Theme: "Risk Factor" - Parse RISK as "R is K". R is changed into K in each theme entry.
22A. Battle of vampire slayers? : STAKING CONTEST. Staring contest.
35A. "'Dash away' yourself, Santa! We're tired!"? : HOLIDAY CHEEK. Holiday cheer.
53A. Band of vipers' rhythm section? : SNAKE DRUMS. Snare drums.
62. With 65-Across, malt shop accountant's calculation? : EARNINGS. And 65. See 62-Across : PER SHAKE. Earnings per share.
76A. Time when all farms used plow-pulling oxen? : DAYS OF YOKE. Days of yore.
92A. Angler's slang? : FISHING SPEAK. Fishing spear.
109A. Soda jerk's course of study? : COKE CURRICULUM. Core curriculum.
16D. Satirize the screwball? : SEND UP A FLAKE. Not familiar with the phrase "send up a flare".
58D. Portrait of a libertine? : RAKE PAINTING. Rare painting. I feel it's not as solid as
rare coin".
rare coin".
Another great title! It captures the gimmick so perfectly.
I also like how Warren split up EARNINGS PER SHAKE and intersected PER SHAKE with one more themer. Creative gridding.
Across:
1. No-trade policy : EMBARGO. Solid start.
8. 1954 Ford debut : T-BIRD
13. Vacillate : SEESAW
19. Brit's beauty shop : PARLOUR.
I was thinking of The Body Shop, which is a British company. Alas, they
only have one store here in MN. Mall of America of course.
20. Geographical symbol of Middle America : PEORIA
21. Beat the wheat : THRESH
24. Bandleader Tito : PUENTE
25. Eponymous virologist : SALK
26. Eric Cartwright's nickname : HOSS. Never watched "Bonanza".
27. Like some seals : EARED
29. Poor mark : DEE
30. Indefinite period : WHILE. Always with "a".
32. Japanese chip maker : NEC. 117 years old now. Much older than Intel.
33. Once around : ORBIT
34. Hair ringlet : CURL
39. Hickok's last hand, so it's said : ACES UP. Dead man's hand.
41. Yves' yes : OUI
42. Hefty Cinch__ bags : SAK
43. River to the Ohio : WABASH. Wiki says it's the "state river of Indiana".
45. Marathoner's concern : CRAMP
48. Language spoken by Jesus : ARAMAIC
51. Enter again : RE-TYPE
52. Science major's cost : LAB FEE
55. Mom, dad, sibs, etc. : FAM
56. Cholesterol letters : LDL. "Bad" cholesterol.
57. Jason's ship : ARGO. So happy you're out of the woods now, Lemonade.
59. Quebec's __ Peninsula : GASPE. Learning moment for me.
60. Pound foot : PAW. I thought the clue might be some kind of unit.
61. Order from a stool : ALE
68. Ararat lander : ARK
69. Youngster : BOY
70. Boat, or the tool that moves it : SCULL. Nice clue.
73. Tony winner Judith : IVEY. I forgot. We had her before.
74. Dessert option : PIE. Quite a few food references in this grid. 75. Starchy tuber : YAM. 104. Celebrate an anniversary, with "out" : DINE. 23. After-dinner request : CHECK. 38. Devour : EAT UP 54. Like a soufflé : EGGY. 91. Baked potato topping : CHIVES
79. Thrusting blade : RAPIER
81. Used as security, in a way : PAWNED. We passed by the Pawn Stars shop in Vegas a few times. Never went in.
82. Words behind Lincoln? : ONE CENT
86. Bias : SLANT
87. Temple with an upcurved roof : PAGODA. The
first one is the famous Wild Goose Pagoda in my hometown Xi'an. The
curve in the second pagoda from Japan is more pronounced.
88. Calendar col. : TUE
89. Golf course meas. : YDs
90. Promise qualifier : IF I CAN
96. "Yikes!" : OH NO
98. HDTV part, for short : HI-DEF
100. Texter's "Yikes!" : OMG
101. Barely eats : PICKS
102. Billboard __ 100 : HOT
103. Pastel shade : LILAC
106. Host before and after O'Brien : LENO
107. "Nightfall" story writer : ASIMOV. Got via crosses.
114. Decide not to : RENEGE
115. Square quartet : ANGLES. Easy in retrospect.
116. North African capital : TRIPOLI. Not ALGIERS. Same letter count.
117. Boston College athletes : EAGLES.
A la Wiki: The Boston College mascot is Baldwin the Eagle, an American
bald eagle whose name is a pun derived from the bald head of the eagle
and the word "win."
118. Exxon__ : MOBIL
119. Gets incensed : SEES RED
Down:
1. Mini-albums, for short : EPs
2. Shoe-wiping spot : MAT
3. Portuguese-speaking capital : BRASILIA. Here
is a list of countries/territories where Portuguese is the official
language. Though close to Hong Kong, Macau cuisine is quite different
due to the Portuguese influence.
4. Its pH is more than 7 : ALKALI
5. Muddied : ROILED
6. Goop : GUNK
7. Cousin of com : ORG
8. A thousand's hundred : TENs
9. High-tech workers : BOTS. Not people.
10. Steam : IRE
11. It helps some singers see the choir leader : RISER. Got via crosses.
12. Sortable information source : DATABASE
13. Fla. coastal city : ST. PETE
14. Barak who succeeded Netanyahu : EHUD
15. Before, in verse : ERE
17. Autumn bloom : ASTER
18. Stagecoach roller : WHEEL
20. Hound : POOCH
28. Loaded : RICH
30. "Now just a darn minute!" : WHOA
31. Labor bill unit : HOUR. Boomer likes to chat with the repairman. I wonder if they add the chat time into the bill.
32. City near the Tappan Zee Bridge : NYACK. Stranger to me.
33. "No prob" : OK BY ME. Sparkly 6-letter fill.
34. Control : CURB
36. Group with the albums "Aqua" and "Aria" : ASIA
37. Still-life subjects : EWERS
40. Shell game, say : SCAM
44. H.S. VIPs : APs. Assistant Principals?
46. Sampling of songs : MEDLEY
47. Soccer superstar : PELE
49. Cath. church VIP : MSGR. Monsignor. I googled this last time.
50. Presently : ANON
51. Dietary stds. : RDAs
52. Newton trio : LAWS
55. Much : FAR
57. Passé reception aid : AERIAL
60. Ill-gotten gains : PELF. Not LOOT or SWAG.
63. Building beam : I-BAR
64. __ de plume : NOM
65. Proceed tediously : PLOD
66. Travel with a pack : HIKE. Oh, backpack.
67. "__ plaisir!" : AVEC
68. Financing nos. : APRs. APR = Annual Percentage Rate.
70. Prune : SAW OFF
71. Singer Lauper : CYNDI
72. "__ directed" : USE AS
75. Mountain myth : YETI. Just the Himalayan.
76. Former U.N. leader Hammarskjöld : DAG
77. Inexperienced : YOUNG
78. Versatile type in medicine, briefly : O NEG
80. Dope : INFO
81. Zoo observation gadget : PANDA CAM. Melissa and I debuted this fill a few months ago.
83. Brown, often : EYE COLOR. Melissa's surname is Brown.
84. Site of the U.S. continent's geographical midpoint : N DAK
85. Disapproving sounds : TSKs
87. Beach building aid : PAIL
88. Cellphone feature : TIMER
93. Baseball Hall of Famer Wagner : HONUS. Here is the famous T206 card. This might be a reprint, given its pristine condition.
94. Coinage : SPECIE. Not a word I use.
95. Man cave art : PIN-UPS
96. Popular connection point : O'HARE. Tricky clue.
97. Biblical prophet : HOSEA
99. __ Lodge : ECONO
103. Theater section : LOGE
104. Department with a scale : DELI. I sure was not thinking of supermarket.
105. Eur. republic since 1944 : ICEL (Iceland)
106. Old Pisa dough : LIRE
108. B or C of the Spice Girls : MEL
110. Cold War spy gp. : KGB
111. Civil things: Abbr. : RTS (Rights)
112. Small ending : ULE. Not LET.
113. Central beginning : MID
Happy
Birthday to dear Husker Gary, our incomparable puzzle sherpa and
friend. What's the plan today, Gary? Pick up some fresh pears?
 |
| Joann, Granddaughter Elise & Gary |
C.C.
Took a while, but I solved it! Didn't get the theme until a couple themers were filled in.
ReplyDelete{B, B-, C+, C-.}
Here's a tale of some folks from PEORIA
Who tried drinking helium for euphoria.
As their bodies absorb it
They float into ORBIT,
And that's why they're folks from PEORIA!
'Tis a frog on the bank of the WABASH
Who wants a handlebar mustache!
It won't help him catch flies
Nor she-froggy eyes,
But in the water it'll make quite a splash!
In China they've got PANDA CAM.
A PAGODA can be seen in Japan.
The waves of the sea
Lap ashore at TRIPOLI,
But I'm happy just right where I am!
A SNAKE dipped its PAW in a pond
In the shade of a pine tree's great frond.
A jellyfish, that was grapier,
Was shot by a RAPIER;
And sanity and sense have been PAWNED!
Morning, all (and Happy, Happy Birthday to Gary the Husker)!
ReplyDeletePicked up on the theme of this one early on, which helped a lot. I thought most of the theme answers worked well, but there were a few clunkers. I've heard of "Send up a flare" before, but FLAKE is not synonymous with "screwball" to me (I think of a FLAK as an unreliable person). And neither "rare painting" nor "fishing spear" seemed common enough phrases compared to the rest.
Regardless, it was a pretty quick solve. The extreme SE corner was the last to fall, partially due to the aforementioned FISHINGSPEAK, but also due to trying to remember SPECIE, waffling between TUTS and TSKS, and taking an "indefinite period" to get NDAK and EYE COLOR from the clues. "Old Pisa dough" got a chuckle out of me, though.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI really struggled with this one, and crashed and burned in the end. Not familiar with ASIA or NYACK, so __K was my Natick.
My grandfather had a THRESHing machine and would travel from farm to farm at harvest time.
I was certain "Pound foot" would have to do with Ezra Pound's poetry. Not!
I was certain the H.S. VIP's would be SRS. Not!
Happy Birthday, Husker! Enjoy the day.
Very HBDTY and many more HG; you have brought a refreshing new approach to blogging and your experience in life is fun to learn.
ReplyDeletePuzzle was good
Let us never forget, the towers may have fallen but American spirit and resolve were unharmed.
Fun puzzle. My Natick was the S in ASIA. Now that you mention it,I have seen it in puzzles before. Duh! I have crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge often and been to NYACK several times, so no problem there. Additionally, I mistakenly crossed that bridge twice because I was in the wrong lane and couldn't avoid it.
ReplyDeleteThe only really unknown was HONUS, all perps.
Owen KL, IMO # 1 and 3 are A's.
CC, when I was property manager at church I chatted with the repairmen, too. You can't believe what an education that was. The reward for the helpful ones was being at the top of my call list.
I thought the high school VIPs were the AP (advanced placement) students. Maybe it was vice principal. What do others think?
We frequently use FLAKE and FLAKY to describe unreliable people.
Paintings by the masters can easily be called RARE PAINTINGS.
FISHING SPEARS have been used for millennia by the Inuit and other natives. Some still use them. Today there are compressed gas pneumatic powered spear guns.
Happy birthday, Gary. I greatly enjoy your posts and expos. Thanks.
Very enjoyable puzzle and write-up. Thanks Warren and C.C.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Husker Gary. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Nyack was easy for me because my husband grew up there, as did Edward Hopper. Another claim to fame: Nyack is rhymed with kayak when mentioned in the song "Let's Get Away From It All." There are several Nyacks in the area, all with their own village governments: Nyack, Central Nyack, Upper Nyack, South Nyack, and West Nyack. Hope this isn't tmi.
Let's all take a moment to remember those we lost 15 years ago.
Have a lovely day, everyone
Asia - Who Will Stop The Rain
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Gary !
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was 33D clue and answer.
"Heat of the Moment" was Asia's biggest hit. Just thinking the lyrics finally got Toto's "Africa" out of my head.
Oh crap.
I'm here looking for the man who shot my paw.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY Husker Gary
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Thanks for the birthday greetings! The ones that end in a 0 are very sobering! Today I finish ORBIT number 70 and will DINE with all the family.
-SNAKE DRUMS gave me the gimmick and I was off to the races. Oh yeah, it took C.C. to point out the title R is K. That’s we she’s the head honcho here!
-The Cuba EMBARGO/Blockade has been an issue since 1958
-Baseball people might think of this guy singing the WABASH Cannonball during a game
-I wouldn’t have to RETYPE if I could type as fast as I think
-An Omaha PAWN shop is now advertising aggressively since PAWN Stars became a “thing”
-For my YDS, I use this $5.99 app
-Barely eats becomes tricky when you keep seeing Barley eats
-How many do you know?
-My dad always used Lava Soap for cleaning GUNK off his service station hands
-We paid by the HOUR to have an electrician simply hit the rest button on a GFI plug last week. Doh!
-I thought those HS VIP’s were Advanced Placement kids
-The YETI is the star inside “Everest” on this fabulous Disney ride
-Off to Omaha and one of our favorite restaurants. Perhaps we’ll dine alfresco on this lovely day!
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Warren! Thanks, C.C.!
ReplyDeleteI got the theme but too late to help much. I didn't parse the Risk Factor as R is K for far too long. Oh ho!
Got BRASILIA immediately, knowing Portugese was spoken there, but tried "Z" instead of "S" first. Learning moment was C.C.'s chart. Surprised to find Port. is official language of ten countries. I thought only two.
Baton before RISER. I've stood on those.
Like Boomer, I chat with repairman. They are very important people to me and I let them know that. They always seem happy to come help me out. They keep working while I visit with them. I shut up if it seems to distract them from doing the proper job. My friendly plumber cut the final bill a lot from the original estimate when it didn't have the expected problems replacing the sewer line several years ago. Don't think he would have if I'd been cranky.
PELF. Huh? My ill-gotten gains are "fats".
US Geographical middle used to be in N.C. Kansas until Alaska became a state. Then it moved to NDAK.
Wondered what ICEL was when perped. For some dumb reason I don't think of ICELand as a European country. Duh!
Happy Birthday, Gary! My your future be full of birdies & pars & the occasional eagle for a bald win.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteIt took me awhile to catch the theme as I had so few parts of the theme answers filled in but, eventually, things got brighter and I then zipped right along to the finish line and a resounding TADA! Sunday puzzles can be a slog sometimes but not this one; the letter change gimmick is fun when it's finessed smoothly, as this one was, IMO.
Thanks, Warren, for an enjoyable Sunday solve and thanks, CC, for steering the ship so successfully and satisfactorily!
Best wishes for a very Happy Birthday, Mr. Husker; hope it's filled with fun and joy.
Remembering those lost with sadness and sorrow. 💔
Happy birthday, Gary! Enjoy your day, you deserve it! And happy birthday to my granddaughter, too; she's 20 today.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I found this puzzle tedious because I was not in a playful mood having been awakened at 4 A.M. by the dog barking next door so I slogged through it at that hour.
C.C., you have posted the photo of HONUS Wagner before and I recalled it.
My high school V.I.P.s were SRS first.
I could not shake out PERSHAKE so finally looked it up. Ugh.
Square quartet is a clever clue for ANGLES.
Time to go. Thank you, Warren and C.C. for rousing me this Sunday morning. Remembering the horror and loss of this day 15 years ago.
Have a pleasant day, everyone!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the clever theme titles we see, and today's is a good one.
Stumbled at Pelf, having put in Gelf first - I think I was imagining Gelt, which we've had before, and it seemed close enough. Never heard of Pelf.
Happy Birthday, Professor Husker!
Howdy C.C., thanks for clearing up the mysteries today!
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Warren Stabler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part this was a fairly easy puzzle. The theme appeared after a while. I did not get it at first.
Tried SAO PAULO for 3D. It fit. After a while it appeared that that was not the right answer. Got a few perps and then remembered Brasilia. OK.
Liked PEORIA. We have had that many times. And, I have been there many times. Weirdest downtown you ever saw. You cannot buy anything there. If you want to shop a little you have to cross the Illinois River.
ONE CENT was my last entry because I was thinking of a car, not a penny. Duh!
Never heard of NYACK. Nor Central Nyack, Upper Nyack, South Nyack, and West Nyack. I sure learned a lot today.
I never finished Saturday's yet. Got most of it and may work on it this afternoon while the Bears are playing. Multi-tasking.
See you tomorrow, or later today.
Just got back from my 70th Class Birthday Party in Erie. We all turned 70 this year. It was a lot of fun.
Abejo
( )
Where's the "for short" in the clue for T[HUNDER]BIRD? Maybe " '54 " instead of "1954" woulda helped.
ReplyDeleteHere's a human interest feature from Sunday Morning about a relationship between a man and a goose friend. Isn't imprinting an amazing thing!?
ReplyDeleteMan and Goose
Happy Birthday, Husker Gary, and many more. I forgot to wish you that on my first pass.
ReplyDeleteAbejo
Happy Birthday, Husker Gary! May you enjoy many more.
ReplyDeleteHad to google for NYACK. Also didn't know GASPE Peninsula or Judith IVEY, but the perps were solid. Liked the clue "square quartet" for ANGLES.
Thanks for the informative expo, C.C. Lovely PAGODA photos.
Remembering with sadness those lost fifteen years ago today, among whom was the niece and unborn child of a dear friend of mine. Lauren was aboard the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
Well, I got three-fourths of the puzzle before I had to start cheating--getting to be pretty normal for me on a Sunday. But I got the theme early with DAYS OF YOKE, and found it a lot of fun! Many thanks, Warren, and you too, C.C.--always!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Gary--have a wonderful day with your family!
Rowland and I were in Paris on this day 15 years ago, on our way to Crete the next morning. We saw the news on TV just before going to bed. Everyone at every airport was simply stunned the next day. What a sad memory.
This was a fun way to spend an hour and 7 minutes. Took me FAR too long to grok the gimmick but I smiled when I finally did figure it out. Many of the answers were a lot easier to see after having solved them. My Natick was the S crossing ASIA and SAK. Put in NEC, took it out, then put it in again. The same with SEES RED. Had the OV at 107a so I wrote in CHEKOV; nope. Having TOP 100 instead of HIT 100 also made that corner of the puzzle hard for me. All told I liked this puzzle very much.
ReplyDeleteGood to read all of your comments today, and best wishes to you all.
Super duper happy birthday wishes, Gary.
ReplyDeleteBill G.--Interesting story about the man and the goose. There's a similar one about another man and goose in the Los Angeles area. The gentleman goes to the Echo Park Lake area every day and walks around the lake with "Maria" the goose at his side. I'm going to try to link it, although I've never successfully linked anything.
ReplyDeleteAnother Man and Goose
A tough solve for me today. I did get the gimmick, though without understanding the giveaway in the title. That gave me enough help to get nearly all of it, but Natick turned into Nyack today, so had to google for that before the last few cells fell into place. Thankfully remembered Asia as a band in that last fling.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Gary, and thanks for all you do around here.
And while it's hard to believe it's been 15 years since the WTC attacks, the wounds from that day still seem all too fresh. Other than the wind, the weather here today is strikingly similar. Near perfect temps, and a deep blue cloudless sky.
"Puzzling thoughts":
ReplyDeleteHB, HG! 👍🎂 you are among the first of the Baby Boomers to turn LXX.
Nice puzzle and re-cap; this was a tag team event as my DW started this and I finished. Had no problem with the theme; had a few spelling errors which made this a FIW.
My lame limerick based on the theme:
When I sat at my keyboard, felt frisky;
As I thought of the ways I could mis-key.
Even though "R" and "K"
Are a short row away,
Switching them could turn out to be "kisry"
Sunday Lurk Say - Happy Birthday HG! Thanks for all you do each week and day - fun, informative, with a dash of science. Love it. You have a wonderful day & dinner. -T
ReplyDeleteMJ, yes, I remember that one too. Thanks for the reprise. Another great feature from Sunday Morning. Aren't geese special?
ReplyDeleteIf you like those two features, you would almost certainly enjoy a movie called "Fly Away Home" starring Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels and Dana Delaney.
Happy Birthday Gary. I wish you all the best; today and in the year to come.
Getting the 'hook' was obvious from the gitgo with STAKING CONTEST but two of the theme answers made no sense to me. R-IS-K, duh = RISK. HOLIDAY CHEEK, which I solved only by the perp OK BY ME. No idea what it means. Also SEND A FLAKE. I mistakenly filled THRASH for THRESH and 'SEND UP' something is an unknown saying to me. If I had thought longer because I had FLAKE correctly filled. We always carried FLARES in our boats for emergencies. It was an easy fill except for my one mistake- DNF.
ReplyDeleteACES & EIGHTS- dead man's hand. ACES UP is new to me but I'm not a poker player.
GASPE, IVEY, PELF, NYACK- unknowns along the correct WAG cross of ASIA and SAK.
PK- I spelled Brazilia-BRASILIA because Brazil's uniforms at the Olympics are spelled BRASIL.
Finished but no TADA ~!~!
ReplyDeleteLike D-OTTO said I went with EZRA POUND and Ped went in.
Bon Fete Gary !!
SPOT I remember that line in a movie, but forget the name of it. The boy got taught by a gunslinger. The boy was raw indeed and never even seen a gun before !!
I wanted to put in WE TRUST for ONE CENT but waited.
BIG EASY speaking of HOOK from yesterday I wanted SONG or LILT. A hook is a start to a song. As we song writers do we get a HOOK and then add to it usually the HOOK is the name of the song in most cases.
Bon Apre Midi from A very stormy Cajun Country ~!~!
SE corner was no chance for me. AS a childhood coin collector I was stumped. Specie I thought only had to do with paper money??? Not to mention not getting FishingSpeak. There are spears used for fishing but never hears of a fishing spear ?? But it was my own fault for not getting NDAK for forgetting about Alaska. Oh well best I could do with watching RED ZONE. Pinups...I'm 66 years onld and never saw anyone with a pin-up actually pinned up ! Maybe in an old WWII movie... GRRR (not tsk)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sad, but am I blue? Seems like I end up with another Google account whenever I do anything. i don't want all my Google eggs in one Google basket. Looked up SAK and NYACK. Still had one mistake - misspelled RENEGE as renige. All in all a fun puzzle and plenty of learning opportunities.
ReplyDeleteGary, hope your day was grand! Happy Birthday!!!
ReplyDeleteGary,
ReplyDeleteLate to see what's going on today, but in time to wish you a very happy birthday. Hope the golfing Gods have scheduled a hole in one for you before the season ends.