Our former editor Rich returns with a Saturday offering.
Across:
1. Loaf traditionally made with clabbered milk: SODA BREAD. Authentic Irish soda bread is made with sour (clabbered) milk, not buttermilk, or milk soured by adding vinegar or lemon juice.
10. Dismiss: LET GO - He wasn't fired, he was, uh, LET GO.
15. New and improved, say: TWO POINT O 😀
16. Slim young swimmer: ELVER - A young eel is called an ELVER
17. Decreases: RAMPS DOWN - Parka sales started to RAMP DOWN recently.
18. Mookie who was the 2018 AL MVP: BETTS - He won the MVP with the Boston Red Sox. Today he plays for the LA Dodgers.
19. Miner concern: ORE 😀
20. "Law & Order" actor Jeremy: SISTO.
Jeremy SISTO and Jesse L. Martin
21. Catalan artist Joan: MIRO - Señor MIRO has been a frequent visitor here of of late
22. Cry after seeing a good drawing?: GIN 😀
GIN!
23. Airport safety gp.: TSA - Yeah, I put FAA first too.
26. "Mad __": MEN - This 3:25 video is one of the finest TV scenes I have ever seen.
27. Precipitation that can hurt: HAIL - A 2014 HAIL storm in Blair, NE.
29. Knockoffs of the 1980s and 1990s: PC CLONES.
32. Brand that sponsored early soap operas: CAMAY - Proctor and Gamble used its line of soaps in the 1920's to sponsor these radio serials which became known as, uh, Soap Operas
33. About as bad as it gets: ATROCIOUS.
35. Bleak: GRIM.
36. "One L" author: TUROW - A signed first edition goes for $150
37. __ and void: NULL.
38. Journalist who co-founded the NAACP: IDA B WELLS.
40. __ cash: PETTY.
41. Beanies: KNIT CAPS.
42. Young lady: LASS.
43. Violinist Kavafian: ANI - Not the Cuckoo of long ago crosswords
44. "I get it!": AHA.
45. Block: DAM - The Hoover DAM has blocked the Colorado River in Black Canyon for decades.
46. City southwest of Warsaw: LODZ - An hour-and-a-half drive on E30 across Poland
48. Hitchcock motel: BATES - The famous Bates Motel shower scene from Psycho took 78 Shots and 52 Cuts
51. Food __: DYE - A necessity for Easter eggs
54. Even more distant: ICIER.
56. Hereditary chain: DNA STRAND.
58. Summer Daze cologne brand: CK ONE - Calvin Klein ONE
59. Generously given: UNSTINTED.
60. Bar: ESTOP - In the field of contract law, promissory estoppel estops parties from claiming that no contract exists when another party was harmed through the reasonable reliance upon a promise by the first party. 🤔
61. Without restraint: LIKE CRAZY - The tornados blew LIKE CRAZY in Omaha on April 29th.
Down:
1. H-Town ALer: STRO - Eliding a Houston ASTRO baseball player. Some Nebraska fans wanted to use Skers for Huskers. Thankfully, it never caught on.
2. Preakness winner Man __: O'WAR.
3. Capitol cap: DOME.
4. Tablet program: APP.
5. Word in a Tom Swifty about Bruce Springsteen: BOSSILY - Bruce is known as The Boss, so...
6. Chamillionaire song with the lyrics "They see me rollin' / They hatin'": RIDIN - Like Diogonese searching for an honest man, my search continues for a rapper who lyrics I can print.
7. "The Killing" actress Mireille: ENOS.
8. Chem class fig.: AT. WT.
9. Taped message from the police?: DO NOT CROSS 😀
10. Isr. neighbor: LEB.
11. Sch. type: ELEM.
12. Some NFL breaks: TV TIMEOUTS - The man on the sidelines with the orange sleeves raises his hand to signal the referees when to call a TV TIMEOUT and then lowers his arm when play should resume.
13. Succeed: GET RESULTS - The debate rages about whether Kelly Clarkson ever used these
14. Director Welles: ORSON.
22. Jason who was the 2000 AL MVP: GIAMBI.
24. Road warning sign: SLOW.
25. NYC rep since 2019: AOC.
27. Rough treatment: HARD KNOCKS - Your first thought too?
28. Self-critical evaluation: AM I AN IDIOT?
29. Singer who was one of the original judges on "American Idol": PAULA ABDUL - Randy and Paula tried to be nice in those early auditions but Simon changed TV forever.
30. Post-doc combo?: CTRL P. 😀 Post document for printing not post doctoral
31. Starting hour, perhaps: NINE A.M - I've never had a job that started that late!
32. Sci-fi FX: CGI - Computer Generated Imagery
34. Calculated: SLY.
36. Stock sector: TECH.
39. Org. founded by Billie Jean King: WTA - I did a double take when I saw her playing a judge in an episode of Law And Order
40. Artificial: PLASTIC.
43. "... a grin without a cat" observer: ALICE.
45. Italy's Villa __: D'ESTE - The Villa d'Este (summer villa) is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains.
47. Philosopher known for "reductio ad absurdum" arguments: ZENO - Math students know of this famous paradox
49. Years in old Rome: ANNI - Villa d'Este fu costruita 550 anni fa (Villa d'Este was built 550 years ago)
50. Undertaking: TASK.
51. Focus of much analysis: DATA.
52. Santa __ Valley: California setting of "Sideways": YNEZ.
53. Current subject: EDDY 😀
55. Single situp, say: REP.
57. Prescription to fight stress, briefly: RNR - Rest (a)N(d) Relaxation. Characters in M*A*S*H usually went to Tokyo.
BONUS: My granddaughter at her graduation party last night in Lincoln along with me, my wife, her twin and her twin's husband.
David Ritterskamp appears to be a fairly new constructor of xword puzzles. This may be his LA Times debut. If so, congratulations!
Today's puzzle has its reveal placed at the dead center of the grid:
34. With 36-Across, first encounter, or what the answers to the starred clues make?: INITIAL
36. See 34-Across:CONTACT
My initial reaction to
this - as I slogged through the grid in a very pedestrian time of
around 15 minutes or so - was "meh". So, I stepped away from the
computer and let this one sink in for a day or two before starting my
blog
After reviewing
the entries, I am still somewhat nonplussed. No offense meant to
David. I just don't know how else to react to the puzzle
Here are the four entries and what I took from them:
16-across. *Sound made by bursting a cereal bag?: SPECIAL K POP. Special-K
is a brand of cereal (seemed to be more popular back in my youth) that
catered to adults (mostly women) who were counting their breakfast
calories
K-pop (short for Korean Popular Music) is
characterized by a mixture of modern Western sounds and
African-American influences (including sounds from Hip-hop, R&B,
Jazz, black pop, soul, funk, techno, disco, house, and Afrobeats) [wikipedia]
The initial "K" is in contact with both the word Special and the word Pop. The sound that is made from bursting a cereal bag is "POP"
29-across. *24-hour TV marathon that requires glasses?: THREE D DAY. Three-D (as spelled out; better known as 3D)
is the appearance of something that has (in its image) length, width,
and depth. Images on a flat screen surface (movies and tv) are seen in
2D (length and width). But with 3D Glasses one can see the added "depth" feature
D-day is
most commonly referred to as the invasion of Normandy and nearby
beaches by Allied troops in WWII. This occurred on June 6, 1944.
Fun fact: Here's what you get when you google the term D-DAY Marathon
The initial "D" is in contact with both the word Three and the word Day. The 24-hour period that requires 3D glasses is a DAY
43-across. *Many fan letters to N.W.A.?: EAZY E MAIL. Eazy-E was a member of N.W.A.who died some thirty years ago
E-mail is a popular means of communication
The initial "E" is in contact with both Eazy and mail. Fan letters used to be sent primarily by MAIL - as in the US Postal Service
59-across. *Bridge that plays a familiar note when crossed?: MIDDLE C SPAN. Middle C is a musical note that every piano student is familiar with. Middle C (video); Middle C (more info about the note)
C-SPAN is
a private nonprofit television network organization that is funded by
its cable, satellite, and streaming affiliates. They feature live
broadcast of the US Government (think Congress hearings, e.g.) and other
public affairs programming
The initial "C" is
in contact with the word Middle and the word Span. Another
definition/characteristic of the word SPAN is bridge. If a bridge were
to play a familiar note as it's being crossed, Middle C would suffice
I
hope this is what David had in mind when he created this puzzle. If
any of you who visit here and read the blog have a different view,
please comment below. Here is the grid; you can see (by the black marks
in the corners of some of the squares) where I made my errors:
Across:
1. Percolate: DRIP. I had the word "BREW" to begin with, but
changed it as the down words said otherwise ... had I seen this "CLECHO"
I might have chosen: (66-across. Percolate:) SEEP.
Not
sure that I've seen the first across word and last across word be
synonyms, but I'm sure it's happened. Was this accidental or planned??
Maybe David can stop by and let us know ...
5. After, in Avignon: APRES. I always think of this word when it applies to a winter sports activity:
10. Texting format initials: SMS. Crossword-ese
13. Tiniest bit: IOTA. Ditto
14. Flexible: PLIANT. Good Friday word (good, as in acceptable!)
15. __ it on thick: LAY.
18. Ancient: OLD. Probably how my grandson sees me when I am being curmudgeonly
19. Fix, in a way: CEMENT. Krazy-Glue didn't fit
20. Tags on Insta, say: ATS. No clue; I rarely use Instagram so this is a foreign phrase. Auto-tags?? (this is a WAG)
21. __ song: SWAN. Moe-ku:
Witty Mockingbird Retired. Guess his last act? He sang his SWAN song
22. California home of the National Yo-Yo Museum: CHICO. I tried CHINO and got a black mark in the "N" square
33. Rooibos, for one: TEA. I didn't get this one until perps came by ... I will likely see this again, so I had better commit this to memory
40. University extension: EDU. Got this one, too
41. Baseball's Mattingly: DON. Got this one;
Fun Fact: This
past weekend, NYY captain Aaron Judge (the newest Yankee player to be
featured in xword puzzles) was ejected for having an argument at home
plate (with the ump) on a called third strike. This always carries an
immediate ejection. Almost exactly 30 years ago (May 12, 1994), DON Mattingly (who
was also the Yankees' team captain at that time) was ejected for a
called third strike. They are only two Yankee captains to ever get
ejected from a game by an umpire
The "hit man"; aka, "Donnie Baseball"
42. Sound reflection: ECHO. Is this worth repeating?
47. Spot of land: ISLET. Or, a spot/dot in the water on most atlases and globes
48. Some vines: IVIES. "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat IVIES ..."
49. Bailey's Irish __: CREAM. This used to be my go-to CREAMer for my coffee ... until I discovered Buffalo Trace Bourbon CREAM
51. Give for a time: LEND. The past tense of LOAN. We gotta pay attention to our tenses here when reading the clues and filling in the grid ...
52. Means to be cooler: FAN. As opposed to "ways" to be cooler, which could be "HIP"
53. Irrigates: WATERS. This video shows another type of "irrigation" @ 2:57 ... the patient appears to be in shock! 😕😧😮
58. Gerund suffix: ING. [from Oxford Languages]: "a gerund in a form that is derived from a verb but that functions as a noun, in English ending in -ing, e.g., asking in do you mind my asking you?"
61. Take advice from a personal injury lawyer, perhaps: SUE. Moe-ku 2:
Singer Johnny Cash Employed a gentile lawyer: He's a goy named SUE
62. Submits taxes sans paper: E-FILES. It has been my means of filing for over a decade now
Character Penny Liked to flirt with Leonard on: The Big TEASE Theory ...
Down:
1. Compact __: DISC. Or it could've been clued as: "the D in CD"
2. Wrangler's need: ROPE. JEEP fit, but in the clue's context did not
3. Shipped pair?: ITEM. Credit Margaret for explaining this to C-Moe: "let's say you're shipping a pair of shoes in a box. The UPS store would see that shipment as one 'ITEM'"
Seems plausible to me ...
4. Walk to and fro: PACE.
5. Tide shelfmate: ALL. I think the clue is OK (ALL is a
brand of laundry detergent; like Tide) provided they meant
"store-shelfmate". We only have one brand of detergent on the shelf in
our laundry room, and a bar of Fels Naptha
6. Detective voiced by Ryan Reynolds: PIKACHU. A Pokemon character
7. Kite, for one: RAPTOR. Learning Moe-ment: [earthlife dot net]: "Kites are smaller raptors with long wings and weak legs which
spend a great deal of time soaring. They occur naturally in the warmer
regions of this world. In general they will take live prey but mostly
feed on dead animals"
8. Father of Kenan: ENOS. Most of we old folks will recall when a constructor wanted to use the word "ENOS", they would clue it as : Slugger Slaughter (or something similar)
9. Gas additive brand: STP. Could this abbr. be clued any differently? There must be a texting phrase linked to these letters ... Stop Typing Poorly, perhaps??
10. Got ready to stop: SLOWED. Last week I slowed as I
was making a right hand turn (green light) and got rear-ended. The
guy who rear-ended me had no insurance card at the scene, but was cited
by the police for causing the accident. I am still waiting to hear from my insurance carrier to see if they were able to determine if he does have coverage. In the meantime, my car is about 50/50 from being totaled (according to the body shop) ... arrgghh
12. "Finding Nemo" city: SYDNEY. I visited Sydney once,
but never found Nemo. I did climb the Harbour Bridge, though. No
personal cameras allowed so I have no photo to share other than this
"stock one":
I climbed it at night. Sydney Opera House to the left
14. Well-worn trail: PATH. Margaret and I have hiked many of the trails nearby; they are quite well-worn. Many are over 150 years old
Treasure Loop trail (path) in AZ
17. Move slowly: INCH. Three Stooges, anyone??!
21. Gets ready for surgery: SEDATES. Before or after they IRRIGATE the wound?? I was most recently SEDATED when I had my colonoscopy. Interesting that the performing physician referred to the procedure as "surgery"
23. "__ cost ya!": IT'LL. Not this blog, though. It's free but I know that C. C. welcomes any donations
24. Hammer end: PEEN. I started to create a Moe-ku and then said, "Nope" 😀
25. Penultimate Greek letter: PSI. Don't you just love the word "penultimate"??!
28. Like some retro frames: CAT-EYED. My partner Margaret admits
that she had a pair of these when she was a kid. She refuses to EVER
get another pair of these frames again ...
This is not Margaret, BTW. Though without glasses they do look similar
30. School near Heathrow: ETON. Yet another way to clue this classic crossword entry
32. Scarecrow creator: BAUM. The creator of "The Wizard of Oz", L. Frank BAUM
35. __ of March: IDES.
36. Natalie with nine Grammys: COLE. Would not have been easy to parse if the clue were: "Natalie with nine "grammies" ... I had three grammies, growing up ...
37. Knee pt.: ACL. I was at first "torn" by what to put here ... 😃
44. Way, or means: AVENUE. Not "Means or Ways" - a federal committee responsible for taxes and tariffs
45. Snappy put-down: ZINGER. I like Sheldon's word, better ... long
46. National park on Mount Desert Island: ACADIA. Margaret has never been to Maine. I have, but have never visited ACADIA National Park. Bucket list item
47. Apple with a few cores: IMAC. Probably the most clever clue in today's puzzle. Computers have "cores" (multiple) while an apple (fruit) has just one. Apple is the computer company that makes the IMAC desktop model
Moe-ku 4:
My Apple IMAC Had a faulty CPU: Rotten to the core
50. Stupefies: AWES.
52. Revolutionary era pipe: FIFE. As in FIFE and drums corps
54. Baking amts.: TSPS.
55. Foil alternative: EPEE. Saran wrap would not fit ...
56. Give a star, maybe: RATE. To me, I will usually only RATE a product (or service) based on whether it totally pleased me (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) or totally pissed me off (⭐)
57. Lose it: SNAP. When I was rear-ended last week I admit that I snapped
59. Crossed: MET. Did anyone keep track of the TLWs today?? Irish Miss??
I'm going out on a limb here to tell you that today's constructor Joe Rodini,
is using his debut on the Corner to present us with an elaborate Public
Service Announcement. He tries three times to light a CIGAR in the following 3 theme clues, but it gets dimmer and dimmer after each attempt... ...
17A. *Opera buffa by Mozart: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO. Some people think that The Marriage of Figaro
is the greatest opera ever written, and far be it for me to argue with
them. This opera was revolutionary, not just musically, but in its
veiled attack on the aristocracy (it was actually banned in Vienna).
The plot revolves around Count Almaviva's attempt to exercise his Droit du seigneur
-- that is his right as a Lord to "break in" any of his servant girls
on the night of their wedding. The servant in this case it is Susanna, Figaro's fiancee (the same Figaro as in Rossini's The Barber of Seville). The opera ends with an embarrassing moonlight tryst between the Count and his own wife, the Countess Rosina, whom he has been tricked into thinking is Susanna. Here's how the opera begins ...
29A. *Landscape options in dry climates: ROCK GARDENS.
A Rock Garden in San Diego
39A. *One skilled at manipulating characters: ASCII ARTIST. The Tsunami was a popular image in the ASCII Age, for those who foresaw the emergence of graphic computer interfaces and the coming Internet ...
And finally Joe reveals what he's really trying to warn us about ...
54. "Not quite!," and what can be said about a letter string in the answer to each starred clue: CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR. ... or as this Veggie Tale tells us ...
... if you smoke, it will end up being your Silent Night!
I fear that there may be a whole other layer hidden in the ashes of this theme, and if there is, I'm sure you'll point it out!
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Department concerned with wages: LABOR.
6. "Word": I DIG.
10. Kazakhstan's North __ Sea: ARAL. Four letter sea? Could this be an EKTORP?*
14. D-Day beach name: OMAHA. OMAHA was the code name for one of 5 beaches
where Allied Forces came ashore on during D-Day, the June 6th, 1944.
It was the most heavily defended beach by the Germans, everything went
wrong on that beach, and it took the heaviest casualties (e.g. compare
American losses on Omaha vs Utah).
On a D-Day tour of the beaches some years back our guide told us that
the Allied air forces were supposed to carpet bomb the bluffs above
Omaha beach with sorties running parallel to it. He speculated that due
to inter-service rivalry they ignored this decision and flew instead in
from the sea at right angles to the beach, and many of their bombs
landed in the fields beyond the bluffs. As this scene from Saving Private Ryan shows us, the results were disastrous ...
Anyone not a minor, feel free to click on the Watch on YouTube link above
15. Sushi wrapper: NORI.
16. Get a better rate, for short: REFI. REFInance. . 17. [Theme clue]
22. End zone marker: PYLON. Sports usage. But here our friendly Thesaurus.plus shows us only 10 of its 61 synonyms ...
23. Leaves at the altar: JILTS.
24. Tropical trees: PALMS.
25. Vegan milk source: ALMOND.
28. Mountainous region of the Levant: JUDEA. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, JUDEA is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name originates from Yehudah, a Hebrew name. Yehudah was a son of Jacob
(one of the "Genesis twins" who never seems to make it into crossword
fill 😀) who was later given the name "Israel" and whose sons
collectively headed the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Yehudah's progeny among the Israelites formed the Tribe of Judah, with whom the Kingdom of Judah is associated.
29. [Theme clue]
32. "CSI" evidence: DNA. Deoxyribonucleic Acid is gathered during a crime scene investigation because each individual's DNA is unique, and like finger prints, it can help identify who was at the scene. It has a half sibling called Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) -- for more on both DNA and RNA see 59A.
35. __ in handy: COME.
36. Missay, say: ERR. Is there a wrong way to clue this?
46. Race town near Windsor Castle: ASCOT. The Ascot Racecourse was founded by Queen Anne
in 1711, and has since received the support of a further twelve
monarchs. The Ascot summer race meeting officially became a Royal week
in 1911 and is always visited by the King and Queen.
The Ascot Races
47. Red carpet brand: PRADA.
49. Pertaining to bees: APIAN.
50. __ Sound Machine: MIAMI. Miami Sound Machine was an American Latin pop band of Latin-influenced music that featured the vocals of Cuban-born recording artist Gloria Estefan (née Fajardo). Established in 1975 by Emilio Estefan Jr., the band was originally known as the Miami Latin Boys before becoming the Miami Sound Machine in 1977. Their Rhythm is Gonna Get You ...
51. Explosive letters: TNT. A preview of coming attractions ... 54. [Theme reveal]
57. "Get your own!": MINE.
58. Free of fizz: FLAT. Another versatile word ...
59. Protein-building acid: AMINO. There are two main classes of proteins: 1. structural proteins used to build muscle, tissues, organs, etc; and 2. enzymes (suffixed with ase),
which act as catalysts (facilitators) mediating the myriad biological
reactions that comprise metabolism. Proteins are essentially long
strings of AMINO acids (a.k.a. "polypeptides") folded into specific 3D shapes suited to their purposes. The process by which this occurs is called protein synthesis. The order of the amino acids in a protein is defined by the GENES, sequences of DNA nucleotides (the famous "stair steps" in DNA's helical structure) specific to each protein. Here's a visual explanation of protein synthesis provided by the Amoeba Sisters ... Among the most important enzymes is RNA Polymerase,
discovered 6 years after the the structure of DNA was discovered in
1953, and which is required in the synthesis of DNA and RNA. Simply
put,
DNA is required to make enzymes, but enzymes are required to make DNA.
How did that happen? Scientists have been working on this "chicken and
egg"problem at least since 1959.
60. Online crafts site: ETSY.
61. __ up: tell all: FESS.
62. Lite: LO FAT.
Down:
1. Kirke of "Mozart in the Jungle": LOLA. Lola Kirke plays oboist Hailey Rutledge in the Amazon Prime TV series based on the 2005 memoir Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, by real life oboist Blair Tindall ...
2. "Preach!": AMEN.
3. Boston or Chicago: BAND. CITY fits, but doesn't perp. Boston is an American rock band formed in 1975 by Tom Scholz in Boston, Massachusetts, that experienced significant commercial success during the 1970s and 1980s. Chicago
is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1967. Self-described as a
"rock and roll band with horns," their songs often combine elements of
classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop music. Here are Boston and
Chicago's greatest hits ...
More Than a Feeling
Saturday in the Park
4. Cry of discovery: OHO.
5. Poking fun at: RAZZING.
6. Like noble gases: INERT. Snobs that they are, noble gases' exhibit INERTNESS,
a tendency not to react with other chemical substances, which results
from their electron configuration: their outer shell of valence
electrons is "full", giving them little tendency to participate in
chemical reactions.
10. Sock pattern: ARGYLE. ARGYLE is the handle for D. Scott Nichols, of Argyle, NY, a long time blogger on the Corner, who passed away on May 1, 2018. He was also known affectionately as our Santa. Here's C.C. In Memoriam. It's worth reading for what the regular commenters had to say about him. Some of them have passed on as well.
Argyle
11. La Liga team that plays in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium: REAL MADRID. Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, commonly referred to as REAL MADRID, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football.
12. Curly hairstyles: AFROS.
13. Wildebeest hunter: LION.
18. Nintendo princess: ZELDA. Princess Zelda is a character in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series.
Princess Zelda
19. Tablets at some checkout counters: IPADS. 5 major benefits of using IPADS in retail.
23. Routine element: JOKE. While this guy is best known for his standup, he starts this routine kneeling ... 24. Many a 23-Down: PUN.
Some McMansions under construction near me (BTW, the flag on the right is a CSO to Anonymous -T)
28. Ryan of "Bosch": JERI. I couldn't find any clips of her from Bosch, but it turns out that Jeri Ryan can sing. I believe this performance was on Star Trek Voyager'sholadeck ...
30. Suggestions, informally: RECS. TIPS would have fit too.
31. Soft & __: DRI.
33. Have a snack: NOSH.
34. Apropos of: AS TO.
37. Sicilian mount: ETNA. Mount ETNA erupts frequently in crosswords, and this past December it obliged us with an actual eruption ...
39. Back up an apology, say: ATONE. Sometimes an apology is not enough -- the theme of the book/movie ATONEMENT (highly recommended) ... 40. Gel: SET.
41. Avis rival: ALAMO.
42. Far beyond the norm: RADICAL. Dude!
44. Irish dramatist Seán: O'CASEY. Seán O'Casey (born John
Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and
memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of
note to write about the Dublin working classes.
Seán O'Casey
46. College-level HS English course: AP LIT. You might just read one of 44A's plays there.
49. Cartoon maker of Invisible Paint and Instant Road: ACME.
50. Stubborn beast: MULE.
51. "Yay, the weekend's almost here!": TGIF. The day after Thursday!
52. Grandmother's nickname: NANA.
53. Moderate gait: TROT.
55. Lifelong pal, briefly: BFF.
56. "If u ask me ... ": IMO. I know u didn't, but I drew the short straw today.
Cheers, Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
*EKTORP was defined by Emma Oxford in a comment to her April 17th, 2024 puzzle as "a clue whose answer you can get from context without actually knowing it."
Notes from C.C.:
Renee (sumdaze) and I made today's USA Today puzzle. Click here to solve. Congrats on your debut, Renee! You're simply amazing.
Our dynamic duo ( see 46D. ) of crossword collaborators Rebecca and Rachel has teamed up once again. In today's theme
they redefine MESS HALL as "MESS-Y" HALL; four phrases involving
service items - one flatware, one glassware, two dinnerware - described
as being dirty or in disarray. the word "mess" derives from the Frawnche
'mes' for "dish". A 16 x 15 grid, allowing for two 8-letter,
two 11-letter and one 12-letter spanner, plus lots of black squares, but
I don't have the "deets" on what is the maximum allowed. A handful of
names, but nothing too pesky. The theme answers:
16. Region of severe drought in the 1930s: DUST BOWL - the history
24. Diner, e.g.: GREASY SPOON - My personal favorite - Waffle House
Sadly, there is no WAFFLE HOUSE in CT
36. Rochester, New York, dish with meat, fries, and baked beans: GARBAGE PLATE - I spent a lot of my time in NY, but I had never heard of this dish before; I was going to add a picture, but it does not look appetizing at all
49. Hazard for bare feet in a beach parking lot: BROKEN GLASS - Also the title of a song; I used to hear it once a day during my retail employment tenure; I did not know it was Annie Lennox of "Eurythmics" fame who sings this
59. Army dining area, or a punny description of where to find 16-, 24-, 36-, and 49-Across: MESS HALL - perhaps the most notorious movie MESS HALL. . . .
It did get "messy"
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Day on Mars: SOL
- I do the DOWNS first, but had no crossings, so this one eluded me; a
"DAY" on Mars is one planetary rotation; in this case, it's just over 37mins more than Earth's
4. Crunched numbers: DATA
8. Shockingly vivid: LURID - I could find many an image, but this forum won't allow it~!
13. Clean water org.: EPA
14. Inner selves: EGOS
15. Wretchedness: MISERY
18. Structures that provide shade: GAZEBOS - a long-term goal is to build several decks and a structure down by my creek - perhaps it will be a gazebo
I could actually pull this off - note, another Rochester NY reference
19. At the ready: ALERT
20. Massive: EPIC
22. Craigslist abbr.: OBO - Or Best Offer - anyone care to make an offer on these two~? My tractor is here, so I don't need these two any more~!
23. Actress Polo: TERI - name #1, filled via perps
28. Head physician, briefly?: ENT - Ear, "50D.", Throat; I was looking for an abbr. for "psychiatrist" e.g., "shrink"
29. Feeds the pigs: SLOPS
30. Light units: WATTS
31. Assume, as a responsibility: TAKE ON
33. Bank vaults: SAFES
39. Question type: YES/NO - my "CANOE" at 32D. led me to try NO/YES first
40. SoFi Stadium pros: L.A. RAMS
42. Actor Hawke: ETHAN - name #2, but I know this one
45. Runs up against?: ABUTS
47. Light touch: PAT
52. Cooked up: MADE - someone MADE a mess in the kitchen
53. Bluff, maybe: BET - eh, sorta - I've played enough poker to know when someone's "BET" is more likely a "BLUFF"
54. Force from power: OUST
55. Gives for a while: LENDS
56. "Doesn't look good for me!": "I'M TOAST"
62. Apt name for someone born on Christmas: NOELLE - name,ish
63. Operatic solo: ARIA
64. Narc's org.: DEA - Drug Enforcement Agency, mentioned in this song....
Smuggler's Blues, Glenn Frey - and it gets MESSY in this kitchen, too~!
65. Class: GRADE - as in K thru 12
66. Subsequently: NEXT
67. Mule kin: ASS - and ABUTS in the same puzzle~?
DOWN:
1. Hardly rowdy: SEDATE
2. Richly appointed: OPULENT
3. Activity that involves taking a shot in the dark?: LASER TAG - my brother and I had the "home version" as kids 4. Subject of a congressional ceiling: DEBT - check out this site
5. Previously: AGO - meh
6. Pull along: TOW - ah, not TUG
7. Like a limb that's all pins and needles: ASLEEP
8. "30 Rock" role for Tina: LIZ - name #4; I know TINA, did not know "Liz"
9. Employ: USE
10. Start up again: REBOOT
11. Asimov work with "Three Laws": I, ROBOT - Issac Asimov, and a movie starring Will Smith
12. Vacuums that have "dual cyclone" technology: DYSONS - I actually have two, the 'ball'
and the cordless - but the latter seems to have lost the ability to
retain a charge - time to get a replacement battery, I guess 15. "I Try" singer Gray: MACY - name #5, filled via perps
17. Prefix with -athlon: TRI
18. Beneficiaries of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, for short: GIs - "The GI Bill"
21. Out of style: PASSÉ
24. Gooey lumps: GLOBS
25. Journalist Farrow: RONAN - name #6; filled via perps
26. Pinky promises: SWEARS
27. Carb-loader's pre-race meal: PASTA
29. Like the vibes at a spa: SERENE
32. Style of boat first used by the Aleut, Inuit, and Yupik peoples: KAYAK - I tried 'CANOE', but this is a better answer
34. Overachiever's test score: A-PLUS - a dupe answer from yesterday
Even better than A PLUS
35. Shoes that lack heels: FLATS - I had my fill of shoe fills last week. . . . see below
37. Aspirational hashtag: GOALS - I don't "hashtag", so I had no idea; crossing the unknown theme answer didn't help
38. Savory turnover: EMPANADA
Note the "LIME WEDGES", and NOT the shoes
41. Seats for equestrians: SADDLES - we had a Kentucky Derby pool
at work; I picked "Track Phantom" and "Stronghold", and neither came in
win, place, OR show. . . .
Blazing SADDLES Pie Fight; another MESSY HALL
42. Receding: EBBING
43. Earthquake: TREMOR - nailed it; we felt the April 5th New Jersey quake in CT; I read there was an additional TREMOR on May 1 44. Sore throat soother: HOT TEA - ah. LOZENGE did not fit
46. The Caped Crusader: BATMAN - Holy Crossword Clues~!
Still the coolest Batmobile ever, IMO
48. Cars that charge slowly in the cold: TESLAS - got it; I had a
plug-in Subaru Crosstrek, and was aware that it would take longer to
charge in the winter, as I did not have a garage at the time; it really
didn't matter, since I charged it overnight as I slept, and it only took
5hrs anyway
50. Honker: NOSE
51. Word before microbiome: GUT - filled via perps
And After You Have a Garbage Plate~?
52. "It's fine": MEH - Meh. For me, this qualifies something as less than "fine"
55. DA-to-be's exam: LSAT - crossword staple
57. Long in the tooth: OLD
58. Tap pour: ALE
60. Before, poetically: ERE
61. __-pack abs: SIX - my gym attendance has plummeted; conversely, my weight has risen - go figure; I'm just not a "gym" person
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