Thursday, November 28th 2019 Joseph Ashear

Theme: Black Thursday - discounts come early this year to the crossword:

20A. 2015 Marvel feature, after budget cuts: FANTASTIC THREE. I'm sure STAN Lee would have fought to preserve the four, in spite of the cuts.

29A. 1995 romantic comedy, after budget cuts: EIGHT MONTHS

39A. 2018 heist thriller, after budget cuts: OCEAN'S SEVEN. I think I'd have looked for an alternative to this theme entry, if possible. There are already four "genuine" numbered titles in the "Ocean's" film series (in release order, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen and Eight) so that this one doesn't seem at all incongruous or unlikely.

50A. 1957 courtroom drama, after budget cuts: ELEVEN ANGRY MEN

Well, hot on the heels of Joseph's debut that had a lot of us scratching our heads a couple of weeks ago, here's a second Thursday offering. This one was a nice Thanksgiving-morning solve, nothing too challenging and giving us all plenty of time to pay attention to the turkey in the oven!

On to the fill:

Across:

1. Headache feature: THROB

6. Report of a blowup?: BANG

10. More, in Madrid: MAS

13. Peter of Herman's Hermits: NOONE. Unlike the head-throb at 1A, Mr. Noone was something of a heart-throb. He could also clap like a champ.

14. Winds in a pit: OBOES

16. In the past: AGO

17. Away from the coast: TO SEA

18. "Counting Sheep" company: SERTA

19. Celestial sphere: ORB

23. Wee bits: IOTAS

24. Less stuffy: AIRIER

25. Historical capital of Bohemia: PRAGUE. Not Praha?

28. Federal IDs: S.S.N.'S

32. "The Shawshank Redemption" actor Robbins: TIM

35. Coagulate: CLOT

36. Arthur with Emmys: BEA

37. The Velvet Underground singer: NICO. A big grumble here, Nico was not a member of the band; she sang vocals on three tracks (at the behest of producer Andy Warhol) on the album named, tellingly, "The Velvet Underground and Nico". Lou Reed was the Velvet Underground's vocalist and 'twill ever be so.

38. Beer barrel: KEG

43. Rap fan: B-BOY. A breakdancer, or a "break boy". Apparently b-boys didn't like to be called breakdancers.

44. On the job: AT WORK

45. Lucille Ball's son: DESI JR. I'm not sure I knew there was a Desi Jr. but it didn't take long to figure out.

48. Beverage aisle array: SODAS. Not in my beverage aisle, unless you're talking about soda water or tonic.

54. Went for the worm: BIT

55. Avocado or plum: COLOR. 1970's bathroom fixtures. It was quite a selling point to be able to list a house with an "avocado suite" in the bathroom.

56. Bit of climbing gear: PITON

58. Submachine gun in action films: UZI

59. Léopard relative: TIGRÉ

60. Radii neighbors: ULNAE

61. Shade at the beach: TAN

62. They're worked with pull-ups and pull-downs: LATS

63. Lynx and Mercury: TEAMS. Minnesota and Phoenix, respectively, of the Women's NBA.

Down:

1. Wile E. Coyote supply: TNT.

2. Reindeer foot: HOOF

3. Parks of Alabama: ROSA

4. __ only: special performance alert: ONE NIGHT. Today's theme would have this as "No nights only".

5. Triumph over: BEAT OUT

6. __ nova: BOSSA. Tempted by SUPER, waited.

7. Helps in a heist: ABETS

8. Sushi seaweed: NORI. I'm eating some right now, great to snack on, you don't need to wrap anything in it, although my Auntie Miho's Spam Musubi rocks. I'll be eating some at Christmas.

9. Use an ATM: GET CASH. When I first went to Hong Kong, I stopped off to get cash at the HKSB ATM near my hotel in Kowloon and topped short - the keypad is upside down. It never really crossed my mind that I remembered my PIN from the pattern on the keys, not the numbers. I had to turn my head 180 degrees to get it right. You don't want to get your ATM card swallowed by a machine at midnight, wherever you are.

10. One of New Zealand's official languages: MAORI

11. Match: AGREE

12. Not lit: SOBER

15. Lustrous fabrics: SATINS

21. "Up and __!": AT 'EM. Not AWAY then! I got that wrong at first.

22. Appt. book blocks: HRS.

25. Two dry gallons: PECK. Ask Peter Piper. That's a lot of peppers to pick.

26. Irk: RILE

27. All aflutter: AGOG

28. Spider-Man co-creator Lee: STAN. With Artist-Writer Steve Ditko. Stan passed just a year ago, he had a remarkable career and legacy in the comic book world. If you come across the original comic book in great condition, you're looking at around $18,000.

30. Follow: OBEY

31. Cultural funding org.: N.E.A.

32. Pioneering DVR: TIVO

33. Pastry bag user: ICER. No, sorry. Why should a member of the Institute of Clinical and Economic Review need a pastry bag? Time to retire this fill.

34. Coltrane collaborator: MONK. John's jazz pianist chum Thelonious.

37. Phrase in cosmetic dentistry marketing: NEW SMILE

39. Take exception: OBJECT

40. Mazola product: CORN OIL

41. __ City: Baghdad suburb: SADR

42. Remain in place: STAY PUT

43. End of the rainbow mnemonic: BIV. Another fill for the dustbin. Really? Take three random letters and call them a word. Terrible. Take any three of ROYGBIV to suit your needs and off you go.

45. Run for the first time: DEBUT

46. Dushku of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer": ELIZA. Thank you, crosses. Fortunately I didn't need to even look at this one, it was already filled in for me.

47. Take hold gradually: SET IN

48. Inelegant laugh: SNORT

49. Shrek and Fiona: OGRES

51. Fish tank growth: ALGA

52. One of Italy's trio of active volcanoes: ETNA

53. Linguist Chomsky: NOAM

57. Mario Bros. console: N.E.S. All Together Now "Nintendo Entertainment System".

Well, swiftly to the conclusion and a Happy Thanksgiving to all. Here's the grid, and I'll see you at the leftovers.

Steve

Thursday, November 14th 2019 Joseph Ashear

Theme: Countdown

Be careful what you wish for! Last week I said I'd like to leave the circles out of  the puzzle and let us go theme-hunting on our own, this week was a Snark-hunting exercise of the highest order!

"'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,

   If your Snark be a Boojum! For then

You will softly and suddenly vanish away,

   And never be met with again!'"

I was bothered when I'd completed the puzzle - I saw that the theme entries were clued with a similar structure, they were all game-related, but ... what was I missing? The theme entries ran north-south and not the customary west-east, and with no real need to do so - no above/below clues, no up/down, what was I missing? I went anagram-hunting, I looked at the placement of the theme entries, I read the entries upwards and downwards - what was it? What was I missing?

Then the penny dropped, and my blog title gives an additional clue.

I think this is Joseph's debut across all the major publications, so congratulations on that. Two first-timers in a row for LAT Thursdays, here's to many more if they bring puzzles of this quality.

Let's go look at the theme entries and the fill, and if you missed the hidden unifier, I'll "reveal" at the bottom.

6D ... in a board game: CLUE WEAPONS. "Clue" murders tend towards the gruesome blunt-force trauma end of the scale. You can be shot or stabbed, but then you get wrenched, candlesticked, lead piped or - blessfully - hanged. It's all very messy. Give me murdered by anyone, in the Library (reading a book) with the revolver. I'm not keen on being beaten to death with a wrench in the hall by the cook. It just seems very - unseemly.

10D. ... in a ball game: BOWLING PINS. Boomer gets this in a heartbeat. He's not doing so well right now, a Corner shout-out to him. We're rooting for you.

24D. ... on a game mat: TWISTER DOTS. Big dots. Can you name the colors?

25D. ... on a game card: BINGO SPACES. We played Bingo in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. What a fun game! We won $160 too, so nothing not to like! I've lost that in two minutes playing Craps on the Strip. Live and learn.

Still theme-challenged? Mull it over awhile while (!) we go and look at the fill.

Across:

1. Co. with brown trucks: U.P.S. My brother is a UPS driver in the UK, he'd be getting ready for the busy Christmas period but sadly is laid up post-surgery at home this year. Get well, Bruv!

4. Fearsome Tolkien beasts: ORCS

8. Run off at the mouth: BABBLE. Testing the waters with an unruly mob who can't keep quiet? Dabbling with a babbling rabble.

14. New Deal prog.: N.R.A.

15. Guthrie genre: FOLK

16. Unprincipled: AMORAL

17. Rapper __-Z: JAY

18. Fireplace outlet: FLUE

19. Accompany: GO WITH

20. Yellowfin tuna: AHI

21. Great quantity: SLEW

22. Highest-ranking elected woman in U.S. history: PELOSI. A name in the news, a couple of these topical entries today.

23. McConaughey of "True Detective": MATTHEW

25. Nickname for Israel's Netanyahu: BIBI. New to me, thank you, crosses.

26. Sported: WORE

27. Beach in a 1964 hit song: IPANEMA. We chatted about Ipanema Beach a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I'd get in the water there though. I've seen the outfalls.

31. Start of a Poitier film title: TO SIR, With Love. Sidney teaching at an inner-city comprehensive school in east London.

34. Author/aviator __ Morrow Lindbergh: ANNE

36. Film crew member: GRIP

37. V-formation flier: GOOSE

38. '90s game disc: POG

39. Pipe up: OPINE

40. __ the finish: IN AT

41. Snapchat's ghost, e.g.: LOGO. And here's a very famous logo ....

42. Shoes with swooshes: NIKES. There's currently an investigation by the "International Athletics something-or-other We're Here for your Benefit and our Fat Salaries Committee Federation" aimed at banning certain Nike shoes because they're "too good". Simple solution - everyone runs barefoot. There, I just saved us all millions. You're welcome.

43. Color from a bottle: FAKE TAN

45. British WWII gun: STEN. According to the people tasked with firing the weapon, more dangerous to the user than the intended target, they had a habit of blowing up. I hauled around a Bren gun as an army reservist for a while, then I got my sniper's badge and they gave me a much lighter deliverer of doom, which thankfully I never had to actually use in anger. On the range, it was pretty accurate - I think my best was an 8" grouping of six rounds at 300 yards. The range was in a rural setting in Cornwall with sheep grazing the adjacent fields. We were informed in no uncertain terms that picking off an unsuspecting future leg of lamb would NOT BE TOLERATED!

47. Magician Weasley and anchorman Burgundy: RONS. Hmmm, I think Ron Weasley might turn you into a toad or a Ford Anglia if you described him as a "magician". Harry Potter's chum is a wizard, there's a significant difference, I'd say.

48. Have: POSSESS

52. Like some wedding photos: CANDID. With the advent of camera phones, there are now many more candid photos than "official" ones.

55. Hook or Cook: Abbr.: CAPT. 

56. Quid pro __: QUO. "In the news" phrase at the moment. I'm not sure why, it just rings a bell.

57. Maryland state bird, e.g.: ORIOLE

58. Dos cubed: OCHO

59. Lines at a checkout counter?: UPC, The bar code that you scan when you (increasingly) self-check your stuff.

60. Money maker: MINTER

61. Not nice at all: MEAN

62. Bother a great deal: IRK

63. Great times: BLASTS

64. Uruguay's Punta del __: ESTE. Home of the sculpture "La Mano".

65. __ de deux: PAS. A ballet term when two dancers perform identical steps together. What's the plural? The same as the singular. I'd have gone for "pas des deuxes" and lost all my money on "Jeopardy".

Down:

1. Clear, as a printer: UNJAM.

2. Czech Republic capital, to Czechs: PRAHA. "The City of  a Hundred Spires". The much lesser-known name is the westernized "Prague". I'm not sure how many people have heard of Prague, though. The famous Athletic Club Sparta Praha play that well-known sport "Fotbal".

3. "Don't beat around the bush!": SAY IT! OK, I'll say it - "PRAHA"? Really? Worst fill of the day.

4. A bit out in the ocean: OFFSHORE

5. Painter's tool: ROLLER

7. Present in a biased way: SKEW

8. Reed instrument: BAGPIPE. Singular/plural conundrum for me. I always use the plural "a set of bagpipes" or "she plays the bagpipes". One bagpipe? "Bagpipe music". While we're on the subject, can I plead with any bagpipe band not to play "Scotland the Brave" on St. Patrick's Day? It's really annoying

9. Pond protozoan: AMOEBA. I'll give you this as I prefer it to "AMEBA", but really the OE is a dipthong, so one letter, not two.

11. Gusto: BRIO

12. Back muscles, briefly: LATS

13. K-12 appropriate: EL-HI

28. Actor Estrada: ERIK

29. "Dibs!": MINE!

30. Long-limbed beasts: APES

31. "So ready for the weekend!": TGIF!

32. Chaplin named for her grandmother: OONA

33. Relax in the hot tub: SOAK

35. Yuletide libation: NOG. Why do we (not me) only drink egg nog at Christmas? It's a pretty horrible idea in the first place, but to reserve it for an ostensibly happy period is clearly strange.

39. 14 British pounds: ONE STONE. No, 14 pounds in any country is a British stone. Unlike the fact that 16 oz is usually an imperial pint, except in Britain, where you get 20 oz to your pint. You've got to admire those pint-swilling Brits. And then they sell petrol in litres, the temperatures are now in centigrade, the weight measures are in grams, but the distances are still in miles. Someone needs to have a quiet word regarding "standardization" with that lot over there. And drive on the right, while you're about it. Honestly, some people.

41. Big name in advice: LANDERS

44. __ training: TOILET. Another jolly British word.

46. Tails partner: TOP HAT, along with a white tie.

49. Furnish with gear: EQUIP

50. Sporty Toyota until 2002: SUPRA

51. Laundry day casualties: SOCKS. I've got a singleton on my dresser right now. What is it with socks?

52. Rooster topper: COMB

53. Seed covering: ARIL

54. Jazz singer Simone: NINA. It's a little late for a music link, but no matter. Here's one of my favorites. Too good to waste.

55. Show up: COME

And now we come to the denouement.

So what is it with the theme? When bloggers quote the theme entries, the tradition is to add the "A" or "D" to the number to identify whether we're talking about the across or the down entry, as I did at the top of the page. Let's see what happens if we take the first theme entry, identify it by the number only and eliminate the ellipses:

"6 in a board game". Six Clue Weapons.

and the next:

"10 in a ball game". Ten Bowling Pins ...

... and so we go. The number of the theme entry in the grid describes the solution. There are 24 dots on a Twister mat, 25 spaces on a bingo card. Very neat!

The reason the theme entries are in the downs is because you can't cram them in the acrosses - you'd be four of them into the puzzle before you even got halfway-down the grid, and facing an impossible constructing task.

So here's the grid, hats off to Joseph, and I'll be on my way.

Steve