Friday, January 10, 2025, Amanda Cook

 

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee, here, back from an extended stay in the quite cold Colorado Rockies.  The cooling effects of that stay have worn off pretty quickly because today's constructor, Amanda Cook, has elected to take us in quite the opposite direction.  Would it be improper to say that, although I have never met the woman, Amanda has given me HOTS?  I know, I know.  A little context is required and here it is:

At the four corners of the puzzle, Ms. Cook has placed answers that can be preceded by the word HOT.  The reveal comes at:

35 Across:  Third base, in baseball lingo, or one of four in this puzzle: HOT CORNER.  It is commonly assumed that the term came about because of the hot shots aimed at the third baseman, but the explanation is not universally accepted. "Third base was so named about 40 years ago when most of the star sluggers were right-handed. Nowadays, however, with so many hard hitting left-handers, first base is equally 'hot'." - Fan And Family October, 1935

... and the theme is applied at:

1 Across:  Valued entity:  HOT COMMODITY.

10  Across:  Chances:  HOT SHOTS.  As in "to take your best SHOT" at something.

64 Across:  Breathes heavily:  HOT PANTS.  With HOT, a style of women's shorts.

65 Across:  See's Candies candy:  HOT CHOCOLATE.  After a career at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Valerie decided to work part time at Sees' Candies just for the fun of it.

"Hello.  How may I sweeten your day?"

This is how all of the themers, and everything else, appears in the grid:

The rest of the clues and answers are:

Across:

15. Dodgy behavior: AVOIDANCE.  Avoidance is not always dodgy behavior so this clue threw this solver off the scent for a bit.

16. Deck with Major and Minor Arcana: TAROT.  Cards frequently "read" in crossword puzzles.

17. Result of slaying it at the gym: KILLER ABS.

18. Smoldering bit: EMBER.  Did you hear about the baby coal that went missing?  They sent out an EMBER alert.

19. Conclusion: END.

20. Attempt: TRY.

21. Downfall: DEMISE.

22. Google rankings metric: Abbr.: SEO.  Search Engine Optimization  All You Might Want To Know

23. GI entertainers: USO.

24. Bubblegum __: POP.  A music genre reference.  An example (listen at your own risk):

25. Radio host Charlamagne __ God: THA.  Lenard Larry McKelvey.   Humility is, apparently, not the attributes to which he aspires.

26. "Frozen" reindeer: SVEN.

28. Holds off: WAITS.

30. Just swell: A OK.

31. "Wicked" pair: ACTS.  A reference to the stage production.

33. Oahu garland: LEI.  Oahu being one of the Hawaiian islands.

34. Pub order: ALE.

38. C-suite member: CFO.  Chief Financial Officer.  Abbreviated clue, abbreviated answer.

40. Spanish gold: ORO.

41. Hardly cheerful: GRIM.  Bill and Ted's take on the subject:

43. Long-jawed fish: GAR.

Gar Brooks

44. Floating overhead: ALOFT.

46. __ of March: IDES.  Beware!

48. Pacific Coast Highway's route number: ONE.

49. Innovative: NEW.

50. Mork's home: ORK.  A Robin Williams reference.

52. The __ Ministry: "Rest Is Resistance" organization: NAP.

54. Some tuna cuts: STEAKS.  Tuna puns are fin-ally back in season.

56. Composers' rights org.: BMI.  This could have been clued with a reference to Body Mass Index.

57. Ego Nwodim's show, for short: SNL.

58. Magical symbol: SIGIL.  A learning moment for this solver.

59. Geographical region for a retailer: TRADE AREA.

62. Completely silly: INANE.

63. Quiz with bona fide answers?: LATIN TEST.  Bona fide being a Latin expression.


Down:

1. Gâteaux: CAKES.  Plural French clue.

2. Sheep: OVINES.  Not to be confused with BOVINES.  Moo.

3. Landlocked country between Ukraine and Romania: MOLDOVA.

4. The Bucks, in sports crawls: MIL.  A professional basketball reference.

5. W.H. Auden's "__ to the Medieval Poets": ODE.

6. Bolts: DARTS.  Not a hardware reference.  Used as a verb.

7. Lined up: IN A ROW.

8. Froyo chain: TCBY.  Originally called This Can't Be Yogurt but quickly altered to The Country's Best Yougurt because it served, of course, actual frozen yogurt.

9. "Affirmative": YES.

10. Brews: STEEPS.  As with tea.

11. "Grimsburg" voice actor Jon: HAMM.  More often clued with a reference to soccer star Mia HAMM.

12. Like a moon's path: ORBITAL.

13. Ballet slipper: TOE SHOE.

14. Take off and run?: STREAK.  As in take off one's clothes.  Remember the streaking fad?

21. Overly affectionate: DOTING.

23. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

24. Beach town structure: PIER.

27. Reverberate: ECHO.  Co-opted by Amazon.

29. Emotionally detached: ALOOF.  What do you call a person unaware of whole wheat, whole grain, sourdough and rye?  ALOOF of bread.

32. Elegant wraps: STOLES.  Many of our mothers had one I suspect.

34. Dry: ARID.

36. Black bird: CROW.

37. Composer Satie: ERIK.  A frequent visitor.

38. Mexican bar: CANTINA.  Alternatively, a Star Wars reference.

39. One who practices minimal consumption: FREEGAN.  New to this solver.

42. Awareness of wrongdoing, in criminal law: MENS REA.

43. Trade secrets?: GOSSIP.  Trade, here, is used as a verb.

44. Low joints: ANKLES.  Not a dive bar.  A joint to be found low on one's body.

45. Shakshouka base: TOMATO. Shakshuka is a dish made of eggs poached in a spicy tomato and bell pepper sauce, often seasoned with spices like cumin and paprika. To make it, sauté onions and bell peppers, add garlic and spices, then stir in crushed tomatoes, simmer, and finally crack eggs into the sauce to poach them. 

47. Most realistic: SANEST.

51. Totes absurd: RIDIC.  RIDICulous.  My sentiments, exactly.

53. Arrange for serving, as a meal: PLATE.  Used, here, as a verb.

55. Colloquial contraction: AIN'T.

56. "Duuuude ... ": BRAH.

59. "No Scrubs" group: TLC.  

60. Ambient musician Brian: ENO.  Another frequent visitor.

61. Georgia airport code: ATL.  ATLanta's Hartsfield Airport.

Continuing with the baseball references (e.g. Hot Corner), a big "Thank You!" to NaomiZ for "pinch hitting" for me during my sabbatical.

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