Saturday, Nov 11th, 2017, Kristian House

Theme: Eleven-eleven~!

Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 30

Good day and a salute to all Veterans.  I did not recognize the constructor's name, but he has three puzzles under his LA Times belt, his last being two years ago.  Today's offering was a smooth one, done in half my personal allotted time, with a lot of proper names that filled via perp(endiculars).  Just one bad cel that I should have recognized as being wrong, but had to change to red-letters to find it.  A hashtag pattern of 15-letter spanners and climbers, with 9- and 10-letter fills paired to them;

20. Unplanned acquisition : IMPULSE PURCHASE - that's why the candy is at the register

10. Dreaming, at times : WISHFUL THINKING - most people say "Eleven-eleven, make a wish~!" - I change it to 'say a prayer'
 
50. Litmus test for fun? : BARREL OF MONKEYS - here's a barrel that does not look like fun;

Note the forklift

4. Statement after an ordeal : "I COULD USE A DRINK" - this sometimes slips past my lips, even though I have been in a 12-step program for some 12+ years; good thing I read "24 Hours A Day" every morning;  Nov 8th had this quote -

Philippians 3:13~!

ACROSS:

1. It sold its mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2014 : NOKIA - When I first read this, I thought it said mobile HOME business - and I thought "what would Microsoft need that for~?"

6. Econ. numbers : GDPs - Gross Domestic Product; I tried GNP, that which I learned way back in economics - the Gross National Product

10. Beverage sometimes boxed : WINE - oh yes it is~!  In fact, it is rather popular among our clientele - we are down to the last of last year's supply in boxed wine.

 The Tasting Room in front of the office/warehouse

14. Build : ERECT

15. Square calculation : AREA

16. Title type: Abbr. : ITAL - TYPE type I get, but Title type, not so much.  It crossed "IT'S A SECRET", but mine started with "I'VE" - thus my bad cel

17. Serf of Sparta : HELOT - filled via perps, but now that I see it, I have heard the term before

18. Backstage accesses : VIP PASSES

22. Kylo's mom in "The Force Awakens" : LEIA - And Han is daddy - er, or, was - should I have called spoiler alert~!?

23. Hairdos made popular by Marie Antoinette : POUFS

24. Home to the National Gandhi Museum : NEW DELHI

28. Showing faith in : TRUE TO

31. Jesus on a diamond : ALOU - my first thought, but I waited; baseball reference

32. __ Linda, Calif. : LOMA - I'm East Coast - filled via perps

34. Metal giant : ALCOA

35. Kia subcompacts : RIOS - knew this

36. Smartphone downloads : SONGS

38. "Divergent" heroine __ Prior : TRIS - never heard of the novel/movie, so I didn't know this character; 

sounds a little like "The Hunger Games", which I have read, 

but only attempted to watch; I just don't care for the casting.

39. Trainee : CADET

41. Zoomed : TORE - SPED did not work

42. Prefix with ski or pad : HELI - heli'pad', yes, heli'ski' - not in my vernacular.  I had to look it up - oh, now I recall the "spoRt", not the "spot"

43. John Williams quintet : OSCARS - I wanted VOWELS, but he's only got four (o,i,i,a), not five

45. Ones eating on the house? : TERMITES - cute. and clever.

47. "You've got __" : A DEAL

49. Novelist Hunter : EVAN

56. Judicious : ADVISABLE

57. "But wait! There's more!" knife : GINSU - "and if you act now, we'll throw in an additional set of knives for JUST the shipping and handling~!!!".  Handling~?  I don't recall getting any extra money for "handling" a Ginsu knife package....

58. Property attachment : LIEN - almost too easy for Saturday

59. Campus official : DEAN - same here

60. Tatted up : INKED - not for me, yet, but I have a design idea

61. Sting target : MARK - "The Sting" - great movie

"The Entertainer"

62. USMC rank : SSGT - staff sergeant

63. New __ : AGERS

DOWN:

1. Radar's pop : NEHI - oh, duh, his soda pop, not his DAD pop

2. Where Utah's minor league Owlz play : OREM - four letters and Utah~? Try OREM

3. Wet forest growth : KELP - forest~?  I just learned that "forest" is an underwater area with a high density of said kelp

5. Churchill's 1945 successor : ATTLEE

6. Cared : GAVE A HOOT

7. Worn-out washer result : DRIP - had my share at the restaurants; in fact, I think I have replaced every faucet in both places after four years of working at the locations

8. Invigorate : PEP-UP

9. Fungal disease affecting 40-Down : SAP ROT

11. "Shh! Don't tell anyone!" : "IT'S A SECRET~!"

12. Scottish resistance : NAEs

13. Otherwise : ELSE

19. Legend maker : ACURA - crossword foolery - this car

21. Spots for flowers : SILLS - delicate flowers~!

Is that toile~?

24. DEA employee : NARCO - I prefer "NARC" to the added "O"

25. Literature Nobelist Canetti : ELIAS

26. Geppetto, for one : WOODCARVER - I tried wood WORKER, which was a big help

27. "__ kidding!" : "I'M NOT..."

29. Decorative curtain fabric : TOILE

30. Source of relief : OASIS - I needed some serious relief yesterday; got sawdust in my eye, and I tolerated it for half the day - then I tried to drive, and that exacerbated the irritation like I could not believe

33. Accord : AGREEMENT - HONDA didn't fit (har-har)

37. Electronic control mechanism : SERVO - funny how a word is common, and can be used in conversation, but when you get right down to it, I could not tell you exactly what a servomechanism really was, so I went to Wiki; their example suggests that a power window control is not, but cruise-control is. 

40. Pines, say : TREES - ah, this time, it's the noun, not the verb; 9d. should have clued me in

44. Menu heading : SALADS - ah, restaurants, not computers

46. Italian "Eat!" : "MANGIA~!" - my mom used to say this at dinner - and she is 100% English

48. Frontal and temporal : LOBES

50. Lip application : BALM

51. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit : ADIA - vowel friendly crossword staple

52. Mark for attention : FLAG - Mark's a popular guy in the is crossword - see 61a.

53. Three-time speed skating gold medalist Karin : ENKE

54. 1914 battle river : YSER - I'm reading a book from Christopher Reich called "The Runner", set immediately after WWII, and he mentions the ISAR river; seems odd that a man named Reich would be writing about post-war Germany

55. Kegger quaff : SUDS - A quote from one of my favorite movies;

we have kegs of wine at Lieb, too

Splynter

Friday, December 11, 2015, Kristian House

Theme: Hats off to Mr. Kristian.

Mr. House returns after a five year absence from the LAT during which he  has 14 or so NYT publications. The theme is rather simple with the second word of each theme fill being a form of 'headgear' but resulting in a phrase that has a very different meaning. No reveal needed. Only 8 three letter fill and some sparkle with  CRATERS,  LESSONS,  ORINOCO,  REDOUBT, AD BLOCKER, NAME DROPS. Overall not as hard as I expected when I saw the byline.

17A. Headgear not for amateurs? : PRO BOWLER (9). A CSO to Boomer.

27A. Headgear for a certain batting champ? : TRIPLE CROWN (11). The man with the most three base hits and a term for someone who leads the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. Also a horse racing goal accomplished this year for the first time in 29 years.

47A. Headgear for some skaters? : ROLLER DERBY (11).

64A. Headgear for contract negotiations? : SALARY CAP (9).

Across:

1. Two of its members wrote the music for "Chess" : ABBA. Once again...this MUSICAL has not been a success in the US.

5. Angling trophy : BASS. Is the fish the trophy?

9. Not sour : ON KEY. Friday cluing.

14. Chillax : LOLL.

15. Horn accessory : MUTE. JzB?

16. Kitchen feature : RANGE.

19. Qualifying words : I MEAN. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

20. Bunk : HOKUM. Two made up words.

21. License-issuing org. : DMV. Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver's licenses.

22. They're not optional : NEEDS.

23. Weak : ANEMIC.

25. Career grand slam leader : AROD. His batting coach last year was Barry Bonds.

33. Princess friend of Dorothy : OZMA. In every book but the first one and in Baum's words, "Her eyes sparkled as two diamonds, and her lips were tinted like a tourmaline. All adown her back floated tresses of ruddy gold, with a slender jeweled circlet confining them at the brow."

37. Gibbon, for one : APE.

38. Dr. Howser of '80s-'90s TV : DOOGIE. I bet  most do not associate this series with others created by Bochco and Kelley 

39. Done __ : DEED. Deal seemed so right.

40. Sierra follower, in the NATO alphabet : TANGO.

42. Stiff : PRIM.

43. Facilitate : ENABLE.

45. Torque symbol, in mechanics : TAU. Please Fermat and Bill G, tell us more.

46. Utah state flower : SEGO.

50. Bologna bone : OSSO. Just the Italian word.

51. Work together : TEAM UP.

56. Spy plane acronym : AWACS. Airborne Warning and Control System,

59. Tolkien race member : ELF.

62. Poor treatment : ABUSE.

63. Breadcrumbs used in Asian cuisine : PANKO. Per wiki  Panko is made from bread baked by electrical current, which yields a bread without a crust, and then grinding the bread to create fine slivers of crumb. Come from Japan which learned about bread from Europeans.

66. A lot : OFTEN.

67. Camera that uses 70mm film : IMAX. Where I watched Avatar.

68. Junk, say : SHIP. Asian again, tricky. What you need to KNOW.

69. Shows signs of life : STIRS.

70. A mullet covers it : NAPE. Name the movie?

71. Xperia manufacturer : SONY. They make smart phones and tablets.

Down:

1. __-Bits : ALPHA. A crossword puzzle dream.

2. Element between beryllium and carbon on the periodic table : BORON.
Boring.

3. Chap : BLOKE. Nice Cuppa, Steve...

4. "Help!" is one : ALBUM. Beatles album and movie.

5. German import : BMW. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG  English: Bavarian Motor Works.

6. Word sung in early January : AULD.

7. Watch part : STEM.

8. Spotted wildcat : SERVAL. To me it looks like a leopard mated with a bunny  and then....

9. River under the Angostura Bridge : ORINOCO. Interesting. LINK.

10. Tries to impress, in a way : NAME DROPS. Like knowing someone famous makes you better; so silly. I remember saying that when I was in the elevator with John Lennon at the Continental Hyatt House...

11. Dummy's place : KNEE. So many come to mind

12. "Good heavens!" : EGAD.

13. Hankerings : YENS.

18. Insult in an Oscar acceptance speech, perhaps : OMIT. Don't forget the make up girl.

24. Significant depressions : CRATERS. Not mood swings.

26. Defensive fortification : REDOUBT. This was NEW to me, the perps brought it home.

28. Bar brew, briefly : IPA. India Pale Ale.

29. Board game using stones : PENTE. Sounds like a derivative GAME.

30. Fiend : OGRE.

31. "SNL" alum with Hader and Samberg : WIIG. Does she pass the Splynter test?

32. Fictional captain : NEMO. 20,000 reasons to remember.

33. River through Frankfurt : ODER. On my list of 4 letter European rivers to remember.

34. Philosopher known for his "Achilles and the Tortoise" paradox : ZENO. It is mostly speculation but he did influence Plato and Aristotle. LINK.

35. Ground grain : MEAL.

36. Pop-up prevention : AD BLOCKER. Nice new fill.

41. Sharp-toothed fish : GAR.

44. Course components : LESSONS. Sorry HG and BE, not a golf course.

48. Rubs out : DOES IN.

49. Oenophile's concern : YEAR.

52. Deep space : ABYSS.

53. Oodles of, in slang : MUCHO. Usually with dinero.

54. Bolt like lightning? : USAIN.

55. Raring to go : PEPPY.

56. Mil. mail drops : APOS. Army Post Office

57. Drift, as smoke : WAFT.

58. Fighting : ANTI.

60. Dharma teacher : LAMA.

61. Door in the woods : FLAP.

65. Tin Man's tool : AXE. An ending toast to our own de-icer and my favorite unknown band. LISTEN.

On that musical note, lemonade out. I hope you all have a great party weekend, our office starts today with the ugly sweater contest, problem, nobody owns sweaters here.

ah well.

Note from C.C.: 

I'm sad to let you know that Lemonade's brother passed away yesterday. Lemonade was very close to his two brothers, now both have left this world. Here is a "Hard to Believe" childhood photo Lemonade shared with our blog regulars in 2011. Lemonade is the one in the middle.

Monday, October 11, 2010 Kristian House

Theme: Don't Push Me - But they can be pulled. Four in language phrases that end in a smaller version of one of man's greatest inventions, ROPE.

18A. Engages in fanciful storytelling: SPINS A YARN

28A. Bench squad: SECOND STRING. AKA, the B team

46A. Connecting idea: COMMON THREAD

61A. Start acting independently: CUT THE CORD. An allusion to the umbilical cord.

Argyle here with an easy Monday.

Today's constructor is a math teacher in western Massachusetts (Pic, courtesy of the Xword Info) and had a puzzle on Tuesday August 4, 2009.

Across:

1. Payroll tax with Soc. Sec. and Medicare components : FICA. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).

5. Tibet's capital : LHASA

10. Joe in a cup : JAVA. AKA, Coffee.

14. Show that launched Kelly Clarkson's career, familiarly : IDOL. American Idol.

15. Vague emanations : AURAs

16. Actor Wilson : OWEN

17. "Give" or "take," e.g. : VERB. Great clue.

20. Mukluk wearer : ESKIMO

22. Mine access : ADIT. Monday word ONLY to long time solvers.

23. The Beatles' "__ Just Seen a Face" : I'VE. You might not have recognized the title but you will the song, I think.

24. Trap : SNARE

26. Subjects of wills : ESTATES

31. Only defenseman to lead the NHL in scoring : ORR. Bobby Orr spent most of his National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Boston Bruins before joining the Chicago Blackhawks for his final two seasons.

32. Ballpark entrance : GATE

33. Watson of Harry Potter films : EMMA. Oh my, how she's grown. Image. She isn't really a member of 51D. Modern witch's religion : WICCA

37. Middle Corleone brother : FREDO. AKA, Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, brother to Santino "Sonny" Corleone and Michael Corleone, their sister is Constanzia "Connie" Corleone (previously Constanzia Corleone-Rizzi).

39. Band booster : AMP. AMPlifies(or boosts) the sound from a band.

41. Carrier renamed in 1997 : USAIR

42. "... __ forgive those who trespass ..." : AS WE

43. "__ in Boots" : PUSS. I've provided a link to the Wikipedia article because it is an interesting read. Kids today just know him as a character in Shrek movies.

45. Seventh-century date : DCI. 601.

51. "Yee-haw!" : "WHOOPEE!"

54. Prepare to drive : TEE UP

55. K+ or Na+ : ION. K+ = potassium / Na+ = sodium.

56. McDonald's symbol : ARCH. C'mon, we know it should be ARCHES, right?

58. Father to many? : PRIEST

64. Intl. defense gp. : NATO. International defense group.

65. Ornery type : CRAB

66. Seasonal sleigh driver : SANTA. Ho, Ho, Ho! Santa likes alliteration.

67. Micro or macro subj. : ECON.

68. Egyptian vipers : ASPS

69. Disapproved vocally : TSKED. Or if an Egyptian king, TUTTED

70. Damp at dawn : DEWY

Down:

1. Nine-to-__ : FIVE

2. Mid-month time : IDES

3. Wine cellar tool : CORKSCREW

4. White whale, e.g. : ALBINO

5. Hall of Fame manager Tommy : LASORDA. Baseball. Image.

6. Drill sergeant's "one" : "HUP!". I think there was a discussion about HUT or HUP on Thursday September 23, 2010.

7. Diva's moment : ARIA

8. Potential splinter remover : SANDER. It would smooth the wood, eliminating splinters.

9. Saint Francis's home : ASSISI

10. "Ode to __" : JOY. Performed by Beaker, of the Muppets. Video

11. Watch for : AWAIT

12. Zeal : VERVE

13. Authors Rice and Tyler : ANNEs. Rice writes about Vampires, Tyler wrote The Accidental Tourist.

19. Bus. letter directive : ATTN.. I remember it use to be on the lower left corner of the envelope. Is there an email equivalent?

21. Salsa fruit : MANGO

25. Juanita's "this" : ESTA

27. "Middle" period : AGES. Or the Third Age of Middle-Earth. Oops, not on Monday.

28. Family room piece : SOFA

29. Goofs : ERRS

30. Conductor's beat : TEMPO

34. Came to terms (with) : MADE PEACE

35. Flaky mineral : MICA. Used in isinglass.

36. Like the Mojave : ARID

38. 1920s-'40s art style : DECO

40. Usual fourth down play : PUNT

41. Wedding party member : USHER

44. Blended-family parent : STEP-DAD

47. Colorful fish : OPAH

48. Most insignificant : MEREST

49. Tourist draws : MECCAS

50. Unrepairable : RUINED

52. Doctor's time in the office : HOURS

53. Like much pub ale : ON TAP

57. Traffic complaint : HONK

59. Pack away : STOW

60. Cereal spokestiger : TONY. He's GRRREAT!

62. "Very funny" TV station : TBS. TBS is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally Turner Broadcasting System.

63. U.S. 1, for one : RTE.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Tuesday August 4, 2009 Kristian House

Theme: A Whole New Ball Game (idioms derived from baseball)

20A: Completely unexpected: OUT OF LEFT FIELD

28A: Fail to get a job done: DROP THE BALL

45A: Be super-successful: HIT A HOME RUN

53A: From day one: RIGHT OFF THE BAT

And FANS (56D: Bleacherites, e.g.). Sweet puzzle. Quite scrabbly too. Three X'es, one Z and one J.

A very pronounced car sub-theme too:

37A: Wheel shaft: AXLE

66A: Old Pontiac muscle cars: GTOS

33D: Car for which a law in named: LEMON

52D: Roomy auto: SEDAN

53D: Patronize Hertz, say: RENT

1D: Powerful shark: MAKO. Does this refer to the real shark or Corvette's MAKO Shark car?

I guess the constructor could clue ALAMO (44A: Crockett's last stand) as "Car rental name" too. Our own Crockett just visited ALAMO last year.

Does ANTH (44D: Lit. collection) stand for anthropology? (Note: It's short for anthology.) I am not familiar with this abbreviation at all. Only know ANA.

Across:

1A: CEO's degrees: MBAS. Bush is a YALIE, but got his MBA from Harvard.

10A: Pull up stakes: MOVE. "Pull up stakes" is a new idiom to me.

15A:___ vivace: quite lovely, on scores: MOLTO. Literally "very"/"much".

17A: Casino numbers game: KENO

18A: Oater saloon fight: BRAWL

19A: Leafy green that's high in vitamin K: KALE. You've got to eat some fat with KALE, otherwise the nutrient is wasted. Vitamin K is only fat-soluble.

25A: Speedster at JFK, once: SST

34A: Halloween witches' blemishes: WARTS. Crossing TREAT (27D: Halloween goody).

36A: Brazilian hot spot: RIO

38A: Yesterday, to Juan: AYER. I only know Mañana.

41A: Muslim leader: IMAM. Leader in a mosque.

42A: Spicy Asian cuisine: THAI. Yes, indeed. THAI food quite spicy.

49A: Tandoori bread: NAN. NAN/naan is baked in tandoori oven.

51A: Tolkien tree creatures: ENTS

61A: "... bombs bursting __": IN AIR. American National anthem, Martin.

62A: Martial arts school: DOJO. Japanese DO is just like Chinese TAO, meaning "way", JO is "place". So, DOJO is literally "place of the way".

64A: __ Park: Edison lab site: MENLO. Edison is called "The Wizard of MENLO Park".

65A: Sixth Jewish month: ADAR. Purim's month

68A: First in the waiting line: NEXT

Down:

2D: __ cheese dressing: BLEU. What's your favorite salad dressing?

3D: "__ Misbehavin'": AIN'T. Got the answer from the crosses. Have never heard of the song.

5D: "Epitaph for a Spy" author Eric: AMBLER. See the book cover. I learned his name from doing Xword.

6D: "West Wisde Story" Oscar winner Rita: MORENO. The only Hispanic female to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

8D: Foot package amt.: NT WT

9D: Pitch or chip: GOLF SHOT. Pitch shot has a high trajectory and the ball rolls a little bit upon landing on the green. Chip shot has less of a air time & more roll.

10D: Puts up get-out-of- jail money: MAKES BAIL

12D: South African grassland: VELD. Pronounced like VELT. Afrikaans for "field". New word to me.

13D: Program file suffix: EXE

21D: T-men and G-men: FEDS

25D: Strip of mowed grass: SWATH

29D: Babble on and on: PRATE. I really miss my grandma lately. I wish I could talk to her about my life. She's a woman of very few words. She just listened.

30D: Metal in solder: TIN. I actually got the answer by misreading the clue as "Metal in soldier". TIN soldier.

31D: Forest feller: AXMAN. Alliterative clue.

32D: Camel cousin: LLAMA. Also alliterative.

35D: Sources of romantic conflict: TRIANGLE

39D: When the curtain rises: SHOW TIME

40D: Web video gear, for short: CAM

46D: Half an evil laugh: HEH. Got the answer from Across fills.

47D: Submit an amended 1040: REFILE

48D: Having no paths or trails: UNTROD. Or untroden.

54D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. He is so evil.

55D: Top draft status: ONE A

57D: Be an omen of: BODE. I don't believe I've seen AUGUR in a puzzle before.

58D: "Foaming cleanser" of old ads: AJAX. Here is a commercial clip. Again, I obtained the answer from Across fills.

59D: Legal wrong: TORT. Civil wrong.

Answer grid.

C.C.

PS: Here is our fellow LAT solver Kathleen Wolf's (WM) beautiful American Landscape for an online competition. Do vote and rate her painting. Five-star would be lovely. Thanks.