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.
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Taylor Johnson
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