Thursday December 10, 2020 David Distenfeld

 Greetings!

The themers for today's puzzle are word pairs: the first an anagram of the second, the second an animal of some sort:

17A. *Bovine that doesn't waste words?: TERSE STEER.  He doesn't chew his cud twice ...

 24A. *Dog that had a few too many?: LOOPED POODLE.  Here's lickin' at ya kids. Hic! 

 34A. *Sheep that can't see over the pasture wall?: WEE EWE.  She's so wee that we can't even see her.

 41A. *Insect that caught some rays?: TAN ANT. I thought this guy was one of the latest regenerations of Dr. Who. Here he is with his sonic screwdriver, a must have for MacGyvers. I betcha Anon-T would love to add one of those to his toolkit!

48A. *Weasel-family critter wearing clothes?: GARBED BADGER. Badgers, like skunks, are members of the family Mustelidae and distant relatives of 18D.

And  the reveal: 60A. Leave one's car unlawfully ... or where you might expect to find the creatures in the answers to starred clues?: DOUBLE PARK. This is one of the many ways to park illegally, but perhaps one of the potentially most serious, especially if the blocked vehicle belongs to an on call EMT.  I get the DOUBLE in the first half of the answer, but I'm MIA on PARK.  Ants  and badgers perhaps, but not steers and poodles (except maybe on a leash).

 The rest of the clues:

Across:

1. Arizona locale for MLB spring training fans: MESA . And here's where the fans sit, in Hohokam Stadium. Named for the Hohokam Indians, a tribe indigenous to the Mesa area. They were an agricultural society, known for building extensive networks of irrigation canals. They prospered in this area until their civilization was destroyed by a great drought in the mid 15th century.

 

5. __ breath: bouquet filler: BABY'S.

10. Human rights lawyer Clooney: AMAL.  Rosemary's niece-in-law.

14. Enthusiastic: AVID.

15. Crush the final: ACE IT.

16. Nosh: BITE.

19. Class struggle?: EXAM.

20. Court events: TRIALS.

21. Glitz: GLAM.

23. Central Park tree: ELM

27. Approach evening: LATEN.  I thought this was a language?

30. __ Canadiens: Montréal team: LES.

31. Stenographer's stat: WPM.

32. Big Ten sch.: OSU.

33. "I __ had!": WAS.

37. Choice cut: SIRLOIN.  Shouldn't that be "Soreloin?" Ouch!

40. Fair treat: CORN DOG.

42. Scatter, as seed: SOW.

43. Having one sharp: ING.  IIRC the same an an A Flat. CSO to any musicians out there ...?

44. Morning hrs.: AMS

45. Downed: ATE

46. Tests for future OBs: MCATS.

52. 2019 event for Pinterest, briefly: IPO.  Well picture that!

53. Legal wrong: TORT.  Scrumptious...

54. Ultimatum words: OR ELSE.

58. Border: ABUT.  Politer synonyms: tush, keister, derriere.

62. Mudville number: NINE.

63. Exclusive, as a community: GATED.  Also an internet routing protocol, for all you Linux geeks.

64. Pop singer Sands: EVIE.

65. "Meet the Press" moderator: TODD.

66. Perfect places: EDENS.  In Xwds EDENS are always depicted as "perfect", but I think there was a snake in the grass there (or in a tree maybe).

67. Talk back to: SASS.  When you're a little kid this is a great way to get your ivories cleaned with Ivory soap.

Down:

1. "The Simpsons" creator Groening: MATT.  Has anybody seen this? I watched it only when it was used to close the old Tracey Ullman Show and then lost track of it. I'm familiar with a lot of the characters though because the show is virally mnemic, especially in Xwd puzzles. I hear it's pretty funny.

2. "Did you __?!": EVER.  I haven't lived long enough yet.

3. iPhone assistant: SIRI.  Ssh. I hear she might be listening!

4. Source of website revenue: AD SALE.

5. Low voice: BASSO.  Very profundo.

6. Take steps: ACT.

7. Disco trio with a Grammy Legend Award: BEE GEES.  Another CSO to Anon-T.

8. Cedes the floor: YIELDS.

9. Guitar band: STRAP.  CSO to HuskerGary who told the funny story about his guitar strap breaking while he was performing at a friend's wedding?

10. Prez on a penny: ABE.

11. Eclectic art technique: MIXED MEDIA.

12. In the least: AT ALL.  Or a bar order, particularly for a double shot of whiskey?

13. "I wanna!": LEMME.

18. SpaceX CEO Musk: ELON. see 48A.

22. Links machine: MOWER.  Our lawn tractor is on the blink and Dw has been keeping the lawn trimmed with a hand mower, as YT is now "too busy" to do it.

25. Have in mind: PLAN.  IMHO planning is a lost art.

26. Links event: OPEN.  I don't watch much sports on TV, but I do find watching golf to be very relaxing.

27. Without a clue: LOST.  Welcome to a large and growing group.

28. Bangkok locale: ASIA.

29. React to a missed exit: TURN AROUND.

33. Clever one: WIT.

34. "Holy moly!": WOW.  A mincing of the phrase "holy Moses", popularized in the 1940s by the character Captain Marvel in the DC Comics' comic book of the same name.

35. Habit: WONT.

36. Breakfast fare: EGGS.

38. Moussaka meat: LAMB.  See 34A.  The absolutely best thing to make with eggplants. We had a bumper crop this year.

39. Start: ONSET.

40. Like some dorms: COED.

42. Law: STATUTE.

45. Visiting Vietnam, say: ABROAD.

46. Scant: MERE.  Also a French Mama.

47. Breakfast fare: CREPES.  46D's make them a lot.

48. Colossal: GIANT.  I read recently that some archaeologists now believe that Goliath wasn't nearly as tall as his press agents claimed him to be.

49. Sitcom set in a H.S. science class: AP BIO.  Didn't have these back in the day. Did take advanced biology with Mr. Pottler though.  Great teacher.

50. Duck: DODGE.

51. Desired medals: GOLDS.

55. Etna output: LAVA.

56. Hindu titles: SRIS.

57. Scrapes (out): EKES.  As opposed to "eeks", freaks out.

59. "Ideas worth spreading" conference: TED.  Well, some ideas anyway.

61. Folds of music: BEN.

Here's the grid:

I thank you all for coming, and as this is my first outing I thank CC for inviting me to the party, and for MalMan, Moe, TTP, and Anon-T for keeping me from drowning in the puns bowl.

 

waseeley, but you can call me Bill.

Notes from C.C.:

1) I'm very pleased to tell you that Bill (waseeley) has agreed to join our team. He'll share the Thursday blogging duties with Joseph. Here's Bill, whose grandson Ray is from Harbin, China.

 

2) Here is Ðave, who has corrected many mistakes in my blog write-ups over the years. This picture was taken yesterday. Tell us why you start with a special Ð!

Monday September 21, 2020 David Distenfeld

Theme: Three's Company - 

17. Red bonus square on the Scrabble board: TRIPLE WORD SCORE.

26. Serious injury for a firefighter: THIRD-DEGREE BURN.

47. 1975 made-for-TV horror anthology starring Karen Black: TRILOGY OF TERROR.

61. Appetizer-entrée-dessert serving: THREE- COURSE MEAL.

Boomer here. Congratulations on David Distenfeld's LA Times debut.

As you read this, I am probably playing in my golf league. It is a nine hole par THREE course and I occasional score a par THREE on one of the holes. Two weeks ago I had a THIRD par by the fourth hole.  Bur last week I suffered two TRIPLE bogeys.  There were a few TRIPLE bogeys at Winged Foot over the weekend at the 2020 U.S. Open.

Across:

 

1. New York deli namesake Willy: KATZ.

 

 

5. Nobel __: PRIZE.  I believe the PRIZE fund for the above mentioned U.S. Open was 53 Million Dollars with Three Million to the winner. 

10. Pack of cards: DECK.  I played many games of bridge with my co-workers years ago.  We changed to a fresh deck several times per month.

14. Wind instrument: OBOE.  I have heard of them but they don't seem to fit in with piano or guitars.

15. "Superbad" co-screenwriter Seth: ROGEN.

16. Pulitzer author Jennifer: EGAN.  Reminds me of the city of Eagan, MN just south of St, Paul near the Minnesota River. 

20. Soak in the tub: BATHE.  I fear that our friends in the Gulf Coast are not needing a tub.

21. Casino wheel: ROULETTE.  I have never liked ROULETTE.  Craps is my favorite table game.

22. Michelle of "Crazy Rich Asians": YEOH.

25. Sleep acronym: REM.  Sorry, I generally have to get up and use the toilet before the Rapid Eye Movement takes over.

34. Go bad: ROT.

35. Brazilian mountain chain: SERRA.  Huge mountains.  I do not think they are populated however.  No Covid risk there.

36. Pop star whose name used to be spelled with a dollar sign: KESHA.  Singer who had a contract with Kemosabe records.  Do people buy records anymore ?? 

37. Army outfit: UNIT.  We generally referred to our Army UNITS as Companies. 

39. Particulars, informally: DEETS.

41. DEA bust: RAID.  Target has roach killer by the same name.

42. "What a shame": SO SAD.  Prayers for Abejo from me and all of us.

44. Descendant: SCION.

46. Ending with hero or alp: INE.  Half of a word ?

50. Online guffaw: LOL.  A lot of on line acronyms are pretty tired.

51. "Seize the day" acronym: YOLO.  "You Only Live Once'"

52. Dual-purpose: TWO-IN-ONE.  In golf, you cannot get a TWO in ONE shot.

57. Royally named singer with the #1 album "Melodrama": LORDE.

64. Wine bottle date: YEAR.  I do not drink wine.  There does not seem to be a date on my Pepsi can.

65. Divided Asian peninsula: KOREA.  We have been looking at a Hyundai Santa Fe.  I've bought American for over 50 years, but we rented a Santa Fe in Vegas a few years ago and I liked it.  Comments??

66. Happy hour places: BARS.  Sorry but I think the Covid dangers are still too high.

67. Camera part: LENS.

68. Wintry and white: SNOWY.  Yup, I live in Minnesota and in a few months, we will put up with SNOWY.  However it certainly is not as dangerous as the West Coast and the Gulf Coast over the past few weeks. 

69. Geometry class calculation: AREA.  Length times Width.

Down: 

1. "Today" co-anchor Hoda: KOTB.

2. Incantation opener: ABRA.  Kadabra

3. "Nothing __!": "Easy!": TO IT.  Making a par by Rory Mcllroy

4. Gentle breeze: ZEPHYR.

5. Start to fix?: PRE. Prefix.

6. Use oars: ROW.  You would not believe the ROWS of baseball cards that I have sorted.

7. Hunchbacked lab assistant: IGOR.

8. Love, in tennis: ZERO.  Also a private in "Beetle Bailey"

9. Last a long time: ENDURE.

10. Month in which Kwanzaa starts: DECEMBER.  Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat.  Please put a penny in the old man's hat.

11. Four-award acronym: EGOT.  An on deck batter to a strikeout victim.  "What's EGOT"?

12. Golfer's transport: CART.  Yup, every round I play because of the meds I take.  Interesting, this year, every golfer gets his/her own cart because of Covid.  Unless family players.

13. Leg joint: KNEE.  Rah, Rah, Ree, kick 'em in the KNEE.  Rah Rah Rass, Kick 'em in the other knee.

18. __ United: English soccer team: LEEDS.

19. Smooth and glossy: SLEEK.  Chevrolet Corvette.  I cannot afford one.

23. Had too much, briefly: OD'ED.

24. Joan of Arc's crime: HERESY.

26. Put faith in: TRUST. I usually hear it in names of financial institutions.

27. "It's an __ just to be nominated": HONOR.  Lots of HONOR on ballots in every state.  Some old, some new, some red and some blue.

28. Formal "Who's there?" reply: IT IS I.  "IT IS ME" did not fit.

29. Spanish artist El __: GRECO.

30. Okay, as a treaty: RATIFY.

31. Delta rival renamed in 1997: US AIR.  We have not visited an airport since the virus was hatched.  I hope the airlines survive though, we might need them again.

32. Safari beast: RHINO.  RHINO Page is an excellent left handed PBA Bowler.

33. Consumerist Ralph: NADER.  Harvard-educated.  Appeared in the movie "Fun with Dick and Jane".

38. Scorekeepers, at times: TALLIERS.  In bowling the scores are all kept by computers.  

40. Explorer Hernando de ___: SOTO.  I am so old I remember De SOTOs.  A Chrysler product, but I never owned one.

43. Lorna of literature: DOONE.  "I'd fly to the moon, for a Lorna DOONE" !! 

45. Portia de Rossi's "Ally McBeal" role: NELLE.

48. Austrian pistols: GLOCKS.

49. Self-moving vacuum: ROOMBA.  C.C. uses the push style vacuum.  When you live in a four-level townhome, a ROOMBA is not a good idea, unless it can climb stairs.

52. Texter's "Chat soon": TTYL.  "Talk to you Later, Alligator"!!

53. Roller coaster cry: WHEE.  We have a Roller Coaster at our Valley Fair Amusement park.  It's very old and not worth a WHEE.

54. Algerian seaport: ORAN.

55. Midday: NOON.

56. French franc successor: EURO.  Once I bought a bunch on eBay,  I thought they might be worth something someday.  But I think I resold them at face value.

58. Fanny: REAR.

59. Have the nerve: DARE.  My favorite DARE devil was Evel Knievel

60. Lioness of film: ELSA.

62. VCR go-back button: REW.

63. Come out with: SAY.  PLEEZE !!

Boomer