google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday, October 16, 2016 Matt McKinley

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Oct 16, 2016

Sunday, October 16, 2016 Matt McKinley

Theme: "Get With It" - You need to add "Get" to each clue to make sense of the answer.

23A. Away : EVADE THE POLICE. Get away.

42A. By : MAKE ENDS MEET. Get by.

50A. Hitched : TIE THE KNOT. Get hitched. This and 42A are solid "in the language" phrases.

68A. Wise : ACT ARROGANTLY. Get wise.

89A. On : JUMP ABOARD. Get on. "In the language" also.

96A. Even : AVENGE A WRONG. Get even.
 
118A. Ahead : ACHIEVE SUCCESS. Get ahead.

17D. Through : BECOME CLEAR. Get through. Two of the Down themers intersect two Aross entries. Nice.
 
67D. Over : RECOVER FROM. Get over. 

I grokked the gimmick immediately, having encountered Alex Boisvert's "Get It?" puzzle in my theme brainstorm a while ago.

This is basically a Definition puzzle with key part of the clue missing, so not all the phrases are idiomatic. But trust me, it's not easy to come up with a set of entries that work perfectly letter-wise and definition-wise.

Across:

1. Using currency : IN CASH. Lots of solid 6s in this grid.

7. Reacted to a late night out : SLEPT IN

14. Frozen dessert : SORBET. Sorbet/sherbet used to confuse me.

20. Snack chip : DORITO

21. Derogatory statement : CALUMNY. Not a word I use.

22. Puddy tat's quarry : TWEETY

25. Baggage porter : REDCAP

26. "__ difference" : SAME

27. Throat tissue : TONSIL

28. Org. associated with long lines : TSA

30. 2016 Olympics golf gold medalist Justin __ : ROSE. Met him & Adam Scott at the PGA long time ago. They had the same coach then.


31. Honey brand : SUE BEE. I just learned that drinking a cup of hot water with honey before bed helps sleep.
33. Something to soak in : TUB

36. "Recapping ... " : IN SUM

38. Blanc with many voices : MEL

41. Resort NE of Los Alamos : TAOS. Also 44. City south of Salem : EUGENE. Also 85. Russian city northeast of Kiev : OREL

 46. Pizza parlor lure : AROMA

48. "Duh!" evoker : NO BRAINER. Duh!

49. Stick in a parlor : CUE

54. Street __ : CRED. Not FAIR/FOOD.

55. Pond growth : ALGA

56. Hanging on by a thread : SEWN. I like this clue.

57. Vintage autos : REOs

58. Throbbed : ACHED, Sorry for the unpleasant experience on Thursday, Agnes!

60. Frozen drinks : ICEEs

61. Ounce : SCINTILLA

64. Patriot Silas : DEANE

65. Round fig. : CIR (Circle). Not EST.

73. In medias __ : RES

74. In full view : OVERT

76. Literary motto words : ONE FOR ALL. The Three Musketeers.

78. Securing strings : LACES

79. See 51-Down : GAGNE. And 51. With 79-Across, 2003 N.L. Cy Young Award winner : ERIC. One of the very few who wear glasses on the field.


82. Setting of Camus' "The Plague" : ORAN. Guilty of putting this in my own grids before.

83. Wind with keys : OBOE. Tricky clue.

87. Soon, in verse : ANON

88. One way to fly : SOLO. We also have 58. Unaccompanied : ALONE

 91. AFC South, e.g. : DIV (Division)

92. Typical fast-food offering : CHEAP MEAL. KFC was a luxury place in my college years. Xi'an had no McDonald's then.

95. Tossed in a chip : ANTED
 
98. Bedside toggle switch : AM/FM

101. Crafty : SLY

102. Fence pieces : RAILS

103. Case in Eng. class : OBJ (Objective)

104. Like some dress patterns : FLORAL. So pretty.
 


106. Only president who was also chief justice : TAFT. Learned a ton while making the  CHIEF JUSTICE puzzle with Big Easy.

108. Norse war god : TYR. Learned from doing crosswords. Tuesday god.

110. Algonquin kin : OJIBWA. I use OJIBWE.

112. "Exodus" novelist : URIS

116. Land, say : ARRIVE. Verb "Land".

122. Metaphor for the good life : CLOVER. In clover.

123. Explorer of new territory : PIONEER

124. Connecticut town on Long Island Sound : DARIEN. No idea. What's it famous for?

125. Hits involving trots : HOMERS. Home run trot.

126. Leading position : TOP SPOT

127. Bergman and Borg : SWEDES
 
Down:
 
1. Middle March : IDES

2. Smoked salmon : NOVA. Kind of lox.


3. Compensate for prior laziness, perhaps : CRAM. Simple in retrospect.

4. Hill workers : AIDES

5. Sault __ Marie : STE

6. It may be herbal : HOT TEA. Mine is always hot, even in summer.

7. Discomfiting displays : SCENES. I just realize the clue is not "Discomforting".

8. Oversight : LAPSE

9. Fair-haired sci-fi race : ELOI. It's back!

10. Soda can feature : PULL TAB

11. "That's more than enough!" : TMI

12. Business issue : INC.  The magazine.

13. Natasha's no : NYET. Don't think Trump understands the clue.

14. Broken down, say : STRANDED

15. Must pay : OWE

16. "The Shining" word with two mirror-image letters : REDRUM. "Murder" spelled backwards.

18. T-storms may delay them : ETAs

19. Sort : TYPE

24. Bindle carrier : HOBO

29. Broke a Commandment : SINNED

32. "Point Break" FBI agent Johnny : UTAH. Aleppo moment. No idea.

34. Former 37-Down : UKR. And 37. Abbr. on Cold War maps : SSR

35. Vacation spot : BEACH

38. Shoes may be left on them : MATS

39. Lake that anagrams 43-Down : ERIE. And 43. Land that anagrams 39-Down : EIRE

40. Movie mogul Marcus : LOEW

42. Clever remark : MOT
 
45. Kids : TEASES

47. Ozarks, e.g.: Abbr. : MTNs

48. Polite refusal : NO SIR

52. Lane co-worker : KENT. Lois Lane. See also 72. Lois' "Superboy" counterpart : LANA
 
53. "It's __ good sign" : NOT A

55. Golfer's thrill : ACE

59. Put behind bars : CAGE

60. Country poem : IDYL. I use IDYLL.

62. Scratching post users : CATS

63. Dianetics creator Hubbard : L. RON. Lawrence Wright talked in depth about him and Scientology a few years ago.


 65. Piña __ : COLADA

66. "Terrible" tsar : IVAN IV

69. On the bad side (of) : AFOUL

70. Expected result : NORM

71. Deceitful lure : TRAP

75. Stimpy's chum : REN

77. Bird on Canada's dollar coin : LOON

79. Give some slack, with "on" : GO EASY. Slight GO dupe with 81. Relinquish amateur status : GO PRO

80. What there oughta be : A LAW

84. Nocturnal mammals : BATS

86. Hot tub feature : EDDY

88. Stray caretakers : SHELTERS. The Ottos' in Texas.

89. Spree : JAG

90. Auburn rival, familiarly : BAMA

92. Cinematic FX : CGI

93. Criminal element, with "the" : MOB

94. Legally prohibits : ENJOINS

97. Indigenous : NATIVE

98. Uncle in a McCartney hit : ALBERT. Unfamiliar with the song.

99. Trims the lawn : MOWS

100. Phonies : FRAUDS

104. McGarrett's force, familiarly : FIVE-O

105. Immoral profit : LUCRE. I need the "Filthy" hint.

106. Dash instrument : TACH

107. Woody's son : ARLO

109. Absorbed : RAPT

111. "Go Anywhere. Do Anything" vehicle : JEEP

113. Senate minority leader : REID (Harry)

114. "Of course" : I SEE

115. Tax form IDs : SSNs

117. Bible transl., e.g. : VER. Version?

119. 1955 labor merger gp. : CIO

120. I follower : HOP. Not BET or KID.

121. Cry close to the ears : CAW. Corn. Nice clue also.

Happy Birthday to our CrossEyedDave & Blue Hen! Thank you for the fun, laughter and various life hacks you two have brought to our blog. Soaking Porcini/Shiitake in stock instead of water has made my mushrooms extra tasty, Blue Hen!





48 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Matt and CC!

Nice work!

Happy Birthday to CED and bluehen!

A few things perped and WAGged, like ALBERT, UTAH and DARIEN.

Swimming friend came today after 5 week tour of the country. Good not to swim alone!

Have a great day!

OwenKL said...

FIW, by 2 cells. ��
Somewhere I got 'got' in place of 'get', and after I realized my mistake, had to go back and change some tenses, but missed BECaME > BECOME. The crossing was an unknown name, so it didn't tip me off.
The other was a natick of unknown names both ways, SoEBEE + oTAH, that I wagged several letters into before giving up and asking for a solution.

I think any politics in the last poem today is a wash. A more partisan meme from me is on Facebook. If you have any comments about that, post them over there, not here!

{B, B-, A-, B+, B-.}

OwenKL said...

Trainees look forward to their SOLO fly,
All ALONE to soar in the sky!
But close to the ground
Hills and MTNS. are found --
Instead of "so low", I'd rather fly sohi!

LANA Lang had the hots for nerdy Clark KENT,
She tagged along with him to every event!
This made it a pain
His costume to change,
But six piña COLADAS, she never noticed he went!

A TWEETY bird fell in love with a LOON!
The LOON thought the TWEETY a loony-toon!
"No tiny canary
Could pop my cherry!"
Said the TWEETY, "I'll try not to make you swoon!"

Imagine Godzilla a shepherd of sheep,
Tokyo crumbling to the tune of their bleats!
The monster would raze
Where his charges could graze,
For a CHEAP MEAL, give them chopped CLOVER-leaf!

A rapist and leader was a Hun named Attila
Genghis Khan, of rape had his fill-a
IVAN IV
Had women in force,
Twixt Trump and Bill? The difference, a SCINTILLA!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Pretty straightforward solve today, though perp help was needed with the names as usual. Well, not Taft, that was easy. Nicely executed theme!

My brother was once married to a woman from Darien. It's a seriously posh place to live, and very expensive. It has a snooty yacht club. Not my style.

HBTY, CED & BH!

Morning C.C., I enjoy your observations about the puzzle construction challenges.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and Happy Birthday to CrossEyedDave and Blue Hen)!

Couldn't make out the title of the puzzle, so it took awhile to figure out the theme. I suspected something was up when the tenses of the clue and answer for "Hitched" / TIE THE KNOT didn't match up, but I thought it just might be a cluing error at first. The penny dropped soon after with "By" / MAKE ENDS MEET. Even knowing the theme, though, I struggled to come up with ACT ARROGANTLY and BECOME CLEAR.

Elsewhere, ERIC / GAGNE was completely unknown to me, as was DARIEN. And the clue for CAW was just pure, unadulterated evil. Also, I tried TOP SEED and CHEAP MEAT before TOP SPOT and CHEAP MEAL came into view via the perps, which held me up a bit. Everything else was relatively smooth.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Got through this one OK, but a couple of the theme answers seem a bit off. "Get wise" to me would be to act sassy, not arrogantly. And BECOME CLEAR doesn't seem to match the clue at all. But, they both filled in, so life is good. Hand up for TOP SEED, Barry. Thanx, Matt and C.C.

I call it a POP TOP. There used to be PULL TABs where the piece actually came loose from the can and caused massive litter problems.

CALUMNY is a word I've seen, but couldn't have defined.

Hey, we got to see "Orel" as something other than a "City on the Oka."

Happy birthday CED and BlueHen!

Big Easy said...

Thanks for the shout out C.C. but this puzzle was one that I just did not GET. I managed all the theme fills except EVADE THE POLICE, but didn't think about GET being before the clue. The fills didn't make sense, but the crosses were solid enough, until I read your explanation. The cross of LAPSE and CALUMNY and not thinking about INC as a magazine stumped me. So it was a third consecutive day with a DNF. I just didn't ACHIEVE SUCCESS today but I will RECOVER FROM it.

CALUMNY (which I didn't GET), DEANE, RED RUM, UTAH, NOVA, RES- unknowns.

Great clue for CAW. Ditto for LAPSE, as I was thinking about supervision for 'Oversight' instead of the LAPSE in my brain.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C., and friends. This puzzle didn't do much for me today.

There was a heavy Russian theme in today's puzzle, with both Russian words, Russian Czars, Cities and former countries under the USSR.

I served NOVA lox at a meal following a fast last Wednesday evening.

I just wish I could MOW my lawn. The recent flood both brought a fungus and sod worm moths which have wreaked havoc with neighborhood laws. The grass kill came almost overnight. We'll have to resod if we can't get rid of this mess.

Happy Birthday to Cross-Eyed Dave and Blue Hen. Enjoy your special day.

QOD: Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. ~ Oscar Wilde (Oct. 16, 1854 ~ Nov. 30, 1900)

Lemonade714 said...

The puzzle was an intriguing challenge with the gimmick in the clue not the fill. I do not recall the Alex Boisvert puzzle but the theme seems like one that can be done many different ways.

As a Jewish child growing up in Connecticut with many relatives living in New Haven and New York City, we used to drive through Darien (pronounced Dairy Ann) and heard stories of it being a CLOSED town. Later in law school I studied the various restrictive covenants that prevented Blacks, Jews, Asians etc. from living in such places. The court battles to remove them went into the 1990s. It is or was the second wealthiest town per capita.

There was a beautiful full moon I am told, still raining here, that unfortunately has raised the tide and flooded the beaches and roadways.

So be safe and thank you C.C. and Matt and very happy birth days and next year for Bluehen and CED.

maripro said...

Thanks C.C. and Matt.
14a stymied me for a while as I thought GELATO was a perfectly good answer.
Last to fall was 16d, REDRUM. I thought that the U and M were the mirror image letters that the clue referred to. Until C.C. mentioned it, I didn't realize that it's also a mirror image for MURDER. In addition, 42d is a mirror image of TOM.
I didn't understand the clue for CAW until C.C. explained it. Now I see what a great clue it was!
Have a lovely day, everyone.

Yellowrocks said...

I didn't get the theme for a looong time, although I had EVADE THE POLICE right away. I had to work all around the theme answers until finally the penny dropped and I finished zip,zip, zip.
Many unknowns, but the perps and, eventually, the theme answers were a big help. Clever puzzle. CAW was my favorite.
The COLADA section was the last to fall. My clue read Pi-a, instead of using piña.

Happy birthday CE Dave and Bluehen. Have a joyous day.
Lemonade, the full moon shined right into my bedroom last night. Lovely.

Time to take Alan to the mall. No more tears, back to a normal routine these last two weeks including the Y and his cooking eggs every day. At least that way he doesn't skip breakfast. Jello this afternoon.

Manac said...

Sunday Lurker Said...

I see Blue Hen got her cake so I
would be remiss not to link this for
Dave

Happy birthday pal!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

The title of the puzzle helped immensely in getting the theme answers but it still required donning the thinking cap. I wanted Estops before Rejoins but was a letter short. There were some unknowns such as Tyr, Eric Gagne, Orel, etc. but perps were strong and the Tada came in less than normal Sunday solving time. CSO to Abejo with the ever-present Erie. Also, hot tea, Earl Grey, if you please! And a CSO to CED with Scratch Posts and Cats.

Thanks, Mark, for an enjoyable romp and thanks, CC, for the detailed and informative expo. Thanks for you kind thoughts, CC, I'm still recovering from Friday's ordeal.

For almost ten years, I lived in Greenwich/Stamford, Ct., which are very close to Darien. What Lemony said was true then (1976-1985) and it wouldn't surprise me if the same cultural attitudes and biases still exist today. Supposedly, the New York City suburb depicted in "Gentlemen's Agreement" was a thinly disguised, virulently anti-Semetic Darien. (Pronounced Darry-N, to my ear.)

Tin, I know you don't do the Sunday puzzle but I hope you read the comments. Belated Happy Anniversary to you and Kris! Hope you celebrated in true Tin form!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Meow, AKA CED, 🎂 and Happy Birthday to Bluehen 🎂 who I hope has fully recovered from those surgeries! Hope you both have a special day.

Have a great day.

Anonymous said...

I see C.C. has once again broken her own rule of no politics. Made for an unpleasant review of today's puzzle. Not surprised by Owen's disregard of the rules either.

TTP said...


SLEPT IN until 6:30 this morning. About wore out my remote yesterday afternoon and especially last night.

If only Harry REID knew how to spell REED, I would have ACEd this gem. Should've paid attention to the crossing clue.

Nothing was working in the NW. Herbal REMEDY before HOT TEA held me up. Of all things, it was figuring out the unknown UTAH that gave me TAOS and made me ditch remedy.

The clue was Throat tissue, but I repeatedly read it as issue.

Never heard of the word CAULMNY before. It won't enter my vocabulary.
PUSH tab before PULL tab. Haven't seen a pull tab in decades, except in antique shops.
CHEAP EATS before CHEAP MEAL.
OMSK before OREL.
Also, was on the wrong coast for a moment with city south of Salem clue. Other than being in Mass, I don't know where Salem is in relation to either Boston or Natick, but they had the requisite number of characters.

As I filled in 98, 99 and 100 down, I noticed the BWA sequence in the crossing word, and thought, "I sure hope the answer is OJIBWA." It was.

ERIC GAGNE was a "NO BRAINER" that did not evoke a doh! from me. Bill Virdon was the first baseball player I recall as wearing glasses.

Glad to see LUCRE more precisely clued again. It's money gained by stealing or cheating or some other sordid way, so filthy or dirty or immoral are more appropriate. Didn't care for the "sparkling" clue for lucre that was given in Bruce and Gail's puzzle late last month.

Happy Birthday to Cross Eyed Dave and Blue Hen !

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-The theme hit me half way through and was of great help in this fine puzzle
-Happy Birthday Dave and Blue Hen!

Wilbur Charles said...

HBD to our two. Mine's tomorrow. The vedics say that 15-20 makes you a "full" Libra. Otherwise, you fall back into Virgo.
So, I'm a full Libra,too. 10/17.

CC, thx for the advice on the hot honey. A soak in the TUB might help, too.

Thanks to Matt, CC and Owen(speaking of hot honey references). Very doable puzzle. Fancy Wilbur Charles being done this early.

It actually took me a bit to hookup ERIC with Gagne. I think the Redsox picked him up later. They had a habit of signing retread relievers. But not Oral with an A

Speaking of the late night ethereal Ranter, thank God and CC there's no politics in here.

WC

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Got it all without help, but would not have if the theme had not been given. Erased Ipo for INC, dope smack for NO BRAINER, est for CIR, ropEs followed by Lines for LACES, PULL Top for PULL TAB, and due for OWE. Didn't know ORAN, TYR, OJIBWA, NOVA (salmon), Johnny UTAH, that IVAN was IV, LANA or OREL.

Tie for favorite clue of the day - "I follower" for HOP and "Cry close to the ears" for CAW. Least favorite - "Smoked salmon" for NOVA.

All in all a fun exercise with plenty of learning opportunities. Thanks Mark and CC for an enjoyable Sunday morning.

Wilbur Charles said...

TTP was posting whilst I was. They elaborated on Culbertson during the Dodgers win.

What they didn't mention was that Culbertson entered the game because the bespacled Dom DiMaggio had injured himself.
Enos Slaughter probably wouldn't have tried his wild ride with "Better than his brother Joe" in cf.

Now let's see if "BESPACLED" joins CALUMNY in cruciverbalistivism

I have so much fun in here. Now up and atem. Man that shuttle

WC

Bluehen said...

I finished this puzzle rather quickly, especially considering that most Sundays are slogs and that I didn't bother to read the title. After filling in several of the theme answers, I thought to myself, "Boy, some of these clues are really wonkey". Then I came here and read CC's illuminating expo. Doh! Great puzzle, Mr. Mckinley. Thanks for the SO, CC and thanks to all for the b'day wishes. After so many, it's pretty much just another day with a good meal this evening.

I'm a little surprised that everyone thinks that lucre has a bad connotation. To me it merely means "money" or "profit". Surely it is not wrong to be profitable or lucrative, is it? "Filthy lucre" may be ill-gotten gains, but without the modifier I don't consider the word perjorative. But that's just me.

How 'bout them Cubbies last night! What a game. What a way to salt it away.

CED, check my late night post from last night.

Cya!

Tinbeni said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Cross-Eyed-Dave and Blue Hen!

Hope you both have a wonderful day!

Cheers!

Tinbeni said...

Yes, I went back and read yesterdays comments ...

Thank you ALL for the 30th Anniversary congratulations.

Though Kris & I never "legalized" our situation ... we are probably happier for it.

CED (from yesterday) ... I guess in many ways Kris & I are married. LOL

Cheers!

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Matt, for a challenging puzzle. Once the theme appeared, the light came on and finished quickly.

Thanks, too, C.C., for your explanations of construction. Learning moments always!

Anonymous T said...

Lurk say:

Happy Birthday CED! I shopped for a cake and found Before and After... Good thing it's just a simulation.

Then I stumbled upon this head scratcher that somehow says "you."

Bluehen - I didn't realize last night when you mentioned CED's day that it was your birthday too. C.C. got you the best cake at the store. I found one w/ your avatar on it, but , unless some call you Chris, it won't work. :-)

Happy Birthday to the both of you and thanks for being part of the Corner.

Cheers, -T

Bluehen said...

Anon T: curiously enough, Chris is the first name of my eldest ACLAH.

Yellowrocks said...

Nova for smoked salmon is fine by me. It is a particular style of smoked salmon. Here we often hear it called simply NOVA. We love almost any kind of cold salmon, smoked, brined,lox, whatever. And any one of them is a wonderful addition to deviled eggs. We also love fresh salmon broiled. Last week I served broiled salmon with miso dressing. Yummy. I place my serving right on top of my rice, with the salmon, dressing and rice all mixed together. I will serve miso salmon again this week when my sister visits. It is an almost instant meal with rice from the rice cooker, ten minutes for the salmon prep and cooking, and microwaved veggies. I like company menus where there is time to relax and chat, instead of going into paroxysms of intricate prep.

Misty said...

Happy Birthday, CED and Bluehen!

Great Sunday puzzle, Matt--thank you so much. I got almost everything, in spite of a lot of toughies. Didn't get ROSE and sadly didn't get ETA, which I, of course, should have gotten. But otherwise everything pretty much fell into place, although I was late in finally figuring out the GET theme. Very, very clever puzzle. And C.C., it's wonderful getting your explanations and comments on a Sunday--thank you so much.

Am looking forward to a new series tonight, "The Durells in Corfu." Anyone else planning to watch it? And this afternoon I'm going to see a production of "The Iliad." You can't beat the classics!

Have a great day, everybody!

CrossEyedDave said...

Hello Cornerites!

Thank you one & all for all the kind words.

many distractions today, so much that I finally tossed the puzzle onto the couch
& read the Blog without finishing. I may finish it later.
One advantage of having a bad memory is I can do the same puzzle twice,
& never notice...

Blue Hen, Happy Birthday! I don't think I can top the cake CC posted!

Manac! Good to hear from you!
That cake has my Google Avatar on it!
(Have you been Googling me?)

Anonymous T, I liked the cakes, I just hope they don't turn out to be prophetic.
My biggest distraction today is receiving a new heavy duty graphics card
for my computer flight simulations. I keep staring at it & thinking how & when I
should install it. It has two cooling fans & radiator piping that looks
like the back of my fridge. In order to make it work I have to rip out my existing 300 watt power supply, & install a new 600 watt just to power it...
Plus the old graphics was built into the Motherboard! I have to disable before starting.

So, if you do not hear from me for a while,
it probably means I screwed up somewhere...

Hmm, speaking of screws,
none of my screwdrivers fit
the dang screw holding the side
panel on my desktop...

(I wonder if a can opener would work...)

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Had to read all the papers about the Husker win and so am late to the party
-Unlike C.C. my grokker took much longer and I needed the title as well.
-I’d rather forgive than AVENGE A WRONG but sometimes…
-Our ranks here are full of great people who have Gotten Over setbacks
-The Oregon Ducks in Eugene play on this beautiful floor
-The warts of both national candidates are “In full view” (TMI!!).
-Wasn’t there an Illinois lawyer/politician that split those fence rails?
-TR’s disgust with TAFT gave us Woodrow Wilson
-Production of these PULL TABS were stopped because people would put the tabs in the can and accidentally swallow them (swallow them “on accident” in Jr. High speak)
-Our kitty has four scratching posts. Declawing just wasn’t for us
-Having _ _ OVER _ _ _ _ clued with (Get Over) gave me pause
-Have we ever had NORM clued as “Cheers bar fly”?
-Is there a better TV theme song? (:59)
-Just for you Cross Eyed Dave!

Lucina said...

WEES! I'm so late to this dance and agree with almost all that has been written. Thank you, Matt McKinley (any relation to the Prez?). This was slow and steady. I really liked the clues for CAW and HOP. CLOVER was good, too.

And thank you, C.C. for explaining the theme which didn't make much sense to me in the solve. But all were doable.

Happy birthday to Blue Hen and CEDave!!! I wish you both many, many more birthdays!

I hope your Sunday is going exceedingly well!

Hungry Mother said...

Very nice Sunday offering. I made a rookie mistake of writing the wrong tense for BECOMECLEAR at first. That had me looking for a golfer named "_ase". I didn't know the word from "The Shining." Once I realized my tense mistake, ROSE was a promising wag.

Lemonade714 said...

Manac, our own Bluehen is a boy...like all the members of the Delaware sports teams.

Glasses have never worked for me so I am not BESPACLED or BESPECTACLED

Just when you think the Dolphins are in the hunt for the first pick in the draft they run over the Steelers...sorry Moe.

Manac said...

Dave, Nothing gets by you... ( It shows up in your emails )

Lemon, I knew that. Sorry Bluehen

Jayce said...

Well, the theme totally escaped me today, but the puzzle was enjoyable anyway. Speaking of slight dupe, there's the crossing of REDCAP with REDRUM.

Misty, yes, we plan on watching "The Durells in Corfu" tonight. And what a coincidence! I am reading "The Iliad" aloud to LW; I love using different voices for the characters. I have also been reading aloud to her a few of Robert Service's works, especially, of course, the ones about those famous guys Dan McGrew and Sam McGee. (She can read for herself, of course, but she likes the way I read out loud to her and I enjoy doing it. Besides, the Iliad is "designed" to be spoken, or sung, actually.)

Happy birthday wishes to you, CrossEyedDave and Bluehen, and warm greetings to you all.

R.W. Service said...

Shootings, cremations. It's all good. Just stay off the barge.

Anonymous said...

Lemony, I'm sure there are many women on The University of Delaware sports teams. But thanks for letting us in to your opinions of sports.

OwenKL said...

Jayce: My LW likes me to read to her also. She says my voice is the most attractive part of me. Considering how ugly I am, I can't argue.

Bluehen: I'm with you on LUCRE being neutral.

Like Lemon, I assumed you meant bespectacled. I checked two dictionary sites that aggregate other dictionaries, and neither recognized bespacled.

Anonymous T said...

Bespacled - having to do or dealing w/ drywall repair. Right Splynter? ;-)

OwenKL said...

WC et alia: I mistook CALUMNY for CONTUMELY, recalling it from Hamlet. In fact, both appeared in that same scene, uttered by Hamlet. Act 3, scene 1:

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's
contumely,
...When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?
---
...be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape
calumny. Get thee to a nunnery.

Chairman Moe said...

The Steelers are abismal vs NFL teams with a losing record. Over their last 16 games when their opponent has a losing record, Pittsburgh has won 5. And Ben may have a knee injury to boot. Oh well; we still own 6 Lombardi Trophies 🏈

Dudley said...

Husker 3:18 - sure, Hawaii Five-O does have a catchy theme, but my vote for best ever goes to Mission: Impossible. It has a 5/4 time signature, which is pretty rare and exotic in our music landscape. Plus it just sounds good!

Anonymous T said...

Dudley - I agree. The MI theme Is awesome and I hum it to myself when a new hack-challenge is afoot - I like the base line in it. I thought HG was going to link the Cheers theme - it always takes me to a happy place. C, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

I'd never seen BESPECTACLED before. I did a search and noticed Rowling and other authors chose BESPACLED. It's the only spelling I'd ever seen for it.

Ryne Duren of the 59s Yankees was once referred to as BESPACLED or BESPECLED.

Duren used to throw his first warm-up pitch off the screen and try to give the impression of the stereotypical bespacled blind man.

I wonder if he threw faster than Chapman?

Wilbur Charles said...

Oops. That's not Rowling calling Harry"bespacled". That's just troll work.

Thank god my gaffe was in Unreadsville

Argyle said...

Unread you wish.

Lemonade714 said...

Everything gets read and often WC

Anonymous said...

Six down is incorrect. Tea cannot be herbal, it can only be made from tea leaves.

Picard said...

Thanks for the write-up and explanations, CC! I had no idea what REDRUM was without your explanation. I also missed the "ear" pun meaning of CAW!

Too many obscure proper names for my taste, but I did manage a correct completion. TYR was a learning moment.

Brand names I think are generally unfair because they are regional. Never heard of SUE BEE, but at least it has BEE in it!

NOVA lox is the best quality lox. I keep it as a special treat.

DARIEN I only know because I lived in Connecticut as a child. If it was posh and anti-Semitic that probably explains why we never went there! We used to swim at the free beach nearby.

I did GET the theme early which made that part fun!