Tuesday, December 4, 2018 Agnes Davidson & C.C. Burnikel

Humerus Homophones

16. Hesitation from Sylvester?: CAT'S PAUSE. Sylvester the cat.  "Sufferin' succotash!"  Cats Paws.

20. Accomplishment by Porky?: PIG'S FEAT. Porky Pig.  Pigs Feet.

37. Affirmative from Tony?: TIGER'S AYE.  Tony the Tiger. “They're grrrrrreat!”   Tiger's Eye.

59. Story from Remy?: RAT'S TALE.  Remy the rat.  Rats Tail.   Remy was the star of the Disney Pixar animated film Ratatouille.

63. Water source for Simba?: LION'S MAIN. Simba the lion.  Lion's Mane.


    If my count is correct, this is the  18th  LA Times crossword puzzle by this duo !     “They're grrrrrreat!”



Across:

1. Fights (for): VIES.

5. "Whip It" rock band: DEVO.  "When a problem comes along, you must whip it."

9. __-slapper: funny joke: KNEE.    A guy saves a frog from a forest fire. The frog turns out to be a magical frog, and is very grateful to the man for having saved its life. So the frog offers to grant him three wishes. The man says, “Great. So I want: 1. Lifelong access to any cinema, 2. I want to be 10 years younger and 3. I want a highway that goes straight from here to Hawaii. “I’m happy to help you but the third wish is really difficult. You'll have to wish for something else instead of that third wish,” says the frog. “OK,” agrees the man reluctantly, “in that case I’d like to finally understand women.” - The frog looks at him for a while: “And should the highway be a three-lane or a four-lane one?”!

13. On the road: AWAY.

14. Biblical paradise: EDEN.

15. Dr. Hahn on "Grey's Anatomy": ERICA. Dr. Erica Hahn at FANDOM

18. Center of activity: LOCUS.
   Merriam-Webster Definition # 1
       a : the place where something is situated or occurs
       b : a center of activity, attention, or concentration

19. Fireplace receptacle: ASH CAN.

22. Former Fox TV series set in Newport Beach: THE O.C.    Originally aired 2003-2006.    "A slick hit about a troubled L.A. teen taken in by an idealistic lawyer and his family in affluent Orange County. The series filled the youth-soap hole left by the departed '90210,' but quickly proved itself far more gritty---and witty. In addition, early plots set up an appealing balance between the kids and grown-ups, who were portrayed as real people with real problems, instead of sounding boards for the unblemished Romeos and Juliets." - Rotten Tomatoes. 

23. Curly cabbage: KALE.

24. Minor flap: TO DO.   I started w/ Tiff

25. Ringing organ, at times: EAR.  Tinnitus - Understanding the Facts

26. Detergent brand: ERA. 

28. '60s hallucinogen: LSD.

 16 Interesting Facts About LSD

30. Pierre's negative: NON.

31. Near-failing mark: DEE.

33. Reach its destination, as a trip: END.

35. Slim candle: TAPER.

40. Royal crown: TIARA.

42. Slim fish: EEL.

43. Tech sch. near Albany, N.Y.: RPI.  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.   The first civil engineering degrees in the United States were granted by the school in 1835.  CSO to Spitzboov and Irish Miss !

46. Win, place or show: BET.

47. Seasonal shelf sitter: ELF.   The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition

49. __ moment's notice: AT A.

51. Curved shape: ARC.

53. "Frozen" sister: ELSA.  And 68A. "Frozen" reindeer: SVEN.

55. Charged particles: IONS.

57. One of Crayola's hundreds: COLOR.  120 current colors.  50 have been retired through the years.

61. Greek goddess of wisdom: ATHENA. "She's just a girl, she's a bomb"



62. "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" musical: EVITA.

65. Fainthearted: TIMID.

66. Fairy tale heavy: OGRE.

67. Out of the wind: ALEE.

69. "That was close!": WHEW.

70. Scottish monster's loch: NESS.

Down:

1. Obey an eviction notice: VACATE.

2. "He scammed me!": I WAS HAD.

3. Neon diner sign: EAT HERE.  OK, this is a billboard rather than a neon sign...

Buc-ee's Advertising

4. Food service giant: SYSCO.  Headquartered in Houston, Sysco is the global leader in distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare, and educational, and hospitality locations.

5. College faculty head: DEAN.

6. End of a professor's URL: EDU.

7. Italian scooter: VESPA.  Mike Wolfe of American Pickers tends to go gaga and to extremes when he finds one.


8. Playwright Eugene: O'NEILL.

9. Emmy winner Steve of "60 Minutes": KROFT.
      9-time Emmy Award winner including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2003
      3-time Peabody Award winner

10. "Good shot!": NICE ONE.

11. Quito's country: ECUADOR.  Quick !  What's their currency ?

12. Crayola Factory's Pennsylvania home: EASTON.  Now known as The Crayola Experience

Crayola.com

15. Trains over the street: ELS.   NYC's EL lines are alphabet coded.  Chicago's EL lines are color coded, and reflecting the difference, you might hear Chicago commuters riders singing NO L in December.

17. Running rate: PACE.

21. Unified whole, in psychology: GESTALT.  "...the whole of anything is greater than its parts."

23. Film title "Citizen": KANE.

27. Trappings of royalty: REGALIA.

29. One of a calendar septet: DAY.

32. Incoming flight info: ETA.

34. "The Chronic" rapper, familiarly: DRE.   Dr. Dre, formally.  DRE is short for Digital Rectal Examination.

36. Each: PER.

38. Rage: IRE.

39. Red and Yellow: SEAS.

40. Israeli port on the Mediterranean: TEL AVIV.

lonely planet - Tel Aviv

41. "The hour has arrived": IT'S TIME.

44. Brewpub draft: PALE ALE.

45. Unexpected turns of events: IRONIES.

46. Special Forces headgear: BERETS.

48. Abide by: FOLLOW.

50. Plays a part: ACTS.

52. Construction site sights: CRANES.


54. "The Lord of the Rings" actor Sean: ASTIN.

56. Horse's mouthful?: NEIGH.

58. "Not again!": OH MAN.

60. Smidgen: TAD.

61. From the top: ANEW.

64. Portland's st.: ORE.

Thursday July 5th 2018 Agnes Davidson & C.C. Burnikel

Theme Stock Stuffers. Stuff with "stock" in them.

18A. Target, for one: BIG BOX STORE. Some people like to call the chain "Tar-jay" to make it sound posher.

24A. Dairy producer: CATTLE FARM. Now, I'm not sure I can let this one go. A dairy farm produces dairy. A feedlot, which might be called a cattle farm by some, turns cattle into beef. A cattle ranch produces more cattle. By the way, "cattle" is one of those great words that the more times you write it, the funnier it looks.

51A. Instant Pot function: SLOW COOKER. Strange really - the primary function of an Instant Pot is cook things quickly, not slowly. It's a pressure cooker, first and foremost.

60A. Typical annual meeting attendee ... or what 18-, 24- and 51-Across each can be, in a way: STOCKHOLDER

Corner stalwarts Agnes and C.C. teamed up on this one. Straightforward theme, some nice longer downs, my usual challenges with the TV show talent, but crosses took care of those. Let's see what pops:

Across: 

1. Cristal maker: BIC. This is my kind of Cristal - salut!

4. Challenging: HARD

8. English town worth its salt?: EPSOM. Magnesium sulphate, chemically. The salt has quite a range of uses, from lowering blood pressure to acting as a binding agent in tofu. Handy stuff to have around. Here's the original well in Epsom:

13. "Queen of the South" TV network: USA. A drama-thriller adapted from the telenovela which aired on Telemundo. Queen of the South are also a Scottish professional soccer team, playing in the company of other splendidly-named sides such as Hamilton Academical, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Heart of Midlothian.

14. Moon of Uranus: ARIEL

16. Goat sound?: LONG "O". Got me again, this long/short stuff is tough for me to parse.

17. Got together: MET

20. "Goodfellas" Oscar winner: PESCI

22. What a muff may protect: EAR

23. Has debts: OWES

28. "Cheers" spin-off: FRASIER

29. Hungers: YEARNS

33. Campus official: DEAN

34. Returning GI's diagnosis: PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

36. Crush a test: ACE IT

37. A bit off: ODD

38. Ad Council ad: PSA. Public Service Advertising.

39. 18-time MLB All-Star Carew: ROD

41. Crime scene letters: DNA

42. Bowen of "Modern Family": JULIE

44. Bunny slope lift: T-BAR. When I skied in the Alps back in the Stone Age, many of the longer lifts to take you up the mountain were t-bars. It took practice not to knock your fellow-rider off when you were doubled-up.

46. After that: THEN

47. Act that warms up the crowd: OPENER

49. Baby bodysuits: ONESIES

53. Player on three FIFA World Cup champion teams: PELE. The only player in World Cup history to do so. Cracking World Cup so far this time around. It's just a shame that the announcers, analysts and play-by-play folks on Fox demonstrate at least once a minute that they have little to no clue what they're talking about.

56. Ballet shoe part: TOE

57. "Molly's Game" actor Elba: IDRIS. This is Cader Idris, or "Chair of Idris" in the Welsh mountains, named for the giant of legend:

64. Words of assent: I DO

65. Nation: STATE

66. Cluster of small stars?: D-LIST

67. Fresh: NEW

68. Aster family member: TANSY. I read "Astor" first and went to look up Tansy Astor to see where she fit in the family. Silly me.

69. Scalawags: IMPS. What do you call a Milanese opera humorist? La Scala wag.

70. Pump output: GAS

Down:

1. Road warning sign: BUMP

2. "It's clear now": I SEE

3. String game: CAT'S CRADLE

4. Patterns that repeat: HABITS

5. "Entourage" agent Gold: ARI

6. Fix: RIG

7. "A diamond is forever" sloganeer: DE BEERS. Founded by Cecil Rhodes, he of "Rhodesia" fame, or infamy, depending on your viewpoint.

8. Golfer known as "The Big Easy": ELS. South African major championship winner. His "Els For Autism" foundation focuses on helping adult ASD sufferers transition to a more independent lifestyle. Great guy.

9. Foggy Bottom river: POTOMAC. DC neighborhood west of the White House and downtown. A diner near me used to serve the "Foggy Bottom Burger" which had peanut butter and jelly along with the patty. No-one ever knew why. The place is closed now, some might say one had something to do with the other.

10. Winter coat: SNOW

11. Tyrant: OGRE

12. Springfield hangout: MOE'S. Homer's hangout in "The Simpsons".

15. Sit around: LOAF

19. Body image, perhaps: X-RAY

21. Scott of "Hawaii Five-0": CAAN

25. What waiters wait for: TIPS

26. Set on: LET AT

27. Audition (for): READ

28. Out of patience: FED UP

30. Distracting literary device: RED HERRING

31. Best-dressed goal?: NINES. "Dressed to the nines".  A Scottish phrase, alluding to the nine muses. Robert Burns' "Poem on Pastoral Poetry" has:

Thou paints auld nature to the nines,

In thy sweet Caledonian lines.

I wonder if he was an Inverness Caledonian Thistle fan?

32. "American Dad!" dad: STAN. Thank you, crosses.

33. Karate studio: DOJO

35. Pipe cleaner: DRANO

38. Rind: PEEL

40. Nabisco nibble: OREO

43. About 80% of the world's species, according to the Smithsonian: INSECTS

45. Italian tenor Andrea: BOCELLI

46. Like games needing extra innings: TIED. A tie in Test Match cricket is one of the most exciting finishes to a five-day game. There are no extra innings, you all shake hands, toast each other with a cup o' tea and go home.

48. Type of IRA: ROTH

50. Goes around: SKIRTS

52. Mahogany or oak: WOOD

53. Covert "Over here!": PSST!

54. Vocalist James: ETTA

55. Balance sheet liability: LOAN. Depends if you make the loan or take the loan.

58. Creative thought: IDEA

59. Scatters, as seed: SOWS

61. Major: KEY. Let's indulge in a little Canon in D Major played from Pachelbel's original manuscript on instruments of the era. Rather lovely. I feel a little sorry for the cellist and the dude on the theorbo stage left, unless they're deliberately camera-shy!

62. Low-lit: DIM

63. Paranormal claim: ESP. Extra-Sensory Perception.

And the grid:

That's me done!

Steve

1) Note from Agnes and C.C.:

Sorry this theme sounds familiar to some of you. We first sent this puzzle to Rich in early 2017, but our revision query got lost for some time. Then Rich had to wait a bit as he had just published another puzzle with the same reveal.

2) Here is a note from our Wednesday constructor Jeffrey:

In reference to the comment from Anthony Gael Moral at 9:42 – It is reasonable that many people were expecting a Fourth of July theme today, and some seemed rather disappointed by the lack of it. However, this specific comment seemed to imply that the LA times unpatriotically shunned the Fourth and used an acting theme instead. As a constructor who has had a July 4th themed puzzle published in the LA Times, I think this notion is rather far-fetched. The LA Times puzzle editor has no control over what puzzles are submitted; it’s probably simply the case that there happened to be no July 4th-themed offerings this year. And by the way, about a month ago I thought of a July 4th related theme, but it was too close to the holiday to submit it in time. I will do so next year. Also, I am confident that whether the puzzle is accepted or not will depend solely on the professional consideration of the editor on the objective quality of the theme concept and the filled grid.

Wednesday, April 18 2018, Agnes Davidson & C.C. Burnikel

Theme:

16. What constant stress does, healthwise: TAKES A TOLL.

24. Old West folklore cowboy: PECOS BILL.

49. Very expensive: BIG TICKET.

59. Taunts on the field: TALKS TRASH.

37. Things gathered by aficionados ... or what the ends of 16-, 24-, 49- and 59-Across can be?: COLLECTORS ITEMS.

Melissa here. Love this theme from our own duo. So fun and clever, and a sparkly grid-spanning reveal, right in the middle.

Across:

1. __ Romeo: Italian car: ALFA.

5. Machu Picchu people: INCAS.

10. __ Plaines: DES.

13. Copier room quantity: REAM.

14. Spanish peak: MONTE. Monte is Spanish for mountain.

15. With 27-Down, Captain Picard: JEAN.

18. Disney woman loosely based on Andersen's Snow Queen: ELSA.

19. Draw out: ELICIT.

20. Flustered state: DITHER.

22. Bathroom fixture: BASIN.

26. FedEx alternative: U.S. MAIL.

28. Arsenal inventory: AMMO.

29. "What was __ was saying?": IT I.

30. Japanese rolls: SUSHI.

33. Dip __ in: test: A TOE.

41. Patella's place: KNEE.

42. Decorate: ADORN.

43. Video game letters: NES.

44. N.Y. Cosmos org.: NASL. North American Soccer League.

47. Wee bit: SMIDGE.

54. Indian __: OCEAN.

55. Enthusiastic reply to "Who knows the answer?": I DO I DO.

56. More lax: LOOSER.

58. Muscat money: RIAL. Muscat is the capitol of Oman.

63. Barracks beds: COTS.

64. Forest fixtures: TREES.

65. Citrus hybrid: UGLI. Grapefruit, orange, and tangerine.

66. Brooklyn __, N.Y.: HTS.

67. Medicinal plant: SENNA.

68. Techie, often: NERD.

Down:

1. Co-star of Jackie on "The Honeymooners": ART.

2. __ & Perrins steak sauce: LEA.

3. Happy face that's put on: FAKE SMILE.

4. Bedelia of kiddie lit: AMELIA.

5. Apple choice: iMAC. Sneaky.

6. "Reward" for poor service: NO TIP.

7. 20 fins: C NOTE. $100. Fin is French for five. Correction (thanks NB & YR): Per Wiki, "The $5 bill is sometimes nicknamed a "fin."

8. Braves, on sports news crawls: ATL.

9. Once in a long while: SELDOM.

10. Indian city on the Yamuna River: DELHI. Sad.

11. Studio support: EASEL.

12. Doghouse "Don't come any closer!": SNARL.

15. Water-propelled craft: JET BOAT.

17. "Truman" actor: SINISE.

21. Belief ending: ISM.

22. General Motors brand: BUICK.

23. __ Martin: British car: ASTON.

25. Tahrir Square city: CAIRO. Capitol city of Egypt.

27. See 15-Across: LUC.

31. Follow furtively: STALK.

32. Mason's tray: HOD.

34. Youngster's time of life: TENDER AGE.

35. Luxury timepiece: OMEGA.

36. City on the Ruhr: ESSEN.

38. Soup legumes: LENTILS.

39. Most Soc. Sec. recipients: SRS.

40. Secret to the max: INMOST. If you say so.

45. Give a leg up: AID.

46. Lawn care giant: SCOTTS.

48. Post-winter river thaw: ICE RUN. I was thinking a different kind of ICE RUN.

49. Canoe wood: BIRCH. Any John McPhee fans? 

50. Nincompoop: IDIOT. Love the clue.

51. Kids on a farm?: GOATS. Who knew this is a thing?

52. First name in daytime TV: ELLEN. Same number of letters as OPRAH.

53. Arcade coin: TOKEN.

57. Mount of Greek myth: OSSA. Wikipedia.

60. "__ You Lonesome Tonight?": ARE.

61. Camera type, for short: SLR. Single-Lens Reflex.

62. Put in a secret place: HID.