Friday, September 30, 2016 Joseph Groat

Theme: Common Sense(s)

It was in 2015 when Joseph Groat first appeared in the L.A.T., and that was also my first attempt at blogging.  This is his third appearance.  For this outing, the theme is in the clues rather than the answers – no reveal required.  The theme answers include three grid-spanners and two twelves.  Impressive. Plus, it’s a pangram!  For any newbies in the audience, a pangram contains all 26 letters of the alphabet. But like many puzzles with heavy themage, this one requires lots of gluey 3-letter abbreviations to make things work.  Still, it was a fun solve.

17A. Sight : POINT OF INTEREST. A stopping point along the highway.

23A. Hearing : COURT INQUIRY.   Law, not tennis.

39A. Smell : MINUSCULE AMOUNT.   A tinge, a hint, a soupçon (always wanted to find a use for that word).

51A. Touch : I-POD COMPUTER. Apple model.  I think of it as a tiny jukebox rather than a computer.  Probably just me.

61A. Taste : ART CRITIC'S ASSET.  At least the good ones.

Across:

1. __ salad : COBB.  A WAG right off the bat, but a good one.

5. Maddux who won four consecutive Cy Young Awards : GREG. All perps.  I remember Lester, but he spelled it with an O, not a U.  So did my former BIL.

9. Prominent feature of toondom's Droopy Dog : JOWLS.  That word evokes images of Leo G. Carroll.  Remember him from Topper and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.?  Don’t you think Thomas Gibson of Criminal Minds is starting to look a lot like him?

 

14.  Efficient : ABLE. If you say so.  Very loose equivalency.

15. Dunkirk dream : REVE. Sounds like “rev” as in reverend or engine.  Dunkirk is in France.

16. 2003 LPGA Rookie of the Year : OCHOA, Lorena  No idea, but there was an Ochoa in my boot camp company, so once the name appeared, I let it stand.

 

        

20. Cuttlefish pigment : SEPIA.  “Sepia-toned” does have a better ring to it than “cuttlefish-toned.”

21. "Homeland" org. : CIA.  A couple of years ago I received a free year of SHO as a loyalty reward from DirecTV.  I chose SHO over another premium channel so I could watch  “Homeland.”  Turned out to be the show’s final season, and a short season at that.  Bzzzzt!



  
Claire Danes (Carrie Mathison) and Mandy Patinkin (Saul Berenson)  in “Homeland”

22. Wyo. neighbor : NEBraska  I tried ORE and IDA first.  Note the proximity to 9d.

28. Acting sister of Lynn : VANESSA . The British Redgrave sisters.  She’s set to receive the  Gielgud Award for her lifetime achievement.
 

31. Big biceps, at the gym : GUNS.  Mine are more like pea-shooters.

32. Form 1040 calc. : AGI.  Adjusted Gross Income – the number that appears at the bottom of Page 1 of Form 1040.  You want it to be as low as you can get it.  This is your gross income minus adjustments, but before deductions and credits.  Got that?



 

33. Like law school trials : MOCK.  Thought of Moot Court first, a la The Paper Chase.

36. Befuddled : AT SEA.  Better than the frowned-upon ASEA.

43. Burns art? : POESY.  Wasn’t fooled, but I did try POEMS first.  You?

44. Omission in logic : LEAP. Faith, too.

45. Ltr. holder : ENV for the USPS

46. Macy's department : MEN'S

48. Sierra __ : NEVADAS.  Home to Mount Whitney and Yosemite.

55. Led : RAN.  Hmmm, that could be clued as “Led or bled.”

56. __ Park Lincoln of "Knots Landing" : LAR (short for Laurie, methinks).  She played Linda Fairgate.  I recall the title, but don’t think I ever saw an episode.  Without the TV reference, I would’ve guessed that Lar Park Lincoln was a recreational area in Nebraska’s capital.


      
Her name reminds me of this song in a Virginia Woolf stream-of-consciousness sort of way.

57. Playgroup demand : GIMME.  Was this a gimme for you?

66. Reno-__ Intl. Airport : TAHOE. Reno is near Lake Tahoe on the Nevada-California border.

67. Magnate : CZAR. That was my first thought; I was surprised when it turned out to be right.

68. Goddess of discord : ERIS. Evokes memories of the Mirror of Erised from the Harry Potter books.  Erised is desire spelled backwards.  You see in the mirror what you want to see.

69. Cape Ann's county : ESSEX. Perps to the rescue.  My knowledge of New England geography is sketchy, at best.  But I still remember, “Maine – Augusta, New Hampshire – Concord, Vermont – Montpelier, Massachusetts – Boston, Connecticut – Hartford, Rhode Island – Providence” from my grade school days.  I could do all 50 back then...well, ok, 48.  South Carolina’s capital was the toughest to remember.  Do you know it without looking it up?

70. Bottom lines : HEMS. Inked it right in – didn’t even consider NETS.

71. Energetic : SPRY. Not so much as I used to be.

Down:

1. Crosswords are often solved in them : CAPS.  Tried CARS first, but ROINT__ wasn’t going anywhere.

2. Black wind : OBOE.  Another first guess that turned out to be correct.

3. Observation in a tower : BLIP.  And another.

4. Playgroup warning : BE NICE.  Usually an admonishment to a cat at our house.

5. Garden product word : GRO.

6. Call the game : REF. Crossword-friendlier letters than UMP.

7. Throw out : EVICT

8. Powerful lamp contents : GENII.  We usually see it as Genie.  She can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, but she can open garage doors with a single click.



9. Average beverage? : JOE.  Wow, SO if I ever saw one!

10. Text-scanning technology, briefly : OCR.  Optical Character Recognition.

11. Like some conditionally ordered stock : WHEN ISSUED. Got it, but not sure I understand it.  The “stock” is apparently company stock, not merchandise, and it’s not yet for sale.

12. Mr. Wrong? : LOSER

13. Didn't act : SAT BY. This was my keyway to New England.

18. __ Ski Valley, site of Kachina Peak : TAOS.  Another fortuitous WAG.  I knew that a kachina is a Hopi doll – the Heard Museum in Phoenix has a large collection.

  
 
19. Sharpness : TANG

24. Camp Pendleton letters : USMC.  Main West Coast base of the Marine Corps, not far from San Diego.

25. "The Phantom of the Opera" role : RAOUL.  I knew Erik and Christine, but not Raoul.  Vowel-friendly, though.

26. Esse __ videri: North Carolina motto : QUAM.  “To be, rather than to seem” (to be). Yeah, I had to look it up.  Interesting fact:  Although North Carolina was one of the original 13 states, it didn’t adopt a motto until 1893 – 118 years later. 

27. Biblical preposition : UNTO
 


28. Siren : VAMP. Theda was the original.



29. Currency exchange fee : AGIO.  Hello, old cw friend.  Long time, no see.

30. Three quarters : NINE MONTHS .Not 75 cents.

34. A.L. Central team : CLE.  Cleveland, I’m guessin’.  This from the guy who thought S.D. in baseball was South Dakota.

35. He played Kevin in "The Devil's Advocate" : KEANU Reeves. Al Pacino played a great Satan.

 

 37. Lombardy Castle city : ENNA. Perps, four in all.
 


38. Off-rd. rides : ATVS. All-Terrain Vehicles.

40. Discounted, perhaps : USED.  You bet it’s discounted, if I’m gonna buy it.

41. Four-fifths of a pop band? : SYNC.  Missing the initial N.  I was gonna link a song, but suddenly realized I didn’t recognize any of them.

42. Adopt-__.com: humane online gp. : A PET.  Inferable.

47. Songs for singles : SOLI. Sorta grates, doesn’t it?  Or is that just my east Texas redneck mentality?

49. Chevy named for a star : VEGA.  Also the NOVA, affectionately known as the “no-go.”

50. Pops up : ARISES

51. Steamed : IRATE

52. Law office workers : PARAS.  Merriam-Webster doesn’t recognize this as a stand-alone word, except as a unit of Turkish currency.

MedicineNet says, “Para- (prefix): A prefix with many meanings, including: alongside of, beside, near, resembling, beyond, apart from, and abnormal.”

The workers are paralegals – you pick which of those meanings fits.

53. Contest : MATCH

54. Contest lure : PRIZE

58. Car sticker letters : MSRP.  Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price – always dicker up from dealer cost, never down from MSRP.

59. Prime minister before Rabin : MEIR. Interesting woman.  Born in Kiev, but lived in Milwaukee.  She was the third woman in history to be named a Prime Minister.

60. "Whoever you are, find whatever you're into" website : ETSY. Had to double-check to make certain this wasn’t a C.C. puzzle.

62. Iowa campus : COE.  As I’ve mentioned before, I used to work just up the street from the campus.  Could’ve been bad, but the sandbags held in Cedar Rapids this week.  City hall is on an island in the middle of the river.  Normally, the island resembles a ship.

63. T. __ : REX

64. Pic taker : CAM

65. Jun. gown wearers : SRS.  In these parts graduation is held in May, and the gowns are back in the rental house by June.

As you’ve surely guessed by now, Lemonade took today off – his firm has been switching offices this week, so I got a chance to sub.  It’s been fun.  You’ll find him back next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel.

desper-otto

 

 

Note from C.C.:

 

Happy Birthday to Pje (Pat) and her husband! They were born in the same day and same year. Pat was born in the morning, her husband in the afternoon. Have a fantastic birthday celebration, Pat!

Sunday, Jan 17, 2016 Joseph Groat

Theme: "Sh!" - TCH is changed into SH.

23A. Score for Hawkeye's team? : MASH POINT. Match point.

25A. With 70-Across, clothing magnate David posing with a bass? : ABERCROMBIE. 70. See 25-Across : AND FISH. Abercrombie  & Fitch. Pricey brand. H&M and Zara are more popular.

39A. Convenient snack? : NOSH IN ONE'S BELT. Notch in one's belt.

 

99A. Money for fast-food fries? : SHOESTRING CASH. Shoestring catch. Never had  Shoestring potatoes.

 

115A. Outback outlaw? : BUSH CASSIDY. Butch Cassidy.

118A. Self-cleaning laundry? : SMART WASH. Smart watch.

 

33D. Avoid diner dishes? : ESCAPE HASH. Escape hatch.

53D. Spell? : WICKED WISH. Wicked witch.

Sunday debut for Joseph Groat. Congratulations! It's an incredible milestone to pull off a 21*21.

I thought it's very clever to break down 25A and 70A, esp since the latter is in the very central row so theme symmetry remains intact.

I was surprised to see these three entries in one grid. A bit overdone.

19A. Apple variety : IMAC. What a nightmare for D-Otto's. His Mac was only 2-year old. 

68A. Samsung Galaxy competitor : IPHONE

122A. Old Apple laptop : IBOOK

Across:

   

1. Wine holders : JUGS. Not VATS.

5. Taxco title: Abbr. : SRTA

9. Beat but bad : WHOMP. Sparkly 5-letter entry.

14. Crib cries : DADAS. I had MAMAS of course.

20. Sleuth with numbered offspring : CHAN. No idea. How many kids did he have?

21. Olympic champion on a 1939 Time cover : HENIE. I needed the extra "Sonja" bit in the clue.

22. Dancer Castle : IRENE

27. Space program event : MOONSHOT

29. Open the door for : LET IN

30. Bowling initials : AMF (American Machine and Foundry). Rival of Brunswick.

31. Address : SPEAK TO

34. Longfellow's bell town : ATRI. "The Bell of Atri".

36. One climbing the walls : IVY

37. Mai __ : TAI

38. Row dividers : AISLES

43. Sales rep's goals: Abbr. : ACCTs.  Tricky area for me. I also forgot PICOT (32D. Crochet loop) and did not know BOAZ (47A. Great-grandfather of David, in the Bible). I could only think of ENOS.

44. __ diem : PER

45. '50s British prime minister : EDEN (Anthony)

46. Regret : RUE

48. Want very much : COVET. Not CRAVE.

50. Funny Bombeck : ERMA

52. Cut : SAWED

56. Octane Booster brand : STP

57. They're often attached : GARAGES. The answer filled itself.

59. Works with a Singer : SEWS. Nailed it.

61. Sushi bar soup : MISO. Have you tried the Korean Doenjang, Steve/Jayce? It's similar to Miso paste. Often comes in a brown jar like this. 

62. Dept. with a sun on its seal : ENER. Nailed it.

64. Bygone birds : DODOS

66. Right-minded : ETHICAL. Oh, not leaning right.

73. Take the chance : RISK IT

74. Many beatniks wore them : GOATEES

76. Mississippi's __ City : YAZOO. The Down gave me the Z.

77. Amateur who won the 1968 US Open : ASHE. Unknown trivia to me. I presume he turned pro immediately.

78. Net __ : LOSS

79. Goes bad : ROTS

82. Puts more film in : RELOADS

84. Like some balances : DUE. Did you fill this immediately?

87. "Yeah, sure" : UH HUH

89. "Not so fast!" : WHOA!

91. Turbaned Punjabis : SIKHS

92. Healthy drink : SWIG

93. Italian counterpart of the BBC : RAI. No idea. Wiki says it stands for  Radiotelevisione Italiana. Italy's national public broadcasting company, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

95. Mystique : AURA

97. "The Good Wife" figs. : DAs

98. Making fun of : APING

104. Fast movement : PRESTO

105. Kenan's comedy partner : KEL

106. Prussian pronoun : SIE. You.

107. Tragic fate : DOOM

108. Two-time U.S. Women's Open winner Patty : SHEEHAN. The lady holding the Solheim Cup. Interlachen at the ritzy Edina. I was there that day.

109. Therapeutic pack filler : ICE

110. Cold cuts qty. : ONE LB

112. Space cadet's world : LA-LA LAND. Hello Linda!

123. Patronize, in a way : EAT AT. Really eat at.

124. DVR pioneer : TIVO

125. Stage number : ARIA

126. Beatles trademark : BANGS

127. Firewood measure : STERE

128. Meeting of Cong. : SESS

129. Golfer's putting woes, with "the" : YIPS. I finally saw Loren Roberts last year. He used to be the top putter in PGA.

Down:

1. Dandy guy? : JIM

2. Actress Thurman : UMA

3. __-guzzler : GAS

4. Mushy quality : SCHMALTZ. What a great word.

5. Slides (over), as on a bench : SCOOTS

6. Safari park critter : RHINO

7. Summer colors : TANS

8. Lit. compilation : ANTH (Anthology)

9. "Are you kidding me?!" : WHAT THE. Another great entry.

10. Synagogue lang. : HEB

11. Routine components : ONE LINERS

12. Wet tract : MIRE

13. Carbohydrate used in jellies : PECTIN. I've only used gelatin.

14. Bacchus, to the Greeks : DIONYSUS. God of wine.

15. Sea extension : ARM

16. Argue : DEBATE

17. Kingdom member : ANIMAL

18. Deem appropriate : SEE FIT

24. Facebook attention-getters : POKES. Do you still get poked?

26. Mississippi, e.g. : RIVER

28. Western treaty gp. : OAS (Organization of American States)

31. Autos from Trollhättan : SAABS

35. Tease : RIDE

39. 40-Down neighbor : NEVADA. And 40. 39-Down neighbor : OREGON. Nice pair.

41. "That's __": "My bad" : ON ME

42. "'Come to my arms, my __ boy!'": "Jabberwocky" : BEAMISH. Blank spot for me.

44. Spanish preposition : POR

48. Lifetime dedication : CAREER. If you could start your life again, what career would you choose?

49. Lingerie item : TEDDY

51. Stun : AWE

54. Morales of "Caprica" : ESAI. He's never a bad fill for me. I have fond memories of him in "NYPD Blues".

55. Simpleton : DOLT

57. Wilder in films : GENE

58. To this point : SO FAR

60. Treasured strings : STRADS

63. Uncertain : NOT SURE

65. Evaluates, with "up" : SIZES

67. Not a good reception : HISS

68. "House," in Inuit : IGLU. I suppose "in Inuit"  excuses it from having a "Var." mark. Still,  gluey fill.

69. Bear in a red shirt : POOH

71. Cones and spheres : SOLIDS

72. What the Wonderland caterpillar smokes : HOOKAH. Lots of nice Downs in this puzzle.

75. Farm female : SOW

80. Like Singha beer : THAI. I just learned that "Singha" means "Lion". Same root as Singapore. Singapore means "Lion City".

81. Nightly news snippet : SOUNDBITE

83. Sighs of relief : AHS

85. Range that includes Kings Peak : UINTA. Drew a blank as well.

86. Push : EGG ON. No more hard boiled eggs. Now, how do you prepare wild rice? Ours is a 3-hour process. Put two cups of rice in a big pot of salted water. Turn off the heat once it reaches a boil. Cover. Let it rest an hour. Rinse. Start the process again. Repeat. Salt & Pepper.

88. Places to put your feet up : HASSOCKS

90. Ship of Greek myth : ARGO

92. Indy 500 town, aptly : SPEEDWAY

94. Autobiography featuring Ike : I, TINA. This often stumps some.

96. Altar attendant : ACOLYTE

98. "__ you clever!" : AREN'T

99. Overalls on the slopes : SKI BIB

100. Trojan War queen : HECUBA. Mother of Paris and Hector.

101. "Little House" antagonist Nellie __ : OLESON. Forgot. We had this before.

102. Popular pieces : REESE'S

103. Physicians' org. : AMA

104. Alexandria lighthouse that's one of the Seven Wonders : PHAROS. Alexandria is also that blue-eyed girl Splynter has been smitten with.

108. Serbs and Croats : SLAVS

111. Future J.D.'s exam : LSAT

113. D-Day fleet : LSTS. Tough to get Sunday grids filled cleanly.

114. Parisian honey : AMIE

116. Biker's wheels : HOG

117. __ es Salaam : DAR

119. Jackie's second : ARI. I read somewhere that his true love was Maria Callas.

120. Taste : SIP

121. Exhibits, as nerve : HAS

C.C.

Friday, June 24, 2015 Joseph Groat

Lemonade is taking a well-earned day off, and our regular pinch-hitter is in a bit of a pinch, himself. This is my first try at blogging, so let's see if I can keep 'er 'tween the ditches and get us safely through to the other end of this bad boy. I believe this is Joseph Groat's debut in the LAT. If so, “Well done, Joseph!” I hope we see more of your work in the weeks to come.

Theme: “Tea For Me, Please.” – T sound is added to each theme entry, changing the original Z-ending sound into ST. All the key words go through spelling changes.  There are five theme answers, and since it's Friday, there's no reveal.  But there are two giant T's in the grid design.

17a. Cheater's victory? : FAUX FIRST Faux Furs. I think I've mentioned my former boss who visited a model home, and then waxed eloquent about the “faux pas” [sic] wall finishes. I almost peed my pants.

23a. Haunted house nightmare? : GHOST ON A SPREE Goes on a spree.

38a. Chicken strips on browned bread? : FINGERS AND TOAST Fingers and Toes. Too bad that initial T had to remain.

46a. Facetious tribute for Hollywood's Stone? : ROAST OF SHARON Rose of Sharon – from the Song of Solomon or, perhaps, from the Joan Baez album. Link:

59a. Big dinner for the tech staff? : USER FEAST User Fees. 

Let's see what other treats Joseph has laid out for us...

Across:

1. Fun : JEST Jest as I'll 'splain later, the J was my final fill.

5. Top : ACME

9. Org. with an eighth note in its logo : ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. They license the public performance of music and make sure the folks who wrote it get paid.

14. Title matchmaker of 19th-century literature : EMMA Jane Austen, 1815.

15. Condemn : DOOM

16. Daughter of Martin and Ida, in '70s TV : RHODA Morgenstern, played by Valerie Harper. Valerie's got incurable cancer, and was told two years ago that she had just weeks to live. She's 75 now, and still hangin' in there. Good for her!

19. Half a '60s quartet : MAMAS Michelle Phillips and “Mama” Cass Ellliot of the Mamas and Papas.

20. Custard component : EGG

21. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" author : LOOS Anita Loos. It's said she never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

22. Short standards? : REGS Regulations.

28. Nine of its cast members received Emmy nominations for 1988-89 : L.A. LAW A creation of Steven Bochco, who also gave us “Hill Street Blues,” “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.”

30. Plural medical suffix : OSES As in psychoses. The singular is OSIS.

31. Sean O'Casey's home : ERIN Or will it be Eire or even Erie? Only the perps know for certain.

32. Pretend : FAKE IT

35. Coll. instructors, at times : T.A.'S Teaching Assistants.

41. Touch with a ball : TAG Baseball.

42. 1885 Savoy Theatre premiere, with "The" : MIKADO Gilbert and Sullivan.

43. Embezzle : SKIM I prefer 2%, myself.

44. 2002 A.L. Cy Young Award winner Barry : ZITO More baseball. Dunno.

45. Reflection : GLINT

52. __ Minor : URSA The “Little Bear” or “Little Dipper”

53. Practice with poses : YOGA Not baseball. I do know; that'd be YOGI.

54. PX patrons : GI'S

57. Popcorn, e.g. : MAIZE

61. Pucci contemporary : BLASS Fashion designers Emilio Pucci and Bill Blass.

62. Not happy at all : SORE

63. Kunis of "Black Swan" : MILA Ukranian actress. Esquire Magazine declared her to be the “sexiest woman alive” in 2013. She hangs with Ashton Kutcher.

64. "Piece of cake!" : A SNAP

65. It adjoins the altar : APSE

66. Eclipse, to some : OMEN

Down:

1. Baja boss : JEFE I had originally entered HEFE, because that's the way it's pronounced. But HEST just wasn't making it any “Fun.” 

2. Kindle download : E-MAG Started as BOOK – Wite-Out, please.

3. Coast Guard concern : SMUGGLING

4. Stress : TAX

5. Parting word : ADIOS Or Adieu? Perps.

6. Barbizon school artist : COROT French. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot – not exactly a household name. The National Gallery in D.C. does own almost 100 of his paintings, mostly landscapes. 

7. Meno __: not as fast, in music : MOSSO I tried MOLTO first, but that's a breakfast cereal.

8. ER staff member : EMT

9. Sea section : ARM Bay wasn't working.

10. Note changers : SHARPS Music, not currency.

11. Promising type : COMER She's a real comer.

12. Saw : ADAGE

13. Not at all current : PASSE (I'd put an acute accent mark on that E if I knew how.)

18. Tidal movement : FLOW Throw in Ebb, Neap and Spring, and those are all the tidal words I know.

24. Loiter : HANG I learned the word “Loiter” at about age 5 at the Post Office. My uncle, the postmaster, told me to quit loitering and get out of there.

25. Eternally : NO END

26. Words of accord : AS I DO Can be hard to parse.

27. Paving stone : SETT We had this just a few weeks back.

28. Split : LEFT When bowling, at least two pins must be LEFT to form a “Split.” Right, Boomer?

29. Song often heard in a foreign language : ARIA Not in my house.

32. Ruffle relative? : FRITO A ridgeless snack alternative.

33. Want from : ASK OF

34. Kipling python : KAA From “The Jungle Book.”

35. About to shoot : TAKING AIM

36. "It's __ to tell ..." : A SIN Anybody try “Hard?”

37. List of charges: Abbr. : STMT Statement.

39. Send out : EMIT

40. City where sidewalks are decorated with Ibsen quotes : OSLO – Norwegian playwright.

44. "Moulin Rouge" (1952) co-star, familiarly : ZSA ZSA The most flamboyant of the three Gabor sisters.

45. Five-time US Open champ : GRAF Tennis, not baseball.

46. Latin dance : RUMBA Samba, Salsa, Tango, Mambo, ad nauseum. I think there's a law that the Latin dance names must be 5-letters long.

47. Challenging tests : ORALS I had one of those exams yesterday. “Open wide, please.”

48. Turk, most likely : ASIAN [Meh].

49. Online bulletin board mgr. : SYSOP System Operator.

50. Ones working on beds : HOERS My SIL remarked that when it came to weeds, she was a better puller than a hoer. Nuff sedd.

51. Go along : AGREE

55. Vacation destination : ISLE

56. Baseball Hall of Famer Musial : STAN More baseball, but I actually knew that one.

58. Foresight : ESP

59. Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show network : USA Three-letter soup. Could've been most anything.

60. Confessional genre : EMO I still don't know exactly what that is, but if it's a 3-letter genre and RAP or POP won't fit, it must be EMO. 

Time to “Split.” Desper-otto, over and out.