Monday October 2, 2023 Katherine Baicker and Laura Dershewitz

  

Hello Cornerites!

Theme:            Fire Drill

sumdaze here. I cannot believe we are already in October! We are entering the time of year when a cozy chair, an afghan, a good book, a cup of hot cocoa, and a pumpkin-flavored biscotti are all we need for a satisfying afternoon. Did I forget anything? Oh, yes, you might want a warming fire. To do that, you will need three things:  oxygen, heat, and fuel.  

This is the "fire triangle". The fourth element is a chemical reaction.
If you take any of these four things away, you will not have a fire or the fire will be extinguished.

Katherine Baicker and Laura Dershewitz have built a snug puzzle for us based on this fire triangle. If these constructors' names sound familiar, that is probably because you remember their Herding Cats puzzle from Friday, September 22, 2023 -- which was expertly blogged by the charming Chairman Moe.

Let's look at the three themed clues, followed by the reveal:

20 Across. Talks things out to resolve tension: CLEARS THE AIR.  Oxygen

28 Across. Slumbers soundly: SLEEPS LIKE A LOG.  Fuel

47 Across. Applies more pressure: TURNS UP THE HEAT.  Heat

54. Jack London short story set in harsh winter conditions, and what the ends of 20-, 28-, and 47-Across can be used for: TO BUILD A FIRE.

I had to rework the South a couple of times while I was trying to recall the title. TO light A FIRE?  bzzt. TO start A FIRE?  bzzt. The third time was a charm.  

This short story was first published in Century Magazine in 1908.
Read the full PDF here.
Or read the Cliffs Notes version here.

Let's pause for a bit of silliness before we move on to the other 74 clues:  

Tompall Glaser sings Put Another Log on the Fire (1974)

Across:
1. Symbol on the Texas state flag: STAR.  Do we have any vexillologists on The Corner?

5. Central point: GIST.  My brain searched for a more precise, mathematical answer. Sometimes perfect is the enemy of good enough.  

9. Sailboat poles: MASTS.

14. Muted, as colors: PALE.

15. Cuatro y cuatro: OCHO.  4 and 4 = 8

Yesterday's clue for OCHO was much more difficult.

16. To no __: without success: AVAIL.  As a noun, AVAIL means "an advantage toward attainment of a goal or purpose".

17. North Carolina university: ELON.  ELON University is a private school. It was founded in 1889.

18. Clothing part that might split: SEAM.  That seems likely.

19. As of late: NEWLY.

23. Miss Piggy's favorite pronoun: MOI.  

24. Spice amt.: TSP.  "Amount" is abbreviated, so is "teaspoon".  "Five" would not fit.

The (5) Spice Girls performed at the 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremony.

25. Post for an MBA, maybe: CFO.  Master of Business Administration and Chief Financial Officer

33. Ecol. or geol.: SCI.  Ecology, Geology, and SCIence

34. Catch a glimpse of: SEE.

35. Digital camera insert, briefly: SD CARD.  and  26 Down. Word processing menu heading: FORMAT.  and  54 Down. Cassette: TAPE.

We're going old school technology today!

These 50 old school tech products changed industries, improved lives, set trends, connected people, and eventually got passed over for newer products.

36. "Good Lord!": OH GOD.

39. Food drive donation: CAN.  

Also ... you can drive around CANada and eat these delicious foods.

41. Familiar "Who's there?" reply: IT'S ME. "Familiar" in the clue refers to a dictionary's explanatory notes. It indicates that the words are suitable for informal contexts but would not normally be used in formal writing or speaking. In this case, the formal reply would be, "It is I," or, preferably, "It is <name>."

42. Arrived by air: FLEW IN.  The past tense in the clue required an answer in the past tense.

Brown Pelicans might seem like awkward birds but they are adept flyers.

I never tire of watching them glide along the breakers. They FLY IN like a squadron of F-18s in a

V formation and know exactly how the air moves over the waves.

44. Push-up bra feature: PAD.  Were you hoping for a pic? Will this one do?  

46. __ Diego Padres: SAN.  As of this writing, they are standing 3rd in the NL West with 19.5 games back.  How They Came to be Called the Padres

51. Paramount channel: CBS.  and  52. Paramount channel: TMC.

ESP...TV channel clues are not my strong point.

53. Web pioneer: AOL.

60. Green energy category: SOLAR.  CSO to unclefred!  

63. Tend the soup: STIR.  This is me. I make big pots of soups, stews, and beans.

64. Big celebrity: IDOL.

65. Learn to fit in: ADAPT.  

66. "__, Brute?": ET TU.  

67. Sizable bodies of water: SEAS.  We often hear about the "Seven SEAS", but according to National Geographic, there are about 50 SEAS on Earth.

68. Formally hands over: CEDES.  Russia CEDEd Alaska to the U.S. on October 18, 1867. This ended Russia's presence in North America and gave the U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim.

69. Amy of "The Wire": RYAN.  I have not seen this show.

Amy as Beadie Russel (lt.) and as herself.

70. Rabbit kin: HARE.  

HAREs are distinguished from rabbits by their larger size, longer ears, and longer hind legs.
Both have cute whiskers.

Down:
1. On __: how much freelance work is done: SPEC.  "On SPEC" means "without having a definite buyer or customer but with the hope or expectation of finding one when work is completed". This describes crossword puzzle construction, no?

2. Like many supermodels: TALL.  I asked Splynter for his expertise with this one. He sent me three pics and one is from me. Can you guess which are his?

4 TALL models

3. Sunburn soother: ALOE.  I need to repot my ALOE plant. It has grown so big that it tips over its current pot.

4. Change the title of: RENAME.  

5. Deals in dirt: GOSSIPS.  "Dirt" is slang for GOSSIP -- usually of a scandalous nature.  

6. Rapper who plays Fin on "Law & Order: SVU": ICE-T.

7. Toppled Iranian leader: SHAH.

8. Black Lives Matter co-founder Ayo __: TOMETI.

9. Nail treatment at a salon, informally: MANI-PEDI.  I looked up the trendy colors for this Fall (so you don't have to). One expert recommended deep browns, regal blues, and rusty orange polishes. Another recommended earth tones and all shades of greens from bamboo to dark olive.

10. State definitively: AVER.

11. Toothed tool: SAW.

12. Up to, briefly: 'TIL.  unTIL

13. Underhanded: SLY.

21. Fish eggs: ROE.

22. Inquires: ASKS.

25. Top-grade: CLASS A.

27. "Happiness is having a scratch for every itch" poet Nash: OGDEN.  

Paul the Cow* gets his itches scratched (36 sec.)

*"Cow" is a female bovine who has had a calf, but I looked past this egregious error because the video is pretty cute.

You can see Paul's happiness at having his itches scratched.

28. Disheveled clod: SCHLUB.  Def.:  (slang) a stupid, worthless, or unattractive person. >>> Ouch!

29. Crossbred big cats: LIGERS.  and  58 Down. Stadium sound: ROAR.

For the most part, big cats (lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars) can ROAR but they cannot purr. Cougars and smaller cats (bobcats, ocelots, lynxes, and house cats) can purr, but they cannot roar. I asked Google if LIGERS can roar. It said, "The faintly striped, shaggy-maned creatures are the offspring of male lions and female tigers, which gives them the ability to both roar like lions and chuff like tigers -- a supposedly affectionate sound that falls somewhere between a purr and a raspberry."  

LIGERs average 1,000 lbs. (463.6 kg.).

30. Brief time, briefly: SEC. kinda fun clue

31. Cleared a hurdle: LEAPT.  and  45 Down. All-out sprint: DEAD RUN.

In this video Sydney McLaughlin gets a world record and a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the 400m. hurdles.  Wow!  (NBC will let me link the video but not embed it.)

32. Take steps: ACT.

33. Component of cider but not cola?: SOFT C.  Meta clue. "Cider" begins with an /s/ (SOFT C) and "cola" begins with a /k/ "hard C".

37. Hold the deed to: OWN.

38. Twists, as data: DISTORTS.  When looking at a graph, always look to see if it starts at zero.

At first look, it appears the percent of Democrats 'who agree with court' is three times that of the other two parties.
Look closer. This graph does not start at zero!
The difference is between 62% and 54%. Not quite so shocking now, is it?

40. "Nope": NAH.  Both are slang for "no".

43. Pink Floyd's "Comfortably __": NUMB.  Here's the song.  It was released in 1979 on their 11th studio album, The Wall. David Gilmour's guitar solo is legendary.

48. Many a laptop owner: PC USER.  Hand up for this one.

49. Condo management gp.: HOA.  "Group" is abbreviated, so is "Home Owners Association".

Each is different, but basically, HOAs maintain building exteriors, landscape common areas, establish rules, and provide amenities, e.g., a swimming pool. The average HOA fee in the U.S. in 2021 was $286 a month. Hawaii came in with the most expensive at $762 a month. West Virginia was the least expensive state at $37 per month.

50. Mischievous: ELFISH.  Def.:  relating to or characteristic of an elf or elves; lively and slightly mischievous; impish.  

Will Ferrell was hilarious in Elf (2003). One gets the feeling that James Caan was thinking this crazy movie was going to ruin his career -- but now it is one of the top 10 Christmas movies of all time.

55. Teeny: ITTY.

56. "Close My Eyes Forever" singer Ford: LITA.  IMDb page

57. Brain wave: IDEA.

59. "Who __ knows?": ELSE.  I am wondering the same thing.

60. Cul-de-__: SAC.

61. Rhyming tribute: ODE.

62. Young fellow: LAD.  

We're burning daylight. I better get on with it and post the grid.

Two things before I go:

1. Thanks to Splynter for collaborating with me on 2 Down!!
2. I blogged a Rebecca Goldstein puzzle on March 13, 2023 with this same reveal. It is impressive how different constructors see new ways to use solid themes.