Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a melodious puzzle constructed by NYT, LAT and USA Today veteran constructor Brian Callahan. At four places in the grid Brian has inserted the names of singer-song writers with each name consisting of two words. The first words all begin with the letter P and the second with the letter S. The theme was inspired by the answer to the unifier which is found at:
59 Across: Beatles hit on "Please Please Me," which could be dedicated to 16-, 24-, 35-, and 50-Across: PS I LOVE YOU.
Here are the four themed answers none of which require explanation beyond their clues:
16 Across: "Because the Night" singer-songwriter: PATTI SMITH.
24 Across: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" singer-songwriter: PETE SEEGER.
35 Across: "You Can Call Me Al" singer-songwriter: PAUL SIMON.
50 Across: "Poetry Man" singer-songwriter: PHOEBE SNOW.
Thank you, Brian, for the opportunity to revisit all of those great songs. Now, after all of that, if anyone has the time and energy, here's how it all appears in the grid:
. . . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Campbell's container: CAN.
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| Andy Warhol's Take On The Subject |
4. Sports complex: ARENA. From the Latin harena meaning sandy place.
9. Air quality factor: SMOG. A portmanteau of SMoke and fOG.
13. The Jazz, on scoreboards: UTA.
9. Air quality factor: SMOG. A portmanteau of SMoke and fOG.
13. The Jazz, on scoreboards: UTA.
14. Cuddly pooch: LAP DOG.
15. University of New Mexico athlete: LOBO.
18. Siberian city: OMSK.
19. Twitter: CHIRP. An avian reference - not a tech reference.
20. Grumpy person: CRAB. CRABs (the animals) have a reputation for being feisty and unpleasant.
22. Fed. health law: ACA.
23. Dialect in some Black communities, for short: AAVE. All you might want to know:
27. Tear sheet?: KLEENEX. Not tear as in to rip a piece of paper. Tear as in crying.
29. Flair: TALENT. A cake entered a TALENT contest. The Judge asked, "What's your talent?" "Icing", replied the entrant.
30. "Mars Attacks!" creatures, in brief: ETS. ExtraTerrestrial BeingS
31. Celtic priest of old: DRUID. Did this one stump you?
34. Son of Zeus: ARES.
38. Ralph Lauren brand: POLO
41. Buff: TONED. Buff, here, was used not as a verb but as an adjective
42. Sked abbr.: TBD. To Be Determined. Sometimes it turns out to be TBArranged.
45. Device for smoking shisha: HOOKAH. Shisha is is a wet tobacco that is soaked in a combination of glycerin, molasses or honey, and flavoring.
48. On an elite level, informally: GOD TIER. This expression is new to this solver. On a somewhat related note, did anyone else besides yours truly get tired, earlier this month, of the unrelenting barrage of "Quad God" references? After the disappointing final skate, one half expected the talking heads to switch to "Lutz Klutz".
53. Wine category: REDS. As opposed to, for example, white wines or rose wines.
54. Jungfrau, for one: ALP. elevation 13,642 feet
55. Balm-yielding succulent: ALOE. ALOE, there. Vera nice to meet you!
56. Small but powerful group: CADRE. CADRE entered this solver's vocabulary during the Mao Tse Tung era.
57. History: PAST. The PAST, the present, and the future walked into a bar . . . and things got a little tense.
62. Yale students: ELIS. From the eponymous Mr. Elihu Yale.
64. Dawn goddess: EOS. A frequent visitor.
65. __ and file: RANK.
66. Short-lived Ford model: EDSEL. Often taken on road trips in our puzzles.
67. Private chats on soc. media: DMS. Abbreviated clue . . . Direct MessageS
Down:
1. Treat baked in a fluted liner: CUPCAKE.
2. No longer moving: AT A HALT.
3. Longtime residents: NATIVES.
4. Some Energizers: AAS.
5. Turntable meas.: RPM. Abbreviated clue . . . Revolutions Per Minute Remember when we'd talk of tone arm counter weight, Sure vs Audio-Technica cartridges, and direct drive vs. belt drive?
6. Order: EDICT. Not order as in what you do at a restaurant. Not order as in an array. Order as in some directive to be obeyed.
7. __-Dame de Paris: NOTRE.
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| An Unforgettable Moment |
8. Shocked: AGHAST. A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget's Thesaurus crashed losing its entire load. Witnesses were stunned, startled, AGHAST, taken aback, stupefied, confused, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplussed, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, speechless, and perplexed.
9. __-mo replay: SLO.
10. Certain representative for a child actor, casually: MOMAGER. A portmanteau formed from, MOM and ManAGER.
11. More than indecent: OBSCENE. We'll skip the graphics on this one.
12. Kids' racers: GO KARTS.
14. Sass: LIP. See also The Sex Pistols "Don't Give Me No Lip, Child"
17. Cherry or lime: TREE. Flavor, fruit, and pie filling were all too long. Soda would have fit.
21. Arthur in the Television Hall of Fame: BEA. Best known for her role as Maude.
24. Lima's country: PERU. A reference to either the country or to the beans which were grown in PERU even before corn was grown there.
25. Jump for joy: EXULT. See also Van Halen "Jump"
26. Flair: ELAN.
28. Secret-protecting doc: NDA. NonDisclosure Agreement
32. Late start?: ISO. The beginning (start) of ISOlate.
33. Down Under canine: DINGO.
32. Late start?: ISO. The beginning (start) of ISOlate.
33. Down Under canine: DINGO.
35. Jab: POKE. Not in the "Lonesome Dove" sense.
36. __ Mix cat food: MEOW.
37. "That's strange": ODD.
38. Element of a basic reading test?: PH PAPER. PH PAPER can be used to determine, or read, where something falls on the acidic, neutral, alkaline (base) scale. Nice wordplay.
39. "How swanky!": OOH LA LA.
40. Keeps updated: LOOPS IN.
42. Like much Grateful Dead merch: TIE DYED. Okay, so there's no TIE DYE in this video but the images are great (no pun intended) and how could we pass on the opportunity?
40. Keeps updated: LOOPS IN.
42. Like much Grateful Dead merch: TIE DYED. Okay, so there's no TIE DYE in this video but the images are great (no pun intended) and how could we pass on the opportunity?
43. Double space?: BEDROOM. A place for a double bed.
44. "The Lorax" creator: DR SEUSS. Written in 1971, "The Lorax" was a relatively early piece of work focusing on environmental issues.
46. Legal org.: ABA.
47. "I could use a hand": HELP ME. In keeping with today's theme (and I would guess that this was an intentional "move" by Brian). Of course, we could also have gone with The Beach Boys.
49. Four-time NBA All-Star Young: TRAE. In 2017–18, TRAE tied the then NCAA Division I single-game assists record with 22 and became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season.
51. "Deeply unfortunate": SO SAD. . . . and the opposite from Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker:
52. Düsseldorf denials: NEINS. Today's German lesson.
56. Walgreens rival: CVS. A drugstore reference,
58. Disappointed cluck: TSK. We never know, at first, if it will be TSK or TUT.
60. Cell service letters: LTE. All you might wish to know: Long Term Evolution
61. Part of EVOO: OIL. I always thought that the concept was quantum but what do I know??
Well, that will wrap things up for this musical Wednesday. Have a Grate(ful) Day, everyone!
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| MM Out |
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