Friday, April 19, 2024, Rebecca Goldstein

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE ?

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  It is Friday and it is time for yours truly, Malodorus Manatee, to present a recap of today's puzzle by veteran (and that's an understatement) constructor Rebecca Goldstein.

Today's solve was no walk in the proverbial park as there were several elements in this eclectic mixture that challenged this solver and, perhaps, you, too.

Depending on what one wishes to include, there are roughly fifteen proper nouns in this puzzle.  Proper nouns are great if you know the answer but they can be trouble if you don't.  There are several foreign-language answers in the grid and several answers that, again depending on what one wishes to include, consist of more than one word (e.g. does I-beam count?).  Toss in a couple of references of the wurst kind, two (or three) Greek alphabet references, and some obligatory oblique (Friday) cluing and the head scratching becomes inevitable. . . and that's before we deal with the clever theme.

Upon completing the puzzle, and for some time thereafter, this solver was not able to identify a theme.  A unifying clue/answer would have helped - but there was none.  I saw the "international" two-word clues, each punctuated with a question mark, but failed to put the pieces together.  Perhaps I was a bit word weary from the solve itself or maybe I just could not see the forest for the trees.  In any event, I reached out to the Crossword Corner blog staff and, with their assistance, the fog lifted.  Each themed clue is a common expression in English which includes a country name.  Each themed answer fits the clue but requires that we re-imagine the expression as being defined in terms of  something other than its common meaning.  The theme is not in the answers.  It is to be found in the clues themselves.

Here are the themed clues and their answers:

17 Across:  American cheese?: POTUS.  Not as in what you might have used last Friday on National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.  As in the idiom the "Big Cheese".  The President Of The United States is a "Big Cheese".

19 Across:  Irish cream?: EUROS.  Not Baileys.  Cream can be used, apparently, as a slang term for money.  Irish money.  See #27 in  100 Slang Words For Money

36 Across:  Spanish inquisition?: COMO ESTAS.  In this case not THE Spanish Inquisition.  As in to inquire, in Spanish, "How are you?"  Well, I guess the answer to that depends:

7 Down:  Australian open?: G'DAY MATE.  Not a tennis tournament reference.  Open as in an opening comment/greeting, I suppose.  

41 Down:  French press?: LE MONDE.  Not a coffee brewing reference.  The French newspaper (press).

43 Down:  English channel?: THE BEEB.  Not as in what we just now crossed to get to Great Britain from 41 Down (the English Channel).  A television channel.  Slang for the BBC.  British Broadcasting Corporation

49 Down: German mark?: UMLAUT.  Not the former German currency that was replaced by the Euro.  A punctuation mark used in the German language.

Let' take a look at the completed grid.  Its symmetry is elegant even without the placement of the themed answers.  With the placement of those answers it is even more impressive:

Here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. AMC car known as "The Flying Fishbowl": PACER.  If you knew your American Motor Corporation models then this one was fairly easy.  If not, you had to wait for the perps which is a tough way to start a puzzle especially, in this instance, where the crossing with 1 Down might have formed a Natick.

6. "Saltburn" studio: MGM. As a further sign of the "updating" of our puzzles, a 2023 film was chosen to clue this instead of one of hundreds of classic MGM flicks.

9. Office characters: STAFF.  Because of the obligatory leading "cap", the clue might have been thought to refer to the cast of the TV show.  The answer did not require that degree of specificity.

14. Meaty flavor: UMAMI.  One of the five so-called basic tastes (together with Salty, Bitter, Sweet and Sour), UMAMI has been defined as "savory - characteristic of broths and cooked meats".

15. Nev. neighbor: IDA.  IDAho  What did Ida Ho?  She hoed her Mary Land while wearing her brand New Jersey.

16. Undefeated Ali: LAILA.  A frequent visitor.

18. Goldin of "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed": NAN.  A reference to the subject of a 2022 documentary about the activist named in the clue (and who's first name is the answer).

20. Uncertain syllables: UMS.  The topic of the inclusion of these sounds-people-might-make answers has previously, and extensively, been debated on The Corner.

21. Long-horned grasshopper: KATYDID.  A funny word and a funny-looking insect.

24. Captcha capture: BOT.

25. Slip through the cracks: SEEP.  The clue might have been taken as the idiom but that would have thrown one off the scent.

27. Ramblin' man, maybe: NOMAD.  Well, Rebecca and Patti did tee it up:

Allman Brothers Band - 1972

28. Root vegetable with purple-flecked flesh: TARO.  A starchy vegetable frequently served up in our puzzles.

29. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA.  Although a winner of both a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe, this actress' name was unknown to this solver.  Perps to the rescue.

30. Spoken exams: ORALS.  My son recently took a battery of ORAL exams in hopes of qualifying to become a pirate.  His grades were okay, but not great.  He got high C's.

31. Washington University's business school: OLIN.

32. Arterial insert: STENT.  Today's let's-pass-on-the-graphic moment.

34. Fig. texted from traffic: ETA.  Or, a Greek alphabet reference.

35. Actor Nick: NOLTE.  This actor's name was known to this solver.

39. Some charcuterie slices: SALAMI.  One of the wurst clues.

 

42. Polling place sticker: I VOTED.  They now include the sticker with our mail-in ballots.

46. Walk through knee-deep snow, say: TREK.  A bit misleading (hey, it's Friday) because the answer is not snow-dependent.  

47. Unrefined: CRUDE.  I recently heard a dirty joke about oil drilling.  It was really CRUDE.

51. "Goodness": OH MY.

52. Pinnacle: ACME.  Sometimes it turns out to be APEX.

53. Alfa __: ROMEO.  Wherefore art thou?  Nah.  An automobile reference.

1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint

54. "Ja" opposite: NEIN.  Today's German lesson.

55. Letter before sigma: RHO.  One of today's Greek (alphabet) lessons.

56. Spicy sausage: HOT LINK.  The other wurst clue.

58. Lingerie buy: BRA.  There are many possibilities here but the three-letter requirement cuts things down to size (number and letter) pretty (lace, different colors) quickly.

59. Packed tightly: DENSE.

61. Tiny powerhouses?: AAS.  This one was not another of those sounds-people-might-make answers.

62. Part of building bridges: I BEAM.  Named for its shape when viewed in cross section.

64. Boss (around): ORDER.

65. "For shame!": TUT.  This is yet another one of those sounds-people-might-make answers.  It might have been clued as yet another proper noun.

66. Sell a bill of goods: LIE TO.   Everything You Want to Know About the "Sell A Bill Of Goods" Idiom

67. Daisy known as the "Rosa Parks of the North": MYERS.  The Myers Family Story

68. UFO beings: ETS.  Extra TerrestrialS  Unidentified Flying Objects are now called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena or UAPs

69. Neuroscience segments: LOBES.

Down:

1. Food with a national holiday in El Salvador: PUPUSAS.  If you started the puzzle at 1 Down then it might have been a rough start.  Oddly, while working on this recap I asked Valerie what I might snack on.  She served up a PUPUSA that she had recently purchased at that temple of Salvadoran cuisine - Costco.  It was delicious.

2. Terse request to chat: A MOMENT.  The only way this one seems to make sense to this solver is as a request to talk to someone and not as a request to chat electronically.  As in "Have you got A MOMENT?"

3. Reflective effect in some gemstones: CATS EYE.

         CATS EYE Gemstones                           Looking For Their Royalty Checks

4. Bird in a eucalyptus forest: EMU.  Eucalyptus tells us to conjure up something Australian.

5. Chance: RISK.  Noun or verb?  It didn't matter this time.

6. Cookie with green creme: MINT OREO.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.

8. Geometric designs that represent spiritual journeys: MANDALAS.

9. Toy in the final "Calvin and Hobbes" panel: SLED.  Here it is.  Bill Watterson walked away at the top of his game after declining to monetize his characters by, among other things, turning them into plush toys. 

10. Letter after sigma: TAU.  Another one of today's Greek (alphabet) lesson.

11. Big whiff: AIR BALL.  A basketball reference.

12. "Go! Go! Go!": FLOOR IT.  As we move into the electrified automobile future, FLOOR IT might survive whereas "Step On The Gas!" probably will not.  She's real fine my 400 NM?

13. Trick: FAST ONE.  As in to Pull a FAST ONE.

22. "I'll take that as __": A NO.  Yes

23. Face cards?: IDS.  Not IDS as compared to EGOS.  I.D. as in an identification card with, in this case, a head shot photo on it.

26. Blowout patch, at a diner: PANCAKE.  New jargon for this solver.  Usually, it is a sheet rock (drywall) reference.

28. "That may never be funny": TOO SOON.  Often posed as a question:  "Is it TOO SOON?"

33. "Top Chef" judge Colicchio: TOM.  Thanks, again, perps.  Often clued with a turkey reference.

35. Pt. of Loran: NAV.  Long Range NAVigation.

37. Prefix with economics or biology: MICRO.

38. Attach: TIE ON.  As opposed to a Liger?  (well, it was close)

39. Fame and fortune: STARDOM.  I always thought that I was destined for STARDOM but then I realized that my mass was below 0.08 solar masses.

40. Shooting sport: ARCHERY.  Hand up for first trying to make something firearm-related work out.

44. Kuwait or Qatar: EMIRATE.  People in Qatar don't like "The Flintstones" but people in AbuDhabi do.

45. Real powerhouses: DYNAMOS.

48. Turn: ROTATE.  A clue to be taken literally.  Not as in, for example, a baseball game at bat or a time to spin/roll the dice when playing a board game.

50. Many of the founding fathers, religiously: DEISTS. Deism is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator of the universe. 

56. Women's health brand: HERS.  Lots of possible ways to clue this.  This way was fitting for a Friday challenge.

57. Decide not to run: KILL.  A press (run) reference as in to KILL a story.

60. Honorific in "Game of Thrones": SER.  I might be the only person around who has never watched an epidsdoe of "Game of Thrones" so thanks, perps.

63. Book jacket blurb: BIO.  Short for BIOgraphy and also a short biography.

That includes our international tour for this Friday.  Have a great weekend, everyone.  If you go  exploring, please travel safely!

______________________________________________________________

Friday April 12, 2024, Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes

Theme: "It had to be "U"

 

Puzzling thoughts:  

After solving this relatively easy collaborative puzzle (Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes) I did a quick head scratch:  what in the heck is the theme of this?  So, I looked at the reveal: 

40-across. "It was even funnier at the time," or a hint to making the starred clues match their answers: YOU HAD TO BE THERE

Was the word "YOU" (or the word "THERE") somehow connected to all of the three entries?  Let's examine them and see:

18-across. *Big moth: CHATTER BOX.  No, neither "YOU" nor "THERE" seemed to fit into this entry

24-across. *Theater debt: OPENING NIGHT. Nope, not here either, although "HAVING TO BE THERE" on OPENING NIGHT sort of makes sense

52-across. *Frozen state: ICE SCULPTURE.  Who, other than folks who live in the north and love the cold weather, would want to be "THERE" for an ICE SCULPTURE?  (well, maybe this guy - see video)

 

62-across. *Title bot: PRIZE FIGHT.  Maybe this one?  Uh, uh.  Nope

So what gives?  Well, look back at each of the four entry clUes:

*Big moth:  If the letter U is added to "moth" it becomes "mouth".  And a CHATTER BOX is indeed a "big mouth"

*Theater debt: If the letter U is added to "debt" it becomes "debut".  And an OPENING NIGHT is indeed a "theater debut"

*Frozen state: If the letter U is added to "state" it becomes "statue".  And an ICE SCULPTURE is indeed a "frozen statue"

*Title bot: If the letter U is added to "bot" it becomes "bout".   And a PRIZE FIGHT is indeed a "title bout"

And that, my friends, is how Amie and Wendy managed today's "add a letter"-themed puzzle! Adding the letter "U" allowed each of the clues to match their answers.  Well done, ladies!  

Here is the grid, and then we can tackle the rest of the "fill" ... 

 

Note from today's blogger:  If you would like to solve another puzzle today, please open the link below for one that's called "That's Heavy!"

 
Chris Gross Universal Puzzle

Across:

1. __ test: ACID.  BETA fits this, too, but I waited until I checked the other perps

5. Oft-poached pear: BOSC.  Strange clue but it works

9. With 9-Down, Thanksgiving dessert: PECAN (9-down. See 9-Across:) PIE.  PECAN PIE may not be the most popular Thanksgiving dessert (unless you're from the south) but it sure is tasty!

14. Arm bone: ULNA.  Moe-ku:

Some think the ULNA
Is the "funny bone". But that's
Not so humurus

15. Bar mixer: COLA. While the constructors did not choose to use a "clecho", it fits with (68-across. Fountain drinks:) SODAS.  Did anyone else flip these answers?  SODA and COLAS?

16. Fuming: IRATE.

17. Some baby shower honorees: DADS.  This must be a more "modern" answer; I had two kids and was not "honored" at either of their baby showers

20. "Da 5 Bloods" actor Whitlock Jr.: ISIAH.  This filled with perps and a WAG as I was not familiar with "Da 5 Bloods" movie - the trailer:

22. Cookbook writer Garten: INA.  She is fast becoming a part of crosswordese

23. Choose: OPT.

29. "Makes sense": I SEE.  What I may have uttered when I figured out today's theme

30. False front?: PSEUDO.  For some reason I initially spelled this "PSUEDO".  Across Lite (the puzzle software I use to solve these puzzles) does not have spellchecker installed

33. ETA provider: GPS.  Back in the day, GPS might have been clued: "Family doc's"

36. Parker products: PENS.  Moe-ku 2:

Spider-Man gave to
His groomsmen (as wedding gifts)
Peter Parker PENS

38. Made in Taiwan, say: ASIAN.

44. Cantaloupe, e.g.: MELON.

45. Close in anger: SLAM.

46. August hrs.: DST.

47. Beach city where Barbie's Dreamhouse is available for short-term rentals: MALIBU. This MALIBU resident had his fair share of "Barbie's".  For a show that was more than mildly misogynistic, it ran for multiple seasons on a major network ... this clip is from the Ashton Kucher years as being the star, and features MALIBU

50. Historic times: ERAS.

57. Toward the stern: AFT.

60. Spacewalk initials: EVA.  Not one of the Gabor sisters??  No, EVA stands for: ExtraVehicular Activity ... this, maybe (long):

61. Title with a tilde: SENOR. The tilde (~) is placed above the "N" in Se·ñor. It is an accent (~) placed over Spanish n when pronounced ny (as in señor) or Portuguese a or o when nasalized (as in São Paulo), or over a vowel in phonetic transcription, indicating nasalization

67. Falafel bread: PITA. Are falafel and hummus the same? [foodstruct dot com] says: "What are the main differences between Falafel and Hummus? Falafel is richer in Iron, Potassium, Vitamin B2, and Monounsaturated Fat, while Hummus is higher in Copper, and Vitamin B6. Hummus's daily need coverage for Copper is 30% higher. Hummus has 3 times less Vitamin B2 than Falafel. Falafel has 0.166mg of Vitamin B2, while Hummus has 0.064mg"

69. Char on a grill: SEAR. All you wanted to know about SEAR when grilling

70. "For real?": IT IS.

71. Setting for much of "The Mummy" franchise: EGYPT.  I may need to binge-watch this series.  "The Mummy" The movie "franchise" spans 8 decades 

72. Like a chimney sweep's clothes, maybe: ASHY.  Moe-ku 3:

Santa's ASHY coat
Caused sniffles. Was it 'cause he
Came down with the flue?

73. Wall St. index: NYSE.  NASDAC and S & P 500 did not fit into the four squares

Down:

1. Component of self-guided museum tours: AUDIO.  Who sells this?

2. Necklace fastener: CLASP.  I used to shudder when my ex asked me to help her put on or take off her necklace; I was never very good with THAT type of CLASP ... 

3. Nonstudio flick: INDIE.  As in, an "INDiEpendent" studio.  Last year's top Oscar-winner "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" was produced by INDIE studio A24

4. Fiji competitor: DASANI.  Not as in the island of Fiji (or a sports competition) but the bottled water.  But (off the top of my head; I did not research this) I believe that Fiji water actually comes from a source.  DASANI is bottled after reverse osmosis if I understand correctly

5. Secretly include, in a way: BCC.  Moe-ku 4:

When Johnny Hart sends
An e-mail, he will always
BCC BC

6. "I'm impressed!": OOH.  Your reaction to today's puzzle and/or blog??!!

7. Done in, as a dragon: SLAIN.  Here is the opposite (from a dragon's point-of-view)

8. Opposite of dogbane?: CATNIP.  Dogbane CATNIP

10. Add salt instead of sugar, say: ERR. As a kid, my older sister played an April Fool's "joke" on me by substituting salt into the sugar bowl.  Of course, unknowingly. I put a couple spoonfuls of this into my bowl of Cheerios ... 

11. Baja resort, familiarly: CABO.  CABO on Baja - things to do

12. Perched on: ATOP.  

13. "What else ya got?": NEXT.

19. Price points?: TAGS.  This reminded me of the 15 or so years I spent living in New England.  The term for offering things from your residence for sale differs in many parts of the country.  I had heard of "YARD SALE" and "GARAGE SALE", but when I lived in MA and CT, they called it a "TAG" SALE.  TAGS were required on each item to clearly mark at what price you were offering this

21. __ Heritage Month: September 15 to October 15: HISPANIC.  Why is it honored between two months? And those specific days?  Ides don't know ... can someone else help me?? 

25. Require: NEED.  When Margaret and I bought our house a couple years ago, we each separately wrote out our "wants and NEEDS; we matched on our NEEDS at 100%

26. Gallant guy: GENT.  

27. Products of thermal imaging: HEAT MAPS.  You know, if you add an "L" to MAPS and rearrange the letters, you get LAMPS ... which when placed behind HEAT gives a whole different product ...

28. Derriere: TUSH.  Ok, is it "TOUCH" or "TUSH" that ZZ Top is claiming they want to get when they are downtown ... 

31. Faded out: DIED.  I suppose this is a "kind way" to clue the word "DIED"

32. Sculler's tools: OARS.  When I was a member of the Jaycees (remember them fellow Boomers?) in MA, we helped sponsor an event on the Connecticut River for racing sculls.  Their ability to synchronize the OARS was amazing ... I couldn't find a video from that venue, but here is one you might want to watch 

33. Muscle building?: GYM.  Hah!  Muscle building in a muscle building!

34. Ada Limón work: POEM.  Unlike the Chairman, Ada chooses a much different kind of poetry than my haiku and limericks

Ada Limon

35. Toni Morrison's second novel: SULA. Fun fact:  SULA is also the name of a Russian river as well as the name of some Indonesian islands

37. "Help us!" letters: SOS.  And, an erstwhile hit song by the group "Abba"; both of which are answers often seen in xword puzzles

39. __ zero emissions: NET.  Can you be a climate hero?

41. Colorful Hindu festival: HOLI. This event has passed.  It was on March 25th. [Wikipedia] "Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna

Moe-ku 5:

Radha and Krishna
Love to celebrate Spring with
Holly for HOLI

42. "Sacre __!": BLEU.

Moe-ku 6:

Camembert, BLEU, and
Roquefort were found on same plate.
A fromáge à trois?

43. Countess counterpart: EARL. What about the "duke of Earl?

48. Emmy-winning Ali Wong series: BEEF. A "Friday" clue, for sure

49. Certain travel doc.: US VISA. Don't think we will need one when we visit Italy later this year

51. Attempt to mediate: STEP IN. This sounds like something that would be more than to "mediate", IMO

53. Batting practice sites: CAGES. Could you make contact with this fastball? Not I

54. Harmony: UNITY. Does the Thesaurussaurus agree? Nope

55. Flatbreads made with atta flour: ROTIS. Not a word in my lexicon. [Wikipedia] "Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole wheat flour, traditionally known as gehu ka atta, and water that are combined into a dough. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened

56. Wipe clean: ERASE. "Wipe clean" is also a phrase a parent of a baby or toddler might use. So basically, they are just ERASING the poo??

57. Recess on a Catholic school campus?: APSE. Another paraphrased clue. The APSE is a recessed area in a chapel. Recess could also mean "a period of time when school kids get a break from classes"

58. Mesopotamian symbol of fertility: FROG. Ribbit, ribbit ... this guy?

59. Neat: TIDY.

63. Cook in the microwave: ZAP. Time for another comic strip?

64. Rough fig.: EST. Or, winter hours in Washington, D.C.

65. "Shows you!": HAH. The phrase I uttered when I "got" the theme today

66. Attempt: TRY. Hope that your attempt at the puzzle was a positive one

And we are done! Look forward to YOUR COMMENTS below. Hope, too that you are able to try MY PUZZLE @ Universal. See you in a couple of weeks

Friday, April 5, 2024, Laura Dershewitz

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the Friday recap.  Our puzzle-setter today is Laura Dershewitz who, often co-authoring with Katherine Baicker, has previously created and published several puzzles for us to solve.

Today, things do not go bad .  Things do not go south.  Things do not go to blazes.  Things do not go to pieces.  Things do not go belly up.  Things do not go awry.  Things do not go off the rails.  They do, however, go sideways.  Although it can, and often is, applied to different types of situations, the definition of the idiom, as provided in today's reveal, will suffice:

31 Down:  Completely fall apart, as a deal, or an apt title for this puzzle?: GO SIDEWAYS.

In the grid, the reveal and the themed clues/answers are placed vertically.  This provides the opportunity/necessity to incorporate the word GO horizontally/SIDEWAYS into the answers.  Let's have a look at the grid before taking a look the themers.

Here are the three themed clues and answers:

3 Down:  Mid-March cry: ERIN G BRAGH.

9 Down:  Gentle carnival ride: MERRY G ROUND.  You are probably familiar with the tune but do you know the name of the song that Loony Tunes adopted as its theme song?  It was written in 1937 and reached the #2 spot on the "Your Hit Parade" radio survey.

The Merry Go Round Broke Down

24 Down:  Without a care in the world: HAPPY G LUCKY.

Here are the other clues and answers:

Across:

1. Use a Keurig, say: BREW.  A coffee BREWing reference . . . and the first of (some might claim too) many proper nouns referenced in today's clues and answers.

5. Name associated with a philosophical razor: OCCAM.  I do not have trouble recalling the answer but I can never remember how to spell it.  The perps remind me.

10. Branded tees or mugs, maybe: SWAG.  SWAG is the name for the stuff they give you at e.g. conventions, symposia, reunions, etc.

14. Traditional wisdom: LORE.  As one of the oldest living people in my family, my word is LORE.

15. "I'm not seeing it": WHERE.

WHERE Wolf?

16. Follow: TAIL.  As in to follow a criminal suspect.

17. Bookworm: AVID READER.

19. Alan of "Marriage Story": ALDA.  With STACY and WALT being clued the way that they were, this solver did not know two of the names in that NW stack.  Alan ALDA helped out quite a bit.

20. Lunch option on the Shinkansen, say: BENTO.  Shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train) alerts us to think of Japanese cuisine.

BENTO Box 

21. Took away (from): DETRACTED.  Did you come across anything today that either added to or DETRACTED from your puzzle-solving experience?

23. "Who knew?": GOSH.  What did the fish say when the river stopped flowing? "GOSH dam it!"

25. With diffidence: SHYLY.

26. PD alert: APB.  Police Department.  All Points Bulletin.

28. Ingest: EAT.

30. In the past: AGO.  A few minutes AGO I came to the conclusion that tofu is overrated.  It's just a curd to me.

31. Dollop: GOB.  Given today's theme, that O after the G could be viewed as a bit misleading.

34. Sensitive subject: SORE SPOT.

37. Surname in a classic Styx song: ROBOTO.  Domo arigato Mister ROBOTO.

39. Meat in Hawaiian cuisine: SPAM.  How A Wartime Necessity Became A Hawaiian Delicacy

40. Teaser ad: PROMO.

42. Italian wine region: ASTI.

Asti Spumante Commercial

43. Divination: AUGURY.  This word does not appear often in our puzzles . . . but we should have seen it coming.

45. Head-scratchers: TOUGHIES.  Initially, I thought of POSERS but the word wasn't long enough.

47. Speedometer stat: MPH.

48. __ boost: EGO.

50. Twin set?: DNA.  A reference to the double-helix shape of the molecule.

51. Dr. of rap: DRE.  Née Andre Romell Young

52. French "Cheers!": SALUT.

54. Screwdriver, in a pinch: DIME.

56. Chewy candy bars introduced in 1921: BABY RUTHS.  Many people believe that the candy was named after Babe Ruth the baseball player.  It was, in fact, named after President Cleveland's daughter.

60. Full of the latest: NEWSY.  Current and/or topical.

63. Triumphant cry: I WON.   A big cat said this after every race that she ran.  She was a cheetah.

64. Fresh start: CLEAN SLATE.   A somewhat anachronistic figure of speech.

66. U2 singer: BONO.  Not Sonny BONO.  Paul David Hewson.

67. Little meower: KITTY.  It might have been clued with a "Gunsmoke" reference but then it would have been yet another proper noun.  Speaking of which,

68. Cannon of film: DYAN.

69. Toy on some holiday cards: SLED.

70. Matzo's lack: YEAST.  Exodus:  This day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the Lord, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.  For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

71. "Last four digits" IDs: SSNS.

Down:

1. Say too much: BLAB.   Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Everyone I BLABbed to told me that they wouldn't say anything to anyone.

2. Wander about: ROVE.  We never know, initially, if it is going to turn out to be ROVE or ROAM but we can fill in the R and the O.  I sometimes wonder why this is rarely, if ever, clued with "Karl".

4. United with: WED TO.

5. Have loans: OWE.

6. African lake in four countries: CHAD.

7. Surrenders: CEDES.

8. First name in soul: ARETHA.

ARETHA Franklin - "Think"

10. Gwen __: Spider-Man's first love: STACY.  A Marvel Comics reference.

11. Sky's "Breaking Bad" spouse: WALT.  In times past, this might have been clued with a reference to Whitman or Disney or Kelly or Frazier.

12. Campaign staffer: AIDE.

13. Chuffed: GLAD.  New to this solver.

18. Bunch of romantics?: ROSES.  Not a group of impractical visionaries but, rather, a bouquet of flowers that a romantic person might give to their beloved.

22. __ gobi: South Asian potato dish: ALOO.  The first of two South Asia Subcontinent references in a row.

26. State in northern India: ASSAM.  The second.

27. Temporary, as a bar or restaurant: POP UP.

29. Publisher with a mountain peak logo: TOR.  We sometimes see TOR clued with just the mountain peak reference.  Self-published, as it were.

32. Marine mammal that uses rocks to crack shells: OTTER.

33. State capital in the Treasure Valley: BOISE.  In a recent Sunday puzzle, BOISE was clued as "the City of Trees".  With three vowels and an S it's a useful word for constructors.

35. Flightless bird: EMU.  Did you hear about the EMU who was taller than his friends?  He was ostrich-sized.

36. Word with tater or tiny: TOT.  At least we were spared the casserole reference (unlike last Saturday).

Tater TOT(s)                                                Tiny TOT

38. "Curses!": BAH.  How would a sheep say BAH?

41. Online admin: MOD.  MODerator

44. Bring up, or something to bring up: REAR.  Cute.  Raise your children or be in last place.  Alternatively, what you are sitting on as you read this.

46. Acquires: GAINS.  What does a doctor get from a urine test?  She GAINS whizdom.

49. Extend past: OUTLIE.

52. Church council: SYNOD.

53. Angle symbol, in trigonometry: THETA.  By definition, much as Delta represents a difference or Pi represents the ratio of a circle's circumference and diameter.

55. Merges: MELDS.

56. Lobsterfest wear: BIBS.

57. Missing GI: AWOL.  Absent WithOut Leave

58. Fillet's lack: BONE.

Fillet Minion

59. Coll. entrance exams: SATS.  

61. Superfan: STAN.  Current slang.  The term comes from a song on an Eminem album.   The song tells the story of an obsessed fan named, you guessed it, STAN.  Possibly, a portmanteau derived from "stalker" and "fan".

62. Strong desires: YENS.  YEN is the shortest of the bunch (URGE, ITCH, DESIRE, HANKERING, etc.) and was handy here because, including the S, only four letter could be used.

65. "The 1619 Project" publisher, for short: NYT.   New York Times  "The 1619 Project" focused on slavery and the founding of the United States.

That's it for today.

_______________________________________________

Notes from C.C.:

 

1) Chairman Moe (Chris) made Wednesday's Newsday puzzle. Click here to solve and let him know your feedback. 

2) Happy 83rd Birthday to dear Irish Miss (Agnes), the sunshine of our little corer. Thanks for the care and love you've shown everyone on our blog, Agnes! I'm so lucky to have you as a close friend and puzzle collaborator.

 

Agnes (right) and her sister Eileen, Nov 22, 2013