Friday, October 14, 2011, Gene Newman

Theme: My, you look good enough to eat. The last name of four celebrities are replaced with sound alike foods, and presented as the favorite food of the individual, leading to a punny, yummy puzzle. This is our second Gene Newman puzzle, though he has been published many times in the NY Times over the last three decades. I found many layers of wit and some new stuff, so let's go.

17A. Mike Hammer portrayer's favorite food : STACY QUICHE. STACY KEACH a quintessential tough guy playing Mickey Spillane's HERO. (7:12) here shown with Barbara Bain from Mission Impossible.

62A. Sportscaster's favorite food?: BRYANT GUMBO. BRYANT GUMBEL, one of two sports caster brothers, who now has his own show on HBO, REAL SPORTS.(1:39)

10D. Cabaret singer's favorite food?: EDITH PILAF. EDITH PIAF, the French singer who died too young but left a legacy of MUSIC.(2:05)

28D. Tennis great's favorite food?: IVAN LENTIL. IVAN LENDL, who like Petr Korda has daughters who are excellent golfers. Ivan does both, but was RELENTLESS (2:10) on the court.

In keeping with the food theme, I also saw these subtle clues,

26A. Estrange: ALIENATE. Who did the alien eat?

53A. Threat to Crusoe: CANNIBAL. Does that make him a cannibal, or it a reference to the foods eating the peoples names?

68. Ruhr city: ESSEN. Which in German means food, or eating. Tricky.

Across

     

1. __ Verde: Colorado national park: MESA.  Looks worth a visit.

5. Gobs: SWABS.  Synonyms for Sailors.

10. It might be slippery: ELM. A type of tree whose bark is used in natural medicines.

13. Inclined: ATILT. My "A" word.

15. Ruth's number: THREE. For a moment I was wondering why this biblical figure had a number, and then, I remembered this IMAGE, whose uniform number was #3.

16. __ gratia: DEI. By the grace of G-d, and a nice change from Agnus.

19. Place to retire?: INN. Just for the night.

20. Perón title: SENORA. Eva.

21. In close combat: TOE TO TOE. A nice visual clue, best shown as boxers.

23. Distillery equipment: VATS.

25. What a frosh studies to be?: SOPH. Nice logical misdirection.

26. Estrange: ALIENATE.

30. Gift for dad: TIE PIN. No thanks boys.

33. Book after Exod : LEV. Book of Leviticus, so named from the Levites, the tribe of priests, and third book of Moses.

34. Plumbing supplies: TRAPS.

36. Instant: TRICE. From the Dutch, meaning one quick pull.

37. It's always 13-Across: Abbr.: ITAL. Italics are always atilt.

39. Attained: MET. Your goal, your quota, etc.

40. Cry of dismay: ALAS.  Woe is me.

41. Flub: BONER. and directly below we have 47A. Like some decorative furniture: INLAID.

43. Fire blight victims: PEARS. My learning moment. LINK.

46. Army member  ANT.

49. They'll take you up  SKI LIFTS.

51. Gaelic tongue: ERSE. Are we all up on the ERIN, EIRE, ERSE fill?

52. "The Blackboard Jungle" author Hunter: EVAN. A very prolific author who wrote, as Ed McBain, the wonderful 87th precinct novels.

53. Threat to Crusoe: CANNIBAL. Robinson Crusoe who pioneered the phrase, TGIF.

57. Make beloved: ENDEAR.

61. "Our remedies __ in ourselves do lie": "All's Well That Ends Well": OFT. Loves me some Shakespeare.

64. Diagnostic proc.: MRI.Magnetic resonance imaging. 

 

65. Deceive: LIE TO.

66. Dive, in a way: SCUBA.

67. House dealer?: POL. House of Representatives. Are you all comfortable with this term being accepted without needing an indication of an abbreviation?  I am and I like the misdirection.

68. Ruhr city: ESSEN. Nice letter combination make this fill very popular.

69. Old autocrat: TSAR. last week we had CZAR.

And now in the words of Petula Clark, time to go

DOWN town

1. Eucharist liturgy: MASS. The seminal ritual of Catholicism.

2. Suffix pertaining to size: ETTE. Cigarette, yes; suffragette, no, or were they all small?

3. Phillips who played Livia on "I, Claudius": SIAN. I have linked her wonderful performance as the mother of Tiberius before.

4. Niche: ALCOVE. Does not rhyme with QUICHE.

5. "The Simpsons" leisure suit wearer: STU. Sing along to this SONG.(2:24)

6. Small amount: WHIT. I don't give whit if you do not like the Simpsons.

7. Violinist's direction: ARCO. Literally, with a bow. Used chiefly as a direction to indicate the resumption of bowing after a pizzicato passage. I will leave pizzicato to JzB. Son 2 began his music playing the violin.

8. Urgent prompting: BEHEST. Nice King Arthur word.

9. Act with diligence: SEE TO IT. The main dialogue between Cardinal Cronin and Bishop Blackie in Father Greeley's wonderful books. Or do you like Captain Picard's "Make it so", better.

11. Frequent Carson stand-in: LENO. Still there.

12. Blasting site: MINE.

14. Coup target, perhaps: TYRANT. Khadaffi anyone?

18. One of the Gulf States: QATAR. They play golf there and the announcers cannot decide if it is pronounced KA-TAR, or CUTTER.

22. It may be comic: OPERA. Always my weak spot on jeopardy, and I did want to give a shout out to the great job JOON PAHK did on Jeopardy. He did all of us in the crossword puzzle universe proud, though you could see the pressure building day after day. Bravo. Meanwhile if you want more HISTORY.

24. Show petulance: STAMP. She stamped her foot impatiently.

26. "I had to visit my sick aunt," e.g.: ALIBI. I am sure my fan club will have a better clue in mind.

27. Blabbed: LET ON. An old fashioned way to say spilling the beans. A toughie.

29. Weapons seen on pistes: EPEES. A new clue for an old favorite, the PISTE is part of the setup to allow the accurate electronic scoring.

31. Quitter's word : I CAN'T.  Yes you can!

32. Packs, as a set of mixing bowls: NESTS. Because they fit inside of each other.

35. Camping support: STAKE. For the tent.

38. Hear about : LEARN.

42. Disposed to laugh: RISIBLE. What a great word, from the french "rire" to laugh.

44. Hull fastener: RIVET. I wonder if any other generations recall this wonderful image:

45. Jargon : SLANGS.

48. Rubbish: DEBRIS. A great word next to risible.

50. Add to the service: INDUCT. Armed service.

53. Casino reward: COMP. COMPLIMENTARY, or free room.

54. Big do: AFRO.

55. They're pros: AYES. They are voting yes, unlike the ANTIS. Right CA?

56. Hurrying, maybe: LATE. for a very important date.

58. Flightless birds: EMUS. Very lean meat they say, Kazie?

59. "Waterloo" group: ABBA. and now for a musical INTERLUDE.(2:50)

60. Comedy club sound: ROAR. The roar of the grease paint, the smell of the crowd.

Wow, we are done already with another week, thank you Mr. Newman for a nice work out, and thank you  all for tuning in. Until next time, will anyone watch the World Series in November with no star teams? Is the NBA history? Come back next week for the answers.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

PS I keep forgetting to thank Argyle for inspiring the listing of the play times for the video links.

Thursday August 19, 2010 Gene Newman

Theme: Idiom Antonyms - The starting positional prepositions in familiar phrases are flip-flopped and the resulting phrases are humorously reinterpreted and clued with question marked one-word adjectives.

17A. Dishonest?: BELOWBOARD. When you are honest, you are said to be aboveboard in your dealings.

26A. Happy?: UP IN THE MOUTH. Sad = down in the mouth.

42A. Sick?: OUT OF THE PINK. Healthy = in the pink.

56A. Incompetent?: OFF THE BALL. Competent = on the ball.

This theme is similar to neagative (in-/im-/un-/dis-/non-/extra-) words that no longer have a corresponding positive in the language, as in this poem, A Very Descript Man, attributed to J. H. Parker, one day late for bad poetry day:

I am such a dolent man, / I eptly work each day; / My acts are all becilic, / I've just ane things to say. / My nerves are strung, my hair is kempt, / I'm gusting and I'm span:/ I look with dain on everyone / And am a pudent man. / I travel cognito and make A delible impression: / I overcome a slight chalance, / With gruntled self-possesion. / My, dignation would be great / If I should digent be:/ I trust my vagance will bring / An astrous life for me.

Al here, with a fun Thursday. I think I might have gotten this without the theme, but figuring that out sure sped things up. I think this is a first for me, no links today...

Cross:

1. Boot's meal: MESS. Boot camp, I suppose...

5. What houses may be built on: SPEC. Speculation that if you build it, it will sell.

9. Li'l Abner's creator: CAPP. Al Capp, born: Alfred Gerald Caplin.

13. Some finals: ORALS. Final tests for graduate college/university degrees.

15. Machu Picchu's land: PERU. Translates to "old mountain".

16. Jewish youth org.: YMHA. Young Men's Hebrew Association.

19. Baseball Triple Crown component: RBIS. Runs Batted In. Also Home Runs and batting average, three statistics required for batters. Pitchers must lead in wins, strikeouts and Earned Run Average (ERA).

20. Winter sailcraft: ICE BOATS.

21. Locks up: JAILS.

22. Sgts.' superiors: LTS. Sergeants, lieutenants.

23. Galeón booty: ORO. Spanish gold. Galeón is Spanish for galleon.

24. Specialty, informally: THING. It's your/my thing to solve crossword puzzles.

30. Coach in the air?: CLASS. Coach class is the cheapest way to travel by plane, train, etc.

33. Tries to sink, perhaps: RAMS. Battleship collisions, also the part of the ship specifically designed to do such damage.

34. "Now I get it!": OHO.

35. Journalist Clare Boothe __: LUCE. Busy lady for an illegitimate child: Playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and US Congresswoman.

36. Teases maliciously: BAITS.

38. MLB All-Star Game day: TUES. Baseball season approximate mid-point, played usually on the second Tuesday of July.

39. ___-de-France: ILE. The most populous region of France, contains most of metropolitan Paris.

40. War ender: PACT. Latin pactum, covenant, contract.

41. Serious borders?: ESSES. The letter "S" is first and last in the word SeriouS. Was anyone fooled?

46. America's Cup entry: YACHT.

47. Bank book no.: INT. Interest.

48. Asian title of respect: SRI. Sanskrit for "beauty", especially of divinities and kings.

51. Illegal pickoff moves, e.g.: BALKS. A few baseball terms in the puzzle... This is when a pitcher makes a move as if to throw, but instead interrupts his motion. If he can make a smooth throwing motion to the base instead, then it isn't a balk and a runner with too far of a lead-off can possibly be tagged out.

53. Out of the box: UNCRATED.

55. Russian city on the Oka: OREL. A geographical answer to confuse you along with the Ural Mountains and the Aral Sea.

58. First name in Old West fiction: ZANE. Grey. Roughly 90 books with 110 movies made from his work.

59. "Go away!": SHOO.

60. Like Serling stories: EERIE. Rod Serling, narrator of the Twilight Zone.

61. Be compliant: OBEY.

62. Get wise with: SASS.

63. U.S. Army decorations: DSCS. Distinguished Service Cross. One step below the Medal of Honor.

Down:

1. Gas brand with a red "o" in its logo: MOBIL.

2. Upright: ERECT.

3. Rep's work: SALES. I guess REP isn't considered an abbrev. in this context...

4. Schulz's Pig-Pen, e.g.: SLOB. Charles Schulz, Peanuts comic. Pig-Pen is the one constantly in a cloud of dust, even when it rains or snows.

5. Exact, to a Brit: SPOT ON.

6. Porridge morsels: PEAS.

7. Goof: ERR.

8. Ruminant's mouthful: CUD. To ruminate is to turn something over in your mind, or as a cow, chew cud.

9. Rostand's long-nosed lover: CYRANO. Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, who actually existed, however, the play's plotline involving Roxane and Christian is almost entirely fictional — the real Cyrano did not write the Baron's love letters for him

10. Equivocal: AMBIGUOUS.

11. Punxsutawney predictor: PHIL. Groundhog day.

12. Coquette's wink, say: PASS. The word pass has been associated with a fencing move definition, to lunge at, also to make an attempt or try, or to make a "play" for.

14. Eagles' attacks: SWOOPS.

18. Adriatic port: BARI. Italy. Only got it through perp fills...

21. Slim __: snack items: JIMS. So greasy. I suppose they help wash the beer down...

24. One of those things: THAT

25. Bottom lines?: HEMS. Was not thinking sewing here, wanted NETS for the profit sense.

26. Take habitually: USE. Addiction.

27. Like overused crossword clues: TRITE.

28. Biblical pronoun: THEE.

29. Ponderosa heavyweight: HOSS. Dan Blocker was a large man.

30. Adman's award: CLIO. Named for the Greek muse of history, Clio is known as The Proclaimer; the name is from a root word that means "recount" (narrate) or "make famous".

31. Beaut: LULU. Bret Favre, for example.

32. Welder's need: ACETYLENE.

36. British spa town: BATH. Aptly named.

37. Sieben follower: ACHT. Seven, eight in German.

38. Sound made with a head shake: TSK. Made along with the shake, as opposed to an actual noise generated by having loose screws or missing marbles.

40. U.S. Army E-3s: PFCS. Privates, First Class. Technically the abbreviation is contained internally either singular or plural with the first word, so it shouldn't really have an "S" at the end, but this rule is broken a lot in everyday use.

41. Early bird special item: ENTREE. Extended early restaurant hours where the price can be cheaper to generate additional business off-peak.

43. "Little Sure Shot": OAKLEY. Annie.

44. Mottled horses: PINTOS. Large patches of white plus any other color.

45. Move furtively: INCH. Little by little.

48. Oscar Night assembly: STARS.

49. Dig find: RELIC. Archaeology.

50. What a slacker does: IDLES. Slack as in lax, limp, unmoving.

51. Oaf: BOZO. Oaf is related to elf, and comes from a changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies. Some dictionaries still give the plural as oaves. Bozo perhaps from Sp. bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly."

52. Certain Semite: ARAB. Semite from Shem, one of the three sons of Noah.

53. Area 51 sightings: UFOS. I have it on pretty good authority that this is really much ado about nothing. I'd tell you how I know, but then I'd have to have you taken care of...

54. Reading by a night light, perhaps: ABED. I will be doing this soon, I hope. I think words like these were made up by poets to stretch out the number of syllables.

56. WWII spy org.: OSS. Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA.

57. Govt. loan insurer: FHA. Federal Housing Administration.

Answer Grid,

Al