Sunday July 31, 2016 Jake Braun

Theme: "Art Nouveau" - ART is added to each theme entry.

23A. Prefer not to serve the drinks? : MIND BARTENDING. Mind-bending.

39A. Apt wear when drinking gin cocktails? : MARTINI SKIRT. Mini skirt.

58A. Special area for booting up again? : RESTART ROOM. Restroom.

82A. Garb for the Scottish seaside? : BEACH TARTAN. Beach tan.

99A. iPad owners' gatherings? : APPLE PARTIES. Apple pies.

119A. Lewd weasel relative? : DIRTY OLD MARTEN. Dirty old men. The clue makes me smile.

16D. Group that controls film cartoons? : ANIMATION CARTEL. Animation Cel.  One of the theme entries in the Cell/Cel/Sell/Sel puzzle D-Otto and I did for the WSJ.

47D. Patterns for moving supplies? : CARTON TEMPLATES. Contemplates. This and 58A both have one-word as the original phrase.

I've seen a few "Lost Art" puzzles where ART is removed from each theme entry. This is the first time for an ART addition theme.

Jake seems to be fond of Sunday grids. All his LAT puzzles so far are Sunday's.  This 140-worder is skillfully designed with a great assortments of 6's and 7's.

Across:   

1. Pandora's boxful : EVILS

6. One going over the wall : HOME RUN. And 6. 6-Across, for one : HIT

13. Contemporary electronic music genre : NU JAZZ. Learning moment for me.

19. Soup legume : LENTIL. Not ADZUKI. Staple in Cantonese cuisine.

21. Hematite or magnetite : IRON ORE

22. Borneo sultanate : BRUNEI. Rich in oil. Lots of Chinese live there.

 

25. Melanin-deficient individual : ALBINO

26. What fits all, in ads : ONE-SIZE

27. Prefix with ware : MAL. Malware. Another trickily clued prefix: 49. Intro to economics? : SOCIO

28. Pulled up a chair : SAT

30. "__ it!" : I'M ON.  Little partial price to pay for the scrabbly Z's and J.

31. Aleppo's land: Abbr. : SYR

32. Diane who played Flo in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" : LADD. Not LANE.

34. Big name in game shows : MERV. Not ALEX.

37. Throat dangler : UVULA

 

42. Suggest : GET AT

45. Highway through Whitehorse : ALCAN. Yukon. I drew a blank.

48. Opposite of hence : AGO

 

50. Olympus competitor : LEICA. What camera are you using? I have a little Coolpix. 

51. Lover of Beauty : BEAST. Capitalized B.

52. One on the run : PERP. Simple in retrospect.

54. '50s foe of Dwight : ADLAI

56. Crew member : OAR

57. Pres. on a dime : FDR

61. Sound during cutting : SNIP. Hair salon.

62. Glue, say : ATTACH. Verb "Glue".

65. Lost by design : THREW. "by design" threw me. "Lost on purpose" would be a piece of cake.

66. It's sold in yards : FABRIC. Also 86. It's sold in yards : ALE

68. Scrapes and bruises, in totspeak : BOOBOOS

70. Rural skyline features : SILOS

72. Falls for many lovers? : NIAGARA. Sweet clue.

75. Eggnog topping : NUTMEG

77. Doctrinal offshoots : SECTS

79. Screenwriter Nora : EPHRON. She knew who Deep Throat was all along.

80. Dillon of "Wayward Pines" : MATT

 

85. Old young king : TUT

 

87. Schoolyard retort : DID SO

88. Third __ : RAIL. Not BASE.

89. Many of its pieces are lost during play : CHESS. Alas, I don't play chess.

91. Not likely to give up the hammock : COMFY. Hi there, Dave!

93. Healed : CURED

96. __ Aviv : TEL

97. "Roots" writer : HALEY

98. Old Toyota : SUPRA. Not PASEO.

102. Puts away cargo : LADES

104. Noodle variety : SOBA. Was thinking of UDON of course. Love Seafood Udon.

105. Quite a : SOME. Does the clue feel incomplete to you?

106. Poisonous slitherer : ASP

109. Antlered male : STAG

111. __ volente : DEO

113. Bars on a deli package : UPC. Now I know Gary has a Hy-Vee in his area. How about you? I love our local Hy-Vee. 

115. Penalty for forgetfulness, perhaps : LATE FEE. Got via crosses.

117. Intolerant of : HATING

123. "... if you know what's good for you!" : OR ELSE

124. Watch : OBSERVE

125. Sure winner : SHOO-IN

126. Pretend to be : POSE AS

127. Prepares : READIES

128. Vito Corleone's eldest : SONNY. The one with the hot temper. Michael is the youngest. Fredo is the middle son, also the weakest link. Connie is weak too.

Down:

 

1. St. __ fire : ELMO'S

2. Promising, as mine walls : VEINY. Maybe miners do use this word.

3. __ circle : INNER

4. Classic Fords : LTDs

5. Hissing : SIBILANT

7. Where Utah's minor league Owlz play : OREM. PROVO and OREM are our regular Utah city answers. We also have 18. Utah national park : ZION

8. French friend's address : MON AMI. Also 10. French king : ROI

9. Like boring speeches, so it seems : ENDLESS

11. Spigoted vessel : URN

12. Photo lab items : NEGs. No "Abbr." hint?

13. Network for hoops fans : NBA TV

14. Blue text, often : URL

15. Significant anniversary : JUBILEE

17. Greek known for paradoxes : ZENO

20. __ Wolf, "Fiddler on the Roof" butcher : LAZAR. Watched the movie ages ago. Don't remember the butcher's name.

24. Bureaucratic tangle : RED TAPE

29. Civic duty, perhaps? : AUTO LOAN. Another great clue.

33. Compilation : DIGEST

35. One of early Hollywood's "Big Five" : RKO. Wiki says the Big Five are: 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

36. Church official : VICAR

38. Aptly named fruit : UGLI. It's actually sweet and juicy. 

39. Live __: Taco Bell slogan : MAS. Live Mas (Live More).

40. Bridge positions : NORTHS. Is it common to have the positions pluralized, Spitzboov?

41. Done with : RID OF

43. Popular berry : ACAI

44. Rain delay rollout : TARP

45. BBC sitcom : AB FAB. Absolutely Fabulous. Guilty of putting it in one of my grids.

46. Caused : LED TO

53. County counterpart : PARISH

55. Insomniac's prescription : AMBIEN. I bet D-Otto goes to sleep quickly. He's so Zen!

58. Four-sided figures : RHOMBI. One more I-ending plural: 100. Ancient scrolls : PAPYRI

59. Rent again : RE-LET

60. Like some garages : TWO-CAR

61. [I'm frustrated!] : SIGH. The spray I mentioned a while ago lost effect on Boomer's diabetic foot nerve pain. Sigh!

63. Border on : ABUT

64. Portable bed : COT

67. Conviction, to a cop : RAP. Got via crosses also.

69. Pea pod, e.g. : SEEDCASE

71. Layers : STRATA

73. Waken : ROUSE

74. Pacing, maybe : ANTSY

76. Prepare for a road trip : GAS UP

78. "M*A*S*H" actor David Ogden __ : STIERS. Stranger to me.

80. Coats for brolly carriers : MACs. Steve probably uses umbrella now. When I first came to the US, I called crackers "biscuits". Guangzhou is very close to Hong Kong, where British English is more common.

81. Baseball family name : ALOU

83. Military subdivision : CORPS

84. Considering everything : ALL TOLD

87. Pair : DYAD

89. Serengeti speedsters : CHEETAHS. Hi there!

90. Owns : HAS

92. Easily damaged : FRAGILE

94. "Ticket to the Moon" gp. : ELO

95. Appeared for the first time : DEBUTED

101. Mosque leaders : IMAMS

103. Paper borders : EDGES

106. "Flow gently, sweet __!": Burns : AFTON

107. Escort : SEE IN

108. Cent : PENNY

109. Browse the mall : SHOP. Boomer says I spend more time picking a T-shirt than he does buying a car.

110. Poi base : TARO. I bake taros the same way I bake potatoes.

112. Scent : ODOR

114. Area with moorings : COVE

116. Sock ending : EROO

118. Govt. subject of James Bamford's "The Puzzle Palace" : NSA

120. "When Will __ Loved?": 1975 hit : I BE

121. Botswana neighbor: Abbr. : RSA (Republic of South Africa)

122. Arles article : LES

C.C.

Saturday July 30, 2016 Kevin Christian

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q)

Blocks: 29

C.C. here. The tool we use to analyze & write each puzzle is broken and Splynter needs to work this morning. I'll just publish the skeletal entries now. Will be back later with detailed writeup.

(Updated now. Thanks for the patience.)

Kevin's puzzle features a pair of double-stacked 15's, which are his seed entries. Constructors plant seed entries at the very start of each themeless grid. Sometimes secondary seeds are sowed if the grid allows.

The four spanners are:

15A. "Be right with you": HOLD ON ONE MINUTE

17A. Serious request for help: I NEED A HUGE FAVOR. Both of the top 15's are debut entries, never used in any puzzle before.

 

54A. Parker or Getz: JAZZ SAXOPHONIST. Look at the crossing words of  J, Two Z's and X, all solid words. You rock, Kevin!

Kevin Christian, XWord Info

58A. Ancient: OLD AS METHUSELAH 

Once the four sparkly spanners are placed, Kevin's primary goal is to have clean fill. He was also  able to give us two nice 11's:

28A. Suzanne Collins trilogy, with "The": HUNGER GAMES 

39A. Loreena McKennitt genre: CELTIC MUSIC

Across:

1. Like some glass: STAINED

8. Black Friday store opening event? MAD DASH. Great clue/fill.

18. Island where Dionysus discovered Ariadne: NAXOS. Oh, I did not know that. So pretty.

19. Burden: TAX

20. Disney’s "__ & Stitch": LILO

21. Hebrew for "skyward": EL AL

22, __ owl: BARN

24. "At Seventeen" Grammy winner __ Ian: JANIS

25. Spender of rials: OMANI

27. Name: DUB

32.Rebus pronoun: EWE. You.

35. Waste management word: RECYCLE

36. Beats: OUTDOES

38. Isr. neighbor: SYR

41. Big name in jewelry: KAY. Our Kazie's real name.

42. Dizzy: AREEL. Not a word I use.

43. Half a '60s pop group: MAMAS. And Papas.

46. Lesage hero Gil __: BLAS. Easy fill-in-the-blanks.

47. Pad: CRIB

51 __ I: Jewish month added in leap years: ADAR. New to me. I know ADAR is the 6th month in Jewish calendar.

52. Watch chain: FOB

53. See 45-Down: MIATA. And 45. With 53-Across, Japanese roadster: MAZDA 

59. Put on again: RE-AIRED

60. Usually not the best way to marry: IN HASTE 
 

Down:

1. Excel: SHINE

2. Like Romantic music: TONAL

3. Singer/songwriter __ Ray Joel: ALEXA. Here with her parents.

4. Belief system: IDEOLOGY

5. Acceptances: NODS

6. Commercial suffix with wheat: -ENA. Not familiar with Wheatena.

7. Word from Homer: D'OH! Homer Simpson.

8. Mullally of "Will & Grace": MEGAN

9. Blue Cash Everyday card co: AMEX

10. "What’s the __?": DIF

11. "CSI" facility: DNA LAB. Both DNA LAB and DNA TEST are grid-friendly, hence their frequent appearances in crossword.

12. How coq may be cooked: AU VIN. I recall this was the specialty of Misty's husband Rowland.

13. Absolut alternative, familiarly: STOLI

14. __ welcome: HERO'S

16. Semiaquatic rodent: NUTRIA. I learned this rodent in the old Tribute Media Daily puzzle days.

22. Brewer’s supply: BARLEY

23. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off: ANGEL. Learning moment to me also.

24. "I’m alone": JUST ME

26. Big attractions: MECCAS. Zara is finally coming to Mall of America in December. I visited their store in Vegas last Feb. So many shopping meccas in the desert.

27. Wild things?: DEUCES. Oh, Deuces Wild.

28. Some game enders: Abb,: HRS (Home Runs)

29. Pike no-no: UEY

30. ATM giant: NCR

31. Actress Kelly: MOIRA. I forgot. We had her before.

32. Aurora’s counterpart: EOS

33. Either of two Chinese dynasties: WEI. The second is actually called Bei Wei.

34. Bailout key: ESC

37. Don Quixote’s unseen love: DULCINEA

40. Screen Actors Guild co-founder Lyle __: TALBOT. Stranger to me.

41. 2000s-’10s Afghan president: KARZAI (Hamid).

43. Not at all trivial: MAJOR

44. Allan-__: Robin Hood cohort: A-DALE. Partial.

46. Ready to be shipped: BOXED 

48. Tracks: RAILS

49. Where __: IT'S AT. Partial. Two partials are allowed in each grid.

50. Come clean?: BATHE. Another nice clue.

52. Notability: FAME 

53. __ pit: MOSH

55. Georgia, once: Abbr.: SSR

56. Upsilon follower: PHI 

57. Fifth-century invader: HUN 

Alright, Splynter and his legs will be back next Saturday.

C.C.

Friday, July 29, 2016, John R. Obrien

Title: Unlock the shift key!

Mr. O'Brien breaks away from his pattern of one LAT in March each year with his first venture into the world of Fridays. The theme is very cute, all the theme clues are the numbers that would show if the shift key were not held down. In other words, &$& is 747, which is a Jumbo Jet. If you are doing the puzzle on paper, this is a real bear, but with the keyboard, I found it pretty fast for a Friday, but i do get paid for sussing Friday themes. The word distribution is more early week with no long fill except the theme and many 6 letter fill:  AMORAL,  NOMADS,  NOVENA,  OMELET, VERONA, LAYMAN,  ANODES and IN A FOG   are my favorites. The 8/12/15/12/8 pattern does not feel familiar but did yield 55 theme squares. I am not suggesting the puzzle was easy, there are lots of very hard clues and slight obscurities, but we got her done.

17A. &$&: JUMBO JET (8). 747 is the real clue.Did you FLY?

24A. @! : GAMBLING GAME (12). 21 (also known as blackjack). Do you PLAY?

40A. !&&^ : BROADWAY MUSICAL (15). 1776 is the clue. Do you REMEMBER?

52A. ** : KEYS ON A PIANO (12). 88 Do you wonder WHY?

66A. What was mistakenly held for four puzzle clues : SHIFT KEY (8).

Across:

1. Bozeman sch. : MSU. Montana State University. I think this is a highly regarded COLLEGE.

4. __ on the knuckles : A RAP. Generally administered with a ruler, sometimes even the sharp edge.

8. Hardly homebodies : NOMADS.

14. Black __ : OPS.

15. Protection in a purse : MACE.

16. Folded fare : OMELET. Another gift from the French chefs. LINK.

19. Romeo's home : VERONA. Cool, a Friday Shakespeare clue/fill, or two.... 49A. Cordelia, to Regan : SISTER.

20. Great way to walk : ON AIR. Did anyone else go here....Extra credit for naming both parents of the star.

21. Olympics event : RACE. Timely but vague.

23. Baseball statistic : HIT.

28. Ancient time-telling device : CANDLE. Really fun INFO.

31. Hastings Ismay was selected as its first leader in 1952 : NATO. The name sounds like bad pig Latin, and I  never heard of HIM. he was interesting and NATO was an easy guess based on the year.

32. It can come between Clinton and Rodham : NEE. Hillary Rodham Clinton, née Hillary Diane Rodham.

33. Quaint retail word : OLDE.

36. Last words? : OBITS. Well done, even if a bit depressing.

44. Zaire, nowadays : CONGO. HISTORY. Not the Belgian Congo.

45. Sommelier's concern : YEAR. Wine was just too easy. Clecho-61D. Sommelier's prefix : OENO.

46. Outback native : EMU.

47. Mild cheese : EDAM. Yes, but not soft, it is is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands. Edam ages and travels well, and does not spoil; it only hardens. These qualities (among others) made it the world's most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies. (wiki).

57. Porter, for one : ALE. remember there are two basic types of Beer- ALE or LAGER. LINK.

58. Washington is prominent on them : ONES. Money, honey.

59. Property crime : ARSON. Burn baby, burn.

63. Like astronauts during liftoff : SEATED. HG, why?

68. Intact : ENTIRE.

69. Pamplona runner : TORO. The Bull, silly. he does not speak English in Pamplona.

70. Having four sharps : IN E. I defer to our musicians to explain.

71. Hoi polloi : MASSES. A Greek term, that became pejorative.

72. Like bachelor parties : STAG.

73. Bit of wit : MOT. French for word, part of the phrase "Bon mot."

Down:

1. Magic : MOJO. Defines as a magic charm, talisman, or spell. "someone must have their mojo working over at the record company" magic power.

2. Like web sites : SPUN. Cool deception, nit computer web but spider web.

3. Robert E. Lee's alma mater : USMA. United States Military Academy, Commonly referred to as West Point.

4. Unprincipled : AMORAL.  Nice explanation of the "A" as a negative prefix. LINK.

5. British rule in India : RAJ.

6. Biting : ACERB. Never seen in this form except in puzzles.

7. "She loves me" bit : PETAL.

8. Multi-day devotion : NOVENA. From the Latin for nine.

9. Kipling's "Follow Me __" : OME.

10. Nice view : MER. When a clue begins with Nice, it usually is hiding some French, like the owrd meaning sea.

11. It's heard coming and going : ALOHA.

12. Casual Friday material : DENIM.

13. Announce : STATE.

18. Texas city nickname : BIG D. Dallas.

22. Word on many a marquee : CINEMA.

25. Persian greeting : MEOW. Kitty cat not Iranian.

26. Classic muscle cars : GTOS.

27. Asian expanse : GOBI. The desert.

28. "Mad Money" network : CNBC. Jim Cramer.

29. Bubbly-textured Nestlé chocolate bar : AERO. Popular in England Steve? NC?

30. Light element : NEON.

34. Hardly an expert : LAYMAN.

35. Hall of Fame golf course architect Pete : DYE. Have you played ANY?

37. "Law &Order: SVU" actor : ICE T.

38. Unexciting : TAME.

39. Nasty campaign tactic : SLUR. Timely but verboten.

41. Quite a while : AGES.

42. Carroll's stammering self-caricature in "Alice in Wonderland" : DODO. A CSO to one of our own "Dodo: I say, you'll never get dry that way.
Alice: Get dry?
Dodo: Have to run with the others. First rule of a caucus race, you know.who has left us. "
More politics to avoid.

43. Celestial bear : URSA. Major, minor? Just Latin for bear.

48. Battery terminals : ANODES.

50. Befuddled : IN A FOG. been there often.

51. Put in folders, say : SORT.

52. Longtime "American Top 40" host : KASEM. Casey...did they ever bury him?

53. Justice Kagan : ELENA. One of the three.

54. "When You Are Old" poet : YEATS.
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

55. Raid victims : PESTS.

56. Clapton's "__ the Sheriff" : I SHOT. But he did not shoot the deputy. The Bob Marley song...

MEANING

60. Dairy case option : SKIM. The nut milks are taking over.

62. Russian refusal : NYET. No.

64. Frank McCourt memoir : TIS.




65. Poetic preposition : ERE.

67. George's brother : IRA. The Gershwins, but you knew that.

I really enjoyed the creativity of the theme and all the Greek and Latin as well as some great cluing- Like web sites : SPUN  is my favorite. Welcome to Friday John; Lemonade out.

Thursday, July 28th 2016 C.C.Burnikel

Theme: Story Arc - the four theme entries have a story to tell.

17A. Host of a program also known as "The Factor" : BILL O'REILLY. [Lore]. Often in the news.

"Like all great theologies, Bill's can be boiled down to one sentence: There must be a god, because I don't know how things work." - Stephen Colbert.

24A. Feature of some German nouns : MALE GENDER. [Legend]. Masculine, Feminine and Neutral. Der, Die, Das. Latin too.

34A. '60s-'70s sitcom whose four original family members were married over the course of the series : MY THREE SONS. [Myth]. Never saw the sitcom, but it osmosis'ed its way into my brain the the crosses pulled it out for me.

47A. Virus symptom, perhaps : FATAL ERROR. [Tale]. Took me a little while to cotton on to this one - a virus in the computer sense leading to the dreaded "blue screen of death".

56A. Private details ... or what's found in this puzzle's circles : INSIDE STORY

A couple of things about the theme struck me as as not quite right - if "inside" refers to the position of the circled word in the phrase, then "MYTH" isn't really "inside", more off to the left edge. Also, I don't see an INSIDE STORY as "private", more a story told by those who were present.

I'll take my Mr. Grumpy hat off now, this is the view out of the office window this morning, and who can stay grumpy looking at Mt. Rainier on a sunny day?

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Novelist celebrated on Bloomsday : JOYCE. If ever there was an almost mythical legend of lore and tale-telling, it would be James Joyce. His novel "Ulysses" is set on a single day, June 16th 1904, and the protagonist, Leopold Bloom, lends his name to the annual celebration of the book, and the author, on the anniversary.

6. Leaves on a shelf? : PAGES. Plenty of pages in Ulysses. My edition is just shy of 700 of them.

11. Pampering place : SPA

14. Spheres of study : AREAS

15. Like 1-Across : IRISH. To be sure.

16. Granola grain : OAT

19. "What a cutie!" : AWW

20. Pampas weapon : BOLA. Leg-entangling thing.

21. Slanted text: Abbr. : ITAL

22. "A" on many a cornerstone : ANNO. Probably old cornerstones now that the "CE" designation appears to be more acceptable.

23. He or I : ELEM. Cracking clue. The abbreviated helium and iodine are chemical elements.

27. Lee material : DENIM. Lee jeans. The hard-wearing cotton fabric "serge de Nîmes" eventually anglicized to"denim".

29. Locks : TRESSES

30. Half a repartee : TAT. Tit for?

32. Stick around : STAY. We see "segue" sometimes in the crossword - here's a great example from Jackson Browne as "The Load Out" segues into "Stay".

33. Berliner's direction : OST. The German compass rose, clockwise from the top - Nord, Ost, Süd, West

37. Wee amount : SOU. In spite of the apparently Scottish allusion with "wee", the sou was French.

39. "Glee" extra : TEEN

40. Backing : PRO

41. Belgian diamond center : ANTWERP

43. Expressive tweet space-savers : EMOJI. What's the singular? I have no idea.

51. Cries of clarity : AHAS!

52. Temptation garden : EDEN

53. "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy" speaker : IAGO. Handsome antagonist in Othello, or at least Kenneth Branagh is.

54. Banks on a runway : TYRA. Here she is:

55. Place for a screwdriver : BAR. I'll have a double, please. Lots of ice, California orange juice, Tito's vodka. Sláinte! A good start to Bloomsday.

59. Before, to Byron : ERE

60. Action movie climax : CHASE

61. Toys in laps, briefly : PEKES

62. Newsman Koppel : TED. I don't watch much news TV. Thank you, crosses.

63. Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy" : ELLEN. I don't watch much drama TV. Thank you, crosses.

64. Hobbit on a quest : FRODO. Did anyone else find Sam Gamgee an inspiring character in the book and a complete pain in the backside in the movie? "Mr. Frodo! Mr. Frodo! Mr. Frodo!". Ugh.

Down:

1. Elbowed : JABBED

2. Player with an orange-and-black logo : ORIOLE. Baltimore baseball player.

3. Federal Reserve chair after Bernanke : YELLEN. Nailed it!

4. Great misfortune : CALAMITY

5. Anka's "__ Beso" : ESO

6. Michelangelo statue : PIETA. In St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, appropriately.

7. Courier alternative : ARIAL. Not self-delivery? Oh - typeface. Gotcha.

8. Manufacturer of Venus razors : GILLETTE. Did you see that Dollar Shave Club just got bought by for one BILLION dollars by Unilever? That's one heck of a disruptive business model.

9. Immigrant's subj. : ESL

10. Uncomfortable in singles bars : SHY

11. No-goodniks : SO-AND-SOS

12. "Dances With Wolves" natives : PAWNEES

13. If all goes wrong : AT WORST

18. Edge : RIM

22. Short reply? : ANS. Like this is a self-describing crossword answer!

25. Clutch : GRASP

26. Pooh's gloomy pal : EEYORE. One of my favorite characters in the books (not the travesty that is the Walt Disney Studio version).

28. Monster High doll maker : MATTEL. Who? What? Apparently "The entire franchise will be rebooted in 2016, with new face molds, movie animation (starting with "Welcome to Monster High"), slogan ("How Do You Boo?"), and song "This Is How We Boo" performed by Jordin Sparks". So now we know.

31. "Done!" : THERE!

32. C-SPAN fig. : SEN. POL went in. POL came out.

34. Complained under one's breath : MUTTERED

35. Retaliatory act : REPRISAL

36. "Oh, it's fine" : NO MATTER

37. Low-risk wager : SAFE BET. No such thing in my experience.

38. How some foolish things are done : ON A DARE

42. Pallid : WAN

44. Tribute song on John Lennon's "Imagine" : OH YOKO. Nice to see her expanded by a couple of letters.

45. Rattled : JARRED

46. Mom's argument-ending words : I SAY SO. Rarely seen without "because ...".

48. More than see : RAISE

49. Birth city of most of the Osmonds : OGDEN

50. Seafood delicacy : ROE

56. Hotel amenity : ICE. Not in a lot of English hotels. They look at you as if you're crazy if you want a bucket of ice.

57. Org. with 30 franchises : NHL. The National Hockey League. I didn't realize there were so many teams. I think I can name maybe 10 without straining, then I'm starting to hunt and peck.

58. Hawaiian Tropic lotion letters : S.P.F.

This time last week I was in the English north-west, today the Pacific north west, and beautiful weather in both places. I feel charmed! The weather's so nice up here I'm going to stick around for the weekend. Aaaaaand finally ..... here's the grid!

Steve

Wednesday, July 27, 2016, Jeff Wechsler

TITLE: OO, OO, OO, OO, OO, OO

Joe E. Ross's signature phrase as Gunther Toody from Car 54 Where Are You? serves as prolog for Jeff's wonderful Wednesday puzzle where he has six entries that start with OO, four across and two down. Jeff's amazing incorporation of six of them at a Wednesday level further impresses this humble blogger.


Jeff Wex has also requested "that this puzzle, based on its theme, should be dedicated to Lemonade's wife, Oo".  I am happy to do so!!

Husker Gary here, gladly summarizing a puzzle with a lot of OOMPH!

Theme Entries

17. Butterfingers' comment : OOPSY DAISY - A variant of Upsy Daisy that is said when a child stumbles or is being lifted. Or before and after this...

23. Comet-filled region of space : OORT CLOUD - Far out, man!

48. Chinese beverage literally meaning "black dragon" :  OOLONG TEA - After withering, rolling, shaping and firing

54. Plays it like Cary Grant : OOZES CHARM - Of Zoltan Karpathy, Professor Higgins proclaimed, "OOZING charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor"

11. Wonka worker : OOMPA LOOMPA - Don't they seem to be a little creepy?

23. Expressions of delight : OOHS AND AAHS - C'mon, you know you say it!

Across

1. Fast-arriving letter : E-MAIL - After face-to-face, my preferred method of communicating 

6. Leaping parasite : FLEA

10. Verne protagonist : FOGG - Nemo in the sub, FOGG in the balloon

14. "It Happened One Night" director : CAPRA - I could watch it again today!

15. Equestrian strap : REIN

16. Collected knowledge : LORE

19. See 22-Down : AMIN and 22. With 19-Across, Oscar-winning Forest Whitaker role : IDI - A completely despicable man

20. Numerous centuries : EON

21. "Win one for the __": Reagan : GIPPER 

27. Have more birthdays : AGE - The only thing worse than AGING is not AGING

28. Circuit components : DIODES

30. "Ah, Wilderness!" playwright : O'NEILL - Notice the top-billed actor in this Broadway cast

32. Needed Advil, say : ACHED

33. Investor's concern : LOSS

34. Little bit : IOTA

37. Interfere (with) : MESS

38. Soda purchases : COKES

39. 1980s surgeon general : KOOP - Apropos on an OO day!

40. Education orgs. : PTA'S

41. Take ten : REST

42. "Philadelphia" director Jonathan : DEMME - Stereotypical director activity where DEMME is setting up a shot for Philadelphia

43. "Whatever your heart desires!" : NAME IT

45. "Always," in a military slogan : SEMPER

46. Imogene's comedy partner : SID

50. Saws : ADAGES

52. Juillet's season : ETE

53. Brunch, e.g. : MEAL - As long as there's bacon...

61. Pearl Harbor site : OAHU

62. Headed for overtime : TIED - Talk about your overtimes!

63. Very dangerous : TOXIC

64. Staff mem. : ASST

65. Bit of river turbulence : EDDY

66. The Washington Monument's 897 : STEPS - Climbing these is no longer permitted but the record is 6.7 minutes set in 2007

Down

1. Green start? : ECO

2. Red Guard leader : MAO

3. Waze or Uber : APP

4. Agcy. with collectors : IRS

5. Like a parfait : LAYERED - Poirot often uses the word "Parfait" (Perfect) on the eponymous British TV Series when his "little grey cells" have made a discovery

6. Old Belgian currency : FRANC

7. Tourist gift on 61-Across : LEI

8. Stuttgart cubes : EIS

9. "Care to take a stab at the answer?" : ANY GUESS - Can you guess the 6-letter word (not 5-letter as posted earlier) that connects these four pix? (*Answer below by grid)

10. Kerfuffle : FLAP

12. "Peer Gynt Suite" composer : GRIEG

13. Bromance or romcom : GENRE

18. Fiji has three : DOTS - Or tittles

24. Ukrainian port : ODESSA

25. Regards with anticipation : LOOKS TO

26. Starting point : ONSET

28. Soggy : DAMP

29. "O.G. Original Gangster" rapper : ICE-T - First hip-hop album with the warning you see 

31. "... just as I am" : LIKE ME

33. Trompe __ : L'OEIL - French for Trick the eye. I love these chalk drawings that do just that 

35. Weighty volume : TOME

36. Mimic : APER

38. Chimney cleaner's target : CREOSOTE

42. Becomes aware of : DETECTS

44. "The Simpsons" beer server : MOE

45. PD ranks : SGTS - It was interesting to see SGT Joe Friday pre and post Miranda Rights 

46. Polynesian nation : SAMOA

47. Planning session fodder : IDEAS

49. Hard up : NEEDY

51. Excess : GLUT

55. Suffix with fact : OID - Here's one from the King Of FACTOIDS!

56. Zoo opening in London? : ZED

57. What a red "H" often indicates : HOT

58. Bunyan tool : AXE

59. __ Van Winkle : RIP

60. Mic wielders : MCS

A scout troop's short a child, Krushchev due at Idewild, LA Crossword comments where are you?

*CHANGE

THE GRID