Friday, September 19, 2014 Jacob Stulberg

Theme: Happy Talk like a pirate day. 9/19/2014. The HISTORY.

It is not uncommon for certain holiday or special days to have puzzles constructed to honor these occasions, and I have my first to blog. This one involves a quip leading to a grid spanning very silly reveal. Structurally, I have not written up a quote/quip type so  this will be interesting. I do like vertical grid spanning fill. Oddly Jacob's very first LAT was a Friday quote puzzle, but marti and I had switched so she did the write up of that effort.  Some nice fill like ENAMEL, ENMESH, HAT TIP, PAPAYA, PESETA, STIFLE, ELATEDLY,  ENTRYWAY, HEAT RASH, HIGH BEAM,  RYE BEERS,  SABOTEUR, but still many 3,4 and 5 letter fill for a Friday. I guess the question the audience will answer is whether the reveal was witty enough. This is my third Jacob this year, and usually I work very hard to solve his words. I guess like potato chips, I can't solve just one.


17A. Start of a riddle : WHAT'S. (5)
30A. Riddle, part two : A PIRATE'S. (8)
49A. Riddle, part three : FAVORITE. (8)
64A. End of the riddle : MOVIE. (5)

Well the favorite movie is of course; TA DAH!

7A. Answer to the riddle : ARRRRRRRRRRRRGO. (15). Of course there is a degree of poetic license in determining the 12 "R"s but either it is funny or it is not. LINK.


Across:
        
1. Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," for one : CHIMP. Also in the Dawn.

6. Road __ : MAP.

9. Long-legged wader : HERON. Door ONE or Door TWO.

14. Halos : AURAE. When you develop cataracts you have halos dominate your visual field.

15. Bold alternative : ERA. Detergent brand names; did not fool me this time.

16. Really ticked : IRATE.

18. "Shirt Front and Fork" artist : ARP. We get Jean often; like the painting?

19. Well-mannered fellows : GENTS. Old fashioned and likely to remember the 35A. Polite gesture : HAT TIP.

20. Summertime woe : HEAT RASH. On the edge of the breakfast test?

23. "__ Shorty": Elmore Leonard novel : GET. Get reappears; if you did not read the book, you can watch the MOVIE.  (2:34). 20 years already.

24. Sumptuous meals : FEASTS.

27. Some microbrews : RYE BEERS. As implied the beer is made from rye rather than barley malt. If you need suggestions, my son reads the BEER ADVOCATE.

29. Rm. coolers : ACS. Air Conditioners.

32. Big piece : SLAB. Good term when ordering beef.

34. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR.

39. Chevrolet SUV : TAHOE. Actually a well regarded product, part of Chevrolet's post bankruptcy recovery.

41. Mystery guest moniker : MR X.

43. Highs and lows, perhaps : MOODS.

44. Suppress : STIFLE. Did you all thinks of this lovely couple?

46. KOA visitors : RVS. Kampground of America. Recreational Vehicles.

48. Mice, to owls : PREY. This has a definite cruel tinge to it.

52. Buddy : MAC.

53. Monkey wrench wielder? : SABOTEUR. The one who sabotages your endeavors.

56. Catch in a web : ENMESH.

58. Many a lap dog : TOY.

59. Coat closet locale, often : ENTRYWAY. For all you northerners who actually own and wear coats.

61. Dropped the ball : ERRED. To forgive divine.

63. Sellout sign, briefly : SRO. Standing Room Only.

68. Lagoon border : ATOLL. Did someone say LAGOON? (2:47).

69. Goad, with "on" : EGG.

70. Heroic stories : EPICS.

71. Like a string bean : LANKY. They are often left-handed pitchers, unless they were Mickey Lolich.

72. Burnt __ crisp : TO A.

73. Unauthorized disclosures : LEAKS.  The WIKIPEDIA on Wiki Leaks.


Down:

1. Farm field cry : CAW. Crows hunting the corn.

2. "That's a surprise" : HUH.

3. Lyricist Gershwin : IRA. George was the music.

4. British subject? : MATHS. Cute misdirection; we say math or mathematics.

5. Currency replaced by the euro : PESETA. Only a billion choices.

6. Beef, e.g. : MEAT.

8. Melonlike fruit : PAPAYA. Never thought of papaya that way.

9. Headlight setting : HIGH BEAM. Can you believe he has melons and high beams juxtaposed? I have to LINK. (6:36)

10. "Let us part, __ the season of passion forget us": Yeats : ERE. Short and sweet:
THE FALLING OF THE LEAVES
by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

UTUMN is over the long leaves that love us,

And over the mice in the barley sheaves;

Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,

And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves.

 

The hour of the waning of love has beset us,

And weary and worn are our sad souls now;

Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,

With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow

11. Singer's asset : RANGE. We had a discussion on range this summer.

12. River mammal : OTTER.  Playful creatures.

13. Makes a home : NESTS.

21. Egyptian snakes : ASPS. Snakes nest as well.

22. Actor Green of "Robot Chicken" : SETH. Did you ever WATCH?

24. Doesn't take anything in : FASTS. No food is hard but okay, it is the no liquid that makes fasting so difficult; just a few weeks away.

25. Fanfare : ECLAT.

26. Tokyo-based brewery : ASAHI. An obligatory BEER link.

28. Bar, in law : ESTOP. You are estopped from asking me about the "E."

31. Suffix with Mao : ISM. Never thought of this as a separate doctrine BUT.

33. Smashing, at the box office : BOFFO.

36. Singer with the Mel-Tones : TORME.

 37. A muse may inspire them : IDEAS.

38. "Fooled you!" : PSYCH. Anybody watch the TV show?

40. With joy : ELATEDLY. If you get happy after everyone else are you belateldly elatedley?

42. Louis __, eponym of the Kentucky city : XVI. The specific French king the city was named after.

45. All square : EVEN. Right Steven?

47. Lose sleep (over) : STEW.

50. Square one : OUTSET. You see it is the first square not a square square.

51. Tooth covering : ENAMEL.

53. Pinch : STEAL. Tinman, he tried but it just did not make it.

54. Cardiologist's concern : AORTA. And getting paid.

55. Lakers coach __ Scott : BYRON.

57. Nearsighted one : MYOPE. My 'ope you see better when you get older.

60. Activity on a mat : YOGA. Not my favorite, but I guess since you must BYOM....

62. Image on the Michigan state flag : ELK. Maybe Sheldon will elaborate this fall.

65. Through : VIA. Just Latin.

66. "Gross!" : ICK.

67. Small opening? : ESS. We end with a beginning letter of a word clue.

Ahoy, time for me to shove off for another week; be careful out there and see you next time. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Today we celebrate Allen's birthday! I'll have to associate him with a pirate so next year I won't make the same mistake again. 

Marti mentioned yesterday that they'll celebrate this coming Sunday "by attending an Oktoberfest event at The Vienna restaurant. The food is bound to be authentic, and I believe The Stratton Mountain Boys will be taking up their oom-pah instruments to provide music. Should be lots of fun!!"

Allen & Marti

Dave sent Allen the cake ingredients yesterday :-). Let's see what he comes up today.

Friday, September 12, 2014, Jeff Stillman

Theme: Define this...how to build a puzzle.

A return to a variation of the definition puzzle, where one phrase is used as the clue for all theme answers and evokes varied fill but a punny second half is added to each clue to get the same fill but with different meaning. Each fill is a two word description of work on a house which might be on a blueprint, as well as a phrase clued with wit.  The really challenging part of the theme is the resulting different meanings of the words in the fill. I will let Splynter, our resident builder, discuss the various work involved in each construction creation. Once again, beyond the entertaining theme, the fill is mostly 3,4 or 5 letter words, leaving a non-Friday feel to the puzzle. We do have NEGATED,  PARAGON,  STIRRED, DES MOINES,  SERENADER to ponder on and much fun misdirection to ratchet the difficulty to a Friday level, so let us see what you all think of the latest from Jeff, adding to my string of Jeff(rey) puzzles to blog. JS has been appearing every month this summer. Very music intensive day, I hope there is something for everyone.

17A. Blueprint spec ... or, allowable hours for hound sounds? : BAY WINDOWS (10). The window of opportunity for the doggies to howl at the moon. 

24A. Blueprint spec ... or, job fit for a king's silversmith? : CROWN MOLDING (12). Molding a crown from silver is very different from the work of a mill worker.

48A. Blueprint spec ... or a '60s-'70s rock group conceding a poker hand? : FOLDING DOORS (12). We introduce the ill fated musicians who give up their hands in a card game, becoming a fancy way in and out.

58A. Blueprint spec ... or an MGM heartthrob's cousin from the Netherlands? : DUTCH GABLE (10). Poor Clark probably did not have any cousins in Amsterdam.

Across:

1. Short pants? : GASPS. I like a Friday starting with misdirection as long as it is not too obscure. This one popped immediately for me.

6. Boston or Chicago : BAND. Sure CITY may fit, but it is Friday; which do you like better?
BOSTON. (4:18)      CHICAGO. (7:24).

10. Sound of relief : PHEW. Finally, a direct clue.

14. Mendelssohn's Opus 20, e.g. : OCTET. This was written when he was 16! Be warned this is a 35 minute concert.

15. One-on-one sport : EPEE. Is Epee the sport or an event of the sport of fencing?

16. Con artist, for one : LIAR. Whatever happened to Jim Carrey and his career?

19. Naysayer : ANTI.

20. LeBron's Miami uniform number : SIX. This was how many championships he promised the city.

21. Mr. __!: old whodunit game : REE. I never played this one, only Clue,  but the name of this one is fun. LINK.

22. Initial : MAIDEN. Tricky, but fair; we had a Maiden solo publication this week for constructor Steve, so awesome. My favorite MAIDEN. 4:22.

27. The __, Netherlands : HAGUE. I just drafted a contract with a provision for dispute resolution by this BODY.

30. Regular TV show : SERIES.

31. Bestows : AWARDS.

33. __ splicing : GENE. Wire fits also.

34. "Top Gear" airer : BBC. British Broadcasting Corporation.

37. Gets ready for lunch, maybe : ZAPS. Ah, the handy microwave. My Thai friend calls it the 'wave.'

38. Scrub : ERASE. This was not an easy one for me, I needed perps to see where it was going.

40. "__ We Are": Estefan hit : HERE.

41. Look over : EYE.

42. "How now? __?": Hamlet, before mistakenly slaying Polonius : A RAT.

43. __ column : SPINAL. Doric and Ionic and Corinthian did not work.

45. Used a plane on : EVENED. Smoothed?

47. Useful quality : ASSET.

52. Tater Tots maker : ORE-IDA. Last week it was the ONEIDA tribe; you can see the choices constructors must make.

53. __ fault : TO A. A partial?

54. Words of agreement : I AM. A partial?

57. Improvisational style : SCAT. Listen to one of the BEST.(3:54).

62. Manuscript encl. : SASE. Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.

63. Shell competitor : ESSO. Standard Oil, now I remember.

64. Soul singer Adams : OLETA. More MUSIC. (3:53).

65. Begun: Abbr. : ESTD. Established.

66. Study, say : ROOM. The noun, not the verb.

67. Name on a Yorba Linda library : NIXON. Some HISTORY. I am looking forward to the PBS series about the Roosevelts.

Down:

1. Slew : GOBS. We are not killing, but have lots of them.

2. Berry rich in antioxidants : ACAI. They have gobs of anti-oxidants.

3. "Come Sail Away" band : STYX.

4. Service station? : PEW. Alliteration and misdirection, what makes Fridays so much fun.

5. Inflamed : STIRRED. 50 shades of grey? Gaga's current hair color?

6. Moistens, in a way : BEDEWS. Sounds like a word from a romance novel.

7. GI's mail drop : APO. Army Post Office.

8. Unfamiliar : NEW.

9. "State Fair" setting : DES MOINES. Filmed at least 4 times, this is from 1962. (1:33).

10. Crisscross patterns : PLAIDS.

11. Rajah's tongue : HINDI.

12. Downed : EATEN. Hmm, mine are more often drunk.

13. Twist and compress : WRING.

18. Revival prefix : NEO.

23. Sheltered, nautically : ALEE.

24. Contemptible ones : CURS. Good alliteration, but why?

25. Ruled out : NEGATED.

26. GI chow : MRES. Meals Ready to Eat. Another non-existent plural.

27. Cloud : HAZE. Makes sense if you think of your brain.

28. Out of town : AWAY.

29. Yawn : GAPE.

32. One who might play under a balcony : SERENADER. Romeo, wherefore art thou?

34. Uncle __ : BEN'S. I used to use their 90 second jasmine rice all the time.

35. "Up hill, down __ ...": Burns : BRAE. Not familiar with the POEM.

36. Bird was one, briefly : CELT. The briefly here is especially tricky because it suggests an abbreviation, and Larry was a Celtic fro many years.

39. Took its toll? : RANG. Last week knelled, this week tolled. Fun Friday cluing.

40. Kettle emission : HISS.

42. Ardent : AVID.

44. Ideal : PARAGON. Of virtue, of course.

45. Ready to be printed : EDITED.

46. Many a late '90s startup : DOT COM.

48. "Pippin" Tony winner : FOSSE. SING and DANCE. (7:26)

49. Ocean predators : ORCAS.

50. Numerical extreme : LEAST.

51. Circus sound : OOH.Ahh, I guessed correctly.

54. Goat with Iberian and Siberian species : IBEX.

55. Like some saxes : ALTO. Battle of the SAXES? (3:54).

56. Inconsequential : MEAN. Not familiar with that meaning of mean. I know it can signify cheap...

59. GI show gp. : USO. United Service Organizations Inc.

60. General on a takeout menu : TSO.

61. Will Smith title role : ALI. Muhammad Ali. Fine movie, interesting man. Ali appeared in a puzzle Jeff did last year where I AM was part of the theme.

Well, here we are again, finished with another Friday work out.  A nice tight theme and some expert cluing left me happy, now if I could only sing. I guess I am music intensive because, if you are in Denver tonight you can hear my son sing at Tennyson's Tap with the band Hangman's Hymnal. Lemonade out, but first- once again great job Steve.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our Steve, who's traveling on the road. Might be in Dearborn now. When was this photo taken, Steve? Did Herbalife sponsor your run or something?

Friday, September 5, 2014, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Take two aspirin and add a J.

I often complain that constructors do not use enough imagination to add the letter "J" to their creations, being prejudiced by my name. This puzzle by our new Friday fixture, JW, takes out all of the stops and uses a really cute reveal to explain all the Js 'popping in' the four in the language phrases, each of which is clued with wit and becomes a fun visual. Mr. Wechsler seems to be on a good Friday run with his usual array of fill such as KNELLED,  SEXISTS,  ST JAMES,  WII MINI, IN A STATE,  MILLINER,  SOMEWHAT,  TO AND FRO.  TOOL SHED,  UNBURDEN. Like yesterday's puzzle, the reveal is really entertaining and fair and no Naticks,  though a few Massachusetts ties. So let's unburden ourselves and see what this First Friday in September has to offer.


16A. Exceptional practical joke? : GREAT JAPE.(9). Am I alone in wondering about the oxymoronic concept of a "practical" joke? Certainly the great ape friend of Cesar had no sense of humor. Jape appears in so many of the British mysteries I read, but it is not a word I would use.

23A. What bearded men get in blizzards? : SNOWY JOWLS. (10). Being a bearded man who is getting more jowly with age, this was easy and revealed the theme quickly. For obvious reasons, the beautiful BIRD does not make it to Florida.
 
34A. Short hike for a beginner? : MAIDEN JAUNT. (11). This seemed so perfect, especially with my mental picture of the Maiden Aunt out in the woods with her binoculars, looking for Snowy Owls.

48A. Jack's friend resting on the hill? : JILL AT EASE. (10). While this is the outlier, with the J added to the first word, I wonder if it wasn't the seed entry to the theme. The question always remains unanswered; why DID they really go up the hill?

And the reveal:

57A. Pretentious showoffs, or, another way, what one would do to create 16-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across : POPINJAYS. (9). I just love a well thought out reveal like this which make the theme so cool. Another nice word from British mysteries.

And the gratuitous bonus fill

5D. NBA legend, familiarly : DR J. Julius Erving, UMass graduate and NBA hall of famer. 63 here.

Across:

1. How an airport shuttle travels : TO AND FRO. Because Back and Forth would not fit.

9. Savors, with "in" : BASKS. In the sun, to...

14. Take a load off : UNBURDEN. from the days stresses.

15. Hwy. paralleling I-95 : US ONE. I live one block west of US 1 and two miles east of 95.

17. Wrist brand : TIMEX. Back in the early days TV commercials never pitted products by name, it was always PRODUCT and brand X, with brand x a poor substitute. I wonder if that inspired the name of this timepiece?

18. Condos, to the management : UNITS.

19. Arrest readings: Abbr. : RTS. An accepted abbreviation of rights, but clued on a Friday level.

21. Lunch spot : DELI.

22. Michelangelo's "David," e.g. : NUDE. 2nd time we have had this recently, and of course fitting that it adjoins...

26. Place to luxuriate : SPA. where people often parade around naked.

27. Band from Birmingham, Eng. : ELO. Electric Light Orchestra. LISTEN.(3:43)


28. Glorifying work : ODE.

29. Distressed, with "up" : HET. They say it derives from situations which 'heat up'. In modern usage, HET refers to a heterosexual person.

30. Cast aspersions : SNIPE. Not my definition.

32. Plenty : SCADS.

37. Goodman's forte : SWING. Benny and his licorice stick.

39. Prepare for a siege : DIG IN. because stock up would not fit.

40. "Voices Carry" pop group '__ Tuesday : TIL. Not in my knowledge bank. They did not last. Their lead singer was names Aimee MANN; they were from the Boston area.

41. 1964 Nobelist's monogram : MLK. Martin Luther King. There are so many famous initials, but few reach his level. If you think only of scientists, this was a very tricky clue.

44. Destroy, in a way : GUT. Once owned a duplex, rented half to a client/friend and he gutted the place. Lesson learned.

45. Discreet email letters : BCC. Blind Carbon Copy, originally.

51. Pull up stakes, briefly : RELOcate. I am not a fan of this form of abbreviation: 7D. Dupe : REPROduction.

52. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit : AMIE. No relation, just french for girl friend. The band keeps working thought the line up of players has changed many many times; they help Vince Gill to become a star.

53. Comfy room : DEN. This room has gone through more changes without ever changing.

54. "A Few Good Men" playwright Sorkin : AARON. My oldest son's name and a prolific and successful WRITER who also created the TV drama the West Wing.

55. Supply near the register : MINTS.

60. War need? : ENEMY. An ironic clue, juxtaposed with...

61. Perturbed : IN A STATE. For which one might need a

62. Warning sound : SIREN. to let the world know of the impending danger.

63. Storage place : TOOL SHED. Do they build these with houses any more? I loved ours growing up, it was dark and dank and a fun place.

Down:

1. Appear : TURN UP.

2. Iroquois League tribe : ONEIDA. One of the Six Nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora.

3. Wane : ABATE.

4. "Shoot!" : NUTS.

6. Org. that regulates vaccines : FDA. Food and Drug Administration.

8. Damaging combination : ONE TWO. Really nice misdirection with boxing the hidden ingredient.

9. On the other hand : BUT. and, 11D. To a degree : SOMEWHAT.

10. "Just like me" : AS I DO. Do as I do. 49D. "I'll take a shot" : LET ME. What do you have to lose?

12. Rang tragically : KNELLED.  The ringing of a bell to signal a death (Death Knell) goes back centuries; bells also toll for the dead.

13. Some discriminators : SEXISTS. Damn those people who send naked pictures in the cloud!

16. Tries (for) : GUNS.

20. Barrett of Pink Floyd : SYD. He was a founder, the lead singer and guitarist who did not make it past the second album with Pink Floyd.

23. Lost one's footing : SLID. Rhymes with Syd.

24. "Uh-uh" : NOPE. Rhymes with Pope.

25. Pope Francis, e.g. : JESUIT. This religious order was a logical response to the reformation efforts of the Protestants.

27. Brain teaser : ENIGMA. Wrapped in a riddle inside a crossword puzzle.

30. __ Jose : SAN. On my way....

31. Word with living or bitter : END.

33. "The Situation Room" airer : CNN. Cable News Network.

34. Top designer? : MILLINER. Cute, a top (a hat) designer, NOT a TOP Designer. Did this have you spinning?

35. Reel relatives : JIGS. YR must have eaten this clue up about Virginia Reels and Irish Jigs; started me thinking about old movies and old music.

36. Fever with chills : AGUE.

37. Place in Monopoly's orange monopoly : ST. JAMES. One of the boring properties along with New York and Tennessee, not cheap but not exciting unless you can get the aqua and red to make the trip hell for your opponents.

38. Lower-cost Nintendo offering : WII MINI. Their PROMOTION. Never saw one, let alone played one, though I have many WII hours logged.

42. Relative of Inc. : LTD. Many other countries use this designation for privately held companies.

43. "Consider that a gift" : KEEP IT. Usually said after someone has either taken a bite or a sip of your drink/food.

45. Dress down : BERATE. With employees this should always be done in private.

46. Was too sweet : CLOYED. I am used to cloying, so I guess CLOYED should not have been hard.

47. Pen occupants : CONS. many of whom are pros.

50. Reprimand ending : A NO NO. Charlotte is learning about no nos.

51. Hindustan ruler : RAJAH.

54. Single-file travelers, at times : ANTS. Where do those damn sugar ants come from?

56. Numbers for songs?: Abbr. : SYNonym. A nice deception asking to compare the words.

58. Kung __ chicken : PAO.

59. Alcatraz, e.g.: Abbr. : ISLand. Now open for tourists? LINK.

Thanks JW, lots of nice clues and musical inspiration.  I thought the theme was great and overall a smooth Friday. Fall is coming and I am out. Lemonade.

Friday, August 29, 2014, Frank Virzi

Theme: When the world gives you lemons, make a puzzle.

There is an old saying that if you had enough monkeys and enough typewriters one would write a great novel just by chance. Today we have a puzzle which is all about my nom de plume, as each of six (!!!!) sets of fill have the letter LEM directly above the letters ADE, presenting a picture of LEM ON (top of) ADE. This is the third of the five LAT puzzles by Mr. Virzi that I have blogged, and it harkens back to the first one I did, for which the visual was HAM ON RYE, with the same  presentation of HAM directly above RYE, but the reveal was just the two words and there were only three sets.  Barry G. scolded Frank for not having a reveal, and here we have something I am not sure I have ever seen, a reveal  (LEMONADE) which is also part of  two of the six sets of clues. The fact that the puzzle runs on Friday, a day blogged by me (lemonade) is either a really odd coincidence (most likely), an example of Rich's awareness and sense of humor, or the most unexpected birthday present ever. This puzzle like Franks' others is nice blend of medium to longish fill with no obscurities that are not filled by the perps. Some fill of note are: BROMINE,  FACED IT,  FERMENT,  NEONATE,  O’CONNOR,  PLUMPER, ADENAUER, A STUDENT,  LEMMINGS, NATHANIEL and the very apt NO PROBLEM. The 3 and 4 letter fill are not too overdone, with only IRE even close and it is clued for the country abbreviation, not anger. let's look at our pairs:

8A. Red Cross red cross, e.g. : EMBLEM. (6) First hint at the theme.
16A. Diatribe :                             TIRADE. (6)

20A. Muskrat relatives : LEMMINGS. (8) Didn't know they were related.
22A. Highly skilled :       ADEPT. (5).

32A. "Consider it done!" : NO PROBLEM. (9).
38A. Green gemstones :                     JADES.(5).

52A. Clay being of Jewish lore :         GOLEM. (5)  Pretty crazy STUFF.
59A. Picnic serving, and when divided properly, a hint to a hidden feature of six pairs of puzzle answers :     LEMONADE. (8)
                                                                      LEMONADE. (8)
63A. West Germany's first chancellor : ADENAUER. (8), Der Alte. Interesting man.

56A. King's "__ Lot" : SALEM'S.
62A. Dodges :              EVADES.

Across:

1. Herding dog name : SHEP. This popped right out, though in retrospect, I have never met a dog with that name.

5. Pledge of Allegiance ender : ALL. "...indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

14. Ember, perhaps : COAL.

15. Cattle call : MOO. Not for acting but cow to cow.

17. Valedictorian, typically : A  STUDENT. Typically? I cannot imagine it being anything else.

19. Duplicates : CLONES. The term has been around since 1903!

21. Company with a bull in its logo : ELMER'S.

23. When Juliet asks "wherefore art thou Romeo?" : ACT II.

25. Ici __: French "here and there" : ET LA. Literal French translation. Not et al.

28. First female Supreme Court justice : O'CONNOR. Sandra Day. LINK.

36. "__ say more?" : NEED I.

37. Yeats' land: Abbr. : IRE. A way to clue with no anger.

40. Get a move on : HIE. Old timey word.

41. Walking aid : STAFF.

44. Currier of Currier & Ives : NATHANIEL. He was from Roxbury, MA

47. Netanyahu, for one : ISRAELI. Simple, but tricky.

49. River to the Elbe : OHRE.  We know so little geography. LINK. and 12D. River of central Germany : EDER.  LINK. Kazie? marti?

50. Boorish : CRASS.

64. Musical Dion : CELINE.

65. Quarterback Tebow : TIM. A Florida Gator, but unemployed as a QB.

66. 100 C-notes : TEN-G.

67. Big name in lawn care : SCOTT'S. A nice hello to our own Santa baby.

68. 1940s mil. zone : ETO. Eastern Theater of Operations.

69. Language that gave us "clan" : ERSE. This is tough since ERSE can be either Irish or Scottish Gaelic. LINK.

Down:

1. Italy's La __ : SCALA.

2. Bamboozled : HOSED.  Such a versatile WORD.

3. Invitation on a fictional cake : EAT ME. I would never presume to link a cake as long CED does such wonderful work.

4. More roly-poly : PLUMPER.  I wonder where roly poly started?

5. "You're so right!" : AMEN. 18D. Word of agreement : DITTO.

6. Extended : LONG. So many choices.

7. "__ luck!" : LOTSA. followed by 8. "Blah, blah, blah," briefly : ETC ETC. and 9. Great number of : MILLION. a mini-theme?

10. Element #35 : BROMINE. I long ago forgot the table.

11. Path in a pool : LANE.

13. Boot camp meal : MESS.

24. Awaken : COME TO.

26. Great Society monogram : LBJ. Lyndon Baines Johnson, born August 27, 1908. Hannibal Hamlin was born August 27, 1808. One VP for Kennedy, the other for Lincoln....

27. Self-titled 1991 debut album : ALANIS. Morisette.

29. Classic beverage brand : NEHI. Does everyone think of Radar O'Reilly?

30. Cartoon canine : ODIE. Garfield's 'buddie.'

31. Cambodian cash : RIEL. Rial, are these clues for real?

32. Not yet final, legally : NISI. Ooo I know this one, in the old days they issued a Rule Nisi to allow time for someone to show cause why an order should not become final. I believe some states still use this approach.

33. Scraps : ORTS.

34. High-fiber fruit : PEAR. Did not know this.

35. Educator LeShan : EDA. A popular educator in crosswords.

39. "Zip it!" : SHH.

42. Met the challenge : FACED IT.

43. Agitate : FERMENT. English is such a strange language, so many ways to say one THING.

45. One of the noble gases : ARGON.

46. Nursery arrival : NEONATE. Latin for newborn.

48. Girls : LASSES.

51. Schedule : SLATE.

53. Gumbel's "Today" successor : LAUER. He used to have hair.

54. Idyllic places : EDENS.

55. Sign on an on-ramp : MERGE.

56. Brief moments : SECS.

57. "__ plaisir!" : AVEC. With in French

58. Composer of the opera "Le Roi d'Ys" : LALO. We usually get Schifrin, but instead this:
OPERA

60. Adjust to fit, perhaps : EDIT.

61. One in an office exchange : MEMO. Oddly clued, but not hard.

Well, my fun week continues, great puzzles and lots of fresh squeezed Lemonade (and Key Lime pie!) Thank you Frank Virzi!!!! and all of you for your birthday wishes and for appreciating my sweet Charlotte; have a happy healthy safe holiday week end. Lemonade out.

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!

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 seems INTERESTING. 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 : IPO. Initial 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 : MLK. Martin 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 : OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

61. Sot's woe : DTS. Delerium 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.

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 GOTTI.  Love 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.