Theme:
No SAINTS (STs) allowed; the abbreviation for Saint (ST) is removed from the first word of a common two-word phrase to reveal a new and humorous two-word phrase.
17. Conger's protection?: EEL HELMET. STEEL HELMET> Cute pun, but I did not remember this species of eels so it did not fall quickly.
26. Tracker of bauxite thieves?: ORE DETECTIVE. STORE DETECTIVE. This is where I got going, as Bauxite is the ore from which aluminum is extracted.
43. Roadie, after a gig?: AMP COLLECTOR. STAMP COLLECTOR. A nice reminder of the days riding on a tour bus, watching the roadies load and unload from city to city.
58. Diamond oration?: UMP SPEECH. STUMP SPEECH. The term is from the literal delivery of political speeches while standing on a sawed off tree to allow the candidate to be seen and heard.
The unifier: 41D. Hardly a model of perfection, and a hint to how this puzzle's theme puns are derived : NO SAINT.
Lemonade here, and I found the theme easily, without the unifier, and all the answers are nice symmetrical 9 12 12 9 with the unifier adding 7 more letters. I liked each of the puns, with AMP COLLECTOR my favorite; overall this was the hardest puzzle for me that I have blogged. It is however a nice honor to prepare the final blog of 2010.
Across:
1. Blows: BOPS. Man was this corner a struggle for me; I know a BOP where you strike someone is a BLOW, but BLOW was so many meanings. Down Lois and Carol. This crossing with BEECH did not help.
5. Open some: AJAR. Whew, an easy one.
9. "The Remains of the Day" author __ Ishiguro: KAZUO. Followed by more difficulty, for while I recalled the wonderful movie version starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, I did not have any memory of this transplanted Japanese AUTHOR .
14. Sweeping story: EPIC. My FAVORITE .
15. Like some walls: BARE. Well that id depressing.
16. Collectively: IN ALL.
19. Figured (out), slangily: DOPED. Yes, we all doped out this answer, though would n’t slang been enough?
20. __-Magnon man: CRO. This is no longer a politically correct term, as scientists now believe the skeletons which were found in this region, and so named, are sufficiently like we HOMO SAPIENS to be called EMH, Early Modern Human.
21. '60s quartet member: MAMA. And the biggest of them all MAMA CASS.
22. Times for cool heads: CRISES. Yes, they prevailed when my computer was fighting me earlier.
23. 6 7/8, e.g.: HAT SIZE. I wear a 7 ½ which would be okay except I am pretty short. Of course some of us will speculate on body correlations, but that cannot be helped. I am sure there are research volunteers.
25. __ Age: IRON. I could not think of any other four letter ages, ICE, STONE, BRONZE?
31. Latin Quarter site: PARIS. This area on the left bank of the SEINE got its name not from any Hispanic influence, but because it is the educational center of Paris where reading, understanding Latin was important.
34. Soup vegetable: LEEK. A cousin of the onion and garlic.
35. "X-ing" one: PED. Pedestrian crossing, a cross walk. Jaywalking is taken very seriously in parts of the country, as a result drivers must brake to allow people to cross if they are in a designated area. Muhammed Ali almost ran me down in his Rolls while I was at LAX.
36. Space-saving abbr.: ET AL. My law use of the week. When you sue a bunch of people, you have to list all of them in the initial complaint. The part with the names is the caption. Once the original is filed, e.g., Lemonade vs. Dennis, Windhover, Barry G., Jeannie, Sallie and Dodo, the later pleadings will all be Lemonade vs. Dennis et al.
37. Seriously impairs: MAIMS. Yes, maiming is a specific crime, defined as injure, disable, or disfigure, usually by depriving of the use of a limb or other part of the body.
39. Loud, ringing sound: BONG. Am I the only one who thought of Michael Phelps?
40. Barnyard male: TOM. Tom Turkey? Tom Cat?
41. Lofgren of the E Street Band: NILS. He has played his GUITAR with Springsteen and Neil Young among others.
42. Flooded field: PADDY. Rice can be grown on dry land, but most of it is done underwater, in paddies.
47. Sailing, say: ASEA.
48. Alluring tops: HALTERS. Is this what you thought of for this style TOP.
52. Sign with an arrow: ONE WAY. I love this clue, so simple, but very visual.
55. Like falling off a log: EASY. A simile that always puzzled me as a child, because it is hard to get on a log.
56. Snap: PIC. Does anyone call them snaps anymore?
57. Alp-Öhi's granddaughter in an 1880 novel: HEIDI. Never read the book, but I have a close friend with the name.
60. Dum-dum: MORON. You may not know this, but this was a valid psychology term to describe mild retardation, but obviously, it has fallen out of favor. But you can still take the TEST .
61. Hook's mate: SMEE. Man, my first thoughts crook and ladder, luckily they had too many letters.
62. Appear: SEEM.
63. Hägar's dog: SNERT. Snot Nosed Egotisical Rude Teen.
64. Event with gowns: BALL. I wanted Prom.
65. __ buco: OSSO. Literally bone with a hole, the veal shank.
Okay, suck it up we are halfway home.
Down:
1. Tree with edible nuts: BEECH. There were so many, Pecan also has 4 letters.
2. "What's __, Doc?": Classic "Looney Tunes" short: OPERA. Cartoons give us so much CULTURE , of course I could tell my Pavarotti bird joke again.
3. Joystick user: PILOT. Too many video games around me for this to be as easy as it really was.
4. Univ., e.g.: SCH.
5. Burning: ABLAZE. The class A word.
6. Improvised, in a way: JAMMED. A shout out for our own JzB, the tremulous trombonist.
7. Zone: AREA.
8. Soak flax: RET. I never heard of this process of using water and the organisms to break down the fiber in flax.
9. "Devil Without a Cause" musician: KID ROCK. Be careful of the lyrics in this VIDEO .
10. Baptize with oil: ANOINT. There was lots of anointing in the bible, but I did not associate it with baptism.
11. Sci-fi effects: ZAPS. Pretty tame now that we have CG.
12. Fonda title role: ULEE. The gold was in the honey, honey.
13. Cutlass maker: OLDS. We have a zillion different ways to clue this car maker, now dead and defunct.
18. Mideast bigwigs: EMIRS.
22. First Nations members: CREES. We just had Cree but there is so much more to the indigenous of CANADA .
24. Muddy: SOIL. Oh I get it, MUDDY as a verb, not anadjective.
25. News __: ITEM.
27. Beethoven dedicatee: ELISE. Lots of this and Eroica these days.
28. Product with earbuds: IPOD. Amazing how Apple has dominated so much electronics.
29. Push, so to speak: VEND. Street vendors as pushers? Seems harsh.
30. Avant-garde: EDGY. Oh perfect for the students in the Latin Quarter.
31. Org. where fur doesn't fly?: PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, often forgetting we too are animals
32. Splitting it releases energy: ATOM. More bombs
33. Modeling milieu: RAMP.Runway, not clay.
37. Cyrus who plays Hannah Montana: MILEY. She is studying the Lindsay Lohan from child star to slut handbook.
38. __ breve: ALLA. Musical terminology for which I will defer to out musicians
39. One of TV's Mavericks: BART. Jack Kelly; James Garner as Bret and Roger Moore as cousin Beau.
42. Sea anemone, e.g.: POLYP.
44. Macbeth's thanedom before he became king: CAWDOR. Another very difficult name to remember; his patch before he had a kingdom, his feudallordship.
45. Vegas drive-through: CHAPEL.
46. Fez feature: TASSEL. Has anyone seen BURLESQUE ?
49. Blunted swords: EPEES.
50. Prepares potatoes, in a way: RICES. We get rice twice, it’s nice.
51. Jerk: SCHMO. I see SCHMOs as more harmless than jerks.
52. Resistance units: OHMS.
53. Its atomic number is 10: NEON.
54. Name on some neutral WWII ships: EIRE.
55. Jane Austen opus: EMMA.
58. PC port for a flash drive: USB.Universal Serial Bus.
59. Spanish pronoun: ESO. Like the song says…
Well another year in the record books, and my first as an organized contributor, I want to thank C.C., Rich, all the great constructors and all of you who have been here and who comment regularly or once in a while. Happy and wonderful new year for all and special wishes to those who need them.
Lemonade out, see you next year….
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
December 24, 2010, Kenneth Berniker
Theme: Y me? The letter Y is added to a phrase in common usage to create a new phrase which is quite punny. A very simple theme (add a “Y”) executed to entertain. This is only our second puzzle from Mr. Berniker, who brought us the What’s in a Name Puzzle (WOODY, ROCKY and SANDY) back in April, though this emergency room physician has had a number of NYT and other puzzles published, the theme is simple and clean.
17. Those who outwit safecrackers?: YEGG BEATERS. The lazy man’s egg product, meets a safecracker, better known as a YEGG. YEGG has been in detective fiction from the early 1900’s, but no one is quite sure where it came from.
26. 1945 view for Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin?: YALTA VISTA. YALTA was the site of the second of three wartime conferences between the leaders of Great Britain, Russia and the US. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt, were present, and the meeting took place on the black sea because the powerful dictator Stalin was afraid to fly. ALTA VISTA was one of the very early search engines for the world wide web, which like LYCOS, faded away under the Google onslaught.
39. Chronologists?: YEAR SPECIALISTS. Chronology is the study of the sequence of events, and I bet you all know what an Ear Specialist is.
50. Core of the dark side?: YIN ESSENCE. I really like this multi level clue, as it teases us with Star Wars like reference to the dark side, while literally meaning just dark. We recently discussed YIN being the shadowy side and YANG being the bright side, and of course, the essence of something is its core.
60. Paradise brewing aid?: YEAST OF EDEN. Okay, I cannot help it, these puzzles just seem to hone in on me and my family, especially now that they both are beer maestros, with yeast the key to fermenting combined with the John Steinbeck novel East of Eden (which was made into a motion picture with James Dean) transformed into some biblical yeast to make great beer. Since beer predates wine, I guess it all makes good sense. When CAIN was exiled, it was to the east of Eden, to the land of Nod, which I mention since the book is sort of a retelling of that story. It is rumored a remake of the movie is in the works.
Lemonade here, and I enjoyed the cluing, lots of literary references with some deception and wit, for example:
33A. Bucks: BREAD. As the old joke goes, “What is a buccaneer? A really high price for corn.”
71A. Parts of pig tales: OINKS. The tails – tales reference is cute.
My favorite, 31D. Paper cutters, briefly?: EDS. Newspaper editors, tipped off by the “?” and the briefly…
38D. Lamb piece: ESSAY. Wonderful, no baa baa, but, the writer CHARLES LAMB who wrote as Elia, and had a very tragic life.
Also, in keeping with Friday and my blogging day, there are many law related references:
15A. Accustom: ENURE. We love this word, used in describing rights which enure to the benefit of someone.
16A. Its law sch. is in Concord: UNH. University of New Hampshire Law School is in “Cahncahd.”
23A. Law school standards-setting org.: ABA. American Bar Association.
56A. Auspices: AEGIS. Like ENURE, a favorite word in legal writing.
Well, enough of that, on with the show:
Across:
1. '50s headline event: A TEST. What is it with the fascination with A bombs and H bombs lately? We also have the tie in with President Eisenhower from the 50’s.
6. Architectural style: TUDOR. One of the long lasting results of the BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY.
11. Status follower: QUO. This is an Anglicization of the Latin STATU QUO, which the state in which.
14. Princess Toadstool's rescuer: MARIO. Which was played on 65D. Old console using Game Paks: NES. My boys came along just in time for me to learn all about those wacky brothers Mario and Luigi.
19. "__ Believer": I'M A. I am sure most remember this SONG but for my fellow Connecticut followers, I remind everyone Peter Tork is the son of a UConn professor (Nee Thorkelson) and Peter now lives in Storrs.
20. Artist Matisse: HENRI. He was featured in a recent puzzle, and was a master of color and a friend and rival of Picasso.
21. Regarding: AS PER. Okay, also used by lawyers but I do not want to overdo.
29. Beef: RED MEAT. I quoted Clara Peller last week, remember?
32. Really riles: IRES. A real crossword word.
34. See 51-Down: IKE. And, 51D. With 34-Across, '50s slogan: I LIKE. My earliest memory was when Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart came to my small home town, campaigning for Adlai Stevenson, and my father met them at the train station and took them to meet the mayor etc.
35. Zap with a weapon: TASE. And this VIDEO was a proud University of Florida moment.
43. Asian wrap: SARI. Cute, made you think of food didn’t he?
44. TV world: ORK. Enough already, is Robin Williams paying the constructors?
45. Chimú conquerors: INCAS. Last week I had the Aztecs now the Incas and the CHIMU .
46. Light bites: NIPS. Why many people do not like little dogs, who are yippy and bite.
48. Botanical cavity: ALVEOLA. We also had this as the cavity in the lungs, for example, but it is the same in Botany and Zoology.
54. Miss Pym's creator: TEY. How timely, as Fermatprime brought her up Wednesday; Elizabeth MacIntosh produced only ten or twelve books under various pseudonyms, but did line into her 50s, and is said to have influenced all the great cozy writers like Agatha Christie. Martha Grimes recently paid tribute to her The Daughter of Time in two Inspector Jury novels.
55. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song: ELISA. I love the version sung by CLINT EASTWOOD ; where is our author Elissa?
59. Do some bartending: MIX. Yes, a bar, that is what my oldest and my nephew want to open in Buffalo.
66. Squeeze (out): EKE. The second of this puzzles tired but needed crosswordese.
67. Ranch wanderer: STRAY. Why do I picture a loose crouton trying to escape my fork? kinda goes with 64D. Forest ranger?: ELK. Well, luckily there are not many three lettered animals in the forest.
68. Boosted: STOLE. This comes from the organized shoplifters, who used a booster box, a device with a false bottom, which would be placed on top of merchandise, which would then get taken out. The store detective never saw the perp touch the merchandise.
69. Neighbor of Homer: NED. Not the author, but the Simpson, and the religious Mr. Flanders.
70. Newbery Medal winner for "Island of the Blue Dolphins": ODELL. Never heard of the BOOK or Mr. O’Dell. Whew, we are thru the acrosses.
Down:
1. Etiquette guru Vanderbilt: AMY. With a name like Vanderbilt (you all should tour the home in Newport, R.I.) who would not read this TOME .
2. Inventing initials: TAE. Thomas Alva Edison. The wizard of Menlo Park.
3. Fraction of a joule: ERG. All you need to know about ENERGY .
4. [I give up]: SIGH. Come on, no time to quit now, we are going to finish.
5. Start of a classic question: TO BE.Or not to be, that is the question; in my all boys high school, I played Gertrude in our production of Hamlet; the rest were too insecure.
6. Claw: TEAR AT. This too is timely, if you have ever seen a rabid group of children and their presents on Christmas morning.
7. Up to: UNTIL. The punch line, “Up to now, everything was okay.” The joke?
8. Anticipated: DUE.
9. Boston sports legend: ORR. Another New England reference.
10. Back up anew: RESAVE.
11. Marx forte: QUIPS. Karl? Groucho? Both?
12. Like certain expectations: UNMET. Life unfulfilled desires, also apt at Christmas as we see bonuses dwindling, presents shrinking…
13. "Pal Joey" author: O'HARA. Another author and a contemporary of John Steinbeck. When Steinbeck won the Pulitzer prize O’Hara sent him a telegram saying, he could only think of one other author who deserved the prize. O’Hara was great with dialogue, I still read his books.
18. "A Day Without Rain" musician: ENYA. Our new age queen is back.
22. __ Chapel: SISTINE. Another ceiling reference?
23. Fast food chain known for roast beef: ARBYS. One of many food chains that began in Ohio, the name is not RB for Roast Beef, but RB for Raffel Brothers, the founders. They were the first chain to ban smoking in their facilities.
24. First multiracial coed college in the South: BEREA. The history of this COLLEGE is amazing, but I will leave the details to our own Windhover.
25. "Be __ ...": A DEAR. And get me a beer while you are up. Or take out the garbage.
27. Kind of torch: TIKI. Very big in south florida.
28. Gazetteer figure: AREA. Gazetteer is an atlas including information like population and area.
30. Quantico inhabitants: MARINES. A shout out to our soon to be traveling and resting Dennis.
34. Opposite of "Yum!": ICK. Recall this MOVIE ?
36. English racing town: ASCOT. Next year will be the 300th anniversary of the world’s most famous horse race course.
37. Old hat: STALE. Not a fedora, or the race track Derby.
40. Opens, as a hood: POPS. Okay buddy, pop open the hood and lets see what’s making that noise.
41. Gaelic tongue: ERSE. This is the root word for what we now call IRISH.
42. Tyler of "The Incredible Hulk": LIV. Poor CHILD started out thinking she was Liv Rundgren, Todd’s daughter.
47. Words after "Because": I SAY SO. The magic words of parenting, changed my life.
48. Like a vinegar radical: ACETYL. ACETUM is the Latin word for vinegar, which is a weak acid produced by fermentation like alcohol.
49. One of more than 245,000 in a Christmas tree at a California theme park: LEGO. TREE .
50. Oman neighbor: YEMEN. Ah back in Oman.
52. Put the kibosh on: NIXED.Pronounced KIE bosh, likely from Hebrew which oddly does not use vowels.
53. Like a cold sufferer's voice: NASAL. SOUND .
57. "Say that's true ...": IF SO. Hmm, lawyers and logiicans use this…
58. "The X-Files" gp.: SETI. Searh for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.
61. LAX listing: ETD. If it is an airport, it is going to be ETA or ETD A=Arrival, D= Departure.
62. Exist: ARE.
63. Tough boss: DON. The Godfather .
17. Those who outwit safecrackers?: YEGG BEATERS. The lazy man’s egg product, meets a safecracker, better known as a YEGG. YEGG has been in detective fiction from the early 1900’s, but no one is quite sure where it came from.
26. 1945 view for Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin?: YALTA VISTA. YALTA was the site of the second of three wartime conferences between the leaders of Great Britain, Russia and the US. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt, were present, and the meeting took place on the black sea because the powerful dictator Stalin was afraid to fly. ALTA VISTA was one of the very early search engines for the world wide web, which like LYCOS, faded away under the Google onslaught.
39. Chronologists?: YEAR SPECIALISTS. Chronology is the study of the sequence of events, and I bet you all know what an Ear Specialist is.
50. Core of the dark side?: YIN ESSENCE. I really like this multi level clue, as it teases us with Star Wars like reference to the dark side, while literally meaning just dark. We recently discussed YIN being the shadowy side and YANG being the bright side, and of course, the essence of something is its core.
60. Paradise brewing aid?: YEAST OF EDEN. Okay, I cannot help it, these puzzles just seem to hone in on me and my family, especially now that they both are beer maestros, with yeast the key to fermenting combined with the John Steinbeck novel East of Eden (which was made into a motion picture with James Dean) transformed into some biblical yeast to make great beer. Since beer predates wine, I guess it all makes good sense. When CAIN was exiled, it was to the east of Eden, to the land of Nod, which I mention since the book is sort of a retelling of that story. It is rumored a remake of the movie is in the works.
Lemonade here, and I enjoyed the cluing, lots of literary references with some deception and wit, for example:
33A. Bucks: BREAD. As the old joke goes, “What is a buccaneer? A really high price for corn.”
71A. Parts of pig tales: OINKS. The tails – tales reference is cute.
My favorite, 31D. Paper cutters, briefly?: EDS. Newspaper editors, tipped off by the “?” and the briefly…
38D. Lamb piece: ESSAY. Wonderful, no baa baa, but, the writer CHARLES LAMB who wrote as Elia, and had a very tragic life.
Also, in keeping with Friday and my blogging day, there are many law related references:
15A. Accustom: ENURE. We love this word, used in describing rights which enure to the benefit of someone.
16A. Its law sch. is in Concord: UNH. University of New Hampshire Law School is in “Cahncahd.”
23A. Law school standards-setting org.: ABA. American Bar Association.
56A. Auspices: AEGIS. Like ENURE, a favorite word in legal writing.
Well, enough of that, on with the show:
Across:
1. '50s headline event: A TEST. What is it with the fascination with A bombs and H bombs lately? We also have the tie in with President Eisenhower from the 50’s.
6. Architectural style: TUDOR. One of the long lasting results of the BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY.
11. Status follower: QUO. This is an Anglicization of the Latin STATU QUO, which the state in which.
14. Princess Toadstool's rescuer: MARIO. Which was played on 65D. Old console using Game Paks: NES. My boys came along just in time for me to learn all about those wacky brothers Mario and Luigi.
19. "__ Believer": I'M A. I am sure most remember this SONG but for my fellow Connecticut followers, I remind everyone Peter Tork is the son of a UConn professor (Nee Thorkelson) and Peter now lives in Storrs.
20. Artist Matisse: HENRI. He was featured in a recent puzzle, and was a master of color and a friend and rival of Picasso.
21. Regarding: AS PER. Okay, also used by lawyers but I do not want to overdo.
29. Beef: RED MEAT. I quoted Clara Peller last week, remember?
32. Really riles: IRES. A real crossword word.
34. See 51-Down: IKE. And, 51D. With 34-Across, '50s slogan: I LIKE. My earliest memory was when Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart came to my small home town, campaigning for Adlai Stevenson, and my father met them at the train station and took them to meet the mayor etc.
35. Zap with a weapon: TASE. And this VIDEO was a proud University of Florida moment.
43. Asian wrap: SARI. Cute, made you think of food didn’t he?
44. TV world: ORK. Enough already, is Robin Williams paying the constructors?
45. Chimú conquerors: INCAS. Last week I had the Aztecs now the Incas and the CHIMU .
46. Light bites: NIPS. Why many people do not like little dogs, who are yippy and bite.
48. Botanical cavity: ALVEOLA. We also had this as the cavity in the lungs, for example, but it is the same in Botany and Zoology.
54. Miss Pym's creator: TEY. How timely, as Fermatprime brought her up Wednesday; Elizabeth MacIntosh produced only ten or twelve books under various pseudonyms, but did line into her 50s, and is said to have influenced all the great cozy writers like Agatha Christie. Martha Grimes recently paid tribute to her The Daughter of Time in two Inspector Jury novels.
55. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song: ELISA. I love the version sung by CLINT EASTWOOD ; where is our author Elissa?
59. Do some bartending: MIX. Yes, a bar, that is what my oldest and my nephew want to open in Buffalo.
66. Squeeze (out): EKE. The second of this puzzles tired but needed crosswordese.
67. Ranch wanderer: STRAY. Why do I picture a loose crouton trying to escape my fork? kinda goes with 64D. Forest ranger?: ELK. Well, luckily there are not many three lettered animals in the forest.
68. Boosted: STOLE. This comes from the organized shoplifters, who used a booster box, a device with a false bottom, which would be placed on top of merchandise, which would then get taken out. The store detective never saw the perp touch the merchandise.
69. Neighbor of Homer: NED. Not the author, but the Simpson, and the religious Mr. Flanders.
70. Newbery Medal winner for "Island of the Blue Dolphins": ODELL. Never heard of the BOOK or Mr. O’Dell. Whew, we are thru the acrosses.
Down:
1. Etiquette guru Vanderbilt: AMY. With a name like Vanderbilt (you all should tour the home in Newport, R.I.) who would not read this TOME .
2. Inventing initials: TAE. Thomas Alva Edison. The wizard of Menlo Park.
3. Fraction of a joule: ERG. All you need to know about ENERGY .
4. [I give up]: SIGH. Come on, no time to quit now, we are going to finish.
5. Start of a classic question: TO BE.Or not to be, that is the question; in my all boys high school, I played Gertrude in our production of Hamlet; the rest were too insecure.
6. Claw: TEAR AT. This too is timely, if you have ever seen a rabid group of children and their presents on Christmas morning.
7. Up to: UNTIL. The punch line, “Up to now, everything was okay.” The joke?
8. Anticipated: DUE.
9. Boston sports legend: ORR. Another New England reference.
10. Back up anew: RESAVE.
11. Marx forte: QUIPS. Karl? Groucho? Both?
12. Like certain expectations: UNMET. Life unfulfilled desires, also apt at Christmas as we see bonuses dwindling, presents shrinking…
13. "Pal Joey" author: O'HARA. Another author and a contemporary of John Steinbeck. When Steinbeck won the Pulitzer prize O’Hara sent him a telegram saying, he could only think of one other author who deserved the prize. O’Hara was great with dialogue, I still read his books.
18. "A Day Without Rain" musician: ENYA. Our new age queen is back.
22. __ Chapel: SISTINE. Another ceiling reference?
23. Fast food chain known for roast beef: ARBYS. One of many food chains that began in Ohio, the name is not RB for Roast Beef, but RB for Raffel Brothers, the founders. They were the first chain to ban smoking in their facilities.
24. First multiracial coed college in the South: BEREA. The history of this COLLEGE is amazing, but I will leave the details to our own Windhover.
25. "Be __ ...": A DEAR. And get me a beer while you are up. Or take out the garbage.
27. Kind of torch: TIKI. Very big in south florida.
28. Gazetteer figure: AREA. Gazetteer is an atlas including information like population and area.
30. Quantico inhabitants: MARINES. A shout out to our soon to be traveling and resting Dennis.
34. Opposite of "Yum!": ICK. Recall this MOVIE ?
36. English racing town: ASCOT. Next year will be the 300th anniversary of the world’s most famous horse race course.
37. Old hat: STALE. Not a fedora, or the race track Derby.
40. Opens, as a hood: POPS. Okay buddy, pop open the hood and lets see what’s making that noise.
41. Gaelic tongue: ERSE. This is the root word for what we now call IRISH.
42. Tyler of "The Incredible Hulk": LIV. Poor CHILD started out thinking she was Liv Rundgren, Todd’s daughter.
47. Words after "Because": I SAY SO. The magic words of parenting, changed my life.
48. Like a vinegar radical: ACETYL. ACETUM is the Latin word for vinegar, which is a weak acid produced by fermentation like alcohol.
49. One of more than 245,000 in a Christmas tree at a California theme park: LEGO. TREE .
50. Oman neighbor: YEMEN. Ah back in Oman.
52. Put the kibosh on: NIXED.Pronounced KIE bosh, likely from Hebrew which oddly does not use vowels.
53. Like a cold sufferer's voice: NASAL. SOUND .
57. "Say that's true ...": IF SO. Hmm, lawyers and logiicans use this…
58. "The X-Files" gp.: SETI. Searh for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.
61. LAX listing: ETD. If it is an airport, it is going to be ETA or ETD A=Arrival, D= Departure.
62. Exist: ARE.
63. Tough boss: DON. The Godfather .
Golly, the year is almost done, I do not expect many will have time to comment today, but I wish you a very happy holiday week, until next time.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
December 17, 2010, Paul Curedon
THEME: Take your CUe from Paul. The letters CU, which are the atomic symbol for Copper, text speak for See You, and the first two letters of constructor Paul’s last name, are added to one word of a common two word expression to convey a different but witty new phrase. There is some symmetry with the first and last CU added to the second word, and the CU added to the first word in the middle two.
18A. Raised to the ninth power?: DOUBLE CUBED. Your DOUBLE BED becomes a mathematics riddle, a cube cubed is 3 x 3 = 9.
24A. Poison literature? : CURARE BOOKS. Our RARE BOOKS dealer is closing after 40 years in Fort Lauderdale. I like the idea of the poison pen implication.
50A. Most adorable flier?: CUTEST PILOT. I wonder what John Glenn thinks of this? We are nearing the 50th anniversary of the first humans to orbit the earth, Yuri Gagarin in April and Alan Shepard in May.
55A. Original Anglican assistant priest?: FIRST CURATE. A CURATE is a clergy who assists the rector or vicar, particularly in the English Church. It comes from the same stem as “cure” and “curator,” Medieval Latin cūrātus, from cūra: spiritual oversight. Was this a First Rate Clue?
47D. Element whose chemical symbol is used in this puzzle's theme: COPPER. Did this help anyone?
I do not know Mr. Cureton (if that is a real person) and find it either brilliant or troubling that the first two letters of his name are the key to the theme. I found most of the fill very straightforward, so the theme jumped out at me when I had CURARE BOOKS, though the start with AZTEC and BEIRUT was not an encouraging beginning.
Lemonade here, ready to lead you to the promised land of a finished Friday.
Across:
1. Iron pumper's pride: ABS. Not to niggle, but the pumpers care about their pecs and lats and bis and tris; abs are for everyone. Neeedless to say, this was my slow period.
4. Some macaroni: ELBOWS. Okay, I was at the store today, and almost bought ELBOWS, opting instead for tri-color rotini. Now I am cooking.
10. Fosbury's high-jumping technique: FLOP. What? I just had this Dick (Fosbury) in a puzzle I blogged; you saw the link, so I will not repeat myself.
14. Zuider __: ZEE. One of my favorites from childhood, the sound of these Dutch words just pleased my ear. The ZUIDER ZEE (South Sea) was an inlet off the North Sea, where oil is now being drilled. The Dutch dammed the sea so it no longer exists.
15. One who may need technical terms explained: LAYMAN. When a doctor uses the phrase, “Let me put this to you in layman’s terms“ it is not a good sign. But, it also has religious meaning, like 4D. Respected one: ELDER. Also, a church term, for a layman who participates in services etc.
16. Like much early TV: LIVE. Oh for the fun of it all. Sid Caesar, George Burns, Milton Berle….
17. Element in pewter: TIN. Which is why they share the gray color.
20. Weather, in a way: ERODE. I understand this but it was not the first to come to mind. I would have gotten weathered and eroded more easily.
22. Little bit: TAD. Little bit made me think of these two, who just opened on BROADWAY .
23. Washday brand: ERA. Whatever happened to the Equal Rights Amendment?
28. "Bad" cholesterol letters: LDL. Low Density, as opposed to good, High Density Lipo proteins.
29. "__ tuned!": STAY. Right next to one of my favorite silly British comedians: 30. Hill on British TV: BENNY. Who does not get in a better mood when listening to his theme Yakity Sax by Boots Randolph, or his silly SKITS .
31. Total amount bet: POOL. This comes from horse racing where the wagering pool determines the final odds and payouts.
32. See 44-Across: GABLES. 44A. With 32-Across, feature of a noted New England home: SEVEN. This novel was Hawthorne’s follow up to The Scarlett Letter and is based on a real house still in SALEM which Hawthorne visited often as it was owned by a cousin. There is speculation he wrote the book out of sadness for his ancestors’ part in the killing of the Salem “witches.” Interestingly, Patricia Cornwell, has set much of her latest Scarpetta novel Port Mortuary in Salem.
34. Do some gardening: PRUNE. I grew up learning gardening from my father, who grew roses, peonies and had many flowering bushes and trees, so we were forever PRUNING which is a bit harder than it looks. Not to be confused with making plums into prunes, or having your fingers wrinkle in the pool.
35. They may be noble or precious: METALS. All you need to KNOW about the difference.
38. Waited: PAUSED.
39. Skill determinants: EXAMS. Personally, I think they measure skill at taking tests.
40. Madagascar mammals: LEMURS. . Did you watch any of the MOVIES ?
43. Learning method: ROTE. My favorite was KYLE ROTE who like another SMU star, Don Meridith, died this year. His son, Kyle, Jr., eschewed football, to become a soccer star (football?).
45. Alveoli, e.g.: SACS. The tiney air sacs in your lungs.
49. Monitor, for short: CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. Being phased out by plasma, LCD and LED. 64A. Watch displays, briefly: LEDS. LEDs--Light Emitting Diodes, were first made famous in the watch worn by James Bond in the ‘70s. They are not to be confused with LCDs-Liquid Crystal Display, though they both use liquid gel.
52. Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on __": ICE. I read this in college, a very interesting book.
53. More than plan: ACT. Like Nike says, just do it!
54. Hoarse: RASPY. Anyone want to hear my hoarse joke again? Damn, no reason to get nasty!
60. Spring mo.: APR. Bring May showers…
61. Manual reader: USER. Not in my family; we have not met a manual that inspired anyone to read yet.
62. Dome opening, in architecture: OCULUS. At first, I was confused by the extra CU, and since I am not familiar with this TERM but figured this was a shout out to me, since it means EYE in Latin. Always amazed how Rich know which puzzles I blog.
63. Corp. bigwig: CEO.
65. Prepares for the next turn in the alley: RESETS. The first of mini-sports corner, a shout out to bowling. Then baseball, 21D. Any Wrigley Field contest until 1988: DAY GAME. Golf: 34D. Hole number?: PAR. Football, 38D. Football play: PUNT. And, weight lifting: 51D. Lift in a gym: PRESS. Like a bench, or military press. I use dumbbells now.
66. Directional ending: ERN. Eastern, western etc.
Down:
1. Tlaxcalteca enemies: AZTECS. Had no idea, but when letters finally came, it looked like it belonged with “teca.”
2. Cedar Revolution city: BEIRUT. Not all familiar with the NAME though I was aware of the struggle against Syria, as I had friend from Lebanon. memories, a nice Jewish boy and a girl from Lebanon; my great aunt married a man from there, and father would always ask him what is was like to be a Lesbian. Our family gatherings were always fun.
3. Lady of Spain: SENORA. Our Spanish lessons revisited. And our tricky Spanish, 42D. Mayo, e.g.: MES. Mayo, the month of May, Mes. Months in Spanish.
5. Film doctor with 7 faces: LAO. A wonderful movie with TONY RANDALL .
6. LDS-owned school: BYU. Latter day Saints, or better known as Mormons.
7. Fed. number-crunching gp.: OMB. Office of Management and Budget.
8. '70s-'80s TV family: WALTONS. A very successful family series based on a book and movie that ran during the ‘70s also.
9. Deceitful: SNEAKY.
10. Word after blue or bird: FLU. Blue Flu being the term used to describe work absences by police,, who are forbidden to strike for pay raises, but who developed flu symptoms to not work and force the cities to pay them more.
11. Defamatory: LIBELOUS. I am beginning to think there really is a conspiracy, since we have this again, and last time I was accused of giving legal advice by defining the term; you are all on your own.
12. Cooked really well?: OVERDONE. Like THIS ?
13. Biked, in Bristol: PEDALLED. Ah ha, Bristol England, not the one in Connecticut where ESPN was born, because the British use two “L”s where we Americans think one will do. Travelled etc.
19. S&L offerings: CDS. Certificates of Deposit, not Compact Discs.
25. Falls back: EBBS.and flows; you all still with me?
26. __ Air: Los Angeles community: BEL. And a great Chevy in the ‘50s.
27. It's next to nothing: ONE. Well a tricky clue, I like it.
31. Frederick the Great's realm: PRUSSIA. I always had trouble with the geography and politics of Germany and Russia and this Kingdom which annexed 46D.French border region: ALSACE. Along with LORRAINE, one of the French provinces which was part of the Franco-Prussian War.
33. Gore and Franken: ALS. To democrat liberals are we. The poor girl on Jeopardy did not know George H. W. Bush called Gore the Ozone man.
35. Forgiving: MERCIFUL. Which sits perfectly with 36D. Deal with, as demons: EXORCISE.Certainly a merciful act.
37. Ragged: TATTERED.
40. Romaine, e.g.: LETTUCE. Why are there now choices of 17 different lettuces? And that is only at McDonalds!
41. Anticipatory time: EVE. Erev in Hebrew, and a perfect clue with the 24th fast approaching.
44. Aid: SUCCOR. Another English word directly from Latin.
48. "Sophie's Choice" author: STYRON. A powerful novel, with the movie heralded as Meryl Streep’s best acting performance, for which she won an Oscar. Not a happy film.
50. Jazz lover: CAT. Hep Cat, Cool Cat.
56. Most coll. applicants: SRS. Seniors in high School
57. Toys __: R US. Gee, it isn’t backwards.
58. Samuel Adams Summer __: ALE. Oh, and we finish with the shout out to my craft brewing, beer swilling children who are headed home for the holiday. Love you boys. Thanks Paul. Sam Adams is the first American micro-brewery to become macro, and the beer is onot bad.
59. Boy king: TUT. Well, my grandmother used ot look at me and go, Tut, Tut all the time, so I guess it time for me to go.
A reasonable Friday, mostly easier, but lots of new stuff. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes, I like many of the new avatars and the new voices, as well as the old ones, so keep up the good work. In the meantime COOKIE!
18A. Raised to the ninth power?: DOUBLE CUBED. Your DOUBLE BED becomes a mathematics riddle, a cube cubed is 3 x 3 = 9.
24A. Poison literature? : CURARE BOOKS. Our RARE BOOKS dealer is closing after 40 years in Fort Lauderdale. I like the idea of the poison pen implication.
50A. Most adorable flier?: CUTEST PILOT. I wonder what John Glenn thinks of this? We are nearing the 50th anniversary of the first humans to orbit the earth, Yuri Gagarin in April and Alan Shepard in May.
55A. Original Anglican assistant priest?: FIRST CURATE. A CURATE is a clergy who assists the rector or vicar, particularly in the English Church. It comes from the same stem as “cure” and “curator,” Medieval Latin cūrātus, from cūra: spiritual oversight. Was this a First Rate Clue?
47D. Element whose chemical symbol is used in this puzzle's theme: COPPER. Did this help anyone?
I do not know Mr. Cureton (if that is a real person) and find it either brilliant or troubling that the first two letters of his name are the key to the theme. I found most of the fill very straightforward, so the theme jumped out at me when I had CURARE BOOKS, though the start with AZTEC and BEIRUT was not an encouraging beginning.
Lemonade here, ready to lead you to the promised land of a finished Friday.
Across:
1. Iron pumper's pride: ABS. Not to niggle, but the pumpers care about their pecs and lats and bis and tris; abs are for everyone. Neeedless to say, this was my slow period.
4. Some macaroni: ELBOWS. Okay, I was at the store today, and almost bought ELBOWS, opting instead for tri-color rotini. Now I am cooking.
10. Fosbury's high-jumping technique: FLOP. What? I just had this Dick (Fosbury) in a puzzle I blogged; you saw the link, so I will not repeat myself.
14. Zuider __: ZEE. One of my favorites from childhood, the sound of these Dutch words just pleased my ear. The ZUIDER ZEE (South Sea) was an inlet off the North Sea, where oil is now being drilled. The Dutch dammed the sea so it no longer exists.
15. One who may need technical terms explained: LAYMAN. When a doctor uses the phrase, “Let me put this to you in layman’s terms“ it is not a good sign. But, it also has religious meaning, like 4D. Respected one: ELDER. Also, a church term, for a layman who participates in services etc.
16. Like much early TV: LIVE. Oh for the fun of it all. Sid Caesar, George Burns, Milton Berle….
17. Element in pewter: TIN. Which is why they share the gray color.
20. Weather, in a way: ERODE. I understand this but it was not the first to come to mind. I would have gotten weathered and eroded more easily.
22. Little bit: TAD. Little bit made me think of these two, who just opened on BROADWAY .
23. Washday brand: ERA. Whatever happened to the Equal Rights Amendment?
28. "Bad" cholesterol letters: LDL. Low Density, as opposed to good, High Density Lipo proteins.
29. "__ tuned!": STAY. Right next to one of my favorite silly British comedians: 30. Hill on British TV: BENNY. Who does not get in a better mood when listening to his theme Yakity Sax by Boots Randolph, or his silly SKITS .
31. Total amount bet: POOL. This comes from horse racing where the wagering pool determines the final odds and payouts.
32. See 44-Across: GABLES. 44A. With 32-Across, feature of a noted New England home: SEVEN. This novel was Hawthorne’s follow up to The Scarlett Letter and is based on a real house still in SALEM which Hawthorne visited often as it was owned by a cousin. There is speculation he wrote the book out of sadness for his ancestors’ part in the killing of the Salem “witches.” Interestingly, Patricia Cornwell, has set much of her latest Scarpetta novel Port Mortuary in Salem.
34. Do some gardening: PRUNE. I grew up learning gardening from my father, who grew roses, peonies and had many flowering bushes and trees, so we were forever PRUNING which is a bit harder than it looks. Not to be confused with making plums into prunes, or having your fingers wrinkle in the pool.
35. They may be noble or precious: METALS. All you need to KNOW about the difference.
38. Waited: PAUSED.
39. Skill determinants: EXAMS. Personally, I think they measure skill at taking tests.
40. Madagascar mammals: LEMURS. . Did you watch any of the MOVIES ?
43. Learning method: ROTE. My favorite was KYLE ROTE who like another SMU star, Don Meridith, died this year. His son, Kyle, Jr., eschewed football, to become a soccer star (football?).
45. Alveoli, e.g.: SACS. The tiney air sacs in your lungs.
49. Monitor, for short: CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. Being phased out by plasma, LCD and LED. 64A. Watch displays, briefly: LEDS. LEDs--Light Emitting Diodes, were first made famous in the watch worn by James Bond in the ‘70s. They are not to be confused with LCDs-Liquid Crystal Display, though they both use liquid gel.
52. Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on __": ICE. I read this in college, a very interesting book.
53. More than plan: ACT. Like Nike says, just do it!
54. Hoarse: RASPY. Anyone want to hear my hoarse joke again? Damn, no reason to get nasty!
60. Spring mo.: APR. Bring May showers…
61. Manual reader: USER. Not in my family; we have not met a manual that inspired anyone to read yet.
62. Dome opening, in architecture: OCULUS. At first, I was confused by the extra CU, and since I am not familiar with this TERM but figured this was a shout out to me, since it means EYE in Latin. Always amazed how Rich know which puzzles I blog.
63. Corp. bigwig: CEO.
65. Prepares for the next turn in the alley: RESETS. The first of mini-sports corner, a shout out to bowling. Then baseball, 21D. Any Wrigley Field contest until 1988: DAY GAME. Golf: 34D. Hole number?: PAR. Football, 38D. Football play: PUNT. And, weight lifting: 51D. Lift in a gym: PRESS. Like a bench, or military press. I use dumbbells now.
66. Directional ending: ERN. Eastern, western etc.
Down:
1. Tlaxcalteca enemies: AZTECS. Had no idea, but when letters finally came, it looked like it belonged with “teca.”
2. Cedar Revolution city: BEIRUT. Not all familiar with the NAME though I was aware of the struggle against Syria, as I had friend from Lebanon. memories, a nice Jewish boy and a girl from Lebanon; my great aunt married a man from there, and father would always ask him what is was like to be a Lesbian. Our family gatherings were always fun.
3. Lady of Spain: SENORA. Our Spanish lessons revisited. And our tricky Spanish, 42D. Mayo, e.g.: MES. Mayo, the month of May, Mes. Months in Spanish.
5. Film doctor with 7 faces: LAO. A wonderful movie with TONY RANDALL .
6. LDS-owned school: BYU. Latter day Saints, or better known as Mormons.
7. Fed. number-crunching gp.: OMB. Office of Management and Budget.
8. '70s-'80s TV family: WALTONS. A very successful family series based on a book and movie that ran during the ‘70s also.
9. Deceitful: SNEAKY.
10. Word after blue or bird: FLU. Blue Flu being the term used to describe work absences by police,, who are forbidden to strike for pay raises, but who developed flu symptoms to not work and force the cities to pay them more.
11. Defamatory: LIBELOUS. I am beginning to think there really is a conspiracy, since we have this again, and last time I was accused of giving legal advice by defining the term; you are all on your own.
12. Cooked really well?: OVERDONE. Like THIS ?
13. Biked, in Bristol: PEDALLED. Ah ha, Bristol England, not the one in Connecticut where ESPN was born, because the British use two “L”s where we Americans think one will do. Travelled etc.
19. S&L offerings: CDS. Certificates of Deposit, not Compact Discs.
25. Falls back: EBBS.and flows; you all still with me?
26. __ Air: Los Angeles community: BEL. And a great Chevy in the ‘50s.
27. It's next to nothing: ONE. Well a tricky clue, I like it.
31. Frederick the Great's realm: PRUSSIA. I always had trouble with the geography and politics of Germany and Russia and this Kingdom which annexed 46D.French border region: ALSACE. Along with LORRAINE, one of the French provinces which was part of the Franco-Prussian War.
33. Gore and Franken: ALS. To democrat liberals are we. The poor girl on Jeopardy did not know George H. W. Bush called Gore the Ozone man.
35. Forgiving: MERCIFUL. Which sits perfectly with 36D. Deal with, as demons: EXORCISE.Certainly a merciful act.
37. Ragged: TATTERED.
40. Romaine, e.g.: LETTUCE. Why are there now choices of 17 different lettuces? And that is only at McDonalds!
41. Anticipatory time: EVE. Erev in Hebrew, and a perfect clue with the 24th fast approaching.
44. Aid: SUCCOR. Another English word directly from Latin.
48. "Sophie's Choice" author: STYRON. A powerful novel, with the movie heralded as Meryl Streep’s best acting performance, for which she won an Oscar. Not a happy film.
50. Jazz lover: CAT. Hep Cat, Cool Cat.
56. Most coll. applicants: SRS. Seniors in high School
57. Toys __: R US. Gee, it isn’t backwards.
58. Samuel Adams Summer __: ALE. Oh, and we finish with the shout out to my craft brewing, beer swilling children who are headed home for the holiday. Love you boys. Thanks Paul. Sam Adams is the first American micro-brewery to become macro, and the beer is onot bad.
59. Boy king: TUT. Well, my grandmother used ot look at me and go, Tut, Tut all the time, so I guess it time for me to go.
A reasonable Friday, mostly easier, but lots of new stuff. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes, I like many of the new avatars and the new voices, as well as the old ones, so keep up the good work. In the meantime COOKIE!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Don Gagliardo, December 10, 2010
Theme: STOCK OPTIONS. (56A. ) Some employee benefits, and this puzzle's title: meaning if you take a common phrase from the world of finance with the word “stock” in the phrase and you mix it up a little, you can create a new and humorous phrase, while still preserving the sound. STOCK OPTIONS allow an employee to buy shares in a company at a future date at a reduced price. And of course OPTION means having a choice to replace the word STOCK, with a sound alike: man is that a convoluted explanation to a fun theme.
Anyway, please read the note from Don G. at the end.
20. Shrink for a noted Vulcan?: SPOCK ANALYST. When STOCK ANALYST, someone who puts out reports on companies, becomes shaken with Star Trek, we have…
29. Reason for a laundry odor?: SOCK ISSUE. STOCK ISSUE, an offering of shares in a company, when faced with stinky feet. I was told, if you scrub between your toes, you will lessen foot odor dramatically, any volunteers?
37. Neighborhood garage sales?: SCHLOCK MARKET.The STOCK MARKET itself, can become the home for cheap items, from the Yiddish .
45. Collection for an artist's garment?: SMOCK FUND. STOCK FUND, a mutual fund, where people can get buy an interest in many companies, and we all know painters and sculptors wear smocks to protect their clothes.
Can you think of one for SHOCK?
I just love Don Hard G’s work, and this was a pleasure, though I cannot put my finger any one aspect, as the cluing was creative, but all over the place, with deception, history, some esoteric information and lots of work to finish.
A few related clues like, SCIENCE FICTION: 14A "Rendezvous With __": Hugo-winning Arthur C. Clarke novel: RAMA. A wonderful book by the 2001: A Space Odyssey author and contemporary of, 40D. Many an Asimov character: ROBOT. Now here is a conundrum, is a Robot a character, or merely a thing? Asimov was amazing, and everyone should read the Foundation series, and if you like mysteries his Black Widower stories. They both were influenced by H.G. Wells, and The Time Machine which gave us 16A. Morlock fare: ELOI. Finally, 30D. Orson, e.g., in a '70s-'80s sitcom: ORKAN. We are over our Mork and Mindy quota aren’t we?
Or, GAMBLING: 24A What serious players play for: KEEPS. I really like this clue, especially followed by, 28A. Act that gets you a hand: DEAL. And our 67A. Roulette bet: NOIR, just French for Black.
And a bunch of law related stuff, so I could be the blogger, like: 6D. Speaks one's mind: OPINES. Like eschews, a favorite of lawyers, who do not like to ever just say something, they want to aver, or opine. 8D. First-year law student: ONE L. Ick, but real, sounds pompous to me. Then, 13D. Artificial locks: WIG. Which is like, 34D. Hairdo: COIF. This is an accepted variant of COIFFURE. Also, a legal honor society, derived from the barristers in England who all wore WIGS.
On with the rest.
Across:
1. Smart: CHIC. Smart, stylish, not intelligent.
5. Use a user ID: LOG ON. Use a user, nice phrase.
10. Look at: VIEW. This is why you should not stay up all night drinking before you go on TV . You will be one of the 70A. Lushes: SOTS.
15. "Brusha, brusha, brusha" toothpaste: IPANA. Man, we see a lot of Bucky these days.
17. Gp. dissolved 12/26/1991: USSR. I never thought of them as a group, was trying to think of rock and roll groups, which reminded me of 64A. It precedes di or da, in a Beatles song: OBLA. Time to LISTEN .
18. Hybrid big cat: LIGER. Have you all seen HERCULES who weights 900 pounds? Not to be confused with 36A. TV production co. whose mascot was Mimsie the Cat: MTM. No idea, though I remember Mary Tyler Moore and her husband Grant Tinker’s production company and the play on the MGM lion, with MTM and a kitty cat.
19. Half an ice grabber: TONG. Well, I think of the secret society they like to write about in mysteries, any truth C.C.?
23. Feature of Incan farms: TERRACE. I never knew about TERRACE FARMING but I guess schools teach more about native society than in my day.
33. Dry, as wine: SEC. There are also demi-sec (sweeter) and Brut (dryer) wines.
35. Untrained: RAW. I always think of raw recruits.
42. Point: AIM. My kind of pistol.
43. "This American Life" radio host Glass: IRA. Do not know this show. Anyone?
44. Fin. neighbor: NOR. Seems I always get a chance to shout out to our Norwegian friends.
49. "Tiny Toon Adventures" bunny: BABS. I never cared for the Tiny Toons, but with my kids I saw many episodes.
52. Mount also known as Horeb: SINAI. This is a very hot topic for biblical scholars but I will leave that to our own expert Hahtool and WIKIPEDIA .
53. Exterminate: ROOT OUT. More bible, as we root out all evil.
60. Slung food: HASH. My mental picture is MEL’S .
63. Initial strategy: PLAN A. How many of us ever have a plan B?
65. Sommer of "A Shot in the Dark": ELKE. Clouseau is back with a Pretty Woman.
66. Many a surfer: AOLER. Does that sound like a swear word to you too?
68. Diamond spoiler: FLAW.
69. 1954 event coded as "Castle Bravo": H TEST. This was 1,200 times more powerful than the bombs dropped in Japan, making many people who lived in the 50’s quite reasonably afraid of the impending end of the world, causing them to build underground shelters. My kids do not believe it.
Down:
1. Pie maker's pride: CRUST. Well, since we have so many wonderful cooks on our board directors, is it really the crust?
2. Locked, in a way: HASPED. It is a good thing I had the crosses because this would not have been in my head.
3. Marathoner's lament: I'M SORE. How about, I am an idiot for running 26 miles without being chased. I did however, teach Frank Shorter legal writing.
4. Traffic blocker: CAR CRASH. Been there too often.
5. Bath salt fragrance: LILAC. We had such pretty lilacs in pour yard when I was growing up.
7. Infatuated: GAGA. Is this SONG your cup of tea?
9. Not even one, with "a": NARY. A nice word from old western, “Nope nary an Injun around these parts.”
10. Chevy sportsters: VETTES. I always thought of Corvettes as a woman’s car, but maybe because my ex owned many of them.
11. UN workers' agcy.: ILO. International Labour Organization; notice the “u”, which tells you it is not an American group.
12. Two or more eras, in geologic time: EON. See, it is specific, sort of.
21. Infant who escaped Krypton: KAL EL. His father was JOR EL, but he became better known as Clark Kent and Superman.
22. Jet __: SKI.
25. Salinger title girl: ESME. With love and Squalor, another repeat performance.
26. Green stroke: PUTT.
27. Where to study for a Th.D.: SEM. Doctor of Theology, rather than Philosophy.
31. Word with nanny or web: CAM. Spying on yuor nanny? Which of course reminded of, 61D. __-American: ALL. So, who are we voting for the Heisman trophy, CAM Newton? He was at one time in Gainesville with Tebow.
32. Nine-time U.S. skating champ: KWAN. It seems almost every puzzle I blog contains a shout out to our figure skating females, who I am sure looked just like THIS .
37. Ventura County's __ Valley: SIMI. Most famous now I guess as the resting place of the corporeal remain of Ronald reagen.
38. "Let's go!": C'MON.
39. French wine term: CRU. This describes where a wine’s grapes were grown, without the specificity of a specific vineyard, though with Premier and Grand, it classifies the regions as to their reputations.
41. Three-course military supplies: K RATIONS. This was a hastily put together food package to feed a soldier, initially a paratrooper, three meals for a day. It replaced existing A B and C rations, and was not very nutritious, but did include some Chesterfields.
42. Symbol of stubbornness: ASS. No comment.
46. Some kind of nut: CASHEW. So simple, it was tricky.
47. Tool holder: KIT. I could not get LOIS to fit.
48. Goes on monotonously: DRONES. My real estate professor in law school, D.T. Smith, man could he talk and say nothing.
50. Playground mishap: BOOBOO. You sure about this career move JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ?
51. Bright, as a porch: SUN LIT. Did you all have a sun porch growing up, like I did. Of course the sun only came out for a few weeks a year….
54. Dizzying genre: OP ART.? It can be disturbing, but it can also let your mind wander, what do YOU see in this PICTURE ? Hint, I was trying to keep a topic from the week going.
55. Nicholas I and II, e.g.: TSARS. Never the see the old CZAR any more, do we.
57. Hawaiian food fish: OPAH. Where have all of our Hawaiin posters gone? Anywya, I did not know this FISH .
58. Lump: CLOT. This was part of the most difficult section, as I think of clots only in terms of blood.
59. Broccoli relative: KALE. Broccoli is actually related to cabbage, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. It gets its name from the Italian, BROCCO, which means arm or branch (the Latin stem being Bracchium). Some people love this edible flower, while some children have been know to sit for hours at the table refusing to take even a bite, even foregoing a yummy dessert. You know who you are Brent and Kimberly. Anyway, if you like broccoli, you may also like to try broccoflower, a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. Broccolini, also called baby broccoli, is another new trademarked cross between broccoli and kale. According to nutritionists, raw or steamed broccoli is a superfood with anti-oxidant and ant-cancer ingredients.
60. Mag mogul with a mansion: HEF. Nice alliterative clue for the old Playboy Hugh Hefner.
62. Reggae precursor: SKA. An easy one, as almost every puzzle I blog does overlap my life; Devin, my youngest is going into the studio to record a couple of songs, and SKA was one of his musical influences.
Thanks for inviting me into your homes, and I hope you enjoyed the show, until next time
Lemonade.
Note from Don: "Stock Options"
This theme came to me in an instant. I heard the phrase “Stock Options”, and realized that I could come up with phrases where “stock” is normally used, and substitute a similar word to create wacky phrases. That is about all I can remember, except the first draft had to be revised, and Rich suggested an alternative. I thought the theme was also a little unusual, so it might have appeal from that perspective.
Anyway, please read the note from Don G. at the end.
20. Shrink for a noted Vulcan?: SPOCK ANALYST. When STOCK ANALYST, someone who puts out reports on companies, becomes shaken with Star Trek, we have…
29. Reason for a laundry odor?: SOCK ISSUE. STOCK ISSUE, an offering of shares in a company, when faced with stinky feet. I was told, if you scrub between your toes, you will lessen foot odor dramatically, any volunteers?
37. Neighborhood garage sales?: SCHLOCK MARKET.The STOCK MARKET itself, can become the home for cheap items, from the Yiddish .
45. Collection for an artist's garment?: SMOCK FUND. STOCK FUND, a mutual fund, where people can get buy an interest in many companies, and we all know painters and sculptors wear smocks to protect their clothes.
Can you think of one for SHOCK?
I just love Don Hard G’s work, and this was a pleasure, though I cannot put my finger any one aspect, as the cluing was creative, but all over the place, with deception, history, some esoteric information and lots of work to finish.
A few related clues like, SCIENCE FICTION: 14A "Rendezvous With __": Hugo-winning Arthur C. Clarke novel: RAMA. A wonderful book by the 2001: A Space Odyssey author and contemporary of, 40D. Many an Asimov character: ROBOT. Now here is a conundrum, is a Robot a character, or merely a thing? Asimov was amazing, and everyone should read the Foundation series, and if you like mysteries his Black Widower stories. They both were influenced by H.G. Wells, and The Time Machine which gave us 16A. Morlock fare: ELOI. Finally, 30D. Orson, e.g., in a '70s-'80s sitcom: ORKAN. We are over our Mork and Mindy quota aren’t we?
Or, GAMBLING: 24A What serious players play for: KEEPS. I really like this clue, especially followed by, 28A. Act that gets you a hand: DEAL. And our 67A. Roulette bet: NOIR, just French for Black.
And a bunch of law related stuff, so I could be the blogger, like: 6D. Speaks one's mind: OPINES. Like eschews, a favorite of lawyers, who do not like to ever just say something, they want to aver, or opine. 8D. First-year law student: ONE L. Ick, but real, sounds pompous to me. Then, 13D. Artificial locks: WIG. Which is like, 34D. Hairdo: COIF. This is an accepted variant of COIFFURE. Also, a legal honor society, derived from the barristers in England who all wore WIGS.
On with the rest.
Across:
1. Smart: CHIC. Smart, stylish, not intelligent.
5. Use a user ID: LOG ON. Use a user, nice phrase.
10. Look at: VIEW. This is why you should not stay up all night drinking before you go on TV . You will be one of the 70A. Lushes: SOTS.
15. "Brusha, brusha, brusha" toothpaste: IPANA. Man, we see a lot of Bucky these days.
17. Gp. dissolved 12/26/1991: USSR. I never thought of them as a group, was trying to think of rock and roll groups, which reminded me of 64A. It precedes di or da, in a Beatles song: OBLA. Time to LISTEN .
18. Hybrid big cat: LIGER. Have you all seen HERCULES who weights 900 pounds? Not to be confused with 36A. TV production co. whose mascot was Mimsie the Cat: MTM. No idea, though I remember Mary Tyler Moore and her husband Grant Tinker’s production company and the play on the MGM lion, with MTM and a kitty cat.
19. Half an ice grabber: TONG. Well, I think of the secret society they like to write about in mysteries, any truth C.C.?
23. Feature of Incan farms: TERRACE. I never knew about TERRACE FARMING but I guess schools teach more about native society than in my day.
33. Dry, as wine: SEC. There are also demi-sec (sweeter) and Brut (dryer) wines.
35. Untrained: RAW. I always think of raw recruits.
42. Point: AIM. My kind of pistol.
43. "This American Life" radio host Glass: IRA. Do not know this show. Anyone?
44. Fin. neighbor: NOR. Seems I always get a chance to shout out to our Norwegian friends.
49. "Tiny Toon Adventures" bunny: BABS. I never cared for the Tiny Toons, but with my kids I saw many episodes.
52. Mount also known as Horeb: SINAI. This is a very hot topic for biblical scholars but I will leave that to our own expert Hahtool and WIKIPEDIA .
53. Exterminate: ROOT OUT. More bible, as we root out all evil.
60. Slung food: HASH. My mental picture is MEL’S .
63. Initial strategy: PLAN A. How many of us ever have a plan B?
65. Sommer of "A Shot in the Dark": ELKE. Clouseau is back with a Pretty Woman.
66. Many a surfer: AOLER. Does that sound like a swear word to you too?
68. Diamond spoiler: FLAW.
69. 1954 event coded as "Castle Bravo": H TEST. This was 1,200 times more powerful than the bombs dropped in Japan, making many people who lived in the 50’s quite reasonably afraid of the impending end of the world, causing them to build underground shelters. My kids do not believe it.
Down:
1. Pie maker's pride: CRUST. Well, since we have so many wonderful cooks on our board directors, is it really the crust?
2. Locked, in a way: HASPED. It is a good thing I had the crosses because this would not have been in my head.
3. Marathoner's lament: I'M SORE. How about, I am an idiot for running 26 miles without being chased. I did however, teach Frank Shorter legal writing.
4. Traffic blocker: CAR CRASH. Been there too often.
5. Bath salt fragrance: LILAC. We had such pretty lilacs in pour yard when I was growing up.
7. Infatuated: GAGA. Is this SONG your cup of tea?
9. Not even one, with "a": NARY. A nice word from old western, “Nope nary an Injun around these parts.”
10. Chevy sportsters: VETTES. I always thought of Corvettes as a woman’s car, but maybe because my ex owned many of them.
11. UN workers' agcy.: ILO. International Labour Organization; notice the “u”, which tells you it is not an American group.
12. Two or more eras, in geologic time: EON. See, it is specific, sort of.
21. Infant who escaped Krypton: KAL EL. His father was JOR EL, but he became better known as Clark Kent and Superman.
22. Jet __: SKI.
25. Salinger title girl: ESME. With love and Squalor, another repeat performance.
26. Green stroke: PUTT.
27. Where to study for a Th.D.: SEM. Doctor of Theology, rather than Philosophy.
31. Word with nanny or web: CAM. Spying on yuor nanny? Which of course reminded of, 61D. __-American: ALL. So, who are we voting for the Heisman trophy, CAM Newton? He was at one time in Gainesville with Tebow.
32. Nine-time U.S. skating champ: KWAN. It seems almost every puzzle I blog contains a shout out to our figure skating females, who I am sure looked just like THIS .
37. Ventura County's __ Valley: SIMI. Most famous now I guess as the resting place of the corporeal remain of Ronald reagen.
38. "Let's go!": C'MON.
39. French wine term: CRU. This describes where a wine’s grapes were grown, without the specificity of a specific vineyard, though with Premier and Grand, it classifies the regions as to their reputations.
41. Three-course military supplies: K RATIONS. This was a hastily put together food package to feed a soldier, initially a paratrooper, three meals for a day. It replaced existing A B and C rations, and was not very nutritious, but did include some Chesterfields.
42. Symbol of stubbornness: ASS. No comment.
46. Some kind of nut: CASHEW. So simple, it was tricky.
47. Tool holder: KIT. I could not get LOIS to fit.
48. Goes on monotonously: DRONES. My real estate professor in law school, D.T. Smith, man could he talk and say nothing.
50. Playground mishap: BOOBOO. You sure about this career move JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ?
51. Bright, as a porch: SUN LIT. Did you all have a sun porch growing up, like I did. Of course the sun only came out for a few weeks a year….
54. Dizzying genre: OP ART.? It can be disturbing, but it can also let your mind wander, what do YOU see in this PICTURE ? Hint, I was trying to keep a topic from the week going.
55. Nicholas I and II, e.g.: TSARS. Never the see the old CZAR any more, do we.
57. Hawaiian food fish: OPAH. Where have all of our Hawaiin posters gone? Anywya, I did not know this FISH .
58. Lump: CLOT. This was part of the most difficult section, as I think of clots only in terms of blood.
59. Broccoli relative: KALE. Broccoli is actually related to cabbage, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. It gets its name from the Italian, BROCCO, which means arm or branch (the Latin stem being Bracchium). Some people love this edible flower, while some children have been know to sit for hours at the table refusing to take even a bite, even foregoing a yummy dessert. You know who you are Brent and Kimberly. Anyway, if you like broccoli, you may also like to try broccoflower, a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. Broccolini, also called baby broccoli, is another new trademarked cross between broccoli and kale. According to nutritionists, raw or steamed broccoli is a superfood with anti-oxidant and ant-cancer ingredients.
60. Mag mogul with a mansion: HEF. Nice alliterative clue for the old Playboy Hugh Hefner.
62. Reggae precursor: SKA. An easy one, as almost every puzzle I blog does overlap my life; Devin, my youngest is going into the studio to record a couple of songs, and SKA was one of his musical influences.
Thanks for inviting me into your homes, and I hope you enjoyed the show, until next time
Lemonade.
Note from Don: "Stock Options"
This theme came to me in an instant. I heard the phrase “Stock Options”, and realized that I could come up with phrases where “stock” is normally used, and substitute a similar word to create wacky phrases. That is about all I can remember, except the first draft had to be revised, and Rich suggested an alternative. I thought the theme was also a little unusual, so it might have appeal from that perspective.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Pamela Amick Klawitter, December 3, 2010
The theme: No scotch, just add A RY(e). I am not good at naming these add on themes. By adding ARY to the end of the second word of a common phrase, a new and entirely different phrase emerges, with oodles of frivolity.
20. Where a witch's influence ends?: SPELL BOUNDARY. Or is SPELLBOUND really one word? I like the imagery of a boundary on spells.
25. Office employee to avoid?: DEADLY SECRETARY. I am not really familiar with this as a phrase, though I know there is a movie, and the newspapers use it often, like when describing the Toyota coverup.
47. Shuttle evangelist?: SPACE MISSIONARY. I think many of our televangelists would be better if sent off in a rocket ship, but that is just me.
53. Bird in a landfill?: GARBAGE CANARY. My favorite, as it turns a can into a bird.
Well, it is your semi- recovered Lemonade here for your Friday entertainment. This is my first blogging of Ms. Klawitter, but we have had many of her puzzles this year, mostly on Sundays, but last month’s Wednesday effort with all the swapping and trading was fun.
Some really fun clues:
23A. River past Memphis: NILE. Ha ha, fooled you, Memphis used to be the capital of Egypt, before Cairo.
33A. Teen sensation?: ANGST. Great clue, man. For me it was ages 11 to 14.
9D. Treetop rocker: CRADLE. Oh. I LOVE this clue, they get you thinking about music, and rockers and then slip in my favorite lullaby, which was obviously written by someone who did not like kids. I mean what kid wants to hear about falling out the top of a tree?
40D. Item in a stirring picture?: SPOON. Another great clue, simple elegance..
On we go
ACROSS:
1. Actor Gyllenhaal: JAKE. Did the controversial BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN with Heath Ledger, dated Reese Witherspoon among others, and his sister, Maggie appeared in the DARK KNIGHT which is the Batman movie where Heath Ledger was so fabulous as the Joker. Aslo, see below for more Batman stuff.
5. Big rolls: WADS. The online dictionary says this goes back to the US in 1778.
9. "Zorba the Greek" setting: CRETE.A wonderful, fun MOVIE .
14. Very top: APEX. Not to be confused with ACME, also four letters beginning with A.
15. Cartoon drooler: ODIE. Poor baby, he gets such bad press because of the CAT.
16. Invoice word: REMIT.
17. Downed shot: BELT. The first shout out to our shot downer, Tinbeni.
18. Eugene O'Neill's daughter: OONA. Also, married to Charlie Chaplin.
19. Lab flask contents, perhaps: ACIDS. Like my stomach tonight, ick.
24. Tim's "Tool Time" sidekick et al.: ALS. Ick, a gratuitous plural, when Lou Gherig’s disease could do it.
34. What a recent ex may need: TLC. Or recent eye surgery patients….
35. With 62-Down, call: SEE A, 62d. See 35-Across: BET. Poker rules, still.
36. Early 16th-century date: MDI.
37. "Also sprach Zarathustra" composer: STRAUSS. I am not the music expert, but is the music used for Space Odedsey:2001 ?
41. Shade on a beach: TAN. A wonderfully tricky clue, as I was trying to think of a three letter word for umbrella. I am a tan freak. We also have, 63A. Sunburn soothers: ALOES, to keep those tans safe.
42. Cookie recipe morsels: NUTS. Okay, I refuse to go back to that discussion, just believe me, there is no gravitational issue.
44. Fitting: APT.
45. Phoenician dialect: PUNIC. Well, while we may not know the clue directly, most of us have been taught about the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, and the famous pictures of Hannibal crossing the Alps on elephants to attack Rome from the north. Of course, having a son getting his PhD in Roman archaeology may have made this a touch easier for me.
51. Part of a roadie's load: AMP. Okay, here is where I tell my tales of going on the road with bands I represented, traveling by bus, eh, maybe later.
52. __ bomb: ATOM. Well BOOM! BAM!(Forgive me Emeril and BATMAN).
59. Actress Thomas who is now St. Jude's National Outreach Director: MARLO. Danny’s daughter, and the star of That Girl .
60. For all of us: OURS.
61. Certain line crosser: SCAB. Unions were very serious when I was growing u, and while they did much good in the 40’s and 50’s, eventually they became tools of bad people and did much to ruin American Industry.
64. Actor Baldwin: ALEC. My favorite of the brothers.
65. Kate __, a.k.a. Batwoman: KANE. This was very difficult for me, as I never knew of the 2006 change to BATWOMAN who is no longer Kathy Kane, but is a Jewish lesbian! In the continuing saga of clues relating to my life, I collected comic books while in law school and for years after, and had my own store in Gainesville until I had to move to South Florida for a previous eye operation.
66. Air ducts: VENTS.
67. "There you have it!": TA DA. The word of the whole corner!
68. USMC rank: SSGT. They have a lot more SERGEANTS than I knew. Dennis, was this just for you?
DOWN:
1. Setup punch: JAB.
2. Fossey focus: APES. Dian who lived among GORILLAS .
3. Source of the food thickener alginate: KELP. No clue, but with Jake being easy, so was this.
4. Lengthens: EXTENDS. Okay, Lois and Carol and ladies, I know where this one fits in your memory banks.
5. Wild associate?: WOOLLY. Don’t know why but this reminded me of this classic SONG .
6. Sun-dried structures: ADOBES. Unlike the tomatoes…
7. Flintstones' Snorkasaurus: DINO. Their pet; very cute.
8. Linebacker Junior who played in 12 consecutive Pro Bowls: SEAU. He played many years in San Diego, came to Miami for a couple of years and then EXTENDED his career with the Patriots. Sadly, I think he has retirement adjustment PROBLEMS .
10. Changes the actor: RECASTS, and the similar, 31D. Televise again: REAIR. REGURGITATE?
11. Kuwaiti VIP: EMIR.
12. Unlike folks on "Hoarders": TIDY. I have never and never will watch this “reality” show from A&E (Arts? Entertainment?) which exploits the sad life of mentally ill people.
13. Saturn drivers?: ETS. Cute, but drivers?
21. Light melodies: LILTS. Okay ladies, help me here, because this is all I thought of from my YOUTH , am I the only one?
22. Some traffic monitors: NARCS. We had this in a puzzle I blogged recently.
25. Condemns: DAMNS. Most famous ONE . Which leads naturally , even if spelling does not work, to 43D. Like an infamous "A": SCARLET.
26. Become, finally: END UP.
27. Antacid target: AGITA. Fascinatind that this ITALIAN SLANG would be an acceptable term.
28. Texas and Tennessee, in Toulouse: ETATS. Well, this is silly, since there are no states in Toulouse named Texas, why not “to Toulouse” to show it is a French answer?
29. Gulager of "The Virginian": CLU. He is still working, now in horror movies at 82 ACTOR and has since 1956, when I first began watching TV; always sounded like he swallowed something wrong.
30. Insurance company named for a mountain: AETNA. A Hartford Connecticut mainstay, the company not the mountain.
32. "The Waltons" handyman Tucker: YANCY. Another one I did not know, but it is Friday. He was played by ROBERT DONNER, a weird looking dude.
38. City on its own bay: TAMPA. Okay Tin man who did you pay today?
39. Sch. in Troy, NY: RPI. And another Spitzboov reference?
46. Exposes: UNMASKS.
48. Make stand out: EMBOSS. Another opportunity ladies?
49. Divine: SACRED.
50. Mississippi source: ITASCA. We have had this river in Illinois, trying to trick us before.
53. 8 on the Beaufort scale: GALE. My first love was GALE, and I thought she was 10.
54. Elvis __ Presley: ARON. My oldest boy's name, spelled wrong,
55. Billy __: GOAT. For you again Tinbeni, I wanted MARTIN.
56. "The Long, Hot Summer" vixen __ Varner: EULA. We just had this back in an October offering from EdSessa.
57. Some HDTVs: RCAS.
58. Bright side?: YANG. Please someboday help, I know YIN, and I know YANG represents the bright colors in Feng Shui, so I guess this is what it must mean, but honestly I never saw the clue and would never put YANG in there except the corner was already filled.
59. Dallas NBAer: MAV.
20. Where a witch's influence ends?: SPELL BOUNDARY. Or is SPELLBOUND really one word? I like the imagery of a boundary on spells.
25. Office employee to avoid?: DEADLY SECRETARY. I am not really familiar with this as a phrase, though I know there is a movie, and the newspapers use it often, like when describing the Toyota coverup.
47. Shuttle evangelist?: SPACE MISSIONARY. I think many of our televangelists would be better if sent off in a rocket ship, but that is just me.
53. Bird in a landfill?: GARBAGE CANARY. My favorite, as it turns a can into a bird.
Well, it is your semi- recovered Lemonade here for your Friday entertainment. This is my first blogging of Ms. Klawitter, but we have had many of her puzzles this year, mostly on Sundays, but last month’s Wednesday effort with all the swapping and trading was fun.
Some really fun clues:
23A. River past Memphis: NILE. Ha ha, fooled you, Memphis used to be the capital of Egypt, before Cairo.
33A. Teen sensation?: ANGST. Great clue, man. For me it was ages 11 to 14.
9D. Treetop rocker: CRADLE. Oh. I LOVE this clue, they get you thinking about music, and rockers and then slip in my favorite lullaby, which was obviously written by someone who did not like kids. I mean what kid wants to hear about falling out the top of a tree?
40D. Item in a stirring picture?: SPOON. Another great clue, simple elegance..
On we go
ACROSS:
1. Actor Gyllenhaal: JAKE. Did the controversial BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN with Heath Ledger, dated Reese Witherspoon among others, and his sister, Maggie appeared in the DARK KNIGHT which is the Batman movie where Heath Ledger was so fabulous as the Joker. Aslo, see below for more Batman stuff.
5. Big rolls: WADS. The online dictionary says this goes back to the US in 1778.
9. "Zorba the Greek" setting: CRETE.A wonderful, fun MOVIE .
14. Very top: APEX. Not to be confused with ACME, also four letters beginning with A.
15. Cartoon drooler: ODIE. Poor baby, he gets such bad press because of the CAT.
16. Invoice word: REMIT.
17. Downed shot: BELT. The first shout out to our shot downer, Tinbeni.
18. Eugene O'Neill's daughter: OONA. Also, married to Charlie Chaplin.
19. Lab flask contents, perhaps: ACIDS. Like my stomach tonight, ick.
24. Tim's "Tool Time" sidekick et al.: ALS. Ick, a gratuitous plural, when Lou Gherig’s disease could do it.
34. What a recent ex may need: TLC. Or recent eye surgery patients….
35. With 62-Down, call: SEE A, 62d. See 35-Across: BET. Poker rules, still.
36. Early 16th-century date: MDI.
37. "Also sprach Zarathustra" composer: STRAUSS. I am not the music expert, but is the music used for Space Odedsey:2001 ?
41. Shade on a beach: TAN. A wonderfully tricky clue, as I was trying to think of a three letter word for umbrella. I am a tan freak. We also have, 63A. Sunburn soothers: ALOES, to keep those tans safe.
42. Cookie recipe morsels: NUTS. Okay, I refuse to go back to that discussion, just believe me, there is no gravitational issue.
44. Fitting: APT.
45. Phoenician dialect: PUNIC. Well, while we may not know the clue directly, most of us have been taught about the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, and the famous pictures of Hannibal crossing the Alps on elephants to attack Rome from the north. Of course, having a son getting his PhD in Roman archaeology may have made this a touch easier for me.
51. Part of a roadie's load: AMP. Okay, here is where I tell my tales of going on the road with bands I represented, traveling by bus, eh, maybe later.
52. __ bomb: ATOM. Well BOOM! BAM!(Forgive me Emeril and BATMAN).
59. Actress Thomas who is now St. Jude's National Outreach Director: MARLO. Danny’s daughter, and the star of That Girl .
60. For all of us: OURS.
61. Certain line crosser: SCAB. Unions were very serious when I was growing u, and while they did much good in the 40’s and 50’s, eventually they became tools of bad people and did much to ruin American Industry.
64. Actor Baldwin: ALEC. My favorite of the brothers.
65. Kate __, a.k.a. Batwoman: KANE. This was very difficult for me, as I never knew of the 2006 change to BATWOMAN who is no longer Kathy Kane, but is a Jewish lesbian! In the continuing saga of clues relating to my life, I collected comic books while in law school and for years after, and had my own store in Gainesville until I had to move to South Florida for a previous eye operation.
66. Air ducts: VENTS.
67. "There you have it!": TA DA. The word of the whole corner!
68. USMC rank: SSGT. They have a lot more SERGEANTS than I knew. Dennis, was this just for you?
DOWN:
1. Setup punch: JAB.
2. Fossey focus: APES. Dian who lived among GORILLAS .
3. Source of the food thickener alginate: KELP. No clue, but with Jake being easy, so was this.
4. Lengthens: EXTENDS. Okay, Lois and Carol and ladies, I know where this one fits in your memory banks.
5. Wild associate?: WOOLLY. Don’t know why but this reminded me of this classic SONG .
6. Sun-dried structures: ADOBES. Unlike the tomatoes…
7. Flintstones' Snorkasaurus: DINO. Their pet; very cute.
8. Linebacker Junior who played in 12 consecutive Pro Bowls: SEAU. He played many years in San Diego, came to Miami for a couple of years and then EXTENDED his career with the Patriots. Sadly, I think he has retirement adjustment PROBLEMS .
10. Changes the actor: RECASTS, and the similar, 31D. Televise again: REAIR. REGURGITATE?
11. Kuwaiti VIP: EMIR.
12. Unlike folks on "Hoarders": TIDY. I have never and never will watch this “reality” show from A&E (Arts? Entertainment?) which exploits the sad life of mentally ill people.
13. Saturn drivers?: ETS. Cute, but drivers?
21. Light melodies: LILTS. Okay ladies, help me here, because this is all I thought of from my YOUTH , am I the only one?
22. Some traffic monitors: NARCS. We had this in a puzzle I blogged recently.
25. Condemns: DAMNS. Most famous ONE . Which leads naturally , even if spelling does not work, to 43D. Like an infamous "A": SCARLET.
26. Become, finally: END UP.
27. Antacid target: AGITA. Fascinatind that this ITALIAN SLANG would be an acceptable term.
28. Texas and Tennessee, in Toulouse: ETATS. Well, this is silly, since there are no states in Toulouse named Texas, why not “to Toulouse” to show it is a French answer?
29. Gulager of "The Virginian": CLU. He is still working, now in horror movies at 82 ACTOR and has since 1956, when I first began watching TV; always sounded like he swallowed something wrong.
30. Insurance company named for a mountain: AETNA. A Hartford Connecticut mainstay, the company not the mountain.
32. "The Waltons" handyman Tucker: YANCY. Another one I did not know, but it is Friday. He was played by ROBERT DONNER, a weird looking dude.
38. City on its own bay: TAMPA. Okay Tin man who did you pay today?
39. Sch. in Troy, NY: RPI. And another Spitzboov reference?
46. Exposes: UNMASKS.
48. Make stand out: EMBOSS. Another opportunity ladies?
49. Divine: SACRED.
50. Mississippi source: ITASCA. We have had this river in Illinois, trying to trick us before.
53. 8 on the Beaufort scale: GALE. My first love was GALE, and I thought she was 10.
54. Elvis __ Presley: ARON. My oldest boy's name, spelled wrong,
55. Billy __: GOAT. For you again Tinbeni, I wanted MARTIN.
56. "The Long, Hot Summer" vixen __ Varner: EULA. We just had this back in an October offering from EdSessa.
57. Some HDTVs: RCAS.
58. Bright side?: YANG. Please someboday help, I know YIN, and I know YANG represents the bright colors in Feng Shui, so I guess this is what it must mean, but honestly I never saw the clue and would never put YANG in there except the corner was already filled.
59. Dallas NBAer: MAV.
Well peoples, it is good to be at least partially back; enjoy the day and week end; bruised but not broken, Lemonade 714.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010 Daniel A. Finan
The theme is CLUELESS: with 61A. Like five answers in this puzzle, literally and figuratively: CLUELESS. Very tricky puzzle, you see un-clued fill, but there is the dash. So the five answers were without clues, and the five answers were all synonyms for CLUELESS, meaning not very smart. I was an pea brain, airhead for a while, sorting this one out.
17A. -: PEA BRAIN. This is one of the more obvious expressions, coming from the idea of one who has brain the size of a pea does not know much.
28A. -: DINGBAT. None more famous than EDITH . Nobody seems to know where this term comes from.
46A. -: AIRHEAD. Also, pretty self explanatory, if all that is between your ears is AIR, you are not likely to be smart.
11D. -: NINCOMPOOP. A really evocative word, I have heard my entire life, but again, nobody knows why it means what it means.
27D. -: SPACE CADET. This comes from someone who has his head in the sky, with no touch with normal thought.
Well, hello all, it is Lemonade here with your Friday report, and this was a very complicated effort, with pitfalls everywhere. It is my second Daniel A. Finan puzzle to blog, the last being the incredible anagram pangram in August. Once again his approach to theme is new, leaving out clues as clues. So, let’s go…
Across:
1. "When I __ kid ...": WAS A. I put it in but wondered if there was more to it. Is this referring to the Bill Cosby comedy album?
5. Colorado NHLers: AVS. National Hockey League. The Avalanche; they began as the Quebec Nordiques, but were too close to Montreal, and finally moved to Colorado, where they won the Stanley Cup their first year, beating the Florida Panthers.
8. They may be surrounded at parties: PIANOS. Lovely clue, really nice imagery.
14. Set up: Abbr.: ESTD. Established.
15. Acqua Di __: Armani cologne: GIO. My cologne of choice; ladies?
16. Like a maelstrom: ASWIRL. Ah, an “A” word, what fun.
19. Cash in Nashville: JOHNNY. Did you hesitate and think about Money?
20. Rolls to the gate: TAXIES. What planes do after landing.
21. Colorful cats: CALICOS. So many different color COMBINATIONS .
22. Pitts of early cinema: ZASU. An old favorite from the Tribune puzzles, but we have not seen her lately; I remember her from OH SUSANNAH where she was Gale Storm’s sidekick.
24. Retired New York senator Al D'__: AMATO. As a Senator, he was more famous for controversy and long filibusters; now retired he is 73 and has 2 children, a 2 year old, and a 1 year old. Man must be crazy.
25. Hi-__: FIS. Stands for High Fidelity.
30. Second degree?: MBA. Fooled me completely first time through, but after you get your Bachelor’s , you do get a second degree.
33. In spades: AMPLY. Phrase in spades "in abundance" first recorded 1929 (Damon Runyon), probably from bridge, where spades are the highest-ranking suit.
35. It's usually four: PAR. Though generally there also par 5’s and par 3’s; no record of how 4 became the standard, or even why 18 HOLES . We also have, 34. Golfer's concern: LIE indicating where your ball lies.
36. Former 56-Across team: EXPOS. The Montreal EXPOS went bankrupt, and major league baseball moved the franchise to Washington, D.C., where they are now the Nationals. 56A. Baseball div.: NL EAST. Had to guess.
38. Cuisine that includes phanaeng: THAI. I enjpy THAI food, but most restaurants refer to it as PANANG CURRY.
39. "Entourage" agent Gold: ARI. Played ever so hatefully by Jeremy Piven.
40. English walled city: YORK. A fun tour of Europe is to see the WALLED CITIES .
41. Guard dog command: SIC EM. No doubt from ‘seek them’.
43. "__ be a pleasure!": ITD.
44. O3: OZONE. If I had not gotten this one, I would never have finished, it opened up the whole south for me.
45. Unlock'd: OPE. I ‘ope not again, soon.
49. Place for flock members: PEW. Very cute, I can picture all the sheep in church.
50. "I __ your long lost pal": Paul Simon lyric: CAN BE. This was part of his work with African music and musicians, with American LYRICS .
52. Salon sound: SNIP. Snip, snip go the scissors, a word many men associate with vasectomy.
54. Given, as custody: AWARDED. I hated divorce work, and quit after the old man pulled gun on me in the hall outside my office; criminals were much safer.
60. Mel Gibson persona: MAD MAX. This was Mel Gibson’s break out hit MOVIE .
63. Ring of color: AREOLE. Alas, C.C., I defer to you.
64. "Popeye" surname: OYL. The hot chick the men had to fight over, Olive.
65. Shell's shell, e.g.: LOGO. Like the clue, simple but effective.
66. Aquarium denizens: TETRAS. A fancy word for resident.
67. "Bottle Rocket" director Anderson: WES. This was his first movie, which he did with the Wilson brothers, with whom he forged a long relationship and did other movies such as The Royal Tenebaums he also directed the fable The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and to show our puzzles all make sense, and fit together, the recent Fantastic Mr. Fox .
68. Colony workers: ANTS. Ant colony, not Americans working for the Brits.
DOWN:
1. Showed relief, in a way: WEPT. Tears of?
2. Deported?: ASEA. Oh oh, another “A” word.
3. Vintage R&B record label: STAX. Despite 30+ years representing musicians, I did not remember this LABEL but then I do rock and roll, not R & B.
4. Madison Ave. symbolizes it: ADBIZ. The home of MADMEN and crazy America, my favorite about Madison avenue was the movie CRAZY PEOPLE with Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah.
5. Court star with the autobiography "Open": AGASSI. Andre was perhaps a bit too Open in his book, discussing his drug usage, etc.
6. Sundial number: VII. A new way to slip in a Roman Numeral.
7. One learning about the birds and the bees?: SON. My father’s entire speech was, “If you like big breasts, go be a farmer because cows have the biggest; and quality over quantity.” Edited for publication.
8. Kind of party: PAJAMA. Ah, we are back with Dennis at the Slumber party in his PJ’s and once again there is a recurring theme.
9. Get away from the others: ISOLATE.
10. In the slightest: A WHIT. Many a wit has realized all the nice things A WHIT rhymes with, but most of us do not give a …..
12. "Yes __?": OR NO. Damn, that was too easy.
13. Stallone and Stone: SLYS. SLY and the Family Stone; was this their biggest HIT ?
18. Set: READY. How can this be synonymous, when you have to be READY< SET < GO!
21. Stand offerings: CAB RIDES. Taxi stand.
23. Odd, as a sock: UNPAIRED.There is some rich creature somewhere with a bazillion single socks.
25. 1980 DeLuise film: FATSO. A rather sad and poignant movie.
26. "Can you dig it?" response: IM HIP. Sadly, we actually talked like that.
29. "Wayne's World" co-host: GARTH. Dana Carvey to Mike Myers’ Wayne/
31. Shouldered: BORNE.
32. Out of line: ASKEW. An “A” word.
37. ___ Affair: 1798-1800 France/USA dispute: XYZ. Did anyone watch the HBO series about JOHN ADAMS , he was the president who had to deal with this problem.
42. Hindu meditation aid: MANDALA.Now we hit my weak part of the puzzle, as I did not know this DESIGN , nor
44. "Swan Lake" maiden: ODILE.I never was much on ballet, and only ODETTE came to mind.
47. Wild goats with recurved horns: IBEXES. They do have interesting HORNS .
48. Makes void: ANNULS. More divorce work, bleh.
51. Gladiator's defense: ARMOR. I liked the movie with Russell Crowe.
53. Window-making giant: PELLA. Never heard of them either, but the perps finally got me home.
54. Word in a basic Latin conjugation: AMAT. AMO, AMAS, AMAT; I love, you love, he/she/it loves; when I was in 6th grade, we studied Latin and I was conjugating and said the last one too fast…
55. Tupper ending: WARE. Burp?
57. Many millennia: AEON. Fancy spelling for EON (again a new recurring theme) and a movie showcasing a delightful CHARLIZE THERON .
58. Certain NCO: SSGT. Staff Sergeant.
59. General __ chicken: TSOS.
61. Tipping target, so it's said: COW. Yep, the old sport of COW TIPPING .
62. Drano component: LYE. I would not lie to you about this either.
Well another challenge, conquered, almost a pangram (Q short) with so many new words and clues; thanks Mr. F., and to rest of you , have a great week end, and a better Monday.
17A. -: PEA BRAIN. This is one of the more obvious expressions, coming from the idea of one who has brain the size of a pea does not know much.
28A. -: DINGBAT. None more famous than EDITH . Nobody seems to know where this term comes from.
46A. -: AIRHEAD. Also, pretty self explanatory, if all that is between your ears is AIR, you are not likely to be smart.
11D. -: NINCOMPOOP. A really evocative word, I have heard my entire life, but again, nobody knows why it means what it means.
27D. -: SPACE CADET. This comes from someone who has his head in the sky, with no touch with normal thought.
Well, hello all, it is Lemonade here with your Friday report, and this was a very complicated effort, with pitfalls everywhere. It is my second Daniel A. Finan puzzle to blog, the last being the incredible anagram pangram in August. Once again his approach to theme is new, leaving out clues as clues. So, let’s go…
Across:
1. "When I __ kid ...": WAS A. I put it in but wondered if there was more to it. Is this referring to the Bill Cosby comedy album?
5. Colorado NHLers: AVS. National Hockey League. The Avalanche; they began as the Quebec Nordiques, but were too close to Montreal, and finally moved to Colorado, where they won the Stanley Cup their first year, beating the Florida Panthers.
8. They may be surrounded at parties: PIANOS. Lovely clue, really nice imagery.
14. Set up: Abbr.: ESTD. Established.
15. Acqua Di __: Armani cologne: GIO. My cologne of choice; ladies?
16. Like a maelstrom: ASWIRL. Ah, an “A” word, what fun.
19. Cash in Nashville: JOHNNY. Did you hesitate and think about Money?
20. Rolls to the gate: TAXIES. What planes do after landing.
21. Colorful cats: CALICOS. So many different color COMBINATIONS .
22. Pitts of early cinema: ZASU. An old favorite from the Tribune puzzles, but we have not seen her lately; I remember her from OH SUSANNAH where she was Gale Storm’s sidekick.
24. Retired New York senator Al D'__: AMATO. As a Senator, he was more famous for controversy and long filibusters; now retired he is 73 and has 2 children, a 2 year old, and a 1 year old. Man must be crazy.
25. Hi-__: FIS. Stands for High Fidelity.
30. Second degree?: MBA. Fooled me completely first time through, but after you get your Bachelor’s , you do get a second degree.
33. In spades: AMPLY. Phrase in spades "in abundance" first recorded 1929 (Damon Runyon), probably from bridge, where spades are the highest-ranking suit.
35. It's usually four: PAR. Though generally there also par 5’s and par 3’s; no record of how 4 became the standard, or even why 18 HOLES . We also have, 34. Golfer's concern: LIE indicating where your ball lies.
36. Former 56-Across team: EXPOS. The Montreal EXPOS went bankrupt, and major league baseball moved the franchise to Washington, D.C., where they are now the Nationals. 56A. Baseball div.: NL EAST. Had to guess.
38. Cuisine that includes phanaeng: THAI. I enjpy THAI food, but most restaurants refer to it as PANANG CURRY.
39. "Entourage" agent Gold: ARI. Played ever so hatefully by Jeremy Piven.
40. English walled city: YORK. A fun tour of Europe is to see the WALLED CITIES .
41. Guard dog command: SIC EM. No doubt from ‘seek them’.
43. "__ be a pleasure!": ITD.
44. O3: OZONE. If I had not gotten this one, I would never have finished, it opened up the whole south for me.
45. Unlock'd: OPE. I ‘ope not again, soon.
49. Place for flock members: PEW. Very cute, I can picture all the sheep in church.
50. "I __ your long lost pal": Paul Simon lyric: CAN BE. This was part of his work with African music and musicians, with American LYRICS .
52. Salon sound: SNIP. Snip, snip go the scissors, a word many men associate with vasectomy.
54. Given, as custody: AWARDED. I hated divorce work, and quit after the old man pulled gun on me in the hall outside my office; criminals were much safer.
60. Mel Gibson persona: MAD MAX. This was Mel Gibson’s break out hit MOVIE .
63. Ring of color: AREOLE. Alas, C.C., I defer to you.
64. "Popeye" surname: OYL. The hot chick the men had to fight over, Olive.
65. Shell's shell, e.g.: LOGO. Like the clue, simple but effective.
66. Aquarium denizens: TETRAS. A fancy word for resident.
67. "Bottle Rocket" director Anderson: WES. This was his first movie, which he did with the Wilson brothers, with whom he forged a long relationship and did other movies such as The Royal Tenebaums he also directed the fable The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and to show our puzzles all make sense, and fit together, the recent Fantastic Mr. Fox .
68. Colony workers: ANTS. Ant colony, not Americans working for the Brits.
DOWN:
1. Showed relief, in a way: WEPT. Tears of?
2. Deported?: ASEA. Oh oh, another “A” word.
3. Vintage R&B record label: STAX. Despite 30+ years representing musicians, I did not remember this LABEL but then I do rock and roll, not R & B.
4. Madison Ave. symbolizes it: ADBIZ. The home of MADMEN and crazy America, my favorite about Madison avenue was the movie CRAZY PEOPLE with Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah.
5. Court star with the autobiography "Open": AGASSI. Andre was perhaps a bit too Open in his book, discussing his drug usage, etc.
6. Sundial number: VII. A new way to slip in a Roman Numeral.
7. One learning about the birds and the bees?: SON. My father’s entire speech was, “If you like big breasts, go be a farmer because cows have the biggest; and quality over quantity.” Edited for publication.
8. Kind of party: PAJAMA. Ah, we are back with Dennis at the Slumber party in his PJ’s and once again there is a recurring theme.
9. Get away from the others: ISOLATE.
10. In the slightest: A WHIT. Many a wit has realized all the nice things A WHIT rhymes with, but most of us do not give a …..
12. "Yes __?": OR NO. Damn, that was too easy.
13. Stallone and Stone: SLYS. SLY and the Family Stone; was this their biggest HIT ?
18. Set: READY. How can this be synonymous, when you have to be READY< SET < GO!
21. Stand offerings: CAB RIDES. Taxi stand.
23. Odd, as a sock: UNPAIRED.There is some rich creature somewhere with a bazillion single socks.
25. 1980 DeLuise film: FATSO. A rather sad and poignant movie.
26. "Can you dig it?" response: IM HIP. Sadly, we actually talked like that.
29. "Wayne's World" co-host: GARTH. Dana Carvey to Mike Myers’ Wayne/
31. Shouldered: BORNE.
32. Out of line: ASKEW. An “A” word.
37. ___ Affair: 1798-1800 France/USA dispute: XYZ. Did anyone watch the HBO series about JOHN ADAMS , he was the president who had to deal with this problem.
42. Hindu meditation aid: MANDALA.Now we hit my weak part of the puzzle, as I did not know this DESIGN , nor
44. "Swan Lake" maiden: ODILE.I never was much on ballet, and only ODETTE came to mind.
47. Wild goats with recurved horns: IBEXES. They do have interesting HORNS .
48. Makes void: ANNULS. More divorce work, bleh.
51. Gladiator's defense: ARMOR. I liked the movie with Russell Crowe.
53. Window-making giant: PELLA. Never heard of them either, but the perps finally got me home.
54. Word in a basic Latin conjugation: AMAT. AMO, AMAS, AMAT; I love, you love, he/she/it loves; when I was in 6th grade, we studied Latin and I was conjugating and said the last one too fast…
55. Tupper ending: WARE. Burp?
57. Many millennia: AEON. Fancy spelling for EON (again a new recurring theme) and a movie showcasing a delightful CHARLIZE THERON .
58. Certain NCO: SSGT. Staff Sergeant.
59. General __ chicken: TSOS.
61. Tipping target, so it's said: COW. Yep, the old sport of COW TIPPING .
62. Drano component: LYE. I would not lie to you about this either.
Well another challenge, conquered, almost a pangram (Q short) with so many new words and clues; thanks Mr. F., and to rest of you , have a great week end, and a better Monday.
Friday, November 12, 2010
et tu brute
Theme: You (U) fit in. Each fill is a common two word expression, with the letter “U” inserted into the second word, to create a humorous new expression, with the question mark at the end of the clue telling you a play on words is coming.
16. Opening with a thud?: BAD DEBUT. BAD DEBT. Something becoming all too familiar after the recent mortgage debacle.
19. Staple in a Hollywood first-aid kit?: STAR GAUZE. STAR GAZE. We love staring at our stars, making so many tabloids and tabloid tv shows popular. Do we really care that Disney child stars Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato are coke heads?
26. Compulsion to set up camp?: TENT DURESS. TENT DRESS. An interesting internal deception because the meaning of Tent is very different when you are talking about this DRESS STYLE .
34. Hoss and Little Joe's off-color jokes?: PONDEROSA RAUNCH. PONEROSA RANCH, the home of the Cartwright family on BONANZA which was the first television show to be shown in color. My favorite phrase of the theme. Do you all remember the name of Ben’s (the father, played by Lorne Greene) horse?
43. Civil unrest in Brest?: FRENCH FURY. FRENCH FRY. A nice rhyming clue, to obscure the French city.
50. Restrain a legendary soul seller?: HOLD FAUST. HOLD FAST; FAUST is the Devil in German legend, made famous by Goethe’s tragic play.
58. Classy accommodations at the Spider Ritz?: WEB SUITE. WEB SITE. Don’t you just love the mind that created the image of an exclusive hotel for spiders?
47. "Have a nice day" response, and a literal hint to this puzzle's theme: YOU TOO. YOU (U) too, meaning an added U.
Et tu Brute! Hallelujah, Lemonade here, week two already. Happy Friday, C.C. and all. Wow, another Naddor for me, and one so typical and so witty. I really enjoyed this effort, with 75 letters and 8 theme related answers. Lots of fun fill, a few things I should have recalled but had to work to get, and generally a good time for all.
Across
1. Bucolic: PASTORAL. We begin with a pleasant straight forward image.
9. Sushi choices: EELS. I like some sushi, but am not fond of eels, probably something psychological from my childhood.
13. Wood preservative: CREOSOTE. COAL TAR CREOSOTE is an EPA registered wood preservative, distilled from crude coke oven tar, and is mainly composed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but also contains phenols and cresols. Like I knew that.
14. Plays the class clown: CUTS UP. Remember, Dan likes two word answers that create deceptive letter strings. 21A. Clueless: AT SEA. 65A. As terrific as they say: THAT GOOD. 7D. "Do you bite your thumb __, sir?": "Romeo and Juliet": AT US. I love that he includes some Shakespeare, as well as the very old insult of biting one’s thumb, which has resurfaced in our culture as seen in the URBAN DICTIONARY . 33D. Corner the market on: BUY UP. Speaking of which, do you remember when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market? They were the inspiration for these BROTHERS .
17. Showy: ORNATE.
18. Overseas fem. title: SRA. As Kazie pointed out, the abbreviation for Senora, like most of our dear ladies.
25. Source of Ulee's gold: BEES.Hi Melissa, and yes, the gold was in the honey, honey.
29. She played Emma in "The Avengers": UMA. We all know this is true in the movie, but this will always be the real MRS.PEEL .
32. Mideast language: IRANI. Oh, in Iran, I guess.
33. Support group?: BRAS. Nice deception, but then again, it may all be DECEPTION .
40. Lake near Niagara Falls: ERIE. Where my oldest is currently freezing his little behind in grad school, though his birthday is in nine days, he will be home in 11!
41. Atlanta campus: EMORY. This is a very well respected private college that emphasizes research; it ended up in Atlanta through the generosity of the people from Coca Cola. If you go to Atlanta, go and tour the Coke factory (except Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato, who know better).
42. Jets coach Ryan: REX. He plays against Cleveland this week end, whose defense is coached by his older (by 5 minutes) identical twin brother ROB RYAN .
48. Fizzled out: DIED. Like so many romances…
49. Gulf of Finland city: ESPOO. The second largest city in Finland, and it took me way to long to drag from my brain. We just had the clue in August, in a Barry Silk themeless.
55. Word with a head slap: DUH. DOH, whatever you like; here we use the V-8 can against the head.
57. Six-Day War country: ISRAEL. Remember it well.
62. Insurer of Tina Turner's legs: LLOYDS. LLOYD’s of LONDON has been in the insurance business since 1688, and has always insured the odd things of value like insuring, silent film comedian Ben Turpin's eyes against uncrossing, Jimmy Durante’s nose, Troy Polamalu's hair for $1 million, and these R rated pre-silicone marvels of TEMPEST STORM .
63. One transferring property rights, in law: ASSIGNOR. Must have obscure law clues so Lemonade can feel smart. We love our ORs and EEs.
64. Plenty: TONS.
Across:
1. Banned pollutants: PCBS. They belong to a group of man made “organic” chemicals called PolyChlorinated Biphenyls.
2. Biblical resting place: ARARAT. A nice deception, for it was Noah’s Ark, not a person that ended up resting atop Mount Ararat.
3. Composed: SEDATE.
4. "The Fox and the Hound" fox: TOD. The hound was Copper, but I really do not remember the MOVIE.
5. Suffix with fruct-: OSE.Also with SUCR-, LACT- and others, it means SUGAR.
6. Hold up: ROB. Yes, to rob is to hold up, to burgle is to break in.
8. Riga resident: LETT. We see this one very often, and I actually have some clients from Latvia, but they moved to Venezuela.
9. Old lab heaters: ETNAS. Dan used this in a Sunday puzzle in August 2009, I did not know the term then, and do not now. I am strictly a BUNSEN BURNER guy.
10. Isaac's eldest: ESAU. Poor guy, hairy and he lost his birthright.
11. Eponymous skater Alois __: LUTZ. For our dear CA back from vacation, and our prodigal Robin, just back, we have the TRIPLE LUTZ in pictures and words. Eponymous, is when you give your name to something, like Joe Robbie stadium.
12. WWI German vice-admiral: SPEE. One I knew nothing about, but apparently quite a bold man, of whom Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty at London, wrote: "He was a cut flower in a vase, fair to see yet bound to die.”
14. Centers: CORES. Oh, okay, I get like the center of the earth.
15. Prods: URGES.
20. Justice Fortas: ABE. Another law tidbit for me; Justice Fortas was a very successful student of the law, and lawyer, arguing and winning the famous right to counsel case, GIDEON vs. WAINWRIGHT, in which the Supreme Court for the first time granted all who are accused of a crime the right to be represented by counsel, creating the Public Defender system. Mr. Fortas, who came from an Orthodox Jewish family became very good friends with Lyndon Johnson, who when he became president, convinced sitting Justice Arthur Goldberg (the then Jewish member of the court) to resign to become ambassador to the UN, so Fortas could be appointed to the court. Sadly, Fortas ended up resigning under a cloud for taking fees while on the bench.
22. Derisive: SNIDE. My favorite was this CHARACTER .
23. Raison d'__: ETRE. Meaning literally “ reason to be” in French.
24. Month before Nisan: ADAR. And then a little Hebrew calendar to make me feel at home; that calendar has leap months, where there is a 13th month added to catch up with the earths rotation from a moon based calendar.
27. Card game warning: UNO. A favorite of children of all ages, though my grandmother preferred Skip-Bo.
28. Out of bed: RISEN. Which of course reminds me of this SONG .
29. Still-life subject: URN. Really, I only remember the poem.
30. Bud: MAC. Talk about misleading, and yet easy. In our culture, BUD means beer, not buddy, so hey BUD and hey MAC was very hard.
31. Tip for a smoker?: ASH. Literal but hidden again; I still liked Camel Droppings best.
34. In accordance with: PER.
35. It may be found in a deposit: ORE. No not a bank deposit, silly.
36. Outlaw: NIX. Hmm, my in-laws are named NIX, so they are in-laws and outlaws!
37. Onetime Jeep mfr.: AMC. American Motors Company and one of the big four when the US controlled worldwide auto manufacture. Sadly the Rambler and the NASH American did not keep the company afloat, when the Pacer, their final effort to convince the country to drive smaller fuel efficient cars failed, they gave up. Not long after they folded, we had the first gas crisis and their small car ideas took hold.
38. Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Did not know him, but he designed lots of BUILDINGS .
39. Pound sounds: ARFS. Another cute rhyme.
43. Fluted, in a way: FIFED. Not the champagne glass, but the guy playing the flute; hmm, a verb?
44. Old Spanish coins: REALS. Spanish Reals are often found at historic sites in the US , as during colonial days in the U.S., the silver Ocho Reales coin, referred to as the Spanish milled dollar, piece of eight, or eight bits, was the principal coin in circulation. Hence, the saying, 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar; all for the home team stand up and holler. Some still refer to a quarter as two bits.
45. Web address ender: EDU.
46. House Judiciary Committee chair during the Nixon impeachment hearings: RODINO. This piece of trivia was buried deep in the brain, and crossing it with ESPOO really slowed me down. In the ironies of the world, and karma, Nixon was determined to impeach Abe Fortas, who eventually stepped down.
48. Critical moments to gear up for: D DAYS. JUNE 6, 1944 .
50. Maximum degree: HILT. This sweet phrase comes from the violent turn of stabbing a dagger or a sword into the victim all the way to the hilt (the protective handle).
51. European capital: OSLO. To our Norwegian brethren, we shout out.
52. Hubbard of Scientology: L RON. Yes, I like my religion from an unsuccessful science fiction author.
53. Team acronym: SWAT. Special Weapons and Tactics.
54. John with Emmys and a journalism award: TESH. A singer, a talk show host, a piano player and a journalist.
56. Rancher's concern: HERD. Not this ONE .
59. Jamboree gp.: BSA. We had Boy Scouts of America in the very first puzzle I blogged, back in the day.
60. Be in session: SIT.Congress, or the courts, like the Supreme Court!
61. Trendy boot brand: UGG. Worn by our temperature challenged crew, including dear Lo-li-ta. Do they come in red Fishie? I guess they do not sell too well in Arizona.
Well, a long day ahead, so I am out of here, hope you enjoyed the show; see you same bat channel, same bat time.
16. Opening with a thud?: BAD DEBUT. BAD DEBT. Something becoming all too familiar after the recent mortgage debacle.
19. Staple in a Hollywood first-aid kit?: STAR GAUZE. STAR GAZE. We love staring at our stars, making so many tabloids and tabloid tv shows popular. Do we really care that Disney child stars Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato are coke heads?
26. Compulsion to set up camp?: TENT DURESS. TENT DRESS. An interesting internal deception because the meaning of Tent is very different when you are talking about this DRESS STYLE .
34. Hoss and Little Joe's off-color jokes?: PONDEROSA RAUNCH. PONEROSA RANCH, the home of the Cartwright family on BONANZA which was the first television show to be shown in color. My favorite phrase of the theme. Do you all remember the name of Ben’s (the father, played by Lorne Greene) horse?
43. Civil unrest in Brest?: FRENCH FURY. FRENCH FRY. A nice rhyming clue, to obscure the French city.
50. Restrain a legendary soul seller?: HOLD FAUST. HOLD FAST; FAUST is the Devil in German legend, made famous by Goethe’s tragic play.
58. Classy accommodations at the Spider Ritz?: WEB SUITE. WEB SITE. Don’t you just love the mind that created the image of an exclusive hotel for spiders?
47. "Have a nice day" response, and a literal hint to this puzzle's theme: YOU TOO. YOU (U) too, meaning an added U.
Et tu Brute! Hallelujah, Lemonade here, week two already. Happy Friday, C.C. and all. Wow, another Naddor for me, and one so typical and so witty. I really enjoyed this effort, with 75 letters and 8 theme related answers. Lots of fun fill, a few things I should have recalled but had to work to get, and generally a good time for all.
Across
1. Bucolic: PASTORAL. We begin with a pleasant straight forward image.
9. Sushi choices: EELS. I like some sushi, but am not fond of eels, probably something psychological from my childhood.
13. Wood preservative: CREOSOTE. COAL TAR CREOSOTE is an EPA registered wood preservative, distilled from crude coke oven tar, and is mainly composed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but also contains phenols and cresols. Like I knew that.
14. Plays the class clown: CUTS UP. Remember, Dan likes two word answers that create deceptive letter strings. 21A. Clueless: AT SEA. 65A. As terrific as they say: THAT GOOD. 7D. "Do you bite your thumb __, sir?": "Romeo and Juliet": AT US. I love that he includes some Shakespeare, as well as the very old insult of biting one’s thumb, which has resurfaced in our culture as seen in the URBAN DICTIONARY . 33D. Corner the market on: BUY UP. Speaking of which, do you remember when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market? They were the inspiration for these BROTHERS .
17. Showy: ORNATE.
18. Overseas fem. title: SRA. As Kazie pointed out, the abbreviation for Senora, like most of our dear ladies.
25. Source of Ulee's gold: BEES.Hi Melissa, and yes, the gold was in the honey, honey.
29. She played Emma in "The Avengers": UMA. We all know this is true in the movie, but this will always be the real MRS.PEEL .
32. Mideast language: IRANI. Oh, in Iran, I guess.
33. Support group?: BRAS. Nice deception, but then again, it may all be DECEPTION .
40. Lake near Niagara Falls: ERIE. Where my oldest is currently freezing his little behind in grad school, though his birthday is in nine days, he will be home in 11!
41. Atlanta campus: EMORY. This is a very well respected private college that emphasizes research; it ended up in Atlanta through the generosity of the people from Coca Cola. If you go to Atlanta, go and tour the Coke factory (except Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato, who know better).
42. Jets coach Ryan: REX. He plays against Cleveland this week end, whose defense is coached by his older (by 5 minutes) identical twin brother ROB RYAN .
48. Fizzled out: DIED. Like so many romances…
49. Gulf of Finland city: ESPOO. The second largest city in Finland, and it took me way to long to drag from my brain. We just had the clue in August, in a Barry Silk themeless.
55. Word with a head slap: DUH. DOH, whatever you like; here we use the V-8 can against the head.
57. Six-Day War country: ISRAEL. Remember it well.
62. Insurer of Tina Turner's legs: LLOYDS. LLOYD’s of LONDON has been in the insurance business since 1688, and has always insured the odd things of value like insuring, silent film comedian Ben Turpin's eyes against uncrossing, Jimmy Durante’s nose, Troy Polamalu's hair for $1 million, and these R rated pre-silicone marvels of TEMPEST STORM .
63. One transferring property rights, in law: ASSIGNOR. Must have obscure law clues so Lemonade can feel smart. We love our ORs and EEs.
64. Plenty: TONS.
Across:
1. Banned pollutants: PCBS. They belong to a group of man made “organic” chemicals called PolyChlorinated Biphenyls.
2. Biblical resting place: ARARAT. A nice deception, for it was Noah’s Ark, not a person that ended up resting atop Mount Ararat.
3. Composed: SEDATE.
4. "The Fox and the Hound" fox: TOD. The hound was Copper, but I really do not remember the MOVIE.
5. Suffix with fruct-: OSE.Also with SUCR-, LACT- and others, it means SUGAR.
6. Hold up: ROB. Yes, to rob is to hold up, to burgle is to break in.
8. Riga resident: LETT. We see this one very often, and I actually have some clients from Latvia, but they moved to Venezuela.
9. Old lab heaters: ETNAS. Dan used this in a Sunday puzzle in August 2009, I did not know the term then, and do not now. I am strictly a BUNSEN BURNER guy.
10. Isaac's eldest: ESAU. Poor guy, hairy and he lost his birthright.
11. Eponymous skater Alois __: LUTZ. For our dear CA back from vacation, and our prodigal Robin, just back, we have the TRIPLE LUTZ in pictures and words. Eponymous, is when you give your name to something, like Joe Robbie stadium.
12. WWI German vice-admiral: SPEE. One I knew nothing about, but apparently quite a bold man, of whom Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty at London, wrote: "He was a cut flower in a vase, fair to see yet bound to die.”
14. Centers: CORES. Oh, okay, I get like the center of the earth.
15. Prods: URGES.
20. Justice Fortas: ABE. Another law tidbit for me; Justice Fortas was a very successful student of the law, and lawyer, arguing and winning the famous right to counsel case, GIDEON vs. WAINWRIGHT, in which the Supreme Court for the first time granted all who are accused of a crime the right to be represented by counsel, creating the Public Defender system. Mr. Fortas, who came from an Orthodox Jewish family became very good friends with Lyndon Johnson, who when he became president, convinced sitting Justice Arthur Goldberg (the then Jewish member of the court) to resign to become ambassador to the UN, so Fortas could be appointed to the court. Sadly, Fortas ended up resigning under a cloud for taking fees while on the bench.
22. Derisive: SNIDE. My favorite was this CHARACTER .
23. Raison d'__: ETRE. Meaning literally “ reason to be” in French.
24. Month before Nisan: ADAR. And then a little Hebrew calendar to make me feel at home; that calendar has leap months, where there is a 13th month added to catch up with the earths rotation from a moon based calendar.
27. Card game warning: UNO. A favorite of children of all ages, though my grandmother preferred Skip-Bo.
28. Out of bed: RISEN. Which of course reminds me of this SONG .
29. Still-life subject: URN. Really, I only remember the poem.
30. Bud: MAC. Talk about misleading, and yet easy. In our culture, BUD means beer, not buddy, so hey BUD and hey MAC was very hard.
31. Tip for a smoker?: ASH. Literal but hidden again; I still liked Camel Droppings best.
34. In accordance with: PER.
35. It may be found in a deposit: ORE. No not a bank deposit, silly.
36. Outlaw: NIX. Hmm, my in-laws are named NIX, so they are in-laws and outlaws!
37. Onetime Jeep mfr.: AMC. American Motors Company and one of the big four when the US controlled worldwide auto manufacture. Sadly the Rambler and the NASH American did not keep the company afloat, when the Pacer, their final effort to convince the country to drive smaller fuel efficient cars failed, they gave up. Not long after they folded, we had the first gas crisis and their small car ideas took hold.
38. Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Did not know him, but he designed lots of BUILDINGS .
39. Pound sounds: ARFS. Another cute rhyme.
43. Fluted, in a way: FIFED. Not the champagne glass, but the guy playing the flute; hmm, a verb?
44. Old Spanish coins: REALS. Spanish Reals are often found at historic sites in the US , as during colonial days in the U.S., the silver Ocho Reales coin, referred to as the Spanish milled dollar, piece of eight, or eight bits, was the principal coin in circulation. Hence, the saying, 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar; all for the home team stand up and holler. Some still refer to a quarter as two bits.
45. Web address ender: EDU.
46. House Judiciary Committee chair during the Nixon impeachment hearings: RODINO. This piece of trivia was buried deep in the brain, and crossing it with ESPOO really slowed me down. In the ironies of the world, and karma, Nixon was determined to impeach Abe Fortas, who eventually stepped down.
48. Critical moments to gear up for: D DAYS. JUNE 6, 1944 .
50. Maximum degree: HILT. This sweet phrase comes from the violent turn of stabbing a dagger or a sword into the victim all the way to the hilt (the protective handle).
51. European capital: OSLO. To our Norwegian brethren, we shout out.
52. Hubbard of Scientology: L RON. Yes, I like my religion from an unsuccessful science fiction author.
53. Team acronym: SWAT. Special Weapons and Tactics.
54. John with Emmys and a journalism award: TESH. A singer, a talk show host, a piano player and a journalist.
56. Rancher's concern: HERD. Not this ONE .
59. Jamboree gp.: BSA. We had Boy Scouts of America in the very first puzzle I blogged, back in the day.
60. Be in session: SIT.Congress, or the courts, like the Supreme Court!
61. Trendy boot brand: UGG. Worn by our temperature challenged crew, including dear Lo-li-ta. Do they come in red Fishie? I guess they do not sell too well in Arizona.
Well, a long day ahead, so I am out of here, hope you enjoyed the show; see you same bat channel, same bat time.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Theme: Internet Destination, Before and After; each of the four theme answers takes an every day phrase, and by adding a new beginning, creates both a famous internet site, and a humorous phrase, with a different meaning.
17. Favorable time to place an online bid?: EBAY WINDOW. E added to BAY WINDOW, with the meaning a WINDOW of opportunity, and EBAY the auction site.
27. Online networking site trainee? : MY SPACE CADET. MY added to SPACE CADET, yields MY SPACE and CADET as trainee.
44. Detective's job concerning a personal online relationship? : FACEBOOK CASE. FACE is added to BOOK CASE, with CASE what detectives investigate.
58. Spinner seen in an online video?: YOU TUBE TOP. YOU added to TUBE TOP, creates a TOP SPINNING ON YOU TUBE. When my brothers and I were growing up, we used our Dradles for the battles.
Happy Friday, and Happy Guy Fawkes Day, from L714, which being sentimental, I celebrate every year as the anniversary of the first time I fell in love. Mr. Poole is becoming a more regular contributor, and this puzzle has plenty of misdirection and humor and creative cluing, beyond the theme, which seems like a nice idea, but a bit tortured.
Some fun:
64A. Ones changing locks: DYERS. Dyeing the hair, nice misdirection.
30D. Fly catcher: TOAD. Not the San Francisco outfield.
42D. "Hey, ewe!": BAA. For some reason I like it when certain people get my attention with “hey you”.
46D. Serious depression: CRATER. I hope you all got that and did not get blue, except of course being blue is good here.
52. Cop stopping traffic?: NARC. My favorite, stopping drug traffic.
We continue:
Across:
1. Tic __ :TACS. The first of the strong mints.
5. Travis of country: TRITT. Yes it is a GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE .
10. Arrange in a tournament: SEED. The use of this term comes from needing to separate seeds to let them grow, just as you separate the very good teams, to allow them to meet later in a tournament.
14. Eliza's greeting: ELLO. Ms. Doolittle has had a strong run this fall.
15. 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner Alice: MUNRO. This Canadian short story writer is a recipient of many fiction awards, including this biennial award for one’s life work, presented by a British investment firm.
16. Poi base: TARO. A tuber, associated with the plant we call Elephant Ears, here in Florida.
19. "__ Almighty": 2007 film: EVAN. Like 56.D. Movies with "II" in their titles: Abbr. : SEQS this movie was a sequel to BRUCE ALMIGHTY which Jim Carrey wisely chose not to star in, Bruce II became EVAN with Steve Carrell, both of which has Morgan Freeman as the Almighty, and no doubt the inspiration of 20A. Sacred scroll: TORAH.
21. Silent: SOUNDLESS.
23. Wellness gp.: HMO.
24. __ de toilette: EAU. Just a touch of French, toilet water sounds so much better in French.
26. Nobelist Bohr: NIELS. Thanks to Martha Grimes, this always reminds me of SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT , or is it dead?
31. What odes do: PRAISE. Before there were scrolls, or other writings, singers toured the land writing and performing songs of praise for the lords in power, and ODE is derived from the Greek word for song.
34. 1987 Costner role: NESS, prohibition policeman Elliot; do we like or dislike Kevin, or was ROBERT STACK the embodiment of the role? What guest stars! Does anyone watch Boardwalk Empire ?
35. Hope-Crosby destination: RIO. One of the many ROAD TO… movies they did with Dorothy Lamour.
36. Pay for periodic use: RENT.
37. Coll. of 12 signs: ZOD. Notice that collection is abbreviated, so the response must be an abbreviation as well. We are deep in Scorpio now.
38. Afghanistan's Tora __ region: BORA. This is the region where the US believed bin Laden was hiding in a cave, and where US troops were sent after 9-11, but despite killing and capturing many al Quaeda, no leader.
39. 2007 honor for Hugh Laurie: Abbr.: OBE. It is easy to forget how British Hugh Laurie is after watching him as House for so many years, so go rent the Bertie Wooster/Jeeves series, or Black Adder and see him in his original incarnation. Of course, Jeeves, loved the poem 40A. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU, a simple poem which many were forced to memorize.
42. Warned, in a way: BEEPED. In Florida is is against the law to blow your horn except to warn of danger, though it is not enforced that way. We also have, 38.D. Buzzer: BEE.
47. Bottom bits: DREGS. When the grapes were crushed, the remaining skin etc was the dregs.
48. Word before or after pack: RAT. Frank and the boys as the RAT PACK, and my uncle, who kept every bill he ever paid, as a PACK RAT.
49. 27-Down, e.g.: SCH. This leads to 27.D. 49-Across from which Buzz Aldrin turned down a full scholarship: MIT. And, 31.D. 27-Down fig.: PROF.
52. Colorful fish: NEON TETRA. Another fishie clue.
55. Kirin beer rival: ASAHI. The two most popular beers; the brewery where my youngest works, just was signed by a much larger distributor, so the world of ORLANDO BREWING, the only organic brewery in Florida is picking up.
57. Starting stake: ANTE. In card games, for example.
60. Bakery buys: RYES. We go ERGOT, to the bread made from the grain.
61. Seaside flock: ERNES. These birds are our most popular feathery friends.
62. Bit of Marx's legacy: QUIP. Groucho, not Karl, and also 33.D. Toastmasters' stock: ANECDOTES.
63. It may number in the thousands: CAST. Cecil B. DeMille always advertised his movies had them.
65. Agile: SPRY.
DOWN:
1. Effectiveness: TEETH. The NFL needed to put some Teeth into the ban on helmet to helmet hits, by suspending players without pay.
2. "Tuesdays With Morrie" author: ALBOM. Mitch, who is a regular in the Detroit newspaper, as well as on ESPN’s SPORTS REPORTERS ; I read the book. Morrie was smart, but the book seemed just exploitive and without any real insight, but it was a big hit.
3. Light smoke: CLARO. I believe the term is used for certain light tobacco cigars, but I have never been much of a smoker, and only the perps got me there.
4. Milk source: SOYA. It is taking over, and clearly a misnomer, as how can a nut give milk. And in contrast, 18.D. Milk by-products: WHEYS. Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet (and what a fine tuffet it was!) eating her CURDS and….
5. "I didn't need to know that!": TMI. TOO MUCH INFORMATION; hard to keep up with the short cut minds of the young; my latest embarrassment was not deciphering oic, to mean Oh, I see.
6. Accumulates: RUNS UP. Ah yes, Wimpy accumulated quite the tab for Hamburgers.
7. Chinese leader?: INDO. Indochinese, by now we all know leader often is used to mean the beginning of a word.
8. Defeated decisively: TROUNCED.
9. Student resenters, perhaps: TOWNIES. When I was young, I was sent to boarding school, and once a month or so, the school would load up a bus and take some students into the big city (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and drop them off, to be picked up 5 hours later. Man the townies hated us, except the girls, who were much too nice…It was West Side Story, suburban version.
10. "__ By Starlight": jazz standard: STELLA. So many versions of this SONG .
11. Gather information secretly: EAVESDROP. The drop part comes from the purpose of the eave was to have the water drop (or drip) from the roof, and not into the house.
12. Some are named for music genres: ERAS. We certainly know the BIG BAND era.
13. Slips into: DONS. Clothing.
22. Winter mos.: DECS. Egads, we are almost there again!
25. Suffix with lip-: ASE. ASE is a suffix for enzymes, and LIPASE in humans is created in the pancreas and is is critical in neutralizing triglycerides and other non-soluble fats.
28. Actress Aimée: ANOUK. A very natural BEAUTY .
29. 53-Down's homeland: EIRE. More dual clues, but at least a new one for 53.D. Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA.
32. Sitcom whose theme song was sung by its star: REBA. SURVIVOR .
37. Albee play, with "The": ZOO STORY. An international SUCCESS .
40. Put oneself at risk, in a way: ABET. Ading and abetting a Felon…
41. Messed up a hole, maybe: BOGEYED. No longer a bad score for me.
43. Cornerstone abbr.: ESTAB. Established.
45. He played Marty in "Marty": ERNEST. Ladies, for you Mr. Borgnine .
49. Prepared to take notice?: SAT UP.
50. Church area: CHOIR. Tricky, because of the choir being filled with the choir.
51. Wide-haunched: HIPPY. Not a phrase to be used as a compliment, “ my your wife looks really wide-haunched, “ even though it helps in delivering babies, and we know many men really like a broad beam in more than just their boat.
54. Odd character: RUNE. The old way TO WRITE .
59. Sub letters: USS. Can you imagine being underwater for months on THIS .
Welcome to my new home as Friday’s child, which in fact I am both literally and figuratively. Keep the cards and letters coming and enjoy
Lemonade.
17. Favorable time to place an online bid?: EBAY WINDOW. E added to BAY WINDOW, with the meaning a WINDOW of opportunity, and EBAY the auction site.
27. Online networking site trainee? : MY SPACE CADET. MY added to SPACE CADET, yields MY SPACE and CADET as trainee.
44. Detective's job concerning a personal online relationship? : FACEBOOK CASE. FACE is added to BOOK CASE, with CASE what detectives investigate.
58. Spinner seen in an online video?: YOU TUBE TOP. YOU added to TUBE TOP, creates a TOP SPINNING ON YOU TUBE. When my brothers and I were growing up, we used our Dradles for the battles.
Happy Friday, and Happy Guy Fawkes Day, from L714, which being sentimental, I celebrate every year as the anniversary of the first time I fell in love. Mr. Poole is becoming a more regular contributor, and this puzzle has plenty of misdirection and humor and creative cluing, beyond the theme, which seems like a nice idea, but a bit tortured.
Some fun:
64A. Ones changing locks: DYERS. Dyeing the hair, nice misdirection.
30D. Fly catcher: TOAD. Not the San Francisco outfield.
42D. "Hey, ewe!": BAA. For some reason I like it when certain people get my attention with “hey you”.
46D. Serious depression: CRATER. I hope you all got that and did not get blue, except of course being blue is good here.
52. Cop stopping traffic?: NARC. My favorite, stopping drug traffic.
We continue:
Across:
1. Tic __ :TACS. The first of the strong mints.
5. Travis of country: TRITT. Yes it is a GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE .
10. Arrange in a tournament: SEED. The use of this term comes from needing to separate seeds to let them grow, just as you separate the very good teams, to allow them to meet later in a tournament.
14. Eliza's greeting: ELLO. Ms. Doolittle has had a strong run this fall.
15. 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner Alice: MUNRO. This Canadian short story writer is a recipient of many fiction awards, including this biennial award for one’s life work, presented by a British investment firm.
16. Poi base: TARO. A tuber, associated with the plant we call Elephant Ears, here in Florida.
19. "__ Almighty": 2007 film: EVAN. Like 56.D. Movies with "II" in their titles: Abbr. : SEQS this movie was a sequel to BRUCE ALMIGHTY which Jim Carrey wisely chose not to star in, Bruce II became EVAN with Steve Carrell, both of which has Morgan Freeman as the Almighty, and no doubt the inspiration of 20A. Sacred scroll: TORAH.
21. Silent: SOUNDLESS.
23. Wellness gp.: HMO.
24. __ de toilette: EAU. Just a touch of French, toilet water sounds so much better in French.
26. Nobelist Bohr: NIELS. Thanks to Martha Grimes, this always reminds me of SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT , or is it dead?
31. What odes do: PRAISE. Before there were scrolls, or other writings, singers toured the land writing and performing songs of praise for the lords in power, and ODE is derived from the Greek word for song.
34. 1987 Costner role: NESS, prohibition policeman Elliot; do we like or dislike Kevin, or was ROBERT STACK the embodiment of the role? What guest stars! Does anyone watch Boardwalk Empire ?
35. Hope-Crosby destination: RIO. One of the many ROAD TO… movies they did with Dorothy Lamour.
36. Pay for periodic use: RENT.
37. Coll. of 12 signs: ZOD. Notice that collection is abbreviated, so the response must be an abbreviation as well. We are deep in Scorpio now.
38. Afghanistan's Tora __ region: BORA. This is the region where the US believed bin Laden was hiding in a cave, and where US troops were sent after 9-11, but despite killing and capturing many al Quaeda, no leader.
39. 2007 honor for Hugh Laurie: Abbr.: OBE. It is easy to forget how British Hugh Laurie is after watching him as House for so many years, so go rent the Bertie Wooster/Jeeves series, or Black Adder and see him in his original incarnation. Of course, Jeeves, loved the poem 40A. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU, a simple poem which many were forced to memorize.
42. Warned, in a way: BEEPED. In Florida is is against the law to blow your horn except to warn of danger, though it is not enforced that way. We also have, 38.D. Buzzer: BEE.
47. Bottom bits: DREGS. When the grapes were crushed, the remaining skin etc was the dregs.
48. Word before or after pack: RAT. Frank and the boys as the RAT PACK, and my uncle, who kept every bill he ever paid, as a PACK RAT.
49. 27-Down, e.g.: SCH. This leads to 27.D. 49-Across from which Buzz Aldrin turned down a full scholarship: MIT. And, 31.D. 27-Down fig.: PROF.
52. Colorful fish: NEON TETRA. Another fishie clue.
55. Kirin beer rival: ASAHI. The two most popular beers; the brewery where my youngest works, just was signed by a much larger distributor, so the world of ORLANDO BREWING, the only organic brewery in Florida is picking up.
57. Starting stake: ANTE. In card games, for example.
60. Bakery buys: RYES. We go ERGOT, to the bread made from the grain.
61. Seaside flock: ERNES. These birds are our most popular feathery friends.
62. Bit of Marx's legacy: QUIP. Groucho, not Karl, and also 33.D. Toastmasters' stock: ANECDOTES.
63. It may number in the thousands: CAST. Cecil B. DeMille always advertised his movies had them.
65. Agile: SPRY.
DOWN:
1. Effectiveness: TEETH. The NFL needed to put some Teeth into the ban on helmet to helmet hits, by suspending players without pay.
2. "Tuesdays With Morrie" author: ALBOM. Mitch, who is a regular in the Detroit newspaper, as well as on ESPN’s SPORTS REPORTERS ; I read the book. Morrie was smart, but the book seemed just exploitive and without any real insight, but it was a big hit.
3. Light smoke: CLARO. I believe the term is used for certain light tobacco cigars, but I have never been much of a smoker, and only the perps got me there.
4. Milk source: SOYA. It is taking over, and clearly a misnomer, as how can a nut give milk. And in contrast, 18.D. Milk by-products: WHEYS. Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet (and what a fine tuffet it was!) eating her CURDS and….
5. "I didn't need to know that!": TMI. TOO MUCH INFORMATION; hard to keep up with the short cut minds of the young; my latest embarrassment was not deciphering oic, to mean Oh, I see.
6. Accumulates: RUNS UP. Ah yes, Wimpy accumulated quite the tab for Hamburgers.
7. Chinese leader?: INDO. Indochinese, by now we all know leader often is used to mean the beginning of a word.
8. Defeated decisively: TROUNCED.
9. Student resenters, perhaps: TOWNIES. When I was young, I was sent to boarding school, and once a month or so, the school would load up a bus and take some students into the big city (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and drop them off, to be picked up 5 hours later. Man the townies hated us, except the girls, who were much too nice…It was West Side Story, suburban version.
10. "__ By Starlight": jazz standard: STELLA. So many versions of this SONG .
11. Gather information secretly: EAVESDROP. The drop part comes from the purpose of the eave was to have the water drop (or drip) from the roof, and not into the house.
12. Some are named for music genres: ERAS. We certainly know the BIG BAND era.
13. Slips into: DONS. Clothing.
22. Winter mos.: DECS. Egads, we are almost there again!
25. Suffix with lip-: ASE. ASE is a suffix for enzymes, and LIPASE in humans is created in the pancreas and is is critical in neutralizing triglycerides and other non-soluble fats.
28. Actress Aimée: ANOUK. A very natural BEAUTY .
29. 53-Down's homeland: EIRE. More dual clues, but at least a new one for 53.D. Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA.
32. Sitcom whose theme song was sung by its star: REBA. SURVIVOR .
37. Albee play, with "The": ZOO STORY. An international SUCCESS .
40. Put oneself at risk, in a way: ABET. Ading and abetting a Felon…
41. Messed up a hole, maybe: BOGEYED. No longer a bad score for me.
43. Cornerstone abbr.: ESTAB. Established.
45. He played Marty in "Marty": ERNEST. Ladies, for you Mr. Borgnine .
49. Prepared to take notice?: SAT UP.
50. Church area: CHOIR. Tricky, because of the choir being filled with the choir.
51. Wide-haunched: HIPPY. Not a phrase to be used as a compliment, “ my your wife looks really wide-haunched, “ even though it helps in delivering babies, and we know many men really like a broad beam in more than just their boat.
54. Odd character: RUNE. The old way TO WRITE .
59. Sub letters: USS. Can you imagine being underwater for months on THIS .
Welcome to my new home as Friday’s child, which in fact I am both literally and figuratively. Keep the cards and letters coming and enjoy
Lemonade.
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Taylor Johnson
Title: After Thoughts Welcome back Taylor to the LAT where we just solved your Saturday themeless collaboration with your mentor, the prolif...
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I am still trying to get a handle on how to populate "my blog" with things other than the prepublication of the commentary on Cro... -
Theme: STOCK OPTIONS. (56A. ) Some employee benefits, and this puzzle's title: meaning if you take a common phrase from the world of f...
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Theme: Y me? The letter Y is added to a phrase in common usage to create a new phrase which is quite punny. A very simple theme (add a “Y”) ...