Friday, October 10, 2014, Jeb Bennett

Theme: Quick I need a Quip! Get the V-8 can ready.

Well in the old days quips and quotes always appeared on Thursdays, but here we are with second such theme in the last 30 days on my watch. This appears to be another debut puzzle, so welcome Jeb. I wonder if he like all the others I know or have heard of, is really something like James Edward Bennett, hence the JEB. Anyway, the secret to a quip, which generally are not that favored, is how cute the result is and "I couldn't figure why the ball was getting bigger, and then it hit me" is a really entertaining one. We also have fewer 3 and 4 letter fill and some sparkly in between fill HERLIHY,  LITHEST, HOTSHOTS,  SON-IN-LAW, CLIENTELE,  OVERDRAWN. So let us take a ride and see where Jeb brought us.

 20A. Start of an optical illusion quip : I COULDN'T FIGURE.
 24A. Quip, part 2 : WHY THE BALL WAS.
 46A. Quip, part 3 : GETTING BIGGER.
 52A. End of the quip : AND THEN IT HIT ME.

Across:

1. Dressage gear : CROP. This was harder than it should have been, but there were so many 3 letter possibilities for 1 down...I understood the show horse reference, but....

5. Sound of warning : HISS.

9. Repel, with "off" : STAVE.

14. Member of a '60s quartet : PAPA. Luckily I had put CPO in by the time I got here.

15. Competitive blade : EPEE. Very popular in the puzzles these days.

16. Projecting window : ORIEL.

17. Like an insufficient account : OVER DRAWN. British fiction leads one to believe that Brits live on their over-drafts.(draughts?).

19. Best-dressed goal? : NINES. To the nines and the other expression using nine are all mysterious. LINK.

22. Agnus __ : DEI.

23. Film dog's first name? : RIN. A reverse CSO for the TINman?

31. "A little __ the mightiest Julius fell": Horatio : ERE. The sentinels in Hamlet preparing the audience for the excitement to come. The belief was that the dead walked just before Julius Caesar was assassinated. Zombies anyone? MMMM Shakespeare. 9D. Duke of Albany, to Lear : SON-IN-LAW. I like this and of course love me a double dose of Shakespeare. He married Goneril and paid the price.

32. Rocket retired in 2011 : YAO. I do watch some basketball so this was EASY.

33. Cry for help : MAYDAY.Along with pommes de terre frits, something else we got from the French, from 'venez m'aider', which translates to "come help me". According to wiki, it was adopted by a British officer at Croydon airport.

35. "The Scream" artist : MUNCH. Edvard. You want to read an ANALYSIS? Or just look?

38. One in a cage : RIB. Cute clue, I think coined by Brendan Emmet Quigley.

40. Drive erratically : WEAVE. Mini-theme. 12D. Avoid a suddenly stopped car, say : VEER.

41. Like the thing not to do : UNCOOL.

43. Zip : NIL. A common soccer (football) score.

45. Org. with an elephant in its logo : GOP. Grand Old Party.

50. "No more seats" letters : SRO. Standing Room Only.

51. Cross shape : TAU.

60. Small songbird : VIREO. They seem cute and are popular in the mid-west I am told. LISTEN. (0:14)

61. Customers : CLIENTELE. Pronounced differently but letter for letter from the French for a group of clients.

63. Not showing much life : INERT.

64. Masseur's selection : OILS. My masseuse prefers watercolors.

65. Project : EMIT.

66. New beginnings : DAWNS. No Eos, this time.

67. Stout grain : MALT. The creation of stouts, which are actually stout porters, stems from the use of roasted grains, which makes the liquid dark. Stout referred to the higher alcoholic content.

68. Rip violently : REND. Then you must mend.

Down:

1. USN rank : CPO. Chief Petty Officer. 47D. 1-Down, for one : NON-COM. Non-commissioned officer.

2. Sitar master Shankar : RAVI. I like listening to his DAUGHTER.

3. Gp. that includes Venezuela : OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries:Venezuela was on of the 5 original founders; can you name the other 4?

4. Ridicule : PARODY. I do not like this paring as parodies generally have some warmth.

5. Ed who was the longtime voice of Kraft Foods : HERLIHY. Not sure why we would remember this man's name. OBIT.

6. FaceTime device : I-PAD. I-Phone, I I I I

7. Needled? : SEWN. Cute clue.

8. Nissan model : SENTRA. I like the new MODEL.


10. Subj. with many functions : TRIG. Cute.

11. Indigenous Japanese : AINU. Today's history LESSON.
 
13. End of a threat : ELSE.

18. Righteous Brothers hit, e.g. : DUET.Wasted a lot of time trying to recall a four letter hit.

21. Record, in a way : FILM. Not so much anymore. Maybe 8MM.

24. Squeezed : WRUNG.

25. From now : HENCE.

26. Spot for a stud : EAR. What do you think ladies?

27. Spring sound : BOING. 

28. River to the Severn : WYE. It separates England and Wales; but I defer to Steve and NC for real commentary.

29. Saw : ADAGE. Oh, that old saw....

30. Relish : SAVOR. Do you relish relish?

31. Flightless zoo bird : EMU. They are flightless when not in a zoo as well.

34. "Okey-doke!" : YEP. I am an okey dokey smokey man myself.

36. "M*A*S*H" set piece : COT. Where Hawkeye, Trapper John and their roommates often interacted. At first when I had CO_, my mind went to cod piece...

37. Up-and-comers with egos : HOT SHOTS. Charlie Sheen? Tom Cruise?

39. Catcher behind a plate? : BIB. I have seen this clue/fill before, but it still rings hollow for me, as my bib are opposite the plate, protecting my shirt and tie.

42. Old Italian capital : LIRE. No Friday solver will fall for this old trick.

44. Most supple : LITHEST. A fun word, unless you lisp. Diana Rigg always looked lithe as Mrs. Peel; guys who would you nominate?

48. Profit : GAIN.

49. Water catcher : GUTTER.

52. Enthusiastic : AVID.

53. 1492 caravel : NINA. It was easy to guess because of the date, but it was a new WORD.

54. Took from the deck : DREW. Just not from the bottom,  please.

55. Gull-like bird : TERN.

56. Pelvic bones : ILIA. My favorite I[l]lya. LINK. (1:47).

57. Spot for ten-spots : TILL. Nice layered clue, with the advent of credit cards and electronic cash registers, the word is not heard much anymore.

58. Fast-spreading Internet phenomenon : MEME. It is fascinating to have lived for many years without this word, which comes from an ancient Greek CONCEPT. I was watching a rerun from the first year of Criminal Minds and the characters were being told what a "viral" video was. So much changes in 10 years, and our age group sees the before and after.

59. Nordegren who married Tiger Woods in 2004 : ELIN. She was Jasper Parnevik's nanny, and now she is fabulously wealthy as well as being...after two children.

62. Flight board abbr. : ETD. Estimated Time of Departure. Well it is my exact time of departure, as another week has gone by. This is the anniversary of the birth of my paternal grandmother, so to all the departed grandparents out there, rest well and enjoy the puzzles. Happy holidays and get ready for Columbus Day coming soon.

Lemonade out.

Friday, October 3, 2014, Mark McClain

Theme: Doctor Dennis, I just want to feel like a real woman, help me please, I need double Ds added! Ironic isn't that Doctor Dennis can be abbreviated DD.

A fun letter addition puzzle from what appears to be a first time constructor. DD is inserted into in the last word of an in the language phrase (2 three word phrases and 1 two word phrase) and is often the case when double Ds are introduced, the fun ensues. As with many Fridays these days, lots of 4 letter words, though ADDED UP, FT. DIX, NJ,  KIDNEYS, SANTA FE, TSETSES offer some sparkle. Always nice to welcome a new creative mind.

17A. Duck royalty? : PRINCE OF WADDLES. Really cute visual, as the Prince of Wales morphs into a duck. Can you see George's daddy waddling about? Steve. NC?

26A. Heck of a pop? : ONE FINE DADDY. One fine day...LINK. (2:15)

48A. Trader who doesn't take the market seriously? : STOCK PIDDLER. Another great visual; the word is synonymous with DIDDLE.

63A. Classified instrument? : TOP SECRET FIDDLE. Another really fun fill.

Across:

1. Wine order : GLASS. I tend to drink by the glass, though most real wine drinkers order the bottle.
22A. In the cooler : ON ICE, most whites are chilled. 29D. Quaff : DRINK. 58D. Wine opener? : OENOphile.

6. NFL linemen : CTRS. CenTeRS.

10. European capital : KIEV. Capital of the troubled Ukraine.

14. Kind of comprehension : AURAL. We know AURAL relates to the ear, so this THEORY of learning makes sense.

15. Basket : HOOP. Sports terminology from basketball.

16. Land in un lago : ISLA. An island in a Spanish Lake.

20. It may be taken : SEAT. Teachers always want students to take these.

21. French 101 pronoun : VOUS. The less intimate you.

23. Iowa city on I-35 : AMES.

25. Highly skilled ones : ADEPTS. A little stretch here..."oh here come the adepts."

31. Symbol seen in viola music : C CLEF. I defer to anyone and everyone on musical information.

32. Parisian map line : RUE. French for Street.

33. Oracle : SEER.

37. Edinburgh souvenir : TAM o shanter, the cap.

38. Army post merged with McGuire AFB and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst : FT DIX NJ.  Obscure fact but great consonants.

42. Youngest goal scorer in MLS history : ADU.

43. Hops kiln : OAST. By now everyone should be familiar with this brewery necessity.

45. Took top honors : WON.

46. Exasperated cry : AARGH.

52. Some runners : MILERS. So?

55. Betrayed, in a way : USED.

56. Like most tupelo leaves : OVATE. It means egg shaped, but I could not find any pictures.

57. His epitaph reads "And the beat goes on" : BONO. Sonny

59. Part of a roof : EAVE.

66. Language that gave us "plaid" : ERSE. Since they wear it, I guess it makes sense.

67. Green Gables girl : ANNE. Published: June 1908, Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery, Preceded by: Before Green Gables, Followed by: Anne of Avonlea, Characters: Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe, Marilla Cuthbert (per wiki).

68. Provider of store melodies : MUZAK. HISTORY.

69. Caustic cleaners : LYES.

70. __ swings : MOOD. Be happy, therefore...

71. Slanted columns : OP-EDS. No arguments this time, okay?

Down:

1. Mountain passes : GAPS. Isn't amazing how much Michael Strahan we get on TV these days.

2. Angler's item : LURE.

3. The "Toreador Song," for one : ARIA. From Carmen. LINK. (5:47).

4. 19th-century trail terminus : SANTA FE. It started in Franklin Missouri.

5. Utah luggage tag initials : SLC. Salt Lake City. A correct airport code.

6. Pick : CHOOSE.

7. Vegan menu item : TOFU. Soy or no soy? Lucina?

8. Garden divisions : ROWS.

9. Spring resort : SPA. Hot springs, perhaps.

10. Vital pair : KIDNEYS.

11. Town including part of Fire Island : ISLIP. Also home of an airport.

12. Pick : ELECT.

13. Florist's inventory : VASES.

18. Not-one link : EVEN. Not even one person came to the yard sale.

19. Longtime Connecticut senator : DODD. A bonus DD.  He was CONTROVERSIAL  but his son went on and became a senator also. He only served two terms, so long time is an exaggeration. He initially lost to George HW Bush's father Prescott in a race for senate. My childhood was in Connecticut. (From C.C.: I think the clue refers to Chris Dodd.)

24. Offend : MIFF.

25. Gulf of __ : ADEN.

26. Numerical prefix : OCTO. Like doc ock, 8.

27. Sports regulatory org. : NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

28. Canopy components at the Mall in Central Park : ELMS. They are really impressive. READ.

30. Verb type: Abbr. : AUX. Teachers, we have Action, Linking and Auxiliary Verbs, correct?

34. One titled "Lord" : EARL.

35. Do lawn work : EDGE.

36. River past Duisburg : RUHR. A name you need to memorize.

39. Uncommon bills : TWOS. We have a young man at work who always carries them.

40. Bashful companion? : DOC. The Seven Dwarfs. Did this fool you?

41. Green stone : JADE.

44. Sleeping sickness carriers : TSETSES.

47. Seemed logical : ADDED UP.

49. Place for a nest egg : TREE. Nice misdirection with a very literal clue/fill.

50. Gave up the ball : PUNTED. Football.

51. "Time __ the essence" : IS OF. Never when I am blogging.

52. Roadside business : MOTEL. $40.00 a night, or $20.00 if you make your own bed.

53. Creamy white : IVORY. Like the soap, or the wedding dress?

54. Memory problem : LAPSE.

57. Czech Republic's second-largest city : BRNO. A name you need to memorize.

60. Carving tool : ADZE.

61. Historic "Impaler" : VLAD. Dracula.

62. Comics screams : EEKS.

64. Carolina quarterback Newton : CAM. Carolina Panther quarterback out of Auburn. Was initially a Gator along with Tim Tebow.

65. Letters before a view, maybe : IMO. In my opinion it is time to go.

Wow another new constructor starting here, and another new month, this one will feature another 25 hour fast (starting sundown tonight) my Charlotte's second birthday and maybe a hint of fall in the air. Enjoy all. Lemonade out.

Friday, September 26, 2014, Susan Stanislawski

Theme: Sounds like....PHUN

A sound-alike pun puzzle where common F words are replaced with sound alike PH words and clued whimsically. I believe this is Susan's debut LAT though I did see a cute Monday NYT she had published in April, 2012. I enjoyed the wit in this effort though again, it did not seem like a Friday to me. There were some nice fill like NAG NAG,  OMERTA,  SEA HAG,  SLIDER, HEXAGON,  RAKES IN, AMEN AMEN,  ANTI-HERO,  SPEAKS UP. Maybe there is more hidden; anyway let us get going as it has been a busy week.

17A. Seriously uncool dairy product? : NON-PHAT MILK. If phat still a positive term?
 (Fat to phat).

24A. Enjoy a TV psychologist? : HAVE ONE'S PHIL. Dr. Phil McGraw, of whom I long ago had my fill. (Fill to Phil).

46A. Followers' flowers? : PHLOX OF SHEEP. Flocks of sheep; love that sheep in the fill means a follower not the animal. The flowers which we had growing wild in my neighborhood. LINK. (Flocks to phlox).

56A. Sign on a hacker's door? : GONE PHISHIN' (11).  Gone fishin' replaced by THIS.
(Fishin' to phishin.)

Across:

1. Hamlet, for one : DANE. A gimme start to those who love them some Shakespeare.

5. Happy hour sandwich : SLIDER. This took longer, as I wanted to have a HOAGIE to go with 18D. Composer Carmichael : HOAGY.  Who does not remember STARDUST? (3:19)

11. Modern film effects, briefly : CGI. Computer-generated imagery.

14. Troubled cry : ALAS.

15. Roman board game similar to modern backgammon : TABULA. Well THIS is a Friday clue, rather than __ rasa.

16. Cartoon Chihuahua : REN.

19. Farm resident : ANT. I hope no one fell for this old trick, eieio.

20. Mauna __ : KEA. It's higher than LOA.

21. Sitcom world : ORK. How timely with the passing of Robin Williams.

22. Nail polish brand : ESSIE. All perps. LINK.

28. Long cold spell : ICE AGE.

31. Renée's "Chicago" role : ROXIE.

32. Pulitzer author McMurtry : LARRY. He has written lots of BOOKS, but for me it was TV's Lonesome Dove.

33. Church cry : AMEN AMEN. And the equally balanced 65A. Response to constant carping : NAG NAG.

37. Boom, e.g. : SPAR. These sailing terms are beyond me, but it filled. I am sure Jeannie would have explained it; spitzboov?

38. Chose, with "for" : OPTED.

40. Flier on the beach : KITE. Not in So. Fla.

41. Mad Max or Dirty Harry : ANTI-HERO. A nice trick answer.

43. "__ directed" : USE AS.

44. Serape wearer : SENOR.

45. They may be pulled : STUNTS.

50. Isabella, por ejemplo : REINA. Spanish for Queen.

51. Teacup feature : EAR. Next time you are holding one....

52. These, to Thierry : CES. Just french.

55. WWII battle site, for short : IWO.

61. "__ and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance": '70s best-seller : ZEN.

62. Code of silence : OMERTA. They have had so many rat on each other from Sammy the Bull to the Goodfellas I am not sure there is a mob anymore.

63. Sleekly designed : AEROdynamic.

64. Masthead VIPs : EDS. Newspapers, editors.

66. Last little bit : DREG.

Down:

1. Dungeonlike : DANK.

2. Natural heartburn remedy, some say : ALOE.

3. The Darlings' dog : NANA. Did you know there is a Disney WIKIA. A friend of my children appears in the Peter Pan online series. LINK.

4. Alleged ability : ESP.

5. Feel a strong need (for) : STARVE.

6. Traditional Hanukkah serving : LATKE. Potato pancake, and they are good all year.

7. "THINK" sloganeer : IBM.

8. Issue of MADD : DUI. Driving Under the Influence.

9. Addition, perhaps : ELL.

10. Collects a lot of, as chips : RAKES IN.

11. Attend uninvited : CRASH.

12. Bottled spirits : GENII. Never quite sure how to spell, usually think of

13. Big name in chips : INTEL. Computer chips

23. Doesn't remain silent : SPEAKS UP.

24. Indiana player : HARRISON.  This one got me, as I filled in the answer and a blank look on my face until I realized we were having a Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones reference.

25. They provide addresses : ORATORS. Cute clue.

26. Iditarod terminus : NOME. The dogsled race.

27. Marked, as a ballot : EXED.

28. "Sing it, Sam" speaker : ILSA. Casablanca.

29. Skip on the sea : CAP'N.

30. Q.E.D. word : ERAT.

34. Carriage : MIEN. A nice Friday word.

35. Nouveau-Mexique, e.g. : ETAT. All French, New Mexico and State.

36. Head of the Untouchables : NESS. Which did you prefer ONE or TWO.

38. Sonoma prefix : OENO. Relating to wine.

39. TA's boss : PROFessor. Teaching Assistant.

42. Honeycomb cell shape : HEXAGON. Six-sided; and the next is 49D. Penta- plus two : HEPTA.

43. Development sites : UTERI. The old choice between Cherie Oteri or...

45. Witch who was a Popeye nemesis : SEA HAG.

46. Cherish : PRIZE.

47. Cut down : HEWED.

48. Community service club, with "the" : LIONS. They do much good work for blind people. READ.

52. "Believe" singer : CHER. Some love HER.

53. Cork setting : EIRE. UK or not?

54. Kiss and cuddle, in Kent : SNOG. A word learned from the British mysteries I have read; sounds like a good choice. A step on the shag latter.

57. Medical suffix : OMA. A word end that sadly often means a person's end. LINK.

58. Pic source : NEGative. Are there negatives any more? I am not positive?

59. Northwest end? : ERN. NorthwestERN.

60. Blue : SAD. Did anyone ever wonder about this use of blue? We love blue skies, bluebirds and lagoons(oops that was last week).

Well do not be too sad, Splynter will be here tomorrow to entertain. May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a sweet year. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Dennis (Left on the photo), who helped me greatly the first few years with this blog. He's also the first blog regular I collaborated with. Still waiting for our NYT. Been ages.

.

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!