Friday, February 28, 2014, Daniel Landman

Theme: Pat, give me a G, no better make that a double! (an homage to our own Garlic Gal).

The letters "GG" are inserted into descriptions or expressions to create a new phrase clued wackily. My second offering from this rabbinical student living in Jerusalem, the first being a January Friday with PE removed from phrases. So we take away, we add, I wonder what is next. I like most of the theme, but not crazy about the middle grid-spanner for reasons listed below. The rest did not seem like a Friday at all with the plethora of 3,4 and 5 letter fill. with the longest non-theme fill 6 letters. Well into the fray, let's see where we come out.

18A. Non-magical "Harry Potter" animal? : MUGGLE DEER. (11). If you somehow missed the entire Harry Potter craze, Muggles are what the magical ones call humans. Mule Deer have big ears and live out west in the US.

23A. Camembert left out in the sun too long? : SAGGY CHEESE. (11). Supposedly the baring of the teeth which comes from enunciating 'Cheese' is where the expression started. Camembert like brie, often sags.

37A. Woman's enticing movements? : FEMININE WIGGLES.(15) A grid spanner, and the odd man out in two ways, as it is the only one with GG added to the second word, and the meaning of the phrase does not change much as wiggling is certainly one of the womanly ways of the world.

52A. Miracle in the mire? : BOGGY WONDER.(11). Boy wonder is used to describe any prodigy, from Mozart to David Steinberg; growing up in New England we all know BOGGS. I like the alliterative clue.

58A. Periodical dedicated to stylish boots? : UGGS WEEKLY. Are UGGS considered stylish, I always thought they were so named because they were ugly but comfortable? They advertise in US Weekly? Weakly?

and a bonus hint...

63A. Best Picture of 1958, and a hint to this puzzle's theme : GIGI. Love Maurice Chevalier, and I have always taken this advice to heart. LISTEN.(1:04).

Across:

1. "Poetic" or "Prose" mythological work : EDDA. No Icelandic hint on Friday.

5. Movie-rating org. : MPAA. Motion Picture Association of America

9. R&B singer known for popularizing Auto-Tune : T PAIN. Not only had I not heard of this artist, I had no clue there was such a device infecting modern music. I certainly was interested by the effects on Cher's Believe but I had no clue, even though I have heard the sound again. Jzb, your thought?  I really enjoy when a constructor teaches me something I never knew, and I feel rather foolish for missing the whole controversy. LINK.

14. Device for Marner : LOOM. Well George Eliot's Silas Marner will always stick in my mind if only because as a youngster  I was fascinated by George being a woman. The literary device of the LOOM can be discussed, but her contribution to Victorian literature in this and others like Middlemarch is only a question only of degree.

15. Orderer's reference : MENU. Orderer, what an awkward sounding word.

16. "In what way?" : HOW SO.

17. Not to mention : ALSO.

20. Shill : PLANT. The audience member placed there to fool the others into thinking they are having a good time, or need to spend money.

22. Serengeti predators : LIONS. Semi clecho, 25D. Serengeti scavenger : HYENA. Finally, 60D. Serengeti prey : GNU. Sums up the region and life.

26. Whammy : HEX. marks the spot? In Liverpool?

29. Cockney location word : ERE. We are not there, we are 'ere.

30. Bean opening? : SOY.

31. Constant flow : STREAM. Are we too early for prostate humor?

33. Annoy : MOLEST. I had a very hard time sussing this, as lots of people have annoyed me....

36. Inventing middle name : ALVA. Mr. Edison to you.

42. Gulf of __ : ADEN.

43. Stands : ARISES.

44. The Aztecs' Tonatiuh, for one : SUN GOD. Not up on my Aztec deities, but this filled easily.

47. Bert Bobbsey's twin : NAN.

48. Old sports org. with a red, white and blue ball : ABA. American Basketball Association. Home of the incomparable Dr. J., Julius Erving who played at UMass when I was in undergrad and graduate school in UConn. What a player, and the NBA owes the three point shot, slam dunk contest and other changes to the ABA. WATCH. (5:07).

 51. Germaphobia may be a symptom of it, for short : OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

56. British bishop's headdress : MITRE. A word every crossword solver should know.

57. Target : AIM AT.

64. Japanese comics : MANGA. My kids were very into MANGA and ANIME, I will ask YR to explain more about how they fit in Japanese culture.

65. Kitchenware brand : EKCO. I heard that before.

66. First name in case fiction : ERLE. Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason.

67. Rebuff : SPURN.

68. Lunkhead : DODO. A shout-out to our own who derives her nickname from her name not a reminder of the extinct bird which was believed to be not very intelligent.

69. One may make you uncomfortable : LEER. Or it might make you pretty excited...

Down:

1. Go by : ELAPSE. Where does the time go, we are on the downs already.

2. Almighty __ : DOLLAR. Ah yes, the American Dream.

3. How much to take : DOSAGE. Well after last Sunday, it is nice to see AGE make a comeback.

4. First __ equals : AMONG. An odd sounding phrase from the LATIN to describe the senior member of a group of peers.

5. "Dee-lish!" : MMM. Good.

6. Little, in Lille : PEU. Straight French, an accessible one for those who parle un peu.

7. Position, as a pool cue : ANGLE.

8. Bellow title hero March : AUGIE. This was the first of his three National Book Awards; I have read his work and enjoyed them, not equally, but certainly Herzog and Mr. Sammler's Planet have stuck with me. He also won a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize. However my favorite AUGIE (0:20) who would fit because of the 2 G's.

9. Place to browse : THE NET.

10. Sci-fi vehicles : PODS. The ships or the home of the body snatchers?

11. Reverence : AWE.

12. Expert finish? : ISE. If we complain about ADE as a puzzle answer, how Expertise?

13. Here-there link : NOR.

19. Fan's disappointment : LOSS.

21. 1980s-'90s heavyweight champ : TYSON. Now a media star. UNDISPUTED TRUTH. (3:26).

 24. E. follower : COLI.

26. Word after raise or catch : HELL.

27. Place for a nest, perhaps : EAVE.

28. Short holiday? : XMAS. I thinks this is cute; certainly once I saw the answer I thought it was cute.

32. Joplin works : RAGS. I know Scott Joplin wrote Ragtime music, but I was ready to nitpick, but... Merriam Webster says it is a composition in ragtime, short for ragtime. First Known Use: 1897

33. Artistic dynasty : MING. C.C. any thoughts? (C.C.: My first reaction is Tang, as it's the  peak of various arts, esp poetry and painting. I only associate MING with vases.)

34. Sun. message : SERmon. Sunday.

35. Strong like string : TWINY. String is not strong, twine is strong string which is doubled up.

37. Burkina __ : FASO. I have never heard of this COUNTRY, let alone know where it is located. Damn you American geography.

38. Cabinet dept. : EDUCation.

39. Heal : MEND.  A HEART? (3:00).

40. Part of Caesar's boast : I SAW. VIDI.

41. Italy's largest port : GENOA. No, I did nota noa that.

45. Sci-fi character nicknamed Ben : OBIWAN. Kenobi. Ken, ben?

46. Heap affection (on) : DOTE. Followed by....

48. Regard highly : ADMIRE. Which leads to....

49. Hunting dog : BEAGLE. Snoopy?

50. More pretentious : ARTIER.

53. "__ is good" : GREED. Saw the promo a million times.

54. "Wall Street" antagonist who said 53-Down : GEKKO.. Michael Douglas.

55. Spinal Tap guitarist Tufnel : NIGEL. One of many CREATIONS (0:50) of Christopher Guest.

56. Roman Cath. title : MSGR. Monseigneur.

58. Verbal stumbles : UMS. Er, I hope you all got this one.

59. Disparity : GAP. Like this?

 61. PC screen type : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

62. "__-hoo!" : YOO.  Boo-hoo, we are done for another week.

Before we go, I wanted to express my condolences to the family and friends of Harold Ramis, who died this week. He brought us ANIMAL HOUSE, GHOSTBUTERS, CADDYSHACK, and GROUNDHOG DAY among many others. Don't cross the streams!

Can you believe we are two months into the year already, the Olympics are over, and spring is on the way for all you who choose to live in the frozen north. I am off to my day job, so I will see you all at the beach next time. Lemonade out.

Friday, January 17, 2014, Daniel Landman

Theme: Let's all cut gym class!! No more Phys Ed!

A letter extraction puzzle with PE removed from 4 in the language expression to reveal 4 new phrases clued with whims. This appears to be the first LAT effort for Mr. Landman, who did debut in the NYT on March 18, 2013. They did not give him any write up there, only a picture, so hopefully he will stop by and introduce himself. I was able to suss the theme without the reveal (which was a cute one) though I struggled a bit with 46A. "Sorry, the mayo is put on in advance"? both in solving and placing the missing PE. There was some freshness and interesting medium fill, ARTHRO, BOY TOY. PARFUM,  T-STORM, IN HIS HAT,  ON DAY ONE, HOT CEREAL and THIRSTILY. Lots of Ps in the solution but not a single PE. The puzzle inspired lots of real and imagined musical reference so we will see what you all think. Let's examine this Friday frolic from frigid Florida.

20A. Franken and Yankovic, for example? : PEALS OF LAUGHTER. (13).

Al Franken comedian turned POLITICIAN, elected as a senator in Minnesota (which also made Jesse the body Ventura governor) was a regular on SNL. Al Yankovic is famous for his song PARODIES. (3:30).

29A. Silver-tongued speaker? : SMOOTH OPERATOR. (12). This clue/fill gave me the theme as the song popped in head when I filled in ORATOR.

We get orator a lot in puzzles.

46A. "Sorry, the mayo is put on in advance"? : IT CAN'T BE HELPED. (12). A play on the old line, "Hold the mayo."

56A. "Heretics only" apartment building ad? : REPENT YE SINNERS. (13). Pompano has a few hotels that rent only to "sinners."

The unifier:

59D. Slangy denial, and a hint to 20-, 29-, 46- and 56-Across : NOPE. You have to parse it as NO PE.

Across:

1. Like some tricks : CHEAP. My CHOICE. (4:53).

6. Beatles nonsense syllables : OBLA. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, more music. Hmm, 16A. Sneeze syllable : CHOO.  Ah, I get it. 25A. Song syllable : TRA. A mini-theme?

10. Fighting : AT IT. So many ways to parse these sweet little letters.

14. Sporty Toyota made until 2002 : SUPRA. Any reason we care?

15. Met or Nat : NLER. Baseball fan.

17. Police record listing : PRIOR.

18. Unhappy parking lot discovery : DENT. Unless you a Red Sox fan, you are not referring to Bucky.

19. Soupçon : HINT. With just a soupçon of garlic.

23. Gp. currently chaired by Obama : NSC. National Security Council.

24. One-eighty : UEY. The never ending debate of spelling this car maneuver.

26. Union in D.C., e.g. : STAtion. Trains.

32. __ Men: "Who Let the Dogs Out" band : BAHA. Owen,  top these lyrics...

Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?

Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out?
Who, who, who, who, who?
Who let the dogs out ?

35. N.Y.C.-Quebec dir. : NNE. Quebec is closer to New England.

36. A dispersive one is commonly triangular : PRISM. The most famous one?

37. Carbon compound : ENOL. Solid crossword knowledge.

38. Avian abode : AERIE.

41. "Pinocchio" goldfish : CLEO.

42. Numerous, informally : LOTSA.

44. Longtime NBC staple : SNL. Saturday Night Live. Senator Franken?

45. Viewer : EYER. Meh, along with A words, my least favorite type of fill.

50. Wide shoe spec : EEE. Got no word, use letters.

51. Spanish bear : OSO. We get this one often as well.

52. Trattoria suffix : INI. Linguini, rotini etc.

53. A.L. West team, on scoreboards : LAA. Los Angeles Angels.

60. Abe or Dick : PREZ. Lincoln, Nixon. Now they are POTUS.

62. Emailer's "Then again ..." : OTOH. On The Other Hand.

63. Some kids : GOATS.

64. "The foundation of most governments": John Adams : FEAR. Those old guys sat around thinking and writing in those terms. LINK.

65. Novelist Jaffe : RONA. A Radcliffe girl, who died back in 2005.

66. Big name in printers : EPSON. Random, but it fits.

67. Designated driver's choice : COLA. really random, caffeine over booze.

68. Game in which the player is called the Stranger : MYST. If you do not want to see don't
WATCH. (3:21).

69. Navigation hazards : REEFS. In Myst?

Down:

1. Airer of debates : C-SPAN.

2. Pitches : HURLS.

3. Protestant denom. : EPISCopalian.

4. Buck tail? : AROO. Buckaroo.

5. Chanel No. 5 bottle word : PARFUM. As opposed to Eau de Cologne.

6. At the start : ON DAY ONE. Nice very fresh fill.

7. Sharp cheese : BLEU. Why is blue in French?

8. Rope quantity : LENGTH.

9. Joint: Pref. : ARTHRO.  Like in arthroscopic surgery.

10. Incentive for a warm bath : ACHE.

11. With great eagerness : THIRSTILY. Nice greedy word.

12. Fluoride, for one : ION. Fluorine is an element; fluoride is an ion or a compound which contains the fluoride ion.

13. Little kid : TOT.

21. Soprano Mitchell : LEONA. People made much fun of the soprano on Downton. I did not know this DIVA.

22. Protective cover : TARPaulin.

27. "Nothing __ here" : TO SEE. Familiar phrase with police and lookie lous.

28. Protective cover : ARMOR.

29. Dip option : SALSA. This is just the Spanish word for sauce, though most now associate the term with the spicy sauces.

30. To the point : TERSE. Yes.

31. Not straight : ARCED.

32. Contradict : BELIE.

33. Make __ of: jot down : A NOTE.

34. Breakfast option : HOT CEREAL. How many of you start your winter's day with hot oatmeal, or cream of wheat?

39. Where Yankee Doodle's feather ended up : IN HIS HAT. A song that ended up being an inspiration to the revolutionary troops, and was played at Yorktown when the British surrendered.

40. 1985 Malkovich film : ELENI. Not a well known film, which dealt with a mother's struggles in war time Greece. Never saw it, but it generated wildly disparate review.

43. Shortly : ANON. We have our own.

47. Bit of forecast shorthand : T-STORM. Thunder.

48. Certain young lover, facetiously : BOY TOY. Every cougar wants one.

49. Hang : LINGER. I did not like this definition.

53. Use temporarily : LEASE.

54. Bach's "The __ Fugue" : ART OF. This MUSIC. (4:49) He made me so nervous.

55. NBA and others : ASSNS. Associations.

57. Poet friend of T.S. : EZRA. Eliot and Pound.

58. A really long time : EONS.

60. Rank below cpl. : PFC. Private First Class.

61. Vintage roadster : REO. And I will end like I began, with this TUNE. (3:41).

Well we are done with another Friday and in the second half of January already, and we have 2 new LAT constructors already. Certainly no controversy with this grid, and a Friday unifier hint to make sure all get the theme. Thanks Daniel, and as we hit anniversary week next week, I want to thank not only C.C. for this blog but all of the hundreds who have created entertainment for us.  Lemonade out.