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?
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