Orthorunics: Wednesday, Jul 23rd, 2025 ~ Wendy L. Brandes

TALENT

Australian B-double, backing into Shed "B"

Alright, let's see if I can get this straight - today's puzzle is from veteran author Wendy L. Brandes, who has at least sixteen LA Times crosswords, and I have personally blogged (just shy of a year ago) one of HER constructions. Phew. Middle of the week, middle of the road theme & grid; some good clues / answers, but some were Meh in my opinion. Three out of four unique theme fills, 36 4LWs, over 4x the # of 3LWs, a handful of names, and the dreaded circles. The themers and 'reversed' reveal:

20. "Hmm, is it possible for me?": WONDER IF I COULD - FIRE truck, backwards

Existential ponderings

25. Slow-moving forest-dweller: TWO-TOED SLOTH - TOW truck, backwards

42. Tale spun before lights-out: BEDTIME STORY - SEMI truck, backwards - Strangely, I was musing over the weekend WHY it's called a "semi" when it's typically more than half a vehicle ....😜 Read more here

It's a "semi" truck

50. "Wait, what did you just say?," or a hint to the circled letters in this puzzle:

"BACK UP THE TRUCK..." - This driver has some talent - I can't get my single boat trailer done right on the first try - but then again, they do this for a living - I hope you can watch the video, it's impressive

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Milk choice: SKIM - I start with the Down clues, had 2 & 3D. wrong, so my NW corner was a mess

5. Bra part: STRAP

10. Three-person card game: SKAT

14. Actress Kendrick: ANNA - name #1; her IMDb

You can't see her bra strap

15. Clamor: NOISE

16. Crafted: MADE - there's an "Art Box" on my walk in front of a home, and I would like to contribute something - I have decided to do some origami

Going with a sloth theme today

17. Bigfoot kin: YETI

18. "E," at Fenway: ERROR - a C.C. clue - baseball box score

No "E"s, but still a blowout

19. Like the NYSE at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on most weekdays: OPEN - the NY Stock Exchange; see 42D.

23. Rocker Quatro: SUZI - name #2 - her website

24. Drinks made with steamed milk: LATTES

30. "You're a riot": "HA-HA."

31. Not slack: TAUT

32. Fishing pole: ROD - could have been a name - I see ROD Stewart is on AARP magazine - Jeez, I am old . . . .

Still rockin' it at 80 yrs old

35. In need of a heating pad, say: ACHY - like me, about 1pm last Saturday

36. Online diaries: BLOGS - or crossword Corners~!

38. Run into a closet, say: HIDE - Then at some point, you'll have to come out of the closet

39. French pronoun: TOI - Frawnche for "You~!"

40. P.O. Box filler: MAIL

41. Box on a touchscreen: ICON - the icons of my touchscreen laptop

46. Prepares to run a marathon, say: TRAINS - I am not running any distance, any time soon, but I do like to walk my neighborhood every other day at 5am. Here's me trying to show up my trainer at the gym; he was brutal this past Saturday 😜

That's me on the left - er, right - the other dude is Brett from Big Sky

49. Go offstage: EXIT

55. Fairy tale meanie: OGRE

56. Speak from a podium: ORATE

57. Gram, to some: NANA - it was Granny for me

59. Dark film genre: NOIR

60. Show, as an old show: RERUN

61. Always and always: EVER - My brother got married Saturday, July 12th - got to hang briefly with Cooper - I am going to pet-sit the last week of September when they honeymoon

bother Kevin, new wife Jacquie, her sister and husband

62. Odds and __: ENDS

63. Entice: TEMPT

64. Appear to be: SEEM

DOWN:

1. "You __ 'goodbye,' and I __ 'hello'": SAY - not overly complicated lyrically, but one of my personal favorite Beatles songs

The Beatles - Hello, Goodbye - Paul the Lefty bassist

2. Was aware of: KNEW - I had ON TO

3. Digging: INTO - wrong kind of digging, I had "AT IT"

4. Backbone: MAINSTAY - good clue/answer, sort of Saturday-ish

5. React to pepper, perhaps: SNEEZE

6. Hot and heavy: TORRID

7. "Diamonds" singer, to fans: RI RI - HA~! I got burned by this in the May 28th 2025 puzzle at 11D. - I will not miss it again; Rhianna, more here - name #3

8. Since: AS OF - I tried FROM

9. Dangerous: PERILOUS - "I must face the peril~! NO~! It's too perilous~!" - Wendy had "PERIL" in the puzzle I blogged, and I posted this link then as well.

Monty Python & the Holy Grail

10. Like hair that's been flat-ironed: SMOOTH

11. No longer working: KAPUT

12. "Someone Like You" singer: ADELE - The constructor likes her; Adele appeared in Wendy's last LA Times construction; personally, I prefer "NO ONE Like You" . . . .name #4

Scorpions - No One Like You

13. Looks after: TENDS

21. The Bryan brothers of tennis, e.g.: DUO - name (ish)

22. Women's suffrage leader Carrie Chapman __: CATT name #5

25. "All __ and a bag of chips": THAT

Yup, she's "All THAT and a bag of chips~!"

26. Texas city between Dallas and Austin: WACO - TX shoutout to Anon and D-Otto

27. "Didn't expect to see you here!": "OH, HI~!"

28. Vodka brand whose label features a sketch of a Moscow hotel: STOLI - I expected an "abbr" in the clue, as the brand is actually Stolichnaya - but it makes no difference - they filed for bankruptcy . . . .

29. Zoom delay: LAG - Zoom, the online meeting format/app

32. Puerto __: RICO - name, but easy enough

33. Emission from rotting fruit: ODOR

34. Say no to: DENY

36. Sore loser, for one: BAD SPORT

37. Like a fun party: LIT

38. Pop favorites: HIT TUNES - Dah~! - I had HIT SONGS; 62.5% correct

40. Grubhub link: MENU

42. Hog enthusiasts: BIKERS - HOG as in Harley Davidson - the company's NYSE stock symbol

43. Get together: MEET UP

44. Scope: EXTENT

45. Title for London's mayor: SIR

46. Steakhouse order: T-BONE

47. Tease mercilessly: RAG ON - not TAUNT - but we already had Monty Python

48. Bitter-tasting: ACRID

51. Yoga pose that requires good balance: TREE - My balance is horrible - Brett gives me one-legged exercises that strain muscles I didn't know I had, and need to improve