Tuesday October 1, 2024 Robbie Cottom

I Spy with My Little Eye.  Each theme answer is a two-word phrase and each word begins or Opens with the letter "I", hence each phrase is an "EYE" Opener.

17-Across. *  Scoop: INSIDE INFO.

23-Across. *  One in a chain west of mainland Greece: IONIAN ISLAND.

35-Across. *  "I like the way you think": INTERESTING IDEA.

50-Across. *  Medium for a junior coder: INVISIBLE INK.

And the unifier:

59-Acrpss. Startling revelations, or what the answers to the starred clues have, phonetically: EYE OPENERS.

Across:

1. Pop star Lady __: GAGA.  Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (b. Mar. 28, 1986), is said to have taken her stage name, Lady Gaga, from the Queen song Radio Ga Ga.  [Name # 1.]

5. Picture puzzle: REBUS.  A rebus is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases.

10. Ooze: SEEP.

14. Travel without a destination: ROAM.

15. Ivy in Philly: U PENN.  A brief history of the University of Pennsylvania.

16. 24/7 cash devices: ATMs.

19. Perlman who played Barbie's creator in 2023: RHEA.  Rhea Jo Perlman (b. Mar. 31, 1948) is probably best known for playing Carla Tortelli on the sit-com Cheers.  [Name # 2.]

20. "Loving" actress Ruth: NEGGA.  Ruth Negga (b. May 4, 1981) is an Irish-Ethiopian actress best known for her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the 2016 movie, Loving.  The movie was based on the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who were the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court Case of Loving v. Virginia.   They had been criminally charged with an interracial marriage, which was illegal in Virginia.  Their surname was so appropriate for such a suit.  [Name # 3.]

21. Argentine aunt: TIA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

22. Meager: SCANT.

26. Alias indicator: AKA.  Also Known As.

28. Concert device: AMP.

29. Upcycles, say: REUSES.  Merriam-Webster defines Upcycles as: "to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)".

30. Gentle suggestion: HINT.

32. __ Beta Kappa: PHI.  The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, in December 1776.

34. Tonsils-checking doc: ENT.  Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor.

41. Sonny: LAD.

42. My Chemical Romance genre: EMO.  My Chemical Romance is a rock band.

43. Actor Weathers: CARL.  Carl Weathers (Jan. 14, 1948 ~ Feb. 2, 2024) is probably best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise.  He died earlier this year.  [Name # 4.]

44. Transferred, as property: DEEDED.

47. Ga. capital: ATL.  Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.

49. Sewer scurrier: RAT.

53. Cookout spot: PATIO.

54. Third key in a reboot sequence: DEL.  //  And 40-Down. Second key in a reboot sequence: ALT.  When the combination of Ctrl+Alt+Del are pressed together, it is a computer keyboard command.  The function of the key combination generally interrupts or facilitates interrupting a function.  The choice of the three keys was deliberate, so it is not something that one would do accidentally.

55. Not exactly, casually: KINDA.

58. Yale students: ELIs.  This is becoming a crossword staple.

61. Zipped along: TORE.

62. Large water lily: LOTUS.

63. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI.  Esai Manuel Morales (b. Oct. 1, 1962) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  Today is his 62nd birthday.  [Name # 5.]

64. Got wiser, hopefully: AGED.

65. Stubbornly old-fashioned: FUSTY.  And an Old-Fashioned word and one I will probably never use.

66. Retired fast fliers: Abbr.: SSTs.  As in SuperSonic Transport airliner.

Down:

1. Smile: GRIN.

2. First-class: A-ONE.

3. Planet largely composed of helium and hydrogen: GAS GIANT.  There four gas giants in our solar system: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter. 

4. Chum: AMIGO.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

5. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the __ Morgue": RUE.  The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1849) and was first published in 1841. The story is widely considered to be the first modern detective story.  The story takes place in Paris, France and is about C. Auguste Dupin who solves the mystery of the brutal murder of two women.

6. Finish lines?: EPITAPHS.  Cute clue.  Some famous or infamous last words.

7. Country formally known as Dahomey: BENIN.  Hand up if you recognized either of these country names.  Benin is a French-speaking in West Africa.  It is said to be the birthplace of the voodoo religion.  It was known as the Dahomey Kingdom from 1600–1900.

8. Biased: UNFAIR.

9. __-cone: SNO.

10. Cutting, as some remarks: SARCASTIC.

11. Odorless gas: ETHANE.  Ethane is structurally the simplest hydrocarbon that contains a single carbon–carbon bond.

12. Corrects: EMENDS.

13. Prep exam with a high score of 1520: PSAT.  A crossword staple.  Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.

18. "SNL" alum Carvey: DANA.  Dana Thomas Carvey (b. June 2, 1955) was on Saturday Night Live from 1968 to 1993.  He created The Church Lady.  [Name # 6.]

22. Hurled: SLUNG.

24. Blocks: IMPEDES.

25. [More details below]: SEE NOTE.

26. Yellowfin tuna: AHI.  Yummers!

27. Kith and __: KIN.  This expression dates from the 1300s and originally meant “countrymen” ( kith meant “one's native land”) and “family members.” 

31. On the air: TELEVISED.

33. Suburban suffix: -ITE.  As in a Suburbanite, a person who lives in a city.

36. Music source in a car: RADIO.

37. "Just sold my last one": I'M ALL OUT!

38. Lack of light: DARKNESS.

39. Time period: ERA.

44. __ box: interactive window: DIALOG.

45. Complete: ENTIRE.

46. Skeptical question, perhaps: DID YOU?

48. Show appreciation, on Facebook: LIKE.

51. Borscht need: BEETS.  Borscht is a soup made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients.  It's actually quite delicious.

52. Dressed to the __: NINES.  What is the origin of this expression?

53. Activist org. with a rabbit in its logo: PETA.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

56. "Curses!": DRAT.

57. eBay caveat: AS IS.

59. Will Ferrell holiday film: ELF.  [Name # 7.]

60. Therapist's maj.: PSY.  As in Psychology.  Not to be confused with the singer Psy who appeared in the puzzle a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the Grid:

I hope that any of you who were impacted by Hurricane Helene are safe and didn't suffer a lot of damage.  That storm was much more damaging than originally anticipated.

חתולה

Monday September 30, 2024 Zhouqin Burnikel

  

Happy Monday, everyone! Can you believe it is the last day of September? If you are like me, any melancholy over that realization disappeared when you saw that Zhouqin Burnikel was today's constructor. As is her style, she gave us a clever theme with fair clues. 

Theme:                    Ophiology

Let's begin with the themed clues & answers:

16 Across. Netflix true crime series about big cats: TIGER KING. This TV show ran on Netflix during the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home, looking for entertainment. I gave up my Netflix account in 2013 so I never saw it.

24 Across. Evergreen that grows well in coastal soil: SAND PINE.  The SAND PINE is endemic to the Southeastern U.S. Its Latin name is Pinus clausa and its common names are "Florida spruce pine" and "scrub pine".

Side note:  This is what we mean when we say Zhouqin's puzzles are fair and it is why she is a favorite on The Corner. If you are not familiar with this answer, you can still suss it out with a few perps and by connecting coastal to SAND and evergreen to PINE.

"Pinus clausa" sounds like it should be native to the North Pole.

37 Across. Backyard hideout: TREE HOUSE.  

53 Across. Great Barrier Reef locale: CORAL SEA.  I first tried "Australia" but ran out of boxes.  more about the Coral Sea

And the reveal:

63 Across. Predatory fish capable of crawling on land, or what each part of 16-, 24-, 37- and 53-Across can be: SNAKEHEAD.  This is an air-breathing freshwater fish that is not native to North America.  The USGS answers your questions.

To be ssssuccinct, every word in the themed answers can come before (at the HEAD of) the word SNAKE.  

Top row l to r:  Tiger Snake, California King Snake, Sand Snake, Louisiana Pine Snake
Bottom row l to r:  Brown Tree Snake, Brown House Snake, Coral Snake, Sea Snake

To be honest, I really wish this puzzle had not fallen on a Monday. SNAKEs are not my thing. It took a lot of dedication to gather these photos. I am not exaggerating when I say that I will have a nightmare about a snake tonight. If you would like more information on any of these animals, please open another TAB on your browser (See 1-Across below.) and search to your heart's content.

Slithering on....

Across:
1. Things opened in bars and browsers: TABS.  This was a fun 1-Across! One can open a TAB (bill) at a bar or a TAB (interface) within your computer's browser.

5. Surfer's ride: WAVE.  Did you watch the men's surfing final from the 2024 Olympics? (3:40 min.)  

9. Pollution in the sky: SMOG.

13. French friend: AMIE.

14. Done: OVER.

15. Spread the wealth: SHARE.

18. Big: LARGE.

19. "Still pending" letters: TBD.  To Be Determined

20. Jacob's twin: ESAU.

21. Parent company of Simmons: SERTA.  Both are brand names of mattresses.

22. Jumps like a frog: LEAPS.  I searched for a .gif of a frog LEAPing but instead chose this adorable kitten playing leap frog with its littermates.  

27. "Finish every last bite on your plate!": EAT IT UP. Yes, that is the literal interpretation. "EAT IT UP" is also an idiom that can mean "to believe unquestioningly that something is true" or "to thoroughly enjoy something".  

30. Marshy wetland: BOG.  I learned from this video that acidic water is an important characteristic of a BOG.  What is a Bog? (1:41 min.)

31. Minor criticism: NIT.  Last week TTP gave us a new-to-me definition of NIT:  a unit of measurement used to quantify the brightness of electronic displays, particularly those with emissive technologies like LEDs, OLEDs, and microLEDs.

32. Beige kin: TAN.  Both are colors.

33. The Matterhorn's range: ALPS.  This Matterhorn is in Southern California (hence the palm trees). It has its own resident Yeti.  

Disneyland, Anaheim, CA

35. Actress Durance: ERICA.  She is a Canadian actress born in 1978. She looks familiar. Maybe I have seen her in a Hallmark Christmas movie???  her IMDb page

40. "Same here!": ME, TOO.  My oldest brother did all the talking. My next brother would then say, "Me, too." For a while my parents made that his nickname. BTW, my oldest brother still does all the talking...he became a lawyer.

43. On-campus residence: DORM.  

That device on the table is one of those baby monitor things.

44. Co. such as Verizon Fios: ISP.  "Company" is abbreviated, so is "Internet Service Provider".

47. 15, for a quinceañera era: AGE.  If you read NaomiZ's blog about Zhouqin's Sept. 22 puzzle, then you know that this is a celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday.

48. Drag with effort: LUG.  

50. Energetic songs, in slang: BANGERS.  I hear this term a lot on NPR's All Songs Considered podcast.

56. In the lead: ON TOP.

57. Powwow host: TRIBE.

58. Brightly colored: NEON.  Just the one song today. It's not a BANGER, but it's a good one.

John Mayer   ~   Neon   ~   2001

61. CFO's degree: MBA.  Chief Financial Officer" is abbreviated, so is "Master of Business Administration".

62. Serious genre: DRAMA.

65. More friendly: NICER.

66. Coiled garden tool: HOSE.  

Continuing with the SNAKE theme....

67. Poker stake: ANTE.  

68. Mimicked: APED.  

69. Watched closely: EYED.

70. Union payments: DUES.  In one of the school districts where I worked, if someone did not want to join the union they still had to pay DUES but it went to a scholarship fund. Fair enough.

Down:

1. Spill the beans: TATTLE.  

Another snake comic....
(I did not plan this.)

2. "Sheesh, what a day!": AM I BEAT!.  BEAT can mean "tired".

3. Input analyzed by a supercomputer: BIG DATA.  (See 26-Down.)

4. "I told you so!": SEE.  everyone's favorite thing to hear

5. Pans for making beef chow fun: WOKS.  

dry fried flat rice noodles with marinated flank steak and green onions
Winnie's recipe 

6. Sneakers brand: AVIA.

7. Second rock from the sun: VENUS.  This clue reminded me of the 1996 TV show Third Rock from the Sun with John Lithgow and a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was about four ETs who came to Earth to observe human behavior. They took on human forms that did not necessarily match their alien personalities. (4:24 min.)  

8. Energy unit: ERG.  Def. (noun) a centimeter-gram-second unit of work equal to the work done by a force of one dyne acting through a distance of one centimeter and equivalent to 10−7 joule.

9. Like some cheddar: SHARP.  This was a clever cluing angle for SHARP!

As it turns out, the other day I learned about orange vs. white cheddar on the Good Job, Brain! podcast. It goes back to the 17th century. The cheese produced near the town of Cheddar, Somerset, England was made with milk that was rich in beta-carotene (especially in the Springtime), producing an orange pigment in the cheese. After the color became associated with high-quality cheddar, cheesemakers began adding orange dye to the cheese to create a consistent color. The practice persists today because people expect their cheddar to be orange. Most orange cheddar is now made with annatto, the seed from the achiote tree of Central and South America. (I will add that annatto seems like a Saturday-level word.)  source  

Whether orange or white, its SHARPness increases with age.

10. Shaken or stirred drink: MARTINI.  

answer below*

11. Like some pricey produce: ORGANIC.  Trader Joe's bananas cost 29¢ each for organic and 23¢ each for non-organic. If you buy 5 banana a week for one year, the cost difference is $15.60.  

12. "Gosh!": GEE.

15. Heavy hammers: SLEDGES.  I threw down SLEDGES because I could not think of anything else. I did not expect it to stick.  

Apparently you have to have a lot of muscles to wield this tool.

17. Take a breather: REST.

21. Cold-sounding commercial prefix: SNO-.

23. Bean in refried beans: PINTO.  

25. Soak up: ABSORB.

26. GPS approx. affected by traffic: ETA.  Here is a video about how WAZE and Google Maps calculate your Estimated Time of Arrival (3:41 min.). Spoiler alert:  They use a lot of 3-Down. 

Someone must have told her that more hand gestures are better.

28. Dubai's fed.: UAE.  "Federation" is abbreviated, so is "United Arab Emirates".

29. Solemn promise: PLEDGE.  "I PLEDGE to tell the truth," said Reg while working on the edge of the hedge along the ledge with his SLEDGE and his wedge. "I most certainly did dredge my straightedge through the sedge."

34. Noodle soup with a Saigon style: PHO.  

I'm a fan of PHO!

36. Wear the crown: REIGN.  

38. Race car safety feature: ROLL BAR.  IIRC, ROLL BARs with KC lights were big in the 1980s.  

39. Actress Thurman: UMA.

40. PC alternative: MAC.

41. Self-indulgent episode: EGO TRIP.  

42. Rooftop lounging spot: TERRACE.  

45. Prix fixe offering: SET MENU.  Prix fixe is a French term used to describe a complete meal offered at a fixed price. LOTS more on this

46. Process of validating a will: PROBATE.  Investopedia explains

49. Put to work: USE.

51. __ of the above: NONE.  

52. Digging tools: SPADES.  

Do you agree with this?
It is confusing because this spade  ♠  has a pointy tip.

54. Prepared to throw a dart: AIMED.  Will drinking beer improve your darts game?

Note: Consider the source of the above link.

55. Drive up a wall: ANNOY.

59. Make simpler: EASE.

60. Gave approval to: OK-ED.

62. Ancestry test material: DNA.  This story about a family reunited after a DNA test was in last week's news.

63. Third-person pronoun: SHE.

64. "You __ to be there": HAD.  I don't get this one. It must be an inside joke. 😜

Here's the grid:  

*The martini on the right is shaken (ala James Bond), not stirred.

That'ssss all for today. I look forward to reading your commentssss!