Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's recap of a puzzle constructed by Garrett Herzfeld. Today's puzzle does not have a "reveal" but it does contain four themed answers and the theme could be dubbed, simply, COUPLES. Or, perhaps even more simply, AND. At four places in the grid, the answers are commonly used expressions that consist of two things each of which directly relate to the topic of the clue. In keeping with the theme, these four clues all contain only a couple of words . . . one of which is, of course, couple. Here are the themed clues and answers:
17 Across: Married couple?: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD. The traditional (Western Christian norms) marriage ceremony contains the phrase "to have and to hold". A couple of marriage-related things.
26 Across: Perfect couple?: PRIM AND PROPER. Both PRIM and PROPER could refer to a condition of perfection (seemingly, a wee bit of a stretch, clue-wise). A couple of perfection-related things.
42 Across: Celebrity couple?: RICH AND FAMOUS. Celebrities are often both rich and famous. A couple of celebrity-related things.
56 Across: Power couple?: BIGGER AND BETTER. Again, just a bit of a stretch, clue-wise. A couple of power-related things? Let us know if you come up with a BETTER way to clue this.
Here is how all of this appears in the grid:
. . . and here are the rest of the entries:
Across:
1. "Calvin and Hobbes," for one: COMIC. Bill Watterson's classic. My kids grew up with the characters . . . and I grew along with them.
Calvin is the one on the left
6. Cave __: ART. Punting on second down (no pun intended 'cause it's across)? Lots of other ways to clue ART. See, for example, 38 Down.
9. Church bell sound: CHIME.
Manfred Mann Sings About Bells Chiming
14. Catherine of "Schitt's Creek": O'HARA.
15. Ultrasound goo: GEL. Often clued with something relating to hair care.
16. Enter one's credentials: LOG ON. Ah, the old "log in" vs "log on" hesitation.
20. Navigate black diamond slopes: SKI. Black (diamond), Blue (square) or Green (circle)? Advanced, Intermediate or Beginner?
21. Telephone no. addition: EXT. EXTension
22. Destinations in some getaway plans?: RESORTS. A nice bit of word play.
23. Craters of the Moon locale: IDAHO. Not our planet's satellite.
25. "Big whoop": MEH. Slang and slang.
31. Basic bagel order: PLAIN. Not onion, sesamee, poppy seed or everything.
33. Uber __: EATS.
34. Many a Monopoly sq.: AVE. AVEnue
35. Forever, seemingly: EONS. What do you call a smell that lasts for a very long time? EON musk.
36. Sonic explosions: BOOMS.
38. Kitchen job: PREP. PREParation.
39. "Pressure" singer Lennox: ARI. ANNIE Lennox was not going to fit.
40. Artificial grass: TURF. Astro TURF was first installed in 1964 at Fieldhouse at the Moses Brown School in Providence Rhode Island. The subsequent (1966) installation at the Houston Astrodome gave it fame, and its name.
41. City north of Memphis: CAIRO. Cairo, IL is north of Memphis, TN. Cairo, Egypt is north of Memphis, Egypt. Take your pick.
46. Large deer: ELK. What do you call a well-known ELK? Famoose.
47. Olfactory sense: SMELL. Tautological.
48. Holds carefully: CRADLES.
52. Not feeling well: ILL. It makes me sick when people forget to add an apostrophe. If it happens again, I'll be ILL.
53. Mobile download: APP. Mobile phone.
59. Uses Liquid Nails, say: GLUES. Useful stuff. Great for re-setting bricks if you don't want to chip out and reinstall mortar.
60. Rapper Lil __ X: NAS. Yet another visit from this guy.
61. Pond honker: GOOSE.
What's In The Bag, GOOSE?
62. Brute: BEAST.
63. Procure: GET.
64. Ready for a refill: EMPTY.
Down:
1. Camp beds: COTS.
2. "Aw, what the heck": OH OK. I suppose.
3. Fish tacos fish, on menus: MAHI.
4. Sportswriter Berkow: IRA. He shared in a Pulitzer Prize in 2001.
5. Collapsed: CAVED IN.
6. Kathryn's "WandaVision" role: AGATHA. I have never seen the show. Thanks, perps.
7. Kylo of the "Star Wars" sequels: REN. It helped that the clue referenced the source.
8. Letters before a summary: TLDR. Too Long, Didn't Read. SMH.
9. Bullpen aces: CLOSERS. A baseball reference. The best relief pitchers.
10. Santa's laugh: HO HO HO. Oh, ok.
11. Archetypal lab assistant: IGOR.
That's Eye-gore
12. Shed feathers: MOLT.
13. Burnt __: ENDS. The trimmings from a smoked brisket.
18. Checkup: EXAM.
19. Dangles a carrot in front of: TEMPTS. The old Carrot and the Stick dichotomy.
23. Fashion icon Apfel: IRIS.
24. Singular events: ONE-OFFS.
26. "Pray for the Wicked" band __! at the Disco: PANIC.
27. Reservoir creator: DAM. BEAVER would not fit.
28. Musée d'Orsay city: PARIS. An art museum housed in a former railroad station, the Gare D'Orsay. I preferred the Jeu de Paume mais c'est la vie.
29. At any point in time: EVER.
30. Credit report blot: REPO. It is tough to get around if the bank has REPOssessed your car.
31. Bottom-heavy fruit: PEAR.
32. Chicago mayor Lightfoot: LORI.
36. "All in the Family" surname: BUNKER.
Archie and Edith Bunker
37. Chicago airport code: ORD. code for Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The airport used to be called Orchard Field. Ah, that explains it.
38. Simon & Garfunkel half: PAUL. Not Art. Did you know that PAUL wrote this song?
Not The Cyrkle
40. Like Denali, among North American peaks: TALLEST. 20,310 feet
41. Morehouse, e.g.: COLLEGE. I first thought that it said Moorehead, as in Agnes.
43. Shrubbery: HEDGES.
44. In the thick of: AMIDST.
45. Former Spice Girl who was a judge on "America's Got Talent": MEL B.
48. Longtime NYC punk rock club: CBGB. The letters stood for Country, BlueGrass and Blues. . . but it became the birthplace of Punk.
49. Stir up: RILE.
50. Desierto's lack: AGUA. La lección de español de hoy. A desert lacks water.
51. Belted out a tune: SANG.
53. Situated on: ATOP.
54. Vexation: PEST. Interesting cluing.
55. 2022 prequel film in the "Predator" franchise: PREY. Hollywood does like to recycle ideas. They call the bodies of work franchises.
57. Scottish no: NAE.
58. Spider-Man player Holland: TOM.
Well, that's it for today. . . and for a while. 57 Down is a fitting send off as I will be in Scotland next month (with brief visits to both Spain and Portugal, also). I will be able to read the blog but I will nae be available to write up the puzzles. Slainte!
Garrett, you are invited to post anything that you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you.
Good morning Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's puzzle recap. Our puzzle setter today is Pawel Fludzinski. There is information about Pawel to be gleaned if you perform a web search. If you include the words Crossword Corner in the search terms, the returns should include past Crossword Corner writeups containing quite a bit of information thanks to the efforts of Husker Gary.
Today's puzzle features a word ladder that leads us from HATE to LOVE. A word ladder puzzle is one in which a given word is converted into another by way of a series of words each formed by changing just one letter of its predecessor.
Let's start with the unifier:
73 Across: Mushy message, and the end of a sequence that progresses through the answers to the starred clues: LOVE NOTE. LOVE is the final rung on the ladder.
Here, marked with stars for our convenience, are the starting rung and the three intermediate rungs of the ladder:
1 Across: *Mean message: HATE MAIL. The initial rung is HATE. We certainly do not want to end here.
27 Across: *Occasion for hiring a babysitter: DATE NIGHT. Change the H to D and we have DATE.
41 Across: *"So Much to Say" Grammy winners: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND. Change to T to V and we have DAVE. For fans of the band:
53 Across: *Fits together neatly: DOVETAILS. At the risk of stating the obvious, changing the A to O gives us DOVE.
Then at 73 Across change the D to L.
Here is a look at the completed grid:
. . . and the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
9. Administer an oath to: SWEAR IN.
16. 2018 SAG Life Achievement Award honoree: ALAN ALDA. Eight letters four of which are A's. Perped.
17. Above it all, in a way: TALLEST. A bit of an odd use of "Above it all" unless you're talking about a mountain or a building. Thanks for the "in a way" tipping us off to the clue taking a bit of liberty.
18. Featured dishes: SPECIALS.
19. Grassy expanse: PRAIRIE. One night Johnny Carson got to talking about his Nebraska roots and he told this alleged true story during a sketch scene. Johnny mentioned that the most fearsome Indian tribe were not the Sioux, nor the Apache or even the Comanche Indians. No they were the Fahkarwee tribe!
Johnny went on to explain,: Almost every wagon train that crossed the prairie on their trek to California were known to have their wagon masters and scouts constantly scanning the horizon ahead the entire trip asking, "Where the Fahkarwee?"
20. Impassive: DRY EYED.
22. Skewed view: BIAS. I think that it is best to cut vegetables diagonally but I am BIASed
23. Walk leisurely: AMBLE.
29. Beers served with lime: CORONAS.
32. Grubhub link: MENU. Grubhub says that it "is part of a leading global online food delivery marketplace."
34. "Hidden Figures" org.: NASA. "Hidden figures" is a movie about the early days of NASA and the contributions of a team of African-American women.
36. Jazz great who was the first African-American man to win a Grammy: BASIE. The best motion picture cameo ever?
Blazing Saddles - 1974
45. Nocturnal sound: SNORE.
46. 50+ group: AARP. Formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons. It was formed n 1958 as a sister organization to the National Retired Teachers Association. At its core, an insurance marketing device.
47. Microsoft search engine: BING. Used for about 2.5% of web searches worldwide.
48. Spring: LEAP. Combine this answer with 3 Down and you get (see 3 Down).
51. Pungent cleanser: AMMONIA. Why do chemistry students learn about AMMONIA first? It's pretty basic stuff.
58. Put into words: UTTER.
59. Disney's "__ and the Detectives": EMIL. First, it was (and still is) a book but I guess the movie is more widely known.
60. Hailed: GREETED. Not the frozen precipitation.
History Of The World - Part I - 1981
63. Philadelphia school whose teams are the Explorers: LA SALLE. The addition of the team name to the clue was helpful.
65. Lucrative venture: GOLD MINE. What do you get when you drop a piano down a gold mine? A flat minor. No, not a person not yet of legal age. See 71 down.
70. Harness racer: TROTTER.
71. Minor issue?: AGE LIMIT. Clever cluing. A minor is a person under the age of 18 or 21 depending on the issue at hand.
72. Stops: ARRESTS. In criminal matters, ARRESTS sometimes follow stops, in mountain climbing the terms are synonymous.
5. __ name: MAIDEN. Usually, we get the answer NEE.
6. Banned fruit spray: ALAR. Widely used as a growth regulator sprayed on apple trees. It cut waste and labor by preventing the fruit from falling before it was ripe. It also had toxic effects on humans.
7. Without much thought: IDLY.
8. Performed light surgery on?: LASED. Light as in ray of light not as in minor. Minor as in the opposite of major not as in 71 Across. Major not as in army rank.
9. Fla. recreation spot: ST PETE. Recreation spot was a bit more misleading than simply referring to a city in Florida.
10. Norton in "The Shawshank Redemption," for one: WARDEN. A great movie with Bob Gunton cast as Warden Norton William Sadler.
11. Portuguese feminine pronoun: ELA. Why, in puzzles, does the use of Portuguese seem less fair than Spanish or French?
12. Excuse: ALIBI.
13. Outfit again: RERIG. Usually referring to a seagoing vessel.
14. Whitlock Jr. of "The Wire" and "Veep": ISIAH. As with ISIAH Thomas, there is some question as to whether the bestower of the name knew how to spell.
15. Arms treaty subj.: N TEST. Nuclear TEST. Unless, of course, you're George Bush.
21. Big name in pianos: YAMAHA. Big name in motorcycles, too.
23. Corrosive compounds: ACIDS.
24. Colonel called "the second most dangerous man in London" by Sherlock Holmes: MORAN. Second to Professor Moriarty, Colonel Sebastian "Basher" MORAN first appeared in the 1903 short story The Adventure of the Empty House.
25. "Way to go!": BRAVO. If the clue was not in quotes, indicating something that someone might say, the answer might have been a synonym of ROUTE.
26. Introvert: LONER.
28. Worn-down pencils: NUBS.
30. Santa __ winds: ANA. A bit of local SoCal meteorology that often blows through the puzzles
31. Posed (for): SAT.
35. Swingline insert: STAPLE. Swingline is a brand of STAPLErs.
37. Cloister leader: ABBOT. ABBESS was just a bit too long.
38. Canonized one: SAINT.
39. Concave navel: INNIE.
40. Painter Degas: EDGAR. His first name is almost an anagram of his second. He seems to have had a real affinity for ballet . . . or, at least, for ballerinas.
42. Cheesy sandwich: MELT.
Tuna Melt Sandwich
43. Pitching stat: ERA. A baseball reference. Earned Run Average.
44. Typing stat: WPM. Words Per Minute
49. Young bird of prey: EAGLET.
50. Broadcasters: AIRERS. Meh.
52. Confuse: MUDDLE. I prefer to MUDDLE jalapenos.
53. Atlanta-based airline: DELTA. Always highly ranked even in these trying flying times.
54. Astrologer Sydney: OMARR. 1926 - 2003 His column appeared in more than 200 newspapers.
55. Cap brim: VISOR.
56. Thrill to pieces: ELATE.
57. "The Goldbergs" actor George: SEGAL.
61. Like deli orders: TO GO.
62. Hgt.: ELEV. Height ELEVation. The first of four abbreviations in a row.
64. Capt.'s underlings: LTS. Second. Captains and LieuTenantS.
66. Max. opposite: MIN. Third. Maximum MINimum
67. "I think," in texts: IMO. Fourth. In My Opinion
68. Minor quibble: NIT. At this point you may have had one to pick.
69. Bastille Day time: ETE. French for summer. Bastille day is celebrated on le 14 juillet.
A bientot,
le lamentin
P.S. As the theme of today's outing ended up being LOVE, I could not pass on the opportunity to insert the following. It was written by Chet Powers (who used the stage name Dino Valenti) but it was popularized by The Youngbloods. Hmmm, maybe I should have gone with something by Arthur Lee. In any event, have a terrific Thursday and a wonderful weekend, everyone.
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