There are lots of ways to struggle with a crossword and today I decided to enter what I thought was a solid/clever fill that turned out to be wrong. At 46. Upper class, often: SEMINAR, I thought SENIORS compose most upper classes and stuck with it. When I saw that I should have had SEMINAR, that part of the puzzle opened up very quickly. I do have to take one bad cell at S(H)EIN/(H)EARTH but I did enjoy the struggle.
1. Genre embraced by Miles Davis in the late 1960s: JAZZ FUSION.
11. Intel on a political rival: OPPO - What they dig up in OPPOsition research makes you wonder how you could vote for anybody.
15. Speaker of the house?: AMAZON ECHO.
16. Einsteinhaus city: BERN - Where Albert lived from 1902 - 1909 and developed his theory of relativity
17. Bottom of a pie: PIZZA CRUST 😀
18. Quantity of strontium in an award-winning 2018 photograph: ATOM.
19. Professor's domain: EDU.
20. Throng: MOB.
21. Insect that collaborates through stigmergy: TERMITE - Stigmergy is the method in which social organisms communicate indirectly by sensing and shaping what’s around them without following a plan. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
23. "__ de Funk": Horace Silver composition: OPUS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
24. Postop prescription: OPIATE.
A common one
25. Narrow channel: STRAIT - The one that leaps to my mind
28. __ musubi: meat-and-rice snack: SPAM - I knew SPAM was popular in Hawaii
35. Check: VET - You try to VET anyone before you hire or appoint them
36. Stallone role: RAMBO - Turns out Rocky works too
37. Checked at the door: IDED.
38. Cap: LID.
39. Decidedly non-vegan kid-lit character: SAM I AM - Sam keeps offering...
40. Airport code that encompasses EWR, JFK, and LGA: NYC.
41. Boatloads: TONS.
42. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" musicians: PIPERS.
43. Dress part: BODICE.
45. Some Barbieland residents: KENS.
47. Unite: WED.
48. York mother: MUM.
51. Placed, as bets: LAID - In last year's Super Bowl, you LAID the points if you thought KC would win by more than 1.5 points and took the points if you thought SF would win. KC won by 3 and that was the winning bet.
52. Made a solo arrangement?: LIVED ALONE 😀
55. Rainbow forms: ARCS.
56. Bright green cocktails: APPLETINIS.
57. Furtive summons: PSST.
58. Walkway created by foot traffic: DESIRE PATH - I've never heard of the term but it makes good sense
Down:
1. Zinger: JAPE.
2. During: AMID - The start of one of my favorite poems
3. Bird voiced by John Oliver in "The Lion King": ZAZU.
4. "Bo-o-oring!": ZZZ.
5. Spots for soft landings: FOAM PITS.
6. Crude: UNCOUTH.
7. Jokic and Jovic of the NBA, e.g.: SERBS - +1
8. Hosp. area: ICU.
9. "You're too much!": OH STOP IT.
10. Tablet: NOTE PAD - Oh, one you don't plug in!
11. "Becoming" memoirist: OBAMA.
12. French girlfriend: PETITE AMIE.
13. Energy consumption unit?: PROTEIN BAR. 😀
14. "Your money's no good here!": ON ME.
22. Perimeter: RIM.
23. Spent time on the lake, say: OARED.
25. Fast-fashion giant based in Singapore: SHEIN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
26. Loveable sorts: TEDDY BEARS.
27. Crudely drawn cartoons expressing frustration: RAGE COMICS.
28. Shakes: SHEDS.
30. Makes toast?: DOOMS.
33. Makes wet: DAMPS.
35. Like some tomatoes: VINE RIPE.
36. Outdoor concert contingency: RAIN DATE.
38. Yard sale sign, essentially: LOCAL AD.
39. Likely ticket holder?: SPEEDER.
41. __ ear: TIN.
44. Performed in a Shakespeare play?: DIDST.
45. Talib who rapped "My name is in the middle of equality": KWELI.
Well,
isn't this a bit of a coincidence for yours truly, the Crossword
Corner's bi-weekly Friday blogger: on October 11, 2024 (my last blog
date) the LAT crossword puzzle was constructed by Rich Norris, erstwhile LAT puzzle editor; and on October 25, 2024, today, the LAT crossword puzzle was constructed by Patti Varol, the current LAT editor
Do I dare compare Patti to Rich? Stay tuned ...
Patti
has a familiar "theme" for Friday-difficulty puzzles. She's using
compound words - all of which begin with a musical instrument - to form a
funny phrase as it relates to the clue.
Finding
5 entries for a 15x15 square grid is moderately difficult, as it
usually involves placing the "reveal" entry in row 8 (dead center of the
puzzle grid), and spreading the other four into some cramped quarters.
A "typical" 5-entry puzzle might consist of four 9 to 13 letter entries
and the reveal being either 7, 9, or 11 letters in length
Patti, though, went beyond the extremes today by grouping two 14-letter entries, with two 12-letter entries, with one 15-letter entry (in row 8). If my math is correct, that's a total of 67 characters for
the themed entries. Most puzzles offer between 40-50 "theme"
characters. What this basically means, in puzzle construction terms, is
less "real estate" for the crossing words. Which also means more TLW's ... 26 of them if I counted correctly. [sorry, Irish Miss] And with that many TLW's you are bound to get more abbreviations
But
here's my take: better to have more "theme" characters if it doesn't
make everything else feel "forced". And upon reflection, there are very
few "forced" entries today; even among the TLW's
And
one other area of note: the entire puzzle had a total of 74 words
(normal for a Friday puzzle; most early-week puzzles have 78-80 words)
but 46 blocks.
"Blocks" are the black squares. Most editors ask for fewer than 40.
This helped contribute to the paucity of lengthy words. Other than the
entries the next longest word(s) to solve were 6-letters in length (12 of them in total; 8 of them in the down position)
But enough of the construction notes ... on to the five theme entries for today:
16-across. Publications dedicated to the history of a jazz instrument?: SAXOPHONE BOOKS. A
saxophone is a very popular jazz instrument (along with a piano, drum
set, and string bass/bass guitar). In the "made-up" version, a saxophone book might be an appropriate monograph to read about the history of that instrument; in real life, though, phone books are something we are familiar with, even though they are becoming more and more extinct
22-across. Particles from a percussion instrument that may start a sneezing fit?: COWBELL PEPPER. If you watched the video clip above (from the SNL archives) you saw a reference to the cowbell as a percussion instrument. A bell pepper(OTOH) is botanically a
fruit though most of us refer to it as a vegetable. I prefer the
orange, yellow and red colored peppers to the traditional, green ones.
My favorite way to eat them is baked and stuffed (see image below)
34-across. Windfall from the sale of wind instruments?: CLARINET PROFITS. Similar to the saxophone, a clarinet uses
a single reed and mouthpiece attachment to provide a place for the
"wind" to enter. Both utilize an intricate set of keys and bars
alongside the shaft of the instrument to change the pitch and note
selection
Net profits are loosely defined as the amount of money a company (or individual) has when all of the expenses have been paid ... Moe-ku #1:
A new shrimp trawler's
Catch yielded one-thousand bucks.
That's their NET PROFITS
48-across. Fantasies about being the best player of a Scottish instrument?: BAGPIPE DREAMS. This is my favorite of the five as it was for me the funniest. Bagpipes by themselves are pretty funny (in the way they look and sound); and pipe dreams are ... well, for me it would be to have one of my puzzle submissions accepted by the NYT
54-across. Endeavor to improve a brass instrument?: TRUMPET PROJECT. Probably my second most favorite from today. Moe-ku #2:
Ex-prez Donald finds
Aliens in his spare time.
His TRUMP ET PROJECT
Here
is how it looks when all is said and done. You'll notice my two errors
(marked by the black triangle in the corner of the bad cell); the first
was a typo (NEAP) but the second (OREE crossing ERG) was
my Natick today. All in all, though, this one gets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - same as how I
scored Rich's. As each entry is explained I will note those that kept
this from getting a fifth star or portion thereof
The Grid
Across:
1. Exhaust: EAT UP. Clever clue. I wonder if the constructor or the editor came up with this?! 😀
6. Nosrat's "Salt Fat __ Heat": ACID. Not familiar with this
quote nor the author of it. Perps and a bit of common sense provided me
with the answer. All of the four are related to cooking, I believe
10. Owed: DUE.
13. Steam bath: SAUNA. Most of the saunas I have visited use a dry heat. So, is a sauna a steam bath? You decide
15. Genetic molecule translated into protein: RNA. While the clue gives this away, I am sure that some of you may have entered DNA at first
19. Subtle glow: AURA.
20. Masters of allusion?: POETS. Clever clue. I wonder if the constructor or the editor came up with this?! 😀
26. Go downhill fast?: SCHUSS. German word for "ski"
28. Thataway, quaintly: YON.
29. Push to the limit: TRY.
30. Café lightener: LAIT. Or, to those who are French, "Brest milk" 😂
31. Surfer's gadget: REMOTE. For those of us who have "cut the cord", a remote control device is mandatory for streaming
40. Flexible lunch hour: ONE-ISH. This time will avoid much of the normal lunch hour crowd
41. Chess piece in castling: ROOK. While I am not a chess player, I do know that the term "castle" involves switching the rook (shaped like a castle) with the king
63. Pizzazz: FLASH. Clue could've been "Comic book super hero" (just saying). For those of you who are fans of TBBT:
64. Signals intelligence org.: NSA. The word signalsin the clue gives it away (not the CIA)
65. PC key for scrolling to the end: PgDn. This entry (PgDn) is not one we see too often. However, it did appear in the LAT several times when Rich Norris was the editor ...
66. Incursion: FORAY. Not the first definition of this word I would have chosen ... but ... I did find this when I googled: Foray (noun): the mistake of incurring liability or blame
Down:
1. First of September?: ESS. In some years, the first of September can be Labor Day ...
2. Tower of note: AAA. This linkmight
only open for you if you have a Facebook account. Don't know if this
is what Patti meant. She usually doesn't comment here, so we may all be
left to wonder. Either way, this is a very obscure clue, IMO ...
OK, I re-read the clue. It's not tower as in a building ... it's tower as in a vehicle that tows cars and other vehicles. AAA is the abbr for American Automobile Association. Oops 😒
3. Inaugural ball duds: TUX. GOWN didn't fit
4. Game with 108 cards: UNO. Should we just Skip over this, or Draw Four??
5. Melonlike tropical fruit: PAPAWS. Anyone else try PAPAYA first? I did
6. Hold precious: ADORE. Aww
7. Creation by a locks smith?: CANAL. Clever clue. I wonder if the constructor or the editor came up with this?! 😀
8. Wrath: IRE.
9. Perfume application: DAB. Or, an application of Brylcreem
10. Sag: DROOP.
11. Broken, as some promises: UNKEPT. If this were to describe the person's hair prior to the DAB of Brylcreem, the answer could have been: UNKEMPT
12. Sunrise service occasion: EASTER.
17. Places to make connections: HUBS. Back when I lived in SW Ohio, CVG was a hub for Delta Airlines
18. Not against entertaining: OPEN TO. I am open to entertaining you (I hope) with my blog
21. "omg my bad": SRY. As I said in my intro, with so many TLW's there are bound to be a few that are abbrs.
22. "Pet" that needs lots of water: CHIA. Never had one of these so I wasn't sure whether it needs a lot of water or not. Does this clue and entry hold water??
23. Concluding piece: OUTRO. As opposed to the beginning piece? Intro? I guess
24. __ node: LYMPH.
25. Not even fair: POOR. When I was in elementary school the grading system was: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor. No one failed, per se, but some were held back
26. Jazz home, initially: SLC. When CVG was a Delta Airlines hub, so was SLC - as in Salt Lake City
27. Ore. neighbor: CAL. IDA and NEV also fit
31. French queen: REINE.
32. UFO crew, presumably: ETS. See my Moe-ku 2 in the intro
33. Violinist Zimbalist: EFREM. Yes, the father of the TV star(Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip) was a famous violinist
46. Yukon, e.g.: Abbr.: TERR. More abbr. This is why this puzzle gets only ⭐⭐⭐⭐
47. Not even close: WAY OFF. If you FIW today, you were probably way off
49. "Into the Water" novelist Hawkins: PAULA. Any fans of her work here?
50. So last century: DATED. As a Baby Boomer, so much of me is "dated"
51. Get ready to eat: RIPEN. My favorite expression to indicate how old I am is saying: "I no longer buy green bananas"
55. __ fly: POP. It's the MLB playoff season, so this "fill-in-the-blank" clue is timely
56. Indoor rower, for short: ERG. As in ergonomic?
57. Selena portrayer, familiarly: J-LO. Jennifer Lopez
58. Orecchiette shape: EAR. Refers to pasta. Thankfully, I recently returned from a trip to Italy so I knew this
It sort of resembles an EAR
59. Local source of produce: Abbr.: CSA. Odd clue unless you googled it. I
guess this is the new way to use CSA and not refer to the South during
the Civil War (or War Between the States, depending on where you're
from)
Today's puzzle is all about dancing so I've taken the title of this review from the name of the Greek muse of Dance and Choral music and the opening video is a performance of La Bouréeby Renaissance composer Michael Praetorius from his Dances from Terpsichore.
Today's constructor is our very own Renée Thomason, and today is her first solo without her mentor C.C. Burnikel. And I have to say that C.C. has mentored her well. I usually don't comment on the quality of puzzles, but in this case I really enjoyed solving and reviewing this one. Not only was there a cleverly executed theme to amuse us, but there were no references to obscure pop culture icons, and some very clever cluing.
Here are the themers. They don't appear to have anything in common semantically so we really need the reveal to tell us that they all have something to do with dancing ...
56. Moonwalk, running man, floss, et al., and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues?: DANCE MOVES. And here I'll squeeze in a bit more music to show us something about the nature of these dances -- they really resemble a frenzied Italian Tarantella ...... scrambled across the theme clues ...!
16A. *Smack-dab in the middle: DEAD CENTER.
22A. *Appetizer with lots of toppings: LOADED NACHOS.
35A. *Solving the Sunday crossword, for one: WEEKEND ACTIVITY.
45A. *Some design transfers: IRON ON DECALS.
Note the adherence to the convention that the embedded word must span multi-word fill. Finding the right combination of words for the themers and finding a place for them in the grid is impressive.
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ...
Across:
1. Chunk of fairway: DIVOT. We recently took one of our granddaughters to our first POLO match this Summer and found that during the Chukkers (time outs to swap out horses) the audience is invited onto the field (which is 9 times the size of a football field!) for "DIVOT stomping."
13. "Parting is such sweet sorrow, mon ami": ADIEU. Today's French lesson -- "goodbye", spoken to a male friend, A DIEU is actually a blessing ("to God") and is used when the separation will be long term or permanent. Au revoir ("Until I see you again") is used for short term partings.
14. Classroom helper: AIDE.
15. Qatari ruler: EMIR.
16. [Theme clue]
18. Tree with needles and cones: PINE. Conifers -- a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Unlike deciduous trees (oaks, maples, poplars, etc.) which shed their leaves in the Fall, conifers drop their needles gradually over the course of the year.
19. Continuing ed course: ESL. English as a Second Language.
20. Mixology verb: STIR.
21. Dukes: FISTS. Maybe this is why they called John Wayne "the Duke" -- because he used his fists so much.
22. [Theme clue]
25. Birds with blue eggs: ROBINS. We're talking here of course about American Robins ...
Robin Eggs (American)
The eggs of the English Robin are a buff with reddish-brown spots ...
Robin Eggs (English)
28. "I'm all __!": EARS.
29. Casserole appliance: OVEN.
30. Off: AMISS.
32. The "Gras" of "Mardi Gras": FAT. More French -- "Fat Tuesday", i.e. getting stuffed on the Tuesday before the first day of of Lent (Ash Wednesday), a season of fasting.
35. [Theme clue]
39. Soon-to-be alumni: Abbr.: SRS.
40. Window part: LEDGE.
41. Sound imitated by hitting coconut halves together: CLOP. Used to great effect by these coconuts ... 42. Cor anglais kin: OBOE. What's the difference between a Cor Anglais and an OBOE? Here Vivien Kong plays a lovely excerpt from the second movement of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World with a Cor anglais ("English Horn") ...43. Abrasion: SCRAPE.
45. [Theme clue]
50. Update, as a library card: RENEW.
51. Tomato paste tomato: ROMA.
52. Bird that can weigh more than a baby hippo: EMU. Who knew -- a new EMU clue?
55. Rae of "Insecure": ISSA. Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. Founder of Hoorae Media, she achieved wider recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO television series Insecure (2016–2021), for which she was nominated for multiple Golden Globes Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards. Here's a very short clip with Issa as President Barbie in the 2023 film Barbie ... 56. [Theme reveal]
59. Mushroom part: STEM.
60. As well: ALSO.
61. Amazon option: PRIME. I was surprised that Renée didn't clue this with a bit of number theory. 😀
62. FDR successor: HST. Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Missouri from 1935 to 1945 and briefly in 1945 as the 34th vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Assuming the presidency after Roosevelt's death, Truman implemented the Marshall Plan in the wake of World War II to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism.
Harry S. Truman
I always thought that his middle initial, "S" was just a placeholder, but in fact it stands for two names, honoring both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.
63. Prerelease software version: BETA. In my experience the "release" software IS the BETA. That's when the real debugging starts. 😀
64. Tennis star Monica: SELES. Monica Seles (born December 2, 1973) is a former world No. 1 tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. She won nine major singles titles, eight of them as a teenager while representing Yugoslavia, and the final one while representing the United States.
Monica Seles
Down:
1. Miami-__ County: DADE. Miami-Dade County is in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida (CSO to unclefred and Lemonade). The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Miami, the core of the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 6.138 million people. As I am writing this, I'm sure the people throughout the state of Florida still have much work to do to recover from hurricane Milton.
Miami-Dade County
2. Midmonth day: IDES. We have the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) to thank for this bit of crosswordese. 😀
3. Bottle in a lab: VIAL.
4. 20-vol. lexicon: OED. You can also buy this used edition of the 2-vol OED, complete with magnifying glass, for as low as $79.95 ...
2 volume OED
... or you can subscribe to the online version for £100/$100, or you can just highlight the word, e.g. lexicon, and let Google find the definition. Hand up if you've used a paper dictionary in the past year?
6. Cat : felid :: dog : __: CANID. Today's Latin lesson.
7. Bath water volume: LITRE. Clever clue! -- Bath the town, not the vessel for bathing. I spent 2 weeks working in Bath once, but I took showers so I can't tell you how many LITRES of water I used. If truth be told however, only the government, industry, commerce, and scientific research have been metricated, whereas the common folk still use Imperial units -- when Brits walk into a pub they will invariably order their ALE by the PINT (i.e. 473 ML).
8. Citrusy suffix: ADE.
9. German article: DER. Today's German lesson: THE -- DER, DIE, and DAS are the definite articles used to modify masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. In English we don't make such distinctions and use THE as the definite article for all nouns, e.g. "the boy, the girl, the table", but in German it's not that simple.
10. Community known for barn raisings: AMISH. This scene from the 1985 film Witness shows how they do it ... 11. Skewbald horse: PINTO. Not to be confused with a Paint.
Pinto horse
12. Lock of hair: TRESS.
15. Sweeping accounts: EPICS. They don't get any more epic than this ... 17. Airport sked details: ETAS.
22. Common sight on Safari: LINK. Another clever one -- if like me you didn't notice that Safari was capitalized and you'd already perped the first two letters: LI, you would have reflexively filled LION, rather LINK -- a URL on a Safari browser page.
23. Prepare for a winter flight: DE-ICE.
24. Political cartoonist Thomas: NAST. Thomas Nast (September 26, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He also popularized the donkey as the symbol for the Democratic Party and the elephant, for the Republican Party; and created the “modern” image of Santa Claus.
32. Hoka rival: FILA. I'd not heard of Hoka shoes, but I did know FILA because one of my BILs used to work for them. Our clue is also today's Māori lesson: the word Hoka means "to fly" in that language.
33. Sitting upon: ATOP.
34. Blood category: TYPE.
36. Pasta salad pasta shape: ELBOW.
37. Colorless gas that makes colorful signs: NEON. For over 70 years this NEON sign dominated the sky above the Baltimore Harbor, but eventually succumbed to old age. On July 4, 2021 it was replaced by an LED version. The lowercase “o” from the old Domino Sugar sign was donated to the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
38. Old tape players: VCRS.
42. Last-call hr., sometimes: ONE AM.
43. Equal: SAME.
44. Workshop grippers: CLAMPS. There are a lot of shapes and sizes ...
Workshop clamps
45. __ setter: IRISH. Beautiful dogs and great with children ...
Irish Setter
46. Recuperates, say: RESTS.
47. Get-go: ONSET.
48. Surrealist Max: ERNST. Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalized American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism in Europe. If the word surrealist is clued in a crossword puzzle, the fill is almost invariably DALI or ERNST.
Max Ernst
49. Marshmallow-topped drink: COCOA.
52. Really rotten: EVIL.
53. Social media share: MEME. A MEME begins as a social media share, but like the GENE, the biological entity upon which the idea is based, it must be propagated widely in order to survive. While I don't always see eye to eye with the bloke, I have to give credit to ethologist and story teller Richard Dawkins for coining this word in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene.
Theme: You're putting me on. And me, too; where, as we shall soon see, one garment is worn over another garment.
17 A. Put in the fridge to warm up: DEFROSTED, as from the freezer, and -- 20 A. Common laundry no-show: SOCK, a piece of clothing worn on the foot and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Sometimes lost in the wash.
But the target word here is FROCK, an unfitted, comfortable garment for wear in the house, or (later) a light overdress worn with a slip or underdress.
19 A. Bistros: CAFES for casual dining, and --
23 A. Lose on purpose: TANK, make no effort to win.
Here we are looking for a CAFTAN, often worn as a coat or as an overdress, usually having long sleeves and reaching to the ankles.
56 A. Legendary Arthur: ASHE. Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. [1943-1993] was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team, and the only black man ever to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open, and --
62 A. Shrubby landscape: HEATH, an area of open uncultivated land, especially in Britain, with characteristic vegetation of heather, gorse, and coarse grasses.
This item is a SHEATH. Sheath dresses fit tightly from bodice to hem, and emphasize the shape of an hourglass figure, while shift dresses [vide infra] are shapeless and conceal the body shape.
61 A. Like Puss in Boots: SHOD, wearing shoes, and --
64 A. Delivered by plane, as emergency supplies: AIRLIFTED, as defined.
A SHIFT is a dress in which the cloth falls straight from the shoulders and has darts around the bust. It frequently features a high scoop or boat neck.
And the unifier - 39 A. Autumn-weather advice for staying comfortable, or a description of each set of circled letters: DRESS IN LAYERS. Perhaps wear an undershirt, overshirt, sweater and jacket. If you get too warm, you can remove a layer.
Or just don one of the layerable garments described above. I suppose for some of these, the layering is implied, or even optional. But we'll just let that go.
Hi, Gang, it's JazzBumpa here in the dressing room. Since the theme clues each span a pair of across lines, I had to layer these clues to dress this puzzle up properly. Hope you got the circles, or this material would be hard to see through. Let's find out what other fashions Laura has designed for us
Across:
1. Pre-weekend shout: TGIF. Thank [Deity of your choice] it's Friday.
5. Spot for a hoop: LOBE. Ear ring location
9. Subsided: EBBED. Receded or declined.
14. Pro __: gratis: BONO. Pro bono is a Latin phrase that means "for the public good" and refers to professional work done voluntarily and without payment.
15. Unanswered, as a question: OPEN. Refers to a matter or problem that is being discussed but to which the answer is not yet known.
16. Eternal City fountain: TREVI. The Trevi Fountain is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762.
24. Word with green or silver: SCREEN. A green screen is a large green backdrop that makes it possible to add any background to the subject of your photo or video. Cf 10 D. "Silver screen" is a term that refers to the movie industry or to a type of projection screen used in early film:
26. Hall of Fame coach Summitt: PAT. Patricia Susan Summitt was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. As a coach at the University of Tennessee, she acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement.
28. Part of 1-Across: IT'S. It is. But, alas, now it's only Wednesday. And I have 2 [!] rehearsals tonight.
29. Fluffy dog, familiarly: POM. The Pomeranian is a breed of dog of the Spitz type that is named for the Pomerania region in north-west Poland and north-east Germany in Central Europe. Classed as a toy dog breed because of its small size, the Pomeranian is descended from larger Spitz-type dogs, specifically the German Spitz.
30. Stag or doe: DEER. A deer or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae. Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae and Capreolinae. Male deer of almost all species, as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year.
33. Burns a bit: CHARS. Partially burn an object so as to blacken its surface.
35. Rode an enchanted broomstick, maybe: FLEW. Move or be hurled quickly through the air, no matter witch way.
37. Tow truck: WRECKER. Slangy mis-application of the word.
43. "Soup's on!": LET'S EAT. It's meal time.
44. Scene scenes: SETS. Arrangements of props and other background items in a segment of a movie or play.
46. D.C. subway: METRO. Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas.
48. "Remixing Since Forever" ice cream brand: EDY'S. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc., is an American ice cream company, founded in 1928 in Oakland, California. The company's two signature brands, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and Edy's Grand Ice Cream, are named after its founders, William Dreyer and Joseph Edy
50. Blubber: CRY. Weep, sob.
51. Student carrier: BUS. A large motor vehicle carrying passengers by road, typically one serving the public on a fixed route and for a fare.
52. French pal: AMI. Literal
54. Garlicky sauces: AIOLIS. A mayonnaise flavored with garlic and sometimes other ingredients, such as red pepper.
58. First name in jazz: ETTA. Jamesetta Hawkins [1938-2012] known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul.
67. Luminous vibes: AURAE. In spiritualism and some forms of alternative medicine, a supposed emanation surrounding the body of a living creature and regarded as an essential part of the individual.
68. "U slay me!": LMAO. Laughing My Appendages* Off. * So to speak.
69. "Actually, I disagree": UH--NO. Nope!
70. Hint at: IMPLY. Strongly suggest the truth or existence of something not expressly stated.
71. Site built with two cents?: YELP. Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in San Francisco. Unless the clue is referring to users putting in their 2 cents worth, I don't know what it means.
72. Ping-Pong table dividers: NETS. A six inch high mesh barrier that separates a ping pong table into two equal halves:
Down:
1. Sked abbr.: TBD. To be determined, referring to an item in a schedule,
2. Offers no more clues, as a trail: GOES COLD. Becomes ineffective or unproductive,
3. Snitch: INFORMER. A person who informs on another person to the police or other authority. Tattle tale.
4. Compel: FORCE. Oblige someone to do something, regardless of their willingness.
5. __ Angeles Sparks: LOS. The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began.
6. Declines, with "out": OPTS. Chooses not to participate in something.
7. Vegetable used in some red dyes: BEET. The edible dark red spherical root of a a herbaceous plant, eaten as a vegetable.
8. Become, eventually: END UP. To reach or come to a place, condition, or situation that was not planned or expected.
9. "And more" abbr.: ETC. Abbreviation for et cetera: and other similar things. It is used to avoid giving a complete list.
10. 2024 Charli XCX hit album whose cover became a meme: BRAT. Charlotte Emma Aitchison [b. 1992] known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery by a promoter who invited her to perform at warehouse raves. Charli XCX "Brat" Cover Parodies refers to exploitable edits of English singer and songwriter Charli XCX's sixth studio album cover, known as brat. The cover features a vibrant lime-green background with the title "brat" disproportionately imposed on it, which received some criticism in February 2024 but was later turned into a source for green-screen edits and memes, as the cover could be easily photoshopped and parodied on social media by fans of the singer and also several companies, especially in Brazil.
11. "No playing favorites!": BE FAIR. Impartial and just, without favoritism or discrimination.
12. Happenings: EVENTS. Planned public or social occasions.
13. Hockey pucks, e.g.: DISKS. Flat, thin, round objects.
18. Approved: OKED. As defined
22. "Likewise," informally: BACK AT YA. Whatever you just said to the person saying it, that person is saying the same thing back to you.
24. Letters on a Coppertone bottle: SPF. Solar Protection Factor. A sunscreen’s SPF is a measure of how many harmful ultraviolet rays it absorbs or reflects away from your skin. Must be reapplied ever couple of hours.
25. "I had no idea!": NEWS TO ME. Said of newly received knowledge.
27. Nonbinary pronoun: THEY. Non-binary pronouns are pronouns that are not gender specific and are often used by people who identify outside of the gender binary. The most common non-binary pronouns are "they/them/their".
31. Greek goddess of discord: ERIS. Eris is the goddess of strife, discord, and rivalry. She is known for starting the Trojan War by throwing a golden apple inscribed "For the most beautiful" among the guests at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Eris was not invited to the wedding, and her actions led to a quarrel among the goddesses. Her Roman equivalent is Discordia.
32. Soprano Fleming: RENEE. Renée Lynn Fleming [b. 1959] is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and has won five times.
34. Greek god of war: ARES. Ares was the ancient Greek god of war or, more properly, the spirit of battle. He represented the distasteful aspects of brutal warfare and slaughter. Ares was never very popular, and his worship was not extensive in Greece.
36. Allergic reaction, perhaps: WELT. A raised red mark on the skin where something has hit or rubbed you, or from an allergic reaction.
38. Not naked: CLAD. Clothed or covered. Cf 41 A/
40. Lab liquids: SERA. Liquids that are injected into someone's blood to protect them against a poison or disease, or the the watery, pale yellow part of blood.
41. Provide with a wardrobe change: RECLOTHE. Provide a change of clothing.
42. Loud and grating: STRIDENT. Said of a harsh voice or sound.
45. Pt. of GPS: SYStem.
46. Art house?: MUSEUM. Typically, a movie theater that specializes in films that are artistic or experimental rather than merely entertaining. But here - a more literal meaning of a building that houses works of art.
47. F equivalent, in music: E SHARP. Note that are spelt differently, but sound the same are known as enharmonic equivalents.
51. Faith whose oldest standing temple is in Wilmette, Illinois: BAHAI. A monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century as a development of Babism, emphasizing the essential oneness of humankind and of all religions and seeking world peace. The Baha'i faith was founded by the Persian Baha'ullah (1817–92) and his son Abdul Baha (1844–1921). Babism isa religion founded in 1844 by the Persian Mirza Ali Muhammad of Shiraz (1819–50) who taught that a new prophet would follow Muhammad.
53. Home of the Eternal City: ITALY. Rome, of course.
55. "Riveting," sarcastically: OH, FUN. Might be spoken through gritted teeth.
57. "And others" abbr.: ET. AL. Like ETC [Cf 9 A] but used when the list is of people, such as co-authors, rather than things.
59. Clock display: TIME. The current hours and minutes. Will you come back for seconds?
60. North __ Sea: Kazakh lake: ARAL. The Aral Sea was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south, which began shrinking in the 1960s and largely dried up by the 2010s.
63. Cry for attention?: HEY. Pay attention, now!
65. Prune: LOP. Cut off or prune, as branches.
66. Uno y uno: DOS. Zwie, kettő, deux, två, two, in any language.
Well, that wraps up [so to speak] another Wednesday. Hope you are enjoying your autumn. Don't forget to layer up.
There are lots of ways to struggle with a crossword and today I decided to enter what I thought was a solid/clever fill that turned out to be wrong. At 46. Upper class, often: SEMINAR, I thought SENIORS compose most upper classes and stuck with it. When I saw that I should have had SEMINAR, that part of the puzzle opened up very quickly. I do have to take one bad cell at S(H)EIN/(H)EARTH but I did enjoy the struggle.
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