Saturday, April 6, 2024, Zhouqin Burnikel

  Saturday Themeless by Zhouqin Burnikel

Zhouqin Burnikel- I got permission from 

C.C.to use this bio and picture of our lovely ring mistress that was printed in the program for the 2018 ACPT Competition: Zhoquin grew up in Xi'an, China, and moved to Minnesota in 2001. She started making crosswords in 2010, partly as a way to learn English, and was mentored by veteran constructor Don Gagliardo. Together they have made over 100 puzzles for various publications. Zhouqin created the L.A. Times Crossword Corner blog in 2008. The name Zhouqin comes from the first two great dynasties that ruled ancient Xi’an — the Zhou and the Qin. It is pronounced something like “ZHOH-chin.”

Across:

1. Squad whose Double-A affiliate is the Rumble Ponies: METS - A baseball lead off by C.C.!

5. Like black vinegar: AGED - This is a ten-year old bottle. C.C. says traditional Chinese vinegars are aged 6 - 10 years. 

9. Bit of shut eye?: BLINK 😀

14. Rink leap: AXEL - How 'bout a triple?

15. __-free: DUTY.

16. Shoyu dish: RAMEN Recipe

17. "Don't move": STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

20. Part that has a radius but no diameter: ARM - The radius joins the wrist on the thumb side of your hand.

21. Item that may wind up in a backyard: HOSE - Oh, that use of the phrase "wind up"!

22. Program-terminating command: END NOW.

23. Feature: ASPECT.

25. Seattle hrs.: PST.

26. Political network: C-SPAN - Is there a non-political one?

27. Media company that claims to be the largest producer of Spanish-language content: TELEVISA.

32. Hiding place: LAIR.

33. Chorizo, por ejemplo: CARNE - Meat. Ten things about Chorizo

35. Agnes, in Spain: INES.

36. Italian bread: EURO - Money not a bakery product 

37. Deal-maker: AGENT - AGENT Scott Boras has negotiated record $1.217 billion worth of contracts this winter. That’s about $121 million for Boras to keep for himself this winter. Team owners don't like to see him walk in the door.

38. "This can't be happening!": OH NO.

39. Ingredient in some exfoliators: ACID - Contains Salicylic Acid, Exfoliating Body Lactic Acid and Hyaluronic Niacinamide

40. Tree huggers?: VINES.

41. Deal that generates interest: LOAN 

42. Investor's concern: NET YIELD - e.g. (exempli gratia - more Latin) 

44. Photo finish: MATTE.

45. Boo: BAE - Really?

46. "I want no part of this!": WHO'S WE.

48. Pastry choice: ECLAIR.

52. Fisher of "Shameless": NOEL - Saturday cluing

53. TripTik org.: AAA.

55. Sighed line: THAT'S THE WAY IT IS - C'mon, you thought of him too from back when TV News mostly hid their political views.

58. Poet on some 36-Across coins: DANTE.

59. 57-Down, for one: BEER and 57. Dogfish Head's Notorious H.O.P., for one: IPA.

60. Treat for one's dogs?: PEDI - These dogs are slang for feet

61. Symptoms: SIGNS.

62. Casino figures: ODDS.

63. Side by side?: AREA 😀 Length x Width = AREA

Down:

1. Atole ingredient: MASA - Atole: In Mexico, it is a drink typically includes MASA (corn hominy flour), water, piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar), cinnamon, vanilla, and optional chocolate or fruit. 

2. Trattoria request: EXTRA SAUCE - What is a trattoria? and 18. "That's enough": WHEN.

3. Rah-rah feeling: TEAM SPIRIT.

4. Cute: SLY.

5. Not permanent: AD HOC.

6. Not permanent: GUEST.

7. Infinitive of suis, sommes, etc.: ETRE.

8. Go green, say: DYE - The Chicago River on March 17

9. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" novelist: BRONTE - A first edition that uses Anne Bronte's pseudonym of Acton Bell.

10. Talk up: LAUD.

11. Vellani of "The Marvels": IMAN.

12. Successor to Claudius: NERO - Did he fiddle while Rome burned? Tacitus suspends judgment on Nero's responsibility for the fire; he found that Nero was in Antium when the fire started, and returned to Rome to organize a relief effort, providing for the removal of bodies and debris, which he paid for from his own funds. After the fire, Nero opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors.

13. Was certain of: KNEW.

19. "We totally should!": YES LET'S.

24. Send-up: PARODY - Weird Al leaped to my mind

25. Rasta pasta pasta: PENNE.

26. Washed up: CLEAN - Dishwasher indicator 

27. Influencer's concern: TREND - These are expert influencers who live on any new TREND

28. Trio in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3: VIOLAS - As a full service blogger, I will link to some of that

29. Facing trouble: IN HOT WATER.

30. One who may face an up-Hill climb: SENATE AIDE 😀 - Oh, going up the capitol hill!

31. In lockstep: AS ONE - Certainly the U.S.M.C. Silent Drill Platoon does just that. 

33. Writing on the wall?: CAVE ART - This wonderful example of 17,000 year old CAVE ART is in the Lascaux Cave in south central France. It is no longer open to public tours.

34. Able to do splits, say: AGILE.

43. Birds that often nest with spoonbills: IBISES.

44. "Holy __!": MOLY.

46. Blown away: WOWED.

47. Picks up: HEARS - My kids loved using this parabolic reflector

48. Gate stats: ETDS - Airport gates

49. Masala __: CHAI - Masala chai is a popular beverage throughout South Asia, originating in the early modern Indian subcontinent. Chai is made by brewing black tea in milk and water and then sweetening with sugar. Adding aromatic herbs and spices creates chai, although chai is often prepared unspiced.  You're welcome.

50. "Constant Craving" singer: LANG.

51. Routing abbr.: ATTN.

52. Not just want: NEED - Teams that NEED a QB in this year's draft.

54. Continent with nine island nations: ASIA - The Island Nations of ASIA are: The Philippines, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor, Taiwan and Brunei. 

56. "True Detective" network: HBO.

Notes from C.C.:

Our Thursday Sherpa waseeley (William Seeley) and I made today's USA Today puzzle. It's edited by Jared Goudsmit. Click here to solve. Congrats on your worldwide puzzle debut, Bill!

Friday, April 5, 2024, Laura Dershewitz

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the Friday recap.  Our puzzle-setter today is Laura Dershewitz who, often co-authoring with Katherine Baicker, has previously created and published several puzzles for us to solve.

Today, things do not go bad .  Things do not go south.  Things do not go to blazes.  Things do not go to pieces.  Things do not go belly up.  Things do not go awry.  Things do not go off the rails.  They do, however, go sideways.  Although it can, and often is, applied to different types of situations, the definition of the idiom, as provided in today's reveal, will suffice:

31 Down:  Completely fall apart, as a deal, or an apt title for this puzzle?: GO SIDEWAYS.

In the grid, the reveal and the themed clues/answers are placed vertically.  This provides the opportunity/necessity to incorporate the word GO horizontally/SIDEWAYS into the answers.  Let's have a look at the grid before taking a look the themers.

Here are the three themed clues and answers:

3 Down:  Mid-March cry: ERIN G BRAGH.

9 Down:  Gentle carnival ride: MERRY G ROUND.  You are probably familiar with the tune but do you know the name of the song that Loony Tunes adopted as its theme song?  It was written in 1937 and reached the #2 spot on the "Your Hit Parade" radio survey.

The Merry Go Round Broke Down

24 Down:  Without a care in the world: HAPPY G LUCKY.

Here are the other clues and answers:

Across:

1. Use a Keurig, say: BREW.  A coffee BREWing reference . . . and the first of (some might claim too) many proper nouns referenced in today's clues and answers.

5. Name associated with a philosophical razor: OCCAM.  I do not have trouble recalling the answer but I can never remember how to spell it.  The perps remind me.

10. Branded tees or mugs, maybe: SWAG.  SWAG is the name for the stuff they give you at e.g. conventions, symposia, reunions, etc.

14. Traditional wisdom: LORE.  As one of the oldest living people in my family, my word is LORE.

15. "I'm not seeing it": WHERE.

WHERE Wolf?

16. Follow: TAIL.  As in to follow a criminal suspect.

17. Bookworm: AVID READER.

19. Alan of "Marriage Story": ALDA.  With STACY and WALT being clued the way that they were, this solver did not know two of the names in that NW stack.  Alan ALDA helped out quite a bit.

20. Lunch option on the Shinkansen, say: BENTO.  Shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train) alerts us to think of Japanese cuisine.

BENTO Box 

21. Took away (from): DETRACTED.  Did you come across anything today that either added to or DETRACTED from your puzzle-solving experience?

23. "Who knew?": GOSH.  What did the fish say when the river stopped flowing? "GOSH dam it!"

25. With diffidence: SHYLY.

26. PD alert: APB.  Police Department.  All Points Bulletin.

28. Ingest: EAT.

30. In the past: AGO.  A few minutes AGO I came to the conclusion that tofu is overrated.  It's just a curd to me.

31. Dollop: GOB.  Given today's theme, that O after the G could be viewed as a bit misleading.

34. Sensitive subject: SORE SPOT.

37. Surname in a classic Styx song: ROBOTO.  Domo arigato Mister ROBOTO.

39. Meat in Hawaiian cuisine: SPAM.  How A Wartime Necessity Became A Hawaiian Delicacy

40. Teaser ad: PROMO.

42. Italian wine region: ASTI.

Asti Spumante Commercial

43. Divination: AUGURY.  This word does not appear often in our puzzles . . . but we should have seen it coming.

45. Head-scratchers: TOUGHIES.  Initially, I thought of POSERS but the word wasn't long enough.

47. Speedometer stat: MPH.

48. __ boost: EGO.

50. Twin set?: DNA.  A reference to the double-helix shape of the molecule.

51. Dr. of rap: DRE.  Née Andre Romell Young

52. French "Cheers!": SALUT.

54. Screwdriver, in a pinch: DIME.

56. Chewy candy bars introduced in 1921: BABY RUTHS.  Many people believe that the candy was named after Babe Ruth the baseball player.  It was, in fact, named after President Cleveland's daughter.

60. Full of the latest: NEWSY.  Current and/or topical.

63. Triumphant cry: I WON.   A big cat said this after every race that she ran.  She was a cheetah.

64. Fresh start: CLEAN SLATE.   A somewhat anachronistic figure of speech.

66. U2 singer: BONO.  Not Sonny BONO.  Paul David Hewson.

67. Little meower: KITTY.  It might have been clued with a "Gunsmoke" reference but then it would have been yet another proper noun.  Speaking of which,

68. Cannon of film: DYAN.

69. Toy on some holiday cards: SLED.

70. Matzo's lack: YEAST.  Exodus:  This day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the Lord, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.  For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

71. "Last four digits" IDs: SSNS.

Down:

1. Say too much: BLAB.   Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Everyone I BLABbed to told me that they wouldn't say anything to anyone.

2. Wander about: ROVE.  We never know, initially, if it is going to turn out to be ROVE or ROAM but we can fill in the R and the O.  I sometimes wonder why this is rarely, if ever, clued with "Karl".

4. United with: WED TO.

5. Have loans: OWE.

6. African lake in four countries: CHAD.

7. Surrenders: CEDES.

8. First name in soul: ARETHA.

ARETHA Franklin - "Think"

10. Gwen __: Spider-Man's first love: STACY.  A Marvel Comics reference.

11. Sky's "Breaking Bad" spouse: WALT.  In times past, this might have been clued with a reference to Whitman or Disney or Kelly or Frazier.

12. Campaign staffer: AIDE.

13. Chuffed: GLAD.  New to this solver.

18. Bunch of romantics?: ROSES.  Not a group of impractical visionaries but, rather, a bouquet of flowers that a romantic person might give to their beloved.

22. __ gobi: South Asian potato dish: ALOO.  The first of two South Asia Subcontinent references in a row.

26. State in northern India: ASSAM.  The second.

27. Temporary, as a bar or restaurant: POP UP.

29. Publisher with a mountain peak logo: TOR.  We sometimes see TOR clued with just the mountain peak reference.  Self-published, as it were.

32. Marine mammal that uses rocks to crack shells: OTTER.

33. State capital in the Treasure Valley: BOISE.  In a recent Sunday puzzle, BOISE was clued as "the City of Trees".  With three vowels and an S it's a useful word for constructors.

35. Flightless bird: EMU.  Did you hear about the EMU who was taller than his friends?  He was ostrich-sized.

36. Word with tater or tiny: TOT.  At least we were spared the casserole reference (unlike last Saturday).

Tater TOT(s)                                                Tiny TOT

38. "Curses!": BAH.  How would a sheep say BAH?

41. Online admin: MOD.  MODerator

44. Bring up, or something to bring up: REAR.  Cute.  Raise your children or be in last place.  Alternatively, what you are sitting on as you read this.

46. Acquires: GAINS.  What does a doctor get from a urine test?  She GAINS whizdom.

49. Extend past: OUTLIE.

52. Church council: SYNOD.

53. Angle symbol, in trigonometry: THETA.  By definition, much as Delta represents a difference or Pi represents the ratio of a circle's circumference and diameter.

55. Merges: MELDS.

56. Lobsterfest wear: BIBS.

57. Missing GI: AWOL.  Absent WithOut Leave

58. Fillet's lack: BONE.

Fillet Minion

59. Coll. entrance exams: SATS.  

61. Superfan: STAN.  Current slang.  The term comes from a song on an Eminem album.   The song tells the story of an obsessed fan named, you guessed it, STAN.  Possibly, a portmanteau derived from "stalker" and "fan".

62. Strong desires: YENS.  YEN is the shortest of the bunch (URGE, ITCH, DESIRE, HANKERING, etc.) and was handy here because, including the S, only four letter could be used.

65. "The 1619 Project" publisher, for short: NYT.   New York Times  "The 1619 Project" focused on slavery and the founding of the United States.

That's it for today.

_______________________________________________

Notes from C.C.:

 

1) Chairman Moe (Chris) made Wednesday's Newsday puzzle. Click here to solve and let him know your feedback. 

2) Happy 83rd Birthday to dear Irish Miss (Agnes), the sunshine of our little corer. Thanks for the care and love you've shown everyone on our blog, Agnes! I'm so lucky to have you as a close friend and puzzle collaborator.

 

Agnes (right) and her sister Eileen, Nov 22, 2013

 

Thursday, April 4, 2024, Rich Katz, Katy Steinmetz

 

 Food for Thought 

Food is a problem in America: too much, not enough, or not getting to the right people: but thanks to one of our regular solvers  there's at least a partial solution to that last one, as we'll see at the end of this theme explanation.  Today's constructors are veteran Rich Katz,  who has constructor chops, but is new to the Corner and Katy Steinmetz, a former journalist for Time Magazine.  This is also Katy's debut in the LA Times, but if she is anything like her namesake Charles, we can expect her puzzle to be brilliant.

Our constructors have stretched their foodie clues into in the language idioms (no circles, no stars, and no reveal -- these fills are the 4 longest phrases, so these must be the themers right? ...

17A. "Let's pass on the supersize": NOT A BIG DEAL.  I was afraid that this South Park clip would be NSFC ("Not Suitable For  Crosswords"), but was relieved to find that it's ok.  It's really a shame that some people think only of themselves ...

28A. "The chef made this as the plat du jour, right?": ISNT THAT SPECIAL.

47A. "I don't want my latte to be a venti": THATS A TALL ORDER.  Now here's some real FOOD FOR THOUGHT -- why can't we eliminate childhood hunger in America?  Why is THAT A TALL ORDER?  And a special CSO to PICARD for alerting us just last week to a much more important Jeff Bridges film than TRON -- A Place at the Table ...

Here's Picard's comment to last week's Thursday review and here is the link to No Kid Hungry: End Child Hunger in America, a campaign started by Jeff Bridges. And a CSO to Wendybird, who is already a monthly contributor.

61A. "We recommend takeout": ITS GOOD TO GO.  I'm full, so let's wrap this up and take the rest of it with us -- here's the grid ...

Across:

1. "You said it!": YEAH.  So you agree then?

5. 2,000 pounds: ONE TON. 

11. Question marks: IFS.

14. Vogue rival: ELLE.  Today's French lesson: SHE.  ELLE is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, and society and lifestyle. This month's "It girl" is Victoria Ceretti.  Rumor has it that SHE and LEO are an item.

15. __ press: small appliance: PANINI.  A panino (Italian: [paˈniːno], meaning 'small bread', 'bread roll') or panini (pl.) is a sandwich made with Italian bread (such as ciabatta and michetta), usually served warm after grilling (in a PANINI press no less) or toasting.  We're out of counter space for another gadget.  We just use a toaster oven.

16. Carnival locale: RIO.  Today's Portuguese lesson: "river" and  a mononym for the city in Brazil, which we visited just last week. 

17. [Theme clue].

19. "Parks and __": REC.  Parks and Recreation (also known as Parks and REC) is an American political satire mockumentary television series starring Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks Department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana.  The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 episodes, over seven seasons ...

20. [Wake me when it's over]: SNORE.  Hold in there folks, we've got a lot more clues to cover. 😀

21. Summer hrs. in St. Louis: CDT.

22. Burkina __: FASO.  Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 20,321,378. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.

23. Hot mess: SNAFU. An acronym which will remain undefined. 😁

26. "There just wasn't any alternative": I HAD TO.  "There's always an alternative" -- of course it may be wrong!

28. [Theme clue].

32. Fibs: LIES.

33. Dethrone: OUST.

34. Meadowland: LEA.

35. __ of attrition: LAW.  This article describes Law of Attrition as a phrase that defines the rate at which an object or person will wear out over time. It states that every system deteriorates eventually, at a rate based on the combined additive effects of many small causes. The Law of Attrition applies to everything, even mechanical objects like cars and machines. It sound a lot like an application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, an important law of physics that states that  the entropy (disorder) of a system increases over time.

36. Loc. of the Met and the Mets: NYC.

37. Darts player's asset: AIM.  For an American, Ted Lasso turns out to have an unexpectedly good AIM (as Ted is quick to point out this scene contains a bit of ungentlemanly language) ...

39. A-one: TOP.

42. Take to court: SUE.  Or one who starts a fist fight (a tad ungentlemanly as well). 

44. Fades away: EBBS.

46. Formally turn over: CEDE.

47. [Theme clue]

51. Trained retrievers?: VALETS.  😀

52. Itsy-bitsy: TEENY.  This version of the old Brian Hyland classic is rated completely G and these kids are really enjoying themselves completely clothed ...

53. Blows away: AWES.  This is the verb form: "to AWE".  Here are some synonyms for the noun form ...

... which seem to have fallen out of fashion.

54. [Snicker]: HEH.

56. Channel that airs floor debates: CSPAN.  A great place to watch paint dry.

60. Score better than a bogey: PAR.  A CSO to all the duffers on the Corner.

61. [Theme clue]

64. Compost bin bit: PIT. 

65. "Door's open!": COME IN.

66. Made like: APED.

67. Bro kin: SIS.

68. Rings mournfully: KNELLS. 

"I go and it is done; the bell invites me.

Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven or to hell."

Macbeth - Act 2, Scene 1

Lady Macbeth has just rung a bell, the signal that it’s time for Macbeth to kill Duncan. A knell is the solemn ringing of a church bell to announce someone’s death.

69. What's more?: LESS.  This perped, but I had to look up what it meant.

Down:

1. Desires: YENS.

2. North Carolina college town: ELON.  Finally a better clue than you know who.  Seems like a nice town.

3. Palo __, California: ALTO. Today's Spanish lesson: "tall stick", and the name of a famous Redwood Tree.

4. Publishing family: HEARSTS. The family started with George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891), who made his money in the mining business.  His son William Randolph Hearst Sr. (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human interest stories.

William Randolph Hearst
circa 1910

5. Maker of Infinite Shine nail polish: OPI.  A CSO to Lucina!  It lasts forever.  This one is called Makeout-side ...

6. Badger: NAG.

7. Most-cooked parts of a roast: END CUTS.

8. Drew a conclusion?: TIED.

9. How reporters might act: ON A TIP.  Beginning in June of 1972 a series of tips regarding the most famous political scandal in modern times were provided to Washington Post investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, by a tipster known then only as Deep Throat.  Woodward and Bernstein eventually wrote a book about their investigations called All the President's Men, which was later made into a film ...

  10. Nada: NIL.

11. Exposed to ultraviolet light, say: IRRADIATED.  UV IRRADIATION can be used as a means of sterilizing surfaces, liquids, air, and rooms and was recommended by the EPA during the COVID19 pandemic.

12. Quinceañera, for one: FIESTA.  The honoree at the celebration of a young Latina's 15th birthday.  The celebration is a FIESTA, but the word  Quinceañera proper refers to the young lady.

Quinceañera at a fiesta in Santa Fe, NM

13. "Love it!": SO COOL.

18. Out of shape: BENT.  Also murder mystery slang for a corrupt cop.

22. Watch part: FACE.

24. "Hey, sailor!": AHOY.  I'm tempted to sail with this, but I won't. 😁

25. Spigot: FAUCET.

27. Bridge feature: HELM.  Also Levon HELM, the drummer and singer for Dylan's old backup group The Band (a CSO to CanadianEh!),  .  Here he sings The Weight, the enigmatic song  by Robbie Robertson from their debut album Music from Big Pink...

Some thoughts on the meaning of the lyrics

28. Feeling green, perhaps: ILL.

29. "Chandelier" singer: SIA.  Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s.  I found the Chandelier video to be a bit too acrobatic, but Snowman was kind of cute ...

30. Some phone messages: NEWS ALERTS. 

31. Where a groom may walk down the aisle: STABLE. 😀.

36. __ egg: NEST.

38. Beachy spot: ISLE.

40. "__ to My Family": 1994 hit for The Cranberries: ODE.  One of the rewards of reviewing crosswords is renewing old friends ...

41. Part of rpm: PER.

43. Four Corners people: UTES.  UTE are the indigenous, or Native American people, of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and Colorado.  In addition to their ancestral lands within Colorado and Utah, their historic hunting grounds extended into current-day Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. The tribe also had sacred grounds outside their home domain that were visited seasonally.  The contemporary number of UTE members is only about 3000, but they are still very active in businesses such as cattle raising, oil, and natural gas.

45. Body wash option: BATH GEL.

46. Chandelier glass: CRYSTAL.  A clecho to 29D?

47. Streaming options: TV APPS.  For people into really small screens.

48. State with two official languages: HAWAII.  English was the second, the first was  ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi,  (pronunciation.)  The latter was used in Hawaii's public education system starting in 1840, but was later banned after the overthrow of the Hawaii government by private interests in the United States in 1898.  Beginning in 1985, after the number of native speakers had dwindled to less than 3 dozen, efforts got underway to revive the speaking of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.  In 2010 the census reported that 24,000 households identified Hawaiian as their dominant language.

A family of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers

49. Actor Kutcher: ASHTON.  Christopher Ashton Kutcher (born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. Kutcher began his acting career portraying Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006). He made his film debut in the romantic comedy Coming Soon (1999), followed by the comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), which was his first box office success.

Ashton Kutcher

50. Like most music, once: ON CD.  I have scads of these, mostly classical, but also in many other genres (except RAP). But I rarely listen to them, except during fund drives for WBJC.

55. Vampire played by Elizabeth Reaser in the "Twilight" films: ESME.  Vampire movies don't really cut it for me, but if you feast on this sort of stuff, this article on ESME in the Twilight Saga Wiki might keep you enthralled for several lifetimes!🧛

Esme Cullen
played by Elizabeth Reaser

57. The bishop of Rome: POPE.  A bishop is a spiritual descendant of one of original Apostles. The first Bishop of Rome was Saint Peter, although he wasn't called POPE (literally "Papa" in Latin) during his lifetime.  Including Peter there have been a total of 266 Popes, as listed in the Pontifical Yearbook.  The current holder of that position is Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio,  the first Pope from South America and the first to take the name of Francis, after the founder of the Franciscan Order (although Bergoglio was in the Jesuit Order before his elevation to the Papacy)  ...

Pope Francis

58. Years and years: AGES.

59. Gestures of assent: NODS.

61. "Gross!": ICK.

62. Sesame __: OIL.  Sesame OIL is a key ingredient in the dish Pine Nut and  Corn Stir Fry, inspired by a picture in one of  C.C's reviews.  The sesame oil is used to sauté the pine nuts.

63. Switch positions: ONS. This review has officially switched OFF.

Cheers,
Bill

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

waseeley

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024, Dylan Schiff

 OPUS

J.S. Bach - "Dorian" Toccata (no Fugue), Opus #538

This puzzle was "on my wavelength", and it takes us on a musical journey.  Two 15-letter spanners, two 10-letter, and one centered 11-letter theme answers, each starting with a synonym for "song", and revealed in the, well, reveal. ALAS, we're missing "ditty" - but that's a 51D.

17. *Rainforest Cafe, for one: THEME RESTAURANT - I did not know about this place; the closest one to me now is in New Jersey - the Wiki; the décor seems too overbearing for dining, IMHO

23. *Depiction of integers at regular intervals: NUMBER LINE

34. *Imperial reign of China ended by Kublai Khan: SONG DYNASTY

44. *Florence Henderson sitcom role: CAROL BRADY - "NOEL" could be a theme answer, too

"The Brady Bunch"

And the reveal

50. Starts looking at things differently, as demonstrated by the first words of the answers to the starred clues?: CHANGES ONES TUNE - and I get the pleasure of looking for "compositions" that match some puzzle answers; I'll try to be diverse....

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Greenlights: OKs

4. Dish that may or may not contain beans: CHILI - my chili contains red & black beans

9. Time at a job: STINT - I am hoping that my "stint" with the Pipe Organ company is my last career

14. Feline pet: CAT

Meow

15. Brief mission?: RECONnaissance - Frawnche~!

16. Wobbly craft: CANOE

20. Portion out: ALLOT

21. Deciduous tree with oblong leaves: ELM

22. God, to Rastafarians: JAH - the first word of this "ode"

The Outernationalist - Thievery Corporation

Ambient Electronica, my preferred music genre now that I am "older"

27. Guacamole fruit: LIME

28. "__ Te Ching": Laotzu text: TAO

29. Casual contraction: AIN'T - and the first word of this "ballad", too

 

Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers

30. Direct elsewhere: REFER

31. Like a zebra: MANED - if you hear the thunder of hoofs....

 

he's sporting a "Mohawk" mane

33. Big fans: BUFFS

36. "Summer of My German Soldier" novelist Greene: BETTE - needed perps for this author

37. Shrewd: CAGEY - some obscure Blue Öyster Cult for your ears

 

Cagey Cretins from the Secret Treaties Album

38. Breeze (through): WALTZ - more music, this clue/answer hinting that one "rolled" through ( in 3/4 time~? )

39. Wax counterpart: WANE

 

There's a Solar Eclipse Monday, 8Apr

40. Grab a chair: SIT

43. The 411: INFO

47. Situation Room gp.: NSC - no clue; I tried NSA first

48. Spicy tuna roll tuna: AHI - becoming a crossword staple

49. Totally buy: EAT UP - I don't eat up sushi

55. Unsettling: EERIE

56. Unexpected ending: TWIST - as found in this "melody"

Hole in the Sky - Black Sabbath

57. Single-stranded genetic molecule: RNA

58. Specs dished in a gossip sesh: DEETS - Text/Gen Z-speak for a 'session' and the 'details'

59. Zipper alternative: SNAPS

60. Noggin: NOB


DOWN:

1. One-eighth of a circle: OCTANT - overthought this; I was trying to come up with a clever pizza slice reference

2. Ingredient in a white or black Russian: KAHLUA - plus vodka, and milk makes it 'white'

3. Sailor's patron: ST. ELMO - there was a "coming-of-age" movie "St. Elmo's Fire" during my high school years, but I cringe at the "see 24D." of similar films in the decade - I was more "Raiders of the Lost Ark" & "Ghostbusters" kind of fan

4. "Zorba the Greek" island: CRETE - it's all Greek to me - perps

5. She/__ pronouns: HER

She's A Lady - Tom Jones

6. Curling surface: ICE - I'd like to try this "sport"

7. __ Angeles Sparks: LOS - of the WNBA

8. Aim: INTENT

9. Bathtub buildup: SCUM

10. Roofer's sealant: TAR

11. Right away: IN A JIFFY

12. Total randos: NO-NAMES - heard in this Glam "rocker"

 

Wild Side, Mötley Crüe - Lyric at 2:36, after the spinning drum cage stunt

13. Tie: TETHER - this looked weird in the 'down'; I had "TET_E" from perps

18. Horde: MOB

19. Bass beer: ALE

24. Gamut: RANGE

25. Served up a whopper: LIED

26. Race-sanctioning body since 1994: INDYCAR - this did not make sense until I cut and pasted the clue into Google, and got the Wiki; I was wondering if it referred to the race car's 'open wheel' body style at first

27. Southpaw: LEFTY - I am one - we have several at the Pipe Organ company; "Sinister" types make up about 17% of the population, and let me tell you, it's really frustrating to see how much of the world "assumes" everyone is right-handed, e.g. all vending machines, ever

See~? You'll look at them differently from now on....

30. Bit of deception: RUSE

31. Words on a family banner: MOTTO

32. Animated film with talking bugs: ANTZ - I thought "A Bugs Life" was better

33. Bialy kin: BAGEL

34. Practices for personal well-being: SELF-CARE

35. Prefix with tech: NANO

36. Wailing spirit of Irish folklore: BANSHEE - there's Siouxie and the Banshees, and another band called Banshee as well - not a fan of either, TBH

38. Showed vicarious embarrassment, in a way: WINCED

39. Midriffs: WAISTS

40. Body with notable rings: SATURN - oh, right, the, um, planet

A midriff with a ring

41. "Search me": "I DUNNO"

42. Universal blood recipient's designation: TYPE AB

44. Jost's "Weekend Update" co-host: CHE - Saturday Night Live members Colin and Michael

45. Outperforms: BESTS - Not beAts, the first "S" being my last fill

46. Snitch: RAT - we already had an 80's Hair Band, but how can I pass this up~?

Round and Round - Ratt -  AND -  Milton Berle

48. Long time: AGES

51. Minor quibble: NIT

52. Hold title to: OWN

53. Actress/director Vardalos: NIA - all "Greek" to me here, too; her IMDb

54. Psychic's letters: ESP

Splynter