Friday, July 11, 2025, Wayne Bergman

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Friday puzzle by Wayne Bergman, an LAT, NYT and WSJ veteran.   Today, Wayne takes a dive down the rabbit hole that is automatic spelling correction on our electronic devices.  To do this, he takes the names of four well-known car makes/models and imagines how spell check might alter them in order to "make sense" - at least according to the spell checker's view of the world.  The use of car makes/models presents an opportunity for an amusing double entendre focused on AUTO which, today bounces back and forth between automatic and automobile.

The reveal is quite straightforward:

61 Across:  Texting feature that sometimes goes awry, and what was used on 17-, 28-, and 46-Across?: AUTO CORRECT.  In this case, though, it's AUTO INCORRECT as the names of the automobile manufacturers have become improperly altered.

And the gimmick is employed at these four places:

17 Across:  Antelope who really loves bubble gum?: CHEWY IMPALA.  An impala is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa.

'59 Chevy Impala

Alternatively,

28 Across:  Expert on the hunt for the perfect eating utensil?: FORK EXPLORER.

46 Across:  One who organizes hecklers at a comedy club?: JEER WRANGLER.

Jeep Wrangler

Here is how everything appears in the grid:

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

Across:

1. Startle: ALARM.  Used, here, as a verb.   As in "That really startled me!"

6. Get straight: ALIGN.  A clue to be taken quite literally (not, for example, as "straight" is used in the Paul Revere and the Raiders' song).

11. Place for de-stressing: SPA.  A wordplay riff on distressing.

14. Brown hue: COCOA.

15. Antler points: TINES.  As in Fork Explorer?

16. Silken trap: WEB.

19. Winter hazard: ICE.  Also, a name in the news.

20. Sun-Maid morsel: RAISIN.  Sun-Maid is a play on words (sun made) that we learned early on (although most of us would have preferred finding a Hostess cupcake rather than RAISINs in our lunch bags).

21. "General Hospital" network: ABC.  General Hospital is an American daytime television soap opera which has been broadcast on ABC TV since April 1, 1963.

22. Quiet summons: PSST.  Frequently heard in our puzzles.

23. Crumb carrier: ANT.  Why be satisfied with a few crumbs?

24. Old Pontiac: GTO.  Would auto correct change this to the Pontiac GOT?

26. "Wonderwall" band: OASIS.

32. Personal pronoun: SHE.

34. Magic, on ESPN crawls: ORL.  The ORLando, Florida NBA team.

35. Spanish title: SENORA.

36. Walks like a hippo: PLODS.  What do you do with a hippo with three balls?  Walk him and pitch to the rhino.

38. Hawks, on ESPN crawls: ATL.  The ATLanta, Georgia NBA team.

40. Put off: DELAY.  One television outlet had to DELAY televising the 'World Origami Championships' but it's available on paperview.

41. Ineffective shepherd of rhyme: BO PEEP.

43. Alley-__: OOP.  A basketball play and an old cartoon strip.

45. Overhead trains: ELS.  Chicago is famous for its ELevated TrainS.

49. Quartet voice: TENOR.  Bass, tenor and alto appear so often in our puzzles that it might be helpful to take a look at the overlapping ranges:

50. Coltrane's horn: SAX.  John Coltrane.  Would that be a TENOR SAX?

51. Big primate: APE.   What do APEs use to fix things?  Gorilla Glue.

54. "Ragnarok" hero: THOR.  Ragnarok is a Norse myth that depicts the cataclysmic destruction of the gods and the world, followed by a new age of rebirth.  The name was appropriated for a 2022 motion picture.

56. Family room: DEN.  Everyone knows Las Vegas is Sin City but are you familiar with Den City?  Mass over volume.

58. Metaphor for fitting items into a tight space: TETRIS.  This solver used to play until his wrist began to hurt severely.  Then he took a couple of aspirin and kept on playing.

60. Greet warmly: HUG.

63. In the past: AGO.

64. Sound during allergy season: ACHOO.

Men In Tights - 1993

65. Name on some compact trucks: TONKA.  Very compact (toy) trucks.

66. Unionize?: WED.  Cute, or cutesy, cluing.

67. Bob Marley's "Get Up, __ Up": STAND.

68. Hotel bookings: STAYS.

Down:

1. West African capital: ACCRA.  Often visited in our puzzles.

2. "Mean Girls" star: LOHAN.  Lindsay.  With four Golden Raspberry Awards and seven "official" arrests.

3. Stick the landing, so to speak: ACE IT.  Meh.  ACE IT is usually reserved for exams in our puzzles . . . but NAIL IT wouldn't fit.

4. Tiffs: ROWS.   Tiffs is only one of several possible definitions of ROWS.

5. Request to be excused: MAY I GO.

6. Scratch removal device?: ATM.  Scratch, in this case, is used as slang for money.

7. "New Love" singer Dua __: LIPA.  A frequent visitor.

8. Ready for shipping: IN A BOX.  Anybody remember the SNL bit with Justin Timberlake?

9. Some oral meds: GEL CAPS.  Abbreviated clue . . .

10. Intel org.: NSA.  Abbreviated clue . . .

11. Snack cake with a swirl: SWISS ROLL.

12. Bench press targets, for short: PECS.  PECtoral muscleS.

13. Criminally aid: ABET.  There is an annual day devoted to puns.  Abet and Aid Punsters Day

18. Foreword: INTRO.  Not an abbreviated clue but I guess INTRO is now an accepted form of the word INTROduction.

22. First of a kind: PIONEER.

25. Oft-pickled pod: OKRA.  I have a friend who always baits his hooks with OKRA when fly fishing . . . He's really into podcasting!

27. Arctic coaster: SLED.

28. Tennis great Roger: FEDERER.

29. Pop icon John: ELTON.  Covered, here, by Country Gazette (Byron Berline, Roger Bush, and Alan Munde):

30. Notable stretches: ERAS.

31. Bright line: RAY.  A little RAY of sunshine, a little bit of soul (The Turtles).

32. Blackthorn fruit: SLOE.  As in a SLOE gin fizz.

33. Fervently wish: HOPE TO GOD.

Animal House - 1978

36. Brown bag sando: PBJ.  Sando = Sandwich  PBJ = Peanut Butter and Jelly

37. Stitched: SEWN.

39. Records: LOGS.

42. Result of multiplying: PRODUCT.

44. "Theory of Forms" philosopher: PLATO.  This solver was not familiar with the title but, given his limited knowledge of philosophers, the answer was easily perp'd.

47. Franklin who received honorary degrees from Harvard, Princeton, and Yale: ARETHA.  This solver thought, initially, that Franklin was being used as a first name.  The next thought was Benjamin.

The Blues Brothers - 1980

48. Wields, as influence: EXERTS.

51. Taylor Swift concert venue: ARENA.  Anagrams to, or when read backwards, AN ERA.  Apropos.

52. Hard to please: PICKY.

53. "¿Cómo __?": ESTAS.  S'up?

54. Become friendlier: THAW.  As in detente.

55. King-size: HUGE.

57. Morning's end: NOON.

59. Home run pace: TROT.

61. Some Energizers: AAS.  Energizer, capitalized, is a brand name of batteries.

62. Atlantic food fish: COD.  My girlfriend tried giving me some flatfish last night instead of COD!  Know your plaice woman!

. . . and on that note

____________________________________________

Friday, June 27, 2025, Caroline Hand

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Welcome to the Crossword Corner mixer.  What is a bit out of the ordinary, today, is that, thanks to the imagination of our constructor, Caroline Hand, it is the drinks themselves that are doing the mingling with each other.  Let's start with the reveal:

62 Across:  Cocktails, and what 18-/39-Across and 24-/54-Across literally are?: MIXED DRINKS.  This was a case where the reveal was, indeed, helpful in figuring out what was going on in the grid.  Also, thank you, Caroline, for "pairing up" the drinks.  It certainly made things easier to sort out.  At four places in the puzzle the names of mixed drinks get taken apart and then re-assembled in order to answer the clues:

18 Across:  Innie or outie, in Paris?:  In one regard, a bellybutton reference.  FRENCH NAVEL and 39 Across:  Poor internet service?: FUZZY CONNECTION.  

A Fuzzy Navel and a French Connection get mixed up with each other.

24 Across:  Result of applying bright yellow polish?: LEMON NAIL and 54 Across:  Feature of an old iron roller coaster?: RUSTY DROP.  

A Lemon Drop and a Rusty Nail switch partners.

This is how it all looks in the grid:

... and the rest of the attendees:

Across:

1. Set: PUT.  As in to place something on a table or shelf (or in its place).  See also 13 Down.

4. Very Cherry Twist soda brand: SHASTA.

10. Back up: CLOG.  As in the hairs stuck in the drain are CLOGging up your bathroom sink.

14. Actress de Armas: ANA.

15. Risks: PERILS.  Used as a plural noun.  As in:

16. Robust: HALE.  Free from infirmity or illness.

17. Brief "Blah, blah, blah": ETC.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.

20. Safari roarer: LION.

22. End __ high note: ON A.

23. Viper roll fish: EEL.  This solver had never heard of a Viper Roll but it was easy enough to figure this one out.

27. Garth's co-host: WAYNE.  WAYNE Campbell and Garth Algar.  From the "Saturday Night Live" skit and subsequent films.

Another Bit of A Mash-up

31. Taqueria option: ASADA.  One of today's Spanish lessons.  Grilled.

32. Quaker product: OATMEAL. The clue refers to the cereal company not the religious sect.

34. Type of symmetry: RADIAL.

38. European volcano: ETNA. 

Earlier This Month

44. Samoan capital: APIA.  Four letters three of which are vowels.  A constructor's friend.

45. Good guy: MENSCH.  A bit of Yiddish.  A man of great integrity and honor (a MENSCH)  began earning some extra cash by driving for an app-based ride sharing service. To market his services to people in the community, he made business cards offering rides from the Uber Mensch. He thought that his community was under-served and that he could fill that Nietzsche.

46. Not as warm: STONIER.  A bit of a stretch definition-wise?  COOLER was too short.  

48. Recitations made by students before entering Oxford's Bodleian Library: OATHS.  Unknown to this solver.  Thanks, perps.  From Wiki:  "Before being granted access to the library, new readers are required to agree to a formal declaration. This declaration was traditionally an oral oath, but is now usually made by signing a letter to a similar effect."

53. Picker-upper: TONIC.  Good for what ails ya'.

58. Largest U.S. labor union: NEA.

60. Spanish relative: TIA.  Another of today's Spanish lessons.  Aunt.

61. Like canned olives: OILY.

67. Boxer Laila: ALI.  A frequent visitor as is her father.

68. Lines of praise: ODES.  An Ode To Crosswordese

69. Sweet: DULCET.

70. Alpha preceder: GEN.  As in Gen-x or Gen-z or GEN-alpha which encompasses those born from 2011 - 2024.

71. Rootless plant: MOSS.  As in "A Rolling Stone gathers no MOSS".  See also 25 Down.

Shoulda Kept Rolling

72. Snide looks: SNEERS.

73. Rowing machine, familiarly: ERG.  From Wiki, "The word ERGometer comes from the Greek word ‘ergon’ and ‘metron’. While these might sound more like gladiator names than a way to measure your progress, the word ergon means ‘to work’ and metron means ‘to measure’. So the term ‘ergometer’ means that it measures work."

Down:

1. Dish named for the pan it's cooked in: PAELLA.

2. Lets free: UNTIES.  If 17 Across had been a reference to the Las Vegas Electric Day Carnival (EDC) then this answer would have been UNDIES.

3. Toyota pickup since 1995: TACOMA.

4. Daytime coverage letters: SPF.  Sun Protection Factor.  A sunscreen reference.  We had this one two weeks ago.

5. Wading bird: HERON.  Why does a heron sleep with one leg in the air?  Because if it lifted both legs it would fall over.

6. Big event space: ARENA.

7. Middle East peninsula: SINAI.  Also the name of a famous mountain and a famous hospital.

8. Pampering, for short: TLC.  Tender Loving Care

9. 1970s tennis great: ASHE.  A frequent visitor.

10. Dylan portrayer: CHALAMET.  A more recent visitor.  How does it feel?

11. Head, in Hammersmith: LAV.   British English for toilet.  Hammersmith is a district in West London and a head is what a toilet on a ship is called. 

12. "Viva!" alternative: OLE.  A hearty cheer!

13. Set: GEL.  We also saw this clue and answer combination two Fridays ago.  See also 1 Across.

19. Pond critter: NEWT.  Tiny is a great name for my NEWT - because she is, after all, my NEWT.

21. Show approval: NOD.  In many societies, but not all around the globe.

25. __ a one: NARY.  Nobody.  Not a soul around.

26. Interest-ing offers?: LOANS.  Interesting cluing.  LOANS bear/earn interest.

28. Hairy cryptid: YETI.

29. Second prefix: NANO.  Not second as in the one after the first and before the third.  A measure of time reference.  A NANO-second is equal to one one-billionth of a second.

30. Zip: ELAN.  A bit of a stretch.  Also a bit of misdirection as zip can mean none/nada.

33. Obi-Wan player: ALEC.  In the "Star Wars" movies, ALEC Guinness played Obi-wan Kenobi.

35. Pinnacle: ACME.  We never know if it will be ACME of APEX until we crosscheck.  They, however, know immediately:

36. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" novelist Anthony: DOERR.  New to this solver.

37. Lodge: INN.  The worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at was called The Fiddle.  It was a vile INN.

39. Observe Ramadan: FAST.    FASTing, for an entire month from dawn to sunset requires the abstinence from sex, food, drinking, and smoking.  It occurs roughly around the time of the Vernal Equinox.

40. Doing: UP TO.  As in "What the heck are you UP TO, now?"  No good, probably.

41. Western national park: ZION.

42. Eccentricity: ZANINESS.

43. La __: brand of Asian food products: CHOY.  Jim Henson created their spokesdragon.

47. Summer coffee choice: ICED.

49. Stir: ADO.  Not as in to stir a mixed drink.

50. Emergency room procedure: TRIAGE.  TRIAGE is a process for sorting injured people into groups based on their need for or likely benefit from immediate medical treatment. Triage is used in hospital emergency rooms, on battlefields, and at disaster sites when limited medical resources must be allocated.

51. Whoop: HOLLER.

52. Agent's activity: SPYING.  Not a Hollywood agent.  Not an agent of change.  One of these:

55. Purposeful: UTILE.  Purposeful/UTILE was not the first connection this solver made.

56. Thereafter: SINCE.  RIP, Brian.

57. Giver's counterpart: TAKER.

59. Goes on to say: ADDS.

62. Former sitcom starring Allison Janney and Anna Faris: MOM.

63. Rite answer?: I DO.  Is that the right answer?

64. Tic-tac-toe side: XES.  X's and O's   Is XES is usually spelled this way?

65. Broadcast: RUN.  As in "what year did (fill in your favorite TV show) RUN?  Definitely a "pre streaming" concept.

66. GPS lines: STS. STreetS   Global Positioning System

Well, that will wrap things up for today.  It's time, now, for this marine mammal to navigate his way back to the office.

_____________________________________