jeffrey wechsler

Theme: Aces are asses!

Our bi-weekly JW Friday takes phrases which include "ACE" and replace those letters with "ASS" to create new and fun fill. We have two changes in the first word and two in the last to preserve the consistency of the theme. The non-theme fill is predominately 5 letter words, but  we do have IT'S BAD, SALINE, SEIZES, SONATA, GOES LONG, MAN APART, IN ONE'S POWER,  PANAMA CANAL featuring Jeffrey's trademark multi-word fill.


20A. What lawn care products promise? : AMAZING GRASS (12). The HYMN (4:29).

27A. Four-legged baseball mascot? : ASS OF DIAMONDS (13).  Does anyone else recall this baseball ASS (0:53).

47A. Young woman working with delicate fabric? : CHANTILLY LASS (13). And a PONYTAIL (2:26).

54A. Forget to press an elevator button? : PASS THE FLOOR (12). Damn, I hate when that happens.


Across:

1. What icons often stand for : APPS.

5. Crossword constructions : GRIDS. Really enjoy the clue/fill.

10. Stand-up fare : GAGS. Comedians.

14. Wrath, in a hymn : IRAE. Powerful DIES IRAE (1:46).

15. Music source : RADIO. My wife listens in the car and the house.

16. 2015 All-Star relief pitcher Darren : O'DAY. This Baltimore ORIOLE has been lights out and did go to the University of Florida in Gainesville.

17. 1959 British Motor Corp. debut : MINI.

18. Negative particle : ANION. Last week I had ANODE.

19. Ice cream brand : EDYS.

23. Reference library array : TOMES.

24. Sylvester's "Rocky" co-star : TALIA.

33. "Dancing With the Stars" airer : ABC. Did you all watch?

35. Genre of Vasarely's "Zebras" : OP ART.

36. With 12-Down, Smithsonian aviation exhibit : ENOLA. 12D. See 36-Across : GAY. I hear this exhibit bombed.

37. Paella morsel : CLAM.

39. Short-tailed weasel : STOAT. Little guys are dangerous.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/worlds-deadliest-ngs/deadliest-stoat

41. Work on an ear? : GNAW. Of corn I hope.

42. Daughter of Eurydice : DANAE. This mythological miss has been painted nude scores of times. LINK.

44. Quran deity : ALLAH.

46. Strauss' "__ Heldenleben" : EIN. it is 50 minutes LONG.

50. Way of seeing things : SLANT. Not, 67A. Set on the bias : TILT.

51. Terminate : LAPSE.

59. Teal relative : AQUA.

62. Natural detergent : BORAX.

63. "Victory is mine!" : I WON. I win sounded better.

64. Contentment indicator : PURR.

65. Word on Old West wanted posters : ALIVE. Dead or....

66. Bottom lines : NETS.

68. Staples of Byzantine architecture : DOMES.

69. Once, once : ERST.

Down:

1. Target : AIM AT.

2. Top-quality : PRIMO.

3. Its lowest toll ever was 36 cents, charged in 1928 to a swimmer : PANAMA CANAL. Can you believe they charged a swimmer?

4. Suddenly stops working, with "up" : SEIZES.

5. Family nickname : GRAN.

6. Took its toll? : RANG.

7. Beatnik's "Understood!" : I DIG.

8. Schiaparelli competitor : DIOR. Fashionable.

9. Beethoven's "Waldstein," e.g. : SONATA.

10. Tries for a bomb, in football : GOES LONG. Goes deep slowed me down.

11. Contribute : ADD.

13D. Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYStem.

21. "That __ cool!" : IS SO.

22. Identical : SAME.

25. Manageable without assistance : IN ONE'S POWER.

26. Two-time loser to Dwight : ADLAI.

28. Special __ : OPS.

29. __ flaw : FATAL.  More secret Shakespeare as this is the basis of the Tragedies.

30. Oddly amusing : DROLL.

31. Volta's birthplace : ITALY. He gave us the volt. LINK.

32. Cut : SAWN.

33. ck group from Sydney : AC DC. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j5rGm3kdTuk

34. Malaise, with "the" : BLAHS.

38. 2003 Vin Diesel movie, with "A" : MAN APART.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kY3kk0QQY0

40. Jazz bassist Wilkenfeld : TAL. No idea. Apparently the GREATEST.

43. Very active volcano : ETNA.

45. Better __ : HALF.

48. "Things are looking grim" : IT'S BAD. Typical Jeffrey.

49. Hospital solution : SALINE.

52. Covers with carbon particles : SOOTS. Really JW?

53. Dadaism pioneer : ERNST.

55. One way to fly : SOLO.

56. Cut back : TRIM.

57. "The ... dog will __ his day": "Hamlet" : HAVE. Poor Hamlet at Ophelia's funeral.

58. Former union members? : EXES.

59. Fitting : APT.

60. On the __ vive : QUI.

61. Destination in a window : URL. Computer window.

Jascha Smilack

Theme: Re-imagine


20A. One keeping tabs on the best man? : TOASTER TIMER (12).

Across:

1. Traditional Islamic garment : BURQA.

6. Big fish : OPAH. We had this fish in a Bruce Haight in October that I blogged.

10. Literary group? : ARTS.

14. On the bad side (of) : AFOUL. He ran afoul of his in-laws.

15. Brazos River city : WACO. Two weeks in a row.

16. Skin malady : CHAP. Half a shout out to me.

17. Primus or Helena, in a classic play : ROBOT. Another R.U.R. reference.

18. Tan relative : ECRU.

19. Cord for Ford, perhaps : TYPO. Cute and much better than an old Gerald campaign slogan.

23. Preserve, in a way : ENCASE.

26. Strict : SEVERE.

27. Feed, but not food : VERB.Really nice misdirection.

28. Ready to pick : RIPE.

32. Court period: Abbr. : SESSion.

33. Abbr. in a footnote : ET AL.
.
34. Of a battery terminal : ANODAL.
36. Portrait artist at a gym? : SWEATERDRAWER
41. Tank type : SEPTIC
42. Optimist's words : ICAN
44. Frequent fliers : JETS
47. Where to see decorative nails : TOES
48. Defense choice : ZONE
49. Biblical prophet : SAMUEL
51. Roma's home : ITALIA
53. Coach for a newspaper employee? : PRINTERTONER
57. Jamaican fruit : UGLI
58. Bucks' pursuits : DOES
59. Augment : ADDTO
63. Off : DOIN
64. Impedes, with "up" : GUMS
65. Haunted house sound : CREAK
66. Start of a run, maybe : SNAG
67. Big show : EXPO
68. Sources of shots : HYPOS

Down:

1. Shut out : BAR
2. Mars rover? : UFO
3. Fleece : ROB
4. Like Twain and Wilde, e.g. : QUOTABLE
5. Chorus section : ALTOS
6. Is short : OWES
7. Agreement : PACT
8. One of 640 in a square mile : ACRE
9. Quite a while : HOURS
10. Prone to heavy market trading : ACTIVE
11. Poet's stock-in-trade : RHYMES
12. Narrows : TAPERS
13. Fern seed : SPORE
21. Gas up? : AERATE
22. Palo Alto-based automotive company : TESLA
23. First lady? : EVE
24. Has left to spend : NETS
25. Dad or fish preceder : CRAW
29. Clumsy : INEPT
30. City south of Lisboa : PORTO
31. Murphy who voices Donkey in "Shrek" : EDDIE
35. Inverse trig function : ARCSIN
37. Plus : ASSET
38. Potter's specialty : WIZARDRY
39. Earth sci. : ECOL
40. Indian royal : RANI
43. "Great Public Schools for Every Student" gp. : NEA
44. Tongue : JARGON
45. Victim of Iago : EMILIA
46. What some forks are used for : TUNING
49. Taters : SPUDS
50. Overhang : LEDGE
52. Show : TEACH
54. Béchamel base : ROUX
55. Sub : TEMP
56. Bone, to Benito : OSSO
60. Bank statement abbr. : DEP
61. Lao Tzu principle : TAO
62. Sanctions : OKS

Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: You do what for a living?

Jeffrey is back with a very fun puzzle which recognizes the great possibilities of our language by taking famous people who have a first name that is the ending of a profession and mashing them into an answer. I would guess the seed fill was APOTHECARY GRANT, but they all are so cool.  We also have 2 sets of 7 space 7 as top and bottom to the grid. There many nice 7 letter fill like ACTUATE, ATTUNES, BENEFIT, BORSCHT, CHICHEN, ETCHERS, I'LL STOP,  IT'S BEST, OCEANIA,  and VW JETTA.



17A. Classic leading man who moonlighted at a pharmacy? : APOTHECARY GRANT (15). Unlike Nathan Fillion this is ruggedly HANDSOME.

25A. Pulitzer-winning writer who moonlighted in a nightly news studio?: WEATHERMAN  WOUK (14).  He wrote so many great BOOKS.

44A. Actor who moonlighted in a brass band? : TRUMPETER BOYLE (14). An actors ACTOR.

57A. English author who moonlighted at LensCrafters? : OPTICIAN FLEMING (15).  New glasses? Try, Bond, CARTER BOND.

Across:
1. Set into motion : ACTUATE. A Friday word to start.

8. Golf alternative, briefly : VW JETTA. Funny but a stretch as the answer Betts is more accurate.

15. Red bowlful : BORSCHT. Not many northern Jewish families did not make beet  borscht when I was a kid. Served cold with hot potato was yummy.

16. __ Itzá: Mayan ruins : CHICHEN. Mexican Pyramids

19. Second of 24 : BETA.  Greek has 24 letters in their Alphabet

20. L.A. Kings' org. : NHL. National Hockey League.

21. Management : SUITS.

22. Fiji's region : OCEANIA. Did you KNOW?

32. Saying that often goes without saying : AXIOM.

33. Breaks down : SOBS.

34. One with a handbook : USER.

36. Tony winner Huffman : CADY. Loved The Producers. Do not know her name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-11rfLu64Y

37. Bolshoi outfit : TUTU.

38. Kitchen bar : OLEO.

39. "I'd strike the sun if it insulted me" speaker : AHAB. The Captain's reply when Starbuck tells him how stupid it is to seek vengeance from a animal acting on instinct.  "Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me." Interesting inclusion as Wouk wrote the Caine Mutiny.

43. Folklore threats : OGRES.

47. Makes complementary (to) : ATTUNES.

48. "Here Come the __": 1945 college comedy : COEDS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jsxe8NuAhI

52. Actor Stephen : REA
53. 18-Down competitor : AVIS.

61. Enhances in the kitchen : SEASONS
62. "That's my recommendation" : ITSBEST
63. Reply to "That's enough!" : ILLSTOP
64. Pool workers : TYPISTS

1. Rhyme scheme in many sonnets : ABAB
2. Bear up : COPE
3. Moderate pace : TROT
4. Open org. : USTA
5. "__ du lieber!" : ACH
6. From that place : THENCE
7. Rembrandt and Picasso, at times : ETCHERS
8. Obsolescent family room fixture : VCR
9. Justification : WHY
10. Puzzle sometimes framed : JIGSAW
11. Hose shade : ECRU
12. Southeast Asian language : THAI
13. Garden party protection : TENT
14. Garden party intruders : ANTS
18. 53-Across competitor : ALAMO
22. Resistance unit : OHM
23. Collar : NAB
24. A-listers : INS
25. City SSW of Dallas : WACO
26. Praise to the heavens : EXALT
27. To help, to Henri : AIDER
28. Piece of toast? : TOYOU
29. Expenditure : OUTGO
30. Activity of great interest? : USURY
31. __ One: vodka brand : KETEL
35. Scam : RUSE
39. Proper : APT
40. In a lather, with "up" : HET
41. Words with take or lose : ATURN
42. Fund-raiser : BENEFIT
43. Like "fain": Abbr. : OBS
45. Poe of the Baltimore Ravens, for one : MASCOT
46. Certain agent's area : REALTY
48. Mozart title starter : COSI
49. General Motors subsidiary : OPEL
50. Substitute in a list : ETAL
51. Ph.D. hurdle : DISS
53. Both, at the start : AMBI
54. Contests : VIES
55. Smithsonian, e.g.: Abbr. : INST
56. PD ranks : SGTS
58. Italian diminutive suffix : INO
59. Venom transmitter : ASP
60. Arguable ability : ESP

Victor Barocas

Theme: Letter rip.

For those of you who do not like creative and difficult puzzles, this effort from University of Minnesota Professor Victor B. will not be pleasant. When you have clues such as AAEGIMRR, there are those who will pull out Thumper and move on. You have to assume the reveal is also the seed entry as the grid is a 16x15 presentation.  Basically you are doing a big JUMBLE where you have to unscramble the clue and fit it with a word meaning to unscramble. Or looking at from the reveal, you take a word and or phrase and list the letters alphabetically. The challenge was  to create three interesting 16 letter theme fill. Some will grouse because two answers are two words and one only a single word, but I had fun as this took me longer than most Fridays to suss. With 16 columns you have room for lots of sparkly fill. I loved EVANDER, INHALER, DAY TRIPPER,  STAY ON HOLD and the three Bs BANISHED, BEEFCAKE and BEREAVED. We also had the challenging GALENA and SHARIA. Okay, let's hop on the solving train.

18A. AAEGIMRR : ARRANGED MARRIAGE (16). The word marriage is taken apart and re-imagined with its letters presented alphabetically.

28A. AACDEINNV : ORDERED IN ADVANCE (16).

47A. ADEHLNRTUY : SORTED THE LAUNDRY (16).

and the reveal:
62A. ILST ... and each of three other puzzle clues : ALPHABETIZED LIST (16).


Across

1. They're bought and soled : SHOES. Victor has had some very fun pun puzzles in the NYT. Those of us who also toiled away at the puns and anagram puzzles were prepared for today.

6. Educational foundation : ABCS.

10. Lowest part : BASSO.

15. Make like a tree, facetiously : LEAVE. More silliness.

16. "Uh-huh" : YEAH.

17. Butyl acetate, e.g. : ESTER. He is after all a professor in Biomedical engineering.

21. Balkan region : BOSNIA. We Americans are so weak in Geography, as seen nightly on Jeopardy.

22. Wild period : SPREE.

23. Edible tuber : YAM. Gotta love a good tuber. Can you name an inedible tuber?

24. __ Plantation, site of the world's largest maze : DOLE. A Pineapple Garden Maze in Hawaii.

26. Sun Valley locale : IDAHO. More potatoes.

35. Sea sound : ROAR.

36. One of Suetonius' "Twelve Caesars" : NERO.

37. Actor Hawke : ETHAN.

38. Youngest March sister : AMY.
39. Sent away : BANISHED
42. Make a selection : OPT
43. "I've got this one" : LETME
45. Wax on an envelope, say : SEAL
46. Robert of "The Sopranos" : ILER.

51. Structural opening? : INFRA.

52. Angler's prize : FISH. We had a discussion of the word angler recently.

53. Lack of continuity : GAP.

55. Old painting sites : CAVES. Nice clue.

58. More pinlike? : NEATER. Neater than a pin; does it mean orderly or shiny?

65. Not hold one's peace : SPEAK. Nearby the opposite 67A. Of few words : TERSE.

66. Domain : RULE.

68. Game that may involve complicated shots : HORSE.

69. Mediterranean feeder : NILE.

70. Three-layer treats : OREOS. Clue 900 for this cookie.

Down

1. Thick mass : SLAB
2. Rescuer, often : HERO
3. Marine propulsion aids : OARS
4. Heavyweight champ between Buster and Riddick : EVANDER
5. __ citizen : SENIOR
6. Mate's affirmative : AYE
7. Garden spots : BEDS
8. Like-minded group : CAMP
9. Islamic law : SHARIA
10. Mourning : BEREAVED
11. "Take me __ am" : ASI
12. Wait for help, perhaps too long : STAY ON HOLD
13. Genesis creator : SEGA
14. Home of Utah Valley University : OREM
19. Lead ore : GALENA
20. Comedian Foxx : REDD
25. First place? : EDEN
27. Porkpie, for one : HAT
28. Advanced tests : ORALS
29. "What light through yonder window breaks?" speaker : ROMEO
30. Other side of "We Can Work It Out" : DAYTRIPPER
31. Like Jameson whiskey : IRISH
32. Long time ending? : NOSEE
33. Heist, say : CAPER
34. Contest form : ENTRY
39. "Magic Mike" feature : BEEFCAKE
40. " ... on the sand, / __ sunk, a shattered visage lies": "Ozymandias" : HALF
41. Paige of British musical theatre : ELAINE
44. Map feature with an elev. : MTN
46. Asthma sufferer's relief : INHALER
48. Boring : DRAB
49. Ale seller : TAVERN
50. No longer bothered by : USEDTO
53. Severe wound : GASH
54. Dinner for Spot : ALPO
56. Little case : ETUI
57. Window frame part : SILL
59. Weary : TIRE
60. Canadian gas brand : ESSO
61. GPS info : RTES
63. Is down with : HAS
64. Zipper opening? : ZEE