BLUFFY McLIARPANTS
It seems fitting that I should get a poker/card-playing theme - sadly, I was down on Long Island this past weekend to attend the wake of my dear friend Greg B., whom I'd known for nine years, as he died last Tuesday after a three-year battle with brain cancer. I had not seen him since the diagnosis, as the disease had made it diffiuclt for him to retain your name or the thread of a conversation, so he opted to spend his time ( rightfully ) with his wife and daughter. I was grateful to him for inviting me to his home for a poker game once a week, and you knew it was poker night because he would wear a shirt with "Bluffy McLiarpants" across the front; the image above was my response to that shirt; I wore this at the card table to "distract" the other players 😵. We've seen several Emma Oxford puzzles for the LA Times, and today's grid was a pleasant solve for me; no circles, just a few names, and a Wednesday difficulty. The themers which represent the "stages" of a card game;
18. 1977 Top 20 single by Boz Scaggs: LIDO SHUFFLE - Cool song
23. "Love your work!": I'M A HUGE FAN - we would fan first, to see who dealt first
38. Engagement ring option: PRINCESS CUT - done by the player to the dealer's right
54. Aspiring musician's goal: RECORD DEAL - always to the left
59. Dramatic presentation often staged during Lent: PASSION PLAY - we would PLAY high/low games, with a "stack" of chips, and the winners would "split" the pot; you could also go 'both ways', and if you won, you would "sweep" - thus, the words on my T-shirt
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Civil War POTUS: ABE - I wondered what his middle name was; POTUS is the abbr for President of the United States, so I wondered what A_L would be - more here
4. Anklebones: TARSI - crossword staple
Such beautiful Tarsi
9. Lawn ornament in a hat: GNOME
14. Bagel topping: LOX - I stopped in to see Cooper ( also my brother, who shares the same house with the dog ) and had me another bagel with chocolate chip cream cheese - it's better than it sounds~!
15. Not suitable: INAPT
16. Aspirational, as goals: LOFTY - my lofty goal is to be recognized for my fantasic board games - still trying to figure out how to get them produced
17. Hill worker?: ANT - not the quaint reference to the "US Capitol", on the "hill"
20. DEA agent: NARC
22. 44th first family: OBAMAS
27. Drive-__: THRU
30. Polite assent in Seville: SIS, ENOR - Si, C.C.~!
31. Court figs.: DAs - District Attorneys
33. Rower's implement: OAR
34. "The Mystery of __ Drood": EDWIN
36. Face With Tears of Joy, for one: EMOJI - 😂
41. Selected: CHOSE
43. Cars: AUTOS
44. Zeus, e.g.: GOD - "high -ODs" . . .
45. Skip the grass seed: SOD - low "-ODs"
48. Cloaks: MANTLES - I watched two "classic" movies over the weekend - "The Curse of Frankenstein" ( that's Fron-ken-schteen - see 7D. ) and "The Horror of Dracula", both starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - two actors who would later have roles in the Star Wars films
Tis the season~!
52. Highlander of ancient Peru: INCA
56. Zeus's daughter: ATHENA
58. Not fooled by: ONTO
64. Do some mending: SEW
65. The Ivies, e.g.: OCTET - those eight being these
66. Leader of the girl group Red Velvet: IRENE - we've seen her here before - KPOP
67. Before, before: ERE - "Able was I . . . "
68. Some Southwest landmarks: MESAS
69. Things to read on the road: SIGNS - 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅯 if you're gonna rock down to . . . .
... and not recharge your smart phone 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅯
70. Australian airport code: SYDneyDOWN:
1. "Ironic" singer Morissette: ALANIS - I linked her and the song in a previous puzzle
2. Brand of scouring powder: BON AMI
3. Bonuses: EXTRAS
4. Up to, for short: TIL - unTIL
5. Alex and __ jewelry: ANI - I had ANN to start, but she showed up later at 62D. Here's a shocking story behind the woman who founded the jewelry company
6. "Tubular!": "RAD~!"
7. "Spaceballs," for one: SPOOF - Mel Brook's parody of the Star Wars films; it's a tough call as to which of his other spoofs is better - Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein~?
Dark Helmet & Colonel Sandurz
8. Bleak assessment: IT'S BAD
9. Down in the dumps: GLUM
10. Skim, in the dairy aisle: NO FAT
11. Branch: OFFSHOOT
12. The NHL's Canadiens, on a scoreboard: MTL - abbr for Montreal; I had MON - MTL is nearly a unique fill; The "Habs" - too early in the season for me still, CandianEh!
13. Quiet part of a hurricane: EYE
19. "Pitch Perfect" actress __ Mae Lee: HANA - filled via perps
21. "Here's to you!": "CHEERS~!"
24. Boxers or briefs: UNDIES - which are you~? Or do you go "commando"~?
25. Formal dress: GOWN - were undies "formerly" worn beneath that gown . . . ?
26. Actor Stoltz: ERIC - I liked him in Pulp Fiction
Prank caller~!
28. "The Big Bang Theory" character: RAJ - I asked my brother, sitting across his dining room table, for this answer - he likes it, but I cannot stand to watch a single scene of this show
29. New England sch.: URI - University of Rhode Island - my "CT nextdoor neighbor"
32. __ fiddle: SECOND - HA~! FIT-AS-A- worked, too~!
35. Teacher's org.: NEA
37. High-priority activity, per some guidebooks: MUST-DO
38. Downloads before a long road trip, perhaps: PODCASTS - ROAD MAPS worked, too, but duped
39. Japanese sport: SUMO
40. Rating unit: STAR - I give this crossword four-and-a-1/2 out of five "Moe Stars"
41. Much of the F/X in the MCU: CGI - Computer-Generated Imagery, the Marvel Comic Universe; I am not a fan of this genre, tho I did like Deadpool
42. Babe: HON - I prefer this quaint three-letter SO nickname to "bae"
46. Black-and-white treat: OREO
47. "Mystic River" novelist Lehane: DENNIS - I have read the book; one of a just a handful from authors whose work gave me an emotional response - another was The Secret Place by Tana French
49. Inserts in some frames: LENSES - those kinds of frames
50. Diner or bistro: EATERY
51. Lost steam: SLOWED
53. Lost: AT SEA
55. Island off Naples: CAPRI
57. Battleship successes: HITS - the Milton-Bradley ship-hunting game
59. Juice brand with distinctive bottles: POM
60. Nail, as a test: ACE - R.I.P. ACE Frehley of KISS
Shock Me - the extended "smoking guitar" solo from 1977
61. Relay segment: LEG
62. "The Baby-Sitters Club" writer __ M. Martin: ANN - more here
63. "Affirmative": "YES."
For Greg
Splynter
4 comments:
I get the theme, and
that was fine, but there were too many obscure names to suit me, including one that almost led to a FIW, “Ani” crossing “Lido.” I put “Ana” and “Lado” but didn’t get the “success flip” so I corrected myself. But it was a near thing.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
DENNIS crossing IRENE were both unknowns, but the perps were kind. Forgot to look for the theme, but it wouldn't have helped with the solve. Thanx, Emma and Splynter. (If someone asks "Boxers or briefs?" you shouldn't respond, "Depends.")
FIR, getting my WAG@ANN x IRENE. Pretty easy guess, but these days a lot of names have unusual spellings. Right, ANI? Also, alise->ALANIS, shorts->UNDIES, pta->NEA, and hand up for mon->MTL.
If you must know, I'm a boxer-briefs guy. As Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson sang in this beautiful ballad, we don't have to be one or the other.
Here's an old country and western standard by Jean Shepard called SECOND Fiddle to an Old Guitar. Sounds more like bluegrass to me. Kind of the equivalent to the modern day "golf widow."
DNK EDWIN, ANI. or ANN, but I did know DENNIS. I'm almost finished with The Given Day, his fictional account of the real Boston police riot of 1919. I LIU, and there were 103 riots in Boston from 1700-1976.
Thanks to Emma for the puzzle. Too many A&E items for my taste, however. And thanks to Splynter for another fine review. Sorry to read about your friend Greg, but that was a nice tribute. And I really liked the "no outlet on Electric Avenue" pic.
Splynter, I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend. My Mom once told me that the hardest part of getting older was losing people we care about. My thoughts and prayers are with you and all who loved your friend. Sincerely, JoyB
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