Sunday October 27, 2024 John Lieb

Theme: "Interview With the Vampire" - Each common phrase contains a vampire-related word and rephrased as Vampire's answer to an question. 

 23. "What is your least favorite form of advertising?": CROSS PROMOTIONS.

 34. "What pricing advice do you have for garden centers?": RAISE THE STAKES.

 51. "What aspect of your personality are you working on?": SELF-REFLECTION.

 68. "What would you wear, say, when spending St. Patrick's Day in Madrid?": CAPE VERDE.

 85. "Not to put you on the spot, but who is your favorite pet?": BAT ONE THOUSAND.

 97. "What investment do you recommend to your fellow creatures of the night?": CRYPTOCURRENCY.

115. "Above all else, what must your minions be?": DOWN FOR THE COUNT.

We've seen a few Vampire puzzles in the past, but none with this approach. Perfect title. I'm sure this puzzle starts the title first. I don't recall a Sunday grid with two 15-letter non-theme fill. Stunning. John is a great themeless constructor.

I mentioned before that John (upper left) runs the Boswords. The guy on the upper right is Andrew Kingsley. And you all know the third guy.

Across:

1. Texas A&M athlete: AGGIE. Agnes's niece calls her "Aunt Aggie".

6. Foldable dish: TACO.

10. Study like mad: CRAM. You need 14. Nightstand lights: LAMPS and 19. Hotel bookings: ROOMS.

20. Wrinkle remover: IRON.

21. Georgetown athlete: HOYA.

22. Words of empathy: I CARE.

26. Edible Arrangements bit: MELON. Not famliar with Edible Arrangements.

27. Australian hub, for short: SYD. Sydney Airport.

28. Starters: A TEAM.

29. March Madness openers?: EMS. Starting letters of March Madness.

30. Last part: TAIL END.

32. Procedures: WAYS.

37. Les États-__: UNIS.

39. High pts.: MTS.

40. Spanish gold: ORO.

41. Depends (on): RELIES.

44. She, in Lisbon: ELA.

46. Phillies slugger Harper: BRYCE. Boomer would have proudly told you that he owned Harper's rookie card. We also have 42. Pitcher's stat: ERA. 99. BoSox rivals: YANKS.

48. HDTV choice: LCD.

55. Domed homes: IGLOOS.

57. Help at a wedding, informally: USH.

58. Took a spill: ATE IT.

59. Former SCOTUS monogram: RBG. Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

60. Sunscreen: PARASOL. I probably would have added ?

61. Garish: LOUD.

63. Does harm to: INJURES.

65. Pink cat in "Garfield": ARLENE.

66. "Tomorrow" musical: ANNIE.

70. Aquarium fish: TETRA.

73. Soy-based meat alternative: TEMPEH. Not fond of its taste. 

75. Inorganic: MINERAL.

77. Sealed: SHUT.

78. Rum cocktails: MAI TAIS.

80. Finish with zero cards in Uno, say: WIN.

81. Couldn't stand still, say: PACED.

83. Musician Brian: ENO.

84. Throat part: TONSIL.

88. Math subj.: ALG.

89. 1970s Renault model: LE CAR.

91. Fútbol cheer: OLE.

92. Pan-fried: SAUTED.

93. Sis or bro: SIB.

94. "It's __-brainer!": A NO.

96. Missives: Abbr.: LTRS.

105. Trickster of the 109-Across: LOKI. 109. Norse pantheon: AESIR.

107. Title girl in a No. 1 song by the Knack: SHARONA.

108. Poetic contraction: OER. And 111. Poetic contraction: TIS.

114. __ grigio: PINOT.

119. Oft-taped joint for athletes: ANKLE.

120. Alan of "Bridge of Spies": ALDA.

121. Running shoe brand: AVIA.

122. Actress McDonald with six Tony Awards: AUDRA. She also has two Grammys.

123. Bouquets, at a vineyard: NOSES.

124. Articulates: SAYS.

125. "Roundball Rock" composer John: TESH.

126. Guide: STEER.

Down:

1. Shuttlecock paths: ARCS.

2. Like some horror movies: GORY.

3. Film with the Boston-accented line "How do you like them apples?": GOOD WILL HUNTING. Such a good movie. Partnered with a great 48. "Enough with your sass!": LOSE THE ATTITUDE.

4. Some online exchanges, briefly: IMS.

5. Composition: ESSAY.

6. Run out of steam: TIRE.

7. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR.

8. Grammatical pause: COMMA.

9. Musician Yoko: ONO. 12. Author Rand: AYN. 16. Oscar winner Rami: MALEK. 82. "Dance the Night" singer Lipa: DUA. All regulars in our grids.
 
10. Wind __: CHIMES.

11. Perch: ROOST.

13. Virtuosity: MASTERY. People were often surprised when I told them that Boomer had 20 perfect games. He would have turned 77 today. This photo was taken in 2002. Myrtle Beach.

14. Maximum or minimum: LIMIT.

15. Northeast Corridor train: ACELA.

17. Given (to): PRONE.

18. Elates: SENDS.

24. NBA stat: Abbr.: PTS.

25. "This is only a __": TEST.

31. Standoffish: ASOCIAL.

33. "Yeah, right!": AS IF.

35. Apple desktop: IMAC.

36. Shofar, e.g.: HORN. Shofars are used for Jewish religious purposes, according to Wikipedia.

37. "The Little Mermaid" witch: URSULA.

38. Liam of "Taken": NEESON.

43. Org. looking for alien life: SETI.

44. Seder prophet: ELIJAH.

45. Relent: LET UP.

46. Peaty wetland: BOG.

47. Everglades bird: EGRET.

49. Murmur: COO.

50. Broadband letters: DSL.

52. Yard dividers: FENCES.

53. Golf great Lee: TREVINO. He used to be here for the 3M Championship. Always in the same group as Jack Nicklaus & Gary Player.

54. "Peer Gynt" playwright: IBSEN.

56. Highway divisions: LANES.

60. Deliver a sermon: PREACH.

62. Meal plans: DIETS.

64. Send payment: REMIT.

65. Classified stat: AD RATE.

67. Inbox message: EMAIL.

69. Drive off: REPEL.

71. Athlete in a triathlon's last leg: RUNNER.

72. Holding conflicting views: AT ODDS. With.

74. Supplies additional criticism: PILES ON.

76. Many August babies: LEOS.

78. NYC subway org.: MTA.

79. Early ISP: AOL.

80. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb __!": WAR.

85. Hindu "sir": BABU.

86. Midday: NOON.

87. Brood: SULK.

90. Noisy insects: CICADAS. Tasty when fried. 

94. Sports venues: ARENAS.

95. Foam toy material: NERF.

97. Channel created as a community service: C-SPAN.

98. Thick-skinned herbivore: RHINO.

100. Member of the working class: PROLE. Short for proletariat.

101. "For sure!": TOTES.

102. Rambunctious: ROWDY.

103. Make one's mark, in a way: CARVE.

104. Legendary Himalayans: YETIS. Called "Xue Ren" in Chinese, literally "snowman".

105. Tell tales: LIE.

106. Black-and-white whales: ORCAS.

110. Deposed Iranian ruler: SHAH.

112. Memo starter: IN RE.

113. Coveted symbol in Dr. Seuss's "The Sneetches": STAR.

116. Lisbon greeting: OLA.

117. Cheerios grain: OAT.

118. Tennis call: OUT.

I'd like to recommend this puzzle book to you guys. You can read this blog post from Brooke Husic. I don't remember solving a puzzle book with constructor notes. Quite a few LAT constructors have a puzzle in the collection. Just from my puzzle answer sheet page, I see Rafa Musa, Darby Ratliff and Adam Aaronson (yesterday's constructor).

C.C.

Saturday, June 22, 2024, Wendy L. Brandes, John Lieb

 Saturday Themeless by Wendy L. Brandes and John Lieb

 

Wendy is a lawyer, professor and children’s book author. Her puzzles have appeared in the Inkubator, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Boswords and Universal Crosswords. When she is not thinking about crosswords, she can be found knitting, engaging in vicious games of Catan, or rooting on the Yankees, Rangers, Giants and Swarthmore Garnet.

John is from Philadelphia but now lives in West Roxbury, MA. where he teaches math at Roxbury Latin School. He attended The Haverford School in Haverford, PA and studied math at Williams College in Williamstown, MA.

His FaceBook page contains personal information and this wonderful picture.  As for the picture, John was kind enough to write:  The story of the outfit is that at my school, the day before Spring Break is a dress down/costume day, and the Elvis costume was my outfit a few years back. Fun to walk around as the King for a day...

I made good time solving Wendy and John's puzzle. I found very little drek and skated around very nicely and I'll point out some of my favs. I think our friend Irish will like the dearth of 3-letter fill: COT EOS SAT SRS SUE TEM TKO

Across:

1. __ board: ABOVE - Here it is and its opposite 

6. Crab organ: GILL.

10. Rumple: MUSS.

14. 24/7, say: RATIO - The RATIO of women to men public school teachers is approximately 3:1

15. One of the Three Rivers Stadium rivers: OHIO - The stadium was named in February 1969 for its location at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which forms the Ohio River. It has since been torn down.

16. Opposing: ANTI.

17. Like the lines in a Mondrian painting: CRISS CROSS - Piet Mondrian's works have sold for $50M. No, really!!

19. "Sourced from the same material" abbr.: IBID - I loathed typing footnotes and bibliographies. Word makes it easier I'm told.

20. Baseball family name: ALOU.

21. McIntosh product: APPLESAUCE - I filled in APPLESAUCE and then had to see that an "a" was not in the name of the product. 🙄

23. Make potable, as seawater: DESALT - The Carlsbad DESALt plant near San Diego makes 50 millions gallons of water per day.

25. "Buona __": SERA - Good evening in Italian

26. Letters that end a fight: TKO 😀

27. Small holes: EYELETS.

29. Cholesterol drug: STATIN.

31. Spotted: CALICO.

34. Bread in a skillet: PONE - Corn PONE bread

35. Reluctant agreement: YOU'RE NOT WRONG - I'll bet the next word in this dialogue is "but"

39. Sumptuous: LUXE - I've never used it or heard it used

40. Agitate: STIR UP.

41. Actress Milano: ALYSSA.

44. One who may taunt "Mom loves me best": SIBLING - Remember the recent word of nibling?

48. Pro __: TEM- Translation: "For the time being". The Vice President is the president of the Senate but in his or her absence there is a president PRO TEM. The current one is Patty Murray of Washington state.

49. Diamond appraisers?: UMPS 😀

52. Waver: TEETER.

53. "Sesame Street" song that's complete rubbish?: I LOVE TRASH.

56. __ latte: CHAI - We see CHAI so often here that I will stop adding that it is Chinese for tea

57. Added amount: MORE.

58. Threat to global stability: ROGUE STATE.

60. Viola Davis achievement, in brief: EGOT.

61. "Now!": ASAP.

62. Reduces to tiny bits: RICES.

63. Some tax IDs: SSNS.

64. Big name in salad dressing: KEN'S - We like KEN'S but we love Dorothy Lynch Dressing that is made in Columbus, NE

  

65. __ quotes: SCARE - quotation marks used around a word or phrase when they are not required, thereby eliciting attention or doubts.

I'm not sure Dave did
such a great job!

Down:

1. Boardwalk business: ARCADE.

2. Grain used in animal feed: BARLEY.

3. Useless: OTIOSE.

4. Red and green lights, e.g.: VISUAL CUES - Some people don't pay all that much attention to those cues

5. Aurora's counterpart: EOS - Godesses of Dawn

6. Fuel for climbers: GORP  Most recognize gorp to be an acronym for its four main ingredients, "granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts.

7. Places with stacks of silver dollars: I HOPS 😀 - Here's five of them

8. Cotton thread: LISLE.

From the 1920's

9. Second-person plural?: LOSERS 😀 Yes, the second place person is "the first LOSER"

10. Mother of Hermes: MAIA - It (had to) filled itself in

11. Begin to open up?: UNBUTTON.

12. Gecko's specialty: STICKING.

13. Focus of some record keepers?: SIDE ONE - It could be an alternate for A-SIDE and B-SIDE but I like this: 

SIDE ONE is playing below in this two-record set with side two on the top of the upper record. When Side two finishes playing, the two records are flipped over and side three will now play which is on the back of the upper record. Side four is on the back of the lower record. 

18. Source of the Dutton family's wealth on "Yellowstone": CATTLE.

22. Didn't play: SAT.

24. Part of a billionaire's jet set?: LEAR - 10 billionaires with jets more expensive than LEARS

28. Trespasses: SINS - We Congregationalists asked to have our "debts forgiven" while the Methodists across the street were doing the same with their "trespasses".

30. Furious and then some: APOPLECTIC.

32. Help in turning a double into a triple: COT 😀 We used a rollaway.

33. Beverly Cleary's "__ Spofford": OTIS.

35. Treats baked in Swiss roll pans: YULE LOGS.

 

36. Element in "Night of the Living Dead": OXYMORON.

37. Squirm: WRITHE.

38. __ Goldberg machine: RUBE - You figure out what it does. 😀

39. W. Coast daily: LA TIMES.

42. Jane's "Glee" role: SUE - Jane Lynch as the P.E. teacher

43. Sunset Limited operator: AMTRAK.

45. End of a course in Greek literature?: ITHACA - ITHACA is the home and kingdom of Odysseus, and it is the place he most desires to return to. It represents Odysseus' love for his home, family, and an end to his long and arduous journey. Yeah, I knew that. 😗

46. More like a Marie Kondo disciple: NEATER - An organizer guru

47. Quarterback Bob who won two Super Bowls with the Dolphins: GRIESE - Bob led the only team to win a Super Bowl by going undefeated in the 1972 season, 17 - 0. The Dolphins also won the next year going 15 - 2.

50. Essay text: PROSE.

51. Carl who said, "We are made of star-stuff": SAGAN.

54. Checks out: VETS.

55. Takes late courses: SUPS 😀 Uh, that's meal courses. 

59. Sch. team captains, often: SRS.