Monday April 4, 2022 Chris Sablich

Theme: Vowel Movement - A, E, I, O, U between B & LL.

17. Rolling friction-reducing part: BALL BEARING.

24. Type of pants with a flared leg: BELL BOTTOM.

38. "The Science Guy": BILL NYE.

52. Cotton-picking pest: BOLL WEEVIL.

63. Stubborn but fun-loving dog breed: BULL TERRIER.

Boomer here.  

Bowling Ball, Ring the Bell, Pay your Bill, Boll and Branch Quilt, and it's all Bulloney.  Well, the baseball season is nearly upon us, and that is no BULL. Twins open Thursday at home against Seattle Mariners. High temperature on that day in Minnesota is predicted at 45 degrees.  Never fear, at least it is above zero.

Across:

1. Japanese cartoon art: ANIME.

6. Search high and low: SCOUR.  Twins SCOURed the list and picked up Carlos Correa for a mere $135, 000, 000!

 

11. Bar with beers: PUB.  Is there a BAR that does not have beer?? Also 61. 11-Across drink: ALE.  I like Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

14. Like kings and queens: REGAL. Also in a deck of Cards.  Not St. Louis

15. Abode: HOUSE.  Home building has settled down a bit.  Prices are up though.

16. Tina Turner's onetime partner: IKE. 42. WWII command for 16-Across: ETO. While, IKE should have a different clue then. Our 34th President. One of the first without hair.

19. After taxes: NET.  Tennis Anyone ??

20. Like a properly sized carry-on bag: STOWABLE. Carry on luggage is a pain on a plane.

21. Regret: RUE. McClanahan - one of the "Golden Girls".

23. Condo management gp.: HOA.  We  have an HOA for our Town home management.

29. Flag maker Betsy: ROSS.

31. Southern California Air Force base: EDWARDS.

32. Indy competitor: RACER.  Coming soon to Indianapolis Speedway. May 29 I think.

35. Fancy neckwear: BOA.  Constrictor.

36. Pay attention to: HEED.  Listen up!!

37. Punk rock offshoot: EMO.

43. Lowers, as lights: DIMS.  I hate it when an approaching vehicle is rude.

45. Grabbed a chair: SAT. 

46. Juárez coins: PESOS.  Twenty of them equals $1.00.

48. Still on one's plate: UNEATEN. My appetite has been squeezed.  Lost a bit of weight also.

50. Shaft of light: BEAM.

54. Place to crash: PAD.  Against a handicap parking sign?

57. Simpson trial judge Lance: ITO.  O.J. was a famous running back.  Only a couple of months older than I.

58. Lashed out at: ASSAILED.

66. "__ Misérables": LES.

67. Prefix with face or lace: INTER.

68. Visibly sad, say: TEARY.  Salty eyes.

69. Orchestra space: PIT.

70. Trunk of the body: TORSO.

71. Twisty turns: ESSES.  Not at Indianapolis Speedway.

Down:

1. Some Wall St. traders: ARBS.  Athlete Running Backs ??

2. Opposite of o'er: NEATH.  The old oak tree.

3. Inuit home: IGLOO.  Where the Twins pitchers will warm up on Opening Day.

4. Online viruses and such: MALWARE.

5. Idris of "The Wire": ELBA.

6. Oil-bearing rocks: SHALES.  Price of oil keeps going up.  Rocks won't fit in my gas tank.

7. WordPerfect producer: COREL.

8. Apt rhyme for sí: OUI.  I took French in College.  It's the only word I remember.

9. Admiral's org.: USN.  I believe this was Spitzboov.  

10. Sprout again: REGROW.  Still waiting for 70 + degrees to start fooling around with our garden.

11. Forest cone droppers: PINE TREES.  The nice thing about these is there are no leaves to rake in the fall.

12. Luau strings: UKE.  I'll bet it's warmer in Hawaii.

13. Wager: BET.  Minnesota is allowing sports betting in casinos now.  I like craps.  Never bet sports.

18. Goes out, as the tide: EBBS.

22. Salt Lake state: UTAH.  Only three states of 4 letters starting with a vowel.  Iowa and Ohio.

25. Boxer Spinks: LEON.

26. Person's yearly celebration, for short: B DAY.  As you get older, "Celebration" is questionable. 

27. "__ Joy": component of Beethoven's Ninth: ODE TO.  Billie Joe.  The 3rd of June.

28. Windows predecessor: MSDOS.

30. Planet: ORB.

32. Provide new audio for: RE-DUB.

33. Type of acid in proteins: AMINO.

34. Most attractive: COMELIEST.

35. Sandwich initials: BLT.  Last Friday I bought some stuff for sandwiches. 

39. "Ah, of course": I SEE. Said the blind man, but he really didn't

40. Daily Planet colleague of Kent and Olsen: LANE. 

41. MPG-testing org.: EPA.  I never test, but the Santa Fe is pretty economical.

44. Rock __: ice melter: SALT.  Minnesota used tons of this in the four preceding months.

47. Roman and British realms: EMPIRES.  Once it struck back !

49. Small-time: TWO BIT.  I collected the statehood quarters for awhile.

50. Unpretentious restaurant: BISTRO.

51. In addition: ELSE.  What ELSE ??

53. Lowlands: VALES.

55. Wanted poster word: ALIAS.  Smith and Jones.

56. Plow pioneer: DEERE.  Nothing runs like this.

59. "Laugh-In" regular Johnson: ARTE.  They do not have shows like "Laugh in" anymore.

60. Prohibitionists: DRYS.

61. Austrian peak: ALP.

62. Gift with an aloha: LEI.

64. Game with Skip and Draw Two cards: UNO.  I think everyone owns this game.  It's in the closet.

65. Paper size: Abbr.: LTR.

Boomer

Thursday, December 16, 2021, Chris Sablich

 

Good morning, cruciverbalists.  This marine mammal is still up in the mountains so today's recap will, again, be a bit on the brief side.  A fortnight ago the recap was almost exclusively verbiage. This time, however, we'll lean more heavily on the adage that "a single picture is worth a thousand words." 

Today's puzzle setter is Chris Sablich (who previously had puzzles recapped by yours truly on 09 September and 26 August of this year).  This morning he and Daffy are not leaving much to our imagination.  Let's start with the reveal:

62 Across: 1996 Demi Moore film ... and a hint to how four puzzle answers were created: STRIPTEASE.

At four places within the grid Chris has dropped the letter T from a two-word expression and thereby morphed it into a different two-word expression with a different meaning.  Strip Tees.

17 Across:  Polished orator?: ABLE TALKER.  Formerly, Table Talker.  Table talk is defined as casual conversation around, you guessed it, a table.

22 Across:  Indication that the coffee is ready?: URN SIGNAL.  Formerly, Turn Signal

38 Across:  Regret the choice of wall paint color?: RUE BLUE.  Formerly, True Blue

50 Across: Carol Burnett, at the end of an episode?: EAR JERKER.  Formerly, Tear Jerker.  Carol Burnett tugged her ear at the end of each show as a message to her grandmother that Carol was doing well and that she loved her grandmother.

. . . and now for the rest of the story . . .

Across:

1. First name in old horror films: BELA.

5. They're earned at U's: DEGS.  DEGreeS.  When the topic was raised last time about constructors taking the first three letters of any word to use for an answer it was not meant to be a road map.

9. Serious wound: GASH.  Let's skip this graphic.

13. Suit, so to speak: EXEC.  A Suit, in this case is a slang, and somewhat derogatory, term for a business EXECutive.

14. Artist Matisse: HENRI.

15. Start to freeze?: ANTI.

16. __ fail: EPIC.  A modern bit of slang.

19. Like C's, in some cases: SO SO.  Are we grading on the curve?

20. One way to go to a party: STAG.

The Dave Clark Five - 1965 - Over and Over

21. Steak __: DIANE  A preparation usually involving Cognac and mushrooms.

25.  One in a large octet.  PLANET  Formerly a large nonet.

28. Southernmost of the Southeast's Sea Islands: AMELIA.

32. Main line: AORTA.

33. Palindromic title: MA'AM.

36. Skiff movers: OARS.  A skiff is a small, usually flat-bottomed, rowboat.

37. Corp. money manager: CFO.  Chief Financial Officer

41. Is, once: WAS.  The past tense of is is was.

42. "__ Shanter": Burns poem: TAM O.

44. Dance movement: STEP.

45. Bridge along the Arno: PONTE.  Italian for bridge.

47. Golf lesson topic: STANCE.

49. Becomes aware of: SENSES.

54. Like some online purchases: IN APP.

57. Small case: ETUI.  Crosswordese,

58. Field unit: ACRE.

64. Post: MAIL.  As in The Box Tops' "My baby posted me a letter."

65. Cry of success: I WIN.

66. Sign of early spring: ARIES.  Zodiac.

67. Senior __: PROM.  Moment would not fit.

68. Errors, say: STAT.  A baseball reference.  Short for Statistic.  R  H  E  Runs, Hits, Errors

69. PC connections: DSLS.  Digital Subscriber LineS.  

70. Gels: SETS.

Down:

1. Half a sex-ed metaphor, with "the": BEES.

2. Trade show: EXPO.

3. Floral necklaces: LEIS.

4. Explanation: ACCOUNT.

5. Financial statement items: DEBTS.  Usually, Assets and Liabilities of which Debts is a subset.

6. China's Zhou __: ENLAI.

7. System of shorthand: GREGG.

8. Warm the bench: SIT.  A sports reference.  Not in the game.

9. Probe that visited Jupiter: GALILEO.  Named for a famous Pisan (but not Fibonacci).

10. "She's a Lady" songwriter: ANKA.

11. British WWII gun: STEN.

12. Put on: HIRE.  You're putting me on, right?

14. "Who __?!": "Join the club!": HASN'T.

18. NBA commissioner Silver: ADAM.

23. Bring up: REAR.  Not "bring up the rear".

24. First killer whale to perform with a human: NAMU.

25. Accords: PACTS.

26. For dieters, in ads: LO FAT.  Ad-speak for Low Fat.

27. Coffee asset: AROMA.

29. They may be manicured: LAWNS.

30. Steaming: IRATE.

31. Beasts of burden: ASSES.

33. Ran into: MET.

34. Half a sawbuck: ABE.  A sawbuck is a ten-dollar bill.

35. Zugspitze, e.g.: ALP.  Germany's highest point.

39. Manipulative sort: USER.

40. Olympics fencing event: EPEE.

43. Ice cream purchase: ONE PINT.

46. Parts of cloverleafs: ON RAMPS.

48. Yokum cartoonist: CAPP.

49. Irving Berlin's "Blue __": SKIES.

51. Signs of crowd displeasure: JEERS.

52. Online biz: ETAIL.  An E word, again.

53. Deceptions: RUSES.

54. Goddess usually depicted holding an ankh: ISIS.

55. Food package amt.: NT WT.  NeT WeighT

56. Bizet's "Habanera," e.g.: ARIA.

The Royal Opera

59. Diligence: CARE.

60. Comedy club hit: RIOT.

61. Stately trees: ELMS.

63. Bit: TAD.

And now, with a special "Thank you" to Shaun The Sheep for his appearances today . . . .

__________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Chris Sablich

Same Word, Different Meaning.  As we wind down the baseball season (Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled for October 26), let's take a look at some of the sport's figures.

20. Football-shaped gem: MARQUISE DIAMOND.

Baseball Diamond

Marquise Diamond

28. Get revenge: EVEN A SCORE.

And the Red Sox Win!

48. Retriever retriever, perhaps: DOG CATCHER.

Carlton Fisk, former Red Sox Catcher

Here's the Unifier:

54. Estimates, and what the last parts of 20-, 28- and 48-Across are, in different ways: BALLPARK FIGURES.

2021 Red Sox figures

As you read today's commentary, I will be somewhere between New Jersey and the D.C., area as I make my trek back home after spending the past 2 months in New England.  Thus, this will be a somewhat abbreivated commentary.

Across:
1. Unit of parsley: SPRIG.

6. Gridiron gear: PADS.

10. Souvenir of a ticket: STUB.  Can it really be 25 years ago that I went to this Stones concert?

14. 2000s first lady Bush: LAURA.  Laura Bush (née Laura Lane Welsh; b. Nov. 4, 1946) married George W. Bush (b. July 6, 1946) in 1977.

15. Sheltered, at sea: ALEE.

16. Overblown publicity: HYPE.

17. Perpendicular to the keel: ABEAM.

18. Travel aimlessly: ROAM.

19. Monopoly token replaced by a cat: IRON.  I rather liked the Iron.

23. "The Addams Family" cousin: ITT.  A new Addams Family movie is coming out in October.

24. Switch positions: ONs.

25. Winter sports footwear: SKIS.

35. Author Rand: AYN.  Ayn Rand (née Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; Feb. 2, 1905 ~ Mar. 6, 1982) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.  She moved to the United States in the 1920s.  Her best known works are The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

36. "__ the Falling Snow": Enya song: AMID.

37. Gas up: REFUEL.  I will have may refueling stops on my drive from New England to Louisiana.

38. Train making all the stops: LOCAL.

40. Assist: AID.

42. Column-bottom number: TOTAL.

43. Right away: AT ONCE.

45. Danson and Nugent: TEDs.  Ted Danson (né Edward Bridge Danson, III; b. Dec. 29, 1947) is a former model and actor.  Ted Nugent (né Theodore Anthony Nugent; b. Dec. 13, 1948) is a musician.

47. Hudson Riv. engineering school: RPI.  As in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Hi, Spitzboov!

50. Own (up): 'FESS.

51. Vietnamese soup: PHO.

52. Anti-discrimination initials: EEO.  As in the Equal Employment Opportunity.

63. Side squared, for a square: AREA.

64. Zippo: NONE.

65. By oneself: ALONE.

66. Thailand, once: SIAM.

67. Dealing with the issue: ON IT.

68. Pasta wheat: DURUM.  Everything you wanted to know about Durum, but didn't know to ask.

69. Angel's instrument: HARP.

70. After normal hours: LATE.

71. "Austin Powers" genre: SPY-FI.  A pun on Sci-Fi.

Down:

1. Grand __: SLAM.

2. Old sunscreen ingredient: PABA.  Para-Aminobenzoic Acid (PABA) is not used so much in sunscreen products, in part because it is a strong sensitizing agent and can cause allergic dermatitis.  

3. Remorseful one: RUER.  You'll rue the day ...

4. Baghdad natives: IRAQIs.

5. Entire spectrum: GAMUT.

6. What birdies barely beat: PARs.  A golfing reference.

7. Skin soother: ALOE.  A crossword staple.

8. Perfectly accurate: DEAD ON.

9. Business training session: SEMINAR.

10. Leveling wedge: SHIM.  This word is becoming a crossword staple.

11. Beginner: TYRO.  Can you use this word in a sentence?

12. Stratford-__-Avon: UPON.  This city is best known for being the birthplace of Willie the Shakes.  (Hi, OMK!)

13. Curve in the road: BEND.

21. Checkout counter unit: ITEM.

22. Portfolio listings: ASSETS.

25. Dish with greens: SALAD.  My favorite salads are Caesars.

26. Former capital of Japan: KYOTO.  The city of Kyoto is known for its Buddhist temples, Shinto Shrines and beautiful gardens.

27. Undercover, informally: INCOG.

29. By way of: VIA.

30. Archie's spouse: EDITH.  A reference to All In the Family. 

31. Corp. money manager: CFO.  As in the Chief Financial Officer.

32. Bizarre: OUTRÉ.  The word comes to us from the French

33. Brings in at harvest time: REAPS.

34. Clothing designer Perry: ELLIS.  Perry Ellis (né Perry Edwin Ellis; Mar. 3, 1940 ~ May 30, 1986) was a fashion designer.

36. Li'l Abner creator: AL CAPP. Al Capp (né Alfred Gerald Caplin; Sept. 28, 1909 ~ Nov. 5, 1979) created Li'l Abner in 1934.

39. Mandela's org.: ANC.  As in the African National Congress.

41. Low grade: DEE.  Not a good grade.

44. Fuel additive: ETHANOL.

46. Eins plus zwei: DREI.  Today's German lesson: 1 + 2 = 3.

49. Popular Mexican beer: CORONA.  Not to be confused with the Corona Virus.

50. Make a mess of: FOUL UP.

53. "Yipes!": EGADS!

54. Wild party: BASH.

55. Opera highlight: ARIA.  Aria from Carmen.

56. Shakespeare's mad king: LEAR.

57. Genie's abode: LAMP.

58. Work with needles: KNIT.  A CSO to some of our regulars.

59. Big bash: FÊTE.

60. Golfer McIlroy: RORY.  Rory McIlroy (b. May 4, 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland.

61. Sufficient, in texts: ENUF.

62. Game before the finals: SEMI.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Notes from C.C.:

1) Safe travels, Hahtoolah!

2) Please send your prayers and positive thoughts to Agnes (Irish Miss), who was just released from hospital yesterday. She continues to feel weak and worn out from various tests. Feel better soon, Agnes our sunshine!

 

 

Eileen (Agnes's sister) and Agnes