Friday, November 15, 2024, Mark McClain

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of this Friday's puzzle by the top-flight and prolific constructor Mark McClain.  From Mark: "Fun fact, my very first published puzzle was also an LAT Friday, and it was almost exactly 10 years ago (10-3-14). I think this is #68, but the first in a couple of years, so it's good to be back."

In this puzzle, Mark takes commonly known two-word combinations and, by reversing the meaning of the first word, conjures up amusing answers to the clues.  There is no reveal.  The word play is performed at these four places within the grid:

17 Across:  People less likely to appear in a police lineup?: UNUSUAL SUSPECTS.

Casablanca

26 Across:  Institute of weird learning?: ABNORMAL SCHOOL  A NORMAL SCHOOL is an institution that trains teachers by teaching them pedagogy and curriculum.

Young Frankenstein

42 Across:  Salad dressing ingredient that has to be special ordered?: NONSTANDARD OIL.  Oil and Vinegar dressing.

55 Across:  Group of TV episodes shown out of order?: IRREGULAR SEASON.  During the 2024 REGULAR SEASON, the Los Angeles Dodgers won 98 baseball games.  They also won 11 games during the POST SEASON.

The rest of the clues and answers can be found at:

Across:

1. Lots and lots: SCADS.

6. Some bits of harvest festival decor: COBS.  Corn COBS.  Swans, anyone?

10. Ladder part: STEP.  Hand up for first thinking RUNG.

14. Prohibited by social custom: TABOO.

15. Showroom selection: AUTO.  As in AUTOmobiles at a car dealership.

16. Not fancy at all: HATE.  Very clever cluing here and at 33 Across.  Here, the clue is taken in the British English (probably from the 16th century) sense as in "to (not) like" something.  At 33 Across, the clue is taken in the sense of something not being ornate.

20. Trifecta, for one: BET.  The bettor must pick the top three finishers in the correct sequence.

21. Dismissive sound: PFFT.  My sentiments, exactly.

22. Really bug: EAT AT.

23. Four-time winners of the FIFA Women's World Cup, for short: USA.  1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019.

24. Suppressed, with "up": PENT.

33. Not fancy at all: PLAIN.  See also 16 Across.

34. Deliver a stemwinder: ORATE.  From The Grammarist:

A stem-winder or stemwinder is an exciting speech that whips the crowd into a frenzy; a rousing speech that energizes a crowd; a persuasive speech that stirs emotion. The idiom stem-winder or stemwinder is derived from a type of watch that came into use after the American Civil War. A stem-winder or stemwinder is a watch with a winding stem attached to it, rather than a key. In Britain, this type of watch was called a keyless watch. The idiom stem-winder or stemwinder to describe a speech came into use near the end of the nineteenth century. Note that the form stem-winder is a hyphenated compound word that is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary, and stemwinder is a closed compound word with no hyphen or spaces that is preferred by other dictionaries.

35. The Horned Frogs of the Big 12, familiarly: TCU.  Texas Christian University.

36. Stand the test of time: LAST.  Endure.

37. Clinic pro: NURSE.  What did the nurse say to the man who fainted at the airport?  I think you might have a terminal illness.

38. Tennis match units: SETS.

39. Parisian pal: AMI.  A frequent French lesson.

40. Open-weave fabric: SCRIM.  Often clued with a reference to stage curtains.

41. Media mogul with a book club: OPRAH.

45. Aunts of Andalusia: TIAS.  One of today's Spanish lessons.

46. D.C. summer hrs.: EDT.  Eastern Daylight Time.

47. Reject: SPURN.

50. Stand up to: DEFY.  I once witnessed a magician make the fog over a lake disappear.  It was mist DEFYing.

52. Glass of NPR: IRA.  A frequent visitor often confused, by this solver, with ARI Shapiro.

59. First name in civil rights history: ROSA.  ROSA Parks.  ROSA was her first name.

60. Summoning instrument: GONG.

61. Parcel out: ALLOT.

62. Email annoyance: SPAM.  Named for the canned meat product that many find unappealing.

Monty Python

63. "Les Misérables" author: HUGO.

64. Really stinks: REEKS.  A local man was causing a disturbance in town because he stunk like fish.  He was REEKing haddock on the neighborhood.

Down:

1. Scant Wikipedia article: STUB.  Often clued with a reference to concert, or other types of, tickets.

2. Stroller's accessory: CANE.  Not stroller as in baby carriage.  Stroller as in a person taking a walk.

3. Lie against: ABUT.

4. __ Equis beer: DOS. Literally, Two X's.  

5. "Dinner's ready!": SOUP'S ON.  "Soups on" is an idiom of Anglo-Saxon origin. This idiomatic phrase was originally used to alert others that the Soup was ready and it was time to eat. In a broader context, it is often used to signify that something is ready or about to begin. Whether it is a meal, an event, or a project, the phrase can denote a sense of readiness and urgency. Therefore, the phrase can be used in a variety of situations not limited to food, expanding its versatility in everyday language.

6. Leg part: CALF.

7. Remove from office: OUST.

8. HVAC meas.: BTU.  British Thermal Unit

9. "Mamma Mia!" number: SOS.  ABBA  have sold over 150 million records.  This solver owns none.

10. Blade cover: SHEATH.

11. Sense of appropriateness: TACT.

12. "Call My Name" singer James: ETTA.

13. Annoying sort: PEST.

18. Off in the distance: AFAR.

19. London coppers: PENCE.  Coppers as in coins, not as in police.

23. Military outfit: UNIT.

24. Obsolete display type: PLASMA.  A PLASMA display is a type of flat-panel display that uses ionized gas to create images. Plasma TVs were the first large flat-panel displays to be released to the public, but they have been superseded by other technologies such as OLED and QLED.

25. Spanish direction: ESTE.  East.  One of today's Spanish lessons.

26. San Antonio landmark: ALAMO.  Frequently visited in our puzzles.

27. Bathroom fixture: BASIN.  It's best to just let this one sink in.

28. Feels sorrowful: MOURNS.

29. Ban rival: ARRID.  A deodorant reference.  Both are brand names.

30. Comic actor Cheri: OTERI.  On the subject of women's history:

Saturday Night Live

31. In base eight: OCTAL.

32. Cosmetics retailer known for vegetarian and vegan products: LUSH.  New to this solver.

33. Strategize: PLAN.

37. Frozen Four org.: NCAA.  The ice hockey version of the Final Four (basketball).  Abbreviated clue .... abbreviated answer.

38. See in a crowd: SPOT.

40. Beekeeping hazard: STING.  Bee puns really sting.  Bee warned.

41. 2023 or 1999: ODD YEAR.  So many from which to choose.

43. Watch a series on Disney+, say: STREAM.

44. NBA game trio: REFS.  REFerees.  A basketball REFerence.

47. House of Lords titles: SIRS.

48. Stagehand concern: PROP.  Someone leaked the prop notes for the movie Thor Ragnarok.  They had to use a lot of low-key lighting.

49. Bear in the night: URSA.

50. "Oh, heck!": DANG.

Roger Miller

51. Consequently: ERGO.

52. Cruise ship stop: ISLE.

53. Chess piece: ROOK.

54. Colony insects: ANTS.

56. "This tastes awful!": UGH.

57. Brock in the Baseball Hall of Fame: LOU.  Renowned for his base stealing.

58. Brewpub option: ALE.  My local bar ran out of ALE.  It was a bitter disappointment.

This solver enjoyed the puzzle.  While the gag was not difficult it was amusing.  The two fifteen-letter answers were a nice touch and the relative lack of proper nouns (bucking the recent trend that we have seen of puzzles as trivia contests) was refreshing.  Besides, the constructor has very good initials.  Welcome back, Mark.

. . . and a hearty, although belated, "Thank you!" to NoamiZ for filling in for me a couple of weeks ago.  Your efforts are very much appreciated.

Here is the completed grid:

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Thursday, June 16, 2022, Robert Wemischner & Mark McClain

Good Morning Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the Thursday recap.  Our Princess of Power friend She-Ra, above, is having a tough time.  We all know what that can be like.  That said, the fact that this puzzle seemed to be a bit more difficult to solve than most Thursday puzzles is certainly a "first-world" problem.  I will try to remember to point out the ROUGH PATCHes that I encountered as we go along.

Let's begin with the themed entries - all of which were starred for our convenience.   At four places within the grid, the puzzle-setting team has placed answers within which can be found adjacent, scrambled letters forming the word PATCH when unscrambled.

 18 Across:  *Supply on a gift wrap station: SCOTCH TAPE.  Often use it.  At a gift wrap station might have been a bit clearer.

27 Across:   *Messaging app: SNAPCHAT.  Never use it.

39 Across:  *"Some Enchanted Evening" musical: SOUTH PACIFIC.  They don't seem to make 'em like this anymore.  Okay, so it's not the best version of the song, but did you know that Jay & The Americans (Western Union, She Cried) recorded it in 1965?  This is from 2019:

Jay & The Americans

54 Across:  *Second game of a doubleheader: NIGHTCAP.  NIGHTCAP, obviously, has a couple of other meanings, too.

The reveal comes at:

66 Across:  Difficult time, or what is hidden in each of the answers to the starred clues?: ROUGH PATCH.  I suppose that we are supposed to take ROUGH to mean something along the lines of "approximation".  In this context I find ROUGH to be a bit of a stretch.   But, hey, we're talking crossword puzzles, here.   We're not drafting legislation.

Here is how this looks in the completed grid:

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

Across:

1. Fountain output: SODAS.  Not the Trevi Fountain or something similar.

6. Basics: ABCS.  Did you hear about the new Abraham Lincoln sitcom on ABC?  Shot in front of a live audience.

10. Cause a scene: ACT UP.

15. Join forces: UNITE.

16. Bring (out): TROT.

17. Old Scottish landholder: THANE.  We've seen it before but it was still a bit of a rough PATCH.

20. Cancels: VOIDS.

21. As suggested by: PER.  ALA, anyone?

22. Cratchit boy: TINY TIM.  A Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol reference.

God Bless Us, Every One

24. Drink that may cause brain freeze: ICEE.

25. Go by: ELAPSE.  As in time.

29. Verne captain: NEMO.  He preceded the clownfish.

30. "Lion" Oscar nominee Patel: DEV.  DEV has been visiting us often recently.

33. Zesty Twirls maker: ORE-IDA.

34. Constellation near Ursa Minor: DRACO.  A rough PATCH for this solver.  Some familiarity with the word DRACO helped.  Most of that familiarity came from a dive into the history of Vlad The Impaler.  Dracula = son of the dragon.

36. Chicago suburb: CICERO.  The site of a race riot in 1951.

43. Mato __: third-largest state of Brazil: GROSSO.  A rough PATCH for this solver.  "Largest" helped.  A bit of Romance Language knowledge helped.

44. Flower holders: STEMS.  Hand up for first going with VASES.  Commander Cody would not have made that mistake.

Asbury Park, New Jersey - August 5, 1977

47. First name in mysteries: AGATHA.  AGATHA Christie, nee Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller.

51. GPS heading: ENE.  East North East.  The answer to this type of clue can be any one of the many secondary intercardinal directions denoted by the first letter of North, South, East and West.

53. Congeal: CLOT.

57. Stick (to): ADHERE.  I tried to start the Church of Teflon . . . but I couldn't find any adherents.

59. "Thanks for explaining": I SEE.  "I SEE," said the blind man as he spit into the wind.  "It's all coming back to me now."

60. Barbecue spot: TERRACE.  A rough PATCH.  PATIO was too short.  I guess that I will have to move to a high-rise condo.

63. The way things are usually done, for short: SOP.  Standard Operating Procedure.

64. Learned league?: MENSA.  A rough PATCH.  Would they revoke one's membership for being stymied here for a while?

68. Wood used in guitar-making: ALDER.  Many other types, too.

69. Beachy vacation spot: ISLE.  Beachy?  That's almost as bad as PROSY.

70. Minimal amount: TRACE.  Rough PATCH.  Hand up for LEAST, initially.  It would have gone well with 71 Across.

71. Paper for a pad: LEASE.  Cute.  Pad as in beatnik slang for the place where you live.

72. Examined: EYED.

73. Sports: HAS ON.  As in wears.

Down:

1. Hang: SUSPEND.  SUSPEND me from the highest tree?

Roger Miller - 1978

2. "The Lorax" voice role for Ed Helms: ONCE-LER.  A rough PATCH.  Thanks, perps,

3. Grade school exhibits: DIORAMAS.  Three-dimensional models.

4. NFL passing stat: ATT.  ATTempts.  At least it wasn't pluralized.

5. Splinter groups: SECTS.

6. Env. directive: ATTN.  ATTeNtion.

7. Sound like an ass: BRAY.  After watching too much TV leading up to last Tuesday's primaries, my mind went in a different direction, initially.

8. Egyptian Christians: COPTS.  The largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East.

9. Biergarten vessel: STEIN.  A German theoretical physicist walks into a bar.  He orders himself ein stein.

10. Off-rd. rig: ATV.  All Terrain Vehicle

11. First-class: CHOICE.

12. "Meditation in motion" discipline: TAI CHI.  I wanted to do TAI CHI but I ended up with chai tea.

13. Like zombies: UNDEAD.  I prefer this type of Zombie:

2019 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

14. Coin replaced by the euro: PESETA.  Spanish.  Neither Pound nor Franc nor Lira was going to fit.

19. Made haste: HIED.

23. Haka dancers of New Zealand: MAORI.

Kapa Haka

26. A bit, in music: POCO.  Italian. . . or . . .

2015 Colorado Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

28. Faculty figs.: PROFS.  PROFessorS.  Not the worst plural-y abbreviation that we have come across.

31. Amazon gadget: ECHO.  Amazon's smart speaker.

32. Celebs given the red-carpet treatment: VIPS.

35. Should, with "to": OUGHT.  What did the librarian say when the books were in a mess?  We OUGHT to be ashamed of our shelves.

37. Word in many Encyclopedia Brown titles: CASE.  The boy detective series of books.

38. MBA course: ECON.  ECONomics.  B'school reference.  UCLA GSM class of '79, here.

40. Piece of land: TRACT.  "Sherlock, what do you know about the gastrointestinal tract?"  "It's alimentary, my dear Watson."

41. Hankering: ITCH.  URGE?  

42. Keyboard instruments that sound like glockenspiels: CELESTAS.  A rough PATCH.  Thanks, perps.

45. "Casablanca" setting: MOROCCO.

46. Composer Sondheim: STEPHEN.

47. Twisted balloon shape, often: ANIMAL.

48. Supermodel Bündchen: GISELE.  A bit of a rough PATCH.  Thanks perps.

49. Board meeting outline: AGENDA.

50. Dissertations: THESES.

52. Per item: EACH.

55. American Eagle Outfitters loungewear brand: AERIE.  A rough PATCH.  Usually clued with an avian reference.  Thanks perps. 

56. Unlike poetry: PROSY.  We kinda guessed that PROSE would be a likely jumping off point but PROSY?

58. Pool statistic: DEPTH.

61. Wear the crown: RULE.

62. Like some dried meats: AGED.

65. "__ you decent?": ARE.

"Me?  Sure, I'm decent."

67. Coach Parseghian: ARA.  University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach from 1964 to 1974.

That wraps things up for today.  May your day be without much in the way of rough spots.

Robert and Mark, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the Comments section.  We'd love to hear from you.

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