Joseph Knecht

  YO YO YO YO Today we are privileged to have with us constructors Tom Pepper and Zhouqin Burnikel .  By my count this is Tom and C.C.'s 7th collaboration. The above clip was performed by Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad Project and is their take on the Goin' Home theme from Antonin Dvorak 's 9th Symphony ("From the New World").  I selected it for our intro as the first half of Yo-Yo Ma's surname is a homophone of the 1st syllable of the 1st word of Tom and C.C.'s 4 theme fills ... 17A. Hatha to Ashtanga?: YOGAS RANGE .  By my reckoning this is the only themer that is not pulling our legs.  I think RANGE here refers to the level of difficulty of the particular school of yoga, with HATHA being relatively easy, ranging through ASHTANGA which is the hardest .  I believe there are also other comparison schemes for the various schools of yoga.   Yoga Mandala 29A. Stuffed teddies that look like a green Jedi master?: YODA BEARS .  Actually there are such creatur...

  Rarely do I find a splash screen that explicitly reveals the reveal (see if you can spot it) ... Missed it?  Here it is ... 59. Rodentlike features, and a phonetic hint to a segment of 18-, 23-, 36-, and 50-Across: BEADY EYES . And without further ado, here are the 4 themers, provided to us by constructor John Michael Currie  ... 18A. Sea creature who lived across the Strait of Messina from Scylla: CHARYBDIS .  As described by Odysseus on his 10 year voyage home from the Trojan War (see also 46D ).  The phrase "between the Scylla and the Charybdis" is also a metaphor sometimes used for "being caught between the horns of a dilemma". Charybdis 23A. Objects for separating subjects: TAB DIVIDERS .  Meh. 36A. Seafood appetizer often seasoned with Old Bay: CRAB DIP . Teri's recipe for this popular Chesa...

Bucket Hats Today's splash screen is an Irish Rain hat, with the wool so tightly woven that it is completely water proof.  If it looks familiar, it's the same type of hat that I wear in my Blogger avatar (sans the feather, which I lost years ago).  I bought the first one from Avoca Weavers in Ireland 25 years ago and I'm now on my third.  They are also available in the USA and via mail order from Ireland. They go by other names as well.   Our constructor Joseph Marquez , who is making his LAT debut today, calls them Bucket Hats . I've not heard that term before, but I suspect that if need be my hat could actually hold water like a bucket. 😀. Joseph's puzzle uses sets of of circled squares arranged in the shape of buckets to contain the name of 4 different types of hats.  Since this becomes obvious almost immediately, we'll start with the reveal -- 65A. Headwear featured four times in this puzzle: BUCKET HAT .  --  and as shown by th...