Monday February 7, 2022 Andy Wang & C.C. Burnikel

 

Theme: LINCOLN CENTER (58. Home of the Metropolitan Opera ... and a hint to the "honest" guy hiding in 20-, 32- and 45-Across) - ABE is in the very center of each theme entry.

20. Gets trounced: TAKES A BEATING.

32. Cubs' caretakers: MAMA BEARS.

45. Veggies from Peru: LIMA BEANS.

Boomer here.  

Happy Birthday, ABE! (February 12).  When I think of Lincoln Center, of course I think of a five dollar bill. Usually I complain about Minnesota winter weather, but this week I send sympathy out to any of our blog members who live in the 24 state area stretching from Texas to Maine.  

I cannot imagine travel on highways that are strewn with cars in ditches and semi trucks jackknifed backing traffic for hours. And don't take a plane. About 3000 flights were canceled. Minnesota managed to escape the snow, but International Falls on the Canadian border woke up to 42 degrees Below zero last Thursday. Brrr.  

Across:

1. Has a balance due: OWES.  I OWE, I OWE, so off to work I go.

5. Fish with valuable roe: SHAD.  These are edible, but nothing beats Minnesota walleye.

9. Jeweler's weight unit: CARAT.  Not a California rat.

14. Extra-long dress: MAXI.

15. ''Those __ the days!'': WERE.  My friend, we thought they'd never end, We'd sing and dance, forever and a day.

16. Sister company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car: ALAMO.  Car rentals are very spendy in Las Vegas.  Our reunion was cancelled this year.

17. Wide smile: GRIN.  And bare it.

18. Arab League dignitary: EMIR.

19. "The Thinker" sculptor: RODIN.

23. Crime scene clue exposed by dusting: PRINT.  Wear gloves.

24. Candied veggie: YAM.  Sweet potato.

25. Apple operating system: IOS.

26. "I get it now!": AHA

27. Palindromic man's name: OTTO.  Otto Graham was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns many years ago.

30. Royal flush card: TEN.  Goes well with a Jack, Queen. King. and Ace.

35. Foamy hot drink: LATTE.  Is this any good?? Or is it just a fancy word for coffee so Starbucks can charge more ?

39. "College GameDay" channel: ESPN.  Lots of sports.

40. Vinyl collectible: ALBUM.  I use these for my best baseball cards.

42. Pork or beef: MEAT.  Crash Davis called Tim Robbins MEAT in "Field of Dreams".

43. Tree houses: NESTS.  Okay, but we would build real tree houses when I was a kid.

47. Approx. landing hr.: ETA.  Airlines across the country needed an approx. taking off hour.

49. Ripped apart: TORE.

50. Cloud's place: SKY.

51. Govt. Rx watchdog: FDA.  The Feds have an administration for nearly everything.

54. Fútbol cheer: OLE.  Sven's buddy.

56. Caribbean cruise stops: ISLES.

62. Like much beer at a bar: ON TAP.  "I say first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon, then beer from a bottle" Trouble in River City - the Music Man.

63. "Et voilà!": TA DA.

64. Slack-jawed look: GAPE.

67. Salary increase: RAISE.  Social Security isn't really salary, but we all got a RAISE this year.

68. Managed, with "out": EKED.   And we all EKE out with the SS check.

69. Brainstorm: IDEA.

70. Like a javelin's path: ARCED.

71. Russo of "Tin Cup": RENE.  "Gimme another ball"  Costner.

72. Russian autocrat: TSAR.

Down:

1. "Can u believe it?!": OMG.

2. Card-vs.-card game: WAR.  We played a lot when we were kids.

3. Highway turnoffs: EXIT RAMPS. Many were blocked last week.

4. Red Sea peninsula: SINAI.

5. Sugary Southern beverage: SWEET TEA.  I prefer coffee.

6. Blouse edges: HEMS.

7. Operatic solo: ARIA.  Did this in NOYE's FLUDDE.

8. Churchill Downs race: DERBY.  Coming in May.  I have never gone to one in person.

9. Milky Way ingredient: CARAMEL.  And lots of sugar.

10. Tons: A LOT.  Number of fans at the Super Bowl 

11. Diameter halves: RADII.

12. Essential acid, familiarly: AMINO.  A source of protein

13. Salad bar pair: TONGS.

21. Etch A Sketch control: KNOB.  I had an Etch -A-Sketch many years ago.  Too hard to make it work.

22. Have a bite: EAT.

23. Temporary stage: PHASE.

26. "I feel the same way!": AMEN.  Church on the weekends.

28. Starbucks size after Short: TALL.  But is it any better than what we brew at home??

29. Planet's path: ORBIT.  I don't think Pluto is a planet any more.  but I don't think it completed one orbit since I was born.

31. Birth certificate entry: NAME.  I do not know where mine is.

33. Initial poker stake: ANTE.

34. Osaka wrestler: SUMO.

36. Promos to pique interest: TEASER ADS.  These are all over cable TV.  I really hate Liberty Mutual and Medicare ads.

37. Homes for pet fish: TANKS.  My car's home for gas.

38. Site with homemade gifts: ETSY.  Never been there or used it.

41. Pre-grilling sauce: MARINADE.

44. Bent down: STOOPED.  I used to be able to do this 20 years ago.

46. Second to none: BEST.  We spend a few bucks at BEST Buy each year.

48. Every one: ALL.

51. Plant life: FLORA.  Nothing around our home this time of year.

52. Bahrain currency: DINAR.

53. Playful prank: ANTIC.

55. Large keyboard key: ENTER. Not as big as the space bar though.

57. On the level: LEGIT.  Really!!

59. Social worker's assignment: CASE.  You should put the CASE files in a a CASE just in CASE.

60. Birthday candle holder: CAKE.  Happy Birthday President Lincoln !

61. Genesis garden: EDEN.

65. Split __ soup: PEA.

66. Organ with a canal: EAR.  What ??

Boomer

Saturday, November 13, 2021, Andy Wang and C.C. Burnikel

 Saturday Themeless by Andy Wang and C.C. Burnikel 

C.C. and her brother Andy had a Monday puzzle on July 5th of this year and have followed that up with a Saturday themeless. C.C. last saw her brother in 2002 but keeps in frequent contact with him via WeChat (see some random Chinese screen shots below*). He is a logistics supervisor for an electronic commerce company in Xi'an, China. C.C. said, "We learned English in high school. His spoken English is not good. But his written English is not bad."

C.C. wrote to show me their first puzzle which you see at the left below. She said Rich changed the red area SHEN -> THEN and she and Andy changed the green area SOMEN -> RAMEN. SHEN  Yun is returning to Omaha in February and this is SOMEN . We have seen SHEN Yun advertised a lot around here and I think I would have sussed out SOMEN eventually but Rich's changes made things much easier. It seems to me that Rich let some harder words go by in Stella's puzzle of last week but I enjoyed both of them.

 Andy and C.C.'s submission                                     Rich's edited version

Across:

1. Chinese New Year tradition: LION DANCE - Appropriate

10. They may be inflatable: RAFTS.

15. Over and over and over ...: AD NAUSEAM - Car insurance commercials 

16. Plugged in: AWARE.

17. Leads: GOES FIRST - Traffic is stopped for this leader 

18. Degas contemporary: MONET - Do you know which is which? You connoisseurs will know but I will put the answer at the bottom **

19. Mel who gave Archie a batting tip in "Field of Dreams": OTT - Here is young Archie Graham batting in the uniform of Mel OTT's Giants.

20. Top choice: FAVE.

21. Called out: YELLED.

22. Momentarily: SOON.

24. Hold in a match: NELSON - It's been around for a quite a while. 

26. Like: ALA.

27. "I got this": ON IT - I'm ON IT not It's ON ME

29. Cartoon shopkeeper: APU - The cast of The Simpsons are crossword staples 

30. Help on the job: ABET.

31. "What a relief!": THAT WAS CLOSE - but he kept taking pictures! 

35. __ Slam: tennis coup: SERENA - SERENA Williams has twice held all four major tennis championships but not in the same calendar year. 

37. Puts on again: REAIRS - It cost Netflix $500,000,000 to REAIR these episodes 

38. Product whose proteins are aligned in manufacturing: STRING CHEESE - New to me but easy to fill

40. Bust maker: NARC - Oh, bust as in arrest

41. Scrape (out): EKE - You just 42. Recognize: KNOW EKE will show up often in cwds

45. Before now: AGO.

46. 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup champions: FLYERS.

49. Korean jjigae, e.g.: STEW - A Korean stew usually served from a communal pot Pronounciation

51. Where Alexander the Great overthrew Darius III: PERSIA.

53. Thailand neighbor: LAOS.

55. Stick in the water: OAR - as opposed to being a "stick in the mud". Fun!

56. Plant from the Greek for "flame": PHLOX - Word derivation

57. "I'm serious": IT'S NO JOKE.

59. Free: LOOSE.

60. Cloud content: DATA FILES - My DATA FILES are saved on iCloud

61. Convenient breakfast choice: EGGOS.

62. Complex unit: APARTMENT.

Down:

1. Nigerian National Museum site: LAGOS.

2. "Same here!": I DO TOO.

3. Pickup capacity: ONE TON.

4. Rapper who co-founded Mass Appeal Records: NAS - Google if you must

5. Rear end: DUFF - Hillary DUFF and her...

6. Georgian, e.g.: ASIAN - A state that really doesn't give a hoot that the Atlanta Braves won the World Series

7. __ ending: NERVE.

8. Basis for legal precedent: CASE LAW - Case law is law that is based on judicial decisions rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. A famous one:

9. CPR pro: EMT.

10. Budget noodle dish: RAMEN - As you read, Andy and C.C. replaced SOMEN with RAMEN and altered the corner

11. Nowhere to be seen: AWOL.

12. Creative works by devoted followers: FAN LABOR.

13. Like steppes, mostly: TREELESS - What is now downtown Lincoln, Nebraska in 1868, long before Arbor Day

14. It's fixed: SET DATE - My granddaughter's wedding day was a SET DATE and then Covid hit...

21. "Here's the thing ... ": YOU SEE.

23. Kind of acid: NITRIC - NITRIC acid can react with toluene to form a familiar crossword substance

25. Alley pickup: SPARE - Boomer prefers "lane" to "alley"

28. In that case: THEN - Rich took issue with SHEN and redid this area

30. Scary 1986 sequel: ALIENS - A sequel to 1979's Alien

32. "Women, Race & Class" author Davis: ANGELA - I also remember her famous hairdo that we see frequently in crosswords

33. In poor taste: TACKY.

34. Brewery sight: CASK.

35. Improv spotlight usurper: STAGE HOG - Many say Jerry Lewis was a big one

36. Techie's diagnostic list: ERROR LOG - I called Spectrum with a problem getting a picture on my MacBook. I took a screen shot of the ERROR message I was getting and we worked it out.

38. "Made from the Best Stuff on Earth" drink brand: SNAPPLE.

39. Shoe lift: HEEL TAP.

43. "Becket" star: OTOOLE.

44. Sap: WEAKEN.

46. Tight spots: FIXES.

47. Follower of Jah: RASTA - Jah is the Rastafarian name for God

48. Sub system: SONAR.

50. Yank: WREST - Football tacklers are always looking to yank/WREST the ball away from the ball carrier

52. Fair: SO SO.

54. Like silken tofu: SOFT.

57. Civil rights pioneer __ B. Wells: IDA - Listen to her speech

58. "Mad Money" host Cramer: JIM - On his Daily Show, Jon Stewart aggressively scolded JIM Cramer for giving lousy investment advice during the 2008 mortgage crisis on his show Mad Money

*Screen shots of WeChat in Chinese

** Degas is on the right

Notes from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Big Easy (George)! Here he is with his wife Diane, the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Famer.

Monday July 5th, 2021 Andy Wang & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: TIE BREAKER (63. Overtime round, e.g. ... and what a black square acts as for the circled words?) - Three different ties are broken up.

 17. Gibberish: MUMBO JUMBO. And 19. Passed-down stories: LORE. Bolo tie.

 28. "Just as I thought!": AHA. And  29. Tax evader's comeuppance: IRS AUDIT. Hair tie.

 47. One who scoffs at Bud, perhaps: BEER SNOB. 50. Dominate in competition: OWN. Bow tie.

Boomer here.

Andy is C.C.'s brother. He is a logistics supervisor for an electronic commerce company in Xi'an, China. Great job Andy!

Andy Wang

On the home front of course I am on the course on Monday mornings. But last Wednesday the league president had organized a picnic get-together for  the players and their wives.  C.C. and I were happy to attend and we found out that several of the other wives were crossword solvers and they were fascinated with C.C.'s work. Oh, and by the way everyone brought some food to share and I was happy to bring a sheet cake with "Happy Birthday, C.C." on the frosted area. The group sang the song in honor of C.C.'s birthday. A good time was had by all. And of course I am hoping you all enjoyed the July 4 holiday!! 

C.C., 6/30/2021

Across:

1. Light in a socket: BULB.  We have been using the LED bulbs for awhile.  They are high tech, use less energy and last longer.

5. Hunt for bargains: SHOP.  One of C.C.'s favorite activities.

9. Tick off: MIFF.

13. Enjoyed immensely: ATE UP.  Everyone ATE UP the aforementioned picnic.  However I brought home a few pieces of cake that I am continuing to work on.

Boomer, 6/30/2021

15. Smooth engine sound: PURR.  Not Meow.

16. Love, in Lima: AMOR.

20. Support for a side plank exercise: ARM.  I use the right one for bowling and both for golf.

21. Country singer McGraw: TIM.  The Tiny one tiptoed through the tulips.  There is another named Anderson who plays shortstop for the White Sox who handed the Twins their lunch last week.

22. Finished, as a deck: STAINED.  I think ours is just painted.  It was redone last summer.

24. David Muir and Lester Holt: NEWSMEN.

27. "Thor" actor Idris: ELBA.

33. Very beginning: GET-GO.  I believe that this is the first tee.

36. Like strung guitar strings: TAUT.

37. "If u ask me ... ": IMO.  In My Opinion this was a pretty good puzzle by a veteran and a rookie.

38. Sought-after celeb: A-LISTER.

40. Springsteen's __ Band: E STREET.

43. Edge of a glass: RIM.  You may need to put a tire on one.

44. "I claim that!": DIBS.  Great word!  I have not used it since I was a kid.  

46. Perform better than: OUTDO.  This morning I am trying to OUTDO others on the course, but we all have a good time and nobody really wins or loses.  We all just try to beat the course. 

51. Dough for spanakopita: FILO.

52. Attacks: COMES AT.  If your shot COMES AT someone, don't forget to holler "FORE"

56. Kind of salad named for a NYC hotel: WALDORF.  I've never been to New York, but I remember this salad has fruit and nuts in it.

59. Make a dent in: MAR.  Between FEB and APR.

60. Mister, in Mumbai: SRI. 

62. Grammy winner India.__: ARIE.

66. Crystal ball gazer: SEER.  I am pretty sure that the Crystal Ball is not related to Lucille.

67. Landfill emanation: ODOR.

68. Coffee or tea: DRINK.  "Drink, Drink, Drink, said the privates, happy men are we.  There's none so fair that can compare to the fighting infantry."

69. "No thanks": PASS.

70. Nada: NONE.  My teachers in grade school were known as NUNS but I don't know why.

71. Draws to a close: ENDS.  This is the END of across.  Now we go DOWN.

Down:

1. Ole Miss rival: BAMA.  Home of the Crimson Tide.

2. 180-degree reversal: U TURN.  Please don't do this on the highway.

3. ''I wanna try!'': LEMME.

4. Fella: BUB.  The sergeant on "In the Heat of the Night" is BUBBA Skinner.  He played football for the Crimson Tide.

5. Ocean froth: SPUME.  In "God Bless America" it's called foam.

6. Smooth engine sound: HUM.  Once in awhile I will see one of those HUMMERs, but I don't hear them HUM.

7. Planets, in poems: ORBS.

8. Formal objections: PROTESTS.  Minneapolis is full of them.  There is always somebody PROTESTing about something.  The George Floyd story is still living on.

9. Ritzy California beach city: MALIBU.  Also a Chevrolet that I once owned. 1965. 

10. "No dessert for me today": I'M ON A DIET.  I am never on a diet.  I just try to avoid sugar and keep the blood glucose low.

11. Warning after a slice: FORE.  I use to have a slice but I fixed that.  Now we wait until the group ahead is off the green.  If I need a slice, I order a pizza. 

12. Mister Rogers: FRED.

14. Random criticism: POTSHOT.

18. Iwo __: JIMA.  A terrible battle in World War II.  I think my Dad was there but he never talked about it much.  He was a medic.

23. Fashioned after: A LA.  Crimson Tide again

25. Friendly dog greetings: WAGS.

26. Actress Vardalos: NIA.

30. Regrets: RUES.  I suppose you will all RUE the day at the end of the week.  The puzzles are a bit tougher.

31. Used WhatsApp, say: IM'ED.

32. Dog in Oz: TOTO.  "I'll get you my pretty, And your little dog too."

33. Clothing: GARB.

34. Fashion designer Saab: ELIE.

35. "The years just zip by!": TIME FLIES.  "When you're having fun"!

36. The Chicks or ZZ Top: TRIO.  Or the Chad Mitchell guys.

39. Ralph Kramden's pal: ED NORTON.  "Oh, How sweet it is "

41. Dwarfed, with "over": TOWERED.

42. Ski resort trails: RUNS.  The Minnesota Twins are producing a serious shortage of these.

45. "Killing Eve" channel: BBC.

48. Lyft patrons: RIDERS.  Then the RIDERS become SKIERS.

49. __-mo videos: SLO.

50. Actor Epps: OMAR.  Minnesota has a 5th District Congress Rep named OMAR.  She occasionally says the wrong thing at the wrong time.   

53. Blending of one hue to the next, from the French for "shaded": OMBRE.

54. Invite to enter: ASK IN.  "Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin !"

55. Get big on Twitter: TREND.  I have never used Twitter.  I do not know how and Facebook is enough for me.

56. Stinging insect: WASP.  "Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee"  Cassius Clay.

57. Farmland measure: AREA.  Golf courses seem to be measured in Yards.

58. Classic dog name: FIDO.

61. Ticks off: IRKS.

64. Very long stretch: EON.  Okay, If it took you an EON to solve this puzzle, hop on the comments section and tell us what you think.

65. "What __ you looking at?": ARE.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

In case you missed it, here's a picture of Tony (Anon-T) and Leo. Great to "see" you guys.

Tony & Leo, 7/3/2021