Thursday June 14th 2018 Joe Kidd

Theme: Fight On! Up! No USC cheers here.

4D. Cobalt in the human body, e.g.: TRACE ELEMENT. Mêlée

Here's a cobalt atom - plenty of protons, neutrons and electrons to cause quite a mêlée!

8D. Promotion criteria: MERIT SYSTEMS. Stir. You can stir up some discontent if you don't fairly apply the criteria.

21D. Certain 19th-century history specialist: CIVIL WAR BUFF. Brawl. I guess the Civil War might be described a big brawl?

25D. Smallish, as an apartment: TWO-ROOM. Row. Do small apartments cause rows?  Might have something to do with it.

23D. Cause commotion ... or what the circled letters do?: RAISE A RUCKUS

The theme entries run north-south today, as the reveal requires that the "ruckuses" are found running upwards. This puzzle is a really nice construction - there are four long non-theme entries in the downs, and some entertaining 7's in the crosses. This isn't easy to pull off, so kudos to Joe. The rest of the fill is non too shabby either. Let's see what jumps out:

Across:

1. Common borrowing result: DEBT. Common? Isn't it always the result?

5. Add one's two cents, with "in": CHIME

10. "So that's what that means!": A-HA!  Good excuse for some 80's pop. If you're familiar with the song, you might like the awesome Literal Video version.

13. Novelist John le ___: CARRÉ. And the third diacritical mark of the blog so far. There quite a few today.

15. Resort near Vail: ASPEN

16. "Hansel and Gretel" figure: HAG

17. Pigmented eye parts: UVEAS

18. Devour, with "down": SNARF. I knew "scarf" from the "Peanuts" strip. Snarf is new to me - maybe?

19. Outback bird: EMU

20. Longtime network symbol: PEACOCK. NBC, now part of Comcast NBCUniversal. The name gets longer with each acquisition.

22. Historical display: DIORAMA

24. Lucy's co-star: DESI

25. Sandal features: T-STRAPS. I used to wear these as a kid. I never liked them, too uncool for school. Here's me rocking a pair with my big brother.

26. Hardly helpless: ABLE

28. Solemn oath: VOW

30. Subj. that may include a lab: SCIence

31. Potting need: SOIL

32. Skater who lit the Olympic cauldron in Nagano: ITO. Midori Ito. She was the first female figure skater to land a triple axel in competition.

33. Responses from a sycophant: YESES

36. Refine: HONE

37. House of __: LORDS. I had "CARDS" first. Was wrong. Fixed it.

39. Student stressor: EXAM

41. Cut even shorter, as a green: RE-MOW

43. Loophole: OUT

44. Times in classifieds: AFTS. Afternoons.

45. "Bambi" doe: ENA

46. A: ONE

47. Small deer: ROES. By the Steve Law of Things, you can have deers/roes or deer/roe, but not both. In the same fashion, you can be an actor named Seen Bean, or Sean Borne, but you can't have both.

48. Not a good fit: TANTRUM

51. Heavy hammer: MAUL

53. They're run in taverns: BAR TABS. I picked up one last night. Someone had dropped it.

54. Standoffish: ASOCIAL

57. Cracker lacking pop: DUD

58. Producer Scott with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony wins: RUDIN Grammy for "No Country for Old Men", ditto Oscar, Emmy for "He makes me feel like dancin" and six Tony awards.

60. Tsar's decree: UKASE. I don't think I knew this. Thank you, crosses.

61. Mimic: APE

62. Poker declaration: I FOLD

63. Private student: TUTEE. Private teacher = tutor, hence tutee.

64. Strong desire: YEN

65. Spot __: OF TEA? Nice Cuppa knows the answer to this one.

66. Scorch: SEAR

Down:

1. Bra spec: D CUP. What do you call a "breaking news" item about an adult movie actress? A Stormy in a D-cup.

2. Holiday lights may be under one: EAVE

3. Depression Era sight: BREAD LINE

5. Wine container: CASK

6. TV buying channel: HSN Home Shopping Network.

7. Apple Store buys: IPADS

9. Carry out, as laws: ENFORCE

10. Lots: A HEAP

11. Actor Jon and others: HAMMS. Mia Hamm, the soccer play, I know. Jon Hamm, not so much. Thank you crosses. Now all together - the World Cup starts today - "Goooooooooooooooooooaaal"!

12. Rio contents: AGUA. "The water in the river flows down and down, down and down, down and down". Earworm alert!

14. Those, in Tijuana: ESOS. Spanish lesson #2.

26. Tapped-off remnant: ASH. As in tapping  a cigarette to remove the ash. I find it hard to believe that I did this thousands of times before I quit.

27. Uncouth sort: BOOR

29. Oklahoma people: OTO
 "
34. Use a microdermabrasion agent, say: EXFOLIATE. Great word, especially next to a long themer. c.f. 3D also.

35. Make fully content: SATE

38. Hound for payment: DUN

40. Submissions to eds.: MS'S. Manuscripts.

42. Quebec neighbor: ONTARIO. O Canada. Eh.

48. Brownish gray: TAUPE

49. Elizabeth of beauty products: ARDEN

50. FAA overseer: US DOT I didn't know that the Department of Transport oversees the Federal Aviation Authority, I thought they were two separate departments.

52. Été month: AÔUT. Here we go with the French lesson (and the diacritical marks!). August, in summer.

53. Gift-giving occasion, for short: B-DAY

54. Shave-haircut link: AND A

55. No longer in port: ASEA

56. Not a good look: LEER. But on one hand, you are having a good look, just not in a "good look" kind of way.

59. Land in la mer: ÎLE. And the last circumflex of the day. Island, in the sea.

On a totally unrelated note, I want to take Line 6 northbound when I leave the office and change to the E Train at 51st and Lexington just so I can say I've done a "Manhattan Transfer".

I'm easily amused.

That's a wrap!

Steve

Tuesday, May 15, 2018, Joe Kidd

"Bad Penny"

17. Purina product for a young tabby: KITTEN CHOW.

22. Nickname for Coolidge: SILENT CAL.  “You can’t know too much, but you can say too much.”

51. Toe-tapping number: DANCE TUNE.

57. Riviera gambling destination: MONTE CARLO.   It is probably not possible to place a bet for one hundredth of a Euro at a Monte Carlo casino.

CENT appears in each of the four answers, but not spelled as such.   Thus, they are incorrect or invalid, or "bad."

35. With "a," someone undesirable ... and what's found in the circled letters?: BAD PENNY.

"Pennies today are viewed as nearly worthless by many people (although not so many as a year ago), but when the term “bad penny” first appeared in the 18th century, pennies were serious money.  This made them ripe targets for counterfeiters, and to reach into your pocket or purse and discover that you had ended up with such a counterfeit coin, a “bad” penny, was a depressing and annoying experience."

"A bad penny always turns up” is a very old proverb that dates back to at least the mid-18th century and is probably much older.  The general sense of the phrase is, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it, “the predictable, and often unwanted, return of a disreputable or prodigal person after some absence, or (more generally) to the continual recurrence of someone or something.”  A “bad penny” is a person whose presence is unwelcome on any occasion, but whom fate perversely employs to torment you by making said person appear (“turn up”) repeatedly, often at the worst possible times."
Source: The Word Detective. 

Across:
1. Lymph __: NODE.

5. Offended smack: SLAP.

9. Catch some rays?: FISH.

13. Universal blood type, for short: O NEG.

14. Cursed: SWORE.   Not here, please.

15. First bet in a summer World Series: ANTE.  World Series of Poker.

16. Sharp tooth: FANG.

19. Actress Hagen: UTA.

20. Comes down with: GETS. 

21. Boca __, Florida: RATON.

 The laziest city in the country ?

25. Looks embarrassed: IS RED. 

27. Popeye's energy source: SPINACH.

28. Syst. for the hearing-impaired: ASL.  American Sign Language

30. Sci-fi writer Bradbury: RAY.  A favorite of mine was Fahrenheit 451.  “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”  - Ray Bradbury

31. Extreme degree: NTH.

32. Grand Canyon State sch.: ASU.  Arizona State University.

33. Theater level: LOGE.

34. __ Dhabi: Persian Gulf port: ABU.

36. Fragrant evergreens: PINES.

38. More than pique: IRE.

39. Nutritious berry: ACAI.

40. Fitting: APT.

41. Toy dog, briefly: POM.  Pomeranian.  Sorry, Irish Miss.  We get another Spitz breed of dog.  Last time I had a dog in the cw it was the Shiba Inu. 


43. "__ be an honor": IT'D.  Really, it would.

44. Tokyo's former name: EDO.

45. Most obsequious: OILIEST.

49. Force back: REPEL.

53. Classroom fixtures: DESKS.

55. Mai __: tiki drinks: TAIS.

56. Burgundy on screen: RON.  "Ron Burgundy is San Diego's top-rated newsman in the male-dominated broadcasting of the 1970s, but that's all about to change for Ron and his cronies when an ambitious woman is hired as a new anchor."  IMDb.

59. Group activity at a Jewish wedding: HORA.

60. Mystical old letter: RUNE.

61. Bargaining group: UNION.

62. Still unfilled, as a position: OPEN.

63. Ocular woe: STYE.

64. TV screen meas.: DIAG.

65. Sassy: PERT.


Down:

1. Easy to prepare, in adspeak: NO FUSS.

2. How bettors may act: ON A TIP.

3. Alaska's __ National Park: DENALI.

More than a mountain

4. Breakfast staple: EGG.

5. Light activator: SWITCH.

6. Heaps of, informally: LOTSA.

7. Sculpture, paintings, etc.: ART.

8. Look closely (at): PEER.

9. Britannica fodder: FACTS.

10. How people react to slasher films: IN HORROR.

11. Prehistoric period: STONE AGE.

12. Chop with an axe: HEW.

14. Book of drawing paper: SKETCH PAD.

18. Clipper's target: NAIL.

20. Annoying flying insect: GNAT.


23. Boredom: ENNUI.

24. Cut with a surgical beam: LASE.

26. Easter coloring: DYE.

29. "Sneaking" feeling: SUSPICION.


32. Annoying crawling insect: ANT.

33. Word after time or term: LIMIT.

34. Pantomimed: ACTED OUT.   Played a part.

37. Apple with earbuds: IPOD.

39. "Into Thin __": Jon Krakauer book: AIR.  After reading "Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster" you may want to read "The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest" by Anatoli Boukreev. 

42. Corrida cheers: OLES.

44. Actress Sommer: ELKE.

45. Bump's place, idiomatically: ON A LOG.

46. Liechtenstein locale: EUROPE.   Europe : LIECHTENSTEIN

47. Nighttime noisemaker: SNORER.

48. Lodger: TENANT.

50. Makeup maven Lauder: ESTEE.

52. Sunlit lobbies: ATRIA.

54. Gulf War weapon: SCUD.

57. Dash of flavor?: MRS.

58. "Wheel of Fortune" purchase: AN I.

59. Make like a bunny: HOP.

See all y'all later n'at !

Here's the grid:

Oh wait.   One more.   For Irish Miss:

A "majestic puffball"

Sunday March 11, 2018 Joe Kidd

(For a correct PDF file of today's puzzle, email me: crosswordc@gmail.com)

Theme: "Commercial Break" - AD is added into each theme entry.

 23A. Skillful adventurers? : ESCAPADE ARTISTS. Escape artists.

 35A. Field for feline frolic? : THE CAT'S MEADOW. The cat's meow.

52A. Speech from a queen, maybe? : PROM ADDRESS. Prom dress.

76A. Unusually vicious nocturnal flier? : SUPER BAD OWL. Super Bowl. This one broke the original word into two.
 
90A. Burned-out hillbilly? : JADED CLAMPETT. Jed Clampett.

107A. Bedtime bugaboo? : LATE NIGHT SHADOW. Late night show.
 
15D. Sun worshiper's seasonal harangue? : WINTER TIRADE. Winter tire.

59D. Megalith inscribed with saws? : ROCK OF ADAGES. Rock of Ages.

Our blog labels shows that this is the debut Sunday for Joe Kidd. Congratulation! Sunday puzzles are that hard to make, and he gave us a 138-worder.

I grokked the gimmick immediately, as Don G and I once did a similar puzzle with AD IN as reveal. But it did not help my solving.

Across:
        
1. Huggers : ARMS. Thought of Lucina and her loving sisters. Here we are at Mall of America, 2012.

C.C., Lucina, Marge, Yoli & Juanita

5. Spectrum maker : PRISM

10. "The Winner Takes It All" group : ABBA

14. React to a pop idol, perhaps : SWOON

19. Haul : LOOT

20. Fall sign : LIBRA

21. They can be calm or rough : SEAS

22. Specialized vocab : LINGO. We have our own Corner lingo.

26. When rights may be prohibited : ON RED

27. Musical clacker : CASTANET. New term to me.

28. Chooser's words : THAT ONE

30. Pro shop buys : TEES Also 110. Golf selection : IRON

31. Attractive pitcher : EWER. Ah, the baseball reference is at  62. Diamond protector : TARP

32. __ Alley, supply source in the Harry Potter universe : DIAGON. Santa knows.

33. Effective use of lang. : RHET. OK, rhetoric.

39. Neck-to-waist body armor : CUIRASS. New to me also.

42. Laid into : HAD AT

43. Vermont tourist destinations : INNS

44. Stooges' specialty : SLAPSTICK. Great fill.

46. Lasting lead-in? : EVER. Everlasting.

47. __-Indian War : SINO. Have you been to China, Picard?

49. Sinus doc : ENT

50. About : IN RE

51. Pro __: for now : TEM

57. Recognize : READ

58. Chicken Little, memorably : ALARMIST

61. Least friendly : ICIEST

63. Granola bar bit : OAT

64. Ocean predators : ORCAS. Thanks for the nice words about my Orca award.

65. Where Tippecanoe Cty. is : IND

66. Ticket abbr. : SECT

68. Hellish : HADEAN. OK, adjective of Hades.

70. Competitions : CONTESTS

75. Savor, with "in" : BASK

78. Saigon holiday : TET. Same day as Chinese Spring Festival.

79. Northeast Nevada city : ELKO

80. Grand __ Opry : OLE

81. She, in Siena : ESSA

82. First name in gossip : RONA

83. "Whatever" : AS IF I CARE. Another great fill.

86. __ bit: slightly : A WEE

88. One with an IRA, say : SAVER

89. Reversible fabrics : DAMASKS

94. Jim Davis canine : ODIE

95. Name on a pricey handbag : HERMES. This is their famous Birkin bag.

96. Some Ivy Leaguers : ELIS

97. Kelly of talk : RIPA

99. Dapper accessory : TIE CLIP

101. Intrasemester exam : UNIT TEST. No such exam in our schools.

105. 1980s-'90s Commodore computer : AMIGA

109. One fit for a queen? : SHEET. Queen bed.

111. Large chamber group : NONET. Group of nine. We also have 5. Member of a noted octet : PLANET

112. Home repair option, briefly : RE-FI

113. Ad hoc hunters : POSSE. I only associate "ad hoc" with committee.

114. French 101 verb : ETRE

115. Hired hoods : GOONS

116. Sweater mishap : SNAG

Down:
  
1. Guinness of "Smiley's People" : ALEC

2. Bill awarded her a Presidential Medal of Freedom : ROSA (Parks)

3. Comfy footwear : MOCS

4. Governor's ride : STATE CAR

6. They're added to bills : RIDERS. Tidy dupe with 4D clue.

7. "Yeah, right!" : I BET

8. Span. title : SRA

9. "The War of the Worlds" attacker : MARTIAN

10. Bagel cheese : ASIAGO. Have any of you tried Super Target's sliced sourdough bread?

 

11. Confers (on) : BESTOWS

12. It's passed in a race : BATON

13. AAA member?: Abbr. : ASSN. Same cluing style as "Part of TBS: Abbr." for SYS.

14. __-mo : SLO

16. How some lawyers are paid : ON RETAINER. We had some disputes with our townhouse association last year. They hired a lawyer. We lost. When we got home, I got a jury duty notice.

17. Double-curve molding : OGEE

18. Auction actions : NODS
 
24. Play with, kitten-style : PAW AT

25. Mississippi senator Cochran and jazz trumpeter Jones : THADS

29. Lets off steam : ERUPTS

32. Luth. or Meth. : DENOM

34. __ Honor : HIS

35. Frat row letter : THETA

36. First president of the Czech Republic : HAVEL

37. Fluid buildup : EDEMA

38. North Dakota's "Magic City" : MINOT. Magic because of what?

39. Art able to : CANST

40. __ metal : SCRAP

41. Brief timetable : SKED. Schedule.

45. Some skinny jeans : LEES. My favorite at the moment is Mudd.

47. Roasting gadget : SPIT

48. Org. with forms : IRS

53. CBS or NBC : AIRER

54. 1983 taxi comedy : DC CAB

55. 20th-century princess : DIANA

56. Hi-__ image : RES

60. Welcoming sight : MAT
 
62. Blow-up aid : TNT

64. Hymn relative : ODE

65. Visiting Hollywood, say : IN LA. Steve hikes to the Hollywood sign from time to time.

66. Lively dance : SALSA

67. Ice cream treats : ESKIMO PIES. Try Nice Cream if you do not tolerate dairy products. Just frozen bananas, a little peanut butter, cocoa powder. Then blend.

68. Dances with graceful gestures : HULAS
 
69. Mimic : APER

70. Trig ratio : COSEC

71. They're rarely heard from skilled carpenters : OWS

72. Cook's need : STOVE. We have a GE stove. The "Hot Stovetop" light stays on forever.  GE used to stand for quality.

73. Bit of dogma : TENET

74. "Boo!" reaction : START. Shock.

75. Bit of sweat : BEAD

76. Place for a plug : SOCKET
 
77. Scouts do good ones : DEEDS

82. Jay-Z and others : RAP STARS

84. "Woe __": 1996 grammar book : IS I

85. Steam engine exhaust system : EJECTOR. Just learned from TTP last week that I had not been ejecting my USB devices properly.

86. Campus bldg. : ADMIN

87. Breaking down : WEEPING

88. Worker in a forge : SMITH. Ah, here is a nice Smith.

91. Garfield's gal pal : ARLENE. The pink cat.

92. Like the pre-Easter season : LENTEN

93. Elite slates : A-LISTS

95. Essence : HEART

97. Gravelly sound : RASP

98. Texting qualifier : IMHO

100. '70s tennis star Nastase : ILIE

101. "Hmm ... I doubt that" : UH NO

102. Churchill's 1955 successor : EDEN

103. Den piece : SOFA

104. Part of a pre-fire pile : TWIG

106. Had lunch, say : ATE

108. Gunk : GOO

C.C.

(For a correct PDF file of today's puzzle, please email me: crosswordc@gmail.com)

Tuesday, July 25 2017, Joe Kidd

Theme:

17. *Royal passing rubber checks? : KITING KING

25. *English Einstein? : BRITAIN BRAIN

47. *Pack animal carrying a Mexican treat? : BURRITO BURRO

62. *Gdansk gentleman? : POLITE POLE

40. "That'll be enough of that subject" ... and a hint to solving the answers to starred clues : DROP IT

Two-word phrases in which IT is dropped from the second word, to create a new word. 

Melissa here. With lots of learning moments, this felt a tad above Tuesday level to me - relied heavily on perps. Got the theme with the first theme answer - which helped fill in the others pretty quickly. I remember using that "Drop It Like it's Hot" gif for the theme of a fairly recent blog post - but my (admittedly halfhearted) attempt to find it turned up nothing. Anyone else remember a recent "Drop It" theme?

Appears to be a debut for constructor Joe Kidd here at the corner. Pseudonym?

Across

1. Physicist Newton : ISAAC
 

6. Maker of TimeCutter riding mowers : TORO

10. Crimson Tide, to fans : BAMA
 

14. "Ask someone else" : NOT ME
 

15. Fail to enunciate : SLUR
 

16. "Don't have __!": "Calm down!" : A COW

19. Ding-__ : DONG
 

20. Mailing label phrase : SEND TO
 

21. Shopping to beat the band : ON A SPREE. "To beat the band" is an idiom meaning "to the greatest possible degree." Not something I hear often.
 

23. Sign of a Broadway hit : SRO. Standing Room Only.
 

24. International accord : ENTENTE. Is this Tuesday?
 

30. Feel sick : AIL
 

31. Suggestive sideways look : LEER
 

32. Ten sawbucks : C-NOTE
 

36. Just okay : SO-SO
 

38. Calculate again : RE-ADD
 

41. The "Y" of YSL : YVES
 

42. Lesley of "60 Minutes" : STAHL. She recently wrote a book about becoming a grandparent.

44. Blood fluids : SERA
 

46. "All you can __": buffet sign : EAT
 

51. Shout of jubilation : WHOOPEE
 

54. Butter square : PAT
 

55. Stop fretting : REST EASY
 

57. Weather map line : ISOBAR. A line on a map connecting points having the same atmospheric pressure at a given time or on average over a given period.

 

61. "In the Valley of __": 2007 Tommy Lee Jones film : ELAH. 2007 Release.
 

64. Brand with a Swoosh logo : NIKE. Didn't know all this.

65. Utility abbr. : ELEC
 

66. Worked (up) : RILED
 

67. Fly high : SOAR
 

68. __ Martin Cognac : REMY
 

69. Fills fully : SATES
 

Down
 

1. Signs, as a document : INKS
 

2. French silk : SOIE. Is this Tuesday?
 

3. Mailing label abbr. : ATTN
 

4. Surrounded by : AMIDST
 

5. Chicago's time zone : CENTRAL
 

6. "What a shame!" : TSK
 

7. Hodgepodge : OLIO
 

8. Miler or sprinter : RUNNER
 

9. Princess Leia's last name : ORGANA. I had no idea of this - is it common knowledge for most Star Wars fans?
 

10. Metaphorical coin that keeps turning up : BAD PENNY
 

11. Oak-to-be : ACORN
 

12. Painter Claude : MONET
 

13. "Well, gosh" : AW GEE
 

18. Stickier : GOOIER
 

22. Bic Clic __ pen : STIC

 25. Low singing voice : BASS
 

26. More than a melee : RIOT
 

27. "Casablanca" heroine : ILSA
 

28. Word before maiden names : NEE 

29. "The Godfather" enforcer Luca : BRASI
 

33. Finished : OVER
 

34. Saline sign of sadness : TEAR
 

35. Spanish "this" : ESTO
 

37. Pooh Bear's lament : OH, BOTHER

39. Police rank: Abbr. : DET

43. "Superstar" rapper __ Fiasco : LUPE. No idea.
 

45. Ones inflicting humiliation : ABASERS
 

48. Farm machine : REAPER
 

49. Fix, as a shoe : RESOLE. Seems this should be simply "Fix a shoe." What else would be fixed by resoling?

50. Thomas More's perfect world : UTOPIA
 

51. Chirpy birds : WRENS
 

52. Sun: Pref. : HELIO. All I had to go on at first was the O, which did not help. Is this Tuesday?
 

53. Honshu port : OSAKA
 

56. Theoretical matter involved in the Big Bang : YLEM. From Wikipedia: "Ylem is a term that was used by George Gamow, his student Ralph Alpher, and their associates in the late 1940s for a hypothetical original substance or condensed state of matter, which became subatomic particles and elements as we understand them today." Hello! It's Tuesday!

58. Lightning streak : BOLT
 

59. On the quiet side, at sea : ALEE
 

60. Cincinnati team : REDS
 

63. Slippery, as a road : ICY