C.C.'s 380th puzzle is rife with wit, learning and her trademark devious cluing along with two 11-letter stacks! Of all her pictures, this is one of my very favorites! It was taken on 8/16/10 soon after she had become a citizen. Our old friend Spitzboov got her the flag from the Navy.
Across:
1. Signs of recognition: NODS - Around here, this usually accompanies that NOD
5. Goddess symbolized by the peacock: HERA.
9. Folks who are totes inseparable: BFFS - Totes and BFF in the same clue/fill? How hip!
13. Ropeless climbs: FREE SOLOS.
15. Horn blast: BLARE.
16. Drift apart: LOSE TOUCH - Our 60th anniversary of high school graduation is this spring but we have LOST many members and LOST TOUCH with most all others and so no one is left to organize anything.
17. Apt name for an optimist: ROSIE.
18. "The Secret Life of Bees" novelist: KIDD.
19. Nonsense: BLATHER - I try not to but the best laid plans of men and mice...
21. Times Square abundance: ADS - For $40 you can get a 15-second video to run in Times Square
24. Hides: LIES LOW - Mrs. Thomsen, my sophomore English instructor would be aghast if she knew I put LAYS LOW first! 🤨
26. Cards: IDS - Card and IDS as verbs
27. Bug: NETTLE.
29. Inner ear?: CORN COB 😀 Ya gotta love that one!
31. Starchy roots: TAROS.
32. Element in some textured paint: SAND.
33. Ortiz of "Love, Victor": ANA - Santa ANA winds or Santa ANA, CA were eschewed for a Saturday puzzle.
34. Perfect spot?: EDEN.
35. Hole number?: YARDS 😀
Yikes! 841 YARDS/Par 6
36. Ferret kin: MINK.
38. "The Marvels" actor Park __-joon: SEO - Two of C.C.'s 11-letter fills helped here.
39. "Allow Me to Retort" writer Mystal: ELIE.
40. Alabama's state nut: PECAN - Your pronunciation: puh KAHN or PEE can?
41. Words of admission: IT WAS ME - Mrs. Thomsen would be aghast yet again seeing ME instead of I after a linking verb! 😀
43. Post in a studio: MALONE - New to me but filled itself. "Danson's Cheer's character" would be better for me.
44. Club alternative: BLT - Two of my fave sammiches!
45. Inspiring device: SNORKEL 😀 Inspiring here means to breathe in! No one wore one better:
47. "Uh-uh": NAW.
48. Jumps aboard: LEAPS ON - Our school system LEAPT ON the "Open Concept Classroom" and LEAPT OFF soon after.
50. Somewhat: A TAD.
52. Pained cry: UNCLE - My uncles used to delight in making my brother and me cry UNCLE!
53. Sought-after change: RARE COINS 😀 I loved this one!
58. "To Kill a Mockingbird" narrator: SCOUT - SCOUT and the first line
59. PEBKAC issue: USER ERROR 😀
60. Gas company known for its toy trucks: HESS - This 50+ year old model is worth $900
61. Sisters with similar habits: NUNS 😀
62. Staff note: MEMO.
Down:
1. Commanders' org.: NFL - To diehards, they'll always be the Redskins
2. Word in Montana's motto: ORO.
Gold and Silver
3. From overseas?: DES - DES is a French word (thus overseas) that is always followed by a plural noun, and can be used as a preposition to mean "of", "from," or "by."
4. Go after: SEEK.
5. Cozy top: HOODIE.
6. Get by: ELUDE.
7. Skin care brand started in Paris in 1957: ROC - My DW has used their products for years
11. Treat similar to tostones: FRIED BANANA - Tostones are fried plantains.
12. Forward thinkers?: SEERS 😀
14. Film studio stock: STILLS
15. Beefiness: BRAWN.
20. Ones with very good manors: LORDS 😀
21. Front money: ANTE 😀 Ya gotta pay to play
22. Unsettling stillness: DEAD SILENCE - A comedian's worst enemy
23. Food truck fare: STREET TACOS.
25. More alarming: SCARIER.
28. So far: TO NOW
30. Brown hue: CAMEL.
32. Food source for grizzly bears: SALMON RUN.
35. Like some questions: YES NO.
37. Taylor Swift's "I __ You Were Trouble": KNEW.
40. Residence that's fit for a queen: PALACE - QEII having a few people over at Buckingham PALACE
42. Desirable trait: ASSET.
43. Olympic units: METERS - I suspect the Paris Olympics will use METRES 😀
44. Red state: BLUSH.
46. Carpenter with pipes: KAREN - Karen's musical career started as a teenage drummer in her brother's group, The Richard Carpenter Trio. He was on keyboards.
49. Positive sign: PLUS. 😀
51. Quarters near a quad: DORM 😀 A drone's eye view at UNL
54. Sparky the Sun Devil's sch.: ASU.
55. Red state: IRE 😀
56. Adèle ou Céline: NOM - Adèle ou Céline sont des noms. (Adele or Celine are names)
57. Cheap tix option: SRO - Standing Room Only tix at Yankee Stadium are $62.50.
Another "reveal-less" Friday puzzle; one that adds the letter "P"next to a phrase that begins with the letter "R" to form 5 "new" phrases based on a hypothetical clue
As a constructor I enjoy creating this kind of "add a letter" (or "subtract a letter" puzzle)
Margi Stevenson has had four recent puzzles (dating back to last fall) published at the LA Times; one each on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So, it's only fitting that her 5th puzzle would be on a Friday; in poker terms, we call that "filling in (or making) a straight"
Here are the 5 entries:
17-across. Stellar essay?: PROSE GOLD. Rose Gold is a term used in the jewelry trade to indicate the color (in this case, "rose") of a piece of gold (bracelet, ring, watch, et al); the other colors being "white" and "yellow". The added "P" twists the phrase to denote that a work of prose might be "golden" (stellar)
22-across. Modest proposal?: PRUDE REMARK. Rude remark is a term used to negatively characterize a person or their demeanor. Too often we hear these from politicians ... the added "P" might soften this a bit as prudes are often quite shy or modest
35-across. Compliment a nice thatching job?: PRAISE THE ROOF. Raise the roof is an oft used term to indicate a cacophony of noises, or maybe loud cheers (at a basketball game, e.g.). The added "P" contorts the idiom by giving kudos to one who performs repairs to the highest point on a house ... kind of like what a pigeon might do if it perched on one and gave "high coos" ...
49-across. June celebrant's social media posts?: PRIDE SHARES. Rideshares is a term that found its way into lexicography when Uber and Lyft became popular. The added "P" here gives a SO to the month of June which has become synonymous with "Pride" month. Of the five entries, this one gave me the biggest chuckle. The only (44-across. Little gripe:) NIT I have with this one is that the word rideshares can be used singularly
56-across. Comparison shop at BevMo?: PRICE WINE. Rice wine is also known as "sake". Sake is a distilled spirit made from rice grain rather than corn, rye, wheat, malt, et al. BevMo!(note the exclamation point after "Mo", which is missing from the clue) is both a big box and on-line retailer of wine and spirits, with stores in California, Arizona, and Washington state. Those of you located east of the left coast probably aren't familiar with them. Personally, I don't shop there. The added "P" makes this answer almost too obvious ...
Here is the completed grid: (see my two corrections: the O in iPod nano and the L in Kal)
Across:
1. Home of S.D. and the O.C.: SO CAL. S.D. is for San Diego; O.C. is for Orange County. Given the BevMo! reference in one of the entries I can only guess that Margi hails from the Golden State. Wonder if she likes IN-N-Out Burgers, too?
6. Cardinals gp.: NFL. Anybody else try MLB before NFL? I did
9. Hall of Famer Piazza who caught the ceremonial last pitch at Shea Stadium: MIKE. Mike Piazzais an erstwhile MLB catcher who is also a member of the HOF. I'm guessing that Patti had a hand in this clue (she's a METS fan)
13. __ myrtle: CRAPE. Anybody else try CREPE before CRAPE? I did
Fun Fact: The Crape Myrtle's roots actually begin in China, where it was named “Pai Jih Hung,”
meaning hundred days red for its beautiful color and long bloom season.
The Chinese also called it the “monkey tree” because monkeys could not
climb the smooth, slippery trunks
Crape Myrtle
14. MSN rival: AOL. Puzzles with 5 entries usually have a plethora of TLWs (18 of them at my last count). Sorry, Irish Miss - and I know that this kind of puzzle is not one of your favorites ...
15. Country with one of the highest life expectancies in the world: JAPAN. I took a wild guess at this based on my knowledge of 5-letter countries ... and when (15-down. Dried meat snack:) JERKY appeared at its perpendicular, I knew I was correct
16. Dried poblano: ANCHO. CSO to Lucina. If she cares to, maybe she'll give us a bit of its history or an anecdote or two about her experiences with using them in recipes
19. Zero-stress period: ME TIME. Nice phrase for a Friday fill, though a tad selfish! 😃
21. Cyberhandle: USER I.D. Mine is "Chairman Moe", duh!
24. "Never gonna happen, laddie!": NAE. What I said to MM last week when he tried to make us believe that he would turn down a dram of Glenmorangie
27. Pt. of 61-Across: SYS (61-across. Pre-Sierra Mac platform:) OSX. I will defer to our resident computer geeks to explain this one
28. Use a straw: SIP. Knowing the mean age of this group, I am guessing that most of you recall when a straw was made of paper, not plastic
29. Go around: BY-PASS. Having just read this book, I am quite familiar with how the US Interstate highway system had to by-pass many cities to preserve some historic areas
31. Spotter's confirmation: I SEE IT. First of the three "IT" phrases
34. "Can do!": ON IT. Second of the two "IT" phrases
39. Eldest Brady boy: GREG. The "Brady Bunch" TV series - back in the day - was the forerunner of blended families. Actor Barry Williamsplayed the role of Greg
40. Sea salt: SAILOR. Not the condiment; the "nickname" for a seafarer
41. Hit Ctrl+R, say: RE-LOAD. When I am writing my blog I often use "Ctrl+C" (copy), "Ctrl+V" (paste), and Ctrl+X (cut), but never Ctrl+R. We had this word earlier this week (Monday)
45. Fig. on a mountaintop sign: ALT. Unlike the previous clue (which referenced HTML), this one chose the abbreviation for altitude rather than the keyboard key just left of the space bar
48. Waste watchers org.: EPA. A bit of play-on-words for the clue
53. Harangue: TIRADE. I had to see if the Thesaurussaurus agrees:
He does
55. Singer-songwriter Billie: EILISH. Eilish appeared in the May 10 puzzle
59. Martini's vermouth partner: ROSSI. It's for sure that you can find this brand of vermouth (in both the white and red versions) at BevMo! Vermouthis both an aperitif as well as a mixer. I use one-part red vermouth to two-parts rye whiskey to make a Manhattan cocktail
60. Tackle box supply: HOOKS. Anybody else try LURES here? I did
62. Subsequently: AFTER.
63. Refuse: DENY. The entry subsequently to AFTER
64. Satisfied, as expectations: MET. I always hope that I MET your expectations when blogging these puzzles, even if I didn't have one single Moe-ku among all of the "across" answers. MET was recently used in this past Monday's puzzle (5/20/24)
65. Turn on: START. My prurient thoughts immediately went another direction ... but as clued, it was a fitting answer as its opposite clue appeared at 12-down. (Turn off: END)
Down:
1. Rapscallions: SCAMPS. A definition of the Friday bloggers here?? 😂
2. Like Scrooge: ORNERY. I mean, the mean couldn't be mean, could they?
3. Flora that's tricky to transplant: CACTUS. As a new Arizonan, I came to learn quickly that transplanting a cactusis not just tricky because of the thorns/spines/prickles, but because of multiple laws and protections for native plants - my favorite cactus is pictured below:
Crested Saguaro; quite rare
4. Garden pest eaten by hoverfly larva: APHID. I think on Monday sumdaze mentioned that she enjoys clues that offer a bit of trivia ... Hoverfly larvae
9. Christmas trio: MAGI. And they presented the Christ child with gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh, and a stellar essay of Prose Gold ... don't believe me? Ask Margi, our constructor ...
10. Big little tech release of 2005: iPOD NANO. I had iPAd Nano at first
11. Actor Penn: KAL. Sean didn't fit. Kal is becoming quite the character actor
18. Balkan native: SERB. Margaret's daughter-in-law is a Serb; originally from Belgrade (nee, Yugoslavia)
20. Native Ohioans: ERIES. Buckeyes didn't fit. ERIE is more commonly seen when referring to one of the Great Lakes. The Eries were a native American tribe who lived in what is now known as Ohio
23. L'escrime equipment: EPEES. "Frawnch", as our erstwhile and sometimes substitute blogger Splynter would say. This solved as a perp since I don't speak the language of the Gauls. I'm guessing that L'escrime has to do with fencing ...
25. "Never gonna happen, bud": AS IF. Well, thisis what's happening! A video that explains it so much better than I could:
26. Repair shop fig.: EST. This fig. is only good during the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, EST
31. Who Othello declares "is most honest": IAGO. Somehow this didn't need perps or prior knowledge. Just about any time I see a four-letter Shakespeare-based clue that is also a proper name, Iago is inserted
32. "Give __ go!": IT A. Third and final of the "IT" phrases, my sole Moe-ku du jour, and maybe another way to clue this:
In 1950 High school geeks were advised to "Give I T a go"
33. Yours, biblically: THINE. The word appears in the Lord's Prayer. This hymnal version (though done in a sort of Barbershop Quartet style) is quite good. One guy (Tim Waurick) does all four parts:
35. Get ready to cook: PREP. My four-year-old grandson and his mom were making a batch of banana bread muffins this past weekend. I got to see them via FaceTime. It was interesting watching him help with the prep
36. Many a wedding guest: RELATION. And in some parts of the U.S., it may also be the wedding participants ... [Margaret just rolled her eyes]
37. Name in a Beethoven title: ELISE. The video has some interesting variations on this theme
38. Untaxed investment options: ROTH IRAS. Unlike conventional IRAs a Roth IRA taxes the investment amount up front rather than on withdrawal. But in the end, regardless of which way you go, the government is going to get THEIRS (which, when the letters are separated spells THE IRS)
39. Hurdle for M.A. hopefuls: GRE. Would a hurdle for an NCO field combat hopeful be MRE?? Having never tried one, maybe they are tasty?
42. __-ski: APRES. This entry word was captured in my 5/10/2024 blog with a cartoon. In case you missed it, here it is again!
43. Lure: DRAW. Another Friday-level clue. On Monday the answer to "lure" might be bait
46. __ of two evils: LESSER. This phrase used to be my go-to whenever someone asked me who I might be voting for ...
47. Part of a summer camp uniform: T-SHIRT. Merit Badge Sash wouldn't fit. I wonder what the Camp Grenada T-Shirt looked like?
50. Kick to the curb, for one: IDIOM. An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For example, saying that something is "beyond the pale" is an idiomatic way of saying that it is improper or "over the line," but you would only know that if someone had explained it to you, or if you had been able to infer its meaning based on context
51. Crowded: DENSE. Is this also a Friday-like clue for this word?
The Thesaurussaurus agrees!
52. Like a kite: ALOFT. I felt pretty soar after figuring this one out
54. Totally gross: ICKY. I almost TITT when I saw this clue; I was trying my best to figure out how something "twelve-dozen"-ish was icky
56. Deg. held by Wilson, but no other U.S. president: PH.D. Learning Moe-ment. I was unaware that Woody was the only POTUS to have a Ph.D. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in history and political science from Johns Hopkins University
57. Tuna tartare topper: ROE. Too bad that the word entry didn't begin with a "T", too. Very alliterative clue
58. Tel. no. addition: EXT. Why not end on a TLW?? 😀
BTW, I thought of another possible entry that was likely discarded due to its being too long for a 15x15 grid:
Clue: Beef choice for an old seafaring storyteller? Answer: PRIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER
Well, as always, I am anxious to read your comments and thoughts about today's puzzle ... see you next month
17A. Spot for a spot?: PARKING LOT. Parking SPOTS are found
in PARKINGLOTS.
24A. Spot for a spot?: WHERES WALDO. Illustrator
Martin Handford
published the first in his series of Where’s Waldo books over 25
years ago. The books challenge readers to find the titular cartoon man, clad in
his trusty red-striped shirt and red-striped hat, as he hides in a landscape of
red-striped red herrings. It turns out that for me, WALDO was not very easy to
spot -- I had to search through at least a 1/2 dozen images before I could find one
to use for this clue. This one's a gimme ...
36A. Spot for a spot?: TEA CEREMONY. Everything you would want to know about the
British ritual
and the
Japanese ritual.
47A. Spot for a spot?:
TV BROADCAST. -- SPOT in this case being slang for an advertisement.
57A. Spot for a spot?: BENCH PRESS. I couldn't find a picture
of Stella doing
a BENCH PRESS, so you'll have to settle for this one. Tsk, tsk --
he's not using a SPOTTER!
6. Mineral deposits: ORES. An Ektorp? Plural clue with the word "mineral" and a 4 letter fill -- what else could it be but ORES? OTOH, not all mineral deposits are destined for the smelter. For example Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) is not refined into the Alkaline earth metalCalcium (Ca) -- rather it is used to make plaster, wallboard, and other products.
10. Stacked on: ATOP.
14. Words of defeat: I LOSE.
15. Bigger than big: HUGE.
16. "Don't use that __ with me!": TONE. "Well what tone DO
you want!?" Here's a father and son team who will make a set of
wind chimes that will play any 8 TONE tune you want to hear ...
17. [Theme clue]
19. Symbol at the center of a Scrabble board: STAR. Jared should
know -- he's a STAR Scrabble player!
20. Virtual video game characters: SIMS. The Sims is a series of life simulation video games
developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has
sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the best-selling
video game series of all time. It is also part of the larger Sim
series, started by SimCity in 1989.
22. Switches from a bottle to a cup, say: WEANS. IMO, more commonly
associated with giving up mother's milk.
23. California's Santa __ Mountains: ANA. The Santa Ana Mountains
are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern
California in the United States. They extend for approximately 61 miles
(98 km) southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border
between Orange and Riverside counties.
Santa Ana Mountains
24. [Theme clue]
27. Language in which "w" can be a vowel: WELSH. Not only can "w" be used as a vowel in WELSH, but the latter's orthography
(conventional spelling system) has 29 letters. Some examples of "w" as
a vowel include “cwm,” which means “valley” and sounds like “coom,” as
well as “crwth,” which is a stringed instrument and sounds like “crooth.” -- Book Riot.
29. Grade that may accompany a 26-Down message: DEE.
30. Particle exchanged in water purification: ION. Ion exchange is a process used in softening or demineralizing water, purification of chemicals, and separation of substances.
31. Square stuck in a corner: POSTAGE. This reminded me of a
tone poem about a shy young man who stood in a corner trying to get up
the nerve to invite the pretty girl on the other side of the room to
dance -- and then he did, and she did! (a CSO to Yellowrocks) ...
41. Asset in darts: AIM. We'll skip the Ted Lasso clip this time around. Maybe next time.
42. Bases-loaded walk stat: RBI.
43. Beach tour destinations: ISLES.
47. [Theme clue].
52. Wonder: AWE. These days I wonder a lot about the Here After. I walk into a room to find something and then wonder "What am I here after?" 😀
53. Put on the payroll: HIRED.
54. Blonde hue: ASH. I used to be an ASH blonde, but what's left of my hair is on the
verge of becoming SILVER blonde.
55. Printing shade: CYAN. The color CYAN, a greenish-blue, has notable tints and shades. It is one of the subtractive primary colors along with magenta, and yellow
CYAN, MAGENTA, and YELLOW
56. Lions or Tigers: TEAM. or BEARS oh my! 😀
57. [Theme clue].
60. Pakistani tongue: URDU. Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language
spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the national language and lingua
franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside
English. Here is a distribution of native Urdu speakers in the major
countries where it is spoken ...
61. Nirvana, for one: TRIO. This grunge rockTRIO is named for
Nirvana,
the Hindu term for enlightenment. Here is a sitar, flute, and violinTRIO evocative of that state (15 min.) ...
64. Electrical unit: WATT. A WATT is a unit of power, named after Scottish engineer James Watt,
which measures the rate of energy transfer. A watt, in electrical
terms, is the rate at which electrical work is done when one ampere (A) of current flows through one volt (V). I've included this link for those who have spotted that A and V are not the standard symbols used in Ohm's Law.
James Watt (1736–1819)
65. Church recesses: APSES. There are two types: the large one at the
front of the church with the ALTAR, and in some churches there are
smaller ones (niches) around the sides with statues or images of saints.
Apses in the Crypt of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Washington, D.C.
Down:
1. Lumber mill tool: RIPSAW. Lumber mills use RIPSAWS to rapidly rough cut lumber because they are designed to cut along the grain, which is parallel to the growth of the tree. CROSSCUT saws have more teeth and are designed to make finer cuts across the grain of a finished lumber ...
11. Climactic moment during an eclipse: TOTALITY. While we
didn't experience totality in Baltimore, it did get dark here for
several minutes. Here's a national geographic explanation of how it
happens ...
12. Ad infinitum: ON AND ON. See 18D below.
13. Lady Gaga, for Stefani Germanotta: PERSONA. A PERSONA is the personality that a person (such as an actor or politician) projects in public: i.e. their IMAGE. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Here's her song Just Dance (her PERSONA in Poker face was just a little too gaga! for me) ...
18. Ultimate degree: NTH.
-- a term used to describe the most recent in a long series of things,
when you do not know how many there are. This is truly the NTH time we've seen this.
24. "Holy moly!": WHOA. The first word that popped into my head, Batman! 😀
25. Path maintenance tool: EDGER.
26. Teacher's directive: SEE ME. Is she going to pat you on the head and tell you what a good job you did on the test? Or to talk about the 29A you got?
28. Erupt: SPEW. Like 35A.
32. PADI certification activity: SCUBA. Hand up if you're PADI certified? If you aren't and want to be here's a clip on course 101 ...
33. Halfhearted: TEPID.
34. Objet d'__: ART. Today's French lesson: "Object of Art" or ...
35. Burnt brisket bits: ENDS.
36. Only person to win seven Super Bowls: TOM BRADY. Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.
(born August 3, 1977) is an American former football quarterback who
played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent
his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and was a central
contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019. In his final
three seasons, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady is
widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time. He was also the greatest 6th round draft pick (199th player) of all time ...
Tom Brady
37. "Right away, boss!": ON IT.
38. Rubber duck's place: BATHTUB. Do De Rubber Duck With Ernie ...
39. Côte d'Azur, e.g.: RIVIERA. More French: literally "Azure side" -- a reference to the blue Mediterranean Sea perhaps. Eight must-see spots on the Côte d'Azur.
49. "Pipe down!": CAN IT. Another clecho. Be quiet and you'll hear it.
50. Fancy neckwear: ASCOT. An ascot tie
or ascot is a neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of
pale grey patterned silk. This wide tie is usually patterned, folded
over, and fastened with a tie pin or tie clip, modeled here by American
expatriot artist John Singer Sargent ...
John Singer Sargent in a pleated Ascot tie c. 1880, and the subject of a recent Tate Exhibition.
51. "Pipe down!": SHH. Another clecho. Be quiet and you'll hear it.
55. Do some photo editing: CROP. Sometimes it's necessary in these reviews. And video editing too.
57. "I should tell you," for short: BTW. -- but the time's too short ...
58. Common __: ERA. I am in AWE of how BCE suddenly became CE in the course of a single weekend? 😀
59. Org. that may organize after-school activities: PTA. What would
constructors do without them?
Cheers, Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
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