Friday, July 5, 2013, Robyn Weintraub

Theme: FREE THROW LANE, the ultimate Clecho..

In basketball the rectangular area under and away from the basket is known as the KEY, which is our clue for all four theme answers. Last week I was not sure how to present the theme, today it presents itself.  If you want to know more about BASKETBALL and the court, click the link. You can read about our constructor HERE. This our third from Robyn who had two Monday LATs and two others published by the NYT. This is a classic "same clue for all themes fill" puzzle with 4  long fill, two 13s and two 14s. As befitting a Friday there was difficulty and some wit, but overall I enjoyed her Mondays more. I actually like FREE THROW LANE better than the PADLOCK OPENER which seems arbitrary (why pad not regular lock?) but I have never made a puzzle so it might be a foolish suggestion, but for me if you do this big clecho (by now all you newbies understand the term our Dennis coined and had been approved by the official URBAN DICTIONARY), you need to have some tricky and fun theme fill. Well let us take a slow post Holiday walk into Robyn's mind.

20A. Key : PADLOCK OPENER.  (13). A simple literal fill.

27A. Key : ANTHEM LYRICIST. (14). Francis Scott Key, a Maryland lawyer who wrote the Star Spangled Banner after watching the British bombard Fort McHenry. LINK.

42A. Key : MAP EXPLANATION. (14).Where they tell you one inch equals ten miles.

50A. Key : FLORIDA ISLAND.  (13). Also spelled Cay. Have you ever driven to Key West? Hemingway's influence is still strong.

Across:

1. Break the rules : CHEAT. We begin with a rule breaker.

6. "___ difference" : SAME. An odd phrase which probably comes from same thing, no difference..

10. Apothecary's measure : DRAM. When I was young pharmacists still made most of the things they sold, based on a Doctor's instruction and drams are the common measure. Since then big Pharma took over making medicines.

14. Refuse : SAY NO. To drugs.

15. Buck : CLAM. Idioms for money.

16. Quite : OH SO. All perps but if you think, oh so good, then it fits.

17. Update, perhaps : AMEND. Pleadings are amended all of the time. Not to be confused with EMEND.

18. Ingredient from the garden : HERB. We need to get Herb out of the garden and to get a job.

19. "Copacabana" guy who "went a bit too far" : RICO.

His name was Rico, he wore a diamond

He was escorted to his chair, he saw Lola dancin' there

And when she finished, he called her over

But Rico went a bit too far, Tony sailed across the bar

23. Eye-catching wrap : BOA. I hope you have never been hit in the eye with one of these as they are swung around; it stings.

25. ___-tzu : LAO. The founder of Taoism? It reminds me of Tuesday's video and COW TSE TONGUE.

26. Exorcism targets : DEMONS. Anyone read Dan Brown's new book?

31. Keep happening : RECUR.

32. Some tributes : ODES. Can someone write an ODE to this oft used clue?

33. Gus ___, subject of the 1951 biopic "I'll See You in My Dreams" : KAHN. No memory of the man, a famous Lyricist (mini-theme?) or the movie. His music is part of the Liberace MOVIE.

34. Touch type? : MIDAS. Golden, and very tricky.

36. Treaters of boxers : VETS. Yes the woof woof kind, a shout out to the prolific Gareth Bain. Wonderful animal sleeping video Dennis. More of the puzzle going to the dogs, 23D. Lab output? : BARK.

40. ___ novel : DIME. Read WIKI.

41. Three-time NFL MVP : FAVRE. Brett. He also was in a movie, remember?

47. Joseph Kennedy's middle daughter : EUNICE. She married R. Sargent Shriver. As well as being the mother of Maria, Arnold's ex-wife; this Kennedy started the Special Olympics.

48. Mark Thackeray, to his students, in a 1967 film : SIR. Really too obscure for me, but once revealed by perps I knew the ROLE.(0:20).

49. Fleur-de-___ : LYS. I always think of this lily as LIS.

54. Hip bones : ILIA. This is becoming a popular fill.

55. Calamine target : BITE. Insect ones usually, also used for poison ivy.

56. Went a-courting : WOOED. Old fashioned clue and old fashioned fill.

59. Period of sacrifice : LENT.

60. War god : ARES. Three weeks in a row?

61. ___ football : ARENA. It is their season for this indoor game. This odd indoor spring/summer football did give us this QB.

62. Feminine suffix : ETTE. Like Smurfette.

63. 6-Down rooms : GYMS. and, 6D. Hogwarts, e.g. : SCHOOL. All schools have gymnasiums, right?

64. Golf scorecard word : YARDS. In the US, the length of each hole is shown in yards.

Down:

1. Lee side: Abbr. : CSA. Confederate States of America. If you have three letter fill this tricky, it is all good, as we usually are bombarded with leeward and alee, and to slip in a Robert E. was well done.

2. Seuss title food : HAM. Green Eggs anyone?

3. 44-Down accessory : EYE PATCH. and 44D. 3-Down wearer : PIRATE. Arrgh.

4. Wintour of fashion : ANNA. This designer, editor and all around in VOGUE woman.

5. One prone to falling : TODDLER. This is a sweet and somewhat poignant clue as Charlotte now stands.

7. Smart ___ : ALEC.

8. A, ideally : MARK.

9. Personifies : EMBODIES.

10. "The Sound of Music" song : DO RE MI. Classic Julie Andrews SONG.(4:51).

11. Large-horned mammals : RHINOS. Twice this week, it must be mating season.

12. Trip up : ASCENT. Nicely done, a trip UP, not a tripup.

13. Othello et al. : MOORS. Do any of us recall who they were?  A learning LESSON?

21. Flee : LAM. Another repeat.

22. Push-up targets : PECS. Pectoral; like young Arnold?

24. Most fit for duty : ONE A. Draft status.

28. Fifth-century invader : HUN. Attila anyone?

29. Feature of bluegrass singing : YODEL.

30. Nutritional stat : RDA.

34. Hodgepodge : MIXED BAG. There are a POTPOURRI of answers here.

35. Calvin of comics, for one : IMP. Really, Calvin is a sweetheart, it is Hobbes who keeps getting him in trouble.

36. Large vessel : VAT. Not for the sea, but for holding stuff.

37. Superhero's nemesis : EVIL DOER. Really?

38. Metal-measure word : TROY. If you had an ounce of sense you got this easily; the reason for the variant spelling of LIS. We could have had Deanna, well actually we could not.

39. D.C. bigwigs : SENS. Senators.

40. Prefix with liter : DECI. My least favorite liter. 1/10 th of a liter, or about 3.3 ounces. Only a good measure if you are visiting Casa Incognito.

41. Like some unfocused looks : FARAWAY.

42. Popular '80s-'90s do : MULLET. Billy Ray Cyrus anyone?

43. Consecrate, in a way : ANOINT. Before or after washing the feet?

45. Take stock of : ASSESS.

46. Zip : NIL. No comment, zilch, zero, nada, rien.

47. System used for most returns : E-FILE. Income tax returns not bad purchases. E-filing has come to the courts and man is it a mess.

51. Well-ventilated : AIRY. Yes the family room is quite well ventilated.

52. Two stars, maybe : ITEM.

53. Asta's "mom" : NORA. Myrna Loy.

57. English fin : END. French FIN (sounds more like fan) from which we get finsih, which I almost have, but we have to come full circle as we started with a cheat and now we have someone to deal with that.

58. Court VIPs : DAs. District Attorneys.

Well if anyone is out there after the rare Thursday holiday, I hope you enjoyed the show and see you next time. Lemonade leaving you with a memory from my youth when we used to drive 26 miles to go to this DELI. Thanks Robyn.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to another lovely Linda in our blog!  Like our LaLaLinda, this Linda is also very caring and thoughtful.  She still shows up on the blog occasionally.

This picture is from Linda's 50th wedding anniversary in 2011. She said then:

"Being a non-traditionalist, I chose lavender, pink and white as my color theme. Those were our wedding colors. The cake topper is the original one.  Note the photo at lower left of us cutting the first cake"

Friday, June 28, 2013, Victor Barocas

Theme: Counting on you.

In the time I have been blogging I have had times where it is hard to name a puzzle and describe the the theme, but I usually manage, but this one has me, well, puzzled. The reveal is the a three step multi-word answer reminiscent of the quotation themes from days of yore. There is no way to solve the three parts to get the reveal except through perps, though because I always place the number of letters in a theme fill after the words, the concept came quickly. This allowed me to get it done after I had some of the letters. 54 theme letters and the wonderfully preserved symmetry makes this an impressive work from Victor Barocas, the Minnesota based constructor who was pictured along with C.C. in her Sunday write up. He has done early week puzzles for us before now, and this effort does include many 3 and 4 letter words which helped, but a trade off for such an intricate two headed theme. Let's dissect this one.

18A. With 33 and 52-Across, what 23-, 42- and 61-Across have in common : EACH OF THEM,(10)

33A. See 18-Across : ENDS WITH. (8).

52A. See 18-Across : ITS LENGTH. (9).

then:

23A. Intermediate level : MEZZANINE. Notice the number of letters in this entry? Exactly 9.  The only one where the pronunciation changed.

42A. How some veggies are sold : BY WEIGHT. This entry has 8 letters.

61A. Creator of Emma Woodhouse : JANE AUSTEN. This entry has 10 letters. This took a bit to focus on which Emma it might be, and it is nice to see a complete name. LINK. (2:17).

Across:

1. Pooh-pooher of the provincial : SNOB.

5. Round trip? : ORBIT. Actually, most orbits are elliptical not round.

10. Barclays Center team : NETS. This is tricky and meant for a true sports fan as the Brooklyn Nets are not a household name. What is most interesting is the appearance the team was bought only as part of a master real estate development PLAN.

14. Irish pop group family name : CORR. All perps, but they seem interesting, will have to listen, LINK.

15. How most fly : COACH. Nice clue/fill and more true now than ever.

16. Overseas "other" : OTRA. Straight translation.

17. Start to till? : ROTO. I was thinking how cool it would have been if the previous fill was OTRO, which along with ROOT is an anagram.

20. B-boy link : AS IN. Speaking of B-Boy, has anyone watched the Liberace movie on HBO with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon?

21. Foofaraw : ADO. Never heard of this word but the fill was easy.

22. It's often grated : ROMANO. Cheesy but easy answer when Parmesan did not fit. Not to be confused with this CHEESY (8:02) one.

26. Lets use for now : LENDS. Poor Polonius.

27. Skye writing : ERSE. The old language of this North Sea Island.

28. Tree sacred to the Druids : OAK.

30. Wheel man? : SAJAK. He has made a Fortune standing while they spin; as Fermatprime pointed out, he lends his name to the publication of some crosswords.

38. Force on Earth, for short : ONE G.

39. "___ of Identity": Conan Doyle story : A CASE. One of Sherlock Holmes most fun cases with the added twist that is a  fiction story telling how life is stranger than fiction.

41. ___ Cakesters : OREO.

44. Get value out of, in a way : SMELT. Another fishy clue, that misled me completely.

45. Firing org.? : NRA.  National Rifle Association.

46. Massage target : ACHE. It was not knot.

48. Not now? : DATED. Not new not now?

57. 1972 self-titled pop album : OLIVIA. She was young when I was young, and a CUTIE. (3:28)

59. Service support gp. : USO. United Service Organizations. Bob Hope anyone?

60. Blind element : SLAT. Literal clue originally from Venice?

63. Drop : LOSE. A few pounds? Money? Weight?

64. Eclipse, to some : OMEN.

65. Sierra ___ : LEONE.

66. Connecticut's State Composer : IVES. This Danbury born MAESTRO.(6:01).

67. Puts turf on : SODS.

68. Game with doubles and triples : DARTS. Not baseball this time C.C.

69. "Sesame Street" roommate : BERT. Why are some "E" and some "U"?

Down:

1. "Out!" : SCRAM.

2. Image on a poster for Eastwood's "Hang 'Em High" : NOOSE. I cannot find one to post, though there are many for sale, they all seem protected.

3. 2006 A.L. home run champ : ORTIZ. Red Sox star Big Papi David Ortiz.

4. Period marked by copper use : BRONZE AGE. I smelt out the answer to this one quickly.

5. Title word with eleven, twelve or thirteen : OCEANS. Brad Pitt, George Clooney...

6. Tour toter : ROADIE. Nice alliteration and I was initially thinking redcap or the like.

7. Quiche Lorraine ingredient : BACON. My favorite RECIPE.(26:46).

8. German I : ICH. This week was the 50th anniversary of the famous JFK speech, Ich bin ein Berliner, a speech which many claim means he was a jelly doughnut.

9. Title foe of Loki in a 2011 film : THOR. Ladies?

10. "Sorry, wrong guy" : NOT ME.

11. Wharton's Frome : ETHAN. A very sad tale.

12. Vogue : TREND.

13. Birthplace of Pythagoras : SAMOS. He had figure out all the ANGLES.

19. People : FOLKS.

24. Ship with two zebras on it : ARK. and two aardvarks.

25. Long periods : EONS.

29. Lemon attachment : ADE. Wow, a full blown shout out to your Friday phrase flinger!!! It is enough to make me...

30. Blubber : SOB.

31. One or more : ANY.

32. Shylock, e.g. : JEW.

33. Get down : EAT. I was thinking more of jamming with some good music, but I have also choked down some food.

34. Movement that fought stereotypes : WOMEN'S LIB. Really nice long fill.

35. Spleen : IRE.

36. Rolodex no. : TELephone.

37. ___ pants : HOT. Boys?

39. Dept. with a plow on its seal : AGRiculture.

40. Spiced tea : CHAI.  Interesting because the YUMMY is very much tied to the culture of....

43. Columbus's elusive destination : INDIA.

44. Ella's English counterpart : SHE.

46. Nod, say : ASSENT.

47. "Star Wars Episode II" soldiers : CLONES. This MOVIE. (2:31).

48. Schools where boards may be used to measure ability : DOJOS. Really fun Karate clue, where breaking a board is part of the training, as opposed to taking a medical or legal board exam.

49. Where Davy Crockett died : ALAMO. San Antonio however lost it in Miami in the last 25 seconds of game 6.

50. Pointed at the table? : TINED. Meh.

51. Ties : EVENS.

53. Seneca, to Nero : TUTOR. Really interesting history, though I must warn you the link includes ancient Roman politics. READ.

54. Boxer's protection : GLOVE. Interesting thought, because the padded glove is important in reducing injury, though not completely effective.

55. It's a stunner : TASER. Nice phrased clue, bro.

56. Operation Redwing event, 1956 : H-TEST.

58. "___ Lang Syne" : AULD. really? It is almost July?

62. Black or Labrador : SEA. I liked this deception, and the black lab image made it harder to focus on the simple answer.

Another Friday done, and another month almost gone; I am very curious how you all will react to this effort. Keep those cards and letters coming and have a wonderful week end. Thank you Victor.

Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Here is the photo Lemonade mentioned earlier. Our local constructors had a delightful get-together when Andrea Carla Michaels visited MN last week. Andrea, who is based in San Francisco, grew up here. Victor Barocas is a professor at the University of Minnesota. 

Left to right: Tom Pepper; Marcia J. Brott; George Barany; David Hanson; DK, C.C.; Andrea; Boomer & Victor

Friday, June 21, 2013, Ed Sessa

THEME: The long "S."

the LINK.

When I was in college and we read Shakespeare, our professor would drag out an old volume which was printed in old English where the "s" in the beginning and middle of the words looked like the letter "f." So in this wonderfully witty offering from Dr. Ed Sessa, the "s" sound in words are replaced with F where the they sound like S. The 'sounds like' aspect is really well done, but the added bonus of the long S versus the minuscule S made it great for me. Also, working "Lilliputian" and "Brobdingnagian" into the clues in same puzzle is awesome (with a hidden bonus); only 9 three letter words and nice non-theme fill like FLURRIED, GUFFAWED, SCOUT OUT, SCREW TOP make this a really nice Friday. I believe this is our 17th from Ed, and the last one I blogged was a double ZZ puzzle back in February. Let's start our day with a song from a Z who died too young.

20A. Dog aficionados?: GREYHOUND BUFFS.(BUS). (14). Buffs being a slang for someone interested in something big time, and a Greyhound bus is, well a bus. I had hound from the perps, but this fell after I got

34A. Lilliputian ocean formations?: PEE WEE REEFS. (REESE). (11). The old Dodger shortstop becomes a little reef, excellent.

40A. Fodder for the British tabloids?: NOBLE GAFFES. (GASES).(11). They love their royalty, and they love skewering them in the press. I still do not know why a GAS would want to be Noble, maybe Barnes knows.

54A. Reason for many December returns?: CHRISTMAS GOOFS.(GOOSE).(14). Back in GB where the goose rather than the turkey is the fowl of choice.

on with the show.

Across:

1 "Apostrophe (')" rocker: ZAPPA. My friend Edgar Riley played keyboards for him; Frank died of prostate cancer.

6 Decide not to run: KILL. I had the hardest time convincing myself to put the K in but KAPUT was solid, and I guess if you do not go forward with a project you kill it.

10 Artist van __: GOGH. Earie clue.

14 Works about the country: IDYLS. Damn variant spelling slowed me down wanting two Ls.

15 It may involve pi: AREA..

16 Bone used in pronation: ULNA.. This is our bone of the month apparently.

17 Multiple Grammy winner Jones: NORAH.  A fabulous VOICE (2:34) for the daughter of sitar master Ravi Shankar.

18 Party animal?: PONY. rent a pony or a clown.

19 Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a __”: FAUN. Very soothing MUSIC(.5:12), very tough clue.

23 Word seen annually on a November People magazine cover: SEXIEST.

24 Grisham’s gp.: ABA. America Bar Association. In the real world, not an important organization to lawyers.

25 Bit of needlework: TAT. Funny, I read articles by young people who seem to think tattoos and piercings are new.

26 Common soft drink feature: SCREW TOP. I had the top, but it took a while to get to SCREW. I am getting old.

31 Current type: EBB. Maybe my enthusiasm ebbed.

36 “__ the opinion ...”: I'M OF. Initially, did not see the 'the' so I had IN MY, that was bad.

38 Conan Doyle title: SIR. Not one of his books, but himself.

39 Artist who wrote “Diary of a Genius”: DALI. He makes sense of the term twisted genius; I love how he was portrayed in Midnight in Paris.

45 May honorees: MAS. Moms would not fit, I almost gave up in Spanish like Roberto Duran.

46 Search for: SCOUT OUT. This took work and perps, but I like it.

47 Bygone flier: TWA. Not a bird, and airline.

49 McClanahan of “The Golden Girls”: RUE. Only Betty White lives, they almost switched. LINK.(2:55).

50 Classic Stutz: BEARCAT. I heard so much about this car as a child.

58 Kapalua Airport site: MAUI.

59 Father of Phobos: ARES. here we go again with more war.

60 Rhymes of rap: BUSTA. I cannot censor, so WATCH (3:21) at your own risk.

61 Hunger: URGE. This Corner was tough for me.

62 Buzz cut’s lack: PART. So simple, in retrospect.

63 Starlike flower: ASTER. The names comes from the Latin, ASTRUM,  and should remind you of asteroids or astral projection.

64 Horse show: MR ED. I am embarrassed to say, I had an M RED moment, before I remembered he was a horse of course. We have had one of our own at the corner. I should have recalled Dr. Sessa' s wonderful Mr. Ed puzzle.

65 Sport with a wired weapon: EPEE.

66 Park and drive: GEARS. My first thought was lots, but my brain awoke, and came out of neutral.

Down:

1 Sharp put-downs: ZINGS.  Of course for us it is THIS.(1:28).

2 Esteem to the max: ADORE.

3 Lab glass: PYREX. All you want to know about borosilicate GLASS.

4 Start of an oft misquoted 1942 film line: PLAY IT. Again Sam, is the misquote; oddly the words said start the same, but go on "Sam, you played it for her..."

5 Valueless pile: ASH HEAP. Diabolical to have two Hs next to each other in a word.

6 Down the tubes: KAPUT.

7 Element abundant in liver: IRON.

8 __ a hand: LEND. 

9 Expose: LAY BARE. More nice non-theme words requiring thought. Almost enough of an excuse to link Ygritte naked.

10 Didn’t just chuckle: GUFFAWED. At first, I was thinking with the FF, this might be part of the theme, but it is just a nice word.

11 Norway’s patron saint: OLAF. I think our Norwegian readers get more shout outs than anyone else.

12 African bovines: GNUS. I am sure this was not new to you and you knew the GNU.

13 Dynasty after the Qin: HAN. No relation to Solo or ukkah.

21 Bone: Pref.: OSTE.oporosis for example.

22 Over, to Ulrich: UBER.

26 Fleet: SWIFT. This for me is the subtle highlight of the work, as the clue was tricky, not dealing with lots of cars or trucks, but also is the surname of Jonathan Swift who wrote about the Lilliputians and the Brobdingnagians.

27 Co-panelist with Francis and Kilgallen: CERF.

28 Group with lineups: TEAM. And no I.

29 “Man __Mancha”: OF LA. (OLAF anagram?)  My inspiration, Don Quixote.

30 Three-pronged letters: PSIS. Ψ, ψ, he sighed.

31 A tenth of zehn: EINS. German Ten and One.

32 UCLA VIP, e.g.: BMOC. Big Man On Campus.

33 Former wrestling star __ Brazil: BOBO. I used to sit and watch the wrestling, Killer Kowalski, Bruno Sammartino with my grandfather; great bonding moments. WATCH. (2:00).

35 Genesis twin: ESAU.

37 Came down without sticking, usually: FLURRIED. I was snowed by this clue for the longest time.

41 Case for some small, sharp items: ETUI. Sewing stuff.

42 Blows one’s stack: GOES APE.

43 Hot times in the cité: ETES. Summer which starts this year at 1:00 AM EDT. Apparently now we must see this fill everyday until fall.

44 Party parting gift: SWAG BAG. Nice rhyme and to me more related to events than parties.

48 Motivate: AROUSE. Yes, I do recall trying to motivate a young lady recently, when... oh, never mind.

50 Tend to a duck: BASTE. Don't feed it, cook it.

51 __ del Sol: COSTA.

52 Hunting: AFTER. Not my first choice, but the perps led the way and it does work.

53 Alexander et al.: TSARS. Making a clue comeback this week. 

54 “The Alienist” author: CARR. Caleb, a wonderful book.

55 Brobdingnagian: HUGE. We had the little, now the big.

56 Crab pot, e.g.: TRAP.

57 Not much more than: MERE. Just one clue away from the end, it should take a mere minute.

58 Fall bloom: MUM. is the word.

So it is time to pack my needles and and my barbs into my etui and go off into the night. Thanks Ed for a really challenging Friday, and thank you all for being here and checking in. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

1) Below are a few beautiful photos from Marti's Italy trip. Please click here for more. Notice the name of that store (#4)?

  The view from our balcony in Rapallo, Italy (on the "Italian Riviera")

Wine and pizza for lunch - how cliched!!

  Joe cool! (Marti's husband Allen)

2) Lucina is visiting CA at the moment. The California coven gathered at Dodo's place yesterday. 

Left to right: Lucina, Chickie, Dodo, Garlic Gal & JD

3) Belated Happy Anniversary to Chickie and her husband Bill!

Friday, June 14, 2013, Marti Duguay-Carpenter

Theme: B all you can be, but silently.

Well while marti is off in Italy I sit with the pleasure of presenting another Friday Frolic. This a combination of add a letter and a sound alike punny theme. with a B added the end of the first word of the first and fourth theme answer, and to the end of the last word of the middle two. Each B is added after an M and is silent in the new phrase, so it sounds exactly like the old one but with a twisted and amusing meaning. Lots of proper names, some hard clues and lots of new stuff to go along with some standard 4 letter fill. Let's see what our traveler has left us.

18A. Like a door with three people squeezing through it together? : JAMB PACKED.(10). I think the phrase jam packed comes from the roaring 20's when people would cram into phone booths. CED, I wasted 15 minutes looking for a good clown car video, but I gave up.

33A. Where to find wool? : ON THE LAMB.(9).Once again an Old Norse word, LEMJA, which mean to beat, is credited as being the origin of 'on the lam' to mean to "beat it."

45A. Out-of-control carpenter's tool? : WILD PLUMB. (9).If you watch the US Open golf this weekend you will see many plumb bob the line of the their putts. Splynter can explain the real use of the tool.

63A. Title for Shakespeare? : IAMB LEGEND.(10). The funniest and the one that is different because it takes two words and crunches them together with the B to make the new word. Will loved his Iambic Pentameter, so this is a very witty way to change the Will Smith movie.

Across:

1. Go like heck : ZOOM. An onomatopoeic word.

5. Code name : MORSE. The man who created one, Samuel. (1)

10. Lose on purpose : DIET. Misdirection, but this should not have fooled anyone.

14. Upper hand : EDGE.

15. Hodgepodges : OLIOS. A favorite word of the Corner.

16. Lincoln who was the first screen Tarzan : ELMO. In the silent movie days; the full hour is available LINK. (2)

17. D.C. dealers : POLS. miss m. should know better, NO Politics!

20. Maker of Dex-Cool antifreeze/coolant : PRESTONE.(3)

22. End of a conductor's shout : ABOARD. All aboarddddddddddddddddddddddd.

23. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" director Davis : OSSIE.(4)

24. Alice's restaurant : DINER. The Beer and Pizza joint my youngest works at in Denver was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

26. Biol. branch : ANATomy to go with ogy.

29. Temperaments : NATURES. Do many of you have bad tempers? Or is life good and you...

37. Great way to have it : MADE.

38. Milne joey : ROO. Kanga's little one from Winnie the Pooh's world. (5)

39. Helpers of the ill-suited? : TAILORS. Love the phrasing of this clue. My grandfather was a tailor.

42. Long-nosed fish : GAR. Arg, not another Gar!

43. Expressionist Nolde : EMIL. Never heard of this PAINTER. (6)

47. Rauch who plays Bernadette on "The Big Bang Theory" : MELISSA. TBBT, and the little Mrs. (7) Howard, with the big...bangs.

50. Depression : DALE. Not mental but in the field.

51. Name that means "cool breeze" in Hawaiian : KEANU. Another learning moment for me; where is Mr. Reeves these days, anyone NEO? (8)

53. Like the columns in the Jefferson Memorial : IONIC.I will never forget, Ionic, Doric or Corinthian. (9)

57. Lava rock : BASALT. Do we have any geologists in our midst to explain this ROCK.

60. Nickname for Mendelssohn's Third Symphony : SCOTTISH. Not in my wheelhouse. A SAMPLE.(8:09) (10)

65. Troubling spots : ACNE.

66. Chanteur Jacques : BREL. A male singer and crossword favorite.(11).

67. Dropped the ball : ERRED.

68. Fraternity letters : RHOS.

69. WWI German vice admiral : SPEE. He was actually born in Denmark. READ. (12)

70. Hornet homes : NESTS.

71. P.D. ranks : DETS. Police Department has detectives.

Down:

1. Marx Brothers straight man : ZEPPO. The youngest of the brothers and the handsome ONE.(2:56).(13) He married Frank Sinatra's ex.

2. Stinks : ODORS.

3. Looks lustfully at : OGLES. Like looking at long legs in sheer nylons, hmm.

4. Delivery man? : MESSIAH. Really difficult cluing; and another taboo topic.

5. "Got My ___ Working": 1957 Muddy Waters song : MOJO. This SONG. (14)

6. Buck heroine : OLAN. From her Pulitzer Prize winning The Good Earth. (15).

7. Covered with frost : RIMED. I wish I had a quip that rhymed.

8. __ sister : SOB. From the old days when women journalists could only write puff. HISTORY.

9. Andorra neighbor, locally : ESPANA. Spanish for Spain. (16).

10. Propriety : DECORUM. We had to write an essay in 7th grade about how to maintain decorum and Peter Wylie said, you need to water it, and use good dirt.

11. "Now, Voyager" actress Chase : ILKA. She was the daughter of the editor of Vogue. (17)

12. Hosp. area : EMERgency.

13. Broadway barber : TODD. Sweeny, the play about the butcher barber.(18)

19. Support in a swindle : ABET. Aiding and...

21. Belief : TENET.

25. Shown so you can't miss it : IN BOLD. Just like every answer in the write ups.

27. In the manner of : A LA. From the French.

28. LPGA golfer Yani Tseng's homeland : TAIWAN. She was number 1 in the world of ladies golf last year, but has slipped.(19)

30. Prego rival : RAGU. (20).

31. Netherlands export : EDAM. One of marti's cheesy fill.( I will let this one slide).

32. Certain Slav : SERB. They have their own version of religion, Serbian Orthodox, similar to Greek and Russian.(21).

33. Utah Valley University city : OREM. A repeat performance for this little city.(22).

34. Iditarod terminus : NOME. It means clear waters and begin in Anchorage and takes a couple of weeks with 16 dogs as the average team.(various sources). (23).

35. Exhausting effort : TOIL. Boil and Bubble.

36. 11th-century date : MLI. 1051, so?

40. Nutritionist's no. : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.

41. Take a hike : SPLIT. Like go on the lam?

44. Charming : LIKABLE.

46. Suit in a circus : LEOTARD.Suit?

48. Peddle : SELL. Not your bicycle, but your wares.

49. Bed sheet material : SATEEN. Not to be confused with Satin.

52. Manipulators : USERS.

54. Specialized market segment : NICHE. I keep looking for mine.

55. Isn't expanded? : IS NOT. I love this simple deception.

56. Mating game : CHESS. Wonderful misdirection clue,.

57. Strained-carrot holders : BIBS. I should be seeing Charlotte in a few weeks.

58. Group with many boomers : AARP. They gave up as an acronym and this is the official name now. (24).

59. Fictional pirate : SMEE .He's back and number 25.

61. Tech news website : CNET. (26).

62. Track figures : ODDS. I bet you all got this right, even if you did not have any of the triple crown winners.

64. MBA hopeful's test : GRE. Graduate Records Examination. Whew.

Did this feel like taking a test in college? Really proper name intensive, lots of misdirection and marti mayhem. I hope she is enjoying herself, and it was nice of her to leave us a present. Speaking of presents, I am presently tired, so see you all next time.

Lemonade

Note from C.C.:

Happy 44th wedding anniversary to dear JD and Bob!

Friday, June 7, 2013, Jim Holland

Theme: Is she out there? Letter in.

Or, this LINK.(1:03).

Each of the four theme answers are recognizable two-word phrases with a single letter inserted and attached to the final word to create a new and whimsical phrase. The second words are all words starting with a single letter. I just had one of Mr. Holland's puzzles in April where he entertained us with a punny one; this time he has an add-on with four solid entries. To accomplish that we have many more than a Friday worth of 3,4 and 5 letter fill. I liked OBSOLETE, DOODLER, STEAMS UP and some others but there there were some really hard short ones. Let's explore.

17A. Spontaneous camera adjustment? : SUDDEN F-STOP. (11). A quick stop becomes the misunderstood action which basically controls how much light comes in through the lens.

26A. Electronic device for some singles? : BACHELOR I-PAD. (12). The single man's cave becomes his tablet. Makes sense after that 90 square foot apartment.

43A. Oversized cleaning tool? : GENEROUS Q-TIP (12). Just keep it out of your ear.

57A. Kid's sport played in costume? : MASKED T-BALL. (11). My favorite one as I picture all the little kids in their masks swinging away.

Across:

1. Brown shade : ECRU.  Continuing my shade theme from last week.

5. Authentic : LEGIT.

10. Yale Law students, until 1918 : MEN. He tried tricking you into putting in ELI.

13. Move furtively : SLINK.

15. Muse for Byron : ERATO. A repeat performance from yesterday, and not the only one as we also have, 38D. Belligerent son of Zeus : ARES. War god.    

16. Cry of support : OLE. This is a lot of bull.

19. URL ending : GOV. You have to wait for peeps.

20. Unemployed? : OBSOLETE. This was not easy clued this way. And we have an antoclecho 45D. Employed : USED.

21. Car buyer's choice : COUPE. DeVille?  DeVil? Laugh?

23. In one's cups : LIT.

24. One at a dull meeting, perhaps : DOODLER. I doodle at all opportunities.

31. Alberta NHLer : OILER. Edmonton, Alberta Canada, which suggests Mr. Holland has some ties as he also includes, 8D. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO. She also won the OLYMPIC gold (6:48)  in Alberta, Canada. Every figure skating clue brings back fond memories of dear CA and our other past posters who skated. We miss you dear Clear Ayes.

Clear Ayes & Granddaughter Rachael

32. It often includes a bio : OBIT. Uary

33. Unfavorable : BAD. Not my first thought.

36. "The Man Show" co-host Carolla : ADAM.

37. Ship's anchor hole : HAWSE. I love the definition in the dictionary, "Where the hawsehole is on the ship." Apparently from Old Norse for neck? Jerome, SB?

39. Decree : RULE. Which is also a Law which rhymes with

40. Green : RAW.

41. Gun barrel measurement : BORE. Which has nothing to do with 26D. Tusked mammal : BOAR.

42. Like staying in the Bates Motel : EERIE. If you do not know the movie Psycho, they have a TV series now.

46. Lets out early : PAROLES. Last day of school in Florida, so the traffic gets better.

49. Halifax hrs. : AST.In Nova Scotia, more Canada, and Atlantic Standard Time, 1 hour earlier than EST.

50. Something to aspire to : IDEAL.

51. Angers : STEAMS UP. Nice fresh fill.

56. Captain's record : LOG. How many have seen the new Star Trek movie, I still have not gone, but I can always here Shatner's voice, "Captain's Log, stardate..."

60. Jazz ___ : ERA. Which was when JzB?

61. Dangerous snake : ADDER. My favorite is the BLACK (2:42) one.

62. "...could ___ lean" : EAT NO. Poor Mrs. Sprat.

63. Retreat, perhaps : DEN. Unless it one of iniquity...I think they are now media rooms, or family rooms.

64. Pries (into) : NOSES. Such a nice literal usage, as you see people actually inserting their face, nose first...

65. Ticket word : SEAT.

Down:

1. Exxon, previously : ESSO. Classic crosswordese.

2. Bridge ___ : CLUB. I used to play often, but not in a long while.

3. Clears : RIDS.

4. Command following a mistake : UNDO.

5. Gave, as in a will : LEFT TO. To many legal terms slowed me down here.

6. Gaelic tongue : ERSE.

7. Rod : GAT. Hard boiled detective fiction words, Mickey Spillane, etc.

9. Fall wear : TOP COAT.

10. Trump, for one : MOGUL. I will avoid comment on this man except to ask if anyone has seen the ESPN show where Trump is credited with destroying the USFL?  I know his attorney from those days.

11. Use a ladder stereotypically : ELOPE.

12. "___ My Love": 1967 hit : NEVER. My teenage years from the ASSOCIATION.(2:46).

14. Sullivan's student : KELLER.  I have always been fascinated by the story of HELEN.(2:59). The Movie the Miracle Worker was also wonderful.

18. Diamond on many charts : NEIL. He was at Fenway Park to support Boston after the Marathon Massacre.

22. Vegas bet : ODD. You will never get even betting just odd; gambling is not that Black or Red.

24. Informal claim : DIBS. Like the ubiquitous call, "shotgun."

25. Expectant father in "Return to Mayberry" : OPIE. A reunion show, with all the old characters, including a married Ron Howard; here is the entire SHOW. (1:36:08).

27. "O patria mia" singer : AIDA. How many opera fans do we have?

28. Nail that's often curved : CLAW. Kitty lovers?

29. Moment of hesitation : HEM. Haw, he got them.

30. Trireme mover : ROWER. The three rows of oars in this ancient VESSEL. Very hard fill.

33. Eponymous beekeeper Shavitz : BURT. This was very obscure, while the company kept his name, he sold out to his partner who made a success of BURT's BEESWAX products. I did not know his last name but do recall when all they sold was candles..

34. Et ___ : ALII. You say ALII I say ALIA.

35. Serious : DEEP. Like all those conversations in college where we were able to....

37. Fine-tune : HONE. are seductive ways.

39. What an asterisk means on some forms: Abbr. : REQ. Uired. You can't finish the form unless you fill it in.

41. Luggage lugger : BELL MAN. Bell Cap?

42. Fancy spread : ESTATE. Not food, dirt.

43. India's smallest state : GOA. I had no clue, but perped it in.

44. Some of their scenes were filmed in deserts : OATERS. I knew this immediately was referring to old westerns.

46. In a stack : PILED.

47. Be gaga over : ADORE.

48. Lear daughter : REGAN. Clearly Goneril and Cordelia would not do.

51. Arcade game word : SKEE. Balls!

52. Work force entrants' assets, briefly : MBAS. Master of Business Administration.

53. Fill to capacity : SATE.

54. Prismatic bone : ULNA. I never really thought about PRISMS.

55. Scheme : PLOT.

58. Flurry : ADO.

59. Radical campus org. : SDS. Students for a Democratic Society.

Well another Friday done and an odd experience, with some very hard fill in a grid with primarily short words but a very clever theme. Until next time, I am either in a storm or playing in golf tournament as you read this; live long and prosper. Lemonade out.