Friday, October 11, 2013, Marti Duguay-Carpenter and Jerome Gunderson

Theme: KKKKKKKKKK. marti and Jerome strike us out swinging.

Avoiding any politically incorrect references, I had lots of fun with my Friday friend, collaborating with our very own Jerome Gunderson and producing their punishing puzzle; this is clearly their MAJOR METIER. A refreshing and rather less difficult Friday, filled with humor (dark and otherwise) and NOT a definition puzzle. I also have to thank Jerome for all the "J" words, because I am pretty sure they did not come from miss m. While add a letter is not a new theme, the pictures painted from merely adding a "K" to the end of the three letter word ending in "UN", the last word in an in the language phrase is well done. The symmetry of each lastword being _UNK elevates this from a mere add a letter.  It entertains me that unk also means unknown....

20A. Buff ancient ruler? : ATTILA THE HUNK. (13). By far my favorite theme answer, Revealed the theme early on; great visual.

28A. Own a few James Brown albums? : HAVE SOME FUNK. (12). Not my favorite tune from JB, but it FITS. (4:52).

49A. Leaps over an oily mud puddle? : JUMPS THE GUNK. (12). Reminds me of the classic Fonzie jumping the shark, and sharknado. and see 27D.

59A. Beef baloney? : HAMBURGER BUNK. (13). Not a bed made from meat, but a bunch of hooey.

to work....

Across:

1. Auto club offering : TOW. Not being a great typist, I often type TOW when I mean TWO. These days the car insurance policy and the credit card have eliminated my need for AAA.

4. Gregory Peck role : AHAB.  Not my first thought; he starred in the 1956 version, WATCH (3:11). Two interesting things about that version, first Orson Welles as Rev. Mapple and  second, Ray Bradbury wrote the screenplay. After seeing the theme, with Attila, I wanted this to be ATTICUS, but it did not fit. And do not forget to Call me...45D. Crewman for 4-Across : ISHMAEL.

8. Foster on a screen : JODIE.  I remember her from The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

13. Stretches of history : ERAS.

15. He actually played the lyre : NERO. Yes, but it would ruin the "he fiddled while Rome burned" pun. Lyre jokes are saved for lawyers.

16. Amherst sch. : UMASS. An old rival from my UConn days. The institution where Bill Cosby earned his PhD.

17. Two-time NBA MVP Steve : NASH. The Canadian passing wizard now with the Lakers. CLIP. (2:50).

18. Component of ocean H2O : NACL. Aye, the salt please.

19. Lawn game using lobbed missiles : JARTS. They are no longer pointed javelins.

23. Attorney general before Thornburgh : MEESE. Did you all miss Ed?

24. Yank's foe : REB.

25. Dudes : HES.

33. Fez, e.g. : HAT.  I could not fit in WILMER. Do you think Raj is the 21st century version?

36. Bankruptcy factor : DEBT.

37. Polynesian island nation : SAMOA. If you ever visit Fort Lauderdale, whether you look me up or not, go to the MAI KAI restaurant and watch their Polynesian show. People always go back for the show, the drinks and because...they want SAMOA.

38. "Break __!" : A LEG. An old Theater SUPERSTITION of unknown origin, or maybe too many origins.

40. Fare named for its shape : T-BONE. Steak.

43. Fabric quantity : BOLT. My grandfather was a retired tailor, so we grew up with many bolts of cloth around the house.

44. Mother of three French kings : JOAN I. My big UNKNOWN, though perped easily.

46. Shiny fabric : LAMÉ. Not a lame answer,

48. Arctic coast explorer : RAE. We have had this explorer with the nice vowels before. LINK. I think in a Sunday puzzle in March or May of this year. On Mondays and Tuesdays we get Charlotte.

53. DSL user's need : ISP. Internet Service Provider.

54. Mao's successor : HUA.  GUOFENG.  Mao supposedly wrote: "With you in charge, I'm at ease" (Ni ban shi, wo fang xin 你办事我放心).

55. Sticky-footed lizard : GECKO.

64. Botanist's category : FLORA.  This actress was unique, while her little sister was one of a bunch. Who are they?

66. Dweeb : NERD.

67. Size measure : AREA.

68. Competitor's dream : TITLE. To win the title of ....the Open Championship?

69. A bit off the ground, "up" : TEED. Golf, as opposed to ____off.

70. Sound like an ass : BRAY. Oh this is so tempting...

71. Bobbin : SPOOL. Like I said, my grandfather was a tailor.

72. Ketel One competitor : SKYY.  Never tried this brand.

73. NFL stats : YDS. Yards.

Down:

1. Common break hr. : TEN AM.

2. Speak : ORATE. See 70 across.

3. Refuse : WASTE. Tricky, do not refuse to consider refuse.

4. "Pitch Perfect" co-star Kendrick : ANNA.

5. Summer phenomenon : HEAT. in Miami, we consider the HEAT a year round phenomenon; right LeBron?

6. Curved support : ARCH.

7. Short jacket : BOLERO.

8. Concession stand candy : JUJUBES. My nickname as a small child; my mother would give me a handful and I would hold on tight, and fall asleep. I loved how they made the extra effort to make the candy fruit shaped. LINK.

9. Easternmost Arabian Peninsula country : OMAN.

10. "Dr. Strangelove" feature : DARK HUMOR. Really awesome satire for the TIME. And the ironic inclusion of 26D. __ Gay : ENOLA.

11. Adherent's suffix : IST.

12. Start to stop? : ESS. Nice word play. First letter in "stop".

14. With 52-Down, grilled fare : SHISH. 52D. See 14-Down : KEBAB. Some reason reminds me of the boys from New Zealand. Notice the entries are symmetrical.

21. Take control : LEAD.

22. Bottom line? : HEM. Not last week's A LINE.

27. Ray in the ocean : SKATE. Hmm, they are cousins to each other and sharks. Next to....

29. Boxer's attendant : VET. Not Ali, but your woof woof. Another Gareth B. reference.

30. Fall back : EBB.

31. It's a wrap : STOLE. Oh my, the combined wit of these two professionals...I am sure they each contributed half to this puzzle. I guess I can say that this is marti  a 50% wit, then.

32. "Terrif!" : FAB. Back in the 60s.

33. Pilgrim to Mecca : HAJJI.

34. Diamond clan : ALOUS. Felipe, Matty, Jesus and Moises. Baseball.

35. Trophy case memento : TEAM PHOTO.

39. Econ. measure : GNP. Gross National Product.

41. Bug : NAG.

42. Earthbound bird : EMU.

47. Tech sch. grad : ENGR. Engineer.

50. Slow boat : TUB. They are named from the shape, and boat came before the bath.

51. Hangs around the house? : HAUNTS. Loved this clue. And this VERSION. (7:48).

56. Pungent Thai dish : CURRY. Yum.

57. Play with, as clay : KNEAD. Most kids need to knead.

58. Gives the go-ahead : OKAYS.

60. First name in folk : ARLO. You newbies have not heard my Arlo at Woodstock rant, but....

61. Cause wrinkles, in a way : REEK. The clue should have been " Tortured servant in service to House Bolton" 

62. Joel of "Wicked" : GREY. Son of Catskills legend Mickey Katz and father of Jennifer, who is married to Clark Gregg, now in the new Shield TV series.

63. Water whirled : EDDY.

64. Some mil. bases : FTS. Forts.

65. Edge : LIP. A familiar usage for golfers, who are forever leaving putts on the lip.

Well, I am on the edge of getting out of here for the long holiday weekend after a really entertaining joint effort from two of our wittiest, wisest word warriors. Lemonade wishing you all a great Columbus weekend and clear sailing. Thanks Jerome and Marti.

Friday, October, 4, 2013 David Poole

Theme: The Mother of all cross referential Puzzles. Eh!

Another original  highly entertaining theme from out Canadian Constructor, who was first published in the LAT in 2009. INTERVIEW.  In this Friday frolic, he has words that are implied by the literal position of cross referenced clues, with the set being BEFORE., OVER,  BETWEEN, UNDER, and AFTER. Recognize the extraordinary balance of BEFORE/AFTER  and OVER/UNDER with BETWEEN in the middle making a perfect symmetrical, logical grid. Finally, each of the 4 ten-letter theme fill have the second word encompass the missing word, while the BETWEEN remains in the middle. My first quick pass through, before I started filling in the cross-reference clues with perps, was to notice how many words ended in "O" which had nothing to do with theme but was interesting. Once I sussed the theme from DOG DAY AFTERNOON, the grid filled quickly with many nice 7 letter fill, ASSERTS , CALORIE,  DECODER,  GRIFTER,  HONORED,  LET ME GO,  MOANERS,  MONSTRO,  PERDIDO, TREMOLO (three "O" words!) and some longer ones like MOUNT ARARAT, NOSE FOR NEWS. No "J" but I did get an ADE, so it is all good. Let us get to it.

14A. With 15-Across, verifies in advance, literally : CHECKS (6). 5A. See 14-Across : HAND (4).
Together we get CHECKS BEFOREHAND, as the fill Checks is before the fill Hand.

26A. With 32-Across, warm apparel, literally : WINTER (6). 32A. See 26-Across : COAT (4).
Together we get WINTER OVERCOAT.

37A. See 39-Across : MEAL (4). 39A. With 37- and 40-Across, nosh, literally : EAT (3). 40A. See 39-Across : MEAL (4).
Together we get EAT BETWEEN MEALS. My favorite visual, like the picture puzzles in the Sunday magazine, or the old TV show Concentration.

47A. See 51-Across : WOOD (4). 51. With 47-Across, former "American Idol" winner, literally : CARRIE(6).
Together we get CARRIE UNDERWOOD.

66A. See 67-Across : NOON (4).  67A. With 66-Across, 1975 Best Picture nominee, literally : DOG DAY.(6)
Together we get DOG DAY AFTERNOON, a great movie.

And the 10, 10, 11, 10, 10 fill preserves the symmetry.

Across:

1. Place for una familia : LA CASA. The home in Spanish. Or Italian?

7. Xerox insert: Abbr. : ORIGinal.

11. Advanced math deg., in Canada : MSC. No idea, but Mr. Poole is from the Toronto area, I guess it is Masters of SCience.

16. Suffix with Capri : OTE. A real Friday word, CAPRIOTE has history as well as inspiring our Dunce's cap.

17. Clubs with balls : DISCOS.

18. Yellow butterflies, to Brits : SULPHURS. Another all perp fill, for this BEAUTY. (1:01). I wonder what John Lampkin could teach us about them, or Gareth B.?

20. Two-note keyboard effect : TREMOLO. Take it away JzB.

22. Most fit to serve : ONE-A. Old draft status.

23. "Pinocchio" whale : MONSTRO.

28. Barcelona gold : ORO. More Spanish.

29. Kiosk : STALL

33. Fam. tree member : DESCendant.

35. Old cutter : SNEE. This old time knife, along with SMEE, is classic crosswordese

36. Sign of cold feet? : BRR.

42. Progressive Insurance spokeswoman : FLO. I think people either love or hate her.

43. B.C. law group : RCMP. Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

45. Starr-struck one? : DRUM. A great pun, from Ringo Starr beating the skins. 62D. Stand buy : ADE. Another great pun. By/buy. Simple and my suffix.

48. __ music : SHEET.

50. Fire : AXE. My old friends. LIVE. (5:53).

53. Con artist : GRIFTER.

55. Years in Claudius' reign : ANNI. Latin for Year.

56. Certain cracker : DECODER. No one from Georgia.

59. Guides in the direction of : STEERS TO.

61. Jason of "Harry Potter" films : ISAACS.

65. Fancy marble : TAW. Rules and words of the GAME.

68. People people: Abbr. : EDs. People magazine and its editors.

69. Celebrity chef Burrell : ANNE. Well since we do not have Jeannie anymore, here are some of Anne's RECIPES.

70. Initial stages : ONSETS.

Down:

1. Common HDTV feature : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

2. Sushi-grade tuna : AHI.

3. These, in Toulouse : CES. We switch from Spanish to French for the Downs.

4. Bank listing: Abbr. : ACCTS.

5. Culottes kin : SKORTS. Back again.

6. Declares : ASSERTS.

7. Overmuch : OH SO.

8. Fidel's successor : RAUL.

9. Just starting to roll, perhaps : IN LOW.

10. Econ. yardstick : GDP. Gross Domestic Product.

11. Image on the Armenian coat of arms : MOUNT ARARAT. One of a series of Mounts which are in Turkey, Armenia and the Iran border, and the biblical landing point of Noah's Ark.

12. Haight or Ashbury : STREET. The famous San Francisco hippie area which is at the intersection of these two streets.

13. "Dog Whisperer" Millan : CESAR. Never watched an EPISODE.(45:31).

19. Accepted, as a gift card : HONORED. The store, not the donee.

21. Bellyachers : MOANERS. Not my first thought....

23. Like platform shoes in the '60s : MOD. From the British MODS & 9ROCKERS.

24. Utah city on I-15 : OREM.

25. Journalist's asset : NOSE FOR NEWS. Nice long fill.

27. SALT topic : ICBM. Inter-Continental Ballistics Missile.

30. Percolate : LEACH. According to my living encyclopedia, think of a sewer field and leaching it so it percolates.

31. Prisoner's demand : LET ME GO.

34. Pepsi One's one : CALORIE.

38. California wine town near Stockton : LODI. West Coaster, a favorite place?

41. Posh : LUXE. not Deluxe?

44. Ellington standard whose title is Spanish for "lost" : PERDIDO.  The Duke  LIVE. (7:54).

46. Nice view : MER. More French, with the Nice/nice deception.

47. Opening lines? : WANT AD. Job openings.

49. Attaches, in a way : TIES ON.

51. Class : CASTE. Vidwan, you want to educate us on this time-honored tradition?

52. Pelé's first name : EDSON.

54. Some grenades, briefly : FRAGS. Fragments.

57. Bertie Wooster's alma mater : ETON. P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels. The FICTIONAL list.

58. Road crew item : CONE. Reminds me of this SONG.


60. Genetic stuff : RNA.

63. Jazz lover : CAT. Hep cat back in the day.

64. GPS part: Abbr. : SYS. Global Positioning System.

Well my GPS tells me I have reached the end of the line and I must percolate out of here.
Have a great weekend, Lemon out. Thank you David Poole, sorry your Blue Jays ended up with all the old Marlins. They already had sent all the good ones to the Tigers or Dodgers. I hope Canadian Eh! stops by.

Notes from C.C.:

1)  I hope solvers in Southern California will attend this year's Crosswords LA, slated for Saturday, October 26. Please click here for details. The host Elissa Grossman said "this year's event will include crosswords and puzzle games constructed by Liz Gorski, Jeffrey Harris, Aimee Lucido, Todd McClary, Andrea Carla Michaels, Pete Muller, Trip Payne, John Doppler Schiff, Dave Shukan, Marc Spraragen, David Steinberg and Zoe Wheeler (with development managed by Tyler Hinman). It's likely that Merl Reagle will join us for the event finals. All money raised (over costs) is donated to a great non-profit (Reading to Kids)." I think our own Steve will be there. 

2) Kazie and her husband Barry visited their bilingual granddaughter Lea in August. Below are a couple photos. Click here for more. Love seeing her smile.

  With Grandpa.

 With her parents in their garden

Thursday, September 26, 2013, Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: DRAT, GOLLY, EGAD, GEE WHIZ, DAGNABBIT, another Definition Puzzle even when I switch to Thursday.

Hi, Lemonade here to try to do justice to a marti masterpiece and slightly discombobulated by it being a Thursday puzzle. Each of the five theme answers are clued by a  one word non-offensive  'swear' euphemism. We will not speculate on the derivation of the terms, but just enjoy the heavy themeage, and the usual wit and fun in a marti puzzle. 3 grid spanners and two 12's (Total 69 theme squares!!) does not leave room for much flexibility, but once again she slalomed her way though this one.

17A. RATS : PIED PIPER'S TRAIL.(15). The Hamelin guy; didn't you wonder as a child, where he developed the skill of getting rats to follow?

23A. SHUCKS : PREPARES CORN (12). Well all the great corn is gone again, I enjoy fall but hate the loss of the end of the growing season.

39A. DARN : MEND WITH A NEEDLE. (15). I have about 10 pairs of socks....

50A. SHOOT : TAKE A PICTURE. (12). Imagine life before cell phones when not everything you did in life was recorded.

62A. FUDGE : ICE CREAM TOPPING.(15). And her last theme entry, appropriately enough,, the dessert.

Across:

1. Ski area helpers : T-BARS. If nothing else, starting with a ski clue should tell you who created this one. And her other favorite, 67A. Time fraction: Abbr. : N-SEC. I am sure you all remember marti loves these Letter-word guys.

6. Finish line? : TA DA. A quick inside reference to what we all wait for when we finish a puzzle.

10. Equal to the task : ABLE.

14. "Live Free __": New Hampshire motto : OR DIE. On every license plate.

15. Some are easily bruised : EGOS.

16. Sound of laughter : PEAL. And bells, hmmm.

20. "Friendly skies" co. : UAL. United AirLines.

21. Garr of "Mr. Mom" : TERI. A nice retrospective of her FILMS. (5:33)

22. "My place or __?" : YOURS. Another classic finish line.

27. Unspecified amount : ANY.

28. One of the Seven Sisters schools : VASSAR. Five are still all women. LINK.

32. Joe's sister in TV's "Under the Dome" : ANGIE. Modern, up to date cluing, just for you. How many of you watch this SHOW?

35. Salinger girl : ESME.

38. Soccer shout : OLE. Sounds like bull to me.

43. Goat quote : MAA. The old Baa/Maa debate.

44. Hurdle for a storied cow : MOON.

45. Offers thanks, in a way : PRAYS.

46. Decides one will : OPTS TO.

49. Itinerary word : VIA. From the Latin word.

57. Setting for "Beasts of the Southern Wild" : BAYOU. Unfamiliar. Hahtoolah?

60. Cloudburst, e.g. : RAIN.

61. Seasonal drink : NOG. And grog?

66. Item on a "honey-do" list : TASK.

68. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" singer : CROCE. This SONG.(3:05)

69. Computerized city people : SIMS.

70. Former "Entertainment Tonight" co-anchor : TESH. Now for our musical INTERLUDE.(4:09)

71. Ecclesiastical council : SYNOD

Down:

1. Replenish a pint of ale, say : TOP UP. We had a debate about this one.

2. Thorny shrub : BRIAR.

3. Jane Eyre's charge : ADELE. Perhaps the most interesting CHARACTER.

4. Free : RID.

5. When sch. often starts : SEP.

6. Plains home : TEPEE.

7. Golden __: seniors : AGERS. You talkin' about me?

8. Classical Greek style : DORIC. We have discussed column before.

9. Stubborn one : ASS. The donkey.

10. They have strings attached : APRONS. Really cute clue.

11. Boyfriend : BEAU. Old timey word from the French.

12. Animal shelter : LAIR.

13. Under-the-sink joints : ELLS.

18. Modest acknowledgment of praise : I TRY. Modest?

19. Banks in fashion : TYRA. Do watch her SHOW? (1:51)

24. Bill stamp : PAID. Is that your Tattoo, Bill G.?

25. From the top : ANEW. Ooo, almost an A word.

26. Hot spot : OVEN. No, not the computer Wi-Fi kind....

29. Pop : SODA. Midwest= Pop, East Coast=Soda.

30. Compatriot : ALLY.

31. Roger who played Lord Marbury on "The West Wing" : REES. I first saw him on CHEERS.

32. BBs, e.g. : AMMO.

33. Spring tide counterpart : NEAP.

34. Hard-to-see pest : GNAT. Does this clue bug you?

35. WWII command : ETO. European Theater of Operations.

36. "Dexter" network, in listings : SHOtime. It is all over, what did everyone think?

37. Word with best or common : MAN.

40. "Don't worry about me" : I'M OK. really I am.

41. Huge production : EPIC.

42. Logician's "E," perhaps : ERAT. Q.E.D.

47. Has to sell : STOCKS. Tricky phrasing, the store has some items, they are in stock, not must sell.

48. Bullish beginning? : TAURus.

49. Chianti, in Chianti : VINO. In Vino Veritas, baby.

51. Wipe out : ERASE.

52. "Eight Is Enough" actor Willie : AAMES. In the interest of balance.

53. Sound quality : PITCH.

54. Workers' backer : UNION. Not so popular any more.

55. "But wait! There's more!" company : RONCO. Our old friend, Ron Popeil.

56. Vandalized, Halloween-style : EGGED.

57. Comedy routines : BITS.

58. Healthy berry : ACAI. My favorite BERRY.

59. Cowpoke's polite assent : YES'M.

63. Tolkien's talking tree : ENT.

64. IBM hardware : PCS. They actually sold off their PC division to Lenovo.

65. Ask too many questions : PRY.

Well I will not ask but once did everyone have a good time? Now you get the double header of a marti puzzle today and looking forward to her write up tomorrow. Not sure I will know what to do with myself. Well enjoy the last of September.

Notes from C.C.:

1) If you have not solved today's NYT, skip this message. If you have, click here. Today's masterpiece is by our Minnesota constructors Tom Pepper & Victor Barocas, both LAT constructors of course!

2) Happy Birthday to the now kidnapped Dennis, who helped me tremendously during the first few years of this blog. Here are two of my favorite Dennis photos:

Friday, September 20, 2013, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: "A" growing family. No A words, though.

For all of you who have noticed (or bemoaned) our recent run of Friday definition puzzles, this week one of our new regular constructors, Jeffrey Wechsler, gives us a progression of clues for grid spanning fill in another variation of the definition theme. I enjoyed this one immensely, as it featured lots of nice intermediate original fill, like,  ADAGIOS, ADMIRER, ALL HERE, BIG LOVE, GIGGLED, HIDEOUT, I BET YOU, I'M IN AWE, MANACLE, SMEAR ON, SUB-ARID, SWIVELS, USELESS, WE HAD TO. Of course when you have grid spanners, there will be some sacrifices, and JW chooses partials, abbreviations and inital-isms as his poison, so let's do our thing.

17A. A : HIGH LETTER GRADE.(15). My oldest went through college with nothing but A's.

27A. AA : TWELVE STEP GROUP.(15). Alcoholics Anonymous.

44A. AAA : US MOTORISTS CLUB.(15) American Automobile Association.

55A. AAAA : VERY THIN BATTERY.(15). I do not think there is any initial-ism here. Just a QUADRUPLE A.

Across:

1. Breadth of fresh hair? : WIG. It always disconcerts me when I do not get  1A.

4. 2000s HBO drama set in Utah : BIG LOVE. You want polygamy, you get polygamy.

11. "Figured it out!" : A HA. The best moment for a solver.

14. Longtime Parlophone record label owner : EMI. "Electric and Musical Industries Ltd was formed in March 1931 by the merger of the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company, with its "His Master's Voice" record label, firms that have a history extending back to the origins of recorded sound. " Per wiki, never heard of Parlophone, but how many three letter record labels were there?

15. Valentine sender : ADMIRER.

16. Submerge : DIP.

20. 2002 World Series champs : ANGELS. Anaheim? Los Angeles? California? They bought Pujols and Hamilton on the downturn.

21. Pawn : STOOGE. Nice word, but tricky clue.

22. Author Carnegie : DALE. The Power of Positive Thinking man.

23. CPR provider : EMT. CardioPulmonary Resuccitation from an Emergency Medical Technician.

25. Library sect. : BIOGraphy.

32. Venerable ref. : OED.

33. Moving line on the ground, maybe : ANTS. Nice visual ...................................................

34. Places to perch : ROOSTS.

35. Rosebud, notably : SLED. A Citizen Kane reference.

36. Lean and sinewy : WIRY.

37. Good thing to pass : MUSTER. From the military inspections.

40. When Bloomsday, which celebrates Joyce's "Ulysses," is observed : JUNE. This coincides with the date in the book. LINK.

41. "Just __ figured!" : AS I.

47. Profound : DEEP.

48. 32-Across cousin of arch. : OBS. Obsolete which is a cousin of archaic.

49. River through the Czech Republic : ELBE.

50. Canadian brewery : LABATT. Very popular beer in Buffalo.

53. Doughboy's helmet : TIN HAT. Tinman makes another appearance.

58. Prefix with tonic : ISO.

59. Restraining device : MANACLE. Nice old fashioned word.

60. Carnival setting : RIO.

61. Messenger developer : MSN.

62. Office chair mechanisms : SWIVELS. Also not a word you see often in the crossword world.

63. Email suffix : EDU.

Down:

1. "There was no choice for us" : WE HAD TO. A nice series of words.

2. "That's mind-blowing!" : I'M IN AWE.

3. Laughed nervously, maybe : GIGGLED.

4. Scene of a lost glass slipper : BALL. Ladies, were you Cinderella?

5. Time to beware : IDES. Be careful Julie...

6. Clock-setting std. : GMT. Greenwich Mean Time.

7. Stewed : LIT. There are so many ways to express being drunk.

8. Handel opera written in Italian : ORESTE. A now time for our musical INTERLUDE.(4:56).

9. Not hor. : VERTical.

10. Consequently : ERGO. Latin.

11. Slow movements : ADAGIOS. JzB want to take this one?

12. Place to lie low : HIDEOUT.

13. Make like : APE.

18. Command to Fido : HEEL.

19. Manhattan variety : ROB ROY. A manhattan (a rye drink) made with Scotch. Can't waste pinch with all that sweet vermouth.

23. Abbr. for dating enthusiasts? : ESTD. Established, seen on many buildings.

24. Hood et al.: Abbr. : MTS. Another recurring theme for the week?

26. Common cellphone feature, briefly : GPS. Global Positioning System.

28. Manservant : VALET. Jeeves anyone?

29. Italian : gennaio :: Spanish : __ : ENERO. January.

30. Patterned cloth : PRINT.

31. Sticks with a horn : GORES. Short but very BRUTAL (0:36)  example, use your discretion in watching.

35. Visit : STOP BY.

36. Milquetoast : WUSS.

37. Pie material? : MUD. Yum, oh you meant literally.

38. Of no help : USELESS.

39. Apply liberally : SMEAR ON. Did any of  you all think of

40. Foresail : JIB.

41. Present and accounted for : ALL HERE.

42. Moderately dry, climatewise : SUB-ARID.

43. Challenging opening : I BET YOU.

45. Twisty pasta : ROTINI. There are many, many kinds. MORE than I knew.

46. It's mostly made of zinc : CENT.

51. Some NCR devices : ATMS. Automated Teller Machines

52. Spring occurrence : THAW.

53. Starbucks order : TALL. Which is small.

54. Followers: Suff. : ITES.

55. Pep : VIM.

56. Service abbr. : NAV.  To keep the Village HAPPY.(4:01).

57. Pre-A.D. : BCE. A real mixed metaphor, as Before Common Era, is used by those who do not accept Anno Domini.

A quick shout out to Mangesh  who in a collaboration with Doug Peterson created the NYT today. He was our first regular from India.

Well,, like I said I really enjoyed this challenge. I missed Happy Mid-Autumn, but for those who are in their sukkahs, enjoy. LINK.  Have a great week, thanks JW, lemonade out.

Notes from C.C.:

1) Further to what Lemonade said earlier, congratulations to Mangesh on his NYT debut. Please check his interview with Wordplay here. He has a LAT coming up next week also.

2) For those who enjoyed George Barany's Turing tribute puzzle, he co-constructed today's The Chronicle of Higher Education puzzle. Please click here. The first one: "Great Dane". Unfortunately, only puz file is available.

Friday, September 13, 2013, Patti Varol

Theme:

It's Friday, time for a definition puzzle

Well here we go again, this time we have 5 theme answers to the same clue, including a grid spanner in the middle. This is also almost a pangram, just one letter short. (want to guess the letter?). It is the work of LAT editor, Rich Norris' assistant who was very upfront in talking with C.C. in an April INTERVIEW. This does not feel like a Friday for me with so many 3, 4 and 5 letter fill, but there was some nice stuff like ISUZUS, TOO TOO, MEG RYAN, SHIHTZU, AIRCRAFT,  BABUSHKA,  COLOGNES and  RED CROSS.

16A. Legs : CRAB MORSELS. (11). Crab legs are big business in So.Fla. I do not think of them as morsels. I guess they call them legs because King Crab chelipeds does not sound appetizing.

22A. Legs : STAYING POWER. (12). That rumor had legs.

36A. Legs : RELAY RACE STAGES.(15). Most relays have four.

47A. "Legs" : ZZ TOP CLASSIC.(12). The original VIDEO (4:56) for Splynter.

58A. Legs : VOYAGE PARTS. (11). The around the world cruise usually had 11.

nexxxxxxxxxxxxt,

Across:

1. Smooth to a fault : GLIB. I was still thinking of the legs; needed the down to get going.

5. Song on a CD : TRACK.

10. Have chills, perhaps : AIL.

13. Vidal's Breckinridge : MYRA. Born Myron, a book by Gore Vidal and a Movie.

Recognize the young man 43 years ago?

14. Oh so very : TOO TOO. This always makes me think about this SONG.(2:06).

15. Messenger __ : RNA.

18. Scrap : RAG.

19. Provide with necessities : EQUIP.

20. Great Lakes' __ Canals : SOO. All new to me.

21. Cold Stone Creamery buy : CONE. When they first opened in Florida, they had lines out the door, we do like our ice cream.

25. Fluffy toy : SHIH-TZU. A tricky clue, because toy dogs did not jump to mind; my ex has two of this BREED.

28. Turkic flatbread : NAN. My LESSON.

29. Ivory poacher's prize : TUSK.

30. Name on 2008 and 2012 campaign posters : BIDEN.

33. Thurman of "Gattaca" : UMA.

40. "__ on a Grecian Urn" : ODE.

41. Start of a child's rhyme : EENIE. Meenie.

42. The "kid" in "Here's looking at you, kid" : ILSA. Ingrid in Casablanca

43. Done to death : OLD.

44. "Serious Moonlight" actress : MEG RYAN. Speaking of old, did you see her as the hoarder on Web Therapy?

52. Frontier lawman : EARP. Wyatt et al.

53. Strike with force : RAM.

54. Expensive outing, probably : SPREE.

57. CCCV ÷ V : LXI.

61. Veggies go-with, perhaps : DIP.

62. Rodeos, e.g. : ISUZUS. Another one that took some thought, but she must like car model with 1D. Canyon or Sierra : GMC.

63. "Works for me" : FINE.

64. Biblical mount : ASS. We have seen this often.

65. Vail alternative : ASPEN. Assssssssssspen?

66. Dairy farmer's fistful : TEAT. Dennis? Is that like a handful?

Down:

2. Harp relative : LYRE.

3. Where the Tigris meets the Euphrates : IRAQ. The old fertile crescent; they sometimes venture out to get some Turkey.

4. Russian head scarf : BABUSHKA. The Russian Jewish women shave their heads, but apparently many others just gave up their teeth.

5. Only Canadian MLB team : TOR. Blue Jays, who spent a fortune on free agents to finish last.

6. Martini's partner : ROSSI.  I was thinking of people smoking.

7. Used for dinner : ATE ON.

8. Cosmetics counter array : COLOGNES. PERFUMES?

9. Flattens : KOS.

10. Turn lane signal : ARROW.

11. Fatuous : INANE. Nero Wolfe like the word fatuous.

12. Yuengling offering : LAGER. A great BEER Story.

14. Utah's state gem : TOPAZ.

17. Kitchen protector : MITT. Not to be confused with the mittens of Michigan and Wisconsin.

21. Cell user : CON. Every Friday.

23. Kraft coffee brand : YUBAN.

24. Gasp : PANT

.25. A.L. West player, informally : STRO. Houston Astro

26. Shaded : HUED.

27. Vacation site : ISLE.

31. Here, in Le Havre : ICI.

32. Regards : DEEMS. A popular legal word, "as the Court Deems just."

33. Hardly fair? : UGLY. Step-sisters?

34. Rise in the West : MESA.

35. Wise-owl link : AS AN.

37. [You stepped on my paw!] : YELP.

38. 1864 Geneva Convention creation : RED CROSS. Clara Barton and the HISTORY..

39. Blimps, e.g. : AIRCRAFT.

43. "Alley __" : OOP. The cartoon.

45. They're common in Mississippi : ESSES.

46. Reagan's role in "Knute Rockne, All American" : GIPP. Win one for Dutch! This poor SOUL.(1:06).

47. "Save Me the Waltz" author Fitzgerald : ZELDA. F. Scott's main squeeze. Her only NOVEL.

48. 3-D graph line : Z-AXIS. You have X and Y on all graphs only the 3-D need the zed..4 Zs and not one J!

49. Sends sprawling : TRIPS. Remember sticking your leg out when Michael Morris was going to the blackboard? Oh that was me.

50. Many a fast-break result : LAY-UP. Basketball.

51. Outstrip expectations : AMAZE.

55. Buffalo's lake : ERIE. My son, his wife and baby are back.

56. Sicilian tourist attraction : ETNA. Let's go watch a Volcano, Joe.

58. By means of : VIA. We get there by boat.

59. Rev : GUN. Sp turn up the speed, so we make it to the

60. Filming site : SET. before the curtain falls on another episode of Lemon's Friday frolic.

Well another one done, a day where a tree fell and knocked out the power so I am very late and must run until next time. Thank you Ms. Varol and for those fasting, may it be an easy one.

L714 out.

Notes from C.C.:

Over 600 people showed up for the "An Evening with the Puzzle Master" presentation last night. Will Shortz was not as intimidating as I imagined. He was very unassuming & easy-going. 

He talked about the history of crossword (It'll turn 100 years old this Dec); his amazing crossword collection (click here); his all-time favorite crossword Clinton/Bob Dole (click here); his favorite word (Ucalegon, meaning "a neighbor whose house is on fire"); how he edits NYT crosswords (on average, 50% of the clues are his, and clue accuracy is of the most importance to him); what kind of fill he likes (Everyday phrases, not words like ESNE). The Q & A session was particularly lively and the word game was very entertaining and engaging. 

Together with a few other Twin City constructors (George Barany, who made the fun puzzle for the night, Victor Barocas, Tom Pepper, Jay Kaskel, etc),  Boomer and I were invited to a private reception with Will Shortz before the speech. Mr. Shortz asked Boomer if he had ever bowled a 300 game, you can imagine how lit-up Boomer was. 

 

 

Friday, August 30, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Definition puzzle, type 3.

Week 4 of the Friday definition theme. The first two were classic clecho clues, just one clue for all the theme answers; last week we had modified definition clues, and this week we have three answers to the same clue, but you need the reveal to unlock the clue. Through perps I was able to solve HIDDEN HAZARD, but I thought IT'S A WONDER was also part of the theme, luckily my special amusing muse steered me in right direction and then I 'got' the reveal which told us the three numbered clues were PHRASES meaning CATCH. Cool! This is my second time blogging Jeffrey, who provided 5 Thursdays this year for Marti, including before and after her vacation, some really fun work and 9 LAT in the past year. Let us go unravel this one.

20A. See 56-Across : HIDDEN HAZARD. (12). You will sell me a car for $1,000.00, what's the CATCH?

31A. See 56-Across : BALL TOSSING GAME. (15) Hey son, let's go play CATCH.

41A. See 56-Across : GOOD TYPE TO MARRY. (15). I can't believe she married the Prince, he was quite a CATCH.

56A. Some slogans, and what 20-, 31- and 41-Across are? : CATCH PHRASES.(12). A tight theme, but I know many of you do not like self-referential cluing. But it is Friday, so enjoy.

Across:

1. Use an updraft, say : SOAR.

5. Pacific veranda : LANAI.

10. Shoe site : HOOF. Already Jeffrey' s sense of humor shows as he horses around with the clues

14. "___ la Douce" : IRMA. Shirley MacLaine again.

15. Mission attacked by Santa Anna : ALAMO. Mission San Antonio de Valero.

16. "Betsy's Wedding" director : ALDA. Alan of M*A*S*H fame.

17. Alfred E. Neuman expression : GRIN. This had me thinking how to fit, "What, me worry?" in 4 spaces.

18. "I can't believe..." : IT'S A WONDER. Butter?

22. Winner of a record 82 PGA tournaments : SNEAD. Slamming Sammy, Tiger has won 80 and counting.

23. Cheer from Charo : OLE. Xavier Cugat' s second wife. CUCHI CUCHI.(0:39).

24. Bring down : ABASE.

28. Top : LID.

30. Book between Micah and Habakkuk : NAHUM. A minor prophet who is unknown to most. LINK.

38. Id checker : EGO. My favorite misdirection for a 3 letter clue; in Freud's world the ID and EGO and SUPER EGO worked to achieve balance.

39. Get up : ROUSE.

40. Comparative suffix : IER.

46. Mail at a castle : ARMOR. Another well done clue, chain mail.

47. SSA IDs, e.g. : NOS.

48. Discrimination : TASTE. Discrimination= bad. Discrimination= good.

49. Gay Nineties, e.g. : ERA.

52. Catherine of "A Mighty Wind" : O'HARA. One of the many who came from SCTV.

59. Response to an awkwardly timed call : I'M NOT ALONE. And I have no way to hold the phone...

62. Whiff : MISS. A baseball term, which reminds of the great announcer Marty Glickman, who coined many now common basketball phrases including SWISH for when the ball goes into the net without hitting anything else. While many my age will recall the name from his work with baseball and football announcing, he was a world class sprinter on the 1936 Olympic team with Jesse Owens.

63. Bed or bar attachment : ROOM. I was thinking about young ladies, but....

64. Discussion group : PANEL.

65. Actress McClurg : EDIE.

66. "___ these days..." : KIDS.

67. Signal to a runner : STEAL. The last baseball clue, well maybe.

68. Negative impression? : DENT. I am sure there was no more negative impression in New England than this ONE.(0:39).

Down:

1. Chorus from adoring fans : SIGHS. Anyone see Miley Cyrus 'perform' at the VMAs? As a parent, sigh.

2. Hatch of Utah : ORRIN. Non-political LINK.

3. Nitrogen compound : AMIDE. I get confused with AMINE but I am sure one of our chemically inclined posters will explain the concepts.

4. Unger player : RANDALL. Tony with Jack Klugman in

5. "This skull hath ___ in the earth...": Hamlet : LAIN. Act V, where the gravedigger tells Hamlet it is 'poor Yorick', the jester whose skull it is.

6. E'en if : ALTHO. Eh, it was easy but not an abbreviation I enjoy.

7. ___ passage : NASAL. So many passages, but Nasal fit the bill.

8. Knock the socks off : AMAZE.

9. Eastern segment of the Louisiana Purchase : IOWA.

10. Purse : HANDBAG.

11. Unoriginal : OLD. Which if you are ill, sounds like

12. Tribute in verse : ODE. Which was a theme. Marti, do you remember the puzzles, with COLD/CODE etc.?

13. Word with flung or reaching : FAR.

19. Sumatran ape : ORANG. I like the coffee.

21. Put in a word or two? : EDIT. I really like the simplicity of this clue

25. Win by ___ : A HAIR. I guess years of hanging with gamblers made A NOSE seem so right, but since we already had NASAL.....

26. Ancient Mesopotamian kingdom : SUMER. Credited with being the home of the written WORD, without which there would be no crossword puzzles, no puns and no Corner.

27. Buffing board : EMERY.

29. Flat-bottomed boat : DORY. Didn't we just have this word?

31. Brought forth : BEGAT. Another Biblical word.

32. Ancient gathering place : AGORA. With SUMER, NAHUM, we have some history going on.

33. Towers (over) : LOOMS.

34. Conciliatory offering : SOP.

35. Advice after an injury, perhaps : SUE. The bastards is the complete legal term.

36. Real end? : IST. Realist.

37. Commercial sign : NEON.

42. Targets of many searches : DOT COMS. This was hard for me to parse but once the perps were in, it made sense.

43. Unexpected pleasure : TREAT.

44. Marshy wasteland : MOOR.

45. Red in the face : ASHAMED.

49. Fanfare : ECLAT.

50. Van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the ___" : RHONE.

51. Nighttime disorder : APNEA. Sleep apnea is another more common ailment in modern times, maybe because it gets diagnosed more.

53. Dramatic device : ASIDE. Back to Shakespeare, and all his lovely characters speaking conspiratorially with the audience.

54. Frankincense or myrrh : RESIN. I did not know this and confuse rosin/resin.

55. Black-ink entry : ASSET. Nice clue; we have disagreements with clients who do not want to sign in blue ink.

57. Lights-out signal : TAPS.

58. Inferno : HELL. Dante's was ice.

59. Rub the wrong way : IRK.

60. Word of feigned innocence : MOI?  Feigned? The ORIGINAL.(4:48).

61. Subtle assent : NOD. Hopefully the room is filled with subtle assents, that our day is done and the fine effort from JW pleased your puzzling palates. Labor day ahead on the near horizon, so enjoy the long week end, and thanks for tuning in.

Lemonade out.