Friday, December 22, 2023, Wendy L. Brandes & Amie Walker

Theme: WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

Puzzling thoughts:

Full confession ... yours truly, Chairman Moe, was on a recent holiday visiting some of my family back east. And upon return, and with a deadline to meet for his blog, Moe is going all "Cliff Notes" with the recap. Probably not fair to Ms. Brandes and Ms. Walker, as their puzzle today had a very interesting theme and reveal ... but Moe will give it his best shot, as always ... on to the themers:

18 across. *Place that experiments with soup recipes?: PHOTO LAB. Notice, too, the TWO circles ... more about those, later

32 across. *Curling team's specialty?: PERFORMING ARTS. Notice, too, the three circles ... circles, FOUR a change - more about that in a MOE-ment

39 across. *Penalty boxes?: TEMPERATE ZONES. Notice, too, the three circles in letters seven, EIGHT, and nine (in this entry)

And the reveal? 57 across. Balances, or, phonetically, how to make 18-, 32-, and 39-Across match their clues?: EVENS OUT.

So, if you look at the circled letters in each entry they spell out "TO", "FOR", and "ATE". Each of those are the phonetic pronunciation of "TWO", "FOUR", and "EIGHT". Three "EVEN" numbers. And when you take the "EVEN (number)S OUT", the entries match their clues ... a PHO LAB might be where a soup chef - not to be confused with a "sous" chef - would experiment with different recipes and ingredients. Wonder if this guy ever experimented there??

The second entry had Moe a bit confused as his original thought about "curling" was the Olympic sport. But Wendy and Amie had other ideas ... when the letters "FOR" are removed, the "curling team" specialty is PERMING ARTS ... this, maybe?

Fittingly, to throw me off (after I thought curling was the ice rink sport), was the clue "penalty boxes?" that led to TEMPER ZONES (when the letters "A, T, and E" were erased). And as anyone who has witnessed a hockey game, the penalty box is kind of a "time out" spot for players who engaged in a brief moment of bad temper ...

Here is the completed grid; then on to the rest of the clues!

Across:
1. Tropical fruit: PAPAYA. Or if split into a two-word answer, the clue might've been: German boy's affirmative to his father?

7. Cannabis compound: THC. TetraHydroCannibanol (C21H30O2). I did a double-take here; thought it said "cannibal compound" and I was thinking "POT". How about a cannibal on cannabis?

10. Grabber in an arcade game: CLAW.

14. Out of bed: ARISEN.

15. Ingredient replaced by applesauce in some recipes: OIL. Any cooks/bakers out here who can confirm this?

16. Participated in a bike-a-thon, say: RODE.

17. Check again: RE-TEST.

20. Oscar of "Moon Knight": ISAAC. All perps for this man with two first names

21. Geological periods: EPOCHS.

22. ABBA classic: SOS.

23. Humble homes: HUTS. HOVELS wouldn't fit

25. Fate: KISMET. [vocabulary dot com] "When you encounter something by chance that seems like it was meant to be, then it could be kismet, your destiny". KISMET is also the name of a Broadway musical which debuted in my birth year

29. Trait carrier: GENE.

30. Gimlet need: GIN. [clecho alert!!] 61 across. Gimlet need: LIME

31. Spanish bear: OSO.

36. Big rig: SEMI.

37. "Montero" singer Lil __ X: NAS.

38. Employs: USES.

44. Brown, for one: IVY. This clue threw me off until the perps arrived; Brown is the name of an IVY League school located in Rhode Island

45. 128 oz.: GAL. Actress Gadot would've worked, too

46. Swag bag contents: LOOT.

47. Accept an extension: RE-SIGN. Note the hyphen, as RESIGN would mean to quit

49. "Eww!": BLEH. Glad to see that the constructors didn't use a five-letter word for this clue ...

50. Boy: LAD.

53. "Beats me!": NO CLUE. What I usually say when trying to solve a Saturday puzzle; here, at Newsday, or at NYT Crosswords

55. Boxer Ali: LAILA. She is as famous as her dad when it comes to crossword puzzle clues for Ali

60. Silverware wrap: NAPKIN. Too fancy for me; I prefer my silverware to be unwrapped

62. Old lang.: LAT. LAT is also the name of the newspaper that syndicates this puzzle

63. Cool-weather lining: FLEECE. The verb meaning is much different ... as this now decade-old Moe-l'ick suggests [a bit risque]:

A young hooker ran into a priest,
Shortly after her "John" had deceased;
She confessed, she had sinned,
But she felt no chagrin,
There were scores from his flock she had FLEECEd

64. Goad: SPUR.

65. Expected: DUE.

66. Girls: LASSES.

Down:
1. City Hemingway called "a moveable feast": PARIS. Once again, perps to the rescue

2. Defensive retort: ARE SO. AM, TOO fits

3. Flatbreads served with labneh: PITAS. Labneh is a yogurt-based spread

4. On the briny: ASEA. Crossword-ese

5. Response in the kitchen: YES, CHEF. Does this entry seem forced to you? I've not worked in a kitchen at a restaurant, so I wouldn't know if this retort is common ...

6. Pantry pest: ANT. And if not in the pantry, then surely at a picnic ...

7. Issuer of a Mickey Mantle card sold for a record amount: TOPPS. [espn dot com] "The wait is over. After more than a month of fanfare, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card with a 9.5 grade from grader SGC -- the "finest known example" of a 1952 TOPPS Mantle -- has sold with Heritage Auctions for $12.6 million including buyer's premium. It's the most ever paid for any sports item, card or memorabilia"

8. Sunny greeting: HI HO.

9. Press for time?: CLOCK IN. Clever clue

10. Symbol on the Swiss flag: CROSS.

11. "haha": LOL.

12. Poet laureate Limón: ADA. Another proper name filled by perps and a WAG

13. Part of a mitt: WEB. This; the part between the thumb and first finger:

19. Whatsis: THING.

21. Never-ending: ETERNAL.

24. __, dos, tres: UNO.

26. Code creator: MORSE. SOS is ... --- ...

27. "The Hundred Dresses" Newbery honoree Eleanor: ESTES. Another proper name

28. Shovel pass, e.g.: TOSS. Shovel pass as in football; a humorous look:

29. "Get a __!": GRIP.

30. Princess of "Enchanted" and "Disenchanted": GISELLE. Is it me or were there a bunch of obscure proper names in today's puzzle? Maybe that is a (32 down. Pet-ty offense?:) PEEVE. [Another clever clue]

33. TV awards: EMMYS.

34. Small rug: MAT.

35. May, to Peter Parker: AUNT. Spiderman reference

36. Mix things up: STIR.

40. Easy-to-make waffles: EGGOS.

41. Lost heat, as a shower: RAN COLD.

42. "Special Ops: Lioness" actress Saldaña: ZOE. [see my response to 30 down]

43. "Fan-cee!": OOH LA LA!. Like a NAPKIN-wrapped around silverware

48. __ Hebrides: INNER. Islands off of Scotland; I recently found a new single-malt Scotch whisky from the Isle of Raasay which is located in the INNER Hebrides (MalMan, please note)

49. Montana city named for a landform: BUTTE.

50. Taps a heart button, say: LIKES. An option on Facebook

51. Writer Munro: ALICE. [wikipedia dot com] "Alice Ann Munro is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013"

52. Many Lego House employees: DANES. Lego building blocks were invented/created in Denmark; Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen

54. Feast with haupia and poi: LUAU.

56. Gibbons, e.g.: APES.

57. Lauryn Hill trio?: ELS. Ahh, clever; there are 3 "L's" in this clue Lauryn HiLL

58. Short "Kind of a big deal": VIP. Odd clue; but I guess a VIP is "kind of a big deal", person-wise

59. Outback bird: EMU.

60. Giants and Titans org.: NFL.

Sorry to be so brief and have no Moe-ku's or Moe-l'icks ... maybe next year ... Wishing all of you who celebrate a very Merry Christmas (three days from now). See you in 2024!

Thursday, December 21, 2023 Lisa Senzel, Will Nediger

No movie, no popcorn, today -- the trailer for the first themer from today's constructors, Lisa Senzel and Will Nediger, should wake you up ...

20A. Review that says, "Hitchcock serves up a twist that you won't see coming"?: PSYCHO ANALYSIS.

31A. Review that says, "Bit of a downer, but Soderbergh delivers"?: TRAFFIC REPORT.

Whoa, that was more than a "bit" of a downer.  Before proceeding we need to change lanes  to a different Steve to lift our spirits a bit ....

37A. Review that says, "Idina Menzel shines as Elsa"?: FROZEN ACCOUNT.   Just Let it Go ...

Here's the reveal ...

51A. In-depth news story, or any of the reviews mentioned in this puzzle?: FEATURE ARTICLE

The ARTICLES were an ANALYSIS, a REPORT, and an ACCOUNT of 3 different FEATURE films - PSYCHO, TRAFFIC, and FROZEN.  TRAFFIC'S Feelin' Alright was an AD-LIB by Steve Winwood.

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Less risqué: TAMER.  Also a noun ...
 

6. Faction: SECT.

10. Yearn (for): ACHE.

14. Name said to activate an Amazon gadget: ALEXA.  Machines don't seem to understand me, so I avoid talking to them.

15. Potato, in Indian cooking: ALOO.  Here's a recipe for ALOO Parathas and here's a video of the steps:

16. Satellite whose day is almost 30 Earth days: MOON.  Does the moon rotate on its axis?

17. Bogs: MIRES. 

18. Word with bar or Bell: TACO. 

19. Oodles: A LOT. Notice the space between the 1st oodle and the second oodle, a CSO to Melissa 😁

20. [Theme clue].

23. The Thrashers, on sports crawls: ATL.  The Winnipeg Jets (nés The ATLanta Thrashers) are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, playing its home games at Canada Life Centre.  Here's their old logo:

Atlanta Thrashers

Their logo as of 2011 ...
 

Winnipeg Jets

Advantage CanadianEh!

24. "ur the best": ILY.

25. __ and Herzegovina: BOSNIA.  Bosnia and Herzegovina sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe, in the Balkans, bordering Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest.

27. Cuddling on the bus, e.g.: PDA.  Public Display of Affection.  Often clued: "Get a room!"

28. Silk Sonic musician Anderson .__: .PAAK.  Note .Prefix.  The principals of Silk Sonic are Johnson and his colleague Bruno Mars.  Here's their Leave the Door Open with Bruno on keyboards and Anderson on drums. Both share vocals.  I like their vibe ...
 

30. Fox Sports journalist Hale: JEN.  Jennifer Hale (born February 28, 1978) is an American journalist working for Fox Sports as an NFL sideline reporter where she is currently paired with Chris Myers and Robert Smith. She also covers NBA's New Orleans Pelicans for Bally Sports New Orleans and also covers college football for Fox Sports.

Jennifer Hale

31. [Theme clue].

34. __ the line: TOE.  I wanted TOW for this.  I think both could be used in different contexts.

35. Headed up: LED.

36. Donkey: ASS.  They're stereotyped as ill-tempered and stubborn, but they're actually quite wise ....

37. [Theme clue].

42. Frightened cry: EEK.

43. Figure of interest?: RATE.

44. Private chats, briefly: DMS.  Direct Message Service.  Similar to cell-phone text messaging (TM), but DM uses the Internet rather than cell-towers to relay the messages.

45. Chew out: YELL AT.

47. Unruly head of hair: MOP.  This is as unruly as it gets ...

48. Pleased sigh: AAH.
.
51. [Theme reveal].

55. High-fiber food: BRAN.  My favorite BRAN source ...

56. Goes bad: ROTS.

57. Keypad key: ENTER.

58. Live a nomadic life: ROVE. Here's Ralph Vaughan Williams'  Whither Must I Wander sung by Sir John Shirley-Quirk ...

Lyrics

59. Palo __, California: ALTO.  Today's Spanish lesson: "Tall stick".  Here's why the town is called that.

60. Harriet Tubman portrayer Cynthia: ERIVO.  Cynthia Erivo (/əˈriːvoʊ/; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress and singer. She gained recognition for starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Erivo ventured into films in 2018, playing roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet (2019), Erivo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she also wrote and performed the song "Stand Up" on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination in the Best Original Song category.  Here's a clip from Harriet ...

61. Matures: AGES.

62. Efficient: LEAN.

63. Iberian infants: NENES.  More Spanish.  The Nene is also the national bird of Hawaii ...

Nenes

Down:

1. St. Petersburg neighbor: TAMPA.  And a neighbor of TAMPA, about 30 miles Northwest of it, is Tarpon Springs.  It's one of the worlds largest suppliers of natural sponges, preferred by potters everywhere.

Natural Sponges
Tarpon Springs, FL.

2. Top celebs: A LIST.

3. Actress Streep: MERYL.  Here's a movie from an A LIST actress I'll never forget ...

4. Corporate VIP: EXEC.

5. Jones of "Parks and Rec": RASHIDA. DNK she was Quincy Jones' daughter.  Here she is pouring out her heart to Conan O'Brien (very funny) ...

6. Skewered Thai dish: SATAY.  Here's a recipe for Thai SATAY chicken.

7. Splashy style: ELAN.

8. __-Cola: COCA.

9. Strip of computer icons: TOOLBAR.  Here's part of my Firefox TOOLBAR ...
 

10. Collect over time: AMASS.

11. "SNL" regular who wrote the memoir "A Very Punchable Face": COLIN JOST.  Colin Kelly Jost (/ˈdʒoʊst/; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. JOST has been a staff writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2005, and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014.

Colin Jost

12. Indiana residents: HOOSIERS.

13. Sinus specialist, for short: ENT.  A CSO to Picard for his recent picture of a different kind of ENT

21. Norwegian saint: OLAF.  Olaf II Haraldsson (c. 995 – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint OLAF and Olaf the Holy, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (English: Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised at Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimketel, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030.

Saint Olaf
King and Martyr
Feast Day July 29.

And since 'tis the season, here is a medley of Christmas carols performed by the St. Olaf's Choir of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (and a CSO to C.C.) ...

22. Oxen connector: YOKE.

26. Strong insect: ANT.

27. Company VIP: PREZ.

28. Fragment: PIECE.

29. Outlet letters: ACDC.  Only Alternating Current (AC) comes out of an outlet.  OTOH Direct Current (DC) is supplied by batteries, which in turn supply a lot of crosswordese. 😀

31. Used a paternity benefit, perhaps: TOOK LEAVE.

32. Sharp's counterpart: FLAT.

33. Skillets, woks, etc.: PANS.

34. Eater of 26-Downs on a log?: TREE FROG.  Here's what Tree Frogs eat -- doesn't sound like they'd find Ants on a Log very appetizing ...
 

Ants on a Log

37. Tina of "Mean Girls": FEY.  Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters, written by Tina Fey, and starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fey.  Based on a book of advice to parents of teenage girls by Rosalind Wiseman, entitled Queen Bees and Wannabes  ...

 38. Part of Q.E.D.: ERAT.

39. Marketing kin of "organic": NATURAL

40. Smell: ODOR.

41. Countless: UMPTEEN.

46. Freeway divisions: LANES.

47. Stoneworker: MASON.  Among the most advanced masonry in the world are the huge perfectly fitted "polygonal stone walls" of the Incas.  But they weren't the first civilizations who built such structures, as described in this video: Evolution Of Polygonal Masonry | From Ancient Times To The Incas | Quarrying, Tools & Methods.

48. Be part of, as a film: ACT IN.

49. Excedrin alternative: ALEVE.

50. Deli subs: HEROS.  What’s the Difference Between a Hero, Sub, Grinder, and Hoagie?  The biggest one may be where you live.

52. Part to play: ROLE.

53. Jazz great James: ETTA. And here's why ...

Etta James

54. Memo starter: IN RE.

55. Product of Bali: BRA. More crosswordese.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

And a Happy belated Hanukkah 🕎 and a Merry Christmas ⛪🎄🎅 to all!  

Wednesday, December 20, 2023 ~ August Miller

Uncanny Valleys

An uncanny valley is a robot eerily too close to human likeness. Masahiro Mori (of Tokyo Institute of Tech) coined the phrase in the early '70's but I think The Twilight Zone (the one w/ a Robot Mom [that's your cue CED - find us the episode if you're over Covid]) beat him to the punch by 20(ish) years.

Todays' offering by August contains three (3) four-letter synonyms for valleys. But, with circles in the grid, they are not terribly hidden. The only thing uncanny is WADI - I don't recall hearing that word [see: 47a - not a good Bible reader, me].

Let's check out the Themers...

19. High price to pay, metaphorically: AN ARM AND A LEG.

29. Star cluster that resembles a bird of prey: EAGLE NEBULA. Messier-16 (who'd love to see crosswords expand to include numbers?) didn't fit.

Looks like a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking.
Source

47. Health regimen modeled on the cuisine of Japan's Ryukyu Islands: OKINAWA DIET. New to me: "The Okinawa diet gets its name from the traditional eating style of those living on Japan’s Okinawa island. The diet is low-calorie and carb-based typically, but today consists of more protein and fat." Also new to me, WADI: "a valley that is dry except in the rainy season" It's Arabic and (according to the internet) in the Bible 11 times.

A wadi

And the reveal:
53. Salad dressing brand, and a feature of 19-, 29-, and 47-Across?: HIDDEN VALLEY.

Across:
1. Athletic brand that shares its name with a big cat: PUMA. My ankle-socks are Pumas. Get 6 pair for ~25 bucks at Amazon.

Over the ankle socks.

5. Cold desert in Asia: GOBI.

9. "Shucks!": DARN.

13. Asked for proof of age, say: IDED. "Papers Please," said the bouncer.

14. Admissions hurdle: EXAM.

15. "Let's Dance" singer David: BOWIE. Musical interlude.

R.I.P David Bowie

16. Like 9-Downs: TO GO. We'll get to DOGGY BAG in a bit.

17. Semester: TERM.

18. Super cool digs?: IGLOO.

19. [See: Theme]

22. Bell bottoms option: LEES. Lee brand jeans. I think Mom dressed me in bell bottoms when I was 6yrs old #Bicentenial #'76.

23. Pudge on an infant: BABY FAT. I was a little FAT spaghetti eatin' BABY.
//Mom has a picture of me fast asleep in my spaghetti.

27. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO.

29. [See: Theme]

32. Oscar nod, briefly: NOM. NOMination.

33. Key mistake?: TYPO. Cute.

34. "Shucks!": DRAT IT. Um, yeah, not what I exclaim.

35. Letting in a draft, maybe: AJAR.

37. Part of the "Law & Order" franchise, familiarly: SVU. Special Victim's Unit. IIRC, we had this last Wednesday.

39. Blow hard: GUST. Cute.

40. Mediterranean microstate: MONACO.

43. One-named Irish singer: ENYA.

46. Tuna roll topping: ROE. Wait for 55d...

47. [See: Theme]

49. Cease: END.

50. Screamed, perhaps: REACTED. Eek!

51. "One __ at a time": STEP. "Day" was too short.

53. [See: Theme]

58. Guiding belief: CREDO.

61. "Out! Out!": SHOO.

62. Made it: CAME. Do I link Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It"?  Um, no :-)
//Did you know he wrote the "Like a Good Neighbor" jingle for State Farm? I heard that on NPR's Fresh Air last week.

63. "Hadestown" playwright Mitchell: ANAIS.
//Youngest knows the musical.

64. Lawsuit basis: TORT.

65. Cash for cards: ANTE. Deal me in.

66. Bend out of shape: WARP. Or what you have to do to space-time to go WARP Factor 8. #StarTrek

67. Boo-boo: OWIE. A "B" short of 15a.

68. Covert convo start: PSST.

Down:
1. Bread with tzatziki: PITA. Food!

2. Japanese soup noodle: UDON. More food!

3. Grandiose delusions: MEGALOMANIA.

4. Really dig: ADORE.

5. Have one's voice heard: GET A SAY.

6. Beasts that pulled covered wagons: OXEN.

(people of a certain age get it)

7. Avon product?: BARD. Cute Shakespeare reference.

8. Third No. 1 hit for the Black Eyed Peas: IMMA BE. Do I offend your (and my) auditory sense? No, HG did that Saturday with his link when it appeared in Ryan's grid.

9. Stuffed diner's request: DOGGY BAG. 16a - TO GO.

10. Piercing tool: AWL.

Pokie tools

11. Kia model: RIO.

12. Recent prefix: NEO.

15. "Sorry" singer Justin: BIEBER. Oy! I know he's Canadian so probably a nice kid but... #noLink

20. __ and greet: MEET. #CorpHappyHour (I'm awful at these things until a 2nd beer)

21. Get, as a job: LAND. And then you have to go to [see: above]

24. "Where do you see yourself in five years" subject: FUTURE PLANS. Oy! That's an interview question before LANDing a gig. I must be a drifter 'cuz I can mostly plan for ~6 months ahead but life seems to take me where it goes. //Tell God your plans and s/he'll giggle (or something like that).

25. Brie of "Community": ALISON. This fill made me think of The Lemonheads who I saw at Bricktown Brewery in OKC in the '90s .

Alice is Starting to Happen

26. Heavily inked: TATTED. My (Army) Bro is tat'd up chest, shoulders, & back. Peed himself on his first tat, he did :-)

27. Utterly charm: ENAMOR.

28. "I swear!": NO JOKE. Anyone else hear Joe Biden's voice in the fill?... "No joke, folks. This is for real." :-)

30. Apple Maps tech: GPS. Global Positioning System. A group of satellites orbiting in Medium Earth Orbit. Read more.

31. Really dug: LOVED. If you missed last Wednesday (or many of my posts), I really dig RUSH.

36. Party bowlful from 53-Across: RANCH DIP. Hidden Valley makes a decent RANCH DIP but I like my crudités bare or with hummus.

38. College, to Brits: UNI. I learned this from BBC programmes.

41. Open-air enclosures for some pets: CATIOS. Portmanteau of Cat & Patio (I assume(?))

42. Had to pay: OWED. Oy! I just got my Christmas Amex bill. I guess I'll be back in the office come January.

44. Political endorsement: YES VOTE.

45. Poori flour: ATTA. We've had it enough in the fill, I should remember it by now.

48. Lengthens: ADDS TO.

52. Yosemite peak, familiarly: EL CAP. El Capitan - a big rock in Yosemite. I've seen it IRL and have no clue why folks would try to free-solo it.

Totally Mental!

54. DIY site: E-HOW.

55. Tuna roll wrap: NORI. Basically, seaweed. Nori is red alga (green when dried); Wakame (why am I giving constructors ideas?!?)/kelp is brown. Nori provides a wonderful chew in a sushi roll or around unagi (eel).

56. 911 responders: Abbr.: EMTS. Did we need Abbr. after 911? Emergency Medical Technicians.
//Story: In the Army Reserves, I was with a field medical unit. Many of the nurses worked their day-job as EMTs. Being a 92B (medical lab tech), during training exercises, I oft played the victim that needed care. I learned more about first aid than I ever did in Boy Scouts.
Oooh, wait... More story: One of our Scout Masters tried to show us how to fell a tree. We'd already notch'd it pretty good. His first axe swing bounced out of the notch and straight into his ankle; I took a woodchip out of his wound (I knew I really wasn't supposed to do that but it seemed the right thing at the time).
We used our cravats to stop the beading, built a stretcher out of branches and our shirts, and hiked his butt out of the woods. Later that night we had to treat him (again) for shock and send him back to the (remote-a**) hospital.
////Too graphic? -- imagine if you were 11yrs old!

57. Chuck, slangily: YEET. Someone under 30yrs-old, please explain. I only know YEET as excitement or Whoot!
//Youngest (first-read editor) knew this as "to throw." She said it is a thing and then giggled at me.
Then, my Angel Editor let me know that Merriam-Webster added it to the dictionary in 2022 as toss forcefully with the usage: "We just don't yeet it into the dictionary the first time we encounter it." [Cite]

58. Cry from a crow: CAW.

59. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA. mRNA technology is pretty magic, what, with telling your cells how to identify bad proteins. I just hope the tech doesn't go all I Am Legend on us.

Spoiler: a vaccine turns people into night stalking Zombies and Will Smith
hunts for the antidote while trying to stay alive.

60. Unit of corn: EAR.

The Grid:

The Grid

WO: open->AJAR
ESPs: IMMA BE (I did this puzzle b/f Sat's), ANAIS, ALISON, ATTA, and YEET as clued.
Fav: I'll go with David BOWIE and leave you with him & Mick.

Dancing in the Streets

Well, that was fun. You now have 4 days to bake cookies & pour milk for Santa and get some carrots* (with hummus) for the reindeer.

Cheers, -T
*nibble 'em like a squirrel might to mess with your (grand?)children's little brains come Christmas morning :-)

Tuesday, December 19th, 2023, Joe Deeney

 PUNNY MONEY

Today's puzzle is very similar to the one I guest blogged last Tuesday - the first word of the theme answers 'rephrased' as a noun and not an adjective, creating a punny money theme.  Two 15-letter spanners and three more themers, generating a fair number of three-letter words as a consequence.  A good challenge for a Tuesday, a few unknown proper names, and I did have to cheat to figure out why I did not get my "ta-DA~!"; see below.  The theme answers;

16. The landscaping startup was financed via ...: HEDGE FUND - maybe money does grow on trees

21. The extreme tourism startup was financed via ...: VENTURE CAPITAL

31. The shrink-ray startup was financed via ...: MICROLOANS - according the spell-check, this is not a two-word phrase, making it the outlier in the group

41. The religious iconography startup was financed via ...: ANGEL INVESTORS

49. The agriculture startup was financed via ...: SEED MONEY

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Like a final exam in a language class, typically: ORAL

5. Religious offshoot: SECT

9. Nile reptile: ASP - No more Indiana Jones clip; every time I guest-blog....so I PASS on the "ASP"

12. Michael who plays Allan in "Barbie": CERA - filled via perps

13. Physics and chemistry Nobelist Marie: CURIE - and - 19A. Gas observed by 13-Across: RADON

14. __ date: deadline: DUE

15. Direct-hire alternative: TEMP

18. Boxer Muhammad: ALI

20. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" memoirist Alan: ALDA - educated WAG

24. "You're important to me": "I CARE"

25. Conditional programming word: ELSE

26. Gillette brand: ATRA

27. Clicking sound?: SHORT i - C-L-i-C-K; I know there are some here at the corner that are not too fond of this type of clue, but I find them a clever challenge to suss out

34. Wasn't straight: LEANED - Here's the architectural countermeasures taken to save the most famous "LEAN"

35. Desert in northern China: GOBI

38. Social satirist Mort: SAHL - DAH!  I typed SAUL; if you look at my grid image, this is the one "cell" I had wrong

40. "The West Wing" creator Sorkin: AARON - Ooops, not AlleN

46. "Buona __": Italian "Good evening": SERA

47. West Yorkshire home of Kirkstall Abbey: LEEDS - I thought maybe this was a fictional reference, such as one from a popular TV series....but it's a spectacular set of ruins

The Wiki

48. On Soc. Sec., perhaps: RETired

51. __ one's time: wait: BIDE

52. Exist: ARE

53. __ guide: USERS

54. Perched upon: ATOP

55. Ed.'s stack: MSs - manuscripts

56. Disorganized state: MESS

57. Workout spots: GYMS

DOWN:

1. "Parable of the Talents" author Butler: OCTAVIA - another WAG

2. Word on an incumbent's campaign poster: RE-ELECT

RE-ELECT MAYOR GOLDIE WILSON - "I like the sound of that";

He gets my vote for best fictional mayor

3. Joined at the elbows: ARM-IN-ARM

4. Spot for a needy pet: LAP

5. Soft glove material: SUEDE

6. Hosp. trauma pro: ER DOC

7. Health insurance giant: CIGNA

8. Football kicker's aid: TEE

9. Accomplishes mundane tasks, facetiously: ADULTS - My friend Mark introduced me to this "21st century" term; we were discussing something like home-ownership responsibility, and he said he was stressed about all this "adulting" - I thought it was hysterical, and still do

10. Dessert with toppings: SUNDAE

11. Graduate from a balance bike: PEDAL - Never heard of a balance bike; in my day, you fell off, got hurt, and got back on again....

13. Blacken: CHAR

17. Unable to be successful with: FAILING AT

19. Bemoan: RUE - Bzzzt~!  I had CRY to start

22. Spot to begin a hike: TRAILHEAD - I knew it was trail something

23. Org. with a white rabbit in its logo: PETA

27. Mme., across the Pyrenees: SRA

28. Dearie: HON

29. La Liga chant: OLÉ

30. Word after hot or lightning: ROD - my CT home has several lightning rods - the LI house, not a one

32. Spreadsheet unit: CELL - I have a spreadsheet at work that calculates the ƒ(n) for determining organ pipe dimensions - something like the logarithm something of its wavelength, but it goes down the PETA hole quickly....

33. Part of campus Greek life: SORORITY

36. Nothing-to-do feeling: BOREDOM - Thought I had mono....

Wayne's World

37. Shoe parts: INSTEPS - I had shoe LAST last week

38. Sinister smiles: SNEERS

39. Gives a thumbs up: AGREES

40. Burro: ASS - followed by....

41. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM - so the next answer should be ASS AM / FM ~?

42. "Guess you beat me": I LOSE - Nope.  I guess I lose....

43. Babies, in Spanish: NENES - I thought it was a Hawaiian bird....

 

A nene with a nene

44. Makes a sudden change in direction: VEERS

45. Freezer aisle brand: EDY'S

50. Not saying anything: MUM

51. Carry-on: BAG

MERRY CHRISTMAS -- HAPPY HOLIDAYS --

BEST IN THE NEW YEAR TO ALL~!!!

Splynter