Puzzling thoughts:
Hi gang, C-Moe here getting a rare opportunity to recap a puzzle from one of his crossword puzzle constructor mentors, Robin Stears. 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!
Tapping into my inner "Husker Gary", I emailed Robin to get a few comments from her about today's puzzle, her inspiration, etc. Here's what she said:
"This crossword was actually inspired by a rejected crossword, which sounds weird but c'est la vie! I overheard a sports announcer say, "He's oh-for-two..." and I thought it would be fun to turn a double OO into a single O -- O for two. My favorite theme entry in that set was KINKY BOTS, but I think COWBOY BOTS with a Westworld clue would have worked just as well.
Patti Varol wasn't impressed.
So, I thought I'd try it the other way around -- turning a single O into a double OO.
Every once in a while, a puzzle just comes together almost by itself. This was one of those puzzles. The theme entries were super easy to find, they fit into the grid perfectly, and it filled like a dream. Sometimes, I'll spend days trying to work a puzzle, but this one practically put itself together, and in record time! I don't think it took me more than two hours to make this crossword, and that includes writing the clues.
Not only did Patti like the theme, she called my grid "squeaky clean"! For the first time in my entire career (spanning 30 years), she accepted the grid "as is" with no changes at all. Not a single one! Of course, I'll have to wait and see if the published clues are the same ones I wrote, but I absolutely trust Patti's judgment if she changed any of them. She's smart and savvy and knows her audience."
Well, I certainly can't add much more than that!! I agree that this puzzle was super clean although a couple of words were unknown to me: (12-Down. "Just Dance" game company): UBISOFT and (16-Across. Wikipedia articles that need expanding): STUBS, as clued. And if those stumped you, too, here is a link for UBISOFT, and here is a link for Wikipedia STUBs.
Five of the "double O's" made the cut, and no reveal was necessary. Here are the entries:
17-Across. Filming that takes place in a vault?: BANK SHOOT. BANKSHOT (one word) can mean a carom in pool/billiards, or a goal made in basketball when the ball hits the backboard before going through the net
25-Across. Revenue for the Witch Museum?: SALEMS LOOT. SALEM'S LOT is both a movie and a Stephen King novel
36-Across. Blast from a tugboat powered by spuds?: TATER TOOT. A TATER TOT looks like this:
While a TATER TOOT might be described as:
50-Across. Fantastic display of hustle?: GREAT SCOOT. "GREAT SCOT" was a favorite line from this "Back to the Future" co-star:
60-Across (and C-Moe's favorite of the five). Footwear worn in a meatpacking plant?: SPAM BOOTS. And while the image below doesn't match the pun, it certainly brings back memories of the "Spiced Ham in a Can". According to the company's Spam Museum, Ken Digneau, the brother of a Hormel executive, came up with the name — a portmanteau word for “spiced ham” — in a naming contest and got $100 as a reward. The new product was introduced on July 5, 1937
Here's the grid; and then on to the rest of the clues!
Across:
1. Fiddler's supply: ROSIN. Isn't this the waxy stuff that violinists use to condition their bows? As a kid, though, who was into baseball, the ROSIN bag was a thing of interest ... it's the white object on the pitcher's mound ... wait a darn minute! Didn't we already have this word this week? Wednesday? And then, it WAS clued as the baseball "equipment" ... this is Moe "paying attention"!! ;^)
6. "Sex Education" actor Butterfield: ASA. What did they call "Sex Education" before it became a "thing"? On-the-job-training! ;^) Here is ASA in the official trailer ...
9. Magazine copy: ISSUE. Do you know that if you split the word ISSUE 40%/60% you get "IS SUE". Listen (at least up to the 1:17 mark) to this classic song
14. Like lambs: OVINE. "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy ..." are the beginning words to the 1943 hit song "Mairzy Doats". And now that explains it! Ivy grows on a VINE and lambs eat it. OH! VINE!
15. ICU staffer: LPN. According to [Nursing Licensce Map Dot Com], "Registered Nurses (RN) provide direct care to patients, while Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) typically provide assistance to doctors or registered nurses. Licensure as a registered nurse is generally sought after graduation from a 4-year undergraduate nursing program and successful completion of the NCLEX-RN"
So after reading this, I dove a little deeper into my Google search, and wondered if the clue (ICU staffer) was accurate. You decide
19. Comet's path: ORBIT. Actually, isn't Comet's path directly behind Prancer and Vixen; alongside Cupid?
20. Delivery guess, briefly: ETA.
21. Tribeca neighbor: SOHO. So first, a bit of a nit to pick: The clue should've been spelled out TriBeCa (note the other two capital letters), as it stands for "Triangle Below Canal" Street. It's an acronym. And SOHO is one of its neighbors.
In NYC speak, SOHO is the acronym for "SOuth of HOuston". [Google] confirms this: "The name "SoHo" derives from the area being "South of Houston Street", and was coined in 1962 by Chester Rapkin, an urban planner and author of The South Houston Industrial Area study, also known as the 'Rapkin Report'" And of course, there is a video that explains why New Yorkers don't pronounce "HOuston" the same as those in Texas
22. Peak southeast of Olympus: OSSA. I had ETNA in here for some unknown reason, which made it impossible for me to get STROLL, SUBSOIL and UBISOFT
23. Cracker with seven holes: RITZ. Haiku/Moe-ku:
Song title about
Russian Prez that went crackers?
"Putin on the RITZ"
Don't like that one? How about this instead?
Fancy cracker shrugged,
Jerked, twitched, and barked. I guess it
Has Tour-RITZ Syndrome
29. Unwrapped with excitement: TORE AT. This makes sense once you split the entry 2/3-1/3. "TOREAT" was a head scratcher. I notice that some of the easier puzzle publications (Penny Dell, e.g.) add to the clue "(two words)". Do you, as crossword solvers, sometimes want to know that an entry is actually a multiple word phrase? Curious to YOUR thoughts. In the case of this particular clue, I'd say yes
31. Reprobate: LOWLIFE. Is the opposite of LOWLIFE/reprobate, HIGHDEATH/angel??
32. Sign above a studio door: ON AIR. "Quiet, please!"
33. Horned herbivore: RHINO.
35. Mil. officers: LTS. This clue, and the one below (39-Across) are examples of abbreviations made plural. LieutenanTS. There are some crossword editors that frown upon the use of them
39. U.K. lawmakers: MPS. Never could understand the position of the "S" in the pluralization of some abbreviations. It's MemberS of Parliament, so shouldn't that be MSP? Of course, CC and Boomer would argue that MSP is the airport code for Minneapolis/St Paul. Gawd, we have a strange language!!
42. "Incorrect!": FALSE. No, this is TRUE!
43. Cavalry blade: SABER. How many of you spelled this with the ending, "RE"? In case you wondered, [Brittanica dot com] says: "sabre, also spelled SABER, a heavy military sword with a long cutting edge and, often, a curved blade. Most commonly a cavalry weapon, the sabre was derived from a Hungarian cavalry sword introduced from the Orient in the 18th century; also a light fencing weapon developed in Italy in the 19th century for duelling"
47. Negroni ingredient: CAMPARI. As a sommelier I am supposed to know (in addition to wine) the basics of all forms of alcoholic beverages (Beer, wine, Saki, any and all spirits), as well as the corresponding cocktails. So what's in a Negroni, Moe? Equal parts of Gin, Sweet Vermouth, and CAMPARI; served in a "rocks" glass and garnished with an orange slice. Given its popularity I might go out on a limb and say that this has replaced the "Cosmo" as the new, hip cocktail
49. __ Tuesday: SHROVE. Here is a thorough report on this "holiday". Occasionally my birthday falls on SHROVE Tuesday; but then, so does ASH Wednesday
53. Back up on the job?: ABET. Many clues for this entry
54. Restaurant freebie: ROLL. Really? Free? Don't you have to be sitting at a table and ordering a meal to get one? Hmm. Should I try that? I will go into a restaurant and say something like, "May I have just a ROLL please? Nothing else; and I expect that since it has no price on your menu that it's a freebie, yes??!"
Would you have preferred a haiku/Moe-ku instead?
No one likes Dad jokes
Don't butter him up when he
Thinks he's on a ROLL
55. Concluded: OVER.
57. Rapper Dr. __: DRE. Hey! A rapper I've heard of. Remember MC Ren from my last blog??
58. "Solutions and Other Problems" writer Brosh: ALLIE. If this were Boomer blogging, might you think he'd want her name to be "LANE" instead?? Note, if this comment "went over your head", Boomer prefers calling this image a LANE
62. Quite small: TEENY. I'm guessing that the "itsy-bitsy, TEENY-weeny [sic], yellow polka dot bikini" was TEENY for its day
63. Communication sys. at Gallaudet: ASL. We had ASL in my recap a couple weeks ago; it was clued: "Communication syst. used in the film 'CODA'"
64. Minor channel: INLET. Did anyone else think of these "minor" channels?? Cartoon Network, PBS Kids, Sprout, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon
65. Equivocate: HEDGE.
66. Bad start?: DYS. Ha! Good wordplay clue. As in "DYSfunctional"; a word that many psycho-therapists often hear during therapy sessions
67. Pips and pits: SEEDS. This is a first-time clue for the word SEEDS! Speaking of SEEDS, I wonder which, if any, of the five entries for today's puzzle was the SEED entry for Robin?
Down:
1. The MLB's __ Clemente Award: ROBERTO. There is more to say about ROBERTO Clemente than I could possibly fit into this recap. I was lucky enough to have seen him play - in person - when I was studying at Pitt in the early '70s
That he died in an airplane crash just three months after his final season as a baseball player, and whose final at bat was achieving his 3,000th hit (a rare feat for MLB players), and considering that the circumstances of his death was that he volunteered to fly onboard an overloaded supply plane, bound for Nicaragua, and carrying provisions for suffering people in that country. The plane crashed into the sea shortly after take-off on December 31, 1972. His caring actions were felt far beyond the baseball community. The award is bestowed annually to the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field
2. Hand: OVATION. I gave ROBERTO Clemente many standing OVATIONS, though he remained quite humble
3. "From Here to Eternity" Oscar winner: SINATRA. Who knew that? Not I. I was still in diapers at the time this picture was released. And oddly, SINATRA won for his supporting actor role, not for the Best Song. But here is the song along with lyrics for your enjoyment
4. Printer cartridges: INK. No reference to a tattoo??
5. Loch near the Moray Firth: NESS. Home of "Nessie" the monster
6. "Welcome to Hawaii!": ALOHA. Also the word used when you're leaving the state
7. Wire holder: SPOOL. Should we overlook an word/fill that has the same double-letter combo as the entries? SPOIL fits the spaces but would require a re-make of that portion of the puzzle
8. Industrious insect: ANT. I hear they live in colonies. So are nudists, then, really ANTs??
9. Kin of equi-: ISO. Puzzles with 5 "theme" entries (in a standard 15x15 puzzle grid) usually produce a lot of three-letter words. I know that Robin was both pleased and shocked that Patti accepted her puzzle with no edits. That said, there were a lot of three-letter abbreviations in today's puzzle, and I know that can be frustrating for some of you out there
10. Recreational walk: STROLL. I may be forced to take only STROLLs as part of my walking routine. I've been using a power walk (at about 4 MPH) for my aerobics, but now that my knees are feeling some arthritis, I may have to lessen the pace
11. Layer above bedrock: SUBSOIL. Also another word for dirt in a hoagie??
13. Grand properties: ESTATES. Here are some in Arizona. Note: none of these were on our list to buy! ;^)
18. One expecting an RSVP: HOST.
24. Time, in German: ZEIT. CSO memory to Spitzboov who clearly knew the meaning of this word. As did I. I had a double major in college: Economics and German. Sadly I can no longer communicate "auf Deutsch"
26. Not for the hoi polloi: ELITE. "Hoi polloi" is the ELITE's way of referring to we common folks
27. Hi-fi setting: MONO. Also the common name/word used for the "kissing disease"
28. Sports logo since 1972: SWOOSH. Some interesting history about the Nike logo
30. Oslo Accords participant: ARAFAT. Not too many other last names fit
33. Smithsonian artifact: RELIC.
34. Appt. book divisions: HRS. More pluralizing of abbr's
37. Patches up, as a driveway: TARS. I've never used old sailors to patch up my driveway
38. "Teen Titans Go!" voice actress Strong: TARA. Without even looking this up, I knew that the clue was targeted at a different generation than mine. TARA Strong plays the character, "Raven"
39. "Supergirl" actress Katie: MCGRATH. Ditto 38-Across; this clue was also targeted to a younger generation methinks. [wikipedia] "Katie McGrath is an Irish actress. In television, she gained recognition for portraying ... her role as Lena Luthor on the superhero series Supergirl (2016–2021)"
40. One on conditional release: PAROLEE.
41. Sensed, in a way: SMELLED. The nose knows
44. 1996 also-ran: BOB DOLE. Robert Joseph Dole ran against incumbent President William Jefferson Clinton in the 1996 Presidential election
45. Turned inside out: EVERTED. Upon examination, I found that this word refers to the position of the ankle during a sprain. If you don't believe me, then Google it yourself!! :^)
46. Tries again: RE-TESTS. Or as my folks used to say, "a do over"
48. Losing color: PALING. As in turning white?? As a footnote, I often use this reference when writing my clues for a puzzle submission. Most of the clues for PALING refer to a fence or picket
49. Much of a sunflower: STEM. Indeed
51. "__-daisy!": OOPSY. Hmm, another word/fill that has the double O's, yet is not one of the entries ... OOPS!! ;^)
52. Shapes formed by angled spotlights: OVALS. Let's see ... yup!
56. Hitting stat: RBIS. Once again, shouldn't this be RSBI? As in RunS Batted In?
59. Word with private or public: EYE. Margaret and I recently watched a movie on one of our streaming channels called "EYE in the Sky". It's quite a riveting movie. Here's the trailer if you're interested:
60. Pathetic: SAD. A rather harsh definition, but certainly "Friday-worthy"
61. Pacific Coast Highway's route number: ONE. Too many iconic views along Hwy ONE to choose from, so I came up with another "ONE" that I hope you'll recall:
Final thought: As I completed the puzzle and blog, I realized I forgot a very important CSO to my fellow Friday blogger, Lemonade714, whose lovely wife and partner Oo is featured in today's puzzle!
As always, YOUR comments are appreciated. See u again in a couple weeks, hopefully from our new home ...