Friday, January 26, 2024, Luke Schreiber

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's pacer.  Excuse me, recap.  Our puzzle setter, Luke Schreiber has executed a pretty straightforward theme.  Or is it  a straightbackward theme?  At four places, Luke presents us with single-word clues followed by a question mark.  The answers require that we reverse the letters of the clue, place that reversed rendition at the end of the allotted squares, conjure up something that explains the reversal and then place that explanation at the head of the answer.  The four themed answers are found at:

21 Across:  EMIT?: TURN BACK TIME.  Turn TIME backwards and you get EMIT

39 Across:  LOOP?: REFLECTING POOL.  POOL as seen in a mirror, or reflecting pool, will appear to be reversed.  It won't read LOOP but we get the idea.

52 Across:  SPOT?: FLIP TOPS.  Flip TOPS around and you get SPOT.

63 Across:  RAW?: REVOLUTIONARY WAR.  This one is a bit less straightforward but Luke has made up for that by having the answer span the entire grid.

The grid is 16 squares wide, instead of the usual 15, and the symmetry is atypical and really quite elegant in and of itself.

Here is how all of this appears in the grid:

Here are the other clues and answers:

Across:

1. Moussaka ingredient: LAMB.  Eggplant was too long.

5. Harmonious church groups: CHOIRS.  Singing in harmony.

11. Parachute necessity: CORD.  Do not forget to pull the ripCORD.

15. Cookie with a Java Chip flavor: OREO.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.

16. Solitary sort: HERMIT.  We could go with a song by Herman's Hermits but this fits the clue pretty well:

Johnny Cash

17. Mind: OBEY. Do you mind (care)?  No.  What's on your mind (brain)?  No.  "You will do as I say!"

18. Wolverine, for one: XMAN.

Wolverine

19. Esoteric information: ARCANA.  Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.

20. A few: SOME.

24. Not quite aligned: OFFSET.

OFFSET Wrenches

26. Inventor who said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work": EDISON.  Thomas Alva EDISON.

29. Slugger Judge who was AP Athlete of the Year in 2022: AARON.  A baseball reference.

30. Ankle-length attire: MAXI.

34. Mouthwash brand: SCOPE.  Listerine was too long.  Act was too short.

35. Feudal estate: FIEF.

36. Selena or Selena Gomez: LATINA.  SINGER would have fit.

38. Katniss Everdeen portrayer, to fans: J LAW.  a "Hunger Games" reference.  The character is portrayed by Jennifer LAWrence.

42. Overhang: EAVE.  EAVEs hang around our puzzles quite regularly.

43. Midwestern Native: SAUK.  New to this solver.  Those in the Green Bay, Wisconsin  or Northern New York State areas may be more familiar with the SAUK.

44. Five-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Ian: THORPE.  Jim Thorpe, it turns out, was a member of the SAUK (aka Sac and Fox) peoples.  Luke, however, has gone with Ian who is Australian.

47. Comes down hard?: SLEETS.  A hard rain's a-gonna fall.  Literally.

Figuratively

51. "Just a Geek" memoirist Wheaton: WIL.

57. Tate Modern filler: ART.  A museum reference.

58. Verdi aria that translates to "It was you": ERI TU.

60. Lisa Halaby's royal name: NOOR.  An American-born Jordanian who was the fourth wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan.  She was Queen NOOR of Jordan from 1978 until the king's death in 1999.

61. Sunlit lobbies: ATRIA.  Plural of ATRIum.  Stadium / Stadia

66. Intense: KEEN.  What do you call someone who really likes to talk about cereals?  A KEEN oat speaker.

67. Some green sauces: PESTOS.  Rarely seen pluralized.

Basil and Roasted Tomato PESTOS

68. Senate position: PAGE.  Go-fers, albeit esteemed, for the senators.

69. Divisions in an outdated atlas: Abbr.: SSRS.  Soviet Socialist RepublicS

70. Plumes: CRESTS.

Mount CRESTed Butte, Colorado

71. Exxon constituents?: EXES.  In the middle of the word.  Often clued with reference to past partners.

George Strait

Down:

1. Bagel topping: LOX.

Or In Between

2. Branch: ARM.  The U.S. Army is a branch of the armed forces.

3. Vegetarian: MEAT FREE.  A woman came up to me and said that she recognized me from the local vegetarian restaurant.  This confused me as I had never met herbivore.  Perhaps it was a missed steak.

4. Pot sweetener: BONUS OFFER.  Hand up for trying to think of something related to poker.

5. Root words?: CHANT.  As in to root for your favorite sports team.

6. Cilantro, e.g.: HERB.  I really need to plant some HERBs of my own.  I have been living on borrowed thyme.

7. Wolf of the sea: ORCA.  They swim through our puzzles on a regular basis.

8. Apple since 1998: IMAC.  Not a fruit reference.

9. Curling spot: RINK.

The Physics of Curling

10. Washington, but not Washington, D.C.: STATE.  Nor George.

11.  Life itself, to a crepehanger: COSMIC JOKE.

12. Recital piece for a double-reed woodwind: OBOE SOLO.

13. "Collapse Into Now" band: REM.  The clue is the name of one of REM's albums.

14. Go green, perhaps: DYE.  Hand up for first trying to think (overthink?) of something ecologically related.

22. Kylo __: "The Last Jedi" villain: REN.  A Star Wars reference.

23. Picks out, for short: IDS.  We had IDS as, IDentufieS in the puzzle that I recapped two Fridays ago.

24. Lummox: OAF.  What do you call a healthcare worker who does not self isolate after contracting COVID?  A Hippocratic OAF.

25. Just: FAIR.  Not "Just" as in merely.

27. Iridescent gem: OPAL.

28. Not old: NEW.  Now, this one is straightforward.

30. Spice cookie spice: MACE.  Also, a brand of self-defense pepper spray.

31. QB stat: ATT.  A football reference.  Passing ATTempts.

32. Roman dozen: XII.  Roman Numeral

33. Accommodating places: INNS.  Places to procure accommodations for the night.

36. Flatten: LEVEL.

37. Shocked: AGASP.

40. Squiggly baby, to a sitter: LAPFUL.  Nice wordplay employing babysitter and anyone who happens to be seated.

41. Radio wave-emitting star: PULSAR.

44. Dances provocatively: TWERKS.  Today's let's pass on the video moment.

45. New faces in the staff lounge: HIREES.

46. "Last Week Tonight" host John: OLIVER.

48. Swab target: EAR WAX.  A Q-tip™ reference.  

49. Emergency priority system: TRIAGE.

50. Unblinking looks: STARES.

53. __ Miami CF: INTER.  A Major League Soccer reference.

54. Self-composure: POISE.

55. Friendly horn sounds: TOOTS.  As opposed to an unfriendly horn sound?

56. " ... but I could be wrong": OR NOT.  "I take back everything that I just said."

59. Heavy weights: TONS.  SNOT?

62. Variety: TYPE.

64. Lines at the register?: UPC.  Universal Product Code aka Bar Code

65. Donkey: ASS.

Well, that will wrap things up for today.   Time, now, to get my donkey back on the slopes.

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Friday, January 12, 2024, Emma Oxford

Thanks, again, Lisa for your help a couple of weeks ago.

This week, however, you are off the mark.

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here from the land of frozen (and decidedly not warm) waters to bring you today's somewhat abbreviated recap.  Our puzzle setter is Emma Oxford and, at four places within the grid, she has provided us with four amusing takes on familiar two-letter abbreviations.  Let's take a look:

18 ACROSS:  Big bash honoring detectives?: PI DAY CELEBRATION.  PI DAY comes on March 14th of each year because 3 can stand for March the value of Pi (the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter) is roughly 3.14.  In this case, however, P.I. is referring to Private Investigator.  PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR DAY CELEBRATION.

27 ACROSS:  Take steps to prevent patients leaving mid-appendectomy?: FIGHT OR FLIGHT.  We are all, of course, familiar with the FIGHT OR FLIGHT response but, in the puzzle O.R. is used as the abbreviation for Operating Room.  FIGHT OPERATING ROOM FLIGHT.

47 ACROSS:  Certain facial recognition pro?: THE WIZARD OF ID.  The WIZARD OF ID is a cartoon strip by Parker and Hart.  In this answer, though, the reference is to identification as in (e.g.) I.D. Card.   THE WIZARD OF IDENTIFICATION.

63 ACROSS:  Really annoy the computer help desk?: TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT.  A familiar expression recast as TAKE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO THE LIMIT.

This is how it appears in the grid:

. . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Chasm: ABYSS.

6. Every which way: AMOK.  A little bit of a stretch definition-wise.

10. Worry about: SWEAT.  Both FRET and STEW were too short.

15. "Better in Time" singer Lewis: LEONA.   This could have been clued with a reference to the Queen Of Mean - LEONA Hemsley.

16. Placemat, in some restaurants: MENU.

17. Shelf: LEDGE.

21. Running wild: ON A TEAR.

22. Try and fail to walk on ice: SLIP.  Thanks for the reminder to put on those cleats.

23. __-Magnon: CRO.

24. Rock gp. sometimes joined by Young: CSN.

25. Signifies: MEANS.

26. Besmirch: TAR.  As in to TAR one's reputation.

32. Kid-friendly card game: UNO.

33. Laze: LOAF.

34. "__-daisy!": OOPSY.  All about OOPSY-daisy

38. Certain English collegian: ETONIAN.

41. Oregon port named for a fur merchant: ASTORIA.  In addition to the fur trade, John Jacob ASTOR was involved with smuggling opium into China.

43. Grayish green shade: LODEN.  A deep olive green with shorter wavelengths.

44. Fictional terrier from Kansas: TOTO.  Clever.  A puzzle with references to both the Wizard of Id and the Wizard of Oz.

46. Bobby of the Bruins: ORR.  Not a UCLA reference.

52. Sleeve: ARM.

55. Matter basics: ATOMS.  I got arrested for having one sodium ATOM and one chlorine ATOM.  They said I committed a salt.

56. Pub bill: TAB.  As is to run a tab.

57. Actress Seydoux: LEA.

58. Pool division: LANE.

59. Uneasy feeling, with "the": WILLIES.

66. Neptune's realm: OCEAN.

67. Home of the Blue Devils: DUKE.  DUKE University.

68. "Into the Woods" song sung by two princes: AGONY.  Last week, I went from AGONY to ecstasy in a span of a few days.  At this rate, I’ll finish reading the dictionary in a month or so.

69. [I have no idea]: SHRUG.

70. Missouri River Native: OTOE.  Frequent visitors.

71. Pick up: SENSE.  

Down:

1. Pet food brand: ALPO.

2. Form of nonviolent protest: BE IN.  The first Human Be-In (get it?) was held in Golden Gate Park in 1967.

3. Jedi voiced by Tom Kane on "The Clone Wars": YODA.

4. Seize: SNATCH.

5. "What __ thou?": SAYEST.   SAYEST is an archaic second person singular of say.

6. Pt. of USA: AMER.  United States of AMERica

7. First name of two Spice Girls: MEL.  MELanie Brown went by the stage name of Scary Spice and MELanie Chisholm went by the name of Sporty Spice.

8. Reflexive pronoun: ONESELF.

9. __ Khan: KUBLAI.  Mongol general and grandson of Genghis.

10. Paul Newman hockey film: SLAP SHOT.

11. Sopping: WET.

12. Decree: EDICT.

13. Ancient Greek marketplace: AGORA.

14. Hero in operas, typically: TENOR.

19. __ oil: CANOLA.  RAPESEED (from which CANOLA oil is made) was more a more difficult name to merchandise.

May the Schwartz Be With You

20. Key spot: RING.  Not a reference to something important. Not a reference to a small island.

25. Juilliard deg.: MFA.  Master of Fine Arts

27. Gasohol, e.g.: FUEL.  A mixture of gasoline and alcohol.

28. Division word: INTO.

29. Yummy: GOOD.  Some things do not get better with age:

30. "Sons of Anarchy" actor Perlman: RON.

31. Furthermore: TOO.

35. Univ. lecturer: PROF.  PROFessor

36. iPad speaker: SIRI.  "She" speaks out loud.

37. Gridiron unit: YARD.   I recently found a round, black piece of plastic with a hole in the middle and grooves on both sides. I picked it up and threw it. It flew for more than 300 yards.  I'm sure that must have been a record.

39. Wind up with: NET.

40. Getting some air: INHALING.  Not out for a walk.

41. "One __ time!": AT A.

42. Foray: SORTIE.

44. Call from a coach: TIMEOUT.

45. Wt. units: OZS.  OZ stands for the Italian onza, ounce.

48. Coup d'__: ETAT.  One of  Today's French lessons although thoroughly incorporated into English usage.  French for "stroke of state".   A coup d'ETAT is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership.

49. Is unacceptable: WON'T DO.

50. Mavericks city: DALLAS.  A basketball reference.

51. Do a favor for: OBLIGE.  They are then OBLIGatEd to you.

52. Unlikely heroines in operas, typically: ALTOS.

53. Get to: REACH.  I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him fifty bucks that he couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf.  He declined the bet saying, "No, the steaks are too high."

54. Creative sort: MAKER.  Earlier in the week this might have been clued as Coffee ______ .

59. Cry of delight: WHEE.

60. "That's my cue!": I"M ON.

61. __, zwei, drei: EINS.  Today's German lesson. 1, 2, 3.

62. Eye affliction: STYE.  A frequent affliction in our puzzles.

64. Mer contents: EAU.  Another of today's French lesson.  Mer = Sea and EAU = water.

65. Fight-ending letters: TKO.  A boxing reference.  Technical KnockOut

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Friday, December 29, 2023, Zachary David Levy

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's puzzle recap.  As you read this I am in Utah helping to celebrate a very good friend's 70th birthday.  After that, it is on to Colorado, wind and weather permitting.  Many small towns in Colorado have become "Zoom Towns" over the past few years so, if the internet "pipeline" is not overtaxed, I should be able to work on my next couple of blogs remotely.

Today's constructor is frequent-visitor Zachary David Levy who presented us with quite a bit to ponder, theme-wise.  In the electronic version from which I was working, there was no "reveal".  There were no asterisks.  There were no circles.  There was, seemingly, no common thread.  There were questions marks but those we all know can serve various purposes.  This solver will admit to rereading what were pretty obviously the five themed answers several times without finding that elusive common thread.

Then I recalled the words of Lisa Simpson.  Lisa has/had been known to hang out with Will Shortz and Merl Reagle (RIP) so it pays to check in with her now and then.  As a result of her inspiration, it dawned on me that the last two words (and in one case, three words, when you count the A) of each clue were anagrams of the answers (or, if you prefer, vice versa):

17 Across:  The worst description of poor purses?:  PROSPEROUS.  PORO yields POOR, RSPEUS yields PURSES.  Prosperous being an antonym of poor.

25 Across:  Completely unlike a docile man?:  DEMONIACAL.  A yields A, DEOICL yields DOCILE, and MNA yields MAN.  A demoniacal man is not likely to be docile.

36 Across:  The furthest thing from tidier rooms?: DORMITORIES.  DITRIE yields TIDIER, and ORMOS yields ROOMS.  Dormitories are, stereo-typically, messy.

50 Across:  The opposite of one who is not against?:  ANTAGONIST.   ONT yields NOT, and ANTAGIS yields AGAINST.  Double negative.  Triple?

59 Across:  Treated with a decided lack of due respect?:  PERSECUTED.  EUD yields DUE, and PRSECTE yields RESPECT.

 

After that DAMNED clever (if a bit MADDENing) start, let's have a look at the rest of the clues and the answers:

Across:

1. Sponge (off): MOOCH.  Clued as a verb.

6. Degs. for CFOs: MBAS.  Some Chief Financial Officers hold Master of Business Administration degreeS.  Most MBAs are not CFOs.

10. 1040 ID figs.: SSNS.  A reference to the IRS Form 1040.  Social Security NumberS

14. Place to perform: VENUE.  Some hold more people than do others.

Grateful Dead at Giants Stadium - 1978

15. Additionally: ALSO.  MORE, STILL, PLUS ?

16. Shiny sticker?: EPEE.  Not a sticker that you would put on e.g. a notebook.  Not a reflector sticker.  You can stick someone with a sword.

19. __ chips: PITA.  What did the PITA chip say to the hummus when she was ill?  I falafel.

20. Breading choice: PANKO.

21. Has quite a kick: ZINGS.  This one seemed a bit off to me having never heard anyone say "this zings."  I mean,  the hot sauce or the whiskey might have a quite a kick but it ZINGS?  Still it made a great song in the 1930's (without that S):

22. Rx writer: DOC.  Abbreviated clue, abbreviated answer:  DOCtor.  Zachary/Patti could have gone with the rabbit.

28. Investment firm figure: ANALYST.

Only Buy Me Stocks That Go Up

31. Agent, informally: REP.  Not a secret agent.  A business agent.  REPresentative.

32. Simu of "Kim's Convenience": LIU.  Unknown to this solver.  Thanks, again, perps.

33. Italian birthplace of Paganini: GENOA.  Anche, Cristoforo Colombo.

34. Element in some smoky whiskies: PEAT.  Ah, this one is near and dear.  Distilleries use hot smoke from burning PEAT to stop the germination of barley at a certain point resulting in malted barley that is then used to make whisky.  The PEAT smoke imparts a distinctive, if polarizing, flavor.

A Peat-Burning Oven.  Island of Islay.  Scotland

35. Filmmaker Lee: ANG.  Spike would not fit.

40. Call (out): CRY.

42. Swimmer Torres who won 12 Olympic medals: DARA.

43. Literary form: ESSAY.  Hand up for first thinking PROSE.

46. Consists of: HAS.  This puzzle HAS 225 squares,

47. Letters before a pen name: AKA.  Also Known As

48. Spartan: AUSTERE.  Not a reference to MSU.

53. Patch, perhaps: SEW.  I tried to think of something witty to say here but I ran out of material.

54. Size for fries: LARGE.  Supersize me.

55. Cut a rug: DANCE.  Idiomatic from an earlier era.

Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer) In "Top Secret"

58. Gloating cry: I WIN.  Sometimes it's I WON.

64. Promontory: CAPE.  A geographical reference.  Often clued with references to comic book superheros.

65. Pennsylvania city across from Presque Isle State Park: ERIE.  Four letters.  Three vowels.  An often-used constructor's friend.

66. Sports news: TRADE.  Some have lead to curses.

67. Seers?: EYES.  Not SEERS as in tellers of the future.  What we see with.

68. Over and done with: PAST.  The PAST, the present and the future walked into a bar.  Things got a little tense.

69. Madonna hit that begins, "Strike a pose": VOGUE.  Not the Madonna celebrated earlier this week.

Down:

1. 2023 World Series honor for Corey Seager: MVP.  Most Valuable Player.  It would have been nice if the Dodgers had re-signed Corey.

2. Poetic contraction: O'ER. As in "O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

3. "Double Fantasy" singer: ONO.  Many ways to clue Yoko Ono.  Some would go with breakerupperofthebeatles.

4. Astrological delineation: CUSP.  Is your moon in Fresno?

5. __ filter: HEPA.  HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air, and a HEPA filter is a specially designed air filter that excels at capturing tiny particles in the air.

6. Word with fish or meat: MARKET.  Or with stock (but that would have been more of a giveaway).

7. Sign of spring: BLOOM.

8. Tempe sch.: ASU.

9. Scouring brand: SOS.

10. Retro tone: SEPIA.  For photographs.

11. SoulCycle offering: SPIN CLASSES.  This solver was not familiar with SoulCycle but the "cycle" part was helpful and the perps made it clear.

12. Bottom line: NET GAIN.

13. Shell-less gastropod: SEA SLUG.  Some are far more visually intriguing than the land varieties.

18. Comes to a halt: ENDS.  What starts with W and ENDS with T.  Really, it does.

21. Some plastic fasteners: ZIP TIES.  Very useful for oh so many applications.

22. Peace Nobelist Hammarskjöld: DAG.  Secretary General of the United Nations (1953 - 1961).

23. Single: ONE.

24. Peppermint pattern: CANDY STRIPE.

26. Ice cream cookie: OREO.  Clue-able in oh so many ways.

27. In the ballpark: NEAR.  Idiomatic.

29. Liverpool lav: LOO.  In London, if you pay money to live in a bathroom you can tell your friends that you are a LOO tenant.

30. Gridiron stat: YARDAGE.  A football reference.  Inspired by the lines on the football field.  Gridiron derives from griddle and grid.  It was also a medieval instrument of torture.

34. Educational org.: PTA.

37. Shortfin shark: MAKO.  The K from 47 across was a big help with this one.

38. Turkey neighbor: IRAN.  YAMS would have fit.

39. NYC hrs.: EST.  Eastern Standard Time

40. Ceremonial goblet: CHALICE. The film, "The Court Jester" with Danny Kay taught me this one at an early age.

41. Bolted: RAN AWAY.  Not a hardware reference.

44. Equal: ARE.  As in two and two ARE four.

45. Evergreen shrub: YEW.  Often clued with a reference to archery.

48. How cutlery is typically sold: AS A SET.

49. Alternative magazine name: UTNE.  The "UTNE Reader" is oft cited in crossword puzzles.

51. Hong Kong politician and social activist Chow: AGNES.

52. "Luther" star Elba: IDRIS.  This solver did not know "Luther" but IDRIS Elba has been a frequent visitor the past few years.

56. Video surveillance letters: CCTV.  Closed Circuit TeleVision

57. Irish capital: EURO.  Not the capital city.  Money.

59. Oomph: PEP.

60. Bullpen fig.: ERA.  A baseball reference.  Relief pitchers, a subset of whom are called "closers" warm up in the "bullpen".  Earner Run Average.  Roughly, how many runs, on average, the pitcher gives up for every nine innings he pitches (ERA excludes runs the pitcher would not have allowed had somebody not messed up).

61. __ sale: TAG.  AKA Yard Sale or Garage Sale.

62. Georgetown closer: EDU.  Not a baseball reference.  The ending of an email address.

63. Barely passing mark: DEE.  A  B   C   D   F   Aren't we grading on the curve here?

Here is the completed grid:

That will warp things up for today.  Thanks, again, Lisa (and friends).

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