Saturday, Jun 27th, 2015, Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,W,Z)

Blocks: 28

  I thought I was going to smoke right through this puzzle, and maybe hit my personal best time for a Saturday - alas, it was not to be.  I started off so well, too....drat.  Ran into trouble in the top left quadrant, with three proper names and a couple of vague clues.  So I cheated on 1d.  Then I still did not get my ta-DA~! because of one letter - more later.  As for the grid, triple and double 9-letter corners with two 11-letter climbers and two 12-letter spanners;

28a. Singer with the 2002 debut hit "Complicated" : AVRIL LAVIGNE - I knew who it was right away, but then the spelling became an issue.  I was pleased to read she married Chad Kroeger from Nickelback - I like their music; according to Wiki, the two married in a medieval castle - now that's my kind of wedding~!

 42a. Constitution nickname : OLD IRONSIDES - the ship, not the document

onward~!

ACROSS:

1. NASA program for aspiring explorers : SPACE CAMP - love getting 1a. right off the bat~!

10. Subject of a 1964 Time article subtitled "Pictures That Attack the Eye" : OP ART

if it's moving when you scroll, it's working

15. Crowded locale : URBAN AREA - I was in Dover Delaware helping my good friend Mike move into his new house; he has several reasons for going down there, and I have taken an interest in going as well - I can transfer to the local UPS hub by signing up for school.  Mike's new home is about 5mins from the heart of the city, so "Firefly" was the talk of the town, Bluehen - YoUDee~! (actually, it'll likely be the Tech school for advertising design)

16. Nikon competitor : RICOH - I WAGed CANON; I could argue I was 40% correct....nice job yesterday~! ;7))

17. Empty entirely : PICK CLEAN

18. Western formation : BUTTE

19. Furniture wood : RED ELM - as a wood worker, I'd really like to get into a project made from something other than pine or oak

20. Clergyman's deg. : ThD - Doctor of Theology

22. Building __ : SITE

23. "Peer Gynt" widow : ASE - and with 24a....

24. Runner-up before RMN : AES - ....a mini-anagram going on

26. Short-tailed weasel : ERMINE

31. Dow 30 company : APPLE

34. Focus of many a botanical festival : TULIP

35. Ottoman bigwig : BEY - I thought it was "AGA", and then "REY"

36. Farm newborn : FOAL - ah, not CALF

37. When many retire : AT TEN - my first fill was TEN PM

38. Great : HUGE

39. Hogwarts redhead : RON - Harry Potter's best bud

40. 1979 sci-fi classic : ALIEN - one of my top five movies

41. Gibson's "Lethal Weapon" role : RIGGS - I managed to recall his first name - Martin - too

45. Sign of anxiety : PACING

46. Allowance holder, perhaps : CAN - JAR, PIG, DAD(~?)

47. Place to see sea monsters, once : MAP

50. "¿Quién __?" : SABE - What is this, Spanish~?  Who Knows~?

51. Announcer Hall : EDD

53. Dead Sea stronghold : MASADA - I recall having watched this in school; even tho I was 10, I remember thinking the surprise at the end made it a great story - IMDb

55. Pay : TREAT

57. Cepheus neighbor : URSA MINOR - I went with ursa MAJor to start; the "J" made it unlikley

(BTW, if I ever have kids, I'd like to name one daughter Cassiopeia)

59. Floor in the Louvre : ÉTAGE - Frawnche; can't get away from it

60. Quiet break : CEASE FIRE - yeah, that's one way to describe it

61. Corning creation : PYREX

62. Hog support? : KICKSTAND - Harley Davidson "hog"

DOWN:   

1. 1978 Toyota debut : SUPRA - DAH~!!  I couldn't think of this; Sentra? Celica?  I am excited for their new hybrid pick-up, the A-BAT, due for release 2016

2. Looks closely : PRIES - argh~!  Not PEERS

3. Tot's song starter : A B C D E - H, I, J, K....now I know uh, sumthin'

4. Decorator's target : CAKE - nice; didn't occur to me

5. Lesotho, for instance : ENCLAVE - OK, so I thought this was a Shakespearean character; turns out it's a land-locked country in South Africa - the Wiki

6. Comparatively still : CALMER

7. Exist : ARE

8. Essence : MEAT

9. Like the ancient Olympic Games : PAN-HELLENIC - "All of Greece"

10. Blake's eye : ORB - if I go to Delaware, I'll have to give up on my blue-eyed girl  :7(

11. 15th-century pope : PIUS II - I nearly nailed it; "V" or "I"~?

12. Drive on the way to Hollywood? : ACTING BUG - yeah, um, what's an acting "RUG"~?

13. Stinker, in more ways than one : ROTTEN EGG

14. Old Testament pronoun : THEE

21. Backup site : DRAIN

25. One who's easy to take : SITTING DUCK

27. NBA honor : MVP - also MLB, NHL, NFL, etc.

28. Tide alternative : ALL - nice; laundry detergents

29. Tambur relatives : LUTES

30. Most spiders have eight : EYES - I had perps, so it was not "LEGS"

31. High style : AFRO - hair style, that is

32. Place to make a splash : POOL PARTY - My B-day is in February, so my parents frequently suggested I do a summer pool party for a better turnout and more fun; I was OK with the idea because I basically celebrated twice

33. Sichuan native : PANDA BEAR

37. Separate : ALONE

38. __ Honor : HIS

40. Name from the Hebrew for "lion" : ARI

41. Alters on a desktop, maybe : RENAMES - your computer desktop

43. 2002 film with a mammoth co-star : ICE AGE

44. Table linen fabric : DAMASK

47. Fanaticism : MANIA

48. Dress : ADORN - oh, the verb, not the noun - it's part of my "47d"

49. Cut off : PARED - as say, the branches of a shrub or bush

50. Short distance : STEP

52. Square root of neun : DREI - Das German~!

54. Recipe direction : SIFT

56. '60s-'70s soul singer Joe : TEX

58. Ink __ : SAC - "JET" seemed plausible; made me question my "URSA"

Splynter

Saturday, Apr 25th, 2015, Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,Z)

Blocks: 30

  If I was feeling better about last week's Silkie, then this week's offering left me feeling downright blissful.  I liked getting an early 10-letter across fill with confidence, followed by an 11-letter down-er, and despite a few proper nouns which slowed me up, I was able to get through this one with little resistance, in about half my personal time.  Oh - and four four-letter gimme words today, too (*).  I hope your solve was just as enjoyable ( individual results may vary ).  Some of the longer fill:

15a. Video game that comes in a World Tour version : GUITAR HERO - call me ".22 caliber Splynter", because I nailed it ( I was driving nails into concrete today with my Ramset ).  I find the game harder to play than a real guitar

11. Freetown is its capital : SIERRA LEONE - I don't know why I put in Sierra Madre first

22. Dieter's brand : LEAN CUISINE - nailed it

O N W A R D ~! 

ACROSS:

 1. Breakfast spread : APRICOT JAM - really just too many choices to even start with WAGs

11. Attempt : STAB

16. Part of the Louisiana Purchase : IOWA - now this was a W.A.G.; I figured Ohio was already in the union, but now I see that it joined a mere 60 days before the U.S. spent $15mil for 828,000sq. miles

17. Meditation goal : INNER PEACE - I'm still looking for a piece of my inner peace

18. Vet : EX-GI

19. Allowed : OK'D

20. Bull or cow, perhaps : RHINO - popular this week

21. Pipe material : BRIER - lead, copper, plastic~? Oh, that kind of pipe

22*. One may be compulsive : LIAR

23. Imposed : FORCED

24. Patsy : PIGEON

27. Copernicus Science Centre site : WARSAW - a strange occurrence; I had -ARSA-; just needed the "W"s

29. "Herbie: Fully Loaded" actress : LOHAN

30. Place to stretch one's legs : YOGA CLASS - yes~! yes~! stretch those legs~!

33. Like many a quote: Abbr. : ANON - and many a snarky commenter

34. Like some cereal : OATEN - dah, I was going to throw this in, but hesitated

35. What we have here, to Jorge : ESTA - in other words, 'this'

36. Sports demographic : NASCAR DAD - I am a "wannabe" hockey dad - I got the hockey part taken care of....the daddy part, not so much.  My NY Rangers eliminated the Penguins last night

38. Bach's "Jesu, meine Freude," e.g. : MOTET

39. Pisa native : TUSCAN - I am not familiar with specific locations of Italy - other than Rome - but once I had TU-C....as a builder and drafter, I feel the need to visit the Leaning Tower; I never had the chance to visit the World Trade Center, and I live 60mi away.

40. UTEP athletes : MINERS - popular on Saturday

41. Caroline portrayer in "Untamed Heart" : MARISA - Tomei; IMDb - you gotta read the summary

43. One may be recurring : ROLE

44. Important star group : A-LIST

45. "The Fountainhead" architect : ROARK - I am ashamed that I did not remember his name; it came to me once I had -O-RK.  Loved the book.

47. Hophni's father, in the Bible : ELI

50. Fictional knight : JEDI - Star Wars

51. Software for screenwriters : MOVIE MAGIC - Star Wars was movie magic; this is the software Wiki

53. Field laborers : OXEN

54. Secret discovered by a woodcutter : OPEN SESAME - ah, those woodcutters

55. Medium __ : RARE

56. Dating option : PERSONAL AD - SWM, 5'9", looking for SWF, never married, no kids; blue-eyed, dark-haired, about 5'4"; long legs preferred.  Contact me here at the blog

DOWN:  

1. Currency exchange fee : AGIO - I can never recall this

2. Kind of rock : PUNK

3. Zest source : RIND

4. Urban ending : ITE - urbanite

5. Buzzard attractor : CARRION
 

6. Bruce Wayne, e.g. : ORPHAN - all perps; didn't realize I got it til I came here

7. "The good is oft interred with __ bones": Shak. : THEIR - WAG

8. "Sleepy" woman in the song "Daydream Believer" : JEAN - odd; this was playing on the muzak at the restaurant this week

9. Violist's direction : ARCO - not pizzicato

10. Springfield bartender : MOE - more Simpsons this week

12. "Erin Brockovich" subject : TOXIC WASTE

13. "Rats!" : "AW GEE~!"

14. John Logie __, inventor of the first mechanical TV : BAIRD - there was a science program that discussed this invention, and I was fascinated; more here

21. Anjou cousin : BOSC - pairs of pears

23. Drescher of "The Nanny" : FRAN - liked her more as Bobbi Fleckman - what movie am I referring to~??  No cheating~!

24. Design : PLAN

25. Hebrides isle : IONA - I'm getting better with this clue/answer

26. 2007 Nicolas Cage title role : GHOST RIDER - seen some of the movie, but not intentionally

27. Odin's Germanic counterpart : WOTAN - perps and WAGs

28*. Like fine port : AGED

30. "Blah ..." : YADA

31. Dump closing? : STER dumpster; I need to rent one in June

32. Coll. acceptance factors : SATs

34*. Sea predator : ORCA

37. __ mgr. : ASST

38. Old calcium source? : MILKMEN - har-har

40. To a greater extent : MORE SO

41. Academic declaration : MAJOR - I declare that my only major in college was alcohol consumption, and I only "graduated" 10yrs ago

42. "Spy Kids" actress Vega : ALEXA - her first name is 55.5% of the way there

43. Comes down : RAINS - not ALITS

45. Partition, with "off" : ROPE

46*. Done : OVER

47. Alike, in Arles : EGAL - Frawnche

48. It was founded as Ciudad de los Reyes in 1535 : LIMA

49. Decorated, in a way : ICED

51. Cleanup aid : MOP

52. "__ result ..." : AS A - this is the last clue; as a result, I am signing off

Splynter

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: Getting Pranked, or as the plowman said to the ox team "The yoke's on you".

A thoroughly date-appropriate theme from Daniel this morning. A whole slew of "gotchas" come together in this puzzle.

17A. "Gotcha!" : I'M KIDDING

24A. "Gotcha!" : MADE YOU LOOK. Made me look for a theme, that's for sure. See my "note" on 51A.

35A. "Gotcha!" : THE JOKE'S ON YOU

51A. Significance of this puzzle's circled letters (gotcha again!) : THERE IS NONE. I had "TO PAR" for 53D at first which made this entry read "THERE IS TONE". You'd all have gotten a good chuckle out of me trying to sing "IDDI DE-YO KES-O" and crack the "tonal" theme.

60A. Today's "Gotcha!" : APRIL FOOL

Nicely done! Steve here being fooled for a while until I corrected my "TO PAR" misstep and stopped singing nonsense. In France it is the custom today to try to stick fish-shaped cutouts on an unknowing person's back. The victim is then teased as being "un poisson d'Avril" - "an April fish". Whatever floats your bateau, I guess, they're an odd lot, those French.

Let's see what else we've got going on here.

Across

1. "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" rhyme scheme : AABA By the aptly-named Robert Frost.

5. Govt. org. with a "Safety Compass" blog : N.T.S.B. The National Transportation Safety Board. The "Safety" in the clue gave it away for me.

9. Under-the-tree pile : GIFTS. I wanted to cram "LEAVES" in here first.

14. Silly smile, maybe : GRIN

15. Snack with a white center : OREO. Crops up a lot in crosswords, but it's such a handy collection of vowels.

16. Garnish : ADORN

19. Brawl : MELEE

20. Menlo Park initials : T.A.E. Thomas Alva Edison. Filed 1,093 successful U.S. patent applications.

21. Those, in Oaxaca : ESAS

22. __ mater : ALMA

23. Gear on a tour bus : AMP. I have Marshall and Vox practice amplifiers. Here they are with my guitars.

28. They blow off steam : TEAPOTS. Peculiar clue, I have to say. A kettle would blow off steam, no?

30. Bugged by a bug : ILL

31. Like a twisted remark : WRY

32. Within: Pref. : ENTO

33. Hive-dwelling : APIAN. Do Roman bees travel on the Apian Way?

41. College declaration : MAJOR

42. Feminizing finish : ENNE. Hand up for "ETTE" first.

44. Icarus, to Daedalus : SON

47. Snooze : NAP

48. Add to a scrapbook, say : PASTE IN

54. Map rtes. : STS. Streets, I s'pose. Not an abbreviation I'm familiar with, I have to confess.

55. Drop-off point : EDGE

56. Charlie's fourth wife : OONA. And his granddaughter to keep the name current.

57. 201, on a monument : CCI. That's a heck of an old monument.

58. Carillon sounds : PEALS

62. Cookout spot : PATIO

63. Willing : GAME

64. "A __ for Emily": Faulkner short story : ROSE

65. Not in a slump? : ERECT

66. "Iliad" deity : ARES. We've seen him a few times recently.

67. Stops equivocating : OPTS

Down

1. Stir up : AGITATE

2. Military equipment : ARMAMENT

3. Designated park trail : BIKE PATH

4. DiFranco of folk rock : ANI. I went to link one of her songs but I dozed off trying to pick one out. Not my cup of tea, I guess.

5. Greets wordlessly : NODS AT

6. Three-note chords : TRIADS

7. Have a feeling : SENSE

8. Peat source : BOG

9. Leg, to a film noir detective : GAM. Cue "LA Confidential", appropriately.

10. Model of perfection : IDEAL. AKA Kim Basinger in "LA Confidential", above.

11. Trail : FOLLOW

12. Seismometer detection : TREMOR. Plenty of these in my neck of the woods. More than 20 in the last week alone in LA County according to the local seismic survey.

13. Duplicitous : SNEAKY

18. Self-produced recording, perhaps : DEMO

25. Slangy golf term for nervousness while putting, with "the" : YIPS. Former world #1 and two-times Masters champion Bernhard Langer suffered terribly from this affliction in mid-career. He's now one of the best putters on the senior tour.

26. Everything-in-the-pot stew : OLIO

27. __ Bator : ULAN. Mongolian home of this airport. I have a friend who quit the British secret service (MI5) because she was going to be posted here. She wanted Milan, Paris or New York. Outer Mongolia? Not so much.

29. Mary Oliver output : POEM

33. __ Lingus : AER. They fly to Ulan Bator from Dublin. Who'd a thunk it?

34. Babushka's denial : NYET

36. Actress Kaczmarek with seven Emmy nominations : JANE. Crosses all the way. Apparently "best known for playing Lois on 'Malcolm in the Middle'".

37. Ventura County resort city : OJAI. "City" is a little grand for this place, population around 7,000. Chain stores are banned here by city ordinance.

38. Keystone force : KOPS. Most of their location shoots were a couple of miles down the street from me in Silverlake.

39. Kid-sized ice cream order : ONE SCOOP

40. Price per can, e.g. : UNIT COST

43. Stores in a farm tower : ENSILES. Total WAG for me here with the first "S". I wasn't entirely convinced by "STS" so I hesitated. According to the interwebs:

en·sile

inˈsīl,enˈsīl/

verb

3rd person present: ensiles

put (grass or another crop) into a silo in order to preserve it as silage

44. Vast grassland : STEPPE

45. "Goodness gracious" : OH DEAR

46. Cancel out : NEGATE

48. "I have the worst luck!" : POOR ME

49. John Denver's "__ Song" : ANNIE'S. I'll spare you the link.

50. Corporate emblem : SEAL. Another odd clue, IMHO

52. Dig find : RELIC

53. Wall Street phrase : NO PAR. As I mentioned at the top, I had TO PAR first. I've heard of AT PAR too, but never NO PAR until today (well except for my golf game, I've had NO PAR many times over!). I discover that NO PAR means that a share of a stock has no redemption value.

59. Pink-elephant spotter, stereotypically : SOT. Did Dumbo get drunk? I can't remember the context of this in the movie.

60. Ottoman bigwig : AGA

61. To and __ : FRO

That's my lot. A Pinch and a Punch for the First of the Month and no returns! Here's the grid.

Steve

Note from C.C.: 

Please click here for a great puzzle Marcia Brott & George Barany created to celebrate the birthday of a real Minnesota Nice. If you download puz, please read Notepad after you're done. Click on View, then Notepad.

Saturday, Mar 7th, 2015, Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,W,X)

Blocks: 27

  I would have to say it depends on one's approach to a crossword that can make all the difference.  Last week I struggled with a Silkie that most others from the corner seemed to do well on.  Today, I cruised through this puzzle with nary a hiccup.  Just over the half-way mark of my personal time, too.  Of course, a lack of personal/proper names did help tremendously, too ;7))    Anyway, triple stacks of 10's and 7's in the corners, and a pair of 8-letter fills on the inside.  Some of the longer answers;

1. It's often swiped at offices : ACCESS CARD - I thought "PAPER CLIPS" - but with "PUNCH in" at 2d., I 'ventured forth' (6d) with APPLE iPADS, which seemed logical - lots of people I know do business with a tablet these days; I'm one of them - my Home Inspections are done thru an app on my tablet, and I send the report via email.  Did you hear about Apple's new tape measure~?  It's called the "iRule"....

61a. Surrounded : UNDER SIEGE - good movie, too; featured Steven Segal as a "CPO" (q.v. 50a.) - the Wiki

O - ah - O - ah - O-ah-O-ah - O - AH  - O - nward~!

ACROSS:

11. Censor's target : SMUT - for those in the area, I had "-MU-" and considered IMUS

15. Deer, e.g. : PLANT EATER

16. Leveret's dad : HARE - huh - I thought this was a personal name, and did not get it until I looked it up during the write-up; new word for me

17. Reminder, often : POST-IT NOTE

18. Largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago : ELBA - once I had -LB-, the rest was 'E-Z' - or is that "E" "A"~!?

19. Slip in a store: Abbr. : RCT - receipt, not the "oops" of a lawsuit

20. Quarters : ROOMS - huh - a WAG that never went away; I like those guesses

21. Olympics coach Karolyi et al. : BELAs

22. "Fooled ya" : I KID

24. Corn lead-in : UNI - unicorn

25. Carbon compound found in crude oil : BUTENE - threw in the first 6-letter "fuel" I could think of; in this case, it was ETHANE, and that's strictly 33% correct

26. Closed up : SILENT - ah, a personal description, not an end-of-day routine

28. Attire for filmdom's The Mask : ZOOT SUIT

30. Month in el invierno : ENERO - Spanish~?  Month~? WAG 'enero', Spanish for January

31. Terminal : DEPOT - I have a question that I'd like everyone's feedback on; see the end of the write-up

32. Member of the fam : SIS - Started with SIB, but I did not think 14d. was going to end with "-TB" - but not unheard of; could have been "Silent B"

33. Tiny time div. : nSEC - nanosecond - or, the equivalent of 1 second to 31.71 YEARS~!  Since light travels 11.8 inches in one nSEC, it's referred to as a "light foot" - could you call that a "Gordon"~!?

35. Govt. collectors : T-MEN - I put in G-men, but T is better; refers to the Treasury

37. "Sweet!" : RAD

40. Norwegian flag feature : CROSS

42. Indian bigwig : RAJAH - Ooops, went with RANEE - that's the missus

46. Intimate : ONE-TO-ONE

48. Words to a savior : "MY HERO~!"

49. Breaks off : SEVERS - huh.  Filled this in, took it out, and ended up putting it back in

50. Naval NCO : CPO - Chief Petty Officer - e.g. Casey Rybeck (who~?)

52. Big name in shaving : ATRA - change up from the usual cluing

53. "The Girl Next Door" co-star Hirsch : EMILE - I have the DVD - but did NOT cheat; all perps

54. Work unit : JOULE - usually, it's "ERG"

56. Much : FAR - my only 'meh' for the day

57. West Virginia resource : COAL

58. Lingered : HUNG AROUND

60. Biblical preposition : UNTO - dah~! Not THOU

62. High school subject? : TEEN - is that a "high" school subject, or a high school "subject"~?  ;7P

63. Commercial success : BEST-SELLER

DOWN:

1. Inform : APPRISE - Oddly, I've heard this word twice this week

2. Start work : CLOCK IN - daH~!  Not PUNCH in

3. Medieval Iberian kingdom : CASTILE - all I had to WAG was the "I" - Love the flag

4. Fictional giant : ENT - ah, from the "Rings" movie trilogy; perps again

5. Activity : STIR

6. Venture forth : SET OUT

7. PowerShot maker : CANON - I like their printers, too

8. Reduce to minute particles : ATOMIZE

9. Soaks, as hemp : RETS

10. Beats Electronics co-founder : DRE - Bought my brother the wireless headphones for Christmas - I have not heard how good they are (pun intended), but for the price, I should be able to hear them from the next town over....

11. Rain may fall in them : SHEETS

12. Hammer-shaped bone : MALLEUS

13. Pope who initiated the First Crusade : URBAN II - the "I-I" at the end did not concern me

14. Dollhouse accessories : TEA SETS - I would love to build a custom dollhouse for my daughter - in fact, I would just love to have "a daughter"

21. Like shortbread : BUTTERY

23. "Blue Velvet" actress : DERN

25. Horizontal spar : BOOM

27. Reason for overtime : NO SCORE - say, in ice hockey.  This Wednesday, we're going to try playing with a puck instead of a ball, so I am planning on modifying a pair of skates so that I can take a shot off my toe without breaking bones - my experience has taught me that taking a ball on the toe stings like a sonofabitch; and the plastic pucks are harder....

29. Goes (for) : OPTS

31. Maker of the Ultra Set trap : d-CON - becoming a Sat crossword staple

34. Mythical archer : EROS

36. Okinawa's capital : NAHA - bottom left

37. Diamond buyer's choice : ROSE CUT

38. Red flower created from the blood of Adonis : ANEMONE

39. Digress : DEVIATE

41. Motion backing : SECONDS - we have business meetings in AA - which includes motions and seconds and voting

43. Aviation supply : JET FUEL

44. Put in order : ARRANGE

45. Compulsive subject of a former A&E series : HOARDER

47. Rat out : TELL ON

48. Grinders : MOLARS - ah, teeth, not sandwiches

51. __ Sound, part of the Salish Sea : PUGET - DAH~! Shoulda gotten this; I visited Seattle WA some years ago - I'd like to go back, too

54. Alexandrite is one of its birthstones : JUNE - Oh how I love the name Alexandra.  As for the clue, the choices were JUNE or JULY - so I filled in JU-- and waited.

55. Gaelic language : ERSE

58. Center : HUB - Our UPS center is referred to as a terminal - the largest HUB is Worldport in Kentucky; the Medford facility where I'm at is 24 years old - and it's outdated.

59. Whale __ : OIL

Splynter

 OK, so - I am working on my board game, and I have to come up with some clever street names - I have a list of some of my personal favorites, but I'd like to hear what your favorite street name is....

Friday, January 24, 2014, Daniel Nierenberg

THEME: From GEEK to CHIC, climb on our word ladder

In the never ending world of Friday puzzles looking for new ways to bamboozle and entertain the solvers, two items from the games page, Crossword Puzzles and Word Ladders, are combined. The Miami Herald runs a word ladder daily, which if you are unfamiliar is a series of words where you go  from word A (the first word) to word Z (the last word) by changing only one letter in each successive word. TEN to PIN would be ten-tin-pin. In this instance we also get a reveal of sorts, commenting on the joy of going from Geek to Chic. Obviously lots depends on the perps since there are no independent clues for the ladder words, though once you get a couple, you know you have a very limited choice for the next step. Some Friday difficulty, but since the theme words are only only four letters long there is  room for some fun fill like GLUTEUS in addition to toughies like OCELLI,  so lets climb down the ladder and see what Daniel used for the remaining fill.

1A. Start of a word ladder : GEEK. (4).
5A. Word ladder, part 2 :       PEEK. (4).
9A. Word ladder, part 3 :         PEEN. (4).
22A. Word ladder, part 4 :         TEEN. (4).
52A. Word ladder, part 5 :           THEN. (4).
64A. Word ladder, part 6 :              THIN. (4).
65A. Word ladder, part 7 :                CHIN. (4).
66A. End of the word ladder :             CHIC. (4).

37A. "West Side Story" song, or a hoped-for response after experiencing the transition in this puzzle's word ladder : I FEEL PRETTY. (11).  CLASSIC. (3:43).

Across:

13. Muscat native : OMANI.  This very common fill saved me from the initial frustration of knowing nothing.

15. Rough words : OR SO. Rough as in estimate.

16. "A Death in the Family" author : AGEE. James Agee is a regular answer, and if you are interested, he did a lot in a short life. LINK.

17. Tech giant : GATES. Interesting, as initially trying for a company name not Bill from Microsoft.

18. Alienated : ESTRANGED. Women left at the altar, or left after marriage used to sue their fiances' (husbands') new love interest for Alienation of Affection. The law still exists in 7 or 8 states.

20. Parts of wedding scenes : AISLES. Perfect juxtaposition for our cheating husband.

23. Buttocks muscle : GLUTEUS. There are actually FOUR, not just our friend Maximus.

25. Clothing : RAIMENT. Related to the concept of ARRAY. A nice old word.

30. Deadly biter : ASP. Cleopatra anyone?

31. Bites playfully : NIPS. The lesson, do not play with an asp.

33. Touch-y service company? : MIDAS.

34. It might be twisted : ANKLE. A very common problem in the NBA where the giant people are forever landing on each other's feet.

36. "!" on a road sign : DANGER. Hmm...

39. Positive particle : PROTON.

41. Advertising target : SALES. Target/ Goal?

42. Like some cereals : OATEN.

43. Filter : SIFT. Sometime, you have to let your brain sift through many choices before entering fill.

44. Political initials since 1884 : GOP. I think the initials have been used since 1874, though the Republican Party itself began in 1854. LINK.

47. Tut, e.g. : PHARAOH.  Most memorable TUT (2:39)?

49. Pudding starch : TAPIOCA. So confusing...

54. Picnic downer : SHOWER. The rains fall down? A pun?

55. Get-together request : CAN WE MEET?

60. Blue dyes : ANILS.

61. Word of dismissal : SHOO. Kitty, kitty.

62. "__ kidding?" : IS HE.

63. Part of an address, maybe : TITLE. What do you say to a Duke? LINK.

Down:

1. Be extremely excited : GO GAGA. While this was a perfectly fine clue/fill, the absence of any crossing words, made starting out very tricky. Great set of letters, like COO COO for Cocoa Puffs.

2. Modern messages : EMAILS. Is it one word, or E-Mail?

3. Devours : EATS UP. Do not parse E-atsup.

4. Showed reverence, in a way : KNELT. Just before you are knighted by the King, his majesty.

5. "The Gold-Bug" author : POE. Not my favorite of his short stories, but he won a $100.00 prize for it, which was probably the most he earned for any writing in his lifetime.

6. Once, old-style : ERST. Another old word.

7. Fragrant compounds : ESTERS.

8. North or South follower : KOREA. With all the North/South combos, this is the only 5 letter one I could think of.

9. God of shepherds : PAN. There was a wonderful movie called PAN's LABYRINTH.(1:04), sorry about the 15 second ad.

10. Whisking target : EGG. That clue should stir things up around here. No beating around the bush.

11. Broad size : EEE. None of the broads I know are triple Es.

12. "The Simpsons" character who says "Okily-dokily!" : NED. For all the non-Simpson fans...you should last 7 seconds

14. "Got it!" : I SEE.

19. Bring to life : ANIMATE. Just like Ned Flanders; I see, it all fits together and makes sense.

21. Submerged : SUNKEN.

24. Cat's perch, perhaps : SILL. I will let CED do his cat magic for cat's on sills, though my challenge will be to find a video of a feline with Beverly Sills.

26. Diner freebies : MINTS. When I was a baby in the crib, my parents said they would give me the mints the restaurants gave out, and I would just fall asleep holding them in my hand.

27. Anxious : EDGY. The sugar rush never made me edgy.

28. Glaswegian's negative : NAE. One from Glasgow is a Glaswegian for the same logical (?) reason someone from Norway is a Norwegian.

29. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : TSR. Interesting I heard on the radio that this is the 40th anniversary of D&D which was created by people who called themselves TACTICAL STUDIES RULES. The first of the modern complicated role playing games, left in the dust by WOW and Magic the Gathering.

32. Brand originally named Brad's Drink : PEPSI. Oddly, I recently linked this piece of bubbly history.

34. "__ you" : AFTER. A part of vaudeville and silent movie HISTORY. (1:11).

35. One just born : NEONATE.

36. Change symbols, in math : DELTAS. If I were on Who Wants to be a Millionaire I would use Fermat as my lifeline, and have Bill G. ready. In the meantime LINK.

37. Wee bit : IOTA. Another Greek letter doing double duty.

38. It may be inflatable : RAFT. So was George's ego, I heard.

39. Father : POP. My youngest is currently calling me Pop or Pops.

40. Cheerleader's shout : RAH. Rah ree, kick'em in the knee. Rah rah rass, kick'em in the other knee.

43. "Holy cow!" : SHEESH.  They say this is a euphemism progression from Jesus. LINK. I wonder about the Lebanese, Sheesha, or shish.

44. Accompany : GO WITH. Will you accompany me to the senior prom?

45. Spots on a peacock train : OCELLI. From the Latin, diminutive of OCULUS, an eye, because they look like little eyes.

46. Astronomical distance : PARSEC. Another area where I have little KNOWLEDGE. Followed immediately by....

48. Resistance-related : OHMIC. OHM (symbolized by the Greek Omega!) is a measure of resistance named after Georg Ohm.

50. Slangy "Superb!" : PHAT. You can learn about BACKRONYMS.

51. Corinthian cousin : IONIC. Doric being his brother?

53. 90-year-old soft drink : NEHI. Go Radar.

55. Missouri hrs. : CST. Central Standard Time, and the official time of the Corner.

56. Sound at a spa : AHH.

57. "There's __ in 'team'" : NO I. Nor an O or U...

58. Prevailed : WON.  (almost looks like wonton, wonten and of course then to the wanton).

59. Sign of perfection : TEN. still classic?

Well with Bo in your view, running toward you, I am going away for another week. I do not recall if we have ever had a ladder puzzle in the LAT, though they appear in the NYT often. It looks like Daniel was busy as this was his second LAT barely 2 weeks after his maiden. Look forward to hearing the response from all; I wish you all a wonderful final week end in January 2014.  Lemonade out.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014 Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: Thicker than water.  The first word of each starred entry can follow the word BLOOD to yield a recognizable in-the-language phrase.

17A.  *Marlin, for one : SPORT FISH.  A fish prized for the sport of catching it. Contrast minnows. BLOOD SPORT is a sport in which blood is shed, such as hunting or cock fighting.

25A.  *Source of endless funds : MONEY TREE.  As in: "He sure knows how to shake the MONEY TREE."  BLOOD MONEY has two quite different meanings. 1) money paid as compensation to a family for the loss of kin [Anglo-Saxon weregeld], and 2) money gained at the cost of another's life or livelihood.

30A.  *Common Milky Way star : RED DWARF.   These relatively cool stars are, in fact, the most common in our region of the galaxy, but because they are so dim, none can be seen from earth with the naked eye. BLOOD RED is simply a descriptor for a deep red shade.

44A.  *Billiards maneuver : BANK SHOT.  A shot in billiards which causes the cue ball or the object ball to rebound off a cushion before finding its target. Also a basketball shot that rebounds off the backboard. A BLOOD BANK is a storage facility for supplies of blood or plasma to be used in transfusions.

50A.  *Part of a uniform : WORK SHIRT.  A heavy-duty shirt worn for manual or physical work. BLOOD WORK is laboratory analysis of blood for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.

11D. *Chocolate overdose consequence : SUGAR RUSH.  Hyperactivity caused by excessive sugar consumption.  BLOOD SUGAR is the concentration of glucose in the BLOOD stream, presumably elevated in a SUGAR RUSH.

32D.  *What a driver's license may serve as : DONOR CARD. A card that authorizes the use of your organs for transplants, after you've passed on.  A BLOOD DONOR is one who contributes blood for transfusion.

And the unifier:  62. A. Family relations, and what the first words of the answers to starred clues can have : BLOOD TIES.  Indicating an actual genetic relationship.  I have BLOOD TIES to 5 of the grandchildren, and Gloria has them to the other 6.  I'll leave sorting that out as an exercise for the interested reader. [They're all a year and a half older now.]

Hi gang, JazzBumpa here, hoping today's thickly-themed puzzle doesn't leave us too battered and bloody.  I'm feeling sanguine, so let's give it a shot. It looks like this is Daniel's first L.A. Times appearance since the start of this blog

Across:

1. __-loading: endurance strategy : CARB.  Eating low glycemic index high carbohydrate foods in advance of an endurance event, such as a marathon, to maximize glycogen storage in the muscles.

5. Chance : RISK.  Wanna bet?

9. Shocking weapon : TASER.  Well known to all by this time.

14. Worker protection org. : OSHA.  Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

15. Singer from County Donegal : ENYA.  I must have some sort of karmic connection with Eithne Ní Bhraonáin.  It seems as if the only time she shows up on my days.

16. Sky hue : AZURE.  We had that crystal blue hue here for a while on Tuesday, but not much temperature to go along with it.

19. Prepare to make an electronic payment, say : LOG ON.  To your computer or tablet or phone.

20. Halves of fifths : TENTHS.  Go metric.

21. Breaking wave feature : CURL.  Prized by surfers.

23. Drink for a hot day : ADE.  You can be abetted by a fruity concoction.

24. Nasty expression : SNEER.  I was thinking verbal, not facial.  SNARK fits.

27. "You're dreaming" : NOPE.  I'm not dreaming?

29. Hate : ABHOR.

34. Gallery baddies : ROGUES.  This stumped me for a while, then the AHA! moment.

37. Yoko of Tokyo : ONO.  Oh, yes!

38. Rodeo rope : REATA. A looped lariat, AKA lasso.

40. __-cone : SNO.  A confection made of shaved ice.  I'll wait until August, thank you.

41. Mount McKinley's national park : DENALI.  The tallest mountain in the North America located in the Alaskan interior.

47. Where the floor is always wet : OCEAN. Obvious in retrospect, but for the longest time I was thinking: water you talking about?

49. Banking regulatory agcy. : FDIC.  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

53. Latish wake-up time : TEN A.M.  A diller, a dollar  .  .  .

57. Curve : ARC.

58. "Woe __!" : IS ME.   This expression of dismay goes back to The Old Testament, where it shows up several times.

59. "Gracias" reply : DE NADA.  Thank you, and the Spanish equivalent of "You're welcome," meaning literally "of nothing."

60. Spanish American grassland : LLANO.  Speaking of nothing, this is a large expanse of treeless plain.

64. Frequent Mastroianni co-star : LOREN.  Sophia.

65. Edger's target : LAWN.  Only at the margin

66. Spacewalks, for short : EVA's.  Extra-Vehicular Activities.

67. Range with chinchillas : ANDES.  Their natural mountain habitat.

68. Former partners : EXES.  The less said, the better.

69. Take out : DELE.  Instruction to delete.

Down:

1. Profit factors : COSTS.  Subtracted from revenues.

2. Rockies skiing destination : ASPEN.  Marti?

3. Avignon's river : RHONE.

4. Work at a saloon : BARTEND.

5. They may cry foul : REFS.  I wanted UMPS.

6. Pasta ending : -INI.  RotINI, TortellINI, but, please no appletINI.

7. Big name in food distribution : SYSCO.

8. Aloha State big shot : KAHUNA. Originally, a "priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession."  Now any would be big shot who claims the title.

9. "There's the fox!" : TALLY HO.  This phrase, which might go back to the 13th century, is derived from sounds used with dogs.

10. Nitrogenous dye : AZO.

12. Undermine : ERODE.

13. Actress Zellweger : RENEE.  Not everyone here shares my enthusiasm for this versatile star.

18. Lose on purpose : THROW.

22. Give a new commercial name to : RE-BRAND. This seems right, but most of the examples I could find had to do with reworking the logo or a new marketing scheme rather than a new commercial name.

25. Mademoiselle's matriarch : MERE.  Mother in French, I presume.

26. Dress to the nines, with "up" : TOG.  Not a phrase I'm familiar with.

28. Shunned ones : PARIAHS.  A word of Tamil origin applied by Europeans and Hindus to the lowest social casts.

30. "Maggie May" singer Stewart : ROD.  Do you think he's sexy?

31. Cincinnati-to-N.Y.C. direction : ENE.

33. "Swell!" : FAB. Slang terms for copacetic.

35. Eclectic musician Brian : ENO.  Not ONO.

36. Lush : SOT.  A drunkard.  I was thinking adjective, not noun.

39. First president to throw a ceremonial opening day pitch : TAFT.  Baseball - Only about 85 more days away.  On April 14th, 1910, President William Howard Taft threw the ceremonial first pitch as the Washington Senators took on the Philadelphia Athletics.  The A's Frank "Home Run" Baker lined a foul ball off Secretary of State Charles Bennet's head, but he was OK and the game went on. Walter Johnson threw a one-hitter that day to give the Senators a 3-0 victory.  Thus was a tradition born, and every president since has thrown a ceremonial first pitch at some time during his term.

42. Cry from Cathy of comics : ACK.  Not a happy sound.

43. Skin wounds : LESIONS.  ACK!

45. Passed, as rubber checks : KITED.

46. Like aromatherapy products : SCENTED.  Ever the romantic, Cathy sent Ted a scented handkerchief.

48. Quick and light : NIMBLE.  Agile. Fleet of foot.

50. Half a Northwest city : WALLA.  In the State of Wash. I've heard you can get the best cous in WALLA.  Bur beware, lest you are bitten by a tse. 

51. Sock synthetic : ORLON.  Acrylic

52. Take a load off : RELAX.

54. Credulous : NAIVE.  Easily gulled.

55. Words after cut or close : A DEAL. 

56. Pool stroke : MASSE.  Per The Free Dictionary, "a stroke made by hitting the cue ball off centre with the cue held nearly vertically, esp so as to make the ball move in a curve around another ball before hitting the object ball."

59. Mafia bigwigs : DONS.  Crime Kahunas, if you will.

61. Maiden name intro : NEE.  Literally indicating her birth name.

63. Have to thank (for) : OWE.

Well - there you you have it.  A bloody good puzzle, with excursions to France and outer space, some music and a couple of lovely movie stars.  Not bad for a Wednesday.

Cool regards!

JzB