Friday, June 7, 2013

Theme: Is she out there? Letter in.
Or,This LINK.(1:03).

Each of the four theme answers are recognizable two word phrases with a single letter inserted and attached to the final word to create a new and whimsical phrase. I just had one of Mr. Holland's puzzles in April where he entertained us with a punny one; this time he has an add on with four solid entries. To accomplish that we have many more than a Friday worth of 3,4 and 5 letter fill. I liked OBSOLETE, DOODLER, STEAMS UP and some others but there there were some really hard short ones. Let's explore.

17A. Spontaneous camera adjustment? : SUDDEN F-STOP. (11). A quick stop becomes the misunderstood action which basically controls how much light comes in through the lens.

26A. Electronic device for some singles? : BACHELOR I-PAD. (12). The single man's cave becomes his tablet.

43A. Oversized cleaning tool? : GENEROUS Q-TIP (12). Just keep it out of your ear.

57A. Kid's sport played in costume? : MASKED T-BALL. (11). My favorite one as I picture all the little kids in their masks swinging away.

Across

1. Brown shade : ECRU.  Continuing my shade theme from last week.

5. Authentic : LEGIT.

10. Yale Law students, until 1918 : MEN. He tried tricking you into putting in ELI.

13. Move furtively : SLINK.

15. Muse for Byron : ERATO. A repeat performance from yesterday, and not the only one as we also have, 38D. Belligerent son of Zeus : ARES. War god.    

16. Cry of support : OLE. This is a lot of bull.

19. URL ending : GOV. You have to wait for peeps.

20. Unemployed? : OBSOLETE. This was not easy clued this way.And we have and antoclecho 45D. Employed : USED.

21. Car buyer's choice : COUPE. DeVille?

23. In one's cups : LIT.

24. One at a dull meeting, perhaps : DOODLER. I doodle at all opportunities.

31. Alberta NHLer : OILER. Edmonton, Alberta Canada, which suggests Mr. Holland has some ties as he also includes, 8D. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO. She also won the OLYMPIC (6:48) gold in Alberta, Canada. Every figure skating clue brings back fond memories of dear CA and our other past posters who skated. We miss you dear Clear Ages.

32. It often includes a bio : OBIT. Uary

33. Unfavorable : BAD. Not my first thought.

36. "The Man Show" co-host Carolla : ADAM.

37. Ship's anchor hole : HAWSE. I love the definition in the dictionary, "Where the hawsehole is on the ship." Apparently from Old Norse for neck? Jerome, SB?

39. Decree : RULE. Which is also a Law which rhymes with

40. Green : RAW.

41. Gun barrel measurement : BORE. Which has nothing to do with 26D. Tusked mammal : BOAR.

42. Like staying in the Bates Motel : EERIE. If you do not know the movie Psycho, they have a tv series now.
.
46. Lets out early : PAROLES. Last day of school in Florida, so the traffic gets better.

49. Halifax hrs. : AST.In Nova Scotia, more Canada, and Atlantic Standard Time, I hour earlier than EST.

50. Something to aspire to : IDEAL.

51. Angers : STEAMS UP. Nice fresh fill.

56. Captain's record : LOG. How many have seen the new Star Trek movie, I still have not gone, but I can always here Shatner's voice, "Captain's Log, stardate..."

60. Jazz ___ : ERA. Which was when JzB?

61. Dangerous snake : ADDER. My favorite is the BLACK (2:42) one.

62. "...could ___ lean" : EAT NO. Poor Mrs. Sprat.

63. Retreat, perhaps : DEN. Unless it one of iniquity...I think they are now media rooms, or family rooms.

64. Pries (into) : NOSES. Such a nice literal usage, as you see people actually inserting their face, nose first...

65. Ticket word : SEAT.


Down:

1. Exxon, previously : ESSO. Classic crosswordese.

2. Bridge ___ : CLUB. I used to play often, but not in a long while.

3. Clears : RIDS.

4. Command following a mistake : UNDO.

5. Gave, as in a will : LEFT TO. To many legal terms slowed me down here.

6. Gaelic tongue : ERSE.

7. Rod : GAT. Hard boiled detective fiction words, Mickey Spillane, etc.

9. Fall wear : TOP COAT.

10. Trump, for one : MOGUL. I will avoid comment on this man except to ask if anyone has seen the ESPN show where Trump is credited with destroying the USFL?  I know his attorney from those days.

11. Use a ladder stereotypically : ELOPE.

12. "___ My Love": 1967 hit : NEVER. My teenage years from the ASSOCIATION.(2:46).

14. Sullivan's student : KELLER.  I have always been fascinated by the story of HELEN.(2:59). The Movie the Miracle Worker was also wonderful.

18. Diamond on many charts : NEIL. He was at Fenway Park to support Boston after the Marathon Massacre.

22. Vegas bet : ODD.

24. Informal claim : DIBS. Like the ubiquitous call, "shotgun."

25. Expectant father in "Return to Mayberry" : OPIE. A reunion show, with all the old characters, here is the entire SHOW. (1:36:08).

27. "O patria mia" singer : AIDA. H\ow many opera fans do we have?

28. Nail that's often curved : CLAW. Kitty lovers?

29. Moment of hesitation : HEM. Haw, he got them.

30. Trireme mover : ROWER. The three rows of oars in this ancient VESSEL. Very hard fill.

33. Eponymous beekeeper Shavitz : BURT. This was very obscure, while the company kept his name, he sold out to his partner who made a success of BURT's BEESWAX products.

34. Et ___ : ALII.

35. Serious : DEEP. Like all those conversations in college where we were able to....

37. Fine-tune : HONE. are seductive ways.

39. What an asterisk means on some forms: Abbr. : REQ. Uired. You can't finish the form unless you fill it in.

41. Luggage lugger : BELL MAN. Bell Cap?

42. Fancy spread : ESTATE. Not food, dirt.

43. India's smallest state : GOA. I had no clue, but perped it in.

44. Some of their scenes were filmed in deserts : OATERS. I knew this immediately was referring to old westerns.

46. In a stack : PILED.

47. Be gaga over : ADORE.

48. Lear daughter : REGAN. Clearly Goneril and Cordelia would not do.

51. Arcade game word : SKEE. Balls!

52. Work force entrants' assets, briefly : MBAS. Master of Business Administration.

53. Fill to capacity : SATE.

54. Prismatic bone : ULNA. I never really thought about PRISMS.

55. Scheme : PLOT.

58. Flurry : ADO.

59. Radical campus org. : SDS. Students for a Democratic Society.

Well another Friday done and an odd experience, with some very hard fill in a grid with primarily short words but a very clever theme. Until next time, I am either in a storm or playing in golf tournament as you read this; live long and prosper. Lemonade out.

Friday, March 8, 2013

THEME: Water falls. Some of the fill does as well.

Each of the six theme answers require the word WATER presented top to bottom connected with across fill to complete the fill for the clue. As the Friday Master of Ceremonies, I get these visually creative, but outre puzzles where much of the fill is in un-clued space. When we had Ian Livengood's version back in January, he had the words be read backwards, this time you have to picture the entire answer and figure out what spaces to grab to put it all in. This effort is from David Phillips (?) and David Steinberg, one of the wunderkinds of construction. You can read all about him on his own LINK. let us get right to the puzzle, because like Lucy, I got a lot of 'splaining to do, especially if the online sites numbered wrong again.


1A. Perennial Oscars staple : PRICE W, - No Clue D. : WATER. - No Clue A. : R HOUSE.  PRICE WATERHOUSE.  (15). We all know this accounting firm tabulates the Oscar votes and places the winner's name in a sealed envelope, to be opened on stage. (Also the basis of Johnny Carson;s Mayonnaise jar). Anyway, a very tough way to begin, with 1A unfillable without the perps.

6A. Canoeist's challenge : WHITE W. - No Clue D. : WATER. WHITE WATER (10). I can only think of Deliverance and will never go in the river again.

31A. Prevent that sinking feeling? : TREAD W. - No Clue D. : WATER. TREAD WATER (10). A liyrtal and figuartive clue.

45A. Best Picture of 1954 : ON THE W - No Clue D. : WATER. - No Clue A. : R FRONT. ON THE WATERFRONT. (15) The wonderful Brando, Rod Steiger movie. 

19 D : WATER. - No Clue A : R VAPOR. WATER VAPOR (10).THis clued steamed me.

42 D. River phenomena (or what literally happens six times in this puzzle) : WATER.  - No Clue A. : R FALLS. WATER FALLS (10).

Across:

11. Game with pelotas : JAI ALAI. The hard rubber ball used in the fronton, caught in the cesta.

13. Maria ___, the last House of Habsburg ruler : THERESA. Your history LESSON.

14. They're found in bars : SPIRITS. This is probably doubly true, as  alcohol is known as spirits, and I imagine a lot of ghosts haunt the bars.

15. Most comfortable : HOMIEST. This was difficult for me, but I had already committed to doing down clues first, so...

16. Breed canines? : TEETHE. Really fun clue, I could not think of anything which passed the breakfast test.

18. "Peter Pan" character : SMEE. Classic crosswordese.

19. Erase, as from memory : WIPE. The NEUTRALIZER.(0:56).

24. Ukr., once : SSR. Ukraine was once one of the the Republics.

25. Honey Bear portrayer in "Mogambo" : AVA. Gardner, reprising the role first done by Jean Harlow in Red Dust. LINK. (4:17) Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, what more do you want.

26. Like some labor : MENIAL.Interestingly from the Latin word for house, which is also the root for maison in French and Mansion in English. It referred to 'house workers' who were also called menials.

28. Emotionally strained : TAUT.

30. Cabinet dept. created under LBJ : HUD. Part of his Great Society legislation the Housing and Urban Development  Department was created to protect home buyers and foster home ownership and urban growth.

34. Intertwines : ENLACES. Like your fingers in the church/steeple.

36. Pygmalion's statue : GALATEA. Not the Eliza Doolittle story but the wonderful Greek MYTH.

37. Course number : PAR. This clue was average, par for the course.

38. Touched : FELT.

39. "A Tale of Love and Darkness" author : AMOS OZ. This BOOK about the early days of Israel.

41. Native Coloradan : UTE.

42. Financial Times rival, briefly : WSJ. Wall Street Journal.
.
46. Train with dukes? : SPAR. Not from Downton, but put up your dukes and box.

47. "I hate to interrupt, but..." : AHEM. Not to be confused with 7D. Shut (in) : HEM.

49. Strasbourg's region : ALSACE. This city is the capital of a region that is between German and France and has changed hands often.

51. In a defensable manner : TENABLY.Last week tenable, this week the LY.

54. Biological reversion : ATAVISM. The human tail which is quite evident in a fetus is the classic example.

58. Newborn raptors : EAGLETS. Birds were dinosaurs.

59. Progress by directed effort : TELESIS. A very Friday word and concept, from the Greek, LINK.


Down:

1. Retiree's attire? : PJS. Just pajama's retiring to bed, not from work, unless you are Hugh Hefner.

2. Knock : RAP. Knock music has no ring to it.

3. "Revenge of the Sith" episode number : III. The last of the prequels. VII is supposedly in the works.

4. Café reading : CARTE .Our French lesson Lolita, for menu.

5. Peace Nobelist two years after Desmond : ELIE. Wiesel. The entire LIST.

6. Time-traveling Doctor : WHO.Who?

8. Pupil controller : IRIS. I love explaining EYES.

9. Swarms : TEEMS.This puzzle teems with tough clues.

10. Scoreless trio? : ESSES. Classic misdirection, look at the clue, son't define it.

12. Formation meaning "neck" in Greek : ISTHMUS.It connects to large bodies, either land or in the body connecting larger parts, such as the Thyroid Isthmus. Not  a happy word if you lisp.

13. N.Y.C. country club? : THE UN. Country Club, really cute, but when I first read this I had already filled it in and was thinking of my friend Michael Theun form wrestling in High School.

17. Broke ground : HOED. They are forever breaking new grounds.

20. Co-tsar with Peter I : IVAN V. Love the co-star anagram pun. LINK. Fun stuff you can learn here.

21. TV cook Deen : PAULA. She gets enough publicity without me.

22. Prominent instrument in "Paint It, Black" : SITAR. The psychedelic instrument of choice. LISTEN. (3:40).

23. British nobleman : EARL. Robert Crawley.

27. Biblical cover-up : LEAF.In the garden of Eden after the apple.

29. Snack in un bar : TAPA. We have lots of places serving tapas in SoFla. They are not all Spanish THEMED.

30. Leggy wader : HERON.For Splynter WATCH.(1:55)

32. Couldn't get enough of : ATE UP.

33. American rival : DELTA.Air;ines, not countries.

35. "It's Impossible" crooner : COMO. He ended up living in Jupiter, Florida, SONG.(3:14)

36. Watches with wonder : GAZES AT.

37. Sci-fi writer Frederick : POHL. Wonderful imagination, he married his wife when he was 65.

40. Legal orders : STAYS. Hard one, as there are so many Orders, though Stays  especially of execution are important.

43. Harvest sight : SHEAF

44. Tower-building game : JENGA. Remember WHEN? (1:44)

46. Cut off : SEVER.

48. Suburban symbol : MALL.

50. Pasture newborn : CALF.

52. ___ canto : BEL.  Opera term, HOW TO.(7:32).

53. Mil. ranks : LTS. Lieutenants.

55. Prefix with propyl : ISO.

56. It might be original : SIN. Did you SEE? (1:16).

57. Boulder hrs. : MST. Mountain Standard Time and the timezone where my youngest lives and time for me to wrap this up. So what do you all think of this style of puzzle. Rich does not allow a rebus puzzle, how about one's without conventional structure?

Afain thanks to all who enjoyed my Charlotte.

Lemonade out.

Spring Fling

THEME: Double ZZs top double DDs.  Well known phrases which have the first word include the letters DD are changed to have the first word have ZZ in its place. A somewhat new fun way to do a "replace the letter" puddle, I mean puzzle. We do not need any pics of double ZZs, do we? 

More specifically:

17A. Moving like a dog in a narrow tube?: MUZZLING THROUGH. MUDDLING THROUGH, is where you plod along.

27A. Dud sparklers?: FIZZLE STICKS. FIDDLE STICKS probably originated from the violin playing in the street, which did not include high class music. It is why we have fiddling around.

41A. One solving several crosswords simultaneously?: PUZZLE JUMPER. PUDDLE JUMPER is an expression for a plane which goes on a short flight.

50A. Brilliant bees?: BUZZING GENIUSES. BUDDING GENIUSES, is used to descrine young people who show extreme potential early in life.

Hi everyone, lemonade back with another new constructor, who has given us a puzzle with a little bit of everything, puns, tricks, obscurities, music and more.

So let's see what Peter picked....

ACROSS:

1. Make sound: HEAL. Boom we start with trickery, sound noy being related to noise, but to hale and hearty. Nice.

5. Fictional elephant: BABAR.  Aww, and I get my favorite elephant again this week; read the books to your grandkids.

10. Pine: ACHE. Deception number two, not a tree, but pining away, extra nice.

14. Capital at the foot of Mount Entoto: ADDIS ABABA. We have often discussed this Ethiopian CAPITAL at the base of Mount Entoto, which is not to be confused with the dog, or the BAND which did have a song about Africa.

16. Gambler's marker: CHIT. The sophisticated IOU.

19. Spots on cartes: ILES. Okay Jeannie, we get our French lesson today- cartes= maps and iles=islands.

20. Straight opening?: ORTHO. My favorite clue, because it is a double cross, unlike all of our other opening lcue, which means you are to create a word beginning with the clue, this is the literal definition of Ortho, which is a prefix meaning STRAIGHT, like ORTHODONIST, too straightener, or ORTHOPEDIST.

21. Kennel worker: GROOMER. Well, you hope they keep the big sweeties groomed.

25. Greek sphinx, from the neck down: LIONESS. This is as opposed to the Egyptian Spinx, which is masculine and nice, the Greek being feminine and nasty. If you want more information you can read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx#Egyptian_sphinxe&gt>LINK..

29. Good for growing, as soil: LOAMY. Nice balck dirt, unlike the san we have in Florida.

30. Traps: WEBS. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

31. Pick up: GET. When you are the store, I need some milk.

34. Razor brand: ATRA. There you go, last week's AFTA has morphed into the razor, everyone happy?

35. Contempt: ODIUM. A simple Latin word meaning hate.

37. Stadium level: LOGE. We have had this recently; just think sky boxes at the ball park.

38. Sigh relative: TSK. Oh goody, our word of the week, with yet a different slant.

39. Othello, for one: MOOR. Speaking of deceipt, poor moor.

40. Wonder Woman weapon: TIARA. She had her lasso, her wrist bands and her invisible plane.

44. Anniversary gala: JUBILEE.

47. Häagen-Dazs array: SORBETS. Of course this is accurate, but not my first thought; by now I assume everyone knows this compnay was from Brooklyn and used the fancy foreign name to justify their higher prices.

48. Words after take or save: A SEAT. back to the ball park, go marlins.

49. Z-zebra link: AS IN. Z as in Zebra.

57. Performer of many Dylan songs: BAEZ. I have seen her perform at Woodstock, in Lennox Mass., many times, and always loved her http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI&feature=related>VOICE .

58. San Diego Zoo attraction: GIANT PANDA.

59. __ breve: ALLA, means all brief or quick in Italian (like our word brevity), and in musical notation I believe means a faster tempo, but I will defer to JzB to give you the full scoop on this one.

60. Folklore threats: OGRES. They get such a bad rep, but Shrek is a pussycat, sortof.

61. Not at all bleak: ROSY. Just like this puzzle, not at all bleak, but rather fun so far, no big holes.
Okay on to part two!

DOWN:

1. It may be glazed: HAM. Or my eyes after doing the blog.

2. URL ending: EDU.

3. Woodworking tool: ADZ. This is the second puzzle which I blogged with lots of ZZZZZs.

4. Songwriter Phair: LIZ. One of many female singers who started about the same time, but I do not think she ever sang at the Lilith http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z36Z0Fo-7zQ>FAIR.
5. One holding property in trust: BAILEE. Out token legal term, used for the hat check girl, the parking attendent and the pawn shop.

6. Li'l __: old-themed restaurant: ABNERS. Never heard of this chain.

7. Traveling companions?: BAGS. Nice misdirection here as well, and those of you with mothers in law, be nice it is Mother's Day Sunday.

8. NYC dance co.: ABT. http://www.abt.org/> AMERICAN BALLET THEATER.  Where they teach  dancers to 28D. Pirouette: TWIRL.

9. Word of support: RAH. Rah rah siss boom bah. Rah Rah ree, kick em in the knee, Rah Rah rass, kick em in the other knee.

10. Cache crop?: ACORNS.  Nice cash/cache sound alike.

11. Laundry conveyor: CHUTE. I have never had a laundry chute, only garbage ones.

12. Good times: HIGHS. Well, what a controversial clue, I mean admittedly lots of people smoke pot, but...oh he just means emotional highs. Nevermind.

13. Group values: ETHOS. A bit more greek today.

15. By a narrow margin: SLIMLY. A bit of a stretch as a word, but I guess better than nonely.

18. Rank and file movers: ROOKS.  A nice chess clue, describing the movement of the piece.

21. Key of Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90, No. 3: G FLAT. If it has five letters it will be soemthing flat, then wait and see the perp.

22. Popular party people: RIOTS. Oh man get a couple of drinks in him, and he is a riot!

23. Arkansas's ___ National Forest: OZARK.

24. Baum princess: OZMA. Many of you may not know how many books Mr. Baum wrote about OZ, and all of the characters not in the movie, but they even have their own wiki sight where you can learn  http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Ozma>EVERYTHING OZ. PS welcome back KAZIE.

25. Stead: LIEU. These days in my world, this attached DEED IN....

26. Warhead vehicle, briefly: ICBM. InterContinentalBallisticMissile.

31. Blow one's top: GO APE. I seldom see this without a thrid word modifier.

32. Coastal wader: EGRET. They love Florida.

33. They may signify joy: TEARS. But not when you have to sign the DEED IN LIEU.

35. Exude: OOZE. Seems like it fits with this puzzle, which is oozing zzzz.

36. Nap: DOZE. Hopefully on one is sleeping through my efforts.

37. Branch: LIMB.

39. Media lead-in: MULTI. See, there is the standard cluing for an opening or lead-in.

40. Source of some greens: TURNIP. For Thelma and the other Southern Belles who cook with Turnip Greens.

41. Italian square: PIAZZA.  Not to be confused with the ex-Met Mike, who was Italian, but failry hip, thuogh the bleach blond look was not a good move.

42. Ascetic of yore: ESSENE. A biblical reference, aapropriate for this season.

43. Articulations: JOINTS. More confusion, and the less common use of articulation, not words, but separations.

44. Sluglike alien strangled by Leia: JABBA. Yes, she was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ95CvQZFb4> ANGRY.
 .
45. Standard: USUAL.

46. Chisel's edge: BEZEL. Sounds so much like Bevel and they are related.

49. Bacteriologist's supply: AGAR. For their Petrie dishes.

51. IHOP '__: takeout food program: N'GO. Well I already told my IHOP wrestling story, so it is up to you to comment, though if only this had been worked into the ROO puzzle....

52. Short job: GIG. Devin's band played a GIG at Uncle Lou's; he did not want me to go, because the place was a little sketchy, Great to be a dad.

53. Syr. seceded from it in 1961: UAR. United Arab Republic; not much on being united.

54. __-cone: SNO.  Don't eat the yellow ones.

55. Money VIPs: EDS. Cannot fool me twice, the magazines editors! Ha!

56. Mention: SAY. Say good night Gracie. Good night Gracie.

psst

THEME: How to have great ABs. The letters AB are added to the beginning word of a known phrase to create a new and humorous new phrase. We still see so many add on puzzles, so let's look and find what I believe new constructor Mr. McDermott has done to amuse us.




17A. Entrance exam study guide?: ABOUT DOORS. I really like the trickery of ENTRANCE EXAM cluing DOORS.









62A. Behar's home?: ABODE TO JOY. Beethoven's WORK is trivialized into the View hostess, Joy Behar.









11D. Steal office supplies?: ABDUCT TAPE. We recently discussed duct tape, now we our ABDUCTING (kidnapping) TAPE, fun.









28D. Missing letters?: ABSENT MAIL. SENT MAIL being an email concept, making this a fresh clue.









Happy Friday; Lemonade back on the job, with a doable but cleverly clued puzzle, with a simple theme, but many common answers clued differently, and 7 fill in the blank clues. When you are teaching some one to do crosswords, everyone suggests they start with the FITB clues. While you do this effort, I will highlight all the fill that I can twist into having a meaning directly for me, maybe you can do the same with different angles.















Across:















1. Put one's hands at ten and two: STEER. Very visual, but seldom follwed by anyone after they secure their license.









6. Aptly named lotion: AFTA. A brand of AFTER shave.









10. 1970 NBA expansion team: CAVS. The Cleveland Cavaliers, and ex-home of Lebrin James.









14. Poet Neruda: PABLO. He is becoming our poet laureate.









15. Affect, in slang: GRAB. How do mr. McDermott's clues GRAB you so far?









16. Reed in a pit: OBOE. Orchestra pit, another nice visual.









19. Jim Davis pooch: ODIE. Well first you need to know who created GARFIELD, but better than the usual drool clue.









20. Parlor treat: SUNDAE. Lois and Carol probably had different treats in mind in their parlors.









21. "Break a leg": GOOD LUCK. You are never supposed to wish an actor good luck, thugh no one is sure why they must break a leg. One myth says it came from John Wiles Booth, who broke his leg when heleapt on stage to shoot Lincoln, bu that hardly makes sense.









23. Mediterranean high spot: ETNA. The mountain in Sicily. I would have LOVED the clue if left out the "spot."









25. Dazes: TRANCES.









26. They go nowhere: DEAD ENDS. Because of all our canals, Ft. lauderdale has more dead end streets than any other city. (I just made upo that fact!)









30. Lead singer Micahels of Poison: BRET. He had a very trying year with health problems, and the Donald, but he was once quite the STAR . ( I represent rock and roll bands).









31. Sphere: ORB. From the Latin Orbis, meaning circle. (It also can mean eye, and I studied Latin for years).









32. American Patriot Deane: SILAS. I suggest you read about this one time hero, one time pariah. LINK . (he was born in Conn. near where I was born).









34. Legally prevent: ESTOP. Both Latin and a legal term.









37. Game with a Ural territory: RISK. This game never thrilled me; not into war I guess.









39. Only part of Egypt in Asia: SINAI. Hard to recall Egypt is an African country.









41. "Ditto": SAME. How many remember DITTO and MIMEOGRAPH machines?









42. They're tucked in a cannonball: KNEES. Jumping into the pool to make a huge wave.









44. Suisse capital: BERNE. Ah ha, not EURO; I went to Switzerland to Ski. Berne? No it was quite chily, actually.









46. Selfish sort: PIG. Ah, more about this.









47. Russian refusal: NYET. A shared MEMORY ?









49. Squash relative: RACQUETS. Squash actuall derived from this GAME .









51. Flanders city: ANTWERP. Belgium.









54. Sink or swim, perhaps: NOUN. Tricky, but becoming common.









55. Cross, often: MEMORIAL. So sad to see them on the edge of the highway.









57. Title for Bovary: MADAME. M. Flaubert's novel.









61. Man __: O WAR. Since we are approaching the Kentucky Derby, it is appropriate to see the forst super horse in a puzzle.









64. John __, the Lone Ranger: REID. How many recall our discussion of the Green Hornet (because of the movie) who is Britt Reid, the nephew of the LR?









65. Atty.-to-be's exam: LSAT. I used to teach an LSAT prep class, to help kids get into Law School, many are now suing me for getting them in.









66. Maternally related: ENATE. Well, NATAL we know is birth, but did not know this word.









67. Six-sided rooms: ELLS. A nice change from the overhead trains.









68. Guidelines: Abbr.: STDS. Now for me, I would clue this Crabs and Clamydia, because of the following clue, 69. Battle of the __: SEXES.









Ok, on to the rest.



Down:









1. Mudbath offerers: SPAS. Also many places in the south now.









2. House of Dana perfume: TABU. This perfume was introduced in 1932, and used the creative spelling to get attention, something the Beatles capitalized on.









3. "By a swan's __ bill": Keats: EBON. Maybe CA knew this line, but the erps filled with this common poetic abbreviation.









4. Gave the runaround: ELUDED. My FAVORITE .









5. Spins: ROTATES.









6. Back: AGO.









7. Throat trouble: FROG. Got a frog in your throat, or are you croaking?









8. Card worth a fortune?: TAROT. Nice fresh way to clue this standard. With, 43D. 8-Down user: SEER.









9. Engross: ABSORB. A bit of a confusing fill, as it conflicts with the theme; deliberately?









10. Snoopy-wearing-shades trait: COOLNESS. he actually is Joe Cool, when he wears them.









12. Declare: VOICE. As in opinions, which reminds me where are WH?









13. Looks for: SEEKS.









18. Menace with a blond cowlick: DENNIS. A shout out to our own.









22. Schoolyard pressure: DARE. I like this clue, and certainly my earliest memories of the schoolyard were a series of stupid dares.









24. Stage surprise: AD LIB. It was always fun to watch White Fang and Black Tooth deliberatly change things to throw Soupy Sales off his game.









26. Doofus: DORK. Funny, I just was explaining this to a foreign friend of mine.









27. "__ Brockovich": ERIN. Did you like the MOVIE ?









29. Less fruity?: SANER. Like fruit cake? Meh.









33. Wrap around a wrap, maybe: SARAN. Nice play on wrap/wrap.









35. Drop: OMIT.









36. Identifies: PEGS. My ex-wife's least favorite nickname. She thought she had me pegged.









38. Googling elements: KEY WORDS. Actually, it is AOL that ued that term.









40. Net __: INCOME. When I was a kid I was fascinated why anyone would consider money GROSS income.









45. Puts on a par (with): EQUATES.









48. Olympic qualifying events: TRIALS. Well he could have use a legal clue....









50. Incomplete: UNDONE. We are almost done, so hang in.









51. Martin's "That's __": AMORE. DEAN remember when we loved our drunks?









52. Staircase support: NEWEL. We have had this clue before; also my son Devin's middle name is Newell.









Speaking of brewers of beer, he is offically a brewer now, with business card.



56. Pack: LOAD. I caution him not to get too loaded at work.









58. Trojan War hero: AJAX. I am sure you all recal this giant redheaded warrior, and my betta.









59. Floating speck, perhaps: MOTE. Which is what I have floating in my eyes because of all the surgeries.









60. Looks closely at: EYES. Did I mention eyes?









63. Some NFL linemen: DTS. Last week it was Delerium Tremens, I guess that means the draft is on and we all need some Defensive Tackles.









Well, another new guy, another new experience. have a great week-end, here comes May!

Friday, April 22, 2011

THEME: The old switcheroo. Each pair of answers trade ER for OO, or vice versa, which are the ending letters in SWITCHEROO. By switching the letters, you get a different and amusing answer. And, the ultimate switch is having all of the theme answers clued in DOWN. How many were deceived like I was by the long answer YOU ARE HERE, which looked like the start of the theme? But, no. here it comes.

5D. Convicts' level on a prison ship?: PERP DECK.  This was POOP DECK, which comes from the French word--la poupe--meaning the stem. The French comes from the Latin term Pupiss--meaning the head or stem of something. The poopdeck is the raised portion at the rear "stem" or "head" of the ship that overhangs the rest of the deck. Do not get CONFUSED . PERP here means perpetrator, not our own perpendicular.

11D. Narrow passage where catcalls are heard?: BOOING STRAIT. BERING STRAIT is the passage between the easternmost pint of Asia and the westernmost point in North America. Baseball season brings out many of the Boo Birds.

(Notice the clues alternate OO to ER and ER to OO ).

24D. Creative user of worn-out clothes: TATTER ARTIST. TATOO ARTIST is a very popular career
though Jews do not believe you should mark your body. I do like the imagery of someone making beauty out of rags.

41D. Evict a "Wizard of Oz" actor? : BOOT LAHR. Poor BERT LAHR, fired despite his wonderful portrayal of the Lion. I like this one too, as I can picture a swift kick in the pants of poor Mr. Lion.

And the oddly placed unifier, 7D. Deceptive swap that literally resulted in 5-, 11-, 24- and 41-Down: THE OLD SWITCHEROO.

Lemonade here. A really fun theme, from my new pal Scott Atkinson. I thought this was an easier Friday, but wit wit and some tricks. lets go to town and see where we are.


Across:


1. Victims of a storied loser: SHEEP. I really have no clue, but the perps filled easily.

6. Dough dispensers: ATMS. Becoming a common misdirection.

10. Björn Ulvaeus's group : ABBA. Mamma Mia, what do you think the B stands for?

14. Humiliate : ABASE.

15. Takeout choice: THAI. My favorites are Pad Thai and Pad Siew.

16. Procrastinator's word: SOON. I will have this blog done soon.

17. Mall map phrase: YOU ARE HERE.  10 letters, and 17 across, the theme, right?

19. "King __": KONG. Jack Black, what were they thinking?

20. Forcibly expel: UPROOT. How appropriate for this Passover season where the Egyptians chased away the Jews.

21. Like all kidding?: ASIDE. Why would I do that?

22. Nova Scotia hrs.: AST. ATLANTIC STANDARD TIME , back to time zones, and how complicated they really are.

25. Ken, for one: DOLL. Barbie's Beau.

26. Key with all white notes: A MINOR. On a Piano I assume.

27. Unlike decaf, facetiously: LEADED. I drink unleaded often, now.

29. Making into cubes: DICING. Anyone else think of Ron Popiel?

31. Tempt: ENTICE. Oh yeah, baby, behave!

32. Jolly Roger sidekick: SMEE. Captain Hook's first mate.

33. Pampering place: SPA.

36. "The Chosen" author: POTOK. We often speak of Chaim Potok, and his book My Name is Asher Lev.

37. Not here: AWAY. Not a home game.

38. See 38-Down: CTRS, and 38D With 38-Across, large pol. arenas : CONV, convention centers. I like how they played off each other.

39. GWB, for one: PRES. More abbreviations hinted at by the clue.


40. Net addition?: FLIX. The Net Flix streaming to your TV is fabulous; my son has it and you can watch all the great movies.

41. Type of cleansing acid: BORIC. I am sure I have mentioned I used boric acid as an eyewash ingredient for years, and also to keep roaches out of my house. Odd combination.

42. Galley tool: OAR. Very tricky as this word means kitchen on a ship, a proof of a book as well as a ship manned by human oarsmen.

43. Trapper's quest: PELT. You ever wonder how little Minx and Chinchillas became so valuable?

44. Where the House of Grimaldi reigns: MONACO. You can understand why their prince wanted to marry this WOMAN .

45. Northwest Passage ocean: ARCTIC, I like how this is followed by 47A Old Russian council SOVIET, which conjures up the frozen tundra of the old Soviet Union.

48. Oversee a museum: CURATE, the verb to describe what a CURATOR does, not to be confused with the noun, and its religious meaning.

50. Subtle taste: HINT. My son made a Porter with just a hint of chocolate.

52. Jerry Rice's 208 is an NFL record: TDS. Touchdowns, and unbelievable record. After dancing, Jerry is now not doing too well trying to be a professional golfer on the nationwide tour.

53. They beg to differ: ANTIS. I like the clue, but I had trouble getting the sound.

54. Shoe annoyance: PEBBLE. How do they get in there anyway?

56. Muckraker Jacob: RIIS. We have had this MAN before.

57. Hirschfeld drawing: CARICATURE. He made pen and ink come alive is his DRAWINGS .

61. One may be assumed: POSE. Models anyone?

62. All-inclusive: A TO Z. Our friend Mr. A TOZ.

63. Very unpopular: HATED. Really unpopular, wow.

64. Tonsil drs: ENTS. A lemonade special repeat, Ear Nose &hroat.

65. Horse halter: WHOA. Okay, which sicko was picture Dale Evan Buttermilk in a halter top?

66. Like non-oyster months, traditionally: R LESS. June, July and August.

Okay, break time, and still no theme?

Down:

1. Enunciate: SAY.

2. "The Wire" network: HBO. If you have not seen it, you may want to watch this acclaimed series set in BALTIMORE .

3. Rivière contents: EAU. Wake up Jeannie, it is French lesson time; rivière means river and eau is water.

4. Rebekah's firstborn: ESAU. Don't you love how he just adds an S and we have the  next answer.

6. Playwright Fugard: ATHOL. This writer has appeared three times already this year, the last two in Sunday puzzles.

8. Shopping place: MART. Hence, WAL or K.

9. "Sprechen __ Deutsch?": SIE. You, literally Do you speak German?

10. Invites across the threshold: ASKS IN. A Dan Naddor like two word answer which gives odd letter progression until you realize it is two words.

12. Aptly named auto body adhesive: BONDO. Another great 3M product named by their crack staff which gave us POST-ITs.

13. Management target: ANGER. Nice deception here, and a bad movie with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler.

18. Diminish slowly: ERODE. Is that what is happening to me, I am eroding.

21. Grenoble gal pal: AMIE. Okay, bonus French today. notice the E on the end, that lets you know this friend is a she.

22. Syria's most populous city: ALEPPO. There are many things abut this city to FEAR.

23. Title for Salma Hayek: SENORA. Spanish for married lady, but ever since I saw Desperado, an actress I would not FEAR

26. __-deucy: ACEY. I played this and pretty much every card game I could find as a child; now not so much.

28. Creator in Caracas: DIOS. You need to know Caracas is the capital of Venezuela, and therefore a place where they speak Spanish, Mon Dieu, another language lesson!

 30. Big-screen format: IMAX. AVATAR was so amazing in 3-D at IMAX.

34. Compared at the mall, say: PRICED. Mall (4 letters starting in MA) not to be confused with Mart
35. Fancy accessories: ASCOTS. Fancy, or pretentious? NC, any thoughts? These ties are named for the races where they were worn by the European elite.

37. "__ Ask of You": "Phantom" duet : ALL I.  Is this a crowd FAVORITE ?

40. Big celebration: FETE.

43. Cuts for agts.  PCTS. Percentages which is how agents are paid.

44. "Hardball" network: MSNBC.

46. Picks up: RAISES. Not my first choice, I found this one hard to parse.

48. __ diem: CARPE. Just for me, some good old Latin, meaning seize the day.

49. North, once: UNION. Versus the Confederates.

51. Balearic island: IBIZA. A really beautiful island near Spain, and where I may have to go to get some papers signed to transfer ownership of a hotel in the Dominican Republic. What tough duty. Also a hangout for Hollywood's A list.

54. It's taken on some hikes: PATH. But be sure to put it back so others can use it. Nice clue.

55. Bibliography abbr.  ET AL. Latin abbreviation for Et Alia, and others

57. Corvine sound: CAW. Did we just travel to ancient Rome? This is from CORVINUS, which means crow in Latin. The INE ending, like BOVINE and PORCINE was also a clue we were talking animals.

58. Salt Lake athlete: UTE. Like many I prefer Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie.

59. Court matter: RES. A token legal term for me, and we are out with

60. Slate workers, for short: EDS. Just as I began, I end not sure why, other than teachers and a blackboard are educators and ED degrees.

Theme: Lost in the City or the Country. Each of the six theme answers are the Capital of of a Country, with a aingle letter taken from the name of the country to create a new and wacky phrase. You can perhaps propose a better theme, but the concept is simple, though unstructured. The letter can be a consonant or vowel; it can be first last or in the middle and theletters taken out WAONIQ, make only NO IQ, AW!

Hello, Lemonade riding the Friday express, and expressing my admiration for this puzzle; so lets do the theme entries.


16A. Celtic quaffs?: CARDIFF ALES. CARDIFF, WALES. Supposedly quite depressing, near the North Sea. Martha Grimes place one of her Richard Jury books there. You do need to know a Quaff is a libation.

30A. Caribbean baby animal?: HAVANA CUB. HAVANA, CUBA.

38A. Arabian guy?: MUSCAT MAN. MUCAT, OMAN. We see this combination often, as clue or fill.

52A. East Asian "pet"?: BEIJING CHIA. BEIJING, CHINA. The amazingly long lasting CHIA PETS. This leads into a subtheme, with 12D. Capital ENE of Khatmandu: LHASA. This is NOT THE DOG . 24D. Some Chinese restaurant decor: GONGS. 48D. Contemporary of Mao: ZHOU This LEADER and a clear shout out to our leader.

11D. Iberian bridge?: MADRID SPAN. MADRID SPAIN, which gives us two spanish speaking countries.

26D. Mesopotamian savings plan?: BAGHDAD IRA.. BAGHDAD IRAQ. My favorite, liking the concept of the war torn land setting up savings accounts, when they may be dead by bombing the next day.

This is from the constructor who gave us the RINKY DINKY puzzle last month, and has show some creativity. So what do you all think? I had lots of fun. Oh let us solve it first.


Across:

1. Chuck E. Cheese's order: PIZZA. Wow, a puzzle starting with two Zs; this offering has the highest scrabble score of any I recall, though a K and X short of a Pangram. Couldn't he work a bowl of KIX in somewhere?

6. Disaster response gp.: EVAC. An EVACuation ambulance, which can be by sea, air or land. Hmmm, foreshadowing? We also have, 41A. 911 response initials: EMS. Emergency Medical System, manned by EMT's.

10. Eric the Red's birth year, roughly: CML, 950. This shout out for our Norwegian contingetn, was born Erik Thorvaldsson (Old Norse: Eirīkr Þōrvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003 a.d), and was kicked out of Norway for manslaughter. He went to Iceland where he murdered at least three people. He continued his murderous ways until he set out and helped colonize Greenland. His son was Leif Ericcson, the first European to make it to the Americas.

13. Lets go: FREES.

14. Conscious: AWARE.

15. "A likely story!":HAH.

18. Old cereal box letters: RDA. Recommended daily allowance.

19. __-Caps: SNO, the movie version of the nonpareils (semi-sweet chocalate with dots of sugar) which we loved as children.

20. Anderson of Jethro Tull: IAN. Okay, though the name sound Norse, he is a Scottish musician who brought the flute to rock and roll. Is their most famous song AQUALUNG ?

21. Pyle portrayer: NABORS. Gomer Pyle, USMC; I guess a shout out to Dennis. While Nabors was a very talented singer he was the long time partner of Rock Hudson, which shocked the crap out of me.

23. Composer Stravinsky: IGOR; another sighting of this name, spelled with an I.

25. Words of affection from Luigi: CARA MIA, my dear in Italian. Am I the only one who thinks of GOMEZ whenever I hear this phrase?

26. Club ingredient: BACON, Club Sandwich, noy club you use to hit, or go to get sozzled.

28. Astronaut Grissom: GUS. Gus Grissom, was part of the very first class of astronauts and had been chosen to command the first Apollo mission, when he and Roger Chafee and Ed White died in a fire while training. I was 18 and remember hearing about it like it was yesterday. Guw would have been 85 on April 3.

29. Seed alternative: SOD. Good thing we are not in an earlier puzzle, or I would not know sod all.

32. Impudent: SASSY. I cannot think of a better word to describe our corner ladies.

34. Senescent: AGING. I cannot think of a better word to describe... oops, I mean our first word from classic latin, from SEN, meaning old (like SENILE, SENIOR) and ESCENT meaning becoming, like ADOLESCENT, ACQUIESCENT, TUMESCENT.

35. Refinery input: ORE. Tricky for me because I thought of OIL.

36. Escape to Vegas, maybe: ELOPE.

37. "__ life!": THAT'S. SING ALONG .

40. Withdrawal concern: DTS. Delerium Tremens, the shakes one gets from alcohol withdrawal. My 10th grad math teacher Mr. Henderson, he would arrive with his coffee and his shaking would make us all nervous.

42. Hardly local: ALIEN, phone home Tinbeni.

43. '70s TV cop played by Robert Blake: BARETTA. Did you watch his murder trial, or his show which had a nice THEME SONG done by Sammy Davis, Jr.

45. Assorted: Abbr.: MISC. Ellaneous.

46. Farewells overseas: ADIEUS, a weak plural, but our french lesson, Jeannie; farewell, not goodbye.

47. Dinghy thingy: OAR. Bore. Rhyme time.

48. Electrical sound: ZAP. Love those bug zappers, fry you flying fiends!

51. Lighting brand: BIC. They won't let me forget my Cristal Bic story will they?

56. "__ you nuts?": ARE.

57. Matching: EQUAL. No longer the leading sweetner.

58. Agony and ecstasy: MOODS, also a fine book and movie about Michaelangelo.

59. Dorm agts.: RAS. Resident Advisers.

60. 640 acres: Abbr.: SQ MI, yes the letter combination looks weird but they tell you it is an abbr, for Square Mile.

61. Opposite of lanky: SQUAT.

Down:

1. Cpl.'s subordinates: PFCS. Private First Class.

2. "__ (So Far Away)": 1982 hit for A Flock of Seagulls: I RAN, we could have had another country, instead we get this TUNE .

3. Reset: ZERO. Like your combination lock.

4. Letter from London: ZED, how they say ZEE in Merry Olde.
.
5. "__ was saying ...": AS I.

6. McGregor of "The Men Who Stare at Goats": EWAN. Another entertainer from Scotland, who has done many diverse movies from Moulin Rouge to Star Wars . An actual actor who plays parts, not himself.

7. Feb. sentiment: VAL, Valentine's Day. Sentiment?

8. Circus sites: ARENAS, Circus Maximus in ancient Rome.

9. French Oscar: CESAR. Did you ever wonder about the FRENCH movies? I love Catherine Deneuve.

10. Y for men only?: CHROMOSOME. I like this word, well done.

14. Way out yonder: A FAR.

17. Shrek's love: FIONA. Also a wonderful character on the Showtime series, SHAMELESS . For mature, open minded audiences only.

22. Like much Hawaiian lava: BASALTIC. You want Lave, I will give you stinking LAVA .

23. Complaint while groping: I CAN'T SEE. Well two things, an obvious shout out to me for my eye problems, just slightly sadistic; but lets face it, when I am groping someone, not being able to see does not matter. It is all in the hands.

25. Dice and ice, often: CUBES. Another rhyming clue.

27. Earhart et al.: AVIATRICES. Flying ladies, did anyone watch the movie?

28. Spiritual leaders: GURUS.

30. It may be tipped: HAT.

31. One commonly follows "said": COMMA. Have you ever had a comma happy boss? What, a, pain.

32. Naval acronym: SEALS. SEA, AIR and LAND .

33. Japanese dough: YEN.

39. Stone monument: CAIRN. These are basically ROCK PILES . Also, a Terrier, like Toto in the Wizard of Oz.

41. And those following, in footnotes: ETSEQQ; this one combines my law and latin backgrounds, as we use this abbreviation whenever we want the reader to read a section of law and those which follow. The latin isliterally "and following." The two Qs are the plural.

43. King with a trunk: BABAR. I learned to read with the adventures of this ELEPHANT , and still collect Elephants.

44. Old TV parts: TUBES. my high school roommate had taken a course in TV repsir; he taught me that they do not blow up, they implode. Fun.

45. Knight's protection: MAIL. Chain mail.

47. Ventura County resort: OJAI, a California gimme for our left coasters, and the direction the golf ball breaks on the greans out there.

49. Operatic slave: AIDA.

50. It's behind us: PAST.

53. Elemental suffix: IUM. So many, LITHIUM, SODIUM, HELIUM as well the magnetic metals.

54. MLB execs: GMS. General Managers. As opposed to field managers.

55. Chantilly crower: COQ. Chicken in French, au vin anyone?

Friday, April 1, 2011, Dan Naddor

THEME: Oh, those silly backwards Semites. Each of the three theme answers are written beginning on the right and working in the opposite direction. Talk about a puzzle being delivered in my wheel house, not only did I grow up learning Hebrew, but I am left-handed, so doing things backwards comes naturally. I wish I had a video of me trying to Iron. Anyway, welcome back, oops that is me.

17. Start of an aptly expressed linguistic observation: CIBARA DNA WERBEH. HEBREW AND ARABIC. If you read the Hardy Boy mysteries you know all about mirror writing.

31. Observation, part 2: DAER ERA. ARE READ.

45. End of the observation: TFEL OT THGIR MORF.FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

Hello, it is I, Lemonade, back from a brief hiatus, only to appear where I left off with Dan Naddor, Alava Shalom, and a wonderful April Fool's Day deception. For all those who have complained about too much 3 and 4 letter fill, we have an average word length of almost 6 letters. As always, Dan includes many multi-part answers, with a 10,10, 15 top and bottom. leave it to Dan to do a pseudo quote puzzle in reverse.

All right, on with the show, which just for me features lots of law and Latin, and some really interesting Ukrainian humor.


Across:
 
1. Lexington and Concord fighters: MILITIAMEN. Oh Dan, how could you do this to a nice guy like me? Every New England child knows they were MINUTEMEN! But it did not fit. (no insensitive jokes about New England men, please Lois and Carol). Both started with MI but there was no way to get 10 letters...

11. XXXV years after the creation of the original Magna Carta: MCCL. Dan liked his Roman numerals to be math exercises, 1215 plus 35 = 1250.

15. Apple consumers?: ADAM AND EVE. A nice deceptive biblical reference, and perhaps a hint to our Hebrew theme.

16. River through Lake Brienz: AARE. How may rivers start with two As?We are back in BERN(E).

19. Duplicated: CLONED. Ah, the new world order.

20. Roma road: STRADA. The Italian version of the Latin word STRATA. My oldest is going back to Gabii for two months in June.

21. Word with sharp or trouble: SHOOTER. SHARP SHOOTER = accurate shot. TROUBLE SHOOTER, an outsider who comes in to fix things.

23. Hand: SAILOR. C'mon, you all know, "All hands on deck!"

24. Leagues: Abbr.: ASSNS, associations.

25. Like performances by the Wallendas: NETLESS, the famous circus FLYERS have lost many of their family because they performed without a net.

27. Place to build: SITE.

28. Flying need: PHOTO ID. This was the trickiest for me, because I got the "oid" part first. When I finally stepped back to realize how this parsed, I felt rather foolish.

30. Is down with: HAS.

32. Source of support: FAN.

35. It's about 325 miles east of Texas's H-Town, with "the": BIG EASY, and a quick hello to our Hebrew scholar, Hahtool (also Hebrew).

36. "Return of the Jedi" dancer: OOLA. You have to be a real Trekkie to know this unhappy DANCER by name.

37. Like Cologne and vicinity: RHENISH. This related to the Rhine valley and perhaps to the post World War I attempt to create an independent state.

39. Condescend: STOOP. I would never stoop to bad puns to entertain!

40. Fowl with a showy mate: PEAHEN. Mr. Peacock, no foul humor, now!. Drat.

41. Herbal drink: MINT TEA. A wonderful Dan fill to tease you with the TT in the middle.

43. "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. Brilliantly played by Agnes Moorehead.

44. Place with swinging doors: SALOON. Gunsmoke, anyone?

49. Abbr. on folk song sheet music: TRAD. Traditional.

50. Listed: ENUMERATED. A nice $5.00 word.

51. They have their pluses and minuses: IONS.

52. Fabled tortoise's trait: STEADINESS. Slow and steady wins the race!

Down:

1. Bud: MAC. So many meanings for bud.

2. First name in tyranny: IDI. An Amin after my own heart.

3. Checkup charges: LAB COSTS. Another multiple word answer causing a weird combination in the middle, ABC.

4. Inviting words before "Want to come over?": I'M ALONE. The wife has gone to shop?

5. Mystical decks: TAROTS.

6. Vacant: INANE. Vacuous, empty, senseless, blank, foolish, vacant, hollow, void, meaningless; enough?

7. Dangerous snake: ADDER. They are poisonous members of the viper family, and the only poisonous snake indigenous to Great Britain, I believe. NC?

8. Darn: MEND. Darn, these socks have another hole in them!

9. Mendes of "Hitch": EVA. Okay, one LINK for the boys. Followed by 11D. Hitched: MARRIED.

10. It may be a scoop: NEWS STORY. More multiples.

12. Plots: CABALS. This word is a form of the Hebrew Kabbalah, which is mysticism and secrets. The usage in English reportedly is associated with the CABAL Ministry under King Charles II, from the last names of the ministers. Sir Thomas Clifford, Lord Arlington, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Ashley, and Lord Lauderdale.

13. Words to live by: CREDOS. Latin meaning to believe.

14. "The Merry Widow" operettist: LEHAR. We have had this COMPOSER before, in fact DAN, DON G. and BARRY SILK all have used this clue.

18. Latin term usually abbreviated: ET ALIA. More Latin for and others, ET AL, and our favorite Thursday blogger.

21. Window part: SASH.

22. Early Chinese dynasty: HSIA. No clue, so I read this LINK , C. C., your turn.

25. Canadian young adult fiction author McClintock: NORAH. Nope, did not know this AUTHOR either.

26. Nice summers: ETES . By now a gimme for everybody, i am sure.

28. Numbers in a corner, often: PAGINATES. Not a gimme, but I have edited a couple of books, and PAGINATION is a popular word in publishing.

29. Texters' amused syllables: HEES. TEE HEE, or HEE HEE?

31. Mexican bread: DINERO Spanish for money, that kind of bread.

32. What an asterisk may indicate: FOOTNOTE. In law books we also have Head Notes.

33. Lotion additive: ALOE. Phew, an easy one.

34. City WSW of Sacramento: NAPA, easy for you left coasters, but there are so many cities in Cali.

35. Lays eyes on: BEHOLDS.

36. Armchair partner: OTTOMAN, not be confused with the Empire which appeared in my last write up.

37. Hall of Fame defensive back Mel: RENFRO. Mel Renfro was number 20 for the Dallas Cowboys for many all-pro years; he played in 4 Super Bowls for the Cowboys, including number VI, where they beat the Dolphins.

38. Like hell: HADEAN.  More Latin, ancient Roman HADES.

39. "Edda" author __ Sturluson: SNORRI. We have had reference to this ICELANDIC who influenced many of the early Scandinavian authors.

40. Coat opening?: PETTI. Petticoat Junction, the spin-off from Green Acres.

41. Volcanic fluid: MAGMA. I am not touching that.

42. Perjurer's admission: I LIED. Another law reference, because it is Friday and my day.

44. "Melrose Place" actor: SHUE. This is Andrew the BROTHER of Elizabeth, and for you ladies.

46. Explosive initials: TNT. For my personality?

47. __ judicata: decided case: RES. More law stuff, and Latin, it just means things,

48. Some alarm respondents: Abbr.: FDS, no not Feminine Deodorant Spray, Fire Departments.

Wow, with so many long words there are only 66 clues, so I am through early; hope you enjoyed the Return of the Lemonade and see you on the next page. Oh, I lied about the Ukranian humor, but it is April 1.