Friday, October 4, 2024, Gary Larson, Amy Ensz

 

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.

63 Across. Problematic dental patient?: DRILL BITER.  From:  Drill Bit  Ouch!

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.

16. Deli sandwich: HERO.  How The Hero Sandwich Got Its Name

19. Came to rest: ALIT.

20. Alpine cheese from Italy: ASIAGO.

21. Vexes: RANKLES.

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.

Day-Glo Color Corp.

6. Upscale bathroom installation: SPA.  Somewhat convoluted cluing, IMMHO.

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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Thursday, July 29, 2021, Gary Larson

 

Good morning, cruciverbalists!  Malodorous Manatee here with the post-puzzle recap.

Today, Gary Larson returns to The Los Angeles Times with a very straightforward theme,  As you probably already know from solving the puzzle or, if you have yet to complete the puzzle, from the presence of the gentlemen above, we greet this Thursday with the strains of a traditional BARBERSHOP QUARTET.

Each of the four themed answers contain a word for an item that one might find at a Barbershop.   I believe that they call this a "Partial Entry, Category Member" type of theme.

Here is the reveal, followed by the themed answers:

60 Across:  Where to find the ends of 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across: BARBERSHOP.  Or, if you prefer, BARBER SHOP.  A quick bit of web searching reveals that both one word and two words are acceptable.

17 Across.  One of the only two NBA teams that share an arena: LA CLIPPERS.  The team currently shares Staples Center (used as a clue two days ago) with the Los Angeles Lakers but the CLIPPERS are building a new arena in Inglewood, CA.  Oddly, Inglewood is where the Lakers used to play.  The Phoenix Suns defeated both the Clippers and the Lakers in the NBA playoffs this year.

25 Across.  Hive feature: HONEY COMB.

Jimmie Rogers with Dick Clark

36 Across:  Simplicity-based problem-solving principle: OCCAMS RAZOR.

49 Across:  Nevada state flower: SAGE BRUSH.

While the theme was quite straightforward, some of the clues were less so.  However, we do get quite a few crossword "staples" to ease our way.  Let us, now, take a look at the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Letters in a water molecule diagram: HOH.  We commonly refer to water as Aitch Two Oh.

4. Slip by: ELAPSE.  Ah, the classics:  "As Time Elapses" -  Play it, Sam.   "Funny, How Time Elapses"   - Willie Nelson.  "Elapse Elapsin' Away" - Paul Simon

10. Cook's protector: MITT.

14. Vincent's agent in "Entourage": ARI.  ARI Gold is the name of a character in the television show.

15. Light cotton fabric: MADRAS.  When I was in Junior High School, madras shirts, with their distinctive tartan-esque patterns (and, yes, MADRAS and tartan are not the same), were all the rage.  Bitchen!

16. Actor Sharif: OMAR.  What?  You were expecting Dr. Yuri Zhivago?

19. Web __: PAGE.  Could have been SITE.  Or, FOOT.

Webster Webfoot

20. Happens: OCCURS.  Synonym.

21. Put on weight: GAIN.

23. Getaway: LAM.  From the idiom "Take it on the LAM" meaning to flee or escape.

24. Pre-High Holy Days Hebrew month: ELUL.  The months ELUL and ADAR often appear in crossword puzzles.  Fifty percent vowels.

27. Exit via the jetway: DEPLANE.  An intransitive verb meaning to disembark from an airplane.  DESHIP?  See also 66 Across.

30. Stand for something: EASEL.  Noun or verb?  Verb or noun?  Take a principled position?  Nope.  Something on which to put something such as a painting. 

31. Dazzling displays: ECLATS.  The clue defines the answer.

35. Distribute: METE.  Also, a hockey player - Victor METE.

39. Gaucho's weapon: BOLA.

41. Take on: ASSUME.  ASSUME often takes on a different meaning such as "suppose to be the case without sufficient evidence".  I assume that, in this case, it is used as in "to assume the role of".

42. Engineer Citroën: ANDRE.  I never knew his first name.  Thanks perps.

The Eponymous Citroën Deux Chevaux

44. Mix drinks: TEND BAR.

53. Fayetteville sch.: U OF A.  The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

54. NBC skit show: SNL. Saturday Night Live often airs in our puzzles.

55. Outplay: BEST.  BEST, in this instance, is used as a verb although it can also be used as an adjective, adverb or noun.  If you defeat the reigning  champion did you BEST the BEST?  Could the highlight reel be called "The Best of the Best of the Best"?  Or, do we simply leave that one to the Men In Black?

56. Parodies: SPOOFS.

"Corona Virus Rhapsody", A SPOOF

58. Commotions: ADOS.  Does anyone use, see, or hear this word outside of crossword puzzles?  Shakespeare, of course, being an exception.

62. Tales and such: LORE.

63. Spiny lizard: IGUANA.  An IGUANA also visited us last Thursday.  Same reptilian answer.  Different photograph.  If this keeps up, Thursdays might come to rival Taco Tuesdays.  Nah, it's not alliterative.

64. Mine find: ORE.  Valuable solid material often found in crossword puzzles.

65. "Watermark" musician: ENYA.  Alternatively, an Irish singer who frequently appears in crossword puzzles.

66. Can't abide: DETEST.  The teacher handed out de test to de students.

67. Unmatched: ODD.  There are several ways to define ODD.  The constructor, or the editor, elected to go with a slightly ODD definition of the word.  Now, where did I put that sock?

Down:

1. Like the moon, at times: HALOED.  Okay, another little-used expression but not untrue.

2. Soothsayer: ORACLE.  This could have been clued something along the lines of "Larry Ellison's giant software company".

3. Glitch: HICCUP.  An idiom used to describe a problem that delays or interrupts for a while but does not cause serious difficulties.

4. Qatari leader: EMIR.

Tamin bin Hamad al Thani, Emir of Qatar

5. Relay units: LAPS.  It could have been LEGS of a relay.  While a portion of a relay race isn't always a lap, or laps, it certainly could be.

6. Payroll service initials: ADP.

7. Sauce whose name means "please": PREGO.  E italiano, si?

8. Kitchen wrap: SARAN.  I almost went with The Fugs song "Saran Wrap" here (NSFW,  you can look it up on YouTube when you get home).

9. Nail polish brand: ESSIE.  This marine mammal really needs to up his knowledge of nail polish brands as so many of them have been adorning our puzzles recently.

10. Clean, in a way: MOP.

11. "Beatles '65" song: I'M A LOSER.   Beatles '65, not to be confused with "When I'm 64", is the album title.  But, you knew that.  These days, would the song be IM (instant message) A Loser?

Shindig

12. Pepcid rival: TAGAMET.  Both products are used to treat symptoms associated with excess stomach acid.

13. Show fear, maybe: TREMBLE.

18. Soothe: LULL.  We often hear something along the lines of "a LULL in the action", meaning an interval of relative quiet.  Today we get the verb as in to "LULL someone to sleep" or into a false sense of security.

22. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE.  Alternatively, a TV scientist appearing regularly in crossword puzzles.  Perhaps, someday, we'll see a puzzle with Professor Proton.

Professor Proton

The Door to his Office is Always Open

25. Big wheels: HELMS.  A bit of misdirection.  Semi trucks?  Kahunas?  Children's vehicles?  No, the large steering wheels on ships.  Take the helm!

26. Gear for stealth, briefly: CAMO.  CAMOflage.

28. Former nuclear agcy.: AEC.  The Atomic Energy Commission was referenced in "The Wild West" a song recorded in 1953 by Tom Lehrer.  I have the original issue of this album:

29. Indiana-based sports org.: NCAA.  Were we really expected to know where the NCAA is based?  Easily perp'd especially since there are not all that many sports orgs. and the NCAA appears quite often in xword puzzles.

32. Stubborn equine: ASS.  MULE would not fit.  We can each probably think of a few proper names that might.

33. Word in a court oath: TRUTH.

34. Indistinguishable, with "the": SAME.  Lock-down was great.  I didn't work.  I didn't socialize.  I barely left the house.  SAME as usual, except I didn't feel guilty.

36. Stars and Stripes: OLD GLORY.  Both the clue and the answer are idioms for the American Flag.

37. Word with health or hair: CARE.  A pair, there.  Fair.

38. Type of garden: ZEN.  ZEN gardens were originally created in Japan to assist Buddhist monks with their meditation.

39. Pub brand with a red triangle logo: BASS ALE.

40. Endlessly: ON AND ON.  In lieu of the obvious Stephen Bishop link let's just move on.

43. Wane: EBB.

45. Many old comedy teams: DUOS.  E.G., Abbott and Costello,  Martin and Lewis, Laurel and Hardy, Cheech and Chong.

46. Sarcastic "So sad": BOO HOO.  I almost cried.

47. Manage to pay: AFFORD.

48. Filed, in a way: RASPED.  I have a rasp in my toolbox but I cannot recall ever having said that I had RASPED something.  More often used to describe a harsh, or grating, noise.

50. Bridge term: REBID.  It sounds, to this marine mammal, more like something an amphibian would say.

51. Practice: USAGE.

52. Swaggering gait: STRUT.

56. D.C. group: SENS.  SENatorS  D.C. is the abbreviation for District of Columbia ergo the answer will be an abbreviation.

57. Start to fall?: PRAT.  A PRATfall is a staged, often comedic, fall.  It derives from pratt, meaning buttock.

59. Coral, for one: SEA. Shtick used by constructors playing around with the convention that clues are always started with a capital letter.  Of course we never know if the leading  "cap" is coincidental or part of the clue.  Without the cap, POLYP or a color.  With the cap, the proper noun, Coral SEA.

61. Sweetie, in modern lingo: BAE.  Alternatively, a slang expression appearing far too often in contemporary crossword puzzles.  We don't have to go back to "main squeeze" but . . . .

With that bit of commentary,  let's wrap things up.  For the outro, some Barbershop Quartet music from the 2011 International Barbershop Quartet Champions:

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