Friday, November 18, 2022, David Alfred Bywaters

 

Good morning, cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here and, no, you have not misplaced almost an entire week.  I have now returned from my overseas sojourn.  I have also been reassigned to the Friday beat.  I guess that now makes me Joe Friday.  I will try to live up to his, my predecessor's and my contemporary's standards.

In today's puzzle, frequent contributor David Alfred Bywaters insists that U to get out of here.  You can stay but U must go.  At four places within the grid he repeats a word but, for the second occurrence, drops the letter U from the first iteration and thereby provides a witty definition of the clue.  To wit:

17 Across:  Grammarian?: USAGE SAGE.  Hmmm, will the theme be repeating words?  Ummm, no, not exactly.

29 Across: Aspen, in the Rockies?: POPULAR POPLAR.  At first I thought that the clue had something to do with the ski resort but it turned out to be tree-related.

43 Across:  Nodding, e.g.?: AUCTION ACTION.  At first I thought the clue had something to do with sleeping or the granting of consent.  One is able to bid at an AUCTION by nodding.

59 Across:  One inept at data storage?: CLOUD CLOD.

It would have been amusing if David had managed to somehow work YEW, HEW, HUGH or EWE into the grid.

With that, youse guys and gals, it's now time to make a U-turn and head back to the top of the puzzle:

Across:

1. Time-travel destination. PAST.  FUTURE would not fit.  PRESENT neither fit nor made any sense.

5. Short notice?: MEMO.  Shortened version of MEMOrandum.

9. Béla Fleck's instrument: BANJO.  Bela is a true virtuoso.  He plays everything from Bluegrass to Jazz and Mozart on the 5-string banjo.  The bass player in his band is Victor Wooten who is one of the greats.  This tune ranks among my favorites:

14. One in a four-part harmony: ALTO.  BASS would have fit but it would not work with the perps.

15. Button alternative: SNAP.  Oh, it's not a peyote button.  I guess we have closure.

16. "Night Sky With Exit Wounds" poet Vuong: OCEAN.  A learning moment for this solver.

19. "I'll do it!": LET ME.

20. Steadfast: LOYAL.

21. Coined: MINTED.

23. Paean in verse: ODE.  I've written a poem about the sounds made by dogs but you can only read it if you scan it first.  It's a bark ODE.

25. Broadcast: AIR.  Both the  clue and answer are used here as verbs.

26. Global clock std.: GMT.  Greenwich Mean Time

33. Steeped in a salt solution: BRINED.  It is almost time to BRINE the Thanksgiving turkey.

35. Apartment ad abbr.: RMS.  RooMS   A little bit better than MSS at 5 Down.

36. Fishing gadget: LURE.

37. Rich soil: LOESS.  Hand up for initially thinking of LOAM but there wasn't enough of it to fill the space.

38. Not neg.: POS.  POSitive.  Post Offices?

39. Warm up some leftovers, say: EAT IN.

40. Fantasy heavy: OGRE.  Shrek and Fiona have significantly altered the OGRE landscape.

Not Shrek

41. Lip: RIM.

42. Make more capacious: EXTEND. 

46. Workout top: TEE.

47. Managed: RAN.  As in:

48. Granola morsel: OAT.

49. Maritime crime: PIRACY.

51. Apollo 11 lander: EAGLE.

56. Geographer's volume: ATLAS.

61. __ Corps: PEACE.  Formed in 1961 to "promote world PEACE and friendship by providing trained volunteers to countries who need them."

62. Quite a few: LOTS.  TONS.  GOBS.  MANY.  A LOT.

63. Word with deck or dock: HAND.

64. Mortgage payment component, often: TAXES.

65. Focus group?: EYES.  Not a marketing research panel but, literally, what you focus with.

66. Tense: EDGY.  ANTSY was too long.

Down:

1. Ant-Man player Rudd: PAUL.

2. Too: ALSO.  Additionally, there are more synonyms for too as well.

3. Parting word to a dog: STAY.

4. Word chanted in "Animal House": TOGA.

5. Pile on an ed.'s desk: MSS.  We have seen this (somewhat of a punt) fill before.  ManuScriptS

6. Cloisonné medium: ENAMEL.

7. Nativity scene trio: MAGI.

8. Warm welcome: OPEN ARMS.

9. Short jacket: BOLERO.  We will save the Ravel for another day.

10. Got a great grade on: ACED.

11. Safety feature at a trapeze school: NET.

12. Toast topping: JAM.

13. See 34-Down: ONE.  and . . .

34. With 13-Down, 2016 film subtitled "A Star Wars Story": ROGUE.

18. Weds without ceremony: ELOPES.

22. Warns, with "off": TIPS.

24. Disappointment: DUD.

26. Wheat protein: GLUTEN.

27. Bay Area county: MARIN.

28. Fashionista's concern: TREND.   Now, where did I put my Davy Crockett hat?  Maybe it's with my Members Only jacket and parachute pants.  Not.

29. Give a ring?: PIERCE.  Neither a marriage nor a telephone reference.

30. Start: ONSET.

31. Diffuser emanation: AROMA.

32. Student of Socrates: PLATO.

33. Balloon: BLOAT.  Mick Jagger goes to the doctor and tells his physician that he is always very gassy but cannot fart.  In other words, he can't get no flatus action.

38. Zenith: PINNACLE.

39. Went out: EXITED.

41. Imitate a lion: ROAR.  Under the right conditions, the roar can be heard up to five miles away.

42. "Getting here soon?": ETA.  "What is your Estimated Time of Arrival?"

44. Droopy perennials: IRISES.  Famously painted by Vincent Van Gogh.

45. Native American trickster: COYOTE.  Homer Simpson sends up Carlos Castaneda with the help of Johnny Cash:

49. Tempo: PACE.  Sometimes (this time) the answer is a synonym (e.g. CLIP or RATE) sometimes it is an example (e.g. TROT or LOPE).

50. Be overly sweet: CLOY.

52. Need a massage, perhaps: ACHE.

53. Hefty rival: GLAD.    Both are brands of plastic bags.

54. Yearn: LONG.  ACHE, PINE and ITCH were potential candidates.

55. Current event?: EDDY.  Nice pun.  Not, in this instance, a recent occurrence.  An EDDY is a circular movement in fluid or gas.

56. Fitting: APT.

57. Dim sum beverage: TEA.  Both are of Chinese origin.

58. Insufficiently firm: LAX.  Also an airport in SoCal...where the security is anything but.

60. Naval letters: USS.  United States Ship.

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September 22, 2022, Garrett Herzfeld

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's recap of a puzzle constructed by Garrett Herzfeld.  Today's puzzle does not have a "reveal" but it does contain four themed answers and the theme could be dubbed, simply, COUPLES.  Or, perhaps even more simply, AND.  At four places in the grid, the answers are commonly used expressions that consist of two things each of which directly relate to the topic of the clue. In keeping with the theme, these four clues all contain only a couple of words . . . one of which is, of course, couple.  Here are the themed clues and answers:

17 Across:  Married couple?: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD.  The traditional (Western Christian norms) marriage ceremony contains the phrase "to have and to hold".  A couple of marriage-related things.

26 Across:  Perfect couple?: PRIM AND PROPER.  Both PRIM and PROPER could refer to a condition of perfection (seemingly, a wee bit of a stretch, clue-wise).  A couple of perfection-related things.

42 Across:  Celebrity couple?: RICH AND FAMOUS.  Celebrities are often both rich and famous.  A couple of celebrity-related things.

56 Across:  Power couple?: BIGGER AND BETTER.  Again, just a bit of a stretch, clue-wise.  A couple of power-related things?  Let us know if you come up with a BETTER way to clue this. 

Here is how all of this appears in the grid:

. . . and here are the rest of the entries:

Across:

1. "Calvin and Hobbes," for one: COMIC.  Bill Watterson's classic.  My kids grew up with the characters . . . and I grew along with them.

Calvin is the one on the left

6. Cave __: ART.   Punting on second down (no pun intended 'cause it's across)?  Lots of other ways to clue ART.  See, for example, 38 Down.

9. Church bell sound: CHIME.

Manfred Mann Sings About Bells Chiming

14. Catherine of "Schitt's Creek": O'HARA.

15. Ultrasound goo: GEL.  Often clued with something relating to hair care.

16. Enter one's credentials: LOG ON.  Ah, the old "log in" vs "log on" hesitation.

20. Navigate black diamond slopes: SKI.  Black (diamond), Blue (square) or Green (circle)?  Advanced, Intermediate or Beginner?

21. Telephone no. addition: EXT.  EXTension

22. Destinations in some getaway plans?: RESORTS.  A nice bit of word play.

23. Craters of the Moon locale: IDAHO.  Not our planet's satellite.

25. "Big whoop": MEH.  Slang and slang.

31. Basic bagel order: PLAIN.  Not onion, sesamee, poppy seed or everything.

33. Uber __: EATS.

34. Many a Monopoly sq.: AVE.  AVEnue

35. Forever, seemingly: EONS.  What do you call a smell that lasts for a very long time?  EON musk.

36. Sonic explosions: BOOMS.

38. Kitchen job: PREP.  PREParation.

39. "Pressure" singer Lennox: ARI.  ANNIE Lennox was not going to fit.

40. Artificial grass: TURF.  Astro TURF was first installed in 1964 at Fieldhouse at the Moses Brown School in Providence Rhode Island.  The subsequent (1966) installation at the Houston Astrodome gave it fame, and its name.

41. City north of Memphis: CAIRO.  Cairo, IL is north of Memphis, TN.  Cairo, Egypt is north of Memphis, Egypt.  Take your pick.

46. Large deer: ELK.  What do you call a well-known ELK?  Famoose.

47. Olfactory sense: SMELL.  Tautological.

48. Holds carefully: CRADLES.

52. Not feeling well: ILL.  It makes me sick when people forget to add an apostrophe.  If it happens again, I'll be  ILL.

53. Mobile download: APP.  Mobile phone.

59. Uses Liquid Nails, say: GLUES.  Useful stuff.  Great for re-setting bricks if you don't want to chip out and reinstall mortar.

60. Rapper Lil __ X: NAS.  Yet another visit from this guy.

61. Pond honker: GOOSE.

What's In The Bag, GOOSE?

62. Brute: BEAST.

63. Procure: GET.

64. Ready for a refill: EMPTY.

Down:

1. Camp beds: COTS.

2. "Aw, what the heck": OH OK.  I suppose.

3. Fish tacos fish, on menus: MAHI.

4. Sportswriter Berkow: IRA.  He shared in a Pulitzer Prize in 2001.

5. Collapsed: CAVED IN.

6. Kathryn's "WandaVision" role: AGATHA.  I have never seen the show.  Thanks, perps.

7. Kylo of the "Star Wars" sequels: REN.  It helped that the clue referenced the source.

8. Letters before a summary: TLDR.  Too Long, Didn't Read.  SMH.

9. Bullpen aces: CLOSERS.  A baseball reference.  The best relief pitchers.

10. Santa's laugh: HO HO HO.  Oh, ok.

11. Archetypal lab assistant: IGOR.

That's Eye-gore

12. Shed feathers: MOLT.

13. Burnt __: ENDS.  The trimmings from a smoked brisket.

18. Checkup: EXAM.

19. Dangles a carrot in front of: TEMPTS.  The old Carrot and the Stick dichotomy.

23. Fashion icon Apfel: IRIS.

24. Singular events: ONE-OFFS.

26. "Pray for the Wicked" band __! at the Disco: PANIC.

27. Reservoir creator: DAM.  BEAVER would not fit.

28. Musée d'Orsay city: PARIS.  An art museum housed in a former railroad station, the Gare D'Orsay.  I preferred the Jeu de Paume mais c'est la vie.

29. At any point in time: EVER.

30. Credit report blot: REPO.  It is tough to get around if the bank has REPOssessed your car.

31. Bottom-heavy fruit: PEAR.

32. Chicago mayor Lightfoot: LORI.

36. "All in the Family" surname: BUNKER.

Archie and Edith Bunker

37. Chicago airport code: ORD. code for Chicago O'Hare International Airport.  The airport used to be called Orchard Field.  Ah, that explains it.

38. Simon & Garfunkel half: PAUL.  Not Art.  Did you know that PAUL wrote this song?

Not The Cyrkle

40. Like Denali, among North American peaks: TALLEST.  20,310 feet

41. Morehouse, e.g.: COLLEGE.  I first thought that it said Moorehead, as in Agnes.

43. Shrubbery: HEDGES.

44. In the thick of: AMIDST.

45. Former Spice Girl who was a judge on "America's Got Talent": MEL B.

48. Longtime NYC punk rock club: CBGB.  The letters stood for Country, BlueGrass and Blues. . . but it became the birthplace of Punk.

49. Stir up: RILE.

50. Desierto's lack: AGUA.  La lección de español de hoy.  A desert lacks water.

51. Belted out a tune: SANG.

53. Situated on: ATOP.  

54. Vexation: PEST.  Interesting cluing.

55. 2022 prequel film in the "Predator" franchise: PREY.  Hollywood  does like to recycle ideas.  They call the bodies of work franchises.

57. Scottish no: NAE.

58. Spider-Man player Holland: TOM.

Well, that's it for today. . . and for a while.  57 Down is a fitting send off as I will be in Scotland next month (with brief visits to both Spain and Portugal, also).  I will be able to read the blog but I will nae be available to write up the puzzles.   Slainte!

Garrett, you are invited to post anything that you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the comments section below.  We would love to hear from you.

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Thursday, September 8, 2022, Pawel Fludzinski

 

Good morning Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's puzzle recap.  Our puzzle setter today is Pawel Fludzinski. There is information about Pawel to be gleaned if you perform a web search.  If you include the words Crossword Corner in the search terms, the returns should include past Crossword Corner writeups containing quite a bit of information thanks to the efforts of Husker Gary.

Today's puzzle features a word ladder that leads us from HATE to LOVE.  A word ladder puzzle is one in which a given word is converted into another by way of a series of words each formed by changing just one letter of its predecessor.

Let's start with the unifier:

73 Across:  Mushy message, and the end of a sequence that progresses through the answers to the starred clues: LOVE NOTE.  LOVE is the final rung on the ladder.

Here, marked with stars for our convenience, are the starting rung and the three intermediate rungs of the ladder:

1 Across:  *Mean message: HATE MAIL.  The initial rung is HATE.  We certainly do not want to end here.

27 Across:  *Occasion for hiring a babysitter: DATE NIGHT.  Change the H to D and we have DATE.

41 Across:  *"So Much to Say" Grammy winners: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND.   Change to T to V and we have DAVE.  For fans of the band:

53 Across:  *Fits together neatly: DOVETAILS.  At the risk of stating the obvious, changing the A to O gives us DOVE.  

Then at 73 Across change the D to L.

Here is a look at the completed grid:

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

Across:

9. Administer an oath to: SWEAR IN.

16. 2018 SAG Life Achievement Award honoree: ALAN ALDA.  Eight letters four of which are A's.  Perped.

17. Above it all, in a way: TALLEST.  A bit of an odd use of  "Above it all" unless you're talking about a mountain or a building.  Thanks for the "in a way" tipping us off to the clue taking a bit of liberty.

18. Featured dishes: SPECIALS.

19. Grassy expanse: PRAIRIE.  One night Johnny Carson got to talking about his Nebraska roots and he told this alleged true story during a sketch scene. Johnny mentioned that the most fearsome Indian tribe were not the Sioux, nor the Apache or even the Comanche Indians. No they were the Fahkarwee tribe!

Johnny went on to explain,: Almost every wagon train that crossed the prairie on their trek to California were known to have their wagon masters and scouts constantly scanning the horizon ahead the entire trip asking, "Where the Fahkarwee?"

20. Impassive: DRY EYED.

22. Skewed view: BIAS.  I think that it is best to cut vegetables diagonally but I am BIASed

23. Walk leisurely: AMBLE.

29. Beers served with lime: CORONAS.

32. Grubhub link: MENU.  Grubhub says that it "is part of a leading global online food delivery marketplace."

33. Persia, today: IRAN.  Everything You Want To Know About The Change of Name

34. "Hidden Figures" org.: NASA.  "Hidden figures" is a movie about the early days of NASA and the contributions of a team of African-American women.

36. Jazz great who was the first African-American man to win a Grammy: BASIE.   The best motion picture cameo ever?

Blazing Saddles - 1974

45. Nocturnal sound: SNORE.

46. 50+ group: AARP.  Formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons.   It was formed n 1958 as a sister organization to the National Retired Teachers Association.  At its core,  an insurance marketing device.

47. Microsoft search engine: BING.  Used for about 2.5% of web searches worldwide.

48. Spring: LEAP.  Combine this answer with 3 Down and you get (see 3 Down).

51. Pungent cleanser: AMMONIA.  Why do chemistry students learn about AMMONIA first?  It's pretty basic stuff.

58. Put into words: UTTER.

59. Disney's "__ and the Detectives": EMIL.  First, it was (and still is) a book but I guess the movie is more widely known.

60. Hailed: GREETED.  Not the frozen precipitation.

History Of The World - Part I - 1981

63. Philadelphia school whose teams are the Explorers: LA SALLE.  The addition of the team name to the clue was helpful.

65. Lucrative venture: GOLD MINE.  What do you get when you drop a piano down a gold mine?  A flat minor.  No, not a person not yet of legal age.  See 71 down.

70. Harness racer: TROTTER.

71. Minor issue?: AGE LIMIT.  Clever cluing.  A minor is a person under the age of 18 or 21 depending on the issue at hand.

72. Stops: ARRESTS.  In criminal matters, ARRESTS sometimes follow stops,  in mountain climbing the terms are synonymous.

Down:

1. Consumes: HAS.  Eat?  Wrong tense.  Ate?  Wrong tense.  Aha, HAS.

2. Swiss mountain: ALP.

3. __ kwon do: TAE.

Tae Kwon Leap

4. Env. insert: ENC.  ENClosure in an Envelope

5. __ name: MAIDEN.  Usually, we get the answer NEE.

6. Banned fruit spray: ALAR.  Widely used as a growth regulator sprayed on apple trees.  It cut waste and labor by preventing the fruit from falling before it was ripe.  It also had toxic effects on humans.

7. Without much thought: IDLY.

8. Performed light surgery on?: LASED.  Light as in ray of light not as in minor.  Minor as in the opposite of  major not as in 71 Across.  Major not as in army rank.

9. Fla. recreation spot: ST PETE.  Recreation spot was a bit more misleading than simply referring to a city in Florida.

10. Norton in "The Shawshank Redemption," for one: WARDEN.  A great movie with Bob Gunton cast as Warden Norton William Sadler.

11. Portuguese feminine pronoun: ELA.  Why, in puzzles, does the use of Portuguese seem less fair than Spanish or French?

12. Excuse: ALIBI.

13. Outfit again: RERIG.  Usually referring to a seagoing vessel.

14. Whitlock Jr. of "The Wire" and "Veep": ISIAH.  As with ISIAH Thomas, there is some question as to whether the bestower of the name knew how to spell.

15. Arms treaty subj.: N TEST.  Nuclear TEST.  Unless, of course, you're George Bush.

21. Big name in pianos: YAMAHA.  Big name in motorcycles, too.

23. Corrosive compounds: ACIDS.

24. Colonel called "the second most dangerous man in London" by Sherlock Holmes: MORAN.  Second to Professor Moriarty, Colonel Sebastian "Basher" MORAN first appeared in the 1903 short story The Adventure of the Empty House.

25. "Way to go!": BRAVO.  If the clue was not in quotes, indicating something that someone might say, the answer might have been a synonym of ROUTE.

26. Introvert: LONER.

28. Worn-down pencils: NUBS.

30. Santa __ winds: ANA.  A bit of local SoCal meteorology that often blows through the puzzles

31. Posed (for): SAT.

35. Swingline insert: STAPLE.  Swingline is a brand of STAPLErs.

37. Cloister leader: ABBOT.  ABBESS was just a bit too long.

38. Canonized one: SAINT.

39. Concave navel: INNIE.

40. Painter Degas: EDGAR.   His first name is almost an anagram of his second.  He seems to have had a real affinity for ballet . . . or, at least, for ballerinas.

42. Cheesy sandwich: MELT.

Tuna Melt Sandwich

43. Pitching stat: ERA.  A baseball reference.  Earned Run Average.

44. Typing stat: WPM.  Words Per Minute

49. Young bird of prey: EAGLET.

50. Broadcasters: AIRERS.  Meh.

52. Confuse: MUDDLE.  I prefer to MUDDLE jalapenos.

53. Atlanta-based airline: DELTA.   Always highly ranked even in these trying flying times.

54. Astrologer Sydney: OMARR.   1926 - 2003  His column appeared in more than 200 newspapers.

55. Cap brim: VISOR.

56. Thrill to pieces: ELATE.

57. "The Goldbergs" actor George: SEGAL.

61. Like deli orders: TO GO.

62. Hgt.: ELEV.  Height  ELEVation.  The first of four abbreviations in a row.

64. Capt.'s underlings: LTS.  Second.  Captains and LieuTenantS.

66. Max. opposite: MIN.  Third.  Maximum  MINimum

67. "I think," in texts: IMO.  Fourth.  In My Opinion

68. Minor quibble: NIT.  At this point you may have had one to pick.

69. Bastille Day time: ETE.  French for summer.  Bastille day is celebrated on le 14 juillet.

A bientot,

le lamentin

P.S.  As the theme of today's outing ended up being LOVE, I could not pass on the opportunity to insert the following.   It was written by Chet Powers (who used the stage name Dino Valenti) but it was popularized by The Youngbloods.  Hmmm, maybe I should have gone with something by Arthur Lee.  In any event, have a terrific Thursday and a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Get Together

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