Friday, July 23, 2021

Ed Sessa

Title: 

IOU an A, E

Dr. Ed is back with a letter substitution (E to A) sound-alike puzzle that plays a little easy for a Friday. The themers are all pretty funny puns. Ed is a master of entertaining no matter what day of the week. The puzzle does not have much long fill - EMPERORS and FACELIFT are the only over 6 letter non-themers, though it is sprinkled with some difficulty.  


17A. Double vision?: TWIN PEEKS (9). TWIN PEAKS is a cult CLASSIC 

23A. What EEE signifies?: NO SMALL FEET (11).  No small feat is an expression that can be found in many FORMS.

39A. Cesar Millan's gift?: THE HEELING TOUCH (15). My favorite pun, as the dog whisperer substitutes for this TREATMENT.

49A. Blind date?: MYSTERY MEET (11). As someone who went to boarding school I have eaten more than my share of unidentifiable
meat products.

61A. His-and-hers concert souvenir?: TEE FOR TWO (9). TEA for Two is a song composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics by Irving Caesar and written in 1924. 
The fun is done and now to work. 

Across:

1. Japanese car whose name means "reward" in early German: MIATA. Don't we all hate it when 1 across is an unknown. In Japan it is called Roadster, but here Miata which comes from the Old German 'miete' for reward.

6. Infielder in a comedy routine: WHO. He is on first!

9. Conviction: FAITH. A place for this FAITH  52D. Group's belief: TENET.

14. Joins, as a team: YOKES. Oxen anyone.

15. On fire: HOT.

En fuego!

16. Big name in foil: ALCOA. My June 18 comment was "15A. Portmanteau metal producer: ALCOA. No, no, no! AL CO A, aluminum company of america is not words mashed together!

19. Items often checked: COATS. A fun clue.

20. Flying Solo: HAN. While HARRISON FORD was killed off as Han, he has a new INDIANA JONES movie coming.

21. Brute's rebuke: ET TU

22. "Will it play in __?": vaudeville phrase: PEORIA. Origin- (1) The phrase originated during the vaudeville era and was popularized in movies by Groucho Marx, or (2) The question derives from a theme repeated by characters in Horatio Alger Jr.'s novel Five Hundred Dollars; or, Jacob Marlowe's Secret, which was first published in 1890. 

25. Birthplace of St. Francis: ASSISI. Very common fill. 

29. "Who, me?": MOI? I really wanted a Miss Piggy GIF here.

30. Pound product: POEM. Ezra, not a personal hero. POUND HISTORY

31. Fabric with metallic threads: LAMÉ . The earliest historical records of lamé fabric date back to Ancient Assyria, which was a nation in the Middle East that existed between 2500 BC and 600 AD

34. Musical E equivalent: F FLAT. Ron can you explain why?

42. Doomed biblical city: SODOM. What Gomorrah can you say about this biblical city?

43. Calf-length skirt: MIDI. Midcalf.

44. See 36-Down: OAHU. The dreaded random referential set with 36D. Feast on 44-Across: LUAU.

45. Pot pie veggie: PEA. The recipes from Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and Campbell's Soup all use frozen mixed vegetables - corn, carrots, green beans and peas. Nothing fresh.

47. Holds dear: VALUES

55. Films partly made in stages: OATERS. Another pun, this one relating to the stage coach scenes in Westerns.

56. Deal with creases: IRON

57. Audibly grieve: SOB.

60. Texas HQ of Frito-Lay: PLANO. Frito-Lay North America is the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE, PEP), which is headquartered in Plano, TX. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, www.fritolay.com. It was created initially by a merger of Frito and Lay.

63. Articulate: UTTER. The verb.

64. Company abbr.: INC.

65. Texans' neighbors: OKIES. Seems unbalanced as Texans are not a nickname and Okies are.

66. Old times: PASTS

67. WWII carrier: LST.

68. "Old" language that gave us "blunder": NORSE. mid-14c., "to stumble about blindly," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse blundra "shut one's eyes," perhaps from Proto-Germanic *blinda- "blind."

Down:

1. Bit of fiction: MYTH. In college we debated the TOPIC myth is reality and reality is myth.

2. "The Music Man" setting: IOWA. The author Meredith Willson was inspired by his boyhood in Mason City, Iowa.

3. Related: AKIN.

4. First and __: TEN. A football concept and one of the very first HBO original series, I think. It began with JASON BEGHE and and UF graduate DELTA BURKE.

5. Quakers in Colorado?: ASPENS. Ha ha, tree humor.

6. Puts an edge on: WHETS. Sharpens with a stone, from the old days.


7. Poppycock: HOKUM. Derives from Hocus Pocus, but if you google you get all kinds of irreverent images. 

8. Extra NFL periods: OTS. OverTimes.

9. Cosmetic surgery procedure: FACELIFT. I like my face right where it is, but for those with more money than sense, be careful what you wish for. mirror, mirror

10. Distant: ALOOF. Did you know loof (now spelled luff) is the windward side of a ship. Smart sailors wanting to avoid a hazard on the leeward side, who go to the other side, holding themselves aloof.
 
11. Comforting affirmation: I CARE. I really cornerites about each and everyone of you.

12. Funny Fields: TOTIE. She died young.

13. Starts to fight: HAS AT. Meh.

18. Star over Paris: ÉTOILE. French lesson. 星位 Chinese lesson.

22. Abbas' gp.: PLOPLO

24. Improve: AMEND.

25. Much urban housing: Abbr.: APTS. Apartments, and condos will probably not sell well in Florida for a while.

26. NYC art district: SOHO. South of Houston (howston in New York).

27. Apple core?: SEED. You think this was his seed entry?

28. Letters before a view: IMHO. In My Humble Opinion. Why Humble?

32. Revlon cosmetics brand: ALMAYALMAY 

33. Customizable Nintendo persona: MII.

35. Have on, to a Brit: FOOL.

37. Bleed (for): ACHE.

38. Consequently: THUS. Ergo.

40. Supreme monarchs: EMPERORS.

41. Provide generously, as one's time: GIVE OF.

46. Triage areas, briefly: ERS. Emergency Rooms.

48. When a classic film gunfight started: AT NOON.

49. Attend to a spill: MOP UP.

50. 1945 "Big Three" meeting site: YALTA. Didn't I just link this.


51. E and FG, in sports: STATS. Error and field goal both of which work in various sports.

53. Appearances: MIENS. Like its synonyms bearing and demeanor, mien means the outward manifestation of personality or attitude.

54. Build: ERECT. This name always reminds me of The Taj Mahal.

57. Recipe directive: STIR. Beat; Dice; Sear; Melt; Sift: Bake; Boil...

58. Is beholden to: OWES. More Gary Cooper?

59. Big name in audio systems: BOSE. My bedtime music comes from a Bose.

61. "Open 9 __ 5": TIL. Sing it Dolly!

62. Original "King Kong" film studio: RKO. This is part of the Kennedy family Legacy. LINK.








No comments:

Post a Comment

Taylor Johnson

Title: After Thoughts Welcome back Taylor to the LAT where we just solved your Saturday themeless collaboration with your mentor, the prolif...