Tuesday, December 26th, 2023, Rebecca Goldstein

 PHYSICS 101

Hi there~! - A quick solve for me today, only four proper names, three of which I had no clue about, and a 'simple' theme/reveal.  Two each of 13- and 9-letter theme answers, with some chunky 8-, 9-, and 10-letter DOWN answers in the mix, again leading to several three-letter fills.  BTW, this puzzle featured many of what I think are 'typical' 4- and 5-letter answers, but with too many choices that potentially "fit".  The clues are marked "*", so you can see what I mean....

18. Make a real mess: SCREW THINGS UP

oops

33. Gymnastics rings position held with the body parallel to the ground: LEVER HANG - I will be able to do this by the end of 2024 - NOT~!

39. Feature of some espadrilles: WEDGE HEEL - I did not know an espadrille was a shoe; but I recognize them now~!

53. Force-multiplying device that can be found at the beginning of 18-, 33-, and 39-Across:

SIMPLE MACHINE - see the links in blue for examples

 
And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Finishes: ENDS

5. Spill the beans: BLAB

9. Chest muscle, for short: PECtoral - doesn't help with the lever hang....

12. In __ of: LIEU

13. Credit card user: PAYER - uh, well, not necessarily....

14*. "It follows logically that ... ": ERGO - THUS, too

15. Maintain: KEEP - I like this kind of KEEP

16. "Me too," more formally: "AS DO I"

17. State of mind: MOOD

21. Chillingly strange: EERIE

22*. "Pronto!": ASAP - or STAT~?

23. Many moons __: AGO

26*. Rightmost computer menu, often: HELP - HOME, FILE, EDIT, VIEW, DRAW - a great clue for a 'common' word - I had to think about the software I use before I could pick the correct one

 

AutoCAD

28. Cloak and __: DAGGER

30. Tortoise's fabled competitor: HARE

36. Norse god of war: ODIN

37. Collaborative sites: WIKIs

38. Another, in Spanish: OTRA

41. Witnessed: SEEN - I have SEEN images of guys wearing the next answer....

42. Swim team swimwear: SPEEDO - which brings to mind the word "UNSEE"....

43. Toward sunrise: EAST

46. Extra sports periods, briefly: OTs

47*. Per person: A POP - EACH, too

50. Chops, as an onion: DICES

57. Japanese noodle: UDON

59. Dog collar dangler: ID TAG

60. Notion: IDEA

61. Come to a stop: HALT

62. "You've got some __!": "NERVE~!"

 63. Shakespeare's mad king: LEAR

64. "Yellowjackets" network, briefly: SHO - No clue, but I had two-thirds via crossings

65. Mardi __: pre-Lenten festival: GRAS

66. Annoys: IRKS

DOWN:

1. Part of BPOE: ELKS - as usual, I started with the DOWNS clues first, and was on a roll quickly....

2. Nephew's sister: NIECE - check

3. Brand of riding mowers: DEERE - check

4. Ruins at Durrington Walls that once consisted of wooden posts, not stones: SUPERHENGE - ....but here I was denied STONE henge, so it had to be something else

5*. Giant party: BASH - FETE, GALA~?

6. Winona's "Beetlejuice" role: LYDIA - ya know, I have never seen this movie....and I don't plan to

7. Very long time: AEONS

8. Units led by colonels: BRIGADES - I'm not military, nor anyone in my family, but PLATOONS fit, as well; the Charge of the Light Brigade gives me a gratuitous opportunity to link Iron Maiden

 

The Trooper

9. Grow cuttings from a succulent, say: PROPAGATE - succulent~?

10. Alter __: EGO

11. Fish that may be black or blue: COD

13. Dev of "Lion": PATEL - perps

14. Down Under bird: EMU

19. Golfer Michelle __ West: WIE - perps

20. Practice in the ring: SPAR

24*. Bookstore section: GENRE - HOW TO was my first thought

 25. Liver, for one: ORGAN - I do have a "liver", but I deal with a different kind of "ORGAN"

Reinstalled six reed pipes, buried in a corner behind the chamber in the shot;

my 'boss' is packing up on the right

A pain in the a** to get to, I might add

 27. Ballet barre bend: PLIÉ

29. Pepper in extremely hot curry dishes: GHOST CHILI - no clue; the CHILI part filled in, but I WAGed the GHOST half

30. "Can you explain?": "HOW SO~?"

31. Skilled (at): ADEPT

32. Works alone: RIDES SOLO - meh.  Unless you're a cowboy~?

34. __ out a win: almost lose: EKE

35. Disgusting: VILE

37. Extraordinarily large: WHOPPING

40. Dutch cheese: EDAM

44*. "Better late than never," e.g.: ADAGE - AXIOM, IDIOM~?  I always forget which

45. [as per the original]: SIC

48. More mature: OLDER

49. Historic site in Jordan known as the Rose City: PETRA - Dah~! ( see 58D., below ) I shoulda known this from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"

51*. Duck down: EIDER -ha~! I read this clue as 'heads up'; AVOID, EVADE, ELUDE~? - Bzzzt~!

52. Go on tiptoe: SNEAK

54. Picked-off pass, for short: INTerception - football, which is a sport I do like....

55. Big D NBA squad: MAVs -  Thought it was the NUGgetS - but they're DENVER, not DALLAS - I am a total NON-basketball guy

56. Prominent feature of a fennec fox: EARS - I tried TAIL first

na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-NA - BATMAN~!

57*. Hesitation syllables: UHs - ERs, UMs~?

58. Lah-di-__: DAH - or, my clue, the "I shoulda got that" noise, like "D'Oh~!"


Splynter

Monday December 25, 2023 Barbara Lin

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

sumdaze here. I wish you all joy, peace, & love today and always -- but especially today!  

I was hoping for a holiday-themed puzzle. My thanks to constructor Barbara Lin and the LA Times Crossword Puzzle editorial staff. You did not disappoint!

Today's puzzle has five themers, including a fun grid-spanner across the equator. Each is an in-the-language phrase that is repurposed to complete a sentence telling the story of Santa's activities on Christmas Eve. I like that the activities appear in chronological order -- not an easy feat. Well done!

Let's take a look:

17 Across. Santa and his reindeer landed __: ON THE HOUSE.  the customer does not have to pay for the goods/services

We've recently had this idiomatic phrase last Monday at 61-Across and the Friday before last at 5-Across.

27 Across. Before heading down the chimney, Santa __: GOT THE SACK.  to be fired from a job 

It's OK kiddos. Santa was not fired.

33 Across. Stepping out of the fireplace, Santa left a __: CARBON FOOTPRINT.  a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person, group, etc.

(This one was my favorite because Santa's boots get ash (a carbon compound) on them when he comes down the chimney. Very clever!)

42 Across. After filling the last one, Santa hung the __: STOCKING UP. to amass extra amounts of something for future use  

58 Across. All in all, Santa had a very busy __!: PRESENT DAY.  current

Let's see what else Barbara left under the tree for us:

Across:
1. Saudi Arabia neighbor: OMAN.   

5. Protractor's measure: ANGLE.  

Gotta love an clue with a math ANGLE to it! 😜

10. Caustic chemical: ACID.

14. Forbidding word: DON'T.  OK, I won't.

15. President between Harrison and Polk: TYLER.  John Tyler was the 10th president of the U.S. What I remember from 10th grade U.S. History class is that President Harrison wanted everyone to see his fancy clothes at his inauguration so he refused to wear a coat even though Washington, D.C. is cold in January on a normal year -- and that was a really cold year. So #9 got sick and died just 31 days after his swearing in and TYLER took over as #10...or something like that.

Click to expand.

16. Writer Jaffe: RONA.  (1931-2005)  bio

19. Territory near the Mariana Trench: GUAM.  (Hi D-Otto!)

20. Actress/writer Issa: RAE.

21. Many Christmas trees: PINES. 🎄     and     53 Across. Editorialize: OPINE.

So when we sing O Christmas Tree around a PINE tree, do we O PINE?  

Aretha Franklin sings O Christmas Tree (1992)

22. Oklahoma city on the Arkansas River: TULSA.

23. Correcting myopia, maybe: LASING.  LASIK eye surgery

25. Stockholm citizens: SWEDES.

26. Small snack: BITE.  

30. App reviewers: USERS.

32. Length of TV's "60 Minutes": HOUR.  I hesitated, asking myself, "Is this a trick question?"

40. Quarter or pound: COIN.  

As of this writing, one U.S. quarter equals about 0.20 Pound sterling.

41. Like some garden lights: SOLAR.  CSO to unclefred!

48. "Children of Blood and Bone" writer Adeyemi: TOMI.  Goodreads link

49. On the up and up: KOSHER.  This adjective has a specific definition in Jewish law but is often used informally to mean "genuine and legitimate".

50. Homegrown: NATIVE.  This word comes to us from the Latin word nativus, as does another word often heard this time of year -- nativity.

52. Broad necktie: ASCOT.

55. Flight takeoff approximation: Abbr.: ETD.  Estimated Time of Departure

57. Old Russian leader: TSAR.

60. French 101 verb: ETRE.  to be

61. __ tot: TATER.

62. Like a red Red Delicious: RIPE.  

63. Diana of the Supremes: ROSS.  

Diana Ross sings The Christmas Song (1994)

64. Speaker of the house?: ALEXA.  Fun clue!  ALEXA is Amazon's virtual assistant technology accessed through a Wi-Fi bug, erm, I mean "speaker" in your house.

65. Beehive State people: UTES.  

If you've driven through Utah, you've seen their beehive signs.

Down:
1. Fragrance: ODOR.

2. Da Vinci portrait in the Louvre: MONA LISA.  

This famous painting is smaller than you might think.
It is 30 in. x 21 in. (77 cm. x 53 cm.)

3. Long-tongued insectivore: ANTEATER.  Did you know that a baby ANTEATER is called a pup?  Check out this 1 min. video of an ANTEATER pup at the Nyíregyháza Zoo in Hungary.  

4. Utmost degree: NTH.  Basically, the nth term is a mathematical expression that enables us to find the value of any term in a sequence. The 'n' stands for the term number. So if I have 5+n and if n=1 then it would be 5+1 = 6. Likewise, if n=2, it would be 5+2=7. And so on. Since there are an infinite amount of values we can give to n, the sequence can go on to infinity. That idea of "going to infinity" has given us the idiom "nth degree", meaning "as much as possible" or "extremely".

5. "I haven't __ to wear!": A THING.  I knew this one right away but I am not sure why. 

6. "Black Panther" star Lupita: NYONG'O.  Lupita is a Mexican-Kenyan actress born March 1, 1983 in Mexico City. In 2014 she won an Oscar for her work in 12 Years a Slave. Here she is in her Nakia role from Black Panther.

7. Sticky stuff: GLUE.  

8. More or __: LESS.  

9. "I heard him exclaim, __ he drove out of sight ... ": 'ERE.  🎄

This famous poem, originally titled A Visit or A Visit From St. Nicholas, was first published anonymously on December 23, 1823, in a Troy, New York (another Cornerite CSO!) newspaper called The Sentinel.  article from "The Parade"

10. Bickers: ARGUES.

11. May've: COULDA.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda  -- all three are colloquialisms that replace the verb "have" with "a". Likewise, the clue replaces "have" via the use of an apostrophe.  

another CSO

12. "Almost ready!": IN A SEC.

13. Fabric named for Syria's capital: DAMASK.  This fabric is named for Damascus, which is where this textile product originated. Known for its intricate and reversible patterns, DAMASK fabric is prized for its ornateness. These days, however, it is easy to make incredibly complex damask patterns with modern textile machines.  Read more here.

18. Prefix with center: EPI-.  Earthquakes come to mind. (Hi Jayce!)

22. Whippersnappers: TWERPS.

24. Croat's neighbor: SERB.  

25. Tightly closed: SHUT.

26. Tampa Bay NFLer: BUC.  

28. Havaianas shoe, e.g.: THONG.  

Click to expand.

Speaking of Hawaii, here is Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters with a Hawaiian Christmas song:  

Mele Kalikimaka (1950)

29. Additionally: TOO.

31. Lightbulb's place: SOCKET.  Did someone say that it's Sock It To Me Time?  

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967-73)

How many faces do you recognize?

34. Gritty film genre: NOIR.

35. Classic Cadillac feature: FIN.

36. Round flatbread: ROTI.

37. "Five stars!": I LOVED IT.  Answer to, "What did I think of today's puzzle?"

38. Personalized iron-on: NAME TAPE.  The "NAME" part filled quickly. Some solvers might not be familiar with the "TAPE" part. In the military, a NAME TAPE is a rectangle-shaped piece of fabric with one's surname stitched into it then permanently sewn onto one's uniform. It stays on through the laundry and the life of that uniform; whereas, a name tag is a metal pin that is attached when wearing the uniform and removed when laundering the uniform. Do other professions share this lexicon? Perhaps some of those professions use an iron-on variety. 

39. Bi- plus one: TRI.

42. Adam Rippon, for one: SKATER.  

43. Play catch with: TOSS TO.

44. Hollywood awards: OSCARS.

45. Washing dishes, doing laundry, etc.: CHORES.

46. Not gender-specific: UNISEX.  

47. Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich chain: PANERA.

51. Number of digits in a billion: TEN.  1,000,000,000

53. __ hygiene: ORAL.

54. Folk icon Seeger: PETE.  

Pete Seeger (1919-2014) sings The First Noel (1967)

56. Changes color, perhaps: DYES.

58. Org. that may support a school board: PTA.  "Organization" is abbreviated, so is Parent Teacher Association.

59. Hilton brand: TRU.  TRU by Hilton is an American chain of hotels owned by Hilton Worldwide.

Time to wrap things up. Here's the grid:

I hope you enjoyed today's puzzle, the CSO's, and the holiday music. I'm going to leave you with one more tune. It's an extraordinary version of The 12 Day of Christmas by the acapella group Straight No Chaser. It might not be what you are expecting so don't give up on it too early.  

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy birthday to dear Kathy (Yellowrocks). So glad you're back on the blog again.

 

Kathy (Yellowrocks), Dec 10, 2020

2) Happy Birthday to Lorraine (Fermatprime) also. Her good friend Malcolm reads our blog regularly and emailed me this: "She is still living in her house in the San Fernando Valley,  playing a Word Solitaire game, which she consistently gets the highest score of all other players, but every so often she gets  an even higher score before any other player.  Her feistiness and the peculiar rules of the game allow her to get the extra two points before any other player of the game does."

Sunday December 24, 2023 Robin Stears

Theme: "Reindeer Games" - Part of each common phrase is a reindeer.

23. Men's clothing retailer: HABERDASHER.

28. Elton John hit with the misheard lyric "Hold me closer, Tony Danza": TINY DANCER.

49. Fitness method with "a springy, rhythmic way of moving forward": PRANCERCISE. Unfamiliar to me.  

 58. Mythological fox destined never to be caught: CADMEAN VIXEN. Also new to me.

82. Celestial object next visible from Earth in 2061: HALLEY'S COMET.

92. Connie Francis hit with a rhyming title: STUPID CUPID.

115. Thor's son in the role-playing game Scion: ERIC DONNER.

122. German roadster that once held the world speed record: BLITZEN BENZ.

Timely theme from Robin. A bit name-heavy, but it's the nature of this theme. I'm amazed that she found a full set. 

 Across:

1. Monastery head: ABBOT.

6. Unrefined: CRUDE.

11. Devilish creatures: IMPS. Spitzboov was one.

August 23, 2014, Washington County Fair

15. Like some reports: ORAL.

19. Swap: TRADE.

20. More vast: HUGER.

21. Awkwafina's real first name: NORA. Nora Lum. Lum is the same character as Lin, meaning "forest".

22. Fried cornbread: PONE.

25. Action in Uno: DRAW.

26. Sicilian volcano: ETNA.

27. 2-Down accompaniers: OVATIONS. 2. "Great show!": BRAVO.

30. Not the worst: SO SO.

31. "__ I say more?": NEED.

33. Give comfort to: REASSURE.

34. Lunch hours, e.g.: MEALTIMES.

37. Messy handwriting: SCRAWL. Mine is so messy.

41. Teakettle output: STEAM. I invited the nice church couple Bill and Margret to our home for a Christmas lunch last week. They loved my matcha. Bill said my almond-crusted walleye was "perfection". They also enjoyed my wild rice salad. I put in black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, sliced green onions and the amazing mixed nuts Agnes gifted to me. So good. Sure wish Agnes lived closer by.

44. Hanover Ivy: DARTMOUTH.

48. __ alai: JAI.

53. UPC bar code developer: IBM. Great trivia.

54. Public persona: IMAGE.

56. Cereal grain: OAT.

57. "Orinoco Flow" singer: ENYA.

61. Circle widths: DIAMETERS.

64. Agnus __: DEI.

65. Org. created by the 1957 Treaty of Rome: EEC.

66. Suffix akin to -ule: ETTE.

67. Physicist Newton: ISAAC.

69. Permanent marks: SCARS.

72. Longtime PBS "Mystery!" host Diana: RIGG.

76. Digital asset: Abbr.: NFT. Non-Fungible Token.

78. Dent or scratch: MAR.

80. Office supplier: STATIONER.

88. Sign: OMEN.

89. Singer DiFranco: ANI.

90. "Middlemarch" novelist: ELIOT.

91. Polish tennis champ Swiatek: IGA. Currently the No. 1 player. She was born in 2001.

95. Wall St. takeover: LBO.

96. Some errand runners on a yacht: CABIN BOYS.

99. Starts a fresh pot: ANTES.

100. Tungusic people of northeast China: MANCHU. I did not know the word "Tungusic". Wikipedia says they are "native to Siberia, China, and Mongolia". They're called "man zu" in China. Chinese map is shaped like a rooster.

102. Cat hair, pollen, dust mites, etc.: ALLERGENS.

106. One held for questioning: DETAINEE.

110. Plastic shoe wearer: DOLL.

111. __ Bora: Afghan region: TORA.

118. Greeted with a ceremonial bow: SALAAMED.

120. Dublin Murder Squad series novelist French: TANA.

121. "Shining Vale" actress Sorvino: MIRA.

125. Trains for a marathon, say: RUNS.

126. U.S. passport holder: AMER.

127. Flood defense: LEVEE.

128. Tank nuisance: ALGAE.

129. "What __ can I say?": ELSE.

130. Turner and Knight: TEDS.

131. Stadium levels: TIERS.

132. Marsh ducks: TEALS.

Down:

1. Aramis companion: ATHOS.

3. Rum-soaked cakes: BABAS.

4. Tribute in "Antigone": ODE TO MAN.  Sophocles tribute. Learning moment for me.

5. Hatcher of "Lois & Clark": TERI.

6. Fashion house whose logo is two interlocking C's: CHANEL. Their most iconic bag.

7. Oft-baked potato: RUSSET.

8. "That's gross!": UGH.

9. Low grade: DEE.

10. Make the team's blooper reel, perhaps: ERR.

11. Home to more than 1.4 billion people: INDIA.

12. Eves' counterparts: MORNS.

13. Appeals to a higher power: PRAYS.

14. Carpentry debris: SAWDUST.

15. Game 1: OPENER.

16. Campus mil. group: ROTC.

17. Celebrity chef Burrell: ANNE. Known for her spiky hair.

18. King who says to Cordelia, "Nothing can come of nothing": LEAR.

24. Portuguese title: DONA.

28. End-of-unit classroom event: TEST.

29. Gmail option: ARCHIVE.

32. "Rugrats" mom: DIDI. Pickles.

33. Go back to Chapter 1: RE-READ.

35. Ceremony host: EMCEE.

36. Counterpart of fem., in grammar: MASC.

38. "Stronger than dirt" brand: AJAX.

39. Payment for labor: WAGE.

40. Property claim: LIEN.

41. Name in fine china: SPODE.

42. Eye color, e.g.: TRAIT.

43. Trouble: EAT AT.

45. Does impressions: MIMICS.

46. Honor given by HM King Charles III: OBE. Order of the British Empire.  HM (His Majesty) suggests an Abbr.

47. Actress Thurman: UMA.

50. Thing: ENTITY.

51. Some deli loaves: RYES.

52. Irene of "Fame": CARA.

55. Extremely small: MICRO.

59. __ Moines, Iowa: DES.

60. Fit snugly inside: NESTED.

62. __ Park: Edison lab site: MENLO. New Jersey. The Facebook HQ is Menlo Park, CA.

63. Polynesian language: SAMOAN.

68. Word with sky or spy: CAM.

70. Upon: ATOP.

71. Malek of "Oppenheimer": RAMI.

73. Hardly appropriate: INAPT.

74. "Your wish is my command" speaker: GENIE.

75. Formula 1 starting positions: GRIDS.

77. Went to collect: FETCHED.

79. Fix a worn-out shoe: RESOLE.

81. Quechua speaker: INCAN.

82. Command post: HELM.

83. "Dark Angel" star Jessica: ALBA.

84. King of the jungle: LION.

85. Member of the fam: SIB.

86. Like the dinos in "Jurassic Park": CGI. Computer-Generated Imagery.

87. Texter's "I'm out!": TTYL.

93. Thrift shop condition: USED.

94. Not firmly fixed: UNSTABLE.

97. Bygone coin-op eatery: AUTOMAT.

98. Boxer Max: BAER. Have not seen this name for a long while.

101. Jewel box: CD CASE.

103. List: ROSTER.

104. Sugarcoats: GLAZES.

105. Vogue rival: ELLE.

107. "Demon Slayer" genre: ANIME.

108. How Santa dresses, mostly: IN RED. Our Santa.

109. Approaches: NEARS.

112. Luxury timepiece: OMEGA.

113. Kidney-related: RENAL.

114. Carving tools: ADZES.

115. Raison d'__: ETRE.

116. "The Addams Family" actor Julia: RAUL.

117. Road-trip stops: INNS.

119. Future dr.'s class: ANAT.

122. Diner fave: BLT.

123. Luau neckwear: LEI. Probably the most delicate gift I've ever received. JimmyB had it delivered from Hawaii directly the day our puzzle was published. So beautifully wrapped. Jim still solves the LAT every day.

124. "__ seen worse": I'VE.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you're with your loved ones and your house is full of love.

C.C.