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

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Nov 29, 2017

Wednesday, November 29, 2017, Claire Muscat and David Steinberg

TITLE: AN INSIDE JOB

Claire and David have given us a very clever Wednesday offering featuring Matroyshka DOLLS that stack up and nest inside each other as you can see here:




Husker Gary on duty for a tour of what our  two constructors have done graphically in their wonderful puzzle as you can see in the grid below. They have the letters for the word DOLL in the circles getting progressively and symmetrically closer and closer, until they culminate in the single word DOLL. (Could this reveal have worked without the circled DOLL letters?)


But wait, there's more! They have added the two adjectives that describe this arrangement - NESTING and STACKED in a very neat seven letter stack at the bottom (part of 7, 8, 9/9, 8, 7 letter corners) as shown in the reveals: 

42. With 68-Across, each successive one of a set graphically depicted by this puzzle's circles : NESTING - DO and LL eventually NESTING at the bottom

45. Arranged like the 68-Acrosses in the answers to starred clues are designed to be : STACKED - DO and LL STACKED until NESTING at the bottom. Other visuals for STACKED were considered but...


68. *See 42-Down : DOLL - Here is a seasonal Matroyshka set 




Pretty cool, huh?

Now let's look at the theme fill elements:

18. *Is unsuitable : DOESN'T FIT THE BILL - At first glance it might appear that Earl Boykin DOESN'T FIT THE BILL to play against Shaquille O'Neal


32. *Literary character with an evil alter ego : DOCTOR JEKYLL - John Barrymore transistioning from the good Doctor Jekyll to the evil Mr. Hyde in the 1920 silent movie of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic


50. *Threshold : DOOR SILL - This kitty is protecting hers!


Let's set off to see what else Claire and David have nested in this stack of clues


Across

1. Schooner features : MASTS - or BEERS



6. Frosty coating : RIME

10. Shine : GLEAM


15. Advil competitor : ALEVE


16. __ of March : IDES - The soothsayer Spurinna warned Caesar to beware


17. EVE's companion, in a 2008 Pixar film : WALLE


21. "__ ideas?" : ANY


22. "Back to the Future" vehicle : DELOREAN - At 88 mph the question becomes not "Where is the DeLorean?" but "When is the DeLOREAN?"




23. Wild place : ZOO - Famous for much wild life in Lincoln, NE!




24. Rays or Jays : TEAM


26. RAM part : MEMORY - I remember when 64K of Random Access Memory was a big deal


27. First light : DAWN


28. Egyptian snake : ASP


30. Wide shoe spec : EEE - President Obama seems pretty impressed with the width and length of his Shaquille O'Neal autographed shoe



38. Anti-cruelty org. : PETA


39. "Hold up!" : WAIT


40. Radiate : EMIT



Bob Dylan
42. Twangy-voiced : NASAL - This guy's NASAL voice hasn't kept him from a big career 

43. Breakfast order : EGGS


44. BFFs : FAVES


46. Gets a glimpse of : ESPIES - Not in my verbal or written quiver 


48. Most innocent : PUREST


49. Canonized Mlle. : STE - Joan Of Arc may be the most famous one


55. Bus depot: Abbr. : STA - Marilyn Monroe starred in a 1956 movie about a Bus Depot in Tonganoxie, Kansas

56. Corrida opponent : TORO


58. Paddock sound : WHINNY



Walt and Hank
59. Hank's job on "Breaking Bad," briefly : NARC - Hank is not too happy with his meth cooking brother-in-law in this scene

60. Modern-day Persian : IRANI


62. Tiny annoyance : GNAT


63. Former One Direction singer Zayn __ : MALIK - No idea/interest



64. Frequent presidential candidate Ralph : NADER - You can't 67. Skim (over) : GLOSS over the fact that a lot of people didn't like Gore or Bush

65. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE - Except for Shrek


66. In reserve : ASIDE - How much money do you have set ASIDE for that inevitable rainy day?


69. Knight's horse : STEED



Down


1. Angry with : MAD AT


2. Without assistance : ALONE


3. "Later!" : SEE YA - Wouldn't wanna BE YA!


4. Family room sets : TVS - We now have way more TV'S than the number of channels we  used to have



5. Final email step : SEND - Think before you hit SEND!!

6. Search quickly through : RIFLE


7. Figure of speech : IDIOM


8. Way around D.C. : METRO - A 10 min. Uber ride would have taken a half hour on the METRO for us in March


9. Perfume compound : ESTER


10. No Doubt lead singer Stefani : GWEN - Now, her I know!


11. Chocolate dog : LAB


12. "My Fair Lady" heroine : ELIZA - Here is Wendy Hiller as ELIZA in the 1938 non-musical movie Pymaglion. A role that Audrey Hepburn later made famous.




13. Let happen : ALLOW


14. Fruit that's still a fruit when two of its letters are switched : MELON - Switch the first and third letters and you get my first car


19. What sirens may do : TEMPT - Greek mythology tells of these creatures who used enchanting music and lovely voices to lure sailors to their doom on rocky shores




20. Actress Salma : HAYEK


25. Chinese liquor brand : MAOTAI - Alexander Haig warned President Nixon to not actually drink any of this very potent liquor during toasts. Dan Rather called it "liquid razor blades"




27. San Diego suburb : DEL MAR - A city of 4,356 whose name means "By The Sea" and is home to a famous horse racetrack 


29. Climbed : SCALED

31. The Eiffel Tower, aptly? : EYEFUL - Cute! Granddaughter did not go up the tower last week because of the daunting lines

32. Western outlaw : DESPERADO

33. Be indebted to : OWE

34. Cleaning cloth : RAG


35. Irish dance : JIG - For some reason a guy is doing pushups while the girls are dancing a JIG

36. "Close Encounters" beings : ETS - I loved the cantina scene from Star Wars

37. Hides one's true self : LIVES A LIE - Fewer people have to do this now

38. Idyllic : PASTORAL


41. Take for a first drive : TEST RIDE - Al Pacino played a blind man who took a Ferrari for a TEST RIDE in Scent Of A Woman

47. Farm mom : SOW

48. Tissue layer : PLY - Some schools save money with single PLY toilet tissue. Yikes!

51. "What a nightmare!" : OH GOD

52. Fab Four drummer : RINGO - The luckiest man in Rock 'n Roll history?



53. [Don't touch my bone!] : SNARL



54. Info a spy might gather : INTEL

57. Dollar bills : ONES


59. Condé __ : NAST - The man who is credited with giving us our modern version of Santa Claus with this 1881 drawing in Harper's Bazaar

61. Recipient of much Apr. mail : IRS

63. More, in Madrid : MAS Esas son todas las pistas. No hay más. (That's all the clues. There are no more.)


Now feel free to stack and nestle your comments: