Chuck Deodene

Title: Not easy to define

This is our 8th puzzle from Chuck, and my 5th time blogging his work. Chuck began making puzzles in the '90s with his first 33 publications in the NYT. His last appearance here was in 2019 on a Wednesday where I was pinch-hitting. We have had a number of "one word is the clue for the theme answers" puzzles before, but MONITOR made this effort unique. It can't be a spoiler to mention that the four grid spanning answers are all clued that way. I was surprised to learn that MONITOR had never been a clue in the LAT! Until today. It has only been used twice in the NYT, both in the '90s, and once in USA Today. I also still remember the story from the Civil War of the first battle of two ironclad warships. The Union Monitor, and the Rebel Merrimack (rechristened Virginia). HISTORY.

With 60 spaces committed to 4 answers, there was not much room for long sparkly fill, but we are treated to E-TAILED, SPATULA, BRIDGE TOLL, and LONG MEMORY, my favorite. It reminds me of the amazing phenomenon of a wife's ability to never forget a transgression, yet always needing help to find the keys. I have again highlighted in red the two entries that make their crossword puzzle debut.

Theme:

17A. Monitor: OLD WORLD REPTILE (15). They are now roaming here in FLORIDA.

26A. Monitor: HALLWAY OVERSEER (15). The human type of monster, at times.

46A. Monitor: COMPUTER DISPLAY (15). A CSO to so many here, but especially -T and TTP who are invaluable in bringing some of us into the 21st century.

60A. Monitor: IRONCLAD WARSHIP (15). Okay, I already did this one.

The rest.

Across:

1. Drops from a workout: SWEAT. A great visual start, though we are not ready to go back to the gym yet.

6. Singer who co-founded the AIDS-fighting Product Red: BONO.
The concept was founded in 2006 by U2 frontman and activist Bono, together with Bobby Shriver of the One Campaign and DATA.

10. Grand slam quartet: Abbr.: RBIS. Baseball.

14. Was obligated: HAD TO.

15. Aspire laptop maker: ACER. A Taiwanese computer company.

16. Danish architect Jacobsen: ARNE. This MAN.

20. Sold online: E-TAILED.

21. Progressive promoter played by Stephanie Courtney: FLO. We all know (love/hate) FLO but not STEPHANIE.

22. Accomplished: DID.

23. Sever, with "off": LOP.

24. Elegantly groomed: SOIGNÉ. A Friday French fill.

32. Brief "I think": IMO.

33. "Meh": SO SO.

34. H.S. ordeal: SAT.

35. Bring together: SYNC.

37. Mozart title word meaning "all": TUTTE.

39. Fluctuate: YO YO.

42. Noir film weapon: GAT.

44. Zig or zag: VEER.

45. Supervillain Luthor: LEX.

51. Common soccer tie: ONE-ONE.

52. Suffix with propyl: ENE.

53. It may be glazed: HAM.

54. Stipulations: IFS.

56. Hash house tool: SPATULA.

63. Outlying area, briefly: BURB.

64. Pod in Southern cooking: OKRA.

65. Civil penalties: FINES.

66. Novelist Seton: ANYA.

67. German no: NEIN.

68. Nectarine center: STONE.


Down:

1. Enclosure for piggies?: SHOE. This little piggy went to market...

2. Basketball Hall of Famer Frazier: WALT. Now more famous for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uloBZjYEym0

3. Icelandic literary work: EDDA.

4. Whenever one's heart desires: AT WILL.

5. Like pitches in the dirt: TOO LOW.
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/VigorousWeakAnura-size_restricted.gif

6. Short on tread: BALD. Tires.

7. Monk's condition, in the TV show: OCD. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. It is a blessing and a curse for Monk.

8. Indoor ball brand: NERF.

9. Warning words: OR ELSE.

10. Pixar's aspiring chef Remy is one: RAT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVeNEbh3A4U

11. Fee for crossing: BRIDGE TOLL.

12. Queued up: INLINE.

13. Farm equipment: SEEDER.

18. Meal: REPAST.

19. Possessive on a stock index: POOR'S.

25. "Good gracious!": I SAY.

26. Quick hellos: HIS.

27. "Making It" co-host Poehler: AMY.

28. Grudge holder's trait: LONG MEMORY.

29. "__ got this!": YOU'VE.

30. KitchenAid competitor: OSTER.

31. Cast a ballot: VOTED.

36. Mob boss: CAPO.

38. Keystone St. port: ERIE PA.

40. Word of support: YEA.

41. Clearasil shelfmate: OXY.

43. Roman top: TUNIC.

46. Caribbean cigar brand: COHIBA.

47. Practicing for the marathon, say: ON A RUN.

48. 1938 Dupont discovery: TEFLON.

49. Inhales at mealtime: SNARFS.

50. Watch a boxer, e.g.: PET SIT.

55. Advantage: SAKE.

56. "__ Lake": SWAN. EVERYTHING you need to know about the ballet.

57. "Hmm ... don't think so": UH NO.

58. It may be on the house: LIEN. I love the pun, but lien searches are not free.

59. Abbey area: APSE. This was introduced to the NYT by Chuck.

61. Org. with a February All-Star Weekend: NBA. They are playing again. The HEAT won their first game back.

62. Soft and __: deodorant: DRI. I love how Chuck began with SWEAT and ended with a deodorant. I hope you did not have to SWEAT the solve and have enjoyed the tour. In addition to introducing 2 new words today, Chuck has introduced 231 answers to the NYT- the LIST- including such favorites like ISAO and UZIS. Thank you Mr. Deodene and all who read and write.

Chuck Deodene

Title: G where is my twin?

Chuck Deodene is back after another absence, bringing my third Friday opportunity to blog his work. Chuck was first published in the NYT back in 1994, and we saw him initially in 2009. This time he takes tow word phrases with the first word ending with  "G" and the second word beginning with a "G." He then excises the G from the second word and clues the result with amusing consequences.

CHANGEUP, DEVALUED, EMOTICON, RADIO SET, SHINBONE, and TAG ALONG

18A. Passion for quilt filling?: BATTING GLOVE (11). My grandmother and one of my first cousins quilted. I do not know much about it. LINK. I was a pitcher and did not use a batting glove.

24A. Contest among bank customers?: SAVING GRACE (10). In the US, we are not very good at saving money WORLD MAP but we are not the worst. A saving grace is a good quality or feature in a person or thing that prevents them from being completely bad or worthless. Ageing's one saving grace is you worry less about what people think about you.

38A. Segment of a clogging contest?: STOMPING GROUND (13). I have not been to a competition but have seen a performance each year at the TASTE OF TAMARAC and do not know how many rounds in the CONTEST. Do you have a place where you regularly spend time; a favorite haunt?

51A. Airline passenger's arrival malady?: LANDING GEAR (10). There is a real malady known as AIRPLANE EAR, not related to the the landing gear.

59A. Female observer?: LOOKING GLASS (11).  Interestingly, a looking glass is a mirror which is often the best friend (worst enemy) of a lass. 

Across:

1. Staples buys: PCS.  We begin with Personal Computers.

4. Pooh-pooh, with "at": SCOFF. This may derive from an Icelandic word skaup. "The superstition of science scoffs at the superstition of faith." Short Studies on Great Subjects by James Anthony Froude.

9. Author Stieg Larsson, for one: SWEDE. He died before his famous trilogy became movies LINK.

14. Deduction cry: AHA. The V-8 moment.

15. "While I've got your attention ... ": OH SAY can you see?

16. Big name in seating: EAMES. This COUPLE designed the eponymous lounge chair.

17. Zip on a field: NIL. A very common score in international football mtches.

20. Fall cause: TRIP.

22. Not heard before: NEW. A new clue for old fill.



23. 1945 summit site: YALTA. So much controversy and so much fallout from this CONFERENCE. 33A. "The buck stops here" president: TRUMAN. He took over for the POTSDAM Conference.

27. __ Road Ensemble, group initiated by Yo-Yo Ma: SILK. Yo-Yo Ma conceived Silkroad in 1998 as a reminder that even as rapid globalization resulted in division, it brought extraordinary possibilities for working together. Seeking to understand this dynamic, he began to learn about the historical Silk Road, recognizing in it a model for productive cultural collaboration, for the exchange of ideas and tradition alongside commerce and innovation. A truly global effort. various.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3W4U6IQfA

29. Portaged craft: CANOE. Portage or portaging is the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a portage. wiki.

30. Needing no Rx: OTC. Over The Counter.

32. Stick in a hall: CUE. Pool hall.

36. Baloney: HOOEY.

41. Jokhang Temple city: LHASA. The Jokhang, also known as the Qoikang Monastery, Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery and Zuglagkang, is a Buddhist temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.

42. Words spoken with one's hand raised: A TOAST. L'chaim.

43. Corp. bailed out in 2008: AIG. American International Group.

44. Auction set: LOT. Moment of LEARNING.

46. Made hands of: DEALT. Card playing.

49. Swatting target: GNAT.

55. Grass unit: BLADE.

57. Yield from una mina: ORO. A Spanish Gold Mine.

58. Laser-cut, perhaps: ETCH. There is so much I do not KNOW.

62. __ jump: SKI.

63. Unexpressed: INNER. Remember Bradshaw and his inner child?

64. Pulitzer poet Conrad __: AIKEN. Conrad Potter Aiken was born in Savannah, Georgia, on August 5, 1889. When he was a small boy, his father killed his mother and committed suicide himself, a tragedy that had a profound impact on Aiken’s development. He was raised by a great-great-aunt in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard in 1912, the same period as T. S. Eliot and E. E. Cummings. He won his Pulitzer Prize in 1930, for his Selected Poems.

65. Work hard (for): GUN.

66. Aboveboard: LEGIT.

67. Handle: SEE TO.

68. Ajar, in verse: OPE. I 'ope this does not catch on, even though I like to keep my mind ope'.


Down:

1. Suit part: PANTS.

2. Former French president: CHIRAC. This MAN.

3. DNA sample source: SALIVA.

4. Sound with tears: SOB.

5. Pitcher's surprise: CHANGEUP. The changeup is the staple off-speed pitch, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed coupled with its deceptive delivery is meant to confuse the batter's timing. When I was in high school I was a pitcher, and after my best game - a one-hit shutout - the opposing players came up to me to congratulate me on my amazing changeup. I threw all fastballs, just not as fast as they expected.

6. Kitchen brand: OSTER.

7. Mufti issuance: FATWA. Fatwa, in Islam, is a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified legal scholar (known as a mufti). wiki. Rabbis do the same thing in Judaism.

8. "Here's the scoop" letters: FYI. For Your Information.

9. Tokyo-based game company: SEGA.

10. They're thin at budget motels: WALLS.

11. Email adornment: EMOTICON. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ ಠ_ಠ ¯\(°_o)/¯ ( ﾟдﾟ)

12. Weakened, as currency: DEVALUED.

13. Legal add-on: ESE.

19. Siberian freeze-out?: NYET.

21. Mottled equines: PINTOS.

25. Routine: NORMAL.

26. Crichton novel set in Africa: CONGO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nj5G4GffWo

28. Longboat in Florida, e.g.: KEY.

31. Singled out: CHOSEN.

34. Mazda two-seater: MIATA.

35. Hexapod worker: ANT. Six legs.

37. Cause of a blinking "12:00": OUTAGE. A power outage that is.

38. Tibia: SHINBONE. Best I can do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54m6XOpRgU

39. Emulate a little brother, maybe: TAG ALONG.

40. Ham's creation: RADIO SET. Ham radio is back so soon.

41. Tarry: LAG.

45. Author Robert __ Butler: OLEN. “I'll never stop believing it: Robert Olen Butler is the best living American writer, period.” — Jeff Guinn,  LINK. So many books I have never read..

47. Unhands: LETS GO.

48. Affix to a corkboard: TACK-UP.

50. Castmate of Doohan and Nimoy: TAKEI.

52. "Cross my heart!": NO LIE.

53. Male on a pond: DRAKE. DUCK!

54. View from Schönburg Castle: RHINE.

56. Gossip: DIRT.

59. Diminutive, diminutively: LIL. Abner?

60. Main delivery: GAS. Directly from the gas main.

61. Cold-sounding product prefix: SNO. Cone?

Chuck Deodene

Title: Chuck you are driving me crazy!

After more than four years, Chuck D. is back. LINK. I recalled the name, but had to go to the archives to look over the puzzle I had blogged of his. I hope he stops by - he had 38 NYT puzzles published by 2012 and 3 LAT but nothing in either place until today. This effort is a variation of the 'one word' as the clue for all theme answers, but here the word not only is used if 4 different meanings, but modified.



17A. Place to take a 36-Down : EXPRESSWAY (10). Here we have the place where we drive vehicles.

25A. Place to run a 36-Down : CATTLE RANCH (11). You gather up the cows and head to Kansas City on your cattle drive.

37A. Place to install a 36-Down : DESKTOP COMPUTER (15). The office server has about 10 drives, we use mostly g and h.

47A. Place to hold a 36-Down : BLOOD MOBILE (11). They park outside the movie theater here for their blood drive.

57A. Place to hit a 36-Down : GOLF COURSE (10). With HG, Big Easy and other of our golfing group, hitting a long straight drive keeps them going back.
And the reveal:

36D. Theme of this puzzle : DRIVE (5). How direct is that for a reveal, but  is it?

Across:

1. Deceptive operation : STING. Immediate clecho 10A. Deceptive distortion : SPIN.

6. Work with a number : OPUS. I always have like this piece by Chopin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E6b3swbnWg

14. Indulge : HUMOR. Nice Friday clue, as we all have humored our spouses or children or even parents at one time in our lives.

15. Probe-launching org. : NASA. CSO to HG.

16. Words often after a number : OR SO. This took me 10 minutes or so to complete.

19. Attire : WEAR.

20. Euripides drama : MEDEA. CSO to me as Jason played a large part in this Tragedy - not a nice part.

21. Cook books, say : CHEAT. Many businesses do keep different sets of books, cash accounting, GAAP accounting and regulatory accounting, Way beyond me.

22. Venomous reptile : ASP. Cleopatra another tragic figure.

28. Horror film reaction : SHRIEK.

30. Way out : EXIT. Literal.

31. __ Throne: "Game of Thrones" monarchy : IRON. Wonderful fun. LINK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ5p18wIQEI

32. They may span decades : SAGAS. The first one I heard of was THIS.

34. Tack on : ADD.

41. Pasture parent : EWE. I like the alliteration. Ma maa.

42. Members of an exclusive league : IVIES. Hmm- 53A. One percent, so to speak : ELITE.

43. Pasta choice : ZITI. Probably time for a refresher on the many shapes of PASTA.

44. Lack of focus : BLUR. My eye doctor says I am blessed with blurred vision recognition.

45. See 12-Down : ASIMOV. 12D. With 45-Across, "The Bicentennial Man" author : ISAAC. While an interesting book (which is only slightly related to the Robin Williams movie version) this was one in his robot series. He is the most impressive AUTHOR I have read because of hs facility in so many fields.

52. PC file extension : EXE.  An executable file for DOS

54. Lead-in to a drink? : I NEED.

56. Fund-raiser, perhaps : GALA.

62. "Totally!" : AMEN. From Moses to Mos Def.

63. Brink : EDGE.

64. Mill output : FLOUR. Steel anyone?

65. Not : NARY.

66. Wolfish look : LEER.

67. Neighborhood posting : FLYER.

Down:

1. "__ Hate Me": Spike Lee film : SHE.

2. Prom duds : TUX.

3. Devil : IMP.

4. Social convention : NORM.

5. Country bordering three seas : GREECE.

6. Kickoff : ONSET.

7. Grab for clumsily : PAW AT.

8. "Royal Pains" network : USA.

9. Declare : SAY.

10. "Well, whoop-de-do" : SO WHAT.

11. Get duded up : PREEN.

13. Up __ : NORTH.

18. Deadwood's state: Abbr. : SDAK.

21. Like new bills : CRISP.

22. Out of the way : ASIDE.

23. Nag : SHREW.

24. Essay makeup : PROSE.

26. Locking blocks : LEGOS.

27. End-of-term ordeal : EXAM.

29. Letterpress need : INK.

32. VP after Hubert : SPIRO.

33. Expert : ACE.

34. Fairy-tale intro words : A TIME. The dreaded partial?

35. Do a juice cleanse, say : DETOX.

38. El Niño feature : TILDE. Nicely disguised.

39. Female gamete : OVUM.

40. Action film weapon : UZI.

44. Mendel's science : BOTANY.

45. Novelist Waugh : ALEC.

46. Wave to from the dock : SEE OFF.

47. Initiated : BEGAN.

48. Andean transport : LLAMA.

49. Edmonton NHL player : OILER. Splynter?

50. Hull region : BILGE. This TERM has been around 500 years.

51. Deduce : INFER. Nero Wolfe used to get apoplectic about those who misused this WORD.

55. Sigh-inducing : DULL.

57. Holder of locks : GEL. hair, silly.

58. Shelley work : ODE. For the season - the first stanza of Ode To The West Wind
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

59. Scheider of "Jaws" : ROY. He had a long and successful CAREER.

60. Seek payback, maybe : SUE. The law is the only field where one professional creates business for another.

61. Fumble, e.g. : ERR. is human, to forgive divine. Not in Cleveland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5rQmdKKQgI