Monday, June 3, 2019 Danny Reichert

Theme: Big Plus - Last word is a person who adds things up. And a Plus Sign is featured in the middle of the grid.

17A. One who shuns alcohol: TEETOTALER.

59A. Venomous European viper: BLACK ADDER.

11D. Club sandwich pickup spot: DELI COUNTER.

 

25D. "The Queen of Disco": DONNA SUMMER.

Boomer here.

FORE!  We are finally getting SUMMER temps here in the frozen tundra!  Years ago I used to be a bogey golfer.  Then ADDER stepped into my age and I needed a stroke COUNTER to figure my score.  But I am still at it, however the TOTALER is producing three digit numbers in the final figure.

Across:

1. Medium's board: OUIJA. I remember as a kid we thought this was spelled WEEGEE.

6. Diner side dish with cabbage: SLAW.  C.C, and my favorite.  We buy the bags already prepared with green and purple cabbage and chopped carrots.

10. Wood-shaping tool: ADZE.

14. "Bolero" composer Maurice: RAVEL.

15. Like takeout food: TO GO.  Not a favorite here.  I cannot remember any take out meals.

16. Flowery Hawaiian greetings: LEIS.  Tiny bubbles, in the wine.

19. European peaks: ALPS. Do people really ski down these ??

20. Resembling a classic sheriff's badge: STARLIKE.  Did sheriff Andy Taylor give one to Barney Fife?

22. Hoppy pub order, for short: IPA.

23. Stroll in the shallows: WADE.  The Vikings had a quarterback, Wade Wilson.  Sadly he left us in February at the age of 60.

26. Rent collector: LESSOR.  Funny name for a landlord.

27. Playfully shy: COY.  A real Mc.

28. "It's just __ manic Monday": the Bangles: ANOTHER. Pleasant Valley Monday, Here in status symbol land!

30. __Tax: tax prep software: TURBO.

32. Days __: hotel chain: INN. Kinda like Motel 6.  Clean, neat, and inexpensive.  That's the way I like it.

33. Navy vessel letters: USS.  How sad that the USS John McCain became an issue. 

34. Make it to midnight on New Year's Eve, say: STAY UP.  Not me anymore.  I am usually in the sack by 10:00 PM.

36. Melodies: TUNES.  "Should old acquaintance be forgot …"

38. Religious principle: TENET.

40. Hanukkah pancakes: LATKES.  I have never seen or tasted these.  However, since we are talking about golf, years ago I was a caddy at an exclusively Jewish Country Club, and those wonderful gentlemen generously paid for my services, some of which I used for tuition at my Catholic high school. Now as an assistant bowling coach there, I am occasionally invited to share in a religious service with a Priest, a Rabbi, and a Christian Minister. 

43. Pixar specialty, for short: CGI.

45. Golf ball perch: TEE.  I would not call it a perch. I have the kind that always tee up at the same height.  The problem is that sometimes my driver is not at that height at the bottom of the swing.

46. Canonized one: SAINT.  My high school honors Saint Benildus, a Christian brother and teacher.  He was not yet a Saint when I attended but was canonized in 1967.  My Benilde High School was joined by St. Margaret's Academy and is now attended by young men and women.  Several of each who are on the bowling team. 

47. Bow-and-arrow pros: ARCHERS.  I am reminded of pro golfer George Archer who won the Masters in 1969.  (Remember?  This was when the final four holes of Augusta were on CBS for maybe 2 hours of a Sunday in April.)

49. Beast with a beard: GNU.

51. Empower: ENABLE.

53. Formerly, old-style: ERST. I am thinking this is half a word WHILE I am working on this.

54. Drummer's __ shot: RIM. I hate it when NBA 7 footers hang on it after a dunk.

55. 17-Across' condition, always: SOBRIETY. Me too. I am told that Zytiga and alcohol don't like each other.

57. Peak: ACME.  Remember when the coyote, chaser of Road Runner, many times ordered something from ACME.  I think he got it from Amazon.

63. Sigh of relief: PHEW.  You use this when you hit the Titleist way right or left, and discover that it hit a tree and ended up in the fairway.

64. Kid's building block: LEGO.  I see this frequently in puzzles.  We did not have them when I was a kid, but I seldom see "Tinkertoys" in a puzzle.  There is a huge LEGO display and store in the amusement park area at Mall of America. 

65. Egypt's capital: CAIRO.

66. Response during attendance-taking: HERE. "Making each day of the year …. Here, There, and Everywhere !"

67. Physics work units: ERGS.

68. Used a keyboard: TYPED.  We had a "Royal" when I was a kid.  I learned on a "Smith Corona".  However I am nowhere near as quick as C.C.  I think she could do 100 WPM.  Now there's a three-letter acronym with all consonants.

Down:

1. Scrap of food: ORT.  I had an ort of watermelon this weekend.

2. Dubai's fed.: UAE.  Nice place to visit but I cannot afford to live there.

3. "__ been had!": I'VE.  I've had it with three letter words.

4. Globetrotting group: JET SET.

5. Multitudes: A LOT.

6. Creepy watchers: STARERS.  Saw a few of these at the Golden Bear's Memorial Tournament.  Did you hear that he is auctioning his 18 major tournaments Rolex and the result will benefit the Children's health charity that Jack and his wife, Barbara founded. He is expecting around $18 Million!!

7. Lounges around: LOLLS.  Laughing out loud with a Lucky Strike.

8. Ones who discriminate against seniors: AGEISTS.  I have never heard of this but if I meet one I will kick him right in the knee.  (That's all the higher that my leg goes now.)

9. Exercise routine: WORKOUT.  Maybe if I do this I could kick higher ??

10. Chicken __ king: A LA.  I wonder if they sell this at the KFCs in Alabama

12. Nada: ZIPPO.  I used to have a Zippo lighter when I smoked.  So did every other smoker that I knew.  I think they are collector's items now.  (The plastic butane throw away ones made Zippo obsolete.)

13. A college applicant may have to write one: ESSAY. Yup, now that they caught rich people buying their kids way in.

18. Accounts: TALES.

21. Inconsistent: ERRATIC.  My golf swing.

23. Stand by: WAIT.  For my buddy to tee off.

24. Declare void: ANNUL.  Take a mulligan.

29. "Siberian" dogs: HUSKIES.  Nickname for Saint Cloud State College (MN) Sports.  Huskies sounds a little more fierce than Gophers

31. "Later": BYE.  "Bye Bye Love, Bye Bye Happiness"  Everly Brothers.

35. Equals on a jury: PEERS. I'll have to look into that.

37. Approx. landing hr.: ETA.  I was reading in "Money" Magazine the other day that SPIRIT Airlines has improved in reaching their ETA on time.  We used Sun Country in February and they were late both ways. 

39. Student's hurdle: TEST.

41. Dignify: ENNOBLE.

42. Less likely to tip over: STABLER.  Ken Stabler was Quarterback for the Oakland Raiders.  Ken Passed away in 2015.  The sports world lost Bart Starr (Green Bay) and Bill Buckner, (Cubs, Red Sox and others) last week.

43. Colorful cats: CALICOS.

44. Like the alphabet with alpha and beta: GREEK.  Jimmie the Greek was a famous Las Vegas Bookmaker.

48. Prime time?: HEYDAY.  "Say Hey" Willie Mays began his career in Minneapolis for the Millers in 1951.  I only saw him once in person in 1957 when the Giants came to town for an exhibition.  He hit a home run over the left field bleachers and into Met Stadium parking lot.  About 500 feet from home plate.

49. Visual aid in a statistics text: GRAPH.

50. Specialized market segment: NICHE.  I pronounce this NIKE.  They make inferior equipment.

52. Fort __, NC: BRAGG. Named after General Braxton Bragg.  Huge Army base.  I was never invited there.

56. Social skill: TACT.

58. Female sheep: EWE.  I think C.C. put some pickle relish on her watermelon.  How's that for EWE.?

60. Elegant dance floor move: DIP.  Ritz Crackers are pretty good into the French onion DIP.

61. Poetic "before": ERE.

62. Curtain holder: ROD.  We just installed one in our shower.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Happy birthday to our talented Owen, who turns 69 years old today, I think. May you stay forever young to entertainment us for years to come, Owen!

Thursday, 14th January 2016 Danny Reichert

Theme: Unlike the Liberty Bell

17A. Well-cast "Into the Woods" actress? : MERYL STREEP

23A. Well-cast "An Education" actress? : EMMA THOMPSON

47A. Well-cast "Duplicity" actress? : JULIA ROBERTS

57A. Well-cast "Birds of America" actress? : HILARY SWANK

35A. Director's explanation as to why this puzzle's actresses were well-cast? : IT'S ALL IN THE NAME

Four movies, four actresses that appeared in the movie and four four-letter nouns embedded that relate in some way to the title.


Neat enough puzzle, although there can be a problem with proper name themes in that once you've tumbled the gimmick you can generally fill in a whole lot of squares without a great deal of thought. I've not seen any of the movies, but the actresses came pretty quickly.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Home of the Great Sphinx : EGYPT. The nose and beard are missing. According to one version of the story, the nose was shot off by a cannonball fired by Napoleon's soldiers.

6. French thinkers? : TÊTES. From whence come idées. I'm going to Paris next weekend, so a good time to brush up on my French.

11. Priestly garb : ALB

14. Charter : LEASE

15. Discharge : EGEST. New to me, but patently a perfectly good word. Makes throwing up sound classy.

16. __ chi : TAI

19. It's used for some trips : LSD. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - no, wait, Lysergic acid diethylamide.

20. Bank customer acct. datum : S.S.N. I mentally parsed DEP, BAL and CHK before making SSNse of the clue.

21. Tackle box items : LURES

22. It may have a nice bouquet : VASE. Could have been WINE. Wasn't.

26. Like the Detroit Lions in 2008 : WINLESS. A season of futility leading to the worst record in NFL history. They did, naturally, get the first draft pick in 2009 and selected QB Matthew Stafford. It didn't immediately do much good - they went 2-14 that year.

29. Financial pg. topics : I.P.O'S

30. Clod breakers : HOES

31. __ arguments : ORAL. Stop snickering at the back.

32. Spat : ROW

40. Familiar saint? : PAT. I don't mind this so much, but seeing "St. Patty" drives me crazy. He's not a burger. My Dad was Uncle Paddy to the nephews and nieces.

41. Gets ready to fire : AIMS

42. "Zounds!" : EGAD. We've had the "offensive" debate before, but I didn't read this article on "minced oaths" until just now. Interesting stuff.

43. Cable service extras : DVRS. Digital Video Recorders rather than your basic decoder box.

44. "Spoon River Anthology" poet : MASTERS. Thank you crosses - I'd not heard of this before. Looks like it might be a fun read.

51. Fissionable particle : ATOM. Strictly speaking, an atom isn't a particle, it's comprised of particles - protons, neutrons and electrons.

52. "Sorry, __ go!" : GOTTA

53. Whale watcher's dream : POD. Or a pea-sheller's nightmare, one of the two.

56. Software issue : BUG. I read somewhere that there's likely to be a bug in every 11 lines of code. During my coding days, I reckon I probably wrote somewhere north of 100,000 lines, so I was personally responsible for around 9,100 bugs. Sorry.

60. Bud : BRO

61. "Is that __?": challenging words : A DARE. Usually ends badly.

62. Quad Cities resident, maybe : IOWAN. If you're from Davenport or Bettendorf. Not if you're from Rock Island, Moline or East Moline. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation why there are five cities.

63. Rule of crime writing : ANN. Crosses filled this in for me, I didn't see the fill until now. Just as well, I'd never heard of her.

64. Actresses Diane and Cheryl : LADDS. I think I might have tried to construct this area differently to avoid another "actress" entry given the theme.

65. Address to a boy : SONNY

Down:

1. O'Neill's "Desire Under the __" : ELMS

2. Heist units : GEES. As in 1,000's. Fun clue.

3. Unlikely story : YARN. A priest, a rabbi and an imam walk into a bar. The bartender says "This is a joke, right?".

4. Subj. involving cognitive development : PSY. cology.

5. "Spill it!" : TELL ME

6. Aquarium fish : TETRAS. Fish do totally inconsistent things with plurals. Including "fish" itself.

7. Wetlands wader : EGRET

8. Top choice : TEE SHIRT

9. Legal conclusion? : -ESE

10. Brake fluid brand : STP. The name comes from "Scientifically Treated Petroleum. Now we know.

11. Low-tech GPS? : ATLAS. Nice clue. Modern GPS actually tells you where you are, rather than you pointing hopefully at a page in the atlas and saying "I think we're here".

12. Stock holder? : LASSO

13. Former senator known as "Amtrak Joe" : BIDEN. Amtrak's Wilmington station is named for Joe in honor of the more than 7,000 trips he took into DC from there.

18. Totals : SUMS

22. LBJ and Nixon, e.g. : VP'S

23. Einstein's second wife : ELSA. Thank you, crosses.

24. Hawaiian food fish : OPAH. Because humuhumunukunukuapua`a doesn't fit.

25. Lawn problem : MOLE

26. Blender button : WHIP. Really? Mine has "On" and "Off", I only use it to blend smoothies. I have more suitable whipping tools. Like a whisk.

27. Bit : IOTA

28. Brooding spot : NEST

31. Iron-__ : ONS.

32. Extreme road response : RAGE

33. "Rubáiyát" poet : OMAR. Here was I wondering "Why don't I know who wrote "The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam? I'm sure I must!" And then the penny dropped.

34. Brings together : WEDS

36. California's __ Beds National Monument : LAVA. Beautiful spot in Northern California.

37. Way to get to N.Y.'s Citi Field : L.I.R.R.. Long Island Railroad. 17 miles and 25 minutes from Penn Station gets you to the ballpark.

38. Response to happy news : I'M SO GLAD

39. Brings home : NETS

43. Lacking luster : DIM

44. Scotland yards? : METRES. 39.3701 inches, so a wee tad more than a yard, laddie. Euro-spelling. Fun clue.

45. Pretentious : ARTY. Moi?

46. Balanced state : STASIS

47. "Star Wars" villain : JABBA. Big bloke, if I remember correctly.

48. Reversal : U-TURN

49. Start a telecommuting session : LOGON. That's me, most mornings. Not this morning - doing the Burbank - SFO commute with United. They were nice enough to upgrade me to First too. I  ♥ UAL.

50. Advisory body : BOARD

53. Puppet : PAWN

54. Put-act link : ON AN

55. Designer label initials : DKNY. Donna Karan, New York.

57. Evil computer of film : HAL "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that".

58. NW state : IDA -ho.

59. Court : WOO

Here's the grid with the circles for those of you missing then, and that's going to do it for me.

Steve

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear JD, who's been with the blog since she retired from her teaching job in 2008. JD and her husband Bob live very close to her two daughters and their family.  This picture was taken in 2014 when Dylan turned one.

Front Row (Left to Right: Grady & his dad Derek; Truman (Grady's big brother) & mom Corie; Dylan and mom Shelby; Cameron (Dylan's big brother) and dad Joe.

Back Row: Proud grandparents JD & Bob.

Thursday, June 11, 2015 Danny Reichert

Theme: "Chapter and Verse"

Without the reveal, would you have associated the clues with their answers?
32. Words creditors don't want to hear ... or what each starred clue is with reference to its answer :
CHAPTER ELEVEN.

The title of Chapter 11 for each book in the answer, becomes the clue:
16. *"Finds Print of Man's Foot on the Sand" : ROBINSON CRUSOE. I was pretty sure we were looking for this book, but wasn't sure how the clue related to it.

23. *"Wendy's Story" : PETER PAN. Again, I was pretty sure this was a reference to PETER PAN.

46. *"Nightgown" : MOBY DICK. I got waylaid here, thinking it might be about Scrooge. But "A Christmas Carol" wouldn't fit!

53. *"What I Heard in the Apple Barrel" : TREASURE ISLAND. Never read that one, so this one relied mostly on perps.

I believe this is Danny's LAT debut.  He gave us a very difficult Thursday, with some tough crossings and new words. But I got 'er done without any help, so I'm a happy camper. Welcome aboard!


Across

1. Protective garment : SMOCK. I knew enough to check perps before blithely filling in "apron."

6. Nothing like wetlands : ARID.

10. New car stat : MPG. Miles Per Gallon. I couldn't get MSRP out of my head for the longest time.

13. One of four men who managed both the Mets and Yankees : TORRE. Joe TORRE was only briefly a player-manager for the Mets in 1977. The other three were Yogi Berra, Casey Stengel and Dallas Green. (Yeah, right - I totally didn't look that up...)

14. "Eva __": Isabel Allende novel : LUNA. I finished "Girl On the Train" yesterday, and really enjoyed it.  (Did you break down and invest, CanadianEh?)  So, I'm looking for my next read, and think I have to add this one to the list.

15. JFK datum : ARR.ival

19. __ were : AS IT.

20. Excited exclamation : OH! OH!

21. Actress Katey : SAGAL. She played Gemma on "Sons of Anarchy." You may also know her as Peg Bundy from "Married...With Children."

25. Jai alai ball : PELOTA. And the basket is called the "cesta."

26. Arena sounds : RAHS.

27. Foretells : HERALDS.

28. "Psych" finale? : OSIS. PsychOSIS.

30. Is for more than one? : ARE.

31. Moneyed : FAT. As in, "FAT cat." Mine aren't moneyed...they're just FAT.

37. Here, in Havana : ACÁ. Ouch¡ I wanted Aquí. Cuban Spanish.


38. Magic show prop : HAT.

39. Soggy ground : MIRE. The noun form of the word.

40. Like campsites, at times : FIRELIT.

43. Rhett's last word : DAMN.

45. Tops : APEXES.

50. Wednesday Addams portrayer of film : RICCI. Christina, of "The Addams Family."

51. 1998 Australian Open winner Korda : PETR. Awful crossing here.  I bet more than a few people never heard of this guy and the obscure 44-Down. Dugout shelter : ABRI.  Petr's daughter is a successful pro golfer on the LPGA tour.

52. Popular berry : ACAI.

56. ISP biggie : AOL.

57. Ship protected by Hera : ARGO.

58. Ripped at the gym : TONED.

59. Many Sam Goody sales : LPs.

60. It hits the nail on the head : PEEN. Good clue for a crossword staple.

61. "Nope!" : NOT SO.


Down

1. Pump part, perhaps : STRAP. The shoe, not the tire inflater.

2. Maine flag image : MOOSE. "Dirigo" means "I lead."

3. Curved path : ORBIT.

4. Measures : CRITERIA.

5. One of a toydom pair : KEN. Hoo boy, I'm getting old. My first thought was "Ann." (Raggedy Ann and Andy.)

6. Words heard coming and going : ALOHAS.

7. Extended sentence : RUN-ON.

8. Creep : INCH. Move slowly, not the shady looking guy at the playground.

9. Patriotic org. : DAR. Daughters of the American Revolution.

10. __ chai: spiced tea : MASALA.

11. Woods, e.g. : PRO GOLFER. I entered the answer without thinking twice.

12. Marmaduke of the comics is one : GREAT DANE.

17. Jr. preceder : SOPH.omore and junior.

18. Notebook owner : USER.

22. "__ call!" : LAST. Tinbeni's least favorite phrase?

24. Rough file : RASP.

25. Strip : PEEL.

27. Central Eur. power until 1806 : HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

28. __ lobe: brain area : OCCIPITAL. Ouch, I wonder how many knew this off the top of their brain?

29. What tenant farmers do : SHARECROP. Exactly what it says - they share crops with the owner of the land.

30. It's "not what you see, but what you make others see": Degas : ART. Inferable.

33. "What I'm holding ..." : THIS.

34. Wear away : EAT.

35. Award since 1949 : EMMY.

36. Indian curry dish : VINDALOO. I wonder if Cindy Lou Who likes VINDALOO.

37. Where some worship from : AFAR.

41. Rises to the top : EXCELS.

42. One of a pair of sci-fi twins : LEIA. Wouldn't ya know, I had the "L" in place and went with Luke at first. Of "Star Wars" fame.

43. Spoil rotten : DOTE ON.

46. Construction area sign : MERGE.

47. "Sorry, impossible" : I CAN'T.

48. Props for Astaire : CANES. Here's a routine I bet you have never seen him perform. (The original dance routine was to the tune "Puttin' on the Ritz.") 4:14

49. Buddy : KIDDO.

51. Word with luck or gold : PURE.

54. Easy mark : SAP.

55. Penn, e.g.: Abbr. : STN. Station.

The End.
Marti