Friday, June 9, 2017, David Alfred Bywaters

Title: G, take T and see!

Our second puzzle from David, with his LAT debut a Friday in December last year. He began then by adding "EX" to phrases, and returns with a replace a letter - G becomes T -  which is revealed by the perfect G IS T (gist).  We have no other consistency, with three 3 letter second words, one with the first letter changed in the first word, one with the last letter in the first word and one with a middle letter.  We have six themers and the reveal to give us a packed puzzle, with little room for long sparkly fill.  This filled without any complete unknowns and the long non-theme fill, CRAYOLA, SEATTLE, RAMPANT, SARCASM, PRECINCT and IT'S A DEAL were all gettable.  let's look at the puzzle.

17A. Sports geek get-togethers? : STAT PARTIES (11). StaG Parties are no longer PC.

25A. Halloween decoration? : PAPER BAT (8).  Paper BaG. Want to make your own?

32A. Longhair cat's monotonous routine? : PERSIAN RUT (10). Persian RuG.  Very cute.

43A. Last one left angrily carrying on? : LONE RANTER (10). Lone RanGer. The only soft G.

48A. Imperfection in a pointillist painting? : STRAY DOT (8). Stray DoG. 

61A. Moral? : TALE WARNING (11). Gale warning. 

The reveal

69A. Essence ... and, read differently, a hint to six puzzle answers : GIST (4). 62 theme squares.

 Across: 

1. Dirt removal method : BATH. Very fun clue, so simple but like the soap, very slippery.

5. Like much religious music : CHORAL. Choral, chorale, choir, and chorus stand in obvious relationship to one another and are in some respects used interchangeably when a body of singers, for example, is referred to as a choir, a chorus (Latin noun derived from the Greek word choros), or a chorale, which properly is a Lutheran hymn tune. (Britannica).

11. Uncooked : RAW.

14. It replaced the Cypriot pound : EURO. I did not even know Cyprus used the Pound.

15. Go back : RENEGE. A word I learned playing bridge, which has nothing to do with the clue here.

16. Stumble : ERR. "To stumble is human", just does not have the same ring.

19. Gardening tool : HOE. I wonder if Santa uses one in his garden.

20. Upper part : TOP. Tempting to link something, some would like to...

21. Keep an __ : EYE ON.

22. Pesters online, in a way : SPAMS.

24. Wall St. event : IPO. Initial Public Offering.

27. Western city named for a Suquamish chief : SEATTLE. Apparently he was Chief of this TRIBE.

31. Witness : SEE.

35. Throw : CAST. Your bread upon the water....

39. Early computer : ENIAC. You must know this by now.

40. Hound over a debt : DUN. Do people still refer to dunning letters?

41. Agile : LITHE.

42. Group of two : DYAD. From Latin and Greek root.

45. Job ad abbr. : EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer.

47. Feature of many negative reviews : SARCASM. Sarcasm is not always negative.

53. Corp. leaders : MGT. Management.

54. Greets : HAILS.

55. Feel around : GROPE.

57. Printemps month : MAI. French for Spring and May.

60. Addams family cousin : ITT. I could not find one with Fester wearing a Fez.

64. Tasseled hat : FEZ.

65. Pair of ones? : ELEVEN. I have seen it before but still tricky.

66. Wary of : ON TO.

67. Test : TRY.

68. Fight against : RESIST.


Down:

1. Leading : BEST. The beginning was slow for such easy words, but the nearby fill was fiar.

2. Car : AUTO.

3. Door in the floor : TRAP. Did any of you fall for this clue?

4. Sweating, maybe : HOT. Perfect clue for summer.

5. Tropical Rain Forest seller since 1993 : CRAYOLA. Is this a single color or a set of greens?

6. "__ we go!" : HERE.

7. Leading : ON TOP. See 20A, 21A, 66A....

8. Spanish queen : REINA. I learned this Spanish word from puzzles.

9. Birthday count : AGE. How many put the correct number of candles on the cake?

10. Car user, maybe : LESSEE.

11. Detox locale : REHAB. I guess, since people are always going to rehab.

12. Draw from the oven : AROMA.

13. Take forcibly : WREST.

18. Digestive : PEPTIC. "...relating to digestion, especially that in which pepsin is concerned." Pepsin being a key digestive enzyme.

23. Administrative district : PRECINCT. There are voting precincts, police precincts....

24. Words spoken while shaking : IT'S A DEAL. Handshaking. Nice clue.

26. Winter hrs. in Berkeley : PST. Pacific Standard Time.

27. Went fast : SPED.

28. Bitty : EENY. My thought...LINK.

29. "Nessun dorma," e.g. : ARIA. I never saw this clue until I was doing the write up; as stated it means nothing so...

30. Prefix with scope : ENDO. Endoscopy is a very important tool in modern medicine.

33. Race : RUN.

34. Quelques-__: a few, in French : UNES. If you do not speak French this is difficult.

36. "__ boy!" : ATTA.

37. Females : SHES.

38. Period : TERM.

41. Like L vis-à-vis XL, in some cases : LARGER. Did you size this one up?

43. Set the pace : LED. In the race...

44. Widespread : RAMPANT.

46. Bivalve at a bar : OYSTER. I spent way too much time trying to come up with the punch line to, " A bivalve burrowed in to an oyster bar...."

48. Nine to five, e.g. : SHIFT.

49. Spud : TATER.

50. Posh : RITZY.

51. Looks at in a bad way? : OGLES. Okay this matches with 57A. Revealing attire : MINI. LINK.

52. Rome's Fontana di __ : TREVI. This has appeared in many movies.

56. Is indebted to : OWES.

58. Social climbers? : ANTS. More like anti-social.

59. "__ Rhythm" : I GOT.. This was one of the musicals my sons appeared in during high school.

62. Pub offering : ALE.

63. Frothy quaff : NOG. Frothy? RECIPE.

Well another Friday in the record books; I found it very doable but YMMV. Have a great week end and then get ready for Father's Day and the U.S. Open without Phil, who will be at his daughter's high school graduation. Thanks David.

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few pictures of Lemonade's beautiful granddaughters Charlotte and Harper. You can also click here for all the Charlotte/Harper pictures we've shown on our blog. I smile every time I look at that lemonade stand.

Charlotte 2017 Dance Recital

Harper Does Slow Down

The Girls 2016

The Girls, June 2017

Friday, June 2, 2017, Paul Coulter

Title: It's all backasswards!

4 in the language two-word phrases have the words reversed and are then re-clued to match the new phrase. This is the third Friday from Paul this year and each have featured a a combination of two words. It is also the first time HG did not blog one of these in my stead but I have enjoyed all of them. Thank you HG, and I return with lots of short fill that is not easy. There are some nice 7 and longer fill such as BEAN BAG,  FOX NEWS,  ALSO RAN,  IDEA MEN,  LIGATES,  ELUSIVE, KLEENEX,  CABINET,  ELASTIN,  OGREISH but some of the shorter fill are very challenging. MOAS, KIRS, MILOS, SPRIT and GIGUE - I look forward to the crowd response.

19A. *Idle : NOTHING DOING (12). Doing Nothing is what makes one idle.

27A. *Athlete's time-out on a hot day : BREAK WATER (10). A Water Break feels good these days here in sunny South Florida.

34A. *Maestro's signals : BEATS DOWN (9). Down Beat is the downward stroke of a conductor's arm or baton indicating the first or accented beat of a measure. Various.

44A. *Returned : BACK HANDED (10). Handed Back is how you return things.

The reveal:

51A. "Nice" expression ... and a hint to the answers to starred clues : TURN OF PHRASE (12).
I do love a reveal that brings what seems like a meaningless bunch of fill together in a sensible fashion.

Across:

1. Prickly case : BUR. I learned this word from the old westerns on TV where the bad guy would put a BUR under the saddle of the good guy.

4. Retired flier : SST.

7. Wombat relatives : KOALAS. Not sure why but I knew this.

13. Pittsburgh-to-Scranton dir. : ENE.

14. School gp. : PTA. Parent  Teacher Association.

15. "Hannity" airer : FOX NEWS.

16. Loser : ALSO RAN.

18. Thoughtful guys? : IDEA MEN. Mad Men?

21. Crow : BOAST.

22. Protein producer : RNA.

23. "Eldorado" rockers : ELO. Electric Light Orchestra.

26. Communiqué segue : AS TO.

31. "Holy cow" : GEE.

32. Extinct New Zealanders : MOAS. The fooled me for a while making me think of people not the BIRDS.

33. Court call : ORDER.

37. "Amadeus" director Forman : MILOS. An amazing man who directed 8 different actors who were nominated for best actor, three won.  BIO.

40. Sushi kitchen supply : EELS.

41. Albanian coin : LEK. I think I have a few in my pocket.

47. See 20-Down : KILL. 20D. With 47-Across, in a drop-dead gorgeous outfit : DRESSED TO. DRESSED TO KILL.

48. "Go on ... " : AND.

49. In shape : FIT.

50. Lively French dance : GIGUE. I am part French but did not know this DANCE.
.
55. Group that's mostly secretaries : CABINET. The best clue of the puzzle.

58. Protein that allows skin to stretch or contract : ELASTIN. If you know elastic....

59. Monstrous : OGREISH.

60. Get into : DON.

61. Time to prepare : EVE.

62. Scarcity : DEARTH. Nice $5.00 word.

63. Marienbad, for one : SPA. I think only Tinman knew this RESORT.

64. Census datum : SEX.

Down:

1. Dorm room seat : BEAN BAG. We all had them, mine was red vinyl.

2. Let free : UNLOOSE.

3. Put another way : RESTATE.

4. Nautical pole : SPRIT. (nautical) a light spar pivoted at the mast and crossing a fore-and-aft quadrilateral sail diagonally to the peak.

5. "South Park" boy : STAN.

6. Pungency : TANG.

7. Big bear : KODIAK.

8. Big bovines : OXEN. Back again.

9. Course for Crusoe?: Abbr. : ANAGram.

10. The Eagle, briefly : LEM(onade?) Nope, Lunar Excursion Module.

11. Amazement : AWE.

12. 81-yr.-old ID : SSN. Social Security Number.

15. Musical Apple : FIONA.

17. Quite : OH SO.

23. LAX posting : ETD. ETA ETD, flip a coin or wait.

24. "Malcolm X" director : LEE. Spike.

25. "Catch-22" pilot : ORR. A very good read.

27. Fluffy accessory : BOA.

28. Double-crosser : RAT. The best...WATCH

29. Blows away : WOWS.

30. Prince Valiant's son : ARN. A puzzle favorite for many years and last week.

32. Dovetail : MESH.

34. __ choy : BOK.   Bok choy or pak choi is a type of Chinese cabbage. Chinensis varieties do not form heads and have smooth, dark green leaf blades instead, forming a cluster reminiscent of mustard greens or celery

35. Sandra who was the first to play "Gidget" : DEE.

36. Dated : OLD. Some date young.

37. CEO's degree : MBA.

38. McKellen of "X-Men" : IAN. And Harry Potter , the Hobbit, and Beauty and  they Beast and more.

39. TV screen type : LCD.

41. Ties surgically : LIGATES. The root word for ligature.

42. Hard to pin down : ELUSIVE.

43. Soft tissue : KLEENEX.

45. From the top : AFRESH. An A word.

46. Beethoven's __ : NINTH.

47. White wine apéritifs : KIRS. This is a drink made from dry white wine and crème de cassis.

50. Ivory Coast neighbor : GHANA.

51. Bleacher feature : TIER.

52. Ton, for one : UNIT.

53. Govt. enforcers : FEDS.

54. Fall, as into a chair : PLOP.

55. Whiting cousin : COD. The fish of fish and chips.

56. Sensitive subject, to some : AGE.

57. Source of support : BRA. Nice clue. And time to go.

I enjoyed this work out, but it has left me drained, so I bid you adieu. Lemonade out. Thanks Paul.

May 26, 2017, Friday, Samuel A. Donaldson

Title: Give them the finger!  Link.

Sam (not from TV) Donaldson is back for my third time to blog his work. A really creative grid with only 32 blocks and the likely controversial theme content 11-4-9-4-11. The unwritten rule about theme fill being the longest fill...well I bet some will object. For me, the central fill makes that rule seem silly for this puzzle.

Mr. D. also worked a bunch of fun stuff into his grid like OX TEAM, SIN TAX,  OLD VIC, KAVNER, SAL SODA, TABULAR,  ACREAGE, DESK SET, OPEN TOE,  ALTIMAS,  PLATYPI, KEPT FIT,  ODDBALL, REISSUED, VAN DAMME...this puzzle is a keeper.

17A. Prioritizes self-interest : LOOKS OUT FOR (11). Looks out for number one is a very popular phrase, both by those in favor and opposed.

34A. Championship team cheer : WE'RE (4). We're number one! The puzzle blogging family!!!

35A. Words needed to complete four puzzle answers : NUMBER ONE (9). The oddly placed reveal that made this an awfully easy Friday.

38A. "Let's Make a Deal" choice : DOOR (4). Being home 24/7 I managed to see a few minutes of Wayne Brady as Monty Hall....I quickly closed door number one.

58A. Object of a serious hunt : PUBLIC ENEMY (11). Is is me, or have they stopped publicizing the FBI 10 most wanted list (and the public enemy number one)?

Across: 

1. Smelling __ : SALTS.

6. Olympic racers : LUGES. This was made tricky by the author.

11. Paving goo : TAR.

14. Dispatch boat : AVISO.  Here is the HISTORY.

15. Unpleasant chores : SLOGS. Vague.

16. Missile from Venus? : ACE. Nice deception- Venus Williams, a tennis service.

19. Sports __ : BRA. More Venus?

20. Levy on liquor : SIN TAX.

21. Printed again : REISSUED.

23. Dedicated works : ODES.

24. Nicholas and Peter : TSARS.

26. Buck : CLAM. Old fashioned words for money.

27. Matched office accessories : DESK SET.

29. Alternative to throwing out : STORAGE.

31. Spots : ADS.

32. Treat roughly : MAUL.

40. Square placed on a square board : TILE. Scrabble anyone?

41. Scaled diagram : MAP.

44. Stayed in shape : KEPT FIT. Venus?

47. Eccentric : ODD BALL.

49. Not free, with "for" : A FEE.

50. Bygone "SNL" rival : MAD TV. Not a real rival.

52. "At Last" singer James : ETTA. A classic. I love this.

53. "Timecop" star : VAN DAMME. He is still working. LINK.

55. Diamond mine? : I GOT IT. Great baseball misdirection. When I was 6 or 7, in a family game a pop-up was hit my way. I yelled, " I got it, I got it, I think I got it!" Family was in stitches.

57. Fanatic : NUT.

60. "Evil Woman" band : ELO.

61. __ Gay : ENOLA. Isn't time to put this trivia out to pasture?

62. "It's __!": "We've been tricked" : A TRAP.

63. Numbered rd. : RTE.

64. Aired anew : RERAN.

65. Vermouth bottle name : ROSSI. The bottle I remember.

Down:

1. Grill-cleaning solution : SAL SODA. Not to be confused with Baking soda.

2. Ducked : AVOIDED.

3. Nala, notably : LIONESS. Lion King.

4. "Shame!" : TSK TSK.

5. McGwire's 1998 rival : SOSA. Mark and Sammy - baseball, number 3.

6. Team with a live tiger mascot : LSU. A gimme for Susan, Big Easy, Boo and others.

7. UHF component : ULTRA. Ultra High Frequency.

8. Fetching employees? : GOFERS. Those who fetch- go for.

9. Altruist's opposite : EGOIST. Deducible.

10. Ukr. and Lith., formerly : SSRS. The U made them united.

11. Like spreadsheets : TABULAR. Reminded me of  these BELLS.

12. Plot : ACREAGE. Easy if you do real estate.

13. Name for a help file : READ ME.

18. Ones working together on a farm : OX TEAM. Sorry Sam, but my meh of this puzzle.

22. Slope of loose stones : SCREE. Similar to talus...yeah that helps. My unknown even after filling with perps.

25. Concert souvenir : STUB. I used to save my backstage passes.

28. Blue character : SMURF.

30. Possessed : OWNED. No exorcist needed.

33. Umpire's call : LET. Tennis.

35. Famous : NOTED.

36. Laugh-a-minute sort : RIOT.

37. It was originally established as the Royal Coburg Theatre : OLD VIC. The HISTORY.

38. Fallback provision : DEFAULT.

39. Showing off a pedi, perhaps : OPEN TOE.  You think SPLYNTER?

41. Shouldn't be ignored : MATTERS. It....

42. Nissan models : ALTIMAS.

43. Duck-billed mammals : PLATYPI. Latin plural -us leads to -i.

44. Julie who voices Marge Simpson : KAVNER. Rhoda's little sister.

45. Not susceptible : IMMUNE.

46. Emmy winner Jeffrey of "Transparent" : TAMBOR. I loved him as Hank.

48. Suspect : BE ON TO.  Onto?

51. Street of mystery : DELLA. She worked for Perry.

54. Mimic : APER.

56. Reverse, e.g. : GEAR.

59. Creator of Q and M : IAN. Fleming and he also created Bond, James Bond.

RIP Roger Moore, you were a fun Bond. Slowly trying to get back in shape, and this work out helped. Samuel made me work for the solve and it was a great . Hope you enjoyed the puzzle and all have a great Memorial Day. My oldest granddaughter has a dance recital to highlight my week end.
Thanks Mr. D. Lemonade out.

Friday, May 19, 2017, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Bart is a brat!

An ambitious Friday from JW that is the second step in my returning to my post as Friday sherpa. It took solving a couple of the theme fill that made the theme obvious. The first word of a known expression becomes an anagram to provide a different and witty definition. All begin with a four letter word with the central AR reversed into RA to create a new phrase. It is most impressive that JW found 5 sets where the first word is a four letter word that works with his theme; they are:

17A. Aging hero Jones, in his latest film? : GRAY (GARY) INDIANA (11). Poor Harrison Ford, killed in Star Wars, dissed in Supergirl by his wife, Calista Flockhart and then he crashes a plane.

24A. Pitt portraying Shakespeare? : BRAD (BARD) OF AVON. (10). I can't picture this.

33A. Skill displayed at the gift counter? : WRAP (WARP) SPEED (9). A fun substitution.

45A. Times when hokey humor prevailed? : ERAS (EARS) OF CORN (10). Or when C. Moe appeared.

54A. Early stage of muffin production? : BRAN (BARN) RAISING (11). My favorite of the theme fill, but I grew up in New England farm country and know barn raising.

Jeffrey also provides a wonderful panoply of non-theme fill...BIG NEWS,  ACROBAT,  DIAMOND, STRASSE,  TEL AVIV,  IN A HOLE,  CABANAS, POINT AT,  WANGLES,  OVERALL,  SARA LEE,  PLANETS,  CRANIAL,  AIRINGS,  DAMAGED, AUSTRIA,  BONKERS,  LESSEES, RIDERS UP,  PEAR TREE

Let us see where else we went.

Across:

1. 1987 Michael Jackson album : BAD. his eventual follow up ALBUM to Thriller.

4. Road where Mozart was born : STRASSE. Street in German and probably Austrian. Research reveals Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Anna Maria, née Pertl (1720–1778), at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. Clecho: 43A. Where Mozart was born : AUSTRIA.

11. Recurrent behavior : TIC. Hard for me because tics are involuntary.

14. Henri's here : ICI.    Just French.

15. Identify : POINT AT. Dramatic at a trial, but silly if the defendant is sitting at a table with his/her attorney.

16. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Auntie to Bambi.

19. Sci-fi setting : LAB.

20. "... let __ put asunder": Matthew : NO MAN.

21. Send out : EMIT.

22. Island band The __ Men : BAHA. The Baha Men are a Bahamian band playing a modernized style of Bahamian music called junkanoo. They are best remembered for their Grammy Award-winning hit song Who Let the Dogs Out? wiki.

23. Shakespeare's jet? : EBON. Both jet and ebon are fancy ways to say black.

26. Acquires through cunning : WANGLES. I love this word because it does not sound real.

28. Undefeated Ali : LAILA. Cute; his daughter was undefeated as a boxer.

29. Norm: Abbr. : STD. Standard.

30. His, to Henri : A LUI. More French.

32. "John Wick" star : REEVES. KEANU not GEORGE.

35. Fish-eating raptor : OSPREY. These BIRDS OF PREY are the logical descendant of the dinosaurs.

38. Sassy : PERT. And if you become too sassy, you will be a....

39. Boorish sort : CAD.

42. Sound : VALID. Argument.

49. Loosen (up) : WARM. Is this from muscles or people?

50. Storm : RANT.

51. Settled on a branch : ALIT.

52. Beatle ending : MANIA.

53. Cakes go-with : ALE. Oh how many recall this from a recent JW puzzle?

56. Decide not to stop : LET.

57. Off one's rocker : BONKERS.

58. Vital statistic : AGE.

59. Paul with guitars : LES. He built the first successful electric guitars and his name leads into....

60. Landlord's customers : LESSEES.

61. Ergotamine derivative popular in the '60s : LSD. More of LES. It is my excuse for being crazy. LINK.


Down:

1. Front page material : BIG NEWS.

2. One seen in a ring : ACROBAT. Pretty vague for me, but I understand the clecho.

3. One seen in a ring : DIAMOND. This made it easier.

4. Short drive : SPIN. Never understood this expression, spinning is not what I have in mind when I drive.

5. Lading measure : TON. We all remember our lesson on bills of lading.

6. Kentucky Derby call : RIDERS UP.  LINK.

7. Jungian concept : ANIMA. He had to have his own words, not Freud's  ego, super-ego and id.

8. Solemn : STAID.

9. Introduction to Domingo? : SANTO. Well done, geography.

10. Greek letter : ETA.

11. Mediterranean metropolis : TEL AVIV.

12. Saddled with debt : IN A HOLE.

13. Seaside resort array : CABANAS. VIEW.

18. Half a philosophical duality : YANG. Where is YIN?

22. Called from the field : BAAED. So cute, lamby pie.

24. Fasten, at sea : BELAY. Cute also because of the two definitions. verb
1.(a running rope) around a cleat, pin, rock, or other object, to secure it.
2. nautical slang: stop; enough! "“Belay that, mister. Man your post.”"

25. Groups at sea : FLEETS. More at sea.

27. City on the Rio Grande : LAREDO.  LISTEN. or READ.

31. Net neutrality beneficiary: Abbr. : ISP.

32. Any "Twilight Zone" episode, now : RERUN.

33. Omega holder : WRIST. The watch.

34. Part of a traditional holiday gift : PEAR TREE.

35. From one extreme to the other : OVERALL.

36. Frozen dessert brand : SARA LEE. Nobody does not love Sara Lee.

37. Seven-movement Holst work that omits Earth, with "The" : PLANETS.

39. Like the olfactory nerve, e.g. : CRANIAL.

40. Television fare : AIRINGS.

41. Flawed : DAMAGED.

44. "__ brillig ... " : TWAS. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
                                               Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
I had a roommate who was a C student, but could recite the entire poem as well as PI to the 50th place. A little bird told me JW also can recite this poem.

46. Denmark's __ Islands : FAROE. I had no idea. LINK.

47. Highland groups : CLANS.

48. Sounds from pens : OINKS. This little piggy...

52. Pine for : MISS.

54. OPEC unit : BBL. Barrel.

55. "... such stuff / As dreams __ made on": Prospero : ARE. JW squeezes his Friday Shakespeare in at the end.

Well I have stumbled to the finish line once again, hopefully having managed to unravel all of JW's tricks. Great fun...hope you had a good time, Lemonade out.

Friday, May 12, 2017, John Lampkin

Title: What hotel are you staying at? The one where you get two rooms for the price of one!

Wow, John has made my first attempt to blog a puzzle since I have been ill a challenge. On the one hand it seems simple with a nice progression from ECONOMY-STANDARD-PREMIUM-LUXURY but there is no  reveal. And then we have the four words inserted by JL. They give us Economy/Rat Pack; Standard/Hot Time; Premium/Swamp Gas and Luxury/Eye Liner.  Two themes for the price of one. I do not recall ever seeing a puzzle with this duality. All with John's wonderful wit mixed in both the theme and the cluing/fill.

19A. Doppelgänger cast for a low-budget remake of "Ocean's 11"? : ECONOMY RAT PACK (14). The original from 1960 was a vehicle for the Sinatra PACK. The real remakes have not been economy. Which of the movies did you like best?

23A. Usual night in the old town? : STANDARD HOT TIME. (15). The first of two grid-spanners.

42A. Quality marsh output? : PREMIUM SWAMP GAS (15). The silliest of the theme fill.

48A. Gold dust lid cover? : LUXURY EYE LINER (14). Made me think of Elizabeth Talyor as Cleopatra.

In addition to the 58 letters dedicated to the theme, JL includes SODA POP,  BUOYANT,  TEEN IDOL,  LEMMINGS,  ROADSIDES and  ART DEALER as sparkly fill. I had a great time.

Across:

1. "L'Arlésienne" composer : BIZET. Wow, not a gimme start but lots of challenging letters. LINK.

6. Nutrients in nuts : FATS.

10. Silent signal : NOD.

13. Surface : ARISE. An unexpected definition.

14. Facetious agreement : AH SO.

15. Litter pickup spot? : NAPE. Not only humans do this.

16. Parson's home : MANSE. I learned this word reading British mysteries and watching them on PBS like THIS.

17. Some shoulders : ROADSIDES. Lovely misdirection.

21. Speck in la mer : ILE. French,

22. Sweet climber : PEA. Very important in science RESEARCH. Next to....

32. Entomological case study? : COCOON. JL loves his moths and their stages of life.He was kind enough to provide this picture from his personal stash.

33. Repeated number of curls, say : REPititions. Bicep curls.

34. Bust gp. : DEA.  Drug Enforcement Administration. President Nixon consolidated the anti-drug efforts. This is not the group in charge of inspecting bras.

35. Whatever : AT ALL. Used to be one of my favorite catch phrases. Now it is DK/DC.

36. Fanny pack spot : HIP. I see them more in front or back, never on me. Cute positioning with
28D. In like an old cat? : HEP. Just ask Maynard G. Krebs.

37. Backing strips : LATHS. Not to confused with LATHE. Lath 1. a thin flat strip of wood, especially one of a series forming a foundation for the plaster of a wall or the tiles of a roof, or made into a trellis or fence.

39. Liszt's "__ Préludes" : LES. Pretty easy French to fill. This COMPOSER was very popular.

40. Fish house freebie : BIB. Usually with a drawing of a lobster.

41. Sympathize : RELATE.

46. Mayo is in it : ANO. Spanish trick Mayo = May- ANO = Year

47. Fan noise : HUM.

56. Theo van Gogh, notably : ART DEALER. A fun STORY.

57. Orange variety : NAVEL. Seedless and very haughty.

59. Couth he is not : OGRE.

60. Khartoum's waters : NILE.

61. Birds do it between thermals : GLIDE. JL also watches and films birds.


62. Place to take a dip : SEA. And the clecho, 64A. Place to take a dip? : SALSA.

63. Hits up (for) : TAPS. In beer halls you tap your friend next to the taps.



Down:

1. "Whap!" : BAM. Comic book talk.

2. "Dies __" : IRAE.

3. #30 on a table : ZINC. I keep forgetting to not put my glass on the periodic table.

4. Canadian pump name : ESSO. Esso - Exxon.

5. "People" person, perhaps : TEEN IDOL.

6. Cain was one : FARMER. Sad, as he must have been driven mad by the methane gases.

7. Cry to a mate : AHOY.

8. Ruler that doesn't work anymore : TSAR. They all retired?

9. Gender-specific beverage? : SODA POP. Cute, you can have soda pop or white wine mom.

10. Zilch : NADA.

11. Group with many barrels : OPEC.

12. Office staple : DESK. I found this tricky, looking for an office implement..

15. Bite playfully : NIP AT. Puppies! Friends?

18. Editorial override : STET.

20. Buck heroine : O-LAN. A well decorated book about the mysterious East. O-Lan is a fictional character in Pearl S. Buck's 1931 novel The Good Earth. She is a slave of the House of Hwang who gains her freedom when she marries the novel's protagonist, Wang Lung. They start a family in their small country town, and endure grueling times, including droughts, floods, and war. Wiki, Sorry about the broken link.

23. It may be under a rug : SCALP. Rug here being a toupee- nice.

24. Bag carrier : TOTER. Yes it is!  29D. Travel bag attachment : ID TAG. More travel.

25. "__ in point" : A CASE.

26. Cambodia's Lon __ : NOL. LON NOL, a handy palindrome.

27. Bits : DRIBS. Or drabs?

30. Maestro Zubin : MEHTA. John is a most prolific pianist, explaining all the music this week. You can learn more about John going to his blog,  LINK.

31. Lightens up : EASES.

36. Gender-specific pronoun : HIM. All perps.

37. Non-suicidal migrants, contrary to myth : LEMMINGS. The MYTH?

38. Heidi got high on one : ALP. My friend Heidi lived near the Devil's Millhopper  no mountains..

40. Cheerful : BUOYANT. Maybe if you are a sponge....

41. Julia of film : RAUL. He died much too young. LINK.

43. "All in the Family" spin-off : MAUDE. Bea Arthur as a feminist.

44. About : IN RE.

45. Waldo forerunner? : WHERE'S? I think he is lost forever. Just words that come before Waldo.

48. Cambodia neighbor : LAOS. Both near Thailand.

49. Itch : URGE.

50. Bonus, in ads : XTRA.

51. Lamb's alias : ELIA. And a JL clecho 58D. Lamb's place : LEA. Not the writer but the baby that Mary had.

52. Sharp bark : YELP. Doggies.

53. Simba's love : NALA.

54. Far from harmless : EVIL.

55. Cabs, say : REDS. Not yellow taxis, but Cabernet wines.

Well it was fun to blog but still not 100%. 7 hospitals and 10 doctors so far this year. Glad to be back and to have a JL special was great. Lemonade out. Thank you John.

Friday May 5, 2017 Jeff Chen and Seth Geltman

(Note from C.C.: Lemonade still feels quite weak from his surgeries. D-Otto blogged today's puzzle.)

Theme: FUZZY MATH - Each math term is re-phrased as non-math.

“Fuzzy math” has a couple of very different meanings. In one sense, it can describe the way a politician defends his pie-in-the-sky spending plan. It’s also a valid field of math related to fuzzy logic and fuzzy set theory. I’m not sure this puzzle fits either of those meanings. To me, it just seems to be a smattering of unrelated, but weirdly-clued, two-word math expressions:

17A. Bizarre entr'acte? : ODD NUMBER

25A. Cue from the wings? : LINE SEGMENT

37A. L.A. or N.Y. publishing equipment? : TIMES TABLES (Equipment?)

49A. Upbringing involving unhip oldies? : SQUARE ROOTS

And the reveal…

61A. It doesn't add up ... except as a hint to 17-, 25-, 37- and 49-Across : FUZZY MATH

This is another of the frequent collaborations from Jeff and Seth. We’ve seen Jeff here many times. Seth teaches computer science to grade school kids in California. He writes about his joint efforts with Jeff: “In the Pro-Am circuit of puzzles, he (Jeff) is definitely the Pro, and I'm the Am.” (Sorta like the cornerites’ collaborations with C.C.)

Let’s see what Jeff’s and Seth’s integration has wrought...

Across:

1. Ike, in the '50s : PREZ

5. Suffix for "leader" : ARCH. As in monARCH, oligARCH, etc. Had to think about it before the light went on.

9. Stopped to think : MUSED. My first guess.

14. First female attorney general : RENO. Janet was in charge during the Branch Davidian debacle in Waco. She passed away last November. There’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about her here.

15. Animal in una arena : TORO.  “Una arena” tells us the answer will be Spanish.

16. Fester, e.g. : UNCLE. Morticia’s Uncle Fester on the Addams Family.

19. Historic name in India : MAHAL.  As in the Taj. Tried NEHRU first.

20. "Millennium" trilogy author Larsson : STIEG/ The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. Have you read them? I thought they were pretty good.

21. "It's go time" : I’M UP (Meh!)

23. It's little when it's white : LIE. Probably my favorite clue in this puzzle.

29. Enter furtively : EDGE IN. Sneak and Steal in were too long.

31. Locks removed at night? : TOUPEE. Voted second favorite clue.

32. Curb : REIN Another first guess.

33. Reserved box, maybe : VIP SEAT (Meh #2)

40. Apt : GERMANE. No relation to Jermaine Jackson.

41. Sleazy gaze : LEER Not OGLE this time.

44. Sanction : PERMIT

47. "Open wide!" : SAY AAH

53. It's quite a mess : STY

54. Land of Freud: Abbr. : AUS tria

55. Flush, in Tijuana : RICO. Rich, no relation to Rich Norris.

56. Try to strike : HIT AT

58. Beamed : LIT UP

63. Muse of memory : MNEME. Looked really weird, until I remembered “mnemonic.” She was one of the original three muses. Later there were nine.

64. Hightail it : FLEE

65. Limo destination : PROM. Commonplace today. LIMOs were unheard of at the proms of my ute.

66. Accord, for one : SEDAN. Honda.

67. A or B, for the record : SIDE Those good ole 45’s with the big whole in the middle.

68. Figs. that are never intentionally reused : SSNs The first three digits once signified the area where the card was issued. No more. Soon Medicare will begin issuing cards with non-SSN numbers. I carry my Medicare card, but I’ve blacked out all but the last 4 digits.

Down:

1. Do quite well : PROSPER

2. Destructive algal bloom : RED TIDE

3. Writing a "Dear John" letter, say : ENDING IT

4. Lose focus, with "out" : ZONE

5. It requires a 24-Across : ATM (24A: See 5-Down. PIN)

6. Hood of folklore : ROBIN

7. Eclair filling : CREME Tried CREAM first.

8. Egyptian sky god : HORUS No relation to Horace Greeley.

9. Quiet : MUM

10. Feminine article in Italy : UNA Second appearance today – see 15a.

11. Haul : SCHLEP Dutch-German origin. I’ll bet Spitz knew that.

12. Sitcom character who dated baseball's Keith Hernandez : ELAINE Thank you, perps.

13. Insert neighbor, on PCs : DELETE Did you cheat? On my keyboard it’s directly below Insert.

18. Wrinkly hybrid : UGLI

22. Beatle for two years : PETE BEST

26. DC-to-AC electronic device : INVERTER If you’ve got solar photo-voltaic panels on your roof, you need an INVERTER to make the power usable.

27. "Scoooooooooore!" : GOAL Soccer (or futbol).

28. Without a sound : MUTELY Without a spoken word, perhaps, not necessarily soundless.

30. Baffler : ENIGMA The machine.

34. Ending for many schools : ISM Capitalism, socialism, communism, ad nauseum...

35. Fundraising sch. group : PTA

36. Franciscan leader? : SAN San Francisco

38. Milwaukee schoolteacher who went on to lead Israel : MEIR Golda, who became Prime Minister.

39. Typically five-armed marine invertebrates : SEA STARS

42. Go whole hog on Thanksgiving : EAT A TON

43. Beats : RHYTHMS (Weird letter combinations)

44. Biblical collection : PSALMS (Weird letter combinations part 2)

45. Track runner : EQUINE i.e. a horse.

46. Suffered from neglect, in a way : RUSTED

48. Hardly hale : ASHY (I guess they mean “pale” or “wan.”)

50. Jazz improvisations : RIFFS

51. Eyelike openings : OCULI

52. Slowly exuded : OOZED

57. Cheeky tykes : IMPS

59. She played Mia in "Pulp Fiction" : UMA Thurman

60. __ name : PEN The male swan has a cob name.

62. Part of a dazzling duo? : ZEE daZZling.

It wasn’t a slog, but this one just didn’t do it for me. Your mileage may differentiate. Thanks for the effort, Jeff and Seth.

As you read this, I’ll be at the Medical Center having a routine EGD – not to be confused with a GED. Desper-otto out (literally).

Friday April 28, 2017 Alan DeLoriea

Theme: H-BOMB (29. Its testing awakened Godzilla ... and what's dropped, facetiously, into five puzzle answers) - B is added to the start of each common phrase. (I meant H. Thanks, CanadianEh!.)

17A. Cool site? : HIP ADDRESS. IP address. Every computer has one. You can google "What's my IP address" to find out yours.

38A. Android greeting? : HI ROBOT. I Robot. Crossing the reveal H-BOMB. Very nice.

62A. Congress taking some R and R? : HILL AT EASE. Ill at ease.

 

11D. When the punch line hits? : HAHA MOMENT. Aha moment.

27D. Lonely banquet reservation? : HALL FOR ONE. All for one.

C.C. here. Some of you are aware that Lemonade had a scare following his sciatica surgery. He was hospitalized for six long days to deal with a few terrifying health issues. He's now at home recovering. Hopefully he'll be back guiding us next Friday.

Today we have a classic Friday letter addition/deletion/replacement theme with a pinwheel design, which is frequently used when there is a reveal entry. Pinwheel often allows smoother fill, but it also limits long fill (8+ letter answers). In today's case, we only have two: LAST GASP (20. Like a Hail Mary pass) and  ALCATRAZ (57. "The Rock" (1996) setting). Both sparkling.

Across:     

1. Smears : DAUBS

6. Warthog weapon : TUSK. What do you call the pair above his tusks?

10. Leave behind : SHED. As in fur. I was thinking of LOSE.

14. __ de l'air: French Air Force : ARMEE. Helpful clue

15. Bart Simpson's bus driver : OTTO. D-Otto's surname is Uttormark. I forgot what it means. Burnikel means "Don't kill the child".

16. Vendor offering : WARE. Was picturing food.

19. Melville's "grand, ungodly, god-like man" : AHAB

21. "Animal House" rivals : FRATS. Got via crosses.

22. "Suicide Squad" actor Jared : LETO

23. TV fantasy drama inspired by iconic brothers : GRIMM. Helpful clue.

25. Post-run feeling : ACHE

28. Younger Simpson sister : ASHLEE. Jessica's sister. Not LISA or MAGGIE.

30. Mining target : ORE. Also 18. Mining target : DATA

33. Clutch : GRASP

35. DealDash offers : BIDS. Never used DealDash. You?

36. Do a DJ's job : MIX

37. Press output : OIL. Not "The Press" press.

41. N.C. winter hours : EST

42. Seminary subj. : REL

43. Former L.A. Laker Lamar __ : ODOM. Troubled life.

44. Capp chap : ABNER

46. "Speak" follower : ARF

47. Liable to spill the beans : BLABBY. Never used this word.

50. Mediterranean hot spot : ETNA

51. Willow twig : OSIER. Learned from doing crosswords. This tree is very Osier-y.

53. CPR pros : EMTS

55. Show tune that begins, "The most beautiful sound I ever heard" : MARIA

61. Conductive nerve part : AXON

64. Wilder acting : GENE. I know "Acting Wilder" will lose the  "capital W" trick, but it sounds better grammatically.

65. Digging : INTO. So what was your sciatica surgery procedure called, Dave? You're so lucky that it's totally gone.

66. Up : ASTIR

67. Whole mess : SLEW

68. "The Hunger Games" president : SNOW. Stranger to me.

69. __ pad : STENO. Not LEGAL/MOUSE.

Down:

1. Oompa-Loompa creator : DAHL

2. Song from Strauss : ARIA

3. Frequent callers? : UMPS. Great clue.

4. Apple Records founders : BEATLES

5. Swamp growth : SEDGE

6. Trunks : TORSOS

7. Sch. that calls the Sun Bowl its home : UTEP. University of Texas at El Paso.

8. New Eng. sextet : STs (States)

9. Mayweather stat : KO'S

10. Be like bees : SWARM. Not STING.

 

12. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT

13. Society newbies : DEBS

21. Gala gathering : FIESTA

23. Slick-talking : GLIB

24. Second shot : RE-DO

25. Prefix with 34-Down : AGORA. And 34. Irrational aversion : PHOBIA. Agoraphobia = Fear of public spaces

26. Town __ : CRIER

31. Up : RISEN

32. More than expected : EXTRA

39. "Spamalot" lyricist : IDLE (Eric)

40. Loud cry : ROAR. And  48. Loud cry : BELLOW

45. Childish descriptor of a childhood friend : BESTEST. Are you still in contact with your childhood bestest friend?

49. Where "It's fun to stay," in a disco hit : YMCA

52. Tendon : SINEW

54. Exit lines : TA TAs

55. Money and Fortune, briefly : MAGS

 

56. Winter Olympics leap : AXEL

57. Adele, vocally : ALTO

58. Use a Yelp account, say : RATE

59. Words used for a spell? : AS IN. Spelling.

60. Cold temperature : ZERO. It was so warm last weekend that Boomer and I started our garden. Then we had a  few cold days. Snow on our deck yesterday morning. 

62. Half a matching set : HIS

63. Place to stay : INN

Some of you probably still remember Wayne R. Williams, who used to edit our old Tribune Media Daily crosswords. He passed away on Tuesday morning.

Our local Star Tribune now carries Timothy Parker's crosswords and the 6-week-behind New York Times crosswords. Does your paper have two puzzles or only one puzzle? Do they give bylines? Let me know in the Comments section.


C.C.

Friday, April, 21, 2017, Paul Coulter

Title: CONDENSATION

Husker Gary in today for Lemon who is on the Disabled List, hopefully on a temporary basis! Paul has chosen six two-word phrases where the last letters of the first word are also the first letters of the second word as you can see in the grid below. Then he clues the resulting silly phrase with overlapping letters as an economy of letters in making his ENGAGINGENIOUS theme. 

Let's investigate the PLEASANTICS of Paul's in his six, count 'em,  six, theme answers

17. Compressed "Blue Suede Shoes" as sung by Elvis? : COVERSION - One of Elvis' first big hits was a COVER VERSION of a song originally done by Carl Perkins

28. Compressed piece of hardware? : COMPUTERMINAL -Alan Turig's "Bombe" built to decipher German Enigma codes was a forerunner of the modern COMPUTER TERMINAL

21. Compressed syntax topic? : WORDER - WORD ORDER can be slightly different in Spanish. 

44. Compressed Homeland Security role? : COUNTERRORISM - Both sides of any conflict have COUNTER TERRORISM strategies

52. Compressed carnivore? : MEATER - A MEAT EATER who lives with a vegetarian

57. Compressed gastric complaints? : STOMACHES - Astronauts can get STOMACH ACHES in 0g. They can just swallow this water bubble and its fizzy contents

Now for the rest of Paul's cluing in this FUNBELIEVABLE puzzle

Across

1. African currency : RAND - Who gets the fries in this R99 Durban, South Africa deal?

5. Tater __ : TOTS

9. U.K. equivalent of an Oscar : BAFTA - British Academy of Film and Television Fine Arts

14. Burnt toast indicator : ODOR - A man next to me at a Denny's once ordered burnt toast

15. Heroic poetry : EPOS - A word I learned and forgot in this venue

16. Noble objective : IDEAL 

19. Make happen : CAUSE

20. Imply : GET AT - Speaking of ODOR - "What is she trying to GET AT?"

22. Ecol., e.g. : SCI

25. Traitor : RAT 

26. Canal locale : EAR - The only thing you should put in your ear is your elbow

27. Emerson's "jealous mistress" : ART - "It makes a bad husband and poor provider"

32. Nordic counterpart : ALPINE - Today's puzzle theme inspired me to choose this TV overlapping gimmick composed of two competing ALPINE skiers 

33. Heat source : OIL

34. Judgment concern : BIAS

37. Nothing, in Nice : RIEN

38. On the other hand : BUT

39. Salinger title character with professional singing aspirations : ESME - How do I clue thee? Let me count the ways.

40. Creative singing style : SCAT - Did you forget the words, Ella? :-) 

41. Home sick, say : OUT - Did you ever call in sick and try to sound as sick as you can on the phone? Uh, me either. 

42. Perfumery compound : ACETAL - I never cared for organic chemistry 

47. "That's awful!" : UGH

49. Lush : SOT

50. Tiebreakers, briefly : OT'S - A t-shirt celebrating an Orangemen sextuple OT win 

51. Old anti-Union gp. : CSA  and 57. The CSA's eleven : STS - What if they had won?

54. Manuscript marks : STETS

56. Austrian composer Berg : ALBAN - If Paul says so...

61. Author known for teddy bear stories : MILNE

62. Amos at the piano : TORI

63. The last Mrs. Chaplin : OONA - OONA's celebrated dad, playwright Eugene O'Neill, ended their relationship when she married Charlie who was 36 years her senior. 

64. Latin clarifier : ID EST - ID EST, "That is" we know more familiarly as "i.e."

65. Smart answer, sometimes : SASS  but not 60. KLM competitor : SAS - A follow-up on Wednesday's sassy discussion here

66. Terrible time : TWO'S

Down

1. Elephant predator of myth : ROC - From Arabic   رخ (rukk), an enormous legendary bird of  prey

2. Brouhaha : ADO - Brouhaha seems pretentious to my ear

3. Scorpio mo. : NOV

4. Remnant : DREG - In It Was A Very Good Year, Old Blue Eyes sang, "And now I think of my life as vintage wine, From fine old kegs, From the brim to the DREGS" 

5. Willed? : TESTATE - The lower example

6. Sleep inducer : OPIATE - Not a good long term solution

7. Binge : TOOT

8. Identity thief's target: Abbr. : SSN - He stopped running this ad after his identity was stolen 13 times

9. Crescent-shaped : BICORN - A UNICORN variance

10. Purim month : ADAR

11. Like a Middle Ages social system : FEUDALISTIC 

12. It's a stunner : TASER - These will cover the waterfront

13. It may be red : ALERT

18. "Friends" episode, now : RERUN - How did they have no minority Friends in NYC?

21. Knock 'em dead at the jazz club : WAIL

22. Lasting marks : SCARS - Mine is in a place you will never see

23. Infant illness : COLIC - Col. Potter's horse Sophie had COLIC in a M*A*S*H episode

24. Like high-level treason : IMPEACHABLE

26. Put out : EMIT

29. It's spotted in Westerns : PINTO - Tonto on his PINTO, Scout

30. Way to go : ROUTE

31. "Drink __": 2014 Luke Bryan #1 country hit : A BEER - "So I'm gonna sit right here, On the edge of this pier, Watch the sunset disappear and Drink A BEER". Eat yer out Shakespeare!

35. Gather : AMASS

36. 1965 march site : SELMA - I wonder per cent of people that claim to have been at SELMA or Woodstock actually were

38. Target : BUTT - Of a joke

41. __ about : ON OR

42. Diana's Greek counterpart : ARTEMIS

43. Spanish seashore : COSTA

45. Early online forum : USENET

46. Chopper parts : ROTORS

47. Savory taste : UMAMI 

48. Very cold : GELID - "Eventually boots and socks had to be removed and ankles submitted to the GELID waters" Sunday Times (2013)

53. Beige cousins : TANS

54. Portico for Pericles : STOA

55. Conan Doyle, for one : SCOT

58. The sixth W? : HOW

59. "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" artist : ENO - This would be "TAN music" at ORD

Now it's time for your condensed or unabridged comments. Perhaps you can come up with some variations on Paul's THEMETHOD.