Friday, October 28, 2016, Darin McDaniel

Title: How do I parse ? Warlock actor's conjunctions?: JULIAN'S ANDS.

There are 612 people in the US named Darin McDaniel: our Darin McDaniel  had One (1) NYT published puzzle in 2010, a Sunday no less! That PUZZLE (spoiler alert- this has the answers) was a delight. He then had One (1) LAT five years ago that was also a DELIGHT. Today, Darin who went to the same high school as the late great Merl Reagle, found six known entertainers who had last names that both began and ended with the letter "S." He then removed the first S to reveal a new word and paired that with a word that used the removed "S" as a possessive. He then clued the new phrase with wit. I love word play and deception and this was fun, simple once you got the gimmick, and it is a smooth pangram! With 70 spaces used up in the 6 themers, there was not room for much else but we did get ASPIRED, BAPTIZE, ALL WISE, BLUEBIRD and OLD SALTS. If you hate proper names go home now, otherwise hop on for the ride.

17A. "What's My Line?" comedian's craft brewery? : SOUPY'S ALES (10). This old COMIC.

23A. Pop diva's fruit stand? : BRITNEY'S PEARS (13). This DIVA.

30A. American Idol winner's amusement chain? : JORDIN'S PARKS (12). This WOMAN.

39A. Rapper's shopping center properties? : BIGGIE'S MALLS (12). This MAN.

49A. Guitarist's cash register company? : STEPHEN'S TILLS (13). This ROCKER.

59A. "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" comedian's flooring store? : RYAN'S TILES (10). This not old COMIC.

Across:

1. Arafat's successor : ABBAS. lat name clue, last name answer. LINK. More...45D. Syrian ruling family : ASSADS. Some HISTORY.

6. City near Yorba Linda : BREA.

10. Brief responses to common concerns : FAQS. Frequently Asked Questions.

14. Composer of a seven-movement work that excludes Earth : HOLST.  I could recall the PLANETS but not his name.

15. Tach count : REVS. Revolutions measured on your tachometer.

16. "... even now / __ myself to thy direction": "Macbeth" : I PUT.
From overcredulous haste. But G-d above
Deal between thee and me, for even now
I put myself to thy direction and
Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure
The taints and blames I laid upon myself...

19. Sail support : SPAR.

20. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I. A love song?

21. Heifetz's teacher : AUER.

22. Present : HERE.

27. City of northern Spain : OVIEDO. Northern Spain

29. David and Bird : LARRYS. Seinfeld and the Celtics, quite a pair,

34. In a blue state : SAD.

35. Nile reptile : ASP.

36. Corvallis sch. : OSU. In this case, Oregon State University. The Beavers.

45. Equally speedy : AS FAST.

48. Forest bovine : WILD OX. Very popular in the Torah. More Bible, 61A. Número de Mandamientos : DIEZ. The ten Commandments.

53. Collate : SORT. Having copiers that collate was great.

54. Film on water : SCUM. Pond scum anyone?

55. Toddler's drink : WAWA. Bobwa? Not last week's musical clue.

58. Farm opening? : AGRIculture.

62. Frank of 1950s Broadway : ANNE. The PLAY starred Lee Strasberg's daughter Susan.

63. Basketwork fiber : ISTLE. We have had this little used word a few times but not since 2013; it was very popular in the NYT for years. I wonder if AGAVE is used to make a 66A. Jai alai basket : CESTA.

64. Bone-dry : SERE.

65. Hwy. crossings : JCTS. Junctions.


Down:

1. "Understood" : AH SO. For me this is almost a pejorative.

2. Windfall : BOON.

3. Symbol of happiness : BLUEBIRD. My go to...

4. Had ambitions : ASPIRED.

5. Mess : STY.

6. Big name in coffee makers : BRAUN. More famous for their RAZORS, I think.

7. Civil War signature : R. E. LEE.

8. __ other: alternating : EVERY. Maybe we could blog that way.

9. Sancho's "steed" : ASS. Sancho Panza faithful squire to Don Quixote...

10. Pole users : FISHERS. I guess the name comes from people who fish, but don't we really say fishermen (fisherwomen, fisherperson)?

11. Materialize : APPEAR.

12. Slate source : QUARRY. noun: a place, typically a large, deep pit, from which stone or other materials are or have been extracted.

13. Burnout cause : STRESS.

18. Squelched : SAT ON. Ideas or rumors, not people, hopefully

24. Forest's 2006 Oscar-winning role : IDI. He came a long way from A Crying Game and Species

25. 35mm camera option : SLR. Single Lens Reflex.

26. Where the Indus flows: Abbr. : PAKistan.

27. IHOP orders : OJS. Orange Juices.

28. U.S. news source since 1942 : VOA. Voice of America.

31. Slump : SAG.

32. Tire pressure meas. : PSI. Pounds per Square Inch.

33. Parody : APE.

36. Veterans of the briny : OLD SALTS. With 57D. Where to find 36-Down : ASEA.

37. __-pitch : SLO. I think they only use this term in CANADA, so hey EH.

38. Steel giant, as it was known from 1986-2001 : USX. Before that they were known as X.

39. Cleanse spiritually : BAPTIZE. No religion but an ancient rite.

40. Book ending : ISH.

41. Co. merged into Verizon : GTE.

42. Moves in a school : SWIMS. I love this clue, nice and tricky.

43. .001 of an inch : MIL.

44. Omniscient : ALL WISE

46. Cheap smoke : STOGIE.

47. "Cyrano de Bergerac" Best Actor (1950) : FERRER.

50. "Bye Bye Bye" band : NSYNC. They were Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass.

51. Meager : SCANT.

52. iPod contents : TUNES.

56. Shoemaker's strip : WELT. Shoes 101.

59. British rule in India : RAJ.

60. Hold 'em tell, maybe : TIC. We are talking Poker. The WSOP final table starts on this Sunday, 8 Million to the winner.

Well that was over quickly with lots of music; welcome to Fridays Darin. Thank you all for coming to my party. Lemonade out.

Sunday Dec 4, 2011 Darin McDaniel

Theme: "Film Café" -Caffeinated punification of six films.

26A. Mideast eggplant-flavored coffee? : THE PURPLE ROAST OF CAIRO (1985). "The Purple Rose of Cairo". Comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello.

37A. Coffee that unleashes your inner prehistoric beast? : JURASSIC PERK (1993). "Jurassic Park". Science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

53A. With 65-Across, words describing coffee that's almost too smooth? : THE UNBEARABLE. And 65A. See 53-Across : LIGHTNESS OF BEAN. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1984). A philosophical drama directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin. Best work of Milan Kundera.

80A. Coffee lover's paradise? : THE BREW LAGOON. "The Blue Lagoon". A romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser, starring Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins and Leo McKern. It was also a 1949 British film.

95A. Wild West coffee to go? : PONY ESPRESSO. "Pony Express". A western film directed by Jerry Hopper, starring Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming and Jan Sterling.

105A. Coffee with a spot in "Guinness World Records"? : THE GREATEST JOE ON EARTH
"The Greatest Show on Earth". A drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, starring James Stewart, Charlton Heston and Betty Hutton. (The first movie Argyle remembers seeing.)

C.C. & Argyle co-blogging today.

My computer is sick and slow. Badly needed Argyle's help. I like how the coffee puns are narrowed down to films only, making the theme much tighter.

From Argyle: This is our constructor's debut in LA Times. He had his first NY Times Sunday last December. Until I caught on to the theme, this was giving me fits. After sussing the theme, it gave me fits of laughter. I'm a sucker for a good pun. The themeage prevented any big stacking of words but it did produce a pangram.

Across:

1. Carpal tunnel site : WRIST

6. Break down : SOB

9. Former Kiss guitarist Frehley : ACE. The Lead guitarist. Image of Space Ace.

12. Convention label : ID TAG

17. Get on (it) : HOP TO

18. Express lane unit : ITEM. "14 Items or less".

20. Instapundit, e.g. : BLOG. Instapundit is a political blog produced by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee.

21. Singer Bryson : PEABO. R&B singer.

22. And the following, in footnotes : ET SEQ. Latin: Et sequens (of sequential things).

23. Princess who battled Callisto : XENA

24. Singer k.d. : LANG. Her Hallelujah is so good.

25. Brilliance : ECLAT

30. Hopeful lover's pickings : PETALS. "She loves me, she loves me not."

31. Reebok rival : NIKE

32. Push (through) : RAM

33. At this point : HERE

36. "Baudolino" novelist : ECO (Umberto)

42. Reminiscent of : ALA

43. Terse reproof : TSK

44. Año part : MES. Spanish for MONTH (121. Date opener)

45. Litigates : SUES

46. Scot's refusal : NAE

47. Transitional state : LIMBO

49. Pallid : WAN

50. "It's __!": speakeasy warning : A RAID. Wiki said Speakeasy is also called "Blind pig". New to me. I participated in a few raids. Exciting and scary.

52. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit : ADIA

57. Swear : ATTEST

59. Belted out : SUNG

60. Et __ : ALII. Masculine formation.

61. Reynolds Wrap maker : ALCOA. Dow-30.

64. Augurs : BODES

69. Conservative : STAID

72. "All I gotta do __ naturally": Beatles lyric : IS ACT

73. Area 51 phenomena : UFOs

74. Tolkien tree creatures : ENTS

78. Is unable to : CAN NOT

83. Help on the way up : RUNG

84. Rival of Paris : ROMEO. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Count Paris is a suitor of Juliet Capulet.

87. Leb. neighbor : ISR

88. "We Got Us" Grammy winner, 1960 : GORME(Eydie)

89. Altar constellation : ARA. Southern constellation.

90. Red, perhaps : RIPE

91. Jack's predecessor : IKE. Eisenhower/Kennedy.

92. Madhouse : ZOO

94. W.'s degree : MBA. W is the only US president with MBA. Harvard Business School in 1975.

99. Etymologist's ref. : OED (Oxford English Dictionary)

100. 1985 Cher film : MASK. Biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz.

101. Commonly, to Coleridge : OFT

102. Nobelist Pavlov : IVAN. Famous Russian physiologist. 1904 award Physiology or Medicine.

103. Old manuscript copier : SCRIBE. Real old.

113. Palin's "Going __" : ROGUE

114. Prong : TINE

115. Regrettably : ALAS

116. Swelling : EDEMA

117. Asteroid group named for a love god : AMORs. Named after Amor obviously.

118. Change for a five : ONEs

119. It may drop down : MENU. Computer "Drop down menu". Like the File, Edit, View, History in your Firefox/IE browser.

120. Flying movie monster : RODAN

122. Ballclub VIP : MGR

123. Mil. decoration : DSM (Distinguished Service Medal)

124. Duke's era : SWING. "Duke" Ellington, pianist, and big band leader. I hope we get some nice links today.

Down:

1. Sharpen : WHET

2. Van Halen's David Lee __ : ROTH

3. __ dixit : IPSE. Literally"he himself said it", asserted but not proved.

4. Treeless plain : STEPPE. In Siberia.

5. Chef's hat : TOQUE

6. Abs paragon : SIX PACK

7. Verdi opera with Desdemona : OTELLO. Based on Shakespeare's play.

8. Elaine's last name on "Seinfeld" : BENES. Made billions in reruns.

9. It's east of the Bering Strait : ALASKA

10. Italian noblewoman : CONTESSA. Who doesn't like Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa?

11. Brand originally called Froffles : EGGO. "Let go of my Froffle!"

12. Medicinal syrups : IPECACs

13. Pull up stakes : DECAMP

14. Anklebones : TALI. Plural of talus.

15. "This guy walks into __ ..." : A BAR

16. Attend : GO TO

19. Deface : MAR

20. British prime minister before Brown : BLAIR (Tony)

27. GPS options: Abbr. : RTEs

28. Heavy load : ONUS

29. Peanuts character with "naturally curly hair" : FRIEDA

33. Stops : HALTS

34. Friend of Job : ELIHU. No idea. My knowledge on Bible is very shaky.

35. Nagano noodles : RAMEN

37. Malone of "Saved!" : JENA. The little girl in "Stepmom".

38. __ generis: unique : SUI. Literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics.

39. Was over : ENDED

40. Bring up : RAISE

41. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" poet : KEATS

43. Heavy load : TON

44. Steep before cooking : MARINATE

48. Moose mating activity : BUGLING. Ever marinate a moose?

49. Stays put : WAITS

50. Shakespeare title starter : ALLS. "All's Well That Ends Well".

51. Contingency plan : RECOURSE

52. Simultaneously : AT ONE GO

54. Strong suit, slangily : BAG

55. K-12 : EL-HI (Elementary-High School).

56. Tack together : BASTE. Ever baste a moose?

58. TV schedule abbr. : TBA

62. Part of OBO : OFFER. OBO= Or Best Offer

63. Words after take or tie : A BOW

66. Wedding promise : I DO. May our husbands and boyfriends never meet!

67. Repeat : ECHO

68. Immigrant's subj. : ESL (English as a Second Language)

69. Discard : SCRAP

70. Bull: Pref. : TAURO. We've had this entry before.

71. Boutros-Ghali's successor : ANNAN (Kofi). Served as the seventh Secretary-General. Succeeded by Ban Ki-moon.

75. Roe v. Wade plaintiff McCorvey : NORMA (Rae). She filed as Jane Roe; Henry Wade represented the State of Texas.

76. Resting places : TOMBS. Rather final, eh?

77. Play with no hand-off : SNEAK. By the quarterback in football.

79. Melancholy, in Metz : TRISTE. Sad. French.

81. 1960s-'70s anti-apartheid activist Steve : BIKO. Died in police custody, South Africa.

82. Earlier : AGO

85. Not in favor: Abbr. : OPP

86. Worthy of : MERITING

90. Update, as a web page : REFRESH

91. Exists no more : ISN'T

92. Like a game in which wins equal losses : ZERO SUM. Stumped me last time.

93. Anthony Hopkins's "Thor" role : ODIN

96. Probiotic snack : YOGURT. Good bacteria.

97. Leveling tool : EVENER. Weak clue regarding what a evener does. It is used in harnessing equipment to a horse or horses so it is pulled evenly, in a sense, on the same level.

98. Wedding invite encls. : SASEs

99. Vast amounts : OCEANS

100. Lea : MEADOW. Hey, LEA is often the answer.

103. Did a cobbler's job : SOLED. Did not know SOLE can be a verb.

104. Stouts, e.g. : BEERS

105. Rail transport : TRAM. Or cable transport.

106. "Ecce __": Pilate : HOMO

107. Austrian expressionist Schiele : EGON (1890 - 1918). I googled his work, quite erotic.

108. Tiny power source : ATOM

109. __ session : JAM

110. Quick, in trade names : REDI

111. Agt. under Ness : T-MAN

112. Display, in a way : HANG

Answer grid.

C.C & Argyle