Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, Zachary David Levy

EBB

 The TIDE has been turned, reversed, and spelled backwards three times in the grid, and it was almost perfectly constructed, too, as the first theme answer broke down to E - DIT, followed by ED -IT, but we didn't get the final EDI -T; can anyone think of a way to build that into the puzzle~?  A relatively quick solve, with either "gimme" answers, or something rather vague ( I'm looking at you 39A. ).  And again, several proper names, yet none that didn't fill in on their own if I didn't know them immediately.  Somehow, I seem to have created an 80s songs sub-theme, too.  Oh, and we're missing just the "Z" for a pangram.

17. Playful tune: LITTLE DITTY - 'bout Jack n' Diane~?

John Cougar Mellencamp

27. Threw in the towel: CALLED IT QUITS - Men At Work, "It's A Mistake"

Lyrics @ 2:29

46. Roadside channel for water runoff: DRAINAGE DITCH - OK, 1976, so not quite the 80s

Blue Öyster Cult - see 26D.

60. Stage a comeback, or an apt title for this puzzle: TURN THE TIDE - and the TIDE is "high", by Blondie, which I did not know as a remake....

Is that Darth Vader~?

Washed Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. "I've been here before" feeling: DÉJÀ VU - yeah, I think I was here before, like, maybe last Wednesday~!?

7. __ and carrots: PEAS

11. Has been: WAS

14. Some dome-topped venues: ARENAS

15. Roger's rival, familiarly: RAFA - Tennis - Roger Federer vs. Rafael "Rafa" Nadal

16. __ crossroads: AT A

19. Half a score: TEN - a score being twenty, as in "Four score and seven...."

20. Low USN rank: ENSign

21. Fires up, as an engine: REVS

22. Converse: SPEAK

24. Japanese art genre: ANIME


26. Proper conduct, in Hinduism: DHARMA - Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, guitar master from Blue Öyster Cult

31. Ooze, as charm: EXUDE

32. Addition amount: SUM

33. Church bench: PEW - we have "pew pads" that clip to the tops of the benches so that we can utilize the space effectively with no damage done

Lynchburg, VA

36. Made readable, in a way: DECODED - I never had a "secret decoder ring" when I was a kid  :7((

39. Based on deduction instead of experience: A PRIORI - I have actually read/heard this term before

42. Two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning: ELI - New York technically has either "two" or "no" football teams ( the Giants and 3D. ), depending on your perspective on playing in New Jersey; I recall the "helmet catch" of an Eli Manning throw, Superbowl XLII.  BTW, the "big" game always "interferes" with my birthday weekend....

43. Male sheep: RAM

45. Elba of "The Wire": IDRIS - crossword staple

51. Bring on: INDUCE

53. Gave it a shot: TRIED

54. Threshold: VERGE

55. Kristen who was on "SNL" from 2005 to 2012: WIIG - no clue, filled via perps

56. Henson who created the Muppets: JIM - him I do know

59. Sweetie: BAE - I cringe at the use of this "word"

64. In the style of: À LA

65. "That makes sense": "I SEE"

66. Immune system components: T-CELLS

67. Fine stone: GEM

68. Sugar source: CANE - I had perps, so it wasn't "BEET"

69. Throat-soothing beverage: HOT TEA

aaah, that's better~!

DOWN:

1. Small valley: DALE

2. "__ go bragh!": ERIN - St. Patrick's Day is nigh

3. New York NFLers: JETS - us long suffering Jets fans had another "Really~?" season in 2023

4. Kitchen pest: ANT

5. Kilmer of "Top Gun: Maverick": VAL - I have, thankfully, never seen this, nor the original movie

6. Login requirement: USER ID

7. Flowering shrubs used as border hedges: PRIVETS

8. Uses (up): EATS - a series of rush plays in football "EATS" up the clock, especially inside the two-minute warning

9. Toward the tiller: AFT - nautical terms

10. Greets, with "to": SAYS "HI"

11. Wakeboarding, for one: WATER SPORT

12. Mr. T's squad: A-TEAM - I pity the fool

13. Maxwell House decaf brand: SANKA - I have heard of this "instant" coffee, did not know it was Maxwell House, and according to Wiki, it's where the "orange" diner carafe handle comes from

18. Singer Lovato: DEMI - learned by doing crosswords

23. Butter portion: PAT - I was 16 when this advertisement appeared


24. Big name in footwear: ALDO - not big enough for me - NIKE, AVIA, maybe; ALDO I have seen, but did not know was just footwear

How about ALDO Nova~? - more 80s music

25. Require: NEED

26. Hauler destination, perhaps: DUMP - ooh, a good guess on my part

27. Give up: CEDE

28. Figure skater's jump: AXEL

29. Certain state of awareness while sleeping: LUCID DREAM - I love it when I can recall my lucid dreams.  I try to retain the details every time I wake up - getting pretty good at it.  Does anyone think there's a 'hidden meaning' or something deeper to one's dreams~?  I believe there is....

30. Sine __ non: QUA - Latin "without which not", or, a thing that is necessary

34. Writer/illustrator Carle: ERIC - filled via perps, and a WAG at the "R"

35. Genie's offering: WISH - three from a bottle~?

37. Lake near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: ERIE - hey~!  I was just there - in the city of Erie, PA, where the Organ Supply Industries warehouse and manufacturing shop is located


38. Karate skill level: DAN - the Wiki

40. Attraction at a fair: RIDE

41. "__ my best": "I DID"

44. Afternoon show: MATINEE

47. Bit of floor decor: RUG

48. Like pickling liquid: ACETIC - BRINY and SALTY didn't fit, Saline was a weak maybe....

49. Moxie: GRIT

50. Half of a fourth: EIGHTH - good crossword fill with G-H-T-H; the math is 1/4 ÷ 1/2 - or - .5 * .25

51. ICU hookup: IV BAG - my first thought, but I hesitated

52. Writer Zora __ Hurston: NEALE - not familiar with her; I know of NEALE Donald Walsh, author of "Conversations with God" - I have most of the book series, but I just discovered there was a movie made in 2006

55. Small songbird: WREN - crossword staple

56. Leave at the altar: JILT - ah, that's the word I couldn't recall....

57. Not going anywhere: IDLE

58. City outside Phoenix: MESA - another good WAG on my part

61. Can. neighbor: USA - seems too easy and obvious, after the previous clue

62. Green beginning: ECO

63. Vietnamese New Year: TET - crossword staple


Splynter





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