21. Actor Danny in Jersey Mike's ads: DEVITO.  Danny DeVito has been married to another crossword regular, Rhea Pearlman, since 1982. Here is one of his Jersey Mike's ads.

22. Neither's partner: NOR.   and   50 Across. To and __: FRO.

an oft' borrowed quote

25. Words of compassion: I CARE.

27. Say confidently: AVER.

28. Indian lute: SITAR.  This site features an interesting collection of string instruments and a 1 min. video that discusses the progression from a 1-string Ektar to electric guitars.

30. Singer Yoko: ONO.

31. Autumn: FALL.  

39. Like most software, once: ON CD.  The future might be ceramics-based storage systems.

Does constructor Brian Callahan look old enough
to be writing all these back-in-the-day clues?

40. Mass. MLB team: BOS.  Fenway Park in BOSton Massachusetts is home to the Red Sox, a Major League Baseball team.

41. Ziff who's infatuated with Marge Simpson: ARTIE.  

ARTIE Ziff is a minor character on The Simpsons.
He is a former billionaire and was Marge's senior year prom date.
Jon Lovitz voices ARTIE.

42. Tequila order: SHOT.  A SHOT of alcohol is 1.5 oz. (about 44 mls.)

Did you know that the lines on a Red Solo Cup are measurement marks?

44. Beyond compare: PRIMO.  English borrowed this word from the Italian word for "first".

Also, PRIMO is a 2023 coming-of-age TV show on Amazon Freevee. Michael Schur (The Office, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) is involved in it so I thought it would be good -- and it was!  

In Spanish, "PRIMO" means "cousin".
So is my mom's brother's son my PRIMO PRIMO?

53. Flattened at the poles, as Earth: OBLATE.  You can pronounce it /äbˌlāt/ or /ōˈblāt/.

I've only learned this word of late.

54. Knee injury initials: ACL.  Anterior Cruciate Ligament

55. Sty fare: SLOP.  food for pigs

56. Seize illegally: USURP.  Def:  to take control of a position of power, especially without having the right to do so.

59. Looks for: SEEKS.  Here is a song about a guy who SEEKS love through a personal ad.  

Rupert Homes sings Escape (The Pina Colada Song).

It hit #1 on the charts 44 years ago and has been a pop culture classic ever since.

60. Shar-__: wrinkly dog: PEI.  

The shar pei is a dog breed from southern China.
Traditionally kept as a property guardian, the shar pei was driven to the brink of extinction in the 20th century.

61. Dine at home: EAT IN.

62. Fades to black: ENDS.  

63. Curved piece: ARC.

64. Small songbirds: WRENS.  You can listen to a WREN sing here:  

Down:
1. Turkey__: breakfast meat that's both halal and kosher: BACON.  Neither allow eating pork or birds of prey. Unfortunately for turkeys (and despite some wild stories out there), they are not considered to be birds of prey.

2. Game of chance similar to bingo: BEANO.  This game is 100+ years old. It is like bingo but you use beans for the markers. I am surprised the Patent Office did not put up a red flag.

3. Writer who visits a lot of galleries: ART CRITIC.  

4. Word in many concert album names: LIVE.  Check out this list of 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time from Rolling Stone to see your favorite's ranking. Coming in at #3 on the list, here is the LIVE version of Folsom Prison Blues from Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison (1968). You can hear the prisoners in the background. They sound relatively polite by today's standards.  

5. Floral wreath: LEI.

6. Pine leaf: NEEDLE.  

7. "See ya": I'M OUT.

8. Mass transit option: BUS.  

9. Facility with a supercomputer array: SERVER FARM.  I assume this definition of SERVER FARM is correct.

10. Strip of gear, as a ship: UNRIG.  It stands to reason that if one can rig a ship, one can UNRIG a ship. "Derig" is in the dictionary, too.

11. Michelangelo sculpture in St. Peter's: PIETÀ.  The Pietà ("pity" in Italian) depicts the Virgin Mary holding the body of her son Jesus after his death. Michelangelo began carving this masterpiece when he was 24 years old. It is the only sculpture he signed.

We usually see a front view. I thought this side view was interesting.

12. Ewoks' home: ENDOR.  The Forest Moon of ENDOR scenes were filmed on location at Redwood National and State Parks in northern California. Here is a clip to give you a sense of the terrain:  

Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (1983)

No trees were harmed in the making of this movie. 😊

15. Fashion designer Geoffrey: BEENE.  He was born in 1924 in Haynesville, LA and died in 2004 in New York, NY. He was know for his formal wear and accessories designs. He designed for public figures such as Marilyn Monroe and Lady Bird Johnson. I was unable to find out if he ever played BEANO.

17. Sweetheart: DEAR.  Yes?

21. Hunk of turf: DIVOT.  This is a golf reference. I was unsure if a DIVOT referred to the piece of turf that goes flying or the hole left behind. The Cambridge Dictionary says it can be both.

The caption on this said, "Justin Rose chunks the worst shot of the 1st round."

23. Quaint suffix with school: MARM.  "Marm" is a variant spelling of "ma'am".

I held back on filling this one in because I do not think of "marm" as a suffix.

24. Barn topper: VANE.   and   38 Down. Narcissistic: VAIN.  

Don't you? Don't you?  ♪♪

26. Players who have mastered the art of the deal?: CARD SHARKS.  This clue is a fun play on the word "deal". To deal playing cards is to distribute them to the players.

28. NorCal airport: SFO.  "Northern California" is abbreviated. So is San FranciscO International Airport.

29. Suffix with Dickens or Orwell: IAN.  Charles Dickensian and George Orwellian

At this time I would like to thank Mr. H., my HS English teacher.

30. Signs off on: OKS.

32. Wind instrument that might have a curved head: ALTO FLUTE.  

33. French pronoun: LUI.  I learned this one the Sunday before yesterday. We had "96A. French masculine pronoun:  LUI." I made up the memory trick "Louie is a male's name," but now I am reading that when functioning as an objective pronoun, it can replace male and female pronouns. Please feel free to correct me on this.

34. Director Ang: LEE.

36. Over: ABOVE.  I like it when constructors use words with multiple meanings. Is it 'finished' or 'upward'? The grid will let you know.

37. Naan relative: ROTI.

44. Dine outside: PICNIC.  

I like the body language of the aardvark to the right.

45. Part in a film: ROLE.

46. "It's pointless": NO USE.

47. Playwright Henrik: IBSEN.  He was a Norwegian poet, playwright, and theater director, perhaps best known for A Doll's House. (1828-1906)

48. Used Elmer's: GLUED.  

49. More levelheaded: SANER.

51. "Good Morning America" co-anchor Roberts: ROBIN.  Also, one of my favorite birds!  

Robin Roberts   and   the American robin

52. Unseals: OPENS.

55. Celebrity: STAR.  Another excellent Science word loses out to Hollywood....

57. Hoppy beverage with New England and West Coast varieties: IPA.  Most of us had this at "3-letter hoppy beverage"; nevertheless, this link helps explain the second half of the clue.

58. "Go back" button: Abbr.: REW.  Be kind. REWind.

That's all for today. I'm off to cook some lunch. I have a sudden craving for root vegetables and perhaps some haricot verts. Enjoy your week!