Friday, March 4, 2022, Bryant White

Theme: I ran out of GAS, or maybe, "running on empty"

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR but with several spelling errors - and one major w/o: I put RAGE in 29-Down. Which was supposed to be WAGE (clued as: Carry on)

So how many of you "ran out of GAS" trying to figure this Bryant White puzzle? This Author/Cartoonist/Crossword Puzzle Constructor from British Columbia, Canada (CSO to CanadianEh!) must've taken a couple of Beano tablets before constructing this puzzle, as there was no GAS to be found anywhere ... at least in 6 of the entries to the puzzle.

How so you ask?

I don't normally place the reveal at the beginning of my recap, but today it makes more sense to.

34-Across. Incapacitating agent of pulp detective and sci-fi novels ... and a hint to solving this puzzle's starred clues: KNOCK OUT GAS.

First example:
17-Across. *Throw for a loop: FLABBER[GAS]T. So as (50-Across. Homer's bartender:) MOE was solving the puzzle, he realized after a few perps that 17 Across had to be "FLABBER" something, and once the reveal was sussed, the theme hit him. When you KNOCK OUT (remove) the word GAS from the starred clue answers, you're left with the "correct" answer for today's puzzle.

18-Across. *Traditional jack-o'-lantern sources in the British Isles: RUTABA[GAS]. Moe didn't know that RUTABAgas are British jack-o'-lantern sources, but he'd heard of the vegetable

As Moe likes to solve his puzzles from top left to bottom right, he next encountered two "down" entries:
24-Down. *Gourmet: [GAS]TRONOME. A GASTRONOME is a person who loves good food; a gourmet. There is a "science" attached to a gastronome and Moe puns it in the following haiku:

Gourmet loves to fart
Whilst studying the stars. That's
Called: GAStronomy

26-Down. *World's second-largest island country: MADA[GAS]CAR. The world's fourth-largest island in size is actually the second-largest island country, as New Guinea and Borneo are part of Indonesia. Greenland is the world's largest island country

But what about Australia, Moe? Isn't that larger than MADAGASCAR? Or Greenland? Well, technically, Australia is a continent though some refer to it as an "island continent"

52-Across. *Adele and Cher, e.g.: ME[GAS]TARS. MEGA STARS. Oddly, this one came to the Chairman almost as quickly as:

55. *Buffet variety: SMOR[GAS]BORD. By then, I had figured out the theme. One more haiku? OK!

Bryant White gave the
EPA a break, 'cause of
His GAS omissions

Across:
1. With 41-Across, "Cloud Shepherd" Dadaist: JEAN (41. See 1-Across:) ARP.

5. RR depot: STA. Why is it that when I want this answer to be STA, it's always STN? And vice-versa

8. Elbow grease: EFFORT. I have yet to use either of my elbows - other than to support my forearms when typing - to write the recaps.

FUN FACT: When Moe was in grade school the grading letters were: E as in excellent; G as in good; F as in fair; and P as in poor. So when I first heard the term "A for EFFORT" I was a bit perplexed

14. Hoosier: INDIANAN. Nope; sorry guys. I'm not a native Hoosier but I doubt that many of them call themselved INDIANANS

16. Storied restaurant: ALICE'S. How more often do we see the songwriter's name ARLO in puzzles than ALICE's? Impressive that he could recite this considering the amount of lyric

19. Worthlessness metaphor: FIG. As in "not worth a FIG"

20. "__ Weapon": LETHAL. Whatever happened to Mel Gibson?

22. 1921 robot play: RUR. Have any of our Cornerites ever seen this play?

23. Surfers' find: SITE. WAVE and FOAM fit, too, but this surfer travels on the internet

25. Warring son of Zeus and Hera: ARES. The God of War

26. __ Scarlett: MISS. MISS Scarlett, in the kitchen, with a knife. That's my guess. I never got bored by that board game

27. Only Canadian MLB city: TOR. Another CSO to CanadianEh!

28. Half-Betazoid sci-fi counselor: TROI. WAG for me. I am not a huge sci-fi fan but Margaret is. She introduced me to all of the Marvel movies

29. Draw to a close: WANE.

30. Four quarters: ONE. As in ONE dollar

32. Spanish inns: POSADAS. Needed ESP to solve this ONE. CSO to my Phoenix area neighbor, Lucinda

36. Illegal "Risky Business" business: BROTHEL. BROTHEL scene:

37. NRC forerunner: AEC. NRC = Nuclear Regulatory Commission; AEC = Atomic Energy Commission. Per the NRC website: the Federal agency (known as the AEC), which was created in 1946 to manage the development, use, and control of atomic (nuclear) energy for military and civilian applications. The AEC was subsequently abolished by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and succeeded by the Energy Research and Development Administration (now part of the U.S. Department of Energy) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

38. Avatar of Vishnu: RAMA. WAG #2. This is the only "RAMA" that Moe knows:

39. Blanket __: FORT. I wasn't expecting this one! My sister and I used to build a blanket FORT in the back of our parent's station wagon when we went on road trips back in the late '50's, early '60's

44. Copacetic: JAKE. Another video clip for your entertainment: "Do what I tell you, and everything will be JAKE" The Sting (1973)

45. Nickname of NBA great Oscar Robertson: BIG O. Oscar Robertson's nickname. Played college ball at U of Cincinnati and then starred in the NBA for the Cincinnati Royals. The Cincinnati Royals was a professional basketball team in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Royals originated in Rochester, New York, but moved to Cincinnati in 1957 where the team played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1957 to 1972. Robertson eventually ended his career with the Milwaukee Bucks. For a couple of seasons, Robertson averaged a "triple-double", meaning he had a double-digit average in points, rebounds, and assists

46. Branch headquarters?: TREE. Nice play-on-words

48. Songlike: ARIOSE.

57. Flora and fauna of different regions: BIOTAS. A very infrequent visitor to crossword fill

58. Liqueur made with coffee beans: TIA MARIA. It is also a relative of Kahlua

59. Actress Dash: STACEY. Needed ESP to suss this one. This is she (or is it, this is her?):

60. Sun. delivery: SER. My mind first went to something to do with a newspaper, but landed on the abbreviation for SERmon

61. Hat-tipper's address: MA'AM. A palindrome. Maybe it should be said to women with the name EVE or ANNA, or (47-Across. Actress Gardner:) AVA

Down:
1. Wink: JIFF. JIFF is an abbreviation for JIFFY

2. Beat the draft?: ENLIST. Nice play-on-words. Back when MOE was eligible for the draft (Selective Services) he considered enlisting, but was in college at the time. Nixon called off the draft when MOE was a senior and he chose not to ENLIST

3. "Moonlight Sonata" opening movement, e.g.: ADAGIO. ADAGIO means "slow tempo", as Beethoven demonstrates in this iconic piece:

4. Penpoint: NIB. "the pointed end part of a pen, which distributes the ink on the writing surface"

5. Dagger of yore: SNEE. A bit of crossword-ese but a useful word; not used anymore outside of puzzles

6. Fish-and-chips sauce: TARTAR. "TARTAR sauce is a condiment made with mayonnaise, pickles, capers, lemon juice, and herbs. It's often served with seafood but can be a great addition to many other dishes, too." FUN FACT: MOE likes to use malt vinegar on his Fish-and-chips

7. Studiers of human ancestry: ANTHROPOLOGISTS. 15-letter fill words and/or phrases are always fun, especially when they fit so nicely into the middle of a puzzle

8. Viscounts' superiors: EARLS. According to Wikipedia dot com, "The ranks of the English peerage are, in descending order, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron". So DUKES could also have fit this answer

9. Winter bug: FLU. With all of the news about COVID over the past two years, I wonder if anyone still gets the FLU? Of course they do; and perhaps, going forward, a COVID booster will be administered and/or given alongside a FLU shot to those who want that extra protection

10. Be the right size: FIT. We always hope that the answers we put into crossword puzzles FIT correctly

11. Panpipe relatives: OCARINAS. This:

12. Picture puzzles: REBUSES. I have to admit to a mistake I made in a comment on this past Sunday's puzzle. I thought that a REBUS puzzle contained a group of letters that when placed in a "down" position completed a phrase. I was wrong. According to Oxford Languages, "a REBUS is a puzzle in which words are represented by combinations of pictures and individual letters; for instance, apex might be represented by a picture of an ape followed by a letter X"

13. Winter Palace figures: TSARS. In St. Petersburg Russia. That's one big house!

15. Cutting the mustard: ABLE. The origin of this phrase

21. Vital quintet in English literature: AEIOU. Interesting clue for all 5 vowels

28. Georgia __: TECH. Here's a bad joke that C MOE heard, many moons ago:
At a dinner party a group of guys were discussing southern colleges. One fellow challenged another when he mentioned Georgia TECH. The fellow said, "Georgia TECH has only two attributes: they have great football players and prostitutes!" To which the other said, "Well it just so happens that my wife gradutated from Georgia TECH!" And just as quickly the fellow asked, "What position did she play?"

31. "__ bad idea": NOT A.

33. Runs or walks, e.g.: STAT. In Major League Baseball runs scored and walks issued are among many STATistics

34. Volcano in the Sunda Strait: KRAKATOA. Here is a clip of a 1960's movie called "KRAKATOA, East of Java"; which is a bit of a misnomer, as KRAKATOA is actually west of Java:

35. Russian milk drink: KEFIR. This was one of Moe's many misspellings; he had an "A" instead of an "E". KEFIR is not one of his favorite beverages, despite the health benefits. According to Healthline dot com: "Adding KEFIR to your diet can be an easy and delicious way to increase your intake of probiotics. However, drinking too much can have several side effects, including digestive issues. It also contains carbs and a small amount of alcohol, so it may not be suitable for everyone"

36. Go out into the storm, say: BRAVE IT. Folks here in AZ are told not to BRAVE IT when our Monsoon season produces a rainstorm, as the lack of permeable soil induces a lot of flash floods. Vehicles that attempt to cross over a flood-filled "wash" and get stuck can be fined

40. Dorm pal: ROOMIE. I had a ROOMIE in college that resembled Art Garfunkel

42. Ride-hitching fish: REMORA. These guys; I wonder if Malodorous Manatee ever had one of these "hangers-on"?

43. Everycity, USA: PEORIA. PEORIA, IL is well-known in the marketing industry as a place to test new products. "Will it play in Peoria?"

44. Door parts: JAMBS. KNOBS also fit; how about a haiku?

When Jim Morrison
And the Doors played, would they
Have a JAMB Session?

45. Very low: BASSY. Definitions dot net says: BASSY (adjective) Describing the reproduction of sound that overemphasizes low-frequency sounds"

46. __ paper: TERM. Many a college students' assignment

49. Skyrocket: SOAR. One more visit from our Thesaurussaurus

51. Red-wrapped cheese: EDAM. Another crossword staple

53. LAX tower service: ATC. Air Traffic Control

54. Issa of "Awkward Black Girl": RAE. Issa has taken the place of Martha when referring to the surname "RAE"

56. Emeril catchword: BAM.

And the grid:

Comments welcome

Friday. August 13, 2021, Bryant White

 Title: Sign him up to a long term contract.

Little did I know when I was solving Sunday's puzzle and telling Bryant I was looking forward to his next effort that it would be this puzzle. This is a letter removal puzzle, but the reveal is so perfect you will wonder why you didn't think of it.

64A. Secret message technique ... and a hint to four puzzle clues: INVISIBLE INK (12). INK disappears leaving a single letter for each of the 4 letter implied clues.

18A. L[INK]: CHAIN SEGMENT (14). All the fill are very simple if you "see" the invisible ink. 

27A. M[INK]: LUSTROUS FUR (11). The theme is restricted to 4 letter words ending INK. 

39A. F[INK]: POLICE INFORMER (14). This pejorative is the hardest to suss.

56A. R[INK]: SKATING AREA (11). This is the easiest.

There are only 2 eight letter fill outside the theme, BLISSFUL and MUTINEER. 60 of the 81 words (this is a 15x16 grid) are 5 letters or less. Most of the fill are crosswordese, with a "freshness facor" of 5% which is the lowest I have ever blogged; but I enjoyed it.

Across:

1. Suitable for growing crops: ARABLE. Arable land is the land that can be used for agriculture. The term is derived from the Latin word “arare” meaning, to plough. Non-arable land is the land unsuitable for agriculture. For some reason I know this word.

7. Rain unit: DROP. 

                                   

11. 4x4, for short: UTE. ICK

14. Song with a story: BALLAD. 
                                

15. Ephesus' region: IONIA. The HISTORY of [EF][UH][SUHS].

17. Hamburger Hill setting, briefly: NAM. Not our finest HOUR.

20. Long order: SUB. Cute, submarine sandwiches are often long.

21. Teacher's note: SEE ME. Not a note you want to receive.

22. Sparkling flapper accessory: TIARA. Gatsby?

24. Cobblers' tools: AWLS. Not if you are making peach.

31. Dumbledore and Snape, in brief: PROFS. As long we don't see them in their briefs; sadly they are both dead.

33. Range rover: STEER. A great alliterative misdirection; everyone join in, "Home, home on the range..."

34. Military meal: MESS. mess (n.). From 1300, "a supply or provision of food for one meal," from Old French mes "portion of food, course at dinner," from Late Latin missus "course at dinner," literally "a placing, a putting (on a table, etc.)," Meaning "a communal eating place" (especially a military one) is attested by 1530s, from the earlier sense of "a company of persons eating together at the same table" (early 15c.),

35. __ rasa: TABULA. The blank slate, more Latin.

37. Clarinet, e.g.: REED. Because you need one to make music with it? Ron?

45. Somewhat, to Salieri: POCO.  This is difficult in so many ways, first ANTONIO SALIERI is not as well known as others and POCO means little in both Spanish and Italian.

46. "Circus Sideshow" pointillist: SEURAT.            Georges Seurat, (born December 2, 1859, Paris, France—died March 29, 1891, Paris), painter, founder of the 19th-century French school of Neo-Impressionism                

48. General vibe: AURA.

52. Traditional doings: RITES. Tradition, tradition...hit it Zero!

55. Skylit lobbies: ATRIA.

59. George Harrison's "__ It a Pity": ISN'T. 

60. Kit Kat component: WAFER. It's back

61. Capital served by the Queen Alia International Airport:AMMAN. Jordan.

63. Ballpark fig.: EST. Crowd count.

71. Pulitzer novelist Harper: LEE. From 10 days ago.

72. Strainer: SIEVE. Not Ballesteros. Though I am sure he usually flew on...

73. Madrid-based airline: IBERIA. It is a Peninsula thing.

74. Vehicle for some trips: LSD. Since July 1:

Universal Crossword - Aug. 11, 2021

WSJ Daily - Aug. 2, 2021

Universal Crossword - July 28, 2021

USA Today - July 22, 2021

WSJ Daily - July 20, 2021

LA Times - July 16, 2021

Universal Crossword - July 14, 2021

USA Today - July 12, 2021

USA Today - July 1, 2021

75. It has a head and hops: BEER. Harvey, Jimmy Stewart's friend?

76. Ankle-related: TARSAL. Is this one of those new fangled META clues?

Down:

1. Simple comparison: ABC. In Sunday's effort he used an Agatha Christie Poirot title.

2. Fan noise: RAH. Rah, sis boom bah; rah rah ree , kick em in the knee, rah rah rass, kick em in the other knee

3. Like: A LA.

4. Like ignorance, at times: BLISSFUL.

5. "Stay in your __!": LANE. Clark!

6. Ranger or Corsair: EDSEL. 

7. Compilation: DIGEST. Readers being the most famous.

8. Bulg. neighbor: ROMania.

9. Half of eleven?: ONE. 1    1. see it now?

10. Wall map insert: PIN.

11. Nader's "__ at Any Speed": UNSAFE.

12. Alphabetically penultimate zodiac sign: TAURUS. Next to last, with VIRGO (my sign) last.

13. Places in a cell: EMBARS.Yuck!

16. Alaskan site of the only WWII battle on U.S. soil: ATTU. HISTORY .

19. Layers of big eggs: EMUS. We cannot escape LIMU or his family.

23. School of thought: ISM.

24. Quick: APT.

25. Stop shooting: WRAP. 

26. Timber wolf: LOBO. A CSO to OMK and his New Mexico roots. 

28. Fork-tailed flier: TERN. Very aerodynamic

29. Coral habitat: REEF. Staying near the ocean, we have:

30. Some Blizzard ingredients: OREOS. Yummy.

32. Place to park a clipper: SLIP.
More seafaring stuff.

 He is a squirrel...

36. Scrat's obsession in "Ice Age" films: ACORN.

38. De Matteo of "The Sopranos": DREA. I have had this actress many times. No literally of course, just in puzzles.

40. Juul product, briefly: E-CIG. Probably more dangerous than the cigarettes they are replacing. 

41. Ninth Greek letter: IOTA. abc def ghi in Greek.

42. Fletcher Christian, for one: MUTINEER. Where? On 
the 

43. Does as humans do?: ERRS. But forgiving is divine.

44. Sprinkle, perhaps: RAIN. Purple?

47. Skin pic: TAT. Ooo Ooo

48. In addition to that: AS WELL.

49. Czar's decrees: UKASES.  (Historical Terms) (in imperial Russia) an edict of the tsar.

50. Traveled like Huck and Jim: RAFTED.

51. Bolted down: ATE. Rush, rush, rush.

53. Tip for fixing mistakes?: ERASER. So cute, tip of the pencil.

54. Highway behemoth: SEMI. How big would a whole one be?

57. Camera part: IRIS. Designed by using the EYE.

58. Gamut: AMBIT.

62. Daughter in "The Time Traveler's Wife": ALBA. The actress who played the 9 year old version, HAILEY McCANN has already retired. No Jessica here.

65. Spoonbill's bill: NIB.  The word nib comes from a 16th century word meaning the beak of a bird. 

66. Angled formation: VEE. More birds.

67. "__ gotta run!": I'VE. Not yet, I must finish first.

68. Collection agcy.: IRS. The biggest.

69. Peeples seen in People: NIA. This multitalented multi cultural beauty from her mother Elizabeth Peeples of Filipino, German and Spanish descent and her father Robert with Italian, Scottish, Irish and Native American Heritage. 

70. Actor Penn: KAL. Fascinating young man who 

worked as a real-life White House staffer (as Associate Director of the Obama administration's White House Office of Public Engagement) and played one on TV (as Seth in the TV series Designated Survivor).

I do not think I will ever fully adjust to all the new blogger protocols, but hopefully you stayed long enought to have a good time. I also wanted to share more than the grid, as my wife received a shipment of Moon Cakes from Thailand to celebrate the mid-autumn festival. Try one. Thanks Bryant. Lemonade out.  

                    For you Zhouqin and Boomer, come by for some tea.                     Jason and Oo.

 Notes from C.C.:

1) Thanks for the mooncakes, Lemonade! Do they have egg yolks inside? Yes they do; we cut them like a pizza revealing the central surprise.

2) Happy Birthday to Spitzboov's wife Betty, who has met a few regulars on our blog, including Argyle, Sallie (the Crab), Gerry (Grumpy), our Naples readers. See more pictures here. Are you still in contact with them, Spitzboov? 

Here's a picture of Spitzboov and Betty posing with the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the first nuclear sub and the first ship to transit the North Pole.

 

Sunday August 8, 2021 Bryant White

Theme: "Split Decisions" - Each of the 8 animals is cracked by a black square in this grid. See this.

28A. *Wine ingredient?: LONG I. Just the letter i in Wine. And 29A. *Sarah of "Suits": RAFFERTY. Giraffe.

49A. *Slip through the cracks: OOZE. And 50A. *Traffic stoppers: BRAKES. Zebra.

86A. *Take by force: HIJACK. And 88A. *"A Clockwork Orange" antihero: ALEX. Jackal.

104A. *Closely match: PARALLEL.And 109A. *Aconcagua's range: ANDES. Eland.

11D. *Biblical possessive: THY. And 33D. *Put on the books: ENACT. Hyena.

20D. *Gene variant: ALLELE. And 56D. *Ghost: PHANTASM. Elephant.

38D. *Norse mythology battle used as the subtitle of a 2017 "Thor" film: RAGNAROK. And 92. *Place abuzz with activity: APIARY. Okapi.

80D. *Dangerous strain: E COLI. And 116. *It's next to nothing: ONE. Lion.

Reveal:

66A. Product with lots of shapes ... or what each of four black squares effectively is?: ANIMAL CRACKER. This intersects two more theme entries.

Incredible concept, so brilliantly executed. All theme entries are symmetrically placed.

Guys, I'm speechless. I can't imagine the amount of work designing and filling this grid.

Across:

1. Race distance: MILE.

5. Shrink: ANALYST.
 
12. Traditional koa wood product: UKULELE. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.

19. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" author Loos: ANITA. And 38. Diamonds, in slang: ROCKS. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".

21. Unworthy of: BENEATH.

22. Started up again: RESUMED.

23. __ officer: NAVAL. So cool!

Spitzboov

24. Bishopric cousin: CANONRY. I only know canon.

25. Like aftershave after a shave: BRACING.

26. 1994 A.L. batting champ Paul: O'NEILL. Yankees' color commentator.

30. Pigment used in rustproof primer paints: RED LEAD.

32. Blood lines: VEINS.

34. Bananas or nuts: LOONY. Crackers too.

37. Monetary "p": PENCE.

43. Rib-tickler: JOKE.

46. Oval-shaped wind: OCARINA. We also have 116. They're seen among the reeds: OBOISTS.

48. Benefit: AVAIL.

51. Junk bond rating: CCC.

54. Yitzhak's predecessor: GOLDA (Meir)

55. Allegro non __: fast, but not too fast: TROPPO. New to me.

57. Umbrella component: RIB.

58. Problematic to the max: THORNIEST.

60. Gas pump fractions: TENTHS.

61. Fermented honey drink: MEAD. Never had it, you? I don't know why people would want to ferment sweet honey.

64. Mountain nymph: OREAD.

65. World Cup "Way to go!": OLE.

70. Poli-__: SCI.

73. Absinthe flavoring: ANISE.

74. A-line line: SEAM.

75. Bench warmer?: BOTTOM. Ha.

77. Stone set alone: SOLITAIRE.

81. Basic card game: WAR.

83. 1994 Olympic gold medalist skater Baiul: OKSANA.

84. __ donna: PRIMA.

85. Triple __: liqueur: SEC.

89. Keys: ISLES.

90. South American river with a crocodile namesake: ORINOCO. I know this from Enya's "Orinoco Flow".  Looks docile.

92. Clumsy boats: ARKS.

93. Tribal emblem: TOTEM.

94. Minty cocktail: JULEP.

96. Gun: REV UP.

98. Daredevil's stock-in-trade: PERIL.

99. Put out: EMITTED.

114. Conditionally let out: PAROLE.

115. Winning game after game: ON A TEAR.

118. Samurai lacking a master: RONIN.  Japanese for "wanderer" . Same in Chinese. The character on top just means "wondering", the second means "person".

119. Go back over: RETRACE.

120. Superheroes always have them: NEMESES.

121. They come with strings attached: YO-YOS.

122. Fine-tuned: TWEAKED.

123. Krypton, but not Tatooine: ELEMENT. Tatooine is the desert planet in "Star Wars".

124. Canapé spread: PATE.

Down:

1. Bruce Wayne lives in one: MANOR.

2. Pointless: INANE.

3. Stayed: LIVED.

4. Business for many Amazon explorers?: E-TAIL. Fun clue. Thank God for Amazon these days.

5. Agatha Christie's "The __ Murders": ABC.

6. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" actress Patricia: NEAL.

7. Part of A.D.: ANNO.

8. Musician Redbone: LEON.

9. Half the taijitu symbol: YANG. Taiji is how "tai chi" spelled in China. Tu just means "picture".

10. Tried hard: STRIVEN.

12. Polished: URBANE.

13. Grooves made by a saw: KERFS. D-Otto might know this term. Not me.

14. Sky-high gp.: USAF.

15. Time co-founder: LUCE. Henry R. Luce.

16. Mideast leader: EMIR.

17. Fast time: LENT.

18. On pins and needles: EDGY.

27. Vientiane native: LAO.

29. Ocasek of the Cars: RIC. Just had him last Sunday.

31. Means of access: DOOR.

35. Elon University st.: N CAR. 112. "__ quam videri": 35-Down motto: ESSE.

36. Washington city where Olympic skiers Phil and Steve Mahre were born: YAKIMA.

37. Circle ratios: PIs.

39. Egg-shaped: OVOID.

40. Racer Yarborough: CALE.

41. Roasts, in a way: KIDS.

42. Blind segment: SLAT.

43. Brando role in 1978's "Superman": JOREL. Brando played Superman's father.

44. Critical layer: OZONE.

45. Fulfilled: KEPT.

47. Defies authority: REBELS.

49. Ringling Brothers brother: OTTO. No idea. Read more here. He died in 1911.

50. Half a Balkan country: BOSNIA.

52. Prefix with -aholic: CHOC.

53. Magnum stopper: CORK.

59. Boston-based sportswear giant: REEBOK.

62. Hotshot: ACE.

63. Attract: DRAW IN.

67. Goddess with a throne headdress: ISIS.

68. Insignificant: MERE.

69. Key of Schubert's "Trout Quintet": A MAJOR.

70. Cornfield sight: STALK.

71. Sundae alternatives: CONES.

72. Big name in movies?: IMAX.

73. Mann of 'Til Tuesday: AIMEE.

76. Winter Palace resident: TSAR. Winter Palace is now part of the Hermitage Museum.

77. Roasting rod: SPIT. In Xi'an's night market, you'll always find these lamb skewers. Cumin-heavy. Most from Muslim-vendors. Xi'an has a large Muslim population. Hahtoolah visited the Muslim Quarters a while ago. Muslims are called Uyghurs in Xi'an.

78. Rounding phrase: OR SO.

79. Merry-go-round tune: LILT.

82. Derby, perhaps: RACE.

86. Cool: HIP.

87. Anchorage for a galleon: COVE.

91. Mark down, maybe: RE-LABEL.

94. Sent raspberries to?: JEERED. Blowing a raspberry.

95. Text letters often in blue: URL. See our Blog Photos.

97. Diamond pro: UMP.

98. Location: PLACE.

100. Body with arms?: TROOP. Not our body.

101. 1994 rival of Nancy: TONYA.

102. "The Cocktail Party" playwright: ELIOT (T.S.)

103. Fog modifier: DENSE.

104. Red dessert wine: PORT.

105. From square one: ANEW.

106. Appraise: RATE.

107. Cutting-edge brand?: ATRA. Good old clue.

108. Security problem: LEAK.

110. Iditarod terminus: NOME.

111. Carpe __: DIEM.

113. WWII weapon: STEN. According to Wiki: STEN is an acronym, from the names of the weapon's chief designers, Major Reginald V. Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and EN for the Enfield factory.

117. JFK arrival, once: SST.

C.C.

Wednesday February 24, 2021 Bryant White

 Theme: LET'S HANG OUT.  Here is today's theme song from my first trombone idol.  It's only 1 minute 38 seconds.

All the theme elements except the unifier are vertical, and that means something, as we shall soon see.

3 D. Blood-drinking mammal: VAMPIRE BAT.  They are pretty nasty looking, and I couldn't find a suitable pic of one hanging, but it is what they do, so use your imagination.

5 D. High light: CHANDELIER.  A ceiling- mounted light fixture that light hangs, shedding its light from above.

7. D Spelunking sight: STALACTITE. A hanging formation formed by the solidification of a dripping liquid.  I limestone caves these are mineral formations resulting from the drip of dissolved material from the ceiling.  Icicles are also stalactites, though rather more short-lived

9 D. Support for Tarzan: JUNGLE VINE.  Or, for George, though not without its mishaps.  Anyway something for a swinger to hang onto.

51. Loitering ... or how 3-, 5-, 7- and 9-Down might be seen?: HANGING AROUND.  Loitering is a less literal version of hanging.  More literally, It's the only thing these danglers have in common.  

Hi, gang, JazzBumpa here to hang out with you for a while.  There's a puzzle waiting so let's get down to it.

Across:

1. It may break and crash: WAVE.  The ocean variety

5. It has an eye on TV: CBS.  Network logo for the Columbia Broadcasting System.

8. Slightly open: AJAR.

12. Sea that's a victim of irrigation projects: ARAL.  It keeps shrinking.

13. Water park feature: CHUTE.  SLIDE also fits.  Either way, you travel down in or on it.

15. Heavyweight fight?: SUMO.  Japanese wrestlers

16. Capital founded by Pizarro: LIMA.  Peru.

17. They may draft briefs: PARAS.  PARA-legal, I assume.

18. Saloon door's lack: KNOB.  Swings both ways.

 

 19. Civil War topper: KEPI. A cap with a flat top and visor of French origin, typically associated with a military organization.  Read more here.

20. Tattoo joint?: ANKLE.  Flexing body part, not a tattoo parlor.  I guess ankles probably get more tattoos than knees.

It is written

21. Folklore monster: OGRE.

 

 22. Move furtively: SLINK.or SKULK

24. "Breaking Bad" org.: DEA.  The Drug Enforcement Administration is tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S.

25. Verne who created Nemo: JULES.  In the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. 

26. Dodger rival of shortstop Rizzuto: REESE.    Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee" Reese (1918 - 1999) played for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and then L.A. from 1940 to 1958.  He was a 10-time all-star and inducted into the Hall of fame in 1984.  Philip Francis Rizzuto (1917 – 2007) played for the Yankees from 1941 t0 1956.  He entered the Hall of Fame in 1994

28. Bucket of bolts: CRATE. Derisive terms for a decrepit automobile.

30. "Evita" narrator: CHE.  Ernesto "Che" Guevara [1928-1967] was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.

32. Gummy bear ingredient: GELATIN.  Of course.

34. YouTube clip, for short: VID.  Video for long.

37. Prefix with call: ROBO-.  An automated telephone call which delivers a recorded message, typically on behalf of a political party or telemarketing company.  And the reason why I let all call from unrecognized callers go to the answering machine.  They rarely leave a message.

39. Meek: TIMID.  Showing a lack of courage or confidence.

40. Tubes on the table: ZITI.  Extruded pasta tubes, usually with square cut ends.

41. Sonicare rival: ORAL-B.  Makers of electric tooth-brushes.. They are especially useful if you have electric teeth.

43. Get into a stew?: EAT.  Here indicating something you can chow down on.  Odd though, since the stew actually gets into you.

44. One who digs hard rock: MINER.  Ore retriever who might or might not also be a head banger.

45. Wedding reception hiree: CATERER.  One who supplies food and the necessary accessories.

47. Pressing: EXIGENT. Demanding and immediate.  I had to look it up.

49. Catch a bug, say: AIL.  Have an illness.  I have a vaccine appointment on Saturday.

50. Energy unit: ERG.  A tiny unit.  One of my professors defined this as the amount of energy it takes for one fly to do one push-up

58. Magic prop: WAND.  A long, thin stick, or rod.

59. Tech company that became a verb: XEROX.  A brand name for copying machines that morphed into a verb for making copies.

60. Source: ROOT.  That from which something comes.

62. Harper's Bazaar designer: ERTE.  Roman Petrovich Tyrtov [1892-1990] had an illustrious career that included designing costumes and stage sets.  Between 1915 and 1937, Erté designed over 200 covers for Harper's Bazaar, and his illustrations would also appear in such publications as Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and Vogue.

63. Absurd: INANE.  Silly

64. Swear to be true: AVOW.  

65. Tap serving: BEER.  Or ALES.  Good either way 

66. California's Point __ National Seashore: REYES.  A peninsula north-west of the Golden Gate with a vast expanse of protected coastline in Northern California’s Marin County with both beaches and a rocky headland.

67. Cook Islands export: TARO.  Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms.

Down:

1. Constitutional events: WALKS.  Going out for a walk, especially to get fresh air and exercise, often referred to the activity as "taking a constitutional walk." The word "constitutional" refers to one's constitution or physical makeup, so a constitutional walk was considered beneficial to one's overall wellbeing. (Or, as some would prefer to call it, "wellness.") The phrase is more common in British literature than in American letters. Source.

 2. Disney mermaid: ARIEL.  

 

 4. "Seinfeld" regular: ELAINE.

 

 6. Delta of "Designing Women": BURKE.

8. Try to date: ASK OUT.

10. Love, to Luigi: AMORE.  Literal, in Italian.

11. Judicial attire: ROBES.  Makes them look judicial, I suppose.

13. One working on bks.: CPA.  A Certified Public Accountant works on financial records.

14. Linguistic suffix: -ESE.  

23. It may be tapped: KEG.   For BEER or ale.

25. Fifth of 12, alphabetically: Abbr.: JAN.  When arranged this way, April,  August, December and February precede January.  Not sure why anyone would do this.

27. Place for shooting stars?: SET.  With movie cameras.

29. Free (of): RID.  out, out, damned spot.

30. Shoe that's full of holes: CROC. Confuse them with gaiters at your peril.

31. Dance that may involve a chair: HORA.  Though not always, it seems.

 

 

33. Reddit Q&A session: AMA.  Ask Me Anything.

35. Cal.-to-Fla. highway: I-TEN.  It spans 2460 miles from Santa Monica, CA to Jacksonville, FL

36. Gossip: DIRT.  I can dig it.

38. Poisonous flowering shrub: OLEANDER.

40. Terraced structure of ancient Mesopotamia: ZIGGURAT.  A terraced structure of successively receding levels,

42. Naval lockup: BRIG.  Shipboard jail.

44. Surrealist Joan: MIRO.   Joan Miró Ferra [1893 - 1983]  was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist.

 

46. Magical potion: ELIXIR.

 

 48. Persian king: XERXES.  [c. 518 – August 465 BCE,] commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. 

51. "__ Trigger": Bugs Bunny cartoon: HARE.  Not sure why I can't come up with the full cartoon. Here are the beginning and end.

 

 52. Stud fee, maybe: ANTE.  Stud poker, not what you're thinking.

53. Hawaiian goose: NENE.   Found only in Hawaii and crosswords.

From Wikipedia

54. Anatomy book author Henry: GRAY.  Gray's Anatomy is a textbook of human anatomy written by Gray and illustrated by Henry Vandyke Carter.  It was first published in 1858.

55. Five-star: A-ONE.  First rate.

56. Smoked salmon: NOVA.  The name for this salmon comes from its origin, in Nova Scotia, Canada, where salmon is cured and then cold smoked. The color is a much deeper pink, almost a burnt orange, compared to other cured salmon. The fish flavor is also a bit more intense than lox or gravlax.

57. Cuckoo clock feature: DOOR.  Whence commeth the bird.

58. Baseball glove part: WEB.

61. Vegas snake eyes: TWO.  A pair of one-spot dice.

Thanks for hanging out today, friends.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Cool regards!

JzB

Thursday, January 21 2021, Bryant White

Why do I always get the fishy puzzles?  And today's is shell fishy to be exact.  Thank you Bryant White for a very clever puzzle with lots of sparkly grist on which to hang internet bling.  The puzzle has two cryptic reveals, pointing to a graphic that only finally emerges in the circles near the very bottom of the grid.

Here are the reveals:

34A. Red variety of this puzzle's circles: MANHATTAN.  RED circles?  My newspaper is B&W, How can this be. Wait and see ...

6D. White variety of this puzzle's circles: NEW ENGLAND.  They were BLACK actually - I can't even HIGHLIGHT WHITE. But it's getting warmer ... 

 3D. With 9-Down, crispy go-with for this puzzle's circles: SALTINE. Or the related OYSTER CRACKERS for us hypertensives.  Fishier still ...

 9D. See 3-Down: CRACKER.  Lots of synonyms for this: YEGG, HACKER, and some that are not so PC.

Here's the grid:

Following the highlighted circles starting in 36A from left to right and down the rows below, a BOWL emerges, which you can use for a serving of either MANHATTAN or NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER.  Complete with SALTINE CRACKERS at 3D and 9D respectively.  Notice that Bryant tosses in some COD at 9A and AHI tuna at 65A.  Throw these in the bowl and you've got the makings of a SEAFOOD CHOWDER (see C.C.'s Blog Recipes)

Here are the rest of the clues.

Across:

1. MS-__: DOS.  Made Bill Gates a billionaire.  His left hand knew what his right hand was doing when, while IBM was shopping for an OS for their new PERSONAL COMPUTER, Gates was surreptitiously shopping the rights to 86-DOS, an early version of MS-DOS written by Seattle programmer Tim Paterson.  Gates got rich, and Paterson got a footnote in software history.

4. He's Santa in "Elf": ASNER.  Before playing global altruist SAINT NICK, Ed Asner played LOU GRANT, a hard-bitten newspaper man.

9. Fish-and-chips fish: COD.  ENGLISH carry-out, with FRENCH fries not potato chips.  Do you smell something fishy?

12. Andean stew tubers: OCAS.  Speaking of POTATOES, OCAS are their up and up competition.

14. Geoffrey of fashion: BEENE.

15. "You have a point": TRUE. The one at the end of the answer.

16. Hanukkah moolah: GELT.  Money, gold-foil clad chocolate actually, given as presents during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. It is typically given to children and sometimes teachers, often in conjunction with the game of Dreidel.

17. Cut with sharp teeth: SAW UP.  A tree must be SAWN DOWN before it is can be SAWN UP.  I wonder what Sir Isaac would have thought of that?

18. Greasy spoon sign: EATS.

19. Board game endings: MATES.   Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!  He lives to play another day!

21. Dudes: MEN.  They don't make very good RANCHERS though.

22. Sonora flora: CACTI.  Prickly subject.

23. Jungian inner self: ANIMA.  Well ... half of the inner self.  Also a Latin noun for BREATH or SOUL.

24. Anti-apartheid org.: ANC.  Founded by Nelson Mandela, a truly remarkable human being.

25. Actor Werner of "Fahrenheit 451": OSKAR.  The film, based on the SF novel by Ray Bradbury, was a vehicle not only for Werner, but for Julie Christie as well.  Werner was also in one of my all time favorite movies, Jules and Jim in1962.  Fahrenheit 451(the ignition temperature of paper),  takes us to a post-literate society in the future where "firefighters" burn books instead of putting out fires.  In 2018 HBO did a new adaptation of the novel , and it seems to have been roundly panned.

26. Element #50: TIN.  The integer indicates "Atomic Number"; TIN is the only 3 letter element name.

27. More squalid: MANGIER.

30. Scrape (out): EKE.

31. Crackerjack: ACE.  A TOY in every box!

32. Restricted road area: BUS LANE.  HOV would fit too, but doesn't perp.

33. High-__ image: RES.  Cyber jargon for the PIXEL DENSITY ("Picture Elements") of an image.

36. Larry __, former Phillies All-Star shortstop who was 2001 N.L. Manager of the Year: BOWA.   Larry has not yet made the trip to Cooperstown.  A CSO to any FANS who might want to hazard a guess on his prospects?

39. Meat-eating aids: TINES.  They put the TEETH in FORKS.

40. River to the Baltic: ODER.   The "River of Peace" marking the border between Poland and Germany, and the only 4 letter river flowing into the Baltic.

44. "Invisible Cities" author Calvino: ITALO.  Marco Polo makes them visible in the mind's eye of Emperor Kublai Khan.

46. Copper orgs.?: PDS.  Police Departments.

47. Happy, but not cheerful or upbeat?: DWARF.

48. Spoonful, say: DOLLOP.

50. Was in the cards: LOOMED.  A tangled NET unfolds ...

51. Group with rackets: MAFIA.  No, not this one ..

 53. Long __: JOHNS.  It's that time of year.  Tell me about it Boomer!

54. Slightly cracked: AJAR.  When a door is not a door it's ...

56. Glass-half-empty sort: CYNIC.  After all of these centuries Diogenes is still looking for an honest man.  As I am only a half-cynic, I still hope he finds one.

58. Computer giant: DELL.  IBM is too short.  ACER didn't perp. Which leaves MICHAEL S. DELL, who revolutionized the PC computer industry in 1984 by allowing customers to buy directly from the manufacturer at considerable cost savings.  He came by his fortune honestly, except for a little tiff with the SEC:  see PENALTY in the Wiki link.

61. "Amen!": WORD.  So be it.

62. Memorable mission: ALAMO.  This is not a big place.  How the Texans held the Mexicans at bay for so long is miraculous.  I have visited San Antonio many times and it's my favorite city in Texas.  So much to see and do there and in the surrounding country side.

63. Director Kazan: ELIA.  Makes frequent appearances in crossword puzzles.  A real cinema giant.

64. "I'm up for it!": LETS.  Let's not and say we did.

65. Sashimi selection: AHI.  My favorite way to eat this is in a dish called TEKKADON.  Yummy!

66. Initial request for an answer?: RSVP.  We'll be taking your comments immediately after this review.

Down:

1. Church doctrines: DOGMATA.  Plural of DOGMA. 

2. Airline on "Lost": OCEANIC.

4. Washboard __: ABS.  The hunks go for 6-pack ABS.  That's nothin' - I've got at least a 12-pack!

5. Sailor's skill: SEAMANSHIP.  Requires strength, courage, a knowledge of how to keep the ship ship-shape, and an in-depth knowledge of the sea.  On the old sailing ships sailors were masters of rope work and specialty knots.  The once popular craft of MACRAMÉ came down from sailors.

7. Doesn't mumble: ENUNCIATES.  Dw says I mumble.  I guess I need to E-NUN-CI-ATE more.

8. Press in a gym, say: REP.  What you do to get 6-pack ABS.  Or maybe someone who is trying to sell you a gym membership.


10. Scene not meant to be seen: OUTTAKE.  "Left on the cutting room floor."  Some of our constructors complain about this too.  Flip the words and you can also get 9A that way.

11. Wish list items, e.g.: DESIRES.  Hmm.  I don't see that in MASLOW's Hierarchy ...

13. Stern's opposite: STEM.  Also "Science Technology English and Math".  Did I get that right?  Apologies to Dash T!

15. They're often in hot water: TEAS.  Don't get me started on this.  It's not HOT water, it's BOILING water!  I've yet to be served a proper cup of tea in the USA.  I take that back.  The old Gypsy's Tea Room in Westminster, MD knew how to do it.

20. Bossa nova ancestor: SAMBA.  Literally Portuguese for "new trend" or "new wave" Someday I'm going to get my TAXONOMY of Latin dances down pat.  Hard to do though when you've got two left feet.

22. Chick of jazz: COREA.  While Corea is primarily thought of as a jazz pianist, like Keith Jarrett he is a pianistic POLYMATH (the GERSHWIN bit is in the second half):

28. Family member: AUNT.

29. Tolkien's Quickbeam et al.: ENTS.  For my money the most endearing creatures in MIDDLE EARTH  But while LOTR takes place in our minds, this takes place on EARTH.

34. Adaptable ducks: MALLARDS.  Mallards are the most adaptable of ducks, perhaps due to their escape and release from captivity, and have moved into habitats that once belonged to other duck species. They aren’t picky about nesting locations and often benefit from a close proximity to people.

35. "I get it now": NO WONDER.  A major problem of our time.

36. Two diamonds, possibly: BID.  Bridge?  Hands up from all you Bridge players.  I was introduced to it too late in life.

37. Ioway relative: OTO.  The state of IOWA derives its name from the former tribe.  The OTOE are from the same language group (Chiwere: Jiwére).  They appear often in crosswords, as their name is very GLUEY.

38. Store whose first three letters come from its founder's name: WALMART.

41. Ones "in distress": DAMSELS.  Not all of them are in distress. If they are young, unmarried, attractive DAMES, they are in high-demand in the novels of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters.  But beware the ENTAIL!

42. Before, before: ERE.

43. "Mayberry __": '60s sitcom: RFD.  I watched the old "Andy Griffith" show, but don't think I caught this one.

45. Body blow reaction: OOF.

47. Simpson outburst: DOH.

49. 12-point type: PICA.

50. El Pollo __: chain in the U.S. and Mexico: LOCO.  I love TEX-MEX, but there are no "El Pollo Loco" restaurants in Maryland that I know of.  So they specialize in crazy chickens?  A CSO to Cornerites in the SW who would weigh in on this chain.  My grandchildren have a cat they call "POCO LOCO" (more than a little I think).  When we visited last he surprised me when he jumped into the front seat of the car on our arrival.  I think it was the CRAB DIP. 

52. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" heroine: AYLA.  I Wiki-ed the plot summary of this book and it confused me.  In it AYLA, a Cro-magnon has a child (DURC) by BROUD, a Neanderthal.  The ability to produce FERTILE offspring is a defining characteristic of a SPECIES.  Another CSO to anyone who has read this or any of the 5 SEQUELS.  Does DURC ever have any children?  I.e. does AYLA ever become a GRANDMA?

53. Hendrix at Woodstock: JIMI.  One of the greatest guitarists of our time (Andre Segovia, Julian Bream, and Eric Clapton excepted of course).  Here he is playing his "Foxy Lady" at Maui in 1970 (see 59D for the sequel called "Foxy Elf"):

54. Leather-work tool: AWL.  A standard blade on a Swiss Army Knife.

55. Film noir coffee: JOE.  In NORDIC noir it gets ICED.

57. "I'll pass": NAH.  Think I'll pass on this one.

59. Tyler who played Arwen in the "Lord of the Rings" films: LIV.  This puzzle is book-ended by ELVES at the beginning and end, with a DWARF in the MIDDLE.  We're not in Kansas anymore FRODO!

60. Catcher behind the plate?: LAP.  Shouldn't that be BELOW the plate?

 waseeley

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy 73rd birthday to sweet Madame DeFarge (Janice), who's always been so kind and attentive to regulars on the blog.

 

 

2) As JD mentioned last night, our blog turns 13 today! I'm so grateful to our my team members. Thanks for your hard work week after week.