Friday, June 21, 2024, Robin Stears

Oh!  Oh!

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with a puzzle by Gunther Toody.  Oh! Oh!  Wait a minute.  That's wrong on a couple of counts.  First, isn't today scheduled to be Chairman Moe's day?  Well, yes but we've traded days to accommodate some scheduling issues and Moe will be back in a couple of weeks.  Second, our friend from "Car 54 Where Are You?", Joe E. Ross, did not construct today's puzzle.  That was done by Robin Stears.  To quote Chairman Moe (October 7, 2022):

"Robin is no stranger to either this blog or blogger; (see my Jan 1, 2021 recap) at last count she must have at least ___ puzzles (fill-in-the-blank, someone!) published at the LAT, and perhaps 1,000+ puzzles published in total. Maybe she will stop by today and help me with my math!"

At four places in the grid Robin has added the letter O to common words and phrases in order to create clever answers to the clues.   Three of the four are riffs on entertainment staples.  The fourth is a bit of an odd duck and/or,  perhaps given the clue,  a rubber ducky.

Here are the spots when the gimmick has been employed:

17 Across:  Excellent rendition of a Belafonte hit?: ONE FINE DAY O.  Harry Belfonte's "Banana Boat Song" was a big hit in the early 1950's.  The "hook"  was "Day O, Day-ay-ay O, Daylight come and me wan' go home."  The clue also gives a nod to the song by Carole King and Gerry Goffin (recorded by the Chiffons).  Here is ONE FINE DAY O :

27 Across:  Help a former first lady feel better?: NURSE JACKIE O.  "Nurse Jackie", as we have come to know her more recently, is the main character of a Showtime dramedy series.  The clever reference is Jackie Kennedy Onassis who, in this case, is being nursed back to health.  Here, she gives a tour of the White House.

44 Across:  Gala for the cops?: PARTY OF FIVE O.  A reference to the TV show "Party of Five" is morphed  into a reference to the TV show "Hawaii Five-0".  Book 'em, Danno.

59 Across:  Give a cool cat a thorough bath?: SCRUB DADDY O.  Scrub Daddy is a brand of sponges.  Are you a cool cat?  Can you dig it, DADDY-O ?

Here, for all of you hep cats and dollies, is how the completed grid looks:

Here are the rest of the ginchiest clues and answers:

Across:

1. Insect-preserving resin: AMBER.  We all learned about this from "Jurassic Park".

6. Kick in or kick off: START.   Are we waiting for the drugs to kick in?  Is the election season  about to kick off?

11. Crunch targets: ABS.  Not as in 48 Across.  A workout reference.

14. Coupe de __: classic Cadillac: VILLE.  Ah, tail fins.

1959 Coupe de Ville

15. Airport structure: TOWER.  Control TOWER.

16. Shot chaser?: PUT.  One of these type of clues.  PUT follows shot in track and field.

The Shot Put

19. Time for the history books: ERA.  Sometimes clued with a baseball pitching statistical reference.

20. Oyster bed?: ICE.  Hand up for first thinking SEA or someplace where oysters breed.  This location comes later.

21. Shabby: SEEDY.  In the 1970's a SEEDY joint was something else.

22. Novelist Louise who created the fictional police inspector Armand Gamache: PENNY.  Thanks, perps.

24. Removed from power: DEPOSED.  Also, a legal term.

26. Bearing: MIEN.  I before E except after C.

32. Red-hatted figure in Travelocity ads: GNOME.

35. Group before millennials: XERS.

36. Catch: NAB.

37. More than fancy: LOVE.  Fancy, in this case is not ornate but, rather to want to do something or to like something.

38. Push (for): LOBBY.  As in K Street.

40. In this case: HERE.  A bit obtuse but, hey, it's Friday so HERE it makes sense.

41. "Bravo, mi amigo!": OLE.  A review Spanish lesson.

42. Squabble: TIFF.

43.  Always ready to order?: BOSSY.  Hand up for heading down the ON TAP road.  Ready to BOSS around / give orders.

48. Crunch's rank: CAPN.

49. Some UPS Store customers: SENDERS.  SHIPPERS fits the clue better but does not fit the allotted space.

53. Japanese room divider: SHOJI.  Thanks, perps.

55. As a soloist: ALONE.

57. Cut (off): LOP.  Did you hear about the guy that had his ears LOPped off?  He didn't either.

58. Pursue romantically: WOO.  You know, owls never go on a date if it's raining.  It's too wet to woo.

62. Beseech: ASK.  If you are offended by my dad jokes, please don’t get mad and ask me to go to the artificial excavation filled with water.  I mean well.

63. Small crown: TIARA.  Often worn in crosswords.

64. Foot the bill: TREAT.

65. "You got it": YES.

66. Weapon in a scabbard: SABER.

67. Chucks: HURLS.  As in to throw or to toss.  Not to be confused with upchucks which could also be HURLS.

Down:

1. Dance around: AVOID.

2. __ words: MINCE.  Colloquialism.  All You Want To Know

3. Censor: BLEEP.  Bleeping a curse word is usually funnier than the word itself.  Itself just isn't a very funny word.

4. Rivendell resident: ELF.  A Lord Of The Rings reference.

5. Second edition: REISSUE.

6. Knight mares: STEEDS.  Cute homophone.  Not bad dreams.  Knights' horses.

7. Figure skating great Eldredge: TODD.  Three-time Olympian.  1996 World Champion.  Six-time U.S. Champion.

8. On the road: AWAY.  Let's see.  Willie Nelson or Canned Heat?  Hmmm.  Flip a coin.

9. Lightsaber-wielding heroine: REY.  A "Stars Wars" reference.

10. Torrid Zone region: TROPICS.

11. Italian mountain range: APENNINES.

12. Waste: BURN.  As in BURNing through money, I suppose.

13. "Don't leave!": STAY.

18. Poetic contraction: NE'ER.  NEvER

23. Cry from one atop a chair: EEK.  As opposed to EKE.

EEK A Mouse !

25. "That's a new one __": ON ME.  Not to be confused with 64 Across.

26. "The Pink Sash" painter Cassatt: MARY.

28. Split personality?: EXBFF.  Because you have split (cut ties with) your best friend.  Meh.

29. Laura Bush's brother-in-law: JEB.

30. Glasses holders: EARS.  Hand up for RIMS.  

31. Follow: OBEY.

32. Mushy bowlful: GLOP.  GLOP GOOP SLOP GUNK

33. French Quarter city, familiarly: NOLA.  The French Quarter is a section of New Orleans, LouisianA

34. Stays on the range too long: OVERCOOKS.  Not an oater reference.  

38. Sphinx, mostly: LION.

39. Clocked out: OFF.

40. Piece of academic regalia: HOOD.  

42. Keyboard pros: TYPISTS.  When we all took typing in junior high little did we know how the skills would come to be applied.

43. Outranked by: BENEATH.  True, but a bit of a stretch.

45. __ Mahal: TAJ.  A place frequently visited in our puzzles.

46. Weather map line: ISOBAR.  Where meteorologists go for a drink.

47. Peddle: VEND.

50. Church leader: ELDER.  

51. __ flush: ROYAL.

52. Catches: SPOTS.  Again, a bit of a stretch.  

53. Influence: SWAY.

54. Kiddie pool filler: HOSE.  Water?  No.  Urine?  Not likely in a puzzle.  The means with which to fill the pool.

55. Many an Emirati: ARAB.

56. Tackle box gadget: LURE.

60. Org. whose HQ is home to the unsolved puzzle sculpture Kryptos: CIA.  Abbreviated clue/answer.  The Central Intelligence Agency is headquartered in Langley, VA.

61. Gru's long-lost twin brother in "Despicable Me 3": DRU.

Thru

__________________________________________

Tuesday, June 7 ,2022, Robin Stears

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here.  "What!? Isn't this Tuesday and not Thursday?" I hear you ask.  "Did I oversleep?  By forty-eight hours?  Where is Hahtoolah?"  Well, as she let us know last Tuesday, Hahtoolah is touring in Europe this month.  I have the honor of filling in for her today.  While I do not expect to come anywhere close to her level of clarity and humor, perhaps we can still share some insights and some laughs.

Today's puzzle setter, in what is not her L A Times crossword debut, is Robin Stears .   Here is a link to a December, 2017 introduction to Robin on the Puzzle Nation site:  Robin Stears / Puzzle Nation.

The puzzle's reveal comes after all four of the themed answers (if you solve from top to bottom):

54. "Shoo!," and an instruction that goes with the last words of the answers to the starred clues: GET OUT OF HERE.

The starred clues and answers are:

19 Across:  *Social media time-out: FACEBOOK JAIL.  Get out of jail.

26 Across:  *Channel bottom: CREEK BED.  Get out of bed.

34 Across:  *Area of Hersheypark with the Candymonium roller coaster: CHOCOLATE TOWN.  Get out of town.

47 Across:  *Bit of trickery on a return: TAX DODGE.  Get out of Dodge.  From oaters.

Here is how this all looks in the grid:

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

Across:

1. Multivitamin mineral: ZINC.  What kind of metal was RMS Titanic made of?  ZINC.

5. Joined the choir: SANG.  A famous singer SANG for the patients at a hospital.  When he finished he said "Bye bye.  I hope you get better."  "You, too," replied the patients.

9. Corn discard: COB.  The first of twenty-six three-letter answers today.

12. Rachael Ray sauteing initialism: EVOO.

13. Ranch rope: LARIAT.  See also 8 Down.

15. "Knives Out" actress de Armas: ANA.

16. Foam ball brand: NERF.

Nerf Dog Tennis Ball Launcher

17. Kampala's country: UGANDA.  The capital and largest city.

18. Pro Bowl org.: NFL.  The National Football League.

22. Pinnacles: ACMES.  When the clue is singular we have to choose between ACME and APEX but neither APICES nor APEXES was going to work.

25. Church topper: STEEPLE.

30. Frozen rain: SLEET.

31. How-__: DIY guides: TOS.

32. "Life of Pi" director Ang: LEE.

33. Jazz poet Scott-Heron: GIL.  New to me but easily perped.

40. Half an umlaut: DOT.

41. "Blue Bloods" actor Cariou: LEN.

42. Thumbs-up at NASA: AOK.  Not a dyslexic tree.

44. Land measures: ACRES.  A quarter ACRE of undeveloped land might not seem like much to some people but to me it's a lot.

50. Move in a breeze, as a flag: FLUTTER.

53. Printer brand: EPSON.

58. Skeptical laugh: HAH.  Not to be confused with a sneaky laugh, HEH?

59. "__ Rouge!": Kidman film: MOULIN.  Français.  En anglais, c'est Red Mill.

60. Written reminder: NOTE.

64. MSNBC journalist Melber: ARI.  See also Exodus, Entourage, and Jackie "O".

65. Came afterward: ENSUED.

66. Actor McGregor: EWAN.

67. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE.

68. Papaya discard: SEED.

69. Many an auctioned auto, for short: REPO.  REPOssessed.

REPOSSESSED - 1990

Down:

1. Super chill, informally: ZEN.

2. "Now __ seen everything!": IVE.

3. Neither's partner: NOR.

4. Dunkin' serving: COFFEE.  In 2019, Dunkin' Donuts changed its name to, simply, Dunkin'.  Several years earlier, Merl Reagle gave us all a laugh by relocating the D and thereby changing the name to Unkind Donuts.

5. Stuffing herb: SAGE.

6. Many a Moroccan: ARAB.  ARAB has also been clued roughly seven hundred other ways according to the Visual Fractions website.

7. Spanish boys: NINOS.

8. "Wonder Woman" star Gal: GADOT.  Gal visits often.

Wonder Woman and Her Lasso of Truth

9. Cocktail party bite: CANAPE.

10. Among one's records: ON FILE.

11. "Swan Lake," for one: BALLET.

Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo

13. "Star Trek" captain Jean-__ Picard: LUC.  A CSO to Robert.

14. Doesn't fight back: TAKES IT.  For a brief moment I thought that they had dropped a letter.  Don't TAKE SIT from anyone!

20. Inquire: ASK.

21. Dessert that quivers: JELLO.

22. Play a role onstage: ACT.

23. Shoe with lots of holes: CROC.

24. Netting material: MESH.

27. Rorschach test component: BLOT.  What do you see?

28. Fish that can swim backward: EEL.

29. Handed out cards: DEALT.

33. Group with fortysomethings: GEN X.  Born between 1961 and 1981.

35. Poetic opening: ODE TO.

36. Halloween garb: COSTUME.

37. Spill the __: gossip: TEA.

38. Fistfuls of dollars: WADS.

39. Thumbs-down at NASA: NO GO.  Not A OK.

43. Jeong of "Community": KEN.  This was beyond my KEN.  Thanks, perps.

44. Crocheted coverlet: AFGHAN.

45. "Ramona the Pest" novelist Beverly: CLEARY.

46. Blues and folk singer/songwriter Foster: RUTHIE.

Ruthie Foster Covers Johnny Cash

48. German article: DER.  We have to figure out if it will be DER or EIN.

49. Warm-up act: OPENER.

51. Jackets named for a British school: ETONS.

52. Shake awake: ROUSE.

55. Chimney part: FLUE.

56. Hurried, quaintly: HIED.

57. Finish: END.  So what if you don't know what Armageddon means.  It's not like it's the END of the world.

61. Be indebted to: OWE.

62. Slight touch: TAP.

63. Ambient music pioneer Brian: ENO.  Another frequent visitor.

. . . . and now, perhaps, it is time to get out of Dodge . . .

פרת ים

MM Out