Friday September 17, 2021, Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: Scrabble "T"iles

Hello, Cornerites! So, was anyone else (48-Down. Steamed ... and like five answers in this puzzle?) TEED OFF when they saw and solved this puzzle?? When I figured out 18-Across (Guitar connoisseur?: AX COLLECTOR), I immediately saw that a T was missing (TAX COLLECTOR), and thought, hmm, this could be interesting. Especially after (36-Across Cabdriver's pickups during a storm?) RAIN FARE (TRAIN FARE), and (1-Down Platform for primates?) APE DECK (TAPE DECK) emerged.

But as I drilled down to the last two, (41-Across Savings for replacing old tools?) RUST FUND, and (62-Across One with a lofty greeting?) HIGH SLAPPER, (TRUST FUND and THIGH SLAPPER) I was less impressed.

Still, it was a fun test - and my "Scrabble" reference in the theme fits, I think, as adding the letter "T" to the first words of the five long answers would allow you to score big points without sacrificing too many tiles . . .

Let's look at the rest of the fill:

Across:
1. Render speechless, maybe: AWE. Often I will use a homophone of this word when I have Facetime with my daughter and grandson ... AWW, he is so cute!

4. "Morning Joe" network: MSNBC. COFFEE didn't fit; LATTE does

9. Bach's instrument: ORGAN. I guessed wrong with PIANO but perps came to the rescue

14. Family nicknames: PAS. I'm not a big fan of these "forced" three-letter abbreviated plurals; unless of course I am using them in a puzzle that I construct!! LOL!!

15. "Goodies" singer: CIARA. Totally clueless. Not my music genre choice. Yours? Listen and please comment if you want

16. Muralist Rivera: DIEGO. Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera, was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art. Wikipedia

17. It may be bruised: EGO. Very clever clue, and yes, I've had mine bruised a few times

20. School team member who argues a lot: DEBATER. Sorry Ray-O-Sunshine, I'm gonna beat you to the punch:

Abe liked to argue,
As well as fish. It shows he's
A great DEBATER

22. Capers: LARKS. I initally thought of these when I saw the clue:

23. Fleecy females: EWES.

When rams in Trenton
Are paired with female sheep, Do
Folks say, "Hey EWES guys?"

24. Shakespearean villain: REGAN, and 26-Across. Shakespearean villain: IAGO. Clecho

29. Coopers' creations: CASKS. BARRELS didn't fit, but a CASK is a small one

31. Lets go: SACKS. The key to this clue is that the word "lets" is not spelled with an apostrophe

33. Burbank-to-Fresno dir.: NNW. Directional abbr.

34. Old Austrian money: KRONEN. Plural kronen\ ˈkrō-​nən \ Definition of krone 1 : the basic monetary unit of Austria from 1892 to 1925. 2 : a coin representing one krone. In German the addition of an "N" to a noun usually makes it plural. Spitzboov, Ist dass richtig?

38. Dunkable cookie: OREO. Had the word "cookie" been capitalized, one could argue that it would refer to what Alexander might do to his sister when they are in a swimming pool

40. Tall one: BEER. A Friday clue if I ever saw one. 16oz drafts are usually the "ones" that are "tall"

45. Chew out: RAIL AT. Vituperate is another term and synonym

49. Toward the 50-Across: AFT, 50-Across. See 49-Across: STERN. Does this count as a clecho?

52. "The Wreck of the Mary __": DEARE. This clue and entry appear about once a year, on average

53. Hoffman title role: HOOK. Dustin Hoffman played Captain HOOK; Robin Williams (shown below) played Peter Pan. Film trailer:

55. Hindu royalty: RAJAS. Rajas (Sanskrit: रजस्) is one of the three Guṇas (tendencies, qualities, attributes), a philosophical and psychological concept developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. The other two qualities are Sattva (goodness, balance) and Tamas (destruction, chaos). Rajas is innate tendency or quality that drives motion, energy and activity.

Rajas is sometimes translated as passion, where it is used in the sense of activity, without any particular value and it can contextually be either good or bad. Rajas helps actualize the other aforementioned two gunas.

Nothing here describes "royalty". Maybe I chose the wrong Wikipedia entry??

57. Indulge, with "on": DOTE. There it is: the ninth example from our Thesaurussaurus

58. Like some bulls: PAPAL. PAPAL Bull. It's actually defined as an edict by the Pope, but I kinda like this cartoon version myself

60. Like many tuxedo shirts: PLEATED. Jerry's isn't PLEATED, but it's much funnier! Beware of the "low talkers"

65. Texter's lead-in: IMO. In My Opinion. IYO, what do you think of this as an entry?

66. Dividing range: URALS. From novaonline.com: " The Ural Mountains (Уральские горы, Uralskie gory, the Stone Belt) as a mountain range run roughly north and south through Russia to Kazakhstan for a little more than 1,500 mi. The highest peak is Mount Narodnaia (about 6,200 ft.), while the average height varies considerably but is often in the 3,000 to 4,000 ft. range. Geographically the Urals are often divided into five parts: Southern, Middle, Northern, Pre-Polar (the highest) and Polar. The Ural Mountains are among the world's oldest mountains, 300 to 250 million years old, and erosion has lowered them considerably. In many places, the mountains are little more than hills. In many respects, the Urals remind me of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, also old and considerably eroded. The Urals do not form a natural barrier between Europe and Asia. For example, the mountains did not hinder the Mongol invasion of Russia in the thirteenth century"

67. Hollow winds: REEDS. Another Friday clue

68. __ Wiedersehen: AUF. Das zeiter Deutches Wort in diesem Kreuzworträtsel

69. Home __: DEPOT. Technically, it's "THE" Home DEPOT

70. Center: MIDST. Also could be clued as "in the thick of"

71. Bad check ltrs.: NSF. iNSufficient Funds

Down:
2. Fight in a big way: WAGE WAR. In some of the publications for crossword puzzles, the word "WAR" is frowned upon, but apparently the LA Times is not one of them. Just in case you were curious about submission rules

3. Song with the phrase "kiss me mucho": ESO BESO. A CSO to Lucina, perhaps?! ESO BESO = "This kiss"

4. MD-to-be's exam: MCAT. The SAT for would-be doctors

5. 44-Down, once: SIXER, 44-Down. Four-time pro basketball MVP: DR J. I don't think that DR J (aka, Julius Erving) had to take the MCAT's! He best known for playing with the Philadelphia SIXERs in the NBA

6. Caviar spoon materials: NACRES. Not sure that I knew this. From the French "Cuillère en Nacre", or spoon of Mother-of-Pearl (aka, NACRE). Did they choose this because fish roe taste better on shellfish material? Here is an example of one:

7. Bud: BRO. The word "bud" has many meanings; perhaps adding (slang) to the clue would've made it easier

8. Arrange local transportation: CALL A CAB. How many of you have ridden in a CAB in the past decade or so? LYFT and UBER have seemingly taken over the "taxi" industry

9. Baltic feeder: ODER.

Pollution has made
A noted river smell bad.
The ODER's odor

10. Daytime host Lake: RICKI. This lady

11. Scores high: GETS AN A. A CSO to our CC poet laureate, OwenKL. He usually GETS AN A from Anonymous T

12. Previously: AGO. "He left five minutes AGO." Previously . . .

13. Postal motto word: NOR. Actually, I was happy to see that this clue and entry wasn't the abbr. for NORway. From the USPS: "Neither snow NOR rain NOR heat NOR gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". But throw a holiday out there and it will . . .

19. More rangy: LANKIER. I've never been called "lanky". "Stocky" is my physique's descriptor

21. Memorable JFK words after "And so, my fellow Americans": ASK NOT. More famous quotation words, and powerful words they were

25. Needlefish: GAR. From Wikipedia: "Needlefish closely resemble North American freshwater GARs (family Lepisosteidae) in being elongated and having long, narrow jaws filled with sharp teeth, and some species of needlefishes are referred to as GARs or GARfish despite being only distantly related to the true GARs. And now you know

27. Axl's group, briefly: GNR. From the semi-eponymous band: Guns 'N Roses. Axl Rose

28. Run up a bill, say: OWE. This cartoon guy had quite the healthy bill!

30. Feudal laborers: SERFS.

Feudal softball game
Became confusing to fans
When they said: "SERF's up!"

32. Golfer with three PGA Championship top 10s after age 60: SNEAD. Nicknamed "The Slammer" for his prodigious strength as a ball stiker.

From Wikipedia: "Samuel Jackson SNEAD was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His swing looked like a metronome

35. Not on any side: NEUTRAL. Like the Swiss

37. Curly-haired "Peanuts" girl: FRIEDA. Oh good! I get to post another cartoon!!

39. Like a mild chili: ONE ALARM. Unlike this guy. Homer goes to the Chili Cook Off:

41. Word of support: RAH. It's also a word found in many sports cheers; football especially: (with a slight correction to what Wilbur Charles entered on Sept 13) "RAH RAH ree, kick 'em in the knee. RAH RAH rass, kick 'em in the other knee"

42. Tabloid topic: UFO. Does anyone buy the National Enquirer?

43. Thrown-together: STOP GAP. Definition: a temporary way of dealing with a problem or satisfying a need. Thrown-together

46. Vientiane native: LAOTIAN. A native of Laos

47. Ross Martin's "The Wild Wild West" role: ARTEMUS. I never watched. A thirty second trailer for your viewing pleasure

51. Dozed for a bit: NAPPED. Happens to me occasionally

54. Painter Frida: KAHLO. Not to be mistaken with the answer to 37-Down. Her

56. Wintry rides: SLEDS.

59. Soft "Over here!": PSST.

61. In olden days, once: ERST. Crosswordese

62. 1963 Newman title role: HUD. More about this here

63. Real resentment: IRE. Did anyone else notice the plethora of three-letter entries today?

64. Louvre Pyramid designer: PEI. See 63-Across

The grid:

OK, folks! Your turn to add to the comments! Have a pleasant weekend. I am planning to play golf today; don't want to be late for my "T" time!

Monday March 30, 2020 Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: HOME STRETCH (59. Last leg of a race ... or a hint to the circled letters) - H, O, M, E are stretched out in each theme answer.

 

17. Studio feature that produces reverb: ECHO CHAMBER.

25. Very popular movie star, e.g.: HOT NUMBER.

37. 2017 Day-Lewis film with multiple Oscar nominations: PHANTOM THREAD.

50. Talk Like a Pirate Day greeting: AHOY, MATEY.

Boomer here.  

We are still dealing with the Covid-19 and our Governor has ordered us to stay HOME.  I expect the same advice or command for most of you also. Also the Major Leagues have been delayed unfortunately so we will not hear Joe Nuxhall "Rounding third and heading for HOME."  I do not have a Gene Autry CD or tape singing "HOME, HOME on the Range"  So all I can do is hope that you are all Safe at Home.  It's a baseball thing.

Across:

1. Run __ of the law: get in trouble: AFOUL.  Return to home plate after hitting A FOUL.

6. Seized SUV, say: REPO.  Hopefully the stimulus will help folks pay their bills so they do not suffer a REPO.

10. Pumpkin dessert: PIE.  Thanksgiving.  Don't forget a little Cool Whip on top.

13. Style: MANNER.  Mind your MANNERs while eating that pie.

15. Wind instrument in Donovan's "Jennifer Juniper": OBOE.  Donovan was a bit of a weird duck, but I liked some of his songs.

16. "__ ideas?": ANY.  to deal with coronavirus ?  Stay HOME.

19. GPS choice: RTE.  Get your kicks, on RTE66.

20. AFL partner: CIO.

21. Pool-filling aid: HOSE.  Remember when Kevin Costner grabbed a HOSE and created a rainout in  "Bull Durham".  They did not have coronavirus to cancel their game.

22. Spa sigh: AAH.

23. Fifty percent: HALF.

30. Advanced in age: ELDERLY.  They say they are most vulnerable to the virus.

33. Museum of Natural __: HISTORY.  "Jeopardy" has HISTORY categories frequently.  Who was the first U.S. President to give the State of the Union address on Television ?

34. Goat's cry: MAA.  I thought it was BAA, but I never owned a goat.

35. Pasta sauce brand: RAGU.  Lots of this in our fridge and cupboard.

36. Poe's "Annabel __": LEE.  Who remembers Pinky LEE ?

41. True master: PRO. I am also missing the PGA on TV.  They show reruns, but it's just not the same.

42. Days, to Diego: DIAS.

43. Famous Downing Street address: TEN.  If your not yet sick of me mentioning the virus, Boris Johnson, PM of the UK at 10 Downing Street got a positive shortly after Prince Charles received the same.

44. Bone-muscle connectors: TENDONS.

46. Like moody Romantic heroes, as first described in the works of a British lord: BYRONIC. Lord Byron.

52. Centers of activity: LOCI.  Keep six feet apart and no more than 10.

53. Before, to poets: ERE. "And I heard him exclaim ERE he rode out of site"

54. Untidy condition: MESS.  Clean it up!!

57. __ Van Winkle: RIP.  Sew it up!!

58. Sassy West: MAE.

63. SUV's "U," briefly: UTE.

64. "Easy to Be Hard" musical: HAIR.  "I'm HAIRY noon and nighty Night Night, HAIR is a fright".  The Cowsills.

65. Way out of jail: PAROLE.  Or just draw a "get out of jail free" in Monopoly.

66. Ed.'s backlog: MSS.

67. "Don't move, Rover!": STAY.  Do people still name their dogs "Rover"?

68. More sensible: SANER.

Down:

1. "Cocoon" co-star Don: AMECHE.

2. Spa skin-care treatment: FACIAL.  Need not go to a SPA.  Just watch TV commercials.

3. Waiting for a phone rep, maybe: ON HOLD.  Our stimulus payments are ON HOLD for about three weeks I am told.

4. Tres menos dos: UNO. Three minus two.

5. Solidarity's Walesa: LECH.  Created a "Solidarity" movement in Poland, now he is removed from politics - retired in Poland, age 76.

6. Juliet's love: ROMEO.  "Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou ROMEO"

7. Tidal reflux: EBB.  Caused by the moon.

8. "Nevermore" poet: POE.  "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,"  (That's all I remember).  Freshman English was hard.

9. Poet's contraction: O'ER. "O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

10. Geometry curve: PARABOLA.  Freshman Geometry was just as hard.

11. Losing money, colorfully: IN THE RED.  Many portfolios IN THE RED right now, but they are coming back.  Don't listen to me, I am not a financial advisor but I do watch CNBC. 

12. Organ with a pupil: EYE.

14. Letter after pi: RHO.  That's Greek to me.

18. Pallid: ASHY.  I quit smoking many years ago, so my home and car are not ASHY.

22. Check no.: AMT.

24. National Preparedness Month org.: FEMA.  Counting on them for help.

26. "Is __ legal?": THAT.

27. First of two nearly identical words to a tucked-in tot: NIGHTY.  See 64A,  I'm Hairy noon and NIGHTY night, night.

28. Loan shark: USURER.

29. Whiskey grain: RYE.  No Whiskey left hear, but I do have part of a Rye loaf.  Left over after Reuben sandwich season.

31. Hit-or-miss: RANDOM.

32. Rita Moreno, e.g.: LATINA.

35. Apt. ad count: RMS.  Must be tough on people living in apartments.

37. Warms in advance: PRE-HEATS.  We got a new stove, and the view shows the oven temp while it is warming up.  When it gets to the requested temp, it beeps like crazy - about 6 times.

38. Award recipients: HONOREES.

39. Hops kiln: OAST.

40. Organic compound: ENOL.

41. School support org.: PTA.  Jeannie C. Riley - "The day my mama socked it to the Harper Valley PTA"

45. Color, as hair: DYE.

46. Tournament passes: BYES.  The entire Major League Baseball is getting a BYE right now.

47. McAfee rival: NORTON.  Ralph Kramden's buddy who worked in the sewer.

48. Frozen spike: ICICLE.  We get many off our gutters over the winter.  They are all gone now.

49. Coded writing: CIPHER.

51. Nail-filing board: EMERY.  Never used one.  I have clippers.

55. Car care brand: STP.  Saint Paul.

56. Mex. ladies: SRAS.

58. "The word" in silence: MUM.  The GEICO's Gecko has a MUM who makes small biscuits.  It's a secret recipe.

59. FDA overseer: HHS.  Or the High School of every city that starts with "H".

60. Breakfast grain: OAT.  General Mills Cheerios are very tasty.  I'm stuck on Wheat Chex for now.  Hy Vee had a big sale.

61. Hamm of soccer: MIA.

62. Important period: ERA.  Important Stat for a pitcher if they ever get going.

Boomer

Tuesday, April 15, 2014 Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: •*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸ - Part and parcel to 'reading' music.

17A. Yellow sticky brand : POST-IT NOTE

26A. Caffeination station : COFFEE BAR

40A. Crisis phone service : HOT LINE

55A. Café serving group : WAIT STAFF

65A. Composer's output, and where to find the last words of 17-, 26-, 40- and 55-Across : SHEET MUSIC

Argyle here. Annemarie Brethauer has gone from a Sunday(Mar 23, 2014) to a Tuesday. I think she is ready to tackle a Monday. Makes my heart go pit-a-pat.

Aross:

1. Wire insulator : TAPE

5. Australian gemstone : OPAL

9. Dressed : CLAD

13. They're found in veins : OREs

14. Zany escapade : CAPER

16. Saintly ring : HALO

19. Eric of "Spamalot" : IDLE

20. Color : HUE. Finally, a straight forward clue for HUE.

21. Manicurist's concern : NAIL

22. "Breaking Bad" award : EMMY. "Breaking Bad" ran on AMC from '08 to '13. 43A. "Breaking Bad" law org. : DEA

24. Out of bed : ASTIR

30. Vessel for the Mad Hatter : TEA CUP. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

32. Fast-running bird : OSTRICH

33. Kibbutz country : ISRAEL

36. 18th-century composer Thomas : ARNE. British composer best known for Rule, Britannia!.

37. Kenya neighbor: Abbr. : SOM. (Somalia)

44. Journey : TRIP. Go ask Alice.

46. Shed, with "off" : SLOUGH

48. Solar or lunar phenomenon : ECLIPSE

51. Hiss and hum : NOISES

58. Flawless : IDEAL

59. British "Bye-bye" : "TA-TA"

60. Tees off : IREs

62. Electronic eavesdropping org. : NSA. (National Security Agency)

63. Jalopy : HEAP

68. Sicilian volcano : ETNA

69. Golf targets : HOLEs

70. Quick gander : PEEK

71. Light bulb unit : WATT

72. Circular current : EDDY

73. Respectful titles : SIRs

Down:

1. Part of Uncle Sam's outfit : TOP-HAT. It was what the Mad Hatter wore also.

2. Turn on : AROUSE

3. Pre-euro Spanish coin : PESETA

4. Repair shop fig. : EST. (estimate)

5. Penta- plus three : OCTA

6. Lose one's cool : PANIC

7. 2014 Olympics skating analyst Ohno : APOLO

8. Replayed tennis serve : LET

9. Fire-breathing Greek monster : CHIMERA

10. 1960s White House nickname : LADY BIRD. Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson, First Lady.

11. Every one : ALL

12. Anonymous Jane : DOE

15. Snorkeling areas : REEFS

18. Arrival en masse : INRUSH

23. Bumped into : MET

25. Here, to Henri : ICI. In France.

27. Folded manuscript sheet : FOLIO. (from Latin for leaf)

28. Clearasil target : ACNE

29. Actress Perlman : RHEA

31. Expert : PRO

34. On a cruise, say : AT SEA

35. Angled pipe fitting : ELL

37. Meat-and-potatoes dish : STEW

38. Ocean predator : ORCA

39. Combatively supportive : MILITANT

41. Religious sister : NUN

42. Self-absorption : EGOISM

45. Rain-on-the-roof rhythm : PIT-A-PAT

47. Kept secret : HID

49. Hollywood hrs. : PST. (Pacific Standard Time)

50. Money in the mattress, e.g. : STASH

52. Karate instructor : SENSEI. 先生

53. More like child's play : EASIER

54. Men's Wearhouse items : SLACKS

56. Chase flies or grounders : FIELD

57. Let loose : FREED

61. Online crafts marketplace : ETSY. Official Site

63. Chop with an ax : HEW

64. SFO posting : ETA

66. Gardening tool : HOE

67. Portfolio-increasing market moves : UPs. Not DOWNs, portfolio-decreasing market moves.

Argyle

Sunday March 23, 2014 Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: "Call Me" - The last parts of all 7 theme entries are all cell phone related.

22A. Precursor to reality shows like "Punk'd" : CANDID CAMERA. "Punk'd" is a bit cruel. I do like Ashton Kutcher.

34A. "Oh, I give up!" : FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE. So who's the original Mike?

54A. Unlikely job for one with acrophobia? : STEEPLEJACK. The only one word entry.

71A. Deceptive action : SMOKE SCREEN

88A. 1952 Groucho Marx film : A GIRL IN EVERY PORT. Never heard of the film. In fact, I parsed the answer as A GIRL I NEVER * & could not make any sense.

107A. General Lee, in "The Dukes of Hazzard" : DODGE CHARGER

14D. "That proves it" : I REST MY CASE

Reveal entry:

63D. Where the ends of 22-, 34-, 54-, 71-, 88- and 107-Across and 14-Down can be found : MOBILE PHONE

I smiled at the puzzle title. Reminded me of those crazy "Call Me Maybe" days.

This puzzle has a perfect 100 themes squares. Rich's minimum is 84. Things get tricky when you venture into the +100 territory.

I think this is Annemarie Brethauer's first Sunday puzzle. And it's amazingly smooth and clean. Hardly any "Owen's Law" (every puzzle must have nits) moments. Congrats, Annemarie! 

Across:

1. Matter of faith : DOGMA. CREDO is 5-letter also.

6. Statutes : LAWS

10. Plays the harpy : NAGS

14. Puckish sort : IMP

17. Brooks Robinson, notably : ORIOLE. He spent his whole career with the Orioles. I once pulled a Brooks Robinson auto. Highlight of my card-collecting career.

19. John's 2008 running mate : SARAH (Palin)

20. Schubert classic : AVE MARIA

24. Least likely to make a faux pas : POLITEST. Also 105. Most fair : BLONDEST

25. Blackthorn fruit : SLOE

26. Beach feature : DUNE

27. Test in a small room, maybe : TRY ON. "Small room" here refers to "Fitting room", right?

29. Comes in last : LOSES

30. Sploshed : SPILT

32. Apothecary's bottle : PHIAL. I just call it Vial.

33. Guard : SENTRY

39. Singer Grant : AMY

40. Plant sometimes called a false shamrock : OXALIS. Unaware of this trivia. They do look similar, Irish Miss.

41. Australia's lang. : ENG

42. Intimate : IMPLY

44. __ Martin Cognac : REMY

45. Collar target : FLEA

47. Hank who voices Moe Szyslak : AZARIA.  "The Simpsons".

50. Soup holder : CUP. Most Cantonese have long-simmered soup every day. Have you been to Chinatown, Splynter?

53. "Annie" couple? : ENS. Letter N in Annie.

57. Pet shop purchase : LEASH

59. Perch : ROOST

60. Spinner in the wind : VANE. Nice clue.

61. Fell from grace : LAPSED

62. Slide preparations : SMEARS

64. North Pole explorer : PEARY (Robert). Must be a gimme for Spitzboov.

66. Straightened (up) : TIDIED

67. "Walk on By" singer Warwick : DIONNE

68. Narrated : TOLD

69. Honda, even in reverse? : CIVIC. Pangram. Hence "Even in reverse" (I meant Palindrome. Thanks, Lemonade.)

70. Reporter assigned to a platoon, e.g. : EMBED. When will "60 Minutes" bring back Lara Logan, Bill G?

74. Dancer Charisse : CYD

77. Mario Kart console : WII

78. Lampoon : SATIRE

80. Shells out : PAYS

81. Botanical balm : ALOE

82. Bath sponge : LOOFA. Or Loofah. Made from silk gourds. Common summer food for me. The Hmong farmers here grow all kinds of veggies I eat in China.

84. A pop : PER

85. Seal, in a way : TAPE UP

87. Girl o' my heart : PEG. "Peg o' My Heart".

94. Many a cottonwood : POPLAR. Also 99. Colorado resort : ASPEN

96. River nymph : NAIAD

97. Solo : ALONE

98. Rose pest : APHID

100. Smart __ : ALEC

101. Nimbus : AURA

110. Sexy sleepwear : LINGERIE. Does your daughter still work at Victoria's Secret, Dave?

111. "Silas Marner" novelist : ELIOT

112. Lacing aid : EYELET

113. Opposite of six, on a die : ONE

114. Gather : REAP

115. Phoned : RANG

116. Uplift : EDIFY

Down:

1. Severinsen and a dwarf : DOCS. The dwarf clue is enough for me. I don't quite get Johnny Carson's appeal. Was he that good?

2. Spoken : ORAL

3. Futurist painter Severini : GINO. Total stranger to me. So what does this picture try to convey?

4. Without pretension : MODESTLY

5. "Fight of the Century" contender : ALI

6. Barely believable : LAME

7. "... such stuff / As dreams __ made on": Shak. : ARE

8. Wild African pig : WARTHOG

9. "Funny Girl" actor : SHARIF (Omar). I wonder if he still lives in Egypt.

10. Italia seaport : NAPOLI

11. Stratford's river : AVON. Our Ol' Man Keith lived there for a short period.

12. Brylcreem, e.g. : GEL

13. Request at a sitting : SMILE. I don't get this clue. What sitting?

 

15. King novel : MISERY

16. Sitting duck : PATSY

18. Swirling currents : EDDIES

19. __ Domingo : SANTO

21. Without a key : ATONAL

23. Select : CULL

28. Edible tuber : YAM. Not YAM related, but what do you call those stacked bread in the left? Too thick to be nan.

31. Upsilon follower : PHI

32. __ code : PENAL

33. "Ice Road Truckers" truck : SEMI

34. Links cry : FORE. For golfers like Husker Gary.

35. Team in a field : OXEN. Loved the clue.

36. Ewes' guys : RAMS

37. Second in command : VEEP

38. Starfleet captain : KIRK. Star Trek.

43. Legendary attendant of Charlemagne : PALADIN. Not legendary enough. Never heard of him.

45. Own (up) : FESS

46. "Never __ Me Go": Kazuo Ishiguro novel : LET

47. Slightly open : AJAR

48. Screwball : ZANY

49. Lowest gin card : ACE

51. Secondhand : USED

52. Prof's degree : PHD

54. What's-his-face : SO AND SO

55. Went like the dickens : TORE

56. Skirt : EVADE

58. Really amazing, to a dude : EPIC. So EPIC success for Kenye West to lobby and put Kim K on Vogue cover? Don't remember Anna Wintour had to defend her cover choice before. Probably an epic fail for her.

59. Artist Magritte : RENE

61. Not taped : LIVE

62. __ Valley, Calif. : SIMI

64. Slipshod : POOR

65. Actress Sommer : ELKE

66. Binds : TIES

67. Web revealer : DEW. This refers to dew drops on a spider web, yes?

68. "OMG, stop telling me all this!" : TMI

69. Call out : CRY

71. Doe's beau : STAG

72. Use : SPEND

73. Give a hoot : CARE

74. "Pinocchio" goldfish : CLEO. Saw this clue before. Still forgot.

75. "In __ Eyes": Peter Gabriel hit : YOUR

 76. Agcy. : DEPT

79. Miles off : AFAR

81. Stood before the court : APPEARED

83. Flashing flirtatious looks : OGLING

84. Self-playing instrument : PIANOLA

85. Lozenge : TROCHE

86. Writer Rand : AYN

87. Ribbed fabric : POPLIN. Learning moment for me.

89. Keeping up (with) : IN STEP

90. Kool Moe Dee genre : RAP

91. German ballads : LIEDER. Plural of Lied.

92. Worker with many keys : VALET. Car keys.

93. Fridge juice: Abbr. : ELEC. V8 moment!

94. Cellist Casals : PABLO

95. One doing sums : ADDER. I'm a preferrer of the snake clue.

99. Cambodia setting : ASIA. Hope they find the plane soon. The tone in various Chinese blogs is getting extremely harsh.

100. All aflutter : AGOG

102. Hybrid citrus fruit : UGLI. It's in our grocery store.

103. Snorkeling site : REEF

104. Affectedly cultured : ARTY

106. Before, to Byron : ERE

108. Continuous babble : DIN

109. "I see," at sea : AYE

 C.C. 

Friday, February 17, 2012, Annemarie Brethauer

THEME: Add a RAY of sunshine. The word RAY is added to a common phrase to create a new and completely different phrase. This is our first puzzle from this veteran constructor since her Friday, February 25, 2011 effort. We seem to be in an "add something" to create a Friday, but this has too many short words for me to feel like it is Friday. But some humor and some trickery, so it is all good. I did like the theme, especially:

20A. Picasso in preschool? CRAYON ARTIST. Our CON ARTIST, became a famous painter. Some do think Picasso could have used crayons for all they see.

31A. When only a synthetic will do?: RAYON OCCASION. Rayon is actually a semi-synthetic, discovered in 1855.

39A. Double-cross Old MacDonald?: BETRAY THE FARM. Don't bet the farm on fooling me with this one. Ei Ei O!

54A. What Eddie did to warm up for his "Shrek" role?: MURPHY BRAYED. Is there anyone here who does not know what a Murphy Bed is? Donkey steals the movies. And the hint,

64A. Tampa Bay team playing in this puzzle's longest answers?: RAYS. They used to be the Devil Rays, but that would have ruined his hint.

Let's examine the rest:

Across:

1. Secret rival: ARRID. The deodorants; I felt so smart when I put this right in.

6. Pool regimen: LAPS. Despite the 80 degree day, our condo pool is heated, so come on by and swim anytime.

10. Devoid of emotion: NUMB.  Maybe Jim Carrey could do a NUMBER and NUMBER movie.

14. Pope after John X: LEO VI. Okay, it is Friday, but this obscure prelate did not even last the whole year starting in 928 and did nothing but make a nice letter combination.

15. Lamb by another name: ELIA. beloved essayist, CHARLES LAMB. Always reminds me of our own JL.

16. Australian gem: OPAL. 97% of the world's opals come from down under, right KZ?

17. Recesses: APSES. Not the break in an elementary school day, but the ones in churches.

18. Riffraff's opposite: GENTILITY. A five dollar word, but it remind me of this MOVIE.(0:28)

22. WBA stats: KOS. World Boxing Association:. Knock Outs.

23. Estonian, e.g.: BALT. It is in the Wiktionary, but there is debate. "An ethnic descendant of the Indo-European Baltic people, especially including ethnic Lithuanians, Latvians or Prussians, but generally not including ethnic Belorussians, Estonians, Germans, Jews, Livonians, Poles, Russians, Swedes or Tatars, who have also inhabited or currently inhabit the modern Baltic states."

24. Critic who's a Chicago talk radio co-host: ROEPER. Richard, a Chicago Sun-Times movie critic carrying on the tradition of Siskel and Ebert.

28. Rub the right way?: PET. I love this clue and with all the cat and dog people we have...

29. Feel crummy: AIL. I am sneezing, but don't worry it is not contagious.

30. Way to go: Abbr.: RTE. Route.

35. Home to many Indians, but few cowboys: ASIA. More than a billion, and they all work tech support.

37. Television network with a plus sign in its logo: ION. A network built on a pun, for a positive ION.

38. "This just __ my day!": ISN'T. How did she know?

44. Mother of 35-Down: EVE. The dreaded internal reference with 35D. Son of 44-Across : ABEL. All three boys had 4 letter names like their dad/ Where did they get their baby naming book?

45. __ Cruces: LAS. New Mexico, home of missile testing at White Sands.

46. Passé platters: LPS. A 50's reference to records, which have made a strange comeback.

47. Not as critical: LESSER. One of the Evil twins.

49. Clay pigeon flinger: TRAP. How picaresque, TMI.

51. Pipe cleaner: LYE. The old fashioned way, either Sodium or Potassium hydroxide. Not to be mixed with 51D. "Advertising is legalized __": Wells : LYING. This was H.G. a long time ago. Interesting cross.

57. Kept an eye on: MONITORED. A nice word.

60. Outstanding: OWING. not a containment, but an unpaid debt.

61. It may be gross: Abbr.: ANATomy.

62. Spy's device: WIRE. A hidden microphone, generally worn by undercover people or spies and a hit HBO SERIES.(2:57)

63. Sale, in Calais: VENTE. Calais is the town in France where the Chunnel ends, and the ferries land, therefore, our French lesson of the day. I said Ferries, NOT FAIRIES!

65. One trading in futures?: SEER. Another cute clue, punning on commodity traders.

66. Award for Elmore Leonard: EDGAR. The Mystery Writer's award named after Mr. Poe, and at 90 degrees with 53D. Landscaping tool: EDGER. One of many interesting intersections.

Down:

1. "__! what poverty my Muse brings forth": Shak.: ALACK. They all know I love my man WILL.

2. Camera-ready page: REPRO. One of those made up words, in this case from reproduction.

3. Día de San Valentín gift: ROSAS. A few days late for our Spanish solvers.

4. "Hurlyburly" Tony winner: IVEY. Judith, who has done lots of THEATER and TV and movies.

5. Fail to follow: DISOBEY. Cannot think of a PC comment.

6. By the book: LEGAL. But who WROTE IT? (2:08)

7. Flag down, say: ALERT. Not to be confused with 40D. Bering Sea native: ALEUT.

8. Lager order: PINT. Oh goody, law and beer.

9. Like The Onion: SATIRIC. They have their own NEWS. (0:36) very short, but very bad words.

10. "Cape Fear" co-star, 1991: NOLTE. Actor famous for his work, and his mug shot.

11. "100 years of journalistic excellence" org.: UPI. United Press International.

12. Yoga equipment: MAT. Is that really equipment?

13. 1889-'90 newsmaking circumnavigator: BLY. You should read about NELLIE.

19. Sicilia, e.g.: ISOLA. Italian for Island. The senior group I volunteer with is mostly Italian, we still do not understand each other.

21. Defense gp : NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

25. Binoculars component: PRISM.

26. Historic prep school: ETON. The Duke of Wellington famously said "The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton".

27. Musical modernization of "La Bohème": RENT. Never seen it.

28. "I Kid You Not" author: PAAR. Jack most famous now for quitting in the middle of his live show. LINK.

29. Puberty woe: ACNE. Has nothing to do with your knee.

31. Custom-made things?: RITES. Another pun.

32. Quibbles: NITS. Now we come to Marti's corner, with her nits and her 33D. "How impressive!": OOH.

34. Impersonal letter intro: SIRS. Now we write dear reader to avoid sexism.

36. British Open champ between Jack and Tom: SEVE. Ballesteros, who sadly died recently very young. We are talking golf.

41. Plants with flat-topped flower clusters: YARROWS. Total unknown, but filled by perps. LEARN.

42. Blubber: FLAB. Whale blubber is very valuable, and useful.

43. Sanction: APPROVE. Isn't English great, this one word can be good, sanctioning an event, or bad, the UN sanctioned Iran.

48. President Santos portrayer on "The West Wing": SMITS. I liked him on Dexter.

49. "Voilà!": THERE. More French, and Wallah to Jeannie, good to see you.

50. U-Haul rival: RYDER. I like Winona better.

52. Busybody: YENTA. A bissel Yiddish.

55. __ dieu: PRIE. The place they kneel to pray.

56. Agape, maybe: AWED. Were you by this puzzle?

57. Transitional mo.: MARch.

58. __ tight schedule: ON A. So am I so I must say

59. Anti vote: NAY. No more tonight.

Answer grid.

Lemonade wishing you all a fine long week end, if you get the President's Day combo holiday off. Thanks Ms. Brethauer for the tour of your brain, and now I return control of your computers.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Ron Worden! Your optimism and humor are truly inspirational. Hope everything goes smoothly next Wednesday.

Friday, February 25, Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: Welcome to LA LA land. The letters LA are inserted into a common phrase to elicit an entirely different and witty new expression. There also is a hint clue at the end. A shout out to our own La LA Linda among others.

16A. Move from Crystal to Caesar's?: CHANGE OF PALACE. CHANGE OF PACE morphs into two famous gambling palaces. I know she is likely referring to the CRYSTAL PALACE built in London, by I like the symmetry of the hotel casinos.

28A. Antelope of questionable virtue?: LOOSE ELAND. What a visual! An Eland on the side of the jungle road, trying to solicit the big game hunters. Anyway, we began with LOOSE END,

33A. "Another regulation, sorry to say"? : ALAS A RULE. AS A RULE.

43A. Greengrocer's grab bags?: SALAD SACKS. SAD SACKS, the poor bungler created by cartoonist george baker in the 1940’s.

And the theme hint, not quite a unifier, but...

53. 1997 Kevin Spacey film, and a hint to this puzzle's theme: LA CONFIDENTIAL. This was a very powerful FILM starring Kevin Spacey, NZ born Australia raised Russell Crowe in a very impressive role. England born, Australia raised Guy Pearce as a particularly despicable character, Kim Basinger looking quite fetching, Australian Simon Baker making his US debut, long before The Mentalist and many more. If you have not seen the movie, it is very well done.

Hello all, Lemonade here. Sorry I missed the Naples trip, but work beckoned. This is our second puzzle this month from Annemarie, who gave us the interesting President Reagan quote to begin the month, and who Grumpy 1 located in an Ohio magazine write up. It was a really challenging puzzle for me, with ALAS A RULE, the fill that tipped me as to the theme. Without knowing the theme, I would never have been able to finish, because there is so much misdirection and so many Friday level clues. Let’s get on with untangling the web she created.

ACROSS:

1. Rigged support: MAST. Jeannie, you want to explain about sails and riggings?

5. Curve of a cabriole leg: KNEE. Wow, bam, a really hard four letter fill immediately. My ex-f-i-l sold antiques, so I knew this term was for those fancy table legs which are concave on the top and convex on the bottom, often with an animal claw at the bottom (see Queen Anne furniture). I believe the word comes from the French Cabrioler, which means to leap, I think. Here I defer to our linguist, Kazie. I was saved by the juxtaposition of the anagram, 5D. Gung-ho: KEEN, which was also not that easy, as the term is rather out-dated.

9. Sheet of stamps: PANE. Wow, it makes sense, but I did not know this DEFINITION. What a miserable start for me.

13. "So that's how it's going to be": I SEE. For those of us married and divorced, this visual is all too real. I can still here the clam, “I see” before the storm.

14. Anago and unagi: EELS. A nice shout for our feerless leader who often had mention her unagi preference.

15. An amulet may ward it off, purportedly: EVIL. Finally, a clue I could answer.

19. Danish poker star Gus: HANSEN. The all-time leading money winner on the World Poker Tour, or at least he was the last time I watched.

20. Curling surface: ICE. The beginning of an onslaught of deceptive clues. Luckily, the Winter Olympics showed lots of this bizarre sport, so Iwas able to rid my brain of the image of old linoleum coming up.

21. Texter's "Heavens!": OMG. Oh My, another answer.

23. Oscar night figure: EMCEE. Again, did you thing about the statue? This is where I wonder how intricate the mind of this constructor is as this year the co-host of the Oscar presentations is Anne Hathaway, who is clued in 29D. 2004 Anne Hathaway title role: ELLA, a cute little MOVIE .

24. Small, vocal bird: WREN.

26. __ market: FLEA. We have many huge ones in Fort Lauderdale, including the SWAP SHOP which used to have a circus all the time.

27. Cliff, Carlos and Derrek of baseball: LEES. Even if you do not know much baseball, you may have heard of CLIFF LEE the Cy Young winning pitcher who spurned the evil empire to sign with the Phillies after helping Texas to its first world series last year. Carlos and Derrek are both children of ex-major leaguers, but none are related to each other.

30. Mag wheels?: EDS. Well, this had my head spinning even after I got the letters from the perps, then d’oh, MAGAZINE big shots! Editors. More deception.

31. Pound output: POEM. Slap, EZRA POUND, not money, not hitting, a poet. POUND was instrumental in so many careers from Joyce, T.S. Eliot and Hemingway, it is unfortunate he embraced fascism and Hitler and denounced all Jews.

32. Has a powerful desire (for): LUSTS. Here, I defer to LOIS and CAROL our other linguistic experts.

36. Gait between walk and canter: AMBLE. I always thought STROLL was in between, but I Guess AMBLE works.

39. Wine Train valley: NAPA. This is a worthwhile TRIP .

40. MoveOn.org, e.g.: Abbr.: PAC. Political Action Committee, our modern lobbyists.

46. Hole maker: MOTH.

47. Mongol sovereign: KHAN. Genghis anyone?

48. Trap, in a way: TREE. To force a person or an animal into a position from which he cannot escape, to corner.

49. "Cheers" waitress: CARLA. A very feisty character played by RHEA PERLMAN who is married to Danny DeVito who was in LA CONFIDENTIAL. I wonder if this clue is intended to foreshadow 11D. French president Sarkozy: NICOLAS the MAN who married CARLA BRUNI.

50. Sixth rock from the sun: Abbr.: SAT. My meh fill of the puzzle, SATURN being the 6th planet in our solar system.

51. Rye go-with: HAM. I used to see that ordered lots, but now there are too many bread types.

52. Repartee: BANTER. The stock in trade of this Corner, on our good days.

57. Lowdown: INFO.

58. "Exodus" novelist: URIS. Leon has become crosswordese.

59. Compass __ :ROSE. This had me stomped for a while, if only I had a PICTURE .

60. Riding: ATOP. Our obligatory “A” word.

61. Took off: LEFT. Nobody shedding any clothes here, just leaving.

62. Dot and Flik, in "A Bug's Life": ANTS. I missed this masterpiece of animated ANTics, but it was a pretty sage guess.

Okay, now breathe, we still must do the downs

Down:

1. "Glee" star Lea __: MICHELE. While I am not a Gleek, perhaps you all appreciate this ACTRESS .

2. Embarrassed: ASHAMED. I see these two as not really being synonymous, as I was embarrasses how long it took me to fill this grid, but I am not ashamed of my performance.

3. Medium settings: SEANCES. Okay, did we think stove top, appliances, anything but psychic mumbo-jumbo.

4. Time indicators of a sort: TENSES. An easy one for our English teachers.

6. Rebirth prefix: NEO. Perhaps another hint we are approaching the easter season.

7. "The Silmarillion" being: ELF. How many have read Tolkien’s pre-quel to the Hobbit and LOTR, in which we learn the history of middle earth? It was a difficult read for me, with so much detail and “history” to absorb, but it set the stage for the books I had read years before.

8. Uses binoculars, say: ESPIES. How many of you have played, “I spy with my little eye” with your children on long car rides? That and the license plate game kept me sane when they were young, as I had a 400+ mile trip with them every month.

9. Athlete dubbed "O Rei do Futebol": PELE. This is the Portuguese rendition of King of Football (soccer) for the incomparable Brazilian star of soccer, Edison "Edson" Arantes do Nascimento.

10. Gardner of "Mayerling": AVA. A very pretty GIRL who was married to both Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra. Hollywood is a strange place.

12. Gold or silver: ELEMENT. Nothing to do with their value, just there base nature.

17. "Hmm ...": GEE. Hmm, gee.

18. Embarrassing marks: ACNE. No, not DEES, but zits.

22. Roams: GADS. Not the first though I had, as again, gadding about is a rather archaic phrase, but it works. How many grew up watching GADDABOUT GADDIS, the FLYING FISHERMAN?

24. Troubles: WOES. Trouble, with a capital T.

25. Jennifer Crusie's genre: ROMANCE. I never heard of this AUTHOR but with ROM, what else could it be?

26. Obstacle for Santa?: FLUE. Hi, Argyle. I think a roaring fire might be more of a statement.

28. Mauna __: LOA. Has to be LOA or KEA, the Hawaiian peaks.

31. Responded in court: PLED. The little shout out to me, and my past trail work.

33. King of comedy: ALAN. One of the longest lasting of the Catskill Comics, who presented a more intellectual comedy than Henny Youngman, Shecky Greene and others. He probably influenced many young comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, by his style of talking to the audience rather than just one-liners. Of course, a one liner has its place, like Why do Jewish divorces cost so much? They're worth it.

34. Shed tool: RAKE. Many of the comedians were rakes.

35. Adds to: UPS. For example, UPS the ante, the was Gus Hansen does.

36. Sets a price: ASKS. Also known as the asking price.

37. Jackson dubbed "Queen of Gospel": MAHALIA. For all of you cruel wits, who realized MICHAEL is the correct number of letters, not funny! Well maybe funny, but you should not miss the incredible voice of this PERFORMER .

38. Sticking out: BLATANT.

40. Helping: PORTION. Again, not knowing that helping is being clued as a noun, made this a challenge.

41. In any case: AT LEAST.

42. River to Boston Harbor: CHARLES. A complete gimme for many of us; I have many fond memories of my youth and the Charles river, not far from where I had my first transplant.

44. Seven-time N.L. batting champ Musial: STAN. When I was a kid, it was Stan the Man versus Ted Williams.

45. Two or three bags of groceries, say: ARMFUL. With plastic bags, I try to carry 8-10 at a time.

46. Transforming syllable: MANTRA. OM. OM. OM. OM. OM. OM. Feel better?

49. Lockup: CAN. Lockup as a noun means jail, which is also known as the CAN (and the Calaboose).

51. Stud alternative: HOOP. Okay, gang, I know you were disappointed this misdirection was only talking about earrings.

52. As good as it gets: BEST. This puzzle is pretty close.

54. Corp. exec: CFO.

55. Fury: IRE. I like the horse better.

56. "What's the __?": DIF. The question mark tips you to the abbreviation of DIFFERENCE in an in the language expression.

Well, GEE, we have reached the end of another journey of learning and laughing. I enjoyed this because it was both very hard but filled with wit and I hope you all stayed for the ride. Remember, the links are only for those who want them. See you next time.

Answer grid.

Lemonade