Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with the recap of a Wednesday puzzle by Mat Holmes. It's probably a good thing that today is Wednesday and not a Tuesday or a Thursday or I would not have the time to do the recap because I'd be doing this:
That said, this morning's puzzle offering is perfect for those of you who are always looking for new ways to get your kicks. Now, with that intro, you might be thinking something along the lines of:
Paul Revere and the Raiders - Kicks
Or, perhaps:
Asleep At The Wheel - Route 66
Or, perhaps, even a couple of Nissan automobiles or the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.
But, no. KICKS here is used in the slang connotation of athletic shoes. Perhaps not as much fun as any/all of the above but it works well for the puzzle. Let's start with the unifier:
59 Across: Trusted companions, or what the sets of circled letters in this puzzle literally are: SIDEKICKS.
At five places in the grid Mat has place brand names for sneakers/tennis shoes/athletic shoes. These are referred to as KICKS in contemporary slang and each name abuts a side of the puzzles. Get it? Side kicks. To help us out, or to irk those who profoundly dislike them, circles have been utilized to help us see what is fairly obvious once the theme is grokked. . . if one is familiar with the brand names involved.
Here are the places where the gimmick is employed (deployed?):
16 Across: Mark Twain lad who falls in love with Becky Thatcher: TOM SAWYER.
22 Across: Exclamation in "Tommy Boy": HOLY SCHNIKES. This solver was not familiar with this exclamation. "Tommy Boy" is a 1995 buddy flick starring Chris Farley and David Spade.
32 Across: Some family vehicles: MINIVANS.
40. Wonder Woman publisher: DC COMICS.
47 Across: Talk to: CONVERSE WITH. When this solver was in Junior High School, CONVERSE All Stars were the cool (neat, bitchen) shoe to have.
This is how everything lays out in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Opera star Nellie with a peach dessert named for her: MELBA. Nellie MELBA (Helen Porter Mitchell) took the pseudonym Melba from her hometown of Melbourne, Australia.
6. Commercial flop: DUD. BOMB was too long.
9. Outer layer: RIND. As of a watermelon.
13. Celestial hunter: ORION. The constellation.
14. Squeeze bunt result: RBI. A baseball reference. Run Batted In
15. "Same here": ME TOO. We all got this one.
18. English derby town: EPSOM. Those of you who watched Rocky & Bullwinkle might remember this:
28. Chance to stand for a spell?: BEE. Spelling BEE.
29. Keep out of sight: HIDE. If you HIDE well then folks will be unable to find neither hide nor hair of you.
30. Cover story: ALIBI. Not as in the cover story of, say, Time Magazine. A CYA story.
36. "The Biggest Little City in the World": RENO. Self-proclaimed.
37. Umami, for one: TASTE.
39. Furry Endor denizen: EWOK. A Star Wars reference. Specifically a reference to the planet Endor. EWOKs aren't meant to be left outside......they're Endor pets.
42. Japanese beer brand: ASAHI. KIRIN would also have fit the allotted space. Sapporo was too long.
43. Topple (over): KEEL. The phrase "KEEL over" originates from nautical terminology, referring to a ship capsizing or rolling so far on its side that its keel is visible.
44. Ocean Potion no.: SPF. A Sunscreen reference with a rhyming clue. Do we have a motion to salute that notion?
63. Elba of "Cats": IDRIS. A frequent visitor. Actor #2
64. In real time: LIVE.
65. Meditative discipline: ZEN. What did the ZEN master say to the hot dog vendor? Make me one with everything.
66. Connect with: TIE TO.
Down:
1. Grown-up silkworm: MOTH.
2. Greek Cupid: EROS.
3. Life partner?: LIMB. Not your soulmate. As in the expression:
4. KitchenAid alternative: BOSCH. Maybe not the first name to come to mind. Amana and Miele would both have fit the space.
5. "Blonde" star de Armas: ANA. Actor #3
6. Visine target: DRY EYE.
7. Rides with surge pricing: UBERS.
8. S, SW, or SSW: DIR. DIRection
9. Temporary stays: REPRIEVES.
10. Gentle reply to an apology: ITS OK. Several not-so-gentle replies come to mind.
11. Terrible turnout: NO ONE. The turnout cannot get much more terrible than this.
12. Geodesic structures: DOMES.
Buckminster Fuller
15. Body art that uses henna: MEHNDI. New to this solver. Thankserps.
17. Corduroy rib: WALE.
21. Yours, once: THINE. This above all....
23. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI. Another "Star Wars" reference
24. Debit slip: CHIT.
25. Football unit: YARD. An American Football reference.
26. Sir __ Guinness: ALEC. Actor #4
27. Nutrient in oysters: ZINC. The crossing YAZ helped. If y0u did not know that one then perhaps you tried IRON?
31. Car seller's concern: BOOK VALUE.
32. Ed.'s stack: MSS. Abbreviation for ManuScriptS
33. Not home: AWAY.
34. Nabe in L.A. and NYC: NOHO. Nabe = neighborhood. Abbreviated clue. Abbreviated answer.
35. Take a little off the top: SKIM. Not a haircut reference (TRIM). A monetary (or milk) reference.
37. Ranking groups: TIERS. There can't be a TIER list for knots because they would all be tied.
38. Knee parts commonly viewed with MRIs: ACLS. Abbreviated clue . . . Plural clue . . .
41. Limo driver in the airport, e.g.: MEETER. Cute. Someone who meets someone at the airport. For some reason, MEETER made me think of greeter which led to this (I apologize, in advance, and I will understand completely if some of you want to respond with the alternatives along the lines of those hinted at at 10 Down):
42. Astern: AFT. A nautical reference.
44. Norway neighbor: SWEDEN. It had to be either SWEDEN, Finland or Russia.
45. Evergreen tree: PINE.
47. Plotting group: CABAL. What do you call a secret CABAL of strippers who surreptitiously control the adult entertainment industry? The Illumi-naughty.
48. "SNL" alum Cheri: OTERI. Five letters, three of which are vowels. A constructor's friend. Actor #5
49. Channel for hoops fans: NBA TV. Hoops being a slang term for the game of basketball.
50. Motorized ride: E-BIKE.
51. Supermodel Klum: HEIDI. Actor #6
55. Farm unit: ACRE. 1 ACRE of land for sale, no house. That’s a lot.
56. Funny sketch: SKIT.
57. Canadian gas brand: ESSO. Derived from the initials of Standard Oil. S O
59. "__ who?": SEZ. Oh yeah?
60. Footballer's uniform: KIT. In the soccer world (or football as most of the world outside the USA calls soccer) KIT means the uniform that they players wear. So, the answer to this clue is "by definition" once one figures out the global nature of the clue.
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a melodious puzzle constructed by NYT, LAT and USA Today veteran constructor Brian Callahan. At four places in the grid Brian has inserted the names of singer-song writers with each name consisting of two words. The first words all begin with the letter P and the second with the letter S. The theme was inspired by the answer to the unifier which is found at:
59 Across: Beatles hit on "Please Please Me," which could be dedicated to 16-, 24-, 35-, and 50-Across: PS I LOVE YOU.
Here are the four themed answers none of which require explanation beyond their clues:
16 Across: "Because the Night" singer-songwriter: PATTI SMITH.
24 Across: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" singer-songwriter: PETE SEEGER.
35 Across: "You Can Call Me Al" singer-songwriter: PAUL SIMON.
Thank you, Brian, for the opportunity to revisit all of those great songs. Now, after all of that, if anyone has the time and energy, here's how it all appears in the grid:
. . . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Campbell's container: CAN.
Andy Warhol's Take On The Subject
4. Sports complex: ARENA. From the Latin harena meaning sandy place.
9. Air quality factor: SMOG. A portmanteau of SMoke and fOG.
13. The Jazz, on scoreboards: UTA.
14. Cuddly pooch: LAP DOG.
15. University of New Mexico athlete: LOBO.
18. Siberian city: OMSK.
19. Twitter: CHIRP. An avian reference - not a tech reference.
20. Grumpy person: CRAB. CRABs (the animals) have a reputation for being feisty and unpleasant.
22. Fed. health law: ACA.
23. Dialect in some Black communities, for short: AAVE. All you might want to know:
27. Tear sheet?: KLEENEX. Not tear as in to rip a piece of paper. Tear as in crying.
29. Flair: TALENT. A cake entered a TALENT contest. The Judge asked, "What's your talent?" "Icing", replied the entrant.
30. "Mars Attacks!" creatures, in brief: ETS. ExtraTerrestrial BeingS
31. Celtic priest of old: DRUID. Did this one stump you?
34. Son of Zeus: ARES.
38. Ralph Lauren brand: POLO
41. Buff: TONED. Buff, here, was used not as a verb but as an adjective
42. Sked abbr.: TBD. To Be Determined. Sometimes it turns out to be TBArranged.
45. Device for smoking shisha: HOOKAH. Shisha is is a wet tobacco that is soaked in a combination of glycerin, molasses or honey, and flavoring.
48. On an elite level, informally: GOD TIER. This expression is new to this solver. On a somewhat related note, did anyone else besides yours truly get tired, earlier this month, of the unrelenting barrage of "Quad God" references? After the disappointing final skate, one half expected the talking heads to switch to "Lutz Klutz".
53. Wine category: REDS. As opposed to, for example, white wines or rose wines.
54. Jungfrau, for one: ALP. elevation 13,642 feet
55. Balm-yielding succulent: ALOE. ALOE, there. Vera nice to meet you!
56. Small but powerful group: CADRE. CADRE entered this solver's vocabulary during the Mao Tse Tung era.
57. History: PAST. The PAST, the present, and the future walked into a bar . . . and things got a little tense.
62. Yale students: ELIS. From the eponymous Mr. Elihu Yale.
63. "Praying" insect: MANTIS.
64. Dawn goddess: EOS. A frequent visitor.
65. __ and file: RANK.
66. Short-lived Ford model: EDSEL. Often taken on road trips in our puzzles.
67. Private chats on soc. media: DMS. Abbreviated clue . . . Direct MessageS
Down:
1. Treat baked in a fluted liner: CUPCAKE.
2. No longer moving: AT A HALT.
3. Longtime residents: NATIVES.
4. Some Energizers: AAS.
5. Turntable meas.: RPM. Abbreviated clue . . . Revolutions Per Minute Remember when we'd talk of tone arm counter weight, Sure vs Audio-Technica cartridges, and direct drive vs. belt drive?
6. Order: EDICT. Not order as in what you do at a restaurant. Not order as in an array. Order as in some directive to be obeyed.
7. __-Dame de Paris: NOTRE.
An Unforgettable Moment
8. Shocked: AGHAST. A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget's Thesaurus crashed losing its entire load. Witnesses were stunned, startled, AGHAST, taken aback, stupefied, confused, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplussed, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, speechless, and perplexed.
9. __-mo replay: SLO.
10. Certain representative for a child actor, casually: MOMAGER. A portmanteau formed from, MOM and ManAGER.
11. More than indecent: OBSCENE. We'll skip the graphics on this one.
12. Kids' racers: GO KARTS.
14. Sass: LIP. See also The Sex Pistols "Don't Give Me No Lip, Child"
17. Cherry or lime: TREE. Flavor, fruit, and pie filling were all too long. Soda would have fit.
21. Arthur in the Television Hall of Fame: BEA. Best known for her role as Maude.
24. Lima's country: PERU. A reference to either the country or to the beans which were grown in PERU even before corn was grown there.
25. Jump for joy: EXULT. See also Van Halen "Jump"
32. Late start?: ISO. The beginning (start) of ISOlate.
33. Down Under canine: DINGO.
35. Jab: POKE. Not in the "Lonesome Dove" sense.
36. __ Mix cat food: MEOW.
37. "That's strange": ODD.
38. Element of a basic reading test?: PH PAPER. PH PAPER can be used to determine, or read, where something falls on the acidic, neutral, alkaline (base) scale. Nice wordplay.
39. "How swanky!": OOH LA LA.
40. Keeps updated: LOOPS IN.
42. Like much Grateful Dead merch: TIE DYED. Okay, so there's no TIE DYE in this video but the images are great (no pun intended) and how could we pass on the opportunity?
43. Double space?: BEDROOM. A place for a double bed.
44. "The Lorax" creator: DR SEUSS. Written in 1971, "The Lorax" was a relatively early piece of work focusing on environmental issues.
46. Legal org.: ABA.
47. "I could use a hand": HELP ME. In keeping with today's theme (and I would guess that this was an intentional "move" by Brian). Of course, we could also have gone with The Beach Boys.
49. Four-time NBA All-Star Young: TRAE. In 2017–18, TRAE tied the then NCAA Division I single-game assists record with 22 and became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season.
51. "Deeply unfortunate": SO SAD. . . . and the opposite from Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker:
52. Düsseldorf denials: NEINS. Today's German lesson.
56. Walgreens rival: CVS. A drugstore reference,
58. Disappointed cluck: TSK. We never know, at first, if it will be TSK or TUT.
60. Cell service letters: LTE. All you might wish to know: Long Term Evolution
61. Part of EVOO: OIL. I always thought that the concept was quantum but what do I know??
Well, that will wrap things up for this musical Wednesday. Have a Grate(ful) Day, everyone!
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, Malodorous Manatee here . . . and, yes, you read that correctly . . . . with a recap of a Wednesday puzzle. As C.C. mentioned late last year, I have gone from recapping on alternate Fridays to recapping the final Wednesday puzzle each month. Call it semi-retirement or a new adventure . . . or both. As the fates would have it, for this, my first Wednesday foray, we get a puzzle co-constructed by C.C. I have reviewed something like 125 puzzles here on the corner and this is first C.C. puzzle I have had the privilege to recap. To make things even more special, C.C's co-constructor is our own Brian "Rusty Brain" Russell who is making his debut. What a nice way to enter the Wonderful World of Wednesday.
Let's start with the unifier:
63 Across: Impromptu jazz performance, or an apt title for this puzzle: JAM SESSION. In this case a JAM is a group of musicians playing together more or less making it up as they go along.
At four places in the grid, C.C. and Brian have asked us to come up with answers that riff on the word JAM in its various forms
17 Across: Filled pastry: JELLY DONUT. Jelly, marmalade, confiture, etc. In other words - JAM.
24 Across: Office machine: LASER PRINTER. We are all familiar with printer jams. Bottleneck, congestion, stoppage. In other words - JAM.
39 Across: High-flying NBA All-Star event: SLAM DUNK CONTEST. Stuff, push, cram. In other words - JAM. A basketball reference. A slam dunk is also called a "jam" and that formed the basis of a successful electronic game:
51 Across: Rush hour gridlock: TRAFFIC SNARL. AKA a traffic jam. This one could have referenced a musical moment by Steve Winwood and Dave Mason.
Here is how it all appears in the grid:
. . . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Violin players: BOWS. Not the musicians. What they often hold in their hands.
5. Discussion site: FORUM.
10. Omelet need: EGGS.
14. Potatoes, in Indian dishes: ALOO. This has become a crossword staple.
15. Remove from memory: ERASE.
16. Young stallion: COLT. By definition.
19. Clarinet kin: OBOE. Frequently heard in our puzzles.
20. Promotional cost: AD FEE.
21. Field expert: REF. A REFerence to a REFeree (on, for example, a football field).
23. Night before: EVE.
29. __ Martin cognac: REMY.
32. Charlottesville sch.: UVA.
33. Slow-cooked dish: STEW.
34. "Peace" shape: VEE.
35. Camera component: LENS.
37. "Gotcha": I SEE.
44. Keep a sauce from congealing, say: STIR.
45. Screw feature: SLOT. Oh, the noun.
46. __ sequitur: NON
47. Tech in key cards: RFID.
49. Prove human, in a way: ERR. A misstep frequently occuring in our puzzles.
50. Attention-getting hiss: PSST. A sound often heard in our puzzles.
55. Gut punch reaction: OOF.
56. Sheridan of "Ready Player One": TYE. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, perps.
57. Tree that's tapped: MAPLE.
61. Ride-hailing company whose cars once featured big pink mustaches: LYFT. From Wiki: "The Lyft pink mustache was a large, fuzzy icon that drivers attached to their cars to identify themselves as part of the Lyft ride-sharing service. It was replaced in 2015 by a smaller, glowing dashboard version called the "glowstache" to create a more subtle appearance."
67. In __ land: LA LA. Slang for being out of touch with reality.
68. Acting award won by Ke Huy Quan in 2023: OSCAR. For his role in "Everything Everywhere All At Once".
69. Patch up: MEND. How do you mend a broken Jack O'lantern? With a pumpkin patch.
70. Winter slider: SLED. People ask me why I keep bringing my sled to places like yard sales and flea markets. I tell them the answer is simple...Toboggan!
71. Rosary components: BEADS.
72. Mount Olympus figure: ARES. One of twelve.
Down:
1. Mexican peninsula, informally: BAJA. Una de las lecciones de español de hoy. BAJA California.
2. Screen on some handheld games, for short: OLED. Organic Light-Emitting Diode
3. Canine in some fairy tales: WOLF.
4. Exclusively: SOLELY. I hear that Google is set to come out with a new browser that manages search results based SOLELY on your DNA. The browser is going to be called Google Chromosome.
5. Provided with kibble, say: FED.
6. El Dorado building material: ORO. Una de las lecciones de español de hoy. El dorado is the legendary city of gold. ORO is gold in Spanish.
7. Legged it: RAN.
8. Take illegitimately: USURP.
9. Units of length: METERS. So many to choose from. Thanks, perps, for narrowing things down.
10. Earth-friendly prefix: ECO.
11. Intermediaries: GO BETWEENS. Liaisons.
12. Baseball fielder's need: GLOVE. MITT was not long enough.
13. Take the wheel: STEER.
18. Vote of approval: YEA. We never know if it will turn out to be AYE or YEA. At least there's not a three-letter word with the same letters that begins with E and means a vote of approval.
22. Mesh with a group: FIT IN.
25. Chekov colleague: SULU. Not a Russian novelist reference. A "Star Trek" reference. Pavel Checkov and Hikaru SULU.
26. Makes level: EVENS.
27. Irritates deeply: RANKLES.
28. Cheep digs?: NEST. Cheep not cheap.
29. Campers on wheels, briefly: RVS. Recreational VehicleS
30. Slippery swimmers: EELS. What a shocker!
31. Fundraising event where one can win a round: MEAT RAFFLE. Round as in a round roast. From Wiki: "A meat raffle is a tradition of raffling off meat, often in pubs and bars in Australia, in some areas of Britain and the US, and in Western Canada." New to this solver.
36. Treat with contempt: SCORN.
38. Those, in Havana: ESOS. Una de las lecciones de español de hoy. The language of Havana, Cuba is, of course, Spanish.
40. Annoy slightly: MIFF.
41. Train of thought: DRIFT. As in "Do you catch my DRIFT?"
42. __ vez: again, in Spanish: OTRA. Una de las lecciones de español de hoy. Literally, another time.
43. Blasting material: TNT.
48. Home project done solo: DIY JOB. Do It Yourself
50. Blood bank supply: PLASMA.
51. Charges on roads: TOLLS.
52. Fit for a queen: ROYAL Add an E and we get:
53. Stop: CEASE.
54. Suite divs.: RMS. RooMS
58. Place to dock: PIER. I never wanted to go to the docks, but after my friends pestered me for an hour I finally gave into PIER pressure.
59. Unaccompanied: LONE.
The LONE Ranger
60. Stops: ENDS.
62. Little bit: TAD. The teacher asked, "Name three famous Poles!" Tommy proudly answered, "North, South and TAD."
64. Former Lynyrd Skynyrd label: MCA. This solver did not know the label but it was pretty clear, after a couple of perps, that it was going to be either RCA or MCA. And, since it's been teed up:
65. Like lyrics full of heartache: SAD. One of the saddest:
