google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, June 12, 2015, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

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Jun 12, 2015

Friday, June 12, 2015, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel


Theme: Marketing 101: add an ad.

What a last 4 weeks with Jeffrey Wechsler, John Lampkin, and now Don and C.C. They had this Tea Party puzzle in April. It is only fitting that this team kick off the weekend of the Fourth Annual Minnesota Crossword set for this Sunday, the 14th, here at the Corner.

This time we have an add an AD to a recognizable two word phrase, with the first three added to the middle of the first word, the last to the beginning of the final word. While an outlier, I love the quote from Thelonious Monk. The rest of the puzzle has the now usual mix of deceptively clued facts or not too well known proper names which make the fill a challenge.  Some sparkle in the intermediate length answers like ATHENA, AUSTIN,  BROKAW,  CREEPO,  ESALEN,  MOROSE, SPARTA,   ELECTIVE, SPARE RIB, UPSTAGES with the use of some double words to make the challenge greater MUD PIE, SPOT ON, TONE UP, LADY DI, and  LIE AWAKE. Overall not an easy puzzle but a fun Friday.

17A. Sheep and cows grazing together? : MEADOW MIX (9). Meow Mix. A little cat food transforms to big animal fodder.

30A. Taking turns ranting? : TIRADE ROTATION (14). Tire rotation.

48A. Spy industry? : SHADOW BUSINESS (14). My favorite. Show business.

63A. Monk's "The piano ain't got no wrong notes," e.g? : JAZZ ADAGE (9). Jazz Age.
and the reveal:

60D. Court term, and hint to this puzzle's four longest answers : AD IN. It is cool how constructors see these phrases as the building block of a puzzle.

Across:

1. Oilman who once owned the New York Jets : HESS. He bought out his partners and hired Bill Parcells. LINK. Hess gas station recently became Speedway. What will happen to the trucks?

5. Voucher : CHIT. A very common fill.

9. "MacGyver" actor Dana : ELCAR. I recall this odd looking man, but confused the LC as CL for a bit.

14. "Happy Starts Here" food company : ALPO.  LINK. (0:15).

15. Something about us all? : AURA. Cute, about us not about us....

16. Lash of Westerns : LARUE. A different time and place. LINK.(14:36).

19. Latin clarifier : ID EST. i. e.

20. Rough projection : CRAG.

21. __ Flags : SIX. Theme parks.

23. Brand of coolers : YETI. No idea; are THEY big in Minnesota?

24. Chateau __ Michelle winery : STE.

25. "... the __ below / As hush as death ... ": "Hamlet" : ORB.

28. Chocolate dessert : MUD PIE. Cookies have taken over the RECIPES but as long as I get my coffee ice cream and hot fudge, I am happy. Not related to our fill from a few weeks ago.

34. Baleful : EVIL. We hit a sour patch here. Baleful is not a common word.

35. Sullen : MOROSE.

36. Char-Broil competitor : WEBER. We have to leave our grills out back as we have no open patios.

38. Last state to be admitted to the U.S. before the start of the Civil War : KANsas.

39. French toast : SALUT. Not the common "à votre santé."

44. Big Sur retreat : ESALEN. This institute was quite popular in the 60s and 70s; want to know MORE?

47. Morning co-host : RIPA. You think she works out?

52. Precise : SPOT ON. A very popular phrase these days.

53. Kung __ shrimp : PAO. Very food intensive grid. YUMMY? HATED?

54. Took sides? : ATE. Great deception, I love the choice of sides at Boston Market.(more food).

55. Lattice strip : LATH.

56. Nigerian culinary staple : YAM. I had no idea. LEARN. (food)

59. Tot's glassful : WAWA.

61. Diner unit : ORDER. (food).

67. Right wrongs : ATONE. As our major religious day is the one of ATONEMENT this could not be easier. I point out, it also parses as AT ONE, which also describes the goal of mankind to be AT ONE with each other and the divine. You remember the quote?

68. "Land for sale" sign datum : AREA.

69. Its logo uses Sweden's national colors : IKEA.

70. Trouble : NAG AT. I do not get this clue/fill.

71. Phoned : RANG. Ah the old days, when we rang people up.

72. Costner role : NESS.


Down:

1. Pork cut : HAM. and the nearby clecho 3A. Pork cut : SPARE RIB. A continuation of a food mini-theme.

2. Student's option : ELECTIVE. Most use these to find easy courses to pad their GPA.

4. Pop : SODA. Not father related, but the predominately Midwest concept for carbonated beverages.

5. Call in a field : CAW. From a crow haunting your corn field.

6. White noise, perhaps : HUM. HMM.

7. Tennessee state flower : IRIS. Had absolutely no idea but 4 letter flowers are limited. A rose by any other name?

8. Waiter at O'Hare : TAXI. Nice deception, slowed me a bit.

9. Country's __ Young Band : ELI. An example of what for me is an obscure proper name, though they are playing in Winsted, MN at the Winstock Country Music Festival tomorrow. No link, I could not find one without extensive ads.

10. Prince George's grandma : LADY DI. I wonder if she would have enjoyed being a grandmother?

11. Lowlife, slangily : CREEPO.

12. Southernmost 48-states capital : AUSTIN. Many people forget this is the capital of Texas, though I had a roommate born and raised there, so I knew.

13. Get even with again : RETIE. More deception, not revenge but a tying score. 37D. More than modify : REDO.

18. Prayer opener : O GOD.

22. Brief holiday? : XMAS. When I was young the use of this term was decried by the Church.

24. Ratatouille, for one : STEW. Do you use this RECIPE? My wife makes this not knowing it by name and using Thai Basil for a spark. (MORE FOOD!) Where is Steve?

26. "Losing My Religion" band : REM.


27. Longtime Rather rival : BROKAW. Tom and Dan, they replaced Brinkley and Cronkite.

29. Pac-12 team : UTES. Very original out in Utah.

31. Yard sale? : ALE. Really fun deception, and I did drink a yard of ale at the local German restaurant when I was at dinner with my sons and nephew.

32. P&G dental brand : ORAL B.

33. Get ripped : TONE UP. Most just say tone.


40. Prince __ of Ord, friend of Valiant : ARN. Crossword staple.

41. Act restlessly : LIE AWAKE. We have all had those nights.

42. Draws attention from, in a way : UPSTAGES. Often literally.

43. Zap : TASE.

45. Xperia maker : SONY. I am not familiar with this line of smart phones and tablets.

46. Surveillance org. : NSANational Security Agency. No politics.

48. Ancient Laconian state : SPARTA. This is the southernmost part of Greece is Laconia (Λακωνία) now recognized as a regional unit with Sparta as a Municipality therein. The long time rivals of Athens named after....

49. Show-off : HOTDOG. Not food, but...

50. Goddess who advised Odysseus : ATHENA. Guess who?

51. "The Bridges of Madison County" setting : IOWA.

52. Plumbing brand : SLOAN. Just look around in the restrooms of your choice.

57. Open slightly : AJAR.

58. Actress Rooney __ : MARA. She was haunting in GIRL IN A DRAGON TATTOO. (3:50)

62. Like Gen. Shinseki : RETired. Very decorated soldier, with a troubled ending to his career. READ.

64. __ garden : ZEN. relax, we are coming to the end.


65. Turn sharply : ZAG. Which is sharper this or the ZIG?

66. __ in echo : E AS.


A fine way to finish the work week. Thanks Hard G and the incomparable C.C. Thanks a lot lemonade out


Notes from C.C.:

As Lemonade mentioned earlier, the fourth Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held on June 14th, 2015 Sunday. Please click here for more details. 

Don G and I teamed up again this year. Other constructors include George Barany, Victor Barocas (also our hard-working editor), the team of Andrea Carla Michaels & Jon Berman,  Michael David, Johanna Fenimore, David Hanson, David Liben-Nowell, Tom Pepper & Amy Reynaldo (Orange of the Crossword Fiend). 
rge Barany

Hope to see some of you there.

42 comments:

Argyle said...

My problem was I wouldn't give up my chocolate mousse.

OwenKL said...

With so much white space after the first pass, I didn't think I was going to get anything, but little by painful little, it all filled in! Too many W/Os to be worth listing!

If you remember MacGyver, you'll love his chocolate chip cookie recipe! (I have only the vaguest idea why the photo doesn't match. It's entitled "Ninja Mouse in Ecuador".)

There is a fellow who goes by Lime Rickey
Who think that the limericks by Owen are icky.
He's probably right,
Their scansion's a fright,
And the rhyme schemes are often quite rickety!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Man, I struggled with this one! I struggled and struggled and struggled until I finally figured out the theme, and then I struggled some more. The NW and NE corners were especially troublesome, but the rest of the puzzle wasn't much easier. Enjoyable puzzle overall, but just a real workout.

With lots of perseverance and some lucky guesses I finally managed to make it through nearly unscathed. At the end, however, I had to guess at the crossing of _LCAR and _LI, neither of which I knew, and I went with ALCAR and ALI. Oops. That strikes me as a very unfair crossing, but maybe everybody else is up on their country bands and obscure TV actors. he rest of the puzzle was a delightful challenge, but that crossing caused a sour taste in my mouth at the end.

Supposed to be 90 degress today. Oh, Joy!

unclefred said...

Nope. Big time DNC for me. Once I read Lemonade's terrific write-up, I came to appreciate what a great CW it is, but after struggling for a half hour, I gave up. :-((

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Ouch! This one hurt my head!

Like Argyle, I really wanted a Chocolate Mousse. MUD PIE? Really!!!

I also learned that a Lattice Strip is a LATH and not a Slat, and ORAL B, not Crest, is the P&G product, and AREA, not Acre, is found on a "Land For Sale" sign.

My favorite clue of the puzzle was Right Wrongs = ATONE.

Lash LARUE (June 15, 1917 ~ May 21, 1996), was born in Gretna, Louisiana.

The Magnolia is the State Flower of Louisiana. What is the state flower of your state?

I liked the symmetry of having this puzzle begin with Leon HESS (1914 ~ 1999) and end with Eliot NESS (1903 ~ 1957).

QOD: Laziness may appear attractive, but work give satisfaction. ~ Anne Frank (June 12, 1929 ~ 1945)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This was a tough one, even after getting the theme right off. All the coolers in these parts are Igloos, not YETI. I don't recall ever seeing ESALEN before; as a result SONY and YAM were filled only by WAGs. (With AG in place, I thought the "Rough projection" was going to be a SWAG.) For some reason, I had no problem remembering AUSTIN as the capital of Texas. The puzzle was well worth the effort. Thanx, dynamic duo. Well done, Lemon.

Avg Joe said...

Very tough outing today, Don and C.C. But with 45 minutes and a lot of determination, it came together. My trouble spots have been mentioned. mousse, lath/slat, dada/soda, Esalen. Had no trouble re,embedding that Austin is the Capitol of TX, but didn't realize it was south of Tallahassee. Can't be very far south of Red Stick either.

Enjoyed the theme, but failed to realize that Jazz adage was pert of it.

HowardW said...

Agree that this was very tough. Some complete unknowns including ELI Young, YETI coolers, Dana ELCAR, ESALEN, Rooney MARA (speaking of football owners...). And unfamiliar clues like "Nigerian staple" and "Happy starts here." But somehow managed to get to "tada" eventually.

Count me among the MOUSSE herd. And I loved the Monk quotation!

Thanks C.C. and Don-hard-G for the workout.

Lemonade -- wrt to 70A, if a question or puzzle troubles you over a long time, then it can be said to NAG AT you.

SwampCat said...

Ah, dear Owen! Not icky at all! And don't dare apologize for the rhymes. After all, Ogden Nash got away with:

Broccoli
is not exoccoli
But within an inich
Of being spinach.

Now that's rickety.

Husker Gary said...

The SW corner bedeviled me until I googled ATHENA and then I was done. DRANO/DEAD ON and SLAT wouldn’t go away. The NE with ELCAR, ELI and IDEST was no picnic either but I’ll give myself an A- for a one word assist.

Musings
-TIRADING PLACES also looked good at first
-Leon Hess is better than Rudolf
-RIPA did her show with no makeup and was still pretty
-No idea on YETI, but what else could it be
-Ah yes, Bleeding Kansas
-Oh, now I get BALEFUL
-Ikea also known for these
-I got RANG up 5 times by robocallers yesterday. Landline may go away.
-Semantics was my favorite ELECTIVE
-SODA is never used in my part of the Midwest
-Don’t you remember Bawbwa WAWA?
-Hilarious prayer commencing with O GOD (:50)

Big Easy said...

After a bad night's sleep, I had to wake up to this. 1A and I didn't have any idea and HESS came from perps. I thought yesterday's puzzle had a record unknowns but todays had plenty. It was an ultimate DNF because ELCAR and ELI didn't look any better than ALCAR and ALI and you don't have to guess which one I picked.

My first fills were CHIT, AURA,TAXI, HUM, & CAW and that gave me,.....EWE-COW-MIX, which steered ( no pun intended) me in the wrong direction. After working the rest of the puzzle I finally correctly finished the NW.

12D- Baton Rouge or Tallahassee wouldn't fit so it had to be AUSTIN.

Cooler Brands- wouldn't decide if it would be a WINE cooler or insulated mug. I know Igloo, Thermos, Aladdin Mega-mugs, Bubba Cups, but YETI, isn't that Bigfoot's cousin? Others solved by perps were ALPO, ORB, STE, ESALEN, STEW (I was thinking about the movie) SONY, SLOAN, and MARA.

After looking up Esalen, it looks like a place for weirdos and CREEPOs with too much money and time on their hands. But they have competition from Sedona, AZ, which also has an overabundance of them.

Ad In- The score you want only if you are serving; if you are receiving you want it to be 'Ad Out' and hope to win the next point. I looked around my bathrooms ( 3 at home and I had 11 in my former warehouses) and saw DELTA, AMERICAN STANDARD, KOHLER, MOEN, RHEEM, A.O. Smith- but no SLOAN- never heard of it.

Good puzzle, good explanation. I hope Saturday's puzzle lets up on the unknowns.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

This one left me bruised and bloody. Got the theme backwards - wanted to ADD "IN." Not quite consistent with the reveal. Details.

Great puzzle, but I was not up to it.

Mom is still hanging in there. All four grandchildren will be with her today. Her twin sis spoke to her on the phone, but she didn't respond.

Cherish every moment with those you love.

My best to all,
JzB

JJM said...

I had a tough time with this one today. Had a lot of trouble in SW, it eventually came in though.

Lemonade714 said...

Thanks Howard W, sometimes it is hard to see the forest for the SUVS.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a real toughie until a few longer answers fell into place. Held on to mousse far too long so that held me up for awhile. Needed the reveal to see the oh-so clever theme. I''ll bet Mr. Meow purred at Meadow Mix!

Very nicely done, Don G and CC, and ditto to Lemony. (Good luck at the Tournament, Don and CC.)

Have a great day.

Jazzbumpa said...

I thought the plan was add “IN;”
A silly mistake, but no sin.
When I figured out "AD"
Then I wasn’t so sad
But my grid was still looking quite thin.

Cheers!
JzB

C6D6 Peg said...

Totally a cool puzzle today, and not too tough! Perps and WAGS completed the unknowns, and loved the theme. Thanks, Don & C.C.

Very nice write-up Lemonade. Your thoughts are always "spot-on"!

coneyro said...

I must say..This one fried my brain, but I didn't give up.. familiar with all tennis terms, and yet, even with __IN in place, it took too long to get it. Perps finally helped and the light bulb went off. Then I was able to go back and complete the long answers easily.

When things TROUBLE me, they do NAG AT me, and I have to act fast, or else I LIE AWAKE and feel MOROSE.

MACGYVER: One of top three all-time viewer favorites, IMO. Richard Dean Anderson (MACGYVER) started off as a major character, Dr. Jeff Weber, on "General Hospital". He also led the expeditions on sci-fi's "Stargate" for about ten years. He's was also wicked-good on ice skates. I truly idolize this man, though recent pictures of him make me sad. Guess most everyone gets old and out of shape.

LARUE, ESALEN. YETI , MARA, ELI ...unknown. Also confidently put in MOUSSE, which screwed me up for the longest time. In fact, the SE almost did me in.

98% done is still not 100%, but for a Friday, I consider that a victory and a great effort. Tomorrow, if 10% is filled in, I'll be lucky.

May you all have a pleasant relaxing weekend in good health. Peace...

Misty said...

Bit of a rough week and so haven't been able to post every day. Rowland had a bit of a setback when after a walk on the patio (with hemi-walker and care-giver)he suddenly had trouble standing and walking. Took him to Emergency on Monday but was relieved to hear it wasn't a new stroke. We now have a nurse making a home visit and hope to also get a therapist to come and help us get him walking again. So not much time for puzzles and not doing well on the ones I have gotten to.

JazzB, I'll keep your mom in my prayers, and Yellowrocks, I'm so glad Alan is coming home.

I still love Don and C.C. puzzles, even when they're toughies, and was pleased that I got more than three-quarters of this one before I had to start cheating. Lots of fun clues, and a very clever theme. Many thanks, both, and you too, Lemonade.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

AnonymousPVX said...

A tough one, even for Friday. As above, mousse before mud pie, booth before order, jazz verse before jazz adage, and nuke before taste.

If Friday's tough, then Saturday ought to be?.…stay tuned!

AnonymousPVX said...

Nuke before tase- geez I hate autocorrect sometimes!

Jayce said...

Like Misty, I like Don and C.C. puzzles. Like Argyle and others, I wouldn't give up my chocolate mousse. At least I guessed ESALEN, and knew LARUE and ORALB right off the bat. I wouldn't categorize HUM as white noise. A hard puzzle indeed, but enjoyable for the most part.

Beach Bum said...

Great, challenging puzzle. It took everything I had but I managed to complete it with no cheats ( but quite a few WAGs). And needed all the perps I could get.

Never heard of ELCAR, LARUE, ESALEN, ELI Young, or YETI coolers.

Couldn't understand 29D at all until I came here and realized I probably shouldn't have been reading it as, "U-Tes." Duh.

Chairman Moe said...

"puzzling thoughts":

WEES, this Friday gem from CC and Don was more than challenging; I HTC on a few clues, most notably on 9a ELCAR. I had CRETIN before CREEPO in 11d - YETI (23a) meant nothing to me; down here in Florida the insulated brand of coolers of choice is Tervis. We probably have a couple dozen different mugs and such in our cupboard.

20a started out as OR SO but once ELECTIVE appeared I had to rethink it; I had UTAH before UTES and DEAR before O GOD; HG, I loved the link you had to the Family Vacation clip

A bit of a nit to pick about 39a - SALUT is a "toast" more often used by Spanish (spelled SALUD) or by Italians (SALUTE), but the French generally "toast" with wine by saying "santé" - short for "A vote santé" which means "to your health". The French translation for SALUT is "salvation" which to me, at least, is not a toast!

OK, that rant is over . . . ;^)

JzB - good limerick; OwenKL - I'm not sure Lime Rickey will ever cease from trying to rid this blog of limericks. If he/she would contribute something constructive to the blog I'd be more respectful of them. Other than lashing out at you or me for posting a limerick, what have they contributed to this community?

Enjoy your weekend, all . . .

CrossEyedDave said...

I got stuck from the get go by putting rib for 1D pork cut, & then doubly stuck by not wanting to duplicate rib at 3D pork cut...

After reading others comments, I don't feel so bad. Case in point was 34A Baleful, I had the E & L, thought evil, but was not sure what baleful meant. I was trying to do the puzzle in ink, & DW's Ipad was nearby. Looking up the definition of Baleful is not cheating, right?

Anywho, once I had the Ipad in hand, I landed on a site called Crossword Tracker. I think it was 10D prince Georges grandma that did me in, I kept thinking "Lizabeth" because I had the "L" & typed the clue into the tracker. When it came up with the options including "Clue Used Today" I was hooked... (Now the list of things I looked up is almost as long as the write up.)

17A sheep & cows grazing together? hmm must have gotten this clue mixed up with Jazz Adage...
(yes Irish Miss, MeowMix did make me smile...)

30A take turns ranting? You don't really need to see that...

Shadow Business? If only he pooped from one of those holes...

Jazz Adage? as Tinbeni says, there aint no ice! (but that's cool...)

Lucina said...

Hello, friends!

WEES!!!! You have said it all and I am in accord with you. This was so tough it made me MOROSE. This level of obscurity sets the bar quite high but I managed to slog through it mostly unscathed. I misspelled BROKAW as BROKOW so that ruined ESALEN which I now vaguely recall from past puzzles. MOUSSE was my preferred dessert, too and YETI as a cooler was unknown. Had I used pen instead of pencil my grid would look like a huge inkblot.

ELCAR and ELI are foreign to me and SANTE preceded SALUT, CREST before ORAL B.

Thank you, Lemonade, for always providing clarity and especially Don G and C.C. for making my brain work hard. Good luck in the upcoming competition.

Have a marvelous day, everyone!

HeartRx said...

I am so late to this party, but wanted to comment on how much fun the puzzle was! Thanks for the witty and information write-up, as usual, Lemony!

Hahtoolah - I also noticed the symmetry of HESS and NESS!

I had lots of white on the first pass, much like others and in many of the same spots. But when I finally got to the reveal AD IN, I was actually able to go back and fill in the missing theme entries, just by reading their clues. So a very tight theme, elegantly and punnily constructed. Thanks C.C. and Don G.!

Steve Lewis said...

I had to Google ESALEN to be sure it was correct -- I do puzzles the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper (and eraser) -- otherwise clear sailing with a fun puzzle.

CrossEyedDave said...

Hmm, this is going to be an Ad Out... me thinks...

OwenKL said...

Having a special interest in blindness, Ibsen Dana Elcar (October 10, 1927 – June 6, 2005) was of special interest to me.
"In 1991, Elcar began to develop glaucoma. This condition was written into MacGyver, beginning with the 6th season episode 17 "Blind Faith" and continuing through the remainder of that season and the entire 7th season. After MacGyver, Elcar played a blind character on episodes of Virus, Law & Order, The Magic School Bus, and ER. Once blind, Elcar took on the challenge of playing Vladimir in Waiting for Godot complete with white cane."

Lime: hope you don't object to my poking a little fun at you! Our harshest critics are often the those who regard us the most; they're the ones who pay the most attention to what we do! I would far rather have some sincere criticism than to be ignored completely!

HESS & NESS were good, but so was ALPO on top of MEOW MIX!

Chickie said...

Good Afternoon, A toughie for me. WEES. My chocolate mousse didn't change until I came here to the Corner. Thanks C.C. and Don G. for a super toughie today. As I said yesterday, "I always learn something new when I have such a rough day."

Our weather has been so eratic--96 4 days ago, then in 80's and humid, then in the low 70's. Today it is back up to 90 degrees. Wish we could have had more of that predicted rain. Our sidewalk wasn't even wet!

Have any of you tried the Blue Apron food boxes? We've had one this week and love the meals that were all planned; with recipes, all the food included down to the 2oz. of butter for the Chicken Dish last night. I have to do the cooking, but I like to do that, and my husband said it is like going out to dinner (what with the new dishes to taste) and we don't have to leave home and it is cheaper.

Have a good rest of the evening and good luck C.C. and everyone attending the Crossword weekend.

Chickie said...

Hatoolah, The CA Poppy is our state flower. My grandson's latest pictures from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden had an entire field of CA poppies in bloom this spring. They grow elsewhere--but here they are wild. I also liked your QOD. How many times have you gone into a cleaned and spiffed up room just to look at your handiwork?

Misty, I'm hoping that you will get all the help that you need and deserve in taking care of Rowland.

Jerome said...

Tennis anyone? Seriously. Anyone here a tennis buff? Iknow ADIN is a crossword staple. In fact, it's in a grid I just completed. However, I can't find the word in any dictionaries or glossaries of tennis terms. Is it tennis slang, an abbreviation... what?
No, not asking for a definition, just someone, anyone show me where the word actually exists.

Mr. Google said...

Jerome:

ADIN isn't a word, it's two words.

"When the server is the player with the advantage, the score may be stated by him or her before the next point as "advantage in." When the server's opponent has the advantage, the server may state the score as "advantage out." These phrases are sometimes shortened to "ad in" and "ad out." - Wikipedia

Bill G. said...

Jerome, I used to play a lot of tennis. I'm guessing ADIN isn't one word but two as AD IN, otherwise known as Advantage In. It means the score was tied at 40-40 (deuce). You have to win by two points. If the server gets the next point, it's AD IN. If the opponent gets the next point, it's AD OUT. Uf the person with the AD gets the next point, they've won the game. If not, the score goes back to deuce. Clear?

I agree with Jayce that HUM isn't white noise. HUM is almost always 60 Hz whereas white noise contains all frequencies. It sounds more like a hiss.

Lucina, you better get me your check quickly for halfsies on that beach house. It's been on the market for a few days now. They might be willing to take 15 M.

Avg Joe said...

Don't over think this theme. "Ad" is put "In" each theme phrase. It doesn't have to be a legitimate word or phrase on its own to work in that regard. At least that was my take. YMMV & WTFDIK.

Head-Scratchin' Guy said...

Avg Joe:

Don't under think this theme.

The "reveal" says, "Court term, and hint to this puzzle's four longest
answers".

The "court" is a tennis court.

Lucina said...

Hahtoolah:
The Arizona state flower is the saguaro cactus blossom.

Thanks to all for the detailed explanation of AD IN.

Hahtoolah said...

Chickie: my first blue apron is being delivered tomorrow.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Don, CC and Lemonade!

Fun puzzle! Liked the theme.

No cheats. Scratched head at ALE and YETI. Hand up for MOUSSE first.

So sorry, Misty. Hope the best for Rowland.

Wayward Pines was good yesterday. Anyone else watching?

Cheers!

Jerome said...

Mr. Google and Bill G- I know AD IN is two words. I was simply writing it out as it appears in the grid. However, you can't find AD IN as a legit phrase anywhere. The phrase does not exist in any dictionary or glossary. So why is it acceptable in a crossword puzzle? And if you look up "advantage" in a dictionary or glossary of tennis terms they never define AD IN as a short form of that term. By the way, I don't play tennis because it makes too much racket.

Yellowrocks said...

It is easy to find written reference to ad in.

From Wiki. under Tennis Scoring System:
"This type of tennis scoring is known as "advantage scoring" (or "ads"). In this type of scoring, the player who wins the next point after deuce is said to have the advantage. If the player with advantage loses the next point, the score is again deuce, since the score is tied. If the player with the advantage wins the next point, that player has won the game, since the player now leads by two points. When the server is the player with the advantage, the score may be stated by him or her before the next point as "advantage in." When the server's opponent has the advantage, the server may state the score as "advantage out." These phrases are sometimes shortened to "AD IN" and "ad out." Alternatively, the server may simply use players' names; in professional tournaments the umpire announces the score in this format (e.g., "advantage Federer" or "advantage Murray")."