Friday, July 19, 2013, Alan DerKazarian

Theme: Where have you BEAN hiding?

Examples of this confusing PLANT, are hidden within six sets of consecutive answers using 14 of the 15 squares available in rows, starting in row 1 and ending with row 15, with the a central reveal telling you what are hidden are types of beans, and they are "jumping" across the black square. It is not common to have a reveal on Friday, but without it, this might have been too hard. A variation on the overlapping fill revealing a hidden word, as here the overlap is between to different answers. A total of 95 squares in the theme, yet in a format that looks like a Saturday themeless, with triple stacks of 9's in the corners. I think the challenge to put this together was amazing, and while I am really confused by 22A and 44D, I think this what appears to be the debut puzzle by, I am guessing, a Dentist from New England who coincidentally went to Tufts, and went to the ACPT this year,  captured your attention and was a bumpy but satisfying ride.

1A. *Seat often against a wall : DIVAN. with  6A. *Antsy : ILL AT EASE. and VANILLA (bean) us revealed. There are many multiple word answers like ILL AT EASE which made the solving harder.

15A. *Microscopic menace : E. COLI. with 16A. *The economy, in many debates : MAIN ISSUE.= :LIMA (bean).

29A. *100 centavos : ONE PESO. with 31A. *River spanned by the Three Gorges Dam : YANGTZE= SOY.  (Or SOYA). Both clues required some knowledge.

43A. *Forage plant also called lucerne : ALFALFA. with 47A. *Garlic avoider, traditionally:  VAMPIRE.= FAVA. I did not know Alfafa (not from little rascals) had another name.

63A. *Cultural artifacts : AMERICANA. with 64A. *Struggling : VYING.= NAVY. Again like Saturday, no gimmes.

65A. *Game piece that can stand on either end : CANDLE PIN, with 66A. *Sycophant : TOADY= PINTO. Another hint to the New England tie, as this form of bowling is popular in few places, though it was a TV regular when I was a child. ARTICLE.

and the reveal

36A. Seed containing moth larva, and what is aptly hidden in each puzzle row whose clues contain asterisks : JUMPING BEAN. Is it un-pc to say Mexican Jumping Bean?

Across:

17. Music genre : METAL. One of my favorites. LISTEN.(3:26).

18. It's not always met : POTENTIAL. Ah, wasted.

19. Cow-horned goddess : ISIS. I like the Brazilian version LINK.

20. Emma of "Dynasty" : SAMMS. One of my favorites.

21. Co-star of Ingrid in "Autumn Sonata" : LIV. ULLMANA.  A 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter. It was Ingrid Bergman's last performance in a major theatrical feature film, and the film won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1979 Golden Globe Awards. (per wiki).

22. Bean cover? : HAT. Man, this clue confuse the hell out of me; eventually I thought it was accepted as not conflicting with the theme because it did not relate to vegetable life but an expression for the human head.

25. Long in films : NIA. Very actress intensive. Another LINK.

26. U-boat, e.g. : SUBmarine.

33. Rod Stewart's first wife : ALANA. Another female; Alan where was your mind. Also married to George Hamilton.

35. Subvert : RUIN. She did not ruin his career.

40. Ship's spine : KEEL. Let's keep ours even.

42. Ziggurat features : TIERS. Pyramid like structures built in ancient Mesopotamia and coming to the FUTURE.(1:25)

51. Overtime cause : TIE.

52. Portugese pronoun : ELA. Similar to Spanish and French.

53. Common ___ : ERA.

54. Considerable amount : TON.

55. Work with, as clay : KNEAD. If you need to relax it is good to knead.

57. Cole Porter's alma mater : YALE. An obscure New England fact 41D. 57-Across grad : ELI.

58. UMass athlete : MINUTEMAN. Another one.

62. With 38-Down, Arctic denizen : POLAR. and  38D. See 62-Across : BEAR.

Down:

1. Venus ___ : DE MILO. Poor girl lost her arms. The back STORY. Venus is the Roman Aphrodite.

2. Strands in winter, perhaps : ICES IN. My meh of the day in an otherwise awesome creation.

3. Offered for a special intention, as a Mass : VOTIVE. You buy the candles.

4. Pained cry : ALAS. Another near ALAN word (like Alana).

5. Zippo : NIL. Zilch, nada, bubkis.

6. Rambunctious sort : IMP.

7. Vientiane's land : LAOS. A remnant of the French influence in Indochina, LINK.

8. Long account : LITANY. She had a litany of complaints.

9. Lack of vigor : ANEMIA. Well the cause of a lack of vigor.

10. Heartless guy? : TINMAN. A shout out to our prodigal son, who is loaded with heart.

11. Neighborhood figures?: Abbr. : ESTS. It cost me something in the neighborhood of $200.00.

12. Faulkner's "___ Lay Dying" : AS I. many think this was his best novel.

13. Latin possessive : SUA. In the law, when a judge does something on his own accord, it is called SUA SPONTE.

14. New Zealand longfin, e.g. : EEL.

22. Bridge position : HELM. Sulu on Star Trek.

23. "Stat!" relative : ASAP.

24. Singer Basil or Braxton : TONI. More women.

26. Sci-fi setting : STUN. "Set phasers to stun, Sulu, Spock."

27. Israeli arm : UZI.

28. Son of, to an Israeli : BEN. An odd sort of clecho.

30. Golfer Creamer : PAULA. Is this a sub-theme for the men or what!?!?

32. Apprehend : GRASP. I grasped where he was headed.

34. Picnic pest : ANT.

36. Barcelona boss : JEFE. Also, in the Mexican and Colombian cartels, the chief.

37. Buckle : GIVE. When Shaq sat down the chair....

39. Aretha's singing sister : ERMA. Rough to be Aretha's  SISTER. They say she did this song first.

40. Kit ___ : KAT.  Candy bar of choice in one of the offices where I work.

44. Soup bean : LENTIL. Really?????

45. Take for a ride : FLEECE.

46. TripTik, notably : AAA MAP.

48. Roma's home : ITALIA.

49. WWI French aviator Garros : ROLAND. They named the tennis stadium where they play the French Open after this man.

50. Einstein's "E" : ENERGY=   mc²  

55. Southeastern Turkey native : KURD.  They know whey?

56. "___ California": Red Hot Chili Peppers hit : DANI.

57. It has its ups and downs : YO YO. Fun clues.

58. Bub : MAC.

59. The Beatles' "___ Loser" : I'M A. Someone else can link.

60. Three-time All-Star reliever Robb : NEN. He was one of the many All-Stars the Marlins gave away. His father Dick Nen was a major league first baseman.

61. Bread served with chicken tikka masala : NAN. Love the placement, nen nan.

62. Cpl.'s inferior : PVT. Well I wonder what Alan's private thoughts were when he built this entertaining Friday foray. Mine are: it is time for me to head to the hills, until the next time. I leave you with these two classic BEANS.(0:56) and BEAN.(2:29).

Lemonade peace out. Thanks all.

Friday, July 12, 2013, John Lampkin

Theme: Author, Author. Write me a pun.

Another intricate web spun by a true renaissance man John Lampkin, who flexes his intimate knowledge of music, amusement and creepy crawlies to create a really challenging Friday fracas. (Bill G., look what you and your kerfuffling has done!). The four theme answers are set in pairs, two across and two down with a fifth entry in the middle; they each take in the language phrases/words and with a new clue create new phrases where the second word in each is a form of writing creating the first level of puns. The melange of clechos, and twisted definitions made this quite the kaleidoscope. While there may be one or two groaners, the overall fill is wonderful, with some nice intermediates like AS IT WERE, COLD FEET, HOMESPUN, KNEE DEEP each of which interesects another of the 8 letter fill with the awesome knee deep/cold feet and new ways to clue some others. Let's get to it.

17A. Article about a bottle of whiskey?: FIFTH COLUMN.(11). I read all about the threat of the fifth column in Great Britain, France and the US in the 30's and 40's. LINK. John gives us the more benign discussion of why is booze sold in 1/5 of a gallon container rather than the more common 1/4 gallon, also known as a quart.

62A. Essay for grammar class? : PERIOD PIECE.(11). A write up about proper usage of a period might not be too interesting, but I am sure one about commas will always start debate.

41A. Autobiography?: I BOOK. I-BOOK becomes a book about the author. Multiple layer pun.

11D. Report on the site of the Humpty-Dumpty tragedy?: WALL PAPER.(9). My favorite and the one which revealed the theme. Like the other down clue, JL takes a word and splits in two to reveal the new and silly answer.

34D. Drama about Trigger? : HORSE PLAY.(9). By making both of the down theme answers derived from a single word, JL added another layer of symmetry to his work. While I love Roy Rogers, it is creepy to picture Trigger stuffed and on display (not that play?). Did I mention I liked the horse which portrayed Silver in the new Lone Ranger movie?

Across:

1. '90s-'00s first baseman Martinez : TINO. Man, I thought I was going to breeze through this puzzle as I just watched on Wednesday night, a local Miami Marlin telecast where the new Marlin hitting coach and former Yankee star was interviewed. Then to make sure I was right, I did 1 down, and it was a college my Uncle went to.....

5. Batter like the wind : BUFFET

11. Best in a game : WIN. Best the verb, not the noun. Notice how John has Tino, batter and Win all across the top.

14. Whole thing, or its part : UNIT. The team was an effective unit, or each unit was part of the team?

15. Maroon : ENISLE. I fought this one for a while, but where do people get marooned? Gilligan's mountain?

16. Old ring leader? : ALI. More splitting words and not hairs; a ring leader, not a ringleader. He was the Greatest.

 

19. Bar in the shower : LUX. As soon as I had the L, I had it because what other soap is three letters with an L? It also begins the clechomania. 29A. Bar in the kitchen : OLEO. Give him a pat on the back for working this pair in.

20. Blowup cause : TNT. Another dynamite deception.

21. Prefix with bound : EAST. This was another one I did not have much faith in until the Tada. I kept remembering this very obscene SCENE.(1:23). No nudity, but the language is very coarse, please do not view if offended by bad language and imagery.

22. Loud salute : SALVO. Twenty-one guns make a lot of noise.

24. Bird's-eye view provider : SKYCAM. You see them hanging there is all the sporting events. VIEW.

26. Folksy : HOMESPUN. Like Will Rogers or the Prairie Home Companion.

31. Composer/conductor Boulanger : NADIA. No Comăneci for JL, but the creator of THIS, (19:37), as well  as "teacher" of Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones, Piazzolla, Michel Legrand, Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass, Ginette Neveu and so many more...(various sources).

32. Macy's competitor : KOHL'S. I love this store, where you can buy dress shirts, towels, coffee makers and more all at great prices. The store began as a grocery chain in Wisconsin, but in the last 10 years it has expanded into 49 states. The family bought the basketball team I think.

35. Black, to Jacques : NOIR. Just love the rhyme in the clue.

37. Hardly a back rd. : TPKE. Abbreviated clues mean abbreviated ans.

40. Walked : TROD. This took a while even though it is a simple word.

42. Unwanted growth : WEED. I wanted WART, well actually I never wanted a wart but I was thinking of on the body like...oh never mind.

43. One born unfree : SERF. Unfree; great clue.

44. Beaver's expletive? : DAMN. Dam, he is probably right.

45. Antarctic phenomena : BERGS, this and its partner, 53A. Antarctic phenomenon : ICE CAP were extremely difficult for me and I spent way too much time in the southwest corner as I was trying to put in the more esoteric. mirages, parhelia, halos, arcs, midnight sun

46. They can make good impressions : SEALS. Like the old days where wax seals were on everything, and lawyers used silver to seal all deeds.

48. Start to get going : STIR. Not a creature was stirring. How are you Creature? And, 57A. Get going : HOP TO.

50. Seriously involved : KNEE DEEP. We will not speculate as to what substance JL had in mind...

58. Downwind : ALEE. Not Ann from the Shakers, not Robert, just another crossword staple.

60. Put in service : USE. Notice how this juxtaposes the next clue

61. Service-related: Abbr. : MILitary.

66. That niña : ESA. Spanish.

67. Faddish : TRENDY.

68. King with a notable nape : LION. JL is my main man here.

69. King of Spain : REY. More Spanish.

70. Den piece : SETTEE. Put your buttee on my..close to the Lion answer to add to the fun...

71. They evolved from wasp-like ancestors : ANTS. You can see the resemblance in this wonderful picture form the photographic artistry of our John Lampkin. Notice the ant grooming the ambush bug reveling in its kill.

Down:

1. New England school with a campus in the French Alps : TUFTS. This research University should be familiar to our New England group as it sits in Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts. My Uncle did a study on bird anatomy while there.

2. Indelibly : IN INK. The way certain arrogant solvers do their puzzles.

3. Peachy-keen : NIFTY. This whole puzzle.....

4. Cooperstown's Mel : OTT. I was playing in my head the Gary Cooper scene, as Lou Gehrig, where he says he is the luckiest man in the world, when Mel reappeared..

5. Evolved into : BECAME. I did not want to put this in, with 10D. Became anxious : TENSED, which I had filled first...it really did make me all tense.

6. Juan's "some" : UNOS. Yes, un poco mas. I do not speak Spanish.

7. Laundry challenge : FILTH. So many five letter laundry problems, stain, grime...In GB they call the police the filth.

8. Seminoles' sch. : FSU. In keeping with my luck in solving, Florida State University in Tallahassee (known as the girls college to U. of Florida grads) is the alma mater of son one and his bride and we do know Seminole. My favorite casino.

9. Certain leaf beetle's target : ELM. More insect trivia, though this pic is not John's.

12. Candy heart message : I LUV U. It is safe to tell someone you luv them because by spelling it wrong you are released from all promises.

13. "___ in China": John Adams opera : NIXON. Another composer from John who also composes. Watch.(6;33) I wonder what they thought in China. C.C.? (From C.C.: Nixon is very well respected in China due to his groundbreaking visit.)

18. Makes sound : HEALS. Extra tricky right next to a musical "sound' clue.

23. So to speak : AS IT WERE. Fun phrase.

25. Cause of a sudden withdrawal : COLD FEET. I knew 'her husband's key in the door' would not fit.

27. Shallot relatives : ONIONS. I enjoy the discussion of the various members of the onion family set out by Rex Stout in his Nero Wolfe books.

28. Dog-ear, e.g. : MARK. I would never mark my place by dog earring a book; it must hurt the page. You could tell if Wolfe liked a book by how he marked his place.

30. Hoping to score : ON BASE. Where is Dennis now that we need his comments; a nice little baseball clue slipped in. Those were impressive eyes.

32. Valuable rock nos. : KTS. karats, followed by 33D. Rock with promise : ORE. and 59D. Rock band? : LODE.

36. Tuba player's mantra? : OOM. Oh, pah, he takes the standard OM and makes it fit music.

38. Suds holder : KEG. After seeding our mind with thoughts of soap, he flashes this beer reference to make a three letter fill a bit of a challenge.

39. Mag wheels? : EDS. Magazine and editors. Another use of word play.

41. Like a bump on a log : IDLE. Did your parents say to you, "Well don't just sit there like a bump on a log."

45. ___ curls : BICEP. 2 days a week for me, using dumbbells.

47. Accepts, as a resolution : ADOPTS. If you do minutes for corporations, you see every resolution that passes is adopted.

49. Eye-popping shirt : TIE DYE. I think he meant it this way.

50. ___ Rouge : KHMER. With this letter progression I am surprised we do not see more of this horrible BUNCH which got its name from all the red blood it shed in Cambodia.

51. Tumult : NOISE. There you go Bill G.

52. Manet's medium : PAINT. Sometimes, I really hate doing puzzles. I spent way too long trying to adjust OILS or impressionism into the fill when the answer emerged, I wanted to...

54. Bring up to speed : CUE IN. This for me was the eh, but maybe I just do not know it.

55. Race site for 300+ years : ASCOT. I am sure John knew they are RACING this week end. It was founded 302 years ago by Queen Anne.

56. Rounded hand-tool parts : PEENS. I think I can HAMMER this concept home.

63. Previous to : ERE. The only fill needing no comment. Oops, too late.

64. IRA part: Abbr. : RETirement.

65. Dockworker's gp. : ILA. And our parting shot, International Longshoremen's Association.

Well along with composing, traveling to take pictures, lecturing, playing music,  studying all kinds of flying things, it is a pleasure to have Mr. Lampkin back to leave us a summer present. Thanks JL and thank you all for watching this weeks episode. (JL, no J?)

Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy 83nd Birthday to dear Sallie, who is bravely fighting cancer. Click here if you missed the Naples Corner gathering pictures.

Every time someone on the blog says "Happy Belated Birthday to ....", I'll think of Sallie, who taught us the correct form is "Belatedly Happy Birthday to ....!"

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!