The lovely pairing of Don and C.C. never wears out its WELCOME and today they present us with a very entertaining Sunday puzzle where the word WELCOME can be an ADDITION to each of the last words of eight phrases to make another phrase. Their gimmick is revealed in:
119. Breath of fresh air ... or, literally, what the last word of eight long Across answers can be : WELCOME ADDITION - This is what Lily has been to us two empty-nesters!
23. Town gathering place : COMMUNITY CENTER - WELCOME CENTER. You're in the Army now...
45. Gardener's purchase : SEED PACKET - The WELCOME PACKET - What each new prisoner gets from the Federal Bureau of Prisons
70. Purpose of some government credits : TAX RELIEF - WELCOME RELIEF provided by a squirrel chiropractor
84. Astrological sector : ZODIAC SIGN - A very famous WELCOME SIGN
93. Hidden : OUT OF SIGHT - A WELCOME SIGHT in many "oaters"
Across
1. "Thunderstruck" band : AC/DC
5. Alberta resort town : BANFF
10. Heavenly spheres : ORBS
14. Caps' partners : GOWNS
19. Manhattan or Queens, briefly : BORO - Borough
20. City NW of Orlando : OCALA
21. Bryan's "Breaking Bad" role : WALT - Suiting up to cook some meth for altruistic reasons
22. Formed for a specific purpose : AD HOC
26. Dough : MOOLA
27. Bombards with bogus offers : SPAMS
28. One of a toon septet : DOPEY
31. Highway deterrent : RADAR - They got me for doing 39 mph in a 30 mph zone last week but I kept my hands on the wheel, was very respectful, took full responsibility and got off with a warning
33. Arabian Peninsula port : ADEN
35. Acidity levels: Abbr. : PH'S
36. Pennant trio? : ENS - PENNANT
37. Sherpa's domain: Abbr. : MTN - A human pack mule
38. Ivory or Coast : SOAP
40. Lions' homes : DENS
43. "Eureka!" : AHA
48. Witch's familiar, maybe : CAT - I got CAT incidentally and then went to the web to find out what the heck this is - A familiar or familiar spirit is a supernatural being that helps and supports a witch or magician. In western culture this is usually a black CAT.
49. Shtick figures : COMICS
53. Coastal flier : ERN
54. Eurasian capital : ANKARA - The capital in this capital is the Turkish Lira
57. Jet with suits? : CESSNA - This $23.6M Cessna Citation can hold 12 "suits"
59. Eastern way : TAO
61. Remains in the cooler : DOES TIME
62. "You're on!" : ITS A DEAL
66. Cardinal, e.g. : BIRD
67. Some NASA missions : EVA'S -Extra Vehicular Activities are just that - ACTIVITIES that occur outside the space craft during a NASA mission. Nit, nit, nit...
68. Fleeces : ROBS
72. Artist's choices : HUES
73. Bamboozle : DUPE
74. Teased : RODE
75. Retail focus : CONSUMER
77. "Priest" in a Nash poem : ONE-L LAMA
79. Runway retiree of '03 : SST
80. Cantaloupe cousin : CASABA - I can never discern much taste to them
86. Disc golf starting point : TEE PAD
90. Friend of Harry : RON - No clue on Harry Potter characters but it filled itself in
91. Guarantee : ENSURE
92. Place to see a facial mask : SPA
95. Bummed : SAD
96. K follower : MART
98. Acting opportunity : ROLE - Guess who was the first choice for the ROLE of Forrest Gump
99. __ Spiegel: German magazine : DER - The Mirror
100. Attention that can help healing, briefly : TLC
103. Kettle cover : LID - An idiot who looks like me once made popcorn in a kettle sans LID.
105. Titicaca, por ejemplo : LAGO - El LAGO Titicaca se encuentra entre Perú y Bolivia (Lake Titicaca is located between Peru and Bolivia)
107. Bacon with six degrees? : KEVIN
113. Italian-born three-time Oscar winner : CAPRA - It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town and You Can't Take It With You
115. Night fliers : MOTHS
118. It helps when picking up : PRONG
122. Rice/Lloyd Webber musical : EVITA
123. Sheikh, e.g. : ARAB
124. "__ Fire": Denzel Washington movie : MAN ON - 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. "Shamelessly manipulative and sadistically violent", said one critic
125. Visiting the Getty Mus., say : IN LA
126. Business bigwig : BARON
127. Workout stat : REPS
128. Santa __ racetrack : ANITA
129. Training locale : CAMP
Down
1. Basics : ABC'S
2. Joint venture : CO-OP
3. Boots brand with Bouncing Soles : DR MARTENS - DOC MARTENS didn't fit
4. Charge : COMMAND - The most infamous Charge COMMAND in American history?
5. "___ voyage!" : BON
6. Heavy metal relative : ACID ROCK - There's just something wrong about hearing The London Philharmonic playing Light My Fire.
7. Brussels-based defense gp. : NATO
8. Pest control device : FLY PAPER
9. Confronted : FACED
10. Beat year after year after year ... : OWN
11. "Phooey!" : RATS
12. "This is disgusting!" : BLEH
13. Sharpening tool : STROP - Can you spot the one in this picture?
14. Many unscripted programs : GAME SHOWS
15. Gas additive, perhaps : ODOR
16. Incredulous response : WHO ME?
17. Pitching legend Ryan : NOLAN - A punching expert too!
18. Improvises with nonsense syllables : SCATS
24. Amer. currency : USD
25. Set one's sights on : EYED
30. Hit hard : WHACKED
32. Yoga poses : ASANAS
34. Maker of Candy Buttons : NECCO - The Candy Shoppe at the New England Confectionary COrporation in Revere, MA
37. Little more than : MERE
39. Preceder of an alt. name : AKA
41. "I'm gonna pass" : NAH
42. Schoolwork : STUDIES
44. Dabblers : AMATEURS - Ed McMahon always told Johnny that drinking on New Year's Eve was for AMATEURS
45. Short time : SEC
46. Short breaths : PANTS
47. Turkic Russian : TATAR
50. "Enough already!" : I GIVE - Tap Out today
51. Deep sleeps : COMAS
52. Mario Paint console, initially : SNES - Can you read Super Nintendo Entertainment System?
56. Greek vacation isle : CORFU
58. Composer with a Helsinki academy named for him : SIBELIUS - Born in Hämeenlinnain 1865 and died in Järvenpää in 1957
60. Smart guys? : ALECS
63. Basic matter : ATOMS and 82. Nobelist who developed a model for 63-Down : BOHR - I taught the BOHR ATOM for years
64. Arp's school : DADAISM
65. Palindromic file extension : EXE
66. Storage unit : BIN
68. Talk nonstop : RUN ON
69. Pro-and-con newspaper pair, perhaps : OPEDS
71. Powerball, e.g. : LOTTO
72. Flip side? : HEADS
73. Catch a few z's : DOZE
74. Entered quickly : RACED IN - What are heroic first responders did when others ran from the Trade Center Buildings
76. VirusScan developer : MCAFEE
78. "60 Minutes" correspondent : LARA LOGAN
79. Traffic tangle : SNARL
81. Pope Francis' birthplace : ARGENTINA - A young Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his family in Buenos Aires
83. Sugar bowl visitor : ANT
85. H.S. benchmark : GPA
87. Pole, for one : EUROPEAN
88. WWII venue : ETO
89. Circle in a fabric pattern : POLKA DOT
94. Harebrained : IDIOTIC
97. It's filled and folded : TACO
100. Not exactly high-strung : TYPE-B
101. Tadpole, say : LARVA
102. Group in robes : CHOIR
104. Big name in Scotch : DEWAR
106. __ ray : GAMMA
108. ROTC school near D.C. : VMI - It became co-ed in 1997
110. Not tricked by : ONTO
111. Are no more : WERE
112. "__ That Bass": Gershwin song : SLAP
114. Hindu princess : RANI
116. __ oak: Mediterranean tree : HOLM
117. Start of a gridiron play : SNAP - QB should be on the same page as the center
120. "48 Hours" airer : CBS
121. It might be recombinant : DNA
Any and all are WELCOME to offer any comments:
THE GRID
27 comments:
Greetings!
You did it again, CC and Don! Great puzzle. Nice expo, Gary!
Scratched head at SNES!
Otherwise OK. Some were perped.
Broke down and bought a new Macbook Pro. It's a dream. Other one, six years old, was driving me nuts!
Have a great Sunday!
FIRight! No reds, but lack of a ta-da did warn me I still had an error. AMATEURe+CAeABA. I'd figured AMATEURE was plural in a collective sense, and the melon was one I'd never heard of, like the HOLM oak.
The theme eluded me until I got the reveal, which was near the last I filled. I was expecting something more literal. By the time I got it, all other themers had been filled, so it gave me no help.
One of the more venerable Sci-Fi conventions is Corflu, named for the mimeograph CORection FLUid used librally by early fanzine producers.
{A, B+, B-, B-.}
A crusty curmudgeon from BANFF
Would complain of his joints when twas damff.
"Growing old is bad biz
When you've got rheumatiz,
But it's worse when you can't swear, goddamff!"
A Transylvanian retired to OCALA
To spend all his MOOLA, every dollah!
The Chevy he bought
Had red POLKA DOTS --
He named the car "Vlad", the Impala!
An ARAB who resided in ADEN
Desired the love of a maiden.
Tight PANTS did him wrong
By revealing his PRONG,
So a robe was a WELCOME ADDITION!
KEVIN wooed a woman named EVITA
While going steady already with ANITA!
When his DUPE was unveiled
The two-timer high-tailed,
And didn't stop till he reached ARGENTINA!
Hi there~!
A mostly fun solve, but got stumped in the SW with the crossing of three names - two people and one poem. The deceptive "PRONG" slowed me down, too. Well done, HuskerG, your cat picture was well-framed, I love the door mat, and spot on with your choice of witch~!
RE: yesterday - uh, yeah, I am a young'un; neither a Baby Boomer nor a Millennial - I was born in 1971, so I grew up with Star Wars, Van Halen and MTV. What generation is that? I think we were called the MTV generation....
Splynter
Morning, all!
Slow and stead got the job done today. Lots of head scratchers and missteps, but nothing fatal. With _EED_ACKE_ in place at 45A, I confidently went with WEED WACKER. Understandable, but wrong, and it took awhile to clear that up. Down south, I went with COVEN before CHOIR at 102D. Less understandable, just as wrong. Again, it took awhile to get that cleared up.
Finally remembered how to spell BANFF, so that was nice.
Oh, and Splynter -- you're in the same generation cohort as I am. Generation X, a.k.a. Baby Busters. And I think every generation gets called the "ME Generation" by their parents at one point or another...
Good morning!
Zipped right through this one in typical Wednesday time. Sensed, but didn't really get, the theme. No matter. Thanx, DG and CC.
Husker, you are obviously not a Harry Potter fan, or the CAT familiar and RON Weasley would've been gimmes. But I'll bet your atom classes weren't BOHRing?
It's a Wonderful Life was nominated for five Oscars and won **zero**. Go figure.
Let's see hands if you said "calvary" instead of "cavalry" in your ute. Both hands if you still do.
I'd be a gasper if I tried to visit Lake (LAGO) Titicaca. It's surface is at 12,507 ft, where the air is really thin.
Good Sunday Morn,
Thanks Don and C.C. for a fine Sunday puzzle. I agree with Barry: slow and steady here also. My favorite: ONELLAMA. I had the two L's and immediately chuckled. Nicely constructed and fun to solve.
Great expo, Gary. Informative and interesting links as is your WONT (from yesterday). Thanks so much.
Have a sunny day.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, C.C. and Don G., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
Went fairly easily. A few tough spots. Caught the theme with COMMUNITY CENTER.
Took me a while to get YAHOO NEWS. Made sense. I guess I have never been exposed to Yahoo News. Or else did not recognize the name.
No idea who KEVIN Bacon is.
LARA LOGAN was with perps.
ASANAS was an unknown. Perped it.
SEED PACKET I liked. I buy many each year.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good Morning:
Another sparkling gem from our Dynamic Duo. I had no idea of the theme until the reveal. This "subterfuge" seems to be a CC trademark to which I'm sure Don aids and abets mightily. Anyway, it makes the solve more satisfying, particularly with Sunday puzzles which usually telegraph the theme through the title and theme answers. I liked Ivory and Coast = Soap, and Nash's Llama always brings a smile, as did Polka Dot, for reasons unknown. Only write-over was Crete/Corfu. BTW, CSO to moi with Dewar!
Kudos to CC and Don for a "welcoming" Sunday offering and thanks to HG for the humorous and informative expo. Learning moments were Ron and Cat familiar as I've not read any of the Harry Potter books.
I hope all is well with YR and Bill G.
Have a great day.
A very enjoyable puzzle. Very smooth til the SW, where I scratched my head at "Yahoo News". I'm a newsprint fan, so that went right over my head. I also have a kajillion seed packets, so I got that one right away!
WELCOME to the wacky world of commenters of crossword puzzles. I wasn't on Don and C.C. wavelength today and had to grind it out-almost. The unknowns solved by perps and crosses were abundant today. I managed to get everything except the NAH-CAT-STUDIES-CONSUMER area. I had BIT for BIN and had CUSTOMER for CONSUMER and that gave me a DIET for the 'Schoolwork'. I knew LOTTO had to be correct but I just couldn't come up with CAT and had S_UDIET.
DR MARTENS, ACDC, WALT, SNES, SIBELIUS (never heard of), KEVIN (Roger first), MAN ON Fire, SLAP Bass, YAHOO NEWS, ONE L-LAMA-These were all perped. These unknowns really slowed down my usual 30 minute Sunday fill. I liked the cross of MOOLA & GAME SHOWS & COMICS- other than Jeopardy most of the shows are for comedy with a little moola to the winners.
K-MART & SEARS- they better do something fast before they join Montgomery-Ward in the dust bin of history.
YAHOO NEWS- I refuse to even look at it because ATT sends me there automatically after logging out of my email. Trying to send me to a particular web-site bothers me. I just close the browser.
Hello Puzzlers -
Mostly smooth sailing with today's DGCC, but I did get into a roadblock situation in the SW corner. Didn't know Yahoo News, Prong didn't come to mind, didn't realize who wrote Evita, and so on. Got there eventually.
Morning, Husker, nice to see Lily again. I'm guessing that interior photo was a Cessna Longitude, the newest jet in their lineup, due to start deliveries in 2017. Not sure how 12 passengers fit in, but then I haven't seen one in the wild yet.
Hi Y'all! Very fun puzzle despite a bunch of unknowns. Good work, Don & C.C.! Good expo, Gary!
Would someone explain how "Beat year after year after year" = OWN? I don't get it.
I've had several CATs who were familiars. They could understand spoken language and read my mind. Spooky! My kids thought I was a witch because of this. Sometimes I couldn't understand the CAT. My bad.
Thanks to C.C., D.G. and H.G. You're all brilliant!
Fly paper was common in my childhood. Does anyone use it any more?
I didn't get the theme until the reveal at 119a. I still had a lot to fill in, so it was a big help.
Have a lovely day, everyone.
About Strops: I'm just old enough to recall accompanying my dad to the barber shop, where the chair was outfitted with a leather strop. I recall the barber using it often to touch up the razor - that thing must have been sharp! I am not old enough to have sat in the chair for a shave myself. I wonder what it was like, having a professional shave, rather than the standard at-home Gillette treatment.
"YAHOO NEWS- I refuse to even look at it because ATT sends me there automatically after logging out of my email. Trying to send me to a particular web-site bothers me. I just close the browser."
Does it also bother you to use a service and pay nothing for it? Landing you on a page is a exorbitant price to pay for the service you're getting?
Good morning everyone.
Perp helps were ample today so it got solved in less than the usual time today which was WELCOMED. No searches were needed.
We spent a week in BANFF back in '92 at a conference. Beautiful venue, good food. We did have a visitor (mouse - mus - maus - muis) in our room one night. I think it had good taste on where to live.
CESSNA - We used to fly in a CESSNA 172 to do ice surveillance flights over Lake Erie. Our photographer who was on the short side would open his door to take pictures. At the same time the pilot would bias (or crab?) the plane roll to get better photos.
Nice, smooth, puzzle, by two experts! Thanks, Don & C.C. for a nice workout. Loved the clue "Remains in the cooler".
Thanks, HG, for the great review. Loved the squirrel chiropractor! Where do you guys find these great clips for us? Thank you!
PK - Beat year after year after year.... When one team continually beats another time and again, it's call they "own" that matchup. Slang... Hope that helps!
Greetings to all.
Enjoyable puzzle today. Thank you Don G. and C.C. I had a white hole in the far NW at first, but eventually was able to fill it in. Learning moment was "witch's familiar."
Great write-up, Husker. Had to smile at the squirrel chiropractor. Oh, and nice to see your sweet Lily. I miss having a cat.
Enjoy the day!
This wonderful puzzle was a pleasure to solve. It was not easy but it was fair. Don and C.C. are always fair.
I had OWL as the witch's familiar at first but the perps steered me to CAT. Even after I got HOLM I stared at it for a while but MOTHS was solid so there it was, staring back at me. MANON is also an oft-performed opera by the French composer Jules Massenet, the same guy who wrote the "Meditation" from Thaïs, another one of his operas. ENS went right over my head and I didn't get it until reading Gary's explanation; I was thinking too much along the lines of a pennant being called an ensign in the Navy. I smiled at the inclusion of EVITA and ARGENTINA. My favorite clue is "Remains in the cooler". I immediately thought of Irish Miss when I filled DEWAR. We have some friends named MCAFEE but they assure us they are no relation to that McAfee.
Best wishes to you all.
A nice challenge in a Sunday puzzle. I agree that "It was not easy but it was fair."
Is a One-L Lama a Buddhist priest attending law school?
Sailor, yeah, his first year of law school :)
I'm glad you like your new Macbook Pro, fermatprime.
I remember lots of references to the "Me" generation during the 80's. They have grown up now and I think that "me first" attitude is now biting us in the butt.
Owen, I like your BANFF poem. Very clever.
I confess: Yahoo News is my go-to source.
Hand up for calling the military horsemen the "Calvary" when I was very young. During my childhood in the Black Hills I quickly learned to pronounce it correctly. That's because I used to ride in am equestrian group that our community in Sturgis formed called The New 7th Riders, named after the old 7th United States Cavalry, once commanded by General Custer.
Jayce - I don't know whether I should be flattered or worried about that Dewar association! 😈. Your mention of Sturgis is timely as my niece's husband and his father recently returned from the motorcycle rally there. I can't imagine riding a motorcycle from here to Sturgis and back! Then again, I can't imagine even getting on a motorcycle to begin with.
HG, I forgot to mention what a pretty kitty Lily is! 🐈
Clue from previous puzzle: sleepy rock song girl or something like that
Everly brothers song from late 50's early 60's Wake up little Susie!
A motorcycle is one of the things a man gives up when he gets married.
What a great game that just finished in Williamsport, PA. The young men from upstate NY, Binghamton I believe, hung in there to win the nail biter final game. Kudos and much respect to the young men from Seoul, South Korea for the way they handled defeat so far from home. They show class and maturity in bowing to the crowd with tears in their eyes. A very uplifting and hope inspiring scene from small town USA. I don't think I saw a single campaign commercial during the 2 and 1/2 hour respite from grownup problems this fine Sunday afternoon. Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere and I'll think a cold one is in order while my mind still enjoying the moment. Congrats boys!!
I just loved this Don and C.C. puzzle! Only one tiny cheat to finish it, but I got everything else with very little trouble. Had CRETE before CORFU because Rowland and I enjoyed three lovely vacations there, over the years. Had no trouble getting LARA LOGAN, SIBELIUS, and ARGENTINA, all of which helped. Thanks for giving us the cute L/LAMA poem, Gary. And, Owen, I liked your Impala limerick.
So, many thanks, Don, C.C., and Gary, for making my Sunday sparkly and fun.
Have a great week coming up, everybody!
The Ogden Nash poem about the one-L and two-L lamas contains a little joke. The part about "I will bet a silk pajama there isn't any three-L lama refers to a type of conflagaration called a "three alarmer." I didn't say it was a good joke.
Buzz
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