google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Lemonade

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Showing posts with label Lemonade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lemonade. Show all posts

Jun 10, 2016

Friday, June 10, 2016, Mike Buckley

Title: Where are the Property Brothers when you need them? At my HOUSE.

Our first Mike Buckley of the year, the last being a wonderful sound alike PUN puzzle which I blogged last July. Today the reveal tells us that we have to add the word "HOUSE" to the end of the theme fill. But this must be in our heads as there are no spaces. The clue makes no sense  without the added HOUSE. In the CW world of rebus and meta puzzles, this is a simple version. Long before the reveal, starting with 1A, you know something is up when you cannot make sense of the clues. I got the idea with GLASS, from the old story about people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. That made Bird and Club fit. I had a hell of a time finding twelve after reading the reveal: 41A. See 30-Down : BOUND. 30D. With 41-Across, quarantined, and a hint to completing 12 puzzle answers : HOUSE. My hang up was 1D, which is symmetrical with 54D and must be the 12th, but I was unfamiliar with barrelhouse jazz...anyway there some interesting long fill such as GROANER,  CAGIEST,  ALL AT SEA,  SEPARATE,  RINGLING, FELL INTO, RED PLANET and a personal favorite  AD HOMINEM. Sometimes the added house stands alone sometimes it just makes a single word. Okay, the realtor is here to take us on a tour.

1A. Frequent flier's respite : BIRD (HOUSE). Birdies fly too you know.

5A. Dressing room of a sort : CLUB(HOUSE). Where HG goes to put on his spikes.

9A. Proverbially exposed place : GLASS (HOUSE). The pun version is about the tribal king who lived in a lavish two story grass hut in the jungle. He got in a competition with another tribal leader and they started having fancy thrones made to out do the other. Sadly the first chief had his thrones in the second floor and they crashed down killing him. Moral: People who live in grass houses should not store thrones.

71A. Coastal attraction : LIGHT (HOUSE). We have a little one we go to at the Hillsboro inlet.

72A. Kids' hideout : TREE (HOUSE). Another giveaway to the theme.

73A. Where an inch may represent a foot : DOLL (HOUSE). Really cute clue.

1D. Uninhibited jazz style : BARREL(HOUSE).  I just did not know THIS.

13D. Place of refuge : SAFE (HOUSE).  Will we watch NCIS with DiNozzo gone?

33D. The Twinings shop at 216 Strand in London, e.g. : TEA  (HOUSE). CSO to Nice Cuppa and Steve. This SHOP is over 300 years in business.

38D. Zoo : MAD(HOUSE). Where human are treated like lower ANIMALS.

54D. 1978 comedy classic : ANIMAL (HOUSE)

60D. Theater with no seats? : FULL (HOUSE).

And the already revealed reveal
41A. See 30-Down : BOUND. 30D. With 41-Across, quarantined, and a hint to completing 12 puzzle answers : HOUSE.

Across:

14. Trendy berry : ACAI. You know it as LINK.

15. Bausch + Lomb brand : RENU. Clean your contacts.

16. Missouri campus town : ROLLA. Talk about stuff I do not know,you can start HERE.

17. 38-Across nickname : RED PLANET. 38A. Fourth of eight : MARS. Did you watch Matt Damon in the MARTIAN? Thoughts?

19. __ Olay : OIL OF.

20. Bread flavoring : RAISIN. Flavoring?

21. Stand between : SEPARATE.  Always dangerous.
23. Strait's "All My __ Live in Texas" : EXS LINK.

24. Kindle downloads: Abbr. : BKS. Books.

26. Multipart opus : NONET. Nine.

27. "The Merry Widow" composer : LEHAR.  Hungarian Composer FRANZ.

29. Leitmotif : THEME. Fancy.

31. Park it : SIT.

34. Author of epistolas : PAOLO. Epistles: Paul.

36. Girlfriend of Garfield : ARLENE.
43. End for Louis : IANA. I hope Hahtoolah is doing well, along with our other Lousiana peeps, Boo abd BE.

44. Singly : APIECE. Did you KNOW?

46. Percolates : SEEPS.

48. Home in the woods : DEN. Or the jungle.

49. First of 12 : ARIES. Houses of the Zodiac. And, 18. First sign of fall : LIBRA. Hmm, fall starts September 21 which is in Virgo....

51. "__ español?" : HABLA. No intiendo.

55. Be unable to swallow : GAG ON.

57. Summer shade : TAN.

59. Hermione's love : RON. When you saw the first movie, or read the first book, weren't you sure she would end up with Harry?
60. Chanced on : FELL INTO.

63. Michener's "The Bridges at __" : TOKO-RI. His books were always so detailed.
65. Worth keeping : UTILE. Not a useful word for me.

66. Appealing to prejudice rather than intellect, as an argument : AD HOMINEM.
"Ad hominem, which stands for the Latin term argumentum ad hominem, is a response to a person's argument by attacking the person's character rather than the logic or content of the argument. Ad hominem remarks are often an example of fallacy, because they are irrelevant to the overall argument. " Also known as politics.

68. Large green moths : LUNAS.  I always think of John Lampkin.

69. Masked critter : COON.

70. March Madness initials : NCAA.

Down:

2. Climber's tool : ICE AXE.

3. Salad slice : RADISH.

4. Tango moves : DIPS.

5. Original Model T need : CRANK.

6. Writer Deighton : LEN.

7. Arles articles : UNES. French.

8. Hydrocarbon obtained from crude oil : BUTENE.
9. "Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?," e.g. : GROANER. It describes my earlier story.

10. French wine valley : LOIRE.

11. Totally confused : ALL AT SEA.

12. ATM feature : SLOT. There are lots of them.

22. Hair-styling stuff : POMADE. I will always remember Dapper Dan.

25. 1944 French battle site : STLO.

28. Choir recess : APSE.

32. B&B, maybe : INN.

35. Titania's husband : OBERON. Our Friday Shakespeare; A Midsummer Night's Dream.

37. Sax-playing Simpson : LISA.

39. Tailless simian : APE.

40. Big name in traveling shows : RINGLING.

42. Branch structure : NEST. This took awhile; a nest built on a branch?

45. Most foxy : CAGIEST.

47. __ Penh : PHNOM. Cambodia.
50. Undamaged : INTACT.

52. Super Bowl 50 champ : BRONCO. Good luck Peyton.

53. "Because you're worth it" brand : L'OREAL. This may be the first ad.

56. Islamic deity : ALLAH.

58. Make amends : ATONE.

61. Case for notions : ETUI.

62. Follower of Pepé Le Pew? : ODOR.

64. Big-hearted : KIND.

67. Weed tackler : HOE.

Well I hope you did not find too many weeds in this Friday frolic. Thank you Mr. Buckley and all of you who read.  Lemonade out.


Note from C.C.:

The fifth Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held at the Landmark Center in St. Paul on June 12th, 2016 Sunday. Please click here for more details. Here is the direct registration link.

Jeffrey Wechsler will arrive here today. Welcome to Minnesota, Jeffrey!





Jun 3, 2016

Friday, June 3, 2016, Elliott M. Abrams

Title: Sh......

What I perceive is a debut puzzle for Mr. Abrams gives us words beginning with SH (sound)(vowel) in progression. A very straight forward puzzle with a very fast solve time and a mini-theme of Hawaiian words. I know of an Archaeology Professor who wrote about historic architecture in the MAYAN culture. My oldest wrote about ancient architecture in his time studying in that field. Anyway, on to the puzzle...The theme fill except OVERWHELM are all new to the LAT.  The rest includes forty-six 3/4 letter fill, many of which are common crossword fodder. I am always impressed with those  who grid their own first effort.  I enjoyed the puzzle, especially all the Js. After last week's pangram, we are just a Q short this week.

18A. Shaq : EX-NBA CENTER (11). Shaquille is a very entertaining guy.



24A. Sheik : ARAB NOBLE (9).Sheikh, Shaik, Shayk, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and Shekh— is an honorific title in the Arabic language. wiki

37A. Schick : RAZOR BLADE MAKER (15). The "C" makes this the outlier, This may have been his seed entry. If he chose SHI... maybe: Shirk: LIE DOWN ON THE JOB. Of course that would cause a complete rewrite. Life is not easy.

49A. Shock : OVERWHELM (9). All perps

55A. Shuck : OPEN OYSTERS (11).My first thought was corn, but I do not eat shellfish.

Okay on to the meat of the puzzle...

Across:

1. Backtalk : LIP.

4. Went into second, in a way : SLID. A gimme for the baseball crowd.


8. Energy units : JOULES. I love J words: It is equal to the energy transferred (or work done) to an object when a force of one newton acts on that object in the direction of its motion through a distance of one metre (1 newton metre or N·m). It is also the energy dissipated as heat when an electric current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second. It is named after the English physicist James Prescott Joule (1818–1889) wiki.

14. She played Mia in "Pulp Fiction" : UMA. She died and came back.
15. Mackerel relative : TUNA. I forgot that.

16. Opposite of down : ACROSS. Crossword inside joke

17. AWOL pursuers : MPSMilitary Police. Probably not a legitimate plural.

20. Combat : BATTLE.

22. Long, on Lanai : LOA. Then an immediate clecho 23A. Hi, on Lanai : ALOHA.

30. Exceptional : RARE.

31. Team members : OXEN. Cute yoke.

32. "Darkness at __": Arthur Koestler novel : NOON. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Darkness at Noon number eight on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. I never read it. The novel was written in German. wiki

33. Fortress of Solitude statue honoree : JOR-EL. Since the creators were both Jewish, they named their central family EL אֵל. Did you know Superman had his own WIKI?

35. Formal assessment : REPORT. I am not the report type. Michelle does lots of them for clients.

41. Calls up : EVOKES.

42. Pip : BEAUT.

43. Mudville number : NINE. How many players on the field in baseball.

44. 2015 Emmy winner for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series : VEEP. Not only born into a fabulously wealthy family but in her third Emmy winning series, JULIA is one lucky woman.

45. Wheels : RIDE. Nice ride...
52. Hardly a socialite : LONER.

53. It may be humbly held in hand : HAT. Nice cluing.

54. Stumble : FALTER.

61. Nixon admin. creation : EPA. An environmental CRUSADER when politics made some sense.

62. __ effect : RIPPLE. Not to be confused with the butterfly effect.

63. Israeli writer Oz : AMOS.  Hid views are not always popular. LINK.

64. Nothing but __ : NET. Steph Curry...Game 1, he was not good but they won.
65. Church symbols : SPIRES.

66. Not for here : TO GO. They added to go service at the Cattleman.

67. Helical strands : DNA. Helix like.

Down:

1. Like the vertebrae directly above the pelvis : LUMBAR. Where by herniated discs live.

2. 1958 Chevy debut : IMPALA. Remember it well.
3. Sermon giver : PASTOR.

4. Inscribed stone : STELA. Put in STELE for some reason but ALOHA came along.

5. Elegance : LUXE. adjective: 1. expensive and of high quality; luxurious. "the luxe 65-room Four Seasons hotel" noun: 1. luxury.

6. Comfort __ : INN.

7. Touch : DAB.  I have Brylcreem regularly.

8. Biblical twin : JACOB.

9. Large amount : OCEAN. This area was the hardest for me because of this, but I do know thr phrase from books and HEADLINES.

10. "Thou," in the Keats lines "When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain ... a friend to man" : URN. Of the Grecian variety. Most think is it "TO" but is ON.

11. Building site : LOT.

12. End of much language? : ESE. Meh, but I guess better than ease south east.

13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR.

19. Late actor Rickman : ALAN. A recent DEMISE. I loved most of his work, especially Galaxy Quest.

21. 1989 Jack Nicholson role : THE JOKER. Everone thought he was great until Heath Ledger came along.

24. Double __ : AXEL. I do get many figure skating fill.

25. Mark down, perhaps : RE-LABEL. Remarkable, Mabel.

26. Keeping the beat? : ON PATROL. Police walking the neighborhood.

27. Secure, as a room : BOOK. So many ways online now.

28. Past wisdom : LORE.

29. __'acte : ENTR. French for between the Acts, i.e. intermission.

31. Mars and others : ORBS. A simple definition.

34. Vein yield : ORE. Bloody cute clue!

35. Get as a return : REAP. What you sow....

36. Aussie runner : EMU.

37. Nevada city on I-80 : RENO.

38. Tel __ : AVIV.

39. Defense choice : ZONE. Football and basketball.

40. Consider : DEEM. Again.

44. Dachshund docs : VETS. We had dachshunds. One of our wiener dogs ate so much she became a knockwurst.

46. Plan : INTEND.

47. Become more heartfelt : DEEPEN.

48. Printing problems : ERRATA. Placed in a book to apologize for errors.

50. __ milk : WHOLE. Random.

51. Last Reconstruction president : HAYES. Rutherford B. All you need to KNOW.

52. Rodeo rope : LASSO.

54. One that may be transformed by a kiss? : FROG.

55. Scenes of many stitches: Abbr. : ORSOperating Rooms.

56. Knight supporter? : PIP. Very tricky for me, but not for Gladys.
57. Prefix with genetics : EPI. I becoming more convinced this must be the same man. I did not know: Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression (active versus inactive genes) that does not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence — a change in phenotype without a change in genotype — which in turn affects how cells read the genes. Wiki.

58. "All Things Considered" home : NPRNational Public Radio.

59. Many a pro athlete's pride : TATtoo. Really?


60. Rock genre : EMOtional.

Always exciting to welcome a new constructor to Friday. Thank you Elliott and I hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lemonade out.



Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to our talented Owen, who does not celebrate his birthdays. But you're special to us, Owen! So lucky that you found us and continue to entertain us despite your personal struggles.


Owen & his wife Brenda (Feb 28, 2009)

2) Indie 500 crossword tournament will be held tomorrow (June 4) in DC. You can click here for details. See here for the constructors. See Angela Olson Halsted, Misty? That's PuzzleGirl. Other constructors include Andy Kravis, Neville Fogarty, Erik Agard, Joanne Sullivan, Lena Webb, Kameron Austin Collins and Sam Trabuccob.


3)  The fifth Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held at the Landmark Center in St. Paul on June 12th, 2016 Sunday. Please click here for more details. Here is the direct registration link. Entry fee is only $20 per person.  

Don G and I teamed up again this year. Other contributors (all LAT/NYT constructors) include George Barany, Victor Barocas (also our editor), Tom Pepper, Andrea Carla Michaels, David Liben-Lowell, Michael David, Johanna Fenimore, Andrew J Ries, David Steinberg (Yay!) and our own Jeffrey Wechsler, who is flying from New Jersey to volunteer for the event.

May 27, 2016

Friday, May 27, 2016, Roland Huget

Title: Hush little baby.

Roland Huget appears in his 4th LAT, and his first Friday. This minimalist puzzle seems to have just three theme fill all references out of the 60's with a common thread of "shhh"and no reveal. It is very unusual for a Friday to have only three theme answers. If there is more to this effort I missed it. Of course there is the inclusion of the entire English alphabet (A PANGRAM!). Is this a themeless gone bad?  In any event, there is quite a bit of fresh intermediate fill, with THE MET, HIPPIE, ROASTS,  TRACES, ED MEESE,  ST. SIMON,  DEFANGS,  BEANERY, FISH TAIL, NETIZENS, RANGE WAR (odd with all the peace and quiet) and TAX HAVEN. Well let us see what Roland has done to befuddle us. If you do not know references the theme does not help.

17A. '60s executive order creation : PEACE CORPS (10). HISTORY.

35A. Societal change begun in Quebec during the '60s : QUIET REVOLUTION (15). HISTORY.

52A. '60s aviation nickname : WHISPERJET (10). HISTORY.

Across:

1. Man of many words : ROGET. Thesaurus guy.

6. Course designer : CHEF. Not a golf course, one part of a meal.

10. Hiker's map, briefly : TOPOgraphic. A legitimate word, but unsatisfactory fill for me. LINK.

14. Words spoken on a star? : I WISH. I may, I wish I might.

15. Virna of "How to Murder Your Wife" : LISI. A movie I remember.
16. Organic compound : ENOL.

19. Combine : MELD. Pinochle, anyone?

20. Locks in a zoo : MANE. Those kind of locks.

21. Human Be-In attendee : HIPPIE. Were any of you a human bein' in the 60's?
23. 1988 Cabinet resignee : ED MEESE. An underrated political SCANDAL No comment.

27. Apostle known as "the Zealot" : ST SIMON.

28. Facetious tributes : ROASTS. Do you all watch Comedy Central? I now listen on the radio.
29. Steady : BEAU. From the French for handsome.

30. Comfort and others : INNS.

31. Avid surfers : NETIZENS. A portmanteau of Internet and Denizens.

39. Money-saving refuge : TAX HAVEN. Anyone do business in the CHANNEL ISLANDS?

40. Subway purchase : HERO. Really.

41. Blue dye : ANIL. Indigofera suffruticosa.

42. Hints : TRACES.

44. Renders harmless : DEFANGS. Sorry Count D.

48. Greasy spoon : BEANERY. A word from 1877.

49. It's not widely understood : IN JOKE. I guess this is intended as an abbreviation of Inside Joke.

50. Small flaw : WART.

51. Cozy spot : NOOK.

58. Quattro competitor : ATRA. An off semi-clecho with 59. Quattro, e.g. : AUDI. No mention of  SUZI who is missing a "T"

60. 2013 One Direction hit : DIANA.

61. Victor's "Samson and Delilah" co-star : HEDY. Lamar

62. Line holder for a cast : REEL. Fishing, not acting.

63. Lustrous synthetic : RAYON. Lustrous...a regenerated, semisynthetic textile filament made from cellulose, cotton linters, or wood chips by treating these with caustic soda and carbon disulfide and passing the resultant solution, viscose, through spinnerets.

Down:

1. Swindle, with "off" : RIP.

2. Run a tab, say : OWE.

3. 1998 Angelina Jolie biopic : GIA. Lots of nudity.
4. F1 neighbor : ESC. Know your keyboard.

5. It's across from Alice Tully Hall : THE MET. Don't get LOST.

6. One of many in "Orphan Black" : CLONE. This actually looks interesting.
7. Engage : HIRE.

8. Sixth of five? : ESP. Did you make sense of this clue?

9. Skid : FISH TAIL. Out of control.

10. Largo and presto : TEMPI. More than one Tempo.

11. Matinee hr. : ONE P.M.

12. March of Dimes' original crusade : POLIO.Now we march for all babies.

13. Ancient : OLDEN.

18. Mama in music : CASS.

22. Trooper's outfit? : ISUZU. A very tricky clue as this automobile has been out of production since 2002 and the Company out of the US since 2009. Poor Joe.

23. La Salle of "ER" : ERIQ.  A fellow Connecticut native who continues to work.

24. Fried treat : DONUT.
25. Obsession : MANIA. Donuts?

26. Thomas Cromwell's earldom : ESSEX. He was important to HENRY VIII but then he was not. His descendant (through his sister Katherine) Oliver Cromwell also had his day in the British sun.

27. Determined about : SET ON. Which do you like better, this or ________Hall?

29. Oblique cut : BEVEL.

31. Half a Caribbean federation : NEVIS.

32. Tom's "Mission: Impossible" role : ETHAN. Time to work on our Italian? LINK.

33. Reunion attendee : NIECE. Pick any family member ...

34. More put out : SORER.

36. "__ heaven" : THANK. I always think of this LINK. Of course now that I am older, it seems creepy.

37. American West conflict : RANGE WAR.

38. Overly curious : NOSY.

42. Former Blue Devil rival, briefly : TERP. Maryland in the ACC before they moved to the Big Ten.

43. Not suitable for kids : RATED R. No links from me.

44. Shore show of the '70s : DINAH. A classic CLIP.

45. Modern message : ENOTE.

46. Alaskan cruise sight : FJORD. Fjocus? 54. 46-Down kin : RIA.  A fjord is created by inundation of a valley formed by a glacier. They typically have very steep walls and very deep floors allowing ocean-going vessels to navigate them. A ria is a former river valley that has subsided below sea-level and flooded. It is usually shallower than a fjord and often become estuaries with little fresh-water flow into them.

47. Jim-dandy : A OKAY.

48. Pizza sauce herb : BASIL. I like both Italian and Thai basil.

50. Off-target : WIDE.  "Wide right!"  Mean anything to any college or pro football fans out there?

53. Color distinction : HUE.

55. Magpie relative : JAY. Oh not again.

56. "Microsoft sound" composer : ENO.

57. Brown shade : TAN.  A perfect way to end this Friday frolic.  Did you all appreciate the pangram? Welcome to my world Roland and have a great holiday weekend all. With the beer and brats do remember all who have passed while serving our country and all of us. Lemonade out heading to the beach.

I leave you with some pics from the restaurant where Oo is working


Bon Appetit! On the left spicy oxtail soup
On the right, shrimp, bacon and lychee.

May 20, 2016

Friday, May 20, 2016, D.Scott Nichols and C.C. Burnikel

Title: The HEAT is on. LISTEN.

The sixth pairing of our resident Santa, Argyle, with C.C. brings us a single clue puzzle to unravel. HEAT yielded 2 grid-spanners and 2 fourteen letter fill giving us a quick 58 letters in the theme. These single word, single clue ones mean lots of work for me as I really need to solve many perps to get to the theme fill. Lots of nice fill like DE NADA,  WET HEN,  HEE HEE, ERECTS, LESS TAR, SERAPES,  MIGRANT, SPLICES, SARASOTA,  FOOLED ME, D.H. LAWRENCE,  OPEN SECRET. Well if you can't take the heat, get our your eraser.

17A. Heat : INTENSE PRESSURE (15). For example, the heat is on Hilary about her deleted emails.

31A. Heat : QUALIFYING RACE (14). For example, Mark Spitz won his semi-final heat in world record time.

38A. Heat : MIAMI HOOPSTERS (14). Their season is over, but no Whiteside and no Bosh for most of the Toronto series.

59A. Heat : HABANERO FEATURE (15). For example, you can READ all about hot peppers.

Okay, now solve:

Across:

1. Light source : BIC. As in:
Recognize Orson Bean's voice?

4. Sea bordering Uzbekistan : ARAL and the ever confusing to me 32D.  1,509-mile border river : URAL. They are both back again to add to our geography miseries.

8. Online money source : E-LOAN. They must be more popular in the midwest.

13. Prepare for a snap : LOAD. I guess this refers to the old fashioned need to put film in a camera.

15. "Sons and Lovers" author : D. H. LAWRENCE. This was one of his earliest works LINK ; his most famous perhaps being his last major novel
19. Tuscan hill city : SIENA. My son's many trips to dig in Italy helped me with my European Geography.

20. "__ does it!" : THAT.

21. Zipped : SPED.

22. Gulf Coast resort city : SARASOTA. A wonderful little city with white sand beaches and it rhymes with Minnesota which is great for limercists.

24. Like sriracha sauce : HOT. LIke the reference to "TODDLERS" in yesterday CHILD theme, I am ambivalent about this being in a HEAT puzzle.

26. Smidgen : DAB. Brylcreem anyone?

27. Colorful cover-ups : SERAPES. Forgive the partial  NUDITY.

35. Alley wanderer : CUR. But not dressed like that.

36. Popular truck brand : RAM.

37. Important time : AGE.

45. Unites, in a way : SPLICES. A thoughtful Friday clue. LINK.

46. PETA concern : FURPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I have always had mixed feeling about how they promote this effort.

47. Turn right : GEE. If you are a horse.

48. "No, really?" : FOOLED ME.

53. Egg on : SPUR. More horse talk?

56. L, vis-à-vis C : HALF. 50 is half of 100.

58. Junkyard material : SCRAP. Sometimes.
62. It's thinly disguised : OPEN SECRET. Nice rarely used fill.

63. Fries, e.g. : SIDE order.

64. Medicare card specification : PART A.

65. Fabulous runner-up : HARE. FABLE leads to fabulous here.
66. Talk trash to : DIS. A simple version of disrespect.

Down:

1. Euphoria : BLISS. So many choices  joy, happiness, pleasure, delight, ecstasy, elation, rapture.

2. Region that rebelled against Persia in about 500 B.C. : IONIA. A bit of HISTORY.

3. Work at weddings : CATER.

4. Hulu distractions : ADS.The rerun service.

5. Butler in a classic film : RHETT. My first thought was Arthur Treacher.

6. Greek leader : ALPHA. Cute clue.

7. Logan of "60 Minutes" : LARA. She was made part of a horrible STORY. She did well on Jeopardy Tuesday.

8. EMS destinations : ERS. No bitter vetch? Will Weng where are you?

9. Advertised advantage of some lights : LESS TAR.

10. "Get __": 1967 Esquires hit : ON UP.
11. Amount to plow : ACRE.

12. Cry out for : NEED.

14. "You're welcome," in Havana : DE NADA.

16. Anger simile : WET HEN. Did you KNOW?

18. Like Willie Nelson's voice : NASAL. Well that sounds a bit critical but Willie is an interesting MAN.

23. Kabuki accessory : OBI. My sash a week continues.

25. URL ender : ORG.

27. Easy mark : SIMPelton.

28. Host after Allen : PAAR. I have written often about Jack Paar.

29. Med. tests using leads : ECGS.

30. "Now do you believe me?" : SEE. Mira.

31. Wit's end? : QUIP. The end result of wit.

33. Big dos : FROS.

34. 2011 NBA retiree : YAO. HOF center with bad feet.

35. Divs. on some rulers : CMS. Centimeters which is pronounced??

39. "The Grapes of Wrath" character : MIGRANT. I tried to dredge up a character name until the perps kicked in.

40. Make sure of : ICE. They are out to get Tinman these days.

41. Titter : HEE HEE. I always like TEE HEE.

42. Bay Area travel letters : SFO.

43. Home of the WNBA's Shock : TULSA.  They have moved to Dallas LINK but do post star Skylar Diggins

44. Puts up : ERECTS.

48. Botanist's field : FLORA.

49. Proposal : OFFER.

50. Old Celtic religious leader : DRUID. Never understood this GROUP.

51. Column in un calendrier : MARDI. Tuesday in French.

52. Fencing swords : EPEES.

53. Hunt for bargains : SHOP.

54. Hemingway sobriquet : PAPA. Self imposed? LINK.

55. Cab company competitor : UBER. I recently used one, and it was great.

57. Image on Missouri's state quarter : ARCH. The gateway arch.












60. "Citizenfour" org. : NSA. The movie about Edward Snowden and the National Security Agency.

61. Saison in Provence : ÉTÉ. Summer is coming.

That means the regular tv season is over, lots of characters lying dead on the screen but we soldier on. Great fun, thank you Scott and C.C. and thank you all for the comments I will read soon. Lemonade out.


May 13, 2016

Friday, May 13, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Do you want to PAL around?

JW returns with 'add a word' (3 letters at that) to existing phrases to create a whimsical mental picture of something very different. Despite my seeing and discussing much of Jeffrey's work lately, the cluing is fresh and only PROEM was unknown to me. The longer fill, CLASS UP,  THE MAGI,  I'M A JERK,  IN EXILE, RAIN SHOWER and  MOTOR SPORT really show his preference for multi-word answers. The choice to have just three themers plus a reveal was governed by the grid-spanners  giving 58 theme spaces. Lots of music references and - well, let us go see.

17A. Financially distressed royal residence? : PALACE IN THE HOLE (15). The PAL is added to the beginning of "ace in the hole." Cute. I do not think the Queen is hurting financially.

34A. Pious antelope? : IMPALA BELIEVER (14). I was really amused by the picture of this cute African food source for lions, praying and singing....



40A. Clairvoyant magazine staff? : PALMISTS OF TIME (14). A common expression also has the PAL added to the beginning; I like the John Mayall version.


And the reveal:

61A. Carole King song title ... or a hint to 17-, 34- and 40-Across : YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND (15).

I wonder if this puzzle was inspired by the Broadway play about Ms. King. She has written so many wonderful songs.


Across:

1. Sprinkled stuff : TALC. So much CONTROVERSY now.

5. Ottoman honorific : AGHA.

9. Carried : TOTED. Reminds me of listening to this album as a child. He was a true...

14. Star often gazed at : IDOL.

15. Golf inconvenience : RAIN SHOWER. Ask, HG--this is a perfect clue, as a shower does not stop a serious golfer.

19. Things kept for oneself : STASH. Not to be confused with last week's 'STACHE.

20. Elite group : A TEAM. Generic, or the TV Show?

21. New Delhi-to-Mumbai dir. : SSW. Heading toward last week's newbie constructor.

22. "Downton Abbey" assent : YES SIR.

24. Wit : WAG. An old term for a jokester, mid 16th century (denoting a young man or mischievous boy, also used as a term of endearment to an infant): probably from obsolete waghalter ‘person likely to be hanged.’  Per dictionary.

26. "The Golden Arm" of the Baltimore Colts : UNITAS. High topped always,  Johnny U.
30. Reach uncertainly : GROPE. Not always, sadly.

37. Geisha circler : OBI. More sashes for me.

38. Sister of Melpomene : ERATO.

39. Ho's accompaniment : UKE.
45. Introduction : PROEM. A real word, but I certainly never heard of it. This was a struggle as the perps were not easy either.

46. Submitted : SENT IN.

47. Dance genre : TAP.

49. Annual delivery vehicle? : SLEIGH. Santa and the odd clecho 9D. Annually celebrated group : THE MAGI.

53. Setting in Eng. : GMTGreenwich Mean Time.

56. First name in Western crime : JESSE. James

60. Like George H. W. Bush : EX-CIA. Conspiracy THEORY anyone?

64. Rallying, e.g. : MOTOR SPORT. I used to want to do THIS.

65. Singing daughter of Judy and Vincente : LIZA. Judy Garland and Vincente Minelli.

66. Bombed : STUNK.

67. Expression of appreciation : HAND. Let's give all our constructors a big hand for the entertainment.

68. "L'__, c'est moi": Louis XIV : ÉTAT. The State in French.

Down:

1. Lit : TIPSY.

2. "... __ which will live in infamy": FDR : A DATE.

3. Falana and Glaudini : LOLAS. Lola 1 one was a Sammy Davis protege with health issues; Lola 2 is a very busy TV actress. Feel free to IMDB.




4. Infuse with elegance : CLASS UP. My meh fill of the day.  Though 'class up the joint'  appears often,  the reference on its own just hangs there for me.

5. Exist : ARE.

6. Greek primordial deity : GAIA. Quite an incestuous and bloody STORY reminiscent of later Heinlein works.

7. Subtlety : HINT.

8. Startup money? : ANTE. To start the game.

10. "How wonderful!" : OOH. AHH.

11. Dancers, often : TWOS. It does take two to Tango.

12. Sushi kitchen supply : EELS.
13. Gained (from) : DREW. On my vast experience.

16. "I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation" speaker : SHAW. No Shakespeare but the eminently quotable George Bernard Shaw, LINK. I could not pick my favorite. No P Shaw  quotes.

18. Where gunpowder was invented : CHINA. Some HISTORY.

23. Irks : RILES.

25. Univ. student's ordeal : GRE. Graduate Record Examination

27. Wonderland trial evidence : TARTS. Carroll's not subtle indictment of our legal system.

28. Demean : ABASE.

29. __ Hall : SETON. A Catholic college in NJ named after the first American SAINT.

31. Cell with potential : OVUM. Eggsactly.

32. Chinese toy : PEKE. More China and no abbr.

33. Poet's "previously" : ERE.

34. Construction support : I BAR.

35. Close follower of Venus? : MILO. You all know the Venus de Milo and her lack of arms.

36. Some apartments : LOFTS.

37. On the facing pg. : OPPosite..

41. Citi Field player : MET.

42. "D'oh!" : I'M A JERK. I think of it more as "I am an idiot."

43. Interior construction specialist : TILER.

44. Napoleonic? : IN  EXILE. A Friday thought.

48. Cribbage pieces : PEGS. That is how you count points and it is where I learned to how add by watching my father play the game.

50. Clinch the game, in slang : ICE IT.

51. Japan's answer to Rodeo Drive : GINZA. Alex, we will stay with Asia for $800.00. LINK.

52. Attacked : HAD AT.

53. Places to see presses : GYMS. Bench presses, military presses...

54. Academic : MOOT.

55. "Fantasia" hippo's garb : TUTU.

57. Certain collegian : SOPHomore. And of course the freshmen who fail or sopholess;  derivation from Greek sophos "wise" + moros "foolish, dull"?

58. Athenian walkway : STOA. A covered walkway.

59. Get through work : EARN.

62. Otto __ Bismarck : VON. A very INFLUENTIAL  figure.

63. Mercury is on its co. logo : FTD. As a Virgo this is a perfect image for me to exit. JW returned, made us work, made us smile. I must say 'bye for now-see you next week. Hope you enjoyed the ride. Lemonade out on winged feet.


May 6, 2016

Friday, May 6, 2016, C.C. Burnikel

Title: Colour me happy.

I have blogged for almost six years now and C.C. has 127 solo puzzles published in the LAT in the last 4 years, but this is only my second solo C.C. Friday. The first was the outstanding Poet's Corner puzzle in 2014. Today is quite tame by comparison, and like last weeks JW, primarily a fun puzzle. The simple concept of phrases including words which sound like colors is brought together by the rare Friday reveal. Once again she builds her grid in a pin wheel fashion with the reveal in the southeast. No long fill, but some interesting intermediate fill like STACHE,  OH DARN,  OGRESS, GASHED,  B B KING,  SPREES,  BOASTS, FAINTS, ANEMIA,  HEFNER,  ENGAGE, PAWNEE, SCENERY, EPITHET,  SINCERE,  LET ME GO, HOW'S THAT. All this from our transplanted fearless leader...amazing.

17A. *Lost it : BLEW A FUSE (9). New fill to the LAT, yet very common.

60A. *Entertained the kids, in a way : READ ALOUD (9). Also new.

11D. *"Bonanza" star : LORNE GREENE (11). I had the pleasure of meeting him at a charity tennis match in Boca.

25D. *Cottage site in the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four" : ISLE OF WIGHT (11). I did not know this but I bet Steve and NC did.
And the reveal.

41D. Risqué ... and what each answer to a starred clue contains? : OFF COLOR (8).

Across:

1. Trellis pieces : LATHS. THIS always confused me, but I learned a trellis can be made of lattice. Splynter, help?

6. "Ideas worth spreading" acronym : TEDTechnology, Entertainment, Design

9. Runs out : BOLTS.

14. Eponym of a United Kingdom poetry prize : ELIOT. It is obvious many here share my love of Poetry and PRIZES.

15. Schooner filler : ALE.

16. Walking the dog, e.g. : CHORE. I was thinking about yoyos.

19. Storage place : CD-ROM. Oh these modern times.

20. Play set : SCENERY.

22. Nonpro? : ANTI. Ifn you aint fer it, your agin it.

23. Man's best friend, e.g. : EPITHET. They can be nice like that or  they can be bad. It is a sobriquet, a nickname, a title, a label, a description etc. Fittingly a lead in to...52D. Animal that's been a Japanese Natural Monument since 1931 : AKITA. An amazing STORY.


26. Fiona, after Shrek's kiss : OGRESS. Nit polic, Fiona was always an Ogress, the spell which made her look like a human was broken by the kiss.

28. Cut deeply : GASHED. But literally and metaphorically.

29. "Blues on the Bayou" musician : B. B. KING. An album and a song...RIP B.B.

31. Spanish pronoun : ELLA.

32. Overindulgent outings : SPREES. A binge.

34. Stranded messenger : RNA. Nice strand pun.

37. Handle : SEE TO. Make it so....

39. Mr. Potato Head piece : EAR. Followed by the anthropomorphic...

40. Front-wheel alignment : TOE IN. Know your TOE or you will be towed.

42. Unduly : TOO. Not unduly hard.

43. Possesses with pride : BOASTS.

46. Deflect, with "off" : FEND.

47. Passes out : FAINTS.

49. "The Girls Next Door" co-creator : HEFNER.  PLAYBOY meets reality tv.

51. Fictional Indiana town in "Parks and Recreation" : PAWNEE. You can READ or watch


53. Genuine : SINCERE. Like the...

54. Dust Bowl migrant : OKIE.

55. Release request : LET ME GO.

58. Summation symbol, in math : SIGMA. You all get this, RIGHT?

64. Moral principle : ETHIC.

65. Scar, say : MAR.

66. Thorny evergreen : GORSE.

67. Occupied, as a desk : SAT AT.

68. Museum pieces : ART.

69. Vertical : ERECT.

Down:

1. Its natl. emblem is the cedar tree : LEBanon. Fun with flags. The cedars of Lebanon are mentioned often in the Bible.

2. Every drop : ALL.

3. 20-20, e.g. : TIE. Not perfect vision; not a tv show. good misdirection.

4. ''What do you think?'' : HOW'S THAT? Often heard while you try to hang a picture.

5. What one might have with milk, briefly? : 'STACHE. Got Milk? Who was your favorite?


6. Needle : TAUNT.

7. Different : ELSE. She was something....

8. Road sign image : DEER. How do they know where to cross?


9. Email option, for short : BCC. Now blind courtesy copy.

10. "Shoot!" : OH DARN.

12. Brings (out) : TROTS. And then to make the disastrous evening complete, they trotted out their vacation pics.

13. Late round : SEMIS.

18. Satellite broadcasts : FEEDS.

21. Team connection : YOKE. Poor oxen, the yoke is always on them.

23. Get rid of : EGEST. Opposite of ingest. Seriously.

24. Retro diet, to put it mildly : PALEO. The word is from Greek palaios meaning ‘ancient.' The idea is to eat like early man, no processed foods etc, Since their life expectancy was about 30....

27. Kernel : GIST.

29. Leadership : BRASS.

30. Hall of Fame pitcher Blyleven : BERT. Of course C. C. would slip in a baseball payer from Minnesota, what a curve ball. He was born in the Netherlands and coached their pitchers in the new world event.


33. Organic fuel : PEAT. Major heating fuel in the Highlands, I have read.

35. Bay Area pro : NINER. We got our morning weather girl from the 49ers

36. Court rival of Pete : ANDRE. Sampras and Agassi.


38. Village Voice award : OBIE Off-Broadway.  LINK.

44. Law school newbie : ONE L. We did not use this in my day.

45. Drew back : SHIED.

48. Lack of get-up-and-go : ANEMIA. I had the ferrous oxide recently.

50. Hold rapt : ENGAGE.

51. Puts forward : POSES. Say you are stuck on a desert island, who do you want there with you?
If you answer, "my spouse" you are...

53. Quick on the uptake : SMART.

56. Humorous Bombeck : ERMA.

57. Sewer's concern : TEAR. One who sews.
59. Play : ACT.

61. Natural resource : ORE.

62. L.A. school : USC. University of Southern California.

63. LAPD rank : DETective.

C.C. makes it all seem so easy; I hope you had fun and Happy Mother's day to all.

Lemonade out.