Thursday, March 10, 2022, Joe Deeney

 

Good Morning. Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's puzzle recap.

Today's puzzle setter is frequent-contributor Joe Deeney.  Our friend above is engaging in a bit of overkill as we don't actually need an abacus to figure out today's offering.  At four places within the grid, Joe has broken up the word EVEN.  A straightforward theme and a bit of a help in that, once we grasp the theme, we know that each long answer in going to start with E, and end with N.  We also know that other two letters (V and E) will be in sequence and will fall adjacent to the beginning and/or ending letters.  Here is the reveal:

54 Across:  Neither lose nor gain... and a hint to four long answers: BREAK EVEN

Here are the long answers to which the reveal refers:

15 Across:  "Snow White" antagonist: EVIL QUEEN  She wanted to get rid of Show White and so remain the fairest of them all.  Pretty unfair.

22 Across:  Relatable female character: EVERYWOMAN.  In High School lit classes the teacher often said that a character represented Everyman.  I always thought that the term included all humans but these days we clarify a bit further.

33 Across:  Toy sold with cake mix packets: EASY BAKE OVEN   If I recall correctly, the heat source was a 100 watt lightbulb.

45 Across:  Title teen in a 2015 musical: EVAN HANSEN

Here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Conventioneer's freebie: SWAG BAG.  We often see TOTE or TOTE BAG.

8. Slightly: A BIT.  Sometimes A TAD.

12. Energy snacks whose flavors include Carrot Cake and Cherry Pie: LARABARS.

14. Complete: DONE.

17. Shot, perhaps: DOSE.  Not a firearms reference.  Not an attempt.  Not a photograph.

18. Galileo's birthplace: PISA.

19. Words said with a shrug: BEATS ME.

21. Holiday when one might eat bánh chung: TET.  The first possibly obscure food reference.  A traditional Vietnamese Tet food item.

25. Nearly four octaves, for Freddie Mercury: RANGE.

Live Aid - 1985

27. Traditional springerle spice: ANISE.  Centuries-old German cookies. . . and the second possibly somewhat obscure food reference.

28. Shook on it: AGREED.

32. Floors: KOS.  Knocks out.  Shouldn't it be KSO

37. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT.  A computer reference.

38. Salt's savior: ST ELMO.  AKA Saint Erasmus.

39. Query rendered moot by laughter: GET IT.  Get it?  If they "got it" then they're laughing.

42. Doesn't hold back: VENTS.

49. Go bad: ROT.  Why can't Bugs Bunny drive anymore?  Because he has Car ROT.

51. Level: ECHELON.

52. Winter festival: YULE.

53. Huber of tennis: ANKE.

Anke Huber

57. Ratings unit: STAR.

58. Adjusted one's schedule (for): MADE TIME.

59. Villainous literary alter ego: HYDE.

60. Atypical: DEVIANT.  See Above.

Down:

1. Nodded off: SLEPT.

2. Not as straight, as hair: WAVIER.  The word looks as if is should be WAIVER.

3. Milli Vanilli label: ARISTA.  Milli Vanilli was an unmitigaed, lip-syncing fraud.  For this ARISTA answer my sea mammalian friends tell me that they would have gone with a clue along these lines:

4. Bash: GALA.

5. Common beach party, briefly: BBQ.  Often clued with reference to patio.

6. Non-pro sports org.: AAU.  Amateur Athletic Union

7. Diving bird: GREBE.  A possibly obscure avian reference.

Great Crested Grebe

8. Expands, with "to": ADDS ON.

9. Audio setup involving a horizontal pole: BOOM MIKE.

10. Like farmers' market produce: IN SEASON.  We will leave the animal husbandry lessons alone for now.

11. Kickoff aid: TEE.  A football reference frequently found in our puzzles.

13. Fortuneteller: SEER.

16. Old-style uh-uh: NAY.  Often clued with reference to a parliamentary vote.

20. Former flier: TWA.  Was Joe trying to sucker us into going with SST?

22. Like custard: EGGY.  What do you call a custard when it goes bad?  Off-pudding.

23. Rank and file, e.g.: VERBS.  NOUNS would have fit both the clue and the allotted space.

24. Mario Bros. console: NES.  Nintendo Entertainment System.

26. "Too Many Rappers" rapper: NAS.  Being somewhat weak on my rap music knowledge I have to rely on remembering previous rap-related crossword answers.  Interesting juxtaposition with NES.

29. Chow down: EAT.

A Chow Down

30. Manage, with "out": EKE.  Interesting juxtaposition with EAT.

31. Conduct exhaustive research (into): DELVE.

33. "I am __-one today!": Bilbo Baggins, a year after his 110th birthday: ELEVENTY.  A LOTR reference.

34. Smear campaign tactic: ATTACK AD.


1964 - LBJ's "Daisy" Ad

35. Comet, to some: OMEN.  Or, a kitchen cleanser.

36. Super Bowl 50 MVP __ Miller: VON.  A Super Bowl L winner with the Denver Broncos and, more recently, a Super Bowl LVI winner with the Los Angeles Rams.

Von B'Vsean Miller, Jr.

37. Spend time in a cellar, maybe: AGE.  Wine or cheese?  Both, please. . . and some May's Gone Crackers cracker.

40. "Psst" follower: IN HERE

 

PSST

41. Not just any: THE.  Specific.

43. Splenda alternative: TRUVIA.  "Artificial" sweeteners

44. Sincere, as an oath: SOLEMN.

46. Edmonton's prov.: ALB.  ALBerta is one of the provinces of Canada

47. Benchmark: NORM.

48. Golfer nicknamed "The Slammer": SNEAD.  It's too soon to reuse the Sheikh Snead joke.

50. Article of faith: TENET.

52. Apt cooler brand: YETI.  Named after the Himalayan version of the Abominable Snowman.

53. Incomplete combustion product: ASH.

55. Fruity cooler: ADE.  A drink frequently quaffed in our puzzles..  LimeADE.  Lemon ADE.

56. Fred Savage's "The Wonder Years" role, informally: KEV.  KEVin Arnold.

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Thursday, February 24, 2022, Jessie Fielding, Pete Muller, & Andrew White

Aloha, Cruciverbalists!  Joseph, AKA Malodorous Manatee, here on the Big Island of Hawaii where Valerie and I are visiting friends.  Fortunately, the internet knows almost no boundaries so this marine mammal is able to take some time away from the Moorish Idol fish and other denizens of the local reefs and stay connected with his friends here on the Crossword Corner.

Today we have a trio of constructors in what may be their L.A. Times debut.  I don't know if the published names are real or if they are using noms de plume but, at four places in the puzzle, they have cleverly managed to work in the letters AKA which, of course is an abbreviation for Also Known As.  For the first time that I can recall, the reveal came right at the beginning (if you started at 1 Across):

1.  With 60-Across, disguise one's identity ... and what the answers to starred clues subtly do?: 

                                USE AN

60. See 1-Across:     ALIAS

The starred clues:

16 Across. *"On the Waterfront" director: ELIA KAZAN.  Appropriately, or sneakily, the first starred answer was an ALIAS (or at least a truncation) for Elias Kazantzoglou.  This might have led us to think that the themed answers were going to be the names of well-known people using pseudonyms.  But, no.

22 Across. *Open-water paddlers: SEA KAYAKERS.

33 Across. *Pungent French beef dish: STEAK AU POIVRE.  POIVRE is French for pepper.

44 Across. *Historic Pearl Harbor event: SNEAK ATTACK.  December 7, 1941.

54 Across. *"Godspeed" to the cast of "Godspell," say: BREAK A LEG.  An ironic "dead metaphor" (origin unknown) used as a jovial encouragement said to actors for good luck before they go on stage.  Some say that the phrase dates back to Elizabethan times when, instead of clapping, audience members would bang chairs on the ground.  If they liked the show well enough the legs of the chairs would break.

Here is how this all looks within the grid:

And now, for the rest of the story.

6. Common commuter org.: MTA.  Metropolitan Transit Authority.  Why didn't she simply put a nickle in with the sandwich?

The Kingston Trio

9. Key with no sharps or flats: Abbr.: C MAJ.  A musical reference.  C MAJor.  A MINor also fits the definition.

13. Gender identity spectrum: NON-BINARY.  A relatively recent addition to our vocabulary.

15. Origami bird: CRANE.  The standard bearer of the craft.

17. Lena of "The Wiz": HORNE.  

18. Switz. neighbor: AUST.  AUSTria.  It could have been FRAN, GERM, ITAL, or LIEC.

19. XL x XL: MDC.  A Roman Numeral math problem:  40 x 40 = 1,600

20. Not so concentrated: WEAKER.

21. MLB's Cards, on scoreboards: STL.  A baseball reference.  The Saint Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team.

24. "Yikes!": YEESH.  Yeesh.

26. Econ. measure: GNP.  We never know if it is going to be the Gross National Product or the Gross Domestic Product but two out of the three letters can be quickly entered either way.

27. Madre's sister: TIA.  Today's Spanish lesson.  Mother's sister.  Aunt.

28. Green-sounding Navy jacket: PEA COAT.  Originally worn by sailors of European navies.  Peas are green (usually).  The coats are blue (usually).

32. Sq., for one: RECT.  A SQuare is a RECTangle with all sides being of equal length.  The abbreviation in the clue yields the abbreviated answer.  RECT ?  A partial and a bit of a punt.

36. Cache: STOW.  Used here as a verb.

37. Vehement: INTENSE.

38. Inner __: EAR.

39. FGs often end them: OTS.  Field Goals often end football games that have gone into OverTime.

40. "Am not!" retort: ARE SO.  Kids say the darnedest things.  "ARE TOO" would not fit.  "Bite Me" wouldn't either.

49. French possessive: TES.  Another French lesson.  We never know if it's going to be MES, CES or TES. . . or MON, SON or TON.

50. Puma rival: ADIDAS.  A sports shoe reference.  Not an animal kingdom reference.

51. Bobby on ice: ORR.  A frequent visitor.

Bobby Orr

52. Siena sweetheart: CARA.  Today's Italian lesson.

"CaraMia" - Jay and the Americans - John (AKA Jay) Traynor, Howard Kane (AKA Howard  Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (AKA Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Dean (AKA Sandy Yaguda)

53. Bride of a title Orkan: MINDY.  From the TV show "Mork and Mindy"

56. __ Park, Colo.: ESTES.

57. Orange variety: TANGERINE.  Mandarin orange.

58. Slip end?: SHOD.  SlipSHOD.

59. "__ La La": Manfred Mann hit: SHA.  Doo ___  Diddy.  Wha? Wah.

Down:

1. Perturbed: UNEASY.  Rattled.

2. Many an "instant" product, e.g.: SOLUTE.  A substance dissolved in another substance.

3. Isolate, in a way: ENISLE.  We have seen this one several times previously.

4. "Grab __": "You're pinch-hitting": A BAT.  Another baseball reference.

5. Beat or neat suffix: NIK.  Maynard G. Krebs (beatNICK) or Felix Unger (neatNICK).

6. Miata maker: MAZDA.

1990 Mazda Miata

7. Place to race: TRACK.

8. "Atlas Shrugged" author Rand: AYN.  The 1957 novel that became the "bible" of  Objectivism.  John Galt visited us last Thursday which leads to the question:  Who is John Galt?

9. Raven's sound: CROAK.  Not a frog?

Caw vs Croak

10. Member of a pitching staff?: MARKETER.  Not, this time, a baseball reference.  A pitchman.

11. "The Vampire Chronicles" author: ANNE RICE.  Another author, today.   "Claudia, you've been a very very naughty little girl."

12. Taunts: JEERS AT.

14. Newborn's acquisition: NAME.  Just ask Jim Croce.

Django Unchained

15. For a song: CHEAP.

20. Jazz trumpeter Marsalis: WYNTON.  Also a very good classical trumpeter.

Hummel Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra - 1984

22. Kind of butter used in skin care: SHEA.

23. Showing surprise: AGAPE.

25. Gush: SPEW.  I had better be careful around here.

Mauna Loa

29. Strong watchdogs: AKITAS.  What kind of dog wears a uniform and medals?  A guard dog.

30. Art able to: CANST.  The archaic second-person singular form of can.

31. Tagged, perhaps: OUT.  A baseball reference.

32. Camper with a camper: RV'ER.  Recreation Vehicle ER

33. Plymouth Colony VIP: STANDISH.  Miles STANDISH was hired as the military advisor to the Colony.

34. Excoriated: TORE INTO.

35. "Out of Africa" author Dinesen: ISAK.  Yet another author.

36. Bits on some buns: SESAMES.

39. Green-lights: OKAYS.

41. Latin catchall: ET ALII.  And Others.

42. Legendary sister of Venus: SERENA.  Legendary? Was that to make us think they were looking for something pertaining to the Goddess.

43. Plains tribe: OSAGES.  That pluralizing S threw me for a bit.

45. Did sum math?: ADDED.  Nice wordplay.

46. Ark document: TORAH.  Not the title to Noah's boat.

47. Play area: ARENA.  More wordplay.  Not STAGE.

48. Jagged little hill: CRAG.  Jagged Little Pill?

52. Sigmund contemporary: CARL.  First name used in the clue . . first name for the answer.  Sigmund Freud / Carl Jung.

Carl Gustav Jung

54. First Korean act to perform at the Grammys: BTS.  The BangTan Boys.  A seven-member Korean boy band.

55. Hawaii's Mauna __: KEA.  An appropriate final entry.

Ski Mauna Kea

. . . and on that note . . . back to the reef . . . ALOHA!

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