Friday, February 28, 2014, Daniel Landman

Theme: Pat, give me a G, no better make that a double! (an homage to our own Garlic Gal).

The letters "GG" are inserted into descriptions or expressions to create a new phrase clued wackily. My second offering from this rabbinical student living in Jerusalem, the first being a January Friday with PE removed from phrases. So we take away, we add, I wonder what is next. I like most of the theme, but not crazy about the middle grid-spanner for reasons listed below. The rest did not seem like a Friday at all with the plethora of 3,4 and 5 letter fill. with the longest non-theme fill 6 letters. Well into the fray, let's see where we come out.

18A. Non-magical "Harry Potter" animal? : MUGGLE DEER. (11). If you somehow missed the entire Harry Potter craze, Muggles are what the magical ones call humans. Mule Deer have big ears and live out west in the US.

23A. Camembert left out in the sun too long? : SAGGY CHEESE. (11). Supposedly the baring of the teeth which comes from enunciating 'Cheese' is where the expression started. Camembert like brie, often sags.

37A. Woman's enticing movements? : FEMININE WIGGLES.(15) A grid spanner, and the odd man out in two ways, as it is the only one with GG added to the second word, and the meaning of the phrase does not change much as wiggling is certainly one of the womanly ways of the world.

52A. Miracle in the mire? : BOGGY WONDER.(11). Boy wonder is used to describe any prodigy, from Mozart to David Steinberg; growing up in New England we all know BOGGS. I like the alliterative clue.

58A. Periodical dedicated to stylish boots? : UGGS WEEKLY. Are UGGS considered stylish, I always thought they were so named because they were ugly but comfortable? They advertise in US Weekly? Weakly?

and a bonus hint...

63A. Best Picture of 1958, and a hint to this puzzle's theme : GIGI. Love Maurice Chevalier, and I have always taken this advice to heart. LISTEN.(1:04).

Across:

1. "Poetic" or "Prose" mythological work : EDDA. No Icelandic hint on Friday.

5. Movie-rating org. : MPAA. Motion Picture Association of America

9. R&B singer known for popularizing Auto-Tune : T PAIN. Not only had I not heard of this artist, I had no clue there was such a device infecting modern music. I certainly was interested by the effects on Cher's Believe but I had no clue, even though I have heard the sound again. Jzb, your thought?  I really enjoy when a constructor teaches me something I never knew, and I feel rather foolish for missing the whole controversy. LINK.

14. Device for Marner : LOOM. Well George Eliot's Silas Marner will always stick in my mind if only because as a youngster  I was fascinated by George being a woman. The literary device of the LOOM can be discussed, but her contribution to Victorian literature in this and others like Middlemarch is only a question only of degree.

15. Orderer's reference : MENU. Orderer, what an awkward sounding word.

16. "In what way?" : HOW SO.

17. Not to mention : ALSO.

20. Shill : PLANT. The audience member placed there to fool the others into thinking they are having a good time, or need to spend money.

22. Serengeti predators : LIONS. Semi clecho, 25D. Serengeti scavenger : HYENA. Finally, 60D. Serengeti prey : GNU. Sums up the region and life.

26. Whammy : HEX. marks the spot? In Liverpool?

29. Cockney location word : ERE. We are not there, we are 'ere.

30. Bean opening? : SOY.

31. Constant flow : STREAM. Are we too early for prostate humor?

33. Annoy : MOLEST. I had a very hard time sussing this, as lots of people have annoyed me....

36. Inventing middle name : ALVA. Mr. Edison to you.

42. Gulf of __ : ADEN.

43. Stands : ARISES.

44. The Aztecs' Tonatiuh, for one : SUN GOD. Not up on my Aztec deities, but this filled easily.

47. Bert Bobbsey's twin : NAN.

48. Old sports org. with a red, white and blue ball : ABA. American Basketball Association. Home of the incomparable Dr. J., Julius Erving who played at UMass when I was in undergrad and graduate school in UConn. What a player, and the NBA owes the three point shot, slam dunk contest and other changes to the ABA. WATCH. (5:07).

 51. Germaphobia may be a symptom of it, for short : OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

56. British bishop's headdress : MITRE. A word every crossword solver should know.

57. Target : AIM AT.

64. Japanese comics : MANGA. My kids were very into MANGA and ANIME, I will ask YR to explain more about how they fit in Japanese culture.

65. Kitchenware brand : EKCO. I heard that before.

66. First name in case fiction : ERLE. Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason.

67. Rebuff : SPURN.

68. Lunkhead : DODO. A shout-out to our own who derives her nickname from her name not a reminder of the extinct bird which was believed to be not very intelligent.

69. One may make you uncomfortable : LEER. Or it might make you pretty excited...

Down:

1. Go by : ELAPSE. Where does the time go, we are on the downs already.

2. Almighty __ : DOLLAR. Ah yes, the American Dream.

3. How much to take : DOSAGE. Well after last Sunday, it is nice to see AGE make a comeback.

4. First __ equals : AMONG. An odd sounding phrase from the LATIN to describe the senior member of a group of peers.

5. "Dee-lish!" : MMM. Good.

6. Little, in Lille : PEU. Straight French, an accessible one for those who parle un peu.

7. Position, as a pool cue : ANGLE.

8. Bellow title hero March : AUGIE. This was the first of his three National Book Awards; I have read his work and enjoyed them, not equally, but certainly Herzog and Mr. Sammler's Planet have stuck with me. He also won a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize. However my favorite AUGIE (0:20) who would fit because of the 2 G's.

9. Place to browse : THE NET.

10. Sci-fi vehicles : PODS. The ships or the home of the body snatchers?

11. Reverence : AWE.

12. Expert finish? : ISE. If we complain about ADE as a puzzle answer, how Expertise?

13. Here-there link : NOR.

19. Fan's disappointment : LOSS.

21. 1980s-'90s heavyweight champ : TYSON. Now a media star. UNDISPUTED TRUTH. (3:26).

 24. E. follower : COLI.

26. Word after raise or catch : HELL.

27. Place for a nest, perhaps : EAVE.

28. Short holiday? : XMAS. I thinks this is cute; certainly once I saw the answer I thought it was cute.

32. Joplin works : RAGS. I know Scott Joplin wrote Ragtime music, but I was ready to nitpick, but... Merriam Webster says it is a composition in ragtime, short for ragtime. First Known Use: 1897

33. Artistic dynasty : MING. C.C. any thoughts? (C.C.: My first reaction is Tang, as it's the  peak of various arts, esp poetry and painting. I only associate MING with vases.)

34. Sun. message : SERmon. Sunday.

35. Strong like string : TWINY. String is not strong, twine is strong string which is doubled up.

37. Burkina __ : FASO. I have never heard of this COUNTRY, let alone know where it is located. Damn you American geography.

38. Cabinet dept. : EDUCation.

39. Heal : MEND.  A HEART? (3:00).

40. Part of Caesar's boast : I SAW. VIDI.

41. Italy's largest port : GENOA. No, I did nota noa that.

45. Sci-fi character nicknamed Ben : OBIWAN. Kenobi. Ken, ben?

46. Heap affection (on) : DOTE. Followed by....

48. Regard highly : ADMIRE. Which leads to....

49. Hunting dog : BEAGLE. Snoopy?

50. More pretentious : ARTIER.

53. "__ is good" : GREED. Saw the promo a million times.

54. "Wall Street" antagonist who said 53-Down : GEKKO.. Michael Douglas.

55. Spinal Tap guitarist Tufnel : NIGEL. One of many CREATIONS (0:50) of Christopher Guest.

56. Roman Cath. title : MSGR. Monseigneur.

58. Verbal stumbles : UMS. Er, I hope you all got this one.

59. Disparity : GAP. Like this?

 61. PC screen type : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

62. "__-hoo!" : YOO.  Boo-hoo, we are done for another week.

Before we go, I wanted to express my condolences to the family and friends of Harold Ramis, who died this week. He brought us ANIMAL HOUSE, GHOSTBUTERS, CADDYSHACK, and GROUNDHOG DAY among many others. Don't cross the streams!

Can you believe we are two months into the year already, the Olympics are over, and spring is on the way for all you who choose to live in the frozen north. I am off to my day job, so I will see you all at the beach next time. Lemonade out.

Friday, February 21, 2014, Peg Slay

Theme: I need to break you the LLs up!

Great symmetry in this letter replacement puzzle,  with the first "L" of double Ls in four letter words ending 'ALL', are replaced with an I (the first word in theme 1,3 and 5; the last word in theme 2,4) to give a new phrase clued with humor. This is our second offering from Ms. Slay, with marti expostulating on a letter add on in May of 2013. I found this on the easy side for a Friday, but since it is gimmick free that may be all I needed to make me happy. The pallbearers morphing into milkmaids seemed a bit macabre, but the rest were amusing. Let's look over the puzzle.

17A. Device that tracks certain weather? : HAIL MONITOR. (11). (HALL monitors prowl dormitories) This would be a very limited use device, but we do get a few hailstorms every year, once in a while enough to dent cars.

23A. Make a mournful cry louder? : DRIVE UP THE WAIL. (somebody wailing, like at the dentist, would drive me up the WALL).

39A. Follow, oater-style? : TAIL IN THE SADDLE. (TALL in the saddle will always conjure this IMAGE) (1:05).

48A. Run-of-the-mill letters? : PEDESTRIAN MAIL. ( I visited the 16th Street MALL when last in Denver)

61A. Eight maids a-milking? : PAIL BEARERS. (This combination cast a slight PALL on my solving experience, because images of funerals bring back memories). I think their are usually 6 pallbearers. Are Jack and Jill the most famous pail bearers?

Across:

1. "Sesame Street" lessons : ABCS.

5. Logo, e.g. : EMBLEM.

11. NASA vehicle : LEM. An actual acronym Lunar Excursion Module.

14. Word spoken con affetto : CARA. Some Italian, with affection dear.  22A. Together, in music : A DUE. Italian again, due is two.

15. Lead ore : GALENA. This is something I know only from doing puzzles; do we have geologists in our midst? I have a nephew who works in that field.

16. "Should I take that as __?" : A NO. Yes.

19. Ken. neighbor : INDiana.

20. Handle : SEE TO.

21. Karaoke need : MIC. I guess the world has decided this is an independent word.

27. Bulldog, perhaps : ELI. Yale has more than one nickname. This sort of ties to 37D. Annex, maybe : ELL, which I thought would not be in the puzzle because of the LL.

28. German article : DAS. The neutral (non-masculine or feminine) LINK. 1D. Rhine whines : ACHS. Little pun on wine/whine. Maybe you need a dictionary? LINK. Our multilingual crowd (Kazie, marti, etc., will tell you more).

29. Lollapalooza gear : AMPS. Another abbreviation (amplifiers) that appears to now be a word.

33. They may be in columns : ANTS. Army ones anyway.

36. More ironic : DRIER. senses of humor I guess, I thought this was very hard to suss.

42. Short exile? : EX-PAT. He is only  5'8" For all my New England Patriot cornerites.

43. Tops : A-ONE.

44. __-portrait : SELF. Selfies from the phone are taking over.

45. Watch : EYE.

46. 64-Across opposite : NAY. 64A. 46-Across opposite : YEA.

56. Pie crust ingredient : LARD. Not many big companies use pig fat anymore.

57. Tidy sum : WAD. He had quite a wad of cash.

58. Warmer for a snowy day : COCOA. Maybe this would WORK; I will mail you the A.

60. Tree ring revelation : AGE. Yes when the sequoias get together for a reunion, it is always a circus.

65. Jeans measure : INSEAM. Just be careful who is doing the measurements for you.

66. Auditor's mark : TICK. The check mark.

67. Humerus locale : ARM. Near the funny bone.

68. Expels : EGESTS. IN = into: E = from, immigrate, emigrate. Just simple Latin.

69. Santa __: dry winds : ANAS. A day late for our own Santa baby.

Down:

2. Sounded like a flock : BAAED. The were baaed to the bone.

3. Old-time newsman : CRIER. Really going back when you got your news from the town crier, who did not whine.

4. 1972 missile pact : SALT I. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks ; I was ratified, II was abandoned when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan.

5. Id checker? : EGO. Nice Freud lesson, our ID (as in libido) is kept in check by our EGO.

6. "Holy cow!" : MAN.

7. Skycam carrier : BLIMP. Goodyear I lives nearby me. Come for the TOUR, then stop by for a snack.

8. The Beatles' "__ Be" : LET IT.  You want to be in this STUDIO. (3:09)

9. Cain's oldest son : ENOCH. Exile or not.

10. Deface : MAR.

11. Saved for the future : LAID ASIDE. In this context I always say PUT aside, but this WORKS.

12. Blasé state : ENNUI.

13. Hobby shop purchase : MODEL.A shout out to Dennis who is tolerating the Florida winter rather well. Speaking of models, Kate Upton.

18. Stir : MOVE.

22. Accolades : AWARDS. Comes from a Latin word for neck (collum) because recipients got stuff to wear around their neck. We still give out medals (see Olympics) that way.

24. Panache : ELAN.

25. Utah's __ Mountains : UINTA. We have had these a couple of times before, but they have not stuck in my mind.

26. Norse mythology source : EDDA. Classic crossword answer.

29. Put away : ATE.

30. "Where the Wild Things Are" boy : MAX. My youngest loved the story and we went to the movie when it came out many years later; he loved it. I did  not.

31. Winning the lottery, usually : PIPE DREAM. From the dreams of OPIUM DENS?

32. Left rolling in the aisles : SLAYED. Comedians, kill, slay,

 crush...

34. E'en if : THO'.

35. Medicinal shrub : SENNA. A multi-talented PLANT.

38. Instant replay watcher : REF. The third abbreviation which is in this puzzle which has apparently become a stand alone word.

40. Jersey add-on : ITES.

41. Hannity of "Hannity" : SEAN. hard not link something political HERE.(2:37).

47. Gesture-driven hit : YMCA. The boys from the Village.

48. __ del Carmen, Mexico : PLAYA. mean beach in Spanish. Lucina?

49. Bright-eyed : EAGER.

50. Country sound : TWANG. All you ever wanted to know and MORE.

51. Put up : RAISE. Or shut up?

52. Isn't busy : IDLES.

53. It originates from the left ventricle : AORTA.

54. Trap at a chalet : ICE IN.

55. Spanish poet Federico García __ : LORCA. I wish Clear Ayes was here to speak of this POET, a very influential Spanish writer killed by Franco's men during the civil war.

59. Queries : ASKS.

61. __ chart : PIE.

62. Cricket club : BAT. Cute misdirection.

63. 911 response letters : EMS.

Well I am not in Kansas any more, only passing through to Colorado, but I hope this Friday frolic left you smiling and confident in your skills. Lemonade out.

Friday, February 14, 2014, Xan Vongsathorn

Theme: U anagram U! Ryder truck rental competition.

The first & second letter of a familiar phrase is reversed to form a new word beginning with the letter "U" and clued whimsically. I guess since Valentine's Day is all about 'you', this all fits. Our second anagram based theme in a row.  So we have another variation of an anagram theme to add to the Friday fun, with a little teeny reveal. The constructor has been absent from the LAT for quite a while having had only one previous puzzle published back in 2009, though he does have 7 NYTs under his belt. Like Michael Sharp (a/k/a Rex Parker) he is from Pomona College. XAN. With two grid spanning answers we have 60 letters in the theme. This leads to a really high 3 and 4 letter word count for a Friday. There were a few fun longer fill, ADAM'S RIB, ASTEROID, I-POD NANO , SCREWED UP,  UP FOR SALE, but I leave the verdict up to you the jury, I am merely the court reporter.

17A. Vessel storing a cash stash? : URN FOR ONE'S MONEY (15). (RUN for one's money). I thought maybe we were also going to get some homonym action (EARN:URN).

25A. Layered computer connections? : USB SANDWICH (11). (SUB sandwich).

44A. Pet named for writer Sinclair? : UPTON THE DOG.(11). (PUT on the dog).  I think of it as Putting on the RITZ, (2:03) not the Dog.

58A. Tantrum that devolves into hysterical gibberish? : UNCLEAR MELTDOWN (15) NUCLEAR meltdown).

and the hint...

62A. "Lead the way!", and a phonetic hint to this puzzle's theme : YOU FIRST (8) (U first).

Across:

1. Hedge row : SHRUBS. I admit shrubbery always make me think of this LINK. (2:06)

7. Fox's "X-Files" partner : DANA. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully?

11. Rite Aid rival : CVS. A New England success story, a small local retail store Consumer Value Store started in the 60s in Woonsocket, RI, where my uncle Richard lived, eventually got in the pharmacy business and now has more stores than anyone.

14. Cozy spot? : TEAPOT. Really cute, as you put the cozy over the teapot to keep the tea warm.

15. Tiny tunes player : I-POD NANO. Another cute clue/fill.

19. Earlier : AGO.

20. Strong adhesive : EPOXY. Back when I played lacrosse we used epoxy and fiberglass tape to strengthen our wooden sticks. Now they are all some compound. "Today’s players use sticks with heads made of plastic; shafts made of aluminum, graphite, titanium, Kevlar®, or alloys of aluminum, magnesium, scandium, and zinc; pockets made of nylon mesh..." The Encyclopedia of Earth.

21. Some poker tells : TICS.

22. "Lady Jane Grey" playwright : ROWE. This play apparently was not a success, but we have seen the writer before. He put out some editions of Shakespeare's works. For fun you can read a 2008 C.C. blog.

24. Farm cry : OINK.

31. Bundle : SHEAF. A biblical word? Next to a pseudo-biblical clue?

32. Tracy/Hepburn battle-of-the-sexes film : ADAM' S RIB.

37. "You're on!" : DEAL.

38. Impact sound : SPLAT. Good comic book word.

40. Stoic philosopher : CATO.  He was of course the YOUNGER.

41. Telescope sighting : ASTEROID. Do you have a telescope Tin? This could be a reason for a quick belt. Speaking of belts...

43. Hunter of myth : ORION. Another star-crossed lover who ended in the sky.

47. Sudden blow : GUST.

50. Lined up, with "in" : A ROW.

51. Part of one's inheritance : GENE. Yes, my luck, I ended up with Rayburn.

52. Tend : SEE TO.

55. Oft-bruised item : EGO.

63. Actor Hugh : LAURIE. A really fine comedian, he was always very popular in my brother the medical researcher's house.

64. Gathered dust : SAT. For three letters, this took a while.

65. 2012 N.L. East champs : NATS. Nationals, success did not seem to suit them.

66. Had dinner : SUPPED. Wouldn't it be DINED and the other supper?

Down:

1. Handle for a chef? : STU. I fought against this what I guess is just a pun, but once the USB revealed the U, and I already had the S and T...

2. Juno, to Homer : HERA. Roman is to Greek as...

3. Chimed : RANG.

4. On the market : UP FOR SALE. Another U turn for me.

5. Discontented cry : BOO. Hoo thought of this first? I did not? Bah!

6. Scattered : STREWN.

7. T. Rex, e.g. : DINO. Flintstones?

8. Summit : APEX. The old Acme Apex challenge.

9. Getting into the wrong business? : NOSY. Stick your nose where it does not belong...

10. Nav. bigwig : ADMiral.

11. "Emperor of the Air" novelist : CANIN. I thought this was particularly obscure, and I would never have gotten this answer but for it being filled before I saw the clue. I have seen the movie Emperor's Club, and being a prep school product I knew a little about his work, but not his name. ETHAN. The film was also filmed at Emma Willard (from yesterday's comment by IM about Scent of a Woman).

12. Certain tee : V-NECK.

13. Sauces for sushi : SOYS. Are there more than one soy sauce for sushi? Did you remember sushi means rice?

16. Denier's words : NOT I.

18. Column with a slant : OP ED. I will not OP EN that argument door.

23. Big galoot : OAF.

24. Electrician's unit : OHM. Yes, my nephew is a master electrician, who wires lots of kitchens; their anthem is Ohm Ohm on the Range.

25. Rib-eye rating gp. : USDA. United States Department of Agriculture.

26. Witches, but not warlocks : SHES. Simple, but tricky.

27. Knocked out : BEAT. Nope, do not see these as synonymous unless you know you are fighting.

28. Character found in kids' books : WALDO. I would have loved the clue to be 'sometimes found'  but I applaud the concept.

29. Peak of Crete : IDA. Interesting HISTORY in mythology, but I think of CHARLEY WEAVER. And the odd coincidence that Emma Willard School is on Mount Ida overlooking Troy, NY.

30. Victim of curiosity : CAT. Killed no less!

33. Made a mess of : SCREWED UP.

34. Surprise strike : RAID.

35. "__, Sing America": Hughes : I TOO. The poem by Langston Hughes, the ORIGINAL. (1:09).

36. Low bell sound : BONG. I wonder if this was the author's clue...

38. Dip, as in gravy : SOP.

39. Nectarine core : PIT.

42. Symbol of boredom : RUT. Are we in an anagram rut?

43. "Well, looky here!" : OHO. Meh.

45. "Six Feet Under" son : NATE. Never watched this SHOW.(4:28).

46. High-tech troublemakers : TROLLS. How funny, a shout out to my Friday fans.

47. Italian port on its own gulf : GENOA.

48. In its original form : UNCUT. Are they talking circumcision here?

49. Help beneficiary, at times : SELF. Libraries and book stores are overflowing with self help books, but if you buy them is it really self help?

51. Blokes : GUYS. It was nice to NICE CUPPA.

52. First name in the freezer section : SARA. Nobody does not like Sara Lee.

53. Once, in days past : ERST. Did it take you a while to get this one?

54. CPR specialists : EMTS. Emergency Medical Ttechnicians.

56. Hiker's supply : GORP.

57. Boo-boo : OWIE.

59. A, in Stuttgart : EIN.

60. St. Anthony's Cross shape : TAU. Greek to me.

61. Nancy Drew's guy : NED.

Well I want to wish our dear friend, constructor, blogger, poster, ski bum, wine connoisseur and house renovator the happiest of birthdays and perhaps an early spring. Thank you marti for all you have done for me and the Corner. For the rest of you I hope you enjoyed our visit and the puzzle, until next time Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Lemonade said it all. Thank you, dear Marti, for being there for me and the Corner. Happy Birthday!

Marti & her husband Allen

Friday, February 7, 2014, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Follow the waters

For those who attempted this without the circles the theme was most assuredly deeply submerged, but if you know your major world rivers and you understood 34A was the hint, it was a very fun paddle, though some white waters to avoid. JW has become a regular contributor to our entertainment, with this being his 17th publication in the 18 months or so since his first trip to the LAT stage. marti has done most of the explicating, but this will be my 5th, the first almost exactly one year ago. Each has been a very different type, as well from anagrams, to homonyms to definitions. This is the first with any "gimmick" as the theme answers crawl over both across and down fill, giving each name the "bend" which is the hidden treasure.  I hope you enjoy this Friday freshness.  Presenting the theme will be different, but here goes.

River one: PECOS running from 17A down the middle of 3D.

River two: GANGES running up from 5D though 4A.

River three: AMAZON running backwards in 19A and down 1D.

River four DANUBE running from 58A up 41D.

River five: NIGER running backwards in 62A and up 44D.

River six: THAMES running down the middle of 51D and backwards across 67A.

and the Hint/ reveal at 34A. Topographic feature represented in this puzzle's circles : RIVER BEND. This tells you the river names bend around the answers.

The rest of the puzzle does not exactly feel like a Friday with one nine letter fill the longest, but  22 of fill are 7 letter answers including some fun ones. Let's get going

Across:

1. __-de-sac : CUL. Well this dead end is our beginning.

4. Consumes : INGESTS.

11. Privately keep in the email loop, briefly : BCC. Blind Courtesy Copy.

14. New START signatory : USA. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Double your initial pleasure.

15. Unexpected result : FALLOUT. This was hard for me, I guess I was raised in too sheltered an environment.

16. Bit of cybermirth : LOL. My Romanian friend thought this was Lots of Love for a long time.

17. Upper-bod muscle : PECtoral. Like these...

18. With great energy, in music : AGITATO. The Italian influence, I will defer (yes I corrected it manually, not autocorrect) to JzB.

19. Gp. that declared obesity a disease : AMA. Once again we are seeing lots of initialisms.

20. Natives who met Lewis and Clark near modern-day Council Bluffs : OTOS. More natives, 64D. Cheyenne allies : ARAPAHO.

22. Scent : ODOR.

23. Puts one's feet up : LAZES. This is a word I never see outside of the crossword world, you? Do you laze about?

25. Go the distance : LAST. Why does this sound sexual to me? Followed immediately by...

26. Desire : YEN.

27. Stopper, with "the" : KIBOSH. I had better put the Kibosh on that line of thought.

28. Pretended to be : ACTED AS. Another toughie for me, that perped itself out.

30. Bow tie preference : AL DENTE. Love this clue, it was cooked just right!

31. Likely to tax one's budget : STEEP. Gee honey, the prices here are awfully steep.

32. Corrida cry : OLE.

33. Greenskeeper's supply : SOD. The seniors are back in Boca Raton playing this week; are you going Dennis? The ones I have met and played with are all very nice. 47A. Not good for a pro, usually : OVER PAR.

39. Inflate : PAD. The bill, not a balloon; tricky for three letters.

42. Hyde's birthplace? : LAB. Dr. Jekyll's of course, another wonderful clue.

43. Less furnished : BARER. Why furniture?

50. Traditional process for hammock making : MACRAME. How many crafty people are at the Corner?

52. "The Canterbury Tales" inn : TABARD. Oh the depths of memory, it has been so long since Chaucer. Interestingly according to wiki, it was built by the Abbot of Hyde. A Tabard is the tunic you see in the depictions of the crusades etc.

53. Geometric fig. : CIRcle.

54. Moderate pace : TROT.

55. Dimwit : STUPE. This does not seem very PC.

56. Small opening : PORE. I got that by the skin of my teeth.

57. Exobiologist's org. : SETI.  Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Acronym.

58. Voice actor Castellaneta of "The Simpsons" : DAN. Also he was not the father on The Wonder Years

59. Foolishness : FATUITY. I know fatuous, but not this incarnation; a very much Nero Wolfe word.

62. Cotton __ : GIN. As a kid this always puzzled me because I thought it came from juniper berries, and we had juniper bushes.

63. Storied vessel : ARK. I hope you Noah this one.

65. "Middle of Nowhere" director DuVernay : AVA. Indie movie.

66. Ed.'s pile : MSS. Manuscripts.

67. First, second or third person? : BASEMAN. Baseball, but you need the perps to get that.

68. Pinch for Pépin : SEL. French for salt.

Down:

1. Domelike structures : CUPOLAS. There are many kinds, reminds me of Ken Follett

2. Be diplomatic : USE TACT. Nice fill.

3. 1920s tennis great René : LACOSTE. Lives on through all the shirts.

4. "__ tree falls ..." : IF A. in the forest....

5. Noritake headquarters city : NAGOYA. Luckily ODOR and YEN were easy, which helped the section to fall.

6. Moves smoothly : GLIDES. Getting excited about the ice skaters and the Olympics?

7. John of pop : ELTON. As C.C. would say, nailed it!

8. Hang-glide, say : SOAR. Oh oh.

9. Word of disdain : TUT. Usually needs two but the clue does say 'word.'

10. Impassive : STOLID.

11. Displays publicly : BLAZONS. I am familiar with things being emblazoned, but not this verb.

12. Opens one's eyes : COMES TO.

13. Butted heads : CLASHED. My research shows this fill has never been in the LAT or NYT before.

21. Direct : STEER. Fits in with our earlier STEEP and STUPE?

24. First Japanese prime minister born after WWII : ABE. No clue about Shinzō Abe, born in 1954. I read it as the first prime minister after WWII, never seeing the word bord; coincidentally, also a man named ABE.

27. "The Goldfish" painter : KLEE. This WORK. So you think you could have done that?

29. Print resolution letters : DPI. Dots Per Inch, from our old dot matrix printers.

30. Clerical wear : ALB. It is the long white (the word is from Latin for white) dress like garment.

32. Moon, e.g. : ORB.

35. "The Impaler" who inspired Dracula : VLAD.

36. "Who hath a story ready for your __": Shak. : EAR. An obscure quote from Measure for Measure, but easily sussed.

37. 2014 Olympics airer : NBC. So many initials.

38. Moves quickly : DARTS.

39. 1945 Big Three city : POTSDAM. One of the meeting places for the allies, US, England and Russia.

40. Online game icons : AVATARS. If you did not know it before the movie should have taught you.

41. Proves fallacious : DEBUNKS. I myth the mythbusters.

44. Xenon, for one : RARE GAS.

45. Soul-stirring : EMOTIVE. Did the clue move you?

46. __ scan: ID method : RETINAL. Eye had no problem with this one.

48. Knock : RAP. Don't knock rap?

49. Assembly-ready : PREFABricated.

50. Sister of Moses and Aaron : MIRIAM. You need to know MORE?

51. Big name in soul : ARETHA. Finally, a musical INTERLUDE. (2:29)

53. Two-door vehicle : COUPE.

56. School gps. : PTAS. At least the initials are all familiar.

60. __ Pacis: altar of Peace : ARA. This is just Latin for an altar built during the time of Caesar Augustus for the goddess Pacis. It is from her name we get our word.

61. Thither : YON.  Hither and yon, hither and thither, it all sounds silly to me.

Well we are into February, with only 7 more days to prepare for marti's birthday, oh and Valentine's Day.  I thought this was a nice romp and the trick did not give me fits, and I hope none of you. Lemonade out.

Friday, January 31, 2014, Julian Lim

Theme: Before and after

Our Singapore scribe, Julian Lim, has given us 4 grid spanning theme answers, where two phrases which share a common word are put together into a single answer. ABC, the single response is made up of  both AB C and A BC. The A's are all coins (Penny, Nickel, Quarter & Dime).

Julian usually gives me fits and this was no exception, the theme jumped out at me, so that helped, but some of the hard ones were really hard. The puzzle was also heavy on initialisms. Some interesting fill like  EMERITI, EXECUTE,  IN A SUIT, LET'S SEE, MIXTAPE, RIP OPEN, SENECAN, STETTED and TONE LOC and some very up to date fill like  DROPBOX and KINECT. The corners with their side by side 7 letter down fill gave this kind of a themeless feel for me, and I know Mr. Lim does those well. But the DAYO and TONE LOC and even ST. BEDE were very challenging; ah well let's get to it.

17A. Snap of part of one's portfolio? : PENNY STOCK PHOTO. You have Penny Stock followed Stock Photo.

32A. What a Canadian band owes annually? : NICKELBACK TAXES. Nickleback is a successful Canadian family band that makes lots of money and must pay taxes, and if they are late they will owe Back Taxes.

38A. Cheap Valentine's Day gift? : DIME-A-DOZEN ROSES. I do not think there is much left for a dime a dozen, but a dozen roses generally still does the trick.

57A. Injury sustained before the semis? : QUARTER-FINAL CUT. Did anyone watch the Australian Open Tennis with all the upsets?

Across:

1. Out of the rat race, maybe: Abbr. : RETired. A nice gentle beginning.

4. Country inflection : DRAWL.

9. Discombobulate : ADDLE. If you make it Discombobulated, it is 15 letters and a prime crossword fill.

14. Chatter's caveat : IMO. In My Opinion.

15. Family nickname : AUNTY. She is the most popular of relatives, for crosswords it seems, she is also always at reunions. The AU I guess.

16. Prized mushroom : MOREL. A real shout out to C.C. and the Corner, as along with the Loon (our blog bird) we have this as our fun phallic fungus.

20. Chocolatey, circular cereal brand : OREO O'S.  Great letter combination but I have never seen this LINK.

21. Gerrymanders, say : REMAPS. No way to explain without politics, but it comes from Elbridge Thomas Gerry, the 5th Vice-president who also was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. from Marblehead, Mass.

22. Medication unit : PILL.

23. Brawl : FRAY. Comes from the same Latin stem as Friction.

25. Org. with den mothers : BSA. Boy Scouts of America.

27. Zone for DDE : ETO. European Theater of Operations.

28. Big name in 30-Across : MCAN. Thom McAn, a once leader in retail shoe sales, now just a name at Sears and K-Mart. Founded in Worcester, Mass.

30. Flats, e.g. : SHOES. Yes they did not make heels.

36. "Gun Hill Road" star Morales : ESAI.  Great CW vowel name, who I know better from NYPD Blue.

37. Recover : HEAL. I meant heel.

45. Sassy ones : SNIPS. All perps.

46. Indian intern in "Dilbert" : ASOK.

47. Business card abbr. : EXTension. Mine is 11, if you call.

48. Far from draconian : LAX.

49. Smartphone downloads : APPS. 11D. Big name in cloud storage : DROPBOX. Speaking of APPS.

51. Giants lineman Chris : SNEE. His father- in-law is the coach, Tom Coughlin. Chris played his college ball at Boston College.

52. "Venerable" Eng. monk : ST. BEDE.  An 8th century monk who was canonized while still alive. LINK.

55. Motion-sensitive Xbox accessory : KINECT. The Microsoft answer to the Wii.

60. Two-footer : BIPED. Cute.

61. High-muck-a-muck : MR BIG. Or a recurring character in Sex and the City.

62. Had a taco : ATE. Or you could have....

63. Makes tender, in a way : STEWS.

64. "We __ please" : AIM TO. The rest of the sign in the Men's room reads, "so please aim, too."

65. Composer Rorem : NED. Getting to be a regular.

Down:

1. Unwrap in a hurry : RIP OPEN. How to slow them down. LINK.

2. Retired professors : EMERITI. Plural of Emiritus, Latin E = "from" and meritus = "merit." Those who have earned the right to retire.

3. "Funky Cold Medina" rapper : TONE LOC. No clue. Listen? (4:28).

4. Ballpark rallying cry based on a 1950s hit : DAY O. More music; I have no idea about the ball park reference, but I do remember Harry Belafonte and this Banana Boat SONG. (3:02).

5. "Twin Peaks" actor Tamblyn : RUSS. A wonderful performer who was the lead Jet in West Side Story, the psychiatrist in the cult classic Twin Peaks and even worked with his daughter Amber in Joan of Arcadia.

6. Barbecue buttinsky : ANT.

7. Commerce gp. headed by Roberto Azevêdo : WTO. World Trade Organization.

8. Girdle material : LYCRA. A brand name for Spandex. IMAGE.

9. Letters on some faces : AM/PM. Clock faces.

10. Capital west of Dubai : DOHA. A too late shout out to our River Doc.

12. "Well, now ..." : LET'S SEE.

13. "Turn to Stone" band : ELO. Electric Light Orchestra.

18. Exiled Cambodian Lon __ : NOL. The palindromic despot.

19. Critical : KEY.

23. One-named Milanese model : FABIO. He was (is?) cute.

24. Protein producer : RNA.

26. Mule kin : ASS. A shout out to...oh never mind.

28. Arizona landscape features : MESAS. A shout out to our desert dwelling dears.

29. Sporting, with "in" : CLAD. Just a loincloth.

30. Desolate : STARK. Also the family name from Winterfell in Game of Thrones.

31. Symbolic ring : HALO. Trickery.

33. Put in storage : KEEP.

34. It may include a checking account : CHESS. Oh, a punny clue; last Friday's Chess themed episode of Bones was wonderful. IMO.

35. Atlantic City game : KENO. There is a great scene with Sid Caesar and Keno in what movie?

38. High-tech connection letters : DSL. Digital Subscriber Line

39. Formally attired : IN A SUIT. In the old days my daily attire, but still a nice long fill.

40. Homemade collection of songs : MIXTAPE. Lots of great movie plots around this form of musical compilation. How many of you have ever made one for a loved one?

41. Shock : ZAP.

42. Like some Lake Erie residents : SENECAN. Native American tribe.

43. Fulfill : EXECUTE. Like the game plan Denver and Seattle each hope to..... in the Super Bowl.

44. Undid a dele : STETTED. Never seen STET as a verb.

49. Fruity quencher : ADE. A nice Friday shout and the subject of a big debate at the Fiend a few days ago, as this may not be a word!

50. Prefix with frost : PERMA. A portmanteau of permanent and frost to represent under 0 degrees C. for two or more years.

51. Hit with skits and bits : SNL. Saturday Night Live.

53. Cook up : BREW. Not beer this time Tin, or is it?

54. DFW schedule data : ETDS. Estimated Time of Departures.

55. Use needles : KNIT. My youngest is dating a knitter; interesting to see a 20 something take it up.

56. "Othello" schemer : IAGO.

57. Brees and Brady: Abbr. : QBS. QuarterBacks. Our Super Bowl shout out.

58. T.G.I. time : FRIday.

59. ThinkPad maker : IBM. International Business Machine. The Apple of my childhood.

Well the puzzle, like the month went quickly. I hope you all have a Super Sunday (with Football,  Downton Abbey , and BBC's Sherlock there is much going on) and we will see how Floyd Mayweather Jr. does in his $10,000,000.00 bet on Denver. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear Bill G! Love your lunch & bike ride reports. Love your animal tracks.

Bill G & Grandson Jordon, Oct 18, 2012

Friday, January 24, 2014, Daniel Nierenberg

THEME: From GEEK to CHIC, climb on our word ladder

In the never ending world of Friday puzzles looking for new ways to bamboozle and entertain the solvers, two items from the games page, Crossword Puzzles and Word Ladders, are combined. The Miami Herald runs a word ladder daily, which if you are unfamiliar is a series of words where you go  from word A (the first word) to word Z (the last word) by changing only one letter in each successive word. TEN to PIN would be ten-tin-pin. In this instance we also get a reveal of sorts, commenting on the joy of going from Geek to Chic. Obviously lots depends on the perps since there are no independent clues for the ladder words, though once you get a couple, you know you have a very limited choice for the next step. Some Friday difficulty, but since the theme words are only only four letters long there is  room for some fun fill like GLUTEUS in addition to toughies like OCELLI,  so lets climb down the ladder and see what Daniel used for the remaining fill.

1A. Start of a word ladder : GEEK. (4).
5A. Word ladder, part 2 :       PEEK. (4).
9A. Word ladder, part 3 :         PEEN. (4).
22A. Word ladder, part 4 :         TEEN. (4).
52A. Word ladder, part 5 :           THEN. (4).
64A. Word ladder, part 6 :              THIN. (4).
65A. Word ladder, part 7 :                CHIN. (4).
66A. End of the word ladder :             CHIC. (4).

37A. "West Side Story" song, or a hoped-for response after experiencing the transition in this puzzle's word ladder : I FEEL PRETTY. (11).  CLASSIC. (3:43).

Across:

13. Muscat native : OMANI.  This very common fill saved me from the initial frustration of knowing nothing.

15. Rough words : OR SO. Rough as in estimate.

16. "A Death in the Family" author : AGEE. James Agee is a regular answer, and if you are interested, he did a lot in a short life. LINK.

17. Tech giant : GATES. Interesting, as initially trying for a company name not Bill from Microsoft.

18. Alienated : ESTRANGED. Women left at the altar, or left after marriage used to sue their fiances' (husbands') new love interest for Alienation of Affection. The law still exists in 7 or 8 states.

20. Parts of wedding scenes : AISLES. Perfect juxtaposition for our cheating husband.

23. Buttocks muscle : GLUTEUS. There are actually FOUR, not just our friend Maximus.

25. Clothing : RAIMENT. Related to the concept of ARRAY. A nice old word.

30. Deadly biter : ASP. Cleopatra anyone?

31. Bites playfully : NIPS. The lesson, do not play with an asp.

33. Touch-y service company? : MIDAS.

34. It might be twisted : ANKLE. A very common problem in the NBA where the giant people are forever landing on each other's feet.

36. "!" on a road sign : DANGER. Hmm...

39. Positive particle : PROTON.

41. Advertising target : SALES. Target/ Goal?

42. Like some cereals : OATEN.

43. Filter : SIFT. Sometime, you have to let your brain sift through many choices before entering fill.

44. Political initials since 1884 : GOP. I think the initials have been used since 1874, though the Republican Party itself began in 1854. LINK.

47. Tut, e.g. : PHARAOH.  Most memorable TUT (2:39)?

49. Pudding starch : TAPIOCA. So confusing...

54. Picnic downer : SHOWER. The rains fall down? A pun?

55. Get-together request : CAN WE MEET?

60. Blue dyes : ANILS.

61. Word of dismissal : SHOO. Kitty, kitty.

62. "__ kidding?" : IS HE.

63. Part of an address, maybe : TITLE. What do you say to a Duke? LINK.

Down:

1. Be extremely excited : GO GAGA. While this was a perfectly fine clue/fill, the absence of any crossing words, made starting out very tricky. Great set of letters, like COO COO for Cocoa Puffs.

2. Modern messages : EMAILS. Is it one word, or E-Mail?

3. Devours : EATS UP. Do not parse E-atsup.

4. Showed reverence, in a way : KNELT. Just before you are knighted by the King, his majesty.

5. "The Gold-Bug" author : POE. Not my favorite of his short stories, but he won a $100.00 prize for it, which was probably the most he earned for any writing in his lifetime.

6. Once, old-style : ERST. Another old word.

7. Fragrant compounds : ESTERS.

8. North or South follower : KOREA. With all the North/South combos, this is the only 5 letter one I could think of.

9. God of shepherds : PAN. There was a wonderful movie called PAN's LABYRINTH.(1:04), sorry about the 15 second ad.

10. Whisking target : EGG. That clue should stir things up around here. No beating around the bush.

11. Broad size : EEE. None of the broads I know are triple Es.

12. "The Simpsons" character who says "Okily-dokily!" : NED. For all the non-Simpson fans...you should last 7 seconds

14. "Got it!" : I SEE.

19. Bring to life : ANIMATE. Just like Ned Flanders; I see, it all fits together and makes sense.

21. Submerged : SUNKEN.

24. Cat's perch, perhaps : SILL. I will let CED do his cat magic for cat's on sills, though my challenge will be to find a video of a feline with Beverly Sills.

26. Diner freebies : MINTS. When I was a baby in the crib, my parents said they would give me the mints the restaurants gave out, and I would just fall asleep holding them in my hand.

27. Anxious : EDGY. The sugar rush never made me edgy.

28. Glaswegian's negative : NAE. One from Glasgow is a Glaswegian for the same logical (?) reason someone from Norway is a Norwegian.

29. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : TSR. Interesting I heard on the radio that this is the 40th anniversary of D&D which was created by people who called themselves TACTICAL STUDIES RULES. The first of the modern complicated role playing games, left in the dust by WOW and Magic the Gathering.

32. Brand originally named Brad's Drink : PEPSI. Oddly, I recently linked this piece of bubbly history.

34. "__ you" : AFTER. A part of vaudeville and silent movie HISTORY. (1:11).

35. One just born : NEONATE.

36. Change symbols, in math : DELTAS. If I were on Who Wants to be a Millionaire I would use Fermat as my lifeline, and have Bill G. ready. In the meantime LINK.

37. Wee bit : IOTA. Another Greek letter doing double duty.

38. It may be inflatable : RAFT. So was George's ego, I heard.

39. Father : POP. My youngest is currently calling me Pop or Pops.

40. Cheerleader's shout : RAH. Rah ree, kick'em in the knee. Rah rah rass, kick'em in the other knee.

43. "Holy cow!" : SHEESH.  They say this is a euphemism progression from Jesus. LINK. I wonder about the Lebanese, Sheesha, or shish.

44. Accompany : GO WITH. Will you accompany me to the senior prom?

45. Spots on a peacock train : OCELLI. From the Latin, diminutive of OCULUS, an eye, because they look like little eyes.

46. Astronomical distance : PARSEC. Another area where I have little KNOWLEDGE. Followed immediately by....

48. Resistance-related : OHMIC. OHM (symbolized by the Greek Omega!) is a measure of resistance named after Georg Ohm.

50. Slangy "Superb!" : PHAT. You can learn about BACKRONYMS.

51. Corinthian cousin : IONIC. Doric being his brother?

53. 90-year-old soft drink : NEHI. Go Radar.

55. Missouri hrs. : CST. Central Standard Time, and the official time of the Corner.

56. Sound at a spa : AHH.

57. "There's __ in 'team'" : NO I. Nor an O or U...

58. Prevailed : WON.  (almost looks like wonton, wonten and of course then to the wanton).

59. Sign of perfection : TEN. still classic?

Well with Bo in your view, running toward you, I am going away for another week. I do not recall if we have ever had a ladder puzzle in the LAT, though they appear in the NYT often. It looks like Daniel was busy as this was his second LAT barely 2 weeks after his maiden. Look forward to hearing the response from all; I wish you all a wonderful final week end in January 2014.  Lemonade out.