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Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
CROSSWORD SETTER: Steve Marron
THEME: There’s No I in Team … each of today’s themed answers is the name of a sports team, but the letter I has been omitted. Because, “there’s no I in team”.
61A. Sports cliché that explains 17-, 28-, 35- and 47-Across THERE’S NO I IN TEAM
17A. Pennsylvania athletes PTTSBURGH PRATES (Pittsburgh Pirates)
28A. Florida athletes MAM DOLPHNS (Miami Dolphins)
35A. Illinois athletes CHCAGO FRE (Chicago Fire)
47A. Michigan athletes DETROT LONS (Detroit Lions)
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 16m 38s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … EBW (EEW!!!), Catbert (Cate Ert!!!)
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
8. Pulley wheel SHEAVE
Even though the word “sheave” is used interchangeably with “pulley”, the sheave is actually the pulley’s grooved wheel, over which runs a rope or belt.
17. Pennsylvania athletes PTTSBURGH PRATES (Pittsburgh Pirates)
The Pittsburgh Pirates (nicknamed the Bucs or Buccos) joined baseball’s National League in 1887 just six years after the league was formed. The Pirates played in the first ever World Series in 1903, and won their first World Series in 1909.
19. “Charlotte’s Web” monogram EBW
Elwyn Brooks (E. B.) White was an American writer. His most famous creations were the children’s stories “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little”, but he also co-authored the writing guide “The Elements of Style” (usually referred to as “Strunk & White”).
“Charlotte’s Web” is a children’s novel by author E. B. White. Charlotte is a barn spider, who manages to save the life of a pig named Wilbur. Wilbur is a pet pig, owned by the farmer’s daughter, Fern Arable. The story also includes a gluttonous rat called Templeton who provides some light and comical moments.
21. Word of suspicion, to Tweety TAWT
“I tawt I taw a puddy tat!” is a famous line uttered by Tweety Bird, the yellow canary in the “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons who is constantly stalked by various cats.
26. Langley-based org. CIA
The CIA headquarters is located in Langley, Virginia in a complex called the George Bush Center for Intelligence, named for former Director of the CIA and US President George H. W. Bush.
27. Maritime raptor ERNE
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle, and the sea-eagle.
“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.
28. Florida athletes MAM DOLPHNS (Miami Dolphins)
The Miami Dolphins football team was founded in 1966 by politician Joe Robbie and the comedian Danny Thomas.
32. Booyah, e.g. STEW
Booyah is a thick soup or stew that is quite common in the Upper Midwest of the US. It is thought that the dish originated in Belgium, with the name “booyah” deriving from the French word “bouillir” meaning “to boil”.
33. Tax shelter initials IRA
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
34. Gray wrote one in a country churchyard ELEGY
An elegy is a mournful poem or funeral song, also known as a dirge. Perhaps the most famous elegy in the English language is that written by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750. His “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is the source of many oft-quoted phrases, including:
– Celestial fire
– Far from the Madding Crowd
– Kindred spirit
35. Illinois athletes CHCAGO FRE (Chicago Fire)
The Chicago Fire is the name of the city’s professional soccer team. The Fire were founded in 1997, and are named for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
39. Teatime choice ASSAM
Assam is a state in the very northeast of India, just south of the Himalayas. Assam is noted for its tea as well as its silk.
42. “Un-PC” was added to it in 2014 OED
The “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) contains over 300,000 “main” entries and 59 million words in total. It is said it would take a single person 120 years to type it out in full. The longest entry for one word in the second edition of the OED is the verb “set”. When the third edition was published in 2007, the longest entry for a single word became the verb “put”. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most-quoted author in the OED is William Shakespeare, with his most quoted work being “Hamlet”. The most-quoted female author is George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans).
To be “un-PC” is to be politically incorrect, not be politically correct (PC).
43. “Take a Chance on Me” group ABBA
I am an unapologetic fan of ABBA’s music. ABBA was of course the Swedish group who topped the charts in the seventies and eighties. The name ABBA is an acronym formed from the first letters of the given names of each of the band members, namely: Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid.
47. Michigan athletes DETROT LONS (Detroit Lions)
The Detroit Lions are the NFL team that plays home games at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The team was founded way back in 1929 as the Portsmouth Spartans from Portsmouth, Ohio. The Spartans joined the NFL during the Great Depression as other franchises collapsed. However, the Spartans couldn’t command a large enough gate in Portsmouth so the team was sold and relocated to Detroit in 1934.
50. Company headquartered in Trollhättan SAAB
SAAB stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. SAAB was, and still is, mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. A Chinese consortium purchased the assets of SAAB Automotive in 2012, and so SAAB vehicles are in production again. The new vehicles are using the SAAB name, but cannot use the SAAB griffin logo, the rights to which have been retained by the mother company.
Trollhättan is a city in Sweden located about 75 km north of Gothenburg, in the southwest of the country.
54. “Let it be” STET
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.
60. Düsseldorf distances: Abbr. KMS
The city of Düsseldorf lies in the west of Germany, fairly close to the border with France, and sits on the River Rhine.
65. Family feud VENDETTA
“Vendetta” is the Italian word for a blood feud, and is especially associated with the island of Corsica.
Down
1. Electrical units AMPERES
The unit of electric current is the ampere, abbreviated correctly to “A” rather than “amp”. It is named after French physicist André-Marie Ampère, one of the main scientists responsible for the discovery of electromagnetism.
2. Scott Adams’ Evil Director of Human Resources CATBERT
Dogbert is a character in the Scott Adams comic strip “Dilbert”. Dogbert celebrates his birthday on June 8, which also happens to be the birthday of Scott Adams himself. Dilbert bumps up against a character called Catbert quite a lot. Catbert is the “evil director of human resources” at Dilbert’s place of work.
4. Grafton’s “__ for Ricochet” R IS
Sue Grafton writes detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and is working her way through the alphabet, most recently publishing “’W’ is for Wasted” in 2009. Apparently Ms. Grafton is working on her “X is for …” novel, and has already decided that “Z is for Zero” will be the final title in the series. What a clever naming system!
5. Rum desserts BABAS
Rum baba (also “baba au rhum” in French) is a small yeast cake saturated in rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream. Rum baba is derived from the recipe for the tall “babka” yeast cake that was introduced to the world by the Polish communities. The Polish words “baba” and “babka” mean “old woman” or “grandmother” in English. I guess someone must have thought that all grandmothers were saturated in rum!
6. Post-op areas ICUS
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
7. Red Sox great Yastrzemski CARL
“Yaz” is the nickname for Carl Yastrzemski, a baseball player who spent his whole career with the Boston Red Sox.
8. The tenth Muse, to Plato SAPPHO
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet born on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sappho was much admired for her work, although very little of it survives today. She was renowned for writing erotic and romantic verse that dealt with the love of women as well as men. It was because of this poetry that the word “lesbian” (someone from Lesbos) is used to describe a gay woman.
Plato wrote the following lines:
Some say the Muses are nine: how careless!
Look, there’s Sappho too, from Lesbos, the tenth.
9. Old TV knob HOR
Remember the “horizontal hold” (HOR) and “vertical hold” (VER) on old TV sets? Our kids have no idea what we had to go through …
10. Proof word ERAT
QED is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. The QED initialism stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.
11. Diplomatic official ATTACHE
Attaché is a French term which literally means “attached”, and is used for a person who is assigned to the administrative staff of some agency or other service. The term is most recognized as it applies to someone assigned to an Ambassador’s staff at an embassy. The word was extended to “attaché case” at the beginning of the twentieth century, meaning a leather case used for carrying papers, perhaps by an attaché at an embassy.
13. “Understanding is a kind of __”: Sagan ECSTASY
Carl Sagan was a brilliant astrophysicist and a great communicator. Sagan was famous for presenting obscure concepts about the cosmos in such a way that we mere mortals could appreciate. He also wrote the novel “Contact” which was adapted into a fascinating 1997 film of the same name starring Jodie Foster.
15. Part of XXL: Abbr. LGE
Extra Extra Large (XXL)
23. Air freshener scent NEW CAR
Most of what we call that “new car smell” comes from adhesives and sealers that are holding together various plastic components in the automobile’s interior. In fact, there is concern in some quarters that the compounds giving new car smell might pose a health risk.
25. Ray or Jay ALER
The Tampa Bay Rays are a relatively “young” franchise, being formed in 1998. The initial name of the franchise was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. While known as the Devil Rays, the team finished last in the league in almost every year. The name was changed to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, and I am told the Rays started into a streak of winning seasons soon after.
The Toronto Blue Jays baseball franchise was founded in 1977. The Blue Jays are the only team based outside the US to have won a World Series, doing so in 1992 and 1993. And since the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, the Blue Jays are the only Major League Baseball team now headquartered outside of the US.
28. Emcee’s aid MIC
The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism standing for Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.
29. The Era of __: period in Notre Dame sports lore ARA
Ara Parseghian coached the Notre Dame football team from 1964 to 1974, a period known as “The Era of Ara”.
30. Toon with a cat named Bowser MAGOO
Mr. Quincy Magoo is a wonderful cartoon character voiced by Jim Backus. Backus is probably equally well-known for playing Mr. Magoo as well as Thurston Howell, III on “Gilligan’s Island”. Mr. Magoo first appeared on the screen in a short called “The Ragtime Bear” in 1949. His persona was at least in part based on the antics of W. C. Fields. Backus originally used a fake rubber nose that pinched his nostrils in order to create the distinctive voice, although in time he learned to do the voice without the prop. My absolute favorite appearance by Mr. Magoo is in “Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol”, a true classic from the sixties. There was a movie adaptation of “Mr Magoo” released in 1997, with Leslie Nielsen playing the title role.
36. Health care orgs. HMOS
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
37. Vintner’s prefix OEN-
In Greek mythology Oeno was the goddess of wine, giving us “oen-” as a prefix meaning “wine”. Oenology, for example, is the study of wine.
38. Hose users: Abbr. FDS
Fire department (FD)
39. Words on the Royal Canadian Air Force badge AD ASTRA
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is also known as the Aviation royale canadienne (ARC). The RCAF is a partner with the USAF in providing protection to the whole of the North American airspace in the arrangement known as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command). The RCAF’s motto is “Sic Itur as Astra”, which translates from Latin as “Such is the Pathway to the Stars”.
41. “__ of Philadelphia”: Oscar-winning song STREETS
“Streets of Philadelphia” is a song written by Bruce Springsteen for the 1993 film “Philadelphia” starring Tom Hanks as a gay man suffering from AIDS. The song won the Best Original Song Oscar as well as four Grammy Awards.
45. Long-grained Asian rice BASMATI
Basmati is a long grain rice that is commonly used in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. The name “basmati” comes from the Sanskrit word “vasmati” meaning “fragrant”. I am a big fan …
49. Property encumbrance LIEN
A lien is the right that one has to retain or secure someone’s property until a debt is paid.
53. Eiffel’s world MONDE
“Monde” is French for “world”.
Gustave Eiffel was the French civil engineer who famously designed the Eiffel Tower.
57. Fall mo. NOV
November is the eleventh month in our calendar. The name comes from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”, as November was the ninth month in the ancient Roman calendar.
58. “Mon __!” DIEU
“Mon Dieu” is French for “my God”.
62. Sinusitis-treating MD ENT
Ear, Nose and Throat specialist (ENT)
The suffix “-itis” is used to denote inflammation, as in laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx) and sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses).
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Biting ACERBIC
8. Pulley wheel SHEAVE
14. Beyond enthusiastic MANIACAL
16. __ arch: blood vessel section AORTIC
17. Pennsylvania athletes PTTSBURGH PRATES (Pittsburgh Pirates)
19. “Charlotte’s Web” monogram EBW
20. Like dreamers, often ASLEEP
21. Word of suspicion, to Tweety TAWT
22. Steering aids REINS
24. __ moment AHA
26. Langley-based org. CIA
27. Maritime raptor ERNE
28. Florida athletes MAM DOLPHNS (Miami Dolphins)
32. Booyah, e.g. STEW
33. Tax shelter initials IRA
34. Gray wrote one in a country churchyard ELEGY
35. Illinois athletes CHCAGO FRE (Chicago Fire)
39. Teatime choice ASSAM
42. “Un-PC” was added to it in 2014 OED
43. “Take a Chance on Me” group ABBA
47. Michigan athletes DETROT LONS (Detroit Lions)
50. Company headquartered in Trollhättan SAAB
51. Fizzy prefix AER-
52. Words before hear or see SO I
53. Needing to be picked up MESSY
54. “Let it be” STET
56. Address label words SEND TO
60. Düsseldorf distances: Abbr. KMS
61. Sports cliché that explains 17-, 28-, 35- and 47-Across THERE’S NO I IN TEAM
64. Make final adjustments to, as a concert piano RETUNE
65. Family feud VENDETTA
66. They may be intangible ASSETS
67. Setting piece UTENSIL
Down
1. Electrical units AMPERES
2. Scott Adams’ Evil Director of Human Resources CATBERT
3. Wrap around ENTWINE
4. Grafton’s “__ for Ricochet” R IS
5. Rum desserts BABAS
6. Post-op areas ICUS
7. Red Sox great Yastrzemski CARL
8. The tenth Muse, to Plato SAPPHO
9. Old TV knob HOR
10. Proof word ERAT
11. Diplomatic official ATTACHE
12. Taking in VIEWING
13. “Understanding is a kind of __”: Sagan ECSTASY
15. Part of XXL: Abbr. LGE
18. Proceed HEAD
23. Air freshener scent NEW CAR
25. Ray or Jay ALER
28. Emcee’s aid MIC
29. The Era of __: period in Notre Dame sports lore ARA
30. Toon with a cat named Bowser MAGOO
31. Satisfy PLEASE
36. Health care orgs. HMOS
37. Vintner’s prefix OEN-
38. Hose users: Abbr. FDS
39. Words on the Royal Canadian Air Force badge AD ASTRA
40. Is ready to blow SEETHES
41. “__ of Philadelphia”: Oscar-winning song STREETS
44. Court scores BASKETS
45. Long-grained Asian rice BASMATI
46. Beyond poor ABYSMAL
48. Pre-game decision makers TOSSES
49. Property encumbrance LIEN
53. Eiffel’s world MONDE
55. Level TRUE
57. Fall mo. NOV
58. “Mon __!” DIEU
59. Salon treatment TINT
62. Sinusitis-treating MD ENT
63. Top __ TEN
Tough, tough puzzle – its Friday, (you) fool ….
I first thought the Dilbert character was 'the pointy haired boss'. 😉 Of course, I now remember ( the evil – ) Catbert.
As a part of my studies in Dynamics, Applied mechanics and mech. engineering – I studied all sorts of pulleys – and never came across a 'sheave'. I guess thats the difference between logical engineers and esoteric linguists.
I, for one, greatly admire George Bush ('W') – but, tongue in cheek, I'm sure there are some who would think of the George Bush Center for Intelligence, as an oxymoron. ;-D)
Basmati could be translated, more as, 'producing a smell – as in fragrance'. However, there are a hundred varieties of the name, and some products are simply terrible. I prefer the 'Tilda' brand, packaged in England. A study of the detailed DNA of the various samples of rice, ( conducted by food authorities in the UK – ) showed extensive mislabelling and contamination of other varieties and just plain, simple adulteration. So sad.
Although the Basmati rice in the US costs only $2 / lb., I use it only 10% of the time…. In my subconscious mind, I guess I associate it with a hedonistic life style – like imbibing champagne, for instance. Some attitudes get ingrained into your own DNA …
Have a nice day and weekend, you all.
Champagne hedonistic? Not at all; the great gourmet, Andre Simon, who lived to be 93, attributed his longevity and good health to a diet including Champagne on a daily basis. Cheers!
Agreed – it was a very tough puzzle, but I very much enjoyed the theme. I only needed a couple of Googles which is a minor victory for me on a Friday.
Shakespeare "only" used about 40,000 of the 300,000 words (or a variation of them) in the OED. However, if you rank all the words he used in order of number of times used, the top 200 words comprised 40% of everything he wrote. Remember that if you ever want to learn a foreign language. 200 words (plus basic grammar) gives you a pretty good critical mass of knowledge that allows you to learn the rest relatively quickly.
Booyah Stew? Really??
Have a great weekend all –
Just finished. Catching on to the theme really, really helped me complete this puzzle. For the longest time I was dead in the water until I had an epiphany (or should that more rightly be "epphany" in honor of today's theme?).
@Vidwan827 – At first I was trying to decide between the two characters in Dilbert, "Dogbert" and "Catbert" – not quite remembering which was the evil HR character and which was the evil consultant character until I recalled a classic like by Dogbert when he explained to Dilbert why he was a "consultant" because he loved to "con" people and "insult" people. That made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes.
Hi gang, First off, I thought the L.A times doesn't publish puzzles like this. I suppose it's not a rebus, but I liken this one to the deliberately misspelled word puzzle Willie D and I complained about.
Started with ABBA and got the theme quickly, but really got hung up on the fill.
SHEAVE, ASSAM, AER, ELEGY, and more.
I just KNOW how much Sfingi adored this one. ^0^
Anyway, promised the two songs from yesterday in which the melody is almost identical in the first six bars.
FALLING RAIN
COLORS OF THE WIND
My nit for the day is RETUNE. The piano tuning process is long and tedious. The tuner puts a felt wedge in between the three-string upper notes and tunes one string at a time,then repeats the process on the other two.(only two strings on the lower notes)
When it's done, it's done.
To RETUNE a piano means that the tuner has to be called BACK because it was a lousy job.
So there. 😉
Two points: 1. I agree with Pookie on retune. The clue is not accurate. 2. 23D – air freshened scent does not equal new car, plain and simple. A new car scent is not an air freshened scent, it's a chemical scent. Otherwise, interesting and challenging and clever puzzle for which I got the theme almost immediately.
Freshener is what I typed; darn iPhone …
Pookie, I listened to both the songs and could not detect any similarity. You must be a very proficient and prescient musician to note ( pun ) the differences, if any. Both are very nice songs and I am relaxed after listening to them.
As for the new car scent – its ethylene oxide, and glycol and paint thinner and naugahyde varnish-glue. I don't think you can get it in a aerosol. The clue is just crosswordese. Plus the smell is probably carcinogenic, or should be.
@Musical Novice – Can't get "New Car Smell" as an air freshener? Au contraire, mon frere: http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-AIR10116-Freshener-Eliminator/dp/B002J7VX4Y (g)
Gotta go with Tony on this one. every time I get my car washed (heaven forbid I ever wash my own), "new car scent" is always one of the air freshener options they give me along with lemon-lime, raspberry and whatever. It doesn't mimic a new car scent very well, but it is marketed as such.
Hmm, I thought "booyah" was a reference to Stuart Scott, the late ESPN host. "Boo-ya!" was his trademark slogan.
Sports-bah humbug. Not knowing one team from another left huge holes. I did get Abba and Elegy right away, but having Dogbert messed me up. Had a basicly blank puzzle w/o Google.
I agree w/ Jeff abt 200 foreign words. A good map and 200 words will get you around Paris quite well.
Bella
I bought a little spray bottle of "New Car Smell" at a carwash once. I wouldn't call it an air "freshener" as it smells more like plastic than fresh air.
I thought Booyah was the US Marine yell. But that is apparently Oo rah. The origin of Booyah is probably cajun Louisiana although there is a casserole by that name common is Wisconsin. The Marine Oo rah and the old college cheer Boolah Boolah might have combined for Booyah. Jim Cramer on CNBC uses the term a lot. He claims a caller from Louisiana used it to express happiness over an investment advice on his show. Now callers to "Mad Money" always begin with "Booyah" insead of hello.
Totally agree with the issue on RETUNE. My son the piano tuner would take offense.
Pookie, I agree with you on the intentional misspellings in grids. When I finally understood the theme, I groaned. And not because my abdomen aches from coughing.
I love sports grids. Y'all can hate them to the ends of the earth, but I hate movie theme puzzles. Stuart Scott was the man. He reinvented sports reporting. Aside from "Boo-ya," he also coined, "Holla," "he must be butter, 'cause he's on a roll," "like gravy on a buscuit, it's all good," and "he's cooler than the other side of the pillow."
I've been told Jim Cramer appropriated the "boo-yah" phrase on his Mad Money TV show, which I avoid.
Hello fellow solvers. I've been catching up on the puzzles due to being under the weather with one thing or another for a while. I finally caught up today. I actually thought this was easier for a Friday than the last few Fridays. Got the theme right away but definitely needed it to solve. Still many new things for me (as always) – babas, sheave, ad astra to name a few. Even though I've not been commenting I've been reading the blog faithfully. Still amazed how much work Bill puts into it. On that note, I do have one tiny correction for you, Bill, if you are interested. It was the Dr. Watson puzzle from a few days ago, the Elementary character is Joan Watson not Jane Watson. It probably doesn't even matter now, just FYI. Keep up the good work! Thanks.
Great theme — I "accidentally" noticed PTTSBURGHPRATES when I arrived at the blog, and the other themed answers fell right into place. Of course, not so for the rest of the grid. Lotsa new terms.
I agree though, puzzles with misspelled words/missing letters are dishonest, in a manner of speaking. I wish there were a disclaimer at the start. Merle Reagle, our Sunday print-version guy, has such disclaimers.
Happy weekend, amigos!
"Ray or Jay" — I just couldn't get past thinking that I was looking for a surname. … Even after checking your blog, I still thought that ALER had to be someone who played for both the Rays and the Jays. You could have been more explicit that the answer meant American Leaguer! (Some of are just too obtuse. 😉
@GWRoss
Apologies for not expanding on that ALER clue. I'm afraid that I have to skip over a lot of clues, just due to time constraints. I am terrible when it comes to sports and so often show poor judgment in that area 🙂
@mtnwest
Thanks for catching that "Joan/Jane Watson slip, and for taking the time to point it out. All fixed now. Hopefully I will get the characters name right the next time it appears in a puzzle, as I am sure it will!