Friday, October 12, 2018, Ed Sessa

Title: Sub-chapter C? No, we need an S Corporation to solve this.

One of the many very successful constructors who emerged since we moved to the LAT, Dr. Sessa, a pediatrician presents us with his 86th LAT to go along with 36 NYT publications, hitting for the cycle in both venues. My first time blogging him was the same day his INTERVIEW with C.C. was published in 2011. Today we have a very simple and getable theme, merely adding a cedilla. It is a mark ( ¸ ) written under the letter c, especially in French, to show that it is pronounced like an "s" rather than a "k" (e.g., façade ). Here we just change the C to S. As Ed said in his interview, he wants to amuse and to make the theme an aha moment. I saw the theme with BRISK LAYER which made the solve much easier. As a seasoned professional, he adds a variety of sparkly fill. ACTUALLY, BATH SOAP,  COROLLAS,  DIAMETER,  OVERLAPS, and SHIMMIES. The themers-

17A. Eggs-uberant hen?: BRISK LAYER (10). My Uncle Harold taught BRICK laying in trade school. The clue is funny to me.

24A. Loon, at times?: DUSK CALLER (10). The change from DUCK caller would not help unless you know Loons (the official bird of the Corner) was famous for its night CALLING.

36A. Do some '80s Sochi sunbathing?: BASK IN THE USSR (13). This 1968 Beatles song -BACK IN THE USSR - is repurposed with memories of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

49A. Hitchhiking and texting?: THUMB TASKS (10). Thumb TACKS and hitchhiking are not as popular as they used to be, but it is amazing how fast young people maneuver their thumbs while texting. 

59A. What young elephants do for fun?: NIP AND TUSK (10). The first known usage of 'nip and TUCK' comes from the Arkansas Times and Advocate, August 1838: "It will be a close race in this county - Tully and Cummins, nip and tuck; and I don't know which will have it." 

The rest-

Across:

1. "Ta-ta!": SEE YA. I like this expression.

6. Kaput: SHOT.

10. Musical ending: CODA. JzB can say more about this as the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure

14. Ready for the operation: UNDER. The anesthesia.

15. Dance that may involve a chair: HORA. This is back again! Let's dance. We had a great Simchat Torah party this year with lots of dancing. It is not often you get to dance with a 99-year-old wonder , I was the one with the cane.

16. "Amores" poet: OVID. Publius Ovidius Naso, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. LINK.

19. Like used books: READ. Well-read I hope.




20. __ Xtra: cherry soda brand: PIBB.
No longer Mr. Pibb. I wonder if Dr. Pepper is next.

21. Apple on a desk: IMAC.

22. Word with ring or book: WORM. Sounds like a puzzle theme.

23. Rights org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.

27. Butler on a plantation: RHETT. Not the one who opens the door but the one who doesn't give a damn.

29. Like Colbert's show: ON LATE.

30. Kiss: SMOOCH.

35. Summit: APEX. Or acme.

40. "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer: BACH.

41. Taking medication: DOSING. Does he mean taking LSD? I know he is trained, medical man.

42. Final flight destinations?: ATTICS. Wonderful clue.

44. Kitchen shelf array: HERBS.

54. Tick repellent: DEET. N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, also called DEET (/diːt/) or diethyltoluamide, is the most common active ingredient in insect repellents.

55. __ Club: SAMS.

56. When repeated, fish on a menu: MAHI.

57. "That being the case ... ": IF SO.

58. Letters after E?: COLI. Hard to parse.

61. The third Mrs. Roy Rogers: DALE. I had no idea the Leonard Slye had two prior marriages. LINK.

62. Airer of many NCAA games: ESPN.

63. Farm stray: DOGIE.

64. 1974 CIA spoof: S*P*Y*S. After the massive success of M*A*S*H, this movie which also starred Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland were marketed with the asterisks to make people think they had something in common.

65. Reasons: WHYS. Why not?

66. Cornered, in a way: TREED. Forced or chased up a tree: a treed raccoon.


Down:

1. Not up to snuff: SUBPAR.

2. Increase the value of: ENRICH.

3. Consumer-friendly?: EDIBLE. A stretch but it actually works.

4. Hedge opening: YES, BUT. Another tricky variation clue; well done.

5. Biblical traveler: ARK.

6. Former SeaWorld attraction: SHAMU.

7. Georgetown athletes: HOYAS.

8. Eponymous vacuum brand: ORECK. Founded by David Oreck in 1963, Oreck Corporation began as a manufacturer of upright vacuum cleaners for the U.S. hotel industry.

9. Roofer's supply: TAR.

10. Popular Toyotas: COROLLAS.

11. Has in common: OVERLAPS.

12. Line through the middle: DIAMETER.

13. Include: ADD.

18. Pot top: LID.

22. Lacking color: WAN.

25. Ben of Ben and Jerry's: COHEN. Ben & Jerry's was founded in May 1978, when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. ... In 1977, they moved to Burlington, Vermont, and completed a five-dollar correspondence course in ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University. Encyclopedia.

26. "Toy Story" dinosaur: REX.

28. Scolder's cluck: TSK.

31. In the __ of: MIDST.

32. Creator of Iceland's Imagine Peace Tower: ONO.

33. Ties may be broken in them, briefly: OTS.

34. Only half-pretentious?: CHI.

36. Bar by the tub: BATH SOAP.

37. If truth be told: ACTUALLY.

38. Does a ragtime dance: SHIMMIES.

39. "That's disgusting!": UGH. Which describes...

40. Skeeter eater: BAT.

43. "60 Minutes" network: CBS.

45. One slightly changed this clue: EDITOR. Was it only slightly?

46. Storm shelter, say: REFUGE.

47. Blues great Smith: BESSIE.

48. Fired up: STOKED.

50. Sect in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County: AMISH. Today, there are over 25 different Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren church groups in Lancaster County, all holding to slightly different traditions and their own interpretations of the Bible.

51. Like maple trees and pigeons?: SAPPY. Pigeon as in the victim of a scam, a sap.

52. Ruling descendants of Genghis: KHANS. The FAMILY TREE.

53. Thing to confess: SIN.

58. DJ's inventory: CDS.

59. Strange (to): NEW.

60. "Silent Spring" subj.: DDT. The novel by Rachel Carson was published in 1962. I remember it as being very controversial at the time.

I really enjoyed this puzzle and writing up all the different things that it revealed. I also was very proud of Oo and honored at the Torah party. Thank you Dr. Seesa and thank you all.

Friday, October 5, 2018, Paul Coulter

Title: I see the sea, see?

More Corner prescience, as Steve referenced the difficulty in putting theme fill next to each other. Paul is back with one of the most difficult Fridays for me in a very long time.  It is a strange puzzle, with 84 words, 60 of which are 3 or 4 letters long. Just because the fill is not long does not mean it was easy. HENNAING and  LIE-ABEDS are the only long fill outside of the grid-spanning reveal  - 42A. Result of polar ice melt graphically shown by the second part of six two-part puzzle answers: RISING SEA LEVELS (15). This made the theme sort of easy to spot, and I saw that if 63A BAL  moved up next to 57A TIC, it named a sea I was familiar with (BALTIC). Likewise, ARAB and IAN (ARABIAN)  but from there it was a learning experience made more challenging by the US failure to teach geography. The (2) and (1) made finding the remaining pairs easy. There are six pairs, and I only was sure of those two. Well, I really look forward to Paul's comments today, and all of yours. My information is from various sources online.

The theme:

Pair one- 25A. Univ. aides (1): TAS (3). 20A. "Wow!" (2): MAN (3). The TASMAN SEA is a section of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, between the southeastern coast of Australia and Tasmania on the west and New Zealand on the east; it merges with the Coral Sea to the north and encloses a body of water about 1,400 miles (2,250 km) wide and 900,000 square miles (2,300,000 square km) in area.

Pair two- 28A. Damage (1): MAR (3). 22A. Actress Kate (2): MARA (4). The MARMARA SEA is an inland sea located entirely within Turkey's borders. It separates Turkey's Asian and European parts by connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea. It does so by connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea via the Bosphorus Strait and the Aegean Sea to the Marmara Sea via the Dardanelles Strait. The Marmara Sea is the world's smallest sea covering only 4,380 square feet.

Pair three- 30A. Helpless? (1): SOLO (4). 24A. Cal. column (2): MON (3). The SOLOMON SEA is a portion of the western South Pacific Ocean, bounded on the west by New Guinea, on the north by New Britain, and on the east by the Solomon Islands. With an area of 280,000 square miles (720,000 square km), the sea contains the Louisiade Archipelago, New Georgia, and Guadalcanal Island.

Pair four- 58A. Happy hour spot (1): BAR (3). 54A. Sinusitis docs (2): ENTS (4). The BARENTS SEA, a marginal sea of the Artic Ocean, was once known as the Murmanskoye Morye by the Russians. It appears as such in a 1595 atlas. The basin countries of the Barents Sea are Russia and Norway (they drain into this body of water).

Pair five- 61A. Many an Omani (1): ARAB (4). 56A. Author Fleming (2): IAN. The ARABIAN SEA's largest islands include Yemen's Socotra, Oman's Masirah Island, India's Lakshadweep, and Pakistan's Astola Island. Countries that have coastlines along the Arabian Sea include India, the Maldives, Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, and Somalia.

Pair six- 63A. Remaining loan amt. (1): BAL (3). 57. Sign of nerves, maybe (2): TIC (3). The BALTIC SEA is the youngest sea on our planet, emerging from the retiring ice masses only some 10,000-15,000 years ago. Governed by special hydrographical and climatic conditions, the Baltic Sea is one of the planet’s largest bodies of brackish water. It is composed of salt water from the North East Atlantic and fresh water from rivers and streams draining from an area four times larger than the Sea itself

Again the reveal:
42A. Result of polar ice melt graphically shown by the second part of six two-part puzzle answers: RISING SEA LEVELS (15).

Well if you are not all worn out, let's solve all the rest.

Across:

1. Take to the cleaners: HOSE. We start with a tricky slang verb- slang : to deprive of something due or expected : TRICK, CHEAT.

5. Lay low: HID. After hosing them you need to.

8. Pretty companion?: PLEASE. With a cherry on top.

14. Windows alternative: UNIX. UNIX is an operating system which was first developed in the 1960s, and has been under constant development ever since. By operating system, we mean the suite of programs which make the computer work.

15. Drop the ball: ERR.

16. Dragster's wheels: HOT ROD. Some history. LINK.

17. Wedding ring?: HORA. Very tricky, but literally a dance in a circle and popular at Jewish weddings.

18. Class-conscious org.?: NEA. More tricky cluing, class like in school. National Education Association

19. Charge: ACCUSE. For me, it brings to mind J'ACCUSE.

32. Infamous Amin: IDI. Amin (in Arabic أمين) is an Arabic and Persian male given name that means "faithful, trustworthy"

33. Constriction of the eye's pupil: MIOSIS. I did not know this. I think of plants.

35. Apple's apple, e.g.: LOGO. Another fun clue.

39. Hail, to Hadrian: AVE. He built a wall in Rome.




40. All over again: ANEW.

41. "I'll second that": AMEN.

47. Isn't idle: ACTS.

48. Deep blue: ANIL. The indigo shrub; or the indigo dye obtained from the plant

49. Track meet segment: LAP.

50. Authenticity emblem: SEAL. Still used by courts and clerks.

51. Parlor furniture item: SETTEE. The settee, a precursor to the sofa and type of love seat, is characterized by a straight back, room for two people, and founded atop four legs.

53. Hot time in Haiti: ETE. Summer.

65. Individually: APIECE.

67. Dug, with "up": ATE. Did you eat up this puzzle?

69. Big times: ERAS.

73. A through E, at times: WIDTHS. Shoes.

74. Sprout: LAD. Two very old-fashioned words.

75. Courteous: NICE.

76. Snares with a loop: LASSOS.

77. Med. show locales: ERS.

78. Serve sparingly, with "out": DOLE.


Down:

1. "Say what?": HUH.

2. Dedicatee of Lennon's "Woman": ONO. Yoko next to...

3. McCartney's title: SIR. Paul.

4. Checkup: EXAM.

5. Applying a temporary tattoo: HENNAING. Very big in Key West.

6. Boiling state: IRE.

7. Scotch serving: DRAM. Poor Hamish Macbeth has to dole out many a wee dram.

8. Seven Wonders lighthouse: PHAROS. A long HISTORY.

9. One from town: LOCAL. We always called them townies.

10. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC. Thank you George Costanza.






11. Jack-in-the-pulpit family: ARUM. We are talking PLANTS not about a preacher named Jack.

12. Fair: SO SO.

13. First place?: EDEN. Not leading the league, but where it all began.

21. Mideast capital: AMMAN. Jordan.

23. Faulkner's "__ Lay Dying": AS I. His writing is very respected and his novel the subject of much DISCUSSION.

25. Pageant toppers: TIARAS.

26. It may be unsolicited: ADVICE.

27. Daybreak?: SIESTA. More misdirection, a break during the day not dawn.

29. Agile deer: ROES. This is a small, agile Old World deer, Capreolus capreolus, the male of which has three-pointed antlers. CUTE.

31. Norse patron: OLAV.

34. Hard work: SWEAT. Blood, sweat and tears.

36. Fare filled and folded: OMELET.

37. Trattoria desserts: GELATI. The plural. Gelato is simply the Italian word for ice cream, but in English, it has come to mean specifically Italian or Italian-style ice cream.

38. With no guarantee of payment: ON SPEC. Spec homes are still popular here in South Florida where an older home is torn down and replaced with a much bigger house.

43. Cartography dot: ISLE.

44. Against: ANTI.

45. Reluctant risers: LIE-ABEDS. An old-fashioned word that has appeared in much literature.
LINK.

46. Barack's 2010 High Court appointee: ELENA.  Please no more politics. KAGEN.

51. Emphasize: STRESS.

52. That, in Tijuana: ESA.

55. Snack chip: NACHO.

58. Much more than a sniffle: BAWL.

59. Samoa's capital: APIA. A better clue than, "Either Lindstrom or Zadora."

60. Purges (of): RIDS.

62. One may be stored in a barn: BALE. Is that anyway to treat this man?

64. Advance: LEND.

66. Sci-fi staples: ETS. Extra-terrestrials.

68. Blacken, in a way: TAR. Not La Brea today.

70. Copacabana city: RIO.

71. Commonly torn ligament, briefly: ACL. The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the key ligaments that help stabilize your knee joint. The ACL connects your thighbone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia).

72. Note: SEE.

A very different puzzle from our own PC, and of course I am curious to know what you all think. I always enjoy a when a constructor combines visual elements. I found it hard but satisfying. Happy week-end all. Lemonade out.

Friday, September 28, 2018, Mark MacLachlan

Title: Ironing in, not out.

Welcome to my first write-up of fall and the third LAT for another Mark making his mark in puzzledom. They say you should write about what you know, and Mark is a professor from Canada as was revealed in his DEBUT here. His specialty is chemistry, more specifically Materials Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Nanomaterials, Porous Materials, Polymers, Cellulose. In today's challenge we have FE (the chemical symbol for Iron) added to the first word in three two-word phrases and explained in a well chosen reveal. Two are 2 grid-spanners, giving us 54 spaces in the theme. This is an example of less is more; instead trying to squeeze in more theme fill, we have a nice balanced puzzle. Mark also used the periodic table in his first NYT publication. In addition to the themers, we have some nice long fill. ARMLOAD, E-READER, GALILEO, GARDENS, OLD SALT, ON EMPTY, INNER EAR and SAFE BETS.  On to the theme...

17A. Bronzed My Little Pony figurines?: HOOFED ORNAMENTS (15). I have had two cars with nice hood ornaments, a Jaguar. That one was stolen. I also bought a Cadillac for my then wife with a nice gold one. That was stolen. This is my favorite image of themeres.

27A. Hawkers of thin cookies?: WAFER MONGERS (12). You have 2 meanings: denoting a dealer or trader in a specified commodity. e.g. "fishmonger"; or, a person who promotes a specified activity, situation, or feeling, especially one that is undesirable or discreditable. "rumormonger." War mongers are worse.

45A. Balls for cats?: FELINE DANCES (12). My wife loves line dancing, but this was very hard because I was thinking about play toys for kitty cats, not them dancing.

58A. GNC offering, and a chemical hint to three long puzzle answers: IRON SUPPLEMENTS (15).

Across:

1. Dishonor: ABASE. An old word, like last week's abash.

6. Stored in a cask, say: AGING. For our oenephiles.

11. Stick in the water: OAR. A nice clue/fill combo.

14. __ panel: SOLAR.

15. Violet in a bed: PANSY. Now this is a stretch, they may be cousins but they are not the SAME.

16. Itsy-bitsy: WEE. Teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini.

20. Sport with electric weapons: EPEE. A very common fill, but there are details you may not know. READ UP.

21. Auto pioneer: OLDS. Ransom E.

22. Nota __: BENE. Nota bene is a Latin phrase meaning 'note well'. The phrase first appeared in English writing c. 1711. Often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature, the phrase is Latin for "note well" and comes from the Latin roots notāre and bene. wiki.

23. Golden Age TV star: BERLE. Old time TV from when I was too young to have a TV.

25. Test subject with whiskers: LAB RAT. The term is ofr the actual rats and those who work there.

31. Give an address: ORATE.

32. Wobbly table stabilizer: SHIM. This is a wedge (or something) to fill up (a space)

33. Home run path: ARC. Even a line drive home run has a bit of arc.

36. Seasoned seafarer: OLD SALT. An actual position in our NAVY, did you know?

39. Renaissance immortal known as the "Father of the Scientific Method": GALILEO. Rather like the terms the greatest or the father of, inventor of the scientific method is an attribute that has been applied to a myriad of scholars down through the ages, Aristotle, Archimedes, Ibn al-Haytham, Galileo, Bacon (both Roger and Francis), Descartes and Newton are just some of the more prominent historical figures who invented the scientific method. Makes for kind of a crowded field doesn’t it?
LINK.

41. It might go for a buck: DOE. Such a deer clue.

42. "__ arigato": Japanese "thanks a lot": DOMO.

44. Without a break: ON END.

48. Celebrity socialite: IT GIRL. Not my cup of tea, but you can see a  RETROSPECTIVE.

51. Openly display: EXUDE. He exuded unflapable confidence.

52. Noble gas: NEON.

53. In the thick of: AMID.

54. Took off: ROSE. A rose by any other name; the shares of Google took off.

62. Letters on a returned check: NSF. Non-Sufficent Funds.

63. What drama queens do: EMOTE.

64. Hall partner: OATES. Some MUSIC.

65. Composer's choice: KEY.

66. 2018 awards event hosted by Danica Patrick: ESPYS. Did you watch? Not me.

67. Sneak preview, say: PROMO.


Down:

1. Tennis great with three Grand Slam titles: ASHE.

2. Jazz Age toon: BOOP.

3. Wound application: ALOE.

4. They're low-risk: SAFE BETS.

5. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE. Our Friday quick Shakespeare quote. Act I, Scene 1.

“That will be ere the set of sun.”

6. Landmark Manhattan theater: APOLLO.



7. Marvin __: GARDENS. A yellow property in monopoly. Marven Gardens is a portmanteau derived from Margate City and Ventnor City, because it lies on the border of Margate City and Ventnor City in Atlantic City. Wiki.

8. Holiday and Days: INNS.

9. Surveillance org.: NSA. National Security Agency

10. Floor hockey venue: GYM.

11. Titlist?: OWNER. Sugar Ray Leonard owned three different titles.

12. Blue Cross rival: AETNA.

13. Trip odometer control: RESET.

18. Colgate feature: DORM. Not the makers of the toothpaste, but the college. Hamilton, N.Y., was still a frontier settlement in 1817 when 13 men met to found the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York. The university eventually was named Colgate in grateful recognition of the nearly 70 years of interest and service shown by members of the Colgate family.

19. Wanes: EBBS.

24. It may be loaded with books: E-READER. I like the clue, it is both literal and fun.

25. Luke's sister: LEIA. They were twins, don't you know?

26. Laundry unit: ARMLOAD. Eh.

27. Misnomer for a modern golf driver: WOOD.

28. Name on the "Alice's Restaurant" album: ARLO. I have railed on him for years.

29. Gradually get tired: FADE.

30. Paris Agreement subj.: GHG. If you are not up on your environmental issues, this about Greenhouse Gases.

33. Baldwin brother: ALEC. Alec Baldwin (born 1958); Daniel Baldwin (born 1960); William Baldwin (born 1963) and Stephen Baldwin (born 1966).

34. Artist Magritte: RENE.

35. Some UPS deliveries: CODS. Not the tasty whitefish, but Cash On Delivery.

37. Put one's feet up: LOLL.

38. "More than I wanted to know": TMI. Too Much Information.

40. Cochlear transplant site: INNER EAR. A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. Various.

43. Bad way to run: ON EMPTY.

45. Sawyer's pal: FINN. Tom and Huck.

46. Kicks out: EXILES.

47. Surfer's greeting: DUDE. When my youngest was an early teenager, I had to forbid him to use that term.

48. Confident way to solve crosswords: IN INK. Somewhat stubborn and arrogant but it feels good when your get 'er done.

49. Compact: TERSE. Sorry, I just cannot do a terse write-up.

50. Mickey's pal: GOOFY.

53. For one: A POP.

55. Aware of: ON TO.

56. Apple stalk: STEM. I did not know the stem is also called the pedicel or stalk.

57. ExxonMobil trading name: ESSO. It is a trading name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. The name is an acronym for Eastern States Standard Oil, a post-Standard Oil-breakup company that started as Standard Oil of New Jersey, and as it acquired other Standard Oil-heritage companies, they shortened it in 1932.

59. Date: SEE.

60. Brief interjections: UMS.

61. Challenge for a stylist: MOP.  1 : an implement made of absorbent material fastened to a handle and used especially for cleaning floors. 2 : something that resembles a mop especially : a thick mass of hair.


We traveled all over and I had fun without swearing, which is always good on Friday. Thank you Mark  and keep those chemicals coming. Come by and say hello. Happy birthday Harper and many more. Lemonade out.

P.S. I have been debating if a bigger grid would be a good thing; what do you think?

Friday, September 21, 2018, Jerry Edelstein

Title: There are no bubbles in my champagne- we need some CO too!

We meet today to discuss our 20th puzzle from Mr. Edelstein published in the LAT. I blogged his second one back in 2015. We need to locate the five fill phrases where the letters CO are removed leaving a new phrase clued appropriately. This is an interesting puzzle with some new fill in addition to the theme fill. It also features 8 so called "cheater squares" to create a symmetrical puzzle. I have included the grid here to show both the original fill in red and the cheater squares marked with a + sign. He even manages a new three letter fill as well lots of longer fill like ADDRESS, CLEAVES, DISSENT, ELUDING, MASCARA, ROMANIA, ONE BELOW and SEQUENCE.

So let us see the theme:

16A. Result of too many people fishing?: COPIER JAM (7). Pier Jam sounds like THIS to me.

24. Religious music?: COPIOUS NOTES (10). I like this clue/fill combo. 

32A. Well-versed about sailing ships?: COUPON CLIPPERS (12). The fill is actually UP ON, menaing knowing about. 

40A. Dispute between polite fellows?: COGENT ARGUMENT (12). This was the biggest stretch IMO. Gent argument just clangs in my ears.

49A. Problems with cellphone signals?: COPING ISSUES (10). I guess we all know pinging as a word now.

62A. "Above my pay grade" ... and, read in four parts, a hint to 16-, 24-, 32-, 40- and 49-Across: NO CAN DO. In three parts rather than the three logical ones. NO C AND O (7). I do love a logical and complete reveal. On to the fill. 

Across:

1. Harmonious groups: CHOIRS. Do you all watch America's Got Talent?

7. Maybelline product: MASCARA. A cosmetic for coloring eyelashes, 1883, mascaro (modern form from 1922), from Spanish mascara "a stain, a mask," from same source as Italian maschera "mask" (see mask (v.)). Like the raccoon's mask. Cleopatra used kohl.

14. Role for Miley: HANNAH. Ms. Montana has changed.

15. Sticks: CLEAVES. Not the noun, but the verb. Very tricky.

18. Customer file prompt: ADDRESS. The clue confuses me, the fill became easy.

19. Lincoln and Grant had them in common: BEARDS. Not my first thought either.

21. Meet halfway: AGREE.

22. Show of support: AYE. And, 67A. No: DISSENT.

27. Buoyant wood: BALSA. Ochroma is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, containing the sole species Ochroma pyramidale, commonly known as the balsa tree. It is a large, fast-growing tree that can grow up to 30 m tall. Balsa wood is a very lightweight material with many uses. I did not know there was a Mallo(w) family other than this one.

30. On point: APT.

31. '60s protest gp.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society. Very big when I was at UConn.

37. Exhilarated shout: WAHOO. Especially when catch ONE.

38. Fencing gear: EPEES.

44. Term.: STA. I actually do not know, but the perps are strong.

47. Practical joke: GAG.

48. Stimulate: PIQUE. Curiosity.

54. __ corda: played using the piano's soft pedal: UNA. The soft pedal is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals. On a grand piano this pedal shifts the whole action slightly to the right. wiki.

55. Orly arrival: AVION. Airplane en Francaise.

56. Like little-known facts: ARCANE. "In his dissent, John Roberts, the chief justice, noted the country had over 10,000 tax localities, many of which have their own arcane laws on how different products should be taxed." The Economist, July, 2018.

59. Hungary neighbor: ROMANIA. Hungary in yellow.

65. Dodging: ELUDING.

66. Pushes back, say: RE-ACTS.



68. Antarctic explorer Shackleton: ERNEST. Sir  Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Irish-born British explorer who was a principal figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.






Down:

1. Golden State traffic org.: CHP. California Highway Patrol.

2. "Bali __": HAI. The name refers to a mystical island, visible on the horizon but not reachable, and was originally inspired by the sight of Ambae island from neighboring Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, where author James Michener was stationed in World War II. wiki.

3. Nearly zero: ONE BELOW. Inferrable new fill, but puzzle critics call this a "GREEN PAINT" fill. But would you have known THIS?

4. About: IN RE.

5. Indian noble: RAJA.

6. Cutting: SHARP. Like wit from our other bloggers.

7. George Strait label: MCA.  Music Corporation of America is now defunct, but it was their controlling company that I dealt with back in my music days, most people did not know that MCA owned the Universal Studios.

8. Munic. official: ALDerman.

9. Family ride: SEDAN.

10. Shipped stuff: CARGO.

11. Dodges: AVERTS.

12. Fix some bare spots, say: RE-SEED.

13. Take stock of: ASSESS.

17. Sixteenth-century year: MDI. 1501.

20. Ivory, for one: SOAP. Not from Elephants, thank you.

22. __ Dhabi: ABU.

23. Jabber: YAP.

25. Cut or crust opener: UPPER. Boxing or elitism.

26. Seventh in an instructional 39-Down, perhaps: STEP G. Literal, original and...

28. Obstacle: SNAG.

29. Back to back?: ACHE. Again, my brain must be fading cause this is all perps.

33. Pines: LONGS.

34. Very small amounts: IOTAS.

35. Volunteer for another tour: RE-UP.

36. Final Four game: SEMI.

39. Order: SEQUENCE.

41. Eau in Ecuador: AGUA. I wonder why Ecuador? Anyway, my one year old grandson asks for AGUA when he is thirsty.

42. Sister: NUN. That is how many sisters I have.

43. It may be iced: TEA. Not ice.

44. Showed leniency toward: SPARED. Spare the rod...

45. Villa d'Este city: TIVOLI. The MUSEUM.

46. Hostility: ANIMUS.

50. Cattle drivers: GOADS. I did not know this was a spiked stick used for driving cattle.
synonyms:prod, spike, staff, crook, rod.

51. Navel configuration: INNIE. If you said a 'navel' orange, give yourself a gold star (or a navel orange, if you're feeling peckish). Navel refers to the spot in the middle of your belly where the umbilical cord was once attached. Naval on the other hand, pertains to a navy, that branch of the military that operates at sea. Vocabulary.com.

52. Shore bird: ERN.

53. Goal or basket: SCORE.

57. Lenovo competitor: ACER. Lenovo Group Ltd. or Lenovo PC International, often shortened to Lenovo, is a Chinese multinational technology company with headquarters in Beijing, China and Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. Acer Inc. is a Taiwanese multinational hardware and electronics corporation, specializing in advanced electronics technology, headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan

58. Bangalore bread: NAAN.

60. Lodging spot: INN.

61. Sports rep.: AGT. Agent.

63. Sot's affliction: DTS. Delerium Tremens.

64. East, in Essen: OST. We have had this German word before.

Well that was a workout even after getting the theme. I look forward to all of your comments; thank you Jerry and all of you who read and a special thanks to those who comment. Lemonade out.

Friday, September 14, 2018, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Laugh kookaburra laugh.

Once again we are presented with a 16 x 15 puzzle by the incredible Jeffrey Wechsler. We have another sound puzzle designed to amuse as much as baffle. In the first and third theme fill, it is the first word that is re-purposed with a sound-alike word that is clued with humor as the objective. I think the puzzle evolved from PRAISE ON ONE's MIND which is what necessitated the 16 width of the puzzle. Jeffrey then built a symmetrical and consistent theme with the first word of themer one and three being the sound alike and the last word in two and four. Also, to show how much thought JW puts into his puzzles, we have an exchange of the "A" sound to "AI" from a different word that makes the sound. In theme one,  "EY" becomes "AI"; in two A-E becomes AI;  in three "EIGH" becomes "AI" and in 4 "AY" is replaced with "AI." Solid and consistent.

There are some misdirections like -  Late bloomer: ASTER and Edible bulb: ONION. Then he confused me with some puzzlers like - Slight suggestion:  TINGE or Certain octet member: PLANET. With 58 theme squares the long fill was limited to I SWEAR IT,  MAMMALIA, SAINT KITTS and STAY IN STEP all very sparkly. So without further ado.

18A. Complimentary thoughts?: PRAISE ON ONE's MIND (16). Preys on one's mind is the base phrase.

25A. Subtitle for "Further Adventures of Jack and Jill"?: BEYOND THE PAIL (13). Beyond the pale is the base phrase here. Its HISTORY, suggesting it is related to impale. 

45A. Reason to open another register?: WAIT REDUCTION (13). Weight reduction is this base phrase. 

62A. Rate hike at a tanning salon?: ULTRA-VIOLET RAISE (16). Ultra-violet rays this time. 

Across:

1. Mortify: ABASH. This was a more popular word when I was young.

6. Late bloomer: ASTER. This hearkens back to D-O's comment last week, which I mis-remembered as "I can't tell my aster from a hole in the ground." I am not as subtle.

11. Education basic: MATH. 'Rithmatic.

15. Starbucks order: MOCHA. They combine rich, full-bodied espresso with bittersweet mocha sauce and steamed milk, then top it off with sweetened whipped cream.

16. Laughing, say: MERRY.

17. Et __: ALIA.

21. Half a Caribbean federation: SAINT KITTS. St. Kitts is the larger of the 2 Caribbean islands that comprise the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis.


22. Breitling competitor: OMEGA. Watches.

23. Where some long drives begin: TEE. Golf.

24. Certain octet member: PLANET. In our solar system.

32. U.K. singer Rita: ORA. She is back quickly.

33. Like the sticks: RURAL. Where people live surrounded by trees etc. The best-known reference to 'the sticks' meaning woodsy America, in any newspaper, was the 'Sticks Nix Hick Pix' headline in Variety, 17th July 1935. This was a famously succinct expression of the opinion that 'people in the backwoods [sticks] aren't interested [nix] in films [pix] about rural [hick] issues'.

34. Tentative statement: I MAY. This clue brought to mind this ear worm...

38. Collaborative website: WIKI. An easy go to; not always right but always there.

40. Classic slot images: LEMONS. Three CSOs in-one!

41. Emanation: AURA.

42. "He that hath no beard is __ than a man": Shak.: LESS. This was not said by Shaquille (Shaq) but is from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, said by Beatrice.
“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.”

43. Battery post: ANODE. Not cathode.

44. Capt.'s heading: NNW. And back at sea 54A. Flotilla locale: OCEAN. This interesting sounding word which reminds me of floating (the words may be related), can also be in rivers. LINK.

50. Lean (on): DEPEND.

53. Balloting time: Abbr.: NOV. Coming soon to a polling place near you.

55. Keep up (with), as fashion trends: STAY IN STEP. This was very difficult for me, even though once filled seemed easy, though keep in step sounds more familiar. This also the name of a spinal cord injury support web-site.

64. Goa garment: SARI.

65. Edible bulb: ONION.

66. Macabre fiction middle name: ALLAN. EAP also makes a quick reprise here.

67. State of France: ÉTAT. The word in French, known from État Unis and coup d'état.

68. Some red marks: WELTS.

69. Knish purveyors: DELIS. Some HISTORY.

Down:

1. Stage flankers: AMPS.

2. When doubled, one of the Leeward Islands: BORA. Bora Bora is one of the LEEWARD ISLANDS.

3. Trendy berry: ACAI.

4. "Way of the gods" belief: SHINTO. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan's major religion alongside Buddhism. wiki.

5. Get a move on: HASTEN. Jason.

6. French mine: À MOI. Not gold or silver.

7. Posted: SENT.

8. Display, with "out": TROT.

9. Sea eagles: ERNS.

10. White alternative: RYE. Bread, not anything controversial.

11. Class for dogs and cats: MAMMALIA. Mammals are the vertebrates within the class Mammalia, a clade of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles by the possession of a neocortex, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands. wiki. Yes - Mamma is Latin for booby!

12. "Guardians of the Galaxy" figure: ALIEN.I wanted Groot.

13. Slight suggestion: TINGE. This was very tricky.

14. Attacked: HAD AT. Then...40D. Attacked, with "into": LAID. Be careful...

19. Squeezed (out): EKED.

20. Arias, usually: SOLI. The plural of solo.

24. Comrades: PALS.

25. Postseason game: BOWL. In American college football.

26. Historic canal: ERIE. CSO again.

27. Runs on: YAKS.

28. Nottingham's river: TRENT. It has a bridge.

29. Laugh producer: HUMOR.

30. Undercut: ERODE.

31. Comprising standard glazing: PANED. Windows often are made up of panes, which get there by the action of installing windows.

35. Local bond, briefly: MUNI. Municipal bond interest is tax free.

36. The Ponte Vecchio spans it: ARNO. This is the bridge.

37. [What a bore!]: YAWN. Hey, I am trying here!

39. "Scout's honor!": I SWEAR IT. I do!

46. Kendrick of "Pitch Perfect" films: ANNA. 780 milihelens.

47. Meter, e.g.: UNIT.

48. "Heart of Darkness" author: CONRAD. A short novel by Joseph Conrad, about Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. The contrast between the rich white men and the natives and Marlow's disillusionment with Kurtz is the darkness.
LINK.

49. Deal in electronics?: TV SALE. Such a random clue/fill.

50. Put out: DOUSE.

51. Eye-popping display: ECLAT. Similar to Elan.

52. Ancient Jordanian archaeological city: PETRA. Petra is a famous archaeological site in Jordan's southwestern desert. Dating to around 300 B.C., it was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom. Accessed via a narrow canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the "Rose City."

55. Trig function: SINE. We have our math cornerites to expand, or expound.

56. Labor: TOIL.

57. Oodles: A LOT.

58. Hungers: YENS.

59. Prepare for sowing: TILL.


60. Actor Morales: ESAI. As Boomer says, the vowels are there.

61. They're often secured at tellers' windows: PENS. Do ther chains really help? They go at least back 50 YEARS.

63. Commitment: VOW.

Well I vow to be back again next week ITCDR. Thank you JW and all who read and comment, and a continuing wish for a Happy, Healthy and Sweet year for all.

Friday, September 7, 2018, David Alfred Bywaters

Title: An empty theme (MT)

Another of our frequent Friday flyers is back with an effort that is all tongue-in-cheek and pretty damn funny. DAB uses a familiar letter replacement theme but focuses on devising very witty clues for the fill that emerged when the letter "M" is replaced with the letter "T." The highlight being the self-deprecatory reveal - Lame justification for the letter substitution in four puzzle answers?: EMPTY EXCUSE. (MT excuse). With the focus on the humor and 55 spaces in the theme, we have only a couple of longer fill  COLLAPSED,  ONIONSKIN. There is still difficulty lurking so let us go look it over.

17A. Skin tone achieved via pure will?: SELFMADE TAN (11). It would be easy to make this into a political comment, but this is just a self-made man.

24A. Ballet performance on skis?: SLAT DANCE (9). This is the most tortured fill, and slam dance the least common initial phrase, but it works.

37A. TV show destined for early cancellation?: BROADCAST TEDIUM (15). There are a number of tedious tv shows, aired in that broadcast medium. 

51A. Horse chatter?: STALL TALK (9). By far my favorite fill. The mental picture of the horses gossiping in the stalls is priceless. Of course, since horses and not tiny, it could never be small talk. 

62A. Lame justification for the letter substitution in four puzzle answers?: EMPTY EXCUSE (11).

On to the rest...

Across:

1. "__ Told Me (Not to Come)": 1970 #1 hit: MAMA. Once again, 1 Across was not a gimme, but I am terrible at song titles.  I do recognize this Randy Newman song as sung by Three Dog Night.

5. Folly: IDIOCY.

11. "Caught you!": OHO. Is this one word or two?

14. River to the Caspian: URAL. Regarded as a divider between Europe and Asia.

15. Spacecraft section: MODULE. This seems very timely coming so soon after our recent visit to Kennedy Space Center.










16. Apprehend: NAB.

19. "__ had enough!": I'VE. Well not yet anyway.

20. Its contents need attention: IN TRAY. It actually took me a moment to understand this fill as my mind thinks of INBOX and OUTBOX, which was never a box or a tray.

21. Mont Blanc, e.g.: ALP. Also a damn fine and expensive pen.

22. Romances: WOOS. I am afraid the word and the techniques are all out of date.

23. Storied engineer Jones: CASEY. An American FOLK HERO.

26. Extinct bird: DODO. A CSO to our own dearly departed one.

28. Forest: WOODS. Can you tell the forest from the trees?

29. List-ending abbr.: ETC.

32. __ sort: OF A. Is this a partial C.C.?

34. Tea variety: PEKOE. So not true, it is a TEA GRADING term.

42. Protuberance: BULGE. A famous battle, and a battle we all face with age.

43. "Glee" cheerleading coach: SUE. I never saw the show but I know the CHARACTER was played by the great Jane Lynch.

44. Small point: NIT. A very common word here.

45. Purple shade: LILAC. We had them growing in our yard as I grew up.

48. Copious quantities: SEAS. This is one of those Friday clue/fill combinations that slow us all down.

54. Kitchen light: PILOT. Especially if have a gas stove.

58. UPS Store supply: TAPE. Another clue/fill that is tough.

59. Mined find: ORE. Or these days bitcoin.

60. Road construction sight: DETOUR.

61. Six-pack components: ABS. The irony of six-packs keeping you from having six-packs.

64. Beluga yield: ROE. Our friend caviar.

65. Serious attacks: SIEGES. So many possibilities.

66. Bone: Pref.: OSTE.

67. Nursery layer: SOD. Not the one laying, but the top layer.

68. Marine group that's well-armed?: OCTOPI. An original very witty clue.

69. Disorder: MESS. Another dis- word.

Down:

1. Clara Schumann works, e.g.: MUSIC. A celebrated pianist and prolific composer. LINK.

2. Large performance venue: ARENA. Most piano concerts are not at arenas.

3. Fountain creations: MALTS.  To a blender, add two large scoops of vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, malted milk powder, and milk. Blend until creamy. Serve in a tall glass, garnished with crushed malted milk balls and whipped cream.

4. "Great" ninth-century English monarch: ALFRED. The ultimate in self-referential Shout Out. I love it! Of course, the fact that this KING was such an outstanding figure must be a source of name pride for David.

5. "Perhaps": I MAY. And I may not.

6. Pentagon org.: DOD. Department of Defense.

7. Perfect: IDEAL.

8. Criminal: OUTLAW.

9. Keep time with manually: CLAP TO. A thought out clue as manually means using your hands.

10. Urge: YEN.

11. Paper named for a vegetable: ONIONSKIN. We used to type certain documents on Onionskin which is a thin, light-weight, strong, often translucent paper. Though not made from onions, it superficially resembles their thin, papery skins. wiki.

12. Chaos: HAVOC. I had some trouble putting this together, but the perps brought it home.

13. More than rotund: OBESE.

18. BLT basic: MAYO. A common add-on.

22. Cooled one's heels?: WADED. This is quite clever as the common answer is: WAITED, which you know is wrong because of the next clue.

24. Waiting room piece: SOFA.

25. Figure (out): DOPE. An odd phrase which may come from 'dope' meaning the inside scoop.

27. Medico: DOC. And the related 36D. Health care worker, briefly: EMT. Emergency Medical Technician.

29. Wane: EBB.

30. Commercial prefix suggestive of accuracy: TRU. We take off one letter to make a prefix, or avoid a lawsuit?

31. Broke down: COLLAPSED.

33. Balaam's mount: ASS. A prophet who appears in the Torah as well as the Christian Bible and the Qur'an. Pretty much impossible to discuss.

35. Paris agreement: OUI. Not one of the many treaties signed there, but the French word for yes.

38. Deft: AGILE.

39. Farmer's habitat?: DELL.
The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell

40. Elephant tooth: TUSK.

41. Souvenir from a concert: TEE. Tee-shirt sales were a big part of the income for touring bands back in the day.

46. __ power: ATOMIC.

47. One may be magic: CARPET. Not only in the stories of Thousand and One Nights, but stories recounted concerning King Solomon who built the temple in Jerusalem.

49. Peak: APEX. Or acme, you need to wait.

50. "2 Broke Girls," for one: SITCOM. So many to choose from, why this one, which often seems sleazy?

51. Garbo and Gable, e.g.: STARS. The old-fashioned Hollywood ones.

52. Like certain subjects in certain company: TABOO. Defined as a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.

53. Free: LET GO.

55. Cad: LOUSE. You would hope that the girl

56. Boots: OUSTS. him from her life.

57. Sources of shade: TREES. Or these days, people. The expressions "throw shade, "throwing shade", or simply "shade", are slang terms used to describe insults. Merriam-Webster defines "shade" as "subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not".

60. He played Ricky in early TV: DESI.

62. Spanish pronoun: ESO. My granddaughter is in a kindergarten that is taught in both English and Spanish.

63. "Sure 'nuff": YEP.

And, sure 'nuff another puzzle is dissected and discussed and now the stage belongs to each of you who read and chose to comment. Thank you, David, and until next time, Lemonade out.

Friday, August 31, 2018, Ross Trudeau

Ttile?  Spellcheck anyone?

My first wrangle with Ross Trudeau and my first time dealing with a theme that is in the clues as well as in the fill. His initial LAT was the New Years Day puzzle. Ross is the son of the cartoonist Garry Trudeau, the Pulitzer-winning creator of "Doonesbury."  Ross is a digital media producer in Cambridge, Mass. He has had many NYT and the new Puzzle Society puzzle publications. Ross did stop by in January and revealed his full name is Richard Ross Trudeau (R Ross Trudeau) in his H Ross Perot puzzle. He has added a wonderful array of 7 and 8 letter fill. AVENUE C,  CONTENT,  DEROSSI,  DOG LIKE,  ETONIAN,  I-PHONES,  LEERERS,  LIVEN UP, MARIANO, RAT HOLE,  REACT TO,  CINNAMON,  ENSNARLS,  ENTREPOT, and INTEGERS. The solve was fun, and I enjoyed the double duty requiring both the auto-correct of the clue and the fixing of the automobile required in the fill. We also had an accent on words with accents.

17A. Blub needing replacement: BROKEN TAILLIGHT (15).

24A. Dashbaord warning: CHECK ENGINE (11).

36A. Prolbems caused by nails, maybe: FLAT TIRES (9).

48A. Resutl of lengthy nonuse, maybe: DEAD BATTERY (11).

The reveal:

57A. Suggestions in a text message ... and what 17-, 24-, 36-, and 48-Across may require, literally and figuratively?: AUTO CORRECTIONS.

The bonus fill:

12D. They might offer 57-Across:   i-PHONES.

Across:

1. Summer refreshers: ADES. Even though it is not a real word, I love starting with a CSO to me.

5. Hot tub features: JETS. The water jets.

9. Welcomed to one's home: HAD IN. As opposed to 'ate out'.

14. Anti-fur-farming org.: PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

15. Taking care of business: ON IT.

16. Split to get together?: ELOPE. Really cute thoughtful clue/fill.

20. GM navigation system: ONSTAR. The LINK.

21. Maiden name indicator: NÉE. From the French.

22. Parcel of land: LOT. Part of the US/Canadian SYSTEM.

23. Chi follower: PSI. You want to LEARN.

27. Father of the Edomites: ESAU. This is close to RELIGION.

29. Not well done: POOR. Rare? Nope.

30. Scratched (out): EKED.

31. Eggnog spice: CINNAMON. Combine milk, cloves, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring milk mixture to a boil.
In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk together until fluffy. ...
Stir in rum, cream, 2 teaspoon vanilla, and nutmeg.

34. __ Park, Colo.: ESTES.  The HISTORY.

38. Cheering loudly: AROAR. Meh.

40. Tangles: ENSNARLS.

44. First name in stunt cycling: EVEL.

45. No longer exists: ISN'T.

47. "I Am __": Jenner reality show: CAIT. Sorry, I missed this, or is it still on?

52. "Appropriate for all children" rating: TV-Y. For programs designed to be appropriate for all children.

53. The Vitamin Shoppe alternative: GNC. General Nutrition Centers.

54. Santa __ winds: ANA.

55. "Faust" dramatist: GOETHE. This author's appearance was foreshadowed this week.

61. Evoking the past: RETRO. I think I may be the personification of this trend.

62. Popped stopper: CORK.

63. Fingerprint, perhaps: CLUE. Often used by Edgar awarded writers.

64. Disdain: SCORN.

65. Pard's ride: HOSS.

66. Didn't go bad: KEPT. Food, not a juvenile delinquent.

Down:

1. Msg. for a squad car: APB. All Points Bulletin.

2. Portia of "Arrested Development": DEROSSI. She married Ellen.

3. James Bond or George Orwell: ETONIAN. Famous GRADUATES of Eton.

4. Nordstrom competitor: SAKS.

5. Whale of a guy?: JONAH. A very cute biblical clue.

6. Import/export port: ENTREPÔT. I did not know this word which means a port, city, or another center to which goods are brought for import and export, and for collection and distribution.


7. Aunt in Madrid: TIA. And in my extended family.

8. Smashed: STINKO.

9. Launcher of many ships?: HELEN. For all the newbies (less than two years reading the blog) we coined the standard for admiring female pulchritude - the milihelen. 1000 is a more complete review than one to ten.

10. Foreman rival: ALI.

11. Resembling a dingo: DOGLIKE. Be careful around these WILD DOGS.

13. Earned: NETTED.

18. And so on: Abbr.: ETC. Yadda, yadda.

19. Ogling ones: LEERERS. My favorites are Tom and Norman.

23. Bench press muscle: PECtoral.

25. Tweets, snaps, pics, etc.: CONTENT.

26. Passes with mediocrity: GETS A C. Hmm, 38D. Street in Manhattan's Alphabet City: AVENUE C.  HISTORY.

28. Prepare to fly, as a flag: UNFOLD.

32. Like: À LA. JzB gets his accent grave..

33. Legendary Yankees closer, familiarly: MARIANO. Rivera, the all-time baseball saves leader. LINK.

35. Kamala Harris, e.g.: Abbr.: SEN. No politics, but a rising Democrat STAR.

37. 5 and 10, e.g.: INTEGERS. A whole number.

39. Laugh at, say: REACT TO. nearby 42D. Add zip to: LIVEN UP.

41. Filthy dwelling: RATHOLE. Unpc for the poor rats.

43. Filthy dwelling: STY. An odd clecho.

44. Mystery awards: EDGARS. Named for the acclaimed first mystery writer, Edgar Allan Poe.

46. Symbol of stiffness: STARCH.

49. Brunch sizzler: BACON.

50. Ice in a pub: ROCKS.

51. Thus far: YET.

56. Clock sound: TICK. Tock.

58. NHL legend Bobby: ORR. Don't you love this next to?

59. Outback hopper: ROO.

60. Game-match link: SET. Game-set-match and such is the end of my game today as well.


Well, that was fun; welcome to Friday Ross and we have finished off another month. I thank you all for your birthday wishes and for solving and writing here. Lemonade over and out.

Friday, August 24, 2018, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Can I have your cherry?

It may be Friday, but we are today faced with creating a SUNDAE. As the link explains there are debate and a history about this American creation, but there can be no debate about the one put together by our own Jeffrey Wechsler both verbally and visually. We had an expanded grid yesterday and  JW has also used this vehicle for his creative horizon lately with the 15 x 16 grids. This allows for more words especially sparkly like LAPPED UP,  SCENARIO,  SPARSELY,  THAT IT IS,  HARD WINTER, and  SCRATCHPAD. In this iteration, we have 36 three letter words, and 22 with four letters. Both of which are unusually high for a weekday puzzle, as are the 46 blocks. The theme fill is not symmetrical (thought the puzzle does have left-right symmetry).  Jeffrey also places a circle around a single letter in each themer and starting from the top down they spell (Ta-Dah) SUNDAE. That was the icing on the cake (I loved mixed metaphors!). Also, with all the theme fill clued only by 64-A, it is a very much circular solve. Obviously, with theme fill ranging from 4-16 letters, we are outside any of the old conventions which say the theme fill should be the longest words. I wish JW would stop by or write C.C. on this unique creation. On to the rest.

18A. *See 64-Across: MARASCHINO CHERRY (16). The cherry on top is both literal and figurative. They are an integral part of an American ice cream sundae. The term "cherry on top" refers to the Maraschino cherries on top of the ice cream sundae. wiki. HISTORY.

24A. *See 64-Across: NUTS (4). Toast and roughly chop your favorite nuts. Walnuts are a popular choice for sundaes, but just about any nuts will taste great. Cashews and almonds are two popular choices. You can even buy slivered almonds and save yourself the chopping. Various recipes.

34A. *See 64-Across: WHIPPED TOPPING (13). You want to make your own?  THREE WAYS. Notice that to avoid a dupe Jeffrey could not use Whipped Cream with Ice Cream. 

41A. *See 64-Across: HOT FUDGE (8). I like this RECIPE from the Smitten Kitten.

51A. *See 64-Across: FRUIT SAUCE (10). There are so many but how about STRAWBERRY?

64A. *Foundation ingredient of a treat built upward in the answers to starred clues and spelled downward in the circles: ICE CREAM (8).  If you want the entire dessert HOMEMADE have fun, and please share your personal stories.

I am hungry, but we must press on...

Across:

1. Smartphone call record, say: LIST. How often do you clear your history?

5. Wet-Nap unit: PACKET.

11. Utterly beyond repair: SHOT.

15. Part of a foot: ARCH. Not an inch.

16. St. Clare's town: ASSISI. Her STORY.

17. Carrie who was a friend of Susan B.: CATT. Carrie Chapman Catt was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States                                                                    Constitution, which gave U.S. women                                                          the right to vote in 1920.

21. "Shove off!": BEAT IT.

22. Summer footwear: SANDAL. Not in Florida, it is a year-round phenomenon.

23. Suggestion: TIP. Especially in the 10th at Gulfstream.

28. Rudder-controlled movement: YAW. An aircraft in flight is free to rotate in three dimensions: yaw, nose left or right about an axis running up and down; pitch, nose up or down about an axis running from wing to wing; and roll, rotation about an axis running from nose to tail. wiki.

29. Beckett's "Endgame" has one: ACT. This play sounds boring, but it was written in French and Samuel Beckett was the one to translate into English, so I guess he liked it.

30. 7-Up moniker: UNCOLA. This AD was brilliant. The link is for CED.  Not to be confused with 53D. Take the top off: UNCAP.

32. Narrow inlet: RIA.

37. Strikes lightly, as a window: TAPS AT. What light through...

38. Sexy: EROTIC.

40. Rap sheet letters: AKA. Also Known As.  This term is used in much more than criminal law; if you buy a house and borrow money you will sign a name affidavit with all of your akas.

46. SFO info: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

47. Sci-fi good guys: JEDI.

49. Prove equal (to): RISE. To the occasion.

50. Take quickly: GRAB.

56. Christian official: DEACON. In Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of the priest.

59. Laundry convenience: HAMPER. My sweet wife just went shopping at Big Lots to find one that had wheels so I can get the laundry back and forth to our laundry room here at the condo.

63. Alpine retreat: INN.

69. Guitar, slangily: AXE. Originally, the first band I negotiated a record deal for was named ALIEN and then along came a movie, so they became AXE (3:23).

70. Needle part: EYE.

71. Really enjoyed: LAPPED UP. Kitties like Ice Cream too.

72. Little bit: TAD.

73. Spotted: SAW.

74. How farmland is populated: SPARSELY. A word that fascinated me when I was young. We grew up near lots of farmland.

75. Dr.'s group: HMO.

Down:

1. Country kid?: LAMB. Nice literal but still deceptive.

2. See 56-Down: IRAE. 56D. With 2-Down, Latin hymn: DIES. Very common in the CWP world.

3. Doodle site: SCRATCHPAD. My brother Barry was a frustrated Peter Max.

4. "Precisely so!": THAT IT IS. Instead of the all too popular 'it is what it is'.

5. Formal agreement: PACT. Any of you have blood brothers/sisters?

6. Grill remnants: ASH.

7. TV forensic series: CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. Changed television and the real world of investigations.

8. Many holiday guests: KIN.

9. Anka's "__ Beso": ESO. Spanish for "that kiss."

10. Involuntary motions: TICS.

11. Plot outline: SCENARIO. I am surprised there has not been a tv series with this as a title.

12. Seasonal frontier challenge: HARD WINTER. Still a challenge.

13. José's "other": OTRA. Spanish.

14. Texter's sign-off: TTYL. Talk To You Later.

19. Hardly a gulp: SIP.

20. Loft bale: HAY.

24. Philadelphia-to-Albany dir.: NNE. Back to the Trailways bus station.

25. Golden State sch. in Davis: UCD. Univesity of California Davis.

26. Young one: TOT.

27. __-mo: SLO. Is it worth the abbreviation to take off a single letter?

29. Open one's eyes: AWAKE.

30. Plotting: UP TO.

31. Take down __: A PEG. Peg Slay, where are you?

33. Emotional distress: AGITA. Is it stress or a heartburn?

35. Half a tuba sound: PAH. OOM?

36. Tense beginning?: PRE. PREtense. Beginning to end. 68D. Stamp addition?: EDE. Stampede.

37. Jersey casino, with "The": TAJ.

39. Bus alternative: CAB.

42. Half of hexa-: TRI. Twice.

43. Able-bodied: FIT.

44. Initials on American vessels: USS. United States Ship; it's a ship, not a boat.

45. Org. concerned with meth: DEA. Drug Enforcement Agency.

48. "Stan Against Evil" airer: IFC.  Formerly called: Independent Film Channel (1994–2014)

50. Shining example: GEM.

52. Deeply disturbs: ROILS. This also means agitates.

54. Big name in moving: U-HAUL. U-Haul is an American moving equipment and storage rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945.

55. Like TV's "Batman": CAMPY. Adam West was amazing.

57. "May It Be" co-songwriter: ENYA. A song which was written for the Lord of the Rings movies. Enya wrote music, Roma Ryan studied the languages created by Tolkien and wrote the lyrics in English and Quenya. There are two lines with phrases written in Quenya. The first, Mornië utúlië, translates to "Darkness has come." Mornië alantië translates as "Darkness has fallen."

58. Once more: ANEW.

60. Hiking spot: PATH.

61. Final, for one: EXAM.

62. Correct, in a way: REDO.

65. Org. dealing with brownfields: EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a brownfield as "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant".

66. EMT proficiency: CPR. Emergency Medical Technicians do Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

67. High-__ monitor: RES. Abbreviation of resolution.

This was a very hard but satisfying solve. The double sixes on top of the grid-spanning Maraschino Cherry; Lapped Up and Sparsely supporting the ICE CREAM- wonderful. As you all know I also love visual grids.  The solve started very slowly hindered by the circular cluing (Barry G. where are you?) but the payoff was great. I look forward to your comments and the rest of the weekend. Thanks, Jeffrey, Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

I'm so happy to share with you these three beautiful pictures from Nina, "Inanehiker" on our blog. Nina is a doctor and her "Team Argyle" comment was extremely helpful in gathering our support for Argyle during his final days.

Nina said:

"It's been a crazy few weeks with my mom breaking her hip a few weeks before my son Sam's wedding.  Nice to have the Corner crowd have my back.

Here are a few pics: from the wedding and my mom who is headed home on Saturday from rehab - yay!"

Nina's Mom

Nina and her husband

Sam's Wedding