Thursday, January 9, 2025, Jem Burch

 

A, E, I, O, U
and sometimes Y. 

Today's constructor, Yale linguistics major Jem Burch is making his LAT debut and takes us back to elementary school to relearn our vowel sounds and to demonstrate some of the vagaries of English spelling and pronunciation.  His theme clues had me stumped for awhile -- they are identified only by being the 5 longest answers in the grid and they are not intended as a solving aid, but rather a second puzzle you can solve if you want to understand the theme ...

The first thing you notice is that the first word of each theme answer begins with the letters SH, but the rest of the letters don't seem to follow any pattern.  But when I moved them in order to the top of this review for explication, they made a bit more sense -- the remaining letters of the first word make the sound of the long vowels:  Ā, Ē, Ī, Ō, and Ū  i.e. ...

16A. Old New York ball field: SHEA STADIUM.  SHĀ.  Shea Stadium (/ʃeɪ/ SHAY), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. Opened in 1964, it was home to the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1964 to 2008, as well as the New York Jets of the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1983.

Shea Stadium

23A. Hit that one critic called "the original 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah' song": SHE LOVES YOU.  SHĒ. 

38A. Recoil (from): SHY AWAY.   SHĪ.  Here's Shy Away by Twenty One Pilots ...

50A. Class presentation: SHOW AND TELL. SHŌ.  Here's Show and Tell by Jerry Fuller sung by Al Wilson ...

59A. Some Dr. Scholl's products: SHOE INSERTS.   SHŪ.  I couldn't find any songs about SHOES, but I did find this INSERT in the Sunday funnies ...

Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest.

Across:

 1. Shoots the breeze: CHATS.

6. Forest denizen: DEER.  Cue Bambi meets Godzilla (sound track by Gioachino Rossini) ...

 10. Disc golf target: PAR.  Nice misdirection.  In disc golf the "hole" you target is called a basket, but your score on this basket helps determine whether you make PAR ...

Disc golf basket

13. Metropolis in north central India: DELHI.  Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. 

14. Spanish diacritic: TILDE.  The tilde is also used in Portuguese.  It looks like this ... 

15. Historic name of Tokyo: EDO.  The history of Tokyo, Japan's capital prefecture and largest city, starts with archeological remains in the area dating back around 5,000 years. Tokyo's oldest temple is possibly Sensō-ji in Asakusa, founded in 628. The city's original name, Edo, first appears in the 12th century. From 1457 to 1640, Edo Castle was constructed, and was the city's center.

Ceramic jar
Edo 300 BC to 300 AD

16. [Theme clue]

18. Orinoco, por ejemplo: RIO.  Today's Spanish lesson: RIO = "river".  The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America.  It is also the namesake for Orinoco Flow, a popular song by the Irish singer/songwriter Enya ...

19. Boston hrs.: EST.  Eastern Standard Time.

20. Short greetings: HIS.

21. "Ready to go!": I'M SET.

23. [Theme clue]

27. Guinea primate: BABOON.  The Guinea baboon inhabits a small area in western Africa. Its range includes Guinea, Senegal, Gambia, southern Mauritania and western Mali. Its habitat includes dry forests, gallery forests, and adjoining bush savannas or steppes.

Guinea baboon

30. "Here we gooooo!": ITS ON.

31. Nearly identical: ALIKE.

32. Make an acquaintance: MEET.  More casual than a MEET CUTE -- like When Harry Met Sally --which can get pretty intense.

34. Cry one's eyes out: BAWL.  If someone bawls you out, you might cry your eyes out.

37. Chili __ carne: CON.  Here's Chef Jimmy Lee's award winning recipe.

Chile con carne

38. [Theme clue]

41. "Eternals" actress McHugh: LIA.  Lia Ryan McHugh (born November 18, 2005) is an American actress. She has roles in Totem (2017), The Lodge, and Into the Dark (both 2019). She portrayed Sprite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Eternals (2021). 

Lia McHugh

42. Brewery containers: KEGS.  Popular at frat parties -- see 49A.
 
44. Defib pros: EMTS.  Emergency Medical Technicians are first responders to an emergency and specialize in keeping victims alive while they are being transported to a hospital.  They are experts in the use of defibrillators for restarting the heart of heart attack victims.

The Star of Life
Symbol of emergency medical service.

45. Once more: AGAIN.

47. "Otello," for one: OPERA.  An opera about pure evil -- here is the character Iago with his signature aria Credo in un dio crudel ("I believe in a cruel god"), sung by baritone Efilzeo di Reggio ...

49. Greek life inductee: PLEDGE.  Strictly speaking a PLEDGE is a candidate for induction into a fraternity or sorority (aka "Greek life").  They may need to pass a controversial trial period called "hazing" before being actually inducted.  Note that this does not apply to inductees invited to become members of honorary associations such as the Phi Beta Kappa society.

50. [Theme clue].

53. Mazda model: MIATA.  Here's a 2025 Mazda Miata ...
 

54. P-like Greek letter: RHO.   

55. Chicken __: POX.  Chickenpox is an illness caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It brings on an itchy rash with small, fluid-filled blisters. Chickenpox spreads very easily to people who haven't had the disease or haven't gotten the chickenpox vaccine. Chickenpox used to be a widespread problem, but today the vaccine protects children from it.  This virus lies dormant in those who have had it and may re-emerge in older people as a more serious variant called shingles.  You should ask your doctor if and when you should be vaccinated for it.

58. Not feeling well: ILL.  E.g. after contracting 55A.

59. [Theme clue]

64. "haha": LOL. Meh.

65. Salad tossers: TONGS.  We use a large spoon and fork for tossing our salads ...

... and we use TONGS for serving tossed salads and steamed greens ...

66. Like some gases: INERT.  An inert gas is a gas that does not readily undergo chemical reactions with other chemical substances and therefore does not readily form chemical compounds.  This includes the so called "Noble gases" shown below in column 18 of the Periodic Table.  Some unreactive gases like Nitrogen and Carbon dioxide, both essential components of organic matter, do form chemical compounds under certain conditions.  It was subsequently found that some of the Noble gases can be forced to form compounds under specially created conditions. 

67. Twisty letter: ESS.  A vowel and the endings for two plurals.  What's not to like!

68. Some members of a flock: EWES. The others are RAMS and LAMBS.

69. Test for purity: ASSAY.

Down:

1. Some credit union accts.: CDS.  A certificate of deposit (CD) is a type of savings account that pays a fixed interest rate on money held for an agreed-upon period of time. The best CD rates are usually higher than savings accounts, but you lose withdrawal flexibility. If you withdraw your CD funds early, you'll be charged a penalty.

2. Texter's giggle: HE HE.  Very funny! 😀

3. Brewery stock: ALES.

4. "Not a problem": THAT'S OK.

5. Certain sib: SIS.

6. Schoolyard retort: DID SO.

7. Yale grad: ELI.  A nickname derived from Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) whose bequest made the creation of Yale University possible.  Yale was a British-American colonial administrator, born in Boston, Massachusetts. Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, and India (and a CSO to our constructor Jem Burch who is an Eli). 

Elihu Yale
Enoch Seeman

8. Yale URL suffix: EDU.  

9. Hardly diligent: REMISS.

10. Outmoded dating profile: PERSONAL AD.  Some personal ads were more personal than others (at least in Colorado).  I hope I don't get flooded with ISOs just for researching this one. 😀

11. "Toodle-oo": ADIEU.  TA TA was too short.

12. Square __: ROOT.  Today's math lesson: "the square root of a number X is the number Y such that (Y times Y) = X".  The notation for a square root in a formula is called a radical sign, and looks like this:

14. Dog, or a dog's body part: TAIL.  Clever clue.

17. In that case: THEN.

22. "Don't be nosy!" shorthand: MYOB.  Mind Your Own Business!  A text response to a request for TMI?

24. Breaks up a plot: HOES.

25. Instagram video tally: VIEWS.

26. James of jazz: ETTA.  Here Etta sings the Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler classic Stormy Weather ...

27. Endorse: BACK.

28. Soothing plant: ALOE.

29. Places to play a card game?: BINGO HALLS.  POKER TABLES was too long.

32. Greeting to one of the boys: MY MAN.

33. "Have some": EAT.

35. Kristen of "Palm Royale": WIIG.  Palm Royale is a period comedy-drama television series created by Abe Sylvia, based on the 2018 novel Mr. & Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel. The series premiered on March 20, 2024.  Set in 1969, outsider Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons (Kristen Wiig) strives to attain a place in the high society of Palm Beach, Florida, through the town's most exclusive country club, the Palm Royale, in the process learning what she will and won't do to achieve this status ... 

36. Bowler's assignment: LANE.  Definitely not an ALLEY.

39. Greek goddess of childbirth: HERA.  Hera is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus (and forever on the watch for his roving eye). 

The goddess Hera

40. Southern pronoun: Y'ALL.

43. Watch out for at the gym, maybe: SPOT.

46. Coloring book options: GEL PENS.  A gel pen uses ink in which pigment is suspended in a water-based gel. Because the ink is thick and opaque, it shows up more clearly on slick surfaces than the typical inks used in ballpoint or felt tip pens.  Here's one in action ...

48. Old computer parts, e.g.: E-WASTE.   Electronic waste (or E-WASTE) is a result of the growing consumption of electronic goods due to the Digital Revolution and innovations in science and technology, such as bitcoin, which have led to a global e-waste problem and hazard. The rapid exponential increase of e-waste is due to frequent new model releases and unnecessary purchases of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), short innovation cycles and low recycling rates, and a drop in the average life span of computers.  Here are some myths about e-waste.

E-Waste

49. Laborer: PEON.  Especially an exploited laborer.  

Exploited peons 
being punished in Chile or Peru, 1862.
by American tycoon Henry Meiggs 

50. Grain containers: SILOS.

51. Bottom of the barrel: DREGS.

52. Taylor Swift's "__ Is Me Trying": THIS.  Cue the weekly Taylor Swift song ...

53. Marathon unit: MILE.  Our son is a marathoner and if you ask him why the race is 26.2 miles long his reply is always "because 26.3 miles would be crazy!".

56. Miner's quarry: ORES.

57. Additional, in adspeak: XTRA.

60. Word of awe: HOW.  HOW did this all happen?

61. Small bill: ONE.

62. Australian singer featured on the hit "Titanium": SIA.  Here's Sia's Titanium co-written with David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort, and Afrojack...

63. Hog pen: STY.

Cheers, 

Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley