Saturday, September 15, 2018, Michael Ashley

A Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Michael Ashley

Today we celebrate that fruit that the old saw says if ingested daily can keep the doctor away. It is significant to me because it falls so near my 9/11 birthday. It has become a tradition for my lovely bride and I to meet our kids and their kids in Nebraska City, NE at the Kimmel Orchards where we pick fruit from the trees and peruse their country wares in the store. Following that we go up to the Lied Lodge and Conference Center for a wonderful meal overlooking the lovely country bordering the Missouri River. I'll be so sad when we no longer do this.

Today's constructor is Michael Ansley. He writes of himself - I lived nearly 20 years in Manhattan, New York, and have now lived with my wife and two children in Scottsdale, Arizona, since 1993. Besides being a maniacal online chess buff, in my spare time I dabble at another sport which, on my better days, strongly resembles golf. 

Michael is a wonderful crossword constructor and is very prolific in the construction of Acrostics. Click here to read more about Michael and see more of his other publications on Amazon.

My solving involved searching for any port in a storm and then eventually there were no more cells to fill.  The SE corner was a treasure trove of known answers as soon as I remembered how to spell the rope-soled shoe.


Across:

1. Ones going downhill fast: SKI JUMPERS  - Many of us remember when ABC's Wide World Of Sports opening used this SKI JUMP accident to show The Agony of Defeat

11. Opulent: LUSH and 11. Opulent: LUXE - I am not likely to use one of these synonyms 

15. They always get underfoot: INNERSOLES - Get a "custom" one at these kiosks 

16. Biblical preposition: UNTO.

17. Pop music feature: TOP TEN LIST - TOP TEN LIST of songs for every year since 1950

18. Wolverine, for one: X-MAN - If you're interested, you already know about him

19. "Westworld" airer: HBO - A violent sci-fi (yes, I said sci-fi) western

20. '70s-'80s self-improvement course: EST - Erhard Seminar Training A very intense course that eventually was labelled a cult and died out

21. Notre Dame's river: SEINE  - Yup!

22. Legendary chanteuse: PIAF  - A very young girl doing an fabulous imitation of Edith PIAF's distinctive singing/warbling style 

26. Max.: ULT - Max(imum)/ULT(imate)

28. Equivalents of pairs of FGs: TDS

29. Somewhat out of place, as hair: MUSSED

31. __ dish: PETRI.

33. Type of medicine: HOLISTIC - Do what you like but I'll take my doctors

35. 1969 retail clothing debut: THE GAP - The founder Don Fisher couldn't find a pair of jeans that fit him so he opened his own store on Ocean Ave. in San Francisco.

38. Second film with Craig as Bond: QUANTUM OF SOLACE - Ah something new! A beautiful woman, suggestively attired, wearing illogical footwear and walking away from mayhem

40. "Counting Sheep" purchases: SERTAS - We have one and it is wonderful!

41. Monthly reading: GAS METER - Do meter readers still roam the landscape?

42. Pampers, with "on": DOTES.

44. More stingy: MEANER - Which was your favorite stingy Scrooge? Mine is Reginald Owen - circa. 1938

45. "Avatar" actress Saldana: ZOE - Her makeup probably took as long as John Travolta's for Hairspray

47. Attorney's letters: ESQ - Perry Mason, Esq.

48. Origin abbr.: ESTD - LA Times Crossword Corner - ESTablisheD 1/21/2008

49. Pointed: AIMED

51. Small city?: URB - The Oxford Dictionary says it is, "An urban area, a city" and so URB is a small word for a city

54. Base figs.: GI'S - A crazy bunch of GI'S in Stripes, shot on BASE at Fort Knox.

57. Scheme: PLAN.

58. Left in the dust: SAILED PAST - What Usain Bolt did in his Olympic races

62. Hang: PEND.

63. Shoe with a rope sole: ESPADRILLE - The spelling took some perp help

64. Contributes: ADDS.

65. Film with cues: THE HUSTLER  - A great movie that garnered Oscar nominations for Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott

Down:

1. Jedi foes: SITH - Their starting lineup

2. Round handle: KNOB.

3. Hot: IN POPULAR DEMAND - The Beanie Babies were IN POPULAR DEMAND in the 90's but that craze wore off and some got stuck with lots of toys that did not appreciate in value

4. Fly quickly: JET.

5. Midge __, co-organizer of the Live Aid benefit concert: URE - Midge was a phonetic reversal of his given name Jim

6. AOL alternative: MSN.

7. German's neighbor: POLE - In 1939 the Germans dropped in on their neighbors unexpectedly and violently 

8. "__ Comin'": Laura Nyro song: ELI'S - I remember Three Dog Night singing that song

9. Gather one's strength: REST UP 

10. Retired flier: SST - A crash in 2000, the 2001 Trade Center attack and rising maintenance costs grounded our crossword friend

12. Brass: UNMITIGATED GALL

13. Orchestra pit aid: STAND - Usually with lights

14. Brushes up on: HONES  

21. Westernmost of the Virgin Islands: ST. THOMAS and 55. 21-Down, e.g.: ISLE.

23. Digs: IS INTO.

24. Per prior mention: AS STATED  - AS STATED in paragraph 4, subsection c... 

25. Some ultrasound images: FETUSES - I would have liked to have known the gender of our children before they were born. You?

27. "Well, as I recall ... ": LET'S SEE, I think I told you I take a 30. Skeptical, as a view: DIM view of your talking while I am talking

29. Grimace: MOUE.

32. Cave: RELENT - She did neither 

33. Command ctrs.: HQS  - The Strategic Air Command's  (Now Stratcom) HQ is just south of Omaha

34. Small part: COG.


36. Maker of Swift laptops: ACER.

37. Each: PER.

39. Sibs, uncs, etc.: FAM - The FAM dynamics at the funeral for my niece this week weren't all that great

43. Suppress: SQUASH.

45. 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement awardee: ZAPPA - Okay

46. Quieted, in a way: OILED  - Get some on that squeaky wheel

50. Closes: ENDS.

52. Fit for harvesting: RIPE - This corn looks RIPE but is not fit for harvesting because the moisture content is too high at 29.2%

53. Boring: BLAH  - Is that the best ya got, Husker Gary?

56. End of a mob?: STER - Is Al Capone your first image?

58. Full collection: SET.

59. Loyola domain: EDU - Loyola University of Chicago's web site is http://www.lcu.edu

60. OR principals: DRS - Do you know the names of any of these TV DRS or the show that featured them?

61. Peril in a Poe title: PIT - I chose the less graphic depiction of this 1843 Poe classic tale

Treat yourself to some caramel dip with an apple as you comment for us today!

LETTER COUNT:

DA GRID:

Saturday, September 8, 2018, Ryan McCarty

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Ryan McCarty

Today is a very special day for us at the corner as we recognize one of the true foundations of our activities at this site - Literacy. Today is International Literacy Day.

We denizens of this site greatly value literacy and contribute to each other's store of this virtue as we blog here. I lift my glass to all of you today to celebrate this noteworthy day.

Our constructor today is Princeton grad Ryan McCarty ’14. The Princeton Pride says of Ryan - "He started doing crossword puzzles at Princeton: “I have always had a penchant for word games, but I can’t say I was too great at crosswords at first,” he says. When he tried creating puzzles from scratch, the music major (with a certificate in applications of computing) found both his creative and analytical skills helpful. McCarty, now a technology consultant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, began submitting puzzles for publication only last year — since then, his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times."

My solving experience was typical for a Saturday as some of the long fill and  crossword staples proved to be very helpful.


Now let's see what else this Ivy Leaguer has for us today

Across:

1. Way to get up in Gotham: BAT ROPE -  How they filmed the BAT ROPE for the TV show (note Batman's cape) and then how it looked when played back including Sammy Davis Jr. providing one of the many cameos on this campy production.

8. Obeyed a laryngologist: SAID AH - Anyone else have a "gag reflex" issue?

14. Ones on the left: LIBERALS  - The 1789 French Assembly seated the conservatives who supported the King on the President's right and the liberals that opposed the monarch on his left

16. In a showy way: ARTILY - Any port in a literary storm

17. Aptly named barbell brand: IRON GRIP.

18. Furniture wood named for its color: RED ELM 19. "Hah!": TOLD YA red elm makes beautiful furniture 

20. Activewear shoe brand: AVIA.

22. Fig. targeted in some hacks: SSN - Mine starts with 50- like many around me. How 'bout yours?

23. Humble abodes: HUTS - Ginger or Mary Ann?

24. Knight clubs: MACES - Or perhaps one for a damsel 

26. "Oye Como Va" songwriter Puente: TITO  - "Hey? Hows it goin'" Santana's version

27. Superman and Supergirl: ET'S - Both hailed from Krypton

28. Crony of Captain Bildad, in "Moby-Dick": PELEG - These two owners of the Pequod are featured on cards in this game 

29. Jaguar spot?: CAR AD - Car name chicanery again. The number syllables in this car name depends on which side of the Atlantic you reside

30. 2014 title role for Mia Wasikowska: MADAME BOVARY - Flaubert's 1857 novel was immediately banned on sexual grounds 

32. Works that are up and down?: TRAGICOMEDIES - My nomination in this portmanteau category

34. Where some get sloshed at sea?: BOOZE CRUISES - I'd like to cruise but not on one of these 

35. Onetime members of the Winnebago Nation: OTOES - Nebraska has a city named Winnebago and a county named OTOE

36. Put to rest: INTER - Brando's turn as Marc Antony in his speech with the most famous use of the word INTERRED 

37. Put up: BET - I'd have to give 5pts if I BET on the Huskers today against Colorado

40. Pickup line?: RAMS  - Dodge pickups are now called RAM. Ryan went to the vehicle name well twice.

41. River critter: OTTER.

42. Pair of British puzzles?: ZEDS - Z is ZED in Britain and puzzles does indeed have two of them

43. Minolta Maxxum, e.g.: SLR - A ground breaking Single Lens Reflex Camera introduced in 1985

44. "Dragonwyck" novelist Seton: ANYA  - First published in 1944

45. Film with Manny the Mammoth: ICE AGE.

47. Escape __: CLAUSE - If our marriage license had one, Joann could/should have exercised it years ago

49. "Yeah, right": I DOUBT IT

51. Offers?: HIT MEN - They will "off" someone for a price 

52. They're free of charge: NEUTRONS - Ryan threw us science guys a bone

53. Disc golf starting point: TEE PAD - From the TEE PAD, through the woods, off a tree, off the ground and up into the "hole" (metal basket). Wow!

54. WikiLeaks editor: ASSANGE - A hero or villain ,depending on your point of view, who has asylum in Ecuador for now


Down:

1. Buoyant: BLITHE - In Noel Coward's BLITHE Spirit a medium conjures up long-dead Elvira by accident and her light heartedness is a big part of the play. I think you can surmise which character below plays Elvira who who can only be seen by former husband Charles in the middle back

a

2. Ventilate: AIR OUT  - Do politicians have to AIR OUT their clothing and their consciences after making decisions in a smoke-filled room

3. Hardware with crosspieces: T-BOLTS.

4. Rips: RENDS - _ E _ _ S gave me TEARS first. You?

5. Frenzied revelry: ORGY - Google at will

6. Accident scene arrival: PARAMEDIC- Our hometown PARAMEDICS saved my good friend's life

7. Drug company founder Lilly: ELI - He was a Civil War colonel who founded a pharmacy company that pioneered gelatin capsules and fruit flavoring

8. One-piece garments: SARIS - कैसे साड़ी है in Hindi

9. Bailiwick: AREA - From Middle English Bailiff meaning sheriff and wik meaning dwelling place. Today means "sphere of superior knowledge"

10. "__ better be good!": IT'D 

11. Second section of Verdi's "Requiem": DIES IRAE - (Day of Wrath) - Our multi-voweled crossword buddy 

12. League's best: ALL-STARS.

13. Sacred song collection: HYMNODY and 25. Eagerness: ALACRITY into each life a little learning must fall 

15. Tomorrowland attraction: SPACE MOUNTAIN - SPACE MOUNTAIN is lower and slower than most all other coasters but its dips and turns are COMPLETELY in the dark which makes it terrifying (shown here at the start)

21. Australian food spread: VEGEMITE  - Vegemite is a thick, black Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. Yum?

26. Smiley formerly of PBS: TAVIS - He is currently caught up in the "He, she said" swirl of the #METOO movement

28. House helpers: PAGES - Here are the House PAGES in the state capitol in Olympia, WA

29. One with app-titude?: CODER - Here is some AppCODE for the OSX platform

30. Confusing tourist attractions: MAZES - Cornfield MAZES are popular this time of year here on the Great Plains

31. "Don't kid around!": BE SERIOUS - or "You can't  BE SERIOUS" (:13)

33. Hotel door posting: ROOM RATE has to be posted but are always a 32. Real whopper: TOTAL LIE 

34. Soup often served with sour cream: BORSCHT. Борщ часто подается со сметаной (Borscht is often served with sour cream)

37. Pummel: BEAT ON - Most big time FB schools BEAT ON an inferior opponent to begin the season

38. Bed border: EDGING  - We use landscape bricks in our yard

39. Sub-Saharan menace: TSE TSE  - This mosquito is the most dangerous animal in Africa

41. Without stopping: ON END - Principals can talk ON END to staff who want to go do something useful

42. Eyeball-bending critter: ZEBRA.

44. Between ports: ASEA.

46. Stops shooting: CUTS  - "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn!" CUT!

48. Masked worker, perhaps: UMP  - A foul ball caroms off one masked worker to another

50. Org. featured in TV's "Weeds": DEA.

I would invite the very literate members of our cadre to comment at will about Ryan's puzzle.

DA GRID