Friday, December 14, 2018, Ed Sessa

Title: Fooey, we do not need them both. Why do we have PH and F both for the /f/ sound? The Greek letter φ (phi) started it. In Classical Greek this was pronounced as an aspirated [pʰ], which the Latins wrote as ph when they borrowed the words from Greek. Later this sound changed into an [f] in both Greek and Latin, and was passed as such into French, and then into English. Once the idea that ph was pronounced [f] was established, it spread to a few other areas, as well. Borrowings from Hebrew and other Semitic languages sometimes use ph, especially since the Hebrew letter פ can be [p] or [f] depending on context. (or depending on Ashkenazi versus Sephardic language) Vietnamese regularly uses ph for [f], because the modern Vietnamese orthography was designed by the French.

Hello everyone; hopefully, you are happy to see the puzzle author, our once again prolific retired Dr. Ed who plays beautifully and amusingly with sounds. In a very consistent theme, where F becomes PH, then PH - F, F - PH, PH - F and finally F - PH to complete the perfectly symmetrical and consistent theme. I loved the reversing of the PH/F F/PH as the puzzle gimmick, but I began looking for the A, also. To make the theme work, Ed had to widen the grid and place his grid-spanning central fill with a cheater square on each side to make this all work. Friday, home of the 16 x 15 grid. Also, it is the home of  IT WORKS. SLAMS ON, DOMESTIC, HOT WIRES, iPOD-MINI,  and UNION MAN. Ed is a pro, so let us appreciate this effort.

19A. Paramount paramour?: ALPHA ROMEO (10). ALFA Romeo automobiles.  Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. I had the hardest time of thinking past Paramount Pictures and the many leading early stars developed there, including Mary Pickford, Marguerite Clark, Pauline Frederick, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, and Wallace Reid.

24A. Greek goddess carrying a pick?: AFRODITE (8). APHrodite, was the ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, which is named after the Roman goddess Venus, with whom she was extensively syncretized.

36A. Program for young readers, and a hint to five puzzle answers: PHUN WITH FONICS (14). A magnificent double-header which was stolen from Fun with Phonics both switched.

51A. Online scammer's tool?: PHISH NET (8). Fishnet will always bring to mind dear Splynter and his ladies. Can you name this lady? Anyway, PHISHING is not nice.

56A. Dispensers of horse pills?: FARMACISTS (10). PHarmacists might not find this amusing, but I do.

Across:

1. O on a stand, say: ISSUE. I am not sure I have the slightest idea what this means; music? My wife? Opposition?

6. "Pokémon: The Series" genre: ANIME. I like it when clues have their accents.

11. Ceremonial exchange: I DOS.

15. "The Nightmare Room" series author: STINE. R.L. who created the GOOSEBUMPS  phenomenon. Here is an INTERVIEW. The man has written an amazing number of BOOKS.

16. Misses without exception: WOMEN. Be careful Dr.Ed, gender is no longer that simple.

17. Dirty work?: PORN. I will not follow that thought up here.

18. Scuba diver's destination: WRECK. If you want to try, you can read THIS.

21. Sandwich title?: EARL.  As with the author of this ARTICLE, I grew up listening to Dusty Dick Summer on WBZ. He is a nice man with whom I have corresponded.  There is one named for 24A.

22. Watches kids: SITS. Interesting how this word developed, as little of the process involves sitting.

23. Sit tight: BIDE. Don't have a cow, but this does seem like an avoidable immediate dupe.

26. Applies with force, as brakes: SLAMS ON. I filled before reading the clue and was trying to think of a Samson reference that would make sense.

29. Jelly bean-munching president: REAGAN.

30. Color gradation: HUE. I didn't know they even went to school.

31. Modest acknowledgment: I TRY. If you do not laugh, at least...

32. Wolverine relative: WEASEL. Wait just one darn minute, you mean THIS is related to THAT? But what about HIM?

35. In the cooler: ON ICE. Not poured over ice, Tin, so this okay. Maybe you keep your chocolate there.

40. Some satellites: MOONS. Defined as a celestial body orbiting another of larger size

41. Back up anew: RESAVE.

42. European wine area: ASTI.

43. Mend, perhaps: SEW.

44. iHeartRADIO fare: OLDIES. All types of music, really.

49. Inventor's cry of success: IT WORKS.! Eureka!

53. Jones of film, familiarly: INDY.

54. Motley: PIED. The motley piper?

55. Real estate unit: ACRE.

59. Bop on the bean: BRAIN.

60. Bulb in a balloon?: IDEA. I like the alliteration, but this was tough. This EXPERIMENT? Or

61. Boffo Moffo performances: ARIAS. A bit misleading use of the rhyme for a wonderful song by

62. "No more for me": I'M SET.

63. Cap'n's mate: BOS'N. Boatswain is back.

64. Stroke in a parlor: MASSE. Billiard, not beauty, nor even massage.

65. Boxing family: BAERS. Maximilian Adelbert Baer (February 11, 1909 – November 21, 1959) was an American boxer who was the World Heavyweight Champion from 14 June 1934 to 13 June 1935. His fights were twice (1933 win over Max Schmeling, 1935 loss to James J. Braddock) rated Fight of the Year by The Ring Magazine. Baer was also a boxing referee and had an occasional role on film or television. He was the brother of heavyweight boxing contender Buddy Baer and father of actor Max Baer Jr.

Down:

1. Start of an oath: I SWEAR. To uphold the Constitution...

2. Attack from above: STRAFE. If you have a plane and a machine gun.

3. __ Nevada: brewery: SIERRA. We went to their brewery in North Carolina in 2016

4. Clear, as a drain: UNCLOG. Long haired wives...

5. Reaction to a mouse: EEK. Scaredy cat wives...

6. Anticipate: AWAIT.

7. "A Walk in the Woods" actor: NOLTE.

8. Rowdy rug rats: IMPS.

9. "I couldn't care less": MEH. A classic Corner word.

10. Facilitate: ENABLE.

11. Early Apple audio player: iPod MINI.

12. Made at home: DOMESTIC. Not imported.

13. Mineral source: ORE.

14. __-Caps: candy: SNO.

Mini Nonpareils

20. Coastal inlet: RIA.

22. Tendon: SINEW. As nouns, the difference between sinew and tendon is that sinew is (anatomy) a cord or tendon of the body while tendon is (anatomy) a tough band of inelastic fibrous tissue that connects a muscle with its bony attachment.

25. Occurs to, with "on": DAWNS.

26. Early antibiotic: SULFA. Sulfonamide is a functional group that is the basis of several groups of drugs, which are called sulphonamides, sulfa drugs or sulpha drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides are synthetic antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group.

27. Fictional flesh-eaters: ORCS. Orcs eat all manner of flesh, including men and horses, and there are frequent hints of cannibalism among Orcs. Grishnákh, leader of the Mordor Orcs, accuses Saruman's Uruks of eating Orc-flesh, which they angrily deny.

28. TV's "Science Guy": NYE.

30. Sly chuckles: HEHS. Heh heh.

33. Buenos __: AIRES.

34. Crock-Pot dish: STEW.

35. First-year law students: ONE LS. Thanks to Mr. Grisham.

36. Nutter Butter Cereal maker: POST.

37. Starts without a key: HOTWIRES.

38. True-blue teamster, say: UNION MAN. I was shop steward when I had my grocery store job.

39. Dumpty-shaped: OVOID. Humpty.


40. English R and B singer Ella __: MAI. She is an unknown for me, but sounds promising.

                                                                       LINK.

43. Overhead stadium equipment: SKYCAM.

45. Greg's sitcom wife: DHARMA. Jenna Elfman has not done much since, but Thomas Gibson had a good run on Criminal Minds.

46. To be safe: IN CASE.

47. More spooky: EERIER.

48. Angioplasty implants: STENTS.

50. Nutritional no.: RDA. Recommended Daily Amount.

51. Greek breads: PITAS.

52. "Steppenwolf" author: HESSE. Herman.

54. Greek letters: PSIS. We started with PHIS, now this Ψ.

56. Little lie: FIB.

57. It may be about nothing: ADO. Muchly.

58. 401(k) relative, briefly: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

59. Food collector, at times: BIB.  Until I had grandchildren, I was unfamiliar with these high tech bibs. Much neater.

Well, we have come to the end of another visit together. I am having such fun on Fridays, with so many skilled and creative and witty constructors pumping out puzzles. Now with a few more females in the mix and I am set. Thank you Dr. Ed and all who read and write. lemonade out.

Friday, December 7, 2018, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: I C said the blind man. 'I see said the blind man' is an old expression, often with "to his deaf wife." My favorite ending is, "... as he peed into the wind. It's all coming back to me now!"

I would reference I.C.E. since the IC replaces E, but that would end up being political. I think I may have exhausted the topic of blindness, but Jeffrey never seems to exhaust his library of wit. In another letter replacement version, he packs in 65 spaces of theme with a central grid-spanner. He uses cheater squares for the 14s, but the rest is just a nice puzzle. Such skill to include IS IT SO, CIERAS, RARE COIN, I'VE GOT TO, TENON SAW all of which are uncommon or brand new for the LAT and the fun word FLAMENCO. The cluing which apparently is too much for CED was fun throughout, so...

16A. Art class model, say?: STATIC EMPLOYEE (14). The STATE employee gets to stand still while being sketched. Some say the DMV employees stand still while waiting on you.

25A. Homeowner's extreme reaction to a hailstorm?: WINDOW PANIC (11). Here we all have hurricane-proof window PANES or shutters.

34A. Ancient Roman's suggestion to a sweat-drenched pal?: CHANGE YOUR TUNIC (15). I wonder if finding this grid spanner made JW change his TUNE?

46A. Where sick con victims seek help?: PATSY CLINIC (11). But do they play her hits over the loudspeaker?

59A. Stand-up invited to a holiday meal?: COMIC FOR DINNER (14). Look who is COMING for dinner? I understand most professionals do not like 'performing' for relatives. I am glad I am not a professional.

A really nice set of themers

Across:

1. City in which much of "Moonlight" is set: MIAMI. Academy Award winner; oops. LINK.

6. Lively display of stamps?: FLAMENCO.

14. Long range: ANDES. One of those clues CED spoke of, not far but an extended mountain range.

15. Valuable collectible: RARE COIN. This fill has been in the LAT twice before, introduced to us by Paul Coulter on a Friday I blogged HERE. That puzzle write-ups has two very interesting aspects; pictures of Lucina added by C.C. and the TONSURE of Buddhist monks which I participated in this trip.

18. Singer Jones: TOM.

19. Ashes not caused by fire: TREES. Another deceptive one, where we wanted fire and needed Fraxinus, English name ash, a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae.

20. Notable times: ERAS.

22. Genesis twin: ESAU. When your name is 4 letters and has three vowels, you will live on in xwords.

23. Volcanic rock: BASALT. This is a dark, fine-grained volcanic rock that sometimes displays a columnar structure. It is typically composed largely of plagioclase with pyroxene and olivine. The dictionary makes that so clear, right?

30. Calculating: SLY.

31. Lot unit: ACRE.

32. Sucker of sorts: LEECH. Not the victim, but THIS.

41. Wise guys, maybe: SAGES. Using 'guys' to lead you to mobsters, not smart people. If you notice it is clued as two words, and not as wiseguys, you will not fall in his trap.

42. Hotel worker: MAID.

43. Asian holiday: TET. As the celebration of the lunar new year, Tet is the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar.

50. Went from 50 to 40: SLOWED. Because lying about his/her age would not fit.

52. "Put __ on it!": A LID.

53. Bust size?: KILO. Stop looking for boobie, all we have here is a drug bust. Why do we use pounds/ounces for most things but 'keys' for heroin and cocaine?

54. Flynn of film: ERROL. He is back; no buckling a swash today.

56. Attorney's org.: ABA.  American Bar Association. A CSO to Susan and others.

63. "It's my duty": I'VE GOT TO. If you must, you must.

64. Really irk: EAT AT.

65. Cutting tool for making joints: TENON SAW. This full name appeared only once, in 2005, in the LAT. It has never been used in an NYT.

66. Works on a batter: STIRS. No baseball, but cooking. Sorry CED.

Down:

1. It's often rigged: MAST. Another fun clue, right CED?

2. Fascinated by: IN TO.

3. Biblical exile: ADAM. It is so easy to put in CAIN and be wrong. JW! And a mini-clecho 22D. Delightful places: EDENS.

4. Came across: MET.

5. "Can this be true?": IS IT SO? A challenging parse.

6. Clear, as a schedule slot: FREE UP.

7. Fabric with a glint: LAMÉ. You do not get the accent in the clue making it hard to see this fabric with interwoven gold or silver threads.

8. Some dadaist works: ARPS.

9. Brooks with lines: MEL. Not bubbling streams but a shout out to this awesome PUZZLE.

10. Green prefix: ECO.

11. British poet Alfred: NOYES.

12. '80s-'90s Olds models: CIERAS.

13. Score early in the set, maybe: ONE ALL. Tennis anyone?

17. Bird crop: CRAW. Anything about this puzzle stick in your...?

21. Muddy enclosure: STY.

23. Stuttgart suds: BIER. Beer by any other name...German 1.

24. Bank holding: Abbr.: ACCT. Cking or sving?

25. WWII female: WAC. Women's Army Corps was the women's branch of the United States Army. The WAC was disbanded in 1978, and all units were integrated with male units.

26. Gigi : je :: Greta : __: ICH. German 2.

27. Org. with frequent firings: NRA. National Rifle Association. Too political.

28. See 57-Down: A LOSS. 57D. With 28-Down, persevere despite hardship: BEAR.  Did you write an essay in school about the cross-eyed bear?

29. Fresh, to Franz: NEU. German 3.

33. Like a rainforest: HUMID.

35. Show awe: GAPE.

36. Quaint "Yikes!": EGAD.

37. Equivalent of OTOH: YET. In didactic discourse, perhaps.

38. Photographer Goldin: NAN. Nancy "Nan" Goldin is an American photographer. Her work often explores LGBT bodies, moments of intimacy, the HIV crisis, and the opioid epidemic. I had to post her photograph she titled "Lemons Never Forget"

39. Sundial marking: III. Another use of Roman numerals to fill difficult places.

40. Health org. with HQ in Atlanta: CDC. What happened to the "P"; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

43. "Naughty!": TSK. Generally in pairs.

44. Draw out: ELICIT.

45. Queen's "Somebody __": TO LOVE.

47. Peter of Peter, Paul and Mary: YARROW. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's greatest hits, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"

48. Lump of earth: CLOD. Or some of the people I knew in high school.

49. Easter display: LILIES. Lilium longiflorum, often called the Easter lily, is a plant endemic to both Taiwan and Ryukyu Islands.

51. Many suffragists: WOMEN. Hmm, yes women led the movement for women to vote.

54. Young newts: EFTS.

55. "The Godfather" composer Nino: ROTA. He wrote 171 MOVIE THEMES, including Godfather I and Godfather II which won him an Academy Awards each time for Best Original Score. He worked mostly on foreign films, and many for Fellini. These included Fellini's Romeo and Juliet where this Shakespeare quote came from. 60D. "Can __ forward when my heart is here?": Romeo: I GO. Act 2, Scene 1
ROMEO:
Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out.

56. Opposition member: ANTI.

58. Liberal follower?: ARTS. JW will go to any degree to confound and amuse.

61. Fool: CON.

62. D.C. ballplayer: NAT. Will Bryce Harper remain a Washington National?

Another Friday, another great creation from Jeffrey and kinds of things to speak about; I await your comments, critiques and comedy. Be good and see you next week GWATCDR, Lemonade out.

Friday, November 30, 2018, Dan Margolis

Title: Cue Q.  LINK.

I blogged Dan's debut here back 5 + years ago, click if you want to REMEMBER. I do not believe James Bond was the inspiration, but perhaps we can induce Dan to stop by and let us know. In the interim, the theme is straightforward, though a bit varied. There are 5 themers and a reveal. The first two have CU replaced, the third has one of its two CUs replaced. Next has CUE, and the last CCU. It is consistent because in each and every case it is the sound kju that is replaced. he does provide a reveal if you hadn't gotten the hint, though it too could be confusing. 56 theme spaces do not leave much room for outside sparkle but did leave room for lots of linguistics. We see many languages featured in this grid and I have highlighted some that I saw but maybe not all, or even correctly. The time change adjustment makes this blog harder than doing it in Thailand. See for yourself...

10A. Like many Miamians: QBAN (4). My son is married to a young lady of CUBAN descent.

17A. Not to be tolerated: INEXQSABLE (10). If I had used all the bad puns that came to mind with this theme, you likely would have found it INEXCUSABLE.

26A. Unruffled: COOL AS A QCUMBER (14). While scientifically correct - cucumbers internal temperature will be 11 to 20 degrees cooler and its surroundings, the phrase was first recorded in a poem by the British poet John Gay 'New Song on New Similies' in 1732: "Cool as a cucumber could see the rest of womankind". This is challenging because of the double "CU" but the second is not pronounced with the long U.

43A. Potentially lifesaving efforts: RESQ OPERATIONS (14). RESCUE operations are organized procedures to bring people or a person out of danger, attack, harm, etc. Collins dictionary. Here the Q replaces CUE. 

62A. Charge: AQSE (4). I ACCUSE (J'ACCUSE in the original) was made famous from a letter written by Emile Zola defending Alfred DREYFUS.
The reveal:

56A. Words before entering ... and a hint to five puzzle answers: THAT'S MY CUE (10).

and that is mine to get on with reviewing and discussing...

Across:

1. Accommodate: ADAPT.

6. "Who, me?": NOT I. Very formal.

14. Craft pointed in two directions?: CANOE. We begin our world of words with a word that came to us from mid 16th century: from Spanish canoa, from Arawak, from Carib canaoua .

15. __à-brac: BRIC. French.

16. Bear overhead: URSA. The famous Major and Minor
constellations. Latin for bear.

19. Farm feed: OATS.

20. Pasture moisture: DEW. Not the same as Mountain Dew.

21. One of the two most recent Pac-12 members: UTES.
The STORY.

22. Xerxes' empire: PERSIA. This guy...

24. Krombacher output: BIER. This German BREWER makes beer which is bier in German (CSO to my son's current career in craft beer distribution).

25. In __: undisturbed: SITU. Latin, meaning “in position. We hear it in archaeology (CSO to my son's graduate school time).

32. Native American shelter: WIGWAM. This is from Algonquian language.

33. Polynesian carving: TIKI. This from the Maori language. In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata.

34. Waze suggestion: Abbr.: RTE. I never heard of this app (WAZE) until this year and now I have seen it often including in last Saturday's Puzzle Society by Chris King.

35. Flubs: ERRS.

36. Dominate: OWN. Tom Brady owned Peyton Manning.

37. "La Vie en Rose" singer: PIAF. The troubled but talented French singer

38. Duffer's dream: ACE. A golfer who is not very good who wishes for a hole in one.

39. Final notes: CODA. From Italian, the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure

41. Gym wear: SWEATS.

46. One often paying a fee: USER.

47. Seagoing shortening: BOSN. Boatswain.

48. Stay put: REMAIN.

51. Stare slack-jawed: GAPE. Better than agape.

52. Sleeve: ARM.

55. Like __ of sunshine: A RAY. A golden ray?

59. Beatles song that begins, "Is there anybody going to listen to my story": GIRL.

                                                                       LYRICS.

60. Exude: OOZE.

61. Like some kitchens: EAT IN. These are usually the most popular room in the house.

63. Old-style "Wow!": EGAD.

64. Exceedingly: NO END. Did I mention we are going to see the King and I tonight

Down:

1. Stinging: ACID.

2. Many a "Hamlet" character: DANE.  Friday Will S; cool. Well, he was Prince of Denmark...

3. Freshly: ANEW.

4. Curse: POX. A Shakespearian word.

5. Drink with blanco and plata varieties: TEQUILA. This is a Mexican liquor made from an agave. Interestingly to me, the two types mentioned really are the same though there are other KINDS.

6. Grizzlies, e.g., for short: NBAERS. Odd mascot.

7. "Nor to their idle __ doth sight appear": Milton: ORBS. A line by John Milton, the blind poet, in a sonnet to CYRIAK SKINNER.

8. Up to, in ads: TIL.

9. Chip maker: ICEPICK. A very difficult clue to parse, luckily the perps were there. Keebler fit.




10. Number needed for official business: QUORUM. Tricky since the answer is not a number, these meetings are often mind-numbing.

11. Support group?: BRAS. Hard to think of bras as a group; they never had a hit album.

12. Italian wine region: ASTI.

13. Rocket launcher: NASA.

18. Anger: STEAM.

23. Holder of needles: ETUI. Not Eric but ➡
French.

24. Bends over forward: BOWS. Alfonse? Gaston?

25. Newspaper ad meas.: SQIN. This is used as an acronym for SQare INch.

26. "Odyssey" sorceress: CIRCE. Inspired so many imitations including GOT's Cersei

27. Cruel sorts: OGRES.

28. Fighting big-time: AT WAR.

29. Beach Boy Wilson: BRIAN.

30. States overseas: ÉTATS. French and related languages.

31. Whistle blowers: REFS. Nice misdirection; not whistleblowers.

32. Sport: WEAR. My grandmother even in senility always commented when my mother was sporting a new outfit.

36. Frankfurt's river: ODER.

37. McJob holder: PEON.

39. Mozart's "__ fan tutte": COSI. Italian, they all do it.

40. Like pedi-showing shoes: OPEN TOE. Not open tutte.

41. Bus route components: STOPS. Such a fancy word for a bus stop.

42. Stable visitors: WISEMEN. Not one who has it together but who went to a specific stable.

44. Veep before Gore: QUAYLE.

45. Let up: ABATED.

48. Sitar music: RAGA. I do not think I knew this. The word is from Sanskrit.

49. Actor La Salle: ERIQ. I wish I could think of the actor who first came to mind with a toothpick in his mouth, but this is ERIQ.

50. Blemishes: MARS.

51. Controversial Mideast strip: GAZA. Hard to discuss as a non-political issue but here is some HISTORY.

52. Partie d'une comédie: ACTE. French.

53. Destruction: RUIN. A  "u" sound but not kju.

54. Use thread on threads, say: MEND. I like this clue/fill a lot.

57. Monopolize: HOG.

58. Former hoopster __ Ming: YAO. A mini CSO to my sweet Thongyao. In Chinese Yáo, literally means ‘precious jade.' Or maybe not- Jayce? Barry G.?

I made it to the end, in a sort of zen/zombie state and I hope made some sense here and there. Thank you, Dan and all who read and write. Lemonade out.

Friday, November 23, 2018, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: The car of the year and an inspiration? The Triumph TR4

If you are not too stuffed from your Thanksgiving Turkey, or Turducken, or Goose,  welcome to Friday. Well guess who is back with an add-on letters theme. This time Jeffrey adds TR to the beginning of 4 in the language phrases. The results are pretty funny. He even sneaks in a Thanksgiving reference with his Dickens clue. He seemed a bit obsessed with a non-vegetarian slant with GOOSE, MOOSE MEAT and OFFAL all together in the middle; I guess he did not want u to veg out. Two grid-spanners and two 13 letter themers as well as including OFFICE AREA, GRABS ON, ARMORER, KOSHER SALT, MOOSE MEAT, STATE TREE and ON ONE END show his skill in putting together a grid with lots of sparkle. So now...

17A. Imaginary fish?: TROUT OF ONE'S MIND.(15). While I did not go out of my mind I loved this one.

32A. Participates in a biathlon for physicians?: TREATS AND RUNS (13). Medical humor.

41A. Where climbing plants flourish?: TRELLIS ISLAND (13). I also loved the use of Ellis Island as a base phrase.

61A. Tire-testing statistics?: TRACTION FIGURES.(15). The most well thought out combination as our toys become a useful piece of information.

Across:

1. Chicken (out): WIMP. I hope the Friday fear does not make you chicken out.

5. Mild cheese: GOUDA. Because you will have a gouda time.

10. Latticework component: LATH. This was difficult for me, but perhaps a bonus theme fill as
a lath or slat is a thin, narrow strip of straight-grained wood used under roof shingles or tiles, on lath and plaster walls and ceilings to hold plaster, and in lattice and trellis work.

14. Grandson of Adam: ENOS.

15. Behind-the-scenes retail space: OFFICE AREA. This is very convoluted, though I guess it makes sense.

19. QBs' targets: TES. Tight Ends, the best known of which is currently...

20. Second-largest W. Hemisphere country: USA. This is apparently in debate as the source I cite says the USA is bigger than Canada, but not as big of Antarctica, which is only partially in the Western Hemisphere. LINK. Please educate me if you know differently. I have read more, and it seems that Canada is larger based on total mass, which includes internal waterways, while the US is larger in land mass. No intent to slight our Canadian readers or constructors, eh!

21. Clutches: GRABS ON. Also Friday clue/fill difficulty for me

22. Ann้e quarter: ETE. French for part of a year.

23. Composer Bart๓k: BELA.

25. Email tab: SENT.

26. Water collection pit: SUMP. This the low part of an area where liquids collect when draining from something, like from a private waste pool. You often will need a sump pump.

28. Uh-huh accompaniers: NODS. You do it without even thinking.

38. Of limited scope: NARROW. Like many minds.

39. Old auto named for an explorer: DE SOTO. The history of the CAR.

44. More than a peck: KISS. Especially if you are with...

45. Yours, to Yves:  À TOI.  

46. "O, that way madness lies" speaker: LEAR. Jeffrey gets his Shakespeare in this week. King Lear bemoaning the treatment he has received from his daughters.

50. Many a Ph.D.: PROFessor.

54. 50-Across' subj., perhaps: ENGlish

55. Mail creator: ARMORER. Chain mail not e-mail.

59. Texting qualifier: IMO. In My Opinion.

60. Where some drives begin: TEE. Ah some golf.

64. Common cooking ingredient: KOSHER SALT. The WHY it is used by chefs.

65. Campsite sight: TENT.

66. Language that gave us "plaid": ERSE. They also gave us the concept of plaid.

67. Architectural projections: EAVES.

68. Last letters in London: ZEDS.

Down:

1. Record-breaking, rainwise: WETTEST. California wishes it was having some of that instead of those states that are flooding.

2. Reciprocally: IN RETURN.

3. Alaskan burger choice: MOOSE MEAT. Not really true but you can sometimes find this TREAT.

4. Nittany Lions' sch.: PSU. Penn State University in Happy Valley.

5. Dickensian holiday dish: GOOSE. Famous in A Christmas Carol not as the gift, but the background. The STORY.

6. Remains at the butcher: OFFAL. This is an old word which began as a combination of "off" and "fall" - that which falls off.

7. Aerial enigma: UFO.

8. Microwave signal, sometimes: DING.

9. Hardware brand: ACER. I am typing on an ACER laptop.

10. Symbols of innocence: LAMBS. Unless you are being silent.

11. Spring up: ARISE.

12. Mortise partner: TENON. More bonus carpentry.

13. "I __ noticed": HADN'T. Well pay attention!

16. That, in Madrid: ESA. Spanish.

18. One may include a shower: TUB.

24. __ Arbor: ANN. Where the University of Michigan, another Big Ten school is located.

27. Henry VIII's sixth: PARR. It's Catherine or Jack.

29. They may be long at the track: ODDS. Cute horse racing humor; I hope it did not give you a long face.

30. Square root of neun: DREI. German division that isn't military.

31. Find (out): SUSS. A favorite puzzle solving word.

33. Long haul: TREK. Ask James Tiberius Kirk.

34. Recital numbers: SOLI. More than one solo.

35. Leatherworker's set: AWLS.

36. 2014 "NCIS" spinoff locale, briefly: NOLA. A CSO to many here.

37. Pecan, for Texas: STATE TREE. Ours is the SABAL PALM. Yours?

40. How brooms are usually stored: ON ONE END.

42. Org. affected by net neutrality: ISP. Internet service Provider.

43. Fully comprehends: DIGESTS.

46. Hanukkah serving: LATKE. The holiday is fast approaching and homemade potato pancakes are a treat. I use apple sauce, and even cinnamon apple sauce while other prefer gravy or sour cream.

47. Wrong turn, say: ERROR.

48. Bring together: AMASS. A Scrooge reference?

49. Basel-based pharmaceutical giant: ROCHE. Their WEBSITE.

51. Feature of many a Daniel Boone depiction: RIFLE. Dan'l is back for the second straight week- who would a thunk it.

52. Skips: OMITS.

53. Driving hazard: FOG. Especially if you do not know your...

56. GPS datum: RTE.

57. Land of the banshee: EIRE.

58. Civil rights icon Parks: ROSA.

62. Canadian rapper with the album "Reckless": NAV. This CSO to our Canadians comes with a Punjabi heritage. LINK.

63. Big name in snack food: UTZ.

Well I am now hungry and confused, so I will bid you all a fond farewell from Thailand and hope Jeffrey and I entertained this week. I will be back at my normal stomping grounds next Friday.

Lemonade out. I inserted a picture of Oo at the Umbrella Factory where they make and decorate all of them by hand.

Friday, November 16, 2018 James Sajdak

Title: Let’s get down with UP!

James is  back for his second Friday this year. He was more prolific back in 2011 when C.C. INTERVIEWED him . His roots are Wisconsin based but his presentation is eclectic with only a mini-theme of Oscar winning directors. The theme today should jump out to almost all, with the sweet reveal telling you UP is put at the end of the 4 themers. Swaddling, Said I do and Sheepskin are all nice long fill and words like Panacea and Veldt are cool. From there it is a fun, fairly easy Friday frolic. Lots of stuff from so many fields. Enjoy.

17A. Novice hiker's predicament?: TRAIL MIXUP (10). I am sure he had some gorp in his backpack.

23A. Relief pitcher?: DIAMOND BACKUP (13). This is a play on the name of the Arizona team - the Diamondbacks. 

38A. Flipped ... and what four puzzle answers are?: UPENDED (7).

50A. Showoff with gags?: HOTDOG STANDUP (13). My favorite, combining comedians with showing off.

62A. Tenement for one on the lam?: PERP WALKUP  (10). If you do know the term WALK UP Apartment, this could be tough.

Across:

1. "__ simple, duh!": IT'S SO. Well that is a challenge to start us off.

6. Gobi container: ASIA. Cute clue, as the Gobi is in fact in Asia (as am I).

10. Pollutants targeted in Great Lakes cleanups: PCBS. Why were they BANNED?

14. "Sorry, bro": NO WAY. José.

15. Brits' foul-weather gear: MACS. The Mackintosh or raincoat is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made out of rubberised (notice the spelling) fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh, although many writers added a letter k. The variant spelling of "Mackintosh" is now standard.

16. Devastated sea: ARAL. We have had this so often with illustrations, I feel like I have been there.

19. Taboo: NO NO. Nanette?

20. DUI fighting org.:  SADD. Students Against Destructive 
Decisions has become about much more than drunk driving. LINK.

21. Card game shout: UNO. I learned this game and Skip-Bo from my grandmother who always traveled with various decks of cards. She also loved cribbage.

22. Dairy prefix: LACTO. This clue has milked dry.

27. Spot for a springbok: VELDT. This is the open country, bearing grass, bushes, or shrubs, or thinly forested, characteristic of parts of southern Africa, home to these small antelopes.

29. Allay: EASE.

30. "Cats" source: ELIOT. T.S.


31. Stopped working: DIED. My 5 year old iPhone 5 just up and died causing me to upgrade to a phone I need to learn how to use.

33. Snarky retort: AS IF.

37. Cheshire can: TIN. A dual purpose CSO to Steve, Nice Cuppa etc., as well as our toastmaster.

41. Where Charlemagne reigned: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

42. Extended account: SAGA.

44. Sources of some barrels: OAKS.They are the preferred wood source for aging whiskey. Today's LESSON.

45. Salty expanse: OCEAN.

47. Boone, to his buds: DAN'L. What you need to KNOW.

49. Put oil and vinegar on, say: DRESS. A salad; you would want it nekkid in public would ya?

56. Swashbuckling Flynn: ERROL. A tribute.

57. Employ: USE.

58. "¿Cómo __?": ESTA. Usted.

61. Digitize, in a way: SCAN.

65. Director Gus Van __: SANT. I hear much about this MAN but only know one movie.

66. Barb: GIBE.

67. "A Fish Called Wanda" Oscar winner: KLINE. When Jamie Lee was young and hot.

68. 3-Canada competitor: ESSO. James worked in Canada.

69. Erelong: ANON. One of my favorite words from Shakespeare. not our trolls. Though I do agree, not all anons are bad, though some should be...

70. Worked with osier: CANED.

Down:

1. Cornerback's coups, briefly: INTS. Interceptions in American football.

2. One-third of a WWII film: TORA. This is a movie which shall live in infamy.

3. Wrapping tightly: SWADDLING.

4. Got married: SAID I DO. And I am glad I did.

5. Olive __: OYL. As a small child I was overcome with the irony of Popeye and Bluto fighting for her affections, but like Shallow Hal, I am not into big feet.

6. Acid type: AMINO. The building blocks of life and the key to your health. RESEARCH.

7. Ivanhoe, e.g.: SAXON. I read this over the summer in high school.

8. Post-OR stop: ICU. First to recovery, then only if necessary to the Intensive Care Unit.

9. Nile biter: ASP. I think this is a nail biter pun.

10. Cure-all: PANACEA. Such a cool word.

11. Bunch of baloney: CROCK. Of...

12. Linguistic group that includes Zulu: BANTU. I love seeing this with 24D. Western tip of Alaska: ATTU.

13. Single-master: SLOOP.

18. Silent: MUM.

22. __ Palmas: Canary Islands city: LAS. Las Palmas is a capital of Gran Canaria, one of Spain's Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. A major cruise-ship port, the city is known for duty-free shopping and for its sandy beaches,

25. Closing documents: DEEDS. A repeat from Saturday and CSO to my work which these days is primarily real estate closings, drafting and reviewing deeds and title.

26. Expressed, as farewell: BADE. Fondly, I hope.

27. Checks out: VETS.

28. Oscar-winning director Kazan: ELIA. Two Oscar winning directors in one puzzle?

31. Gives a hand: DEALS. Not helping or clapping.

32. Press: INK.

34. Grad's award: SHEEPSKIN. Such nice letters in  9 letter fill.

35. Nest egg choices: IRAS. Individual Retirement Accounts.

36. Bogs: FENS.

39. Early Atari offering: PONG.

40. __-Frank: 2010 financial reform bill: DODD. This BILL also is a form of CSO as I was also doing loan closings in the 2000s and saw the absurdity of lending practices which were based solely on making money for lenders and mortgage brokers with values inflated by the need to keep selling. While I was growing up, CHRIS DODD's father, Tom, was one of the senators from Connecticut.

43. Enlarge, as a house: ADD ON TO. My father built an addition to our house in 1959 to expand the kitchen and buy a pool table. Good choice.

46. First name in Disney villains: CRUELLA.

48. Verizon subsidiary: AOL.

50. "Siddhartha" author: HESSE.

51. Black-and-white cetaceans: ORCAS.

52. Mission opening?: TRANS. Transmission next to...

53. Supercharger: TURBO.

54. Steamboat Springs alternative: ASPEN. More likely Keystone, or Winter Park.

55. Fresh: NEW.

59. Piece of music: TUNE.

60. Impersonated: APED.

62. Woods gp.: PGA. Tiger, who is half-Thai.

63. Strauss' "__ Heldenleben": EIN.

64. Pedigree-tracking org.: AKC. American Kennel Club.

Some pics from Thailand:
Oo's son- before

After
Another puzzle in the record books and my sweet Oo had another birthday in Thailan. I hope you enjoyed sharing today's do venture with me. Thank you James and all who responded these words. Lemonade out.

Friday, November 9, 2018, Bonnie L. Gentry and Victor Fleming

Title: Where did he hide my LEGO?

You have to go back more than 9 years to see the first puzzle by this team reviewed here at the CORNER. Then you have to travel 9,811 miles to watch me prepare this write-up from Thung Saliam, Sukhothai Province, Thailand. I am no world traveler like Steve, but we are here as Oo's son honors her by being ordained a monk for 7 days.
Back to the write-up; I remarked in their offering back in 2009 about coincidence in puzzles, and here we are again. Just after commented on Mark McClain's use of the black space in his Sunday effort, this team goes one better and has the black space represent the word BLOCK, which is of course is what a black space is. Wonderful.  And for the icing on the cake the symmetry of the break 9/5 to 5/9 3/11 to 11/3 extraordinary.
We also find ALL HOURS REHEATED AIR LEAK APPENDS ATONING EAT AWAY and PARIAHS as long fill to thrill

17A. Impediment: STUMBLING (9) (BLOCK) and 19A. Neighborhood gathering: (BLOCK) PARTY.(5).  Once a again, a grid -spanning set.

25A. Beach application: SUN (3) (BLOCK) and 28A. Billion-dollar pharmaceuticals: (BLOCK) BUSTER DRUGS.(11). This slowed me down as I did not know this PHRASE.

46A. One with a lot to learn, perhaps: NEW KID ON THE (11) and 49A. Obstruction: (BLOCK) AGE.(3).

61A. Local anesthesia effect: NERVE.(5) (BLOCK) and 62A . Device with pulleys: (BLOCK) AND TACKLE (9).
The reveal:

67A. Word aptly represented by four black squares in this puzzle: BLOCK.

Across:

1. Bad cut: GASH. A gruesone way to begin.

5. And: ALSO.

9. __ Ababa: ADDIS. This is a regular fill on Friday.

14. Natural skin soother: ALOE.

15. Good earth: LOAM. There is a Department of Agriculture official definition on recotd.

16. Datum in a forensic database: PRINT. Fingerprint. NCIS is not the same especially with Abby gone.

20. Outcasts: PARIAHS.

21. Boiling point?: KETTLE. My favorite cute clue because it is the lo action of the boling.

22. "No seats" sign: SRO. Standing Room Only.

23. Score after deuce: AD IN.  A tenns term appears after the Andre Agassi comments yesterday.

34. More than suspect: KNOW.

36. Early 20th-century touring cars: REOS. Ransom E. Olds liked naming things after himself.

37. Part of a joke: SETUP.

38. Lingering effect: ECHO. Another cute clue/fill.

39. Not as dotty: SANER. Does anyone use the term "dotty" anymore?

41. Colorado tributary: GILA.

42. Massey of old films: ILONA.  She was a star. LINK.

44. Thoroughbred's dad: SIRE.

45. "Git!": SCAT.

50. Pushed the doorbell: RANG.

51. Night school subj.: ESL. Oo going to learn English cemented our relationship.

53. Scandinavian bar exchange: SKOALS. L' Chaim, A votre sante! Slainte!

57. Corrode: EAT AWAY.

64. Words in some English resort town names: ON SEA.

65. Major fit: RAGE. Rageaholics are all too common.

66. First name in homespun humor: ERMA.

68. Watched carefully: EYED.

69. Exchange jabs: SPAR. Boxing or


Down:

1. [You can't mean that!]: GASP.

2. Wasatch Mountains resort: ALTA. This is the LINK. I am much more familiar with Park City.

3. __ grapes: SOUR. Aesop anyone?

4. Some Chrysler engines: HEMIS.

5. Around-the-clock: ALL HOURS.

6. Half a Daily Planet byline: LOIS. Lane of Superman fame.

7. __ Antonio: SAN.

8. Texting interjection: OMG.

9. Tacks on: APPENDS.

10. "Phooey!": DRAT.

11. __-cheap: DIRT.

12. Like some JFK flights: INTL. 15 hours and 32 minutes later we  landed in GUANGZHOU!   Guangzhou is a sprawling port city northwest of Hong Kong on the Pearl River. The city features avant-garde architecture such as Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House (known as the “double pebble”); the carved box-shaped Guangdong Museum; and the iconic Canton TV Tower skyscraper, resembling a thin hourglass

13. Lid issue: STYE. This ailment appears also very often.

18. Verbal jab: BARB. See 69A.

21. Cassis apéritif: KIR. LINK.

23. Penitent: ATONING. Many ways to do this.

24. Mirage site: DESERT. Where it is -site, not what it is -sight.

25. Knitter's coil: SKEIN.

26. Family reunion attendee: UNCLE.

27. At all: NO HOW.

29. A pass may cover one: SEASON. Tickets for the Opera?

30. Brief rules?: REGS.

31. City in New York's Mohawk Valley: UTICA.

32. Stalin-era prison: GULAG. Not to be confued with the German Stalag.

33. Dramatic outpouring: SPATE.

35. Policy __: WONK. An unknown for me but in terms dictionary as a person who takes an excessive interest in political policy.

40. Readied, as leftovers: REHEATED.

43. Puncture consequence: AIR LEAK. I guess, but it sounds forced.

47. Court figures, for short: DAS.

48. Ensenada pronoun: ESTA. A Spanish word.

52. Velcro alternative: LACES. Pretty funny that laces are not the alterntive.

53. Nose-in-the-air sort: SNOB.

54. __ Ration: KEN-L.

55. Guesstimate phrase: OR SO.

56. With, on le menu: AVEC. Our French word of the day.

57. Do landscaping work: EDGE.

58. Dr. Johnny Fever's fictional station: WKRP. In Cincinnati...

59. Soprano Gluck: ALMA. Our only musical interlude and I cannot get YouTube to load. There is a beautiful video of Alma and her husband, violinist Efrem Zimbalist, singing to their child Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who would become famous in his own right  from TV shows 77 Sunset Strip and FBI and as the father of Stephanie who was Remington Steele.

60. Sommelier's concern: YEAR. The vintage of the wine.

62. "__ you out of your mind?": ARE.

63. "All opposed" reply: NAY. And the votes are in and i loved this puzzle.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of another creative puzzle. Welcome back Bonnie and Victor and Sawa dee ko from Thailand. Lemonade out.

Friday, November 2, 2018, Ed Sessa

Title: It's November, and that means time to fall back.

A wonderful and timely puzzle from Dr. Sessa, as a reminder to set your clocks back one hour this Sunday, November 4, 2018.  In another Friday 16 x 15 supersized puzzle,  each of the three themers describes a time an hour earlier than the common expression. Dr. Ed works in 2 four-letter bonus fill as well as two 16 space grid-spanners. He also references so many things that are fun for me, if not for everyone. Hey, I am happy. It is nice to have Dr. Sessa back with clues like Make the cut and Off the plate and some sparkly fill HARPOON, PH SCALE, SCISSOR, and SNOOPER.  Well enjoy- time to get to work.

18A. Commonly bristly covering: FOUR O'CLOCK SHADOW (16). Five O'clock Shadow has a great HISTORY.

29A. Christmas celebration: ELEVEN PM MASS (12). Midnight Mass is a little more of a stretch. 

36A. With 37-Across, an apt reminder: FALL (4).

37A. See 36-Across: BACK (4).

51A. Last-minute deadline: THE TENTH HOUR (12). The Eleventh Hour is a phrase meaning at the last moment, taken from a passage in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the King James Bible, didja know? 

And the reveal-

61A. "Things are different now" ... and an apt hint to three other answers: TIMES HAVE CHANGED (16). They haven't yet, but they are about to. 

Across:

1. Service calls: AMENS. Another fun clue/fill- not tennis.

6. Emotionally bother: GET TO.

11. Sonic the Hedgehog maker: SEGA. SErvice GAmes of Japan has had a troubled HISTORY.

15. Miller's salesman: LOMAN. Arthur, not the beer maker. I think Lee J. Cobb was the best.
ACT I 

16. Audibly awed: AGASP. A word.

17. Dirt handful: CLOD. It is the earth equivalent of a clot; "lump of earth or clay," Old English clod- (in clodhamer "the fieldfare," a kind of thrush), from Proto-Germanic *kludda-, from PIE *gleu- (see clay). Also, the pejorative from 1590s; that of "blockhead, dolt, stupid fellow" is from c. 1600 (compare clodpate, clodpoll, etc. in the same sense). And no you know.

21. "Settle down!": COOL IT.

22. Watch name: OMEGA. Bond, James Bond.

23. Black shade: JET. The clecho- 60D. Black shade: ONYX.

26. Positive aspects: PROS. This list- pros/cons.

27. Make the cut?: SCISSOR. Scissor as a verb (why is that "c" there?) transitive verb: to cut, cut up, or cut off with scissors or shears.

32. Sock part: TOE.

33. Innate abilities: FLAIRS.

34. Ginsburg colleague: ALITO. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader and Samuel.

39. Pile: HEAP.

43. Off the plate: EATEN. Literally true.

46. Mooch: SPONGE.

48. SHO sister channel: TMC. The Movie Channel, which costs money; not Turner Classic Movies.

54. Whaling weapon: HARPOON. Think Moby Dick.

56. Narrow inlets: RIAS.

57. Friend of Frodo: SAM. Samwise "Sam" Gamgee is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the main characters of The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypal role as the sidekick of the primary protagonist, Frodo Baggins.

58. Red flag: ALARM.

59. World Heritage Site org.: UNESCO. LINK.

67. Long-billed wader: IBIS. Oddly the mascot of the Miami Hurricanes. Down here we have many Egrets which look very much like them.



68. Like Stout's Wolfe: OBESE. Nero is back. My favorite character and sidekick- Archie Goodwin.

69. Former National Endowment for the Humanities chair Cheney: LYNNE. This WOMAN is the wife of former VP Dick Cheney.

70. Great balls of fire: SUNS. You must listen to one of my all-time favorites who came to play at the Great Southern Music Hall when I lived in Gainesville.

71. Herd butters: GOATS. A little head-butting humor.

72. Radiate: EXUDE.

Down:

1. 1980s TV ET: ALF. Alternate Life Form.

2. Call from Mrs. O'Leary's barn: MOO.
The cow that burned down thew town.

3. Dingo prey: EMU.

4. Cop making a traffic stop?: NARC.
Drug traffic- well-done
misdirection.



5. Nosy sort: SNOOPER. Love Gladys.

6. Mustang's rate of speed, at times: GALLOP. The horse, not the car.

7. Selfishness: EGOISM. Often is in conflict with...

8. Delicacy: TACT. Which causes people to express...

9. Sound of disapproval: TSK. Seldom just one.

10. Special __: OPS.

11. Ponzi schemes, e.g.: SCAMS.

12. Firstborn: ELDEST. And some famous ones. 40D. Genesis grandson: ENOS. Talk about literary license; Enos, son of Seth, grandson of Adam,  was ninety when he begat Cainan, his eldest. After Cainan, Enos had other sons and daughters and lived for another eight hundred and fifteen years. The Bible Timeline charts his birth at 3769 BC and death at 2864 BC.

13. Like lovestruck eyes: GOO GOO. I am told the phrase has something to do with the old comics (1919) character Barney Google, who had protruding eyes (I know, hardly a flattering version) called Googley eyes.

14. Pop-up source: ADWARE.

19. Reasons to take painful steps?: CORNS. What exactly are corns on the foot? Corns generally occur at pressure points, typically the bottom of the feet and the sides of toes. They can be painful. A hard corn is a small patch of thickened, dead skin with a central core. A soft corn has a much thinner surface and usually occurs between the 4th and 5th toes. WebMD.

20. Verb in the song "Sloop John B": HOIST. The chorus...
So hoist up the John B's sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I want to go home, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up
I want to go home

23. Mutt's companion: JEFF. More old-time comic characters. 1907.

24. "First Lady of Song": ELLA. Hard to believe she has been gone more than 20 years. LINK.

25. Colorful duck: TEAL. Yes, but they taste terrible.

27. Polio vaccine pioneer: SALK. I have told my polio vaccine story too often, but it was a special time for my brothers and me.

28. TV forensic series: CSI. Crime Scene Investigation.

30. Nasty: VILE.

31. Cheese go-with: MAC.

35. "Trouble ahead!": OH OH.

37. "It's __ fun": BEEN.

38. Farm crawler: ANT.

41. Water en un lago: AGUA. Water in the Spanish lake.

42. Salon offering: PERManent. Those with straight hair want curls; those with curls want straight.

44. Scintillas: ATOMS.

45. Short still?: THO. Yet or again, short tells you it is not a full word.

46. Squirrel away: STASH.

47. Range on which 7 denotes neutrality: PH SCALE. Acidic and basic are two extremes that describe a chemical property chemical. Mixing acids and bases can cancel out or neutralize their extreme effects. A substance that is neither acidic nor basic is neutral. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Elmhurst Colleg.

48. Strictly speaking: THAT IS.

49. "Two and a Half Men" beach setting: MALIBU.

50. Pack without an inch to spare: CRAM IN.

52. First name of a literary "Papa": ERNEST.

53. Family reunion attendees: NIECES. The 29th was my first grandchild, Charlotte's birthday, and the day my newest grand-niece (by way of Oo) was born.

55. Persist, with "on": PRESS.

59. Pigmented eye area: UVEA. Did you know uveal pigment
Melanin in the choroid layer of the eye, the ciliary processes, and the posterior surface of the iris. Uveal pigment absorbs light within the eyeball to prevent glare.

62. "Sooey!" responder: HOG.

63. Blood classification letters: ABO. The HISTORY.

64. Beast that rhymes with zoo: GNU. Who knew?

65. Word with living or dead: END. The living dead are not the living end.

66. When doubled, a Ramone: DEE. Dee Dee and Joey Ramone TALK.


Golly gee, we have reached November and the end of another write-up of a Dr. Ed Sessa puzzle. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Lemonade out.