Friday, Jun 12, 2020 Gary Larson

Golf Strokes and Strong Arming by Gary Larson

TTP is still recuperating from his at-home projects. He asked me if I'd sub once again and give him a chance to get the drywall compound and latex paint off his hands, and the ache out of his back. So, here goes...

Gary has given us a traditional letter swap puzzle with accompanying witty cluing and ensuing hilarity. In this case the swap is fully explained in his reveal answers: 

63. Golf strokes...and when combined with 48-Down (Strong arming), and divided in four parts, a hint to four puzzle answers: PUTTS + FORCE = PUT "TS" FOR "CE." As my sister used to say to me, "Simple, stu."

17. Emulates Ogden Nash?: MINT SWORDS.

Oops -- MINTS WORDS (Mince words).

The Rhinoceros.
The rhino is a homely beast,
For human eyes he's not a feast.
Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,
I'll stare at something less prepoceros.

27. Imagined gifts?: PRESENTS OF MIND (Presence of Mind).

44. What cheerleaders lead?: SPORTING CHANTS (Sporting Chance).

"Siss-Boom-Bee, kick him in the knee.

Siss-Boom-Bass, kick him in the other knee."

54. Tracks on a lily pad?: FROG PRINTS (Frog Prince).

 

And here's what else Gary provided for our consideration...

Across:

1. Throw off: EMIT. SCWA*

5. Like some firs: NOBLE. I only learned of these recently. They're native to the Cascade and Coast ranges along the West Coast. Reportedly, you can recognize them by the vertically standing cones atop the branches.

10. After-school treat: MALT. C'mon. You put in OREO, didn't you.

14. Actress Anderson: LONI.

Guess what? Her name is actually Loni Anderson. Who knew? She burst (bust?) onto the scene in 1978 as Jennifer Marlowe, the buxom receptionist at WKRP in Cincinnati.

15. Source of net profits?: ETAIL. It can also be the source of net losses.

16. Cooking acronym popularized by Rachael Ray: EVOO. I actually knew this -- Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

19. Early light time: DAWN. "O Jose can you see, by the dawn's early light..."

20. Can't stand: HATES. ABHOR would've worked, until it wouldn't.

21. Student of Graham: AILEY. This one sent me down the rabbit hole. Turns out it has nothing to do with crackers. Alvin Ailey was a dance student of Martha Graham. Before my eyeballs glazed over I found this.

22. "Of course": SURE DO.

25. Ones working with maître d's: GARÇONS. French waiters.

30. Word on a dipstick: ADD. Have you ever tried to read the level of synthetic oil on a bright metal dipstick? Taint easy.

31. Country singer Blake who's a coach on "The Voice": SHELTON. This was his first hit (3:47) back in '01.

32. Noted work: MUSIC. The music is made up of notes...and rests, and other stuff.

35. Want ad initials: EEO. Equal Employment Opportunity.

36. Lies: RESTS. Where it sits.

40. Fiber-rich snack: RAISINS. I used to think dietary fiber was a specific compound. Nope. It's basically that which cannot be digested. It comes out virtually unchanged from the way it went in. TMI?

43. Slip in a pot: IOU. Think poker.

48. Remote situation: FARNESS. Nose-raiser, if I ever saw one.

49. Gets more out of: REUSES. SCWA*

50. Gone by: OF OLD. OLDEN, PASSÉ.

51. Kooky: WEIRD.

53. Gifford's successor on "Live!": RIPA. Kathy Lee Gifford was Regis Philbin's costar before Kelly Ripa came along.

59. Rep on the street: CRED. Rep = Reputation. Cred = Credibility.

60. Deck with a Hanged Man: TAROT. SCWA*

61. Duck that lends its name to a color: TEAL. SCWA*

62. Wriggling: EELY. SCWA*

64. Like hunks and knockouts: SEXY. Personally, I don't see it...

Down:

1. West __: upscale store: ELM. I looked 'em up. They sell furniture. Hadn't heard of 'em but there is a store about 50 miles away in west Houston.

2. "Who, me?": MOI.

3. Certain keeper's charge: INN. The innkeeper is in charge of the inn, I guess.

4. Some church contributions: TITHES. Some people still do this.

5. Units of force: NEWTONS. How many figs to make a Newton?

6. Chiwere-speaking native: OTOE.

7. Breakfast snacks: BARS.

8. Topper: LID. HAT, CAP.

9. Yellow pair?: ELS. YeLLow.

10. It requires some orderly help: MEDICINE. Medical orderlies get the worst jobs, think of fraternity hazing.

11. Toyota model: AVALON. There's a neighborhood lady who we meet on our walks through the 'hood. She drives one, and we refer to her as Mrs. Avalon when we're not referring to her as "Our Lady of the Walking."

12. Bargain-basement: LOW END.

13. Tommy Tune's ten: TONYS. You can read about him here.

18. One-named Nigerian singer: SADE.

21. Defensive covering: ARMOR. This was slow in dawning, but makes perfect sense.

22. WWII supply referred to as "meatloaf without basic training": SPAM. Official lunchmeat of Hawaii.

23. Pakistani tongue: URDU. SCWA*

24. Wine list heading: REDS.

25. Prepare for a Hail Mary: GO LONG. and pray...

26. Where to see a wake: AFT. Behind the boat.

28. Degree requirement, perhaps: THESIS.

29. Greet and seat: SEE IN. USHER into the house of.

33. Nickname in late 20th-century British politics: IRON LADY. Lady Margaret Thatcher.

34. Liked, with "for": CARED. "No thank you, I don't care for it."

37. Offenses: SINS.

38. Schlep: TOTE. HAUL.

39. Unravel, with "out": SUSS, in the mystery sense of unraveling.

41. TGIF part: ITS. "Thank GoODness It's Friday." Always follows "Sure Happy It's Thursday."

42. Libretto cousins: SCRIPTS.

44. "On Language" columnist: SAFIRE. William Safire (1929-2009) was a longtime NYT political columnist. He also wrote the On Language column in the NYT Magazine. You might remember his "nattering nabobs of negativism."

45. Move forward: PROPEL. IMPEL was too short.

46. München mister: HERR. München -- we spell it Munich. MIL lives there. She turned 95 a couple months ago, and is still as crabby feisty as ever.

47. Book reviews: AUDITS. CPA reviews.

51. St.-John's-__: WORT. It's used in traditional medicine and warrants this high praise: -- "High-quality clinical evidence for its effectiveness remains absent." Red-headed stepchild of Hydroxychloroquine.

52. Showbiz award "grand slam": EGOT. I learned this just a few weeks ago -- Emmy-Grammy-Oscar-Tony. At first glance, it looks like a rye fungus.

54. Uploading letters: FTP. File Transfer Protocol, but you knew that.

55. India-born author Santha Rama __: RAU (1923-2009).

She was best known for her travel books.

56. Originally: NEE. Used in announcements.

57. Try: TAX.

58. Dodgy, on this side of the pond: SLY. I thought it meant iffy or questionable. Hmmm. It can mean both.

* SCWA -- Standard CrossWord Answer

And here's the grid. Desper-otto out.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020 Gary Larson

You're Such a Ham.  The word "Ham" is found spanning the two words of each theme answer.

17-Across.   *   New Jersey city on Raritan Bay: PERTH AMBOY.

25-Across.   *   Leader of the pack: ALPHA MALE.

38-Across.   *   It prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures: FOURTH AMENDMENT.  The text of the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution reads:

     "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

49-Across.   *   Light-bulb-over-the-head instance: AHA MOMENT.

And the unifier:
61-Across. Spam relatives ... and a hint to the answers to starred clues: CANNED HAMS.

Across:

1. Unresponsive state: COMA.

5. Loosen up, to a pitcher: THROW.

10. Light bulb unit: WATT.  The Watt is a unit of power, as defined by the International System of Units (SI) as a "derived unit of 1 joule per second, and is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer."  All clear now?  It is named after James Watt (Jan. 19, 1736 ~ Aug. 25, 1819), a Scottish inventor.  The important thing is to know that when you flip the switch on your wall, the overhead light goes on!

14. Welcoming: OPEN.  Many restaurants are now open for take-out only.  They still welcome those orders, though.

15. African howler: HYENA.

16. "Sin City" actress Jessica: ALBA.

Jessica Marie Alba (b. Apr. 28, 1981)

19. Thick slice: SLAB.

20. Semicircle, say: ARC.

21. Green Gables girl: ANNE.  Anne of Green Gables is children's novel first published in 1908 by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Nov. 30, 1874 ~ Apr. 24, 1942) about a young orphan girl who is sent to two middle-aged sibling who wanted to adopt a boy to help with the farm.  Instead, they got .  It is set in Prince Edward Island, Canada.  I remember visiting the Anne of Green Gables Museum with my family when I was young, and after I had read the book.

22. Kick back: CHILL.

23. Comic Smirnoff: YAKOV.  Yakov Smirnoff (b. Jan. 24, 1951) was born in Odessa, Ukraine.  He emigrated to the United States in the 1970s.  Oh, and by the way, that's Dr. Smirnoff to you.  Last year he earned his doctorate in psychology.

28. Wiener schnitzel meat: VEAL.  I'll just note here that eating veal is controversial due to the treatment involved in how the animals are raised.  Enough said.

30. Red Sea country: YEMEN.

31. Trembling trees: ASPENS.

34. Terrier's sound: ARF.  A crossword staple.

35. Disney frame: CEL.  A crossword staple.

42. Boy king: TUT.  His formal name is Tutankhamun.  His tomb is said to be cursed.  You be the judge.

43. Mr. Rogers: ROY.  Oh, I forgot about Roy Rogers (né Leonard Franklin Slye; Nov. 5, 1911 ~ July 6, 1998).  The only Mr. Rogers that I could think of was Fred Rogers (né Fred McFeely Rogers; Mar. 28, 1928 ~ Feb. 27, 2003).  Roy Rogers' 3rd wife was Dale Evans (née Oct. 21, 1912 ~ Feb. 7, 2001).  He was her 4th husband.

44. Cleared from the board: ERASED.

45. Family car: SEDAN.  Did you know that the word Sedan was first used to describe a car in 1912?

48. Elvis' middle name: ARON.  Elvis Presley (Jan. 8, 1935 ~ Aug. 16, 1977), of course.  There is some controversy over his middle name.  It is sometimes spelled as Aaron.

52. Sherpa's land: NEPAL.

56. Large pears: BOSCS.

57. Actress Skye: IONE.  Ione Skye (née Ione Lee Leitch; b. Sept. 4, 1970) makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.

59. The "E" in BCE: ERA.  As in Before the Common Era.

60. Boo-boo: OWIE.

64. Tease mercilessly: RIDE.

65. Curved moldings: OGEEs.  O, Gee!  It looks rather like this doorway.

66. Frozen drink brand: ICEE.

67. Souvenir shop apparel: TEEs.

68. Lyrics: WORDS.

69. Rx items: MEDS.

Down:

1. Insured's contribution: CO-PAY.

2. Wagner work: OPERA.  Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 ~ Feb. 13, 1883) wrote many operas, but he is probably best known for his Ring Cycle, a series of 4 operas.  The Ring Cycle is loosely based on Norse mythology.  Many opera houses recently performed the Ring Cycle over the course of 4 years starting in 2013 to mark the 200th anniversary of Wagner's birth.  A brief bio of Wagner. 

3. Pharmaceutical giant: MERCK.  Merck is one of the largest pharamceutical companies in the world.  It was incorporated in New Jersey.

4. Industrious crawler: ANT.

5. Word in a comparison: THAN.

6. Pew book: HYMNAL.

7. Buck the system: REBEL.

Rebel Wilson (b. Mar. 2, 1980)

8. Beatle bride: ONO.  Yoko Ono (b. Feb. 18, 1933) makes frequent guest appearances.  John Lennon was her 3rd husband.

9. "No __!": "Uh-uh!": WAY.  No Way did you miss this answer!

10. Message on a dusty car: WASH ME!  My car desparately needs a good wash.  It has been sitting idle in my carport for the past three weeks collecting pollen.  I did take it for a spin the other day just to give it a bit of a "let stretch."

11. NATO and others: ALLIANCES.

12. Pre-Little League game: T-BALL.   

13. Card-playing surface: TABLE.

18. Lack, briefly: HAVEN'T.

22. Cell pic taker: CAM.  As in the camera in the cell phone.

24. Walkie-talkie word: OVER.  Roger that.

26. Combustible pile: PYRE.

27. Playboy founder Hugh: HEFNER.  Hugh Marston Hefner (Apr. 9, 1926 ~ Sept. 27, 2017) published the first issue of Playboy in 1953.  Thursday marks the 94th anniversary of his birth.

29. Hindu retreat: ASHRAM.  Some are quite exotic.

31. Away from the bow: AFT.

32. Trifling amount: SOU.

33. Saves for later: PUTS ASIDE.

34. __ Ray, one of folk rock's Indigo Girls: AMY.  I know of the Indigo Girls.

Amy is on the right.  Emily Saliers is on the left.

36. Chicago-to-Lansing dir.: ENE.  As in East-North-East.

37. Inc., in England: LTD.

39. Top of the line: A-ONE.

40. Went on and on: DRONED.

41. Pride of lions?: MANE.

46. Show hosts: EMCEES.

47. One side of a two-column list of rules: DOS.

48. Made up (for): ATONED.

49. Scrub the launch: ABORT.

50. Mandel of "America's Got Talent": HOWIE.  Howie Mandel (né Howard Michael Mandel; b. Nov. 29, 1955) got his start on St. Elsewhere, a hospital drama that aired from 1982 to 1988.

51. San Fran gridder: NINER.

53. Tranquility: PEACE.

54. Packing heat: ARMED.

55. Does high-tech eye surgery on: LASES.

58. Legendary loch: NESS.  Real or a Hoax?  You be the judge.

61. Milk source: COW.

62. Previously: AGO.

63. Pronoun that's a homonym of a religious song: HIM. vs Hymn.

Here's the Grid:

Be safe, everyone and mind those stay-at-home orders.  They really can help the spread of the virus.