I do like an "outside the box" kind of puzzle - we had a similar Friday with "Sides Add LE" on April 24th this year from James Mattina. Today we have a crossword from constructors Betsy O and Andrew G - this is their third LA Times collaboration; the others were (1) on Thursday, and (2) on Monday, both with Naomi at the helm to guide us. Today's themers can be resolved by adding corner "around" the corner(s) of the grid, and Bob (Feller)'s Your Uncle. Standard size, no Twurds, typical run of proper names, with TWO Leslies & Penguins today. The themers, reveal, and an expanded graphic of the grid:
1. *Executive space with great views: [ corner ]OFFICE - Here's a "great view" of my executive blogging command center, taken from the corner at the ceiling 😜
I'm not done with the space yet - still working on the closet area
and a cool set of shelves for the opposite wall
7. *Area in Westminster Abbey where Chaucer is buried: POETS[ corner ] - More from their website
65. *Place to find a date?: [ corner ] STONE - ah. That kind of 'date'
12. *Scoring opportunity in soccer: [ corner ] KICK
14. *Defensive player who's often the fastest on the football field: [ corner ] BACK - The NY Jets used to have ESPN's #9 choice, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, but he's with the Colts now
59. Wedding crasher's destination, perhaps: OPEN BAR - Crossing - 31D. College with an alcohol ban: DRYCAMPUS (a unique fill ) - how's that for a "mixer"~?
61. Pen pal's signoff: "WRITEME." - Penguins (#1) pal sign off - "White Me"
63. "House __": longtime HGTV series: HUNTERS - Here's an episode about a village near my old stomping ground of Long Island - about 20mins south of where I lived
Setauket to Patchogue
64. "Airplane!" star Leslie: NIELSEN - A gimme Leslie #1, name #5 - "I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you . . ."
DOWN:
1. At just the right moment: ONCUE
2. Senses: FEELS
3. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob who won the World Series in 1948 with Cleveland: FELLER - also no clue, name #6, more from the Hall of Fame here
4. Bitter brew, briefly: IPA - was not working with my FINLAND
Today's puzzle comes to us from two "younger" generation constructors; their last LA Times was here, in 2024, with TTP at the helm. I did not recall solving that one, but I got a laugh from TTP's link to the "dap". As for this one, it wraps up a week of dreadful crossnames constructions, and made me feel I am either too old, or too cynical; it feels more like an Tik-Tok post than a crossword, but YMMV. Four theme answers where one needs to turn a "blind" eye to the 'blush' synonym in the common 'phrase' answers in order to make sense of the * clue; the reveal is definitely not in my wheelhouse, but I think I got the gist of it . . . an under-sized grid, 15 x 14, with a more than a blush of abbrs and names, Twenty-six 3LWs, and a 21st century-speak Twurd, but I can relate to it. The themers, and the short-spanning reveal;
16. *Lesser: SECONDARYCOLOR- a 14-letter spanner, this is the 'tone / tint' definition of blush
20. *Fit for a queen: ROYALFLUSH - this is the 'verb' definition of blush
33. *Home of the Magic and the Magic Kingdom: ORLANDOBLOOM - also verb, name #1(ish)
46. *Relay rod: BATONROUGE - and last, the actual noun 'makeup' definition of blush
53. Tendency to overuse a certain cosmetic, or what has caused a mismatch between the starred clues and their answers?: BLUSHBLINDNESS
Sabrina Carpenter may be suffering from blush blindness - and perhaps
even over-doing the lipstick, too - but I still find her attractive 😁
But WaitThere'sMore~!
ACROSS:
1. 7-Eleven convenience: ATM - same fill, different clue; abbr #1
4. Bubble tea "bubbles": BOBA - becoming a popular clue/answer
8. Influencer devices, for short: MICs - I am aware that "influencer" is now a "thing", dare I say a "career" in the Social Media Digital 21st Century~? A millennials clue
12. Olympic sprinter Richardson: SHA'CARRI - name #2, no clue; filled via perps - when I Googled, her Instagram link came up before her Wiki; born in 2000, so . . . millennial (ish)
14. ID on a map: IDAHO - Dammit. Got me. I just could not get past "I Dentity" - geo name
18. Transcript fig.: GPA - abbr #2
19. Beyoncé song about the joy of human existence: BE ALIVE - millennial
24. Corp. title for Jane Fraser of Citigroup: CEO - I had C_O, so it was either F, E, I, O, or T; name AND abbr #3
25. BBC competitor that airs "Love Island": ITV - Learned about this TV channel when I watched the history of Top Gear - the Gen X series started in 2002; the orignal show dates back to 1977; abbr #4
My, how it changed; I think the 2002-Grand Tour version may have been
the best TV show ever - funny, informative, dramatic, and entertaining
26. 1980s cool: RAD - I was an 80's kid, but by no means was I "Rad"(ical) - or maybe I was - a long-haired 'headbanger nerd' . . . how's that for outcast~? The cigarette-smoking heavy metal fans hated me for being "smart" and doing well in school, and I simply terrified the geeks . . . Gen X, & abbr #5
27. Unspoken agreements?: NODS
28. "You wish!": "DREAMON~!" - Gen X would have gone with Aerosmith on this one
31. Fed. south of Iran: UAE - United Arab Emirates, abbr #6
37. With 30-Down, Paul Rudd role: ANT - AND - 30D. See 37-Across: MAN - I thought it was THE Ant, which wasn't going to work - I have seen parts of the movies
38. Pride symbol: RAINBOW
40. 1975 thriller with a two-note leitmotif: JAWS - A John Williams composition for Steven Spielberg's movie, which does sound "borrowed" from Igor Stravinsky; we saw 'leitmotif' yesterday - Gen X
EEEEE f . . . . eeeee F . . . . E F E F E F . . . .
44. Ring spot: TOE - A whole three-letter word~! EAR would work, too
45. Accessibility law, for short: ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990
50. Online friends, colloquially: MUTUALS - must be 21st century-speak, so millennial
52. Apple platform: iOS - AND - 60. Apple assistant: SIRI - clecho #2; I tend to think the younger you are, the more likely you'll be an Apple person - see the first image above. I'm Android, as all of the Apple products I ever came into contact with crapped out on me at critical moments . . .
58. Far from shore: AT SEA
59. Like farmers market produce: IN SEASON
61. Title derived from "caesar": TSAR
62. Smallest prime number: TWO - Jeez, math again on Friday~!
DOWN:
1. Donkey: ASS - How's that for a whole three-letter word . . .
2. English article: THE - THE English scored SIX goals in the World Cup, four to France - total 10, yet NOT the record
3. Jury-rig with what's on hand, informally: MACGYVER - today's Friday highlight clue/answer for me
4. Not just unoriginal: BANAL - I tried BLASÉ; 60% of the correct letters
5. Chicago airport code: ORD - I was close - I put in ORL, but that's the smaller field in the "other" Orlando - Florida - not Bloom. ORD comes from the original name of O'Hare, Orchard Place; abbr #7
6. Bandeau, e.g.: BRA
7. "Ain't no rule say the dog can't play basketball" film: AIRBUD - Didn't see this movie - IMDb
8. Parsons who was NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021: MICAH - I knew this name, #4, because he was a Dallas Cowboy hold-out last season - his Wiki
9. Megastar: IDOL
10. Multicolored cat: CALICO
11. Pushed: SHOVED
13. Club in a Manilow hit: COPA - sheesh, pick a Generation already - "makeup" your mind~!
Copacabana, 1978, Barry Manilow
15. Cookies with a "design your own" option: OREOs
21. Bad Bunny's "__ Atardecer": OTRO - aaand back to millennials - Español, "Another Sunset"
22. Phony persona: FRONT - much of Social Media, IMHO
23. Touch down: LAND - Dah~! Not ALIT
27. Gas in an inner tube?: NEON - trying too hard to be witty, this one fell flat
29. "Welp!": "ALAS~!" - I learned today that "welp" is "sadly", in texts; millennial
31. German equivalent of the Tube: UBAHN - short for untergrundbahn, the subway
32. Romance novelist Hazelwood: ALI - Friday vague name #5
35. Most dense: OBTUSEST - just saying this is obtuse
36. Synthesizer pioneer: MOOG - name #6, more here
39. Atomic: WEE - ah; size-related
40. Brand that dropped "Juice" from its name in 2019: JAMBA - name(ish), and Friday vague-ish, but maybe that's on me because there's only two locations in CT - I've never heard of this "refreshment" store
We have seen Brian's name on crosswords before, but I do believe this is the first for Alex Rossell Hayes, so congrats on your debut~! I loved this puzzle - solid fill, brilliant cluing, it made me smile, and not only is it clever, but in alphabetical order, too - paired A, E, I, O, & U five-letter words 'broken up" to provide some humorous results. Friday level difficulty, but I was on the constructors' wavelength and breezed through, despite the chunky triple-7-letter plus corners. An over-sized 15x16 grid, two handfuls of names, no circles, and an even spread of 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- AND 7-letter words. The themers, no reveal;
18. Vague advice for space travelers worried about black holes?: "AVOID A VOID."
The Endurance approaching Gargantua, from Interstellar
26. Air travel that's the fifth-best option?: "PLANE"PLANE
The captain has turned off the seatbelt warning . . .
36. "My job is ranking people on a scale of 'miffed' to 'downright furious'"?: "IRATE 'IRATE'."
😑😕😖😠😡
"The in-flight meal was unacceptable~! 😡"
51. Juliet's response when her love asks what city is as eternal as their bond?: "ROME, OROMEO." - "Wherefore art thou~? Not in Rome, and frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"
60. Helpful draw when trying to play a Q word in Scrabble?: UTILE "U" TILE
Richard III - more Shakespeare humor
But Wait, There's More~? . . . 🤪
ACROSS:
1. Agreeing (with): SIDING - not the vinyl cladding on my house
7. Unleash (on): SIC - I had SET to start
10. Chemically quiet: INERT - like the rightmost column in last week's periodic chart
15. Rocker Dee: SNIDER - Name #1, but I knew him because his band, Twisted Sister, were from my home area of Long Island
16. "Industry" network: HBO - had the "H", WAGed the rest
17. Levi's Stadium player: NINER - What if they actually played IN Levi's~?
501-fly football
20. Prickly plants: CACTI
21. Green prefix: ECO
22. Folk icon Joan: BAEZ - name #2, but fairly well-known
23. Washed-out: PALLID
24. Espresso froth: CREMA - we had this $6999 coffee-making machine in the office at my last drafting job - it grinds beans & boils water . . . I can do that and save seven thousand dollars 😁
31. Vehicle with sliding doors: VAN - I have a 20yr old Dodge Grand Caravan, and lately, there's been a rattle driving me nuts; turned out to be the plastic handle of the sliding door; the spring that holds it in place has gotten "tired", so the lever jiggles as I drive . . .
Up here in CT, I can now register this as a "classic" - and the insurance drops
32. Waver: TEETER - and Tweeter in the same puzzle~!
33. Group of badgers: CLAN
35. Part of R&R: REST - the other "R" is Relaxation ( I have also seen Recuperation )
39. Catchall gp.: MISCellaneous
42. Bad-mouth: DISS - usually just "dis", as in disrespect, but 'acceptable'
43. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" singer: MONROE - Marilyn, name #3
47. Sun Devils sch.: ASU - Arizona State Uninversity - learned by doing crosswords
48. Snag: GET - AND - 6D. Snag:GRAB - straight clecho, #2
49. Treble-makers?: TWEETERS - Wow. Old-school speaker reference . . . I almost didn't get it
Not your Twitter tweeter
54. Colorful South Asian dresses: SARIs
55. Running groups?: SLATES - Friday vague; those elected to run an organization; more here
56. Aphrodite's son: EROS - Name(ish)
58. Thai neighbor: LAO - the people, not the land
59. Places for soaks: BATHS - I do love to take a hot bath after I tear myself up at the gym
63. Pair of hearts?: ATRIA - the "other" pair are Ventricles
64. Enthusiast: FAN
65. Tickled: AMUSED - this puzzle tickled my fancy
66. Show emotion: REACT
67. Estadio cheer: OLÉ - Español; Spain & Argentina for the World Cup
My father was a HUGE soccer fan, so I had to root for England,
his ( and mom's ) home country
68. Most easygoing: LAXEST
DOWN:
1. Org. with a "Get Ready for Baby" page: SSA - Great new clue for this tired fill, but it took waaay to long for me to find that page on the Social Security Administration website
2. Multiplication, to division: INVERSE - You'd have to "subtract" a letter to fit 'opposite' . . . 🙄
3. Bishop's domain: DIOCESE - nailed it, spelling and all
4. Hard to translate, in a way: IDIOMATIC - "the whole nine ( letters ) yards"
5. Nancy Drew's boyfriend: NED - name #4, and I thought it was NED, but hesitated
7. Slip-ons lack: SHOELACES - nine-letters #2
8. Third-largest of the Balearic Islands: IBIZA - geo name #5
They're probably excited about the World Cup there, too
9. Fish oil source: COD
10. Like LOL, but not haha: IN CAPS - slighly Twurdish, but Friday clever - LIKE WHEN PEOPLE TEXT IN CAPS TO INDICATE THEY ARE SHOUTY~!!!!
11. Horan of One Direction: NIALL - no clue, filled via perps, name #6
12. Lesotho, for one: ENCLAVE - learning moment for me; the Wiki
13. Organ parts with rods and cones: RETINAS - I knew we needed an EYEpart, tried CORNEAS - Bzzzzt~!
14. Aquaman's staff: TRIDENT - seemed the logical answer for a "sea-based" superhero
35. Wedding attire, for some: RENTAL TUX - nine-letters #4; I rented my tux for the premiere of "The Golem", the movie I worked on back in 1997-8 - available on YouTube July 20th
37. "Mambo Birdland" Grammy winner Puente: TITO - two weeks in a row; name #7
This is my first puzzle from Mike Peluso - he has been contributing crosswords since before the Corner, I would guess; his last construction for the LA Times was here, in 2023, on a sumdaze Monday. A simple add-in of the symbol for the element Iron, 'Fe', from the Latin "ferrum". The cluing was solid Friday-level, with just a hiccup for me at the crossing of two name-ish answers - that's YOU, square #5~! Standard grid, no circles, less than ten names, no Twurds, and eight "elemental" songs. The themers & reveal, which is what got me through the themers;
16. Slogan on a very thorough pet sitter's business card?: IWALKTHEFELINE - The base phrase is from the Johnny Cash song "I Walk the Line" - I walked canine Cooper, but not the "feline" cats . . .
28. Upgrade one's cookie supply?: TRADE WAFERS - Trade Wars - no song for you~! - but think the outer layers of, say, 32A., an Oreo cookie . . .
48. Newest resident of the Land of Enchantment?: SANTA FE BABY - A Christmas Classic, the song "Santa Baby", tho I did not know that the "Land of Enchantment" was New Mexico - I DO know my ex-wife is down there, so it can't be that enchanted . . .
62. Treatment for anemia, or a treatment given to 16-, 28-, and 48-Across?: IRONSUPPLEMENT - the periodic chart square for Iron, "Fe"
Thanks Bill Nye, Science Guy~!
ACROSS:
1. Places to feel kneaded?: SPAs - I could go for a massage . . .
5. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR - I do the Downs clues first, and this was my last fill; I had _S_R, yet it took a minute - ah, Russian rulers . . . I solved this one before Moe's Wednesday dupe; name(ish)
9. Vocal quality: TONE - plenty in today's write-up
19. "Exodus" Oscar nominee Sal: MINEO - crossword staple, name #1
20. Anger: INCENSE
22. Snap: PHOTO - Friday vague cluing
24. Carson successor: LENO - Johnny & Jay, the Tonight Show, name #2
26. iPhone platform: iOS
27. Checkers side: RED
The Red and the Black, an "Fe" Maiden song, almost 14mins long - and - Blue Öyster Cult song #2
32. Sweet sandwich: OREO - the cookies part of OREOs can blended into my ice cream - see 3D.
34. Word on a bottle of Château Margaux: CRU - from the Frawnche for "growth"; more here
35. El Prado, por ejemplo: MUSEO - 'for example, museum', Español #1
36. Cause of statistical misrepresentation: BIAS - that's ALOT of clue for a four-letter answer . . .
38. Colon units: DOTS - Oh, that colon [:] . . . never mind . . .
40. Ordered from DoorDash, perhaps: ATE IN
43. Flight status abbr.: ARRivals
44. Part of many a lunch special: SOUP
"NO soup for YOU~!"
52. Mex. neighbor: USA - there's always that half second of hesitation when I think, "I don't know all those countries in Central America~!"
53. Green around the gills: ILL
54. From the top: ANEW
55. Late bloomer: ASTER
57. Toots and the Maytals, for one: SKABAND - no clue, but I had perps; more here
Funky Kingston - not really my thing, but I can 'dig' it
60. Aptly named hybrids: UGLIs
66. Four-award acronym: EGOT - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony - somewhere last week I read that Steven Spielberg was a winner - so I wondered what he got his Grammy for; it's a bit of a stretch, but OK . . . the Wiki
Raiders March, Raiders of the Lost Ark
67. Plum kin: SLOE
68. Major disappointment: BLOW
69. Gym reps: SETS - For me, training at the gym is three times a week, two SETS of three exercises, and within those, somewhere between 8-16 "REPetitions"; not quite the same thing, IMHO
70. Actress Daly: TYNE - name #3
71. Bajo opposite: ALTO - 'low & high', Español #2
DOWN:
1. Word with lift or lodge: SKI - ski lift, ski lodge
2. Political research center: PEW - never heard of this; named after the Pew family - the Wiki
3. Dessert option: ÀLAMODE - look, I made protein ice cream - my trainer got me excited to buy and try the Ninja Ice Creami
The chocolate chips are an added indulgence 😁
4. Share, in a way: SPLIT - but not a banana split - bananas upset my stomach, and I don't know why . . .
5. "Doctor Who" actress Catherine: TATE - I know nothing about the series; it looks like she guest-starred in just three episodes; that's Friday vague - name #4
6. Think tank members, often: SCHOLARS - SCIENTISTS didn't fit
7. Modern art?: ARE - Shakespeare; "Where for art thou~?" - 21st century; "Where're you at~?"
8. Purify: REFINE
9. Softest mineral on the Mohs scale: TALC - This puzzle gets 4-1/2 of 5 ⭐ on the "other" Moe's Scale
10. Tot's scrape: OWIE
11. Childcare providers: NANNIES - There will be NO owies on this nanny's watch~!
18. Sufficient, once: ENOW - ye olde sfelling of ENOUGH
21. Name on some Canadian pumps: ESSO - far right crossword-friendly letters, name(ish)
22. For: PRO
23. Pronoun option: HER - as last week, so again; YOU, OUR, SHE, HIS or HIM~?
25. College domain: EDU. - internet add-on for education
29. Sony record label: RCA - Eartha Kitt, "Santa Baby" was an RCA artist, and so are these girls
The Pointer Sisters, Neutron Dance - seems appropriate for an atomic theme . . .
30. Invoice no.: AMT - I charged $700 to build these custom maple pantry doors to fit an opening the previous contractor framed at 42"- 😖- too small for sliding doors, too big for bi-folds . . . and I always forget to take "before" pictures, and in this instance, would have been worth a laugh
Had to reconfigure the wood floor, too, as the other contractor's
wider opening left two wall-sized "gaps" in the T&G strips . . .🙄
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