Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, aka MM aka OO, here with a recap of a puzzle by Will Pfadenhauer. Will has previously had puzzles published by both the LAT and NYT and the puzzles seem to evoke strong responses from the solvers. It is strongly suspected that today will not be different in that regard.
'Splainin' this one is going to take some verbal gymnastics so let's jump right in with the reveal:
70 Across. With 73-Across, insert for some water pitchers, or what has been used row-by-row on the answers to the starred clues?: BRITA. and
73 Across. See 70-Across: FILTER
Like it or loathe it, Will has executed quite a tour de force. All of the themed-answers come in pairs with each of the five pairs (ten themers in all) placed, one following the other, on the same row (once with an intervening answer the other times not) . What we solvers filled in, via perps, early on no doubt made no sense. How can ARIES, e.g., be the answer to the clue at 19 Across? Well, what our puzzle setter has done is consecutively FILTER out the letters found in BRITA ... each letter (dis)appearing twice in each of two words found on the same row. Double or even quadruple filtered, if you will.
The first pair is found at 17 and 19 Across:
17 Across. *Youthful helpers on tennis courts: ALLOYS - from BALLBOYS. If one commenced solving in the northwest, then it soon became apparent that something "tricky" was going on. BALLBOYS was not a difficult answer to suss out but it certainly was not going to fit within the allotted space. Next, we got the aforementioned ARIES. This solver moved on to something else trusting that the gimmick would become known somewhere further down the road. Later, returning to where he started, this quote came to mind:
If one removes the Bs from BALLBOYS we get the word ALLOYS. Will has removed the same letter twice from a word and drived a perfectly acceptable word as the residual. Then he goes ahead and does it again with another word focusing on the same letter!! Doing a single pair of these would be impressive enough but in pairs five freaking' times!?
But I digress. The Bs were also removed from 19 Across, on the same row:
19 Across. *Fashion toys from Mattel: ARIES - derived from BARBIES.
That takes care of filtering out the B of B R I T A. Now, on to the rest, which appear in the proper order (top to bottom within the grid), no less. I could go on and on about the gimmick but let us allow the technique to speak for itself.
For the R:
25 Across. *Restaurant freebie: BE A DOLL - from BREAD ROLL (was the BE A DOLL bit following the BARBIES bit a mere coincidence?)
28. *Weapon in Clue: EVOLVE - from REVOLVER
For the I:
34 Across. *Italian red wine: CHANT - from CHIANTI
36 Across. *Sasquatch trait: HARNESS - from HAIRINESS
For the T:
50 Across. *NCAA basketball powerhouse in Milwaukee: MARQUEE - from MARQUETTE
52 Across. *Tornado: WISER - from TWISTER
For the A:
59 Across. *Weekend part: STURDY - from SATURDAY
61 Across. *Finding the means?: VERGING - from AVERAGING Mean in this case as the companion to mode and median (methods of finding an average). We encountered mode used this way in yesterday's puzzle.
This is how it all looks in the grid:
Below are the rest of the clues and answers. It does not escape us that the puzzle setter has employed some not-too-often-seen vocabulary and has sprinkled more than a bit of tech-speak into the grid. This is befitting of a high school teacher who recently received a PHD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. (I wonder if he and his former fellow-classmates were teased about that first one):
Across:
1. Pong publisher: ATARI. A familiar bit of tech-related-ness.
6. Garden variety?: ZEN. Not as in run-of-the-mill. A place of serenity. We visited such a place this past Monday. One example:
9. Untrue: NOT SO. Well, actually in this case, yes. See also 2 Down.
14. Motto: SLOGAN. A friend was commissioned to come up with a Slogan for the year 2020 that was as catchy as, say, "click it or ticket". She came up with "mask it or casket".
15. Glass of NPR: IRA. A frequent visitor.
16. Thickset: BURLY.
18. Tit for __: TAT. Equivalent retaliation.
20. Support: AID.
21. "Assassin's Creed" game company: UBISOFT. A not-so-familiar bit of tech-related-ness. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, perps.
24. __ peeve: PET.
30. Sandwich on telera: TORTA. One had to recognize that telera is a Mexican bread. TORTA being Spanish for sandwich.
31. Furry foot: PAW. On your pet peeve, perhaps.
33. Social equal: PEER.
39. Throbbed: PULSED.
41. "Find out if they know": GO ASK. These something-that-someone-might-say type of clues provide great flexibility to constructors.
42. School in L.A.: USC.
45. Mature: AGE. Used a a verb. The adjective, AGED, was too long.
46. Obtains: GAINS.
48. Remote login protocol: TELNET. Another not-so-familiar bit of tech-related-ness. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, again, perps.
53. Snail-mail org.: USPS.
56. Feed letters: RSS. Yet another not-so-familiar bit of tech-related-ness. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, yet again, perps. An RSSfeed consolidates information sources in one place and provides updates when a site adds new content. With social media, all you see is the favorite stuff that people share.
57. Representative: AGENT.
64. Ultimate goal: AIM.
65. Drop dramatically: PLUMMET.
69. "The Matrix" hero: NEO. A motion picture reference.
72. Cha or chai: TEA. We also see Black, Green, Oolong, among others.
76. Thinking clearly: LUCID.
77. Aardvark snack: ANT. What does an aardvark order on its pizza? ANT-chovies.
78. Agree: ACCEDE. IMHO, A word not often seen in our puzzles. Do you agree?
79. Fencing blades: EPEES. Blunted weapons often found in crossword puzzles.
80. Simple structure: HUT.
Pizza The Hutt from Spaceballs
81. Flushed: RUDDY.
Down:
1. Basketball great Quigley: ALLIE. From the WNBA. Not to be confused with Immanuel Quickley of the NBA.
2. Fibbed: TOLD A TALE. See also 9 Across.
3. Many moons __: AGO.
Emma, the Yellow Wiggle, Explains
4. Writer Bradbury: RAY. When, as a child, my family lived in a section of Los Angeles, RAY was a neighbor. He drove a Corvette.
5. Dig: INSULT. Not as with a shovel. Not as a hipster would "grok" something. Used as a noun.
6. Cylindrical pasta: ZITI.
7. Notable ages: ERAS. Sometimes clued with as baseball pitching statistics.
8. Gp. joined by Sweden in 2024: NATO. Uh, Vladimir, are you familiar with the law of unintended consequences?
9. Jazz station?: NBA TV. A refence to where on TV one might watch the Utah Jazz professional basketball team. One of those clues that attmpts to mislead us because all clues, by convention, start with a capital letter. Not an abbreviated clue but an abbreviated answer this time.
10. Team's adjective: OUR.
11. Bases-clearing hit: TRIPLE. A baseball reference. All of those who had been on base are now "cleared" but there is now a runner on third.
12. Slob's napkin: SLEEVE. Or where we have now been taught to sneeze.
13. Grayish-white: OYSTER. Not the first hue that came to mind.
14. Bygone Volvo rival: SAAB. An automotive reference.
22. Uninspiring: BLAH.
23. Easiest to count, perhaps: FEWEST.
26. Puts on: DONS.
27. Taco sauce brand: ORTEGA.
29. Photo __: OPS. OPportunitieS
31. Plain text: PROSE. As contrasted with, say, to poetry.
32. Actress de Armas: ANA. The use of a minimal number of proper names in the grid is much appreciated.
34. No. pro: CPA. A pro. Not no pro. No as in the abbreviation for number. Certified Public Accountant.
35. Embrace: HUG. I like to crouch down, HUG my knees and lean forward. It's just how I roll.
37. __ Dei: AGNUS. AGNUSDei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism.
38. Barbecue rod: SKEWER.
40. Strawberry whose No. 18 was retired by the Mets: DARRYL. Originally from Los Angeles. A baseball reference.
42. Full-throated: UNSTINTED. Anyone recall previously seeing this in a crossword puzzle?
43. Spot: SEE. The combination of the clue and answer bring back memories from early elementary school. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run.
44. WNBA pos.: CTR. Abbreviated clue.... CenTeR. A basketball reference.
47. Mensa stats: IQS.
49. CBS News contributor Lisa: LING.
50. Brand sold at REI: MSR. Another set of abbreviations. Although both companies pretty much only use their initials these days. Recreational Equipment Inc / Mountain Safety Research.
51. Roof overhang: EAVE.
53. Fit for service: USABLE.
54. Provoke: STIR UP.
55. Exfoliation stone: PUMICE. PUMICE is also USABLE for cleaning hard water rings from toilets.
58. Make good progress: GET FAR.
60. Thumb-operated controls: D-PADS. More tech-speak.
62. Not self-sufficient: NEEDY.
63. Singer Lesley: GORE.
Nobody Knows Where Her Johnny Has Gone
66. Provo's state: UTAH.
67. Main information source?: MENU. Another bit of tech-speak?
68. Actor Damon: MATT.
Sarah Silverman Receives an Emmy for a bit of NSFW Singing
(originally aired on the Jimmy Kimmel Show)
71. __-dyeing: TIE. Far out, man!
74. Hospital dept.: ICU. Intensive Care Unit
75. Rock's __ Soundsystem: LCD. From Brooklyn, NY. This solver was not familiar with the band but we do solve these puzzles, in part, for the joy of learning new stuff.
Today's constructors, Nancy Stark and Will Nediger, tell us a short story via their theme clues -- fabricated out of whole cloth, and revealed in the end to be told in the first person ...
17A. The shady lawyer tried to __ a client's eyes, ...: PULL THE WOOL OVER.
33A. ... and was confident nobody would __ the scheme ...: COTTON ONTO. As in the phrasal verb.
.
43A. ... and sure the client would __, ...: GET FLEECED.
60A. ... but I saw everything, so I'm the __!: MATERIAL WITNESS. Here's the Legal Information Institute'sdefinition for our reveal. But our favorite dinosaur seems to agree with our constructors, WITNESSING to 3 other synonyms related to MATERIAL:
I thought that WOOL and FLEECE might be two different fabrics made from the same fiber, but these folks from Montana (who ought to know) inform us that that not the case.
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Vodka cocktail, familiarly: COSMO. Here's a recipe. COSMO is also the first name of a famous comedian ...
6. Land area unit: ACRE.
10. Lose one's footing: SLIP.
14. Surfer's place: OCEAN.
15. Word after sonic or baby: BOOM. I suspect that many Cornerites were born during the Baby Boom, so we will start with them, especially since many are retiring and there are big changes afoot in the workforce ...
And the Supersonic Transports (SSTs) that caused sonic booms were another phenomenon familiar to Boomers. Operating only for approximately 25 years their usage was eventually abandoned after 2003 due to regulations against sonic booms over land masses. But while Boomers may be on their way out, SSTs may be on their way back in if companies like Boom Technology have anything to do with it.
16. Most common number in a data set: MODE. The MODE is measure of central tendency. Small data sets may not have one. Here's a brief video explaining measures of central tendency ... 17. [Theme clue]
20. Street in a Wes Craven title: ELM. A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. Since it's only 42 days until Halloween I thought you might enjoy this trailer ... 😁
21. Ships' frames: HULLS. A CSO to Jinx.
22. Store for folks who like to assemble: IKEA. Some might call this just an EKTORP, but IKEA is also an acronym of founder's initials -- Ingvar Kamprad; Elmtaryd, the family farm where Kamprad was born; and the nearby village of Agunnaryd, Kamprad's hometown in Småland.
23. Jeweled ornament: DIADEM. This word occurs often in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) and is roughly equivalent to a crown or tiara, although it can also connote a turban or a mitre ...
25. Healer of all wounds, so they say: TIME. And they also say "Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana." 😀
27. John Quincy __: ADAMS. John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, politician, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829.
John Quincy Adams
30. Exodus figure: MOSES. Here's a two-part story of MOSES in a nutshell ...
33. [Theme clue]
37. Curmudgeon: CRAB.
39. Expect: AWAIT.
40. 2016 Olympics city: RIO. Today's Portuguese lesson: "Rio de Janeiro = River of January" -- the name that was given to the city's original site by Portuguese navigators who arrived on January 1, 1502, and mistook the entrance of the bay for the mouth of a river. Here is the view of the city from behind Christ the Redeemer, an Art Deco statue of Jesus overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot ...
Rio de Janeiro
41. Operate a car: DRIVE. Did you hear the one about the two contentious golfers: "You drive me crazy! -- It's not a DRIVE, it's a short putt!" 😀
42. Migratory bird: TERN. "Did you hear the one about the butcher who used seagulls for making sausages? -- He took a TERN for the wurst." 😀
43. [Theme clue].
45. Not-to-be-questioned beliefs: DOGMA. Unquestioned DOGMAS are not worth believing. But peace of mind requires that the questions they raise be answered eventually.
47. Smooth and confident: SUAVE.
48. Sounds of grief: SOBS. If we heard all the sounds of all the SOBS being made around the world at this very moment, we would all collapse in grief.
50. Musician with pipes: SINGER. This brings to mind a movie ...
... the closing credits to a film starring 4 musicians with great pipes ...
54. Food that might be soft-shelled: TACO. It turned out to be this ...
Soft Tacos
... not this Chesapeake Bay delicacy ...
Soft Shell crab sandwich
... see also 37A.
56. Ice dancer Virtue: TESSA. Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With her partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017), a three-time Four Continents champion (2008, 2012, 2017), the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final champion, an eight-time Canadian National champion (2008–2010, 2012–2014, 2017–2018). And a CSO to CanadianEh! Here are Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's Moulin Rouge at The Thank You Canada Tour ... 59. Single-stranded molecule: RNA. Ribonucleic Acid is the single-stranded relative of Deoxyribonucleic Acid. Here the Amoeba Sisters explain the difference ... 60. [Theme reveal]
63. Noodle variety: UDON. One of two varieties of noodle crosswordese -- the other being SOBA. What's the difference?
64. "La Bohème" character: MIMI. A beautiful soul. In the touching aria Mi Chiamo Mimi ("They call me Mimi") we find out that her real name is a CSO to Lucina ...
65. Evaluate visually: EYE UP.
66. Intent look: GAZE. This and the last clue border on OGLING.
67. Event for seniors: PROM.
68. Guys: DUDES. Here's All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople ... Down:
1. Got by: COPED.
2. Eyes, in Latin: OCULI. Today's Latin lesson -- where we get our adjectives OCULAR and BINOCULAR.
3. Alabama River city: SELMA. Selma, located on the banks of the Alabama River, is in south central Alabama, extending westward. The city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About 80% of the population is African-American. The city was planned and named Selma by William R. King in 1820, a politician and planter from North Carolina who was a future vice president of the United States. The name, meaning "high seat" or "throne", came from an old Scottish poem called The Songs of Selma. Selma was an early center of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. This iconic bridge was the site of a brutal attack on civil rights marchers known as Bloody Sunday ...
The Edmund Pettus Bridge
4. Bad start?: MAL. A CSO to our Friday tag teamer Malodorous Manatee ...
Manatee The sweet smelling variety 😀
5. Precisely: ON THE DOT.
6. Brother of Cain: ABEL. Despite the fact that Cain slew his brother ABEL, God protected the former from premature death by "the mark of Cain".
7. Billowy cloak hood: COWL. A typical monk's garb -- robe and cowl ...
8. Bird's perch: ROOST.
9. Mopey rock genre: EMO. Wired Magazine recently reported that, with 87 percent of the world's population expected to have become "emo" by the year 2020, a team of English newscasters delved into the phenomenon to find out more about this intriguing musical subculture ... But the craze is expected to be over by 2025, so it looks like we won't be seeing EMO much longer, except of course in crossword puzzles. 😀
10. Deceptive tactic: SMOKESCREEN.
11. Lyricist's subject, often: LOVE. Here's Andy Williams with Love is a Many Splendored Thing (lyrics by Sammy Fain) ...
... and for an encore here's -- All You Need is Love (lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney) 12. Possible solution: IDEA.
24. Milieu for single people: DATING SCENE. E.g. the apps Tinder and Grindr.
26. Texter's qualifier: IMO. IMO = In My Opinion. Those who are really qualified use IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) 😀
28. Seconds or thirds: MORE. Famously requested by Oliver Twist ... 29. Huffy moods: SNITS.
31. "The Boys" developer Kripke: ERIC. The Boys is an American satirical superhero television series developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, it follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat superpowered individuals (referred to as "Supes"). The trailers were a little too weird for my taste, so I decided to use this song instead ...
32. Goalie achievement: SAVE. Here are some of the greatest saves in NHL history ...
41. Colored outside the lines, say: DEVIATED. I'm sure that a lot of us prided ourselves for not coloring outside the lines in elementary school. Those who did DEVIATE became artists.
43. Talk on and on: GAB.
44. Cold yogurt drink: LASSI. Here is the Perfect Sweet Lassi Recipe. And if you add just a little bit of collie fur, it also makes the perfect cure for a hangover. 😀
46. Habitat for heather: MOOR. Northumberland is renowned for its wide open moorland, which covers about 70 per cent of the National Park. Such heather moorland habitat is internationally significant, as it only occurs in Britain.
Northumberland National Park
49. Help on the way to the top?: STAIR.
51. Generosity opposite: GREED. One of the Seven Deadly Sins, but by tradition only -- the list does not actually appear in the Bible. It is perhaps best personified by King Midas, who eventually died of hunger, when he was granted his wish that everything he touched be turned into gold.
King Midas
52. Come after: ENSUE.
53. Shop class tools: RASPS.
54. "Behold my brilliance!": TADA. Cornerites who solve online eagerly await this TADA!
55. The whole shebang: A TO Z.
57. Muppet host of "The Not-Too-Late Show": ELMO. Live from New York! ... 58. Do laps in a pool: SWIM.
60. Make silly faces, maybe: MUG. Here's a collection of MUGS with silly faces from Royal Doulton China in Staffordshire, England ...
Mugs
61. Nanny's handful: IMP.
62. Tisch Sch. of the Arts home: NYU. The New York University Tisch School of the Arts is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of NYU. Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the arts, and filmmakers. The school is divided into three Institutes: Performing Arts, Emerging Media, and Film & Television -- teaching acting, dance, drama, performance studies, design for stage and film, musical theatre writing, photography, record producing, game design and development, and film and television studies.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
Theme: Trans-atlantic misdirections. In-the-language phrases are repurposed and given a humorous twist with a distinctly British flare. Note that two of the theme fill are grid-spanners.
16 A. Arugula researcher at Cambridge?: ROCKET SCIENTIST. Rocket is one of the several names for arugula, an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. I did not know that, and assume that the ROCKET usage is more common in Britain, where Cambridge is a university dating back to the year 1208, in a city of the same name. Of course, a ROCKET SCIENTIST is generally one who works on rocket propelled vehicles.
25 A. Pristine field for Manchester United?: PERFECT PITCH. A PITCH is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural turf or artificial turf, although amateur and recreational teams often play on dirt fields. Artificial surfaces are allowed only to be green in color.
Manchester United is a team playing soccer, or as it is known across the pond - football. The phrase "Perfect Pitch" more commonly refers to the ability to identify or recreate a musical note of a specific frequency without a reference point. I don't have it.
40 A. Sweater for a thrill-seeker's leap off Tower Bridge?: BUNGEE JUMPER. The Tower Bridge spans the River Thames near the Tower of London. A BUNGEE JUMPER is a thrill-seeker, regardless of the jumper's location. But in British parlance, a JUMPER is a warm top that covers the arms - more or less what we would call a sweater. Bungee jumping is the activity of leaping from a high place while secured by a long nylon-cased rubber band around the ankles. I am not tempted.
52 A. Pure sausages at the Rose & Crown pub?: ABSOLUTE BANGERS. Back in England, BANGERS are sausages. The term dates from WW II, when, due to meat shortages, sausages were made with watery fillers that wold explode during cooking. More recently, a BANGER is something that is exceptional, impressive, or of high quality, such as a song with a loud, energetic beat that is good for dancing, or becoming your personal ear worm. I think this one is a bit of a stretch.
Hi, Gang. Jazzbumpa reporting for duty. I've never been across the sea, but I'm not going to let the stop me. Let's see where today's excursion takes us.
Across:
1. Pillow structure: FORT. Not the first thing an adult might think of, but the 9-year-old in me approves. Also requires blankets.
5. Quick reminder: NOTE. Put it in writing.
9. Mario racing vehicle: KART. A variety of such vehicles used in a series of kart racing games based on the Mario franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses mostly from the Mario series as well as other gaming franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, F-Zero, Excitebike, and Splatoon.
13. Wading bird: IBIS. Any one of a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains.[4] "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis.
14. Board game based on pachisi: SORRY. Sorry! is a board game that is based on the ancient Indian cross and circle game Pachisi. Players move their three or four pieces around the board, attempting to get all of their pieces "home" before any other player. Originally manufactured by W.H. Storey & Co in England and now by Hasbro, Sorry! is marketed for two to four players, ages 6 and up. The game title comes from the many ways in which a player can negate the progress of another, while issuing an apologetic "Sorry!"
15. Pelvic bones: ILIA. The ilium (pl.: ilia) is the uppermost and largest region of the coxal bone, and appears in most vertebrates including mammals and birds, but not bony fish. All reptiles have an ilium except snakes, although some snake species have a tiny bone which is considered to be an ilium.
19. "Is it clear?": SEE? You dig?
20. Be for Halloween: GO AS. Be dressed in a costume suggestive of some thing or somebody.
21. Deep-fryer compartment: BASKET. For holding the fryables.
22. Shower time?: APRIL. Typically the month of Spring rains.
24. Grand crime: LARCENY. The "grand" modifier is applied to theft of personal property having a value above a legally specified amount.
28. Flying: ALOFT. Up in the air.
29. Hostess snack cake: HOHO. A chocolate cake rolled with a creamy fillling
30. Yoko who said, "You can be very wild and still be very wise": ONO. She is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. She is also the widow of John Lennon.
33. Trapped fluff: LINT. Lint is a collection of loose, short fibers or threads from clothing, hair, or other materials. It can be found on or around clothing, and can come from materials like cotton, linen, and wool. It can be caught in a dryer filter.
34. Schematics: PLANS. Designed representations of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures.
36. Saharan country next to Sudan: CHAD. Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is an independent state at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. The landlocked country is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west.
37. Island ring: LEI. Not an island atoll, but rather a floral loop worn as a decoration.
38. Some Korean compacts: KIAS. Kia Corporation is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer, after its parent company, Hyundai Motor Company.
39. Cran cocktail: COSMO. A cosmopolitan, or, informally, a cosmo, is a cocktail made with vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed or sweetened lime juice. The cosmopolitan is a member of the Gimlet family of cocktails.
43. Prioritizes patients: TRIAGES. The preliminary assessment of patients or casualties in order to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required.
46. Afro-Cuban dance: RUMBA. This term can be applied to various music and dance styles originating in Cuba, or styles that are similar.
47. __ to the core: ROTTEN. Said of someone devoid of any redeeming or positive characteristics.
48. Digital indulgence, casually: PEDI. Short for pedicure, a cosmetic treatment of the feet and toenails.
49. Vintage TV brand: RCA. A former corporation that was the dominant electronics and communications firm in the United States for over five decades. It did not survive a series of poor business decision in the face of strong international competition.
55. Highlighter tone: NEON. Any of the extremely bright, intense, and vibrant versions of primary and secondary colors, such as red, blue, green, yellow, and purple. They are so named for the bright colors of neon lights
56. Doughnut, mathematically: TORUS. In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanar with the circle.
57. Frantically: AMOK. In an uncontrolled and disruptive manor.
58. Randomly generated IDs: SSNS. Social Security Numbers.
59. Soaks (up): SOPS. Absorbs.
60. Sutures: SEWS. Applies stitches holding together the edges of a wound or surgical incision.
Down:
1. Some December decor: FIRS. Evergreen trees, wreaths or branches.
2. __ d'amore: OBOE. A double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, I played in a symphony orchestra for 16 years, and don't recall ever seeing one.
3. Brand with a cable car logo: RICEARONI. a boxed food mix that consists of rice, vermicelli pasta, and seasonings. To prepare, the rice and pasta are browned in butter, then water and seasonings are added and simmered until absorbed. It is a product of Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. It is also known as the San Francisco Treat.
4. "Shame" sound: TSK.
5. Pretzel option: NO SALT. Would need mustard or cheese dip.
6. Tolkien baddies: ORCS. A race of humanoid creatures best known for their service as footsoldiers and slaves to the Dark Lords of Middle-earth. Even when not in thralldom to an evil master, Orcs rarely if ever had non-violent interactions with Elves, Men, or Dwarves.
7. Part of TNT: TRI. In chemistry, TNT stands for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, a man-made, odorless, yellow solid that is used as an explosive:
8. Safety stations in some labs: EYE BATHS. As described here, a specialized fountain designed to flush the eyes with water to remove foreign material.
9. Lowbrow art: KITSCH. Art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way.
10. Tough to tell apart: ALIKE. Similar.
11. Out of bed: RISEN. Having moved up from a reclined position.
12. Frayed: TATTY. Worn out, in poor physical condition.
14. Immovable: STOIC. Calm and unemotional.
17. Wading bird: EGRET. A heron with mainly white plumage, having long plumes in the breeding season.
18. DEA agent: NARCO. Slang or derogatory term for a drug enforcement agent.
23. Deflating sound: PFFT. Air under pressure escaping though a small opening.
25. Shadow: PALL. A dark covering, as of smoke or dust.
26. Author Wiesel: ELIE. Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel [1928-2016] was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
27. Temporary stage: PHASE. A distinct period or stage in a series of events or a process of change or development.
30. "For crying out loud": OH SPARE ME. When someone is tired of listening to another person or is in a state of disbelief, they may respond with "spare me"
31. Identify: NAME. Establish or indicate who or what someone or something is.
32. What wavy lines might represent in a comic: ODOR. Usually an unpleasant one.
34. Pesto need: PINE NUTS. The white seeds of some pine trees, often used in cooking
35. Falls behind: LAGS. Falls behind in movement, progress, or development; not keeping pace with another or others.
36. Word with over or through: COMB. A strip of plastic, metal, or wood with a row of narrow teeth, used for untangling or arranging the hair. A comb over is an arrangement of sparse hair attempting to cover a bald spot. To comb through is to conduct a thorough search.
38. Passover potato pie: KUGEL. A baked casserole, most commonly made from egg noodles or potato. It is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish, often served on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays.
39. Chutney seed: CUMIN. The aromatic seeds of a plant of the parsley family, used as a spice, especially ground and used in curry powder.
40. Conductors' tools: BATONS. A thin stick used by a conductor to direct an orchestra or choir.
41. Darkness personified, in Greek mythology: EREBUS. Erebus is the personification of darkness and shadows, and is also the name of a place in the underworld on the way to Hades.
42. Notorious apostle: JUDAS. Th apostle accused of betraying Jesus in the Gospel accounts.
43. Like one honored by a pink, blue, and white flag: TRANS. An umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.
44. Garb donned by Oxford dons: ROBES. A long flowing outer garment.
45. "Them's fightin' words!": IT'S ON. An exclamation of readiness, eagerness or anticipation for something especially if it is a competition or confrontation.
48. Crime drama suspect: PERP. A perpetrator of a crime. Alternatively, a crossing word in a crossword.
50. Cornfield nuisance: CROW. Any of various large usually entirely glossy black passerine birds of the family Corvidae and especially genus Corvus.
51. Queries: ASKS. Inquires. Those questioning minds want to know.
53. All __ often: TOO. With distressing frequency.
54. Electric alternative: GAS. This could refer to natural gas vs electric for a cooking stove or gasoline vs battery power for a vehicle. You can choose.
On that energetic note, we bring today's adventure to a close. No extra charge for the birds and solid geometry.
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