google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Oct 20, 2024

Sunday October 20, 2024 Gary Larson

Theme: "Made From Scratch" - Each common phrase is rephrased as if it's money-related.

24A. Celebrity wealth?: STARBUCKS.

49A. Bocce tournament winnings?: BOWLING GREEN.

65A. Written request for financial aid?: CAPITAL LETTER.

88A. Means for Bambi's friend Flower?: SKUNK CABBAGE.

111A. Family fortune?: BLOOD BANK.

4D. Petty cash at a national newsmagazine?: TIME CHANGE.

16D. Rent money?: FLATBREAD.

74D. Gillette company revenue?: RAZOR CLAMS.

77D. Gala fundraiser?: DOUGH BALL.

I learned that "scratch" is a slang for money from Boomer. Otherwise, I would not have appreciated the cleverness of the puzzle title.

We often see two theme entries in Down slots. Not four. Loved how four of the theme entries intersect one another.

 Across:

1. Delicacy: TACT.

5. __ mater: ALMA.

9. Tablet that uses AirPlay: IPAD.

13. Mine corridors: SHAFTS.

19. Hybrid tangelo: UGLI. Very juicy. Always reminds me of the ugly pears in Lai Yang, Shandong. So juicy.


20. Page: BEEP.

21. Part of TLC: CARE.

22. Jean of "Bombshell": HARLOW.

23. "Ozma of Oz" novelist L. Frank __: BAUM.

26. Lavish home: ESTATE.

27. Add to an email, as a screenshot: EMBED.

29. Sour fruit: SLOE.

30. Winter gear with lots of buckles: SKI BOOT.  Looks heavy.


32. Save: RESCUE. 56. Day saver: HERO.

34. Joints with caps: KNEES.

37. Minuscule machine: NANOBOT.

40. Presidential candidate Kamala: HARRIS.

42. Ang Lee's birthplace: TAIWAN. Mandatory military service there.

45. Nutritional amt.: RDA.

46. Going according to plan: ON TARGET.

52. Ramshackle shelters: LEAN-TOS.

53. "Tell the truth now!": DON'T LIE.

54. Tehran currency: RIALS.

55. Barracks boss: SARGE.

58. Home of the NCAA's Buckeyes: OSU.

59. Nada: DIDDLY. Always with "squat".

60. Kin of -ule: ETTE.

61. Fruit in a tropical smoothie: PAPAYA. Papaya milk is very popular in Taiwan and Guangzhou.


63. College town north of Des Moines: AMES. And 93. Baptist university in Waco, Texas: BAYLOR.

64. "__ too shabby!": NOT. Got some nice figs and made wild rice & fig salad yesterday. So good.



69. Supervillain Luthor: LEX.

72. __-dieu: PRIE. The prayer bench.



73. Made curly: PERMED.

74. Behind: REAR.

75. Like corduroy: RIDGED.

78. Mumbai honorific: SRI.

81. __-Cola: COCA.

82. Comics read from right to left: MANGA. Same with old Chinese comics, or newspapers.


83. Battery terminal: ANODE.

84. Shouts of triumph: HOORAHS.

86. In a fog: WOOZILY.

90. Slick tricks: FAST ONES.

91. Brain scan letters: EEG.

92. Carol opening: ADESTE. "Adeste Fideles"

94. Hugh Laurie TV role: DR HOUSE.

97. "The Mystery of __ Drood": Dickens novel: EDWIN.

99. Hothouse flower: ORCHID.

103. Breaks apart: BUSTS UP.

106. Reps: AGTS.

108. Schussing spot: SLOPE.

109. Scorch: SCATHE. I only know "scathing".

115. International lawyer Clooney: AMAL.

116. More unctuous: OILIER.

117. Pull down: EARN.

118. Morales of "La Bamba": ESAI. And 122. "Blue Bloods" org.: NYPD. I liked him in "NYPD Blue".


119. Common gum flavor: MINT.

120. Recycling bundlers: BALERS.

121. Loaves that may be seeded: RYES.

123. Salty bodies of water: SEAS.

Down:

1. Jerusalem artichoke, e.g.: TUBER. What does it taste like?

2. Best effort: A GAME.

3. Caddie's bagful: CLUBS.

5. Core muscles: ABS.

6. "Sure, why not": LET'S.

7. Hello Fresh offering: MEAL KIT. Healthy choice.

8. Home Depot work apparel: APRONS.

9. Post-OR area: ICU. Please keep my sister-in-law Connie in your thoughts and prayers. Her neck just refuses to heal. Now she's going to have the surgery on Tuesday.

10. __-Man: PAC.

11. Sacred synagogue cabinets: ARKS.

12. Pigeonhole's place: DESK.

13. The whole __: SHEBANG.

14. Sports: HAS ON.

15. "Star Wars" droid nickname: ARTOO.

17. Small fry: TOT.

18. Scand. land: SWE.

25. Wax producer: BEE.

28. Argentine icon María Eva __ de Perón: DUARTE. Only know her as Eva Peron.

31. Idiotic: INANE.

33. "By that logic ... ": ERGO.

35. Town across the Thames from Windsor: ETON. And 93. Thames landmark: BIG BEN.

36. Handled: SAW TO.

38. "The Black Pearl" novelist Scott: O'DELL. Unknown to me. I thought the book might be about Pele. Nope. Real pearl dealer.


39. Flowering plant also known as bitter buttons: TANSY. Those buttons must be bitter then.

41. Mold into a new form: RESHAPE.

43. Woes: ILLS.

44. Super Smash Bros. console: WII U.

46. "WandaVision" star Elizabeth: OLSEN.

47. "Cool beans": NEATO. Spitzboov used to say "Cool beans!"

48. "The Goldfinch" writer Donna: TARTT.

49. "Heck yeah!": BOO YA.

50. Rosey of football's "Fearsome Foursome": GRIER. Hmm, quite a few "Fearsome Foursome". No Vikings, but these guys were also fearsome.

51. Purges (of): RIDS.

53. "Rats": DRAT.

57. Prefix with dermal: EPI.

59. Contacted privately, briefly: DM'ED.

61. Shelled out: PAID.

62. Yodeler's peak: ALP.

63. Eroded: ATE AWAY.

65. Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker __": CREEK.



66. Café con __: LECHE.

67. God with wings: EROS.

68. Premium film network: TMC.

69. First Soviet leader: LENIN.

70. Birdie topper: EAGLE.

71. Pictures of health?: X-RAYS. Great clue.

72. PC scrolling key: PG DN.

75. Leveled, in London: RASED.

76. Graphic novel role: INKER.

78. Fruit-flavored juice brand: SOBE.


79. Steals from: ROBS.

80. Choleric: IRATE. Never used "choleric".

82. Takes a drive: MOTORS.

84. God of the underworld: HADES.

85. Got older: AGED. When I left Guangzhou, Xiao Pan, step-daughter of Carmen, was just a little girl. Now she has own her little girl.

Carmen, 10/2/2024

87. Norway's most populous city: OSLO.

89. Chair wheels: CASTERS.

90. Genre associated with science fiction: FANTASY.

95. Many a navel: OUTIE.

96. Theater employee: USHER.

98. Blob of gum: WAD.

100. Dawg: HOMIE.

101. Bucky Beaver's toothpaste: IPANA. Have not seen this entry for a while.


102. Shoulder muscles, briefly: DELTS.

104. Lyft rival: UBER.

105. Latitude: PLAY. I don't get this clue.

107. Lose one's cool: SNAP.

109. Blubber: SOB.

110. Spy-fi org.: CIA.

112. Rocks that need refinement: ORE.

113. Add-__: extras: ONS.

114. Rib: KID.

C.C.



Oct 19, 2024

Saturday, October 19, 2024, Erica Hsiung Wojcik

 Saturday Themeless by Erica Hsiung



Erica is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Skidmore College.

Erica wrote the championship puzzle for 2023 Lollapuzzola Tournament in NYC.

The upper right quadrant was a slog for this solver; more for the cluing than the fill.


Across:

1. Portmanteau for Disney World's wintery mix: SNOAP - Yup, even when it's very hot in Florida, Disney has a machine that converts soap into artificial snow.


6. Puts on screen, perhaps: DEPICTS - Directs was not to be at D _ _ _ C T S. Similar but not matching. 

13. Swinton of "Asteroid City": TILDA.


14. Power plays?: EGO TRIPS 😀

16. They're not basic: ACIDS.


17. Many a Maine newborn: MOOSE CALF - Awww...


19. Changes for the better: REVISES.

21. Get way ahead of, in a way: LAP - If you get LAPPED it's an unwritten rule that you have to get out of the way and let the faster runners by.

22. Copacabana city, casually: RIO - The Copacabana is a 2.5 white sand. beach in RIO de Janeiro 


23. Frank: WIENER 😀 The noun not the adjective!

24. One who shows up in court with bells on: JESTER - A 1955 movie for Danny Kaye


26. Key compound in a cell's energy cycle: Abbr.: ADP - Something from college biology stuck


27. First roomie, for some: SIB - My wife and her twin sister were wombmates

29. Product with a Frosted Chocolatey Chip Pancake variety: POP TART.


30. Animal control?: REIN. 😀

32. Place to buy a screwdriver: CASH BAR.

34. Full up: SATED.

36. Allen who was part of the Celtics "New Big Three": RAY.


37. Rover: NOMAD.

41. Treadmill-like playground structure: LOG ROLL.


44. Purple-brown: PUCE.


45. Scapegoat: FALL GUY - Some historians have made Admiral Kimmel the FALL GUY for Pearl Harbor.


48. Feel unwell: AIL.

50. Cell service letters: LTE - Long-Term Evolution 


51. Miembro de la familia: ABUELA - Grandma in Español 

52. Shiner accompanier, maybe: FAT LIP.

54. "__ so fast!": NOT - This became Lee Corso's "go-to" phrase when he disagreed with another football announcer


55. Catcher's asset: ARM - Even from his knees, KC Royal's Salvador Perez had a great arm 


57. Renaissance Tour attendees, collectively: BEYHIVE.


58. Marmaduke, for one: GREAT DANE.


61. Airport on Boston Harbor: LOGAN - Named for Lt. General Edward Lawrence Logan, a hero of the Spanish American War from South Boston. 64. Comes to: LANDS AT. I never have landed at LOGAN.


62. Frank Lloyd Wright estate in Wisconsin: TALIESIN - His home, studio and school


63. Go on the stump: ORATE.

65. Ebbed: WANED.


Down:

1. Epic based in part on Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress": STAR WARS - Another famous Kurosawa remake 


2. Feedback sometimes followed by "but": NICE IDEA - New Coke?

3. Kalamata center: OLIVE PIT - Kalamata is an olive that is named for the city of Kalamata in southern Greece.

 

4. Contribute: ADD IN.

5. Goes by: PASSES.

6. Some pols: DEMS - Not REPS, SENS or GOVS

7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Talk about your Saturday obscure cluing for a common fill


8. Combine: POOL.


9. "Pays the rent": IT'S A JOB - I had MAIN JOB for quite a while 

10. Low-rimmed skillet: CREPE PAN.


11. First of three O's: TIC - The second is TAC and the third is TOE


12. Region near Kalamata: SPARTA - They are 61 miles apart but not as the crow flies 😀


15. More conniving: SLIER.

18. Pillow construction: FORT.


20. "The __ Andre Show": ERIC ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - See reference to EGO above


25. Traditional shaving tool: STROP.


28. HBO series about a hitman who joins an acting class: BARRY - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


29. Kingdom divisions: PHYLA - The plural of phylum 


31. Harper Lee's given name: NELLE.


33. __ Paulo: SAO.

35. Bit of literary contrivance: DOG LATIN - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Dog Latin or cod Latin is a phrase or jargon that imitates Latin, often by what is referred to as "translating" English words into Latin by conjugating or declining them, as if they were Latin words. 
Example: Illegitimi non carborundum (Don't let the bastards wear you down) has no meaning in Latin

38. Do-over: MULLIGAN - Very familiar to golfers 

39. Start up: ACTIVATE.

40. Got more real: DEEPENED - Act 3 in this form


42. Withholding: GUARDED.

43. What happens to you while you're busy making other plans, per "Beautiful Boy": LIFE - John Lennon borrowed this line from a 1957 Allen Saunders quote in his song Beautiful Boy.


45. Viper tooth: FANG.

46. End abruptly: ABORT.

47. __ phase: post-ovulation stage: LUTEAL.


49. Hide: LAY LOW - Reminds me of lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel



56. The Bay State, for short: MASS.

57. Like elements of pipe cleaner art: BENT.


59. Styled after: ALA.

60. "The Marvels" director DaCosta: NIA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The more familiar NIA Vardalos would have fit right in with our other Greek entries today.