Howard Barkin

Title: Ring around the rosie....

The most recent champion solver of the 2016 ACPT, Howard Barkin bring us his third LAT creation since his DEBUT.  This is another variation on adding the visual to the words in a puzzle. it is not uncommon to have  a single word be the clue for all of the theme answers, but Howard gives us a symbol. Working backwards from the fill, it is easy to see that the little circle is a RING, and each of the three themers are distinct and different types of ring. This all tied up with a nice neat bow with the reveal which by its nature limited Howard to three theme answers. Not sure why, but I clicked with this puzzle and had a really fast Friday time for me. Howard has lots of very common words like ARENA, SEE, OLEO, EASE. ERE and ERA. But he also gives us  TROWEL,  LEERER, RAINING,  OARLOCK,  NEW COKE,  DOGLEGS, EASTER EGGS,  ANSWERED TO.  Okay

Next....

20A. O : CRIMINAL NETWORK (15). Ring has so many connotations, picking only three must have been difficult.

32A. O : BOXING VENUE (11). A reminder of the recent passing of Muhammed Ali, the Champ.

43A. O : WEDDING BAND (11). With this ring, I thee wed...
And the reveal

56A. Site of confused activity, and a hint to 20-, 32- and 43-Across : THREE RING CIRCUS (15).


Across:

1. "I Love Lucy" airer : CBS. Love an easy 1A on Friday.

4. Search, in a way : GROPE. In the darkness, not your neighbor at the movies.

9. "I Love Lucy" role : ETHEL. Plunked this is without hesitation, and I was off.

14. Caucasian native : HUN. We are not talking racially but GEOGRAPHICALLY.  I had no idea about any of this and filled in only because I did 1A, 1D, 2D and 3D to begin.

15. Havens : OASES. Very literal.

16. __ football : ARENA. This is the 29th season for the SPRING indoor football league.

17. Detergent in a red container : ERA.

18. Kind of curl : BICEP. Since I now use mostly dumbbells, this was easy.

19. More miffed : SORER.

23. Inca __: Peruvian soft drink : KOLA. My learning moment. LINK. Not ot be confused with 45D. Widely criticized 1985 product introduction : NEW COKE.

24. Taxing people? : IRS. Funny?

25. Meet at the poker table : SEE. I will see your $10.00 and raise you $10.00.

26. Twitter follower, usually : FAN. Stalker, media person...

28. Horseshoe-shaped boat part : OARLOCK.

37. Garden pond fish : KOI. We have had this CARP before many times.

38. Crook's invention : ALIAS.

39. Meteor tail? : ITE. The word, not the phenomenon.

40. Ancient Greek physician : GALEN. Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus, often Anglicized as Galen and better known as Galen of Pergamon, was a prominent Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman empire. Wikipedia

42. Author Deighton : LEN. A spy novelist who gave us many books and movies with The Ipcress File one that comes to mind.

46. Angles for iron users : DOGLEGS. I love the fill, great for all of our golfers, but the clue seems awkward. Howard? Rich?

48. Course for newcomers: Abbr. : ESL. English as a Second Language. The course really helped Oo.

49. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth" : ERE.  A return of Will to Friday.

50. Seven-film franchise : SAW. I have not seen any SAW.

52. Smooth over : EASE.

61. Stockpile : HOARD. I think my uncle was one, but not as bad as seen on TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3eOo_EeGj0

62. Sportscast analysis : COLOR.

63. "Rumour __ It": 2011 Adele hit : HAS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksc85bFfoPk

64. First sign : ONSET. Sadly mostly associated with dementia.

65. In need of change? : BROKE. Very cute, except when you go to by gas.

66. Spacewalk initials : EVA.

67. Brief copy? : REPROduction.

68. Spoke Abyssinian? : MEWED.

69. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY.

Down:

1. It's always dated : CHECK. More fun cluing.

2. Grand Canyon animal : BURRO.

3. Spiral-shelled creature : SNAIL.

4. View from the Qilian Mountains : GOBI.

5. Coming down : RAINING.

6. Muppet in a can : OSCAR.

7. Strips off : PEELS.

8. "Outside the Lines" airer : ESPN.

9. Hidden DVD features : EASTER EGGS. Love this reference. An Easter egg is an intentional inside joke, hidden message, or feature in an interactive work such as a computer program, video game or DVD menu screen. The name is used to evoke the idea of a traditional Easter egg hunt.
LINK.

10. Garden tool : TROWEL.

11. Sub : HERO.

12. U.S. dept. with a windmill on its seal : ENERgy.

13. Escapade : LARK.

21. Classic 20-Across : MAFIA.

22. Genesis name : ESAU.

27. Was supervised by : ANSWERED TO.

28. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I.

29. St. with a panhandle : OKLAhoma.

30. "Fargo" director : COEN.
31. Warmhearted : KIND
32. Undisguised : BALD
33. Toast topping : OLEO
34. Word seen under a deer silhouette : XING
35. YouTube clips, for short : VIDS
36. RR schedule listing : ETD
41. More capable : ABLER
44. Hungarian wine region : EGER

47. Rude sort : LEERER.
50. Bedroom noise : SNORE
51. Warmly lit : AGLOW
53. Yearned : ACHED.

54. Polished : SUAVE.

55. SAT part that's judged : ESSAY.

56. Wielder of Mjölnir : THOR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIJoED70HZU

57. Perfect : HONE. People often hone their craft, or hone

58. Grating sound : RASP. You can use a rasp to sharpen (hone) your tools.

59. SALT topic : ICBM. InterContinental Ballistic Missile.

60. More than annoyed : IRED. A variation of IRE I have never seen anywhere but crossword puzzles.

Mike Buckley

Title: Where are the Property Brothers when you need them? At my HOUSE.

Our first Mike Buckley of the year, the last being a wonderful sound alike PUN puzzle which I blogged last July. Today the reveal tells us that we have to add the word "HOUSE" to the end of the theme fill. But this must be in our heads as there are no spaces. The clue makes no sense  without the added HOUSE. In the CW world of rebus and meta puzzles, this is a simple version. Long before the reveal, starting with 1A, you know something is up when you cannot make sense of the clues. I got the idea with GLASS, from the old story about people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. That made Bird and Club fit. I had a hell of a time finding twelve after reading the reveal: 41A. See 30-Down : BOUND. 30D. With 41-Across, quarantined, and a hint to completing 12 puzzle answers : HOUSE. My hang up was 1D, which is symmetrical with 54D and must be the 12th...anyway there some interesting long fill such as GROANER,  CAGIEST, ALL AT SEA,  SEPARATE,  RINGLING, FELL INTO, RED PLANET and a personal favorite  AD HOMINEM. Somrtimes the added house stands alone sometimes it just makes a single word.

1A. Frequent flier's respite : BIRD (HOUSE). Birdies fly too you know.

5A. Dressing room of a sort : CLUB(HOUSE). Where HG goes to put on his spikes.

9A. Proverbially exposed place : GLASS (HOUSE). The pun version is about the tribal king who lived in a lavish two story grass hut in the jungle. He got in a competition with another tribal leader and they started having fancy thrones made to out do the other. Sadly the first chief had his thrones in the second floor and they crashed down killing him. Moral: People who live in grass houses should not store thrones.

71A. Coastal attraction : LIGHT (HOUSE). We have a little one we go to at the Hillsboro inlet.

72A. Kids' hideout : TREE (HOUSE). Another giveaway to the theme.

73A. Where an inch may represent a foot : DOLL (HOUSE). Really cute clue.

1D. Uninhibited jazz style : BARREL(HOUSE).  I just did not know THIS.

13D. Place of refuge : SAFE (HOUSE).  Will we watch NCIS with DiNozzo gone?

33D. The Twinings shop at 216 Strand in London, e.g. : TEA  (HOUSE). CSO to Nice Cuppa and Steve.

38D. Zoo : MAD(HOUSE). Where human are treated like lower ANIMALS.

54D. 1978 comedy classic : ANIMAL (HOUSE). 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8psQi7ScQQ

60D. Theater with no seats? : FULL (HOUSE).

Across:

14. Trendy berry : ACAI. You know it as LINK.

15. Bausch + Lomb brand : RENU. Clean your contacts.

16. Missouri campus town : ROLLA. Talk about stuff I do not know,you can start HERE.

17. 38-Across nickname : RED PLANET. 38A. Fourth of eight : MARS. Did you watch Matt Damon in the MARTIAN? Thoughts?

19. __ Olay : OIL OF.

20. Bread flavoring : RAISIN. Flavoring?

21. Stand between : SEPARATE.  Always dangerous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG4tfdYytEk.

23. Strait's "All My __ Live in Texas" : EXS.  LINK.

24. Kindle downloads: Abbr. : BKS. Books.

26. Multipart opus : NONET. Nine.

27. "The Merry Widow" composer : LEHAR.  Hungarian Composer FRANZ.

29. Leitmotif : THEME. Fancy.

31. Park it : SIT.

34. Author of epistolas : PAOLO. Epistles: Paul.

36. Girlfriend of Garfield : ARLENE.

43. End for Louis : IANA. I hope Hahtoolah is doing well, along with our other Lousiana peeps, Boo abd BE.

44. Singly : APIECE. Did you KNOW?

46. Percolates : SEEPS.

48. Home in the woods : DEN. Or the jungle.

49. First of 12 : ARIES. Houses of the Zodiac. And, 18. First sign of fall : LIBRA. Hmm, fall starts September 21 which is in Virgo....

51. "__ español?" : HABLA. No intiendo.

55. Be unable to swallow : GAG ON.

57. Summer shade : TAN.

59. Hermione's love : RON. When you saw the first movie, or read the first book, weren't sure she would end up with Harry?

60. Chanced on : FELL INTO.

63. Michener's "The Bridges at __" : TOKO-RI. His books were always so detailed.

65. Worth keeping : UTILE. Not a useful word for me.

66. Appealing to prejudice rather than intellect, as an argument : AD HOMINEM.
"Ad hominem, which stands for the Latin term argumentum ad hominem, is a response to a person's argument by attacking the person's character rather than the logic or content of the argument. Ad hominem remarks are often an example of fallacy, because they are irrelevant to the overall argument. " Also known as politics.

68. Large green moths : LUNAS. Always think of John Lampkin.

69. Masked critter : COON.

70. March Madness initials : NCAA.

Down:

2. Climber's tool : ICE AXE.

3. Salad slice : RADISH.

4. Tango moves : DIPS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKweH0DHsC4

5. Original Model T need : CRANK.

6. Writer Deighton : LEN.

7. Arles articles : UNES. French.

8. Hydrocarbon obtained from crude oil : BUTENE.

9. "Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?," e.g. : GROANER. It describes my earlier story.

10. French wine valley : LOIRE.

11. Totally confused : ALL AT SEA.

12. ATM feature : SLOT. There are lots of them.

22. Hair-styling stuff : POMADE. I will always remember Dapper Dan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hni4OIJXG4

25. 1944 French battle site : STLO.

28. Choir recess : APSE.

32. B&B, maybe : INN.

35. Titania's husband : OBERON. Our Friday Shakespeare; A Midsummer Night's Dream.

37. Sax-playing Simpson : LISA.

39. Tailless simian : APE.

40. Big name in traveling shows : RINGLING.

42. Branch structure : NEST. Birds make their nests from twigs?

45. Most foxy : CAGIEST.

47. __ Penh : PHNOM. Cambodia.

50. Undamaged : INTACT.

52. Super Bowl 50 champ : BRONCO. Good luck Peyton.

53. "Because you're worth it" brand : L'OREAL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_GvlikmZzc

56. Islamic deity : ALLAH.

58. Make amends : ATONE.

61. Case for notions : ETUI.

62. Follower of Pepé Le Pew? : ODOR.

64. Big-hearted : KIND.

67. Weed tackler : HOE.

Elliot M. Abrams

Title: Sh......

What I perceive is a debut puzzle for Mr. Abrams gives us words beginning with SH (sound)(vowel) in progression. A very straight forward puzzle with a very fast solve time and a mini-theme of Hawaiian words. I know of an Archaeology Professor who wrote about historic architecture in the MAYAN culture. My oldest wrote about ancient architecture in his time studying in that field. Anyway, on to the puzzle...The theme fill except OVERWHELM are all new to the LAT.  The rest including forty-six 3/4 letter fill many of which are common crossword fodder. I am always impressed with those  who grid their own first effort.  I enjoyed the puzzle, especially all the Js. After last week's pangram, we are just a Q short this week.

18A. Shaq : EX-NBA CENTER (11). Shaquille is a very entertaining guy.

24A. Sheik : ARAB NOBLE (9).Sheikh, Shaik, Shayk, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and Shekh— is an honorific title in the Arabic language. wiki

37A. Schick : RAZOR BLADE MAKER (15). The "C" makes this the outlier, Thismay have been his seed entry. If he chose SHI... maybe: Shirk: LIE DOWN ON THE JOB. Of course that would cause a complete rewrite. Life is not easy.

49A. Shock : OVERWHELM (9). All perps

55A. Shuck : OPEN OYSTERS (11).My first thought was corn, but I do not eat shellfish.

Across:

1. Backtalk : LIP.

4. Went into second, in a way : SLID. A gimme for the baseball crowd.

8. Energy units : JOULES. I love J words: It is equal to the energy transferred (or work done) to an object when a force of one newton acts on that object in the direction of its motion through a distance of one metre (1 newton metre or N·m). It is also the energy dissipated as heat when an electric current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second. It is named after the English physicist James Prescott Joule (1818–1889) wiki.

14. She played Mia in "Pulp Fiction" : UMA. She died and came back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6XZwHAqjxA

15. Mackerel relative : TUNA. I forgot that.

16. Opposite of down : ACROSS. Crossword inside joke

17. AWOL pursuers : MPS. Military Police. Probably not a legitimate plural.

20. Combat : BATTLE.

22. Long, on Lanai : LOA. Then an immediate clecho 23A. Hi, on Lanai : ALOHA.

30. Exceptional : RARE.

31. Team members : OXEN. Cute yoke.

32. "Darkness at __": Arthur Koestler novel : NOON.

33. Fortress of Solitude statue honoree : JOR-EL. Since the creators were both Jewish, they named their central family EL אֵל. Did you know Superman had his own WIKI?

35. Formal assessment : REPORT. I am not the report type. Michelle does lots of them for clients.

41. Calls up : EVOKES.

42. Pip : BEAUT.

43. Mudville number : NINE. How many on the field in baseball.

44. 2015 Emmy winner for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series : VEEP. Not only born into a fabulously wealthy family but in her third Emmy winning series, JULIA is one lucky woman.

45. Wheels : RIDE. Nice ride...

52. Hardly a socialite : LONER.

53. It may be humbly held in hand : HAT. Nice cluing.

54. Stumble : FALTER.

61. Nixon admin. creation : EPA.

62. __ effect : RIPPLE. Not to be confused with the butterfly effect.

63. Israeli writer Oz : AMOS.

64. Nothing but __ : NET. Steph Curry...


65. Church symbols : SPIRES.

66. Not for here : TO GO. They added to go service at the Cattleman.

67. Helical strands : DNA. Helix like.

Down:

1. Like the vertebrae directly above the pelvis : LUMBAR. Where by herniated discs live.

2. 1958 Chevy debut : IMPALA. Remember it well.

3. Sermon giver : PASTOR.

4. Inscribed stone : STELA
5. Elegance : LUXE
6. Comfort __ : INN
7. Touch : DAB
8. Biblical twin : JACOB
9. Large amount : OCEAN
10. "Thou," in the Keats lines "When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain ... a friend to man" : URN
11. Building site : LOT
12. End of much language? : ESE
13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR
19. Late actor Rickman : ALAN
21. 1989 Jack Nicholson role : THEJOKER
24. Double __ : AXEL
25. Mark down, perhaps : RE-LABEL.

26. Keeping the beat? : ON PATROL.

27. Secure, as a room : BOOK.

28. Past wisdom : LORE.

29. __'acte : ENTR.

31. Mars and others : ORBS.

34. Vein yield : ORE.

35. Get as a return : REAP.

36. Aussie runner : EMU.

37. Nevada city on I-80 : RENO.

38. Tel __ : AVIV.

39. Defense choice : ZONE. Football and basketball.

40. Consider : DEEM. Again.

44. Dachshund docs : VETS. We had dachshunds. One of our wiener dogs ate so much she became a knockwurst.

46. Plan : INTEND.

47. Become more heartfelt : DEEPEN.

48. Printing problems : ERRATA.

50. __ milk : WHOLE.

51. Last Reconstruction president : HAYES. Rutherford B. All you need to KNOW.

52. Rodeo rope : LASSO.

54. One that may be transformed by a kiss? : FROG.

55. Scenes of many stitches: Abbr. : ORS. Operating Rooms.

56. Knight supporter? : PIP. Very tricky for me, but not for Gladys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_mhPTuV5o

57. Prefix with genetics : EPI. I becoming more convinced this must be the same man. I did not know: Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression (active versus inactive genes) that does not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence — a change in phenotype without a change in genotype — which in turn affects how cells read the genes. Wiki.

58. "All Things Considered" home : NPR. National Public Radio.

59. Many a pro athlete's pride : TATtoo.

60. Rock genre : EMOtional.