Saturday, August 17, 2024, Kyle Dolan

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

Kyle returns with another challenging Saturday exercise for us. This is my 16th Saturday puzzle authored by Dr. Dolan. As usual, his clever cluing was frustrating maddening enjoyable. 😀

My last two fills were the two cells in red you see in the grid. Two "educated" guesses turned out to be correct to finish the 3-letter words. Arrggghhh! I  got a well-earned "got 'er done".

Dan Whitney from
Pawnee City, NE

                 

Across:

1. Croc or moc: SHOE - 😀

 

5. Not tons: A FEW - Kyle and/or Patti had more than A FEW clue head scratchers

9. Bank: MOOLA - MOOLA and bank are used as slang for each other.  Hmmm...🤔

14. Olivia of "The Newsroom": MUNN.

15. Vessel for Anne Bonny or Zheng Yi Sao: PIRATE SHIP - The light finally came on for me as I did not know either of these women. After a few cells filled, the rest was obvious.

 

17. Quakers' rivals: ELIS - An Ivy League contest

18. Image concerns?: PR AGENCIES - I struggled mightily and had to finally parse the fill. PR AGENCIES are concerns whose job is making good images. 

19. Spoken: ALOUD.

21. Acronym to which an "A" is sometimes added: STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Some insert an "A" adding Art to make STEAM. I put SPCA first because I know an A is sometimes added to it.

22. Tops: A-ONE.

23. Rampaged: RAN RIOT.

25. Scorecard standard: PAR - The standard against which we golfers compare

27. Indulgent meal: BREAKFAST IN BED - BREAKFAST was obvious but IN BED took me some time as I thought about the contents of the meal rather than the courtesy being offered.

33. Language in which "hello" is "sabaidi": LAO.

           

34. Stinger?: NARCO - 🤨 Okay, a NARCO participates in drug stings, so...

35. Code name: MORSE 😀

36. Word in some pasta dish names: ALLA -  We have all seen Penne, ALLA and Vodka in crossword fills.

38. "__ see!": YOU'LL.

40. Outdoor game, slangily: DISC - One variation 

41. Jumps out of one's skin?: MOLTS 😀

43. Provider of outdoor seating: STOOP -STOOPS in NYC were necessitated by the enormous piles of horse manure in the streets.

45. __ Paulo: SAO - All the McDonalds in SAO, Paulo, Brazil. (Saint Paul 😀)

46. Historic brew-haha?: BOSTON TEA PARTY 😀

49. Important figure in Shia Islam: ALI 🤔

50. Entertains grandly: REGALES.

52. __ bowl: ACAI.

55. Point: GIST - As I said earlier, the GIST of Kyle's (or Patti's) clues can be, uh, difficult

58. Screen print?: E-TEXT.

59. Dressy attire that sounds casual: LOUNGE SUIT.

62. Bygone autocrat: TSAR - The [tsar/czar] [avered/avowed] he was at the [acme/apex] of power.

63. "Basically": MORE OR LESS.

64. Teacher of the Dharma: LAMA - Lama (Tibetan: བླ་མ་, Wylie: bla-ma, lit. 'boss') is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru, meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. Okay...

65. Taquería option: ASADO - I knew ASADA and dutifully filled it in. Who knew this is an alternate spelling I needed to finish GOO?

66. Place dear to the Sundance Kid: ETTA -  😀 My favorite clue!

67. Amazon Handmade competitor: ETSY.

Down:

1. Smudge: SMEAR.

2. Brouhaha: HULLABALOO - A salute to the TV show of the same name. This video shows  many of the 60's music groups it featured.

3. Deli basketful: ONION ROLLS.

4. Guarantee: ENSURE - The most famous and controversial guarantee in sports history

5. Slack, e.g.: APP - Guessing the second "P" and parsing PR AGENCIES finally ended my puzzle. I stared at AP_/_RAGENCIES for waaaayyy too long.

An APP not familiar to me

6. End of a growing season, typically: FIRST FROST 😀 

7. "In principio __ Verbum": John 1:1: ERAT - In the beginning was the word.

8. Carry on: WAGE - There are far too many countries WAGING war

9. Fellows: MEN.

10. Film score?: OSCAR NOD - Groan 😖. Patti or Kyle came out of left field with this one. To "score" means to get something. Here a film (not necessarily the film's score) hopes to get (score) an OSCAR NOD.

11. Place-name that comes from the Seneca for "good river": OHIO - The name "Ohio" comes from the Seneca language (an Iroquoian language), Ohi:yo'(roughly pronounced oh-hee-yoh, with the vowel in "hee" held longer), a proper name derived from ohiːyoːh ("good river"), therefore literally translating to "Good River". "Great river" and "large creek" have also been given as translations. 😗

12. Claim: LIEN - I almost had to file a LIEN against a customer when I was a landscaper.

13. Cathedral area: APSE.

16. Bait: TEMPT.

20. Conservationist Fossey: DIAN.

24. "All right": OKAY.

26. Get ready to drive, say: AIM 😀 - Uh, AIMING does not guarantee success.

28. 80 on a math test, maybe: ACUTE - Kyle!! On a math/geometry test, an 80^o angle is an ACUTE angle! 🙄

29. One without a backup plan?: SOLO ARTIST - I remember a wonderful John Denver concert where it was all him with no other acts.

30. Is put off by: BRISTLES AT.

31. Tests that are hard to guess on: ESSAY EXAMS - Correcting them, uh, correctly is a pain!

32. Style with a Streamline Moderne offshoot, informally: DECO.

33. Petting zoo baby: LAMB 

37. Got: ATTAINED.

39. Canter: LOPE.

42. Estrella del día: SOL - La estrella del día de la Tierra es el SOL. (Earth's day star is the Sun).

44. Unit attached to a spine: PAGE 😀 Kyle! Yeah, I guess every PAGE of a book is attached to the book's spine.

47. Niamey's country: NIGER - Niamey is the capital city of NIGER and has a population of over a million. It is NNW of a cwd fav - Accra. If you knew this straight up, my hat is off to you!

48. Reason to consult a mechanic: RATTLE.

51. Adoptee, at times: STRAY.

52. "Resurrection" and "Watusi (Hard Edge)" painter Thomas: ALMA.

ALMA and "Resurrection"

53. Baby talk: COOS.

54. Lighting effect: AURA - Yeah, I'm the only one who first saw lightning. 😛

56. Bridge side, perhaps: ISLE - Hurricane Ian knocked out this bridge that ran from the mainland of Florida out to Sanibel Island where our friend Dr. Ed Sessa lost his house. 

57. Fat with a high smoke point: SUET - Wanna know more?

60. Possible result of over-reduction: GOO - I made a good guess at GO_/ASAD_

61. Org. with a "3-1-1" rule: TSA.

Friday, August 16, 2024 - Ella Dershowitz

 

Theme:  It's a wrap!

 

Puzzling thoughts:  

It's the Chairman here, with my lone August appearance as your bi-weekly Friday blogger.  I have just one week between trips (on August 2 we were on our trip to Bryce Canyon and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon) so I will be brief in the summary of the clues/answers, but not the intro.  This puzzle needs a lot of explaining

I won't lie; Ella Dershowitz gave me several fits, a few head scratches, and many four-letter (and longer) utterances. The four theme entries were names of groups (artists, as clued) that cover the genres of pop, soul, alt rock, and rock, respectively.  Three of these groups are ones with which I am familiar (and of those, only one will I occasionally listen to); the fourth group sounds like a Halloween prank!

But I digress ... all of the theme entries actually DO "connect" with the reveal (which occurs in the center of the grid): a two-word entry that is separated by a black square (block).  How, you ask?  Please read on ...

17-across. "Son of a Preacher Man" artist: INGFIELDUSTYSPR.  Well, I DID know that Dusty Springfield is the pop artist who sang "Son of a Preacher Man".  But when I tried to fit it into this 15-letter space, I came up one letter short.  DustySpringfiel was as far as I could get.  It looked silly, but I left it in place ... for a short while 

28-across. "September" artist: DANDFIREARTHWIN.  Once again, I KNEW that Earth Wind and Fire was the soul band that gave us this melodic, post-disco riff.  I started the fill with Earthwindandfir before realizing that the final "e" of fire was extinguished

Earth wind and fir could have been a pun if clued differently, but it wasn't

42-across. "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" artist: PUMPKINSMASHING.  I had to look up this clue, as I was never into the alt rock group Smashing Pumpkins.  But as with the first two theme entries, I was one "seed" short of fitting this group into the 15-letter space when the final "s" of Pumpkins was omitted

Pumpkin Smashing could have been a funnier entry had it been clued differently

55-across. "Crash Into Me" artist: HEWSBANDAVEMATT.  Another one I had to look up. The rock group Dave Matthews Band is one with which I am familiar, but I can't name a single song title of theirs.  They were a popular band when my kids were growing up.  And after counting the letters of the artist's name, I knew that this 16-letter entry would not squeeze into the 15 spaces that Ella allowed in her grid

Not to be deterred, I started working the verticals.  Most were fair, and slowly I began seeing where (and eventually, how) the letters from each of these musical artists began to fit.  But that still didn't make this puzzle any easier to solve or suss (theme-wise) once the reveal appeared:

34-across. With 38-Across, annual compilation often shared on social media, and an apt place for four of this puzzle's long answers?: SPOTIFY (38-across. See 34-Across:) WRAPPED

What in the hell is Spotify Wrapped???  Without going into another full paragraph, I will just provide a link.  Fortunately, while I was solving the puzzle, my Gen-Y daughter was visiting.  She helped dad understand the reveal

When you read the info on Spotify Wrapped it typically shows the names of 5 bands as the ones that you most often listen to.  Today's puzzle offered just 4 bands.  Not sure if this was by choice or accident, but in fairness to the reveal, Ella should have listed a fifth band somewhere in the grid (unless I somehow missed one)

To help those who still don't know WTF is going on, the only way to put the entire name of each group/band/artist into the corresponding space is to wrap the letters around the grid.  When you look at the first and last letter of each (D for Dusty Springfield; E for Earth Wind and Fire; S for Smashing Pumpkins; and D for Dave Matthews Band) it allows you to wrap the complete name into the grid

To my surprise - and my only real "like" about this puzzle - is that each of the artist's names have the first and last letter in the same spot (dead center) of the 15 letter space ... 

I can't WAIT to hear what you all think of this! 😕 

Conversely, I KNOW that Anonymous -T will probably like this way more than I 😃

My overall rating: ⭐⭐ 

Since my introduction is so long, I chose just one of these hit songs to be today's earworm.  Enjoy a little soul and R & B:

 

The Grid

Across:

1. Function: USE.

4. Try: STAB.  A fitting entry; I wanted to stab myself several times today as I tried solving the puzzle 

8. One skilled at reading others: EMPATH.

14. Seasonal drink: NOG.

15. Kylo Ren's mother: LEIA.  A Star Wars reference

16. One Down Under, casually: AUSSIE.

20. Some online animation: POPUPS.

21. Gown cut: SLIT.  Since I am not Splynter I won't offer a gratuitous photo image of a slit gown and fishnet stockings 😂.  

Question: Ladies, if you wore a gown with a slit, would it be a (4-down. Minor goof:) to have your SLIP be visible?

 

Oops, I lied! I hope Splynter won't be mad at me

22. Middle East sultanate: OMAN.  I wish this had been clued to reveal a two-word phrase; as in "What did you utter as you slogged through today's puzzle?" "O, Man!"

23. Actor Postlethwaite: PETE. Perps to the rescue.  Not familiar with this actor

24. Antidepressant, for short: SSRI. I'm on a low dose of fluoxetine, FWIW

32. Toured national parks, perhaps: RV'ED.  We toured the two National Parks I mentioned in my intro above with a four-wheeler and stayed at their lodges.  No "glamping" for us

33. Jazz drummer Max: ROACH.  Let me be the first to say that this is certainly qualifies as a Friday clue.  The word roach is more familiar to me as either an insect or a marijuana cigarette

40. Arm bones: ULNAS.

41. Best Choreography, for one: TONY.  As in the award, and a CSO to one of our blog regulars

49. "Peter Pan" pirate: SMEE.

50. Utah city with a biblical name: MOAB.  A city/town quite close to this National Park

51. Taiwanese laptop company: ACER.  I owned one once and wasn't that thrilled with it.  I am a Lenovo lad

52. Frankenstein associate: IGOR. Easiest clue / entry today

53. Mother __: TERESA.  There is another six-letter word that fits here, and was one of many expletive utterances I said during the solve

60. Live feed from the San Diego Zoo: APE CAM.  Green paint, IMO

61. Interview-style exam: ORAL. Did no reference to a doctorate degree make this clue/answer tougher?

62. "Huh!": GEE.

63. Much political humor: SATIRE. Oh, don't we all long for some political satire these days instead of only the mudslinging ads we are seeing?

64. CVS orders: MEDS.  I get my meds through CVS.  They are my insurance company's preferred pharmacy

65. Wood __ mushrooms: EAR.  These:

Down:

1. Simple camera stand: UNI-POD.  Anyone else try tripod first? 

2. California wine limo destination: SONOMA.  A CSO to moi, your resident sommelier

3. Small skillet: EGG PAN.  Yes, they do exist

 

5. Merch table tops: TEES.  As in T-shirtS

6. Not thrive: AIL.

7. Inherently evil sort: BAD SEED. Trying hard not to be one today

8. Less arduous: EASIER.

9. Many a shelter dog: MUTT.  Or maybe one of the two guys in this duo: 

10. Social science subj.: PSY.  Anyone else try bio first?

11. Donkey: ASS.

12. Gratuity: TIP.

13. Gender-specific pronoun: HER.

18. Subsidize: FUND.

19. Sephora rival: ULTA.  

 

A cosmetics store

23. Target: PREY. Not a reference to Target, as in the store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, MN

24. Boutique: SHOP.

25. Trade: SWAP. This should've been the time where I'd swap this puzzle with another blogger

26. Onigiri component: RICE.  Japanese RICE bowls.

A nice side dish to this might be: (54-down. Unadon fish:) EELS. [justonecookbook.com] says: 

"Unadon, or Grilled Eel Rice Bowl, is a beloved Japanese dish consisting of steamed rice topped with grilled eels glazed with a sweetened soy-based sauce (called tare) and caramelized, preferably over a charcoal fire. When grilled unagi is served in a big rice bowl called donburi, we call it Unadon (鰻丼), a short for unagi donburi"

27. Very clear, picture-wise: IN HD. Note, I added a hyphen to the word "picturewise" in the clue to correct the error 

29. Search after a metal detector beeps, perhaps: FRISK.  I am hoping now that I have a Global Entry Pass, I won't have to be frisked again when going through a TSA line

30. Abbr. in reproductive health: IVF.  Both of Gov. Tim Walz's children were conceived via In Vetro Fertilization; something we all learned with no political satire (or mudslinging)

31. Food court stack: TRAYS.

34. Dines late: SUPS.  I hope that this word NEVER gets clued as: "What's goings on, familiarly?" S'ups

35. Chutney fruit: PLUM.

36. "I got this one": ON ME.

37. Cassette: TAPE.

38. Room to grow?: WOMB. Cute clue

39. Genetic messenger: RNA. As opposed to DNA, the genetic reproducer

41. Russia, once: TSARDOM. Certainly, a less popular term in crossword puzzles than the person (TSAR) who ruled over it

43. "Count me in!": I'M GAME.

44. Midday: NOON.

45. Injure: HARM.

46. Cooling-off period?: ICE AGE.  Cute clue, but not as cute as 38-across

47. "Keeping it real since forever!" drink brand: NESTEA.  More perps.  I forgot this jingle

48. Handy tool for making latkes: GRATER.  What does the grater say when having its picture taken? 

(c'mon, I know you'll say it!)

52. Construction beam: I-BAR.

53. Campaign expense: TV AD.

55. Possesses: HAS.

56. Emissions-monitoring org.: EPA.  Speaking of "emissions", I had a few sophomoric chuckles when I saw this comic's bit:  Warning!  There is some off-color language spoken at the very end of the video

57. Damp: WET.

58. Poli-__: SCI.

59. "Odds __ ... ": ARE.  What are the odds that C-Moe will go through an entire blog without a Moe-ku or Moe-l'ick?

See you again in late September (the 27th) when we get back from the next vacation trip.  The very capable and witty blogger Naomi will be subbing for me on August 30 and September 13.  Ciao!

 

Notes from C.C.:

1) Have a great vacation, Chris!

2) Happy 74th birthday to our witty Friday Sherpa MM! Hope it's a beautiful day where you're, Joseph! Thanks for the time and effort you put into all your writeups. Here is a picture of MM, Chair Moe and their loved ones. They met last year.

Margaret, Chris, Joseph and Valerie

Thursday, August 15, 2024, Dan Margolis

 

  Punny Podcasts

For those not familiar with the term, a podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet.  Podcasters may create audio podcasts on MP3 files or videos on services like YouTube.  They can be played immediately, or downloaded to files for playing later.  

Today veteran constructor Dan Margolis treats us to 4 theme clues with podcasts pitched to different audiences and filled with punny answers ... 

20. Podcast category for electricians?: CURRENT EVENTS.   This one is pretty shocking 😀 ...

FYI -- "earth" is Britspeak for "ground wire"

28. Podcast category for demolition experts?: BREAKING NEWS.  These guys are really razing Cain! 😀 ...

49. Podcast category for sanitation workers?: TALKING TRASH.  We had this same fill a few weeks back, about talking trash among sports figures, but I couldn't find any videos that would get past Margaret Farrar's sniff test.  This sanitation worker not only talks trash, but he's also a Good Samaritan 😇...

58. Podcast category for beekeepers?: THE LATEST BUZZ.  This girl's wish creates quite a buzz among the beekeeper community (be sure to get out your hankies) ... 😂

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Glasgow topper: TAM.

4. Milky white gem: OPAL.   

Milky Opal

8. Less friendly: ICIER.

13. Slightly: A BIT.

15. Nutmeg spice: MACE.  Myristica fragrans is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia that is the main source of the spices nutmeg and mace.  The seed of the tree is the source of nutmeg and its aril is the source of mace.

Mace surrounding Nutmeg seed

16. Singer's asset: RANGE.  A clever pastiche of scenes showing  Maria Callas' vocal assets ...

17. Firth kin: LOCH.  FIRTH seems to connote a connection to a larger body of water, but also one that could be connected to a LOCH ...

Synonyms for FIRTH

  

Synonyms for LOCH

18. Sound rebound: ECHO.

19. Sandwiches for dessert: OREOS.

20. [Theme clue].

23. Bart Simpson, e.g.: TOON.  The TOONISH Till Eulenspiegel  of the town of Springfield ...

24. Nest egg initials: IRA.

25. Early Beatles bassist Sutcliffe: STU.  Stuart Sutcliffe: The life, work and tragic death of the Fifth Beatle.  Here he sings the Elvis classic Love Me Tender ...

28. [Theme clue].

33. Funny duo?: ENS.  First meta clue.

36. Knitting need: YARN.

37. "__ Meenie": Kingston/Bieber song: EENIE.

38. One of the Three Bears: MAMA.

40. Boating hazards: REEFS.  How to safely navigate a boat near coral reefs.

43. Prefix meaning "height": ACRO.  This prefix most often precedes the word ACROPHOBIA or fear of heights.  Those suffering from this phobia would probably want to pass on the Skywalk at Grand Canyon National Park. 

Grand Canyon Skywalk

 44. Do-__: second chances: OVERS.

46. Desktop light: LAMP.

48. Keebler mascot: ELF.

49. [Theme clue].

53. Shape of a right angle: ELL.  

Right Triangle

54. "Hamilton" creator __-Manuel Miranda: LIN.  Here's a snippet from an interview with LIN on the Graham Norton Show, where he does a quick improv of the number "My Shot" from Hamilton ...

55. Fill to the gills: SATE.

58. [Theme clue].

64. Had home cooking: ATE IN.  The best!  

 66. Water source: WELL.  A very deep subject -- I'll spare you the details. 😀

67. "Would __ to you?": I LIE.  A bigger question is whether Epimenides lied?

68. "It __ sunk in yet": HASN'T.

69. Convenience: EASE.

70. Cannery row?: TINS.  Rows of TINS being loaded into an oyster canner in the Baltimore Museum of Industry ...

Oyster canner

71. Lenya of "The Threepenny Opera": LOTTE.  Here Lenya sings Mack the Knife, probably the most famous song from Kurt Weill's Three Penny Opera ...

72. "The Hidden Staircase" sleuth Nancy: DREW. The Hidden Staircase is the second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, published in 1930 and revised in 1959.

1939 edition

Warner Brothers released a filmed adaptation of it in 1939 and again in 2019 ...

73. Most preferred: PET.  E.g. a PET project..

Down:

1. Mineral softer than gypsum: TALC.  How we know that is a CSO to Chairman Moe ...

2. Concerning: ABOUT.

3. Prefix with biology or brewery: MICRO.  This week I'll go with the brewery ...

Since you asked ...

4. Harbinger: OMEN.  Last week we went with Albert King, this week we'll go with Cream ...

5. Concord: PACT.

6. Blue-Emu target: ACHE.  Funny how crosswordese tends to morph.  Blue-EMU is used for treating a variety of conditions, including muscle pain, arthritis, and itchy feet.  When PETA finds out about the key ingredient in this stuff they might try to shut it down ...

It is not without its risks ...

7. Pope after John XI: LEO VII.  Pope Leo VII (died 13 July 939) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 3 January 936 to his death.  He wasn't a saint, so I'm not sure why he's wearing a halo in this image ...
 

Pope Leo VII

 8. Early metalworking period: IRON AGE.  The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic (copper) and Bronze Ages.  It is preceded by the Stone Age (subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic) and the Bronze Age.  Here is an informative 10 minute video that provides an illustrated overview of these periods ...

9. Links rental: CART.

10. Basically: IN ESSENCE.

11. I, to Claudius: EGO.  Today's Latin lesson #1.  I, Claudius is also a novel by Robert Graves, which has had several adaptations, most notably the 1975 BBC TV series starring Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, and John Hurt.  I don't know what Margaret would have thought about it, but I'm rating this trailer PG ...

12. In medias __: RES.  Today's Latin lesson #2, meaning "in the middle of things" and sometimes used as a literary technique for structuring narratives.  

14. Beat: THROB.

21. Professor Higgins, to Eliza: 'ENRY.

Eliza

22. Directional ending: ERN.

26. Show off a new dress, say: TWIRL. 

27. Make __: employ: USE OF.

29. Singer's asset: EAR.  A clecho to 16D -- Maria must have had a pretty good EAR to hit all of those notes with a perfect pitch. ♫♬🎝

30. "The Boys __ Back in Town": ARE.  The Boys Are Back in Town is probably the most famous song by Thin Lizzy, an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Thin Lizzy initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon ...

Lyrics

 31. Genuflected: KNELT.  A gesture of respect used before royalty and in some Christian churches.  IIRC Ray - O commented that when he attended the Catholic funeral of long time commenter Spitzboov  he could tell that most of those in attendance were Protestants, because most didn't know when to kneel and when to stand. 😀

32. Grant-giving gp.: NEA.  Here's how you can apply for one at the National Endowment for the Arts. 

33. Project feelings onstage: EMOTE.  Don't project too far or you might end up "chewing the scenery".

34. Part of USNA: NAVAL.  Another CSO to Spitzboov -- he was an engineer who had retired from the Navy. He also knew a lot about Germanic languages.

35. Assessment of credibility: SMELL TEST.  I usually hear SNIFF TEST, but YMMV.

39. Deluge refuge: ARK.

41. A ways away: FAR.

42. Like a wee bairn: SMA. Today's Irish lesson: "a small child" with SMA being a diminutive describing one.

45. Nerve ending?: SILENT E.  Second meta clue.

47. Start of a conversation in class, maybe: PSST.

50. Nada: NIL.

51. Chewed like a beaver: GNAWED.  Here are a couple of them in action ...

52. Regular tendency: HABIT.

56. Blooming bulb: TULIP.  Here are some of the tulips in Sherwood Gardens in Baltimore.  Approximately 50,000 bulbs are planted each year.

Tulips in bloom

57. Web mag: EZINE.  A portmanteau of Electronic and magaZINE.

59. Help for the stumped: HINT. Sometimes Cornerites are forced to resort to them.

60. Rend: TEAR.

61. Ultimatum word: ELSE.

62. Boatload: SLEW.

63. Gusto: ZEST.

64. Org. whose champion wins the Calder Cup: AHL.  The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. 

The Calder Cup

65. Chinese principle: TAO.  The core principal underlying Taoism, one of the oldest native Chinese religions. Presumably it was formed at the beginning of the VI century BC by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu.  The main Taoism postulates are the principle of balance and the relationship of the masculine “yang” and the feminine “yin” forces.

Meditating on
Yin and Yang

Cheers,

Bill

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

waseeley

Wednesday, August 14, 2024, Wendy L. Brandes

 A WHITER SHADE OF HAIR

Rick Beato from YouTube, 4:53

I urge you to watch the whole thing - too funny

Welcome to the second Wednesday in a row with "TURN" as part of the theme reveal, where the four letters in the reveal, 'PALE', "turn" into three of 16 possible arrangements spanning the theme answers - E,P,A,L, L,E,P,A, and A,L,E,P..  Two quality 10-letter fills in the Down, NO circles this week, a paltry 16 TLWs ( compared to 30 four-letter ones ), but way too many proper names again, and because they were rather vague to boot, I felt they ruined a good puzzle.  Sigh.  Anyway, the theme answers and reveal:

17. *Reacting to a "d'oh" moment: FACE PALMING

Homer Simpson

27. *Reimbursement on the go: MOBILE PAYMENT - PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, etc.; in the past, I have paid coworkers for lunch via monetary app - it's convenient, even if my brother thinks it's "dangerous" - but then again, he's convinced all hybrid electric car batteries are going to catch fire, too.

48. *Last few in a series: FINAL EPISODES - What's your favorite BINGE series~?  I happen to like the USA series "Burn Notice", 2007-2013

I even went out and bought the sunglasses

63. Losing color, or what can literally be found in the answers to the starred clues: TURNING PALE - and I inadvertently got the background colors of the above images to "turn" in gradient, too~!

And Away We Go~!


ACROSS:

1. "Glee" teen played by Kevin McHale: ARTIE - no clue, never watched the show; name #1, and not a good way to start the crossword

And a visual "hint" to 7D.

6. Sing-__: ALONG - did you sing along to "Glee"~?  I prefer karaoke

11. Broken up over a breakup, say: SAD - not been my particular response, just sayin'

14. Interest gatherers: LOANS

15. Exodus mount: SINAI - name #2

16. Making out on a park bench, say, for short: PDA - Public Display (of) Affection

Rosalynn & Jimmy Carter - the former president TURNS 100 Oct 1st

19. Developer's parcel: LOT

20. "Table for Two" author Towles: AMOR - name #3, didn't have to be one

21. Edge out: BEAT

22. Disapproving look: GLARE

I would say you got the wrong cat food

24. "I caught a fish thiiiiis big," e.g.: TALE - any size fish would've been a better choice for the cat

26. On the calendar: SLATED - Astronauts Lovett, Mattingly, Swigert and Haise were "slated" to be on Apollo 14, not 13

32. Regions: AREAS

33. Astrological lion: LEO

34. Collision reminder: DENT - Cornerite unclefred had a fix for my car's dent last week

37. Took off: RAN - Possibly the best "one-hit wonder" of the 80's

A Flock of Seagulls - "I ran"
The guitar part is actually quite rocking - even has a solo

38. School trips, e.g.: OUTINGS

42. Brazilian port: RIO - name #4

A view of the port from on high

43. Big bunch: SLEW

45. Hit the gas in idle: REV

46. "The L Word" co-creator Chaiken: ILENE - name #5

52. Sculpt: CHISEL

54. Eye piece: IRIS

55. The Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes: RACES - The Preakness Stakes making up the Triple Crown of horse racing

56. "Buh-bye": "TA-TA" - Snarky

58. "What will __ think of next?": THEY - "They" usually get the weather wrong, too

62. Kimono sash: OBI - had this Monday in C.C.'s grid - it's either the sash one or the Jedi Wan . . . . get it~?  See 10D.

66. Org. for Melissa McCarthy's "Spy" character: CIA - no clue, filled via perps; name-ish

67. Tablet read: eZINE - yeah, but meh.

68. Grave danger: PERIL

 

@ 1:48 - "I must face the peril - NO~! It's too perilous"
 

69. Cards, on scoreboards: ST.Louis -  name-ish

70. Like Tropicana Field: DOMED - name-ish

Home of MLB Tampa Bay Rays

71. __ wool: STEEL


DOWN:

1. Italian sports car, briefly: ALFA - name #6, but this one I knew

Model 147 - the Alfa Romeo, I mean

2. Walk aimlessly: ROAM - enter R and O, then wait for perps - it's either roVE or roAM

3. Soft or hard entree: TACO - Dah~!  This took too long for me to see

4. Indisposition to change: INERTIA - the physics from Wiki

5. Seer's talent: E.S.P.

6. Reaching REM: ASLEEP

7. Peruvian metropolis: LIMA - trying to change it up with a $2 word for city, still a "name", #7

8. "Consider this handled!": ON IT~!

9. British Gram?: NAN - name-ish

10. Polite response to a bad pun: GIGGLE - as opposed to the more common GROAN

11. Like paint in some abstract art: SPLATTERED

Very Cool - artist Ashvin Harrison

12. Love to pieces: ADORE

13. Saw romantically: DATED

18. Up to perform: ABLE

23. Touch down: LAND - not Touchdown

A Cincinnati Bengals Touchdown dance

25. "What's more ... ": ALSO....

26. Clean Air Fund target: SMOG

27. Home to the largest known volcano in the solar system: MARS - from SETI

28. Spoken: ORAL

29. Advantageous: BENEFICIAL

30. Busy with activity: ALIVE

31. Yearning: YEN - Alliteration; welcome, Yes, You are

35. The whole __ yards: NINE - I was under the impression that this was the length of an ammunition belt - Wiki says it came from an earlier source

36. Baby piggies?: TOES - Didn't fool me

39. River to the Caspian Sea: URAL - name #8

40. No-call list no.: TELephone - Too far to go for this abbr., IMHO

41. "Yes! Yes!" in Yucatán: "SI SI~!" - A phonetic shout-out to our host

44. "The Runaway Bunny" writer Margaret __ Brown: WISE - name #9, and it didn't have to be

47. Reward poster subject, maybe: LOST PET

49. Prepared for a new arrival, say: NESTED

50. Sympathized with: PITIED

51. Persepolis locale: IRAN - name #10

52. Comfy water shoes: CROCS - I find them to be hideous, but YMMV; we had a now-terminated employee who wore them to work. . . . in a wood shop;  Bzzzt~!

53. Nail biting, maybe: HABIT - Yup.  One of my few remaining habits, with no end in sight

56. Prune: TRIM

57. Poet Sexton: ANNE - name #11

59. Fabulous racer?: HARE - the FABLE of The Tortoise & The Hare

60. Lebanese designer Saab: ELIE - a new clue for this NAME, #12 - his website

61. Holler: YELL

64. "In Treatment" star Aduba: UZO - name #13

65. Map software tech: GPS - a loooong way to go for a TLW

Splynter