google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Lemonade

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Showing posts with label Lemonade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lemonade. Show all posts

Aug 22, 2014

Friday, August 22, 2014, Tom McCoy

Theme: Cross-referential Olympics; where is FORD LUXURY MODEL (15) when you need it?

I happened to solve Mr. McCoy's debut puzzle last November in the NYT and read his comments about referential clues, so I was somewhat prepared for this style of cluing where there is a hidden word which is the clue for all of the theme answers.  The theme fill are not clued at all until you get 23 down, MERCURY, which also has no independent clue. There are many puzzles being constructed where there is a "meta" solution, a style which is embraced by many especially MATT GAFFNEY. This is not a metapuzzle because the solution is part of the puzzle, but it is conceptually based on the same skills. So the strategy becomes, solve 23 down and then it is a simple definition puzzle. We had a run of Friday puzzles which were variations of the definition puzzle at this time last year (including one from marti, and one similar to today's from Mr. Wechsler) so you all should be ready. Once again we get a Friday with an intricate theme but high word count and many 3/4 letter fill to balance the inherent difficulty. In the longer fill, PEACOCK,  SKEWING,  WRESTLE, CORAL SEA,  LEBANESE, ANTEROOMS,  ESCAPE KEY stand out. This is Mr. McCoy's LAT debut (he has 5 solos at NYT since last November) and I hope he likes the environment and appreciates his audience. He was kind enough to provide some commentary on this puzzle and its genesis, which follows this writeup. Knowing this group and its opinion on cross referential puzzles, I expect many Thumper comments, and a few who will appreciate the simplicity of this grid, with all four theme answers being grid spanners which fill in nicely once you crack the code. It is Friday, so let us all put on our long pants and get to work.


17A. See 23-Down : NEIGHBOR OF VENUS (15). A planetary reference for Mercury.
Study: First rock from the Sun. It orbits the sun in 88 days.

27A. See 23-Down : BAROMETER FILLER (15). An elemental reference for Mercury.
Review: 80 on the periodic table. A neighbor from my childhood murdered his wife injecting mercury into her Nissen doughnuts. (Is the factory closed marti?) She was a big eater. He fed small amounts to himself and  his child and he was free until he got drunk and bragged.

45A. See 23-Down : ROCK STAR FREDDIE (15). A pop culture reference for Mercury.
Listen: (2:17) The voice of Queen, he died young, replaced by Adam Lambert who is a...fine singer.


58A. See 23-Down : DIVINE MESSENGER (15). A pagan mythological reference for Mercury.
Learn: Usually referenced as the 'winged messenger' because of the ankle wings.
and the 'reveal:

23D. Clue for 17-, 27-, 45- and 58-Across : MERCURY (7). They all work.

Across:

1. Draft order : PINT. Well Tin, we start right off with some Ale, and not an order to report for duty. Nice clue for 1A on a Friday.

5. "__-A-Lympics": '70s Hanna/Barbera spoof : LAFF. Really had to dig deep and use some perp help. I would imagine the cross with AKON might be a Natick for some. LINK.

9. "Wicked!" : SWEET. A really appealing clue/fill combo for our New England contingent. The " marks give it away.

14. It's pressed in a corner : ESCAPE KEY. I really liked the visual here. 54A. PC key : ALT. Once again we have our clue and a fill with the same word used in the same context (computer key).

16. Feature of some stickers : AROMA. Scratch and Sniff anyone?

19. "__ So Fine": Chiffons hit : HE'S.

20. Turkic flatbread : NAN. A variant spelling from what we are more accustomed to seeing. No Bobbsey twin on a Friday.

21. Conks out : DIES. Cars, engines etc., hopefully not people.

22. Disadvantage : CON. Pro vs. Con, are any of you list makers for decisions?

23. Cohort of Larry and Curly : MOE. Chairman, who did you pay for so much publicity this week?

24. Sound of disapproval : TSK. Back again so soon; I like to see the pair.

33. Hadn't settled yet : OWED. Being a NYT veteran, the cluing style is heavy with the less common definition of words, but we are all familiar with settling our debts.

34. Paul McCartney title : SIR.

35. Sierra __ : LEONE. An interesting country and history, now the center of the EBOLA outbreak with more than 250 deaths. LINK.

36. Watch readout abbr. : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

37. Showy flier : PEACOCK.I have never seen one fly in person though we have many here, and especially at Lion Country Safari. Really pretty sight.


40. Anguish : WOE. I am Friday's child.

41. Tickle : AMUSE. Now where do you keep your fancy?

43. ET carrier, supposedly : UFO. Unidentified Flying Object.

44. Graybacks : REBS. Not a term I know, but easy to guess since we all know the blue and the gray.

49. Elizabeth Darcy __ Bennet : NEE. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen has her own WIKI.

50. Whatever : ANY. Three letters but I needed the perps.

51. Toy power sources : AAS. batteries.

52. Joint high-tech project : WIKI. A vague NYT type clue that is easy only if you have perped the W and the I, the K and the I. Is an online anything considered high-tech?


55. Altar line : I DO. It does alter your life.

63. Downed water, say : DRANK. Tin?

64. Some entryways : ANTEROOMS. I think all entryways are anterooms, not all anterooms are entryways.

65. Having bite : TANGY. I like horseradish.

66. Sister of Luke : LEIA. Star Wars' misguided twins. Mini-theme 26D. "Star Wars" surname : KENOBI. Obi Wan.

67. Tom, Dick and Harry, e.g. : TRIO. I liked these better. Before you go further, who are they?

Down:

1. See 15-Down : PENH. Wow more cross-references. At least there is a clue.15D. With 1-Down, Mekong River capital : PHNOM. Anyone been to Cambodia?

2. "That makes sense to me now" : I SEE said the blind the man.

3. Investigator in the USS Cole attack : NCIS. Not

4. Place for a price : TAG. My grandmother made tags in a factory in Southbridge after her husband died.

5. Some Tripoli natives : LEBANESE. Really interesting. The good news is LIBYANS is too short, but they both start with L.

6. One-named "Lonely" singer : AKON. His real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam.  LISTEN.

7. Supportin' : FER. Not agin. More Lil Abner like speaking.

8. Author Dostoyevsky : FYODOR. Of all of his books , Notes from the Underground was my favorite even if Crime and Punishment is more well known.

9. Except : SAVE. Another NYT type clue, where it is quite correct, but not the usual definition of save. For all our resident poets, I would say it is artistic, "All was quiet, save the chirping of a single cricket."

10. Have difficulty dealing (with) : WRESTLE. I wrestled in grammar school, high school and college.

11. Length of a boring class, so it seems : EON. A new (vague) clue for a crossword staple.

12. Green-egg layer : EMU. I was unaware of this fact; now I know where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration. Kazie, did you have green eggs with your ham?

13. Ph.D. students, perhaps : TAS. Teaching Assistants.

18. Feudal land : FIEF. The word is the basis of the legal term Fee Simple, for real property ownership. If you want to read the HISTORY.

22. Whiting cousin : COD.  Another fishy clue. Cod being the base of most fast food fish dishes.

25. Impeded : SLOWED.

27. Claylike : BOLAR. My learning moment of the day, all perps. The word has not appeared in any puzzle since 1987!

28. "Pleeeeease?" : AW C'MON. Are their enough sports fans here to appreciate THIS. (2:49)

29. Turn down : REDUCE. It took a while, but it is like the volume on you car radio.

30. Don Quixote's aunt : TIA. Just Spanish for aunt.

31. Category : ILK.

32. Rizzuto's Brooklyn counterpart : REESE. Phil and PeeWee, Yankee and Dodger shortstops in the 50's and 60's. They were short but good. HOF material.

37. Foot, in anatomy : PES. Latin word, root word for pedicure, pedestrian etc. No sugar coated  knowledge dispensed here.

38. Not quite right : OFF. I am feeling a tad off today; maybe it was breathing in all the bug spray?

39. Great Barrier Reef setting : CORAL SEA. Off the NE corner of Australia, hopefully Kazie has some stories to tell.

42. Distorting : SKEWING.  I hope I don't skew this up; from the old French escuier: to shy away from.  "When ESPN does polls, the the results are always skewed."

44. Short streets? : RDS. Roads, 'short' meaning abbreviation.

46. Filming unit : TAKE. As in take a picture.

47. Sponge, e.g. : ANIMAL. Living creature.

48. Café customer : EATER. Man, I would rather see this clued Purple People ___.

53. Black : INKY. Another Pac-man shout out?

54. Italian wine region : ASTI. Spumante anyone?

55. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR. Nope not on my radar.

56. Prefix meaning "half" : DEMI. So she is half dark-skinned.

57. Estimate words : OR SO.

58. "Silent Spring" subj. : DDT. DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE

59. Roth __ : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

60. From, in Dutch names : VAN. When people started having surnames, they were often about what they did, who their father was or where they were from. De, Von and others.

61. Suffix with ethyl : ENE. She lived next door to Lucy.

62. "Kidding!" : NOT. I really loved when this fad was in. NOT!

I never know what Friday will bring, and once I got Mercury in the middle, I found this went quickly, overall a challenge and different cluing perspective. Welcome Mr. McCoy and be nice, I want to collaborate with him with a puzzle where Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna are theme answers. Lemonade out. Read his words....

 

Constructor notes:

I’m absolutely thrilled to make my LA Times debut!

In the original submission, the theme entries were NEIGHBOR OF VENUS, DIVINE MESSENGER, QUEEN LEAD SINGER, and METALLIC ELEMENT.  Rich Norris pointed out that METALLIC ELEMENT is not specific enough to make for a very good entry and that QUEEN LEAD SINGER doesn’t work because it really needs to include the name FREDDIE. The original grid also lacked MERCURY as an answer, which Rich realized could be placed in the center intersecting two themers. Therefore, I owe him a big thanks for improving the quality of the theme so much!

Aug 15, 2014

Friday, August 15, 2014 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme:  Look what the WIZARD of ID did to our puzzle, all the Freudian sex stuff added!

Wow, JW is back again, and this time he has inserted the letters ID into four phrases to change their meaning to a new humorous clue. His reveal is in the dead center of the puzzle,
36A. Bouncer's demand, and this puzzle's title : LET'S SEE SOME ID. I added my title to the mix since two of the new phrases sound like the Wizard (soft ID) and two sound like what you have to produce to satisfy a big, steroid raging bouncer (hard ID). Except for some difficult clues/fill, this felt more like a mid-week puzzle, with many 3/4 letter words, with a few nice answers like: DEMEANS, BUMS A RIDE,  I’LL BE AWAY,  PEKINGESE, and  ROSE MARIE, though the ID in "bum's a ride" is a little troubling. Let's examine this latest from Jeffrey, the self-proclaimed Rip Van Winkle of construction.

17A. Cause of brittle cigars? : DRY HUMIDOR. A little self assessment here, with his sense of humor becoming a excuse for bad cigars. Does he puff?

29A. Rebuke a revolutionary? : CHIDE GUEVARA. Now here is where it gets eerie; as you recall Robin Stears just had Che as a theme answer where she added "IT" (taking out the H) to her theme answers. ID happens to be the Latin word for IT, which is where Freud got the term, but it is all irrelevant because JW was thinking Identification ID. Oops, Freud wrote about THAT as well.

44A. Tolerate a Midwest capital? : ABIDE LINCOLN. A CSO to HG and his Nebraska buddies, built from Honest Abe.

60A. God of honeymoon truck rentals? : RYDER CUPID. Very timely fill, as the Ryder Cup (US versus Europe) is coming soon. Phil's second place finish at Valhalla cemented his position on the team, while Tiger (wisely) withdrew from consideration. Rory's third win, and second major in a row makes Europe the favorites. (Another clue fill conflict) 62D. Ryder Cup team : USA. JW?

And I remind you of the reveal:
36A. Bouncer's demand, and this puzzle's title : LET'S SEE SOME ID.
let's see some action:

Across:
    
1. Classic beginning or ending? : HARD C. This one had me going for a while, until I got 4D (DOH) and 5D (CLUTCH) then the bell in my head rang. Hey Don Gagliardo!

6. __ bag : GRAB.

10. Some NYSE traders : ARBS. Back again.

14. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL. I did not know this man at all, but he seemINTERESTING. Maybe Gareth Bain can provide some insight, enjoyed his puzzle on Thursday.

15. Smart Simpson : LISA.  You all can finally catch up watching every episode, all 207 hours. 4D. "I should have thought of that!" : DOH. The Homer Simpson spelling.

16. Wet course : SOUP. Logical but I am unfamiliar with this term.

19. "This __ Song": Petula Clark hit : IS MY. College years. Going Downtown.

20. Intention : AIM. It is our aim to entertain and educate and learn.

21. Bit : TAD.

22. Artistic surroundings? : FRAMES. Cute.

24. Inventor for whom a N.J. township is named : TAE. Those of you who do not know Edison Township, or think it is unfair to get just the initials of Thomas Alva Edison did not see that NJ tells you what is coming.

25. Said "You're on!" to : CUED.

27. Friar __ de Torquemada : TOMÁS. No clue about first name of this man mentioned in the Catholic ENCYCLOPEDIA. No religion, no politics, no comment. One of the Friday clues/fill.

32. NYSE event : IPOInitial Public Offering.

34. Tortilla dough : MASA. Well this is the Spanish word for dough. Corn tortillas I think are made of masa de maize (help Lucina!). A Friday clue.

35. Manipulate illegally : RIG. Boxing, basketball and the 1919 Black Sox come to mind.

41. Jan. honoree : MLKMartin Luther King.

42. 7UP's opposite? : COLA. Remember WHEN (1:01)? Clecho- 50A. 7UP, e.g. : SODA.

43. "Pioneer Woman" cookbook writer Drummond : REE. Another CHEF.

49. Red head : LENIN. Cute misdirection.

51. Olympic diver's ideal : TEN.

54. Former vice-presidential family : AGNEWS. Hmm, there are so many...and the plural?

57. "... from __ far country blows": Housman : YON. From A.E. Houseman's 40th poem in A Shropshire Lad, also inspired the title of  of Nevil Shute's The Far Country. (per wiki and other places).
        Into my heart an air that kills
        From yon far country blows:
        What are those blue remembered hills,
        What spires, what farms are those?

        That is the land of lost content,
        I see it shining plain,
        The happy highways where I went
        And cannot come again.

58. Kitchenware giant : OXO.

59. Actor Wilson : OWEN. Luke also has 4 letters. I now find Luke boring.

63. Vintner's quantity : CASE. Cask?

64. Certain tunnelers : ANTS.

65. Virtual transaction : E-SALE. Now we have A words and E words.

66. Batik artist : DYER. I was looking for a famous one, not just the job.

67. Garden headache : PEST.

68. Obliterates : RAZES. Always loved how the homophone RAISES is so opposite, learning English is such fun.

Down:

1. Tackled : HAD AT.

2. Heart chambers : ATRIA.

3. Sound mostly the same : RHYME. A CSO to all of our resident poets.

5. Shifting aid : CLUTCH. More than aid, I think.

6. Moved smoothly : GLIDED. Not when I am driving stick....

7. Free : RID. Finally I am free of those stupid emails.

8. Since : AS OF.

9. Epstein-__ virus : BARR. Completely unrelated to Roseanne.  LINK. One of those from the happy herpes family.

10. Heinlein contemporary : ASIMOV. To me the greatest.

11. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" actress : ROSE MARIE. She was a child actress.

12. Hitches : BUMS A RIDE. Nice hard Friday fill, but the ID in the fill seems ????

13. Furtive sort : SPY.

18. Wailuku's county : MAUI.

23. Crackerjack group : A-TEAM. No Mr. T.?

26. Humiliates : DEMEANS.

28. Lose some support : SAG. I am sure Lois has never lost her support from here at the Corner.

29. Camp sight : COT.

30. Natural resource : GAS. When I am around my youngest son, I am not so sure how natural it is.

31. Mil. morale booster : USO.

32. "That's my vacation time" : I'LL BE AWAY.

33. Typically long-haired breed : PEKINGESE. Did you do the NYT where the fill was   PIQUE PEKE PEAKED, or something like that?

37. Dramatic division : SCENE.

38. Sonora sun : SOL. Another Spanish word.

39. Timothy Omundson's role on "Xena" : ELI. No clue.  Watch.

40. Coastal raptor : ERN.

41. Content beginning? : MALcontent. From the French for bad.

45. "What's for __?" : DINNER. Really? Leftovers.

46. Least straightforward : COYEST. Nice clue.

47. Burning sulfur quality : ODOR. Funny, as this is often related to damnation.

48. Cavalry soldier : LANCER.

51. November birthstone : TOPAZ.

52. Napoleon, ultimately : EXILE. Using it as a noun was tricky.

53. Meeting places : NODES. CLUBS? No. I love this misdirection, as this botanical and biologic term does define where things meet, or intersect. I would like to intersect with the young lady from Splynter's last blog.

55. Stole, for one : WRAP.

56. January 1 word : SYNE. This clue getting auld?

59. It typically involves repetitive behavior, briefly : OCDObsessive Compulsive Disorder.

61. Sot's woe : DTSDelerium Tremens. 11th grade math teacher, first period, his coffee cup shaking and rattling- a memory for all time!

Speaking of memories, I recall it is time to thank JW for another romp in his world, thank you all for reading, thank C.C. for being our Werowance and best wishes for Alan, and the three people who I know who are have their birthday today, and DIL tomorrow. Lemonade out.

Aug 8, 2014

Friday, August 8, 2014, David Poole

Theme: Double your fun,  A?

Each of the 5 theme answers has the last letter of the last word in a phrase doubled and an A is added to create a totally different phrase, clued with wit. With no intention to offend anyone, since I live in a community that is 60% 1st generation Italians, the rhythm of the new word created sounds to me like an Italian speaking English. For me that enhanced the whimsy and enjoyment of the puzzle. David is more than 5 years into his second career in making puzzles, and has made some really great ones; read his INTERVIEW. While I loved the theme, the word count, blocks and fill are mostly a Thursday feel for me. The sparkle was present in ALOMAR,  AMULET,  C-NOTES,  MOGULS, SERENE,  UGANDA,  VOODOO, LIBERIA, COMANECI, and KICKED IN without too many 3/4 letter fill and only a few omnipresent ones like ATE and ANTE.  Let's see how it all sounded to you.


17A. Oversized European import? : JUMBO JETTA (10) We recently had the VW Jetta clued as model since 1979, and we all know Jumbo Jets, pioneered by the 747.

25A. Summer known for kitchen supplies? : TEFLON DONNA (11). He was the TEFLON DON because no charges brought against him would stick.  Like other teflon, it wore out and he died in prison. I wonder if this was the seed answer inspired by GOTTILove to Love You Baby.

37A. Be nostalgic for old Nordic currency? : MISS THE MARKKA (13).  I know nothing of this FINNISH currency but Finns double vowels often, I hope you did not Miss the Mark on this one. .

52A. Poignant game show personality? : MOVING VANNA. (11) Other than a turn as Al's dream girl on Married With Children, I have never seen Vanna White express any emotion, but i love the clue/fill almost as much as I hate moving.

61A. Expert on Icelandic sagas? : MISTER EDDA (10) We have seen Edda so often and Mister Ed, now they are together...well I am cold just reading about Iceland and Finland, let's move on.


Across:

1. Type type : PICA. Once upon a time I knew pica and elite and no more.

5. He was originally called Dippy Dawg : GOOFY.I did not know this but with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck it was not hard to guess that Walt like double letters.

10. Plastic option : VISA. Good Friday clue/fill.

14. Doofus : BOOB. No one commented on my Thong link last week, so I think this is safe... LINK.

15. Navel observation : INNIE. Loved the simple misdirection.

16. Turow book set at Harvard : ONE-L.

19. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRO. Spanish.

20. Half a sci-fi name : ARTOO. According to WOOKIEEPEDIA.

21. Cash in : REDEEM. Reminds me of the old Sperry and Hutchinson green stamps.

23. "Wow!" : MAN. Really vague, but so are our children.

28. News __ : ITEM.

30. Christmas purchase : FIR. Tree.

31. Campaign target : VOTER.

32. Tamper with : DOCTOR.

35. In development, as software : BETA. By now you all must know about Beta testers, and even constructors use them. (Hey Annette hope you are feeling better).

42. Cath. honorific : MSGR. Monseigneur. From the French. LINK.

43. Running without moving : IDLING. Especially for cars.

45. Pal of Picasso : AMIGO. Spanish.

49. Mannerism : TIC.

51. Classic name in shoes : MCAN.Thom?

56. Sunflower St. school : KSU. This is the third different clue for KSU in the last few weeks. Notice the flower on the flag.

57. Lake Victoria country : UGANDA. There are more than one. This is one of Africa's GREAT LAKES.

58. Tapenade ingredient : OLIVE. If you like olives and capers with a hint of anchovy...any recipes out there?

60. Breather : LUNG. This clue is how you make 4 letter fill Friday hard.

66. "A Shot in the Dark" actress Sommer : ELKE. She is back, and the nude scene with Peter Sellers has been linked enough.

67. Lead in the theater? : USHER. Not the star, but the one who takes you to your seat. I did that at the Candlewood Lake Theater.

68. Knee-slapper : RIOT. Funnnnnnnnnnnny.

69. Winter Palace resident : TSAR.

70. Head lock : TRESS. The space eliminates the wrestling hold.

71. Join the game : ANTE. One that requires betting.

Down:

1. Lunchbox staple, casually : PBJ. My first fill. Peanut Butter & Jelly.

2. Marker : IOU. Another Friday repeat.

3. Gymnast with five Olympic golds : COMANECI. The C from pica gave me this 10 all growed up.

4. E.g., e.g. : ABBReviation.

5. Boy toy : G I JOE. Did you like the movie?

6. Unrepeated event, in England : ONE OFF. David used this 1/18/2013 in a Friday where marti blogged and linked to the expression.

7. Mich. neighbor : ONTario, Canada. I believe David is from Canada, eh? Eh?

8. Qualified : FIT.

9. Long : YEARN. I long for the perfect write-up.

10. Gris-gris wearer's practice : VOODOO. Who do the voodoo like you do? A partial clecho:45D. Gris-gris, for one : AMULET. All you need to know about this TALISMAN.

11. Aim : INTENT.

12. Composed : SERENE.

13. Baseball family name : ALOMAR. Sandy Jr., Roberto a Hall of Famer and Sandy Sr., Nice to see someone other than the Alous.

18. Giant star : OTT. More baseball.

22. Composer Grieg : EDVARD. A Norwegian. We all know Peer Gynt.

23. Season opener? : MID-season form.

24. Tiny bit : ATOM.

26. Country settled by freed American slaves : LIBERIA. This is a HISTORY that was not taught when I was in school.

27. Home of Utah Valley University : OREM.

29. High pts. : MTS. Mounts, or Mountains. 46D. Downhill challenges : MOGULS. A little early skiing CSO for marti.

33. Performing siblings' surname : OSMOND. Donnie and Marie? I met marie in 1979 when this was filmed.

34. ACLU concerns : RTS.

36. __ chi : TAI.

38. "Curb Appeal" network : HGTV. Home and Garden Television.

39. Airline to Amsterdam : KLM. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.

40. Began to take effect : KICKED IN. Have the drugs kicked in yet?

41. Santa __: West Coast winds : ANAS.

44. Horned grazer : GNU. Who knew?

47. Fashionista Trump : IVANKA. It is good to be born rich. LINK.

48. Turmeric relative : GINGER.  Want to know ALL?
 
50. Bills featuring Ben : C-NOTES. One Hundred Dollar bills, so nicknamed as Century Notes

53. Full extent : GAMUT. Like Amazon, from A to Z.

54. Cards, e.g. : NLERS, The baseball St. Louis version, not the football Arizona ones.

55. Broadcast : AIR.

59. Designer Wang : VERA.  Some of the Fall Collection.

62. Neighbor of Leb. : ISRael.

63. Dam or madam : SHE. Nope, no safe way to comment.

64. Part of a modern address : DOT. How com you did not know this?

65. Had : ATE. I had grilled salmon, you?

Well I often eat when I am writing this, so it is fitting that I leave you on a food note (sounds like...?) Thanks David. Nice week end all and be sure and stop in and visit with Splynter as he unravels the mystery of the themeless Saturday: lemonade out.

Aug 1, 2014

Friday, August 1, 2014, Julian Lim

Theme: Flights of fancy, or just plane pun!

White rabbit, white rabbit. In a reversal theme, the four in the language phrases are clued to make them related to air travel. The first word of each phrase can be used in the context of a scheduled flight, and what you may see if you look at the arrival/departure board at an airport. If you Google, even with quotation marks, the four phrases you see they are all common, though obviously some more easily sussed. Boarding School tipped me to the theme and it made getting the others much easier. Julian, a prolific constructor living in Singapore always gives me a work out, but this one seemed a tad easier. Not easy, just doable. In addition to two 13s and two 14s in the theme (TEMA for our Italian friends) there were some gems CASIOS,  SPATES, CROATIA,  DATA SET,  PAY CASH,  RASHERS, LOLL AROUND and my favorite TOOTSIE POP.  Well, while I suck on my candy, let's get to work.

20A. Consequence of a late flight? : DELAYED EFFECT. (13). For me this was the hardest because it is such a vague, all encompassing phrase. Flight delays are less of problem now that the airlines deliberately factor them into their estimates.

33A. Where to learn how to be on time for a flight? : BOARDING SCHOOL.(14). I went to boarding school, one run after the tradition of Eton (see below).

39A. Luggage on a recently-arrived flight? : LANDED PROPERTY.(14). This TERM may be more prevalent in Singapore, but I am sure you have heard of the landed gentry and their ESTATES. (see below).
 
52A. Mark showing the status of a stormy-day flight? : CANCELED CHECK.(13). Remember when you used to get your canceled checks from the bank with your monthly statement? Theme complete? Check!

Across:

1. Bottom application : TALC. Cute way to start the day with a baby's bottom.

5. Crystallizes : JELLS. Are they the same? Certainly when it comes to an idea, but does the science work?

10. Hemingway sobriquet : PAPA. I get called Papa, because my beard is all white but I do not look like these guys:

14. New car feature : ODOR. You can buy the smell in a can now.

15. "Stop kidding around!" : OH YOU. I get this often.

16. Claire's younger daughter on "Modern Family" : ALEX. The smart one. CLIP. (0:23).

17. First name at Woodstock : ARLO. He gave the absolute worst performance and refused to sing even a few bars of Alice's Restaurant. Had 400,000 people angry.


18. Harold's film partner : KUMAR. The modern version.


19. "Eek!" : YIPE.

23. Outpourings : SPATES. Spate to me is even more dramatic then just an outpouring.

24. Day __ : SPA. Very popular here.

25. Narrow inlet : RIA. A word I know only from crosswords. We just do not teach geography in the US.

26. 2014 U.S. Women's Open champ : WIE. This 6' Hawaiian, Michelle, is finally harnessing her TALENT. (0:32) You may not know that her mother was a beauty queen.

29. Immature retort : IS TOO. IS NOT!

36. Premier __: wine designation : CRU.

37. Patek Philippe competitor : OMEGA. You have to watch out for Julian's trickery.

38. Ratified : OK'D. Is this a real abbreviation?

44. Stop by : END AT. Not to visit, but to cease.

45. Getting-off pt. : STN. Station.

46. Some hosps. : VAS. Veteran Administrations. Hard to comment and not get political.

47. Talking-__ (lectures) : TOS. Ah, the old parental good "talking to."

49. Privia digital pianos, e.g. : CASIOS. The FACTS.

56. Media concern : BIAS. Really? It hardly seems anyone cares about bias in the media as all sides have their slanted presentations.

58. Bellowing : AROAR. Oh my, I have not had an "A" word in months; they used to be the bane of Fridays.

59. Sport with touches : EPEE.

60. Boxer's reward : BONE. Woof woof.

61. Tool in Excel : MACRO. I know how to use macros in word perfect...

62. It's played on Broadway : ROLE.

63. Stop : QUIT.

64. Church reading : PSALM. I get confused, as the Psalms are all part of the Old Testament, how are they used in the Church?

65. Hit the __ : SPOT. For me it is that first sip of coffee.

Down:

1. Natterjacks : TOADS. No idea. A very Friday CLUE. 

2. Pitcher? : AD REP. Back to my Monday references to Mad Men and Crazy People.

3. Hang out : LOLL AROUND. This required building from the perps, just not a phrase that jumped to mind.

4. Montenegro neighbor : CROATIA. The Black Mountain is a very entertaining book in the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout where he explores the characters Montenegrin background. An CSO for Tinbeni and his work.

5. Routine elements : JOKES. Really great Friday clue, as jokes are part of a comedian's routine, not part of everyday life.

6. Israeli statesman Barak : EHUD. This past prime minister of Israel perhaps is best known for his involvement in successful RAIDS. A Friday name for certain.

7. __ disease: tick-transmitted affliction : LYME. This was named after a town in Connecticut, not far from where I grew up.

8. Word with meat or sugar : LOAF.  Your choice, MEAT (7:18) or SUGAR.(4:00).

9. Sees the sites : SURFS. Sights, sites word play.

10. Exchange notes : PAY CASH. Bank notes. Tricky as you fall into the school note passing trap.

11. Disembarked : ALIT.

12. Zip or drive : PEP.

13. Big name in men's grooming : AXE. This does appear in many forms in so many of my puzzles to blog.

21. Wine datum : YEAR.

22. Expansive : EPIC. Four letters but not that easy.

26. Chickens : WIMPS. I perceive wimps as even more afraid than chickens.

27. Nonreactive : INERT. The clue is often a gas. How noble.

28. Goad : EGG ON. According to Answers.com the use of  egg as the verb to  'urge' as in egg on is from Old Norse eggja 'incite, encourage, urge on' - and is not related to the eggs laid by birds. Egg as a verb is recorded in print in 1200, but not until 1566 in the phrase egg on.

30. Lickable candy since 1931 : TOOTSIE POP. I bet many a tooth was lost to the impatient ones wanting the to get to the center. HISTORY.

31. "The Addams Family" adjective : OOKY. The theme SONG.(0:54). What would you rhyme with spooky?
 
32. Clichéd : OLD. Hmm, maybe I am only cliched now.

33. Cereal box word : BRAN.

34. Chuck Hagel's gp. : DOD. Department of Defense.

35. Enervate : SAP. The opposite of the similar sounding energize.

36. Browns, on scoreboards : CLEveland, Johnny Manziel and Lebron; and the PGA at Firestone in Akron; how much excitment can Ohio take?

40. Mining target : DATA SET. The next step in the Bif Brother world predicted. LEARN.

41. "The most private of private schools": Hugh Laurie : ETON. You need to know this four letter school in England for kings and princes and actors.

42. Copter rescue, perhaps : EVACuation.

43. Bacon units : RASHERS.

48. Rogue : SCAMP.

49. Storage medium : CD-ROM. Why are all CDs gypsies?

50. 3M sponge brand : OCELO. Actually, O-CEL-O.

51. Sport with shotguns : SKEET. I never heard of a word which was born in a CONTEST.

52. "Is it allowed?" : CAN I? I was raised to ask May I.

53. Chunks of history : ERAS.

54. "Livin' La Vida __": Ricky Martin hit : LOCA.


55. Well-manored individual? : EARL. Another fun play on words, as Downton Abbey is Lord Grantham's manor. A reference to the Landed Property above.

56. Chip flavor : BBQ.

57. Slip for chips, maybe : IOU. A chip double...When you win keep betting, when you lose quit before you lose big. Never gamble on IOU's.

Well we embark on a new month, the Bachelorette got called out, we are down to the semi-finals in AGT and the Last Comic and there are more and more original programs on TV during the summer. Well hoping you all still find time for the puzzle and the Corner. Lemonade out.

Jul 25, 2014

Friday, July 25, 2014, Jacob McDermott

Theme: AUTO-fill. ( I could not resist this after reading yesterday's interview with JW who refuses to use the auto-fill feature of the crossword computer programs, and of course today being all about cars).

Not sure why, and nothing to cry about, but I saw the theme immediately after filling in SAND CRAB. It still takes some solving to find the right car companies, but it was all good and the reveal, the tricky 'tear apart' meaning for rent masking the simple theme of taking an automaker name, split it, and use the front for the beginning of first word of a two word phrase and the rest for the end of the second word. The theme phrases went from  very good (BUILDING BLOCK and DOCKING BRIDGE) to FIRE HAT. The fill had some fun non-theme like AGATHA, BYE NOW, KING ME, LOFTED, ROCOCO, URBANE, RATLINE,  DON’T DELAY and SIDEKICKS. It looks like Mr. McDermott, (who has one prior LAT back in June 2012, but had two NYT publications in 2013, his NYT debut on my birthday) is still hedging on too much long fill, but he used minimal blocks to get this one done. Let us see where Jacob has driven us.


17A. *Beach scuttler : SAND CRAB (8). When I moved down here and visited a house near the ocean, I was shocked by the number of these guys in the yard. My favorite English Teacher in College drove an old SAAB which had no reverse. Made driving and parking a challenge.

24A. *Platform used when mooring ships : DOCKING BRIDGE (13). I will let the boaters explain this, as I DODGE my responsibility.

39A. *Headwear for a hose user : FIRE HAT (7). Not sure of this phrase (Fireman's Hat?). My girl friend weighs 100 pounds and wants this FIAT.

50A. *Lego unit : BUILDING BLOCK (13). I wonder  if this was the seed entry. My father used to always drive a BUICK.
And the reveal:
62A . Wheels on loan ... or, as the circles show, what four puzzle answers have done? : RENT A CAR. As I always say, the reveal is the key to the fun and the renting (tearing apart) of the car names is cool.


Across:


1. Went through with : DID. Good start for me.

4. Places to get stuck : RUTS.

8. Mr. Miyagi's art : KARATE.The movie was brought back to many by the constant references on How I Met Your Mother. Pat Morita of Happy Days fame was great.

14. Prefix with hazard : ECO.

15. Oft-fried vegetable : OKRA. There are only a million vegetables that people fry.

16. Army chopper : APACHE.

19. One concerned with show horses? : BETTOR. My degenerate gambler friends always bet Win/Place not Show. Very cute clue.

20. 101 course, briefly : INTROduction.

21. "Later" : CIAO. Italian, now, like AmEx, accepted world wide.

23. Filmmaker Riefenstahl : LENI. I have had this controversial filmmaker BEFORE.

27. "Later" : BYE NOW.

29. Phrase of clarification : AS IN.I had trouble sussing this one, though it looks easy.

30. Part : ROLE. Mine is to explain.

31. Selma, to Bart : AUNT. Not sure I can tell her from her sister Patty Bouvier.

34. Shindigs, ultimately? : FESTS. Wanted FETES for some reason; I blame Steve and NC.

38. Scandinavian rug : RYA. Another repeat Friday word, this one from JW in May.


41. Soc. Sec. supplement : IRA. This clue for Individual Retirement Account took me longer than it should have. It was a...

42. Kind of pain? : ROYAL.

44. Victim of Atalanta in the Calydonian Hunt : BOAR. I do not want to bore you with this MYTH, but if you want to get a glass of wine and sit and READ....

45. Sixth-day creation : ADAM. Man, this was tricky too.

46. Verdi motif : TEMA. More Italian, hmm, McDermott?

48. Places to see bowlers : ALLEYS. Not the cricket pitch this time, eh Boomer?

55. Tolstoy title name : ANNA. One way to look at this title for all you BOOK CLUB people.

56. Secure, in a way : SEAL. He should not have been as Heidi left him.

57. Impose fraudulently : FOIST. It makes me think of the three stooges  and what comes before second.

60. Disconcerting looks : STARES.

64. Demand upon reaching the other side : KING ME. Very difficult to parse, but good Friday clue/fill.

65. Fictional blue bovine : BABE. Paul Bunyan.

66. The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf. : KSU. Never to be confused with the boys from Manhattan, the JayHawks.

67. Rains hard? : SLEETS. I wanted sheets, as in it is coming down in sheets.

68. Dutch town : STAD.

69. Ella, in the States : SHE. Some Spanish (Italian too?).

Down:

1. Fred : William :: Ricky : __ : DESI. Did you Love Lucy?

2. Positive words : I CAN. I think I can, I think I can....

3. Urgent ad words : DON'T DELAY. order now!!!!!

4. Florid 18th-century style : ROCOCO.
SOURCE
5. The Dnieper flows through it: Abbr. : UKRaine. An area in the news all too much lately.

6. Bingham of "Baywatch" : TRACI.  Lots of stuff on the internet.

7. '50s vaccine pioneer : SABIN. Polio oral vaccine.

8. Skewered fare : KABOBS. Kebab, tomato, tomahto.

9. Arboreal critter : APE. Anyone seen the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, yet?

10. Rope ladder rung : RATLINE. Complete unknown term. More for the boaters to explain, Jeannie where are you?

11. Pretended to be : ACTED.

12. Adventurous beachwear : THONG. Look if you must.  LINK 1. LINK 2.

13. Creepy : EERIE.

18. Go on and on : DRONE. No longer what we think of with this word.

22. Mystery award : AGATHA. Dame Agatha Christie.

25. River in a 1957 Best Picture title : KWAI. Really fine MOVIE. (3:09)

26. One may lead to a feud : RIFT.

27. Cold response : BRRR. I was thinking figuratively at first.

28. Fluctuate wildly : YO-YO. Big dieting word these days.

32. Cosmopolitan : URBANE. David Niven for me....

33. "The Matrix" hero : NEO. Future urbane?


35. Robin and others : SIDEKICKS. I got this solely from the perps as there are entirely too many Robins.

36. Room service item : TRAY. "Yes, I would like to order a tray please."

37. BJ's competitor : SAM'S. These places are just too big, but great if you have a large family.

39. Bolted : FLED. Not Usain.

40. Sea once fed by the Amu Darya River : ARAL. No idea, but the letters are easy.

43. Out there : AT LARGE. I am not sure which one was meant.
Idiom: at large
1. Not in confinement or captivity; at liberty: a convict still at large.
2. As a whole; in general: the country at large.
3. Representing a nation, state, or district as a whole. Often used in combination: councilor-at-large.
4. Not assigned to a particular country. Often used in combination: ambassador-at-large.
5. At length; copiously.


45. Metal giant : ALCOA. ALuminum COmpany of America.

47. Air balls, e.g. : MISSES. Used often in basketball telecasts.

49. Hit in the air : LOFTED. A soft fly ball to left...

50. Luxuriates : BASKS. Here, it is in the sun.

51. Up to : UNTIL.

52. Silly : INANE. An apt word for much of my blogging style.

53. Clothes : GARBS.  It used to mean stylish ones; from the French garbe meaning graceful outline, which may explain why Greta Guftasson chose her stage name..


54. Pasture call : BLEAT. A word I have not heard in years. This SOUND.(0:18).

58. Ceremonial accessory : SASH. The sash is critical.

59. "Indeed" : TRUE.

61. ER staff member : EMT. Emergency Medical Technician. Nit, they work for the fire department or the ambulance services, IMO..

63. Spurs' org. : NBA. National Basketball Association.

Well another month flying by, another puzzle from a constructor named Jacob (thank you JMc);   I leave you with the image of the 2012 Miss Universe from Rhode Island, Olivia Cuplo, who reminds us even the smallest garden can grow roses. Lemonade out.

Jul 18, 2014

Friday July 18, 2014, Robin Stears

Theme: Does this puzzle go both ways?

In another variation of the letter substitution puzzle, Robin removes the letter "H" from some common phrases and inserts an "IT" in its place, and the resulting new phrases are skillfully clued. The clincher is the very witty reveal which reparses Switch Hit  to Switch H IT. As you all know by now, for me the reveal is critical to the enjoyment of this style of puzzle, and I love IT!  Robin has been with the LAT for many years going back to this PUZZLE She also is active on Twitter, and commenting on puzzles as well as having her own SITE promoting her puzzles and some books she has authored. This puzzle for me had the feel of a Friday with a low word count, no classic crosswordese and some fun 7 and 8 letter fill. ACETONE, ADOPTEE, ASUNDER, CELESTE, FERRARO, ROBERTS, CHATROOM, ETRUSCAN, LOIS LANE, SUGAR PEA.


17A. Imp who annoys the webmaster? : SITE DEVIL. (9) SHE DEVIL transformed. Odd to see this paired with its homonym as part of the theme.

24A. Security group at a protest? : SIT IN GUARDS. (11) SHIN GUARDS an appropriate fill for World Cup time, harkens back memories of college in the 60's.

34A. Quote from "Guerrilla Warfare"? : CITE GUEVARA. (11) CHE GUEVERA was another major player in the 60's media.

49A. Improved Gemini missile? : BETTER TITAN.(11)  BETTER THAN is a bit of a flat phrase but we are being consistent with a rocket from 60s. If you grew up when I did, or watched the movies you will remember the launches of the Gemini capsules. And the reveal,

57A. Swing both ways, and a literal hint to how four puzzle answers were created : SWITCH HIT.

Across:
        
1. 1980s Vicki Lawrence TV role : MAMA. The much younger Vicki played Carol Burnett's mother first on Carol's variety show and then on MAMA's FAMILY.(6:12).

5. Baylor University site : WACO. Where RG III and Brittney Greiner starred.

9. Cul-__ : DE SAC. We do not always want to use literal translations of French phrases incorporated into English. Not to be confused with 18D. Make potable, as seawater : DESALT.

14. Org. created in Baghdad in 1960 : OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

15. Emperor after Galba : OTHO. He was one of the 4 in the year of 4 Emperors, which I learned about from my Classics studying son. No operation or salad named for this one.

16. Taken : IN USE. I doubt the movies would have done very well with this title.


19. Person of influence : MOGUL. If you ever wondered, the name comes from the Great Mogul, Mughal emperor of India after the conquest of 1520s,

20. Steel plow pioneer : DEERE. A company built on a very simple premise. HISTORY.


21. Amy Adams' "Man of Steel" role : LOIS LANE. Why do the movies and TV shows always get it wrong; Lois is a brunette and Lana Lang the red-head. Once again a ginger.


23. "Baudolino" author : ECO. Author Umberto is becoming a favorite of constructors.

27. Mondale's running mate : FERRARO. Geraldine, if you forgot.

29. Cheesecake ingredient? : GAM. Pulp fiction word for an attractive female leg, probably from the Italian Gamba. Splynter are you out there? A classic.


30. Fondle : PET. Sounds weird.

31. Tasteless : BLAND. Ah, tasteless, not tasteless.

33. "Where __ you?" : WERE. A bad question to ever here from your SO.

38. Cheers : RAHS.

40. "On the Record" host Van Susteren : GRETA. No way to link this Fox news star without it ending up in political discussion.

41. Mozart's "L'__ del Cairo" : OCA.

42. Humanities degs. : MAS. Master of Arts

45. Oliver Twist, e.g. : ADOPTEE. Not my first or second thought.

52. __ mission : ON A. A Gemini one?

53. Ancient Po Valley dweller : ETRUSCAN. With a son who majored in Roman Archaeology, the pre-Roman Italian people  is another gimme.

54. Classics, e.g. : I-PODS. I am too old to understand this. (From C.C.:  This refers to iPod Classic model.)

56. Underground network : ROOTS. This clue/fill will grow on you.

60. CD alternative : T-NOTE.

61. Fleming and McKellen : IANS. An Odd Couple? James Bond and Magneto? Or Gandalf?

62. Hawk's foe : DOVE. A very vocal comparison from the 60s when the Vietnam War raged.

63. Certain car carriers : SEMIS.

64. Span. miss : SRTA.

65. Hip follower? : STER. This is an accepted suffix (mob, trick etc.) even if you do not like this type of fill. My personal favorite is easy. LOB. Anyway, hipsters abounded in the 60s.

Down:

1. Rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly : MOS DEF. I know him only from his films, certainly not his most recent name. He was born Dante Terrell Smith. Not a 60s reference.

2. Pricing word : A PIECE.


3. Astronomer's sighting : METEOR.

4. Aspire maker : ACER. Computer.
5. Distress : WOE.

6. Beach transp. : ATV. All Terrain Vehicle.

7. It may be seen on a dog : CHILI. Funny.

8. Chinese tea : OOLONG. Did you know the HISTORY? It ties into the ...

9. Chinese dish served on small plates : DIM SUM. An odd sort of Clecho.

10. __ Gay : ENOLA. I think it is time this clue was dropped.

11. Edible pod : SUGAR PEA. These are a form of snow or snap pea, not a sweet pea.

12. In bits and pieces : ASUNDER. Divorced anyone?

13. Pizza-For-One maker : CELESTE. A CSO to my son's MIL.

22. Supermarket letters : IGA. Independent Grocers Alliance.

25. Requiem Mass hymn word : IRAE.

26. Half a patio pair : TONG.

28. MLB stats : RBIS. It should never be "RBI's" as the plural is Runs Batted In, still RBI, you can have 10 RBI.

32. Grooved on : DUG. here we go back to the 60s; I am home.

33. Trendy sandwich : WRAP. So last year.

34. Place to practice netiquette : CHAT ROOM.

35. Latin 101 word : ERAT.

36. Sacred Hindu text : VEDA.

37. Not accented, as syllables : ATONIC.

38. 1955 Fonda role : ROBERTS. Hey MISTER. (2:18) A wonderful romp with Hank Fonda, Jimmy Cagney, Bill Powell and a young Jack Lemmon (no relation).

39. Polish remover ingredient : ACETONE.It is where the smell comes from. If you smell that in someone's breath get them immediately to a hospital as it is likely caused by diabetic ketosis. Or too many orange certs.

42. Diddles (around) : MESSES. Not my first thought, nor likely Dennis'.

43. Hyperbola part : ARC. Not an exaggeration.

44. Equilibrium : STASIS.

46. One of Goldilocks' complaints : TOO HOT.

47. Vitamin K source : ENDIVE.This is the one vegetable I do not like.

48. __ egg : EASTER.

50. __-frutti : TUTTI. We have to go here: LINK. (2:05).

51. "__, truth is the first casualty": Aeschylus : IN WAR. Another topic I will avoid for non-political political reasons.

55. Third degrees? : PHDS. Philosophiae Doctor(s). Nice misdirection BA-1, MA-2, PhD-3.

58. Bank acct. entry : INTerest.

59. PC-checking org., at times : TSA. Transportation Safety Administration.

Another Friday in the record books, the  Open Tournament from Royal Liverpool is here to amuse us and of course in So.Fla. We have sun and have rain. Thanks Robin and thanks Corner.

Enjoy all. Lemonade out.