Sunday, June 25, 2017, C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: SCUSE ME

Husker Gary reporting today where our brilliant LA Times Blogspot mistress C.C. Burnikel has given us a lovely Sunday puzzle with a fun theme and always clever cluing! The title and gimmick she used reminded me of this famous tag line for Steve Martin. She has given us eight, two-word themers where the first word starts with "S" and the second with "QU" which amounts to eight SQU's or phonetically: SCUSE. 

As you can see in the grid, six of the theme fills were horizontal and two more were vertical and intersected two of the horizontal fills. Last Sunday C.C. called this a "classic Gail Grabowski design".

There's  no SCUSE to not enjoy this puzzle and so let's first look at C.C. theme answers:

23. It begins in , April : SECOND QUARTER - Ah April, where I can make my final 2016 payment and fill out another lovely form and my first payment for 2017.

33. Yahoo! Finance offering : STOCK QUOTE - On June 16, a STOCK QUOTE for Yahoo! Inc. would have been $52.59

49. Jamie Lee Curtis or Fay Wray : SCREAM QUEEN - Jamie Lee was a great SCREAM QUEEN in the Halloween franchise. Her mommy was also pretty good at this skill in a Hitchcock classic. Fay Wray only had to contend with an animal that went, uh, ape over her!

86. Test for trivia fans : SPORCLE QUIZ - Probably obscure for most of you but I knew this from subbing. Some teachers let their kids take fun and/or educational quizzes at this online site and they stay occupied. Yay! Below, you must type in as many of the nine countries starting with "L" that you can in 60 seconds. Go!

100. California prison town : SAN QUENTIN - Perhaps you'd like to try the 9 mile swim from SAN QUENTIN to the other famous prison in the neighborhood

117. Pielike veggie dish : SPINACH QUICHE - Looks yummy to me!

15. What screen icons exude : STAR QUALITY - This show calls it the X-Factor

67. Granite excavation site : STONE QUARRY - This wonderful 1979 movie featured characters (including 101. "Far from Heaven" actor : Dennis QUAID)  who called their bike team the Cutters because of the STONE QUARRY industry in Bloomington, IN. They raced the Indiana University team. Guess who won.

Now let's look at the rest of the fill from this SUNDAY's QUEEN of the puzzle



Across

1. Mark Cuban's NBA team : DALLAS

7. Scene : LOCALE

13. Quaint light : GAS LAMP

20. Lizard with a "third eye" : IGUANA - The primitive white spot between his two eyes that only detects light and dark

21. Like grandfather clocks : ANALOG - Digital is just so wrong here

22. Tin mints : ALTOIDS

25. In an imposing manner : GRANDLY

26. Things on rings : KEYS

27. Lemons : DUDS

28. "__ Death": Grieg work : ASES -  Åse's Death from Peer Gynt. Yeah, I knew that and did not need the crossings. 😅

30. Dot follower : ORG

31. Grips : CLASPS

38. Went for a bite? : FISHED - A statue of a very famous "Gone Fishin'" trip in Mayberry, N.C. Okay it's in Mount Airy, N.C. but still...

41. Review using stars : RATE

43. In __ of : LIEU and 99. Inscribed tablet : PLAQUE - I have received several PLAQUES IN LIEU of cash

44. Glob : WAD

45. Punk rock icon Smith : PATTI - She performed in a benefit concert in 2011 with crossword's favorite Beatle wife

46. Poetic measure : METER

47. Trac II cousin : ATRA

48. Like Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 : IN G 

52. Steamed state : IRE


53. "Blue Sky" Oscar winner : LANGE - She made a controversial appearance before the House Agricultural Committee on the strength of her role in this 1980 film.

55. Bun contents : HAIR

56. Wish undone : RUE

57. Executed : DID

59. Legend in one's own mind : TIN GOD

60. Port of 79-Down : ADEN and 79. Nation across the gulf from Somalia : YEMEN

61. Brat's output : SASS

63. What some wallow in : SELF PITY

66. Give up the single life : WED

67. Prepared for a selfie : SMILED - This smile could be gone in a hurry

69. Dana of "Body of Proof" : DELANY

70. Smooching on the bus, for short : PDA - Have you ever chaperoned an adolescent dance?

73. Some studios : ATELIERS - Yeah, I knew that and did not need the crossings. 😅 400 sq. ft ATELIERS in the Robespierre district of Paris run about €800/month. 

75. Titles of respect : SIRS

76. Bath buggy : PRAM - Lady Mary could drive from 1 hr. west from Downton Abby to Bath, England to get a PRAM for her baby

77. Lidocaine brand : ICY HOT 

80. Sch. with a Harrisburg campus : PSU - Football scandals have rocked this fine school 

81. Summer in Provence : ETE

82. Burial isle of many Scottish kings : IONA Yeah, I knew that and did not need the crossings. 😅

83. Ersatz fat brand : OLEAN



84. Activity-tracking letters : GPS - "Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?"

90. Clyde cap : TAM - You might find one on IONA

91. Jacob's twin : ESAU

93. Poker pile : CHIPS

94. Charlotte __ : RUSSE - "Oh great! Another women's clothing store!" 😡

95. Is for two? : ARE - Stan  is one but Stan and Ollie ARE two

96. Stop : QUIT

97. Lyon lover's word : AIME - Je t'aime (I love you)

98. Golf phenom Jordan : SPIETH - Where are the golfers with personality?

103. Pennysaver revenue source : AD SALE

105. American rival: Abbr. : UAL - Give me the cheapest fare. End of discussion

106. Topps figure : STAT

108. Historic Tuscan city : PISA - After teaching about Galileo at PISA for decades, I had a breathless moment when I walked through the arch and saw the leaning tower for the first time

109. Wikipedia entries : BIOS - Isn't C.C. about due to have an entry?

113. "Right on!" : I HEAR YA

120. Prisoner's restraint : LEG IRON - I'll bet you know what character is trying to rid himself of said restraints here

121. __ à trois : MENAGE - What were you thinking?

122. Sophisticated : URBANE

123. Pain reliever : ANODYNE - Yeah, I knew that and did not need the crossings. 😅

124. Think highly of : ESTEEM

125. Eldest Dashwood daughter in "Sense and Sensibility" : ELINOR



Down

1. Pancake shape : DISK

2. Pulitzer novelist James : AGEE - I wonder if C.C. and Boomer have this AGEE card in their collection.

3. "Peanuts" fussbudget : LUCY

4. Golden Triangle country : LAOS

5. Taylor of fashion : ANN






6. Seat at Churchill Downs : SADDLE - Pretty Spartan

7. Heaps kudos on : LAUDS

8. Living it up : ON A SPREE

9. Budget choice : CAR - Once again, show me the price on your rental CAR

10. Ski resort near Snowbird : ALTA

11. "How to Succeed ... " composer Frank : LOESSER - Ya gotta dig pretty deep to find Music and Lyrics by Frank LOESSER.

12. Everglades bird : EGRET

13. Practical joke : GAG

14. "Today" weather anchor : AL ROKER

16. Future sound? : LONG U - FYOO' CHER - The first "U". Love it!

17. Help out : AID 

18. 16th-century date : MDL - July 7, 1550 is the traditional date chocolate is believed to have been introduced to Europe

19. Aspiring therapist's maj. : PSY

24. Squat beneficiary : QUAD - Wow!

29. Pool-heating option : SOLAR

31. __ seeds: omega-3 source : CHIA - From a silly gift to health food

32. Fill to the brim : SATE

34. Ticket for speeding, say : CITE - Oldest daughter got out of a speeding ticket in Lincoln but when the officer saw her then last name and  said he liked me as a teacher. "Dad, that's the only time it's been worth knowing you!"

35. Being in debt : OWING


36. Latin ballroom dance : TANGO - Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar doing the TANGO in Scent Of A Woman 

37. Barely beat : EDGED

38. False impression : FACADE

39. Words of resignation : I TRIED - no comfort when first words were 110. Volunteer's offer : I CAN

40. Strict : STERN

42. Looks after : TENDS

45. "Baloney!" : PSHAW

46. Granola cousin : MUESLI

50. Baseball mascot partner reintroduced in 2013 : MRS MET - They have both come and gone since the 1960's

51. California's state bird : QUAIL - You're my age if you know who sang, "Hey Bird Dog keep away from my QUAIL"

52. Remains in neutral : IDLES

54. "__ takers?" : ANY

58. Mil. roadside danger : IED - Improvised Explosive Device

59. Christmas strands : TINSEL

62. Escapes slowly : SEEPS

64. Mall handouts : FLIERS

65. Medicare program offered by private insurers : PART C 

68. Hosp. employees : DRS - Many DRS around here have abandoned their private practices to be "employees" of our hospital for legal reasons

70. "In Search of Lost Time" novelist : PROUST -The Guinness Book Of World Records says it is the longest novel of all time 

71. Breakfast pastry : DANISH

72. Blow away : AMAZE

73. "I knew it!" : AHA

74. It may be served with pickled ginger : SUSHI - I am not a big fan of ginger but it appears you can get it like this

76. Spark : PIQUE - These daily exercise never fail to PIQUE my curiosity

77. Tiny bits : IOTAS

78. Santa __ : CLARA

84. Dieter's setback : GAIN

85. Masters strokes : PUTTS

87. Strong cotton : PIMA

88. Where to see slanted columns : OP-ED PAGE - Where you might find Charles Krauthammer and Paul Krugman side-by-side

89. Lake bordering Ontario : ERIE - Last Sunday, Gail Grabowski's ERIES were The Cat Nation People

92. "Lolita" (1962) actress : SUE LYON - In ads the promo was, "How did they make a movie out of this?" The answer seems to have Nabokov's screenplay make Lolita 16 instead of 12 as in the novel and toned down the content

93. Happy hour offerings : CANAPES


98. Scout's accessory : SASH - His SASH runneth over

102. Response at the door : IT'S ME

104. Order to attack : SIC 'EM

107. Windshield option : TINT

109. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly : BIBI

111. "This is horrible!" : OH NO - Ah, Mr. Bill!

112. Interpreter of signs : SEER

113. Wharf workers' org. : ILA - International Longshoreman's Association - Were they the bad guys who beat up Terry Malloy (Brando) in this gritty movie?

114. Egg source : HEN

115. Narcissist's problem : EGO

116. Hydrocarbon suffix : ANE

118. "Not gonna happen, lassie" : NAE - "Timmy is not in the well girl!"

119. Bing result : URL


Well, I SHOULD QUIT and let you guys hold forth with your pertinent and impertinent remarks.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: UNDER IT ALL

Husker Gary here again on a Wednesday with the distinct pleasure of reviewing yet another puzzle by our favorite new pair of constructors - Agnes and Zhouqin - aka Irish Miss and C.C. 

These two lovely ladies went vertical today as the theme fill and the reveal shown below were all standing up. The themers are all highlighted in red and green and the reveal is in all green because each green part of the theme answers can have SHEET appended to their, uh, BOTTOMS to make another common phrase.

Theme answers with SHEET appended

3*Regarding the subject at hand..." : ON THAT SCORE/SCORE SHEET - Here is what I regard as the most famous SCORE SHEET ever. It shows the twenty-seven Dodgers who came up against Don Larsen and were all retired in order in Larsen's 1956 Perfect World Series Game.

19. *Like leisure suits and Nehru jackets : OUT OF STYLE/ STYLE SHEET - All blogs have "STYLE SHEETS" that can be modified with elements at the top for presentations like what we bloggers use here 

21. *Nike competitor : NEW BALANCE/BALANCE SHEET - America's BALANCE SHEET has been out of whack for quite a while

24. *Major-league : BIG TIME/TIME SHEET - Some have issues with the machine that generates TIME SHEETS

And the reveal for Agnes and C.C.:

25. Bed cover ... or, literally, what the end of each answer to a starred clue is : BOTTOM SHEET - Yeah, constructing puzzles and getting that BOTTOM SHEET on is not always that easy

Now for the DOPE SHEET on the rest of their always fun fill:



Across

1. Wall St. debuts : IPOS

5. Land formerly ruled by a shah : IRAN and  27. 5-Across capital : TEHRAN

9. Political Ron or Rand : PAUL - Rand went into Dad's trade

13. Van starter? : MINI

14. Stuffed shells : TACOS

16. Data, for instance : INFO

17. "Big __" Delaney: "Sons of Anarchy" character : OTTO

18. "Tsk tsk" : SHAME ON YOU

20. Hawaiian priests : KAHUNAS  Or burgers from Pulp Fiction 

22. " ... bug in __" : A RUG - Snug as a...

23. Skating jump : AXEL - Wow!

24. Petrol pumper : BRIT - About  £1.19/liter or $5.74/gallon

25. Went for the lure : BIT

28. Decide : OPT

30. Starbucks amenity : WIFI - Nothing else there is free 

32. As an example : FOR ONE - Yeah, I believe Ken Jennings would think that. :-) 

34. "Street Dreams" rapper : NAS

35. Hosiery hue : BEIGE

37. Get : FETCH

38. Stretchy synthetic : LYCRA - My daughter wants me to buy some LYCRA biking shorts that have padding in very sensitive areas. I don't want to look like a 70-yr-old guy trying to look like he's 25.

40. Inc. relative : LTD

41. Ravi Shankar's instrument : SITAR - Ravi wasn't into the 60's hippie scene despite what was written about him

42. How some tuna is packed : IN OIL

43. Swiss chocolatier since 1845 : LINDT

45. Mama bear, in Tabasco : OSA

46. Standard : NORMAL

48. More than a few : MANY

49. Bishops and knights : MEN - Here a bishop and a knight have the King (who as usual is only in a supporting role) checkmated

50. Animal common in rebus puzzles : EWE

51. Permission slip : NOTE

53. "Too bad" : ALAS - poor Yorick...

55. Pac-12 team : UCLA

56. King of fiction : STEPHEN - Whenever I see a '57 Plymouth Fury...

59. Deep-fried carnival confection : FUNNEL CAKE

63. Dad, to Dumas : PERE - Alexandre Dumas' PERE a été Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

64. Morales of "The Brink" : ESAI

65. Corn Belt towers : SILOS - Omaha artists have made SILOS into works of art along I-80

66. Toy brand with a Ninjago line : LEGO

67. It's outstanding : DEBT

68. Small pie : TART

69. Thames school : ETON - On June 10, ETON lost to Wellington in Threepenny 1 Cricket by 50 runs. Bit of a sticky wicket!


Down

1. "No harm done" : I'M OK - Ah, back to my counseling days and Transactional Analysis

2. Baba ghanouj bread : PITA

4. Iowa's __ City : SIOUX

5. "So not true!" : IT'S A LIE

6. Cheers from tiers : RAHS

7. Obamacare, briefly : ACA - Affordable Care Act

8. Baseball analyst Garciaparra : NOMAR - NOMAH at Fenway

9. "And the Putter Went ... __": golf history book : PING - But Joann, it's on sale!

10. "__ questions?" : ANY


11. Blur in a tabloid pic : UFO - They never seem to land on the lawn at MIT

12. Fox Business anchor Dobbs : LOU

15. Letter flourish : SERIF - Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel - One with SERIF and one sans SERIF

26. As a precaution : IN CASE

28. How much shopping is done : ON LINE

29. Webpage option under an invoice : PAY NOW

31. Top off, say : FILL - Nah, I've still got 60 miles worth in there...

33. Retailer that abstained from Black Friday in 2015 and launched an #OptOutside movement instead : REI - I didn't do either but I like their thinking!

36. Flamboyant Dame : EDNA

39. Cup lip : RIM

44. Crime lab procedure : DNA TEST - "Uh, Number 2, we'd like to you stay"  I used this graphic on a March puzzle, but I thought it bore repeating!

47. Sprawls on the couch : LOLLS

52. Implied : TACIT

54. Cobbler fruit : APPLE

55. Foot or furlong : UNIT - I remember Dan and Jane as Parental UNITS from when SNL was funny

56. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR - A fav of mine

57. Thus : ERGO


58. Flashy light : NEON - Times Squares now OPTS for LED lights

59. Served dinner to : FED

60. Take advantage of : USE

61. Arrest : NAB

62. Menu catchphrase : ALA - This is the third Puzzle ALA Irish and C.C. I have blogged and they have all been a pleasure! 


Well, I am finished between the sheets. You?