Wednesday, Sept 21, 2016 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Heave-Ho - The first words (all nouns) are all synonyms.

16A. "Good Guys Wear Black" star : CHUCK NORRIS. I only knew him in "Walker, Texas Ranger."

24A. Post-performance celebration : CAST PARTY

36A. Stroke with a wedge : PITCH SHOT. Like this.

51A. Display for lecture illustrations : FLIP CHART

61A. Sofa decor : THROW PILLOW

Boomer here. Live from Minnesota. Home of the 3M Company. Believe it or not, Scotch tape is not made in Scotland. It's made right here in St. Paul.

Boomer at 3M Championship, August 5, 2016

Minnesota is known for 10,000 lakes, and that does not include the ones that eat my golf balls.  I feel a fishing theme in this puzzle.  You CAST your line from your reel.  PITCH the lure into the weed bed.  FLIP the fish into the boat; then THROW it back ... Too small.

Across:       

1. Pour love (on) : DOTE. Maresey Dotes and Doesey dotes ...

5. Sledding spot : SLOPE.  Did not like the clue slopes are for skiing. Hills are for sledding.

10. Work the aisles, slangily : USH. Ush is no word that I've ever heard. Hey I'm a poet and didn't know it.

13. Very familiar with : UP ON

14. Not spontaneous : STAGED

15. Howe'er : THO. Hope you got this with down clues, because I don't get it.

18. Haul to the shop : TOW

19. Sailor's pronoun : HER. I guess this refers to a ship. Why they are all female, I'll never know.

20. Full of energy : ALIVE. Golfer Jim Furyk touts 5 hour energy and he is still alive.

21. Stereotypical Geek Squad employee : NERD

22. Mass-mailing tool : E-LIST. I'm surely on a few of these, my junk mail box is full

27. Went astray : SINNED

29. Pupil's cover : EYELID

30. Drawn-out account : SAGA

31. Not as demanding : EASIER. That's what I am talking about. Better clues would be easier.

35. USN clerk : YEO. Never heard of this - but I was in the US Army

39. Take steps : ACT. Take steps is to walk.  Thespians act.

42. Defiant retort : MAKE ME

43. __-Seltzer : ALKA. Remember Speedy with the funny hat?

47. Touchdown spot : TARMAC. I suppose you wanted people to think "Football". Well football teams fly 10 times per season. 

49. Log-shaped pastry : ECLAIR.  Eau Claire, Wisconsin is about 100 Miles from the Twin Cities.  I suppose you could get an Eclair there.

55. "Siddhartha" author : HESSE.  I'm not good at books. The last one I read was "Harps in the Wind".

56. Charitable gift : ALMS

57. Instagram upload : PHOTO. I don't have Instagram. Facebook upload would be an easier clue for me.

59. "__ matter of fact ... " : AS A. Better clue for me would be Hutchinson Family Singers leader, ___ Hutchinson OR the governor of Arkansas ____ Hutchinson.  (See "Harps in the Wind". Asa Hutchinson was my great great grandfather and founded the town of Hutchinson).

60. Young __: tykes, in dialect : UNs. Too much Beverly Hillbillies watching.

64. Shear (off) : LOP. I recently lopped off my hair. I was starting to look too much like Donald Trump (only thinner and with a smaller mouth).

65. Residences : ABODES

66. __ Romeo : ALFA

67. Onetime rival of Delta : TWA. Founded by Howard Hughes (AKA The hermit at the Desert Inn.) TWA flew from 1925 !! to 2001.  Flight 800 hurt them a lot.

68. Having a key, in music : TONAL

69. Go against : DEFY

  

Down:

 1. Title for Prince William's wife : DUCHESS of Cambridge. See also 17. Prince William's wife : KATE

2. The "thee" in "Get thee to a nunnery" : OPHELIA

3. Seeing the sights : TOURING

4. Letter-bottom letters : ENC. I usually see this as ENCL. Another crossword shortcut I suppose.

5. Dispassionate : STOIC. NFL often used this adjective to describe former Vikings coach Bud Grant. Now nearing 90, did you see him blow the big horn at US Bank Stadium Sunday night?

6. Cocoon contents : LARVA.  These are ugly.  Some use them for bait to catch panfish.

7. Ungentle giants : OGRES. They live under bridges and under kids' beds.

8. Shar-__: wrinkly dog : PEI.  I never saw a wrinkly dog, I never hope to see one.  But I can tell you anyhow, "I'd rather see than be one".

9. Paper staff, briefly : EDS. some of these three letter answers are starting to look like abbreviations for illness or drugs.

10. Downright : UTTERLY

11. Skimpy nightgown : SHORTIE.  If you say so.  Spellcheck says it's a word,  I would spell it Shorty, but then it would screw up the puzzle.

12. Folksy greeting : HOWDY DO. I may have heard Barney Fife of Mayberry say this.

14. NBC skit show broadcast from 30 Rock : SNL. Another drug abbreviation. Many people are hooked on this show.

21. Scottish isle denial : NAE. I always thought it was "NAY".  But ask a Scot if they make Scotch Tape and he will say NAE. 

23. Finger-clicking sound : SNAP. Also a really good Ginger cookie.

25. A little laughter : TEE HEE

26. Prefix with technic : PYRO. I've always liked the pyrotechnics at Comiskey and US Cellular Field. I hope the White Sox will continue the explosions at Guaranteed Rate Stadium.

28. Unhook, say : DETACH

32. "Crikey!" : ACK.  Now this really makes no sense.

33. Sailor's pronoun : SHE. There's the ship again

34. Doctrinal suffix : ISM

37. Desktop with an AppleCare option : iMAC

38. "Canterbury" story : TALE

39. Guilty : AT FAULT

40. "Operators are standing by!" : CALL NOW.  I dislike TV commercials that beg you to call. 

41. Bygone weight-loss pills : TRIMSPA. People were duped by Fen Phen. If you want TrimSpa I guess you have to call now - Operators are standing by.  There's a reason this stuff is not sold at stores.

44. French explorer who named Louisiana : LA SALLE

45. Rude dismissal, in slang : KISS-OFF

46. Passage between buildings : AREAWAY. This could also be viewed and clued as ARE AWAY.  (On Vacation ??)

48. AWOL seekers : MPS.  Military Police, Not a drug.

50. Kenneth __, portrayer of Judge Lance Ito in "The People v. O.J. Simpson" : CHOI. Korean surname.

52. Baker's protection : APRON. Or concrete at the end of your driveway.

53. Valerie Harper sitcom : RHODA. Great show. Rhoda got her start on the Mary Tyler Moore epic sitcom - staged in Minneapolis.

54. Item draped on a rack : TOWEL

58. Scout gps. : TPS. Sorry, I have noooo idea what this is. Troops???

61. Skin pic : TAT. Tattoo.

 

62. "True Detective" network : HBO

63. Stripling : LAD

Sunday, August 28th, 2016, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: WARM RECEPTION

The lovely pairing of Don and C.C. never wears out its WELCOME and today they present us with a  very entertaining Sunday puzzle where the word WELCOME can be an ADDITION to each of the last words of eight phrases to make another phrase. Their gimmick is revealed in:

119. Breath of fresh air ... or, literally, what the last word of eight long Across answers can be : WELCOME ADDITION - This is what Lily has been to us two empty-nesters!

23. Town gathering place : COMMUNITY CENTER - WELCOME CENTER. You're in the Army now...

29. Bathroom safety feature : SHOWER MAT - WELCOME MAT for Henry Hill at end of Goodfellas 

45. Gardener's purchase : SEED PACKET - The WELCOME PACKET - What each new prisoner gets from the Federal Bureau of Prisons

55. Fixture on many a cattle drive : CHUCK WAGON - 1956 edition of the WELCOME WAGON in Richmond, Indiana 

70. Purpose of some government credits : TAX RELIEF - WELCOME RELIEF provided by a squirrel chiropractor 

84. Astrological sector : ZODIAC SIGN - A very famous WELCOME SIGN

93. Hidden : OUT OF SIGHT - A WELCOME SIGHT in many "oaters"

109. Source of many breaking stories : YAHOO NEWS - WELCOME NEWS - It's gonna end in 71 days!

Across

1. "Thunderstruck" band : AC/DC

5. Alberta resort town : BANFF

10. Heavenly spheres : ORBS

14. Caps' partners : GOWNS

19. Manhattan or Queens, briefly : BORO - Borough

20. City NW of Orlando : OCALA

21. Bryan's "Breaking Bad" role : WALT - Suiting up to cook some meth for altruistic reasons

22. Formed for a specific purpose : AD HOC

26. Dough : MOOLA

27. Bombards with bogus offers : SPAMS

28. One of a toon septet : DOPEY

31. Highway deterrent : RADAR - They got me for doing 39 mph in a 30 mph zone last week but I kept my hands on the wheel, was very respectful, took full responsibility and got off with a warning

33. Arabian Peninsula port : ADEN

35. Acidity levels: Abbr. : PH'S

36. Pennant trio? : ENS - PENNANT

37. Sherpa's domain: Abbr. : MTN - A human pack mule

38. Ivory or Coast : SOAP

40. Lions' homes : DENS

43. "Eureka!" : AHA

48. Witch's familiar, maybe : CAT - I got CAT incidentally and then went to the web to find out what the heck this is - A familiar or familiar spirit is a supernatural being that helps and supports a witch or magician. In western culture this is usually a black CAT. 

49. Shtick figures : COMICS

53. Coastal flier : ERN

54. Eurasian capital : ANKARA - The capital in this capital is the Turkish Lira

57. Jet with suits? : CESSNA - This $23.6M Cessna Citation can hold 12 "suits"

59. Eastern way : TAO

61. Remains in the cooler : DOES TIME

62. "You're on!" : ITS A DEAL

66. Cardinal, e.g. : BIRD

67. Some NASA missions : EVA'S -Extra Vehicular Activities are just that - ACTIVITIES that occur outside the space craft during a NASA mission. Nit, nit, nit...

68. Fleeces : ROBS

72. Artist's choices : HUES

73. Bamboozle : DUPE

74. Teased : RODE

75. Retail focus : CONSUMER

77. "Priest" in a Nash poem : ONE-L LAMA

79. Runway retiree of '03 : SST

80. Cantaloupe cousin : CASABA - I can never discern much taste to them

86. Disc golf starting point : TEE PAD

90. Friend of Harry : RON - No clue on Harry Potter characters but it filled itself in

91. Guarantee : ENSURE

92. Place to see a facial mask : SPA

95. Bummed : SAD

96. K follower : MART

98. Acting opportunity : ROLE - Guess who was the first choice for the ROLE of Forrest Gump

99. __ Spiegel: German magazine : DER - The Mirror

100. Attention that can help healing, briefly : TLC

103. Kettle cover : LID - An idiot who looks like me once made popcorn in a kettle sans LID. 

105. Titicaca, por ejemplo : LAGO - El LAGO Titicaca se encuentra entre Perú y Bolivia (Lake Titicaca is located between Peru and Bolivia)

107. Bacon with six degrees? : KEVIN

113. Italian-born three-time Oscar winner : CAPRA - It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town and You Can't Take It With You

115. Night fliers : MOTHS

118. It helps when picking up : PRONG

122. Rice/Lloyd Webber musical : EVITA

123. Sheikh, e.g. : ARAB

124. "__ Fire": Denzel Washington movie : MAN ON - 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. "Shamelessly manipulative and sadistically violent", said one critic

125. Visiting the Getty Mus., say : IN LA

126. Business bigwig : BARON

127. Workout stat : REPS

128. Santa __ racetrack : ANITA

129. Training locale : CAMP


Down

1. Basics : ABC'S

2. Joint venture : CO-OP

3. Boots brand with Bouncing Soles : DR MARTENS - DOC MARTENS didn't fit

4. Charge : COMMAND - The most infamous Charge COMMAND in American history?

5. "___ voyage!" : BON

6. Heavy metal relative : ACID ROCK - There's just something wrong about hearing The London Philharmonic playing Light My Fire.

7. Brussels-based defense gp. : NATO

8. Pest control device : FLY PAPER

9. Confronted : FACED

10. Beat year after year after year ... : OWN

11. "Phooey!" : RATS

12. "This is disgusting!" : BLEH

13. Sharpening tool : STROP - Can you spot the one in this picture?

14. Many unscripted programs : GAME SHOWS

15. Gas additive, perhaps : ODOR

16. Incredulous response : WHO ME? 

17. Pitching legend Ryan : NOLAN - A punching expert too!

18. Improvises with nonsense syllables : SCATS

24. Amer. currency : USD

25. Set one's sights on : EYED

30. Hit hard : WHACKED

32. Yoga poses : ASANAS

34. Maker of Candy Buttons : NECCO - The Candy Shoppe at the New England Confectionary COrporation in Revere, MA

37. Little more than : MERE

39. Preceder of an alt. name : AKA

41. "I'm gonna pass" : NAH

42. Schoolwork : STUDIES

44. Dabblers : AMATEURS - Ed McMahon always told Johnny that drinking on New Year's Eve was for AMATEURS

45. Short time : SEC

46. Short breaths : PANTS

47. Turkic Russian : TATAR

50. "Enough already!" : I GIVE - Tap Out today

51. Deep sleeps : COMAS

52. Mario Paint console, initially : SNES - Can you read Super Nintendo Entertainment System?

56. Greek vacation isle : CORFU

58. Composer with a Helsinki academy named for him : SIBELIUS - Born in  Hämeenlinnain 1865 and died in Järvenpää   in 1957

60. Smart guys? : ALECS

63. Basic matter : ATOMS and 82. Nobelist who developed a model for 63-Down : BOHR - I taught the BOHR ATOM for years

64. Arp's school : DADAISM

65. Palindromic file extension : EXE

66. Storage unit : BIN

68. Talk nonstop : RUN ON

69. Pro-and-con newspaper pair, perhaps : OPEDS

71. Powerball, e.g. : LOTTO

72. Flip side? : HEADS

73. Catch a few z's : DOZE

74. Entered quickly : RACED IN - What are heroic first responders did when others ran from the Trade Center Buildings

76. VirusScan developer : MCAFEE

78. "60 Minutes" correspondent : LARA LOGAN

79. Traffic tangle : SNARL

81. Pope Francis' birthplace : ARGENTINA - A young Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his family in Buenos Aires

83. Sugar bowl visitor : ANT

85. H.S. benchmark : GPA

87. Pole, for one : EUROPEAN

88. WWII venue : ETO

89. Circle in a fabric pattern : POLKA DOT

94. Harebrained : IDIOTIC

97. It's filled and folded : TACO

100. Not exactly high-strung : TYPE-B

101. Tadpole, say : LARVA

102. Group in robes : CHOIR

104. Big name in Scotch : DEWAR

106. __ ray : GAMMA

108. ROTC school near D.C. : VMI - It became co-ed in 1997

110. Not tricked by : ONTO

111. Are no more : WERE

112. "__ That Bass": Gershwin song : SLAP

114. Hindu princess : RANI

116. __ oak: Mediterranean tree : HOLM

117. Start of a gridiron play : SNAP - QB should be on the same page as the center

120. "48 Hours" airer : CBS

121. It might be recombinant : DNA

Any and all are WELCOME to offer any comments:

THE GRID

Thursday, Auguest 18th 2016 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: North-South Defiled - the themers all run down the grid, and the last word can be prefixed by "dirty" as the reveal much more elegantly explains:

9D. Unvarnished ... or like the ends of the answers to starred clues? : DOWN AND DIRTY

4D. *Dramatic gridiron pass : LONG BOMB. Dirty bomb. Nasty concept, this device.

20D. *Put in long hours : WORK LIKE A DOG. Dirty dog. 

What?

24D. *Shopping area loiterer : MALL RAT. Dirty rat. Cagney didn't actually say "You dirty rat", the line was "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat or I'll give it to you through the door" but that's something of a mouthful for a cliché.

39D. *"The Vampire Chronicles" novelist : ANNE RICE. Dirty rice. Food! Traditionally a cajun or creole dish, I had a chinese-fusion version in New York which prominently featured monkfish liver, on of those ingredients you either like ("Yum! Fishy livery stuff!") or don't ("Yeugh! Fishy livery stuff!")

Hail fellows, well met! A nice Thursday-level effort from the popular duo of Don & C.C. The reveal was my final piece of the jigsaw - I couldn't see any connection between the other four themers, and "Unvarnished" is quite an obtuse clue. Unscrupulous, nasty are the definitions that pop into my head. Eventually the crosses helped me unlock it. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Sound check item : AMP. Does anyone ever get up to "three" at the soundcheck? All I've ever heard is "one-two, one-two".

4. Barista offering : LATTE

9. Colon pair : DOTS. Nice. My mental visuals pre-penny-drop were not pretty.

13. Alicia Keys record label : RCA. Didn't even look at this, the crosses filled it in for me.

14. Silver and gold : COLORS. Took a while. The possibilities of MEDALS and SPECIE distracted me,

15. "Now I get it" : OH, OK. Tough one to parse. I had _OH_ and couldn't "unsee" HOHO

16. Large server : URN

17. Lacking energy : ANEMIC. We toss in an unnecessary extra "a" in the UK.

18. Lean and strong : WIRY. Meet Nigel Gruff, the kicker in "The Replacements".

19. VIPs : BIGWIGS

21. Famous : OF NOTE

23. Take in : ABSORB

24. Gibbs of "The Jeffersons" : MARLA

26. Pooh pal : ROO

27. They catch a lot of waves : ANTENNAS. Nice.

31. Ailing : SICK

34. Canasta play : MELD. I've never played canasta, but with the M in place it went straight in. Not sure where I ABSORBED that word.

36. Deleted : X'D OUT. Difficult to do on a computer, not that you need to anyway. You can use strikethoughs though.

37. Do nothing : LOLL

38. Modeling material : BALSA

40. Match.com goal : DATE

41. "Live" sign : ON AIR

43. "__: Legacy": sci-fi sequel : TRON

44. Blue-roofed restaurant chain : IHOP

45. Cosmic payback : BAD KARMA

47. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" airer : NPR. I had NBC originally which slowed me up (or should that be "down") seeing the reveal.

49. Long-plumed fisher : EGRET

50. One of the two : EITHER

54. Photobucket alternative : PICASA. Or as an app sharer in Tijuana might say "Mi Picasa es su Picasa".

57. Ice cream brand introduced in 1866 : BREYERS. It took until 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis for someone to come up with the ice cream cone though.

58. Slugger with the most career grand slam HRs : A-ROD. Didn't hesitate. C.C. would be proud.

59. "Let's hear the story!" : TELL IT! Tried TELL ME! Was wrong.

62. Big D pro : MAV. Dallas Mavericks. The owner, Mark Cuban, is something of a maverick himself. He's a very outspoken critic of what he sees as poor officiating.

63. Helpless? : SOLO. It also crosses my mind that Hope Solo would have felt pretty helpless in the penalty shoot-out against Sweden last week. There's not much you can do when you guess one way and the kicker goes the other.

64. 1805 Beethoven premiere : EROICA. The Third symphony.

65. Egyptian snake : ASP

66. Glitch : SNAG

67. Hang : DRAPE. You can hang drapes, but you can't drape hangs.

68. Early video game letters : NES. Nintendo Entertainment System.

Down:

1. Caribbean vacation spot : ARUBA

2. Fast-food pork sandwich : McRIB.

3. Twinges : PANGS

5. Bass output : ALES. Nice clue. Bass registered the world's first trademark, the red triangle, in 1875.

6. Hiddleston who plays Loki in "Thor" : TOM. Thank you, crosses.

7. Cycle starter : TRI-

8. Motorcycle cop, perhaps : ESCORT. Had to work for this one too. ESC didn't prompt me as quickly as it should have.

10. Largest Mississippi River feeder by volume : OHIO

11. Civil wrong : TORT

12. __ terrier : SKYE

14. Giza neighbor : CAIRO. Close neighbor.

22. Show off, in a way : FLEX.

25. "As a result ... " : AND SO

28. Flood survivor : NOAH

29. Pilot, or a prefix with pilot : AUTO. Pondered this and ... oh! The Honda Pilot. Nice!

30. Escalator part : STEP

31. One who is often disorderly : SLOB

32. New Rochelle college : IONA. Nailed it, finally!

33. Dressed : CLAD

35. Words on Alice's cake : EAT ME

42. Joplin pieces : RAGS. Scott, not Janice. Cue "The Entertainer".

46. Not for kids : R-RATED

48. Mary-in-mourning sculpture : PIETA. We had this a couple of weeks ago clued differently. Handy letter sequence.

51. Stud : HE-MAN

52. Prepare to start over, perhaps : ERASE

53. Answers briefly? : RSVP'S

54. Free ticket : PASS

55. Liver nutrient : IRON

56. Pop : COLA

57. Screen signal : BLIP. This foxed me for a second until - aha! Radar!

60. Make a misstep : ERR

61. Mauna __ : LOA "Long Mountain". Not to be confused with "Wakea's Mountain" - Mauna Kea.

That about wraps it up for me today. Enjoy your Thursdays!

Steve

And heeeeeere's the grid!