Friday, January 17, 2020, David Van Houten

Title: A tribute to our own Melissa B. As we hold our noses and hear the sound change.

This is the LAT debut for Mr. Van Houten, who did have a puzzle published in the David Steinberg's Universal crossword October of last year. Here is the LINK to the FIEND write-up. Oddly we have had a spate of "B" puzzles but this one is not intended as a letter substitution but as a sounds-sort of-like puzzle. The rest is not a typical Friday with many 3/4 letter words. and not a great deal of new fill. But it was fun. We do have some longish fill BECAUSE,  LOOSENS,  HEAD COLD,  RAT'S NEST, and TROTTING and some

17A. What dogs do to set a tempo?: BARK TIME (8). I like this visual, with a Boston Terrier leading the band.

24A. Bartender's lager-serving skill?: BUD SLINGING (11). Mudslinging was an old fashioned political strategy.

40A. Convenience for a fish traveling around the city?: BASS TRANSIT PASS (15). Mass transit...

52A. Annoyed answer to "How's your jobless roommate working out?"?: BUMS THE WORD (11). "Mum's the word" means to keep silent or quiet. Mum is a Middle English word meaning 'silent' and may be derived from the mummer who acts without speaking.

And the reveal:

65A. Malady that accounts for four Across puzzle answers: HEAD COLD.

That was the beginning, then came...

Across:

1. "__ Is Betta Than Evvah!": 1976 R&B album: ETTA.

5. "Disgusting!": UGH.

8. "The Real Housewives" series airer: BRAVO. Do you WATCH?

13. Sprat's choice: LEAN. Jack was an early Keto supporter.

14. Slice of pizza?: ZEE. Did you fall for this?

15. Consuming: EATING. True but not my first thought.

19. One making amends: ATONER. Another literally correct fill, but even during Yom Kippur I would not use this word.

20. __ dog: ALPHA. A 2007 movie

21. Uproars: DINS.

23. Miler Sebastian: COE. Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 meters gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. Take that Frank Shorter.

28. "Just __": BECAUSE. Did the quotation marks help you solve?  DO you prefer ELVIS; DIDO; or, JANE's ADDICTION?

32. Creepy glance: LEER.

33. Word said with a sigh: ALAS.

34. School subj.: SCIence.

36. Self-service bar offering: SALAD. That is a cop-out

44. Join: ENTER.

45. Excavation: DIG. My oldest has been on 4 so far, three in Italy and one in Greece.

46. Green subj.: ECOLogy.

47. Barflies: SOTS.

50. Works free: LOOSENS.

56. Beer choice: IPA. India Pale Ale.

57. Prefix with byte: TERA.

58. Name on Re-Nutriv cosmetics: ESTEE. Lauder.

63. Sport played on a variety of surfaces: TENNIS.

68. V-8, for example: ENGINE. Not a canned juice.

69. 1979 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee: ORR.

70. Brest bestie: AMIE. A mixed-language alliteration. Brest is a port city in the Finistère département in Brittany.

71. Mild oaths: DANGS. Perhaps from 1781 (in Sophia Lee's comedy "A Chapter of Accidents," which was acted first in 1780), a minced euphemism for damn.

72. Feed bit: OAT.

73. Coffee __: BEAN.

Down:

1. Italy's Isola d'__: ELBA. On April 11, 1814,  Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba.

2. Blue-green shade: TEAL. Teal is a blue-green color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the common teal —which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head.

3. Cover during a delay: TARP. Baseball.

4. Pharaoh's symbol: ANKH.

5. Gun designer __ Gal: UZI. The Israeli machine gun designer.

6. Beloved person: GEM. A stretch, but the perps were fine.

7. Follows: HEEDS.

8. Babies leader?: BEANIE. Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman H. Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. Notably, the toys are stuffed with plastic pellets rather than conventional soft stuffing, giving Beanie Babies a flexible feel.

9. Total mess: RAT'S NEST. A place of great clutter or disorder. Also, our techies can explain the meaning of this for computer wiring etc.

10. Words on the first of a set, perhaps: A TO-.

11. Leonardo's birthplace: VINCI. That is where the Da Vinci comes from.

12. Situation after a leadoff double: ONE ON. Baseball.

16. One of the Bradys: GREG. Barry William Blekhorn

18. House of Dana fragrance: TABU. It has an interesting history. The first fragrance of the house was Tabu, created by Jean Carles 1932. ... Before creating Tabu, he was instructed to make a fragrance for a whore (‘un parfum de puta’).

22. Down (with): ILL.

25. Old map abbr.: USSR.

26. Octa- plus two: DECA. Silly.

27. Sour __: GRAPES.

28. 1995 Oscar-nominated animatronics film: BABE. I really loved this film. WATCH.

29. Pizazz: ELAN.

30. Credits heading: CAST.

31. Rate: ASSESS.

35. Like Brahms' Symphony No. 2: IN D. Sorry, maybe JzB will explain.

37. Tie (up): LACE. Your shoes, not your significant other.

38. "... __ is given": Isaiah: A SON. We Corner bloggers do not comment on religious issues, but for those who want a different perspective, I will provide this LINK.

39. PC connections: DSLS. Digital Subscriber Lines are a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines.

41. Palomino pace: TROTTING. I like the alliteration.

42. Missile site: SILO.

43. Hunchbacked assistant: IGOR.

48. Dissertations: THESES. It seems fitting next to...

49. Preacher's msg.: SERmon.

51. Binged (on): ODED.

52. Quick meal: BITE.

53. Capsize: UPEND. Tricky.

54. Japanese comics: MANGA. We have seen this often recently. My favorite.

55. Large mackerel: WAHOO. If I were Boomer, I would say it reminds me of WAHOO MCDANIEL but is just a FISH.

59. Union member's nemesis: SCAB. I thought it was an acronym, but it is from Middle English (as a noun): from Old Norse skabb ; related to dialect shab (compare with shabby). The sense ‘contemptible person’ (dating from the late 16th century) was probably influenced by Middle Dutch schabbe ‘slut’.

60. Great work: TOME.

61. Academy award-winning director Kazan: ELIA. An impressive but controversial DIRECTOR.

62. Fall site: EDEN. The fall of man with snakes and not apples.

64. Diarist Anaïs: NIN.

66. History book chapter: ERA.

67. Fine print, say: ART. A little humor to finish the grid.

I hope you had a fine solve and some hope for the future with MLK day Monday. Welcome DVH and be well all. lemonade out/

Friday, January 10, 2020 Joe Deeney

"Joint Ventures"


18. Joint venture?: ORTHOPEDIC OFFICE. 

28. Joint venture?: PRIVATE PRISON.

47. Joint venture?: MARIJUANA SHOP.

62. Joint venture?: FURNITURE FACTORY.

Four types of  joints. 

Two maintenance guys were smoking a joint and offered to share some of it with me.  I don't partake, so I declined.  Besides, I really don't care to be around high maintenance people. 

Across:

1. They may be counted: SHEEP.  A study by Oxford showed that counting sheep doesn't help you fall asleep.  It has the opposite effect.  So unless you are a worried shepherd...

6. "Masterpiece" airer: PBS.   Home of Dour Downton Abbey.

9. Hideaway: LAIR.

13. Disinclined: LOATH.   Inclined: Predisposed.

14. One in the script: LINE.   Who doesn't like this commercial ?    "Line ?"
 "Liberty biberty"   Cracks me up ! 


Sorry, Irish Miss !   I know you don't think any of the Geico, Liberty Mutual or Progressive ads are going to win a Clio, but if they keep churning them out in volume, they might.   

16. Tribal leader: ELDER.

21. Neon tips?: ENs.   "N or n is the fourteenth letter in the modern English alphabet. Its name in English is en (pronounced /ˈɛn/), plural ens."  - Wikipedia.

22. "C'mon, play along": BE A SPORT.  As in,  "C'mon, play along.  Be a sport,  and quit the crabbing every day about the clues and answers."  

23. A toddler may be put down for one: NAP. 

24. Curtails, with "in": REINS.

26. Of inferior quality: EL CHEAPO.  Pseudo Spanish. 

31. Winter Olympics event: LUGE.   "Luge is one of the most dangerous sports in the Olympic games, and the athletes who race down an icy, high-banked track at speeds typically up to 90 mph are a special breed."   daredevils !   Most of us won't drive that fast in a vehicle equipped with airbags.

32. Programming pioneer Lovelace: ADA.   Nailed it.   Her mother believed in rigorous study.  Her father was a poet.  Read all about it at Biography.com by clicking her name.

33. Hustle: MOTOR.  Verb.  Informal.   Run or move as fast as possible.

37. Combustion residue: ASH.   Combustion fuel: Ash. Or Oak, Hickory, Elm etc.

38. Like the object of an "Aww!": ADORABLE.   So passé.  Now it's totes adorbs !  If you wanna be a cool cat daddy-o, you gotta dig the new kings jive.   Can the lip and focus your audio, or you'll be swinging in squaresville.   Totes = totally.  Adorbs = adorable.   YMMV.

42. U.K. singer Rita __: ORA.   Would you like a frozen margaRITA ORA classic margarita ?  Wait, never mind.  I was channeling Boomer there for a moment.  Anyway, from what I read, she's very popular in the U.K. 

43. Food packaging abbr.: NET WT.   Net weight.

45. Cause of some royal sleeplessness: PEA.    Just add another mattress.

46. Salt Lake City team: UTEs.    The college team.  The professional basketball team in Salt Lake City is the Jazz.

52. Coastal evergreen: SAND PINE.    Pinus clausa     Florida, and a little bit of coastal Alabama.

55. Character usually seen in 41-Down (LA NIÑA):  TILDE.    An image of an adorable little Latina ?   No, the diacritical mark to tell you how to pronounce a letter.

56. Nail: ACE.

57. Pink drink: ROSÉ WINE.   There's another of those accent marks.

59. "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very __ Day": 2014 film: BAD.   A Disney film. Anyone see it ? 


65. Trauma pro: ER DOC.   Emergency Room Doctor.  With just the D in place, I tested for medic.  No go.  Don't know why I was thinking about the battlefield. 

66. Timbuktu's land: MALI.

67. "Stronger" rapper West: KANYE.

68. 1975 Wimbledon winner: ASHE.  Arthur.

69. Coddling, briefly: TLC.  The Learning Channel.   Tender Loving Care.

70. Place: STEAD. 

Down:

1. Plum used to flavor spirits: SLOE.

2. Jazz band staple: HORN.   The Utah Jazz periodically play the Charlotte HORNets in pro basketball.   In fact, the Jazz will be hosting the Hornets tonight at the Vivant Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.

3. Adheres to a healthy diet: EATS RIGHT.

4. E. African land: ETH. iopia.   The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa.   You will be tested on this in a future crossword puzzle.  The currency is the Birr, just in case that comes up some time.

5. It commonly involves spiders: PHOBIA.

1. Arachnophobia – The fear of spiders.
2. Ophidiophobia – The fear of snakes. 
3. Acrophobia – The fear of heights. 
4. Agoraphobia – The fear of open or crowded spaces. 
5. Cynophobia – The fear of dogs. 
6. Astraphobia – The fear of thunder and lightning. 
7. Claustrophobia – The fear of small spaces. 
8. Mysophobia – The fear of germs. 
9.  Aerophobia – The fear of flying.
10. Trypophobia – The fear of holes.

YMMV on the order of the above.    I found some links that listed the top phobias by state.   Most rankings were based on internet search queries, and state results seemed to vary by year.   I guess that's to be expected using that type of methodology.   Here's one: Common Fears by State

6. "I'd love that!": PLEASE DO.

7. Auction action: BIDS. 

8. Last-second online auction participant: SNIPER.   New to me.   A brief article  from eBay.

9. Moved out: LEFT HOME.

10. Furry TV ET: ALF.   Alf  (né Gordon Shumway; b. October 28, 1756) is the nickname (based on  Alien Life Form) of an extra planetary visitor who followed an amateur radio signal to Earth from the planet Melmac.   Be careful WikWak ! 

The series lasted about 4 years.  It was very popular in Germany.   During the series run, a place in Germany named Alf had municipal signs stolen so many times they had to have extras made and stored in reserve.  The municipality also created replicas and offered them for sale to curb the thefts.  

11. Tony winner Menzel: IDINA.   Thrice nominated.   She won in 2004 for her role in Wicked.    DW saw it in Chicago with her gal pals.   I tended the farm.   I best know Idina Menzel from crosswords and for the Top 10 song,  "Let It Go" from the Disney animated film, Frozen, in which she voiced the character of Queen Elsa. 

12. Summarize: RECAP.   As a speaker, tell them what you told them.  As a listener, tell them what you heard.  Key takeaways.

15. Food recall cause: E. coli.  Escherichia coli.

17. Auctioned wheels: REPO.   Repossessed automobiles sold at auction.  You don't actually own the automobile until you get clear title.   Lenders have repo clauses in the loan agreements to reclaim the asset for payment failure and loan default.  Some lenders may repo for failure to provide adequate insurance. 

19. Fivesome: PENTAD.   This pentad is known as the Greek Church.  It's said to be the hardest of all splits to pick up.  As all bowlers know, splits happen.

20. Tolkien brutes: ORCs.

25. Halloween __: EVE.   I've never heard of Halloween Eve as a thing.  Heard of Halloween.  Heard of All Hallow's Eve.  Different names for the eve of All Saint's Day, right ?  Halloween Eve would be like eve of the eve.  Is it a thing ?    Oh well, it's a crossword puzzle, and it perped right in. 

27. "Reflection" musician Brian: ENO.   Understanding The Importance Of Brian Eno

28. Map out: PLAN.

29. Subterfuge: RUSE.

30. It's expected: PAR.  On the golf course.  It's incredibly easy to get par and more on every single hole, but the goal is to get par or less.

34. As much as possible: TO THE BONE.   Very much, or thoroughly.  "I couldn't get to the clubhouse in time; I got soaked to the bone from the sudden downpour. "

35. "Wonderfilled" cookie: OREO.

36. Coarse file: RASP.  Coarse voice:  Coach Orgeron of the LSU Bayou Bengals has one.

38. Not without ramifications: AT A PRICE.   "Yes, we can add those additional features", the project executive said.  He quickly added, "At a price", knowing full well that this customer had a history of using "unclear communications" and "customer satisfaction" complaints to get more than was bargained for.  PEs and PMs call it scope creep.  Contract terms and conditions need specificity,  with special focus on deliverables.  Ask Jinx.  He teaches this stuff.   

39. "The Problem with __": 2017 documentary about racial stereotypes: APU.


40. Blissful: BEATIFIC.   Wanted Edenlike, but quickly ruled it out.

41. Pacific weather phenomenon: LA NIÑA.   All you wanted to know and more:  El Niño and La Niña: Frequently asked questions

44. Iraq war issue, briefly: WMD.   Weapons of Mass Destruction.

46. Currency mkt. money: USD.   United States Dollar.

48. Real hoot: RIOT.

49. "To recap ... ": IN SUM.   Didn't we just have that word in an answer ?

50. Boo: JEER AT.   Increasingly common fan interaction with players, coaches, owners and teams.

51. Smart set?: ALECKS.   Loved this clue / answer.

52. Cautious: SAFE.

53. Automaker whose current models end in X: ACURA.   Fooled me.  The Tesla Model X came to mind. 

54. "The Big Bang Theory" crowd: NERDs.

58. "Actually ... ": WELL.

60. "Game of Thrones" girl __ Stark: ARYA.   As Abejo would say, "Four perps and I had it."   I never watched Hunger Games of Thrones.

61. Turned green, say: DYED.

63. Japanese drama: NOH.


64. Skin pic: TAT. Picture / tattoo.

Here's the grid so you can check your answers:

Wrong grid.  Here's the real grid so you can check your answers:

Friday, January 3, 2020, Kevin Conway

Title: What the  'L is going on here?

Lemonade here beginning 2020 welcoming another new constructor who begins with an "add-a-letter" theme which was easier for me than the reveal. I hope Kevin stops by to explain his take. There are numerous Kevin Conways in the world, so I will wait to hear from him. In my ongoing discussion of solving themed puzzles, I mentioned two weeks ago that first I look to clue/fill 17A. Today I saw -
17A. Lawyer's missing text?: LOST CLAUSE (10) [LOST CAUSE].
Then I look for the mirror fill, here it is:
54A. Another name for the five-second rule of dropped food?: MORSEL CODE [MORSE CODE] (10).
The pun is better in 54 A, and it certainly reveals the theme.
The rest -
22A. Offer from one unwilling to negotiate?: STICKLER PRICE  [STICKER PRICE](13) and its mirror -
44A. Military directive?: BATTLING ORDER [BATTING ORDER](13) fit together nicely Then we have the bonus of a reveal:
35A. Calendar period that 17-, 22-, 44- and 54-Across are celebrating?: L-WEEK. My only thought as shown in the Title I chose was HellWeek, the time when pledges make their final pitch for membership in fraternities/sororities. But a reveal that needs a reveal would be new.

The puzzle itself is a classic Friday.
The distribution is fair.

Stats		Average Values by Day of Week — 15 x 15 only						21 x 21 only
This puzzle		Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Blocks	34	37.5	37.3	37.4	36.8	31.4	30.7	73.9
Words	72	77.0	76.8	76.3	74.8	69.6	68.9	139.3
Open Squares	83	69.3	69.4	69.7	72.9	91.3	94.7	122.7
Scrabble Avg	1.52	1.57	1.58	1.59	1.58	1.56	1.56	1.55
Avg Word Length	5.31	4.87	4.89	4.92	5.06	5.59	5.66	5.28
Freshness Factor™ Percentile	77.2	18.5	26.2	30.7	46.1	78.1	84.3	62.6

The green highlighted squares show which daily puzzle average is closest to this puzzle for each statistical category.

If this is a debut, Kevin packed in lots of fun non-theme fill like NATIVES, RETURNS, SET ATOP. UBER CAR, ALKALINE,  UNDERPIN, DISK SPACE, INTERPOSE,  OPEN DOORS, and  SETS ASIDE.

On to the solution which did not leave me cranky, but see if you spot why below:

Across:

1. Sports headwear retailer: LIDS.


5. Joplin's "Me and Bobby __": MCGEE.

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no..."







10. Charlie Brown's "Darn!": RATS.
  
14. Comic strip dog: ODIE.Garfield's pet.
Not related to 59A. Tributes in verse: ODES.

15. Variety: ARRAY.

16. Poetic black: EBON. 1350–1400; Middle English eban, ebyn ebony < Anglo-French eban(ne), Old French eban, ebaine < Medieval Latin ebanus, for Latin (h)ebenus < Greek ébenos, of Semitic orig.

19. Prepare to fly, maybe: TAXI. On the runway.

20. Type of battery: ALKALINE. ALL you want to know.

21. Coherent: LUCID.

25. Chicago Outfit gangster: CAPONE. Not called the mob nor the mafia in Chicago - just the "Outfit."

27. One for the road: SIGN. Cute clue.

28. Be flexible: ADAPT.

29. Saves up: SETS ASIDE. The way we were taught to save.

34. Hot __: MIC. Another name for a microphone that is turned on, in particular, one that amplifies or broadcasts a spoken remark that is intended to be private.

36. Wooden shoe sailor: NOD. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night. Sailed off in a wooden shoe,— Sailed on a river of crystal light. Into a sea of dew. By Eugene Field.

37. Create opportunities: OPEN DOORS.

40. First owner of the expansion Los Angeles Angels: AUTRY.
Gene Autry was a singing cowboy who became a movie star and rich enough to be awarded the expansion baseball franchise. This time of year his Christmas contribution - he was the first to record Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane), and Frosty the Snowman. Additionally, he co-wrote Here Comes Santa Claus.

42. Travel prefix with méxico and perú: AERO. National airlines.

43. Monks' homes: ABBEYS.

49. Spring time: APRIL. Notice that it is two words.

50. Support: UNDERPIN. That is where the pins go when Boomer and TTP bowl.

53. Makeshift blade: SHIV. Thank you to the gypsy population, this is from chive, chieve, chife, chiv (“knife”), from Romani chive, chiv, chivvomengro (“knife, dagger") from 1915.

56. Group of online pages: SITE. What a perfect description of so many sites.

57. Of past times: OLDEN.

58. Garage sale term: AS IS.

60. Greet with howls, as the moon: BAY AT. Or is it bays at?

61. Restaurant menu heading: REDS. Whites, or rosés?

Down:

1. Showgirl of song: LOLA. It is actually a very sad SONG.

2. Worshipped object: IDOL. Originally from Latin idolum ‘image, form.’  Hence the Hebrew law against worshipping graven images.

3. Modern capacity measure: DISK SPACE. Alternatively referred to as disk space, disk storage, or storage capacity, disk capacity is the maximum amount of data a disc, disk, or drive is capable of holding. Disk capacity is displayed in MB (megabytes), GB (gigabytes), or TB (terabytes). All types of media capable of storing information have a disk capacity, including a CD, DVD, floppy disk, hard drive, memory stick/card, and USB thumb drive.

4. Put on, as a high shelf: SET ATOP.

5. Bad intentions: MALICE.

6. Street organ feature: CRANK. Monkey not included. See 47D.

7. "Oliver Twist" food: GRUEL.

8. Warning service co-coordinated by FEMA: EAS. The Emergency Alert System is used by alerting authorities to send warnings via broadcast, cable, satellite and wireline communications pathways.

9. Part of a needle: EYE.

10. Investment gains: RETURNS.

11. Old calculators: ABACI.

12. Like guilt-trippers, say: TOXIC. There are so many KINDS.

13. Nasty: SNIDE. My favorite.

18. He played Dirty Harry: CLINT. Unlike John Wayne or other famous western stars, his real name is CLINT EASTWOOD, Jr.

21. Women's links gp.: LPGA. Ladies Professional Golf Association.

23. __ Park, Colorado: ESTES. A very small town at the base of Rocky Mountain Park Northwest of Denver. A gimme since my son moved to Denver. I went there for a moment.

24. Actuary's specialty: RISK.

25. Army gear, briefly: CAMO. Camouflage
 is the use of any combination of materials,
 coloration, or illumination for concealment,
either by making animals or objects hard to
see (crypsis), or by disguising them as something else (mimesis).

26. Take __: swim: A DIP.

29. Pass out: SWOON.

30. Always, to a poet: E'ER.

31. Put between: INTERPOSE.

32. "Finding __": 2016 sequel: DORY. A blue tang from the earlier Finding Nemo.

33. Dreyer's, east of the Rockies: EDYS. I scream you scream...

35. Loughlin of "Full House": LORI. Perhaps in bad taste, while she remains at the center of the College Admissions Scandal.

38. Indigenes: NATIVES. Indigenous people.

39. Lenovo rival: DELL. More computer talk.

40. Egyptian president __ Fattah el-Sisi: ABDEL.
This MILITARY MAN who is only 5'5" tall.

41. Ride available via mobile app: UBER CAR. I have never heard anyone use this term...just UBER.

43. Passionate: ARDENT.

44. Bartolo in "The Barber of Seville," e.g.: BASSO.

45. Ladybug's lunch: APHID.

46. Overdone: TRITE.

47. Half a stringed instrument: GURDY. Hurdy Gurdy.

48. Southend-__: ON-SEA. Southend-on-Sea is a resort town on the Thames Estuary in Essex, southeast England.

51. "Already taken care of": I DID.

52. Fabled loch: NESS. Do you like this clue better than Eliot?

54. Flash __: MOB.

55. Old ending for "Motor": OLA. We still have a factory here.

What a way to begin a new year, a new decade (?) 1-10, or 10-19?
Welcome, Kevin and welcome back for another year all. Lemonade out. Thank you, fellow bloggers, for all of your help and another year of work.

In the "it's a small world" I was speaking with my son, Aaron and he told me he had made dinner, and sent a picture because it was a Thai/Lao dish he had learned to cook when he worked in a Thai restaurant while in college (long before I met Oo)

It is called Laab (Larb) Gai. I had never heard of it. Then tonight on the great American baking show one of the semifinalists was making some Larb filled pastries. Recipe

Friday, December 27, 2019 David Alfred Bywaters

"I, uh..."

17. A vat, some cloth, etc.?: DYER NEEDS.   Dire needs.

24. One in a Mesoamerican cleanup crew?: MAYAN SWEEPER.   Mine sweeper.

38. Apothecary's concern?: PHIAL MANAGEMENT.    File management.  As Canadian Eh would tell us, phial is just another name for vial.

47. Large cat romantically interested in opposite-sex large cats?: STRAIGHT LION.   Straight line.

60. Surprisingly genteel outbreak of lawlessness?: CIVIL RIOT.   Civil right.


Had to ask for help to get the theme on this one.   The common phrases follow the 5 theme answers.   Just not sure that I agree about 17A, but the others all change a long I sound to an uh sound.  Dyer and Dire sound like the same pronunciation to me. 

Across:

1. Stop lying: RISE.   Get out of bed, perhaps.

5. Suburban expanse: LAWN.

9. Comes impressively into view: LOOMs.

14. One may be pitched to a publisher: IDEA.

15. Canal that helps connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic: ERIE.   Excellent story and photos in this PBS article.

16. Capital SSW of Damascus: AMMAN.   The capital of Syria is Damascus.  The capital of Jordan is Amman.  The currency of Syria is the Syrian Pound.   The currency of Jordan is the Jordanian Dinar.

19. Surprise in a bottle: GENIE.  

20. Shade tree: ELM.

21. Jazz saxophonist __ Cobb: ARNETT.   No idea.   He was known as "Wild Man of the Tenor Sax."  JzB probably nailed it.    I would have known war correspondent Peter Arnett.

23. Angle or angler's necessity: LINE.   LurE first.  Should have paid attention to both parts of the clue.

26. Not from around here: ALIEN.


29. Any of four palindromic emperors: OTTO.    I wonder if any of them were nicknamed Desper ?

30. Gels: SETs.

31. Moody: IN A PET.    I read that "in a pet" can mean a fit of peevishness, sulkiness, or anger.

35. Object of podiatric study: TOE.

41. Serious misdeed: SIN.  

42. Not on the fence: OPTING.

43. Túpac Amaru, e.g.: INCA.   Perps.  There was a rapper named Tupac Shakur, so Tupac struck a bell.  Amaru did not. 

44. Beige look-alike: ECRU.

46. Big celebrations: FETEs.

53. Oxen group: TEAM.   The yoke's on them.

54. Ex __: out of nothing, in Latin: NIHILO.   Thank you perps.

55. Saddlebag carrier: ASS.

58. Make over: RENEW.   A variant for the typical redo.

62. Being dragged behind: IN TOW.   There goes Jinx !

63. Largest human joint: KNEE.

64. Not doing anything: IDLE.

65. No longer hip: PASSE.   Huey Lewis sang to us that "It's hip to be square."

66. Fax button: SEND.

67. Like some pockets: DEEP.   Deep pockets are required for the fitted sheets on some thicker mattresses.   In your gums, they are bad for the health of your teeth.   And as we all know, it's another term for being financially well off.

Down:

1. Lift: RIDE.

2. Pastoral verse: IDYL.    Hey !   What happened to the other L ?   Either way, after listening to some pronunciation clips, it sounds like idle or idol to me.  

3. Appear: SEEM.

4. Facial projection: EAR.

5. Not sure (of): LEERY.

6. Sports venue: ARENA.

7. Increase in girth: WIDEN.

8. Fits one within another: NESTs.   Nesting dolls, boxes, bowls, tables, measuring spoons... What else ?

9. Hang back: LAG.

11. Capable of anything: OMNIPOTENT.   A powerful word.

12. Nearly half of New England: MAINE. 

13. Express contempt: SNEER.

18. Indian bread: NAAN.

22. With 10-Down, breakfast choice: TWO EGG, and 10-Down: See 22-Down: OMELET.   Two egg omelet.   How adding cheese, diced ham, green bell peppers and onions ?

24. Tableland: MESA.   Devils Tower, pictured at 9A, is considered a butte, not a mesa.

25. Suffix with cigar: ETTE.

26. Egyptian serpents: ASPS.

27. City near Provo: LEHI.   I've never been to Utah.  I thought the 4 letter city near Provo was Orem, since that is what we most often see in crosswords.  People from the state are called ?????

28. Nomadic sorts: ITINERANTS.   Nailed it with the IT start.

31. Call into question: IMPUGN.

32. Member of the 2019 World Series champs: NAT.   The Washington Nationals.

33. Request from a Midwestern cheerleader, maybe: AN I.    Take your pick from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, or Iowa State.    I watch when the Ohio State marching band dots the i.   I haven't heard any college cheers where the name is spelled out.  High school, yes.

34. God with a flute: PAN.   Didn't know Jean Pierre Rampal or James Galway from a couple of puzzles in the last few weeks, but Pan was a gimme.

36. Barely at all: ONCE.  Sometimes, barely at all is once too often.

37. LAX postings: ETAs.

39. Actress Petty: LORI.   No idea.   But then I learned she played Geena Davis's little sister in "A League of Their Own"


40. Comportment: MIEN.

45. Hitchcock was known for them: CAMEOs.   Here's 20 of the documented 39, but I couldn't spot him in a few.


46. Deluded one: FOOL.

47. Denude: STRIP.

I would have loved to see the clue simply as Delude, followed by Denude, but it was still fun.

48. Singer __ Marie: TEENA. The "Ivory Queen of Soul" here singing  "Square Biz"

"In 2004, while Teena Marie was sleeping in a hotel room, a large picture frame fell and struck her on the head. The blow caused a serious concussion that caused momentary seizures for the rest of her life." - Wikipedia

49. 2006 "American Idol" winner Taylor __: HICKS.   Nailed it with Taylor.   DW is a fan of Idol.

50. Yours, once: THINE.

51. Animate: LIVEN.

52. Sheepish admission: I LIED.   Until I finally decided to stop lying and get out of bed.

55. Assistant: AIDE.

56. Cobbler's concern: SOLE.   You can get sole year round from New England fishmongers, and you can probably find an old-timey cobbler to resole your shoes if needed.

57. Dance part: STEP.

59. "SmackDown" org.: WWE.    World Wrestling Entertainment.   SmackDown is a brand for this professional wrestling and sports entertainment corporation.

61. Unburden: RID.

You can also check your answers here:

Friday, December 20, 2019, David Alfred Bywaters

Title: LET IT BE CHRISTMAS

It is not often I am inspired to begin a puzzle write-up with a musical link but 'tis the season. Chanukah (Hannukah or however you want to spell it in Roman letters) begins this year on Sunday at sundown and Christmas is next Wednesday. The world is loaded with HOLIDAYS and I hope you all enjoy yours. I don't want to forget Festivus or Kwanzaa.

On to our delightful puzzle from DAB. When I started blogging here more than a decade ago, the first thing I learned was to look at 17 Across for a hint to the theme.  This week that is SAYCHEESE. If that is a themer then HAIRSALON also has to be part of the theme. That left me a BIGMESS. The second thing I learned from C.C. was "don't panic", so next is to look around the edges or at the Down fill. TA DAH! I found the rare Friday reveal: 26D. Disappointment ... and a hint to four puzzle answers: LET DOWN (7). So we need four fill with the trigram LET heading down from L-T.  The rest was interesting mental pictures.

3D. That one curl that makes the whole hairdo work?: KEY RINGLET (10). A Key Ring...

9D. Perfectionist butcher's pride?: CUTLET CORNERS (13).
The meat man does not Cut Corners.

18D. Breakfast theater offering?: HAMLET AND EGGS (13). Our Shakespeare fill, Ham and Eggs.

30D. Hollywood's latest canine discovery?: DOG STARLET (10).
Dog Star following in Lassie's paw steps.

There was one serious Friday clue/fill difficulty - ALBEDO - I am looking at you

Across:

1. Work with dough: BAKE. We kneaded to start with a pun.

5. Cylindrical granary: SILO. Hmm, silo (n.) 1835, from Spanish silo, traditionally derived from Latin sirum (nominative sirus), from Greek siros "a pit to keep corn in." It sounds like some Asian influence.

9. City in Illinois' Little Egypt region: CAIRO. I did not know the current status of the Southernmost CITY in Illinois.

14. Blessing ender: AMEN.

15. Letter-shaped auto feature: T-TOP. I like it near 19A. Chophouse choice: T-BONE.

16. Stomach trouble: ULCER. Stomach ulcers, which are also known as gastric ulcers, are painful sores in the stomach lining. ... This allows the digestive acids to eat away at the tissues that line the stomach, causing an ulcer. Stomach ulcers may be easily cured, but they can become severe without proper treatment. I will not post pictures.

17. Words before snapping: SAY CHEESE. Pictures not tempers. It perhaps comes from former Ambassador Joseph E. Davies and is guaranteed to make you look pleasant no matter what you’re thinking. Mr. Davies disclosed the formula while having his own picture taken on the set of his “Mission to Moscow.” It’s simple. Just say “Cheese,” It’s an automatic smile. “I learned that from a politician,”

20. Estonia, once: Abbr.: SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic.

21. Inlet: ARM. Meh.

22. Eases up: RELENTS.

24. Self-conscious question: IS IT ME? Yes, it is!

26. Performed eye surgery on, maybe: LASED. A mini-CSO to me as I have had YAG Laser surgery - not the popular one.

27. Win-win: NO LOSE. A partial?

29. Not getting along: AT ODDS.

33. Troll's cousin: OGRE. Are they REALLY related?

34. Code of conduct: ETHIC.

36. "Wow!": OOH. It needs an "AAH" to make sense to me. It has a clecho - 39A. "Wow!": OH GEE.

37. Dark: UNLIT.

38. Stir: ADO.

41. Really dug, with "up": ATE.

42. Hard wear: ARMOR. Very funny clue.

44. Antarctic explorer James: ROSS.
This famous MAN.

45. Spiral pasta: ROTINI.

47. Tree used for furniture and food: WALNUT. In case you want some nuts or syrup HOW TO RECOGNIZE a Black Walnut Tree.

49. Jingle-writing guy: ADMAN. Don Draper.

51. Render fizzy: AERATE. Like some others, I think of golf courses and greens.

54. Difficult and confusing situation: BIG MESS. I told you NO POLITICS!

57. Source of animal protection: FUR.

58. Sushi garnish: ROE. I am not caviar or other fish egg lover.

59. Script you can eat: ICING. We can't write in script here but Happy Birthday.

60. Permanent purveyor: HAIR SALON. Nice alliteration.

63. Obscure: BEFOG.

64. Magazine with a pronoun for a title: ELLE. A French pronoun.

65. Baseball team whose original full name is rarely used: METS. They were officially named the New York Metropolitans, after an 1883 short-lived team.

66. Outplays: BESTS. Like Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy.

67. Speculator's panicky cry: SELL.

68. 53-Down synonym: ITSY. Teeny weeny? 53D. 68-Across synonym: EENSY.

Down:

1. Low voices: BASSI.

2. Gather: AMASS. Like Uncle Scrooge- a fortune.

4. Letter abbr.: ENClosure.

5. Man cave setup: STEREO. Surround sound?

6. Bag of chips at checkout, say: ITEM. Random.

7. __ Altos, California: LOS. They have many very pretty and very expensive houses there.

8. __ house: OPERA. It was the only five letter fill that came to mind.

10. Planetary reflected-light ratio: ALBEDO. After reflecting on this clue, I realized I did not know it was the proportion of the incident light or radiation that is reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon. The word comes from the Latin  ALBUS.

11. One who is more than just famous: ICON. Same start and length as IDOL.

12. Monthly check: RENT. Somewhat random.

13. Mine products: ORES. No, they are mine!

23. Actor Morales: ESAI. The first crosswordese fill I learned.

25. Bagels and donuts, shapewise: TORI. I like bagels and donuts, but I feel like some music with my coffee.

28. Tailor's task: SEAM. This seems incomplete.

31. "That __ it!": DOES. See, I told you so!

32. That girl: SHE. This show predated the Mary Tyler Moore Show

Now I get mail from her and St. Jude's weekly.

33. Not taken by: ON TO.

35. Group dance with hand-holding: HORA.

37. Nasser's org.: UAR. The United Arab Republic was a state formed by the union of the republics of Egypt and Syria in 1958. The juxtaposition is fun!

40. Happy __: HOUR. Are you aware of Sober Curious? Or do you get buzzed and dance the Hora by the Hour?

43. Lens holders: RIMS. Meh.

46. "You're wrong about me!": I AM NOT. Not a chance.

48. Poet's honor: LAUREL. These days you get a hardy handshake and no wreath on your head.

50. Hearth sweepings: ASHES.

52. Sweetie: TOOTS. This term is no longer pc to call a female. Spenser still calls Dr. Silverman "toots" at times.

54. Lettuce type: BIBB. Bibb lettuce is smaller butterhead lettuce with soft leaves used primarily as a salad green but also works well as a wrapper for foods.

55. Frozen drink brand: ICEE.

56. Computer images, briefly: GIFS. Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe.

57. Sate: FILL.

61. Tankard contents: ALE. Arrgh.

62. Athos, vis-à-vis Aramis: AMI. They were French after all, just like M. Dumas.

We made it to the end of the puzzle and what appears to be my last puzzle blog of 2019. Thank you all for all the kind words and happy thoughts during the 11th year of C.C.'s creation. Thank you, DAB for being one of our regular Friday warriors. Also kudos to everyone who has created for our enjoyment. C.C. what a nice place you have here. Until next year GWATCDR, Lemonade out.

Friday, December 13, 2019 Victor Barocas

Time to Trim That Tree !

17. "O Tannenbaum" and others?: PINE NUMBERS.   Pin Numbers.   I mostly use four of them, all between 0 and 9.  Seems like too few possibilities.   

24. One trying to photograph a partridge during the holidays?: PEAR SHOOTER.   Pea shooter.   So quaint.  Wish it were now.

38. Muchacho working with wood?: ELM NINO.   El Nino.  Perfect clue / answer agreement with Muchacho / El Nino.

50. Boob tube yule log residue?: ASH SEEN ON TV.   That's just funny !  One channel airs continuous loops of "It's a Wonderful Life", another of "A Christmas Story", and another of "The Yule Log" from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.  A television tradition.

60. Do some holiday decorating ... and what you need to do to four puzzle answers to produce familiar phrases?: TRIM THE TREE.

The Pine, Pear, Elm and Ash trees all need to drop a letter in Victor's imaginative creation, rather than the now more commonly accepted meaning of "trimming a tree",  as in adorning.

More commonly accepted of course, unless you are old-school and still relish in the final pruning of the tree you and your family have just hewn from the local Christmas tree farm. 

Across:

1. Innocents: LAMBs.

6. Uncool crime?: ARSON.    Literally and figuratively.

11. "That cracks me up!": LOL.  Laugh Out Loud

14. Video game giant: ATARI.   Early successes were Pong,  Asteroids and Missile Command.

15. Old-school: RETRO.

16. Leave breathless: AWE.

19. Resting place: INN.

20. Meal in a pot: STEW.

21. Meal in a pot: SOUP.   Loved the consecutive clue duplication.

22. Styx home: HADES.   They're not from Hades.  They are from Chicago.   You may not recognize their name, but you would most likely remember so many of their hit songs from the '70s and '80s.

27. Submerge: ENGULF.

30. Multilevel marketing giant: AMWAY.   "Multilevel marketing" just seems to reek of a pyramid scheme to me.  Caution flags go up. 

31. Most Belgraders: SERBs.  Belgrade, Serbia.

32. Playing with a full deck: SANE. 

34. Free game version, perhaps: DEMO.

37. This answer's consonant count, aptly: TWO.   Creative clue.

41. Title for Jagger: SIR.   Mick Jagger. 

42. NRA member?: ASSN.    National Rifle Association

44. Actress Skye: IONE.   Her father was Donovan, perhaps best known for mid '60s pop hits  Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow. 

45. Barely leading: UP ONE.

47. Lacrosse need: STICK.   La crosse is of French Canadian origin.  It literally means crooked stick.

49. Finds exciting: IS IN TO.
 
53. Fail to match: CLASH.     Like plaid pants and a striped shirt.   Or, The Clash.  "The only band that matters."   An English band that you may recall from the song "Rock The Casbah" 

54. Air Force prog. that first admitted women in 1969: ROTC.   Reserve Officer Training Corps.

55. Sworn statement: OATH.

59. Like rappers Jon and Wayne: LIL.   Spotify now lists over 8,000 artists with “Lil’” or “Lil” at the beginning of their name. 

63. Monopoly abbr.: AVE.   Mediterranean Avenue, Baltic Avenue, Oriental Avenue, etc.

64. "Biography" channel: A AND E.

65. Toroidal bread: BAGEL.

66. Victorious shout: YES.

67. "Understood": ROGER.

68. Fair-haired: BLOND.

Down:

1. Track count: LAPs.

2. Fighting: AT IT.

3. Clydesdale feature: MANE.   Perhaps Clydesdale was chosen on the off chance that someone might not know of the famous horses.   But I would say that the most significant feature of the Clydesdale is their massive size.     In the area where I grew up,  there are various breeds of heavy horses still being used for farm labor, especially by the Amish and Mennonites.   We called them Pennsylvania draft horses or just draft horses,  regardless if they were Belgian, Percheron, or Clydesdale.

4. Craft beer server: BREW PUB.    Budweiser was hardly a craft beer when August Busch Jr. presented his father with the famous hitch and first case of beer after the repeal of Prohibition.  Busch Sr. saw the marketing potential and had the team sent by rail to NY and New England, delivering cases of beer to both Alfred E Smith and Franklin D Roosevelt.  The rest, as they say, is history.

5. Serious code-breaking?: SIN.

6. Strong suit: ARMOR.   The deck of cards clue had me thinking of card games.

7. Picture puzzle: REBUS. 

8. Zimbalist of "Remington Steele": STEPHANIE.    The show launched the career of Pierce Brosnan.      

9. Hockey legend: ORR.   Bobby.   His primary role on the ice was as a defenseman, but he twice led the NHL in scoring.  He scored the game winning goals in each of the two Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup victories in the early '70s.  He remains the only defenseman to have ever won the scoring title. 

10. Reason for an empty seat: NO SHOW.

11. Saw: LAID EYES ON.   Have you seen the Peloton  "The Gift That Gives Back" commercial ?   Struck me as cringe worthy.    I found it on YouTube and the comments were not favorable, and then comments were disabled as the story went viral. 

Then Ryan Reynolds hired her for a commercial for his Aviation Gin product.   In this take, she's having a different perspective after receiving a Peloton from her husband.  I love how her girlfriends are trying to figure out what to say and how to help her.  

12. "For sale by" sign poster: OWNER.    Obvious, but cute.   Gives me an idea for a practical joke to pull on a buddy.

13. Spyglass part: LENS.

18. Its Space Command has HQ in Colorado: USAF.  

23. Not much at all: A TAD.

25. Otherwise: ELSE.

26. Sign to interpret: OMEN.

27. Cuban pronoun: ESTA.   

28. Latest: NEWS.

29. Financial report line: GROSS SALES.

32. Caterpillar's exhalation in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland": SMOKE RING.   I didn't specifically remember.    Looked it up later.    The caterpillar was lazing on a mushroom and smoking from a hookah pipe.  

33. Andy's doll pal: ANN.   The Raggedy siblings.

35. 36-Down flavor: MINT.  

36. Classic cookie: OREO.    Anyone ever try a mint flavored Oreo ?

39. Tiny parasites: LICE.

40. Drive from power: OUST.

43. Unnamed degrees: NTHs.

46. Indispensable: PIVOTAL.

48. Fictional title country in a 1987 film: ISHTAR.   Roger Ebert said,  "It's not funny, it's not smart and it's interesting only in the way a traffic accident is interesting."  He gave it one star.

49. Foot fraction: INCH.   Foot fracture ?   You'll probably need the special boot.  Been there, done that.  

50. Still in the game: ALIVE. 

51. __ plume: NOM DE.   A pen name or pseudonym.

1. David John Moore Cornwell ?
2. Charles Dodgson ?
3. Eric Arthur Blair ?
4. Stanley Lieber ?
5. Samuel Clemens ?

52. River swimmer: OTTER.   Eric "Otter" Stratton became a successful Beverly Hills OB/GYN after leaving Farber. 

53. Art class medium: CLAY.

56. Ship to Colchis: ARGO.  Perps.

57. Many a gamer: TEEN.   Our language evolves.  Before video games and RPGs, # 2 was # 1.

1. 
   

   a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.
2. 
   

   North American (especially in sports) a person known for consistently making a strong effort.

       Similar to a gamer, calling a basketball player a baller is a compliment.

58. Kept: HELD. 

61. '90s Indian prime minister: RAO.   Perps.

62. Recede: EBB.    Reseed: Sow (again).

PSA - Speaking of the clue at 2D.  Fighting:

A flu shot is your best protection.

Check you answers here:

Friday, December 6, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Change the channel?

We are back under the magic spell of the creative mind of Jeffrey Wechsler. For this opus, he has combined two favorite themes - letter substitution and sound-alike. Of course, his goal is humor with the cluing. He pulls it all together with a very classic grid-spanning reveal smack dab in the middle [etymology is a bit vague- LINK] of the puzzle. Since JW's mind works differently than most, I am not sure what came first, the "T" changing to "V" or the sound changes in the new phrases. Such is the joy of solving. As is usual with JW,  he builds a consistent grid with the change in the first word in themer 1/5 and the second word for 2/4. Overall, the puzzle is not one of his most difficult ones with many 3 and 4 letter-fill to keep the solving going. He does add GYM SHOES, VANTAGES and SALES SLIP and introduces LINE C and PAPARAZZO to our vocabulary list. JD, if you are solving, do you still keep a list?
The theme:

17A. Street stand with full permits?: LEGAL VENDOR (11). Legal TENDER is the base phrase.

23A. "Who wants to visit Muscle Beach?"?: VENICE ANYONE (12). TENNIS anyone. Venice Beach California.

45A. Dumps litter in the woods, e.g.?: VEXES RANGERS (12). Baseball's TEXAS Rangers.

57A. King's pulse, BP, etc.?: ROYAL VITALS (11). Royal TITLES.
And the reveal:

37A. Got ready to binge-watch ... or a hint to phonetic changes in four puzzle answers: SWITCHED ON THE TV (15). A classic "reveal" that clearly inspired the creation of the puzzle.
On to the specifics:

Across:

1. Skip: BYPASS. Not the easiest of starts, but straight forward once you see it. The word has morphed from simply not doing something (I will bypass dessert) to become a significant medical term and procedure.

7. Say good things about: LAUD. Straight from the Latin laudare: to praise. We get our academic cum laude but not Lauderdale. More Latin ahead.

11. Umami source, briefly: MSG. MonoSodium Glutamate. We have discussed this new taste sense recently.

14. City grid feature: AVENUE. Perps are streets, among others.

15. Detective's need: INFO. A bit unfair as the phrasing does not suggest an abbreviation, but CLUE.

16. "So there it is!": AHA. Our moment. And ANA and ONO.

19. Filch: ROB. Played by Dick van Dyke when he was young.

20. Tee preceder: ESS. ARR ESS TEE

21. Sufferer cleansed by Jesus: LEPER. Too clearly a religious topic but you can find it in the KJV, Mark 1:40-45

22. See 35-Down: GIRL. 35. With 22-Across, proud parent's cry: IT'S A. One of two for those who hate this paired fill.

26. AFC South athletes: TITANS. With their new "star" quarterback- Ryan Tannehill.

29. Sen. Warren, e.g.: DEM. Senator - Democrat,

30. "... for none of woman __ / Shall harm Macbeth": BORN. Act IV, Scene 1
MACBETH
Had I three ears, I’d hear thee.

SECOND APPARITION

Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

31. Receipt: SALES SLIP.

40. Shutterbug who bugs: PAPARAZZO. The singular of Paparazzi and the topic surrounding the death of Princess Di.

41. Brewer's kiln: OAST. Will Owen host a poem about a boast from a brewer's oast to be read coast to coast?

42. VW Golf model: GTI.

43. Considered to be: SEEN AS.

51. Stout choices: ALES. Some beer punning.

52. Violate a truce: REARM.

53. Onetime part of Portuguese India: GOA. There much to learn about Portuguese Estado da Índia

56. Drug injector: PEN. Linked to 18D. 56-Across prefix: EPI.

60. Tokyo-born artist: ONO.

61. Group with pledges: FRAT.

62. "Quit it!": ENOUGH.

63. Was the boss of: RAN.

64. Numbers game: KENO. Sid Caeser in a Chevy Chase Vacation Movie, or

65. Pinball wizard's reward: REPLAY.

Down:

1. Farm storage unit: BALE. Not related to Christian.

2. First name in couture: YVES. St. Laurent.

3. Categorizes: PEGS.

4. Carrier with Tokyo HQ: ANA. All Nippon Airways.

5. In a dark mood: SULLEN. Morose,  dour, hostile, churlish, petulant, somber, gloomy, ugly, glum, surly, grumpy, bad-tempered, cheerless, crabby, cross, cynical, dismal, dull, fretful, gruff.

6. Winning slot machine line: SEVENS. More gambling. Hmm JW lives near Atlantic City?

7. Where to claim a W-4 head-of-household allowance: LINE-C.
Form W-4 2020
Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Enter Personal Information
(a) First name and middle initial Last name
Address
City or town, state, and ZIP code
(b) Social security number
▶ Does your name match the name on your social security card? If not, to ensure you get credit for your earnings, contact SSA at 800-772-1213 or go to www.ssa.gov.
(c) Single or Married filing separately
Married filing jointly (or Qualifying widow(er))
Head of household (Check only if you’re unmarried and pay more than half the costs of keeping up a home for yourself and a qualifying individual.)

8. Author Gide: ANDRE. An Essayist and Novelist I read in college both in English and French. You might like his WORKS or at least his perception. "It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not."

9. Airborne mystery: UFO.

10. Palme __: film award: D'OR. From the 72nd Cannes Film Festival

11. Super __: MARIO. The co-star of the great NES games. I wonder why they are not the Super Luigi Brothers?

12. Cut off: SHORN. I always think of Samson.

13. Gothic architecture feature: GABLE. Yes, they use Clark's picture on all the throwback buildings.

22. Fitness training apparel: GYM SHOES. I am not sure if shoes are in fact apparel. Look at a mall map for example. It's broken down into Men's Apparel, Ladies Apparel, Children's Apparel, Shoes, and depending on the size of your mall accessories (such as handbags, baby equipment, and jewelry).

If you look at it from a big box store perspective, such as Wal-Mart or Target, shoes are located in a completely separate area away from their core fashion. Men's shoes are never in the men's department for example. Also promotionally, if Target were to have a sale on apparel, such as 25% off all summer fashion, it would never include footwear unless it was explicitly stated.

23. Superior positions: VANTAGES. Ad?

24. Port SSE of Sana'a: ADEN.

25. Source of tweets: NEST. Not the one from Google, but nature.

26. Culinary meas.: TBSP.

27. "Field of Dreams" locale: IOWA. It is in Dubuque County, Iowa, near Dyersville.


28. Vacation option: TRIP.

31. "__ who?": SEZ. Sez me!

32. Hatchet relative: ADZ. An axlike tool, for dressing timbers roughly, with a curved, chisellike steel head mounted at a right angle to the wooden handle.

33. John in Albert Hall: LOO. So why is the term for bathroom in Britain? One theory - when emptying chamberpots out the window, British servants warned passersby in the street below with the shout “Gardez l'eau!” (French for “Watch out for the water!”), which was pronounced “gardy loo” in Britain and later shortened to “loo.”

34. Steakhouse order: LEAN. Sounds to me more like a corned beef or pastrami order.

36. Low mil. ranks: PVTS. And parts of a Howard Stern book title.

38. Old PC monitors: CRTS. Cathode Ray TubeS.

39. '60s musical: HAIR. A musical that began in 1968 reflected the hippies and anti-war and NUDITY! Still talked about, it was a show that impacted Broadway and mainstream counter-culture.

43. Sommelier, e.g.: SERVER. In America often called the Wine Steward.

44. White weasel: ERMINE.  White weasel, while alliterative, does not sound appealing. Popular in the pre-PETA days and appearing twice this week in the LAT.

45. Steam, for one: VAPOR. Hence vaping.

46. John Paul's successor: ELENA. Justice Stevens and Justice Kagan. Not Popes.

47. Element from the Greek for "strange": XENON. Also, Xenophobia.

48. Indo-__ languages: ARYAN. How many have watched MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE on AMAZON? Tiny spoiler alert.

49. "Peachy!": NEATO. Keen!

50. 128 fl. oz.: GAL. Right next to...

53. Conquest for Caesar: GAUL. "Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est." Six years of Latin should not go to waste.

54. Lingerie brand: OLGA. This is a deja vu moment for me, but perhaps I saw their products while shopping at Kohls with my wife.  LINK. I was sure it had just been in a puzzle here as clued.

55. Grayish: ASHY. We have many variations of this word lately.

57. '60s A.G.: RFK. Robert F. Kennedy was the Attorney General of the US-appointed by his brother.

58. Natural resource: ORE. A natural resource is defined as a resource that cannot be replaced in our lifetime. They include metal ores, fossil fuels, earth minerals, and in some in certain situations groundwater

59. Word with dollar or dog: TOP. Once again we reach the bottom of the puzzle, but come out on top from a very entertaining roller coaster ride.

We have had a great week of weather. Not quite cold enough for a fireplace, but we had fun with the grandkids at their firepit. I hope you all weathered the storm and slalomed your way through Jeffrey's latest opus. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy 82nd birthday to dear Lucina, who's been with our blog for over 9 years. Lucina travels to CA often and has met with a few of our blog (ex) regulars.

Left to Right: Chickie, JD, Garlic Gal and Lucina.

June 3, 2015