Wednesday, February 14, 2018 Loren Muse Smith and Bruce Haight

THEME - HEARTS and FLOWERS for VALENTINE'S DAY.

Our theme song.



Wow - that's horrible. Moving right along, here are our theme entries.  The first words of each horizontal three-word entry build up to today's pressing question.

19 A. Has no chance of working : WILL NEVER FLY.   Won't get off the ground.

23 A. "This is a sure bet" : YOU CANT LOSE.   If it's too good to be true  .  .  .

42 A. "Hold on a sec" : BE RIGHT BACK.   Don't wait up for me.

48 A. 2000s sitcom starring Jason Lee : MY NAME IS EARL.  Grifting bully wins the lottery and has an epiphany, then decides to use his new unearned wealth to right all the wrongs of his life.  Never watched it.

Today's quasi-unifier completes the idea.  20 D. End of a question begun by part of 19-, 23-, 42- and 48-Across : VALENTINE.  You can read about the eponymous saint here.

Putting it all together: WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?.  Of course I will, I love you all.

Found these gems on Face Book.

Hi gang, Jazzbumpa on duty.  I didn't bring you any chocolates,  but let's see what other lovely delights we can uncover.

Across

1. Drive-thru device : ATM.  Automatic Teller Machine for banking from your driver's seat.

4. Org. people line up for? : TSA. Transportation Security Administration.   I used to love air travel.  This is one more reason not to.

7. Sell under false pretenses : PALM OFF.  I had PASS OFF, which slowed me down a bit.

14. Tries to scam online : PHISHES.   Uses fraudulent e-mail to get people to reveal personal information, like pass words or credit card numbers.

16. South Pacific region : OCEANIA.  A collective name for the many scattered islands in the  Pacific Ocean, north and south of the equator, plus Australia.

More or less

17. Good thing to break gently : BAD NEWS.  Otherwise, you're breaking bad, badly.

18. Bought time : STALLED.  Dragged one's feet.

21. "__ Lisa" : MONA.  Famous painting, and a chance for some better music.



22. Golf's "Big Easy" : ELS.  South African golfer Theodore Ernest [Ernie] b.1969, with 19 PGA wins, 28 European Tour wins, and dozens of other trophies.

28. "Halt and Catch Fire" network : AMC.  TV network formerly known as American Movie Classics.  The named program was a fictional drama series about the early days of personal computing and the growth of the world wide web.

31. Writers Patchett and Brashares : ANNS.  I'm currently reading Lords and Ladies, [without having read the necesssarry prequels, and it's till working out OK] and misread Patchett as Pratchett.  But TERRY doesn't fit.  Ms Patchett [b 1963] is an American writer of magazine articles, short stories and novels.  Her novel Bel Canto won the PEN/Faulkner award in 2002.  Ms Brashares [b 1967] is an American writer of YA fiction, best know for her novel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

32. Korea setting : EAST ASIA.  With whom we have not always been at war.

34. Rhodes of Rhodesia fame : CECIL John Rhodes [1853-1902]. Without spending more time than I was willing to, I couldn't verify that he was the eponym for Rhodesia, but I'll still make that intuitive leap.  His Wikipedia entry says he was a mining magnate, businessman and staunch believer in British imperialism, which I take to mean he was also a virulent racist and exploiter.

36. "__-Man": superhero film : ANT.  The IMDB entry for this movie says, "Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world."

37. Longtime SeaWorld star : SHAMU.  The killer whale.

38. Four-legged collar wearer : HOUSE PET.  Cat or dog, most of the time.

40. Indigo plant : ANIL.  Indigofera suffruticosa, is a flowering plant of the pea family native to tropical and subtropical Americas.  It is a source of indigo dye.

41. Rubble-making stuff : TNT. TriNitroToluene.  Originally used as a yellow dye, it is now best known as an explosive.  Since it is rather difficult to detonate, it has relatively safe handling properties.

46. Storybook crone : HAG.  Witch.

47. Close at hand : NEAR.

53. "God willing!" : I HOPE SO.  Wishful thinking.

55. "We've heard enough" : SPARE US. T M I.

57. Accumulates : PILES UP.  I had AMASSES, leading to more difficulty.

58. Cautious bettors : HEDGERS.  Here is how they do it.

59. Mailer's need : ADDRESS.  Only if you want it to arrive.

60. Many promos : ADS.

61. Spot for family game night : DEN.  AKA, family room.

Down

1. Manhunt letters : APB.  All Points Bulletin.  A broadcast to law enforcement agencies to be on the look out for a certain dangerous or missing person.

2. Winter warm spell : THAW.  We had two or three last week, with snow storms in between.

3. Skirt style : MIDI.  I had MINI first.  More wishful thinking, I suppose.  Then MAXI 'cuz i go to extremes.

Sadly, sold out.

4. Title role for Geena : THELMA.  Along with Susan as Louise.  Iconic feminist story with a Greek tragedy finale.

5. Attached, as a button : SEWN ON.  Holding on by a threat

6. Give the go-ahead : ASSENT.

7. Something struck by a model? : POSE.



8. One in a cast : ACTRESS.  I believe ACTOR is now the preferred non-gender-specific term.

9. Circulars : LEAFLETS.  Things that are circulated, not things that are shaped round.

10. Store collections : MALLS.  Nice misdirection.  Collections of stores rather than collections of things in stores.

11. The Beach Boys' "God __ Knows" : ONLY.   I never knew this was title.



12. Quaint "For shame!" : FIE.  Expression of outrage or disgust.

13. Fidget spinners, apparently : FAD.   Short-lived enthusiasm for some thing that generally doen't deserve it.

15. Kate McKinnon is in its ensemble, briefly : SNL.  Saturday Night Live.  Common X-word TV entry.

23. Regatta entry : YACHT.  A recreational boat in a race.  The word YACHT derives from the Dutch word for "hunt."  Originally it meant a fast sailing ship used to hunt down pirates and other aquatic miscreants.

24. Diamond situation after a leadoff double : ONE ON.  One base runner in baseball.  Why a double and not a single, triple, walk, or batter hit by pitch?

25. Full-length, as a film : UNCUT.  Unabridged.

26. Several CBS dramas : CSIs.  Crime Scene Investigation - a franchise of CBS crime dramas involving procedural forensics in evidence gathering and crime solving.  Never watched any of them.

27. Bread grain : OAT.  Not just for horses.

28. Yoga pose : ASANA.  Didn't we already have a POSE?!?  An ASANA is a seated posture, or other yoga position.

Do not try this at home

29. Make like : MIMIC.  Act in the manner of, aka a la.

30. Sink sealant : CAULK.  A waterproof sealant.

33. Captain described as a "grand, ungodly, god-like man" : AHAB.  From Melville's classic Moby Dick.

35. Beirut natives : LEBANESE.

36. Bubbly prefix : AER-.  [gurgle]

39. Winged steed of myth : PEGASUS.

Dragons are more fun

43. Performer with many fans? : GEISHA.  Another misdirection.

Join the fan club

44. Secured, as a gate : HASPED.  Dating back to the Germanic origins of Old, English, a HASP is a perforated metal plate that fits over a metal loop that can then be secured with a lock.  Its use as a verb is archaic.

45. Tire features : TREADS.  The textured surfaces where the rubber meets the road.

46. Bouncing off the walls : HYPER.  Over-excited or -active.

48. Shape : MOLD.

49. Hairdressing challenges : MOPS.  Unruly locks.  Maybe a HASP would help?

50. Uru. neighbor : ARG. Two So. Amer. Ctries.

51. Swamp thing : REED.   Plant life.

52. Angler's fly, e.g. : LURE.  A type of bait that attracts the targeted fish.

53. Pub letters : IPA.  India Pale Ale.   A high hop content brew, originally designed to be brewed in England and shipped to India.  The hops stabilize the product in transit.

54. Squirreled away : HID.

56. Bank acct. info : SSN.  Social Security Number.  Guard it from the PHISHermen.

OK kids. That wraps up another Wednesday.  And since it's Valentine's day, I'll close with this. Nā Pana 'Elua, in Hawiian means "The Two Heartbeats."

Peace and Love!
JzB

Friday, May 17, 2013, Jeff Chen and Loren Smith

Theme: PARTing is such sweet sorrow. You all were unanimously un-receptive to my bedtime story pun, but I never quit, and you all know I loves me some Shakespeare.

We have an extremely intriguing and fun offering, with tremendous themeage, straight forward cluing,  but if you did not get the gimmick, this could be hard. This appears to be another Jeff Chen mentoring puzzle, and the theme answers which are marked, 10 of them!!!! (plus a reveal)  all words which appear after PART is removed form a word or phrase. The brilliance is each residue is a stand-alone word or phrase. We also have the unusual aspect of a  theme starting  at 1A. While I am not getting any faster (actually slower) as a solver, I now can see themes quickly, and after getting to 10 across which obviously was relating to the Michigan State SPARTANS, I realized some form of letter removal was in order. a RAMPART and a PARTRIDGE in a pear tree later, I was on my way. Some were really challenging, but most of the puzzle was easy for a Friday. They did squeeze in some nice fill like GET BACK AT, SKIN TIGHT, DON SHULA and  MAKES OUT, and it is time for me to shut up and get to it.

1A. *Defensive fortifications : RAMPARTS. (4) O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming, And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air...

5A. *Noel bird : PARTRIDGE.(5). One of the many birds of the 12 days of Christmas.

10A. *East Lansing athletes : SPARTANS.(4). For you left coasters who love UCLA, I fell in love with college football watching Walt Kowalczyk lead MSU to victory in the 1956 ROSE BOWL.

23A. *After delivery : POSTPARTUM.(6). Postum (LINK) being a slightly obscure coffee alternative from before the art of caffeine extraction was perfected. I bought some after my heart problems and decided I would rather not. Postpartum blues are an ongoing mystery and a sad matter.

25A. *Baggage holder : COMPARTMENT, (7). One of the trickier ones to suss since it is a single word.

50A. *Go separate ways : PART COMPANY.(7). In this case a word is removed. Since we also have ENDED IT, I hope Jeff or his mentee did not have a recent break up.

52A. *School celebration : CLASS PARTY. (6) One word becomes two.

65A. *Bestowed : IMPARTED.(4) More tech stuff, I MED= Instant Messaged.

66A. *Crumbled : FELL APART.(5) Again one becomes two.

67A. *Opt in : TAKE PART..(4) When you opt in to a program, you take part in it. A whole word is deleted, leaving only TAKE. Could have been tricky to suss if you were thinking "partake."

and the reveal:

35A. 2006 Scorsese film, and a hint to answering this puzzle's starred answers : THE DEPARTED. (11).

Wonderful CAST. (2:21).

Across:

14. Verbal jabs : FLAK. Even worse than nit picking.

15. Face-to-face finals : ORALS. I wonder what Dennis and Lois would have said to this in the old days.

16. School that celebrates George III's birthday : ETON.

17. With 61-Down, Elton John duet partner : KIKI. 61D. See 17-Across : DEE. This SONG.(4:52).

18. Vestige : RELIC. So my appendix is a relic?

19. "___ Angel": Mae West film : I'M NO.

20. Texted "Let's just be friends" : ENDED IT. How cold is that? Some aspects of technology seem awful.

22. Supports : IS FOR. 

27. C-3PO, for one : DROID. My smartphone's cousin.

28. Nincompoop : SCHMO. My old phone's cousin, and a foreshadowing of 49A. Capp chap : ABNER, who had to deal with the SHMOO.

30. Dawn goddess : EOS. I had a run of EOS on Fridays earlier this year.

31. Snug as ___... : A BUG. In a rug. I hate bugs.

32. "Eureka!" : AHA. The moment. Now in the dictionary, and on TV.(0:30)

33. Third-qtr. period : AUGust. Tricky even if simple.

39. Airer of many Cary Grant films : TCM. Turner Classic Movies.

40. Staycation benefit, for short : RNR. From the military, Rest aNd Recreation. I  imagine Dennis has some stories, but we are all so PC now we will not hear them here.

41. Tattled : TOLD.

44. NYC's Penn, e.g. : STAtion.

47. Clean : LEGIT.

53. Dug the experience, with "up" : ATE IT.

54. Loser's demand : REMATCH. Especially boxers.

57. Cartoonist Lazarus : MELL, He drew Miss Peach and Momma.

58. Like some forces : NAVAL

59. Many a Kirkuk resident : KURD. This one almost had its way with me.

62. ___-dieu : PRIE. The kneely thing with the desk top.

63. Calm : STILL.

64. Tissue additive : ALOE. Goodbye to the first half. (Think French accent).

Down:

1. ___ Stadium, home of D.C. United : RFK. Robert Francis Kennedy.

2. Bard of boxing : ALI. Muhammad.

3. Discerns : MAKES OUT. So many other clues, but no link for this one, even if it is next to....

4. Like wet suits : SKIN TIGHT. Like THIS? Or THIS?

5. Composer of the 2005 opera "Our Town" : ROREM. Did you know the SCORE?

6. More than put out : IRED. SEE was removed for me in this fill.

7. "The Persistence of Memory" artist : DALI. Looks like he had a good time creating this one.

8. Bug : GLITCH. Oh that kind of bug.

9. Exit key of a sort : ESCape.

10. Quake : SEISM. I knew about seismology but never thought of this as a stand alone.

11. Charge for cash : ATM FEE. Nailed it.

12. "Ain't gonna happen!" : NO NO NO. A thousands times NO. Don't you hate fates like that? Especially when there are....

13. Corral chorus : SNORTS. Had NEIGHS for a second.

21. Turkey : DUD. Oh that kind of Turkey.

22. Response to "Raise," maybe : I'M OUT. Lots of these tricky word combos.

23. iPhone, e.g. : PDA. Personal Digital Assistant.

24. Eyeball : ORB. A sign he will win the Preakness too? Sad we cannot ask. Starting on the rail, oh oh. Maybe Rosie will be the first female jockey to win a triple crown race. Bet it.

26. Astrologer Sydney : OMARR. Because Kimmleman would not play in Peoria.

28. Ella, stateside : SHE. Translation.

29. Tyrrhenian Sea resort : CAPRI. Off of the Naples side of Italy.

32. Pitchers : AD MEN. So it is not pouring a drink or throwing a baseball.

34. Take revenge on : GET BACK AT. Another of the clever multi-word fill.

36. Showy display : ECLAT.

37. Hill inhabitant : ANT.

38. Coach of 1972's undefeated Dolphins : DON SHULA. A real gimme for the sofla crowd, as he is still on TV a lot and has tons of restaurants.

42. Guitarist Paul : LES. Mr. electric guitar. ENJOY.(2:11).

43. Wine choice : DRY. I am getting sec of all these wine clues.

44. Shellfish entrée : SCAMPI. Shrimp was my first thought.

45. For the full time : TO TERM. Both of my boys were premies.

46. 2001 French title heroine : AMELIE. Watch this  MOVIE.(1:29).

48. Use a Hula-Hoop : GYRATE. No Elvis this time.

49. Cockpit abbr. : ALTitude.

51. Accumulated, with "up" : PILED.

52. Easter lily : CALLA. Marti must have known this was coming yesterday. Hey Fermat.

55. Superhero's target : EVIL.

56. Place for an anchor store : MALL. But how many people really need anchors? Does it do better than the scotch tape store?

58. Check prob. : NSF. The dreaded Not Sufficient Funds.

60. Seoul soldier : ROK. Republic Of Korea. This was filled by the perps or I would not have seen it.

Speaking of not being seen, I think it is time for me to slip away until next time. A hearty thanks to JC and Ms.(Mr.?)  Smith for the presentation and to all of you who have made it this far in reading my ramblings, which are over until next time. Summer is almost upon, but winter is coming.

L.

Note from C.C.:

Here are two wonderful photos of dear Sallies, who is going to celebrate her 83rd birthday on July 12, 2013.  Sallie's two sons (one lives in MN, one in NY) and her husband Gerry celebrated Mother's Day this year a few days earlier at a restaurant in Naples. Stay strong, Sallie, we're all here for you!