Mike Buckley

Title: V is for Victory

Mr. Buckley gives us a themeless puzzle with a theme that exists visually with a one clue reveal.  My first puzzle of Mike's this year and a great departure from the July 2016 puzzle which had 12 short theme fill. V is also for variety.  The placement of the Vs, and the avoiding any other Vs in the grid was masterful. With an open grid there are oodles of long fill. Pick your favorite.SERAPHS,  SIGNAGE,  YES DEAR, AS I SEE IT, DR. MOREAU,  GIUSEPPE, KNEE DEEP, OUTLIVED,  SAUTERNE,  SNOBBERY,  TRIP OVER, ETHIOPIAN, PENTAGRAM, LOVE POTION and TERMINATOR. Let me know what you think;  I love visuals.

7D. What can be drawn using the only V's, representing vertices, in this puzzle's grid : FIVE POINTED STAR (15).

Bonus theme related fill:

19D. See 7-Down : PENTAGRAM.

25D. Like a flag featuring a 19-Down : ETHIOPIAN.  I wish I had learned all this on Fun with Flags. LINK.

We have music and Latin and some wit, so....

Across:

1. Render inconceivable? : SPAY. Great clue/fill.

5. Carl who composed "Carmina Burana" : ORFF. We last saw this composer in April, also on a Friday as well as earlier this week.

9. Itching for action : ANTSY.

14. Hamlet's first choice : TO BE. Better than or not to be.

15. Sound from a fan : WHIR. Onomatopoeia.

16. River of Champagne : MARNE. Cute.

17. U.N. reps : AMBS. Ambassador.

18. Purported passion promoter : LOVE POTION.  Number 9? Made more famous by the Searchers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTjs7a9l0hM

20. One-named singer with the #1 hit "Royals" : LORDE. I know the SONG but did not know the singer.

22. Prevent : DETER.

23. "Frontline" airer : PBS.

24. Seriously mired : KNEE DEEP. Often in BS.

26. Big wheel : NABOB. Often nattering.

28. Scholar : SAVANT. From the Latin.

29. Lasted longer than : OUTLIVED. Usefulness?

32. Sound from a fan : RAH. One little rah?

33. Draft letters : IPA. Beer is back.

34. Despot who raced in the 67 Olympics : NERO.  HISTORY. Sadly all footage of the 67 Olympics was destroyed when Rome burned.

35. __ station : GAS.

38. Highway reading : SIGNAGE.

41. Bread or liquor : RYE.

42. PDQ : ASAP.

44. Word with cake or flake : OAT.

45. Prescribed meds : RXS.

47. "Rigoletto" composer Verdi : GIUSEPPE. More MUSIC. Everyone knows this tune, right?

49. 86 and 99 : AGENTS. Maxwell Smart and the future Mrs. Max.

53. Turntable needles : STYLI. Latin plural of -us.

54. Wells islander played by Brando : DR. MOREAU.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukpB6MtLdLA

56. Creator of Finch and Radley : LEE. Atticus  and Boo, created by Harper.

57. France dance : VALSE. Sounds like waltz.

59. Medal-worthy quality : VALOR.

60. Boundary between the illuminated and darkened part of the moon, in astronomy : TERMINATOR. There is so much I do not know. So I read this LINK.

63. Ballet move : PLIE.
https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-16-2015/LnItq0.gif

64. T. rex et al. : DINOS. My oldest loved reading about dinosaurs and then came Jurassic Park; saw it 14 times - in the movie theater.

65. Wrapped garment : SARI.

66. Villain's welcome : HISS.

67. __ Curry, first unanimous NBA MVP : STEPH.

68. "By that reasoning ... " : ERGO. Therefore in Latin.

69. Rectangular paving stone : SETT. learned from puzzles.

Down:

1. Cornfield array : STALKS.

2. Cal Poly city : POMONA.

3. Shortened, shortened : ABBREViation. Silly.

4. Affectionate assent : YES DEAR. Affectionate? Not always...

5. Hogwarts mail carrier : OWL.

6. __ Island : RHODE. because Long was too Short.

8. Worry : FRET.

9. Not bothered by conscience : A-MORAL. More Latin e.g. asexual, amoral, anarchy, anhydrous, Anabaptist, anachronism; also uses a and an.

10. "Unforgettable" Cole : NAT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCX1xUdMsNs

11. Stumble on : TRIP OVER.

12. Condescension : SNOBBERY. I loved watching HYACINTH BUCKET (pronounced Boo-kay).

13. Pines : YENS.
.
21. Ferber and a Dame : EDNAS. I let you look up the great Ms. Ferber, but here is a touch of the DAME.

27. Arabic "son of" : BIN. Hebrew Ben.

30. Kick __ fuss : UP A.

31. Unknown John : DOE.

35. Order of silence : GAG.

36. "In my view ... " : AS I SEE IT.

37. Semisweet American white wine : SAUTERNE. Ah, where is Chairman Mao when we need him.

39. Alibi problem : GAP.

40. Sarah Palin, e.g., briefly : EX-GOV.

43. Humanities subj. : PSYchology.

46. Six-winged angels, in Isaiah : SERAPHS. Yes, and so much MORE.

48. Tolkien language : ELVISH.

50. Nervous one? : NELLIE.

51. I Ching adherent, perhaps : TAOIST. Perhaps. This LINK discusses the connection. My eldest brother also studied Book of Changes.

52. Least tentative : SUREST.

55. Corp. shuffle : REORGanization. Well how many are too many?

56. Classic Fords : LTDS.

58. Emit coherent light : LASE.  "In lasers, waves are identical and in phase, which produces a beam of coherent light." msnucleus.org. There are incoherent lights, as well as incoherent bloggers.

61. Messy locks : MOP. Very popular when Beatles came to the US, e.g. mop tops.

62. Carnival site : RIO.

We already have seen the grid and I will await your comments on this creative effort from Mr. Buckley. It would be nice to hear from him on the genesis of this puzzle. Meanwhile, see you in August. Lemonade out.

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.

Mike Buckley

Theme: BOGO, get one pun and then a second one for free.

We get our third Mike Buckley effort of 2015 with this one a sound-alike pun effort.



18A. Composer Dvorák in hiding? : CACHED CZECH (11). This cashed check transforms into a musical clue. LINK.

38A. Demands for quiet from the downstairs tenant? : CEILING WHACKS (13). Sealing wax is not commonly used anymore, but the clue does bring back this SONG (3:00).

58A. Wildebeests slowing down? : BRAKING GNUS (11). My favorite mental picture comes from this breaking news.

3D. Walked by a campsite? : PASSED TENTS (11). Walked is whimsically past tense.

26D. Poor jousters? : WEAK KNIGHTS (11). Can you watch them on week nights on ESPN?



ASSISI,  DEANNA, I RAISE,  MAZDAS,  PINDAR,  PRAWNS,  SINKER,  TICTAC,  YTTRIA, DEPECHE, MIAMIAN,  SURGEON, AS EASY AS,  NEPOTIST, PECOS BILL, SAWHORSES


Across:

1. Spot : PIP. Like on a die.

4. "My Name Is Asher Lev" author : POTOK. Chaim Potok has written may wonderful books and appeared in puzzles often.

9. Normandy beachhead : OMAHA. No Nebraska clue on a Friday; will the next generation remember?

14. Rollover __ : IRA.

15. Send packing : EVICT.

16. Jazz section : SAXES.

17. "Hip Hop Is Dead" artist : NAS.
xxxxxxx
20. Misrepresent : DISTORT.

22. Main part : LEAD.

23. No harder than : AS EASY AS. An odd looking stretch of letters in a partial.

25. Edible decapods : PRAWNS.

29. Provide new audio for : REDUB.

30. More than square : CUBE.

32. Council position : SEAT.

33. Adjust, as sails : TRIM.

35. Mythical elephant carriers : ROCS.

37. "Aladdin" monkey : ABU.

41. Your Moment of __: Jon Stewart's show ender : ZEN. Obama ordered him to stay.

42. Spike : LACE. As in the punch; this was very tricky 4 letter fill.

43. Fuzzy Endor native : EWOK.

44. They're often smashed : SOTS. No Tinbeni comments here, please.

46. Ellington's "__ Indigo" : MOOD. The Duke.
xxx
48. Nearby : HANDY.

51. Umbria tourist town : ASSISI.

53. One who keeps it in the family : NEPOTIST. WE all have heard of nepotism, so I guess this word exists.

55. Sports gp. with three divisions : NCAA.

57. "The Kids Are __": 1979 The Who documentary : ALRIGHT.

62. One of Kramden's hardy followers? : HAR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO4DPI1hegc

63. Staff symbol : C CLEF. Music notation. 8D. "Hooked on Classics" co. : K TEL. 49D. Note in the key of B major : D SHARP. A mini-theme ?


64. Singer's asset : RANGE.

65. Ode opener? : TRI.

66. Resort off the Sorrentine Peninsula : CAPRI.

67. Gather together : AMASS.

68. Post-workout destination : SPA.

Down:

1. "The test of any man lies in action" odist : PINDAR.

2. Game challenge : I RAISE.

4. Lover of Slue-Foot Sue : PECOS BILL.

5. Subject for Italian anatomist Fallopius : OVARY. He also invented the English subway, hence its name- the Fallopian Tube.

6. Certs alternative : TICTAC. Paddy whack...

7. "Alas!" from a lass : OCH.

9. Grouch in a can : OSCAR.

10. Protegés, e.g. : MAZDAS.

11. Fire : AXE.

12. Crime-solver Ramsey of 1970s TV : HEC. The second incarnation of Richard Boone, perhaps more famous as Palladin.

13. Krakatoa output : ASH.

19. "Exciter" band __ Mode : DEPECHE.

21. Alpha __, star in the Bull constellation : TAURI. This huge ORANGE star, known as Alderbarran is not related to the more familiar Alpha Centauri.

24. Cutting-edge professional? : SURGEON. Really sharp humor.

27. Snares : NABS
28. Former Beatle Sutcliffe : STU
31. Defer : BOW
34. Dolphin, e.g. : MIAMIAN
36. Cutting supports : SAWHORSES
38. Co. VIPs : CEOS
39. Sgt. maj., e.g. : NCO
40. Tropical raccoon kin : COATI
41. Half a Gabor? : ZSA
45. Angling aid : SINKER
47. Counselor in Jean-Luc's command : DEANNA

50. Oxide in incandescent gas mantles : YTTRIA. I do not even know what a gas mantle is, but this was interesting to READ.

52. Space opera genre : SCI-FI.

54. Promotions : PLUGS
56. Uttar Pradesh tourist city : AGRA
58. Discreet email letters : BCC
59. Nipper's label : RCA
60. High peak : ALP
61. Moll's leg : GAM. A great