Good Mornng, Crucuverbalists! Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of a puzzle by Josh Horowitz. Josh is a fellow Los Angeleno. Here is a link to the "About Me" section of his web site where I learned that bit of information: Josh Horowitz "About Me" You can peruse the rest of his site by clicking on the headings at the top of that web page.
Per Josh, "(This is) my first published crossword to date. I got interested in crosswords during the Pandemic era lockdowns and came up with the idea to make one myself during the heat of that summer of 2020."
Let's jump right in and take a look at his inaugural effort in which Josh has added the letters A and C to the start of three everyday two-word descriptions in order to morph those into the answers to their respective clues. The reveal comes at:
61 Across: Summertime chore, or an apt title for this puzzle: AC INSTALLATION. Install the Air Conditioner.
We are asked to "install" AC in the following places:
16 Across: What poker chips might do?: ACCOMPANY CARDS. As this was the first "themer" to fall, for a while this solver thought that the "gimmick" might involve A, C and D. I was thinking of COMPANY CARS. As it turned out, however, this one was based on COMPANY CARDS (as in business cards) with the D already in place. Armed with this knowledge the others fell fairly easily.
29 Across: What people waiting in a long line might do?: ACCOST CUTTERS. From COST CUTTERS but here folks might be confronting those who are trying to cut the line.
46 Across: What people who eschew online banking might do?: ACCLAIM CHECKS. From CLAIM CHECK. Handwritten checks long preceded Veno, Zelle, Google Wallet and Apple Pay. In Santa Barbara in the mid 1970's, a poster in the form of a scenic a check showing the Isla Vista branch of Bank of Americawas widely acclaimed.
Here are the other clues and answers:
Across:
1. Map out: PLAN.
5. With 5-Down, summer shirt: TANK. The T does double duty here.
9. Keeping folks waiting: LATE.
13. Brontė heroine: EYRE. A frequent visitor.
14. Woodwind played by Andy Mackay of Roxy Music: OBOE. He also plays the saxophone.
15. Ireland, poetically: ERIN.
19. Stretch, as one's neck: CRANE.
20. __ and aahs: OOHS.
21. Business letters?: INC. Not as in correspondence. LLC would have fit the space.
23. Starpilot and smuggler Solo: HAN. A Star Wars reference. In real life not such a star pilot.
24. No. cruncher: CPA. A frequent consultant in our puzzles.
27. Rival: FOE. We all know who is the arch FOE of capitalism. The lower cases.
28. Scottish no: NAE. In this case, aye.
33. Synthesizer brand: CASIO. Also a maker of watches and and calculators.
34. By land __: OR SEA.
35. Folder's loss: ANTE. A poker (as in card game) reference. "I fold" means "I quit. Keep the chips I have bet so far".
38. Cabs: TAXIS. Not a wine reference, this time.
41. Spy-fi side: USSR.
42. Knobs: DIALS. I got offered an amazing deal today. Someone offered to sell me a stereo with a broken volume knob. I couldn’t turn it down!
44. Words of clarification: I MEAN.
50. Sat: MET. As in convened.
51. Brandy bottle letters: VSO. I am aware of VSOP (very special old pale) , VS (very special) and XO (extra old) on brandy bottles but had not previously seen VSO as a designation.
52. Corvallis sch.: OSU.
53. "Never hurts to __": ASK.
56. Fed. stipend: SSI.
57. Like good angel food cake: AIRY.
59. Rolls partner: ROYCE. Neither a food nor a music nor a dice game nor an orientation reference . One of those clues playing on the leading cap convention.
65. Immense: VAST. Is less immense half-vast?
66. Woeful sigh: ALAS. In a recent Newsday Saturday Stumper puzzle, ALAS was clued as "word from the Latin for weary".
67. In a thumb-twiddling way: IDLY. We often encounter variations of IDLE in our puzzles (IDLE, IDLY, IDLED).
68. Shady trees: ELMS. We frequently avail ourselves of their shade when solving our puzzles.
69. Comedian Foxx: REDD. Perhaps best known for the TV show Sanford & Son. Redd often worked blue.
70. Egg cream component: SODA. Neither egg nor cream are included in the recipe.
Down:
1. Cobbler fruit: PEACH. Does include PEACH in the recipe.
2. Sports bra fabric: LYCRA.
3. Obscure stuff: ARCANA. Not to be confused with Texarkana.
4. Like Crayola's Unmellow Yellow and Atomic Tangerine: NEON. The referenced colors were unknown but the clue clearly hinted at NEON.
5. See 5-Across: TOP.
6. Law school accrediting org.: ABA.
7. Double negative?: NO NO.
8. Early topic in music theory: KEY OF C. No sharps. No flats.
9. Allow use of for a fee: LEASE TO.
10. Pt. of ETA: ARR. Estimated Time of ARRival.
11. Neat quality: TIDINESS.
12. Captures: ENSNARES.
17. Holy city of Islam: MECCA.
18. Singer Jay known as the "King of Mandopop": CHOU. Unknown to this solver. He has sold over 30,000,000 record albums. Thanks, perps.
22. Civil rights activist Chavez: CESAR. Front and center during many of our formative years.
25. Fruity Pebbles maker: POST. A cereal reference. Kellogg's was too long.
26. Ulaanbaatar's locale: ASIA. So many ASIAn locations from which to choose for the clue.
30. Common flashlight battery: C CELL. Mine always had either D cells or triple A's. Now it has a USB port for charging.
31. __ waste: TOXIC. Sometimes, in old insulation there can be toxic chemicals. You should avoid them asbestos you can.
32. Footlocker: TRUNK.
35. "Vice" Oscar nominee Amy: ADAMS.
36. "Wow, you almost dropped that!": NICE SAVE. The old saying: If you want to make the highlight reel misjudge the fly ball.
37. Strategic: TACTICAL. Actually, not exactly.
39. Intro to a texter's two cents: IMHO. In My Humble Opinion
40. Catches on: SEES. Also, a purveyor of chocolate candy.
43. Learned experts: SAVANTS.
45. Luxury Honda brand: ACURA.
47. Goddess often depicted holding an ankh: ISIS. A frequent visitor,
48. Masonry mixture: MORTAR.
49. Marry: SAY I DO.
54. Tell off: SCOLD. I stubbed my toe and got SCOLDed by my parents for yelling “What the duck”. They were angry that I used fowl language.
55. Home country of marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum: KENYA. Home of many long distance running champions.
58. Handsome Dan's school: YALE. The mascot of YALE University is a bulldog named Handsome Dan.
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with a Friday offering from frequent contributors/collaborators Gary Larson and Amy Ensz who are dillgently trying to help us Get ER Done (but, hopefully, in a manner significantly different than the one our friend, above, appears to be employing).
At six places within the grid we are asked to append the letters E and R to a common expression and, thereby, create appropriate answers to the clues. To make things even more interesting, today we get a mixture of themed-answers placed both Across and Down in the grid. Here is where we are asked to get ER done:
17 Across. Die-hard independent?: PARTY HATER. A reference to political parties and people who are not convinced that the two dominant ones have the answers. Derived from: Party Hat
28 Across. Baked potato?: HOT TUBER. From: Hot Tub A potato being, of course, a TUBER.
48 Across. Diamond heist?: ICE CAPER. From: Ice Cap CAPER being film noir/tec - speak for a robbery.
11 Down. Gauge on an oil rig?: WELL METER. From: Well Met which is an archaic adjective used as a salutation, or part of a salutation, meaning "glad to meet you". It is also carries connotations of suitability and propriety. It's based on a different meaning of "meet," an adjectival/adverbial usage indicating something is literally or figuratively the right size for a given situation.
35 Across. Quality-control inspector at a knapsack factory?: PACK RATER. From: Pack Rat. A pack rat is a hoarder. Not to be confused with the Rat Pack.
The grid:
The rest of the clues and anwser-ers:
Across:
1. Floor it: SPEED. Put the pedal to the metal. Step on the accelerator. An automotive reference.
6. Grasps: SEES. Understands.
10. Exchange: SWAP.
14. Eighth Greek letter: THETA. See also 62 Across.
15. Do roadwork: PAVE. Better to see this than something to do with TAR.
23. Support on a course: TEE. A golfing reference.
24. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB. Not in this solver's musical wheelhouse but they've TEEd it up so:
27. Ode or haiku: POEM.
Our clever Chairman
Crafts amusing Moe-kus but
Eschews writing M-odes
30. One of Bo Peep's charges: EWE. LAMB was t00 long. RAM would have fit but would not mesh with the perps.
33. Incident that hurts one's credit score: REPO. REPosession.
36. Hence: ERGO.
37. Place atop: SET ON.
39. "To the stars," in mottos: AD ASTRA. Today's Latin lesson.
41. Facility that's in a constant state of ferment: BREWERY. Nice wordplay. Beer is fermented.
43. Kitchen gadget: RICER. Sometimes PARER.
44. Carp kin: DACE. While we have previously seen DACE in our puzzles this solver did not recall the word. Thanks, perps.
46. Writer Bombeck: ERMA. A frequent visitor.
47. Comics shriek: EEK. Sometimes we see EKE as in to EKE out a living.
51. Rolling in dough: RICH. Slang.
53. Henry VI's school: ETON. If it's a reference to English royalty the school is almost always ETON.
54. Apollo vehicle, briefly: LEM. Lunar Excursion Module
57. Netflix title role for Lily: FRANKIE. Lily Tomlin I know. The show I don't know. Thanks perps.
60. Gender-neutral ethnic identity: LATINE. As contrasted with Latino or Latina neither of which is gender-neutral.
62. Ninth Greek letter: IOTA. See also 14 Across.
66. "Couldn't agree more": AMEN.
67. Country whose name comes from a Gaelic goddess: EIRE. Ireland.
68. Not fully trusting: LEERY.
69. Shredded: TORE. Will it be TORN? Not this time.
70. "Out!": SCAT. SCAT also has other meanings.
71. Barnett of CBS News: ERROL.
Down:
1. Mid-Mar. figure: ST. PAT.
2. Lunar cycle component: PHASE.
3. Supercreepy: EERIE. Halloween is less than a month away.
4. Blues guitarist Baker: ETTA. Often clued with a reference to ETTA James.
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
Same Song - A Different "Take"
5. Company that invented black-light fluorescent paint: DAY-GLO. Until solving this puzzle yours truly was unaware that DAY GLO colors traced their name back to a specific company.
7. Down: EAT. Slang. Down has many meanings (e.g. feathers, a direction, nail it down) so this one had to be sorted out.
8. At any time: EVER.
9. Oaxacan wrap: SERAPE. Oaxaca tips us off to a likely Spanish answer.
10. Lose: SHAKE. As in to get away from someone who is following you. My Labrador loved it when, in a "cops and robbers" flick, someone would say "Let's see if we can SHAKE the tail."
12. "Songversation" artist India.__: ARIE. A frequent visitor.
13. Double boilers, e.g.: POTS.
18. Owl: HOOTER. Not a themed answer.
22. Like Vikings: NORSE. I love NORSE puns. They're Frigg'n hilarious.
25. Robinhood alternative: E-TRADE. Both are platforms for trading stocks.
26. App issue: BUG. A tech reference.
28. Socks: HOSE. Used as a noun. Not as in punches someone.
29. Excavator-maker: BOBCAT.
31. Compost bin helper: WORM. I saw a pack of gummy WORMs that said “No artificial flavors.” Who buys gummy worms hoping they’d taste as close to real worms as possible?
32. Grammy winner from Donegal: ENYA. A frequent visitor.
33. Uncommon: RARE.
34. Actress Falco: EDIE. A frequent vistior.
38. Amphoralike vessel: EWER. Not a themed answer.
40. Take in: TRICK. As in "I've been taken in".
42. Get a second opinion?: RE-POLL. Okay, but this solver has never heard this used.
45. Part of the upper deck?: ACE. A playing card reference.
49. Takes to task: CHIDES. My ex-wife used to CHIDE me about everything. She was a real multi-tsk-er.
50. Empower: ENABLE.
52. Idiotic: INANE.
54. Soda purchase: LITER. Hand up for first guessing it was a flavor or a brand name and not a size.
55. Año Nuevo month: ENERO. Spanish lesson. The New Year happens each January.
56. Streep of "Only Murders in the Building": MERYL. Are there other Streeps?
57. Order: FIAT. From the Latin: Let it be done.
58. Tony who holds the Cowboys record for most touchdown passes: ROMO. Dak Prescott holds the single season Dallas Cowboys' record for most touchdown passes.
59. Playwright Bogosian: ERIC.
61. Layer: TIER. Hen was too short.
64. 401(k) rollover target: IRA. A rollover IRA is a retirement account used to move money from a former employer-sponsored retirement account, such as a 401 (k) plan, into an IRA without losing its tax-deferred status.
65. Tennis mulligan: LET. A do-over.
Well, that will wrap things up on a day where we visited, or were visited by, ERMA, ETON, EIRE, ETTA, ENYA, EDIE, and ERIC. Was that a sub-theme?
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, aka MM aka OO, here with a recap of a puzzle by Will Pfadenhauer. Will has previously had puzzles published by both the LAT and NYT and the puzzles seem to evoke strong responses from the solvers. It is strongly suspected that today will not be different in that regard.
'Splainin' this one is going to take some verbal gymnastics so let's jump right in with the reveal:
70 Across. With 73-Across, insert for some water pitchers, or what has been used row-by-row on the answers to the starred clues?: BRITA. and
73 Across. See 70-Across: FILTER
Like it or loathe it, Will has executed quite a tour de force. All of the themed-answers come in pairs with each of the five pairs (ten themers in all) placed, one following the other, on the same row (once with an intervening answer the other times not) . What we solvers filled in, via perps, early on no doubt made no sense. How can ARIES, e.g., be the answer to the clue at 19 Across? Well, what our puzzle setter has done is consecutively FILTER out the letters found in BRITA ... each letter (dis)appearing twice in each of two words found on the same row. Double or even quadruple filtered, if you will.
The first pair is found at 17 and 19 Across:
17 Across. *Youthful helpers on tennis courts: ALLOYS - from BALLBOYS. If one commenced solving in the northwest, then it soon became apparent that something "tricky" was going on. BALLBOYS was not a difficult answer to suss out but it certainly was not going to fit within the allotted space. Next, we got the aforementioned ARIES. This solver moved on to something else trusting that the gimmick would become known somewhere further down the road. Later, returning to where he started, this quote came to mind:
If one removes the Bs from BALLBOYS we get the word ALLOYS. Will has removed the same letter twice from a word and drived a perfectly acceptable word as the residual. Then he goes ahead and does it again with another word focusing on the same letter!! Doing a single pair of these would be impressive enough but in pairs five freaking' times!?
But I digress. The Bs were also removed from 19 Across, on the same row:
19 Across. *Fashion toys from Mattel: ARIES - derived from BARBIES.
That takes care of filtering out the B of B R I T A. Now, on to the rest, whixh appear in the proper order (top to bottom within the grid), no less. I could go on and on about the gimmick but let us allow the technique to speak for itself.
For the R:
25 Across. *Restaurant freebie: BE A DOLL - from BREAD ROLL (was the BE A DOLL bit following the BARBIES bit a mere coincidence?)
28. *Weapon in Clue: EVOLVE - from REVOLVER
For the I:
34 Across. *Italian red wine: CHANT - from CHIANTI
36 Across. *Sasquatch trait: HARNESS - from HAIRINESS
For the T:
50 Across. *NCAA basketball powerhouse in Milwaukee: MARQUEE - from MARQUETTE
52 Across. *Tornado: WISER - from TWISTER
For the A:
59 Across. *Weekend part: STURDY - from SATURDAY
61 Across. *Finding the means?: VERGING - from AVERAGING Mean in this case as the companion to mode and median (methods of finding an average).
This is how it all looks in the grid:
Below are the rest of the clues and answers. It does not escape us that the puzzle setter has employed some not-too-often-seen vocabulary and has sprinkled more than a bit of tech-speak into the grid. This is befitting of a high school teacher who recently received a PHD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. (I wonder if he and his former fellow-classmates were teased about that first one):
Across:
1. Pong publisher: ATARI. A familiar bit of tech-related-ness.
6. Garden variety?: ZEN. Not as in run-of-the-mill. A place of serenity. One example:
9. Untrue: NOT SO. Well, actually in this case, yes. See also 2 Down.
14. Motto: SLOGAN. A friend was commissioned to come up with a Slogan for the year 2020 that was as catchy as, say, "click it or ticket". She came up with "mask it or casket".
15. Glass of NPR: IRA. A frequent visitor.
16. Thickset: BURLY.
18. Tit for __: TAT. Equivalent retaliation.
20. Support: AID.
21. "Assassin's Creed" game company: UBISOFT. A not-so-familiar bit of tech-related-ness. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, perps.
24. __ peeve: PET.
30. Sandwich on telera: TORTA. One had to recognize that telera is a Mexican bread. TORTA being Spanish for sandwich.
31. Furry foot: PAW. On your pet peeve, perhaps.
33. Social equal: PEER.
39. Throbbed: PULSED.
41. "Find out if they know": GO ASK. These something-that-someone-might-say type of clues provide great flexibility to constructors.
42. School in L.A.: USC.
45. Mature: AGE. Used a a verb. The adjective, AGED, was too long.
46. Obtains: GAINS.
48. Remote login protocol: TELNET. Another not-so-familiar bit of tech-related-ness. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, again, perps.
53. Snail-mail org.: USPS.
56. Feed letters: RSS. Yet another not-so-familiar bit of tech-related-ness. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, yet again, perps. An RSSfeed consolidates information sources in one place and provides updates when a site adds new content. With social media, all you see is the favorite stuff that people share.
57. Representative: AGENT.
64. Ultimate goal: AIM.
65. Drop dramatically: PLUMMET.
69. "The Matrix" hero: NEO. A motion picture reference.
72. Cha or chai: TEA. We also see Black, Green, Oolong, among others.
76. Thinking clearly: LUCID.
77. Aardvark snack: ANT. What does an aardvark order on its pizza? ANT-chovies.
78. Agree: ACCEDE. IMHO, A word not often seen in our puzzles. Do you agree?
79. Fencing blades: EPEES. Blunted weapons often found in crossword puzzles.
80. Simple structure: HUT.
Pizza The Hutt from Spaceballs
81. Flushed: RUDDY.
Down:
1. Basketball great Quigley: ALLIE. From the WNBA. Not to be confused with Immanuel Quickley of the NBA.
2. Fibbed: TOLD A TALE. See also 9 Across.
3. Many moons __: AGO.
Emma, the Yellow Wiggle, Explains
4. Writer Bradbury: RAY. When, as a child, my family lived in a section of Los Angeles, RAY was a neighbor. He drove a Corvette.
5. Dig: INSULT. Not as with a shovel. Not as a hipster would "grok" something. Used as a noun.
6. Cylindrical pasta: ZITI.
7. Notable ages: ERAS. Sometimes clued with as baseball pitching statistics.
8. Gp. joined by Sweden in 2024: NATO. Uh, Vladimir, are you familiar with the law of unintended consequences?
9. Jazz station?: NBA TV. A refence to where on TV one might watch the Utah Jazz professional basketball team. One of those clues that attmpts to mislead us because all clues, by convention, start with a capital letter. Not an abbreviated clue but an abbreviated answer this time.
10. Team's adjective: OUR.
11. Bases-clearing hit: TRIPLE. A baseball reference. All of those who had been on base are now "cleared" but there is now a runner on third.
12. Slob's napkin: SLEEVE. Or where we have now been taught to sneeze.
13. Grayish-white: OYSTER. Not the first hue that came to mind.
14. Bygone Volvo rival: SAAB. An automotive reference.
22. Uninspiring: BLAH.
23. Easiest to count, perhaps: FEWEST.
26. Puts on: DONS.
27. Taco sauce brand: ORTEGA.
29. Photo __: OPS. OPportunitieS
31. Plain text: PROSE. As contrasted with, say, to poetry.
32. Actress de Armas: ANA. The use of a minimal number of proper names in the grid is much appreciated.
34. No. pro: CPA. A pro. Not no pro. No as in the abbreviation for number. Certified Public Accountant.
35. Embrace: HUG. I like to crouch down, HUG my knees and lean forward. It's just how I roll.
37. __ Dei: AGNUS. AGNUSDei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism.
38. Barbecue rod: SKEWER.
40. Strawberry whose No. 18 was retired by the Mets: DARRYL. Originally from Los Angeles. A baseball reference.
42. Full-throated: UNSTINTED. Anyone recall previously seeing this in a crossword puzzle?
43. Spot: SEE. The combination of the clue and answer bring back memories from early elementary school. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run.
44. WNBA pos.: CTR. Abbreviated clue.... CenTeR
47. Mensa stats: IQS.
49. CBS News contributor Lisa: LING.
50. Brand sold at REI: MSR. Another set of abbreviations. Although both companies pretty much only use their initials these days. Recreational Equipment Inc / Mountain Safety Research.
51. Roof overhang: EAVE.
53. Fit for service: USABLE.
54. Provoke: STIR UP.
55. Exfoliation stone: PUMICE. PUMICE is also USABLE for cleaning hard water rings from toilets.
58. Make good progress: GET FAR.
60. Thumb-operated controls: D-PADS. More tech-speak.
62. Not self-sufficient: NEEDY.
63. Singer Lesley: GORE.
Nobody Knows Where Her Johnny Has Gone
66. Provo's state: UTAH.
67. Main information source?: MENU. Another bit of tech-speak?
68. Actor Damon: MATT.
Sarah Silverman Receives an Emmy for a bit of NSFW Singing
(originally aired on the Jimmy Kimmel Show)
71. __-dyeing: TIE. Far out, man!
74. Hospital dept.: ICU. Intensive Care Unit
75. Rock's __ Soundsystem: LCD. From Brooklyn, NY This solver was not familiar with the band but we do solve these puzzles, in part, for the joy of learning new stuff.
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